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Brick Wall Comedy

Neither Here Nor There

Henry Phillips

Vimeo · 2016 · 56 min

Acoustic folk songs about profound social failure.

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Henry Phillips steps on stage with an acoustic guitar and the soft-spoken earnestness of a 1970s folk troubadour, only to sing about profound social humiliation and absolute failure. He plays the kind of songs where a sweet melody carries a tale about the misery of walking straight into a wall after confidently exiting an elevator, or trying to sell his soul to the devil for guitar prowess only to be assigned weekly music theory lessons. It is cringe comedy at its most melodious, delivered by a man who has built a career on being a lovable, slightly pathetic misfit.

Recorded at the Lyric Theatre in Los Angeles, Neither Here Nor There was released in 2016 as his first filmed stand-up special. By this time, Phillips was a well-established cult figure, known for his indie film Punching the Clown, a recurring role on HBO’s Silicon Valley, and his popular YouTube parody series Henry’s Kitchen.

This set includes some of his most requested musical bits, such as “Guitar Pill” and “The Sneeze Noise,” alongside the bleak, deadpan ballad “End of the World”. He also breaks up the solo guitar work with dry, observational stand-up about the awkwardness of wedding conversations and the subtle tragedies of modern life, occasionally bringing out guests like Mark Cohen and Audrey Tess for collaborative songs.

The set list

6 bits

  1. Guitar Pill

    After starting with an awkwardly played, fret-buzzing tune, Phillips takes a 'guitar pill' and showcases his 38 years of classical guitar mastery by shredding.

  2. What Girls Shouldn't Say During Sex

    Recounts real-life awkward moments with an ex-girlfriend who strangely spoke about sexual situations using the plural form.

  3. Credit Card Chain Reaction

    Sings about failing to pay a credit card bill, triggering a cascade that costs him his job and renders him homeless, finding optimism in the fact that he can no longer receive bad mail.

  4. Fresh Out of the Blues

    An experimental departure where he attempts to write a happy song from the perspective of someone who has it good, noting his previous art had always drawn from misery.

  5. The Bitch Song

    A musical nod to Billy Joel's 'Always a Woman' addressing an irredeemably mean girlfriend of a friend.

  6. Oops

    A jazzy, up-tempo song paired with dark lyrics acknowledging universal fallibility and everyday errors.

How it plays

Tone
Awkward, cynical, deadpan, darkly humorous, and self-effacing.
On stage
A hapless, downcast loser figure who is awkward with women, comically unsuccessful, and helplessly self-deprecating.
Pace
Starts with approximately 15 minutes of pure standup greeting the audience before incorporating guitar and piano; shifts between deliberately awkward incompetence and virtuosic shredding.
About
awkward romantic and sexual encounters, inevitable failure and humiliation, cynicism regarding world problems, financial ruin and homelessness, failed relationships

What the critics said

Praised as a solid hour of sly, mischievous musical comedy and stand-up that skillfully juxtaposes sharp musical aptitude against awkward cynicism.

In the room: Appreciative crowd that responded with howling laughter as Phillips subverted expectations from hopeless awkwardness to musical virtuosity.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: themoviedb.org, en.wikipedia.org, cinegraph.org, vulture.com, exclaim.ca, comedycake.com, thecomedybureau.com, alisonrosen.com.

Backstory

Phillips, a classically trained guitarist and creator of the satirical web series 'Henry's Kitchen', channeled personal career stagnation, breakups, and a fascination with failure into his comedic work.

Details

Released
Taped
2014, Lyric Theatre, Los Angeles
Runtime
56 min
Where
Vimeo
Director
Steven Feinartz
Topics
Before
Comedy Central Presents (2005)

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