5 quick Netflix comedy shows for big laughs in 30 minutes or less

Maybe you’ve been binging your way through Netflix‘s sweeping period drama East of Eden, or perhaps you’re almost done with the dark and bloody thriller that is Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story—both excellent shows. But not every night has to call for a big-time prestige series. Sometimes, you just want to laugh, stat.

The good news is that Netflix U.S. has all kinds of options for doing just that, and below are five great, highly rated comedy shows that are all streaming right now. Some have episodes that are short enough to squeeze in before you head out the door, while others pack a whole season into one lazy afternoon or evening. Either way, the laughs are guaranteed, and the commitment is low.

I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson

The sketch show where every joke goes too far

If you’ve seen the hilarious meme of Tim Robinson in a hot dog suit hunting for the guy who literally just crashed a hot dog car into a building, then you know this show. Robinson, an SNL alum and one of the comedic minds behind Detroiters and HBO’s The Chair Company, is a master of cringe comedy, and in I Think You Should Leave, each sketch is an exercise in someone not backing down no matter how unhinged the situation gets.

Robinson plays most of those stubborn weirdos, often playing opposite his Detroiters co-star Sam Richardson and guests like Andy Samberg, Will Forte, and Fred Armisen. The 97%-rated, Emmy-winning show has three seasons of six episodes, each running roughly 15 to 20 minutes.

Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp

The cult camp classic gets a star-studded prequel

The 2001 movie Wet Hot American Summer may have been a box office bomb, but its rise to cult classic status on cable and DVD is largely due to it being an incubator for some of our biggest comedic stars. If you haven’t seen the movie, do that first. But then come back to this off-the-rails prequel, set on the first day at Camp Firewood in 1981, which reunited the original cast—and even though it’s 14 years later, in First Day of Camp they’re all still playing teenagers.

The marquee camp counselors include slacker Andy (Paul Rudd), theater-obsessed Susie (Amy Poehler) and Ben (Bradley Cooper), love-torn Katie (Marguerite Moreau), and wild child Lindsay (Elizabeth Banks). First Day of Camp brings in a shadowy storyline involving government forces and a secret assassin, with some brilliant guest appearances including Jon Hamm, Kristen Wiig, Jason Schwatzman, and Chris Pine. The 87%-rated show has one season of eight episodes, each about 30 minutes of pure laughter.

Russian Doll

It’s Groundhog Day, but in the East Village

If you love funny time-loop stories like the iconic Groundhog Day,but wouldn’t mind more of an adult, New York edge, then Russian Dollis right on the money. Nadia (Natasha Lyonne) keeps dying on the night of her 36th birthday party, only to keep waking up in the bathroom of party host Maxine’s (Greta Lee), with Harry Nilsson’s Gotta Get Up playing.

Of course, Nadia tries to get to the bottom of it, which leads her to Alan (Charlie Barnett), a stranger she learns is stuck in the same loop. Lee is brilliantly funny, and in season two we get to play with Schitt’s Creek’s excellent Annie Murphy as the show expands from the apartment to a bizarre time-traveling subway. The Emmy-winning, 97%-rated show was co-created by Lyonne, Leslye Headland, and Amy Poehler. There are two seasons of eight and seven episodes, each roughly half an hour.

The Tick (2001)

A superhero spoof that deserved more than a season

While there is already a hilarious version of this superhero satire starring English actor Peter Serafinowicz also streaming on Netflix, I prefer this short-lived and vastly underrated 2001 kick at the can. A live-action version of Ben Edlund’s comic book The Tick, it stars Patrick Warburton as the big blue crime fighter with endless optimism and very little common sense.

The Tick patrols the mean streets with his sidekick Arthur (David Burke), a timid accountant who dresses up like a moth, alongside the patriotic heroine Captain Liberty (Liz Vassey) and Batman rip-off Batmanuel (Nestor Carbonell). If you remember Warburton as Elaine’s meathead boyfriend Puddy from Seinfeld, you’ll totally get The Tick. Foxpulled the plug after one season, which leaves nine episodes of about 22 minutes each. It still holds an excellent 88% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Astronomy Club: The Sketch Show

A sketch show you probably missed but need to see

If you’re not familiar with the Upright Citizens Brigade, it’s the hugely influential improv comedy institution founded in the ’90s by, among others, Amy Poehler and Matt Walsh, and that produced such talents as Kate McKinnon, Aubrey Plaza, and Donald Glover. Astronomy Club was the first all-Black house team at New York’s UCB Theatre, and its lone Netflix season is as sharp and funny as sketch gets.

With a reality-like framing where the eight-member cast—Shawtane Bowen, Jonathan Braylock, Ray Cordova, James III, Caroline Martin, Jerah Milligan, Monique Moses, and Keisha Zollar—play exaggerated versions of themselves sharing a house, à la MTV’s The Real World, they set up and bounce back and forth between absurd, high-concept sketch segments. Standouts include Robin Hood targeting a Black household and Mary Poppins working for a Black family to “Ice Cube Day,” where a few of the boys aggressively dress up like and celebrate Cube, who makes a surprise cameo. The show, which has one season and six 20-minute episodes, has a perfect 100% on Rotten Tomatoes and is my top pick here.

You don’t need a lot of time for big laughs

Just got 30 minutes? That’s more than enough time to knock out an episode or two of Tim Robinson being a hilarious moron. Got an afternoon? Head to Camp Firewood. If you like these suggestions, we can also recommend some thrillers, horror movies, or even some documentaries.