Episodes

Nationally touring stand-up comedian & Aqua Teen Hunger Force alum, Andy Sandford, revs his writer's Prius to taut WORD ECONOMY. Levity is brevity, but word economy means more than that. We laugh and pick apart some great bits by Jeff Caldwell, Ellen Degeneres, and Steven Wright.

Boston-forged comic Luke Touma tackles HECKLERS to explore why people heckle, different kinds of hecklers, and how to deal with them. What specific tactics, tricks, and attitudes work best? We talk about the instigator, the attention whore, the homophobe, the hater, the moral authority, the fact checker, and more. We share comedy war stories and have a blast listening to explosive heckler take-downs by Chris D'Elia, Joe Klocek, and Arj Barker. This episode was fun as fuck, and fuck is FUN.

The all-too-likable and contagiously funny comic, Kenny DeForest (Seth Meyers, HBO's Crashing), joins us to discuss LIKABILITY. What makes a comic likable or not? How does that relate to authenticity, status, and confidence? And some great stuff from Patrice O'Neal, Eminem (!?), and Kenny himself.

The brilliant storyteller and comedian Doug Smith explores the use of TRAGEDY in stand-up with us through a seminal bit by Patton Oswalt and a story Doug recently performed on Comedy Central's "This Is Not Happening."

Storyteller extraordinaire Kaytlin Bailey opens the legs of her life to investigate the role of TRUTH in stand-up comedy. What kinds of truth are there, and what is the role of the comedian as it relates to telling the truth? We explore this and a lot more via bits by Ali Wong, Chris Rock, and Kaytlin herself.

Announcement Hey, we've got an announcement.

Multi-talented, very funny and passionately neurotic Gianmarco Soresi explores ANGER in stand-up. All three half-Jewish white fellas share temper problems, so we talk tantrums, yelling, when anger goes wrong, and why impotent rage is so damn funny. How do you make things ok so people can laugh while you're expressing genuine anger? We laugh and analyze through bits by four VERY different comedic anger styles: Bill Burr, Sam Kinison, John Mulaney, and Mary Mack.

The hugely funny & big-hearted Cyrus McQueen boomed out his theories on CHARACTERS in stand-up. The Last Comic Standing alum jumped in and out of character throughout the episode as we discussed what a character is in stand-up, how characters enhance a performance, and a lot more.

Comedy Central's Anthony DeVito, an absurdly likable human being and an amazing comedian, deconstructs THE ALBUM with us. Step-by-step, we bust up at highlights from his 2017 debut album, "Dream Occupation."

This is part 2 of the TABOO recording. If you haven't listened to part 1, go do that first. In this part, we talk about Tristan's history of being bullied and (sort of?) bullying and how that influenced his dark sense of humor. We also listen to him drone on about the unique perspective and skillset of his improv background, failing with fun, and the function of joy in comedy.

Absurdly dark Tristan Smith wades into the nasty, deep end of the comedy pool: TABOO feat.This is one part craft and comedy theory and one part societal debate, all marinated in total fuckery. We dive right in with some David Cross, followed by the great "Kramer Meltdown," Dave Chappelle's response to it, and then George Carlin's seminal bit from the 90's about taboo words and their context. And we argue the bejesus out it all.

The very accomplished, always funny "edgy joke slinger," Mark Normand shares his theories on joke writing, his writing and rehearsal processes, and goes on a couple epic rants on the state of comedy today. This episode is THE SHIT!!!

Gene Getman tackles IRREVERENCE in stand-up comedy by messing with the hosts and listening to bits by Doug Stanhope, Chad Daniels, and Martin Urbano. We think it's our funniest episode yet.

This is just a whispered "thank you" to everyone who's listened over the first year of the podcast.

The brilliantly prolific Comedy Cellar regular, Dan LaMorte, nails it in this episode on MENTAL HEALTH in stand-up. It felt real, it felt deep, and it's damn funny. He's got some awesome tips to share and a helluva tale to tell. Car crashes, brain injury, deaths, break-ups, and a mental institution! And we tear open jokes by Marc Maron and Patton Oswalt.

The charmingly silly, head-a-shavin', nationally-tourin' stand-up comedian, Carmen Lagala, joined us for a timely chat about GENDER in stand-up comedy. We cover a lot of ground with some killer bits by Bill Burr, Liza Treyger, and Carmen herself.

Nationally touring comedian & social media sensation, Brett Druck, explores "REINTERPRETATION" via bits by TJ Miller, Hannibal Buress, & Dane Cook. I was laughing out loud editing it, and I was the one running the recording session! (this is Jeff talking, obviously)

Love goddess of stand-up comedy, Abby Feldman, descends to share her "embrace and accept" approach to stand-up and life. Want some depth with your commute? We've got it for ya, with clips from Bill Hicks, Marc Maron, and Bo Burnham. This one is amazing!

Heady and hilarious comic Dave Lester covers CROWD WORK through his wealth of experience and material from Patrice O'Neal, Bo Burnham, and Big Jay Oakerson.

The dark and bubbly NYC comedian, Camille Theobald, spends her evening with us laughing at bits by Louis CK, Sarah Silverman, and Tom Segura. We playfully examine the role played by TENSION & RELEASE in stand-up performance and writing.

Comic Sam Evans explores "THAT'S A BIT," the often maddening process to go from fresh idea to working joke via bits by Gary Gulman, Tom Papa, and Eric Andre. There's great stuff here about not chickening out on an idea, when to give up on one, and the importance of collaboration. It's definitely a craft-heavy episode with some dynamite comedy bits.

Genius joke writer and stand up comic, Jay Welch, plumbs the depths of the exquisite laughter born of HONEST SADNESS. We explore these ideas in a sometimes funny, sometimes somber, but always interesting episode with some amazingly, touchingly funny stand-up material that deals with envy, addiction, and death. Funny stuff, right? Actually, yes.

Comedian Jon Newman snorkels through the choppy waters of "CHALLENGING PREMISES" via bits by Jerrod Carmichael, Bill Burr, and Chris Rock. What constitutes a challenging premise? Taboo? Complexity? And what devices do comics use to bring audiences into mental territory they ordinarily avoid or find too complex to be funny? Let's do this!

Commissioner and co-founder of NYC Comedy Fight Club, Matt Maran, dropped by to slice up comedy ROASTS, via sets by Greg Giraldo, Bill Burr, and Gilbert Gottfried.