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Denisha Cerniglia
We all need a laugh sometimes, and when it comes to standup comedy, Netflix has amassed a spectacular library of specials for just about every sense of humor under the sun. We all know the streaming network has been busy buffing up its movies and TV shows in recent years, but Netflix has also become a giant in the world of comedy specials, curating an impressive lineup from the biggest and best names in comedy right now and launching some unsung gems to stardom in the process. We've done a deep dive into the library to discover the most impressive, groundbreaking, and laugh-out-loud hilarious selections in the bunch. From the new names who are changing the game to established industry greats, check out our picks for the best stand-up comedy specials on Netflix below.
For more laugh-worthy recommendations, check out our list of the best comedy movies, comedy shows, and romantic comedies on Netflix, or browse our suggestions for the best movies and shows on the platform.
John Mulaney is one of the most popular performers in comedy at the moment, and no matter which of his standup specials you pick, you'll immediately see why. Netflix is host to three of Mulaney's specials, (as well as Oh Hello on Broadway, the stage show he co-created with Nick Kroll,) New in Town, The Comeback Kid, and Kid Gorgeous at Radio City. Pick one, you can't go wrong. Mulaney's singular tempo and delivery will have you in stitches in minutes regardless, but if you're looking for the most current bits and biggest sense of showmanship, get thee to Kid Gorgeous, a hilarious, glittering set that plants Mulaney's vaguely old-fashioned theatricality in the splendor of Radio City Music hall, where he plays to an enormous adoring crowd. I love to play venues where, if the guy that built the venue could see me on the stage, he would be a little bit bummed about it," Mulaney says in the opening. His persona is refined to a tee, his timing and ad-libbing are impeccable as ever, but Mulaney's great gift has always been his writing and Kid Gorgeous is a phenomenal showcase for his one-of-a-kind talent for combining spectacular storytelling, description. and payoff with some of the downright weirdest and most absurd jokes on the scene.
Tom Segura has one of those great stage presences that immediately makes you feel like your his friend -- that rare gift of easy charisma that makes you feel like you're the only two people in the room. Alternately raunchy and relatable, Segura's sets serve a peculiar cocktail of acerbic cynicism and genial warmth, breezing through everything from sex, diet, and deviant behavior with the comedian's masterful command of deadpan and self-depreciation. Segura has three sets on Netflix -- Completely Normal, Mostly Stories, and Disgraceful -- and they're all winners, but for my money, it's his first Netflix special, 2014's Completely Normal that still delivers the biggest laughs. Whether he's talking about the insanity of The First 48 or shameful internet history, Segura mines every bit for all the laughs its worth, and the fact that he makes it look so effortless only further confirms he's one of the best in the business.
Anthony Jeselnik is proof that you can joke about anything if you're smart and talented enough -- of course, it helps that being a bit of psychopath is part of his schtick. Jeselnik's brand of comedy is built around being abrasive; he doles out hits and he gets plenty of blowback for his efforts, but he's also a master at toeing the line. As he says in his 2015 Netflix special Thoughts and Prayers "What's funny about Aurora? What's funny about the Boston Marathon? What's funny about your grandmother's funeral? Nothing. Nothing is funny about those things, that's where I come in." As much as he is a champion of wicked one-liners and bone dry delivery, he's also an incredibly savvy joke writer -- he doesn't punch down. The reason he can get away with joking about anything is he never makes the victims or the disenfranchised the punchline. It's one hell of a balancing act to watch and his gift for turning jokes in the most twisted direction shouldn't be understated. His act is like a game of chicken -- who's going to back down first? Him or the audience? And it's never him. Jeselnik's humor is dark as it gets and all but guaranteed to get a wince or a gasp out of even the most anti-PC audience member, but it's also master class in pushing boundaries without being tasteless and delivering scathing cultural commentary without just being an ass.
