Jena Friedman is a funny comedian. If you don’t know her, watch her on Conan. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xy2bh1L5_pI She has a new show on Adult Swim. I watched one episode online. There’s minor spoilers in my review. So be forewarned. Vulture described “Soft Focus with Jena Friedman” as a cross between “The Daily Show,” where she used to be a field producer, and Sacha Baron Cohen. .That’s apt. In the first episode I saw, she got male video game players to agree to undergo a virtual reality experience where they are sexually harassed. They didn’t know they were going to be harassed. Friedman hired a guy she described as an adult film actor (and who looked like a chubbier Louis CK) to masturbate in virtual space. Friedman, with at least one participant, then touched him with what appeared to be a wiener on a stick and sprayed him with a water bottle. She denied later doing this (they had on 3D goggles so they couldn’t see). I guess the idea here is to give the full sexual harassment experience: Harass them and then deny doing it. The second episode is with exiled software weirdo John McAfee. Friedman started by mispronouncing his name. I didn’t understand that. They have a strange discussion. McAfee’s claim of criminal behavior by two Belize officials was left in. He drinks and handles guns. That’s a no-no and I wished they hadn’t shown that. At one point, Friedman makes a joke about McAfee leaving on his open microphone and walking away and confessing to the murder he was accused of in Belize. She’s making a joke about McAfee imitating Robert Durst, but I don’t think McAfee understands the reference. He says he’s not going to do that. As the show wraps up, though, McAfee’s mic is on as he makes comments off camera about the show. I liked the show and I’ll watch more, but there’s a low-budget feel to it. Like the “Soft Fous” staff consists of Friendman, a photographer, a sound guy and an editor. Maybe an editor. Or maybe just Friedman with a notebook computer and Adobe Premier. That’s who putting the show together. I’m guessing Adult Swim doesn’t have the big budget. Or even a medium budget. And the small crew does not have the time or money to get a lot of material. So stuff that would have ended up on the editing room floor on “The Daily Show” makes it into “Soft Focus” just because they need it. Friedman is funny at times. Other times her jokes misfire but stay in show. So “Soft Focus” is a kind of guerilla comedy show. Like a high-end YouTube effort where you have to wade through jetsam and flotsam to get to the good comedy and the good insight.
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