Variety’s 2021 Comedy Impact Report

Andre gets on the phone and suddenly exclaims that a bird just flew into his window, stunning itself. It probably happened, but with Andre, you should always look for a hidden camera. His cult-ish “Eric Andre Show” is a fever dream of talk-show parody, in which mayhem is an operating principle; the fake commercials are filled with hidden-camera pranks. Those pranks and his “organized chaos” are the heart of his movie “Bad Trip,” which earned good reviews because he grudgingly agreed to add a dose of normalcy. “Producer Jeff Tremaine begged me to write an actual story,” Andre says. “I was resistant but the story did provide a structure. Real people’s reactions still brought the chaos.”

The past year was a lean one for feature film comedies, but Baron Cohen’s return voyage with his most famous character saw the sort of success that few comedies can expect to earn in any year. “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” not only received rave reviews and an Oscar screenplay nomination, but he also played a not-insignificant role in the discourse around last fall’s presidential election. “The first movie was often about showing this dark underbelly of American society,” Baron Cohen says of “Borat’s” legacy. “With [the second], we wanted to show that maybe, just maybe we could come together. The real people in the first ‘Borat’ often appalled us. The real people in this one often inspired us.”

Balancing two different projects for the past three years, Bryant must have felt a sense of vindication last month, when she was rewarded with Emmy nominations for both her performance as a cast member of “SNL” and her work on the third and final season of “Shrill,” in which she starred, wrote and produced. And while doing so during the pandemic was challenging, it presented her with plenty of inspiration as well. “I think it made me more comfortable with writing alone and feeling less judgmental of my material,” she says. “Ideas that maybe I would have categorized as ‘too silly’ started feeling like the only thing I found funny.”

FXX’s “Dave” unexpectedly tapped into some important ideas about art, identity and celebrity percolating beneath a larger conversation about race while also being outrageously funny. “I went from 0 to 100 as far as my TV show being non-existent, to then it being out in the world and thriving,” says star Burd, aka rapper Lil Dicky. “What a weird time for it to occur.” If its success caught Burd off guard, showrunner Schaffer — who also made time during the pandemic to shoot “Curb Your Enthusiasm” Season 11 — remains acutely aware of the enduring appeal, and uncomfortable relatability, of comedy. “Comedy is recession- proof,” Schaffer says. “The world changes pretty fast, but people never stop being problematic, selfish and stupid.”

Charlamagne tha God doesn’t consider himself a comedian; “I just use humor to make the messaging more digestible,” he says. Just before being inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame last year, the longtime host of “The Breakfast Club” founded the Black Effect Podcast network, providing a platform for others to communicate their messages. “When you can deliver a great lesson gift-wrapped in humor people remember what you gave them because they remember how you made them feel. I’ve seen the darkest things get turned into a punchline with a lesson attached. It’s a strange response to trauma, but laughter was and still remains the best medicine.”

“Flight Attendant’s” darker humor was a departure from the broad laughs of “The Big Bang Theory,” which made her a star, but this role came naturally. “It was in my soul, just like when I was 5 and knew I was going to be an actor. It was never even a decision.”

Last year, Indian comedian Das’ Zoom special featured his crowd work as he chatted with fans all over the globe. This year, he’s shifted gears with “Ten on Ten,” recorded before a small crowd hidden in a forest. “It’s 10 hard conversations, about topics that are hard to laugh at and hard to do within system I exist in,” he says. Das could be persecuted for joking about religion, freedom of speech and tribalism, but he won’t stop. “If I’m carrying my own speakers and microphone up a hill in a forest during a pandemic it better not be for jokes about airplane food,” he says. “I’m not thinking about the government response. Being in the jungle has set me free.”

“Ziwe”

Fumudoh’s Showtime talk show, “Ziwe,” followed her controversy-stirring YouTube and Instagram interview series about race. She drew on experience ranging from college internships at Comedy Central and the Onion to her writing stint at “Desus and Mero.” Still, she says, “There was so much I didn’t know that I didn’t know. I learned so many valuable lessons from collaborating with my team.” She loved making a visual splash. “On Instagram I had no production values — I shot it from my bedroom,” Fumudoh says. “Now I had this great pink set and it was so exciting — it was like ‘Oprah’ and ‘Regis and Kathie Lee’ in Barbie world. It helped make the show a mix of high and low, lighthearted and super intense.”

In a year when the entertainment industry ground to a halt, Haddish seemed busier than ever, working on six television series, two specials, three movies (most notably “Bad Trip”) and two music videos, including one as the lead artist. “It wasn’t that difficult for me because I was doing comedy for my plants. I call it plant-based comedy,” she says. But even with accolades pouring in at an equal pace (including winning a Grammy for her Netflix special “Black Mitzvah”), Haddish says her prodigious output isn’t essential to maintaining her career but simply part of who she is. “That’s what my comedy is all about, expression of self, and comedy is a necessity for me.”

While Kauffman has had tremendous success over the past decade with her Jane Fonda-Lily Tomlin series “Grace and Frankie,” the veteran TV producer and creator’s most indelible legacy has always been “Friends,” the NBC megahit she co-created with David Crane. So these past few months have been a full-circle moment for Kauffman, as her work on “Friends” re-entered the zeitgeist  thanks to the internet-breaking reunion special, just as “Grace and Frankie” finally started up pandemic-delayed production on its seventh and final season. “I wasn’t surprised by the attention,” she says of the renewed spotlight on “Friends,” “I was surprised by the love.”

