• A little over a month ago, my friend Sam Zelitch casually mentioned how much he got out of Mike Birbiglia’s Working It Out Podcast. I made it appointment listening the next day excited to deep dive into the show’s catalogue. What I found was arguably the best free, joke-writing seminar in the world. I binged all 22 episodes (I’ve never been a podcast completist before usually picking and choosing which episodes to listen to based on the guest) because a.) they’re short at around 50 minutes apiece, b.) full of wisdom and c.) very funny. In each episode, Mike and a guest chat off the top, there’s Jack Antonoff’s theme song, Bibiglia lightly grills guests asking them to recall childhood smells/neighbors/times they’ve felt left out and then we get the meat of the episode- Mike working out material with the guest’s input and the guest trying something on Mike in return. It’s addictive; a look inside how the pros develop their act. In fact, I learned the best piece of joke writing advice I’ve ever heard from this show:
Every punchline should be a surprise yet also inevitable.
That was too generous of me to just give you. But it was also too generous for Mike to just give his audience.
Since I listened to all episodes, I wanted to give you a brief taste of each so you can get an idea of all the different flavors:
Ira Glass episode: Incredibly thoughtful punch ups to flesh out ideas; he’s the friend that looks for the deeper meaning behind the jokes that makes Mike probe deeper into his psyche.
John Mulaney: His friend with the best jokes. You really hear Mulaney’s process and innate ability to create funny out of thin air.
Jon Laster: The deepest episode in the series. Laster had an amazing line about how “How cops exist to protect white people.” Had never heard it put so succinctly.
Matt Berninger: The lead singer of The National came on with his wife; Mike’s wife joined as well. They talked about their partnerships. The best part is easily Birbiglia’s wife’s poem about how the 21st century is mostly “people telling machine secrets.”
Hannah Gadsby: She’s the smart friend on a different plane. Gadsby thinks of her specials as a trilogy which I’d never heard anyone refer to their work as such.
David Sedaris: The older friend who has seen and done it all. He brags about getting 90k steps in a day. Unbelievable.
Sarah Cooper: The newbie on the scene; Mike is the older friend in this one. She has a wonderful line where she says, “No one in Hollywood likes you until you’re famous.”
Melissa Villasenor: The friend that writes completely differently than you. Interesting to hear how an impressionist/voice artist develops material.
Hasan Minajh: Slight episode but not bad; the distant friend you don’t see enough. I especially liked that Hasan thinks about his legacy so much rather than just accepting gigs blindly.
Roy Wood Jr: One of the best podcast guests; always very open. His greatest piece of wisdom here is to own your negative story. He owned his past where he had been arrested and used it to his advantage on “Star Search.”
Judd Apatow: So many funny riffs here for ostensibly goofing off with your former boss (Apatow directed Birbiglia in “Trainwreck” and they go off on how angry people are that Mike is married to Brie Larson in that movie). Apatow’s “wishful recycling” about people that want to recycle everything was extremely relatable. He also takes a two-hour walk and meditates every day. Not a bad schedule.
Sam Jay: Right off the bat, Birbiglia asks if she remembers how they met. She does. She told Mike, “He was boring and didn’t get his act.”
Ronny Chieng: Made an amazingly astute point about comedy. He said, “We’re competing against funny internet videos.” Stand up is much harder when competing against animals doing funny things. Chieng has an amazing joke as well about “reverse conspiracy theories.”
Tig Notaro: Your friend that’s so funny it’s hard to keep up. Tig is on a different wavelength; she starts by riffing on wanting to become a nutritionist and also revealed later on that Billie Eilish’s parents are in The Groundlings. To this day.
Jimmy Kimmel: Your friend that admires stand up but doesn’t quite do it and always has a critique. He says, “Nothing gets worked out.” I disagree.
Maria Bamford: Your friend that makes you want to work harder because they’re so deep. Maria gives a hot tip: call a pizza place instead of suicide hotline. They’ll actually pick up.
Pete Holmes: The annoying little brother comic that needs attention. Kind of interesting to listen to Pete TRY so hard.
Pod Save America guys: Your political friends. Favreau and Vietro worked out a strong bit of Birbiglia’s about Trump being a conspiracy theorist for people with less power than him.
Jacqueline Novak: Your friend that you always put on shows. Her riff about “People love acting like they’re smart when saying ‘you know comedians are actually smart’” is a series high.
Bowen Yang: The new guy who is TOO good. Birbiglia asks a million SNL questions and envies that he gets to work with other comedy writers all day. I do too.
Abbi Jacobson: Feels like an old college pal. Mike had been working on a bit about seeing penises in the YMCA locker room for the entirety of the series and Abbi nonchalantly punched the joke up giving it the closure it needed. They worked it out.
There’s new episodes weekly. I think you’ll like it. A generic link to the show’s site can be found in the comments.
