Faces and Sounds

Pete Holmes knows exactly what he is on stage, declaring early in this hour that he doesn’t need comedy to be high art because he mostly does “faces and sounds.” It is an accurate self-assessment. Filmed at the Vic Theatre in Chicago, the city where he got his start, this 2016 HBO special catches Holmes at a pivot point in his career. His TBS late-night show was gone, his podcast You Made It Weird was a massive indie success, and he was just months away from launching Crashing, his semi-autobiographical HBO sitcom.

This hour showcases his physical, eager-to-please style of performance. He plays the giant, joyful man-child, building bits around physical and vocal execution rather than clockwork punchlines. Standout routines include his detailed breakdown of going to an Enrique Iglesias concert entirely by himself, only to leave early because he forgot encores existed. He also hits his stride mocking the patient wait of rap guest-vocalists in the studio and recreating the warm-ups of video-game voice actors screaming authoritative nonsense.

The set is a testament to Holmes’s commitment to silliness, even finding cosmic meaning in a coincidence where two different people gave him the same Dr. Seuss shirt in a single week. To him, it was a message from God to wear his “goof-goof face” uniform. While his brand of comedy might feel too eager for those who prefer dark or cynical material, the performance at the Vic proves he knows how to manipulate an audience with pure, high-energy enthusiasm.