With Jon Stewart stepping down as the host of The Daily Show later this year, Comedy Central has their work cut out for them trying to find a suitable replacement. In the meantime, they’ve set themselves up for another shot at cultural relevancy with a new weekly show hosted by the ingenious stand-up comedian and actor Hannibal Buress, simple titled Why? With Hannibal Buress.
Comedy Central gave an initial order of eight half-hour episodes for Why? With Hannibal Buress. The series will approach everything that’s happening in news and pop culture, only with Buress’ offbeat attitude guiding the humor. If it occurred, then there’s a good chance Buress wants to know why it occurred, and he’ll tackle his topics through multiple formats, such as stand-up segments, on-the-street interviews, pre-recorded scenes and interviews with special guests. It doesn’t sound too different from other timely series on the network, such as The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore, but Buress’ presence will certainly make it unique.
This is the latest and largest example of the Emmy-nominated comedian’s relationship with the cable company. His stand-up work was featured on shows like John Oliver’s New York Stand-Up Show, and he had two full-length Comedy Central specials, 2012’s Animal Furnace and 2014’s Hannibal Buress Live from Chicago. He’s a recurring character on Broad City, and has also appeared on @midnight, The Burn with Jeff Ross and Kroll Show. So it seems like Comedy Central would be willing to let him do just about anything at this point. (Well, perhaps he won’t get the same kind of freedom he gets as a writer on Adult Swim’s The Eric Andre Show, but there’s probably no way to top that anyway.)
Take a peek at some of his comedy below, as seen on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
Buress’ comedy is always smart and on point, and it became slightly scandalous last year when his extended rant against Bill Cosby’s salacious past sparked several women to come forth and claim that Cosby sexually assaulted them. One snowball effect later, and Cosby’s professional career has taken a huge hit, with new reports still being made. I’m not psychic, but I’m betting Cosby’s past makes its way into Why? pretty quickly.
It isn’t clear when Comedy Central will put Why? With Hannibal Buress into production, but we can assume it’ll happen this year at some point. Why? Because it would be silly not to. Why? Because…stop that.
