John Mulaney Baby J-Gets an A for Addictive Humor

Is addiction funny? I can be, depending on how far one's succumbed and which one is delivering a diatribe of its highs and lows.  In JOHN MUILANEY: BABY J comedy special airing on NETFLIX, the pratfalls of being in the grips of addiction, his intervention and rehabilitation are sobering and downright funny.  This no-holds barred, baggage sharing tell-all, Mulaney's mostly drug infused dark-period doesn't overshadow his insouciant bad boy charm or brackish wit. Mulaney begins the evening by calling out an audience member who turns out to be an 11 year old 5th grader, Henry.  Henry assures Mulaney he's a fan and not the result of a last minute sitter cancellation. Mulaney assures the rest of us his routine won't in any way be waylaid knowing Henry's watching him. And, before delving into his drugged days material, Mulaney tells us he's the third of four children raised in Chicago.  In elementary school he was envious of his classmates whose grandparents died during school as they became the center of attention (something he's always craved). Having four grandparents, he prayed for at least one to die, maybe the mean, oldest one.  "Damn, she went and died over the summer. How unfair!"  From there he shared getting into trouble as a teen with the police alongside his two best friends, both named John. This disarming humor takes a sharp trajectory leading up to a dinner invitation at his friend's apartment in NYC. He was two hours late.  "My explanation for being two hours late made sense to me at the time because I reasoned I could be in two places simultaneously while strung out on coke." The joke ends up being on him as he was ambushed in the room by "an impressive comedy lineup" of hostile friends in the apartment and eight friends on zoom.  What works so well is the contrast between Mulaney's elfish grin and his self-deprecating manner.  Even he seems amazed at his days spent focused on suffusing his drug habit, his time spent in recovery and his discovery of how fortunate he is to have survived.  Mulaney's indebted with gratitude to his friends, "even those on zoom" who confronted him.  He can't forget they've saved his life, with a begrudging smirk he reaches and signs for the check, "No, I've got this. Thanks for saving my life. No, really." Name dropping aside, thanks are given in the credits to an A list of comedians.  This refreshing and LOL special is sharply honed on his harrowing haze of addiction,  Upon reflection, I commend  Mulaney on his sobriety.  I wish him continued success in his personal life and as a celebrated jokester. 

drug infused