Hulu’s new stand-up comedy brand, Hularious, kicks off with Jim Gaffigan’s new special, The Skinny, on November 22. Touting a different comedian every month, Hulu is putting the “special” back in comedy special. Upcoming comedy specials will include Ilana Glazer, Roy Wood, Jr., Chris Distefano, Bill Burr, and more.
In addition, Hulu has launched a curated collection of licensed stand-up specials ranging from iconic comedy specials to recent releases from 800 Pound Gorilla and Comedy Dynamics, among others.
To learn more about the new brand, how it all came together, and the importance of comedy, we spoke with Emily Furutani, VP of Comedy at Hulu.
What is Hularious and how did the new stand-up comedy initiative come about?
Entering stand-up has been a priority for Hulu for a long time, and with the recent massive success in the space we thought it was the best time to finally bring stand-up to Hulu. Waiting gave us the opportunity to hone our strategy to serve what hasn’t already existed in the broader marketplace. We knew we needed to eventize comedy specials and celebrate comedians. Comics work so hard on finessing their hour and we wanted to be known as the place that gives them the flowers they deserve.
I am so grateful to the team that helped make this a reality. From the amazing Hulu Comedy team, to Marketing and PR, Production, Post and BA, Acquisitions and so many other departments, together we worked tirelessly to build this strategy. In a way we are the Avengers of Stand-Up here at Disney.
Hularious will include a new one-hour comedy special every month. How were the comedians chosen and how was the schedule chosen for the upcoming year?
When scouting for a Hulu comic, we look for three things: commerciality in their material, high quality material and the potential for the comedian to become part of the fabric of The Walt Disney Company. Knowing we were starting in November when most folks are headed to spend time with their families, we wanted to make sure our offering would be broadly appealing to everyone at the Thanksgiving table, so we settled on Jim Gaffigan to launch our initiative. Overall, we wanted to bring together both names that folks already love, like Ilana Glazer, and Roy Wood Jr., and new names like Matteo Lane and Jessica Kirson that they can fall in love with.
In addition to the new monthly specials, Hulu is launching a collection of stand-up specials, both recent and classic. How was this list curated and what can comedy fans expect?
Our amazing acquisitions team, Ryan Roemer and Rachel Swearingen, were the brains behind building out our stand-up library. We specifically sought out specials that would draw in a large comedy fanbase that would then set up a strong runway for when the Hularious specials launched. We wanted to make sure the collection felt bespoke to our vision of what Hularious will provide them to give them a preview before launch.
When you tell people what you do for a living, do they try to make you laugh or pitch you an idea for a new show?
Always, but I love it! I am truly living my dream and I am so proud to tell people what I do. The pitches and bad jokes all come with the territory. Who knows maybe that’s how we’ll get our next hit.
What makes you laugh? What shows/specials are you watching right now and are you excited about?
My taste isn’t really rooted in one style, but you’ll see it clearly in the Hularious roster. From Bill Burr’s iconic cutting sense of humor to Matteo Lane’s casual “hanging out at brunch” style or Bobby Lee and Andrew Santino’s hilarious dynamic on their podcast Bad Friends — what’s funny is just funny. I truly love it all!
