Stand-Up Comedy Episodes

Many people worry about getting hit by a bus. Last year, comedian Ryan Hamilton did get hit by a bus. Ryan talks to Mike about the shocking experience, his long recovery, and Ryan’s process of talking about the accident on stage. The Idaho native and BYU alum also talks about doing stand-up in Idah…

Mike and Chris Redd first met when they appeared in the movie Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping. Since then they’ve become friends in the world of stand-up comedy. Today they break down how to express ADHD, depression, and anxiety through comedy and how Chris arrived at the material for his new HB…

Mike welcomes to the podcast his longtime creative collaborator, the director and actor Seth Barrish. Seth directed all five of Mike’s solo shows but that’s just one part of his varied career. Seth discusses his early days as a pianist at The Comedy Store, working with actors like Anne Hathaway, an…

When Atsuko Okatsuka first appeared on Working It Out in 2021, she and Mike were both still developing their new shows. Now Mike’s The Old Man and the Pool is on Broadway and Atsuko’s The Intruder is an HBO comedy special. So Atsuko returns for a third chat with Mike to discuss the development of t…

Iliza Shlesinger is one of the most prolific comedians on the planet, with six specials including her latest, Hot Forever, and a new comedic memoir, All Things Aside. Mike and Iliza bond over their hard-to-pronounce last names, Iliza explains why she doesn’t like being described as “brash,” and we …

Mike has seen Chris Gethard naked. So has the cast and crew of Mike’s film Don’t Think Twice. Chris shares his memories of being nude on set, as well as why he was reluctant to return to the world of improv for the movie. The two longtime friends tell stories about touring together and brainstormin…

Sam Morril tells well-crafted jokes but sometimes they make people angry. Sam is known for dealing with provocative subject matter but he doesn’t consider himself a provocative comedian. He and Mike dissect the difference. Then, on the heels of Sam’s new hit Netflix special “Same Time Tomorrow,” th…

Sarah Sherman a.k.a. Sarah Squirm is the first and only Working It Out guest to show up wearing a t-shirt of the band Cannibal Corpse. The breakout SNL star sits down with Mike and the two comics cover everything from Kaufman-seque performance art to Sarah’s Weekend Update segments where she mercil…

This week Mike literally picks up Jimmy Fallon in his car and drives him to the studio for this joke-filled and joyful episode of Working It Out. The two friends share stories about everything from camping out with their daughters to impressions of Rodney Dangerfield to Jimmy’s early days of standu…

Mike welcomes his longtime collaborator and lifelong brother Joe Birbiglia. They discuss what it’s like to work together as family—from differentiating between work and family phone calls to Joe being mistaken for Mike at the merch table. Joe explains the differences between “Joe Bags” the characte…

Jessi Klein is an Emmy-award winning comedian, writer, actor, and author, with a resume that includes Inside Amy Schumer, Saturday Night Live, Transparent, Kroll Show, and the voice of Jessi Glaser on Big Mouth. On top of all that, WIO listeners may remember her from Mike’s film Sleepwalk With Me w…

Comedian Zarna Garg immigrated to the U.S. from India at age 16 and started performing stand-up comedy in her forties. As Zarna’s daughter Zoya explained in her New York Times-published college essay, it was not an easy path. Zarna sits down with Mike to discuss how humor has always been a strategy…

Mike welcomes back Alex Edelman. Since his last appearance on the podcast, Alex has opened his solo show “Just For Us,” received rave reviews, appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and has been nominated for an outer critics circle award. He just announced a 3rd extension of his show at th…

Judd Apatow returns for a record third appearance in support of his latest New York Times-bestselling book Sicker in the Head. He turns the tables and puts Mike in the hot seat for an interview tracing Mike's journey from "funniest person on campus" in college, to doorman at the DC Improv, and beyo…

When Atsuko was first on the Working It Out podcast, Mike only knew her from her viral Instagram videos and some of her stand-up. Since then, Mike and Atsuko toured together and their "pandemic friendship" became a real friendship. Now Atsuko returns, in person, to discuss what it's like to develop…

The last time Taylor Tomlinson was on "Working it Out," she had just released her first Netflix comedy special Quarter-Life Crisis. Now, Taylor returns on the heels of her latest special Look At You. Mike and Taylor discuss why Look At You is even more vulnerable than Quarter-Life Crisis, and how m…

Last summer, Mike revistied to the classic comedy album "Strategic Grill Locations" by his friend, the late great Mitch Hedberg. The listening experience was so transcendsnt that it inspired Mike to call Mitch's wife Lynn Shawcroft and ask if she would be open to coming on the podcast and discussin…

This week Mike welcomes David Cross, who is a legend in comedy and also makes cameos in Mike’s dreams. The two comics discuss the origins of Mr. Show, why Tobias from Arrested Development is so different from David himself, and how sometimes it’s hard to be an optimistic dad when the reality in fro…

When Jon Laster was last on the podcast in the summer of 2020, Mike and Jon talked race relations in America and the relationship between tragedy and comedy. Now Jon returns to discuss his thoughts on what has changed, what has stayed the same, and how his frustration led him to create an app calle…

Mo Amer started doing stand-up when he was 14, and now he's being introduced by The Rock in his latest Netflix special, Mohammed in Texas. Mike talks with Mo about that journey, growing up Palestinian in Houston and later performing in college lunchrooms. They discuss why immigrants love Nescafe, t…

What started as a poem by Sarah Millican about a bad divorce sprouted into one of the most popular comedy careers in England in the last 20 years. Mike and Sarah discuss how hitting rock bottom can lead you to the top and what happened when Sarah’s childhood bully sent her a long letter as an adult…

Hannah Einbinder received Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for her breakout performance in HBO’s “Hacks.” Today Hannah and Mike discuss what it means to be yourself in auditions, risking rejection in front of audiences, and the miracle that is crowd work. They kick around new jokes about the time …

Rosebud Baker can make anything funny. She has jokes about the tragic death of her sister, her own struggles with addiction, and why nurses seem to be a little too cocky. Mike and Rose kick around jokes about what to do when your Uber is filling up with water, how much urine is in a public pool, an…

In December Mike presents Alex’s Edelman’s solo show, "Just for Us" off-Broadway at the Cherry Lane Theatre. It's an award-winning comedy in which Alex (who is Jewish) tells the story of being accidentally invited to a gathering of white nationalists & then what happened when he…showed up. Mike & A…