Hasan Minhaj’s Daily Show Setback

🎙️ Listen to this episode:

▶ Spreaker  | 
🍎 Apple Podcasts  | 
🎵 Spotify


Full Transcript

Caloroga Shark Media. If you host a podcast seven days a week and you can’t hear yourself, the answer might be maybe you should plug the headphones in Hello, I’m Johnny Mack with your Daily Comedy News. Hasan Minhaj’s bubblicist. You get a raise for the wax job a new cover story in Esquire magazine. Minaj confirmed to Esquire that, yep, the daily show job was his.

Hassan says, we were in talks and I had the gig, and we were pretty much good to go. Then there was that infamous profile of Hassan and The New Yorker that fact checked some of his jokes. It was revealed that Hasan Minhaj had embellished several stories for stand up as and because of that, no daily show for you, he said, that’s part of show biz. Esquire says. In the aftermath of the story, Hassan minhajh spoke with other comedians were friends and mentors.

Mike bur Bigley and Rama Yusef reached out, so did John Mulaney and John Stewart. He spent hours on the phone with them. Hassan says, I remember John Stewart called and he said, why the f are they doing this and who does this benefit? Well benefits John Stewart, He’s back on Mondays. It was painful, There’s no doubt about it.

It was the first time I saw the speed velocity of the Internet and how quickly a story can take off. That part of it was new to me and disorienting. The most painful thing is my wife and parents, to see them hurt, to see them engage with so I’m reading this on the internet. That’s so painful. I’m the eldest.

I feel really, really sad that I let my parents down. I’m very lucky they got to see many beautiful highs of my career. Watching them experience a painful moment and embarrassing moment in your career, I wish I didn’t put them through that, And that’s the tough part. After the Big kerfluffle, Hassan told Variety, all my stand up stories are based on events that happened to me. I use the tools of stand up comedy hyperbole, changing names and locations, and compressing timelines to tell entertaining stories.

That’s inherent to the art form. You wouldn’t go to a haunted house and say, why are these people lying to me? The point is the ride stand up is the same. You know, all that is really fair. But I also I’ll understand why the Daily Show was like, oh, we can’t do this.

At the time Hassan spoke to Ronny Chieng Ching’s reaction, I didn’t think it was as serious as it was, and in some ways I still don’t think it’s so serious as it was. The cultural gatekeepers loved him. I found it surprising that the cultural gatekeepers would turn on him so quickly and not give him the benefit of the doubt. Nikki Glaser told Indy Wire popping down on the couch after that set, the Brady Roast was maybe the greatest feeling I’ll ever have in my life, the amount of relief of nailing it when it’s live, when you’re on your period and you thought it ended, but it just started again right before you walked on stage. And there were no tampons in the key of form, so you had to use a folded up napkin and make yourself a pad which was only being hung in plaze by a tiny strip of spandex on your thong that could fall out at any second.

There were so many things that could have gone wrong on live TV in that moment. I don’t know if I’ll ever have a moment in my career like that again. And I’m totally okay if I don’t, because I felt it once and that was enough. The Daily Mail spoke to Matt friend. Friend says, while studying at NYU, he took any chance he could get to immerse himself in the world of comedy.

Matt says, I was very obsessed and focused. It became my extracurricular activity. I’d go to class and I I’d go an open mic, and I was getting a name for myself. I was getting paid spots in the comedy club while I was still in school, and I was feeling the momentum build.

And then the pandemic hit.

I’m sitting in home with my parents and my sister, and I was like, what do I do? He created a mini late night talk show he called Quarantine. He produced more than fifty episodes of the sketch Show. He wrote a topical monologue and conducted interviews. He did Now, I don’t claim to know everything, Okay, I really don’t, but I’ve been hosting this particular podcast since twenty nineteen, pre pandemic.

And believe me, during the pandemic, I was looking for things to talk about. You know, it’s not like everybody was on tour. It’s not like any of us were leaving the house every single day. I minimum prep will google the word comedy, and I will google the word comedian. I don’t recall ever hearing one thing until just now about quarantine.

Really, this exists. I gotta google this, Okay, it exists. One video from four years ago, Quarantine with Matt Friends. He’s in two premiere has six hundred and eighty seven views. That’s not a lot anyway.

He produced more than fifty episodes of the Sketch Show. He wrote a topic called monologue, and conducted interviews. Really, but it was pivoting the social media that really changes his life. During the pandemic, Jimmy Kimmel started talking about Friends Impressions, which triggered a wave of media interest, including getting a spot on Hoda and Jenna. Matt says they did a bit with them, and then all these media appearances started to happen, and my following was starting to build.

As for working on the Impressions, he says, it just kind of happens. I watch a lot of the movies, I read a lot of the books, I watch a lot of shows. I’m very up to date with what’s happening in pop culture and politics. And as a result of that, I just kind of hear the voices of the character and then I start doing it. I couldn’t tell you it’s a process.

I don’t sit down in practice. It just starts. It just sort of happens. When Howard Stern got wind of the impression he had friend on his show, yeah, I mean, I guess my opinion is coming true here right. Howard is okay?

But like Howard hasn’t been relevant in twenty years. Like yeah, and we all do, Jimmy Stuart, we all do Ronald Reagan. So let me move on Cracked. Talk to Jay Farrow. He does some impressions.

I personally, you may disagree. I think Jay Farrow’s impressions are way better than mad friends. Jay Farrow said, I remember the first time I made a crowd laugh. I was five years old. I pressed through security to get to my pastor.

He had security like the club. I just pushed. I don’t know how I did it. I know how I was allowed to do it. I pushed through everybody.

They said, excuse me, excuse me. A little five year old and I’m talking to him and he asked me, hey, man, can you fight? And I’m like yeah, I’m like Muhammad Ali, you want to see and everybody starts laughing. I would always say slick stuff as a kid. Uncle Patrick he would pay attention.

He was keen to it. I was really shy around my parents. Everybody else knew, but they didn’t because I was shy around them. My parents are hilarious. They’re really funny.

So my measure of comedy will always come from them. Are they laughing even when they come to a show or something. I don’t give a damn about anybody else in the room. I’m looking at them. My first impression was Gilbert Godfried.

There was this thing called the Virginia Idol Talent Search where I got up at a comedy club three hundred people. I got fifth place. The only people in front of me were four singers. I’m good with that. I’m not going to beat Beyonce.

I was sixteen years old. To be that young and get that was a boost of confidence. Other impressions, he says, will Smith was one at first, but then a lot of mini mes were born. They started doing him. People have it down like seventy five percent, but they’re not one hundred.

Will Smith finally commented on the video I did, and he was like, yeah, next time I got to do some ADR, I’m definitely calling you Shannon Sharp. He didn’t like it at first, then I refine it. Now he likes it. Looking back at it. It wasn’t as good as it is now.

When I first did it, it was like I was mocking him and not really doing the impression. Once I dialed into it, it became one of the good ones.


And then Kanye, but you know that doesn’t count because he just has a problem…

And he talked about Saturday Night Live because I don’t know if you know this, SNL’s turning fifty. We were going to talk about SNL every day for the next nine months. He said, come on, man, it’s SNL. I feel like I’m getting old, but I feel good to be part of such a prestige institution. You’re not going to get higher than that.

As far as sketch comedy goes, it’s literally the NFL of sketch comedy. I feel good to be part of that history and actually be invited back for the fiftieth. You know, everybody I can get the invite really interesting. I wonder who didn’t get the invite, So the fact that I got sent three of them, I thought one was spam. Then I’d show up, but it would just be a check.

I won’t talk about the SNL premiere tomorrow. I had to record this one rather early to accommodate my schedule. Because I recorded a few episodes early to accommodate for said schedule. I haven’t had a chance to tell you about Ellen DeGeneres a special which I watched. I like it.

I’ve added it to my list of things that I will mention at the end of the year when I do an episode or two of best specials of the year. It’s not in the top group. My takeaway is twofold. I like Ellen’s stand up comedy. Some of you are going to throw your phone through the window as I remind you for the million time that I used to program serious XM comedy and I currently program the comedy on the Live one app.

By the way, sidebar, I should probably remember to promote the weekly comedy thing. It is a weekly show I host on the Live one app, So it’s like this, except I can actually play the bits, so I talk a lot less. For example, the Jay Farrell story, I’ll tell the fifteen second version of that and then play Jay Farrow. I’ll tell you fifteen seconds about Ellen and then play Ellen. So it’s called the weekly comedy thing.

The app is called Live one. The app is free, the show is free. You should do it. Having program comedy for who is it twenty five? You know it’s twenty to twenty something like that twenty something years.

I have always been a fan of Ellen DeGeneres’s stand up work, and in her current special you see bits and pieces of it. She has a wonderful bit about a pigeon that I don’t want to spoil. What I didn’t like about the special is it’s such a victory lap, like that review I shared with you about the standing Oh, they weren’t kidding. The standing oh goes on and on and on and on, and there’s a couple of points in the special it’s not even clapped. It’s just Ellen says a sentence and the audience just claps.

It’s like an athlete’s final game. I know it’s positioned as her final special. The whole thing is just weird. Somewhere in there is some really good material, but the pacing is just off. Not because of Ellen, but because of the crowd.

Though she did stand there for four minutes and soak in the standing ovation, she could have easily put up her hand and told the audience to shut the hell up so I can get back to stand up. She didn’t. In Soviet Union podcast downloads You, Yakhov’s Smirn Office launched his first ever podcast, The Comedy Couch. In the new show, Yakov combines his comedic genius with his psychology degree to analyze what makes the world’s top comedience tick. That.

Isn’t Neil Brennan doing that, isn’t Craig ferguson’t doing that? Doesn’t Mark Marra do that? Yakoff digs into their past, childhood and family stories while sharing his own unique journey. Funny, insightful, and packed with unforgettable moments, this podcast offers a fresh take on comedy and what’s behind the laughter? Sure, I mean, what’s a fresher take on comedy?

Then Yakov’s off Sean you’re a hater today, am I? I guess? Ben Stiller is working on a pickleball movie called The Dink. Jake Johnson will lead. He plays a washed up tennis pro in order to save a club in crisis.

Does the one thing he swore it never do, play pickleball. Ed Harris will be in this movie. That’s great. How old’s ed? Now?

Though Ed’s seventy three, all right, I can see him playing some pickleball. Ben Stiller and former tennis champion Andy Roddick will have supporting roles. And let me clear this one out. I’ve been sitting on this one for a while, and I think I can get my half assed impression of work today. Matt Barry spoke to The New York Times.

They were curious, what can we learn from your character Laslow? Matt Barry said, he attacks and grabs life. I suppose to letting things happen. He has no interest in technology or any kind of science. He thinks it’s mostly nonsense, and I quietly envy that.

What’s the fun of playing Laslow? Matt Berry said improvising was obviously encouraged and expected. That’s where I’m happiest to sit and trade insults with the others in character. It’s such good fun as ever a bit of scene so outlantish that you’ve resisted it. No, because I’m in favor of things being highly ridiculous and hopefully memorable, I would encourage it.

Are there any vampire powers that you would enjoy? I don’t think so. Other than advance hearing, there isn’t anything that I be interested in. I mean, I suppose the flying bat thing, but you’ve got to turn into a bat. That’s your comedy news for today.

If you enjoy the program, tell a friend about it too. If you would like this thing without commercial interruption, there’s a link in the show notes tell you how that thing works. Yep, yep, yep. You could do that. See anymore

Bob’s Burgers returns…. or does it? The Bob’s Burgers Mandela Effect explained!

🎙️ Listen to this episode:

▶ Spreaker  | 
🍎 Apple Podcasts  | 
🎵 Spotify


Full Transcript

Caloroga Shark Media. Hey, I’m Johnny Mack with your Daily Comedy News. Bob’s Burgers supposedly returns for season fifteen tonight. Now I have two questions for you. Longtime listeners know the questions and they’ve thought about it, and they know that I’m right.

If you’re new, let me ask you two questions here. One, have you ever seen Bob’s Burgers? You haven’t. I know you think you have it. I’m gonna explain why you think you have, but you haven’t.

And more interesting to me, have you ever met anyone who has seen Bob’s Burgers? You haven’t. Isn’t that weird? So I looked more into this, and it seems a lot of people are talking about how Bob’s Burgers doesn’t exist. Some of the theories theory one mass misremembering.

Millions of people genuinely believe that they’ve watched Bob’s Burgers. Like some of you listening to my voice right now, I get it. I know you’re like Johnny Mack’s doing a bit, He’s crazy. These are false memories. What has happened is people’s minds are constructing entire episodes from the promotional materials and discussions about the fake show.

The marketing for Bob’s Burgers was so effective that it created artificial nostalgia. People remember watching it as part of their Sunday night routine, but those memories were subtly implanted through clever advertising. Fox was smart. They had Joe Buck promote Bob’s Burgers, knowing darn well after the football game you were going to switch over to NBC and watch Sunday night football. Fox doesn’t even air anything on Sunday nights.

They go dark. I know you think the Simpsons is still on. When’s the last time you watched the Simpsons nineteen ninety four. It’s a big hoax. At least the Simpsons did exist at one point.

Switch over to Fox tonight around I don’t know nine see what’s on? Nothing. These shows, plotlines and characters have seeped in a popular culture through memes, merchandise, and discussions, creating the illusion of a source material that doesn’t actually exist. The idea of Bob’s Burgers has spread as a meme, with people to dicussing and referencing a show they’ve never seen, but they believe it must exist because everyone else seems to know about it. There’s also the concept of the digital phantom.

Proponents of the Bob’s Burger’s conspiracy theory like me will point out to you, in the age of streaming in digital media, it’s become impossible to distinguish between shows we’ve actually watched and those we’ve just seen discussed online.

And then I like this theory.

It’s the quantum theory. Bob’s Burgers exists in a state of quantum superposition, simultaneously real and non existent until somebody tries to actually watch an episode, at which point the show disappears and doesn’t exist, kind of like Schroedener’s Cat, but Bob’s Burger’s anyway. Feel free to discuss this in the Facebook group Daily Comedy News podcast group. There’s no such show. Have you seen it?

No? Have you met anyone who’s seen it? No. Weird Al is coming back. After taking two years off touring, Weird Al’s embarking on his Bigger and Weirder tour.

He’s even playing Madison Square Garden in New York and the Key of Form in La. His last tour was stripped down, this time back to normal with all the costumes and visuals and fans have come to expect from weird Al. Wow. I can’t believe he’s playing stadiums. I saw him in the local theater, which was awesome.

I don’t know if I would go all the way to Madison Square Garden to see Weird Al, because going to New York City from where I lives a pain in the neck. I won’t read the whole thing. But some cities you’ve heard of Las Vegas, Boston, Philly, Palmer, Alaska, San Diego, Phoenix, LA Nashville. Pretty cool. He remember.

John m’laney is joining that Simon Rich Broadway production all in comedy about love. Apparently it’s the new trendy thing. Some people have joined Lynn Manuel Miranda. Now he’s not a comedian, but you know somebody worth mentioning. Lynn will take over for John Mulaney as the lead once mullaney rotates out.

Also, part of the second cast will be Jimmy Fallon. Wow.


Also Adie Bryant, Tim Meadows, and David Cross.

Oh. Hankaz Aria also rounds out the cast. Wow, that’s gonna be a thing. Greg Fitzimmons said, Joe Rogan and I started comedy the same week we went to Stitches Comedy Club in Boston the same week and sign up to do five minutes. Then he was dating my roommates, so we basically lived in the same apartment.

When we first started. The show was the Monday night open mic show and it was called Comedy Hell. The mc a guy named George McDonald, would get up at the beginning of the show and his first words were, welcome to comedy Hell, where the pipe dreams of a bunch of comedy bozos can sore as high as the lights on Broadway, or crash and burn in a fiery pit known only as comedy Hell. One night we went out and Bill Hicks was in town. We’d only be doing comedy year, but he was probably the biggest influence on both of us.

He was just a guy who wasn’t gonna budge for the crowd. Boston crowds were tough. If they didn’t like you, they just shut down. And when they started shutting down on him, he went, oh, really, well, how about this, and he would drag out abortion jokes and they started leaving. Mike Cannon’s special Traumatized Animal is out today on Christa Stefano’s YouTube channel.

Chris is also the specials producer, taped in April at the New York Comedy Club in Stamford, Connecticut. Traumatized Animal provides an irreverent, honest look at parenting as a millennium father looking to break the chain of generational trauma, and an hour jam pack with jokes and stories. Mike candidly speaks about his own mental health struggles and love for his child and one on the way, as well as deep dives in his own childhood while breaking down how it is impacted his approaches a father. This is a relentless and refreshingly authentic hour of comedy from a comedian who’s ready to launch. Cannon tells the eight hundred Pound Guerrilla News this special means a lot to me for a multitude of reasons.

I put a tremendous amount of work into the material over the last two years, and I think comedically it’s the strongest and most personal hour I’ve ever put out. I’ve also managed to make it a family affair. Who was produced by my best friend christ de Stefano. It’s directed by my former podcast producer and collaborator, Nicole Lyons. My wife designed the floral arrangement on stage, and both my sisters performed the original song and the credits.

