He then switches back to telling you about being an undercover cop, and how he’s doing a comedy podcast with his drug dealer friends. Pepper and how it tastes like a sexy battery, about how sometimes Google doesn’t even try when coming up with the letters on their holiday Google art, and he talks about math theorems and his favorite mathematicians, which devolves into a prop comedy bit about cardboard boxes. He says his single, because his wife left him, he was getting too attached to the case. The ways he reminds you that he’s still telling you a story about an undercover cop whose life is beginning to suffer due to his dedication to his bit are sly and brilliant. He tells you that after you break the ice with someone, you should freeze the ice back over when you leave. He talks about the phrase “over gloves schmoven gloves,” and how adding “schmu” to the beginning of a word when you repeat the phrase is an undefeatable argument. He contemplates the fear of the conga line. There’s a moment in the story where he convinces his gang that the word “flabbergasted” is a homophobic slur to avoid being caught. This begins a very long story about him being an undercover cop who is going undercover as stand-up comedian “James Acaster” to infiltrate a drug gang, but who is also running out of material so he’s beginning to tell stories of his life on stage. Acaster tells the story of how as a child he always wanted to be an undercover cop, but he was smart, so if anyone asked him what he wanted to be as a kid, he said drug dealer. There’s an element of watching “Recognize” that makes you feel like a mad genius is unfurling his plan in front of you.Īfter the banana story, the real meat of the special begins. Every aspect of Acaster’s performance from the language, the physical comedy, the inflection, the faces, and everything else is done with intention. The callback that wraps up this bit, and the entire 15 minute opening, is beautiful and subtle. His delivery is rapid fire, dense and complex, his stories are these absurd retellings of mundane moments, and he has a deep intensity for every part. If you fall behind for a minute, you’re going to be lost. It’s a complete exploration of a language loophole, and it’s hilarious, but it begins something that is very important with Acaster: you have to pay attention. This is a litmus test for how much you’ll enjoy Acaster. This is the first moment where you begin to see the level of preparation that Acaster has put into this special. ![]() He goes on to explain his favorite loophole, which was discovered by Torvill and Dean. His discussion about people’s plans to find a loophole with a genie, and how good it is we’ve solved this scenario none of us will ever be in, is very funny. He tells the story of his local Mexican restaurant’s spoon amnesty day. Acaster is four parallel dimensions ahead of you. You thought it was someone like Burnham or CK or Birbiglia, where everything wraps back on itself and has a meaning. ![]() Repertiore is the definition of overly written stand-up. When I saw it was a four part comedy series and I was confused, but intrigued, so I sat down and watched the entire thing in one sitting. Acaster is a fantastic comedian, and when I saw a special on Netflix I just had to check it out. He’s one of the best deadpans I’ve ever seen, his stories are ridiculous and meticulously detailed, and he’s got fantastic language jokes. His appearances Would I Lie to You are some of the funniest YouTube videos I’ve seen. James Acaster is yet another one of the fantastic comedians I found via British game shows. But I’ve seen this before, and I want the opportunity to talk about Repertoire as a whole and not have one day where I watched a four hour long stand-up concept album. ![]() Could I have just done this in four days? Yes. I’m going to review each of the four episodes individually, and then on the fifth day, I’m going to review the entire collection as a whole. The brilliant James Acaster has a four part special on Netflix called Repertoire, each part consisting of a wholly self contained fifty minute stand-up special. Instead of a comedy stand-up special, today we’re going across the pond to begin what, for us, will be a five part comedy adventure. As the new month starts we’re trying something out.
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