Laugh it off & move on

Adam Sandler is back on stage with his comedy special. Some stupid jokes, crude ones too, peppy songs to a heartfelt tribute, this not so long Netflix show comes packed with his signature silly voices, funny antics and some really good guitar notes.

Sandler is certainly not new to the stage. Starting with ‘Saturday Night Live (SNL)’, he’s an established actor known for his fun films. In fact, he is reported to be the best paid Hollywood actor of 2023. The year saw him do films like ‘Murder Mystery 2’, ‘The Out-Laws’, ‘You Are So Not Invited To My Bat Mitzvah’ and ‘Leo’ (animated musical comedy). His dressing style’s not the regular one, but what is now called the ‘grocery-run look’, with an oversized T-shirt, hoodies and sweat pants, even landing him the status of a fashion icon a few years back.

On his ‘Love You’ special, he shows up as he is — crude and casual, with his jokes and songs, to the audience that’s duly in love with him. The show is directed by Josh Safdie (together, they had teamed up for psychological drama ‘Uncut Gems’). The show offers a semblance of another fun day in Sandman’s life. Driving with a broken windshield, coffee spilled on his shirt, meeting and greeting his over-enthusiastic fans, signing shirts to another night of stand-up at a theatre packed with people.

If you are used to his brand of humour, be prepared for a lot of dirty jokes. By the way, last year, he won the Mark Twain Prize for American Humour. He cracks tons of jokes at the expense of his wife and is not politically correct, at all. But boy, when he picks up the guitar — his songs offer more comedy at times than his jokes.

A dog gate-crashes this party, where the computer screen is dysfunctional, the stage has a hole — much of it looks pretty staged but offers good fun. If crude is not your style, some jokes will come across as vulgar. It’s his Merriam-Webster bit that sure is a winner, as is Rob Schneider as Elvis Presley on stage.

Amongst the songs, ‘My Sister’s New Boyfriend’, ‘The Divorce Songs’ and ‘Old Guy with Kid’ sure tickle.

While one knows his jokes are not based on his family, one in particular, ‘She Don’t Need Me Anymore’, strikes closer home, knowing that his daughters — Sadie and Sunny — are teenagers now.

This outing cannot be compared to his ‘100% Fresh’ that came in 2018, for the first ones are always special. The highlight of this special is his ode to comedy that he sings as ‘Here Comes The Comedy’. It starts with “You are down boy, No one around boy… Where do you go now?” Pretty nostalgic and heartfelt, it’s not only Sandman’s tribute to his ‘SNL’ homies, but the comedy aces in general, right from Charlie Chaplin to Borat, Jerry Lewis to Eddie Murphy and a whole lot in between.

At the end of this Netflix show, we see Jackie Sandler picking up her man for a quiet night over takeaways.

Even if you are not watching the whole show, do give your 10 minutes to the comedy song that plays towards the end.

The show is a definite ‘A’ on account of the crude humour.