Beginnings

On today's show, I talk to comedian and host Amanda Seales . While born in LA, Amanda's family hails from Grenada. Amanda got her start in entertainment at a young age, with parts in films like Cop and 1/2 and a recurring role on the Nickelodeon show My Brother and Me . And since then, she's become a showbiz jack-of-all-trades: she's been a VJ on MTV, she was featured on Best Week Ever , she was a...

On today's show I talk to actor Lola Kirke. Lola comes from a family of artists and musicians - her father is Simon Kirke of the bands Bad Company and Free, her mother is Lorraine Kirke, a fashion designer and interior decorator, and her sister is Jemima, who plays Jessa on Girls . But at the age 24, Lola is no slouch herself. She's acted in films like Gone Girl and shows like The Leftovers , she...

On today's show I talk to stand-up David Smithyman . David hails from Sydney, Australia and moved to the US to attend college. Since starting stand-up, he's become a finalist in NBC's Stand-Up for Diversity and last year was named one of Comedy Central's Comics to Watch. Currently, he writes on the ABC show Fresh Off the Boat . This is the website for Beginnings , subscribe on iTunes , follow me o...

On today's show I talk to comics writer Charles Soule . After getting his JD from Columbia Law School, Charles became a lawyer focusing on corporate law and immigration. Simultaneously, he also started his comics career. His first work Strongman was published on Slave Labor Graphics, and subsequently Oni Press began publishing his ongoing series Letter 44 . Since then, he's written Swamp Thing , R...

On today's show I talk to comedian Jake Fogelnest . Jake's career in entertainment started at the age of 14 when his public access show Squirt TV became a phenomenon, eventually making the leap to MTV. While Jake has regularly worked since then - doing things like writing for Best Week Ever and contributing jokes to SNL 's Weekend Update - it's only recently that his career has truly bloomed: writ...

On today's show, I talk to comedian Mike Drucker . In Mike's short time existing on Earth, he has been a part of some of the greatest comedy establishments in American history. He's contributed to The Onion and SNL and has written for Nintendo. He also wrote for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and currently writes for The Tonight Show ! Besides being funny, he's also a nice dude! This is the website...

On today's special 200th episode, I talk to one of my favorite cartoonists Michael Kupperman . Michael has been creating surreal and hilarious comics for decades - most recently in the amazing Fantagraphics series Tales Designed to Thrizzle. Other books of his include Snake 'n' Bacon's Cartoon Cabaret and Mark Twain’s Autobiography 1910-2010 . In addition to his comics work, Michael also made a Sn...

On today's show I talk to comedian Nore Davis . Originally from Yonkers, Norestarted doing comedy after giving up street racing. He's performed on shows on MTV and Comedy Central, acted in in shows Boardwalk Empire , and was a New Face at Just for Laughs last year. Nore also has a new stand-up album out called Home Game that's very funny! This is the website for Beginnings , subscribe on iTunes ,...

It's the fifth anniversary of Beginnings , and to celebrate, I have a wonderful episode for you with writer Chuck Klosterman . Originally from Minnesota, Chuck is the author of numerous fiction and non-fiction books, including his quasi-memoir Fargo Rock City , his acclaimed essay collection Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs and novels like Downtown Owl . Chuck has also written for GQ, Esquire, Spin, The...

I hope y'all are ready for an awesome episode with author Helen DeWitt . While born in America, Helen's father was in the foreign service. She grew up all over Latin America and later attended the University of Oxford, which is where she earned her PhD. Helen has written two amazing books, The Last Samuri (which has nothing to do with that Tom Cruise film) and Lightning Rods , which was recently n...

One today's episode I talk to writer and performer Ben Sinclair . Ben's name may not be instantly recognizable but for fans of High Maintenance , which is one of the best webseries out there - and would certainly be among the best TV shows if it were on TV - you'll instantly know him as the series anonymous weed dealer The Guy. Not only does Ben star in the show, but along with his wife (and forme...

On today's show, I talk to musician Mike Pace . A Long Island native, Mike was a member of the popular indie rock band Oxford Collapse, who were together from 2002 to 2009. They released four albums: two on Kanine and two on Sub Pop. Mike also co-hosted the awesome podcast Worst Gig Ever , which ran for 100 episodes as well as seven episodes on Official Comedy's YouTube channel. On January 13th, S...