The cast of VEEP is hosting a virtual table read in a half of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. Today. The cast will reunite for a table read of the episode Create, in which Vice President Selena Meyer finds out that the president is stepping down and Shield take his place. Juliet’s all the Hollywood Reporter. We try to find an old episode where President Meyer accused immigrants of eating dogs and cats.

But back when we were making VP, that seemed insane and over the top. Staying political. Both The Daily Show and Stephen Colbert will air live episodes on the East Coast after the VP debate on October first. Both shows did the same thing after the presidential debate that week. Colbert doubled his audience.

Michael ian Black as a substack. Actually, so do I I should remember from my substack. It’s free mcdeepod dot substack dot com. Like in the show notes, mondays, I write about music Tuesday, I often write about podcasting. Wednesday, I give podcasting recommendations, and then the other days I write about whatever I want.

I really don’t write about comedy on there because if I want to talk about comedy. I have this. It’s not like I’m anti comedy, but like it’s my outlet for other things. Anyway, check it out. Michael ian Black has one like his a lot.

He wrote about going to the dentist and said, if you’re one of those people who thinks going to the dentist isn’t so bad, ask yourself this. What other doctor gives you presents on the way out? Doctor does this? Sure, pediatricians give stickers, but no other medical profession has to bribe their clients with actual parting gifts. No other doctor of swag bags your eye doctors and like, thanks for stopping by, here’s a free pair of sunglasses.

No, only dentists do this because they know you’ve been traumatized and they’re trying to shut you up. That little bag of mini tooth bases and toothbrushes is their nda. In fact, is a good chance they’ve killed me today for speaking out and going to the dentist today. If I don’t make it back, you know why. Liz Meely is taping her six stand up specials called Space Camp at the Bellhouse in Brooklyn.

Today. Mike Kaplan spoke to Columbus Underground about starting out and said, when I was starting out, I would say I didn’t know what I was doing. I just knew write and perform as much as possible, and that’s why any idea that I had was precious to me. I’d come up with a thousand things, and maybe only a couple of them would work, but I didn’t know I’d be able to keep coming up with things. I thought any idea was worth something, I throw it out the wall to see what’s stuck.

I was more led around by the audience’s reaction, and the audience reaction is valuable, but in the beginning I was more acting jokes than telling jokes, sort of like, hey, audience, what about this joke? And they’re like, should you be telling us? Through the course of time, I became better and more confident in what I’m doing. I’m excited now that I know that I don’t have to just try everything, see what the audience responds to and head in that direction. I can spend more time delving more deeply into ideas that I want to that I care about, that I want to share with people, and do my best to attract people to those ideas.

Rather than throwing ideas to where I think the people are, which is often going to be a losing proposition. And that is your comedy news for today. If you enjoy the program, tell a friend about it. They might like it too. Follow my substack.

It’s free. Talked about that already. I host another podcast. It’s called five Good News Stories. Number five Good News Stories and tell you five stories.

And they’re all kind of happy, smile stories, Guinness records, lost animals, coming home, quirky things in the news. There was one about an suv that wound up on top of a dumpster. I’ll cut to the chase there a construction worker was mad at where somebody parked. If you’d like the program without commercial interruption, there’s a link in the show notes that I’ll tell you how that works, all right, See tomorrow.

Shain Brenden on Either Way, Pretty Funny (and a Taylor Swift hot take!)

🎙️ Listen to this episode:

▶ Spreaker  | 
🍎 Apple Podcasts  | 
🎵 Spotify


Full Transcript

Caloroga Shark Media. Benner Johnny Mack with your Daily Comedy News. Today, my guest is Shane Brendan. I loved Shane. This was such an easy flowing conversation.

We really hit it off. He’s got a new album. It came out yesterday. It’s called either Way, Pretty Funny. We’ll talk about that, and I kind of dragged Shane into some of my comedy snobbery along the way.

I really clicked with this guy. I like him a lot. Here’s Shane Brendan. So my new attempt to get listeners. As I’m asking comedians about Taylor Swift so I can put in the episode title, Shane Brennan says, Taylor Swift is.

Is is probably not great for the NFL. Oh. I like that. That’s a good hot take. I’m a college football guy more so than an NFL guy.

But I think if Taylor was slipped, she’s such a distraction from what’s really going on. And I believe that if I were in the chief’s locker room, if I had a problem with all the shine that my teammates girl is getting instead of focusing on like me as I don’t know, Patrick Holmes or something, like that. Then I would internalize that because that would it would break down team dynamics if I came to you like, yo, why is your girl always getting all the coverage? Dog like? So because of that, I’m burying all that.

I’m burying what i really feel inside. And while we’re at practice, I’m not even focused on the game or what we’re supposed to be doing because I’m so heated thinking about the things I want to say to Kelsey about his lady being in all the games. It’s gonna basically, she is a yoko for the Chiefs Kansas City. He’s going to lose the football team. And you know what, that’s fine, That’s fine.

I don’t like them anyway. Hey, you gave me in my episode headline great talking next Lite, So my take on Taylor that we’ll actually talk about comedy. So I grew up in the Northeast, so Springsteen is our god, and I’ve seen Springsteen fifty times, and then I went to see Taylor Swift. And I would tell you this after seeing Taylor Swift. If Bruce and the guys want to tell me, hey, we’re going to stand at one end of the arena and play guitars for two and a half hours.

That’s nice. I’m no longer impressed like she put on yeah, I mean show. I’m not taking anything away from her as far as being an entertainer. From what I hear, she is phenomenal, but hey, keep it to your arena, all right, don’t bring it to our arena. Let’s let us watch in football.

She’s really bad at rooting. Kelsey will do something, and she’s just over the top with the hugging everybody in the skybox. It just seems very good try. I talked shit, but I would also if I got an invite to be in that box, I’d be there in a heartbeat. Hang now, of course I would.

I dug enough of a whole forest. Let’s talk comedy. You’ve got an album and an album? Why an audio album? It is called either way pretty funny, but why on an album.

I didn’t realize that it was weird that I was only putting out an album until I started talking to people about it. I didn’t think anything about it. Everybody’s putting out specials, all right, or you can call it a special you can. Well oh wait, yes, let me jump in there, because that’s one of my pet Peeves, no problem anybody putting out anything. But I think we’ve gotten a little carried away with here’s my latest special.

Now I’ve talked about this with other comics. I don’t know where the line is. But at one end I’ll put George Carlin at Carnegie Hall, and at the other end it’s somebody’s eight minutes on Tuesday Night at Chuckle Hut. Those two things are not equal. I think there’s some combination of who you are and what’s the room.

Right. So if Adam Sandler plays the Chuckle Hut on Tuesday Night and puts it out a special, if somebody else plays Carnegie Hall on a Saturday night in the middle of the New York Comedy Festival, that’s a special. But somewhere in there, I’m with you. So I distracted you. But yeah, not every.

Yeah, I mean, I’ll be honest. I came up when I was when I first started, I was like anybody else that gets in the comedy. I found the albums. I found the Kyle Kanaines, the Pete Holmes and the Lewis Blacks. I found all their stuff and their albums, and I just listened to them religiously.

Right, and then later on I was like, oh, yeah, there’s specials. Let me watch these specials, you know what I mean? And me and with these guys I mean too. This was like I find like their first record, and I listened to it over and over again. I even did that thing a lot of comics do, as you just start doing bad impersonations of your heroes, like I was basically doing Kanang for the first two years of doing open mics and all that, and then you start watching their specials after a couple of years in and it’s special then not to say, look, I’m putting out a record.

This is my first album. I love it. It’s basically the first decade and some change of me trying to figure out how to do stand up, figuring out some bits, and then figuring out about forty five fifty minutes worth of stuff that I’m like, Okay, if people listen to this today or in ten years, I’ll still be okay with it, But is this a special It is not the next thing I do. Hopefully I will have leveled up and I feel confident in myself and they’ll be like a I guess a kind of demand. But if I put a special out.

You wouldn’t be talking to another comic in my head. My name wouldn’t pop up in your head. Like not everybody’s putting out something special. I want my Special to be special. But yeah, people are like, why did you.

Do the visuals? I did? We did do visuals, and it’s just to chop up. And throw out there on socials, just to stir the product a little bit. But I don’t think I ever had any plans on putting out The first thing I ever do, like on my YouTube page is hey, check out my special because it ain’t special.

I love that it’s an album. Quick on me. I run Serious XM comedy for ten years. I run the comedy properties at Live one slacker, so I schedule comedy albums. So I’m a bit snobby about this.

It bothers me when Dave Chappelle wins the Grammy for Best Comedy Album, when I love Dave, but I’m not sure what he’s doing is a comedy album as opposed to what you’re doing. I hope you win the Grammy because you are putting out a comedy album. But that’s neither here nor there. But I love it because as things have trended more towards video. A lot of stuff’s not coming out for audio.

And there are all these artists that I want to play and I would play the heck out of but there’s stuff just doesn’t exist in an audio format. Part of that is a royalties Wardora get it, totally get it. But it just sucks that the old school album has gone. Yeah. Yeah, so I’m fighting a good fight by just putting out an album.

But also it’s just like put out something I’m already when I’m working and I’m going on the road. It’s I finally have something that I can push besides stick or some small pins or something like that. Hey you like that I just did. There, here’s the whole hour worth of stuff you didn’t hear merched. I think I’m thinking I’m about ten years behind the time to all this.

I don’t know how this is going to affect my career, but I just like it this way. It’s great. I’ve got a couple of years on you. We used to go to the record stores when that was the thing, and there’d be a big barrel of the nice price and there was always Carlon cassettes in there. That’s how I found a bunch of his early stuff.

Anybody my age can probably do Eddie Murphy’s special from memory. The Raw Delirious one hasn’t aged so well. Ye, it’s funny. When I went back and watched that randomly, maybe during the pandemic. After five minutes in, I was like, damn, all right, shit, forgot how this goes.

Yeah, it’s interesting that I think all art you’d have to judge it by its time, because I was there in nineteen eighty three. I was a kid. Nobody was walking around going, oh Eddie Murphy cut that out. We were all laughing around a little different times. Yeah.

Yeah, So I’m curious. I’d love to know more about Don’t Tell Comedy and your involvement with it. I’m seeing every day there’s an article about it. As I put this podcast together, I’m seeing more and more articles about it. So how did you get involved with that?

And you’re programming the Portland Room like just I’d like to know everything about it. I met Kyle Guy who runs Hotel the CEO there. We met years ago when I was doing Sketch Fest in San Francisco and he was brand new. He I think he was at one of my shows, showcases and hanging out, and he was like, hey man, I’m doing this little private show at some rich kids parents’ house. Do you want to jump in?

I’ll get you some extra bucks. I was like sure. So it was like me in a comic buddy of mine, Steph Tola, We drove down there. It was in somebody’s living room and they had a little poster in the back that just said don’t tell well the lady’s lips and like that. It looked like an Ashley Madison poster.

And I was like, this is cool. What do you do. I’m just trying to set up stand up shows and places like the private events and places to what you wouldn’t expect, so people’s houses, backyards, stuff like that. I was like, all right, this is pretty cool man. And we kept in touch and then over the years, yeah, once they started filming sets.

Like I said, we had cross. Paths a couple of times just doing festivals stuff like that. So I always followed what they were doing.

And then he hit me up.

He said, hey man, I want you to get on and tape your little set, tape a set of your own for one of these little showcases that we’re doing. I actually had to do two. Went down to Santa Monica and did the first one, but that crowd was so dog shit that no one. Everyone had to take their set over again because I don’t know, it’s a Santa Monica crowd. These people they saw the cameras around, so they all just tightened up.

No one, no one got anything. So they brought us all back. Went to Santa Barbara. Better crowd killed that one and then that came out. But yeah, once they started spreading out all over the country, he knew that I was up here in Portland and he was like, would you be interested in bringing down Tell up there?

And I almost didn’t do it because I’m like, hey, man, I live here, but I’m not really here that much anymore. Starting to work very bad B and C rooms. I’m out there. So yeah, but I got a buddy of mine who’s another Portland comic. I was like, if I can bring in another guy to help me co produce, we’ll do it.

And I’m glad we did it because it really is a great show to have in a local scene because a lot of the comics that come from out of town too. They’ll hit us up like, hey, I heard you got it. Don’t tell. I’m doing like a one nighter at the Helium on a Thursday. Are you gonna do it?

Don’t tell on a Friday. I’m like yeah, so we can piggyback off what the clubs are doing, and these comics coming in you can get a little extra cash in their pocket. And some of these people that are that maybe have never been to a comedy club. BUTOK know a boy, some of these bigger names from social media and stuff that they’re surprises hell when they walk in and I don’t know, like a Ralph Barbosa is here in a sneaker shop for some reason on a Friday. So I think it’s a good thing to have in like mid level scenes, b scenes other than the Austin’s, the New York and LA’s.

So I’m glad I’m part of it. As a performer. Is it weird? I have so many questions about the setup. So let’s say we’re at a sneaker shop.

Is there a riser? Is there stage? You just flat with the audience? What are they sitting on it? Like?

All right? For instance, the sneaker shop is one of our popular go to spots it seats about seventy five eighty. You’re performing in front of a wall of sneakers. This is not like a foot locker or anything like that in the mall. These are like expensive, like a boutique, high end sneaker cool hip.

It’s also like an NBA like retro clothing store. So it’s got all the chotchkes and it’s like a cool vibe atmosphere. Crowd is into it, they’re close, they’re right there. We got lights, we got the cameras, we got the whole setup.


And then on the upstand of the spectrum, we have this place called Hallowed H…

So we have the whole spectrum of venues. The craziest thing about Don’t Tell is these people don’t know where it’s going to be until the day of. They don’t know who’s going to be there, but they always sell out. It makes you think, like for years, like comics, are we putting too much priority on how cool our poster is in all that stuff and who’s there? Because these people are buying tickets and they have no idea who’s going to be there.

So you’re selling like a you’re selling a night out, You’re selling a whole vibe that is buying it blind. As that brand grows, is there more pressure to make sure you’ve got an a list or a solid headliner in There are people coming to shows and be like, oh, it’s just six regular points whatever. I don’t feel the pressure. HEYK where you live. I know where I live, don’t.

The dontels in LA are way different than the down tails in Portland. I had a lady we always we like to ask people what they have been here before when they’re checking in, and one lady goes, yeah, I’ve been the one in LA saw a bunch of famous people. I was like, cool, you ain’t seen that tonight, but thank you for coming, and they had a good time. The pressure is just to make sure we don’t put on a shift show and just book good comics that get people their money’s worth. I guess it’s just like any other show.

So as a producer can mean many things. I’m just really curious about the logistics of this. Are you showing up early, are you plugging in speakers? Are you running the room? You’re get everybody.

I do everything for me between me and my buddy Brent Lowry is another good twenty Portland comic. Don’t Tell is an exercise and how well you can pack chairs and equipment into a super cross track and how in time management, Like if we want doors at seven point thirty and I live thirty minutes away and this place will only open the doors to us at six point thirty, can me and another guy successfully set up one hundred and ten shares, two spotlights, a PA system and make the lineup and make sure these knuckleheads show up the comics on time, and then afterwards make sure we go in into the system so everybody can get paid. So you’re doing everything you get paid, but Don’t Tell also gets paid and the comics get paid too. It’s it’s like just producing and running your own show. But the cushion, I guess the safety that is.

I know that Don’t Tell I was going to promote the hell out of it. They do a lot of targeted ads and all that, so they’re spending money to make sure people there’s butts and seats that way, I know I’m not setting all these comics up. Most of my friends to come to a half empty room and have a boring show, you know what I mean. So yeah, every show you can basically bank on it being a good a good packed out crowd. That’s the one thing you can guarantee from a comics perspective.

Are you running into knucklehead? No show? A shame? Bro? Sorry, man, I’m meant to make it.

But it’s all right. I just can’t. Like we’re the guys. There’s been There’s one guy in particular I can think up, but he flakes on everyone. And that’s just that’s the character flaw for you.

But it’s not so much that people not showing up. The problem is when you’re in a scene. The problem is there are a lot of comics that know you are a booker for Dometeo, and they they will bug you and bug you about getting a spot, and it’s just like you walk that fine line. I’m not trying to hurt anybody’s feelings, but I’m just like, man, I’ll try to get you something, but it’s just like I’ve just seen you each shit all over town every opportunity you can, and then you’re always. Hammered around me.

Hey man, when you’re gonna give me a spot. It’s just it’s not gonna have a brother. That’s the hard part is trying to like duck and dodge people who just be funny on stage, and then word will get around and be like, yo, you should book so and so. Don’t wait until I’m at a bar and look, Shane’s with three drinks. He looks like he’s vulnerable.

Now let me ask him for a spot, because that has happened in the past, and that has worked in the past, and I’m not gonna do it anymore. Yeah, there is. And again I’m a guy in a basement recording a podcast. But I’ve been, as I’ve called it, show Visit bab adjacent for most of my career. And you got to learn how to roll.

