Comedian of the Year Nominations! The Top Ten Comedians Upping Their Game in 2024!
2024 Stand Up Comedian of the Year Nominees
Our Comedian of the Year category recognizes ten comedians who have had an exceptional year. We look for comedians who have released specials, appeared in movies, had MONSTER tours, top ranked podcasts, and/or achieved important milestones. Some of our nominees have seemingly come from nowhere. Others we have watched come up from the minors and seen them grow. Others have been favorites for decades but had something take place this year that really stood out.
This is not a list of the ten best performers working today, but rather ten comedians who had the best collective accomplishments and performances in 2024. And finally, as always, we did not include the Hall of Famers. They’ve made it into the hallowed halls of comedy icons. Consider them winners already. Dave Chappelle, Jerry Seinfeld, Kevin Hart, Adam Sandler, we’ve retired your numbers, at least for this category.
In 2014, you picked Bill Burr as the Stand Up Comedian of the Year. In 2015, Nate Bargatze was your runaway favorite, in 2016 you overwhelmingly chose Jim Jeffries as the #1 comedian and in 2017 you chose Judah Friedlander as the greatest comic that year. In 2018, Bert Kreischer was voted comedian of the year. In 2019, it was Shane Gillis who overwhelmingly won your vote. In 2020 you picked Colin Quinn as The Interrobang’s Comedian of the Year. In 2021 you voted for Nate Bargatze as the comedian of the Year. In 2022, it was Chris Distefano who won the race. And last year Bert Kreischer won.
This year, as always, we considered dozens of comedians, looking at their work and their influence specifically in the past 365 days. We took into consideration who put out stand out specials, who pulled in gigantic audiences, who was on a big tour, who got massive media attention for their work, who had books, movies, podcasts, and tv series, and who most embodied comedy in 2023. Some of our nominees had a gigantic leap forward this year in terms of talent, others put out multiple projects, and still others were selected on the basis of one extraordinary achievement
Vote everyday and if you don’t like our picks, you can write in your own.
Read all the nominees below, voting is open!
Don’t forget you can also vote now for Comedy Movie of the Year! Vote for Comedy TV Series of the Year! Vote for Comedy Special of the Year- Streaming! Vote for Best Comedy Book of the Year! Vote for the Best Comedy Special of the Year – Self Published
STAVROS HALKIAS
Stavros Halkias is unquestionably a star. Stand up comic, podcaster, actor, brand ambassador, and body positivity activist, Stavros has been extremely busy this year. Hot on the heels of his 2023 special (5.8 million views on YouTube), Stavros starred in the independent movie LETS START A CULT and crushed it in the lead role and he co-wrote it. His podcast STAVVYs WORLD is routinely one of the top comedy podcasts in the world, with six figure views every episode on YouTube alone. He announced a 40 city tour for 2025, several of the dates sold out already. He co-starred hilariously on Shane Gillis series Tires, which will be back for a second season. His Baltimore Ravens fan character Ronnie got picked up by the Ravents, plus a profile in GQ and a gig shilling Fireball during NFL and College Football games. Everything’s coming up Stavvy.
KEITH ROBINSON
Keith Robinson has never been a guy looking to take over the industry, but there’s no one in the industry who doesn’t think he’s the best. They may not ever admit it to his face, but everyone knows Keith is the guy. and when Robinson finally decided he wanted to put out a special, everyone in the New York Comedy Scene was there to see it filmed. And they talked about it for weeks. The special is perfect- capturing exactly what everyone loves about Keith on film. And he did it with two strokes under his belt. And if you’re down at the Comedy Cellar, you’ll see Keith- without a trace of self pity- work harder than anyone else to get to the stage, where he routinely kills in front of every crowd. You’re not going to beat that. This is the year of Keith.
COLIN QUINN
Colin Quinn is the only real rival Keith Robinson has for the title of most beloved comic at the most beloved club in America. And while Keith did put out a special after having two strokes, Colin Quinn put out two specials this year, and if we’re counting major physical obstacles, CQ has had a heart attack. But its been another killer year for CQ, and his two specials- both released on YouTube this year, are fantastic. Colin is the only comedian to give his entire audience a tour of part of NYC at the end of his special, and speaking of touring NYC, his podcast series, Block by Block is one of the best podcasts of the year.
NATE BARGATZE
Nate Bargatze has been one of our favorite comedians from the very first day theinterrobang went live, and we’ve watched him grow from a talented up and comer to being practically his own industry. And its a thrill to watch. In fact, Nate is so big, that after this year, it may be time to retire his number, as a hall of famer- too big and too successful to be a part of this category. Last year, Bargatze become a big dog, and 2024 he’s only added to the Bargatze Brand. After a beloved first time hosting SNL in 2023, he was quickly invited back and crushed it again, with his George Washington character becoming an instant classic. He performed at the Hollywood Bowl co-headlining with Seinfeld, Jim Gaffigan and Sebastian Maniscalco at the Netflix is a Joke Festival. He hosted his own major network Christmas special. He released a comedy special on Netlfix on Christmas Day- too late to make our list, but already a Netflix sensation, signed a book deal and wrote a book- coming soon in 2025, signed a deal for two more Netflix specials, signed a deal to write and star in a major motion picture, joined the advisory board of the National Comedy Center, and is even a voice on WAZE to get you through the traffic. Nate is a giant.
