Good One

Jesse speaks with actor, comedian, writer and producer Lil Rel Howery live at Vulturefest in October 2018. The conversation centers around a joke Rel told on Martin Lawrence's 1st Amendment Stand Up in 2010, and ties into material from his 2015 stand-up special RELevent. Rel discusses family, his hometown Chicago, and the comedians that shaped him, like Bernie Mac and Robin Harris. Watch Rel in Rel on FOX. Follow Rel on Twitter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kenny and Keith Lucas, aka comedy duo The Lucas Brothers, sit down with Jesse to discuss a joke-in-progress about Bertrand Russell's A History of Western Philosophy. The two reflect on their relationship as brothers, identical twins, writing partners, travel companions, and performers while musing on the intersection of comedy and philosophy. Watch the Lucas Brothers' special on Netflix. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jesse’s back in the Late Night with Seth Meyers conference room with—wait for it—Seth Meyers! While there's plenty to talk about, the conversation centers around Seth writing the Documentary Now! episode Juan Likes Rice and Chicken. The two touch on Seth's parodies from when he was Head Writer at Saturday Night Live, along with his semi-autobiographical ties to Juan and Arturo.  Also included: Seth is unable to make Jesse’s tweets any better than they already are.  Season 3 of Documentary Now! starts February 20th, airing Wednesdays on IFC at 11p EST Late Night With Seth Meyers airs weeknights on NBC at 12:35/11:35c Follow Seth on Twitter  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ray Romano sits down with Jesse to talk about his new Netflix special, Right Here, Around the Corner. The two go over Ray’s jokes about his son Joe, why he continues to see his family as a source of new material, and what made the Comedy Cellar the right place to tape his new special. Also, Ray does an impression of an impression of Ray Romano.  Watch Ray’s new special on Netflix.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s sequel time! Sort of. On a Good One episode from way back in the year 2018, Jesse asked Vanessa Bayer about Saturday Night Live's series of ad parodies for Totino’s pizza rolls. What started as a take on gender stereotypes in advertising evolved over the next two years into a surreal X-Files promo, and ultimately a triumphant, French romance film trailer. Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider are the former SNL head writers behind the Totino’s Trilogy. Jesse talks to them about the evolution of Vanessa’s nameless character, and draws parallels to Chris and Sarah’s new series The Other Two.  Highly recommended: watching the Totino’s Ad Trilogy. Part IPart IIPart IIIFollow Chris on Twitter! Sarah never uses Twitter. Watch Chris and Sarah's show The Other Two on Comedy Central, Thursdays at 10:30/9:30c Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jesse talks to actor, comedian, writer, and friend Julie Klausner about a seemingly random joke from her Hulu series Difficult People. Recorded live at Union Hall in Brooklyn, the two talk about equal treatment of male and female genitalia in comedy, Julie’s writing process on Difficult People, and much, much, much more. ALSO: a super secret surprise guest. ALSO ALSO: get ready to find out if your favorite sketch comedians are dogs or cats. Watch Difficult People on Hulu.Follow Julie on Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jesse talks to comedian Sebastian Maniscalco about the creation of one of his most well-known jokes, “Doorbell”. Not only does Sebastian have a new Netflix special out, but at the time of the interview he was days away from headlining a weekend of stand-up shows at Madison Square Garden. Listen to how Sebastian refined his act-outs, and how nostalgia and disbelief came to shape his comedy. Watch Sebastian’s act outs to get a full picture of "Doorbell".Check out the interior of Sebastian and wife Lana Gomez’s house. Watch Sebastian’s new standup special “Stay Hungry” on Netflix.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome back to Good One. We missed you dearly. For our Season 5 premiere, comedian, actress, and improviser Nicole Byer invited Jesse over to talk about the opening jokes of her new Netflix special, Aggressively Adorable.  For more Nicole check out Comedians of the World and Nailed It! on Netflix and listen to her on What the Tuck? A RuPaul's Drag Race Podcast and Why Won't You Date Me? wherever you listen to podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With all of his standup specials, records, and multiple roles in TV and film, Sinbad has no shortage of material to dissect. But when Jesse reached out to to ask what joke Sinbad wanted to discuss on the podcast, Sinbad didn’t want to pick one. Why? Because he doesn’t write his act in the way that most other comedians do. Sinbad will build an entire routine from a fleeting thought in the moment while he’s on-stage—and it will change the course of the performance in an instant. Jesse and Sinbad trace his style back to its roots, and Jesse also gets closure on a Sinbad question he’s been holding onto for a long time. This week's episode is sponsored by Mack Weldon! For 20% off your first order, visit mackweldon.com and enter promo code GOODONE at checkout! