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PODCAST

The Last Laugh

The Daily Beast

Welcome to ‘The Last Laugh’: Real conversations with really funny people. Every Wednesday, The Daily Beast’s Matt Wilstein interviews some of the biggest names in comedy—as well as the new voices crashing the party—about what it’s like to make people laugh during this current cultural and political moment. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

society & culture comedy interviews

All Episodes

40:37

Hannah Einbinder on ‘Hacks,’ Colbert and Anti-Woke...

The Last Laugh ·

2025/09/24

Hannah Einbinder had never really acted before she was cast as Ava Daniels opposite Jean Smart’s Deborah Vance on ‘Hacks.’ Now, she’s a three-time Emmy nominee. In this episode, Einbinder opens up about the overconfidence she brings to that role as well the onstage persona she displays in her excellent debut stand-up special ‘Everything Must Go’ on Max. She also talks about overcoming the intimidation of acting with Jean Smart, compares the generational gap between their characters to her

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40:10

Rob Reiner: Trump, Elon, and ‘Spinal Tap 2’

The Last Laugh ·

2025/09/17

Over the course of his long and distinguished career, Rob Reiner has directed some of the most beloved and acclaimed films in Hollywood history. But he had never directed a sequel until ‘Spinal Tap 2: The End Continues.’ In this episode, Reiner breaks down why he decided to reunite with Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer for one last mockumentary 41 years after they invented the genre with ‘This Is Spinal Tap.’ He talks about how the comedy of the film has evolved now that they are

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47:54

‘The Office’ Star Rainn Wilson: From Dwight Schrute...

The Last Laugh ·

2025/09/10

When they were shooting the pilot episode of ‘The Office,’ Steve Carell told Rainn Wilson that playing Dwight Schrute could change his life forever. And he could not have been more right. In this episode, Wilson breaks down his unique career journey from working character actor to sitcom star all the way through his latest film ‘Code 3’ (in theaters Friday Sept. 12) in which he plays a burnt out paramedic alongside fellow comedian Lil Rel Howery. His role in the new movie, as well as much of what he

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54:29

‘Bojack Horseman’ and ‘Long Story Short’ Creator...

The Last Laugh ·

2025/09/03

Raphael Bob-Waksberg was still in his 20s when he convinced Netflix to produce his audacious Hollywood satire about a washed-up, alcoholic former TV star who also happens to be a horse. Now, as a 41-year-old father of two, the creator of ‘Bojack Horseman’ is back with another animated Netflix series that is just as boldly funny and devastatingly emotional, but without the crutch of constant animal puns. In this episode, Bob-Waksberg opens up about his “vulnerable” new show, ‘Long Story Short,’ which

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1:05:03

SNL’s Beck Bennett: Trump, Elon, Putin, SNL50, and...

The Last Laugh ·

2025/08/27

Over the course of eight years in the cast of ‘Saturday Night Live,’ Beck Bennett performed comedy with more than 150 celebrity hosts. But no one—not even Donald Trump himself—was as difficult to work with as Elon Musk. In the 300th episode of The Last Laugh, Bennett looks back on his SNL audition, discusses what it was like to join the show with one of his oldest friends Kyle Mooney (with whom he just launched his own new podcast), and reveals exactly what made Musk a more “offensive” collaborator

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55:09

‘Daily Show’s’ Desi Lydic: Colbert, Stewart, and...

The Last Laugh ·

2025/08/20

10 years into her run at ‘The Daily Show,’ Desi Lydic is riding high with three Emmy nominations—including two for her short-form series “Foxsplains” in which she tries to wrap her head around MAGA’s most unhinged conspiracy theories. In this episode, the correspondent-turned-rotating host talks about how the series has granted her more empathy for brainwashed Trump supporters and looks back on processing his second term victory in real-time while hosting ‘The Daily Show.’ She talks about wanting to

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1:00:16

‘Hacks’ Creators: Emmys, Colbert, and What’s Next for...

The Last Laugh ·

2025/08/13

The three creators of the Emmy-nominated comedy series ‘Hacks’ had no idea they were predicting the future when they had their central late-night host character defiantly speak out against her network bosses and then lose her dream job. In this episode, Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, and Jen Statsky break down the “surreal” parallels between Deborah Vance’s arc in Season 4 and the real-life tribulations of Stephen Colbert. They talk about the importance of late-night TV, what its future might hold,

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58:32

‘Naked Gun’ Director Akiva Schaffer on SNL, The...

The Last Laugh ·

2025/08/06

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

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53:55

‘The White Lotus’ Star Natasha Rothwell Returns!

The Last Laugh ·

2025/07/30

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

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49:51

Jena Friedman: Colbert, Trump, Epstein, and More

The Last Laugh ·

2025/07/23

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

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55:02

Jameela Jamil: ‘The Good Place’ and ‘Wrong Turns’

The Last Laugh ·

2025/07/16

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. 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

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50:33

‘Late Night’ Writer Jenny Hagel: ‘Jokes Seth Can’t...

