Season 1 – Middleditch & Schwartz

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Corey W @RT31768611 02/15/2023 Thomas Middleditch and Ben Schwartz showcase some longform improv that's entirely too long in their Netflix special Middleditch & Schwartz. Each hourlong episode features a quick Q&A with an audience member at the beginning which forms the basis for that episode's improvisational comedy. It's a catchy and simple format that starts strong in each episode. It's towards the middle section of the runtime that the format starts to fall apart. The subject matter is simply too threadbare to warrant 50+ minutes each time and the viewer can almost pinpoint when the air starts to let out of the whole thing. The second half of each episode is peppered with a few funny moments and not much else. Perhaps the series would have benefitted from being ten minutes longer to fit two smaller improv pieces in a single episode. Perhaps I'm just not a fan of longform improv. But by the second half of each episode, I began to long for the days of Whose Line is it Anyway? where the bits never overstayed their welcome and the participants were infinitely more prepared (an oxymoronic take given the format, but there's no denying the sense one gets that the actors in Whose Line were just quicker-witted overall). There are good pieces in here, but the format needs more focus and/or more variety. There are only so many laughs to be collected from the fact that the improv actors can't remember a character's name, or facts about a character that had been established prior and this is what comprises most of the laughs in the second half of these episodes. I don't envy improv actors, their craft is truly one of the most difficult acting jobs, but Middleditch & Schwartz come across as amateurish throughout. If you're a hardcore improv fan there are flashes of greatness, but the picture overall lacks the level of humor required to make it work consistently. See more 03/17/2021 Amazing - all 3 sets were incredible. I sincerely hope that this leads to more long form improv comedy specials. See more 01/29/2021 Middleditch & Schwartz was one of the biggest suprises of the last years. The titular duo performed what is perhaps the most creative Netflix comedy special out there, running at a staggering total of three hour-long episodes of completely improvised long form comedy. Each time they craft a story full of belly laughs, recurring themes and bursting of originality, starting only from a short conversation with someone in the audience. You may know Thomas Middleditch as the main actor in HBO's massively underrated Silicon Valley and Ben Schwartz from a hilarious, supporting role in Parks & Rec. Together they are Middleditch & Schwartz, a genuinely exciting stage duo with flawless chemistry, two artists playing off each other's energy to master improv, the jazz of comedy. See more Michael E @RT67902052 01/15/2021 All these rave reviews only go to show how low our comedy standards have become. I got about halfway through the parking lot wedding sketch (don't tell me that the people who prompted that weren't a setup). It was just plain stupid. Real improv involves people re-inventing themselves into whole new characters. OK, I'm an old guy and I still remember Nichols and May. These are just two guys laughing and mugging at their own stale jokes. Waste of time. See more 12/16/2020 This is cruise ship level humor. Not likeable especially Middleditch See more 11/16/2020 My God I NEEEEEEEEEEED more episodes. These two souls are just funny and talented. Please make more STAT ! See more Read all reviews

Middleditch & Schwartz — Season 1

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