Category Archives: shows

Kvelling Over ‘PN & Friends’: A Review

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Ever watch something so ridiculous and silly that you can’t help but guffaw?

That’s how I feel about PN & Friends, the hilarious webseries on YouTube from the folks who brought you comedian Todd Montesi. Well, actually, it’s from Montesi himself, who’s surrounded by a cast of players that includes, uh … other folks. But you get what I mean.

We freakin’ looooove this show.

OK, it’s amateurish. OK, it doesn’t make sense. OK, it’s often about wrestling or something tangentially related to wrestling.

Those are positives, by the way. I just used the “OK” type of phrasing to provide a concise segue.

Montesi, a veteran of the standup scene who hosts the UG Comedy Show in NYC and has appeared in programs such as HBO’s Crashing, is kind of a brilliant guy. I would call him an auteur, but that would be pretentious. How about I call him a meta-auteur? ‘Cause his series, which in a nutshell concerns the adventures of one “PN” (played by Montesi) as he journeys throughout Brooklyn, NY, and other parts of the Big Apple in search of things to get annoyed at, is meta like you won’t believe. Among the meta-dudes who turn up in this meta-fest: his comrade-in-humor David Voice, who’s always yelling and wearing bizarre outfits (love the bright green!); bespectacled buddy Joe Dixon (full disclosure: we watched part of the 2016 presidential elections together … yikes!); and some guy who lives in the bathroom.

Honestly, I really don’t know what it’s about. It’s funny, though, and that’s what counts. Because who wants to watch an incessant stream of cat videos, anyway? You want comedy, right? Well, you got it, at Montesi’s Land of Amusement.

Oh, I also don’t understand what meta means–I just like to utilize it in sentences. I think it’s a millennial term used to describe cerebral jokes. Even the word meta is very meta.

Sorry … bit of a digression. Anyway, these episodes, which so far number 14 in total, will have you chuckling throughout as Montesi’s PN protests all of the ludicrous situations he encounters. Yes, you can witness him interviewing people about Summerslam (a wrestling event) at the Barclays Center. Sure, you can observe him kvetching about his “lucky water bottle” (Todd, man, really?). Yet what you want to do for sure is watch the entire series straight through. I am hypnotizing you now in an effort to get you to do so. You … are … getting … very … sleeeeeeeepy.

My apologies, once again. I realize that hypnosis is not a very effective way to get people to watch a webseries. Also, it’s highly unethical as a marketing practice. Todd, stop making me tout your webseries through comedy hypnosis! It’s a madhouse! A maaaadhouse!

The moral of this blog post is: Laughter is rare, so you’ve gotta enjoy it when it’s real. PN & Friends will generate real laughter. As long as you aren’t expecting camerawork by James Wong Howe. Or costumes by Edith Head. Fine–you can expect cameos by a host of toys in the shapes of famous wrestlers. Plus some weird wall art. And no studio audience! Isn’t that what you’ve always wanted?

I’ll end this review by saying this: In a sanctioned wrestling match, I have full confidence that Montesi would pin Voice in three rounds by using his famous “nostril lock” hold. Will any new episode use this absurd idea of mine as one of its major themes? Probably not.

That, dear reader, is just one of many reasons why you should watch.

Over and out.

Skip’s Quips: Turn Off ‘Girls,’ Please; I Can’t Stand It!

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Blog Sketch 082813Count me as one of those who dislikes the TV show Girls.

I’ve tried watching it, albeit sporadically. The verdict: Yuck.

Creator Lena Dunham has talent; there’s no doubt about that. I don’t always care for her work; Tiny Furniture was, in my opinion, tedious and unconvincing. But she does have a certain style and, well, je ne sais quoi. She can write.

If only Girls used her talents better.

There’s something about the program that seems off-the-cuff, in a bad way. It feels forced, uninvolving. I’m not invested in the characters, who generally aren’t compelling. And the whole thing smacks of navel-gazing, to the extent that it’s hard to watch. I may be in the minority on this, but I strongly believe in what I say. Girls, to me, is artificial, plastic. I bounce off it, as a viewer, rather than get absorbed by it.

So why am I watching it? Well, it’s a not-so-long story. My wife enjoys it greatly, and when it’s on, I tune in. Then tune out just as fast. Without an engaging storyline, it doesn’t drive me to stick with it. I invariably end up checking out clips of wacky animals on my cell phone.

A good TV show won’t give you the chance to do that. A good TV show will force you to watch and avoid those charming YouTube videos.

I need a good TV show in my life. I don’t need Girls.

Setter’s ‘Spectives: Let’s Put On a Movie-Inspired Show!

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Setter Drawing for Blog 082613Do you remember the (sometimes) good old days when Hollywood turned Broadway musicals into motion pictures?

Yes, we still get that to some extent with Chicago, Phantom and others of their ilk. But, uh …

Well, but. It’s not the same, is it?

Definitely not the same is the trend to turn motion pictures into Broadway musicals. The Lion King is one example. Another’s Newsies. Even My Favorite Year got into the stagebound act (terribly, I might add).

What are we going to say about the cinema 20 years from now? “Hey, where were you when the film of the musical based on the movie The Producers came out?”

I know how I’d respond: “Me? I was watching the film of the opera based on the Beaumarchais play The Marriage of Figaro at the Met. After that, we ate at the restaurant spun off the novel based on the  video game inspired by … ”

Blah, blah, blah.

There’s something truly uninspired about creating a play or musical based on a movie–especially if the original’s a good one. Film’s not like theater; it’s permanent, constant. Actors don’t flub lines one night and get them perfectly the next. You’ve got a completed work.

So if the source movie’s good–as is the case with My Favorite Year and The Producers–why bother translating it for the stage? Shouldn’t we consider ourselves lucky that we have a film we can always return to, laugh at, quote the lines from? And isn’t that one of the main reasons why we can watch great movies over and over again … because we know them like we know our significant others, our families, our friends?

Because they never change?

That’s why I’m not interested in seeing any more Broadway shows based on films. The theater begs for interpretation, transformation; movies don’t. I’ll watch the motion picture version of Sunset Boulevard, not the musical, thank you very much. Because the latter, like so many of its kind, just isn’t ready for its close-up.