Baron Ryan, a TikTok star with an impressive 2.8 million followers, has garnered a loyal audience with his video sketches.
His TikToks, in which Ryan stars, edits, writes, and directs, consist of coming-of-age philosophical conversations. These nuggets of conversation are spread throughout his debut novel, A Comedy of Nobodies: A Collection of Stories, yet there are only glimmers of Ryan’s comedic prowess sprinkled throughout the story.
The book’s main character, Charlie (a possible insert of Ryan himself), is a college student at Harvard. He hangs out with his three friends at real-world Cambridge coffee shops and restaurants. The stories are sequential, each representing a month within Charlie’s fall semester. The book follows the same characters, reading as a novel instead of distinct stories. Charlie’s predictive introspections, accompanied by the comedic situations he finds himself in, make for a comforting light read that mirrors a novelized adaptation of a cheesy rom-com. Yet there is a comedic disconnect due to lack of complex characterization.
For example, in the story “The Last American Pie,” Charlie’s jazz band decides to play “American Pie” instead of the national anthem at the Harvard-Yale hockey game. “It suddenly occurs to me what a bad idea this is. For chrissake, what are we thinking? But then I think of Nantucket,” says Charlie, hoping to keep his favorite Harvard couple together by playing their song “American Pie”. By keeping this couple together, he believes he would be invited to their Thanksgiving in Nantucket, where the wealth surrounding him would comfort him, allowing him to avoid confronting his family’s poverty. After this traumatic event, he never reflects on his actions or the intent behind them. Charlie, a lower/middle-class student at Harvard, is the groundwork for a complex character, yet the reader never witnesses Charlie’s emotional turmoil over this event. Throughout the book, Charlie’s stagnation is frustrating, leaving the reader craving a character that grows.
Another example, the story “Getting There,” Charlie’s babysitting duties conflict with his dinner date. He employs Nora, his best friend and fellow Harvard classmate, to help him out. The fire alarm goes off as he is about to meet his date, leaving him scrambling to find a place for Nora and the child until the fire department clears the area. Charlie suggests IHOP, and Nora responds (with great comedic timing), “What kind of man are you, abandoning your child and co-babysitter at the International House of Pancakes?” Nora is blunt, often acting as the vessel of “tough love” Charlie desperately needs — an excellent contrast to Charlie’s avoidant nature. Throughout the novel, Nora is the underdeveloped supporting character. Charlie uses her for a fresh female perspective, often discarding her advice and experiences, yet Nora’s story has more potential despite her secondary status.
Ryan’s TikTok channel boasts philosophical arguments, but when fleshed out, they come off as cliché. Charlie’s contemplations are a collection of repetitive words (“My only regret is that I regretted everything up until now,” “The craziest thing you can do with your life is to not do the crazy thing”) or the loose foundation of existential philosophical thought (“What is the point if we’re all doomed to nothingness? I don’t care how we use our brains, the point is we use them, and no one knows the rest”). When trying to be profound, Charlie’s inner monologue reads as “Philosophy for Dummies,” introspections not dissimilar to a stoner’s.
However, there are moments when Ryan’s comedic strengths are fully realized. One story that stands out is “The Vent,” a gripping tale in which Charlie and his friend follow a beautiful Russian woman into a hotel. When they realize they are about to be beaten up, they masterfully create a slew of distractions. In this story, Ryan introduces a new environment and higher stakes. The reader can finally root for someone while on the edge of their seats. The dialogue between the men reads like a great movie script. Halfway through the novel, I finally understood Ryan’s comedic strengths.
In the end, A Comedy of Nobodies takes its title too seriously. The comedy is there in spurts, but ultimately none of the characters had enough depth to be memorable or dimension to even be unlikeable. So in the end, perhaps Baron Ryan succeeded in creating what he set out to create – a comedy of literal nobodies.
This article appears in June 28 • 2024.