Over the past few months we have sat down with close to fifty comedians for long, unhurried conversations: Edinburgh Fringe debutants, club veterans, a Seinfeld writer, the managers behind some of the biggest names in stand-up, and comics building scenes from scratch in Almaty, São Paulo and Santiago. Long conversations go to unexpected places. Somewhere around the forty-minute mark, people stop giving the answers they give everyone else.
We went back through every one of those interviews and pulled out the moments that made us stop and rewind. Phone calls from legends, jobs that came down to a single email, the worst nights of their lives, and a few things they told us they had never said anywhere before. Every quote below is the comedian’s own words, and each one links to the full interview.
Jump to: Brushes with legends · Confessions · The worst nights · Inside the business · The stories behind the shows
Brushes with legends
Liz Miele: George Carlin answered her letter with a phone call
At 15, Liz Miele wrote to the comedians she admired to ask how they had got where they were. Judd Apatow wrote back. George Carlin picked up the phone: “Hey, I’m George Carlin, I got your letter.” He stayed in touch for about eight years, and when she was 19 he sat down with her and showed her on his laptop how he built and memorised his long pieces. Read the Liz Miele interview.
Maija DiGiorgio: Carlin called her film the greatest ever made about comedy
Maija DiGiorgio says George Carlin watched her documentary Bitter Jester and phoned her crew to call it the greatest film ever done on comedy, “because it reveals many celebrities as assholes.” She says he offered to walk the red carpet and let her use footage from two of his specials for free. Read the Maija DiGiorgio interview.
Simon King: Robin Williams came to the one open mic that had no audience
Simon King befriended Robin Williams while Williams was filming in Vancouver. The night Robin turned up to Simon’s tiny restaurant open mic was the only night it was ever cancelled for lack of a crowd: “So we got Robin Williams there and no audience, not one audience member.” Robin stayed and chatted for about forty minutes anyway, and later wrote a reference letter for Simon’s US visa. Read the Simon King interview.
Larry Charles: fired one day, hired for Seinfeld the next
Around 1990, Larry Charles went six months at The Arsenio Hall Show without getting a single joke on air, with a baby to support and a plan to leave show business. He was sure he was about to lose the job, and he did. “I got fired from Arsenio, but the next day, Larry called me to go to work on Seinfeld.” Read the Larry Charles interview.
Stacie Burrows: she skipped what turned out to be Bill Hicks’s last show
Stacie Burrows had the chance to see Bill Hicks, but none of her friends would go with her, so she stayed home. “And so I go, ‘All right, I won’t go either.’ He never performed again.” Read the Stacie Burrows interview.
Manu Maciel: the tape that got her through a dark time was Dave Chappelle
During a difficult period, Manu Maciel kept playing a cassette of a man telling funny stories. She had no idea who he was. “Only years later, when I started studying comedy, did I find out the man on the tape was Dave Chappelle.” Read the Manu Maciel interview.
Tom Nemec: he auditioned to play George Carlin in Las Vegas
A couple of years ago, producers of a “Hollywood legends” tribute show in Las Vegas put together a comedy version, and Tom Nemec auditioned for the role of George Carlin. “I auditioned for the Carlin, and they liked it.” He turned it down, because he could not take every other month off from his teaching job. Read the Tom Nemec interview.
Krystyna Hutchinson: a few whiskey sours and one question at an SNL party
As an intern at Saturday Night Live, Krystyna Hutchinson used the season-finale afterparty to ask how she could get on the show. “I downed a few whiskey sours and asked Jon Lutz what I had to do to get on the show. To my surprise (and horror) he said, ‘Do stand-up.'” Read the Krystyna Hutchinson interview.
Mark Ryder: one email turned a future doctor into the young Liam Neeson
At 18, Mark Ryder had a university place to study medicine. After hearing nothing back from a callback, he emailed the casting director, who invited him to audition for a different film the next day. He was cast as the teenage Liam Neeson in Five Minutes of Heaven, which went to Sundance. “I was maybe going to go and study medicine, actually.” Read the Mark Ryder interview.
Stacy Price: the HBO audition that arrived during a 12-hour shift
Stacy Price had not heard from her manager in six months and was working a 12-hour shift in a booth at the US Open on a sweltering day when her phone buzzed: “My manager has sent me an audition for The Deuce.” She booked the role, and it got her into SAG-AFTRA. Read the Stacy Price interview.
