The creative project of Canadian comedian Nathan Fielder, The Rehearsal, asked what you would do if you could ensure that a dreaded interaction went exactly your way through meticulous planning. This let Fielder into everyday people’s lives, desires, and fears, allowing him to plan a reenactment around that. The series’ greatest experiment comes from a woman named Angela, who wants kids but is hesitant about what the role of motherhood would bring. To remedy this, Nathan raises a kid with Angela, using multiple child actors to give the illusion of sped-up time.
Consistently absurd, awkward, and sometimes a little dark, there are plenty of humorous moments to be found in The Rehearsal. To celebrate Nathan Fielder’s unique brand of comedy, we look at the best moments from the Max Original show, ranking to our favorite.
10 Teenage Intervention
As Nathan and Angela look to find authenticity in raising a son, Nathan decides it is also vital to get the full “troubled teenager” experience. After a meeting with the actor playing a 15-year-old Adam, he asks him to go out of character to help him decide the best way to approach having an unruly teen. Leaning in on his experience with a friend who struggled with drugs, Adam goes on a fake bender, eventually leading to a fake OD before being saved by actors playing paramedics.
There are many moments to come out of this ‘arc’ that are wonderfully absurd, but sitting down at the table to conduct the intervention in such a straight-faced manner is one of the highlights. Moreover, Nathan’s attempt to relate to the plight of a teenager with his straight-edged, dry persona adds to the humor. This is also one of Angela’s better moments, as while she can be awkwardly eccentric, her sincerity and commitment to motherhood elevate the weirdness of Fielder’s staged intervention.
9 Thrifty Boys
In order to ensure a rehearsal goes off without a hitch, Nathan poses as the runner of a blog called “Thrifty Boys,” which allows men to have a good time on a budget. He uses this guise to speak to the host of quiz night and get a recording of the answers to his upcoming event.
You have to love the name “Thrifty Boys,” which evokes Nathan’s constant desire to be ‘cool’ but always missing the mark and sounding outdated. However, what makes this scene stand out is the explanation of the blog combined with Nathan’s ‘disguise,’ which looks like second-hand clothes that are all two sizes too big. Fielder has certainly rocked some strange looks, from his Hot Topic-inspired get-up in Nathan For You to his recent ‘edgy boy’ appearance on Jimmy Kimmel, but thrifty boy is an equally iconic look.
8 Rushing Winter
The attention to detail throughout The Rehearsal to ensure that everything seems authentic under the idea of speeding up time is impressive. From mirrors in the house that show the effects of aging to a garden that is restocked every night to give the impression that days pass, Nathan and Angela’s home is constantly evolving.
The choice to bring winter and the holidays to the house is a testament to Fielder’s commitment to authenticity. In this case, maintaining the constant visage of winter in a warm climate requires the staff to keep adding snow. Like Sisyphus pushing a stone up a hill, The Rehearsal creates unrealistic solutions requiring never-ending maintenance. Just wanting the holidays to come to be able to bring up the subject of religious celebrations with Angela is the kind of bizarre reasoning that endears one to Fielder’s unorthodox methods.
7 The Great Baby Swap
The docudrama style of The Rehearsal allows viewers a look behind the scenes of certain aspects of any production. The one element that causes the most issues with the making of the series comes with hiring children actors, with different limitations by age for how long they can ‘work.’
To get past this, the crew must constantly swap out babies and infants to have constant children for Angela to look after. To add to this absurdity, the crew is instructed to make it as un-disruptive as possible, switching whenever Angela is not looking. While Nathan later gets involved in raising Adam with Angela, the first introduction to this concept is the most hilarious. Having Nathan explain the situation while overlooking a series of monitors to ensure the smoothness of the operation is one of the most peculiar images of his strange methodology.
6 Secret Lessons
As Nathan and Angela butt heads over what religion to raise their kid, Nathan decides to take Adam out in secret to learn about Judaism. This includes taking home to a synagogue for practice, hiring a tutor, and sneaking lessons at home.
