@thecomicscomic Published June 5, 2026, 2:30 p.m. ET
Add Decider on Google More On: Stand-Up Comedy Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Jeff Foxworthy: The Joke’s On Me’ On FOX Nation, Where The Blue Collar Comedian Ages Gracefully Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Josh Johnson: Symphony’ On HBO Max, The Comedian Who’s Making A Lot Of Noise (Complimentary) Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Wanda Sykes: Legacy’ On Netflix, The Comedian’s Hampton Homecoming Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Lisa Ann Walter: It Was An Accident’ On Hulu, Where The ‘Abbott Elementary’ Actress Earns Her Comedy Flowers For her second solo comedy special, Hannah Berner has jumped from Netflix to Hulu, and performing for her fans in Toronto, explores her place as a reality TV star in stand-up comedy, asking men to think about the female perspective on things and wondering if she should have kids while she stiil can.
The Gist: Best known for Summer House, which led to her hit podcast with cast mate Paige DeSorbo, Hannah Berner’s “Giggly Squad” won Podcast of the Year at the iHeartRadio Awards.
Since releasing a Netflix special, We Ride At Dawn, two years ago, Berner has more recently cameo’d as herself on the big screen in The Devil Wears Prada 2 and served as a presenter at the American Music Awards. With DeSorbo, she’s also written a New York Times best-seller, How to Giggle: A Guide to Taking Life Less Seriously.
What Comedy Special Will It Remind You Of? Considering Berner (with DeSorbo) also has a Netflix deal to develop a sitcom based on themselves that’s backed by Amy Poehler, it might make you think of them as the younger sisters of Broad City just a little bit. In which case, Berner might be the Ilana Glazer in the duo?
Memorable Jokes: “Do you remember grinding?”
Berner will act out that dancing-cum-dry-humping ritual among teens and 20-somethings in the clubs during the 1990s and 2000s, reminiscing about how weird it felt as a young woman, then flipping around to imagine what must’ve been going on in the minds of the young men, “just poking everyone.”
Recalling her time as an aspiring professional tennis player, at the University of Wisconsin and dating a 6-foot-8 football player to make her feel tiny, leads her to wonder just how gay football might be, from the names of the positions to the positions they’re in to start every play. Complete with more act outs.
There’s quite a bit of joking about actual sex, too, from both perspectives.
And with respect to her older husband (who’s also a stand-up comedian), Berner finds herself happy that there’s no debate about where to spend the holidays, but wondering if she should have kids now in her mid-30s or freeze her eggs, which DeSorbo suggested. “You forgot one small detail,” Berner jokes. “I’d also have to freeze my husband!”
Our Take: For quite a bit of the hour, Berner imagines herself in other professions. Could she have been a yoga instructor? As a pilot, she definitely thinks she would’ve spoken much differently with her passengers over the intercom, if not always for the better.
An opening bit suggesting women make better FBI agents/directors eventually leads her to consider a link between comedy and murder. But not the comparison involving comedians “killing” or “bombing” onstage. Rather, Berner suggests: “Stand-up comedians are kind of like serial killers (‘everyone’s upset’) in that you don’t have to be that good-looking to be considered ridiculously good-looking in your art.” Citing Ted Bundy as a prime example of a not-hot killer considered relatively hot, she turns back to herself. “Like I’m a reality TV 6. I’m a stand-up comedian 27, okay,” she jokes.“I’m the Gisele of comedy if she couldn’t do jiu-jitsu and she ate. I’m the most beautiful woman in comedy besides Matt Rife. Except my lips are real.”
This might be the most cutting and revealing moment, which she could’ve taken further in exploring what role attractiveness plays in comedy. Even if that topic might not play well, comedically.
But this isn’t that kind of hour. Here you’ll hear about how sex compares to “pooping” or finding a “booger,” and I’m putting quotes to reflect her specific word choices. Because this isn’t a sophisticated hour. It’s much more an hour for the girlies, the girlies who haven’t watched or listened to much stand-up comedy but do listen to every single episode of Giggly Squad. You’re not going to learn anything new about the world, but you may feel like you know Berner better. And by filling out her hour with multiple instances of crowd work, she makes her audience feels even more connected to her. Which is why they’re showing up in droves anyhow.
Our Call: This hour is definitely for the Giggly Squad fans. If that’s you, then STREAM IT. If not, keep scrolling.
Sean L. McCarthy works the comedy beat. He also podcasts half-hour episodes with comedians revealing origin stories: The Comic’s Comic Presents Last Things First.
