The Afterlaugh w/ Bill Dawes

Becca Ward crashes at Bill's Los Angeles apartment and they catch up his yard, where they talk about their respective upbringings in West Virginia (Becca's home state) and Virginia. Becca's childhood is wild and woolly, something right out of the "Wonderful Whites of West Virginia" or "Hillbilly Elegy." Without a solid and sober parental unit, Becca relied on a positive attitude, a vivid imagination, and, most importantly, a sense of humor to get her through the madness. The same sense of humor got her through rough times and got her on the Hollywood Laugh Factory stage. Becca is a force of nature and a testament to the power of comedy to heal. ENJOY! 

Tommy gets caffeinated and comes by the yard to hang out and talk about a SURPRISING response to the podcast about Dave Chappelle and Patton Oswalt when Patton himself reached out to Bill on Instagram to discuss his feelings about the social media response to his posts about Chappelle. The end result is a quasi-social media friendship between the two Virginians. Bill and Tommy also discuss the shocking news of the death of fellow comedian Bob Saget and, FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER, Bill discusses the conflict he had with Bob Saget in 2007 that changed his life.... ENJOY!

Friend of the show and fellow comic Samson Crouppen comes by the yard to talk about his unprecedented move in the comedy space of minting his comedy special as an NFT, and the blowback from the comedy community that followed upon it's release. However, Samson has already made his money back within 2 weeks and is looking to produce other NFT specials, including Bills. Listen in on a very interesting and informative conversation about the new world of comedy. ENJOY!

Tommy Wakefield comes by the yard to talk about his severe tinnitus, which may or may not have been precipitated by the booster shot, the anniversary of the January 6th insurrection, and the recent controversies surrounding Dave Chappelle and the social media fallout precipitated by his photo with Patton Oswalt. Once again, Tommy is uncomfortably swept up in a conversation about the trans movement, Twitter, global warming, and the idea that perhaps politicians don't really give a f**k about you. This is a fun (and long) one so ENJOY!

Andrea Kelly is a comic, actor, producer, manager, and one of Bill's oldest friends in Los Angeles. By that, we mean he's known her for almost 15 years, about the same amount of time he's been doing comedy. Andrea first met Bill when she was working as Jamie Masada's assistant, then as a manager for Laugh Factory Management, which has since been dissolved. After getting fired for making unintentionally doxxing half the comedy community, Andrea began a new path as a comic herself, which has since led to producing films with Paul Sorvino, Michael Rapaport, Chazz Palmentieri, until finally going back to her roots as a stage actress, where she is currently performing at the Beverly Playhouse. Andrea's story is interesting and inspiring, and PERFECT for the NEW YEAR -- a testament to the fact that you can always start over-  and that you have the rest of the life to figure out what you're doing.....ENJOY!

Tommy comes by the yard to talk about his depression and fear of death, and Bill decides to snap him out and talk about one of the few things they completely agree on: smooching ladies is fun and men need to be better getting there. Bill brings up an old cult indie classic, "The Tao of Steve," which details a systemic way to get a woman interested in you; and he mentions dubious advice about kissing women that he received from Rob Lowe when he was a young theatre nerd in his 20's in New York. This episode has NO POLITICS but some of the most vulnerable stories Bill and Tommy have ever shared... ENJOY!

Bill's long-time friend, comic-actor-writer extraordinaire Brian Scolaro stops by the yard to tell some stories from his remarkable career and reminisce about the heyday of standup comedy in New York City during the late-90's.  Considered by many to be one of the funniest comics alive, Brian's career has not been without adversity, including his very recent diagnosis of MS (discovered onstage at the Vegas Laugh Factory), which has set his journey on a whole new path. Sit back and enjoy a master comic tell some incredible stories. 

After a long hiatus, Tommy comes by the yard to discuss the craziness of the past month and tries to keep Bill liberal, despite his annoyance at the far left and the constant fear being crammed down his throat by corporate media. The discuss THE MATRIX that we are all trapped inside and how to move forward in increasingly polarized world. Bill also goes to the LA premiere of "Encounter," a movie he did with Oscar-nominee Riz Ahmed -- out in theaters this weekend! They go deep into the weeds of our bizarre political landscape - but don't worry, there's jokes! ENJOY!

EXACTLY 3 YEARS AGO, Bill set up a fire pit on some astroturf and offered free booze and weed to snag comics coming out after shows next door at the Laugh Factory. Even though the podcast was originally about getting stories from comics, it slowly morphed into hearing voices from all areas of the industry -- from showrunners on hit shows and award-winning movie and tv stars to open mic comics and "fixers" and even the occasional witch. true story. Plus, by popular demand, the show has featured several political and dating debates between Bill and producer Tommy Wakefield, a subset of the podcast we call "The Woke and the Old." Of course it all started with the brilliant and beautiful Chaunte Wayans, who has since become a dear friend of Bill's. Although Chaunte is part of the iconic comedy family known as "The Wayans Brothers," Chaunte has certainly made a name for herself, and is at the forefront of the conversation on the intersection of race, gender, and comedy. Check out our FIRST podcast, when it was still wild and freewheeling in format (Leo Dottavio of "Bachelor" fame joins in the convo as well), and the recently legal Cali weed was freshly blazing above the fire pit - and be sure to follow Chaunte on Instagram at @cwayans. ENJOY!

Natallia Nemes is an interesting person. After going down the "career path" and graduating from a good school, Natalia lived in NYC as a corporate raider, where she simultaneously developed an eating disorder and a severe cocaine habit. Thinking Los Angeles might offer a better way, she found her addiction to toxic substances and toxic relationships only grew worse in LaLaLand. Without the social fabric of a strong family, Natallia had the temerity to detox her body and life. One of the results is her book "The Sh*t They Should Have Taught You in College," a funny and poignant memoir/self-help book that every young person can benefit from. Natalia discusses her wild journey and talks honestly about Tinder and how online dating apps are recipes for disaster, and what proactive things you can do to find a healthy and happy relationship with renewed purpose. ENJOY!