How To with John Wilson

not gonna lie, the "i don't want much, just want my foreskin back again" song is a jam

Forgive the thread spam, but I wanted to note that this show's 2020 season is nominated in the 2020 ILX TV poll:

ILX's Best Television of 2020 Poll / VOTING AND CAMPAIGNING THREAD / Voting Ends After January 29, 2021

If you like this show and you'd like to see it have a good showing in the poll (running in February) all you need to do is submit a ballot including it and your other favorites (3 minimum, 25 maximum, ranked by your favorite to least favorite) to forksclovetofu at gmail. It'll take five minutes; get to it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rX6zlvA_m3Y

https://evgrieve.com/2021/02/about-that-rolled-up-carpet-in-crosswalk.html

also

https://believermag.com/logger/how-to-interview-john-wilson/

Disappointed we weren't nominated for an emmy today. Next year!

are you affiliated with the show in some way?

Yes! Sound mixer.

nice! it's the best!

Oh man, definitely deserved a nom. Great show.

S2 starts Nov. 26

some positivity in life

perfect timing, i just started rewatching S1, its been the perfect length of time where i mostly forgot the jokes and details by now. these are so, so rewatchable.

Wilson should write the show but not be the host

fuck yes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05F2UpwZhWY

OMG that lady with the pigeons was just in Hoboken on Saturday doing that.

hell yeah

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sG1i-gALy18

beautiful

right man in the right time

Another way to watch this show is just to live in New York

Hard pass

tonight's episode was a fucking TRIP

Holy shit, yes it was. I did not see that wild ride coming.

Saying you are HBO goes a long way with some folks

I thought the ep was pretty weak. Once they drop the “HBO” bomb, the bang guy quickly turns it into a commericial and rightly so while John acts confused as to why the guy would show him around or spend time with him.

everything john makes is grand cru

Susan Orlean is on the writing staff??

https://gothamist.com/arts-entertainment/interview-john-wilson-season-2-hbo-2021

I kept asking HBO if we can get someone like Susan Orlean, and they were like, "We could just ask Susan." And then I was like, "Oh, okay." Because I thought that she would've been past that point in her career. I hadn't really been keeping tabs on her or anything. Then we just met up, and we all just went into the writer's room together.

xpost - I was referring more to the NXIVM stuff being the wild part of the ride. I remember reading that insane acapella forum thread once when it was linked in relation to one of the docs, but it was so unexpected to see it pop up in that context.

the Bang dude was insane, but I genuinely think John had no expectation at all that he would be able to just walk into the guy's house and, as a result, had no plan other than just rolling with whatever the dude said.

I loved this ep. like Jon I had read that insane thread - when it was linked here - and it was funny to find out that John Wilson was one of the accused soilers of hotel rooms.

bang guy bit was decent too

Just "interviewed" John Wilson. Metaphysician, moral philosopher, and poet of cat vomit. When things are so good, there's always a mystery about why they're so good. My hunch? They're investigations into oneself. How we see the world vs. do we see the world?

— errolmorris (@errolmorris) December 7, 2021

this show is good but his schtick is grating after a while "im just a clueless guy and life is weird hehe shrug!" oh stop

otm i’m afraid

My two cents are that he's curious and genuine, vs. "clueless"

And, life IS weird!!

Yeah, he's got far too genuine of a sense of curiosity to come off as "clueless" imo.

I might buy that argument more if the show was 100% his street footage with his commentary, but the way he's able to not only find these odd people but also charming them into opening up on camera.

it's a nathan 4 u joint, it's that genre of blue eyed comedy whose scope is slightly wider and more sophisticated than sidetalk nyc or all gas no brakes where the goal is to laugh at homeless and disabled people or whatever

the tweak season tiktok account is an interesting one to think of in terms of how grating wilson's schtick can be because at least in that one the guy who's controlling it is more plainly actually mentally ill and low key assaulting people in nyc while also making funny observations

also the show about the show would be another parallel with a host who's more honest about the power and destructive nature of observing/filming

it's a nathan 4 u joint, it's that genre of blue eyed comedy whose scope is slightly wider and more sophisticated than sidetalk nyc or all gas no brakes where the goal is to laugh at homeless and disabled people or whatever

― Bongo Jongus, Thursday, 9 December 2021 18:32 (nine minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

this is a laughable unfair take on all of the above (caveat: have not seen sidetalk nyc)

AGNB/C5 is all about presenting America as it is, not as we wish it is, nor as we fear it may be, and letting people speak for themselves without intrusion (save the odd exhortation to rap)

HTWJW is...well, similar, except more essayistic

both have a sly wit, a genuine curiosity and a generosity of spirit that is rare to find

and yeah they do both seek out the zany and the outlandish, but really, why not. it's not like there isn't enough mundane to go around (much of which they also include)

they're all funny and enjoyable to watch at times but that seems naive imago, but I guess eye opening in how people outside the US see this stuff

i get that it may at times seem like mental illness tourism, but on the flipside they are letting people tell their truths, without judgement (save the odd look-to-camera in AC's case); JW also makes it extremely clear he is Not OK either and that his show is as much him working through his issues as anything (the riff on why he couldn't cook risotto was darkly hilarious in this regard)

yeah but what I was getting at is that the JW not okayness is the same nathan for you shtick to do mental illness tourism (then again mental illness tourism is the basis of most comedy)

I'm trying to figure out why I'm ok with Bruce Gilden's Coney Island photography but this stuff ultimately seems kinda lame, and I think it's the disingenuous feeling (to me) JW nathan smol bean syndrome. I do like the pointillist JW thing, that's a neat trick

caveh from show about a show trying to strong arm JW to get Nathan to pitch his show to HBO is pretty funny tho

i meant 'laughably unfair' btw before dgmw

i think not having ever seen nathan for you means i don't quite have the same perspective on this

but on the flipside they are letting people tell their truths, without judgement (save the odd look-to-camera in AC's case);

Without judgement, save for the ominous Lynchian drone that plays when someone is MAGA-ing out.

But I agree that it's an unfair characterization of AGNB/Channel 5.

I can only work through my thoughts about comedy by being unfair to comedians

(then again mental illness tourism is the basis of most comedy)

this is why I have never laughed

AGNB/C5 is all about presenting America as it is, not as we wish it is, nor as we fear it may be, and letting people speak for themselves without intrusion (save the odd exhortation to rap)

definitely otm and very much what makes the show fascinating to me. the events he goes to get SO MUCH COVERAGE on news networks and social media but very little of that portrays what the atmosphere is really like. like those late night BLM rallies - he finds a lot of smart, articulate people who are protesting with a purpose, along with some more unhinged folk who look like they're ready to throw down if need be. he also finds the Rittenhouse types who feel their calling in life is to protect the local Walgreens from black people. all those narratives are there. but at the end of the day most of the folks there don't really fit any of them. they're trying to capture footage to go viral, they're doing it for social media clout, or just doing it for something to do, because finally something interesting is happening in their town. and I think that side goes pretty much uncovered. there's not really much logic to it and I think it makes some of the media narratives look ridiculous.