Katt Williams calls Steve Harvey a cautionary tale.

0:09 Happy Monday. I'm Johnny Mac with your daily comedy news. The Hollywood Reporter profiled Cat Williams and some of the copywriting is amazing. They wrote, but when asked about Steve Harvey, Williams struggles. I'll read it verbatim. Well, this took a turn, he says, taking a drag from his fourth cigarette. I did so well with Ricky Smiley, too. This is the point where you're expecting Williams to bury Harvey like the latter did him in a 2024 episode of Shannon Sharpe's Club Che Che podcast that's been viewed more than 94 million times. But on this night, the five foot five giant of comedy lays down his verbal shovel and decides not to toss more dirt on Harvey. Kat says the statistics will show nine times out of 10, no matter who it is, I'm going to find something wonderful to say, because if you don't have anything good to say, don't say anything at all. Then they add Williams has an acquired pitch, almost as if he's about to tell you a secret. But in this case, after two minutes, the nicest or most respectful thing he can say about Harvey is that he's a cautionary tale. Then another paragraph on the topic of the Sharp interview comes up. William relights his blunt to talk about another book he's turned into moments featuring chaotic or adversarial elements. Sun Tzu's The Art of War. For all the specials he's had, movies and TV shows he's appeared in, the Sharp interview remains unarguably the biggest cultural touchstone of this point of his career.

1:25 The comedian is cool with this. He said, if I got up there and lied 17 times, then I should expect some retribution. But not if I get up there and tell some uncomfortable truths. There was little for me to gain if it wasn't done correctly. All very interesting. Ron Funches will have a new special on Guerrilla Comedy Plus November 2nd. Then you can watch it on regular YouTube on December 1st. Ron Funches is in top form. The description, laying bare the trials of trying to be a better dad, staying in shape, divorce, and love. It's a hilarious and poignant hour of comedy as only Ron can deliver. Ron Funches gave a statement which reads, I'm excited to share the most intimate, honest, and hilarious hour of stand-up I've ever created with the help of the talented, comedy-loving team at 800lb Gorilla. Jordan Klepper heads back into MAGA country for another Daily Show field special. This will be on tonight after the Daily Show. In the new half hour, Klepper is back on the campaign trail. Don't forget, the midterm elections are coming up. I will lecture you after the break. Jordan travels around the country talking with conservative voters and activists about everything from the war with Iran and gas prices to the political fallout surrounding the demolished East Wing. Now, I got to tip my Knicks ghost cap to whoever Matt Friend's agent is, because Matt Friend's agent gets Matt Friend a lot of high profile work.

2:42 Some people say Matt Friend's impressions are all right and that Matt Friend is not that funny. I've heard some people say that. But whatever they're saying about Matt Friend not being funny, he has now been added to the postgame show on Thursday Night Football. Didn't Nikki Glaser do that for two minutes and bomb horribly? Am I imagining that? That was a thing, right? John, you have Google, you tell us. You're hosting the show. Let me look. Yes, Nikki Glaser debuted on September 20th, 2024, following the Jets-Patriots game, where she made fun of Aaron Rodgers and called him Throw Rogan. AI Overview says her style drew a mix of viral attention, heavy social media reaction, and polarized responses. But now Matt Friend is on Thursday Night Football, even though I've heard some people say that his comedy's not that funny and his impressions are alright, nothing special there, but he was on Thursday Night Football after the Patriots-Bears game, quote, bringing the spirit of late-night comedy to Thursday nights with original sketches, celebrity impressions, and Friend's comedic take on sports and entertainment. Yikes. Matt Friend said, Thursday night football is one of the biggest stages in sports, and I can't wait to bring even more fun to the night. I know and love the game of football. And with The Friend Zone, oh my God, do you want to throw up?

3:55 He's calling a segment The Friend Zone. I'm going to throw up in my mouth, but I can't right now because I have to host the podcast. With The Friend Zone, I'm bringing my comedic perspective to select Thursday night's original sketches, impressions, and a few surprises along the way. Getting to kick things off in my hometown of Chicago makes it even better. I'm sorry, Al Michaels. Radio Atlantic caught up with Maria Bamford. She gave quite the quoted. She was talking about being a very open person. She said, I think I have pride about that, where I go ask me anything and that I'm messy. My brand is messy. It's all right. It's okay. No one's going to be surprised that there's a layer of dust on something or my face is smudged with a little bit of cake or frosting. The Atlantic brought up when Conan O'Brien described her as a lobster without a shell. Maria said, he's an extremely wonderful person. Everything he does is hilarious, wonderful. But I think people mistake that. I really don't agree with that. I feel like I'm tough as nails. You know what I'm saying?

