The Newsletter
A weekly dispatch on stand-up comedy specials — what's new, what's worth watching, and what's coming next.
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New specials, notable performances, and things worth watching.
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CBS Swaps Stephen Colbert for Cheap Syndication
CBS has replaced Stephen Colbert with a twenty-year-old panel show to save forty million dollars, proving the spreadsheet has defeated the monologue.
Morgan Jay Tries to Autotune Wembley
Morgan Jay just announced a massive UK arena tour, raising the question of how you autotune fifteen thousand British people at once.
The Roast of Kevin Hart Was a Culture War Pit Fight
Being a harmless, sponsor-friendly celebrity is a great way to make a hundred million dollars, until Netflix hires Shane Gillis to host your roast.
Nate Bargatze Fills the Intuit Dome
The industry has taken the most intimate art form and placed it inside an airplane hangar to see what happens to the punchlines.
Jeff Arcuri Broke the Standup Comedy Ladder
A club comic bypassed the entire gatekeeping apparatus to sell out theaters, proving the traditional standup ladder is officially dead.
Ari Shaffir Raided the Comedy Central Tomb
Comedians used to complain about network executives, but now they make enough podcast money to fund the formats themselves.
Kevin Hart Bought Six Billboards
Watching a man who employs hundreds of people complain about his lower back requires a specific kind of suspension of disbelief.
Netflix Finally Forgives Louis C.K.
The comedy industry has spent the better part of a decade pretending to have a unified moral compass, but in reality, it just has a waiting room.
Nate Bargatze Is Bigger Than Coldplay
The void left by the death of the mid-tier arena rock band has been filled by a guy from Tennessee who refuses to curse.
Mark Normand Wants to Be Oppressed
A look at Mark Normand's podcast drama with Netflix, Nate Bargatze doing Garth Brooks numbers in arenas, and Kountry Wayne's billion Facebook views.
Mark Normand Remains Relentless
Mark Normand drops a relentless new hour on Netflix, Derrick Stroup proves clean comedy is booming, and the On Cinema universe goes back on the road.
The Nostalgia Singularity
Derrick Stroup and Kountry Wayne battle for the '90s, Joey Avery questions defense spending, and John Mulaney gets a shiny academic medal in Dublin.