You got to learn that when there’s a time to ask, and when there’s a time to all right, Shane’s just at the bar with his friends, like, hey man, we do my podcast. Yeah yeah, it’s people get very creative when they want to get booked for things. And I guess call me old school again, but I can’t up at a time where it’s it’s say hey, if you want to get booked, just try to do well for the people that you know, like you walk too a venue. Oh okay, I recognize that’s so and she books that show, that so and so he books that show. Let me maybe not do all new stuff tonight for fifteen minutes.

Maybe let me just try to do my best ten so these people will be like, huh, that guy was pretty funny. Maybe I should put it on my show. To me, it sounds like so simple, but man, some of these kids are just like they focused on They’re focused on everything but what they’re doing on stage to get known, to get numb followers, to get booked. I’m just like, oh dude, this sucks so bad. You brought a couple of things to mind.

All right, let me in order on my mental list. So back to the hustle culture and comedy albums. So when we first started playing comedy records on serious this was a new thing, right. There was no comedy radio before. You couldn’t do it on FM, can’t play anything.

So satellite radio comes along. We start playing the records and we start hearing from artists, you’re stealing my material, you’re burning my stuff. Nobody’s coming to see me, right, So we go through that. Then some comics realized, oh, I’m being heard on serious and more people know who I am and they’re coming to see me. But then the royalty check showed up.

I saw a pretty and known comedian one time backstage, and I was his best friend because he had just gotten an eighty thousand dollars royalty check. So suddenly we went from thieves to oh, how come you’re not playing my stuff? Can you play my stuff more? Can you play my stuff? And I said, no, I’m playing Louis c.

K. It’s two thousand and five. Yeah, man, the hustle you’re talking with the hustle culture. I think it’s just like with the clips, with the crowd word stuff and all that, the pressure to have to post clips every day or multiple times a week. It’s just sometimes I get upset, but I’m just like, hey, the algorithm, the industry is rewarding these folks because they’re doing.

What I guess the algorithm of what people. Want right now, which is every day there’s a crowd work bit or some or just a half baked premise, there’s something, but there’s something every day, and I can’t get mad that this person will get followers and get all this stuff because I’m not doing it because I, hey, don’t do crowd work and be I’m not going to throw out a half baked premise just because it’s Tuesday and it’s twelve thirty and the algorithm says I need to do it. Maybe I’m not hustling as much as I should be. I’m just working on it’s the joke. No, I yeah, I was going to ask you about feeding the beast.

It’s got to be just like you said, just relentless. When YouTube shorts came out, I played around with a little bit of pulling shorter clips from this show and putting them up and you’d see you to get like this little burst of I don’t know, three thousand views in an hour, and then just it would go straight to zero. And it was like, all right, what is this? I’m just a dumb podcast, but you know it is it actually converting to anything, and I have to feed it every day.


And then I imagining you’re up on stage age, maybe not you, but somebody else…

Let me work this clown in the front row with the orange sweater to pull eight minutes. I get three days of clips out of that. You could see it in the room. I’ve been on shows where I’ve seen some comics they’re just going through their material, but then someone will pipe up and then they just change. They snapped their like, oh this is a moment I can let me do the crowd work.

Let me this is the clippable moment, you know what I mean. And they get that and then they’re out. And like I said, I used to be a big hater. I’m trying to tell myself now, hey, don’t hate. It’s just not my cup of tea.

It’s not meant for me. So I’m just like, all right, that’s what they’re doing. You do that. Everybody has their own journey, so to speak or whatever. But it didn’t make it any better.

When one of my good buddies is Canane and he takes I go, I’m on the road with him for his tour and all this stuff now and he is me and him sidn’t basically talk about what me. You’re talking right now. Just the crowd work guys, And not everybody does crowd work as ship. There’s great at it. There’s a there’s a bunch of people that are great at it, or a handful of people that are great at it, but then there’s just a majority of the people that are out there that people see on the internet are terribles.

And then that makes a crowd that makes people think that, hey, you know what, I’m going to go. I like these people online, these crowd work guys. Let me go to my local comedy club or just some local show.


And then those are the people that start chirping ash you, and then they’re c…

They’re like, well, no, I thought this was no I’m just helping I’m just trying to help you out. Bro. Like earnestly, they’re not trying to be dicks. They just think, but my favorite guy on on TikTok does this, I’m just trying to help you. I think you’re fornny too, which is a real thing that some bro said to me after a I chewed him out after I thought you were really funny man.

I was just trying to give you some prompts or something to go off of, and I was just like, no, dude, please don’t do that work. There’s a generation and I’m on old Man Mountain now growing up flipping through things on TikTok on their phone. Who don’t I don’t want to use the word understand, but and I don’t want to explain comedy to a comedian. But the art of the callback, the art of the line I said here was set up seventeen minutes ago. There’s at arc to it, which is a lot different than comedian Slam’s heckler.

Yeah, you’re right, Yeah, you’re absolutely right. There’s no way any of these new I wouldn’t even call them comedy fans. I think they’re just fans of the TikTok And there’s no way they would know anything about a callback. The algorithm or the format doesn’t allow for a video to be long enough for a callback or anything like that. Or they don’t know about the rule of threes.

They don’t know about any of the basic stuff that any comic worth their way has worked on for however long, because that doesn’t exist to them as viewers, and it, honestly, it probably doesn’t even exist to the comics that they’re watching. They’re just see you get me fired up man talking about this. I’ll give you a real example. Aside from the hypothetical twenty something on their phone, and my audience is going to be sick of me saying that’s going to be the saying this to every comic. So I watch a lot of specials because of what I do, and of the time, not ninety nine of the time.

My wife shows up thirty seven minutes into the hour with a laundry basket, stares at the TV for a minute, and then goes, is this guy funny? And he was till you made me hit pause And you don’t understand that thing he said there he set up three things ago and it was misdirect And again I’m not explain comedy to you, but it’s yeah, he is funny, but you can’t just walk in the middle. That’s yeah, that’s you know what. Yeah, put that on my tombstone. That happened to me All the time.

When I’m watching comedy, my wife will come in and ask me. So I asked if this is a person funny? And I’m like, yeah, I’m just trying to or I’m trying to figure it out. You do comedy, you should know if someone’s funny. I’m like, okay, man a chill I do this.

Because she’ll be like, are you watching this? Are you can enjoy it. Because I haven’t heard you laugh. I’m like, that didn’t mean I don’t think it’s funny. I don’t know when, but like a lot of comics, something happened to where I stop.

And there’s times I genuinely will laugh if something is just silly enough. But now I just, oh, that’s good, that’s funny. I’ll acknowledge it. I am so with you. I call this Emperor of Rome syndrome because again, not a comic, no kidding, not a performer, didn’t want to be a performer, but sitting at serious for ten years listening to comedy radio nine ten hours a day, five days a week, and it was everybody’s best of the best, right, So it’s not just you being funny.

It’s the one you put down on record, right, So it’s everybody’s best of the best. And along the way I stopped laughing. But the same thing, I can watch a set and I’ll just do the thing the comedians in the back of the room do is go. Oh, wow, that’s a great show. Wow, that’s hilarious.

What a we called back? Oh?


And then every now and then somebody will set up a misdirect and I’ll actuall…

I’d treasure that stuff when somebody actually gets me and I don’t see the back to the word algorithm. I remember being sitting with one of my hosts. We were at when the jfl ustaffed the Chicago somebody you have heard of. We were at their set, and I felt bad because it was like back in grade school when you would graph a sentence like I could see it. It was like, okay, premise duration, thing that didn’t actually happen callback And I’m like, dude, I can see I could graph yourself for you.

It drove me insane that I had gotten deeper math comics. It’s all formula. Yeah again, I’m trying not to be a hater. I’m working on myself. I’m dragging you down, all right, let me go the other way.

Kyle Kinane’s chunk on the fast and Furious. I’m putting in a class with Eddie Murphy Barbecue, Baseball and Football by Carlin. That is an all time chunk. Please tell him myself. Well, he’ll be like, hey, you know what’s it’s so nuts working with him is it’s a double edged sword for me because for what it’s just crazy that now we’re pals.

And I used to listen to him when I first started. I’m like, and I told you again, like I was doing a bad canine for the first two years, and you fast forward about eleven years later. Now we’re neighbors because he left La he lives up here and well he takes me out on the road with him. So over the years I’ve been able to watch him like we were at that Fast and Furious when we went to the Fast and Furious because me and a couple of him in a couple of comics, we were laughing so hard about how ridiculous it was, and we were all sitting around afterwards he threw out like just one line from that actually made the bit, and then to see him go from we’re there, we’re watching this, yeah, this funny kind of throw away, we’re wearing a circle of comics and then fully. Stretch it out.

I forgot how long the bit is, but just that’s to see how his brain works in comedy. It makes me have to step my shit up and also makes me furious because I’m just like, why am I even trying to do this? I’m glad I have to go. I’m glad I go before you to get people okay with the idea of comedy, I don’t I don’t ever want to have to follow it. I love those films.

I saw the first one Blockbuster video. I just pulled it off the shelf. Nobody cared about that franchise. Let me rent this. You know, those guys have gone from being from stealing DVD players.

To international lovengers. Somehow. Ludacris is the just a tech guy that knows everything about computers and all that. I don’t buy that Tyres is in space. What are we doing?

We do it? So I think Kyle’s a great example of everything we’ve talked about. Whether it’s short clips or my wife in the laundry basket, there’s a vibe there, right, So at some point and dworphins are kicking into your brain, you’re just feeling the room. You’re along for the ride with the performer, and I just don’t think the short clips get you there. They can be funny, and comedy can come in many forms.

So I don’t want to snob too much, but there is something for all right. I’ve bought into what this performers selling. Let me just go along for the right. Yeah, those fans tend to stick with you. They become they trust you.

They trust that and you’re going to give them that performance or that kind of a feeling when they first discovered you. Kylesmans are They’re great. They’re a great crowd. I love performing in front of them because I know that these folks are here because they like comedy. I’ve had to open for these kill Tony guys, these like these one minute dudes.

Oh wow yeah, and they’re like, I hate that show. I think it’s bad for comedy. I think it gives people the wrong idea of what stand up is because these some of these kids that go on there and they’ll get a viral one minute clip from the show. Next thing, you know, and he walked walk into the local comedy club and that kid’s face is on the poster for a one night er. I’m like, all right, Yeah, they got millions of views online, but they only have one or two one minute clips.

Now I go, hey, watching, I’m like, let me see you struggle. Do you have forty five minutes? Can you do an hour? Because you’ve only been around since breakfast, So let’s see what happens. And I went they Unfortunately I saw this one kid.

He packed it out on a Wednesday night, and his fans were exactly who I thought they would be, just the other inceel looking little dudes. And he went up there and for about the first five ten minutes he just said all the stuff that you’re not supposed to say, and then had nothing and it turned into a Q and a. I left, but from a buddy of mine who works there, it was pretty bad. For about thirty five minutes, he was just like, well, you guys got to ask you some questions. Let’s go show me, you guys, any pictures of hot girls.

I’m like to see. This is what it is? Now, this is what it is? Oh wow wow. I don’t want to get vulgar here, so I’ll pull the final word of what I’m about to set up.

But I teach a couple of college classes, and I would explain to them and I would just suddenly say and then they punched her in the and naughty word there and I would get a laugh and I would say to them, I didn’t even tell a joke, guys. I didn’t set that up. I just said something out of nowhere and made it super vulgar. And you guys are laughing. I’m like, that is that doesn’t mean I can get.

Up and do ten Damn I take that class. If my professor said that every now and then, that’ll wake me up. Yeah. It’s a bit of a departure from my normal personality, all right. I hate to ask things that I guests have been asked five hundred times.

But you’ve got two things on your bio, and I’m sure you know what they are that I’ve got to ask about your first stand up set Afghanistan. I was, I was deployed, and that was I think it was as like my second or third diployment at the time. Yeah, we were. I was with this mobilized unit. We were just in one of the smaller out post in the Helmet province and we’re only supposed to be there for a couple of days to get some work done and we were supposed to leave, but there was a sandstorm, so the helos were down.

That was going to transport us out for at least the next forty eight hours. In that forty eight hours having to be Christmas, right, so that bass at post anyway, they have what they call MWR Morale Welfare and recreation, so like to get people a break. It’s Christmas time. It sucks we’re all out here. It was a base of like maybe three four hundred people, So like, hey, in the cafeteria area, we’re going to do a talent show.

And so I saw flyers all over the place, and me and my buddies in my unit, we’re like, shit, we’re stuck here. Let’s just go and see what’s going on. After about the fourth or fifth guy I saw go up with an acoustic guitar and play a Radiohead song or a Creed cover, I was just like losing my mind. And I was a guy in my unit who I talked shit, I cracked jokes all the time because that was my fight or flight. And I was back there getting pretty loose lip, making fun of all these guys.

And then there was a couple of dudes sitting around. They’re like, once you go up there and tell some fucking jokes, why don’t you go up there and yeah, cracking jokes people, I want to hear what you’re saying. Trying to defend their buddies because I’m like roasting the hell out of these guys. And I was like, all right, I’ll sign up. Can I sign up?

Let’s do it. And I went up there. I signed up, and yeah, they let me go up there, and I just I did what I know now to be just panic riffing, crowd work. But it all worked because. I was just I just talked about it was already we all.

It all sucked. Being out there sucked. The food sucked. Those guys playing guitars sucked making fun of the higher ups they were sitting in the front row. If I was to say any of the stuff I said to any of those guys without a microphone, without that context, they would have put me in the brig that I would have been busted down so many ranks.

I would have gotten so much trouble. But because I went up there and the hosting MC was like, Hey, this is so and so he’s gonna tell some jokes. He’s a funny guy or whatever. There you can feel people leaning in They’re like, all right, what’s he gonna do? And I just just roasted people for a good five ten minutes.

But then the next day there was a lot of There was a couple of people there was like I would be walking by and they’d be like, hey, man, you were pretty funny last night, or one of the one of the captains that I was getting after is he walked up to me, I saluted and I was like, sirs, do you remember me. I was like, yes, sir, you’re pretty funny. You’re lucky that shit was funny. I would have busted your ass. So like, I thought about that and when I shortly after the deployment was over, I was home stationed in San Diego.

And in San Diego we had I think four dedicated comedy clubs. You got the Manhouse Comedy Club, American Comedy Company, Comedy Store, La Joya Comedy Palace. So I went on leave for the whole month. When we got back and I had nothing to do, so I started popping into these comedy clubs my first time ever, just sitting in the back of open mics, and I was like, some of these guys are funny. Most of these guys are really bad.

If they can be really bad, then I know I can go up there pretty bad. For a while. That was the book. I did the first set in Afghanistan, and I think I told somebody, I’m gonna give it a shot when I get back home, and I just followed through and then I literally I just didn’t stop going after. It took me about two months from the first time I went to an open mic to write something and then build up the courage to go up.

But then once I got up, I don’t think I missed a day where I didn’t get up on stage. For the first two three years, it was going after Oh wow. And unfortunately I’m still going after. I mean still that story. I’m a big fan of Bob Hope, and unfortunately Hope gets judged a lot by maybe hanging on a little too couple too many NBC specials where he’s eighty five and reading off the Q cards.

But the younger Bob Hope was quick and just getting back to the art of it. I’m I’m sure you’ve seen clips of the USO shows and when one way they just seem really dated. They are from another time. But something you said, he would get up and just have he’d get a little bit of information about the locals and then do it, do the pacing and then mug for the camera, mug for the audience. A typical Hope joke would be like I see Captain Johnson’s here must be for the free hot dogs and then hit mug and get a laugh off and it’s not even a good joke, but just like everybody’s like yeah, Captain Johnson, it’s just as this vibe of we’re all in this.

Yeah, it really is easy. When I think back now, the only reason I did well was because it was the pressure release valve. Everybody knew. It was all common knowledge. Everything sucked.

No one was. You’re not really allowed to talk about it, but for some reason, if you go up there and someone gives you the title of a comic or comedian, then you’re allowed to go ahead lit a rip. So good times and you also did it looks like a pretty cool show with the Trailblazers. Oh more for a couple of years. Because I moved up here to Portland with the wife in twenty eighteen twenty seventeen ninety and I’m a big NBA guy and a buddy of mine.

There’s a comic named Ian Carr who is used to be here from Portland now write it for years for the Late Show. James Forten all that so real, good guy and became buddies over the years. Right when I got up here, he was like, hey, because he used to work for NBC Sports doing Lee be the goofy comedian guy they cut to and he’d say something weird or whatever. He reached out to them and said, Hey, I got a guy who just moved up there. He’s a big NBA guy, he’s a Blazer fan.

I think he’d be perfect for this thing you guys are looking for. Because they were doing auditions all over the Pacific Northwest, from Portland to Seattle for a crew of guys to do like an official pregame and then postgame show for the Portland Trailblazers. Yeah. I went in a couple of times, a couple of rounds audition with a different sets of guys, and I just knew. I was like, Okay, I’m funnier.

Then it was weird because they had to separate. They had to separated into Hey, if you’re here to audition, that’s the funny guy. Go over here and sit in this corner with these group of funny looking dudes. If you’re here to be like the straight up I’m the sports guy. I tell you the x’s and o’s.

