The Best of Hollywood Reporter’s 2021 Comedy Survey With Kevin Hart, Judd Apatow, Kristen Wiig and More

The 40(ish) Most Influential People in Comedy Right Now took The Hollywood Reporter’s annual survey (below) and produced the funny, acerbic and, yes, occasionally earnest answers one would expect from those shaping the modern funny business.

Rick and Morty creator Dan Harmon revealed the joke he’d tell at his funeral, while actress Tiffany Haddish recounted the time she thought she was going to have to fight a food delivery driver. Stars Kevin Hart, Awkwafina and director Taika Waititi recall the last time they hurt themselves laughing and the comic idols they’d bring back from the dead. Hacks and Ted Lasso creators weighed in on the funniest thing to come out of the pandemic, while SNL alum Kristen Wiig and breakout Kate McKinnon offer all-time favorite sketches.

The survey also produced moments of reflection by Dave star Dave Burd and White Lotus’ Natasha Rothwell on what topics are always fair game and why the world desperately needs comedy right now.

The full questionnaire:
The last time I bombed …
My most memorable fan interaction was …
It’s perfectly fine to make jokes about …
I’d love to be the spokesperson for …
The last time I hurt myself laughing …
The funniest thing to come out of the pandemic is …
I’d never steal a joke, but if I did, it would be this one from …
My favorite SNL sketch/character of all time is …
Musicals make me …
If I could bring one comedian back from the dead it would be …
A joke you’d tell at your own funeral …
We need comedy because …

Nick Kroll
I opened for Ali Wong during her residency at the Beacon Theater a couple months ago. I had been living in upstate New York with my family and hadn’t performed live in a while. I love Ali and wanted to really warm up her crowd, but wasn’t ready for a big theater and the whole set fell flat. My wife brought a bunch of her friends who were big Ali fans. And I was embarrassed afterward. It was a wake-up call that I needed to work harder if I want to become the next Ali Wong.

Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo
Mumolo: In front of my kids at the dinner table on any given night.
Wiig: Yes. Happens at any social gathering.

Tiffany Haddish
At The Laugh Factory. I was extremely sleepy and it was when we were still doing shows via Zoom. I didn’t know how to tell a joke to TV screens. So I just started to sing because the jokes weren’t hitting. Or maybe they were hitting, but I couldn’t tell, so I just started singing.

Phil Lord and Chris Miller
We were at a Q&A in an eighth-grade classroom in Marin, California. Coldest room we’ve ever been in. We think it’s because none of them were old enough to drink.

Michael Che
I’m always bombing with somebody. Could be with the whole audience, could be just one guy in the front. If you ain’t bombing, you ain’t trying.

Bill Burr
Was following Donnell Rawlings last week on Chocolate Sundays at The Laugh Factory.

Chris Kelly
The Hollywood Reporter’s review of The Other Two season two.

Sarah Schneider
Trying to explain the concept of a “daddy” to my mother.

Jeff Schaffer
I think you’ve just documented it.

Hasan Minhaj
A college student ran up to me after my show in Boston and said, “I plagiarized an entire Patriot Act episode on drug pricing, and I got a 98 on my paper.” I’ve never been more flattered. This is how I pay it forward.

Tiffany Haddish
I ordered something on Postmates to my house and the lady that delivered it knocked on the door. I was like “You can leave it on the porch,” and she was like, “This is for Tiffany Haddish. This is for Tiffany Haddish.” So I opened the door and she was like, “Aww bitch, you really live over here!” And I grabbed my bat because the way she said it, I thought I was gonna fight this lady. But then she said “You saved my life! I was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and I watched your videos every day and I defeated it!” She asked me for a hug and I gave her a hug.

Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo
Mumolo: It was actually something I did. I didn’t know anyone when we went to the Golden Globes for Bridesmaids so I drank too much and I told Jessica Chastain she was gonna take over Hollywood.
Wiig: God we were so nervous. We sat at a table full of celebrities we couldn’t even talk to. We were freaking out. Barely made eye contact.

Dave Burd
When a fan pulled out his penis across the table and asked me to sign it. On the one hand, I was flabbergasted, disgusted, shocked. On the other hand, I respected it and was deep down honored. I signed his penis that day.

