“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”: Bringing Comedy to the Common Man (and Woman)

I know I’m not alone when I declare that I’m a big fan of the Amazon Prime series, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisal”.  With 4 Emmy’s, and 20 nominations for this year’s awards- it’s clearly one of the best series in recent times. 

Why is it so great?  From the first episode, the premise is unique and brilliant.  The high concepts are intellectual, yet gut-busting hilarious.  Acting- top notch.  Set design, costumes and music are the best I can remember- you feel like you’re literally in late 1950’s New York.  So many of the single-frame images are works of art that I would frame and put on my wall.  And has anyone noticed that they often times end the episode with a 90’s alt-rock song?  For some reason- even that is somehow pitch perfect.

To me- what is particularly Marvelous about Mrs. Maisel is that it celebrates something we all witness in our day-to-day lives, but may never have explicitly recognized prior to the show.  What it recognizes are the people in our lives that are true comedians.  But they’re not comedians by profession, they’re just undeniably hilarious.  They didn’t train at Groundlings, Second City or the Improv- yet, they’re just as funny as they share their daily tales and observations.  They can be our relatives, co-workers, acquaintances, you know who I’m talking about.  You’ve had countless moments with them where you’re falling off your chair, unstoppably laughing.

For those of you that have seen the show, you know that this is Mrs. Maisel.  A true natural comedienne.  She tells stories taken from her life that (most of the time) have audiences wrapped around her finger.  Whether she’s sharing a story at a party, comedy club or with a friend- she tells it like no one else.

So cheers to those unrecognized comedians and of course- comediennes of the world, who keep us all sane.  As  Midge says,  “Comedy is fueled by oppression, by the lack of power, by sadness and disappointment, by abandonment and humiliation. Now, who the hell does that describe more than women? Judging by those standards, only women should be funny.”