The Very Best of 2017 on The IBang!

It’s been four years since we started covering the comedy-verse and 2017 has been our biggest year yet. We’ve covered more festivals than ever before, added new writers to our team, brought Comedy 101 on the road to two major festivals, and launched a new show, Street Jokes at the Stand. We added a new column we just adore, Notes From a Comedy Junkie written by our traveling Comedycationer, Sara Dahms, and a recurring feature called Seven Selfies. We also launched an exciting new podcast this year- Gail Meets Girls- with Gail Bennington.

Many new things are already in the works for 2018 and we can’t wait to share them, including a new live show featuring Canada’s best comedians at New York Comedy Club, which will debut in January, and updated site that we plan to launch in February, and some surprises we can’t announce yet.

Special thanks this year go out to our writing team, Bill Tressler, Amma Marfo, Jeffrey Gurian, Ernie Tripper, Earl Douglas, Debra Kessler, Sara Dahms, Halli Goldman, Lesley Coffin, Dan Murphy, Christine Marie Evans, and Emily Cohen. And to special contributors like Mick Taylor, Virginia Jones, Ramon Rivas, Barry Taylor, Amy Hawthorne, Larry Carlson, Lori Satterlee, and more. Also Brian at Comedy Artwork, and John Young from Shout It Out Design, if you need work done for your own projects, these are the guys. Thank you also to our comedy friends who keep us updated including comedians, club owners, bookers, managers and producers from all over the world. And our biggest thanks to our amazing friends at SiriusXM and the Bennington Show. We’ve had another amazing year collaborating with Ron Bennington, Gail Bennington, Chris “Pepper Hicks” Stanley, Vito Calise and Jenn and done amazing things together including several great live shows like Comedy 101 and Street Jokes.

For our final story looking back at 2017, we’ve picked our favorite stories that we published in 2017– 15 features, 15 lists and 15 interviews and 15 of stories talking about our favorite things. If you’re just joining us, this should catch you up to date, and you really want to see the best of everything we’ve done you can also check out our Very Best of the IBang 2016, 2015 and the Very Best of The IBang 2014 page.

Thank you again to everyone and we are so excited for 2018!


Our Favorite Feature Articles of 2017

Time to Dump the Trump Character From SNL?  By Amma Marfo
Ricky Gervais Expires His Lifetime Pass By Leslie Coffin
The Best Advice for Women in Comedy From Industry, Writers, and Comedians By Amma Marfo
Standing Out From Under the Shadow of Netflix: How Seeso Had a Real Impact on the Evolution of the Hour Special By Staff
MORE Comedians Share the Best Comedy Nights in America By Patrick Hastie
Inside the Carlin Exhibition: Photos Preview George Carlin’s Stuff I Saved Collection By Staff
Five Fabulous Times Late Night Got Awkward By Tyler Richardson
The Downside of the Discount: Six Reasons Not To Give Away the Door  In Collaboration with Mark Lonow and JoAnne Astrow
Jim Carrey’s I’m Dying Up Here Misses the Fun in Funny By Leslie Coffin
I Watched Iliza’s Special and I Couldn’t Believe What I Saw By Virginia Jones
How to Produce a Comedy Show: Lessons From the Chaos and Failures of Jo Firestone By Stu Melton
Canadian Comedians You Need to Know About at JFL Montreal  By Debra Kessler
From Philly to New York City: Center City Comedy Sticks Together By Mick Taylor
Jimmy Fallon’s Problem: It’s Persona Not Politics Plaguing His Tonight Show By Leslie Coffin

By the Numbers: Our Favorite List Stories of 201

Raps Most Hilarious Songs (and Comedy’s Dopest Rap) 
7 Fictional Colleges From Sitcoms and Movies You Wish You Could Apply To
5 Favorite Bobby Moynihan Sketches From His Nine Season SNL Run
Happy Comedy Halloween: Comedians Make the Greatest Halloween Costumes
8 Great Canadian Comedies to Add to Your Movie Watchlist
Just in Time for Movember, Comedies Greatest Mustaches
32 Comedians Celebrate Red Nose Day
Summer Reading List 2017! Featuring 42 Comedy and Other Books to Enjoy
Every Reason T.J. Miller Gave for Leaving Silicon Valley
Anthony Devito’s 5 Ways to Nail a Job Interview

Our Favorite Interviews in 2017

Is Colin Quinn Leaving New York City? The Waves Are Calling!
World Champion Judah Friedlander Made an 84 Minute Comedy Special in 15 Minute Increments, and It’s Outstanding; Here’s How He Did It
Bill Burr Explains Why Trump Won’t Build A Wall
Duncan Trussell Kicked Over an Ants Nest and Moved to NYC
Bobs Burgers Podcast is a Real Possibility According to Creator Loren Bouchard
Joe List and Mark Normand Celebrate Four Years of Tuesdays With Stories
Why Holly Hunter Accepted a Role in This Summers Indie Comedy Hit
Brian Regan Fans Get Excited! He’s on Television! And He’s GREAT!
Countdown to Vice Principals: Edi Patterson on the Wonderfully Twisted Miss Abbott
Mike Cannon’s Field Guide to Drugs

A Few More Things We Loved in 2017

Notes From a Comedy Junkie: Hanging with Dave Chappelle and Donnell Rawlings
Gilbert Gottfried Doc Tops Comedy Offerings at Tribeca This Year
National Comedy Center Coming to Jamestown: 10 Reasons to Start Paying Attention
The Comedy Jam Brings Grit, Rawness and Energy Back to the Stage
SiriusXM’s Bennington Show Throws Massive Comedy Bash in Times Square
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisal is a Stellar Addition to This Years Series About Stand Up
Toronto’s Comedy Bar: The Center of a Great Scene
World’s Biggest Conan Fan Goes to the Apollo for NYC Taping
Ranking Amazon’s Newest Pilots, with Bridget Everett at the Top

Up Next, A Look Through the Lens of New York Comedy:

Deserving it’s own recognition, our newest ongoing series, Up Next, A Look Through the Lens at New York Comedy is a photo-essay series created with New York comedy photographer Phil Provencio. We love them all so much, and you can see them all on the Up Next page, but we picked our five favorites to share here.

Up Next, Christi Chiello
Up Next, Dave Smith
Up Next, Blair Socci
Up Next, Nimesh Patel
Up Next, Yannis Pappas