Summary
A collection of unfunny jokes that make you want to turn the special off several times.
The Netflix is a Joke Festival happened recently and we saw some of the best standup comedians across the world at the festival. Today, we have a brand new special, Bill Burr Presents: Friends Who Kill. Is it worth checking out? Let’s dive in.
We know that various comedians are set to hit the stage, but Bill Burr hits the stage first. Burr does what every comedian has done over the last year, tackles COVID. He makes quite a few jokes, from the number of people who died to making light of the people who gave doctors crap throughout the pandemic. Next, Burr tackles Kyle Rittenhouse, which gets more groans than laughs, deservedly so as the jokes were subpar and not really funny.
Next up was Michelle Wolf and Wolf tackled Kamala Harris and how little girls everywhere should know it’s possible now. Wolf follows by targeting white women and how they are hypocritical in what they do and say. If I am being honest, this was a big swing and big miss for me. I had never seen Wolf’s work before, and after seeing this, I am not seeking to watch anymore.
Jimmy Carr is up next, and he kicks off the jokes by joking about how in ten years, jokes will not be jokes anymore because of how sensitive people are. So then, Carr attempts to tell a barrage of jokes to test the audience to see if they have a sense of humor? I’ll be honest with you all, we are 0-2 so far during this special.
We have Steph Tolev up on stage, and this is my introduction to her. She comes out with a leather skirt-like outfit with a mullet (which I am very jealous of). She comes out strong with some over-the-top jokes about sex, and well, again, nothing lands here. We have reached the point where most people may turn off this special.
I am a massive fan of Jeff Ross and Dave Attell. Could they be the saving grace for this special? I sure hope so. Let me start by saying I love Jeff Ross, but my goodness, he is that one ugly human being. So it isn’t surprising that the roastmaster would have a roast battle on stage. Jeff and Dave trade barbs with each other, but they shift to some crowd work, which is some of the best jokes yet. My goodness, this was a breath of fresh air this special needed. These two were great.
We have Ian Edwards hit the stage with some mediocre Michael Jackson jokes. However, Edwards lands one of the best jokes of the special with his The Handmaid’s Tale joke. IT IS BRILLIANT. He followed with even more great work with sex trafficking jokes that landed perfectly and ended with a great gender reveal party joke. Honestly, this was my introduction to Edwards, and I can’t wait to seek out more of his work.
We are riding a high, folks, and let’s see if it continues with Joe Bartnik and his great stache. First, Bartnik kicks off with some great material on the Dad bod. Then, we have our first Will Smith joke in a standup special, and you know, it worked, and I laughed. Overall, Bartnick was good, not great, but kept the momentum going.
Jessica Kirson hits the stage, and well, there went the entire steam that the last few comics have built. Her delivery is brilliant, but the jokes are not fully there for me. It’s not that they aren’t funny; it is just that they are only partially amusing, and that takes you entirely out of the joke. Honestly, it might have been the worst on the show so far.
The show ends with Josh Adam Myers, and he comes to the stage and starts singing? I guess this is his schtick. I need a drink or ten because this was AWFUL. What in the world was Bill Burr thinking by letting this on the show? I’m so confused right now? Burr introduces Ronnie Chieng to the stage now? And he is going to sing now? Even worse, he is going to sing Teenage Dream by Katy Perry? Please end this show.
Overall, the good can’t outweigh the truly bad parts of this special. I had HUGE expectations for this, and I wanted to turn it off several times. I wouldn’t recommend this to my worst enemy.
What did you think of the Netflix comedy special Bill Burr Presents: Friends Who Kill? Comment below.
Go watch amy Schumer
Could you be any less nuanced in your headlines? Speaking of, I assume you’ve never headlined.
I ran to the internet after watching this looking for answers, your review perfectly summarised my confusion. I was so excited to see this, it was God awful. Wonder if he acknowledges this or blames “trolls”
Incorrect – it’s funny.
Bill is literally known as one of the funniest men in standup, you think he has horrible taste?
I agree the worse show from Bill and you would want to kill the whole cast…
This review was an unfunny waste of time. 1 star.
Michelle Wolf was hilarious, but maybe you need to be a white woman to understand that? Though most probably will admit neither of these openly.
I agree that it wasn’t a great comedy show. But waste of time? Completely disagree. Bill was the only funny comedian btw
The horrible song at the end was not funny at all. Pretty much the whole show wasn’t except for burr and the bumping mics part. Overall it was a sad portrayal of how idiotic and insane comedy has become but the most cringeworthy part was how eager the people in the audience were to follow along in singing that horrible vulgar song at the end- my God. I rest my case.
Terrible special. Big BB fan but like you said “what was he thinking”? Wolf was by far the most annoying comic on stage.
It’s really funny when the people they write their comedy about decide to write articles about how they aren’t funny. That s**t was hilarious
The person who wrote this must be just the most mundane boring person ever, definitely wouldnt be invited to the cook out . This special gave you a true comedy show feel. it gave a great line up that you would experience if you were to go to a show in person. bill did a great job at hosting and selecting comics for the show. every comic had great jokes and good moments.
Jokes and Humor is not for you. Better review different genres next time. Absolute waste of time reading this. There is 0 analysis only vogue opinion making which has no place in comedy.
Okay, so it’s not funny? Like Ricky Gervais not funny? Because that new RG show is hilarious while critics complain about it. I can only assume the same, only critics are whine boys. Now I’ll go and watch it.
Shouldn’t someone who watches a lot of stand-up comedy be the person who reviews stand-up specials? If you have never seen Michelle Wolf than you have no business writing an article about stand-up. She performed at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner when Trump was elected. People that don’t even watch stand-up have seen some of her work. Ridiculous.
