Rolling Stand-Up Comedy 2019

I don’t really have anything to recommend—the Roy Wood Jr. special isn’t bad; the Anthony Jeselnik one isn’t good—but a) maybe someone else does, and b) I wanted somewhere to link Jack Halberstam’s take on Hannah Gadsby (and Dave Chappelle):

https://bullybloggers.wordpress.com/2019/08/09/just-joking-notes-on-the-comedy-of-hannah-gadsby-by-jack-halberstam/

Christina P’s latest is v funny

Just Joking: Notes on the Comedy of Hannah Gadsby By Jack Halberstam

When she steps out of the magic circle of comedy here, leaves out the punchline and instead descends into a rant, Gadsby, believes she is leaving a shitty genre behind. But in fact, ‘the love it and leave it’ mode she performs IS the genre.

idk would an essay about "the comedy of Hannah Gadsby," and whether or not she has left it behind, not behove itself to consider the decade of work she labelled as comedy before she may or may not have left it behind?

i enjoyed the julio torres special on HBO. which is funny because at its core it's prop comedy? but he's got such a strong persona

Never had heard of Ian Edwards before, but I liked this one I happened to catch a few weeks back.

http://www.cc.com/episodes/m3sgbp/bill-burr-presents-iantalk--ideas-not-worth-spreading-bill-burr-presents-iantalk--ideas-not-worth-spreading-season-1-ep-special

Just caught up with that Julio Torres special. Delightfully surreal, queer and, yes, funny. Also, the best set decoration I've ever seen in a comedy show (not something I've ever thought about before).

have been reading a lot about this guy (I don't have cable)

Now, Julio Torres' HBO special MY FAVORITE SHAPES was brilliant. I'm a big fan of Torres' ethereal pieces. He's the most conceptual prop comic you've ever seen, but he touches your soul in ways you can't imagine. The toy penguin social order is particularly compelling. pic.twitter.com/aTmoJeThTt

— Dennis Perrin (@DennisThePerrin) August 18, 2019

did you read about him in two of the three posts prior to yours?

The Alec Baldwin roast is actually pretty funny, a vast improvement on last year's Bruce Willis roast. I'm generally not a fan of staffing these things with stunt guests over comedians, and accordingly Caitlyn Jenner's set was mostly laugh-free, but Blake Griffin was surprisingly solid (his Will and Grace zing at roastmaster Sean Hayes was one of the best lines of the night). Nikki Glaser and Jeff Ross both killed it, as expected, while Adam Carolla remains one of the least necessary human beings on the planet.

Was there not a rolling 2020 thread? I guess 2020 sucked that much. Anyway, John Mulaney checking into rehab for alcohol and cocaine is not what (else) I expected from this year, but good for him. I hope he gets the help he needs.

Ugh that’s a bummer. A major talent. He’s had basically perfect specials the last few years.

I guess we're bumping right along into 2021. I was recently introduced (metaphorically) to Martin Urbano, and ... I think he's pretty funny! Lots of stuff floating out there, but I just started spending some time with this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ltBhlB7F1o

He was on the bill at the last comedy show I went to back out in 2019 and killed, extremely funny

I'm a fan of "Who Wants $2.69?"

https://www.planetscum.live/269

anyone watch that Drew Michael special? Not for me.

ive been watching a lot of roy wood jr clips and have lolled at them p routinely

love him! top 5 working comics for me even though he doesn't "push the envelope" but so consistently funny

That Roy Wood Jr. story about his mom and Rod Stewart is really funny.

yesssss

I've always liked the classic Gary Gulman routine about abbreviating the states, but for some reason I never looked him up before now. He's put out a few CDs and recorded a couple of specials, the most recent being in 2019, something called "The Great Depresh," and learning about that I learned about this:

