HBO Max Launches Summer Comedy Stand Up Specials on Thursday, August 20th [VIDEO]

HBO Max announced today that the first batch of its stand-up programming will debut on the platform on Thursday, August 20th. The Summer Comedy Festival programming binge, will feature solo specials from Rose Matafeo, Beth Stelling, and James Veitch, as well as a multi-act special from the HA Comedy Festival, hosted by Anjelah Johnson, and featuring a lineup of America’s funniest Latinx comics. Additional info on each special is below.

Rose Matafeo: Horndog

Rose Matafeo has kissed nearly 10 men in her life, AKA she’s a total horndog. But what is horniness? Is it that intangible essence of excitement and adventure that has inspired humankind since the dawn of time? An understanding of the overwhelming power of love as the key to true personal flourishing? Or is it simply wanting to bone everyone, all the time? Join this Edinburgh Comedy Award Best Show Winner as she tracks her history of heartfelt horniness in her first stand up special for HBO Max. Rose Matafeo: Horndog has enjoyed successful performances around the world with sell-out shows at the New Zealand International Comedy Festival, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, an award winning run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and in London’s west end at the Ambassadors Theatre and Soho Theatre. It is produced by Avalon (Taskmaster, Breeders, Everything’s Gonna Be Okay, Last Week Tonight With John Oliver, Catastrophe) with Matafeo, Richard Allen-Turner, Rob Aslett, and Jon Thoday serving as executive producers.

Beth Stelling: Girl Daddy

Conan O’Brien’s Team Coco presents Beth Stelling in an artfully hilarious hour about family, society and the exes who have shaped her. Thirteen years into her career as a stand-up, Stelling has been called a “female comic” so many times that if she ever has kids they might as well call her “girl daddy.” Stelling responds to her co-workers’ lazy, fear-driven #MeToo material by guiding her audience through the humorous side of tough conversations around consent, chauvinism and women’s bodily autonomy. Is it MY abortion? Or OUR abortion? Let your new Beth friend explain in her first hour-long stand-up special. Beth Stelling: Girl Daddy is produced by Team Coco with Stelling, Conan O’Brien, Jeff Ross, John Irwin, J.P. Buck, and Adam Sachs serving as executive producers.

James Veitch: Straight to VHS

James Veitch is really hoping this special sort of pushes him into the big time so he doesn’t have to write his own blurbs anymore. This comedy special (by James Veitch) is something that, tbh, he can barely remember doing. He remembers that the morning of it he accidentally took double the dosage of his antidepressants and, in a blind panic, called poison control from his hotel room who told him he’d “be ok” which was good but also something of an anti-climax. Anyway it contains loads of strong material and will probs change lives. Will that do? It’s a powerful performance and the best work of his career. James Veitch: Straight to VHS is produced by Team Coco with Veitch, Conan O’Brien, Jeff Ross, J.P. Buck, and John Irwin, serving as executive producers with Casey Spira as co-executive producer.

HA Comedy Festival: The Art of Comedy

Hosted by viral Latinx comedian and actress Anjelah Johnson and shot at the iconic Empire Theater in San Antonio, TX, the HA Comedy Festival: The Art of Comedy is a one-hour multi-act stand-up special that showcases “the best of the fest”. The HA Comedy Festival brought together a line-up of amazing Latinx talent for several days of endless laughter. This special features Gina Brillon, David del Rosario, Carmen Lynch, Monique Marvez, Pedro Salinas, Jesus Trejo, Mark Viera as well as special appearances from Eugenio Derbez, Eva Longoria and Danny Trejo. HA Comedy Festival: The Art of Comedy was created by Jeff Valdez and produced by New Cadence Productions, a US television and film content creation studio for Latinx creatives co-founded by Jeff Valdez and former global telco executive, Sol Trujillo.

HBO Max is continuing to grow their slate of stand-up offerings, with previously announced specials from Chelsea Handler, Tracy Morgan, Marlon Wayans, John Early, and Ahir Shah, along with a slate of five specials from Conan O’Brien’s Team Coco, which includes the solo specials from Stelling, Veitch, as well as Chris Redd and Moses Storm. Matafeo is creating the scripted comedy series Starstruck for HBO Max and BBC Three.