Month: August 2026

---

---

Featured: Shane Gillis, Stavros Halkias, Ricky Gervais, Sebastian Maniscalco, Amy Schumer, Hannibal Buress, Leslie Jones, Kathy Griffin

What’s in This Episode

• Shane Gillis on The Tonight Show, mother’s vacation to Croatia
• Stavros Halkias joins ESPN’s Football’s On campaign
• Ricky Gervais on UK’s This Morning discussing staying grounded
• Sebastian Maniscalco’s golf concerns in Las Vegas heat, mullet history
• Amy Schumer announces children’s book ‘A Joke of Her Own’ releasing March 9
• Hannibal Buress discusses 24-tour independent comedy career and ticket sales
• Leslie Jones weighs in on Jalen Brunson as greatest Knicks player
• Kathy Griffin claims Dave Grohl ignored her at JFK Airport

Questions Answered in This Episode

---

Full Transcript

This transcript was automatically generated and may contain spelling and/or transcription errors.

Caloroga Shark Media, Trumpulzaide. I’m Jenny Mack with your Daily Comedy News. Shane Gillis was on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon. We learned that Shane’s mother did not go to the big show at the Football Stadium, and Shane told Jimmy, oh my mom didn’t go to the show. She was on vacation.

She texted me to be like, my heart’s with you. Good luck. I love you. I was like, you’re in Croatia, You’re having fun. ESPN has hired Stavros Howgis to be the star of a new Football’s On campaign.

Standing in front of a huge screen with multiple mini video boxes of ESPN programming, Stavros says, this, there is so much NFL on ESPN right now, it’s disgusting. I love it. Monday night Football’s on, the pregame and postgame are on, and then like four more shows about those shows every week. I don’t speak Roman, but I’m pretty sure Super Bowl sixty one is on NFL network is now on the app. If they had any more football, might doctor have some words?

Now? We’re good sick. Football is on. This is your life now Ricky Gervais was on This Morning in the UK last week. Co host Josie Gibson asked Ricky Gervas how he stays grounded despite his success in being absolutely loaded.

He said, am I grunted? I don’t know. I think it’s because I made it when I was forty. If you make it when you’re eighteen, it changes you. I was already fat and I hated the world, and you got the same friends as his family as well.

I don’t think I could be anything other than this. Sebastian Manaskago admitted that scheduling a round of golf in August in Las Vegas might have been a mistake. Basian said, everybody’s been telling me it’s hotter than the sun over there. I don’t know if I should maybe cancel the golf because doing eighteen through one hundred and twenty five degrees, I might not make the show. The topic of Sebastian’s hair came up again.

We learned he used to have a mullet. He said, I played soccer, and back in the eighties, if you’re playing soccer, for some reason, he had long hair. He even attempted to have his mullet permed, but his hair was thin to hold anything beyond a wave. Amy Schumer has her first kid’s book out. Isn’t This exciting?

The author and comedian tells people, I love doing things that scare me. If it scares me, I’m doing it. And this scared me. If something makes me nervous, it’s like an opportunity. Let’s try and get better at it.

This is my first attempt at a children’s book, and I hope to get better. It is called a Joke of her Own. It’s all about a little girl who wants to write her very own book and take ownership over when people laugh at her. And that’s inspired by Amy Schumer’s own childhood, as well as a message she tries to impart to her son, Jean, who’s now seven. Amy Schumer said, when my son was younger, we would be laughing because he did something so cute and he’d feel laughed at.

I remember I did my first play when I was five, and whenever I’d come on stage, the audience would just start laughing. And it’s because I was like this little girl with her pigtails. They would laugh and I would get really down after performances. Finally, the director said to me, what’s going on. I just said, hurts my feelings when they laugh at me, and she said, no, it’s a good thing.

When you make people laugh. It means he made them happy and they love you. So I try to teach you my son the same lesson The message in the children’s book A joke of her own is about the importance of hard work when you want to get better at something, and the value of comedy, especially for kids. Oh there’s more. Amy kept talking.

She said, I think kids also get frustrated a lot when they aren’t grated something right away, and you just have to teach them over and over again that it’s about practicing and really working hard. It’s really a love letter to my son, of course, and to all the little class clowns out there, you know, because I remember getting in trouble a lot for making people laugh, and I helped to encourage more teachers, more parents to laughter be part of raising their children and looked at as a positive thing when a kid shows an affinity for comedy. My favorite part of the days, right before he goes to sleep and we read books. We’ve done it since he was born. Just this nightly really cozy thing, and I keep worrying it’s going to go away, but he loves it and depends on it just as much as I do.

And she keeps going and going, and I can’t even a joke of her own. Will be on shelves March ninth. It’s available now for pre order. Count Williams caught up with Afrotech. He said, my journey’s been independent from the beginning.

There wasn’t a blueprint for a comedian paying for his own special, licensing itself, and then repeating the process over and over again without relying on endorsement, sponsors or traditional system. And I built it ourselves together. Honestly. I made a decision a long time ago that I would keep touring for as long as people kept showing up. Twenty four tours later, we’ve played more than four undred cities, well the ninety one percent sell out rate, performing exclusively in arenas.

What’s even more remarkable is that we do it without the traditional promotional machine. You don’t see me constantly posting asking people to buy tickets or doing radio interviews in every city to fill seats. The audience comes because we’ve built a relationship over decades, over the course of those twenty four tours, we’ve sold between two and four million tickets each time. That kind of loyalty is something I don’t take for granted. It comes with an obligation.

My promise has always been that if people keep coming, I’ll keep giving them a brand new wire of comedy every time they see me. Fourteen comedy specials later, that’s still the commitment. My job is to continue the conversation we started back in nineteen ninety five. As long as people want to be part of the conversation, I’ll keep showing up. Leslie Jones weighed in on the New York Nicks.

She was asked about this notion that Jalen Brunson is the greatest Knicks player of all time. Leslie Jones vehemently disagreed, quoting Leslie, Oh, y’all kids, y’all just love to do BS. I mean that’s just such effort. Come on, okay, we can’t be together if you got that BS on you. He’s not the best.

No, it’s a very popular stance. Host Speedy Mormon said, it’s a very popular stance. A lot of people feel that way. Leslie acknowledged Jalen Brunson’s greatness, especially in the NBA finals, but said, listen, he brought them a championship. And I’m telling you that boy’s good.

I would say he’s one of the best knicks. One of the best knicks, but the best. Nick y’all doing too much Kathy Griffin, And anytime she’s mentioned on the show, it’s always, you know, something really positive. Kathy Griffin had a nice day. Kathy Griffin went to the park and said hi to people and got along with everybody, you know.

And then occasionally a Kathy Griffin’s story will have some sort of strife and angst in it. Well, Poor Kathy says her former friend completely ignored her after her Donald Trump photo shoot. You may recall back in twenty seventeen, there was a little kerfluffle. Kathy Griffin did something I don’t even want to repeat it here again. I don’t want visits from the guys with the sunglasses.

You know what I’m talking about. You remember the story. I just want to talk about comedy anyway. Kathy Griffin said she unexpectedly crossed pass with U Fighters frontman Dave Grohl while traveling through JFK Airport, and she believes Dave Grohl deliberately avoided acknowledging Kathy Griffin. According to Griffin, she spotted Dave Groll while browsing in a newsstand, but chose not to approach him immediately because she had become accustomed to people in the entertainment industry distancing themselves from her following the backlash over her controversial photo shoot.

Kathy said, then Dave acted like he didn’t know me. Maybe he didn’t see me because I’m so hard to miss it a newsstand. Then I thought maybe I should go up to him. I thought, no, if he’s being like this because of the Trump head picture scandal, it’s just going to be awkward. That’s why I say.

My former friend still an A plus musician, but it has some issues as being the only nice student in rock and roll. Maybe okay, Dave, you know you saw me. He and I used to be kind of friendly. During an interview on Australian television in August of twenty seventeen, Kathy Griffin said, stop acting like a little picture is more important than talking about the actual atrocities that the president of the United States is committing. In November of that same year, she apparently said I take that apology back by the way, I take it back.

Big Time City based comedian, filmmaker, and actor Edie Motica’s debut comedy special I’m Just Like You and It Sucks Now has release date September seventeenth, eight pm on YouTube. We are Told through unfiltered storytelling, Edie Motica discusses her longing for human connection and all the way she’s contorted herself in search of it, whether it be talking to stains on our aunt’s carpet, making out with a pair of brothers on a cruise in two thousand and seven, are talking to a stranger about his late girlfriend who died in a car accident. Edie will stop an nothing to feel and spread love to the world around her. Edy guides the audience through her life as an angry, poor kid, a sexually deventeen, all the way to where she is now, a poor yet slightly famous, sexually deviant adults with a passion for human connection. Edie Mootica said, we’re all insane, complex perverts, which means none of us are And isn’t that beautiful?

Worn and raised in New York, from Nyak to Bay Ridge to Ridgewood. She’s best known for her role in Jury Duty Season one, The Good Season I Couldn’t make it their season two. She’s also one of Ulture’s comedians you should and will know. The Toronto Guardian has a regular feature about comedians we should know them, Mysterian the mind Reader. On his driver’s license, it says Christopher Justin Doyle, But Mysterion the mind Reader blends off the cuff tongue in cheek comedy with impossible psychological feats.

Mysterion says, I lighten my show by not taking it too seriously and allow a lot of audience play to create a fun environment and welcoming the atmosphere while still performing some impossible psychological feats. His influence is the amazing Cresken Doug Henning and as for characters, I’m a huge fan of classic wrestling, with some of the bombastic ones heavily influencing my nuances and even look over the years. Favorite comedian growing up, Red Fox is the goat. Favorite comedian now Jimmy Carr and Jim Jeffries are a high I also enjoy the comedy of Canadian improv genius Ken Hall. Ken Hall of the Two Man no show.

I don’t know Ken Hall. We’ll have to look up Ken Hall one of these days. Favorite place he’s played Mysterion said, the Magic Castle in Hollywood, California, is the world’s most prestigious venue for magicians, and having had the opportunity to work there over one hundred shows was my dream come true. There’s been a lot of random press about Star Treker and or Pat Oswalds. He told Forbes his approach to comedy specials, It’s been kind of a steady thing ever since my first special, which is I’m always doing stand up.

I’m always thinking of how the next hour is gonna gel. He did this interview right before his special drop that said he was in that weird period before the special drops, where I’ve got a lot of new stuff, but there are things I can still do from the special because no one had seen it yet. You’re kind of saying goodbye to a lot of the stuff you’re dependent on. No one’s going to kill But then you remember there were these other hours they’ve written. It’s like going through life, you keep going to meet new people.

Comedy is the thing that I do, so I think of a special album is okay now we’re checking in a year down the road. Here’s what’s happening. See in another year and a half or so, and then we’ll check it again. I’m always doing it, but you don’t need to see the whole process of me going up on stage Tuesday at the Laugh Factor. You’re a Sunday at Largo working out new stuff with a piece of paper to see if this works.

They’re like editions of magazines. Here’s how I’m feeling it this year, at this time, at this age. And that is your comedy news for today. I’ll see tomorrow.

---

---

---

Featured: Tom Segura, Christina P, Rory Scovel, Chris Fleming, Ryan Hamilton, Trevor Noah, Joy Koy, Kat Williams, Bert Kreischer, Derek Stroup, Romy Youssef, Jackie Kashian

What’s in This Episode

• Rory Scovel’s Netflix special ranked #2 comedy special of 2026
• Tom Segura addresses divorce from Christina P on Your Mom’s House podcast
• Johnny Mac’s top 9 comedy specials of 2026
• Brady Bunch ‘Pork Chops and Applesauce’ impressions discussed

Questions Answered in This Episode

---

Full Transcript

This transcript was automatically generated and may contain spelling and/or transcription errors.

