Thoughts on the new Smosh live show!

Relatively spoiler-free!

This is my (very casual) review of the new Smosh live show, "Anthony is Dead: The Funeral Roast". Also known as me vicariously living through Ian and Anthony's friendship for 2 hours.

Personally, I think I kind of prefer the live shows that have several segments, in a way. Since this is equivalent to one Smosh video (although it was a much grander viewing experience that did not disappoint), it kinda felt a little jarring when it ended lol. I was like "no... don't go yet..."

There were some stumbles along the way, and people did kind of go for some easy jokes (you can probably guess some of them: Smosh the Movie, the tattoos, etc.), but there were some really well thought out roasts in here, for sure! Courtney as Bikini Girl brought up a deep cut that I wasn't even aware of, and it was really funny lmao. Amanda as the Fortune-Teller was hilarious. The guests all did a great job. Everyone was great, honestly. The little things Ian and Anthony were able to bring up about each other were great. The way Anthony formatted his counter-roast was so fun, and I loved it.

There was a specific heartfelt moment that I MISSED because Kiswe was glitching out on me NONSTOP, and it got spoiled for me (even if I didn't check tumblr and twitter, it was referenced in the VIP aftershow)! But I watched it later on the VOD and it got me right in the feels lol. I LOVE THEIR FRIENDSHIP SO MUCH!! Being totally honest when I say that it inspires me to be better and more in-touch with the few close friendships I do have. I tend to struggle with being vulnerable too, so I guess I kind of relate to Ian lol, and I kind of know what it's like to have a "friendship breakup" (though mine might be less severe). These two are such friendship goals for me. Even though they fell away from each other, they were able to come back stronger than ever, and that's so wholesome. We NEVER would have gotten soft moments like these in 2015!

But hands-down, the best part of the show was the HALFTIME MUSICAL NUMBER!!!! They were NOT exaggerating when they said that that alone was worth the ticket price! It's only 10 minutes long, but it was so fun, so sentimental, such a journey. It took the opportunity to roast the boys just the right amount, but also seamlessly flipped right back into the genuinely pretty sentimental bits that are just Ian and Anthony's story. If this isn't what the eventual Smosh biopic is like, then we are doing something wrong. Anthony was right in the aftershow when he said it was such a gift. I wouldn't be surprised if just the musical number gets released for free at some point, as promo for a future live show. It stands on its own and it was truly amazing. I'm probably going to rewatch just that part a bunch more times.

I actually do like the idea of making former unscripted content from main into a really big event, but I kind of hope that doesn't mean we have to say goodbye to the old live show format. I still think that Under the Influence is their funniest live show to date, and not even necessarily because they were drunk (though that did make things more chaotic). You know, I think it's possible to channel that chaos by coming up with different ideas for segments, theming, and special elements that would come into play. What I loved about Under the Influence was the way it was filmed and how it utilized the studio, it sort of felt like we were following the cast through late-night shoot hours. And then during the finale and stuff, it sort of felt like a small theater production, which was so cute, but it had sort of an intimate "hanging out with friends" vibe. I also really liked Sleepover Live for the vibes, mostly, and the musical improv bits were so fun. It was also fun to see everybody perform the opening number and stuff. I like the usual live show format because it feels like you're getting so much in 2 hours lol, but it's also so cozy. I kind of want to see it strengthened, and I wonder what it would look like with Anthony's input.

At the end of the day, this live show was something really special and it was so fun, though. So worth it. I just can't wait to see another good old-fashioned upbeat, chaotic, and wild live show with Anthony's participation.