The Top Ten Stand Up Comedians of 2021!
2021 Stand Up Comedian of the Year
Welcome to the eighth annual readers choice comedy awards! It’s 2021 and we have no idea if we’re still in the pandemic, or out of the pandemic, or if the clubs are going to stay open, but specials are being taped, movies are being made and television is taping this year, and we’re ready to celebrate all of the creativity. It’s a year of survival and renewal, with a side of caution, but the comedy has been explosive! It feels like a banner year for comedy, and our top ten comedians of the year all have a wealth of accomplishments to spotlight. We’re thrilled to be able to share all of those accomplishments.
This year, none of our top ten comedian nominees return from last year. In fact many on the list are making their top ten debut. One of our nominees is returning for his third nomination and is a prior champ. Exactly half of our top ten list this year have been nominated at least once before, and five of the comedians in our top ten are making their first appearance on our list.
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. And last year you picked Colin Quinn as The Interrobang’s Comedian of the Year.
This year, as always, we considered dozens of comedians, looking at their work and their influence specifically in 2021. We took into consideration who put out stand out specials, who pulled in gigantic audiences, who was on a big tour, who got media attention for their work, who had books, movies, podcasts, and tv series, and who most embodied comedy in 2021. 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. For those ready to complain about who is missing– this is not necessarily a list of the ten best performers working today, but rather ten comedians who had the best collective accomplishments and performances in 2021.
And finally, we did not include the Hall of Famers- the comedians who have received lifetime achievement awards, or a Mark Twain award. They’ve made it into the hallowed halls of comedy icons. Consider them winners already. Dave Chappelle is already a comedy god, so we’re giving everyone else a shot at the W.
Stay tuned every day for our picks for Best Specials of the Year, the Best Books of the Year, the Best Albums of 2020, the Top 10 Movies and TV Shows in comedy and so much more.
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 Comedian of the Year! Vote forComedy Movie of the Year! Vote for Comedy TV Series of the Year! Vote for Comedy Special of the Year! Vote for Best Comedy Book of the Year! Vote for the Best Comedy Album of the Year!
MICHAEL CHE
It’s difficult to believe Michael Che had the time to accomplish this much in 2021. His day job, co-head writer for Saturday Night Live, cast member, and host of Weekend Update, would be enough to keep most performers pretty busy. Each week during the SNL season, Che takes on sacred cows, generates controversy and writes some of the funniest takedowns on tv. But that’s just the start of Che’s killer year. In 2021 Michael also created and starred in his own sketch series for HBO Max. That Damn Michael Che aired six fiercely funny and smart sketch-packed episodes this year, and already got renewed for a second season. And Che released a brand new hour special, Michael Che Shame the Devil on Netflix, which meant even more writing, honing, and working out at clubs to get ready. And just to make sure things don’t get too comfortable, Che also gets on his Instagram every few weeks to stir some shit, make some headlines, and ensure that nobody thinks he lost his edge just because he’s on network television every week. Michael Che is one of the busiest comedians in 2021, one of the most influential, and one of the best.
RICKY VELEZ
Wow, what a year Ricky Velez has had in 2021! Hot off last year’s role in The King of Staten Island, Velez has formed a friendship and ongoing collaboration with comedy kingmaker Judd Apatow. Not only is Ricky increasing his visibility in front of the camera, he’s also sharpening his producer and writer skills behind the scenes. This year Ricky spent time developing a pilot with Apatow, collaborated on two movies with the comedy giant, and worked on a movie with Steve Buscemi. Velez had his first late night appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers, signed with WME, one of the largest and most prestigious talent agencies, and released his first hour special with HBO. Ricky Velez: Here’s Everything is a tremendous first hour, and he worked with the best of the best to put it all together. Michael Bonfiglio directed, Apatow and longtime friend Pete Davidson produced the hour, and Ricky’s promo photos were shot by celebrity photographer Mark Seliger. This is only the beginning of a long and prominent career and it’s already white hot.
