From the pre-credits screen that implores audiences, This film should be played loud bitch, John Early: Now More Than Ever announces itself as a very gay show. The comedians most comfortable and funniest speciality is using gay vernacular mockingly. At just over an hour in length, his first HBO special is a fleeting and sharp dissection of how Earlys generation behaves or misbehaves, particularly online.
Known for his pairing as a writer with comedian Kate Berlant and for his role in TVs Search Party, Early has amassed a devoted following without achieving mainstream stardom yet, at least. He should have broken out as an actor. His small but memorable part as the best friend of the lead character in the 2016 movie Other People hinted at a casual and comfortable presence on screen. The role ought to have led to more parts toeing the line between comedy and drama. Now, in a project more reflective of his stand-up persona, Early shows a confrontational and restlessly physical presence. Whether singing covers of artists such as Britney Spears or telling jokes, making faces, pointing and dancing, the comic holds our attention.
Some of his targets are predictable, as when he takes on Donald Trump. But once he gets into his thesis about current social mores, the comedy becomes more cutting edge. The jokes are long and demand patience, and sometimes the payoff is more cerebral than outright funny. Its as if a really smart anthropologist were making salient points about his observations of a new social class Jane Austen back from the dead for a short visit to 2020s queer, progressive urban America.
Early rips into platitudes that masquerade as profound thoughts. The way people behave and respond to each other online also seems to irk him, so much so that he gets vicious, even while counting himself among those hes mocking. At one point, he delivers a long joke about those who seek attention online but blame it on being gay or having awful parents. Early goes long and deep, acting out an online screed. Its obviously written by him, but when he says we all know the post, hes right. It sounds so familiar, and the way he performs it hints at its utter falseness.
He saves his sharpest mockery for people his age, claiming they are under-educated: The only thing weve been taught as a generation is to vamp. His observations hint at what could be a new Me Decade, one where every individual demands success for what they believe to be their talent, no matter how meager it may be. Listening to Early, one comes away thinking only a few are talented yet everybody claims it. What he says is recognizable and relatable, not just just for how witty but how specific it is. Did we all just go to private school and now work at Vulture?
Less successful is the mockumentary aspect of the show. Earlys John Early persona is needy and silly, with a tendency for sexual harassment thrown in. This version of Early shows disdain for his band, even as he desperately needs their attention. That seems like a failed attempt to mock something huge in the culture right now: workplace misbehavior by powerful men. Fortunately, those interludes are brief.
As a queer comedian, hes not above making fun of the current obsession for representation, suggesting that people just want to see a mirror version of themselves. When that comes from someone who traditionally hasnt been represented in the media, it makes everyone recognize the fallacy of seeking only positive representation. Early shows his audience how the representation they should seek is an all-encompassing one, warts and all. Amusingly enough, Early succeeds in leaving his audience wanting more, even when that means more mockery of themselves.