Best Comedy Specials of 2026 (So Far)

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Featured: Chris Fleming, Ryan Hamilton, Trevor Noah, Cat Williams, Pete Holmes, Derek Stoop, Ramy Youssef, Jackie Kashian, Shehang Wang, Aaron Chen, Kevin Hart, Mark Maron, Nate Bargatze

What’s in This Episode

• Chris Fleming’s HBO special ‘Live at the Palace’ ranked #1 of 2026
• Ryan Hamilton’s comedy special following being hit by a bus
• Trevor Noah’s Netflix special ‘Joy in the Trenches’
• Ranking of best comedy specials through mid-2026
• Roast of Kevin Hart on Netflix in May

Questions Answered in This Episode

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Full Transcript

This transcript was automatically generated and may contain spelling and/or transcription errors.

Caloroga Shark Media. Hey Johnny Mac with your Daily Comedys holiday weekend. I hope you had a great fourth of July. Am now well into my mission to make it to the tri Centennial. Need medicine help me a little bit.

I’ll have to be one hundred and seven years old, but that is my goal to be there July fourth, twenty seventy six. So let’s put our feet up today and take a look at the best comedy specials of twenty twenty six so far. And I’m going up to bottom best special of the year, and I don’t imagine anything passing this Chris Flemings Live at the Palace from HBO in February. This is the one that made everybody feel like they discovered a secret, even though the secret had been hiding in plain sight on YouTube for years. Chris Fleming filmed his HBO debut with the Cadillac Palace Theater in Chicago in a purple velvet gemsuit with ruby red Dorothy slippers.

He then prance, scuttled and belly flopped his way through an hour about Trader Joe’s, Doug Breed’s, NPR, and Conga lines. Mark Maron called him a marvel to behold, a true artist. If you’ve seen this thing, Fleming isn’t doing joke jokes. He’s doing art, except the art is pretty funny and has a lot of physical comedy. And let me flip over a card here.

I used AI to help me script out today’s episode off my scratch notes, and the AI came up with this one. Chris Fleming looks like he may have studied under a mime who was also a Golden retriever. That’s pretty good. Number two special of the year, Ryan Hamilton. This just hit me.

You know, sometimes I’ll see a comedian on the up and be like, oh, I can’t wait for this person’s next special, and they kind of disappoint. And you know, it’d been a minute for Ryan Hamilton because he got hit by a bus, which he made very clear. So I was very happy at how funny this special was, and it seemed to everybody in the Facebook group Daily Comedy News podcast group was with the program. In case you missed it, Ryan Hamilton got hit by a bus and then he made a comedy special about it. The special was directed by mega comedian Aperghezzi.

One time attended a UFC show who that guy? But much like the Nate brand, the energy is clean, warm, observational. Nobody’s getting their feelings hurt. And as far as I know, Ryan Hamilton did not attend any UFC events recently. I’m going to google it just to check.

Oh, this is fun. There’s an MMA fighter named Ryan Hamilton who goes by the nickname Hollywood Ryan Hamilton. He has a professional MMA record of zero and one. His last fight was July seventeenth, twenty twenty one, in whatever FCS is. He is currently on a one loss MMA streak.

He apparently lost to Johann Rubio by a rear naked choke two minutes and eleven seconds into round two. This is the kind of thing Nate bergets he would find very interesting. And I’m sure you’re like, shut up, John and get back to the comedy part. I will. That’s a good suggestion.

Listener Hamilton works in the Jim Gaffigan Brian Reagan Lane, Nah, I disagree. I think I think Ryan Hamilton would call me back had I helped him early in his career. Now I haven’t helped him in his career at all, but had I helped him early in his career, and I was like, Hey, Ryan, do you want to come on the radio show. I’m pretty sure Ryan would have called me back and said yes, sir or I said no, I’d love to, but you know, I’m busy. I’m touring, which is perfectly fine, and I have no problem to no.

I digress, Holliay weekend having a little fun here. Ryan Habilinson works on the Jim Gaffick and Brian Reagan Lan Family Friendly, Never a curse word, the kind of special you can watch with your parents and feel good about yourself. Number three Trevor Noah Joy in the Trenches. I really like Trevor Noah’s comedy. This was on Netflix in April.

I liked it a lot, but some people said at times have felt like a ted talk that wandered into a comedy club by accident, and not sure I agree with that. Number four Count Williams The Last Report Netflix in February. Count Williams Fourth Netflix special. The Last Report leans heavily into conspiracy theorist, political commentary, and the vibe of a man who’s looked at the world and concluded he was right about everything. If you love cat you’ll love this one.

If you thought his previous specialist wandered a little bit. You won’t like this one in fifth place. Pete Holmes Silly Silly fun Boy. I’ve been listening to some pen Homes interviews. I just really like what the guy’s about.