KATT WILLIAMS
Talk about a game changer? Katt Williams has always been a game changer but in 2024, he changed the news- the conversation- and may have been a catalyst for the outting of a lot of bullshit on his explosive Club Shay Shay interview that became a running news story for months, and has been viewed over 80 million times on YouTube. In fact, GQ profiled him as “The Man Who Opened the Portal” He headlined the Netflix is a Joke Festival, performed LIVE on Netlfix and released it as a special. He just bought a former military base in Alabama to build his own movie studio. And he says he’s responsible for Steph Curry’s shooting? He’s already put his new dates for his tour next year so he’s not planning on slowing down, at all.
NIKKI GLASER
Nikki Glaser has not been an overnight success, she has put in the work. While stand up comedy fans have been well aware of her powerful stage presence and her killer stand up for at least 15 years, her presence in the “household name” field only started to take root in the last 5 years, but its grown every year since she started to command mass attention in 2019. This year she released a banging new special- Someday You’ll Die, she was selected to host the next Golden Globes Awards Telecast, she appeared in Netflix is a Joke’s super viral Tom Brady Roast and stood out as one of the sharpest on the dias, and she’s scored herself another streaming series- Lovers and Liars, which is a spinoff of her popular Fuckboy Island series. On top of all that, the New York Times named her Comedian of the Year and the Wall Street Journal declared “no one had a better year than Nikki Glaser.” Can we say she also looks amazing after she dropped a nearly naked photo shoot video for Thanksgiving? It’s not really criteria but come on, not easy to pull off when you’re this busy being funny.
ALI WONG
It’s probably time to retire Ali Wong from eligibility for comedian of the year because she’s definitely Hollywood Royalty after her consecutive years of major success. This year she kept her streak going with a brand new special, Single Lady, a brand new superstar beau, Bill Hader, and a huge year at the Critics Choice Awards, Golden Globe Awards, Independent Spirit Awards, and PrimeTime Emmy Awards, SAG awards and more for her Netflix series Beef. What’s next for Ali Wong? Anything she wants.
TAYLOR TOMLINSON
We knew Taylor Tomlinson was going to be a star in 2015 but we had no idea she would do it so quickly or so completely. 2023 was a MASSIVE year for Taylor, a true breakout year, and she’s built on that again in 2024. She released a brand new Netflix special, Have it All, spent the year on her ‘Save Me’ Tour, she became the only woman in Late Night, hosting “After Midnight” on CBS, scoring a renewal and the coveted post-Super Bowl- airing time slot. She was featured in the OUT100 and was profiled by Vanity Fair. She’s already selling out major venues, so what’s next for Tomlinson to conquer? All that we know is she’s got the ambition and the talent to keep things on the upswing.
SHANE GILLIS
This is Shane Gillis’ third trip to comedian of the year list. In 2019, he won the comedian of the year honor, and in 2020, his first hour special won best special. This year his Netflix series Tires is nominated (he’s the co-star and co-creator), which is not only one of the funniest series on tv, but its already been given a second season. He announced a Global comedy tour: Shane Gillis Live. He hosted SNL five years after they pulled the rug out from under his job offer as a cast member and allegedly was offered the job of playing Trump for the SNL50 season, but turned it down. He also filmed a movie in a role that was written for the late great Norm Macdonald, and appeared in Eminem’s new video. On top of all that he scored a Bud Light campaign, and he is always in high demand for- well- everything. When Shane lost the SNL gig, most who knew him had no doubt that the loss was theirs, not his, and that he was going to be a comedy giant. Well, he has, and he is.
ZARNA GARG
Zarna Garg is such a unique and fascinating comedian and story. She immigrated from India to the US to escape her father’s plan of an arranged marriage. She studied and practiced law in the US, but committed to being a stay at home mom for 16 years. She tried comedy at open mics in 2018, at her daughters insistence because they always thought she was so funny, and started to get her comedy legs when the pandemic put things on hold for a year. Now just four short years later, she signed a deal to release her SECOND special on Hulu, signed a book deal and wrote a book, which we’ll get to read in 2025, has a self titled sitcom in development at CBS produced by Kevin Hart and Mindy Kaling, sat down with Hillary Clinton on Apple TV’s Gutsy, and stars in a movie, A Nice Indian Boy which premiered at SXSW. She’s already touring and selling out venues and taking on all comers who try to silence her, because nice Indian women aren’t supposed to make jokes about their in-laws, or their traditions. Expect to see her back on this list in 2025!
