Right Here, Around the Corner

Instead of renting out an ornate theater to collect a victory lap, Ray Romano decided to film his first special in over two decades by dropping in unannounced at the Comedy Cellar. The resulting hour is split into two club sets—one at the Cellar, and the next immediately after at the Village Underground just around the corner. Because the audiences are just regular drop-in crowds who did not buy tickets specifically to see him, Romano has to earn the room the old-fashioned way. He does so with a surprisingly blue set that plays on his familiar, self-deprecating persona.

It was 2019, a period where Romano was enjoying a transition into dramatic film acting, and he had not released a stand-up special since 1996. The material here plays heavily on the physical indignities of turning 61 and the realities of a long-term marriage, including a memorable bit about needing to take a knee to catch his breath during sex. He also spends time on his domestic life, skewering his teenage son’s hygiene habits and recounting the logistical headaches of buying his mother a new house.

Directed by Michael Showalter, the special has a loose, documentary-style framing that follows Romano walking through the streets of Greenwich Village between sets. Critics generally welcomed the special as a refreshing alternative to the heavy-handed, message-driven stand-up of the late 2010s, noting that Romano remains a highly efficient joke writer who prefers simple, relatable punchlines to grand cultural statements.