The Comic's Comic Presents Last Things First

Ahir Shah is a British comedian who was nominated for the Edinburgh Comedy Award at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2017 and 2018. He has turned his 2019 touring show, DOTS , into his first proper televised comedy special, which debuted on HBO Max in 2021. Shah sat down with me over Zoom not once but twice, as we had far-ranging discussions about comedy, religion, the politics of satire on British televis...

After spending his 20s as a computer programmer, Will Hines caught the improv bug when he began studying and performing at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in 1999 in New York City. He has gone on to become one of the most respected and experienced improv instructors with the UCB in New York and Los Angeles, as well as working with corporate clients, and he turned his Tumblr, Improv Nonsense,...

You've been hearing the wit and wisdom of Harry Shearer for the past four decades. Since 1983, Shearer has hosted and produced a weekly hourlong radio program, Le Show , that mixes news reports, interviews and music that can be equal parts referential and comedic. (It's heard around the world on the radio or via podcasts.) You've also enjoyed Shearer's contributions to the monumental rockumentary,...

Sophie Santos grew up in locations around the country, moving from Kansas to Alabama and eventually New York City, where she hosts "The Lesbian Agenda," a satirical comedy show that she plans to take on the road to further her agenda. In 2021, Santos voiced roles in two Audible Original podcast series, Hit Job starring Pete Davidson and Keke Palmer, and Hot White Heist starring Bowen Yang, Alan Cu...

Niccole Thurman is an actress, writer, and the co-host of the podcast, The Scroll Down with Marcella Arguello . Originally from Kansas, Thurman studied acting at the University of Kansas before finding her place in comedy through The Second City in Chicago. She served as a correspondent on Comedy Central's The Opposition with Jordan Klepper , and you might also have seen her on such shows as Netfl...

Bill Engvall is a Grammy-nominated comedian from Texas who made up one-fourth of the mega-successful Blue Collar Comedy Tour alongside Jeff Foxworthy, Larry the Cable Guy and Ron White, touring from 2000 to 2006 and making a sketch comedy show together. Since then, Engvall also has starred in multiple solo stand-up specials, his own TBS sitcom, The Bill Engvall Show , made it to the finals of seas...

Julie Seabaugh grew up on a farm and discovered stand-up when Dave Attell performed during her senior year at the University of Missouri, where she earned her bachelor's degree in journalism. In 2003, after moving to New York City, Seabaugh launched her earliest independent effort into comedy journalism with the online magazine, Two Drink Minimum . A career with alt-weeklies followed, with stops a...

Tone Bell is an actor, writer, and comedian from Atlanta who began his comedy career in Dallas before going Hollywood. Since winning the NBC Stand Up For Diversity competition in 2011, he has co-starred or starred in multiple sitcoms, starting with Whitney on NBC and including   Bad Judge , Truth Be Told , Disjointed , and Fam . His film credits include Sylvie's Love, Little, Dog Days , and The We...

Michael Hartney is an actor, writer and comedian who was the final artistic director for the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre when it shuttered its New York City operations in 2020, and one of the founding members of the nonprofit Squirrel Comedy Theatre. Hartney created the roles of Stanley and Mr. Williams in the original Broadway cast of School of Rock the Musical, and on TV, he has appeared on...

Phil Wang was one of only two comedians from outside the United States to be invited to perform as part of Netflix's The Comedy Lineup series in 2018. Born in England but raised in Malaysia until he returned to the U.K. at age 16, Wang graduated from the University of Cambridge with an engineering degree and the prestige of serving as a president of the Footlights, the legendary campus comedy trou...

What was podcasting like before the iPhone? Jesse Thorn knows. After college radio, Thorn, host of public radio's Bullseye with Jesse Thorn , broadcast his podcast The Sound of Young America from his home, eventually building his own podcast network, Maximum Fun, which includes Stop Podcasting Yourself ; Judge John Hodgman ; My Brother, My Brother and Me ; and dozens more. Thorn sat down with me t...

Rob Barnett has been a radio DJ and program director, pivoted to TV as programming director for MTV and VH1 in the 1990s, pivoted back to radio to launch CBS Radio's "Free" FM in the wake of Howard Stern's departure, hiring Adam Carolla to replace Stern on the West Coast stations, then left to do his own damn thing online by founding My Damn Channel, where he funded original projects by Harry Shea...

Tig Notaro has both survived and thrived in the decade since she first disclosed her breast cancer diagnosis to a live audience in Los Angeles in August of 2012. Notaro has released three stand-up specials, two on HBO and one on Netflix, in addition to a road-trip special for Showtime, while she also was the subject of a documentary for Netflix. She poured some of her life story into her own serie...

