‘Matt McCusker: A Humble Offering’ Review – The Shaman Finally Arrives On Netflix

We’ve got a lot to thank Shane Gillis for, not least the career of Shane Gillis, but of all his contributions to comedy, the mainstream platforming of his friend, podcast partner, and long-time creative collaborator Matt McCusker is perhaps the most valuable. Alternately known as “The Shaman” and “the guy hysterically laughing at Gillis’s now-infamous WNBA ESPYS gag“, his first Netflix special, A Humble Offering, likely wouldn’t have happened without his association with comedy’s new golden goose. But thank goodness it did, whatever the circumstances.

None of this is to say that Matt hasn’t been fine on his own, but the ongoing creative partnership between Gillis and Netflix, strengthened by the success of Tires, has no doubt helped. There’s a ton of audience overlap thanks to the success of Matt and Shane’s Secret Podcast, so the value for the streamer is pretty inarguable. The eyeballs are already there. The dawgs are barking. And so on, and so forth.

Matt’s different from Shane, though, which becomes clear throughout this hour, which is bookended for no reason at all by first-person footage of him speeding to and from the venue. It’s just a small taste of the eccentric creativity that underpins McCusker’s odd style, which is best described as a high-schooler trapped in the body of a 40-year-old channelling the spirit of a time-locked tribal medicine man. I can’t quite believe I’ve written that sentence, but here we are.

You’ll know what I mean when you see it, I suspect. Matt’s stream-of-consciousness observational style runs the gamut of familiar topics but generally veers at some point into more esoteric territory, like an extended bit about not paying credit card debt as an ironic path to financial freedom. Awkwardly socialising at parties, homelessness, and parenting all receive similar treatment, starting in recognisable territory, hitting the obligatory “did he really just say that?” point, and then becoming more and more absurd as they go.

The centrepiece sequence about gym etiquette, which is also where the special gets its title — I’ll leave you to discover what Matt is presenting as a “humble offering” to his elders — is perhaps the best example of this specific brand of comedy firing on all cylinders, with each new swerve into ridiculousness feeling about right and the audience all on the same page. Not every joke is equally successful, but the relaxed, almost improvisational vibe keeps things moving nicely along.

I wrote recently about how comedians are often funnier when they don’t have written material. This doesn’t apply to Matt McCusker, who barely interacts with the audience at all, but there’s a similar phenomenon emerging of comedians primarily known as podcasters whose stage routine is really just an outgrowth of that persona. The subscribers become the live audience, and little is changed in the process. A lot of Matt’s material seems written and performed with the expectation of having a Shane Gillis — or whoever — bounce something back. It creates a familiar-feeling vibe for existing fans of Matt’s, but mileage may vary when it comes to enticing a new audience on a very mainstream, global platform like Netflix, especially if that audience is being introduced to him for the first time.

On some level, though, this is true of all comedians, who these days cultivate their audience elsewhere and reward them periodically with specials wherever they can get them. I like Matt McCusker, and I like A Humble Offering, and I strongly suspect that his existing fans will feel the same. The special might not have the broadest mainstream appeal, but perhaps the more relevant question would be whether this kind of comedian would want the broadest mainstream audience. I’d suggest not. Most of them wouldn’t see the funny side anyway.