Thomas Middleditch is best known for playing Richard Hendricks on six seasons of HBO’s ‘Silicon Valley.’ Now, he is leaving that ultra-specific persona behind to take on dozens of different characters alongside his friend Ben Schwartz in three new improvised comedy specials for Netflix called—what else?—‘Middleditch & Schwartz.’ In this episode, Thomas breaks down the tricky business of bringing live improv to the screen. Plus, he looks back on his big SNL audition, recalls almost starring i...
Apr 28, 2020•44 min•Ep. 54
Cameron Esposito made a huge splash in the comedy world seven years ago when she made her late-night stand-up debut on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson . The other guest on the show, Jay Leno, called her the “future” of comedy and declared “Lesbians rule!” Since then, Cameron has created her own TV show called ‘Take My Wife,’ released a stand-up special called ‘Rape Jokes’ and this past month published a memoir with the inadvertently timely title ‘Save Yourself.’ On this episode, Cameron t...
Apr 21, 2020•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 53
Eugene Mirman is perhaps best known for voicing Gene Belcher on ‘Bob’s Burgers.’ But as his new documentary ‘It Started as a Joke’ proves, he is also one of the most innovative and influential stand-up comics of his generation. In this episode, we check in with Eugene via Zoom from his home on Cape Cod before sharing the longer interview we taped with him before the coronavirus pandemic forced us all indoors. He talks about starting the Eugene Mirman Comedy Festival “as a joke,” learning to get ...
Apr 14, 2020•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 52
‘The Last Laugh’ is still on hiatus, so this week we’re bringing you a very special crossover pod from our friend ( and previous guest ) Jeff Ross! On the latest episode of his podcast ‘Thick Skin,’ Jeff talked to Matt Wilstein about how “cancel culture” is affecting comedy and got into some “touchy subjects,” including the 2020 Democratic primary, getting retweeted by Donald Trump and of course, the coronavirus. No more “Bumping Mics,” now we’re bumping elbows. We will back with all-new episode...
Mar 13, 2020•1 hr 3 min
Pamela Adlon has had to reinvent herself several times over the course of her unconventional career. From child star (‘Grease 2’) to Emmy-winning voice actor (‘King of the Hill’) to creator and showrunner of her own phenomenal autobiographical series ‘Better Things,’ which premieres its fourth season on FX Thursday, March 5th. On this episode, we talk about all of that and more, including her audition for ‘Friends,’ a darkly hilarious story about Redd Foxx and why she’s still “proud” of the work...
Feb 25, 2020•1 hr 5 min
The one and only Ben Schwartz is here for our 50th episode! This month, Schwartz is starring in two wildly different movies: the box office smash ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ as the titular video game hero and ‘Standing Up, Falling Down’ as a struggling stand-up comic opposite his actual childhood hero Billy Crystal. On this milestone episode of ‘The Last Laugh,’ he talks about getting his start writing jokes for David Letterman and SNL and how he almost missed out on the chance to play Jean-Ralphio on ...
Feb 18, 2020•1 hr 11 min
Russell Peters is a global comedy sensation who sells out arenas in London, New York and Mumbai, where he taped his most recent stand-up special ‘Deported,’ streaming now on Amazon . In this episode, Peters talks about how YouTube helped make him a comedy star, why mainstream fame has alluded him in America, his beef with Trevor Noah, his love for Roseanne Barr, why he does NOT have a problem with Apu from ‘The Simpsons’ and a lot more. Stream ‘Russell Peters: Deported’ on Amazon Prime Video . F...
Feb 11, 2020•49 min
Tom Papa might be best known for his longtime friendship with Jerry Seinfeld. But on this week’s episode he demonstrates that he has much more to offer. Tom talks about why he called his latest Netflix special ‘You’re Doing Great!’ and the various ups and downs of his career, from the crazy experience of hosting ‘The Marriage Ref’ to the way NBC may have used his sitcom ‘Come to Papa’ as an audition for Steve Carell to lead ‘The Office’ and a lot more. Follow @tompapa and @mattwilstein on Twitte...
Feb 04, 2020•1 hr 2 min
Maria Bamford has been performing stand-up comedy for 30 years and just keeps getting better. Her latest hour-long special ‘Weakness Is the Brand’ finds her at the top of her game, delivering operatic bits about her ongoing mental health struggles and relentless drive to be a good person in the world. On this episode, we talk about how she arrived at relative stability, the challenges that female comics still face in a male-dominated industry, how she felt when Netflix canceled her autobiographi...
Jan 28, 2020•1 hr 1 min
Stand-up comedian Fortune Feimster made her TV debut 10 years ago on ‘Last Comic Standing.’ This week, her first-ever hour-long special ‘Sweet & Salty’ lands on Netflix. In this episode, Feimster talks about finding the comedy in her unique life story as a “tomboy” growing up in a small North Carolina town who didn’t realize she was gay until arriving in Los Angeles after college. She also shares stories about auditioning for SNL and finding mainstream success on ‘Chelsea Lately,’ ‘The Mindy...
