The second time I saw Jerrod Carmichael was in a stand-up routine where he came out as gay. He’s not a conventionally “ha ha” funny man, but he has all the polish you’d expect from someone with the talent to helm a successful sitcom, and he exudes a cat-like calm. I watched his routine because I’d just seen a movie he directed and starred in, a movie written by two of the men who he worked with on his sitcom. That was the first time I saw him.
It was this movie, which I just rewatched:
On the Count of Three is basically a showcase for Christopher Abbott and Jerrod Carmichael to play out what two suicidal men will do on their last day. It’s a similar template to Bottle Rocket or especially Some of Our Stallions for tone. Irreverence for mental illness, absurdly dark comedy, focused on the relationship between two men. In this case, the manic buzz of Abbott’s otherworldly talent coupled with Carmichael’s cat-like zen.
I rewatched this because I’m convinced Yorgos Lanthimos watched it and enjoyed it enough to cast its leads in Poor Things (Carmichael plays the travelling companion of the German actress from Marriage of Maria Braun, and Abbott plays the brutal Count who ushers in Poor Things’ final act). I don’t think Poor Things is a very good showcase for either of them, so a rewatch of On the Count of Three was in order.