Checking in Poolside. Now. It’s super loud out here today. There’s no as Kate is. There’s somebody over that way.

They got a dumpster or something that The truck noise has been crazy. There’s dogs and there’s a smell. I think something died in the woods. Roy Skoles new special is fantastic. There was one point I laughed out loud for a full minute with a bit of a head fague joke.

That really got me. I like that one a lot. I’m looking at my top nine for the year so far. Still Chris Fleming number one, that from HBO Live at the Palace. I don’t see how anything’s going to top that.

That is just that specials on another level. But right now I have Rory Skoleflett number two, second best special of the year. You’ll find out on Netflix. I highly recommend you watch it, and I highly recommend you don’t read vultures spoiler laden review of it before you watch it. The other one I have in that top tier right now is Royan Hamilton that was on Netflix in June.

That one’s called Then It hit me. I like that with a lot. Then we’ll gap down a little bit. Trevor Noah’s Special Netflix and April Joy is pretty good. Kat Williams again Netflix, Netflix having a good year here that came out in February.

That was pretty good. Beat Holmes on the eight hundred Pound Gorilla back from February, well good. I have that at six. Derek Stroops Nostalgic is good. Romy Yusef said, Love and Jackie Kashan’s after Cation.

You’ll find on the eight hundred Pound Gorilla. Everything else I kind of have on a lower tier, and from time to time I’ll do that on the full audio podcast. I’m doing this one on the fly. I haven’t actually read this, but Tom Sagora has weighed in on his divorce from Christina p Let’s see what Segora said here. On the Wednesday episode of Your Mom’s House, Sigora said, this is my first podcast here in a while.

I know a lot of people obviously heard the news and saw last week’s episode when Christina hosted it. I don’t feel the need to say to a lot of people, but it bothered me that a lot of people were like, Oh, I can’t believe you’d make her go address this alone or do this on her own, which couldn’t be further from the truth. The truth is we’ve been recording separate episodes for a long time now because everything that people now know is not new to this. It’s been many, many months, so this is not brand new to us. We both decided to record separately, and it’s just what we’re doing.

It’s a horrible experience. I just want to let people no, it’s private. It’s horrible. It’s a long experience. It’s mostly a roller coaster.

All right, I’ll pull the audio from then we’ll do that on the long form audio podcast at some point. The other thing I had this is totally random. I was on Reddit and I saw somebody talk about this is for the old people on the Brady Bunch. Remember Peter Brady did pork chops and apple sauce. Remember when he was doing that?

What was that? And the big question, who’s that an impression of? So I went down a Reddit and ai rabbit hole and I’d be curious, who you think pork chops and apple sauce is. The default answer is Humphrey Bogart. And when I looked at that, I was like, Humphrey Bogart, how’s that?

Humfrey Bogart? Other possibilities. Jimmy Cagney w C. Fields, a friend of mine, suggested Don Adams from Get Smart. But I don’t know what that is, or why that was funny, or why Peter Brady was doing that.

If you have an answer, please let me know. And that’s it from Poolside Today. Check out the long form audio podcast wherever you get your shows, and I’ll see tomorrow

---

---

---

Featured: Shane Gillis, Jimmy Fallon, Dave Chappelle, John Oliver, Jimmy Kimmel, Patton Oswalt, Leslie Jones, Woody Harrelson

What’s in This Episode

• Shane Gillis breaks Guinness World Record with 76,000-person Philadelphia stadium comedy show
• Jimmy Fallon interview critique and Shane Gillis guest lineup details
• John Oliver vs. Rialto Police Department over security camera segment accuracy
• Jimmy Kimmel discusses intense TV season and ABC’s The Millionaire
• Patton Oswalt reveals HBO’s The Idol as recent binge-watch favorite
• Leslie Jones reveals Woody Harrelson’s rough SNL rehearsal before strong live performance

Questions Answered in This Episode

---

Full Transcript

This transcript was automatically generated and may contain spelling and/or transcription errors.

Caloroga Shark Media. Hey there, I’m Johnny Mac with your Daily Comedy News. Pool side once again. We have the entire winter to sit in a basement. We got to be outside the pool, still green, still looking into the vandal situation there.

Shane Gillis was on the Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon, and I have a premise for you. Jimmy Fallon very talented, I stick up from a lot, but he’s just not a good interviewer. I have some proof here he is asking San Gillis about the concert in Philadelphia where Sheen Gillis sold seventy six thousand tickets plus. And here’s Jimmy Fallon doing something bigly resembling an interview. Last month, though you broke the Guinness World Record for most tickets sold for a comedy show by the solo comedian.

Over seventy six thousand tickets were sold. Talk to me, Uh, yeah, it was crazy. Did you did you ever think that that was possible? To you have any idea that you could fill that? How did you even gamble to think that you could?

No? I didn’t. I don’t think anyone should do that again. No, no, no, no, no, I know it. It was a great experience.

No, it was cool. Uh no, I sold. Uh. I did a show in Philly like two years before and it sold pretty well.

And then I was at an Eagles game and the guys that work worked the stadium we…

And then they kept pushing it and it was funny because they were like, we’re gonna have to move it around the World Cup. I’m gonna bump like going on. But it was a crazy show, right, it was crazy. Did you bring out uh? Did you bring us any special guests?

Yeah? It was Uh. Meek Mill came out first and saying Dreams the Nightmare, of which I was I was cool. Uh. We had Ban Margera introduced them.

That was awesome. Great. Kelsey was up there, then my buddy’s Matt and Big Jay, and then I brought out Chappelle and then uh, yeah, come on, that’s all you come on. My favorite was there was a surprise musical guest at the end, and I know the entire stadium thought it was going to be Zach Bryan and it was a very I don’t know if you can tell, it was a very white audience. It’s about seventy seven thousand white people.

Yes, that’s a different record. It’s a different record. Congratulations. And it ended up being I brought out three six Mafia, which, yeah, that’s an audience. I thought it was very funny.

Thank you, rutes. Conan O’Brien must go, Season three, August twenty First, there is a triller. I have scoped this down for pacing. In many places. I’ve seen many things.

This is the best travel show. The other celebrities, they look like a wax figure. Not me, though, Right do you think I should do maybe a little. Something, a little on beforehead? Tell me when I get to the right amount.

Right there, you met the white person in and it’s I’m not just a white person. I’m the whitest person. Let’s stop right here. Don’t make it worse. You’re talking to the wrong guy, because I love to make it worse.

The cops are mad at John Oliver. Oliver took a swing at a Southern California police department on HBO, and the rialto police department blasted John Oliver after he criticized the agency’s use of privately owned security cameras, accusing John Oliver of painting a misleading picture of how the technology is actually used. The department said John Oliver segment did not accurately reflect how the Rialto Police Department utilizes this technology or the safeguards the Governor’s use. During these segments, apparently Oliver had claimed that the police effectively pressured new businesses into giving police access to their cameras and exchange for permits, joking the business owners will have to decide whether opening an Neil salon is worth being a narc on passers by Captain lamontc Worker, a department spokesperson, said, no business has ever been denied permission to open because it chose not to participate in the program. There’s a hole back and forth there.

I’ll let them fight it out, but I like this joke from John Oliver, who said, and if you worked at the Chick fil A, just know that on one Tuesday afternoon, Rialto had five of your interior characters open for two hours straight, which feels a little weird to me. Oliver also joked that getting secretly watched in your swimsuit is not supposed to be one of the perks that’s staying at a day’s end. The Hollywood Reporter profile that Jimmy Kimmel and they right to say Jimmy Kimmel had an eventful year is to utter even more of an understatement than Regis Filbin had a bronx accent. I worked with Regis Philbin. I never questioned his accent at all.

Maybe because I have a queen’s accent and I’m from New York City. I never thought Regis had a bronx accent. Did he? I’m not sure that’s accurate. We digress.

DHR said it was an intense TV season for you. What we remember most? Kimmel said, no question. What I remember most is the reactions who are unschedulification, which went so far beyond what I could have expected. I’ll never forget the sport from friends, strangers, and even of those who generally make me throw up.

I will tell you here that was such a huge story. I use AI to analyze the stats on the show to help me tweak the contents a little bit. You know, I want the show to grow. I like when people listen to the show. I try and talk about things that people care about, and that whole Kimmel thing actually did bigger numbers than the whole Colbert gate and every day the AI is like, what were you talking about?

Then? Why do you do more of that? I’m like, what do you want me to do? Should I call the President and ask him to take Kimmel Show away? I could do that.

I could also ask him what to do about this green pool I have here? And apparently kim Will agreed to this to promote Millionaire, because then the conversation went to millionaire. What’s the hardest thing about hosting millionaire? Kimmel said, pronunciation, even the word pronunciation is hard to pronounce. A celebrity he’d like to land on the show.

The Obamas would be a fun team.

---

Also, Hall and Oates.

Hall and Oates don’t get along anymore. One of them sold the publishing rights and the others mad at them. They don’t get along. THHR. We’d be putting up another billboard for the Late Show with Stephen Colbert to win the Late Night Emmy, Kimmel said, we’re hoping this time they’d get one for us.

THHR. Does John Oliver need to be stopping now that he’s back in your category? Jimmy said, John Oliver deserves every war that gets awarded Star trek Runer Patton Oswalt is a fan of HBO’s at the Pit. Patton was in US Weekly’s twenty five Things You Don’t Know About Me feature. Patten said, Season one of the Pit was the last thing I binge.

The whole show was amazing, but episode twelve. Then he spoiled Episode twelve that was a masterclass acting, writing, directing all of it. Had to watch that episode twice. We also learned that the star trek Runer is a night owl who really wants to be a morning person. Growing up, he idolized Charles Schultz, you know the guy that drew Snoopy, Vincent Brice, and the six million Dollar Man.

His first car was a nineteen eighty five Nissan CenTra, which he called a death box with a tape player. His go to karaoke song is not three Times by Tony Orlando and Dawn. Patten says, I love banging the MIC’s stand on the ground or in the Knock Knocknock part A great drunk belter. Celebrity crush growing up was either Joy Harmon from Village of the Giants or Josie from Josie and the Pussycats. Leslie Jones has revealed the SNL host who was effing up so badring rehearsals.

The entire cast thought it would be one of the worst shows ever. So who was it? It was Woody Harrelson, who was not good, but once the camera started rolling, Leslie said the man became a whole different person. Jones was on a recent episode of First We Feasts Slice Joint and said when wood he came at the time, I think he was smoking weed and he was not good in rehearsal. He was effing up so bad.

We were like, this is gonna be one of the worst shows ever. Once the camera started rolling, that man became a whole different person. We were quick changing. We’re like, Woody, you’re killing it. He was like, did you guys think I was going to do bad or something?

And we were like, yes, em Murpher, you are efving up. Yes, Johnny Macluk’s a good comedian. Beefle. Jeff Dye said he caught fellow stand up performer Laura Kitlinger scrolling an insult across jeff DiY’s Tesla windshield after the two performed on the same comedy show That’s Not Cool. Don’t do that?

Die? Says the moment was caught on his cars built in security cameras. Di went on Gutfeld and posted images from a video he said was captured by his Tesla security cameras, and said he had never met Laura before the sho show and that she’d seemed friendly enough beforehand, though that you didn’t speak and she left before he went on. He said he assumed she hadn’t realized who car was when she wrote douche in the fog on the windshield, calling it strange behavior for a sixty year old adult. I wonder in his theory whose car he thinks she thought it was that she would write douche in the fog on the windshield.

