2024 Favorite Things: TV Shows & Stand-up Comedy
TV marathons and repeat viewing:
Top favorites are in bold.
| Title | Key people | Platform | Notes |
| CSI: NY | Gary Sinise | Hulu | You know what this is. I’ve only gotten through a couple seasons. |
| Death and Other Details | Mandy Patinkin, Violett Beane, Lauren Patten | Hulu | For Poirot, Knives Out, and OMITB fans—yet somehow I never finished. It wasn’t as compelling as it should have been for this cast and production value. |
| Animal Control (S2) | Joel McHale, Vella Lovell, Ravi Patel, Michael Rowland | Hulu | Continues to be a favorite sitcom. |
| Housebroken | Gabrielle Allan, Jennifer Crittendon, Clea Duvall, Lisa Kudrow, Nat Faxon, Will Forte, Sam Richardson, Sharon Horgan | Hulu | A cleansing cartoon with relationships between the animals in group therapy and how the humans around them affect their lives. |
| Bob’s Burgers | H. Jon Benjamin, Dan Mintz, Kristen Schaal, John Roberts, Eugene Mirman | Hulu | The most recent Christmas episode was one of the best episodes ever. Louise is still the best. |
| The Rookie | Nathan Fillion | Hulu | I really hate that they are jumping the shark and having John Nolan and Bailey interested in having children; there are already two families that show how complicated it is to balance work/family/political landscapes; I’m also annoyed they broke up one of the best couples on the show. |
| SWAT | Shemar Moore | Netflix | This is obviously a fantasy world of the police state where the cops really are the good guys; for that reason, it’s nice escapism (great cast), but I’m white and can understand all the criticism of the show. |
| Only Murders in the Building (S4) | Steve Martin, Martin Short, Selena Gomez | Hulu | S4 a lot better and more interesting than S3. |
| Agatha All Along | Kathryn Hahn | Disney+ | full review |
| Exploding Kittens | Tom Ellis, Sasheer Zamata | Netflix | Thoroughly enjoyable! Great cast. |
| Baby Reindeer | Richard Gadd (based on his life), Jessica Gunning, Nava Mau | Netflix | Based on a “true” stalker story (greatly disputed), 7 episodes; I had nightmares from this miniseries. I didn’t expect to because I could see what was coming based on all the foreshadowing. I did expect things to have a happy ending (typical American viewer) & stop there. But it doesn’t. Directed by Weronika Tofilska and Josephine Bornebusch. |
Stand-Up Comedy:
Clearly, I’ve taken a liking to the comedians that perform for Dry Bar which is run by Angel Studios, a Mormon and Christian based operation in Provo, Utah. It’s known for “clean comedy,” meaning no swearing and family-friendly generally speaking.
The live shows are not edited, so Dry Bar Comedy cannot guarantee that every element will meet parent standards.
Some comedians push the boundaries as best as they can. It’s obvious that editing (like all shows) comes into play versus a live experience. I can’t remember which comedian it was, but someone gestured towards their penis and the visual was zoomed in to be from the waist up (a mid-shot) so as not to offend anyone watching at home despite the quote above which comes from their website (Feb 10, 2025).
We tell the comedians who their audience will be and financially incentivize them to keep their acts as clean as possible (they make less money on their streaming sales if the customers end up needing to use filters to watch the show).
Dry Bar has its own subscription service, but I just watch it on YouTube. The other thing about that location is how evident it is there’s no ethnic diversity whatsoever in Provo. Every black comedian makes a remark about the sea of white people in the live audience.
That being said, the producer is not Dry Bar’s CEO Neal Harmon. It’s Brian Volk-Weiss whose name you’ll see after over 400 comedy specials. To my knowledge, he has not walked away from Dave Chapelle nor Louis C.K.
The opposite of that is 800lb. Gorilla’s comedy channel. You’ll get unfiltered comedy performances as you do on Netflix.
| Comedian | Title | Platform | Notes |
| Adam Cayton-Holland | Wallpaper | YouTube | |
| AJ Wilkerson | Captain Autistic | YouTube | Hilarious about his autism, self-stimming ticks and shakes, and coming from the worst area of Florida (he even has a mullet), and his parents are 2nd cousins. |
| Akaash Singh | Gaslit | YouTube | His “feminism” that he bragged about was truly awful. |
| Alex Velluto | Dry Bar | YouTube | |
| Ali Siddiq | The Domino Effect part 2: Grief | YouTube | A brave performance where Ali uses his signature style to make any story, no matter how deep into his criminal past, makes it funny. He breaks when talking about losing his baby sister, but climbs back up to lighten the mood before there’s too much heartbreaking for the crowd. |
| Ali Siddiq | Domino Effect part 3 | YouTube | not standup but don’t it doesn’t fit in other categories; he does lighten his serious storytelling with comedic bits, but part 3 is all about him getting sent to jail for drug dealing. |
| Ali Siddiq | Domino Effect part 4 | YouTube | Ali begins this part with a dark, rainy background and starts his storytelling with homophobia because he was assigned to the “soft” and “sissy” tank. He would’ve been safe in there but admitted he was not comfortable around the night time activities of the gay and trans inmates. Stay with it. He circles around. His specials are longer than most. He takes on the most dire stories and alleviates them with excellent comedic timing. While he admits that he thinks gay people are “weird,” he speaks from a place of being raised with a specific definition of masculinity. The background set changes to a bright sunny landscape. He explains that the prison which was min sec wasn’t built with the heart “those people” need. Because he spent time as the File and Safety Clerk, he had deals with every type of population/gang. When he gets transferred to max, he had a lot of fights, learned consequences, and treated people with respect when they had never experienced that before. |
| Ali Sultan | Dry Bar | YouTube | Hilarious set about coming to America |
| Andrew Sleighter | Dry Bar | YouTube | |
| Anjelah Johnson-Reyes | Technically it’s not stalking | YouTube | |
| Barry Brewer | Dry Bar | YouTube | |
| Bengt Washburn | Dry Bar | YouTube | |
| Blake Wexler | Daddy Long Legs | YouTube | Fun recap of a historical tour guide giving supernatural vs science explanations; plus Jersey shore anecdotes because he’s from Philly. |
| Brain Simpson | Mothership | Netflix | |
| Chad Daniels | Dad Chaniels | YouTube | More progressive than I expected and he states clearly that he’s “in the middle” due to the polarities of politics reaching new extreme endpoints; dad stories are good. |
| Chris Ruppe | Growing Up With Deaf Parents | YouTube | |
| Constaki Economopoulos | Murderer’s Name | YouTube | Didn’t even finish it. Unwatchable. |
| Dan Cummins | Trying to get better | YouTube | Takes good jabs at conspiracy theories and anti-vaxxers. |
| David Cross | Worst Daddy in the World | YouTube | He’s the opposite of clean comedy. David Cross will always talk politics and be as expressive as possible. No subject seems off-limits. |
| Demetri Martin | Demetri Deconstructed | Netflix | Weird, even by Demetri Martin standards. |
| Dennis Regan | Dry Bar | YouTube | It’s evident the Regan Brothers share comedic style. |
| DJ Demers | Born in 86 / 800lb Gorilla Channel | YouTube | Awesome to see a deaf comedian (he did speak the performance) with an ASL interpreter. |
| Dry Bar Top 2023 comedy clips | Karen Morgan, Shayne Smith, Cathy Ladman | YouTube | I love that they had Cathy Ladman. I remember her early days and she’s 66 and still on fire. |
| Dustin Chafin | Dry Bar | YouTube | |
| Dustin Nickerson | 30 isn’t old but | YouTube | He comes across as friendly and is definitely funny. He seems to be well-respected for his off-stage work in getting fair pay for people too. |
| Dusty Slay | Working Man | Netflix | Enjoyed his talent so much, we went to see him live in 2025. |
