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Caloroga Shark Media. Hi, I don’t mind me. I’m just scrolling down. I lost the file. Why don’t you do it again?
John? Because that’s not fun. Hi. I’m Johnny Mack with your Daily Comedy News. I still didn’t find story number one.
Here? Can you tell? It’s the weekend in the summer. Here we go. Jay Leno, you know that guy, that horrible guy.
Some people think he’s the worst person who ever lived. He hosted the Tonight Show for what twenty two years and got ratings and beat out David Letterman, and then Conan O’Brien couldn’t hack it and they had to bring Jay Leno back, and then Jay Letto thinks he knows something about late night television and commented on it. He was a guest on the Mark Summer’s Unwraps podcast, the topic Hulk Hogan. What do you think he was going to talk about? Now?
The wrestling fans is gonna be like, oh hey, Jay Leto, he’s the worst. So I’ve erased this from my brain. Back in nineteen ninety eight, Hulk Hogan and the WCW, remember that was the other Wrestling League Circuit Championship whatever. Hulk Hogan and WCW president Eric Bischoff appeared as guests on the tonight show. The appearance turned into a hostile takeover, as Hogan and Bischoff shoved Jay Leno’s bandleader, ran down jay Leno, and brought out other members of the nWo to hijack the program.
You know what, this probably appeals to a lot of people, the idea of Jay Leno being chased and then jostled by wrestlers. People would probably like that these days, because he had the audacity to comment on late night television as if he would know anything about it. So then there was the WCW Road Wild pay perview in August of nineteen ninety eight. I was getting married that month. That’s why I don’t remember this at all.
I was busy for that event. Jay Leno teamed with Diamond Dallas Page to face the team of Hollywoodhulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff. Jay said to this day, people go, man, look, Jay, I know wrestling is fake, but I could tell man, you were ticked. I go, no, I wasn’t. I could tell.
Now you can’t. Don’t you understand it’s not real? When he threw him down, you were mad, I go, No, wasn’t mad acting While we’re talking about a Hulk Cogan. Mister Summers told a story that Hogan’s deal anytime he did a personal appearance, he had to have a yellow Rolls Royce. One time, they’re going to the airport in the yellow rolls Rooye and Hulk.
Cogan said, I hate being recognized. Slummers said Hogan was also wearing his signature bandana at the time. Roywood Junior was at the Edinburgh TV Festival. He’s excited about what might happen for Stephen Colbert after CBS. Roy said when he’s running rampant on YouTube like Don Lemon, that’ll create a bigger issue for this administration in twenty twenty six if he builds an audience.
If the Trump administration were smart, then leave us alone. Let us tell our jokes. God bless whatever Stephen Colbert does next with no network pressure to give him notes. The Hollywood Reporter asked John Oliver, when was the last time a Last Week Tonight’s segment made you genuinely anxious? Oliver said it there’s always a lotw life anxiety with every story.
I’d argue a healthy level of anxiety, and it’s only about whether people are going to be willing to listen to us talk about something because it’s so superficially dry or contentious that you’re not sure if it’s something people want to hear, and then you’re practicing force feeding. But that’s part of the joy of having this show, the ability to show people things they might not necessarily think on their face they want to see. Just a few weeks ago, we did a long piece on juvenile justice, and that’s the kind of story where we think, I’m not sure people want to hear this, but I think that’s the absolute point of having a show like this. The hollod reporter asked Oliver if they got any corporate interference over the years. This interview was a few weeks ago, so I guess theoretically he could have gotten some interference this morning, But as of a few weeks ago, John Oliver said, we’ve not experienced interference, and I refuse to worry about something that hasn’t happened yet.
My tolerance level would be zero. This would be over real quick. John said, I try to pay as little attention to what’s happening outside of our show as possible. Because it feels like wasted energy. The moment it intrudes on our show, I’ll react very badly to it, but it hasn’t.
So yeah, I try not to angry about things that aren’t happening to us. Lariday asked Jeff Ross does it require a different kind of stamina to perform eight shows a week as New Broadway show compared to touring as a comedian, and Jeff said, I don’t know yet. Billy Crystal told me I’ll be a new kind of tired, but I enjoy waking up in my own bed as opposed to adding the JFK or Newark Airport normally is a comic. It’d be Friday in New York, Saturday in Detroit, Sunday in Cleveland or whatever. So there’s a real charm to the idea that I’m home and I can have dinner and walk my dog by ten thirty.
Good question here, what’s it like to be vulnerable on stage when people will know you for roasts? Jeff Ross said that board’s generally terrifying because as a comedian you want to have some swagger. You don’t want to let them see you sweat. I had to drop that on top of it, I had all these stories about my mom and dad were in rehearsals and the tech people were like, all right, let’s take it back to the beat where your mom dies. And I’m like, that’s just a cue and someone cheat.
But for me, it’s a very vivid memory. I have to go. He didn’t mean it that way. He just wants to get the lighting rate. Another good question.
Are people surprised to find out you have a serious side? Jeff Ross said, I walked through the airport and people go roast me. People treat it like it’s a porty trick. But there’s a person in there. If I does that meat all the time, I doubt any friends and survive.