Well, it turns out Laura confirmed writing the word and posted her own account of the exchange, along with screenshots of messages she said she later sent mister Dye. She said she’d been bothered watching him criticize a comic who had just performed, and argued the reaction to her post should be embarrassing to tough guy misogynists. She apologized and called her decision impulsive, saying she should have raised her concerns with mister Dye directly rather than writing it on his car. DIY pushed back on Twitter, denying that he was crying out and insisting he was simply holding her accountable. His management later gave Fox News Digital statement asserting that his car wasn’t otherwise vandalized.

Peacock has dropped a first look at its upcoming arc cheological comedy called Dig Dig. Stars Amy Poehler as a lease, a member of a dedicated group of archaeologists and less dedicated college students who spend their summer working at a dig site in Greece. All ten episodes will debut Monday, November twenty third. On Peacock, we’re told their discovery of a rare artifact sends them on the adventure of a lifetime. I can’t wait.

The Baltimore banner is mad at Eric Andre. Currently on a round table, eric Andre said I’m never going to Baltimore again. Made that city burn to the ground for what they do to me. He did not explain what it is that Baltimore does to him. John Cena, on the round table jumped to Baltimore’s defense and said, don’t do that.

That’s the birthplace of National Bohemian Beer. It says from the land of pleasant living on the can. Don’t do that to Baltimore now. The Baltimore Banner points out, while National Bohemian famously got its start in Baltimore in the late eighteen hundreds, the now Paps Brewing Company owned beer is no longer brewed in Baltimore. Sena kept going, he said, Brooks and Frank Robinson, come on.

He then named to Hall of famers calaribicin Junior and Jim Palmer. But it remains unclear why Eric Andre does not like Baltimore other than experiencing quote a trauma there. But he did not elaborate. That is your comedy needs for today see tomorrow

---

---

---

Featured: Nikki Glaser, Adam Sandler, Ryan Reynolds, Joe Rogan, Chelsea Handler, Tom Brady, Jennifer Aniston, Chris Rock, Rory Scovel

What’s in This Episode

• Nikki Glaser fires UTA talent agency
• Adam Sandler and Ryan Reynolds rivalry rumors
• Adam Sandler’s casual red carpet fashion at Netflix screening
• Joe Rogan responds to Chelsea Handler’s salary criticism
• Rory Scovel releases new Netflix special

Questions Answered in This Episode

---

Full Transcript

This transcript was automatically generated and may contain spelling and/or transcription errors.

I thought I’d do another one of these casual pool side things, just check on some stuff happening on Tuesday afternoon. I’m fascinated by this. Nikki Glaser has fired Uta without warning, unquote on Monday. Members of her team didn’t know this was happening. So this is interesting, right, So Nicky’s kind of sailing along and then does the roost of Tom Brady and then she’s a superstar and the Golden Globes and what’s going on here and Insider toil page six.

Nobody can figure it out. Uta had turned her from a respected comedian into a mainstream cultural force. Okay, tap the brakes on mainstream cultural force. Good comedian, people like her, but mainstream cultural force. Relax, Relax, relax by Blazer assigned with WME in all areas including comedy, motion pictures, television, books and literary media, brand partnerships, podcasting, music, and more.

We are reminded other A list comedians are wrapped by the NC, including Amy Schumer, Chris r Tina Fey, and Adam Sandler.

Speaking of Sandler this from Radar Online.

They tend to be pretty gossipy. Sandler and Ryan Reynolds are motkin Hollywood’s hottest rivalry. Oh really okay? His source close to Sailor called rovers of at feud to lie and said, the two power players barely even know each other. I deal with Radar online a lot on the Palace Intrigued podcast where we talk about the royal family, and they tend to gossip a lot and tend to have a lot of unnamed sources.

I think that’s what might be going on here. In Insiders, says Adam and Ryan are on friends, they’re competitors and that’s not going to change anytime soon. It really comes down to their origins and show business. Adam was not an overnight success. He grinded it out in obscurity as a young man first and Stand Up then in the early nineties on Saturday Night Live.

He’s always written his own material. Now he draws on the friends he made out his way up, like Jennifer instand and Chris Rock, to populate his films for Netflix and on the big screen. Sandler and the family are at the screening of Netflix’s Don’t Say Good Luck, which the star is a famous actress, Sonny Sailor. The movie coincidentally produced by Adam Sandlor for Netflix. Apparently the family dressed the way one does on the red carpet, and Adam dressed the way Adam Sandler does, and I do hosting the podcast.

Look today, I’ve got on my peaks and professors. This is a haiking group in California. Let’s say we are told Sandler wore a bright blue polo shirt covered in flamingos, electric blue track pants and sneakers. And I think I saw somewhere else that the sneakers are red. Joe Rogan chime back at Chelsea Handler.

Remember Chelsea said Rogan was making too much money eighty two million dollars for the podcast. Rogan on the August fifth that Joe Rogan Experience said that’s funny, she’s rich. That’s crazy, That’s what she said. I make too much? Is there a certain number I should make?

Make whatever you can make?

---

And now today on Netflix, Rory Skolell’s new special, seeing a lot of good bu…

If you want to be spoilered, don’t go on vulture dot com. They wrote a glowing but boy, I think they gave the whole thing away. Anyway, quick check in from Pool’s side if you’re just discovering this on YouTube. There’s an audio podcast every Day and that’s about twelve minutes long. This is a little more casual and chill, catch guys later

---

---

---

Featured: Matt Rife, Bill Maher, John Oliver, Adam Sandler, Anthony Jeselnik, Trevor Noah, Ricky Gervais, John Cleese, Tammy Pascatelli

What’s in This Episode

• Matt Rife feud with paranormal investigator over Haunted Warren Museum
• Bill Maher’s Ariana Grande weight joke sparks backlash
• John Oliver guest stint on Days of Our Lives
• Grown Ups Three filming in Madison, New Jersey with ensemble cast
• Anthony Jeselnik discusses winding down comedy career for writing
• Trevor Noah Santa Barbara stand-up review with Trump AI impression
• Ricky Gervais Alley Cats animation praised by John Cleese
• Tammy Pascatelli Comedy Dynamics special released at Triad Theater

Questions Answered in This Episode

---

Full Transcript

This transcript was automatically generated and may contain spelling and/or transcription errors.

Caloroga Shark Media her Bullside. I’m Johnny Mac with your Daily Comedy News. The bull’s very green today. Do you think it might have been vandals. I’ll have to look into that.

Matt Rife in trouble. I don’t know what to do with this one, okay. Matt and his collaborator Elton, were on Instagram promoting an event at Haunted Warren Museum. That’s a paranormal spot that the pair had purchased last year. It is best known for housing the demon doll.

Anna Belle, a parent normal investigator, responded to the post by commenting on the Salem witch trials, which, for reasons unknown, told Matt Rife to rip into the quote lifeless douchebag by saying, please remove yourself from this earth. The paranormal investigator responded on Facebook saying, now I’m going to move forward with all this nonsense, garbage what Matt said, and Elton control your mittor Matt or get Matt therapy. I don’t ever want to see Matt bully a person with all autism again, Do I make myself clear? Not okay to say with a person with autism, I have autism. A source close to matt Riife told TMZ that matt Rife is quote relentlessly bullied in the comment section of his post with vile remarks.

TMZ understands that matt Rife responds to the trolls and then the troll deletes the original comment. The source says there’s context missing from matt Rife’s exchange with the Paranormal Investigator since the original comments are deleted. TMZ wants us to know that Matt and Elton charged people up to one hundred and sixty six dollars for admission to the Haunted Warren Museum and that has ticked off a lot of people in the paranormal community. Bill Maher also in trouble for a comment about Ariana Grande’s wait on Friday’s HBO Bill Maher Show. During his opening monologue, Bill Moore said, I hope the aliens are here.

I do. I hope they’re here, and they’re watching us, and they’re going to save us. And by the way, the Trump administration this week, just a few days ago, maybe yesterday, unleashed a new trove of UFO files. Interesting things in there, triangular craft, weird lights over an army base, a stick like figure with large eyes. Oh, that was just an Ariana Grande video.

The audience apparently laughed at that joke. More tagged it with please we kid, Maybe that joke will make it or eat something that one didn’t go over as well, And now people are met at Bill Maher. Don’t forget to watch Days of Our Lives Today. John Oliver in character arrives at the office of Salem may Or Paulina Price, suggesting that whatever brings him to town, it runs straight through city hall. John Oliver will be on today, tomorrow, and the fourteenth.

This is different than his three episode stint on General Hospital last month. I should probably hop in the car and drive about five miles down to Madison, New Jersey to see if I can run into Adam Sandler. He’s been spotted in Madison filming Grown Ups Three Grown Ups Three will start. Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, Christy You Need Money, David Spade, Rob Schneider, Maya Rudolph and others also joining famous actress Jackie Sandler, Shaquille O’Neal, Colin Quinn, Tim Meadows, Cherio, Terry Ellen Cleighorn, and Nick Swartzen.

Also include Julie Bowen does she need Bunny?

Shea sitcom for ten years? Dion Cole, famous actress, Sadie Sandler, different famous actress Sonny Sandler, and about Tan More names a lot of people in this movie. The official log line tells us, now that their kids are all grown up, the gang is finally free to go on the Ultimate Adventure. Apparently they were filming this at the Madison Hotel, A very nice place, been there. The hotel’s front desk declined to confirm anything when reached by North Jersey dot Com, but both Rod’s Restaurants and the Red Dog Tavern were closed for a few days.

Hmm.

---

Meanwhile, just up the road, Madison, New Jersey, closed Green Village Road e…

From The La Times. Anthony Jessinik, who’s only forty seven, imagines that his comedy career is winding down. He said, I’d love to take a crackety the short stories of writing a novel. J Justinick says, you see a guy like Jim Carrey, the last thing he wants to do is make anyone laugh anymore. He wants to be taken seriously.

He believes his stage persona has spared him from that. Jesslinick says, people are afraid of me. Fans who approach me are careful because my stage persona is borderline psychopath. I don’t feel that needs to take it seriously. I think I am taken seriously.

The Only Times tells us Justinick’s comic sensibility explores cruelty, shock, transgressions, and anti heroes, and it’s what continues to draw Anthony to literature. Jessinick said, I love bank robbers. I love the idea of the villain winning. That is revolutionary to me. You’re raised on TV and things have to be wrapped up in half an hour and the morall has to hold.

I love that books don’t have to play by those rules. The folks at the Santa Barbara Independent went to see Trevor Noah. We’re Till Trevor Noah had a nice mix of semi local specific topics like driving from LA to Santa Barbara, the joke they are told better by Trevor, all these random churns. It’s just me and a thousand other ways friends trying to shave a minute off our time. Trevor doesn’t like the beach.

She said, you rinse the sand off your feet in the water, and then you walk back on the beach in the sand. We learned from Trevor Noah why men love sports so much. It’s the one place where we feel things without being judged by ourselves. We get to cry, we get to be sad, we get to be disappointed, and we get to blame it on the team. We bring everything we’ve experienced that week, and we put it all on the team.

All those Knicks fans, they weren’t burning the streets because of the Knicks. That was everything they’ve experienced in their life for the last fifty years. Finally they had an excuse to express it. Apparently, Trevor did some impressions of Obama, George Bush, presumably w and Donald Trump. The reporter said Trevor’s bit about what it would be like if Trump trained AI was so funny that they had tears.

The punchline there as recapped by a reporter and told better by Trevor Noah than Johnny Mac. Who better to treat a system that constantly spews bs than an AI? You think they give you problems? Now at least your AI will apologize to you. You give it one week with Trump training, and you’ll be like, what is the capital of Nicaragua And it’ll be like Paris, and you’re like that’s wrong, and the AI will be like, no, it’s not.

