Sept. 2, 2026

Jon Stewart Questions Political Comedy’s Impact + Brian Baumgartner (The Office) Golf Tal

Show Notes
Transcript

Johnny Mac covers Jon Stewart’s comments on Michelle Obama’s podcast about not confusing cultural power with real power, the fragility of leaders toward satire, and whether political comedy helps or corrodes discourse. Brian Baumgartner discusses being The Office’s best golfer, joint pain from long tournament weeks, and promotes Voltaren while naming Oscar as his preferred golf partner. The lineup for Last One Laughing UK season three is announced, including Lee Mack, Katherine Ryan, Harry Hill, Katherine Parkinson, Michelle de Swart, Jen Richardson, Morgana Robinson, Josh Jones, Roisin Conaty, and returning Richard Ayoade. Bill Burr talks Massachusetts bar pizza as Anthony Michael Hall praises lobster rolls and Cape fish. Leanne Morgan discusses Season 2 storylines, dating, menopause, elderly parents, and plastic surgery. Trevor Noah adds BaFunny shows in Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Durban, the LA Times recommends several LA comedy nights, and Veronica Slivka’s indie-pop project “Me As a Girl” is revealed with new music and a NYC debut show.

00:12 Jon Stewart on Power
00:47 Office Star Golf Talk
02:13 Voltaren Caddy Pitch
03:15 Last One Laughing Cast
04:17 Bill Burr Pizza Hunt
05:14 Leanne Morgan Season Two
07:14 Trevor Noah Adds Shows
07:51 LA Comedy Night Picks
09:49 SNL Star Secret Music

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Calaroga Shark Media.

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Hey, I'm Johnny Mac with your daily comedy news. Jon

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Stewart went on Michelle Obama's podcast and discussed the president

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of the United States. Jon Stewart said, I never confuse

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cultural power with power. There's nothing more fragile than someone

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who wields real power, who feels that the power will

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be diminished by satire or commentary. It's kind of a

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shocking fragility. I mean, he's made all our shows relevant

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again in a weird way. John wonders whether political comedy

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actually helps. Does this help? Does it corrode? Does it pervert?

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Is it ultra-processed food that's given the country kind of

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political diabetes? I don't know. He says he tries to

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operate in good faith. It may not be an honorable

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thing we do, but we do it as honorably as

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we can. Brian Baumgartner, you know him as Kevin on

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The Office. He spoke to The Healthy about golf and

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joint pain. Brian, who was Kevin on The Office, said

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when people ask who was the best golfer on The Office,

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that's an easy one. Hold on. Who's asking that? Like

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if you ran into John Krasinski, would you be like, hey, John,

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who was the best golfer on the show? Would you

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ask John Krasinski that? Would you ask Oscar Nunez who

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was the best golfer on the office? Hey, Steve Carell,

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nice to meet you, boy. I love the show. Anyway,

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Brian says it's him. And nobody would argue it because

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he was the only one that played. That's another reason

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not to ask them that. Brian said they were always

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looking for ideas. Pitching a client on a golf course.

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That's a fairly obvious setup for an episode. It's the

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only sales call that Kevin, the accountant, was ever on

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in 10 years, nine seasons. So I think that pretty

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much indicates I was the driving force behind that idea,

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and they wanted me out there because I knew what

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I was doing a little bit. Then the healthy was curious. Hey, Kevin,

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I mean, Brian, when did you first start noticing joint pain?

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Brian said, for me, primarily it's standing for long periods

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of time. But you know, all the professional golf tournaments

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that I'm playing in now, at least professional in terms

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of this sort of celebrity crops up, I'm playing three, four, five,

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or six rounds in a row over the course of

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a week. More than just the repetitive motion, the swinging,

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the walking, the hills, it's also just the standing. People

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say golf takes four hours, and it should take four

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hours normally, but for these tournament situations, it's five hours.

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You're putting nine to 14 miles at a minimum on

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your leg, so joint pain happens. This apparently was a

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whole setup for a product called Voltaren because the healthy-ass

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Brian Baumgartner, hey, you're serving as Voltaren's relief caddy. What

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does that role mean? And how does Voltaren help you

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manage joint pain? Brian, who might possibly perhaps saw a

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couple bucks out of this conversation, said, if I'm playing golf,

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there's somebody helping me, right? Not just somebody helping me,

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but what a lot of fans don't see. Sorry to

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spoil these professional golfers who it's all the news about

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how fit they are and how much time they spend

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in the weight room. Let me tell you, there are trainers,

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there are massages happening, there's stretching that's happening before rounds,

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after rounds, there's medication being administered, there are gels, including...

