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Caloroga Shark Media. Hi there, I’m Johnny Mack with your Daily Comedy News Today, a final look at the best stand up specials of twenty twenty five. There were a lot of big time releases in December. As I mentioned previously, I had to put out my list December thirteenth to hook up the publicist, which left off a few specials that didn’t exist yet. But now that they exist, we can finally rank them again.
As I talk about any of these lists in my list, your list, someone else’s list, they’re all valid. It’s all just opinion, it’s just something to talk about. But for me, number one was easily Mark Maren’s Panicked. Maren had a great year. Now tomorrow on this very program, I’m going to talk about who won and lost comedy in twenty twenty five.
One of the winners, for sure, Mark Maron walking away from his podcast in a stunning move on his own terms. But Maren had his best stand up special the last one I didn’t love. The one before that was pretty good, But Panicked was just Maren doing Maren and doing Maren very well, and his joke about nagging people into fascism just captured the Zeitgeist Mark Meren the best stand up special of the year number two, and I could see people disagreeing with me, and that’s fine, it’s just a list. But I thought Kevin Hart’s acting my age was funny. He’s just shocking jokes.
But boy, I was laughing, and I’m a comedy snob, and if you get me to laugh, I’m gonna give you a high ranking. I just thought Kevin Hart’s special was fun and funny, and I’m a guy sitting on a couch and he made me laugh, so that’s good enough for me. Robbie Hoffman’s Netflix special at number three, that was one of them that wasn’t on the original list just because of timing. But boy, a lot of buzz on Robbie. Like I said, the trivia guys talk to me about Robbie when I’m over there with the brewery people talking about Robbie Hoffman in the Facebook group.
What a fantastic special. I considered bumping it up to number two, but I think I laughed a little bit more at Kevin Hart’s special. But Robbie Hoffman fantastic and also one of the winners of twenty twenty five at number four, again. Some people will be irate and throw their phone across the room. But Matt Riif’s Christmas crowd Work Special again.
You’re sitting on a couch. Are you entertained? Are you laughing? Is it funny? Yes?
Is it crowd work? Is it fake CrowdWork? Is it controlled crowd work? Is it heavily edited CrowdWork? Don’t know, don’t care, don’t care, don’t care, don’t know, don’t care.
I’m laughing. It’s funny. Dave Chappelle’s a Netflilix special that dropped out of nowhere to complicate everything. As I’ve said before, I compare it to a baseball pitcher. When Dave first takes the stage, it is shot well, it looks well, it feels big time.
I’m looking at this thing and Dave is just on fire. He’s like Dwight Gooden. It is prime, throwing strikes, mewing down people with the curveball, and I’m like, this guy’s gonna throw a perfect game tonight. And that’s how it felt for the first four innings. An hour later, I was like, ah, that was pretty good.
I didn’t think Chappelle’s closer was as good as Chappelle thinks it is. And I mentioned on Friday’s podcast how some of the details of Chappelle’s monologue there fall apart, but did I laugh. Sure, some of the riodd stuff was very, very funny. Dave Chappelle comes in at number five. Jim Jeffries Two Limbs.
I know I crutch a lot, and I’ll just say comedian doing comedian named things. But that’s how I feel about Jim Jefferies. You kind of know what you’re gonna get. He’s very good at it, and two Limbs is a good Jim Jeffery special. Laughed at a lot.
This next one I didn’t see on anyone’s list but mine, But I really liked Justin Willman’s Magic Lover that was on Netflix in June. Now, if you go into the reddits, some people will be like that was fake. This is fake. Just turn your brain off and just go for the ride and let Justin Wilman entertain you. However we get there, much like I said about Matt Riith, however we get there, are you not entertained?
And I was very entertained by that one. I think I just threw that on one night because I was bored. What’s this number? Eight. Jen Marcos Sareisi’s Thief of Joy.
Longtime listeners to this program, I’ve heard me talking about Jen Marco for several years. He is a three time guest on this program. But with this special, people noticed, if you’re into comedy, he’s no longer a who’s that never heard of him? Now most people on the street, if we walk down the street, will probably go maybe ninety nine out of one hundred. I don’t know who that is.
