John Mulaney Gets Very Real in First Post-Rehab Special

John Mulaney has never been an especially self-deprecating comedian. For most of his career, he styled himself as the type of broadly appealing throwback showman who was smarter, funnier, and better-looking than everyone else in the room and wanted you to know it. That was before everything fell apart.

Baby J, which arrives on Netflix today, is Mulaney’s first stand-up special since revealing to the world that a relapse on cocaine (and various other pharmaceutical drugs) fueled a tumultuous 2020 that culminated in an intervention from his famous friends and an extended stint in rehab.

The 80-minute special contains some of his darkest and most compelling material to date. The laughs may come ever-so-slightly fewer and farther between than in his previous work, but Mulaney’s willingness to peel back the curtain on his inner turmoil in a way he’s never done before adds a new depth that, by the end, only makes the special funnier. It’s no wonder he’s not sure how he will be able to follow it.

Read more at The Daily Beast.