Marcello Hernández’s New Netflix Stand-Up Is a Cultural Win for First-Gen Comedy

Marcello Hernández’s new Netflix stand-up lands as a clear success. Confident, culturally fluent, and genuinely joyful in its execution. Rooted in his experience as a first-generation American and the son of a Cuban mother, the set thrives on specificity. Hernández doesn’t flatten identity into a punchline; instead, he uses it as an engine for storytelling, letting family dynamics, language, and generational tension do the heavy lifting.

His anecdotes about his mother are standouts, sharp, affectionate, and hilariously observant. His manner of capturing the way immigrant parents can be simultaneously overbearing, loving, embarrassing, and unintentionally comedic. The humor feels lived-in, not manufactured, which gives the entire set an ease that’s hard to fake.

One of the most refreshing elements is how comfortably Hernández incorporates reggaeton into the rhythm of the show—not just as a reference point, but as a physical, embodied presence. He dances repeatedly throughout the set, using movement as punctuation rather than gimmick, and it works. For audiences familiar with reggaeton as a cultural language (not just a genre), these moments read as recognition: a nod to joy, swagger, and cultural continuity. It’s rare to see dance integrated into stand-up so naturally, and Hernández pulls it off with charisma and precision, reinforcing that his comedy is as much felt as it is heard.

His observational comedy—particularly his takes on women as gloriously indelicate creatures—leans into exaggeration and playful irreverence rather than cruelty. The jokes land because they’re framed through his own bewilderment and vulnerability, not superiority. He positions himself as the one trying (and often failing) to keep up, which keeps the humor self-aware and disarming. Altogether, the special feels like a coming-into-his-own moment: a comedian fully comfortable in his voice, his body, and his cultural references. Hernández doesn’t just tell jokes—he builds a world, invites the audience in, and makes it dance with him.