Maybe if we go you know the guy that did this, maybe we’ll pick up a couple more people. He’s not a name yet, but boy, keep an eye on him. For twenty twenty six, Mo Amer’s Wild World Netflix special. Boy, Netflix had a lot of great specials this year, didn’t they. He had something to say.
He was making political points in a very funny way. I loved his special. Lot one of the top ten of the year, Moe Ammer’s Wild World and rounding out the top ten, Dusty Sleigh. I just like what Dusty does. He gets in a vibe.
He keeps you there. It’s his catchphrase, we’re having a good time. That nails it. Love Dusty Sleigh. The last new entry on the list, Ricky Gervai’s Mortality just came out this week.
I liked it. I didn’t play on my phone. He kept me engaged. Whatever part of your brain that lights up when you watch comedy was lit up. Made me laugh out loud a couple times.
So I’m a psychopath and I just analyzed comedy and rarely laugh. But he got a couple chuckles out of me. When I woke up the next day, I was like, that feels like empty calories, where it’s like Robbie Hoffman Special stuck with me, Chappelle’s Special, stuck with me, Maren Special, stuck with me, Ricky entertaining funny but empty calories. So I don’t know. I didn’t like it as much as I liked the other ten, but I liked it.
It’s also not Ricky’s a best special. Oh No, one more late comer to the year, Kamel Non Jihanni’s Hulu special. It was fine. The people who were saying this is the greatest special of the year are of course crazy people, and I’d be curious to see if they ever got any checks from anybody involved with Hulu. I’m just saying that there’s no way.
Come on, Gianni special is the best of the year. It’s good, it’s fun. I think I have a bias that I know he’s just popping into stand up comedy because he was bored or something. But he’s not coming back to stand up comedy, so I don’t know why the special even exists. He’s going right back to acting.
But you know it’s fine. Best of the year. Yah, that’s crazy talk.
Also in my top tier, number thirteen, Bert Krascher is Lucky from Netflix.
Brett Goldstein. Brett Goldstein I have at number fourteen. Now, as I’m doing this list for the seven millionth time, I’m looking at that and I’m wondering, hmm, you may have Brett’s special way too low, Johnny Mack. Now, I have it at fourteen, So that’s the official I had it in the homework. I have it at fourteen.
But as I’m looking at this, I probably like Brett better than Bert and better than Kamel, better than Ricky, maybe not more than Dusty. So maybe Brett should be number ten and a half, but I have him at number fourteen. That’s a really good special. On HBO fifteen and sixteen, Michelle Wolf and Sarah Silverman kind of pair up because I have the same note on both of them. Nice hour, not all that funny, but a nice hour and nice company.
And I liked both specials a lot. I particularly something about Sarah’s special really stuck with me, even though I have heard sixteen of Michelle at fifteen, but Michelle’s is slightly funnier. Again, as I said, these are just listen. How do you rank anything? Who knows both are nice company?
At seventeen, I have Matt McCusker. The audio is not recorded all that well, but it was way funnier than I thought. That was one of those nights when I was like, Oh, I’m watching comedy specials tonight. What else could I watch? And I clicked on that.
My note continues to be poor Man’s Shane Gillis, which makes sense because they do the podcast together. But yeah, good special. Number eighteen. I have Mateo Lane’s Al Dente that was on Hulu back in May. I have that same note I had with Michelle and Sarah that maybe it’s not hilarious, but it was real nice company for an hour.
And then at nineteen Tim Dillon I’m your mother. If you like Tim Dillon, you’ll like I’m your mother. If you don’t like Tim Dillon, you’re not gonna like I’m your mother. The other things that absolutely must be mentioned, they’re not stand up specials, but they are the funny things from the year I have. Number one by a mile was the Mark Twain Prize given to Conan O’Brien.
