June 21, 2026

Netflix Renews Kevin Hart’s Funny AF; Chris Tucker’s Celibacy Reveal and Robby Hoffman's real name

Show Notes
Transcript

Johnny Mac covers Netflix’s announcement of season two of Kevin Hart’s comedy competition series Funny AF with Kevin Hart, noting Hart returns as host, the show and Hart have Emmy nominations, and the new season won’t arrive until 2027. Chris Tucker revealed during a Las Vegas set that he has been celibate for more than three years while focusing on finding lasting love and marriage. Marc Maron discusses his special Panicked as his best work, describing its arc, editing process to 73 minutes, and concerns that platform-driven viral culture lowers the bar and makes comedy disposable. Jeff Ross tells Deadline how roasts have grown globally on Netflix, remain a rare “anything goes” outlet, help launch comics like Nikki Glaser, and says more Bumping Mics depends on Dave Attell. Robbie Hoffman explains changing her name from Rivka Sarah. Janelle James is developing Hulu’s Rock City. A music-use fee from The Late Show will be donated to World Central Kitchen. Comedian Bita Judaki describes her style and influences.

00:13 Kevin Hart Show Renewed
00:45 Chris Tucker Celibacy
01:22 Marc Maron Panicked Craft
02:18 Maron on Comedy Business
03:08 Jeff Ross Roast Evolution
04:10 Roasts Launching Stars
04:35 More Bumping Mics
04:53 Robbie Hoffman Stage Name
05:52 Janelle James Hulu Series
06:19 Colbert Music Donation

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This is the animal sanctuary mentioned in the February 10 episode.

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

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comedy news. NETFLX is announced we're getting season two of

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Kevin Hart's Funny AF with Kevin Hart. I personally think

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that's good news as comedy competitions go. That was a

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good version of one. Kevin Hart will return as host,

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which is good because it's called Funny AF with Kevin Hart.

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Also good news for the crew. The show is up

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for Outstanding Reality Competition Program in the Emmys. Hart is

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also up for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality

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Competition Program. You won't get season two until twenty twenty seven.

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Chris Tucker wants us to know that he's been celibate.

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I know you were like wondering. You woke up this morning.

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You're like, I wonder if Chris Tucker's celibate. Well, the

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answer is yes. During a recent stand up performance in

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Las Vegas, Chris Tucker chose to tell the audience he's

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been celibate from more than three years as he focuses

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on finding lasting love and marriage. Tucker said, well, I'm celibate.

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I've been celibate for three years, but I'm really trying

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to get married. I give it to the love this time.

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That got a big laugh. Tucker then said, I'm serious.

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No one believes me. According to Tucker, even members of

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his family didn't believe him. He said of his niece,

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she believes in aliens, but she don't believe I did that.

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Mark Marin said that Panic is the best special I've

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ever done. The last three specials are really culmination of

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the work that have done over the last forty years

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in terms of craft, ideas and things I like to

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talk about. There was a holistic approach to the material

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that integrated nicely with me moving through things and kind

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of repairing myself. The whole production was kind of built

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around that idea, which is very poetic and I think

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elevated the special a lot. We live in a time

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when a lot of comedy specials aren't that special because

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there are so many of them, but we were able

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to bring it all together with this. There's definitely an

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arc in there. Look, it took me two years to

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really get that set up and together because I do

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like to devi it through line and right up to

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a day or two before recording. I decided to change

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the tone of the opening bit because I didn't want

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to come out with the vibe of being stride and

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herself righteous. I wanted to bring everybody in, not alienate

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them by posturing when I'm doing is special. I'm usually

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working with ninety minutes material and I try to get

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it down like seventy three minutes. That's my number, you know.

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So I had two weeks to get panicked down to

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seventy three minutes, and all of a sudden, I'm pulling

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pieces out and fitting things together differently. You always shoot

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two versions, and both shows I landed right at seventy

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three minutes with no clock. Mark was asked by golderby

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dot com if young comics ask him for advice. Mark said,

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I don't feel like I'm being sought out for advice.

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I think a lot of younger comics may have gleaned

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a lot from the podcast. I know it did help

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people because we talked about it. They're also up against

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a different business than what I was up against. I

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don't want to talk about how I feel about what's

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necessary required to be a great comic, or trace how

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you're on stage and build on that, but I really

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can't speak to the business side of things. I think

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the platform business is lowering the bar. It's about creating

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viral moments for popularity, and that doesn't necessarily mean the

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quality of what you're doing is great or that you're

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fundamentally talented or charismatic. Also think it makes comedy less

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special because it seems like everybody's going to take a

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shot at it. If you're an old timer, you believe

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it's a special type of art that starts a to

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diminish in quality in that kind of environment. I mean,

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the thought that I put into a special like Panicked

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wouldn't be required anymore. And in that case, what do

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we really have? Everything becomes disposable in an hour or two,

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and I like doing specials at last with a certain degree.

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Deadline caught up with Jeff Ross. They were curious how

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roast culture has changed since Comedy Central got into the

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roast game. Deadline said, ros have become a global phenomenon

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now that Netflix has become the de facto home for them.

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Ross said, I like that you say that they're the

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home of roasting. That'll make them feel good because that's

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something they've tried to make happen and have now made happen.

