How to With John Wilson：Wonderful Nonsense

Watch the first episode –I am begging you to do so – I swear you'll be hooked on it in 10 minutes.

How to With John Wilson is not a guide to life, instead, it's a visual essay brimming with metaphors and poetic imagery, crafted by the US film-maker John Wilson.

It is more like an art project with surreal comedy undertones than a themed documentaries.

Each week，John Wilson takes an idea and turn it into a story in voiceover, using an extraordinary collage of footage taken from the streets of New York City, and beyond, to illustrate his points, either literally or symbolically.

It is extremely odd and imaginative – I can’t think of another show like it.

Hey New York, how will you surprise me today

It’s a complete modern visual essay, something funny and profound ，offering a unique perspective on New York City from street level and obscure corners that have never been seen before.

Each episode starts with the same opening narration from John Wilson: 'Hey New York.'

In this world-famous and vibrant city, there are countless interesting stories that unfold on the streets every day. The nerdy director takes his camera and walks through the streets of New York, recording everything he sees with a bit of mockery and mischief.

He captures footage with a spontaneous and casual 'foolproof' approach, and then transforms it into awe-inspiring works through his creative editing. Even the people, streets, subways, restaurants, and supermarkets that we usually overlook have been transformed into interconnected daily dramas.

For instance, someone might be hula hooping while talking on the phone, another person might be lying on a worn-out couch by the roadside, enjoying a peaceful nap. Medical workers may carry a stretcher out of a house with a body on it, but accidentally stumble and drop the poor guy on the stairs.

These seemingly insignificant details of daily life, when stitched together, showing the fascinating, absurd, and helpless nature of life dramatically.

In the first episode, John Wilson takes you on a journey that takes in predator entrapment, the grief of an unhealed breakup, a travel agent’s divorce and an earnest party guy’s longing for something real. There is no show like this on TV.

Every episode is a masterpiece.

This quirky and neurotic series may take a bit of time to fully grasp. These videos, which cannot be simply categorized as "documentaries," always speak nonsense in a serious manner,and then reveal genuine emotions at the end. It makes the audience who were ready to laugh, confronting the poetic and profound inquiries about life itself.

The imagination in life knows no bounds

"How To with John Wilson" is not a documentary with fancy cinematography, nor does it capture spectacular natural phenomena or rare life scenes. It only focuses on trivial details of life of everyday life that we all encounter. So why is it so touching?

Perhaps it's because most documentaries adopt a seemingly objective perspective and narrate grand stories, such as "Planet Earth," However, this documentary takes a completely personal perspective and magnifies subjective experiences which is a rare approach.

John Wilson has the ability to continuously discover novelty in the mundane, which many creators admire and envy. He maintains a sensitive observation and a fresh perspective, and can excavate all the oddities, absurdities, grievances, tenderness, and sadness hidden in every corner of life. After mixing them up into a pot, he creates a wonderful feeling.

As a New York filmmaker, John Wilson is like a down-to-earth version of Woody Allen. He brings his keen observation and sharp thinking from the middle-class intellectual's life to the streets and ordinary people's homes, making you realize that life itself is not rough, but it is the human heart that is rough.

In an interview, John Wilson said, "I always had this impulse to film everything in my life and turn it into art."

In Season 1, Episode 3, he revealed that he has been writing down everything that happens to him in detail every day for years. It is this collection of everyday life that allows him to create such exceptional documentaries!

John Wilson made me believe that the richness of a person's experience, rather than the density of events happening in their life, determines the quality of their life.

Life can hold an endless amount of imagination, as John Wilson himself said, "from fixing a power outlet to the edge of a volcano."