Gorilla Specials: Big Jay Oakerson Blends Truth And Comedy In ‘Dog Belly’
Big Jay Oakerson is not a comic for the faint of heart. Covered in tattoos, with a shock of pink running through his middle-aged hair, he sits on a stool and asks about the sex life of his audience members as crowd work. Over more than two decades, Oakerson has amassed a following who have […]
Gorilla Specials: It’s A Joy To Hear Anthony DeVito’s ‘Brain Noise’
As a former writer on The Break with Michelle Wolf, and a member of one of the last Comedy Central Stand-Up Presents cohorts, Anthony DeVito knows how to shape a joke. From language to pacing, DeVito is a consummate seasoned voice working at the height of his ability. It’s a pleasure to watch him present […]
Gorilla Specials: Sarah Tollemache Is A Struggling, Hilarious ‘Voluptuous Boy’
When comics have television sets to prepare for, they’ll often run the jokes they plan on doing over and over in front of audiences a week or so prior to their appearance. Every comic is different in their anxiety over this, and it’s a rare instance in which the audience can see how comics adjust […]
Gorilla Specials: Ben Palmer Trolls To Victory With ‘You Can Be Anything’
In 2009, David Thorne released his book The Internet Is A Playground, which focuses on his attempts to hoax, fool, and otherwise troll specific groups and people he deems worthy of annoyance. The pleasure of it was in the context and being able to see immediately how Thorne was walking the line between annoyance and […]
Gorilla Specials: Jake Rush Claims To Be ‘Overwhelmingly Neutral’
It can be hard to know what will give a special a guaranteed sense of longevity, but over and over again, comics tend to aim for the evergreen. Specials that mix the silly with the observant like Greg Behrendt’s Greg Behrendt Is Uncool, Sheng Wang’s Sweet & Juicy, Gary Gulman’s In This Economy?, Chelsea Peretti’s […]
Gorilla Specials: Tori Piskin Is The ‘Prettiest Girl At The Special School’
Every so often, a stand-up special can stand out for its refusal of formalities (having the comic walk out onstage and make a joke, including crowd reaction shots, performing on a wide stage in a theater, lighting placed high above the stage, etc). This all can go a long way to fostering intimacy and a […]
Gorilla Specials: A Look at Bob Rubin’s “Oddities & Rarities”
On his debut album, Feelin’ Kinda Patton, Patton Oswalt has a bit where he describes an open mic night where a strange, drug-addled character named Dr. Pepper performed. Though the character is meant to cast a pall on the night, and serve as a shorthand for the awfulness of open mics, Oswalt clearly has an […]
Gorilla Specials: An Inside Look at Sasheer Zamata’s “The First Woman”
While Sasheer Zamata’s sophomore stand-up special The First Woman (see her excellent debut, Pizza Mind, if you haven’t) may be brand-new, the SNL alum commands the stage with such ease that it begs praise for her deftness alone. Often in earlier specials, comics can have a tendency to rush material, blow past jokes, or otherwise […]