Review: Dan Soder, “Son of a Gary” on HBO

As I wrote in Decider when Dan Soder’s HBO special debuted:

Born in 1983, Soder lands right in the middle of Venn diagram between Generation X and Millennials, which places him in the sweetest spot for both cynicism and self-confidence. It also means he grew up along with the Web. And that allows him to see not only how Yelp “turned us into a generation of snitches,” but also how “the customer service generation has ruined the American dream.”

As a club comic who often has Shane Gillis (yes, the Shane Gillis who almost joined Saturday Night Live for a couple of days this year) opening for him on the road across America, he’s in tune with the good, the bad, and the ugly of how we tend to talk to, or rather, at one another via social media.

Unlike some older stand-ups who have become rather defensive in this climate, Soder would rather we all just relax a little bit, and stop taking comedians so seriously. Comedians included. “I’m a mall clown. I’m cool with it. I love my job. But sometimes, when you’re a comedian in 2019, you can get on Twitter and see other comedians that I’m friends with, and genuinely respect, Tweet out crazy shit.” “Like, ‘As an artist…’ What are you talking about? We’re a step above carnies. Art? You think I compete with art? There’s not a two-drink minimum at the ballet. I know what I am. Most of the rooms I perform in were originally designed for laser tag.”

Read my full review on Decider.com.

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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