Nathan Fielder wouldn’t call himself a hero, but you can call him one anyway. The comedian stopped by “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on Tuesday night to discuss his most ambitious project to date: Season 2 of “The Rehearsal.”
The second season of the HBO series ended with Fielder actually piloting a Boeing 737 filled with over 150 actors over the Mojave desert. This was all in the interest of hopefully solving the problem of airplane crashes.
“I do think that when people looks back at this Miracle over the Mojave, they will see that this might be a turning point in aviation,” Fielder said as Kimmel’s audience bubbled with laughter.
“Are they calling this the ‘Miracle over the Mojave?’” Kimmel pressed.
“I feel like I’ve seen people calling it that online. I think if you look at the comments on this video that you post, a lot of people will be calling it that. And I feel like I’ve seen a Wikipedia page, too,” Fielder countered.
At the time of publication, the comments section of the ABC video are indeed filled with people calling Fielder’s feat the “Miracle Over the Mojave.” However, a Wikipedia page has yet to be created.
“Of the miracle flights, which are flights branded with the word miracle in it, people are saying this is the most significant one,” Fielder continued. After Kimmel pressed him about where his own flight ranks compared to Sully Sullenberger’s Miracle on the Hudson, the comedian admitted that was also a big one.
“Not to create sort of like a competition or anything, but I did put down my plane safely on land,” Fielder said.
After telling Kimmel that he just showed up to do his job like every other pilot — again, a job he created for himself using God knows how much of HBO’s money — Fielder then got serious. “I’m not calling myself a hero. But if people say that, I can’t, I’m just doing my job,” Fielder said, looking at Kimmel expectantly.
“I’d say hero,” Kimmel said.
“That’s fair,” Fielder said, smiling.
If you’re lost about how a comedian who graduated from one of Canada’s top business schools with really good grades came to fly a 737 on one of the buzziest networks on television, welcome to “The Rehearsal.” The basic premise of the HBO original is that Fielder constructs a series of elaborate scenarios complete with hired actors trained in the Fielder method of acting and intricately researched sets to let people “rehearse” difficult conversations in their lives.
At least, that was the premise of Season 1. In Season 2, Fielder attempts to — and this is not a joke — solve airplane crashes. After studying crashes for several years, Fielder realized that poor communication in the cockpit preceded several documented crashes. Most of the season is dedicated to understanding why these communication hiccups occur and brainstorming ways to solve them, all using HBO’s money. Jokes and pilot’s uniform aside, Fielder spent two and a half years learning how to fly so that he could be licensed to pilot a 737. This was all done in an effort to better understand pilots and co-pilots, and to test his thesis on cockpit communication.
“I wanted to demonstrate that on a regular flight where two pilots are just trying their best that communication between the co-pilots — captain and first officer — can be a struggle,” Fielder explained. “You can see that we’re both trying our best to communicate, and it’s a struggle.” Watch the full ABC interview above.
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