The 10 Funniest Comedy Podcasts (You Might Not Be Listening To Yet)

Last updated on January 7th, 2023

Comedy podcasts are great, but there are just so many of them. Everyone thinks that they and their friends are so funny that clearly everyone would want to hear them just chat. And hey, you know, some of those people are right. There are just a lot of people who maybe are not as right, but good on them for trying. 

Every podcast can be funny in there own way, with inside jokes and just upbeat conversation. Any enjoyable conversation or story includes some light notes of humor. However, these are shows that go out of their way to define themselves as comedy podcasts.

From comedians giving their takes on the news to scripted hijinks to improv comedy to just two pals talking about stuff, there are plenty of different comedy podcasts out there for you to try out. Here are just a selection of a few ones that I recommend!

As a note, this list has several audio dramas (or fiction podcasts). Make sure you start these all from the beginning! Each podcast that isn’t an audio drama has a recommended first episode or two linked in its blurb.

Note: This is a rotating list, which will be refreshed every few months with a slate of brand new comedy podcasts. Entries from previous lists are still kept down below–they’re still great listens for you to check out!

The 10 Best Comedy Podcasts

The Bugle

The Bugle is an international satire weekly news show covering current events both big and small. The show has been hosted by Andy Zaltzman for over a decade, and was originally co-hosted by little known comedian John Oliver before he got too busy being in The Smurfs or something. Ever since 2016, Zaltzman has brought on a number of rotating co-hosts from all around the world, such as Hari Kondabolu, Alice Fraser, Nish Kumar, Helen Zaltzman and more.

All of the hosts have a great energy together, regardless of the combination. From the elaborately clever “pun runs” to the scalding hot takes, The Bugle is one of the best ways to keep up with current events in spite of how bad they might be. 

Apple Podcasts | Pocket Casts | Stitcher | Website | RSS

Life With Leo(h)

Life With Leo(h) is a romantic comedy about a career-driven lawyer being gifted an illegally intelligent android who is programmed to love her.  The show is hilarious and about love the same way all these sort of rom coms are, but also explores issues of free will and consent when it comes to someone literally made to love you.

One of my favorite things about this show is how it goes out of its way not just to show how the main couple’s relationship develops, but also how the two develop fun relationships with the other supporting characters. For example, one of Jeanine’s coworkers serves as a point to a potential love triangle with LEO(h), but he and LEO(h) actually have a pretty fun dynamic.

Treat yourself to the first season of this rom-com-sit-com audio drama and keep an eye on your feed for when more comes out!

Apple Podcasts | Pocket Casts | Stitcher | Website | RSS | Transcripts

Read more: Life with LEO(h): Atypical’s New Fiction Podcast About Living With a Sexy Robot

Hey Riddle Riddle

Hey Riddle Riddle is one of those comedy podcasts with a premise everyone can get behind. It’s about riddles and puzzles hosted by people who, after three years of doing this show, still hate riddles. Fire.

Every week, Chicago improvisers Adal Rifai, Erin Keif and John Patrick Coan suffer through as many riddles and word puzzles they can do per episode without getting distracted.

As they tackle these riddles, at the drop of a hat they’ll call from improv scenes sometimes based on the riddle or whatever they’re talking about, or sometimes out of nowhere. The Clue Crew is great at keeping things fun and snappy even when a riddle feels like it’s dragging them along. Hey Riddle Riddle is one of the best improv comedy podcasts out there and also, I have to assume, one of the best riddle podcasts as well. 

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The Vanishing Act

The Vanishing Act is a genre-blending globe-trotting adventure following Augie Eckhart, a 1930’s German theater artist looking to recreate a stage act that caused the disappearance of an entire audience. As Augie puts off actually solving this mystery, his egotistic and prickly personality clashes with a colorful cast of characters, including a conman with a fluid backstory, an unfortunately-named mechanical engineer, a man so perfect he wraps back around to being the worst and a narrator who is just so done with Augie’s bullshit.

There’s also a duck.

A nice thing about this show is that it’s done, making it a nice enjoyable package of hilarity and hijinks. If you’re looking for a period piece bleak absurdist comedy mystery drama set during the rise of fascism in the 1930’s that touches on so many different genres that some of them could be considered spoilers, then this is the show for your very specific tastes. As comedy podcasts go, it may be an acquired taste, but it’s one worth sampling.

Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Website | RSS | Transcripts

Fake The Nation

Fake The Nation is the comedy news show for people who get worn down keeping up with current events. Every week, Negin Farsad brings on a rotating roster of comedians and public figures to talk about news, culture, and other big current events.

