Top Ten Studio Comedy Specials of 2025
Top Ten Best Studio Comedy Specials of 2025
It is time for the most fiercely contested category in the 12th Annual Year in Comedy Awards. While every award matters, there is a different kind of weight attached to Best Studio Produced Comedy Special. For the comedians, this is the one that means the most—it’s the gold standard of the industry. 2025 will be remembered as the year Hulu stepped up their game in the comedy special business and they have many contenders in this list.
As in previous years, we are sticking to our “Hall of Fame” rule: we exclude the untouchable legends. These are the giants who have nothing left to prove—the arena-fillers like Dave Chappelle, Bill Burr, and Louis C.K.. This year, we are officially adding Nate Bargatze to that list, as he has moved into that stratosphere of comedy history. They are comedy’s heavyweights, and these awards are about the sluggers currently fighting for the crown.
We also want to define exactly what makes a “Studio Special” in 2025. While all nominated specials were filmed before a live audience, we’ve separated them by how they reached you. These nominees are for the high-stakes hours produced for major platforms like Netflix, Hulu, and Peacock.
Have to give some shout outs to some honorable mentions. Brandi Denise’s LOL Presents wasn’t eligible in the category because its a half hour special, but if her 30 is a sign of what’s to come, we’ll be seeing her on our list very soon. And have to give a shout out to the great Kathleen Madigan whose latest hour, The Family Thread is tremendous and available on Prime. Kathleen is a stone cold killer on stage. Other great hours include Atsuko Okatsuka’s Hulu special Father, Steph Tolev’s Filth Queen on Netflix, and Jessica Kirson’s Hulu Hour I’m the Man, Lets face it, this year was the year that women dominated the hour special and any one of those specials will make a great write in.
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. In 2022 Chris Distefano “Speshy Weshy” took the top prize, and, Kathleen Madigan won for “Hunting Bigfoot” in 2023. Last year New York was the biggest winner, with Dave Attell and Keith Robinson in a dead tie for their hours, “Hot Cross Buns” and “Different Strokes”.
Go through our list and vote for the Best Hour Special of 2024! Voting is open!
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Don’t forget you can vote for Comedy Movie of the Year! Vote for Comedy TV Series of the Year! Vote for Best Book by A Comedian and Best Comedy Documentary! Also vote for Best Independent Comedy Special and Best Studio Comedy Special. Coming soon, Comedian of the Year!
ROY WOOD JR. LONELY FLOWERS. HULU : Roy Wood Jr.’s latest is built around the metaphor of “the lonely flower” meaning many of us our beautiful, but isolated, and that fact affects everything we do. Modern conveniences — like the self checkout for example– have eroded human connection, leading to division, alienation, loneliness and even violence. This hour looks at what it means to belong, and what happens when we don’t. Customer service used to be a relationship- now nobody helps you. Modern anger is out of control. Everyone thinks they’re part of a movement, and hashtags haven’t done us any favors. Craig Patterson directed the hour recorded live at the Lincoln Theater in Washington D.C.
MATTEO LANE. THE AL DENTE SPECIAL HULU. A brunch-like catch-up where Matteo shares glimpses into his travels, unique family background, and the specific etiquette of not talking to Uber drivers in New York. This is Matteo’s first studio produced hour for a big streamer and he smashes it. Drawing on his Mexican Italian heritage he compares how each side of his family expresses love-one side uses guilt and food, the other uses work ethic and fear. Eat or you’ll die! Work or you’ll Die! And that’s just a taste of what Matteo Lane serves up in this hour. There’s also international travel, his obession with pop divas and how he relates to being the “gay friend” in a group of girls. Directed by Jared Lapidus, this hour was recorded in Santa Monica at the Eli and Edyth Broad Stage.
MIKE BIRBiGLIA. THE GOOD LIFE. NETFLIX. Grappling with an ailing father and his inquisitive nine-year-old daughter, Birbiglia delivers a masterfully told story about what it means to live a “good life” while being squeezed in the sandwich generation. It’s a great exploration of the reality that parents are just winging it most of the time, and he compares his style of being a dad to his own father’s using metaphors to drive home the point. Growing up with a tough intimidating dad was like living with the Godfather if the Godfather also yelled at you for not putting the milk back in the fridge correctly. He also covers the stage in life where you become your parent’s parent as they age. Ultimately deciding the good life is about being here, its imperfect but real. Recorded live at the Beacon Theater in NYC.
