Review: Rob Delaney, “Jackie” on Amazon Prime Video

Rob Delaney provided an early example of how comedians could become big stars thanks solely to Twitter.

But it wasn’t until Delaney left America for Britain that he found success on the telly, thanks to Catastrophe. That brilliant comedy starring Delaney and Sharon Horgan aired for four six-episode seasons on Amazon Prime Video, which is where Delaney’s stand-up debut premiered in January.

On Catastrophe, Delaney played a husband and father who wanted to do the right thing but sometimes struggled with his own character defects in the process. In real-life, and onstage, Delaney likewise has no qualms about sharing his defects.

He’s the guy who’ll unknowingly wear shirts onstage with holes in the armpits (not this time, tho).

He’s the guy who’ll spot a flasher in the bushes while jogging, then contemplate self-deprecatingly about his own penis for several minutes, and then worry about warning others and scaring them doubly in the process.

He’s the guy who’ll recount the story of his drunk-driving accident before he got sober 17 years ago, and how it made him appreciate psychiatric hospitals, look forward to nursing homes, and in between, gladly answer your questions about how he coped with two broken arms and two sewn-up legs confined to a wheelchair in jail.

He’ll joke about what he’d do with a sex robot, while also admitting he’d rather have no libido at all.

And after encountering a bigoted taxi driver in Cornwall, Delaney also will confront his own subtle wiring for prejudice, such as wondering why it matters so much to him that strangers match up to his expectations of them. “Just because I dress like a gas station attendant, why can’t he have a little flair and be happy?! Why do I f—ing care? But I do.”

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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