Pete Davidson: Turbo Fonzarelli

Pete Davidson is Pete Davidson, and continues to be Pete Davidson in his most recent standup special, which is titled Pete Davidson: Turbo Fonzarelli. It might be a little less funny than I remember his older standup being, and the decision to film it all in black and white felt a bit pretentious, but I got a few chuckles out of it, and other specials in the past from lesser comedians have certainly provided less in the past.

I feel like the main thing that tanks this is the way he milks certain topics long past the point where they stop being funny. It felt like half this special was dedicated to talking about interactions with a stalker, and whether the story has any credibility is beside the point; it just stopped being funny after a while.

Anyone who's enjoyed Davidson's humour in the past will get some laughs out of this, but it's definitely not a great special... and I say that as someone who has enjoyed some of his humour in the past. I'm not going to say standup is dead or anything, but I haven't been wowed by a comedian's special in a while; I can say that much.

I was underwhelmed with Pete Davidson's first Netflix special, "Alive From New York," which struck me as a little sloppy and unpolished. It was pretty good, but it was his first special and the potential for well-written jokes was there.

Because of that, I hoped that this second special would demonstrate his growth. And it did. His jokes in "Turbo Fonzarelli" are better worked out and clearly more practiced. He was much more comfortable and confident with his stage presence, and ultimately it felt like the show was more for his fans and less for himself. I'm genuinely excited to watch Pete continue growing and evolving his comedy.

I'm a big fan of Pete. Whoever's been coaching him on his joke delivery is doing an exceptional job, because it's clear Pete is a master at communicating in his craft. The content though! Wowsers...I'm not a prude, I swear, I'm cool. There were some jokes that I figured were left in just to promote the show as in when thrones of people tweet, What the heck did he just say? I get it, eyes on your content is crucial. I think Pete's talent is beyond that though. Ya know, like does he need all the MF jokes? I don't know. Pete can do no wrong in my books. By the way, Pete, you are looking very hott!

It's dark, like his comedy. I enjoyed this special and most of the jokes in it, however, a few of them are a little uncomfortable so make sure not to watch with your mom. I really find Pete Davidson funny and I know that not everyone does, so I want to be careful to say here that if Pete isn't your thing you aren't going to enjoy this one as much as I did. He speaks reality into every day life in a way that I appreciate. Maybe that means I'm mentally ill like he is, but I liked this one so much I watched it twice in a week because a friend was over and I knew it was one I could enjoy a 2nd time.

I love that Pete pushes the envelope and has always produced original, boundary-challenging material that feels authentic to who he is. And this special has lots of very funny moments, but ultimately it disappoints. He took a genuinely funny concept about his mother so far that it felt more directed to an audience of other comics. (If you're a fan of "the Aristocrats," which I'm not, it's right up your alley.) It deserved about 2 minutes but went on til it was dead and rotting. Likewise the whole saga of the stalker, which was boring AF, lacked any relatable authenticity, and was beaten to death to the point where I had to fast forward to get to the end already. First time I've ever needed to do that. But that shows I was still hopeful, because normally I'd just turn it off. However, the realtor story was a weak finish. Pete's well-meaning "commitment to the bit" may work well in improv, but in a tight 55 minutes he desperately needed some wiser editing and direction.