Ziwe Fumudoh
When a group of high schoolers stopped me to recite the lyrics to “Stop Being Poor.” At first I thought they were roasting my outfit, but they were just decrying the ineffectiveness of trickle-down economics. I love Gen Z!

Awkwafina
Meeting Margaret Cho and Lucy Liu. Scary before I met them, heartwarming after.

Phoebe Robinson
Honestly, any time someone DMs or tells me in person how my work helped them get through an illness such as cancer, I’m always floored. You just wanna make people laugh when you do comedy and you don’t necessarily think about what the person needs the laugh for. So I’m honored to always be a way to escape and make people feel good. What a cool gig that is, huh?

Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo
Mumolo: Anything if it’s done without malice. Nothing should be off the table.
Wiig: So much of comedy is about intention. Depends where the jokes are coming from.

Tiffany Haddish
Yourself and your mistakes.

Taika Waititi
Racists.

Awkwafina
Yourself. And squirrels.

Judd Apatow
Comedians who criticize others but can’t handle criticism.

Bowen Yang
Pooping and peeing. They might be the only universally shared experiences we have left as humans, or most mammals, even.

Bill Burr
Anything you want.

Hasan Minhaj
Paper straws. Let’s have the conversation. They’re not as effective as plastic straws, and they constantly collapse mid-sip. It’s time they get put in their place.

Chuck Lorre
IKEA, assuming they’re not the kind that are hurtful toward Scandinavian culture or furniture.

Nick Kroll
Funny things.

Jeff Schaffer
Everything. I always say I know where the line is because I can look back and see it. Everything is fair game. It’s all about how it’s done.

John Wilson
Scaffolding.

Michael Schur
I prefer that everyone say exactly what they feel. Makes it easier to spot the assholes.

Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo
Annie: Elastic waist pants? Wait, fleece joggers.
Kristen: Good one. I’m gonna say lotion. Just any lotion.

Chuck Lorre
Mitch McConnell — for just one very short press conference.

Judd Apatow
Rogaine.

Phil Lord and Chris Miller
Lord: Pedialyte. It’s a great fucking product.
Miller: The ZenChef Ice Shaver. Makes Sno-Cone shaved ice out of your ice cubes instantly. It has revolutionized my family home. All for the low price of $48.99.

Taika Waititi
Spokes. Bicycle spokes. I’d love to tell their story and give them a voice. Especially today where they’re often overlooked and very much underrepresented in film and TV.

Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg
Houseplant weed, available at www.houseplant.com

Sterlin Harjo
Martin guitars. I’d like that discount.

Michael Che
Bidets. Americans should really consider wiping their butts with water.

Ziwe Fumudoh
Babies. On my show, I identify as 19 years old, so I consider this demographic to be my peers.

Phoebe Robinson
Bitches with minimal eyebrow hairs. Y’all, literally every woman has thick, vibrant eyebrows and cut to me with like 12 hairs and I have to paint the rest on like I’m Bob Ross. Literally, it’s just me and Whoopi Goldberg holding it down for the eyebrow-less and I want people to know that it’s OK to really not have that much eyebrow hair. You can still thrive!

Nick Kroll
Spokespeople. To speak on behalf of those people who speak on behalf of others? Well, that really speaks to me.

Natasha Rothwell
Therapy. I freaking love it and I’m better for it. Everyone should do it. Mental health is so important and yet so often ignored — especially in Black communities. But talking about our experiences is as freeing as it is illuminating. Therapy can shed light on why we are the way we are and help us close the distance between who we are and who we want to be. Plus, there’s nothing sexier than someone who’s earnestly working on themselves.

Dave Burd
Heinz Ketchup. I’ve even looked into it, but they don’t need to do a ton of advertising since they are so dominant in this space. But then I saw Ed Sheeran made a Heinz ketchup ad with them, and I don’t know what is real, and what is not anymore.

Jeff Schaffer
Toilet seat protectors. The company making these is clearly doing something right. They’ve convinced the nation that a micro-thin layer of porous paper can make a toilet seat as sterile as an operating room.

Kevin Hart
Watching my daughter do an impression of me.

Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo
Mumolo: Shooting the Barb and Star drunk sequence when Kristen and I had to roll around on the sand on top of each other while Jamie Dornan tried to make sound come out of a saxophone.
Wiig: One of the best nights of my life. But Annie and I did have one of those crying laughs on the phone the other day. What were we laughing about? I can’t remember!
Mumolo: Me neither! It must have been hilarious.

Chris Miller
There was an improv run by Ike Barinholtz while we were filming the finale of The Afterparty [premiering in January on Apple TV+] and I thought a vein was going to burst out of my forehead.

Taika Waititi
I was on mushrooms, I started laughing at something, fell to my knees and knocked my patella out of place.

Awkwafina
My cousin sat on a brownie and for 45 minutes I did not know where it was. And because I thought it was hilarious, I didn’t tell her. Until my grandma thought she had pooped and the jig was up.

Judd Apatow
I don’t remember, but soon it will be Jackass Forever.

Robin Thede
Every day on the set of A Black Lady Sketch Show.

Natasha Rothwell
Was probably when I was watching season three of Sex Education. In episode three, Cynthia (Lisa Palfrey) and Jeffrey (Joe Wilkinson) have athletic sex that accidentally kills their cat. The moment is so incredibly shocking, tragic, and hilarious — I was down for the count.

John Wilson
The scene in I Think You Should Leave when he goes to the mall dressed in that prosthetic suit

Jeff Schaffer
Two come to mind: Watching Dave Burd as Enlightened Dave — no hair anywhere on his body, dancing around in a cloth diaper like he was feeling the spirit. And there was a joke JB Smoove told on Curb this season that I won’t ruin, but it had me laughing so hard I smacked my head on the monitor.

Jen Statsky
Watching news bloopers while driving my speedboat.

Jason Heyman
Catherine O’Hara’s accent in Schitt’s Creek. Genius.

Michael Schur
Never. I’m a very responsible laugher.

Phil Lord
Seth Rogen’s Emmy speech.

Judd Apatow
Mike White being able to make the remarkable White Lotus.

Kevin Hart
Comedy Gold Minds [Hart’s SiriusXM show].

Michael Che
The idea that everybody’s a goddamn certified virologist now. Oh, you’ve done the research, have you, Uncle Earl?

Brendan Hunt
The Great Resignation. Oh you mean on-screen! Barb and Star Go to Vista del Mar killed me.

Chuck Lorre
Injecting bleach.

Dan Harmon
An entire industry forced to admit that I can do everything from bed. I can’t wait for it to be over just so I can laugh when someone tells me I’m “needed at the office tomorrow.”

Phoebe Robinson
During the early days of the pandemic, I used to crack up watching all these celebrities post cooking videos because they were starved for attention. Like just take a beat from the spotlight for one minute. Truly, we can all live without a video from an A-lister starting with, “Hey guys! So today we’re making pasta Bolognese.” Could you imagine Denzel Washington posting a video of him baking his favorite shortbread cookies? He was too busy staying moisturized and being rich.

Jeff Schaffer
The demise of Skype. Everyone used to use Skype. Skype was a thing — it was a verb! They were perfectly poised when the pandemic hit. And what happened? Everyone was video-conferencing all day … on Zoom. What the hell happened, Skype? You blew it!

Michael Schur
The Other Two, season two.

Chris Kelly
The first thing that comes to mind is POOG, the podcast by Jacqueline Novak and Kate Berlant. It has nothing to do with the pandemic, just came out during. But it truly is the funniest thing I’ve consumed in over a year.

Jason Heyman
Washing our groceries.

Ziwe Fumudoh
Learning that Andrew Yang’s favorite subway station is Times Square.

Tiffany Haddish
How people that have herpes are on the come-up because since they have to wear masks all the time you don’t know when they are having an outbreak!

Lucia Aniello
Can’t wait to find out.

Taika Waititi
Probably some Mitch Hedberg classic.

Judd Apatow
Maria Bamford’s song about her couples therapist.

Awkwafina
Whitney Cummings: The joke is her boyfriend wanted to do sexy role play in the bedroom, so she came out in a full wedding gown pushing a baby carriage. Still makes me laugh to this day.

Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo
Wiig: Oh man… not one particular joke but I’m obsessed with Kate Berlant. Anything Kate!
Mumolo: Martin Short. Anything from Martin Short. Or Billy Crystal.

Michael Che
Chris Rock. “Shake it up, mo’ ‘Tussin.”

Bill Burr
From Steven Wright: “My nephew has HD ADD. High Definition Attention Deficit Disorder. He can barely pay attention but when he does it’s unbelievably clear.”

Brendan Hunt
Emo Phillips: “When I was 10, my family moved to Downers Grove, Illinois. When I was 12, I found them.”

Sarah Schneider
The Comeback: the entirety of Valerie Cherish’s “Well, I got it!” run. It’s perfect.

Phoebe Robinson
Anything from Wanda Sykes’ I’ma Be Me HBO special. It is absolutely perfect and I watch it once a year.

Jeff Schaffer
Almost anything from the first few seasons of The Simpsons. Including:
Homer’s exchange student telling him, “Papa Homer, you’re so learn-ed.” Homer, gently pedantic, “It’s pronounced ‘learned,’ son. ‘Learned.’”

Kevin Hart
Will Ferrell as the boss for Jeffrey’s.

Kate McKinnon
The first one I ever loved was Will Ferrell trying to help his wife get off the phone with someone who kept blabbing, and instead of saying “Honey, can you come help me in the kitchen?” he screams “I am Skeletor, spawn of the hellbeast! Hang up that phone and pay homage to my awesome red power!” His guileless outrageousness, his brilliant buffoonery. I hung on his every word.

Ali Wong
The one where Eddie Murphy teaches Stevie Wonder how to do the perfect Stevie Wonder impersonation.

Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo
Mumolo: The Tridelt Sorority Girls, plus everything that Kristy Weeg has ever done on the show.
Wiig: I think you might be saying her name wrong. So hard to pick just one. But watching Will Ferrell do anything is up there with the best.

Tiffany Haddish
Superstar!

Awkwafina
Kristen Wiig’s baby hands.

Phil Lord and Chris Miller
Lord: Tim Calhoun. The first time we saw Will [Forte] do it was in his living room; three years later [it was on] Weekend Update.

Taika Waititi
We didn’t get that show in New Zealand so I dunno. I did once see Tom Hanks and John Lovitz being a couple of ladies men, which I loved.

Judd Apatow
Adam Sandler selling tours of Italy. (Tour of Italy sketch was called “Romano Tours.”)

Sterlin Harjo
The Chip-n-Dales audition.

Chris Kelly
Jeannie Darcy, Molly Shannon’s stand-up character.

Sarah Schneider
Fred Armisen’s Nicholas Fehn on “Weekend Update.”

Michael Che
Celebrity Jeopardy!.

Dan Harmon
Ed Grimley. I must say.

Nick Kroll
Anything from Dana Carvey or Phil Hartman.

Jason Heyman
“More cowbell!”

Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo
Wiig: Feel young. I’ll always associate them with being a kid.
Mumolo: Sing like no one should be singing.

Tiffany Haddish
Feel alive. I love a good musical.

Sarah Schneider
Weep. It’s humiliating.

Taika Waititi
Sleep.

Nick Kroll
Sleepy. All plays make me sleepy. Even when I’m enjoying them, I can barely stay awake. I don’t know if I’ve ever been to a play and not fallen asleep. Including my own.

Judd Apatow
Deliriously happy. Les Misérables even more.

Sterlin Harjo
Sing.

Awkwafina
Burst with childlike joy but also get nervous because sometimes the actors make direct eye contact.

Kate McKinnon
Goosebumpy, and also incredulous that there is an art form in which people are expected to belt F’s and G’s, tap dance, and recite two hours of dialogue every night for a year. That’s asking a lot of a person.

Brendan Hunt
Want to play Harold Hill. Doesn’t matter what musical I’m hearing or watching; they all make me want to play Harold Hill. It should be noted that I would not be good as Harold Hill.

Chuck Lorre
Believe in humanity.

Dan Harmon
Jealous. Even bad ones make the writer enough money to stop writing.

Kevin Hart, Michael Che: Bernie Mac

Judd Apatow, Dave Burd: Chris Farley.

