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Brick Wall Comedy
Brick Wall Comedy

Comedy Central Presents

Wayne Federman

Comedy Central · 2003 · 22 min

Dry, conversational stand-up about carpool lanes and dating metaphors.

Wayne Federman brings a calm, dry exasperation to the stage, treating the minor irritations of modern life with the seriousness of a courtroom trial. His performance centers on the micro-indignities of daily navigation, arguing that carpool lanes are a form of traffic discrimination designed to punish lonely drivers. Rather than relying on high-energy setups, he delivers his set with a conversational pacing that suits his established persona as the reasonable guy in a room full of absurdity.\n\nFilmed at the Hudson Theatre in New York City and broadcast in August 2003, the set caught Federman at a transition point in his career. Already a recognizable face from television guest spots on The Larry Sanders Show and The X-Files—as well as a long-running series of Hertz rental car commercials—this performance allowed him to establish his identity as a precise stand-up.\n\nThe set moves through a mix of observational storytelling and structural conceits, including a breakdown of regional sarcasm and a sequence where he uses baseball statistics to map out the physical progress of a date. He also walks the audience through the baffling logistics of attending a Kiss concert, finding humor in the theatrical absurdity of the band rather than their music.

The set list

5 bits

  1. Baseball metaphors for date hook-ups

    Explaining how sports metaphors map onto the stages and experiences of dating.

  2. Prescription medication television commercials

    Ridiculing commercials whose recited side effects appear significantly worse than the condition they treat, proposing people might be better off dealing with problems unmedicated.

  3. Living with a competitive roommate

    Humorously recalling living with a roommate who constantly one-upped him about jobs, cars, and girlfriends, driving Federman to absurd lengths to measure up.

  4. Disastrous blind date

    Recounting personal dating mishaps with a woman whose intensity was completely overwhelming.

  5. Working as a comedy club piano player

    Sharing comedic anecdotes from his past job playing piano at comedy clubs and observing erratic intoxicated customers.

How it plays

Tone
Dry, clever, offbeat, and deadpan with heartfelt and vulnerable undertones.
On stage
Known for his dry wit, deadpan delivery, and sports fandom, projecting a warmth and vulnerability on stage.
Pace
Deadpan cadence and relaxed, conversational momentum.
About
baseball and dating metaphors, commercials and prescription medication side effects, roommate dynamics and insecurity, dating and blind dates, astrology and self-help books, East Coast vs. West Coast living

What the critics said

Praised as a must-watch showcase for fans of clever, offbeat humor, highlighting Federman's deadpan style, clever wordplay, and relatable delivery.

In the room: Consistently laughing throughout the performance at observations of modern life.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: thetvdb.com, metacritic.com, yidio.com, en.wikipedia.org, paramountplus.com, vulture.com, imdb.com, waynefederman.com.

Backstory

Featured on Season 7, Episode 26 of Comedy Central Presents, Comedy Central's premier half-hour showcase series for touring stand-up comedians.

Details

Released
Runtime
22 min
Where
Comedy Central
Director
Paul Miller
Topics
After
The Chronicles of Federman (2015)

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