By Robert Scucci
| Published
As an avid stand-up comedy fan, I’m disappointed to say Tom Segura’s most recent specials, 2020’s Ball Hog and 2023’s Sledgehammer, didn’t hit the same as his earlier works, White Girls With Cornrows, Completely Normal, Mostly Stories, and Disgraceful. Having followed his career from the start, I, like many other Segura fans, echo the same complaint: his massive success has made his comedy feel unrelatable, focused on life experiences outside our pay grade. Disappointed by those misses, I approached his new Netflix sketch comedy series, Bad Thoughts, with guarded enthusiasm, only to be pleasantly surprised.
Channeling the same awkward, uncomfortable energy as Tim Robinson’s I Think You Should Leave, Bad Thoughts is refreshing because Segura isn’t leaning on tired anecdotes from his standup act. Instead, he dives fully into absurdist dark comedy with a production style that only Netflix money could give this format.
A breezy weekend binge, Bad Thoughts runs about two hours in total, and by the end, you’ll be glad to know it’s already renewed for a second season.
Segura At His Most Unhinged
Bad Thoughts wastes no time offending your sensibilities. Segura’s Agent Six character botches an assassination by accidentally killing a woman and child, soils himself from the stress, then runs around naked while trying to talk his angered client off the ledge, unaware they’re watching the whole disaster unfold in real time.
From this introductory skit that starts the series, Bad Thoughts only continues to escalate. Each episode tackles mundane topics like jobs, success, family, love, communication, and health, with titles and skits that correspond to these themes.
The execution is anything but mundane, as a country star serial killer (where are the bodies, Garth?!) exploits the working class for song material, Steven Seagal sexually harasses his way through a film set funded by Russian collusion, and a disgruntled IT guy launches a multiple-episode revenge arc after a white-collar employee named Evan eats the last piece of cake at an office party.
Each sketch works as a standalone bit, but hints of continuity are peppered throughout, slowly revealing that everything takes place in the same twisted universe Segura has built for his humor to thrive.
For Fans Of I Think You Should Leave
Though considerably more deadpan than I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson, Bad Thoughts carries the same uncomfortable energy through its sketches. Where Robinson yells his way out of sticky situations, Segura stares you down until you fold. Both shows sit on different sides of the same coin, leaving you with the same sick feeling when the envelope gets pushed just a little too far.
Fortunately, like Robinson’s show, just when the tension becomes unbearable, there’s a cathartic release as the bits pay off, leaving you dumbfounded and slightly less okay than you were before you hit play.
Bad Thoughts isn’t for everyone, but it’s a strong entry into the sketch comedy space that makes me hope Segura keeps going. And who knows? Now that he’s proven himself in the writers’ room, maybe his next standup special will benefit from this detour.
Bad Thoughts is a Netflix Original and can be streamed with an active subscription.
