The Awkward Humor of Nathan for You
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The Awkward Humor of Nathan for You
[title type="subtitle-h6" color=""]August Glomski[/title] As a devotee of The Office, I’m inclined to humor that draws its lifeblood from the socially awkward. Michael Scott, brilliantly portrayed by Steve Carell, has inhabited television’s gold standard of social incompetency since the show first aired in 2005. Yet, Nathan for You shoves Carell firmly to the sidelines and boldly introduces a new character that takes humor of the awkward to a new level.On a surface level, Nathan for You functions as one man’s crusade to help struggling business by employing radical PR campaigns that exploit every loophole in the book. From a rebate drop-off location on the top of a mountain to a realty business that guarantees ghost-free homes, half of the show’s charm is the bizarre lengths Nathan Fielder goes in order to promote L.A. businesses. It puts an interesting twist on the reality genre whereby Nathan, a mostly fictional character, interacts with real people who are not privy to the show’s comedic aims.
The true brilliance of Nathan for You comes in the cringe-inducing awkwardness of its main character. Never before have I felt so terribly uncomfortable by the sheer social ineptness of a character on screen. The show constructs situations that center around Nathan’s interpersonal incompetence while audience members watch in horror and awe as average people try to remain composed in the wake of crumbling etiquette. This may be hard to imagine without having watched the show, but it is easily apparent in the way Nathan concludes many episodes by desperately asking business owners if they’d like “hang out” with him at some point the future. What ensues is usually a flurry of excuses as people scramble to extricate themselves from the awkward prospect of turning down a proposal that would never have been aired had Nathan even a scrap of self-awareness.When the show hits it’s stride, it’s humor is spellbinding in a way that can only be created through a combination of pity and discomfort that are signatures of awkward comedy. One of the most successful strategies the writers employ when constructing comedy is the way they orchestrate interaction between everyday characters. Nathan often manipulates people to interact with one another and forces them to play out his unnatural situations. In one episode, he hires two coffee shop employees and asks the female barista to choose who is more attractive between himself and the other male employee. After seconds of gut-wrenching silence, the woman admits that Nathan is more her type compared to the fellow barista, who is standing a few feet away and uncomfortably has no choice but to listen to the entire conversation.This scene reveals the way in which Nathan often manipulates space between people and then steps back to watch as humor ensues. He cultivates awkwardness between normal people and then lets them bumble their way through his imaginings. And people are willing to politely play along because they think his bizarre behavior is the result of a painfully awkward man rather than a character who has been specifically constructed to create these moments of discomfort.Some of the most captivating moments in the show come when Nathan’s proposals actually prove to be a success. On more than a few occasions his business strategies have received national attention despite their spoof-like origins. In these instances, viewers are able to poke fun at the way a single man is able to manipulate mass groups of people by breaking social taboos. Even those who are not fans of awkward humor will find the show fascinating to watch as it reveals the fragility of social norms and the outcomes that inevitably follow when a person is willing to throw social acumen out the window. But for those who are partial to television that makes you gnash your teeth and close pinch your eyes in glorious discomfort, Nathan for You is ready to service all of your awkward fantasies.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]