"Kill Tony: Kill or Be Killed" Review (Cut Segment)

This is the cut section from my review for <i>Kill Tony: Kill or Be Killed</i>.

See full review ⇛ <a href="https://boxd.it/9KrMH3" rel="nofollow">HERE</a>

 

This isn’t exclusively MAGA comedy— it certainly takes shots at both sides. MAGA comedy is slop like <i>Mr. Birchum</i>, <i>The New Norm</i>, or Tony Hinchcliffe by himself these days— and they’re outright terrible. That MSNBC article goes on to declare <i>Kill Tony</i> as "not cutting edge, but it <i>is</i> culturally relevant— massively so," yet never explains why. In truth, it’s both. It's cutting-edge because it gives unknown comics space to test raw material, and is culturally relevant because it isn't afraid to push boundaries. More often than not, the author seems to repeatedly conflate a desire for edgier comedy with MAGA ideology, which is a reach and unfounded oversimplification, especially when this Netflix version is tamer than the YouTube episodes. Additionally, he unfairly blurs the line between character and endorsement. Personally, I believe Shane Gillis can get away with a lot here, specifically because he’s performing as Donald Trump. The author doesn’t seem to grasp that a toned-down Trump might be better for politics, but he’s useless for comedy. There’s a reason Gillis’ version gets more praise than James Austin Johnson’s on <i>SNL</i>. And considering how much the author references <i>Saturday Night Live</i>, it feels like their bias lean toward tightly scripted, prepackaged humor— the kind <i>SNL</i> is known for— rather than the unpredictable chaos <i>Kill Tony</i> thrives on. So saying something like "There’s a live band whose musicians, perplexingly, crack up at every joke" is a blatantly weird, forced nitpick coming from an <i>SNL</i> fan— especially when <i>Saturday Night Live</i>’s own musical director, Lenny Pickett, is known for laughing during most monologues (alongside several other muscians in the band), and the show famously embraces breaking character as part of its charm. Jimmy Fallon, anyone?