Michelle Wolf’s New Special It’s Great to Be Here Is Funny But Flawed
Photo courtesy of Michelle Wolf
Michelle Wolf’s stand-up tends not to be an easy ride, and that fearless boundary-testing is what’s historically made her comedy so stellar. She brings her straight-talking, daring tendencies to her new three-part Netflix special, It’s Great to Be Here, as she discusses nude beaches, Karens, the Me Too movement, femicide, trans women, and beauty standards, with varying success. This isn’t quite the home run that her 2019 special Joke Show was, but there are plenty of laughs to be had.
It’s Great to Be Here departs from the relatively stripped-back Joke Show in format, splitting the set into approximately 20 to 35 minute thematically-linked chunks with a nice little intro montage of Wolf greeting audiences and enjoying greasy fries. It’s a welcome change (especially for assistant comedy editors with ravaged attention spans) and not distractingly elaborate.
The first part, entitled “New Neighborhood,” is the best of the three. She spends 20-odd minutes describing life in Barcelona with her significant other and why she’s jealous of lesbians. This is classic Wolf, with some excellent physical comedy demonstrating the difference between the various nude beaches in Spain and well-crafted jokes full of razor-sharp cultural observations. Early on in the set, Wolf engages in some crowd work that she flips on its head at the very last minute to discomfit the audience. You’re always on your toes with Wolf.