Aug. 18, 2025

Are Comedians Overreacting to Trump?

Show Notes
Transcript

Maz Jobrani warns about America’s slide toward a “Christian Republic,”

Bob Odenkirk sees opportunity in comedy’s changing landscape, and John Oliver vents about immigration hypocrisy. Plus, U.S. comics share political satire worries, Josh Johnson talks online fame, Kathy Griffin admits to a third facelift, and Johnny Mac pushes back on the “Howard Stern was a great interviewer” narrative.

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WEBVTT

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Callaroga Shark Media. Hey, they're Johnny Mack with your daily

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comedy news Master Brownnie caught up with the ABC, you know,

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not the American Broadcasting Corporation whatever, the Australian one is

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called that ABC, and they started talking about Colbert Gate,

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and Mos said, I love Colbert. I get my news

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from Colbert. He makes the news fun. I knew that

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Trump was gonna come after the late night talk show hosts,

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but I didn't think it was going to be this way,

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where their own companies can them. I thought Trump would

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maybe send the irs out to audit them or something,

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just make their lives hard. Because Trump, unfortunately doesn't have

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a sense of humor. He doesn't have to take a joke,

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which is what dictatorships usually are like. The job of

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the comedian is to reveal the emperor has no clothes.

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I think we need to keep doing that. If we don't,

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we're gonna lose our democracy. I always say, the whole

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point of America is I can make fun of the

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president in America. I couldn't make fun of the president

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of Iran. That wouldn't work. We're slowly seeing, maybe even

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fastly seeing, the American democracy crumble, and I think now

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it falls on our shoulders more and more as comedians

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to make fun of Trump and poke at him. For

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my entire life in America, I've had to explain Iran.

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I just try to find funny ways to explain to

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people what I'm feeling. Like I say, I wish it

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were Swedish, because you were Swedish, you wouldn't have to

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explain anything, right, you just talk about a Kia and Abba.

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Being Iranian has been a challenge, but it's also obviously

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giving me plenty of material because I've been able to

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try and present people from Iran and other people from

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that part of the world, hopefully in a positive light

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versus what you see when they show us in the news.

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I worked with Mas at the Montreal Comedy Festivals. All

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my stories now fifteen twenty years old. Yeah, boy, it's

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got to be fifteen. Cool guy. I really enjoyed my

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time with him. Ma says, I grew up in America,

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so I always say that I'm not in Iran, but

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Iran is in me. I feel an affinity towards the

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country of Iran. I feel an affinity towards the Socrates

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when they play I feel an affinity towards the people.

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The Iranian people are some of the most hospitable people.

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It is a place in my heart. Iran is a

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cautionary tale of what happens when you mix religion with politics,

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and currently living in America, we're moving closer to becoming

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the Christian Republic of America is the Islamic Republic of Iran.

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When I do a show, I have people of all backgrounds,

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all religions in the room. We're laughing together and we're

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humanizing each other. You get a room, We're have a Palestinian,

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you have a Jew, you have a Muslim, people from

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different backgrounds and we're laughing together, and then people realize, oh,

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he's human. I'm human like Maz a lot. Good guy.

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Bob oden Kirk is optimistic about comedy's future. He tells

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Din of Geek, I'm not that worried. With the Internet

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and YouTube and all the streamers. There's more comedy than

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there ever was, and there's more platforms and opportunities than

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there ever was. They tend to pay less, but then

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they pay something and there's more of them, so that's good.

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I think the biggest challenges can make a very good

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show now and almost nobody sees it because there's too

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much to sample. The industry kind of does this journey

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of expanding and contracting, expanding and contracting. So possibly we're

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going to contract a little bit. But I love how

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many platforms there are and how much variety we can see.

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As for Late Night, he says, some version of Late

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Night will continue. It's terrible what happened with Colbert, but

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I also feel I understand it. There's a lot of

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late night shows that are very similar to each other,

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and I can see how much is online now. A

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lot of my viewing is online, so I understand that

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it's going through these changes. I'm okay with it. There's

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gonna be a lot of opportunity for us. John Oliver

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was on Monica Lewinsky's podcast last week. John said, with

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all these stories going on, it brings something out of you,

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like it's there that anxiety that I thought i'd moved

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past the day I got my citizenship. John feels like

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attention is now being weaponized and that he himself can

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get sent back to the anxiety he felt for a

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very long time, very quick. It's not far from the surface,

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and it does feel personal. It's one of the things

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I get really mad about, and therefore I want to

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use our show to show Americans who may have heard

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things like come in the right way, just do things

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the right way, and not fully understand just how antithetical

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that is to the process that actually exists. Weirdly, in

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the Trump administration's defense, they said all this out loud.

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I think it's very convenient for people not to believe it,

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because then it feels like you could vote for them

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and think, yeah, sure, I voted for you, but I

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didn't vote for that. For people being chased across fields. Well, no,

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you did, though, because they again I can't believe I'm

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defending them. They did say this, they said all of it.

