One Night Stand: Tom Parks

Tom Parks operates with a mild persecution complex, turning the indignities of adulthood into reliable club material. He trades in conversational exasperation rather than high-concept performance. Whether he is fixating on the mystery of train delays or detailing the mechanics of a sewer backing up into a bathtub, Parks zeroes in on the moments when life refuses to cooperate.

Aired in 1990 as part of the second season of HBO’s One Night Stand, the set captures Parks shortly after his run on Not Necessarily the News. The half-hour reflects an era of cable television that gave working stand-ups space to tell jokes without needing a sweeping narrative arc. Parks simply takes the microphone and complains about transit and municipal plumbing.