Many comedians have a certain angle or shtick that follows them throughout their careers. Whether it’s Gallagher smashing produce, Milton Berle and his trademark cigar, or Phyllis Diller and her outrageous hair and outfits, many comedians are known for more than just their jokes.
Bert Kreischer is one of those comics. Known for his sophomoric antics like performing shirtless and drinking more than any sane person should, Bert has become known not only for his jokes but for his behavior offstage as well. The Cabin with Bert Kreischer is basically an extension of Kreischer’s penchant for buffoonery. But he and his guests are at a cabin, not a comedy club.
The one thing holding back The Cabin is the motivation behind the show. Bert openly admits his current lifestyle of constant drinking, touring, and partying is wearing him down, and he says the reason for his wilderness retreat is to slow down and “eat, pray, love, and journal” as he says in the show’s introduction. Once you start the series, however, you sense that that’s all a smokescreen. He even tells his wife (who is a saint for sticking with him through all these years) that he’s inviting friends to accompany him at his cabin. To be fair, a man alone unwinding and trying to find mindfulness wouldn’t make for an entertaining show. But Bert didn’t have to lie to this wife like that!
I don’t care how many inspirational quotes from George Bernard Shaw or Henry David Thoreau are thrown at us, Bert Kreischer isn’t fooling anyone here. And that’s okay! If the show just openly admitted that Bert and his friends are just getting up to pranks and weirdness in the woods, that would be fine. It is an absolute farce to believe that this show is about a man trying to find transcendence through natural beauty.
The juxtaposition of such quotes like “many men go fishing all their lives without knowing it is not the fish they are after” or “every man is a builder of a temple called his body” with scenes of comic Bobby Lee SHOVING A COFFEE ENEMA UP BERT’S ASS or comedienne Mrs. Pat roasting a Romanian woman doing a sound bath therapy session are totally ridiculous. There’s no doubt it’s entertaining. But anyone expecting a full-fledged transcendentalist experience featuring a man recharging his batteries will surely be disappointed.
The guest list is stacked, as Joel McHale, Donnell Rawlings, Big Jay Oakerson, Fortune Feimster, Caitlyn Jenner, and many other celebrities show up to pal around with Bert. The Cabin with Bert Kreischer doesn’t break any new ground for lifelong fans of the notable “Machine.” Fans of Bert’s comedy, however, won’t mind his antics in a new, beautiful setting.
