Mike Abrusci Turned This Interview Into NUGG SponCon

Thanks to the coronavirus, comedians are now trapped at home like the rest of us, so we decided that while we’re all self-isolating, we’d do something a little different from our usual “Follow Friday� column. Instead of interviewing up-and-coming comedians we love on Twitter, we’re going live on Instagram every week to check in on some of our favorite people in comedy and get a firsthand look at how they’re handling the pandemic. So welcome to our new version of the column, now titled “Follow (From a Safe Distance) Friday.�

This week, I stayed an appropriate distance away from literal COVID patient Mike Abrusci (known for The Chris Gethard Show, A Little Time, living an old-man lifestyle with his roommate, Diego Lopez) for a virtual chat about how he’s holding up during the seemingly endless pandemic. He shared his tips for making it through a fashionably late coronavirus diagnosis, gave his nuanced opinions on eastern-Massachusetts hardcore bands of the early aughts, and told me a truly ridiculous story about his first time doing stand-up that involved frozen shrimp, minor larceny, and a trip to the police station. He also joined me in a rousing discussion on the merits of fake-meat products: “There were these Instagram-ad vegan-chicken nuggets called, like, NUGG — with two G’s — and millennial-ass packaging, and they were so corny looking. But I saw them in the grocery store, and I was like, ‘All right, let’s try them.’ And unfortunately, they are very good … So this is sponsored content now.�

You can find Mike on Twitter and Instagram at @mikeabrusci.