top 100 – The Comedy Bureau

The 100 Best Things in Comedy We Were Witness To in No Particular Order of 2022

January 1, 2023

best in comedy, best of 2022, top 100

2022 saw a much more open world (after January, that is) and, subsequently, much more active, live-in-person-focused comedy scenes than in 2020 or 2021. As such, there was thankfully more comedy for us to see (and way less staying trapped in our apartment) and that is one of a small handful of things we were thankful for in 2022.

Well, there are these 100 things that we loved in comedy too* (just like we did in 2021).

*as always, these entries are in no specific order and aren’t following any sort of ranking system whatsoever

the college debt joke in The Menu-for a dark thriller released in 2022, Seth Reiss and Will Tracy sure pack in a lot of jokes in The Menu, one of which we burst out laughing for a good 30 seconds in the theater.
Jordan Jensen‘s Roe v. Wade joke delivered at the Hollywood Improv right after Roe v. Wade was overturned-“I know I’m going to take a lot more cum shots to the face now that abortion is off the table”. For our money, that was the best joke of a very dark night in American history.
Kelly Bachman and Dylan Adler: Rape Victims Are Horny Too-Bachman and Adler pulled off what might have previously seemed impossible with a musical comedy revue about being a sexual assault/rape survivor that’s both deeply healing and fun.
Phat Tuesdays docu-series-May no one forget that Phat Tuesdays kept The Comedy Store afloat in the 2000s ever again because of this important series.
Everything Everywhere All at Once-the Daniels might have just made a comedy that features several sex toy gags, hot dog fingers on live action actors in dramatic scenes, and endless amounts of glue-on googly eyes that could win big during awards season. Even though it’s the opposite of Oscar bait, it would deserve everything it could potentially win, especially for a career defining performance from Michelle Yeoh.
Sarah Squirm on SNL-Sarah Squirm/Sarah Sherman should be allowed to be as weird as she wants to be on SNL as it’s one of the most exciting things happening with the historic sketch comedy institution these days. Have Sarah News take over Weekend Update ASAP.
Milan Patel-Original and offbeat in the best way possible, Patel is one of our go-to answers for “Who’s next?” in comedy these days.
This Fool-the best freshman comedy of 2022 should make stars out of Chris Estrada and Frankie Quinones and has some of the best commentary about class, mental health, race, and more wrapped up in some of TV’s sharpest writing from Estrada and the creators of Corporate.
Forget About Spaghetti Fest-The Elysian put on a festival of completely new, never before seen, entirely experimental comedy shows for several days and, honestly, it’s a comedy festival that LA can be very proud of.
Noah Baumbach’s White Noise-There is always a handful of things that make it worth waiting until the actual end of the calendar year to a “best of the year” list. Baumbach’s colorful, timely odyssey about collective panic and mortality where the lofty dialogue is juxtaposed with sheer absurdity is unequivocally one such thing.
Rachel Kaly-There is nothing quite like Kaly’s tall tales being delivered in her seemingly unaffected, low boil style. It’s pure silliness and yet so grounded at the same time and has us slapping our knees in laughter every time we see it.
All My Friends Hate Me-Andrew Gaynord lands the perfect crossing of comedy and horror with an expertly written movie about anxiety and insecurity eating away at you because your friends like “joking around” with you.
Maria Bamford set on grief on Corden-This set is as beautiful and dark and touching and hilarious as anything that Maria has done. So, give Bamford the Mark Twain Prize for Humor already.
That’s Not Funny: How the Right Makes Comedy Work for Them by Matt Sienkiewicz and Nick Marx-Sienkiewicz and Marx do extensive and exhaustive research to remind us all that just because “right wing comedy” might not be funny to millions, there are millions of others who rally behind it. This insightful book gives an invaluable tour of how that came to be.
Gemma Soldati’s Poor Rich-Soldati’s solo show is the most fun you’ll have seeing how unsustainable late stage capitalism can be.
Sara June’s “Bathroom Time”-Sara June perfectly captures the existential conundrum that is the women’s bathroom at any and all offices in this critically acclaimed short film.
Lizzy Cooperman’s In Your Hands-Lizzy has created some sort of real life version of The Truman Show, which is all the more enthralling as Lizzy’s fate is absolutely put up for a vote every week. The result is daring and so damn funny since Lizzy fully commits to this premise, seemingly to the nth degree.
Sean Patton’s Number One and King Scorpio-If we were lucky for anything in 2022, it would be for us all being treated to two different hours in one year from the one and only Sean Patton, a comedian and storyteller who has been deserving of such a happening years ago.
Going Up with Sara Schaefer-In this solo show, Sara mashes up a stand-up class, several poignant insights/idiosyncrasies of comedy, a self-help course, and a bit of the scamming of Scientology for an astounding, satirical inside look at the art and business of stand-up comedy in the 2020s.
Turning Red-Disney Pixar’s track record of family friendly comedies that have plenty of socio-cultural layers and jokes to unpack and enjoy for adults is alive and well with Turning Red, one of their best releases in awhile.
Bake Stuff with Lindsay Adams-Surviving to this side of the pandemic, Lindsay Adams reimagined her aggressively interactive cooking show at Junior High in LA and it remains the most delicious show in town.
Jena Friedman: Ladykiller-Ardent followers of this list will note that Jena is pretty much on all of them and we’ll tell you that she earns it every time. This year, with her Peacock comedy special Ladykiller, is no different as Friedman dishes out some of the best material on abortion while in her third trimester.
Max Beasley-When it comes to joking about being trans, Max Beasley might be on the very forefront of how to do amazing meta one liner jokes about it.
Depths of Wikipedia-Stemming from a project born out of COVID-19 lockdown, Annie Rauwerda has curated the funniest parts of Wikipedia, which is a multiverse on its own at this point.
Jen Kirkman: OK, GEN-X-Kirkman honestly explores generational differences, specifically between Gen X and Millennials and Gen Z with her comedically defending young folks. We called it one of the best albums of the year in March and, after nine months, we fervently stand by that claim.
Brianna Ahlmark‘s bad magician-Ahlmark has been a rising star in the clowning scene here in LA and her vision of a bad magician, specifically remembering tricks involving pulling someone’s chosen card had us howling.
Byron Bowers: Spiritual N**ga-Bowers very first comedy special is almost otherworldly as it’s delivered in a boxing ring and has as much poetic thrust to its imagery as it does comedic subversion.
The Rehearsal-Nathan Fielder’s latest comedy experiment that involves “rehearsing” for real life situations ends up finding the humor in Nathan (possibly) actually being in over his head for getting too meta.
Laura Peek-Peek got so many accolades for her comedy throughout 2022 (worthy of all of them) that one might not even notice that it wasn’t too long ago that she moved out to LA from Nashville. Also, Peek’s dirty jokes is amongst the best blue humor we have today.
Sabrina Wu’s debut on Tonight Show-Sabrina’s set here doubles as a truly great TV debut and a perfect introduction to the concept of intersectionality.
Bodies Bodies Bodies-This is a punk, post-modern reimagining of a “whodunit” and the cluelessness of every character is a devilishly satisfying laugh riot.
Ms. Pat: Y’all Want to Hear Something Crazy?-Thanks be to whatever you believe in that Ms. Pat survived her absolutely insane life to be able to share it on a bare stage as amazing stand-up.
Eating Salad Drunk Haikus for the Burnout Age by Comedy Greats-Littlefield’s Gabe Henry edited what might the best book for a coffee table (or any table for that matter) with one of the best collections of haikus from the best minds in comedy.
George Carlin’s American Dream-An American master gets his deserving ode (in two parts no less) from a duo of the most esteemed comedy historians/documenters, Judd Apatow and Michael Bongfiglio.
Stand Up and Clown with Chad Damiani-Damiani’s gauntlet of a showcase for stand-ups to take on the challenge of “clown” gets more and more foolproof the more unhinged it gets from month to month to month.
Barry season 3-The latest season of Barry holds nothing back and is as dark as a comedy can get and still very much be a comedy. Kudos to some of the best directing on television as well.
the ending of Tar and scene with accordion-Todd Field’s Tar isn’t a comedy per se, but the final reveal at the end and a miscommunication involving an accordion being too loud might be the funniest things that Cate Blanchett has ever been in (including Documentary Now!)
I Love My Dad-James Morosini unfortunately lived through the reality of this true story, but ended up making a movie strikes a rare balance of being viscerally upsetting and undeniably hysterical about a dad catfishing his son in order to stay in touch with him.
Blake Rosier‘s “sound speeds joke”-multi-disciplinary comedian Blake Rosier not only takes some of the biggest swings in comedy, but comes up with some of the most beautifully dumb bits we’ve seen, especially when he does “Blake Rosier’s Bad Show”. We’re not going to tip you off here by describing the joke; just go see Blake live ASAP.
Andrew Sleighter on Corden-Sleighter notched in the very first late night set in 2022 and executed it perfectly (even when Omicron was ruining everything again).
Roz Hernandez-Truth in comedy prevails yet again as Roz found herself as a woman (after performing as a drag queen for years) during quarantine and has emerged as one of LA’s best and brightest comics coming up right now.
Would It Kill You to Laugh? with John Early and Kate Berlant-Early and Berlant effectively cement their legacy as one of history’s great comedy duos by doing a special about being one of history’s great comedy duos.
Live comedy happening in Ukraine during war-yes, live stand-up comedy is still happening in the Ukraine while Putin whines about keeping his unprovoked war going (Letterman himself did a tight 5 in Kyiv) and that’s one of the most hope inspiring things we heard and saw all year long.
Brian and Charles-DIY robot/friend Charles Petrescu is funnier than any droid in any Star Wars movie.
PDA-In the hills of Altadena, not too too far from LA, is a newly built haven in a strip mall for comedians/clowns/improvisers/etc. to get really really weird.
Amy Miller: California King-Miller’s second album, on the week that it came out, was kind of the perfect thing to help counter balance the new reality that Russia just invaded Ukraine.
Jay Jurden on Tonight Show-Jurden is so good that every late night show should automatically give him a set (whether regularly feature stand-up comedy or not).
Return of Kids in the Hall-The legendary sketch group nailed their return on Amazon and their not-so-subtle ribbing of SNL head Lorne Michaels.
Mega the Podcast-Holly Laurent and Greg Hess’ satirical mega church podcast is the perfect listen for a time where thoughts and prayers seem just performative more so than anything else.
Atlanta seasons 3 & 4-Donald Glover knows, better than almost everyone, how to end a series on top.
Bad Play-the irreverence of Brad Beideman, Brian Fitzgerald, Lyndsey Kempf, and Eli Lutsky is undeniable and this is such an amazing “bad” play that you don’t even have to be a patron of live theater to join in on their mischief.
Eric Davis‘ bit with two whiteboards-More renowned as his creation Red Bastard, Eric Davis dazzled us with his clowning prowess with just two whiteboards set apart from each other, lots of tally marks, and boundless empathy.
Nick Vatterott: Disingenuous-If you ever wondered what a truly absurdist comedy special would actually look like, look no further than this genius special by Vatterott that blurs nearly every sort of line you could possibly think of when it comes to performing comedy.
Ariel Elias dodging a beer being thrown at her then going on Kimmel-What could have been the opposite of a feel-good story thankfully ended up being one of the best feel good stories (for a very deserving and very funny Ariel Elias) in both comedy and of 2022.
Ten Steps to Nanette: A Memoir Situation by Hannah Gadsby-Gadsby endearingly takes us through every moment of her historical and meteoric ascent from Nanette with this memoir that we’d wager even strident critics of that particular special would probably enjoy.
Matt Rogers: Have You Heard of Christmas?-Thanks to the flair and wit (and golden pipes) of Matt Rogers, all other holiday specials have been put on notice to try harder from now on.
Joy’s Bed & Breakfast-Jessy Morner-Ritt’s wild variety show will make you want more out of any other B&B you ever stay at (especially when it comes to how outrageous Jessy’s outfits for this show are).
Atsuko Okatsuka: The Intruder-Okatsuka really elevated herself in 2022 and reach new heights right at the end of the year with a terrific hour special, showing off her charm and incisive comedy, on HBO.
Normal Gossip-Kelsey McKinney and Alex Sujong Laughlin’s delight of a podcast relishes in the maudlin minutia of regular, non-famous folks reminding us all that everyone (probably) has a funny story just waiting to be told the right way.
Jessica McKenna‘s record setting rendition of the National Anthem at Sports! Comedy Show-Though some sort of Guinness Book of World Records official wasn’t present for this, McKenna’s extended edition of the National Anthem just got funnier and funnier the longer and longer it went.
Billy Wayne Davis: Testify-It’s a hell of a feat to pose an existential quandary at the top of your special and then kill it after that, but then again, Billy Wayne Davis is one hell of a stand-up comedian.
The Fabelmans-Who knew that Steven Spielberg still had some of the best comedic moments in a movie up his sleeve in 2022?
The World’s Worst Assistant by Sona Movsesian-Conan O’Brien’s longtime, beloved assistant Sona reinforces the long held notion that truth, the place where so much of the best comedy comes from, is stranger than fiction and does so with glee in this grand memoir.
James Acaster on Seth Meyers-This is a perfect storm of James Acaster doing bits and being present and riding the wave of chaos throughout this panel interview.
Hasan Minhaj: The King’s Jester-Minhaj’s long-awaited follow-up to Homecoming King was well worth the wait, especially when he outlines his plot to seek revenge for his daughter through his old Netflix show.
Reshma Meister-Some of the most original and hysterical characters we saw on stage in LA this year were introduced to us thanks to Reshma (as well as learning that some company actually made sandals that have a bottle opener on the sole).
Next Slide Please-Many a powerpoint comedy show has come and go over the years, but Reed Kavner’s dedication to the concept is next level and so damn funny (ex. a powerpoint about trying Tinder in the Olympic Village).
Ali Siddiq: Domino Effect-Siddiq remains one of the best comedic storytellers this century has and this special is proof.
Jackie Kashian on Corden-Based off of this set, Jackie should get a TV show where she explains everything.
Catherine Called Birdy-Lena Dunham’s cheeky vision of the days of yore follows star-in-the-making Bella Ramsey as her own Ladybird of the 1200s.
Danny Jolles: You Choose: The Full Interactive Comedy Special-Through one of the more clever tricks we’ve seen pulled on YouTube, Jolles makes a comedy special unlike anyone has ever seen before. Spoiler alert: the material works no matter which choose you make.
Bill O’Neill: 1000 Ways to Slip on a Banana Peel/The Amazing Banana Brothers-Bill evolves the time-honored comedic bit of slipping on a banana peel to performance art (on top of repeating perfectly executed, classical physical humor).
Sheng Wang: Sweet and Juicy-Wang takes great care in perfecting element of every joke of every part of this special to the point where there is absolutely no fat in the whole hour.
David Cross at Netflix Is a Joke Fest-Cross’ rare appearance in LA not only had an hour of fiery satire next to a cemetery, but had one of the better Will-Smith-Slap-inspired bits of 2022, which just happen to include his former comedy partner-turned-celebrated actor, Bob Odenkirk.
Triangle of Sadness–The latest masterwork from comedy’s premier auteur, Ruben Östlund.
Kenice Mobley: Follow Up Question-The most anthropological comedy album in recent memory just happened to be delivered by one of NYC comedy’s finest, Kenice Mobley.
Courtney Karwal’s “Lipstick City”-If you thought you’ve heard and reveled in every nightmare audition story, please watch, cringe (in the good way), laugh, and enjoy Karwal’s outstanding short.
Caitlin Peluffo on Corden-If stand-up on late night were an Olympic event, we’re pretty sure that there would be no deductions in her score from this flawless set from Peluffo.
Ismael Loutfi: Sound It Out-Loutfi’s first half-hour special shows that there are still much more nuance (and comedy gold) to be had from representing the Muslim experience in America.
Hacks season 2-It’s rare that a comedy becomes a perennial Emmy winner in its first two seasons, but, then again, Jean Smart, Hannah Einbinder, Paul W. Downs, Lucia Aniello, and Jen Statsky are really that good.
Joel Kim Booster: Psychosexual-Booster had such a banner year in 2022 and his very first hour special is one of the crown jewels of it. Psychosexual takes such a unique and satirical approach to exploring intersectionality, especially when Booster keeps checking in with straight, white man and his thoughts on his material during the whole hour.
Robby Hoffman-Hoffman’s material on queer identity is so damn funny and spot on that you can leave Chappelle’s notions on that (and more) back in 2022.
What We Do In the Shadows-The funniest show on TV managed to up the ante on how ridiculous it is, even by its own wild standards, and still maintain its comedic glory.
Andy Haynes: The Coward of Gramercy-Haynes started off comedy albums in 2022 incredibly strong with this release and proved that there are still great COVID-19 jokes to be told (even during that Omicron surge).
The Pansexual Bachelor with Holmes-This parody of The Bachelor is so unrelenting with its jokes that if ABC actually wanted to have a pansexual version of The Bachelor, they should only consider adapting this version of it.
Ian Karmel on Corden-Karmel set a new precedent in doing stand-up while on late night by hilariously going through his wedding thank you notes while doing a whole set about getting hitched.
Norm MacDonald: Nothing Special-Despite death’s spectre floating above him and no audience around a self-taped stand-up set at home, MacDonald reaffirms how he was one of the funniest that comedy has ever had.
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On movie-Dean Fliescher-Camp pulls off the very difficult feat of adapting the viral sensation of Marcel the Shell on to the big screen and somehow finding even more magical charm than any of us thought possible
The ending of Cat Cohen’s The Twist…? She’s Gorgeous-Cohen’s extended number finishing off her first hour special is such an epic, hilarious journey that it’s almost a special unto itself.
W. Kamau Bell’s We Need to Talk About Cosby-Kamau assembles a crucial and devastating conversation about now infamous comedy legend Bill Cosby that hopefully will buffer against such a thing ever happening again.
Moses Storm: Trash White-Considering that this special was supposed to tape right as quarantine was put into place, Storm made sure to make the most out of this first hour special, reimagining the aesthetics of a comedy special along with craftily talking about class and mental health through his childhood.
Reservation Dogs Season 2–Reservation Dogs used the creative license from getting a second season to have the humor be more honest and vulnerable and original than in its critically acclaimed first season.
Andy Sandford: Basket Case-Sandford shows that a pandemic and its aftermath can’t dull his masterful joke writing skills.
The Worst Person in the World-The only other movie more unconventional than this brilliant romantic dramedy had to literally go to the multiverse to be more outside the box.
White Lotus season 2-Between Enlightened and two seasons of White Lotus, Mike White has cemented his legacy as a TV powerhouse.
StraightioLab-George Civeris and Sam Taggart’s painstakingly nuanced dissection of straight culture is, at the same time, and sharply cut mirror on what the straights hath wrought and some of the best irreverent riffs and asides on a podcast.
Ziwe Season 2-For our money, Ziwe is the late night world’s icon now.
Aidy Bryant and John Early go public with their relationship on Seth Meyers-John and Aidy raise the bar for late night appearances going forward with this stop at Late Night that’s equal parts PDA, shouting, and being brilliantly camp.
@ohsewnerdy-Thanks to Derek @ohsewnerdy, there is cross-stitch for all of us clever, pop-culture obsessed folks.
Jerrod Carmichael: Rothaniel-In revealing his true self, Jerrod made one of the most groundbreaking specials for the art form of comedy.

