Matteo Lane: Gayle King, Late-Night TV, and ‘The Al Dente Special’

For the first several years of his career, stand-up comedian Matteo Lane would open his sets by telling the audience, “Obviously, I’m gay.” At a certain point, he got tired of coming out to a room of strangers every night and instead begins his new Hulu hour ‘The Al Dente Special’ by making fun of the way white women talk—a bit that delighted Gayle King and led to one of the more awkwardly hilarious morning TV moments in recent history. In this episode, Lane explains why he decided to give the ‘CBS Mornings’ host a pass for repeating the “f-slur” back to him and reveals how King’s fellow astronaut Katy Perry ended up being part of his special as well. And as Pride Month comes to a close, he discusses why he’s sick of people expecting gay comedians to relive their trauma, shares why he avoids talking politics on stage, and calls out TV bookers for keeping him off of late-night TV because they deemed his act “too gay.” 

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Highlights from this episode and others at The Daily Beast

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