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Brick Wall Comedy
Brick Wall Comedy
Promotional art for Sweet & Salty
Cover image credit: via TMDB

Sweet & Salty

Fortune Feimster

Netflix · 2020 · 61 min

A warm autobiographical hour about growing up Southern and gay.

The premise of this hour relies on the charmingly late-blooming realization of its host. The central narrative follows a Southern tomboy who did not understand her own sexuality until her mid-20s, making her memories of teenage life retroactively funny. In one memorable segment, she describes her 18th birthday party at Hooters, where she was paraded around by eight servers banging drums while she desperately tried to avoid looking at their chests, a memory she likens to a trial. Other stories recount her mother submitting her to a debutante ball and her intense hatred for her college friends’ boyfriends, which she later realized was just a desire to keep the girls all to herself.

Filmed at the McGlohon Theatre in Charlotte, North Carolina, the set took place just thirty minutes from her hometown of Belmont. Released on Netflix in January 2020, the show represents her first full-hour special after fourteen years in the comedy industry. Her mother introduces her on stage, setting an intimate tone for a set that functions more like a theatrical coming-of-age memoir than a series of disconnected club jokes. While some critics noted that the self-deprecating remarks about her body became repetitive, the audience reception was highly positive, highlighting the charm of her storytelling.

The set list

5 bits

  1. Almost missing her first swim meet as a 12-year-old because she was distracted eating Fun Dip and nachos at the concession stand.

    Self-deprecating childhood story illustrating how she earned the title 'Sweet & Salty'.

  2. Being submitted to participate in a debutante ball despite being an unwealthy tomboy.

    Act-outs of her mother dressing her in feminine attire and navigating high-society Southern traditions.

  3. Remaining a virgin through college and not realizing she was gay due to lack of representation.

    Humorous reflection on having no internet, YouTube, or media like Frozen to help figure out her sexuality, leading to naive and awkward behavior.

  4. Coming out to her mother at a Chinese restaurant.

    Recounting her nerves and her mother's supportive reaction: immediately heading to Hooters to celebrate.

  5. Imagining an alternate reality where she never came out and became a frustrated housewife.

    A nod to her social media character Brenda constantly complaining about her husband Tim.

How it plays

Tone
Intimate, autobiographical, silly, irreverent, and joyful.
On stage
Warm, joyful, eminently likable, silly, and vulnerable about her sexuality and body image.
Pace
Engaging momentum carried by undeniable joy and grounded storytelling.
About
Southern roots and upbringing, Realizing she was a lesbian and coming out, Childhood misadventures and sports, Debutante ball experience, Family dynamics and church

What the critics said

Praised as an intimate, hilarious, and inspiring autobiographical hour that balances vulnerability about sexuality and Southern identity with undeniable warmth.

In the room: Enthusiastic and responsive hometown crowd in Charlotte.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: netflix.com, imdb.com, womenslifestyle.com, thetvdb.com, decider.com, vulture.com, leathgroup.com, people.com.

Backstory

Filmed in a Charlotte theater that also serves as a church, aligning with her Southern church upbringing; the hour reflects on her Southern roots and her journey to coming out as gay in her mid-20s without seeing representation growing up.

Details

Released
Taped
McGlohon Theatre, Charlotte
Runtime
61 min
Where
Netflix
Director
Krysia Plonka
Honors
Critics' Choice Awards - Best Comedy Special nominee (2021)
Topics
Before
Fortune Feimster (2017)
After
Good Fortune (2022)

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