Let's Talk About Sets!

WRONG

Conan alum Mike Recine is a nationally touring headliner and a hysterically twisted joke writer--the perfect guy to explore WRONG comedy. What is it? How can comics do it well, and why can it go so badly? Everyone has laughed at something and said "That's wrong!" Or at least we've all laughed at things that simply are incorrect or illogical. Why? How does that work? What's funny about wrongness, and why is it that kind of comedy such a big deal for society and for stand-up right now? We sink our teeth into all that and a lot more in this hilarious and earnest conversation using material from Dave Chappelle, Patrice O'Neal, Anthony Jeselnik, and Mike Recine himself.

ABOUT THE GUEST COMIC

Jersey-raised Mike Recine is an accomplished and hilarious headliner and podcaster. He's been on Conan twice, has an album out from Comedy Dynamics, a half hour Comedy Central special, and a successful podcast called "The Sitdown w/ Mike Recine," plus a lot more. His darkly joyful jokes are brilliant, surprising, and often hysterically "wrong," blending observation and personal storytelling with a pitch-perfect dark wit, and he was absolutely perfect for this episode of LTAS.

FEATURED BITS ON THIS EPISODE

– Dave Chappelle - Joys Of Being Wrong (Bird Revelation, 2017)

– Patrice O'Neal - Harrassment Day (Elephant in the Room, 2011)

– Mike Recine - Excerpts from Comedy Central's "The Half Hour" (Season 5, Episode 13, 2016)

– Mike Recine - Worst Pedophile (Conan, 2016)

– Anthony Jeselnik - Seduction (Shakespeare, 2010)

Thank you Mike! You really make us laugh, man.

CHECK OUT MIKE'S POPULAR PODCAST:

- Libsyn: https://sitdownpod.libsyn.com/

- iTunes: https://apple.co/2D1UqtY

FOLLOW HIM:

twitter.com/mikerecine

instagram.com/mikerecine

facebook.com/mike.recine

VISIT HIS WEBSITE:

http://www.mikerecine.com

MIKE'S ALBUM: “Union Delegate”

- On Spotify - https://spoti.fi/2Murt99

- On iTunes - https://apple.co/2QsAFhF

Special thanks Dave Chappelle "old man of comedy" wisdom, Patrice O'Neal's immortal funny bones, and Anthony Jeselnik.

And, Salt N’ Peppa, our love abides.

SUPPORT “Let’s Talk About Sets!”:

Please like us on Facebook and, if you’re feeling grateful, consider sponsoring us on Patreon:

http://www.patreon.com/letstalkaboutsets

https:/www.facebook.com/letstalkaboutsets

Or, if you want to send us a one-time tip to be part of making this happen or just to say thanks, send it to:

- Venmo: www.venmo.com/Jeff-McBride

- Paypal: [email protected]

Lastly, check out a couple of our other projects:

www.latenightromp.com – a weekly show produced by Teresa Sheffield and Jeff McBride in the heart of Manhattan

www.special-tonight.com – a monthly dinner/comedy experience produced by Sadiq Samani, Jeff McBride, and master caterer Mike Weinstein

www.facebook.com/BeastModeComedy/ – a new weekly Monday show produced by Teresa Sheffield and Jeff McBride

www.brickspotcomedy.com (coming soon!)

CREDITS:

For this episode, our sometimes editor and executive producer, Bobbi Jeanne Misick, has our heartfelt gratitude. She's absolutely wonderful to work with--she's punctual, highly skilled, communicates clearly and with a great sense of humor, and on top of all that, she's goodhearted gem of a human being and a good comic. Thank you Bobbi Jeanne!To find out more about this badass, go to https://bobbimisick.squarespace.com/about

I'm off to Burning Man. We'll be back with our regular bi-weekly production schedule in the fall.

For more information about the coolest fucking thing I've ever participated in, see burningman.org.

