His first comedy special since the experimental “Sack Lunch Bunch,” John Mulaney returns to Netflix with his newest stand-up show, “John Mulaney: Baby J.” As a John Mulaney fan, I had high hopes for this, especially since it’s his first project after COVID-19. Although a lot of aspects of his life and comedic demeanor have changed, the amount of times he makes me laugh has not. 

Since “Sack Lunch Bunch,” Mulaney has gotten divorced, gone to rehab for his drug addiction and had a child with his girlfriend, actress Olivia Munn. I was anxious going into the special to see if he would talk about any of these things. Although he didn’t open up about everything, a large portion of the show was detailing his journey of getting over his addiction. Mulaney touched on his friends throwing him an intervention, his experience in rehab and his feelings as a recovered addict. 

Of course, the show wasn’t only about drugs — the opening joke was about how Mulaney wanted his grandparents to die as a kid to get attention at school. Starting the show off with this joke set the dark tone for the rest of the set. Mulaney seems to always find a way to make the most awkward, sad situations into the most hilarious ones. 

This shift was surprising for me, especially considering the poppy, snappy comedic style of his previous shows like “New In Town” and “Comeback Kid.” The jokes in those were more about interesting stories of Mulaney’s life experiences, whereas the comedy of “John Mulaney: Baby J” was more geared towards the hilarity of his rehabilitation and his internal thoughts about his situation. He also prefaced the show by saying his comedic style would be less in-your-face and energetic, partially because he is no longer on cocaine.

Another aspect I found interesting was the amount of name dropping Mulaney did throughout the special. It seems like all of the big American comedians are friends, and John Mulaney does not shy away from telling stories about all his famous friends. When he was talking about his intervention, he casually threw in the names of some of the attendees, such as Fred Armisen, Seth Meyers, Nick Kroll, Bill Hader and Natasha Lyonne. Later on, he talked about getting a call while in rehab from his “buddy” Pete Davidson. I understood that Mulaney had been in the comedy industry for a long time, but I didn’t realize how close he was to so many other famous actors and comedians.

Overall, I loved this special. I will preface my recommendation, though, by saying that having knowledge of John Mulaney and his past stand-up shows definitely makes the show funnier and make more sense. So, fans of John Mulaney, as well as fans of similar comedians such as the ones listed earlier, would enjoy “John Mulaney: Baby J.” The comedy special is available only on Netflix. 

“John Mulaney: Baby J:” ★★★★★