Dec. 7, 2025

Did Vulture get their 2025 Best Comedy Specials list right?

Did Vulture get their 2025 Best Comedy Specials list right?

Johnny Mac reviews Vulture's Best Comedy Specials of 2025 list. He provides real-time reactions and shares his own preliminary list of top specials.  Do they have Marc Maron too low (yes), do they have Bill Burr too high (yes) and will they be proved right about this Kumail Nanjiani special?

The official DCN List will be the December 13th epsiode.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/daily-comedy-news-with-johnny-mac--4522158/support.

Contact John at John@thesharkdeck dot com 

Thanks to our sponsors!

Raycon Earbuds

Underdog Fantasy Promo Code DCN

Blue Chew Promo Code DCN

Talkspace promo code Space 80

For Uninterrupted Listening, use the Apple Podcast App and click the banner that says Uninterrupted Listening.  $4.99/month 

John's Substack about media is free.

WEBVTT

1
00:00:03.160 --> 00:00:11.880
Calorokashock Media. Hey there, I'm Johnny Mack with your daily

2
00:00:11.919 --> 00:00:14.240
comedy news. Is gonna lead off today taking a look

3
00:00:14.279 --> 00:00:18.640
at Vulture's best comedy specials of twenty twenty five. I

4
00:00:18.760 --> 00:00:21.559
usually don't agree with them. It doesn't mean that I'm

5
00:00:21.640 --> 00:00:23.960
right and there wrong, or they're right and I'm wrong.

6
00:00:24.440 --> 00:00:26.760
It's just a list. My list is just a list.

7
00:00:26.760 --> 00:00:29.839
I will have my list for you on Saturday if

8
00:00:29.839 --> 00:00:32.359
you're new to the show. When I do these list episodes,

9
00:00:32.399 --> 00:00:34.600
when I'm commenting on other people's lists, I don't look

10
00:00:34.600 --> 00:00:36.399
at them in advance. I like to react in the

11
00:00:36.439 --> 00:00:39.960
moment to things so twofold from my own list. I

12
00:00:40.039 --> 00:00:41.799
want to make sure I didn't forget anything. And a

13
00:00:41.799 --> 00:00:43.359
good way to make sure you don't forget anything is

14
00:00:43.399 --> 00:00:46.200
to look at someone else's list. So we'll jump in

15
00:00:46.320 --> 00:00:50.159
the pool here. There are so many comedy specials I clearly,

16
00:00:50.240 --> 00:00:51.759
and if you listen to your list, I don't see

17
00:00:51.759 --> 00:00:54.960
them all. If you include the YouTube quote unquote specials

18
00:00:54.960 --> 00:00:56.920
recorded to the chuckle hut, forget it, you'd never get

19
00:00:56.960 --> 00:00:58.799
through it all. I do try to watch the majors

20
00:00:58.799 --> 00:01:03.000
on the bigger streamers. So let's see what Vulture likes here,

21
00:01:03.039 --> 00:01:05.959
and they probably got some screeners that I haven't been

22
00:01:06.000 --> 00:01:08.000
able to get access to. I tried to reach out

23
00:01:08.000 --> 00:01:09.920
to the HBO people to get a couple things and

24
00:01:10.040 --> 00:01:13.239
just couldn't get anywhere. It's so hard to even get

25
00:01:13.280 --> 00:01:15.359
through to a human. There was one website I was on.

26
00:01:15.439 --> 00:01:17.480
It was like, who's recommending you to even log into

27
00:01:17.519 --> 00:01:19.760
this press website? I was like, all right, relax, relax.

