Let's Talk About Sets!

We’ve got more episodes on the way, but it’s summer. Weddings, relationships, shows, etc. In the meantime, have a listen to a comedian Sandip Sen, Harrison Tweed, and Jeff McBride just geek the fuck out about the sadly deceased comedy genius, Greg Giraldo. We listen to his closing bit, called “Happy Birfday” from his 2009 album "Midlife Vices." We’re so giddy over it that we don’t even have a decent analysis between three of us. Then we listen to one little joke from George Carlin that shows what you can make funny once you’ve been doing it for four decades.

CW Headley is a very funny person whose hilarious perspective is informed by a need for reassurance to which anyone can relate, a universal human need he renders funny by its specific CW intensity. In this episode, all three comedians lay bare their underlying primary insecurities as they explore how "relatability" functions in stand-up.

Fantastic stand up comic and writer Peter Revello is the perfect guest to theorize about dark, black humor. And that's what this episode is all about--how and why we have a hearty laugh at bad things. Apropos to Peter's philosophy background, this episode lends itself to exploratory debate; so if you love nerding out about how humor works, you'll love this.

NYC comedian, Fumi Abe, chops it up with the hosts to take apart a heavy-duty tool of the craft of stand-up, "visualization." Using his trademark wit and insight, he helps us investigate how the greats make movies in our heads. This episode is on point with side-bruising bit selections from Nate Bargatze, Maria Bamford, Dave Chappelle, and Daniel Tosh.

We're on vacation for the 4th of July, so here's a short outtake where Jeff gets frustrated at dealing with two meandering ADHD minds at once. He finally just gives in to Casey James Salengo and Harrison being 100% type B. Enjoy!

Khalid Rahmaan is, in his own words, a terrible driver, a wonderful snuggler, and a Brooklyn-based standup comedian. His hysterically intelligent comedy weaves elements of politics, race, and family; it's talking about real things in a funny way that lights his comedic fire. Oh, and he HATES clapter. This episode is dedicated to exploring comedy influences.

Casey James Salengo is a New York stand up comic, writer, and actor. He's a lovably funny guy who likes things simple and hilariously acknowledges his refusal to learn from his life experience. He is the very essence is laissez-faire, and it really works for him. He's a master of carefully selecting the right words to compliment his theatrical comedy style, and some very good things have come his way recently. So this episode explores two themes: "word choice" in material and "opportunities" in show business.

Jason Chatfield is a standup comedian, voice-over actor, cartoonist, and illustrator based out of New York City. The scope of his talents is irritatingly impressive. He made his name in his native Australia as a political comedian, but since emigrating to the USA, he's "closeted" his politics temporarily for the good of his career. Since he's still a very political person, this episode is dedicated to political comedy, a theme the podcast is sure to revisit many times. That podcast artwork? Yeah. Jason did it. He's kind of a badass.

Dave Columbo magically pulls off fast, smart comedy as a goofy, nerdy everyman. His writing is absolutely on point; his jokes are so well-written they could even stand on their own, without him, like a criminally dirty pair of jeans. Above all, he knows how to be a silly billy, so this episode is dedicated to silliness.

Caitlin Peluffo is a machine gun of audience-loving funny, a “lovable loose cannon." She’s a Wonder Woman at working with audience energy, so this episode is dedicated to “ENERGY." Caitlin is so funny and endearing that the three comedians laughed and joked their way through this entire recording.

Ashley Gavin is a robot -- a high-energy, high impact, hysterically funny, lesbian robot. Since some of her best jokes only work once audience gets to know her, we dedicated this episode to "Persona Bits." She is a nationally touring comedian, and her comedy has been featured on FOX, AXS TV, SeeSo, and SiriusXM Comedy.

Brandon Scott Wolf is wonderfully absurd, both personally and professionally; and so this episode is dedicated to absurdist stand-up comedy. What is absurdism, and why is it rare in stand-up? The comedians couldn't stop laughing at their collective inanity, so this one is BONUSLY long. And it's totally worth it.

Usama Siddiquee is a standup comic and light-speed comedy host. His high-energy comedy style and turbo-riffing can be seen all over the U.S., and he's a "made man" at New York Comedy Club in Manhattan. This episode is frenetic and hilarious, frothing with the fervor all three comics share for stand up and peppered with philosophies of success.

Drew Morgan perfectly kicks off the show with an episode focused on openers. What are they? What are they supposed to communicate? And why do comedians obsess over them? Drew shares his theories and a few examples, and then we dissect a few of the greats.

This is the inaugural episode. Harrison said, "Dude, we should talk and stuff about stuff." Jeff interpreted that to mean that the hosts should record an episode that explains who we are because, without the backdrop of our characters, Jeff seems like a real ass, despite actually being quite harmless. Then we talk about sets!

Jeff McBride and Sandip Sen host this early episode, and they have a blast diving into Patrick's bit about how he is keenly aware of his desire for attention and how he can relate it to a very taboo subject...but no spoilers.

Jeff McBride and Sandip Sen hosted this early episode, and they couldn't get over how clever Kevin's abstract associations were in his bit, "The Boys From Brazil." They talk about how long it can take to make those connections. They then joyfully tear down some Brian Regan and John Mulaney comedy gold.

Ben Rosenfeld joins Sandip Sen and Jeff McBride as they dig into work by George Carlin and David Cross. They also touch on writing material from outrage and working toward funny, through which Ben's dark humor "shines" with incisive analysis about smart comedy, learning your style, and gently misanthropic perspective from his early years in Russia.