How To with John Wilson

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⭐ 9.0/10

(Originally written by Tim)

This show was incredible and exactly what I needed right now. Produced by Nathan Fielder, and it really gives off some Nathan For You vibes, just without the whole fake business proposal framework. It is essential a documentarian showing the clips he records around New York City and the crazy interactions he has along the way, with every episode built around "how to" do something. How to make small talk, how to split the check, how to improve your memory, etc. This is how episodes start anyways, but it is really just a vehicle for him to meet people in his pursuit.


I thought the first and last episodes were the masterpieces here, with the first being a distillation of what I love about Nathan For You. An awkward guy just trying to learn how to communicate, and somehow magically gets people that seem ridiculous to open up in very honest and sobering ways. It is truly magical, and had me really missing normal face-to-face interactions. If you watch this first episode you will probably know whether or not you would want to watch the rest.


The final episode aligns with the beginning of COVID, and I was very emotional watching this, remembering how much life has changed in the past few months. The change is obvious, but seeing it through his ultra-personal first-person documentary camera was quite the gut punch.


As Jess mentioned, this is kind of hard to recommend because episode 4 has some shocking (and kind of hilarious) male full frontal nudity. It is hard to explain why this occurs, but let's just say the way people open up to him on camera is shocking. The world is filled with so many characters, and John's camera just pulls them all in.


So ya, a short 6 episode watch. I cannot recommend his highly enough.

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