COMMITMENT

Andrea Allan, an aggressive, crazy, "wild animal" of a comedian, joins us to chart COMMITMENT through stand-up comedy. When a comic creates a provocative performance or talks about challenging topics, he or she can face overwhelming negative pressure from the crowd. But if the comic pulls through the end and gets a huge laugh, people will say, "She's committed!" You don't need commitment when everyone already agrees with you or if you're playing it safe. Commitment is for when it gets tough, and it's the only way ANYTHING worth doing gets done. So what is it? How do you employ it? What are some tips and tactics for staying committed to a bit? We have a blast in this very dirty episode exploring commitment to character, to tone, to material, to act outs, and to oneself.

ABOUT THE GUEST COMIC

Andrea is a stand-up comedian and podcaster based in NY. As a stand-up, she has been featured in NY Comedy Festival, been written up in Interrobang and featured in the March Madness Stand Up Competition held at Carolines. She has guested on the podcast Risk!, Lenny Letter Presents, You Know What Dude and Guys We Fucked amongst many others. Her podcast, The Hot Mess Comedy Hour, has been written up in Elite Daily and is a part of ABC's OG podcast Network. The podcast has had many prominent guests including Ari Shaffir, Corinne Fisher, Bonnie McFarlane and Jo Firestone.

FEATURED BITS ON THIS EPISODE

- Doug Stanhope - Keynesian Economic Theory As Applied To Private Sector Independent Contracting (2011, Before Turning The Gun On Himself)

- Andrea Allan - A set at Platform (2018)

- Kurt Metzger - I’m basically Salmon Rushdie (2014, White Precious)

- Eddie Murphy - Singers Get Pussy (Delirious, 1983)

Thank you, Bobbi Jeanne Misick, our new Executive Producer! Your suggestions, feedback,and editing skills are GAME CHANGERS! NEW GAME! TOTALLY CHANGED!

And thank you, Andrea, for your scintillating presence. We loved recording with you!

CHECK OUT HER VERY POPULAR PODCAST: Hot Mess Comedy Hour

https://apple.co/2HJQNWl

twitter.com/hotmesspodcast

facebook.com/hotmesscomedyhour

instagram.com/hotmesscomedyhour

FOLLOW HER:

twitter.com/andreacomedy

facebook.com/andreacomedy

instagram/andrea_allan88 (preferred)

WAYS TO SUPPORT “Let’s Talk About Sets!”:

- Like us on Facebook & IG.

- If you’re feeling grateful, consider sponsoring us on Patreon http://www.patreon.com/letstalkaboutsets

- Use Venmo to tip us directly. User name is Jeff-McBride

Special thanks Doug Stanhope's degrading of language, Kurt Metzger's hysterical assholery, and Eddie Murphy's comedy explosivity.

And, as always, just come on over here you little sexy wondermuffins, Salt N’ Peppa, for some hugs to thank you for helping little ol' us with our rinky-dink podcast by not putting lawyers between us, which would be ridiculous to do anyhow considering the fair use parody we're doing, which is really an homage when you think about it.

LASTLY, COME SEE US LIVE!

The following are quality, live stand-up showcases you can catch in Manhattan, brought to you by Brickspot Comedy, a comedy producer collective that runs the freshly renovated back room of the VSPOT Organic, on 12 St. Marks in Manhattan. See the links for up-coming line-ups.

- Mondays @ 9pm - https://www.facebook.com/latenightromp - produced by Teresa Sheffield and Jeff McBride,

- Tuesdays @ 9pm - https://www.facebook.com/BeastModeComedy - produced by Teresa Sheffield and Jeff McBride

- Thursdays @ 9pm - https://www.facebook.com/ComicsTableLive - produced by Tristan Smith and Patrick Holbert

- Fridays @ 9pm - https://www.facebook.com/crossthebridgecomedy - produced by Philip Vassari and Patrick Holbert

Happy 4th of July!

Hey everyone! Happy 4th of July! We’ve got more great episodes coming this summer, but for now I’m taking a break for family and fun, AND I’m re-jiggering our production workflow to incorporate the talents of our new executive producer, Bobbi Jean Misick.

