Good One: A Podcast About Jokes

This week, we’re bringing you an extra fun episode in hopes it’ll help distract you, from, ehh, you know... And so with that in mind, host Jesse David Fox sat down with improviser and actor Lauren Lapkus, star of the Netflix comedy The Wrong Missy, part of Netflix’s The Characters special, and a comedy podcast icon (Comedy Bang Bang, With Special Guest Lauren Lapkus, Threedom, and The Newcomers).The two discuss her character Pamela from Big Bear, a character Lauren first performed on a With Special Guest episode with James Adomian, and which later became a beloved staple of Comedy Bang Bang live shows. Here, they dissect a clip of Pamela from Lauren’s Netflix The Characters special.You can watch The Characters and The Wrong Missy on Netflix. Listen to Threedom and The Newcomers where you listen to podcasts. Listen to old episodes of With Special Guest Lauren Lapkus and the Comedy Bang Bang tour shows on Stitcher Premium. Follow Lauren on social media on twitter and instagram. Follow Jesse David Fox on Twitter and Instagram. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this rerun, host Jesse David Fox sits down with Gary Gulman to talk about a joke from his 2016 special It’s About Time.The joke is about an experience Gary had at Trader Joe’s, but it’s way, waaaaaaaay bigger than that. Gary takes his audience through TJ’s snack selection and into Narnia, making companions of old women on the Upper West Side, finally culminating in a rumination on the nature of New Yorkers and taking a stand when injustice rears its ugly head.Jesse and Gary dissect this joke from start to finish, picking apart word choice down to the syllable. Gary reflects on the inciting incident, as well as how his mental illness plays a part in the whole thing.You can watch The Great Depresh Tour on HBO Max. For all of Gary’s tips, follow Gary on Twitter. Follow Jesse David Fox on Twitter and Instagram. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week, host Jesse David Fox sits down with New York stand-up comedian Shane Torres to discuss one of the greatest jokes of the last decade - Torres’s now legendary defense of Guy Fieri. Torres started working on the joke in 2016, after seeing Fieri used as a cliche example of someone who sucked. Quickly he realized he was onto something special and that there was room to build on it. A year later, the result was both hilarious and surprisingly poignant. After going viral in the summer of 2017, the joke forever changed the perception of Guy Fieri in our culture, revealing the power of comedy.You can listen to Shane Torres’s album, Established 1981, wherever you stream music. Follow Shane Torres on Twitter @ShaneTorres and Instagram at @SyrupMountain. Follow Jesse David Fox on Twitter and Instagram @JesseDavidFoxLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week, host Jesse David Fox sits down with Jamie Demetriou, the creator/writer/star of the acclaimed British comedy, Stath Lets Flats. During the summer, Stath Lets Flats took home the Best Scripted Comedy award at the BAFTAs, beating out Catastrophe, Derry Girls, and even Fleabag. To translate the title to American English, Stath is Jamie’s character’s name and “lets flats” means leases apartments. That’s what the show’s about - a English-Greek idiot working at his family’s leasing agency. The scene we play comes from season 2, episode 5, in which Stath goes on a double date with his sister, Sophie (played by Jamie’s real life sister, Natasia). Sophie brings her new boyfriend, Cem (David Mumeni). Stath asked Sophie’s roommate/music and dance partner, Katia (played by Natasia’s real life comedy partner, Ellie White), who said no, but showed up anyway. When she said no, Stath invited his best friend Al (Al Roberts), but the only problem is Al and Sophie secretly love each other. Comedy ensues! You can watch Stath Lets Flats on HBO Max. Follow Jamie Demetriou on twitter at @JamieTonight and Instagram at @JamieDemetriou. Follow Jesse David Fox on Twitter and Instagram.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week, host Jesse David Fox sits down with the reality bending comedic rapper Nikki Fre$h, aka Nicole Richie!Nicole is known for starring in The Simple Life alongside Paris Hilton from 2003-2007. After the show wrapped, Nicole filmed Candidly Nicole, which she started as a web series in 2013 before running for 2 seasons on VH1 from 2014 and 2015. Her most recent endeavor is a new Quibi show, Nikki Fre$h, and its accompanying album Unearthed. Like every track on the album, there’s a music video for the song that was included in an episode of the Quibi series. We’re starting with her song Bee’s Tea, an homage to bees The episode co-starred Bill Nye and Nicole’s real-life father, Lionel Richie.You can watch Nikki Fre$h on Quibi. Follow Nicole Richie on twitter and instagram. Follow Jesse David Fox on Twitter and Instagram. