Inside Amy Schumer: Best sketches video

It’s been a big week for Amy Schumer, who saw the publication of her book, controversy over comments by colleague Kurt Metzger, and confusion about the fate of her Comedy Central sketch show, Inside Amy Schumer. With Schumer having confirmed that the show is currently on hiatus, that makes this the perfect time to revisit some of the best sketches from the show that cemented her status as a fearless comedic force.

1. “I’m So Bad”

In this season 2 sketch, Schumer mocks the way people tend to focus on their weight, to the exclusion of all else. Every woman here says “I’m so bad” — but only in reference to eating fatty foods, rather than the actual awful things they do while eating that food (cyberbullying their niece on Instagram, kneeling on a gerbil to see what sound it would make, etc.)

2. “Herpes Scare”

Schumer mocked her own white privilege in this sketch as a character who suddenly learns she may have contracted herpes from an ex-lover and reacts by calling down God himself for help. As played by Paul Giamatti, God grows increasingly frustrated with her inability to look beyond herself (“I really need to stop making so many white girls”). He offers her multiple things she can do in exchange for a herpes cure: stop drinking, stop using hairspray, or even just call her mom more often. She decides to take her chances with the herpes.

3. “Last F—able Day”

One of the most buzzed-about sketches in the show’s run featured cameos from a plethora of Schumer’s comedic forebears — Tina Fey, Patricia Arquette, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus — to celebrate the latter’s “last f—able day.” This hilarious formulation took the entire culture to task for the double standard aging actresses have to face.

4. “Debating the Dildo”

Perhaps Inside Amy Schumer‘s most ambitious effort to date was dedicating an entire season 3 episode to a parody of 12 Angry Men. In Sidney Lumet’s classic film, a jury of men debate whether to find a criminal defendant guilty. In Schumer’s parody — titled 12 Angry Men Inside Amy Schumer — the jury (including Jeff Goldblum and Paul Giamatti) debate whether Schumer is hot enough to be on TV. The result is a hilarious extended riff on double standards, male insecurity, representations of beauty in pop culture, and why, exactly, people watch TV in the first place.

5. “Football Town Nights”

This gem takes on none another than beloved football show Friday Night Lights. Josh Charles stars as the Coach Taylor figure, who comes to a new town to implement a radical football scheme — only to find out that his “no raping” rule is a big sticking point. The sketch hilariously excoriates rape culture, as well as the giant wine glasses so often used by the Tami Taylor figures in prestige dramas.

6. “Court of Public Opinion: The Trial of Bill Cosby”

The revelations about long-standing rape accusations against Bill Cosby sent shockwaves through the comedic community. Several comedy shows (BoJack Horseman, The Carmichael Show) addressed the stories either directly or indirectly. Schumer’s, though, may have been the best, for mocking how often the public tends to forgive celebrities for their crimes (even if that didn’t happen in this case).

7. “Betsy Ross”

For the past year, pretty much all of pop culture has been obsessed with Hamilton, the blockbuster hip-hop musical from Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Inside Amy Schumer was no exception. Schumer’s parody focused on U.S. founding mother Betsy Ross, and even brought in Miranda himself to judge. The parody is purposefully pretty bad, doubling as a funny takedown of anyone who thinks Hamilton was easy to pull off.