The Last Laugh ·

2025/07/09

‘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’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

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58:34

Seth Meyers on Trump, SNL, ‘Late Night’ and More

The Last Laugh ·

2025/07/02

Seth Meyers is currently vying for one of just three nomination spots in the late-night TV Emmys race. But ahead of the 2024 election, the comedian, ‘Saturday Night Live’ alum and host of NBC’s ‘Late Night’ was doing his best to stay in the present and take each new insane development as it comes. In this episode, Meyers talks about how he ended up releasing a stand-up special (‘Dad Man Walking’ on Max) that has nothing to do with politics so close to the election. He also shares thoughts about his

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52:39

Matteo Lane: Gayle King, Late-Night TV, and ‘The Al...

The Last Laugh ·

2025/06/25

For the first several years of his career, stand-up comedian Matteo Lane would open his sets by telling the audience, “Obviously, I’m gay.” At a certain point, he got tired of coming out to a room of strangers every night and instead begins his new Hulu hour ‘The Al Dente Special’ by making fun of the way white women talk—a bit that delighted Gayle King and led to one of the more awkwardly hilarious morning TV moments in recent history. In this episode, Lane explains why he decided to give the ‘CBS

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1:10:35

‘Comedy Samurai’ Larry Charles Returns: ‘Seinfeld,’...

The Last Laugh ·

2025/06/18

Over the course of his 40-year career, Larry Charles has had two central creative relationships with Larry David (‘Seinfeld’ and ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’) and Sacha Baron Cohen (‘Borat’ and ‘Brüno’). Now, he reveals in a new memoir that he hasn’t spoken to either man in years. In his return to The Last Laugh podcast, Charles breaks down how it all fell apart with two comedians he still considers complicated geniuses. He shares stories about how ‘Seinfeld’ solved its early Elaine problem after Julia

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55:26

Justine Lupe: ‘Nobody Wants This’ and ‘Succession’

The Last Laugh ·

2025/06/11

Justine Lupe thought there was no way she’d ever be able to top the experience of playing Willa on HBO’s ‘Succession.’ Then she got cast as Morgan, one of the “loser siblings” on the runaway Netflix hit ‘Nobody Wants This.’ They are two very different roles on two very different shows, but she says on this episode that she feels extremely “lucky” to get the opportunity to show both comedic and dramatic sides of herself on each. Fresh off of wrapping filming for Season 2 of ‘Nobody Wants This,’ Lupe

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1:12:40

Kevin Smith: ‘Dogma’ Secrets Revealed!

The Last Laugh ·

2025/06/04

25 years ago, Kevin Smith released his most controversial and provocative film. Then, after a solid run in theaters and a robust life on VHS, it disappeared into the ether and has never been available to stream. Now, as ‘Dogma’ makes its triumphant return to theaters this weekend, Smith reveals the full story of how he got huge stars like Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, George Carlin and others to appear in his audacious satire of the Catholic Church, how he was able “rescue my movie about angels from the

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44:16

Richard Kind on John Mulaney, Larry David and More

The Last Laugh ·

2025/05/28

You might recognize Richard Kind from sitcoms like ‘Mad About You’ or ‘Spin City.’ Or from his voice work as the imaginary friend Bing Bong in Pixar’s ‘Inside Out.’ Now, he has become the ultimate late-night TV sidekick on ‘Everybody’s Live with John Mulaney,’ which wraps up its first season run on Netflix this week. In this episode, Kind talks about what it’s like to be just famous enough to work all the time but not famous enough to play himself on ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm.’ He also shares showbiz

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59:57

Jillian Bell Returns: From SNL to ‘Summer of 69’

The Last Laugh ·

2025/05/21

Jillian Bell has a bad habit of talking herself out of acting jobs. She was supposed to play a much bigger role in Adam Sandler’s ‘Murder Mystery 2’ and almost starred in one of Netflix’s biggest hit shows. So when it came time to make her directorial debut ‘Summer of 69’ (now streaming on Hulu), she decided to stay (almost entirely) behind the camera. In her return to this podcast, Bell talks about casting SNL’s Chloe Fineman as a stripper fairy godmother-type character opposite newcomer Sam

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1:01:51

Kumail Nanjiani: ‘Poker Face,’ ‘Silicon Valley,’ SNL...

The Last Laugh ·

2025/05/14

For most of his career, Kumail Nanjiani has been asked to play the same type of brash nerd character that he perfected over six seasons on HBO’s ‘Silicon Valley.’ Then, a few years back, everything changed. The Pakistani-American comedian transformed his body to appear in the Marvel movie ‘Eternals’ and ever since, strange new doors have opened for him in Hollywood. One of those unexpected opportunities came when Natasha Lyonne reached out to him to play the bleach-blonde-haired, heavily tattooed

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