Friday , March 29 2024
Stand-up from the Saturday Night Live writer is at its best in self-deprecating humor that gets the audience laughing at him laughing at himself

Comedy CD Review: John Mulaney – New In Town

Saturday Night Live writer John Mulaney is out with an extended and uncensored CD of his Comedy Central stand-up special, New in Town, which premiered last month. It’s a comedy set that has Mulaney at the top of his game.

Mulaney has the kind of pleasant on stage personality that gets the audience rooting for him. In an online interview with Kimberly Potts on The Wrap, Mulaney says that his favorite parts are the parts where he makes fun of himself, and he’s got that right. He is at his best in that kind of self-deprecating humor that gets the audience laughing at you laughing at yourself. Whether he’s talking about his bad driving, his inability to deal with problems when his girlfriend is not around, or his childhood when he was mistaken for an Asian, he is at the top of his game.

He’s not too shabby getting on others either. He does a job on Ice T in a riff on Law and Order: SVU that is downright hilarious. His bit on his lawyer parents’ child rearing style is a gem. At a total running time of about 50 minutes, there’s a lot of funny stuff on New in Town.

The problem with reviewing a comedy album is that you don’t want to be a spoiler. You want to explain what’s funny and what’s not, but you don’t want to give everything away. Anyone who buys the album ought to have something akin to a virgin experience. Of course if you don’t care about that, some of his routine is available in the usual places. All I can say is that I found him hysterical at times; if you want to see for yourself, check out Comedians.Jokes.com/John Mulaney.

About Jack Goodstein

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