Joe Mande: ‘Hacks,’ ‘Parks and Rec’ and New Hulu Special ‘Chill’
The Last Laugh
The Daily Beast
4.6 • 661 Ratings
🗓️ 11 December 2024
⏱️ 51 minutes
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Summary
Over the course of his nearly 20 years as a stand-up comedian, Joe Mande has developed an uncanny ability to accurately forecast the utter stupidity of American culture. That unique skill led his friend John Mulaney to suggest that he’s more prepared for a second Donald Trump presidency than anyone else they know. In this episode, Mande discusses his latest stand-up special ‘Chill,’ which premieres on Hulu this Friday, December 13 and was recorded before the 2024 election but includes some eerie predictions about how the country might change over the next four years. He also talks about his time in the trenches of the writers rooms for ‘Parks and Rec,’ ‘The Good Place,’ and ‘Hacks,’ on which he appears as Ray the Las Vegas hotel clerk who at least some fans want to see end up with Hannah Einbinder’s Ava. Mande isn’t ready to predict that outcome quite yet, but he definitely wants it to happen. “Hannah and I have talked about this at length and it just does feel like the natural conclusion to both of our stories,” he says. “We call it hashtag #Rayva, and we need to get this going.”
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is the Last Laugh. I'm Matt Wilstein from The Daily Beast, and today on the show, |
| 0:10.1 | I am joined by one of the least chill comedians around, Joe Mandy. Of course, that's why Joe |
| 0:16.8 | decided to name his latest stand-up special, which premieres this Friday on Hulu, Chill. |
| 0:22.2 | It's been seven long years since Joe put out his previous special on Netflix, |
| 0:27.1 | Joe Mandy's award-winning comedy special, which, as far as I know, did not win any awards, |
| 0:32.7 | but was very funny. And it was worth the wait, because Chill is easily one of the best specials I've |
| 0:38.6 | seen this year. Joe has been doing stand-up for just about 20 years now, but he tells me that he |
| 0:43.5 | still gets recognized most for his recurring role as Ben on Modern Family. You might also know him as |
| 0:49.2 | Ray, the Las Vegas hotel clerk, on hacks, for which he has also served as a writer for all three seasons. |
| 0:55.0 | He also spent years as the self-described devil on Mike Scher's shoulder in the writer's |
| 1:00.2 | rooms for Parks and Rec and the Good Place. But more than anything, Joe is a fearless |
| 1:05.1 | comedian who is not afraid to alienate his audience, as you'll hear in this clip from his new |
| 1:10.0 | special, |
| 1:13.3 | which requires a preemptive apology. |
| 1:18.1 | Okay, this next joke, I'm going to apologize before I do it. |
| 1:25.5 | Because I'll admit, it was written from a very cis hetero perspective. |
| 1:27.9 | So buckle up. |
| 1:32.5 | For straight women, tall is boobs. |
| 1:36.4 | Here's what I mean. Women treat tall men with the exact same level of |
| 1:40.9 | superficiality, the exact same like brain dead tractor beam energy that men treat |
| 1:47.9 | big breast dead women. And it's fucked up. We have to talk about this, you know? We have to have a |
| 1:54.3 | national conversation. It's not okay. All you have to do is watch one episode of that show The Bachelorette. |
... |
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