Netflix's Is It Cake? works because of its charming host Mikey Day

Esquire

"He’s funny, kind, creative, and— best of all—well aware of just how outrageous Is It Cake? is," says Abigail Covington of the SNL star. "The manic energy he brings to the role of the emcee is oddly relatable. It’s as if he also can’t believe you are watching this show. Is Day just great at playing a comedian on the verge of a nervous breakdown? Or are Is It Cake? viewers actually watching a comedian try and smile and laugh his way through a nervous breakdown? The question turns Is It Cake? into riveting, must-see TV."

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• Is It Cake? is appallingly bad, especially with its 38-minute episodes: "It might have been watchable, but barely, if they’d limited each episode to 20 minutes or so, reconfigured the format completely, and spared Mikey Day from this humiliation, but at nearly 40 minutes an episode, Is It Cake? is both awful and interminable," says Dustin Rowles. "Again, it’s the evil of the Netflix algorithm, which favors more viewing hours and works against the baked viewer at home, who doesn’t ask for much beyond a chill hang and a few minor dopamine hits. Alas, Is It Cake? can’t offer even that."
• What makes Is It Cake? stick out is that it doesn’t feel like a competition where those involved want to tear each other down: "Everyone just seems to genuinely be having fun trying to figure out what is the best way to hide their cakes," says Rachel Leishman. "Sure, it’s an internet meme turned into a reality show on Netflix but it doesn’t feel cheap in the way it could so easily be. Instead, it’s escapist fun when we need it most. And it has been a delightful time on Twitter where we all have become cake experts in the best possible way."