That’s even better than Maren Special. That is the comedy event of the year. That’s this year’s Tom Brady Roast. If you haven’t watched the Mark Twain Prize, I mean just a who’s who on this Appearances include John m’laney who absolutely crushed it. This thing well, Pharaoh, Nikki Glaser, Bill Burr, Sarah Silverman, Stephen Colbert was great, Adam Sandler was pretty good for Adam Sandler, David Letterman and Triumph thesl comic dog.
I mean, how could he go wrong there. I’ll have a lot to say about Conan tomorrow, but the Mark Twain Prize was the event of the year.
Also really strong, not a full special, but Shane Gillis’s sb’s monologue whe…
I’m not sure the audience liked it. As much as John on the Couch did, But John on the Couch I loved it. Shane Gillis’s SBI monologue Number three, Tom Sigora’s Bad Thoughts. I didn’t love his special. I should probably mention because that came out and I didn’t want to redo my entire list again again again.
But I have Sigura and Sarah Sherman, I should mention, all right, So here I kind of fell into it. So in the first half I did the top specials of the year. Then I have the middle tier, which includes Mike Kaplin, Tina du aaka Gerrod Carmichael, roy Wood, otsco At costka Ian Edwards. Then I have Sarah Sherman and Tom Sigora. So for keeping track there, that would put them at let’s say, Sherman at the twenty sixth spot and Sigur at the twenty seventh spot.
Again, I didn’t want to go that deep. Sigora Special’s fine. It’s just fine. Didn’t love it, didn’t hate It’s just fine. But bad thoughts.
Oh, I love that. Please bring that back in a hurry. I love it so much. It’s naughty. My son is a young adult and he would find it funny, but I’m not going to be like, hey son, you should watch this because it’s quite naughty.
He can discover that on his own and we shall never discuss it. Did you watch last one Laughing UK? So they locked a bunch of comedians in a room and the comedians had to make each other laugh and if you after you got voted out of the room. Jimmy Carr was the host on that thing. It is hilarious and it’s one of those shows you can play along at home because you sit on the couch and you see if you cannot laugh.
And I got voted out of the room a couple times myself. That was really good, my jam. The thing that I can’t get enough of is Jonathan Kite’s Anthony boardeen. And you’ll find Jonathan Kite doing Anthony Bourdain on social media. I follow him on threads, he’s on Instagram, and he doesn’t increasingly great Anthony Bourdain.
So a year ago he was just doing the voice, but now he’s got the hair, and he’s got the walk down, and he’s got the wardrobe. And Jonathan Kites Anthony Bourdain takes us to such exotic places as cracker Barrel, and Costco. I can’t get enough of it. Highly recommend Jonathan Kite’s Anthony Bourdain and Shane Gillis’s sitcom Tires. It really reminds me of the Office at its peak times.
It’s really great. I’m remembering I have a couple episodes I didn’t watch because I thought the season was like six episodes, and then there were more. I was like, oh, But then I get busy and I start playing video games. I’m all into the NBA two K video game right now because I’m a Nick’s front runner. My son got mena the Knicks, and I’m a big time Knicks front runner, which reminds me I have a commercial to record for next week.
I better do that next before I forget. But Shane Gillis’s Tires, I love it. So there you go. Best Special of the Year, Mark Maron Best Thing of the Year the Mark Twain Prize starring Conan O’Brien. Tomorrow on this very program, we’ll talk about who won and lost comedy in twenty twenty five.
See you then. Welcome to the pop up Purgatory of Polyester and plastic Pumpkins. Spirit Halloween every September, a seasonal demon Clause Out of Hell possesses the concrete corpse of a failed store, then ghosts. On November first, it’s gender furcation. What was one so ped Bath and Beyond is now bed Bath and Beyond the grave.
Spirit Halloween a scarebnb for dead retail, So beware for when a lease grows cold, the bannerd Boogeyman will soon be there. They almost got Jimmy Kimmel’s studios, and after the latest government shut down, don’t be shocked when a spirit penant covers the White House, the second most terrifying orange thing to ever haunt it until next time, watch out for the tricks and enjoy the treats.