4 Comedy Specials for November, From Janelle James's Netflix Hour to Pauly Shore's PS5
November's new stand-up arrives on Netflix, Hulu, audio apps and a video game console.
By the Heckle Desk · · 2 min read
November is the month Americans stay indoors to avoid relatives, and the comedy business has noticed. Four new releases are on the way, and they cover about every way there is left to watch a person talk into a microphone, including one that requires you to own a PlayStation and explain to your teenager why you need it back.
The range is the point. One of these comes from a network sitcom star, one from a former SNL cast member, one from a comic you may not know yet, and one from a man who has been famous since before most of his PlayStation audience was born. Fame, like milk, has a date on it, but you can usually get a few more days than the carton says.
- 01
Pauly Shore: Road Comic: Live From Portland (PS5, Nov. 1)
A half hour taped at Helium in Portland, running free through PlayStation's Live TV feature for two and a half weeks before it reaches Shore's YouTube channel on Nov. 17. He covers growing up around the Comedy Store, old co-stars, health scares and his feud with Will Ferrell, a feud I suspect one of the two men is aware of. It's one of the first specials to go this route, so somebody had to be the canary, and the Weasel volunteered.
- 02
Janelle James: How Romantic (Netflix, Nov. 10)
The Abbott Elementary star's first full hour and her Netflix stand-up debut, directed by Marcus Russell Price. Netflix's description promises body counts, bank accounts and why women should wrestle men. That last one is the kind of policy proposal I'd have voted for on Tuesday if anyone had the nerve to put it on the ballot.
- 03
Punkie Johnson: Long Tiddie Short Story (audio, Nov. 13)
The former SNL cast member's debut special premiered Oct. 21 on Hartbeat's LOL Stand-Up YouTube channel, and the album version reaches audio services Nov. 13. It's the rare title that loses nothing when you can't see it, and gains something when you have to say it out loud to a car's voice assistant.
- 04
Comedian CP: LOL Live (Hulu, November)
Hartbeat's LOL Live showcase gives emerging comics half-hour specials on Hulu once a month through May 2027, and November's slot goes to Comedian CP. The schedule names the month and not the day, so you'll have to keep checking, which is how Hulu likes to keep a relationship fresh. A half hour is a fine length for finding out whether you like someone, and it's a good deal shorter than a marriage.