The comedy-podcast universe is ever expanding, not unlike the universe universe. We’re here to make it a bit smaller, a bit more manageable. There are a lot of great shows, and each one has a lot of great episodes, so we want to highlight the exceptional and the noteworthy. Each week, our crack team of podcast enthusiasts and specialists and especially enthusiastic people will pick their favorites. We hope to have your ears permanently plugged with the best in aural comedy.
Nosy Neighbors - Tiffany Haddish KOs Crackhead
The long-awaited season-two premiere of Nosy Neighbors has arrived, much to Nextdoor’s dismay. Comedians Candice Thompson (The Netflix Afterparty) and Chinedu Unaka (Insecure) recap wild neighbor stories from news outlets, neighborhood apps, and listener submissions that remind us that maybe our neighbors aren’t so bad. The duo talk about a man in South Carolina who face-tattooed a child in a local McDonald’s, leading to a larger discussion of tattoos in general, including the rise of face tattoos and Post Malone’s possible influence on the trend. Thompson shares her favorite dessert, the Argentinian alfajor, which is also one of her tattoos. This week’s special guest is comedian Tiffany Haddish, who shares her own neighbor horror story about a stranger attempting to break into her neighbor’s home. The trio talk business — well, the stock-photo business. They discuss how the Office of the Director of National Intelligence used stock images to showcase its diverse talent, instead of actually including employees who work there. In a sharp contrast, Haddish explains how her foundation She Ready uses stock images to protect the foster children they are sponsoring. Regardless of how our government uses stock photos, Unaka dreams of becoming a stock-photo celebrity, a la Shang Chi’s Simu Liu. Let’s hope the nosiest neighbors use stock photos for themselves when their antics are highlighted throughout this season’s Nosy Neighbors. —Alejandra Gularte
Listen: Spotify
Mike Birbiglia’s Working It Out - Stephen Colbert: Laughter As an Act of Love
This week on Working It Out, Mike Birbiglia is clearly delighted to engage with his guest, Stephen Colbert. The two have a background steeped in acting, comedy, and most of all, improv. Birbiglia wades deep into his guest’s improvisational bona fides coming from the storied Second City in Chicago, which includes tales of working the road with two longtime partners: Amy Sedaris and Paul Dinello, whom he credits with breaking him out of being a straight-faced, never-breaking-onstage performer. “In this scene I’m supposed to be hitting on Amy, so I tap her on the shoulder and when she turns, she has put in these big, brown … icky teeth,†says Colbert. And, for the first time, “I just lost it!†Sedaris and Dinello spent long moments coercing Colbert out of the restroom where he had retreated, ashamed: “I was okay after that.†They talk about his recent Emmy win, and how Conan O’Brien ended up going onstage even before Colbert got there to accept. They also chat about being a good parent and how even that relates to improv’s “yes and†prime directive. And Birbiglia, true to the show’s spirit, drafts his guest to help him work out a few jokes he’s been crafting. It’s a delightfully listenable hour and change. —Marc Hershon
Listen: Spotify | Apple | Website
Read the Bible With Me With Steve Hernandez - Pray Away Documentary Review With Jonathan Cerda-Rowell
Every week on Read the Bible With Me, stand-up comedian and former youth pastor Steve Hernandez dives into a verse from the New Testament in order to give his thoughts on a wide range of topics, from sexuality and weight loss to his critiques — both ethical- and performance-based — of the pastor at the megachurch he once worshipped at. On this week’s curveball episode, he closes the Bible to instead review Netflix’s gay-conversion-therapy documentary Pray Away with fellow queer Mexican American comic Jonathan Cerda-Rowell. Topics that the old friends touch on include the addictive nature of poppers, the time Jonathan sent a Craigslist hookup home because he looked too much like Steve, and the diversity of homophobia within the Latino community, from drunk tÃos at birthday parties to comedy-special producers at HBO Latino. —Pablo Goldstein
Listen: Spotify | Apple | Website
Ruined - The Blair Witch Project
Ruined is a perfect podcast for spooky season. Each episode pairs horror buff Halle Kiefer and scaredy-cat Alison Leiby together to discuss a horror movie. By providing a play-by-play or “ruining†the movie for Leiby, Kiefer does a great job stripping the genre of its terrifying outer layer to reveal a much more humorous layer hiding underneath. Take this episode’s focus, for example. The Blair Witch Project, infamous for a marketing campaign that convinced many the movie was made from actual found footage, is taken from frightening to funny as the duo picks it apart. While recounting a townsperson’s take on the titular witch, a character that’s supposed to be especially scary, Kiefer jokes about what it means to be a woman covered in hair. “It absolutely could be a full-body wig,†she says, before playfully asking, “Oh, that’s just a wig you made out of children’s hair?†and confirming there’s nothing harmful about that. It’s these sorts of riffs that make Ruined an excellent podcast for anyone from a genre obsessive to a noob as long as they’re willing to laugh. —Becca James
Listen: Spotify | Apple | Website
The Read - Ego Like Mine
This week on The Read, co-host Kid Fury kicks off with a warm welcome to “haters and allies.†This week’s “Black Excellence†shout-out goes to Quinnen and Quincy Williams of the New York Jets, who just made history as the first pair of brothers to record sacks in the same game for the same team since 1982. After blessing us with a heartwarming cover of Danity Kane’s “Showstopper,†Kid Fury and Crissle launch into their always hilarious pop-culture segment. This week’s featured musings about Megan Thee Stallion’s Hottie Sauce collaboration with Popeyes, rapper Eve’s baby with a British man named “Maximillion†Cooper (yes, they did dissect the fact that it is spelled Maxi “millionâ€), and Lil Boosie calling out the head of Instagram to get his recently banned page back. The “Listener Letters†about sex, relationships, and pandemic work life in this episode can best be described as juicy and unhinged — in that order. Even funnier than the letters themselves are Crissle’s timeless advice of “Just let [your boyfriend] die.†Finally, this week’s “Read†included a memorable roast of the John Wick franchise and its casting of Mel Gibson, whom Crissle declared in this episode as “The Worst White Man.†Kid Fury concluded this “Read†with “Boo. Hiss. Y’all are absolutely ridiculous with this casting.†Between Crissle’s laugh, Kid Fury’s pop-culture opinions, and the amazing comedic rapport these two hosts have, The Read just gets funnier with each passing week. —Akanksha AuroraÂ
Listen: Spotify | Apple | Website
Other Podcasts We’re Listening To:
The Dana Gould Hour - House of Halloweenery
Listen: Spotify | Apple | Website
Inside of You With Michael Rosenbaum - Ken Marino: Losing Identity & Keeping Hilarity
Listen: Spotify | Apple | Website
Got a comedy podcast recommendation? Drop us a line at [email protected].
Good One
Subscribe on:
If you like comedy and you like podcasts, we recommend you subscribe to Vulture’s own Good One podcast, which releases new episodes every Thursday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Overcast, or wherever you get your podcasts.
More From This Series
- This Month in Comedy Podcasts: Hopped Up on Black Betties with Patton Oswalt
- This Month in Comedy Podcasts: The Kardashians Are Giving Cult, With Meg Indurti
- This Month in Comedy Podcasts: Nikki Glaser on WTF