It’s mid-December, which can mean only one thing for comedy fans: It’s the time of the year when Los Angeles–based comedian Zach Broussard unleashes the chaos that is his annual “Top 1,000 Comedians†list. Broussard has been doing these lists since 2014. They started out as a simple, straightforward list on Tumblr as a take on “Top Comics†lists but later transformed into a torturous 1,000-page slideshow, a series of billboards around L.A., a list of only women, and, last year, a full-fledged awards show (livestreamed by Vulture!) preceded by a round of 2,000 nominations.
So what, you may be wondering, does Broussard have in store for this year’s list? Well, it turns out that for 2019 — the year of so-called “cancel culture†— Broussard needs some extra help ensuring that the list isn’t in any way problematic, so he’s asking comedians and comedy fans to participate in the process. “Genuinely, I think this will be THE MOST ACCURATE LIST YET,†Broussard tells Vulture. “Why? Because I’m giving everyone the power to cancel any comedian on the list with a click of a button.â€
That’s right — from today through this Friday at midnight, you can visit Top1000Comedians.com, check out the list for yourself, and “cancel†any comedians you feel deserve to be knocked off. “My hope is to make sure the Top 1,000 Comedians list is 100 percent creep free, asshole free, and weirdo free. If a comedian ever slighted you in any way, you now have the power to make sure they don’t receive this elite honor of ranking in the top 1,000 of their craft,†Broussard explains. “My vision every year is to rank my peers from best to worst based on their buzz, but this year I learned that not all buzz is good buzz. Some comedians with the most buzz in 2019 are being buzzed about for truly terrible things. As comedy nuts (fans) we need some way to ‘cancel’ comedians with too much bad buzz.†If a lot of comedians get “canceled†from the list, Broussard says not to worry — he already has about 2,000 comedians’ names waiting in the wings to take their place. “Hopefully by Friday we’ll have the perfect list of comedians with only good buzz,†he says.
Check out a video for this year’s list below, in which Broussard explains the “cancellation†process and continues another annual tradition: making sure comedian Rich Vos doesn’t make the list.
Head over to Top1000Comedians.com to participate, and happy canceling!
Update: According to Broussard, all 1,000 comedians on the list — as well as all 2,000 of the additional comedians ready to take their place — have already been canceled just two hours after the site went live. Fortunately, Broussard is now allowing fans to “un-cancel†comedians, though he’s requesting you wait to do so until your comedian of choice posts a Notes App apology on Twitter.