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PHOEBE ROBINSON
Phoebe Robinson is rapidly becoming her own brand. 15 years ago Phoebe was working as a receptionist and now she’s a comedy tornado and everyone wants to be in the Phoebe business. This year Robinson had her own Comedy Central talk show series titled “Doing the Most With Phoebe Robinson.” For the show she went horseback riding with Whitney Cummings, hit the High Ropes with Kevin Bacon, went Wine Tasting with Gabrielle Union, and performed Magic with the Property Brothers to name a few. She published her third book, “Please Don’t Sit on My Bed in Your Outside Clothes,” and has already been developing her second book into a tv series at Freeform. Her book empire is only going to grow because she also launched her own publishing imprint with Penguin Publishing called “Tiny Reparations Books.” She’s also developing a workplace sitcom at ABC (yes, that’s two developing tv shows), and an unscripted series for Comedy Central (thats three!). Phoebe released her first hour stand up special with HBO. “Sorry Harriet Tubman” is a great hour and a major milestone. And she continues to write for some of the best publications on the internet.
BO BURNHAM
Bo Burnham is helping to redefine comedy for the next generation and everyone knows it. Every year is a big year for him, but this year he got our attention with a revelatory new hour special full of song and laughs, addressing what everyone’s been going through in lockdown. Bo Burnham Inside is incredibly creative, poignant and funny. He wrote, performed, and edited the special by himself and blew us all away.. Many try but few succeed in creating songs that are funny and resonate and even trend. Burnham did it. The hour was nominated for six Emmy Awards and won three, and earned him two Grammy nominations. That alone would merit Bo a spot on our list, but there’s more. His 2013 MTV series, “Zach Stone is Gonna Be Famous” has become a cult classic and he’s now working with Netflix to bring it back. Bo was also named by Forbes Magazine as one of their 40 Under 40 list of creators and influencers who have helped shape the global pandemic experience.
HASAN MINHAJ
This year, Hasan Minhaj took another leap forward in his career. One way you know you’ve got the hot hand, is when Bruce Springsteen and Jon Stewart invite you to join the lineup for their annual Stand Up for Heroes fundraiser show at MSG. Minhaj was listed by The Hollywood Reporter as one of the most influential people in comedy. He has a recurring role on Season 2 of The Morning Show on Apple TV +. And he’s been out touring all year, selling out theaters with his new critically acclaimed one man show, The King’s Jester. His brand is rising so fast, that he’s also starting a shoe line with Cole Haan and just this week it was announced that Minhaj is launching his own production company, 186K Films. He will co-write, produce and star in the company’s first feature film, “For the Culture” for Amazon Studios. Amazon won the film as the result of an eight studio bidding war. The film will be set in the world of Bollywood college dance competitions. It’s a banger of a year, and Minhaj has a brilliant future ahead.
ALI WONG
Ali Wong had her biggest year yet, and she’s not even pregnant this time! This multi-media super star had a huge national stand up tour this year that included five nights at New York City’s Beacon Theater. The Milk and Honey Tour culminated with Wong filming her third comedy special for Netflix at the Count Basie Theater in New Jersey, and we can’t wait to see it. She also continued to star in Netflix’s hit animated series Tuca and Bertie with Tiffany Haddish, has a popular recurring role on another giant Netflix animated series- Big Mouth, and she stars on ABC’s American Housewife which aired its 5th season this year. Wong is currently working on a new series, Paper Girls, based on the Brian K Vaughn graphic novel series. It’s been announced that she will star in the upcoming Netflix series Beef, which we’re pretty excited about. Don’t just take our word for it, check out The Hollywood Reporter’s 40 Most Influential People in Comedy in 2021 because Ali Wong is on the list. She’s a comedy giant and we couldn’t be happier.
TIM DILLON
What is Tim Dillon’s accomplishment this year? He outright EXPLODED in popularity. Dillon’s massive growth had its roots in 2020, but it was in 2021 where his rise hit meteoric status. His podcast, The Tim Dillon Podcast, consistently lands in the top 50 podcasts in the United States. and he’s a top earner. On Patreon, Dillon is the #3 highest earner across the entire platform. His YouTube clips and podcast videos are consistently in the mid six figures for views, he’s got half a million followers on each of his social accounts, and he’s the only comedian who showed meteoric growth during the pandemic. Dillon’s podcast is hilarious, his sketch videos are so original and uniquely Tim, and just a touch dangerous. Watching Tim’s sketches almost reminds you of watching early seasons of Saturday Night Live, when they could navigate the “too far” line with the dexterity of a tightrope walker. Dillon was the first to post a video satirizing the QAnon Shaman at the January 6th riots, and his satire is savage. And Tim is a beast on stage. This year Tim hit the road for his first headlining theater tour and crushed. He reopened the Wilbur after the shutdown, he headlined the New York Comedy Festival at the Beacon Theater, and rumor has it he’s filming his first hour special in January. He even hosted a bitcoin conference making national news. Tim did all of this without a network, without a distributor, without a tv show or even a late night appearance. The Joe Rogan Show gave Dillon visibility, and he took the rest from there. There is no pandering to be found here, Dillon takes his shots, and they hit hard. He’s always running the risk of saying something that could offend you, but if you’re paying close attention, he’s not racist, he’s not right wing, he’s not any wing but his own. Tim hates everything, and he calls out bullshit everywhere. And his fans are loving it.
