Three in the room

September 27, 2018 2:27 AM

Ventriloquist Nina Conti In Therapy - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 (nsfw swearing)
posted by fearfulsymmetry (16 comments total)

Very cute, but Otto and George is the purest form of this, even though Otto was a far less talented ventriloquist.
posted by dbiedny at 3:42 AM on September 27, 2018

Her and monkey have long had issues
posted by mbo at 4:04 AM on September 27, 2018 [3 favorites]

After watching ep1 I’m hooked. This is amazing. Such great improvising from both (all 3?) of them.
posted by archy at 5:25 AM on September 27, 2018 [1 favorite]

Best straight man ever (how does he not crack up?)
posted by mygoditsbob at 5:33 AM on September 27, 2018

I always thought 'Nina Conti' was one of Columbus' ships, or perhaps an Italian exlamation like 'Santa Maria'. "Hey, what the hell was that? Niiiina Coooonntii!"

Also, [olbermann-voice] ATTENTION MARIA BAMFORD, THINGS COULD BE WORSE! [/olbermann-voice]
posted by zaixfeep at 5:59 AM on September 27, 2018

Oh my god what is this? I only watched the first three minutes or so, but is it meant as a joke? Or is she really struggling with this? I'm laughing but I honestly can't tell if she's in on the joke. Either way it's riveting.
posted by Ben Trismegistus at 6:28 AM on September 27, 2018

Yeah, this is nothing like Otto and George, and it s funny how intense it gets
posted by eustatic at 7:11 AM on September 27, 2018

@Ben Trismegistus Given that the shrink is a comedian, yes it's meant to be a joke but probably with a lot of truth in it.
posted by GallonOfAlan at 7:13 AM on September 27, 2018 [1 favorite]

Ah I didn't pick up on that - thanks. I would put this in the category of Hannah Gadsby's "Nanette", as equal parts comedy act, personal confessional, and social commentary. Looking forward to watching the rest.
posted by Ben Trismegistus at 7:23 AM on September 27, 2018 [1 favorite]

If you want to know more about Nina, this documentary is long but I remember it being interesting... Nina Conti A Ventriloquists Story Her Masters Voice
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 7:35 AM on September 27, 2018 [3 favorites]

Nina is hilarious. She also played a role in Chris O'Dowd's show Family Tree as his sister. Monkey is in it too (uncredited).
posted by terrapin at 8:56 AM on September 27, 2018 [1 favorite]

This is very funny. It’s a takeoff of “In Treatment” which was the excellent American version of an Israeli TV show.
posted by Jode at 10:33 AM on September 27, 2018

Chicken
posted by Obscure Reference at 11:31 AM on September 27, 2018

Oh geez - now I have to watch all of these. I still call Volvic "shit water" every time I see a bottle, thanks to Monk.
posted by queensissy at 12:30 PM on September 27, 2018

The "therapist" is Adam Meggido, about which more here. He's the artistic director of the Extempore Theater (London?), and co-created the series with Conti.

Interestingly, there is also a page at the Extempore site for Ken Campbell, Conti's mentor, partner, and the subject of her documentary mentioned uptopic. Apparently, Meggido was also an admirer of and artistic collaborator with Campbell.

(BTW, the BBC page for the doc notes that Christopher Guest served as executive producer, which is kind of cool.)
posted by uberchet at 1:33 PM on September 27, 2018

Wow, maybe it's my dark sense of humor, but I've seen Nina with various puppets on various BBC shows, and always found her annoying although good at ventriloquism.

Now THIS is funny, though, and I have a whole new respect for her.
posted by mmoncur at 8:58 PM on September 27, 2018 [1 favorite]