Press play on one Conner O'Malley the video is a disorienting experience.
Could this be a continuation of a previous character or universe? Could this be another installation of Truth Hunters host Mark Seevers, O'Malley's creation for the 2016 election who would look like Alex Jones if he were locked in a Wisconsin basement for two years, subsisting on nothing but hot dog relish and stale buns? Of course. Could this be another video featuring O'Malley's version host a late night show on a bike, navigating the streets of New York while also in a vendetta with Greg Kinnear? Of course.
But the video could also be a one-off stroke of genius, like “Endorphin Port”, a perfect, bizarre send-up of technology's strange obsession with virtual reality.
So when I saw that O'Malley was launching a stand-up special on his YouTube channel – a more and more common switch to comics – I didn't know what to expect. This was far from your average comedy special.
If you are unfamiliar with the background and history of O'Malley's work, I've covered it for Mashable in the past. Generally speaking, his work is interested in the absurdity of the modern world. He often directs comedies centered around technology. But, instead of ridiculing corporations or the billionaires at the helm, he generally paints a portrait of a man who is deranged and completely obsessed with the promises of technocrats. Frequently, these characters intersect with the weird right-wing manosphere that exists online, people who pretend to be in the military, eat way too much meat, and treat capitalism like a kind of religion.
“Imagine Joe Rogan without money,” O’Malley’s character says in his latest work, which was a surprise moment of clarity of collective work.
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In the traditional sense, Standing solutions isn't really stand-up special, even though it was filmed in front of a live Brooklyn audience. O'Malley plays a character named Richard Eagleton, who gives a presentation on a 5G-powered AI avatar he created for doing stand-up. If that sounds boring, I promise you it's not.
I can't begin to explain the paths this video takes. There are laments about the Toyota Rav-4, background information about Des Plaines, Illinois, and such about McDonald's. There are some of the most vulgar images imaginable and a strange and somewhat touching story explaining why Eagleton embarked on his quest for AI. There are moments of cultural criticism that arise naturally from this disturbed man on stage.
During the hour, O'Malley puts on a gonzo stand-up performance, and there are moments where you feel like you're watching a little AI evangelist make an actual pitch to an investor. And, as someone who writes about the internet and technology, there are times when things seem enormously like, let's say, a two-hour presentation from a tech giant promising how awesome AI will be for everyone.
There's a perfect reveal of what O'Malley's character thinks his AI technology could ultimately do – force-feed America's AI politicians – and what it will do, i.e. -say help create prisons. And yes, once again, I promise this special is funny as fuck. It might also be the grossest movie you've ever seen.
Anyway, enough from me. I'll embed the special at the bottom of this post. But if you watched at all AI headlines lately and have been feeling a little skeptical, this special is for you.
There was one perfect little moment that totally sold me. O'Malley's character speaks to the crowd, asking them to guess a problem with the AI he created. “No one wants it,” shouts one spectator.
O'Malley does not break with his evangelist character. “Well, you have a negative attitude,” he replies. He then immediately goes on to praise two of Croatia's greatest vaping artists. This all makes no sense and is exactly the world we live in.