June 25, 2025

Theo Von's Controversial Set, JFL's Comeback, and Dr. Demento's Retirement

Show Notes
Transcript

In today's episode, Johnny Mack covers a range of news in the comedy world. Starting with a review of Theo Von's controversial show in Minneapolis, touching on sensitive subjects from disabilities to race. The Just for Laughs Festival announces its comeback with a refund offer for unsatisfied attendees, highlighting big names like Russell Peters and Roy Wood Jr. Dr. Demento announces his retirement after 55 years. Local events like Laugh Out Hunger in Texas aim to blend charity and comedy. Lastly, a fun fact: Ray Romano was initially uneasy about the title 'Everybody Loves Raymond.'

Get the show without ads. Five bucks. For Apple users, hit the banner on your Apple podcasts app which says UNINTERRUPTED LISTENING. For Spotify or other players, visit caloroga.com/plus.

Contact John at john@thesharkdeck dot com
John’s free substack about the media: Media Thoughts is mcdpod.substack.com

DCN on Threads: https://www.threads.net/@dailycomedynews
https://linktr.ee/dailycomedynews

You can also support the show at www.buymeacoffee.com/dailycomedynews

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/daily-comedy-news--4522158/support.

WEBVTT

1
00:00:03.160 --> 00:00:10.519
Callaroga Shark Media. Hey there, I'm Johnny Mack with your

2
00:00:10.599 --> 00:00:15.400
daily comedy news. The Minneapolis Star Tribune poster review of

3
00:00:15.640 --> 00:00:18.960
Theo Vaughn's show on Friday night, so you can hear that,

4
00:00:19.199 --> 00:00:21.079
I'm doing a delivery that's a little more serious than

5
00:00:21.120 --> 00:00:23.199
how I usually open up a show. And it's because

6
00:00:23.199 --> 00:00:24.760
I don't know how I feel about this. I'm gonna

7
00:00:24.760 --> 00:00:28.440
read it verbatim that Star Tribune rites. He quickly labeled

8
00:00:28.440 --> 00:00:31.160
his Friday show at Excel Energy Center as a Juneteenth

9
00:00:31.199 --> 00:00:34.719
Recovery seminar, then launched into bits about a black girl

10
00:00:34.719 --> 00:00:37.359
with Down syndrome and short buses that catered to students

11
00:00:37.399 --> 00:00:40.640
with mental disabilities. I'm not racist, he said early in

12
00:00:40.640 --> 00:00:43.520
a set, unless you are. I don't like the way

13
00:00:43.520 --> 00:00:48.359
that reads. Maybe in the room it played better, you know,

14
00:00:48.399 --> 00:00:53.320
body language, but that does not read great. The article

15
00:00:53.399 --> 00:00:56.560
says Theo's place in pop culture is more complicated than

16
00:00:56.600 --> 00:00:59.079
partisan loyalty. There were a few mega caps, but I

17
00:00:59.079 --> 00:01:01.799
spotted more shirts with images of Johnny Cash than images

18
00:01:01.840 --> 00:01:04.840
of Donald Trump. Quoting the article, Vaon pointed out several

19
00:01:04.879 --> 00:01:06.680
times during the show that the audience of about eight

20
00:01:06.719 --> 00:01:09.599
thousand seems to be nearly all white people, but I

21
00:01:09.640 --> 00:01:12.400
spotted plenty of people of color in the crowd, including

22
00:01:12.439 --> 00:01:15.680
Andres as Zanbrono, who came to Minnesota six years from Columbia.

23
00:01:16.040 --> 00:01:19.200
Son Brno told the paper, he's just naturally very funny.

24
00:01:19.200 --> 00:01:22.680
It's different from what you usually see. Again, directly quoting

25
00:01:22.680 --> 00:01:25.480
the article, everyone was a target, so Molly's gazed, Jews,

26
00:01:25.480 --> 00:01:28.640
people from Wisconsin, and an autistic people. He described George Floyd's

27
00:01:28.640 --> 00:01:31.760
Square as a fent and all dance hall. Juan is

28
00:01:31.799 --> 00:01:33.719
at his best when he tells tales about growing up

29
00:01:33.760 --> 00:01:36.400
in small town Louisiana, vividly bringing to life people like Allan,

30
00:01:36.439 --> 00:01:38.040
a kid's so tiny he needed two hands to eat

31
00:01:38.079 --> 00:01:40.640
a butterscotch, and the grandmother who wouldn't let him visit

32
00:01:40.640 --> 00:01:42.159
her for a decade because she thought he stole some

33
00:01:42.239 --> 00:01:45.280
chocolate from her house. Skipping ahead, his one joke about

34
00:01:45.359 --> 00:01:47.000
Joe Biden went over a lot better than his one

35
00:01:47.040 --> 00:01:49.239
joke about Trump. When he told the audience who was

36
00:01:49.239 --> 00:01:51.719
thinking about buying a gun, the place went wild, the

37
00:01:51.719 --> 00:01:53.680
paper points out, and I remind you this was from

38
00:01:53.760 --> 00:01:56.799
last Friday. They were less enthusiastic about a bit in

39
00:01:56.799 --> 00:01:58.640
which he mused over where the next nine to eleven

40
00:01:58.680 --> 00:02:02.079
should take place. Font Humor clearly isn't for everyone, but

41
00:02:02.079 --> 00:02:03.760
it speaks to enough people to make him a voice

42
00:02:03.799 --> 00:02:07.280
that can't be ignored. An email from the Just for

43
00:02:07.359 --> 00:02:11.000
Last Montreal Festival titled a very serious open letter from

44
00:02:11.039 --> 00:02:15.680
a very funny festival. It reads, Hello, I'm Sylvan parent Badard,

45
00:02:15.800 --> 00:02:17.479
the new owner of Just for Laughs. You don't know me,

46
00:02:17.560 --> 00:02:19.759
which is why I'm reaching out to you today. Over

47
00:02:19.759 --> 00:02:21.879
the last few months, the JFL team has dealt with

48
00:02:21.919 --> 00:02:24.919
some rocky roads with strange days. But believe me, we're back.

49
00:02:25.560 --> 00:02:27.120
Maybe we're a little different than we used to be.

50
00:02:27.759 --> 00:02:29.840
We still have the same objective as always, to bring

51
00:02:29.919 --> 00:02:32.639
loads to your summer. You're probably expecting a joke right

52
00:02:32.680 --> 00:02:35.599
about now, Well not today. This letter is serious and

53
00:02:35.639 --> 00:02:38.120
it's about an understanding, a promise, and an offer. Let's

54
00:02:38.159 --> 00:02:42.479
get to it. Subheading number one the understanding, the letter says.

55
00:02:43.039 --> 00:02:46.879
The understanding is our appreciation of the long standing, extraordinary

56
00:02:46.919 --> 00:02:49.800
relationship between Montrealers and Just for Laughs. For years, you

57
00:02:49.840 --> 00:02:52.919
gave our festival the type of unwavering support unheard of

58
00:02:52.919 --> 00:02:55.719
in show business. You filled our clubs in theaters night

59
00:02:55.759 --> 00:02:57.919
after night made big stars out of total unknowns, and

60
00:02:57.919 --> 00:03:00.360
through it all brought a heartfelt spirit that was more

61
00:03:00.400 --> 00:03:03.280
family than customer. You are our most dedicated fan base,

62
00:03:03.879 --> 00:03:05.599
and we were the year's biggest party for you. You

63
00:03:05.680 --> 00:03:08.599
brought us the attention that made JFL world renowned. We respected,

64
00:03:08.639 --> 00:03:11.840
relying on and delivered for each other. Section Two The promise.

65
00:03:11.879 --> 00:03:14.280
So here's the promise. You're going to really love what

66
00:03:14.319 --> 00:03:16.479
we have in store for you this summer. Then they

67
00:03:16.479 --> 00:03:18.840
explain the shows. I'll talk about the shows separately. Three

68
00:03:18.960 --> 00:03:21.199
the offer. So finally, here's our offer. We are certain

69
00:03:21.199 --> 00:03:23.000
you'll love everything our team is putting together for you,

70
00:03:23.039 --> 00:03:26.639
but especially the Galas, the festival's crown jewels, our biggest shows.

71
00:03:27.280 --> 00:03:29.520
In fact, we're so certain that you'll love our galas

72
00:03:29.560 --> 00:03:31.719
for some reason. If you don't, we're willing to refund

73
00:03:31.719 --> 00:03:34.120
your ticket price one hundred percent, pure and simple. Then

74
00:03:34.120 --> 00:03:38.199
there's some details so far. Personally, I don't know what

75
00:03:38.280 --> 00:03:41.319
to make of the festival. I'm excited that it's back.

