Liam Whitcher’s Top 5 Comedy Specials

Sometimes I feel like there are too many comedy specials. Sometimes I feel like there aren’t enough. Sometimes I sit silently through a special, not even cracking a smile, but leave it feeling like I learned so much. Sometimes a special has me wheezing with laughter but once it’s over I literally never think about it again. 

Who knows why we find certain things funny or why I like certain specials better than others? We just involuntarily imprint on whatever or whoever, like how Jacob imprinted on Bella and Edward’s new-born child. I guess what I’m trying to say is, Louis C.K. is on this list and I deeply apologise. – Liam Whitcher

Richard Pryor – Live in Concert (1979)

The classic. The legend himself, what more can I say? A masterclass in traditional stand-up. This was the first comedy special I recall ever watching and what an introduction it was. Safe to say, there was my life before this special, and then there was “Liam” post it. Thank God for that. As a POC growing up, isolated in white schools, I had no idea we could make fun of white people the way I witnessed Mr. Pryor do it. “That’s allowed? We can do that? They do be talking weird sometimes, huh?” I remember saying to myself. Did I understand everything he said, or the context and significance of every bit? Nope, I was a child. But, his uncanny miming and the way he transports you with his sound effects, with almost any topic, intrinsically funny or not, to introduce the brand of physical comedy that is especially his own. Will always love this man. R.I.P.

Shane Gillis – Live in Austin (2021)

The dude. The bro. The former professional American football player, the veteran, the SNL alumni. Are all those things technically true? No. On stage, he is a convivial figure, but an unpredictable one: a beer-loving bro who is quick to let the crowd know that he is just joking—or maybe, unsettlingly, that he isn’t. His dad is a “Fox News” guy. But don’t worry, Shane repeatedly assures us, even though his background may be entrenched in Republican culture, he himself is… “cool” because he lives in New York now and all his friends are liberals who would never be racist. But as he says, racism is like being hungry, you’re just not right now. I don’t know if I trust this dude, this bro, this undeniably straight white man. And maybe that’s why I find him so compelling at the moment.

Taylor Tomlinson – Quarter-Life Crisis (2020)

Of course I fanboy over comics all the time but rarely do I watch a comedian and think, “I wish they were my friend.” I already feel like Taylor is my millennial comic soul-mate and that’s it, she truly gets “millennial” comedy. Sure, it can seem silly at times but Taylor Tomlinson’s Netflix special Quarter-Life Crisis is a deeply introspective and compelling comedy routine. My first introduction to Taylor Tomlinson was her bit about guys (not) wearing condoms and kids (not) wearing a jacket over their Halloween costumes and after feeling called out, I felt an unexplained sense of familiarity about her- because we all know a Taylor.

Aziz Ansari – Right Now (2019)

There was a couple of things I was most definitely a fan of before I watched this special; Aziz Ansari’s role in Parks and Rec, his series Master of None, and Spike Jonze, who directed this special. A fan of Aziz Ansari’s stand-up comedy? I was not. Not really my vibe, not my speed. I thought he was just “fine”. I checked out this special out of morbid curiosity and was pleasantly surprised at how different it felt. He was different, naturally, given the circumstances before this special’s release. Unlike his 2015 comedy special in which Ansari strut around the enormous stage of Madison Square Garden in a tailored suit and huge projections emphasizing every other joke, Right Now is carefully calibrated to convey a more intimate, self-aware vibe. Also, have you heard about the Nazi pizza? What are your thoughts?

Louis C.K. – 2017

Much to my mother’s disappointment, I am a filmmaker and Louis CK’s body of work is has a great influence on me. I’ve watched his series Louie countless times and regularly take inspiration of how he moulds characters and their reactions to scenarios unfolding around them. Admittedly, I’m more enamoured by the vignette pieces of comedy he does in his show (Much like in Seinfeld) than I am with his full specials but for the sake of this list, I have to go with 2017. This time he is in a suit and tie but underneath that cloak of authority and sophistication is the same sad, pathetic middle-aged white man who thrives on a universal (if profane and often bleak) approach to his mostly observational comedy. He is my comfort food.