John Mulaney’s New Netflix Special Arrives on Christmas Eve

John Mulaney is back on Netflix with a new children’s variety special titled John Mulaney & The Sack Lunch Bunch.

Launching globally on Dec. 24, the show “aims to recapture the magic of that bygone television era when children sang songs about their feelings with celebrity guests on funky outdoor sets,” per a Netflix press release. It’s a bit of a different direction from Mulaney’s 2018 Netflix stand-up special Kid Gorgeous, but maybe it’s just what we need to finish 2019 off strong.

Mulaney describes his new special as follows in a statement:

I’m John Mulaney and I am a 37-year-old man. The Sack Lunch Bunch is a group of children ages 8-13 who are more talented than me. In this special, we are joined by celebrity guests like David Byrne, Tony Award Winner Andre De Shields, Natasha Lyonne, Annaleigh Ashford, Shereen Pimentel, Richard Kind and Jake Gyllenhaal from the movie Zodiac. The result is a collage of Broadway-caliber showstoppers, comedy sketches for all ages, meditations on the unknown from children and adults, and a papier-mâché volcano. It’s funny, musical, joyous, anxious and surprisingly profound.

Netflix announced a multi-special deal with Mulaney in spring 2018, which began with Kid Gorgeous and continues with his new show. Paste ranked the comedian among last year’s best.

John Mulaney & The Sack Lunch Bunch is directed by Rhys Thomas and is available to stream Christmas Eve.