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Promotional art for High in Church
Cover image credit: Promotional image via Apple

High in Church

Trevor Moore

Comedy Central · 2015 · 60 min

A musical comedy production featuring a live band and historical conspiracy theories.

Watch on Comedy Central(opens in a new tab)

Instead of a standard hour of microphone pacing, Trevor Moore stages a full-scale musical production. Backed by a live band, backup dancers, and digital shorts, the former Whitest Kids U’ Know frontman treats the stage like a variety show for the deeply cynical. The upbeat compositions serve as a delivery mechanism for bleak premises. He sings a sardonic country tune about same-sex marriage, advocates for class warfare in “Time for Guillotines,” and performs “Kitty History,” a catchy pop song that morphs from an alternate universe of felines into a fast-paced recap of the Bush family and the JFK assassination.

Filmed at the Gramercy Theatre in New York City, the hour premiered on Comedy Central in 2015 alongside an audio album of the same name. The set cemented Moore’s trajectory as a solo musical comic willing to throw serious production value behind highly specific concepts. The show ultimately peaks with the title track, a methodical story about the exact moment a handful of mushrooms decides to kick in during a Sunday mass.

The set list

6 bits

  1. Circumcision

    Performed as 'God Hates the Tips', a song with backup singers and a melody echoing Queen's 'Fat Bottomed Girls' highlighting the bizarre nature of infant circumcision with real trivia.

  2. Opponents of marriage equality

    Executed in 'Gays Got Married' as a country song parodying the extreme, irrational fears held by opponents of same-sex marriage.

  3. Kitty History and conspiracy theories

    A Beach Boys-style surf song depicting a parallel universe of cats reenacting human history and dark conspiracy theories including presidential assassinations.

  4. Malicious YouTube commenters

    Written as 'The Ballad of Billy John', a folk song illustrating the vicious online trolling directed at a sincere older man uploading a song.

  5. Getting revenge on childhood bullies

    A bit and song centered on buying a monkey to intimidate former high school tormentors.

  6. The closer (spoiler). Show it

    A revolutionary common cause uniting humanity closer

    A closing number promising unity among everyone for a cause that ends poorly for others.

How it plays

Tone
Satirical, subversive, and silly.
On stage
Musically inclined, satirical frontman blending live concert performance with sketches and music videos.
Pace
Concert-style momentum accompanied by a full live band, backup vocalists, and dancing girls.
About
religion, politics, conspiracy theories, gay marriage, circumcision, bullying

What the critics said

Praised as sharp, clever satire with catchy songs across multiple musical genres.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: tv.apple.com, allmovie.com, screensearch.co.uk, vulture.com, thecomicscomic.com, tvinsider.com, thecomedybureau.com, en.wikipedia.org, hollywoodreporter.com.

Backstory

Raised in rural Virginia by Christian folk-rock recording artists, Moore frequently drew from his religious and conservative upbringing to address religion, politics, and conspiracy theories.

Details

Released
Taped
The Gramercy Theatre, New York
Runtime
60 min
Where
Comedy Central
Director
Ryan Polito
Topics

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