By Jason Zinoman (NYTimes.com)

April 11, 2018

Mr. Davis has a gift for manufacturing hostility that quickly turns absurd.  But what makes him compelling is how committed he is to his performance–never breaking character and persuading you of the reality of whatever extreme emotion he reaches for, no matter how ridiculous the situation.  When he confessed his love to a bottle of Tide, it seemed like a silly joke, but it has blossomed into a long arc, a romance that everyone he talks to finds funny, then disturbing.

In a live taping of the podcast on Sunday at Abrons Arts Center on the Lower East Side, Kevin McDonald, a former member of Kids in the Hall, officiated a wedding between Mr. Davis and his detergent.  This ceremony ended characteristically, with a burst of violence that spilled out into the hallway of the theater when a police officer character arrested him, shoving him against the wall.

But first there was the baffling tenderness between a man and his Tide.  Mr. David gazed at the bottle, caressing it.  When he kissed the cap, he lingered, in a way that was halfway between creepy and silly.  But clearly this love affair has issues.  Looking sheepish, he confessed:  “I have looked at other bottles.”