I was introduced to John Mulaney’s comedy three years ago at a sleepover. I ended up falling asleep to his oddly soothing voice, but the few stories I heard him share were incredibly funny to me, a type of humor I had not encountered before.
John Mulaney is peak millennial humor. He uses self-deprecation and talks about relatable moments often not discussed, everything from walking down the street and not knowing how to carry oneself to your real estate agent pressuring you to have a baby.
One of the things I like best about
I rewatched his three comedy shows on Netflix recently, and noticed that some of his comedy topics shifted over time. Mulaney was never directly problematic, but his 2012 comedy tour New In Town included some borderline offensive jokes. One of them was about midgets which was just a little bit dehumanizing. He also made some gay jokes and Asian jokes, but they were never directly rude or hurtful.
Moving forward in his career, those jokes faded. His jokes now contain nothing that could be seen as hurtful or politically incorrect, and the jokes that are more harsh are based on his own experiences. He cracks a lot of Catholic and Jewish jokes because he was raised Catholic and his wife was raised Jewish. They could be seen as mildly offensive, but the punchline is at Mulaney’s expense.
Many non-Catholics criticize the Catholic church, and perhaps rightfully so. Mulaney goes a little further in his comedic criticism, but his experiences help his case.
Now, Mulaney’s jokes are centered around pop culture and being early middle-aged. He talks about working with SNL, not being politically involved until Trump’s election, and school assemblies.
I do think there will be times in comedy where the lines are slightly blurred, but jokes based on the comedian’s own identity help to find the relatable and personal while also not being offensive.
Considering he’s a cisgender, heterosexual, middle class white man, John Mulaney’s comedy is some of the most unproblematic that I’ve seen. His work should inspire us to learn how to laugh at ourselves.
