Editor’s Note: In the event that you find yourself endlessly scrolling through a gauntlet of streaming services for something to watch, and you come across a comedy special you may not be familiar with, chances are the first question you ask yourself, as you contemplate your next move will be something to the effect of ‘Is this something worth an hour that I can’t get back?’ — and we are here to help you shuffle through the latest and greatest comedy releases to make sure that hour and change is well spent. Welcome to The ReVue Stage. Here in this little corner carved out in Vanyaland’s comedy coverage, we have you covered when it comes to dishing out the good word on everything from new specials and albums, to books and even recaps of live shows. It’s all killer no filler around these parts, comrade. So kick back and let us help you figure out your next dose of comedic relief.
***
For anyone who may already be familiar with the comedy workings of Dusty Slay, you know that “havin’ a good time” isn’t just a catchphrase. It’s kind of his thing, and it’s also what he does best. As well, for anyone who may be wondering how his debut Netflix hour is, a good time — and then some — is exactly what he’s offering.
From the first of many passive hand waves at the start of Workin’ Man, which recently premiered on Netflix, the Alabama native employs his easygoing southern charm and detailed but quickly-illustrated storytelling to deliver a seemingly never-ending cavalcade of stories that may not always intersect in theme, but all help to paint a genuine and side-splitting introduction of sorts. With a sneakily sharp execution, Slay vividly observes the dynamics of his southern upbringing and relates to his audience with a slate of material that is deeply rooted in autobiographical recollections of working in food service, his past experiences with drug use, drinking, and dipping. If you have any amount of family in the south, he carves out all the time needed to properly introduce the all-too-relatable personalities that he’s encountered along the way. It may not be one single string of connecting threads, but that doesn’t stop it from hand-deliver one hell of a good time as a finished product.
Aside from the tales of ghosting jobs and definitely not killing frogs with a pool vacuum, what truly powers this hour is Slay’s ability to be so genuine and sparing of exaggeration, while still connecting with his crowd in such a dominant and bombastic way, most of the time before he can even finish the joke or story.
From a largely stationary stance in the center of the stage, Slay lets the stories and delivery do the moving for him, and there aren’t stories of reckless and damaging behavior or long, drawn out descriptions peppered with salacious details for the sake of shock value. Instead, Slay keeps things close to home and close to the heart by really just having a good ol’ fashioned bool night with his fans while they laugh and enjoy the moment. He’s not monotone, but he also doesn’t get too excited, and he isn’t just pulling half-baked jokes out of the air. From very early on in the special, it’s obvious that Slay is keeping it real, honest, and refreshingly consistent to the artist we’ve already known him to be.
The setting of the special is as humble and comfortable as Slay himself, and the down home connection from both sides of the mic is another driving force in what makes this special so damn fun and well worth your time. Although nothing will ever beat the original or the introduction, at least most of the time, one can only hope that what we’re seeing is still just a glimpse of Slay’s continued rise to comedy adoration and stardom.