May 22, 2026

Stephen Colbert’s Late Show Finale and Chelsea Handler vs. Shane Gillis (Catch-Up from Edinburgh)

Show Notes
Transcript

Johnny Mac records a catch-up episode of Daily Comedy News from a street corner on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile after visiting Edinburgh Castle and attending the Podcast Show London. He recaps Stephen Colbert hosting the final episode of The Late Show from the Ed Sullivan Theater, sharing Colbert’s remarks about doing over 1,800 shows, calling it “The Joy Machine,” reflecting on “feeling the news,” and joking about show history and a “first drafts” bit; the final guest was Sir Paul McCartney. Johnny also covers a brewing comedy controversy: Chelsea Handler criticized Shane Gillis and Tony Hinchcliffe’s roast material on Deon Cole’s podcast, calling it gross, racist, sexist, and bigoted, citing lynching and jokes about Sheryl Underwood’s late husband; Gillis responded online and plugged a Philadelphia stadium show, and Underwood said some jokes went too far.

00:18 Colbert Final Show Tribute
02:02 Ed Sullivan Farewell Bits
03:36 Final Guest Paul McCartney
04:23 Shane Gillis Chelsea Handler Roast Drama
05:32 Royal Mile Travel Wrap

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/daily-comedy-news-with-johnny-mac-a-daily-briefing-on-comedians-and-the-comedy-industry--4522158/support.

Daily Comedy News is the number one comedy news podcast, delivering daily coverage of standup comedy, late night television, comedy specials, tours, and the business of comedy.

COMEDY SURVIVOR in the facebook group.

Contact John at John@thesharkdeck dot com

For Uninterrupted Listening, use the Apple Podcast App and click the banner that says Uninterrupted Listening. $4.99/month

John's Substack about media is free.

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

WEBVTT

1
00:00:03.160 --> 00:00:10.439
Calarugas Shark Media from Scotland. I'm Johnny Mack with a

2
00:00:10.480 --> 00:00:13.240
catch up episode of Daily Comedy News. As I mentioned

3
00:00:13.240 --> 00:00:16.000
on Friday's episode, I am traveling. I'm coming to you

4
00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:20.079
from Edinburgh, Scotland. But let's catch up. Stephen Colbert wrapped

5
00:00:20.160 --> 00:00:22.600
up the Late Show and let's have fun with today's episode.

6
00:00:22.640 --> 00:00:24.839
I'm doing this from a street corner. I haven't actually

7
00:00:24.839 --> 00:00:26.640
listened to these clips I'm about to play. I'm gonna

8
00:00:26.640 --> 00:00:29.440
pull them from the hotel later. But Stephen Colbert hosted

9
00:00:29.480 --> 00:00:33.119
the final episode of the Late Show and apparently he said.

10
00:00:32.880 --> 00:00:36.799
This, folks, we have done over eighteen hundred of these shows,

11
00:00:37.399 --> 00:00:40.399
and most nights I come out here and I talked

12
00:00:40.399 --> 00:00:44.280
to the audience beforehand, and tonight I thought I'd talked

13
00:00:44.320 --> 00:00:47.000
to the audience in here and the audience out there

14
00:00:47.039 --> 00:00:49.200
at home. This show I want you to know, and

15
00:00:49.240 --> 00:00:51.679
you to know, has been a joy for us to

16
00:00:51.719 --> 00:00:54.119
do for you. In fact, we call the show the

17
00:00:54.200 --> 00:00:54.880
joy Machine.

18
00:00:55.000 --> 00:00:55.439
All right.

19
00:00:55.719 --> 00:00:57.840
Lewis stole it from us and we are currently in

20
00:00:57.880 --> 00:01:03.600
litigation right now. You better lawyer up, buddy. We call

21
00:01:03.679 --> 00:01:07.239
the joy Machine because to do this many shows, it

22
00:01:07.280 --> 00:01:10.359
has to be a machine. But the thing is, if

23
00:01:10.359 --> 00:01:12.239
you choose to do it with joy, it doesn't hurt

24
00:01:12.239 --> 00:01:14.280
as much when your fingers get caught in the gears.

