Stream It Or Skip It?

Would you believe no woman had filmed a comedy special at New York City’s historic Radio City Music Hall before now? And yet, we’re reminded of this from beginning to end of Michelle Buteau’s second hour for Netflix. Buteau didn’t want the show to end, but what else will we take away from this experience?

The Gist: Buteau has become a formidable force at Netflix in the 2020s since releasing her debut hour four years ago.

She has hosted seven seasons of the reality competition series, The Circle, as well as two seasons of Barbecue Showdown. And she’s the creator, executive producer and star in Survival Of The Thickest, inspired by her book of autobiographical essays, which will come back for a second season in 2025.

So in many ways, Buteau is ready for any challenge that comes her way, whether it’s a war of words with a transphobic woman at a reptile sanctuary, or a spirited battle with herself trying to watch a Knicks game courtside after ingesting too many edibles.

What Comedy Specials Will It Remind You Of?: This hour pairs well with Buteau’s sister in comedy, Ilana Glazer, who co-starred with her on the big screen this year in Babes, and whom also just released her own second stand-up special (Human Magic), albeit over on Hulu.

Memorable Jokes: If you happened to see a video Buteau made in conjunction with Campbell’s Soup a few years ago where she attempted to make sweet potato casserole, she wants you to know she’s sorry for how it all went down. Buteau makes light of the incident now, wondering if she needed to mount an apology tour before “Amanda Seales was about to do a three-part video on my ass,” before adding: “You can’t be light-skinned and f—ing up Black culture!”

She’s not about to apologize, however, for her five-year-old twins, Hazel and Otis, even if they bring very different energies to every occasion, and force Buteau to test all of her maternal know-how. To the point where she’s “serving Viola Davis tired,” and feeling a bit like the floating door at the end of Titanic, with everyone clinging to her for dear life while her own whistle won’t work to signal additional help.

Perhaps her most memorable moment for the gossip and tabloid mills comes following a story she shares joking about her Black lesbian friend’s sexual proclivities.

“It can be done. We can tell jokes and stories and not disparage a whole community. We can do that. We can make it funny,” Buteau concludes. “So if you guys ever run into Dave Chappelle, can you let him know that shit? I don’t think he know that shit.” Buteau slams Chappelle’s G.O.A.T. status as a legendary comedian, claiming “he is the GOAT if that means going off about trans people.”

“Dave, it’s not funny. It’s dangerous. Make it funny,” she adds. “I can’t believe somebody would make millions and millions of dollars for making people feel unsafe. That is so wild to me, like, truly.” She points to her own comedy philosophy in stark contrast: “I wanna make millions and millions of dollars for making people feel safe, seen, secure, heard, and entertained. Entertained! Entertain me!” 

Keeping herself entertained in her marriage is another matter. Buteau jokes about how the pandemic lockdowns created some stress with her husband after being forced to spend more time together in close quarters. Since the world has mostly reopened, day dates have helped quite a bit. Date nights, on the other hand? Buteau has a classic misgauging her edible dosage story to remind others not to do that.

And after taking her final bows, Buteau is reluctant to leave the stage even after the curtain falls, declaring she doesn’t want this night to end. But also: “I might be the first woman to do a special on this stage, but I better not be the f—ing last!”

Our Take: Buteau jokes that when it comes to dealing with the Internet and social media, she finds she either shuts it off or cares too much, and she hopes she can teach her twins how to love themselves without depending upon likes and followers. “Welcome to my big titty TED Talk, bitches!” she says, laughing it off.

In real life, however, she’s not always so quick to turn the other cheek, even when high on an edible, as she and we learn from her experience visiting a reptile sanctuary when one of the other women on a tour bristled at Buteau’s casual they/them reference. It’s one thing when you’re talking hypothetically about a famous comedy colleague and criticizing him for how he does his business. It’s quite another when someone in real life gets all up in your business.

For her part, Buteau told that transphobe: “Why do you give a shit what’s between someone’s legs? You sound crazy.” It shouldn’t matter how a stranger lives their life. Buteau says that stranger is someone’s child and deserving of love no matter what. Just as she reminds us that while Buteau had a surrogate give birth to her twins, that makes her no less of a mother to them.

To her and to us, Buteau reminds us that sometimes, we can get caught up in all sorts of binaries. “You’re very black and white with shit. I need you to live in the shades of gray where the love and humanity exists.”

And she’s equally capable of existing in the love and humanity, or fighting for someone else’s right to it. Either way, we’re going to get some laughs out of it.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Buteau is enjoying herself up there. Her fans are enjoying themselves. Lenny Kravitz is following and liking her Instagram posts. It kinda makes sense why you might want to put her special on in the background or foreground of your New Year’s Eve festivities.

Sean L. McCarthy works the comedy beat. He also podcasts half-hour episodes with comedians revealing origin stories: The Comic’s Comic Presents Last Things First.