Funny You Should Mention

Sure, stand-up comedy makes us laugh, but that’s not its only purpose. Comics use the stage to make arguments and express bigger picture world-views, getting people to laugh in the process of making deeper points. In Funny You Should Mention, a new comedy series from Mike Pesca and The Comedy Cellar, Mike spends an hour with each comic, seeking to identify a broader thesis, and pressing comics to put a finer point on their arguments. Funny comes first, but it’s ideas that are explored on Funny You Should Mention.

Funny You Should Mention: Geoffrey Asmus 02/06/2026

Funny You Should Mention: Geoffrey Asmus Comedian Geoffrey Asmus explains how Catholic school, priests chasing laughs, and a Randy Moss analogy shaped his sense of what technically counts as a joke. We talk about layered comedy that lets different audiences hear different things and how losing fans can be a sign the bit is working. Plus: Lutherans, LinkedIn shame, Wikipedia ambition, country capitals, and why spacing is the real superpower. Produced by Corey Wara Video and Social Media by Geoff Craig Do you have questions or comments, or just want to say hello? Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠ For full Pesca content and updates, check out our website at ⁠ For ad-free content or to become a Pesca Plus subscriber, check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠ For Mike's daily takes on Substack, subscribe to The Gist List Follow us on Social Media:⁠⁠⁠⁠ YouTube ⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram X TikTok To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠ /episode/index/show/ba081611-376e-4917-98d7-ff92b0ce8de1/id/40026020

Funny You Should Mention: Liza Treyger 01/16/2026

Funny You Should Mention: Liza Treyger Comedian Liza Treyger explains why she prefers the 1:30 a.m. Comedy Cellar crowd—the drunk, the horny, the post-Broadway undead—and why bombing early is harder than thriving late. Her Netflix special Night Owl doubles as a thesis on power, hypocrisy, and why men who “hate Taylor Swift” seem uniquely unable to stop talking about her. Treyger argues that worst moments often are the résumé, that comedy works better when it sounds unwritten, and that moral panic is usually just bad joke construction in disguise. Plus: owls, tattoos, true crime, and just a little but about Luigi. Produced by Corey Wara Coordinated by Lya Yanne Video and Social Media by Geoff Craig Do you have questions or comments, or just want to say hello? Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠ For full Pesca content and updates, check out our website at ⁠ For ad-free content or to become a Pesca Plus subscriber, check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠ For Mike's daily takes on Substack, subscribe to The Gist List Follow us on Social Media:⁠⁠⁠⁠ YouTube ⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram X TikTok To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠ /episode/index/show/ba081611-376e-4917-98d7-ff92b0ce8de1/id/39764735

Funny You Should Mention: Jay Jurden 12/19/2025

Funny You Should Mention: Jay Jurden Comedian Jay Jurden explains why nine years of theater training is his “superpower” on the stand-up stage—and why he treats every punchline like a line of dialogue rather than a personal diary entry. His new special, Yes Ma’am, argues that physical specificity (from "rolling a wheelchair into affordable housing" to Marjorie Taylor Greene’s hooves) is what separates a 300-level performer from a novice looking at their shoes. Along the way: memories of growing up in Canton, Mississippi, where movie sets for A Time to Kill. Plus, the greatest college football analogy ever delivered by a gay comedian—a warning against "scrambling" for viral crowd work instead of sticking to the designed play. Produced by Corey Wara Email us at To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit Subscribe to The Gist: Subscribe to The Gist Youtube Page: Subscribe to The Gist Instagram Page: Follow The Gist List at: /episode/index/show/ba081611-376e-4917-98d7-ff92b0ce8de1/id/39478455

Funny You Should Mention: Mohanad Elshieky 12/05/2025

Funny You Should Mention: Mohanad Elshieky Mohanad Elshieky joins Funny You Should Mention with stories that make Benghazi feel less like a political Rorschach test and more like the small town where he learned comedy by roasting his siblings and dodging unlicensed militias. He walks us through the dictatorship-era silence around politics, the sudden rise of ISIS-adjacent checkpoints, and the knife-wielding “helper” who hijacked his car only to request a future hangout. We also dig into the Greyhound incident that vaulted him into national headlines, why clapter makes his skin crawl, and how Portland’s well-meaning curiosity can feel like its own border crossing. Produced by Corey Wara Email us at To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit Subscribe to The Gist: Subscribe to The Gist Youtube Page: Subscribe to The Gist Instagram Page: Follow The Gist List at: /episode/index/show/ba081611-376e-4917-98d7-ff92b0ce8de1/id/39304055

