The Last Laugh

By The Daily Beast

What's The Last Laugh about?

Welcome to ‘The Last Laugh’: Real conversations with really funny people. Every Tuesday, 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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Paula Pell: SNL, ‘Girls5eva...

03.21.2023

Paula Pell spent 18 seasons toiling behind-the-scenes as one of ‘Saturday Night Live’s’ most legendary—and often unsung—comedy writers. Now, on the eve of her 60th birthday, she’s never been a bigger star. In this episode, Pell shares her unlikely SNL ...

The Last Laugh episodes:

03.21.2023 Paula Pell: SNL, ‘Girls5eva’ and ‘Die Hart 2: Die Harter’ Paula Pell spent 18 seasons toiling behind-the-scenes as one of ‘Saturday Night Live’s’ most legendary—and often unsung—comedy writers. Now, on the eve of her 60th birthday, she’s never been a bigger star. In this episode, Pell shares her unlikely SNL ...
03.14.2023 Hasan Minhaj on ‘Daily Show, ‘Patriot Act’ and More Hasan Minhaj has had a very busy five years between the release of his first big stand-up special ‘Homecoming King’ in 2017 and the premiere of his new hour ‘The King’s Jester’ on Netflix. The former ‘Daily Show’ correspondent roasted ...
03.10.2023 God and Satan Interview Matt Wilstein! In this bonus crossover episode from our friends at the GOD POD, Satan joins God to interview The Last Laugh host Matt Wilstein. They discuss TikTok, the decline of reading, Fox News getting caught spreading election fraud, the importance of ...
03.07.2023 Ike Barinholtz: Picking Up Where Mel Brooks Left Off It’s taken just over a decade for Ike Barinholtz to fully make it in Hollywood, with starring roles in big films like ‘Blockers’ and high-profile streaming shows like ‘The Afterparty.’ Now, with ‘History of the World, Part II,’ he’s returning ...
02.28.2023 Danny Pudi: ‘Born to Play’ Abed on ‘Community’ When Danny Pudi received the pilot script for ‘Community,’ his agents wrote at the top that Abed was the role he was “born to play.” He had no idea at the time how true that would be. In this episode, ...
02.21.2023 Ken Marino: ‘Party Down’ Is Back! Ken Marino knows that he’s often called upon to play one of two archetypes. From his earliest days as a member of his NYU sketch group The State to his roles in films like ‘Wet Hot American Summer’ and ‘Wanderlust’ ...
02.14.2023 Alison Brie on Rom-Coms, the ‘Community’ Movie and More Alison Brie had one of the luckiest big breaks in the history of television. Before the age of 30, she managed to simultaneously co-star on TV’s most celebrated drama (‘Mad Men’) and most obsessed over comedy (‘Community’) before the age ...
02.07.2023 Sam Jay Returns: SNL, ‘Pause’ and ‘You People’ Since leaving her gig as a writer at ‘Saturday Night Live’ behind in 2020, Sam Jay has become an increasingly prolific force in the comedy world. From her debut hour-long Netflix special ‘3 in the Morning’ to her unique take ...
01.30.2023 Sherri Shepherd: Daytime TV’s New ‘Feel Good’ Queen Sherri Shepherd has been a stand-up comedian, sitcom star, ‘The View’ co-host, and now, with her eponymous syndicated talk show ‘Sherri,’ a leading figure on the daytime TV scene. In this episode, Shepherd opens up about the inspiration and advice ...
01.27.2023 Nate Bargatze Returns! (Again!) Comedian Nate Bargatze describes what he does for a living as “saying dumb stuff in front of large groups.” And he’s very good at it. In his third appearance on the podcast for this bonus episode, Bargatze talks about making ...
01.24.2023 Vir Das: From ‘Two Indias’ to ‘Landing’ With five specials on Netflix and millions of followers on social media, Vir Das is an international comedy superstar who can sell out stadiums around the world. But his career nearly came crashing down after he put out his “Two ...
01.17.2023 Jermaine Fowler: ‘The Drop’ Jermaine Fowler has never shied away from a challenge. The comedian and actor dropped out of college to become a stand-up and painstakingly worked his way up the ranks of show business until landing his breakthrough performance opposite his comedy ...
01.10.2023 ‘Paul T. Goldman’ Creator Jason Woliner Returns! Jason Woliner is still trying to figure out why he has spent more than 10 years of his life working on a strange comedic docuseries about a middle-aged Florida man who tweeted at him out of the blue. Earlier this ...
01.03.2023 Chelsea Handler Returns: ‘Revolution’ Chelsea Handler knows exactly what she wants. After an eventful 2022 that included a celebrated guest-hosting gig on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ and the release in December of her latest Netflix special ‘Revolution,’ the comedian is gearing up for an even ...
12.27.2022 The Funniest Performances of 2022! In our final episode of the year host Matt Wilstein is joined by The Daily Beast’s Laura Bradley and Allegra Frank to share their lists of the funniest performances of 2022 across stand-up, TV, movies and more. If you’re looking ...
