For a third consecutive year, New York Times comedy critic Jason Zinoman has invited me into his home so we can tackle the year in comedy, but hopefully from a largely positive standpoint by focusing on the MVPs, the most valuable performers in comedy this year. In 2017, despite the Trump effect having much more serious repercussions than some expected, we had plenty of positives to look back on, from Nathan Fielder to Jordan Peele, as well as Tig Notaro, Dave Chappelle, Tiffany Haddish, Kumail Nanjiani, Donald Glover, Jimmy Kimmel and more. Who’d we single out this year? I want to find out, too, so let’s get to it!

Jackie Martling was a longtime writer and performer on The Howard Stern Show from 1983 to 2001, who also was showing up monthly in the pages of Penthouse magazine, opening comedy clubs on Long Island, released six dirty joke records, and published Jackie The Joke Man Martling’s Disgustingly Dirty Joke Book. After splitting from Stern, he hosted Jackie’s Joke Hunt for several years on SiriusXM satellite radio. He has a new book out in 2017, his memoir The Joke Man: Bow to Stern. So let's get to it!

Sue Costello grew up in the powder keg of Irish Catholicism getting more diverse that was Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood in the 1970s. Costello got herself out of Dorchester to make a lot of hay in Hollywood two decades later, culminating in her own FOX sitcom, Costello. Since then, you’ve seen her as a regular on the roundtable for Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn, while her street smarts and brutal honesty won her a role on David O. Russell’s 2010 film, The Fighter. There’s no turning back, no holding back, so let’s get to it!

Kev Adams is France’s biggest young comedy star, with 6 million Twitter followers and another 5 million checking out his Instagram. He was performing one-man shows in Paris while still a teenager, and starred in 692 episodes of the TV series, Soda. He also co-starred in two hit movies in France, Serial Teachers, and The New Adventures of Aladdin. Adams has toured with his idol, Gad Elmaleh, and like Gad, Kev is now making a go of it in America. He co-wrote and co-stars in a series Super High for the blackpills app. And He’ll be seen in his first major American movie, The Spy Who Dumped Me, in 2018 alongside Kate McKinnon and Mila Kunis. Kev tells me about his wild ride, and the transition to the States, so let’s get to it!