🎙️ Listen to this episode:
Featured: Alec Baldwin, Anthony Atamanewick, Sarah Cooper, James Austin Johnson, Shane Gillis, Brett Terhune, Vaughn Mader, Osco at Costco, Chelsea Handler, David Spade, Ronny Chieng, Josh Johnson
What’s in This Episode
- Trump comedians say material is exhausted
- Sarah Cooper’s pandemic TikTok fame and Netflix special
- James Austin Johnson and Shane Gillis as recent Trump impressionists
- Vaughn Mader’s famous JFK impression legacy
- Osco at Costco interview on jealousy and hotel habits
- David Spade on SNL jealousy as compliment
- Ronny Chieng and Josh Johnson discuss comedy advice and humility
Questions Answered in This Episode
Why did Alec Baldwin say Trump isn’t funny anymore?
According to The Atlantic article discussed, Baldwin said “None of it is funny. I don’t find it funny anymore. There’s nothing left to say about Trump,” indicating that the initial comedic material about Trump has been exhausted.
What was Sarah Cooper famous for during the pandemic?
Sarah Cooper became famous on TikTok during the pandemic for taking audio of actual President Trump and pantomiming his voice while making ridiculous faces, which led to a Netflix special directed by Natasha Lyonne.
Who is Vaughn Mader known for impersonating?
Vaughn Mader is known for his JFK impression, which became so iconic that when people think of what John F. Kennedy sounds like, they’re often actually thinking of Vaughn Mader’s version rather than the real Kennedy’s voice.
What did David Spade say about jealousy on SNL?
David Spade said he used to tell his fellow SNL stars he was jealous of them if they got more airtime, viewing it as a way to acknowledge something was good and as a compliment to talented performers.
What does Ronny Chieng say about excessive humility in comedy?
Chieng said that excessive humility can actually come out as arrogance because people might think you don’t want to talk to them or that you think you’re better than them.
What was the initial wave of Trump satire shows in the 2010s?
The Atlantic noted shows like Michelle Wolf, Larry Wilmore, Hasan Minhaj, and others attempted Trump satire in the years following his election, but most didn’t have lasting success.
Full Transcript
This transcript was automatically generated and may contain spelling and/or transcription errors.
We are running out of August, friends. Hi, I’m Johnny Mac Poolside, as much as I can. With your Daily Comedy News, The Atlantic tells us that Trump comedians are tired. A writer over at The Atlantic caught up with Alec Baldwin. You may recall he portrayed the President of the United States on Saturday Night Live for a little bit.
Earlier this summer, Alec Baldwin said, None of it is funny. I don’t find it funny anymore. There’s nothing left to say about Trump. Anthony Atamnewick, who does a pretty good Trump, he’s got a fantastic album, The Trump vs. Bernie Debates.
It’s probably about 10 years old now. That was a fantastic album, one of my favorite things that I would play on the show over on Live One, where I host the weekly comedy thing. Look at me remembering to promote it on a Sunday. That’s right. Let me just go there real quick while we’re doing this.
So I host a show. It’s kind of like this, except I talk less, but I can actually play the bits. So if there’s a comedian in the news, I tell you about the story, and then I play a bit by the comedian. It is called the Weekly Comedy Thing. The app is called Live One.
Both are free. Check it out. Anthony Attenewick in 2017 hosted a show on Comedy Central called The President’s Show that I thought was pretty good. He told The Atlantic, I wanted my show to continue mostly because I saw each episode as an essay on an issue in American life, and the albatross I had was Trump. The Atlantic says Anthony’s hope was that for a liberal audience still reeling from the shock of the election, skewering the president could be a way to crystallize what had happened to the country.
The Atlantic pointed out the initial burst of left-leaning satire didn’t last. There were shows like Michelle Wolfe, Larry Wilmore, Hasan Minhaj, Wyatt Sinek. And they reminded me of this one. If you’re a longtime listener, you know this one drove me nuts. By 2020, the most visible Trump satirist was the comedian Sarah Cooper.
Do you remember Sarah Cooper? Now, during the pandemic, People were fawning over Sarah Cooper like she was like the next George Carlin. What she was doing was she was taking audio of the actual president and pantomiming his voice and making ridiculous faces. And this went great on TikTok because we were all stuck at home. But oh my goodness, like to act like she was one of the comedy greats was insane.
