The ‘Nathan For You’ star pushes his prank-comedy methods to bleaker, existential territory in his new series about over-preparing for life’s challenges.
In the first time of year ofNathan Fielder ’s superb business - betterment seriesNathan For You , the deadpan comedian staged an experimentation called " The Claw of Shame , " where he had to unlock a duo of handcuffs in 90 seconds before a automaton arm pulled down his pants and expose his genitals to a crowd of onlooking children . In a show packed with extortionate stunts , it ’s one of the most memorable and often gets cited when anyone attempts to explicate the ingathering of the Canadian comic ’s chagrin - obsess sensibility . The complexity of the clowning , particularly the way Fielder commits to it with such unrelenting focus and attention to detail , is what makes it so funny and absurd . He ’ll risk overplus — or , in the case of " The Claw of Shame , " jail time for being a sex felon — for your entertainment .
On the surface , his new HBO seriesThe Rehearsal , which follows the comedian as he helps average citizenry prepare for important event in their lives by " practice " them in elaborated reenactment , promises to be an even more avant-garde act of self - exposure : disrobe away the world television set ruse of his Comedy Central show , we ’re now peer into Fielder ’s soul . But with Fielder , this enquiry always comes up : Is the showreallydoing what he says it ’s doing ? follow " The Claw of Shame , " most viewer fuck on some level that Fielder would n’t have aerate ( or execute ) the japery if he did n’t fuck he was go to deliver the goods . likewise , The Rehearsaltests the limit of controller for a dominance - freak who clearly relishes the chance to play research laboratory rotter in his own ego - designed experiments .
The Rehearsalhas a ego - help - adjacent premiss : He ’s doing this to give back . fieldsman notes that his sometime show required him to unravel through potential scenarios over and over in society to get the trust upshot . In typically bone teetotal voice - over , he wonders if he can do that in real living , supply assist to mass as they manage everyday challenges by creating environments for them to test out certain pathway , calibrating the emotional reaction and the conversational tactics . The result lands somewhere between therapy , an improv - comedy course , and a conceptual artistic production projection . The first installment , arguably the simple-minded , involves him help a human beings explain to his trivia team partner that he ’s been lie in about his educational desktop for decennium .
HBO
To assist prepare the man for this conversation , Fielder builds an exact replica of Alligator Lounge , the Brooklyn bar the man frequents , take actors to play his ally and the frequenter at the bar , and , through subterfuge , gets the trivia answer to a future round of the secret plan and feed the information to the man through staged interactions . Again , this is the simple one . In subsequent episode , Fielder moves the replica of the bar to Oregon so he can have a place to relax from the stress of make the show , one of the many hilarious nods to the sizing of the budget allowed by working with HBO . The show only gets denser as it goes , turning into a anteroom of mirror that questions the usefulness of its transparently farcical " method " and question Fielder ’s unfitness to be emotionally present in his own life .
If you enjoy Fielder ’s comedy , the first thing you ’ll notice aboutThe Rehearal’sdebut instalment is that it ’s less joke - heavy thanNathan For You , a show that consistently mine huge jest out of parodying the nimiety of entrepreneurial culture in America and stylistic tics of shows likeShark army tank . ( The scuttle credits featured Fielder saying he graduated from one of Canada ’s top business school with " really good grades . " ) More explicitly philosophic and existential in its leaning , The Rehearsalgets very meta very tight . There ’s a reason most reviews make a comparing betweenThe Rehearsaland Charlie Kauffman ’s likewise elaborateSynecdoche , New York , a 2008 postmodern farce about a theater manager ( work by Phillip Seymour Hoffman ) receiving a MacArthur Fellowship and later craft a reality - blurring production that mirrors his own life . ( The show would also pair well with Ondi Timoner ’s 2008 docWe Live in Public . )
For better or defective , The Rehearsalis unquestionably the eccentric of show you make after being declared a genius for years . Fielder was already chafe against the conceptual restraints ofNathan for Youwhen the show aired its feature - length finish " Finding Frances . " Like that episode , The Rehearsalleans into the process - oriented questions about Sojourner Truth that have consumed non - fiction film producer since the form ’s inception . The voice - over , the credits , and especially the music , a vaguely sinister string - filled grade , all carry the olfactory property of " effective taste , " putting this project more in line with the " high - brow " work of ( avowed Fielder fan)Errol Morristhan the more " blue - brow " work of , say , theImpractical JokersorPunk’d . As with almost all Fielder projects , the business line are muzzy : Is he parodying " prestige " documentary film fare or imitating " elevated " signifiers in pursuit of more acclaim ? It ’s impossible to really acknowledge . That uncertainty is part of the joke — I think ?
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I foundThe Rehearsalto be endlessly entrancing and confusing . ( The sixth and last episode was not provided to the insistency , so I have no idea how it ends . ) Some viewers will likely see it excruciating in its awkwardness and perhaps cruel in its structure . UnlikeHow to With John Wilson , the more upbeat HBO docuseries that Fielder acquire , The Rehearsalhas a tone of creeping dread . Perhaps more importantly , it feel like it come from a place of profound self - loathing , which will potentially make it harder for many to connect with . You might think the constant inquiring is all a put - on and that Fielder ’s ego - reflexive reflexion are just a sophisticated form of trolling . Like determine a magic number , there ’s a suspension of skepticism require . Or , as Fielder puts it towards the last of one instalment , " There are only so many ways to betray yourself . "
