Paul F. Tompkins' "Crying and Driving" comedy special is FINALLY out
Hey, y’all, I know most of you probably skip over this part every time, but I’m still gonna ask you to think about getting a paid subscription to Kat Watches Everything. It supports this newsletter and all the work I put into it — and for just $5 a month (or $50 a year), you’ll get cool bonus content almost every week. This week’s bonus issue will be an all-r/AmITheAsshole edition, where I feature some truly heinous behaviour that hasn’t made it into my weekly internet roundup. Click below if you want in!
I’ve written before about how much I love Paul F. Tompkins as a comedian and that his 2012 special, Labouring Under Delusions, is one of my favourite specials ever. In that newsletter, I also wrote about how long I’ve been waiting for the full-length version of his 2015 special, Crying and Driving, to finally come out. I’d seen him perform it live at JFL42 in Toronto back in 2014 and it made me weep with laughter, and I’ve always wanted to see the whole thing again.
And now it’s finally out! And it’s just as fantastic as I remember it! I might even like it more than Labouring
Just as Labouring had the broad through-line of being about all of the jobs Tompkins has held during his life, Crying and Driving also has a general theme. This time, it’s about the evolution of his love life (and meeting and marrying his wife), and about his evolution and growth as a person. If that sounds too cheesy and/or heartwarming, don’t worry — Tompkins only wants to make you laugh. There are great bits about the fights you think you’ll have when you move in with a partner vs. the fights you actually have, his favourite piece of history about his wife’s hometown, and also an excellent story about finding out something weird about your partner (that isn’t a dealbreaker). Again, I don’t want to spoil ANY of the jokes for you, because you deserve to hear them for the first time from Tompkins.
He’s SUCH a good storyteller. I feel like I’m just repeating points from my Labouring Under Delusions issue, but his delivery and physicality is SO precise and perfectly performed. There are many, many laugh-out-loud moments, and it was just delightful way to spend 72 minutes this week.
Crying and Driving is available for rent on streaming services now — go watch it! (Also don’t try searching for a free version on YouTube, there’s only the edited-for-TV version from 2015 and the video quality is garbage. But you can probably rent the full version on YouTube, if that floats your boat.)
That’s all for me today, gorgeous. Talk to you soon.
Love,
Kat
You can follow me on Twitter here, and Instagram here. *All typos and other errors were included specifically to bother you.*