Comedy that exudes a fresh, crazy joy
The Show: The Characters, Season 1, Episode 5 The Moment: Basic bitch
In a mock music video, comedian Natasha Rothwell (the writer/star of this episode) and friends stride onto the New York streets, celebrating how basic they are.
“We love scented candles and we cry on the train,” they rap, fists pumping. “We’re hashtag blessed ’cause we drink champagne. We read our horoscopes and chug Two Buck Chuck. We rock granny panties cause we don’t give a f---.”
As granny panties rain from the sky, they sing the chorus: “I’m a basic, basic, basic bitch, I got a vision board on Pinterest. I’m a basic, basic, basic bitch, if there’s karaoke, I’m singing Taylor Swift.”
In this omnibus series, six almost-famous performers get a half-hour each to strut their stuff.
Most of them string together skits and several are clever: John Early (Episode 2) is convincing as a groomzilla and I loved Paul Downs (Episode 6) as a book agent for the Bible (“I have a couple of editing ideas. Just suggestions, not commandments”). Mainly, the comedians skewer narcissists: a worthwhile target, if an easy one.
That’s why, for me, Rothwell’s characters stand out. They have a crazy joy that feels fresh.
Take a look at “Tanisha,” an ob- noxious child who schools her mom’s co-workers.
Hair in twin poufs, upper lip sore from a permanently runny nose, she advises one, “Your task is not to seek love but to find the barriers within yourself that you have built up against it,” then cries, “My kingdom for a juice box.”
She’s a character I’d like to meet again. The Characters streams on Netflix. Johanna Schneller is a media connoisseur who zeroes in on pop-culture moments. She usually appears Monday through Thursday.