March 17, 2025

Bert Kreischer gets Lucky on Netflix today

Show Notes
Transcript

Johnny Mac provides the latest updates in the comedy world. Bert Kreischer's new Netflix special 'Lucky' is out, and he shares insights on the comedy industry's future. Andrew Schulz discusses the complexities of comedy in the political landscape, while Kelsey Cook reflects on the differences between opening and headlining shows, including her personal material about sobriety and mental health. Matt Friend talks about his impersonations and career growth, and Michael Ian Black shares his views on politics and comedy. We also hear stories about George Lopez, Paul Rodriguez, and Mo Amer, and celebrate the return of the Laughing Buddha Comedy Festival and the upcoming New York Comedy Film Festival in 2026.

00:12 Bert Kreischer's New Special
02:08 Andrew Schulaz on Comedy and Politics
03:13 Kelsey Cook's Journey and Material
04:32 Matt Friend's Celebrity Impressions
05:31 Michael Ian Black's Political Views
06:11 Felipe Esparza's Comedy Insights
07:11 Moammar's Recognition and Heritage
08:24 Laughing Buddha Comedy Festival
09:27 Upcoming New York Comedy Film Festival
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WEBVTT

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Callaroga Shark Media. Hello, I'm Jenni Mack with your daily

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comedy news. Bert Kreischer's specialist on Netflix Today. It is

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called Lucky, and Bert says, I'm a glass half full

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m er. I feel very lucky to be alive and

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working at this point, he told Variety when asked about

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the state of the industry. TV and movies are about

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to explode in Hollywood in a really fun and crazy way.

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He believes comedians are entering an era of financial independence

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and creative freedom. Dudes, they're already there. Except those Netflix

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paychecks are pretty nice. Let's be honest, Bert, I'm sure

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you could put something up on YouTube, but let's not

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act like we don't like the Netflix paychecks. Bert says,

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it's like the gold rush right now. Look at Hollywood,

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and I see massive opportunities coming around the corner for

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all of us. Be careful. Ask the TV series producers

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what happens when you tear down the establishment. I would

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kiss Netflix as a ring. Bert, be careful. Variety said

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that they noticed watching Bert's special there were shirtless men

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in the audience. Bert said it started happening was doing clubs.

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Dudes ripped the shirts off and watch the whole show shirtless.

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When I did Red Rocks for the third time, we

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had a top off camera that was shooting the way

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they would women ripping their shirts off for a kiss cam.

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We did that for the whole arena tour. We just

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go to big dudes who ripped the shirts off. Not

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one camera ever hit a woman. Bert says, I idolized

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Jimmy Buffett. We'd go to his shows, and there's something

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really cool about getting lost in a group of fans

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seeing them dress up like crazy. Yes, Buffett shows were fun.

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I never thought the thing on have was going to

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be that big, obviously, but it's kind of cool that

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I get a bunch of overweight dudes with body positivity

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ripping their shirts off. These are guys that wear a

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shirt to go swimming, you know. Bert said, I wish

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I knew my brand better. It's hard to see from

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the inside of the forest. I think I give them

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permission to party. That's a good name for tour. Permission

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to party. That's a really good name for tour. I

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think I just named my next tour. I've always been

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the guy who like at the kid's birthday party, the

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dads will come to me and be like, if you

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open a beer, we can all have a beer. I'm

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also unapologetically in love with my wife. Not cheating on

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your wife is cool. My fans are guys who feel

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lucky to have the chick there with, lucky to have

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the life they have, lucky to have the kids they have,

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and that one night is the night to cut loose

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love this interview, we'll pick at this at the next

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few days. The Hollow Reporter caught up with Andrew Schltz.

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So they were talking about audiences and you know, where

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do you steer your comedy and they pointed out in Aperghetzi,

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who subscribes to the steer clear of anything that offends philosophy.

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Andrew said, exactly, But I don't know. Trump is a

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specific thing. There are a lot of people who could

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be critical of platforming somebody like Trump and they say

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they'd never do it. But you also didn't have the

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opportunity to So you really don't know what you do

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until you're given that opportunity. And yeah, I don't know.

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I had three things that I wanted to tell the

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person that might be the leader of the free world.