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I like the size and scope of the roast. Yeah,

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there's certain things from the old days that I missed,

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but mostly that's nostalgia. It's sort of this niche thing

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on Comedy Central. Deadline jumped in and said the Comedy

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Central Rose certainly had a different feeling. Ross said, yeah,

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I got that, but it was also pretty body and

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a times controversial. I think it's a spectacle now because

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we don't have the White House Correspondence Dinner anymore, where

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comedians are roasting the presidents speaking truth to power, free speech.

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The late night shows are getting dinged. I think the

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Roast it's like the Purge once every year or two.

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Anything goes that. If you don't like a joke, there's

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another one coming in twenty seconds. The jokes permitted at

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the roast is like no other ship. Oh and the

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fact that it's up there now. Last year we got

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nominated at the Emmys, with the Oscars, the Tony's, the Grammys,

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and the Super Bowl halftime show. So the Roast now,

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you can't argue about the cultural relevance. Tens of millions

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people watched it, so it's providing a service. Deadline said

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that the roasts are becoming an engine for minting comedy stores.

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They mentioned specifically Nicky Glazer. Has that been cool to see?

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Jeff Ros said, it's the best. It just delights me

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to no end. To note that the roast is like

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this launching pad. Everybody who did this Kevin Hart roast

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is selling out now wherever they go. Everyone's doing each

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other's podcasts, and seeing how Nicky is soaring. It just

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fills me with joy. It really does. And this is

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an interesting note. Deadline is a fan of bumping mics

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with David tell could we get more episodes? Jeff Ross said,

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it's funny you said that. I have to be careful

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because Dave is so grumpy. But last night we stopped

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by the comedy seller and went up together for twenty

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minutes and he had me laughing so hard I was

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falling on the floor. So I want to do it. It's

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up to Dave. Robbie Hoffman tells people that Robbie Hoffman

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has not always been known as Robbie Hoffman. Someone in

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show biziness changed their name, says Johnny Mack, whose real

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name is John McDermott, but it's easier to say Johnny Meck.

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No way. Apparently, Robbie was on the god Works podcast

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and explained, I'm born the name Rifka Sarah, so obviously

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when I got into comedy, Rifk is a very difficult

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name for comedians and people to bring me up, is it?

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I mean, it's not my name, but I don't know.

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But uh, all right, we're having a great show here.

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Let's keep things moving. Give it up for Rifka Sarah.

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I mean, no, you can't just do that. I mean,

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I don't care. Robbie Hoffman said, I'm just trying to

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do open mic. So when I look for a stage name,

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I wanted something familial. I just didn't want to change

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my r initial and I went with Robbie. It just

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felt like a family name. But my mother was horrified.

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My mother called me and she goes, it's a beautiful

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Jewish name, Rifka. I'm not calling you, Robbie. Rifke is

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such a beautiful name. What are you ashamed? I said, Ma,

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you think with three seconds of me being on stage,

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they're gonna be like, I wonder if she's Catholic. That

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is hilarious. Janelle James is developing a new comedy series

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at Hulu. It's titled Rock City. In Rock City, we

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would follow a woman, presumably Janelle James, who returns to

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her hometown in the Virgin Islands after she inherits a

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local tourist trap from her estranged father. According to the

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log line, she quickly realizes that she's been left much

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more than a simple beachfront bar and grill. Isn't that

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kind of the first act of the Margueritaville Musical? Alrighty?

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Remember in the finale of The Late Show with Stephen

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Colbert by the way, do you miss the show? Do

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you do? You? No? Really do you? You don't? You

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moved on? But anyway, I remember when he played the

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Linus and Lucy composition and made a joke that CBS

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was going to have to pay for it. Well, apparently

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CBS is going to pay for it, but the Lee

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Mendelssohn Film Productions Company said they will donate the proceeds

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to Chef jose Andre's World Central Kitchen, which is a

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nonprofit organization that provides meals throughout the globe during various crisses.

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In the case of the Late Show incident, Lee Mendelssohn

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Film's production chairman, Jason Mendelssohn noted LMFP found the music's

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use on the Late Show funny and entertaining, and is

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proud to support World Central Kitchen's mission. A principal goal

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of our enforcement actions is to educate individuals, businesses, and

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government entities about the needs to obtain written license agreements

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to use music in a commercial setting. And from The

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Toronto Guardian, they caught up with comedian Beta Judaki Bita.

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How would you describe your comedy style? She said, people

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have told me my style is playful, silly, surprising, dark

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and maybe too honest. Favorite shows growing up Seinfeld, The

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Simpson and Friends. Did I say friends? I did? Didn't

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I now I could edit that out, but I said friends?

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What's friends? Friends? Is? That's not even a queen's accent? Friends?

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I don't know. Her favorite shows were Seinfeld, The Simpsons

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and Friends. Beta says, I think I based a lot

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of my personality slash early comedic choices on Lisa Kudro.

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Favorite comedian now she listed Tignisaro, Devergi, Giovanni, Robin Tran

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and Kate Burlant. Pre show ritual nervously drink too much

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water at pea a lot. I'll try to watch the

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comics before me, so I understand the inside jokes that

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have already been made with the audience. That's smart. That

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is your comedy news on a summer Sunday. You can

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follow the show on Spotify, turn notifications on so you

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never miss an episode. You can also comment there, on

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And I'll see you tomorrow.