16 Grammy-Nominated Comedy Specials to Watch Now - Netflix Tudum
- What To WatchSkip the two-drink minimum and turn your couch into a premier comedy club instead.By Tudum StaffMarch 5, 2024
Need a bit more laughter in your life? That was a trick question — the answer is always a resounding yes. While we certainly support attending as much live comedy as you can to get your jollies, sometimes the move is to skip the two-drink club minimum and settle in for a long night of couch cackling. That’s where we come in: Netflix has 16 Grammy-nominated and Grammy-winning comedy specials to choose from, all of which you can enjoy from the comfort of home.
Not sure where to start? Begin your comedy journey by checking out the three specials that received 2023 Grammy nominations. (The 65th Annual Grammy Awards air on Feb. 5, so you’ve got some time to screen the contenders before then.) This upcoming year, Jim Gaffigan, Dave Chappelle and Patton Oswalt are all nominated for Best Comedy Album for Comedy Monster, The Closer and We All Scream, respectively. This isn’t the trio’s first rodeo, either: In addition to securing three out of five total nominations for 2023, Gaffigan and Oswalt have each earned seven Grammy nominations for past work in the Comedy Album category, and Chappelle won Best Comedy Album in 2018, 2019 and 2020. He also scored a nomination in 2022 in the Best Spoken Word album category with 8:46.
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If you’ve already worked your way through 2023’s Grammy contenders, don’t fret: There’s plenty more comedy where that came from. Below, check out Netflix’s Grammy-nominated and Grammy-winning comedy specials, and keep the laughs coming.
Jim Gaffigan: Comedy Monster
In this Grammy-nominated special, Gaffigan stretches himself from his usual lane — relatively family-friendly, dad-joke-laden comedy — to unpacking the social ramifications of COVID, as well as the political climate in America thereafter. It’s not a total departure, though — there are still plenty of dad jokes that Gaffigan fans will recognize and appreciate.
Patton Oswalt: We All Scream
From the Paramount Theatre in Denver, Oswalt explores the dark and dastardly things happening to his body as he gets older and who he could have been had he just followed the list he created during lockdown. We All Scream is nominated for a 2023 Grammy for Best Comedy Album. Oswalt won a Grammy for Talking for Clapping (see more about that one below).
Dave Chappelle: The Closer
In another headline-making special, Dave takes the stage to try and set the record straight - and get a few things off his chest. In addition to receiving a Grammy Best Comedy Album nomination, The Closer also earned three Emmy nominations.
Tiffany Haddish: Black Mitzvah
Haddish won the Grammy for Best Comedy Album in 2021 for Black Mitzvah, making her the second black woman ever to win. The show has a little bit of everything — a musical number, dreidels, an anecdote about Will Smith and so much more. Haddish even unpacks the disastrous stand-up show she did in Miami in 2018 — think of Black Mitzvah as proof positive that the incident was nothing more than a fluke.
Dave Chappelle: Sticks & Stones
Chappelle’s 2019 comedy special scored his third consecutive Grammy win for Best Comedy Album in 2020. It tackles controversial topics like gun control, the increasing absurdity of celebrity scandals and the opioid crisis.
Dave Chappelle: Equanimity & The Bird Revelation
After disappearing from show business for over 12 years, Chappelle made his return to comedy with two Netflix specials, airing on service as a two-part set. Equanimity explores Chappelle’s childhood growing up in the projects, as well as Donald Trump’s presidential election. In The Bird Revelation, the comic drops clues about his absence from the stage and explores the sexual assault crisis pervading Hollywood. Equanimity & The Bird Revelation won the Grammy for Best Comedy Album in 2019.
Dave Chappelle
The Age of Spin & Deep in the Heart of Texas
Released as a double feature, The Age of Spin was recorded live at the Hollywood Palladium, and Deep in the Heart of Texas is a live recording at Austin City Limits. Both offer Chappelle at his best — the former offers anecdotes about OJ Simpson and Bill Cosby, while the latter offers Chappelle’s perspective on fatherhood and celebrity scandals. The Age Of Spin & Deep In The Heart Of Texas won Chappelle his first Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album.
Patton Oswalt: Talking for Clapping
In this Grammy-winning special, Oswalt takes on some seriously heavy topics with the upbeat tone and attitude he’s known for. In Talking for Clapping, the comic explores misery, hopelessness, his noticeable lack of home repair skills and the worst set he ever did.
Patton Oswalt: Annihilation
Oswalt’s Grammy-nominated special tackles one of the most complicated emotions to process: grief. The show focuses on rebuilding his life after the loss of his wife, as well as navigating the complexities of a highly politicized America.
Kevin Hart: Zero F**ks Given
Filmed in Hart’s living room, Zero F**ks Given is an intimately explosive special in which the comic riffs on COVID, aging and, well, giving no f**ks. This special earned Hart his second Grammy nomination for Best Comedy Album.
Nate Bargatze: The Greatest Average American
In The Greatest Average American, Tennessee-born comedian, actor and podcast host Bargatze offers self-deprecating comedy in his signature deadpan. The show was filmed in front of a live audience (and outdoors, too) and covers topics including hotel breakfasts, doing comedy over Zoom and the scourge of losing his phone. This special earned Nate Bargatze his first Grammy nomination.
Jerry Seinfeld: 23 Hours To Kill
23 Hours to Kill could best be described as Seinfeld doing what Seinfeld does: making observations on the minutiae of life, including bad buffets, talking versus texting and the incomparable beauty of a Pop-Tart.
Bill Burr: Paper Tiger
This 2019 comedy special was directed by filmmaker Mike Binder and was nominated for a Grammy for Best Comedy Album. In the one-hour special, Burr talks about cultural appropriation, outrage culture, male feminism and more.
Aziz Ansari: RIGHT NOW
Directed by Spike Jonze, Right Now is a Grammy-nominated comedy special in which Ansari explores thoughts about his family, social etiquette and wokeness. He also unpacks allegations about his own sexual misconduct, offering a heavy dose of self-awareness in the process.
Trevor Noah: Son of Patricia
In this 2018 special, former Daily Show host Noah unpacks all the lessons he learned from his mother, including musings on tacos, racism, immigration and his upbringing in South Africa.
Chris Rock: Tamborine
In Rock’s first special for Netflix, the comic explores infidelity, fatherhood and American politics. Tamborine was directed by Bo Burnham, and was nominated for Best Comedy Album at the 2019 Grammys.
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