"Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie" - The Best Comedy in Years, Made in Canada

It’s apt that Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie, inarguably the most “Toronto” movie ever made, should begin with our characters suspended over the city by ropes on the CN tower edgewalk with a pair of bolt cutters hidden in their jumpsuits. Recognized as the defining Toronto symbol internationally but rather innocuous to locals, the CN Tower is the perfect location to be introduced to the absurd lengths Matt and Jay of Nirvanna the Band will go through to solidify a booking at local Toronto venue, the Rivoli. These guys are obsessed with their own mythology, using whatever they can as a launching point for an illustrious, fame-filled career even if they themselves deeply misinterpret the scale of their ambitions. The CN Tower – a contradictory icon of the city – reflects the nature of Nirvanna the Band’s journey: deeply Torontonian in its self-contained importance but flimsy place in the larger world. However, just like the city it's based in, Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie’s independent, mismatched charm creates something truly special. And in this case, Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol have crafted what may be not only the funniest, but the most audacious, comedy of the decade.

Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie (Hencforce to be known as Nirvanna the Movie) is a continuation of Nirvanna the Band the Show. Even 20 years after the first web series aired, we’re still following Matt and Jay on their same fruitless quest: to book a show at the Rivoli. However this time around, their convoluted plans land them back in 2008 with a time machine that runs on Orbitz, a defunct Canadian energy drink who’s texture has been described as a mixture of oil and glue. The obvious riff on Back to the Future makes for a great DIY blockbuster parody, but what begins as homage and a genre gimmick quickly reveals a depth to Nirvanna the Movie that plays with form unlike any major movie release we’ve seen in a long time.

 As they travel through time they engage with more than aesthetics – tying together disparate text as though Nirvanna the Movie has been in the works since Marty McFly first hit 88 in the DeLorean. Johnson and McCarrol situate themselves at a nexus of past and present, both real and imagined. When they find themselves trapped in the past, it happens to be a past they created. Wrapped in all the fashions, sounds, and morally dubious Canadian celebrities of 2008, Matt and Jay’s past is constructed from the archives of the original Nirvanna the Band the Show web series. Much of this section of the film sees our characters interacting with their past, but not in any sense of cliche ridden drama but as an exercise in editing wizardry that stitches together real footage from the web series with the new present narrative. What makes this so gratifying is how it doesn’t feel like Matt and Jay are here for a visit, but rather adding an essential part to the narrative of Nirvanna the Band. It doesn’t formally act as a sequel in any traditional sense – it fits in before, after, and during the original run, dissolving any concept of what “original” means. It’s all just one big iteration, and Johnson and McCarrol delightfully inhabit it in countless ways.

The movement of these characters across the landscape has always been the lifeblood of the show, and the movie is no different. The identity of Toronto – the big parts and small parts – aren’t just plastered on top of a faceless city, they retain their geography, forcing the characters to navigate the streets and landmarks as they really exist. This makes the city breathe in a way no other movie has really been able to capture. The third act has a gag involving a very long extension cord and how it moves through the city and it wouldn’t hit the same if the film didn’t spend the time mapping itself out so throughly. Luckily they do, and it makes for one of the best jokes in the movie. But this guerilla navigation isn’t strictly a necessary holdback of low-budget filmmaking, this is a movie that seriously loves its own city. These are the streets and these are the people of Toronto, and Johnson and McCarrol know that the real thing is far more interesting than blocking off a portion of Spadina and Queen and filling it up with extras. Having spent the majority of my adult life in Toronto, I can confirm that Nirvanna the Movie’s portrait is accurate to the humour and the soul of the city. It’s truly such a treat to see independent Canadian cinema be proud of being independent Canadian cinema.

Low-budget filmmaking is a label that implies a distinct brand of ingenuity. Specifically: how do I, despite my lack of funding, vault over these obstacles and create something extraordinary? Nirvanna the Movie does not lack ingenuity, but its approach to low-budget filmmaking functions as the inverse to what I just mentioned. Johnson and McCarrol are acutely aware of the restrictions and barriers but instead of ignoring or bypassing them, they embrace them. Nirvanna the Movie functions in tandem with its holdbacks. The spontaneous humour and city-bound narrative are accomplished by bouncing off of walls and not vaulting over them. Instead of calculating the path of least resistance, the film barrels on with telling its story. It unfolds in front of strangers, in between traffic, in the basement of the Yonge and Dundas Canadian Tire (my least favorite place in the entire city for those of you keeping track). Johnson and McCarrol engage with the elements other filmmakers would avoid, and it becomes an integral element of the narrative and humour.

Watching Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie feels like witnessing something entirely new in comedy and independent filmmaking. After a nearly decade-long slump, comedy feels revitalized with potential. Scale, budget, and stardom are collapsed and suddenly it's about jokes again, and being excited at the prospect to tell them. Even more than comedy, the camera of the independent filmmaker is alive again. It’s moving like it's never moved before, between time and space and financial restraints. Nirvanna the Movie is a film that is completely unbound and willing to explore its unlimited new space. Johnson and McCarrol have created a monument to their artistic endeavours, their city, and their friendship. Their mythology has been carefully constructed for years, but whether you were on board or not, they believe in the myth and they have the gumption to share it. Inspiring is too small a word for Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie. Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol have unlocked a new mode of filmmaking that is both readily accessible and deeply personal, a gift to anyone with a camera and a dream – copyright lawyer notwithstanding.