Barry Katz: Tony Hinchcliffe used to take his car keys
Barry Katz has watched plenty of careers take off, but one still amuses him. Long before Kill Tony, he says, a young Tony Hinchcliffe was the one taking his keys when he pulled up at the Comedy Store: “Unless I’m losing my mind, I used to park in the back and he would take my keys.” Read the Barry Katz interview.
Judy Carter: comedy writers behind the scenes of a presidential campaign
Judy Carter says that during the last US election she gathered a group of comedy writers to write jokes for Kamala Harris. “We gathered together to write jokes for Kamala Harris.” She says she got them to Harris’s speechwriter and landed some of them in speeches. Read the Judy Carter interview.
André De Freitas: his first headliner took him out to dinner
The first comedian André De Freitas ever opened for was Jim Gaffigan, in Lisbon. “I was a super young comic and he took me out for dinner, asked about me, about Portugal and gave me good advice, I’ll always remember that.” See André De Freitas’s press kit.
Vanessa Hollingshead: the Whoopi Goldberg advice that changed everything
Vanessa Hollingshead credits one conversation with turning her career around. “Whoopi Goldberg said: you can let political correctness make you bitter and angry, or you can figure out how to work smarter. That was the moment everything changed for me.” See Vanessa Hollingshead’s press kit.
Jason Salmon: for one day, he outsold Jim Gaffigan
When Jason Salmon released an album, a wave of friends bought it at the same time and sent it up the iTunes comedy chart. “It pushed me ahead of Jim Gaffigan for a day. And then the next day, I was back behind Jim Gaffigan.” Read the Jason Salmon interview.
Nuraskhan Baskozhaev: Joe Rogan’s team said Kazakhstan was too far
Central Stand Up in Almaty ran a whole video campaign to get Joe Rogan to Kazakhstan. They got a reply, he says: someone from Rogan’s team told them a 20-hour flight was too much. Read the Central Stand Up interview.
Confessions
Winnie Stack: her gay awakening was Pam from The Office
Winnie Stack was 10 or 11 when she realised who she was, thanks to Jenna Fischer’s Pam Beesly. “I was obsessed with a 30-year-old woman on TV.” Read the Winnie Stack interview.
CeeKay Brown: why she struggles to watch Hugh Jackman films
An ex of CeeKay Brown’s looked so much like Hugh Jackman that his films are now complicated for her. “I struggle to watch a lot of Hugh Jackman’s movies.” Read the CeeKay Brown interview.
Byron Bertram: the real inspiration for his Russian character
Byron Bertram’s viral character, a blunt Russian immigrant in a tracksuit, did not come from nowhere. “I dated this crazy Russian girl and she was just so blunt and different.” Read the Byron Bertram interview.
Jackie Joy: the coworker named Roger who did not exist
When Jackie Joy moved from Brazil to Vancouver, her English was still basic. Early in a new marketing job, her boss replied to a message with “Roger that.” She took it literally. “I spent the whole day looking for Roger, because in my mind it was like, ‘Roger, do that.'” Read the Jackie Joy interview.
Lauren LoGiudice: three years of stand-up as Melania Trump
Before she was one third of American Aholes, Lauren LoGiudice had a very specific act. “I did stand-up in character as Melania Trump for three years.” Read the American Aholes interview.
Seann Walsh: the fast food that is ruining his tours
Asked what is hardest about life on the road, Seann Walsh did not hesitate. “I do wish that there was an easier way for eating healthy on the road, because Burger King Chilli Cheese Bites are killing me.” Read the Seann Walsh interview.
Tom Johnson: he spent his windfall on a forgotten punk musical
Asked what he did when he came into some money, Tom Johnson admitted he did not put down a deposit on a house. “I spent it all reviving a punk musical from the early 80s. It didn’t even do well at the time.” Read the Tom Johnson interview.
Chloe Matonis: she accidentally rewrote Terminator 2
Chloe Matonis was proud of the time-travel story she had written, until her husband pointed something out. “My husband was like, ‘Wow, you basically wrote Terminator 2.’ And then we watched it and I go, ‘Oh my God, I wrote Terminator 2.'” Read the Chloe Matonis interview.
Fletcher Michael: the comedy writer is also a published novelist
Before he was writing sketch and musical comedy for the stage, Fletcher Michael spent years alone writing fiction. “I was able to get a few novels published.” He left the solitary work behind for theatre and a live audience. Read the Fletcher Michael interview.