Nikki Glaser to Host The Hall of Flame: Top 100 Comedy Central Roast Moments

March 11, 2021

News

comedy central, comedy roast, hall of flame, nikki glaser, roast, top 100

When it comes to comedy roasting these days, it’s pretty clear that Nikki Glaser is one of the best in the game and has been for the last several roasts put on by Comedy Central.

With Comedy Central going through their vault of their numerous roast specials for the upcoming “Hall of Flame” series, it’s subsequently pretty perfect that Nikki is hosting (and very likely adding her very own whipsmart commentary on the line-up of clips to be presented).

Starting Mon. Mar. 29th at 10PM, this “Hall of Flame” will be cherry picking 100 choice clips throughout their entire roasting history. Get a taste of what’s to come from Nikki and “the Hall” here.

The 100 Best Things in Comedy We Were Witness to In No Particular Order of 2019

January 2, 2020

Uncategorized

100 best, 2019 comedy, best comedy specials, best improv, best of 2019, best sketch, best stand up, top 100

OK, 2019′s officially over and we’ve wrangled our 100 truly favorite things in and around comedy (and it really spans all of comedy) that are not ranked whatsoever. It’s just like the title says and, it’s, as it is every year, quite long, so we won’t waste any more time with this intro.

Oh, in case you forgot and/or curious and/or need a quick refresher, here’s our 2018 list.

1. Rory Scovel Live Without Fear-This documentary follows Rory Scovel and his journey through six nights of completely improvised hour sets. In a single word, it’s inspiring. You see the way Scovel truly connects the audience and keeps it that way through his indelible charm and endless curiosity. The near unbelievable story of the Relapse Theater in Atlanta is also beautifully threaded in the doc as well. The clips of the improvised performances capture the magic that stand-up comedy can be that’s absent from the majority of comedy specials. You should be required to see this whenever and wherever it comes if you have any level of interest in comedy at all.

2. Naomi Ekperigin-From her own stand-up, to her podcast with husband Andy Beckerman, Couples Therapy, and her writing across TV, and everything else she does, Naomi is such an thoroughly commanding, yet delightful presence that we love seeing every time anywhere (and she should already be way bigger of a star already).

3. Cait Raft’s Presentation on “Bradley Cooper’s a Star Is Born Takes Place in an Alternate Reality Where 9/11 Never Happened”-Witnessing the imagination of Cait Raft up close was a privilege for us. This amazing dissection of the zeitgeist left us in stitches and with our mouth agape for how thoroughly it proved its point.

4. Corporate Season 2-The second season of the ultra dark workplace comedy delivered once again on its hysterical nihilistic satire that’s so prescient, yet still so unbelievably funny.

5. Mom-Prov Presents Family Therapy-Improviser Izzy Roland was daring enough to have her mom and her grandmother, both of whom are also in showbiz, to join her on stage for one of the most madcap, fourth wall-breaking, entertaining improv shows we’ve seen all throughout 2019.

6. Jena Friedman-So, this year, Jena delivered yet again with her subtle delivery and calm demeanor that hides her absolutely killer jokes. The follow-up to her Adult Swim special, Soft Focus, upped the ante with an interview of a gun-toting John McAffee and her brilliant Conan set about everyone’s true crime obsession.

7. Brendon Walsh’s Afternoon Delight-This last year, Brendon Walsh let everyone know that he was and still is one of the best at pulling prank calls, which is so much harder now than it was even ten years ago. This live show actually has Brendon place live prank calls in between stand-ups and the ride you go on is absolutely thrilling.

8. Jacqueline Novak’s Get on Your Knees-Novak’s solo show has more than earned its spot as an Off-Broadway show with bringing such an exquisite, almost never before seen comedic sensibility to the topic of blow jobs.

9. #F*ckF*ckJerry-Props to Vulture Senior Editor Megh Wright for sparking the fire to take out the egregious social media accounts of F*ck Jerry that just lifted jokes from comedians all across the Internet without pay or attribution.

10. Lorelei Ramirez-We’ve known distantly about Lorelei Ramirez for so many years, but seeing them up close was a breathtaking experience that had us laughing so hard. Their artistry in comedy that gracefully borders on performance art and even horror is absolutely inspiring.

11. Aaron Urist-Denver’s Aaron Urist is such a killer joke writer and joke teller and has been for years. We just were reminded about that with his burning bush joke during his latest LA trip.

12. Booksmart-Olivia Wilde’s directorial debut was not only a reinvigorated take on movies that specifically hone in on the end of high school, but also had a sincerely hopeful vision of the future generation. We hope that Booksmart finds its way to the top of the coming-of-age comedy films pantheon.

13. Rachel Mac on Lights Out-One of the highlights of Lights Out with David Spade is how unfiltered and raunchy they let comics get during their sets on the show. Rachel Mac took that amount of comedic license and thrived in getting into the nitty gritty about her last teaching job.

14. What We Do In The Shadows-The FX TV adaptation of the seminal Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement film in 2014 exceedingly succeeds in nailing the comedy of minutia in the world of the undead that also happens to be in a (somewhat) grounded reality.

15. PEN15-Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle’s vision of 2000 and their performances as teens were so spot on that PEN15 would deserve acclaim just for that. However, the heart of this show made its humor stand out in an ever crowded field of coming-of-age comedy.

16. Tiffany Haddish’s Black Mitzvah-A lot has happened for Tiffany Haddish since her last special (she’s a legit A-list celebrity now), but it’s clear that she is still her unapologetically positively, life loving self. This special is evidence of that, especially with her bit about her New Year’s show that she got undeserved flack for.

17. Straw Men-Lindsay Adams, Danny Palumbo, and Sam Wiles (and producer Kimmie Lucas) put on what is our favorite imagining of a comedic debate that we’ve seen thus far. The encouragement to make the most ridiculous, baseless arguments and being transparent about the whole thing is a golden goose of comedy.

18. The ending of Gloria Bell-Well, we can’t very well give away the ending to this English language dramedy remake from Sebastián Lelio that has Julianne Moore shine as bright as she has ever shone before, but just know that we stood out of our seats, applauding what she did to John Turturro right at the end.

19. I Think You Should Leave-Tim Robinson’s unflinchingly absurd sketch series unequivocally has many of the best sketches of 2019. The hot dog costume and Mexican restaurant sketches will have us busting up through, very likely, the next decade.

20. Les Miz and Friends-Bonkers (and we mean that in the best way possible) doesn’t begin to describe how wild this meta and great this puppet and human hybrid take on the theater institution of Les Miserables. The sheer cleverness on every level is awe-inspiring.

21. Dave Ross’ The Only Man Who Has Ever Had Sex-Ross has been a longtime favorite of ours for the contrasting bounciness and darkness of his comedy. His debut album captures this dichotomy perfectly.

22. Nikki Glaser: Bangin’-Nikki Glaser’s first Netflix hour special started off with a bang, pun intended. Her frank, but heartfelt exploration of all facets of sex is so damn funny that Glaser gets away with being as blue as she wants.

23. Super Dating Simulator-This live, interactive version of various Japanese video game dating simulators is one of the more innovative and surprisingly charming things we saw this year. Creator Sam Weller did a bang-up job not only making a video game work as a stage show, but doing so with a very off-beat sub-genre of video games

24. Emmy Blotnick’s Party Nights-Blotnick’s latest album shows Emmy at the peak of her delightful observational powers. The concept of a “Self-Potato” is just priceless.

25. Tammercise!-Folks in comedy are getting all sorts of clever these days to redefine traditional formats and disciplines and push the art form forward. Madeline Wager does this exquisitely with a solo show of a woman unraveling that doubles as legit aerobics class.

26. The Cherry Orchard w/Chad Damiani and Jet Eveleth-Damiani and Eveleth explore a new angle on postmodern clowning by supposedly doing a Chekov play going through dress rehearsal without any of the players knowing what they’re supposed to do. The back and forth between the live direction and the tomfoolery on stage is truly hysterical.

27. Bake Stuff with Lindsay LIVE-It’s about time for a comedic cooking show that actually does teach you a wonderful recipe and also explores and resolves(?) childhood trauma. Lindsay Adams’ Bake Stuff with Lindsay, which we indeed saw live, accomplishes all of that and inspires all those watching to cook through their feelings.

28. Shalewa Sharpe’s So, You Just Out Here?-Shalewa imbues homespun wisdom with marvelously colorful descriptions all throughout this very satisfying album.

29. The Amazing Johnathan Documentary from Ben Berman-The Amazing Johnathan’s life story is pretty captivating as is. The story about Ben Berman trying to tell his story amidst several other people trying to tell his story is absolutely engrossing and is somehow all true.

30. Julio Torres’ HBO special “My Favorite Shapes”-Torres’ special is simultaneously one of the most daring and silly hour specials in recent memory and his elevation of prop comedy to a whole new level is to be commended.

31. The Underculture with James Adomian–James Adomian has been one of comedy podcasts’ most in-demand and bright shining stars. It comes as no surprise that his own podcast that revs up all his characters has some of the best, most dynamic, absurdist interviews in political and pop culture satire.

32. Daniel Van Kirk’s Thanks Diane/Together Tour-Van Kirk’s first, complete hour that he both toured with and released as an album is so impressive with how deftly Dan manages a balance of sincerity and mischief from wire-to-wire.

33. Conan in Greenland-Conan marvelously turns his travel specials series Conan Without Borders on its head by attempting to buy Greenland based off of Trump’s stupid tweets.

34. Mary Beth Barone’s Drag His Ass: A F*ckboy Treatment Program–Mary Beth Barone’s live show exploration into her dating life is illuminating and hilarious throughout, but the actual interview that she does live with a “f*ckboy” is transcendent.

35. Obvious Plant’s Carnival of Toys-Jeff Wysaski AKA Obvious Plant really outdid himself this year in his quest to permeate everyday reality with a satirical twist. He not only made a whole line of custom toy figures that satirize pop culture on so many levels, but opened up a whole pop-up museum for several days to exhibit them in all of their bizarre glory.

36. Sports Without Equipment with Coach Keith Alejo-This Dress Up Gang sketch is one of those ideas that are simple, yet so out-of-left-field. Literally, they take sports without equipment to its funniest conclusion.

37. #Squatmelt–Howard Kremer’s desire to keep the spirit of The Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail alive has evolved into its own very special thing in the form of a DIY stand-up comedy show/walking tour that periodically migrates around LA.

38. Catch-22-Trying to adapt such a monumental literary work like Catch-22 is almost a fool’s errand, but writers Luke Davies and David Michôd do a smash-up job for not only bringing Heller’s immortal words to life, but also sticking the landing for all the darkly absurdly comical moments that run rampant throughout the story.

39. Get Rich Nick-Even if they didn’t have the fantastic banter, riffs, and asides from the very funny duo of Nick Turner and Nick Vatterott, this podcast that explores how to make money real quick is one of the best new podcasts of the whole year. Fortunately, Nick and Nick’s humor runs rampant through every episode and makes Get Rich Nick engrossing and makes you actually laugh out loud.

40. MK Paulsen-The comedy of MK Paulsen can be faster than a bullet, but as satisfyingly silly as a gun that shoots a flag with the word ‘bang’ on it. Every time we see him do stand-up, it’s a fun, rollicking ride that’s equal parts offbeat whimsy, clever wordplay, and an agile sense of timing and play.

41. Father Figurine by Matt Kazman-The dour faces of the family in this dark comedy short play to the highest comedic effect perfectly. A dead patriarch and an apathetic family make for some of the best dry humor in 2019.

42. Funk Shuffle-Danny Cymbal, Dennis Curlett, and Michael Gardner comprise Funk Shuffle, an improv group that manages fly freer and more untethered than almost any other improv group that we’ve ever seen. They make their defiance and experimentation with improv forms really work due to the trio’s unflinchingly playful spirit.

43. Gary Gulman’s The Great Depresh-Gulman, as one of comedy’s premier craftsman, of course, delivers an hour of stellar comedy with this special. He also manages, this time around, to destigmatize depression and, in general, be hopeful. That particular comedy trifecta is such an impressive feat that very few can accomplish.

44. Greener Grass-The scope and ambition of Jocelyn DeBoer and Dawn Luebbe’s directorial debut hints at some really special things to come from them in the future. Their absolutely demented, pastel drenched absurdist vision was a shocking delight through and through.

45. Jenny Slate’s Stage Fright-Slate’s best comedic strength is her unshakeable vulnerability. This hour special lets Jenny present that trait as intimately as she has ever presented it and gives an in-depth look as to where that hilarious vulnerability comes from.

46. Heather Anne Campbell swatting a baby out of someone’s hands in an improv scene-At this point, it should come as no surprise that Heather Anne Campbell is one of our absolute all-time favorite people in comedy and thus, she kind of just ends up making it on this list annually on her own someway, somehow. This year, during a performance of her improv group, Heather and Company, we laughed as hard as we’ve ever laughed at Drew DiFonzo Marks initiating a scene by rocking a baby back and forth and then, Heather insanely swatted it out of his hands and stomped on it. It sounds ludicrous, but trust that Heather made that so unbelievably funny.

47. Adam Cayton-Holland’s Happy Place-Cayton-Holland’s live solo show based on his critically acclaimed book of the same name pulls off oscillating between cleverly wrought and self-aware comedy and some of the most heartbreaking stories you’ll ever hear about his late sister. Holland’s focus and calm make it all miraculously blend together.

48. The Authorized Unauthorized My Favorite Murder Musical-In the world of unauthorized musicals about things that you wouldn’t really think about being adapted into unauthorized musicals (it’s a bigger ever-burgeoning world every month it seems), the staged reading of this My Favorite Murder-inspired musical that we saw was phenomenal. The full stage production to come in 2020 will undoubtedly be something really great.

49. Pedro Gonzalez-Pedro’s jokes are so expertly written and crafted that you forget that he immigrated to America as a teenager from Colombia and learned English as a second language.

50. Garry Starr Performs Everything-UK comedian Garry Starr’s solo show is a genius send-up and celebration of theater as a whole. The physicality and the sheer madness of the whole show are so thoroughly hysterical.

51. Kira Soltanovich-We just want to take a moment to appreciate the agility of the comedy of Kira Soltanovich. Not only does Kira play any room or any show as far as we’ve seen, but her drive is just unstoppable (see ep. of The Honey Dew).

52. Mike Birbiglia’s The New One-Though it seems almost too routine that Birbiglia comes out with a new hour special that garners tons of acclaim for its ornate and complex and, ultimately, very satisfying tapestry of stories, Birbiglia delivers exactly once again with one such solo show/special on fatherhood.

53. Michelle Buteau-We saw Michelle headline just a few months ago at Dynasty Typewriter and were reminded of just how good Buteau is. She combines being heartfelt, having a fun bit of attitude, and an absolute command of the stage in such a beautiful way.

54. Gareth Reynolds’ Riddled with Disease-Many folks know how great Gareth is from his madcap riffing on The Dollop, but Reynolds shows he is fantastic with a sharp, hilarious, yet still fast-and-loose-feeling hour.

55. Sara Schaefer’s LIVE LAUGH LOVE-Sara, above most folks working in comedy today, goes to great lengths to be considerate, inclusive, and vulnerable in her comedy and it’s so, so wonderful because of that. This album is yet another great example of that mix.

56. Sean Patton’s Scuttlebutt-Sean Patton’s latest album is a fantastic note to any and all that Sean is, hands down, one of the best comedians ever to spin a yarn (and also share some damn fine true stories) and deserves way more accolade and attention for that now and going forward.

57. Matt Rogers’ Have You Heard of Christmas?-Rogers had quite a 2019 in putting culture on notice, but his queer and subversive holiday musical extravaganza might be one of the best pieces of holiday themed comedy of all time.

58. The Chris Gethard Show with Robby Hoffman-Not only does Robby Hoffman keep the punk rock, conventions-be-damned spirit of TCGS alive, but she makes it so much her own and lets her hilarious, domineering persona transform the show into another very special, unique round of controlled chaos.

59. The taping of Eddie Pepitone’s latest special-Eddie’s sound and fury and his irreverent stream-of-consciousness-seeming comedy were flawless in this latest hour. Everyone in attendance, including ourselves, were in stitches for the whole taping. Props to director Steven Feinartz for one of our favorite looks of a special that we saw last year (which you’ll all get to see soon in 2020).

