Mike Epps: Ready to Sell Out (2024)

Mike Epps: Ready to Sell Out (2024)

A formless and toothless stand-up special comprised of lazy jokes

3.2

Movie

United States of America
English
Comedy
2024
ROYALE WATKINS
Mike Epps
61 min

TLDR

When you can't even make the one Donald Trump joke in your stand-up set land, you have a problem.

What it's about

The comedian talks about his career, his relationships, and his observations as a Black man.

The take

If it's been said about one American stand-up comedian, it's been said about a dozen of them: just because a joke is edgy doesn't mean it's brave, nor does it mean it's actually a well-written joke. Throughout this hour-long special, Mike Epps rambles from one topic to another with little sense of direction, usually resorting to making fun of a vulnerable group, or making dull "observations" about relationships and everyday life when he hits a wall. There's no real perspective to what he says here, not even an attempt to criticize more progressive points of view. It's hard to see what's so funny about somebody stating the obvious loudly and arrogantly.

What stands out

You would at least expect the joke that contains the title of a stand-up special memorable, or at the very least amusing. The title of this special, Ready to Sell Out, is mentioned at the very, very end—and it comes out of nowhere. There's no build-up to it, no follow-through, no relevance to anything that was said before. Even on its own, again, there's nothing clever about it. When Epps says he's ready to sell out, it hardly registers as a joke; it's just a passing remark.

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