Hey kids! Trust your gut! Most adults ARE horrible and wrong! Especially teachers that wear too much make-up and directors that hang out in fast food parking lots casting amateur fight porn. Lauren Lapkus and Matt Baume guest.
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Personal Despots w/ Matt Baume and Lauren Lapkus

Despite his tiny, fleeting epiphanies, host Drew Droege has no idea what his morally bankrupt friends are going to tell him. Painful tales of forbidden desire, embarrassing stupidity, and downright garbage are spun together in search of a larger truth. Lower your expectations.

Comedy

Get out your number 2s and your spiral bounds, cause Professors Margaret, Laraine, and Drew are here to instruct you on trash cinema, depraved potables, and all things decadent. School’s in session! 


Margaret Cho
Comedian. Actor. Musician. Advocate. Entrepreneur. Five-time Grammy and Emmy nominee. When hasn’t Margaret Cho’s strong voice been part of our consciousness? It feels like she has always been here, like a friend you can always count on, lighting the path for other women, other members of underrepresented groups, other performers, to follow. Margaret staunchly supports the causes that are important to her: anti-racism, anti-bullying, gay rights, all while fulfilling her successful creative side with a legendary stand up career that has yielded 10-plus comedy tours. Her recent television appearances – guest star on Season 2 of The Flight Attendant (HBO Max), guest star on Season 2 of Hacks (HBO Max) and two Netflix is a Joke comedy specials: Stand Out: An LGBTQ+ Celebration and Jane Fonda & Lily Tomlin: Ladies Night Live – have expanded an already wide-ranging career, and her role as the ‘mother hen’ in the well-reviewed movie Fire Island solidifies why we all love Margaret in the first place. Margaret, who Vogue magazine named one of the 9 best female comedians of all time alongside Joan Rivers, Gilda Radner and Wanda Sykes, appreciates where she finds herself right now. “I think comedians in general, we get better as we get older, and we kind of get more observant, and more astute in those observations." Thankfully, Margaret has more stories to tell, and her production company, Animal Family Productions, has multiple scripted shows in development for 2022 and beyond.
Laraine Newman
Laraine Newman is an Emmy and Annie Nominated performer and an actual native of Los Angeles. She began studying improv at the age of 16. She, along with her sister Tracy Newman are amongst the founding members of The Groundlings, now the farm team for SNL. Laraine has worked for directors ranging from Woody Allan to Guillermo Del Toro. She has a thriving career in animation and her credits can be found on IMDB. She has also written for Esquire, The Believer and McSweeneys. She is on the board of San Francisco Sketchfest, an alternative comedy festival now in its 20th year and appears regularly in the long running award winning Broadway show Celebrity Autobiography. Her memoire- May You Live In Interesting Times can be found on audible.com.

“I Must Have Knowledge Of This Thing” w/ Margaret Cho & Laraine Newman

Drew, Bowen, and Gabe really want you to like them. They will smuggle drugs in tunnels for you, lie about their opinions of movies they’ve seen or haven’t seen, scrawl hetero smut in your yearbook- you name it. Just like us. But please don’t give us too much attention. 


Bowen Yang
Yang is a comedian, writer and actor based in New York. He is a repertory player on "Saturday Night Live" and co-hosts the "Las Culturistas" podcast. He most recently starred in Searchlight Pictures' romantic comedy film "Fire Island."
Gabe Gonzalez
Gabe González is a Puerto Rican comedian, writer and actor living in Brooklyn, NY. He was born and raised in Central Florida. Gabe can be seen in Season 4 of The Last OG, the HBO Latino documentary Habla y Vota, and starred in Audible's The Comedians. He was featured in Brooklyn Magazine’s '30 Under 30’ in 2017, Time Out New York’s ‘Comedians of Color You Should Know’ in 2018 and his pilot ‘Los Blancos’ was a winner at the Yes And Laughter Lab in 2019. His satirical sketch "Bootlickers" was an official selection at the LA Comedy Film Festival and Atlanta Comedy Festival in 2022.

