Reviews
Critical takes on shows, specials, albums and books worth your time.
Fleabag: The Complete Guide
Twelve half-hours, one Edinburgh monologue and a priest who notices the camera. How Fleabag turned a stage trick into the most influential British comedy of its decade.
The Rehearsal: Season-by-Season Guide
A replica bar in Brooklyn, a fake family in Oregon, a singing competition for airline pilots and a real Boeing 737. What Nathan Fielder set out to do in The Rehearsal, and what he ended up doing instead.
Best Comedy Podcasts of All Time
Seventeen years of garages, improv riffs, bad movies and dream meals, boiled down to the 25 shows that defined the medium.
Alt Comedy Podcasts: Start Here
Thousands of comedy podcasts, most of them three hours of people you don't know laughing. Here is a short path in, matched to what you already like.
Alt Comedy Reviews
The criteria we use to judge a sketch show, a sitcom or a stand-up hour, and short verdicts on the shows and specials we've covered in depth.
Comedy Podcasts: The Guide
Improvised characters, garage interviews, friends riffing, deep-dive investigations and audio sketch. How each kind works, which shows do it best, and who pays for it all.
Essential Alt Comedy Albums
Before specials, there were records. A ranked guide to the comedy albums that shaped the alternative tradition, from 1950s nightclub LPs to the indie-label era.
Essential Alt Comedy Books
The ten books we would hand anyone who wants to understand alternative comedy, ranked, plus the memoirs, craft manuals and histories that fill in the rest.
How to Critique Comedy
Explaining a joke is said to kill it. Good criticism does the opposite: it shows you why something is funny, what it is really doing, and whether it earns the laugh.
Nanette, Explained
Sixty-nine minutes at the Sydney Opera House that start as a stand-up show and end as an indictment of one. A close look at how Nanette is built, why it landed, and the arguments it still starts.
The Best Comedian Interviews
Comedians are at their most revealing when someone gives them an hour and a good question. Here is where to find those hours: podcasts, radio, books, TV and documentaries.