Having released five specials on Netflix, produced and written over 100 episodes of Saturday Night Live, and been a comedy show headliner since 2008, John Mulaney is a well-known comedian. In one of his latest Netflix specials, Baby J (2023), Mulaney opens up about his battle with drug addiction and his time in rehab.
During an interview in 2014, John Mulaney said that he had been sober since 2005. In 2020, Mulaney checked into a rehabilitation facility, and quickly left. About a month later he hosted an episode of SNL, but relapsed after the show. After an intervention with some of his friends, including big names like Nick Kroll, Bill Hader, and Seth Meyers, John once again checked into a rehabilitation center, where he spent a year before moving into outpatient care. Not long after, Mulaney went public about his relationship with actress Olivia Munn, who he began dating right after his recovery. He sings her praises, saying that “she’s kind of held [his] hand through that hell. It is a very, very lucky thing to have met [her].”
Similarly, Nick Cave recounts his experiences with addiction and rehab in his book Faith, Hope and Carnage. He recounts going through multiple stints in rehab before meeting his now wife, Susie, who he attributes to him getting and staying sober.
In the time since both men have gotten sober, their art styles have changed. Naturally, their battles with addiction have bled into the way these men express themselves, but it is important that they do not control it. Mulaney and Cave’s life experiences, the good, the bad, and everything in between, have pushed their careers in new directions and inspired new material.
I really like how you connected the two artists with their rehabilitation. I think its great how they, Mulaney and Cave, can recognize how rehab changes their art but also how open they are about their experiences. It isn't easy to be so vulnerable to the public and to fans.
ReplyDeleteI love the way that you put these two artists together and examined them in reference to their experiences with addiction. I got to see Mulaney at a show right after he got out of rehab a few years ago, and I loved the way that he skillfully spoke on such a hard topic with so much humor. It wasn't insensitive, but it also wasn't hard to face, because he accustomed the audience to the discussion and made sure that everyone understood that hard topics are important to discuss, even in comedy settings. He talked a lot about how addiction in the world of famous people is very different from the average person, and it has its serious downsides. I know very few other people who are able to approach a situation like that in the same manner.
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