Last year comedian John Early took his comedy to a new level. His HBO special Now More Than Ever combined his charismatic story-telling with his love of pop classics into a The Last Waltz-inspired concert mockumentary with his band the Lemon Squares. A little comedy, a little music, a little chiding the crowd—and his parents—like an insufferable brat. (Sorry, Charli, but no one does brat better than Early.)
It wasn’t a surprise to anyone who’d been paying attention. Early has been working his love of music into his work since the beginning.
“The way that I got into this style of performing was literally someone selling vinyl on a street corner [in New York] and finding the Bette Midler albums The Divine Miss M and Songs for a New Depression,” he says. “And this Barbara Streisand album Butterfly, when she covers David Bowie. Those things were very popular. Sandra Bernhardt charted with her cover of Sylvester, ‘You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real);’ Tracy Ullman did an album in the ‘80s with no jokes whatsoever. There are these weird little artifacts that I have stumbled upon and felt a very spiritual attachment to. I’m just trying to recreate that.”
This week he’s bringing a whole new mix of stand-up and music to Revolution Hall. Before he hit the road for the first leg of his US tour, Early and I got to talk on Zoom about dirty pop songs, finding humanity in the world’s most obnoxious people, and, of course, Britney.
How do you choose what songs you’re going to perform?
The only requirement for the songs that I choose is that I just have to be obsessed with it. These are all songs that I love in a very deep way. I don't know if that translates or is inherently meaningful to an audience, but I'm not picking them because I think they're funny. And sometimes I try to cover a song that I'm obsessed with, and I'm like, “Oh, you can't cover a Monica song. She's too good of a singer.” I often run into that. But sometimes I'm surprised. It's mostly because the people in the band are so genius. I think there's something exciting about interpreting a cover and making it your own and bringing out the kind of nastier, rockier sides of very clean pop songs from our childhood.
Yeah, “clean” pop songs. I saw your new video of Aaliyah’s “Rock the Boat.”
Lyrically very dirty! But on a production level quite pristine.
Yeah, made for the radio. Made to be on in the car while the parents are driving and maybe not paying attention to the lyrics.
My parents weren’t paying attention to the lyrics, but I wasn’t either. I loved that song as a kid, and I was just singing “Work the middle,” as, like, a 14-year-old in the back of the van. I had no idea what I was saying.
I like that these are songs that you’re a fan of, particularly because of Britney. I think Britney Spears was the butt of the joke for a long time. Have you enjoyed watching her redemption arc as she’s been able to tell her side of the story? She was a legit talent, but done wrong by a lot of people.
It’s always so bizarre to me when a documentary comes out about a previously maligned blonde, usually. Like Pamela Anderson, Monica Lewinsky, not a blonde [laughs], but people were like, “God, we were really horrible to her. Why did we do that?” In the moment, it felt awful. It was insane. I can’t believe we let it happen, so I’m often a little resentful. When we’re at the redemption arc moment, I’m like, “How did it take you guys this long to realize that was completely crazy and disturbing?”
But it is good people have come around to understand her actual artistry. Her command of the stage is unmatched. She’s obviously had such a profound influence on pop stars today. That’s always part of the Britney covers for me. As silly and as sugary as it is to do Britney, and it’s all in good fun, it’s also privately very emotional for me. She was so with me in my childhood. This is part of why I like to do covers. It’s a devotional act.
As an actor, and the characters that you’ve played, it’s sort of the opposite. A lot of them are cringy and even hard to watch. Elliott Goss from Search Party is the best example. How did you find the balance between playing a character that people don’t like and also, as a performer, wanting to be compelling. You nail it, by the way! But how does that work?
The great comedic performances that I worshiped—Lisa Kudrow in The Comeback, Chris Lilley in Summer Heights High, Laura Dern in Enlightened, Jennifer Saunders in Absolutely Fabulous… I could go on and on and on. These are people who are so unlikeable, they make you so uncomfortable that it always bursts through, and you end up on the other side of it. They wear you down to the point where you’re, like, “Oh my god, I have no choice but to love you.” Those are my favorite performances. A lot of people find those characters, or the shows that those characters are contextualized within, to be punishing. And they can be. But if you’re patient with them, to me, they’re a real test of the viewer's compassion. It’s like, “Can you stick with me and find humanity in me even though I’m being so annoying?” That’s always been my way of doing things, and I’m sure it’s very alienating to some people. The [HBO] special and the album and when I perform live, to me, it’s a way of balancing that out. Because the characters that I play are very hard to like. What I do on stage is a little more, like, “Let’s have fun! And I’ll give you more access to who I am and how I think about things, and I’ll be silly.” That’s part of it, too.
Yeah, like, putting your parents on blast. Their biggest dream coming true, probably—watching their child record an HBO special and then they get the spotlight shined right in their faces while you talk about anal sex.
[Laughs] Yes! There’s some people who really were like, “That was mean.” And I’m like, “They totally get it. They think it’s funny.” When I’m doing the thing with the spotlight, the joke is on me because I’m acting like a little brat. I’m going through this kind of delayed adolescence and acting out, and the joke is that I’m being so pathetic with them. Also, when I put the spotlight on them, [the audience goes] crazy! And they’re so sweet to my parents. That’s the secret tenderness of that joke. I’m making a room full of 400 people clap for my parents. It’s so sweet to me! Sometimes, my intention is “We’re celebrating Britney tonight” or “I hope people are moved to tears by the Neil Young song.” There’s so much emotion in it for me, but then I’m confronted with the fact all the time that a lot of people don’t perceive it or just think I’m being an asshole. Which is okay. And no one’s fault but my own.
John Early performs at Revolution Hall, 1300 SE Stark, Thurs, Sept 12, 8 pm, $45, all ages
