River Butcher: ‘A Different Kind of Dude’

The Last Laugh

The Daily Beast

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

4.6 • 661 Ratings

🗓️ 15 March 2022

⏱️ 58 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

“The pandemic was so long I transitioned,” River Butcher jokes near the top of his impressive new half-hour special ‘A Different Kind of Dude.’ It’s the comedian’s way of reintroducing himself to the comedy world and addressing the reality of his personal evolution since breaking into the stand-up scene nearly a decade ago. In this episode, Butcher discusses the unique challenges of being a trans comic in a moment of widespread anti-trans comedy and breaks down how he uses humor to combat hate. Butcher also opens up about his public divorce from longtime comedy partner Cameron Esposito and what it was like to be one of the only comedians to ever perform stand-up on ‘Ellen.’

Follow River Butcher on Twitter @rivbutcher and Instagram @rivbutcher

Follow Matt Wilstein on Twitter @mattwilstein

Follow The Last Laugh on Instagram @lastlaughpod

Stream ‘River Butcher: A Different Kind of Dude’ on YouTube

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	Here is how my guest on today's show reintroduces himself to the world in his new stand-up special.
0:07.1	The pandemic was so long, I transitioned.
0:15.0	That's right.
0:17.1	All those gas stations attendants my entire life calling me, sir, were right.
0:21.2	They were right.
0:23.6	They were right.
0:24.5	They knew me and they loved me before I could love myself.
0:31.5	This is the Last Laugh.
0:38.6	I'm Matt Wilstein from The Daily Beast, and that was River Butcher discussing his transition
0:43.5	in a different kind of dude, which premiered on Comedy Central earlier this year, and is
0:49.2	currently available to stream for free on YouTube.
0:53.0	River, who uses both he-him and they-them pronouns, has managed
0:57.8	something pretty remarkable in this new half-hour. Unlike some other comedians who have turned
1:03.7	trans people into a punchline, River finds comedy in the issues surrounding gender identity
1:09.9	without ever punching down.
1:12.3	I was really eager to talk to River about what makes his comedy so essential at this
1:17.3	particular moment in time, and I think we ended up having a really compelling conversation.
1:23.3	So let's get to it.
1:24.7	Here's me with River Butcher.
1:27.8	All right. Well, thank you so much for doing this. I really loved your new Comedy Central
1:33.9	Half Hour, a different kind of dude.
1:37.5	Oh, thanks, man. Maybe we can start with the title. How did you arrive at that title for the
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

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.