If you thought we were about to close out the year without a new comedy special from John Mulaney, think again because Netflix just revealed some very festive news: Mulaney’s new special, titled John Mulaney & the Sack Lunch Bunch, will make its debut on the streaming network on Christmas Eve. The Sack Lunch Bunch is a bit of a departure from the typical Mulaney special. As first revealed earlier this year, the special will take the format of a children’s variety show featuring sketches and musical numbers in an attempt “to recapture the magic of that bygone television era when children sang songs about their feelings with celebrity guests on funky outdoor sets.†Behind the special are some of Mulaney’s Documentary Now collaborators, including director Rhys Thomas and composer Eli Bolin, who wrote the music for Co-op.
“I’m John Mulaney and I am a 37-year-old man. The Sack Lunch Bunch is a group of children ages 8 to 13 who are more talented than me. In this special, we are joined by celebrity guests like David Byrne, Tony Award winner André De Shields, Natasha Lyonne, Annaleigh Ashford, Shereen Pimentel, Richard Kind, and Jake Gyllenhaal from the movie Zodiac,†Mulaney said on the project. “The result is a collage of Broadway-caliber showstoppers, comedy sketches for all ages, meditations on the unknown from children and adults, and a papier-mâché volcano. It’s funny, musical, joyous, anxious, and surprisingly profound.†Thank you, Mulaney, for introducing these concepts before the end of a year that severely lacked them. (Except the “anxious†part, obviously.)