The Definitive Guide to Comedy
Daniel Sloss has made a name for himself throughout his 20s for making audiences uncomfortable, while always letting us know he’s actually a good guy in whatever story he tells. No matter how offensive it may get. For his HBO debut in 2019, Sloss made waves not only by exploring …
“One great thing about being old and rich is you can do what you want to do!” That’s Arsenio Hall telling “TMZ Live” why money is making him an even BETTER comic — because he can do all the risky material he wants without the fear. “Comics are supposed to …
Jenny Slate, like Gary Gulman before her, also put out a 2019 comedy special that included documentary footage following the comedian into retreat back into the home of his/her parents. But Slate makes this hour her own. As I wrote for Decider last year: For one thing, she’s always wanted …
Deon Cole, who earned a writing gig on Conan based on his stand-up debut there, then later became a recurring character on black-ish, put out his first Netflix hour last year. As I wrote then in Decider: As Cole has done in past performances, he breaks out his joke book …
Gary Gulman is one of my favorite comedians working today. As I wrote in Decider to herald his HBO special last fall: His comedy always has impressed other comedians because of its specificity. The words he chooses and the way he enunciates them remind us of the weight language can …
Mo Gilligan was creeping up on 30 when his Instagram blew up, thanks to Drake. Then Gilligan got on British TV a bunch, and last year, at 31, his first Netflix special. As I wrote for Decider when his special premiered: The 31-year-old keeps the show moving through his first …
There’s a moment about 13 minutes into Nikki Glaser’s 2019 Netflix special in which she jokingly describes her origin story. “An innocuous compliment from a guy you like means everything. I don’t think you guys understand what power you wield with just dumb compliments. I stand before you tonight because …
After more than 40 years of performing ventriloquism on TV, Jeff Dunham not only remained popular heading into the pandemic, but commanded arena-sized audiences around the world. We can and have debated the philosophy of using a puppet to say things the human holding the puppet would never say. As …
My gut instinct was to write a review based on his title: This is what he does. But Gary Owen’s 2019 special, which premiered on Showtime in September, isn’t about what he does, as much about what other comedians have done, and how he not only hasn’t done those things, …
As I wrote for Decider when this special came out last fall: Don’t let the trailer fool you. The rat-a-tat-tat of hot-button words rattled off by Bill Burr in the trailer for Paper Tiger, his fourth Netflix special (and sixth stand-up special, in all), makes him sound like just another middle-aged comedian disgruntled …