Somehow she got to guest host Jimmy Kimmel Live. Are you kidding me? And got a Netflix special directed by Natasha Lyonne. Go look up Sarah Cooper. It’s six years later now.
Like, what? No. That was insane. I’m getting mad that people were actually like, oh, she’s fantastic. She was pantomiming.
Stop. The Atlantic reminds us James Austin Johnson and Shane Gillis have both played the president with some success in recent years. Johnson’s impression hasn’t created the kind of splash that Baldwin’s once did. His version of Trump is reminiscent of the de rigueur presidential impressions of SNL seasons past. Brett Terhune talked about the character he plays on videos, that character’s alpha male.
A sort of disgruntled mega-vlogger, a reaction and a reflection of people that are Trump diehards, says Terhune.
And then this article goes to talk about Vaughn Mader.
Do you know Vaughn Mader? He’s the guy that did the Kennedy impression. The best description I ever heard of Vaughn Mader is, when you think of what John F. Kennedy sounds like, the voice that you have in your head right now, that’s actually not what Kennedy sounds like. That’s what Vaughn Mader sounds like.
Here, let me pull two clips. Here’s Vaughn Mader. The flowered hat. Yes. Not you, sir.
The lady in the back of you. Yes, yes. We recently heard that you sent an agent into Cuba. Didn’t you return with any information? Well, I didn’t send him for information.
I sent him for sugar. And here’s President Kennedy. There are many people in the world who really don’t understand or say they don’t. What is the great issue between the free world and the communist world? Let them come to Berlin.
Otsko at Costco told The Guardian, I think people think I’m more wholesome than I am. I love that description. They asked her, what’s the strangest job you ever had? Otsko said, I used to walk donks in L.A. And there’s a bad Yelp review about me saying that I only walked Charlie the Terrier mix for 10 minutes.
Instead of the full 30. And I did do that, but it was a rainy day and the dog didn’t want to keep walking and it was shaking. So I brought it back to the house, but it turns out the owner of the dog had a friend spying on me and timing me from the moment I let the dog out and back in. I guess it’s not a weird job, but it’s a memorable one. What’s the best thing you learned from someone you work with?
Chelsea Handler is a good friend of mine. Time out, time out, time out. I’ve been meaning to mention this for a week and a half. So as we all listen to the show, including me, we get different commercials. Like some of the commercials are regional, like I’m in New Jersey, so I’ll get a lot of things that are New Jersey related.
Your experience may vary. So, like, a week ago, I’m listening, and there’s just this woman, and her voice is just grating on me. I’m like, what is this commercial? I can’t stand this. It was Chelsea Handler.
Chelsea Handler is a good friend of Osco at Costco’s, though. Osco says, the tip was about jealousy. Just keep in mind that there’s room for everyone. You may go, I want a first place like that person, but you have a role in life in whatever field you’re in, so never compare yourself to others. We’re all made so different.
Here’s a random question. Oscar, when you get to a hotel, what’s the first thing you do? She said, every time. I’m generally so stoked that I’m not in my own house. Thank goodness I’m away from my dishes.
I’m away from my dirty underwear. I only have clean ones because that’s all I brought. Nice answer, but it didn’t tell us what’s the first thing she does. What is the first thing you do in your hotel room? I throw my bags on the bed, and usually I kick my shoes off because I’ve learned from traveling a lot that it’s good to give your feet a break while in the room, and then I usually have to check 4,000 work e-mails.
David Spade said he used to tell his fellow SNL stars he was jealous of them if they got more airtime than he did. I think that’s true of a lot of the SNLers. Spade confessed, I tell Sandler. That was funny. I’m so jealous because that’s at least acknowledging something was good or makes you better to go, OK.
Spade said it’s the biggest compliment whenever talented comedians know that they’re safe to riff and improv with you. He explains that’s an accomplishment right there, which you don’t really think too much. But that’s what other people think. They’re like, if those guys know what they’re doing. Ronny Chieng and Josh Johnson kind of riffed for Interview Magazine.
Let’s pick away at this. Josh said, when I first started, I would take advice from anybody because I was bombing. You know what I mean? So I was like, anybody might have a good idea. I find that even when someone’s advice is completely off base, it’s a reminder of what you don’t want to do.
