Comedy is thriving online. On this page I link to videos and people I'm interested in, and try to talk a bit about what they do that's special.
Shows
Unclassifiable
Tim & Eric
A duo who is into absurdism. They also are amazing editors taking a lot of inspiration from late night local TV advertisements. They also do a lot of super gross stuff which I'm not into. Tim is a really good actor and produces copying the style of 70s singers as a tribute. His special ability is extreme control of his speech patterns and facial expressions.
This is my favorite - somewhat wholesome and accepting of the stupidity of underdeveloped teenage boy talk. So many great lines, and I love the way the instrumentation interacts with the emotions, with the deep bass drum / triangle fitting in perfectly.
Universes
Path to the Presidency - gradual escalation of absurd conflict and passive aggressiveness, combined with fake extreme media and PR-speak hiding conflict. Also has the classic Tim funny mispronunciations of words.
Limmy
Scottish guy who did 3 seasons of a BBC sketch show. He's quite "dark triad" but also really insightful. Of everyone on this page I think his ability to control his facial expression and do accents is the best. His sketches typical take a certain mood or emotion and maximize it. Since the show, he's gone on to have a pretty big following on twitch. Before the show he recorded some albums of storytelling with intricately connected Scottish stereotype characters. He's quite dark and nobody would say he's nice or friendly, really.
Which Toilet? An investigation into intellectual overthinking. The way he does the voiceover, combined with his gestures is just so amazing. My favorite part is how he pauses in the middle of the word "fe-male".
Tea Sketch. This is somewhat comedy, but more about extreme emotional manipulation, with his usual good acting. Also has a big component of magical-childlike thinking / megalomania and imagination of kids. In this sketch he continuously escalates the emotional importance of his random actions.
Secret Agent sketch.
He can also get pretty transcendent.
Mitchell & Webb
2000s UK sketch comedy show. This pair went on to create Peep Show, and the show came after a successful radio sketch comedy series.
Pretty classic mockery of homeopathy. In the vein of Mr Show.
"Are we the baddies".
Key & Peele
Birthday Boys - caveman sketch.
Not the 9 O'clock News - 80k UK sketch comedy.
SCTV - canadian sketch comedy
The Mitchel & Webb Look (tv & radio) - UK sketch comedy, really creative and funny, by the same guys who did peep show.
The Fast Show - 90s UK sketch comedy.
Kids in the Hall - 90s canadian sketch comedy
The State - 90s american sketch comedy. Pretty good.
Mr Show - the classic.
The Peter Serafinowicz Show - sketch comedy from Peter Serafinowicz.
punditry
Robert Mitchell's Discussions
Absurdism
Look around You - absurd, great ensemble cast of 2000s UK comedians. The first series is a parody of educational films, and the second is of science presentation shows.
Tom Goes to the Mayor - I liked this one a lot too. Has some good guests.
Delocated - An absurd reality tv show. So many great catchphrases - "the bone zone", "the wiggler", the "ska"- themed bar mitzvah, etc. It's a reality show about a guy in the witness protection program who has Eugene Mirman of the russian mob trying to kill him. The best part is the way Jon talks. And Dog Mayor! (He runs for NYC Dog Mayor, because dogs are underrepresented in politics).
Children's Hospital - 2010s US hospital comedy with a mean Rob Corddry
Snuff Box - weird, dark comedy sketches
Dr. Katz - 2 parts. 1. the relationsip between katz, his son, and his receptionist. The son is played by H. Jon Benjamin, one of the greatist voice artists ever. I just don't know how he does it. The receptionist is played by Sarah Silverman's sister, who has an amazing voice, too. 2. Various standups coming in to be psychoanalyzed. Mostly they just do their act, sometimes it's funny. But the first part is amazing.
Satire
On the Hour (tv & radio) - 90s satire of news programs
Brass Eye - Chris morris satire, 90s UK
Drama/Comedy
The Alan Partridge Show - perfectly capturing a weak pretentious soul.
Spaced - incredibly creative, hilarious, amazing direction. A brilliant person's take on the reality of modern young life, video games, ambition, friendship, etc. Edgar Wright, the director, went on to make many more movies featuring his amazing editing ability. Side note, he's incredibly witty when he appears in podcasts in the best British tradition.
Curb Your Enthusiasm - interweaving plots, and a wonderful balance between points of view. First few seasons are the best but still worth it for recent series.
Lead Balloon - Pretty funny, and a great eastern European maid character. This show is about hypocrisy.
Saxondale - later steve coogan, another great character. every scene with the bitchy secretary is brilliant.
Flight of the Concords - it's good! And Todd Barry is good too!
Peep Show - This is funny but compared to Curb, everything just goes SO absolutely wrong every single time, and the main characters have no redeeming qualities at all. It's really annoying. It's reasonable up to season 4, but after that it just goes insane.
The Rise and Fall of Reginald Perrin - poignant 60s/70s UK dramedy about an advertising man losing his mind
The Office UK - cringe.
Eastbound and Down - Reveling in cringe/low status.
Individuals
Chris Morris - UK Satirist. Doing movies now too, like "four lions". He's great.
Ricky Gervais. A great, great talker & laugh.
Kevin Smith - another amazing storyteller. His movies suck but he's a great storyteller.
Steve Coogan
Mitch Hedburg - dead US Comedian.
Greg Benson - doug loves movie podcast
Larry David - how long will curb run? Season 8 was hilarious.