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They were three things that are important to me. One

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was I wanted him to say on camera that he

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would protect IVF and he did. Another was stopping not

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all the foreign wars, but if there's ones that are

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senseless that are just to line the pockets of the

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military industrial complex, that maybe we could curb that. And

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then the last one was some empathy for illegal immigrants

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that aren't breaking the law, like maybe a pathway to citizenship.

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Doesn't look like you listen to me much on that one.

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I'm not saying I have any impact on him. But

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if you have the opportunity to be impactful and you

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choose not to do it for whatever reason because you're

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concerned about I don't know what your friends or your

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supporters might think, you're allowed to do that. But for me,

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I just thought it was something and I could sleep

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at night doing and I'm proud of myself for doing it.

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I agree with everything he said there. Kelsey Cook spoke

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to Vony Land about the difference between opening for Jim

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Norton at the Wilbur and headlining the Wilbur. She explained

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there's a level of pressure with either situation when opening

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for someone is where you want to make sure you're

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doing your job and setting them up for as much

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success as possible. But there's something extra special about headlining

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because it's your crowd, so there's a little bit more

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built in confidence in a sense that people came to

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see me, to have the chance to be at the

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Wilber and have it be my crowd, it's just really cool.

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She talked about her current material and said, I've had

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some things happen last year that I've become part of

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the material in a more natural way. I stopped drinking

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last year, so I talk about being sober, being diagnosed

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with depression, and I go a little bit into my

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mom's dementia. I don't go into it as much as

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I did in market territory, but those themes are sort

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of connected here, and I'm just trying to find the

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silver linings and all of it and bring humor to it.

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I feel really fortunate because the Hustler was received so

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well and that helped my ticket sales boom, and I

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was touring so much and got right to work on

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the next thing and was able to turn around a

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lot of the new material and get it to a

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good place. Was also exciting to have this new added

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fan base for me to work the Mark your Territory

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material out too. That hour gave me more confidence and

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permission to just be myself and talk about the things

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I really wanted to talk about, opening up and talking

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about depression. Especially. It's been cool enough people come up

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to me after shows and thanking me for talking about

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my struggles with it and antidepressants, intrusive thoughts and all that.

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It's definitely not a taboo as a topic as it

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used to be. But I do you hope for anyone

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dealing with any of those issues they can walk away

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feeling seen. Matt Friend tells the Chicago some times, if

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you go see him, it's something for everybody. Old references,

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newer references, everything from Milton Burrel to Timothy Shallamy. Friend

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got famous walking around New York City. He'd encounter celebrities,

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people like John Oliver as a bashi in Madscalco and

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talk show host Andy Cohen. He would take videos of

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himself impersonating them. He'd upload them to TikTok. No celebrities

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he said ever told them to get lost. Matt explains,

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I'm not ambushing people, it's out of respect and admiration.

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And then it kind of organically happens. He can't I

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quite explain how he does what he does. He says,

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I'll walk down the street and King Charles comes out.

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I don't really think about it. It's just sort of

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part of my life. He told a story about meeting

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a representative from the Obama team when a friend was

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in d C for the Correspondence dinner. A few months later,

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Obama's team reached out to meet in Chicago before the DNC.

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Matt says, I'm like freaking out. Suddenly I find myself

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in a room with Obama and I'm doing all the

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greatest hits. It was an insane, insane moment. He's not

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worried about cancel culture. I don't fear that. I just

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do what I always think is right. If you're living

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a life like that, fearful of one side or the other,

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you're not going to go for Michael ian Black sometimes

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gets called a progressive and says, I don't really think

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of myself in those terms. They feel sort of self limiting.

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But anybody who follows me or knows anything about me

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would call me a liberal progressive. Some have called me

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a communist, a term I would not apply to myself.

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He does add that we're living in a fascist healscape.

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We're in a very catastrophic way re examining everything about

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the nation. There's a way to do that. I do

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think we're long overdue for a constitutional convention. I think

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it would be an excellent, excellent exercise for the nation

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to participate in. I think it could have potentially very

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beneficial outcomes if people take it seriously. If you go

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see him these days, he's not going to make fun

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of Trump. He says, give me an Obama, give me

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a Jimmy Carter, give me a Richard Nixon. Richard Nixon

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was funny. Trump not so much. Felipe, as Barza said,

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George Lopez and Paul Ardriguez have always been the coolest

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people to be. They're the kind of people who always

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up my back even though they don't get along. But

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who cares now because I'm friendly with both of them.

