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As one of PGP’s Seinfeld guys, I had September 19th marked off on my calendar for a while. I knew it was the day when Netflix was going to release the new Seinfeld special, Jerry Before Seinfeld. So, yesterday, I blocked an hour off my calendar and watched.
I came in not exactly sure what to expect. The trailer made it seem like this would be a little more of an origins story, with maybe some untold parts of his ascension as a stand-up comic. I also kind of figured, based on the trailer, that he’d be telling mostly jokes that were cultivated towards the beginning of his career.
Is this the make-up of Jerry Before Seinfeld? Well, yes and no. It’s way less origins story than I would have wanted, so if you’re looking for a loaded stand-up special, this hits the mark. I guess that’s the thing with Jerry, though. As a guy who doesn’t really, actually hardly ever, use personal anecdotes in his act, I’m not sure why all of a sudden I figured he’d pull back some magic curtain and give us the kind of self-examination I thought we’d be getting by being truthful and reflective about his youth. He gives a quick, yet vague, note about his childhood, then launches into a joke that loosely relates to that element of his past. The jokes crush, though.
Having said that, it is full of the jokes that he developed at the beginning of his career, which, honestly, are a shit ton funnier than whatever attempts at nostalgia I may have been rooting for in the first place. But here’s the thing: you’ve heard most of them already. If you’re a Seinfeld fan, you know these jokes. Whether you’ve seen some of them in past specials, or mostly as the little clips of comedy he did before and after the episodes Seinfeld, you’ve heard most of these jokes. Now, some of the jokes get slightly updated or tightened up, but the premise is essentially the same.
And Jerry got paid huge bucks for this! Imagine turning in work you’ve done years ago, just maybe with a new font or something, and bingo bango bongo everyone loses their collective shit in pure ecstasy. It’s wild. Only in America, baby! But that’s always been the beauty of Jerry Seinfeld. He has an act, you’ve heard a lot of the jokes, but you just want to watch him because it’s Jerry Fucking Seinfeld. And sure, you could go back and watch old clips of his routine. You can watch his old HBO specials like I’m Telling You For The Last Time. But Jerry Before Seinfeld is unique. Jerry, in his sixties, well dressed and confident, plays the greatest hits perfectly, this time in the intimate setting of The Comic Strip, a small club where Jerry got his first start at stand-up in 1976.
Netflix reportedly paid $100 million for two Seinfeld specials and Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee. So there’s another special on the way. Personally, having seen the origins story, now I want him to go out there with a whole bunch of new material. Is that asking too much?
Final analysis: as a greatest hits album, it works. B+.
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Boston Max
Spending my retirement fund at Trader Joe's and trying to remember to check my mailbox semi-regularly
@BostonMaxG
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I think Jerry spoke about this on the HBO special “Talking Funny” with Chris Rock, Louis C.K., and Ricky Gervais. People want to see the greatest hits when they go to see you live, but they also want some new material. Glad the purest observational comic in history continues his run of success.
I kind of liked how he exclusively did material from his early days at the actual venue where he started out. Sure, every one of us Seinfeld fans has heard the “laundry party/sock escape” bit, but those bits still kill. That being said, it wouldn’t hurt to add a few new bits to his repertoire.
I don’t know man. I was disappointed.
I wanted either an origins story or 30+ min of new material. I got neither. Maybe that’s on me for not calibrating my expectations but it was just old material and I thought ole Jerry was kind of (understandably) rusty. It’s not like this guy is touring around the Midwest trying to perfect a new routine. Maybe the 2nd special will be an attempt at new material. i can hope.
From some of the comedy podcasts I listen to, I’ve heard Jerry’s most recent material simply doesn’t kill the way his old stuff still does
Anyone else notice how the audience changed throughout the show? Not sure if that’s normal but it kinda bothered me for some reason. That said, great to have a Seinfeld special on Netflix