Ronny Chieng said, I feel like I can do without that, but you’re more positive than me. I come in from almost exclusive humility. Like, no, please don’t praise me. I’m a nobody. But unfortunately, excessive humility can actually come out as arrogance because people think you don’t want to talk to them because you think they’re better than them.
Chang said, you’re always smooth and good with people. You’re very charismatic. Josh Johnson said, smooth is a very nice way to put it. I definitely walk away from most conversations being like, oh, I botched that one. This is interesting.
Chang said, I first met you, Josh Johnson, at The Daily Show, and you were a very talented writer and stand-up comic. You always contributed in the writing room, always had great ideas, great tags, very professional, very friendly, positive. There was a period when you were blowing up and there was a lot of momentum. Then I remember just before the pandemic, it felt like the momentum was kind of flattening or even going down a little bit. I think you fired your reps, your reps fired you, and you’re going through this creative rut or rediscovery.
I feel like you came out the other end of that guns blazing. Is that a fair description? Josh said it’s completely fair. Ronnie, what do you think caused it? Josh, I think the rut came from not being very certain about what I wanted to create next.
Sometimes that stuck feeling isn’t just about being stuck. It’s literally about being able to move in whatever direction you want. Having that much freedom to do the next thing is what makes you feel stuck. Once I made the decision to apply myself a bit more, that’s when everything really opened up in my mind, which helped me to do more and help people to notice me more. I got to a point where I was pretty good, and now pretty good can either be met with people noticing or could be met with, well, you could be better and people won’t notice you until you’re better.
Ronnie said, when you started coming out of your rut, I didn’t want to be condescending, but I was trying to give you a little bit of advice on how to move into theaters. I feel like when you move into a theater, you gain control of your schedule, you get a little bit more money. I encourage all comics to try to do it, which is easier said than done. But your way of doing it was you started releasing long-form stand-up content regularly at a time when it was the opposite of what you’re supposed to do. Even now, it’s flood the zone with short-form clips until something hooks.
What made you do that? Josh said, I had always actually written a lot. Like, a lot, a lot. Even when I started in Chicago, I was doing open mics. I rarely did the same five minutes, which I think is a different way of getting good.
Obviously, if you have your five, you can tighten your five.
And then that teaches you how to put your joke through the grinder.
But my version of getting better, this is fascinating, isn’t it? This is really good. I think I know what did and didn’t work from that thing, and I have some other things in my mind. Some of it was just being scatterbrained. The other thing is when you don’t know what you want, you end up wanting what you see other people have, because those are the only things available in your mind.
So it’s like, what if I had the best catalog? What if I had 100 funny hours? Here’s my thing. I would never tell anyone that what I’m doing is what you need to do. Let’s say we’re being hardcore capitalists for a second.
You’re now in the market giving away a lot for free, and who knows what you’re going to get back versus the model we’re all used to, which is hone this thing, make it as funny as you can, and then get paid for it. The BBC has renewed sci-fi comedy Android for a second season. The show was written by, created by, and stars Diane Morgan, who some podcasters have a crush on. It is a fun show. Season one followed the relationship between a woman and her elder care robot, played by Diane Morgan, in a press release.
Diane Morgan said, The response to Android has been so incredible. We’re totally blown away. I’m really looking forward to not blinking, needing physio, and hearing Cotton Eye Joe on repeat. Now, I’m not surprised that was renewed. I am surprised that I’m here to tell you Cam Patterson got a role in another movie.
What? What are people seeing that I’m not seeing? I get the Kill Tony version of Cam Patterson. I don’t get the SNL version, and I don’t get the movie version. He has joined the cast of Love, Love, about a struggling tennis phenom who falls for a ball boy at the U.S.
Open. It is currently in production, so they’re probably filming it during this year’s U.S. Open. And it is Cam Patterson’s second film role for some reason. He was also in 72 Hours, which that was that Kevin Hart movie that starred Marcelo Hernandez, who does one thing well.
Billboard put out the top comedy concerts for July. Number five, Maximini grossed $ 1. 9 million across 22,000 tickets, 11 shows. Matt Rife in fourth. He did 10 shows, sold 50,100 tickets and grossed $ 4. 7 million. Weird Al, not including that free show in Montreal, tickets $ 114, 000, 20 shows, grossed $ 7. 7 million.