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George Lopez took me to World Series Game five against

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the Astros, and we were right behind the Dodger dugout.

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I was high five in Kershoff from my seat. Bro

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Paul Rodriguez gave me good advice twice. He was the

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first comic to give me a lot of money and

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take me on the road. He even bought me a suit.

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Paul Rodriguez taught me this be nice to everybody, because

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you're gonna meet the same people on the way up

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in your career as you will on the way down.

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That was the first thing. When I started. There were

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a lot of Latino comedians who would never play Latin rooms.

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They'd never walk in a room with their whole audience

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was a Mexican American in LA because they wanted to

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cross over to a wider audience. They wanted to perform

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the improv the comedy store of the ice house, so

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they never wanted to go to the East Side to perform.

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They'd go, Now, bro, I don't do those beaner rooms.

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So they lost out on a lot of fans by

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not going to those rooms. Paul Ardriguez. But you know what, man,

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don't worry about crossing over in a mainstream audience or

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white people. If you're funny, like really funny, they'll cross

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over to you. That was the second thing, and that's

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been the model for my career. Moa mayor was recognized

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by the Arab American National Museum. The Mayor of Dearborn

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honored Mo with a framed attribute for his contributions to

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storytelling and representation. The mayor said, the way you've shattered

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stereotypes has opened up doors for us as public servants,

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as people who want to give back to the community.

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Oftentimes it does take the comedian, It does take the

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notable actor. It does take the individual who's speaking to

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our narrative, who understands our narrative because they grew up

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in it, student it and understood better than anyone. So

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on behalf of the entire city of Dearborn. I want

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to say thank you and welcome home. If you watch

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Mo on Netflix, good series, you should watch it. Moe

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is often seen carrying a small bottle of his mother's

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homemade olive oil. Mo explains, some people carry hot sauce,

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I carry olive oil. But beyond that joke, the bottle

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is a symbol of his Palestinian heritage and the traditions

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that anchor him. But toul Azin is a Palistine Nian

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American who grew up in ann Arbor and is a

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fan of Mo, and explains, so often we're depicted so

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negatively in Western media, either our stories about war or

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worthy enemy. But I think this show depicted what it's

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like to grow up with the trauma of understanding the

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family history of occupation in war, but also trying to

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find happiness. You don't see a lot of Arabs and

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popular media being happier laughing, but the show did that

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really well, letting you laugh but also reminding you of

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the struggle, what it means to be Palestinian, but also

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the beauty. The Laughing Buddha Comedy Festival is back for

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its third year. Baby It features the best emerging stand

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up comics in New York City. The festival takes place

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today through Friday, April fourth at the Saint Mark's Comedy Club.

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Laughing Buddha will be giving away more than five thousand

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dollars in cash, including a grand prize of three thousand

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dollars in a year's worth of spots to the winning comedian.

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This year, one hundred and twenty comedians will be chosen

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to showcase a diverse lineup who will compete in front

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of fans, industry pros, and comedy legends. Winners will be

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decided by a panel of judges and audience responses. Each

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show will feature professional hosts and headliners including Jeff Lawrence,

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Kevin Dobrowski, Alexis Carbono, and Moore. Judges will include comedy

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club owners and industry professionals. Eric Walsh won the festival

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in twenty twenty four and said winning the festival has

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been a game changer for me. A year of spots

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has been invaluable for developing my material and growing as

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a performer. It was incredibly well organized and gave me

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the opportunity to perform alongside some seriously talented comedians. That

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sounds like a lot of fun and looking ahead, get

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this one on your calendar. Comedy is going to have

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its own film festival. The The inaugural New York Comedy

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Film Festival will take over Asylum, New York City, February

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of twenty twenty six. Write This Down and YCFF celebrates

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both seasoned creators and emerging voices in comedy. The CEOs says,

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when things are going good, people want to laugh. When

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things are going bad, people need to laugh. The festival

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will feature red carpet arrivals, world premiere film screenings, TV pilots,

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original digital content, private parties, and live performances, including a

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special live celebrity tablescript read of a beloved comedy classic.

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It is the New York Comedy Film Festival February fifteenth

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through the twenty second, twenty sixth, and that is your

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comedy news for today. Go watch Bert Chraser. Will you