Aziz Ansari releases a new stand up special
"For this special shot as a close, intimate, immediate, raw half-hour of comedy, though, Ansari never skirts anywhere close to vulnerability or risk." @kvanaren writes on Aziz Ansari’s new special, "Nightclub Comedian" https://t.co/nrSfoT9IGF
- New York Magazine (@NYMag) January 25, 2022
• If you're anything like me, you forgot that it hasn't been that long since Ansari released a stand up special. He released one on Netflix back in 2019, where he largely attempted to comment on cancel culture and outrage culture while attempting some self-reflection. Now he's back for another special where the major focus is empathy.
• He asks the crowd what they think of Aaron Rodgers and when they boo, Ansari says to go easy on him because he's a football player. Later he brings up Nicki Minaj and says that she and Rodgers are simply trapped in a different algorithm than his audience, and that his audience should have some empathy towards them for their different opinions because shaming them obviously does not work. He encourages them to click on the stuff they read for a few days in order to understand them better.
• Ansari questions why people would more quickly buy NFTs than give a dollar to an unhoused person they pass by in public. He also has a bit where he says, "Homelessness, et cetera. we could fix all of it just like that. You know how I know? ‘Cause two years ago, people in rich countries started dying of mysterious illnesses. And what did we do? We shut down the earth for two years! Every single one of us stayed in our fucking house every day. We didn’t even go to work."
• He pulls out a flip phone to the gasps of the audience and shuns celebrity culture, reminding people that Kevin Hart, “would never be up here for free, okay?” unlike Ansari who is apparently positioning himself as one of the people.
• A reviewer notes that the special is wonderfully shot but ultimately rings hollow and says that Ansari comes across as someone who "wants to have his down-to-earth authenticity and dine out on it, too." The reviewer says that nothing in the set ever gets close to being vulnerable. The special attempts to capture the intimate feel of a live performance in the small club space but it's very clear that the special was shot over several days, further missing the mark of authenticity Ansari is so clearly striving for.
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