The Last Laugh

Akiva Schaffer prefers to stay behind the scenes. But that doesn’t mean he’s any less funny than his Lonely Island bandmates Andy Samberg and Jorma Taccone. The three middle school best friends started shooting videos right out of college before landing a plush gig making digital shorts for ‘Saturday Night Live,’ including hits like “Lazy Sunday,” “Dick in a Box,” “Jizz in My Pants” and many others. In this episode, Schaffer talks about their unusual path to SNL and how directing outrageous movies like ‘Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping’ led him to take on a meta ‘Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers’ reboot for Disney+ starring Samberg and John Mulaney—and now the huge ‘Naked Gun’ reboot starring Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson. He also explains why he might be single handedly responsible for Netflix deciding to greenlight ‘I Think You Should Leave’ with Tim Robinson.  This episode was originally published on May 24, 2022. Follow The Lonely Island on Instagram @thelonelyisland [https://www.instagram.com/thelonelyisland]  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/] Highlights from this episode and others at The Daily Beast [https://www.thedailybeast.com/franchise/the-last-laugh] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Natasha Rothwell can be a bit defensive when it comes to her character on ‘The White Lotus.’ The actress, who just scored her second Emmy nomination for the hit HBO show, may have struggled at first to understand why Belinda did what she did at the end of Season 3. But she also believes she “deserves” what comes to her and gets why she ultimately decided to “f— the morality.” In her return to the podcast, Rothwell opens up about how she used her own past struggles with money to relate to her character on the show. As a former SNL writer herself, she reacts to the “White Potus” sketch that caused an uproar and frustrated her castmate Aimee Lou Wood. Rothwell also discusses how another co-star, Jason Isaacs, helped fuel rumors on real-life drama between cast members, reflects on the disappointing cancellation of her Hulu show ‘How to Die Alone,’ and explains why she has spent nearly a decade tweeting “you are trash” at Donald Trump every single day.  Follow Natasha Rothwell on Instagram @natasharothwell [https://www.instagram.com/natasharothwell] 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 this episode of The Last Laugh on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkhlvkKSRiY] Highlights from this episode and others at The Daily Beast [https://www.thedailybeast.com/keyword/the-last-laugh] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

This is a fraught time to be a political comedian in America. It’s something Stephen Colbert learned when CBS suddenly canceled ‘The Late Show.’ And it’s something comedian Jena Friedman experienced in an even more visceral way the last time she crossed the border back home to the U.S. In her fourth appearance on The Last Laugh, Friedman weighs in on the end of the late-night show that served as her very first TV writing gig and tells the harrowing story of being grilled about her jokes by U.S. Customs and Border Security. She also talks about putting together her new TED talk on comedy and AI, recalls the time she nicknamed her fetus “Jeffrey Epstein” on Colbert’s show, and previews her new stand-up hour ‘Motherf---er’ about becoming a mom and losing her own mom at the same time.  Get tickets to see Jena Friedman live [http://www.jenafriedman.com/tour.html] Follow Jena Freidman on Instagram @jenafriedman [https://www.instagram.com/jenafriedman] 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 this episode of The Last Laugh on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFOcnCObmuU] Highlights from this episode and others at The Daily Beast [https://www.thedailybeast.com/keyword/the-last-laugh] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Jameela Jamil no longer “gives a f---” what people think about her. After years spent trying to inspire fans with positive affirmations, the British presenter and actress has turned her attention to the subject of humiliating failure on a new comedy podcast called Wrong Turns [https://open.spotify.com/show/48QtcFDDyQzKIc4B0fo4V7]. In this episode, Jamil reveals why she has moved away from trying to inspire people to action and instead has decided to become, in her words, a kind of shameless “failure pervert.” She also breaks down how landing her role as Tahani on the NBC sitcom ‘The Good Place’ had less to do with “imposter syndrome” and more with being an actual imposter, details why not knowing who Larry David was when they first met led to her officiating his second wedding, and shares a story about the time she inadvertently ended up pretending to be Priyanka Chopra at an awards ceremony. And, for the first time, Jamil addresses the backlash she received for declaring that she no longer plans to sit for written interviews with female journalists.  Watch this episode of The Last Laugh on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McetHuTJfUs] Follow Jameela Jamil on Instagram @jameelajamil [https://www.instagram.com/jameelajamil/] 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/] Highlights from this episode and others at The Daily Beast [https://www.thedailybeast.com/keyword/the-last-laugh] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

‘Late Night with Seth Meyers’ writer Jenny Hagel has spent the entirety of Donald Trump’s political career writing and telling jokes that ride a precarious line between funny and offensive. But the difference between Hagel and Trump’s anti-woke comic crowd is that she only ever targets her own demographic. In this episode, Hagel breaks down her and Amber Ruffin [https://open.spotify.com/episode/5z2OzB4xM88TNXUEfHEre3]’s long-running “Jokes Seth Can’t Tell” segment, including how they got Hillary Clinton to join in after losing the 2016 election and why they are able to get away with outrageous punchlines that could get people with the wrong intentions canceled. She also discusses how ‘Late Night’ has changed during the second Trump term, reveals some secrets behind Seth Meyers’ popular “Day Drinking” bit, shares her reaction to NBC’s decision to kill ‘The Amber Ruffin Show,’ and teases her live comedy show ‘Jenny Hagel Gives Advice’ in which she bolds tells audience members how to live their lives.  Get tickets to see ‘Jenny Hagel Gives Advice’ live [https://jennyhagel.komi.io/] Follow Jenny Hagel on Instagram @jennyhagel [https://www.instagram.com/jennyhagel/] 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/] Highlights from this episode and others at The Daily Beast [https://www.thedailybeast.com/keyword/the-last-laugh] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.