Netflix experiment gives deserving comics their 15 minutes

So many stand-up specials are released these days that it is easy to miss how radically the art form has evolved.

Part of the reason Ali Wong’s “Hard Knock Wife” and Hannah Gadsby’s “Nanette” have made such an impact is that they were thematically and structurally coherent, their jokes integrated into the special the way that scenes fit into the plot of a play. The status and ambition of the specials’ directors have also grown, shifting from craftsmen for hire to stylists to the auteur Bo Burnham, whose distinctive work with Jerrod Carmichael and Chris Rock reveals editing and camerawork in dialogue with setups and punch lines.