This is The Last Laugh.

I'm Matt Wilstein from The Daily Beast, and today we are sharing our annual episode about the year in comedy that I taped earlier this week with Andy Levy, who co-hosts the new abnormal podcast.

Andy and I got into some of the biggest controversies and characters

that dominated 2023, including how the Hassan Minhaj debacle seemingly derailed the daily

show's search for a new host, the deeply problematic rise of TikTok sensation Matt Rife,

and why we are both so obsessed with Nate Bargetse.

For some reason, it turned into a very male-centric conversation, so I also figured I'd take

this opportunity to shout out my favorite stand-up special of the year, Beth Stelling's,

if you didn't want me then, which is streaming now on Netflix. She rules, and hopefully we can have

her back on this podcast sometime in the near future. Next week, we'll be posting one of my

favorite interviews from this past year, and then we will be back with a very fun new episode

featuring both Roy Wood Jr. and Jordan Klepper, So please stay tuned for that. But for now,

here's me with the New Abnormals, Andy Levy. As per tradition, we have our The Last Laugh and New

Abnormal crossover episode. And we're going to discuss the year in comedy. Yes, we are.

So Matt Wilstein's here. Andy Levy's here, and I'm Jesse Cannon.

I'm excited to do this.

Matt, what have you cooked up for us?

Well, I feel like there's not always a lot to talk about in a year, but somehow this

year there is, even though the entertainment industry disappeared for five months with the

strike, but it still feels like we

have a lot to talk about this year. I don't know, Andy, were you affected by the strike at all,

emotionally, logistically? No, not really. I showed up to my podcast every week as ordered.

...