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If you came of age in the past couple of decades, you probably remember the first time you encountered the stand-up material of Chris Rock. I have a feeling there are a more than a few people out there who can vividly recall the night they spent in their friend’s basement watching a dude in a shiny suit spewing out profanities at an impressive pace on Comedy Central in between commercial breaks filled with ads for Girls Gone Wild.
Rock hasn’t put out a stand-up special since HBO aired Killing the Messenger back in 2008, and he’s spent his time since then working on serious projects like the Grown Ups franchise and Real Husbands of Hollywood. Thankfully, the Content Gods at Netflix have decided to bless us with some new material from the comic that’s coming to the platform sooner than anyone anticipated.
Netflix has thrown an impressive amount of money at a number of comedians in exchange for stand-up specials over the past few years— including Rock, who received $40 million in 2017 to produce two of them for the streaming service. On Tuesday, the company announced fans will be treated to new material from the comedian for the first time in 10 years when Tamborine premieres on Valentine’s Day.
Rock tapped Bo Burnham to direct the special, which was filmed in Brooklyn last fall near the apartment where Rock grew up. The New York Times notes the title of the special is a reference to a bit about Rock’s recent divorce, so anyone looking for a decidedly non-romantic way to waste away their Valentine’s Day might be in luck.