Tiffany Haddish: George Carlin.

Sterlin Harjo, Brendan Hunt: Richard Pryor.

Chuck Lorre: “Don Rickles. Obviously.”

Robin Thede: “Moms Mabley but also Tupac, he was hilarious.”

Ali Wong: Patrice O’Neal.

Awkwafina: Joan Rivers.

Bowen Yang: “Lot from the Bible. I assume he was funny because he had a really wacky life.”

Phil Lord: Buster Keaton? Tex Avery? Graham Chapman? Bernie Mac.

Jeff Schaffer: “Peter Sellers. Oh, the limited series he’d have.”

Bill Burr: “Ollie Joe Prater so I could ask if he really burned down the Improv.”

Taika Waititi: Aristophanes.

Phoebe Robinson: “Hands down, John Candy. The man was so formative when it comes to comedy for me. Of course, we have different styles, but I love his work so much and the way he could weave in and out of comedic and dramatic moments is masterful. Planes, Trains and Automobiles is chef’s kiss to me.”

Natasha Rothwell: Robin Williams.

Paul W. Downs: Lucille Ball.

Michael Schur: “The worst thing you could do to comedians would be to yank them out of the afterlife and insert them into another era. Most comedy becomes stale after a few years — never mind a few eras.”

Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo
Wiig: Robin Williams.
Mumolo: Me too! And Richard Pryor or Gene Wilder.
Wiig: And Madeline Kahn and Chris Farley.
Mumolo: There are too many.
Wiig: Too many.

Dan Harmon
Knock knock / Who’s there? / Dan / Dan who? / Listen, I’m excited to have a whole conversation and I have questions of my own but I really need you to open the coffin.

Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo
Wiig : “Just kidding, she’s alive! No … she’s dead.”
Mumolo: “But YOU’RE all dead! Just kidding, you guys are alive.”
Wiig: And then I jump out of the coffin.

Taika Waititi
Well, I’d be dead … however, I used to design annoying coffins, which were shaped in a way that they were almost impossible to bury, so I’d probably just do that. I like the idea of a bunch of people trying to figure out how to bury a big wooden art piece. That also has a dead man inside it.

Judd Apatow
At least my back hair will stop growing.

Hasan Minhaj
It’s only right that Prashanth Venkataramanujam and Ronny Chieng do a PowerPoint presentation roasting me.

Chris Miller
Am I still alive in this scenario? And the whole funeral was just a sham to hear people say nice things about me and be sad and then I surprise them with a big joke? That is sick and wrong. But I would be curious what people would say … Great, now I’m going to have to fake my death.

Ziwe Fumudoh
I’d show up 15 minutes behind schedule so I could be fashionably late.

Tiffany Haddish
She not ready!

Michael Schur
I’ll leave that to whoever wants to make jokes at my funeral, which I hope is: everyone at my funeral.

Michael Che
Double or nothing?

Tiffany Haddish
It’s healing and it helps you to have a better understanding of what’s going on in the world.

Chris Miller
Because then tragedy plus time would just be old tragedy.

Taika Waititi
We don’t need comedy. We need food, shelter and clean water. Well, I do.

Judd Apatow
Drama isn’t working.

Sterlin Harjo
It’s more trustworthy than the news.

Kevin Hart
It’s good for the soul.

Jason Heyman
Isn’t it the best medicine?

Robin Thede
We all need to laugh at our childhood trauma.

Natasha Rothwell
Laughter is straight-up medicinal. It’s a release caused by our psychological response to recognizing truth and seeing ourselves in that truth. George Saunders said, “Humor is what happens when we’re told the truth quicker and more directly than we’re used to.”

Dave Burd
Laughing is the best feeling in the world. Laughter is such a bizarre thing to universally exist among every human being. It feels so random. When something is scary, we react and go into self-preservation mode. When something is funny, we smile and laugh. It’s just as important as any other emotion. And it’s the one leaving us the happiest. What a joy!

Chris Kelly
In the olden days they had philosophers, but now we have us, you know?

Sarah Schneider
Where else can you find such dramatic storylines?

Read THR’s list of the 40(ish) most influential people in comedy here.

A version of this story first appeared in the Oct. 27 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.