| Dwayne Perkins | Dry Bar Double Feature | YouTube | Excellent and has a 2025 Netflix special. |
| Dwight Slade | Accidental Amber Alert | YouTube | |
| Eleanor Kerrigan | No country for old women | YouTube | |
| Erin Maguire | Baseline Presentable | YouTube | Funny by I don’t know why she kept referring to Eleanor Roosevelt as “he”. |
| Fahim Anwar | House Money | YouTube | |
| Fluffy Bits animated S2 | Gabriel Iglesias | YouTube | These are adorable cartoons that animate clips from Fluffy’s shows. |
| Gabriel Rutledge | Jokes vs Boise | YouTube | Could easily be mistaken for Dusty Slay, but they’re different. |
| Gabriel Rutledge | Nectarine | YouTube | |
| Hank Chen | I shouldn’t be here | Prime | Sincere about finding the comedy in drama as he tells stories of biased parents, abusive relationships, racism – this was only 6 days after being hit by a car |
| Hannah Gadsby with Alok Vaid-Menon, Krishna Istha, Chloe Petts, Dahlia Belle-Sirvio, DeAnne Smith, Jes Thom, Asha Ward | Gender Agenda | Netflix | A variety of funny and engaging LGBTQIA+ comedians |
| Hari Kondabolu | Vacation Baby | YouTube | Hari has matured a bit since becoming a father. His political bits are intelligent and no doubt over some people’s heads. |
| Heather Land | Menoplause | YouTube | |
| Isabel Hagen | Resting Sad Face | YouTube | |
| J. Bliss | Gas Stations | YouTube | Except for a little ableism, fun dad stories |
| J.B. Ball | It’s My Privilege | YouTube | One slip dead-naming Caitlin Jenner; otherwise time well spent addressing racism, privilege, and unity. |
| J.F. Harris | People Make Mistakes (800 Pound Gorilla) | YouTube | Impressively feminist and has a few disabilities that aren’t obvious. |
| Jack Whitehall | Gets Around | YouTube | Obviously an immature, younger version of Whitehall. His jokes are better now. |
| Jack Whitehall | Settle Down | Netflix | He truly is more tolerable as he’s matured although one of my favorite bits of his from his old special is his rivalry with Robert Pattinson. |
| Jackie Kashian | Stay-Kashian | YouTube | Recommend it. |
| Jackie Kashian | This Will Make an Excellent Horcrux | YouTube | Ignore the title and watch her. |
| Jason Banks | Light-Skinned | YouTube | Good except for ableism which is apparently part of skits he does on TikTok |
| Jason Salmon | Biscuits & Gravy | YouTube | The bad: he does not handle his storytelling of educating his dad on trans issues well; the good news is that the rest seems fine as he compares generations. |
| Jaylyn Bishop | Dry Bar | YouTube | |
| Jen Brister | The Optimist | YouTube | Recommend it. |
| Jessica Fostekew | Wench | YouTube | Coming out of Pandemic and being more weird; yells so fast it’s hard to keep up, surprised she didn’t lose her voice. |
| J.L. Cauvin | Half Black Face | Prime | |
| Jo Koy | Brooklyn | Netflix | Jo Koy has matured into a sensitive and compassionate man. It might not always be apparent on stage, but there’s a reason so much of his storytelling is about family and the friends that count vs those who can be deleted. He still talks about dick and pussy graphically. |
| Josh Johnson | (weekly comedy performances) | YouTube | Never miss his weekly updates unless I really can’t stand to hear more about this horrible world. He ties unrelated subjects together in a way unlike anyone else. |
| Jourdain Fisher | Good For You (2020) | YouTube | |
| K-von | Dry Bar | YouTube | |
| Kabir Singh | Retiring Material: Dry Bar | YouTube | |
| Kanan Gill | Is this it? | YouTube | One of the very best specials; I’ve even used his video gaming metaphor as a Dharma talk in yoga class (crediting him of course). |
| Kevin Bozeman | God’s Work | YouTube | All the dick jokes and drinking he couldn’t do on his Dry Bar special. BUT he comes down hard on “comic-con people” – besides an easy virgin joke, he says they (we) don’t care about politics. |
| Kevin Haas | Necking with Kevin Haas | YouTube | Great standup after he broke his neck snowboarding; all the medical jokes are fresh! None of the same, boring “my girlfriend doesn’t understand me…” |
| Kevin James | Irregardless | Prime | Well, he encourages beating children with belts, so… no. He lost his touch. |
