Jenny Slate's Stage Fright Netflix comedy special allows her to be fearlessly silly

Salon.com

"While most stand-up comedians spend their sets trying to be funny (because that is, of course, their one job) many shy away from being silly," says Ashlie D. Stevens. "Jenny Slate does not. In her new Netflix special, Stage Fright, she high-kicks. She emits piercing squeals and slips into that weird baby voice some people do when they’re trying to be sexy. She dances, arms undulating and tongue flicking. This is how, she explains, a Dickensian ghost would dance — like the kind that apparently haunted her childhood home. Stage Fright is especially fulfilling for people who are already fans of Slate. She’s carved out a pretty devoted following as part of an in-crowd of fellow unabashedly awkward women like Ilana Glazer, Abbi Jacobson, Maya Erskine, and Quinta Brunson."

ALSO:

• Jenny Slate: Stage Fright is helping to define a new “stand-up with some documentary insertions” comedy special genre: "Comedy specials usually include at least a little framing material," says Kathryn VanArendonk. "It’s that moment where the camera is with the comedian backstage right before they go on, or the bit where the camera follows them offstage at the end of the set. It’s a device that creates distance between the person and the performance. Offstage material emphasizes the authenticity of the comedian (hey everyone, that guy wears a coat and gets nervous just like us!), and it underlines the fact that the act is a constructed piece of stagecraft, that there is a distinction between the onstage and offstage self. In Slate’s Stage Fright, the documentary material goes much farther than a few simple offstage glimpses of moments behind the curtain."
• To follow Slate closely is to feel like one of your friends has Trojan Horse-d her way into the entertainment industry without compromising any of her quirks
• Don't be fooled by the similarities between Stage Fright and Gary Gulman's The Great Depresh