NATE BARGATZE
Nate Bargatze is back on the Ten Best Stand Up Comedians list this year, and that’s no surprise. Nate spent the first part of 2021 still in lockdown, and used the time to do something he swore he’d never do– start a podcast. The Nateland Podcast has been wildly popular, and even though Bargatze is no longer stuck inside, he says he’s planning to keep it going. Once clubs and theaters re-opened, Nate hit the road on a giant national tour, called- appropriately enough- The Raincheck Tour, making up his cancelled dates and selling out theaters. Bargatze’s brand new Netflix hour special is an instant classic. The Greatest Average American packs a killer 60 minutes of laughs, and this year got nominated for a Grammy, elevating Nate into a new category of celebrity. Nate’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing with the reputation of being the nice guy who stays away from offensive comedy, but longtime fans know Nate is sharp, and cutting in his comedy, sarcastic and hilarious. Nate is the rare animal loved by both kinds of comedy fans- family oriented controversy shunning audiences love Bargatze, and so do the harder edged fans who normally gravitate to more taboo performers. And so do we.
NIKKI GLASER
Nikki Glaser has been on a perfect trajectory for the past ten years, every year getting more famous, more known to the average American. It clearly takes work to get booked in just the right projects, and that can be a distraction for many stand up comedians, but Glaser just keeps getting funnier every time we see her. This year she left the comfort of SiriusXM Satellite Radio to launch a daily podcast, The Nikki Glaser Podcast, and signed with Will Ferrell’s Big Money Players network. She kicked off a national tour, One Night With Nikki Glaser and sold an hour special to HBO which we hope to be seeing in 2022. Nikki hosted the first ever MTV Movie and TV Awards: Unscripted, which covers the wide world of reality television and film. And she’s a sought after guest on panels and talk shows. She appeared on The Kelly Clarkson Show this year, she’s judging an episode of HBO’s Finding Magic Mike reality competition series, she had four appearances on the revival of To Tell the Truth in 2021, appeared on Real Time with Bill Maher, Cooking with Paris, The Tonight Show and the iHeart Music Awards. She’s also appeared in two Netflix documentaries, Hysterical and History of Swear Words, all this year. But she’s not just a guest panelist, Glaser became the host of a hit reality series this year. She’s our guide in HBO Max’s brand new twisted dating reality show, F-Boy Island, which caught plenty of media attention and has been renewed for a new season. Dating shows might not be our cup of tea but Glaser shines in the host role, proving she’s incredibly versatile. And she crushes every episode.
NICK KROLL
Nick Kroll is having a gigantic year elevating existing projects and adding new ones faster than we can keep up, all while continuing to be one of the top headlining stand up comedians in the country. First, everyone knows he is a co-creator and co-star of Netflix’s critically acclaimed and beloved animated series Big Mouth, now in its fifth season on Netflix. Big Mouth was so popular, it generated a spin-off show, Human Resources, also created by Kroll that will debut next year. Kroll was selected by one of comedy’s greatest living icons, Mel Brooks, to oversee the upcoming History of the World Part II tv series, based on Brooks History of the World Part 1 movie. He sold out Carnegie Hall this year for the New York Comedy Fest and Kroll was named by The Hollywood Reporter as one of the 40 Most Influential People in Comedy. There’s more- Kroll’s resume for 2021 includes appearing as Uncle Fester in The Addams Family, a role as Edgar Allen Poe in Apple TV’s critical darling Dickinson, and he appeared in Netflix’s How it Ends, Sing 2, and Bobs Burgers. He filmed a role in the thriller movie Don’t Worry Darling directed by Olivia Wilde too, and shows no sign of slowing down.