12.23.2022 Elon, Chappelle and More With The New Abnormal It’s our annual, year-end crossover episode in which Matt Wilstein joins The New Abnormal host Andy Levy to talk about Dave Chappelle inviting Elon Musk up on stage to get booed at his final tour stop of 2022, how comedians ...
12.20.2022 Paul Walter Hauser: ‘Black Bird,’ Chris Farley and More Paul Walter Hauser is the rare actor who can make audiences laugh hysterically and break down crying, sometimes within the same project. From early guest spots on comedies like ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’ and ‘Community’ to his breakthrough roles ...
12.16.2022 ‘Reno 911’s’ Thomas Lennon Returns! For the past two decades, comedian Thomas Lennon has spent more time on screen in short shorts than he could ever imagined. In this bonus episode, Lennon returns to the podcast to talk about his latest performance as Lieutenant Jim ...
12.13.2022 Atsuko Okatsuka: #DropChallenge to HBO Comedian Atsuko Okatsuka can’t seem to stop blowing up on the internet. Sometimes, it’s by accident, like when she joked through an earthquake on stage, and other times more deliberately, like the Beyoncé-inspired #dropchallenge she started on TikTok with her ...
12.09.2022 Tom Papa Returns: ‘What a Day!’ Tom Papa has to be considered one of the least controversial comedians working today. And yet, as he explains in his return to the podcast for this bonus episode, even he has been subjected to “cancel culture” for a past ...
12.06.2022 Sebastian Maniscalco: ‘Is It Me?’ Sebastian Maniscalco is consistently one of the highest-grossing stand-up comedians in the country. And now, with a new Netflix special ‘Is It Me?’ and upcoming autobiographical movie ‘About My Father’ co-starring Robert De Niro, he’s about to finally become a ...
11.29.2022 Matt Rogers: ‘Have You Heard of Christmas?’ Matt Rogers can’t quite believe the year he’s had. From his first regular TV role on Showtime’s ‘I Love That for You’ to his scene-stealing work in the Hulu movie ‘Fire Island,’ the Long Island-born comedian has seemingly been everywhere ...
11.22.2022 Patton Oswalt Returns! Comedian Patton Oswalt’s role as a desperate father who ends up impersonating a beautiful woman on social media to catfish his troubled son in the new film ‘I Love My Dad’ just might make him the perfect person to weigh ...
11.21.2022 Wondery Presents: This Job is History Where the oddest jobs from the past meet a comedian from the present… and it’s awkward! On this weekly show, Chris Parnell (SNL, Rick and Morty) welcomes guests who have held some of human history’s most unexpected and downright bizarre ...
11.15.2022 Neal Brennan: ‘Chappelle’s Show’ to Netflix’s ‘Blocks’ Neal Brennan has always felt like an “outlier” in the comedy world. He’s a successful stand-up who’s still best known for co-creating ‘Chappelle’s Show’ and as he jokes in his latest special ‘Blocks’ on Netflix, he’s often the least famous ...
11.11.2022 Natasha Leggero Returns! Comedian Natasha Leggero doesn’t think she’ll ever make a Netflix special about her daughter. So instead, she wrote a laugh-out-loud hilarious book about what it has been like to become her mother. In this bonus episode, Leggero returns to the ...
11.08.2022 Chris Redd: SNL, Kanye and ‘Why Am I Like This?’ It was never Chris Redd’s dream to be on ‘Saturday Night Live.’ And yet the rapper-turned-comedian seemed to just be hitting his stride on that show when it was abruptly announced less than two weeks before the 48th season premiere ...
11.03.2022 Preview: Chris Redd on Comedy Cellar Attack In this preview of our upcoming episode with Chris Redd, dropping next Tuesday, the comedian and recent SNL alum opens up about the brutal attack outside of the Comedy Cellar in New York that left him bloodied and landed him ...
11.01.2022 Nick Kroll on ‘Big Mouth,’ Stand-Up, SNL and More Nick Kroll is an actor, stand-up comedian and co-creator of one of the funniest shows on television, ‘Big Mouth.’ Season six of the Emmy-nominated animated series just dropped on Netflix and Kroll joins us to talk all about how it ...
10.28.2022 Fortune Feimster Returns! Comedian Fortune Feimster has had an incredibly busy two years. And she put as much of it as she could fit in her new Netflix stand-up special ‘Good Fortune.’ In this bonus episode, Feimster returns to the podcast to discuss ...
10.25.2022 Melissa Villaseñor: Life After SNL Melissa Villaseñor was among the eight cast members to leave ‘Saturday Night Live’ after its most recent season. And in this episode, she opens up for the first time about everything that led her to the difficult decision to step ...
10.18.2022 ‘Daily Show’s’ Roy Wood Jr. Returns! When Trevor Noah announced he would be stepping down as host of ‘The Daily Show,’ he cited a conversation with Roy Wood Jr. as part of what made him decide it was time to move on. In his return to ...
10.11.2022 Judy Greer: ‘Arrested Development’ to ‘Reboot’ It wasn’t until Judy Greer had more or less given up on becoming a Hollywood star that it finally started to happen for her. The perennial “best friend” in early aughts rom-coms like ‘13 Going on 30’ and ‘The Wedding ...
