Funny AF with Kevin Hart: Who Took Home the Crown?!

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[00:01:22] Hey, what's up fam? Welcome back again to Recap Kickback.

[00:01:46] It's me, your host Chappell, and I am here to talk to you about the newest Netflix comedy special comedy competition and its newest winner brought to us from the mind of Kevin Hart and the person here with me to talk about that, my co-host whose idea was to even watch this show, Funny AF, Mari. Mari, welcome back. Hey, I'm so glad I stumbled upon the show and forced you to watch it.

[00:02:12] Um, because I have learned about myself that it does not matter what the competition is. If it is a competition reality show, I am in it. I think I have now realized that I will watch paint dry if it's a competition reality show. So yeah, glad we could talk about this. There was definitely a moment where I was watching this and thought to myself, damn, how many shows with three judges have I watched in my lifetime?

[00:02:41] You know, like how many of this exact same format that I've watched? And it's probably like the limit does not exist, right? There's endless possibilities for different shows. So you have a point. But yeah, we did watch live on Netflix, Kevin Hart's Funny AF with Kevin Hart. And, uh, it was an experience watching it live. You know, it really did take me back to some of those for the heyday where we used to have to watch shows, have to vote for them in real time, get the answers, and then crown our winner.

[00:03:11] Some shows still do that, but it is always refreshing for me to see that. And we did indeed crown our winner tonight right after the finale. Actually, uh, give a shout out to the winner of Funny AF, uh, season one, Ron Taylor. Mari, he did it. Yeah, he did it. Oh, what is that? Shout out. I mean, shout out to Ron Taylor. He was not my pick to win, to be quite honest.

[00:03:42] Um, so I was, I was like, oh, okay. But I do think the top four, my, my scariest moment was last night where I was like, the top four that I wanted to move on, moved on to tonight. So I wasn't, I wasn't like upset that he won. I was, I was actually fine with any of them winning. They're all very good standups. I just did not see this coming.

[00:04:07] I, for the last, at least two to three episodes, thought it was going to come down to us, Usama and Caitlin. And so, um, to see Ron, uh, pull forward here, um, for him to be in the top two and then to win, I was, I was, I was a little shocked, but I'm, you know, I'm happy for him. I'm happy for him again. I don't, I don't know if he was like my favorite out of the four, but I think he was well-deserving.

[00:04:35] I think he's, uh, like very established. I, I, I, I do know, shout out to imaginary friend of the podcast, uh, Kev on stage talked about how he knew him. Um, he knew Ron Taylor. So Ron Taylor, just like most of the people are like the, the, the final four between, uh, Reg doing this for 15 years. Uh, Usama doing it for 13 years. I'm not sure how long Ron said he's been doing it.

[00:05:04] I know he's been doing it for a long time. Like all of these, these people are pretty much established comedians. So, um, we weren't going to go wrong with the winner. And they probably all, they probably all had like an established fan base as well already. So, um, shout out, shout out to Ron Taylor. I like the voting aspect of this. Like you said, we're used to like American Idol.

[00:05:27] You had to call in and tag, like all of this crazy stuff, but being able to just use your remote and vote on screen was very nice. I liked that mechanic for sure. Yeah. Yeah. Um, so much to unpack there. First of all, Ron. Yeah. Yeah. Sorry. Uh, no, no, we going to talk about all of that and more Ron great winner of this season of Netflix. Like you said, some of these comedians, uh, feel like they're very established or they've been working on other specials.

[00:05:53] Um, you might recognize some of the ones that we've eliminated prior to this finale, but the point of this episode or this season of television was to find who would have the next big Netflix special special and also be the next ex big face for almost like the generation of comedy. I think that, um, you know, they weren't just coming in to say like, Oh, who would win the comedy competition? They're trying to really set this person up to be a household name, you know, um, the way Kevin Hart actually is one of those people who he was a comedian for a very long time.

[00:06:23] But at some point he hit that, uh, almost like legendary status where he was a go-to guy, you know, you could see him hosting events. You could see him having comedy specials. Um, and then you have other celebrities in that same mold where they're kind of the face of, uh, comedians for this generation, the same way, uh, you know, Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence and people like that were generations before. So it's time to kind of pass the torch.

[00:06:50] And Ron has been, uh, voted on as Mario was talking about, uh, by the Netflix viewers using a snazzy little, uh, you know, just little remote button here. Mario, when I, when American Idol was a very popular show and we were watching it back in the day, I was never voting. I voted in my brain, right? Like I voted, but did I ever pick up the phone and vote for Ruben? No.

[00:07:15] Uh, and then I got to complain about when people went home that I voted for, even though I didn't actually vote for them. I'm kind of like, y'all got it wrong. I voted for the wrong person. This time, Mari, it felt so easy. I couldn't help it. And it also felt like Kevin Hart was like, almost like, uh, berating us to vote. He kind of forced me into it. Every time. Yeah.

[00:07:39] No, I love, if they could do this for like more stuff, like if, if Love Island could do this, if Peacock could do this. Big Brother. Great. Yeah. Well, no, not Big Brother. I don't trust the Big Brother voting audience. Never have and never will. Um, but yeah, the, the, the voting mechanic was so easy. So seamless. They had you, they, they did a really good job production wise of testing. They tested it out for the last two nights. So, um, it, it was what?

[00:08:08] 10 episodes total, but the last two, was it 10? Eight episodes. Eight episodes. Eight episodes total, uh, where, uh, episode eight and seven were live and had the live voting component while the rest, uh, weren't, were, um, like batch released. Um, but every, at the beginning of episodes seven and eight, they did a test vote. Like, here's your test vote. Try your remote now. Vote. Good. Got it.

[00:08:38] If you couldn't do it, do it. Kevin, Kevin Hart said, go to this place, get help. Um, and then they, because it was live, they strategically, you could tell there's that buffer, him and Nikki and, and Tom Segura were, were going like bouncing off of each other for, yeah. To get people like situated. I was like, oh, this is just really good. Well maintained. It basically the opposite of when, uh, pop the balloon premiered. Remember?

[00:09:09] So, so yeah, it was, it was great. It was, it was seamless. I would say the one downside for production from the first night, uh, episode seven with the final six was that the, the crowd wasn't mic'd correctly. So it really felt like, it sounded like to us at home that it was a lot of dead air unless the comedian was getting like hoops and hollering type laugh.

[00:09:36] I think for the finale, they rectified that situation. I think the crowd was appropriately mic'd. Um, cause we heard all of their reactions. And the reason why I'm saying this and I can know, I knew that my, my husband pointed it out at first. He was like, I don't know if the crowd is mic'd correctly. And then like on Monday and then later on that night, Winston, um, people were saying like, it felt like people were flopping.

[00:10:01] And Winston said, um, oh no, in the, in the theater, it sounded great. It sounded like we were all killing. And a lot of, then a lot of audience members who were there said the same thing. So you could tell it was a, it was an, a sound audio issue and they fixed it for tonight, the finale, which I think is important because if it's the viewing audience and the home audience,

[00:10:23] that's voting, you know, a lot of us are going off of the crowd sounds too, you know, the crowds in any comedy set, the crowd sounds help elevate a joke. You know, that's the whole point of a laugh track, you know, in sitcom. So, uh, the fact that last night that, you know, on Monday, it wasn't good. I was like, Oh, you know what I'm saying?

[00:10:47] So shout out to production for, for, uh, fixing that and shout out to this mechanism. Cause honestly, if, if Netflix wants to do more of this, um, like live voting thing, I'm, I'm down. Like this is, this was great. Yeah. I was kind of into it too, especially because we got the answers to, or the results immediately, you know? Um, I feel like in most shows, like you vote and then next week we'll come back with the winner, you know, that kind of thing.

[00:11:16] Or they got to tally them all up, or you got to text in all weekend, you know, big brother, we'd be voting for days at a time, creating accounts and all kinds of stuff. You know, I mentioned Netflix, uh, you know, um, I mean, big brother doing this, but Mari, it would put a stop to a lot of those ghost accounts that they just be using to spam their, uh, their faves, you know, uh, creating 15,000 accounts. I definitely saw a Chappelle at, uh, gmail.com that I'm sure was supposed to be me. It wasn't me.