The show doesn’t shy away from the harshness of the modern world, but takes strides to keep things light with charming and breezy conversation. It’s the kind of show where you find yourself smiling while listening to it, and then later realize you learned something from it. 

Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Website | RSS

Dungeons And Daddies

Dungeons and Daddies is an actual play Dungeons and Dragons podcast following the adventures of four dads from our world flung into The Forgotten Realms on a quest to rescue their sons. The show features Matt Arnold as stay at home sports dad Darryl Wilson, Will Campos as crunchy opinionated hippy dad Henry Oak, Beth May as the platonic ideal of a weirdo step-dad Ron Stampler, and Freddie Wong as rock and roll cover band dad Glenn Close, with Anthony Burch as the dungeon master.

Come for the dad jokes and raunchy comedy, stay for the comedic ways the shows bends and breaks the mechanics of D&D and, eventually, actual play shows as a whole. That’s incredibly lofty praise for a show that has a long running gag about a dad being stinky. It makes for one of the best comedy podcasts, and maybe parenting podcasts as well… in its own way.

Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Website | RSS

I’m Sorry

The thing about public apologies is that, most of the time, they aren’t so much an apology as they are covering for their public relations. They are also often the least they can do. In I’m Sorry, comedians Hoja Lopez, Mohanad Elshieky, and Kiki Monique tackle the most recent public apology and the series of events that lead to it.

We’ve all seen random apologetic posts or videos in the wild, out of context. The I’m Sorry crew will take your hand and guide you down the rabbit hole that brought us to these apologies. If you enjoy deep dives into the latest drama dominating the headlines, check out their back catalog. All you need to know about any of these stories is that somebody somewhere is sorry. 

Apple Podcasts | Pocket Casts | Website | RSS  

Why Won’t You Date Me

Nicole Byer has, as of when I’m writing this article, at least three different comedy podcasts and for good reason. Byer is incredibly upbeat and peppy while also being refreshingly blunt and self aware without being mean. Why Won’t You Date Me explores Byer’s ongoing dating struggles, as well as any issues her guests have been running into when it comes to romance.

I started listening to the show after enjoying Byer’s most recent standup special Big Beautiful Weirdo, which is a good showing of her overall vibe. Byer and her guests get into the relatable weirdness of the modern dating world, while sometimes touching upon the additional weirdness of doing so while famous. Check out this show if you’re looking for comedy podcasts that feels like having drinks with your friends after they went on a weird date.

Apple Podcasts | Pocket Casts | Stitcher | Website | RSS 

The Read

Sometimes you just really need someone to cut into the wired and wild drama of pop culture, and that’s where The Read steps in. Every week on The Read, hosts Kid Fury and Crissle discuss the latest news following pop culture’s most trying personalities.

From Hollywood to hip hop to the occasional sports drama updates, the hosts bounce off of each other sorting out what’s happening and why it matters. I’m not really one for keeping up with celebrity drama, but The Read’s humorous approach to catty stories keeps things fun and engaging.

Add them to your collection of celebrity podcasts and comedy podcasts, or pick them out as a fun glance into a side of stardom you might not otherwise keep track of. 

Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Website 

Anime Sickos

Despite the title, Anime Sickos isn’t really about anime. Each episode, hosts Tom Harrison and Joe Anderson break down “the four pillars of modern misery: anime, gaming, posting and jobs.” The show is whatever The Sickos feel passionate about talking about each episode.

This can range from Joe interrogating Tom about why he watches Food Wars, the horrors of different work stories (including an episode where guest Tom McHenry talks about a coworker who only spoke in babytalk), reflecting on great moments in posting history or talk about their Crime Gameboys.

They even once did a fully produced audio drama play The Tragedy of Modesty City, an incredibly made parody of the classic fiction podcast Pleasuretown. When I started listening to the show, after hearing a few recent episodes, I jumped to the first episode of the podcast and listened to the entire back catalog, which I believe is a huge compliment to one of the many comedy podcasts that’s ultimately just two dudes chatting. If you’re looking for somewhere to start, check out this recommendation page.

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Bonus Comedy Podcasts

These comedy podcasts are from lists past. They’re still some of the greats of comedy podcasts, and we still recommend giving them a listen!

Scam Goddess

Everyone loves a good crime story, either because the criminal gets away with it in a cool, swift, smart way or they parade through a cavalcade of screw ups. In Scam Goddess, host and self-declared “scam goddess” Laci Mosley takes her guest and the listeners on a tour of some of history’s greatest hoodwinks and the charlatans who performed them. Mosley will have you rolling on the floor in laughter as she cheers on hucksters who really stick it to the man and laughs at the demise of folks who were just real monsters. Hop into the most recent episode, or find one with a guest you know or a story you’ve heard about!

