The Afterparty Season 1 Episode 3 Review: Yasper
Mary Littlejohn
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May we all approach life with kind of giddy, self-serving optimism as Yasper.
How much you enjoy The Afterparty Season 1 Episode 3 will probably depend on your love of random musical numbers and how funny you find Ben Schwartz.
As a fan of both, I can say without exaggeration that this is the funniest half-hour of television to grace my screen in a long time.
It is never too late to Ska-pe Diem!
Ben Schwartz is a gift to comedy, okay? Physicality, line delivery -- he’s got the goods. Also, the man can SING. He is in no way re-inventing himself as Yasper, the dorky audio-visual expert who desperately wants to be a big-time pop star.
Schwartz knows exactly how to play up the pathetic side of Yasper while also making him goofy and endearing without a trace of irony. He genuinely believes that this dream can happen for him. I mean, if it happened to Xavier, why not Yasper?
On the episode, Yasper gets to be the hero of a shallow narrative in which he is deeply invested. Every song he sings is about how close he is to making his fantasy come true.
Yasper is so obsessed with Xavier that it’s even off-putting to Xavier. Xavier got big and left Yasper behind. Anyone else might hold a grudge, but Yasper just seems to want a favor -- a “blessing,” which, coming from Xavier, could actually change his life completely.
The thing is, Yasper is so single-minded that he doesn’t pay attention to anything that doesn’t affect him. Watch how everyone else acts in his version of events -- he misses so many details because he’s in his own little world.
50 Cent appeared on The Game's first track. Changed the game for The Game.
Chelsea worships him, Aniq is only a surface version of himself, and the Jennifers are always his sexy backup dancers. He’s so stuck inside his head that he almost missed the couple having sex in the same room as him.
Maybe the innocent demeanor is all an act. The ugly side of Yasper’s desperation rears its head every now and then, perhaps indicating that he may go to whatever length necessary to get what he wants.
He watched Xavier’s rise to fame, and now it’s in his grasp -- he has to take his second shot!
There’s just something about a nerdy white guy rapping that is inherently hilarious.
Suprise, though, “Two Shots” is as catchy as any chart-topper. It’s a joke song, and the chorus is pretty inane if you think about it, but again, how is that different from so much music out there these days? Also, it feels like an almost direct homage to “My Shot” from the musical Hamilton.
Your first band, the Quarrymen, doesn't move the needle? Form a second band and call it the fuckin' Beatles!
Yasper ("Two Shots")
There are plenty of clever references in the lyrics, and Ben Schwartz and Sam Richardson tackle it with enthusiasm and commitment. It’s just so much fun. And was that actually Kelvin Yu breakdancing as Ned? Nice!
I actually had to pause “Yeah, Sure Whatever” because I was laughing so hard and didn’t want to miss anything. It was so unbelievably silly and over-the-top and, again, catchy as heck.
The choreography really sold it as well. This is Yasper’s world, and everyone’s just living in it --- and having an awesome time! This isn’t the first time Ben Schwartz has made me laugh until I cried. (The first time would be Middleditch and Schwartz on Netflix, which you should check out if you haven’t already).
The vibe chilled out at the afterparty with a ballad (still about Yasper’s yearning for fame and recognition) called “Three Dots From Stardom.” Here’s another great tune that was sold by the staging, with inventive ways of showing three dots in the background -- the spherical lights, the caterer’s pot lids, the round seats.
The silliness stems from the absurdity of making up an entire song about seemingly innocuous events -- but because Yasper lives for the scraps Xavier throws him, these things do mean the world to him.
Also hilarious was Detective Danner’s irritability with Yasper. Her dry sense of humor went totally over his head, and their mismatched personalities made their scenes awkward and funny.
Wow, congratulations, man. It sounds like to me you’ve got one rose bush just growing on a big ol’ pile of shit.
Detective Danner
It would be remiss not to mention the “gag” of Mr. Shapiro and Quiet Heather. It comes up in every episode. We know Mr. Shapiro was the chemistry teacher, and Quiet Heather was presumably a student, so it’s not clear how we, the audience, are supposed to feel about that.
Even though they’re both consenting adults now, it’s still squicky. It remains to be seen whether this will amount to anything.
Aniq: It's amazing you're still here.
Walt: Thank you.
We got more of Walt being awkward, in his cut-off rap verse and then later with Aniq and Zoe. Jamie Demetriou is just so good at being so cringy. What is Walt’s deal?
Speaking of Zoe, one thing Yasper did clock was that as he headed to the recording studio, Zoe seemed hyped up and out of character.
We’ve never seen her like this before. What happened, and with whom, to rile her up like that? It certainly wasn’t Aniq because he was passed out. And why did she write “I’m Sorry” with a heart on Aniq’s hand?
All for one and fuck 'em all!
Zoe
There’s also the throwaway joke of Culp lowkey having a crush on Aniq. It’s okay, Culp, Aniq is pretty adorkable.
Deleting the security footage was unforgivably inept, though. Come on. Aniq should have been way angrier about that, but at least Yasper was willing to “stall” Danner while Aniq did his own investigation.
Aniq’s journey in this episode was pretty silly, but he did get everyone to play his “Spooky Dookies” game, which didn’t seem to get him any closer to finding out who wrote the note. However, it did lead him to the conclusion that Jennifer #2 is missing.
When did all the other guests leave? Was Jennifer #2 among them, and why would she leave without telling Jennifer #1?
Here’s the thing -- The Afterparty is so funny, and it has so many throwaway jokes that it’s hard to know which ones are actually throwaways and which ones will have major significance down the line. It’s fun to speculate.
And then there’s Chelsea’s flask with the red ‘X’ on it, found near Xavier’s body! Uh-oh!
Looks like Chelsea is now the prime suspect and next in line for questioning. What secrets will be revealed with her interview?
Jon Lajoie, the man behind Yasper's musical numbers, is the invisible MVP of this episode. He's intrinsic to why everyone's having so much damn fun.
What are your thoughts, Fanatics? Did you enjoy the musical numbers? Which one was your favorite? What did Chelsea do (or want to do) to Xavier? Where’s Jennifer #2?
Share your theories in the comments!
Mary Littlejohn Mary Littlejohn was a staff writer and critic for TV Fanatic.
