The Meltdown Show
With Jonah and Kumail
“The One With The
Childhood Crushes”
S1E1
Chad White, Had A Crush On Patti Mayonnaise, Never Lost It <3
The comedy scene is a lot like the music industry. There are very famous comedians (Louis C.K., Dave Chappelle) and then there are those who are not known as highly (Brody Stevens, Kulap Vilaysack) but they’re just as good. Indie - or hipster, whatever you kids call them – comedians have their own niche crowds. Much like underground bands, many comedians usually perform several sets throughout the week. They test all of the material that they’ve recently prepared and try it out on a crowd to see what works and what doesn’t.
One such haven for new works is The Meltdown, a comic book store that is host to a stand up show on Wednesday nights. Comedian Jonah Ray and fellow comedian Kumail Nanjiani bring in the friends who have new jokes that they want to test out. Sometimes these jokes land, other times they flop. But that’s the magic of comedy: sometimes things just don’t work. The show is brought to the silver screen thanks in part to Emily V. Gordon, Najiani’s partner and wife. She’s done a lot of behind the scene stuff to get this show to air. All three of the comedians were even present for edits, a practice that is becoming more common among the comedy scene. Neal Brennan, David Koechner, Steve Agee, and Moshe Kasher are all here for the opener of the series. There are even special appearances from Adam Scott and Natasha Leggero.
During tonight’s episode, there seems to be a hurried focus on each comedian. Ray and Nanjiani perform between each comedian with a lot of crowdwork. The Meltdown is pretty intimate in seating so it’s only natural the two talk with the audience. They’re naturally funny with each riff working in its own right. But then we get backstage snippets of the greenroom where things seem a little uneven. We’ll see Brennan talk about something or Kasher talk about being the best looking comic there but these moments are often too short. Worse yet, Emily Gordon is only seen for maybe one minute out of the entire episode. I want just a little bit more of her since this show is basically her baby.
Should you watch The Meltdown “The One With The Childhood Crushes?”
Yes! Support smaller comedians by watching everything they do. On day, they’ll be just as recognizable as their more famous contemporaries and you can say that you knew them before they were that big. This first episode comes off a bit uneven but the bits are funny and the comics are entertaining. Look forward to more experiments of this caliber.