In the meantime, here’s a portion of a recording with the incredibly prolific linguistic genius that is Myq Kaplan. We recorded a full two and a half hours on a wide range of topics. It was a great conversation, but it didn’t neatly fit the format of the show. However, he hilariously drops gold tips on stand-up that would be a shame not a release. Please enjoy Myq Kaplan sharing how he approaches presenting a minority opinion and and in depth explanation on both his process and attitude for generating new material.

CHECK OUT HIS MANY ALBUMS, SPECIALS, AND TV APPEARANCES INCLUDING:

- Vegan Mind Meld

- Please Be Seated

- Meat Robot

- Small Dork and Handsome (Netflix)

- No Kidding

- Conan, Letterman, Seth Meyers, etc.

- Last Comic Standing

- America’s Got Talent

CHECK OUT HIS PODCASTS:

Hang Out With Me - https://apple.co/2IWZBsH

Broccoli and Ice Cream - https://apple.co/2KypB37

FOLLOW HIM:

- INSTAGRAM.COM/myqkaplan

- TWITTER.COM/myqkaplan

- FACEBOOK.COM/myqkaplan

- WEBSITE: http://www.myqkaplan.com

SUPPORT “Let’s Talk About Sets!”:

Please like us on Facebook and, if you’re feeling grateful, consider sponsoring us on Patreon.

http://www.patreon.com/letstalkaboutsets

Lastly, check out a couple of our other projects:

www.latenightromp.com – a weekly show produced by Teresa Sheffield and Jeff McBride in the heart of Manhattan

www.special-tonight.com – a monthly dinner/comedy experience produced by Sadiq Samani, Jeff McBride, and master caterer Mike Weinstein

https://www.facebook.com/BeastModeComedy/ – a new weekly Monday show produced by Teresa Sheffield and Jeff McBride

WORD ECONOMY

Wordsmith Andy Sandford revs up his writer's Prius to taut WORD ECONOMY. Levity is brevity, but word economy means more than that. We explore how word economy is not "least words possible," but rather the least needed for the goal. Is there a connection with word economist comedians and humility? How do you determine what's necessary and what's not? Andy also shares insight on his writing process and his writing discipline, which is pretty inspiring, along with some sage comedy advice. We laugh and pick apart some great bits by Jeff Caldwell, Ellen Degeneres, and Steven Wright. Also, Andy was on AQUA TEEN HUNGER FORCE!

ABOUT THE GUEST COMIC

Andy Sandford is a nationally touring comedian who got funny in Atlanta, GA and is now based out of New York City. Andy made his late night debut on CONAN, which was included in The Laugh Button’s “Top 5 Late Night Stand-up Debuts of 2015.“ Andy’s album, Me the Whole Time," made several “best of” lists, including Splitsider’s “9 Best Standup Specials & Albums of The Year.“ Andy also played an animated version of himself on Adult Swim’s Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Brooklyn Magazine named Andy one of “Brooklyn’s Funniest People,” and the Village Voice called him “one of New York’s comedic gems." He's a humble guy with a brilliant wit, and we were glad to have him on the show!

FEATURED BITS ON THIS EPISODE

- Jeff Caldwell - late night set on Letterman (9/26/2006)

- Andy Sandford - Secret Loft Show (2016)

- Ellen Degeneres - Johnny Carson (1986)

- Steven Wright - Quote (I Still Have A Pony, 2007)

Thank you, Andy! I need say no more.

Andy has a new album dropping on July 27th from Comedy Dynamics, called, "Shameful Information." You can read more about that here:

http://www.comedydynamics.com/andy-sandford-shameful-information

FOLLOW HIM:

twitter.com/AndySandford

instagram.com/andy.sandford

CHECK OUT HIS WEBSITE:

andysandford.com

HIS ALBUM:

"Me The Whole Time" - https://open.spotify.com/album/4aimV6ybDJOTi0Epty847q

GO SEE HIS WEEKLY SHOW:

Permission To Fail: every Monday at the Creek & the Cave (10pm) where very funny, top level NYC comics go to try out their new bits.

