Kill Tony: Kill or Be Killed

Even if I was drunk and kicked in the head I would struggle to find anything funny about this train wreck. The special is desperately trying to be roast special mixed with the View but misses the mark on both counts. It drops the good natured insult humor of a Don Rickles or Ross of a roast in place of meaningless sarcasm and oddly desperate boot licking. The only thing missing is a four hour rant in the middle selling supplements or secretive men only weekend retreats, that will probably be on a future release. I know Netflix wants to expand their audience but this reeks of a cash grab appeal to the lowest common denominator.

Billed as stand-up at its most unforgiving - and unpredictable. This popular podcast created by Tony Hinchcliffe has made its way as a Netflix special.

Tony, I would put off your retirement plans if I were you. That Netflix money will not be there for the long term.

The comics who had one minute to make people laugh sucked. The Hall of Famers sucked.

Joe Rogan who owns the club and is the world's most popular and richest podcaster was there wondering. How did these guys even get on here?

You know it's bad when the many bald headed band members were laughing to gee up the audience.

So comedians, I use that word loosely. They have been doing the small club circuit for a few years, also known as their bathroom.

They have one minute to make Tony and his panel laugh. Some have travelled hundreds of miles to get a shot. One biked it on a BMX from California.

Unfortunately they turned up with no material. Zilch.

They have not honed their act, road tested their material. It is a long minute and I have no sympathy for them at all for not having 60 seconds of their best jokes.

Most of them knew they were dying. That Hall of Famer who used topical material that dated back to the mid 1980s. He knew he messed up. The reason they are not Hall of Famers, just less mediocre than others.

These wannabe comedians should had been inspired by that Eminem song, Lose Yourself.

I liked how Tony kept pulling a name out of the hat, so he could find one female comedian to come on. She sucked as well and Tony then invited her on for another show. Well he was impressed with the weak jokes.

The other main issue was all that inane chatter. The acts had one minute of stand up, then they talked to Tony and the panel for five minutes. That time could had been used on more acts, some who have travelled hundreds of miles, even thousands for a chance to perform.

The only people that were funny was the guy doing Donald Trump. The British stand up at least had some material. Even Ron White left his best stuff at home.

Then there was the Joe Biden guy who tried to push Tony out of the closet!

I love Kill Tony, but I feel like I've never seen everyone so tense. Everyone from the bucket pulls, the regulars, to the guests seemed anxious and uncomfortable. The pressure of being on Netflix was too much for everyone I feel like. That's the only thing I can think of that made this episode feel so much different.

That being said there were some amazing bits. Shane killed it as always, couple great bucket pulls, Tony didnt hold back from roasting. One of the most all-star casts the show has ever had. I just think it would have went better on youtube.

Curious to hear what people think who aren't use to the shows humor and format! Definitely not everyone's cup of Tea.

I'll start on the positive side, some of the bits were ok, amusing at least. Shane Gillis as Donald Trump was leaps and bounds better than the rest of the show. Honestly, probably one of the best Trump impression I have seen. Now, on the negative side, the bucket pulls were shockingly bad. It's going to sound like I'm being mean or exaggerating, but about halfway through I seriously started to ask "does stand up comedy just suck that bad in Austin ?" As for the bucket pulls, they obviously had to be pre picked, are these people the best of Austin? Also, if you think it's just me having a bad sense of humor, listen to the crowd, you could hear a pin drop. Typically in live comedy things are objectively funnier in person, laughter is infectious, but whoa, this crowd is silent. It takes a ton of guts to get up and perform in front of people, especially on Netflix, so I'm really not trying to trash these comedians, but it really was bad. I wish all those comedians the best.

This episode was a weirdly packaged version of what Kill Tony really is. New viewers will be misled.

The episode is called Kill Tony for a reason - Tony is the showman that makes it work. But here, he's mostly a host introducing the next segment while showcasing his mates with barely any bucket pulls - the magic of the show! His roast of bucket pulls is soft and misses the usual quick, hilarious, ego-destroying responses. He even leaves awkward silences between guest contributions that would normally be filled because he understands showbiz. And there is just a general sense of nervousness to make it work rather than just going with the flow.

Overly prepared, unnatural, uninspired.

If you want the real deal - head over to YouTube.