Doug Heffernan and Paul Blart are well-known characters played by comedian Kevin James. His new comedy special “Irregardless,” available on Prime Video, may focus more on the man himself and his life as a father, yet he maintains the charm that gave his old characters that familiar infectious energy. He still has that same subtle smile that makes its way into any photograph of his, but besides that, his appearance has drastically changed within the last decade. He has lost a considerable amount of weight that defined clumsy characters such as Blart, and he is rocking more facial hair than Blart ever did. These features culminate into a new sense of swagger for James, who began his special by dancing for two minutes, including impressive instances of break-dancing.
While this all seems trivial, the public eye has not been on James since his glow-up, which provides a hook for people to check out his more recent work. The trailer for the special bolsters him proudly dancing, flipping his former style of physical comedy on its head. Describing the annoying process of deleting an iPhone app by shaking to mimic the app’s animation, he personifies the app to poke at the phone’s owner: “I’m ‘Learn Spanish in 30 Days.’ This idiot couldn’t learn Spanish if he was raised in Guatemala for 30 years!” Other techniques he frequently uses are vocal sound effects and onomatopoeia. One example is his mockery of his former Little League coach who used to smoke in front of him and his teammates. James aggressively imitates this obnoxious behavior into the microphone, comparing the coach to a “nicotine oscillating fan.”
Additionally, he targets the uncertain language that pervades our modern use of English and the ways this is exploited to make bold claims under the guise of not saying something as fact. He calls out General Mills for marketing Cheerios as having the potential to lower cholesterol, because claiming that a cereal “can help lower cholesterol” sounds speculative and shady. Finally, James is a master of using dead air for a comedic effect. He mentions at the end of the special how there are always thoughts floating about in his head, but he does not always voice them as his wife does. Keeping this in mind, whenever he is describing an awkward moment in a social situation, James makes it all too real when he stops and stares at the crowd to simulate the energy. In these scenarios, the audience cannot help but laugh.
Writing, directing and producing this special on his own allows space for the topics that James cares about most, such as his family. James spends some time talking about his troublesome son, who one day dismissed his father’s requests to gather his friends so they could set up and play a football game with a mere “I’m good.” This phrase is later repeated from James’ own perspective when he describes the hypothetical situation of his father handing him the “knowledge baton” of previous generations, not only showing the lineage of laziness within his family, but also how James has rejected something his own father finds personally important.
Following this pessimistic introduction of his son, James mentions that all of his children were previously addicted to video games. He noticed the lack of interaction and sunlight his kids got as a result, so he suddenly took the gaming devices away. The girls rebounded without a hitch, but his son displayed withdrawal symptoms after a few days. Whether this was exaggerated is up to interpretation, but I disagree with James and his actions here. I sympathize with his son, but thankfully, James was convinced to buy a Meta Quest virtual reality headset for his son, who proceeded to play Job Simulator to his father’s discontent. Despite all this, he made a hilarious comparison between his remissive son and someone asking for money on the street. As he backs away, he exclaims: “Okay, God bless you, sir. God bless you. Have a good day.” James may harbor outdated beliefs about the adverse effects of video games and technology, but he has a knack for bringing debatable problems down a size.
Relatable as ever, James is a well-meaning family man who can connect us all through comedy.
Rating: 3.5/5