‘Jenny Slate: Stage Fright’ has sights, frights and a whole lot of heart
Netflix premiered Jenny Slate: Stage Fright, her first standup special, on October 22, 2019. The 66-minute special has it all: a haunted house, impromptu fashion shows and enough clips of Slate screaming to satisfy your group-chat-reaction photo needs for months to come. Stage Fright offers an intimate look at the life, times and thoughts of its subject, sharing anecdotes and emotions common in the millennial experience while still being unique to Slate, her deep reflections slipped between jokes about her childhood in a haunted home, Jewish upbringing, sexual awakening as a teen and reawakening as a newly-divorced woman. Her words paint vivid pictures of childhood memories only she and her sisters share, transporting the audience back with her through the familiarity of it all, minus the haunted house.
A comic with a niche following compared to the likes of other Netflix-alumni John Mulaney, Amy Schumer and Dave Chappelle, Slate teams up with her frequent collaborator Gillian Robespierre to create a comedy special and exploration of her childhood filled to the brim with genuine Jenny charm. The special begins with a clip of a young Slate tentatively playing the violin before bringing us to the present-day comic making her grand entrance on stage, beer in hand and enrobed in black satin. Her infectious personality already apparent as she hops around the stage and waves to her audience to a soundtrack of Robyn’s “Missing U” and thunderous applause. In the span of 30 seconds, Slate has the attention of everyone in the room and watching via the streaming giant.
One of her greatest skills may be her physical comedy, displayed when discussing the difference between being a female leader named Jenny, fumbling with the microphone and talking with the speed of an anxious roadrunner, as opposed to Susan, a take-no-shit woman who kicks down doors and power poses. Her physical comedic skills are on-par with Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Slate commits to each bit microphone in hand, or in one case, between her legs.
Between shots of being onstage mimicking the movements of an apparition or discussing her ever-present sexual appetite, Slate mixes in-home video snippets of her younger self. These clips along with those where she interviews her family allow an intimate glimpse into the upbringing that would create the chaotic energy within her. As a present-day Slate lets the viewer explore her childhood bedroom and a box of things that once made her mad, we are able to pull back the curtain to explore the anxieties, isolation and vulnerability inherent within growing up. These universal emotions, coupled with Slate’s charm and genuine insight, create a sense of oneness between her and the audience.
It is during these pre-recorded clips within her childhood home and backstage before her set that Slate gets deep, having a reflection within herself and the viewer as we watch her become vulnerable. These are some of the most engaging moments of the special, allowing a connection beyond shared laughs. Asked by her father if she had reached the place where she could discuss and joke about her divorce, the viewer is able to sense the hesitation before she mentions that yes, she’s gotten to that place. Her joke about divorce feeling alienating, like a volcano attack at the mall, is both funny and poignant. There is an openness to Slate when she discusses finally being able to find humor in her divorce, about trying to act normal when you’re not or the sadness and anxiety hidden within many individuals who appear happy.
One of the most poignant moments comes when she discusses the namesake of her special: her stage fright.
“Right before I got on stage, I am presented with this essential question: ‘Will they, will they, like, like me?’ And I know that they will, once I start to talk, but I don’t earn the love unless I give something beautiful that goes out. My stage fright comes from a deeper thing, of exchange,” Slate said in an interview backstage as she prepares for her set.
It is when her walls are down, no odd inflection or bug-eyed expression in sight, that her special is, well, special.
The mixture of home videos, documentary-like interviews and standup set clips allow us to see what factors created the comedienne onstage. Throughout the special, it’s clear the chaotic energy of the rambunctious child shown intermittently never left 37-year-old Slate, it just matured into a proudly Jewish woman who wears made love to the Moon.