Keith Robinson’s ‘Different Strokes’ + John Mulaney Enters the Late-Night Emmy Race
The Last Laugh
The Daily Beast
4.6 • 661 Ratings
🗓️ 19 June 2024
⏱️ 51 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
As a mainstay at New York’s prestigious Comedy Cellar for many years, Keith Robinson has long been the definition of a comedian’s comedian. But it wasn’t until he suffered two debilitating strokes over the course of four years that he finally landed his first hour-long special on Netflix. In this episode, Robinson talks about how managed to get back on stage so quickly after his first stroke (against medical advice) and how he was able to find so many cathartic laughs in what has otherwise been a truly terrifying experience. He also discusses how he felt about the standing ovation that opens his special ‘Different Strokes’—especially with so many comedian friends in the room—and looks back at the chaotic early days of his career, including stories about working with Wanda Sykes, Amy Schumer, Chris Rock and more.
But first, Matt and Allegra break down the Variety Talk Series category at the Emmys, including new entrants ‘Hot Ones’ and ‘John Mulaney Presents: Everybody’s in LA.’
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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 this week we have a very special |
| 0:12.6 | conversation with comedian Keith Robinson, who has a great new Netflix special out called |
| 0:18.3 | Different Strokes. Keith has been a figure of the New York |
| 0:21.6 | comedy scene for decades, and after suffering two debilitating strokes in the span of four years, |
| 0:28.2 | this new special is one of the most remarkable and hilarious pieces of comedy I've seen so far this |
| 0:33.4 | year. So I was just thrilled that Keith agreed to come be our guest and talk all about how he |
| 0:38.7 | managed to turn the most difficult chapter of his life into comedy on this episode. Before we get |
| 0:45.1 | into it, though, Allegra is here to continue our conversation about the Emmy Awards. How's it |
| 0:50.9 | going, Allegra? It's going okay. I feel like the Emmys are a million years away. |
| 0:56.1 | I feel like we've been talking about them for years. |
| 0:58.5 | They are, but it's voting time. |
| 1:00.1 | I'm seeing a lot of FYCs out there. |
| 1:01.9 | Yeah, no. |
| 1:02.8 | I feel like I've been seeing them for a year. |
| 1:05.7 | Everyone's on the, everyone's hitting the campaign trail hard right now. |
| 1:08.8 | So last week we talked about the variety special categories, which is where the stand-up |
| 1:13.5 | specials live. |
| 1:15.1 | This week I wanted to focus on the variety talk categories, which is where the late-night |
| 1:19.1 | shows live. |
| 1:20.1 | They like to name these things in ways that make no sense. |
| 1:23.1 | But I'm obviously a big late-night TV guy. |
| 1:26.2 | I'm kind of obsessed, as people might know, who are listening to this show. |
... |
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