Review: Martin Lawrence “Doin’ Time: Uncut” (Showtime)

In case you missed it, Martin Lawrence is back in the stand-up game with his first special in 14 years since the 2002 concert film, Runteldat.

Martin Lawrence: Doin’ Time: Uncut premiered over the weekend on Showtime.

It looks like Lawrence is making up for lost time with this hour. As I put it in my review, which ran today in Decider:

We’re living in an era of reboots and revivals.

Our favorite franchises and stars from screens big and small, thrust before us once more. Everything new is old again. From Star Wars to Fuller House. You want it? You got it, dude.

The joy of seeing Martin Lawrence again onstage, telling jokes, supersedes for his fans the content of his message. For the bulk of his hour, he devotes to common sex and relationship tropes, about the lovey-dovey nature of newly dating, about cheating men and one-night stands, even cracking jokes about the four-hour warning for Viagra pill-poppers – only someone who hasn’t been attending (or playing) comedy clubs in the past 14 years would treat this as new or fertile ground for comedy.

But how to explain Lawrence’s elaborate rant on feminine hygiene that brings the show home? It’s as if, having his infamous 1994 monologue from Saturday Night Live scrubbed from repeat airings, he wants to ensure that everyone knows how he still feels, all these years later, about the cleanliness of a woman’s genitals. Or just wants to remind everyone that Marty Mar hasn’t left the game.

Read my full review of Martin Lawrence’s new special on Decider. And watch the special on Showtime On Demand or Showtime Anytime.

Here’s the official trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnCJI3wnnYI

Sean L. McCarthy

Editor and publisher since 2007, when he was named New York's Funniest Reporter. Former newspaper reporter at the New York Daily News, Boston Herald and smaller dailies and community papers across America. Loves comedy so much he founded this site.

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