Big Mouth: A New Kind of Humor

Big Mouth is a Netflix Original series that is only one season in. The show takes vulgarity to the max, creating very disturbing and what the hell kind of situations while you watch it. However, the longer the show goes on, the more interesting it gets with how creative the humor really is. The show personifies puberty into a monster that follows the children of the show around, leading to many lewd situations. The uncomfortableness of what you are watching is what makes it funny.


The episode “Pillow Talk” is one of the biggest examples of this. The main plot of the episode revolves around main characters Andrew and Nick going to Manhattan in order for Nick to make out with Roland. She was a girl that Nick had met at a camp, and wanted to continue that. However, what is way more interesting about this episode was the subplot, where thirteen year Jay was having sex with his pillow. That is already uncomfortable, but it gets better. The whole problem is that the pillow is pregnant, and Jay will now have to deal with being a father, but the pillow turned out to have cheated on him and have sex with one of his brothers(“Pillow Talk”).


The subplot of this show is absolutely ridiculous, but that was the beauty of it. The humor is so dark, and that is what makes it so great. These kids are all in way over their heads, with all of them making decisions based on their hormones rather than actual reason. The funny and relatable part is, many people who watch Big Mouth are those who finally got over this stage of their life. To go back and see the types of things that happened when they were thirteen or fourteen years old, though obviously overexaggerated for comedic effect, is hilarious. The show makes you think “is that really how it was?” and the more and more time that is spent on that, the more it becomes true.

Big Mouth is definitely can almost be defined more as an experience than a show. Though a comedy at heart, exploiting the awkward teen phase and everything that comes with it, what it conveys is truly something bigger. It is almost a relief to be able to look back on it and think “I sure am glad I am not like this anymore.” It is very self-aware, and it makes sure that you know what you are getting into as soon as you see the preview on Netflix, with the character Nick propping his phone up with a boner. Big Mouth isn’t the highest quality, but it sure is something different.