ROSEBUD BAKER. THE MOTHER LODE. NETFLIX. Baker filmed this hour in two parts- one while 8 months pregnant, and then almost a year later after giving birth and parenting a newborn. Landing every punch with razor-sharp wit, Baker portrays an unflinchingly honest journey through motherhood, including the dark humor of writing for SNL while coping with the chaos of a newborn. Editing weaves between the before baby and after baby versions with themes of pregnancy, childbirth, IVF, miscarriage, the road to motherhood, fear, identity crisis, balancing career. The hour is honest, sometimes bitter, and deeply human. Directed by Jason Katz, and recorded live at the Comedy Cellar in NYC.
JORDAN JENSEN. TAKE ME WITH YOU. NETFLIX. Truly original and fearless, Jensen skips the crowd work to deliver a full-throttle special that highlights her unique perspective on OCD thinking and the exhaustion of gender binaries. Jensen is one of the most original thinkers in comedy today, because her own background is so utterly unique. Jordan goes hard with raunch and raw unfiltered jokes, talking about sexuality with no trace of artiface or ego. Get ready for her take on societal beauty standards, girlishness, hooking up, messy sex, insecurities, grooming rituals and maintenance. Some of the highlights include the worst Bikini wax story, how people react finding out she had 2 moms, a hookup from hell story and being conditioned to always be polite. Directed by Eric Abrams, and recorded live at the Gramercy Theater in NYC, Jordan has what it takes to be a comedy giant.
ARI SHAFFIR. AMERICAS SWEETHEART. NETFLIX. The boundary-pushing provocateur returns with a fearless hour that explores why everyone needs to step back from the news and embrace the utter absurdity of life. Shaffir is one of the most consistently brilliant performers in the world, and every time he puts out a special, he is on our list. And as always her, comes prepared with plenty of dark topics, and his own brand of trolling, that isn’t just for trollings sake- its thoughtful, and has a point. As the theme of the hour, Shaffir repeatedly invites us to look at something dark and awful and see the “silver lining” which of course isn’t really a silver lining at all. For example, heroin addicts, at least, have great balance. It’s contrarianism, trolling, shockery, taking things to extremes, and yes, its for shocks sake, but its also profound. Directed by Eric Abrams, and recorded live at Capitol Turnaround in Washington D.C.
LIZA TREYGER. NIGHT OWL. NETFLIX. Holding nothing back in her debut studio special, Treyger explores the sheer embarrassment and culture clash of having immigrant parents, the strange algorithms currently running her life, and how men have weaponized therapy vocabulary in a way that is definitely not healthy. Whether she’s talking about sex, drugs, depression, or anxiety, Liza Treyger is one of the funniest and most honest in the game. Directed by Jeff Tomsic at the Comedy Cellar in NYC.
ANDREW SANTINO . WHITE NOISE. HULU. Executive produced by Peyton Manning, Santino brings his deadpan charm to stories about holding onto friendships in a disconnected world and the future of gingers. Santino’s success in podcasting has not weakened his stage muscles as he goes hard on topics like drag queen story hours, reverse cultural appropriation (cultures learning from the worst white people traits) and gun violence. Disney adults, if you’re sensitive maybe you should sit this one out. In fact, anyone sensitive may want to sit this one out, because Santino leans in to controversial topics. White Noise refers to the sounds people use to help them sleep, and Santino muses about what other cultural noise might sound like. Directed by Brandon Dermer, and filmed live at the Pantages Theater in Minneapolis.
ZARNA GARG. PRACTICAL PEOPLE WIN. NETLFIX The “Indian immigrant mom” of comedy takes aim at husbands, kids, and anyone brave enough to question her wisdom in this high-energy Hulu debut. Rooted in her immigrant background, her identity as an Indian American mother and of course her Mother in Law, Garg delivers again in her second recorded special. She teaches us how immigrant moms do lifes math differently- frugality, ambition, toughness reign. Valuing hard work is an immigrant super power, she explains as she also weighs the merits of assimilation vs tradition. Highlights include the benefits of having a ruined childhood, what she wants from her husband…and what she doesn’t, and how she interprets the softness of a new generation. Directed by Jeff Tomsic, the hour was recorded live at Bimbos 365 in San Francisco.
LESLIE JONES. LIFE PART 2. PEACOCK. Jones delivers her signature “fire” and bold humor while tackling therapy, aging, and even planning her own funeral. The energy is off the charts, and Leslie is sledgehammer, smashing illusions us normies have of fame- especially what its like to date and pursue a sexlife as a celebrity. She’s also reflective, examining the price of making it, and her personal life fails along the way. What does she want? A man with functioning knees. Someone who can pick her up without needing medical care. Filmed at The Belasco in LA,.
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