Saturday Night Live breakout star Marcello Hernandez’s first Netflix comedy special, American Boy, shows that he has the talent and the stories to hold a captivated audience. 

From opening with a joke about the forced family fun he had to endure growing up, Hernandez performs wonderfully, keeping his jokes hilarious without being corny. 

By making fun of his personal life, Hernandez lets the audience hear funny stories about his upbringing, like his struggles with ADD and growing up with only women in his house. 

The show was recorded in Miami, where he grew up, and he comments on the city’s rich culture. 

It becomes evident that Hernandez excels at comedy when he is telling a story. One of the best moments is about the culture shock he experienced when he went to Ohio for college, where, instead of fun and danceable music at parties he was used to at home, Ohioans listened to the 2000s classic “Mr. Brightside.”

Often, male comics make women the butt of their jokes – especially in cases like Matt Rife, who has built his success off of it. But Hernandez takes a different approach and comments on the endless and surprisingly violent rituals, from eyebrow tweezing and aggressive eyeliner, that women go through when getting ready, which he observed growing up. 

The title of the special is Marcello Hernandez: American Boy, and he compares his childhood to that of other kids. But throughout the special, it becomes evident that, although his childhood was different, he would not have wanted it any other way.