Gulman recorded a HBO special in June 2019, entitled The Great Depresh. Judd Apatow served as executive producer. The special premiered on HBO on October 5, 2019 and sees Gulman opening up about his depression, anxiety and hospitalization. He has described the show as "a hybrid, where I do some documentary about my recovery, treatment, and my hospitalization, and then I do stand-up surrounding that." It includes conversations with his wife Sadé, his psychiatrist Dr. Richard Friedman, and his mother Barbara, who asked "if Judd Apatow could make her look thinner". Gulman has stated he had "retired from life" because of his crippling depression for more than two years before recovering through treatment and medication. However, he felt very anxious and sad when he got back on stage, and his way of dealing with that was to joke about it, leading to the idea for the special. Gulman credits his psychiatrist with guiding him through medication, treatment and hospitalization, which he was particularly terrified of because all he knew about it previously were the negative depictions of hospitalization like One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Girl, Interrupted. He has stated that his hospitalization actually "turned out very ordinary, and so helpful" and he hopes that sharing his experience will help to destigmatize medication and therapy.

Hope he's still doing OK!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcSidXJTnjA

i love this

Speaking of my last post seven months ago, I saw Gary Gulman over the weekend and jeebus is that guy funny and smart.

two really good ones on YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Svual-PcOxE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrCb9rntbv0

Connor O'Malley's is as insane as I hoped it would be, like a lot of his stuff it goes from being really funny to genuinely freaking you out

Dan Licata's is done in front of an audience of 15 year old boys at his old school which is pretty hilarious since the majority of his act is clearly geared towards people his own age, it's really funny even if he doesn't get a lot of laughs

gotta say I respect these dudes' ability to stay in character at all times

the more I think about it the more the Dan Licata one feels like something I've actually never seen before. like I've seen sets where people bomb intentionally or try to antagonize the audience. but this is different, he's doing jokes specifically for his audience but also in ways that his audience couldn't possibly understand, like they're not gonna know who Bam Margera is or what it was like to live through 9/11. so both the jokes that land and the jokes that don't land are funny.

o’malley’s was excellent

also really liked nathan macintosh’s “down with tech” special, which is exactly what it sounds like. loved the focus, and knowing catharsis: dude understands just how absurd it is that we’ve let these corporations burrow so deeply into our lives:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gApnofHJLoo

idk what people think of Bill Burr here but I thought his new special was pretty good. it's angry shouty stuff as usual for the first 10 minutes or so but it takes an interesting turn, almost like James Acaster territory for a while

Is this the most active stand-up thread? Has there been any other discussion of this Saudi Arabian comedy fest clusterfuck?

Do tell!

Ongoing giant comedy fest in Riyadh that paid a bunch of big comedians a pile a money to perform, an effort on the part of the royal family to make Saudi Arabia seem more culturally/economically appealing to westerners?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudi_Vision_2030

https://www.visitsaudi.com/en/seasons/riyadh-comedy-festival

https://preview.redd.it/in-riyadh-comedy-festival-2025-a-ragtag-team-of-comedians-v0-66egcmsd6xrf1.jpeg?width=1080&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=9896cb9e52e881fed4b02a35f17d1764a85d12d7

Will be a shame when all these brave truth tellers who don’t give a fuck who they offend get executed but I can’t deny it’s a pretty good bit

But you can only do it once!

Def. a ton of people that don't need the money, plus a few that fans presumed would know better who are getting blowback for taking the blood money. With a few related surprises, like that dork Shane Gillis turning them down. Reportedly they offered him something like a million dollars, he said no, they doubled it, and he told them to please stop asking. Also some shade thrown by the likes of Marc Maron.

https://deadline.com/2025/09/marc-maron-shane-gillis-zach-woods-slam-riyadh-comedy-fest-1236556620/

Pete Davidson told the podcaster Theo Von this week that he had been “getting a little bit of flack (for performing in Riyadh) just because my dad died on 9/11” (his father, Scott, was a fireman who died at the World Trade Centre; Osama bin Laden and most of the plane hijackers were Saudi.) But Davidson was remarkably sanguine about why he was going: “I get the routing and I see the number (fee) and I go, ‘I’ll go’.”