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You just chose not to believe it. The Guardian caught

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up with Jennif Friedman, Michelle Wolf and Sam Jay. They're

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at the fringe. The headline in The Guardian it felt

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like a scene from The Handmaid's Tale. US comics on

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the dangers of political satire. You now, before we get

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into the story, whatever you think of the politics of

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the story, that is the perception of the United States

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around the world right now. Again, the subheader US comics

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on the dangers of political satire. In The Guardian, they

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dusted off a story I told you about earlier in

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the year from Jennif Friedman. I'll fly through it quickly.

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She's in the Vancouver airport. She's heading home to the US.

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Someone she thought worked for airport security asked about her visit.

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She said, I was doing comedy. Then he asked, what

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do you joke about. I lightly flirted with him and

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was like everything other than airport's security. He didn't react

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at all. Then I realized he was border control. He

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asked again, what did you joke about. I froze because

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I'm a political comedian I know to say. Then he said,

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do you joke about politicians? The Guardian rights she made

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it home, but the incident stuck with her. She tells

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The Guardian it did feel like a scene out of

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The Handmaid's Tale. I'm a blonde, white woman who looks

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like a Republican's wife, and I have an American passport.

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But what if I had said, yes, don't we want

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to live in a country where you can joke about politicians,

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or we can joke about anything. Michelle Wolfe lives in Barcelona.

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These days, We're told she's yet to encounter border trouble,

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but with reports of people with green cards and citizens

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being detained, she says, I'm keeping an eye on it.

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She says, I feel like I have to address the

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whole America and Trump thing. People expect me to say

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something about it. I don't like making it a large

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part of my set because it bores me. There's always

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something crazy happening, but it's hard to come up with

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creative angles other than that. Can you believe this? Sam

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Jay says? How did we get here as Americans? Of course,

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I think race plays a large part in it, and

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how did these race relations get to the way they are?

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Not just blaming white people, but exploring the type of

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white people we're dealing with and why they might be

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the way they are their roots in England. She says,

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of Trump, he's the symptom of this, not the cause.

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This is a result of years and years of us

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doing it wrong. It's been building for a long time

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and a lot of different reasons. Sam Jay says, the

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mood in America chaos. There's no way to keep up.

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People are also very desensitized. Stuff just keeps happening in

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more extreme ways that people are losing a metric for it.

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The Guardian asks what does the future hold for US

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comedians Jennifer and says it's too soon to tell, but

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I think everybody exercising the US First Amendment in a

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way that's funny disarming is really important right now. I

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feel that article is a little alarmist. The BBC asked

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Josh Johnson or the things about the Internet that were

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you in terms of yourself as a comedian. Josh said,

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I think as lot as I stick to the attitudes

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I have now and the things are doing now, I

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don't have much to worry about. At some point after

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you realize what is yours and what is not. When

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you're becoming known for the first time, you might trick

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yourself into thinking it's just because of you, but really

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it's a moment. I think that what you do with

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that moment is very important. If you handle it well

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and carry yourself well, then you can establish yourself for

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a long time. It's not as if the most popular

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comedians we reference when we think about stand up comedy

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were flashing the pan. We think about the people who stayed.

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I think they stayed because of what was built around

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them and what they did with it. In Los Angeles Today,

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the Brody Stevens Festival of Friendship a benefit in honor

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of the late to Brody Stevens, who passed away in

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twenty nineteen. The event raises money and awareness for comedy

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gives back at the Comedy Store tonight at eight o'clock.

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Bill Burr, Robbie Hoffman, eleanor Kerrigan, Dean Delray, Dan Levy,

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and Doug Bentson all confirmed to attend. Paul Reiser is

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getting a sitcom with Fox untitled. The comedy series follows

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the dysfunctional fallout after the family has failed to launch

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twenty something. Sun is forced to work alongside his father,

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Paul Reiser in the less than glamorous New Jersey damaged

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goods business that sounds terrible. Just show a football game, guys.

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Bob Newhart will be honored in September. North Sheridan Road

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between Ardmore and Thorndale will be renamed for Bob Newhart.

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He used to live in a condo over there. Friday

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September fifth, which would have been Newhart's ninety sixth birthday.

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Bob Newhart born in nineteen twenty nine. In oak Park,

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attended Saint Ignatio's College Prep and Loyal University, where theater

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bears his name. Gossip Connor whispers in the street, Gossip

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conn probably Bopete, gossip conn awhere the rumors meet with

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Johnny Mackett's always a tree. Gossip Connor whisp business Tree,

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Gossip I have gone Probably gossip Cone wethers with me

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with Johnny Mactoe in the Tree. I really do walk

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around my house singing that song. It is Jorn Catchy

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on gossip Corner. Did Kathy Griffin have plastic surgery? Did

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she have a face lift? We asked Kathy Griffin why

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I didn't, but somebody did. Kathy Griffin said, you guys,

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I had a face lift. That's right. I talk about

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it now. I know it's not the most exciting thing.

