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Brick Wall Comedy

Relatable

Ellen DeGeneres

Netflix · 2018 · 68 min

A wealthy daytime host tries to stay relatable on stage.

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Ellen DeGeneres spends her first stand-up hour in fifteen years leaning hard into the absurdity of her own massive wealth. Instead of pretending to still be an everyday woman, she opens with a joke about her butler, Batu, serving breakfast in her solarium, using the very title of the show as an ironic punchline. It is a clever way to bypass the elephant in the room of her immense fame, transitioning into physical bits about scooting bathmats with her feet and walking past her Presidential Medal of Freedom just to reach her front door.

Filmed over two nights at Benaroya Hall in Seattle, Washington, this 2018 Netflix release was directed by Joel Gallen and Tig Notaro. At this stage of her career, DeGeneres was still dominating daytime television, which brings a highly enthusiastic, almost worshipful studio-audience vibe to the theater. She uses that goodwill to reflect on her early days, contrasting her current opulence with her strict Christian Science childhood and the flea-infested basement apartment where she wrote her breakout material. The hour also serves as a retrospective of her 1997 coming-out and the subsequent industry backlash that briefly derailed her career.

Critical reception was polite but divided. Some reviewers found the self-referential rich-person jokes a bit thin for a full hour, noting that the show often leaned on easy applause rather than sharp punchlines. Others appreciated the nostalgic retrospective on her career and the return of her signature light observational style.

The set list

7 bits

  1. Questioning whether she is still relatable while living in immense luxury.

    Recounts discussing doing stand-up with a friend just as her butler enters the library with breakfast, followed by directing a lost guest out the door past her sprawling collection of trophies and awards.

  2. Emotional support animals on commercial flights.

    Describes walking down the airplane aisle like Noah's Ark seeing ferrets, mongooses, and donkeys, then questioning if row 10B exists because she has never flown back there.

  3. Public expectations to constantly dance.

    Complains about fans commanding her to dance in mundane or inappropriate situations like during a mammogram, but ultimately demonstrates waiting for the designated dance floor when Juvenile's 'Back That Azz Up' plays.

  4. Coming out in 1997 and the aftermath.

    Uses footage of meerkats scurrying underground as an analogy for closeted celebrities retreating when her sitcom was canceled following her coming out.

  5. Preventative headache medication.

    Mocks television advertisements for pharmaceuticals that stop headaches before they even begin.

  6. Pumping gas incorrectly in front of teenagers.

    Addresses the embarrassment of doing something foolish in public by casually dismissing the mistake with the excuse that she can just buy a new car.

  7. The closer (spoiler). Show it

    A call for empathy and connection. closer

    Shifts away from comedy into a sincere, heartfelt closing plea reminding the audience to connect and be kind to one another.

How it plays

Tone
Goofy, candid, self-deprecating, and reflective with a sincere closing appeal for human connection.
On stage
Candid, self-aware, and occasionally spiky, balancing an affable daytime persona with self-mocking reflections on immense wealth and fame.
Pace
Breezy observational pacing interspersed with energetic dance segments and screen-displayed visual clips.
About
Relatability and extreme wealth, The burden of daytime TV cheerfulness and mandatory dancing, Coming out in 1997 and its career consequences, Air travel and emotional support animals, Everyday absurdities and aging

What the critics said

Seasoned pro Ellen DeGeneres finally returns to the comedy stage in her most on-brand form - genuinely goofy and undeniably good.

In the room: Enthusiastic and roaring in recognition at Seattle's Benaroya Hall.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: en.wikipedia.org, rottentomatoes.com, metro.us, vulture.com, vanityfair.com, newyorker.com, theringer.com, billboard.com, pro.imdb.com.

Backstory

Reflecting on 16 seasons of hosting her daytime talk show, navigating her public reputation as the cheerful 'be-kind girl', and revisiting the professional and personal fallout after coming out on her sitcom in 1997.

Details

Released
Taped
Benaroya Hall, Seattle
Runtime
68 min
Where
Netflix
Director
Joel Gallen, Tig Notaro
Topics
Before
Here and Now (2003)
After
For Your Approval (2024)

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