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week, host Jesse David Fox sits down with the legendary George Wallace. A stand-up since the 70s, Wallace is once one of the country’s most in-demand comedians, and has recently found a new fan base via Twitter.This week’s clip is a supercut of a type of joke George tells a lot, jokes under the theme of the catchphrase, “stupid stuff.” The clips are from shows spanning decades, including his 2016 Montreal Just for Laughs Festival appearance, a set from his historic 10 year run at the Flamingo in Las Vegas, and his 1991 HBO One Night Stand Special.You can find George Wallace on Twitter and Instagram, too. Follow Jesse David Fox on Twitter and Instagram.Good One is made possible by the team at New York Magazine. Subscribe today to support their work at nymag.com/goodone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week, Good One airs one of our favorite episodes: Daniel "Desus Nice" Baker and Joel "The Kid Mero" Martinez, aka the Bronx-born comedy duo Deus & Mero.The two met in high school and reconnected on Twitter. From 2013-2014 they cohosted their podcast Desus vs Mero, then went on to appear on MTV's Guy Code in 2015. Around the same time they launched their current podcast Bodega Boys, which propelled them towards their own TV show, first on VICE and most recently on Showtime.Jesse charts their careers to understand what sets them apart from other Late Night television personalities, examining their roots as well as how their definition of authenticity affects their comedy.Also included: puns.Follow Desus & Mero on Twitter and watch them on Showtime. Their new book, God-Level Knowledge Darts: Life Lessons from the Bronx, is out now. Follow Jesse David Fox on Twitter and Instagram.Good One is made possible by the team at New York Magazine. Subscribe today to support their work at nymag.com/goodone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week on Good One, host Jesse David Fox sits down with stand-up Ali Siddiq. Ali is best known for going viral in 2015 after performing a story called “Mexicans Got On Boots” for the Comedy Central storytelling show, This Is Not Happening. The story has nearly 10 million views on Youtube, and in this interview, Jesse and Ali dive into what happened that day before the joke starts, what happened after, how he became a “storytelling” comedian, and so much more.Coming 17 years into doing stand-up, with a number of TV appearances and three albums already under his belt, this one story was an unexpected jolt to his career. The next year he got a half hour special on Comedy Central, and in 2018 he released It’s Bigger than These Bars, an hour special shot in a Texas jail.You can watch Ali’s This Is Not Happening stories—Mexicans Got On Boots, Mitchell, and more—on Comedy Central’s Youtube channel. You can watch Ali’s special, It's Bigger Than These Bars, on Comedy Central. You can find Ali Siddiq on Twitter and Instagram, too. Follow Jesse David Fox on Twitter and Instagram.We are conducting an audience survey to better serve you. It takes no more than five minutes, and it really helps out the show. Please take our survey here: voxmedia.com/podsurvey. Good One is made possible by the team at New York Magazine. Subscribe today to support their work at nymag.com/goodone Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week, host Jesse David Fox zooms with stand-up Felipe Esparza! At the time of this episode dropping, Felipe won Last Comic Standing 10 years and one month ago. Since then his standing in the industry has only continued to grow, from his 2012 Showtime Special, They’re Not Gonna Laugh at You, to his 2017 HBO special Translate This. Now he’s celebrating the release of his newest Netflix special Bad Decisions, which he released in both English *and* Spanish.Felipe’s joke is about an episode of domestic violence in his home, quickly followed by a trip to Disneyland. In the episode he speaks with Jesse about how his journey to comedy started (hint: there’s a librarian involved), finding healing through reliving trauma onstage, and how he hustled his way to success without a car in L.A.We are conducting an audience survey to better serve you. It takes no more than five minutes, and it really helps out the show. Please take our survey here: voxmedia.com/podsurveyYou can watch Bad Decisions, in both English and Spanish, on Netflix. You can find Felipe Esparza on Twitter and Instagram, too. Follow Jesse David Fox on Twitter and Instagram. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week, Good One dives into the world of dramedy and traumedy with Dead To Me creator and executive producer Liz Feldman.Liz is a comedy writer who started performing stand-up at 16, and got her first writing and performing job at 18 on Nickelodeon’s All That. Since then she’s worked on a number of sitcoms and award shows, all before creating the four-time emmy-nominated Netflix hit, Dead To Me. In this episode, they chat about season two, episode two’s opening scene, and most importantly we find out - are semi identical twins actually a real thing?You can watch Dead to Me on Netflix. You can find Liz Feldman on Twitter and Instagram, too. Follow Jesse David Fox on Twitter and Instagram. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices