Taylor Tomlinson’s New Special Tackles Religion and Identity—And Fans Are Talking

To start off, I have been a big fan of Taylor Tomlinson since my algorithm pushed clips of her stand-up shows onto me (how else do we discover things in 2026?). Tomlinson has exactly the type of millennial, neurotic, and dark comedy that I love. I have watched her previous three shows, Have It All (2024), Look At You (2022), and Quarter-Life Crisis (2020) multiple times and (according to my husband) cackled through them all. So, you can imagine my excitement when I heard she had another show coming out. My friend even messaged the group chat to say that the show had made her snort her dinner multiple times, and she was only 15 minutes in!

Maybe I had built it up too much (not more than my husband, though, who feared for his eardrums), but this show didn’t hit as hard as Tomlinson’s previous. Not that I didn’t enjoy it, there is some pure gold throughout the show; ‘Jesus Jar’ when referring to the Virgin Mary is a particular favourite. 

As we live in a patriarchy and Tomlinson is a female, I have to comment on how good she looks in the special (particularly loved the boots). She’s a hot, early 30’s comedian taking control of her past, present, and identity. I may not have snort-laughed as much as previous shows, but I certainly feel like I know her better! As someone who wasn’t brought up with religion, maybe that is why I didn’t relate as much. It’s clear how much her religious past has affected her – the title of her new show is even a nod to it, in case you didn’t notice! The set is designed to look like a megachurch, which, even before Tomlinson sashays onto the stage, sends the message that Tomlinson is going hard. She has clear affection for her parents, but when she hints at how she was disciplined as a child, you can feel the air being sucked out of the room, only to be replaced with raucous laughter.

Religion can be seen as low-hanging fruit in comedy, yet I feel like Tomlinson doesn’t take any cheap shots. She simply shines a light on how dark religious texts are, particularly to a small child. How you sit in a building one day a week and tell each other ‘it will be better when we are home with dada’ while other children are out having a childhood.

Tomlinson also officially came out as bisexual. I would have liked to hear more stories about her foray into queer dating. I feel her commentary on human relationships is where she really shines. As the show begins to simmer down, Tomlinson brings it back up by talking about her beginnings as a religious stand-up comedian (I didn’t know there was such a thing). Ending her fifth special on a high note, pontificating from her pulpit. Maybe not a career-defining moment, but definitely worth a watch!

3.5 Stars