[00:11:45] Uh, so at least with Netflix, you know, they not letting you share accounts, you know, you only gonna have one account or you paying for more. So maybe it's not the worst thing in the world. Well, again, if it's for big brother, it is because then that means that it's the casual vote that'll rule the day. And we, again, don't trust those. We can't. We can't. Yeah. But these, but these voters, uh, as you said, you were, you were kind of surprised that Ron is the winner.

[00:12:13] From my point of view, Ron, um, Ron was one of Kevin's favorites. I think, uh, this reminds me in a lot of ways about, um, some of the commentary I've heard even you make about RuPaul's drag race, where it's like, is it the best drag queen? Or is it just whoever RuPaul wants to win? Right. Uh, whoever makes RuPaul laugh the most is the person who's gonna win. Uh, so there were definitely times where I thought Ron was good, but I could tell Kevin was loving him.

[00:12:39] And I think Kevin's exuberance for, for Ron really got me behind Ron as well as, uh, as a contender. Um, he was very funny. And I think he reverted back to what he did that really caught everybody's attention in the first episode. You know, his, um, this is not what, this is my hair. This is not a hat. Fuck y'all. You know, like that. I think once he harnessed that energy in these last couple episodes, that was what we really started to expect from him.

[00:13:03] And what the crowd liked this kind of curmudgeon type vibe where he's like a millennial, but he's like, his energy is like F school. F this, F that, F this, like, kind of like he's like mad at the, you know, shaking his fist at the cloud. But we all can kind of relate to those feelings of, yeah, why is that like that? Why, why do I have to do that? Why, why are you asking me these questions? Uh, and so that kind of energy, I guess, is missing right now.

[00:13:32] And I think a lot of people kind of could see that as something fresh for comedy as far as I was concerned. Yeah. Yeah. And I, I think we saw that now in his last set here where he opens with a drunk driving joke. There's to be a drunk driving lane. And he's like, he's mad, but as you say about the age of drinking being 21 and he goes on to make several examples as to why that doesn't make sense.

[00:14:00] And I thought that was, um, a good set. I can see that. He also, what I noted from him, he also has this old school cadence. It is really like your old school Bernie, Richard Pryor type cadence. Because that's what they did. They complained. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. It's that, it's that very comfortable, um, feel to what you're used to when you get, go to get black comics.

[00:14:25] So I, I do get why he was relatable and why Kev loved him. I like, there were a few times where I was like, there, there are a few of his sets that he just squeaked by on. Like there was, there was a few sets where I'm like, somebody did worse than he did type thing, which is why he moved on. Um, but again, he's still a good winner in my book.

[00:14:49] Um, you know, and at the end of the day, the only thing at stake was a Netflix special. So they kept saying, you get a Netflix special. I was like a one hour Netflix special. I'm like, niggas look around. You're on Netflix right now. I was like, everybody, everybody has a Netflix special. We are all on Netflix right now, but maybe that's just me. But also, yes. Give me some money. Cause what? Yeah. He said he wanted a van. I was like.

[00:15:20] Give this man a van. Give him a van. Um, yeah. We found out in this episode that he lived in his van for, I want to say he said three years, something like that. Uh, and then he said. It was longer than that, wasn't it? Yeah. Something like that. It was 2013 to 2019 or something. It was like five years. Six years living in a van? Yeah. It was something like, yeah, like six years. It was a long ass time. I was like, that's crazy. Right. And then they took his van because he didn't register it because I guess you figure I'm not driving it. I'm just living in it, so I don't have to do that.

[00:15:49] They ended up taking his van. And so one of his motivations is going to be to get his van back. Um, obviously there are tons of benefits with having, uh, an hour long Netflix special, but I'm with Mari. Give him something else. Because it really did feel like they had one carrot and they had to dangle it in front of everybody. Um, the whole time. Uh, Ron said to me, the one thing I would say is that he is like three out of four of these comedians went very blue for their, uh, finale. Right.

[00:16:17] It's a lot of, um, like, that's how you could tell they're millennials because it's a lot of like sex and drugs and you know, that kind of thing. Um, whereas like one, and we'll talk about him eventually did not. Uh, I think that that's something to say about where we are in comedy, right? Like this is millennial comedy versus Gen Z comedy, comedy and Gen alpha comedy. We know these, these TikTok kids are prudes, you know, they're not really into this kind of vibe, but I guess this is still remnants of comedy from our age where you could talk about these things and laugh about them.

[00:16:47] Um, because I really, I, I guess I'm really not surprised that it seems like these, uh, comedians skewed a little bit older. Um, and maybe it just because of the level of polish that they had in their comedy. Yeah. Uh, I, I didn't notice that. So like I said, the reason why I came to that conclusion about, I will watch anything if it's a competition reality show is because I, I'm pretty sure I told you this. I'm pretty sure I've said it on the podcast.

[00:17:14] Um, I stand up like comedy to me was never a major part of my growing up. Like I watched some comedy. I watched Kings of comedy, Queens of comedy, all of that. I, you know, um, I might need security. I've seen it. I've seen comedy. Like I've seen the standups. I've seen all the black standups. I've, I've been to cookouts and it's been playing. Um, you know, uh, when cat Williams had his time, we were in college.

[00:17:44] So we watched all of that. Pimp Chronicles one, two, you know what I'm saying? Uh, when Kevin art came out, uh, we were also around college time. So, so I I've always known about comedy, but standup comedy has never been something that I enjoyed, especially lately because I'm pretty sure I previously said it, all the punching down.

[00:18:08] The trans jokes, the, it's just been like, I, I'm, I was like, I think I'm just too woke for this shit, you know? And I I've said it. I've said, I'm pretty sure I said it on here and I, I love to keep referencing, uh, but Kevin on stage and like Tony Baker and, um, like all of them kind of brought me back to comedy like two or three years ago because I went and saw a show with them.

[00:18:35] Um, and they did such a great job doing standup without being offensive and being so freaking hilarious, self deprecating again, Kevin on stage doesn't even cuss in his standup.

[00:18:50] And I was like rolling over in laughter and, um, the, to hear, uh, to hear more, like all of them did such a great job of standup without like, I felt like, um, like, like I said, punching down on people. So I was like, okay, if I can find comedians that I feel like are like what I want, I, I can rock with it.

[00:19:18] And this competition actually like reignited that because there was a lot of clever things done that even if you feel like you're hitting topical hot button issues, they were doing it in such smart ways. That was just like, like everybody got it. Everybody, you know, like everybody could get it. They offended everybody. So it didn't feel bad. It didn't feel like they were picking on anybody.

[00:19:47] Plus it was in a smart nuanced way. And I'll, and I'll, I'll talk about that a little bit more as we go into the comics themselves. But like, I just, I just found like that seeing the process of comedy and seeing people like really think about stuff and structure stuff has, has really had me interested in the art form now again.

[00:20:08] And again, whenever I watch these, these, uh, competition shows, of course we all immediately turn into, um, you know, the Simon Cowell comedy. I know everything about standup. I know about tagging up. I know. All of a sudden I know everything. So yeah, I'm the worst. Cause I definitely watch a show and be like, see, that's why you ain't going to win Bake Off because your souffle didn't, you know, you don't know nothing about a souffle.

[00:20:37] Nah, you're right about that. Yeah. I don't know why she put that dress out there. Don't know nothing about sewing. Um, yeah, I, I agree with you. I think all of the comedians, all of them that were highlighted in this show from beginning to end did a really good job. Of even making their point of view known without being super problematic to where it felt like they were bullying or punching down, like I said, or exploiting anybody. Um, if anything, a lot of it was self-deprecating. I think Ron did a good job as that as well.

[00:21:04] Uh, and then I do think, like I said, I think Kevin, uh, might've been rooting for Ron a little bit when he, uh, announces the winner. He's like, takes off. Uh, like he looked like Kevin wouldn't look like he wanted to cry, but Ron was so like poised in that moment. I would have fell to my knees. Maybe because I watched so many shows like this, I would, like, I know the reaction you're supposed to have, right? A moment like this. We'll start playing confetti. It's supposed to be falling down. Blocking without wings. You know, you're supposed to. Thank you, God. You know, but.