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I just think it's funny that I'm even having one,

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because it's not like I'm known for my face. You

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talked about the doctor who did it and said he

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just looks at you and he's like, yeah, you got

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a lot of problem areas. I can't fix that. You

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have to live at that part. But okay, I can

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do this. We're gonna move this around and who did

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your last one? She says, they get really competitive about

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who did the last one. By the way, this is

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my third. Jimmy Kimmel still off this week, and Colbert's

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off for three weeks as well. That's interesting. Tiffany Hattish

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will host Kimmel's show. She replaces come Out on Gianni,

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who was originally announced a host this week. It is

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believed he has opted out because of scheduling conflicts for reels.

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He's in broad Way previews for his debut in Oh Mary,

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a dark comedy. If I were working on cbs L'sbeth,

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I would get my resume ready because they are taking

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on the Curse of Andy Richter. In case you don't

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pay attention, if Andy Richter appears on your show, it

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gets canceled. Even Conan O'Brien was unable to survive the

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Curse of Andy Richter. Andy will appear on Elle'sbeth. He

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will play the sidekick of Stephen Colbert's Scotty Bristol character.

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Andy Richter will play Mickey Munks, the hilarious but long

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suffering sidekick on Way Late with Scotty Bristol. That sounds

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hackier than hack out. Today on The eight hundred Pound

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Guerrilla available for early access, Moe Welch's Hollywood Forever, and

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Johnny Mack. You never talk about Howard Stern, I know

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in GQ, Vince Mancini, right, So Howard Stern went from

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shock jock to centrist cat dad. If his audience couldn't

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follow him, that's not his fault, Vince writes, I've been

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a loyal Sternee since he first became available to those

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of us on the West Coast in the late nineties.

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He never struck me as all that shocking. Despite everything

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that made it infamous, the show was more like comfort food,

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a way to be part of a conversation even when

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you were alone. When Stern moved to satellite, he immediately

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shelled out for a serious subscription that I probably couldn't afford,

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And with the show's replayed throughout the day, I could

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listen to them almost any time I wanted. It's easy

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to recount the hits, but good bits don't do much

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to pinpoint the actual appeal of the Howard Stern Show,

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which would broadcast for almost four hours every day well

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back in the day, I CARO could be four plus

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it started six and go to ten something. The show

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was a running hang that I can imagine myself being

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part of, and that sounds much easier to pull off

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than it actually is. It did. Yeah, I totally it

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felt like a hang you could imagine yourself being part of.

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I definitely, back in the day would have dreams that

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I was just like on the show, as like sixth Guy.

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These people felt like friends. I get it, Vince, who writes,

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I also haven't listened to Stern for probably fifteen years.

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I've been throwing that fifteen year number around myself. There's

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had nothing to do with this famous turnaway from cheap

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gags and casual sexism, is increasingly therapy influenced introspection, or

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his gradual slide into normy liberalism and dramatic like that.

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It just so happened that the explosion of podcasts, which

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we're free at first seem to coincide with my not

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having a car for the first time in my adult life.

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With so many different versions of a similar thing so

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widely and more easily available, my need for the Stern

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Show suddenly it didn't seem so pressing. I can't honestly

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say that I upgrew him. Had it been a more

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frictionless transaction. I might have stuck around, but I got

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out of the habit, and suddenly it seemed less important. Now.

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Part of getting out of the habit was when Howard

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cut down to three days. I still listened to him

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in the serious years, and like when the show was

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what did they do on Friday? Best of? Or like

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shuffling the stuff from early in the week. You know,

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you stop listening, you take enough vacations, you find something

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else to do. That's why I like, for example, I

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make sure the show always goes out. Do I pre tape? Absolutely?

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Did I pre tape today's show? I did because I

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took a vacation day today. Did you notice until just now?

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Possibly not? Does it matter? Really doesn't. As Stern as

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aged and softened, his world seems to have gotten progressively smaller,

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not because he sold out or gone woke, or any

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other dramatic reasons his critics sight, but for more understandable reasons,

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like the fact that he's a hypochondria near billionaire with

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OCD who's seventy one years old and has been getting

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up at four am for most of his working life.

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His latter day career is proof that if nothing else.

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Evolving with the times looks a lot more dignified than

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trying to be the exact same person you were in

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two thousand and two. No, I get it. You know,

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at seventy one years old having young women in the

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studio and doing the sort of things he used to do.

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It's super creepy, you know, not a good look. But

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to pretend it never happened, that's my issue with Howard.

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To pretend that stuff never happened. Where are the clips?

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Why can't we watch the clips? We all know what happened.

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I've got some cassette tapes of the old Howard Stern show.

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We know these things went on. No, you do have

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to age gracefully. I totally get that. But to pretend

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the other parts didn't happen, that's the part that bugs

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me this whole. Howard Stern was the great interviewer. That narrative,

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that's nonsense. Howard Stern was the great shock shock and

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then the last ten years of his career decided to

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interview people. Just stop with the revisionist history. That's the

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part that annoys me. And that is your comedy needs

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for today. If you'd like to program without commercial interruption.

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Click the banner that says uninterrupted listening. Five bucks a

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00:13:05.679 --> 00:13:07.600
month you get this show five Good News Stories, which

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00:13:07.600 --> 00:13:10.799
I also hosted a bunch of others. Ad Free, see

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you tomorrow.

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