60. Eric Dadourian’s closer on Nebraska 2-Dadourian is always all in for the sake of a real bold, imaginative bit and, as such, pulled off one of our favorite closers of the year on his very first full length album.

61. Jessica Kirson: Talking to Myself-Kirson’s hour special on Comedy Central really let Jessica cut loose and let her showcase her stand-up expertise. From the way that Kirson contorts her face to her deep well of voices/characters to razor-sharp quick wit to, of course, her signature asides to herself, Jessica really kills it in this hour.

62. Brody Stevens-Long live the “jock doing performance art” comedy (one of our favorite descriptions of Brody’s comedy by his dear friend Zach Galifianakis) and may he rest in peace. Yeeeees! Enjoy It!

63. Byron Bowers on Colbert–Byron Bowers and his clever, yet sincere, dark, vulnerable comedy put up one of our favorite late night sets this year. From the opening to his frank jokes about his dad make us think that it’s just a little crazy that this is his network TV debut.

64. Desus and Mero on Showtime-With the upgrade of being on Showtime, Desus Nice and The Kid Mero are having the most fun in late night with the freshest voices and format (and they’re able to pull that off with only being twice a week).

65. Fleabag Season 2-creator and star Phoebe Waller-Bridge assuredly has more masterpieces ahead of her, but managing to top herself from one masterpiece season of dark romantic dramedy with another one is something that deserves all the accolades and awards that it has gotten.

66. Kenny DeForest on Corden-Kenny dismantles toxic masculinity so incisively through the whole set that he most certainly earns all the applause breaks he gets the whole way through.

67. Josh Gondelman’s Dancing on a Weeknight-Gondelman is often thought of as one of the best, sweetest people in comedy. This latest album, for all of its being clever and genuine, is proof that he indeed really is that sweet and funny.

68. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Season 3-The perennial prestige comedy from Amy Sherman-Palladino earns its keep by having some of the best writing (it’s almost impossible to write jokes that are contextualized for the 50s/60s and make them actually funny for 2019 audiences) and also being one of the most gorgeous looking shows in all of television.

69. Nick Ciarelli and Brad Evans-Whether it be pulling pranks on Twitter, their plethora of hysterical sketches doing an impression of Jack FM on shows around town, or their monthly live sketch character showcase Atlantic City, Nick and Brad are a damn fine comedy duo and have been for quite some time.

70. Caitlin Gill’s Major-It’s quite the magic trick to make an hour of comedy that’s entirely clean and have it being clean not be a thought that you’re thinking about at all when listening or watching it. Caitlin Gill spectacularly does just that with this album as Gill can make all of her earnest rants, imagery, and observations work in any way that she needs to.

71. 97.9 The Rat Race–Ben Roy’s satirical reimagining of a morning radio “zoo crew” is so spot on, then gets real twisted to make this one of the most surprising and rewarding podcasts of 2019.

72. Mike Lane’s Picture Frames-This short film from Lane heightens the idea of remembering those you love after they’ve left this mortal coil to such a ridiculous level every step of the way (and is more and more enjoyably unpredictable the further it goes).

73. Paige Weldon on Corden-Paige’s upbeat self-deprecation is just hard to resist and it makes the best impression in this late night set on The Late Late Show with James Corden.

74. The Righteous Gemstones-Danny McBride’s latest HBO series that darkly and comically dissects the South might be his most ambitious yet, but, of course, he nails it. The constant suspense perpetuated by hysterically tragic characters in the world of televangelists is profound.

75. My Friend Chuck-Comedic erotica author Chuck Tingle (one of the absolutely most unique voices and cadences we’ve heard in awhile) and friend McKenzie Goodwin celebrate their friendship every week for a podcast that’s preposterously funny and, also, more heartwarming than almost anything we’ve heard or seen.

76. Joey Clift’s Telling People You’re Native American When You’re Not Native Is a Lot Like Telling a Bear You’re a Bear When You’re Not a Bear-Clift makes such biting, pun intended, commentary with this short film/PSA that is also so playful that the message about Native identity will undoubtedly stick with you.

77. Megan Gailey’s My Dad Paid For This-Gailey strikes a wonderful balance of charm and attitude and fervent desire to burn down the patriarchy. Such a mix accents her very delightful observations about herself and the world around her in this marvelous debut album.

78. Robin Higgins as Baby Yoda at Tournament of Nerds-Higgins might have made one of the best, first attempts at Baby Yoda cosplay. She also, for what’s supposed to be a roast-style competition between fictional/pop culture characters, perfectly imagined how Baby Yoda would roast someone while maintaining Baby Yoda’s sweetness that has captured the hearts and minds of the Internet.

79. The Man Who Killed Don Quixote-Terry Gilliam went through hell, did a few laps, and came back over several years to get this meta-quixotic tale about reimagining the legendary novel Don Quixote made. The finished film, for us, was worth the wait.

80. Jo Firestone on The Tonight Show-Jo’s sense of play is so pure and present that it’s kind of irresistible. Combined with a perfect amount of self-deprecation, Jo really delivered a terrific set we’ll probably never get tired of.

81. Paul Rudd continues his time honored tradition of playing that one clip of Mac & Me on Conan-Rudd evolves the arc of this long running bit on Conan where, instead of playing a clip of what he’s on Conan to promote, he plays the same exact clip of the universally panned alien comedy Mac & Me. We all know what’s coming and yet, without the benefit of surprise, Rudd’s annoyance of Conan still keeps on being so damn funny.

82. Billy on the Street featuring Reese and Mariah-This year, we were lucky enough to get two instantly classic episodes of Billy on the Street with Reese Witherspoon and Mariah Carey that gave us our fix for our obsession with Billy Eichner yelling at strangers on the streets of NYC.

83. The Dollop England & UK-As Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds embarked on an entire England & UK tour of The Dollop, they thought it prudent to do a mini-series specific to Great Britain and did a smashing job making fun of British history. The Cyril the Swan episode is particularly brilliant.

84. Lost Moon Radio-The live musical sketch comedy theater troupe (Lost Moon Radio truly lives up to such a description) marked their 10th anniversary and put on an absolutely fantastic “Summer Block Party” this year that both showed that they still got their ingenious musical sketch comedy chops.

85. Nate Bargatze’s The Tennessee Kid-The calm with which Bargatze pervades all of his comedy is part of what makes it beloved by nearly any and all that see or hear Bargatze’s stand-up. That’s such the case now that Nate gives updates to stories from previous specials on this latest hour.

86. Beth Stelling on Kimmel-Every detail of this set on Jimmy Kimmel Live is pretty stellar. That includes Beth, in general, for her warm demeanor, smile, and cleverness, the Chippendale’s story, Beth’s mom being there in the crowd, and, of course, the surprise guest at the end.

87. Liz Climo’s Please Don’t Eat Me-This illustrated book is just the latest in a long line of uber-adorable and genuinely-funny-for-all-ages books from Climo. Liz seems to have quite the knack for making unlikely animal friendship jokes.

88. John Hodgman’s Medallion Status-Hodgman’s journey through the various statuses of airline privilege/celebrity is a superb serving of existential humor, done up with Hodgman’s painstaking attention to the exactly right details.

89. Jane Curtin’s 2019 New Year’s Resolution “My New Year’s Resolution Is To Make Sure The Republican Party Dies”-Said during a CNN interview with the SNL alum, this was the first thing to make us heartily laugh in 2019.

90. Alex Kavutskiy’s Squirrel-Kavutskiy’s short film dives into the concept of forgiveness unlike we’ve really seen and, as is Kavutskiy’s style, is so darkly spellbinding and so pointedly funny at the same time.

91. Astronomy Club: The Sketch Show-The long running comedy troupe known as Astronomy Club really ran with their chance to do a full-fledged sketch series on Netflix. They’re so endlessly clever on in their sketches, especially when it comes to the subjects of identity and oppression, and pack in so many jokes and sight gags that you’ll definitely want to watch it more than once so you don’t miss anything.

92. Dolemite Is My Name-Eddie Murphy seems poised to make a real return to comedy (and stand-up comedy in particular) and this marvelous biopic of comedian and blaxploitation star Rudy Ray Moore AKA Dolemite is the perfect way to start.

93. Anna Drezen on Corden-Drezen has such a perfect sense of farce and misdirection and puts on a beautiful display of those two things from start to finish in this set on The Late Late Show with James Corden.

94. BUTT’s Yoda themed dating app sketch-This sketch is so prescient of the resurgence of the world’s current (baby) Yoda obsession. Also, while this is so absurd with its deep dive into various Yoda fan art and cosplay, Joe McAdam and Chris Stephens’ take on dating apps is so sharply and deeply funny.

95. Mel Brooks Unwrapped-The never ending bit of attempting a documentary between Mel Brooks and the BBC’s Alan Yentob is yet another display of the true, unquestionable genius of Mel Brooks.

96. 50 First Stephs-The amazing, hysterical Steph Tolev kicked off 2019 with a show where 50 or so of her compatriots and contemporaries did various impressions and characterizations of her. Part roast, part loving tribute, part amazing showcase of the depth of creativity in LA comedy, Tolev’s night for herself was something really special.

97. The Bongo Hour with Sandy Honig and Peter Smith–Honig and Smith brought their wild variety show that featured such wonderful bits, characters, drag, and burlesque to LA and showed, truly, how much better life is when you’re fluid about nearly everything.

98. How Did This Get Played?-Hosts Nick Wiger and Heather Anne Campbell and their take on the “worst and weirdest” video games do their namesake, the beloved How Did This Get Made?, proud. Even if you’re not a gamer, the way they dissect the most bizarre video games ever made along with Heather and Nick’s chemistry is very, very enjoyable.

99. Joe Pera Talks With You Season 2-This second season of Joe Pera’s unique talk-to-the-viewer series is so calming that the comedic twists sneak up in the most delightful way possible. There is a certain beauty to Pera’s show that makes us want to have Joe Pera Talks With You playing on a loop in a contemporary art museum.

100. John Mulaney & The Sack Lunch Bunch-John Mulaney does “it”, yet again. “It” being releasing another hour of comedic brilliance that’s so markedly different than whatever he did before, yet, somehow still stamped with an indelible mark of Mulaney’s comedy of obtuse hyper-specificity.

The 100 Best Things in Comedy We Were Witness To In No Particular Order of 2018

January 2, 2019

Uncategorized

2018, best in comedy, best of, books, comedy special, improv, podcast, sketch comedy, stand up, top 100, year end list

January 1st, 2019 means that 2018 is officially over and time for our annual best of list, which, to our knowledge, is one of the only year end lists that actually waits for the year to end. Here’s our 2017 Edition for reference.

The name of this list, per usual, says it all. Here are the 100 in, we must stress, no particular order or ranking of any kind.

1. Death of Stalin-Creator of Veep and In The Loop Armando Iannucci points his political comedy genius towards the power vacuum left by Joseph Stalin’s death. The result is, unsurprisingly at this point, another devastating work of comedic brilliance.

2. All Fantasy Everything–Ian Karmel’s podcast that fantasy drafts anything outside of the traditional realm of sports is a wonderful showcase of friendship (the most frequent repeat guests Sean Jordan, David Gborie, and Zak Toscani are known as Good Vibes Gang) and a great reminder that you can live in a world with you use waffles as bread for your fantasy sandwich.

3. 12 Years of Voicemails From Todd Glass to Blake Wexler-2018 at least started on a positive note with this endearing and nostalgic release that is literally a collection of voicemails between best friends that also happen to be very resourceful and clever comedians from two different generations.

4. Corporate–Jake Weisman and Matt Ingebretson have set a new standard for all dark workplace comedy (that goes for movies too) with one of Comedy Central’s best scripted series this year. Also, very thankfully, they put Aparna Nancherla regularly on a TV show.

5. Jena Friedman-From her set on Conan to her first docu-series/special Soft Focus on Adult Swim, Jena’s unflinchingly dark sense of humor that dives head first into many controversial issues had one its best years yet.

6. Boy Tears LLC-If you need your fine china and porcelain remixed to have hardcore feminist messaging and imagery and fun cartoons on it, look no further than Emily Hillburg’s Boystears LLC.

7. Nore Davis-Nore’s rare combo of positivity and pointed socio-political criticism has only got better over time. His Conan set where he takes apart toxic masculinity and how stupid it is and his album Too Woke where he remains joyful while examining the world’s problem are worthy of repeat viewings/listens.

8. Brew Haha-In LA, putting on a big time comedy show at a house is one of the things the LA comedy scene does best. Brad Silnutzer, Marissa Strickland, Aaron Black, and Jimmy the Bartender do well to carry that torch for creating a legit house party that also happens to be a stand-up comedy/drinking game show. Thanks to Thrillist, you can now see it for yourself rather than trying to squeeze into what it is always very packed crowd.

9. BUTT’s Sketch Shrinkers Pizza–To describe this specific sketch from Joe McAdam and Chris Stephens would be revealing too much, but know that it, like the rest of BUTT’s comedy, is sublimely stupid in the best way possible.

10. Monika Smith Doing Solo Long Form Improv-Previous to this year, we couldn’t even conceive of someone doing long form improvisational comedy by themselves on stage. Yes, that means one person doing an entire improv scene with multiple characters that makes sense and is also funny the whole way through. Monika Smith pulled this off and almost made it seem easy to run back-and-forth on stage and seemingly having each character say something funny in response. We guess it would have be the comedy equivalent of a mind blowing guitar solo in a classic rock song.

11. Punkie Johnson-Simply, Punkie is a joy to watch. She’s at a place in her stand-up, with being so in sync with her voice, that she can make whatever she talks about funny in her own unique, big, boisterous, and unapologetic way.

12. Off Book: The Improvised Musical with Jessica McKenna and Zach Reino-This latest iteration of musical comedy genius from Jess and Zach is probably their greatest thus far. Not only do they improvise an entire musical from conversation, but at live shows, they take questions from the audience about the production with answers that are also delightfully improvised.

13. The Feels-A lesbian love story that centers on also one of the women never having had an orgasm made for one of the most original and heartfelt rom coms we’ve seen in awhile. Writer/director Jenée LaMarque and co-writer Lauren Parks and stars Constance Wu and Angela Trimbur ensure, in regards to your emotional state, that the movie lives up to the title.

14. What’s the Story with Todd and Rory?-Letting two comedians do whatever they want with no previous planning (or scheming) before hand would 9 times out of 10 be a terrible idea. The 10th out of 10th time would be when Todd Glass and Rory Scovel do it and it’s a joyful triumph.

15. Blockers-It has been quite some time since there has been a very solid broad teen comedy about coming-of-age, specifically losing your virginity. This 2018 entry with the focus on teen girls (along with John Cena as a bonafide comedic actor) is genuinely funny and director Kay Cannon and writers Brian and Jim Kehoe also put a nice touch of heart to the movie as well.

16. Love, Gilda-In a year filled with documentary tributes to comedians that we loved, director Lisa D’Apolito reminded us of the undeniable humanity and strength of the one and only Gilda Radner. Having famous comedy folk from today like Amy Poehler and Bill Hader reading her diary to lay the emotion on thick was a nice icing on the cake.

17. Late Late Breakfast-hosts Danny Maupin and Tyler Jackson and producer Liz Maupin brought their crazy stunt stand-up comedy show from Chicago to LA much to our delight. Until they arrived, we would have never got to see something like Kyle Kinane have to do jokes in between the audience singing the chorus of Escape (The Piña Colada Song) along with a karaoke track.

18. Catherine Cohen-Cohen subverts the forms of musical theater and stand-up comedy simultaneously pretty much like no one else can. See her solo show The Twist? She’s Gorgeous for proof.

19. Sports? with Katie Nolan’s Ad Reads-In general, we really love Katie Nolan and everything she does intersecting sports (as well as some non-sports topics) and comedy. One very specific reason is how she handles the challenge of having to do ad reads on her very good sports comedy podcast Sports? while in character without previously knowing what character/voice/etc. she has to do. What her co-host Ashley Braband puts her through is so fun, you might want to listen multiple times the way Katie wants you to.

20. Langston Kerman-Every single time we’ve seen or Langston’s stand-up, we fall in love with his sensitivity to the world around him and how he delightfully processes that into his bits and stories. Lightskinned Feelings and his Comedy Central half-hour special should be more than enough to show you what we’re talking about.

21. Please Understand Me–Steven Feinartz and Ahamed Weinberg’s web series had real therapists listen to fictionalized problems played out by comedians and comedic actors including Rory Scovel, Fred Melamed, Dr. Brown, Natalie Palamides. The result from this is something truly special and unquestionably one of the best short form series in all of 2018.

22. Tig Notaro’s Closer On Her Special Happy To Be Here-Overall, we enjoyed seeing a cheery and mischievous (more so than ever) Tig in this special than we’ve seen in a long while. To this point, the closer to this special is probably Tig’s most impressive prank to date and we won’t say anymore to let you enjoy it in full effect.

23. Jared Logan’s Album “Twilight Door”–Jared Logan is such a great stand-up comedian that we hope that, one day, when you type in Logan into Google, his name comes up rather than the movie. This latest album is part of the reason we want that to happen.

24. Greatest Fundraiser Ever (for the LA Indie Improv Festival)-Many of the best improvisers in LA got tangled up in a four way long form improv cagematch at The Clubhouse while intoxicated on various substances making for some of most memorable fourth-wall-breaking improv we have seen in quite some time.

25. Las Culturistas’ Segment I Don’t Think So Honey-Within Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang’s hit podcast Las Culturistas, is a recurring segment, I Don’t Think So Honey, that has become its own live show spinoff that has played across the country. Essentially, they’ve made one-minute roasting of pop culture into an art form.

26. Punch Up The Jam–Demi Adejuyigbe and Miel Bredouw are the best song parodists around right now. This podcast proves it.

27. Hidden Fences, a play by Jordan Temple-What started as a horrid misstep by white entertainment media correspondents turned into a legitimately funny play that even has more jokes than a quality sketch show. Also, Temple does manage to make a genuinely hilarious mash-up of Hidden Figures and Fences.

