source: Jerrod Carmichael: Rothaniel

I have watched all of his specials and was never impressed by any of them. It seemed to me his POV always had a mean streak in them, one that was unpleasant to watch. I decided to watch this one because of all the hype and was glad I did. His usual mean persona.was gone, replaced by an exposed and vulnerable person who was also funny and smart. I think all that meanness was the result of him hiding who he was. I'm glad he took the plunge and decided to finally tell the truth about himself. That is where his true funny will emerge. I expect great things from him now.

Story telling time, I'm sorry that I don't care what millionaires go through, the hardship or whatever they are fighting. I don't care. Stand up comedy means, you should have good jokes, he sounds like he can act but I don't think comedy is for him, but it's hollywood, people are too 'woke' and live to just validate anything, literally anything to pretend that they care or they are progressive, civilized people. I guess dave chappelle Now, does that, he just talks and have some jokes so I guess it's the norm and if you don't appreciate that crap, they tell you that you don't get it. Well write a book, I watch this stuff to laugh, without the laughs it's not comedy.

Carmichael is edifying and empathetic supplying comedic relief while offering himself unconditionally. Melancholy at times due to life sensitivities but an essential show shedding light on millions more Carmichael's across the world.

Truly wonderful standup special, it manages to have humour, a consistent structure, and at the same time feel like a real dialogue with the audience. This is an incredible feat from an amazing performer.

No idea how someone can rate this a 10 or a 2 with all the content that exists, it comes off as disingenuous when all the reviews are one or the other. The first half of this special was actually excellent, If it stayed on par with that I would've given it an 8.5/10. Funny but with more of a well paced serious one man show with humor mixed in to hide the pain. The last half (after the big reveal, there's still 5-10 more minutes of great story telling before it devolves into a therapy session gone wrong) was painful to watch. I don't understand the people calling it amazing. It's not funny nor interesting, it's just watching a man grapple with family issues saying about 5 words in between minute long pauses. That will sound like hyperbole to anyone who hasn't watched it but I'm being serious. It's like 20 min of mostly silence or the audience talking to him through the issues. If he was talking more or had thought about this more beforehand it still wouldn't have been as good as the first part but it could've been very compelling. It just came off as watching someone when they lose their place in a presentation or don't know what to say at a job interview - uncomfortable and boring all at once. Someone compared this to a podcast and I think that was a great comparison. The only problem is that if the second part were a podcast on its own, it would've been turned off an unsubscribed. I love Jerrod I think he's one of the most original, smartest, funniest stand ups working. His observations are truly unique and I love his point of view. All that being said though I'm not even sure this was worth a free watch on HBO Max, and that should tell you a lot from a huge fan of his.

A good friend of mine (who is also a pretty pig Carmichael fan as well) likened this stand-up as a podcast and I feel thats an apt description. Sure, it was funny at times but for the most-part its main draw was hearing such a raw and complex situation(coming out to your family!!!). Carmichael's story is engaging, and I felt I kept listening to hear his story resolve, but in the end we as an audience are the ones who resolve Carmichael's family's future in our imaginations. As far as "stand-up comedy" specials go this wouldn't even crack my top 15. Its not funny. In terms of "live A-list celebrity conversations with crowds" this is a 10/10. If you want to hear Carmichael at his best, go watch '8'.

Jerrod is my favorite comedian. The fact that he is gay doesn't diminish how much I look forward to his next special. The fact that he seems to use this special to work his way through 'coming out' just seemed like he's crying for help. I hope my fellow christians don't hound him. Much (most?) of the material isn't even meant to be funny, and some was quite dark, hence the relatively low rating for what was billed as a comedy.

Can a performer be quietly electric? I believe so. Jerrod Carmichael is so real and raw here I was tempted, towards the end, to lace my fingers over my eyes and hold my breath in suspense. In 'Rothaniel,' director Bo Burnham perfectly sets the mood with a long opening shot of Carmichael gradually coming into focus walking along the street under a light snow before entering a dim, hushed Blue Note. The opening, the stage set, Carmichael's demeanor-all spoke of what was to come even before he opened with, "I want to talk about secrets." For 57 minutes that felt like a lightning strike eternity, Carmichael spilled, interwoven with jokes, very funny commentary, amidst a two-way conversation with the crowd that made his bare intimacy much warmer than just stand-up meat. Long-held family secrets, personal secrets, real fear. The fact that he may've fought tears toward the end (I cried briefly), to me, only burnishes the fact that Carmichael is funny as hell here. If you have ever been estranged from a parent, or hit with family secrets so deep they made you question who you are, you may just laugh even harder. I did.

Another Gen-Z "comedian". Self absorbed and over inflated opinion of himself. And of course an added laugh track was once again necessary. Almost no shots of the audience actually laughing. And even the silhouettes shots of the audience are mostly dead still while the laugh track plays. I guess that's absolutely necessary. With these "comics without jokes"... Sounds like a charity. Well I guess the added laugh track is charity enough.