Neal Brennan’s new Netflix standup special, “3 Mics,” gets its name from the three microphones he uses in the show: one for normal jokes, one for one-liners, and one for intimate confessions.
The “Chappelle’s Show” co-creator has spent his career breaking down and building up jokes, and “3 Mics” is one of the most experimental things he’s done. Part of the inspiration came from podcasts, where Brennan noticed that “people were just as interested in the serious stuff as the funny stuff,” he told The New York Times.
Brennan previously co-hosted the beloved (and now-defunct) comedy podcast “The Champs,” in which he and Moshe Kasher, both of whom are white, would interview a different African-American comedian on each episode. (They made very occasional exceptions for white rappers and porn stars.) “The Champs” examined many of the same themes as “3 Mics,” including race, relationships and mental health.
But it also had a lot of solid jokes. Brennan writes some of the best in comedy, with a blunt, cynical logic to them. Take his little league joke in the video above, for example. “Chappelle’s Show” fans know Brennan has always been overflowing with ideas — and now he finally has enough mics to capture them all.
“3 Mics” premieres on Netflix next Tuesday, Jan. 17.