Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Mike Epps: Delusional’ on Netflix, where the comedian goes back to his roots for inspiration
For his fifth Netflix stand-up special, comedian and actor Mike Epps not only jokes about women and sex, as he is wont to do, but also digs dep into his personal story to recount how he was just delusional enough after serving time in jail as a young man to embark on a comedy career that has made him a star.
The Gist: Timed to coincide with the fifth and final season of his Netflix sitcom, The Upshaws, which dropped earlier this month, Epps could take a bit of a victory lap at this performance taped at the Yaamava’ Resort and Casino near San Bernardino.
While Epps might not dish much about The Upshaws in this hour, he does walk back down Memory Lane a bit, name-dropping Ice Cube and the state of mind Epps was in while filming Next Friday and Friday After Next, as well as reminding us of his roles in less-popular features such as Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins or Jumping The Broom, working with the late Bernie Mac on Soul Men, as well as appearing on Showtime at The Apollo back when Destiny’s Child was still an unknown quartet out of Houston.
What Comedy Special Will It Remind You Of? The vibe both more personal and more political than his past hours, which puts Epps in this new hour more on a trajectory similar to how Marlon Wayans has pivoted in his 50s, also.
Photo: Netflix
Memorable Jokes: Epps is topical and political to start the set, which means his jokes about protecting Mexicans from ICE hit that much harder and more awkward considering real-life events over the past month. Although Epps manages to keep the tone light initially, he also zings the president: “Donald Trump ain’t s–t, man.” After a pause, and a pass at a Trump impersonation, Epps has a second thought: “I better not go to jail, because I won’t be getting pardoned after this s—t.”
He also takes a passing shot at Sean Combs, noting that Diddy got caught not on RICO but on “freak-o” charges, but then turns the joke back on himself, admitting, “if they found out some of the stuff I did, I’d be in an electric chair right now.”
Epps wonders what it must be like to be a famous inmate. He doesn’t have to wonder about life behind bars, as he reminds us he served time after trying to sell drugs to an informant. The crowd in the casino theater might not have been able to Google his mug shot during the taping, but in the end credits, and here, we’ve got plenty of time to call it up, via his Instagram.
Two years in county jail (down from a possible maximum sentence of 20 years) still left Epps with plenty of stories, one of which he gladly recounts here.
But it all serves to set up his closing argument, which in turn brings us back to his start in comedy as an ex-con and a young father trying to escape a criminal life in Indiana for comedy or something else in Atlanta, New York City, and finally Hollywood.
Our Take: Epps has always been a likable guy with great stage presence, which has taken him far both onstage and onscreen.
But in the past, I’ve found his actual stand-up, the jokes, to be somewhat lacking; his personalty more than compensating for the material.
The first part of this hour seemed to be heading down a similarly predictable path, with Epps (a guy with seven kids on his second marriage) making light of his sexual history or of women as caretakers, and white women as protectors for black men, whether by offering free rent in exchange for sex or safe harbor when encountering the cops. And when he starts to obsess over female hygiene, the vibe feels rote.
That all changes once he reflects on his life after jail. Epps suddenly becomes grateful and sincere, wanting to thank all the people who offered housing, help, or even a handout of $85 in food stamps. He name-drops the comedians TK Kirkland and Red Grant, gets emotional recalling how his auntie in Atlanta took him in, and recalls the hard talk Royale Watkins gave him when he first arrived in NYC. Watkins directed this hour, some three decades later. He jokes about being so high in an early movie role, but notes he has some 20 years clean today.
That he got from there to here required some delusions. “Sometimes you got to be delusional,” he says. In his case, perhaps, it had to do with him overcoming trauma and rejection. He may not have felt accepted in his youth. But he’s more than made up for it now.
Our Call: STREAM IT. If you only see one Mike Epps stand-up special, make it this one.
Sean L. McCarthy works the comedy beat. He also podcasts half-hour episodes with comedians revealing origin stories: The Comic’s Comic Presents Last Things First.
