Thursday, May 9, 2019

The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo - Season One (2016) 

Created by Brian Jordan Alvarez

Doors 7:00 PM / Start 7:30 PM @ The Mini - 1329 Main St.

“The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo” [is] an electric comedy that plugs into the zeitgeist the way “Girls” did, banters like “Broad City,” and boasts the chutzpah necessary in order to get away with naming a character “Lenjamin McButtons.” Part of the genius of “Caleb Gallo” is that it defies conventional wisdom about making a short form series compelling to online audiences: The episodes are long, there is no discernible premise that can be squeezed into a snappy log line — even the title is a mouthful. Most potentially problematic is that if one were to summarize its plot, “Caleb Gallo” is basically a series about the love lives of five actor friends living in Los Angeles, one of the digital space’s most tired premises. The reason “Caleb Gallo” can tread such well-traveled ground is that Alvarez creates a world a few marbles short of reality. The characters speak at a breakneck pace, drawing the viewer in by forcing them to sit up and pay attention or risk missing the next offhanded quip or absurdly long laughing spell. With eyes slightly crazed and voices raised a hair above natural, the stakes feel absurdly high for each character from moment to moment, yet they recover from setbacks with a resilience only an actor could muster. The rules of this world are entirely fluid, with a logic of their own: Dates are walks, siblings are different races, gender is whatever, and sexual preference is something to be tried on like a fabulous hat. Alvarez achieves what all storytellers should attempt at least once — to bring fantasy to life. - IndieWire (90 min)

Shown with permission from Brian Jordan Alvarez!

Free with $5 suggested donation