28
00:01:20.319 --> 00:01:23.200
Vulture writes many of this year's best comedy special share

29
00:01:23.239 --> 00:01:27.480
a reflective sense of mid career reconsideration. The most striking

30
00:01:27.519 --> 00:01:30.319
of these is from Kamil Nanjianni, whose special Night Thoughts

31
00:01:30.319 --> 00:01:33.000
allows him to reassess his career and relationship with comedy

32
00:01:33.040 --> 00:01:36.000
after more than a decade away from regular stand up. Okay,

33
00:01:36.319 --> 00:01:38.719
here's a perfect example of what I'm talking about. It's

34
00:01:38.719 --> 00:01:42.000
on Hulu and it's not out till December nineteenth, and

35
00:01:42.040 --> 00:01:44.400
as we all know, the Hulu publicists will not get

36
00:01:44.439 --> 00:01:47.359
back to me. So that's a good example of something

37
00:01:47.359 --> 00:01:50.319
that's on a list that I haven't seen. Apparently it's

38
00:01:50.319 --> 00:01:53.480
pretty good, according to Vulture, they write for other comedians.

39
00:01:53.560 --> 00:01:57.680
The retrospective meditation is about grappling with existential dread rather

40
00:01:57.719 --> 00:01:59.959
than non Gianni's focus on the trap of his external

41
00:02:00.079 --> 00:02:04.840
public persona. They name check specials by Berbiglia, Maren Cameron, Esposito,

42
00:02:04.920 --> 00:02:08.680
Bill Burr. Then they write Otsko at Kotska's Father on Earthquakes,

43
00:02:08.759 --> 00:02:11.719
joke telling Business are also reflections on their comedic identities,

44
00:02:11.719 --> 00:02:15.639
but they operate without the same wistful existentialism. Meanwhile, Steph

45
00:02:15.639 --> 00:02:18.120
Tolev's filth Queen and Jordan Jensen's Take Me with You,

46
00:02:18.520 --> 00:02:21.479
or a matched pair of specials on human debasement. Let's

47
00:02:21.560 --> 00:02:24.520
jump in all right, they have at number ten Jordan

48
00:02:24.639 --> 00:02:27.879
Jensen's Take Me with You from Netflix. They write, no

49
00:02:28.000 --> 00:02:30.879
other comedy special this year accomplishes quite the same mixture

50
00:02:30.879 --> 00:02:34.199
of emotion that Jordan Jensen's does. Jordan's appeal is how

51
00:02:34.199 --> 00:02:36.400
transparent she can make the glass while peering into her

52
00:02:36.400 --> 00:02:38.360
own brain, and there's no question that what's going on

53
00:02:38.439 --> 00:02:40.840
in there is darker than most other comedians work right now,

54
00:02:40.919 --> 00:02:43.599
up to and including Bill Burr's lengthy thoughts on death.

55
00:02:43.639 --> 00:02:45.560
Now I'm checking my notes. I feel like I had

56
00:02:45.639 --> 00:02:48.080
hit play on this and bailed on it. But I

57
00:02:48.120 --> 00:02:50.759
also have in my best of list. Personally, I have

58
00:02:50.840 --> 00:02:54.840
a section called not on list, and I don't see

59
00:02:54.840 --> 00:02:56.960
that I wrote this down. I do think I hit

60
00:02:56.960 --> 00:02:59.840
play on it and wasn't feeling it again, these are

61
00:02:59.840 --> 00:03:03.159
just list so vultures. Number ten as Jordan Jensen's Take

62
00:03:03.199 --> 00:03:04.960
Me with You. I've added it to my list of

63
00:03:05.039 --> 00:03:07.199
things to put eyes on. At number nine, they have

64
00:03:07.319 --> 00:03:11.879
earthquakes joke telling Business. I did not hit play on that.

65
00:03:11.960 --> 00:03:15.039
You'll find that on Netflix. Just earthquakes not really my thing.