28. Cameron Esposito’s Special “Rape Jokes”-Both this special and Nanette came out around the same time in 2018 and, in our opinion, were both powerful and funny in their own right. Esposito doesn’t deconstruct joke structure quite as much as Gadsby, but instead brings levity to nearly every moment up until the part of the special where she recounts her trauma. Esposito’s Rape Jokes is one of the comedy specials this year that made 2018 kind of a milestone year for comedy specials.

29. Joe Pera Talks With You-Defying strict genre and tone classifications in the most respectful way that he can, Joe Pera and his offbeat kindness in Joe Pera Talks With You made for one of the most memorable TV shows this year. It’s a trip into Joe’s endearing, almost innocent world that somehow can make even the most hardest cynics smile (and laugh out loud).

30. The Crossword Show with Zach Sherwin-Even if you thought you knew about Zach Sherwin’s mastery of language and wordplay from his various rap songs, this entire comedy show centered on an interactive crossword puzzle will still leave you delightfully stunned and amazed.

31. Amateur Burl-esque-ish-The idea of a bunch of clowns (the postmodern kind, not the children’s birthday kind) doing burlesque might sound suspicious to you, but leave it to Gemma Soldati and many of the regular players of the Lyric Hyperion to bring a fresh, bizarre, surprising, and hysterical take on taking your clothes off comedically.

32. Good One with Jesse David Fox-With this podcast, Fox manages to wonderfully accomplish what so many podcasts about comedy attempt to do, but fail to succeed at: having comedians explain how exactly they do their comedy.

33. Hannah Gadsby’s special Nanette-Clear and simple, Nanette is a brilliant comedy special by Gadsby. It pushes the art form of comedy (even while she attempts to dismantle it) forward and gives a full, unfiltered voice of a woman and a tragic experience, which is unfortunately shared by so many other women.

34. Isle of Dogs-If you’re curious as to how Wes Anderson can up the ante on his own lovely signature style once more without losing any ounce of charm, focus in on an ensemble of dogs, set the story in Japan, and collaborate with Japanese actors and artists to truly meld Anderson’s aesthetics with traditional Japanese art, please watch and enjoy Isle of Dogs.

35. Steph Tolev-Steph is yet another Toronto transplant that we’re very thankful to have down here in LA. Her boldness, deep voice, and physicality on stage commands the audience pretty instantaneously when she performs. As a result, she had us thoroughly enjoying her sets again and again and again.

36. An Emmy for Megan–Megan Amram’s meta web series about attempting to win an Emmy Award may have not achieved its stated purpose, but it was so subversively funny on every level that it unquestionably makes this list (and was also robbed by Emmy voters). Also, her FYC campaigning for the series with billboard and lawn signs was comedic installation art at its best.

37. Brad Wenzel’s Album “Sweet Nothings”-As far as 2018 is concerned, cleverness and wordplay in stand-up don’t get much better than this Brad Wenzel debut album from Third Man Records.

38. Katie Dill’s Solo Show “A One Dill Show”-All of Katie’s characters in this show, one of which involves a nifty use of a DIY cardboard robot costume, showcase Katie’s fearlessness to be as ridiculous as she dares to be much to the delight of anyone who is watching her. It was one of the quickest standing ovations we saw at a show all year long.

39. Jo Firestone’s Album “The Hits”-There is a certain messy grace to the comedy of Jo Firestone. Intentionally, Firestone will make things difficult for herself (like prompting Will Butler of Arcade Fire to play never-before-heard or probably rehearsed interstitial music throughout her hour or asking the crowd really out-of-left-field questions) and make comedy gold from just dealing with it. The Hits captures that grace perfectly.

40. The Doughboys with Nick Wiger and Mike Mitchell-After hundreds of episodes over the last few years, this podcast about, we think, late capitalism forcing two friends to review chain restaurants in an almost Sisyphean manner has become one of our all time favorite podcasts.

41. BoJack Horseman Season 5–Raphael Bob-Waksberg and company never cease to surprise with the alternate-talking-animal-coexisting-with-human universe that seems to get to the heart of the actual issues, both macro and micro, of the human condition. Plus, there are always more great animal-pun-sight-gags to boot. This season managed to maintain an intriguing narrative thread while also operating like an anthology series with an entirely different director and nuance for every episode.

42. Carl Tart’s MC Sugar Butt-Tart’s character that’s a throwback to the rappers from the Sugar Hill Gang days of hip-hop is absolutely spot on with his old school bars and dance moves. You’ll hear him on Comedy Bang! Bang!, but try and see it live like we did at Atlantic City.

43. Nick Vatterott’s Album “KROCK 90Q.BUZZ”-Of the albums released this year, this is probably the most ambitious as Vatterott and producer Jesse Case created an entire over-the-top, multi-layered satirical broadcast of a completely fictional radio station. It’s produced so well that it almost feels too real.

44. Simon Gibson-One of the highlights of Amazon’s docu-series Inside Jokes was Simon and how his aggressively self-deprecating, yet over-the-top style of stand-up actually helped get him a slot at JFL Montreal. Of course, we’ve been enjoying what might be this generation’s Chris Farley for years and we can only hope that everyone else gets on board in 2019.

45. Nate Craig’s Album “Preferred Customer”-This hour of stand-up might be the most well balanced album of 2018. It has one of the most unique and weird and endearing openings to an hour of comedy that we’ve ever heard and then follows it up with extremely well-crafted observations and stories delivered flawlessly by Craig.

46. Dream Corp LLC-Though workplace comedies are well trodden territory and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind has stood the test of time as a classic film about going into the minds of individuals to “fix them”, a mixture of the two by Daniel Stessen (with some beautiful rotoscoping thrown in) made for one of the jaw-dropping shows this year, now in its second season.

47. Mike O’Brien’s Incest Joke-Mike O’Brien applies some Swiftian “logic” to the taboo topic of incest and, with plenty of commitment over several minutes, makes a “pro-incest” bit that had us actually doubled over laughing.

48. Will Hines’ Bad Guitar Solos-As the name might suggest, Will Hines, who is admittedly an amateur at playing the guitar, genuinely attempts to do guitar solos and with a full, very competent, band playing well known pop songs. It’s like the pianist on Coltrane’s Giant Steps not knowing what to do, but ten times clearer (and funnier) that he is desperately trying to keep up.

49. Cheers the Show The Show-The concept of a sketch show comprised entirely of different versions of the cold open of Cheers was brilliant by itself. Yet, Brian Rodriguez-McGovern stood this concept on its legs this year and dazzled us with every sort of Cheers cold open you could possibly imagine (or couldn’t even imagine because it was written by a great comedy writer who never even watched Cheers)

50. Eighth Grade-It would almost seem as though Bo Burnham is a prodigy at everything he attempts. His first feature length film just happened to be one of the best movies of the year, a generation defining film, and a coming-of-age comedy that managed to make multiple generations laugh, cringe, and cry all in one go.

51. Erin Lampart Performing with a Bloody Nose at Blair + Greta Show-Just before arriving to Genghis Cohen to perform, Erin Lampart tripped up and her face hit the pavement resulting in a bloody nose. The spirited Lampart was hardly deterred and just stuck up tissues in each nostril, gave 110% with her highly physical style of comedy that includes dancing, rolling, etc., and still killed it. If there’s a “Heart of a Champion Award” in comedy, she deserves it.

52. Emily Heller’s Album “Pasta”-Heller carefully crafted her latest hour in such a way that continues to prove her mastery and control within and throughout every one of her jokes. Ironically, most of her observations on this album center on how the world seems to be a garbage fire on every level right now, resulting in a pretty great contrast between form and content.

53. Mockumentary Short by Jonny Look for “Gettin in a Van Again” by The Fruit Bats-You never knew that you needed an indie rock answer to This Is Spinal Tap until you saw Look’s mockumentary short for the latest, beautiful single from The Fruit Bats.

54. Sorry to Bother You–Boots Riley went completely bonkers in the best way possible for his first film, a satire/dark comedy about the gig economy and the racial divide. It is also one of the best uses of both David Cross and Patton Oswalt’s voices ever.

55. Henry’s Kitchen Masterclass–Henry Phillips’ anti-cooking cooking series was already one of our all time favorite web series. The upgrade of a professional kitchen and Food Network look somehow made these new episodes even better.

56. My Favorite Murder’s Historic Episode at the Novo on Halloween-Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark’s true crime comedy podcast set a new precedent for podcasts everywhere by selling out 7000 seats LA Live’s Novo. To date, it’s the biggest audience for a podcast taping ever, which Karen and Georgia deserve just for how truly great and reliable My Favorite Murder has become (i.e. help launch a podcast network Exactly Right, doing ad reads for something as big as Diet Coke, and writing a memoir coming out this year).

57. Will Weldon’s Rant About Bill Maher-Will channels his rage perfectly into our favorite satirical rant of the year about one of the worst liberals around (i.e. Milo Yiannopolous’ favorite liberal).

59. The Toppy Awards–Zach Broussard’s annual prank known as the Top 1000 Comedians list escalated to a whole new level with an actual awards ceremony that was as gonzo, meta, and sublimely topsy turvy as the list itself. In fact, there was an unplanned absence of an award recipient that made Zach scrap an entire bit from the show, which was even more perfect for showing how ridiculous it is to officially rank comedians.

60. Lizzy Cooperman’s Album “Organism”-It may be the dissonant banging of her keyboard in place of a traditional rim shot or her rapid fire, darkly silly jokes that Cooperman rattles off every few seconds, but this album reaffirms our belief that Lizzy Cooperman’s stand-up is some of the most “punk rock” stand-up out there right now.

61. Wild Horses and Superego Team Up for “Mixed Company”-Two of the all time best improv groups played on stage together for what very well be the most absurd, but most fun improvised version of The Big Chill ever. We have to give special props to Jeremy Carter for sitting in every chair like he is a cool teacher reaching out to his students even if the chair wasn’t made to be straddled on in reverse.

62. The Favourite–Yorgos Lanthimos, for us, has officially joined the ranks of the great modern comedy auteurs including Wes Anderson and Armando Iannucci with this latest offering. He managed to bring his dry, dark, offbeat sense of humor to 18th century England so well that The Favourite seems poised to win rows of awards.

63. Patriot–Steven Conrad takes comedy to its bleakest point and doesn’t ever let go with his creation, the Amazon series Patriot. In this comedy of the worst errors (that also have potentially negative global ramifications), Conrad gets as close as to a Kafka-esque comedy series set in the world of American espionage and “intelligence”.

64. Hannah Einbinder-Let this be a notice that the poise and absurd, feminist humor of one Hannah Einbinder is definitely one that you need to watch in the next class of comedians that’s coming up in LA.

65. James Adomian as Elon Musk-Without fail, James Adomian inhabits an impression like no one else can (Jesse Ventura, Bernie Sanders). For 2018, James set his sights on controversial tech billionaire Elon Musk. With the perfect look, voice of Musk, with a satirical take to boot, James dropped into shows, panels, podcasts, and even did an entire audiobook as Musk (Welcome to the Future Which Is Mine by The Onion’s Scott Dikkers). We have a feeling that Adomian’s Musk will probably make some choice appearances in 2019 as well.

66. Nicole Byer-Being the host of Nailed It on Netflix, navigating the world of online dating (truly warts and all) on Why Won’t You Date Me?, killing it as a stand-up, and making late night talk show hosts everywhere cringe in glee adds up to a well-earned banner year for one Nicole Byer.

67. Branchburg–Brendan O’Hare and Cory Snearowski’s off-beat cinematic vignettes of their hometown Branchburg, NJ are so beautifully funny they deserve their own gallery at a hip art museum.

68. Emma Willmann’s Colbert Set-Willmann’s latest late night set on Colbert navigated relationship dynamics amongst lesbians in a way that everyone, no matter how they identify, can relate to and heartily laugh at.

69. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse-Just like Thor: Ragnarok was an unexpected comedic triumph within the Marvel Cinematic Universe because of Taika Waititi, the touch of adapted film franchise golden boy Phil Lord (along with having John Mulaney and Nicholas Cage as featured voice talents) in the complex Spider-Verse made for a surprisingly very funny, endlessly innovative animated comic book movie.

70. The Couples Roast from Moshe Kasher and Natasha Leggero’s The Honeymoon Standup Special-The individual, traditional stand-up specials from both Moshe and Natasha in this “Honeymoon Standup Special” series is definitely worth your time. However, when Moshe and Natasha dissect the relationship problems of real life couples in the audience on stage, it’s pretty damn magical.

71. loopdeloop-This is one of the instances where the Internet does actually bring the world together for the better. On a monthly basis, Vine-length animations are sourced from around the world based on a theme and then screened one right after the other at the Downtown Independent and other venues all over the globe. It’s a head trip to be sure, but it does offer a very colorful look of how we are more alike than we are different.

72. Ahmed Bharoocha’s Religion Joke in His Colbert Set-With one beautiful metaphor, Bharoocha effortlessly and expertly joked about one of the hardest subjects to joke about and managed to have a positive message that’s as inclusive as can be (well, except for hardcore atheists). Such a joke is, honestly, one-of-a-kind.

73. Lotta People Here Tonight–Shaun Diston and Devin Field make up this improv duo with the wry name and are currently on a well-earned win streak at UCB’s Cagematch. Diston and Field balance each other quite nicely, especially with Devin’s stand-up background bringing a bit more fun, nitpicking chaos to their performances and Diston’s penchant for escalating to dark places in a scene pretty quickly.

74. Debra DiGiovanni-Debra’s an unstoppable force in the realm of stand-up comedy. Her magnetism on stage and relentless pacing of jokes crush every time we see her take the mic and, as such, we should be thankful that DiGiovanni is well on her way to making it in America after conquering comedy back home in Canada.

75. Dress Up Gang-One of the rare missteps by TBS in the last few years is to seemingly shelve the entire sitcom that was created from the sketch group of the same name. If it ever does see the light of a TV/computer/mobile screen, you’ll find that it outdoes Seinfeld in regards to how about nothing a show about nothing can possibly be.

76. Aggretsuko-If you asked us at the beginning of 2018 if a show spun off from Sanrio (the company responsible for Hello Kitty) would make this list, we would politely ask you to repeat the question because we would have swore that we heard it wrong. However, we did not know the show in question would be an animated workplace comedy following a female red panda in modern day Japan frustrated by office politics and the patriarchy that secretly does metal karaoke. Aggretsuko is that very series and is a very surprising and irresistible entry in the ever burgeoning field of adult cartoons with anthropomorphic animals.

77. Lisa Best’s Set on Corden about Bisexuality-Best simultaneously cleared up many questions and misconceptions of the B in LGBTQIA+ and showcased her undeniably down-to-earth charisma all in one very memorable late night stand-up set on The Late Late Show.

78. The Onion Issue-The living legend of The Onion as one of the most recognizable satirical publications around seems to overshadow a part of their origin story that’s almost as unbelievable as one of their headlines. This documentary short film from director Nick Fituri Scown and producer Julie Seabaugh tells the story of The Onion’s first issue after 9/11, which also just happens to be the first issue they were aiming to publish after moving to NYC from Madison, WI. This is part of a documentary that we can’t wait for Too Soon: The Comedy of 9/11.

79. Big Mouth Season 2-It’s truly amazing how Big Mouth managed to be even more NSFW than last season, but also more imaginative, introspective, sweeter, and committed to fully realizing all their characters and giving them full fledged arcs (including what we thought was just a ridiculous caricature of a man, Coach Steve).

80. Ted Alexandro’s Senior Class of Earth-While the takeaway of Ted’s latest hour seems to ponder the end of the world and the insanity of our times (popular topics these days), Ted’s calm and balanced style make everything OK (at least for the hour that you’re watching it).

81. Conan in Japan-Right before Conan streamlines to a half-hour format on TBS this year, Conan O’Brien might have just scored his latest and greatest Conan Without Borders special in Japan. His appearance, mannerisms, and more are instantly funny against the backdrop of anywhere he went in Japan and we’re confident that some of the most classic Conan moments were just made (i.e his visit to an etiquette school).

82. Feminasty: The Complicated Woman’s Guide to Surviving the Patriarchy Without Drinking Herself to Death by Erin Gibson-Gibson’s searing essays that address the current state of America speaks to the middle finger that so many of us want to give to (insert personal nemesis that’s a GOP politician ruining the country here).

83. Boast Rattle Presents: Was It Really That Bad? A Bunch of Comedians Attempt to Compliment 2018-Many say that it’s a bit much that we wait until the actual year is over to make our year end list. Kyle Ayers’ special edition of his compliment contest comedy show, which really pushed comedians to their emotional and logical limits to think of 2018 positively, is a great example (the show happened just after Christmas in 2018) of exactly why we wait to include anything and everything great we see in comedy in a calendar year.

84. Under the Tree–Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson’s super-dark comedy about a single tree being the focal point for an all out war between neighbors was very cathartic for the times we live in. It also confirms our suspicions that Iceland’s sense of humor might be one of the best dark senses of humor from anywhere in the whole world.

85. Angie Tribeca Season 4-New episodes of Angie Tribeca came in just under the wire for this list and they absolutely did not disappoint. The sight gags, puns, and abject ridiculousness of the show have yet again risen to a new and very satisfying level.

86. Nikki Glaser-Nikki Glaser’s wit and verve thankfully keep getting their well deserved spotlight. For 2018, she repeatedly has some of the best performances on multiple Comedy Central Roasts and she broke new ground with her SiriusXM show/podcast You Up. We hope that all signals an even bigger, better year in 2019 for her.

87. Byron Bowers’ Story on This Is Not Happening–Byron Bowers, without a doubt, is one of the best storytellers in comedy these days. This particular story Bowers told on TINH shows how Byron can be so devastatingly funny one moment and devastatingly existential in the next.