10.04.2022 Hasan Minhaj: ‘The King’s Jester’ Hasan Minhaj has had a very busy five years between the release of his first big stand-up special ‘Homecoming King’ in 2017 and the premiere this week of his new hour The King’s Jester on Netflix. The former ‘Daily Show’ ...
09.30.2022 Jena Friedman on Borat, ‘Daily Show’ and ‘Indefensible’ Jena Friedman is a former ‘Daily Show’ field producer, an uncompromising stand-up comedian and, as of this past year, an Oscar-nominated screenwriter for ‘Borat Subsequent Moviefilm.’ Now, she is headlining her own hour-long stand-up special ‘Ladykiller’ on Peacock and taking ...
09.27.2022 Sheng Wang: ‘Sweet and Juicy’ Comedian Sheng Wang has spent much of his comedy career trying to hide in plain sight. Now, thanks to a boost from his longtime friend and colleague Ali Wong, he is reluctantly stepping into the spotlight. In this episode, Wang ...
09.20.2022 Alison Brie: ‘Community’ to ‘Spin Me Round’ Alison Brie had one of the luckiest big breaks in the history of television. Before the age of 30, she managed to simultaneously co-star on TV’s most celebrated drama (‘Mad Men’) and most obsessed over comedy (‘Community’) before the age ...
09.13.2022 Jay Duplass: Breaking Into ‘Industry’ Jay Duplass never wanted to be an actor. For years, he remained entirely behind the scenes of the intimate indie films he wrote and directed with younger brother Mark Duplass. Then, he was handed the role of Josh Pfefferman in ...
09.06.2022 Natasha Rothwell on ‘The White Lotus,’ ‘Insecure’ and More Emmy-nominated comedian and actress Natasha Rothwell talks about her very big year, from facing off with Jennifer Coolidge in ‘The White Lotus’ to stealing scenes in the final season of ‘Insecure.’ And things are only looking up from here, with ...
08.30.2022 Dave Foley: Dark Side of ‘Kids in the Hall’ Comedian Dave Foley is thankful to be the narrator and not one of the subjects of Vice TV’s ‘Dark Side of Comedy’ docuseries. The co-founder of the iconic sketch group ‘Kids in the Hall,’ which premiered its long-awaited sixth reunion ...
08.23.2022 Sharon Horgan: ‘Catastrophe’ to ‘Bad Sisters’ Sharon Horgan can’t seem to stop creating television shows. From ‘Pulling’ to ‘Catastrophe’ to ‘Divorce’ to ‘Motherland’ to ‘Shining Vale’ to her latest, the Apple TV+ comedy thriller ‘Bad Sisters,’ she is one of the most prolific TV showrunners in ...
08.16.2022 Adam Scott on ‘Severance,’ ‘Step Brothers’ and ‘Party Down’ Adam Scott is best known for his roles in workplace comedies like ‘Parks and Recreation’ and ‘Party Down,’ which makes him the perfect actor to subvert that genre in Ben Stiller’s new deeply disturbing workplace thriller ‘Severance.’ In this episode, ...
08.09.2022 Abby Elliott: SNL to ‘The Bear’ Abby Elliott had been holding out for a role like Sugar on a show like ‘The Bear.’ Despite four mostly successful seasons on ‘Saturday Night Live’—she is still the youngest woman ever hired and the only second generation cast member, ...
08.05.2022 Jo Koy on Stand-Up, Chelsea Handler and ‘Easter Sunday’ What’s the difference between challenging stereotypes and perpetuating those same stereotypes? That’s just one of the many questions international comedy superstar Jo Koy tries to get to the bottom of on this episode. Koy talks about putting the jokes aside ...
08.02.2022 D’Arcy Carden: ‘The Good Place’ to ‘A League of Their Own’ Before D’Arcy Carden landed the role of a lifetime as Janet on ‘The Good Place,’ she was starting to worry her comedy career might never take off. And yet, in the less than six years since that show premiered on ...
07.26.2022 Henry Winkler: From Fonzie to ‘Barry’ Henry Winker 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 ...
07.22.2022 Desus and Mero on Late-Night TV, AOC and Taylor Swift Desus Nice and The Kid Mero—who officially announced this week that they will be “pursuing separate creative endeavors moving forward”—join The Last Laugh podcast to talk about launching their Showtime late-night series Desus & Mero. We get into their close ...
07.19.2022 Jon Gabrus: ‘101 Places to Party Before You Die’ Jon Gabrus didn’t realize he had spent his entire comedy career preparing to travel around the country getting wasted and being hilarious on camera. But that’s exactly what he has ended up doing, along with his best friend and co-host ...
07.15.2022 Nikki Glaser on Stand-Up, Celeb Roasts and ‘FBoy Island’ Nikki Glaser is a world-class stand-up comedian, a ruthless celebrity roaster and an endlessly engaging daily podcaster. Now, she’s also a reality TV star thanks to her new gig hosting the deliberately absurd dating show ‘FBoy Island’ on HBO Max ...
07.12.2022 Tim Heidecker: ‘No More Bullsh*t’ If you only know Tim Heidecker as one half of ‘Tim and Eric’ with his longtime comedy partner Eric Wareheim, you are missing a lot. The comedian, musician and ‘Office Hours’ host just set out on a big summer tour ...

Older episodes

The Last Laugh

What's The Last Laugh about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

The Last Laugh episodes:

Paula Pell: SNL, ‘Girls5eva’ and ‘Die Hart 2: Die Harter’

Hasan Minhaj on ‘Daily Show, ‘Patriot Act’ and More

God and Satan Interview Matt Wilstein!

Ike Barinholtz: Picking Up Where Mel Brooks Left Off

Danny Pudi: ‘Born to Play’ Abed on ‘Community’

Ken Marino: ‘Party Down’ Is Back!

Alison Brie on Rom-Coms, the ‘Community’ Movie and More

Sam Jay Returns: SNL, ‘Pause’ and ‘You People’

Sherri Shepherd: Daytime TV’s New ‘Feel Good’ Queen

Nate Bargatze Returns! (Again!)

Vir Das: From ‘Two Indias’ to ‘Landing’

Jermaine Fowler: ‘The Drop’

‘Paul T. Goldman’ Creator Jason Woliner Returns!

Chelsea Handler Returns: ‘Revolution’

The Funniest Performances of 2022!

Elon, Chappelle and More With The New Abnormal

Paul Walter Hauser: ‘Black Bird,’ Chris Farley and More

‘Reno 911’s’ Thomas Lennon Returns!

Atsuko Okatsuka: #DropChallenge to HBO

Tom Papa Returns: ‘What a Day!’

Sebastian Maniscalco: ‘Is It Me?’

Matt Rogers: ‘Have You Heard of Christmas?’

Patton Oswalt Returns!

Wondery Presents: This Job is History

Neal Brennan: ‘Chappelle’s Show’ to Netflix’s ‘Blocks’

Natasha Leggero Returns!

Chris Redd: SNL, Kanye and ‘Why Am I Like This?’

Preview: Chris Redd on Comedy Cellar Attack

Nick Kroll on ‘Big Mouth,’ Stand-Up, SNL and More

Fortune Feimster Returns!

Melissa Villaseñor: Life After SNL

‘Daily Show’s’ Roy Wood Jr. Returns!

Judy Greer: ‘Arrested Development’ to ‘Reboot’

Hasan Minhaj: ‘The King’s Jester’

Jena Friedman on Borat, ‘Daily Show’ and ‘Indefensible’

Sheng Wang: ‘Sweet and Juicy’

Alison Brie: ‘Community’ to ‘Spin Me Round’

Jay Duplass: Breaking Into ‘Industry’

Natasha Rothwell on ‘The White Lotus,’ ‘Insecure’ and More

Dave Foley: Dark Side of ‘Kids in the Hall’

Sharon Horgan: ‘Catastrophe’ to ‘Bad Sisters’

Adam Scott on ‘Severance,’ ‘Step Brothers’ and ‘Party Down’

Abby Elliott: SNL to ‘The Bear’

Jo Koy on Stand-Up, Chelsea Handler and ‘Easter Sunday’

D’Arcy Carden: ‘The Good Place’ to ‘A League of Their Own’

Henry Winkler: From Fonzie to ‘Barry’

Desus and Mero on Late-Night TV, AOC and Taylor Swift

Jon Gabrus: ‘101 Places to Party Before You Die’

Nikki Glaser on Stand-Up, Celeb Roasts and ‘FBoy Island’

Tim Heidecker: ‘No More Bullsh*t’