Bill Burr is back with his fifth stand-up special, Walk Your Way Out. The new hour-long (technically clocking in at 77 minutes) dropped on Netflix on Jan. 31 and finds the no-holds-barred comedian setting his sights on everything from fast food to overpopulation, dictators to the overweight. Those who thought the 48-year-old Massachusetts-born comedian, who recently became a first-time father earlier this year, may start mellowing out… think again.
Following suit with his previous specials, Burr gets straight down to business in Walk Your Way Out. No backstage or offstage bits, no unconventional intros… just a man with a microphone and an arsenal of jokes. “Let’s see if I’m funny first,” cautions Burr, upon being greeted with a gracious standing ovation at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium (where the special was taped).
Fans of Burr know he doesn’t shy away from speaking his mind. Political correctness has no place in his routine and just about everyone and everything is fair game. A perfect example of this comes at the top of Burr’s special, when he takes aim at obese people, those he unapologetically refers to as “fatties.” He shows little sympathy while making the argument that fat people shouldn’t be off limits when it comes to being made fun of because the situation is entirely preventable. “You ate your way in,” asserts Burr, hilariously setting up the title origins of his latest special. “You can walk your way out.”
Burr goes on to blast “out of shape people” for blaming their weight problems on fast food companies and alternatively condemns them for making these businesses lose sight of their target market. He confesses that McDonald’s decision to offer salads made him feel old and offers a hysterical alternative method (which involves reviving Ronald McDonald) to dealing with customers who demand the all-day breakfast.
One of the funnier bits of Walk Your Way Out centers on Burr’s plan to help balance overpopulation by routinely sinking cruise ships. He illustrates his nefarious plot with a laugh-inducing demonstration that peaks with his fire-bombing a ship and resultingly strafing the unsuspecting surviving vacationers. Another highlight from Burr’s special comes in the form of a lengthy attempt to measure the level of evil — with the help of sports and music analogies — of dictators like Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin.
Burr’s Walk Your Way Out, produced by Comedy Dynamics, is the latest in a string of top-tier comedy specials released in recent months. Stream it, along with three of Burr’s previous specials, on Netflix now.