Page 39 - Katherine Ryan press pack 2015-20

In a nutshell: Australian comedian Jefferies takes potshots at all comers in a
performance as confrontational as the hard rock that accompanies his arrival on
stage. “Grabby” celebrities, politicians and his own ill-advised career moves are all
fair game – though his obnoxious style won’t be to everyone’s taste.
Best gag: “There should be a wall on the Canadian border. So that when the
Americans run out of healthcare, they can't crawl over.”
9. Ryan Hamilton: Happy Face (2017)

Ryan Hamilton CREDIT: Eric Liebowitz
In a nutshell: The Idaho comedian exploits his clean-cut image to chortle-inducing
effect. “I look really happy all the time and I don’t feel like this,” he says from behind
a 10,000-watt, all-American grin. “I wake up in the morning, look in the mirror and
think… Well, that is inaccurate.”
Best gag: “Where do you want to begin? Should we start with my face? I think I
could sell ice-cream in the Fifties.”

10. Ali Wong: Hard Knock Wife (2018)

Ali Wong CREDIT: Ken Woroner
In a nutshell: The San Francisco comedian discusses motherhood, ageing and
familial tensions in her second special recorded while pregnant. She’s provocative,
with a delivery so forceful that, even, when the punchlines don’t land, she somehow
makes you laugh anyway.
Best gag: “My husband occasionally changes diapers, and when people hear
that... confetti everywhere. When my baby girl was born, I did skin-on-skin contact
with her every day to bond. She s--t on my chest. Where’s my confetti at?”

11. Patton Oswalt: Talking For Clapping (2016)

Patton Oswalt CREDIT: Eddy Chen/Netflix
In a nutshell: Oswalt is as much a story-teller as a joke-spinner ,and this 2016
performance is rambling and discursive in the best sense. He compares and contrasts
the joys of My Little Pony and Star Wars and shares moving insights on fatherhood,
ageing and the perils of rigorously applied political correctness.
Best gag: “See the green light that’s just gone on… that’s to tell me to dab the sweat.
I know how sweaty I am, goddamn it.”
12. David Chappelle: The Age of Spin / Deep in the Heart of Texas (2017)

Dave Chappelle CREDIT: Mathieu Bitton
In a nutshell: Chappelle’s brace of comebacks were released simultaneously – the
comedy equivalent of a double album. The Age of Spin is built around a series of run-
ins Chapelle had with OJ Simpson (the first when Chappelle was an unknown
starting out in comedy). His gags about transgender people have been less positively