The video Zach Woods made about this is very funny

https://bsky.app/profile/wittywebhandle.bsky.social/post/3lzoc7eh2e22w

i did see that nimesh patel (top right on the poster) withdrew but pouted about it online (short version: 'im gonna have to do 40 shows in the *sneers* morally perfect usa to make up for the lost money')

Not exactly the own he thinks it is.

most of the names there aren't surprising but Bill Burr is really bumming me out

David Cross seems a little upset

https://officialdavidcross.com/blogs/press/my-thoughts-on-the-riyadh-comedy-festival

Saw Marc Maron, who is retiring his career-making podcast in the coming weeks due to uneasiness at how the field of “comedy podcasting” has become a powerful force for whitewashing fascism, do five minutes about the soulless contemptibility of taking the bag on this matter, drawing a line from the archaic concept of “selling out” to this cultural shift, Because of the format of Comedy Store lineup shows, he then introduced and handed over to Tim Dillon, a white supremacist former subprime mortgage salesman turned comedy podcaster, who immediately boasted of getting a $200,000 kill fee when he was fired from the festival for publicly noting that they have slaves “which I’m gonna donate to a… me, I’m gonna use it on myself.”

I'd have been disappointed if Jimmy Carr wasn't there but, of course, he is.

Would’ve been surprised if Carr wasn’t there. What disappoints is Omid Djalili given his vocal support for women’s rights in Iran.

yeah he was on the Alexei Sayle podcast too and more to the point, he's a baháʼí - just bizarre to see him there.

The upkeep of two or three homes is probably expensive.

a poor thread in which not to credit pee flynn for his routine

Would’ve been surprised if Carr wasn’t there. What disappoints is Omid Djalili given his vocal support for women’s rights in Iran.

I googled him and Riyadh and this page pops right up lol

https://www.visitsaudi.com/en/riyadh/events/omid-djalili-live-from-riyadh

Posted by Atsuko Okatsuka: https://www.threads.com/@atsukocomedy/post/DPFMYfTgG6A

https://scontent-ord5-3.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.2885-15/553534681_17927049210107949_4133169910013469225_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_e35_tt6&efg=eyJ2ZW5jb2RlX3RhZyI6InRocmVhZHMuRkVFRC5pbWFnZV91cmxnZW4uMTMyMHg2OTIuc2RyLmY4Mjc4Ny5kZWZhdWx0X2ltYWdlLmMyIn0&_nc_ht=scontent-ord5-3.cdninstagram.com&_nc_cat=109&_nc_oc=Q6cZ2QF8uWaupEFi27ZoRJSohnxuzA8FECMaGspncMgT5mkbjHVUbmURkZrqVF5roa3iHNA&_nc_ohc=wOOAO-lAv-AQ7kNvwHg6r1_&_nc_gid=71V8Sb9A-67M2Nm609pbGQ&edm=APs17CUBAAAA&ccb=7-5&ig_cache_key=MzczMDQ0NTQwNTQ4NzE4MDM5Mg%3D%3D.3-ccb7-5&oh=00_AfZcTB_ScQTDEV7OwHgs2kVe0n6XMfkUxh4RlUSJ_yVyVQ&oe=68E1A12B&_nc_sid=10d13b

Shit, I guess that didn't work. She posted terms of the contract.

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2025/sep/30/riyadh-comedy-festival-saudi-arabia

“One reporter was killed by the government – unfortunate, but not a fucking hill that I’m gonna die on,” Jim Jefferies said on Theo Von’s podcast in August, arguing it is for the greater good that “freedom-of-speech machines” such as himself bestow their “edgy” material on the kingdom and its subjects. (Since making the comments, Jefferies has since disappeared from the festival’s lineup; his representatives did not respond to inquiries about this.)

Holy shit, the next paragraph:

Distefano, chatting with Halkias, joked that an upside to the kingdom’s repression of women is that his fiancee can’t come with him. Mark Normand, on the other hand, joked he would bring his wife to show her how good she has it in America: “I want to be like, ‘You see? You think I’m an asshole? Well, they’ll cut your clit off, bitch.’”

