Jack Whitehall's 'Christmas With My Father' has enough jokes, music and 'Queer Eye' to get you into the (politically incorrect) Christmas spirit
Jack Whitehall's Netflix comedy series 'Travels With My Father', featuring his dad Michael, sees the father-son duo embark on comedic globetrotting adventures. Now, the British comedian and his father have another special streaming on Netflix.
'Jack Whitehall: Christmas With My Father' starts off like any other stand-up special with a monologue by Jack.
Of course, it is completely Christmas themed and we are treated to some of Jack's hilarious stories about his father. He has the evidence to back them up too, featuring old home videos and pictures of his childhood Christmases.
As Jack begins saying that the special will be like any other family Christmas, he adds, "There’s going to be arguments and uncomfortable guests and at some point, an elderly man will fall asleep halfway through saying something racist."
Around 12 minutes into the special, Jack welcomes Michael on to the stage, which has now been rearranged to look like the set of a talk show, and what follows is a conversational comedic take on the Whitehall family's Christmas celebrations — complete with embarrassing stories about the both of them.
Of course, tagged as a politically incorrect comedy, we also see Jack trying to get his father to be more woke this Christmas and one way he does that is by arranging a special 'Queer Eye' "make-better" for his dad.
Featuring appearances by Antoni Porowski, Tan France, and Jonathan Van Ness, Jack enlists the fab three to modernize his father's closet — only to end up being told that he needs to dress up more like his father.
We also see some special appearances by 'Downton Abbey' star Hugh Bonneville, Graham Norton, Layton Williams, Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, and Tim Rice as Jack attempts to make a musical about the 'Christmas Emu', a part he was forced to play as a child in the nativity plays.
Hugh Bonneville's time on the special also sees him reading Jack's 'children's book' about a character called 'the Grouch', who, you will realize, definitely substitutes for Jack's father, Michael. Jack's mother, Hillary, also comes to the stage for a bit as Michael rings for her — and by ring, we mean that he rings an actual handbell.
Much like 'Travels With My Father', 'Christmas With My Father' will have you bawling with laughter as personal (too much sometimes) stories come to light. The stories you may hear are maybe even commonplace at the average person's Christmas dinners and with Michael's stoic demeanor through the special, it only makes it all the more delightful.
Of course, the special is classic Jack Whitehall comedy — don't come expecting a mature, woke set a la Seth Meyers or Tiffany Haddish.
What you can look forward to is some good fun with the family — especially with those who would like to leave the politics behind for the holidays. Sure, there are a few problematic bits, but you can't really expect otherwise from Jack Whitehall.
'Jack Whitehall: Christmas With My Father' is now streaming on Netflix.