Special thanks to Jeff Caldwell, Ellen Degeneres, and Steven Wright.

And, Salt N’ Peppa, we love you for all this fair use, you’d love us. We’re having a Salt N’ Peppa appreciation party in my apartment after this, so come on over.

Lastly, check out a couple other projects:

www.latenightromp.com - a weekly show produced by Teresa Sheffield and Jeff McBride in the heart of Manhattan

www.special-tonight.com - a monthly dinner/comedy experience produced by Sadiq Samani, Jeff McBride, and master caterer Mike Weinstein

https://www.facebook.com/BeastModeComedy/ - a new weekly Monday show produced by Teresa Sheffield and Jeff McBride

HECKLERS

Boston-forged comic Luke Touma tackles HECKLERS to explore why people heckle, different kinds of hecklers, and how to deal with them. What specific tactics, tricks, and attitudes work best? We talk about the instigator, the attention whore, the homophobe, the hater, the moral authority, the fact checker, and more. We share comedy war stories and have a blast listening to explosive heckler take-downs by Chris D'Elia, Joe Klocek, and Arj Barker. This episode was fun as fuck, and fuck is FUN.

ABOUT THE GUEST COMIC

Luke Touma came up in the Boston comedy scene, the comedy pressure cooker that made many of our greatest modern comedians. It's the perfect storm for hecklers, and the enormous amount of challenging stage experience Luke received is apparent in his comedy. Since moving to New York, he's become a producer of one of the top indie shows in New York, Too Many Cooks, which recently got a plug on Conan. He's opened for Louis CK, Mark Normand, and his mother has once taken down a heckler for him.

FEATURED BITS ON THIS EPISODE

- Chris D’Elia vs Heckler at the Laugh Factory (2012)

- Luke Touma - Rowdy Crowd

- Joe Klocek at the SF Punchline 2008

- Arj Barker & Heckler at Lakeshore Theater (2007)

Thank you, Luke! This was a kickass time to prep, record, and edit. Everyone else: have him on your podcast or start one so he can be on it.

FOLLOW HIM:

twitter.com/luketouma

facebook.com/luke.touma.5

instagram/luke.touma

CHECK OUT HIS MMA PODCAST W/ LTAS ALUM DAN LAMORTE: The Middle East Fight Fist Podcast

iTunes: https://apple.co/2HmRGnR

Soundcloud: https://bit.ly/2sBYfhF

And go see his weekly show, Too Many Cooks, which he co-produces with over seven thousand other top-notch NYC comics: https://bit.ly/2kPfh7H

Special thanks to Chris D'Elia's warmth, Joe Klocek's composure, and Arj Barker's quiet, silly rage.

And, Salt N’ Peppa, we know you love our parody because it falls so squarely under the fair use rules. It’s almost an homage, really, but it’s so far from the original that people don’t even know it’s you, which is why spend time thanking you profusely and asking you, yet again, over for dinner.

Lastly, check out a couple other projects:

www.latenightromp.com - a weekly show produced by Teresa Sheffield and Jeff McBride in the heart of Manhattan

www.special-tonight.com - a monthly dinner/comedy experience produced by Sadiq Samani, Jeff McBride, and master caterer Mike Weinstein

THANK YOU BOBBI JEANNE MISICK!!! Senior Editing Advisor? Stammer Catcher? De-Racistifyer? Nah, how about Executive Producer?

And coming soon...Brickspot Comedy...

LIKABILITY

The all-too-likable and contagiously funny Kenny DeForest joins us to discuss how LIKABILITY affects stand-up comics and crowds. What makes a comic likable? What can make us unlikable? With enough likability, audiences can disagree completely with everything the comic is saying and still enjoy the experience. We discover that self-assuredness, status, and authenticity all play into how much an audience likes or doesn't like a comic. Oh, we dug up some Eminem for the topic!

