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Caloroga Shark Media. Hey there, I’m Johnny mag and we’re halfway through twenty twenty five and it’s July fourth, so I thought today it would be a good day to take a look at what I’m calling the best comedy specials of twenty twenty five so far that I’ve seen. Now, it’s a list, and I always like to preamble, it’s just a list. Don’t get upset. You don’t have to flame me in the comments.
You can disagree. You could say my list is perfect. You can send me a list is stupid. It’s all good. We have a Facebook group where we can discuss this Daily Comedy News podcast group.
It’s just a list. While I’m on the soapbox. A couple things I’ve talked about this in the past, the use of the words special. There was a time, and I’m an old man, now there was a time. What a special was George Carlin on HBO at Carnegie Hall.
That’s kind of special. Now a special might be your friend shot your Tuesday night set at the Chuckle Hut and you threw it up on YouTube and you promoted on social media. Hey, check out my new special. As a programmer, I have always tried to come in at eye level. I was emailing with a friend last week and I said, I try and do Jim Gaffigan more than say Jimmy O Yang, although candidly I love Jimmy O Yang and talking about him.
But the casuals know who Conan O’Brien is. The casuals know who Jim Gaffigan is. So what this list is not is me spending eight hundred hours deep diving YouTube looking for the uncovered gems. No, this is like the mainstream. Here are the ones that they were put in front of you on Netflix and Hulu and HBO and Amazon and the others.
These are the eye level specials, and the ones that I think are even more better than the others. Haven’t seen them all. I haven’t even seen Jim Norton’s new special yet, and I love Jim Norton. Okay, by top tier, the must watches. The funniest thing of the year so far Conan O’Brien’s Mark Twain Prize.
It’s not a stand up special, but in terms of comedy, nothing funnier. The whole hour and a half just totally rocks by a mile. Is It’s the equivalent of the Tom Brady roast from last year. This is like the shiny object in the comedy space. Highly recommend it if you haven’t seen that already.
And the other two things I have in my must watch top tier neither are stand up specials, but they’re from stand up comedians and they’re fantastic. Tom Sigora’s bad thoughts I can’t get enough of. Just please just mainline it into my brain. He could do that totally not Garth Brooks thing all day, every day, and I will continue to laugh at it. It has been renewed for a second season on Netflix.
I am happy about that. The other thing that is fantastic Season two of Shane Gillis Tires. At times it reminds me of the Office at its peak, and I don’t say that lightly. I hope Netflix picks that up again. Shane Gillis he is just naturally funny.
He can be funny just making a face for the camera. Shane Gillis Tires fantastic. Okay, John, get to the stand up specials all right? Well yeah, sure I will. Again, It’s just a list.
Your list is just as valid as mine. Don’t freak out. But here’s the order I have in the top tier of stand up specials. Justin Wilman Magic Lover. Now, is it the funniest thing I’ve ever seen?
No, But in terms of like a guy in a recliner watching an hour of comedy, it is charming as hell. It’s a magic show, but it’s really not a magic show. It’s just a great, solid hour of TV that I’ve been telling people to watch, and so far everybody I’ve put that in front of has been like, Hey, good recommendation, So you want to check out on Netflix. Justin Wilman, Magic Lover. Next up, Bert Kreischer is lucky.
It’s just funny. Kreischer knows his lane, he stays in his lane, and sometimes that’s exactly what you want Bert doing. Burt things fantastic. I really liked Brett Goldstein The Second Best Night of Your Life that’s on HBO Max, the nice solid hour, and I found him just to be nice company. Again, a dude sitting in a chair watching something.
I enjoyed it. Same note on Sarah Silverman’s post Mortem that’s on Netflix. It’s not her funniest, but there’s something just genuinely touching about this one. Sarah of course, a good storyteller and I have it in my notes here. Nice company for an hour.
I really liked him with Tel Lane’s Al Dente that’s on Hulu. You need something light, that’s it. He’s got tremendous energy. And Tim Dillon’s I’m Your Mother on Netflix. I’ve been evangelizing for Dylan for a few years now, and I think he’s kind of hit the mainstream now.
If not, he’s pretty close. Comedy fans definitely know who Tim Dillon is. But a nice, solid hour out of Tim Dillon. Okay, next group, Best of the Rest, drud Carmichaels Don’t Be Gay HBO. Max.
I thought the opening twenty minutes was really strong, stronger than I was expecting, and I was like, oh, I’m in on this one.
