Almost every working comedian has a Netflix special these days. It’s the new normal. I was surprised to discover that Jerry Seinfeld filmed one as well until I learned that his show Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee (which I love, by the way) is making the leap from Crackle to Netflix. I figure the special was part of some package deal. This may just be the cynical part of my personality.
At barely an hour in length, Jerry Before Seinfeld will not take too much of your time. The Netflix description of the show is Jerry Seinfeld returns to the club that gave him his start in the 1970s, mixing iconic jokes with stories from his childhood and early days in comedy.
This interested me. As I watched the standup special (or is it a documentary?), I discovered that “iconic” jokes means no new material. I’ve heard all of these jokes before, some of them even on Seinfeld itself. This would have been okay if there had been more meat to the “stories from his childhood and early days in comedy” part. There really wasn’t. When this program was over, I was left feeling like Seinfeld is a very private person and intends to remain that way.
That being said, this show isn’t offensive and is good for a chuckle or two. Seinfeld argubly has more charisma now than he did as a young comedian, and he is extremely comfortable on stage. If you’re already a Seinfeld fan, you won’t hate this, but I doubt that this special, alone, will win over any new fans.
You can block out an extra hour to watch this one.
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