Episodes

Johnny Mac covers influencer Brielle Adams-Wheatley’s Instagram call-out of a standup bit attributed to Nikki Glaser about Adams-Wheatley (a trans creator born with no limbs); Glaser apologizes in messages, says the joke was inaccurately described but still “dumb,” and says she’ll remove it. He highlights Yakov Smirnoff on Joe Rogan describing his family listening to Voice of America, fear in the USSR, and leaving after a Jimmy Carter grain-for-exit deal. He discusses Taylor Tomlinson’s new book...

Johnny Mac previews Netflix’s Norm: The Tale of Norm Macdonald (premiering Friday, Oct. 16, directed by Judd Apatow), described as an archival-footage documentary tracing Norm’s rise on Weekend Update and legacy as a “comedian’s comedian.” He notes Chris Fleming’s Emmy frustration bit and jokes about handing NBC’s 12:30 slot to Fleming. He covers Anthony Jeselnik launching a book club podcast on Bill Simmons’ network, plays a Jo Koy weather-segment clip, and revisits backlash to Koy’s Taylor Swi...

Marc Maron recorded 1,686 episodes of WTF with Marc Maron. For the final one, he went back to Barack Obama, the guest whose 2015 visit to Maron’s garage became a defining moment in podcast history. In this Comedy Deep Dive, Johnny Mac tells the story of Marc Maron and WTF, from Maron’s turbulent years in stand-up and radio to launching a podcast out of his garage and becoming one of comedy’s most important interviewers. We revisit the unlikely rise of WTF, Maron’s reputation for being brillian...

Johnny Mac delivers comedy news including Stavros Halkias blaming private equity for fast-food quality declines, citing Wendy’s lettuce and Jersey Mike’s changes. Chris Rock, speaking at TIFF, says he asked Adam Sandler for advice on moving into drama, praises Uncut Gems and Punch-Drunk Love, notes he lacks “Madagascar money” post-divorce, and mentions his film Misty Green arriving October 9. Jay Leno responds to criticism for avoiding partisan comedy, with commentary from Christian Toto about l...

Bill Burr on Finding His Voice, Conan’s Tonight Show Return, and Seth Meyers’ Longer Breaks Johnny Mac shares daily comedy news featuring Rolling Stone’s cover story on Bill Burr and clips where Burr discusses finding his voice, moving away from being...

Johnny Mac delivers comedy news including Stavros Halkias blaming private equity for fast-food quality declines, citing Wendy’s lettuce and Jersey Mike’s changes. Chris Rock, speaking at TIFF, says he asked Adam Sandler for advice on moving into drama, praises Uncut Gems and Punch-Drunk Love, notes he lacks “Madagascar money” post-divorce, and mentions his film Misty Green arriving October 9. Jay Leno responds to criticism for avoiding partisan comedy, with commentary from Christian Toto about l...

Johnny Mac covers several comedy stories: Live Nation Studios, Kevin Hart’s Heartbeat, and All Things Comedy are producing Golf Trip, an ensemble film starring Tom Segura, Andrew Santino, and Timothy Simons about three friends whose annual trip is disrupted when they’re paired with an intrusive solo golfer; Mac is skeptical the project will be good. Ron White on Joe Rogan’s podcast calls Kill Tony an important launching pad only if comics are prepared, discusses why he bans openers from doing cr...

Johnny Mac closes out the poolside season with Pete Davidson and Colin Jost’s Staten Island Ferry comedy night, major Saturday Night Live cast news, and the competing accounts in the Chelsea Handler–Salma Hindy dispute. Pete Davidson and Colin Jost finally put their famously unusual ferry purchase to work, transforming the decommissioned Staten Island Ferry into a floating comedy venue. Johnny breaks down the jokes about the Coast Guard, the brutal heat, and the realities of staging stand-up ab...

Johnny Mac shares comedy news including Taco Bell partnering with Kevin Hart to promote the Live Más Open on Nov. 2, where fans can qualify via Topgolf’s Shot Shuffle or an online sweepstakes to compete in a team golf event for a chance to bring back a chosen Taco Bell menu item; qualifiers run through Sept. 27, with a quote from Topgolf CEO David emphasizing accessibility. Chris Rock, at TIFF, says it’s harder to be Tom Cruise than U.S. president. Stavros Halkias tells GQ he’s chasing one unden...

Johnny Mac delivers comedy news featuring Chris Rock discussing how fame has shifted from perks like free stuff to realizing fan interactions can make someone’s day, and accepting celebrity as part of who he is. A GQ profile of Stavros Halikis covers fan encounters, the origins and appeal of the “Cum Town” podcast, its unexpected success, and his decision to leave despite major income to focus on his own work after self-funding projects. Jay Pharoah says comedians help people laugh through pain,...

Funny Money: The Dane Cook Story drops September 29, the documentary about the half-brother who stole twelve million dollars and hid it in pasta sauce. Before you watch it, Johnny Mac traces the full Dane Cook story: the website he built with his retirement savings before anyone thought that was smart, the MySpace page that got to a million and a half followers before social media was a strategy, Retaliation debuting at number four on the Billboard 200, the arena tours, the joke theft accusation...

Johnny Mac covers an interview with Carlos Mencia, who faces 12 LA County felony tax-evasion counts, has pled not guilty, and says he never “evaded,” expects past tax years to be filed soon, and titled his tour “Keep Me Out of Jail,” while reflecting on joke-stealing fallout, Joe Rogan’s role in amplifying it, and a decade of therapy about being a jerk. Chris Rock tells Variety he winters in LA, calling it a complicated place where fame has shifted from greatness to notoriety and where “dreams” ...