| Kiera Soltanovich | You Did This To Me | YouTube | Not as funny as I expected since she’s a frequent guest on Tom Papa’s Breaking Bread podcast and often opens for him. |
| Kim McVicar | 2024 | Prime | Not as good as her older special |
| Kyle Kinane | Trampoline in a Ditch. Whiskey Icarus. Shocks and Struts. Loose in Chicago |
YouTube | All of his specials are fantastic. |
| Langston Kerman | Bad Poetry | Netflix | Not sure his mother would appreciate all the tea he spilled about her personal life. |
| Leanne Morgan and Karen Mills | Just Getting Started | Live | I simply love Leanne Morgan! |
| Londale Theus Jr. | Bigger, Blacker, Vegan-er | YouTube | |
| Mark Christopher Lawrence | DryBar | YouTube | |
| Mary Mack | Dry Bar | YouTube | |
| Mike Brody | Dry Bar: Never mix a weiner and a golden retriever | YouTube | |
| Mike Cannon | White Privilege Homeless | YouTube | |
| Mike Epps | Ready to sell out | Netflix | Reflects on all kinds of mistakes he’s made including drugs and cheating. |
| Mike Paramore | Dry Bar: I probably shouldn’t say this | YouTube | |
| Mo Welch | Dad Jokes | YouTube | She’s a comedian, mom, singer, and cartoonist. Apparently Mo Welch can do just about everything. Her comedy comes from her abandonment issues that she takes viewers on as clips of Mo’s brave journey to meet her father. |
| Nath Valvo | I’m Happy for You | YouTube | Adorable things that happen when you’re gay and in a long marriage, at age 38, deciding whether or not to become parents. |
| Nazareth | Dry Bar | Prime | Pretty damn funny. |
| Neal Brennan | Crazy Good | Netflix | He’s happier now and honestly not as funny. |
| Nick Offerman | Full Bush | YouTube | Didn’t start off great but got much better. |
| Outstanding | Lily Tomlin, Sandra Bernhardt, so many people | Netflix | Had potential to be much better. |
| Pete Davidson | Turbo Fonzarelli | Netflix | This wasn’t his best work, but it’s on brand. |
| Pierre Novellie | Quiet Ones | YouTube | Laughed so long, I farted. |
| Preacher Lawson | My Name is Preacher | YouTube | I have no idea how he has so much energy. |
| Roy Wood Jr. | Imperfect Messenger. No one loves you. Father Figure. |
YouTube | I love Roy Wood and none of his specials have ever been disappointing. |
| Russell Peters | Notorious | YouTube | |
| Russell Peters | Red, White & Brown | YouTube | originally from Showtime but the YouTube version is crappy quality |
| Ryan Dalton | Big Heart Small Brain | YouTube | |
| Sarah Millican | Home Bird (2014) | YouTube | Absolutely hilarious and great at crowd work especially considering how large the venu is. |
| Sasheer Zamata | The First Woman | YouTube | beautifully funny and feminist telling relatable stories about why we should be more comfortable talking about our bodies |
| Spike Davis | Dry Bar | YouTube | |
| Steve Trevino | Simple Man | Netflix | Wasn’t thrilled with this one. |
| Steven Rogers | Captain Anxiety / Dry Bar | YouTube | |
| Taylor Tomlinson | Have It All | Netflix | I’ve loved all her specials. She’s open about her journey of aging and maturing through life including questioning what her priorities are. |
| Tim Young | Organ Transplant | YouTube | Uses some outdated terms by today’s standards by no clue when it was filmed. |
| Tom Cashman | Pests | YouTube | Fun with Power Point |
| Tom Segura | Sledgehammer | Netflix | Some cringy jokes but his mom story is worth it. |
| Tommy Ryman | Healthy Hippie Parents / Dry Bar | YouTube | A skinny white nerd who has a way about telling stories of his family that’s endearing. |
| Warren B. Hall | Your Children Control You / DryBar | YouTube | Sweet stories about his kids and explaining biracial to one of his sons who thought he was white. |
| Zoltan Kaszas | Dancin’ with Drunks | YouTube | The hecklers were bad in this one but he regained control; He also posts weekly and has a podcast. |
Related 2024 Faves:
Books, Comics, Picture Books
Audio & Video Podcats/Vloggers
Movies
Documentaries
Founder and Editor-in-Chief of AmberUnmasked.com and Vodka O'Clock Podcast. Author of The Farrah Wethers Mysteries, comic book short stories, prose, and non-fiction. Cosplayer and figure model.