Jacqueline Novak: Get on Your Knees

Jacqueline Novak is wildly clever-there's no doubt about that. But in Get On Your Knees, her jokes come at you so fast it feels less like a stand-up special and more like speed dating with comedy. She's gasping for air, we're gasping to keep up, and nobody's getting a moment to laugh.

There's fantastic material buried under all that velocity, but it never gets the chance to land. Comedy needs a beat, a breath-something other than a verbal sprint to the finish line. If the goal was to fit it all into one hour, maybe split it into two? Or, radical idea: slow down and let the jokes shine.

It's a missed opportunity by the director, too-someone should've said, "Let's give the brilliance a minute to breathe." Because it's there. You just need superhuman focus (and maybe subtitles) to catch.

After having seen quite a lot of female comics like Isla Schleisinger and Amy Schumer bomb miserably on stage in Netflix specials, I was quite reluctant to click on this. However, I did. Maybe because the subject matter appealed to my lizard brain. Anyways...

Jacqueline Novak's attitude and rhythm sure are much different than that of her peers. This is more like a single person theatre than a standup show. I don't even recall how Netflix packaged it but to me it came as a bearable and even entertaining version of that "Why Don't You Like Me?" art house woman rant from an episode of Friends.

She performs well.

I mean the walking, rope jumping, breathlessly talking on stage. But jeez, this is almost 100 minutes and I stopped at the 83rd.

I'm pretty sure the whole thing would be more impactful and even funnier to listen to if only a professional had edited down a third of the source material.

It would have become rock-hard material which the audience could handle without a risk of choking on it.

Based on the description and the trailer, I figured I'd give the show a try. I tried to stick with it, but the constant back and forth pacing across the stage made it too hard too watch. The pacing was so annoying it districted from the actual material. Someone should have warned her about this prior to the taping. I quit watching after about 5 minutes after I fast forwarded about 20 minutes to see if maybe the pacing stopped. It didn't, so off it went. Too bad because I always like trying out comedians I haven't seen before. Based on the trailer, the material itself was really funny. Maybe I'll give it another try down the road.

Its true this may be closer to a one man show than a comedy performance, but this touch of theatre over a comedic styled narration demonstrated a refreshing take on what it means to give a solo performance in the age of streaming. The onslaught of words left no time for appreciating each joke, but it also left no time to feel off-put as she navigates socially awkward topics.

It feels like a natural progression in the feminist narrative of taking control of ones life story and casting oneself as the hero even in the face of failures. As other comedians simply look for us to laugh off our failures we can appreciate that looking for poetic dignity through failure is a useful coping skill that we aren't often presented with in this genre.

I felt like it could have almost fallen apart and felt too desperate in what it was reaching for, but the closing of the show was the cherry on top and solidifies her as a great show writer and an authentic performer.

This style may feel off putting from what we are used to in the comedian genre, but I think Novak's critics will look back and realize they were asking Mozart to play less notes - Bravo!

I don't think I have heard such direct sexual in your face comedy from anyone like this. I defy anyone to actually count the times she says ****, ****, *******, ******. Surprisingly it is not done in a crass way. If the idea of full hour of sexual discussion is not uncomfortable for you. Give this a try. It certainly was different.

I would agree, with others, that it was fast paced and densely packed! So it seems longer than it was, and you may feel exhausted at the end.

Was it funny? Yes and no. At no time did I laugh out loud, but I smiled a lot. It is more of a performance. A highly energetic performance.

Bravo, well done Jacqueline.