New to Netflix: ‘Schulz Saves America’ Review

You may have never heard of New York comedian Andrew Schulz until now, but for fans of stand up and comedy in general he is definitely a rising act whose name you should get familiar with. In both 2018 and 19, his successful YouTube channel was the most viewed channel of a stand up comedian on the entire site, which probably got the attention of the execs over at Netflix. His latest endeavor is a special series released on Netflix on December 17th titled ‘Schulz Saves America’ where he gives us his particular brand of hysterical social commentary to rant about the biggest issues facing the country today.

Who is Andrew Schulz?

I couldn’t find the year that Andrew Schulz began his stand up career, but he did release his first comedy special, 4:4:1, via YouTube back in 2017. By the time 2018 came around he had garnered a healthy amount of attention. He attempted to pitch his next special to major networks but was rejected at every turn, so he self-released it and managed to get his second special, 5:5:1, the number one spot on the charts for platforms like iTunes and Google Play, eventually ranking number one on the Billboard comedy album charts.

His rise to fame is highly credited to his strategic and meticulous social media presence, particularly his use of YouTube which he now has nearly 1.5 million subscribers. He also hosts 3 successful podcasts and handles just about every aspect of the creation and distribution of his content. To say Schulz puts in work would truly be an understatement, but his relentlessness to comedy has helped him achieve numbers that have even surpassed comedy giants like Kevin Hart and Bill Burr.

Andrew Schulz is the prime example of one of the most beautiful aspects of the internet – with a lot of dedication and discipline to your craft, the internet can be used to reach people all around the world and you can successfully forge a path to the career of your choice. His story demonstrates just how possible this is in todays day and age, and it’s incredibly inspiring for not just other stand up comedians, but anyone ravenously chasing a career in a creative field.

Synopsis of ‘Schulz Saves America’

Now, admittedly, the general premise for this special isn’t really anything new or innovative – it’s comprised of 4 episodes each focused on a particular subject, where Andrew Schulz sits in a comfy chair in front of a static background, and proceeds to spit fire for about 20+ minutes. Its a style similar to shows like Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, but it is Schulz’s brand of comedy and commentary that truly makes this special stick out among the rest. His approach is at times crude and always unforgiving. Absolutely no subject or group of people is above scrutiny and he tears down just about everyone shamelessly. He is absolutely unapologetic with his crass humor and it shows, and it’s good that he found a place like Netflix to share his work as opposed to other major networks which may have demanded he filter his style or curtail it to specific audiences.

But above everything, I truly appreciate the critical ways in which he tackles each subject. Do I agree with everything he says or all his views? Of course not, but I do appreciate that instead of doing the typical thing of picking a side and arguing that the opposing side is evil, he tends to come from the middle and call everyone out on their bullshit in one way or another.

Some of his opinions are things that are so obviously true or at the very least an opinion worth entertaining, yet gets ignored by most mainstream outlets. One example is in the first episode where he discuss Covid and eventually mentions how America is getting hit so hard because we are a country full of unhealthy assholes. Another example from episode 3 where he discusses Black Lives Matter and makes a compelling argument to why rioting can be justified or is at least deserving of a bit of empathy.

In Conclusion

This special is a fairly quick watch and delivers a lot of good, insightful social commentary packaged in a witty and humorous way. I absolutely recommend it for those interested in social issues and politics, fans of other commentators like Trevor Noah or comedians like George Carlin, people that enjoy entertaining conspiracy theories, or anyone just looking for a quick laugh at the expense of the hell on earth that 2020 has sucked us all into. And if you enjoy his work and style of humor, his YouTube channel has so much more content to indulge in.