Baby J

Standup comedian and comedy writer John Mulaney had a pretty stellar 2018 by any professional standard: He became the fourth former staff writer at Saturday Night Live to be invited to back to host without having been a cast member (joining Conan OBrien, Louis C.K., and Larry David). His fourth standup special, Kid Gorgeous at Radio City, premiered on Netflix in May, and it won him the Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special in September. Coinciding with the award, the Kid Gorgeous album went to number two on the Billboard comedy chart. The year 2020 (and early 2021) was a very different one for Mulaney, involving not only the disruption and uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic but divorce, two stints in rehab, and a newfound status as tabloid fodder. He had checked himself into rehab in September of 2020, only to leave after a month to host SNL again (his fourth time). A post-show relapse, a December intervention staged by celebrity friends, and a two-month return to rehab (that stuck) for alcohol, cocaine, and prescription drug addiction form the basis of Baby J. Its a much darker, reputation-altering set that he prepares audiences for by opening with bits including how, in grade school, he wished one of his grandparents would die -- for the attention. Featuring music by David Byrne, the special was filmed on February 26, 2023, at Boston’s Symphony Hall before a sold-out crowd that included an 11-year-old who Mulaney spots, questions, welcomes, and calls back during the show. What ensues marks a shift for Mulaney into long-form storytelling, as he covers experiences like his "Star-Studded Intervention" -- "A We Are the World of alternative comedians over the age of 40" (Seth Myers, Fred Armisen, and Nick Kroll are mentioned by name) -- regular visits to the apartment of a dubious, prescription-writing doctor with no last name, an imagined "A Call from Al Pacino," based on a real phone call from Pete Davidson (entered as "Al Pacino" on his phone), hopped-up adventures buying and pawning a Rolex in Manhattan, and more. Throughout, Mulaney manages to draw belly laughs while making less-than-flattering material work by simply not trying to be likeable. He addresses this near the end, on "Hello, Old Friend," about how this whole experience helped him get over caring what other people think: "What is someone gonna do to me thats worse than what I would do to myself?" A show that transcends standup in terms of its serious subject matter and emotional directness ("As you process and digest how obnoxious, wasteful, and unlikeable that story is, just remember: thats one Im willing to tell you"), Baby J won Mulaney another Emmy for his writing. ~ Marcy Donelson