The third and final season of “The Kominsky Method,” the Netflix series starring Emmy-nommed Michael Douglas as a has-been actor-turned-drama-teacher, may well be creator Lorre’s most perfectly executed comedy to date — and that’s saying something, as the prolific creator had six different series on television over the past year. Subversive,  arch and full of great performances, “Kominsky” will go down as one of Lorre’s crowning achievements. What will he miss most? “The unsung heroes of our final season have to be the nice ladies who walked around with 6-foot sticks to remind us about proper social distancing,” he says. Up next: “‘B Positive’ on CBS was about a guy who needed a kidney transplant. In the season finale he got one. Which means we very cleverly created a series that now needs an entirely new premise. So that’s kind of pressing.”

In Season 2 Chad will mature in “incremental ways” but don’t expect a growth spurt. “He’s a confirmed late bloomer, but it’s fitting because I’m acting opposite these actual kids who really are growing.”

Long before naming her first book “Yes, Please” back in 2014, Poehler had cultivated a reputation for positivity and collaboration, two qualities that became more essential than ever as the industry slowly adjusted to new and challenging protocols. “It was difficult,” Poehler admits. “But by following strict guidelines and using our problem solving skills, many people kept their jobs.” But after returning to the Golden Globes to remotely co-host the ceremony with longtime friend and colleague Tina Fey, as well as directing and producing the film “Moxie” and starring in TV series “Making It,” she recognizes the therapeutic benefits of humor more vividly than ever. “In such a brutal, strange and novel year, sometimes the only thing you can do is laugh.”

While most of us were quarantining during the past year, Redd was rarely home, shooting two shows on opposite sides of the country (“Saturday Night Live” on the East Coast, NBC’s “Kenan” on the West Coast). The comic actor has a third on the way (“Bust Down” at Peacock). “Before this year, ‘stop and process’ was never really that important,” says Redd. “But we don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow, so we have to take advantage of life like we know that. Seems heavy but it’s made the work better.”

As a creator, writer, director and executive producer on “The Office,” “Parks and Recreation,” “The Good Place,” the soon-departing “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” and now “Rutherford Falls,” positivity has always been a cornerstone of Schur’s storytelling. Especially off the page, that ethos became more important than ever in 2020 as the industry shut down. It required Schur to summon the motivation to keep going when he knew work would be the most difficult to accomplish — because that’s when the act of persevering would mean the most. “Creatively it was significantly harder, given the inability to work collectively, which is 90% of the battle in comedy,” Schur says. “But I did find it genuinely therapeutic to just make something, anything, with a group of people. We were lucky to have something to occupy our brains and give us a common goal.”

“Rutherford Falls” is the first series with a Native American showrunner (and a writers’ room that’s half Native American). It earned critical acclaim and a renewal from Peacock. But Teller Ornelas is most proud of the Native community’s positive reaction. “Without exaggeration, that matters more than good reviews,” she says. “When Native people tell me I’m ‘channeling Terry [Michael Greyeyes]’ before a meeting, I’m so grateful.”

Although Syfy’s “Resident Alien” premiered to solid ratings (and great reviews) only in January, its irreverent fish-out-of-water story had already enchanted star Tudyk simply by giving him a chance to be creative — and collaborate with other people. “We restarted shooting after the first six months of the pandemic and I had legitimate trouble hiding my joy in scenes,” he says. The actor will once again have to hide his joy, and expose his “O” face, with a second season on the way. “Anything is possible, even a world crippling plague. Follow your dreams and maybe, just maybe, one day you too can end up prematurely ejaculating in an alien sex scene.”

In her role at HBO, Amy Gravitt has overseen some of the premium cabler’s flagship shows, including “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Insecure,” “Barry,” “How to With John Wilson,” “I May Destroy You” and many more. This year demonstrated to her the irreplaceable value in comedy of face-to-face interactions. “We were fortunate to be able to gather safely for the series finale table read of ‘Insecure,’” says Gravitt. “Not only was it meaningful but being in the room together allowed us to feel the script in a way we hadn’t been able to virtually.”

The challenges of the pandemic forced Greenstein’s comedy clients to find new ways to reach their fans. The Gersh senior partner/senior executive vice president, whose star clients include Dave Chappelle, notes some nuts-and-bolts changes, such as incorporating COVID-specific protocols into deals. Technology has also played a larger role than ever. “In lieu of live appearances, many of our clients began to significantly increase their focus on digital platforms,” says Greenstein. “We have a laser focus on performers/influencers/etc. with a significant digital footprint and have further expanded our focus far beyond live appearances.”

Burgos and Pollack, who is also head of comedy touring at the agency, rolled with the punches during this past, pandemic-altered year. APA notched deals and set up tours for the likes of Ronny Chieng, Eddie Izzard, Rhys Nicholson, “Kids in the Hall,” Chris Gethard and podcast “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me.” The agency also stepped outside its comfort zone in teaming with Tamika Mallory for a virtual social justice tour, “State of Emergency,” which involved such notables as Tiffany Haddish, Andra Day, Damon Lindelof and Taraji P. Henson.

The seismic shifts of the past year altered how everyone works, but it gave Sacks a fresh perspective on what’s important and what he aims to accomplish both on behalf of his clients, who include Tiffany Haddish, Kumail Nanjiani, Bo Burnham, Awkwafina, and for himself, personally. “I think comedy is, in many ways, counter-programming to what’s going on in the world,” Sacks says. “And it also can be a great equalizer and bring you back to reset your thoughts.”

WME Comedy Touring Agent

Russell reps big-name comic talents ranging from “SNL’s” Kate McKinnon to Marlon Wayans, Dax Shepard, Nicole Byer and Deon Cole. He was instrumental
in developing the “Schitt’s Creek” live farewell tour, which sold out major theaters before it saw many dates postponed due to the pandemic. Having had this success in the past helping TV and audio formats translate into live
touring draws, Russell adapted to the demands of lockdown with ventures such as the live-streams of podcast “Your Mom’s House,” which topped 100,000 paid tickets during the pandemic.