4:42 I'll cry and have all the feels and all that stuff. But yeah, that feels to me not true at all. And this next part, a little more serious here. She talked about when she was a kid, around nine or 10, she got a fear that she was going to be a serial killer. She said, I don't know where I got this. I think I was watching a ton of TV and I thought there were a couple of things where I was like, oh, that's the worst thing you can possibly be. So I'd have a weird thought like, oh, what if I reached out and touched someone's genitals? And instead of going, yeah, I'm never going to do that. That's never going to happen. Interesting, but not that interesting. I look at it as, oh, I should isolate myself from people. I had physical tics, like gripping my fists, sitting on my hands. Most of it was isolation, like not making eye contact with people. But oddly, the one place where I didn't have those was on stage when I could perform or be in front of people. We have so much different chemicals running through your body. I wasn't able to have those intrusive thoughts. It was just me enjoying myself on stage. So, yeah, it can really devastate people. It attacks whatever you love. I was just enjoying myself too much on stage. Total switch of gears, Jeremy Colhane tells Parade Magazine why he teamed up to bring back the Laughing Cow's famous laugh. Yes, this was a really big deal out there in the world. There's nothing else going on. But as you know, the Laughing Cow had a few rough weeks. And now Jeremy Colhane from Saturday Night Live, best known as Tucker Carlson, has teamed up with the Second City at a performance aimed at bringing back the Laughing Cow's famous laugh. This is clever marketing. The show features improvisers taking on the everyday disagreements that have become the focus of the brand's recent ad campaign. The special is called Let's Make the Not

6:12 Laughing Cow Laugh Again. You see, in September, the laughing cow made headlines when its mascot stopped laughing for the first time in more than 100 years. The brand later revealed that the change was inspired by petty disagreements that can divide people. Culhane told Parade exclusively. He only said this to Parade. If you run in on the street and you're like, hey, what's up with the laughing cow? He's not going to say this to you. This was exclusive for Parade. He said, I mean, how often does someone call you and say, hey, we need your help making a cow laugh? That's not an opportunity you get every day. I had to do this. I needed to do this. It was my calling, my vocation. I got asked twice this morning to ask cows laugh. Stop. Sometimes all it takes is someone pointing out how absurd divisions are for you to realize that they're actually pretty funny.

6:55 That's what I love about comedy. If you can get people laughing together, suddenly they're friends. All right, so he gave some examples of his things. Jeremy Collain said, I firmly believe pineapple on pizza is the best topping, hands down. I've nearly come to blows over this many times, especially after moving to New York. Everyone says it's the pizza capital of the world, but where is the pineapple? He also has strong feelings about how people pack suitcases and whether hot dogs or sandwiches. His take, if a hot dog is a sandwich, then a folded pizza is a sandwich. You can find the Make the Not Laughing Cow laugh again on the Laughing Cow's Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube channels. I've been meaning to give a shout out to Richard, who's out there in Arizona. Richard, this one is for you.

7:36 You see, about twice a week, I screw something up on the back end, and Richard will shoot me the most friendly, the most helpful, the most lovely note ever. Hey, dude, I think you uploaded the Royal Family podcast or the Trivia podcast or you uploaded the wrong comedy show or whatever I screw up. And I'm tracking this. There are some days I get up at 6 a.m., some days I get up at 7 a.m., and it seems that when I make the mistakes are the days I get up at 6 a.m. Also, I could use Richard here in the basement studio today because I never plugged in the laptop, and right before I did this segment here, the laptop crashed in the middle of recording. You see, laptops need to be charged occasionally, and they don't run on zero battery. So, Richard, where are you when I need you? Thank you for everything you do. Alfred Robles has a new special out. The LA Times caught up with Alfred. He opened up for Gabriel Iglesias and Joe Coy at SoFi Stadium. You know who Gabe is. Now, if you're like, who's Joe Coy? He one time told this horrible, mean joke about Taylor Swift. Here, let me remind you. As you know, we came on after a football doubleheader. The big difference between the Golden Globes and the NFL, on the Golden Globes, we have fewer camera shots of Taylor Swift. I swear. There's just more to go to. Sorry about that. Robles said, that was a pretty amazing opening for those guys. One of the best comedy experiences ever, bro. I'm a big Rams fan, so I was at the Super Bowl there, and then I saw Paul McCartney there, so performing there was dope. The Times said, doesn't get any bigger than that. And Alfred said, no, man, that kind of sucks because it's like, what's next, bro?

9:08 Gabe said the same thing about the big show. Like, where do you go from there? More seriously, Alfred said that he is his mom's caretaker. And he said, man, I didn't want that job, to be honest. Yeah, because I have two older brothers and it's kind of crazy because I look like my dad, the guy that left my mom. So my mom always throws at my face. She says, you look like your dad, but it's cool, man. Of course, I love my mom. I make fun of her a lot. It's a good thing because my mom, she's 84 and she's at that age where she believes everything I tell her. So I could be lying to her. His mom has only gone to one show. That was when they did Dodger Stadium with Gabe in 2022. That's the only show she's gone to. She didn't even tell me she was going. She told me she didn't want to go. I like times like she snuck in and Alfred was like, yeah, it's crazy how I found out.