ABOUT THE GUEST COMIC

Kenny DeForest is a New York City-based comic best known as a producer and co-host of “Comedy at the Knitting Factory”, widely considered to be one of the best independently run comedy shows in the country. He has appeared on Late Night with Seth Meyers, HBO's "Crashing", and TruTV's "Friends of the People." He's a regular presence on the New York City comedy scene at large. In 2017, he recorded his debut stand-up album "B.A.D. Dreams" with Comedy Dynamics, and in 2015 he was named one of Comedy Central’s “Comics to Watch." In addition, he's a comedy festival machine with too many festival contributions to go into here.

FEATURED BITS ON THIS EPISODE

- Patrice O'Neal - How would you keep your man? (HBO One Night Stand, 2005)

- Eminem - Excerpt from "8 Mile"

- Kenny DeForest - Late Night w/ Seth Meyers (2017)

- Martin Lawrence - MC for Def Comedy Jam (sometime in the 90's?)

- Kenny DeForest - Yoga For Men (B.A.D. Dreams, 2017)

SOME IMPORTANT THANKS:

- Firstly, a huge thanks to our guest, Kenny DeForest!

- Uber-mega-super duper thank you to comedian Bobbi Jeane Misick, our new associate producer. She's just brilliant.

- I forgot to mention (and will not forget again) that my weekly show, "Late Night Romp" is really OUR weekly show--my co-producer and better half on that is the brilliantly funny and irritatingly well-adjusted Teresa Sheffield. Her Twitter is badass, and she's got a killer all-female show coming up on 6/27/18. Find out more on her very funny Twitter feed: twitter.com/Terfleaza

FOLLOW KENNY:

- twitter.com/kennydeforest

- facebook.com/kennydeforest

- instagram.com/kennydeforest

- kennydeforest.com

GO SEE HIS WORLD-CLASS WEEKLY SHOW: SUNDAYS AT 9PM (FREE):

- twitter.com/comedyattheknit

- facebook.com/ComedyAtTheKnittingFactory

- instagram.com/comedyattheknit/

CHECK OUT HIS ALBUM (it's really good!):

- AMAZON: https://amzn.to/2x4vRcR

- ITUNES: https://apple.co/2s3o35f

Here's a link to his post on hosting (comics: it's a great read) 

http://www.comedyofchicago.com/2013/04/how-to-host-comedy-show-by-kenny.html

Special thanks yet again to the bones of Patrice O'Neal, surprisingly, to Eminem!?

And, Salt 'N Peppa, come hang out with us. Let us make you dinner and thank you personally for letting us so fairly use and parody your amazing work of art is the source of our now very un-novel theme song.

SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.patreon.com/letstalkaboutsets

TRAGEDY

The brilliant storyteller and comedian Doug Smith explores the use of TRAGEDY in stand-up with us through a seminal bit by Patton Oswalt and a story Doug recently performed on Comedy Central's "This Is Not Happening." Tragedy brings people together, and no other art form addresses tragedy quite like stand-up. What is it about tragic material that lends itself to a magical connection? How can you get an audience to go along with your insistance that this tragic thing is comedy? How soon do you start working on tragedy to turn it into laughs? What's it like to get notes from a TV producer about your own personal story? This and a whole lot more.

NOTE: Don't miss the end. It gets REALLY good when we dissect Doug's Comedy Central set.

ABOUT THE GUEST COMIC

In March of 2018, Doug told a story on Comedy Central’s “This Is Not Happening” with Roy Wood Jr. It's about how he saved a woman from being raped in the New York subway and got stabbed in the face as a result. And it's HILARIOUS. Doug Smith was on Conan in 2016. Following his selection as a New Face at the Montreal Just for Laughs Festival in 2013, he's been featured at the Oddball Comedy and Curiosity Festival, Bridgetown Comedy Festival, and the NY Comedy Festival where he was chosen to host six sold out shows for Norm Macdonald. Doug co-hosts the stand-up/variety show See You in Hell which The Comedy Bureau listed in the Top 100 Best Things in Comedy 2014. In 2015, Doug was a finalist in Caroline's March Madness competition as well as the NY's Funniest competition. He is also the creator and star of the web series Secret Weapon, which received high praise from numerous comedy websites and was a finalist at the Channel 101 festival. In addition to Conan, Doug's TV appearances include AXS TV's Gotham Comedy Live and Fuse TV's Uproarious.