Jan 21, 2020•1 hr
Ahead of the ‘The Good Place’ series finale, creator Michael Schur is here to answer all of our burning questions about the existential sitcom, which airs its series finale at the end of January. On this episode, taped inside his office on the Universal Studios lot, Schur reveals how the final season of ‘Parks and Recreation’ helped influence the end of ‘The Good Place’, looks back at his early days as a writer for SNL, teases a potential future for ‘The Office’ on NBC’s Peacock streaming servic...
Jan 14, 2020•1 hr 19 min
Andrea Savage knows she’s a great podcast guest. “Not to brag,” she says on this week’s show. The creator and star of truTV’s ‘I’m Sorry’ talks about finding the balance between cringe-worthiness and comedy, the challenges she faced as a woman in The Groundlings, what she learned working on ‘Step Brothers,’ ‘Veep’ and ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ and her hilarious new podcast ‘Andrea Savage: A Grown-Up Woman #buttholes.’ Follow @andreasavage and @mattwilstein on Twitter and @lastlaughpod on Instagram....
Jan 07, 2020•1 hr 4 min
Comedy legend Sacha Baron Cohen goes deep on all of the crazy things that happened during the filming of his Showtime series ‘Who Is America?’—including truly incredible stories about his interactions with Sarah Palin, O.J. Simpson, Ben Carson and more. He also talks about interviewing Donald Trump as Ali G. and reveals some big secrets behind his classic film ‘Borat.’ This episode was recorded in front live audience as part of the SAG Conversations series at the SAG-Aftra Foundation in Los Ange...
Dec 31, 2019•1 hr 3 min
Comedian Sarah Silverman opens up about the cancelation of her Hulu show ‘I Love You, America’ and what it’s like to be a target of the alt-right. She also shares her thoughts on the #MeToo allegations against former Senator Al Franken and Louis C.K. and a lot more. This episode was originally broadcast as our series premiere on March 26, 2019. Follow @SarahKSilverman and @mattwilstein on Twitter and @lastlaughpod on Instagram. Highlights from this episode and others at The Daily Beast . Learn m...
Dec 24, 2019•59 min
Happy birthday to Lil Rel Howery! Today, the comedian and actor turns 40 and is here to talk about his new HBO special ‘Live in Crenshaw.’ Directed by his friend and fellow comic Jerrod Carmichael, ‘Live in Crenshaw’ is unlike any other stand-up special released this year, both in how it looks and how it came together. As Rel reveals in this episode, he barely had time to prepare and had no idea exactly what he was going to say when he took the stage. We also discuss his early days in the Chicag...
Dec 17, 2019•53 min
Iliza Shlesinger just dropped her fifth stand-up special on Netflix. It’s called ‘Unveiled’ and finds the self-described ‘Elder Millennial’ sharing hilarious stories about her wedding and everything that led up to it. In this bonus episode, the comedian opens up about facing criticism from women who think she’s “not doing feminism right,” explains how her ‘Last Comic Standing’ win turned into a nightmare, previews her upcoming sketch series for Netflix and a lot more. Follow @Iliza and @mattwils...
Dec 10, 2019•46 min
Whether you know stand-up comedian Dan Soder from Showtime’s ‘Billions’ (he plays Mafee) or his Comedy Central SiriusXM show ‘The Bonfire’ (he co-hosts with comic Big Jay Oakerson) or are just meeting him for the first time, you will quickly realize that he has some very strong opinions and loves to talk. And on this episode, we get into it on everything from his new HBO special ‘Son of a Gary’ to his friend Shane Gillis’ firing from SNL and a whole lot more. Follow @DanSoder and @mattwilstein o...
Dec 03, 2019•1 hr 4 min
Mike Birbiglia invites us backstage at the Ahmanson Theatre in downtown LA where he has been performing his latest show all month long. This week, ‘The New One’ premieres on Netflix. Before he went on stage for one of his final performances this past weekend, Mike opened up about his unique process putting ‘The New One’ together and broke down his evolution from stand-up to theater (and why he doesn’t care how anyone wants to characterize what he does). We also discussed our mutual, unhealthy ob...
Nov 26, 2019•59 min
25 years after starring in the first major sitcom to center on an Asian-American family, Margaret Cho is more “hopeful” than ever about the opportunities for Asian-American comedians. In this episode, Cho talks about how she would approach that sitcom differently today and tells stories about dating director Quentin Tarantino and acting opposite Nicolas Cage and John Travolta. She also weighs in on Dave Chappelle’s recent jokes about the bisexual community and reflects on the backlash she receiv...
Nov 19, 2019•56 min
Jeff Garlin had no idea when he helped come up with the idea that became ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ two decades ago that he would be starring the show’s 10th season this coming January. In this episode, Jeff reveals that season 10 features his “favorite” premise yet and talks about the process of putting together his new Netflix stand-up special ‘Our Man in Chicago,’ which includes some of the most personal material of his career. There are stories about daring ‘The Goldbergs’ to fire him after he m...
