Review: Joe Pera Talks With You is the ultimate isolation show

I first caught wind of Joe Pera on YouTube about three years ago when I was living overseas alone.

As I lay in bed at 2am, after having gone through my usual motion of tossing and turning and remembering that embarrassing thing I did 10 years ago, my fingers brushed around the carpet clumsily until they found my phone.

I was 15 minutes deep into a video about how to forge Viking swords when God intervened.

Up in my recommended category popped a video titled Joe Pera Talks You to Sleep. My fingers moved at lightning speed, and what followed were the best 11 minutes and 31 seconds of my life.

Joe Pera. Photo: Parrish Lewis/Adult Swim

If you haven’t watched Joe Pera yet, now is the perfect time to start. Being in isolation can make you feel alienated and lonely, but Joe’s comforting show will make you feel like you’re never truly alone.

Joe Pera Talks With You is a wholesome comedy television series created by, and starring, Joe Pera. The show first premiered on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim in May 2018, after the success of specials such as Joe Pera Talks You to Sleep and Joe Pera Helps You Find the Perfect Christmas Tree. With season two premiering at the end of 2019, Joe Pera Talks With You has received critical acclaim for its unique writing and tone.

Joe is a 30-something-year-old choir teacher who hobbles around the town, hunched over in a grandfatherly way, interacting with his friends, students and the world around him. The show is best summed up in the clip below, wherein Joe Pera hears Baba O’Reilly by The Who for the first time.

Joe Pera hears the Who.

Viewers are drawn to seeing the world through Pera’s eyes – he embraces the small wonders of life. Each episode is framed by his thoughts and concerns on a particular topic: what’s the perfect breakfast meal? Why do Jack-o’-lanterns scare him so much? What does he have to offer his girlfriend Sarah during an apocalypse?

Pera’s show is like jumping into his humble 2001 Buick Park Avenue – a car left to him by his grandpa – and taking a slow drive on the “Fall Loop”, the drive he does every year on the Saturday following Halloween.

In one episode, he navigates the intricacies of the grocery store, only buying items if he can answer yes to the three golden questions:

1) Should I eat this?

2) Will I eat this?

3) Can I afford it?

At the end of the episode he invites you to visit his website, JoePeraGroceryStoreFoodList1945.com. This leads you to a web page with Joe’s shopping list, complete with 90s clipart and a text box for you to submit a grocery item you think Joe should try.

This kind of endearing, subtle humour has helped shape a community of Pera-lovers, who call themselves the “Joe Pera Breakfast Crew”.

A Facebook page of the same name holds over 1500 members, one of whom includes the real-life owner of Gus, Joe’s dog in the show. Reading through the page is like taking a cleansing, refreshing wholesome bath filled with Joe Pera goodness. Members share pictures of their breakfasts, heart-warming confessions, and there’s even a livestream Q&A featuring Gus the dog.

Source: Joe Pera Breakfast Crew Facebook page

Source: Joe Pera Breakfast Crew Facebook page

Joe Pera Talks With You is like a warm hug in the middle of these scary and dark unprecedented times where hugs aren’t okay under social distancing laws.

It’s nice to mellow out with a wholesome comedy that relaxes you and reminds you of the little things in life. And appreciating the little things in life is one of the best things we can do right now.

You can catch Joe Pera Talks With You on Adult Swim, or purchase it on Amazon Prime.