Why Ricky Gervais hopes you die

0:01 Calaroga Media. Ricky Gervais apparently hopes you die. Hi, I'm Johnny Mac with your daily comedy news. And with that as a lead off, today is still somehow going to be more fun than yesterday. Ricky Gervais says, I hope you die to people letting off fireworks late at night in London as Londoners call for a ban. Ricky posted on Twitter before 9 p.m. on Sunday night. If you're letting off fireworks at the moment, I hope you die. And then he used the C word, probably the naughty C word that the Brits like that rhymes with hunts. Meanwhile, the British tabloids from The Mirror, the headline, Shane Gillis smiles on red carpet after giving misogynist Saturday Night Live monologue.

0:50 They tell us, Gillis, 38, beamed from ear to ear as he attended the premiere of his new Amazon Prime film, Madden, in Los Angeles. The new movie follows the life of late football coach and commentator John Madden, and the trailers look horrible. The mirror didn't say that. I'm saying that. Shane Gillis plays Vince McGarry. Now, if you're like, who's Vince McGarry? You are not alone. AI says that Vince McGarry is a fictional character depicted as a passionate Budweiser drinking fan. of the Oakland Raiders who interacts with Madden. So that sounds like a stretch acting role for I don't know, is Shane Gillis going to be convincing as a guy who likes football and drinks beer? I don't know, sounds like a stretch. Weird sold for the outing, Gillis wore a dark gray suit, a pastel blue button-down shirt, and smart shoes. He added a flashy watch and belt to complete his look. The suited-up comedian flashed a smile while walking the red carpet and mingling with co-star John Mulaney and comedian Nick Kroll. Does that mean that John Mulaney supports that monologue joke? Congratulations to Theo Vaughn. The Louisiana-born comedian and podcast host has been named to reign the crew of Bacchus for the 2027 Mardi Gras season.

1:57 He'll be there when the 58th annual parade rolls Sunday, February 7th. Clark Brennan, captain of the crew of Bacchus, says, We are thrilled that one of America's most influential digital age celebrities, well, will be joining us this year as Bacchus. The parade theme is All Roads Lead to Bacchus. The procession will feature 32 hand-painted floats. They also plan to distribute more than 300 custom throws, including collectible enamel pins, themed hats, and more than 400,000 pairs of their signature socks. Previous Monarchs included Shaquille O'Neal, Bob Hope, Will Ferrell, and Nicolas Cage, who's in the Terrible Men movie. Meanwhile, for splicetoday.com, your home for comedy news, John McGillen writes, Podcast fame is killing stand-up comedy. That's quite the headline, and I kind of get what John is saying, but it is also really hard to argue that stand-up comedy is not really successful right now. John writes, The Southern charm that makes his podcast episodes so wonderful turned into torture at NYC's Beacon Theater. Joe Rogan, Tim Dillon, Tony Hinchcliffe, and Vaughn run multi-million dollar media empires. Much of their success comes from unscripted conversations. Massive digital success, however, has its price.

3:22 Behind a microphone in a soundproof studio, loose tangents can sound intimate, even insightful. On stage, with nothing but a stool and a bottle of water, every safety net disappears. Let me jump in there. You know who was a podcaster for a couple minutes? Marc Maron. He's also a hell of a stand-up, so I'm not sure we can just blame podcasting here. I think it's just how good are you as a stand-up, and Maron is quite good. John writes, Hinchcliffe excels at punching down, using his platform to bully random guests who lack the wit to defend themselves. Forcing himself to write jokes for a solo special reveals the lack of substance behind his sneering. He spends long stretches rambling and relying on stolen bits from legends like Norm Macdonald. And guess that no one remembers. That's the first time I've heard an accusation that Tony Hinchcliffe is a joke thief. Let me throw that into Google. A.I.

