Comedy Central Presents: Kristen Schaal

The following is part of a series that profiles episodes of Comedy Central Presents, a collection of stand-up comedy available for instant viewing.


If you’re anything like me, first of all, congratulations. Second of all, you were surprised to imagine Kristen Schaal as a stand-up comedian. Schaal is actress, perhaps best known as Mel in HBO’s Flight of the Conchords or from her work as a Daily Show correspondent. She’s also appeared in Mad Men, Modern Family, and a few feature films. That said, her Comedy Central Presents episode is solid, more so if you are familiar with her more recent work. Her episode watches more like a one-woman show than a stand-up routine.


Schaal’s episode essentially puts her on stage for 21 minutes, and she puts forth a strong comedic offering. Technically titled ‘Anne Boelyn on Fire’, her show has some brilliant comedic moments that ebb and flow with her performance. She refrains from the rapid-fire jokes that mark more traditional comedians, but her performance displays tremendous command of tension/release, an important comedic factor. It’s definitely worth 20 minutes, if you’ve got ‘em, particularly if you like Schaal’s other work. If nothing else, you can check it out if you want something funny, fresh, and a little off-beat.

Comedy Central Presents: Alonzo Bodden

The following is part of a series that profiles episodes of Comedy Central Presents, a collection of stand-up comedy available for instant viewing.

Alonzo Bodden is a comic’s comic. His stage persona is relaxed and mature, his material is well-written and sharp, and most importantly, his jokes are funny. I first saw Bodden on the second season of NBC’s Last Comic Standing, where he was runner-up to John Heffron. He came back again in Season 3 and won both redemption and the title, and he was a judge in Season 5. I remember him distinctly because he always had new material, whereas the other finalists, even the eventual winner, seemed to recycle jokes week-to-week. Bodden still works as a stand-up today, traveling and performing regularly. Watching him work, he really doesn’t do much besides talk into the mic. But it doesn’t matter, the guy’s a pure stand-up.

Bodden’s set is funny in all the right ways: it’s brave, funny, and sharp. He starts a bit slow but really hits his stride about five minutes in. His racial stuff is particularly memorable, making some funny points about the nature of stereotypes. His bit about his incarceration is also pretty strong (“The thing about jail is, if you haven’t been, don’t go”). He goes right at controversial topics, reminding the audience rather convincingly that “it’s ok to laugh.” The set isn’t perfect—Bodden certainly doesn’t go for laughs with on-stage antics, and I always find airplane security jokes a bit clichéd —, but if you want to see a true stand-up doing solid, textbook, craftsman-like comedy, Alonzo Bodden might be right up your alley.

Check him out at Alonzo Live.

Comedy Central Presents: A Primer

Nowadays, Netflix offers a surprisingly strong collection of stand-up for our instant-watching pleasure. But in my humble and completely biased opinion, Comedy Central Presents, a collection of half-hour comedy specials from the late 90s and early 2000s, remains the crown jewel in the queue’s rapidly expanding stand-up library.

With its 240 episodes, Comedy Central Presents is a lot of comedy, perhaps the longest single entry on Netflix. But beyond its sheer volume, the virtue of the collection lies in the wide array of comics assembled therein, a snapshot of the comedic voices of the time. Names like Zach Galiafinakis, Dane Cook, and Chelsea Handler stand out among the roster of comedians; it’s interesting to see them before their fame, and, more importantly, to see if they can do a solid 20 minutes.

I’ll be writing a series that highlights individual comedians/episodes, with an emphasis on how the special fits into his or her greater body of work. And in addition to those who went on to bigger endeavors, I’ll talk about some others (Dan Naturman, Greg Giraldo, etc.) who never got the recognition they deserve.

We'll start with Alonzo Bodden and Kristen Schaal.