
281 episodes

The Last Laugh The Daily Beast
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- Society & Culture
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4.6 • 606 Ratings
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Welcome to ‘The Last Laugh’: Real conversations with really funny people. Every Wednesday, The Daily Beast’s Matt Wilstein interviews some of the biggest names in comedy—as well as the new voices crashing the party—about what it’s like to make people laugh during this current cultural and political moment.
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‘American Fiction’s’ Cord Jefferson: From Gawker to the Oscars
10 years ago, Cord Jefferson was blogging for Gawker. Now, his directorial debut ‘American Fiction’ is almost guaranteed a Best Picture nomination at the Oscars and he’s a frontrunner for Best Adapted Screenplay. In this episode, Jefferson traces his path from online journalist to full-fledged filmmaker, with stops along the way writing for ‘Master of None,’ ‘The Good Place’ and HBO’s ‘Watchmen,’ for which he won an Emmy Award in 2020. He talks about nailing the darkly satirical tone of his new movie that interrogates the expectations of Black artists, how his own experience in Hollywood influenced the script and the “emotional breaking point” he hit before doing the hard work he had to do on himself to get where he is today.
Follow Cord Jefferson on Twitter @cordjefferson and Instagram @cordjefferson
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Highlights from this episode and others at The Daily Beast
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Larry Charles: ‘Seinfeld,’ Larry David and ‘Dicks: The Musical’
Even if you don’t know Larry Charles’ name, his work is inescapable. He spent years as a writer on ‘Seinfeld’ before starting his career as a director on shows like ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ and movies like Sacha Baron Cohen’s ‘Borat’ and ‘Brüno.’ Now, after swearing off Hollywood, he’s back with what might be his most “transgressive” movie yet, ‘Dicks: The Musical,’ a truly deranged comedy about two “straight” twins who were separated at birth and ultimately fall in love. In this episode, Charles reveals why this was the project that got him to narrative filmmaking and shares stories from the sets of ‘Seinfeld,’ ‘Curb,’ ‘Borat’ and more. Plus, the director opens up more than ever before about the major falling out he had with longtime collaborator Larry David after HBO pulled their documentary project at the very last minute.
Watch ‘Dicks: The Musical’ at home
Follow Larry Charles on Twitter @larrycharles and Instagram @larrycharles
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Follow The Last Laugh on Instagram @lastlaughpod and Threads @lastlaughpod
Highlights from this episode and others at The Daily Beast
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Mike Birbiglia Returns: Comedy, Truth and ‘The Old Man and the Pool’
When a special arrives on Netflix in its finished form, viewers don’t typically get to see all of the excruciating work that went into making it a polished piece. But for anyone who has been listening to Birbiglia’s Working It Out podcast over the past couple of years, it’s all there. “I was doing it privately,” he says on this week’s episode of The Last Laugh podcast. “I feel like it’s something that’s kind of unspoken about stand-up, that for the most part, we are in communities of comedians who kick around joke tags: ‘Hey, what if you did this with it?’ And ‘I have a similar story about this, and you know you could use that if you want to,’ or whatever it is. And we kind of just put it out there with audio rolling.” In his second appearance on The Last Laugh, Birbiglia talks about how this process helped shape his latest Broadway show-turned-Netflix special ‘The Old Man and the Pool,’ shares his thoughtful response to the “emotional truth” controversy that came for his friend and fellow comic Hasan Minhaj, breaks down how he handles criticism of his own work, and a lot more.
Follow Mike Birbiglia on Twitter @birbigs and Instagram @birbigs
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Follow The Last Laugh on Instagram @lastlaughpod and Threads @lastlaughpod
Highlights from this episode and others at The Daily Beast
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Whitney Cummings Returns! — And Gets ‘Mouthy’
Whitney Cummings likes to think of herself as a comedy “martyr,” one of many modern comedians who are willing to “sacrifice themselves just to make sure the First Amendment is still intact.” She believes so strongly in her right to say whatever she wants on stage that she left Comedy Central, HBO and Netflix behind to put out her latest uncensored stand-up special on Only Fans TV. In this new episode, Cummings talks very openly about the state of comedy as she sees it in 2023 and why she decided to embrace the “safe-for-work” arm of the popular porn platform to produce a series of celebrity roasts and now her sixth special, ‘Mouthy.’ The comedian also discusses why trans jokes comprise nearly half of the new hour, how her perspective on the divisive issue differs from male comics like Dave Chappelle, why she was willing to apologize to one trans audience member who was offended by her material, that time she may have gone too far in front of an audience of Saudi businessmen and more.
Stream ‘Mouthy’ on OFTV
Follow Whitney Cummings on Twitter @WhitneyCummings and Instagram @whitneycummings
Follow Matt Wilstein on Threads @mattwilstein
Follow The Last Laugh on Instagram @lastlaughpod and Threads @lastlaughpod
Highlights from this episode and others at The Daily Beast
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Get Ready for All-New Episodes Coming Soon!
The Last Laugh podcast is back… and moving to Wednesdays! Make sure you’re following this feed so you can listen to all-new episodes of this podcast, with some very exciting new guests, starting next Wednesday, November 15th.
Follow Matt Wilstein on Threads @mattwilstein
Follow The Last Laugh on Instagram @lastlaughpod and Threads @lastlaughpod
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Henry Winkler (‘Barry’)
Henry Winker (2023 Emmy nominee for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series) 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 episode. Winkler, who has just written a new memoir called ‘Being Henry: The Fonz… and Beyond,’ 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.
This episode was originally published on July 26th, 2022.
Buy Henry Winkler’s new book ‘Being Henry: The Fonz… and Beyond’
Follow Henry Winkler on Twitter @hwinkler4real
Follow The Last Laugh on Instagram @lastlaughpod and Threads @lastlaughpod
Highlights from this episode and others at The Daily Beast
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Customer Reviews
Top notch
It is refreshing to listen to an intelligent host who puts the spotlight on his guests, not himself.
Great interview, love the format
Host does a great job of listening well . Fun format with the same questions at the end of each episode. Excellent guests
Best Interviews, No Pandering, & Well Researched
This is my favorite podcast for my commute back and forth from work. I’m so happy for you, Matt, that you’re having a new baby, congrats! I’m excited for the new format, but I hope it doesn’t lose the charm that comes from your ability to connect to your interviewees. You very obviously research and talk to them beyond the top billed projects of their imdb and I think that gets them to open up. The discussions of behind the scenes in making comedy, whether it be writing a special, working at SNL, or making movies, are so fascinating and it goes beyond the surface.
Have a wonderful summer, looking forward to when you come back!!!