Comedians nominated for the 56th annual Grammy Awards

The Grammy Awards have a longstanding reputation for being terminally unhip, and then trying to right that by swinging to the other extreme and rewarding the trendiest recording artists of the moment.

The 56th annual Grammy Awards nominees are no different in that respect. Even in, and perhaps even more so, in respect to the comedy album category.

Out of thousands of stand-up comedy recordings released between Oct. 1, 2012, and Sept. 30, 2013, these were the ones that grabbed hold of the Grammys attention:

BEST COMEDY ALBUM

Craig Ferguson, “I’m Here to Help” (New Wave Dynamics)

Kathy Griffin, “Calm Down Gurrl” (Black Lot Music)

Tig Notaro, “Live” (Secretly Canadian)

Bob Saget, “That’s What I’m Talking About” (New Wave Dynamics)

Ron White, “A Little Unprofessional” (Organica Music Group)

Comedians also have had much success in recent years receiving recognition in the spoken word category.

BEST SPOKEN WORD ALBUM (INCLUDES POETRY, AUDIO BOOKS AND STORYTELLING)

Carol Burnett, “Carrie And Me” (Simon & Schuster Audio)

Stephen Colbert, “America Again: Re-becoming The Greatness We Never Weren’t” (Hachette Audio)

Billy Crystal, “Still Foolin’ ‘Em” (Macmillan Audio)

David Sedaris, “Let’s Explore Diabetes With Owls” (Hachette Audio)

Pete Seeger, “The Storm King” (Hachette Audio)

Tim Minchin earned acclaim for writing the book for the musical adaptation of Matlida (Best Musical Theater Album nomination).

And Steve Martin scored another Grammy nomination for his music, this time in the Americana categories for his duet song and album with Edie Brickell, “Love Has Come For You.”

The Grammy Awards will be announced Jan. 26, 2014.

Sean L. McCarthy

Editor and publisher since 2007, when he was named New York's Funniest Reporter. Former newspaper reporter at the New York Daily News, Boston Herald and smaller dailies and community papers across America. Loves comedy so much he founded this site.

View all posts by Sean L. McCarthy →