This is Ronny Chieng’s third Netflix special, although strangely his first two specials are not currently available to stream on the platform?!? Is it because Chieng is currently starring in the new Hulu series? Inner Chinatown? That can’t possibly explain why Netflix is ​​staying The Daily Show The comedian’s back catalog is hidden. Especially because his demeanor was so succinct. And here it continues.

The essentials: Ronny Chieng, known to fans of The Daily Show as well as the Marvel Cinematic Universe (he jokes in this hour about one such ill-timed encounter in which he was recognized for his role in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings), filmed his third Netflix special in Honolulu.

Hawaii has a special place in his heart, and not just because he filmed the Disney+ series, Doogie Kameāloha, MDThere. Chieng tells how he not only met people on the islands who were politically on the side of MAGA, but also how he became accustomed to maintaining friendships with them despite their political and philosophical differences. He also delves deeply into the dark side of men’s online self-help influencers. And he pokes fun at the responsibility he’s been given in supporting his wife’s fertility treatments, while also thinking about what he might be like when he becomes a parent, or if he looks anything like his own parents.

What comedy specials will it remind you of?: Quite a few stand-ups have filmed specials in Hawaii. Among recent entries in this field are hours by Jo Koy (Coming hot), Gabriel Iglesias (Aloha Fluffy) and Anjelah Johnson (Mahalo & goodnight). But Chieng’s onstage sensibility as an immigrant with astute political observations about America shares much more with his former colleague at Comedy Central: Trevor Noah.

Memorable Jokes: Chieng begins by making fun of his friends and classmates because becoming parents makes them look older and uglier, and jokes that having children means giving up on your own hopes and dreams. “I’m still trying here!” he shouts.

And yet he and his wife are still preparing for the possibility of parenthood, which leads to a section about fertility treatments and his role in them.

Much of this is well-trodden territory in men’s comedy, but Chieng still enjoys what the fertility process says about the American health care system as well as men and their sexual habits. It also leads to a funny gag where Chieng tries to take his semen sample back to the lab, only to be recognized by one Shang Chi Fan.

Chieng goes a little deeper when he considers how something as simple as wanting to learn to lift weights can lead straight men down an algorithmic rabbit hole on YouTube, where they’re eventually served videos from Jordan Peterson and Andrew Tate. Then prepare yourself prepared for the riot within a few weeks. “It’s not even an exaggerated schedule,” Chieng claims. “Every man in this room has lost a buddy to the algorithm. We are all now someone who has lost our minds over men’s self-help, Andrew Tate’s masculinity and the YouTube self-help algorithm.” He points out that even the richest people behind the algorithms are affected by it and that he himself is not in front of it is immune. “We are on the verge of being a piece of shit,” says Chieng. “An Instagram post could push it both ways.”

Filming this before the election, Chieng also reminds us that the people who support Donald Trump are “right, but you lack the vocabulary to describe your reality because you haven’t read enough,” and he counts some of the reasons why America has lost touch with its own greatness and goes into deeper detail than you would expect from a comedian.

However, if only he could figure out how to talk to baby boomers like his parents and get them to see through all the scams and misinformation out there.

Our opinion: While too many comedians today recognize our divisions and seek to exploit them for selfish gain, Chieng speaks with a refreshing awareness and insight about how Americans are divided, but perhaps not in as many ways as we are led to believe.

His articles on social media algorithms and influencers as well as socio-economic trends show a sensitivity and sophistication that make him not only a great correspondent for The Daily Showbut it would also serve the show well if they ever promoted him as a permanent late-night satire host.

And then there is his growing self-confidence about his place in his own family.

It’s simultaneously brutal and actually very touching to watch Chieng persecute his parents and their generation for not only being out of touch with technology, but also for indulging in the clichés about parents who would rather their children become lawyers or doctors than comedians want to leave. Stand-up comedy, Chieng says on stage, is and is “the only thing I’ve wanted to do my whole life,” and he adds, “You cheer because you know it’s much better than being kids And yet he realizes that if he ever has a child who wants to pursue comedy, he could potentially become his own parent.

Which may not turn out to be such a bad thing, as in a final story, Chieng reveals how much he discovered about his own relationship with his father after his father suddenly died on Christmas Eve in 2018. There are some bittersweet moments, although in the end Chieng is able to achieve victory in a long-standing sibling rivalry. Nowadays he is also winning in comedy.

Our call: STREAM IT. My colleague Jason Zinoman over at The New York Times declared this the best comedy special of 2024. I haven’t finished compiling my annual top 10 yet, so I’m not quite ready to commit to it yet, but I can safely say that Chieng’s observational comedy ranks quite high compared to his peers of any generation.

Sean L. McCarthy provides the comedy beat. He also provides half-hour episodes on the podcast in which comedians reveal stories about the making of the film: The comic of the comic presents the last things first.