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Well,Tamborinehas arrived, and its the veteran comics first standup special since 2008sKill the Messenger.
Tamborinefinds two different generations of comedy creatively colliding in the best way possible.
Can you walk me through how you came on board to direct Chris Rocks first special in a decade?
Chris had seen Jerrod Carmichaels special8that I directed last year and he just really flipped for it.
He asked Jerrod who directed it and it was me, so then I met with him.
We seemed to vibe pretty quickly.
Rock has been performing on theTotal Blackout Toursince last year.
How deep into the tour was it when you began filming?
The special to me has two very specific halves.
Then in the second half he goes personal in a way that he never has before.
From a creative and structural standpoint, did you approachTamborinein ways that were significantly different than8?
You know, specials are obviously very specific.
Theyre not a directors medium.
Theyre obviously the comedians medium.
My direction has nothing to do with the actual content of the special.
How can I make a good container for the thing?
My big thing when we would talk about this stuff was reminding him: Youre the show.
Youre all the production design we need.
So I just wanted to build something around him that was very simple and stark.
There is some big theatrical lighting, but its all very controlled.
Its kind of monochromatic, too.
Its just classical and veryhim.Its also a very intimate space for Chris.
So as a director I just tried to shoot it in a way that does justice to him.
It was a ton of trial and error but totally collaborative.
Is there a particular aesthetic youre trying to bring to standup specials?
So with this special I was trying to set a really simple yet memorable look and classic feel.
Were not putting in purple gels and blue beams of light.
But specials are very difficult.
Its an entire production crammed into a few days with just one chance to get it right.
So it was important to make this to feel alive.
But inTamborine, hes six feet away from the front row.
We are just trying to elevate specials to a place we feel like they deserve.
[laughs] I wanted to make something worthy of him.
Do you see yourself continuing to drift away from performing and more toward being permanently stationed behind the camera?
I still go to Largo once in a while to fuck around.
I just think of myself as out of performing for now.
I go perform there once a month if Im bored.
But its not like Im going into any of these specials trying to apply my own voice.
But when Im directing specials Im just there to serve the comedian and serve their vision.
And its my job to just listen to them and interpret them and present them.
The first ten credits on this special should be Chris Rock, not me, ya know?
Your feature debutEighth Gradewas the most favorably reviewed film at Sundance back in January.
It was a relief to get out of my head.
I was sort of stuck in a small room editingEighth Gradetwelve hours a day.
So to be able to step out and do something else was nice.
I also have a good team around me that I trust.
We have a rhythm, but its not like these things get any easier.
Every special that we do were like Man, we are never doing one of these again!
[laughs] But Im really proud of this special.
Photos by Kirill Bichutsky/Netflix.
Erik Abrissis a writer living in Los Angeles.
