In the grand scheme of things, I don’t watch nearly as many stand-up specials as I used to. There was a time even in my early 20s when I dedicated an hour every few weeks to listening to someone crack jokes. Sure, podcasts have replaced that necessity, but there’s still something about having someone receive your undivided attention for that time. As a writer, I am captivated by the nature of storytellers and think that there’s something enthralling about standing before people and having them hang on your every word. I noticed it when I saw Marc Maron while he was workshopping his From Bleak to Dark special. There’s a skill that few have to never lose your interest, and I think that nobody I’ve seen lately has that quite like Jacqueline Novak.
It should be noted that, yes, I still don’t watch a lot of stand-up specials. Even with several streamers providing more voices room to do their thing, I realize that I have to be in a mood to turn one on. Part of it is just that I don’t think stand-up specials are inherently watchable. You can turn away and still get the gist. Outside of Pete Davidson and Jenny Slate, I haven’t seen any other 2024 release, but Get On Your Knees is far and away a favorite. Even with a 90-minute running time, I was engrossed in every minute. Sometimes it was shocking in the way that sex jokes could be, but more than anything I just came to have empathy for Novak and wanted to know where her journey went. While it’s not nearly as regimented as producer Mike Birbiglia’s work, it does have this chaotic focus that is unlike anything I’ve seen… at least in this format.
Like most contemporary comedians, I became aware of Novak through a WTF interview with Maron. His enthusiasm for the special was enough to pique my interest, though Novak’s overall response to his questions also helped. In theory, the story of a woman describing a blow job is juvenile and lacks greater appeal. For as much as I could appreciate Ali Wong’s dominating personality, I sometimes found her vulgarity to be, ahem, “not for me.” Then again, how many times have I been stuck listening to men on the other end detail the same act for a more trivial punchline? I bought into the idea that Novak was being genuine. She was going to make you empathize with her in ways that were more than simple humiliation. Much like the Oscar-nominated short from last year My Year of Dicks, it feels like a perfect time for women to reclaim their sexuality and embrace a viewpoint media rarely explores.
It's difficult to fully assess a stand-up special without merely giving away the jokes. There’s something spontaneous that needs to happen for it to work. However, there are several giveaways that I feel comfortable sharing. Much like with Jennifer Reeder’s A Million Miles Away short, I tend to start you at five stars if your walk on music is Madonna’s “Like a Prayer.” It’s a personal favorite and one that hits the complex relationship of identity between religion and sex. Given that Novak is going to treat a blow job as something potentially spiritual, the song choice makes sense. In fact, it makes the chorus sort of funny as Madonna sings, “I’m down on my knees, I want to take you there.”
Still, I didn’t know what really to expect until the house music died and we were left with the whirling force that is Jacqueline Novak. Something that I want to argue is that not only is this special viciously funny, but it’s maybe the best example of talking to someone with ADHD that I’ve seen. If Hannah Gadsby symbolizes the introversion of autism, Novak is a livewire who can’t seem to hold any detail to herself. She carries a youthfulness that bolts her from one side of the stage to the other. With limited exceptions, she will spend the next 90 minutes walking around as if in ricochet, perfectly symbolizing the way that a mind bounces between thoughts. Unless you’re in her head, you can’t be sure how the correlations came to be, but it’s the most neurodivergent thing that I’ve seen. Get On Your Knees is a very focused work, and yet there are these observations that feel like tangents, finding her breaking from the train of thought to create this bizarre analogy.
For example, there’s a scene where a “blow job queen” teaches her how to work the anatomy and she mentions “play with the balls.” It’s one of those moments I loved because it represented certain stereotypes about neurodivergent personalities. Given that we’re accused of taking things too literally, having Novak fall into a side joke about how the word “play” doesn’t make sense in this expression. She proceeds to act out the more conventional ways that people “play” in other fields. It’s ridiculous and maybe nonsensical, but so is the act she is describing. There are layers to these tangents that build a greater sense of who she is and the quixotic goal of making this goal a meaningful experience for all involved. Given that she can’t keep focused on one topic in any 10-minute period, one must wonder what a more intimate form of focusing would be like.
Generally, I don’t know that there’s a lot to deconstruct about a comedian who wanders around a stage. Standing still is just not interesting to watch and could reflect timidity. By having Novak walk what feels like the equivalent of a marathon, it creates this perpetual sense of distraction, a discomfort in the subject matter where she’s struggling to stand still and address the circumstance. It moves at a breakneck speed and creates inconclusiveness. You’re left wondering, “Where is she going with this?” and even during predictable sections, she knows how to drop a punchline. They’re momentary pauses designed to feel profound or provocative, and yet they also help to build the character of this woman in a state of constant enthusiasm. She’s probably hiding deep insecurities from us, and yet they’re easy to read in the subtext as she tries to intellectualize why a blow job is such a hallowed experience. It’s often done in such mundane and crass detail that it goes from being an explicit punchline to more sociological.
That is the thing that makes Get On Your Knees such a welcomed entry. I’m sure many women have dedicated some commentary to the penis. There is something inherently absurd about being told that this is the thing to covet as sex becomes more central to a life. What makes Novak’s take all the more refreshing is that this isn’t just about one experience, but a whole deconstruction of phallic worship. It’s everything from anatomical to etymological and mythological, again showing how a literal-minded person struggles to connect with concepts most would take for granted.
It's all so silly, but I think Novak is ultimately trying to push beyond the ridiculous and find some greater meaning. If she can find the logic, maybe she can find the self-actualization to stand still and perform her duty. This is by no means designed as a celebration of pleasure, but more one person’s effort to overcome her own embarrassment. I don’t doubt that she enjoys sex. In fact, the ending is a delightful string of poetry about the gloriously vulgar. However, her nervousness captures the feeling right before the big moment happens. It’s something that I’m sure is fairly universal, but has rarely been elocuted this thoroughly.
In a sense, Novak has helped to remove certain stigma around sex. Much like the Maron interview would suggest, he felt that he learned a lot about how women approach the same act. After decades of men providing their perspective, it was refreshing to hear a woman capture the nervousness that comes with over-analyzing sex less as a performed act and more artifact that has kept this species alive. Given that she has a rapid-fire approach, it allows even the boring and clinical talk to feel entertaining. This is someone who has mastered her voice and has produced something that even in its more appalling moments feels essential. She is beyond likable and I think it helps that I am easily charmed by a neurodivergent view of the world. Even if that particular subject never came up, the sense of even that mentality breaking free of the common discourse made me admire how every line felt perfectly crafted. Even if every joke flew as if on a zip-line, you’re able to follow her and keep in close awareness of what she’s intending.
For whatever reason, I love Get On Your Knees and found it to be a great way to pass an evening. Maybe it’s because it goes beyond the typical stand-up special and finds a way to build a greater narrative and character study without feeling textbook. There’s something radical and fresh even against raunchy comedians like Wong and Slate who also come from personal places, but have their own gross worldview. Novak is a revelation and I look forward to discovering more of her work. Not only that but it’s made me hyper-aware of how many great stand-up specials I’ve probably not seen from the past decade. There’s clearly a new generation reinventing the game without sacrificing laughs. I just wonder how many can compare to the love I have for this particular piece of oral history.
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