[00:21:33] And now a Netflix special, there's nothing to sneeze at. Exactly. It's like, yeah, this is great. This is cool. How is Kevin Hart more excited than Ron? I think, I think Ron maybe. No, it's fine. Maybe. Yeah, I think that's Ron. It seems like that's kind of his personality, like you said. Yeah. Um, but. And like you said, he didn't think he was going to win. So he was, he's probably shocked. He was just shook. Probably shocked. Yeah. I bet when he got home, he's probably like gonna, like, he's going to pinch him a little bit and he's going to stay.

[00:22:02] Cause he's going to get other opportunities from this too. Okay. Cause that's the thing, right? Like this is going to. Yeah. Right. And this will skyrocket him into the next atmosphere. So I'm happy to see what's going to happen with Ron. Uh, we have to talk about our runner up who I thought was a front runner from minute one, day one, episode one, second one. Fast track basically throughout the entire season. Uh, what did you think about Usama? I thought Usama was great. I'm not going to lie.

[00:22:29] He was my winner pick, but the funny thing is he was my winner pick, but I ended up not voting for him. So that was probably my fault. But anyways, uh, and, and, and that's what always happens, right? You're like, Oh, everybody's going to vote for him. I ain't got to vote for them. But anyways, he was great. Honestly, like you said, minute one.

[00:22:54] And he's one of the people who I thought again, hit on really hot button issues. Like he got so close to the line, but like, I don't know if people realize he was making fun. Like he was making fun of like, uh, so back in like the second or third episode when he did, what took me out was the joke when he was doing the crowd work. And he was talking to that black guy and he was like, he's like, you homophobic that you remember when he was doing the crowd work? He was like, you homophobic? Yes or no. Yes or no.

[00:23:24] And he was like doing really quick. And then the black guy said, no. And he's like, but your dad is. And then he started making fun of, he, he's making fun of homophobic people by saying things that homophobic people would say. So like, it, it's such a nuanced thing so that if you're not paying attention, you're just thinking he's saying homophobic stuff. Right. But it's like, he, he, he's, he's making fun of it.

[00:23:48] And I thought, I thought he really tiptoed the line on that so many times again with like black people and homophobia talking about him being a Muslim and how he was a practicing Muslim for the longest time until he had sex for the first time. And just, he, you know, some of the white girls got offended in the finale. He was like, what are you talking? And he just does so many good, good impressions and stuff.

[00:24:15] Like really good at way different impressions. I thought, I thought he was, I thought he was so good. Well-rounded comic. But he, he'll, doors are open for him. I think I checked on TikTok out of the top four. I believe he is the most followed on there. So I was surprised that his, his, um, like his followers didn't come through for him. But yeah. So I, again, okay.

[00:24:43] You didn't get the Netflix special, but something tells me and probably about a year or two. And I feel like, you know what I'm saying? Like what's the moratorium? Because, okay. So Ron, Ron Taylor gets the Netflix special. He gets the first one. This year? Yeah. Exactly. It's just a Netflix special. Y'all like it. And Mari like, that's it? I mean, I hate to say it. It, it, like, it just, you got the winner got Netflix special. Doesn't mean that nobody else who was ever on this cast can't get a Netflix special.

[00:25:12] The last Netflix special we've given out, baby. Exactly. So yeah. Uh, he, he was a great job. What did you, what did you think of Osama? Yeah. I thought he was the front runner. He was not my winner pick, but I definitely thought he was the one to beat. Uh, just because like we said, he has been, anytime there had been an ability to put him through to the next round, he went to the next round. Um, you know, one of the mechanisms Kevin had in the first, in the first couple of like, uh, auditions was he could, he could basically stop somebody right after they're done and

[00:25:41] be like, all right, you could just fast track to the next round. Osama got that. Uh, he also was the first one to come into of the pair of his, of his duo to come to the final two, you know, like he just, he always, I mean, to get to the final four, like he's always been one of the first people that is safe. And, uh, so I knew that he was somebody who was going to be tough to beat. He was so good. I was reading some of his other credits. Um, he has done the late show with Stephen Colbert. Uh, he does have his, uh, half hour comedy special with don't tell comedy.

[00:26:11] And, um, he recently wrapped his national head headlining tour and, uh, has opened for, uh, Hassan Minhaj and, uh, Oh, I love Hassan. Oh my God. And, uh, Morgan J. And then I think, uh, he, he wrote on survival of the thickest as well. Uh, and Oh really? Yeah. And so, uh, wow. So he's got some credits. He's very, uh, established. And he said his name of his Netflix special would be, uh, Osama been laughing. And I think that is very clever.

[00:26:40] If he ever gets one, I think he's going to go with that. Um, from Texas. So I was very happy for him to, uh, done so well, but you're right. Very funny man. Um, from beginning to end. And I think him really talking about his ancestry is what got me his, his family. Like whenever he's able to relate stuff back, it says his mom is there. Uh, we know he's been godly and he gets to talk about that in a lot of ways.

[00:27:05] But I, you know, I think diversity is always good when it comes to, you know, comedy, but most things in the arts for sure. Right. You want to bring in diverse perspectives. Cause then you get jokes. You've never heard. He's making jokes that I ain't know existed. You know, I know black jokes, right? Cause we've been looking, we know black folks. Right. So we talked to black people. Uh, uh, I grew up watching comic view and standup specials. My, my Facebook, my Facebook algorithm is just comedians. That's all it is.

[00:27:31] It's like, yeah, like if I'm scrolling through the reels or whatever, um, some of these people I'd seen before because they're on my Facebook reels. So like, you know, that's kind of the stuff I watch black people. Yeah. The black, and I'll tell you about them when we get to them, but the black people, um, yeah, I already know what we be talking about. The new jokes are the ones I'm like, wow. Oh, I never thought about that. You know, the way I think he said he did his ancestry and it was seven 11. Yeah. Seven 11. Seven percent Brown.

[00:28:00] That was so funny. I was like, this, you can't say that. Well, I think half of the show, what made half of the show was watching Kevin break. So just watching Kevin Hart laugh his ass off at like some of the just craziest jokes. When he said that seven 11% Brown. Oh my God. That. Hilarious.

[00:28:30] It got me, but I will say this. I thought of all the sets we've seen him do. This was his weakest one. I thought that that after it was done. Yeah. I thought this was the one time where I didn't feel like he had all the momentum in the world. Right. Uh, and so I was concerned, but I was rooting for him in a lot of ways, especially once we finally hear about his story, um, that he wanted to go to med school at first, or he was going to go to med school.

[00:28:57] He told his family, I'm going to not go to med school. I'm going to go do comedy instead. And he just like on grind mode, um, live in the trenches, you know, trying to build a career out of nothing. And yeah, and he did it. So kudos to, uh, Osama. And, and can I say, I, I agree. I think it was like his, the set, the sets this time were felt pretty long. I wonder, I meant to, they're like 10, 10 minute sets. Maybe I'm thinking at the least.

[00:29:27] Um, and so I think what tripped him up was his last joke. Wouldn't have been the joke. I would have, uh, ended on cause I barely remember it. I, I immediately remember just like you said, the joke almost like right before it, after he said this seven, 11% Brown, he talked about finding serial killers through 23 and me and the setup to that joke. And you, I was cracking up.

[00:29:54] He was like, you know about this, they, the 23 and me that you can give your DNA, they can cross check it. And he was like, can you imagine being the perfect serial killer? You know, you take the body, you bury it. Like he didn't hear you. He said everything. Remember the serial killer? He said, and then you get caught cause your fourth cousin wants to know if she's as Cherokee. I'm Cherokee. That took me out. That's where I was. I was absolutely done. And then he goes into the fake, like Indian, like yodeling.

[00:30:24] And I was like, Oh, it's the fake native Americans. Sorry. Yodeling. And, and I was, when I, when I tell you I was cracking up and then that wasn't the end. He had the, he, there was like, like one more little joke and I can't even remember it. I was like, and I literally wrote in my notes, I don't know if I would have ended on, on that joke. So I agree. I agree. I think I, I do agree that this was probably the weakest, weakest set.

[00:30:53] But I mean, it's kind of, that's what happens when all of your sets are so, I mean, his, like I said, I referenced it, his crowd work set was amazing, you know? So it's, it's, it's really hard once you hit those, those heights like that. Yeah, I totally agree. I was rooting for him in a lot of ways. I was rooting for all these people. So yeah. To be quite honest. Yeah. Yeah. Let's, let's talk about Caitlin.

[00:31:22] Our third placer or third top for third, you know, I don't know if they get the exact order, but third and fourth place, they don't, you know, they're obviously not on our top two. Caitlin Palufo, I believe. Yeah. She is another person. I know you said that like you, you looked at her as one of the front runners as well. Yeah, I did. I thought she had a few like really strong sets at the beginning. I thought her crowd work set was great.

[00:31:52] That crowd work episode is probably one of the funnier, like one of the funniest episodes of comedy, like comedy, comment competition, like just amazing. Um, but I think what happens with her is, and something that I wrote down in my notes, like normally with comedians, right? First off, they get to workshop their jokes. You know, they get to see what works with different spaces. Um, but also we're not seeing them every week. Right.

[00:32:21] So we had four episodes drop on, um, on April 20th. We had two episodes drop on April 27th. And then we had back to back live performances, uh, both this, uh, yesterday on Monday and then today on Tuesday. And the, the overexposure and in between that. So all of those, they did at least what we saw, we saw the finalists do at least like six sets. Right.

[00:32:50] You know, like they weren't all on the same. Yeah. Yeah. So I kind of think the overexposure got, got her specifically because she, she was so good. So funny. She, she was funny to this finale, but it just got to the point where how many like pussy jokes can you make? You know what I'm saying? How many sex jokes can you make? And last night I was like, this is so funny. I, I'm still enjoying this. I said that a lot.

[00:33:19] I was like, it hasn't gotten old yet. And then tonight I was like, uh, kind of got old. You know what I'm saying? Like it, and I think she tried, I think she, she came out, she tried to kind of pivot away from it and talking about her seven year relationship, um, and all that. But then she reverted back to when she got to the waxing jokes. I was like, I'm here. I'm with you girl. You are not lying. But I do think that those jokes kind of only like appeal to women.

[00:33:46] So I just, I thought she, I think she's a great, great comic. Um, I think maybe this, this theme just kind of ran out at the end at the, just the worst time. Yeah. I think I agree with you. I think, um, cause there were definitely moments in this last set where, where she would go to talk to something, uh, or about something. And I felt like I already knew where she was going because I know the type of comedy she does. And I already heard the jokes. Right. Like, so when she's like, go get the vibrator, I'm like, ah, the vibrator. I remember the last time when you talked about the vibrator, that was like a thing that you talked about, you know?

[00:34:15] So it was like the moment she brought it up, my mind went back to like, oh yeah, she be talking about this or yeah, she does this. Um, and I think she really did kind of paint herself into a corner, uh, with the, with the sex jokes. You know, I think that if there was a way she could have maybe brought some more nuance, like you said, the waxing jokes was different. Right. Cause it was still about a sexual, like, you know, organ, but it didn't like, but it was like a different play on it instead of just like, you know, when she's working the crowd, she's kind of like, Hey, look at you. Well, I have sex with you. You know, I have sex with you. Like, okay.

[00:34:44] The first time she did it, I was like, oh, that's funny. But then she's doing it again. I'm like, damn, you already did that one. You know? And so, um, I think that's kind of how it felt to me, but I really did think she had the momentum. I think it was after last episode. I thought, okay, if anybody's going to steal it from Usama, it's her. Uh, she was so good. Um, yeah. So yeah, I was very excited to, uh, to see Caitlin, uh, go, um, you know, and her just

[00:35:11] be talking about like how it was her work ethic that really got her here. Right. She's like, hard work pays off. I think she's 39 years old. And so she's just been grinding it out. I think she said during the pandemic, uh, she's working on Colbert and things were going the right way. And then since then she had to go back to work. And Mari, when I tell you no truer statement in the world has ever hit me in my chest, like you're doing the thing you think you're supposed to be doing it all of a sudden you got to go back to work. Excuse me. I got to get the hell out of here.

[00:35:37] Um, so I was rooting for her if nothing goes for that, but, um, valiant effort for sure. Did you vote for Caitlin? No, no. I ended up voting for Reg. I thought he had the best night. It was so funny. I was rolling. And so I was like, damn, I can't not vote for that. Like, yeah. Yeah. So we'll talk about him. We got to. We have to talk about Reg. Because I think for me, I didn't even know I was coming in and go, I was going to be pulling

[00:36:06] so hard for Reg, but I had to vote for him. He was so. I had to. He was so good. I felt like he had the best set. Uh, I felt like, um, you know, I think that he had the most variety in the things that he was talking about. He had a level, right? Like I think a lot of them stuck to what they were good at and that's great. But I think he touched on so much stuff in his set. Um, so little jokes in there when he's talking about how black women keep, uh, keep black

[00:36:36] men honest. Like when Gayle King, uh, interviewed R Kelly, he said, you know, Oprah's best friend versus R Kelly, an impeccable musician. You know, it's like, it's a weird way of being like, you know, like we still rock for R Kelly, which is weird, but at the same time, it's a joke. Right. So it's like, I can't hold it against him. And the way he slid it in there was like, yeah, who words you going to take? Gayle King, this honest figure who just happens to be, uh, Oprah's best friend or this man who supports one of the greatest R and B musicians. I mean, you know what I'm saying?

[00:37:05] It's like, uh, he's got to put his finger on the pulse and not in a way that felt like he was being like, uh, y'all too hard on R Kelly. You know, like to me, I felt like the joke really worked. To, to me, I, I saw it as a indictment of R Kelly. Right. Exactly. Yes. Yeah. It's one of those tongue in cheek ones. This is like, it's like, yeah, he's, he's a great musician. Right. Like that's it. That's the only thing we're talking about. Right. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:37:30] Um, and even further, uh, when he, the, the cheating joke, uh, when he, like she came crying to me, she's like, I know exactly how you feel. He said, sometimes you go into a breakup and you can't tell your girl. I was like, man, that's so real. I was like, girl, can you leave me alone? I lost my best friend. I mean, just think about it. How many times have we seen that on TV?

[00:37:57] Was it, um, was it, um, it's not Fitz. Is it? Who was it? That was like, uh, can you give me a minute? I'm more than my best friend or something like that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Like, it took, it took me even longer. It, yes. I like it. Yeah. I just lost the love. Please, Melly, for the love of God. It took me even longer. Cause I was like, oh, he wants to break up with his girl, but he hasn't told her he's broken up with her.

[00:38:27] And I was like, oh no, he broke up. She broke up with the other girl and she broke up with him. But now he down bad. Oh, that was so great. Like Reg is so good. And, and I want to call BS on Kev with the Kev like, oh, you know, you had it, but you didn't show it. So we brought you back. No, Kev, y'all should have never cut him. I remember when he got cut, I was yelling at the screen.

[00:38:53] I could not believe that they had cut him right before the roast. Um, I think that was the top 10. I believe he, they were trying to say. He, he didn't make the top 10. And I was like, how the did he not make the top 10? And so when, um, what was her name? Angela Lee, I think Andrea and anyways, when the one girl, uh, Jen, sorry. Andrea Jen. Yes. Okay.

[00:39:22] When she said she couldn't, she couldn't do it because she didn't want to do the roast and they like the immediately when they said, when they said she couldn't do it and they, that was the cliffhanger for like, I'm pretty sure that was like the third batch cliffhanger or the second batch cliffhanger. I was like, has to be rich. Has to be rich. And when they said, when they said we brought somebody back and it was him, I was like, thank you. Because I truly don't understand why he got cut.

[00:39:49] The, well, the only thing I can think of is I, I did go back and look his stuff up. Like now, like after the stuff. And he did tell a few jokes that he had told, like I, he had told on like TikTok before, but I'm like, that's standup though. That's what you're supposed to do. Like you're, you're supposed to kind of workshop the same jokes and put them places. But that was the only, that was the only thing I could think of that maybe the reason why

[00:40:18] they cut him. Cause it was after that set, he made the, um, the Disney world joke, like the Disneyland joke about his cousin. That was on TikTok from like three years ago. So, um, I was like, maybe that, but I, I don't understand how they cut him for the first in the first place. But I do agree that ever since he came back, he kept his foot on their necks and he just made it so they could not, um, cut him again. And I'm so proud of him.

[00:40:44] I, I truly, I truly had to vote for him because it was my favorites. It was my favorite set of the night. I could not, I, I was like, I, I was like, I was like, I want to vote for Osama cause I think he's going to win. And I, I, I think he had a better overall presentation for the whole season, but I was like, but, but Reg just, he killed it between tonight and last night.

