• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, May 6, 2020

Although he might disagree with this assessment, Jerry Seinfeld probably comes as close to being bomb-proof as a comedian ever gets.

Seinfeld himself has revealed himself over the years to be an interested student as well as a practitioner of comedy. And based on his years of study and observation of the comedian’s craft, he might insist that no comedian is bomb-proof.

But in his latest stand-up TV special now streaming on Netflix -- the one-hour “Jerry Seinfeld: 23 Hours to Kill” -- it does seem as if he enjoys a relationship with his audience that is rare, if not unheard of, in the world of comedy. 

This has long been the case. Ever since the 1990s and his great success with “Seinfeld,” he has been America’s favorite comedian. As he has said many times, he loves performing stand-up best of all, and who can blame him?

For the last 20 years, it seems as if he is showered with love wherever he goes, which must be gratifying to experience. For a performer, that would seem to be the goal, wouldn’t it?

When he performs, the air is filled with good feelings. Audiences seem delighted to be in his company. What they get in return is a chance to spend an hour with a man who might be the most polished stand-up comedian working today, whose material is clean and very unlikely to offend anyone.

On the other hand, for those who prefer a more challenging experience when they make the decision to go and see a top comedian at work, Seinfeld might not exactly be what they are looking for.

Not that this should bother Jerry Seinfeld. His objective is mass appeal. And he has achieved it.

In this new special, he covers various aspects of everyday life, some of which he has covered before. The topics include annoying friends, over-rated restaurants, Pop Tarts, iPhones and married life.

At one point, he riffs on mail carriers with material we saw and heard decades ago in “Seinfeld” episodes featuring his postal-worker neighbor, Newman. At another point, when he complains about porta potties, one wonders when Jerry Seinfeld was ever required to use one.

At the risk of incurring the wrath of those for whom Jerry Seinfeld can do no wrong, it does seem as if he oversells some of the material in this new special. The bit about Pop Tarts is a case in point.

When he attempts to describe his boyhood ecstasy over the appearance of Pop Tarts on supermarket shelves in the 1960s, the description does not ring true. And it is not helped any by his resort to the high-pitched tone of voice that has been one of his performance trademarks for so long.

As it happens, the tone of his voice is one of the topics he covers in this new special -- a subject he raises in the context of marriage material that will resonate with many.

In general, if there is any problem at all with the material Seinfeld is doing now, it is that his complaints about life do not exactly jibe with the image we all have of him.

If this special has a theme, it is basically this: Life sucks -- a notion he returns to time and time again throughout the hour. 

And yet, coming from him, this complaint can hardly be believed. By all appearances, the life of Jerry Seinfeld has never sucked, and it is highly unlikely that it sucks now. Indeed, on this subject, the comedian doth protest too much.

“Jerry Seinfeld: 23 Hours to Kill” is now streaming on Netflix.