88. Who’s Your God?-It is in the DNA of comedy to question what is taken for granted. Thus, the religious beliefs of comedians are an endlessly fascinating topic and Amy Miller and co-host Steve Hernandez (and for many episodes, co-hosted by John-Michael Bond) do a smash up job of dissecting and presenting what the most naturally skeptical people on the planet believe when it comes to religion.

89. The Good Place-Leave it to Mike Schur and company to make one of the highest concept shows on television one of its best. Just having finished its second season, the amount of reinvention that happens (and works) on an already complex sitcom about the afterlife is astounding and so damn funny.

90. Support The Girls–Andrew Bujalski’s latest work starts off seeming like a slice-of-life movie, but quickly turns into an enthralling exploration of a good woman doing the best she can while managing a Hooters-esque sports bar. It’s undoubtedly one of Regina King’s most memorable roles to date.

91. Alison Agosti’s Dark Joke Within Her Story Told at Public School Stories-The long-running live storytelling series Public School Stories makes its audience and performers vow to keep what is shared to themselves and themselves only. In honor of that vow, we won’t go into any specifics about Agosti’s story or the fantastic joke that she told (that’s probably the darkest we’ve heard all year). Instead, we’ll use this as an opportunity to point out once more that Agosti is a great, comedic talent you should know about and be following.

92. Daniel Van Kirk-In years past, you might have only known Van Kirk as the best Mark Walhberg impersonator there is, but presiding over the world’s dumbness on Dumb People Town with The Sklar Brothers, doing deep dives into letters Pen Pals with Rory Scovel (#GrowTheShow), and really coming into his own as a stand-up (sans Wahlberg wig) are great reasons to follow everything Van Kirk does going into 2019 and beyond.

93. Clare O’Kane’s Album “Let It Be”-Clare finally got to share her unwavering, easy-going vibe with the world on this debut album, which is pretty perfect for a world filled with rage, fear, and lots of yelling.

94. Michael Longfellow’s Set on Conan-Like a professional gymnast is required to perform a specific of number of elements and has to stick the landings for all of them, Longfellow crafted and executed a damn fine, classic late night stand-up set wire-to-wire.

95. Goatface’s “Sneaker Baus: The Rarest Air Jordans” Sketch–Hasan Minhaj, Asif Ali, Fahim Anwar, and Aristotle Athiras definitely stepped up and filled in the sketch comedy void over at Comedy Central with their Goatface specials. Honestly, there might not be a better sketch about Jordans than this one.

96. Baskets-Season 3 of the, as co-creator Jonathan Krisel once called it, “slapstick drama” about being a serious clown is a pretty well-oiled machine at this point. The way that Zach Galifianakis plays both brothers constantly bickering with each other and Louie Anderson plays the matriarch Christine Baskets is perfected to the point that you’ll very easily forget about the reality of Louie Anderson being cast as a woman and Zach having to scream at himself over and over again.

97. Sarah Squirm’s Adult Swim Infomercial “Flayaway”-For someone who fronts a comedy group that goes by the moniker Helltrap Nightmare, Sarah Squirm did not disappoint in her beautifully disgusting, satirically feminist Adult Swim infomercial.

98. Tessa Coates-We saw Coates do her solo show Primates at Dynasty Typewriter and found her warmth and hopefulness irresistible. A few months later she landed a put pilot at ABC. We’ve noted this before, but it’s worth noting again that Emma Stone did her character’s solo show in La La Land at Dynasty Typewriter, then went on to star in a breakout role within the world of the movie, which is pretty much what is happening with Tessa in a unique instance of life imitating art imitating life.

99. ”Ghost Family” Pilot–Andrew Michaan and Zed Cutsinger wrote this pilot (that you can watch) and set a new bar for absurdist versions of a coming-of-age HS sitcoms with a literal ghost family and their teenage kid who is the only one in the family that isn’t dead.

100. Heather Anne Campbell’s One Person Movie-It’s stuff like this that makes Heather one of the all-time best improvisers, end of discussion. Not only did she do improv by herself for a whole hour (which we already detailed how insanely impressive that is), but she orchestrated film scores and genre tropes too into a fully realized, genuinely entertaining feature length movie from opening titles to post credits scene.

The 100 Best Things in Comedy We Were Witness to in No Particular Order of 2017

January 2, 2018

Uncategorized

best of, best of comedy, los angeles, top 100, year end list

Now that 2017 is officially over, here’s our year end list just like we did last year. You know this is where we say “you know the drill”. Enjoy.

1. Jen Kirkman’s special Just Keep Livin’-Jen’s latest special was one of the first comedy specials released in 2017 and, given how much of 2017 was taking down the patriarchy, a perfect start to the year.

2. @scorpiondagger-Remember those great animations from Monty Python and the Holy Grail? Well, James Kerr, better known as Scorpion Dagger, has made an entire Instagram and book of “collage animations from old paintings” that hit that same nerve as if he was a funny, more cohesive Hieronymous Bosch.

3. James Adomian as Sebastian Gorka-After Trump won, James Adomian followed up his spot on impression of Senator Bernie Sanders, as fitting with the zeitgeist, with an only “somewhat exaggerated” impression of former Trump advisor Sebastian Gorka.

4. Christina Catherine Martinez-Martinez is a great bridge between many different disciplines including performance art, stand up, and clowning, which we were lucky to see her blend effortlessly together all throughout 2017.

5. Tiffany Haddish-Whether it be her supporting role in Girls Trip, her special She Ready!, or her book The Last Black Unicorn, the world rightfully fell in love with Tiffany Haddish this year.

6. 555-Of the things that you’ve seen John Early and Kate Berlant in this past year, we’d hope one of the things you’ve seen (and treasure most) is their great Vimeo mini series 555 they made with Andrew DeYoung that’s equal parts surreal and satirical.

7. Shamilton-the improvised musical team Baby Wants Candy does an improvised musical in the style of Hamilton (all dressed up like Hamilton) though focused on another famous person. Though made up on the spot, it does feel like you’re watching a full fledged, fully developed Hamilton parody of sorts.

8. Boast Rattle-Taking the Roast Battle format and making an “evil twin”, Kyle Ayers devised a lovely comedic compliment contest that is arguably harder than trading funny insults.

9. Suicide Buddies–Dave Ross and Hampton Yount’s comedy podcast about suicides makes us feel less alone in the world.

10. The Big Sick-Rarely did a movie in 2017 have something for everyone. The true story of how Kumail Nanjiani and Emily Gordon falling in love actually did live up to that distinction and might be a rare commercial, critical, and awards success as a widely released comedy.

11. Myq Kaplan’s album No Kidding–Kaplan’s last album is a great summation of his command of the English language, his undeniably playful nature, and the intensely interesting and progressive life he leads. It just might be his most compelling record yet.

12. My Brother, My Brother and Me-It’s really quite unfortunate that Seeso had to shudder its doors as the My Brother, My Brother and Me is one of the best TV adaptations of a podcast that has ever been made. May the McElroy Brothers live on and continue their professional shenanigans in a televised form.

13. Jackie Kashian’s album I Am Not the Hero of This Story-This album is so damn good for how well-crafted, deeply emotive, and honest it is that we now want to get a tattoo of one of her jokes.

14. “Infertile” by John Murray and Silvia Ojols–Murray and Ojols’ struggles with getting pregnant was the impetus for a great sketch show that highlights the absurd lengths one might go through to have a child. The show itself is so clever and witty that folks who don’t want kids can enjoy it.

15. Connor Hurley actually pretending to be three kids stacked on top of each other in a trench coat-You see it all the time in cartoons (namely BoJack Horseman’s Vincent Adultman), but to see it done live by one adult, namely Connor Hurley, as if he were three children is a whole other great sight to behold.

16. Mary Holland-At this point, the odds are in favor of having seen Mary somewhere whether it be on the multitude of shows she has had a role in, Wild Horses, podcasts, etc. etc. When it comes to improv these days (even if done semi-dramatically), Mary is one you need to go see live as soon as you can.

17. Last Podcast on the Left/Last Stream on the Left-This past year, Last Podcast on the Left won a Webby Award, became the namesake of their own podcast network, and continued to be one of the best dark (and we mean really dark) comedy podcasts around. Last Stream on the Left, their companion livestream show is the one show where we actually enjoy people watching Internet videos and riffing on them, though that has a lot to do with Henry Zebrowski, Ben Kissel, and Marcus Parks having such great chemistry.

18. Martin Urbano-If there someone that lives up to the title of being a “professional goofball” best, it might be comedian Martin Urbano (see his Kimmel set for proof).

19. The Wheel Show-All (Joe Kwaczala, Alex Hanpeter, Trevor Martin, Joe McAdam, Andrew Smreker, Chris Stephens, Kristen Studard, Conor Sullivan, and Jude Tedmori) transplanted from Chicago, this uniquely modular, highly disciplined troupe makes some of the tightest and silliest bits and sketches in LA.

20. The President Show-Few get to the level of satirizing Trump exquisitely done by Anthony Atamanuik and company. As such, this is one of the few things that make fun of Trump that we’re still really excited about these days.

21. Norm MacDonald’s special Hitler’s Dog, Gossip, and Trickery–Norm MacDonald has definitely been aging like a fine wine. More specifically, the long winding road that he takes us all through in his jokes have gotten more refined, making his jokes even land even harder as they do in this latest special.

22. Adam Pally as a late night guest-In a world where late night’s main concern is roasting the news, Adam Pally still knows how to be the consummate late night guest by making grand entrances and bits and subsequently making fun of them.

23. Rick and Morty-don’t let the McDonald’s Szechuan sauce fiasco make you forget that one of the best shows on television continued to operate at the highest level in its 3rd season, organically developing its characters, and shattering all sorts of expectations at the same time.

24. Hasan Minhaj’s White House Correspondents Dinner Address & Netflix special Homecoming King–Hasan Minhaj has had one hell of a landmark year. Between his no-pulled-punches WHCD address (the first one that a POTUS has not attended in case you didn’t remember) and his stellar solo show/stand-up special Homecoming King, we’d be surprised if Hasan didn’t get his own show in 2018.

25. Music video for Broken Social Scene’s “Vanity Pail” by Kevin Drew-Though slight, music videos, specifically funny, narrative music videos are having a bit of resurgence and it’s surreal, absurdist visions like Drew’s Vanity Pail that keep this trend on the rise.

26. Sean White’s album Angry & Alone–White’s first album was a concept album about death, specifically about his life with his several family deaths coming one right after the other. Thus, the perfect follow up would not only have such a title as “Angry and Alone” but expertly distill the feeling of isolation into enjoyable long form bits.

27. Maria Bamford-Bamford essentially has a comedy empire built out of sheer positivity emanating thickly shrouded forests of mental illness. See her hour special Old Baby, the second season of her sitcom The Lady Dynamite, and her web series Ave Maria Bamford as evidence.

28. Ruben Östlund’s The Square-Most satire these days is satire that is less funny than it is intentionally infuriating (and it’s all pretty much just about Trump in some way). Östlund proves he is one of the most comical satirists in cinema with, The Square, his follow up to Force Majeure. Both comedically dissect the fragile male psyche, but The Square goes even further to poke the 1% and the highly pretentious art world with a very sharp stick.

29. Ian Abramson’s set on Conan-TV has yet to get to the point where they’re shocking contestants on reality competition shows, but Ian Abramson put himself through his own gauntlet by allowing an audience member to shock him via electric shock collar if he didn’t like a particular joke.

30. It’s Your Funeral–Nina Tarr and Nikki Black have comedians eulogize audience members while hosting as two of the most fun East Coast gals in the mortuary business.

31. “Super Mario as a Real Life Plumber” by AOK-Of the real life parodies of cartoons and video games that have been made, AOK took Super Mario to its darkest timeline in the real world, which is still pretty fun because of those giant hands.

32. Jim Tews’ album I Was in Band-Though you might not notice when you’re listening to it, NYC based Tews’ album stands as a great example of a modern man being able to express his feelings openly and honestly, despite potential judgment, and make fun of them in a way that’s altogether uplifting.

33. Bellevue: Seinfeld, a Double Header-NYC based improv/sketch group not only performed a pitch perfect spec episode of Seinfeld, but very impressively improvised one from scratch (Seinfeld stand-up episode bookends included).

34. Ahamed Weinberg as Banksy-Over the last few years, we hope you’ve enjoyed Ahamed Weinberg’s stand-up and short films. This year, we got to see him stretch his creative legs further by playing a Banksy character or rather, a Banksy that has so clearly run out of ideas. Go see Ahamed live and you might just catch him in character.

35. Mike Drucker’s Sh*t Arcade-While there is plenty of precedent for shows of watching people playing video games, Mike Drucker specifically has upped the ante by having comedians play and riff on the absolute worst video games in existence, making for something beautiful.

36. Psychic Hotline $1/Minute–Farah Brook and comedian guests called a real psychic hotline and just let the conversation go where it may. The results were a great and far too short lived podcast.

37. At Home with Amy Sedaris-In a way, this show is a dream come true as Amy Sedaris gets to make a “slightly” off-kilter crafting show and we get to see Amy Sedaris regularly on television again.

38. Jamie Loftus’ i lost my virginity on august 25 2010-the ever innovative Jamie Loftus created a solo show about, as you can guess, losing her virginity is unlike any other, especially since she revisits the event from several different points of view a la Rashomon and has a kiddie pool with Dr. Pepper in it.

39. Rory Scovel’s special Rory Scovel Tries Stand-Up for the First Time-If you don’t know the name Rory Scovel by now, we honestly don’t know how you even got to reading this list. Scovel, above so many comics, is one that undeniably bridges so many gaps between audiences by being unapologetically silly in between sharply drawn observations.

40. Ingrid Goes West-Had this very clever psychological thriller comedy been released in the last couple of months, it might have gotten more awards consideration like all the other awards worthy comedy this year. Aubrey Plaza and director/co-writer Matt Spicer made that good of a movie.

41. Follow That!–Matt Lieb and Jason Webb really put comedy’s power of bringing levity to humanity’s most dramatic and heart wrenching moments by having stand-up comedians perform after screening “cry videos”. It’s one of our favorite emotional roller coasters to go on.

42. Megan Koester’s commentary on her ex-husband’s Soundcloud-Koester called an audible during a variety show where she thought pure stand-up was the wrong move. What she opted to do was lie down flat on the stage, have her ex-husband’s noise music on Soundcloud play, and unapologetically open up while simultaneously roasting her husband. Unironically, it was truly great comedic performance art.

43. Kristen Lundberg-We saw Kristen and her violin at 2017′s Riot LA Comedy Festival and was dazzled by her Jim Carrey like abandon on stage while playing such a refined instrument.

44. Barbara Gray’s bit with a minature chair-Basically, Barbara has come up with ingenious postmodern, feminist take on the well worn comedic trope of humping the stool.

45. 50 Lady Bits–Sara Schaefer led the charge of dozens of female comedians, from all sorts of backgrounds, tell their joke about their “lady bits”. It was unforgettable night of solidarity as well as a great example of how diverse you can be in talking about one topic on stage.

46. Full Moon Comedy–Lindsay Adams and Aaron Weaver really lean into the notion of doing a comedy show into a mystical supply shop by doing things such as prescribing crystals for comedians based on their sets. We love them for it.

47. Bad Dad: The Game Show–Mary Sasson and Marissa Strickland’s game show celebrates how “not-around” and terrible dads can truly be. It might be one of the better coping mechanisms for not having a great father figure that has ever been devised.

48. Freestyle compliments rapped by Zach Sherwin with beats provided by Drennon Davis-There’s plenty of comedy now that speaks truth to power and goes as dark as it needs to. Sherwin’s clever rhymes in the form of compliments to Davis’ improvised beats are a welcome positive addition to this list.

49. Ryan Singer-Singer is a rare comedian that not only tackles the subjects that ranges from mysticism to artificial intelligence, but massages it into hilarious, very accessible bits of comedy.

50. Beth Stelling on Conan–Beth further perfects being a kind breath of fresh air and a sharp a wit as they come with her latest late night set.

51. Shane Torres’ album Estasblished 1981-the torch of self-deprecation in comedy will continue to burn brightly and carried on thanks to Torres’ excellent debut album.

52. Rebrand with Mekki Leeper-Essentially, Nathan Fielder is to “small business solutions” as Mekki Leeper is to “marketing campaigns”.

53. Heather Anne Campbell Presents The Anime Show-One of the best improvisors on the planet, Heather Anne Campbell, assembled a crack team to improvise the finale of an anime series they’ve never seen only based on the show’s intro. Even if you don’t love anime, it’s pretty amazing.

54. Patton Oswalt’s special Annihilation-Though Oswalt already has a “Finest Hour”, he outdid himself with this special that deals with the untimely passing of his first wife.

55. I Love You America with Sarah Silverman–Silverman emphatically answers the call for more empathy and caring for each other in 2017 by specifically talking to folks that are ideologically different from her. Of course, Silverman is still a bit of a blue absurdist, but definitely hosts this Hulu talk show from the heart.

56. Dana Gould’s album Mr. Funny Man-This is what embodies the height of skill and craftsmanship in comedy, especially for the fact of how all of Dana’s comedy seems all so effortless.

57. Jay Larson’s special Me Being Me-Unlike most comedians, Larson celebrates life in all of its exuberance and his first hour special “Me Being Me” is the best example of that to date.

58. Somewhere in Highland Park-hailing from Channel 101, this series is a slice of life that’s undeniably so sweet thanks to stars Brodie Reed and Aaron Kee and creator Jason Gudasz.

59. Dave Ross and Pat Bishop’s short film Number 5-You might currently have seen the names of Pat Bishop and Dave Ross as one of the creators of the upcoming dark workplace comedy Corporate and co-host of Suicide Buddies. Just think of this short film following a serial killer and a potential new victim as a nice precursor to what they do now.