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTBiC797b3O0Z5SbQNjFYrbJmvMxNCrys5SivxbQNkwcQ&s=10

The Happy Couple

Comedian Jessica Kirson:

On Sept. 29, I performed at the Riyadh Comedy Festival. This decision has weighed heavily on my heart ever since. I like to express my sincere regret for having performed under a government that continues to violate fundamental human rights.

I want to share the context for my decision — not as an excuse, but because the people who have trusted me deserve to hear from me. As an artist, my mission has always been to help people feel less alone. As an openly gay person, when I was asked to perform in Riyadh, I was surprised. I requested a guarantee that I could be openly out as a lesbian on stage and perform gay material. I hoped that this could help LGBTQ+ people in Saudi Arabia feel seen and valued. I am grateful that I was able to do precisely that — to my knowledge, I am the first openly gay comic to talk about it on stage in Saudi Arabia. I received messages from attendees sharing how much it meant to them to participate in a gay-affirming event. At the same time, I deeply regret participating under the auspices of the Saudi government.

I have donated the entirety of what I was paid to perform there to a human rights organization. I made this decision because I want that money to go to an organization that can help combat these severe issues.

I respect my fellow comics who have spoken out against the festival, and we should all be able to share our perspectives. I recognize the concerns and criticism this has raised. I hope that this moment sparks dialogue about how we can use our platforms for good — to support people without a voice and to find ways to be less divided. In the past, I’ve faced criticism for choices I’ve made, both on and off stage, and I rarely responded. This time, I felt I needed to speak up. I could not remain silent.

Most importantly, I am deeply sorry to all the fans and followers I have hurt or disappointed. I have a special relationship with my fans because of the vulnerable nature of my comedy and the trust they place in me as part of the queer community. To my fans: I see you. I hear you. Your voice matters to me. I love you all, and I am genuinely sorry for making a poor decision that had repercussions I didn’t fully consider. I will take full responsibility for my actions and dedicate myself to making amends, so that my words and choices reflect the respect and care you deserve.

not worth a fuck tbh

idk as far as a mea culpa goes for accepting blood money I think that's about as good as you can do

the attitude of people like Bill Burr going awww what the fuck do you know is what's really irritating. I think it's despicable for any of them but the way Pete Davison just went, "what can I say, they paid me a ton"....at least that's honest. I mean fuck Pete Davison but that's something.

I feel like the broader problem here is there's just no obligation to be a good person in this society anymore, I mean we are governed by some of the most evil people on the planet who lie to our faces with no repercussion, our economy is propped up by AI shit and cryptocurrency and other shit that's only good for perverts and criminals, nobody's even pretending to do climate pledges anymore, the fact that Pete Davison can just say that and not really face a backlash is what really sucks. I think there was a time when taking Saudi blood money would be *the* thing you'd be remembered for - even ignoring the whole "my dad was killed on 9/11" angle

Aziz Ansari gave a lengthy excuse / reasoning on Kimmel Tonight yesterday, with the feeling that Kimmel was trying to prompt him towards an explanation of why some people think it’s bad on top of his explanation for choosing to take the gig.

I feel like the broader problem here is there's just no obligation to be a good person in this society anymore, I mean we are governed by some of the most evil people on the planet who lie to our faces with no repercussion, our economy is propped up by AI shit and cryptocurrency and other shit that's only good for perverts and criminals, nobody's even pretending to do climate pledges anymore, the fact that Pete Davison can just say that and not really face a backlash is what really sucks. I think there was a time when taking Saudi blood money would be *the* thing you'd be remembered for - even ignoring the whole "my dad was killed on 9/11" angle

Ok so we live in a fallen and depraved world in many ways but one way things have changed within my lifetime is people are in general more curious about geopolitics and what goes on in other countries in general. Basically I think that if this had happened any time earlier than now the comedians involved would have faced less backlash, not more - hell in a pre social media era this would barely have been picked up as a story, there might've been an angry op ed or two but mostly trad media would have been or board with not alienating the US client state. The fact that the comedians are even trying to justify themselves shows that the backlash is bigger than they expected.

What's Jimmy Carr's excuse then?

I don't know if I agree that this is a new thing. When British musicians played Sun City in the Eighties, they faced a lot of backlash for it.