Al secretly loaded. He comes across as normal Al. He’s loaded. Number two is controversial MAGA comedian Nate Bregazzi. He’s normally number one.
You can see the damage his career is taking on. He did nine shows, only sold 101,000 tickets, and only grossed $ 8. 3 million. Winning the month, Dude Perfect. They did 16 shows, 135,000 tickets. They grossed $ 8. 5 million.
Well, we’re not going to get into that Hannah Burner story yet again. It’s not even a bit. I mean, check the clock. You know, if you listen every day, I try to keep the show a certain length. Thursday was kind of long.
Friday was a little long. There’s a certain length to the show. We’ll get to it. I mean, Labor Day weekend’s coming in that first week of September. Often I’m scrambling for stuff.
So if I have a Hannah Burner story in my back pocket, it’s okay. I do want to start chipping away at this. The LA Times had an article, 15 comedians that the bookers say you should know. Maybe we’ll do five or so a day. Their premise, to help you figure out which comics in L.A.
You want to keep an eye on, we’ve tapped the expertise of some of the city’s most seasoned bookers. All right, first up, Takara Williams. The L.A. Times calls one of the most genuinely likable comedians out right now. Every woman wants to hang out and have brunch with her, and every man wants to date her.
Even the younger generation of girls love her hilarious impressions of her teenage daughter. She makes her family come alive in her jokes and reminds us that we’re all living the same life, dealing with kids, dating, and everyday struggles. Next up, Ron G. One of the greatest entertainers in the world, says the LA Times. If you’ve seen him host Chocolate Sundays, you know exactly what I mean.
He can get a 22-year-old black dude from Compton to rock out, and he can get an 80-year-old grandma to twerk on stage. Steve Fury is an ex-door guy at the comedy store and now a paid regular. We were told he’s an incredible writer, very consistent, very polished, hilarious. Got pretty far on Netflix’s Funny AF. Oh, yeah, that guy.
Willie Simon is another ex-door guy and another paid regular at the store. Originally from Hawaii, he flew through the door program and got passed as a regular a few years ago. The guys over at the store said, I’d consider him a prodigy. So funny, goofy, but no corn. He also has great writing skills, part of a fun online sketch group, Almost Friday, and does a podcast with Steve Furrier.
We’ll check that out. And Joe Maurice was the captain of the door guys at the store. So apparently you got to be a door guy at the store who recently became a paid regular. He’s unique and it’s such a fun style of comedy from Chicago. And this booker said that he’s obsessed with the video clip series Joe Eats Online.
He’s one of those guys that everyone will have an impression of by the end of his performance. OK, that’s good. This from them.us. Comedian Matt Matthews has had it with the pronouns. So as I understand things, Matt was on a podcast with Real Housewives of Atlanta star Candy Burris, who was curious about Matt’s partner Rob and assigned Rob the pronoun them.
Burris asked about you and your boo. When did you meet them? Matthews said, them? I only got one. Burris responded, well, you know, these days I got to know the pronouns before I start talking.
Matthews said, quote, we ain’t got no damn pronouns. I got a tallywhacker. That’s a he. We don’t do all that stuff. I ain’t doing all that they them.
Then he used some swear words. Then he put a bunch of letters together. The transcript reads L-G-Q-I-L-M-N-O-P-W-W-F. Shut the F up. You’re a boy.
You’re a girl. You got a thing. Cleaning that up a little. You’re a girl. And he said, I’m going to tick people off with that.
Saw a lot of buzz on that online during the week. Fringe is wrapping up. Dan Tiernan’s show got three out of five from The Guardian. Dan’s show Quartz and All, a furious comedy show about healing crystals. We were told you have to strap in for the ride, and Quartz and all is no less so than its predecessors.
It opens with Tiernan seething with his usual self-loathing and cracking a fantastical gag about getting glasses. Now 30, he’s still ambivalent, bordering on hostile about his sexuality and appearance. The healing crystals are a last resort, he argues, because only magic can redeem a man as freakish and unlovable as he. From a comic who, when good is very good, there’s an excellent joke and a callback. They spoil it.
I’m doing take two here. I don’t want to spoil the joke. Okay, that’s a good callback. You don’t have to spoil it. At such moments, Tiernan feels like a comic worth choosing to believe in.
And that is your comedy news on a Sunday. All right, not much August left. Enjoy the weekend. See you tomorrow.