Forgot password
Enter the email address you used when you joined and we'll send you instructions to reset your password.
If you used Apple or Google to create your account, this process will create a password for your existing account.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Reset password instructions sent. If you have an account with us, you will receive an email within a few minutes.
Something went wrong. Try again or contact support if the problem persists.

The Best Stand-Up Comedy Specials Available Online

Stand-up comedy has been undergoing somewhat of a renaissance on the Internet lately. As distribution methods for content have changed and people have been able to stream or download sets from their favorite comics instead of going to see them at clubs or waiting for their next stand-up special on Comedy Central, the variety of comedy available has expanded beyond a handful of high-profile performers.
This article is over 10 years old and may contain outdated information

1. Louis C.K. – Live at the Beacon Theater

Recommended Videos

louis-ck-live-at-beacon-theater

“There’s no opening act. F—k it, let’s just start.” So begins Louis C.K.’s Live at the Beacon Theater, an hour-long special full of the sort of blunt, no-nonsense comedy people have come to expect from C.K. While he spent many years honing his craft as a more absurdist comic with a sensibility like that on display in his writing for The Dana Carvey Show and Pootie Tang, his transformation into a comic known for the more personal material of his most recent stand-up and his TV series Louie is what has made him a household name.

Live at the Beacon Theater represented a major shift in the distribution of comedy. Just like Radiohead made waves by distributing In Rainbows online independently well before anyone thought that was a good idea for one of the world’s biggest bands to do, C.K. did the same thing with Live at the Beacon Theater, relying on his own website for distribution and making the video free of DRM, which in turn made it very easy for the less scrupulous to distribute via BitTorrent.

The gamble paid off, and C.K. made over $200,000 in profit that he didn’t have to share with Comedy Central or HBO or Netflix. He trusted that his fans would pay for his comedy if he made it easy for them to do, and he was right. It helps, of course, that it is an extremely funny hour of comedy that is well worth the $5 he charged for it. Netflix users no longer have to pay that $5, though, as it is now available via streaming on that site as well.

Where to find it: Netflix or Louisck.net.


We Got This Covered is supported by our audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission. Learn more about our Affiliate Policy
Author
Image of Jeremy Clymer
Jeremy Clymer
Jeremy Clymer is a freelance writer and stand-up comic who lives, works, and keeps it real in the Midwestern state of Michigan, USA. No, not that part of Michigan. The other part.