66
00:03:15.680 --> 00:03:18.400
They write catchphrases or a high wire act. They deliberately

67
00:03:18.439 --> 00:03:21.080
swim upstream against the current fashion for naturalism and stand

68
00:03:21.159 --> 00:03:24.639
up sets. But the catchphrase in Earthquakes Joke Telling Business

69
00:03:24.680 --> 00:03:27.280
is really canny. As he talks about his family, black fatherhood,

70
00:03:27.319 --> 00:03:30.439
marriage and immigration politics, he keeps inserting the same pivot

71
00:03:30.439 --> 00:03:35.120
line between each section. These ain't jokes. Number eight Ian

72
00:03:35.319 --> 00:03:38.240
Edwards untitled on YouTube. Okay, see, I'm glad I'm doing

73
00:03:38.319 --> 00:03:40.159
this list. This was not on my radar at all.

74
00:03:40.280 --> 00:03:43.560
Great and I love this description. Ian Edwards reinvents no

75
00:03:43.639 --> 00:03:46.400
comedy wheels in untitled. This is a YouTube special shot

76
00:03:46.400 --> 00:03:48.439
at the comedy store where a guy stands next to

77
00:03:48.479 --> 00:03:51.680
a stool tells jokes about relationships hotel check in lines

78
00:03:51.680 --> 00:03:54.080
and gender reveal parties. I will add that to my

79
00:03:54.240 --> 00:03:57.599
checkout list. Good job so far. Vulture. Number seven, they

80
00:03:57.639 --> 00:04:01.199
have Bill Burr's Drop Dead Years. Absolutely no, it's Bill

81
00:04:01.240 --> 00:04:03.439
Burr's worst special. I'm not even going to couch. It

82
00:04:03.520 --> 00:04:05.759
is not his best, it's his worst. This is a

83
00:04:05.800 --> 00:04:08.159
bad pick. This is one of the specials that makes

84
00:04:08.159 --> 00:04:10.199
me say, Hulu is where you go to do your

85
00:04:10.199 --> 00:04:12.479
comedy special when you're on the way down. So that

86
00:04:12.520 --> 00:04:14.479
could be a warning for Kamil Nan Johnny as well.

87
00:04:15.120 --> 00:04:18.160
I can't agree with you here on Bill Burr Vulture Road.

88
00:04:18.240 --> 00:04:20.720
Is there anything better, sharper, more ticklish, or more thrilling

89
00:04:20.720 --> 00:04:23.399
than Bill Burr doing comedy about he's slowly realizing that

90
00:04:23.439 --> 00:04:26.519
he and everyone else will eventually die. Yeah, I can

91
00:04:26.639 --> 00:04:30.319
name twenty five other specials this year that's better than that. Sorry,

92
00:04:30.399 --> 00:04:33.720
I normally like Bill Burr specials. When that one. Number six,

93
00:04:33.800 --> 00:04:37.879
they have Otsko at Kotska's Father on Hulu. I think

94
00:04:37.959 --> 00:04:41.279
I have that one in my middle tier. I mean check, yes,

95
00:04:41.360 --> 00:04:43.360
I have that as number two in my middle tier.

96
00:04:43.399 --> 00:04:46.560
And again I'll do my list next weekend. It's on Hulu.

97
00:04:46.800 --> 00:04:50.079
I liked Otsco's previous special better than this one. That

98
00:04:50.199 --> 00:04:53.800
seems to be the theme that I find with Hulari's specials.

99
00:04:54.360 --> 00:04:56.439
They did pull out the best joke in the set,

100
00:04:56.480 --> 00:04:59.199
which always seems to get pulled out. Otsco tells it better,

101
00:04:59.199 --> 00:05:01.199
but she says, I asked my husband how to turn

102
00:05:01.240 --> 00:05:03.360
on the washing machine, and that's how he realized that

103
00:05:03.399 --> 00:05:05.360
he'd been doing the laundry all these years, which is

104
00:05:05.399 --> 00:05:07.720
a great joke. And I got to take a break

105
00:05:07.720 --> 00:05:10.600
at some point, so halfway seems to make sense. Be

106
00:05:10.759 --> 00:05:13.839
right back. Taking a look at Vulture's Best comedy Specials

107
00:05:13.839 --> 00:05:16.480
of twenty twenty five, at number five, they have Mark

108
00:05:16.519 --> 00:05:21.360
Maren's Panicked, which I'm I'm gonna have at number one.

