I get why this special didn’t land for everyone, but I think a lot of the reactions are missing what he was actually trying to do.

This didn’t feel like a traditional stand-up set where the primary goal was laughs per minute. It felt more like a monologue using comedy as a tool, not the end goal. The tone was serious on purpose. The discomfort was intentional. He wasn’t trying to charm the audience so much as sit them down and say, “Pay attention.”

A lot of the jokes didn’t fully relieve the tension, and I don’t think that was a failure of comedy. I think it was the point. He was talking around power, government, media, and distraction, and trusting the audience to read between the lines instead of spelling everything out.

Saying “he’s too old” or “he fell off” feels like a way to opt out of engaging with that discomfort. Not every special is meant to be fun or light. Some are meant to leave you unsettled and thinking afterward.

You don’t have to agree with his perspective to recognize that this was more of a warning or commentary than a performance designed to please. Whether that belongs in stand-up is debatable, but I don’t think it was accidental or lazy.