Great specials

There are about 10 million comedy specials out, some of them phenomenal, most of them passable. Here are a few great and diverse specials you need to check out (in no order).

 

Dane Cook, Vicious Circle: Say what you want about Dane, I know I have, but Vicious is an insanely good special. Yes it is done in the typical Dane over the top loud style, but the fact the he retains command of such an enormous crowd makes this a special to watch. Playing shows in the round is hard (I hear), at all times your back is to half of the crowd, but Dane manages to not only make it work, but to KILL in this situation.

See also: ISolated INcident: Dane in awesome form, doing a quieter set. Still has the same Dane mannerisms, but it is a more traditional stand up set, and it is insanely personal.

Eddie Murphy, Raw: Eddie dominated comedy in the 1980’s. So much so that after 25 years of not performing people still beg to see him take the stage. This is a fun special to watch. Eddie is young and confident, but remains in total control the entire time he is on stage. I especially like how he floats seamlessly from raunchy stand up, to fun character pieces. I especially love showing this special to people who have never seen Eddie do comedy, because there’s almost no way to predict how raunchy it gets. There is a cringeworthy bit about homosexuality, that doesn’t hold up in 2012, but the moment passes and hilarity follows, keep in mind the guy on stage yelling faggot is wearing purple leather.

See Also: Delirious. Eddie’s first special, also really good, I just feel like the Raw material was more refined.

Bill Cosby, Himself: Bill Cosby is a great story teller. And in this special he flows magically from one tale to another. Bill Cosby makes comedy look effortless. He controls the crowd in a way that tricks the viewer into thinking “I could do this” Bur therein lies the trap. There is only one Bill Cosby, and this is him at his best.

Bill Burr, Why Do I Do This?: I love the angry white comic. It is just a really interesting persona to watch, and Bill Burr is the best at it. His rants on race, women, sports,  whatever. Burr is just scathing in his critiques and more often than not you’ll think “Man that’s kind of fucked up,” followed immediately by “But he isn’t wrong.” Burr might be the least famous on this list, but that’s only because America has some hang up about comics that are super honest speaking freely.

Patrice O'Neal, Elephant in the Room: Every open mike comic says some variation of "I say the things that everyone else is afraid to say" most of them are full of shit. Patrice is one of the few comics I can think of that can make an audience have a hard belly laugh, followed immediately by uncomfortable silence. Patrice's style is super conversational, and it feels like you are just having a conversation with a hilarious friend, who makes better points than you do.

Chris Rock, Kill the Messenger: This special almost ruined comedy for me before I started. Before I started doing comedy, I thought that comedy was something that you made up freely every night (spoiler alert, it isn't!). This special is unique in that is very obviously made up of 3 different shows. I like this special because it shows the minute changes you have to make to get your material to go over in different regions. So while it initially made me want to quit comedy, it later helped make me a better comedian.

If you get a chance to watch the special edition, the New York show is by far the best. Followed distantly by South Africa. You can skip London.

The Kings of Comedy: Say what you want about the material, but this is the most FUN comedy special I’ve ever seen. Sure it isn’t always the most original material, but look at the audience. From start to go the audience isn’t just laughing, they are actively having FUN. I defy you to find a comedy show where the audience enjoys themselves as much as they do here.