Chris Fleming roasts convention as a comedian-to-the-freaks in ‘HELL’

“How well does Chris’ stand-in know the show? Can he do the set if we send Chris to heaven?” deadpans Chris Fleming’s agent, played by Rachel Crowe, during the opening sketch of the comedian’s new special “HELL” now streaming on Peacock. “I once heard Noel Fielding say, ‘Unless you’re Richard Pryor, you’re gonna get boring just doing an hour with the microphone,’” Fleming noted. You’re gonna write ‘Elevation’ by U2!” The comedian then proceeds to hop ecstatically across the stage with one leg akimbo: “That song was penned with a toucan’s beak dipped in ink while riding a zebra side-saddle.” Later, Fleming jokes, “This is gonna make me sound Republican, but the attitude that birds have toward bird baths, there’s an entitlement there.” He then speaks of a bird landing in a half-full tub, doing a “really performative look around.” At which point Fleming gets on the ground and turns in circles while attempting a half-headstand breakdance routine. The critique of the status quo achieved fever pitch in Fleming’s music video “The Normies Are Getting Creative,” released during the pandemic: “Hiking couples who exercise together whose sole communication is asking ‘You OK, babe?’ They’re now writing novels!” “HELL” includes a long section lampooning people who enjoy a popular outdoor party game: “If you’ve ever played cornhole comfortably, you’re on the side of the oppressor.” He goes on, “If you’ve ever walked into a backyard space and seen these heinous trapezoids impossibly far apart from each other and felt anything outside of abject existential dread, I’m sorry, you’re probably an OK person, but you are not a liberal.