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Brick Wall Comedy
Cover image credit: Thumbnail: YouTube · Jim Breuer's Breuniverse

Comic Frenzy

Jim Breuer

Epix · 2015 · 58 min

A frantic hour on marriage, aging, and heavy metal cruise ships.

At nearly fifty years old, Jim Breuer has entirely traded his “Half Baked” stoner persona for the exhausted reality of a Long Island dad. “Comic Frenzy” leans heavily into domestic survival, focusing on the sheer volume of women and cats in his house, the indignities of middle age, and his self-proclaimed status as a marriage warrior. The energy is frantic but the material is grounded in the grind of everyday family life, shifting focus toward elder care and raising teenagers.

Filmed on his home turf at The Paramount in Huntington, New York, the hour was his second release for EPIX. It serves as a clear marker of where his career was heading in the mid-2010s, cementing his shift into multi-generational family comedy. The crowd is predictably receptive to a local comic airing out familiar suburban grievances. Alongside the domestic material, he squeezes in a memorable chunk about the unglamorous reality of performing comedy on a heavy metal-themed cruise ship, offering a brief nod to his lifelong musical obsession.

The set list

6 bits

  1. Whether or not to purchase a gun for the home

    Avoids political partisanship and leans into an unexpected comedic direction.

  2. Hard rock and heavy metal legends in mundane everyday situations

    Performs impressions of Ozzy Osbourne, James Hetfield, and AC/DC's Brian Johnson trying to return a stool at a customer service desk without a receipt.

  3. Performing on and surviving a heavy metal-themed cruise

    Recounts the chaos of heavy metal cruises, joking about the extreme drinking, unnecessary safety drills, and viewing crew members as hostages.

  4. Turning 47 and dealing with unexpected bodily injuries

    Details pulling a muscle right next to his rectum while merely warming up the car and having to massage it with a tennis ball or an apple while driving.

  5. Long Island pride and obsession with moving away

    Jokes that Long Island pride revolves around constantly complaining about high property taxes and counting down the exact days until retirement to move south.

  6. Teenage daughters failing to be impressed by celebrity and rock star friends

    Contrasts his awe at meeting rock icons like James Hetfield and attending the SNL 40th anniversary with his daughters only caring that he stood behind Taylor Swift.

How it plays

Tone
Absurd, enthusiastic, relatable, and multi-generational.
On stage
High-energy, family-friendly, off-the-wall comedic storyteller known for dead-on impressions and exaggerated facial and vocal expressions.
Pace
Tight, well-paced, and fluid with enthusiastic, physical delivery that has not dwindled with age.
About
aging and physical breakdown, parenting teenagers, caregiving for elderly parents, marriage, heavy metal cruises, Long Island culture

What the critics said

Reviewed by the Long Island Press as a tight, well-paced show and his best special to date, stating that Breuer 'hits it out of the park.'

In the room: Warm, roaring hometown reception; Breuer described the atmosphere as feeling like a backyard gathering with close friends and family.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: themoviedb.org, broadwayworld.com, longislandpress.com, moviefone.com, vulture.com, pastemagazine.com, jimbreuer.com, imdb.com.

Backstory

Filmed on Valentine's Day in front of a hometown Long Island crowd; created following the passing of his father, a World War II veteran whom Breuer had cared for until the end of his life.

Details

Released
Taped
The Paramount, Huntington
Runtime
58 min
Where
Epix
Director
Adam Dubin
Topics
Before
Smoke 'N' Breu (2002)
After
Somebody Had to Say It (2022)

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