Netflix goes global in search for laughs
Nicole Byer isn’t joking around this New Year’s Eve.
“My best friend and I are going to Vegas, and we’re seeing Celine Dion and Lady Gaga,” says the comedian and host of Netflix’s amateur bake-off “Nailed It!”
“I’m not sure what we’re doing after, but what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, baby! We’re probably gonna get wild.”
If, like her, you’ll be nursing a hangover come Jan. 1, Netflix has just the cure: “Comedians of the World,” a new event series featuring stand-up specials from Byer and 46 other comics.
The collection of specials spotlights up-and-coming talent from six continents and 13 regions, including Europe, Australia and the Middle East.
Performed in eight languages, sets were primarily taped at Montreal’s Just for Laughs comedy festival last summer, and a handful of subtitled specials were filmed in Mexico, Brazil, India and the Netherlands.
American comedians Chris D’Elia, Neal Brennan and Nick Swardson join Byer on the roster.
“World” is part of Netflix’s efforts to cater programming to international subscribers and stand-up comedy fans, having pulled in big names such as Ellen DeGeneres, Adam Sandler and Chris Rock for original specials this year.
“Stand-up comedy is really exploding around the world, in terms of American comedians touring (internationally),” says Robbie Praw, Netflix’s director of original stand-up comedy. “Amazing new voices are emerging alongside them, in places that the genre barely existed in 15 to 20 years ago. So we were looking for a way to celebrate this watershed moment with a huge event and really provide these voices with a shared global experience.”
Byer’s special showcases her loud, unfiltered persona, mining humor from topics covered in her weekly podcast “Why Don’t You Date Me?” including sex, body positivity and her weight.
Although she’s playing to a larger global audience on Netflix, “I didn’t want to tailor (my material) to anyone but me,” Byer says. “People who are already fans of me will like it, and I just wanted my act to be as true to me as possible.
If you watch that, that’s what you’re going to get from everything else I do.”