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Years before creating and starring in the show Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Rachel Bloom wrote and performed a musical sketch about a young actress’s obsession with Space Jam, the 1996 animated and live-action crossover starring Michael Jordan and a bunch of Looney Tunes. Jesse and Rachel talk about the compromise she made between musical theater and sketch comedy. Along the way they discuss the importance of nailing down a premise when writing, how rhyming can ruin a joke’s potential, and most importantly, why Space Jam? Watch Rachel’s “Space Jam” here, and read along with the lyrics below. “Space Jam” Lyrics I'VE NEVER FOUND A TRUE CALLING I WOULDN'T CALL THEATER MY LIFE FROM VOCATION TO VOCATION LOCATION TO LOCATION I'M JUST LOOKING FOR SOMETHING ENTHRALLING. (spoken) It's true. I'VE NEVER HAD MY OWN "THING" UNREMARKABLE: A COMMUNISTS' DREAM. BUT THERE IS ONE MOVIE THAT'S JUST SO DAMN GROOVY IT GIVES ME A REASON TO SING. AND THAT IS THE MOVIE SPACE JAM! OH MY GOD I LOVE THE MOVIE SPACE JAM! HAS ANYONE ELSE HERE SEEN SPACE JAM?! ALLOW ME TO DESCRIBE THE PLOT OF SPACE JAM! THE SETTING IS CIRCA 1996 AN INNOCENT AGE, I RECALL. MICHAEL JORDAN GOT HIMSELF IN A FIX 'CAUSE NOW HE PLAYS MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL. MEANWHILE, ON A PLANET FAR OFF IN SPACE SOME CARTOON ALIENS HAVE AN AMUSEMENT PARK BUSINESS IS BAD, THEY'RE GONNA SHUT DOWN THE PLACE TILL THE ALIEN CEO HAS A GENIUS SPARK! (spoken) He's voiced by Danny DeVito. THE PLAN IS TO KIDNAP THE LOONEY TUNES WHO IN THIS FILM ARE SELF-AWARE AND HAVE FREE WILL AND ONCE THE ALIENS KIDNAP THE LOONEY TUNES THEY'LL ENSLAVE THEM TO CREATE A COMEDY MILL! (spoken) Now at this point, you're probably like, "What do cartoon aliens kidnapping Looney Tunes have to do with Michael Jordan?" Well that's the magic of- SPACE JAM! MUCH MORE HAPPENS IN THE MOVIE SPACE JAM! AREN'T YOU STARTING TO GET EMOTIONALLY INVOLVED WITH SPACE JAM?! RAISE YOUR HAND IF YOU WANNA HEAR MORE ABOUT SPACE JAM! ZACH (V.O.) I'd actually prefer if you stopped. RACHEL Oh, come on! ZACH (V.O.) I want to hear about something EMOTIONAL. RACHEL Ok, fine. I'll talk about the time I came out of the closet instead, ok? ZACH (V.O.) Uh, yeah, that'd be great. RACHEL Ok. Well, when I first realized I was gay, I thought that no girl would ever- (singing again) SO THESE TINY CARTOON ALIENS GO TO LOONEY TUNE LAND/ AND GET LAUGHED AT 'CAUSE THEY'RE SO SMALL/ HA HA HA! ZACH (V.O.) OK, that's not what I meant... RACHEL THE LOONEY TUNES WANNA DEFEND THEMSELVES SO THEY CHALLENGE THEM TO A GAME OF BASKETBALL BUT THEN THE ALIENS TO GO A BASKETBALL GAME TO STEAL THE TALENTS OF THE PLAYERS IN THE NBA AND THEN THEY BECOME MONSTERS- NO- MONSTARS! WHICH MAKES THE LOONEY TUNES DESPERATE IN A MAJOR WAY! (spoken) And then, one day Michael Jordan is playing golf with Larry Bird and Bill Murray and he gets sucked down a golf hole. And this is when you're like "Oh man, this movie just got intense. I might have to leave the theater it's so intense!" And when Michael Jordan gets to Looney Tunes Land, he's surprisingly calm for what just happened to him, dubious really, because he just says, "What are you guys doing here?" SO THE LOONEY TUNES TELL MICHAEL THAT THEY'RE GONNA BE SLAVES UNLESS HE HELPS THEM WIN MICHAEL AGREES LIKE THE MENSCH HE IS AND SO THEY START PRACTICIN' FOR THE- ZACH (V.O.) Stop! Stop! RACHEL What? ZACH (V.O.) You're just singing the plot of the movie Space Jam! RACHEL It's really important to me! ZACH (V.O.) Yes, but why? Why is "Space Jam" so important to you? RACHEL WHEN I WAS 5 MY DADDY LEFT AND MY MOMMA WAS ADDICTED TO COKE SO I JOINED A GROUP OF RUNAWAY KIDS WHO WERE JUST AS SAD AND BROKE. THEN ONE NIGHT, THIS BOY NAMED JAKE GAVE ME MY FIRST KISS. BUT THE DAY AFTER THAT, HE DIED OF AIDS MAKING ME ASSOCIATE SICKNESS WITH BLISS. AFTER GOING ON A 3 DAY METH BINGE I DECIDED TO KILL MYSELF WHEN SUDDENLY, LIKE AN ANGEL, LIKE A BEACON I SAW THE POSTER FOR "SPACE JAM." AND THAT'S WHEN I REALIZED: IF LOONEY TUNES CAN PLAY BASKETBALL WHO SAYS I CAN'T QUIT DRUGS? IF TINY ALIENS CAN BE LARGE AND SCARY THEN I CAN PUT MYSELF BACK TOGETHER. EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE IN "SPACE JAM" SO EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE FOR ME. I WAS ABOUT TO JUMP IN FRONT OF A TRAIN. WHEN "SPACE JAM" ENDED MY PAIN. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices