How with John Wilson review: HBO’s comedy documentary celebrates life

“How To with John Wilson” is a show full of mistakes. These are the kind of slight variations on NYC crowds that you rarely see in a standard backlot scene: an honest faux pas, an animal out of nowhere, or an irrelevant eye-catching prop. There are plenty of times Wilson, the director / co-writer / DP / narrator of the show, films something that slips out of his non-filming hand. These slips aren’t so much a crack in the facade of the new HBO show, but the facade itself. Camping on the edge of the documentary, “How To Do With John Wilson” is an exercise in documenting everyday highs and lows, especially when it means accepting the unexpected.

Each episode is inspired by its title, promising viewers a better understanding of how to tackle a particular task. These range from chatting and covering furniture to improving memory. All of these trips are pieced together from Wilson’s home videos and trips to various parts of New York City. They start from a humble starting point, becoming more and more diverse as Wilson interviews pundits and passers-by, trying to gain a deeper understanding buried in the premises of each episode. You never know who this is for – tourists from out of town, students in comedy writing classes, future generations unaware of the standards of the late 2010s, alien civilizations curious about what animates and sustains humanity.

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The result is something that kind of mixes the energies of local reporting, public televised travel reports, “If you give a mouse a cookie” and “Police Squad” two-way. Somehow, it all blends into a six-episode season that’s firmly anchored in her voice but made with enough flexibility to go wherever the whims of New York City lead. (Without going into specifics, “How To” follows his instincts in places far removed from the city limits.) There’s a rhythm to the way Wilson stings each of these little adventures with sides and little vulnerabilities, l ‘assurance that this is mainly a set of small-scale daily dramas, even if they come with the laughter of recognition.

Even though Nathan Fielder’s name did not appear in the credits as executive producer, there is notable shared DNA between “How To” and “Nathan for You,” the Comedy Central series that is still one of the best shows of the past decade. Both shows capitalize on individuals’ inherent ability to occupy their screen time with a flurry of personal beliefs, unusual interests, and legitimately unexpected follow-ups. This over-sharing capacity in “How To” never feels armed, however. Where “Nathan for You” was regularly stunning as an issue of Rube Goldberg (sometimes literally), the storytelling forces guiding “How To” are much more subtle.

Zach Dilgard / HBO

This is because apart from a few well-placed thought-provoking shots we only hear Wilson. Instead of being the on-screen chaperone through each of these appreciations (something that “Joe Pera Talks with You” and “Going Deep with David Rees” each did in shows that could also be placed on this continuum. ), Wilson manifests himself through what is visible while juggling the demands of his decent-sized portable camera. There is sometimes the hand or the foot, but there is also a constant parade of some of the most meticulously captured B-rolls you’ll see anywhere. Adding comedic flourishes to the first-person camera often takes the same approach, but discovering how Wilson’s storytelling relates to these footage is a constant delight.

Catching the constant stream of candid moments from New Yorkers is either the result of an unholy amount of meticulous and compulsive documentation (which some episodes say probably is) or a keen eye for the curiosity genre. quirky which makes it undeniably a satisfying visual joke (probably also the case). Seemingly innocuous pedestrian activity, filmed across a block, suddenly turns into magician-level misdirection as other information appears in the frame. Like much of the rest of the series, it’s done without mischief. “How To” is filled with the kind of unexpected surprises that lead to belly laughs rather than gasps.

Out of context, some of the ways that these episode topics connect to larger metaphors would seem saccharine or forced. But in the hands of Wilson and co-writers Michael Koman and Alice Gregory, there’s a deserved seriousness in how it all plays out. There is some heartwarming tension of self-awareness as “How To” connects the dots to these heartfelt conclusions in the only way possible.

“How To” is ready to follow wherever its twists go without making those entering and leaving the series the punchline. It’s a show that really gives the impression of figuring things out as you go. In this particular case, that’s all you could want.

Quality: A-

“How To with John Wilson” airs Fridays at 11 p.m. on HBO.

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