Sounds like the author was awfully triggered by some hard truths in this outstanding comedy special
Would rather watch Amy Schumer at her funniest. I literally fast forwarded every “amazing, awesome just the best comic I know” ….it was like being edgy and confronting even hits or matters anymore….definitely was not funny, edgy or at the very least funny. Jesus guys we’ve lived through two years of hell, didn’t need to sit through an hour more
I’m surprised by the commenters saying they liked it. I thought it was trash. Bill Burr’s wife is comedies Yoko Ono. I agree with another commenter that Ricky Gervais’ special was funny. Go watch that instead.
I assume from the first couple of paragraphs the writer does not regularly watch comedy.
The only thing that disappointed me was that I was expecting more of Bill. This article blows, find a new job you hack.
This article is essentially a rundown of the special, moment by moment, with some lukewarm opinions you’d probably call a “critique” added to get the word count up. I wish you would have used this space to actually say something substantive about the comedy you claim is “an unfunny waste of time”. While I liked a good amount of the special, I also agree that there’s a lot of room for critique and jokes that didn’t hit, but actually explaining why you didn’t like it would’ve given this article a lot more credibility.
“Her delivery is brilliant, but the jokes are not fully there for me. It’s not that they aren’t funny; it is just that they are only partially amusing, and that takes you entirely out of the joke”… huh?
Must be a “woke c**t” who authored this crap
I was very disappointed, I was so excited to see this but it was awful. Everyone was terrible….Bill burr and Jimmy Carr are always hilarious and even they had a subpar night. I ca t believe with all of the great comics out there this is what the ended up with!
There’s no need to dissect something that’s not funny. It just wasn’t.
The more experience comedians seems a bit off, the others were just bad.
Some politics is fine, but it was all a bit political (except for Jeff Ross) and almost all of it ‘off’, the only bit that landed was the Handmaid’s Tale.
Bad timing about the guns and the recent school killings but we can’t blame them.
This was a bad show, not worth anyone’s time.
The reviews of the reviewer are awesome. I agree that this person should be reviewing cars, adult diapers, or pepper mills though.
I agree with the reviewer, this was not a good special by any means. Even if a joke was good, delivery was horrible.
Bill Burr absolutely sucked in this and the rest were even worse than him with the exception of Dave Attell.
Bill Burr on his own is one of the very best stand up acts ever, but my god, this special is the most unfunny gathering of souls I’ve ever seen – Seems that gross sex references is the primary theme of the day for new comics – Just a fraction of the audience laughed throughout most of it.
Just watched this, and your review is spot-on. I’ve been a fan of Bill’s for well over a decade, listened to the MMP until earlier this year, and I’m sad to say as much as I love the guy, he’s just lost it. This special being “meh” at best makes sense in that light (though no one can stop Attell & Ross, who were the highlight of the show). Chalk it up to Nia & LA or just his overexposure to the industry and yes men, but Billy Boy’s undoubtedly gone off the rails. Let’s hope he finds his way back soon. I’m rooting for him.
There is no such thing as bad timing as pertains to the CONTENT of jokes. If you think it’s ever a bad time to tell a joke, you do not understand comedy, its history, its purpose and its performers. I wholeheartedly disagree with this reviewer. That piece by Jessica on two tweens talking was absolutely brilliant and I’m guessing the reviewer is in their 20s and was offended by this 100% accurate depiction of what the current generation is. The crowd was too scared to laugh half the time, IMHO too concerned about what’s socially appropriate by the (pick a direction left, right, up down I could care less this is comedy and is the one thing that should be 100% freedom of speech). I’m in my 40s and I’m saddened to watch this special. Might seem to some as just an “unfunny” special but Jimmy Carr nailed it. We are watching a sad decline in open dialogue and the ability to laugh at ourselves. Too bad Bill’s friends who kill had to come up against a room that kills comedy. Keep it up America and your idiotic right and left and guess what you’ll kill everyone in the middle.
I thought it was funny – but then again, I don’t have a stick up my ass.
I don’t know what happened to Bill Burr. He had as couple good specials and then he’s just been spiraling ever since. He had too much success and then forgot how to be funny. Now he can’t even RECOGNIZE funny. That’s what happens when you become “WOKE” though.
I don’t know what happened to Bill Burr. He had as couple good specials and then he’s just been spiraling ever since. He had too much success and then forgot how to be funny. Now he can’t even RECOGNIZE funny. That’s what happens when you become “WOKE” and try to do comedy though.
My wife and I are big fans of Burr and wanted this to be awesome. A few “chortle” moments, but disappointing overall. I think those who review it well are doing so as fans and supporters instead of the humor of this specific show.
What click bait crap…more substance in the ads verse you’re literary genius….
I love Bill Burr. He is one of the funniest people I have ever seen. That said, this was absolute garbage. I actually turned it off after Jeff Ross who I also like but was horrible. None of these comics should be on a stage with Bill Burr. I’m sorry to say this was one of the worst things I have ever watched in recent memory
Wow. Big Bill Burr fan. But, whiskey tango foxtrot!! Bill, what happened to you??!!!
I was shocked at how bad this special was. It was as if Netflix gave the comedians 24 hours notice and they had to write all new material. Burr terrible, Wolf Carr terrible, Kirson terrible. All comedians I love. Effing depressing
Any comic that has the same values as someone is called out as “brave”, while one with different values is considered “terrible and unfunny. It’s sad our country has forgotten what freedom is. There’s some very controversial comics that I don’t consider funny, but I respect their willingness to put it out there.
I felt more blown than blown away by this special but I didn’t write a review on it and try to treat my coverage like I was covering a prize fight for the school paper. Maybe review something more to your liking. I hear Lifetime is still making original movies.