“If You’re Gonna Do It At This Point, Elevate It” w/ Bowen Yang & Gabe Gonzalez

Oh wow- this week’s chat goes long and deep! You might know Mo Collins and Brett Gelman for their gonzo characters, but they are both incredibly kind and thoughtful folks. We get into the complexities of social interactions, gender displays, the state of comedy… to quote Mo, “the conversation is the thing that will propel us forward”. 


Mo Collins
Mo is best known for her iconic characters on MADtv and legendary newswoman, Joan Callamezzo on Parks and Recreation. She spent the past few years surviving in the wilds of the apocalypse in Fear The Walking Dead. Mo does numerous voices in the animation world. Most notably in 2017 when she was nominated for an Emmy on F Is For Family. An avid improvisor, and less avid stand up.  Follow her on Instagram @that_mo_collins and Facebok @mocollinsfanpage.


Brett Gelman
Since Variety named him one of its “10 Comics to Watch” in 2010, Brett Gelman has shown film, TV, web and live audiences how he commits to every role. He can most recently be seen in his fan-favorite role as Murray, an eclectic conspiracy theorist, on Netflix's hit series STRANGER THINGS. Also on Netflix, Brett co-stars in METAL LORDS from Executive Producer David Benioff (Game of Thrones).  He was also on the third season of David E. Kelley's Audience Network show, MR. MERCEDES, opposite Brendan Gleeson and Holland Taylor. He can also be seen in LYLE, LYLE CROCODILE from SONY opposite Javier Bardem, Constance Wu, and Scoot McNairy. Follow Brett on on all social media @brettgelman.

“I’m On Your Side And I’m Also A Devil” w/ Mo Collins & Brett Gelman

Hello, our names are Justin Elizabeth Sayre, Kirsten Vangsness, and Drew Droege, and we think everything is our fault. But we’re not getting better. How do we navigate this mess? Dive in for a deep listen! Also pay attention on these streets! 


Justin Elizabeth Sayre
Justin Elizabeth Sayre is a playwright and performer who Michael Musto called, “Oscar Wilde meets Whoopi Goldberg.” Sayre is a fixture of the Downtown Cabaret Scene in New York, first with their long-running variety show, The Meeting (Bistro Award-winning & 2 MAC nominations). They are currently in residency at Joe's Pub at the Public with their new variety show, Assorted Fruit. As a playwright, Sayre’s work has appeared at Dixon Place, The Wild Project, The Celebration Theatre, Dynasty Typewriter, and La MaMa Experimental Theatre. Their 12-part-epic Ravenswood Manor, a Camp-Horror-Soap-Opera, called “a sharply written and well-acted exemplar of the horror-comedy genre,” by the LA Times and  is currently being developed with Sony Television and Rupaul. Sayre has written a series of YA Novels, Husky, Pretty, and Mean, released by Penguin Books, and the book, From Gay to Z: A Compendium of Queer Culture just released by Chronicle Books. Sayre has written for Television, working with Michael Patrick King on his Hit CBS comedy, 2 Broke Girls and Fox's The Cool Kids. Sayre also appeared on HBO’s The Comeback with Lisa Kudrow. They are NYCLU artist ambassador and a 2023 MacDowell Fellow. Follow them on Instagram @justinelizabethsayre and on Facebook. 
Kirsten Vangsness
Kirsten Vangsness has been a recipient of the HRC Visibility Award and the Open Fist Theatre Excellence in the Arts Award recipient. Most recently Kirsten starred as the title character in the critically acclaimed new play “Nimrod” by Phinny Kiyomura and was honored play Lottie Pratchett in Justin Elizabeth Sayers lascivious play: “Lottie Pratchett Took a Hatchet” She recently wrapped the 16th season of Criminal Minds where she plays the tech genius Penelope Garcia a show she has co-written 5 episodes for including the first series finale. In 2019 Kirsten wrote a feminist musical space romp called Cleo, Theo and Wu that was taken to the Edinburgh Fringe along with her solos show “Mess” (which Neil Gaiman has called his “favorite one person show”). She often hosts Selected Shorts short story readings for NPR and has created a YouTube show about art and self actualization called Kirstens Agenda. She is the co-owner of the Blinking Owl Distillery in Santa Ana, California. Kirsten is long time member of Hollywood’s Theatre of NOTE - a non profit theatre company committed to new works where she hosts “Bits” a monthly writers salon. Follow her on Instagram @kirstenvangsnessand and on her website.