In show business, spoilers, Okay, I’m gonna spoil something. Everybody leaves the theater with a banana. The other reporter was curious, what’s the banana budget. Jeff Ros said, it’s significant. It’s in the thousands per week.
Bananas aren’t cheap with the tariffs, it’s a whole thing. Someone has to pass them out. Check them for fentanel. Now I’m kidding, but it was a big discussion. I pushed really hard.
Tinnidou Unaka caught up with The La Times about his special on Kevin Hart’s Thing There on Hulu, and I thought the special was really good. Trinitdou said, shout out to Kevin for even putting vehicles like this out there, because he doesn’t have to, and it’s not the first time he’s done something like this before. I worked with him when he was booking comedians for his LA Network to go tape for just for laughs. His people reached out to my people like, we love tinnitdoo do this for us. They paid us, they put us up, they flew us out.
So to work with him again on something similar but on a bigger scale was definitely like a dream come true, especially respect to Kevin as an artist, but then also to his work ethic and how he goes about business.
And now he’s just very forthcoming and helping the younger generation get eye…
Seeing how much attention to detail they took to it versus it being a rush job, it felt dope, just the way it looked. All those Kevin Art specials then on the Hulu series, those all look great, They filled the room. Everything about it felt actually special. So to have an opportunity to be one of the comedians selected was incredible and I’m happy that I was ready for it.
And then it went well.
We basically had one shot to tape it two. I think I got it right. Bowhen Yang talked about his JD Vance impression. He said, I was pretty resistant at first. After a few more conversations, I acquiesced and then I went about it in the most child of immigrants way, where I hired a dialect coach and I requested a screen test where I tried out different contact lenses because I felt like so much of JD Vance’s sort of visual eeriness was in his eyes and I was like, we have to get that down.
And then we tried facial hair options and I took it as a serious charge, which may or may not have been the right way to go about it, but it’s been an interesting journey. Hasan Minhaj is a spokesperson for Share the Meal, a program founded under the UN World Food Program that aims to make fighting hunger accessible. A video circulating on Instagram shows Hasan Minhaj calling for it increased aid in Sedan. He describes how conflict within the country has resulted in the world’s largest hunger crisis, and then asked for the viewer support through donations to share the meal. Michael Palin revealed that he’s made some end of life arrangements.
He says, I do think about death, and the family are rather wonderful about it. Have you made a will? Can I be in your will? I’ve made my will in all that my family and my children know where to find what they need should I die. He’s even given all his passwords to his three children in case I get run over by a bus.
However a fit you are, anything might happen. But I don’t dwell on mortality. It’s well on life. Eric Idol told the PA news agency that his wife is worried what would happen to Eric Idol’s image once he dies. He told PA, I think it’s a very interesting point.
We ought to have protected ourselves by copyriting our images. I know my wife’s very concerned about that. She’s going to coprate my image. I won’t be there, so I don’t really give a hoot. He talked about AI and said it’s actually not bad at copying work, but it can only copy and not create.
He said, I was with Professor Brian Cox the other night he asked it to write a Python sketch and it was crap, completely unfunny. It mentioned a few things which obviously picked up from Python, but it couldn’t put them together in a new and funny manner. And I think that’s the weakness with AI. I don’t think it makes much difference with a lot of American TV because that’s just churned out. I think it can’t be Robin Williams.
I think it can’t be Billy Connolly. I don’t think it can be Spike Milligan. Cult following uncovered Jim Carrey’s cover of The Beatles. I am the Walrus. I was curious.
I clicked on it. I didn’t think it was that good, but one fan said, Wow, he is good. You can tell he put a lot of work into that and want to do it right. Another said, holy, s he sings rather well. A third Wow, mind blown and apparently insane person said I can’t listen to the Beatles version anymore because I enjoy Jim Carrey’s version much more.
The Stockton Latin Comedy Festival takes place today at the Adventist Health Arena. The Unite includes performances by more than twenty top comedians, including Carlos Mencia, Joey Medina and the event is was scheduled to honor Paul Rodriguez with the Lifetime Achievement Award. Now, Paul’s been in the news lately. It’s unclear to me if the award is still happening or not. And I hope Paul is okay.
The Toronto Guardian was profiling some comedians, one of them Toronto comedian Ben Albert, who got to start in comedy by driving eight hours to perform at Yuck Yucks in Ottawa. All right, Ben Albert, and how do you describe your comedy style and why am I coming at you with such an aggressive tone? Ben said, my comedy style would probably be described as a storytelling type. Being from northern Ontario, it’s crucial you know how to tell a good story. There’s nothing else to do.
AI Ow, who’s your favorite comedian? Growing up? He said? I was always a big fan of Kevin Hart and Jamie Fox. I liked how they would tell a good story while using their whole body as an expressive tool.
Oh yeah, well, who’s your favorite comedian now? Ben Albert said, I’m a big fan of Shane Gillis and Luisi K. What’s your pre show ritual? I text my buddy and call him a loser so I feel more confident. Hey, that is your comedy needs for today.
If you would like the program without commercial interruption, you go to apple PADCA. You click the banner. It says uninterrupted listening. It’ll tell you what to do. See you tomorrow