Obsessed: The Podcast

It’s been six years since W. Kamau Bell’s last special ‘Private School Negro’ premiered on Netflix. And after hosting CNN’s ‘United Shades of America’ for seven seasons and directing two hit documentaries, he’s not totally sure that he should still be considered a stand-up comedian. In his third appearance on the podcast—taped in-studio in his native Oakland—Bell speaks frankly about his ambivalence around pursuing the life of a comic right now and why he keeps finding himself on stage, especially as the 2024 election heats up. Bell discusses comedy’s role in the Biden vs. Trump rematch, why comedians like Joe Rogan have embraced third-party spoiler RFK Jr., the fallout from his ‘We Need to Talk About Cosby’ docuseries and a lot more. 

But first, The Daily Beast’s Allegra Frank joins host Matt Wilstein to answer some burning questions about the first episode of ‘Jerrod Carmichael Reality Show.’ How real is it? Is the identity of the anonymous masked man supposed to be so obvious? And why do we find this deeply sad show so funny? 

Follow W. Kamau Bell on Twitter @wkamaubell and Instagram @wkamaubell

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Highlights from this episode and others at The Daily Beast

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It’s been more than a decade since Tig Notaro broke through in a big way by walking onto the stand-up stage in Los Angeles and telling her audience, “Hello, I have cancer.” And for better or worse, she has even more medical scares to joke about in her latest special ‘Hello Again,’ streaming now on Amazon Prime Video. In this episode, which marks the five year anniversary of The Last Laugh, Notaro returns to the podcast to discuss how she manages to keep finding humor in these terrifying life experiences. The comedian also opens up about collaborating with her wife Stephanie Allyne, who directed the new special, getting heckled by her twin boys at a charity event, mining her awkward interactions with celebrity friends for comedy and a lot more. 

Stream Tig Notaro’s ‘Hello Again’ on Amazon Prime Video

Pre-order David E. Low’s ‘Transgressive Humor in Classrooms’ (20% off with code EFLY01)

Follow Tig Notaro on Twitter @TigNotaro and Instagram @therealfluffnotaro

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Highlights from this episode and others at The Daily Beast

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It’s genuinely disorienting to see Kyle Kinane without the signature beard that has become his comedy brand over the past 15 years or so when his clean-shaved face pops up on Zoom. “God, I hate brands so much,” he says. “I love nothing more than exploding personal brands.” In this episode, Kinane opens up about his decision to leave Los Angeles for Portland after losing his coveted gig as the official voice of Comedy Central and why he no longer feels like he needs the corporate structure that has kept so many of his fellow comedians tethered to the center of the entertainment industry. He also discusses why his comedy seems to appeal to both sides of the political aisle—for better or worse—and why he has no respect for any comedian who embellishes the truth on stage in an effort to “garner sympathy.”

Stream/download Kyle Kinane’s new special ‘Dirt Nap’

Follow Kyle Kinane on Twitter @kylekinane and Instagram @kylekinane

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Highlights from this episode and others at The Daily Beast

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Despite never really doing comedy before ‘Girls5eva,’ Renée Elise Goldsberry has managed to steal nearly every scene she’s been in over the two seasons of that show’s initial run on Peacock and third, which arrives with a splash on Netflix this week. In this episode, the Tony and Grammy Award winning actor reveals what it was like to find her comedic voice as the self-obsessed diva Wickie Roy, including how the character has inspired her to become more ambitious in her own career and the parallels between mastering Tina Fey’s brand of rapid-fire jokes and learning to rap for her role as Angelica Schyuler in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s ‘Hamilton.’ Goldsberry talks about getting cut out of Fey and Amy Poehler’s movie ‘Sisters,’ meeting co-star Paula Pell in their musical episode ‘Documentary Now’ and why she would be “shocked” if there wasn’t a fourth season of ‘Girls5eva’ coming to Netflix in the near future. 

Follow Renée Elise Goldsberry on Twitter @reneegoldsberry and Instagram @reneeelisegoldsberry

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Highlights from this episode and others at The Daily Beast

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Comedian Bassem Youssef has been widely known as “The Egyptian Jon Stewart” ever since he gave up being a heart surgeon and made himself into the premier political satirist of the Arab Spring. Now, more than a decade after that career transformation took place, Youssef has been back in the news thanks to his mega-viral with Piers Morgan and subsequent outspoken commentary against both Israel and President Joe Biden. In this episode, Youssef breaks down how he has employed the darkest of humor to draw attention to the fate of the Palestinian people, shares his strong reaction to Stewart’s recent take on the Israel-Gaza War, and reveals why he thinks it might be “too late” for Biden to win back the Arab-American support he may well need to beat Donald Trump. 

