Stand-up comedy has changed quite a bit over the last fifteen years, thanks entirely to the internet, but one thing that remains the same is the HBO one hour special. That’s the golden benchmark for “you made it” for a lot of comedians, which Amy Schumer alludes to in the trailer for her upcoming one hour HBO special. Capping off her year of success, from her hit TV show to Trainwreck to friend-collecting Jennifer Lawrence, Schumer’s first one hour special will air on October 17th on HBO. If you’re not familiar with Schumer’s stand-up, it’s similar to the sketches on Inside Amy Schumer, with a lot of material coming from gender, sex, and dating.
I’m interested to see how Schumer’s tone has changed since she’s been dragged through the public outrage machine due to previous stand-up sets. She had a stage persona of a ditzy bimbo who said inappropriate and/or scandalous things, but she says she’s dropped that because it wasn’t translating as well outside the club. And maybe having a sketch show gives her an outlet for that character, anyway. Although some of the best stuff on Inside Amy Schumer is when she’s interviewing people on the street as herself, and riffing on the responses she gets. It’ll be interesting to see what’s taken the place of that persona—hopefully just plain Amy Schumer.
Attached - Amy promoting Trainwreck in Berlin today.
