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Brick Wall Comedy
Cover image credit: Thumbnail: YouTube · Comedy Dynamics

Big Dumb Animal

Matt Braunger

Comedy Central · 2015 · 66 min

A loud single guy catalogs his most humiliating public choices.

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Matt Braunger uses his physical size and booming voice to chronicle his own lack of grace. He leans into the role of an overgrown adolescent, a single guy pushing forty who is still trying and failing to keep pace with younger crowds. The self-deprecation works because he plays the oaf so earnestly, turning stories of his own terrible choices into case studies on the general stupidity of men.

Filmed at The Bell House in Brooklyn for Comedy Central, the 2015 hour serves as a catalog of specific public humiliations.

Braunger, a few years removed from his stint on MADtv, recounts breaking down in a mall food court, earning the nickname “Peaches” while drunk at a bingo night, and the medical liability of ordering a quiet Jägerbomb. A standout routine examines a deeply misguided stranger attempting to hit on a woman from across a crowded morning bus, uniting the other commuters in shared awkwardness.

The set list

5 bits
  1. The closer (spoiler). Show it

    Wildcattin' closer

    Recalls his past distrust of police as a Chicago bartender before encountering an exceptionally suave, 'Andy Griffith on steroids' officer in New Orleans who handled an aggressive bar patron with grace.

  2. Quiet Jägerbomb

    Ruminates on getting cut off after yelling at a poster in a liquor store and humorously imagines sipping a single, quiet Jägerbomb in a frat bar.

  3. Mall Therapist

    Recounts meeting his therapist at a mall food court right after an excruciating breakup and openly sobbing, contrasting men's physical resistance against crying with women's emotional strength.

  4. That’s Not The Point

    Deconstructs a man inappropriately and aggressively trying to pick up a woman on a crowded 10 a.m. bus, ending with the entire bus bonding over laughter.

  5. My Dad, My Mom, And Even Once

    Draws an absurd parallel between his parents' magnanimity and navigating awkwardly worded questions about sexual activity while donating blood.

How it plays

Tone
Silly, playful, foul-mouthed yet progressive, and self-effacing.
On stage
Tall, oafish, and innocent 'big dumb animal' characterized by a playful charm, self-deprecation, and a gruff-but-polished delivery.
Pace
Shifts dynamically from zero to horrified in an instant, maintaining a silly, fun, and buoyant momentum.
About
masculinity and male idiocy, aging and keeping up with younger partiers, alcohol and drinking culture, hometown dynamics of Portland, Oregon, breakups, emotional vulnerability, and therapy, awkward social encounters

What the critics said

Praised as a thoughtful, cohesive, and laugh-filled hour that elevates familiar observational premises through Braunger's self-aware perspective, charming warmth, and progressive everyman sensibility.

In the room: Warm and receptive crowd dynamic inside The Bell House.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: comedydynamics.com, muir.tdslib.org, amazon.com, mattbraunger.com, vulture.com, avclub.com, thecomicscomic.com, en.wikipedia.org.

Backstory

Reflecting on aging as a single man, personal misadventures, changing perspectives on drinking, and working through an emotional breakup that led to meeting his therapist in a mall food court.

Details

Released
Taped
2014, The Bell House, Brooklyn
Runtime
66 min
Where
Comedy Central
Director
Steven Feinartz
Topics
Before
Comedy Central Presents (2010)
After
Finally Live in Portland (2019)

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