Neal Brennan, who is notoriously known for working with Dave Chapelle, recently did a special on Netflix called, "3 Mics". In the special of Brennan's stand up, he adds a twist in separating his comedy into 3 categories per mic: Stand up, Emotional, Jokes. Why I feel Brennan's work is so powerful is because of the way it displays the multi-function of comedy in covering topics such as his battle with depression, his difficult relationship with his Father and his death. By Brennan utilizing the aspects of three microphones allows for the different spaces of comedy to be further highlighted in their uniqueness.

He rotates from one microphone to the other, dynamically but honestly, changing his mood, which sounds like it would be bizarre—but somehow works perfectly. The straight jokes are fun, but the middle microphone is where Brennan takes on the topic of his battle with depression in explaining the misconceptions of the condition, “Imagine you had a cold and you could tell that people were like: ‘He doesn’t really have that cold. That stuffiness is a choice”. Through his stand-up and exploring his own experience with navigating treatment, he breaks down these certain stigmas, that are so often attached to the way people perceive mental health.


What I also think is incredibly unique to Brenan's work is the way the emotional topics, such as his battle with depression and his issues with his father, are situated in between, jokes and comedy. From this structure, the audience is able to better receive and digest those topics more critically, because throughout​ the special Brennan draws on humor as a tool of refugee. He even comments on it himself,

“Sometimes the room can feel like it’s filling up with water and for me to be able to think of a joke it’s like an air bubble, and I take the oxygen I get into my lungs and it can carry me forward. (pause) Like things can be overwhelming, and scary and hurtful. But thankfully my brain can descramble things and form a joke like just for  one second  things slow down, and I can win, like I can beat life... it’s the best. And it’s so personal and it’s something I’m so thankful for. Jokes ” (Neal Brennan 3 Mics: 2:44).