Jamie Foxx's New Special Is Called Take Care of Yourself. He's the One Who Did
His Hulu hour premieres today, two years after his Netflix comeback special. A man who can sing, act and do impressions has added one more skill: staying around.
By the Heckle Desk · · 1 min read
Jamie Foxx's new stand-up special, Jamie Foxx: Take Care of Yourself, premieres today, October 7, on Hulu and on Hulu inside Disney+. It's part of Hulu's Hularious stand-up series, which is a name I'm told somebody was paid to come up with, and who am I to argue with a man who got paid.
The billing promises a much-needed dose of self-care in what it calls his most honest, evolved chapter yet. Now, I've read a lot of press releases, and most of them say most honest and most evolved, the way every cereal says part of a complete breakfast. But in this case there's a reason to take it at face value.
In 2023, Foxx went through a serious medical emergency, and he spent a long stretch away from the public. His 2024 Netflix special, What Had Happened Was, was his return to the stage and his own account of what happened. So when a man like that names his next hour Take Care of Yourself, it isn't a slogan. It's advice from somebody who checked.
The thing about Foxx is that he's too talented for one career, so he took several. He sings, he acts, he does impressions so precise you'd swear the original was in the room. Most of us were given one gift and told not to lose the receipt. He got a whole closet.
Here's my take, and I'll keep it short, which is a courtesy the press release did not extend. Stand-up is the one job in show business where you can't hide behind anybody: no band, no director, no second take. Foxx has every other option, and he keeps choosing the microphone. That's either devotion or stubbornness, and in comedy those are the same thing.
Take care of yourself, the title says. Good advice. I'd add: call your mother, and don't trust any special that says it's someone's most evolved. Unless it's this one.