Summary
Pete Davidson Presents: The Best Friends is one of the best put-together specials that Netflix has put out to date. Be prepared to laugh and laugh a lot.
Netflix comedy special Pete Davidson Presents: The Best Friends was released on the streaming service on June 13th, 2022.
I am back covering another special from the Netflix Is a Joke Festival. On the menu today is Pete Davidson Presents: The Best Friends. The special is Pete and a host of his friends come on stage to perform some standup for us. I love Pete, so let’s dive in.
The special kicks off with a montage of text messages from what is supposed to be Pete’s phone from various comedians that are texting back and forth about the special. A reminder that this will be Pete doing a set followed by different comedians (and musicians) going on stage, doing their bit, and moving on. I will share my thoughts on each set and give my overall thoughts on the show.
Unless you live under a rock, most of us have seen some of Pete’s stand-up because it was his first public statement or jokes about Kanye. I am excited to see them in complete form, as I do love Pete and his work. As Pete hits the stage, I WANT HIS JACKET, call me Netflix.
Pete comes out firing with how he thought he had AIDS because Kanye told him he had AIDS. Pete’s delivery here is perfect as he knows the material he has here is easy to get laughs out of the audience. One of my favorite things about Pete is how funny Pete thinks he is. A majority of the time, when he tells a joke, he is either laughing at it or has a huge smirk on his face. Throughout his Kanye bit, he had just that. Pete reminds us that he is still one of the best comedians on the planet.
First up, Big Wet? Who looks like Bray Wyatt (wrestling fans will get this). He hits the stage to sing his song “Squad”. As he does, we weave in and out of his performance with backstage footage from all the comedians and musicians performing tonight. Look, I didn’t hate it, and I actually liked the song.
Next up, we have a comedian I am unfamiliar with in Neko White. But, of course, any friend of Pete’s is a friend of mine. So Neko hits us with he is very much a mind his own business type of guy and doesn’t want to get involved in stuff that doesn’t have anything to do with him (I can relate). I LOVED this entire bit, and his way of storytelling was beautiful. He made me a fan tonight.
Tonight, Pete will continue to educate me with another comedian I am unfamiliar with, Giulio Gallarotti. Let’s see if he can follow up a great set by Neko. Have you ever watched a stand-up comedian and thought, “this is the guy you hung out with before who said he was going to be a comedian and everyone laughed at him?” Giulio gives off that vibe and proves everyone in the circle wrong that laughed at him. I loved this guy. Pete is now two for two.
My education continues as Carly Aquilino hits the stage. Oh, YAY, COVID jokes, sigh. Okay, well, I have a new comedian crush. Did I just admit that to you all? Yes, yes, I did. I loved her set, and I think she has some excellent delivery that makes the jokes that much funnier.
We have Dave Sirus, our Jew, for the evening (his words, not mine). My biggest issue with Sirus’s set was the stories in the jokes took far too long to get to the point, which is why when he got to the point, it wasn’t as funny as it could’ve been. Although Sirus might not have been my favorite on the slate so far, by no means was he bad.
Joey Gay is next to the stage, and this man is yelling at us, and I don’t know why. But, look, I found the yelling way overbearing, and that alone took me entirely out of Gay’s set. The jokes might have been there, but the delivery is awful here—our first bad set of the night. Let’s hope Jordan Rock will bring us back into form.
Rock hits the stage with COVID jokes that make me want to scream—followed by some Trump tweet joke that was subpar at best. However, he does reel you back in with some funny generational jokes that are fantastic. Also, he attacks fake activists on social media, which is brilliant. Rock might have started a little rough around the edges, but he might have been my favorite comedian of the night. Holy cow, talk about a complete 180. I love this guy.
Overall, this special worked because it was a bunch of Pete’s friends telling jokes. It wasn’t trying to be any more than that. Pete took some comics that some may have heard of or might not have heard of and gave them a platform to tell some jokes and make people laugh. Each comedian was successful in doing that. Another win for Netflix and the Netflix is a Joke festival.
What did you think of the Netflix comedy special Pete Davidson Presents: The Best Friends? Comment below.
