Editor’s Note: In the event that you find yourself endlessly scrolling through a gauntlet of streaming services for something to watch, and you come across a comedy special you may not be familiar with, chances are the first question you ask yourself, as you contemplate your next move will be something to the effect of ‘Is this something worth an hour that I can’t get back?’ — and we are here to help you shuffle through the latest and greatest comedy releases to make sure that hour and change is well spent. Welcome to The ReVue Stage. Here in this little corner carved out in Vanyaland’s comedy coverage, we have you covered when it comes to dishing out the good word on everything from new specials and albums, to books and even recaps of live shows. It’s all killer no filler around these parts, comrade. So kick back and let us help you figure out your next dose of comedic relief.
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Whatever supernatural entity gives Rory Scovel his comedic powers, we’ll gladly take two — and when it comes to his newest special, we honestly wished it wouldn’t end.
At this point, it’s common practice to expect the unexpected when it comes to a Rory Scovel stand-up show. Or at the very least, a wide array of absurdity. But as seen in his new HBO hour, Religion, Sex and a Few Things in Between, he takes his liberties in visiting each of those avenues with quite a bit of physicality, fully committing his ridiculously underrated improv, observational and general joke writing chops and elevating the experience that his shows have become to something breathing down the neck of a “master class” status.
To begin with, starting in on the “Religion” topic is a power move in and of itself, as ragging on the Holy Spirit is usually reserved for mid-set most of the time. Here, “usually” is the key word, as Scovel is very rarely an artist to go about things in a “usual” way.
Not to mention, jokes that poke fun at religion can usually go one of two ways where people either love them, or they’re cartoonishly appalled by them. Whatever your feelings are on them, Scovel obviously doesn’t give a damn, as he dives head first into character plays depicting how annoying it must’ve been to receive all the letters sent by Matthew and Peter. On top of that, Scovel also questions whether it’s more effective to go to church or get high on mushrooms when looking to speak to God, and on the other side of the spiritual coin, just how ridiculous atheists sound in their own right. Although he fills the first third of the special with limitless verbal illustration and detail, Scovel wastes no time in starting the LPM machine, and it doesn’t stop for a minute.
Although the “Sex” portion weighs heavily on the details of how a gang bang comes to be, Scovel doesn’t just dish out cheap gallows humor about ducks and cum. Don’t take that wrong — it’s definitely gallows humor, but it isn’t cheap or half-assed. If you ever thought that there was no way you could bring a surrealist perspective to how one goes about setting up a threesome, well let Scovel school you on how you can overcome that narrow-minded viewpoint. Additionally, the meta nature of his quick but frequent sidebars is an unbeatable display of comedic versatility that punches holes in the fourth wall while still maintains his theatrical presence that puts him into character and takes him out of it with expert precision.
The “Few Things in Between” aspect is arguably the most intriguing part of the show. First off, it’s obviously more than a few things. It’s a lot, but not in a bad in the slightest. At its simplest, it’s absurdist humor at its finest. Looking deeper, it is an all-out toboggan ride through the most random notches of Scovel’s mind and the creative insanity he thrives on. However, it is nearly impossible to put a finger on everything Scovel ventures into, but nothing stays quite as steady as his dissertation on the amount of cum that comes out of a whale, as well as just how big a whale’s dick is, and the employment levels of “whale jacker-offers” and the guys who change out the buckets that the whales cum into (it’s definitely more than one single bucket, duh). Scovel is obviously a big whale guy, and we remain here for it in solidarity.
By the end of this gem of an hour, you might be a bit winded. Possibly sweaty, too. And hell, you might even ask yourself “what in the actual hell was that?” That was the goodness, delivered how only Rory Scovel can bring it, friends. Just let it flow through you while you can.