A lot of people are saying that. A lot of people are saying it. A lot of people are saying that Paris is at Nicaragua. That is funny. He also told the joke about something that will get me in trouble with people who wear sunglasses.

So I’ll refer you to the Santa Barbara Independent to read that. One watched a couple of things on the TV ted Lasso season four episode one Boy. That was rough, and, as I shared in the Facebook group Daily Comedy News podcast, I need some reality in my sitcom and like the idea that Ted Lasso’s not a super successful Premier League coach. He finished second with like a you know, not really good team he’d be working, he’d at least be on TV. Just I don’t want to spoil it, but like the whole setup for season four, I’m just not buying it.

I asked put on Ricky Gervay’s Alley Cats, and then I texted my friend and dared them to get to three minutes in. Oh my goodness, that is terrible. John Clees, who knows more about comedy than I do, disagrees with Johnny Mac. He posted on Twitter the Ricky Gervay’s Cats animation is quite wonderful. Gerve’s responded said, thanks so much, John Clease.

That means quite a lot from the creator of the greatest British suitcom of all time. Lad Who am I to argue with the great John Clees. Tammy Pascatelli has a special out today Comedy Dynamics, filmed at the Triad Theater. Tammy Pascatetlli takes on family, marriage, aging, pop culture, and the absurdities of everyday life. Tammy says the specials will throwback to the kind of comedy I grew up watching, in the kind I still love today.

I’m so proud of how it turned out, happy to be working with Comedy Dynamics. Blah blah blah. Comedian and culinary content creator Corey b will tape his debut comedy special at the Piper Repertory Theater in Mesa, Arizona, on October seventeenth as part of the Out of the Kitchen tour, Corey said, this is a chance for my fans who haven’t been to a show yet to see a whole new side of me. Out of the kitchen and onto the stage. Amanda Knox is performing at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

The New York Times says before the show, she was pacing the stage for about fifteen minutes. She’d been trying out her jokes prior to her one hour fringe debut as a stand up comic. In her act, Knox roam the stage where toys and clothes were scattered, telling stories and occasionally dialoguing with the recorded voice of her daughter, who’s five years old. Knox was trying to find the humor in her own story. You may recall, Amanda Knox was wrongly held in prison in Italy for years for the two thousand and seven murder of her roommate.

We covered that yesterday. The Times tells us, then Amanda told her joke about her daughter’s favorite game, It’s called Mama Goes to Italy. In the game, her daughter grabs the bars of a jungle gym at their local playground screams, let me out, Let me out. An online petition against the performance got forty thousand signatures. It went on anyway.

The Daily Mail published an article on its website with the headline is there anything Foxy Noxy won’t do for attention or money? Median Jennif Friedman quoted in This Times article who said her level of bravery doing this is just beyond comprehension. Knox said, there’s a defined streak in me that’s like, you know what, I didn’t hurt anybody. I’m not at fault for what happened. The show is being marketed as a woman quote approaching forty, juggling motherhood and finally getting around to being furious about the whole wrongful imprisonment thing, especially when half the world is telling her to get over it, while the other half still thinks she’s guilty.

Tony Lancaster is the director of the Fringe Society. He told BBC Radio Scotland. We’re not afraid of controversy. The decision as to whether or not the show goes ahead lies with herself and it lies with the venue. As sympathetic as we already the individual cases the crop up and absolutely is apparent I could relate to the pain that they describe, but that can’t be a criteria, can’t be one of the lenses we look through the show’s venue, the Gilded Balloon, Teviot said in a statement the Edinburgh Festal Fringe as an open access festival.

As a Fringe venue, we provide a platform for a whole range of voices, in line with the Fringe’s long standing commitment to freedom of expression within the confines of the law. And I’m sure our audiences can make informed choices and maybe Johnny Max not wrong about everything. Jimmy Fallon won the week with his big as audience since twenty twenty four thanks to latenighter dot com who has this wonderful information now. To be fair, Jimmy Kimmel Live minus Jimmy Kimmel was with Jimmy Kimmel. I think in repeats anyway.

So new episodes of Jimmy Fallon moved into first place in both total viewers and adults eighteen to forty nine. Fallin averaged one point five to four to one million total viewers week of July twenty sixth, up nine percent from the previous week. Fallon also won the eighteen to forty nine one hundred and eighty four thousand viewers. Jimmy Kimmel Live, which aired five guest host repeats. Okay, there’s the answer there, fell to one point zero six four million in the demo, just one hundred and forty one thousand.

The Late Show Stephen Colbert had zero viewers because that’s no longer on CBS’s Comics Unleashed, that’s airing repeats itself. Wow, that got seven hundred and ninety two thousand total viewers. Still finished third at twelve thirty CBS is funny, you should ask four hundred and forty nine thousand total viewers, fifty two thousand adults, eighteen of forty nine, fifty two thousand. That’s like podcast bad. I mean, like that’s bad for a podcast.

Over at NBC Late Night with Seth Myers, it was their last week of original episodes before a seven week HI it is Make twelve thirty great again. Myers averaged nine hundred and forty three thousand viewers, up two percent and in the eighteen of forty nine is one hundred and twenty thousand adults. And that is your comedy news Pool Side Green, very green Pool. We’re gonna have to investigate how this got green. Some people are saying there were vandals.

Other people saying it rained a lot last week and you didn’t put in enough chlorine. We’ll get to the truth and we’ll see you tomorrow

---

---

---

Featured: Ted Lasso, Ricky Gervais, Rebecca Welton

What’s in This Episode

• Ted Lasso Season 4 premiere critique and plot holes
• Ricky Gerzais’ ‘Alley Cats’ special review
• Ranker’s best sitcoms of all time list controversy
• Friends ranked #1 sitcom debate

Questions Answered in This Episode

---

Full Transcript

This transcript was automatically generated and may contain spelling and/or transcription errors.

He not pop on pool side. I just got a couple of random things I want to talk about Ted Lasso. Did you watch that season premiere? It is not good. Now, can we get to the soccer please?

But my big problem with it was, and I might be a crazy person, I need some reality in my comedy. I get that it’s a sitcom, I get it. But the idea of spoilers, spoiler spoilers, the idea that ted Lasso is working at a supermarket. And again, fine, he wants to be near his kid, whatever, But this guy, I looked it up right. Season one, Ted takes over Richmond in the Premier League.

They struggle and they’re relegated. Then he wins the championship in season two, and then in the season three they finished second in the Premier League and he walks away. Okay, so this guy who was a college football coach was successful in the Premier League, and you’re gonna tell me he’s working at a supermarket part time. He’s not on NBC’s Premier League coverage. He’s not the coach of the Kansas City MLS team.

He’s not coaching a women’s team in Kansas City. He’s just sitting around doing nothing. He’s not on TV, he doesn’t have a podcast, he just works at the store. And I just couldn’t buy into it. So the thought that he’s going to move back to the UK, Yes, we love Rebecca and all the people at Richmond, but he’s going to move back to the UK to coach a second division women’s team as opposed to making a couple million dollars coaching Premier League team.

I’ll remind you he finished second, so he’s apparently good at this. That just doesn’t work for me. Did you watch Alley Cats? It was so so bad and I love Ricky Gervais, but I got a couple of minutes into this thing and I was like, it’s nothing but cursing, and just I wasn’t feeling it. A texted a friend, I’m like, I don’t know if you can make it three minutes into this thing because I can’t.

And the other thing. Maybe we’ll get to this on the audio show over the weekend ranker has the best Sitcoms of all time. It got one point three million votes from over one hundred and one thousand different people. Best sitcom of all time according to these crazy people Friends, Now stop Stop that’s madness. That that that’s insane.

There’s Friends. Friends wasn’t even the best sitcom on the night it was on things. You can tell me. Let’s just make this simple. You can tell me Friends was better than Seinfelp.

Come on, stop, you sound crazy. You know I could go into all the classic sitcoms we can argue about. I Love Lucy and the Honeymooners and all that. But like I was thinking, the Brady Bunch has more cultural impact than Friends. I mean, especially if you’re old with the gray hair like me.

You know, Brady Bunch a couple of movies? What Friends? Are you insane? I’ll also advocate for everybody who loves Reemond is really underrated. I don’t have a definitive list for you.

You can jump in the comments and let me know who you think. It might be a good sitcom of all time, But Friends, get out of here.

---

---

---

Featured: Christina P., Tom Segura, Duncan Trussell, Dave Chappelle, Andrew Schultz, Stavros Halkist, Anthony Jeselnik, John Mulaney

What’s in This Episode

• Christina P. and Tom Segura announce divorce after 20 years
• Dave Chappelle’s London show panned by The Times of London
• Andrew Schultz comments on Caitlin Clark conservative backlash
• Stavros Halkist cast in Anthony Bourdain movie
• Anthony Jeselnik launches online book club

Questions Answered in This Episode

---

Full Transcript

This transcript was automatically generated and may contain spelling and/or transcription errors.

Caloroga Shark Media. I am digging the mix of stories today a little different today. I’m Mondayaloh, I’m Johnny Mac with your Daily Comedy News. I take no joy in this first story. Christina Pozitski and Tom Sigora are divorcing after nearly twenty years of marriage.

On the podcast Your Mom’s House, Christina Pe told guest host Duncan Trussell she wanted to be transparent with fans. Christina said, I just wanted to let you know, on the other staff members here, that the rumors are true. Your daddy and I are divorcing, but it’s not your fault. It’s not your fault, guys in the booth. We still love each other very much.

We’re just going to live in separate homes, but we’re still your mommies. She then got emotional and teared up and said, yes, Tom and I are divorcing, and it is extremely sad. Sorry, I didn’t want to cry this soon. It is very sad. That being said, we tried to work it out for several years for the sake of our children and our family.

We gave it all we could, but we just couldn’t work things out. We are no longer a couple. Look, we had twenty amazing years together, and that’s really good run, I think in a marriage. She continued. From what I understand, some people are taking sides team Christinea or team Tom.

Please don’t do that. There’s no need because Tom and I do not hate each other. We have a family. Tom and I are amicable. Just so everyone knows, this is not an ugly divorce.

We’re cool, dude. We’ll survive. We’ll get through this stuff like we’ve gotten through everything else in life. This is just an unfortunate thing. We’re going to be okay.

For those of you who have listened to us from the very beginning, you’ve been with Tom and me through getting married, Living in silver Lake is two bro comics, berts and death, tragic accidents, cancer, COVID, all of it. And you know what, some effing cancer couldn’t kill me. You think a dude’s gonna f and take me out. No. She confirmed that she continues to co host the main show with Tom.

Sigora said, We’re still gonna have a good effing time because we ain’t dead yet. That’s gonna be hard having all that play out in public. The Times of London went to go see Dave Chappelle in London. Here’s an opening paragraph. Dave Chappelle takes care to avoid anyone recording a stand up shows, insisting that audiences lock away their phones in the secure pouches.

He on the evidence of this slap dash London appearance, though he takes less care with the shows themselves. Wow, The Times continues, he did warn us. He began by saying, I haven’t done this for a while. Towards the end, he admitted, I gotta think of a closer, and I don’t have one. Can I hang out for a minute?

The Times rights he hung out by drifting from one idea to another, or he responded to a heck or two, including one about appearing at last year’s Rio Comedy Festival. Apparently to that, Dave said, are you getting me for doing it? Like all the other whites? More from The Times. His skill, when his storytelling found its focus, only made the digressions that dominated more frustrating.

Much of the show was motored by his fame and infamy baseball cap on head cigarette on the go, he said he wouldn’t talk about transgender issues. He then touched on a joke suggesting Caitlyn Jenner’s change of gender had been more easily accepted in America than Muhammad Ali’s change of name. I think that was in the last special. Maybe I’m imagining that, and explained why he meant it as a joke about racism rather than gender. Dave said, I thought I was punching up.