• Speaking of podcasts, I was a guest on two fairly recently. It’s weird being a podcast guest because you’re always self-conscious that you’re boring or repeating stories you’ve told on other podcasts. This wasn’t the case here. I don’t think there was any overlap. Here’s quick summaries of each podcast in case you want EVEN MORE podcast reviews after the 22 I wrote above:
”Fake Outrage Report with Phill Causey and Sandip Sen:” Phill and Sandip have the rapport of hosts who have been recording together for years. They banter effortlessly; each is the yin to the other’s yang. The twosome skew toward offensive comedy but also make their guests feel welcome; there’s no need to meet them on that level. In our episode, we discussed outrage at COVID-based Halloween costumes and remarks about obesity made by the Whole Foods CEO. I had a completely spontaneous moment and ended up going on a tirade about how obesity can be genetic but can also certainly be classist and the Whole Foods CEO has no place to comment on it. One of those rare moments, where I felt smart and for a good reason. The link’s right below the Mike Birbiglia one.
“Gay Vs. Straight with Rhett Sever:” This isn’t a true podcast; in fact, it’s an Instagram Live show that Rhett hosts on Sunday evenings. Rhett, a gay man, interviews straight men about their understanding of gay culture. We didn’t get very far in that regard; I asked a question about manscaping and somehow we got to pondering the meaning of the universe. For stories I haven’t told anywhere else (there’s never been a better place to hear about the time I did edibles), they can all be found on Rhett’s Instagram which is linked a long scroll away.
• As the pandemic continues to dictate our every move, there are still folks doing special, new things comedically. Here are just a few:
- My wife Anna E. Paone’s aunt Alene Scoblete made her playwriting debut with “What’s In A Name.” Her 45-minute piece traces the day in the life of a group of similarly named librarians dealing with a sleaze who continually checks out risque titles. The Zoom reading is embedded in the comments for interested parties.
- Danny Vega has adapted his “I’m Walking Here” series into bite sized informer TikTok videos finding a massive audience in the process. I was fortunate enough to collaborate on a few of his videos that are compact, comedic observations constructed in real time. Danny doesn’t stop until the jokes are word perfect; in the two videos I helped out on that are linked below, you can see what I mean.
- Bri Valdivia has always been one of my favorite comedic writers; her trade is in humorous journalism and it’s always so delightful to see something funny of hers in a newspaper or alt weekly that doesn’t feel like...news. Her latest piece “Been Spending Most My Life Eating In A Cheddar Bay Paradise” (a title so good it gives Weird Al a run for his money) is an ode to Red Lobster’s biscuits that is personal and absurd all at once. I read it in the morning and was the perfect pick me up to get a dull Wednesday going. You can find the link somewhat nearby.
• So, yes, I mostly listened to Birbiglia’s podcast this week but I did read and see a few other things. They were:
“On Writing” by Stephen King: Similar to “Working It Out,” this half autobiographical/half informational nonfiction piece feels like a 300-page plus Medium post, which I mean in the nicest way possible. King writes incredibly well and shares invaluable secrets that you always inherently knew but never expressed yourself like, “Writing is telepathy. You’re communicating with someone at a later time.” That blew my mind. He also shared an extended metaphor about writing skills being a toolbox where you need to have a number of basics in order to even begin doing the work. The most practical advice he shared though was “every second draft should CUT 10% of the words from the first draft” (this led to his major success) and “plot is worthless- story is where it’s at.” When he’s not getting heady, preachy or teaching is where the book veers off in odd directions. King actively bad mouths other writers, uses slurs in places and spends 100 or so pages telling the reader his origin story as well as a recounting of the time he was hit by a car in 1999. It’s personal, messy and chock full of insight from a great. Like I said, great Medium post except this one isn’t a five-minute read. It took me 2.5 months.
“Curb Your Enthusiasm” Season Ten (2020): It’s truly unbelievable how much mileage Larry David gets out of his winning “A, B and C stories dovetailing into a third act where they all combine” structure but it almost never fails. For a tenth season built on such a formula, there were surprisingly few duds (bringing back taking advantage of handicapped parking with comedy’s omnipresent Fred Armisen and the recurring rivalry he generates with a coffee shop were rare misfires, yet each story line had their moments). Even when the show isn’t quite on top of its game, I could still listen to Susie yell at Larry and Jeff forever. Plus, Larry’s banter with Leon (JB Smoove) is better than ever. The show is just so much fun. Most episodes had me laughing out loud; Several standouts include Larry discreetly having his friends weighed by an expert guesser at a carnival; there’s one where he wears a MAGA hat to get out of obligations (you have to respect him for always going to that cringe-y place- he doesn’t shy away from anything); another episode features a restaurant that seats patrons based on attractiveness and places Larry in the ugly section (kudos to the extras that were deemed ugly by the casting director); and a professional crier (Isla Fisher) who gets exactly what she wants by shedding tears in opportune moments. Did I mention there’s a meta episode where Jon Hamm studies Larry for a method role where he plays Larry? There are hundreds of other fun things I’ve left out. Fault the show for its formula (I do sometimes) but you can’t say it’s not pure comedy. At its core, this is a show that is about a man (Larry) who has unbelievable wealth and still can’t be satisfied. Do we hate him for that? Nope. We love him even more. I CAN’T WAIT FOR SEASON ELEVEN (Streaming on HBO Max).
