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.

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 was told this was hilarious and I needed to see it so I had a watch. There were a few moments that I thought were pretty funny, but then it went on, and on (and on and on and on) delivered at a manic pace that reminded me of a person that is high on speed blasting me in the face with a fire hose of words. She talked so fast and so continuously that I found it exhausting to listen to and it seemed like parts were repeated over and over. Yeah, ok, penis jokes and sex jokes are funny but they're also as old as time so not much new here and this was at least 45 minutes longer than it needed to be. It's not the worst standup I've seen but it's not great either.

This is comedy genius. I can barely describe it. The pacing is dazzling and you need to try to keep up with it. But you get this from the beginning - this must be the way an airplane would speed up along the runway to take off. And it does take off! Bold, poetic, hilarious, this stand up comedy show reaches literary heights that must have made many comedians jealous of this incredible, inexhaustible talent that moves incessantly across the stage leaving you breathless at the end, and unable to believe what you just saw. Unbelievable heights of intelligence! I recommend you watch this with all my heart. But be prepared Jacqueline will have you going for the sprint.

Very good comedian I had somehow never heard of. She mixes clever word play with animated almost but not quite over the top performance. Putting you in the artists shoes in her moments of power and weakness, in coming of age and truly showing she grasps herself and probably everyone else. Most of all this is funny and she a great storyteller like I can't even like wonder if like it might be like the best special of 2024. Jacqueline Novak will have you laughing from beginning to end! I don't really have anything negative to add or any criticism, I just really enjoyed this comedy special and am eager to delve into her back catalogue.