The Last Laugh

Before D’Arcy Carden landed the role of a lifetime as Janet on ‘The Good Place,’ she was starting to worry her comedy career might never take off. And yet, in the less than six years since that show premiered on NBC, she has earned an Emmy nomination, appeared with her former babysitting boss Bill Hader on ‘Barry’ and is now about to star opposite her best friend Abbi Jacobson in a high-profile reimagining of ‘A League of Their Own’ on Amazon Prime Video. In this episode, Carden opens up about how she turned things around and expresses her shock and disappointment at her ‘Barry’ co-star Sarah Goldberg’s Emmy snub. She also reminisces about the early days of UCB, shares the important lesson she learned about screen acting during her first TV gig on ‘Broad City’ and recalls the demoralizing experience of being an extra on ‘Saturday Night Live.’ Follow D’Arcy Carden on Twitter @DarcyCarden and Instagram @darcycardenFollow Matt Wilstein on Twitter @mattwilsteinFollow The Last Laugh on Instagram @lastlaughpodHighlights from this episode and others at The Daily Beast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Henry Winker has repeatedly doubted himself throughout his long and storied career. From landing the coveted role of Arthur Fonzarelli on ‘Happy Days’ to winning his first Emmy Award for playing Gene Cousineau on Bill Hader’s ‘Barry,’ the beloved actor has struggled to overcome what only became known as “imposter syndrome” in recent years. “I invented the syndrome!” Winkler says in this week’s episode. On the heels of his third consecutive Emmy nomination for ‘Barry,’ we break down that show’s “intense” season finale. Winkler also tells stories about his struggles to find work after The Fonz, explains how Adam Sandler helped revive his comedy career, reveals why he turned down hosting SNL, recalls his funniest line from ‘Arrested Development’ and so much more. Follow Henry Winkler on Twitter @hwinkler4realFollow Matt Wilstein on Twitter @mattwilsteinFollow The Last Laugh on Instagram @lastlaughpodHighlights from this episode and others at The Daily Beast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Desus Nice and The Kid Mero—who officially announced this week that they will be “pursuing separate creative endeavors moving forward”—join The Last Laugh podcast to talk about launching their Showtime late-night series Desus & Mero. We get into their close relationship with fellow Bronx-native Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, why they viewed their show as an “escape” from the “dumpster fire that is America,” their unlikely Twitter feud with Taylor Swift fans and a lot more. This episode was originally published on August 27th, 2019. Follow Desus Nice on Twitter @desusnice and Instagram @desusniceFollow The Kid Mero on Twitter @THEKIDMERO and Instagram @thekidmeroFollow Matt Wilstein on Twitter @mattwilsteinFollow The Last Laugh on Instagram @lastlaughpod Highlights from this episode and others at The Daily Beast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jon Gabrus didn’t realize he had spent his entire comedy career preparing to travel around the country getting wasted and being hilarious on camera. But that’s exactly what he has ended up doing, along with his best friend and co-host Adam Pally, in their new truTV series ‘101 Places to Party Before You Die.’ In this episode, Gabrus talks about landing his “dream job” as a travel host and explains why the “before you die” in the show’s title resonates with him so deeply. He also talks about the origins of his incompetent intern character Gino Lombardo on the Comedy Bang Bang podcast, tells the story of his embarrassingly terrible ‘Veep’ audition in front of his comedy crush Julia-Louis Dreyfus and reveals why he once quit smoking pot in hopes of joining the FBI. Follow Jon Gabrus on Twitter @Gabrus and Instagram @gabrusFollow Matt Wilstein on Twitter @mattwilsteinFollow The Last Laugh on Instagram @lastlaughpodHighlights from this episode and others at The Daily Beast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nikki Glaser is a world-class stand-up comedian, a ruthless celebrity roaster and an endlessly engaging daily podcaster. Now, she’s also a reality TV star thanks to her new gig hosting the deliberately absurd dating show ‘FBoy Island’ on HBO Max (which returned for its second season this week). In this episode, Glaser talks about how she landed her dream job after “embarrassing” herself on ‘Dancing With the Stars,’ shares her unvarnished opinions on thorny issues like body image and cancel culture and reveals some wild behind-the-scenes stories about roasting Ann Coulter, Alec Baldwin, Caitlyn Jenner, Blake Griffin, Jeff Ross and more. Check out Nikki Glaser’s new hour-long stand-up special ‘Good Clean Filth,’ premiering on HBO this Saturday night, July 16th, at 10pm and streaming on HBO Max after that.This episode was originally published on July 27th, 2021. Follow Nikki Glaser on Twitter @NikkiGlaser and Instagram @nikkiglaserFollow Matt Wilstein on Twitter @mattwilsteinFollow The Last Laugh on Instagram @lastlaughpod Highlights from this episode and others at The Daily Beast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you only know Tim Heidecker as one half of ‘Tim and Eric’ with his longtime comedy partner Eric Wareheim, you are missing a lot. The comedian, musician and ‘Office Hours’ host just set out on a big summer tour in which his meta “no more bullshit” stand-up character shares the bill with the “real” Tim playing music from his new album ‘High School.’ In this episode, Heidecker holds nothing back going after Joe Rogan (“so boring”), Dave Chappelle (“a leader in the anti-trans movement”) and Jim Breuer (“a tremendous inspiration”). We also look back at the early days of ‘Tim and Eric,’ from Bob Odenkirk’s role in bringing the duo’s comedy to Adult Swim to that time Gary Busey almost assaulted them during a taping. And Heidecker explains why having the freedom to explore his own solo projects has been the “key to not having a bad break-up” with Wareheim. Stream Tim Heidecker’s new album ‘High School’Tour dates and tickets at TimHeidecker.comFollow Tim Heidecker on Twitter @timheidecker and Instagram @timheideckerFollow Matt Wilstein on Twitter @mattwilsteinFollow The Last Laugh on Instagram @lastlaughpodHighlights from this episode and others at The Daily Beast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 1997, Robert Smigel put a dog puppet on his hand, started making poop jokes in a thick Russian accent and Triumph the Insult Comic Dog was born. 25 years later, he’s still going strong. In this rare long form conversation, Smigel talks about how he pulls off his epic confrontations of politicians like Ted Cruz and Lindsey Graham. He also opens up about his time writing for Conan O’Brien, ‘The Dana Carvey Show’ and SNL, where he created ‘TV Funhouse’ and ‘The Ambiguously Gay Duo’—an animated sketch he readily admits would not work today. Robert explains why his eventual exit from SNL was “not pretty” and weighs in on Alec Baldwin’s “easy” satirical take on Donald Trump.This episode was originally published on June 30th, 2020.Follow Robert Smigel on Twitter @TriumphICDHQ and Instagram @triumphicdhqFollow Matt Wilstein on Twitter @mattwilsteinFollow The Last Laugh on Instagram @lastlaughpod Highlights from this episode and others at The Daily Beast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sarah Cooper became famous using only her face to lip-sync Donald Trump. Now, in her new audiobook, all she has to work with is her voice. In her return to the podcast, Cooper reflects on the “craziest” few years of her life, from having “no idea” what she was doing on her own Netflix special to guest-hosting ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ before ever performing stand-up on TV to landing a role in her comedy hero Jerry Seinfeld’s upcoming Pop-Tart movie ‘Unfrosted.’ Cooper also reveals the right-wing politician she recently tried lip-syncing and why she will “never” imitate Donald Trump again. Follow Sarah Cooper on Twitter @sarahcpr and Instagram @sarahcprFollow Matt Wilstein on Twitter @mattwilsteinFollow The Last Laugh on Instagram @lastlaughpod Listen to Let’s Catch Up Soon: How I Won Friends and Influenced People Against My Will Highlights from this episode and others at The Daily Beast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joel Kim Booster likes to play the “hot idiot” on stage. But as you will quickly learn by listening to this episode, he is actually quite insightful when it comes to the unique challenges he has faced on his path to becoming one of the funniest young comedians working today. In this conversation, the writer and star of Hulu’s ‘Fire Island’—previously titled ‘Trip’—opens up about growing up with his adoptive Evangelical Christian family, how he gave up self-deprecation to embrace over-confidence and why there hasn’t been a gay male stand-up comedy superstar on the level of Ellen DeGeneres, Wanda Sykes or Tig Notaro. This episode was originally published on June 1st, 2021.Follow Joel Kim Booster on Twitter @ihatejoelkim and Instagram @ihatejoelkimFollow Matt Wilstein on Twitter @mattwilsteinFollow The Last Laugh on Instagram @lastlaughpod Highlights from this episode and others at The Daily Beast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If we lived in a just world, Kate Berlant and John Early would be the most famous and successful comedy team on the planet. So that’s the reality they manifested for themselves in their new Peacock special ‘Would It Kill You to Laugh?’ In this episode, the pair reveal how they got Meredith Vieira to host their emotional reunion after an imagined falling out and look back on their years as “chief collaborators” from the early videos that took off on YouTube to their breakthrough performances in Netflix’s ‘The Characters.’ Later, Early shares how “surprising” it was to dive deep into Elliott over five seasons of ‘Search Party,’ Berlant explains why she had to reel in her comedic instincts on the set of Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ and so much more. Follow Kate Berlant on Twitter @kateberlant and Instagram @kateberlantFollow John Early on Twitter @bejohnce and Instagram @bejohnceFollow Matt Wilstein on Twitter @mattwilsteinFollow The Last Laugh on Instagram @lastlaughpodHighlights from this episode and others a The Daily Beast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.