Go over there. But they didn’t know like I can talk well, I know basketball and all this stuff like that. So I think I knew I had the job right off the bat, and it ended up being a good easy money to sit and I got paid to watch basketball, talk about it and just track jokes for a couple of years. Yeah, that’s me not saying no to a good opportunity. Are you getting VO work because you’ve got great sypes?

Me again, I don’t say no to opportunities presented. I do. I do VO stuff all the time. That’s there’s nothing better than just showing up reading a couple of lines in a booth and then going home and getting a check later and for doing minimal to no work. So I’ll take it.

I’m impressed you still going to a booth as a long time radio guy. One of the things the pandemic, For like about thirty six hours, we were like, what are we going to do?


And then we just everybody figured out how to broadcast from home.

You’d see people on cn when they’re in their living room. Was great. We figured out so back in the day. So clearly you and I are three thousand miles from each other and we’re doing this and it sounds fine. Back in the day, I’d have to bug you like, Hey, do you mind going over to the local radio station in Portland and we’re going to hook it up over a thing and it’s going to cost two hundred dollars and it’s two hours out of your day.

So, like a long way of saying, I’m a pressure not just recording in your base. It’s good a while since I’ve been to a booth, Mike. What I ended up doing, especially during the pandemic, is my little office space in the house just became all in one podcast recording studio slash. I go audition for a lot of things, but during the endemic, they just want you to self tape everything. So one corner of my office was in the audio podcast equipment set up, and in the other corner there was like my camera and then I had my lights and my backdrop pulled down so I could sit there and talk to the camera and be these auditions, which it does suck.

I used to book a lot more stuff and I could be in the room with a casting director, especially the comic because we could work the room. There were gigs that I knew I was going to book before we even started doing the lines, because I would go in and just start working the room like a comic deest, talking shit and riffing and making people laugh, and then they’d be like, oh, you’re pretty great. I’m like, are we going to read the lines? They’re like, oh yeah, go ahead and read the lines, and then boom you get the gig. But it’s hard.

It’s hard to show how charm you started to turn the charm on when you’re just recording yourself in your office, trying to keep your voice down because the baby sleeping and your wife is just trying to have a nice quiet time in a living room. The amount of times again my wife in the laundry basket, I’m recording the podcast and she thinks she’s sneaking down and is totally distracting me. And you’re married. You just don’t want to pick the fight of can you not do the laundry when I’m recording work great? Well, then you do the loader like it’s just like I just eat it and get stopped.

And it’s interesting to me that you say about working the room, because as we’re doing this, I’m finding the opposite. So I look at the way I look and in person, I give off suit vibes to comics. So I’m finding doing this in this style, I’m connecting a lot easier because hopefully it seems like you did we get a minute in, you go, Okay, this guy knows what he’s talking about at least, whereas I walk in and I’ve got my doctors on and you’re like, ah, all right, here’s another radio guy who suits. So this actually works better for me. That’s great, man.

I figured anybody that has a pod called Daily Comedy News probably knows what they’re talking about when it comes to comedy. If that makes so any better I was. I didn’t come into this skeptical at all. The absurdity of someone will be like, all right, let me do a podcast to focus only on comedy and just have no idea what they’re talking about or who they’re talking Like, now did I say that out loud? I have done a couple of interviews where the guy was like, so you have a joke about Steph Curry and so this guy’s right, he’s a sports The said, I don’t know why they sent me over, but the guy just does a sports talk radio kind of thing, and I pr people they’re just like, oh, he has a joke about basketball.

To talk to and I get there and I’m talking to the guys. So you have a joke about Steph Curry. I’m like, yeah, he goes, that’s crazy, man, I’m like, yeah, how did you come up with it? I’m like, you really want me to I’m not going to break down a joke for you, man, it’s just dude, good audio. Good on you.

I’m like, okay, I’ll tell you on the flip side. Sometimes you get a guest who you ask a three minute question, you just get a yeah back. So here’s my safety list. Don’t answer any of this. What inspired you to get into comedy?

Who are your influence is? How do you handle hacklers? Do you have any pre show rituals? How do you balance your career with your family? Those are my like, oh my god, how am I going to pull twenty more minutes out of this?

Dude? But I didn’t mean to do that today, But all the questions just asked me. I can think about all the people that right out of that’s all they did. They came right out of the gate. So how did you get into comedy?

What inspired it? And I’m not I’m very grateful. I’m glad to be doing this. Thank you for having me on all that. But I’m still this is my rookie album, you know what I mean.

So I’m not used to talking about the material. Just shit, just selling it, you know what I mean. Like I’ve spent all these times, all these years trying to figure out the material, and then I sell it when I’m on stage. So now this is a different kind of thing where you’re like talking about the album. I’m just like, Yeah, I think it’s good.

I’m proud of it. I think you should get it. If not, I don’t know. I can’t feed my family. I don’t know, I don’t care.

I don’t know what’s gonna happen. Make sure your peeps put it in sound Exchange so I actually can play it on those various digital platforms. Ointgere gonna be on Standard Change shouts the sound Exchange. I love getting those emails, but that lets me know I got another little deposit in the bank because it’s a serious spinning my stuff. So I’m glad for those guys.

And you were going straight into hot new releases. Good talking, Yeah, to make great talking, man. I appreciate it. Boy, it wasn’t he fantastic? I really, really liked him.

His album is called either Way Pretty Funny, available now from Blonde Medicine. Nice to see an old fashioned album album, isn’t it? And I hope he wins the Grammy. Shane Brendon either Way Pretty Funny, Really liked him, Hope to have him back someday. And that is your comedy news for today.

I’ll see tomorrow

Michael Ian Black’s issue with Joe Rogan

🎙️ Listen to this episode:

▶ Spreaker  | 
🍎 Apple Podcasts  | 
🎵 Spotify


Full Transcript

Caloroga Shark Media, Hello Chunny Mack with your Daily Comedy News. Whitney Cummings tells The Dallas Observer, I always worried that if I ever got happy, I’d stop being funny. I wish that someone had told me sooner that that’s not how it works. My act was about me and my self sabotaging behaviors. But now it’s obvious about the world that I’m bringing up my son into and needing to understand it a bit better.

It’s a nice upgrade from an emotionally fraught, confused person to someone who is less confused and no longer emotionally fraught. As a comedian, I could stay image sure forever, but I learned I could be mature and be happy and still be funny. Micha Leean blacks All the Inside Hook on Twitter. I learned very early on I’m not going to change anybody’s mind about anything, and I no longer try. I’m not trying to change anybody’s mind.

What I’m trying to do is engage with people on the basis of their arguments, not because I’m trying to convince them, but because I’m trying to help people who may feel the way I do, but don’t necessarily know how to approach these conversations. And I don’t either a lot of times, so a lot of time when I’m engaging, it’s not because I’m so sure of my own position. It’s to understand my own position better. It’s to be able to defend my own position so that if I were to have a conversation with you in real life and something would come up, I might have an actually informed opinion rather than just kind of a knee jerk liberal response to something. Inside Hook points out that Michael Ian Black is not shy about calling out his fellow comedians, including appearing in the recent Louis C.K.

Documentary Sorry Not Sorry, or about writing a piece about the time Andrew dice Clay threatened to kick his ass where Joe Rogan’s lazy use of slurs in his latest special. Michael ian Black has a substack which I follow is pretty good, which reminds me I should promote my own substack. Mine is called media Thoughts by John McDermott. I’ll throw a link in the show notes. Basically, I have music Mondays where I just write about whatever band I feel like writing about.

Wednesdays or podcast recommendations, and maybe once or twice a week on the other days I’ll write about podcasting. It is not a comedy blog. If I want to talk about comedy, that’s this anyway, It’s free. I hope you will check it out link of the show notes. Michael Black says it feels hypocritical of me to call out politicians for crappy behavior and then somehow not call out fellow comics for crappy behavior.

I don’t want to be that guy. Like in a case of Rogan in particular, he is such a massive platform, He’s such an influential part of the culture that when he releases a special in the punchline to one of his jokes is I don’t want to say the word rhymes with make it. I’m like, you can do better, and you oughte to your audience to do better. Because he knows who his audience is, and he knows the influence he has over them. So when he’s giving them more a license to be a jerk faces, they’re gonna take that license.

Slight paraphrase there by me, I don’t think it’s enough when you’re at Joe Rogan’s level to say, I’m just a comic. You’re not for better or worse or whatever the term actually applies to you. In particular, you’re a thought leader, and I think if was me, I think you just have responsibility there not to make things worse for people. And I know that’s not his intention. I really, in my heart, I believe that.

But that’s the effect it has. And so Joe Rogan doesn’t give a hoot about what I think. Joe Rogan doesn’t know who I am. But I thought it was incumbent on me, just to my own conscience, to calling out Greg Fitzsimmons talked about working with Ellen and said, working with Ellen, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right, And I think that it killed me. It was amazing watching the evolution of that show.

I was run in to help come up with ideas for the show before it launched. It was a really exciting feeling about it. It was all about positivity and possibility. Then we started winning Emmys and it became very unpleasant. There was a lot of fear going around.

It didn’t feel fun at the end. I’d go on the road and all these Midwestern housewives would come up to me after the show and be like, oh my god, you were with Vellen what she like? And I would tell them what she’s like, and you could see their shoulders slump and tears wall up in their eyes and they’d be like no, and I’d be like, yeah, America loves to tear down its level icons. In some cases, I feel like it’s unwarranted. But in this case, it’s amazing to me to see her going out.

She’s doing this new special where she was talking about how she got thrown under the bus. Let’s just say it was warranted. Wow. Ali Sadiq spoke to the spokesman. Ali said people make a lot of mistakes in their life and go through things you should have went right, but he went left.

He zigged when you should have zagged. Things happen. You don’t get a chance to pinpoint a lot of times when you went wrong. During his time in prison, he reflected on the mistakes he had made and pinpoint into the exact year in which the first domino fell, leading to his incarceration. The Domino effect was supposed to be a one off, but he says, as people got to wonder how I got locked up, I want to give the history of it.

Once I did Domino Effect and people were interested, it was like, oh, what a way to go, and I can continue to do them. He recalls comedian Billy D. Washington telling him, when you’re not being funny, be interesting. Ollie says, the Domino effects are a reality of that. When I’m not being funny, the story’s interesting.

I don’t even start off trying to be funny. It’s me telling the story and taking this deep dive into what I’ve experienced versus what somebody else has experienced. I’m still trying to get better as a storyteller. I’m not the best that I can be, yet I can get better, I can develop better. I’m doing other specials in order to get better what I actually do and put out all these different works.

He says he wants to be like Denzel Washington. By the way, you know, if you had a time machine. So when I graduated from Fordham at University in nineteen eighty seven, the commencement speaker was some unknown actor Denzel Washington. We weren’t impressed. Boy, I like a do over on that one.

Dumb teenagers, Ollie says, denzil Ell is Denzel Regardless, it doesn’t matter what role he’s in, he just tells you something else. I want to get better in my craft, to beat myself and give you all this different work. It’s like, Yo, he was great in this. He was great in that. He was different than this, but he was still great.

Same chair, same microphone. He’s just giving us something different from the Daily Mail. A Ricky Gervai’s skit was shown in court. Man claimed he was copying at Ricky Gervase when he allegedly did a Nazi salute outside a Jewish museum in Sydney. Three men were charge with behaving in an offensive manner in public after knowing displaying Nazi symbols without an excuse near the Sydney Jewish Museum last October.

The men told the police they were joking. One of the men said he was copying a Ricky Gervay’s routine, and a clip played for the court. Ricky Gervas performs a mock Nazi salute while pushing his hair down to Mimick Hitler and says, I do that quick so no one can take a picture of me doing that. Not a traditional subject for comedy. The Old Holocaust Magistrate Jennifer Atkinson question the timing of the acts, which occurred less than a week after the attacks by Hamas last October.

She told the court, it really is a matter of common knowledge what occurred in Israel days earlier. You might have said it as a joke, But why that location, why that time, the magistrate added, I’m not making a decision about Ricky Gervais. Friend of the Show, Jason Zenneman writes in The New York Times under the headline is the comedy club booking process broken? The owners of a new spot say hiring comics based on referrals from other stand ups is no guarantee the acts will be funny. This is the Bushwick Comedy club owner Jad and his partners plan to book via tape submissions rather than referrals.

Jad tells Jason, whether or not you get on stage at most clubs in the city is very little to do at this point with how funny you are. Most major clubs use a referral system to varying degrees. That means to get on stage you need other comics to vouch for you. Naturally, comedians pick their friends. There’s even motivation to promote mediocrity.

Jad told Zenneman Honestly, you don’t want to follow someone who buries you. Wow. Our main difference is gonna sound stupid, but simply put, we’re gonna actually watch submission tapes. Referrals will not matter, nor will social media followers. Only how funny you are on tape?

On its Grambush What Comedy Club promotes itself as the only club in New York who books that’s line up purely off video submissions. So what’s gonna happen? You submit a tape, the three owners watch it. If all three give a thumbs up, you become part of the rotation. If one doesn’t like it, you’re out.

They’ve already pored over one thousand tapes and signed up seventy comics. I got news for these guys. That’s gonna get old really quick, and comedians gonna be like, hey, you know who’s funny? You should check out this guy, Zenman writes. Several newer club owners, including one of the Tiny Cupboard, describe only watching tapes as impractical because there’s not enough hours in the day.

Amen. They also say this critique mischaracterizes the process, which typically finds talent through multiple sources, including submissions. This weekend in DC. It’s the second annual because they’re Funny Comedy Festival, the BTF Festival. I mentioned this before.

I think they’re being very generous with the word festival. Saturday at eight o’clock, Dean Cole hosts the second annual Breakout Comedian of the Year competition, All Right to Get Dion Cole and six comedians. Leslie Jones performs Sunday at eight eight. It’s not really a festival, guys. That’s two shows and some good branding.

Shane Brendan has an album out today. It’s called either Way Pretty Funny. It is a funny album and Shane Brennan is way cool. How do I know because I listened to the album and I interviewed Shane Brendan. He’ll be the guest on tomorrow’s podcast.

Loved him. I got to talk to him for another hour, but I had a volleyball game at ten minutes after the end of the recording and I had a split. Portland, Oregon based comedian and military veteran Shane Brendan releases his debut album Via Blonde Medicine at today in in either Way Pretty Funny, Brendan obsesses over NBA rookies and endearingly gripes about his family and if you ever want to hear somebody do slam poetry about working at McDonald’s, well he’s got you covered. He is my guest tomorrow. It is a wonderful conversation.

Please check it out.

Also out today, Paige Weldon’s comedy album I’ve Turned Out Fine.

This one from a Special Thing Records, Recorded in la It’s Page’s third comedy album and includes personal stories about working in a library, being an only child, and not attending high school reunion, as well as takes on her parents, tattoos, surprise continents, and health Therapista likes strippers now I’m remembering. I asked the record label if Page Weldon wanted to do the show. I didn’t hear back from them. What’s the deal with that? And that is your comedy news for today?

Why? Because my voice just gave out. I’d recorded three of these in a row to accommodate my schedule. So that’s your comedy news for today. If you’d like the program with us commercial interruption, there’s a link of the show notes.

I’d tell you how to do that. This podcast supports podcasting two point zero if you want to stream some SATs my way, use a podcasting two point zero app and you can do that. I like true Fans. I also like Hastematic is another good app for that sort of thing. And it always helps to grow the show.

If you tell a friend about it, if you like the show, they might like it too. You know what I’m saying. Yeah, see you tomorrow with Shane Brennan. He’s really great.

Key & Peele – will they ever get back together?

🎙️ Listen to this episode:

▶ Spreaker  | 
🍎 Apple Podcasts  | 
🎵 Spotify


Full Transcript

Caloroga Shark Media. Say there, I’m Shohnny Mack with your Daily Comedy News Keegan Michael Key. He’s in the macpack. I’ll tell you why. At the end of this story, he says that although Key and Peel were once an iconic duo, they don’t see each other that often anymore.

Keigan said, we lived together for a few months. We would write and talk about comedy, who we liked and why we liked them, and how that worked in the architecture of what we were trying to build comedically. When we were on camera, it was alchemy. It was just like, why is this working. It’s been almost a decade now since that show ended, and we don’t see each other that often anymore, which is to me a tragedy.

Peel lives in la Key lives in New York. Our evolution, I think is tied to both of what our desires are. His desire was to start exploring the horror genre. My desire was to do more dramatic work like had been trained in school. After Kean Peel, both of us jumped to another platform, but we needed that first platform.

He talks about in the early seasons, I was playing the clown more and doing more physical comedy in the beginning of our time together, and then I find myself into playing more of the straight roles and teeing up Jordan to play the clown. I got to work with those guys. A few times. I’ve mentioned I helped put together a Comedy Central radio for series XM, so I was in the room with them several times. Here’s the reason why I love Keegan.

Michael Key and Jordan Peele totally cool, but I love Keegan for this. So it’s my last day at Sirius. We’re at the super Bowl radio row and I’ve called in every favor. I have to get Comedy Central to give me really good guests for the super Bowl because it’s serious. The super Bowl is a big deal.