Fielder knows how to evoke dramatic imagery to sell a point, which is best highlighted in the sequences of Nathan teaching Adam about his religion. The synagogue is humorous in showcasing how Nathan may not be as devout as he lets on, hardly knowing anything asked of him, and the lessons with the teacher are endearingly awkward. But the single shot of Nathan teaching Adam in the basement evoking the idea of prosecuted people is a sting of dark humor that overemphasizes the noble cause Nathan pretends to be undertaking.
5 Explaining The Fielder Method
Realizing that the actors’ performances in his mock-up scenarios may not be up to standard, Fielder hosts an acting class to tout his peculiar method. With a class of willing participants, he outlines how mimicry of everyday people offers the ideal way to hone one’s skills. Fielder’s attempts to be upbeat and evoke confidence are always humorous, given his stiff persona.
His explanation of the ‘Fielder Method’ is played out several times as he becomes self-aware and re-enacts his delivery many times over. When that does not seem to work, he gets one of the actors to play him, so he can see how others view his speech abilities. Using the premise of ‘helping others’ to feed his ego is a constant gag in Fielder’s TV series. This sequence is the closest the series gets to mimicking a Nathan for You episode.
4 Silent Birthday Party
Wanting to experience all aspects of childhood with his son, Fielder throws a birthday party and hires many actors to come. Leading up to the birthday party, each actor driving to the location is handed a child and a present to bring, acting as a hilarious precursor to one of the most awkward parties committed to TV.
The only time Nathan expresses concern about the show’s budget happens to be at an event, which would be the nosiest time for any young kid. The entire birthday is played out in complete silence by choosing extras and background crew to save $15,000 in actor fees. It is an utterly bizarre series of events, especially as Fielder attempts to make small talk with people who are unable to speak. The final episode of The Rehearsal ends on a rather somber note, so this brief moment of insanity adds some much-needed humor before the tragic end of the experiment.
3 Satanic Halloween
Looking to celebrate Halloween with their son, Fielder gets the family costumes so they can dress up together. However, Angela admits her refusal to observe the demonic holiday on the pretext of the human sacrifices that are carried out.
Besides Nathan, the other fascinating personality in the series comes from Angela, a deeply religious woman with some eccentric beliefs. The most humorous instance of this clash of personalities comes from the Halloween revelation, as Angela digs deep into the conspiracies, talking about human sacrifice at the Bohemian Grove. Of course, Nathan wearing a costume that is too big adds to the bizarre nature of the humorous conversation.
2 Quiz Prep
Following Nathan’s ‘Thrifty Boy’ stint, he has to secretly drill the answers into one of the rehearsal participants to ensure they succeed and don’t get too anxious to follow through with the plans. To do this, the two take daily walks, interacting with random strangers who give them tidbits of information.
The fact that the participant does not pick up on the awkwardness of these small interactions is hilariously baffling. Wandering around to a staged police shooting in which the constable randomly says, “It’s days like this I curse the Chinese for inventing gunpowder” is such a weird way of speaking to anyone else that you can’t help but laugh. Other instances, like Nathan cursing recumbent bikes, make you wonder about all the quiz questions left out of the final cut and the methods Fielder employed to sneak quiz night answers into the duo’s daily walks.
1 I Must Become Him
As part of the ‘Fielder Method’ of acting, Nathan decides to help one of his participants struggling by giving him a new persona with friends while also taking on his life. Nathan finds himself moving into the man’s house under the pretext of taking care of his stuff but quickly attempts to immerse himself entirely in the life of another.
Instances of Fiedler breaking character are few and far between, and oddly enough, his pretending to be someone else feels more authentic than when he plays himself. This is also set up wonderfully by Nathan entering the home of the person he is copying, cryptic music playing to reveal that the bedroom is adorned with cute Japanese plushies. Further embracing his new role, Nathan starts immersing himself in the man’s identity, including the line “I must learn to use the weapons he uses,” accompanied by the image of Fielder awkwardly flailing nunchuks.
Until the second season of The Rehearsal drops, Fielder’s attempt at becoming another person is easily the comedic highlight of the series. Still, we can’t wait to see what the next season brings as Fielder continues to build on the awkward legacy he is building for himself.
Stream The Rehearsal on MAX