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while Taryn being put on joints to help both before

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and after a round. So I think what's so clever

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about this, well, the golfers have a caddy. Why don't

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the fans who are walking around and standing around have

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somebody to help them as well? The healthy was smart

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enough to get back to the office and ask Brian,

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which character from the office would you most like to

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hit the links with and why? Brian said, I would

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say having some laughs and playing with a friend is

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what I enjoy about golf, so I'm going to say Oscar.

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I am jazzed for Last One Laughing Season 3. I

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might have to wait many months, but I love that show,

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Last One Laughing UK. Jimmy Carr once again will host. Now,

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on the first two seasons, his sidekick was Royceon Conaty. However,

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she is one of the contestants, and what a list

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this is. Are you ready? Lee Mack, who you may

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know from What I Lied to You. Katherine Ryan. who

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you may know from just listening to my podcast every day.

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Harry Hill, who I am under-familiar with. Katherine Parkinson, Michelle DeSwart,

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Jen Richardson, Morgana Robinson, Josh Jones, Royshen Conady, and Richard Ayoade,

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who came in second in the first season. Metro wrote,

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it's unfair that Richard is back. By the way, Richard

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would be a great Doctor Who. Somebody needs to listen

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to me. Make him Doctor Who. That would be amazing.

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and it will resurrect the show. He should be Doctor Who.

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On social media, one person said this is not good

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news for the rest of the comedians and claimed that

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Richard Ayoade is the Usain Bolt of poker faces. Bill

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Burr chatted with Anthony Michael Hall about pizza, as one does.

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We learned that Bill Burr is a fan of the

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Bay State's famous bar pizzas. Bill said, I've gone all

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the way up to Marblehead. I've gotten everything. I can

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go down Route 3. I can go down 95, 93,

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whatever you want. Not so good out on the 405.

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So if anybody has some suggestions. The South Shore is

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more inviting. You can just join the group. At the

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North Shore, I felt like I had to jump through

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a few hoops. I'm like, all right. They're a little

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more guarded. What is there? Pizza a little better? Anthony

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Hall did not have any bar pizza suggestions, but he

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did reveal that he's a fan of the region's lobster

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rolls and enjoys seafood. and tells us he can always

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trust the fish on the cape. Now, when I was

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prepping this show, this particular story I grabbed Friday night,

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and it made me crave pizza, and as I'm recording

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right now, once again, it's making me crave pizza. The

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difference is, on Friday, my wife had brought home a

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slice of pizza. Right now, no such luck. My wife

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has been watching Leigh-Anne on Netflix. She is enjoying it.

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Leigh-Anne Morgan spoke with Decider about her character getting flirty

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this season. And they were curious how her husband in

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real life, Chuck, feels about Leanne living single on screen.

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Leanne said, Chuck doesn't care, honey, if I'm bringing in money.

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In real life, if something, God forbid, if Chuck Morgan

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left me, I'd be dating, honey. I've loved men all

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my life. I think he knows she's in menopause and

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she's tired or heat hurt and she's not going to

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go out and honky tonk. I think that's what Chuck

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Morgan thinks, because he's right. You know, I just talk

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a big game about dating. In season two, one of

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the plot points is taking care of elderly parents. Leanne said,

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my mama and daddy are 83 and 86, and I

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begged them to move in with me, but my dad

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wouldn't leave the house. I thought it was so relevant

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for what people are going through in the United States.

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You know, when you're trying to launch your kids, then

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you've got elderly parents you're tending to. And I thought

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it just hit perfectly. And then my character is going

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through this big change in her life. You can't imagine

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how many women have come to me since season one

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and said, I went through the exact same thing. You

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don't know how much hope that gave me that I

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can find love again, that I'm going to be all right.

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I've got my family and friends to lift me up.

