The 10 Best Comedy Specials on Netflix Right Now
2024-10-23 · 5 min read
Netflix's comedy library is enormous and inconsistent. For every brilliant special there are ten forgettable hours of crowd work and lazy observations. These ten specials represent the platform's best current offerings.
Ali Wong's Don Wong is a razor-sharp hour tackling marriage, wealth, and the specific indignities of being a woman in Hollywood with Wong's signature explicit honesty. Her delivery is fearless, her material is meticulously structured.
Nate Bargatze's The Greatest Average American is the purest joke-writing on Netflix. Bargatze's clean comedy and deadpan delivery make him the rarest thing in standup: a comedian whose material works for literally everyone without being sanitized.
Jerrod Carmichael's Rothaniel is one of the bravest comedy specials ever produced. Filmed in an intimate jazz club, Carmichael comes out as gay to his audience in real time, weaving the revelation into a meditation on family, secrecy, and performance. It won the Emmy for Outstanding Writing.
John Mulaney's Baby J documents his addiction and intervention with precision and timing. The material is dark, the jokes are impeccably crafted, and Mulaney's ability to mine genuine trauma for genuine laughs raises questions about what comedy specials can and should do.
Taylor Tomlinson's Have It All showcases one of the best joke writers of her generation. At 30, Tomlinson constructs bits with architectural precision. Her material about dating, mental health, and millennial disillusionment is specific enough to be personal and universal enough to fill arenas.
Other standout specials include Sam Morril's Same Time Tomorrow for New York observational comedy, Ramy Youssef's More Feelings for identity comedy, Michelle Buteau's A Buteau-ful Mind for irrepressible joy, Mae Martin's SAP for queer storytelling, and Mike Birbiglia's The Old Man and the Pool for masterful storytelling.
