Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
More On:
Best Of 2023
-
‘Live with Kelly and Mark’s Top 10 Laugh-Out-Loud Moments Of 2023
-
Sean T. Collins's Top 10 TV Shows of 2023
-
Underrated and Overlooked: The 11 Best 2023 Movies That Flew Under The Radar
-
Top 10 Bravo Burns Of 2023: From James Kennedy's "Worm With A Mustache" To Paige DeSorbo Dragging Lindsay Hubbard And Carl Radke
For all of the comedians who complained they couldn’t joke about anything anymore, that sure didn’t stop them and everyone else from joking about everything this year.
When the calendar year finally ends, we’ll have seen several hundred new stand-up comedy specials in 2023 (at least 700 counting hours and half-hours). And I’ll have reviewed some 57 of them here for Decider. Chris Rock became the first live special of any kind on Netflix, and we now know he attracted at least 36 million hours of viewing time in its first four months on the platform. Over on YouTube, meanwhile, at least 21 comedy specials released to YouTube this year have reached at least 1 million views, only three of which belonged to Matt Rife! Should you really be surprised that his fourth special in a year and first for Netflix was a bit lacking for solid material, then?
Speaking of Rife, YouTube and Netflix, the streaming behemoth got back in the habit of releasing new stand-up on an almost weekly basis, while also poaching several comedians who had previously released hugely popular specials on YouTube; among them, Shane Gillis, Stavros Halkias, Sam Morril, Mark Normand, and Rife. HBO and Max continue to make the case for quality over quantity, Peacock produces perhaps the most eclectic bunch of comedy specials, and then there are these new hybrids of streaming, VOD and PPV such as Moment and now Veeps, which is owned by Live Nation. Exiting stage right, even, were the Paramount brands of Showtime and Comedy Central, who no longer seem interested in investing in comedy unless it’s South Park.
To put this digital boom into perspective for ranking purposes — 18 comedians from my previous lists put out specials this year, so already I cannot please everyone I pleased before. So please don’t think of this as a snub, Nate Bargatze, as you jumped from Netflix to Prime Video with Hello World and maintained your stellar stand-up track record, while also boasting one of the richest comedy tours of the year, hosting SNL, and curating multiple specials for other comedians on your own new YouTube channel, Nateland.
Marlon Wayans, coming out with his God Loves Me special on Max just days before Rock’s live Netflix event, delivered far and away the best and perhaps only stand-up set you need to see and hear about “the slap,” anyhow. Now More Than Ever, John Early (also on Max), continues his own audacious streak of taking big swings and hitting for the fences. And because comedy rules by threes, may we please get a special round of applause for Chris Fleming, whose HELL on Peacock is downright heavenly if not also mischievously apt for someone who calls himself “the Pied Piper of the backstage chorus.” Kudos to all three of them.
Honorable mentions, too, need to go out to a bunch of comedians who released new hours of stand-up that serve as great advertisements to seek them out live when they’re performing in a comedy club or theater near you. They’re just that reliably funny to have something witty to say about whatever’s on their minds or going on in the world when they come through. Among those who shined in that spotlight this year: Matteo Lane, Kyle Kinane, Big Jay Oakerson, Blair Socci, Jessica Kirson, Chad Daniels, Ali Siddiq, Pete Holmes, Mike Vecchione, Chris Porter, Joe List, Nathan Macintosh. I’d have included Kenny DeForest in this list, but he sadly died earlier in this month in a traffic accident.
Who did I squeeze into my Top 10 comedy specials of 2023? Let’s find out together!
'Greg Warren: The Salesman' (YouTube)
St. Louis comedian Greg Warren was an All-American wrestler at the University of Missouri who took a job selling Jif and other products for Procter & Gamble. His life before comedy forms the basis for The Salesman, Warren’s latest stand-up special and first produced and distributed by Nate Bargatze’s Nateland Entertainment (along with 800 Pound Gorilla Media). This hour makes the cut not only because of Warren’s smooth delivery on the inner workings of selling peanut butter, not solely because if you close your eyes, you might just imagine hearing what almost sounds like the late great Mitch Hedberg if only he could do corporate gigs (they both have imaginative takes on Pringles, after all), but also because watching an old road dog such as Warren keep finding new ways to make jokes that we all can relate to ultimately results in a perfect sales pitch for all stand-up comedians to experience a life outside of stand-up comedy before becoming professional comedians.
