The Last Laugh

Michelle Wolf: Trump, Riyadh, and Netflix Special ‘The Well’

Michelle Wolf is probably best known for being the comedian who roasted Sarah Huckabee Sanders to her face at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in 2018. Seven years later, her only regret is that she wasn’t meaner. In this episode, Wolf reflects on how much—and how little—has changed since, from Donald Trump’s escalating attacks on comedians to her new identity as mom of two, which she explores in her new Netflix special ‘The Well.’ She discusses her complicated reasons for turning down the Riyadh Comedy Festival, explains how her short-lived talk show ‘The Break’ predicted Trump 2.0, and shares her take on the fragile state of late-night TV. And later, Wolf reveals how she ended up writing Kim Kardashian’s SNL monologue after the reality star decided Amy Schumer’s jokes weren’t funny enough.  Follow Michelle Wolf on Instagram @michelleisawolf [https://www.instagram.com/michelleisawolf]  Follow Matt Wilstein on Bluesky @mattwilstein [https://bsky.app/profile/mattwilstein.bsky.social]  Follow The Last Laugh on Instagram @lastlaughpod [https://www.instagram.com/lastlaughpod/] Watch full episodes of The Last Laugh podcast on the Daily Beast’s Obsessed YouTube channel [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWqoONyEqw9mrFMDRdnaQfw] Highlights from this episode and others at TheDailyBeast.com [https://www.thedailybeast.com/keyword/the-last-laugh] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Tim Meadows: SNL, ‘The Ladies Man,’ and ‘DMV’

Tim Meadows was once the longest-serving cast member on ‘Saturday Night Live.’ These days, he’s subtly stealing scenes as the third lead on a CBS sitcom, ‘DMV.’ But despite plenty of ups and downs over the course of his nearly 40-year career, Meadows seems to be at peace with his particular level of fame. In this episode, Meadows traces the arc of his career, from his unusual path to Lorne Michaels’ office to the disastrous attempt to turn his most popular recurring character into a full-length feature film. He reveals why he really didn’t want the actual Monica Lewinsky to make a cameo as herself with The Ladies Man Leon Phelps—and what changed his mind. Meadows also explains why he ultimately decided to leave ‘SNL’ after 10 seasons, the late-night TV gig he now regrets turning down, and how he found creative fulfillment playing supporting roles in films like ‘Mean Girls’ and ‘Walk Hard.’ Follow Tim Meadows on Instagram @real_timmeadows [https://www.instagram.com/real_timmeadows]  Follow Matt Wilstein on Bluesky @mattwilstein [https://bsky.app/profile/mattwilstein.bsky.social]  Follow The Last Laugh on Instagram @lastlaughpod [https://www.instagram.com/lastlaughpod/] Watch full episodes of The Last Laugh podcast on the Daily Beast’s Obsessed YouTube channel [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWqoONyEqw9mrFMDRdnaQfw] Highlights from this episode and others at TheDailyBeast.com [https://www.thedailybeast.com/keyword/the-last-laugh] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Sebastian Maniscalco on Filling Arenas and Telling ‘Offensive’ Jokes

Sebastian Maniscalco is consistently one of the highest-grossing stand-up comedians in the country. With his Netflix special ‘Is It Me?’ and his autobiographical movie ‘About My Father’ co-starring Robert De Niro, he’s on the verge of finally becoming a household name. In this episode, Maniscalco opens up about doubling down on nostalgia and (mostly) avoiding controversy on stage. He also talks about how the comedy world has changed for better and worse since he got his start in the late ‘90s, shares stories from the sets of ‘Green Book’ and ‘The Irishman’ and explains how he decided to embrace the most embarrassing moment of his career on Jimmy Fallon’s ‘Tonight Show.’ This episode was originally published on December 6, 2022. Follow Sebastian Maniscalco on Instagram @sebastiancomedy [https://www.instagram.com/sebastiancomedy]  Follow Matt Wilstein on Bluesky @mattwilstein [https://bsky.app/profile/mattwilstein.bsky.social]  Follow The Last Laugh on Instagram @lastlaughpod [https://www.instagram.com/lastlaughpod/] Watch full episodes of The Last Laugh podcast on the Daily Beast’s YouTube channel [https://www.youtube.com/c/TheDailyBeast] Highlights from this episode and others at TheDailyBeast.com [https://www.thedailybeast.com/keyword/the-last-laugh] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Patton Oswalt: Trump, Kimmel, and the State of Stand-Up Comedy

Patton Oswalt begins his latest stand-up special (‘Black Coffee and Ice Water,’ streaming on Audible [https://amzn.to/3WZQhN6] Nov. 20) by reading a fake disclaimer about how he’s gone full MAGA in an attempt to avoid the authoritarian hand of Donald Trump. It’s a funny bit that also underscores the comedian’s very real fears about being an outspokenly anti-fascist voice in 2025 America. In his third appearance on the podcast, Oswalt talks about the freedom of putting together an audio-only special, which includes jokes about his teenage daughter and celebrating 30 years on Prozac. He also shares his visceral reaction to Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension, Donald Trump’s “mediocrity,” the MAGA-friendly comedians who happily took Saudi Arabia’s money, and what keeps him performing stand-up nearly 40 years into his career.  Patton Oswalt’s ‘Black Coffee and Ice Water’ on Audible [https://amzn.to/3WZQhN6] Follow Patton Oswalt on Instagram @pattonoswalt [https://www.instagram.com/pattonoswalt]  Follow Matt Wilstein on Bluesky @mattwilstein [https://bsky.app/profile/mattwilstein.bsky.social]  Follow The Last Laugh on Instagram @lastlaughpod [https://www.instagram.com/lastlaughpod/] Watch full episodes of The Last Laugh podcast on the Daily Beast’s YouTube channel [https://www.youtube.com/c/TheDailyBeast] Highlights from this episode and others at TheDailyBeast.com [https://www.thedailybeast.com/keyword/the-last-laugh] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Fred Armisen: SNL, ‘Portlandia,’ and ‘100 Sound Effects’

Fred Armisen knows that nobody can ever tell whether he’s joking or not—and he doesn’t quite understand why. Despite being one of the hands-down funniest ‘Saturday Night Live’ cast members of all time, Armisen can, in fact, be pretty sincere when he wants to be. It’s a trait that shines through on his latest project: a painstakingly produced album of ‘100 Sound Effects’ that provides some observational laughs here and there but is generally an accurate document of what the world sounds like in 2025. In this episode, Armisen discusses how his obsession with sound helped him become an expert mimic on ‘SNL,’ whether he was impersonating President Barack Obama or capturing a very specific Californian dialect. He talks about roasting Lorne Michaels during the ‘SNL50’ special, whether he could imagine taking over at least part of his former boss’ job, and reacts to the ‘Portlandia’ memes that have come to epitomize that city’s response to Donald Trump’s threats.  Buy ‘Fred Armisen: 100 Sound Effects’ [https://amzn.to/3LuYzKw]  Get tickets to see Fred Armisen live [https://fredarmisentour.com/] Follow Fred Armisen on Instagram @sordociego [https://www.instagram.com/sordociego]  Follow Matt Wilstein on Bluesky @mattwilstein [https://bsky.app/profile/mattwilstein.bsky.social]  Follow The Last Laugh on Instagram @lastlaughpod [https://www.instagram.com/lastlaughpod/] Watch full episodes of The Last Laugh podcast on the Daily Beast’s YouTube channel [https://www.youtube.com/c/TheDailyBeast] Highlights from this episode and others at TheDailyBeast.com [https://www.thedailybeast.com/keyword/the-last-laugh] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.