Lucy Boisvert: her move to New York began as a fib
Lucy Boisvert grew up in a town of about 3,000 people with a graduating class of eight. At graduation parties she gave everyone different made-up plans, and the one that stuck was New York. “Even going out to New York originally, it kind of started out as a lie.” Read the Lucy Boisvert interview.
Aarushi Agni: a breakup pushed her from music into comedy
Aarushi Agni arrived in New York as a musician. “I went through a horrible breakup when I went to the city with someone I played music with.” Stepping away from music led her to stand-up. Read the Aarushi Agni interview.
Tori Morancay: law school made her miserable, so she switched to stand-up
Tori Morancay studied law before she ever did stand-up. “I studied law in college, and I didn’t like it at all. I was like, I don’t want to make this my full-time job.” She then worked three jobs to afford the move to New York. Read the Tori Morancay interview.
Britt Anderson: the toddler in a clown wig
Long before Whisper Theatre, Britt Anderson was already working a room. “My mom always likes to tell me I would put on a clown wig and ride my tricycle through the house to try to get her and her friends to laugh.” Read the Whisper Theatre interview.
Marina Di Marzo: her stage debut came at four months old
Marina Di Marzo’s first role came before she could talk. “I was the first live baby Jesus at my parents’ church’s nativity.” Read the Marina Di Marzo interview.
Liz Coin: she crowdfunded her entire Fringe run
Doing the full Edinburgh Fringe is expensive, and Liz Coin paid for hers the hard way. “I literally raised $14,000 to do this this year.” Read the Liz Coin interview.
Corinne Fisher: her first law as mayor
Corinne Fisher has a firm view on who belongs backstage. “That’s why non-comedians should not be allowed in green rooms. Had I been elected mayor, that would have been some of the first legislation I would have passed.” Read the Krystyna Hutchinson and Corinne Fisher interview.
John Achkar: even after the Olympia, he keeps a Plan B
John Achkar headlined the Olympia in Paris, and he still is not ready to bet everything on comedy. “I’m still doing so many other things other than comedy, just to make sure that in case comedy stops for a reason or another, I still have a plan B.” Read the John Achkar interview.
The worst nights (and one of the best)
Sevrin Willinder: a children’s holiday show in a juvenile detention centre
Before clown school, Sevrin Willinder toured a children’s holiday show around the US in a minivan. One booking was a juvenile detention centre full of 16-year-olds, in a room with terrible acoustics. “None of the jokes landed. Like, nothing.” Read the Sevrin Willinder interview.
Brendon Lemon: a fellow comic told him to quit, on the spot
After five minutes without a laugh in a Chicago room full of comedians, Brendon Lemon walked outside and ran into another comic. “He goes, ‘Yeah, man, I think you should quit comedy.’ He said it to me right away.” Brendon kept going. Read the Brendon Lemon interview.
Stephan Dyer: he bombed the first time his dad came to watch
In Guadalajara in 2018, a year after leaving his banking career, Stephan Dyer looked out and saw his father. “By coincidence, my dad was in the audience, it was his first time seeing me perform. And I bombed. Hard.” His dad is now one of his biggest supporters. Read the Stephan Dyer interview.
Rebecca Wolf: her first stand-up set got her threatened with a lawsuit
At 16, Rebecca Wolf did stand-up for a school project, partly about the restaurant where she worked, and put it online. Her bosses saw it. “They called me and they threatened to sue me, and they said I was a horrible person.” She did not do stand-up again for years. Read the Rebecca Wolf interview.
Jack Grady: his heart stopped on a game show
Magician and comic Jack Grady was competing on the game show Human Vs Hamster when a challenge went badly wrong. “I choked and blacked out, and my heart stopped because I lost so much oxygen. I had to get resuscitated.” The footage never aired. Read the Jack Grady interview.
Hannah Ponturo: “I don’t get it at all”
Hannah Ponturo wrote her play 1518 in 2020 and 2021 and sent it to someone she really respected. “I sent it to someone who was like, ‘I don’t get it at all.'” She put it away for a while before coming back to it, and it went on to Edinburgh. Read the Hannah Ponturo interview.
Meg Millane: the night she gave up mid-set
Meg Millane remembers the one time she let a room beat her. “I don’t even know what they said, but I heard chatter in the back and I panicked and just kind of gave up on stage.” Read the Meg Millane interview.
Paul Farahvar: every seat sold except the front row
Paul Farahvar’s crowd work clips do big numbers online, which had one side effect. The last time he headlined a show, the owner called him: “Hey, all the tickets are sold except the front row.” His reaction: “That’s weird.” Nobody wanted to be the person he talked to. Read the Paul Farahvar interview.
