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Promotional art for 23 Hours to Kill
Cover image credit: via TMDB

23 Hours to Kill

Jerry Seinfeld

Netflix · 2020 · 60 min

Jerry Seinfeld brings his meticulous irritation to the Beacon Theatre.

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Jerry Seinfeld starts his first hour of original stand-up in twenty-two years by questioning why anyone, himself included, bothered to leave the house. He congratulates the audience at the Beacon Theatre for the sheer administrative effort of putting on clothes and traveling to a show, only to spend the entire evening thinking about how they cannot wait to get back home. It is a characteristically grumpy, finely tuned opening that sets the tone for an hour spent picking apart the low-stakes annoyances of modern life.

Filmed in New York City in late 2019 and released on Netflix in May 2020, the special serves as a time capsule of pre-pandemic social gathering. Seinfeld leans heavily into his trademark observational style, focusing on the absurdities of texting, the panic of misplacing a smartphone, and the micro-politics of marriage. One of the stronger sequences of the night features a physical deconstruction of how the words “sucks” and “great” have morphed into the exact same reaction, illustrated by a dropped scoop of ice cream.

At 65, Seinfeld is comfortable in his retirement-adjacent status, celebrating the age where he can reject social invitations without offering any excuse. While some critics and viewers found the domestic-complaint material and marital tropes a bit dated, the special thrives on his physical commitment and vocal rhythms. He is not trying to reinvent the form; he is delivering exactly what his audience expects, down to a ridiculous promotional intro where he leaps out of a helicopter in a wetsuit.

The set list

5 bits

  1. The magic and novelty of Pop-Tarts

    Nostalgic breakdown observing that they cannot go stale because they were never fresh to begin with

  2. The dichotomy of 'sucks' and 'great'

    Argues that all discourse is whittled down to two categories that mean essentially the same thing, using examples like a dropped ice-cream cone and a cold Yankee Stadium hot dog

  3. Going out and the hassle of leaving the house

    Details the exhausting logistical agony of attending an event only to immediately want to head back home, concluding by acknowledging his own wealth and asking 'If you were me, would you be up here?'

  4. Being married for 19 years

    Frames marriage as two people trying not to say 'I hate you' and compares everyday marital friction to playing in the lightning round of Jeopardy! against his wife

  5. The United States Postal Service vs. modern communication

    Mocks the inefficiencies and obsolete nature of the postal service compared to instant cell phone communication

How it plays

Tone
Observational, irritable yet cheerful, apolitical, and clean
On stage
Classic cranky, cantankerous American everyman; cheery crankiness, clean-cut, self-aware wealthy comedian complaining about mundane trivialities
Pace
Meticulous, tight, and polished; animated physical movement with rhetorical swoops, forced vocal quaver, and sudden shifts into high-pitched shouting or falsetto
About
talking vs. texting, restaurants vs. bad buffets, Pop-Tarts, modern technology and cell phones, the pain of leaving the house and making plans, marriage and relationships

What the critics said

23 Hours to Kill misses the mark but still finds some funny in a special that's entertaining, if not always great.

In the room: A packed New York theater audience receptive and eating out of the palm of his hand

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: en.wikipedia.org, dolby.com, rottentomatoes.com, vulture.com, polygon.com, decider.com, newsweek.com, hollywoodreporter.com, imdb.com.

Backstory

Released on Netflix in May 2020 during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic quarantine; second special under a two-part deal with Netflix

Details

Released
Taped
2019, Beacon Theatre, New York City
Runtime
60 min
Where
Netflix
Director
Joe DeMaio
Honors
Emmy Nominee: Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded)
Topics
Before
Jerry Before Seinfeld (2017)

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