So we’ve got the cast of the work Alkoholics here, and we’ve got Key and Peel there, probably five minutes too early. Again, it was my last day. I had been let go, but I’m a professional, so I was like, I’ll stay on and finish the super Bowl broadcast. I called in the favors. I’m a pro, I will produce the show, and I did so.

Now, about two months later, they were on the cover of Newsweek is like comedy’s hottest thing. So on this Super Bowl day, one of the bosses just didn’t get it and got all excited that Jamie was there and the Cardinal of New York was there, and decided we were going to put the Cardinal and Jamie fox On together, which took away the set that I was going to use for Key and Peel. So the engineers put together I called it the kiddie table with like a snack table and the leftover equipment and stuck Key and Peel in the corner. And I’m just apologizing to those guys, and Jordan’s cool with it, and Keegan looks me out and he goes, dude, I see what’s going on. I get it.

It’s all good. And I will always appreciate that guy for reading the room and seeing that I’m trying and it ain’t me. So Keegan, Michael Keay, I love you. Mark Maren talked about watching Robert de Niro film the First Joker movie. Maren on his podcast said, I did that one scene with de Niro and Joker, and I was literally watching him because I was on the set all week and he’s playing that talk show host.

He doesn’t know his lines and they’re doing it over and over again. It was totally demystifying de Niro to me because I’ve watched him my whole life. Obviously he’s a great actor, but they understand something. People live their lives on cameraon be doing it that long. Because I’m watching it, I’m like, this is a disaster.

How they got cut this together? He knew was gonna be cut up alright, He’s been on set so many times. I was just gonna do it and do it, do it, and they’ll find one. Sam Morrell talked about his time on The Joker. He told Howard Stern, I think they expected me to suck, so I was kind of pumped.

I’m in my trailer and director Todd Phillips is going over with me and I was like, it says I’m an open micro this. Do you want me to be crappy like an open micer? And he was like, yeah, well you’re doing any jokes. Sam said, well, I’m not gonna bomb my stuff. I’m gonna kill Joker too.

Out on October fourth, do you like Saturday Night Live? Well, good, because we are going to talk about Saturday Night Live every single day for the next nine months. Did you hear SNL’s turning fifty? Michael Chase says, as the writing staff grows and as the cast grows, SNL’s like an apartment building, not a house. We all live together, but we don’t really live together.

A cold open could go down. I’ll be like, I don’t like it one bit, but it’s not my voice and it’s not up to me. I can’t agree with everything political we’ve had on the show, and I’m sure this stuff I’ve written that’s made some castmates bristle or some writers go, what are we putting on? We can’t say that, but we have to live with each other. We’re rid digging the space and trying to get this real estate for our ideas.

So there’s no one mission statement. I don’t believe beyond Funny’s funny maybe Lauren idea of what he wants the identity to be. As I always say, as Corny s it sounds at SNL, we’re not the A students. We’re the kids in the back of the class learning spitballs with the teacher. But I think the audience might feel like comedy is going to tell them the truth because they don’t trust politicians anymore.

They don’t trust news even and so they’re very protective of it, and they feel like if you say something against the side, it’s almost traitorism. It’s almost trees. It as to make fun of Biden or the left when Trump is running, and I get that feeling. But as time goes by and we face more disasters and crisis, we’ll understand that this was all a ridiculous time. Sarah Simmerman spoke to Saint Louis NPR.

She said, I think the one consistent thing with me is I’ve always kind of tackled the darkest reaches of humanity. That kind of started with speaking at my dad’s funeral and eulogizing him and realizing there was a lot of funny stuff in it. I’ve always felt that all comics become funny and developed their sense of humor as a means of surviving childhood. I would say one hundred percent of comics become funny that way. So it’s been a survival skill for us since we were kids, and so it’s very natural to me that processing death, especially big ones like this, feels very natural to process it through stand up.

I think the two things that helped me grow as a person our therapy and stand up. I think a lot of comedians have really feared getting well because they feel like their comedy comes from not figuring out their stuff. For me, I disagree. I’d rather be happy because I think we lived just one time on this rock and outer space, and it’s crazy not to figure out your joy, but to be able to utilize it and use it in poignant, ridiculous and silly ways. That really works for me.

Chris Rocks Everybody Still Hates Chris premieres today ten pm East and West on Comedy Central. Not sure why they made this, but Everybody Still Hates Chris features Chris Rock as adult Chris narrating stories inspired by his experience growing up as a skinny nerd and bedsty I like this one from Josh Gadd speaking to people. He says he wishes he hadn’t used his regular voice to voice all Off in Frozen. Josh Gadd said, if I could do it all over again, I would have not lent that snowman my voice, so I would have created a different voice because it’s very weird being in a supermarket and having a little child stare at him. So that was my first big mistake.

But you know, if people tell me I have a very unique voice, people seem to like my voice. I try to give it to them when I can. I saw Josh he was in the Book of more And when it first premiered million years ago, he crushed in that. Oh what a good show if you’ve never seen the Book of Mormon. Apparently they’re making more Frozens, he told Kelly and Mark.

All of a sudden, my phone’s blowing up. People are like, I’m so excited about Frozen three and Frozen four, and I said, so am. I I had no idea. Nobody thought to call us up and be like, oh, by the way, we’re doing two sequels to your movie. Bubba shared this one on the Facebook group, which is Daily Comedy News podcast group.

At the Norman Rockwell Museum an exhibition called What Me Worry The Art and Humor of Mad Magazine. It’s the Norman Rockwell until October twenty seventh. The exhibition explores the unforgettable art and satire of Mad from its beginning ens in nineteen fifty two. I’m scrolling down here on NRM dot org. They’ve got some of the cover arts, some of the old Mad fold ins.

Remember those. There’s an online symposium on Friday October eighteenth from six to eight and again on Saturday, October nineteenth, called the Usual Gang of Idiots and other suspects. Mad Magazine and American Humor join us for this lively exploration of the art and history of man. That’s cool NRM dot org if you want to check that out. The museum is in Stockbridge, Massachusetts if you’re up that way.

Open Thursdays through Tuesdays ten to five. They have an app as well, closed Wednesdays. Guys wait to schedule the article. John Adam Connover spoke to Variety. I think there’s some spin here.

Conover till Variety. A lot of people know me as an informational comedian, right, I do comedy about important topics. They don’t know me as a stand up comedian. And stand up comedy is my first love. So I want to do a straight stand up show.

I didn’t want to do information. I didn’t want to do Here’s how you can change the world. I just want to do jokes about myself, about my life. It’s personal story. What’s the spin?

John Well? He brought the quote to very personal special to drop out, to be able to care about every single detail and have it come out on this incredible platform where people are going to watch it and give a hoot about it. That’s very rare to be able to do as a comedian now. So not a it’s very special up on YouTube for free and hope that people watch or do it on a big streamer and hope their algorithm is going to show it to people. Yes, I mean the algorithm on Netflix.

If you don’t want Netflix money, that’s fine, But you know Netflix, every Tuesday they put a big, giant special in front of everybody’s face. It’s not really the algorithm, but okay. Adam says the specials called unmedicated not because I’m against prescription treatments for add but simply because they never worked for me and they caused me problems. I felt addicted to them for a while and they caused me to have other addictions as well. And I turned out fine, but other people maybe not.

Bo When Yang said he was obsessed with Gray’s anatomy growing up and he was going to pursue medicine, he realized later that his interests had to do more with Sandra Oh than with healing the sick, but it was a convenient way to satisfy his parents. He tilled The New Yorker. I think I did the drag of saying, well, maybe I’ll be a doctor. He then got into improv. Improv was my only wait point for a billion.

We were all fifteen year olds performing with beer drinking thirty year olds. Maya Rudolph says, when you’ve seen his funny, tend to be pigeonholed as the wacky best friend because there’s a lot of meat in that role. You think that’s where the fun is. He wants to be the straight guy, but you’re never the straight guy, and that’s all you ever want to be. I remember at SNL sitting in Lauren’s office saying I want to play the wife sometimes.

Why can’t be the girlfriend? He was like, you don’t want to be the girlfriend, you want to be the crazy German art dealer neighbor Kevin neil In told the Union his biggest influence was Chevy Chase. It’s been thirty years since I’ve been on SNL. It’s hard to believe so things are different. Back then, I was portraying more of a newscaster like a dry delivery.

And for the last fifteen years or so, people are more being themselves. They’re like comedians commentating on things and smiling and laughing about it, unlike newscasters. But things are changing. Newscasters on CNN or Fox News of personalities that are more entertaining. I’d probably fall more into that category with the snide comments more myself.

As for SNL’s fiftieth they told me to save the date. It’s almost overwhelming. At the fortieth after where I looked at it was like Madame Tussau’s wax Museum of Hollywood. Eddie Murphy was there and Prince Taylor Swift. It was crazy.

I’m so grateful for the career I’ve had and continue to have, to be honest with you, The highlight of my career was really early when I did the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. That was the only game in town for talk shows that validated he as a stand up. After the Tonight Show, I’ve never felt such a natural high. Tim Meadows also from SNL Third Straight SNL are here. Yeah, I line these up on purpose.

He’ll still we are in the CBS Comedy Pilot DMV, a single camera comedy pilot set at the place everyone dreads going most, the DMV. I’d put it second. I’d rather go to the DMV than the dentist our quirky and lovable characters and making minimum wage doing a thankless job where customers are annoyed before they even walk in the door. Good thing they have each other. Tim Meadows plays Greg, a former high school English teacher.

Greg is the examiner who likes to get through the driving tests and the day as quickly as possible. Greg is sardonic, defeated, and would love nothing more than to retire. Zarna Garg is getting a CBS comedy Zarna. Garg will play Zarna. The ship was also called Zarna.

In Zarna, Zarna plays Zarna, a proun immigrant woman who’s been raising her American born kids on Indian values, but now that they’re getting older, it’s time for Zarna to focus on her own American dream. And that is your comedy news for today. If you enjoy the program, tell a friend about it. They might like a two. If you would like the program without commercial interruption, there’s a link in the show notes so to tell you how you do that.

If you’re hip to podcasting two point zero and you want to send some SATs my way, that’s the thing you could do. And I’ll see tomorrow

John Mulaney’s surprise new second kid PLUS inside a Theo Von show

🎙️ Listen to this episode:

▶ Spreaker  | 
🍎 Apple Podcasts  | 
🎵 Spotify


Full Transcript

Callaroga, Shark Media, find me home. Johnny Mack with your Daily Comedy News. Ellen Degenerous’s news specialist out on Netflix today. I love this tweet from Michael Ian Black, who wrote, she’s saying she got kicked out of show business during her special on the top page streaming platform in the world. Well done.

Hey, you know who’s really good at keeping a secret? John Mulaney Say? John Mulaney had a massive drug problem. He wouldn’t let you know or say he was going to have a second child. He wouldn’t tell you about it.

But Olivia Munn went on Instagram and wrote May June Mulaney came into the world September fourteenth, twenty twenty four, the year of the Dragon. May spells her name me e I. Olivia Munn wrote, I had so many profound emotions about not being able to carry my daughter. When I first met our gestational surrogate, we spoke mother to mother. She showed me so much grace and understanding.

I knew I had found a real life angel. Words cannot express my gratitude that she kept our baby safe for nine months and made our dreams come true. I’m so proud of my little plum my little Dragon, for making the journey to be with us. My heart has exploded. She added that May means plum in Chinese.

Mulanie shared the photo on his Instagram as well, but also added a video of baby May spitting up on Malany’s shirt. Has he burped her? Now? If you’re a regular listener to this program, you may have picked up I’m not the biggest fan of most Adams Sailor movies, although, to be fair to Adam Sandler, like three of the last five have been pretty good, so maybe he’s getting better, Which leads to the question should I be in an Adam Sandler movie? I saw this on backstage September twenty fourth in New Jersey, West Orange, New Jersey.

I could be there in half an hour. Exterior day shoot non SAG rate one hundred and seventy six dollars for ten hours. That’s sixteen dollars an hour. The background role is not covered by SAG After CBA, you must be able to present valid ID to fill out a Federal I nine form to be paid. Height, weight, and clothing sizes are used for costuming purposes only, unless needed for the casting of stand ins or photo doubles.

What’s crazy is the listing says Monday September twenty fourth. That’s not a thing this year, the next Monday September twenty fourth, probably for not another five years. I think they misspoke here, but it says September twenty fourth twice, so I think that’s today. Should I go? Should I be in an Adam Sandler movie?

Wouldn’t that be amazing? Do you like Saturday Night Live? Well, good, because we are going to talk about Saturday Night Live every single day for the next nine months. Let’s pick away at that Lorne Michael’s interview, he was talking about the Shane Gillis incident, as it’s now called Wow. Lauren said, we had a bad time when I added Shane to the cast in twenty nineteen.

He got beat up for things he’d done years earlier, and the overaction to it was so stunning, and the velocity of it was two hundred Asian companies were going to boycott the show. It became a scandal, and I go, no, no, he’s just starting and he’s really funny, and you don’t know how we’re gonna use him. Well, that’s interesting. Why did you fire him? Then?

Back then Shane apologized to anyone who’s actually offended by anything I said. He later called his own apology corny and took it back. You may recall Shane Gillis hosted SNL in February. Lord said, oh right, he’s really tilted. He would have been really good for us.

I dabbled with this yesterday. Who’s going to play Trump? I’m very sad to think that they might not have James Austin Johnson do Trump, especially if they bring Alec Baldwin back. They asked Lauren point blank, Well Johnson continue playing Trump. Where do you welcome Alec Baldwin back?

Lauren said, I think James will be there, but I don’t want to get into what I’m doing. Trump has morphed. James, who I think is brilliant, played Trumps the sort of diminish Trump, the guy at the back of the hardware store holding court, and that played because it felt relevant. We’re gonna have to reinvent it again, because well you saw the debate. One of the great parts of show business is that you can’t come back with the same show.

So all these characters have to be re examined and if it makes sense and feels relevant. You know you’re on the right track. You know I don’t agree, but Lord Michaels has been more successful than I have. Who am I to tell Lord Michaels that that’s a bad idea Fifty years in. Of course, we all overlook the five years Lauren didn’t do SNL forty five of fifty years in, Lauren deserves some credit here, younger people.

After the initial cast left, Lauren also laughed and was not the show order from like nineteen eighty through eighty four and then came back. Doesn’t mean it’s bad. I’m just telling you what happened. The first year without Lauren was a disaster at the show almost got canceled Bavy Club rights. Over the last five years alone, the show’s adjusted its take on Joe Biden at least five times, with Woody Harrison and Jim Carrey playing candidate Biden, Alex Moffitt, James Austin Johnson, and finally mikey Day playing him as president.

Lauren told The Hollywood Reporter, I think we have the people to play the candidates and it should be fun. SNL back Saturday, Chloe Feineman told Variety, I’m hoping that I can finally make my Milania Trump debut. She said she’s been sitting on her impression of Malania for about five years. The Gonzaga Bulletin went to go see THEO Vaughn. They had a review.

Let’s see what they said. Armed with a mullet Louisiana and accent and a somewhat unorthodox comedic style, THEO Vaughn took on the Spokane Arena on September twelfth. With the packed house, Vaughn managed to address today’s topics with his personal flare and humor. Von Sett matched the style all of his podcast. He clearly had topics that he thought about beforehand and wanted to touch on, Yet it seemed most of the show was off the dome.

The entire energy and success of the event was less owned to Vaughn’s practice and script, but more to his natural Chrisman understanding of his audience. Thus, the show had a conversational, casual tone to it. One man ended up being the victim of Vaughn’s crowd workabilities, with Von jokingly accusing him of being a pedophile. The man later revealed himself to be working as a teacher. That got a lot of laughs.

The Gonzaga Bulletin writes perhaps the most interesting aspect of Vaughn’s companies the underlying sense of satire in relation to the topics he seems to enjoy. While the audience hangs on every joke about gun ownership and down syndrome, they seem to miss the reference to Edgar Allen Poe’s short story The Tell Tale Heart. Vonn knows his audience, but it doesn’t seem that the audience knows Vaughn. Interesting. Kamala Harris is not going to the Al Smith dinner that’s being hosted by Jim Gaffigan.

Sorry, Jim. Kamala also appeared on Oprah’s Unite for America rally. On that she said, if somebody breaks in my house, they’re getting shot. Sorry.

Also on that phone call Chris Rock who knows.

And while we’re being political, the cast of Veepel reunite for a virtual table read in support of helping Dems win up and down the ballot and Wisconsin. This takes place on the twenty ninth at eight pm. Cast members from Veeple perform at table read of the show’s third season episode Create, hosted by Stephen Colbert, Crate is the season three episode where Julia’s character finds out the current president is stepping down, elevating her to the Oval Office. Julie told The Hollywood Reporter, we try to find an old episode where the president accused immigrants of eating dogs and cats back when we were making VEEP. That seemed insane and over the top.

Send your letters to Julia Louis Dreyfus. I’m just reporting here. Amy Poehler will get top honors at the Bring Change to Mind’s at twelfth Annual Revels and Revelation fundraiser. That is a mouthful. It’s an award given by Robin Williams children, Zach, Zelda and Cody.

