Doctor Vs Comedian

Today, the guys discuss and review Eddie Murphy’s new Netflix movie  ‘Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F’ (1:42). They start off by discussing Murphy’s early career, including his stand up, his breakthrough on ‘Saturday Night Live’, and his early movies ‘48 hours’ and ‘Trading Places’. They then discuss the blockbuster success of ‘Beverly Hills Cop’ and its soundtrack. They chat about the development of th...

TRIGGER WARNING: This episode discusses sexual abuse.   Today, the guys discuss the new Netflix documentary “Tell them you love me” (3:25) (Spoilers abound). They discuss the case of Anna Stubblefield, a tenured professor of ethics at Rutgers University, who initially started off aiding a young black man with cerebral palsy, Derrick Johnson, with facilitated communication but was eventually charge...

TRIGGER WARNING: This episode discusses sexual abuse.   Michael Jackson died 15 years ago, on June 25, 2009, so today the guys discuss his life and his controversies (2:56). They talk about Jackson’s early life, the success of the Jackson 5 and the abuse he  allegedly suffered at the hands of his father, Joe Jackson. They then discuss the success of his early solo records and the blockbuster succe...

Today, Ali and Asif start off the episode by addressing some listener mail. Then they discuss the  new documentary by Ron Howard out on Disney plus entitled “Jim Henson: Idea Man” (6:59). The guys go over Jim Henson’s early background, how he got into puppetry and his early successes appearing on American variety shows.  Asif and Ali then discuss when they first encountered Henson’s work. They the...

Today, Asif and Ali discuss Bon Jovi and the recent documentary series on the band “Thank you and Goodnight” on Disney Plus. Right at they beginning the discuss the director of the docuseries, Gotham Chopra and how he is related to health guru Deepak Chopra. Then then discuss Jon Bon Jovi and his band and Bon Jovi’s early influences including Bruce Springsteen and the E Street band and Southside J...

Today, Asif gets Ali’s thoughts on controversial comedian Shane Gillis (2:22). They discuss his background and his early start in comedy. They discuss his controversial exchange from his podcast that got him unhired from Saturday Night Live in 2019. Ali then gives his thoughts on Gillis’ hit special ‘Beautiful Dogs’. They then discuss their thoughts on his new Netflix show ‘Tires’ as well as their...

  Today on a special episode, Asif gets Ali’s thoughts on the AV club’s list of ‘The 40 greatest comedy albums of all time’. The guys start at the bottom and go all the way to the top and on the way discuss Lenny Bruce, Joan Rivers, Adam Sandler, Robert Klein, Dick Gregory, Monty Python, Steven Wright, Eddie Murphy, Robin Williams, George Carlin and Richard Pryor. They also discuss some albums on...

Today, based on recent comments from Jerry Seinfeld, Asif asks Ali the much discussed question “is woke/PC culture ruining comedy” (1:11).  They discuss Seinfeld’s comments and Ali’s examples from his comedy as well as others. They also talk about Bill Burr’s recent comments on Bill Maher’s podcast about how cancel culture is “not a thing”.    Then Ali asks Asif about anxiety (25:50). Asif starts...

Today Ali and Asif discuss the recent hit Netflix special ‘The Roast of Tom Brady’ (2:31). Asif starts off by asking Ali if Tom Brady was a good candidate for a roast. They then chat about the hosting duties of Kevin Hart and some of the controversy related to one of the jokes from ‘Roastmaster General’ Jeff Ross.  The guys discuss the various roasters; they go over the athletes who spoke and how...

Today, Ali and Asif discuss the career of comedian Pete Davidson. After Asif does some bad stand up, they discuss the early life of Pete Davidson, including how his life changed when his father died in 9/11. They talk about how he found comedy and his struggles with drug use and borderline personality disorder. Ali then mentions how Pete got cast on Saturday Night Live, becoming one of the younges...

Today, Ali and Asif discuss the career of actor Christina Applegate. They discuss her early life, child acting as well as being propelled to stardom in ‘Married with Children’. They then  discuss her subsequent career in both TV and movies. After a brief digression on Ali’s Canadian Screen Actors Nominations, they discuss Applegate’s role in Anchorman. After discussion some of her other projects t...

Today, Ali and Asif discuss the career of mixed-martial artist Georges St. Pierre. They discuss his early life in Saint-Isidore Quebec and how he was a victim of bullying as a child which later led him to martial arts. They then go over some trivia about Georges St. Pierre, including his wrestling training, his love of Jean Claude Van Damme and his role as a villain in the Marvel Cinematic Univers...

