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Brick Wall Comedy
Brick Wall Comedy

Oh, Hello on Broadway

Nick Kroll & John Mulaney

Netflix · 2017 · 1 h 42 min

Two delusional septuagenarians put on a very bad Broadway play.

Watch it free on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Nick Kroll and John Mulaney took their decade-old, turtleneck-clad alt-comedy alter egos and, against all practical logic, mounted a full-scale theatrical production. Rather than a standard stand-up set, this is a specific character study and a parody of Broadway conventions starring Gil Faizon and George St. Geegland, two delusional, 70-something Upper West Side bachelors who survive on rent control and an obsession with Alan Alda.

Filmed at the Lyceum Theatre in early 2017 after a successful 138-performance run, the production is directed by Alex Timbers. Kroll and Mulaney use the stage to mock theater tropes, from one-sided phone calls to tragic coughing fits. The centerpiece of the show remains their “Too Much Tuna” segment, an interview prank where they bring out a surprise guest, Steve Martin, and present them with an oversized plate of deli fish.

Stretching characters designed for five-minute TV sketches into a hundred-minute theatrical narrative inevitably tests the limits of the premise. Yet, the performance thrives on the duo’s sharp chemistry and a shared commitment to the bit, creating a specific, self-sabotaging theatrical ego trip.

The set list

4 bits

  1. Too Much Tuna cable-access interview

    Gil and George interview a special guest (Steve Martin in the film) while lowering an absurdly massive deli tuna sandwich onto the table to prank them

  2. Spoofing theatrical tropes and stage acting clichés

    Gil and George deconstruct stage conventions, demonstrating the overly expository 'one-sided phone call' and declaring that screaming is mandatory if it is a drama

  3. Gil's romantic affair with Lisa the raccoon

    Gil recounts an improvised physical, emotional, and sexual relationship with a neighborhood raccoon

  4. The rent increase crisis

    The roommates face eviction when rent on their five-bedroom Columbus Avenue apartment is raised from $75 to $2,500 a month, prompting them to try taking their radio show to television

How it plays

Tone
Absurd, irreverent, satirical, acidic, and affectionately referential
On stage
Delusional, crotchety, opinionated elderly Upper West Side bachelors wearing sloppy wigs and saggy corduroys—Gil Faizon as a struggling actor and George St. Geegland as a pretentious, domineering writer
Pace
A mix of rapid-fire non sequiturs, metatheatrical banter, deliberate slow burns, and loose improv where the performers actively break character and crack each other up
About
Aging and elderly bachelorhood, Upper West Side New York life and rent control, Broadway and theatrical tropes, Dysfunctional codependent friendship, Public-access television and pranks

What the critics said

Critically acclaimed as a brilliant, uproarious, and sharply specific piece of alternative character comedy that affectionately skewers Broadway conventions

In the room: Uproarious, howling with laughter, and eagerly playing along with the duo's erratic improvisations and Fourth-wall breaks

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: netflix.com, playbill.com, rottentomatoes.com, ibdb.com, nytimes.com, theguardian.com, washingtonpost.com, broadwayworld.com, ew.com, etonline.com, theatlantic.com.

Backstory

College friends from Georgetown University Nick Kroll and John Mulaney brought their long-running crotchety alter egos Gil Faizon and George St. Geegland to Broadway for an engagement running through late 2016 and early 2017, featuring nightly unannounced celebrity guests

Details

Released
Taped
Lyceum Theatre, New York
Runtime
1 h 42 min
Where
Netflix
Director
Michael John Warren
Honors
The New York Times Critic's Pick
Topics

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