They thought I was punching down. Okay, yeah, so that’s yep, okay, yep. I didn’t imagine was in the previous special. Times is I’m not happy. They said this was thin stuff for big prices.

My seat in Rosy cost one hundred and twenty pounds plus. We had to wait one hundred minutes for him to start, following good support sets by Cipha Sounds and Michelle Wolfe, an interval, then a call in response musical mash up from his on stage DJ that got us up on our feet for what felt would be brief but carried on for a punishing fifteen minutes. Two stars out of five yikes. Andrew Schultz, called by The New York Times America’s foremost political journalist. They’re never going to live that down, As commented on Indiana Fever, basketball star Caitlyn Clark.

On The Flagrant podcast, Schultz weigh in about how Clark has been villainized by conservatives for not supporting their side. Scheltz said, it was so unfair what they did to Kaitlyn Clark. She literally did the thing that every conservative punnit was asking all the black athletes to do around Black Lives matter. Remember, they were like, just shut up and dribble. She literally shuts up in dribbles, and then all the punnets are like, you coward, how dare you not say anything?

Scheltz asked you one athletes to just play ball? Do you want them involved in politics? See, that’s why he’s America’s foremost political journalist. Starvros Halkist is in the Anthony Bourdain movie. He plays Sioux chef Dmitri.

Starvros called the character blue collar and a locker room guy. He’s there to haze Tony but then throw his arm around him at the end. I wanted to recreate the vibe of that guy who’s not quite mental level, but you do look up to him in certain ways. There’s so much about Burdain would be kind of insulting to try and get everything like word perfect, exactly right imitation. Our movie is about the vibe of that specific summer in that period of his life and everybody’s life who’s nineteen and trying to figure it out.

So that’s how I approached my guy. I wanted the vibe of that guy who’s gonna bust your chops at your job. But ultimately, if we get in a fight at a rival restaurant, you know, I got Tony’s back. Can Stavros cook? He said, I mean I can make a very complex snack.

The plating is very sloppy. It’s more about the taste than anything else. From The La Times, Anthony jesse Nick gets a feature about his book club. The Times tells us Anthony Justina couldn’t sleep was making him crazy. Hoping to find relief, Justlinnick sought help from a therapist he assume would guide him back to a healthy sleep schedule.

Instead, he encountered an apathy that stunned him. Jesselnick recalled the therapist saying, so what if you don’t sleep, if you wake up, read a book. Find ways to be productive in your loneliness, And I guess Anthony Jeslinick started reading. He has started a popular online book club Jesselnick book Club, which reminds me whatever happened to John m’laney book club, John, you have Google? Why don’t you tell us you’re hosting the show?

Seems like it’s still going Just last week. John mlaney on Twitter wrote, any and all m’lani reads Ers North Sun or The Voyage of the Walship Esther is my July must must read. This book is so bat crazy, funny, bizarre, violent, reckless, and very moving. John says, I haven’t read Moby Dick because whatever. But Ethan Rutherford’s description of catching a whale or failing to catch a well is one of the most visceral things I’ve ever absorbed.

John then added he was very coarsic on his way to Saratoga. There’s a video of John. He seems to be on the beach. He’s wearing a hoodie and shorts. Looks pretty breezy on the beach there.

I guess I could have pulled the audio, but I didn’t because we’re in the middle of it and Anthony Jesslinick story. This wasn’t a John Mulaney story at all. Jesson X got his own book club and it is titled The jessnic Book Club. Easy to Remember. Jesinick says, my goal was to curate and give people their best shot at enjoying reading.

People will say, oh, I don’t like reading books, You’re choosing the wrong books. In twenty twenty two, best selling writer Isaac Fitzgerald released American Rambler, Walking the Trail of Johnny Appleseed. Fitzgerald said a friend texted me that Anthony Jessinic, a comedian whom I love but had never met nor interacted with, shouted out his love of my memoir dirt Bag Massachusetts. I was thrilled. At my events, both in Chicago and throughout the rest of the year, more and more people in my signing lines told me they’d heard of the book from Jessinic’s podcast.

I was also boyed by how many of the people in the signing lines were young men. Now Fitzgerald and Justinic are friends. Fitzgerald said, the man is a real lover of books, with excellent taste and unsurprisingly confidence in his convictions. Earlier this year, Jessliniic hosted a book launch event for the American Rambler book. Fitzgerald said, I think Jessinnic i may have single handedly invented a new way to do literary events.

I don’t know what to call it. A literary roost. Everyone laugh for an hour straight. That is fun. Now, this is interesting.

Jesselnick talked about his own career. He said, I was trying to be the devil on stage and somehow ended up as likable anyway. Edgar Allan Poe wrote these books about psychopaths and killers. Authors do not equate their persona. I’m trying to make reading cool again.

Reading is a solitary act in the way that stand up comedy is a solitary art form. There are so few books for guys that are literary. There’s a lot of John Grisham and Jack Reacher, but that’s not something literary that a guy can sink his teeth into. If it’s well written and the writer’s great, then I’ll go on any kind of journey they take me on. I don’t always understand everything that I read either, but reading a great writer it’s like listening to classical music.

A little bit more about this about Jesslinnick talking about the end of his comedy career, I will save that for tomorrow. Jenny Yang is out on a national summer comedy tour. She turns grocery stores into comedy clubs for night. This is fun. She says, I go to buy a bunch of small snacks and shrimp chips and throw it into the audience every time I feel like it joked in Land.

I mean, this is my dream. It’s the Good Egg Immigrant grocery store stand up comedy Tour. Love It. The tour will wrap September twenty six back in la with Yang filming a performance for a proposed comedy special. She touches on topics ranging from infertility to awareness of immigrant experiences in the US.

Yang said, people come into this art forum as a stand up comedian for different reasons. I’m of the mind that my stand up comedy is just an extension of my values, and I believe in punching up, not down. At a supermarket in Minneapolis, the store manager said they reconfigured shelves near the checkout lanes to fit one hundred and fifty cheers. He says everybody got in line to buy some snacks and some drinks. A few people even did a bit of grocery shopping.

Yang said, just rending a spotlight mikes a show. How fun is it that I’m literally doing stand up comedy in next to an aisle that sells fungus and five pounds of rice. That sounds like a good time. Vogue asked Mary Beth Baron, Hey, a lot of your comedy is about love and relationships. Were are you with dating now?

Mary Beth Baron said, I’m single, I’m thirty five. My choices are staring me in the face. Sometimes. I think maybe being a comedian and talking about my life on stage and having this podcast where we’re pretty transparent, is scaring away potential romantic partners who could be good for me. But this is who I am, and if my job doesn’t fit in with that person’s idea of what they wanted a partner, and they’re probably not the right partner for me.

She adds, I do feel like we’re a really weird moment in dating culture, where there seems to be an endless amount of amazing women and the number of male counterparts she seems to continue to dwindle. I’m a romantic, but I think my hope is starting to waver a little bit. You just have to keep the hope alive. They also asked her about crowd work. Mary Beth Barone said, people really do tell me stuff.

They want me to know their secrets. That’s even in business meetings. I’ll meet an executive and we’ll get into it about a good date they had last night, and I’m invested too. There’s a lot of bad press for parasocial relationships, but I’ve just got the benefits of it. A much less fun story involves Amanda Knox.

You may recall the famous case Amanda Knox was arrested after her roommate’s death. Knox was convicted of murder and sexual assault in two thousand and nine alongside her then boyfriend, but after years of legal battles, they were cleared of all the charges in twenty fifteen. Knox is now a comedian performing at the Edinburgh Fringe. The sister of the murdered student, Meredith Kircher, has accused Amanda Knox of normalizing and trivializing violence against women. She was asking for the Edinburgh Fringe show to be withdrawn.

At an interview with the Telegraph, Amanda Knox said she believed miss Kirscher would appreciate the show because it grapples with what it means to be a young woman and it’s honest. Stephanie Kirscher said, it’s left a massive void in our lives, and Amanda’s naturally free to continue with her life as she wishes. But I think the problem with this particular project is that it’s comedy, and while I appreciate comedy is there to push the boundaries and very much normalizes and trivializes violence against women and Meredith in particular. And I think in this case, where it’s not a generic topic, it’s targeting an individual traumatic case and an individual person and family, and I feel very strongly that Meredith wouldn’t agree with that. Meredith absolutely wouldn’t find these topics of any comedy value.

Kercher added if someone else was doing the show specifically against Meredith, I would still feel the same. It’s obviously an added wound that it’s coming from her at the same time, but I do feel very strongly that it should be something that’s not given a platform. A different person was convicted of Kirtcher’s murder in two thousand and eight. That person was released from prison in twenty twenty one after serving thirteen years of a sixteen year term, and that shock Comedy news for to day, see to morrow.

---

---

---

Featured: Nate Bargatze, Dean Cook, Jim Gaffigan, Matt Rife, Andrew Schulz, Josh Johnson

What’s in This Episode

• Comedians who sold out Madison Square Garden
• Nate Bargatze three MSG sellouts September 2025
• Matt Rife youngest comedian to sell out MSG twice
• Josh Johnson Comedy Band Camp personality quiz

Questions Answered in This Episode

---

Full Transcript

This transcript was automatically generated and may contain spelling and/or transcription errors.

Caloroga Shark Media. Hey there, Johnny Mac with your Daily Comedy News. The Only Times had an interesting piece about some comedians who sold out Madison Square Garden what they thought about it. I won’t do all of them, but some names you might know include mega comedian Napurghetz. He said, I believed I could make a career out of stand up comedy when I was in my twenties, Even when it sounded like a crazy thing to do, I was just hoping somebody would come to the show.

He spent so many years doing clubs, it’s hard to picture anything bigger than that until it happens. Selling out MSG, let alone, selling it out three times wasn’t something I ever expected, but it was a result of believing in stand up and believing people still want to get out of the house and laugh together. He did three sellouts September twenty sixth and two September twenty seventh, twenty twenty five. Dean Cook sawd the place out three times when it was less common. Two shows on November twelfth, two thousand and six.

One on November ninth, two thousand and nine. Dean said, when I take of history and legendary artists selling out. It’s the greatest honor in my career to get to that experience, even once, It’s an achievement that forever changes how your career is viewed. Jim Gaffigan sold out December twelfth, twenty fifteen. He said, I never thought selling out MSG was a possibility when I started stand up.

It was an unrealistic goal for any comedian. Having lived in New York City for three decades, MSG has exceeded its legendary status. For me. MSG’s where I brought my kids to see the Nixon Rangers plays, where I saw Bruce Springsteen pulling off a sellout. Seemed like a gamble, but worth it.

Matt Rife has sold the place out twice, July eighteenth and nineteenth. He says MSG is top of the mountain and symbolizes the pinnacle of ticket selling success as a comedian. Boy boy boy, that is just the wrong answer, like everybody else is like talking about the building and how amazing it is, And Matt Riif’s first thought is I sold a lot of tickets. If you could sell out the world’s most famous arena and the toughest city in America, you’ve made it to not only sell it out twice, but to be the youngest comedian ever sell it out. It’s still hard to comprehend.

I’m not sure that was a great quote there, Matt Rife and Andrew Schultz to the York Time, I’ve said, maybe what did they say? Again, I always forget the phrasing on it. Maybe America’s foremost political journalist, something like that. I forget with exactly what they said. Andrews sold out the Garden twice May third, and fourth, and twenty twenty four.

Andrews said, I’m born and raised in NYC. My dad had so much respect for MSG. You would make me wear a collared shirt whenever we stepped in that building. The place had holy significance to me. Before I knew I wanted to be a comic.

