Hulu Snags Jessica Kirson’s Next Comedy Special

Lacey Rose
·2 min read

Jessica Kirson is bringing her unfiltered humor to Hulu.

Though a premiere date is being kept under wraps, the veteran comic has inked a deal for her next hour of standup. It marks Kirson’s second special.

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“I am honored to be a part of the Disney family and that Hulu has chosen to feature my next special as part of their comedy initiative,” she said in a statement. “People always ask me ‘is it hard to be a female comedian?’ I always say, ‘I don’t know; you should ask them.’”

The news comes as Hulu makes an aggressive push into the standup space, elbowing its way into an increasingly frothy market that’s been dominated by Netflix in recent years. The initiative, which is dubbed “Hularious,” kicks off in November with a new Jim Gaffigan special. From there, the streaming platform will roll out monthly specials, from acts including Bill Burr, Roy Wood Jr., Ilana Glazer, Atusko Okatsuka, Kirston and, assuming his deal closes, Sebastian Maniscalco. As part of the effort, Hulu will also launch a collection of licensed specials, both iconic hours and recent releases.

“The mantra is very much quality over quantity,” Hulu’s head of scripted content Jordan Helman recently told THR of the platform’s curated approach. With only a dozen specials a year, the Hulu team hopes to differentiate its brand from that of Netflix, which spits out specials on a weekly basis. Like Netflix, Hulu has proved itself willing to shell out as much as eight figures to land key names. As Helman revealed, Hulu is also “being really thoughtful about how to leverage relationships throughout the larger Disney ecosystem,” which has entailed introducing its comics to execs (and potential collaborators) across the company’s portfolio.

Kirson, for her part, has had a comedy career that’s spanned some two decades, though her profile has grown considerably on social media, where her comedy has ginned up nearly a billion views. Her resume also includes appearances on HBO’s Crashing and CBS’ Kevin Can Wait, and she produced and appeared in Hysterical, a feature-length 2021 doc that explored the landscape for women in comedy. She served as a consultant, producer and onscreen talent in Robert DeNiro’s 2016 film The Comedian as well.

Kirson is repped by 3 Arts and WME.

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