This will definitely be a death bed memory for me.

August 26, 2023 5:51 AM

There are stand-up specials, and there are stand-up specials. Part Dmitri Martin, part Andy Kaufman, Kristen Schaal: Live at the Fillmore [2013, 1h] is hilarious, inventive, surprising, and, well, um... yeah. I'm still not entirely sure what I've seen, but I think that's part of the point. NSFW for subject matter, not visuals.
posted by hippybear (17 comments total)

The no-kiss move at 01:21 is something I’m going to practice.
posted by neuracnu at 10:41 AM on August 26, 2023

Brilliant - I think the core joke was lost on most of the YouTube commentators..
posted by thirdring at 1:00 PM on August 26, 2023 [1 favorite]

Oh I’ve loved her since Conchords, and I still think her role as the lone, obsessed fan of the band is one of my favourite comedic performances of all time. Yet somehow I’ve never seen any of her standup, so thank you for posting this.
posted by good in a vacuum at 1:02 PM on August 26, 2023

Demetri Martin. Sorry about that.
posted by hippybear at 1:04 PM on August 26, 2023

My god, it's full of stars.
posted by Meatbomb at 1:23 PM on August 26, 2023 [1 favorite]

There is a boldness to Kristen Schaal that’s matched only by Mabel Pines
posted by armoir from antproof case at 3:52 PM on August 26, 2023 [4 favorites]

One of the best. She spoke at the recent unveiling of Andy Kaufman's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and in a very Kristen Schaal move, donated a footbridge to go over the star.
posted by doift at 5:02 PM on August 26, 2023 [4 favorites]

I found that very interesting, it definitely defied my expectations. Did I laugh? Not a whole lot! Did it make a strong impression... yes! Not to spoil it but the audience wasn't what I thought it was and that was cool? I've never seen a show quite like that. The Kaufman comparaisons are apt.
posted by signsofrain at 5:26 PM on August 26, 2023

She never told the knock knock joke, or did I miss it?

Quite a performance from that kid!
posted by emelenjr at 6:29 PM on August 26, 2023 [1 favorite]

It’s been said that Kristen Schaal is a horse
posted by jazon at 9:24 PM on August 26, 2023 [7 favorites]

No, Kristen Schaal is my doppelgänger. (Not kidding, the number of times someone says “do you know who you look like?” to me is high.)
posted by pxe2000 at 4:05 AM on August 27, 2023 [1 favorite]

I saw them do the "Kristen Schaal is a horse" bit here in Chicago and the reception was exactly the opposite of what's in this special: people went INSANE clapping, laughing, singing along, and eventually dancing in the aisles and the bit just went on FOREVER. It was incredible. To this day no matter what project Schaal shows up in, my wife or I absolutely must whisper "Kristen Schaal is a horse" at least once.
posted by eamondaly at 12:02 PM on August 27, 2023 [1 favorite]

I'm just curious what being in the audience was like after the second, or is it the third? time she leaves the stage. Okay, so they had the living whoopee cushion out there telling jokes for a bit, but then they go into the Kristen Shaal is a horse thing, and they very obviously edited things to make it look like the audience is walking out, but how much did the audience know what was actually going on? And the idea they kept at it until either nobody was still watching or Shaal dies is a metaphor about show business that I don't want to look too deeply at.
posted by hippybear at 12:13 PM on August 27, 2023

She seems like a really wonderful mix of funny, chaos and slightly daffy dangerous.
posted by drewbage1847 at 4:33 PM on August 27, 2023

That is postmodern postmodern.
posted by y2karl at 10:52 PM on August 27, 2023

The main link is geoblocked for me but I found one I can watch here. [Reddit]
posted by chavenet at 7:33 AM on August 28, 2023

Kristen’s repeated stumbling over “airplane” that was the beginning of her nervous breakdown seemed spontaneous. If it was a bit, that was amazing.

I eventually assumed the audience was in on it the whole time, considering there was at least one plant in the audience. I don’t think this was a normal filmed performance in front of a live theater audience. Maybe not. The audience reaction to the kid seemed really genuine.
posted by emelenjr at 3:16 AM on August 29, 2023