US EditionHow the ‘Nirvanna the Band’ duo’s troublemaking stunts became a chaotic Toronto film
The film blends archival footage and improvised pranks as the duo attempts to book Toronto's Rivoli, using a time-traveling RV fueled by a defunct Canadian drink.
- Now in select theaters, Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie opens with 2008 handycam footage and jumps to 2025, following Matt Johnson and Jay McCaroll’s plans to get hired at the Rivoli.
- Matt Johnson, comedian and director, and Jay McCaroll, comedian, who have nearly 20 years of trying and failing to play at the Rivoli, staged pranks dragging onlookers into their antics.
- Using doubles and ingenious editing, the crew combines body doubles, archival footage, and meticulously recreated sets to splice scenes nearly two decades apart, while staging stunts like parachuting off the CN Tower filmed by hidden HD cameras.
- Centering on older selves meeting younger versions, the film incorporates a real shooting outside Drake's home, delighting audiences and encouraging new viewers to stay, as the emotional core resonates.
- By converting a cult web series Nirvanna the Band and Viceland TV show Nirvanna the Band the Show into a feature, the film ambitiously stretches its prank-film tradition alongside Jackass Forever.
14 Articles
14 Articles
Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie Is a Meta Misadventure 20 Years in the Making
The latest entry in Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol’s high-spirited satire of their own lives is a funny big budget time travel misadventure. by Dom Sinacola For nearly 20 years, Torontonian best friends Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol have chronicled the everyday existences of Torontonian best friends Matt (Johnson) and Jay (McCarrol) as they attempt to book a show for their band, Nirvanna the Band, at local venue the Rivoli. Granted, they've never…
What Is 'Nirvanna The Band The Show The Movie'? Everything You Need To Know About 2026's Weirdest Movie
NEONAnything is possible in moviemaking, but not everything is legal. You can film anything, but you couldn’t, say, bring a camera into an opening-night premiere of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, film the screen, and then incorporate that into your TV show. Except, that’s exactly what Nirvanna the Band the Show did in 2017. In the episode, Matt Johnson (playing a fictionalized version of himself) watches Star Wars for the first time way too close…
Winnipeg Free Press
How the 'Nirvanna the Band' duo's troublemaking stunts became a chaotic Toronto film
Breaking News, Sports, Manitoba, Canada
Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie Review
Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie is in select theaters now.Half the fun of watching guerrilla productions like Jackass or Borat is the thrill of a flimsy artifice couching publicity stunts as if they’ve been pulled off “for real.” The camera, visible or otherwise, follows eager protagonists who ensnare an unsuspecting public into infantile shenanigans – a tradition dating back to the 1948 debut of TV prank show, Candid Camera. In the most te…
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