And as the year goes on and I revise this even here on the Fly, I’m like, Eh, maybe you don’t want to put Pete above Cat and above Trevor. I don’t know, come to revise here in the fly. Maybe Pete Holmes is the third best special of the year. John, you host the show, you made the list. I know, all right, I have it at five.

This showed up on YouTube in March. Silly Silly fun Boy has scorpion bites, elevator Superstitions. Harry Potter is a philosophical text parenting marriage and the general vibe of a guy who’s found genuine peace and wants to tell you about Like, yeah, that’s what I’m picking up on the interviews, and I think that’s what I like about him. Pete Holmes said it’s my favorite special two dates, which is nice, but doesn’t every comedian, like you know, is somebody gonna come out and be like, you know this one’s pretty good, but my last one was way better. Like, you’re just not gonna do that right.

Here’s one that might be off your radar, Derek Stroop’s Nostalgic. Now, by off your radar, I mean Netflix put it in front of you and you didn’t click on it. This was on Netflix in March, also produced by mega comedian Aperghancys Andnateland Entertainment. Nate one time went to a UFC fight Boy, People Are Very Upset fifty seven minutes about a nineties kid from rural Alabama, thrown it back to pre internet lifeboard games and why cigarettes should make a comeback. Critics compared to him either to mega comedian Apraghassi or Brig Krascher.

Next up, Ramy Yusef in Love HBO April. I always enjoy Ramy. He just he exudes charm and he’s very smooth. And this one he covers dogs, his marriage, Ai, religion, and the ri Odd Comedy Festival. One review said, it’s not trying to be the funniest special the year.

It’s trying to be the most meaningful, and I think that’s a good way to describe Rami Usef. Next up, Jackie Kashin with the title altercation I See what You did there? This on YouTube in February, the specialist personal stories in rapid fire punchlines shaped by decades of experience. She described herself as entirely made of bees at this point. So here the roughly halfway mark of the year.

Those are my top specials. Now, usually the back half of the year has more on the front end of the year, and we tend to get a lot of stuff like after Thanksgiving, like really big names. So we’ll see how the year develops. Let’s take a look at the good pile. So I do these in three tiers.

There’s the best, the good that you should watch, and then famous people who drop specials that I’m not really into. So we’ve already done the best. Let’s do the good. Shehang Wang’s Purple on Netflix. I liked his previous special, Sweet and Juicy, and thought it was excellent.

Purple not as good. It’s a little repetitive, and at times I really was feeling the Mitch Hedberg cover act, which in the previous special I liked a lot, but this time I was like, Eh, the material didn’t quite match the delivery. I like Shang a lot, but I’d actually recommend his previous special over this one. Ate pretty good specials. Aaron Chen’s Life in Questions.

Aaron Chan is Australian, surreal and underrated everywhere, kind of a low key style, an acquired taste. Perfectly fine special. I’m not going to put it in the elitch category, but pretty good.

Also pretty good and well talked about the roast of Kevin Hart from Netflix i…

If you listen to this program, we have well dissected that, and we’ll even be dissecting it in the upcoming week. Was it the roast of Tom Brady? Not even close? Was itatchable? Sure?

It was kind of long. I’d watched it across two or three nights. It’s hit and miss. Might be more miss than hit, but it’s washable. Definitely put your eyes on it.

This one’s gonna upset people. You know what’s watchable Tony Hinchcliff’s man, other people I know, people on Threads specifically, are mad that this even exists. Is it funny? I don’t know if it’s funny. It’s just nice company.

I had it on for an hour and a lot of times because I am a comedy snob. I don’t make it all the way through specials and I just go, Eah, this isn’t worth my time. And I just had this on and it was entertaining. I don’t know if it’s funny, but I was entertained. And our first mention of the Hulu brand hularious.

Now they’re a publicists might not get back to you, but you can still watch comedy on now. As you hear me say on the show, I feel like the Hulu brand’s not up where the Netflix brand is, and Hulu’s where you go when you’re a little past peak. They recently dropped Dez Bishop’s Bridge and Tunnel again, perfectly fine hour filmed at the Comedy Seller in New York. I like Dez’s a previous special more than this one. But if you need something to watch, does Bishop Bridge and Tunnel on Hulu?

And now onto the pass section. These are people you’ve heard of. I think it can pass. Let’s start with Louis C.K.’s Ridiculous Nope, didn’t make the top of the list. Now let me tell you.

I put this thing on the other night between soccer games, and the first ten minutes I was laughing out loud, like actual laughs. If you’ve listened to this program, you know. I have what I call Emperor of Rome syndrome, where my brain has just been fried from listening to comedy all these ears, and I do the thing the comedians do in the back of the room where they just go, oh, yeah, that’s hilarious, very very funny, great callback, Oh that is so well written, but I don’t actually laugh. K in the first ten minutes had me laughing, and I started thinking, Wow, is this going to be the number two special? Because it’s gonna be hard to be Chris Fleming.