Funny You Should Mention: Myq Kaplan 11/21/2025

Funny You Should Mention: Myq Kaplan Comedian Myq Kaplan joins the show for a deep dive into joke logic, philosophy, and the very slippery business of defining who counts as a comedian. Using his new special Rini as a jumping-off point, he and Mike wander through Grecian maxims, the paradox of the heap, why some laughs are closer to enlightenment than punch lines, and how his relationship with Rini turned into a whole cosmology of love, language, and life on stage. Along the way they talk genre, jazz, governing boards of comedy, and what it means to do "Myq and Rini based" comedy instead of fitting into anyone's box. Produced by Corey Wara Email us at To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit Subscribe to The Gist: Subscribe to The Gist Youtube Page: Subscribe to The Gist Instagram Page: Follow The Gist List at: /episode/index/show/ba081611-376e-4917-98d7-ff92b0ce8de1/id/39129905

Funny You Should Mention: Dusty Slay 11/07/2025

Funny You Should Mention: Dusty Slay Dusty Slay drops by with “Wet Heat” fresh on Netflix to talk Opelika lore (a.k.a. Snopalika), becoming parade Grand Marshal, and how a onetime pesticide salesman turned country-music linguist builds jokes from tiny word quirks. We get into his love of language (Carlin vibes), song-lyric autopsies (“It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere,” Brooks & Dunn’s “Hard Workin’ Man”), the origin of “We’re having a good time,” Comedy Cellar war stories, Opry nights, accent drift, trailer-park childhood, and why he’s plotting an ASMR sleep-comedy album. Also: milk, hand-washing, and the eternal mystery of gas stations named “Kum & Go.” Produced by Corey Wara Email us at To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit Subscribe to The Gist: Subscribe to The Gist Youtube Page: Subscribe to The Gist Instagram Page: Follow The Gist List at: /episode/index/show/ba081611-376e-4917-98d7-ff92b0ce8de1/id/38955840

Funny You Should Mention: Ariel Elias 10/24/2025

Funny You Should Mention: Ariel Elias Kentucky-raised, New York-forged, and newly “A Jewish Star,” Ariel Elias breaks down how outsider status becomes comic superpower. We talk growing up Jewish in the Bluegrass, explaining Kentucky to New Yorkers, the “Earl” name bit, airline misery (farewell, Southwest), and writing cleaner for synagogue gigs without losing edge. She unpacks her viral beer-can moment and how it led to Kimmel, why “hack” is about angle not topic, the art of the long-simmer callback, and learning to say no (and yes) at the right times. Produced by Corey Wara Production Coordinator Ashley Khan Email us at To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit Subscribe to The Gist: Subscribe to The Gist Youtube Page: Subscribe to The Gist Instagram Page: Follow The Gist List at: /episode/index/show/ba081611-376e-4917-98d7-ff92b0ce8de1/id/38763345

Funny You Should Mention: Steph Tolev 10/10/2025

Funny You Should Mention: Steph Tolev Season 3 of Funny You Should Mention begins with the “Filth Queen” herself Steph Tolev to explore why gross can be smart, how crowd work goes viral, Bill Burr’s boost to her career, and the Canadian comedy grind. Big laughs, sharp ideas, adult themes. We also get into slapstick dummies, family lore, and why Boston brings the best chaos. Come for the filthy stories, stay for the surprisingly thoughtful theories on why certain jokes land, and what that says about us. Produced by Corey Wara Production Coordinator Ashley Khan Email us at To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit Subscribe to The Gist: Subscribe to The Gist Youtube Page: Subscribe to The Gist Instagram Page: Follow The Gist List at: /episode/index/show/ba081611-376e-4917-98d7-ff92b0ce8de1/id/38545175

