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To Catch a D*ck

London Hughes

Netflix · 2020 · 68 min

An energetic, explicit hour on the double standards of modern dating.

Watch it free on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

London Hughes walks onto the stage with the posture of an established superstar, even though she is performing this set to a masked, socially distanced outdoor crowd in Los Angeles. She commands the space by immediately declaring herself to be incredibly funny, then spends the hour proving it through explicit storytelling about her sex life, her career, and her refusal to settle for mediocre partners. The performance feels like an uninhibited party where Hughes serves as the host, detailing everything from blowjob tutorials to her brief stint as an adult chat-line presenter.

The special, directed by Kristian Mercado and executive produced by Kevin Hart, was released on Netflix in late 2020 after Hughes relocated from the UK. The material was adapted from her breakout 2019 Edinburgh Festival Fringe run, which earned critical praise and made her the first Black British woman to be nominated for the Edinburgh Comedy Award for Best Show. While some critics noted that the outdoor LA pandemic setting lacked the chaotic energy of her original UK club performances, her stage presence remained intact.

Beneath the graphic anecdotes about dating foot-fetishists and chaotic investment bankers, Hughes details her perspective on the double standards of modern romance. She contrasts her own single status with the romantic ease of her male peers, pointing out how comedians like Pete Davidson and Colin Jost date Hollywood stars while successful women are often treated as intimidating. She uses these imbalances, along with a routine about the unequal expectations surrounding oral sex, to demand that men start matching the confidence and effort of the women they date.

The set list

7 bits

  1. Opening pep talk while receiving cunnilingus

    Giving herself an empowering pep talk in the mirror comparing herself to comedy royalty while being performed oral sex on

  2. Double standards between male and female comedians

    Highlighting that funny men get treated like gods and sleep with women regardless of wealth or looks, whereas her dating history looks like a list of Uber drivers

  3. Working on adult channel Babestation and transition to CBBC

    Hosting a foot- and shoe-focused late-night adult chat show segment before being fired and moving directly to children's television presenting

  4. Dating a man with a foot fetish

    Accepting designer shoes in exchange for foot indulgence on her own terms, until he asked for them back when she caught him cheating

  5. Fifty Shades of Grey bedroom roleplay

    Describing an awkward encounter with a skinny white man asking to roleplay scenes from the movie

  6. Blowjob techniques including 'The Seagull'

    Enthusiastically acting out explicit sexual oral maneuvers on stage

  7. The closer (spoiler). Show it

    Date with a wealthy investment banker closer

    Enduring a park date where he violently vomited from methadone used for heroin treatment, followed by him attempting to kiss her before paying £300 for her taxi ride home

How it plays

Tone
Celebratory, sex-positive, raunchy, irreverent, and joyful
On stage
Bawdy, raucous, unapologetic, swaggering, exuding supreme confidence, and styling herself as the female Richard Pryor or comedy Beyoncé
Pace
Supercharged, high-energy, electric gusto, force-of-nature physical tempo that sometimes leaves her breathless
About
sex and dating, perpetual singleness despite success and attractiveness, gender double standards in comedy and dating, family and background, previous television jobs

What the critics said

Praised for its empowering, unapologetic sex-positive humor and Hughes's high-wattage charisma, though some critics noted the recorded studio special lost some of the raw potency of the live Edinburgh Fringe original

In the room: Taped in front of 100 masked strangers seated at tables during the pandemic, using individual table microphones to project laughter back to the stage

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: en.wikipedia.org, netflix.com, rottentomatoes.com, variety.com, theguardian.com, chortle.co.uk, vulture.com, thrillist.com.

Backstory

Filmed during the COVID-19 pandemic after being delayed from March 2020; Hughes moved from the UK to Los Angeles and was stuck in the US due to travel restrictions and visa bans amidst pandemic lockdowns, civil rights protests following George Floyd's murder, and California wildfires

Details

Released
Taped
Universal Studios lot, Los Angeles
Runtime
68 min
Where
Netflix
Director
Kristian Mercado
Honors
Edinburgh Comedy Award for Best Comedy Show nomination (for the 2019 Fringe run)Glamour's number one recommendation for female stand-up comedy shows at the 2019 Fringe
Topics

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