I don’t have much to say about this special other than I love John Mulaney so much. I’m a huge fan of almost everything he’s ever done and this special is no exception.

I got to see this set live in June 2022 at Madison Square Garden and it was an incredible experience. He had 3 openers, all of whom were fairly funny, but as soon as he came on stage, the energy in the place just changed. He was just so clearly on a different level of talent and performance that it was noticeable from the first joke. He performed for much longer than I expected and my face hurt from laughing and smiling for so long. Since then, I’ve been looking forward to this special coming out so I could relive that night.

The special was filmed at a performance in February 2023, so more recently than I had seen him live. The set was mostly the same, but there were definitely a few changes I noticed of bits he left out and new bits he added in. The majority of the show focuses on the past few years of his life, dealing with drug addiction and recovery. I will say that noticeably absent is any discussion of his personal life (save for precisely one use of the word “divorce” and one quick story about his new baby). While I don’t necessarily need that from him, especially in this context, I am still personally curious about everything that happened there. Ultimately, I think it is really impressive how he is able to discuss such a turbulent time in his life so publicly and humorously. You would almost feel bad laughing at the darkness and absurdity of it all if that wasn’t the intention in the first place.

If you’re a John Mulaney fan, I know you were planning to watch this anyway. If you’re a newcomer to his work, I’d recommend starting with an older special (New In Town, The Comeback Kid, and Kid Gorgeous are all on Netflix as well) before watching this one. I just think it helps to highlight who he was both in his personal life and as a comedian before this momentous shift in his life, and the jokes in Baby J will hit that much harder. Also, they’re all still extremely funny and will not be a waste of your time to watch. Moral of the story: if it’s John Mulaney, I will be watching (and loving). And you should too!

2023 Count: 6 seasons, 21 movies, 1 special