Phil Hanley's life as a dyslexic wordsmith | Whiskey Ginger

Whiskey Ginger with Andrew Santino

Andrew Santino & Wave

Comedy

4.8 • 7.9K Ratings

🗓️ 16 January 2026

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Welcome to Whiskey Ginger — a Wave series. Andrew Santino sits down with comedian and writer Phil Hanley for a sharp, funny conversation about stand-up, writing, and why precision matters more than volume in comedy. They talk about Phil’s book Spellbound, the discipline behind joke construction, crowd work that actually works, and how subtlety can hit just as hard as chaos. It’s a comic-to-comic episode loaded with insight, laughs, and real stand-up shop talk. Rest in peace Bob Weir. Phil Hanley’s book: Spellbound Phil Hanley’s website & tour dates: https://www.philhanley.com In this episode: • Writing jokes with intention and restraint • The balance between crowd work and prepared material • How Spellbound came together • Santino and Phil break down what separates good comics from great ones #whiskeyginger #AndrewSantino #PhilHanley #Spellbound #ComedyPodcast #StandUpComedy #PodcastClips #Comedians Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Redeem your lab bucks on free bet spins or even cash in for real money.
0:04.6	That's satisfaction from Lab Brooks.
0:06.4	And for extra satisfaction, here's the T's and C's.
0:08.6	Let's rock.
0:09.8	18 plus participates in selected promotions to get LabBucks.
0:15.3	Go get lap bucks.
0:17.5	With evening four, offers or rewards, Last box expire for decencies abroad.
0:24.6	Take time to think.
0:26.6	Yeah, but who are I die for?
0:28.6	Welcome back to Whiskey Ginger, a wave series.
0:32.6	Well, ladies and germs, I'm on the road.
0:34.6	Tonight, I'm in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Canada show up to your boy, right across the river from Detroit, hop on over and come see me at Caesars. Tomorrow, I'm at Wind Creek in Bethlehem. Then I'm at The Hall at Live in Hanover, Maryland. Then I go to Atlantic City, the Borgara down there in Atlantic City. And I come back to Southern California. I play Valley Center. Hara's down there that's near San Diego. San Diego come out and see me. Then for Lovers Day, February 14th, I'm in Canyonville, Oregon at Seven Feathers. Then me and Bobby do a bad friend in Lincoln, California, up by Sacramento. Then of course, they do the Winn Casino in March. Come see me, Las Vegas. Viva, baby. Then I'm at the Lil Roadyfest out there in Providence, Rhode Island, the end of March. Come see me at Andrew Santino.com. Once again, that's Andrewsantino.com. In here, we pour whisk, whisk, whisk, whisk.
1:30.0	You were that creature in the ginger beard.
1:31.7	Sturdy and ginger.
1:33.9	Like vampires, the ginger gene is a curse.
1:35.1	Ginger's a fugitive.
1:39.2	You only $5 for the whiskey and $75 for the horse.
1:40.6	Ginger's, oh, hell no.
1:42.5	This whiskey is excellent.
1:44.3	Ginger, I like gingers. Ladies gentlemen, welcome back to Whiskey Ginger. My guest today is one of my favorite people on earth. I say that for all my guess, but I mean him once again today. It's Phil Hanley. Phil Hanley's on the pod today. By the way, he's got a new book out for the kids that need to know that want to know. Spellbound. His life is a dyslexic wordsmith.
2:02.4	One of the best comics working today.
2:03.9	A guy I've known for quite a long time.
	...

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