''Jerry Before Seinfeld'' is a 2017 stand-up comedy film that follows comedian Jerry Seinfeld as he returns for a stand-up routine at the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

comedy club,

Comic Strip Live The Comic Strip Live is the oldest stand-up comedy showcase club in New York City, located at 1568 Second Avenue (between 81st and 82nd Streets). History The Comic Strip was opened in 1976. Richard Tienken and Robert Wachs were two of the club ...

, which started his career. The album of the special was nominated for a 2018 Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album. This is his third special and his first with

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

Influences

In the

comedy special, ''Jerry Before Seinfeld'', Jerry displayed his personal comedy album collection from when he was a teenager. These albums include: * Lenny Bruce – '' Thank You Masked Man'' (1972) *

Bill Cosby William Henry Cosby Jr. ( ; born July 12, 1937) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and media personality. He made significant contributions to American and African-American culture, and is well known in the United States for his eccentric ...

– ''

I Started Out as a Child ''I Started Out as a Child'' is Bill Cosby's second album, released in 1964. It is the first Cosby album that features his childhood memories in his comic routines, but many of the tracks are still observational comedy, observational humor. The ...

'' (1961) *

George Carlin George Denis Patrick Carlin (May 12, 1937 – June 22, 2008) was an American comedian, actor, author, and social critic. Regarded as one of the most important and influential stand-up comedians of all time, he was dubbed "the dean of countercu ...

– ''

Class Clown ''Class Clown'' is the fourth album released by American comedian George Carlin. It was recorded on May 27, 1972 at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica, California, and released in September. Background At the time Carlin was rel ...

'' (1972) *

Steve Martin Stephen Glenn Martin (born August 14, 1945) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and musician. He has won five Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and was awarded an Honorary Academy Award in 2013. Additionally, he was nominate ...

– '' Let's Get Small'' (1977) *

Bob Newhart George Robert Newhart (born September 5, 1929) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his deadpan and slightly stammering delivery style. Newhart came to prominence in 1960 when his album of comedic monologues, ''The Button-Down Mi ...

– ''

The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart ''The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart'' is a 1960 live album by comedian Bob Newhart. Recorded at the Tidelands Club in Houston, Houston, Texas by recording engineer Bill Holford, Newhart's debut album reached #1 on the ''Billboard 200, Billboard ...

'' (1960) *

Mike Nichols Mike Nichols (born Michael Igor Peschkowsky; November 6, 1931 – November 19, 2014) was an American film and theater director, producer, actor, and comedian. He was noted for his ability to work across a range of genres and for his aptitude fo ...

and Elaine May – '' Improvisations to Music'' (1958) *

Mel Brooks Mel Brooks (born Melvin James Kaminsky; June 28, 1926) is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. With a career spanning over seven decades, he is known as a writer and director of a variety of successful broad farces and parodies. He began ...

and

Carl Reiner Carl Reiner (March 20, 1922 – June 29, 2020) was an American actor, stand-up comedian, director, screenwriter, and author whose career spanned seven decades. He was the recipient of many awards and honors, including 11 Primetime Emmy Awards, ...

– '' 2000 and One Years with Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks'' (1961) There is also a brief montage of comedians who Seinfeld admired: Bruce,

Richard Pryor Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor Sr. (December 1, 1940 – December 10, 2005) was an American stand-up comedian and actor. He reached a broad audience with his trenchant observations and storytelling style, and is widely regarded as on ...

, and

Jonathan Winters Jonathan Harshman Winters III (November 11, 1925 – April 11, 2013) was an American comedian, actor, author, television host, and artist. Beginning in 1960, Winters recorded many classic comedy albums for the Verve Records label. He also h ...

. Seinfeld also talks about the influence ''

Mad Magazine Mad, mad, or MAD may refer to: Geography * Mad (village), a village in the Dunajská Streda District of Slovakia * Mád, a village in Hungary * Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport, by IATA airport code * Mad River (disambiguation), several ...

'' had on him.

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film holds an approval rating of 95% based on 19 reviews, with an average rating of 7.35/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "''Jerry Before Seinfeld'' finds its star revisiting his earliest material on his hometown stage, offering appropriately familiar – yet still abundant – laughs along the way."

Formats

In addition to streaming, the audio was released as a double-vinyl record on September 29, 2017.

References

External links

* Jerry Seinfeld albums Stand-up comedy concert films Netflix specials 2010s American television specials Comedy albums by American artists Spoken word albums by American artists Live albums by American artists Live comedy albums 2010s comedy albums 2017 live albums 2017 video albums 2017 in New York City Stand-up comedy albums 2010s English-language films {{documentary-tv-film-stub