Roy Wood Jr. rails against modern life’s indignities in Lonely Flowers teaser

In 2023, Roy Wood Jr. stepped away from his correspondent gig at The Daily Show amid speculation that he was in the running to take on the host-shaped hole left behind by Trevor Noah. “I just know that to figure out what I want to do next, just as a contingency and cover my own ass, I can’t do that while I’m doing my job as correspondent,” he said of his decision at the time. Since then, he’s figured out plenty of what’s next. He landed a comedy-news series of his own, and his latest solo standup show is coming to Hulu. Today, we got a first look at that special, Lonely Flowers. 

“We ain’t gon’ make it,” Wood says to start off the clip, before launching into a litany of complaints about the modern world. An immediate target is shooting ranges and the bad customer service therein, before moving onto security questions, retailers locking up soaps, and self-checkout machines. “We get mad if the phone rings!” he quips. “That was invented for talking!” While the indignities are many, Wood’s tact (at least in this clip) keeps the material fresh and away from the “back in my day” zone. 

According to Vulture, Lonely Flowers was filmed in Washington D.C.’s Lincoln Theater and directed by C. Craig Patterson. This is Wood’s first standup special since 2021’s Imperfect Messenger. Lonely Flowers comes to Hulu on January 17.