Once I decided to make comedy in my life, I had one goal was to sell out MSG wearing a collared shirt. Of course, Josh John said explained his comedy band camp. He said, the whole reason behind is when I was a kid, we’d have money for a fancy sleep away camp. But everything I’m doing in this show is what I’ve had in my imagination, is what it would be like since I was a kid. So this’s a personality test that people can take when they show up to the show that tells them what troop they’re in.

That’s a good way to meet people. You can meet other people in your troop that you already know you have a lot in common with because you answered some of the same answers. So I’m here on comedy bandcamptroops dot com and I’m going to take the quiz. There are fifteen questions We’re going to easily fill the summer Sunday here. Thank you Josh Johnson.

All right, what’s your favorite camp activity? Swimming, sing alongs, hiking, stargazing, campfire stories. I’ll say swimming. Question number two, what’s your favorite camp snack? S’mores?

Ants on a log? What’s that? Apparently it’s celery sticks top with peanut butter and raisins, peanut butter and jelly skewers, puppy chow, which is a sweet snack mix covered in chocolate, peanut butter and powdered sugar or popcorn. I will say s’mores. Question number three, what insect is the coolest?

Yellow jackets, crickets, bees, butterflies. I love butterflies. Four. Who would be the worst partner in a three legged race? Obviously the answer is more cellars.

But the choices are a mummy, a zombie, a ghost, or your most annoying coworker. Let’s say I think about that. I don’t have any annoying coworkers at the moment. Ghost would be great because they don’t touch the ground, so I could just run. A zombie would try to eat me, and a mummy is just dead weight.

So the question is who would be the worst partner? Obviously is zombie. Question number five, On a hike, you pick up a magic kazoo that makes your voice sound like an instrument. Does it make your voice sound like an instrument that’s giving out? Because you recorded four podcasts already today?

What do you sound like? A trumpet? Drums, a sacks of violin? Wait? What is this again?

The kazoo makes my voice sound like an instrument? I guess a sax. I don’t know. I didn’t like that question. Question number six, aid camp, you’re granted the power to talk to animals?

Who do you gossip with? A first? Five choices? Fox, bear, squirrel, deer, rabbit? Alright, I’m gossiping with one of them.

HM, who’s the most interesting? Probably? Uh. I kind of want to say bear, but I feel like a squirrel sees a lot going on. Seven.

You’re looking up at the stars. What consolation jumps out at you? The Little Dipper, Ryan, Hercules, Perseus, none of them? You make your own. I make my own.

Other campers would say you’re most likely to A go rogue, B start the conversation, CE, bring snacks, D go with the flow, E start a chant. Hmm. I should ask you, guys, what you would think. Well, you might think I would start the conversation because I’m hosting of the show. I’d probably go with the flow until people annoyed me.

Question number nine, what do you most look forward to at camp? A Making new friends, B learning a new skill see petting the animals, D trying new desserts. I like meeting new people. A. Question number ten what would you stash in the camp time capsule?

This is all to go to Josh Johnson comedy show. By the way, A Poison IVY be your favorite book? See the craft you made the summer d gum in case the future doesn’t have any I kind of want to pay it forward with my favorite book, but then I wouldn’t have my favorite book anymore. So, and the craft I made I would want to keep, but I don’t want to punish people with poison. Ivy gum, I guess I love that one.

Question number eleven, how would you handle a camp emergency? A freak out? B find a camp counselor C, spring into action, D take a nap. I’m a springing to action kind of guy. Thirteen What is your dream for the last day of camp?

A you find a secret key to room no one knows about. B you discover a message in a bottle from a camper in the past. I’m already picking that one. See not being coount out of the bus and getting it extra night alone with your friends and the camp all yourselves. D You sneak into the kitchen after the last meal and need all the leftover cookies.

B message in a bottle. Question number thirteen, We’re almost done. Guys. You’re on a hike and come across an old vinyl album. What music is it?

A? Blues, B hip hop, C, salsa, D country E rock. Now you’re asking me. You’re not asking me what I like. You’re asking me what we randomly found on the hike.

It’s gonna be rock as there were some teenagers from nineteen seventy four who got drunk in the woods and left their vinyl out there, probably Fleetwood Mac album Question number fourteen, what would make the best instrument AA hollowed out long be a seashell, CEE a pine cone, D A rattlesnake obviously a seashell? And our final question, what is your favorite survival tip? A, keep calm and carry, bear, spray, B stop, drop and roll down hills. See everything is better with more smores. D.

Don’t pet the skunks. I’m picking the s’mores And now we’ll find out what true I’m in. I’m in the Fusha flames and we have a cool uh, we have a cool logo. It’s the color is fusia and it has a flame. Well, you’re toll.

It takes a lot to start your fire, but once you’re on, you burn bright. No one can stop you. There’s no shade from the shine you bring. Oh that’s funny. I bring a lot of shade.

If you listen to the podcast that it’s important to remind yourself you have what it takes the light the way. You may feel like your contributions go unnoticed, but just a spark of your creativity changes everything. Thirty two percent of campers have landed in the Fusha Flames. We’re the biggest group. The Ivy Leaves have fifteen and to Go Flow eight point seven.

The Feisty Fox is six point six, the Yellow Jackets twenty three percent, the Red Rogues four point eight percent, and the Sapphire Blues nine point five.

And then I guess I go to a Josh Johnson concert.

I don’t know, Josh, what troop are you in? He said, I don’t have a troop because I’m putting on the show and I don’t want people to be like this is the troop to be in or something. I really want everyone to have their own experience and have fun with it. Josh was asked if there’s a difference between just going up there on stage doing stand up versus sitting in the writer’s room and going on camera for the Daily Show. Josh said, I don’t have a preferred process.

I suppose, but they’re different. So I’m at the Daily Show is incredibly collaborative. I’m super thankful that I have the sport of so many people. When you’re doing stand up, you’re just on your own, So you’re just writing for yourself and you’re just doing your own thing. Obviously, I love doing stan up, but I like learning the new aspects of everything that goes into making a show.

The show gets decided on that day after being sort of genuinely assessed for how people feel about the stories and what’s going on. Obviously there’s times when there’s more of a wait and see approach to the day. Then there are some things that get covered a day later are covered in tannem with something else. What the show’s really good at doing is finding the urgency and whatever it is we want to talk about, And I think that would stand up. It’s a little bit easier to just sort of do what you feel, all right, Non fans of Kill Tony, how about a show called Anybody But Tony?

This from kut dot org. We are told people sit on the back patio of Barrett’s Two Too, drinking coffee and Margarita’s, playing board games and folding anti ice packets for local businesses. Near the Commuit stage, two men set up for their stand up comedy show Anybody But Tony? Four comedians have eight to ten minutes each to deliver their material, followed by a drag finale. Co host Everett and Eric as they had the great of the show to preserve a comedy scene that has been saturated with uncensored, anti woke comics.

Everett said, when we talked about what we wanted the show to be, there were a lot of things. But what did we not want the show to be. We didn’t want it to be Tony Inchcliff. We don’t want him. We don’t want the people to think he’s funny.

We let on Anybody but Tony. Andrew did the Anybody but Tony Show, but he was also on Kill Tony six years ago. He said he was surprised when the comedians were treated like cattle in the waiting room to get only a sixty second set. Why were you surprised, dude, that’s clearly what the show is. What are you talking about?

Andrew said. After each performance, the comics were brutally roasted on their material and physical appearance. Dude, did you not know what you’re like? Oh man, I can’t believe I want to kill Tony and they only gave me sixty seconds and then they made fun of me. What what do you talk talking about?

Then this article gets into the Austin scene. Seems like not everyone likes mister Rogan. Dave Buckman is the executive producer of the Cold Fown Theater. We are told it is one of the city’s primary alternative comedy views. Mister Buckman said, the Rogan sphere was the first to come back to the live performance pandemic because those are the kind of people that did not want to wear masks or take any kind of caution.

They were making the most noise first, so they got the most attention first out of the pandemic. That and Joe Rogan has the number one podcast and move from Los Angeles to Austin and then had a lot of big name comedians on. Let’s not gloss over that this article is insane. Buckman said, I’m not worried when I hear people say, oh, kill Tony. Is Austin’s comedy scene.

Huh, Yeah, Austin has this comedy scene. We built that we walk so that you could run. Olfira Eisenberg wrote a memoir called Screw Everyone Sleeping My Way to Monogaby. That memoir is the one that convinced Caitlin Palufo that she could do stand up. She said, every other line in the book is a joke.

This is a stand ups book. It made me want to try stand up and believe I could do it because she was doing it. She made me feel less shameful about my own sexual past. It’s like, oh, that can be used as jokes. It’s not something you have to keep hidden and buried.

Usually you’re like, yeah, maybe I’ll switch it to this because it’s funnier. But no, he says, hot men with no trauma just kind of get it. They’re like, I’m six four, I don’t have to try. It’s a lazy thinking kind of deal. Women, the trauma set is around every corner, so we learn how to laugh at it.

I get what she’s saying about the hot men, but uh, you know Dane Cook back in the day, I remember the female coworkers. It’s serious. Really enjoyed looking at Dane Cook. And people seem to like Matt Rife. I don’t know.

LeAnn Morgan recently made a stop at an Alabama’s farmer’s market. Boy, this is a very summer Sunday show, isn’t it. Yes, it is if you want, I can do ten minutes about Marcello Hernandez, Seth Meyers and Adam Saylor. I think I’ve done that already. Let’s do some different things.

Let’s go shopping with Leanne Morgan and a farmer’s market in Alabama. She said, Tessa and I have bought enough strawberry jelly and pickled okra to last the rest of our lives. She shared a video. We also see that she got pineapple salsa, some Sarah flavored peanuts, dinosaur egg plums, red tomato preserves, bread and butter, pickles, natural dog treats, and some almond vanilla granola. Leanne Morgan shared one of the places we stopped was Sweet Creek Form Market.

Chickens were running, They sell fresh eggs, they have a goat little children could pet, and then fresh Form market stuff. So I want nuts because that’s my favorite thing to do. I don’t have a lick of sense over something canned. I did your comedy use on a summer Sunday, A normal episode. I mean not that this was not a normal episode, but you know sometimes Johnny Mac pre tapes a weekend episodes.

Just say see tomorrow

---

---

---

Featured: Jay Leno, David Letterman, Richard Pryor, Ronald Reagan

What’s in This Episode

• Jay Leno Day in Burbank celebration
• Jay Leno’s financial philosophy and $450 million net worth
• Jay Leno’s stand-up comedy career and work ethic
• Jay Leno’s car collection and garage
• Jay Leno and David Letterman’s early comedy store friendship
• Jay Leno’s dyslexia and path to Emerson College
• Upcoming late night hosts series announcement

Questions Answered in This Episode

---

Full Transcript

This transcript was automatically generated and may contain spelling and/or transcription errors.

Caloroga Shark Media. Happy Jay Leno Day. I’m Johnny Mac and the Saturday Deep Dives are back. Today we’ll take a look at Jay Leno. It is Jay Leno Day.

Jay hosted the Tonight Show at NBC Studios in Burbank for more than twenty years. The city’s home to his famous garage, hosting more than one hundred rare cars. He regularly performs at Flapper’s Comedy Club in Burbank, and he is being honored by the city. It is Jay Leno Day now for this deep dive. In particular, I’m going to skip the Tonight show, so we’re not gonna talk Tonight Show and we’re not gonna talk Conan.

