At this time, there is still no way other to put together a special that features a full audience inside a proper comedy venue right now. The prospect of getting packed into a comedy club or small theater for a special or just a night of comedy is still far off because of COVID-19. So, Ted Alexandro made the best of what he had, which was assembling an hour of tape of him headlining and doing the same hour at The Comedy Cellar and Village Underground in NYC and Helium Comedy Club in Portland.

Though it might seem like a new frontier, putting an hour comedy special from several different performances isn’t entirely without precedent. Dave Attell did it wonderfully with Road Work, Maria Bamford really went all over the place with Old Baby, and Adam Sandler followed suit with 100% Fresh.

Ted’s new hour CUT/UP stands apart from these three “cut-up specials” as this hour had to be made this way. A well deserved round of applause should go to Matthew L. Weiss for editing and maintaining Ted’s rhythm in bits while cutting between different performances.

Ted himself delivers another very satisfying hour of stand-up that feels both classic and very of the moment. Alexandro’s craftsmanship as a stand-up is undeniable, which is part of why he continues produce so many great bits that move and shift with the ever changing times like with gun control crisis as well as how he evolves in his own life with him just about to become a father.

You can spend the rest of this Labor Day (or any other day for that matter) enjoying Ted Alexandro’s CUT/UP for free as the entire special is streaming on YouTube right here.