[00:41:07] That orgy joke last night was one of the funniest I've ever heard in my entire life. I was like, Oh my God. When he said he was taught, he was walking around like a proud teacher. Yep. Yep. Yep. He is like, he is the person that I, I was like, I said, I would, I had to vote for the

[00:41:36] person that I would actually watch their net, their one hour Netflix special. And he was, he was it like, like you said, his range of topics in the flow into each topic. I could listen to him talk for an hour. Yeah. He was on God mode in the finale. That was going to like, if you're going to put up your best showing, that was the time to do it. It just didn't pay off, but it did. Um, it did get the attention of Nikki Glaser.

[00:42:04] She does end up offering, uh, an opening spot on her tour to, uh, uh, both of them, uh, our third and fourth place. Now, Usama does not get offered that spot. Uh, I know, I know. I think she, I think I, cause at that point I would have assumed that he was going to win. So I was like, he's going to win. They get a spot on my tour. Cool. I, again, it's not going to end up somewhere. Like, right. Right.

[00:42:33] Kevin, Kevin tried to be like, if you don't have representation, Kevin, shut up. Shut up. Capitalism. Shut up right now. Like, unless you about to give him some money out of your own pocket, Kevin. Give him some money. Matter of fact. Give him that second jet, Kevin. Matter of fact, Kevin Hart, you know, he's in the middle of his huge Netflix contract with all of the things that he got going on. And I believe, uh, next week, May 10th is the roast of Kevin Hart on Netflix. And it would be great, Kevin, if you could put Usama on there. I think that would be such a good idea. Yeah.

[00:43:03] Or, I mean, it's live. Right. Might as well. Matter of fact, put the top four on there. You get a whole deus of people. Why not? A lot of the people, the funny people that I follow or like, they keep, I keep an eye on. I met them on roast. You know, um, I saw them on a roast. Like, I mean, Nikki Glaser is one of our running judges here throughout or recurring judges throughout. And she is known for the Tom Brady roast. It's the thing that skyrocketed her into the series.

[00:43:31] I remember watching it being like, oh, this is crazy funny. And so I think that'd be a perfect time to kind of, you know, kick off, uh, his, uh, his roast or something like that. Give them something to do because he does have that coming up on May 10th. Uh, and so I will be checking it out. Yeah, we will too. I've just, I was just telling, um, Shane that, Shane that James that because Shane Gillis is going to be hosting it.

[00:43:58] And James show James like Shane Gillis's comedy. He showed me a set. So, um, we'll, we'll be watching that as well. But I, I agree. I, I don't think Ron liked doing the roast. He didn't love it, but he also didn't do great on the roast. I mean, the roast was one of the times where he was closest to going home. I agree.

[00:44:23] You know, he actually got saved in a similar way that, uh, Reg did way early in the game too. So he was, he was, he was up against the ropes, I think, uh, in a, in a different points of the, in the competition. Um, but let's talk about some of the people, some of our fallen angels here, um, that we didn't get to see too much of because I mean, they didn't, they didn't make it to the final four, but they did put up a good showing. Um, what'd you think about Winston Hodges?

[00:44:51] I like Winston Hodges. I gotta be careful here. Cause Winston might be one of my neighbors. Uh, no, from the neighborhood. No, Winston. I thought he was, I did think he was funny. Um, but just slowly as the competition gone on, it was just like his, I don't know if it was his confidence, his stage presence. It just slowly started lacking. It was like, he couldn't believe he was still making it. I think he said that.

[00:45:21] I think there was a few times that he said he couldn't believe that he was still there. Um, very funny. I, like I said, if he, he was one of the people who did a really good job of like, um, making jokes that when you're looking at him, you're going to think that you're going to get some maybe Republican ish type, uh, jokes. And then he, he flips the script on you and he, he, you know, uh, progressive ish, but he talks about those, those, those things. So I enjoyed him. Yeah.

[00:45:51] I, I, I enjoyed him as a comedian. And we'll, he's not probably one of the, um, comics that I'll stick with and follow, but I appreciated what he brought to the, um, show. Yeah. I liked him a lot. Uh, there was a moment where I thought like, Oh, can he do it all? But you're right. He started to lose steam a little bit. Um, I think those initial, like the audition was very strong for him. Uh, very strong. Uh, and I think maybe the second round was strong too.

[00:46:19] I think even I was very impressed with him on the roast of Marshawn Lynch, uh, because, you know, he talks about how my comedy is not mean. So it, you know, he had to kind of, and a few of them did, I want to give them all credit for that, but they had to really step outside themselves and, um, you know, figure out a way to be mean and do a roast when, you know, that's a very intimidating thing to do. We saw Andrea kind of, she quit, she quit because she didn't want to do it, you know? And so for them to be able to, you know, be almost like, all right, to use their comedy

[00:46:49] in a different way than they were used to. I thought that was very impressive, especially from Winston and from our other, uh, fallen angel here, just missing the finale. Caitlin, I'm sorry. That's not Caitlin. That's a live, right? Olivia. Yeah. Yeah. Olivia Carter. She was the youngest person in the competition. Yeah. So Olivia, Olivia was, was interesting, right? Cause she had, he had, I don't, I'm not familiar with white comics.

[00:47:18] Um, but like that dry monotone, uh, weirdo girl delivery. It was, it was very funny. It was very funny until it wasn't right. And both her and Caitlin Palufo got away with saying the F word. Yeah. And I was like, I will let my gay friends, uh, talk about that, how they feel about that.

[00:47:44] Because, um, you know, I don't know. I was like, it's very jarring. Yeah. It's a joke. It is. If you joke like that, it hits you right, right in the middle of your chest because you're like, Ooh, you know, I didn't know he was still saying that. You know, I thought that was, I don't know about this one. You kind of look around nervously. It's like you nervous laugh because it's like, okay. But you're right.

[00:48:14] They got away with it. I mean, uh, it's about the delivery. I mean, the key to a good rose is that like, you can say anything as long as it's funny. If it's not funny, then that's where you got to go. And I think the crowd was, she really had the crowd with her when she did it. I, to be quite honest, it was like you said, if it, if you're going to say it, it better be funny. And she did. She set it up very funny, uh, making fun of, of Kevin Hart for the 2019, where he had his step down from hosting the Oscars.

[00:48:43] Um, perfect, perfect setup there. And then, and then cut to Kevin when he was like, I thought she was going to say a whole speech. Right. She just needed that one line to really like, it's like, right in the chest on that one. It was so good. Pop it. Yeah. And so, um, I, I think that, I mean, not, I think I know that roast is what propelled her forward.

[00:49:06] Um, and it was just unfortunate again, to me, like her and Winston, I feel like, I feel like they were destined to go in the places that they went. However, I do think that the crowd not being miked for the both of them kind of didn't help. I, I, I, I, I don't think it helped, helped them. Um, because from our end on the TV, it seemed like the two of them got the least reactions in that final six.

[00:49:36] Um, and again, from what we heard from audience members and from Winston himself that the, the energy in the room was very good. They, the comics felt like they were getting the laughs, they were killing it. Um, so I would say if you're, you're leaving it up to us to judge from home and we're hearing silence is not good. But then again, it's also like, they didn't make them, the audience rise to the level of

[00:50:02] laughter that the others did, because I've, I do believe in that situation, Osama and Caitlin both got standing ovations. So it's just one of those things that it's just kind of like, um, I thought she was good, but I thought like, like you said, being the youngest, not having as much experience. Um, she ended up where she ended up. I think also both her and Winston, I think the problem with the two of them, um, problem

[00:50:28] air quotes is that when they don't have the crowd, you can feel when they don't have the crowd, you know what I'm saying? Like you can feel it and, and, and, you know, I think the, the four that made it probably because of their extensive experience experience, know when to like, all right, if the crowd's not feeling this, give them this, you know what I'm saying? And not let it affect their, um, their mood. Yeah.

[00:50:57] Um, no, this was, they both were very funny. Uh, you know, this top six was elite. Um, but Mari, we lost so many people along the way. We started this show with auditions in different cities. We went to New York, we went to Chicago, we went to LA, uh, and we were able to do these big auditions and, uh, narrow things down to like our final 10, um, at the roast. Is there anybody that you want to flag up that stood out for you either in all auditions or that made it to the Marshawn-less roast that we haven't talked about? All right.

