Reflection 2: “Neal Brennan: Unacceptable”
I chose for this reflection “Neal Brennan: Unacceptable”, an off-Broadway show featuring the comedian most recently known for his Netflix special, “Inside Out.” The little I read about it in advance described it as a mix of the traditional stand-up show with a deep dive into Neal’s psyche and emotional history, so I was interested to see how this would play out.
When considering what to write for this reflection, this show came immediately to mind for two reasons. First was Neal’s theme of the show, which is that the way he lives his life and thinks about the world around us is “unacceptable,” both to him and to most of society. He takes an unusual spin on things that most people find positive. For example: dogs as pets? He looks at that as kidnapping. “You’re not a dog mom,” he says. “Dogs already had a mother.” Second was Neal’s use of a visual motif to guide the audience through the show. Behind him on a plain white wall were scattered small shelves, each holding a different block made to represent a different topic of discussion: a dog bone, a marijuana leaf, a blue donkey, a microphone. Neal uses these blocks to guide the audience through his set, staring at the wall, picking objects up and turning them over, or swapping them to different shelves. This visual “table of contents” through his show was effective for an audience member, but the real purpose of the blocks is revealed dramatically at the end of the show and ties in beautifully with his theme (a spoiler I won’t give away here since in case you want to see the show!).
While at first glance one might think that a comedy show would have nothing to do with design thinking, I thought it aptly demonstrated two concepts we’ve been discussing in class: 1) reframing: this was the singular point of Neal’s comedy and part of what made it so effective (humans kidnap dogs?!) and 2) synthesis: Neal’s ability to synthesize his different topics into a single problem statement: “What exactly is wrong with me?” This is what elevates a traditional comedy set into a work of art, which is exactly what I felt I experienced at this show.