Johnny Mac recaps daily comedy news after falling behind due to jury duty, focusing on the Emmys and Stephen Colbert’s appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live. He highlights a widely shared John Mulaney Emmys bit about male TV actors and reads a passage from Frank Vincent’s A Guy’s Guide to Being a Man’s Man. Colbert wins an Emmy for The Late Show’s final year and uses his speech to credit writers and encourage hiring his staff; he later visits Kimmel, jokes about CBS, gets his beard shaved on-air, and ...

Johnny Mac covers a gossip report claiming Taylor Swift is furious at Nikki Glaser for saying on stage she attended Swift’s wedding despite barely knowing the couple, with sources alleging many celebrity guests scarcely knew Swift and comparisons being made to Meghan Markle’s wedding guest list. He highlights Dave Chappelle’s short arena tour culminating at Madison Square Garden for the New York Comedy Festival. He discusses reports that Howard Stern was upset about backlash to ending Howard 101...

Johnny Mac previews Stephen Colbert’s guest appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live and notes Kimmel will again tape a week of shows at the Brooklyn Academy of Music Sept. 28–Oct. 2. Eric Idle says “Python is dead,” rejects any Monty Python reunion (even without John Cleese), and hints at deeper issues amid past disputes over money and management, while Greg Daniels tells Variety an Office reunion isn’t needed because the ending worked. Saturday Night Live Season 52 premieres Sept. 26 with host Jalen Br...

Sam Morril’s New Netflix Special, Kimmel FCC Concerns, and Comedy News Roundup Johnny Mac shares comedy news, led by Sam Morril’s Netflix special “Incorrect” premiering September 29, his second for Netflix, covering topics like a disastrous one-night...

Johnny Mac cold-reads and reacts to Rolling Stone’s “50 Best Stand-Up Comics of All Time” list from Feb. 14, 2017, noting the magazine’s modern-stand-up criteria and reassessing choices nearly a decade later. He questions or comments on many rankings (including Wanda Sykes, Aziz Ansari, Reggie Watts, Tig Notaro, Patton Oswalt, Jonathan Winters, Mitch Hedberg, and others), flags some comics as forgotten, and highlights entries like Gary Shandling, Dick Gregory, Redd Foxx, Rodney Dangerfield, Eddi...

Jerry Seinfeld was asked which joke he'd send to aliens to represent all of comedy. He picked Rodney Dangerfield. Johnny Mac looks at why — the no-respect premise as a structural achievement, the rapid-fire construction that makes the jokes work even when you already know them, the 31-year comedy club on the Upper East Side that launched Seinfeld, Roseanne Barr, Sam Kinison and Robert Schimmel, the Caddyshack role that was written for Don Rickles, and the honest question of whether the film fame...

Johnny Mac delivers daily comedy news on 9/11, leading with Pete Davidson reflecting on the anniversary as a 33-year-old father, discussing his firefighter father Scott Matthew Davidson’s death at the World Trade Center, his daughter Scotty’s name, and how he learned of the death from TV. He then covers a report that John Mulaney may star in a Get Smart reboot, recapping the franchise’s history. A Variety cover story on Chris Rock highlights his careful approach to comedy, views on controversy a...

Jimmy Kimmel returned from summer break for his 4,000th episode, joked he and Donald Trump “accomplished nothing” all summer, mocked the Reflecting Pool cleanup and the Strait of Hormuz, and Page Six reported his show could end when his contract expires, which ABC denied; Bill Carter compared the report to a fabricated Johnny Carson-era story. Jon Stewart also returned and used the “You Can See Everything” trailer concept with Trump superimposed to riff on Natalie Harp. John Oliver will host Com...

Johnny Mac’s Daily Comedy News covers Nikki Glaser’s Caesars Palace set where she jokes about attending an alleged top-secret Taylor Swift wedding at Madison Square Garden, with phones surrendered, A-list guests, a night spent with J.Lo, and a punchline involving Tom Cruise and a cake topper. Stavros Halkias discusses his crumbling health, injuries, stress, and relapse into edible addiction while promoting his new Netflix special. There’s major buzz around Nathan Fielder’s nearly three-hour A24 ...

Johnny Mac highlights Stavros Halkias’s new Netflix special and his Vulture Maria Bamford Questionnaire answers, including refusing to return to Side Splitters’ Tampa comedy condo, wanting to live part-time in Greece, and a lacrosse-coach lesson about not quitting. Conan O’Brien recounts attending Taylor Swift’s wedding and praises Adam Sandler’s officiating. Atsuko Okatsuka shares fan interactions, says people copy her haircut, reveals she’s good at physical therapy for seniors, and lists a fan...

Johnny Mac delivers daily comedy news on the last day of summer, led by Netflix renewing The Pete Davidson Thing and ordering a new project from Katt Williams. Davidson also meets aspiring comic Liam, who has 5p syndrome, while filming Tommy Karate in Brooklyn and reportedly donates $20,000. Joe Rogan criticizes a claim that Lake Ontario was renamed “Lake America,” calling it a distraction from war concerns with Iran. The Telegraph reviews Ricky Gervais’ new tour Legend, saying it recycles mater...

On September 17, 2001, David Letterman came back and didn't do a monologue. Jon Stewart came back the same night and cried on camera before becoming recognizably himself again. SNL came back September 29 with Lorne Michaels asking Rudy Giuliani if it was okay to be funny, and Giuliani delivering the best line of the night. Bill Maher said something true at the wrong moment and lost his show. Gilbert Gottfried made a 9/11 joke at the Friar's Club three weeks later, got booed, and pivoted into the...