4:20 says Norm Macdonald publicly accused Hinchcliffe of lifting a setup from his Janus routine regarding shallow greys for Hinchcliffe's Netflix special Tony Hinchcliffe One-Shot. Joe Rogan defended Hinchcliffe. McDonald maintained the bit was stolen before later deleting his tweets. Jordan Fisher accused Hinchcliffe of stealing and altering a bit about a Texas pregnancy scare, flying a woman to Colorado on Spirit Airlines due to abortion laws. Fisher said he had developed and performed the joke in Texas years earlier. Here in the stand-up Reddit, there's a headline, Is Tony Hinchcliffe Stealing Jokes? And it appears to be that same Jordan Fisher bit. Okay, that's interesting. Back to John's article, he writes, Tim Dillon falls into a similar trap. His weekly show operates as a masterclass in chaotic, conspiratorial ranting and raving.

5:05 I listen to Dillon every Sunday, and I find, like, he puts out about an hour, and I find, like, Tim has, like, a killer, absolute killer 12 minutes every week. Like, the first segment is usually, like, really strong, and then the show just kind of spirals down, plus the podcaster in me hates the way he half-asses the live reads and doesn't care about them at all. But I'm in the basement and he's got a mansion or whatever he's doing, so I will shut up. But he's got a killer 12 minutes every week. John writes, Dylan stays glued to a desk, hiding behind dark sunglasses. He screams about corporate fraud and shady real estate deals, but take away the designer shades and force them to stand in front of a crowd. He looks like a different person. Basing back and forth like a nervous child, the New Yorker sweats profusely as he delivers weak observational bits that could have worked if he'd bothered to flush them out. The fury of his weekly podcast is absent. Okay, well then maybe Tim is just better at podcasting than being a stand-up.

5:58 That's okay. John writes, then there's Joe Rogan, a man who built a global audience by serving as a curious host across thousands of long-form interviews. Stepping onto a comedy stage undoes all that work. Working at the crowd, occasionally the ceiling, Rogan relies entirely on volume to push his material. I think it's just that Joe doesn't work the muscle anymore. If you listen to Joe's earlier stand-up, it's actually pretty funny. John writes, the financial incentives of modern media have broken comedy writing's basic rules. These four creators generate tens of millions of dollars every year by pressing record on an expensive camera and talking about anything from breakfast burritos to intramural sites. Traditional standup demands self-editing. It takes years of bombing and dingy sellers and a willingness to trash bad ideas.

6:39 Podcasting rewards the opposite behavior, encouraging continuous streams of low effort content. He's not wrong there. But what do you want these guys to do? Not make millions of dollars? I mean, come on. All right. Matt Rife has been getting into it with adult star Lisa Ann. They have had a bitter feud, we are told, three years after she was removed from Matt Rife's Radio City Music Hall show in handcuffs on a recent episode of the Veterans Minimum podcast. Lisa Ann revealed that Matt Rife has shown the video of her being detained by the NYPD after she got kicked out of his 2023 show. And he's been showing it before each one of his performances the past year. Lisa Ann said she's now banned from all the properties owned by James Dolan due to his facial recognition software, including the Las Vegas Sphere. And I think Dolan, I guess he owns the garden. He owns the Knicks.

7:31 And I don't want to be banned. Hey, James Dolan's a great guy. I'm on Team Dolan here. Don't ban me from the garden. She also called out Matt Reif personally, claiming the inclusion of the video proves he's obsessed with her. And added, he should get a new act. That's like saying I'm obsessed with Adam Sandler, though, isn't it? I mean, and I should get a new act, but like, as I tell you guys, like, when I'm not doing this, I'm not thinking about Adam Sandler at all. Anyway, I digress. Matt Rife responded, yes, babe, that's it. I was too nervous to perform for you, so I had you arrested. A source with ties to the venue told TMZ she was removed for being disorderly. Now there's more. Lisa Ann apparently posted, Finally, Matt Rife inadvertently confirmed something I had known since 2024. Matt was putting on his ho-hero cap for his favorite porn star Kendra Lust when he had me removed from his show. As you can see from his comments, he repeatedly mentions her name, and she even comments back and replies that I can't see as she's had me blocked and has for years. Ask yourself, why would Matt Rife bring her name into the comments when discussing an event that had nothing to do with her? Okay.

