Judd Apatow returns to stage for Netflix stand-up special
David Farnor | On 15, Nov 2017
Judd Apatow is returning to stand-up comedy for the first time in 25 years for a new Netflix special.
What do you do when all your friends give you the same advice? Do the exact opposite, of course. Apatow, who has been behind such hits as Bridesmaids, Knocked Up and The Big Sick, is a household name among comedy fans, becoming something of a King Midas figure when it comes to producing. While he has found success away from the camera, though, Apatow is stepping back in front of it to try his hand up stand-up once more.
And so he debuted his first stand-up special in Montreal at this year’s Just for Laughs Festival.
“I was doing Trainwreck and I was around [stand-up] more than I had been in a long time. I thought, ‘I have to do this,’” he told LA Weekly at the festival, saying that having stage fright when asked to toast Mel Brooks at a gala gave him the final push to do it. “I was looking for a way to lower my self-esteem and my salary at the same time,” he quipped.
Netflix’s cameras were there to record the show, almost a year after an exec at the streaming service first offered him a stand-up special for the site. It builds on an existing relationship between the pair, with Apatow also creating his own Netflix original series, Love, which has already run for two seasons.
Judd Apatow: The Return will premiere on Netflix on 12th December. Here’s a trailer: