New Hour Special Will Anchor Chris Hardwick Funcomfortable Weekend

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A Funcomfortable Experience: Comedy Central Sets its Latest Special Apart

Comedy Central will air comedian, podcast extraordinaire, and all-around promoter of the nerdy lifestyle, Chris Hardwick’s hour-long stand up special on Saturday, April 30th.

Hardwick’s last hour-long special was “Mandroid” in 2012, also aired through Comedy Central. This makes “Chris Hardwick: Funcomfortable” his second hourlong special, and second portmanteau titled creation. Unlike his first special, “Funcomfortable” airs with two unique conditions; the special will feature an additional section watchable as a 360 degree virtual reality, and will be aired during a weekend of content Hardwick curated for his

“Funcomfortable Weekend.” While the first element seems gimmicky and hardly compatible with the format of a stand-up special (A theater in San Francisco? That’s the worst place to virtually explore. Film your special in an underwater temple and I’ll want to virtually experience that), the idea of a Funcomfortable Weekend highlights Hardwick’s most frequently used talent: hosting. Sprinkled throughout the hand picked content will be segments with Hardwick himself guiding viewers through the weekend, which would offer insights that contextualize his comedy. This atmospheric build-up to “Funcomfortable” is really the more immersive method of the two. With stand-up exploding as a cheaply-produced, popular media format, both are untested strategies on Comedy Central’s part to set Hardwick’s special apart. This effort to set content apart is hardly unique to stand-up specials.

Modern viewers are more scattered than ever, so a network’s best bet to attract an audience is by making their programming feel like a television event. When audiences could easily watch content afterwards or abridged or not at all, shows are often advertised are being “once in a lifetime” or “unmissable”. However, shows rarely live up to their own accolades and these empty claims wear thin for viewers. However, for a fan of Hardwick’s, the level of care taken to compile the Funcomfortable Weekend could comprise an impactful event. It’s the visual equivalent of listening to your favorite musician’s mixtape, or watching your favorite director’s favorite movies before watching their newest release. A niche audience can be unified by feeling like they’re communing with their favorite artist.

In fact by constructing this kind of event, Comedy Central is presenting Chris Hardwick as a combination of an auteur and a brand. His comedy is not just his own content but a prism of analogous shows that creates a larger genre for fans to lose themselves in. Nowadays, channels are hard-pressed to produce not just programming, but an experience, and the Funcomfortable Weekend is an interesting start. Tune in for a funcomfortable time to Comedy Central on April 29th at Midnight.

 

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Rachel Crowe

The most notable lies Rachel Crowe has ever told were that she has 10 children (no twins), she’s running a marathon retracing the path her ancestors took to evade the IRS and that she found childcare for 10 on a Saturday night. She’s also a stand-up comedian and dog walker living in Los Angeles. Follow Rachel on Twitter @Racheddar or on Instagram @thelma_and_disease. Or don’t, but at least appreciate those fresh hot puns.
Rachel Crowe

Rachel Crowe

The most notable lies Rachel Crowe has ever told were that she has 10 children (no twins), she’s running a marathon retracing the path her ancestors took to evade the IRS and that she found childcare for 10 on a Saturday night. She’s also a stand-up comedian and dog walker living in Los Angeles. Follow Rachel on Twitter @Racheddar or on Instagram @thelma_and_disease. Or don’t, but at least appreciate those fresh hot puns.