Comedy

Slate film critic Dana Stevens traces Keaton's trajectory, from performing in his family's vaudeville act as a child, to starring in and directing silent films. Originally broadcast Jan. 24, 2022.

The sharp-witted standup comic, who died Feb. 19, got his start in comedy clubs in the 1970s, but was perhaps best known for playing Det. Munch on Law & Order: SVU. Originally broadcast in 1987.

Marc Maron talks about his new HBO comedy special From Bleak to Dark.

The comic, actor and writer opens up about his name, his family tree and his sexual orientation in an HBO special. "The more honest I am, the freer I am," he says. Originally broadcast April 18, 2022.

Kumail Nanjiani is starring in the series Welcome to Chippendales, as the founder of the first club to feature male strippers dancing for audiences of women. Nanjiani co-starred in the comedy series Silicon Valley, co-wrote and starred in the film The Big Sick, and was the first South Asian to play a Marvel superhero.

Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck have recently been revived in the podcast, "Bugs and Daffy's Thanksgiving Adventure." We mark the occasion by listening to our 1989 interview with Jones, who died in 2022.

Schulz, who died in 2000, spoke in 1990 about his iconic Peanuts comic strip. Plus, jazz critic Kevin Whitehead talks about pianist Vince Guaraldi, who created the music for A Charlie Brown Christmas.

Brooks wrote countless edgy jokes over the years, but he doesn't regret any of them. He calls comedy his "delicious refuge" from the world. His memoir is All About Me! Originally broadcast in 2021.

The music "biopic" parody Weird stars Daniel Radcliffe in an over-the-top version of Al Yankovic's life. In the film, making up words to songs that already exist is considered the work of a visionary, playing the accordion is akin to being a guitar hero and Yankovic is asked to be the next James Bond.

Bloom talks about writing songs for Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and losing her musical collaborator Adam Schlesinger, who died from COVID-19 complications in March 2020. She stars in the Hulu series Reboot.

Critic at large John Powers reviews the third season of the acclaimed Hulu comedy-drama series, Ramy.

Reservation Dogs is the first and only TV series where every writer, director and series regular is Indigenous. Part comedy and part drama, the FX series streaming on Hulu follows four teenagers who long to escape the dead ends they face living on a reservation.

Veteran actor Sheryl Lee Ralph has been nominated for an Emmy for her role as a tough but loving kindergarten teacher on the comedy series Abbott Elementary. With just a glance, Mrs. Barbara Howard can get an unruly class to quietly sit down or to line up single file — and Ralph is no slouch at classroom management either.

Amer grew up in Kuwait, where he enjoyed a comfortable life — until he was 9, and the first Gulf War forced his family to flee to the U.S. in 1991. His new series is Mo.

Thede's HBO series, A Black Lady Sketch Show, is the first sketch comedy show solely written, directed and starring Black women. "It is a nonstop job," she says of the various hats she wears.

The Emmy-winning actor talks about struggling with typecasting after Happy Days, his family's immigration story and finding out in his 30s that he had dyslexia. Originally broadcast April 11, 2019.

Hader plays a hitman who enrolls in acting classes in the dark comedy, which he co-created. He's been nominated for Emmy Awards for both acting and directing Barry. Originally broadcast June 2019.

The SNL alum talks with friends and other comics about queer culture, relationships and racism on her HBO show. Jay's comedy special, 3 in the Morning, is about her relationship with her fiancée.

Sarah Silverman is known for breaking taboos in her comedy. Her new off-Broadway musical The Bedwetter, adapted from her 2010 memoir of the same name, centers on the most humiliating part of her childhood: wetting the bed every night until she was about 16.

Carlin's "Seven Dirty Words" act ignited an obscenity case in the '70s. We listen back to two archival interviews with the late comedian, and David Bianculli reviews a new HBO documentary about him.