Good Timing With Jo Firestone is everything I want in a comedy special. It’s got a unique point of view. It’s positive while acknowledging the darkness. It’s less than an hour. It’s original. Most importantly, it’s funny.

I was not expecting to love this as much as I do. Like a lot of folks on the Internet, I do not want to engage about a certain comedy special on a streaming service because my voice does not need to be added to the current debate. But this is not that and Good Timing is a very good reminder that stand up is pretty much whatever you want it to be.

This is not a traditional stand up special. Firestone is more of a host and teacher than performer, so it’s not just one voice (Firestone’s stand up is good and worth watching (related, she’s also on one of television’s best shows, Joe Pera Talks With You and there’s a lot of heart in both that show and Good Timing).

I’ve seen it compared to John Mulaney and the Sack Lunch Bunch. I respectfully disagree. The closest analogue that came to mind is the 2007 doc about a music chorus of 70+-year-olds, Young@Heart, but that’s obviously not a comedy. I wanted to know what inspired Good Timing so I reached out to Firestone.

According to Firestone, “I think it’s in the same family as a show like Encore!, in that it leads to a show, but in editing and structuring the piece, our main motivation was to find a way to highlight each person at least a few times.”

Allowing each person to shine is what’s so unique about this special and what is also wonderful about live stand up comedy. Most bills, and definitely most open mics, feature a wide variety of performers. There are classic setup and punchline stand-ups, storytellers, cultural critics, prop comics, oddballs, etc. They’re all present in Good Timing. There are performers borrowing from old Playboys, a cultural/religion critic, prop comedy, body humor and lots of jokes about sex. There’s also talk of death, both losing a loved one and the fear of it due to Covid (I really relate to the woman wearing 3 masks) and beautiful poetry followed by juvenile one liners.

The special is proof that the stand up art form is full of multitudes. The first time performers, the elderly Firestone has been teaching at the Greenwich House Senior Center, do not represent one type of stand up. They represent the art form at its finest. It’s the most accurate presentation of the American stand up comedy scene.

Firestone told me, “We just tried to make a format that allowed the audience to get to know everyone in the class. We were mainly inspired by all the participants.”

The inspiration is on the screen. It’s full of compassion, levity and the weight of the world. Good Timing is entirely worth your time. 

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