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Brick Wall Comedy
Brick Wall Comedy
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Get on Your Knees

Jacqueline Novak

Netflix · 2024 · 1 h 34 min

A dense, fast-talking philosophical lecture disguised as a blowjob show.

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Jacqueline Novak spends 90 minutes pacing the stage with manic, hyper-articulate energy, treating oral sex not as a cheap punchline but as a subject worthy of high literary and philosophical analysis. It’s an intellectualized history of fellatio that somehow weaves in Cartesian dualism, T.S. Eliot, and a highly elaborate argument that the penis is actually a feminine figure.

Filmed at the historic Town Hall in New York City, the special is the culmination of a word-of-mouth Off-Broadway hit that first took off in 2019. Under the direction of Natasha Lyonne, with cinematography by Sam Levy, the performance is captured with a tight, frenetic camera focus that mirrors Novak’s relentless pacing. She traces the microphone cord across the stage, clutching the mic close to her chest and treating her own body as an inconvenience.

The set traces Novak’s relationship to the act, starting with an essay she wrote as an undergraduate at Georgetown University and moving through underwhelming adolescent encounters. Along the way, she details the anatomy of the vulva, compares the penis to a needy drama queen, and recalls a childhood memory of reading Lolita in a pizzeria window. Stage-directed by John Early, the show earned Novak a Drama Desk nomination for Outstanding Solo Performance during its theatrical run, followed by an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Writing for its 2024 Netflix release.

The set list

6 bits

  1. Walking from the stage wings to the microphone stand.

    Compares the tension and anticipation of walking across the stage to a person descending past the torso toward the pelvis for fellatio.

  2. Desire to become a specific type of ghost in the afterlife.

    Explored as comedic foreplay before diving entirely into fellatio around 23 minutes into the set.

  3. Linguistic differences between 'penis' and 'cock'.

    Analyzes how the two terms function syllabically and metaphorically.

  4. The penis as delicate and overly sensitive rather than masculine.

    Argues negative stereotypes used to describe women unfairly actually describe the penis perfectly—sensitive, dramatic, needy, and wilting on a fainting couch.

  5. Teeth-related anxiety and navigating heterosexuality.

    Frames the act of giving a blow job without teeth as navigating the Scylla and Charybdis of oral sex, using literature and Nabokov's Lolita to parse awkwardness.

  6. Turning back on a diving board at the last minute.

    Compares her early attempts at fellatio to contorting herself into a complex maneuver to avoid a dive, culminating in a celebration of the power attained through the act.

How it plays

Tone
Lyrical, intellectual, raunchy, good-spirited, and feminist.
On stage
Verbally and physically kinetic, hyper-verbose, self-aware, and philosophical; stripped-down aesthetic wearing a heathered gray T-shirt, jeans, and sneakers to neutralize the body form.
Pace
Unrelenting, breathless, and high-energy; constantly pacing, striding, spinning, rolling on the stage floor, and carrying the microphone cord across her shoulder.
About
blowjobs and fellatio, deconstruction of the penis and male vulnerability, female heterosexuality and sexual awakening, power dynamics in sex, linguistic deconstruction of sex and anatomy, body image and shame

What the critics said

Universally praised as a transcendent, intellectually rigorous, and hilarious tour de force that deconstructs oral sex and patriarchal dynamics through high-velocity performance and philosophical depth.

In the room: Rapt, electrified live theater crowd responding to an intense, non-stop physical and verbal barrage.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: imdb.com, variety.com, moviemaker.com, rottentomatoes.com, nytimes.com, decider.com, consequence.net, vulture.com, en.wikipedia.org, newyorker.com, vanityfair.com.

Backstory

Developed over five years starting at the 2018 Edinburgh Festival Fringe (initially under the title 'How Embarrassing for Her') and an acclaimed Off-Broadway run at the Cherry Lane and Lucille Lortel Theatres, with its tour and taping delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Details

Released
Taped
The Town Hall, New York City
Runtime
1 h 34 min
Where
Netflix
Director
Natasha Lyonne
Honors
Nominated for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special (2024)Nominated for Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Solo Performance (for the original stage production, 2020)
Topics
Before
The Half Hour (2016)

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