Discussing criticisms of VIP s3
I’ve seen a lot of people on here come with criticisms of the new season of VIP and it’s kind of become a meme at this point but I feel like a lot of it is taken in bad faith. So, as someone who deeply loves this show I wanted to articulate my personal criticisms and thoughts on the changes in the show that I think a lot of others are picking up on.
Obviously, the first thing is the more complicated and high-budget costuming. People often complain that the bigger costumes are constricting the comedians performances. The usual response is oh really? could you have guessed this hotdog would have been a catholic matron? But I think the issue isn’t that the costumes limit the subject of the jokes but the type of jokes. A lot of the costumes this season are distinctly inhuman with a specific theme. When you’re put into a costume with such a distinct motif you basically only have two options, to subvert the costume (i’m a scary demon but my real problem is my emotional vulnerability) or to play into the costume (i’m a scary demon and I do evil stuff). In both cases it limits the kinds of comedy that the comedian can do and unless the comedian is really clever it can get old really fast.
The other problem is that the humor is just never going to hit the same if there’s not something to ground it. The characters who are human or are deeply connected to humanity always end up being way more interesting and having way more avenues to go down than the aliens/monsters. Iconic moments such as ‘i wish for my brother to come back from the army’ or ‘you killed your whole platoon at the dead of night’ both are specifically funny because they call back to our knowledge and connection to the united states military, which contrasts with the absurdity of the statements. If instead it was ‘I wish for my brother to come back from the 47th glorbon war’ then it just wouldn’t have the same kind of sense connection and it would just be absurdity on top of absurdity.
I think it’s kind of telling that one of my personal favorites, Leighanne Gruthers, was an episode where the costuming actually failed to properly convey a specific archetype and instead Izzy was like, I’m just a crazy lady who looks like this. It’s just always going to be funnier to watch a truly crazy human than a crazy alien, we need something real to ground the absurdity.
I know. I know. People are going to come back with a bunch of examples of great episodes with alien/creatures/huge costumes where the comedians found a creative way to make it work because they’re great at improv. But the thing is, not everyone is that great at improv. That’s not a diss, VIP is a very weird and specific show to pull off and not everyone’s humor is going to be suited for it.
And that’s part of the other problem. A lot of the casting is seeming to favor comedians who are excellent and well recognized in their own right (Chelsea Perretti, Katya) but not necessarily experienced with improv. In these cases the costumes only seem to drag them down farther and the episode feels less like a scene between two characters and more like one comedian trying to make their bit work.
A lot of what makes early VIP so great and funny is the relationships between the interviewer and Vic. Spencer getting adopted, Jordache almost starting an affair, Ex-Step grandmother just completely terrorizing Vic. All of these make the episodes memorable and distinct. But in a lot of these episodes it doesn’t feel like the actors are playing together but rather that Vic is simply leading them along and helping them work through their jokes. Because of this it also feels like Vic’s characterization and growth has taken a bit of a back seat. There isn’t much new going on with their character because it feels like the guests aren’t trying to engage with that as much as they used to. I think when the guests were mostly made of Dropout cast members it felt like a more mutualistic scene than a one sided interview.
Basically, I think bringing the costumes back down to earth and sticking to casting dropout/improv comedians would improve the show.
Anyways that’s all my thoughts, I still absolutely love this show and there were some really banger episodes this season. But as a whole there is a definite vibe shift and I do find myself missing the feel of the earlier seasons. Also it’s just my opinion, if you like the humor this season even more that’s also totally valid. :)