The 5 Best Stand-Up Comedy Specials of 2025 (So Far)

You might expect in a year when everything has gone to shit that comedians—being the social critics in clowns’ clothing that they are—would have plenty to say about it. The mileage Bill Burr could get out of Trump and Musk’s messy divorce would surely sustain a 60-minute special on its own. Yet, early in his latest release, Drop Dead Years, Burr reveals something deeply relatable: he doesn't watch the news anymore. He doesn’t “pay attention to shit.” His commentary on Gaza is hardly political. “How the fuck is war still legal in 2024?” he asks, exasperated as always. Life is hard. The news is insane. Trump sucks. Burr is over it. “As a comedian, I can’t call a fat fuck a fat fuck anymore,” he quips at the start of his set. So what's a comic supposed to do when the world becomes too absurd to even laugh at?