Jon Benjamin Has a Van
Jon Benjamin Has a Van
| 14 June 2011 (USA)

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  • Reviews
    Bergorks If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.
    Bessie Smyth Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.
    Keeley Coleman The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;
    Kamila Bell This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.
    P. Mitchell This delightfully dark and sardonic 'on the road' style news show, with its small cast of quirky but true-to-life characters, can get away with almost any absurd or offensive bit with just one twinkle from the eyes of its lovable-jerk host, Jon Benjamin.Jon Benjamin Has a Van is not going to be everyone's cup of cake, but for people with a taste for weird-brow humor, it will be something truly special. The guerrilla street pieces, twisted reality shows, and written sketch pieces all feature Benjamin as a borderline mean-spirited prankster, who for whatever reason is undeniably likable. Seeing what he comes up with to pull on people next and how he'll talk his way out of the trouble his mischievousness seems to lead him to makes the show worth watching.For anyone who is a fan of Tosh.0 who does not like JBHV, that makes a great deal of sense. There are two opposing styles of humor happening in each show, and if you are partial to the slaphappy viral video style of Tosh, you are likely to turn the channel from the calculated, thoughtful, sometimes meta approach of Jon Benjamin.The payoffs of JBHV are best absorbed after soaking in an entire episode (the sketches and short pieces juxtaposed with the unraveling news-stories). I find the re-watch value of the show tremendous-- I watched the pilot "Border" on Comedy Central's site twice in the last month after watching the premiere, and caught myself cracking up at parts I'd laughed over and subsequently missed in previous viewings.Hoping the show gets picked up for a second season, and also that more episodes are released online so that those without cable can indulge!! A real treat if you love great comedy and killer cameos from folks on UCB, Mr. Show, The Mighty Boosh, 30 Rock, Tim&Eric, and more!
    madonion-2 Jon Benjamin Has a Van is like if Mr. Show and Borat had a (somewhat) civilized, chubby, tiny, Jewish, adorable man for a baby who has the voice of John McGuirk from Home Movies. The writing of the sketches reminds me of shows like Mr. Show, Kids in the Hall, and The Ben Stiller Show. The tone and pace of the humor is on the slower, more subtle side that reminds me of a lot of shows in which H Jon has stared in the past including Home Movies, Dr Katz (sans improv), Lucy: The Daughter of the Devil, and perhaps even shows like The Sarah Silverman Program and Arrested Development.The humor is not slapstick, voyeur humor. It's not a show where you just sit and wait for transparent, shallow humor to entertain you. It feeds the audience the necessary resources to imagine and plot out their own versions of what funny things might happen later in the episode and then surprises the viewer with its own twisted and genius take on the scenario. I am very surprised that H Jon has waited this long to make himself more prominent in live action shows. He's a very tiny and cute human being who's very relatable and who does adorable things while maintaining his trademark manly and raspy voice. I am sure he knows this and he knows how to work it. I am a straight man, but I would be delighted to hold his hand if I ever walk beside him on the street. So, in conclusion, if you have even a slightly imaginative mind watch this show! It's very very funny and I await more episodes of this genius program.
    MakoSucks I might be biased because I'm a Home Movies fan, but Jon Benjamin Has A Van is probably one of the funniest shows on Comedy Central, and I've only seen the first two episodes.It's a spoof on shows like Dateline and 60 minutes, except the second half switches to spoofing dramas. I was laughing from the first sarcastic opening montage, with the obligatory news team dramatically walking together scene, to a close up zoom of the van, that zooms into a picture of the van that's on the van to infinity. Once you see that, you should pretty much get what the show is gonna be about.The first episode was hilarious. It starts off with a short interview with a guy who they mistaken for a post traumatic stress victim, who is actually a pre traumatic stress victim, who lost his voice screaming while thinking about going to war in basic training.The second half of the show was a follow up to a story that they show you before the actual follow up, of their trouble at the border story.It has little to do with the topic of illegal immigration or drug wars and more to do with the joke of pushing his producer over the border and leaving him stranded without a passport. Jon screams, "I SAID NO! ROB, IM NOT GETTING IT!" than he smiles and drives away, with the van's signature airbrushed ass on the rear doors.The follow up is a year later, so now the producer speaks in a Mexican accent and misinterprets American sayings. In a way to apologize for the joke, Jon re-hires him as an interpreter since they replaced him with someone better. As they approach the border to Guatemala, he does the joke again and pushes him over the border without a passport, leaving his newly established family without a father. HAHA idiot!in between each story are little quick sketches like Cash Stall, a game show that takes place in the bathroom, and if you answer all the questions right you get 100 dollars, but everyone just assumes he's propositioning them for sex so he never gets a chance to ask any questions. There's You Can't Shoot Here, where Jon goes to unauthorized locations to shoot... people until they say, "You can't shoot here." He literally tells them that he's shooting for "You Can't Shoot Here" and they pause and try to understand the concept and say ...well you can't shoot here, and Jon just tells them yes I know. or Thanks for being on You Can't Shoot Here!There were a lot of shows on Comedy Central that tried to be witty, but most fell flat because they tried to run with these witty concepts without actually being funny. Like most comedy central shows, it would probably either be complete unwatchable crap and be canceled after the first season, or comedic genius and have a long life span. Jon Benjamin Has a Van is hilarious because instead of just sticking with a witty concept, it goes around it and makes fun of it with more funny archetypes that wouldn't of been involved with the original concept, so it makes it even more funny. BORDER!!!!!!!!!
    Mikesw0315 I like Jon Benjamin's other work. I wanted this to be a good show, but it really fell flat. There were a lot of dry, boring jokes. I hardly even cracked a smile while watching it. Another person compared it to Tim and Eric, i would agree that it's the same kind of humor, but a much quieter and duller version. A lot of what makes Tim and Eric funny is over the top situations and loud, annoying noises and screaming, and those aren't present here, making for a fairly boring show.On paper, I'm sure this seemed very funny. He starts to interview a man and then ignores him to talk on his phone? Hilarious... except it's been done before, ans was dragged out for far too long, to the point where even I was annoyed that he was still on the phone. The Little Little Italy sketch simply wasn't funny, I smirked when the tiny present exploded in the man's hand, but overall it was like a joke without a punchline.I sincerely hope the rest of the series is a lot better than this.
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