Hannah Gadsby was arguably the breakout comedy sensation of 2018 thanks to her groundbreaking special Nanette, a deeply personal meditation on art, abuse, and trauma that elegantly darts between punchlines and personal revelations with impeccable timing and emotional grace. Comedy specials have grown increasingly inventive over the years, especially as comedians started gearing their content toward a Netflix audience, but no other set on this list blurs the lines between Standup and performance art quite like Nanette. Gadsby is a gripping storyteller that lulls you into her gentle demeanor and easy humor before delivering heartbreaking asides that pull from her experience growing up a Lesbian in hyper-conservative Tasmania and ultimately lands on a resonant, paradigm-shifting perspective on genius and art, and the abuses we tolerate in the pursuit of false myths about tortured artists. Though it might not be the pick if you're looking for an easy laugh, Nanette is brilliant, essential standup that pushes the form in bold new directions.
AliWong is really out here redefining the boundaries for female comedians. Her 2016 special Baby Cobra (which ugly-laugh hilarious and well worth checking out in its own right) was groundbreaking for one simple but radical factor -- she filmed it at seven-and-a-half months pregnant, delivering some of the filthiest, raunchiest humor outside the realm of bro-comedy. It was a smash sensation and Wong's 2018 follow-up Hard Knock Wife, which she again filmed while extremely pregnant, continued her tradition of shattering unspoken taboos by tackling the harsh, often disgusting, realities of birth and motherhood. In the age of helicopter parenting and relentless social media judgments placed on mothers, Wong delivers the kind of brutal assessment of motherhood most people save for therapists and wine-fuelled girls nights, mining the emotional drain, physical demands, and downright body horror of everything from birth to breastfeeding with uproarious, foul-mouthed verve. Stylish and sassy to boot, Wong covers more than just motherhood, navigating sex, race, dating, and marriage with honesty, intimacy, and of course, hilarity. Whether you hit Baby Cobra or Hard Knock Wife first, you'll immediately see why Wong is one of the most exciting and surprising voices in comedy right now.
Twitter fave Patton Oswalt taps into the profound and the heartbreaking with his 2017 special Annihilation, a set that ranges from the plight of comedy in the Trump era to a soul-searching exploration of grief in the wake of the tragically early passing of his wife Michelle McNamara. The expertise Oswalt commands in his tonal shifts are an impressive feat of comedy, threading an impossibly small needle whether he's doing a bit entirely devoted to crowd work or digging into the heartbreaking experience of walking his daughter through the loss of a parent while working through his own grief. Standup comedy is rarely this raw or vulnerable while still demonstrating a performer's sharp wit and command of cultural commentary. If there were any doubts after his decades in the industry, Annihilation proves Oswalt's is one of the greats and demonstrates that old idiom of storytelling -- the more personal you make it, the more universal it gets. Oswalt doesn't wallow in his sorrow, he invites you there with him for a while to learn a bit about the best and worst of the human experience, to have a laugh, odd though that may sound, and to remind us all of an important lesson: It's chaos, be kind.
There were no other steps to get it up and running, I just switched on the set once plugged into power and was greeted with a bright setup walkthrough, which felt somewhat invasive with all its questions, but this seems increasingly standard with smart TVs.
I was also a little underwhelmed by the remote, which had a clunky design for such a next-generation TV, although it does have a great move-and-point interaction feature. The flexibility of being able to connect the G3 to other devices like my Apple TV 4K also meant that it was easy to switch the remote out and rely on something more familiar.
After wrestling with a 65-inch sized G3 OLED to get it upstairs and set up, it definitely brightened up the entire room with its stunning picture display. After all, the TV itself is well designed and considered, with a thin profile and small bezel.
I wanted to see some 4K content quickly, so I loaded up YouTube, which was a quick and easy process. In fact, I was able to watch a 4K nature video on YouTube almost instantly after powering on the set.
And I have to say, when I first saw the high-resolution image with the pixel-perfect colors and contrast, it was like what I imagine putting glasses on for the first time would have been like. Every dot looked to be honed to the smallest degree, with punchy colors and dramatic depths.
The built-in sound quality of the LG G3 is surprisingly good for a TV. While (of course) connecting one of the best soundbars would be even more immersive, I found that turning on the AI Sound Pro enhanced the audio quality significantly.
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