The honor is presented to entertainers who spread laughter and awareness through acts of kindness, charity, and revelatory honesty that makes people feel heard, seen, unless alone, and through many ways, make the world a brighter, more open, and caring place. Amy Polar accept the war during an event held at a private residence in Woodside, California, on World of Mental Health Day, October tenth. Gavin Mattz is one of the comedians you should and will know, according to Vulture, which comedian’s career trajectory would you most like to follow? He said, sindbad Chelsea Preidi, Norm MacDonald, worst show, I love a bad show and a bomb. What a funny memory imprint to leave on lrandom people who just wanted to have a good time.

Three years ago, I headlined a show in DC. I was forced to deal with a group of drunk hecklers for thirty minutes until they were finally kicked out. As they were being kicked out, a lady from their group sneak attack me on stage, rip the mic cord, check the mic across the room. Then another person from their group ended up with the mic and started explaining their case to the crowd. Was chaos.

After its settled, they made me go back on stage and finish my set. I don’t know why I had to go back on stage. What’s the biggest financial hurdle you’ve encountered, Gavin? I would say that needs to have money and to keep pursuing a dream as a pretty tough financial hurdle. And stand up.

You’re constantly going out of pocket. Comedy clubs will play for your travel, but only the end of your weekend, so you’re out like six hundred dollars like two months in advance. Baying for travel upfront really lessens the incentive for me to want to go to Phoenix. All Right, you got an unpopular comedy opinion, Gavin said in a random interview I did in twenty one, I said that stand up comedian should be forced to retire at forty. I take it back.

Longevity in comedy is a miracle, and I look up to anyone who’s made a career out of it. Though I do believe you should cap out at four comedy specials. You know that’s probably pretty smart. Best comedy advice, worst comedy advice. Best, do not hold the mic in front of your mouth.

Good advice to save me at least two years of talking straight into the microphone. Worst advice. Don’t wear those pants on stage. Bad advice. Wear whatever you want.

And that is your comedy news for today. If you enjoy the program, tell a friend about it. They might like it too. You know what I’m saying. Let’s grow the show.

Actually, the number has been doing really well. I appreciate you all. If you’d like this thing without commercials, there’s a link in the show notes that I’ll tell you how that works. Let me be better about promoting Five Good News Stories. That’s a program I also host Monday, Wednesday, Friday.

There are five stories and they’re all good news or smiles, a lot of Guinness records, a lot of ridiculous things, a lot of animal stories. It’s fun. Check it out. Five Good News Stories wherever you get your show. See you tomorrow

Nikki Glaser’s Thursday Night Football Bomb

🎙️ Listen to this episode:

▶ Spreaker  | 
🍎 Apple Podcasts  | 
🎵 Spotify


Full Transcript

Caloroga Shark Media. Jasy one from Monday. I am Johnny Mack with your Daily Comedy News. What I had is my lead story. I had to knockdown at number four.

So much stuff came in. Did you see Thursday night Football’s postgame? You probably didn’t because it was Jets Patriots. Jets won twenty four to three thanks to Aaron Rodgers. Well in the postgame show, Nikki Glaser showed up.

Someone thought this was a good idea. I guess they saw the roast of Tom Brady. Now my comments here and I share this in the Facebook group, which is Daily Comedy News podcast group. If you think room doesn’t matter, if you think audience doesn’t matter, well, listen to this. The joke Nicki tells here about somebody hugging is Aaron Rodgers hugging the Jets coach.

But listen to Nikki Glaser bomb. But the action wasn’t all taking place on the field tonight. Some of it took place on the sidelines, which brings me to mine play of the game, which was this moment. Look at that. Why is Aaron doing that?

Is that one of his closest family members? I mean, I don’t know what’s going on here. Oh I think, I know. I think Solid just reminded him that RFK Junior dropped out of the race. And I mean, look at this face.

Oh boy, I know that. Look that’s how men look at me when I asked, so what are we? I don’t have to get posted. I care about us. But let’s face it, this was a beatdown.

I haven’t seen a group of Patriots taken out this bad since January sixth. I mean, thank god Belichick wasn’t there to see this. He was too busy watching Blippy with his girlfriend. She’s twenty four. You know.

The Jets may have scored more points, but in the end, it was the Patriots who really won because they got to leave New Jersey thank you. Yeah. Somebody thought it’d be a great idea to have Nikki Glaser be on the postgame show with Carissa Thompson, Andrew Whitworth, Tony Gonzales, Ryan Fitzpatrick, and Richard Sherman. Now she was a guest, and I don’t think she’s coming back after this one. The segment was called Late Hits with Nicky Glazer.

She made fun of her crew. I will can see that. Nicky probably told these jokes better than I did. But you know what, having seen the clip, I’m not so sure about sampchins, she said. I just have to say, it’s so nice to finally meet the photo I show my plastic surgeon.

But seriously, you’re pretty intimidating. You look like the final boss at a country club. Turned to Richard Sherman and said, I’m definitely not gonna say that. Richard Sherman looks like Busta rhymes on ozempic. I’m not gonna do that.

I’m not gonna say that. Andrew Whitworth looks like Men’s warehouse Shrek. The next two got a little better. Tony Gonzalez looks like who my mom thinks about during one of her long bats. Tony, I like your vibe, though you look like a genie that can only submon by rubbing the crotch of a sensible Talbot pantsuit.

And the best one for last, Ryan Fitzpatrick. I’m so honored to be here tonight with all these NFL legends and Ryan Fitzpatrick, or as your teammates call you, Sack Galifanakis. That’s pretty good. Glazer then went into her analysis of the game At the end of the segment, she revealed that fans would see her more times, perhaps four more times summer, wondering if she’ll be on week four, Thursday Night Football returns to New York. The Dallas Cowboys faced the New York Giants.

Hey, that’s a pretty good game. Dave Chappelle remains Netflix’s top draw I thought he was canceled. I thought we were getting rid of Dave. Nope. Dave Chappelle The Dreamer cracked the top fifty programs watched between January and June twenty twenty four with seventeen point four million views.

That’s despite the fact the special was actually released on December thirty. First, Yeah, I watched it New Year’s Eve. Chappelle had the biggest stand of special, but was beaten by the Roast of Tom Brady, which got twenty two point four million views, putting at number twenty six on the list. Kat Williams got ten point three million views. He didn’t get one from me because I had to go to Cleveland for Deacon Mike.

I’m a good friend Deacon Mike. I did watch it the next day. That put it number one thirty six on the list. Kevin Hartz and Mark Twain Prize for American Humor only seven point one million views. Shane yell Us Beautiful Dogs six point one million views, beating out Mike Epps Ready to Sell Out, which got five point nine million.

Ricky gervais Armageddon got another five point four million views, although that was released Christmas Day of twenty twenty three. Joe Cooy he once hosted the Golden Globes. You know you ever hear that story? You made a joke about Taylor Swift. Here, let’s listen to it.

As you know, we came on after a football doubleheader. The big difference between the Golden Globes and the NFL. On the Golden Globes, we have fewer climber shots of Taylor Swift. Joe Koy got five million views for his Life from Brooklyn Special despite it only having launched in June. So this was a small window for Joe Koy.

Maybe he’ll move up the list, maybe super popular. I think he should host the Golden Globes every year. He beat out Taylor Tomlinson’s Have It All with four point nine million. Some big names did not crack the top five hundred of Netflix’s engagement report. Some of the names include Pete Davidson’s Turbo Fonzarelli, which was terrible, Neil Brennan’s Crazy Good, and Jimmy Carr’s natural Born Killer that’s a shame.

Eventually we will get data on Matt Riif’s Lucid and CrowdWork special that wasn’t released until August, Adam Sandler Allen, which is out tomorrow, the Tim Dillon thing that I didn’t tell you about yet. Give me a minute here, guys, Ali Wong, she’s coming out on October eighth, and Hasan Minhaj very interesting.

Meanwhile, John Mulaney was in San Francisco.

This must have been a corporate gig for dream Force. John must have been paid to do this one. And he said, let me get this straight. You’re hoasting a future of AI event a city that has failed humanity. So miserably, he started making fun of the audience, saying, you look like a group who looked at the self checkout counters at CBS and thought, this is the future.

If AI is truly smarter than us and tells us that human should die, then I think we should die. So many of you feel immensely replaceable. Can Ai sit there in a fleece vest. Can Ai not go to events and spend all day at a bar? All right?

Have you been counting? I said, what was number one? Story? Got bounced at number four? Here it is Lordne Michaels ain’t retiring, He’s sticking.

Do you like Saturday Night Live? Well, good, because we’re going to talk about it every single day for the next nine months. Did you hear Saturday Night Live is turning fifty? Did you know that? Did you know SNL is back this week?

Yeah? All right the first piece of news. SNL usually does three weeks and then takes a break. This year, it’s going with four episodes in a row, beginning with its season premiere on Saturday. It’ll take a one week break on October twenty six, before returning for a three week run on November two, just three days before the election.

They’ve announced the hosts of the first five episodes. Well, who are they? Johnny mack Well this week Gene’s Smart with musical guest Jelly Roll pretty good, Jean Smart just one an Emmy who doesn’t like Geene Smart. Nate Bergatsy who crushed in his first appearance. He’s back on October fifth, Coldplay is your musical guest.

Not too shabby. Then Ariana Grande will be the host, Stevie Nicks the musician. That’s October twelfth, Michael Keaton and Billie Eilish on October nineteenth, John Mulaney November two with Chapel Rowan as the musical guest, and then on November ninth, if Trump wins, will have a completely depressed SNL cast like we had after Trump beat Hillary that time. But that was such an episode, remember that one. Yeah, Coldplay, I’ve appeared eight times.

That’s too many. They’re not that good. Stevie Nicks is back for her second time, Michael Keaton for his fourth time, Billie Eilish for her fourth time. Haw’s that possible? John Mulaney hosting for the sixth time.

The Hollywood Reporter did a big wax job article with Michael Chay, Colin Jost and Lorne Michaels. They asked, Michael Chay, this being the fiftieth season, does that come with Jay jumped in and said a financial bonus? No, it doesn’t. Colin said yes, if you know any agents looking for clients, that’s a good line. Is there added pressure?

Guys. Jay said, I bet there’s some level of that for Lornen and the producers. For us, we’re just trying to find the fastball, funny thing that’s what keeps you up to night. I try not to think about it in the macro. In season fifty one, we can look back at fifty and say what was special about it?

But it’s impossible to determine what’s going to be special. You can’t plan for perfect moment. Jost. Yeah, that could be something that happens to me now in the fiftieth Hopefully something happens Jay, Like, what was it five summers ago when they shot Trump at a rally? Joe?

What did you do with the gun? Joe said, I had to do a show that night at this event where there are a bunch of comedians and everyone was like, he’s still going to do a show. It was like two hours after it happened. It’s such a charge thing. You don’t want to go in it and be disrespectful, but then people are expecting something on it and they’re sort of disappointed if you don’t deliver.

So what did you do? Joe? Joe said, I don’t think I really talked about it. Maybe I mentioned it, but I got away from it quickly because I didn’t feel comfortable joking about it yet. Lauren Michaels speaks.

Lauren says, I think there’s two things happening at the same time in SNL. An election, and I’m tired of everybody telling us that it’s the most consequential one in history, because there’s been a lot of big elections and the fiftieth anniversary, and I want to celebrate the season with people coming back who’ve been part of the show and who loved the show, not so much as host but just making appearances. And so the election has a chance for that because it’s five or six shows. So Maya and some others coming back for the election will be fun for everybody paying attention to that. And I’ll come and done that in a minute.

And at the same time, there will be new people emerging a different generation. Joe says the word things. As soon as there’s news like Kamalas running America, just starts debating who’s going to play them on SNL before we’ve even had a conversation about it. There’s a list of ten people who should play Tim Walls, the Hollow reporter said, I suspect having non cast members come into play politicians, it doesn’t always sit well with the actual cast. Am I right?

Joe said, If you’re someone in the cast who is like I have a better impression that person coming in, it’s probably frustrating, but it’s the sort of reality of the show, all right. Here is the big question here that I alluded to you before and teld you to pay attention. Will James Austin Johnson continue playing Trump? Where do you welcome Alec Baldwin back Lorn Michaels pay attention to this answer. I think James will be there, but I don’t want to get into what I’m doing that sucks.

We’ll talk more about that tomorrow. Steve Martin said you’d reach out to him about playing Tim Walls, and as he told the la Times, I wanted to say no. And by the way, Lauren wanted me to say no. Is that last part true? Lauren said, Yeah, Steve and I’ve been very good friends for longer than you’ve been alive, and it’s not the thing he does, but there’s lots of things he does that you’ll be seeing.

Hmm. I don’t pick more of this article later in the week because I see got rolling down here as I talk nine more screens worth, So let’s move on to something else. We have nine months to talk about SNL, and boy, the first half is long already. Yeah, let’s save the nine screens worth of Lord Michael stuff. Tim Dillon has revealed the title of his new talk show special, This is Your Country.

It’ll be out October first in Tim Dillan This is Your Country, The Tim Dylan Show comic chats with everyday Americans about cryptocurrency, OnlyFans, and other outrageous issues. It’s kind of Tim Dillon doing Jerry Springer, or if you’re old and from New York City, remember the old Morton Downy show. It kind of seems like he’s going for that. I pulled the trailer. It’s just not going to work for purposes of this podcast.

I like Tim Dillon a lot. I don’t think this thing is for me, but I was chatting with a friend and we both think this thing could hit. You know, my taste does not everyone’s taste. I think America’s taste might really dig this special. My sense is they don’t know what to do with Tim Dillon.

Very funny but nobody’s figured out what to do with them yet. Ellie King put out a new single high Road, so she got a bunch of press. As part of the press, spoke to people about her father, Rob Schneider and said, I never in a million years thought it was going to go viral. I was just speaking about my childhood and about my truth. I wasn’t trying to hurt him.

A lot of people said, how could she say that about her family and everything needs to be behind closed doors, and no it doesn’t. Sometimes you just have to say things and get them off your chest so that you don’t have to care to around the rest of your life. But ultimately, I think an apology on Tucker Carlson is like a double negative, right, means nothing. When Schneider was on Tucker Carlson, he said, I just want to tell my daughter Ellie, I love you, and I wish I was the father in my twenties that you needed. Clearly I wasn’t.

I hope you can forgive me for my shortcomings. I love you completely and I love you entirely. During the Olympics, Rob went on Twitter and slammed the opening ceremony. King took issue with his comments and said that she disagrees with a lot of what Rob Schneider says, adding you’re talking out of your butt and you’re talking crap about drag and you know, anti gay rights, and it’s like get eft. She doesn’t regret speaking out because the best thing that came from that is my incredible LGBTQ plus community knows that they have an ally in me.

From the Cap City News, Jay Leno was recently welcomed by Union Pacific to check out the compartments of big Boy number four oh one four. That’s a locomotive. It’s currently chugging around the country for its Heartland of America. Seur Jay climbed aboard big Boy number four oh one four during a stop in Council Bluff’s, Illinois. Jay will be showing off big Boy in an upcoming episode of his web show online Jay Leno’s Garage.

That episode is scheduled to be out today. Big Boy number four oh one four has been located in Cheyenne since twenty thirteen and is the only surviving Big Boy engine to be in operational condition. The engine was originally delivered to Union Pacific at nineteen forty one and was retired in nineteen sixty one. Former comedian Kamail Najihanni. I mean, does he still do any stand up?

I think he’s an actor now right? Well whatever Comeil Najihanni and Emily Gordon have launched winter Coat Films, which assigned a first look deal with Sony Pictures to produce a scripted series for streaming in cable platforms. One of the suits that Sony said, camel and Emily are a dream team artists who bring him in humor and authenticity to everything they explore. Don Johnny said, we are thrilled’s call Sony our creative home as we launch winter Coat Films. Oh and look here, I should have read ahead.

He’s embarking on a new stand up tour, so he is a comedian. Take that back, Johnny Mack, that was jerky when you called him a former comedian. I hate you and I hate your podcast and I’m never listening again. All right, Relax, I messed up. I mean I could edit it.

Relax that your comedies for today. If you enjoy the show, tell a friend about it. They might like it too, unless they’re a big Camille non Gianni comedy fan, which case through. They are not gonna like me. If you would like this program without commercials, there’s a link in the show notes that to tell you what to do.

If you understand what podcasting two point zero is and you want to stream some SATs my way, you could do that. It’s enabled nudge nudge, Know what I mean? All right? I don’t know why I did the nudge nudge. I’m leaving by

Kill Tony is the IT SHOW, Comics for Kamala, and More

🎙️ Listen to this episode:

▶ Spreaker  | 
🍎 Apple Podcasts  | 
🎵 Spotify


Full Transcript

Caloroga Shark Media. Hello, I’m Johnny Mack with your Daily Comedy News. Good lineup tonight for Comics for Kamala. Mark Marin Already it’s a great show, right, Kevin Neilan, Lori kil Martin, Danny Zucker, Mas Jabroni, Dana Gould, Cristella Alonso and Tom Arnold tonight at seven thirty at the Comedy Store in a, Los Angeles. Let’s see general admission of forty six dollars and forty cents.

