Live from the Mothership

Brian Simpson spends the final fifteen minutes of his debut hour-long special talking about masculinity as a prison, but he starts his set by addressing the elephant in the room: racism. Specifically, he jokes about the expectation for Black comics to open with race, subverting those expectations with a story about a Black female Uber driver who got startled by him and desperately tried to smooth over the tension by blasting rap music. His delivery is steady, quiet, and noticeably devoid of frantic energy. He spends much of the hour either standing completely still or casually sitting on a stool, letting his dry, efficient timing do the work.

Directed by Baron Vaughn, the 2024 special was filmed at Joe Rogan’s Comedy Mothership in Austin, Texas, making it the first Netflix special to be shot at the venue. Before this hour, Simpson built his reputation through appearances on Comedy Central, Lights Out with David Spade, and the third season of Netflix’s The Standups. His background as a Marine Corps veteran and a former foster youth informs a worldview that is cynical without being entirely hopeless. Notable bits from the set include his comparison of the British royal family to the Targaryens from Game of Thrones, just without the dragons, and his breakdown of why men adhere to self-imposed, exhausting rules of manhood. Critical response highlighted his controlled, deliberate word choice, even if some viewers used to high-energy sets found his laid-back posture and deliberate pauses slow.