'Ralph Barbosa: Cowabunga' (Netflix)
This year also marked some stellar debuts on the global stage. Zainab Johnson: Hijabs Off on Prime Video reminded me of earlier works by Jerrod Carmichael and Ramy Youssef in terms of poise and confidence while confronting big topics in a setting that doesn’t look like it was built for comedy. But Ralph Barbosa somehow came off even cooler in his debut for Netflix, despite of or perhaps particularly because he filmed it across the street from where he had plied his wares as a teen-age hairdresser. Cool, calm and effortlessly funny, even when joking about wondering what it means to be cool.
'My Name Is Mo'Nique' (Netflix)
All of those years we heard Mo’Nique declaring how the industry had spurned her, and filed suit against Netflix claiming they intentionally lowballed her because she was and is a black woman in comedy.. Now that the dust of the lawsuits have settled, we now all can see once and for all just how right Mo’Nique was all along. Now we understand why she fought so hard for herself, and the resulting hour is one of pure catharsis, full of both comedy and passion. She has earned her flowers and then some.
'Jim Gaffigan: Dark Pale' (Prime Video)
As I wrote earlier this year: “Don’t be mistaken. This “dark pale” version of Gaffigan has always existed in our comedic universe, at least as far back as his Mr. Universe special more than a decade ago. Within his new bit about God, Gaffigan notes that He sent down 10 plagues, and comparing them to albums, imagines if God might plan a retrospective of some sort. Of course, Gaffigan himself is on his 10th stand-up special. Whenever he does his retrospective, he might find himself regarding Dark Pale as perhaps his best work since Mr. Universe.”
'Joe Pera: Slow & Steady' (YouTube)
Joe Pera jokingly compares himself to Rick Steves but Pera is perhaps much more closer in spirit and charm to Mister Rogers, if you can imagine it. But you don’t have to imagine it. As I wrote in my review: “Pera stands out and apart in this era of digital defined largely by trending TikToks and crowd-work clips. And not just because of his vocal delivery or his onstage demeanor, although both of those character traits do define Pera to a large degree. When you combine his gentle tone, with his nervous hunch, accentuated even more whenever he hunches over and extends his arm to read from a paper he’s holding in his shaky hand, it’s a sight that might confuse viewers unaccustomed to Pera. That he not only commits to this tact, but then also decides to engage in crowd work anyhow, testifies to his actual inner confidence as a comedian.” His style may feel a bit kinder, gentler than most comedians, and yet that’s also quite entertaining and uplifting. We could use more of that.
'Gary Gulman: Born on 3rd Base' (Max) and 'Maria Bamford: Local Act' (Comedy Dynamics)
Both Gary Gulman and Maria Bamford have blazed trails in comedy with their determined expertise in their comedy niches (for Gulman, enunciation and word selection; for Bamford, character voice work) while both making themselves quite vulnerable in talking about their mental health and making them and us the better for it. They also both published memoirs this fall and released comedy specials this winter reframing some or much of what they’d written.
They took different tacks in adapting material for the stage. Bamford may be more faithful to her book as well as loving and caring for the aspiring comedians who adored her enough to attend her taping in Altadena, while Gulman mines his childhood for a more incisive and biting reflection on class and income equality from the 1980s to today, both in and out of comedy.
Gary Gulman: Born on 3rd Base premieres Dec. 21 on Max. Maria Bamford: Local Act is available for rent/sale on various platforms via Comedy Dynamics.
'Mike Birbiglia: The Old Man and The Pool' (Netflix)
I wish more American comedians would put the amount of care and thought into constructing both of their sets (in terms of the narrative arcs or themes in their hour, as well as the physical production design that frames them onstage). It’s a form fully embraced by the comedians of the UK and the British Commonwealth (perhaps owing to the singular status of the Edinburgh Fringe), but here in the States, we really only get this kind of thoughtful comedy from the likes of John Leguizamo, Colin Quinn, and most recently and prominently, Birbiglia.