I’m like, is this going to be number two? Did C Kate really bring it here? Because some of the reviews I saw said this wasn’t that good. In the first ten minutes I loved. The next ten minutes I hated.

He went into this bit about his father and I won’t spoil the material, and there was just one joke that’s aggressive, and I was like, I just don’t like this. I don’t want to spend time with this.

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And then that chunk ends like right at the nineteen minute mark with he’s doi…

Life’s too short, I’ve got soccer games to watch, I got stuff to do. I’m not going to watch a special I’m not enjoying. And I just wasn’t enjoying it anymore, so I stopped. Variety calls it his return to the mainstream. Slate says he hasn’t changed.

Indy Wire says his misery becomes our own. All of those things are probably true at once, but passed on Louis c. K ridiculous. Pass on Taylor Thomason’s Prodigal Daughter in Netflix February. Critics love it Thomasin’s fourth Netflix special That’s incredible, hit religious trauma, faith, the construction, sexuality, and fear of death, and I don’t know, just kind of felt one note to me.

I don’t know, wasn’t feeling it. Pass on Josh Johnson Symphony from HBO, and may I know, I know, I know we’re all supposed to be like Josh Johnson is the greatest ever and his output is incredible. He does a new material on YouTube every Tuesday, and the buzzes on him and he’s charismatic, and I know I’m supposed to love it. I wanted to love it, but I zoned out. Material didn’t grab me.

People who love it seem to really love it, which means either it’s brilliant, or it wasn’t in the right head space, or I just suck at this. I don’t know, maybe I’m wrong, but just wasn’t feeling it. And I know I’m supposed to, but I didn’t. No surprise that I didn’t like Marcelo Hernandez American Boy from in Netflix in January. As you’ve heard me say, Marcelo Hernandez does one thing.

Well, he does one thing, and he did one thing during American Boy on Netflix in January. Can also pass on Mark Norman’s None Too Pleased Mark Norman doing Mark Norman things. What are the descriptions of this specialist? You already know what you’re in for, And yeah, that’s it. I mean, if you like Mark Norman, great, I don’t dislike the special but again, I got soccer games to watch, video games, to play movies to watch, go outside, do something else, So I’m gonna pass on Mark Norman None Too Pleased, which again doesn’t mean it sucks.

It just means it’s not gonna make the end of your best of list. Neither is Nikki Glaser’s Good Girl from the Hilarious Brand. I am not the target audience. I’m aware of that, and I am also aware that I increasingly feel Nikki Glaser needs to tap the brakes and disappear for a little bit. It’s been a little much, but the type of material she does just does not connect with me.

It may connect with you. You’ll find Nikki Glaser Good Girl on Hulu. While we’re here into the holiday weekend, Vulture posted five new comedy specials you should definitely watch when you have a moment. Their list Real Quick, Louis C.K. Ridiculous on Netflix.

They suggested Tom Cashman’s The Formula for Happiness on YouTube. Don’t want to spoil the jokes here, Vulture kind of did, but sounds like it might be pretty funny. They also recommend Ryan Hamilton, who you just heard me say is the number two of the year. Ali SADIQX my father. There’s so much buzz on him.

He’s arguably the hottest comedian around right now. This special is released on Father’s Day. I guess I should catch up on it, and Caitlyn Polufo’s Pershudo Rose is on YouTube. Vulture writes, just as Paul Mooney pushed even their most progressive white audiences to discover their latent racism through long, relentless sets about race relations, Kaitlyn Pulufo does a similar thing with jokes about sex. Oh scroll down here.

They have some previously featured specials. Horatio Gould’s Space Cowboy on YouTube, Emmy Blotnik’s What’s Her Secret on Gorilla Comedy, plus Eugene Mermins here comes the Whimsy on YouTube. I need to get around to that one. Okay, good one, Bet Stellings. We’re looking for people who do huge numbers on social media on YouTube.

Julio Torre’s Color Theory is on HBO. I actually did watch that. I should add that to the past list. And Janet McNamara is not smart enough on YouTube all right, though, I’ll give you plenty to watch in between soccer games. And if you want even more of a list, join the Facebook group Daily Comedy News podcast group.

Dylan is one of the power members of the group. And if you’ve put out a comedy special, he’s watched it before The paint is dry on it, which doesn’t make sense, but you know what I mean. And he’s got a very thorough list of his opinion on the top specials of the year. And again, this is just one idiot’s list, a guy sitting in a basement recording extra episodes for holiday weekend. You can agree, disagree.

It’s just a list. Don’t get too upset about it. Your list is just as valid as mine. And I will see you tomorrow.