Before Bottoms, Ayo Edebiri & Rachel Sennott's Short-Lived Miniseries Is Essential Viewing
Emma Seligman's "Bottoms" isn't just the funniest film of the year. I'd argue it's the funniest film to hit the big screen since The Lonely Island's "Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping" back in 2016. Though indebted to so many high school comedies that came before it, "Bottoms" operates on its own absurd tonal wavelength that I can't really compare to much else. Every joke hits, even on a repeat viewing, and that kind of comedic stamina is so hard to maintain, but they do it beautifully. Comedy is my favorite, which in turn makes it the genre I scrutinize most closely, and "Bottoms" wildly succeeds.
This shouldn't come as much of a surprise considering Seligman's previous film "Shiva Baby," which also starred Rachel Sennott (who stars in and co-wrote "Bottoms" with Seligman). That film is as funny as it is anxiety-inducing. We know that partnership bears fruit and is a perfect meld of the personal and the abrasive. Just as crucial to the success of "Bottoms," though, is the on-screen chemistry Sennott has with Ayo Edebiri. You can feel the years of history between the two performers, making their repartee all the funnier and their characters' personal connection actually meaningful in this heightened cinematic world.
Edebiri, Sennott, and Seligman all met during their time at New York University and have been friends and collaborators since. In fact, "Bottoms" is not the first time Ayo Edebiri and Rachel Sennott have played on-screen friends before. A few years ago, the duo starred in a triptych of shorts produced by Comedy Central for a miniseries called "Ayo and Rachel Are Single" that the duo co-wrote. Each of which are wonderful five-minute-long films of lunacy about modern dating and life.
A perfect prelude
"Ayo and Rachel Are Single" hit in May 2020, which as we all know was the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, so if this miniseries completely passed you by, that wouldn't be terribly surprising. I got lucky and was able to buy some early Ayo Edebiri and Rachel Sennott stock. Also, Comedy Central doesn't exactly hold the cultural capital it once did about a decade ago, but they do have a history of highlighting new and upcoming comedic voices. It was that initiative that led to the miniseries' production.
Because these are such compact episodes that only last five minutes apiece, the level of absurdity here even surpasses that in "Bottoms." For instance, my personal favorite of the miniseries is "S***ty Guy Party," in which Rachel decides to invite every guy she has matched with on the app RUNK, "which is for rude hunks who smell rank." Unremarked upon is the spread she lays out, which features nothing but raw meat and a beer called "Pss Stngr." Ayo constantly is propositioned to be a couple's third, a guy disappears into his own cloud of vape smoke, and two guys start a podcast in Rachel's apartment (or her dad's apartment that she doesn't pay rent on) and effectively kick her out of it.
It's a singular dose of madness, but unlike so many other projects like this, nothing about it feels like it came from the mind of sketch writers. Edebiri and Sennott's scripts aren't built on a comedic game. They are built on a world that these two characters must navigate. In that sense, the miniseries is a perfect cinematic prelude to "Bottoms."
All three episodes of "Rachel and Ayo Are Single" are easily available to watch on Comedy Central's YouTube channel or their own website.