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Chris Rock to back Amy Schumer for her own HBO comedy special

amy schumer chris rock hbo stand up
Flickr/92YTribeca
Amy Schumer is the hottest ticket in comedy town these days, and Chris Rock is hitching a ride by directing a comedy special starring the comedian on HBO, reports the LA Times.

Schumer has proven herself to be a hilarious comedian, and she’s clearly hit her stride. Between her standup work,  her Comedy Central show Inside Amy Schumer, viral moments like her recent interview on Ellen (which had Ellen in tears she was laughing so hard — see video below), and her video with Tina Fey, Julia Louis Dreyfus, and Patricia Arquette humorously tackling misogyny in Hollywood (NSFW!), it might be easy to forget that Schumer actually got her first big break on the fifth season of NBC’s Last Comic Standing, on which she placed fourth.

The special will take place at the Apollo Theatre on May 29, and is set to debut later this year.

Related: Snopp Dogg rolls up a blunt new family drama for HBO

Inside Amy Schumer is a sketch comedy Schumer created, stars in, and executive produces. The show has been on for three seasons and has already been picked up for a fourth.

Schumer’s comedy stylings tend to be quite bold, sometimes vulgar, often poking fun at herself. She focuses on issues like Hollywood pressures for women to be thin and unrealistically beautiful, and dating in the real world. She often touches on dark topics as well, and doesn’t shy away from personal stories, or sex. She has been said to prefer that her comedy include stories people can relate to. Schumer is also a veteran Comedy Central roaster of sorts, participating in both the roast for Charlie Sheen and Roseanne Barr.

This July, Schumer’s first movie, in which she both wrote and will star, is set to be released. Called Trainwreck, it will co-star Bill Hader of Saturday Night Live fame.

The Unbelievably Hilarious Amy Schumer

Kudos to Rock for seeing the spotlight shining brightly on this gal and moving in to capitalize before it burns out. That said, with three successful seasons of her own show under her belt, and no signs of slowing down, Schumer’s star may be shining for some time to come.

Christine Persaud
Christine has decades of experience in trade and consumer journalism. While she started her career writing exclusively about…
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