Iliza: Confirmed Kills

So this special was a HUGE step back from her previous one, Freezing Hot, and is actually not quite as good as War Paint. There are still some funny parts in it, and it is still very clear that Iliza is a talented comic, but the hamfisted feminist/femal empowerment portions just don't work here. I'm not against the message per se, but she takes some liberties with reality in order to make a point, and that dilutes her message.

She goes on for quite a bit about how women are insecure about their weight and all but blames men for this, erroneously claiming that the super thin female beauty standard embodied by heroin chic in the fashion community is the result of male preferences. This has never been true; while men do find models attractive, every man I have ever know (myself included) prefers women of a much healthier weight. Men like curves, and almost always have.

I don't say this to diminish anyone's experience with negative comments from former partners, or even random jerks on the internet, but if you are going to try to affect a positive change in society it helps to be more precise, and the perpetuation of of a mentality which seeks to blame others for your own perceived shortcomings and insecurities is not empowering. Women are, in my experience, far more critical of each other than men are of women. This is somewhat touched on in the special, but doesn't get nearly as much attention as it should given how pervasive it is.

This special marks a change in Iliza's tone. It is clear that she is trying to raise awareness in addition to entertaining an audience, and she is still a very funny person; it is equally clear that this is an issue that is important to her, but she needs to tighten up her message a bit if she wants it to have the impact she feels that it deserves.

Observant but not especially insightful. She does a good job of articulating certain tropes and hallmarks of the modern, Western, liberal arts educated, upper middle class, female, millennial, ego monster's experience. The whole set seems forced (forced for content, for message, for relatability) - like she's only hearing the laughs and not the hollowed, dead spaces around them. She never achieves the state of mass hypnosis you need to get the audience to go along with her on the journey...and so the jokes never really land. I appreciate that she thinks she's saying something important, and that she has a voice worth hearing, but I don't think she earns it with her performance. Lots of shtick and meme-signalling throughout that comes across as manipulative despite trying to wink and nod knowingly at the audience. "Fast" and "loud" do not in themselves = "funny." That all said, I think it's an honest piece of work and these sorts of strident performances tend to focus an artist's following. I'm sure she'll strengthen her diehards and perhaps gain a few new fans because of this grating, 80s-90s era, Kinisonian-ish, rant, but no doubt she's lost a few here as well - I was on the fence (mostly cause she's alright to look at) but I'm no longer interested in watching any future specials from Iliza. Next time, less lurching at the laugh and more actual funny, please.

The whole show is fallacious, but in a funny way. And she does have a point. Still, this is a comedy show and it is far better than most philosophical debate I have assisted.

I was not familiar with Iliza Shlesinger before I watched this. This was my first time watching her work. She was exceptionally funny in this special for Netflix. Covering topics ranging from Party Goblins, mermaids, ugly giants, the differences between the generations and the sexes; the special was a fast paced roller coaster of laughs. Iliza's humor seems to both understand and hate her status as a millennial. Due to this her humor definitely strikes a cord for a younger audience. The special ends with a hilarious Shark Tank bit. I was really impressed with her intensity throughout. The way she punctuates her jokes with screams at just the right moments reminds me of Sam Kinison. Her use of exaggerated body language and frequently acting out her jokes reminds me of Sebastion Maniscalco. She is a commanding comedic performer and I look forward to watching her other specials.

Iliza is a hidden gem when it comes to female comedians. I absolutely adored her last Netflix original, and while the speeches went on a little too long, she was able to outweigh those with her usual gut busting show. A little slow at first. But picks up to the usual momentum she does with her stand up. She does extremely well both visually and audibly. Again, I'll admit it's not as good as her last Netflix original, but as long as you are okay with her speeches she goes through, which honestly do give some pretty good points, you're in for a treat as she delivers a hot plate of unique humor. She is able to take the stereotypes down like your grandpa from ww2