Have you enjoyed this decade of peak comedy boom dot com?

We began with only a few outlets, namely Comedy Central, HBO and Showtime, doling out only a few hours each year to stand-up comedians to present their specials. We end the 2010s with technology and open platforms such as YouTube and Amazon allowing anyone anywhere in the world to put out his or her own special. Hundreds chose to do so this year. Thousands, if not millions more, also have established round-the-clock broadcasting of their musings to the void via Instagram Stories. Nobodys stopping you from adding your voice, your jokes to the maelstrom.

But if the wild, wild Web has no sheriffs, then how will we ever determine, if not also remember, which comedy specials were truly special?

Im no white knight, but as someone whos been paying rather close attention to the comedy industry for the entirety of the decade, Ive been deputized with the authority to take stock of what stand-ups have wrought for us from 2010-2019.

Comedians have opened up and played with the form of the hour special, even deconstructed it, and put it back together again.

Ali Wong showed us that women didnt need to stop telling jokes just because they were pregnant. Bo Burnham went from Comedy Central in 2010, to free on YouTube in 2013, to streaming on Netflix in 2016, to directing and producing other comedians in their specials, all the while self-reflecting on the very nature of entertainment. Hannah Gadsby forced comedians to confront their own roles in exaggerating their lives for the sake of laughs, and whether its all worth it.

Hannibal Buress convinced us all to take another look at Bill Cosby.

Louis C.K., who went viral at the end of the 2000s thanks to a bit about the amazing power of cell phones on Late Night with Conan OBrien, opened up the business so comedians could cut out the middlemen, and helped bring Tig Notaro to mainstream attention in doing so, but by failing to acknowledge his own character defects, he brought himself down from his award-winning mountaintop.

We also enjoyed so many great documentaries that took us inside comedians we thought we already knew but didnt, and illuminated the comedy experience for anyone who didnt realize how much work and struggle went into the business. These included Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work, Conan OBrien Cant Stop, The Bitter Buddha, Women Arent Funny, the I Am Comic trilogy, Pauly Shore Stands Alone, Call Me Lucky, Gilbert, The Problem With Apu, and Jim and Andy.

Id write separate entries for all of these, and more, if I could. Here are 10 worth mentioning once more.

10

One of our most unheralded comedic voices spent much of the 2000s writing and producing episodes of The Simpsons, but emerged back on the stand-up scene with this 2013 special, first released by New Wave (which later became the businesss behemoth, Comedy Dynamics) and currently available on Amazon Prime. Gould possesses what the old folks would call a rapier wit, and demonstrates his prowess right from the get-go, reminding us that you can joke about anything..with proper contextso lets start with an AIDS joke, rape joke and a 9/11 joke. Theres a still-apt political observation about how Americas divisions are rural/urban, now timeless stories about Bob Hope and Stephen Hawking, and what remains the best take on reality television. To wit: You will never experience less reality than when youre watching a reality show, Gould says. Youre watching people who arent actors, put into situations by people who arent writers, and theyre second-guessing how they think youd like to see them behave if this were a real situation. Which its not. And you are passively observing this. Youre watching an amateur production of nothing. Its like a photo of a drawing of a hologramIts The Beatles of wasting your time. He gets into some offensive bits, too, but presents them with a self-awareness that would serve anyone well into todays so-called cancel culture.

Where to stream Dana Gould: I Know It's Wrong

9

Do you remember Chill? No, not Netflix and chill. Chill was a pay-per-view platform that got into the comedy special game for a hot minute, offering exclusive hours from the likes of Kyle Kinane, Doug Benson and Maria Bamford. You can still find ChillComedy on YouTube, but the site itself is up for sale. Bamfords Special Special Special blew the doors open on what was possible for comedians, not only in terms of content but also in terms of presentation. Imagine performing for your parents in your living room, with an opening act (Jackie Kashian), musical accompaniment (Wayne Federman), camera crew and multiple interruptions, all while you pull back the curtain on the similarities between pot clinics and hip churches, the vacuousness of celebrity worship, and your own struggles with mental illness. By confronting every comedians fears, Bamford began overcoming her own, leading to a beloved Netflix series (Lady Dynamite) and a bigger-budget spin on the idea that good jokes delivered well can work in just about any setting (2017s Old Baby).

Where to stream Maria Bamford: The Special Special Special

8

Dave Chappelle released four separate stand-up specials on Netflix in 2017. Two of them had been collecting dust in his storage until the streaming giant paid Chappelle handsomely for them; another outing was rushed out at that years end to capitalize on the start of the #MeToo movement. Which leaves Equanimity,which alone rises up to meet its textbook definition, all while giving fans insight into the comic legend we may not have previously known. As I wrote then: It takes mental calmness, composure, and evenness of temper, especially in a difficult situation, to not only acknowledge where your jokes may have rightly offended people, but also then add on more jokes to acknowledge why you come to your conclusions, and have everyone laughing along with you. It also captures the comedian at a time when he could comprehend that audiences had become more sensitive, without becoming overly sensitive himself. Instead, Chappelle looked into the darkness of the moment and still saw hope for all of us. He should rewatch this hour himself.

Stream Dave Chappelle: Equanimity on Netflix

7

Tig Notaro had quite the decade, personally and professionally. Receiving a cancer diagnosis might not have been the best thing to ever happen to her, especially since she has gotten married and become a parent. But her ability, time and again, to immediately find comedy in what everyone else saw as tragedy helped catapult her into the limelight. For all the shock value that came from her EP, Live, or going topless for HBO, or using her Amazon Prime series to force Louis C.K.s secret out of hiding before the #MeToo movement really gained momentum, my favorite work of Notaros from this decade is her Showtime documentary from 2015. A tour movie with fellow comic Jon Dore along for the ride, Knock Knock shows us the secret sauce of Notaros comedy magic.

