Stream It Or Skip It: ‘My Name Is Mo’Nique’ On Netflix, A Stand-Up Who Has Always Stood Up For Herself When Nobody Else Would

Five years after she accused Netflix of discriminatorily lowballing her with an offer for her own stand-up special, Mo’Nique triumphantly makes her Netflix debut with this performance in Atlanta, where she delivers a series of revelations from childhood through now that explain all of her motivations as a comedian, actress, wife and Black woman just trying to survive in America today.

MY NAME IS MO’NIQUE: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: For anyone who needs a quick refresher course in what makes Mo’Nique’s Netflix debut significant, here goes: The comedian broke major barriers by winning an Oscar for her supporting actress role in 2009’s Precious. Somehow, though, during that period, she also came under fire from her colleagues for how she did or did not carry herself throughout the initial promotion of the film and awards season. Director Lee Daniels suggested in 2015 that “this soured her relationship with the Hollywood community,” and in 2017 Mo’Nique claimed show business had blackballed her, calling out not only Daniels but also Tyler Perry and Oprah. A year later, she called out Netflix and subsequently sued the streaming giant. They settled last year. And now, here Mo’Nique is on Netflix. She’s also starring in a new BET+ film, The Reading, as well as an upcoming Netflix movie, The Deliverance. Both directed by (ahem) Daniels.

No wonder she’s soaking up the adulation from her live audience from beginning to end. No wonder she’s also promising at the start, that by the end, you’ll know why she is how she is. “Y’all gonna say, ‘Oh, bitch. I get it now!’”

What Comedy Specials Will It Remind You Of?: Mo’Nique got a shout-out in fellow “Queens of Comedy” tour-mate Sommore in her 2023 Netflix special, but really, this hour kept reminding me of Mo’Nique’s previously groundbreaking work in her own 2007 documentary and stand-up special filmed at a women’s prison in Ohio, I Coulda Been Your Cellmate!

Memorable Jokes: This performance is full of stories that will stick with you, starting with how Mo’Nique found herself in special education classes in middle school; how she grew up in Baltimore on “Real N— Boulevard” in a family full of junkies, alcoholics, gamblers and prostitutes who still managed to ostracize her gay uncle; how and why she’s on her third and last marriage, recalling how much her attitudes have changed since she was feeling herself as a star on the UPN sitcom, The Parkers.

Our Take: Last but definitely not least, Mo’Nique jokes about the conflicting lessons she learned about sex and sexuality from her grandmother and her “Uncle Tina,” some of which may seem ridiculously hilarious three decades after Mo’Nique’s first attempt at oral sex led to a police encounter and her brief but very involuntary institutionalization, but also go deep in revealing why she has remained someone who fights for herself and what she believes in, even if she might also be holding back secrets the whole time.

After all, the title serves notice that we’re getting reintroduced to Mo’Nique. Who is she, really? Who has she been all along? And why are we just getting to know the real her now?

Perhaps because her mother couldn’t be there for her at school when she stood up to her teacher and her friend’s bullies, nor for her at home when she was molested by an older brother. Perhaps because she grew up watching her grandmother’s scorn for her own gay children turned at least one of them into a “homeless drunk,” and she also has seen governments, religions and comedians alike all turning their back on the LGBTQ+ community, so how could Mo’Nique ever adequately address or come to terms with her own desires?

It might make a lot more sense now, hearing Mo’Nique tell us that when she challenged Daniels back in the day to suck her non-existent dick, “that was for Uncle Donald!” 

It makes complete sense now why Mo’Nique had to fight for herself, even in the times when it may have felt as if she were standing alone.

It makes so much sense now seeing all of Mo’Nique’s emotions come out. Why she would open with a ‘thank you to every motherf—er who stood by me, goddammit” and why she would close with a laundry list of all the people and institutions who had failed her over the years, up to and including the doubters who reminded her she is no Dave Chappelle, no Chris Rock, no Amy Schumer. Chappelle and Rock got their Netflix money handed to them. Schumer had to demand it. But Mo’Nique had to sue for it. And now we all know why we never should’ve questioned her.

Our Call: STREAM IT. What a difference a settlement makes. Mo’Nique may not be Chappelle, Rock or Schumer, but she has two things they’ve never had yet: an Academy Award, and this level of comedic catharsis. The latter makes this special worth watching and then some.

Sean L. McCarthy works the comedy beat for his own digital newspaper, The Comic’s Comic; before that, for actual newspapers. Based in NYC but will travel anywhere for the scoop: Ice cream or news. He also tweets @thecomicscomic and podcasts half-hour episodes with comedians revealing origin stories: The Comic’s Comic Presents Last Things First.