Writer’s note: While it seems inevitable that Ali Pfefferman (Gaby Hoffmann) will soon begin identifying as nonbinary (as creator Jill Soloway does), in this interview Hoffmann uses she/her pronouns to refer to Ali, which this review does as well. Should the character Ali begin using any other pronouns, this writer will of course respect them. […]
Continue ReadingThe sun falls into the Pacific as a small commuter train whisks by, momentarily interrupting the rocking sounds of Garbage. And that was just the second stage at KAABOO Del Mar. At this third annual music and comedy festival held at the Del Mar Fairgrounds, just off the northern outskirts of San Diego, you could […]
Continue ReadingSome comedians don’t want to watch other comedians perform, for fear that it might influence what they say onstage themselves or even how they say it. I can be the same way with reading other reviews of a comedian, TV show or movie that I’m reviewing. Which is how I realize only after the fact […]
Continue ReadingHow you feel about Dave Smith the comedian depends upon how you feel about two other things, primarily. 1) Are you a fan and/or listener to the Legion of Skanks podcast? 2) How tolerant are you of Libertarians? You can hear Dave Smith tell me all about his comedy and TV talk origins in Episode […]
Continue ReadingAt first glance, something seems amiss in Gary Owen: I Got My Associates. It’s Owen’s third Showtime stand-up comedy special, but for some reason, whether it be the venue (The Stardome in Hoover, Ala.,) or the lighting and production values, this hour feels as much of an underground production and introduction to the Ohio-born comedian as […]
Continue ReadingAmerican Vandal promises satire that will puncture the self-importance of Netflix’s own entries in the true crime genre, like Making a Murderer and The Keepers. By moving the setting to a high school in California and making the central crime 27 spray-painted dicks, American Vandal seemed poised to be a great one-note joke, a self-serious […]
Continue ReadingNo, you’re the puppet! Jeff Dunham is undoubtedly the biggest ventriloquist in the world. By fans. By tickets sold. Dunham set ratings records for Comedy Central, and landed his previous special in primetime for NBC in 2015. Now he’s on Netflix. Because everyone in the comedy game is on Netflix in 2017. His new special […]
Continue ReadingWhile One Mississippi’s first season dealt with a number of huge transitions, like the death of protagonist Tig’s mother and Tig’s moving back to Mississippi, its second season is more focused on the questions these transitions bring up: How much can a person change, and under what circumstances will they do so? What does it […]
Continue ReadingCan Marc Maron be happy and funny at the same time? A fair enough question, considering his personal and professional circumstances by 2017, when he has just now released his first Netflix stand-up comedy special. The short answer: Yes. Longer answers, in my review of Marc Maron: Too Real, via Decider: Each hour finds the […]
Continue ReadingFor better or worse — most often for better — BoJack Horseman, both the show and its titular character, have always been deeply invested in the past, and generally speaking, the idea of time itself. After all, for much of the series, BoJack is still riding the high of starring in a very famous TV […]
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