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Promotional art for Here's Everything
Cover image credit: via TMDB

Here's Everything

Ricky Velez

HBO · 2021 · 57 min

A cynical Queens native talks family, first-time fatherhood, and mental health.

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Ricky Velez approaches the microphone with the air of a guy who is slightly tired but entirely comfortable speaking his mind. He centers his debut hour on the premise that his brain simply does not work correctly, turning that self-deprecation into a license to say the unsayable. Whether he is explaining why old people are no longer necessary or why he refuses to pretend to like anyone’s ugly baby, his delivery is casual and conversational. The centerpiece of his set is a story about trying to escape a persistent drug dealer on a highly exclusive beach in the Dominican Republic, showcasing his ability to find humor in tense, awkward situations.\n\nFilmed at Brooklyn Steel in August 2021, the special served as Velez’s formal introduction to television viewers. Before this hour, the Queens native had worked as a correspondent on Comedy Central’s The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore and co-starred in and co-produced the 2020 film The King of Staten Island with his close friend and roommate Pete Davidson. Davidson and Judd Apatow served as executive producers for this HBO release, helping to bring Velez’s blend of working-class Queens cynicism and new-father anxiety to a broader audience. The special was well-received by critics who noted how fully formed his perspective felt, avoiding the usual growing pains of a comic’s first televised hour.

The set list

6 bits

  1. My brain does not work good

    Opens directly into his stand-up set with a candid acknowledgment of his own cognitive and mental health struggles.

  2. Drug dealers in the sea in the Dominican Republic

    Acts out a story about local drug dealers going into the ocean to evade laws banning them from the sand.

  3. Encounter with a pigeon

    A silly premise questioning whether physical contact with a pigeon might grant accidental superpowers, tagged with 'It's exhausting being me.'

  4. The umbilical cord

    Self-deprecatingly admits he thought the doctor delivering his newborn son referred to it as an 'ability cord.'

  5. Refusing to like ugly babies

    Bluntly rejects the social obligation of pretending someone's unattractive baby is cute.

  6. Mixed Puerto Rican and Irish identity and parades

    Jokes about his cultural background and quips that he is glad he is not also gay because attending all three cultural parades would be exhausting.

How it plays

Tone
Acerbic, candid, energetic, and irreverent.
On stage
Irreverent, stoner-comedy persona balanced by candid self-deprecation, warmth, and brash vulnerability.
Pace
Spiky, propulsive, and high-tempo with a dense joke-per-minute delivery.
About
Mental health and therapy, Fatherhood and parenting, Growing up in Queens, Puerto Rican and Irish heritage, Class and wealth dynamics with in-laws

What the critics said

Received positive reviews; critics highlighted his charisma, spiky and propulsive energy, and vulnerable discussion of personal upbringing and mental health, even when certain premises felt conventional.

In the room: Energetic, receptive, and fully vaccinated live crowd at Brooklyn Steel.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: en.wikipedia.org, huffpost.com, aiptcomics.com, showbizjunkies.com, decider.com, vulture.com, rottentomatoes.com, metrophiladelphia.com.

Backstory

Filmed in August 2021 before a vaccinated, maskless audience following pandemic delays and a five-month post-lockdown preparation tour. Grounded in his Queens upbringing, mixed Puerto Rican and Irish heritage, and early parenthood.

Details

Released
Taped
Brooklyn Steel, New York City
Runtime
57 min
Where
HBO
Director
Michael Bonfiglio
Topics
After
Between the 3 and The 7 (2021)

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