FEATURED BITS ON THIS EPISODE

- Patton Oswalt - Widower (2017, Annihilation)

- Doug Smith - His Conan story (told live)

- Doug Smith - Stabbed In The Face (2018, This Is Not Happening)

And a huge thanks to our guest, Doug Smith!

Also, a super duper extra special thanks to Bobbi Jeane Misick! She's a wonderful up-and-coming comedian who generously offered to help with the editing. BJM, you're the bomb diggity!

FOLLOW DOUG:

twitter.com/whodougsmith

instagram.com/whodougsmith

CHECK OUT HIS WEBSERIES: Secret Weapon

https://youtu.be/Hzv0lAqUTtA

CHECK OUT HIS MONTHLY LIVE SHOW IN NYC: See You In Hell (next is 5/27/2018)

https://ticketf.ly/2HhvYq6

Special thanks to Patton Oswalt for his depth and mastery of the craft we so love.

And, SnP, our love abides. We love you, we love our parody of your song, and we love continuing to go unsued by you, which would of course be pointless considering how fair our use is of your now unrecognizable song.

SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.patreon.com/letstalkaboutsets

TRUTH

Storyteller extraordinaire Kaytlin Bailey opens the legs of her life to investigate the role of TRUTH in stand-up comedy. Emotional truth? Truth vs facts? How can facts fuck up a joke and interfere with the essential "truth" of a bit? How does perspective affect truth? What about the difference between truth and Truth with a capital "T"? Sometimes we tell a joke as though it's truth, and sometimes we tell truth as though it's all jokes. Is that hypocritical? And why do people say comedians are so honest when we're telling outright lies? What exactly IS the role of the comedian as it relates to telling the truth? This episode is all about the many ways we bend and mix the different kinds of truth to wring laughs out of an audience.

ABOUT THE GUEST COMIC

Kaytlin Bailey has been a sex worker, a political activist, and now she's a killer stand-up comedian and podcaster. She's loud, opinionated, and all up in your face! And it's truly a joy to chat with her. Her brazen, fuck-all honesty somehow warms the heart, and I'll leave her story to her since she tells a lot of it on the show.

FEATURED BITS ON THIS EPISODE

- Ali Wong - Miscarriage (2016, Baby Cobra)

- Kaytlin Bailey - Creepy Kid

- Kaytlin Bailey - Mink Coat

- Chris Rock - Hit my black son (2018, Tamborine)

Thank you, Kaytlin Bailey! You're a fantastically funny and personable human being!

FOLLOW HER:

twitter.com/KaytlinBailey

facebook.com/kaytlin.bailey

WEBSITE:

http://kaytlinbailey.com/

CHECK OUT HER PODCAST:

iTunes: https://goo.gl/H4iyJx

FB: https://www.facebook.com/oldpropodcast/

Special thanks Ali Wong's discarded fetus and Chris Rock's willingness to hit us all with his truth.

And, as always, our gratitude knows no bounds, Salt N’ Peppa, for the hyper-fair use original parody of their now basically unrecognizable hit tune.

CREDITS:

For this episode, our sometimes editor and executive producer, Bobbi Jeanne Misick, has our heartfelt gratitude. She's absolutely wonderful to work with--she's punctual, highly skilled, communicates clearly and with a great sense of humor, and on top of all that, she's goodhearted gem of a human being and a good comic. Thank you Bobbi Jeanne!To find out more about this badass, go to https://bobbimisick.squarespace.com/about

We have an announcement.