A Buteau-ful Mind at Radio City Music Hall

Michelle Buteau commands the stage with the cozy, loose-lipped confidence of a close friend who has had one drink too many and is ready to spill everything. She is an inherently joyful performer, relying on a blend of bouncy physical comedy, broad crowd interactions, and a DJ supplying perfectly timed sound effects to keep the massive room feeling like a private living room.

Recorded in June 2024, the set represents a major milestone for Buteau, who became the first woman to tape a solo stand-up special at New York City’s Radio City Music Hall. The show capped off a massive year for her career, following her starring role in the comedy film Babes and the success of her Netflix series Survival of the Thickest. On stage, Buteau covers the exhausting realities of raising twins, the challenges of scheduling date nights with her husband, and a disastrous experience getting way too high. She also gets mileage out of a real-life controversy surrounding a branded sweet potato casserole recipe that offended her Black fans.

The set’s most talked-about segment comes when Buteau uses a story about her lesbian friend to address the broader state of stand-up. She directly calls out Dave Chappelle’s fixation on anti-trans jokes, arguing that comics should work harder to write material that does not punch down. Labeling him the GOAT (which she redefines as Going Off About Trans people), she criticizes making millions by making a marginalized community feel unsafe. While her defense of the LGBTQ+ community drew loud applause from the live crowd, the moment polarized viewers at home, with some praising her stance and others feeling the detour into media criticism stalled the show’s buoyant momentum.