9:48 Shout out Gabe's photographer, Troy. He took a picture and was like, hey, there's a lady out there that says she's your mom. She says, she's here with your brother. And I took a picture and I said, my mom says she's not coming. And he said, dude, she's your mom. I said let me see that picture and it was my mom she just didn't want to let me know she was there that's the only show she's gone to speaking of Gabe he has been a mentor to Robles how'd they meet the answer I met him at a bar show in the city of Montebello and he was still doing bar shows and I met him and he gave me advice he was like hey you're a funny guy but you cuss a lot you stop cussing and you're gonna go far And I'm like, bro, that's all I have. And I took his advice. And like a year later, he started taking me on the road. It's crazy how I started with him because it was like, I'm going to take you on tour with me, but you're not going to have a regular spot. You're not going to be on stage every day. He says, I want you to help me. I want to do meet and greets and take pictures for the meet and greets.

10:33 And then we'll go from there. So that's how I started taking pictures for him with his meet and greets. And then I started working the ranks. Then he gave me five minute spots and I started doing good. And he goes, hey, you're killing it. You have good sets. Next time I'm going to give you eight minutes. You're not going to take pictures anymore. And so he sold it to me. He was all like, I'm not going to give you stage time. You're going to help me if you want this. I wanted it. It's all I want to do is be a comedian. Boy, that's fascinating. As for the not cussing thing, I try and keep this show as clean as I can. And this all goes back to working with Foxworthy and crew. And I remember Jeff, when I first met him, said he was like anybody else who cursed in his comedy. And then he held up his hands and he said, once I stopped cursing, I picked up the younger people and the grandma's. And with his hands, he indicated how much bigger his audience had gotten. So don't curse if you don't need to.

11:17 Sometimes I'll run the stop sign here on the show if I think it's very core to what we're talking about. But for the most part, I try and take these swear words out. The rest of the show is pretty serious today. I don't know why you would be listening with children, but if you are, stop. The BBC has revealed they are actively considering... concerns around a rape joke made by Vittorio Angeloni, star of an upcoming sitcom, Rewarding. Vittorio apologized for his comments about the sexual assault of a woman, I'm going to just not name her, who was going through a rape trial. He referred to the influencer's rape during an appearance on the Have a Word podcast. After becoming aware of the remarks, the woman said, I understand comedy and things can be laughed at, but this is one of the hardest things I've ever been through in my life, and I'm not exaggerating, and it just hurts.

11:59 It's not funny, and he's not funny. Angeloni then shared a statement on the subject in which he apologized and branded himself quote-unquote completely pathetic. He added that he is grateful to have been called out. He said, I made a joke that I shouldn't have made, and I'd like to say sorry. The joke referenced sexual violence at the very least. I should have run the joke past the person mentioned and then still not told it because it isn't funny. I let my need for validation supersede my own standards and morals. It's completely pathetic, and I'm ashamed to realize that myself. He says he prides himself on, quote, being able to talk about different topics and make them funny and that he, quote, stands behind plenty of jokes that people have criticized. But this was not one of those jokes. He said he apologized to the woman directly and added, I'm so sorry to all the people who are rightly upset by the joke. I know that's not going to make it OK, but I'm still sorry. I'm not apologizing in the hopes that this all blows over.

12:47 I'm apologizing because that's what you should do when you realize you've done something wrong. I'm grateful to you for calling me out and making me realize where I should have done better. Sometimes you need a lot of people telling you that you effed up to realize that you effed up. I will do better in the future. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the BBC, which is set to air the sitcom later this year, said we're aware of the concerns that have been raised and are actively considering them, recognizing their seriousness and the sensitivities involved. The sitcom Rewarding follows a pair of support workers as they attempt to do their best to care for their clients. the Russell Brand trial continues. It is really ugly. Every headline is just terrible and not something I want to do on this show. Ideally, the show is fun. We'll occasionally get serious, but I just don't want to get into the Russell Brand trial. If you do want to keep up on it, we have a sister podcast, Daily Crime and Justice, and they are covering it almost every single day. So I'll refer you there and I'll, for the most part, stay out of it. It's just, it's obviously just a horrible topic and I just don't want to do that here.

13:47 I will continue to lecture you. You got to vote. Election day next Tuesday, right? Yeah. So you got eight days. If you want to vote now, you can early vote. You'll have to do a little bit of work. You got your phone in your hand right now. Type in early voting near me and let the interwebs tell you where to go. And then you could vote for whoever you want to. I'm not telling you who to vote for, who not to vote for. That's up to you. But I do think it's really, really important that you vote so that your guys get in and the people you don't like don't get in. That's how this all works. So please vote. If you don't vote today or vote early, make sure you're ready to vote Next Tuesday, I'm going to vote in person on Election Day. I plan to get an iced coffee if the place reopens. They're still renovating. I am dying without my morning coffees. Richard, that's why I'm making mistakes, because I'm not caffeinated. And that is your comedy news for today. See you tomorrow.