Bob Perfect’s Top 5 Comedy Specials – Not Quite Right Comedy

While many people will tell you that “funny is funny” and that comedy is universal, I’m here to tell you that nothing could be further from the truth. What’s funny to me, might not be funny to you, and vice-versa. Comedy is actually very personal, for me at least, and I can’t stand the comedy that most people hype up. I prefer comedians who push boundaries and take chances, which is why my top 5 comedy specials probably wouldn’t make most people’s lists. Call me a hipster if you want, just as long as you then watch these specials and see that comedy can be whatever you want it to be. – Bob Perfect

Stewart Lee – Carpet Remnant World

Stewart Lee is in his own league. I watch his specials in awe because the man has such a unique understanding of what comedy can be. It’s a bit of a cliche in comedy that the audience is our instrument, but Lee is one of the few comedians who truly embodies it. The on-stage character of Lee is a dissatisfied liberal elitist who is sardonic about everything. He’s constantly at war with the audience, deconstructing every comedy trope while he appears to ramble on ineptly. There’s so much to love about this special but his 30 minutes on ‘jungle canyon rope bridges’ from Scooby Doo, that is really a criticism of Thatcher economics (that’s about 30 years late), is an absolute masterclass.

Bo Burnham- what.

Bo Burnham has been my favourite comedian since the first time I saw Words, Words, Words. Just the sheer audacity of having the entire show written out behind him was enough to win me over, let alone his neurotic style and discordant structure that forms into a ball of comedic organised-chaos. Then he came out with what. and I knew I’d be a fan for life. The man uses every tool available to put on a show that pushes what a comedy show can be to the next level. Lighting and sound cues become set-ups, punchlines, and even entire bits, as his left brain and right brain battle it out on stage. One of the smartest and most sincere comedy specials I’ve ever seen.

Chris Rock – Bigger and Blacker

Chris Rock was the first comedian I fell in love with. I had both Never Scared and Bigger and Blacker taped off of Mnet as a young teen, which turned out to be foundational. I picked Bigger and Blacker mostly for the gun/bullet control bit, which has stuck with me from the first time I heard it. Rock has an exceptional ability to reframe things in a way that makes you laugh first and then go, “Damn, I never thought of it like that”. To me, Bigger and Blacker is the quintessential Chris Rock special. It’s irreverent, whip-smart, and absolutely hilarious.

Mitch Hedberg – Comedy Central Presents

Back in the days when I used to take my harddrive to friends’ places and fill it with virus-laden media, I took particular joy in collecting Comedy Central half hour specials. The only one I still watch regularly, even though I know all the words, is Mitch Hedberg’s. Mitch’s joke writing is unrivalled. He’s the king of the one-liner, and what sets him a part from most other one-liner comedians is that some of his greatest jokes were truly just one line. Set up and punchline contained in the same sentence. A true genius.

Maria Bamford – The Special Special Special

There is truly nobody like Maria Bamford. While experimenting with the form and setting of comedy is becoming more of a norm these days, her 2014 special shot in front of her parents in their living room is ground-breaking. It gets awkward, it gets dark, and Dali would be jealous of how surreal Bamford is. It’s about as far away from a traditional stand-up special as you can get, which is probably why I love it more than 99% of other comedy specials.