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Promotional art for Home for the Holidays
Cover image credit: Promotional image via Prime Video

Home for the Holidays

Lavell Crawford

Showtime · 2017 · 58 min

Lavell Crawford mocks childhood holiday disasters and his recent weight loss.

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Lavell Crawford walks onto the stage in St. Louis looking noticeably lighter, having lost over 150 pounds after realizing his physical “check engine light” was starting to flash. Rather than pivot to the boring routines of a fitness convert, he keeps his focus anchored on the domestic chaos of his childhood. Introduced by his mother, Crawford spends his hour taking a cynical look at the commercial hostage-takings that constitute the American holiday calendar.

Filmed at The Pageant in August 2017, the special frames every major celebration as a struggle against financial strain and family eccentricity. Crawford traces the realities of growing up poor in Missouri, where the popcorn on his Christmas tree attracted roaches and his best Secret Santa gift, a Hardee’s gift card, came with a catch. Thanksgiving, his childhood favorite, gets the most detailed treatment, complete with a story about a cousin ruining a bowl of peach cobbler.

The set also targets the inescapable guilt of Mother’s Day and the logistical misery of a family road trip to Disneyland. At this point in his career, Crawford was enjoying a profile boost from playing Saul Goodman’s bodyguard Huell on Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul.

The set list

6 bits

  1. Weight loss and health issues

    Explaining that his 'check engine light' was coming on after battling sleep-disrupting weight gain and taking diabetes medicine with sweet tea.

  2. Christmas presents and tree decorations

    Detailing growing up with roaches eating the popcorn garland off the Christmas tree and receiving a Secret Santa Hardee's gift card that came with a catch.

  3. Halloween and haunted houses

    Joking that Black Americans already face enough real-life fears without needing to make haunted houses, and noting what horror films have taught Black audiences.

  4. Fourth of July family reunion BBQ

    Performing a multi-person re-enactment of how his aunts and uncles behave at an annual holiday cookout.

  5. Mother's Day vs. Father's Day

    Describing how his mother could guilt-trip him into stealing for her on Mother's Day, contrasting with his lack of leverage on Father's Day.

  6. Presidential politics

    Observing that the sitting president acts more 'gangster' or stereotypically Black than the previous occupant of the White House.

How it plays

Tone
Warm, relatable, self-deprecating, and candid.
On stage
Laid-back, memory-soaked storytelling style characterized by distinctive vocal cadence, mannerisms, and witty characterizations.
About
Holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas, Halloween, 4th of July, Easter, Mother's Day), Dramatic weight loss, diabetes, and mortality, Growing up poor in Missouri and family dysfunction, Family vacations to Disneyland, Racial differences and politics

What the critics said

Praised as a warm, funny, and highly relatable special that elevates traditional holiday comedy through vivid multi-person re-enactments and candid personal stories.

In the room: Energetic hometown crowd across two sold-out shows at The Pageant enthusiastically eating up Crawford's material.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: comedydynamics.com, reviewstl.com, directv.com, primevideo.com, decider.com, letterboxd.com, thecomicscomic.com, en.wikipedia.org, pro.imdb.com.

Backstory

Filmed in Crawford's hometown of St. Louis following a major 160-pound weight loss prompted by serious health and diabetes complications.

Details

Released
Taped
The Pageant, St. Louis
Runtime
58 min
Where
Showtime
Director
Brian Volk-Weiss
Topics
After
New Look, Same Funny (2019)

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