{"id":10323,"date":"2023-04-28T08:00:32","date_gmt":"2023-04-28T14:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/?p=10323"},"modified":"2023-04-27T13:37:07","modified_gmt":"2023-04-27T19:37:07","slug":"mulaney-speaks-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/2023\/04\/mulaney-speaks-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Mulaney Speaks Again"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a>
Image: Netflix<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Despite a rough few years, John Mulaney is back with another stand up special on Netflix. That rough two years included a divorce, intervention, and rehab (not in that order). And you\u2019d better believe he mines two of those three things for material.<\/p>\n

In fact, though I just watched it last night, I struggle to remember what he talked about other than the intervention and rehab. (I know there were a few bits not on these topics, but I\u2019d have to turn to Google to find out what they were.) Despite broadly only dealing with two things, this special runs for an hour and twenty minutes, and it does not drag along the way. I don\u2019t know that there are many stand up comedians I\u2019d give 80 straight minutes to, and it\u2019s a sign of Mulaney\u2019s skill that he uses his time effectively and hilariously. This is a show worth your time.<\/p>\n

That said, obviously on one level the subject matter isn\u2019t funny. Because he\u2019s talking about himself these stories land well, but it\u2019s the sort of thing that would get uncomfortable quickly in any other setting and if told about anyone other than the person in question. That\u2019s probably at least part of why his divorce\/new relationship were left out, along with any moral consideration or religious reflection. Don\u2019t go into this expecting to see much in the way of repentance, for example\u2013Mulaney claims to be grateful to his friends for their intervention but beyond what we primarily get is observation without judgment. And hey, it\u2019s a comedy special. The idea of forgiveness accomplished by someone in our place isn\u2019t on the radar here.<\/p>\n

That said, this is something you should watch both because it\u2019s hilarious (let\u2019s face it, stand up comedy that doesn\u2019t accomplish that is failing, whatever other message it manages to convey) and because it lays the groundwork for the viewer to reflect on our obligations to those we know and love, as well as our personal responsibility for our own actions. Without meaning to (I assume\u2013but Mulaney\u2019s a sharp guy, so who knows?) Mulaney opens to the door for us to think about our standing in front of God and the world. And like Mulaney, as Christians when we\u2019re being honest we should know that what we see isn\u2019t pretty and needs someone else to intervene.<\/p>\n

Dr. Coyle Neal is co-host of the City of Man Podcast<\/a> an Amazon Associate (which is linked in this blog), and an Associate Profess<\/em>or of Political Science at\u00a0Southwest Baptist University<\/a>\u00a0in Bolivar, MO<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Review of John Mulaney’s stand up special “Baby J”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1469,"featured_media":10329,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[424],"tags":[1344],"class_list":["post-10323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tv-show","tag-stand-up"],"yoast_head":"\nMulaney Speaks Again<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Review of John Mulaney's stand up special "Baby J"\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/schaeffersghost\/2023\/04\/mulaney-speaks-again\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mulaney Speaks Again\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" 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