Aziz Ansari: Right Now

Aziz Ansari: Right Now (stylized as Aziz Ansari: RIGHT NOW) is an American stand-up comedy special by Aziz Ansari. The special is directed by Spike Jonze and premiered on July 9, 2019 on Netflix.[1][2][3] In it, Ansari talks about the sexual misconduct controversy he was involved in the previous year, his relationship with his grandmother and parents, white people who want to appear anti-racist, how the threshold of acceptable behaviour has changed over the past decade, and the sexual misconduct of R. Kelly and Michael Jackson.[4] The special has received positive critical reception.

Aziz Ansari: Right Now
Directed bySpike Jonze
Produced byJason Baum
Spike Jonze
Written byAziz Ansari
StarringAziz Ansari
CinematographyAutumn Durald
Edited byJeff Buchanan
Production
company
3 Arts Entertainment
Pulse Films
Oh Brudder Productions
Distributed byNetflix
Release date
  • July 9, 2019 (2019-07-09)
Running time
65 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Background
External video
"White People Love Crazy Rich Asians"
A clip from Aziz Ansari: RIGHT NOW.

Ansari's previous special, titled Aziz Ansari: Live at Madison Square Garden, premiered on Netflix on March 6, 2015.[5] In January 2018, a Babe.net article was published in which an anonymous woman using the pseudonym "Grace" accused Ansari of sexual misconduct on a date they went on in September 2017.[6][7] After Ansari published a response to Grace, he reduced his public profile.[5][4] In late 2018, he began performing a stand-up tour entitled "Working Out New Material".[4]

Production

The special was filmed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on May 16, 17 and 18 in 2019. The special was directed by Spike Jonze and was mostly filmed on Kodak 16 mm film with Jonze operating an up-close camera on stage.

Executive producers for the special are Aziz Ansari, Aniz Ansari (Aziz's brother), Amanda Adelson, Thomas Benksi, Marisa Clifford, and Isabel Davis. Production companies involved with this special are 3 Arts Entertainment, Pulse Films, and Oh Brudder Productions.

Release

On July 1, 2019, Ansari announced a new special on Twitter,[5] and a clip from the special was released on July 8, 2019.[8]

Aziz Ansari: Right Now was released by Netflix on July 9, 2019.[5]

Reception

Right Now has received favorable reviews. As of August 2020, 84% of the 31 reviews compiled on Rotten Tomatoes are positive, with an average rating of 7.15/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Aziz Ansari balances sharp social commentary with just enough earnest introspection to craft a special that, while not without its baggage, shows how far the comedian has come - and how far he may still have to go."[9] Steve Bennett of Chortle rated the special 3.5 stars out of five, noting that it was informed by Ansari's "experience of having his reputation so thoroughly raked over", and that Jonze's "very close up" shots "tried to humanise him more". Bennett said that Ansari "can be a little self-satisfied" but that the special has "probably done enough to repair his fractured reputation".[10] Ed Power of The Telegraph gave the special three out of five stars, calling it "serviceable". Power praised Ansari's concluding words but criticised a lack of depth to Ansari's "perfectly obvious" observations. He notes that Jonze's filming style and Ansari's appearance contributing to a "hint at inner self-doubt" which is "welcome".[11] Sampada Sharma of The Indian Express lauded the special as a "great mix of comedy and emotional storytelling", but commented that there was a "slight tinge of guilt" to watching the special after the sexual misconduct controversy.[12]

Awards and nominations
Year Award Category Nominated work Result Ref.
2020Directors Guild of AmericaDirecting - Variety SpecialSpike Jonze, Right NowNominated[13]
2020Grammy AwardBest Comedy AlbumAziz Ansari, Right NowNominated[14]
gollark: Delayed again? I don't think the technology exists at all now.
gollark: 3nm and below will apparently use GAAFETs, which are a new design of transistor which will improve things somewhat.
gollark: Bottom of the range dedicated GPUs are (still) £30 or so.
gollark: You will need an INI parser of some kind. Although that looks more like a hashmap or something than an array.
gollark: You should explicitly give that, with an option, if/when something actually needs it.

References
  1. Thorne, Will (July 1, 2019). "Aziz Ansari Returning to Netflix With Stand-Up Special". Variety. Retrieved July 2, 2019.
  2. Strauss, Matthew (July 1, 2019). "Aziz Ansari Announces New Netflix Special Right Now, Directed by Spike Jonze". Pitchfork. Retrieved July 2, 2019.
  3. Fang, Marina (July 1, 2019). "Aziz Ansari Is Returning To Netflix After Me Too Scandal". HuffPost. Retrieved July 2, 2019.
  4. North, Anna (March 20, 2019). "Aziz Ansari's new standup set, and its complicated, necessary role in #MeToo". Vox. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
  5. Kim, Allen (July 1, 2019). "Aziz Ansari returns to Netflix with comedy special". CNN. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
  6. "I went on a date with Aziz Ansari. It turned into the worst night of my life". 13 Jan 2018.
  7. Stefansky, Emma (January 14, 2018). "Aziz Ansari Accused of Sexual Misconduct". HWD. Retrieved January 15, 2018.
  8. Perez, Lexy (July 8, 2019). "Aziz Ansari Discusses 'Crazy Rich Asians,' Movie Representation in Netflix Stand-Up Special Clip". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
  9. "Aziz Ansari: Right Now". Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  10. Bennett, Steve (July 9, 2019). "Aziz Ansari: Right Now". Chortle. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
  11. Power, Ed (July 9, 2019). "Aziz Ansari, Right Now, Netflix: back after #MeToo disgrace, it's as though he never went away". The Telegraph. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
  12. Sharma, Sampada (July 9, 2019). "Aziz Ansari Right Now review: Funny, with a tinge of guilt". The Indian Express. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
  13. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10575038/awards?ref_=tt_awd
  14. https://www.grammy.com/grammys/artists/aziz-ansari
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