Skip to content
Brick Wall Comedy
Brick Wall Comedy
Promotional art for Cancel This!
Cover image credit: via TMDB

Cancel This!

Roseanne Barr

Fox Nation · 2023 · 66 min

A combative comeback set fueled by grievances and culture-war politics.

Watch on Fox Nation(opens in a new tab)

Roseanne Barr steps onto the stage at the Cullen Theatre in Houston, Texas, looking to settle scores and lean heavily into the exile that defined her career after 2018. Rather than offering contrition for the tweet that sank her lucrative sitcom reboot, she treats her public banishment as a primary credential. The set is less of a traditional stand-up hour and more of a loud, combative declaration of survival, delivered directly to an audience primed to cheer for her defiance.

Filmed for Fox Nation, this 2023 special was her first stand-up release in almost two decades. It follows a highly publicized fall from grace: five years earlier, ABC abruptly fired her and rebranded her sitcom after she posted a racist tweet comparing former presidential advisor Valerie Jarrett to an ape. Barr pivots from this fallout into stories about her own family, her childhood as a Jewish kid growing up among Mormons in Salt Lake City, and her opinions on modern culture.

While the hour leans heavily on conservative buzzwords, Barr occasionally veers into territory that surprises her crowd, winning cheers for defending same-sex marriage and praising marijuana. Critics widely noted that the performance functions best as a cathartic exercise for her remaining fans, even if the actual joke writing often takes a backseat to political posturing.

The set list

5 bits

  1. Asking the audience if anyone else has been fired recently.

    Opening greeting taking aim at her 2018 dismissal by ABC.

  2. Growing up Jewish in Salt Lake City surrounded by Mormons.

    Joking that her Jewish mother was the only wife in the house and had to do all the work, unlike Mormon polygamous households.

  3. Having an 'F-it list' instead of a bucket list.

    Reflecting on older age and listing the things she refuses to tolerate anymore.

  4. Impromptu psychic readings for audience members.

    Engaging in crowd work by inviting attendees to seek advice so she can showcase purported psychic abilities.

  5. Reading suicide notes addressed to her family and critics.

    Reading draft letters off paper targeting her loved ones and haters.

How it plays

Tone
Provocative, anti-woke, defiant, grievance-laden, and caustic.
On stage
Brash, confrontational, defiant, and grandmotherly, dressed in denim clothing and blonde pigtails, blending anger and attitude while positioned static behind a microphone stand.
Pace
Described by reviewers as having off timing and pacing, low energy, and staying rooted behind the microphone stand while blotting her nose with tissues rather than moving around the stage.
About
Getting canceled and fired by ABC, Growing up Jewish in Salt Lake City, Moving to Texas and living in a red state, Aging, maladies, and bucket lists, Family and raising privileged children, COVID-19 and vaccines

What the critics said

Extremely negative. Critics described the set as lazy, unfocused, and dated 'OK Boomer' material with poor pacing and timing, finding that her ideas died on the vine and failed to function as a reasoned or triumphant comedic comeback.

In the room: A capacity live crowd in Houston that responded with cheers and hoots to lines about red states and calling her daughters 'libtards,' though some more personal jokes barely landed.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: upi.com, theglobeandmail.com, decider.com, tv.apple.com, standupworld.substack.com, chortle.co.uk, latimes.com, vanityfair.com.

Backstory

Filmed nearly five years after ABC fired Barr and cancelled the 'Roseanne' reboot over a racist tweet targeting Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett. The special marked her first stand-up hour since 2006's 'Blonde and Bitchin'', premiering as FOX Nation's first original comedy special alongside a documentary titled 'Who Is Roseanne Barr?'.

Details

Released
Taped
Cullen Theater, Houston
Runtime
66 min
Where
Fox Nation
Topics
Before
Live from Trump Castle (1991)

More from Roseanne Barr

If you liked this