Adam Sandler, Netflix Special - songs, silliness and deconstructing stand-up

You may spend some of Adam Sandler's new Netflix Special wondering what's going on. But if you're a fan of his alma mater, Saturday Night Live, you'll guess that the clearly staged first few minutes act as a homage to its “cold opening”, as we see Sandler arrive at the venue, walk through the backstage mayhem of greeters, fans and hangers-on, and then take the stage.

In Love You, Sandler teams up again with Josh Safdie, who co-directed him in Uncut Gems, a departure for Sandler the actor from his previous straight-up comedy or geek roles; here the departure is from traditional standup, as the two men have fun deconstructing the form. Whether the audience has as much fun depends, I'd say, on how much you like Sandler.

The 74-minute show appears to be a loosely constructed, even ramshackle affair. The onstage TV screens don't work, his musical director Dan Bulla suffers a mishap with his keyboard stand and a random dog runs across the stage at one point. But each interruption is part of the set-up to present this as a shambles of a performance, as if we're in a dive of a comedy club, but in fact we're on a set created in a theatre, with the show an edit of six performances. (The dog, by the way, adds a terrific coda to a rambling joke Sandler had just recounted – one of several, forgive the unintended pun, shaggy dog stories of the set.)

Sandler sings songs, plays guitar, riffs on a few subjects – including having Botox on his penis, his sister's new boyfriend, a grumbling husband who meets a gory end. Some stories – such as meeting a genie at an airport – are surreal, others plain silly (silly enough to make Sandler crack up at a few points) or nicely rude, as we expect of him. Several have unexpected payoffs but there are few gags as such, although the occasional one-liners are decent, including one about fathers who hit their kids with a belt. “I don’t,” he says. “because I wear sweatpants.”

Love You goes at its own pace and some jokes don't land, and non-Sandler fans may not stay the course, but it's worth it if you do. You may wonder why ventriloquist Willie Tyler (and Lester) and Rob Schneider, another SNL alumnus, make appearances – and then all is explained in the final song “Here Comes the Comedy” in which Sandler pays tribute to his comedy heroes – Monty Python, Lucille Ball and Garry Shandling among a long list shown in a montage on the now working screens. It's both funny and touching.

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