109
00:05:21.399 --> 00:05:23.439
I don't see what's going to pass this. This is

110
00:05:23.560 --> 00:05:27.319
peak Mark Marin was an HBO special. Vulture Rights. It's

111
00:05:27.360 --> 00:05:29.519
not exactly Mark Maron's fault that he's become such a

112
00:05:29.519 --> 00:05:31.720
great comedian for this moment in history. At another time,

113
00:05:31.759 --> 00:05:34.399
a perpetually anxious comedian who can't keep from ranting about

114
00:05:34.439 --> 00:05:36.160
his paranoid worries about the end of the world probably

115
00:05:36.160 --> 00:05:37.959
would not feel like such a helpful guide to life.

116
00:05:38.560 --> 00:05:41.000
Maren's new special speaks to a national mood better than

117
00:05:41.040 --> 00:05:43.800
anyone else this year. I wonder why they have this

118
00:05:43.879 --> 00:05:47.720
so low. Number four, Cameron Esposito has Four Pills. I

119
00:05:47.720 --> 00:05:49.240
do like Cameron a lot, but this one is on

120
00:05:49.319 --> 00:05:51.680
dropout and I don't have dropout, so I haven't seen it.

121
00:05:52.240 --> 00:05:55.360
Vulture says, calling Four Pills a special about the pandemic

122
00:05:55.439 --> 00:05:58.759
is unfair. Cameron's New Hours about marriage, divorce to Spare

123
00:05:58.839 --> 00:06:00.920
ag retrieval's mental health, and what it's like to discover

124
00:06:01.000 --> 00:06:04.040
things about yourself after the age of forty. Number three,

125
00:06:04.240 --> 00:06:07.399
they have Mike Birbigli as the Good Life. I don't

126
00:06:07.560 --> 00:06:11.319
really dig what Birbiglia does. I do have it in

127
00:06:11.360 --> 00:06:14.800
my middle tier at number five, and I wrote civilians

128
00:06:14.839 --> 00:06:17.560
will like it. I'm a comedy snob and I don't

129
00:06:17.639 --> 00:06:21.240
really like these shows that Birbigley does. It's just not

130
00:06:21.399 --> 00:06:23.639
my style of thing. I get that people like it.

131
00:06:23.920 --> 00:06:26.319
These are just lists, but this will not make my

132
00:06:26.680 --> 00:06:30.720
top ten, Vulture says, given Birbiglia's track record, it's not

133
00:06:30.800 --> 00:06:32.959
exactly a surprise to turn a New Hour and discover

134
00:06:33.040 --> 00:06:36.439
a painstakingly crafted meditation on the meaning of life. But

135
00:06:36.480 --> 00:06:38.600
it's still a magic trick every time it happens, and

136
00:06:38.639 --> 00:06:42.800
by embracing a more casual mundanity, the good life sneaks

137
00:06:42.839 --> 00:06:45.199
its way into the top tier of Verbiglia's work. See

138
00:06:45.439 --> 00:06:48.079
I think that magic trick line. They're saying it as

139
00:06:48.120 --> 00:06:51.399
a compliment. That's my problem. I just feel like it's

140
00:06:51.439 --> 00:06:54.680
a performance. And I understand all these things are a performance.

141
00:06:54.720 --> 00:06:56.480
But like when she and Gillis gets up there and

142
00:06:56.480 --> 00:06:59.040
I understand these are written jokes and he's performing them, well,

143
00:06:59.199 --> 00:07:01.079
I just feel like he checking and driving these of

144
00:07:01.120 --> 00:07:03.519
the room. I always feel like Berbiglia is performing a

145
00:07:03.560 --> 00:07:06.160
stage played. It's very, very crafted. It's just not my thing,

146
00:07:06.240 --> 00:07:09.720
but fine. On number two they have stef Toolev's Filth Queen.

