I know Andrew Santino from Bad Friends podcast. He is hilarious in it. Banter between him and Bobby Lee is always entertaining. In there both of them are not afraid to offence one another. Whenever Andrew starts to imitate an Asian accent, you know it’s going to be good. A comedy special from a man who is not afraid to play with the limits of offensive material is going to be fire. Right? I hadn’t watched any standup comedy of Andrew Santino or Bobby Lee. At least I have seen some MadTV sketches of Bobby but nothing from Santino except Bad Friends content. So I did not know what to expect from him.
I became aware of White Noise comedy special through a YouTube video called “Andrew Santino Auditions His Hollywood Friends For His New Stand-Up Special Promo”. It’s the one with Hollywood impersonators. That promo alone is a comedy gold. Especially Rudy Jules’s cameo as Taylor Swift. Every material I had seen so far from Andrew Santino was good. Comedians put their best and most refined materials in to comedy specials. So I was expecting an exceptionally good show from Andrew Santino.
White Noise starts slow. Nothing wrong with a slow start and escalating things from there. But the problem with this comedy special is it never picks up the pace. On the flip side it does not dip down either. At least for me, all jokes are in the same level. Throughout the special I was grinning and smiling but it failed to bring out a belly aching, doubling up laugh from me. There were one or two dragging bits, otherwise it was pretty mellow.
By the definition a comedy special should be special. Andrew Santino’s White Noise felt like a regular comedy club performance. Normally after watching a comedy performance you can get a sense about the comedian. I can explain it further with examples. Dave Chappelle has a great storytelling ability. He can lead the audience down a story and suddenly turn on ninety degrees to an unexpected ending. Kevin Hart has meticulously rehearsed sets. Late George Carlin, and Bill Burr both have that “Get off my lawn” energy. Gabriel Iglesias is a wholesome comedian who normally jokes about his personal experiences using top-notch voice effects. Joe Rogan is bit controversial, but his bits have some thought provoking stoner thoughts. I can go on, but I think you get the idea. With Andrew Santino I did not get any insight about him.
I did not see the Santino from the Bad Friends podcast from this White Noise comedy special. In here it felt like he was playing safe by not going deep in to any subject and not voicing his real opinions on those subjects. From the way he carry himself in podcasts and interviews with a hint of a highly opinionated personality, I expected more. One plus point is his transitions from one bit to another was smooth. I especially noticed this ability of Santino to seamlessly connect comedy bits with one another.
I know it is not fair to judge his stand-up comedy ability by just watching a single special from Andrew Santino. I need to check out more material from him. And more importantly I need to watch some stand-up comedy from Bobby Lee, because he is famous for doing the same bits for ages. I hope that I won’t get disappointed by him too.
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