After years of playing the role of neurotic host, including earlier this year in Stress positions, John Frueh shows a more authentic, groovier version of his comedy. In his Emmy-nominated special John Early: Now more than ever He alternates between singing to the audience and hilarious interludes, all framed by sketches that are reminiscent of This is Spinal Tap.
I had the chance to speak with Early about how he created the eclectic atmosphere of his first standalone special, his belief in the promise of technology, and why we need to bring back the art of dance. Below is an abridged transcript of our interview, as well as the full audio recording.
About his first stand-alone special
JE: It was absolutely terrifying. It ended up being one of the most profound artistic experiences of my life and I think one of the most successful things I’ve done. I don’t mean that in terms of numbers – we’re in the streaming wars – but in terms of my own feelings about making something that gives me reasonable access and emotional catharsis. At a certain point, it swells into something that’s hopefully full of feelings for people. I feel really great about what we’ve done. It’s weird to say this, but I’ve always kept my stand-up almost private. It’s naturally a very public thing, but in the world of the internet, performing in front of a room full of real people feels so much more private than what you’re doing on any given day: just humiliating yourself in front of the whole world.
I was a little sad and scared of the idea of filming it because I didn’t want to know what it looked like either. I lived in ignorance for the first twelve years of my stand-up career. I never film it, I never watch it, I don’t even record the audio, as I’m sure you can tell by the incomprehensibility of the jokes. I try to get feedback from the audience and that’s a very sacred part of my job. So I was really scared to film it, but luckily I chose two very good friends – Leah Hennessey and Emily Allan, who co-directed the special – who are just the chicest, coolest people ever. I knew they would understand the music and rock documentary part. I felt very protective of my girls.
About the creative process of building “Now More than Ever”
JE: My live shows always have this manic patchwork form of music, sketches and stand-up. This special is similarly wild, but in a really great way that I think infuses the footage. I had just gone on tour and I’d never done a proper tour before. I’d toured with Kate for a bit, I’d never done a proper tour as a solo artist. That’s when I really pared down the material and wrote new material. Because of the tour I also forced myself to make some final decisions. You can’t really experiment with songs, you really have to prepare them. At one point, instead of the Neil Young song, it was going to be Madonna’s ‘Take a Bow’, which is an incredible song and I think has a certain emotional power. But the Neil Young song is more of a statement.
Normally a show I do where there’s no special is very loose, spontaneous and groovy. Here I had to really get involved because there’s a legal aspect because you need the license. I had to be very deliberate with the song selection and I’m so glad I swapped out Neil Young and found this moment of backing and grouping the material that feels kind of poetically connected to Neil Young in my eyes. To answer your question, I just went on tour. Hess, who plays keyboards and arranges all the music, came with me and it was really beautiful. We took it all very seriously and the whole experience was very moving for us. I hadn’t done big shows like that in so many years because of COVID and so many crazy back surgeries. It was really empowering to do the tour right before the special, I’d forgotten how much I love shows like that. It was so nice to bring that spirit into the recording.
About cabaret artists
JE: I resisted it for a long time, but I’ve always been jealous of cabaret artists. I’m sure they would laugh at me because I often feel like they’re ignored or vilified. I liked how music makes the spoken part more emotional. I’ve never allowed myself to do that, I’ve always seen the music part of the show and the comedy part as very separate; they’re completely separate, it’s a grab bag. It was really nice to integrate them. Before, I always just did music to create a mood, I want my shows to feel like a party and I want people to feel like they can dance. This was the first time that the importance of the music permeated the stand-up and the stand-up permeated the music. It was a little more integrated. My friend Cole, who’s doing a show on Broadway right now where he’s kind of a secret cabaret artist, came to the recording. After the show, he came up to me in an ironic but loving and sincere way and said: “You are a cabaret artist!” and the next day I burst into tears. I was so moved. And I don’t claim to have the musical ability of the average cabaret artist, but I like the form. I feel like the special is a half-measure, it’s me who gets in there. But unfortunately for everyone, my next special will be pure cabaret.
About Neil Young and the sermon in “Now More than Ever”
JE: Going back to the special, I think the Presbyterian in me made me do this kind of sermon in the middle of it. I tried to justify it as a cabaret, and then when we were editing it, Leah was like, “Yeah, if you’re doing a sermon like that.” And I realized that of course that’s what it is. That comes from all the hours I spent dragging myself to church. They were worth something.
That’s my favorite part of the whole thing. I did this series of jokes for a while that sort of satirized a kind of internet language that a lot of millennials, myself included, passively absorbed and took as our way of speaking. The way I used to do it was a little more classically satirized, a little more caustic. People liked it. I think people like being satirized, especially the audiences I usually perform for, which are sort of millennials from the coast. My shows only sell out in cities where there’s an Amazon headquarters. There has to be some kind of technical component in the culture for me to sell a show, which, to be clear, is devastating. But those are the new jobs, those are the kind of jobs that people are getting today. I think those people aren’t being satirized as much as they need to be or want to be. We’re coming out of a time where comedy was in a bit of a crisis after Trump. It became very self-righteous and it pointed out the enemy rather than doing what comedy does very well, which is pointing at itself and making fun of itself. I think people were ready to be screwed again.
It used to be a little more caustic. When Neil Young came along and Hess started playing piano on tour, I realized that was very exciting for me. It brings out the desperation in my stand-up that I always write from. I write from a place that feels like anger at first, then I realize very quickly that it’s actually desperation… you have to let the anger out to get to desperation. I feel very despair about the state of the culture because I feel like a victim of these tech companies. A lot of people in my generation are waking up and realizing that we devoted our entire youth to the phone. It’s really scary, and I think people are starting to realize how much it’s alienated us all and destroyed those social bonds. It’s really devastating when you think about it, “What could I have done in my twenties and thirties if I hadn’t believed in the promise of social media and the internet?” What could I have written? What kind of films could I have made? What kind of relationships could I have had and what kind of sex could I have had? Would I have taken a Fosse course?
About the syntax of Ask App Not To Track
JE: “Ask App Not To Track” was a joke that was brand new. It was developed for the special, and I think you can tell by its insane length and my refusal to cut it. I had to accept that. I signed a contract for this special in 2019 before COVID, and it got delayed so much. I didn’t feel comfortable doing all that old material, I had to do new material. There are things I had to accept, which is that I was going to work through this material on camera, and that’s OK. I tried not to beat myself up about it, that’s part of the charm of the special. There’s something shaggy and messy about it that I think gave me access to me in a weird way. “Ask App Not To Track” was a big moment because that’s the joke that leads to the piano. That’s very deliberate. That’s the joke that introduces all these ideas. I tried to find something universal. As an artist and a victim of our new entertainment model, pushed into a small echo chamber, I feel so disconnected from reaching a wider audience. I often don’t know how. In producing this special, it occurred to me that the only remaining universal thing we can all agree on is the phone. It was very exciting for me to talk about a small prompt from Apple that we’ve all learned to just accept and ignore.
People really love this joke and I believe it’s because they never thought to notice it and pay attention. People constantly tag me and take screenshots and tag me in “ask app not to track.” It excites me that my joke actually pisses them off a little and forces them to look at it, not that I made this joke with any social justice implications. That’s essentially the point of the joke, to look at these things we all experience every day on our phones and make them feel weird. That’s the highfalutin answer to your question. The truth is I found it so funny. How could they have chosen to do that? That’s such a crazy arrangement of letters and syllables and sounds when they could have said “no”! They could have said “no” or “don’t allow.” Wouldn’t that be the clearer solution? When it comes to making those two choices clear, that’s not what you choose to do. When you look at it, it looks like another language. I really had to laugh. It’s a stand-up comedian’s dream…
