Wilson’s comedy present must be ‘FIXED’

Think about watching a YouTube story time video dwell with further millennial cringe and musical numbers — that’s the expertise of watching Emily Wilson’s one-woman musical comedy present “FIXED.” Constructed like a poor imitation of Bo Burnham’s “Inside,” it lacked each humor and introspection, leaving me uncomfortable and shocked.

In what learn as a Netflix particular pitch, “FIXED” chronicles Wilson’s expertise of being on the singing competitors present, “The X Issue,” at 15. Oozing with unlikable melodrama and a dearth of perspective, the whole story might have been boiled down to 5 minutes: Wilson was on “The X Issue,” the judges had been imply to her and that was horrible. As a substitute, the viewers listened to Wilson complain for over an hour as she carried out at Bing Studio on Friday evening.

Wilson appeared to assume that “FIXED” was a testomony to how well-adjusted she is about her “X Issue” expertise, encouraging the viewers to chortle at her teenage self. She even opened the present by telling viewers that it was okay to chortle at clips of “X Issue” decide Nicole Scherzinger being imply to her 15-year-old self.

However whilst Wilson joked about her infantile eager for fame, she was singing and dancing in a present blatantly all about her. As a performer, she was determined for the viewers’s consideration. There appeared to be an entire lack of self-awareness, making Wilson’s story troublesome to attach with and embarrassing to observe. I didn’t need to chortle with Wilson; I needed to ask if she was okay.

Wilson’s efforts to look relatable as a substitute got here throughout as overly rehearsed. She was stiff on stage, reverting again to the identical facial expressions time and time once more. Segments, like when she feigned writing in her diary, felt over dramatic and shallow. Her distance from the viewers was solely worsened by low cost photographs at shock humor, like throwing out random profanity in the course of a pretend dialog between her and God. Awkward millennial humor didn’t assist both. Bits with “Hannah Montana” transition music and Heelys felt dated and unoriginal.

Video edits, displayed on two screens on stage, had been a number of the most profitable components of the present. In a single bit, Wilson DJ-ed in flashing lights as imply YouTube feedback scrolled by. In one other, she sang in regards to the immortalization of the web towards the backdrop of embarrassing social media clips from her teenage years. A few of her video materials remained self-indulgent — like her need to continuously zoom in on her childhood face — however, typically, these segments related to a relatability ethos that was elusive for the remainder of the present. For temporary glimpses, Wilson’s commentary on the disgrace of the primary web technology really landed.

However entertaining edits couldn’t save a comedy present that, for essentially the most half, simply wasn’t humorous. “FIXED” was filled with flat humor. Wilson joked about being in love along with her homosexual finest buddy — a premise that’s each overdone and ridden with stereotypes. She additionally had a far-too-long set about being Republican as a teen, the place she known as New York College a “conversion camp.” The section was awkward sufficient to provide me secondhand embarrassment.

Maybe worst of all was her closing joke of the evening. Wilson defined that she and her fellow contestants had a gaggle sexual expertise after getting voted off ”The X Issue,” whereas their dad and mom had been simply down the corridor. The punchline of this joke? Wilson sang, “and two of them had been 12,” mentioning the younger ages of a number of the group’s members concerned on this escapade. On the time, Wilson herself was 15 and one other one of many singers was 17. It’s unclear how true this story is, however both approach the joke’s premise was too uncomfortable to be humorous.

Leaving Bing Studio on Friday evening, my associates and I spent over an hour attempting to unpack Wilson’s present. It left us all with a discomfort that we felt compelled to course of. The vote was unanimous: we wouldn’t suggest this embarrassing, self-obsessive millennial trainwreck to anybody.

Editor’s Observe: This text is a assessment and contains subjective ideas, opinions and critiques.