I’ll tell you though, Comics for Kamala needs a better website. I hope the administration runs a little better than that. All right, another show if you want to turn against all your favorite comedians get mad at their politics. Gary Goleman doesn’t care. He’s doing Comics for Kamala on Monday in New York City, Gary Goleman and Friends.

The friends are Zach Zimmerman and Britney Carney. That’s at Stand Up New York, the new location at two twenty one West forty sixth Street. Oh wait, there’s another show on Tuesday in Miami. This one’s at the Miami Improv in Esther Coo Larry Dog of Freddy Stebbens, Larry fish More, Christopher Sharon Pfeiffer, and Bear Clarker Webb not exactly the name brands that are performing tonight. That’s Tuesday Night and Miami.

So I want to keep things fair here. I don’t see any sort of Trump comedy festival. If I see what I will tell you about it. I try to think to myself, who would even be in it? I googled comedians who support Trump.

Roseanne came up, and no one else came up, And I’m like, all right, from memory, who could be on comedians for Trump? I guess we could get Nick Depollo and Jim Brewer, Rob Schneider, Guttfeld. I’m sure Gutfeld would love to come. I mean, google conservative comedians. See what comes up?

Really, nothing other than the headline. Rob Schneider’s comedy is so bad it’s even offending Republicans. Somebody put together a tourist I can talk about it. Paul Starr did a big giant article about kill Tony Tony Hinchcliffe said, I want our audience to be able to hear these different perspectives from everybody where they’re from, how they grew up, what they do, what makes them different. It’s all critical to the flow of the show.

I got to remember to watch those kill Tony MSG shows. They’re up on YouTube. We’re all different, but we all laugh at a lot of the same stuff, and it brings us together. The show’s so raw, so organic, so live. There’s never been anything like that before, and I can’t believe that I’m the one that did it.

A little white trash Italian kid from an all black neighborhood in Youngstown, Ohio. It’s just the America dream and I couldn’t be more ecstatic about it all. Tony told Theo Vaughn on the This Past Weekend podcast about when Tony made his comedy debutt for months and then blanked out on stage. He was honest. He turned into his own forgetfulness and turned that into a three minute improvised set.

He bombed in the weeks after with the jokes he’d rehearsed. To this day, Tony is more comfortable off script. As for his recent performance at the Tom Brady Roast, Tony Hinchcliffe said, I was adapting it until the very last second. Everything was changing. I was making edits, adding things, cutting things out, repositioning things, I’ve ppared a lot of those jokes for the roast, but I didn’t know how and when I was going to do it.

I decided very early on when I got there that I was going to do them from left to right and be the only one who moves around. I was trying to figure out where the main camera was seeing so they could see me and also the person I was roasting, so I was directing that while performing. It was a lot of work and a lot of adrenaline, a real blur, but also an absolute blast in one of the highlights of my life. Tony’s one of those fifteen year overnight successes, and said, fifteen years of writing on ROAs and performing stand up led me to this position. To be able to just execute up there.

It wasn’t a magical moment. It was almost two decades of continuous practice. The kid that used to roast everybody in school fully grown forty years old up there doing what I was built to do. Tom Brady deserves all the credit in the world for even letting me have that position and giving a young buck a chance like that. The first episode of Kill Tony was shot back in twenty thirteen in the belly room of LA’s Comedy Store in front of fifteen people with four sign ups.

Hinchcliff’s manager Alex Murray. I know Alex a little bit from way back in the day. Alex said, the Netflix Comedy Festival made us a low offer, not necessarily financially, but in terms of venue capacity. We told the booker, you’re really underestimating the power of this audience. We just kept passing and passing, and only they made us an offer for the YouTube theater, which is six thousand seats.

We sold out in ten minutes on the pre sale. The booker called and was like, what is this and we were like, I told you. The second show we had it was at the Kia Forum that sold out within days. We’re being careful of how many of these live shows we do because Tony goes out of pocket for production. Sometimes we want to make them special and unique.

Madison Square Garden, same thing. The first show sold out in a day, then we added the second show, which ended up selling out. Not a single dollar in advertising was used to achieve this. The Kill Tony YouTube channel has one point six million subscribers. They only got to a million back in April, so that’ll show you how fast it’s growing.

Alex Murray said, I represent other big ax. Yes he does, and we got to promote those shows. But when it comes to spending money on promotion, Tony’s like, nah, trust me, I got this. We listened and he’s right. He’s been right one hundred percent of the time.

Tony said, in my mind, we’re at times absolutely eating Saturday Night Lives lunch she and gillis doing. Is Donald Trump amen on that it’s so much fun when Chane shows up on Kill Tony, it is so much fun. Adam Ray, Is, Joe Biden, doctor Phil and many more they could have had. That these are the new stars, the backbone of modern day comedy, and having work with these guys forever and finally putting them in positions to be seen in their finest light doing their funnies stuff, watching on the break character because they’re cracking each other up. It’s just priceless.

It’s not written now, it’s not rehearsed. Everything is improvised and that’s the secret sauce of Killed Tony. Tony moved the show from la to Austin during the pandemic and says it’s made me a happier person. The people are nicer, the artists better, the food is better. My spirit is filled, which makes me a better host who makes better decisions for the show.

Normally go to New York or LA to make it and try to take things to the next level. You don’t go anywhere else to thrive. But that’s what we did, and there’s nowhere I’d rather be that at home here in Austin, Texas. It fills in my heart with so much joy and it’s my favorite place in the world. Joe Rogan said, it’s a better place for comedy, and you don’t have the traffic.

It’s not a grind. The club situation is amazing. There’s cap City, there’s the Creek in the Cave, There’s the Vulcan, There’s the Sunset Strip, the Mothership, the Black Rabbit, the Velveta Room, Shakespeare’s You realize you don’t have to be stuck in this crazy city of insane traffic and crime. Hinchcliff added having Shane Gillis here as a death blow to the other cities. Even the few people that we really want that I haven’t moved here.

They’re all coming here all the time. It’s like a Vegas residency. I apologize here to mister Dorfman, who works for Outback and is quoted here. Somewhere in my collection of the notes, I lost mister Dorfmann’s first name, and I keep googling out Back Dorfman, and all that comes up is a hat you would wear in the Australian desert. But mister Dorfman said, it’s easy to say Austin.

But the truth of Mather is over the years, La or New York were the gatekeepers, and now there are no gatekeepers. You’re watching the best at a craft just put their stuff out there and let the people decide. Before, in order to get the word out, there had to be somebody who tell you who was good and not well, the people have decided. We did twenty six thousand people in Madison Square Garden. This is the greatest moment comedy’s ever seen, and it’s because the comedians are running this.

Alex Murray agrees and said Comedy Central made a lot of comedy shows that people watched. It launched comedy stars and created new careers. It was a whole thing. But viewing habits changed during COVID. People started migrating the YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, watching on their phones and Tony show.

It was literally the only comedy show that was meaningful, original, fun and cool that exists. Did The audience felt like they discovered the show organically. It wasn’t ever promoted or marketed to them. I can’t even remember how I discovered Kill Tony. And I think Alex Murray brings up a good point.

Comedy Central boy, I mean, and I helped launch Comedy Central Radio, that brand you know in the aughts, super strong. What Happened The next Killed Tony live stream is at Resorts World Arena in Las Vegas at September twenty fifth. They’re also working on a New Year’s Eve show. I could see a pay per view coming, can’t you. Yeah, Now that the show’s popular, the big streamers are coming.

And Tony said, I’m just happy to have complete creative control and not have to deal with network notes from some executive or director. Everybody’s listening to me, and that’s why I think it works. It’s not watered down by a bunch of other people’s opinions or any old school stuff that’s going to drag it down, make it to safe, or make it resemble anything else. It’s brutally original, even though it’s technically a talent show slash open mic. It’s so raw because truly anything can happen, and everything is improvised.

It maintains its loose, dangerous, live feel, and it’s too late for anybody to catch up. Nobody can even do a rip off of the show because they have to play. It’s safe. If you look at your American idols, and your America got talent, and it’s made for grandmas and grandpa’s. It’s meant to be on the TV at nursing homes.

No cool eighteen year olds want to watch that.

Meanwhile, you got eighteen year olds watching kill Tony with their parents, …

Man, that kill Tony article is longer than I thought.


All right, let’s bounce a whole bunch of things.

How about this from the Express News from Maria Bamford. Whenever Maria Bamford wants to try out new material, she asks her fans for help, She’ll put out a call on Twitter offering a T shirt to anybody who’s time to meet for a cup of coffee or over zoom and listen to her to go through her act. Bamford said, the great thing about human beings is that if you give people an opportunity to be delightful, they often are delightful. So anytime I’ve met with somebody, it’s been really fun.


Also, it’s a public form, so they’ve said in some way, I’d like to do this, a…

It’s not like it’s pushed upon them, which is my least favorite kind of comedy, which is ambush comedy. She notes that some might be misled by her looks. She says, I’m a white cis heater, a woman in my fifties. They might think they might be able to relate to her point of view. She said, maybe not.

You might want to google it. I’m the used bookstore of comedy. I probably won’t have what you want, but I’m pleasant and I try to find you who you might want, and I bet it’s someone else, and I’ve been sitting on this one from the av Club, Rosalind Chow talked about her time on Mash and After Mash. Remember she was on the last few seasons of Mash and then both seasons of After Mash, and then later she was on Star Trek the Next Generation. Rosalind said, Mash, that’s kind of one of my first real things, And I think that’s one of the reasons people on the internet.

I think I’m like eighty years old because I got hired and then I got fired. Unbeknownst to me. When my paperwork came in, they basically said I needed to be ten years older than I actually was to be able to keep the part, and I obviously wanted a job, so I said whatever they needed me to say to be able to regain the role. So that’s why I’m eighty or wherever old people think I am. My lawyer just asked if I want to have a change.

I was like, you know, well, they have considered me for three body problem if they knew I’m not really an old lady, so I don’t want to jinx it. You know, how old is she? Actually? I didn’t think she was eighty. Let’s see, let me do loose math before I look it up.

All right, Mash ended in nineteen eighty two, So if I make her, I’m doing lazy math here from I make her twenty in nineteen eighty two, she’s sixty. If I make her twenty five, she’s like sixty seven. I’m gonna guess she’s like sixty seven. Is seventy sixty six? Not bad?

Johnny Mack born September twenty third, nineteen fifty seven, about to be sixty seven. Johnny Mack nailed that one high five everyone. So if you want to be like, she’s only sixty six, you listen to this podcast tomorrow. She’s like sixty seven, is what I said. She’s sixty six and three sixty four, three sixty fifths close enough.

Oh, I’m glad I slipped that in today. I see that was fun, accidental whatever the Evy Club said. Hey with After Mash, I heard it was being pitched as a series with a tone resentling the film of the best years of our lives. See, I thought it was pitched as boy. I wish Allan Aaldo would have kept doing Mash.

What do we do now? That’s what I think the pitch was. Roslind said, oh yeah, I didn’t know what that meant then, but yeah it was. Look. I had fun on it.

I learned how to drive while we’re doing it. And my biggest memory was that nobody wanted the parking spot next to me on the twentieth century Fox a lot, so they kept moving me. First, I was parked next to Harry Morgan. Remember his face when I got there and said, Oh, I’m parking next to you, and look I did a really good parking job. His face was just like horror.

Lee day, I got a note saying you’re parking next to Jeanie for tomorrow and Jamie last like a week and the next thing I knew, I was parked next to somebody I didn’t know at all. That is your comedy news today. Happy birthday, Rosalind Show also tomorrow. Happy birthday, Bruce Springsteen. That’s your comedy news for today.

If you would like this thing with ask commercial interruption, there’s a link of the show notes that it’ll tell you how that works. Daily Comedy News does support podcasting two point zero if you’re like a modern podcast app. There’s a link of the show notes and then you can do the whole value for value things. Treat me some SATs. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, don’t worry about it.

If you’re in the know, you’re in the know. See you tomorrow.

The secret to a JD Vance impression? The mascara!

🎙️ Listen to this episode:

▶ Spreaker  | 
🍎 Apple Podcasts  | 
🎵 Spotify


Full Transcript

Caloroga Shark Media. Hello, Jenny Mack with your Daily Comedy News. Jenny Mack, you never give any attention to Roywood Junior’s news show. Have I got news for you on CNN? I know, and the CNN publicists put out so many articles about it, and I’ve barely talked about it.

The La Times spoke to Roywood Junior. They talked about his time playing sports in high school. He warmed the bench. Roy said, your job as a bench of warmer is to come up with the heckles against the other team. I took pride in writing insults to hurl at other fifteen year olds.

If I could get the umpire to laugh, that was like an applause break. If I got the parents to laugh, that was the standing. Oh. Roy says, We’re a very interesting piece of real estate with this new show. In between say a Jimmy Fallon and a daily show, it’s an opportunity to talk about the news, but we get to season it for taste in terms of the depth in which we want to go on a particular topic.

A sidebar here. The La Times writes, as roy Wood said that sentence, he was alternating tips of two smoothie. Is one a fruity pink, the other a healthy green, fascinating. I might head over to the smoothie place after I record this. They have this new cinnamon smoothie that’s so good.

I might have to go get one. Where he says, the burden of making the argument every single time is not on my shoulders anymore. It’s a chance to live within the jokes first, the opinions. Second. The conversation turned to his time at The Daily Show, and he said, the biggest thing I learned from watching Trevor Noah’s not to let anger pollute your sense of humor.

It’s infuriating what’s happening in America, But the moment you allow yourself to be consumed by the anger, you lose your ability to make fun of everything. I remember Trevor allowing not anger, but compassion to drive his segment about a police shooting. As I recall, there wasn’t a single joke in the first act. He just spoke sincerely to the camera about where we are as a country. There were so many moments where Trevor could have used the pulpit to cuss America out, and he never did it, but instead he used calmness as a more precise scalpel.

Interesting. I’m going to use the word spin here. This isn’t the way I remember it, But the La Times rites. When it became clear that one time front runner Hasan Minhaj wasn’t going to get the Daily Show job, Wood started to worry that there was no plan for the Daily Show as it headed into an election year. Roy says, at that point, John Stewart coming back was not in the conversation.

For me, it felt like, well, what is life going to be for me after the Daily Show? If they picked somebody that doesn’t want me it as a correspondent, then what am I gonna do next year? If I’m gonna have to eventually find a place to land, I should just start that process now, all right? That is fair. I think my point is that the La Times left out the part where they weren’t obviously not considering Roy for the desk either.

Amber Ruffin said, Roy knows every current news story but also the history of them, which is amazing to me. Even when you think, oh, he’s not gonna have the backstory on this, he does. Roy has a kind of gravitas. He feels like he belongs in the chair. He just feels like a dude you might be hanging with around the grill at a barbecue, Whereas on the jerkvase, who’s gonna be like, do you have impossible burgers?

Roy Wood has been preparing for the show by watching Steve Harvey host Family Feud. Why because he’s the king of hearing something ridiculous, pausing and reacting to it, and then getting the game back on track. He’s keeping in open mind about the future and said if the Daily Show called, I’m not gonna send them a voicemail, but I am dating someone. The CNN press team got Vulture to write about the show, Hey, Amber ruffin, how did you wind up getting hired as one of the team captains? Amber said, they had a bunch of us tests for it, and it was just the most fun little reunion.

It was everybody who’s kind of in this space, was all the late night people, the funny news podcasters, the people who had late night shows. Well, should be asking her pals to be on her team. No one’s asking me who should be on the show. I don’t have any control of who’s on the show or not, or else it’d be all my friends, which I guess it would be fine. I don’t even know who’s going to be on this Friday.

They tape Friday and at air Saturday. How’s the show different than the UK version? It’s a little more game show. Esk gets overflowing with punchlines, the goals to give your fastest answered many times that’s wrong or silly, and because we’re all comedians, it’s very much like an improvised late night show that’s out behaves. We’re spitting out punch lines at a teams and sat down and thought through, which makes it more fun and truer than your regular show.

It’ll be different that the segments are way tighter than your run of the mill British panel show. I think it’s very segment heavy and bit heavy, whereas the other panel shows can get to yepping. How do you decide who wins? Roy is deciding who gets points and he can be bought before every show. It’s on the whims of Roy.

It’s how he’s feeling. So yeah, I’m gonna bring him presents. I want to win. Let’s stay political for a second. The Daily Beast spoke to Samuel Wiles.

He does stand up comedy in La and resembles jd Vance, and he has started doing a jd Vance impression. Wile said, I’m always kind of clocking guys with big round heads and beards and media, the fact that we both have light eyes and kind of high school teacher speaking voices. With a bonus coincidence. He started doing his Vance impression on TikTok on August seventh, while channeling jd Vance In a recent video, he had Vance reading letters from constituents and said, dear future VP Van s, a Haitian illegal broke into my house and ate my dog between two slices of wonderbread. He was wearing nothing but a cape and a sinister top hat.

He escaped on a skateboard powered by dark magic. How does he come up with ideas? He thought about how much I don’t like JD Vance, but also how awful would be to be him. I started writing down stuff I thought he would say, because I thought I could talk about it as stand up. But then I wrote for like ninety minutes straight.

