Episode #231: Satire under Trump

When real life becomes even more ridiculous than satire, then what role is there for comedians to play? And how should comedians talk about serious issues while still keeping their senses of humor? Those are two of the questions I posed to comedians on the front lines of the discussion, and on the red carpet […]

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Episode #231: Satire under Trump

When real life becomes even more ridiculous than satire, then what role is there for comedians to play? And how should comedians talk about serious issues while still keeping their senses of humor? Those are two of the questions I posed to comedians on the front lines of the discussion, and on the red carpet […]

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Episode #230: J. Keith van Straaten, host of “Go Fact Yourself”

You may or may not remember seeing J. Keith van Straaten in roles on “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Gilmore Girls,” “Beverly Hills, 90210,” and ads for McDonald’s, Nike, Pizza Hut, Cheez-It, and many more. But if you did, then you’re just the sort of trivia expert who would have loved watching van Straaten host Comedy Central’s […]

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Episode #229: Ted Alexandro

Ted Alexandro has made multiple appearances on David Letterman, Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Kimmel, Craig Ferguson and The View, had two half-hour specials on Comedy Central, and spent the past couple of years touring theaters and arenas around the world with Jim Gaffigan. He also is one of the co-founders of the New York Comedians Coalition, which successfully organized […]

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Episode #228: Darrell Hammond

Darrell Hammond started carving out a career for himself with voiceover work in Orlando after graduating from the University of Florida in the late 1970s. More than a decade later, a chance Clinton impersonation during a performance at Carolines scored him his fateful third-times-the-charm audition for Saturday Night Live in 1995. And more than two decades after […]

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Episode #227: Mary Lynn Rajskub

Most people still think of Mary Lynn Rajskub as the counterterrorism techie Chloe from FOX’s hit series 24. But Rajskub has a long and storied comedy resume, from Mr. Show and Larry Sanders in the 1990s, to a prime-time sketch TV effort with Kelsey Grammer in the 2000s, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Californication, to the movie Night […]

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Episode #226: Maria Bamford

Maria Bamford is one of the most exciting stand-up comedians working today. You may have seen her starring in her own Netflix series, Lady Dynamite, based on her own life, or Target’s holiday season TV commercials, based on your own. Bamford has been on the front lines of revolutionizing stand-up comedy, from The Comedians of […]

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Episode #225: Mo Mandel

Mo Mandel is a stand-up comedian who created and executive produces Comedy Knockout for truTV, where comics zing each other and try to win over the studio audience. Before that, he hosted truTV’s BARmageddon and appeared more than 40 times on the panel of Chelsea Lately. You’ve seen him as a co-star on such TV […]

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Episode #224: Sam Morril

Sam Morril is one of New York City’s rising stand-up comics, having just come off hosting two seasons of People Talking Sports on the MSG network. Morril also has performed on America’s Got Talent, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Conan, and Last Comic Standing. He’s risen from Comedy Central’s Comics to Watch to his own hour special on the network, […]

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Episode #223: Jonathan Katz

Jonathan Katz won Comedy Central’s first-ever Emmy Award for his critically-acclaimed animated series, Dr. Katz, in the mid-1990s. He followed that up with a Peabody Award in 1998. Twenty years later, he’s entertaining us anew with therapy sessions with his famous funny friends in a brand-new Dr. Katz: The Audiobook, for Amazon’s Audible. But before […]

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