Ben Schwartz Is a Comedy Machine

The Last Laugh

The Daily Beast

Comedy Interviews, Comedy, Interviews, Tv & Film, Society & Culture, Tv, Movies, Film

4.6 • 661 Ratings

🗓️ 18 February 2020

⏱️ 67 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The one and only Ben Schwartz is here for our 50th episode! This month, Schwartz is starring in two wildly different movies: the box office smash ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ as the titular video game hero and ‘Standing Up, Falling Down’ as a struggling stand-up comic opposite his actual childhood hero Billy Crystal. On this milestone episode of ‘The Last Laugh,’ he talks about getting his start writing jokes for David Letterman and SNL and how he almost missed out on the chance to play Jean-Ralphio on ‘Parks and Recreation.’ He also previews two upcoming projects for Netflix—a version of his improvised live show with ‘Silicon Valley’ star Thomas Middleditch and ‘Space Force,’ the new comedy series from ‘The Office’ creator Greg Daniels co-starring Steve Carell and John Malkovich.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Tommy T. You just missed the craziest of crazies. Clubs, girls, dancing, naked, mom? Argument. Police. Fleeing the seat. Hining in a dumpster. Coming here, crashing on your couch for a week because technically I'm homeless.
0:17.9	Welcome to our 50th episode extravaganza with Jean Ralphio himself, the one and only Ben Schwartz.
0:26.8	It's The Last Laugh. I'm Matt Wilstein from The Daily Beast.
0:30.9	Today on the show, we're having our very own solo bolo with Ben Schwartz.
0:36.3	Ben has always been one of my favorite comedic actors and improvisers, from his hilarious
0:41.0	appearances on the Comedy Bang Bang podcast to his breakout role as Jean Ralphio on Parks
0:46.1	and Recreation, and so much more.
0:49.3	This month, he's starring in two wildly different movies.
0:53.3	On one end of the spectrum, he's the voice of
0:55.2	Sonic the Hedgehog. On the other, he takes on his most dramatic role yet as a struggling stand-up
1:01.4	comedian opposite his childhood hero, Billy Crystal, in a really sweet new indie film called
1:06.8	Standing Up Falling Down. That one hits theaters and on-demand this Friday.
1:17.1	I had an absolute blast talking to Ben about how he arrived at this pivotal moment in his career,
1:24.1	and what comes next, including a version of his live improv show with Silicon Valley's Thomas Middletch for Netflix.
1:29.8	And the upcoming series Space Force, also on Netflix, in which he stars as a character clearly inspired by Anthony Scaramucci, opposite Steve Carell. I seriously cannot wait for that one.
1:37.5	Whether you've listened to all 50 episodes of The Last Laugh or are just joining us for the first time
1:42.5	today, please help us out by leaving a five-star
1:45.4	rating and review on Apple Podcasts.
1:48.0	You can also go to rate thispodcast.com slash laugh to rate this podcast wherever you listen.
1:54.3	But I am not going to make you wait any longer for this wonderful conversation with Ben Schwartz.
2:02.4	We're going to get real comedy questions, right?
2:04.0	You're going to ask like real comedy.
	...

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