25
00:01:15.319 --> 00:01:18.480
And I cannot adequately explain to you what the people

26
00:01:18.480 --> 00:01:21.799
who work here have done for each other and how

27
00:01:21.879 --> 00:01:23.159
much we mean to each other.

28
00:01:23.719 --> 00:01:33.120
So I will just say I would just say to them,

29
00:01:33.439 --> 00:01:33.879
I would just.

30
00:01:33.879 --> 00:01:36.560
Say to them, you are all the great Achilles whom

31
00:01:36.560 --> 00:01:37.359
we knew.

32
00:01:38.799 --> 00:01:39.079
Now.

33
00:01:39.359 --> 00:01:41.719
On night one of the Colbert Rapport back in the day,

34
00:01:41.760 --> 00:01:44.159
I said, anyone can read the news to you. I

35
00:01:44.239 --> 00:01:49.000
promised to feel the news at you. And I realized

36
00:01:49.000 --> 00:01:51.200
pretty soon in this job that our job over here

37
00:01:51.239 --> 00:01:53.640
was different. We were here to feel the news with you.

38
00:01:54.400 --> 00:01:56.959
And I don't know about you, but I sure have

39
00:01:57.120 --> 00:01:57.599
felt it.

40
00:01:58.319 --> 00:02:00.359
Oh and that wasn't all Stephen Colbert had to say.

41
00:02:00.400 --> 00:02:01.959
Apparently he said this too.

42
00:02:02.159 --> 00:02:04.519
Welcome, Welcome, one and all to the Late Show. I'm

43
00:02:04.560 --> 00:02:06.159
your host, Stephen Colbert.

44
00:02:08.719 --> 00:02:09.199
Set out.

45
00:02:13.520 --> 00:02:16.520
If you're just tuning into the Late Show, you missed

46
00:02:16.560 --> 00:02:20.840
a lot. Tonight is our final broadcast from the Ed

47
00:02:20.919 --> 00:02:27.039
Sullivan Theater, where no, no, we were lucky enough to

48
00:02:27.080 --> 00:02:29.919
be here for the last eleven years. All right, that

49
00:02:30.120 --> 00:02:35.120
was can't take this for granted. So actually, technically our

50
00:02:35.159 --> 00:02:37.879
first show back in July of twenty fifteen, was from

51
00:02:37.960 --> 00:02:42.120
a public access station in Monroe, Michigan, for an audience

52
00:02:42.280 --> 00:02:45.759
of twelve people, and show business being what it is

53
00:02:45.800 --> 00:02:48.120
these days, it's probably where you'll see me next. There

54
00:02:48.199 --> 00:02:51.680
is so much history here in the Ed Sullivan Theater,

55
00:02:52.000 --> 00:02:54.080
and we've been honored to have been just a small

56
00:02:54.120 --> 00:02:56.719
part of it. Nichols and May played on the stage.

57
00:02:57.039 --> 00:03:00.360
The Beatles made their American debut here, and.

58
00:03:00.039 --> 00:03:00.680
This is true.

59
00:03:00.800 --> 00:03:05.120
This is true. Backstage, Elvis used the bathroom and didn't die.

60
00:03:06.879 --> 00:03:09.960
We've had so much fun in this theater, so many

61
00:03:10.000 --> 00:03:13.639
great segments. I'll miss doing first drafts, where I show

62
00:03:13.680 --> 00:03:16.159
the final draft of a green card and then show

63
00:03:16.199 --> 00:03:20.400
the playfully wrong first draft. So we made one for tonight.

64
00:03:21.919 --> 00:03:22.199
It's this.

65
00:03:22.280 --> 00:03:27.120
One's pretty nice. This is this isn't goodbye, it's see

66
00:03:27.120 --> 00:03:33.280
you later. Yes, but the first draft said this isn't goodbye.

67
00:03:34.120 --> 00:03:35.840
How do you start an OnlyFans?

68
00:03:36.639 --> 00:03:39.960
The final guest on Stephen Colbert's Late Show who turned

69
00:03:40.000 --> 00:03:42.400
off the lights was the Pope? It was not. It

70
00:03:42.439 --> 00:03:44.080
was Sir Paul McCartney.