60. Lady Bird–Greta Gerwig’s debut as a writer/director is every bit the knee-slap-laughing tearjerker that you’ve heard about. From opening credits to the end, it’s simply one of the best movies of 2017.

61. Kelly MacFarland’s album You Woke Up Today-This was the first comedy album we truly enjoyed in 2017 for MacFarland’s candor as a middle-aged stepmom and we firmly stand by enjoying it now that 2017 is over.

62. Zach and Viggo–Zach Zucker and Viggo Venn represent the forefront of what it means to be a silly, non-sensical clown in these times. In fact, they’ve even proved the notion that a “hat on a hat” being too much in comedy can be wrong.

63. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri-If you like your comedic films served up so dark that they have been burnt to a crisp and they’re also nihilistic as all oblivion, Martin McDonagh’s latest film might be the film for you to reckon with.

64. Witch Taint Live-Dave Hill took his famous Black Metal Dialogues (wherein he posed as a kid from Gary, Indiana trolling a Norwegian black metal record label) and created an entire stage show for it, complete with corpse make-up and actual death metal song he sent to the label. It was everything we imagined it would be when we first read the Dialogues.

65. Andrés du Bouchet as a clown protesting IT and a representative of Boliviguay protesting exclusion from the World Series-As far as sketches in late night are concerned, du Bouchet is one of its finest treasures as shown by these two sketches.

66. Nathan For You: A Celebration-In a follow-up special for small businesses that had been on Nathan For You in the past, Nathan Fielder finds, yet again, truth is both stranger and funnier than fiction (more than he could have ever planned).

67. Moses Storm on Conan-Comedy multi-hyphenate Moses Storm had one of the best sets in late night this year, which, of course, comes as no surprise to us.

68. @aparnapkin-Twitter’s best roaster of Trump.

69. Sadie Hawkins Day: Love Knows No Bounds–John Reynolds and Matt Barats reimagine the concept of a Sadie Hawkins dance in the most absurd way possible and come out the other side with a brilliantly stupid comedy.

70. The Lego Batman Movie-Even though this installment of a film franchise based on plastic toy blocks is technically a parody of one of the most well known comic book franchises around, there is still enough cleverness and heart for this movie be enjoyed on its own, separate from LEGOs and Batman.

71. Comedy Show at Gelson’s in Silverlake–Brendon Walsh, Neil Hamburger, Melissa Villasenor, Johnny Pemberton, and magic duo Mystiki really did put on a comedy show at supermarket that was so good that all those that were watching forgot that the Dodgers were playing in The World Series in the background.

72. Desus & Mero–Desus Nice and Kid Mero proved that talking trash about the news like you would at the barbershop is a delightful and viable late night format.

73. Joel Kim Booster’s album Model Minority-Booster offers up a wonderful, ribald, sarcastic path into intersectionality with his very first album.

74. “Husky Budd’s Home Movers” by Power Violence–Cxtreme friendship comedy group Power Violence made “an ad” for the sort of movers that were perfect for 2017.

75. Big Mouth-The animated series from Nick Kroll, Andrew Goldberg, Jennifer Flackett, and Mark Levin about puberty (a cartoon that’s so dirty that it’s kind of meant for adults) is strangely sweet. Also, they probably have the best dark joke of 2017 (hint: it involves Garrison Keillor).

76. Duncan Trussell’s Party Legends story-uber-trippy animation plus Duncan’s story about grieving through BDSM stands out on Lance Bangs’ Party Legends.

77. John Early’s Toni Collette fan site-this is wonderful relic from a bygone era of the Internet and just happened to be created on a very important date in American history. Whenever John Early presents the remnants of his Toni Collette site live at shows, it’s something you’ll never forget.

78. The Disaster Artist–James Franco not only nails how to do a Tommy Wiseau impression, but brings a certain three dimensional humanity to Wiseau that makes a great adaptation of a book that was the tell all story of the making of The Room.

79. Nick Vatterott’s “No Outlet”-Originally conceived as a pilot by Vatterott, it’s the closest thing next to Mr. Show that has been made in recent memory.

80. Sauce at Desano Pizza-From humbling beginnings three years ago, Sauce at Desano Pizza is now one of the best weekly comedy shows in LA.

81. Judah Friedlander’s special America Is The Best Country in the United States-Originally conceived as a concert film, Judah Friedlander’s latest comedy special on Netflix shows off Friedlander’s uncanny ability to riff off off international tourists at NYC’s Comedy Cellar while in character as well as offering a peek behind the curtain of Friedlander’s process.

82. Chris Charpentier on Kimmel–Charpentier let his silly flag fly during his late night debut and it was glorious

83. Thor: Ragnarok–Taika Waititi made sure to leave his unique brand of wry comedy stamped all over a property of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which resulted in one of the most satisfying MCU movies yet.

84. Conner O’Malley-midwestern outlet malls didn’t need to worry about ISIS and the real truth, according to conspiracy theorists that live in basements, will be found thanks to O’Malley’s characters.

85. John-Michael Bond’s Dungeon-Though comedic versions of Dungeons & Dragons have been made before, Bond’s version simplifies the gameplay so comedians, especially D&D uninitiated ones, can really enjoy delving into fantasy land much to the chagrin of the audience.

86. David Bornstein’s short film A King’s Betrayal-presented as a winner at the 2017 Nihilist Film Festival, Bornstein explores the existential nightmare that is the life of a piñata.

87. Full Frontal with Samantha Bee’s Not the White House Correspondents Dinner Special-As Trump broke with tradition and opted out of attending the White House Correspondents Dinner (which put the fate of the WHCD up in the air for a minute), Sam Bee and company came through and made a great TV special that kept that spirit of the WHCD alive and well.

88. I, Tonya-Again, truth can often be funnier than fiction. That is especially the case when the truth is obscured because of conflicting interviews of Tonya Harding and Jeff Gillooly that got adapted into a stellar biopic by Craig Gillespie, Steven Rogers, Margot Robbie, Allison Janney, and Sebastian Stan.

89. My Fair Junkie: A Memoir of Getting Dirty and Staying Clean by Amy Dresner-Few comedians, even with the sort of reputation with vices that comedians typically have, own such stories about addiction like the ones that Amy Dresner lived through. Her memoir shares them in an unflinchingly honest way and, in doing so, finds the humor in places where there would seem to be nothing to laugh at.

90. Neal Brennan’s special 3 Mics-This unique and touching special ought to serve as a credit for Neal Brennan that will supplant him just having co-created Chappelle’s Show.

91. “LA Song” by The Cooties-the juxtaposition of such upbeat melodies and harmonies from The Cooties and unapologetic, too-close-to-home lyrics about everything that’s wrong with Los Angeles offer up a song that is still a pretty, pleasant anthem for this city.

92. Janicza Bravo’s film Lemon Starring Brett Gelman-This portrayal of an acting teacher/struggling actor going through a breakdown really shows off how great Gelman can be in a whole new complex and nuanced way. Also, it has the best performance and use of the song “A Million Matzoh Balls”.

93. Helltrap Nightmare-Chicago’s own live horror-inspired comedy show led by Sarah Squirm/Sarah Sherman (with The Shrimp Boys [Wyatt Fair, Luke Taylor & David Brown], Scott Egleston, and Ruby McCollister) stopped by LA and we couldn’t have marveled at their finely tuned silly nightmares more.

94. SMILF–Frankie Shaw took her critically acclaimed short film of the same name and turned into a critically acclaimed television series on premium cable and managed to upset the Catholic Church. Pretty nice going for a first timer, no?

95. Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell-In its 3rd season, Dave Willis and Casper Kelly’s workplace comedy set in hell that there is still plenty to laugh at in a place of utter despair and hopelessness.

96. Liz Climo-Climo’s illustrations between talking animals are undeniably heartwarming, though not overly so as they bring a smile to the faces of the most cynical adults. She has a book full of them, which you might want to keep close if you need something to put a smile on your face.

97. Too Funny to Fail-The story of the unfortunate demise of The Dana Carvey Show is captured so well in this documentary from Josh Greenbaum, especially with all the interviews from the writers and cast, which, as you well might know, when on to be some of the best and brightest in comedy (Stephen Colbert, Steve Carell, Robert Carlock, Charlie Kaufman, Jon Glaser, Robert Smigel, and more)

98. John Mulaney & Nick Kroll w/Oh, Hello on Broadway and hosting The Spirit Awards-From their track record that they’ve been on the last couple of years (especially with their Broadway show that was born out of sketch characters and awards hosting gits), don’t be surprised if Mulaney and Kroll earn an EGOT together in the not so distant future.

99. The Jackie and Laurie Show-The friendship dynamic between Jackie Kashian and Laurie Kilmartin is so amazing that a podcast where they just see what’s going on each other’s lives provides us with one of our all time favorite podcasts.

100. Mike Birbiglia’s Thank God For Jokes-Mike Birbiglia served up another fantastic comedy special and, at the same time, offered up the best treatise in defense of telling jokes that we have ever heard. Thank Mike Birbiglia for the whole thing (as well as watch the special).

ICYMI: The 100 Best Things in Comedy We Were Witness to in No Particular Order of 2016

January 4, 2017

Uncategorized

2016, best in comedy, top 100

ICYMI: The 100 Best Things in Comedy We Were Witness to in No Particular Order of 2016

Our 2016 best of comedy list includes stand-up, sketch, improv, short film, podcasts, poetry, art installations, books, feature films, web series, musical comedy, individual performances, late night, and anything else that falls under the umbrella of comedy that we loved.

Some things you may know like Reggie Watts or Full Frontal with Samantha Bee and others, like Chris Estrada or Killer, you may not. In any case, we hope you enjoy it all as we did.

Fun fact: the list has items that happened on January 1st, 2016 and also December 30th, 2016.

The 100 Best Things in Comedy We Were Witness to in No Particular Order of 2016

2016 is officially, finally, thankfully over (as long as you don’t think about time largely being a human construct, a new number of year doesn’t make things automatically better, and Trump becoming POTUS).

So, it’s time for our year end list, The 100 Best Things in Comedy We Were Witness to in No Particular Order of 2016.

For reference of how we do our year-end, best of lists, which is a far cry from most other comedy best of lists anywhere else, check out our lists from past years: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015.

Got it? Great.

Here’s 2016′s edition:

1. Jake Weisman’s Send Up of Peter Travers Reviews-Rolling Stone has gone through so much recently, you might have forgot this amazing NSFW parody that Weisman made of Travers movie reviews.

2. Rory Scovel’s set on Conan Where He Went Into the Crowd-Rory Scovel pushes the envelope in stand-up in the best ways imaginable and this latest Conan set is evidence of his juggling of being fearless and silly at the same time.

3. Conan Without Borders-Conan O’Brien’s trips overseas to Berlin and South Korea highlight every single comedy gear that Conan can shift into and proves that he can almost make any situation hilarious.

4. “Killer” by Matt Kazman-Kazman achieves one of the best comedic payoffs on screen in 2016, including film and TV, with this incredibly crafted short film.

5. The Jackie and Laurie Show-Jackie Kashian and Laurie Kilmartin found a way to make a podcast where comedians talk comedy and have it be original, damn funny, and crucial.

6 Hebecky Drysbell-Reigning all time UCB Cagematch champions Heather Anne Campbell and Rebecca Drysdale showcase such virtuosity as an improv duo that is as hilarious as it is, when we think about it, beautiful.

7. Chris Estrada-If you’re looking for diamonds in the rough right now, we’d say catch Estrada’s next set and you’ll see how great his jokes are drawing from his life growing up in LA.

8. Cool Sh*t/Weird Sh*t’s Neighborhood Walking Tour-the LA outfit of the experimental comedy show brilliantly took its audience, one night, around the block and staged such moments as a couple fake fighting in a real Food 4 Less, a woman crying trying to explain the plot of a movie in a Walgreens, and running into an adult orphan waiting to be adopted off the street.

9. Womanhood with Aparna Nancherla and Jo Firestone-Nancherla and Firestone compliment each other so well in being goofy on this show that goes through absurd explanations of “womanhood” that it should be the next web series that gets made into a full fledged TV show.

10. Fleabag-Phoebe Waller Bridge has the UK’s fantastic, epic answer to You’re The Worst.

11. Giulia Rozzi’s True Love-Rozzi’s hour achieves what a good rom com achieves by skewering love and all of its faults as much as it celebrates it.

12. Mike Leffingwell’s 12 Angry Men: The One Man Show-The concept of a single man doing a solo show adaptation of the classic courtroom drama 12 Angry Men is funny enough, but Mike Leffingwell then pulled off performing it perfectly.

13. Josh Sharp doing an hour while dipping in and out of singing D’Angelo’s Untitled (How Does It Feel?) with a live band-Sharp’s stories are wonderfully crafted and told, and then, accentuated by his lovely voice singing D’Angelo’s most well known song like there’s no tomorrow.

14. Not Safe with Nikki Glaser’s Remote Segments–Glaser fed porn stars lines for scenes, visited a foot fetish convention, and highlighted sex in such a fun way that wasn’t attempted by any other TV show.

15. Last Week Tonight with John Oliver’s Make Donald Drumpf Again-Oliver and company’s take down of Trump was one of the best researched, strategized, written, executed pieces on Trump during this whole election cycle.

16. Disengaged-Jen Tullock and Hannah Utt’s web series following a lesbian couple rushing into marriage was one of the best pieces of romantic comedy we saw in 2016

17. [F*ck This] Late Night Show with David Brown-In a way, David Brown sees Eric Andre’s rebellion against the traditional late night format and raises it some more chaos. He has a separate creative team ruining his talk show as it happens via flashmobs, waterboarding, etc.

18. Baron Vaughn’s Blaxisential Crisis-Baron Vaughn’s latest album oscillates perfectly between deep and crucial issues of race, class, purpose and flights of imaginative fancy putting Vaughn almost in a class by himself.

19. Crabapples with Bobcat Goldthwait and Caitlin Gill-the odd couple pairing of Goldthwait and Gill is unlike anything comedy has seen before. Because it lives in truth (they really are roommates), it’s one of the best hosting duos in comedy today.

20. Megan Gailey-Gailey, with her stand-up, is simultaneously an undeniable delight and a force to be reckoned with, which only doubles up how delightful she is to watch.

21. Liartown USA-When it comes to parodying covers for books, magazines, Netflix menus, etc., Sean Tejaratchi might just do it better than anyone as you can see above.

22. This Bill Burr joke: “How many Toyota Camrys do you have to see before you realize most people’s dreams don’t come true?”-We usually refrain from transcribing jokes out of context and in print, but we haven’t stopped laughing at this searingly honest joke from Burr since we first saw him work on it several months ago and felt it imperative that it be on this list.

23. Sing Street-The 80s, Ireland, young love, and diegetic musicals get married perfectly in this film by John Carney that spent far too little time in theaters.

24. Derek Sheen’s Tiny Idiot-This album made it clear that Sheen could be an heir apparent to Patton Oswalt, bu very clearly has his own, unique comedic take on the world today.

25. Stephen Colbert’s Close to His Election 2016 Live Special-For once, the world got to see the real Stephen Colbert who is so intelligent, well spoken, caring, and one of the only people that could pull of dealing with immediate aftermath of an impending Trump win on TV.

26. Will Hines’ A Soundly Defeated Man-Hines, in a series of sketch vignettes, takes the comedic self-deprecation to a new level of artistry by showing how defeated one man really can be.

27. The Lobster-Yorgos Lanthimos might have made the best dystopian rom com in recent memory and, possibly, for several years to come.

28. Jena Friedman’s American C*nt-Friedman is unrelenting in her dismantling of the patriarchy amongst other several other controversial issues. She handily deals with them in this special, placing her in a very important position in comedy going forward in 2017.

29. Jamie Loftus-Loftus is that amazing rare breed of comedian that blends dark, absurdist humor with genuine vulnerability and she can do so in her stand-up or through own self-styled animation (ex. doing her own animations for old tapes of how to tell children about someone dying).

30. Chris Duffy’s You Get a Spoon-Duffy’s NYC based, curated variety show is filled with so much positivity from celebrating the favorite things of his favorite performers that you almost can’t leave the show without a smile on your face (or winning a prize).

31. Bear Supply-The quick, music fueled scenes of Mike Castle, Shaun Boylan, Joey Greer, Jordan Bull, Morgan Christensen and James Heaney is impeccable improvisational comedy.

32. The Cooties-Musical comedy is alive and well with the satirical power pop songs of The Cooties.

33. Aparna Nancherla’s Just Putting It Out There-Aparna’s album is proof positive that her wondrous version of self-deprecation can be ultimately uplifting.

34. Hunt for the Wilderpeople-Taika Waititi continues his film streak with a charming-as-can-be film about a troubled youth surviving in the wilds of New Zealand.

35. Don’t Think Twice-Mike Birbiglia gets really close to hitting too close to home for some people in comedy, but that draws out one of the best depictions of life in comedy (or attempting to do so) that has ever been put into a movie.

36. The Opening of The Pack Theater-The DIY, punk rock, spirit that runs in the veins of much of LA comedy got a new, wonderful outlet at The Pack Theater.

37. Jetzo-Chad Damiani and Juzo Yoshida mash-up improv, clowning, kimonos, dramatic live musical accompaniment, and breaking the fourth wall to make the marvelous whirlwind known as Jetzo.

38. DJ Real (Nick Stargu)-SF comedian Nick Stargu’s alias DJ Real mixes an uncanny command of musicianship with an über-clever style of comedy that dazzled and had us doubling over laughing at the same time.

39. Daniel Webb-Hailing from Austin, TX, stand-up comedian Daniel Webb is a splendid rush of charisma that probably has a better Obama story than almost anyone you know.

40. Laurie Kilmartin’s 45 Jokes About My Dead Dad-Kilmartin’s special, born out of jokes she tweeted while her dad was passing away, is so darkly funny and has an unmistakable humanity, which has us rethinking that maxim of comedy equals tragedy plus time.