Rude Tales of Magic

Polaris University has vanished without a trace. The only survivors will stop at nothing to find their school. And by “stop at nothing,” I mean, “get distracted by the wonderful and weird obstacles thrown in front of them.” Rude Tales of Magic is an actual play podcast starring a group of artists, writers and comedians using the game Dungeons and Dragons as a framework to spin a hilarious and magical yarn.

If actual play podcasts scare you due to the rules of D&D, you’ll still enjoy Rude Tales. The show is more improv and comedy focused than mechanics focused, pushing through the number crunching to get to the fun stuff. Fans of actual play shows such as The Adventure Zone or Dimension 20, or fans of fantasy improv shows like Hello From The Magic Tavern will get a kick out of this nasty time!

Read more: The 69 Nicest Actual Play Podcast Highlights of 2020

Bad Romance Podcast

It might be a bit weird to have comedy podcasts about comedy movies on this now meta list of comedy podcasts, but Bad Romance Podcast earns it’s spot. Every week, hosts Jourdain Searles and Bronwyn Ariel Isaac select a romantic movie, often a romcom, and talk through it. They joke about the weird jumps that these movies take in fictional romance compared to how real actual humans deal with romance.

There is a lot of genuine, well thought out film critique in this show, and you’ll find yourself laughing along with the hosts. If you like shows like How Did This Get Made or other comedy rewatch podcasts,  check this show out! Search their feed for some of your favorite (or least favorite) movies to get started!

Dead Eyes

Comedian and actor Connor Radcliff was cast in a minor role in the 2001 HBO series Band of Brothers, only to be fired by director Tom Hanks for having “dead eyes.” Years later, Radcliff embarks on a journey to find out why. Dead Eyes is mostly about Ratliff trying to solve the mystery of this experience through intense investigation (re: finding as many people as he can who are tangentially connected to this minor event and scratching their memories to see if they have anything).

It’s also a show about rejection and show business, and how the littlest interactions, even the ones you weren’t really hurt by, can have some lasting meaningful impact.  The show has a true crime documentary-like format investigating something that isn’t a crime but is a solvable mystery, a nice change in how comedy podcasts typically follow a conversational format.

If you liked shows like The McElroy Brothers Will Be In Trolls World Tour, jump right into the first episode!

Review Revue

“Reading things people wrote on the internet and making fun of them” is probably one of the most used premises for comedy podcasts out there. These podcasts live and die by the chemistry of the hosts, and that is where Review Revue shines. Each week, hosts Reilly Anspaugh and Geoffrey James choose a topic of interest and cherry pick a few reviews.

They riff on the review and launch into improv scenes based on them. Internet reviews are a great jumping off point for improv scenes, especially for the strange topics chosen for this show, because the reasons they write reviews are often wild.

If you want a good place to jump into the show, check out their two “Best of 2020” episodes, where they clip together some fan-favorite reviews and scenes from 2020. 

Urgent Care

The important difference between an actual advice show and an advice comedy podcast is that the advice comedy podcasts give isn’t always trying to help you, but rather riff about your question and may deal out some wisdom if they know how to help. On Urgent Care, hosts Joel Kim Booster and Mitra Jouhari take in listener submitted issues, often about dating but sometimes a sprinkling of other life issues, and do what they can to help out.

The chemistry between the hosts is chaotically electric with jokes that just pull you out of whatever funk you might be in. You should be able to jump into the most recent episode of this weekly podcast!

Let’s Make A Music

Ever want to have a fun time listening to people make good music? Well, now you can! Join Brian David Gilbert, known for Polygon’s Unraveled series and some steller Youtube content, Karen Han, a Slate writer who’s had work appear all over the place, and Laura Kathryn Gilbert, star of this video explaining her relationship to Brian, as they create songs based off of audience suggestions. 

They present the audience with a word, like “gravity” or “spiritual” and collect suggested song title ideas, exploring the vibe and feeling of the titles, to come together to make a song that feels like that word. The show hits a weird yet specifically relatable kind of comedy that other song creation podcasts might not have. You should be able to jump into any episode!

Read more: 10 Offbeat Podcasts for Music Lovers

The Amelia Project

Have circumstances lead you to a place where the most viable option for you would be to fake your own death and disappear, but you have no idea how to do it? Well, worry not! The Amelia Project will orchestrate your death and get you settled into a new life of your choosing!

The Amelia Project follows the titular secret organization as they meet unique and quirky clients who are all looking to fake their deaths. The show is grounded in it’s own logic, but is also able to get phenomenally off the rails. Even as the plot and world of the show expand to a globe-trotting adventure, the formula of “interview, faking death, payment” remains consistent.

