Who doesn’t love to laugh? Netflix’s comedy specials contain many comedians whose works deserve to be watched, but viewers often overlook female comedians.
If you are looking for something that strays from TV’s traditional comedy voices, then check out these seven women’s comedy specials on Netflix immediately for a great time.
1. Iliza Shlesinger, “Confirmed Kills”
Iliza Shelsinger in this special alternates between the real fight for feminism and the fight for her inner party goblin to go absolutely ham, saying: “She will awaken when she hears you say, ‘I guess I’ll just come out for one drink.'”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SQWH8TEeUI
This comedian’s serious moments are long enough to let the message sink in, but before the bit can drag, she brings the humor back in a variety of ways.
Through storytelling and her inventive voices, she also talks about her ideal episode of “Shark Tank,” why you should never want to be a mermaid and cute little Pip-Pop who Shlesinger creatively describes, “Pip-Pop doesn’t give a f—. He’s like, ‘I was a prisoner of war for six years. Call me Pip-Pop, I’ve had worse.'”
2. Tig Notoro, “Happy to Be Here”
Tig Notoro’s comedy special strays from the showmanship of some comedians. Her humor fosters itself in her storytelling. She covers a range of topics including her cat, kids and wife’s hysterical comments.
Notoro’s humor is unapologetically awkward, and her wit is so dry that the audience genuinely have no idea whether or not she’s kidding, especially when she introduces the Indigo Girls at the end of her set.
She prolongs the show with wild questions, eventually asking, “Who here is like, ‘Honestly, I don’t even know who the Indigo Girls are?'” Will they come on stage? Who knows, but either way, it’s hysterical.
3. Ali Wong, “Hard Knock Wife”
Ali Wong is the definition of animated, and in her second Netflix comedy special, she proves that being pregnant can’t stop her wild movements and comments on stage. Her commentary on her home life, her Harvard-graduated husband and having a child is funny and edgy.
Wong is one of the more recently popular female comedians. She talks about her misunderstanding about being a stay-at-home mom: “That s— is relentless.” She describes her infant daughter akin to a Tamagotchi: “You’re just in solitary confinement all day long with this human Tamagotchi that don’t got no reset button so the stakes are EXTREMELY high!” Wong loves the staying at home part, though, and talks about that subject in equal humor.
4. Cristela Alonzo, “Lower Classy”
As the only Latina female comedian on this list, Cristela Alonzo runs her rounds with her jokes about the good ol’ days, her mother and being a first-generation immigrant. Not once does her commentary get old.
She gives a fresh take on immigration in America, at one point even saying, “Oh, sorry I dropped something: the truth.” She tells stories about being poor and happy and about a wonderfully weird and sad fantasy about the boyband “New Kids On the Block,” and her delivery gives her show life.
5. Jen Kirkman, “I’m Gonna Die Alone (And I Feel Fine)”
Jen Kirkman is one of the female comedians who discusses getting older and how her married friends are more worried about her being alone than she is. She jokes about coming to terms with her new random pubic hairs that can’t be easily explained away by what she did in her youth: “And I can’t say my vagina’s seen some s—.”
Kirkman also has her feelings on being divorced: “It’s really just a legal term that means no one’s farted in my bed in four years.” Her most relatable moments are her opinions on how other people perceive her situation, and she’s just here to roll with it because, “Let’s review, 40, divorced, gray pubes. Yoo-hoo, fellas.”
6. Margaret Cho, “PsyCHO”
Margaret Cho is a veteran among female comedians, so she does her rounds about her friends in the business, including the late Joan Rivers and Robin Williams. She covers serious topics, but her commentary as a Korean-American woman lightens the mood.
Cho discusses her race in a positive way while also addressing what is actually racist. What racism does not include: the television show name “Fresh Off the Boat.” She says, “They [the network] were like ‘That’s racist! We want to call it like “Far East of Orlando.”‘ I think that’s MORE racist!”
7. Katherine Ryan, “In Trouble”
Katherine Ryan is a Canadian-born single mother living in the U.K. who likes to push the envelope with her comedy, but she’s also not afraid to laugh at herself. At one point she paraphrases critics: “They say I’m like Joan Rivers but older, and that hurts.”
Like her comedy special’s title, she references the many times she ends up very much in trouble — with her family, the Philippines and the members of a charity dinner. Her jokes are equally absurd and oddly correct in their messages, so this female comedian’s comedy special is one to watch.
