There is no perfect formula for successful television comedy. However, with outstanding models like “Roseanne,” “Seinfeld” and “Louie,” it has gotten increasingly common for popular stand-up comedians to write and star in their own shows.

But what happens to a comic who creates a show, and that show gets panned by both critics and the general public? Comedian John Mulaney is in the process of answering that question right now.

Mulaney moved to New York City after college to pursue a career in comedy. At only
25, he both released his first stand-up album “The Top Part” and joined the writing staff of “Saturday Night Live.”

At “SNL,” his most memorable accomplishment was co-creating the character Stefon with Bill Hader. Stefon, played by Hader, is a flamboyantly gay city correspondent who would appear on Weekend Update to describe outrageous parties often based around puns like [Gay Liotta and Tranny Oakley](http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/weekend-update-stefons-update-debut/n12802).

Mulaney left “SNL” in 2012 and released his first stand-up special “New in Town” with Comedy Central. “New in Town” was immediately well-received but also found a resurgence in popularity when it was added to Netflix — that’s how I found it, and how I found John Mulaney.

Last fall his self-titled show [“Mulaney”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NM12FmzkIw) premiered on Fox, and I was looking forward to it. In an ambitious move, he tried to revive the multi-camera style of sitcom that he and many others grew up watching. But in 2014, it just didn’t work.

I didn’t really like “Mulaney,” and neither did anyone else. It was dismissed as a cheap and disingenuous “Seinfeld” rip-off. I thought that it would improve as it found its footing, but Fox cancelled the show after 13 episodes.

Mulaney was disappointed his show tanked, but [he joked pretty openly](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEhmDc8OREY) in interviews about how — while he was aware he should try not to take the negative reviews personally — it was difficult to do that when they would sometimes say things like “Mulaney sucks.”

Since February of this year, when his show ended, Mulaney has been pretty busy. He co-wrote an episode of “SNL” alumni Bill Hader and Fred Armisen’s documentary parody show [Documentary Now](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpKtpuCFecc) and collaborated with college friend and comedian Nick Kroll on his sketch program [Kroll Show](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ce4mCXk3ye8).

But “The Comeback Kid,” Mulaney’s new Netflix-produced standup special, is his true post-”Mulaney” return. It’s an implicit rebirth. He even returns to his hometown Chicago and talks about his childhood and his parents more than ever before. And it’s very, very good.

Unlike the opening of “New in Town,” which is (now ironically) sort of a parody of a ’90s sitcom opening sequence, the opening of “The Comeback Kid” isn’t that funny. Aside from one really great and really dry joke, it’s just beautiful wide shots of Chicago’s skyline and slow pans of The Chicago Theatre.

As his set begins, he doesn’t appear to be doing anything new. He’s just doing really great jokes about pop culture and self-awareness, which are both pretty typical for Mulaney. But as the show moves along, his influences begin to show — most significantly Mike Birbirglia, who Mulaney toured with and opened for early in his career. Birbiglia’s style has been described by [Mulaney himself](http://www.vulture.com/2015/11/john-mulaney-opens-up-about-shows-cancellation.html) as “a story, but it’s also about 600 jokes as well.”

Mulaney would never have been considered private in his standup, but “The Comeback Kid” is nonetheless his most personal work. Along with his parents, he talks at length about his siblings and his French Bulldog Petunia and his wife, makeup artist [Annamarie Tendler](http://www.thedailyfacemakeup.com), who he married in 2014.

I found the entire set to be delightful, but Mulaney’s closing story about the time he met former President Bill Clinton is nearly flawless in its execution. It is my favorite piece of stand-up right now, and it alone can set “The Comeback Kid” apart from either of his past hours.

“The Comeback Kid” is so good, and it is something every comedy fan should watch, because Mulaney is one of the best comics of this decade.

_“The Comeback Kid” and “New in Town” are both available for streaming on Netflix._