Funny You Should Mention: Trae Crowder 07/18/2025

Funny You Should Mention: Trae Crowder The self-proclaimed “Trash Daddy” riffs on meat-in-a-can cuisine, possum PR, and how his accent disarms blue-state crowds, Plus: white supremacist losers, Fruit Loop vape rights, and how cheap heat works in comedy and pro wrestling. Trae takes us through his upbringing, in Celina Tennessee, and discusses his travails with child support bureaucracy , plus he discusses his interpersonal interactions with JD Vance who hit big about the same time Trae did. The two became friendly. For a while. Produced by Corey Wara Production Coordinator Ashley Khan Email us at To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit Subscribe to The Gist: Subscribe to The Gist Youtube Page: Subscribe to The Gist Instagram Page: Follow The Gist List at: /episode/index/show/ba081611-376e-4917-98d7-ff92b0ce8de1/id/37462825

Funny You Should Mention: Rosebud Baker 06/20/2025

Funny You Should Mention: Rosebud Baker Rosebud Baker joins Funny You Should Mention with the rare gift of making life’s toughest moments hilarious, and a point of view that’s inseparable from the punchline. Her Netflix special Motherlode delivers pregnancy, parenting, and political edge in one biting package. We talk about her SNL writing process and how to satirize breastfeeding pressure without becoming a parenting brand. Plus: how riding a dolphin convinced her husband to get a hair transplant. Produced by Corey Wara Production Coordinator Ashley Khan Email us at To advertise on the show, contact ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or visit Subscribe to The Gist: Subscribe to The Gist Youtube Page: Subscribe to The Gist Instagram Page: Follow The Gist List at: /episode/index/show/ba081611-376e-4917-98d7-ff92b0ce8de1/id/37095320

Funny You Should Mention: Chris Turner 06/06/2025

Funny You Should Mention: Chris Turner Comedian, freestyler, and archaeology grad Chris Turner joins the show to explain how a middle-class British kid became one of the most dazzling improv lyricists in comedy. From his early days writing one-liners to mesmerizing crowds at the Comedy Cellar with rhymes about chlamydia, Hispaniola, and Jerry Springer, Turner charts a path that makes no sense—until you see it live. He talks about bombing in polite accents, fax machines causing drive-by shootings, and why freestyling is more like tennis than /episode/index/show/ba081611-376e-4917-98d7-ff92b0ce8de1/id/36980775

Funny You Should Mention: Robby Hoffman 05/23/2025

Funny You Should Mention: Robby Hoffman Comedian, podcaster, and self-described cutie-in-her-own-way Robby Hoffman drops by to discuss her life, her comedy, and why she takes talking as seriously as any other art form. From growing up ultra-Orthodox and ultra-poor to becoming a sought-after stand-up with a Porsche no one wants, Hoffman explains how she’s thrived in disaster and learned to mine discomfort for laughs. The two explore America’s national personality deficit, what makes a story worth telling, and the joys of conflict when you grow /episode/index/show/ba081611-376e-4917-98d7-ff92b0ce8de1/id/36980780

Funny You Should Mention - Michelle Buteau 05/02/2025

Funny You Should Mention - Michelle Buteau Michelle Buteau stops by to talk about getting high in the reptile house and why she caught flak for doing spon-con souptroversy. We also get into her Dutch husband, the spirituality she doesn’t buy into, and whether her socialism can coexist with her ambition to get paid. Plus, we ask: can a /episode/index/show/ba081611-376e-4917-98d7-ff92b0ce8de1/id/36980785

Funny You Should Mention - T.J. Miller 04/18/2025

Funny You Should Mention - T.J. Miller Comedian T.J. Miller joins this episode of Funny You Should Mention. You might know him from Silicon Valley, Deadpool, or that time he had a choice between brain surgery with a 10% fatality rate vs. almost surely dying by 35. It is the funniest conversation ever had with the phrase "10% fatality rate" hanging in the air. Also why T.J. insists that comedy should feel like jazz played on a flaming trampoline, and how to let a crowd set the course while always steering the ship. /episode/index/show/ba081611-376e-4917-98d7-ff92b0ce8de1/id/36980790

Funny You Should Mention Season 2 - Alex Edelman 04/04/2025

Funny You Should Mention Season 2 - Alex Edelman Comedian Alex Edelman joins this episode of Funny You Should Mention. Alex’s hit one-man show Just For Us was a Broadway sensation and is now streaming on Max. In this conversation, we talk about the anatomy of a bad set, the five constituencies for a joke, and what it takes to turn a pile of bits into a fully realized piece of theater. Plus: how being “right” can be the biggest obstacle to being funny. /episode/index/show/ba081611-376e-4917-98d7-ff92b0ce8de1/id/36980795

