This is The Last Laugh. I'm Matt Wilstein from The Daily Beast, and today on the show we have my conversation with the actor who will probably always be known for the first TV role he ever booked, Jonah Ryan on Veep.

So before we get much further, I should probably acknowledge that Timothy Simons and I spoke

before Election Day.

So neither of us knew just how terribly that day was going to play out, you know, for

anyone who wasn't rooting for Donald Trump.

And while our conversation does touch a bit on politics, including the disturbing

similarities between Jonah Ryan and America's next vice president, J.D. Vance, it is mostly just

a really fun chat about Timothy's place in the comedy world. We started by talking about his

most recent performance as Sasha, the brother of Adam Brody's character Noah, and the

surprisingly huge Netflix hit, Nobody Wants This.

Timothy talked about finding the nuance in what could have been a purely goofy rom-com

sidekick and shared a few details about where his character's relationship with Justine

Lupe's Morgan might be headed in season two. And he also weighed in on

the controversy the show drummed up about the depiction of its female Jewish characters. But before we

get into all that, let's listen to one of Timothy's many iconic scenes as Jonah on Veep. This one

from his congressional debate. That is still very funny, but somehow

less absurd, given the current state of American politics.

Let's turn our attention to foreign policy, Congressman Ryan.

Bring it on, Bree.

Your question is about Africa.

Pass.

With China challenging American hegemony across the African continent, should we adopt

...