now more than ever – The Comedy Bureau

John Early Wonderfully Gives All Sides of Himself on “Now More Than Ever”

June 30, 2023

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A comedian on the threshold of doing an hour special can take a look at the landscape of comedy today and very easily get the notion of doing something, anything different, since the majority of comedy specials are still predominantly comprised of a single person on stage talking for an hour in front of a full theater or club. Then, comedians like John Early opt to let their imagination run wild and give us a rollicking pastiche of all facets of themselves as Early did with Now More Than Ever.

On paper, there are several different levels to Early’s hour on Max (notably referenced as HBO Max in this special, which will be a fun deep cut reference the more time that passes). Early couches his genuine, painstakingly crafted stand-up as interstitials within a sort of rock-doc/concert film for his fictional band The Lemon Squares (though they’re pretty damn fun as a cover band). So, that’s technically two sides of Now More Than Ever.

Then, there’s the meta/mockumentary element where John has the sort of chaotic fun that he has done so long with his long time comedy collaborator, Kate Berlant, showing comedic discord behind the scenes with The Lemon Squares. On top of those three layers, there seems to be final topping of Early being satirically self-aware of himself, his material, the concept of a comedy special, etc. Early doesn’t recuse himself from “being part of the problem” when calling it out in jokes and takes a mischievous pleasure in shouting out his parents out in the crowd with a spotlight and dragging them at the same time. In some schools of comedy thought, there might be “too many hats on hats” here, but Early’s magnetism, shrewd observations, and impeccable Britney voice does really ties everything together.

Suffice it to say that there’s a lot that’s packed into Now More Than Ever, but it all meshes together in a dreamlike fashion, blurring between varying levels of verisimilitude of John, but resulting in a special that’s a hilariously delightful greeting card to waking up in the awkwardness-fueled, tech-obsessed, new-new lost generation of the 2020s. It might be the choice special to watch on July 4th weekend.

John Early: Now More Than Ever is now streaming on Max, formerly HBO Max.

Trailer for John Early’s First HBO Special “Now More Than Ever” Promises a Blend of Mockumentary and Stand-Up Special

May 15, 2023

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In just over a month, John Early‘s very first HBO hour special, Now More Than Ever, will debut. As we’ve said before, this is long overdue for Early who has given us years and years of outstanding stand-up, characters, and TV appearances, etc. etc.

True to form, Early is transcending the form of a traditional stand-up special, not unlike his longtime comedy partner, Kate Berlant, by blending his real life stand-up with a rock mockumentary special for the fictional(?) band The Lemon Squares for Now More Than Ever, all in front of a live audience. So, expects bits and bits within bits and bits about the bits within bits and general John Early comedic revelry for what looks to be one of the more fun specials of 2023.

Also, this appears to be a return to form for HBO doing atypical specials as they were doing right up until the pandemic started.

Get a look at it for yourself with this first official full trailer here, then look for it on HBO on Sat. Jun. 17th.

John Early’s Solo Debut Hour Special “Now More Than Ever” Set for Jun. 17th on HBO

April 10, 2023

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Given everything that the brilliant John Early has done in his comedy career, Would It Kill You to Laugh?/555/Search Party, the prospect of Early doing an hour special should be a thing of the past. Early is as deeply funny as he is a boundary pusher and has been doing so for several years (even in bit parts such as he’s wild role as a compulsive liar on I Think You Should Leave).

Yet, Early won’t have had a solo hour comedy special until this Summer (you could count his episodes of Netflix’s The Characters as his own special, but it’s only 35 minutes) per HBO’s announcement of one this morning. It’s refreshing and surprising to hear that it’s something that HBO is ordering up rather than trying to write off for tax purposes.

Per Early’s particularly off-beat/alt/meta sensibilities, the special entitled Now More Than Ever won’t just be John standing on stage going through great bits. Variety reports that it’ll be done in the style of a gritty ’70s rockumentary, which makes it a de facto mockumentary. There will be cover songs, but, as one might expect, there will be interstitials that, maybe, might feel like a comedy version of Daisy Jones and The Six (though we’re sure there are many more layers to it than just that).

It’s hard to say what exactly Early has up his sleeve for us, but the mystery of what John is going to do, whichever of the multitudes of himself he chooses to show up as, is all part of what has been so enthralling about his comedy all this time. That’s why you should set a reminder for Jun. 17th when Now More Than Ever is set to premiere on HBO.