Netflix Is Killing The Stand-Up Comedy Game

Wally Bryton8 years ago

For years, if you wanted to turn on the TV and see one of your favorite comics sling some good old-fashioned dick jokes, the main hot spots were Comedy Central or HBO. But these past few years, Netflix has been slowly but surely stealing business from those motherfuckers. It makes sense, too; the entertainment landscape is drastically changing, people wanna binge watch shit while they drink red wine and masturbate to their crushes Instagram pics from 47w ago. We live in an increasingly fast-paced society. Multitasking.

These past few years, Netflix has had some exclusives from some big name comics: Aziz Ansari, Gabriel Iglesias, Iliza Shlesinger, David Cross, Joe Rogan, Jim Jeffries, Anthony Jeselnik, Patton Oswalt, Doug Stanhope, Hannibal Burress. Hell, back in late 2014 they were going to premiere a new Cosby special called Bill Cosby: 77. They obviously canceled it, and I assume the title is referring to his number of victims.

But this year they’re really starting to dominate that area. They’ve already released new specials from Trevor Noah, Mike Birbiglia, Bill Burr, and Jim Gaffigan, a pale god. But later this year, they’re really cranking the shit up to 11.

A few months ago I wrote an article (it was arguably the most well written, phenomenal article in human history) about the long-awaited comeback of Dave Chappelle. This year, Netflix is releasing not one, not two, but THREE new specials from the man himself: one recorded on his latest tour, and two old ones from his personal vault. This is obviously a huge ass deal, since the dude is, in my humble opinion, the greatest stand-up comic alive. He also pocketed a whopping $60 million from the deal. Not too shabby.

On top of that, they recently signed a deal for two new specials from Chris Rock (the other greatest comic alive, in my useless but very valid opinion), who got a very impressive $40 million from the deal, Damn! They also recently signed a deal for two new specials from Louis CK. The first one premieres in April and it’s simply titled Louis CK: 2017, and even though he’s allegedly the white ginger Cosby (google it if you dare), the dude IS pretty fucking funny.

And this year alone, they also got new specials from Chris D’elia, Amy Schumer, Nikki Glaser, and Sarah Silverman. On top of that, in May they’re globally releasing a new Tracy Morgan special called Staying Alive. It’s his first time on the big stage the severe car crash that nearly took his life, and the routine will address it. We couldn’t be happier that he’s still here to make us laugh our asses off and get someone pregnant.

On top of all of that, they also signed a deal with Mr. Jerry Seinfeld. They’ll be behind the next season of his web series Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee and putting up all the old episodes. And they’ll also be releasing a new Seinfeld stand-up special this year. And while this is exciting news, I’m cautiously optimistic. Because no matter how great his new work is, Seinfeld will never (I repeat, NEVER) top the brilliant, magnificent masterpiece that was Bee Movie.