James Adomian: Impersonating Elon, Bernie, Mike Lindell and More
The Last Laugh
The Daily Beast
4.6 • 661 Ratings
🗓️ 22 January 2025
⏱️ 51 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
There are few comedians more ready to take on the insane cast of characters that will surround Donald Trump in his second term than James Adomian. The 44-year-old comedian has made a name for himself over the past two decades for his spot-on impressions of political characters like Elon Musk, Jesse Ventura, and the MyPillow guy Mike Lindell. In this episode, Adomian talks about channeling some of his many voices into his first-ever hour-long stand-up special ‘Path of Most Resistance’ on YouTube (after all the major streamers turned him down). He also talks about why he never ended up on ‘Saturday Night Live,’ getting two big breaks from late-night hosts Craig Ferguson and Jimmy Kimmel, and what it was like to finally do his Bernie Sanders impression to Bernie Sanders’ face.
Watch James Adomian’s ‘Path of Most Resistance’ on YouTube
Follow James Adomian on Instagram @jadomian
Follow Matt Wilstein on Bluesky @mattwilstein
Follow The Last Laugh on Instagram @lastlaughpod and Threads @lastlaughpod
Highlights from this episode and others at The Daily Beast
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | This is the Last Laugh. |
| 0:07.1 | I'm Matt Wilstein from The Daily Beast. |
| 0:09.7 | And this week on the show, we have a man who, I believe, does better political impressions than anyone you are going to see on Saturday Night Live. |
| 0:19.1 | James Adomian. |
| 0:20.2 | I first met James back in 2018 at the South by Southwest Festival, where he has, for several |
| 0:27.0 | years now, delivered a comedy keynote address in character as figures like Elon Musk, Bernie |
| 0:33.9 | Sanders, and most recently, Orson Wells. |
| 0:44.3 | Here I am, finally, because I heard I might be able to find funding for my motion picture from beyond the grave. Yes, my final masterpiece is an attempt to make the unfilmable film of Orpheus and his escape from the underworld. |
| 0:52.3 | So ironically, I've done the same myself, and I've showed up here to find funding, |
| 0:56.0 | but it turns out that everyone you run into South by Southwest, |
| 0:59.0 | who's a founder, or a funder, or a funding founder, |
| 1:03.0 | or, God forbid, a founding funder, |
| 1:05.0 | whenever you talk to them for more than two drinks, |
| 1:08.0 | it turns out that they ask you for the money. |
| 1:15.5 | Here's my question to South by Southwest. Does anyone have any money at all? |
| 1:21.0 | When I interviewed James at that festival for The Daily Beast, we ended up talking a lot about SNL and why he thinks being an openly gay male comic may have prevented him from getting a spot in the cast. |
| 1:28.3 | We talk a bit more about SNL in this conversation, but I really wanted to focus on some of |
| 1:33.6 | the brilliant comedy James has been able to produce over the course of his now 20-year career. |
| 1:39.5 | That includes his first ever hour-long stand-up special, Path of Most Resistance, |
| 1:44.8 | that he recently posted for free on YouTube after all of the major streaming services turned him down. |
| 1:51.2 | One platform that has welcomed James with open arms over the past few years is Jimmy Kim alive, |
| 1:57.0 | where he has repeatedly popped up as the My Pillow Guy, Mike Lindell. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Daily Beast, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of The Daily Beast and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.