We all love to laugh, right? That ability is part of what separates us from most of the other animals on earth. We know when we are extremely sad, but we know what makes us happy.

Still, not every culture has stand-up comedy either. It is a unique situation. Someone with a microphone is speaking to us for an hour, but it isn't a lecture. They are tasked with building suspense and then delivering a punch-line.

That can be difficult and embarrassing work. When things go bad, everyone knows it. In the case of the eight stand-up specials below, however, almost everything went right.

Eight iconic stand-up comedy specials that have streamed on NetflixJohn Mulaney: Kid Gorgeous at Radio City

Mulaney certainly had his personal demons before he got clean, but he was funny the whole way through. He dresses like a throwback to the 1940s, and while he never...