[00:51:26] There's like, there's so many people. First off, I do have to talk about Eva and her send off after the Marshawn Lynch roast. Yeah. Eva from New York who her and Reg know each other. Like she, if I remember correctly, she, she didn't have that much experience. Reg was kind of like a mentor for her. And for me, like even meeting her at the audition, I was like, okay, she's funny.

[00:51:51] And this is what Kev, Kevin Hart said that he liked about her is like her, her comedy was like very, uh, conversational, very like she didn't have to me. She didn't feel like she had set up punchlines really. She just felt like she was funny. Right. And you talking, you talking to your home girl. That's funny. Yes. And that worked until a point. And I just think at the Marshawn Lynch roast, that's where it fell apart for her because

[00:52:19] out of roast, you need jabs. You need to be Jones and you need barbs. And I didn't think she did like too bad on it. You know, I didn't think she did bad, but I, what the reason why I wanted to flag her up is I loved her lead her, the line she said she was leaving. She's like, roast. I don't do roast. She was like, that's like asking somebody if they know how to cook and then telling them to bake a cake.

[00:52:43] I was like, yeah, she's not lying, but they asked you to do a roast. It was great. That was so funny. But, and I, and then for me, I was actually surprised that she, I mean, I was surprised that she moved on from the tryouts to be quite honest. I felt like, again, if we're looking at polished comedians, she was one of the more unpolished ones.

[00:53:10] And, um, every time she got, she, this is mean, I don't know if this is mean to say, but every time she got through, I was, I was a little shocked. Um, to be quite honest. Interesting. I would only, the only cuts of the level of competition around her. Right. I was devastated when she got cut after the, after the martial arts. Cause I, cause she had just really like, I just started to really like, okay, I can see this.

[00:53:36] And I think that also the story with her and Ridge, I kind of wanted them to be in that finale type, you know, last two episodes together. Right. Because at the beginning she makes it through and Ridge doesn't. And then he ends up getting a second chance. And in his second chance, he kind of outflanks her, you know? Uh, whereas like, and then he, you know, even when she's talking about it, she's like, I probably wouldn't even be, you know, be here if it wasn't for Ridge and the way that he kind of brought me into comedy, or at least I think that's Reg's version of the story

[00:54:06] at least. So it's kind of like, it was just fun to watch kind of these two that know each other, that are professional, uh, but also friendly. And then to see her kind of have her big moment, but then to get him to have his moment too, and eventually get to the final four, uh, and get to embrace that. I thought the story was really cool. So, um, yeah, I, I was, uh, sad to see her go. Uh, who else on your list? Felicia folks, uh, LA. Yeah. It's my girl.

[00:54:37] She did so great. Her, the first few sets, she's talking about how she was dealing with cancer. The crowd works. That was pretty good. Her fumbling. She, she made it through, through the roast. Right? Yeah. The roast was decent. Yeah. And it was the, it was at the final eight, the, the final eight where she, um. The crowd work. Right. Was it the crowd work? I believe that's the final eight cut. Yeah.

[00:55:06] I think that's the final eight cut. Cause then Chris Rock is after that. Yeah. And she didn't meet Chris Rock. Yeah. Right. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Chris Rock was six. Yeah. Okay. After crowd work. Okay. Cause crowd work was after the roast. Yeah. I felt so bad for her because she did, she had one bad set and it, it ended up chopping her. She, that she, she made a very long, the very, the active shoot. Yes.

[00:55:33] It was the crowd work because she was asking them the crowd about if they ever had to do active shooter girls. And the, that was a long, long set. I agreed with him. It was a long setup for a punchline that was just like me, a black woman talk about see something, say something. Of course I see something and say something like that was it. And the whole set was that. And I was really wondering if she was again, like trying something new or whatnot, because all of her, her sets before that were just so good, just so good.

[00:56:02] So punchy. And I think just the crowd work thing threw her off because like they, they pointed out, she asked the crowd something and they didn't even like, like really take in the response. It was, you know? So it was just, yeah. So I, I felt so bad for Felicia and I, you could see how heartbroken she was that, that really, that really pained me, but she's a great comedian. She was really good. I enjoyed her from the beginning.

[00:56:32] And like you said, talking about her cancer journey, but then just also just seeing her step up and do the roast. Cause you could tell that's kind of not her bag either. She's not a mean comedian or one that's like, you know, like to, like to roast, I guess. But yeah, watching her from beginning to end was very funny. What did you think about Ray? I think he also, Ray Lau, he was another one of the younger ones of the season. He made it to the roast.

[00:57:02] And I think that was the end of the role for him. Unfortunately, the funniest thing about him to me was his calls to his parents as he progressed and them like not being able to speak English and not getting that he was like making it far into a comedy competition show. Like I remember his, his sets being kind of funny, but I'm really struggling to think, to remember an actual joke. You know what I'm saying? You got one loaded?

[00:57:33] Yeah. I do not. Right. I do not. But he was funny. I thought he was very funny. Yeah. I wasn't writing a lot of the jokes down. So the ones that I have mentioned are the ones that I can remember off the top of my head. Exactly. Same. Yeah. I don't think he's stuck with me as much. But I mean, like it wasn't like I was watching him and I wasn't laughing. There were several times because I watched a lot of this at night while I was getting ready to go to bed. And, you know, it really did. I agree.

[00:58:03] It kind of sparked something in me to me. I was like, man, my algorithm is already heavily comedian. But do I got time to watch a stand up special on Netflix real quick just to kind of just, you know, get some more laughter into my life. And so people like him, even Steve Fury. Yeah. Also, you know, very funny people, but just weren't able to make it into those last. So I really need to say like Steve Fury, I get like, OK, they're like he's very polished,

[00:58:31] good jokes in those first those first few episodes. And then the whole my life is crumbling. My fiance left me. My wedding would have been yesterday. Yeah, I thought it was a bit at first. And now I'm not sure. It's no, I don't think it's a bit. I'm pretty sure that's what happened. And the craziest thing is like the moment they said, oh, he's no longer has a fiance anymore.

[00:59:00] It was like the worst that the worst comedy was coming out of him at that in his last set. I was like, white man, you are just doing comedy as a white man. A.K.A. He was it. He was. He was just punching at everybody, but not in a fun way to me. Like I was like, it really put me off. His last set really put me off. I was like, woof, geez.

[00:59:29] Like I did not like it. I didn't like it at all, to be quite honest. And it sadly, I really was more invested. Like, why did y'all break up? Like, is she mad that you're pursuing this? Like to me, that can be, that's the only reason it could be because you get cut the day, what was supposed to be the day after your wedding date. So it really felt like we were together for seven years. We finally were going to get married.

[00:59:59] And now you're running off to do this comedy thing and we got to, you know, change our date again. You know, was the fiance fed up? I don't know. I'm just making shit up. But I really like Steve Fury. To be quite honest, I didn't. Somebody, I didn't like him. I don't know. Yeah. He like, I do agree with you that it felt like from the moment he says, you know, like they're like, Steve, how's the, how's the wedding going? He's like, oh, I got pushed back. Oh, for when? Indefinitely. Oh, oh. Oh.

[01:00:28] And I think that at that point he had like that, the look, that the like look on his face, but I don't know how to explain it. It's like when you have something on you and everybody can see it on you, but nobody wants to tell you. It's like he's walking around with the, like, oh, my life is over face. And people are like, oh. The rain cloud. Right. Yeah. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. So I don't know, but I thought he was funny. I can't, I tell all these people were funny.

[01:00:51] Um, so yeah, crazy seeing how he went out though, just because he did have so much momentum and you could tell that he really did appreciate his comedy. Um, he's only 36, you know, so he's got, I'm sure a long career ahead of him. Uh, and I'm sure he'll bounce back from this as well. Um, the roast of Marshawn Lynch was my favorite episode. Uh, so funny. I love a roast. I love a roast. I just, I love a roast.

[01:01:15] I think that there's something, uh, there's art in being able to be mean and make people laugh. And, uh, at the same time, right. To where you can be mean and funny and it doesn't feel like hateful. And I think that there's, it's a, it's really hard to navigate that. I think as someone who talks a lot, me, uh, I have to navigate that a lot. I want, I can, I have to be able to say mean things about people or be able to be cutting without being mean to where it's off-putting and people don't want to hear me talk.

