"Middleditch & Schwartz" Is Beautiful Nonsense, On Netflix Right Now

Goofs and make-em-ups done right.

Anyone who’s ever been dragged to an amateur improvised comedy show already knows improv should only be left to the professionals. Even then, you should resist as a safety precaution.

When it works—as it historically has done at the UCB theatres in New York and Los Angeles, or on podcasts like Comedy Bang! Bang!—it can be magical.

And the other 98 per cent of the time, it’s interminable.

Performers taking to the stage without a safety net and making up an entire show on the spot should make paying patrons nervous. As Channing Tatum remarked in 22 Jump Street: "Wouldn’t it be better to plan the stuff out ahead of time and make sure its funny and not say it in front of people and embarrass yourself?"

That’s why we haven’t seen many taped for posterity; not because the improvisers want to maintain the sense that what’s occurring is just to be shared by the audience that evening, and never again elsewhere. Stand-up comics only invite cameras into the clubs and theatres once they’ve honed their set. Would anyone otherwise submit themselves to such a risky recording? And would an outlet like Netflix, for instance, really spend money on recording those unprepared shows?

Well, anyone asking that question clearly underestimates how discerning Netflix isn’t. Thankfully, the content-vomiting streamer has at least entrusted two innately hilarious and genuinely skilled improvisers for their first improvised venture: Middleditch and Schwartz. Those surnames belong to the jelly-legged Ben Schwartz, best known for Sonic the Hedgehog and as Jean-Ralphio on Parks and Rec, and Thomas Middleditch, the elastic-voiced star of Silicon Valley.

With their ‘round America tour on hiatus due to coronavirus, their trio of specials filmed at NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts come at the perfect time; when many of us are looking for something to absent-mindedly laugh at devoid of context, timeliness and logic. In fact, by the very nature of their improvised, first-idea/best-idea comedy, they can only give us very silly nonsense, albeit in the artfully structured format that sees them take on multiple personae and construct a wide-spanning story around a minor audience contribution. (This is 'long-form' improv; Whose Line Is It Anyway is 'short-form'.)

There’s not much to it, and if there was any more to it, the thing would lose its charm. The duo takes to the stage, asks the audience for a suggestion of "something they’re really excited about or dreading", engages the loudest yeller—usually not a good sign—and prods them for more info. The first special sees them regaled with the tale of a wedding party comprised entirely of people who met at a music festival; the second special involves a law student who really admires her contracts professor; the third is about a job interview conducted via computer. Then, they tell the audience to sit back and watch as they spin twaddle out of these anecdotes. I’m underselling it; it’s beautiful, infectious twaddle.

All three of our #MiddleditchAndSchwartz improv specials are out right now on @netflix! Here's a trailer for the episode titled Parking Lot Wedding. GET READY FOR SOME GOOFS & MAKE EM UPS AROUND THE WORLD. Cannot believe that these specials are finally out there. @netflixisajoke pic.twitter.com/aM663084Zn

— Ben Schwartz (@rejectedjokes) April 21, 2020

I won’t spoil the stories they weave—flittering from romcom to science fiction to teen drama—or the multitudinous characters they inhabit. Most miraculous is how they sometimes switch characters (and physicality) to keep the story going and introduce new combinations of scene partners, even when they get confused as to whom they’re playing. The first entry is the most clearly structured, and a decent entry point, but it's the last and loosest of the lot, "Dream Job", that stands out as best. They never put on a costume; they never whip out a prop; all they can rely on are two chairs already on the stage. At most comedy venues, this kind of presentation would cost about $5 or $10. Knowing tickets would have been more expensive to see Middleditch and Schwartz on the big stage, you’d think they were almost setting themselves up to fail with their audience.

God, I've missed Thomas just throwing this kind of stuff out of nowhere at Ben during #MiddleditchAndSchwartz shows. pic.twitter.com/YsVRvUUd84

— left my cat on the stove (@revolutionarvie) April 21, 2020

But the attendees lap it up, and why shouldn’t they, or the viewer at home? There’s joy to be found in watching these two—with their fantastic chemistry, surprisingly grounded performances and shared lunacy in storytelling—giddily escape the peril of on-stage failure. Leave it to the pros, and here are two for the price of one.

4/5

Middleditch and Schwartz is now available to stream on Netflix.

Header Image: Netflix