Andrew Schulz dishes on life in new Netflix stand-up special: Is it good?

Andrew Schulz knows controversial subjects are working for him. Does he cross the line at times when he talks about racism, learning disabilities, and Aaron Rodgers and Jimmy Kimmel? Yes, but how much of it is real and how much of the drama is Schulz just knowing being a bit controversial grows his own brand of comedy.

Ultimately, the question is how funny Schulz is. In his new Netflix stand-up special, Life, the answer is...somewhat. In fact, in the end, Schulz is not trying to be humorous at all.

Perhaps the most off-putting part of the new special is when Schulz begins to talk about using IVF and how some of the embryos were discarded because they might be...and then Schulz uses the R-word. Even without pushing the proverbial envelope about the issues with the embryos, is the subject funny? It can be, potentially, but only if approached from the right direction.

Andrew Schulz's new stand-up special on Netflix, Life, is hit and miss

Schulz misses some laughs because he at no point makes an insightful or self-effacing remark, but appears to be more observational. Does he say he can comment negatively on the embryos because they belong to him and his wife? He does. But there still is a lack of real connection with the subject and the comedian.

Schulz is not unfunny. He tends to play with his thin mustache a bit too much, using his facial hair as a type of prop. The difference between what he does and what Dave Chappelle does with a cigarette is that Chappelle is such a talented comedian that he uses the cigarette as a timing mechanism that the audience does not pick up on. Schulz's mustache-twirling seems to be more of a nervous tick.

Still, the pay-off for Life is not even the funny moments, and there are several, but in how Schulz becomes a real human being at the end. He pokes fun at the IVF process, but he also discusses how he and his wife needed to use that to get pregnant. Without giving away the ending, there is a poignant real-life moment that gives Schulz's humor some clarity.

Andrew Schulz definitely does not mind being involved in kinds of controversy, and he augments that with some subject matters in his stand-up shows, but his new Netflix special is a mixed bag. If you have missed most Netflix stand-up specials, don't start with Schulz. If you are open to being annoyed and occasionally laugh hard, he is worth a watch.

More Netflix news and reviews: