Top Ten Comedy Specials of 2023
Top Ten Best Comedy Specials of 2023
Welcome to the 2023 Best of Everything in Comedy Awards! This is our 10th time voting picking the top ten specials of the year, and the 10th opportunity for you to vote for #1.
Over the next two weeks, you’ll be able to vote every day for the best stand up special as well as the best comedy album, the best comedy book, the best comedy television series, the best book written by a comedian or about comedy, the comedian who dominated 2023 and as a bonus 10 year anniversary category we’ll also look at who is the comedy giant who most dominated the last ten years since we started voting in 2014.
Every day we share a new category, and you can vote every day until January 2nd. We’ll share the results on Wednesday January 3rd, but all our nominees are winners.
Use our lists as your guide to what to watch, read and listen to while you’re home over the holidays.
BEST COMEDY SPECIAL is one of the most coveted awards every year, and for many, even more meaningful than Comedian of the Year. If you’re even nominated for this award, your talents are at the very top of a long list of great stand up comedy performers. A comedy special is the culmination of years of writing, honing, perfecting, performing, and sharing a comics best material.
HONORABLE MENTIONS: Before we get to the nominees, we absolutely have to share honorable mentions. Our initial list of specials good enough to consider for the top ten list had over 60 names on it, and literally hundreds of specials were released in 2023 alone. Some giants released beloved specials: Louis C.K.: Back to the Garden, Wanda Sykes: I’m an Entertainer, John Mulaney: Baby J, Bert Kreisher: Razzle Dazzle, Marc Maron: From Bleak to Dark, Jim Gaffigan: Dark Pale, Chris Rock: Selective Outrage, Amy Schumer: Emergency Contact, and Tom Segura: Sledgehammer. If you don’t know everyone on this list by now, you’re not even aware of this website. So you don’t need us to tell them who to see. And by the time you’re reading this, Ricky Gervais‘ new special, Armageddon will be on the way, but we haven’t seen it yet.
We want to give lots of love to specials released by Joe Pera: Slow and Steady is available on YouTube and is hilarious. Ralph Barbosa released his first Netflix Special Cowabunga this year, and is a phenomenal special, you’ll be hearing his name a lot more in the coming years. Beth Stelling, If you Didn’t Want Me Then, is outstanding, please put it on your list. Mike Vecchione is one of our favorite comedians and The Attractives is top tier do not leave it off your list. Its available free on YouTube. Michelle Wolf, Its Great to Be Here, is so good, with episodes showing Wolf performing in different venues. We hope more episodes are coming. Nathan Macintosh is a favorite and he keeps getting better. His new hour, Money Never Sleeps syould be on your must watch list. Also check out Matt Ruby (Substance), Mae Martin, (SAP), and the always awesome rising star Matteo Lane (Hair Plugs & Heartache).
PAST YEARS WINNERS: Now, before listing the nominees, let’s take a quick look back at the winners of the last 10 years. In 2014, you picked Jim Jefferies “Bare” as the comedy special of the year. In 2015, the honor of best special went to Jim Norton’s “Contextually Inadequate.” In 2016 the late great Barry Crimmins took the award for “Whatever Threatens You.” In 2017 our champion proved to be the World Champion Judah Friedlander, for his Netflix work of art “America is the Greatest Country in the United States.” In 2018 you chose Gad Elmaleh’s “American Dream.” In 2019 you overwhelmingly voted for Dan Soder’s “Son of A Gary” as the best special of the year. Mark Normand “Out to Lunch” was voted the best special of 2020. In 2021, you voted Shane Gillis “Live in Austin” as your #1. And last year, Chris Distefano “Speshy Weshy” took the top prize.
Go through our list and vote for the Best Hour Special of 2023! Voting is open!
Don’t forget you can soon vote for Comedy Movie of the Year! Vote for Comedy TV Series of the Year! Vote for Best Book by A Comedian or About Comedy Comedian of the Year! and Comedy Album of the Year!
NATE BARGATZE. HELLO WORLD. AMAZON PRIME. Filmed at the celebrity theater in Phoenix Arizona, in the round, Nate’s latest is his strongest special yet. So strong in fact, that he’s brought new attention to Prime as a home for comedy specials. Bargatze maintains his signature style through out, of being laugh out loud funny without telling any “jokes.” His stories and anecdotes and explanations of the world seen through his eyes fill the hour with big laughs that only Nate could pull off. A perfect example is a bit where Nate talks about the challenges inherent in staying in a hotel room- like trying to find a light switch. Or learning that lying to your parents was on the table. Even getting his front door refinished provides a wealth of great material. Not only is he funny without being offensive, but those of us who are used to darker, edgier material won’t even notice that its relatively clean.
Director: Mike Lavin.
SHANE GILLIS. BEAUTIFUL DOGS. NETFLIX. Shane Gillis won stand up special of the year in 2021 for Live in Austin, and now, just two years later, he’s back in our top ten list for his first Netflix special.Taped in Virginia, Beautiful Dogs is a powerful follow up to Live in Austin. Gillis had a big year, and the best evidence of that, is that some pretty tame material on Australia caused an international uproar. Throughout the hour, Gillis performs a skilled tightrope act that few are capable of- being edgy without being offensive. There are some buzzwords in the hour that trigger those on one side of the political divide and titillate those on the other side- but anyone who labels Gillis as belonging to a particular ‘wing’ isn’t really paying attention to the material. He covers politics, culture wars, covid, and sex expertly with his own unique takes, and delivered with his unique “hey I’m just a regular guy” demeanor. A long segment dives examines relationship roles, as he struggles to deal with the fact that his girlfiend dated a Navy Seal before him. And he affirms that he’s not Republican, but…he says, its creeping up on him, and whether he means to or not, he is examining what it is that determines our political alignments.
Director: John McKeever
MARLON WAYANS. GOD LOVES ME. HBO MAX. Released a few weeks before Chris Rock performed Selective Outrage live, Marlon Wayans surprised many of us by beating him to the punch-line. America was hungry to hear Rock talk about “The Slap”. Rock made us wait a year, before he delivered a special talking about the incident. and then an hour into the special before even mentioning it. It was unsatisfying. But Marlon Wayans blew us away, covering the incident with a full hour of material, that was spot on, smart, satisfying and extremely funny. Wayans not only addresses the act and the aftermath but also the history leading up to that viral and even historic moment. Wayans financed and produced it himself, and then filmed in August 2022 in Atlanta. If you only have time to watch one special this year, make it this one.
Director: Troy Miller
BIG JAY OAKERSON. DOG BELLY. YOUTUBE. Big Jay’s newest special premiered in April and has already received 2 million views, making it a smash hit. Produced by Ari Shaffir, and filmed at Skankfest 2022 in Vegas, this is Big Jay at his best, being himself, with crowd work, hilarious stories and all the filth you have come to expect and love. Jay does a deep dive into what it means to be girl drunk, and how razor precise it has to be in order to work out okay, sexual insecurities, and being Jewish and being called a Nazi. His examination of the Michael Jackson documentary is as uncomfortable as the doc itself, and a hell of a lot funnier. And it all ends with a story….about a story that he told on the radio and it almost got him cancelled.
Director: Erik Abrams.
JESSICA KIRSON. NO MATERIAL. YOUTUBE. Jessica Kirson is one of the funniest comedians on the planet and her new hour is brilliant. Shot live over two shows at the world-famous comedy cellar, Kirson captures the experience of being in the club better than any other special. There’s no material here, its all crowd work, it’s all improv, and you will laugh out loud, even sitting at home alone. It’s shot beautifully capturing all of the magic of the Village Underground right down to incorporating Underground mainstays Red and Jeremy on keyboard and drums. Jessica is the first woman to film an all-crowd work special and there’s no one better than her at the art form. And if you like silliness, again, there is no one in the game doing it better than Jess. In fact, her special packs more laugh out loud moments than any other special on this or any other list. Kirson is a master of mugging for the audience, her energy and expressiveness are unrivaled, and she always takes the unexpected route to the joke. Sometimes crowd work gets a bad rap- some see it as lazy- but thats only true if the comic delivering the crowd work is lazy. Great crowd work is comedy at its best, and Jessica’s special is full of great crowd work.
Directed by Mike Lavin
SARAH SILVERMAN. SOMEONE YOU LOVE. HBO . Its been ten years since Sarah released an hour special, and Someone You Love is absolutely worth the wait. Recorded it at one of the best theaters in the country for comedy – The Wilbur Theater on Boston- Sarah is on fire throughout the hour. She leans in to her own unique style of sarcasm to make her points while making you laugh. Excellent writing and spot on delivery. Her take on changing gender norms beats anything Chappelle has said on the topic, quipping that if we could all learn how to pronounce Galifianakis after one Hangover movie, then surely we can navigate the world of preferred pronouns. She may have also proved that Lucky Charms are way ahead of their time. Her takes are as relevant as ever- taking on antisemetism. Sarah may have matured as an artist, but “Someone You Love” is as raunchy and tasteless as Sarah has ever been, and there are plenty of doodie jokes, and a really great bit about mens balls, proving you can be smart and disgusting. Plus this is the only special of the year that will have you hitting pause so you can google “pocket pussy porn.”