“I’m Not Gonna Get Any Better” w/ Justin Elizabeth Sayre & Kirsten Vangsness

You definitely know Arden Myrin and Missi Pyle as your favorite actors from all your favorite shows and movies. While they usually portray the most unhinged and confident characters, IRL they are quite contemplative and sensitive. Listen to us all talk about how weird we have always felt. Oh, and we’re all single!
Arden Myrin
Arden VanAmringe Myrin is an actress and comedian. She is known for her roles in the televisions series Insatiable, Insecure, Grey's Anatomy, Conan, Orange Is the New Black, Hung, Key & Peele, Inside Amy Schumer, W/ Bob & David, Psych, Bones, Fresh Off the Boat, Suburgatory, 2 Broke Girls, Reno 911!, Shameless, and Gilmore Girls. Myrin has appeared in many films, including Bachelorette, the Mr. Oizo films Wrong Cops and Wrong, as well as Kinsey, Morning Glory, and others. 
Myrin's theater credits include Robert O'Hara's Barbecue at The Public Theater in New York City, as well as the premiere of John Ross Bowie's play about The Ramones Four Chords and A Gun at the Bootleg Theater in Los Angeles. Myrin was in the original New York City production of David Mamet's Boston Marriage at the Public Theater, and appeared in Hay Fever directed by Darko Tresnjak at the Westport Country Playhouse. As a writer she has sold pilots to Adult Swim and MTV, and also is the author of the memoir Little Miss Little Compton. She appeared on Chelsea Lately over 100 times and was a regular panelist on @Midnight.
She was cast member of Mad TV for the last four seasons along with Keegan-Michael Key, Jordan Peele, Ike Barinholtz, and Bobby Lee. She has appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, The Howard Stern Show, WTF with Marc Maron, and RuPaul's Drag Race. Myrin is also the host of the iHeartRadio podcast Will You Accept This Rose? about The Bachelor franchise. Follow Arden @ArdenMyrin on Instagram and Twitter.
Missi Pyle
Born in Texas and raised in Tennessee, Missi Pyle moved to New York to pursue a career in theatre. While working as a waitress at the Jekyll and Hyde Club, she found out she had been cast opposite John Malkovich in Steppenwolf Theater Company's THE LIBERTINE. Soon thereafter, she made her film debut in AS GOOD AS IT GETS with Jack Nicholson, which was followed by her portrayal of the sparkly alien “Laliari” in GALAXY QUEST with Alan Rickman, Sigourney Weaver, and Tony Shalhou. Later, she made her Broadway debut as German flight attendant “Gretchen” opposite Mark Rylance in BOEING BOEING.  
Other notable film credits include CAPTAIN FANTASTIC, GONE GIRL, CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, DODGEBALL, JOSIE AND THE PUSSYCATS, and THE ARTIST, which won 5 Academy Awards.  Pyle’s most recent, critically acclaimed work include IMPULSE, MA, NOBODY'S FOOL, and the critically acclaimed FX/Hulu limited series, Y: THE LAST MAN. Missi can next be seen in the feature films A TOURIST'S GUIDE TO LOVE, EMPIRE WAIST, and GLITTER & DOOM; as well as a starring role in the MGM/Amazon series SHELTER.  Follow Missi @MissiPyle on Instagram and Twitter. 

Personal Despots w/ Matt Baume and Lauren Lapkus

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