This award winning comedy will keep you engrossed for hours, and just thinking about it will make you want to drive a knife into your closest friend for a nice cup of hot cocoa.

(Editor’s note: Please be advised that the first episode of The Amelia Project includes transphobia.)

Margaritas and Donuts

Romantic comedies are a somewhat underrepresented category of audio dramas, let alone good ones. It’s also rare for there to be black-lead romcoms about people dating in their 40’s. Margarita and Donuts is a limited run series that covers this underfed subcategory of a popular genre.

You’ll be rooting for Josephine and Malik as they overcome personal obstacles to make their relationship work. This is one of the more grounded options on this list, since it’s a healthy balance of romance and comedy, but that just means that you can find yourself relating to the situations the characters find themselves in.

If you like romcoms and also want to listen to something that isn’t a huge commitment, check out one of the best romcoms to come out in the last few years!

Latinos Out Loud

Latinos Out Loud feels like a good old fashioned radio variety show. Every week, hosts Rachel La Loca, Juan Bago, JFernz and Frank Nibbs chat about the latest news, perform improv, do pranks, interviews, and character segments. The established chemistry and history between the hosts helps each part of the show shine. It’s fun, high energy, and proudly Latino.

They’ve been doing the show for years, so there is a healthy backlog if you want to get really into it. You can also jump into the most recent episode of this show, although, as a musical theater nerd, I’d recommend their recent dive into the In The Heights movie. 

The McElroys Will Be In “Trolls World Tour”

The McElroy brothers have become increasingly famous over the years between their terrible advice podcast, My Brother, My Brother and Me. which was made into a show for Seeso/VRV; their massively popular actual play podcast, The Adventure Zone, which is being adapted as graphic novels; or their successes over on YouTube.

But did you know that they will be in Trolls World Tour, or, as they originally called it, Trolls 2? Neither did the creators of Trolls 2.

This documentary follows the process of the brothers deciding that they want to be in the cinematic sequel to children’s movie Trolls, and then trying everything under the son to actually be cast. It’s a practice in absolute absurdity, especially for their poor, poor manager. This is one of those comedy podcasts that requires listening in order for full dramatic effect.

Alba Salix, Royal Physician

Alba Salix, Royal Physician is a comedy audio drama about the eponymous royal physician and her plight to look after her patients: the rulers of a magical realm. Alba Salix is the perfect mix of comedy and plotting: it feels more comedy-forward than most current sitcoms without losing plot or character.

It’s filled with rapidfire jokes and hijinks, mixing up Alba’s frustration and resignation (think Amy Sedaris as Bojack Horseman‘s Princess Carolyn) with the absolute ineptitude of her apprentice, Magnus, or most of her patients. Mix in high-fantasy political intrigue, inter-personal drama, and a good dose of fantasy, and you’ve got a serialized podcast that you’ll only stop binging because you’re laughing so hard you have to pause.

For those who are interesting in Dungeons and Dragons podcasts like the aforementioned The Adventure Zone, be sure to check out this team’s The End of Time and Other Bothers, an actual play set in the same universe, too. Both of these projects are hilariously written and supported by incredible performances and sound design.

Spirits

Spirits is “a boozy podcast about mythology, legends, and lore.” In each episode, hosts Julia and Amanda discuss a legend or story, whether it be about the Japanese story of the Yuki-onna, Hollywood urban legends, or the listeners’ stories about their local folklore and spooky encounters.

While Spirits is fundamentally about the stories that matter to cultures, it’s also fundamentally about two hilarious lifelong friends getting tipsy and talking about things they love. Julia Schifini (also of What’s the Frequency, Tides, and others) plays the part of the expert with her encyclopedic knowledge of mythology and copious amounts of pre-recording research, her fortes both her knowledge and her dry, sardonic comedic timing.

Meanwhile, Amanda (also of Join the Party) plays the part of often-uninformed enthusiast, her fortes the giddily-delivered puns as well as her quick-witted connections between the discussion topic and modern life.

Punch Up the Jam

Hosted by two champions of Vine (rest in peace), Demi Adejuyigbe and Miel Breduow, Punch Up the Jam takes an iconic song, goes into its history, analyzes it moment by moment, and then aims to make something . . . “better.” Adejuyingbe and Breduow are shockingly impressive musicians, which makes their “punch ups,” the parodies and covers at the end of each episode, both more impressive and more ridiculous.

Punch Up the Jam is best started by listening to an episode on a song you already know (but maybe not one you unironically love), but once you’re hooked, you’ll find yourself listening to the back catalog whether or not you’ve ever heard the original songs before.