Nov 12, 2019•1 hr 19 min
Writer, director, producer and stand-up comedian Judd Apatow invites us into his L.A. office for an in-depth conversation about all things comedy. We talk about his new Garry Shandling book and working on his upcoming film with Pete Davidson. Judd also weighs in on the so-called “civil war” in comedy, from fired SNL comic Shane Gillis—who called him “gayer than ISIS” in one of his controversial rants—to Louis C.K., who he thinks still deserves “criticism” for making fun of the Parkland shooting ...
Nov 05, 2019•1 hr 26 min
Amanda Seales has had many careers: Nickelodeon star, spoken word poet, MTV VJ, stand-up comedian, podcast host and actor—she plays Tiffany on HBO’s ‘Insecure.’ Now, she has added author to the list with her new book, ‘Small Doses: Potent Truths for Everyday Use.’ In this episode, Amanda opens up about making the transition from music to comedy, tensions within the ‘Insecure’ cast, confronting Caitlyn Jenner over her “white privilege” and a lot more. Follow @mattwilstein on Twitter and @amandase...
Oct 29, 2019•1 hr 7 min
Nick Kroll is an actor, stand-up comedian and co-creator of one of the funniest shows on television , ‘Big Mouth.’ Season three of the Emmy-nominated animated series just dropped on Netflix and Nick is here to talk about its unique place in pop culture. He also weighs in on ‘Joker’ director Todd Phillips’ controversial comments about “woke” culture and comedy, shares the story of auditioning for SNL alongside John Mulaney, teases the upcoming ‘Big Mouth’ spinoff show and a lot more. Follow @nick...
Oct 22, 2019•1 hr 9 min
Lake Bell made her feature directorial debut with 2013’s ‘In a World...’ and has been on a roll ever since. Now, she has co-created ABC’s ‘Bless This Mess,‘ a sitcom on which she and Dax Shepard play a neurotic New York couple who move to a farm in Nebraska. In this episode, Lake discusses how her decision to ditch so-called “push-up bra” roles and fully embrace comedy on shows like ‘Children’s Hospital’ and ‘Wet Hot American Summer’ completely transformed her career for the better. Follow @lake...
Oct 15, 2019•1 hr 8 min
Deon Cole started doing stand-up comedy on a $50 bet in his hometown of Chicago. 26 years later, his new special Cole Hearted is premiering on Netflix. Cole says he’s come too far to be “canceled” now: “I should be allowed to make mistakes and learn from them, but this culture nowadays, they’re like, man, if you mess up it’s off with your head.” In this episode, Cole breaks own his comedic journey, which has included stints writing for Conan O’Brien and starring on ABC’s Black-ish and Grown-ish....
Oct 08, 2019•58 min
For a short period two decades ago, Tom Green was one of the most famous comedians on the planet. He graced the cover of Rolling Stone , hosted Saturday Night Live and (briefly) married actress Drew Barrymore. These days, when he’s not touring the world as a stand-up comic, Green is mostly known for getting fired by Donald Trump on The Celebrity Apprentice and sharing a house with Anthony Scaramucci on Celebrity Big Brother . In this episode, the man who changed MTV with his infamous prank show ...
Oct 01, 2019•1 hr 19 min
Scott Aukerman is the host of Comedy Bang! Bang! , co-creator of Funny or Die’s Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis and now the writer and director of Netflix’s Between Two Ferns: The Movie . In this episode, we talk about how he landed so many huge celebrity cameos for the new film, what it was like directing Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton and—because it’s my favorite thing he’s ever done—making the Analyze Phish podcast with the late Harris Wittels. Highlights from this episode and othe...
Sep 24, 2019•1 hr 8 min
Stand-up comedian Bill Burr just released his sixth hour-long special Paper Tiger on Netflix. In this episode, he speaks out against “outrage culture,” defends his controversial Michelle Obama jokes, shares his thoughts on Trump’s 2020 chances and insists he’s not as “angry” as everyone thinks. Plus, Bill teases some details about his role in the upcoming Star Wars series The Mandalorian . Highlights from this episode and others at The Daily Beast . Follow Bill @billburr and Matt at @mattwilstei...
Sep 17, 2019•1 hr 19 min
25 years ago, Kevin Nealon was anchoring “Weekend Update” on Saturday Night Live . Now he's walking the woods with his famous comedian friends on the YouTube series Hiking with Kevin . In this episode, we talk about how that show got started and look back at his SNL days, including how he got hired, when he knew it was time to leave and some fascinating stories about Dana Carvey, Chris Farley, Al Franken and more. Highlights from this episode and others at The Daily Beast . Follow Kevin @kevin_n...
Sep 10, 2019•58 min
Self-described comedy “villain” Anthony Jeselnik has made a career out of telling expertly crafted, extremely dark one-liners, from his breakthrough set at the Comedy Central Roast of Donald Trump in 2011 to his most recent hour-long stand-up special Fire in the Maternity Ward on Netflix. In this episode, he talks about his new Comedy Central interview show Good Talk , how he thinks his comic persona will continue to evolve as he ages, what “surprises” him about Louis C.K.’s attempt at a comebac...
Sep 03, 2019•1 hr 6 min