On today's show, I talk to stand-up Kyle Kinane . Kyle was raised in the suburbs of Addison, Illinois and could have very well stayed right there drinking and partying if comedy hadn't come along to wrench him out of his torpor. Since starting stand-up, Kyle's performed on a number of shows including Conan ; he has his own Comedy Central Presents ; and he's released two albums Death of the Party a...

Guy Branum is a wonderful stand-up who was born and raised in Yuba City, CA on an almond farm. After graduating UC Berkeley, he attended the University of Minnesota Law School, where he received his JD. But the lawyer life was not for Guy, and stand-up eventually led to TV writing. Guy's written for G4, Chelsea Lately and Totally Biased . He also appeared on season eight of Last Comic Standing . T...

On today's show, I talk to the wonderful Shonali Bhowmik . Originally from Nashville, Shonali's got a deep history in both music and comedy. Her first band Ultrababyfat toured with David Cross on the "Let America Laugh" tour, and is a member of the comedy group Variety SHAC with Andrea Rosen, Chelsea Peretti and Heather Lawless. Shonali's also the leader of the indie rock band Tigers and Monkeys a...

On today's show, I talk to musician Elisa Ambrogio . In 2001, Elisa started the indie rock band Magik Markers with her childhood friend Leah Quimby. After touring with Sonic Youth in 2004, they released their first album on Thurston Moore's label, and continued to release albums and gain acclaim. Recently, Elisa recorded her first solo album The Immortalist , which was just released on the brillia...

On today's show, I talk to philosopher Simon Critchley . Raised north of London, Simon grew up in a working class atmosphere. He never thought he'd attend university, but then a chance accident sent him off on an academic path. In 1988, Simon received his PhD from the University of Essex, and since then, he's written 14 books, many of them friendly to a wider audience. This includes his most recen...

On today's show, I talk to musician Weasel Walter . Weasel is a take-charge kind of guy, and an iconoclastic personality, and was a major contributor to the Chicago no-wave/noise/improvised music underground during the '90s and early 2000s, most notably with his band The Flying Luttenbachers , which he formed with jazz cult figure Hal Russell. Since then, Weasel has collaborated with people like J...

On today's show I talk to comedian David Huntsberger . Originally from outside of Reno, Nevada, David grew up riding and shoeing horses, building fences, and all other manner of things a suburban kid like me would naively put under the rubric of "cowboy stuff". David started doing stand-up in San Diego many years ago, and since then, he's appeared on Premium Blend and Last Comic Standing , and has...

On today's show, I talk to Emmy Award-winning comedian Brian McCann . Brian started off his career as a stand-up, and in 1995 became a sketch writer on Late Night with Conan O'Brien , where you might know him from his many characters, which include Preparation H. Raymond and The Guy with Bullet Proof Legs. Brian stayed with the show through its transformation to The Tonight Show and then Conan , b...

On today's show I talk to musician Matt Sharp . While born in Bangkok, Matt grew up in US in a boring suburb of DC, and moved as soon as he could to the West Coast. In 1992, he formed the band Weezer with Rivers Cuomo, and was instrumental in the success of their first two albums. Two years later, Matt formed the moog-based power-pop band The Rentals. Their first album Return of the Rentals was re...

On today's show, I talk to singer, comedian and cabaret performer Bridget Everett . Born in Manhattan, Kansas, Bridget originally trained as a classical singer. Unhappy with that lifestyle though, she moved to New York where's she's found a great deal of success. Bridget starred in the musical At Least It’s Pink , which she co-wrote with director Michael Patrick King (Sex and the City), and has pe...

On today's episode I talk to musician Sadie Dupuis . Originally from New York, Sadie grew up both in the city and also the wilds of Connecticut. Perhaps though, you might know Sadie from her amazing band Speedy Ortiz . Speedy Ortiz started as a solo project for Sadie while she was working at a summer camp, but after the first album The Death of Speedy Ortiz , it became a full band, and their first...

On today's show, I talk to musician Leah Wellbaum . Originally from Brookline, Massachusetts, Leah's been playing music for a long time. She started out playing with blues groups in college, but it's her most recent band Slothrust that's been getting a lot of attention lately, and deservedly so. Their debut album Of Course You Do is great (maybe you heard one of their songs under the credits of th...

On today's show, I talk to Keith and Kenny Lucas AKA The Lucas Bros . Born in Newark and raised in North Carolina, Keith and Kenny were on the path to become lawyers before turning to comedy. And thankfully their choice has been validated by a great deal of success. A few years ago, they debuted their stand-up on Late Night , and since then have created Lucas Bros. Moving Co. for Fox's ADHD, they'...