In June, comedy filmmaker extraordinaire Judd Apatow told Conan O’Brien he would officially return to the world of stand-up comedy with a new Netflix special in late 2017. Apatow is no stranger to the artform. He previously performed on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in 2015, and has since toured the country with his official “return” to stand-up. Hence The Return, which hits Netflix on Tuesday, December 12th.
Apatow, who also executive produced Jerry Seinfeld’s recent Netflix special, teases the special in a new trailer featuring the 49-year-old comedian seeking advice from fellow comics Mike Birbiglia, Amy Schumer, Ronny Chieng and Chris Gethard. The premise here, of course, is that Apatow hasn’t done stand-up on such a grand stage in a very long time, and he’s nervous. So what advice does everybody have for him? “Is it too late… to pull out?” asks Birbiglia. “Don’t do it,” Schumer jokes in the final scene. When Apatow admits he’s already spent a lot of money, however, her tune changes. “Okay, then I would say you should do it.”
To be fair, Chieng and Gethard’s jabs at Apatow’s otherwise illustrious film and television career as a writer, director, and producer sting the most. “I have some advice about how you should do some movies,” quips The Daily Show correspondent. “Get some diversity in them.” Gethard, however, puts it far more bluntly. “You have so much to lose!”
