Review: London Hughes, “To Catch A Dick,” on Netflix

An opening sketch set in her dressing room finds Hughes delivering a pep talk in the mirror, in which she reminds herself, “Because you are comedy Beyonce. Yes, you are.” She also compares herself to the late great Richard Pryor, and then to current megastar Kevin Hart. The gag ends with an extra below-the-belt gag, to so speak.

While she’s still far from the heights of Beyonce or Pryor, the Hart comparison might track, especially since Hart’s HartBeat Productions has taken her under his wing.

But comparing herself to her male peers is precisely where she truly shines, noting how Saturday Night Live‘s Colin Jost can somehow marry Scarlett Johansson, and “Pete f***ing Davidson” can hook up with both Ariana Grande and Kate Beckinsale; “meanwhile I’m not hot enough to suck Larry David’s dick,” Hughes laments. “It’s not fair!” Indeed. But what’s a successful funny woman to do, particularly when she’s above “civilian men” who are too insecure unskilled to go down on her? And that’s society’s fault, Hughes says, reminding us how young girls are convinced by pop culture and peer pressure to learn how to give good oral sex, while boys receive no such instructions or inspiration. Normalize men going down on women! That’s Hughes’s battle cry in the end.

Which, it turns out, was the point of her opening sketch all along.

Don’t feel too bad for Hughes come 2021, though. One of her jokes already has a promising update.

When I typed “Is London Hughes” into Google, the next word that appeared on my screen wasn’t “pregnant” (as she jokes), but “married.” So she needn’t worry about a lack of suitors once the pandemic is over.

Read my full review in Decider

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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