Get tickets to see Bassem Youssef on ‘The Middle Beast Tour’

Follow Bassem Youssef on Twitter @Byoussef and Instagram @bassem

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Highlights from this episode and others at The Daily Beast

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Before Donnell Rawlings was a professional comedian, he was an amateur heckler. He would go to comedy clubs and yell back at the stage, sometimes getting even bigger laughs than the guy with the mic. So even with his Dave Chappelle-produced stand-up special ‘A New Day’ dropping on Netflix this week it’s perhaps no surprise that he recently came full circle, getting caught on camera heckling fellow comic Corey Holcomb at The Laugh Factory in L.A. for going after both him and his famous friend of more than 20 years. In this episode, Rawlings breaks down that viral incident and talks about the long and “humbling” road he took to finally get his own Netflix moment. He also reflects on making a huge mark on “Chappelle’s Show” with relatively little screen time, how he felt about Chappelle walking away from that show without telling him and why he has no time for anyone who might be offended by their comedy. 

Follow Donnell Rawlings on Twitter @donnellrawlings and Instagram @donnellrawlings

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Highlights from this episode and others at The Daily Beast

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Comedian Rory Scovel has never really known what he was going to say when he walked onto the stand-up stage. But that all changed when he decided—20 years into his career—to finally do the “homework” of actually writing a complete and cohesive hour. The result is his new special, ‘Religion, Sex and a Few Things in Between,’ which Scovel describes as the “tightest” set of material he’s ever produced (and is streaming now on Max). In his return to the podcast for this bonus episode, Scovel discusses how this new approach changed his experience on stage, how he still strives to stay ultra-present in his work and why he has decided to lean into politics (with an eye on George Carlin) for his next act. 

Follow Rory Scovel on Instagram @roryscovel

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Highlights from this episode and others at The Daily Beast

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Jenny Slate has never been a traditional stand-up comic. And after a lengthy hiatus that followed her 2019 Netflix special ‘Stage Fright’ and included both a global pandemic and the birth of her daughter, she wasn’t sure she’d ever get up in front of an audience again. “I didn’t have a system in place for how to get back up on stage. I didn’t know how to do that,” she says in this episode. But now, with her new hour ‘Seasoned Professional’ set to premiere this Friday, Feb. 23 on Amazon Prime Video, Slate breaks down how she made her way back in front of the mic and why she decided to get so intimately personal in the special. Slate reflects on how her one unfortunate season as a ‘Saturday Night Live’ cast member has informed the rest of her career, from finding the right kind of community on projects like ‘Kroll Show’ and ‘Bob’s Burgers’ to learning how to make her own unlikely success as ‘Marcel the Shell With Shoes On.’ And she discusses what it was like to pass the torch of her mixed race character on ‘Big Mouth’ to Ayo Edebiri, why she’s not sure ‘Obvious Child,’ her comedy film about abortion, would hit viewers in the same way 10 years later, and a lot more.

Follow Jenny Slate on Instagram @jennyslate

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Laurie Kilmartin knew that naming her new stand-up special ‘Cis Woke Grief Slut’ might be a little provocative. “I'm open to hate watches!” the comedian and longtime ‘Conan’ writer jokes in this episode. No stranger to controversy, Kilmartin also breaks down why she decided to tweet an incredibly dark series of jokes as her mother was dying of COVID in 2020, opens up about the experience of receiving death threats from right-wingers after making an abortion joke on MSNBC and why she prefers reluctant, involuntary laughter to the type of agenda-affirming applause that currently dominates late-night television. 

Stream Laurie Kilmartin’s new special ‘Cis Woke Grief Slut’

Follow Laurie Kilmartin on Twitter @anylaurie16 and Instagram @anylaurie16

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Before Moshe Kasher became a stand-up comedian, his life was defined by his intimate connections to Alcoholics Anonymous, the deaf community, rave culture, Burning Man and Judaism. Each of these distinct communities serve as chapters in his excellent new book,  ‘Subculture Vulture: A Memoir in Six Scenes.’ In this episode, Kasher breaks down how these various identities helped make him the person he is both on and off stage today, from early jokes about growing up with two deaf parents to the Emmy-winning documentary about antisemitism that hits very differently in the wake of the October 7th attacks and Israel’s response. He also reads a passage from the book about how he overcame his inherent skepticism about Burning Man, explains why he feels at home on both sides of the comedy world’s woke vs. anti-woke divide and shares his reaction to all of the recent attention his wife, fellow comedian Natasha Leggero, received when she went topless on stage at the Hollywood Improv. 

But Moshe Kasher’s new book ‘Subculture Vulture: A Memoir in Six Scenes’

Follow Moshe Kasher on Twitter @moshekasher and Instagram @moshekasher

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Follow The Last Laugh on Instagram @lastlaughpod and Threads @lastlaughpod

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