41. Kristin Rand-LA got a brief glimpse of the unstoppable charm of Rand when she moved here from Denver and was all the better for it.

42. James Fritz’s Still Together-The way Fritz exquisitely channels rage and bleakness into this debut album is magnificent.

43. Roast Battle-What started as two open mic’ers fighting in a parking lot has now earned its way to a March Madness style tournament shown on Comedy Central and we’re betting that Roast Battle still has much more potential ahead of them.

44. Josh Fadem-Fadem made a return to performing more regularly in 2016 and his magnetic positivity and pure, unabashed goofiness (complete with impromptu costumes) definitely got us through the whole of last year.

45. Sam Jay-Jay moved to LA from Boston and took her insightful, brash, unfiltered comedy (that happens to come through the lens of being a newly married lesbian) and has become a the LA scene favorite almost instantly.

46. Dave Waite’s Dead Waite-Dave Waite’s latest hour takes being a goofball to new heights of brilliance.

47. Of Oz The Wizard by Matt Bucy-Absurdity doesn’t get more pure than Bucy’s re-editing the classic film version of The Wizard of Oz and alphabetizing the entire thing, start to finish.

48. This Friday Forty-Most other quiz shows can’t compare to Scott Gimple and Dave Holmes’ This Friday Forty that not only has topical trivia, but fantastic sketch characters to introduce said trivia.

49. Jay Larson’s Human Math-Few comedians so deftly explore the minutia of human nature like Larson does on this album.

50. Josh Gondelman’s Physical Whisper-Gondelman’s craftsmanship in observational humor is exceptional on this album and accentuated nicely by his sunny stage persona.

51. Kyle Mizono right after the election-There was a lot of raw nerves exposed in comedians right after Trump’s win and few did it so purely and well as Mizono. For a whole set, she screamed her jokes with legitimate fury, but without being off-putting (well, if you’re not a Trump supporter that is).

52. Lady Dynamite-Maria Bamford’s truth and Mitch Hurwitz’s wildly imaginative way of making episodic television combine for a comedy series that is blazing its own trail at a time where that gets harder and harder to do in a show about the life of a comedian.

53. Hail, Caesar!-The Coen Brothers’ latest comedy set in Hollywood’s Golden Age is one of their sharpest and most beautiful works that has plenty of scenes that could be amazing short films on their own.

54. Moses Storm’s Sweater-Moses Storm never ceases to amaze us as he, this time, wore a sweater that had several strings attached to it for audience members to grab so they could literally be connected to him while he’s telling a story.

55. Full Frontal with Samantha Bee-Samantha Bee has cemented a legacy in her short time on the air with her take-no-prisoners-and-then-some style of satirical news coverage.

56. Gene Wilder and Fidel Castro’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve (in Limbo)-UCB’s Beth Appel and Rose Marziale put a hell of a show to end 2016 with as they used the whole of the UCB Sunset complex to have an immersive comedy show (a la Sleep No More) that included karaoke with dead celebrities, a fake newsroom, and the woods where Hillary Clinton is living.

57. Morris From America-Chad Hartigan’s refreshing coming-of-age story following an American black kid trying to grow up in Germany with his single father hit a very sweet, feel-good note that everyone needs to see (especially since it had a short theatrical run).

58. Britanick’s “The Foul Line”-Though BriTANick had gone a few years without a new video, this absurdist folly makes up for all that time lost.

59. 20th Century Women-Mike Mills’ latest is a great follow up to Beginners and is an award worthy comedy that might actually be able to compete with heavily favored dramas this year.

60. Three Busy Debras-The comedy trio of Three Busy Debras got to play Carnegie Hall through this devilishly fun crowdfunding campaign.

61. Paul F. Tompkins’ on Political Correctness-One of comedy’s best gave one of the best explanations of political correctness’ necessary role in comedy.

62. The Dollop-Shining a light on the dark corners in American history is as important as it has ever been and Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds do so with a devilish laugh and their effortless riffing up comedy gold.

63. Floor Knobs-This AOK sketch from Heather Anne Campbell is one of our absolute favorites and, rather than spoiling anything, we’ll just leave it at that.

64. David Gborie’s Late Night Stand Up Debut-Gborie takes an unexpected move in his opening to this performances that sets up a truly wonderful late night stand-up debut.

65. Cholofit-Frankie Quinones’ cholo exercise guru is done so well that it leaves you wanting it to be a real exercise program.

66. Oh, Hello-John Mulaney and Nick Kroll took two characters from just being a small bit to the heights of Broadway. George St. Geegland and Gil Faizon are just so fully realized and funny that it doesn’t matter if you miss one of their references or not.

67. Chris Garcia’s Laughing and Crying at the Same Time-Garcia meshes deeply personal stories and utter silliness that do the album title justice.

68. Cole Escola-Escola’s solo show follows him playing several outrageous characters (switching wigs and costumes while on stage) allowing for another fun layer in between the cavalcade of delightful, short monologues.

69. Catastrophe season 2-Sharon Horgan and Rob Delaney have kept their devastatingly funny look into an unplanned family up to the very high standard they set in season 1.

70. Triumph the Insult Comic Dog’s Election Watch 2016-Robert Smigel might have not known that having a dog puppet on his hand roasting people to their face for years would be the perfect preparation for covering the 2016 election (on both sides of the aisle), but, as the handful of Hulu specials prove, it really was.

71. Joel Kim Booster’s set on Conan-Just telling the story of being adopted by a Midwestern white family from Korea and being gay is fascinating enough, but Joel Kim Booster made that story blisteringly funny on late night.

72. Angie Tribeca-Physical comedy and sight gags would almost seem out-of-turn in comedy these days, but the proudly silly Angie Tribeca on TBS is thankfully changing all of that.

73. Trump vs. Bernie-While ‘Trump vs. Bernie’ will probably be a presidential candidate match-up that more people will long for than ever, Anthony Atamanuik and James Adomian’s Trump vs. Bernie will go down as one of the best bits (that includes the live tour, the Fusion series, and album) of comedy to come out of one of the worst elections in U.S. history.

74. Joe Pera’s Set on Seth Meyers-Pera’s weirdness is one-of-a-kind in comedy as it’s very warm and inviting. He got to share that with the world with his set on Late Night with Seth Meyers.

75. Vice Prinicpals-When Danny McBride and Walton Goggins’ diabolical teachers one-up, in the best way, any other teachers in any other comedies that go off-the-deep-end in this HBO series.

76. Brad Neely’s Harg Nallin’ Sclopio Peepio-Neely’s latest creations seems to offer up bits from the weirdest corners of Neely’s mind and this animated sketch show is all the better for it.

77. Hari Kondabolu’s Mainstream American Comic-Much is deservingly said about Kondabolu’s expertise in talking politics, class, race, etc. in his comedy, but this album also shows that his comedy is stellar no matter where you fall on the political spectrum.

78. Jon Glaser Loves Gear-Glaser does meta comedy better than almost anybody else working right now and his new show on TruTV is proof of that.

79. How to Win at Feminism by Reductress-This whip-smart manifesto about feminism solidifies Reductress’ place in modern satire next to The Onion and Clickhole.

80. Great Minds with Dan Harmon-Harmon getting to spend time with some of history’s most notable figures ended up being one of the best shows that the History Channel has done in years.

81. Derrick Brown-Very few poets can reach the point of being laugh out loud funny and still deeply emotive quite like Brown, both on stage and in his book, Uh-Oh.

82. Natalie Palamides’ solo show Laid-Palamides makes a solo show that’s so absurd and funny, it might almost be in a unique category of its own.

83. W. Kamau Bell’s Semi-Prominent Negro–Bell explores all of today’s hot button issues (racial inequality, transgender identity, gentrification, etc.) comedically, as he is very skilled at doing, but does it in such a jovial way that they don’t seem so controversial anymore.

84. Other People–Chris Kelly’s hilarious and heartbreaking movie based on his own life in dealing with the passing of his mother from cancer is one of Kelly’s finest work, which is even more impressive as his first feature done while being an SNL writer.

85. Emo Philips improvising with Jason Van Glass-Emo’s comedic prowess is so great that he can improvise with Van Glass like they’re a veteran improv duo.

86. Return of MST3K-Of the things from our childhoods that are being brought back, Mystery Science Theater 3000 returning with a sweeping mandate in the form of a record breaking Kickstarter campaign is one that deserves to be revived.

87. Wyatt Cenac’s An Angry Night in November-Cenac’s EP captures lightning in a bottle (it’s his set from his weekly Night Train show) of immediate post-election comedy that is pure, raw, and biting.

88. Justin Sayre’s Gay Agenda-Sayre makes a compilation of his “meetings” as ‘Chairman of the International Order of Sodomites’ that give a hysterical look into the many great, complex layers of LGBTQ life.

89. Ahamed Weinberg-Both as a stand-up and a filmmaker (watch Rasberries), Weinberg is on a path to being another great modern comedy multi-hyphenate.

90. Jon Dore Gets a Bad Backstory-Dore once again shows how to toe the line when entering the darkest territories of comedic material and do so successfully while being utterly absurd.

91. Ron Babcock videos-A dying reel and an ad for his old CRV really showcase the cleverness and ingenuity of comedy’s Ron Babcock.

92. Reggie Watts’ Spatial-Watts’ latest special is his best and most ambitious one yet as it includes his beatboxing, a faux sitcom, tap dancing, and way more.

93. Alex & Jude–Alex Hanpeter and Jude Tedmori have figured out how to give slapstick, physical comedy the proper twist for 2016 audiences, which includes a literal bit of audience participation of making Jude a target.

94. Conner O’Malley-O’Malley takes satirical field pieces to a whole new level as he plays and wholeheartedly commits to dark, fully realized characters inspired by vaping, Alex Jones, and Cubs fans. He interacts with real people at Trump rallies, vape conventions and outside of Wrigley Field and goes along with whatever happens.

95. Doug Stanhope’s No Place Like Home-Stanhope has an amazing take on mental illness in this special and opted to shoot it in his own hometown of Bisbee, AZ. Overall, No Place Like Home ranks high up in Stanhope’s extensive catalog of stand-up.

96. “Tond” by Kelly Hudson-Hudson’s short film is one of our favorite bits of existential absurdity of 2016, a year seemingly saturated in nothing but questioning ‘what it all means’.

97. Brett Gelman’s Dinner in America-Gelman’s last special on Adult Swim is one to remember, especially for how searing the satirical commentary on race relations are in it.

98. Miguel Marquez-Marquez bridges a gap, almost literally, between art and comedy as his wry art installations are way funnier (intentionally that is) than nearly anything you’d see in an art museum.

99. Chris Fleming’s Silver Lining–The week following the election seemed as hopeless can be if you voted for Hillary and Fleming offered up a powerful, albeit one with a bit of tomfoolery, message of hope.

100. Norm MacDonald on Conan-Not only is there the expected long, winding roads of Norm’s jokes and stories in this particular appearance, but Conan does an impression of Norm out of frustration that’s spot on.

The 100 Best Things in Comedy We Were Witness To In No Particular Order of 2014

January 2, 2015

Uncategorized

best of, best things in comedy we were witness to in no particular order, top 100

2014 is officially over, which, according to our protocol here at The Comedy Bureau, clears us to make our annual list of The 100 Best Things in Comedy We Were Witness To In No Particular Order for 2014.

For the uninitiated, we make a list of anything and everything in comedy over the last 365 days of a calendar year that we loved including comedians, specials, podcasts, art installations, movies, TV shows, online stores, etc. Just catch yourself up with the 2011, 2012, and 2013 editions of the 100 Best Things in Comedy We Were Witness To In No Particular Order.

For the record, we are understaffed here and didn’t get around to watching You’re The Worst and The Comeback, which seemed, from all accounts from our sources, like two shows we would really have loved.

So, without any more delays, here are our picks for the 100 Best Things In Comedy We Were Witness To in No Particular Order in 2014.

1. Review on Comedy Central-The idea that someone would review life itself by request is already a pretty good idea for a TV show. Andy Daly took it from good idea to darkly, rich, layered comedic brilliance.

2. The Dollop–Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds explore the tapestries of human history that tend to get overlooked and completely shouldn’t be for how insane/bizarre/dumb/etc. they are. History rarely is this damn funny.

3. Bridget Everett-Everett has one hell of a voice and unafraid to use it to shout about doing the nasty from any mountain top around. She’s a force of comedy to behold.

4. Bad Words–Jason Bateman’s directorial debut gave the spelling bee sub genre of movies a much needed dark comedic edge.

5. James Austin Johnson*-Genuine and absurd are two words that so rarely do mix together well in comedy. James Austin Johnson mixes them exquisitely with voices, stand-up, characters, music, and more.

6. Roast Battle–The Comedy Store has gone through a mini-rennaissance thanks to, in part, the amazing weekly comedy duel that Brian Moses and Rell Battle have set up.

7. Transparent–Jill Soloway’s critically acclaimed Amazon dramedy series is just flat out amazing. Not only does it enlighten us all on the world of transgendered people, but the dysfunctional family dynamics in the show are exquisite.

8. Hannibal Buress**-Besides sparking the fire that has taken down a comedy legend’s career, Hannibal also manage to put another solid stand-up special in Live From Chicago as well as reviewing restaurants.

9. Eddie Pepitone*** “In Ruins”-In Ruins, directed by Steve Feinartz, was Pepitone’s very first comedy special and the “Bitter Buddha” did not disappoint. In a gorgeous hat, Eddie hilariously picks apart the fabric that society likes to claim is keeping us altogether.

10. Bill Burr** “I’m Sorry You Feel That Way”-Bill Burr’s latest stand-up special I’m Sorry You Feel That Way directed by Jay Karas has only further cemented him as one of comedy’s foremost torchbearers. It challenges, goes to the fringes, provokes, is in black and white, and, most importantly, is so undeniably funny.

11. Grand Budapest Hotel–Wes Anderson kicked 2014 off with a bang with one of his best films to date in Grand Budapest Hotel. The bang, it should be noted, was from the sort of flintlock pistol that would be used in duels over very rigid and ancient codes of manners held in fictional European countries.

12. Tig Notaro*** on Conan in Dallas–Tig Notaro never ceases to amaze in her stand-up, especially when it comes to performing on Conan. That’s quite a feat considering she’s killed from just pushing a stool on stage.

13. Ben Roy “No Enlightenment in Sobriety“-There is a great tradition of fire and brimstone style comedians that deliver their material like a preacher prepping us for the end of days. Ben Roy upheld that tradition well this year with his album No Enlightenment in Sobriety covering being sober, how he wants to leave this mortal coil, and other such delightful topics.

14. Toledo Rep-an improv troupe disguised a repertory theatre company based out of Toledo Ohio made for one of the best and more innovative improv performances we’ve see all year. Also, having Suzi Barrett, Rebecca Drysdale, Eugene Cordero, Billy Merritt, Joel Spence, Johnny Meeks, and Tricia McAlpin on an improv team together is pretty great

15. Stand Up Planet-The U.S. of A is not the only place that has great stand-up comedy in English. Stand Up Planet and host Hasan Minhaj went to South Africa, India, and more and not only found great comedians, but also found ones that weren’t afraid to get into certain issues in their comedy without the benefit of the free speech we get here stateside.

16. Le Weekend–Jim Broadbent and Lindsay Duncan make for a wondrous British couple trying to have one enjoyable weekend in Paris that goes darkly awry. More rom coms would do well to strike this sort of tone.

17. Weird Al Yankovic’s Mandatory Fun Was #1-On paper, it might seem the an entire album of song parodies making it into Billboard’s Top 100, especially since comedy albums in general rarely ever enter the Top 100, would be a little farfetched. However, Weird Al Yankovic’s Mandatory Fun broke through a glass ceiling and deservedly made it to the top of the that Billboard’s Top 100.

18. @sarajbenincasa-To enjoy commentary on live/current events, you can depend on Sara Benincasa to have a flurry of tweets that walks the line between comedy and social commentary quite nicely.

19. Alan Partridge–Steve Coogan has been really busy this year, especially after taking a more dramatic and well received turn with Philomena. One of the highlights of Coogan’s year is an entire movie surrounding his aloof radio DJ character Alan Partridge having to solve a hostage situation while still being Alan Partridge.

20. Feminist Burlesque by Nadia Kamil-Just take in that title and know that UK comedian Nadia Kamil literally and figuratively pulls off what could almost be an oxymoron in “feminist burlesque”.

21. Moses Storm-Pranks, performance art, and comedy all met terrifically via Moses Storm this year. He held the most exclusive birthday party at LAX’s Chili’s as well as doing an entire live performance art installation that he lived in that both celebrated and satirized the ever-confusing "millennial”.

22. Andy Peters* “Exclamation Mark Question Point“-The undeniable and infectious fun that Andy Peters has on stage is evident throughout his debut album Exclamation Mark Question Point off of AST Records.

23. @jessecase*-Jesse Case consistently puts on a display of craftsmanship in joke writing via Twitter. Somehow, he has honed comedic misdirection and not have it be tiring.

24. Dave Ross*** “Radio”-Having had extensive experience at a radio station in Fresno, Dave Ross made the perfect send-up of all terrestrial radio stations with a heavy emphasis on those over-the-top radio sweepers that he’s played at his live shows this year.

25. Kurt Metzger “White Precious”-We can’t even remember how many times we listened/watched Metzger’s latest album/special White Precious from Comedy Central because of how funny it is wire-to-wire. Metzger balances material perfectly written to touch on every taboo topic there is while also making it so conversational that it seems like he just came up with the idea right then and there.

26. They Came Together–David Wain’s hysterical deconstruction of the entire romantic comedy genre with Paul Rudd and Amy Poehler is something we’ve been waiting for all these years and we didn’t even know it.

