Bert Kreischer plays himself in Free Bert, and what this 53-year-old comedian is trying to free himself from is conformity and conventional taste.
Bert Kreischer plays himself in Free Bert, and what this 53-year-old comedian is trying to free himself from is conformity and conventional taste. He wants to be shirtless; he wants to tell raunchy and offensive jokes. Humor is obviously subjective, but comedians like Kreischer aren't for everyone. I quickly checked the comments section of one of his YouTube videos, and the opinions ranged from "I love him!" to "Can someone please tell me the exact timestamp of the funny part?" The latter, I think, comes from people who are shocked and repelled by Kreischer's jokes where he does things like, for example, refer to his daughters as "sluts." Watch just a five-minute clip of Kreischer's comedy and you'll understand why he can be so polarizing. And yes, the kind of humor Kreischer revels in—and throws at you—can be truly exasperating. But I enjoy his sense of humor because it's not actually mean-spirited. He knows he's on stage to tell a joke, and he's one of those rare specimens these days who believes a joke shouldn't be taken seriously.
Creators: Bert Kreischer, Andrew Mogel, Jarrad Paul
Stars: Bert Kreischer, Arden Myrin, Ava Ryan
I don't get the impression that Kreischer is trying to provoke his audience or test the limits of how crude he can be. This is simply his style, and he seems comfortable being himself. We can, of course, intellectualize all we want, but the fact is, Kreischer is simply funny. That's why I like him. Beneath all the obscenity and vulgarity is a lovable buffoon who likes fart jokes and doesn't understand why anyone should be offended by them, or by him.
In Free Bert, Kreischer reflects on the monotony of his shirtless schtick and is self-deprecating twice (one girl mentions his "tough skin," while the other uses the word "pig" as an analogy to describe him). He also ventures into thorny territory with a gynecologist who shares disturbing photos of his patients and some dark humor involving a husband who threatens his Asian wife with "talking to someone at ICE." Perhaps this is also Kreischer's way of saying that supposedly normal people are far more mentally disturbed and evil than he is; he's just telling jokes to entertain everyone.
When Kreischer's crude and raunchy side kicks in, you'll be in stitches. I'm referring to the scene where the Vanderthals—Landon (Chris Witaske), Chanel (Mandell Maughan), and Kiersten (Sophia Reid-Gantzert)—watch a video of Bert (I'll use this name to refer to the character in this series) making fun of them in front of a live audience. The funny thing is, they're watching the video while sitting right in front of Bert himself. At one point, Bert proudly calls himself a "world-class pedophile" (he actually says it twice), and you see a man somewhat oblivious to the implications and a comedian winking at himself and the audience.
However, more than Kreischer or any other adult in the series, the real malice comes from the young characters. I'm thinking of Kiersten, a true mean girl skilled in the art of manipulation. My favorite "monster," however, turned out to be Ila (Lilou Lang). Don't be fooled by her age or height; you don't want to mess with her. You also shouldn't invite her to a TED Talk, given the motivation she gives her father: "When you're fighting a bull, you don't run away from it. You run towards it." But the scene that almost made me fall off my chair laughing is the one where Ila talks about the schedule of two security guards.
Again, one could say that Kreischer is telling us that kids aren't so innocent, so nobody needs to "save" them from his indecent jokes. In fact, kids these days are more exposed, more "indecent." A simple Google search is all it takes for them to access pornography and, for example, information about scrotal surgery. In a world that is already so open, so unprotected, it makes no sense to get angry at artists for doing their job. People like Kreischer are not a threat; they simply want to express themselves without fear of being censored or pressured to soften the impact of their art. The title, therefore, is not a cry for help; it's a declaration from a man who has rejected social pressure, who doesn't want to please others. Bert Kreischer is free and comfortable in his own skin, even without a shirt on.
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