The reason is this fall, I’m going to do a series about the late night hosts and we will cover that in detail, so we’re not going to bog down on that. Today we will talk about the man that I jokingly call the worst person who ever lived, because for some reason, people don’t like this guy I do. Jay Leno has said multiple interviews over the years consistently enough that it’s cloing not a bit. He never spent a dollar of the money NBC paid him for the Tonight Show, not one dollar. During that time, he was making somewhere between twenty and thirty million dollars a year, and yet he was living off his income from stand up.

The NBC money went into the bank. Jay Leno toured on the weekends, kept doing clubs in theaters, and kept treating stand up as the actual job rather than the thing he used to do before TV, and he used that income for his operating budget for everything. The Tonight Show money sat there and accumulated. His fortune is now estimated at around four hundred and fifty million dollars. Jay Leno, underneath all the Late night stuff will cover this fall, is fundamentally a stand up comedian with an extraordinary work ethic, a strange and consuming passion for machines with engines, a husband of forty five plus years that is currently one of the more quietly moving stories in show business, and a guy with a financial philosophy that treats television as a bonus rather than his career.

Understanding all that tells you more about Jay Leno than hosting The Tonight Show ever did. Born James Douglas Muir Lean I know April twenty eighth, nineteen fifty in New Rochelle, New York. Raised in Andover, Massachusetts, the son of an insurance salesman father of Italian descent and a Scottish mother who immigrated to the United States alone at eleven years old. His mother’s response to his comedy ambitions was, Jay, we’re not show people. His fifth grade teacher wrote in his report card that if Jay Leno spent as much time studying as he did trying to be a comedian, he would be a pig star.

Jay had dyslexia. The experience of being told repeatedly that you’re not smart, of having to compensate for how your brain processes written language by developing other skills, by talking, by performing, by being funny enough that people paid attention to you all shaped Jay Leno. He went to Emerson College in Boston on a speech therapy degree. That makes more sense than it sounds when you think about somebody who struggled with written language and decided to master spoken language. He started a comedy club on campus.

He was doing stand up in Boston clubs while still a student. After graduating in nineteen seventy three, Jay Leno moved to Los Angeles and spent the early years building an act in whatever rooms would have him. The comedy store, the improv, the small clubs. It was that short time post Richard pryor pre cable TV, jay Leno did three hundred nights a year. Do the math.

That’s roughly five shows a week every week of the calendar year. Fifty two times five gets you to two sixties. He got to double up some nights, and it was at the comedy store in those years where jay Leno met David Letterman. Letterman drove a red pickup from Indiana to la in nineteen seventy five, looking for his shot. Jay Leno had been out there three years and had established himself as one of the more comfortable and confident performers in the room.

Jay Leno has described that encounter saying Letterman had genuinely funny material, really clever wordplay, the kind of writing that was immediately recognizable as something different. But he was awkward performing it, visibly uncomfortable on stage in a way that jay Leno wasn’t. Letterman’s version of that story describes jay Leno’s stage confidence as something Dave genuinely envied and tried to understand, adding get up there and just be comfortable. Leto’s answer, more or less was that stand up had always felt like a natural place to him, the room where he met, which is not a skill you can teach someone who doesn’t have it. I’m originally from the United States, and the United States people hit a night.

That’s great, It’s Freddy mentioned I have a slight call. I have to apologize for that. When I can’t, I have. I’ve had it about two weeks. I went to the hospital over here, one of the large hospitals in California.

I don’t want to say the name. Just shows you what healthcare is in this date. This is absolutely true. I went in, man charged me forty dollars, gave me some pills to take, and on the way out as a doc, my throat is still really sort. Do you think I should have my tonsils out?

And this man is a specialist, and I’m showing the best hospitals in California? Says to me, well, what do you think. It’s? Watching the local news before I came in and I got to kick out a local newsman. You haven’t noticed how all newsmen use the same metaphors.

Another senseless killing early today in mid Manhattan. Senseless as opposed to what sensible? Killing? A man was beaten an oob of twelve cents on the west side? A senseless killing?

Where’s the east side? One thousand dollars killing? Very sensible? All came out of that friendship was something both described as mutually instructive. Jay Leno was a better performer than he was a writer.

Letterman was a better wordsmith than he was a performer. Each one watching the other work understood something about the craft more clearly for having seen the opposite approach done well. Letterman eventually said, I was a broadcaster who worked as a comedian. Jay was a comedian who worked as a broadcaster. By the time Letterman launched Late Night with David Letterman on NBC in nineteen eighty two, the two were kind of the elder statesman of the comedy store generation, not old, but experience enough to be the ones the younger comedians were watching as an example of how to do it.

And then Letterman gave Jay Leno a platform that introduced him to a completely different audience than one had been billion clubs. We have a good show. Jay Leno is a very very funny young man, and he will be out here in just a second as soon as I introduce him. He is my first guest. He is a good friend of President Reagan.

Also a very talented comedian. He will be appearing this weekend at the Carlton Backstage in Minneapolis. Please welcome Jay Leno. There. We have your magazine or do you do You want to take a minute to clarify this good friend of President Reagan.

What happened was the last time I was on the show. President Reagan had seen the show and one of his staff called me to ask me about a joke. Now, if I took time out every time I had a stake, called me, good, heavens I wouldn’t. But you know that he really called. No, he didn’t call me if he doesn’t stay up this late, does.

He not when you’re on, But when I’m a guest, occasionally he does that. He says, I don’t get a chance that often, but when you’re on. Okay, well that’s very nice. I have a copy here of something called Writer Writer Magazine. This is a motorcycle Enthusiasts publication interview.

All right, let’s see ye here it is funny David. Picture of Jay right on the inside. There, nice nice drawing, nice story. I guess I happened to see you in Playbook magazine. You know, it’s so funny.

You know, it’s so funny. While we’re talking about magazine, you know, the people from Playboy called me and they asked me to do an interview for Playboy. And rather than do my interviewing Playboy, I did mine in Women Are Our Equals magazine. Who’s who’s on the cover there. Well, let’s see this Geraldine Ferrero.

Then there’s a story in here in Margaret Meade. Here’s here’s an interview with Gloria Steinhem.

Now let’s see who’s in your magazine.

Muffy, Muffy, Muffy doesn’t like guys who are turn offs. Muffy’s favorite movies are Bambi and The L Shaped Room. I used to love when Jay Leno would show up on Late Night. There was a version of Jay Leno in the early to mid eighties that people who saw him on Letterman remember very specifically. It’s different than the who settled into the Tonight Show.

The early Letterman appearances featured a comedian who was sharper edgier, not a word usually here with Jay Leno. More willing to take the material somewhere uncomfortable. It was closer to the voice he’d been developing in the clubs, where you don’t smooth things out because the room will tell you immediately if you’ve gone too far. Dave and Jay worked off each other in a way that brought something out in both of them. Now is this possible?

When is the last time you were on this television program? I was here about a month and a half ago, and I haven’t been home since that. I haven’t I’ve been on the road the whole time. Isn’t that awful? It’s not awful, Dave, Not for us comedy foot soldiers who are out there in the trenches.

Now. I’m not one of your big time comedy generals with some cushy desk job wringing three four hundred a week, come out there in the trenches doing the club. People who watched those early Letterman appearances and then watch Jay on The Tonight Show in the nineties notice the difference. People in the comedy community said Lenno was a toned down version of the act he used in the clubs in order to reach the broader and more traditional Tonight Show audience. Which is a calculation completely understandable.

I don’t think that’s crazy at all. The version of jay Leno that a certain generation I’ll raise my hand discovered on Letterman younger, less polished, more specifically funny in the way the comedy nerds mean when they say specifically funny. That version is worth acknowledging as a real thing that existed before the TV institution softened some of the edges. The Letterman friendship eventually turned into something more complicated. We will get to that.

If you’ve listened this far, you probably know about Dave and Jay, and then Jay and Conan. We’re not going there today, but that early friendship at the comedy store, the mutual education, the Letterman years, that’s a whole different part of the Jay Leno story that you don’t hear these days. It’s hard to talk about jay Leno without spending time on the cars. The Big Dog Garage and Burbank started as a property jay Leno bought in nineteen ninety one seventeen thousand square feet. It is now one hundred and twenty two thousand square feet, expanded by a factor of seven over thirty years.

I know currently has more than two hundred cars and over one hundred and sixty motorcycles. He has sold exactly one car in thirty years, a Tesla model S he auctioned on bring a trailer, and he invited the new owners to a private garage tour after the sale. That’s how Jay thinks about the cars. They’re not investments, they’re the point. The collection ranges from a nineteen oh oh four curve to dash Oldsmobile to current hypercars.

He doesn’t keep them in climate control rooms. He’s a mechanic who happens to be famous, who bought a property in Burbank and filled it with cars. Jay Leno’s Garage started as a web series for NBC before moving to CNBC as a proper TV show or It ran for seven years before eventually moving to YouTube. The format works because Jay actually knows what he’s talking about. The knowledge is specific and real and comes from thirty years of working on the cars.

One car sent him to the hospital. That’s the nineteen o seven white steam car November twelfth, twenty twenty two. Inside the garage, Jay was working on the car and it caught fire. The fire burned Jay’s face in his hands seriously enough that he was hospitalized and required treatment at a center. Then, in January of twenty twenty three, he fell off a motorcycle and broke several bones.

People were wondering what is going on there, But it seems like it was just back to back accidents, and we need to talk about his wife, Mavis. Jay Leno met MAVs at the Comedy Store in Los Angeles in nineteen seventy six. He said she laughed at all his jokes at the right time, which for a comedian is meaningful. It’s not just polite laughter, but genuinely timed laughter that tells you someone actually understands what you’re doing. They got married in nineteen eighty.

They never had any children, but for a Hollywood couple to be together forty five years, that is amazing. In January of twenty twenty four, Jay Leno filed for a conservatorship over Mavis’s estate after she was diagnosed with advanced dementia. Jay has been her primary caregiver since he limits his travel. When he does go somewhere for work, he comes home the same day. He doesn’t want to stay away overnight anymore.

He makes MAVs lunch. She’s home every evening. Jay has talked about how hard this would be if for roughly three years, Mavis would wake up and it would be the day her mother died. Should learn it fresh every morning, cry through it fresh each morning because the memory couldn’t hold overnight. Jay says he enjoys taking care of her.

It gives him purpose. When someone asked Jay Leno if he was going to get a girlfriend, he described it as the most Hollywood thing I’d ever been asked. He said, you take a vow when you get married, and people are stunned. They’re so shocked that you would live up to it. He said he would rather be with her than doing something else.

He said, I’m not just with someone because they’re attractive and sexy. At some point in my life, I’m going to be called upon to defend myself. That’s really what defines a marriage. That’s what love is. That doesn’t sound like the worst guy in the world to me.

Jay Leno, Happy, Jay Leno Day back tomorrow with a normal episode.

---

---

---

Featured: Patton Oswalt, Christina P, Tom Segura, Shane Gillis, Ricky Gervais, Diane Morgan, Bob Marley, Seth Meyers, Mary Beth Barone, Amy Schumer

What’s in This Episode

• Patton Oswalt death hoax debunked
• Christina P opens up about Tom Segura divorce on Your Mom’s House podcast
• Williams Grove Speedway partners with Netflix’s Tires starring Shane Gillis
• Ricky Gervais’ Alley Cats Netflix series debuts with Diane Morgan voicing cast
• Bob Marley new comedy bit about furries
• Seth Meyers benefit concert in New Hampshire for child advocacy groups
• Mary Beth Barone Vogue feature on new Netflix special and comedy mission

Questions Answered in This Episode

---

Full Transcript

This transcript was automatically generated and may contain spelling and/or transcription errors.

Caloroga Shark Media boy. Somebody craked my headphones blew my ears out, and I don’t know who because I’m the only one who uses this laptop. Hello, I’m Johnny Mac with your Daily Comedy News. Hey, good news star trek Ruiner. Patton Oswalt is not dead.

