It started with severe headaches in the spring of 2023. Then Jamie Foxx – the actor, comedian and musician – fainted. He doesn’t remember anything about the following three weeks, which included brain surgery. He had suffered a brain hemorrhage which led to a stroke.

Almost nothing is known about his condition. In his Netflix comedy special “Jamie Foxx: What Had Happened Was…” (recorded at the Alliance Theater in Atlanta), he describes the experience from the inside and tells the harrowing personal story with a certain lightness. It’s a confessional performance style that emphasizes emotional honesty over laughter, following in the footsteps of comedians like Hannah Gadsby (“Nanette,” also on Netflix) and Jerrod Carmichael (HBO’s “Rothaniel”).

Most celebrities would kick off their comeback after a major health event and extended absence from the public eye with an in-depth interview. Foxx, who appears to have completely recovered on the outside, has instead chosen this path that allows him complete control. For nearly two years, an entire ecosystem of celebrity news fueled speculation about Foxx’s circumstances; It’s fair that he wants to regain some agency in how his story is told (and get a Netflix paycheck along the way). But that’s also why the special tends to feel so tight.

When daughter Corinne introduces Foxx, he is greeted with enthusiastic cheers and a standing ovation. The subtext is clear: We are so glad you are alive and here with us today. Foxx is overwhelmed (as he will be many times throughout the performance) and is visibly choked up by the reaction. In addition to Corrine, his guitar-playing teenage daughter Anelise also accompanies him on stage, which is a nice touch. He recognizes that she and his sister Deidra Dixon were invaluable to his recovery.

An Oscar and Grammy winner, Foxx is the kind of talent whose presence always elevates the work of those around him, and he’s made it in a business where few reach such heights. Then it all came crashing down – “When you dream about what you want to be in life, you don’t dream tragedy” – and he couldn’t believe it was happening to him him. He struggled to accept that he would no longer be able to walk immediately afterwards and thought: Strokes are not for old people Me.

This is such a universal answer – Why me? Why now? – but perhaps one that is exacerbated by celebrity. He was angry for a long time. And then he talks about his conversations with God and about a health care worker named Holly at the rehab facility in Chicago who told him to stop with the arrogant celebrity crap: “The stroke doesn’t care who you are. “

If his emotions are still close to the surface, that’s understandable. “You have no idea how good it feels, Atlanta. I fought for my life, but I’m standing here in front of you.” He refers to rumors on the Internet that Sean “Diddy” Combs tried to kill him. “I know what you’re thinking: Act Him?” Big laughs from the crowd. “Hell no, I left those parties early.” It’s the only line that has the structure of a joke before quickly returning to the topic at hand.

I kept wondering why Foxx avoided talking in more detail about the medical racism that may have led the first doctor he saw to be more or less dismissive of his condition, or about the American health insurance industry (he probably had less Worries about paying for his treatment and taking a longer break from work than). most) or the complexity of a new disability. He deals with the shock of needing someone to bathe him, and buried in this section is a subtext about the reality of disability. The way it can change your self-image and ideas about independence. I was hoping he would go further – who is he if not Jamie Foxx, the artist he was before the stroke? – but the special leads to a triumphant, almost tidy ending, and perhaps his fears of the darkness of the night don’t fit into that framework.

Understandably, this is all still so fresh. Perhaps it is too early for Foxx to expand his material beyond his own experience to offer broader, more nuanced insights. He’s always been a first-rate storyteller and his impressions remain unmatched as he conjures up everyone from Katt Williams to Denzel Washington to Wesley Snipes in “New Jack City.” Here too he shows incredible vulnerability. When he struggles to keep his composure, you see a human being having a human moment under the polished entertainer that he is. “Wow, man, please, Lord, let me get through this,” he says, steeling himself. It moved me, how moved He Is.

Still, it made me think of someone like actor James Van Der Beek, who was recently diagnosed with colon cancer and is selling memorabilia to help fund his treatment. Sometimes celebrities are just like us, without the financial resources to survive a medical crisis. Musician Matthew Sweet recently suffered a stroke while touring for a performance in Toronto and is raising funds for his treatment on GoFundMe. In an update on his status, he noted, “The only way I could get myself back to the States was with a medical team, on a plane, and straight to a rehabilitation hospital.” The cost of all of these things was already astronomical. What is humanity doing? Not making these things available everywhere as part of our culture.”

Foxx doesn’t address this issue. He’s here to tell his story and then draw a line, culminating in a celebration of the highlights of his career, as if he were giving himself a very public pep talk to a caring audience. He’s been through so much. He was probably wondering what his life would be like in the future. It is truly a joy to see him in good health. Apparently he wants to pick up where he left off, although perhaps with a few more Sundays in church.

“Jamie Foxx: What Had Happened Was…” – 2.5 stars (of 4)

Where to see: Netflix

Nina Metz is a Tribune critic.