Have you ever been in a tense situation that was quickly approaching where you found yourself flustered or nervous?

Have you wished there was a way to be able to predict the outcome of that specific event?

What if I told you that Nathan Fielder can?

This is the basis of the brand new show, “The Rehearsal” created by Nathan Fielder. 

Fielder, who many will recognize from his stand-out show, “Nathan for you” is a Canadian comedian, actor, writer, director, and producer. 

“The Rehearsal” is based on the idea of wanting to be able to predict the outcome of intense and possibly nerve-racking events. 

This may sound confusing, but let me explain the first episode of the series. 

In the pilot episode, Fielder finds a man who is in dire need to tell one of his friends that he lied about having a master’s degree. Of course, this is an extremely tense, yet comical situation to be in. Undoubtedly this would evoke strong nerves and panic, which could eventually lead to possible rejection from the friend group. 

Fielder hires actors to scout out the friend but is adamant that this is “not stalking” throughout the entire series. Instead referring to it as “character development” and “research.” The actors even go as far as to create fake lives in order to gain the trust of the person they will be portraying during the rehearsal.

Fielder is not stagnant while this is occurring, he is busy creating an exact replica of the bar where the event will be taking place, all for the rehearsal. He even goes as far as to replicate every single detail of the bar down to the leaky soda dispenser. 

When the bar is completely finished the rehearsal can finally begin. Fielder runs through every possible reaction that could occur from the truth of the fictitious master’s degree, learning tendencies to combat any possible outcome.  

I will spare the results, due to the climactic entertaining ending that occurs, but it is amazing. 

The show seemingly attempts to one-up itself, throughout the entire series, but ultimately lands on a separate plot about being a parent. As a person without children, I can assume that trying to rehearse being a parent is extremely unpredictable. 

As this is a review, the parenting plotline stuck around for far too long. Comparing “The Rehearsal” to “Nathan for you” in which the latter’s plot jumps around almost every 10 or so minutes, I found the parenting plotline to become repetitive.

I personally believe that Fielder is in his element when coming up with creative ideas that don’t stick around for too long. Stand-out episodes from “Nathan for you” such as, “Gas Station,” “Claw of Shame,” and “Private Investigator” are more digestible than the hour-long episodes of “The Rehearsal.” 

I often found myself wondering where the plot was going in later episodes of “The Rehearsal,” as there didn’t seem to be much payoff within the storyline. Don’t get me wrong, the first few episodes were great and I greatly enjoyed my time watching them, but the show ended up losing steam and falling flat.

University of Minnesota student Noel Frazier gave outstanding praise to the show, “I think whether people think that it’s funny or not, it’s impressive that he created an entire comedy show without a punchline. He really makes the show funny based on the way he acts and the situations he puts people in. I think that the situations he puts people in are relatable because no one would want to be in those situations. It could be a new wave comedy in the future.”

“The Rehearsal” is streaming now on HBO Max and has been since greenlit for a second season.