AT a time when it seems like theatrical comedies are all but dead in Hollywood, Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie descends from Toronto in stark defiance. Attempting to cleanly define just what Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie actually is though proves difficult. It exists as a delightful mockumentary-sometimes scripted-sometimes hidden camera-full time guerilla filmmaking crossbreed. Oh, and it’s based on the television series Nirvanna the Band the Show… which itself is based on the web series Nirvana the Band the Show (just one ‘n’). Are you keeping up? Well honestly it doesn’t really matter, as Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie manages to shine all on its own and deliver a shockingly fresh experience… even if it’s tough to define.
The film follows fictional versions of Matt Johnson (who is also directing) and Jay McCarrol (who also serves as writer alongside Johnson) as they attempt to book a gig at the Rivoli for their band, Nirvanna the Band. To give you an idea of tone right off the bat, the pair don’t appear to have ever actually contacted the bar’s management, but instead opt for increasingly elaborate plans to force the bar’s hand. These range from hanging posters advertising gigs they haven’t booked yet, to BASE jumping into baseball stadiums. Naturally, one of these plans inadvertently leads to time travel and our duo finds themselves back in 2008, when their past selves had just formed Nirvanna. From there it’s a matter of finding their way back to the present, and seeing if they can’t make a few small tweaks along the way.
That setup may not sound as fresh and original as implied at the beginning of this review, but Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie sets itself apart with its execution. In any given sequence, it might mix true hidden-camera crowd work with scripted bits and paid actors, and then pair it with footage filmed for the web series back in 2008, but not before altering the archival clips to include our characters’ current/future selves… with obligatory stuntmen for the aforementioned BASE jumping sprinkled in of course. Somehow, the film stitches all these disparate elements together seamlessly. It’s wildly impressive and worthy of an extensive behind the scenes documentary of its own.
The inventive filmmaking combined with Johnson and McCarrol’s off-the-wall brand of comedy just works. If you’re able to see this in a theater, do it. The film engages crowds from start to finish, with non-stop laughing and multiple uproars at my own showing. Hearing a full house gradually key in on a joke is so much fun, and is something Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie continuously sets up so well. Whether it’s riffing off changes in socially acceptable language or going full send with Chekhov’s Gun, the film knows how to deliver a punchline.
While Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie may be hard to describe, it’s not hard to recommend. It’s rare to see such an obvious passion project, at this budget, executed so successfully. At any given moment the film could collapse under the weight of its own ambitious construction, but it doesn’t. It instead relentlessly delivers joke after joke, landing way more than any film has a right to. Find a packed room or theater, grab some popcorn, and kick back and listen as Nirvanna brings the house down.
