Jacqueline Novak: Get on Your Knees

I was told this was hilarious and I needed to see it so I had a watch. There were a few moments that I thought were pretty funny, but then it went on, and on (and on and on and on) delivered at a manic pace that reminded me of a person that is high on speed blasting me in the face with a fire hose of words. She talked so fast and so continuously that I found it exhausting to listen to and it seemed like parts were repeated over and over. Yeah, ok, penis jokes and sex jokes are funny but they're also as old as time so not much new here and this was at least 45 minutes longer than it needed to be. It's not the worst standup I've seen but it's not great either.

This is comedy genius. I can barely describe it. The pacing is dazzling and you need to try to keep up with it. But you get this from the beginning - this must be the way an airplane would speed up along the runway to take off. And it does take off! Bold, poetic, hilarious, this stand up comedy show reaches literary heights that must have made many comedians jealous of this incredible, inexhaustible talent that moves incessantly across the stage leaving you breathless at the end, and unable to believe what you just saw. Unbelievable heights of intelligence! I recommend you watch this with all my heart. But be prepared Jacqueline will have you going for the sprint.

I don't think I have heard such direct sexual in your face comedy from anyone like this. I defy anyone to actually count the times she says ****, ****, *******, ******. Surprisingly it is not done in a crass way. If the idea of full hour of sexual discussion is not uncomfortable for you. Give this a try. It certainly was different.

I would agree, with others, that it was fast paced and densely packed! So it seems longer than it was, and you may feel exhausted at the end.

Was it funny? Yes and no. At no time did I laugh out loud, but I smiled a lot. It is more of a performance. A highly energetic performance.

Bravo, well done Jacqueline.

After having seen quite a lot of female comics like Isla Schleisinger and Amy Schumer bomb miserably on stage in Netflix specials, I was quite reluctant to click on this. However, I did. Maybe because the subject matter appealed to my lizard brain. Anyways...

Jacqueline Novak's attitude and rhythm sure are much different than that of her peers. This is more like a single person theatre than a standup show. I don't even recall how Netflix packaged it but to me it came as a bearable and even entertaining version of that "Why Don't You Like Me?" art house woman rant from an episode of Friends.

She performs well.

I mean the walking, rope jumping, breathlessly talking on stage. But jeez, this is almost 100 minutes and I stopped at the 83rd.

I'm pretty sure the whole thing would be more impactful and even funnier to listen to if only a professional had edited down a third of the source material.

It would have become rock-hard material which the audience could handle without a risk of choking on it.

Its true this may be closer to a one man show than a comedy performance, but this touch of theatre over a comedic styled narration demonstrated a refreshing take on what it means to give a solo performance in the age of streaming. The onslaught of words left no time for appreciating each joke, but it also left no time to feel off-put as she navigates socially awkward topics.

It feels like a natural progression in the feminist narrative of taking control of ones life story and casting oneself as the hero even in the face of failures. As other comedians simply look for us to laugh off our failures we can appreciate that looking for poetic dignity through failure is a useful coping skill that we aren't often presented with in this genre.

I felt like it could have almost fallen apart and felt too desperate in what it was reaching for, but the closing of the show was the cherry on top and solidifies her as a great show writer and an authentic performer.

This style may feel off putting from what we are used to in the comedian genre, but I think Novak's critics will look back and realize they were asking Mozart to play less notes - Bravo!