71
00:03:44.759 --> 00:04:15.199
Same same say hello, hello, I don't know say goodbye.

72
00:04:16.600 --> 00:04:21.040
I don't know bye Hell. When I get back home,

73
00:04:21.079 --> 00:04:23.519
I'll do more of a recap on Colbert. The other

74
00:04:23.560 --> 00:04:26.439
thing I see brewing is this thing with Shane Gillis

75
00:04:26.480 --> 00:04:28.680
and Chelsea Handler. I don't know if you saw this one.

76
00:04:28.759 --> 00:04:30.920
Thank you for AI for pulling this together because that

77
00:04:31.040 --> 00:04:33.839
I mentioned. I'm on a street corner in Scotland. Comedian

78
00:04:33.920 --> 00:04:36.560
Chelsea Handler kicked off a pretty major comedy world argument

79
00:04:36.639 --> 00:04:39.560
this week. She blasted Shane Gillis and Tony Hingecliff over

80
00:04:39.680 --> 00:04:42.639
material from the roast of Kevin Hart. Chelsea was on

81
00:04:42.720 --> 00:04:45.839
Dion Cole's podcast Funny Knowing You. She called some of

82
00:04:45.839 --> 00:04:49.240
the roast material gross, racist, sexist, and bigoted. We'll get

83
00:04:49.279 --> 00:04:52.639
into this in a second, specifically targeting Shane Gillis's lynching

84
00:04:52.720 --> 00:04:55.839
joke about Kevin Hart and Tony hingchecliff jokes about Cheryl

85
00:04:55.879 --> 00:04:59.319
Underwood's late husband. Handler said jokes involving lynching across the

86
00:04:59.360 --> 00:05:02.759
line and argue comics were leaning too hard into anti

87
00:05:02.920 --> 00:05:07.519
woke shock humor. Shane Gillis responded online with a statement

88
00:05:08.680 --> 00:05:11.759
He said he was happy that Chelsea Handler is capitalizing

89
00:05:11.839 --> 00:05:14.279
on the moment, and then plugged his upcoming stadium show

90
00:05:14.279 --> 00:05:17.959
in Philadelphia. Cheryl Underwood said some jokes did go too far,

91
00:05:18.040 --> 00:05:21.600
especially references to George Floyd and Lynching. She noted that

92
00:05:21.639 --> 00:05:24.839
comics had contacted her before the roast regarding jokes about

93
00:05:24.879 --> 00:05:27.600
her late husband Johnnie Mack. Always likes a good controversy,

94
00:05:27.639 --> 00:05:29.120
so we'll keep an eye on that one and I'll

95
00:05:29.120 --> 00:05:31.959
recap it a little better than that when I get back.

96
00:05:32.480 --> 00:05:35.519
Let's just hang out. This is just an extra episode.

97
00:05:35.879 --> 00:05:40.319
I'm on the Royal Mile now. I just left Edinburgh Castle.

98
00:05:40.399 --> 00:05:43.120
The reason I'm here at all is this week was

99
00:05:43.160 --> 00:05:47.319
the podcast show in London, so US professional podcasters all mets,

100
00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:50.399
and that's why I had to tape a few episodes there.

101
00:05:50.399 --> 00:05:52.800
But I missed you guys. And I was walking down

102
00:05:52.839 --> 00:05:55.600
the street here and I saw the headquarters of the

103
00:05:55.680 --> 00:05:58.720
Edinburgh Fringe and heard the guy playing the bagpipes and

104
00:05:58.720 --> 00:06:01.759
I'm like, oh, you have a afordable recorder. Why don't

105
00:06:01.759 --> 00:06:05.319
you use it? But hey, that is your catch up

106
00:06:05.399 --> 00:06:09.000
episode live on tape from Scotland. Somewhere in the feed.

107
00:06:09.040 --> 00:06:11.519
There's a normal Saturday episode and a normal Sunday episode.

108
00:06:11.519 --> 00:06:12.079
Do you know what to do?

109
00:06:12.120 --> 00:06:14.000
You'll figure it out and we'll catch up on stuff

110
00:06:14.079 --> 00:06:15.079
next week. Seea