“Don Verdean” (2015): I’m slightly fascinated by Jared and Jerusha Hess. They’re an oddball writing and directing husband and wife team who struck gold with “Napoleon Dynamite;” given a Hollywood budget, their follow-up “Nacho Libre” was a huge box office success soon after. Then, they began making smaller, oddball films like “Napoleon” that retain their sensibility but now live on the outer fringes of the mainstream. No one is wearing “Gentlemen Broncos” shirts like they are “Vote for Pedro” tees. Their later works fit into what I would call the “alt-wholesome” scene. Like if Wes Anderson went to Bible camp instead of listening to The Rolling Stones. One of these oddball films is the sleeper “Don Verdean” (when I say sleeper, I mean it, this flick made $31,000.00; you can’t survive on that in most cities) about the titular Don Verdean (a pre-Oscar Sam Rockwell), a Biblical archaeologist with a timid assistant (Amy Ryan; there are shades of Michael Scott and Holly here). His career has seen better days (a commentary about the Hess’ dwindling stature?) but he gets called by a megachurch pastor (the always ready to lampoon the faithful, Danny McBride) to discover religious artifacts in Israel. Verdean exploits an actual Israeli digger (Jemaine Clement adopting a wacky Middle Eastern accent) and then exploits the church’s willingness to believe anything. Will Forte steals a handful of scenes in here as well as a rival, spiteful pastor. It’s fun. Is it great? No. IT’S A PERFECT SLEEPER FILM (Streaming on Netflix).
“The Wedding Planner” (2001): I don’t know why but Anna and I own this movie. J. Lo and McConaughey’s faces have been staring at me from the DVD cover for years. I felt like I knew exactly what to expect from this movie so I put off seeing it. Well, that postponement is now over. I am now a person that has seen “The Wedding Planner.” It’s a standard rom-com that plays by all the rules we’ve come to expect from the genre just as I suspected. Anna called it “comfort food.” The nice thing about comfort food though is the weird ingredients that are occasionally mixed in. We’ll skip the plot (OK, here’s the plot: overworked, perpetually single woman meets the one; the one is the groom to be in the next wedding she’s planning; hijinks ensue) and discuss what makes this recipe unique. For one, Fred Willard plays a dance coach in a single scene. The scene is not entirely necessary but it is nice to see Fred do his thing in a role where it seems he mainly improvised. Another scene has McConaughey competing with J. Lo’s other beau by racing him side by side on a treadmill. The only reason this is noteworthy is because it’s the exact same idea as my very first sketch I ever shot. Just when you think you’re original, you find that one of your favorite things you’ve ever done was originally in “The Wedding Planner.” There’s a subplot involving Scrabble toward the beginning of the film that is exciting (Anna and I had just finished a game so it felt like destiny) because it’s such a unique detail and is promptly dropped at the end of Act One. Come on. Pay off your setups and give us Scrabble in Act Three instead of the typical wedding being cancelled scene. Finally, McConaughey sucks in this movie. Not his acting. He’s fine in that regard. No, he’s a horrible person. He might be decent by 2001 standards but in 2020, there’s no way J. Lo would put up with his selfish, deceitful antics. YOU’VE GOT TO LOVE ROM-COMS FOR THIS ONE (If you want to borrow the DVD, I will gladly pass it along).
I don’t exactly have any comedy shows, projects or things planned for this week but that’s fine. When there’s a holiday week, you’re entitled to use that as an excuse for lack of creative projects. Might start doing that more. Like, “Yeah, I would have done more comedy this week but it was National Donut Day so I was pretty busy celebrating all week.”
Sorry, for trying a new bit. Where else am I gonna do it though
Links for you:
01.) “Working It Out” Podcast: https://www.birbigs.com/working-it-out-pod
02.) Fake Outrage Report with Phill Causey and Sandip Sen: https://soundcloud.com/the-fake-outrage-report/217-coronavirus-costumes-poor-people-food-with-matt-levy
03.) Gay Vs. Straight with Rhett Sever: https://www.instagram.com/p/CH6oBMGgru6/
04.) Alene’s “What’s In A Name:” https://www.facebook.com/DragonflyMulticulturalArts/videos/226827052195587
05.) Danny Vega’s TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@dannyvegacomedy/video/6887179378904583430
https://www.tiktok.com/@dannyvegacomedy/video/6886784062447439110
06.) Bri Valdivia’s “Been Spending Most My Life Eating In A Cheddar Bay Paradise:” https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/restaurants/cheddar-bay-biscuits-at-red-lobster-an-ode-11279770?fbclid=IwAR3N0wAwr3a76VnuaFGu-SSdhlgbPt_rHMRMDQ916HhzqhAzbIj4kcgSUcw
