The Comic's Comic Presents Last Things First

Hosted by Sean L. McCarthy

Careers Comedy

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Episodes

504

Latest episode

Aug 2026

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About the show

Last Things First asks comedians and funny performers about the historic lasts and firsts in their lives as their comedy careers have blossomed.

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60 recent

August 17, 202639 min

Dan Wilbur

Dan Wilbur is a comedian and author of two humor books, "How Not To Read" and "Never Flirt with Puppy Killers." He released his first stand-up comedy album, Husband Material, in 2023, has been featured on CollegeHumor, McSweeney's and Someecards, where he also worked as the Ecards editor. Wilbur sat down with me over Zoom to talk about the thrill and agony of getting a Tumblr book deal, how he disliked JD Vance even before realizing he could pull off a great Vance impersonation during the 2024 presidential campaign, and how his comedy life has changed because of it. In August 2026, he's launching a new one-man show, "Hillbilly Allegedly," that fills us in on the stories you haven't heard about Vance with a town hall format to take your pressing questions. There's a lot to get to, so let's get to it!

August 10, 202637 min

Chloe Radcliffe

Chloe Radcliffe is a comedian and actress most recently seen on the big screen playing a comedian and magician opposite Will Arnett and Bradley Cooper in the film, Is This Thing On? Radcliffe is based in New York City but came up out of the Twin Cities comedy scene in Minnesota. Over the past couple of years, she landed on a bunch of comedy watch lists, from Just For Laughs' New Faces to Deadline to Vulture. Her TV credits include The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and After Midnight with Taylor Tomlinson. She hosts her own comedy chat series, In Tandem, where she interviews a comedian who's sitting behind her while riding a tandem bicycle. A second season of In Tandem is forthcoming later in summer 2026. Radcliffe sat down with me over Zoom to talk about all of that, as well as her one-person show, CHEAT, which she first brought to the Edinburgh Fringe in 2023 and is developing for an off-Broadway run in 2026, as well as for a TV adaptation. There's a lot to get to, so let's get to it!

August 3, 202636 min

Jenny Gorelick

Jenny Gorelick is a comedian, author, actress and former Jersey girl based in New York City. She performs monthly at Club Cumming at her signature show Love, Sex, & Magic and played an adoring fan of "THE Che Diaz" in And Just Like That. Her personal essays and humor pieces have appeared in The New York Times' Modern Love, Cosmopolitan, McSweeney's, and the New Yorker's Shouts & Murmurs, all of which led to a book deal for The Book of Red Flags. Gorelick joined me over Zoom from Edinburgh to talk about what she learned from her first Fringe production — the two-hander Billy & The Situation with fellow comedian Gabby Bryan — as well as what she learned from launching a comedy dating podcast in March 2020 with a then-unknown Devon Walker, and how her work on the Safe For Work side of OnlyFans speaks to the financial difficulties of making it as a working comic today, including putting up the money for her solo Edinburgh Fringe debut, Sorry, which plays all of August 2026 at the Monkey Barrel in Edinburgh. There's a lot to get to, so let's get to it!

July 27, 202637 min

Kimmy Gatewood

Kimmy Gatewood is a comedian, actress and director whose newest project is directing the 2026 movie Descendants; Wicked Wonderland, the fifth installment in Disney's musical cinematic universe following the teenage children of classic Disney villains. She previously has directed episodes of Ghosts, Girls5Eva, Going Dutch, and Sesame Street, the latter of which earned her a Daytime Emmy win in 2021. In front of the camera, Gatewood's credits include multiple appearances on Conan, a small role on the film adaptation of Jersey Boys, a recurring role on Netflix's Atypical, and three seasons on the Netflix series, GLOW, where she co-starred as one of "The Beatdown Biddies" with her tag-team partner Rebekka Johnson. Gatewood, Johnson and Sarah Lowe's own comedy partnership goes back two decades to when they started a musical comedy throwback trio, The Apple Sisters, at The PIT in New York City. Gatewood sat down with me over Zoom to talk about her life and career, including her work as a digital producer for Nikki Glaser, directing a big franchise, and what comes next. There's a lot to get to, so let's get to it!

July 20, 202634 min

Michael Cruz Kayne

Michael Cruz Kayne is a comedian, actor and writer based in NYC. He wrote for the last six seasons of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, where he's an Emmy nominee again in 2026. At the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, he co-wrote and starred in Terrible Babysitters, a 2013 webseries with D'Arcy Carden, and directed Josh Sharp and Aaron Jackson in their two-person musical, Fucking Identical Twins, which ultimately became the 2023 feature film, Dicks: The Musical. You may have seen Michael Cruz Kayne in a supporting role on Severance, or seen him tell jokes on Late Night with Seth Meyers. Ten years after one of his sons died shortly after childbirth, he went viral on Twitter writing about how he realized a decade later he needed to talk about his grief all the time — that ultimately led to an off-Broadway run with Audible for what became Sorry For Your Loss, released as a comedy special on Dropout in March 2026. Michael Cruz Kayne sat down with me over Zoom this past week to talk about his life and career and what comes next, even if the heat wave fried our Zoom in the process. There's a lot to get to, so let's get to it!

