Pete Davidson is known for many controversial things, apart from his successful comedic career. There have been many things said about the man in his personal life, but his comedy career so far has remained unaffected. Pete, or Peter Davidson, rose to popularity after his 2016 stint with his first special on Comedy Central at the age of 22. His brand new special, Pete Davidson: Turbo Fonzarelli, is now live on Netflix, and it is all about his childhood crushes and stalkers. Directed by Jason Orley, the special was released on January 9, 2024, and is one of the best specials to watch on the platform. There is no reference to why the special is called ‘Turbo Fonzarelli,’ because there is hardly any mention of the word in the entire 56-minute set. There is a lot to understand about Pete’s personality once the whole special comes to an end.
It was interesting to hear him speak in length about his relationship with his mother, and all his jokes are quite relatable, except when they take a slightly uncomfortable tone. But most of the jokes, aside from a few, were to the point, and the audience and viewers might have had this conversation with their mothers at some point. Mothers are weirdly obsessed with making their kids sleep, no matter what age they are. The solution to any problem or conversation would be taking a nap, and this would bring back a lot of memories for many.
Pete Davidson hits where it hurts and does not pander to any audience of any age group through this set. There is no fear of getting canceled by some random group coming forward and explaining why Pete’s set is problematic and threatening them in some way. Pete jumps straight into talking about his childhood crush and why he assumed he could be gay because of the rush of love he felt for a young Leonardo DiCaprio.
There is a hilarious take on how his mother proved him wrong. The set easily could have taken the route of belittling people who have felt an attraction towards people of the same sex, but Pete managed to keep the tone casual and focus only on his experience of living inside a room that was surrounded by Leonardo Di Caprio and Toby Maguire posters. Pete Davidson was quick to admit his struggle with Crohn’s disease and did not go beyond a few minutes talking about his bowel syndrome. It may sound like an ailment that many could converse over, but it is a messy issue. Like Pete states, one cannot bond over this subject, and rightly so.
The self-deprecating humor put forward by Pete is the highlight of the special, and through the set, he makes fun of his ideas and thoughts that occur to him. There is plenty of talk on the stalker that took center stage in the special after a point. There was no end to the hilarity that unfolds when Pete rattles on in detail about his tryst with his stalker and how the said person entered his personal space to interact with the people that matter to him the most.
The stalker bit could be the most talked about in this special, as the man gave a criminal situation a hilarious angle. The entire special ends with a special appearance made by a certain female friend of his mother “Terry,” whose name in the narrative comes and leaves as he pleases.
Pete Davidson did not have to try hard to make people laugh. There was more genuine laughter in the crowd than half hearted applause. There was no political statement made through this special, for it could have garnered more applause than genuine laughter. This special of Pete was only about anecdote after anecdote about his life and certain incidents that may have shaped his perspective years later. The show may not have been as good or provocative as Ricky Gervais’ last Netflix special, but this one hit home because of its heavy reliability. There were concerns regarding his celebrity status that were raised during his set on stalkers. It was essential to talk about how many are the victims of the stalking, and he spun the narrative around to make everything sound trivial.
The segment on the Make-A-Wish foundation was hit-and-miss but worked in most places. There were times the jokes might have gone overboard, but one will have to admit only a stand-up comedian like Pete Davidson could get away with humor such as that. It could remind many of the ‘dead baby’ jokes, which work only for a certain percentage of the crowd. The special was hardly vulgar or brutally honest, such as Ricky Gervais’ special on Netflix, but it will generate a good laugh even for the people watching it on their television or smartphones. There is a lot of risqué content in this special, so it cannot be watched with children around.
Everyone would still want to know what the title of the show has to do with the content of his set because there was no reference or context given. The whole set was cumbersome yet hilarious during most of the runtime. There is practically everything that is covered: giving up narcotics, life hitting a certain age, young love, stalking, restraining orders, health issues, and mothers. Every concern anyone above the thirty faces has been covered by Pete Davidson through this stand-up special. It is indeed a good watch.