Apparently there was a rumor circulating online that he had died. Patton said, yeah, this has been very sudden. I’m trying to adjust, asking for privacy as I ascend. The original post included a black and white photo of Patton Oswalt alongside the caption Seriously f twenty twenty six rest in Peace. Twitter added a note Patton Oswalt pictured is alive.

Good news for Patton that we got good comments. One person wrote rip Patton, you were pretty good on King of Queens and others said, well, there goes my dream of Ratitue two. Christina p has opened up about her divorce from Tom Sigora. She did this on the podcast on the Your Mom’s House podcast. He said the two try to work things out for several years for the sake of the children family, but ultimately couldn’t make the marriage work.

She says there’s no blood between them. As she put it, We’re cool, dude, She told fans, She’s still there for them and they’ll get through this BS, just like everything else they’ve weathered together. Do you like Shane Gillis? Do you like car racing? A big event today, Williams Grove Speedway announced that it has partnered with the Netflix comedy series Tires, which of course stars Shane Gillison.

Johnny Mac should probab watch those final four episodes from last season. I just got distracted. Well. At the Williams Grove Speedway, it’s fan appreciation night as far as I understand. You’ll get free chips and candy courtesy of Martin’s Potato Chips, hose Heads and J and S Classics.

Fans at the event will have access to the backpit area from five point thirty to six fifteen to meet the drivers out on Netflix today, it’s Ricky Gerviz, Allie Katz, Diane Morgan is part of the cast there. Some podcasters have a crush on Diane Allie Kat six episodes, fifteen minutes seat so she can blow through that and uh, can you do that an hour or no? That’d be one two three for an hour and a half. It’ll take you an hour and a half to do that. That was very Letterman what I just did there.

The six part comedy fifteen minutes each follows a band of foul mouth feral cats from across British society as they search for companionship. We’re reflecting on the absurdities of modern life. Diane Morgan, who’s some podcasters have a crush on does one of the voices, Diane said, I know, you see the cats and you think, oh, they’re cute and lovely, and they have these little adventures and then they open their mouths. We learn that the cast recorded together rather than separately, and as Diane says, it’s basically the cast of Afterlife again with a few new editions. He credits Ricky for keeping spirits high on set and says, despite Ricky’s experience, he laughs so much during recording that scenes had to be Redone from Mainwire, Bob Marley is talking about the furries.

Apparently Bob has a new bit that he’s comfortable with the Main Wire talking about. So spoilers if you’re gonna go see Bob Marley tonight. Bob says, kids nowadays think they’re animals, fur burgers. The audience laughs at that, apparently, and Bob says, oh, what are they called? The audience he goes thought furries.

Bob says, look, can be whatever they want to be. I’ve got my own problems, as you can obviously tell. We learned from main Wire that furries made news a year ago in Maine at the Mount Blue Middle School in Farmington, when a student began barking like a dog at another student who regularly crawled around the school on all fours, hissing and other students and openly and nafying as a furry. The barking student was suspended for five days. We’ll keep it up in New England with Seth Myers.

He’s up there tonight at the s NHU Arena in New Hampshire. Seth Meyers show will support two New Hampshire groups, one Court appointed Special Advocates of New Hampshire and two the Granite State Children’s Alliance. Seth Meyers said, it’s going to be a night where we’re gonna have a little bit of messaging about how important the organizations are, and mostly it’s going to be a night for people to come and see some stand up comedy. Vogue went with the attention in getting headline Mary Beth Barone is ready to piss off the right people. That’s a good headline that got my attention.

Mary Beth Barone tells Vogue, my stand up is very reflective. Before I’m at currently, I know that I wanted to speak on politics, but finding ways of getting there that you wouldn’t necessarily think, presenting one idea and then relating it back to something political. I also wanted the comedy to feel super specific, and my goal is always to make women and queer people laugh. That’s the same mission they’ve carried on from thought provoking Netflix. Telb you basically have three minutes to show people who you are to make them stick around for the rest of the special.

Spoiler. She mentions that in the special, and as I mentioned previously on this podcast, I took the challenge and went, yeah, I’m not interested, and I bailed on it. I’m sure other people love it. My wife mentioned to me we were in the car and we’re talking. You know, you ever you ever been in a car worth your spouse and you talk.

You know, this is a thing a couple might do. So I don’t know, we were talking about basically everything the podcast comedy. I don’t know what we read on the internet, and she said, Netflix is showing me some comedian, that’s all she said, And I went Mary Beth Baron. My wife said pretty, I’m like, yep, that’s her. She asked will I like it?

And I said, now, it’s probably too dirty for you, and then my wife moved on. But it was interesting that the Netflix algo was pushing Mary Beth Baron at my wife, who went back to watching shows about people being murdered. Mary Beth Barone said, I had a really con consider how I wanted to present myself to a new audience. What’s the material that feels really important to me? What does it feel like I want to say right now?

That was the guiding light. I’ve watched a lot of women’s special but you know there aren’t many, and especially Amy Schumers Live at the Apollo was very influential when I was just starting. I’ve always been inspired by her comedic point of view. As for the final cut of the special, Mary Beth Burn said, I’m proud of myself for doing the jokes that were more of a high wire act confronting Edgy and dark topics. I wasn’t afraid to take risks with the jokes because the discourse is always in the back of my mind.

My desire to say these things just outweighed whatever the potential response might be. Could be a joke about Crystal Leia or a zempet or my Jack Russell Terrier. Bailey, who I grew up with and describe as a domestic terrorist, must have been the Irish in her. Took me a while to find that last beat about being responsible for seventeen flat tires on three car bombs. My mom’s side is Irish.

I think they’ve got good humor about themselves. Maybe it’s being a Gemini, but there’s a weird pushbawl with me. I don’t want to upset people. What if I’m doing my job right, it’s going to just about upsetting the right people. Comedy stock Market.

Every Friday on this program, I announced that we’re going to bomb. I ran and I manipulate the stock market, and then it makes the insider trades, and then Monday morning, I go psych, we didn’t do that at all. We almost have a deal. Oh no, that’s a different that’s a different guy. That’s not me.

What I do. What I do is I look for value in the comedians, and we try and sell low and buy high. No market manipulation here. I’m not that powerful yet. But hey, maybe someday this show will be so big that I’ll be like, hey, you guys ought to be into comedian Smedley Jones, And then I’ll go on like Calshie and buy some stock in or real life to make some money.

That might be an idea. John, you Deigress, who’s on the comedy stock market this week? I don’t have a lot for you. Let’s sell ted Lasso. The reviews are not good.

I’m not excited about it. I haven’t watched it yet. I’ve had time. But my wife and I we were in the car, you know sometimes you’re in the car where with your spouse and you talk. You’d done this, Yes, we covered this in the first half of the podcast.

John, we all agreed that’s the thing a couple might do. Anyway, we were talking about ted Lasso, and we were like, yeah, I mean, I guess we’ll watch it at some point, but like we’ve moved on. It was too long. You wrapped up the show and just we don’t care. So let’s sell Ted Lasso, Let’s sell Mary Beth Baron because they went full court press for a week.

There were a lot of big time shiny articles here. Pr team got it done. But before I logged on today, I went on Netflix to see if that special was still in the top ten, and it was not. That fell off pretty quickly and they targeted my wife, and my wife’s like, eh so, I don’t know. I think Mary Beth Baron gave it a shot, but let’s sell.

Let’s sell a little bit high on Mary Beth Baron and John, you’re very negative this week. Should we buy somebody, Let’s buy some stock in Pete Corielli. He’s got a new special on YouTube. He hangs out with Sebastian Maniscalco, who might shave his head, and the gator is very, very funny, and he’s one of those guys. It’s just a matter of time that Pete’s gonna put together the right material and the right platform and everybody is going to be like, oh my god, Pete Corielly is amazing, and I’m gonna be like, yeah, that’s why he was on Jim Brewers Show It’s Serious twenty five years ago or whenever this happens in this story, all right, So sell ted Lasso, sell Mary Beth burrown by Pete Corielly.

Tomorrow on this program, the Deep Dives are back after a one week break. I got notes people like the Deep Dives, and I’m like, okay, I’ll work a little harder. They do take a minute to put together. That’s fine. And since tomorrow is Jay Leno Day in Burbank, we will take a look at Jay Leno, but not the Tonight show stuff.

So noe, we’re not gonna do Dave and Jay, and we’re not gonna do Conan and Jay. I’m gonna do that in the fall. I have a plan. In the fall. I want to do a whole series on late night talk shows, and the hosts, or at least the ones that I care about, I’m not gonna do them all.

And I’m gonna get in trouble because there’s a few that, like everybody else cares about and I have nothing to say about. So I’m gonna leave them out. We’ll get there. We’ll get there, and I don’t mean Seth Myers. We’ll get there.

But tomorrow’s Jay Leno Day, both in Burbank and on the podcast.

Speaking of Jay Leno, he recently got behind the wheel of an exceptionally pr…

The car has fewer than five hundred miles on it. Wow. Gabe bought the Mustang because it represents the late eighties and early nineties cars he admired growing up. Plus he’s got a lot of money. When the car appeared on Jay Leno’s garage, it had four hundred and sixty eight miles on it.

That’s amazing. Gabe has no intention of keeping the Odomeino there. He replaced the original tires, yeah, thirty year old tires probably, and then Jay and Gabe took it out onto Southern California Roads to find out if it still drives like it did in nineteen ninety three. We were told that under the hoods, it’s Ford’s five point zero leter High Output V eight, also known as the three zero two cubic and small block. It was rated at two hundred and twenty five horsepower when it was new, and it sends powder to the real wheels through a five speed manual transmission.

Do you guys do that Jay has upgraded the sound system in the trunk. We were told the sound system occupies much of the luggage space and has a playful touch without altering the car’s basic mechanical character. Jay Leno was impressed and I thought this was interesting. In The Guardian, they have a comedy critic, Brian Logan, and he did a little Q and A with the audience, and the audience asked to comedy critic Brian Logan, after years of reviewing comedy, do you still get belly laughs. I’ve talked about this in the past.

I call it Emperor of Rome syndrome. I can logically understand something is very funny, and I will say to you that’s hilarious, but I don’t laugh. I get this. Let’s see what Brian Logan says. There’s no point pretending that after years of comedy watching, some of the base level mechanics of comedy have lost their power to surprise.

But the best comedians don’t resort to the base levels, or if they do, they so deply reinvent or conceal or re engineer them that there’s a surprise and delight to seeing that process and action. The comedy I get most excited by is the stuff that makes me laugh or gasp but not know why. I love the sensation of puzzling out why I’ve just found something so startling or funny or unexpected. I love to get to write about it. So yes, I still get non infrequent wows and a huge sense of pleasure and privilege to be seeing and writing about comedy.

I feel you. He was also asked, do you agree that in Edinburgh and elsewhere the almost come lee reliance on a single format, the hour long show that’s supposedly about something but is usually just a string of loosely related bits, perhaps with some matter, crowd work and a bit of padding for regionals, has made stand up a bit boring. The Guardian’s comedy critic Brian Logan answered, I think it could equally be argued that the fringe in this country has made comedy more interesting, liberating it from the simple structures of club comedy, encouraging it to take more creative and theatrical risks. But yes, I acknowledge the straight jacket of the fifty five minute running time in certain discernible formulae in the creation of shows to fit it can make things sometimes feel samy, but a good creative comedian won’t make a show that’s as transparent or cynical as you describe, and the best shows will really be about something rather than just pretending to be. And that is your comedy news for today.

I will see you for Jay Leno Day tomorrow

---