Parks and Recreation alum Aziz Ansari has a new comedy special coming to Netflix, marking the comedian’s fourth outing with the streamer and his sixth stand-up set overall. Aziz Ansari: Nightclub Comedian will premiere globally on January 25 and was apparently filmed in December 2021 at “an intimate surprise gig” in New York City.
Prior to Nightclub Comedian, Netflix aired Ansari’s specials Aziz Ansari: Buried Alive (2013), Aziz Ansari: Live at Madison Square Garden (2015) and Aziz Ansari: Right Now (2019). The streaming platform is also home to his award-winning scripted TV series Master of None, which he opted to executive produce only for its third season, leaving the starring role instead to Lena Waithe.
In his 2019 special, which was directed by Spike Jonze, Ansari addressed the allegations of sexual assault that were levelled at him in 2018, saying, “I know this isn’t the most hilarious way to begin a comedy show, but it’s important to me that you know how I feel about that whole thing before we share this night together.
“There’s times I felt scared. There’s times I felt humiliated. There’s times I felt embarrassed. And ultimately, I just felt terrible that this person felt this way.”
The actor and comedian was accused by a woman with the pseudonym “Grace” of coercing her into sexual activity after the pair had been out at dinner. The woman described her experience with Ansari in a post uploaded to the now-defunct babe.net website drawing scepticism from many that her claims were spurious and simply described what was a “bad date.”
Ansari defended himself in a statement made at the time saying, “In September of last year, I met a woman at a party. We exchanged numbers. We texted back and forth and eventually went on a date. We went out to dinner, and afterwards, we ended up engaging in sexual activity, which by all indications was completely consensual.”
Regardless, Ansari subsequently retreated from the public eye and relocated to London. Nightclub Comedian marks Netflix’s first stand-up special of 2022.
Aziz Ansari: Nightclub Comedian will premiere globally on January 25, only on Netflix.
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