The 20 Funniest Performances of 2019: Brad Pitt, ‘PEN15,’ Keanu Reeves and More
When we put out this list last year, it helped inspire The Last Laugh podcast, our weekly interview show where I talk to comedians about their work. Two comedians from 2018’s list—Sacha Baron Cohen and Nick Kroll—ended up appearing on the podcast this past year.
There was such an abundance of incredible comedy this year that in order to spread the wealth, I’ve decided to exclude any of our other podcast guests to date. They all deserve special recognition, but I want to give specific shout-outs to a few who delivered performances that would have otherwise made the cut.
Those include stand-up comic Ramy Youssef, who not only starred in his own excellent Hulu series but also put out a brilliant debut hour on HBO; former Daily Show producer Jena Friedman, whose Adult Swim series Soft Focus contains the sharpest satire on toxic masculinity released this year; and the singular Mike Birbiglia, who managed to inject so much heart into his latest joke-filled stage show The New One that you might just find yourself tearing up by the end.