The genius of Everybody’s Live with John Mulaney is, well, that it’s live. Filming in real time in front of the whole world means that, even though the series is based on the tried-and-true concept of the classic nighttime talk show, unexpected events instigating surprising laughs can happen at any instant — in fact, the funniest and strangest moments seem to arrive completely out of the blue. Each of the 12 episodes revolves around one specific idiosyncratic theme, from cruise ships to funeral arrangements to major surgery. Then Mulaney — the comedy genius known for specials including Kid Gorgeous at Radio City (2018) and John Mulaney: Baby J (2023) — brings in a slate of guests to chit-chat about the chosen theme, with the invite list including the likes of David Letterman, Hannibal Buress, Natasha Lyonne, Tina Fey, Sean Penn, Robby Hoffman, and Wanda Sykes. From that ingenious starting formula, twists and turns abound.
Winnowing down the best moments from such a freewheeling and experimental exercise in atmospheric comedy isn’t an easy job, but here are 10 standout highlights from this stunning, surprising, bewildering live show that we can’t stop watching.
Inspired by the “100 men vs 1 gorilla” meme that’s been circulating on the internet, Mulaney has been obsessed with the question of whether or not he, a grown man, could win in a fight against 3 14-year-old-boys. For about a month, he’d been teasing that an actual fight of this nature would occur on the season’s May 28 finale, and he delivered, giving viewers a chance to see who would become the reigning champion of outrageous late-night wrestling matches.
Even famous comedians fall victim to telephone scams sometimes: Mulaney is a music obsessive who’s had everyone from Randy Newman to John Cale play the Everybody’s Live stage for the weekly musical performance. But one act he struggled to get? Rap sensations Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, who rose to fame in the ’90s. Mulaney invited them to perform their powerful hit “Tha Crossroads” (a tribute to the group’s late mentor Eazy-E) at the tail end of a segment about death, but, as he relates in Episode 4’s monologue, when he reached out by phone to someone who claimed to be the band’s manager, the comedian realized he’d gotten himself caught up in a scheme that went so far that it even involved him withdrawing his own cash from the bank. Of course, Bone Thugs didn’t make it to the stage that night, but by the season finale’s end, Mulaney finally had a chance to make his — and our — dream come true.
It’s hard to pick a marquee moment from Richard Kind, Mulaney’s faithful sidekick who spends each and every episode interjecting his own brand of humor into the atmosphere. He is, all around, just the most joyful of presences, cackling at Mulaney’s jokes and wearing kooky outfits when a bit requires it — i.e., the Met(s) Gala. But if we had to select one specific instance of Richard Kind magic, it would probably be his telling of a story that involves him, TV legend Norman Lear, and the ashes of beloved Golden Girls actor Rue McClanahan.
One of the most amusing aspects of watching a show as stream-of-consciousness as Everybody’s Live is getting an inside look at Mulaney’s own fascinations and preoccupations, which consistently bubble up into the action. One such fixation? The “deeply terrifying” and grime-covered “dumpster thing” — the infamous jump scare character from David Lynch’s magnum opus Mulholland Drive — who’s haunted audiences for more than 20 years. Somehow Mulaney tracked down the actor who portrayed her — and invited her to sit front row in full costume in the audience of Episode 6.
This season has featured a wide range of incredible guests gabbing it up with Mulaney, including Adam Sandler, Sean Penn, Nikki Glaser, Ayo Edebiri, Wanda Sykes, and John Waters. But Robby Hoffman was a particularly comfortable presence on the couch, brought on to discuss the Real ID Act, this year’s federal stipulation that enhanced IDs would be required to board domestic flights, which inspired her to share hilarious stories of her own TSA airport experiences, including why she’s a proud passport owner (“I’m marriage material,” she says).
Everybody’s Live feels like a wonderful experiment in real time, as though we’re getting to watch John Mulaney work out what it means to be a talk show host in the 21st century live and on camera right in front of us. Some of the most sparkling moments in the whole series are instances in which Mulaney just tries out something unusual. Case in point? When he did the entirety of Episode 10 wearing a blindfold. Yes, you read that right: the entirety of Episode 10 in a blindfold.
Height has been a recurring theme on Everybody’s Live; Mulaney remains, throughout the season, curiously fixated on finding out the accurate heights of his guests on the couch. With David Letterman — no stranger to a Netflix chat show — Mulaney took it one step further: he actually assessed the comedy legend on air with a tape measure. All of his life, Dave had been living under the assumption that he was 6-foot-2, but, as Mulaney finds out, the truth is far murkier.
Over the course of each episode, Mulaney, in his choice of guests, makes sure to place some unlikely bedfellows next to each other, odd combinations that create interesting chemistry. In Episode 1, he invited Cypress Hill to perform their 1993 ode to cannabis with the backing of a formal 17-piece orchestra, which would’ve been surreal enough on its own. But then the camera pans to his other guest, folk legend Joan Baez, enthusiastically dancing along to the jam, and it's just about enough to blow your mind.
Sometimes, on Everybody’s Live, a guest is not a guest: In Episode 4, when Mulaney announces that the show will feature an appearance by Nashville rapper Jelly Roll, we soon learn that it’s actually former Saturday Night Live cast member Aidy Bryant. But when Bryant — as Jelly Roll — attempts a rendition of one of the music superstar’s many blockbuster hits, Mulaney quickly learns she hadn’t quite done her homework — she doesn’t even know the lyrics.
Who else but John Mulaney would have the idea to bring together the entire team of stunt coordinators from the action movie Terminator 2: Judgment Day for a roundtable discussion about an odd assortment of topics, including Hugh Grant and what city they’d like to retire in?
