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Chris Rock’s comedy special Tamborine joins Netflix’s tradition of using the Beyonce roll-out plan. That is to say no roll-out at all, semi-surprise dropping specials and shows with little to no notice. You’ve got to find a way to keep millennials on their toes somehow.
Tamborine is the first comedy special for Rock on the media behemoth and the first for the Emmy and Grammy-award-winning comedian in a decade.
As usual, Rock has brought his comedy trademark: uncomfortably spot-on observations that blur the line between taste and truth. The 20-year-veteran is a master at making you suddenly aware of the reality you’ve been living in all along.
The special was filmed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and is directed by Bo Burnham.
This is one of two specials Rock signed on for with the company for a reported $40 million, a record if accurate. And this sees Netflix continue its new tradition of taking over the comedy special. Dave Chappelle has had four in the last two years, with two dropping on New Year’s Day, just in time for the hangover blues. He was paid on par with Rock, roughly earning $60 million for the first three.
The company that has nearly none of us watching cable has also been in the news recently for allegedly short-changing Mo’Nique, who called for a boycott of the network over claims of gender and race based pay discrimination. She was reportedly offered $500K for her special from Netflix. The aforementioned were offered considerably more lucrative deals, and Amy Schumer was paid $13 million from the company.
When asked why she was getting so much less based off her resume, Netflix explained that Schumer “sold out Madison Square Garden twice.” We guess that’s the baseline for raking in the millions these days.