6

Whatever you think of Kevin Hart now, its important you go back to Laugh At My Pain, his 2011 concert film that doubled as a documentary about the movie stars upbringing on the streets of Philadelphia. His pre-show chant was telling then, even more so now: Everybody want to be famous. Nobody want to put the work in! This film shows how much work Hart put into making himself a star. And his stand-up material illuminates how his personal struggles with his parents and his marriages have left him wanting to do better on the homefront, too. This is the special that proves Hart earned his spot at the top. He even reminds us that one celebritys catchphrase is not the one celebritys alone. Alright, alright, alright!

Where to stream Kevin Hart: Laugh At My Pain

5

Bill Burr had quite a decade, with four Netflix specials to his credit. But its the hour he recorded for Comedy Central at the beginning of the 2010s that now seems ahead of its time. In what would become a recurring bit about the need to thin the Earths population, Burr joked here that were the only species that saves the weak. His observations about how different races place their curse words in different syntax could be taught today to comedians who worry about cancel culture coming for them. And Burr is definitely in front of the curve in worrying about information privacy in the digital age, delivering a fresher take on automated checkout machines than some comedians nine years later. If you watched this years Paper Tiger, and then come back to Let It Go, youll see how Burr has been wrestling with his anger issues and knows whats coming down the pike for him. His treatise on toxic masculinity, or in Burrs words of 2010, the masculine threat of What are you, a fag?! remains relevant today, too.

Where to stream Bill Burr: Let It Go

4

If any single comedian proves that cancel culture is b.s., its Anthony Jeselnik. Perhaps all comedians need to inhabit an onstage persona so audiences can tell whats a joke and whats a sincere observation? No. How about comedians just work harder and funnier so there is no doubt. Jeselnik covers his bases, regardless. This special has everything: Death. Child molestation. Animal cruelty. Serial killing. Catholic school. Childhood cancer. Guns. Domestic violence. Neglect. Poverty. 9/11. Racism. Finding dead bodies. Shutting down abortion clinics. The Challenger space shuttle. Hitler. More death. Nothings off limits. Not for strong joke tellers. Its not about timing. Its about delivery. Jeselnik proves that over and over. And he even got us to think twice before typing out thoughts and prayers. Because those deliver nothing but empty words.

Stream Anthony Jeselnik: Thoughts and Prayers on Netflix

3

Colin Quinn has devoted one-man shows to the history of the world, the U.S. Constitution, and even the current divisions among the United States between red states and blue states. But its his 2016 show, which arrived on Netflix less than two weeks after the presidential election, which finds him at his most focused and insightful, narrowing in on the Great American Melting Pot story through the timeline of how immigrants and changing demographics made New York City the be-all, end-all for America. Its still the place to make it. Quinn reminds us just how true that is, to so many millions and billions around the world.

Stream Colin Quinn: The New York Story on Netflix

2

For his body of work, John Mulaney is our top comedian of the decade, from his contributions to the SNL canon with Stefon through his two solo efforts on Netflix (The Comeback Kid, and Kid Gorgeous at Radio City) and his two-hander with Nick Kroll that was a hit on Broadway and Netflix (Oh, Hello!). Mulaney offers masterclasses in bit construction and delivery, with so many classics to choose from. Just in describing Donald J. Trump alone! Mulaney could joke about him a decade ago as a hobos idea of what a rich man is, to now comparing him to something more serious, if not also amusing to imagine: a horse set loose in a hospital. Mulaneys 2012 special, New In Town, was his first, originally airing on Comedy Central. Looking back on it now, hes showing off all of the tools he has at his disposal as a comedian. Comparing Law & Order SVU to crime-solving in the pre-DNA age. Realizing the meanest people alive are 13-year-olds. Imagining himself as a Def Jam comedian (sincerely, not ironically). And declaring any comparisons between midgets and n-words as a nonstarter well before several other comedians dropped the idea into their own specials. He also casually and constantly checks his own status and sensibilities to remind us whos at the butt of most of these jokes. Its Mulaney. Hes a national treasure. And this is his origin story.

Where to stream John Mulaney: New In Town

1

You may wish you knew what George Carlin or Richard Pryor would have to say about whats going on in todays world. For me, its Patrice ONeal. Its always Patrice. The big guy who grew up in Boston died in 2011, just a week before he would have turned 42. He had a propensity for telling you exactly what he thought and not suffering fools gladly, even if said fools held the keys to his show business career. And yet, in 2010, Comedy Central captured ONeal in all of his glory with Elephant in the Room.You could watch it today, dated as it is, and still relate to everything in it. His opening crowd work segues seamlessly into a pointed take on how long society will care about a missing woman, depending solely on her racial and ethnic background. From there, ONeal takes on our ambivalence over the Obama legacy (despite it still being his first term as president), the softening of professional football, and more. And by more, I mean ONeal already had a hot take on masculinity and sexual harassment, offering his own solutions that may sound graphic at times, but also recognize the need for female empowerment. He was a truth-teller. Thankfully, much of his truth remains timeless.

Where to stream Patrice O'Neal: Elephant In The Room

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The Best Stand-up Comedy Specials of the 2010s - Decider