[01:01:45] And so. We get it. You're black Chappelle. We get it. No, no, no. No, see, see, that's the thing. We do have to do that to a level, right? We have to be able to, you know, say our thing and not get in trouble for real. Right. But there's, it's, there's this like very specific, uh, thing that the class clown gets, right? It's like where everybody thinks they can dunk on you, but when you say something back, oh no, now it's all of a sudden. So, and that's me. I think that's my thing. People love to bully me. You know it.

[01:02:15] People love talking about me, but meanwhile, I got to take the high roll and be funny without talking shit. Because if I talk shit, oh, then all of a sudden, oh, you didn't went there. It's like, yeah, because I can go there. Everybody can't go there. And I love seeing people try to go there in a roast. So to me, I thought, I love watching that. And I like watching the comedians really navigate. Like, it's like, you take, you take the, um, the kid gloves off on a roast. Right. You say, okay. Um, I remember, uh, one time Mario, we roasted Pouya on his Twitch stream.

[01:02:44] Uh, he just like, he did a roast years ago. Yeah. And I wasn't on the day. It's cause I was like busy. And then all of a sudden I wasn't busy. And they were like, oh, well, can you host it? And I was like, oh yeah, cool. And then I got to watch all of Pouya's closest friends try to be mean to him without hurting his feelings. You know? And I think that there's, that's like the, that's the beauty of it. Right. It's like, you have to be mean cause it's a roast, but you don't want to say anything that somebody cannot move away from. Or that somebody will take super personally.

[01:03:13] And so I think that for me appeals, uh, you know, is the appeal of the roast, but I know you liked the, um, the crowd work episode more. Yeah, I did. I, I did like the crowd work episode more that, that was my favorite, um, of all the like many challenges, I guess, after, uh, the selection process. Cause I think it really does show. Can you volley from off the crowd? Can you, um, improv really?

[01:03:41] I think that, again, that was one of Caitlin's better episodes. And that's where she got caught saying the F word. But even then again, she, she was going off the crowd, the crowd, the, the guy in the crowd, which the, the guy in the crowd. Why did he have to do that? Why did he do that? That's what I turned to James. I said, why would you say that? Why would you do that?

[01:04:08] And, um, she, he like set her up and then she, she said, I'm just repeating what you said. She's like, thanks for coming to my cancellation or something like that. Thanks for getting me canceled. And so again, it's done in a way she, they say the word and it's done in a way that it is funny. It's funny to me, but that again, like I said, I want to know, you know, what are our friends and the queer community think? Um, but, uh, the, the crowd work one was just so good.

[01:04:36] Reg, uh, asking each one like, oh, who are you here with? My wife. Strike one. Who are you here with? My wife. My wife. I'm trying to get you a blowjob, damn. Exactly. I was like, just A plus, A plus. I, I, the, yeah, the crowd work episode was indeed my, my favorite.

[01:04:58] It, I think, I think adding a little bit of improv to a standup show can definitely show a lot of range, you know? And again, it's, it's definitely a different skill from roasting and it's a different skill from just straight up standup. But I, you know, um, we grew up like one of, one of my college roommates, uh, he, he did improv. So we would go to his improv sets and he did standup.

[01:05:26] We'd go to his standup sets, uh, 15 years ago, 14 years ago, after we graduated, he moved to New York and he did standup. And we, every time we would go to New York and when we lived in New York, we went to all of his standup. We went to a standup when he was here in DC and we went to a standup when we were in New York. And like, we met now known comedians working at some of the places that he worked.

[01:05:51] Now he's not a stand, like a big standup comedian right now, but that just shows you that standup and, and, and comedy is, it's like an art form. It's like, you know, it's something you, you can do and you can either make it or you don't or it, but it's not, not about not making it. But anyways, sorry. I said all that. I said all that to say that. But I love kind of like that improv aspect.

[01:06:15] I love that being able to really just come up with something funny on the spot. And again, the fact that Winston squeaked by in that episode when he did not, I was like, where was the crowd work? He's like, I think, I think he just, he was just like, Oh, did y'all hear about this? Like, I was like, that's not crowd work. Like, that's not crowd work. But so yeah, that was my favorite episode. Yeah. I, I enjoyed it all.

[01:06:45] I thought the format was cool. I, you know, this is something that we've seen a billion times, right? The auditions to the callbacks, to the live performance, to the voting. I mean, you insert 2000s, the 2009 reality competition show and we've done it. And I thought this still felt good. It felt good. It was fun to watch. I love a show with auditions.

[01:07:11] At first I thought they were going to empower everybody and make everybody look really good, regardless of how they did. But there were definitely a couple of times where people got kind of some, I guess, harsher feedback. Like, you know, like at first, the first episode, it was kind of like everybody was blowing out of the water. By the time they got to Chicago, Mari, people were like, that's when Kev called Ron back. He was like, all right, we need, can you come to the guy? No, not even Ron. He called that one dude back that I was like, that guy's not even funny.

[01:07:41] Oh, who was he? The guy who made the one joke about John Cena having a monkey face and it made, Pap, Pap, I think his name. Yeah, he called Pap back. That's what it was. And Pap did not rise to the occasion. Not at all. I was like, yeah? He made one, that joke wasn't, anyways. But Kevin thought it was the funniest thing he had ever heard.

[01:08:04] Yeah, no, when they got to the Chicago audition, I was like, I saw my girl T Sanders. Yeah. I love T Sanders. Yeah. And I was like, where's T, where's T? The fact that she closed the show, I was like, okay, good. I was like, that's good. So she did make it to the call. She did make it through the callbacks. She got cut in that big, that one, that episode where it's like the callbacks.

[01:08:33] And there was like, what, 14 of them? I think it's 15. Yeah, 16 or 15. Yeah. 16 or 15, right. That probably was the weakest episode because I feel like that episode, I don't remember what they were doing. I think they just gave them like a set, a longer set. But that was one of the ones where I was like, I can't really tell a lot of these people, not tell a lot of these people apart,

[01:09:01] but it was like, they kind of like sped through that one, right? To get to the top 10 for the Rose. Yeah. I think they had 14 or 15, maybe 16. I think there was one round where they brought in six people. I think he called out. Six people, yeah. But yeah, it was, it was a lot, right? It was each of them kind of had to go and make a name for themselves and kind of show that this, this was the more full judging panel, right? This was Chelsea Handler, right? Was Kamil in this episode?

[01:09:31] My Chelsea Handler. We didn't even talk about Chelsea. Chelsea was so hilarious. Sorry. But yeah, no. Yeah. That episode. Right. I think it was just all the judges. Yes. I think that was all of the judges. Callbacks. Chelsea Handler. Yeah. Chelsea Handler joined Kevin, Keegan, and Kamil to judge the callbacks. Yeah. Right. Right. Yeah. And so, so they all, this is the first time everybody gets to see everybody because in each of the cities, it was a different person.

[01:09:58] And now this, this team kind of his advisor squad gets to, gets to watch them and see why Kevin liked them because, you know, like I said, I kind of compared them to RuPaul earlier, but I mean, it did feel like Kevin was making the decision ultimately on a lot of these people. It's his show. I agree. It is his show apparently. Yeah. It was his show. And I did wonder, like, again, I was like, is anybody in the back saying like diversity,

[01:10:28] diversity, you know what I'm saying? Like for some of these two, like, I don't know. But anyways. Well, there was that one joke that Ron made where he said, uh, damn, uh, with Reg coming back, I'm not the only black guy no more. And I thought to myself, how did you end up being the only black guy? Uh, but then I looked and I was like, well, maybe it is more diverse than I noticed at first. Cause I, I didn't even realize he was only one black person left. Well, black man. Yeah. Only black man. Yeah.

[01:10:57] And we lost all the black women, uh, after the, not after the roast cause Felicia folks made, oh, she made it to crowd works. So she was the last one. Yeah. Um, right, right, right. Right. So it was just like, it did feel more diverse, but I was also like, is anybody saying like we need more white people in here? Because the, the Macy, Massey girl, I was like, I don't know what, like, why are you here?