27. BoJack Horseman–Netflix has fared pretty well in their foray into comedy. Taking the leap into the animated realm with the decidedly gritty, absurdist, Hollywood satire of BoJack Horseman voiced perfectly by Will Arnett from Raphael Bob-Waksberg has definitely been part of that.

28. Greg Proops* doing Set List–Greg Proops has made himself accomplished in both stand-up and improv and Set List: The Improvised Stand Up Show gave him the perfect opportunity show off how skilled his in both disciplines.

29. Andy Kindler’s** Latest Letterman Set-Very few comedians can be as meta and as fun as Andy Kindler. Any and every set that Kindler does on The Late Show with David Letterman is a great example of that, especially his latest one.

30. @hordie–Funny or Die‘s Ally Hord has a timeline full of gems that are the perfect amount of snark.

31. Rory Scovel*** crowd surfing on Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail-The sheer comedy magic of Rory Scovel and Meltdown come to a head when Rory attempts to crowd surf in what is still the back of a comic book shop.

32. Doug Smith and Matt Wayne‘s See You In Hell-Hailing from NY, Doug Smith and Matt Wayne put on a such a fun show where comedians have to go through hellish tasks while doing stand-up like randomly arm wrestling audience members or get interrupted and do karaoke or finish a bottle of cheese whiz in between jokes. They’re also, appropriately, dressed up as devils.

33. Last Week Tonight with John Oliver–John Oliver got his own satirical news show at HBO and made it so good that he almost united the entire Internet on a weekly basis.

34. Rick and Morty*-Season one of Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon’s Rick & Morty on Adult Swim saw unbelievable adventures between a misanthropic alcoholic scientist and his grandson. You could just watch how they deal with jumping between multiple universes and it’d be worth it.

35. @yassir_lester*-Consistently, Yassir Lester keeps his Twitter feed up to such a high bar of unfiltered, silly, ironic aggression that is always a delight to read.

36. Superego**-Not only did Superego release their 4th season as a podcast this year, but they added Paul F. Tompkins as a cast member. They also started putting video to their amazing, ridiculous sketches, which, as you’d expect, is amazing.

37. Moshe Kasher and Brent Weinbach*-On their own, Moshe Kasher and Brent Weinbach are great stand-up comedians. Together, they’re a great absurdist duo, especially when Brent interrupts Moshe on stage during his act to have Moshe be a French clown.

38. The Virgil-It seems like just a very classy bar sitting on the corner of Santa Monica Blvd. and Virgil, but The Virgil is now home to so many great shows including Hot Tub, Competitive Erotic Fan Fiction, Super Serious Show, Radio Picture Show, and more.

39. Dave Waite-It’s hard not to get on board with how loosey-goosey Dave Waite keeps it on stage. Check out his album Hotdoggin’ or see him live and you’ll get on the Waite comedy train too.

40. The Goddamn Comedy Jam–Josh Adam Meyers has orchestrated an epic night of comedy by featuring comedians doing their act then capping the performance off with covering a song live. As a result, Bill Burr has played drums dressed up as Led Zeppelin’s John Bonham.

41. Chelsea Peretti* “One of the Greats”-Peretti’s latest stand-up special “One of the Greats“ directed by Lance Bangs played with the entire form of stand-up specials while also being a great stand-up special.

42. Eliza Skinner-Eliza can do it all and does it all quite well. Funny or Die sketches, musical improv, stand-up, killing it at writing erotic fan fiction, and doing musical improv as improvised stand-up are just a few things that she checked off in 2014.

43. Ithamar Has Nothing To Say–Ithamar Enriquez does an entire comedy solo show without speaking a word and yet, so many words describe it including awesome, hilarious, astounding, triumph, etc. It’s no wonder that it’s being developed into a web series by Key & Peele.

44. David Dineen-Porter-Technically, David Dineen-Porter hails from Toronto, Canada, but he might just be from another universe altogether where powerpoints, prayers, video game reviews and more are all normal when they’re just absurdly funny in this current universe.

45. Patton Oswalt* “Tragedy Plus Comedy Equals Time”-Patton made sure to put extra special care into his latest special Tragedy Plus Comedy Equals Time by developing almost exclusively in the Greater LA Area. The result was a damn fine stand-up special that has one of the best stories about playing a casino ever.

46. Nick Vatterott* “For Amusement Only”-Vatterott does such great, outlandish visual bits, we were curious how he was going to pull of such layered comedy on an album. For Amusement Only did not disappoint and weaved nicely between jokes, bits, director’s commentary all while making sure the audience is still following along.

47. Conan Remotes**-Conan O’Brien has built up a legacy as the funniest guy in the room. The remote segments on his show allow him to showcase that to the nth degree even if it’s couples therapy or playing video games.

48. Karen Kilgariff-Whether it be her album “Live at The Bootleg”, her love song about Godzilla, or just giving comedians a lift somewhere, our day is always made better with more Karen Kilgariff in it.

49. Joe Wagner*-Seeing Joe Wagner live on stage is almost akin to seeing Bigfoot for how rare it can be sometimes. However, unlike Bigfoot, Wagner pushes the boundaries of comedies in talking about hot button issues the moment they become hot button issues like #YesAllWomen or how committed he can “stay in the pocket” of a comedic experiment of sorts for a big pay off. He’s also the director of one of our favorite sketch groups, The Midnight Show.

50. Ron Funches* on Conan-Though he might have the friendliest voice you’ll hear, Ron Funches just keeps crushing in his stand-up wherever he goes. For example, his latest Conan set.

51. @bryancooking–Bryan Cook utilizes the incendiary and sarcastic sides quite well on Twitter. Having gone on strike with writers from Fashion Police, he pulled no punches in his Twitter feed when Joan Rivers passed away.

52. Key and Peele***-All the moving cogs at Key & Peele from Keegan and Jordan to Peter Atencio to the entire writing staff and more are all at the top of their game right now. They may even get better. Mattress shopping, Georgina & Esther, and aerobics meltdown are just a few examples of this.

53. #gofuckyourselfben–Ben Kronberg was on Last Comic Standing this year and rather than trying to win it all, he instead won the heart of the Internet by making a meme out of Roseanne Barr’s judgment of him: #gofuckyourselfben.

54. Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)-writer/director Alejandro González Iñárritu has gotten plenty of “tour de force” reviews from critics and plenty of awards nominations for Birdman. They are all deserved for the dark comedy that skewers every single part of the entertainment industry.

55. Jared Logan-Both his album from AST Records “My Brave Battle” and his Kickstarter campaign to get Hillary Clinton to come address his Dungeons and Dragons club respectively make exploring the lives of D&D players and West Virginia incredibly funny.

56. Natasha Leggero not apologizing for her Pearl Harbor joke-Exactly one year ago today, Leggero got some backlash for making a joke about Pearl Harbor on New Year’s Eve. In an era of comedians being cornered into a forced apology, she did what a comedian who is worth their salt does by standing behind her jokes.

57. Going Deep with David Rees-Humorist David Rees has mastered the art of making learning about the mundane and everyday magical and unbelievably funny with his National Geographic show Going Deep.

58. Lies with Sara Schaefer–Sara Schaefer has given a new twist on comedy podcasts, just when you thought that there could be no more twists. She has a guest and together on Lies, at Nerdist in association with WNYC, they tell no truths in conversation, which makes for comedy gold as opposed to comedy pyrite.

59. Baron Vaughn*-Wordplay, social issues, and talking to insects ne’er intersect better than at the comedy of Baron Vaughn. His Kepler planet bit is especially fantastic.

60. Hari Kondabolu “Waiting For 2042”-Kill Rock Stars has been building quite the discography for comedy this year and Hari Kondabolu’s latest album Waiting For 2042 is a big part of that. Hari somehow manages to have as many opinions and sides of an issue represented in his jokes without taking away from the humor at all.

61. Jenny Slate–Obvious Child, the stream of consciousness on @jennyslate, a new ‘Marcel the Shell with Shoes On’ book are just a few things that made this a banner year for Jenny Slate.

62. Matt Porter and Charlie Hankin-Matt and Charlie dominated in the web series world this year with their offbeat verve in Good Cop Great Cop, New Timers at CC:Studios, and Door Boys at MTV Other.

63. Flotsam General Store–Jon Benjamin and Eugene Mirman sell artisan, small-batch, handmade mystery sacks straight from Brooklyn. If there’s ever a Prank Hall of Fame, we think Flotsam would rightfully get it’s own gallery of mystery sacks. Also, they still wouldn’t reveal the contents in the sack unless you paid $40 or more.

64. TJ Miller ** guest hosts Chelsea Lately-TJ got to fill in for Chelsea Handler on Chelsea Lately this year and he made a great case to host his own talk show or, at least, continue to wreak his own personal brand of controlled chaos on other shows.

65. Mike Wilmot–Canada‘s Mike Wilmot briefly stopped in LA for a few shows, one of which Lewis Black opened for him, and showed a breath of fresh air, albeit one tinged with heavy helping of sarcasm, from an old comedy vet that gets to play around the world.

66. Jim Gaffigan** “Obsessed”-It would seem that Jim Gaffigan should be out of material on food at this point, but, donuts and seafood get their own spectacular chunk on Gaffigan’s latest stand-up special, “Obsessed”. On top of that, Gaffigan plenty of non-food material including one of the best all time jokes about weddings.

67. Phil Hanley’s break-up transcript-NYC based Phil Hanley gets a female audience member to reenact a recent break-up with his girlfriend and, with a little choice editorial from Phil, makes a break-up seem actually pretty great.

68. Pro transgender spoken word PAC-MAN poetry by Kyle Kinane*-At Competitive Erotic Fan Fiction, there’s a whole group of comedians that have to write erotic fan fic based off an audience suggested topic. Kinane got PAC-MAN and did his whole piece as spoken word. We don’t think we need to say more to explain how amazing that was.

69. Broad City–Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer have broken down so many cultural, genre barriers perceptions while making a hit TV show on Comedy Central. Additionally, Broad City is f’n funny.

70. Guy Branum*-We love him as the acerbic host of Talk Show: The Game Show, but we also love Guy for his poignant and splendidly aggressive stand-up that break down the myth of Canada, liking “that song on the radio”, the gay accent, and floral prints on black.

71. Myq Kaplan** “Small, Dork, and Handsome”-Myq Kaplan showcases how intricate the “verbal gymnastics” in his jokes can get on his latest stand-up special Small, Dork, and Handsome making multiple viewings to catch his “bonus jokes” all the more worthwhile.

72. The return of The Best Show–Tom Scharpling and Jon Wurster return with the mighty Best Show that now exists as a radio show and a podcast, so more hordes can acquainted with the goings-on of Newbridge.

73. @weismanjake**-Defending Mariah Carey, “knife-selfies”, and an overall dark mischievous tone make Jake Weisman’s twitter feed one of the best around.

74. Lake Bell talks to Kid President about girls-As Kid President Robby is still a kid, there are issues like “girls” that confound him during his administration. Luckily, he has the help of people like Lake Bell to get him through calling and talking adorably and awkwardly to a girl.

75. Kurt Braunohler*** rode a jet ski to send goats to Africa–Kurt Braunohler never ceases to amaze in how far he will go in his mission to insert stupidity and absurdity and strangers’ lives. This year, he rode a jet ski down the length of the Mississippi River, as part of his show Roustabout, to help send livestock to families in need in Africa.

76. Tomorrow! w/Ron Lynch’s Tomorrow! New Year’s Eve-Believe it or not, one of the best shows we attended all year long was on the very last day of the year in the 11th hour. Emo Philips, Ron Funches, some hijnks from Chris Walsh, the three ghosts of New Year’s Eve, and more made for the best New Year’s Eve show we’ve ever been to.

77. Daniel Van Kirk*-Van Kirk continued to quietly build an empire from his characters with DVK, The Wahlberg Solution, and becoming a spokesperson for Chili’s.

78. Happy Contest Time*-Happy Contest Time remains as our favorite stand-up “competition” judged by Japanese school girls because, well, there’s nothing crazy and great like this anywhere else in comedy.

79. Jackie Kashian** “This Will Make an Excellent Horcrux”-The stand-up of Jackie Kashian should be on any and all current “best of” lists. Her comedy bridges a gap between the deeply personal/introspective and the farcical. So, with that said, watch her latest special on All Things Comedy “This Will Make an Excellent Horcrux”.

80. The return of “No, You Shut Up! with Paul F. Tompkins“-We were curious of the fate of the panel debate show with puppets hosted by Paul F. Tompkins and were glad to find that Fusion has not only given a third season to the program, but expanded it to a half hour. Current issues, Tompkins, puppets, and a general air of top shelf tomfoolery are probably why it’s the second most Googled show of 2014.

81. Andrés du Bouchet***-The juxtaposition of the high and the low is rarely executed better than by Andrés du Bouchet. See his bits on Conan, his live compilation album 20 Sided Guy from AST Records, and @dubouchet if you at all doubt us.

82. The Future with Emily Heller–Emily Heller’s Above Average web series The Future gave us all a great look into the world of tarot card readers, especially the ones that probably don’t get a lot of love on Yelp.

83. @jokesbycandice–Candice Thompson’s Twitter account is a delight to read through for all its great sharp one-liners as well as being almost able to hear Candice giggling as she wrote them.

84. Brendon Small and Steve Agee present Baked-For another comedy and music show that features stand-ups doing a set and then doing a song to make this list, it would have to be pretty special. Brendon Small and Steve Agee do just that in the legendary intimate jazz venue known as The Baked Potato with a killer band and an accomplished band leader who also happens to be Brendon Small. It’s not often you get to see theme to Ghostbusters played on a stage that it was also played on by Ray Parker Jr. at a comedy show.

85. Nathan For You–Nathan Fielder baffles us all still with how he pulls of his insane small business schemes/pranks on Nathan For You on Comedy Central. He convinced a realtor in trying to list properties based on whether they were haunted or not and there was, of course, Dumb Starbucks.

86. Dan Mintz “The Stranger”-Misdirection abounds to the highest possible level on Dan Mintz’s latest album The Stranger from Comedy Central Records. Just switching between premises involving his girlfriend and his wife already keep you guessing even after Dan delivers the perfectly worded punchline.

87. Riot LA*-a second line led by Kurt Braunohler through the streets of Downtown LA, an fictional space exploration program with lasers, and a commemorative reunion of Jon Benjamin Has a Van are only a few of the fantastic things that happened in 2014’s Riot LA Comedy Festival.

88. Cotillion Girls want to even the score of the Jennifer Lawrence nude photos leak–Katie Molinaro and Rosey Blair as The Cotillion Girls were outraged that Jennifer Lawrence got hacked. Thus, they’re trying to recruit female hackers to get even with hacking some Gosling dick pics.

89. Chris Gethard**-It’s great news that The Chris Gethard Show is finally getting its due with the announcement last year that it’s headed to cable. Also, Chris Gethard’s stand-up album My Comedy Album from Don Giovanni Records tipped off us in great detail why none of us should watch I Survived.

90. The Interview-We’re pretty sure that Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, James Franco, Randall Park, and Sony Pictures Entertainment had no idea that an international incident and the Sony Hack would come from making The Interview. It did and it has become a moment in comedy history where watching dick jokes by Rogen and Goldberg was patriotic.

91. Chris Fairbanks-Reading the hardy backstory to some oatmeal on stage, co-hosting Do You Need a Ride? with Karen Kilgariff, doing his version of a reggae song, and @chrisfairbanks had us laughing heartily with Chris all year long.

92. Tim Harmston ”The Most Bees Ever”-Harmston’s album Most Bees Ever from Stand Up! Records started off 2014 with enough cleverness to enjoy that we almost forgot about the rest of 2014.

93. With Special Guest Lauren Lapkus–Earwolf’s latest podcast gets the bonus of being, technically, a bunch of different podcasts as the wonderful Lauren Lapkus either plays herself or one of her plethora of characters that is the guest of a one-off podcast created by what is technically the guest of her podcast. Perhaps, it’s the “Inception” of comedy podcasts?

94. The Pancake Breakfast Critic with Joe Pera-Leave it to the quiet, but sublimely bizarre comedy of Joe Pera to make reviewing pancakes breakfasts in small towns across America laugh out loud funny.

95. SNL mashes up The Office and The Hobbit-Having Martin Freeman on as the host, Saturday Night Live got the challenge (or blessing in disguise?) of bringing the worlds of Middle Earth and Wernham Hogg Paper Company together. As far as parodies of TV/movies go, this was top notch.

96. Science… For Her! by Megan Amram-Amram has created a hybrid between a science textbook and Cosmopolitan magazine in writing her book Science… For Her! She simultaneously also created one of the funniest books of the year.

97. Cameron Esposito** “Same Sex Symbol”-Cameron Esposito keeps on rising through the ranks of comedy with something amazing, daring, and heartfelt every year. For 2014, that was her comedy album Same Sex Symbol from Kill Rock Stars.

98. Tony Sam-Tony’s one-of-a-kind voice, both literally and figurative, gets a nice showing on his debut stand-up album Scaredy Cat from Stand Up! Records. Tony also co-hosted with Julia Prescott one of the more innovative shows we got to catch in 2014, Part Two: The Sequel Show, featuring comedians pitching fake sequels to movies like Guy Branum’s Dominion Day (sequel to Independence Day, but set in Canada)

99. Norm MacDonald auditioning to replace Craig Ferguson on The Late Late Show-Of the candidates for Ferguson’s slot as host of The Late Late Show, MacDonald organized an entire #LateLateNormNorm campaign and put forth quite the audition on Conan to be on CBS after Colbert.

100. Brent Weinbach*** short film ”I Don’t Dance”-Brent has made it on this list already as a duo with Moshe Kasher (#37), but his short film I Don’t Dance that really emphasizes the difference between “don’t dance” and “can’t dance” to a hysterical extreme definitely deserves its own spot.

*2nd timer on The 100 Best Things in Comedy We Were Witness To in No Particular Order
**3rd timer on ”
***4th timer on ”