Yesterday was a big day for John Mulaney. He and Anna Marie Tendler announced they were getting divorced and he began a five-day residency at the City Winery in Manhattan. The new show is called John Mulaney: From Scratch, and it’s his first time performing since getting out of rehab for cocaine and alcohol abuse. And, as stated above, it was performed at a winery. Now, it doesn’t sound like John spilled any dirty divorce deets, but apparently, most of his new material is about his relapse. And it gets pretty dark.
Showbiz 411’s Roger Friedman was at John’s show last night. According to Roger, John announced he was 141 days sober, and that his interventionist was watching from the balcony. He discussed his December intervention, which was attended by Nick Kroll, Fred Armisen, Natasha Lyonne, and Bill Hader. John jokes that he was the best-looking person there, cuz he arrived in a suit, with a fresh haircut, and, unlike his friends who’d packed on extra pandemic weight, he was down to an alarming 105 pounds. A reminder that John is six feet tall.
38-year-old John joked that “the press” will be wondering if he “still had it”, and although Roger Friedman says he’s still hilarious (at one point he jokes that he’d kill every person there for a line of coke), he’s also “fragile.” John treats the show like group therapy and interacts a lot with the audience:
There’s a rawness to what Mulaney is doing. Since it was the first night, he maybe surprised himself with some of his comments. He said that he had never been comfortable with people, always felt alone and that his experience with the audience was his most intimate relationship.
“When I’m alone,” he said, “I’m with someone who tried to kill me.”
John confessed that his last rehab stay wasn’t even the rehab stint that was reported. He secretly went to rehab last fall before hosting Saturday Night Live in October. It didn’t stick. He tried taking a job on Seth Meyer’s Late Night for the structure. It also didn’t work. In December he gave an interview with GQ, but says has no memory of it. As a bit, he read out parts of the interview.
John was in rehab for sixty days, from December to February:
“I missed the whole insurrection on January 6th,” he joked. “That wouldn’t have happened on my watch.”
Here are some tweets from others who attended the show:
just left John Mulaney’s first post-rehab show at City Winery. I don’t know much about comedy, but imho he did a great job… an excellent mix of humor and honesty. I’m rooting for u, dude
— Julia Glum (@SuperJulia) May 11, 2021
John Mulaney at City Winery was…Epic! 90 mins that was mostly going through his intervention and rehab experience. Some parts were emotional, while others were straight up hilarious. For anyone wondering if he’s back and better than ever, I can confirm that he in fact is back!
— Dean (@DeanRizzo) May 11, 2021
I’m glad John is clean, and I’m extra-glad Natasha Lyonne was at his intervention. If you’re gonna take getting sober tips from anybody, it might as well be from a wild lioness woman who managed to crawl her way back from heroin addiction. Seriously, Natasha. Write a book. Save us all.
Pic: Wenn.com
