Todays Specials
All jokes aside, stand-up is getting artful onscreen.
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What makes a comedy specialspecial?Vulturespent a weektrying to get to the bottom of this question.
But what do the people who make specials think of the form?
Further proof thatBamford whose work was cited by six comedians in their responses is an unrivaled genius.
I lovedAdam Sandlers100% Freshand how it showed the artifice of putting work together.
That was absolutely my jam.Aisling Bea
I Coulda Been Your Cellmate!,byMoNique.
Not to mention its one of the most hyped crowds Ive ever seen for a taped special.
The energy is just … hard to describe.
I think it was ahead of its time in the way it broke the traditional special rules.
Shes the most original we have working, and I look up to everything shes accomplished.
Not to mention performing an hour in front of my parents would be a living nightmare.
I dont know how she did it.Joyelle Nicole Johnson
Maria Bamfordis an actual risk-taker.
What are the best opening/closing shots from recent specials?
Megan Gailey praised it for being really simple and beautiful, andHowerycalled it so brilliant.
Others praised the artistic flourishes and grand reveals their peers use to bookend their specials.
Other specials cited by comedians includeRamy YoussefsFeelings,HowerysLive in Crenshaw, andAziz AnsarisNightclub Comedian.
What does a special need to accomplish for it to be considered an artistic success?
As much as this is a changing landscape, the singular goal remains, wrote Kerman.
For others, the question is not up to anyone else to decide on but the performers themselves.
Marina Franklin wrote that its about capturing the Zeitgeist that is in the air and lasting for decades.
But for Johnson, its pretty simple: Just doing it makes it an artistic success.
And the worst city/venue?
There is no right place to film a special.
But there is a wrong place.
Ten out of 39 comedians agree to avoid Los Angeles.
As Howery put it, Its too Hollywood.
The best venue is a large black-box theater, and the worst venue is a cabaret space.
The Paramount Theatre in Denver and the Pabst Theater in Milwaukee are my favorites.
Its key that the comic has worn the outfit before.
Or looks like they have.
Even just one time.Ismael Loutfi
Dont make it sparkly or shiny.
Sparkly/shiny shit is distracting.
It catches the light too much.
Especially the safe This-doesnt-look-dated jeans and a shirt option.
It still does.Jen Kirkman
Best advice I received was from the great Aida Rodriguez: Wear comfortable shoes.
So I chose a bomb-ass bootie with a manageable heel.
Being comfortable onstage is a necessity.Joyelle Nicole Johnson
I am mostly horrified by the outfits worn in specials.
So then I am sitting there trying to enjoy myself but instead wondering,Was there a stylist?
The hair and makeup matters.
Matching shades of black matters.
And I dont even think people need to dress nice.
Dress to match the aesthetic of your act and what youre saying.
And how you dress for late night matters, too.
I fucking hate sketches of any sort.
I hate when comics use visual media (putting up pictures on a screen, etc.).
Anything that turns a stand-up special into a documentary and breaks up the set.
Otherwise, the director/team is just jacking off.
Who watches comedy while slowly walking to their left or right?
Folks can follow a joke without a sudden cut to a different angle for the punch line.
Who is a director youd love to see direct a comedy special?
(Have some respect for the Lumiere brothers!)
Everything else from audience-reaction shots to stretches without laughter follows from this choice.
What are your thoughts on crowd work in specials?
Whether comedians like seeing crowd work in specials depends on whether that energy translates onscreen.
Its a bit of a high-wire act, wrote Oswalt.
Youre burning film and money on something that might not work.
But the payoff is immense if it connects.
I think comedians should live in the moment more on the whole, wrote Yedoye Travis.
Both refusing to do crowd work in a special and exclusively doing it feel very egoistic to me.
The road to making a comedy special is paved with thousands of little choices.
So dont fuck with the look of it.
Id give the web link less material to choose from.
Comedy shouldnt be interrupted by commercials.
I dont like that theyre marketed like music concerts.
It sets up a warped expectation for the viewer.
Concerts are great, but theyrespectacles.
Stand-up specials are also great, but theyreconversations.
Once you add noise and frantic motion to them, youve untethered yourself from thought and connection.
Very frustrating.Patton Oswalt
Networks dont know how to anymore.
Billboards are a vanity thing.
Late-night-show appearances dont do anything.
Then use the other thousands of dollars to get a good stunt going.
Specials are just commercials for ticket sales for me, anyway.
Im not trying to be showbiz famous.
I want to be a successful comedian.
I want to perform stand-up to as many people as I can.
Specials dont begin with long disclaimers about all the work that goes into them.
But if they did, these are the types of qualifiers they might feature.
Its a performance style thats best experienced in person.
It was great.Natalie Palamides
Releasing a project can really be a two-year project.
The three months after it, youre doing radio and podcast interviews to promote it while blasting social media.
