Working: How a Stand Up Comedian’s Sense of Humor Evolves

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3.9 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 4 August 2024

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This week, host Isaac Butler talks to Dina Hashem, a stand-up comedian and writer for The Daily Show whose recent special is called Dark Little Whispers. In the interview, Dina discusses her reliance on inspiration rather than a formal writing process, her experiences in comedy roast battles, and the fact that her standards for good comedy keep getting higher. After the interview, Isaac and co-host June Thomas talk about why artists sometimes need to take jobs that aren’t a great fit but help propel them towards better opportunities. In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, Isaac asks Dina about her exciting new hobby: drumming. Send your questions about creativity and any other feedback to working@slate.com or give us a call at (304) 933-9675. Podcast production by Cameron Drews. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get an ad-free experience across the network and exclusive content on many shows—you’ll also be supporting the work we do here on Working. Sign up now at slate.com/workingplus to help support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	If just thinking about your bills makes you feel confused and disorientated,
0:05.0	like your head is full of Raspberry,
0:08.0	then you need Monzo.
0:10.0	Download your new favorite bank and pay bills from custom pots.
0:15.0	Money never felt like Monzo.
0:18.0	UK residents, T's and C supply. Please apply.
0:27.0	When you're doing comedy, when you're doing comedy, when you start, you're just full of ideas and then your sense of humor becomes more refined and the things you think are funny become less and less.
0:40.0	I'm at the point where I think almost nothing is funny and so it's just so much harder now to come up with something where I'm like that's something I haven't heard before.
0:51.0	Welcome back to Working. I'm your host June Thomas.
0:55.0	And I'm your other host, Isaac Butler.
0:57.0	Isaac, I'm always excited to chat with you,
1:00.0	and today is absolutely no exception.
1:02.0	But tell me, whose voice did we hear at the top of the show?
1:06.0	That was the voice of Dina Hashem.
1:08.6	She is a stand-up comic who also writes for the Daily Show.
1:12.4	Who, and why did you want to speak with Dina right now?
1:16.0	Well, honestly, I just think Dina is really funny.
1:19.0	I've seen her live the first time when she opened for Yola Tango and recently I watched her first
1:26.2	special which people can go look up on Amazon and you know we've had so few
1:30.9	comedians on this show I thought why not all right well I cannot wait to hear your
1:35.6	conversation with Dina but tell me is there something extra for Slate Plus members what
1:40.5	will they hear indeed Indeed there is.
	...

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