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Cover image credit: Thumbnail: YouTube · Netflix

Man on Fire

Chris D'Elia

Netflix · 2017 · 65 min

A physical, grumpy performance skewering modern egos and fitness influencers.

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We like to think of ourselves as the stars of our own cinematic epics, but Chris D’Elia wants you to know that you are probably just a background extra. Performing in front of a Vancouver audience, he bases his hour around this hit to the human ego, comparing our self-important delusions to a Denzel Washington action flick while resigning himself to the role of “Comedian Number 6.” It is a structural anchor for a set that finds the comic shifting away from his earlier observational routines toward a broader, crankier worldview.

Filmed at the Vogue Theatre during the JFL NorthWest festival in early 2017, the Netflix release caught D’Elia in a transitional phase of his career. NBC had recently canceled his sitcom Undateable, and he had just launched his Congratulations podcast. Looking to bring more of his personal life to the stage, he riffs on his own divorce, his reluctance to have children, and the bizarre social obligation of buying pants for friends. He also dedicates significant time to mocking the theatricality of Broadway musicals and shredding the self-serious captions posted by fitness influencers on social media.

Though some critics found his grumpier, mock-preachy persona to border on a hostile lecture, D’Elia himself jokes on stage that the set is more of a Ted Talk than a comedy show. Still, his core audience embraced the physical nature of his delivery. He pairs his sing-song cadences with broad physical gestures, delivering high-energy mockery that highlights the absurdity of modern social media performance.

The set list

4 bits

  1. The 'Man on Fire' / Denzel Washington bit

    Explores how people fantasize about being the star of their own action movie epic like Denzel Washington, when in reality everyone is merely an unspecial extra or supporting character.

  2. A male friend buying him pants that fit

    Examines the uncomfortable and overly intimate dynamic of a male friend gifting pants that fit perfectly, questioning how another man would know his exact sizing.

  3. Marriage and divorce opening bit

    D'Elia opens the hour reflecting on his marriage and subsequent divorce, contrasting differing expectations between men and women and the rush to make major life choices.

  4. The myth of great parties

    Deconstructs the unrealistic expectation that parties are fun, arguing people chase a false fantasy manufactured by movies and social media when in truth people just stand around awkwardly.

How it plays

Tone
Introspective, raw, silly, and slightly darker.
On stage
Energetic, animated, and bravado-filled, yet revealing flaws, weaknesses, and self-doubt.
Pace
High-energy, physically animated delivery with deliberate changes of pace, shifting from high momentum into quiet moments of reflection and direct engagement with the crowd.
About
aging and mortality, relationships and divorce, not having children, social media and self-importance, the myth of parties being fun, male friendship

What the critics said

Praised by some reviewers as his most personal and intimate special to date, while other critics felt his shift toward darker rants lacked joke craft or personal anecdotes to soften the blow.

In the room: Energetic and relatable crowd response in the theater, with D'Elia engaging directly and challenging audience members about their own self-importance.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: vulture.com, imdb.com, thecomicscomic.com, rottentomatoes.com, theinterrobang.com, en.wikipedia.org, editorial.rottentomatoes.com.

Backstory

Facing his late thirties and approaching 40 as a single, childless man following a divorce, dealing with existential self-reflection and reevaluating adulthood.

Details

Released
Taped
Vogue Theatre, Vancouver
Runtime
65 min
Where
Netflix
Director
Bill D'Elia
Topics
Before
Incorrigible (2015)
After
Comedians of the World (2019)

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