Netflix Newswire: Jo Koy Live from Brooklyn (2024)

 Written by: Danny Albers 

With all the political commentary, and the obvious attempts to be outrageous and offensive, it’s refreshing when somebody is self deprecating and silly. That’s how I felt watching Jo Koy: Live from Brooklyn. Don’t get me wrong, you shouldn’t watch this with your kids as there are some graphic adult topics in the stand up special, but none of it felt gross or like he was Koy was trying too hard to be edgy. In fact, if you’re someone who was born prior to the digital uprising, a lot of Jo Koy’s stories are incredibly relatable. 

He talks about dating being a numbers game for this generation, a series of typing words onto a phone and hitting send without any real risk of rejection and failure. This is obviously something that people of all generations feel and there is enough commentary on the internet to back up Koy’s criticism of dating in 2024. But then he begins to discuss what dating was like when he was a kid, and that’s when the comedy begins. 

“When I was a kid, if you liked a girl, you’d stare at her for 5 months before finally going up to her and stumbling through asking her out” 

When Koy said this line I was immediately brought back to being a Freshman in High School, and walking across the gym to ask out this girl that I was smitten with. And it also reminded me of the rejection, and how that helped mold who I am today. Jo Koy’s point to this entire bit was that rejection is how you grow your confidence and your personality. These are learning experiences that this generation will never have to go through, and that’s why the younger generation is so awkward.

But Jo didn’t stop there. He discussed feeling like he’s becoming his father. When he was a kid, his father would ostracize him for his musical tastes, primarily hip hop. But now Jo finds himself not understanding the music his son listens to, more specifically mumble rap. He then starts to imitate the song “Lifestyle” by Young Thug. He’s really just mumbling on stage but is hilariously close to the original version of the song, which he plays to the crowd to show the ridiculousness of this new trend. He follows that up with a bit of pandering to the crowd, and playing “Hypnotize” by Biggie Smalls to get the Brooklyn crowd to sing along. The entire point of this bit was to show how much better rap was in the 90’s than it is today. 

But the best bit of the entire show was Jo’s joke about having “no ass” and being told this by a medical professional when being treated for sciatica. He said he looked in the mirror and all he saw was a long back with an butthole at the bottom and almost puked. He told the crowd that after seeing this he felt remorse for the women he slept with, and was a little bit angry nobody had told him how hideous this was. It was a hilarious bit, and his execution of it was awesome. His gagging and how all the jokes were aimed at himself brought the crowd to life.

This isn’t the best Jo Koy special on Netflix. That’s not a knock to it because he’s a legend in the genre and his specials are some of the best you’ll witness on the streaming platform. It felt like a smaller, more intimate production than what I’m used to seeing with Koy as he’s usually playing large arenas. However, I’ve come to appreciate the specials where megastar comedians return to their roots and play smaller venues than what they do when they’re on tour. Koy proved once again that he’s a comedic powerhouse and one of the best stars in the game. 

Star Rating (1-10): ★★★★★★★ 7