Michael Ian Black: Trump’s Bad ‘Crowd Work’ vs. Kamala’s Hopeful Joy

The Last Laugh

The Daily Beast

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

4.6 • 661 Ratings

🗓️ 11 September 2024

⏱️ 48 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Michael Ian Black began his career performing deeply absurdist comedy with his legendary sketch group The State and the besuited comedy trio Stella. Now, among other things, he’s a weekly columnist covering the 2024 election for the Daily Beast. But Black does not consider himself to be a political commentator “in any way, shape or form, even though I often comment on politics,” he says in this week’s episode of The Last Laugh podcast. During our wide-ranging conversation, Black shares his thoughts on where the 2024 race stands right now, how Donald Trump became America’s worst crowd work comedian, why he’s cautiously optimistic about the prospect of a Kamala Harris presidency, and what viewers can expect from his new satirical CNN game show ‘Have I Got News for You’ with Roy Wood Jr. and Amber Ruffin. Plus, what he remembers about filming his explicit sex scene with Bradley Cooper in ‘Wet Hot American Summer’ and why, after two reboots on Netflix, the cult classic finally “feels like it’s done” to him.

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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.
0:09.2	Election season is heating up in a very big way. So I thought this week would be the perfect
0:14.6	time to invite comedian and Daily Beast political columnist Michael Ian Black to be my guest on this show. As we discuss in this
0:23.0	episode, after starting his career by making deeply silly comedy with his sketch group, The State,
0:28.7	and then later as part of the comedy trio Stella, Michael never really thought he would be a serious
0:34.1	political commentator, and still doesn't really consider himself to be one.
0:38.7	But like so many of us, he has become consumed by politics in recent years and has a lot to say
0:45.1	about the state of the 2024 race, from Donald Trump's role as America's worst crowdwork comedian,
0:51.3	to the uneasy hope he is feeling about the possibility of a Kamala Harris
0:55.1	victory in November.
0:57.5	We get into all of that, plus some long detours about the time he almost got into a physical
1:02.6	fight with Andrew Dice Clay, and what it was like to film that iconic sex scene with
1:08.0	a then-unk-Cooper in the 2001 cult classic and one of my
1:12.8	all-time favorite movies, White Hot American Summer. This coming Saturday night, Michael will be
1:18.6	joining CNN alongside previous guests on this podcast, Roy Wood Jr. and Amber Ruffin for the premiere
1:24.8	of their new satirical game show, Have I Got News for You?
1:28.7	So before we get into the interview, let's listen to a promo for that show in which Michael
1:33.6	reveals the real reason he needs it to be a hit.
1:37.9	Have I Got News for You coming to CNN this fall?
1:40.4	Pros and Cons List.
1:41.5	Pro, hosted by Roy Wood Jr.
1:43.6	Pro with Amber Ruffin.
	...

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