Absolutely Wonderful

Nick Griffin looks and sounds like a man who has made peace with losing every argument. There is no triumph in his act, only the exhausted relief of someone who has aged out of caring. When he talks about his testosterone dropping, he treats it as a medical mercy: young men go to bars looking for violence or romance, while middle-aged men go to find an empty stool and stare into the middle distance.

Released in 2023 by 800 Pound Gorilla Media, the 40-minute set was recorded in the back room of the Fat Black Pussycat in Greenwich Village. Griffin had been working New York cellars for over thirty years by then, with eleven Letterman spots behind him and an act built around pure efficiency. He does not use stage gimmicks or long personal narratives. He stays in the pocket and runs through the mechanics of bad breakups, the appeal of comfortable couches, and the realization that therapy only confirms flaws you already knew you had.

Patrick Holbert directs the taping from just a few feet away, keeping the focus entirely on Griffin and a microphone in a low-ceilinged room.