As I wrote earlier this year: “Since pivoting from joke-teller to storyteller, Birbiglia has found great success mining his medical crises for both stories and laughs. This continues here, whether he’s harkening back to being 20 and finding blood in his urine that sprays and splays like fireworks, sharing his more recent bouts with type 2 diabetes, or even catching up casual comedy fans on his lifelong struggles with sleepwalking. He reminds us how comedians often live on the road and don’t necessarily have the most healthy habits, and reminds everyone how we might prioritize short-term survival over long-term survival when push comes to shove, or storm leaks reveal black mold in your home. As a comedian, he might’ve not given it much thought. But as a husband and father, Birbiglia sometimes overthinks it. In the end, he realizes that though he may have grown up in a family that says “take care” instead of “I love you,” he wants to stick around long enough to tell his wife and daughter he loves them more often.” I hope he sticks around, too, because he’s a beneficial influence on the rest of the American comedy scene.
'Wanda Sykes: I'm An Entertainer' (Netflix)
Wanda Sykes co-hosted the Oscars in 2022, but she had no desire to joke about The Slap in her second Netflix comedy special. Because she didn’t have to. She’s better than that. Much better.
Sykes uses her unique perspective having a French spouse and 13-year-old white twins “to reframe so much of what we’ve been arguing about in recent years.” Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Elijah McClain. She calls out their names once more to remind us how we don’t all get to enjoy the same American experience, dream the same American dream. “Somehow it just hits different when Sykes points it all out.” I still wish Netflix had given Sykes the live global treatment that they’d given to Rock, her former employer on HBO two decades ago. Alas, that’s just another sign of who gets to tell their stories and how. Even in 2023.
'Beth Stelling: If You Didn't Like Me Then' (Netfllix)
I named Beth Stelling’s 2020 special, Girl Daddy, the best of that weird year. Could I put Stelling atop the heap once more? Perhaps, sure. By filming this hour in her Ohio hometown, her reflections become more revelatory. As I wrote earlier this year: “Not sure what stage of feminism we’re officially living in now, but Stelling’s comedy is both great and sneaky great in forcing us to confront attitudes we may have normalized in the past.”
This is true whether she’s confronting an eighth-grade episode involving the frat boys at the neighboring University of Dayton, revisiting life separately with her mother in Ohio and father in Florida, or talking about hometown heroes Wilbur and Orville Wright. Of the Wright Brothers taking flight, Stelling wonders: “Were you first? Or were you the only one allowed to do it?” Stelling is one of the funniest and sharpest comedians working today. Perhaps she should be Dayton’s true hometown hero.
'Marc Maron: From Bleak To Dark' (HBO, Max)
Marc Maron has matured, evolving from comedy’s bleeding deacon and becoming the industry’s elder statesman. He’s sticking his neck out to talk about his comedy peers and ne’er-do-wells in a way most other comedians are too cowardly to say out loud, onstage, and definitely not when it’s filmed for posterity. But Maron is willing to tell us the hard truths with harder punchlines. Maron is our generation’s George Carlin.
As I wrote about this hour earlier this year: “This is comedy, catharsis and public service. Just by acknowledging his grief, when so many of us often choose to hide or gloss over or sweep it under the rug or shut up about it or just pretend it doesn’t exist, Maron is leading by example. We can try to deny the planet’s impending doom (for humanity, at least) and let Greta Thunberg handle the heavy lifting of activism for us, but tragedy will continue to hit much closer to home for all of us whether we accept that basic truth or not. When your lover dies without warning, when your parents begin to shrink in front of your eyes, or when you recognize the unspoken contract you have with your parents…it may at first seem to bleak to think about, but it doesn’t have to feel so dark.”
As Maron himself says in this hour about finding humor in the darkness: “That’s why I got into comedy, because I’d watch comics, and they would take things that were complicated or horrifying, and simplify them and sort of make you see them in a different way and have a laugh. I think it’s a beautiful thing and necessary.”
He’s got that right, too.
