In the early 80s of Apple Computer, employees would refer to Steve Jobs as having a “reality distortion field,” a belief that he could change the world through simply mentally forcing whatever reality that was wanted be true. Through this reality distortion field, Jobs could push people to greatness, seem incredibly naive, while also doing incredible things. This season in Nathan For You, we’ve seen Nathan Fielder create his own reality distortion field, as he’s tricked seemingly the entire state of California into believing working for free at a moving company is a new workout, or tricking a child into changing his adult dreams for the sake of a sporting goods store. With “Smokers Allowed,” Nathan’s reality distortion field helps him to believe that he’s a success with his latest plan and feel what love from another feels like in what is essentially Nathan For You’s own version of Synecdoche, New York.
In order to help the 1881 Club, Nathan suggests to owner Ellen Sancer that being able to smoke in the bar would attract more businesses. However the law states that smoking indoors in public places is no longer allowed…unless it’s part of a theatrical production and smoking is integral to the plot. Nathan decides to put on a “play” at the small bar, entitled “Smokers Allowed,” which consists of two seats behind a curtain, where people can just watch people drink and smoke. Once Nathan presents it to the first two patrons, they believe it to be “nothing in a way, but profound,” and a member of the theatre department at Glendale Community College compares him to Doubt writer John Patrick Shanley. Completely throwing caution to the wind – and any attempt to save the bar really – he decides to see how big “Smokers Allowed” can get and puts himself fully towards the theatre.
It’s rare that Nathan puts his own interests ahead of the business he’s trying to help, since he usually does both concurrently, but at a certain point he completely abandons 1881 Club for the stage. When he mounts his recreation of “Smokers Allowed,”’s first show, he even recasts the part originally played by Sancer, in order to make the play as great as possible. He transcribes every moment of that first show, adds merchandise to the bar, raises drink prices and expands the theatre section to a whopping seven seats. By the end of the his staging, he’s doing the exact opposite of trying to help bar patrons smoke while they drink, instead after “Smokers Allowed” he warns his audience of the dangers of smoking.