My family of origin has been upsetting me a lot since January. (I believe it’s unintentional, but still—not fun.) Thankfully, my own family are all doing well, except that my husband has been significantly challenged by his recoveries from two total knee replacements.

On top of that, I am personally upset by the shitshow in Washington. The absolute incompetence of the people running our country right now is downright frightening, as are the real impacts on all of our lives. My son inherited my mother’s gas guzzler SUV a few years ago when she upgraded and recently paid $75 to fill his tank. These prices are not sustainable for young people just starting out. And he and his roommates all sat down together to watch one of Trump’s incoherent updates on the war with Iran because they are worried about getting drafted.

Long way of saying, I could use a laugh. Maybe you could too.

Here are three stand-up comedy specials I’ve watched recently and truly enjoyed. I laughed out loud many, many times.

Marcello Hernández: American Boy (Netflix)

Julio Torres: Color Theories (HBO Max)

Ramy Youssef: In Love (HBO Max)

They happen to all be young men, but all grew up outside mainstream, straight, white American male culture. Their perspectives are unique and in many cases, hysterical. 🤣