At the beginning of today’s episode the guys talk about their Oscar picks from last month and what they got right and wrong. They also talk about the claims of plagiarism regarding the screenplay for “The Holdovers”.  Then, Asif asks Ali about the Just for Laughs festival (4:40). Ali starts off by talking about the history of the festival and his personal relation to it from growing up in Montreal...

WARNING: Explicit Language in this episode   Today, Ali and Asif interview comedian and writer Dan St. Germain, coinciding with the release of his new YouTube special “Dance Fatty Dance”. Dan talks about starting off in stand up and using social media in comedy as well as his hatred of Zoom comedy. Ali asks Dan about the Just of Laughs festival and its recent financial issues.  Dan then talks abou...

Today, Ali and Asif discuss the new hit Netflix series ‘3 Body Problem’ (1:19). They start off with a minor debate on how to pronounce the name of ‘Liu Cixin’, the writer of the book upon which the show is based. The guys then discuss how the show was created by David Benioff and Dan Weiss, the creators of ‘Game of Thrones’, after a few other failed ventures. They discuss how China is a major sett...

Since March has been endometriosis awareness month, on today’s episode, Asif and Ali welcome gynecologist Dr. Sony Singh to discuss this common and often debilitating disease. Dr. Singh explains what it is and how it affects at at least 10% of women. He discusses how it is often underdiagnosed or misdiagnosed how this delay in diagnosis can have long term impacts. He then discusses some tests that...

Today, Ali and Asif discuss the controversial topic of whether you can separate the art from the artist (3:05). They discuss various opinion articles on this subject and the 'cancelling’ of historical figures such as Oscar Wilde and various politicians. They discuss how different types of art may allow this separation to be made easier or harder. They compare authors to actors/directors to stand u...

After some listener mail, the guys discuss the career of Dave Chapelle (2:21). They start off by discussing his early life and his notable family history. They discuss his early failures, his success and his first special “Killing Them Softly”.  They then talk about the groundbreaking ‘Chapelle’s Show’ and how Dave abruptly left the show at season 3. Finally they discuss their thoughts on Chappell...

Ali and Asif are back! In their return episode, the guys preview the 97th Annual Academy Awards Preview, taking place on March 10, 2024 (no medical topic this episode). The guys start off by discussing how Robbie Robertson from ’The Band’ was nominated posthumously for writing the music for ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’. And they also mention how John Williams, at age 92, received his 54th academy...

For the next few weeks, the guys will be re-airing some of their favourite episodes from our archives.     Today Ali and Asif discuss the legendary soundtrack from the movie ‘Singles’ which was released 30 years ago. The guys start off by discussing the movie ‘Singles’, Cameron Crowe and how the movie potentially influenced the creation of ‘Friends’. The guys then go through each song on the album...

For the next few weeks, the guys will be re-airing some of their favourite episodes from our archives.    Today on a very special episode, the guys we will be interview the trailblazing Canadian Music Icon Bif Naked. They start off by discussing Bif’s somewhat surprising connection to South Asia. Then then chat about Bif’s book from 2016 “I Bificius” and the challenges of opening yourself up in a...

For the next few weeks, the guys will be re-airing some of their favourite episodes from our archives.    Today on a special episode, we will be hearing a preview of Ali’s new book ‘Is There Bacon in Heaven’, published by Simon and Shuster, coming out Sept 27. Before Ali gets started Asif discusses summer entertainment he has consumed including ‘Prey’, ‘Archer’, ‘She-Hulk’, ‘Harley Quinn’, ‘Rings...

For the next few weeks, the guys will be re-airing some of their favourite episodes from our archives.    In this very special episode, Ali and Asif interview ophthalmologist, comedian and social media sensation Will Flannary aka Dr. Glaucomflecken. In their hilarious and wide ranging chat they discuss:   His comedic influences How he got started doing stand up and how he transitioned to social me...

For the next few weeks, the guys will be re-airing some of their favourite episodes from our archives.   In today’s episode, after a bit of listener mail about Ali’s love of Shonda Rimes (1:00), the guys discuss the issue of actors faking accents on movies and TV shows (2:09). Ali discusses Rizwan Manji from Schitt’s Creek and Aziz Ansari. Ali even discusses how he originally auditioned for the ro...

Today, Ali and Asif discuss comedian Ricky Gervais. They discuss his early life, including his stint in a New Wave Band in the early 1980’s. They then discuss the groundbreaking success of ‘The Office’ and some of his subsequent shows including ‘Extras’ and ‘After Life’. They pivot to then discussing his stand up comedy, including his hosting of the Golden Globes (and comparing him to recent host...