Though titled Jamie Foxx: What Had Happened Was… on Netflix and labeled a comedy special, Foxx’s reveal is bigger than its billing.

Through a mixture of laughter, music and sobering truth, Foxx explains what happened to him to the best of his recollection, getting candid about his rehab and recovery process. For the special he returned to Atlanta, where he suddenly fell ill while filming the Netflix comedy with Cameron Diaz.

Atlanta, he reveals, is also where he started doing comedy back in 1991. So he is very much getting back to basics, classifying how he snatched his life back from death as a “come-back-to-God” moment.

Foxx walks out with a fist raised and the audience frantically cheers his return. It’s so emotional, he wipes away tears. “You have no idea how good this feels,” he says as he basks in the moment, shouting “Atlanta, I’m back” and dancing between tears. “I was fighting for my life, but I’m here in front of you.” When he says, “Atlanta, saved my life,” the crowd responds to his “God is good” and “all the time.” The exchange is a recognition of his Black, Southern roots and that he is right at home.

“I don’t remember 20 days,” he says. His retelling is relatable in that the first doctor dismissed his illness. But his sister, Deidra Dixon, knew he was not himself and drove him around looking for hospitals until she decided to stop at Atlanta’s Piedmont Hospital.

What he describes is harrowing. The doctor told his sister that he may make a full recovery from the stroke, but it’s going to be the “worst year of his life.” He says that’s why he disappeared from public view, and credits his family for protecting him during his recovery. On May 4, he woke up and found himself in a wheelchair and had no idea why.

Eventually he saw a psychiatrist, which led him to deep conversations with God. In that exchange, he admits it took a minute to adjust his attitude and fight back. To do so, he took the only route he knew how to get well, and that’s humor.

“If I can stay funny, I can stay alive” became his mantra.

He impersonates Denzel Washington, Dave Chappelle, Mike Tyson, Jay-Z and even President-elect Donald Trump. It’s a unique blend of pop culture, old and new, to deliver a personal testimony of sickness and healing.

He says they feared he would die in the first 15 days. He credits his turnaround to his teenage daughter Anelise sneaking into his hospital room and playing her guitar, and she then takes the stage to play her guitar to the audience’s delight and father’s cheering. Foxx shares his personal testimony in a speaking song, magnifying the power and grace of God during his illness.

That spirit of thanks dominates in the Netflix special. Billing this as a “comedy special” doesn’t seem right for the show, which is more akin to LeBron James The Decision, when he left Cleveland for Miami.

While it’s raw and uneven, there is potential for a one-man show, should Foxx want to revisit this difficult and defining moment.