The Last Laugh

Stephanie Hsu broke through—and landed her first Oscar nomination—three years ago in Best Picture winner ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once.’ That film had some oddball laughs for sure, but if you had only seen her in the dual roles of the diminutive Joy Wang and villainous Jobu Tupaki, you would have no idea she was capable of playing a classic rom-com lead like she does in the new Peacock series ‘Laid.’ In this episode, Hsu talks...

Jim Gaffigan is heading into 2025 an even bigger comedy star than he was before—thanks to a guest-starring gig on ‘Saturday Night Live’ as vice presidential candidate Tim Walz, a headlining spot alongside Donald Trump at the Al Smith dinner, his latest stand-up special ‘The Skinny’ (which delves into the secret behind his massive weight loss) and a big national tour with Jerry Seinfeld. In his return to the podcast after more than ...

With her raucous cabaret act, Bridget Everett has never been shy about putting all of herself out there for audiences to enjoy. But in her semi-autobiographical HBO series ‘Somebody Somewhere,’ which just wrapped up its third and final season, she is laying herself bare emotionally on a whole new level. In this episode, Everett opens up about the real life trauma that helped inform her revelatory performance, what she learned about...

Once again, the time has come for our annual, year-end crossover episode in which Matt Wilstein joins The New Abnormal host Andy Levy to talk about the year in political comedy from the comedy podcasters like Joe Rogan, Theo Von, and Andrew Schulz who helped win Trump the 2024 election, to Kamala Harris’ decidedly safer appearances on Call Her Daddy and SNL, to the unfortunate decline of “resistance” late-night hosts like Stephen C...

When Trevor Noah stepped down as host of ‘The Daily Show’ a couple of years ago, it didn’t even occur to Ronny Chieng that he could be capable of taking over that seat. But now that he’s been sitting in as guest-host as part of a rotating group of correspondents he finally feels like he deserves to be there. “I think I get how to do it,” he says. “And I’ve done it like 20 times now, so it’s definitely possible for me to do it.” In ...

Over the course of his nearly 20 years as a stand-up comedian, Joe Mande has developed an uncanny ability to accurately forecast the utter stupidity of American culture. That unique skill led his friend John Mulaney to suggest that he’s more prepared for a second Donald Trump presidency than anyone else they know. In this episode, Mande discusses his latest stand-up special ‘Chill,’ which premieres on Hulu this Friday, December 13 ...

The Last Laugh listeners, please enjoy this excerpt from the latest episode of The Daily Beast's new podcast! Comedian Jim Gaffigan reflects on the surreal experience of performing at the Al Smith Dinner, describing Donald Trump’s unorthodox comedic style as “performing on his heels” and surprisingly “killing the entire time.” Gaffigan also jokes about parenting his five kids: “Every Monday morning is kind of a surprise for them. L...

Ilana Glazer knows that she will forever be known as the “freewheeling stoner” Ilana Wexler from her beloved Comedy Central series ‘Broad City.’ But over the past few years she has fully embraced the role of mother—in her life, in her indie film ‘Babes’ and now on the stand-up stage in her upcoming Hulu special ‘Human Magic.’ In this episode, Glazer opens up about channeling the joy and anxiety of parenthood into comedy and the pre...

Self-described comedy “villain” Anthony Jeselnik has made a career out of telling expertly crafted, extremely dark one-liners, from his breakthrough set at the Comedy Central Roast of Donald Trump in 2011 to his newest Netflix special ‘Bones and All,’ which marks his 20th year in comedy. In this episode, he talks about crafting his Comedy Central interview show ‘Good Talk,’ how he thinks his comic persona will continue to evolve as...

Jim O’Heir has almost 200 acting credits to his name, appearing on dozens of iconic TV shows like ‘ER,’ ‘Friends,’ and ‘Better Call Saul.’ But as he reveals in this episode, he almost turned down the role of Jerry Gergich on ‘Parks and Recreation’ because his agents worried it was too small. O’Heir writes about his fateful decision to take a chance on what could have remained a “background” part in his new book ‘Welcome to Pawnee,’...

For better or worse, Timothy Simons will probably always be best known for the first TV role he ever booked: the cravenly odious political climber Jonah Ryan on HBO’s ‘Veep.’ He could have been typecast as a lanky creep forever, but in the years since that show ended, Simons has managed to have a surprisingly varied acting career, most notably with his role as rom-com sidekick Sasha in this fall’s Netflix hit ‘Nobody Wants This.’ I...

The Last Laugh listeners, please enjoy this excerpt from the latest episode of The Daily Beast's new podcast! In the aftermath of Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 election, co-host Samantha Bee has some tough talk for President Joe Biden and his team and comedian Michael Ian Black has news for everyone.

Subscribe now to The Daily Beast Podcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy ...

Jenny Slate has never been a traditional stand-up comic. And after a lengthy hiatus that followed her 2019 Netflix special ‘Stage Fright’ and included both a global pandemic and the birth of her daughter, she wasn’t sure she’d ever get up in front of an audience again. “I didn’t have a system in place for how to get back up on stage. I didn’t know how to do that,” she says in this episode. But now, as she puts out her latest hour ‘...

Seth Meyers knows his show is likely to change based on the results of the presidential race. But with the election just days away, the comedian, ‘Saturday Night Live’ alum and host of NBC’s ‘Late Night’ is doing his best to stay in the present and take each new insane development as it comes. In this episode, Meyers talks about how he ended up releasing a stand-up special (‘Dad Man Walking’ on Max) that has nothing to do with poli...

For the past 30 years or so, Bruce Eric Kaplan has toiled away as a staff writer on some of the best television series ever produced, including ‘Seinfeld,’ ‘Six Feet Under,’ and ‘Girls.’ But as he writes in his new book ‘They Went Another Way: A Hollywood Memoir’—and discusses in this bonus episode—Kaplan has never managed to get his own show past the pilot stage. And it’s not for lack of trying. Kaplan has written more unproduced ...

The Last Laugh listeners, please enjoy this excerpt from the latest episode of The Daily Beast's new podcast! With less than two weeks until Election Day, Joanna Coles and Samantha Bee are joined by political strategist James Carville for intel—and an insider’s take—on the state of the presidential race.

Subscribe now to The Daily Beast Podcast

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy f...

“I’m glad to be here. We have a lot to laugh about,” Kathy Griffin says at the top of her triumphant return to the podcast after a very eventful five years since her last appearance. In this episode, Griffin breaks down how she turned some of the most traumatic experiences of her life into jokes for her new “My Life on the PTSD-List” tour, which hits Carnegie Hall this week. The legendary comedian, who finally has her voice back af...

The Last Laugh listeners, please enjoy this excerpt from the latest episode of The Daily Beast's new podcast! This week, guest John Oliver and co-host Samantha Bee take a trip down late-night TV memory lane, sharing fun times and lessons learned from their time as correspondents on ‘The Daily Show.’ Joanna Coles and Sam dive deep into the Beast’s exclusive story of the consultant making serious bank on Trump’s campaign payroll, and...

Fresh off his surprise Emmy Award win for Season 5 of ‘Fargo,’ actor and comedian Lamorne Morris joins this week’s episode of The Last Laugh to break down his scene-stealing performance as the “elder statesman” of the original SNL cast in Jason Reitman’s new film ‘Saturday Night.’ Morris, who portrays Garrett Morris (no relation) in the movie, discusses what it was like to enter the fictionalized world of SNL more than a decade aft...