8:36 I don't know enough about this subject. Okay. but she still appears on the comment section of a post that has nothing to do with her at all until it does. I'm so happy for both of them. Their team efforts together to make this all happen and their ability to laugh about it together two years later on my timeline sparkles with the sadness and insecurity they both need to live to thrive. Let's see what's at the New York Comedy Festival tonight. Hopefully this thing is picking up. Johnny Mackey is scrolling down and looking for some names that you've heard of. Ben Bankus? Doing Town Hall at 7 o'clock?

9:32 Has Ben been big enough to do Town Hall? Apparently someone thinks so. Variety's 10 comics to watch tonight at 7. That article is out. I'm saving it for the weekend. Johnny Mac likes to pre-tape the weekends, as you know. I'm not going to lie to you. So that makes life a little easier. Jordan Jensen at The Beacon at 8 o'clock. Caitlin Cook and A.J. Holmes have a fun show titled Two-Thirds of a Threesome at The Little Field. That's at 8. Still waiting for some big names here. And we aren't going to find any. New York Comedy Festival on a Thursday. night. And a Thursday night's a pretty good night. Where are the big names? Same note I give every day. Love those guys. Not sure this festival cuts through in New York and it doesn't seem to have the star power it had in the past. Tina Fey and Rachel Dratch have teamed up with Volkswagen, and they are bringing comedy, familiar faces, and family fun to audiences in a new advertising campaign. Yeah, how exciting, huh?

10:22 As Tina Fey drives an all-new Atlas, a few unexpected twists in her family lineup make for a playful encounter with Rachel Dratch, who's behind the wheel of an all-new Atlas Cross Sport. We're told the spot pairs the signature chemistry of the two comedians with the Atlas' blend of space, comfort, and style. Tina Fey, who likes money as much as Johnny Mac does, said, Rachel and I have been making each other laugh for a long time, so getting to work together again. All right, so far, so good. But now we're going to get to the second half of the sentence. You might want to get a bucket in case you need to throw up. I'll back up a little. But in case you need to throw up, grab a bag or something, okay? Getting to work together again for a project with Volkswagen in celebration of NBC 100 was an easy yes. It's a fun way to be part of such a big milestone for the network, especially when you get to do something a little unexpected with it. Thankfully, the Atlas had room for all of it. Ah, Tina, hope the check was good. Rachel Zaluzak is the chief marketing officer and SVP customer experience for Volkswagen of America. That, Rachel said, our work with NBCUniversal keeps getting better from bringing back the Californians for SNL 50 to this reunion of two comedy icons for NBC 100. Is Rachel Dratch a comedy icon? I know she's not. Not everyone could be an icon. Tina. Yeah. Tina's got game. Tina's got a great resume and Tina should take over for SNL probably halfway through the millennia episode this weekend at this point, because this season's awful. Sorry, Lauren, but it's time. But it's Rachel Dratch, an icon. Let's look up the legal definition of an icon just to be sure. Maybe I'm wrong.

11:55 Maybe I don't know what an icon means. AI says an icon is a person, symbol, or visual image. Okay, Rachel Dratch is definitely a person. Widely recognized for its great influence, significance, or representation. See, I'm going to push back on Rachel Dratch being widely recognized. We are told types of icons include cultural and historical icons, a person, object, or artwork that is deeply admired or serves as a symbol for a movement, era, or culture. For example, the Statue of Liberty. Rachel's fine. I just think we're getting a little loose with the terms here. Mark Marshall is the chairman of Global Advertising and Partnerships for NBCUniversal. Mark Marshall said, For 100 years, NBCUniversal has brought people together around the moments that matter. From SNL 50 to NBC 100, our longstanding relationship with Volkswagen is a great example of how we continue to put our legacy into action with our partners. Bringing Tina Fey and Rachel Trach back together celebrates our history in a way that feels special while connecting Volkswagens. through audiences, through the entertainment and culture they love.

12:56 You know what will connect people with a Volkswagen? Good gas mileage and a low sticker price. Tina Fey being in a commercial does nothing. And that's your comedy news for today. See you tomorrow.