By Chad Lehrman • November 20, 2017

Are you someone who can’t get enough standup coverage? Do you want to know as much as possible about comedians, hear how they got started, and listen to the stories behind their jokes? Then this list is for you– the comedy nerd.

If you are a more casual fan than a comedy nerd, perhaps this list will inspire you to dig a bit deeper into the world of standup and discover new comics you like.

Websites & Comedy Critics

Sean McCarthy/ The Comics Comic

You can’t call yourself a comedy nerd if you don’t read The Comics Comic, former newspaper reporter Sean McCarthy’s comedy blog launched in 2007. He added a podcast in 2015. He’s interviewed Judd Apatow, Tiffany Haddish, Ali Wong, and many more.

Splitsider

Splitsider is “a website about comedy and the people who create it.” It’s currently edited by Megh Wright. Splitsider has tons of tv and movie coverage. I particularly enjoy their articles about standups’ late night sets, such as 2016’s Best Late Night Standup Sets.

Vulture/ Jesse David Fox

On his podcast Good One, Vulture’s Senior Editor, Jesse David Fox, sits down with a new comic each week to break down a specific bit together. Past guests include Jerry Seinfeld, Jen Kirkman, and Kristen Schaal. He also writes in-depth articles on standup like his recent post about Ron Funches and his list of the Best Stand-up Specials of 2017 (So Far).

The A.V. Club

The A.V. Club is published by The Onion. Their comedy coverage includes reviews of standup specials and comedy albums. They recently interviewed Hari Kondabolu about his new documentary, The Problem With Apu.

Paste Magazine

Paste Magazine covers “the funniest stand-up comics, sitcoms, Twitter users and anything else that will make you laugh.” The site’s main focus is music, but they’ve really stepped up their comedy content in recent years. They spoke recently to Bob Saget about his new special and also tackled the minor uproar over Larry David’s Holocaust joke in his SNL monologue.

The Laugh Button

The Laugh Button was founded in 2006 to highlight standup comedy. They also present live shows and host their own podcast. Recently they talked to Gilbert Gottfried about his new documentary.

Comedy Central

Comedy Central’s standup page includes popular clips of comedians and other original content from their network. Kevin Hart’s Hart of the City series is heavily featured right now, as well as Jeff Ross’s new special, “Jeff Ross Roasts the Border.”

All Things Comedy

All Things Comedy was founded by Bill Burr and Al Madrigal in 2012. It’s a “by-artists, for artists” network that partners with comedians to produce records, podcasts, and other original content. Their podcast network includes shows by Harland Williams, Bert Kreischer, and Tom Papa.

Jason Zinoman/ NY Times

Jason is comedy columnist for the New York Times. Recent articles worth checking out include a feature on Conan O’Brien and another focusing on “Moms at the mike.” His book Letterman: The Last Giant of Late Night came out earlier this year. You can follow him on Twitter at @zinoman.

Kliph Nesterhoff

Kliph has been called “The King of Comedy Lore.” He wrote the highly-acclaimed book The Comedians: Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels, and the History of American Comedy. He also hosts the Viceland tv series Funny How, exploring the highs and lows in the life of a comedian. Follow him on Twitter at @ClassicShowbiz.

Oldies but goodies

These sites rarely put out new stuff anymore, but have so much content archived that they are worth checking out:

Dead Frog

Todd Jackson’s Dead-Frog.com is infrequently updated, but he posts regularly on Twitter and keeps the live shows section of the site up to date.

Laughspin

Laughspin.com (formerly Punchline Magazine) includes news, reviews, videos and more. Like Dead-Frog, Dylan Gadino’s site is full of great content but only occasionally updated these days.

Shecky Magazine

Brian McKim and Traci Skene launched Shecky Magazine in 1999. The site is no longer updated, but there’s a ton of interviews, festival recaps, and standup-related news in the archives.

A Special Thing

This list wouldn’t feel complete without mention of aspecialthing.com, the influential comedy message forum started by Matt Belknap in 2001. AST’s posters included the likes of Aziz Ansari, Patton Oswalt, and Doug Benson. The site included lengthy Q&As with well-known comics, live show recaps and more. Check out An oral history of A Special Thing, the world’s most important comedy message board. The site’s no longer online, but can still be accessed through the Internet Archive.

A Comic’s Perspective (comics who write about comedy)

Matt Ruby

Matt runs a popular standup show in New York, but he’s also been writing insightful commentary on his comedy blog for many years. He recently shared his thoughts on Louis CK, Chris Rock, harassment, and comedy. Be sure to add/follow him on Facebook too so you don’t miss out on a lot of the good stuff.

JL Cauvin

JL doesn’t just have one of the best Donald Trump impressions around. He’s a super smart dude who writes often about the standup industry. He has a blog, but like with Matt Ruby, you really need to add him to keep up. Here’s an article he wrote listing 10 Observations from 10 Years In Comedy.

Reddit

Reddit’s website is divided into “subreddits” that focus on a particular topic. Here are the three subreddits worth following about standup:

Standupshots– pictures of comedians telling jokes (with the joke written on the picture.)

StandUpComedy– videos, news, and discussion.

Standup– This one is more for comedians than fans, but still worth a look.

Podcasts

WTF w/ Marc Maron

Joe Rogan podcast

Nerdist w/ Chris Hardwick

Almost every time Maron, Rogan, or Hardwick interview a comedian, they spend time discussing the nitty gritty details of stand-up comedy and how the comic got started. There’s an endless number of podcasts featuring comedians nowadays, but just about every major comedian has been featured on these three.

Record Labels

Comedy Central Records

AST Records

Stand Up! Records

All Things Comedy

Go See Live Comedy

One final note: You can’t call yourself a comedy nerd if you never actually leave the house and attend a real live comedy show. I know there are a lot of you out there who watch YouTube clips and Netflix specials but have rarely, if ever, seen a live show. Get out and see some live comedy in your town.

Who would you add to this list? Leave a comment below!