Until recently, I considered John Mulaney the funniest man in America. His routines about college tuition and website security are both insightful and hilarious. His Tom Jones prank is legendary, and nobody in the world came up with a better metaphor for the early days of President Trump than Mulaney’s “horse in a hospital.” Of course, there are several people I’ve thought were at one time the funniest men in America; they include John Belushi, Eddie Murphy, Chris Farley, so I suppose it was only a matter of time before Mulaney fell.
And John Mulaney fell hard.
It’s funny how John Mulaney always wanders out nattily dressed with nary a hair out of place. For years, he has struck me as the ten year old who has been done up by his mom for his aunt’s wedding. Ironically, his baby face hid some very adult habits which the comedian recalls in vivid self-deprecating detail in his latest stand-up, John Mulaney: Baby J.
John Mulaney has a classic addictive personality. More than once, it has invited trouble. For eighty full minutes in John Mulaney: Baby J, he talks about cocaine addiction, intervention, and rehab. He talks about his reliance on drugs, the people who forced him to steer in a better direction, and the silly vanity that comes with being an insecure celebrity. Kudos to the man who can own up to his own vanity and joke about it. Mulaney recalls being so offended that nobody recognized him in rehab that he actually left the newspaper celebrity gossip column open to his particular fall from grace in a common area and then not-so-subtly advertised to his fellow junkies that he made the paper.
It’s quite possible you’re addicted to more than one thing, John.
This stand-up material is a confessional like few before it. John Mulaney is well aware of his strengths and, especially, his weaknesses and makes no bones about them. Early on, he spots an 11-year-old in the crowd and cautions him that the material is not necessarily for the kid’s ears. My take is exactly the opposite. For years, schools I attended sent in a professional conscience to point out the dangers of drugs and drug abuse. I cannot say they were effective; they mostly came off as tough love cops, which they probably
were. In contrast, John Mulaney is a guy you might aspire to be confessing to room full of strangers what an incredibly weak man he is. Very funny, but very weak. Could this be you? Only if you’re lucky.
If I’m judging this stand-up routine by laughs alone, I think I’m only giving John Mulaney: Baby J 2.5 stars. However, the material isn’t just about the laughs. We haven’t seen a comedian go this bare-boned about his addictions with an audience since Richard Pryor in the 1970s. This stand-up is not only a giant cautionary tale, it’s a learning experience … a valuable learning experience. There are a few documentaries that I wish every teenager in America would have to watch at least once. Among them are Super Size Me, Blackfish, and An Inconvenient Truth. Any high school seeking to teach, really teach, would make sure all the students saw them at some point. John Mulaney: Baby J is now on that list. This is what an addiction is. And it’s not about the cost of the addiction so much as it is about how you destroy all the relationships around you. Job? Money? Those are obvious addiction casualties. There is a cost, however, beyond that, in alienating all those willing to vouch for you. Few confessionals have made such a point without even making the point. I think this material is golden and I hope every young person in this country gets a chance to watch it at least once.
Do I think John Mulaney is through with addiction? Oh, Hell no. Sad to say, I think he has a lifetime ahead of him filled with getting addicted to something it’s easy for celebrities to get and then returning to a clinic once again. I dunno that he’s lost his sense of humor so much as his humor has changed. Is that addiction or reality? Who can say? I probably am always going to find John Mulaney to be a funny man. Is that enough to justify this yo-yo lifestyle of fame-indulgence-fall fame-indulgence-fall fame-indulgence-fall? Can’t say. I can say, however, I’m a fan of this material, but in a much different way then as John Mulaney has entertained me in the past.
There once was a celebrity tool
Who did drugs like some unwitting fool
“Take thy baggie off the shelf
And snort it all to thine self”
Seemed to be his golden rule
Rated TV-MA, 80 Minutes
Director: Alex Timbers
Writer: John Mulaney
Genre: Confessionals
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Ineffective guidance counselors
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: The parents of John Mulaney
