Turbo Fonzarelli

An hour of stand-up that kicks off with a story about attending Aretha Franklin’s funeral while high on ketamine is a clear sign that Pete Davidson has no plans to clean up his act for his thirties. This is Davidson leaning into his strengths as an unpolished storyteller, using his public notoriety to fuel his stage material rather than running from it.

Directed by Jason Orley and shot in moody black-and-white at the Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank, New Jersey, the 2024 special caught Davidson at a career crossroads. He had recently departed Saturday Night Live and was transitioning into film and television projects like Bupkis, yet he still seemed most comfortable operating as the self-deprecating, slightly beleaguered kid from Staten Island.

The material balances self-reflection with deliberate boundary-pushing. Davidson jokes about inventing a fake Italian sleep aid called Melatone to curb his drug habits, details a childhood crush on Leonardo DiCaprio, and recounts a bizarre home invasion where his mother spent hours watching television with his stalker. A highly polarizing, extended routine about his mother’s dating drought, including a joke about an incestuous solution to fix it, drew mixed reactions from viewers, with some finding it too uncomfortable to stomach.

The reception was generally more favorable than his 2020 effort, Alive from New York. Critics noted that while his narrative style lacks the tight construction of more traditional stand-ups, his shrugging, casual delivery and natural charisma make the messiness highly watchable.