Review of Aziz Ansari: Right Now
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Steve Timko
Jul 17, 2019, 8:45:06 PM7/17/19
to TV or Not TV
Aziz Ansari has released his “Right Now” special on Netflix and it’s a good one. Netflix releases so many of these comedian specials that there’s probably a wide range of them but most of the ones I’ve watched are top notch. I wonder if this is the golden age of comedian specials.
Ansari deals with his #MeToo moment when a woman accused him of sexual impropriety. He says he wants the audience, including those watching at home, to understand how he feels. In the end, he doesn’t actually say much about the specifics of the allegations. Ashleigh Banfield said it wasn’t a #MeToo moment. The accuser had a bad date. Still, the special is billed as a comeback for Ansari.
SPOILER ALERT
Near the end, Ansari said after the accusation, that part of him died, the part that looks forward to the next standup special or the next season of his TV series. Now he just lives for the moment and appreciates each day.
END SPOILER ALERT
Ansari jokes a lot about being woke, about how whites have a hard time being woke and about how people take advantage of white people not being able to have status as being woke. I like his humor, so most of his jokes scored with me. This seems to be an especially poignant comedy special. Jokes with a child about what to ask his mother seems to push the boundaries of good taste.
Spike Jonze did a good job directing the special. In the opening, Ansari just walks off the street onto the stage, suggesting a level of vulnerability. Many of Ansari’s jokes are shot with a mildly wide angle lens with Ansari’s face to the right of center. The mildly wide angle lens again gives a feeling of vulnerability. Although as a personal quibble, when I see that, I know the photographer is standing on stage a few feet to the side of Ansari and I want to scream “Get the phrack off the stage!”
If this is, indeed, a comeback, that’s bad news. #MeToo caught many villains in its nets but Ansari seems to be collateral damage.
Ansari deals with his #MeToo moment when a woman accused him of sexual impropriety. He says he wants the audience, including those watching at home, to understand how he feels. In the end, he doesn’t actually say much about the specifics of the allegations. Ashleigh Banfield said it wasn’t a #MeToo moment. The accuser had a bad date. Still, the special is billed as a comeback for Ansari.
SPOILER ALERT
Near the end, Ansari said after the accusation, that part of him died, the part that looks forward to the next standup special or the next season of his TV series. Now he just lives for the moment and appreciates each day.
END SPOILER ALERT
Ansari jokes a lot about being woke, about how whites have a hard time being woke and about how people take advantage of white people not being able to have status as being woke. I like his humor, so most of his jokes scored with me. This seems to be an especially poignant comedy special. Jokes with a child about what to ask his mother seems to push the boundaries of good taste.
Spike Jonze did a good job directing the special. In the opening, Ansari just walks off the street onto the stage, suggesting a level of vulnerability. Many of Ansari’s jokes are shot with a mildly wide angle lens with Ansari’s face to the right of center. The mildly wide angle lens again gives a feeling of vulnerability. Although as a personal quibble, when I see that, I know the photographer is standing on stage a few feet to the side of Ansari and I want to scream “Get the phrack off the stage!”
If this is, indeed, a comeback, that’s bad news. #MeToo caught many villains in its nets but Ansari seems to be collateral damage.
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