“John Mulaney in Concert” at the Bryce Jordan Center review

Dec. 3, 2024, at the Bryce Jordan Center, John Mulaney returned for his second performance in Happy Valley.

This is the comedian’s fifth major comedy tour in the last few years. “John Mulaney in Concert” followed “From Scratch," which was renamed “Baby J” when the special was put on Netflix.

Just to clarify, there was no singing. "In Concert" did not mean, what many thought it potentially could mean, comedy in song form.

“From Scratch” was performed last September in the same arena, and State College was ready for Mulaney’s return.

Mulaney was introduced by his opener, Langston Kerman, as a 6-foot man from Chicago. He acknowledges he is a basic white man, but what sets him apart is his incredible humor.

Before Mulaney took the stage, Kerman got the crowd warmed up with anecdotes from his former teaching days and how he wanted to kill his past students, specifically Edna, who laughed at his poem.

Along with that, he shared some raunchy info about things he has done to his wife and that he is running his mother-in-law's dating apps.

First thing in the morning, he flirts with old men.

Mulaney's portion of the show started with a bang. He shared about a Halloween party at age five where he was almost kidnapped.

Throughout the show, he lacked transitions, even at the beginning. “I hope you all had a good Halloween,” he said, followed by an explanation of how he knows that was a few months ago but has no good way to transition into this story.

Basically, in the 80s there was a big movement of using safe words when people who were not family would pick up children from school.

At this school party, where Mulaney was notably dressed up as a Ghostbuster, a man approached him and said he was picking him up and said “care bears” instead of the Mulaney family's safe word, “Gonzo."

What this story taught fans was that Mulaney has been hilarious and vulnerable since the beginning.

From there on the show only got darker. He jumped around from topics like wishing older relatives were dead to abusive fathers and his “Shark Tank” idea.

Mulaney shared about the AA group he is a part of, and how many of his acquaintances in this program have experienced physical abuse from their parents.

His idea is that people could hire him to go to their elderly parents' home and punch their dad in the face for a fee.

This along with some of his other touchy jokes was interesting to hear, but what was more interesting was seeing where this landed with audience members.

Some people laughed a little too hard when he wished his parents were already dead.

An interesting perspective he had was that anyone over the age of 70 should be required to join the military to make themselves useful.

Much of his content was delivered with a somewhat derogatory demeanor that he continued to explain was not his intention.

Cameron, from the front row, is a 14-year-old who probably was brought to this by his parents. Mulaney interacted with him at the beginning and middle of the show.

To be honest, Cameron gave very little for Mulaney to work with. He talked about the teachers at school he did and did not like. Mulaney ran with this and embarked on a rant about how teachers have the worst jobs ever.

All the Penn State education majors in the crowd tensed up.

Shockingly, the arena was not close to being sold out. The floor was full but the stadium seats lining the sides were not full.

Along with that, it was surprising how many older adults were in attendance.

During a particular bit at the end of his act, a few straight white couples began to leave when he shared about the gay bus driver he had on his last tour.

Leaving to avoid traffic? Leaving because they were offended? Hard to say.

The most optimistic part of the show was when Mulaney shared about his two-year-old son, Malcolm.

He shared about precious moments they had playing baseball in the front yard at five in the morning.

Along with that, he wrote about how he is mentally the same as his son in the way that he doesn't understand how dinosaurs came to be, and doesn’t know why the moon is in the sky during the daytime sometimes.

Very relatable and understandable.

All in all, Mulaney is still the same comedian fans know and love, but with a smaller filter and humor that is one shade darker.

Mulaney is always good for a laugh. Fans hope to see him in State College again, or as he said multiple times “College Park."

Savannah Swartz is a third-year communications major. To contact her, email sms9072@psu.edu.