Irene Woo: her ritual after a bad set
Irene Woo, who left Google for comedy, has a simple rule for bad nights. “Whenever I have a bad set, I get myself a sweet treat.” Read the Irene Woo interview.
John Jacobs: attacked on stage, and he pressed charges
In 2025 a man walked on stage and attacked John Jacobs in the middle of a show. “I pressed charges and it took about 9 months before the guy just kind of accepted some form of punishment.” Read the John Jacobs interview.
Ian Edwards: the first time he killed, he left his body
Ian Edwards’ first great night on stage felt unreal. “The first time I killed, I floated off stage. It was a true out-of-body experience. I watched the whole performance from somewhere outside of me.” Read the Ian Edwards interview.
Inside the business
Greg Stone: the Comedy Cellar stopped booking him, and then came the viral clip
The Comedy Cellar used Greg Stone for a year or two, then stopped without telling him why. When the club booked him again, he dropped his scripted act and just talked to the room. That night, a woman in the audience told him something devastating about her family, and he turned every joke on himself. “And that video got a couple million views before that was even a thing.” Read the Greg Stone interview.
Diogo Portugal: he is being sued over his jokes
Diogo Portugal, one of the founders of Brazilian stand-up, told us the cost of saying what he thinks. “I have many lawsuits going on because of jokes.” Read the Diogo Portugal interview.
Good Night Comedy: in Almaty, comedians fear prison more than cancellation
The founders of Good Night Comedy, Almaty’s English-language club, say the risk in Kazakhstan is not losing followers. “We have, like, four comedians by now that went to jail because of their jokes.” They add that swearing in public is illegal there, and Instagram counts as public. Read the Good Night Comedy interview.
Paul Elia: no streamer wanted his specials
Paul Elia’s specials are free on YouTube, and he is honest about why. “None of the streamers wanted them so that’s why I chose YouTube.” Read the Paul Elia interview.
Fabrizio Copano: Chile’s stand-up scene started above a tango club
When Fabrizio Copano started, Chile had no stand-up scene, so he and his friends built one. “Our first stage was the second floor of a tango club. Not exactly the Comedy Cellar, but it was ours.” See Fabrizio Copano’s press kit.
The stories behind the shows
Some of the most honest things we heard were not one-liners. They were the stories that comedians have chosen to build whole shows, and whole careers, around. These deserve more than a headline, so here they are with a little more room.
Barry Katz: why he left Boston for New York
Barry Katz is known as the manager who signed Dave Chappelle, Bill Burr and Louis C.K. before anyone else knew who they were. Fewer people know why he moved to New York in the first place. He married young, and his wife died eight months later. “I was 25 and my wife was 23, and she passed away after I was married for eight months.” He says he could not wait to get out of Boston. He got in his car, drove to New York, found an apartment in about a day, and talked his way into starting a comedy night that became the Boston Comedy Club, in New York. Read the Barry Katz interview.
Tom Nemec: the phone call he has turned into his favourite moment on stage
Tom Nemec’s solo show is about growing up with an alcoholic father who, as Tom tells it, made his childhood miserable. For years as a boy he prayed his father would not come home. Then came the call that he had died. “I literally turned to the wall and smiled.” For years afterwards, Tom would touch that spot on the kitchen wall whenever he passed it. Today it is his favourite part of the show to perform, and he says he still lets himself feel the sadness of it every time. Read the Tom Nemec interview.
Krystyna Hutchinson: the scene she had to perform every night for a month
Krystyna Hutchinson’s Edinburgh Fringe solo show, Congrats On Not Killing Yourself!, is about growing up with parents who bullied her, cutting them off, and what came after. It has jokes all the way through, and near the end she does something few comedians would attempt. “Part of the show, towards the end, I re-enact my suicide attempt.” She says that was years ago and she has done a lot of therapy and healing since. On day two of the run she realised she would have to do it every day for a month and worried it might break her. Instead, she told us, it turned into “an extreme catharsis”. Read the Krystyna Hutchinson and Corinne Fisher interview.
If anything in this piece has stirred up something difficult for you, you do not have to deal with it alone. In the US you can call or text 988, in the UK and Ireland you can call Samaritans on 116 123, and in India you can call Tele-MANAS on 14416.
There are more stories like these in every one of these conversations. You can browse all our comedian interviews, or watch them in full on our YouTube channel.