Bonnaroo 2016's Best Comedy Moments

The state of comedy is as good as its ever been, with sitcoms, sketch shows, late-night talk programs and standup specials entertaining America night after night after night. But for whatever reason, the Comedy Theatre at Bonnaroo had seats to spare for several shows this year, as if it wasn’t a giant room with real chairs and free air conditioning. What the hell?

Since y’all slept, I’ve compiled some of 2016’s comedy highlights. Surprise guests! Great laffs! And even the middling stuff was better than sitting in the dirt and staring at a stranger’s ass in 100 degree weather, but who am I to judge?

Eddie Vedder’s Surprise Appearance and Pete Davidson's Dead Dad

Got your attention now, huh? Vedder performed a song with Judd Apatow to honor their late friend Garry Shandling, to the surprise of nearly everyone in the Theatre. (I spotted Vedder side stage, but then talked myself into thinking he was Norm MacDonald. They have the same cheeks.) It was heartfelt and funny, with Apatow reading one-liners from Shandling’s notebooks. How do you follow that? Well, Pete Davidson had no choice but to start with a joke about his dad who died in 9/11. It was perfect dark comedy, and y’all missed it.

Vanessa Bayer

I caught Bayer a couple of times, and both of her sets went over gangbusters. She gave the people what they wanted with her Miley Cyrus impression, but she excels at pushing a weird concept as far as it can go, like what an episode of Friends would be like if she, Vanessa Bayer, had literally been in an episode. I will listen to anyone tell a four-minute-long joke about old sitcoms, forever.

Nate Bargatze & Aparna Nancherla

Not marquee names quite yet, Bargatze and Nancherla were both consistently hilarious to crowds both big and small, receptive and not. It's really hard to work a room that's half-asleep with bass bleeding over from a nearby tent, but both powered through and fucking delivered. 

Ian Abramson

Abramson's high-concept bit about time travel, wherein he ran off stage, ran back, and did an increasingly bizarre variation on the same few jokes several times didn't seem like it would work for a crowd usually more stoked to see people from TV, but it did. He also had an inflated balloon hidden in his pants for most of his set. It's called commitment, people. 

Honorable Mention: The Dad by the Porta-Potties

This guy's wife borrowed their tween's phone to use as a flashlight inside the portable toilet. The kid was freaking out, and the dad told her "At least if mom drops it, it won't go under water!" Oh, dads!