Comedians of the World episode 4 recap: USA Nick Swardson

Netflix released Comedians of the World on New Year’s Day. It’s a collection of 47 half-hour comedy specials from comedians from around the world. Episode three features a set from Nick Swardson.

A quick recap of the show premise: Comedians of the World is a sampler and reference guide for stand-up comedy on a global level. There are four comedians from eight different regions around the world. At least one of the four comics from each region identifies as female.

Not all of the half-hour sets are traditionally staged as we think of it. There are episodes in languages other than English, which allows us to hear those comedians perform in their native language. There are sets in Spanish, Portuguese, and German just to name a few.

Nick Swardson

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The first time I remember hearing about Nick Swardson was when the movie Bucky Larson: Born to be a Star came out in 2011. Swardson played Bucky, a kid who moved to Hollywood in order to follow in his parent’s footsteps and become a porn star.

Prior to Bucky, Swardson played Terry Bernadino on Reno 911! He’s also played an Insane David Bowie Fan in Almost Famous, obsessed fan Hector in Blades of Glory, and the role of Gary Rodgers in Sandy Wexler.

Later on this year Swardson will be co-starring with Olivia Munn and Dax Shepard in The Buddy Games. It’s the directorial debut for Josh Duhamel. Most importantly for everyone tuning in to Comedians of the World, Swardson has been touring the country as a stand-up comedian for over 20 years.

The Case for Poop Jokes

There is a lot of scatological humor in Nick Swardson’s Comedians of the World half hour set. Poop related jokes make a lot of people’s eyes roll when discussing comedy. I’ve heard them considered disgusting, hacky, and childish. The biggest case against them is the hack argument because everyone does poop jokes whether they are comedians or not.

So, why would anyone want to do poop jokes? Because they’re funny. If done right, they almost always kill. The more disgusting the better. They are one of the most relatable things anyone can discuss because someone is always going to say ‘Hey! I was just talking about that with a friend!’

Swardson does three movements of poop jokes in his set. The first joke he tells involves diarrhea. The middle section starts off with trying to hide a fart on an airplane. His last segment deals with the aftermath of pooping your pants as an adult. All of them are funny. All of them are relatable. Swardson walks up to the over-the-top line, considers crossing it, and walks it back.

There’s also a theme of getting older throughout the set. Swardson deals with this nicely. He states his premise, explains how things are changing for him, and keeps it moving. One of the funniest parts of this section involves letting go while surfing.

Swardson has stage presence. That allowed him to walk on stage and admit that he’s a 42-year-old man dressed like a 14-year-old. The jeans, tee, and backward hat worked for a couple of dude-bro moments. One involved what to do with people who fall asleep with their mouth open on planes. The other was his closer which I really can’t talk about here. These were the two weakest parts of an otherwise funny set.

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That’s it for the United States of America Region. Next up on Comedians of the World is four half-hour sets from Canada. First up is DeAnne Smith, who argues she and her dog are a Conservative Republican’s nightmare.

Are you streaming Comedians of the World? Who’s your favorite comedian so far? Let’s discuss in the comments!

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