Summary
Turbo Fonzarelli is a knockout of a special. With dark humor, pitch-perfect storytelling, and perfect punchlines, Davidson has never been better.
For the first time in three years, Pete Davidson returns with his third comedy special (second for Netflix) titled Pete Davidson: Turbo Fonzarelli. The comedian/actor has seen his profile rise over the last few years with appearances in films like Dumb Money, Bodies Bodies Bodies, and his feature film writing debut, The King of Staten Island. In Turbo Fonzarelli, he tackles topics like having a childhood crush on Leonardo DiCaprio, turning 30, and a gift he got from his stalker.
Davidson hits the stage and talks about doing drugs at thirty. He follows by talking about being messed up on drugs at Aretha Franklin’s funeral, walking up to the family, and saying, “I’m just here to pay my R-E-S-P-E-C-T.” It is followed by some jokes about his mom needing to get laid since she hasn’t had sex since his father passed. You won’t find better openings of a special in the last year than this.
Over the years, Pete Davidson has been thrust into the limelight, whether through his comedy or even more with whom he has dated. His struggles with mental health have seen some highs and lows, but as we see with Turbo Fonzarelli, Davidson utilizes his struggles to deliver jokes on the stage.
We’ve entered an era where people are quick to cancel folks for things comedians joke about on stage. We saw it recently with Matt Rife’s Natural Selection special, where he pushed the boundaries a little to show that he isn’t just the “crowd work guy.” Of course, more recently Dave Chapelle’s The Dreamer special ruffled feathers (again). People are in a hurry to watch the specials and send detailed reports about the things they said that might “offend.”
Davidson doesn’t shy away from his typical dark humor that will undoubtedly ruffle people’s feathers. For me, this was some of the best work we’ve seen from Davidson on the stage. His hilarious take on his mother needing to get laid to the Make-A-Wish joke (that was TOP-TIER). But what stood out the most in the special was Pete Davidson, the storyteller.
When Davidson heads down the path of talking about his stalker, we see him do a lengthy bit about it, which we hadn’t seen before on the stage. He deconstructs what happened in a hilarious way yet understands the stakes of reality brilliantly. This is an elevated version of Pete we haven’t seen yet.
Overall, Turbo Fonzarelli might be my favorite special from Pete yet. The blended mix of his storytelling, callbacks to his jokes, and dark humor shows Davidson taking even more risks and us being rewarded with non-stop jokes. If this is a sign of work to come from Pete, we are watching him evolve into one of the best comedians of our time.