June 8, 202635 min

Jourdain Fisher

Jourdain Fisher is a Brooklyn-based comedian who has written for 50 Cent's BET sketch comedy series, 50 Central, appeared on After Midnight, and performed stand-up on both Comedy Central and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. His debut self-produced hour Bits & Pieces premiered exclusively on 800 Pound Gorilla's new streaming service, Gorilla Comedy+, in May 2026 with a worldwide YouTube release slated for June 2026. Fisher sat down with me over Zoom to talk about the economics of stand-up comedy today, how much the comedy landscape has changed in the decade since he moved to New York City from North Carolina, how his Tonight Show debut led to a writing gig for Fallon inside 30 Rock, how the pandemic brought him back to Carolina but also gave birth to his social-media character, "Gangster Chef," and why he doesn't do Southern accents much in his stand-up but will pull out a killer Trump impersonation. There's a lot to get to, so let's get to it!

June 1, 202631 min

Emmy Blotnick

Emmy Blotnick is a New York-based comedian who has written for and performed on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. You may also have heard her joking multiple times on NPR's Wait Wait…Don't Tell Me! or seen her performing stand-up on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Conan. Her writing credits are even longer and more varied, including not just Colbert and Fallon, but also The President Show, Mel Brooks's History of the World: Part II, English Teacher, Bust Down, Pause with Sam Jay, Nikki & Sara Live, Not Safe with Nikki Glaser, plus a few roasts, including Netflix's most recent live Roast of Kevin Hart. Her new stand-up special, What's Her Secret?, premiered in May 2026 exclusively on the new streaming service, Gorilla Comedy+, and will be available on YouTube starting June 16, 2026. Blotnick caught up with me over Zoom to talk about her experiences behind and in front of the camera, how her new hour evolved over the course of four years, and how this special finally got her posting on Instagram again. There's a lot to get to, so let's get to it!

May 25, 202636 min

Leslie Liao

When Netflix held its first-ever Netflix Is A Joke festival in Los Angeles 2022, stand-up comedian Leslie Liao was working for Netflix in human resources and had to buy tickets to see shows in the festival. For the second Netflix Is A Joke fest in 2024, Liao had just quit her day job, and her former Netflix co-workers paid to see her headline a festival show. In May 2026, she was already booked elsewhere, and celebrating the release of her debut comedy special, Silky Smooth, out now through 800 Pound Gorilla Media. She caught up with me over Zoom to talk about the art of writing hyperlocal comedy routines while performing on the road in far-flung places from Maine to Alberta, how she put aside fears of starting comedy at 30, and what it was like trying to balance her day job at Netflix with her nights and weekends developing her stand-up voice. There's a lot to get to, so let's get to it!

May 18, 20261 hr 8 min

Nish Kumar

If you listen to Pod Save The UK or The Bugle, or you watch Taskmaster, then I don't have to explain Nish Kumar to you. The British comedian — twice nominated for Best Show at the Edinburgh Fringe — sat down with me over Zoom to talk about his new stand-up special, Nish, Don't Kill My Vibe, out now via 800 Pound Gorilla Media. Kumar spoke about how this special allowed him to experience America in a new way, how Chris Rock inspired him as a teenager, how podcasts have distorted the economic reality of making a living as a comedian, algorithms as the new gatekeepers, and how it makes a difference when comedians making fun of each other are friends versus foes. There's a lot to get to, so let's get to it!

April 27, 202638 min

Kelly MacFarland

Kelly MacFarland is a stand-up comedian with TV credits on NBC, Comedy Central and AXS Gotham Comedy Live. MacFarland also has performed at Denis Leary's Comics Come Home at Boston's TD Garden, and more recently put out a half-hour with Dry Bar Comedy and a set with Don't Tell Comedy. Along the way, she also has released three comedy albums — her newest, Hot Gnome, she self-financed as a video special on YouTube in 2025, with the album released in April 2026 via Blonde Medicine. Kelly and I caught up over Zoom to talk about why and how she has so many newer projects — another special, Wit Happens, is available for rent on Prime Video — how her career ambitions have changed since losing both of her parents, the ramifications of appearing as a contestant on the inaugural season of NBC's reality-TV weight-loss series, The Biggest Loser, and what keeps her going in stand-up while living in the suburbs of Boston. There's a lot to get to, so let's get to it!