[01:11:26] There were some people, there were some people like, uh, LeClerc from the New York conditions, the really tall dude. He was like, he was like, how, how tall are you? Six, five. Adorable. Adorable. Yeah. Yeah. And then Tata as well. I thought Tata was pretty good. They were trying to cape for Tata for a second, but I think that the second half of that first episode just came so hard. They couldn't, they couldn't squeeze cause they, they kept going back to her. I was like, I know you want to put her through, put her through. Yeah.

[01:11:56] And they just didn't do it. Yeah. It was just too many, too. Yeah. Um, I'm trying to think what the older, that older black lady. Yes. I really liked her. Yeah. Yeah. Her first step was crazy. It was so good. And, but we lost her, I think during the, the callbacks around the callbacks. Yeah. So again, I'm like, was it, was it between queen and Felicia folks? You know? Yeah. Yeah. I think that, I think that was Corey Bell. I think that was Corey Bell.

[01:12:26] Corey Bell. Yes. Corey Bell. Yes. I think that was really good. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So it, I mean, lots of, honestly, just my biggest, my biggest takeaway and what I'll do and what I suggest we all do is find your, your favorite comedians that were on here, go follow them, like go follow them on social media, go follow them, see if they have, if they're doing stand up near you. Um, honestly, I do think this is good for all of them. It's exposure.

[01:12:53] And as a comedian, like, uh, Nikki Glaser said, when people start coming for you cause of your name, that's how, you know, you made it. And I thought that was great. This, I was, this, this was great Chappelle. I I'm, I'm actually shocked how much I enjoyed this and how like now kind of my love for comedy has sparked again. I think this is also in conjunction with me now watching, um, the, uh, the new podcast

[01:13:18] by Amber Wallin and, um, Jasmine W quit playing and they, they, they're two, uh, black women comedians who are also moms and they workshop their jokes at the end of like each podcast they work, they have jokes that don't work. That's the name of the segment. And they workshop and tag their jokes at the end of it. So now I'm like, look at me. I know more about standup. Yeah. I like that. I'll have to check that podcast out. Yeah. Oh, it's a great podcast.

[01:13:49] I enjoyed this a lot too. Um, you know, like I said, I just, I've, I've watched so many standup specials in my life. My, my Facebook algorithm is, uh, reels of people's little sets and, you know, uh, Instagram likes to like show me 30 seconds of somebody. And the problem is I watched 30 seconds of them. And of course, once you watch one, they're like, Oh, you like that. Well, I guess you'll love this. And then the next thing I know, I'm like on my seventh or eighth comedy, you know, a bit

[01:14:17] just the other day, Mari, I was sending you that one, uh, TikTok comedian, uh, doing the hunger games, uh, voiceovers. Oh yeah. I'm sorry. I can't help it. That kind of stuff makes me smile. I always will look for a reason to laugh. Um, Matthew Broussard is another one that I've been watching like lately. Um, but there's a few, uh, there's one girl who's always like, uh, doing skits. At first I wasn't into the skits. I really do prefer standup, but I've been, I've been, like I said, I've been letting

[01:14:44] the TikTokers do what they do and I've been really finding joy in that. So yeah, follow your people. Uh, make sure you keep an eye on the people, support the ones that are out here grinding, uh, the same way you support us here on recap kickback, right? Uh, you know, the career will stop very early and we'll have to go back to a real job or at least, I mean, that's what we're doing right now. So anyway, go back to scooping ice cream, go back to scooping ice cream, man. And I don't want to do that. Uh, anything else, Mari, before we wrap? Nope.

[01:15:14] This is great. I'm so glad we could, um, do this and I don't know, maybe a follow-up talking about the roast killer heart. Yeah. Oh yeah. That would be fun. Um, we didn't talk about the Met Gala like we did last year. Mari, they pissed me off. I saw your, I saw your, your skeet. I expect more from Coleman Domingo and dancing Idris. I just expect more. I expect more.

[01:15:41] Look again, like what we just talked about how a fashion expert watched one Met Gala and I got opinions that I ain't even seen the devil wears Prada too yet. And I'm already like, and then another thing, Anna Wintour, uh, she, she would have never allowed this to, you know, so anyway. Um, so yeah, didn't love what I saw, but I actually didn't get into it like we did last season. And so, uh, if you, uh, last fashion season, I guess, uh, but if you are a fan of the Met Gala, you want to hear our takes from the past, go check that out.

[01:16:09] We have that here on our YouTube page, youtube.com slash at recap kickback, uh, where you can check out the archives, all the stuff that we've talked about in the past, but we've had a ton of episodes of recap kickback. Uh, maybe, I don't know, maybe we'll have to circle back and talk about, um, some of these looks later on, but, uh, Mari, um, did you talk about your crafts? My cups. Yeah, no, I have not. If, if you haven't gone ahead, go check out my cups.

[01:16:38] You can go to Mari crafts too much. That big cartel.com. Uh, Chappelle is currently holding a dual lava cup. That's a team green in, uh, in reference to our coming up, uh, coverage of house of the dragon season three. So if you want a house of the dragon, uh, cup, you can go to Mari crafts too much. It's down here at the bottom. Mari crafts too much. That big cartel.com order a custom cup.

[01:17:08] Uh, for game of Thrones, or I have lots of pre-made cups like this one that says hot girls, read books, um, and different stuff on my website. So just go check out my website, buy a cup for me again. So we don't have to rely on these real jobs. Please support the side hustles. Y'all please. Please. Yeah, exactly. Please, please, please. Please. Side hustles. Please. Um, okay. And, uh, what else you working on outside of, uh, peddling cups?

[01:17:39] Yeah, I know. Uh, follow me over on a blue sky at Mari talks too much. That's two. Like the number two where I'm still also peddling cups, but talking about survivor, reality TV, all of the things. You can also find me over on crime scene, go to crime scene pod.com. And the order to subscribe, you can listen to me and Sarah Kennedy talk about different true crime. Um, we just reviewed a paramount, uh, three-part docuseries called my father, my father, the killer.

[01:18:09] Go listen to me eviscerate that property. Uh, coming up, we'll be talking about a whole bunch of different things, including, we're going to be talking about a black cult coming up soon. Uh, Chappelle. So, uh, cult of the nature boy. If you saw cult of the nature boy, um, on Hulu, it seems like, yeah, it seems like a lot of, it's trending. Uh, make sure you go subscribe to crime scene. So you get notified when we drop that. How about you? What you got?

[01:18:37] Well, speaking of blue sky, Mari, how, how are we going to talk about this? Well, we can't, we can't talk about this amazing bit of artwork that we have here. Yes. Uh, we got to put this somewhere in our, maybe like our, like a background or something that our game of Thrones or house of the dragon, um, like thingy, but thank you. Yeah. Yes. Uh, you got the user's name who drew this for us?

[01:19:03] Uh, yeah, it was, uh, the end hero, I believe on blue sky dot b sky dot social. Um, I mean, that's so dope. Thank you. Yeah. I know. I love, uh, give us your artwork. That was great. That was so cool. They drew Chappelle as a knight, me as a knight scribe, uh, as a maester. Uh, that's very fun. Thank you guys for listening again. Please leave us comments. Yeah.

[01:19:33] Uh, reviews make, let us know. We're not talking into the void. Um, tell us how much you like it so that other people can find us. I, when I, when we went to the Atlanta show, um, last month, so many of you came up and said that you loved our game of Thrones coverage. And we, we truly do appreciate that, um, Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon coverage. So, um, please, please help other people find us. Yeah. And then, um, you know, report back, you know, what we're doing here on recap kickback.

[01:20:03] We love the support and we love being able to make as much content as possible for you. Um, G and I, and our Abbott content, Chantel and I, and our charm school content, Mario and I, and our various topics that we like to talk about. Um, but it's all for the fans. So let us know what you want us to talk about, uh, and subscribe to the podcast. If you haven't already recap, get back.com slash subscribe or youtube.com slash at recap kickback. Um, but that's it. So, uh, we will be back next week to talk about something else, probably the Kevin Hart rose, but who knows what comes up. Let us know.

[01:20:33] Uh, and, uh, until then, but after that, God do is God is I am staying on Chappelle's neck. I would need, I'm going to go see is God is, and I want to talk about it. All right. So you heard it here first. Is God is coming soon and much, much more here on recap kickback. You ain't got to go home, but you got to get the hell up out of here. We'll text y'all next time. Peace.