Mae Martin: SAP

Based on some of the other reviews I've read, I think that perhaps this special isnt for everyone, and thats okay. Personally, I laughed a ton throughout, *like* to the point of having coughing fits because im still recovering from a cold.

I found it to be intellectually stimulating while providing good laughs. Mae Martin is incredibly introspective, perhaps to their detriment sometimes. It creates the stage for unique jokes, which landed for me, though I could understand if others don't appreciate it. If you're looking for cheap, hacky laughs or those based on vulgarity, you will not find it here. If you enjoy thought-provoking comedy and enjoyed Feel Good, you may just find this to be as brilliantly written as I did.

Mae arrives on Netflix with a characteristically understated live special, with only a sort of semi-meta bit of bumpering with the great Phil Burgers (also in Feel Good) as adornment. I think the direction was similarly bare bones but the material was solid and Mae is so effortlessly charismatic, with their slightly-overwhelmed-to-even-be-speaking-in-public vibe. The comedy is a niche sort of vibe tonally and strikes a strange place between introspective tangents of tremendous earnestness and stabs of surreal bluntitude. Whether they nail "the big message" or not is neither here nor there, this is them fairly unvarnished and I can dig it.

Mae has such a charming stage presence. It takes a while to get used to the fact that she's incoherent. She's scattershot. I enjoy the sparkly bits and shimmering shadows she throws out. However, I found myself shifting into the mindset of being her therapist.

That's a weird sensation for me to have while watching a comedy special, but I have felt it before. Like in Jerrod Carmichael's Rothaniel, in shows by the brilliant Hannah Gadsby, in multiple specials by Mike Birbiglia. I am a psychiatrist-psychotherapist.(big mouthful that, I know) so it's my job and my passion and my vocation to listen to people who have learned how to free associate.

Bottom Line: I Love Mae Martin. Her appearance, her whole personality, her storytelling style.... I'm eatin' it up.

I've been a fan of Mae's since first seeing them on Baroness Von Sketch Show occasionally. On a recent road trip my wife and I got a lot of enjoyment when we listened to the Don't Ask Tig episode that featured Mae, and who didn't enjoy what they brought to the second season of The Flight attendant?

This stand-however, didn't work for me. My score of 5/10 is solely for Mae, and I feel like this special was deeply hampered by poor direction.

There were multiple moments that could have been tightened-up with some editorial guidance. I wasn't bothered, as some other reviewers were, by "stories within stories" tangents, because I've seen plenty of it in stand-up and as long as it isn't abused (as it wasn't here), it actually helps my enjoyment. It's part misdirection, part timing.

I'm not sure why Mae or Netflix chose Abbi Jacobson (Broad City) to direct this. I mentioned Tig Notaro earlier, someone who actually has experience directing a stand-up special, and a similar person (if not Tig, exactly) might have brought a more editorial approach.

I also feel like Netflix has a problem with wanting to capitalize on talents who are "hot", without evaluating whether someone has enough material or a tight enough set to bring it home in a special. I don't remember the last Netflix stand-up that I actually enjoyed. Thinking more widely, I wondered when I last enjoyed a stand-up and it was 2022's Rothaniel from Jerrod Carmichael. I appreciate that Mae and Jerrod have very different vibes, and I'm not saying Mae needs to be more subdued or that Abbi should have copied the "intimate" feel that Rothaniel had, but maybe there's some space somewhere in-between where this same act, slightly pared down, doesn't fall so flat.

Oh, and the opening/closing segments didn't really add anything to the special for me. They were just there.

I have been a big fan of Mae's for a long time now, having first seen them on Russel Howards Good News years ago (back when they did comedy songs with a guitar), I was also lucky enough to see them live in Brighton just before the pandemic.

I am not sure why, perhaps the editing or pacing, or just the material itself, but this just didn't hit the mark as much as usual. It felt slightly awkward, subdued and stunted. By no means a bad comedy special, but never reaches the heights of their previous material in my opinion.

Raises a few giggles and had me smiling throughout, but never really laughing out loud.

If your are a fan of Mae's its obviously worth checking out, just don't expect too much!