In an era when The Simpsons has turned finding parallels or previous reference points into a comedy nerd’s game, it’s still hard to find a parallel to The Cody Rivers Show, as few acts I’ve seen intertwine physical humor so seamlessly with the highbrow. In fact, the only parallels I can think of are the short absurdist plays of Beckett, Artaud, and Ionesco, and SITI's brand of physical theater, but The Cody Rivers Show is a hell of a lot funnier and a lot less depressing than all of those. Between Conner and Methieu, the classic straight man/buffoon dynamic is shifted on a nearly constant basis, and their chemistry is so strong on a physical, emotional, and intellectual level that you’d think they were soul mates—and they’ve got that covered too, by not even trying to hide the bulges in the full-body wetsuits.
I use the term "comedy nerd" liberally, nowadays, and I think that is okay in a culture where our lexicon is dominated by the nerdiest of the comedy nerds (“spam,” “yoink,” “freaks and norms,” and “cromulent” are among the relatively common terms originating from comedy that have been popularized by the Internet). In fact, things were like that even 15 years ago, before the Internet. If the postmodern philosophy of Foucault and Derrida was based on the chaotic philosophy of Nietchze, Darwin, or Kant, depending on who you ask, The Cody Rivers Show is similarly indebted to the comedic breakthroughs of Steve Martin, early Saturday Night Live, and The Simpsons. But The Cody Rivers Show is possibly as far down the rabbit hole as comedy has ever gone, turning the ability to find humor in chaos into a means of survival for the soul.
The Cody Rivers Show: Meanwhile, Everywhere was presented at Under St. Marks (94 St. Marks Place) by The Horse Trade Theter Group. For future tour dates of the Cody Rivers Show, please visit www.codyrivers.com. Photos by John Meloy.
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