I'll preface this review by saying I had the pleasure of meeting Pete on set here in LA last summer. We didn't speak too much, but you can clearly see, from a distance, he's a man with much on his mind.
Alive in New York is Comedian Pete Davidson's intimate and candid stand-up special (debut, if i'm not mistaken) shot live in New York City. To kick off the show, he delves into a story about Louis CK and how he snitched to Lorne Micheals about him smoking weed and how Louis apparently doesn’t like him. For comedic effect, he makes a point to mention this is the part of Louis life before the dark cloud of controversy overshadowed his prominent career. Next ,we’re treated to a segment on parenthood. Crying baby? Go to the other room. During his following segment, on bringing women to orgasm, he seemed to laugh more at his own jokes for a moment.At this point it's a downhill slope for me as awkwardly enough, the crowd doesn’t seem too into the material. I think it’s just not that polished. There wasn’t an even flow from one segment to the next, and there seemed to be a lack of confidence and capable stage presence that you get from more seasoned comics like a Joe Rogan or Bill Burr. His most interesting material came from revealing the fallout of his relationship with Ariana Grande.
It’s interesting to watch, especially considering I had high hopes for this special, that sadly failed to live up to my expectations. Thankfully, the brief runtime of roughly 50 minutes take away from some of the pain that comes with this special. While certainly raw and personal, Alive from New York is a major letdown and not a Ricky Nixx special.
Director: Jason Orley
Star: Pete Davidson