Julia Scotti is a comedian who has enjoyed a career resurgence in her 60s, performing on America's Got Talent in 2016, and in 2020 as part of the Showtime comedy showcase, More Funny Women of A Certain Age , alongside the likes of Caroline Rhea and Carol Leifer. She currently stars in a new documentary from filmmaker Susan Sandler called Julia Scotti: Funny That Way . The film examines Scotti's tr...

Iris Bahr is a comedian, actress, playwright and author, born in New York City and grown up in Israel. You have seen her in a variety of supporting roles onscreen in the 21st century — most recently in 2021 as a spa nurse in HBO Max's Hacks , and as a rehab roommate on ABC's The Conners . Bahr's other TV credits have included guest spots on Friends, The Drew Carey Show, Star Trek: Voyager, 9-1-1,...

Raised in Wisconsin, Pete Lee began his comedy career in Minnesota before moving to New York City after he made his TV debut on Comedy Central's Premium Blend . It would take a few years after that to get his first Comedy Central half-hour special, and another five years to get his chance to perform on the Late Show with David Letterman . Other early credits included VH1's Best Week Ever and truTV...

Rory Scovel is a stand-up comedian, actor and writer who came out of the Washington, D.C., comedy scene, and has managed to incorporate the lessons of improvisation into his stand-up throughout his career, from comedy competitions to late-night TV sets to his latest effort, the comedy documentary, Live Without Fear , filmed by Scott Moran out now on YouTube. Scovel also currently co-stars in the A...

Rose Matafeo is a comedian, writer and actor from New Zealand who began her comedy career at age 15. In 2018, her stand-up show Horndog won the top comedy prize at the Edinburgh Fringe, and she subsequently recorded Horndog in posterity for HBO Max in 2020. She has become a fixture on TV panel shows in the UK, and you may have seen her as a contestant on the popular program Taskmaster , or perform...

Josh Johnson is a stand-up comedian and writer from Louisiana who began his comedy career in Chicago. Since moving to New York City, he has performed on late-night TV via Conan ,  The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Kevin Hart Presents: Hart of the City , Netflix's The Comedy Lineup , and a half-hour special on Comedy Central. He has written for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon , and cur...

Paul W. Downs and Lucia Aniello began collaborating as comedy and life partners after meeting in 2007 at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre and Magnet Theater in New York City. Their early efforts included a webseries for Broadway Video's Above Average Productions and a one-man show, The Paul Downs Experience, at the UCB in 2010. Since then, you've seen their work together or individually in the...

Flula Borg is a German actor, musician, comedian and DJ who began making his mark on American audiences in 2015 — that's when he broke through out of YouTube to become one of Variety's 10 Comics to Watch, as he starred in an NBC pilot and co-starred in the smash hit movie, Pitch Perfect 2 . Since then, Flula has popped up in a variety of supporting roles on shows such as Curb Your Enthusiasm and T...

Fresh out of Houston to Flatbush, Brooklyn, Kevin Iso's friendship with fellow young comedian Dan Perlman led to making YouTube video slice of life sketches with their funny friends. They went from "Moderately Funny" to Showtime. In between, Iso's stand-up landed him a showcase spot on Adam Devine's House Party on Comedy Central, as well as This Week at the Comedy Cellar , a recurring role on Hulu...

Originally from Boston, Sam Jay is an Emmy-nominated writer and critically-acclaimed stand-up comedian. After being named one of Variety's 10 Comics to Watch in 2018, Jay made her Netflix debut on The Comedy Lineup and released her first album, "Donna's Daughter," with Comedy Central Records. Jay's 2020 Netflix special, 3 in the Morning , was one of that year's best. As a writer, her credits inclu...

John van der Put is a magician and comedian from the UK much better known by his stage name as Piff the Magic Dragon. Piff has performed at the Edinburgh Fringe, toured with Mumford and Sons, fooled Penn & Teller on television and charmed the United States on America's Got Talent . Piff has held court for the last few years as a headlining act on the Vegas Strip at the Flamingo Las Vegas Hotel and...

Dana Gould is a stand-up comedian, writer and performer who wrote and performed on The Ben Stiller Show and spent eight years as writer and producer on The Simpsons . His stand-up special, I Know It's Wrong , was one of the best specials of the 2010s decade. In 2016, Gould created the IFC comedy horror series, Stan Against Evil . In 2021, his latest project is a webseries called Hanging with Docto...