Crying and Driving
Comedy Central · 2015 · 72 min
A dapper storyteller tackles marriage, driving, and late-in-life independence.
Paul F. Tompkins stepped onto the stage of the Palace Theatre in Los Angeles dressed in a black velvet jacket and a violet bow tie, with no microphone in his hand. By 2015, Tompkins had transitioned almost entirely away from standard stand-up club sets, choosing instead to present himself as a theatrical storyteller. This hour-long Comedy Central special captures him at a point in his career when he was already a dominant force in the podcast boom, and that loose, narrative-heavy style shapes the entire performance. Rather than firing off setups and punchlines, he unfurls long, conversational arcs about the late-stage milestones of his own life, focusing on his marriage and his embarrassing quest to obtain a driver’s license at the age of forty-one.\n\nThe material relies on Tompkins’s ability to turn mundane domestic adjustments into absurd sagas. He recounts the physical comedy of trying to share a home with another human being, which mostly involves accidentally scaring each other around corners, and details a bizarre visit to the Magic Castle. The show is not without darker detours, including a story about an amputated child’s foot and a recounting of his father’s generational contempt for having choices in life. But the core of the hour is a gentle self-deprecation, culminating in the title’s image of a grown man experiencing a sudden bout of scream weeping behind the wheel. Critics noted the transition, praising his shift from traditional joke writing into a more theatrical style of personal storytelling.
The set list
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Having an emotional breakdown and scream-weeping in the alley behind Largo
Recounting vomiting sadness out of his eyes after years of poor decisions, punctuated by encounters with a bystander and unexpected comedic narrative turns.
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Learning to drive as an adult and going to the DMV
Detailing his experiences with a driving instructor and imagining surreal scenarios like a late-night DMV raid on his home to take his license photo.
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Visiting The Magic Castle with his wife
Describing the eccentric, silly atmosphere of the private magicians' enclave and an awful oil painting of an octogenarian.
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Going to therapy and family attitudes toward mental health
Contrasting his father's generation's disdain for emotional openness with his own experiences in therapy, while warning against over-sharing therapy talk.
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A doctor and an amputated child's foot
A bizarre, jarring true-life anecdote woven into his comedic stories.
How it plays
- Tone
- Charming, genial, laugh-out-loud funny, deceptively personal, and unexpectedly touching.
- On stage
- Dapper and natty (sporting a black velvet jacket, violet bow tie, and neat mustache), charming, genial, and self-effacing while acting as the emcee of his own humiliations.
- Pace
- A rolling monologue delivered with surgical deployment of theatrical pauses, literary smoothness, conversational rhythm, and subtle physicality.
- About
- Marriage and domestic life, Learning to drive at an advanced age, Emotional vulnerability, scream-weeping, and therapy, Generational divide and relationships with parents, Navigating adulthood and perceived personal failings
What the critics said
Widely praised by critics as charming, deceptively personal, and touching; reviewers highlighted Tompkins' masterful storytelling, sharp turns of phrase, and ability to mine personal humiliation and adult shortcomings for hilarious, resonant material.
Backstory
Reflecting on middle-aged milestones such as getting married, learning how to drive as an adult, navigating therapy, and processing grief and generational differences regarding his deceased parents.
Details
- Released
- Taped
- The Palace Theatre, Los Angeles
- Runtime
- 72 min
- Where
- Comedy Central
- Director
- Marcus Raboy
- Topics
- Before
- You Should Have Told Me (2010)
More from Paul F. Tompkins
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You Should Have Told Me
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Comedy Central Presents
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