With the exception of his “Horse in the Hospital” bit from 2018’s Kid Gorgeous Netflix special, John Mulaney has never been very political with his comedy. That’s why this pronouncement may seem somewhat odd: Mulaney’s Everybody’s Live is the perfect late-night comedy show for this politically overloaded moment where the news is all jump scares, and the President of the United States is in an endless “look at me” tantrum.
These are fine programs doing their best to find something funny to say about white-collar criminal rumspringa, white power politics, and white-hot rage over the economy, inflation, and Elon Musk’s maximum divorced dad energy. Add Seth Meyers’ Late Night, Stephen Colbert’s Late Show, and Jimmy Kimmel’s Jimmy Kimmel Live to the list of shows that often adroitly tussle with the news of the day.
Everybody’s Live with John Mulaney, on the other hand, just did an episode on whether cruise vacations are whack, wherein Mulaney stated, right up top, “Y’all know me, I don’t fuck with sunken ships AT ALL!”
Photo via screenshot of John Mulaney’s ‘Everybody’s Live’
Let me tell you some other things that happened over the first two episodes of the Netflix show’s second season (which follows its unhinged “six live episodes in eight days” blitz last May):
In the season premiere, there was a collection of Willy Lomans acting out scenes from Death Of A Salesman in unison, Saymo the food delivery robot getting head scratchies from Fred Armisen, a Luigi Mangione shout out, 84-year-old folk music icon Joan Baez dancing in the dark to Cypress Hill performing “Hits From The Bong” with a 17-piece orchestra, call-in guests copping to light embezzlement, and Michael Keaton laying praise on the Benihana experience.
In the second episode, there was a brief pondering of whether Osama Bin Laden’s burial at sea constituted a cruise, Kim Deal and Kim Gordon sang a Sonic Youth classic, a Rabbi riffed on God and faith before going into incredible detail on the 1995 Gene Hackman film Crimson Tide, there was a random call-in with a story about questionable storage of a dead body at sea, and sidekick Richard Kind crying out “It’s pasta’s time to shine!” Also, we got an answer to one of the questions of our time: will Abbott Elementary star/creator Quinta Brunson ever go on a cruise?
For both episodes, there was a courtroom sketch artist in the audience drawing the action. I have no idea why.
Photo via screenshot of John Mulaney’s ‘Everybody’s Live’
It may seem as though I have spoiled some of the best parts from these two episodes (except the Quinta thing, which I am leaving to mystery), but this isn’t the kind of show defined by single pieces you find scattered on your feed. It’s a vibe of relaxed comedic weirdness and sometimes awkward roundtable conversations with celebrities and callers on topics like coyotes, loaning people money, and palm trees. It is, in short: randomness that can grow into the kind of unexpected magic I mentioned above; magic that does not come from loads of planning.
This show that feels like ‘90s Loveline if it was filmed at the Brady Bunch house by a bunch of comedy misfits is sometimes hard to follow, maybe a little overlong, and occasionally esoteric beyond any mainstream entertainment option that I can think of. It’s chaotic, but in a charming way.
This is what happens when the most surgically precise comic mind of our times (Mulaney is revered for the well-honed and specific rhythm and language of his stand-up) decides to create something that’s alive and occasionally out of his control… whether you like it or not.
I honestly think this show being a hit is more of a “nice to have” than a “gotta have” for Mulaney, who is in such a place in his career and life that he doesn’t have to stress numbers, play to focus groups, Netflix content overlords, or expectations about what a late-night show should be. Instead, he gives us the anti-talk show talk show where people actually conversate in a casual, free-flowing way about the many things that have yet to be commandeered by Donald Trump and Musk.
Trying to claim a little catharsis through comedy that punches up in your late-night is understandable, but this ain’t it. With Everbody’s Live, you will learn about as much as you’d get from reading a couple of Snapple caps, but the show also has a can’t look away quality reserved for car wrecks and dancing bears.
Mulaney (who is no category expert but not necessarily apolitical) has, intentionally or not, given us a bit of unique counterprogramming and an indirect mind/heart/soul saver. This is the part of the article where I acknowledge that it’s a privilege to turn off the noise and lean into a distraction. But if you can, you gotta. Part of resisting is surviving. Part of surviving is controlling how much poison you consume.
To borrow from another show (FX’s recently concluded What We Do In The Shadows), Donald Trump is an energy vampire. His presence in our day-to-day lives is intentionally exhausting. He craves outrage, anger, and attention. But reality does not get any realer the fourth or fifth time you see the same infuriating headline about his latest Truth social post, incendiary policy position, sheared right, or shrugged off court ruling. And seeing that same headline disseminated in joke form is not always the most nutritious thing.
Everybody’s Live with John Mulaney is not going to save the world, but it might spare your sanity with one hour of meandering conversation about ghosts, helicopters, and aquatic luxury living. For that reason, it’s hitting in the right way at the right time.