Director: Jonathan Krisel
MARK NORMAND. SOUP TO NUTS. NETFLIX. Mark Normand’s third hour special was filmed at the beloved Vic Theater in Chicago. It’s his first for Netlfix, and its no great surprise that Netflix wanted him- his last hour was released on YouTube grabbing 12 million views in 3 years. Normand comes out swinging, after being introduced as Kevin Hart- a signature joke for him- and never stops. Everything is funny, and jam packed with jokes. There’s no filler in a Mark Normand hour. Whether he’s explaining why being hungover is like being a senior citizen, or explaining why porn is the most inclusive media we have, or his solution to gender bathrooms he has you laughing first and only later realizing- hey that’s pretty brilliant. Mark continues to up his game with every special, getting more precise, blazing through material. His specials and his career show no sign of slowing down. Comedy!
Directed by James Webb
HARI KONDABOLU. VACATION BABY. YOUTUBE. Hari is one of the most underrated comedians on our list. First, have to give Kudos to Hari for scoring a promo from Hank Azaria- a man who Kondobolu skewered in a 2017 documentary titled “The Problem with Apu.” They’re friends now, and although in the promo, Hank teases that he’s obligated to do the promo, the two have become friends with great respect for each others talents. Vacation Baby is a terrific hour about becoming a first time dad, during Covid. The situation is rife with opportunities for comedy and it feels like Hari exploits every single one of them, and takes some time to tell some hilarious stories about his own father. Vacation baby isn’t all dad-focused. Hari is an expert at using language to make his points, and his jokes, and in fact, language is a frequent topic in Vacation Baby- particularly exposing misconceptions, mispronunciations, and hidden prejudices regarding Indian culture. One of the funniest one liners in the hour- “I’m Hindu or as Americans pronounce it, Muslim.” Kondabolu has mastered the art of stopping the action and reflecting on something he has just said, often using tangents and u-turns to enhance his material. He’s an outstanding writer and a great performer, and the most famous Hari in the world.
JOE LIST. ENOUGH FOR EVERYBODY. YOUTUBE. Joe List again? Hell yes. Wasn’t he just on our top ten list last year? Yes. Yes he was. And 2020 too. Three specials in four years, and all of them tremendous. Joe seems to never run out of new material, new things to be uncomfortable about, new situations to keep us laughing. Filmed at the Village Underfound. his third special in three years is over 800,000 views in just three months, and that’s despite YouTube allegedly suppressing the special because of language. His last two specials have a combined 12 million views for comparison. Joe List set out to film a special that would make you feel like you were there at the Comedy Cellar on a regular night, and he succeeded, but only if it’s a regular night where he absolutely killed (which he routinely does). When it comes to self deprecating, and being funny, nobody does it better than Joe List. His greatest skill is the use of exaggeration, but its only exaggeration to us. For Joe List- its how he sees life. But he knows it, and knows how funny that is, and is willing to share his out-of-balance perception of the world around him for our benefit. He talks about buttholes, his sexual bucket list with his wife, and shares the joy of loading your airpods into their case, and imagining that this must be what its like to load a gun.
Directed by Jason Katz
KATHLEEN MADIGAN. HUNTING BIGFOOT. AMAZON PRIME. Hunting Bigfoot is Madigans first new special since 2016, and her fifth special in her career. Recorded at The Paramount Theater in Denver Colorado, Kathleen delivers a power hour, that may be her best yet. Right from jump she’s hilarious telling a story about being in Georgia looking for something to do with her friend Vic (and yes we love the quiet tribute to Vic Henley who passed in 2020). It’s hard to say what we love more, Madigan’s jokes or her delivery, because both are so honed, so sharp, and yet feel absolutely off the cuff, as if Madigan is just holding court in the corner of a local pub over pints. Her take on trans women proves you can joke about anything, without upsetting people, because you can find what’s funny without offending or demeaning others. She jokes that watching what Caitlin Jenner went through to transition taught her how much you have to care about being a woman to go through all that- when Kathleen isn’t even willing to go out and get new glasses. She also covers our phone dependence (notifications are the devil’s doorbell), boxed wine (natch), and hilarious mocks how she utterly wasted having a year off during Covid. “A year off. I mean, people fantasize about that, right? We’ve all had those conversation. “What if you had a whole year of your life, like, what would you do? Would you, like, write a novel or, like, you know, learn pottery or, like, build a cabin? Nope. Turns out nothing. I did nothing. I am no different unemployed than I am employed. There’s just more of it. Well, “Yeah, I will have a Bloody Mary right now. I don’t have to be at work or another 385 days. Yeah, go ahead. Make it a double.” Madigan’s superlative talent is taking a simple story, and adding and adding, seemingly without taking a breath, until you’re afraid to laugh cause you might miss something….like one long hilarious sentence… and her closing joke, which gives us the title of her hour, is a perfect example of it. Kathleen is a national treasure, and Hunting Bigfoot should be high on your list of specials to watch on your Christmas vacation if you haven’t already seen it.
Directed by: John Irwin
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