Although I agree it doesn't actually seem to have done the touring careers of Queen, Elton John, and the Rolling Stones any long-term harm.

no obligation to be a good person in this society anymore

Or, the converse, what's the point of having fuck-you money if you never say fuck-you?

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/oct/08/riyadh-comedy-festival-omid-djalili-saudi-arabia

I saw the Northern Irish * comedian Jimeoin speak about getting older and suffering varicose veins, on his nether regions. After the show, a discussion broke out between Saudis discussing remedies they could suggest, such as pomegranate juice. If that’s not a step towards east/west relations then I don’t know what is.

Not entirely sure about this conclusion tbh.

* Or this.

I don't know if I agree that this is a new thing. When British musicians played Sun City in the Eighties, they faced a lot of backlash for it.

Sure! I wasn't trying to cast it as a new thing at all, but surely you see how these are different - there was a huge anti apartheid movement in the 80's in a way that never has existed against the Saudis, the UK has obvious cultural ties to South Africa that the US and UK do not with Saudi Arabia. For most of my lifetime it's been a country that average people know very little about, which ofc is just as its Western allies want it to be. I can't imagine a comedy festival happening there to have had any significant backlash in the past.

Bill Burr's comedic persona has been "shouty ignorant asshole" for over 20 years and because he said two things lefty-normie internet people agreed with in the last year, all of a sudden he was One Of The Good Ones?

Ah right, Daniel, I thought you were saying that people in the past didn't care so much about big stars (in whatever field, I still enjoy the "I never heard of these people" posts about the Riyadh lineup on Bluesky) going off and taking big money from repressive regimes. But Saudi Arabia specifically, I see what you're saying.

Rare W from the failing Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/oct/09/backlash-builds-against-comics-who-played-riyadh-comedy-festival

Whitney Cummings says it's "racist" to blast comics for taking the blood money:

“I guess I’m this weirdo,” Cummings said. “I don’t operate under, you know, the idea that every government and their people are the same… You think that the people of Saudi Arabia and the Saudi government all [share the same values]? So you also believe that the Chinese government and the Chinese people are exactly the same? It’s just racism. I think it took me a second, because when people are going like, ‘You’re doing something unethical,’ I’m like, ‘Oh, these must be ethical people, let me listen.’ And then you’re like, ‘Oh no, you’re just racist.’ These are also the same people who would go, ‘Trump is not my president! I am nothing like our president.’ But other countries are?”

yeah, pretty weak

lol That argument might work if you were playing a club in SA, not an event with the country's leadership in attendance.

Whitney Cummings says it's "racist" to blast comics for taking the blood money

Probably the first thing she’s ever said that I’ve laughed at

she was doing it for the poor, the downtrodden on the streets of Riyadh.. just trying to bring a little laughter to their miserable lives

Comedians are literally the worst people in the world.

Jimmy Carr on Louis Theroux's podcast is absolutely what you'd expect. He says 'punching down' is Frankfurt School claptrap, sounds like every successful rich white guy ever waving away anyone's issues. Talks a bit about Intellectual Dark Web but claims to be a creature of the left.

So much empty.

A worthless arsehole from Day 1.

very hilarious guy, I will have to remember to have him executed first.

Frankfurt school oh dear what videos has he been watching

These people all need their tablets confiscated, bit of quiet time

Noticed fellow Saudi Stand-Up Jack Whitehall bigging up Carr's pisspoor new comedy film - do they share the same agent or something?

Same moral compass.

The panel shows he's on - Big Fat Quiz and etc - have been gradually letting the "everyone hates this cunt" subtext become text, ppl are basically expressing their disdain to his face these days.

Not casting this as some epic win, they're still on the show with him and he's still getting paid, but it is somewhat amusing.

I thought Glaser's Golden Globes bit was ace.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hpHj5wNYDw

really liked chris fleming's hbo special

From 2019?

That was a joke. Is this the really hyperactive guy that performs in sweats/tights? He makes me anxious.

Apparently Josh Johnson is doing a whole thing on Afroman — his coverage of the Young Thug trial is awesome.