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Anyone who has ever played in a school band will see themselves in the fourth installment of Hulu's humorous new series Pen15, which was released in full on the streaming service on Friday (February 8). No television show or film has ever perfectly captured the cringeworthy essence that makes these performances so memorable.
Co-created by actors Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle and produced by comedian Andy Samberg, Pen15 Erskine and Konkle (age 31) play 13-year-old children's versions in Grade 7 in 2000. The rationale for adult actors playing their younger characters is twofold: Thematically, this reflects the fact that certain parts of who we were at this age. Practically, the creators wanted the series to be as noted as the real life of a college (sorry, parents!), Which required the use of adult actors for certain scenes in which they could not force a child to play . All of Maya and Anna's clbadmates are played by children of all ages.
The result is a hysterical and sometimes disturbing frenzy through the era of gel pens, puka shell necklaces, oversized cargo shorts and Backstreet Boys. The title of the show is derived from the decade-specific joke in which a child would convince someone to join the "Pen15 Club" (pronounced pen fifteen); the only rule to join is that you must allow the word "PEN15" (read: penis) to be written somewhere on the body. The children were so smart.
Pen15The fourth installment, "Solo", is a stroke of genius. In this context, the school orchestra and the choir unite for an "Amazing Music Night" in front of the whole school (attendance is mandatory). Anna gets an important french horn and solos, while Maya receives the famous honor of a part of timpani of three notes on a piece written by the band's teacher. (Tim Russ is wonderful as a frustrated, Mr. Wyzell, who has not paid enough to teach these children to play the trumpet.There is one Mr. Wyzell in each school.)
Anna is good at music. Maya is totally hopeless. The problem is that she only has a few days to learn her role (in fact, we would have practiced a new song for months), and her father comes home after playing on the road with his group of covers Steely Dan.
She turns to a clbadmate to help her learn the role. "Of course, I'm the best drummer in the group," said the boy. (There are two drummers in the group.) Meanwhile, Anna and another girl each audition a short solo in "Ave Maria" singing in turn "Happy Birthday". accompaniment.
When the big night arrives, Maya is so worried about impressing her father that she is hyperventilating behind the scenes and her hands are starting to stretch so hard that she can no longer hold the mallets:
Hulu
The following is the biggest drum solo ever on the screen. You have to see it in its entirety to be believed, but just know that a dark energy moves through Maya, making it play a little more than the three simple notes that are asked of it.
Hulu
You do not necessarily need to have seen one of the other 10 episodes of the series to enjoy "Solo," but you'll probably want to do it. Pen15 is filled with amazing little details of adolescence – things that those of us who grew up at the time may not have thought much in the meantime, but know how to be true when we see them on the screen. A handwritten note with a font so small that it requires a microscope to read it. Fax drawings in the time before cell phones. Indescribable Bowl Cups.
But Pen15 is not only nostalgia for nostalgia. Similar to Bo Burnham's acting comedy Eigth year, the Hulu series has a heart full and beats, and it was created and written by people who know that we can still learn a lot about ourselves by reminding ourselves of what we were.
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