Joe Pera Talks With You
I just started watching a comedy on the Adult Swim Channel called “Joe Pera Talks With You.” To be honest, I never heard of the show, or even this channel, before reading an article in the Detroit Free Press, but it sounded engaging. Especially since the series is set in the UP, and centers around the life of a choir teacher in Marquette.
Not much goes on in Marquette. There are sea cliffs and lighthouses. It snows a lot, so there may be snow parking bans. It’s quiet. People keep to themselves. And Joe Pera eats breakfast in a little restaurant with lots of pine accents and paper placemats.
This is the show’s third season, so I figured it must be good, right? The Free Press compares it to Ted Lasso in its kind heartedness, but apparently Pera is more “unexpected.” Topics for the new seaons include boiling pierogi for a drunk girlfriend, what Midwesterners put in their second refrigerators, and how to shop for recliner. Well, gosh, that sounds unexpected, doesn’t it? Not really, but it does intrigue me.
How do you make the mundane unexpected?
According to the Free Press, Pera’s series grabbed attention during its first season for an episode titled “Joe Pera Reads You the Church Announcements.”
Joe discovers “Baba O’Riley,” the classic 1971 song by the Who that’s also known as “Teenage Wasteland.” In it, Joe becomes so captivated after hearing it for the first time that he requests it repeatedly on a local radio station and dances alone wildly around his house. His retelling of the experience to his church’s congregation is a sweet reminder that pop culture brilliance can almost feel like a religious experience.
Paper placemats
What grabbed my attention, and my heart, however, in the second episode of the first season (Joe discusses ordering breakfast at a restaurant) was the paper placemat in the picture used for the closing credits. My late mother used those identical placemats.
These placemats were solely for the kitchen table. Breakfast, casual meals, soups, salads, bakery snacks from white paper boxes. I would stare at the mushrooms, red bell peppers, onions, tomatoes and what looks like thyme stems. It’s a visual imprinted in my brain. Whenever I see it, it makes me happy. It feels like home.
I came across a dusty pack of them at an estate sale three years after Mom had passed away. Such an unexpected find, I almost burst into tears. Of course I had to buy them.
After the pandemic hit in 2020, “Joe Pera Talks With You” became an adult security blanket. His home became our home.
For me, because of those placemats, the quirkiness, and the fact that the show elevates everyday life, I can’t wait to continue watching.
Joe Pera airs 12:30 a.m. Monday (late Sunday night) on Adult Swim. You can find it On Demand.
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Linda K. Sienkiewicz is a writer, poet, and artist.
Learn more about her award winning novel, In the Context of Love.
Learn more about her picture book, Gordy and the Ghost Crab.
Learn more about her poetry chapbook, Security