It was so easy. I read Hillbilly Eligi when it came out. I remember liking it while I was reading it, then putting it down and going, oh wait, what an a hole. Then when he became an outright conservative media figure that it seemed really logical. It’ll never not be funny to me that he’s a huge fraud.

No one likes him. He doesn’t even get the benefit of this weird lying. His life would be so much easier if he could be honest, but there’s so many layers that he can’t have an honest moment. Now part of what makes a good advance impression mascara, He says, My fiance works in beauty and did my eyeliner for the first round of videos, and we both kind of realized it needed to look worse. So now I just get the three dollars wet and wild from Walgreens and mash it into my eyes on my own.

Shout out to Walgreens. Nick Swartzon spoke to the eight hundred pound Gorilla, and he said, one of my favorite stories is I did a performance arts center and I show up backstage. It’s about two thousand seats. I look up the walls and big murals of the Lion King and Phantom and Wicked, and I go to the manager and I go, do you guys have comedy? Here and he goes, oh, yeah, I have comedy.

Sometimes we had Lewis Black and I go, oh, no, do you have security here? And he goes no, but we have ushers. And I’m like, you don’t understand. There’s going to be a crapstorm coming in here. My fans are gonna be rowdy.

And he’s like, we’ll be fine. And it’s like, now you don’t understand what I’m saying to you. The Nick Schwartz and crowd’s gonna come in hot. And he’s like, I’m not worried about it. Okay, whatever we go.

I do my show. It’s chaos. Girls got in a fight in a balcony. This brawl. People are being insane.

It’s super fun. I had a blast. And after the show, I got back to my green room and the manager goes, what the f And I’m like, yeah, I told you. People are doing cocaine in the crowd. There’s vomit everywhere.

Usher just didn’t know what to do and I’m like, yeah, I know, I told you. Literally said that. I called my agent. I was like, maybe let’s take a break from the Performing Arts Center. Like what am I gonna do?

After the ballet slates has a big article on the arts of clowning, a little too deep for me to cover on this podcast, but a good read on Slate. The part I’ll highlight here is they spoke to Natalie Palomides, who I think is fantastic, and the setup here was about how clown performers dress, and they said Natalie, by contrast, often isn’t dressed in anything. In one of her more shocking Bitsmedies takes the stage dressed like the little mermaid looking for her true love. An audience member of volunzear is to fill that role. Natalie locks them in an aggressive tongue and make out, pulling their shirt over their head with passionate post nuptial Gusto, writes Slates.

Later, Balamedes strips down completely and discovers that with the wonders of m enjoying yourself, maybe she doesn’t need true love after all. She says, so much of the clowning in the modern scene is naked and horny, and that’s not part of being a clown. Traditional clowning is supposed to be innocent, childlike, and playful, and I’m frustrated that I’ve become an example of this. It’s become a creature people. If you’re going to do nudity, you have to earn it.

She’s anxious that she might be bastardizing the form. She would rather say that I was a physical character comedian. I think more people on the outside started to refer to me as a clown before I called myself one. One of her friends made the case that clowning, just like any form of art, is subject to reinvention and deconstruction. Deal and went electric, Natalie, it might ditch your clothes in the middle of a show.

Leslie Lao is one of Vulture’s comedians you should know and will know. Oh. When they asked her if she were immortalized as a cartoon character, what would her outfit be? Interesting question? Stylish ath leisure, high waisted sweatpants, sports brawn a cool baggy vintage jacket, sexy clean sneakers.

Sounds like, uh, Pouci from The Simpsons, didn’t Pooci dress like that? What comedian’s career trajectory would you like to follow? Bill Burr? I want to do stand up forever if you known for that first, and be competitive with myself and see if it can be better than it was there before. I want everything I do outside of stand up writing, acting, podcasting, directing, voice over, et cetera.

Tolign with my voice in comedic style. Worst show ever. I recently did a show to college, so beforehand I assumed it was for college students. That is a good assumption. When I arrived, it was for a summer camp of high school students touring the college decide whether or not they wanted to apply.

The average age had to be sixteen. They spent the entire day doing activities and were restless. All of them were on their phones and either talking to each other, shouting at questions that the comics, or trying to make each other laugh. The sound was awful. They were too young to grasp the concepts of my jokes, loneliness, isolation, agonizing over whether or not to have children, et cetera.

They were not listening or laughing at anything I said, so I started doing Q and A. Questions range from what’s your favorite movie? Too? Does life get worse? To what’s your Snapchat?

The lineup was stacked with amazing and talented comics, and one by one we were demolished emotionally by these children, and I hated it and it was amazing. All right, what’s your joke writing process? She says, trying to be funny can backfire on me. When I first started, I naturally thought of what would make an audience laugh, and work backwards and tailoring the premise to it. Now I realize if I try to be funny first, my truth will get lost.

If I start with the truth first, and I rant about my honest feelings and experience off in the humor On Once he relies on its own organically all right, comedy opinion hill that you’ll die on, Leslie says, let’s experiment with earlier show times. Shows that start past nine pm are challenge to us all. Everyone’s pushing their limits to be awake and full of energy when reality we’re all fighting there to doze off. Amen, preach Johnny Maco’s to bed at nine point thirty half the time. Let me take a crack at a four pm show.

We can all have a laugh at dinner at a reasonable hour and tuck ourselves in by nine pm. Oh, I think that’s awesome, She says. I also love the no phones and shows policy. A stand up show is not a concert. It’s a time to listen and laugh.

When you’re holding up your phone in front of your face and block other people’s view and filming our sets, you’re neither listening or laughing. Best comedy advice, Worst comedy advice. Best, don’t try to lead with being relatable. Just focus on what’s true for yourself and hope that connects with people. Worst.

When I had my day job at Netflix, a few comics would find out and tell me that I was already in. All I had to do is get acquainted with someone on the stand up team and pitch myself and get a special that way, I’m well aware that’s a backward, awkward and unprofessional strategy. These industry people have to come to you. If the comics approach them, they’d be a line of comics of the Netflix lobby waiting to pitch themselves to creative executives every day. Just be so good, funny, professional and special that someone who can change your life will notice you and come to you.

And that is your comedy news for today. If you enjoy the program, tell a friend about it. They might like it too. You can share it on social media. You can follow me on social media.

It Twitter’s at dcnpod threads, seems to get a little more traction with the comedy community on threads. I have the proper at Daily Comedy News. If you want to be my friend over there. If you would like to program without commercial interruption, there’s a link in the show notes that’ll tell you how that works. You have an awesome day, and I’ll see tomorrow.

Kill Tony – what it’s like when you’re a comedian selected

🎙️ Listen to this episode:

▶ Spreaker  | 
🍎 Apple Podcasts  | 
🎵 Spotify


Full Transcript

Caloroga Shark Media. Hello, I’m Jenny Mack with your Daily Comedy News. Michael Jay and Colin Jokes apparently have a good relationship, but seems there was one joke Michael Jay didn’t like. He told this story to Dana Carvey and David Spade. They were curious if there was any punchline that he didn’t like.

Chase said, I think jalapagno business. I was pretty furious about that one. Joe said, you were just upset that it worked so well. The joke in question related to a twenty fifteen Ohio criminal case, which saw a woman charged with stabbing her boyfriend because he ate a tub of sauca they were meant to share. Chase said, I remember and run through when you did it because I’d never heard it before.

I don’t remember what the setup was, but the punchline was halapano business, a play on words on the saying all up in your business. On the final airing, Jose recapped the crime and concluded by saying you’d be angry too if your boyfriend was jlapagno business, and Chase said, I was like, if you tell that joke on the air, I’m leaving him quitting the show, and he did it on air and it destroyed. I was so frustrated. I was like, I don’t even know what we’d do anymore. On the original airing, Chase shared, first of all, I hate you for laughing at that.

My joke got pulled after dress rehearsal because they said it was too offensive and way over the line. Man. The PR people over at CNN, they definitely worked hard at getting word out about how I got news for you. You’ve got a couple of stories today, and I’ll do some more tomorrow. Since the show airs on Saturday.

And look it’s canceled because it’s scheduled on Saturday night. I know if anybody’s gonna watch it. Micha Lee and Black told Inside Hook, I’m so plugged in, like annoyingly so, I know so much about the news, mostly as a function of being unemployed. I live on Twitter discuss even me. Black appeared in a pilot for an NBC version of the show years ago that never took off.

When CNN came calling, he was like, why see it in doing this? This doesn’t make any sense to me, So I asked that question to CNN. I’m like, this doesn’t make any sense, and they said they’ve been airing Bill Mahers show on Saturday nights and reruns and it’d been performing really well for them, and they saw an opportunity there and they were looking for something to pair with it to expand their weekend programming from just Sunday Originals to Saturday Originals. Seem like a good fit, some one was explained to me. I was like, oh, you’re smarter than I thought you were.

They’ve been really respectful of Roy Amber and I in terms of letting us do what we want, never saying well, in the British version they do this or they do that. I think they’re very cognizant of the fact that this has to stand on its own two legs with an American cast doing it the way we would do it. So I’m sure the architecture of it, the way the show is constructed, and the design and the games that are all within it, that’s all lifted from the British one. But in terms of how we executed here, they haven’t give us any notes other than go as far as you want to go, which is the best possible note to receive. He said.

The crew instantly connected. While filming a test episode, even though they didn’t know each other, Black says, I felt so familiar and so comfortable, and they were so funny. It felt to me like we’d be doing it for years. I was shocked, it really was. I think all of us have enough experience in the format sitting on a stage, there’s an audience, there’s four or five cameras, and you’re just like shooting at the stuff.

I think it felt natural for all of us and a very easy place to fall into. The X factor is always like, well, what’s the chemistry going to be? Like? So far is so good. I mean they were making fun of me.

I was making fun of them. They were making fun of each other. That’s all you want. That’s all I want. If some tragedy or something, or I should say, when there’s some tragedy or something, it’s entirely possible we will be preempted that week, depending on the nature of whatever’s happening, and I’d be fine with that.

I’m not trying to get up on September thirteenth to joke about September eleventh, you know what I mean. I think my approach would be to treat the events with the seriousness they deserve. That doesn’t mean you can’t find the humor in them. But then there’s just some things that are not going to be funny, and I won’t try to make them funny. If a school shooting happens, you’re not going to see me up there making armpit fart noises over it.

I’m just not The CNN press machine got Rolling Stone to write an article. Roy Wood Junior said, I wouldn’t mind RFK Junior as a guest. It would be funny, I guarantee you that, and at times it would be very what the f is happening, but informative at the end of the day, and I think that part of it’s fun to see. The thing that I’m trying to remain conscious about the American version of this is there’s still a lot of people suffering under a lot of these policies that are quarterback by people that were thrown around a pure as guests, and so there’s a way to tend of the wins of the people that are in pain while creating a sense of accountability or explaining yourself for people that have pushed some of these policies. I don’t want to laugh at stuff that’s insensitive.

At the end of the day, I’ve had six days to yell, curse and cry. On Saturday nights, we will laugh. In the Daily Mail, Alexa Semino talks about being at participant in Kill Tony. I found this very interesting, Alexa writes. I had waited in the sign up line on the first day of the show, even convincing my editor to let me out of work early.

I arrived at four pm, thinking an hour was plenty of time to screw my place in line for the five pm sign ups. I was very wrong. At least eight hundred aspiring comedians had been waiting and sweltering ninety five degree heats since eleven am. By the time I arrived, only three hundred to four hundred lean in and I didn’t make the cut that day, but I was determined the next day. I came prepared.

There were only twenty or so people in mind when I arrived at mid day, so I was golden. I chatted with the other comics who had flown in from all over the country. Wow, it felt like a comedy tailgate party, where instead of football, we discussed the kill Tony bump. Referring to the possible career boosts that would come from being selected to perform on the show. When it was time to sign up, we were herded like cattle through metal detectors made to sign waivers.

We were given wristbands and ushered beneath the arena on the left side of the stage. Especial section was reserved for comics who had entered their names in the bucket. A live man fired up the crowd. The show kicked off as Tony began explaining the bucket poll system. That’s when I realized I had willingly signed up for three hours of anxiety because no one knew who was going to be called.

I whipped out my trusty red Joke book, frantically flipping through the pages and knowing I’d be so shocked I’d probably forget my own name. I needed to strategically select jokes that were second nature, like the kind of jokes I knew so well I could recite them in my sleep. Eventually, her nerves calm because she’s not being called, and then she writes it turns out my chances of being called were far higher than I thought, for one reason. I was a woman. Tony wanted a woman and had one last bucket poll left for Saturday night show, so he kept drawing names until he found one mine.

I was rushed backstage by the production crew. My face pale, my hand’s trembling. The production assistant laid down the law. Don’t touch the judges, don’t go over your time. When you hear a kittens me owt from the soundboard, wrap it up, Tony says, make some noise for Alexa Semino.

I walked up the stairs, picked up the signature red microphone, looked out to the sea of twenty thousand faces stretching out before me. You could hear a pin drop. I launched it into my set. The words tumbled out with a confidence I didn’t know I possessed. The crowds laughter echoed throughout the arena.

In comedy terms, I had killed it. I managed to banter with Shane Gillis, dressed as Donald Trump. I was awarded a big Joke book, a prestigious symbol that the bucket pull had impressed the judges. Stepping off the stage, I was greeted by some of the most famous names in comedy. After the show, I was bombarded with congratulations autograph requests and so much love, especially from female audience members.

It took me nearly an hour to leave the venue. In a few weeks I’ll find out if the Kiltny bump is real or if we’ll be back to climbing the stand up ladder from scratch again. I gotta remember to watch those shows. The MSG shows are up on YouTube now. You know this football like nine nights a week now.

There aren’t nine nights in a week, John, There’s like football like eight nights a week now, and I was having a time to watch kil Tony. But the MSG shows are definitely up there out today. Anna Valenzuela’s a new comedy album, A Murder Puss, is available from a burn This Records. There’s going to be a book about Lauren Michaels entitled Lauren Then, who invented Saturday Night Live. Get ready for nine solid months of SNL talk starting with this movie ending with the fiftieth anniversary show.

This new book, written by Susan Morrison from The New Yorker, will introduce you to him in full for the first time, with unprecedented access to Michaels, who has spent his career mostly avoiding reporters and the entire SNL apparatus. The New Yorker’s Susan Morrison takes you behind the curtain for the rollicking, definitive story of how Lorne created the institution that would change comedy forever. Sidebar Mark Maron had lorn On at one point, I think two episodes worth, maybe only one. That was a great listen. I know Maren put stuff behind the paywall after a while.

I don’t know if that’s still available, but that was really good if you can still get it. Other people interviewed in the book Paul Simon, Paul McCartney, Steve Martin, Chris Rock, Amy Poehler, and Jason Sadeikas, Bill Hayter Buck, Henry Chevy, Chase and Moore. The book will be out in February. Forbes spoke to Caroline Hirsch, who used to own Caroline’s Comedy Club in Caroline Hirsch is a big part of the New York Comedy Festival. They spoke to her about how comedians dress.

Airlines said to me many many years ago, Robin Williams always presents it himself in kind of a you know, it was a cool way on stage in the beginning, he wore T shirts with suspenders. It was kind of his look after get rid of the Hawaiian shirts. Later he was a very chic dresser. She says. JB.

Smooth is the coolest dresser around. Tracy Morgan also make sure he’s dressed to the nines. Kevin Hard as well is dressed to the nines. Those guys really do out there and make sure they have a look, very very much a look on what they do. Caroline says, once comedians get the means, they dress up, that’s their thing.

I watch people go from jeans and T shirt to there are many suits. You could see the transition of people going through it. Her favorite is when comedians wear bling. It’s almost like do they dress up so people take them more seriously or is it a way to show their status that they’ve made it. It’s really about making it.

Look at Nikki Glaser, she’s impeccantly dressed on stage all the time. As for the now closed Caroline’s Comedy Club, she says, it lives on through the festival. That’s what we’ve been doing. And look, when the news went out that we were closing club, I had so many offers from different real estate people around New York saying, Oh, come work with us, open another club. But I needed sign a step back a bit, and we’ve been exploring other ideas about the Caroline’s brand.

Speaking of the well dressed JB Smooth, The Port City Daily caught up with JB, who said, people forget how short life is, and people really focus on too much stuff that keeps them stagnant and keeps them at a certain mindset for a long time until they realize that being in that mindset has affected them long term. By the time they get to a certain age, they realize they can’t fix it. They can’t repair it because they’re locked into it. They presented someone to everybody and now everybody knows them as that personality and that person. But if you can’t find a way to laugh, find a place in there for humor and growth, we’re in trouble.

And I think comedy is a departure from the normal world. You should put your phones away and be in the moment with somebody. It’s kind of like an intervention. We as humans have definitely attached ourselves to a different speed of the world, and there’s something really intimit about a setting like comedy when somebody leans forward in their chair and I’m like, oh, I got them. That’s the fun thing about stand up man, sat yourself to the heartbeat, and that it’s your comedy news for today.

If you enjoy the program, tell a friend about it. They might like it too. If you would like this program without commercial interruption, there’s a link in the show notes so to tell you how that works. Have an awesome day, See you tomorrow.