And then it kind of flamed out.
And he’s a good storyteller, but I was just like, all right, I’m good here. Roy Wood Junior at Your Age that was back in January on Hulu. Solid Wood knows how to build a bit, deliver a punchline. Totally fine hour. If you’re a casual, if you’re a civilian, put that on.
You’ll enjoy it as a bit of a common I’m like, eh, it was okay Otsko at Cotska’s father. I love Otsco. I do feel her previous special was better than this one. Totally worth your time, but not her best. Ari Shaffer America Sweetheart.
It’s fine Ari Shafir doing Ari Shafir things. Nothing wrong with that. You know what you’re getting. I like Ari Shafir, Gabriel Iglesias The Legend of Fluffy. It’s funny, but it is too long.
Can you guys edit this thing down? I mean part of it. When I sit down and watch a special, if you tell me like it’s like an hour and forty minutes, I’m like, oh man, that’s that’s like a commitment. That’s not just me making that up. Comedians have said that what they’ve been doing in their specials is moving what would normally be their closer up into the first twenty minutes because people have TV add and make it twenty minutes in and punch out.
I know I do that on comedy specials all the time. So you got to make sure your specials not too long these days. One of the best last year was David tel special, which I think was like thirty seven minutes but it crushed, got in, got out done. Mike bro Bigley The Good Life. Civilians are gonna love Mike Berbigleia of the Good Life.
That storytelling style out of Mike specifically hasn’t really clicked with me. I tend to start fidgeting with my phone. If you know what I’m saying, He’s got his audience. I’m not really into it. But that’s a solid special if you’re not a comedy snob.
Jessica Cursons I’m the Man from Hulu. That is another one that I recommend to the civilians. I have a listener to the podcast who text me on the side is like, what should I watch tonight? And that was the one I put in front of him the other day. So check out Jessica Cursons, I’m the Man.
All right, I’ll take the break here and I’ll come back and I’ll talk about a bunch of big names that are not on the list. All right, some other specials that have come out this year that I feel are skippable. I put this out as a sub stack, and within five minutes I was getting text from people going, how did you not like Andrew Schultz’s special? I just didn’t feel the storytelling. I like Schultz, this one just didn’t click with me.
He went for it. I think he accomplished what he wanted to do. Just one idiot in the basement with the podcast and just wasn’t feeling Andrew Schult’s life on Netflix. But I can tell you I got texts about that opinion. That’s fair Again, it’s just a list.
Rosebud Bakers. The Mother Load had the gimmick of switching between a set when she’s pregnant and one from after having the baby. I felt the premise war thin pretty quickly and it was just fatiguing to watch. I punched out on that. Christa Stefano’s It’s just unfortunate.
I don’t want to get flamed in the comments, but I’ve used a word that rhymes with tack for that one. That one who George Lopez mie Katalako I have in my notes horrific. It might be the worst stand up special of all time. George is great, but skip that one and watch his old stuff instead. Eliza Treeger’s Night Owl on Netflix.
I really liked her energy, but I didn’t think the material was there to support it. Eliza Slessinger’s good on Paper was on Amazon. I felt like she wasn’t surfing the crowd, Like the crowd was reacted in such a way that disconnected with how Eliza was performing on the material, and thus it didn’t work. It was like, I have material, I’m going to recite it in this order. In the crowd, you guys can clap or boo or be bored or be silent, and it just there was a disconnect there.
Bill Burr The Drop Dead Year’s Hulu not Burr’s Best. Sorry, I didn’t even make it all the way through. That one. Just out. Recently, Steph Tolev’s Filth Queen too filthy for me.
Now it’s in the title filth Queen. She’s trying to be filthy. She accomplished what she wanted. I could see other people going, I loved it, it was great. It’s just not my cup of tea.
So I personally passed on Steph Filth Queen.
And then there’s probably two hundred other specials, including your favorite…
But again, it’s just a list, and it’s July fourth. Let’s take another look at this list. In December, usually the stronger specials come out in the second half of the year. That’s been the pattern in the last three years anyway, So we’ll see and we’ll take another look at this list in December. If you would like to come in to join us in the Facebook group, won’t you It’s Daily Comedy News podcast group.
We’d love to know your favorite specials. You can tell me which ones I missed. You can tell me my Andrew Schultz opinion is just plain wrong, and that’s all fair. Like I said several times, it’s just a list, all right. Back tomorrow with a normal episode of Daily Comedy News.
See you then.