Funny You Should Mention: Roy Wood Jr. 03/18/2025

Funny You Should Mention: Roy Wood Jr. Comedian Roy Wood Jr., host of CNN’s Have I Got News for You and former Daily Show correspondent, joins this episode of Funny You Should Mention. We delve into topics like a near-DUI incident in South Dakota, why the police should occasionally let a criminal go free, and the responsibility comedians have to challenge harmful political ideas—and the politicians who promote them. We also explore the surprising lessons humanity can learn from floating balls of ants and what it reveals when the premise /episode/index/show/ba081611-376e-4917-98d7-ff92b0ce8de1/id/36980800

Funny You Should Mention: Mike Yard 03/18/2025

Funny You Should Mention: Mike Yard Mike Yard is a standup comic who has appeared on Inside Amy Schumer, Flatbush Misdemeanors, and was a contributor to The Nightly Show with Larry WiImore. He is both an ex-felon and a union leader at the Museum of Modern Art. In this conversation, we discuss Yard's jokes about his pro-prison stance, leaving the Virgin Islands for the worst neighborhood in Brooklyn, and his suspicions about candlelight vigils. /episode/index/show/ba081611-376e-4917-98d7-ff92b0ce8de1/id/36980805

Funny You Should Mention: Django Gold 03/18/2025

Funny You Should Mention: Django Gold Django Gold is a stand-up comedian, a former writer for The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, and a veteran of The Onion. In his stand-up special "Bag of Tricks," he explores not being cool, show-off toilet seats, and the privilege of owning multiple pairs of scissors. His comedy has been described as "cynical and bizarre" but also "surprising, insightful and properly deranged." We discuss the right amount of weird to present to the audience without seeming too weird, and the evolution of the archetype of n /episode/index/show/ba081611-376e-4917-98d7-ff92b0ce8de1/id/36980810

Funny You Should Mention: Sam Jay 03/18/2025

Funny You Should Mention: Sam Jay Our third installment of Funny You Should Mention welcomes Sam Jay, former SNL writer, Tom Brady Roaster, host of HBO's Pause with Sam Jay, and stand-up comic behind such specials as Netflix's 3 In The Morning and HBO's Salute Me or Shoot Me. Sam and Mike talk cops, racism, white vs black people money management, and a joke she'll discuss but won't be telling again. /episode/index/show/ba081611-376e-4917-98d7-ff92b0ce8de1/id/36980815

Funny You Should Mention: Rachel Feinstein 03/18/2025

Funny You Should Mention: Rachel Feinstein Rachel Feinstein’s acting credits include HBO’s Crashing, Comedy Central’s Inside Amy Schumer, and Hulu’s Life & Beth. Her latest stand-up special, Big Guy, came out on Netflix earlier this year. Rachel comes from a family of intellectual giants, though doesn’t include herself in that category. In Mike’s conversation with her, however, she reveals her insightfulness, which is better suited for comedy than the classroom. Plus she channels her mother, husband, and a variety of Staten Island firefi /episode/index/show/ba081611-376e-4917-98d7-ff92b0ce8de1/id/36980820

Funny You Should Mention - Nimesh Patel 03/18/2025

Funny You Should Mention - Nimesh Patel Funny You Should Mention Episode One: Nimesh Patel. Over his career Nimesh Patel has gone from a comedian who wants to make points and jokes to a purely joke-oriented comic. He’s somewhat of the prefect comedian to kick off this series which looks at comedy routines as if they were an argument or an Op-ed. Nimesh has actually written Op-Eds for the NY Times. We discuss being kicked off stage at Columbia University, eviscerating the healthcare system when over a dozen of your cousins are doctors, and more /episode/index/show/ba081611-376e-4917-98d7-ff92b0ce8de1/id/36980825

Introducing Funny You Should Mention! 03/05/2025

Introducing Funny You Should Mention! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices /episode/index/show/ba081611-376e-4917-98d7-ff92b0ce8de1/id/36980830

Funny You Should Mention

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