In “The Second Best Night of Your Life,” the push and pull between Brett Goldstein‘s gruff and hardened exterior and his squishy, lovable interior is on full display. The 44-year-old British Jewish comedian talks about the word “cunt” and the Muppets, killing all the men on Earth and little pots of cum (a great idea for a children’s book, as he suggests), lifting weights at the gym and getting wistful while listening to the Beatles. If you’re familiar with Goldstein from “Ted Lasso,” this debut stand-up special makes it easy to see why he was cast as the foul-mouthed but still-wholesome footballer Roy Kent.
But one part of the special where Goldstein lets his bluntness take the reins comes in the form of a jab at billionaire Elon Musk.
In the longest segment of the show, Goldstein talks about how “men is bad” (I couldn’t have put it better myself), making it hard to prove, as a man, that you’re not toxically masculine or a jerk. “I realize it must be what it’s like to be German… for the last 75-80 years,” he deadpans. “‘Cause everyone you meet you’re going, ‘Well you see, I’m German, but I’m not [laughing] I’m not a Nazi.'” Goldstein continues, making his case that this fictional version of himself couldn’t be a Nazi because he high-fives “straight up like normal.”
“That’s how you can tell. It’s in the high-fives,” he goes on, before adding: “Just ask Elon.”
It’s a searing reference to when Elon Musk potentially did a Nazi salute at a post-Inauguration rally for President Trump, and the remark was welcomed by laughter and a few cheers from the New Jersey crowd.
For Goldstein, who is a very private person, it’s just about the second closest time he’s coming to publicly discussing his Jewish identity. For the absolute closest he’s ever come, all you have to do is turn back to the very first joke of the show. “Let’s start with my name. My name is Brett Goldstein. That is my real name. And where I come from in London, England, that’s quite an exotic name. No one knows a Brett Goldstein,” Goldstein says to open his special. “I’ve come to the East Coast. Do you know who knows a Brett Goldstein? Everyone.”
“And not just that,” he adds, “but apparently Brett Goldstein is the name of the guy who first fingered you at summer camp. So, [I’m] just here to continue a great and important tradition.”
Goldstein isn’t wrong — even Jewish mega-celebrity Timothée Chalamet recently shared that his best friend growing up in New York City was a kid named Brett Goldstein. And given that Brett Goldstein (the comedian, not Timmy’s BFF) was onstage at the Bergen Performing Arts Center in Bergen County, New Jersey, I’m sure he knew the joke would play well with a likely pretty Jewish audience. I can’t fault him for wanting to start his set hot, however, and it does just that. The commentary on his name offers a smooth dive into a debut stand-up special that is an excellent and often very funny primer, albeit one that is slightly uneven, to Brett Goldstein’s own mind.
“The Second Best Night of Your Life” premieres on HBO on April 26, 2025.