147
00:07:09.800 --> 00:07:12.160
You'll find that on Netflix. I have that in my

148
00:07:12.319 --> 00:07:16.720
personal not on list section. The title gives it away.

149
00:07:17.000 --> 00:07:20.120
It's just not my thing. Vulture rights. Filth Queen does

150
00:07:20.160 --> 00:07:22.199
exactly what it says on the tin. It is proudly

151
00:07:22.240 --> 00:07:25.720
and thoroughly gross. Steff Toolev catalogs the many horrible qualities

152
00:07:25.720 --> 00:07:27.560
of the human body with the care and consideration of

153
00:07:27.600 --> 00:07:31.319
an obsessive collector. Each fort is treasured for its own uniqualities.

154
00:07:31.279 --> 00:07:34.360
Et cetera, et cetera. Not my thing, not interested in that.

155
00:07:35.040 --> 00:07:39.319
And they have number one Kamil Nanjianni's Night Thoughts again

156
00:07:39.399 --> 00:07:42.519
on Hulu December nineteenth. Haven't seen it, Who's not going

157
00:07:42.600 --> 00:07:45.079
to get back to me? Who knows Vulture rights? He

158
00:07:45.120 --> 00:07:47.160
probably could have rolled up to an hour long standup

159
00:07:47.160 --> 00:07:49.680
special taping, delivered a half hearted life update, and walked

160
00:07:49.720 --> 00:07:53.079
away mostly on scathe. Instead. Night Thoughts slices deep into

161
00:07:53.160 --> 00:07:55.879
his last decade, carefully excavating how fame in the public

162
00:07:55.959 --> 00:07:59.439
eye have changed how he sees himself. Vulture has some

163
00:07:59.560 --> 00:08:01.759
other how many highlights from the year. They have listed

164
00:08:01.800 --> 00:08:06.120
Brent Weinbach's Popular Culture on YouTube, Rosebud Baker's The Mother

165
00:08:06.199 --> 00:08:10.160
Load on Netflix, and Roywood Junior's Lonely Flowers are the

166
00:08:10.199 --> 00:08:13.480
other three they spotlighted. Now, if you're relatively new to

167
00:08:13.519 --> 00:08:18.480
the show, I could totally fairly imagine you right now going, John,

168
00:08:18.560 --> 00:08:21.680
do you even watch comedy specials? Because I mentioned I

169
00:08:21.720 --> 00:08:23.519
didn't see a lot of the ones that Vulture liked,

170
00:08:23.600 --> 00:08:26.360
I'll fly down my list really quickly. Right now. I

171
00:08:26.439 --> 00:08:29.839
have it as Marin, Kevin Hart, Riife, Jim Jeffries, Justin

172
00:08:29.879 --> 00:08:35.039
Willman's Magic Lover, John Marco, Moe Ammer, Dusty Slay, Kreischer,

173
00:08:35.120 --> 00:08:37.679
Brett Goldstein, remember that one was real good. Michelle Wolf,

174
00:08:37.720 --> 00:08:41.000
Sarah Silverman, Matt McCusker, Mattelane, and Tim Dillon would be

175
00:08:41.039 --> 00:08:44.320
my fifteen top right now, and then I've got nine

176
00:08:44.360 --> 00:08:47.120
more in my middle tier and a whole bunch on

177
00:08:47.159 --> 00:08:50.639
my no thank you list. But again, I will do

178
00:08:50.679 --> 00:08:52.639
that next week. It'll be out on my substack, and

179
00:08:52.679 --> 00:08:54.960
it'll be an episode or two in this feed. And

180
00:08:55.000 --> 00:08:58.120
that is your comedy news on a Sunday. Have a

181
00:08:58.120 --> 00:08:58.600
great day.