God's Smart Alec

Michael Joiner operates with the exasperation of an uncle dragged to a family reunion. He works clean, but he keeps the cynicism turned up, leaning into domestic grievances and quick asides. When he talks about getting in shape, it is not an athletic epiphany; he complains about circling the gym parking lot to avoid walking, or mistaking a tanning bed for an impossibly confusing workout machine.

Filmed at the Dry Bar Comedy club in Provo, Utah, and released during the platform’s first season in 2017, the 37-minute set caught Joiner after decades on the road and a turn starring in the faith-based drama The Grace Card.

Rather than leaning into church-circuit preachiness, Joiner works like a club veteran accustomed to tough rooms. He riffs on rotary phones, his wife whistling in her sleep, and rednecks staging Shakespeare, keeping his punchlines clipped and sarcastic.