Blocks

Neal Brennan uses physical blocks on stage to represent the personal and systemic obstacles that make him feel unacceptable. Instead of a standard stand-up hour, he physically moves and arranges these visual aids to map out his neuroses, starting with his complicated relationship with his dog Keith and moving to his anxiety about dating models. It is a highly structured hybrid of a one-man show and stand-up, directed by artist and magician Derek DelGaudio, who helps ground the high-concept visual gimmick.\n\nFilmed at the Belasco Theatre in Los Angeles, Blocks is the follow-up to Brennan’s 2017 special 3 Mics. By 2022, the Chappelle’s Show co-creator was working as a writer and correspondent on The Daily Show and establishing himself as one of comedy’s prominent chroniclers of clinical depression. The set leans heavily into this vulnerability, featuring memorable routines about his attempts to cure his mental illness through everything from transcranial magnetic stimulation to ayahuasca. One of his strongest segments involves his liberalism block, where he recounts his immediate NIMBY reflex upon receiving a letter about a homeless shelter opening across the street. He also compares dating a model to owning a dune buggy (it looks great but is impractical for daily life).\n\nThe special made headlines in comedy circles for a bizarre post-production detail: Brennan admitted to using deepfake technology to alter his own mouth in three scenes during the final edit. He had forgotten specific lines during the live tapings and opted to CGI his face rather than cut to the audience. While some critics felt the hour veered too close to self-pity by its end, others praised the formal ambition and the dark, confessional humor.