Tom Segura’s New Netflix Special Is Totally Garbage, I’ll Come Up With A Proper Title When I Cool Down
Written by Robert Scucci | Published
If you spend any time on Reddit, following comics, or listening to podcasts, you probably already know that Tom Segura’s name isn’t always warm these days. Most of the hate stems from his 2023 Twitter rant about “poor people” after having a bad experience at an airport, and you can tell that some of the negative reviews for his latest Netflix special, Teacherthey come from people who don’t want to see him succeed based on that alone.
While I agree that those comments were a bit extreme when he made them, I didn’t take them to heart, even though I probably fall into the details of the people he refers to as the poor. I come from a middle class family, and I still sit in the middle class. The problem is that the middle class is rapidly disintegrating, and the gap between the people who are trying their best and the incredibly rich has widened, making people rightly angry. Whenever I make an important purchase, I calculate how many working hours it will take me to buy the item, and that’s how I decide if it’s worth it. Many people work this way. Comedians also run their mouths for shock, so there’s no need to take them seriously.
A lot of the anger towards Tom Segura stems from those controversial heated mic moments on his podcast and on social media, which led to a bombardment of reviews. Teacher. But there is no need to get to the extremes of socioeconomics as to why Teacher it currently sits with a nine percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes’ Popcornmeter. The reason it doesn’t work well is very simple. It’s just not funny.
Let the Art Speak for Itself
I completely understand why so many people who are trying their best to get ahead in life are offended by the “I’m rich therefore I’m better than you” Persona Segura has leaned on for the past few years. But let’s get down to the copper lines. Tom Segura didn’t rise to fame by dumb luck. He broke through because of his comedic eye, storytelling, and unique worldview, the same traits that many up-and-coming comedians had when they were hungry and serious about the game.
They live on the road, playing hundreds of shows a year, honing their craft, and hoping to finally get the big break that so many up-and-coming comedians are chasing. Although Segura’s great success has been through podcasting and Netflix has given him a lifestyle that makes what he’s seen invisible to the average person, I don’t think that’s why. Teacher his weakest hour-long special to date.
Dave Chappelle is worth millions, but he’s still a storyteller. Bill Burr has seen great success, but his confessions about family life and anger management remain universally relatable. Wealth alone does not end the joke. Self-control does. Case in point: Tom Segura went to a private school, but his early credits are his best work.
Podcasting Ruining Standup?
Teacherwith Rotten Tomatoes user reviews saying things like “Tom Segura is as funny as staring at a dog’s ass,” falls into a different category entirely. It points to a major problem with standup comedy being designed for mass broadcast use. It doesn’t feel like a new hour.
The most common complaint about Teacher that many anecdotes can be traced back to interviews and podcast episodes. That’s a common practice now that many top comedians rely on podcasting to stay visible and earn income when they’re not touring. An unintended side effect is that when comedians spend hours chatting freely with other comedians, they are actually preparing for their next hour in front of millions of listeners.
By the time those jokes are tweaked on tour and finally recorded for the special, it doesn’t sound like anything new. It sounds like a repackage of something you’ve already heard on your commute, now with an added video segment of a man standing in front of a microphone.
My biggest problem with Teacher that the storytelling element that drew me to Segura’s stand is almost completely gone. Instead, the special plays like a loose collection of unrelated anecdotes, jumping from family life, to documentaries about Hitler’s rehabilitative torture, to stories about taking off his pants. Most comics follow a standard set-up and punchline structure, which is fine in theory, but rarely pays off.
in 2018 It’s a disgraceon the other hand, it features a clever set-up that includes an In-N-Out Burger that was introduced briefly early on, only to be updated much later with an unexpected profit at a completely different time. That level of art just doesn’t exist Teacher. Here, each joke feels like a stand-alone gag, with no connective tissue or satisfying progression from one part to the next.
Other Upcoming Projects?
I still have Segura’s first three specials for Netflix, Totally Normal, Especially Newsagain It’s a disgracewith normal circulation. I’m still yelling “Bicycles!” and call my wife respectfully whenever the opportunity arises. I read about Steven Seagal: Lawman thanks to Totally Normaland I strongly suggest everyone to watch this series.
I hate to say it, but A football pig, A hammerand now, Teacheryou can simply hit the same way or have the same staying power. Despite the mixed reactions, I really enjoyed it Bad Thoughtsmainly because many of its skits feel like completely realized extensions of the jokes from those previous specials. You can tell that real care went into the production, and that the cast and crew were invested in making something memorable.
Teacherin comparison, it feels like an obligation rather than a passion project. It sounds like Segura was ready to move on to other projects, but was handed a blank check by Netflix and asked to deliver another hour. I may be completely different here, but it sounds like his creative focus has shifted from design to production. There is nothing wrong with that.
But with my money, Teachercurrently streaming on Netflix, it gets its low points, not because of what Tom Segura says offstage, but because of what he says on it.
