Whether or not you deem Chris Rock a king of comedy, Netflix has just deemed the artist worthy of becoming the first-ever comedian to perform live on its platform.
The “first-ever, live, global-streaming event” is set to take place some time in early 2023, thought additional details are being kept to a minimum at this time, according to a press release sent to The Root. This will be Rock’s second special with the popular streamer, his first having been released back in 2018 titled Chris Rock: Tambourine. The forthcoming event also aims to build upon the streamer’s success with live comedy events, one may recall the multi-day, multi-city Netflix Is A Joke comedy event that took place earlier this year.
Said Netflix Vice President of Stand-up and Comedy Formats Robbie Praw of the decision to tag Rock in on this new venture: “Chris Rock is one of the most iconic and important comedic voices of our generation. We’re thrilled the entire world will be able to experience a live Chris Rock comedy event and be a part of Netflix history. This will be an unforgettable moment and we’re so honored that Chris is carrying this torch.”
As we’ve been reporting here at The Root, Rock has been bouncing from city-to-city on his Death to Ego tour, often referencing and cracking a few jokes about the now infamous Will Smith Oscars slap that transpired back in March. However, he remained adamant that he wouldn’t discuss it until he got a bigger platform—namely, Netflix.
“People expect me to talk about the bullshit, I’m not going to talk about it right now, I’ll get to it eventually, on Netflix,” he said on an tour stop earlier this year. Well, it looks like he got what he wanted after all.
It’ll be interesting to see if he keeps his word and delves deeper into the events that happened that night and just what date Netflix will set for the special. Seeing as how the 2023 Oscars are set for next March, I wouldn’t be surprised if this takes place near that time.