John Mulaney: Kid Gorgeous at Radio City

Most comedians make me cringe. I rarely laugh at the jokes they deliver. That is not the case with Mulaney. He genuinely makes me laugh, and that's why I have bought two of his specials on iTunes. Radio City was my first purchase, and my enjoyment prompted me to buy his prior material. I hope he tours, again, in Portland, Oregon. I want to see him, live.

I got to see John Mulaney live during his Kid Gorgeous tour in 2018 and it was probably the funniest live stand up show I've ever been to. Stand Up Comedy is incredibly hit or miss for me. I either love someone's act or I don't. No in between. He's great because he's got an edge but he's not offensive. He's personal but willing to take on the man. And best of all, he's actually funny. He has such an amazing way with words and humor. His best material is when he's talking about his personal life and his bizarre encounters with wacky, almost literally like, characters. He doesn't talk down to people and he's a master of self deprecating humor. It's incredible how far this man has come in recent years after only 4 specials. Kid Gorgeous is hilarious, heartfelt and smart. His stories about his parents and childhood are great and his brilliant metaphor for the current "presidential" administration is the best I have heard and likely ever will. It's smart but not obvious and mean spirited. He's just being honest with himself and how he feels (I happened to agree). I'd rather a comedian be honest about how they feel then just try to shock and offend people for the sake of it. That's why Mulaney and others like Carlin and Pryor are so great. They were honest with their feelings. They laid it all out for us to see. And I feel that if Mulaney keeps this up, he will one day be among the greats, if he isn't already. It's a toss up for me as to which of his specials is the best. I'm pretty partial to The Comeback Kid Myself, But this may be a very close second. He's one of the few stand up comedians I feel is worth watching. I can't wait to see what he does next.

Loved the stage design, venue, and lightning. Smooth direction, noticed how it often focused on accompanying the stories John was telling through composition and specific cuts, it helps elevate the jokes when it's done well.

I find Mulaney to be a very likeable entertainer, with his line delivery and vocal tone being his biggest strength as a comedian. He is able to use his known persona and attributes to throw you off when building up certain jokes. However, watching such a special years later, it shows how quickly they can become restricted within their own time period, many of them that chose to heavily focus their comedy at that time on the 2016 Presidential election.

That was my least favourite part honestly, maybe it was a new take on it at the time, but by now every joke has been made a hundred times over and over, it hurts the rewatchbility factor of a lot of comedy specials when they can become so about their own period of time, leaving nothing to come back to at times.

My favourite one was the about the email from his friend in college. Interested to see the next Netflix special after his experience in rehab to see how his work develops. I found this most interesting stories were the personal ones about his family then and now, need more of those. Good all around, nothing insanely different or exciting for me.

I have seen all of Mulaneys specials, and found them all hilarious, just like this one. His jokes are relatable, his comedic timing is perfect as always and he just kept surprising me. I've never laughed harder than this in my life, my personal favourite being the Street Smarts bit, I was crying at that part. In conclusion if you enjoyed Kid Gorgeous, New in Town you'll definitely enjoy this as well.

John Mulaney's latest comedy special on Netflix was long anticipated and definitely met all of my expectations. If you have enjoyed his past comedy specials; New in Town, and The Comeback Kid, you will definitely enjoy this new one as well. The only other thing I have to say for this show is that at the time it was released on Netflix he had already hosted SNL and used many of the same jokes from the show in his opening monologue. He also notably had already done his 'horse in a hospital' bit in an interview with Stephen Colbert in 2017. This didn't bother me at all, and obviously a large part of being a comedian is recycling jokes for new audiences. Hearing the same jokes a second time did not dampen my enjoyment of the set as a whole. Overall it is very entertaining and I'm sure I will watch it many more times, just as I have with both New in Town and The Comeback Kid.