by ⭐⭐⭐½
Divisive is an understatement.
If it helps, go into this show knowing that Alan Resnick is the creator of Adult Swim’s disturbing infomercials, Unedited Footage of a Bear and This House Has People in It, and think of this performance not as “funny” or even “comedy” but as a statement. So when his anti-comedy schtick ends well shy of even a half-hour, concluding his satire of the most popular forms of comedy (including crowd work, clowning, edgy comedy, and racism) by handing out NDAs for the audience to sign, he may already have lost some of you. This is the kind of show that requires both literal and figurative trigger warnings.
I didn’t sign the NDA, but I did stick around for the whole experience, which is shocking in multiple ways. Beyond the graphic nature of what Resnick shows the audience, it’s all part of an even more subversive agenda he lays out, leading us down a dark rabbit hole and asking us to wonder if we really do want to let technology take over. There is a message worth considering. But only if you can look past all of the hideously gratuitous imagery.
Alan Resnick: One Funny Hour plays Monkey Barrel 2 through Aug. 23, 2025.
