luke kalamar heads back into the battle…
The second episode of Mash Up featured much of the same in regards to show structure. T.J. Miller hosted with two featured comedians, and sketches aired before the commercials. There was nothing ultimately new in terms of structure with this episode compared to the premiere. Despite this, I enjoyed episode two a bit more than I did episode one.
Chris Hardwick (Talking Dead) and Deon Cole were the featured comedians of this episode, and both were a step up from Hannibal Buress (Louie, The Eric Andre Show) and Jared Logan from episode one. Hardwick was easily the better for the two. His bits kept me laughing from start to finish. This is actually the first time I ever heard him do stand-up comedy and I was really impressed. Cole did a great job as well with his joke about his excitement towards eating chicken and watermelon standing out. There is just something about a comedian fully embracing their racial stereotype that can generate a lot of laughter. His exclamation that seedless watermelon will save him a lot of time eating was gold. Both Hardwick and Cole told jokes that were fully enhanced with video assistance, but would have been just as funny without it.
“Word Mashup” was also the best sketch comedy bit as well. This time it was a mash up of S.W.A.T and Auto-Tune to make S.W.A.T-o-Tune. The resulting skit was very funny, and I’ve come to accept that “Word Mashup” will probably be the sketch comedy highlight for any episode. Unlike the first episode, the remaining sketch comedy bits weren’t as bad. The one about people trying to be sexy while washing a penguin generated some laughs. The final bit was another “Exquisite Betrayals with Jared Logan,” which wasn’t as bad solely because it was very brief. It was devoid of any humor just like the first episode, but at least it went by quickly. That being said, I hope that skit is dropped for something else. It definitely doesn’t end the show on a high note.
Miller was better this time around, but he was again outshone by his comedic buddies. Hardwick and Cole completely stole the show away from him. The only joke by Miller that stood out was his first one about sitting between a father and daughter on a plane, and that wasn’t even the best of the whole episode. In fact, it wasn’t even the humor of the joke that made it stand out. It stood out because John Stamos played the father. He didn’t even say anything, and yet made it more memorable. However, this is a clear example of me liking a joke more because of the video and not the actual content. Would I have found the joke funny without the video? It’s possible. Do I remember it and like it more because Stamos was in it? Absolutely I do. Stamos wasn’t even mentioned in the joke. Despite this, I did laugh a bit more at Miller’s jokes than in the first episode. It was Hardwick and Cole that made this episode better than the first however.
This episode was a step up for the premiere, and now I’m more interested in watching Mash Up again in the future. I hope the celebrity cameos become a regular thing because it definitely adds to the show’s humor. I am wary about what future episodes bring however because Miller was again not the best part. I know Hardwick and Cole won’t be in the next episode, considering there are more comedians still to appear, and I hope the humor doesn’t drop with episode three. Miller is getting better but I still believe he has some more work to do. Mash Up is slowly becoming the comedy show I know it wants to be. I just hope it continues this path to improvement.
