What would suicide by bat look like? Only a comedian would think long and hard about the subject. In “From Bleak to Dark” (Max), Marc Maron imagines it as pathetic, torturous and riotously funny. This storyline, coming at the end of a death-haunted special, functions like the scene in Hunter S. Thompson’s book about the Hells Angels, in which Thompson, after months of hanging out with the biker gang, describes being beaten up by them became . It’s a perverse catharsis.
Best online roaster
Arch-elitist Dan Rosen has created his own critical beat on Instagram, writing a stylish and blunt insult comedy about tasteless interior design, chic decor and superficial architecture. As he projects his face over photos of celebrity homes, he displays a keen sense of over-the-top trends (anyone who has a green kitchen should be ashamed of themselves) and a knack for the perfect countertop (“the grandma couch”). He compares Chris Brown’s floors to a bowling ball and then says, “I’d say it’s the worst crime he’s ever committed,” before pausing.
Best Canadian Newcomer
“I moved to America this year,” Sophie Buddle said at the start of her “Tonight Show” set in April. “I wanted to see it before it was over.” Then she pulled in her bottom lip and giggled. This chipper comedian constantly laughs nervously while making jokes about masturbation and annoying Los Angeles guys. But she knows what she’s doing by giving new ideas to familiar topics. She’s part of a long line of cheerfully raunchy young comedians, and her sly jokes are full of sharp elbows. When she talks about the United States, there is pity in her voice that feels like revenge for so many years of American comic condescension toward our northern neighbor.
Best version of crowdwork
In a short Netflix set commemorating the Improv Club’s 60th anniversary, Deon Cole explains how comics continually urge audiences to do things like “give it up for the ladies.” He looks beleaguered and says, “That made me waste my clapping.”
Best response to a beeping cell phone
When Joe Pera heard that familiar sound during his final class, he deadpanned, “You just ruined my life,” and then let it continue.
Best impression
That the John Mulaney special Baby J (on Netflix) manages to live up to expectations is an achievement, considering it deals with his much-publicized rehab stint and, to a lesser extent, his equally much-discussed divorce . His revival of his star-studded intervention features a variety of niche touches. And yet, with his Al Pacino version, he gets the biggest laughs in a broad and traditional way. One distinctive voice meets the other.