76
00:03:41.360 --> 00:03:44.639
I was sad that it was gone. I think personally

77
00:03:44.680 --> 00:03:49.199
I need to see a little bit a few more announcements. Now,

78
00:03:49.240 --> 00:03:50.879
I'd like to take a minute and go through the

79
00:03:50.919 --> 00:03:53.879
shows here, but I've clicked on the tabs on their

80
00:03:53.919 --> 00:03:57.039
website where it says shows, and all I'm getting is

81
00:03:57.080 --> 00:04:00.319
a stager image and no actual shows. So let me

82
00:04:00.360 --> 00:04:03.479
click on artists here that seems to be working. I'm

83
00:04:03.520 --> 00:04:05.199
not going to read every name, but let's see who

84
00:04:05.199 --> 00:04:07.879
the bigger names that we might know from just either

85
00:04:07.919 --> 00:04:11.560
hosting or listening to the show every day. Adam Ray, Fortune, Fiemester,

86
00:04:11.680 --> 00:04:16.759
Michelle Butteau, Roy Wood Junior, Mikey Day, Nish Kumar, Malik, Alasol,

87
00:04:16.920 --> 00:04:23.120
John Doer, Puddles, Brad Williams, Kat Cohen, Dave mar Hedge,

88
00:04:23.560 --> 00:04:29.199
Emil wakem Ivan Decker, Jamarcos, Soirezi Maye Martin, Nick Muhammad,

89
00:04:29.839 --> 00:04:35.600
Ralph Barbosa, Russell Peters, Tammy Pascatelli, at Gamble, Jay Jorden,

90
00:04:36.160 --> 00:04:39.480
Tom Sigora, k Trevor Wilson, Russell Howard. So you know,

91
00:04:39.800 --> 00:04:44.040
nice and I'm glad it's back, but it's definitely fallen

92
00:04:44.160 --> 00:04:46.959
to number two. Now. I'm going back here and looking

93
00:04:47.000 --> 00:04:49.079
at Netflix twenty twenty four. Now they only see to

94
00:04:49.120 --> 00:04:52.000
be doing a festival every other year, and I am

95
00:04:52.040 --> 00:04:55.480
on a Netflix propaganda website on Netflix dot com, but

96
00:04:55.720 --> 00:04:58.120
they remind us. Here is what happened. In twenty twenty four.

97
00:04:58.639 --> 00:05:02.199
John mulaney had the show Tom Brady Got Roasted, which

98
00:05:02.279 --> 00:05:08.160
basically accelerated Nicki Glazier's career. Kat Williams happened right, and

99
00:05:08.240 --> 00:05:11.680
they took a group picture of everybody in this photo. Krascher,

100
00:05:12.000 --> 00:05:16.480
Jeff Ross, Jimmy Carr, Pauli Short, Chelsea Handler, Tiffany Hattish

101
00:05:16.519 --> 00:05:19.920
and I'm not reading everybody Chappelle, Nick Offerman, Han Gatsby,

102
00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:26.120
Sheng Wang, Otsko, Mosha Kasher, Natasha, Eliza, Sarah Silverman, Gaffigin,

103
00:05:26.360 --> 00:05:31.439
Kevin Hart, Roy Woodkin Jung, Jimmy o'yang, mad Friend, Sebastian Madascalgo,

104
00:05:32.319 --> 00:05:38.920
Barbosa Whitney, Dion Cole, Tony Hinchcliffe, Leanne Morgan, Papa Stavro, Sassan,

105
00:05:39.480 --> 00:05:44.199
the Mishi, Patel, Felipia Sparza, Sarah Cooper, Brett Goldstein, Nikki Glazer.

106
00:05:44.560 --> 00:05:47.800
Pretty good photo. So I don't know. I was originally

107
00:05:47.800 --> 00:05:50.360
planning on going up for Montreal. I don't know if

108
00:05:50.360 --> 00:05:52.720
I'm gonna go now. I just I don't know. Daisy

109
00:05:52.839 --> 00:05:55.759
Lidak caught up with The Hollywood Reporter. They asked her

110
00:05:55.800 --> 00:05:57.800
if there was an episode or segment she's been most

111
00:05:57.800 --> 00:05:59.680
proud of pulling off on the Daily Show. She said,

112
00:05:59.680 --> 00:06:01.560
the day after the election was not easy. I was

113
00:06:01.560 --> 00:06:04.000
hosting that day. I remember going in that morning just

114
00:06:04.040 --> 00:06:05.959
being vulnerable at the way I was feeling and hearing

115
00:06:05.959 --> 00:06:07.680
everybody else try to find humor in it. Coming in

116
00:06:07.720 --> 00:06:10.759
as a correspondent always played a character hosting. You're yourself,

117
00:06:10.800 --> 00:06:13.079
that's your point of view, So that day just felt

118
00:06:13.079 --> 00:06:15.439
like Catharsis with the audience as depressing as it was.