(Update 1/27/22: This podcast is now hosted by The Gregory Brothers of “Autotune the News” fame past. I fully have not listened to any of those episodes–two white dudes? in MY Punch Up the Jam?–but the backlog with Breduow, Adejuyigbe, and other rotating hosts past Adejuyigbe’s tenure are still solid as hell. Highly recommend the ultra chaotic energy of the episodes featuring Chris Fleming. –Editor Wil)

Wooden Overcoats

If your preferred brand of humor is a little less The Office and a little more Blackadder, you may find your comedy podcast soulmate in Wooden Overcoats. This acclaimed comedy audio drama centers on the story of Rudyard and Antigone Funn, the owners of Funn Funerals, once the only funeral home in their small island town.

When a competitor, Eric Chapman, opens a funeral home across the street, the Funn siblings hatch plan after plan to take him down–while Antigone tries to deny her attraction to him. Wooden Overcoats is the epitome of a podcast sitcom: it’s episodic, so each new chapter has its own story arc that’s started and completed within about half an hour, but it also has an overarching narrative that dives deeper into each character season by season.

Song Salad

In Song Salad, hosts Shannon and Scott pick one randomized musical genre and one random Wikipedia article. First, they go into the music genre, explaining its history, its key features, its most prominent musicians, and its place in the overall music landscape. Next, they read the Wikipedia article out loud, commenting along on the way.

Then, they do the next natural step: they combine the two, making a short song in the randomized musical genre about that Wikipedia article. This results in some hilarious combinations like a jingle about a tree or an Austropop song about Jesus cleansing a leper.

If the premise alone somehow isn’t enough to win you over, Song Salad isn’t just its setup: it’s also a funny podcast hosted by two of the most loveable, goofy hosts in the medium.

Gay Future

Gay Future is a fiction podcast mini-series inspired by the unrelased young adult fiction manuscript by Mike Pence–yes, Mike Pence–about a future in which everyone is gay, and the hero is straight. Gay Future parodies everything about this concept, turning it into a hyperbolic satire that’s hilarious and genuinely riveting.

If the title and concept worries you, rest assured that the podcast parodies the concept and Mike Pence, not the actual LGBT+ community, and the jokes land so solidly that it’s not just funny, it’s also cathartic.

HORSE

HORSE is the best basketball podcast about everything but the sport. I don’t know anything at basketball–I grew up in a family that was more stoked about operas than any sporting events–but HORSE is still one of the funniest podcasts I’ve ever heard, without ever making me feel lost in jargon or who’s who.

HORSE focuses on the behind-the-scenes of the NBA and basketball culture, both of which are genuinely buckwild. Hosts Eric Silver (disclosure: Silver has written for Discover Pods) and Mike Schubert have an energetic, goofy dynamic that makes every episode as much about basketball as it is these two nerds riffing.

StarTripper!!

When I sat down to talk with writer and creator Julian Mundy about his upcoming project StarTripper!!, I was already excited–but the early episodes have already more than exceeded my expectations. This sci-fi comedy audio drama follows Feston Pyxis, an excitable and impulsive once-was desk job worker, now intergalactic explorer. 

StarTripper!!feels like a combination of Futurama, Galaxy Quest, and Cowboy Bebop; it’s high-energy, hilarious, and feels like a fully-imagined world even with how ridiculous it is. If you like your sci-fi silly and your comedy whimsical, StarTripper!! is a great escape.

Because it’s a newer release with just a few episodes out while writing this, it’s also easy to catch up on–but Mundy has also been sure to let prospective listeners know that they’ll be able to jump in at any point without having to worry about getting through the backlog to enjoy the most recent episodes.

Fall of the House of Sunshine

Fall of the House of Sunshine is a musical comedy horror audio drama about the ages-old war between a cult of dentists and their natural enemies, puppets, following the murder of a children’s TV show host via bullet shot through a rift in spacetime.

All of those words were chosen on purpose and are accurate. It is the strangest thing I have ever listened to, and few things have made me laugh as hard or as often. If you’re looking for something off-the-wall and totally innovative, Fall of the House of Sunshine will deliver all of that and more–while also bringing character arcs, a shocking amount of cohesive world building, and killer songs along the way.

You’ll want to listen to this many times over, both because you’ll want to hear all the jokes you missed the first time around and because it’s just that good.

Comedy Podcasts Are a Subjective Beast

So that’s our list for now. We know that comedy podcasts aren’t going to be a hit every time for every listener, which is why we listen to so many funny podcasts. Call it a perk of the job. I mean, can you say that your job lets you listen to comedy podcasts all day long?

If not, you should probably talk to HR about that. Seriously.