The Definitive Guide to Comedy
Just For Laughs named Jo Koy the “Stand-Up Comedian of the Year” last summer thanks mainly to the ticket sales for his live touring. That included 11 sold-out dates in Honolulu. He returned to Hawaii to film his second Netflix special there, in the 8,800-capacity arena. Whereas most comedians stopped …
After a decade in character on YouTube, and a series on Netflix, what hasn’t Miranda Sings done? Perform as herself. Colleen Ballinger opens Miranda Sings… Your Welcome by reintroducing her natural self to the audience, before changing costumes onstage into Miranda and performing several songs from her YouTube channel. This …
Hulu has an unconventional documentary coming out in August about The Amazing Johnathan, but Steve Byrne beats it to the punch with a heartfelt look at the comedian and magician who has stayed alive despite telling fans and loved ones five years ago that he was about to die. Byrne’s …
CNN wanted Colin Quinn’s new comedy special to air because of how he splits America down the middle (even suggesting the country follow suit) in his latest hour, Red State Blue State. But Quinn makes a couple of even greater points, perhaps, outside of that central premise. Instead, the comedian …
Jeff Ross is host, executive producer and presumably the star of Historical Roasts on Netflix. But it’s not about him. Nor is about living people, for that matter. Historical Roasts wants us to enjoy seeing dead celebrities brought to task via the modern-day roast format. Does it work? Well… Joke …
Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone grew up in the East Bay when the Oakland A’s ran the American League in the late 1980s. In a brand-new surprise Netflix special, The Lonely Island has dropped a half-hour collection of music videos all about that team, that time and that …
The first Netflix special for Wanda Sykes also is the first for any black woman in stand-up, which jeepers creepers, should not be considered normal for 2019. And yet. Here we are. Onscreen, Sykes has found a lengthy and lucrative career as the audience’s voice of reason — whether as …
What weird, wacky stuff. Then, and now. In 1969 and 2019. The star that ties it all together still? Lily Tomlin! Laugh-In landed right in the middle of the zeitgeist, finding the seam between the broad strokes of The Carol Burnett Show and the scandalous satire of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (both also on …
Brendan Schaub, a former UFC fighter who has turned to podcasting and now stand-up comedy, released his first comedy special over the weekend on Showtime. All of this talking has presumably softened the rough edges of this heavyweight fighter. Although You’d Be Surprised aims to let audiences know he’s always been a …
The marketplace always has left room for junk art. Whether it’s the B movie, pulp fiction or velvet Elvis paintings, we’ve maintained a soft spot for kitsch culture, for works that speak to us on a visceral level, no matter their quality. The Internet and social media has upped the …
