Mary Beth Barone’s Galaxy Brain hits Netflix with targets in sight

Mary Beth Barone’s Galaxy Brain has landed on Netflix, giving the comedian and actor her first special after years in New York clubs, on podcasts and in Prime Video’s Overcompensating.

Barone told Variety she is ready to see who reacts to the hour, which takes aim at figures including J.K. Rowling, Mark Zuckerberg, Woody Allen and male comedians more broadly. She has even kept a public list of people she expects could be annoyed by the material.

The special is out now on Netflix. Variety reported it was filmed in March at New York City’s Skirball Center after Barone spent about two years testing material on tour.

What is Mary Beth Barone’s Galaxy Brain about?

Galaxy Brain is Barone’s debut stand-up special, built around jokes about comedy, sex, politics, Ozempic and the behavior of men in her field, according to Variety. The hour also includes Barone poking fun at Netflix itself, including its advice that comics should win over viewers quickly.

Barone told Variety that Netflix did not make her remove material. She said the streamer did offer “best practices,” including guidance about grabbing an audience within the opening minutes.

According to Variety, one early joke in the show grew out of that advice. Barone said she had previously opened with material about cities outside New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, but Netflix warned that she had little time to keep viewers from clicking away.

Barone said she wants her stand-up to make the right targets uncomfortable. She told Variety she does not get satisfaction from “punching down” and tries to write jokes that punch upward, adding that finding the right line can take trial and error.

The comic also said some material in the special would be harder to post as standalone clips online, including an Ozempic joke connected to Kim Kardashian’s widely discussed work comment to Variety. Barone acknowledged that parts of a special can still end up in social media comment sections once it is released.

How did Barone get to Netflix?

Barone came up through New York’s comedy scene before widening her audience with the podcasts Obsessed and Ride, the latter with collaborator and close friend Benito Skinner, according to Variety.

She said she began sending out feelers to potential buyers last summer while developing the hour on the road. A few weeks after an August show in Los Angeles, Netflix called, a moment Barone described to Variety as a major career marker for a comedian.

Barone said the internet has helped comedy become more open by letting performers build audiences outside the traditional club system. She told Variety that has made room for more women and LGBTQ+ comics to tour and earn a living.

She also cautioned newer comedians that online clips are no replacement for stage time. Barone said she still reads comments, although she is trying to set firmer boundaries around social media.

What did she say about Overcompensating season 2?

Barone also gave Variety a small tease for Season 2 of Overcompensating, the Prime Video comedy she co-writes and stars in with Skinner.

She said filming had recently wrapped and described the new season as “sadder but also funnier.” Barone said the characters now feel established, and teased that Grace gets a love interest this season.

Variety also reported a few details from the special’s look: Barone wore a lilac dress by Jackson Wiederhoeft, inspired in part by The Little Mermaid and Megara from Hercules. She said the fabric was custom dyed and the corset included beading in the shape of the Gemini constellation.

This story draws on original reporting from Variety.