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Nice Try, The Devil

Pete Holmes

Comedy Central · 2013 · 60 min

An aggressively positive hour of absurd tangents and rapture anxiety.

Watch on Comedy Central(opens in a new tab)

Pete Holmes takes the stage with the aggressively positive energy of a youth pastor who just drank a few white wines. Instead of mining cynicism, he builds a set around unabashed joy and ridiculous premises. The high point of the hour is his acting out a video game character visiting a normal doctor, alongside a strangely logical argument for why humans should be traumatized by breast milk.

Filmed at The Moody Theater in Austin, Texas, the 2013 Comedy Central hour captures Holmes right as his career was catching fire. He had already built a devoted following with his You Made It Weird podcast, and this set premiered just months before he launched his TBS late-night show. He leans hard into his goofy persona, spinning tangents out of harassing telemarketers, the mechanics of dropping a dog, and his willingness to go gay for Ryan Gosling. He closes out the night with a long stretch on his evangelical upbringing and his lingering fear of the rapture, bridging the gap between utter silliness and the spiritual anxiety that became a regular fixture of his stand-up.

The set list

6 bits

  1. Texas BBQ and 'No Need Teef'

    Opens with a Lion King Zulu chant before examining the absurdity of Texas barbecue restaurant slogans advertising meat so tender you don't need teeth.

  2. Gay for Ryan Gosling

    Confesses intense admiration for Ryan Gosling to satirize jocky gay panic through surreal hyperbole.

  3. Juan

    Follows up a previous bit about 'Pierce' with a homophonic celebration about a time when 'Juan won one'.

  4. Video Game Doctor

    Imagines medical doctors treating severe fight injuries sustained by characters in Streets of Rage 2.

  5. Belief Choices and Raptures

    Reflects on his religious upbringing, fear of the end times, and shifting personal faith.

  6. The closer (spoiler). Show it

    Telemarketers closer

    Describes having devious, ridiculous fun by spouting total nonsense to telemarketers on the phone.

How it plays

Tone
Silly, exuberant, joyful, goofy, and surreal with flashes of self-consciousness.
On stage
Aggressively positive, avuncular, non-threatening, corn-fed 'fun dad' optimist who embodies boundless joy and silliness.
Pace
Terrifying, boundless, high-octane positive energy with fervent speech patterns and manic momentum.
About
religion and rapture, singledom and dating, absurd pop culture, sexuality and homophobia, food and fast food

What the critics said

Received positive reviews praising Holmes' infectious joy, charismatic optimism, and distinctively silly voice.

In the room: Enthusiastic and loyal Austin crowd fully onboard for his aggressive silliness and joyful oddities.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: peteholmes.comedydirect.com, en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, allmovie.com, vulture.com, consequence.net, avclub.com, dvdtalk.com, allmusic.com.

Backstory

His first hour-long special on Comedy Central, drawing from his singledom, divorce, and evolving religious background.

Details

Released
Taped
The Moody Theater, Austin
Runtime
60 min
Where
Comedy Central
Director
Marcus Raboy
Honors
The A.V. Club - 6th-best comedy album of 2013Paste - 10th-best stand-up special of 2013
Topics
After
Faces and Sounds (2016)

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