Chad Daniels is a Minnesota stand-up comedian with more than a billion streams to his credit. In July 2024, he released his 10th comedy special and first for Netflix, Empty Nester, marking his freedom from raising two kids as a single dad in small-town Minnesota.
This article delves into a review of Chad Daniels' comedy, particularly focusing on his Netflix special, Empty Nester. It explores his unique comedic style, his ability to connect with audiences, and the journey that has led him to this point in his career.
Okay, before diving in, this is my first experience with Chad Daniels as a stand-up comedian, so I had zero expectations with Empty Nester.
The Art of Relatability
Comedians who can make jokes relatable to their own experiences instead of political angling and detaching themselves personally are the best ones, and Chad Daniels seemingly understands that. And it’s because Chad Daniels is an intelligent, natural comedian, and I mean that in its simplest terms.
Empty Nester warms up the crowd without needing a whiplash joke because Chad decides to settle his audience early, trusting them. If you walk away from a comedian wanting more, then there’s always that anxiety that they rehash similar material and patterns in their jokes. Of course, I could be wrong. There’s something for everyone in Empty Nester.
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Am I a fan of Chad Daniels now? Absolutely. That’s the point of why so many comedians use Netflix as a promotional tool.
"Empty Nester": A Deeper Look
But if you want to know the bones of the set, then the title Empty Nester is a giveaway. Chad Daniels brings a clever line of stories, describing his life as a single father, honing in on the stigmas around it. He often states that he’s “terrible“ at transitions, but ironically, his complaints about his flow represent a good transition, regardless of whether he knows how good his flow is.
He goes on a long rant about his casual thoughts on religion but, at the same time, connects his distaste for the Catholic Church. A promising sign of comedic talent is whether they can weave in controversial topics without the audience clocking to the punchline. I kept getting the feeling that the comedian had way more in his weaponry than he let on.
Chad Daniels may not be ready to give everything in his locker because he has plenty of Netflix specials up his sleeve. And that’s a good thing.
Influences and Career Trajectory
Much earlier in Chad’s comedy career (and mine as well), we both got to see Mitch Hedberg as his stand-up star was shooting beyond all of our peers. But Daniels could (and did) lay credit to one classic Hedberg joke.
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Daniels sat down over Zoom to talk about how he balanced it all in his early years as a stand-up, what he learned from working with Mitch Hedberg as a young comic, why he resisted the pull of Los Angeles and New York City, and how landing his 2017 album on Pandora gave him both a new set of fans and placed a new set of expectations upon himself. Since that 2017 album, “Footprints on the Moon,” Daniels has put five hourlong specials across YouTube, EPIX, MGM+ and Netflix - and that’s not even counting another hour he has in the can for Netflix already.
During our discussion about Pandora and the impact of tech on stand-up comedy, Daniels talked about learning he has earned a billion streams for his jokes, which has been great for his drawing power in comedy clubs and theaters, if not always directly for his bank account. We also talked a little bit about I Need You To Kill, the 2017 documentary from J.
Final Thoughts
He never seemed short of a punchline, even when he went off kilter slightly.Chad Daniels: Empty Nester 8/10. Chad Daniels is a comedian I hadn't heard of (I don't exactly keep up with the comedy world so hopefully that isn't offensive to his reputation or anything) and I happened to come across him on Netflix.
I don't have children myself, so parent humor doesn't always land perfectly with me therefore I was a little leery, but the trailer looked good so I gave it a shot. I'm so glad that I did. I laughed consistently throughout the entire set. He's instantly in my current top 10 comedians.
His set is not family-friendly but he's not crude in my opinion for anyone who's wondering. His level of "dark" is perfect for me. Daniel is the co-founder of Ready Steady Cut and has served as Editor-in-Chief since 2017.
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