The Book of Rannells: Drunk History: Season 4, Episode 8 – “Landmarks” (2016

This is a show I’d heard of before but had never seen.  Having now gotten a taste of it, I’m in love with the concept, and it’s fantastically executed.

If you’re not familiar with Drunk History, each episode involves several pieces of history as told by someone that the host, Derek Waters, has gotten spectacularly drunk.  The tellings are given the full reenactment treatment, with the actors mouthing along to whatever “lines” the drunken narrator has for them.  In this episode, we hear the stories of how the Brooklyn Bridge was built, a con man who tried to sell the Eiffel Tower, and the time Shakespeare stole a theatre.

It’s just such a great show.  The historical stories themselves are all interesting, a mixture of famous figures and less familiar names, not necessarily stories we’ve heard a hundred times before.  I don’t know exactly how it works, if Waters books folks who are self-styled experts in random bits of history or if he has them learn about a particular event and then has them retell it in their own words, but either way, it really works.  The drunk narrators all exude a real investment in the stories they tell, and even plastered, they still have quite a few details down cold (with some exceptions – in the first story, the Roeblings spend a few seconds confusedly sitting on a plane before their narrator remembered that there weren’t any planes in the 1800s.)

The narration itself is awesome, with the narrators peppering their stories with random tangents of commentary, anachronistic dialogue, and colorful descriptions – in the con man story, the narrator describes Al Capone as man “who’ll juggle dicks in front of you” to convey his ruthlessness.  The reenactment scenes follow everything the narrator says faithfully, from the randomest detail to the most unlikely dialogue, such as Emily Roebling declaring, “I built the shit out this bridge.” And by the way, those reenactments boast some impressive guest stars. Here, we have Taylor Schilling (Piper from Orange is the New Black) as Emily Roebling, Liev Schreiber as Victor Lustig (the con man,) and John Cho as William effing Shakespeare.  How much do I love it?

Rannells’s part is pretty small.  He’s in the Brooklyn Bridge story as Washington Roebling, sort of a placeholder in the creation of the bridge.  Constructing a giant suspension bridge is the dream of Washington’s father, and Washington takes over when his dad’s health is too poor to continue.  While Washington does come up with some innovations of his own, it’s his wife Emily who ultimately takes it across the finish line.

I feel like I say this often when Rannells guest stars in things, but he does a nice job fitting into the feel of the show.  He drops into the absurd craziness quite well, mouthing the wild inebriation-inspired dialogue with absolute seriousness. 

Recommend?

In General – Definitely.  Hilarious, fascinating, and when else are you gonna get to see John Cho as Shakespeare?

Andrew Rannells – Maybe.  Although he doesn’t have a lot to do, he’s still fun.

Warnings

Drinking (obviously,) strong language, sexual content, and references to violence.