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It's been really sweet. It's been more than comedy, I

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would say. As for the elderly parent storyline, I think

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in my stand-up, I talk about things that everybody goes through,

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like menopause and all that. And I just think it's

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a time in life. I don't know if it was

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after COVID or what happened, but I think people want

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real and people want stories that are reflected in their

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own life. And I do that in my stand-up. I

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just think there's something about it that's comforting and just

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something everybody can enjoy together. I also thought it was

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important for this multicam, if little children want to watch it,

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all the way up to elderly, all people. I think

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it's important to reflect on what's going on in real life.

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There's an episode where they talk about getting plastic surgery.

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Leanne said, I'll go back and forth thinking, should I

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get my neck done? I look at my neck and

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I think, oh Lord, then the next day I go, no,

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I want to be me. I'm going to age gracefully

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or whatever. I think with my generation, we're more vibrant

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than we've ever been. But you know, we're living longer.

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We want a better life expectancy and we've got supplements.

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I'm always about a supplement, but I think women my

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age are feeling younger. It's like the new 40. We

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want to go and do and have purpose and plastic

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surgery is part of that, but I love a good laser.

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Ha ha ha. Well, I bumped the Anna Burner story

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yet again. Someday we'll get to it. Trevor Noah announced

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more shows in South Africa. It is the lineup for

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Bafani Bafani. I'll let Trevor Noah take it from here.

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I have edited this clip for pacing.

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You've asked and we're responding. Bafani Bafani tickets are available

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on the 4th of September. We've added a show in Johannesburg.

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Cape Town, we've added one more show. Durban, we've added

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one more show. There's no more shows we can't add.

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So thank you to everyone who's coming to the shows.

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I will be there.

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I'll be on stage doing comedy. Eugene might be there.

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I guess now we have to tell him about it.

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Now would be a good time. And then we've got

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amazing comedians.

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Joining us as well. The LA Times. No, we're not

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talking about comedians the LA Times is into. Now they

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wrote about comedy nights that they're into. One of them

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is the completely different Late Show at Groundlings Theatre. The

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director takes suggestions from the audience, the cast hears them,

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characters are immediately developed, and laughs ensue. A trio of

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musicians provide musical cues for each scene. The result? Create

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scenes that play as if they were part of a sitcom.

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You'll find that 9.30 at the Groundlings on Fridays and Saturdays.

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22 bucks, that's not bad. They also recommend Stand Up

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and Clown at the Elysian. That show acts as an

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intro course to both the audience and some of the

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show's performers to the art of clowning. Nine comics get

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a crash course in Clown through a series of games, challenges,

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and interruptions by various eccentric characters that make full use

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of the Elysian's main stage. The next performance is October

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30th at 10.30. Tickets are $ 18. 90. At The Fable, you'll

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find Mike Erdos. L.A. stand-up Mike Bridenstine curates a lineup

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of killers that are usually headlining the comedy store, starring

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on TV shows, or hustling to become the next big comedian.

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But more importantly, he books comics that are willing to

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try anything to get a laugh. The vibe here is

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the polar opposite of the hungry Hollywood race. We're told

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people are as chill as the beer. That sounds great.

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8 p.m. on Wednesdays, tickets are free. So that show

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is Microdose at the Fable. How about the wonderfully titled

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Ha-Ha's and Ta-Ta's at Plan B? We're told if your

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ideal night out includes big laughs, cold drinks, and a

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little eye candy, then Ha-Ha's and Ta-Ta's at Plan B

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Gentleman's Club in West L.A. is calling your name. And

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apparently the venue normally has adult entertainment.

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Uh-oh.

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Food, drinks, laughs, and maybe mischief? What more could you

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want on a Thursday night? It's the first Thursday of

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the month, which would be tomorrow, wouldn't it? Yes. Tickets

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are free with an Eventbrite reservation or $ 10 at the door,

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8 p.m. And they also recommend Don't Tell Comedy at

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secret spots. We've talked about that in the past. Those

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are the secret shows that pop up. LA Times has

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a great comedy section. Let's get one more story in here.

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Veronica Slowakowska from SNL and Tires. She apparently has been

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releasing pop music under another name. That other name is

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Me as a Girl, an indie pop project that's been

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releasing music since late 2025 without connecting Veronica to it.

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Late Nighter learned she has plans to release more music

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in September and will play her first live show as

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Me As A Girl in New York City this month.

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Her first single is called When You Had Me, You

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Ran Away. And that was followed by a four-song EP,

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wherever you get your music. And that is your comedy

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news for today. See you tomorrow.