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Brick Wall Comedy
Brick Wall Comedy
Promotional art for Love You
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Love You

Adam Sandler

Netflix · 2024 · 74 min

Adam Sandler performs a chaotic, song-filled set in a crumbling theater.

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Adam Sandler is onstage in a room that looks like a high school drama class, dealing with a performance that seems to be falling apart in real time. It is a staged, chaotic simulation of a nightmare gig. A dog wanders across the floor, a monitor breaks, a hole opens up in the stage, and Sandler gets distracted by phone calls and weird crowd interactions. Directed by Josh Safdie, the special trades the cavernous arenas where Sandler usually plays for a claustrophobic, low-rent black box theater. It succeeds because instead of fighting the engineered disasters, Sandler leans into them with his signature mix of sweet-natured slacker charm and heavy-duty filth.

Filmed at the Nocturne Theatre in Glendale, California, the show arrived in late 2024 as a reunion between Sandler and Safdie, who previously collaborated on the movie Uncut Gems. Sandler mixes rapid-fire, absurd stand-up setups, such as clown funerals and foot-high assassins, with the acoustic-guitar songs that have defined his career since the 1990s. There are musical bits about the anxiety of forgetting your keys and wallet, a track about a kid walking in on his parents, and a guest spot from classic ventriloquist Willie Tyler and his puppet, Lester.

While the backdrop is designed to feel stressful, the material is incredibly warm. Sandler sings a tribute to his late friend Chris Farley, and spends much of the hour expressing gratitude to the crowd, even when Rob Schneider wanders out to do an Elvis impression. It received strong reviews upon its Netflix release, with critics noting that despite Sandler’s massive fame, he still projects the vibe of an approachable dad singing silly songs in his backyard.

The set list

7 bits

  1. Penis Botox

    Sandler riffs on applying Botox to his penis to eliminate wrinkles, causing men in a YMCA locker room to mistake it for an erection.

  2. Anthropomorphic balloon fantasy

    A surreal, highly detailed dream narrative about a talking balloon demanding sexual satisfaction.

  3. The airport bathroom genie

    Sandler discovers a genie who will only grant three wishes if he performs a sex act on a man who just had explosive diarrhea.

  4. Disneyland family exit rage

    Recounting how missing a freeway exit on the drive home from Disneyland ruined a beautiful family day when he screamed profanities.

  5. Drone guy on the beach

    Crowdwork musical routine where Sandler highlights an audience member and sings about the annoying person buzzing a drone overhead at the beach.

  6. Rob Schneider as Elvis

    Sandler invites surprise guest Rob Schneider to sing 'It\'s Now or Never' in Elvis Presley style while Sandler plays electric guitar.

  7. The closer (spoiler). Show it

    Tribute to comedy and fallen comedians closer

    Sandler closes the show with an emotional, Springsteen-style guitar ballad paying tribute to the history of comedy and fallen friends like Chris Farley and Norm Macdonald as stage monitors finally activate with classic comedy clips.

How it plays

Tone
Surreal, chaotic, silly, nostalgic, and deeply heartfelt.
On stage
Authentically schlubby, goofy, amicable, and unpretentious 'tired dad' navigating stage mayhem with warmth and silliness.
Pace
Rapid, loose, and unpredictable cadence interspersed with stream-of-consciousness storytelling and moments of tension.
About
the healing power and importance of comedy, dealing with fame and expectations, everyday domestic miseries and aging, lowbrow and juvenile bathroom humor, tribute to comedic heroes and late friends

What the critics said

Highly positive reviews praising Sandler for combining his trademark lowbrow silliness with Josh Safdie's chaotic, anxiety-driven direction and an emotionally poignant, tear-jerking musical finale.

In the room: An intimate club setting of roughly 75 people reacting to surreal planned mishaps, stage breakdowns, a roaming dog, and an authentic audience altercation.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: indiewire.com, vulture.com, en.wikipedia.org, rottentomatoes.com, nytimes.com, slate.com, movieweb.com, imdb.com, grammy.com.

Backstory

Filmed in a deliberately run-down, off-kilter venue created with director Josh Safdie to induce anxiety, suspense, and controlled chaos amid a multi-project Netflix deal.

Details

Released
Taped
Nocturne Theatre, Glendale
Runtime
74 min
Where
Netflix
Director
Josh Safdie
Honors
92% on Rotten Tomatoes
Topics
Before
I Missed You (2023)

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