Best Comedy Album

1. THE COMEDY VACCINE
Lavell Crawford

2. EVOLUTION
Chelsea Handler

3. SINCERELY LOUIS CK
Louis C.K.

4. THANKS FOR RISKING YOUR LIFE
Lewis Black

5. THE GREATEST AVERAGE AMERICAN
Nate Bargatze

6. ZERO F***S GIVEN
Kevin Hart

Best Spoken Word Album (Includes Poetry, Audio Books & Storytelling)

1. AFTERMATH
LeVar Burton

2. CARRY ON: REFLECTIONS FOR A NEW GENERATION FROM JOHN LEWIS
Don Cheadle

3. CATCHING DREAMS: LIVE AT FORT KNOX CHICAGO
J. Ivy

4. 8:46
Dave Chappelle & Amir Sulaiman

5. A PROMISED LAND
Barack Obama

Best Song Written For Visual Media

1. AGATHA ALL ALONG [FROM WANDAVISION: EPISODE 7]
Kristen Anderson-Lopez & Robert Lopez, songwriters (Kristen Anderson-Lopez & Robert Lopez Featuring Kathryn Hahn, Eric Bradley, Greg Whipple, Jasper Randall & Gerald White)

2. ALL EYES ON ME [FROM INSIDE]
Bo Burnham, songwriter (Bo Burnham)

3. ALL I KNOW SO FAR [FROM P!NK: ALL I KNOW SO FAR]
Alecia Moore, Benj Pasek & Justin Paul, songwriters (Pink)

4. FIGHT FOR YOU [FROM JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH] Dernst Emile II, H.E.R. & Tiara Thomas, songwriters (H.E.R.)

5. HERE I AM (SINGING MY WAY HOME) [FROM RESPECT]
Jamie Hartman, Jennifer Hudson & Carole King, songwriters (Jennifer Hudson)

6. SPEAK NOW [FROM ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI…]
Sam Ashworth & Leslie Odom, Jr., songwriters (Leslie Odom, Jr.)

The way in which Best Comedy Album is run is only one of many reasons that The Grammys have a lot of changing to do to catch up with the times.

First off, you ought to know that it costs a good chunk of money to even apply to be considered for potential nomination at anything like The Grammys. Often, record labels would take care of this, but, in this day and age, streaming services like Netflix or networks like HBO not only foot such a bill, but make sure all their stand-up specials are released as audio just so they can be in the running for Best Comedy Album, which has always worked out for them over the last handful of years.

It, thus, shouldn’t come as a surprise that the field for Best Comedy Album largely comes down to a popularity contest (and popularity based on the opinion of whomever makes up the voting body at the Recording Academy). And what’s more popular than the audio of a filmed comedy special? Apparently, it is not the scores of comedy albums that are often much better than what’s nominated, according to The Recording Academy.

Every nominee this year is indeed audio derived from a filmed stand-up special that could doubly be considered for an Emmy. The majority of the nominees are some of the most famous comedians today (and, if you’ve been following us for any amount of time, you ought to know that fame often doesn’t equate to good comedy).

The most critically acclaimed special of 2021, Bo Burnham’s Inside, didn’t even get mentioned in this category, but got nominated in Best Song Written for Visual Media. Inside was put out of contention for Best Comedy Album because it’s extensive use of songs as part of a filmed special. It’s beyond nit picky, but just another example of how out of touch the Grammys really are, especially when it comes to comedy.

The cost of producing and distributing a special, in order to be more high profile for The Grammy’s sake, are so much higher than just recording an album. That cuts out a lot of very deserving albums from having a legitimate chance for getting a Grammy. Give a listen to Sean Devlin’s Airport, Animals or Ben Roy’s Take The Sandwich if you want to hear the very best, we think, hours on a comedy album that could have been in contention for an award this year.

Also, plenty of controversy ought to come with the inclusion of Louis C.K. and Dave Chappelle getting more Grammy nominations despite the sustained public outcry at their actions and/or words. Harvey Mason Jr., The CEO of The Recording Academy, claims that The Grammys won’t look at people’s history, but insist that they do control at who they invite to the actual ceremony. It’s that sort of potential action that will ensure the still very successful C.K. and Chappelle will be “held accountable”.

The Recording Academy announced a number of rule changes this year that there were going to institute for The Grammys, but, alas, it would seem nothing has really changed for comedy and we bet it won’t change any time soon.