119
00:06:16.040 --> 00:06:18.240
They asked her about the host search between Trevor Now

120
00:06:18.279 --> 00:06:20.560
and John Stewart, which reminds me that John Stewart's appearance

121
00:06:20.560 --> 00:06:23.120
on Trevor Ne's podcast recently was really good. Go listen

122
00:06:23.199 --> 00:06:25.040
to that one. DESI had you feel about that period?

123
00:06:25.079 --> 00:06:27.279
She said, it was disorienting, but it put a lot

124
00:06:27.279 --> 00:06:29.519
of faith on our showrunner. She's the whole reason the

125
00:06:29.560 --> 00:06:31.439
place runs away does. I just knew I'd have to

126
00:06:31.439 --> 00:06:33.480
write it out. And as anxiety inducing as the whole

127
00:06:33.480 --> 00:06:36.040
thing was, there were some fun positives that came out

128
00:06:36.040 --> 00:06:38.560
of the guest rotation, working with Sarah Silverman, becoming friends

129
00:06:38.560 --> 00:06:41.639
with Chelsea Handler, having Morlon Wayans come in, her dream

130
00:06:41.680 --> 00:06:44.839
guest is Carol Burnett because she's the entire reason I

131
00:06:44.839 --> 00:06:48.480
wanted to do comedy. The South Texas Food Bank is

132
00:06:48.480 --> 00:06:51.720
inviting locals to enjoy a night of laughter. It's called

133
00:06:51.800 --> 00:06:55.519
laugh Out Hunger. It'll feature Steve Trevino. On August fifteenth,

134
00:06:56.000 --> 00:06:58.399
one of the board members said, it's always been a concert.

135
00:06:58.519 --> 00:07:00.399
This year it's comedy to see if there's a change

136
00:07:00.399 --> 00:07:02.240
within the community and how many people we can drive

137
00:07:02.279 --> 00:07:04.399
and bring to these events. We have to stay relevant

138
00:07:04.439 --> 00:07:06.439
to what our community's asking for, so we feel like

139
00:07:06.480 --> 00:07:08.519
this change would be something good and different. We're taking

140
00:07:08.519 --> 00:07:12.079
a risk and trying it out. Doctor Demento is retiring.

141
00:07:12.839 --> 00:07:16.160
Real name Barry Hanson began hosting the Doctor Demento Show

142
00:07:16.160 --> 00:07:20.279
back in California in nineteen seventy. Originally, he just played

143
00:07:20.319 --> 00:07:23.120
rock songs. Over time, he started mixing in some of

144
00:07:23.120 --> 00:07:25.560
the oddities from his personal collection, and then the whole

145
00:07:25.600 --> 00:07:29.600
Doctor Demental thing took off. Most notably, a young musician

146
00:07:29.680 --> 00:07:33.160
named Alfred Yankovic started sending in parodies to Doctor Demento.

147
00:07:34.000 --> 00:07:37.839
Young mister Yankovic became pretty famous. However, after fifty five

148
00:07:37.920 --> 00:07:39.959
years on the air, Doctor Demento is announced he'll be

149
00:07:39.959 --> 00:07:43.920
retiring in October. He told Radio Online. I'm now eighty

150
00:07:43.920 --> 00:07:45.959
four years old. I've been doing the show for nearly

151
00:07:46.000 --> 00:07:48.040
fifty five years, about two thirds of my life. It's

152
00:07:48.040 --> 00:07:50.240
been a blast, but I've come to the decision that I

153
00:07:50.240 --> 00:07:52.560
need to hang up my top hat soon. The show

154
00:07:52.560 --> 00:07:54.879
you just heard is the last of my regular shows.

155
00:07:54.879 --> 00:07:56.800
It sounds like I'll come back for one big farewell

156
00:07:56.800 --> 00:07:59.480
in October, and I imagine that will be pretty star studded,

157
00:08:00.000 --> 00:08:02.639
at least in terms of parody records. I'm sure mister

158
00:08:02.720 --> 00:08:05.519
Yankovic will come by. And it turns out that Ray

159
00:08:05.600 --> 00:08:08.680
Romano did not like the title Everybody Loves Raymond. One

160
00:08:08.720 --> 00:08:11.040
of the producers was at the Paley Center and said,

161
00:08:11.079 --> 00:08:13.000
in real life, raise a modest guy, and he's like,

162
00:08:13.040 --> 00:08:15.920
everybody loves ray What if the show stinks? That is

163
00:08:15.959 --> 00:08:18.360
your comedy news for today. Enjoy the heat if you're

164
00:08:18.399 --> 00:08:20.160
in the Northeast. Who see tomorrow