Jamie Foxx: What Had Happened Was...

This is not a comedy special. Jamie spends an hour explaining his health scare. It is obvious that this was a humbling experience. Rest assured, Jamie is the same funny and talented guy as he's always been. Jamie taps into his locker full of impressions to help him navigate the story. Some of his past roles are highlighted. You will see a lot of raw emotion throughout the special. He gives thanks to his family, God and the staff at Piedmont Hospital, in Atlanta, Georgia for helping him to get back on his feet. Both of his daughters make a special appearance. If you are a longtime Foxx fan then this is worth your watch.

What happened was I had no idea what happened to Jamie Foxx so I thought to myself I didn't know Jamie Foxx did stand-up, and everybody was talking about this so I should check it out. Imagine expecting jokes and you get a confessional / testimonial of this guy's stroke journey, complete with gratitude and praising god. So I did not really resonate with this cause I don't really resonate all that much with Jamie Foxx and this discourse is clearly tailored to his black audience, and there are some funny bits here and there, I won't deny it, but not enough to keep me invested. I actually paused it straight in the middle weeks ago and finished it just now just for the sake of finishing it. This second part did have some funny stuff like the Denzel, Chappelle and the Trump impersonations (the last one was totally unexpected, but so, so good) and he ended it on a high with singing, so that was good. But not really worth my time if I'm honest. Not my thing.

In April 2023, news broke that Jamie Foxx had been hospitalized in Atlanta with what his daughter described on Instagram as a "medical complication." Not much else was revealed, and in the vacuum of information, rumors spread. When a photo of Foxx appeared online, some conspiracy-minded types called it a clone. Katt Williams even jokingly questioned and made fun of his "mysterious illness."

Now Foxx says he wants to set the record straight. Speaking in a theater a few hundred yards from the hospital where he says his life was saved, Foxx enters wearing sunglasses but takes them off quickly to wipe away tears. He says he experienced a brain bleed, suffered a stroke, temporarily lost the ability to walk and doesn't remember 20 days of his life. It's a moving performance that feels like part of a growing trend of how comics deal with medical catastrophe.

So Jamie foxx is a talented guy guy but him going over his greatest hits reminding the audience of what the majority appears to be his church of why he is loved was less than entertaining. I know he's multi talented an actor, a singer and a comedian but this was a Comedy special not a conversion opportunity . Way too heavy in the conversion and on reminding you on why he's relevant but very little on the comedy . I'm a Christian and appreciate the attempt to bring strangers to Jesus but this was a very weird attempt at a comedy special. It was more a sermon than a standup and I can appreciate he's gone through a lot and been reborn but it feels like he's had a real crisis of confidence and while I'm glad he's back and healthy it's weird to see a man of his stature need to remind himself in public in a comedy special he's "important" but my problem is there were very few jokes and most were only about him and his status. Him being ray Charles or jango isn't impressive it's a recipe to be forgotten. He still got something but hopefully he gains sa bit more perspective and writes some original material that has nothing to do with his existing celebrity z.

Jamie Fox is indisputably one talented man. But he is just a human man. He seems to be floored that he should suffer a normal human ailment. He is so arrogant he doesn't seem to understand that people with far less resources go through exactly what he went through every day and they also recover. And they also get through it whether they believe or "find" god or not. Yes, he's talented. But he is also incredibly self indulgent. So if you want to spend an hour worshipping Jamie Foxx, this is the perfect vehicle. But if you have ever been or loved a person who has worked through a similar personal tragedy, you will likely find this "comedy special" tedious, over the top self congratulatory, and definitely lacking in any depth or self reflection.