You Look Nice Today, in New York.
I made a quick run down to New York last weekend to see the fine gents of You Look Nice Today perform one of their first shows on the East Coast. The YLNT podcast, a self-proclaimed “Journal of emotional hygiene,” is one of my favorite things to listen to.
I gave up on explaining what I was going to see pretty quickly.
“You’re going to see a podcast?”
“Well, no… I mean, I know them from the podcast, but it’s a normal comedy show.”
“Where do they normally play?”
“It’s on the Internet. A podcast. But they do some live shows too.”
“What’s it about?”
My wife came along with me, being the good sport that she is. I tried to play her some of the episodes in the car during the week leading up to the show, but every time I put it on, I got a puzzled look. “I don’t get it,” she said “What are they talking about?” I hoped she’d just figure it out as it went along.
Having never been to the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater, we got there a bit early. We quickly found some decent seats in the small basement theater. Shortly after, the ukulele refrain of the YLNT theme played through the PA and Messrs. Sandwich, Simpson, and Mann made their way to the three spotlighted chairs in the front of the room.
It’s an interesting experience to see something like YLNT live, having only really heard it in pre-recorded form. The best part of the show is never knowing where it’s going to go (I don’t think they know either¹). The non-sequiturs are absurd and brillant.
Watching live, you can see some of this happening. A glance in one direction. A nod of the head. You can actually watch some of it unfold. There’s also a few awkward pauses, and a touch of nervousness—things that can be edited out for a podcast. It was really fun to see how much these guys make each other laugh too. You get a full picture.
I don’t listen to a lot of comedians, and I have only been to a few comedy clubs in my life. I can’t really say how this compared to anything else. I know it made me laugh a lot, and I know it made my wife laugh too.
Driving home after the show we played an old episode, and suddenly it made more sense to my wife.
“Who’s that?”
“Was he the one in the middle or on the side?”
“Why do they call him Sandwich?”
I’ll take that as a win.
¹ I have no idea how the show is put together, but I always imagine it similar to Curb Your Enthusiasm: a rough outline to get from Point A to Point B, and in between, anything can happen.
