Comedy Special (4 specials, actually)

For some reason a couple weeks ago I went on mini-binge of just Netflix stand-up comedy specials. So here’s what I thought of each of them, in the order I watched them.

Riaad Moosa: Life Begins

Riaad is an Indian-born, Muslim, South African comedian who chooses not to swear or use explicit language in his stand up. Honestly, I didn’t notice any of that was missing – he still managed to pull off some of the best bits of my binge. Although there were some quieter segments which we could have done without, overall the show was funny and certainly worth a watch.

My favourite bit was a story about the time he trained as a magician. “Which instrument did you play…” asked a family member, because “there are no magicians in India”. “Well, there are actually, they’re called accountants. They make your money poof, disappear. Never mind Sim, Sala, Bin it’s more like _K, P, M, G!”

He has a moustache in the special, but I couldn’t find a good picture.

You won’t see much political commentary from Mo.

Mo Gilligan: Momentum

Despite appearing on TV a lot recently (especially Channel 4) I’d never properly watched anything from Mo, and I now realise that I’ve been missing out. Although this special was comprised almost entirely of ‘remember when…’ nostalgia, which some might consider a cheap source of comedy, Mo’s show made me laugh out loud the most. I guess that’s what you get when you’re one of the most precisely targeted viewers: a millennial Brit.

I also liked the use of a stage band to enact some of the grander bits, it wasn’t overused and they were able to effortlessly transform from ‘house band’ style to something more like garage, just in time for Mo to remix a series of children’s rhymes Rastafari style. If you’re aged 18-30 and from the UK, give this a watch.

Hari Kondabolu: Warn Your Relatives

Although I did like this stand up, I’m struggling to recall the bits from it, which is probably a sign that it wasn’t all that great. So… now I don’t have much to write about it. I will say that the closing story about a time Hari encountered a racist bloke in a coffee shop was especially good, and probably the best closer of the specials I watched.

Most likely to be ‘randomly selected’ for enhanced airport screening.

I couldn’t think of a caption that wasn’t expletives.

Jim Jeffries: Intolerant

Jim is one of my favourite comedians and I’ve seen all his previous specials on Netflix, so this one was eagerly awaited. The special has a loose theme based on a story of when Jim, who is lactose intolerant, eats a large amount of cheese while out on a date. Jim elegantly breaks the story multiple times to tangentially provide his usual expletive-laden commentary on seemingly random topics.

If you ask me, this wasn’t one of his better specials. I didn’t laugh out loud as much, and I found the rant against millennials somewhat unnecessary and based on over-reported stereotypes. But hey, like Jim says, you can hate some of the jokes but still find the others funny. And that I did.