The Comic's Comic Presents Last Things First

Hosted by Sean L. McCarthy

Careers Comedy

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Episodes

500

Latest episode

Jun 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

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!

April 20, 202629 min

Joe Dombrowski

Named one of Variety's Top 10 Comics to Watch in 2025, Joe Dombrowski first broke through in 2017 when he went viral for pranking his fourth-grade students and landed multiple appearances on Ellen. Now with more than 1.3 million Instagram followers, and another 1.6 million on TikTok, Dombrowski released his first hour special, Dad On Arrival, in April 2026 through 800 Pound Gorilla Media. The comedian sat down with me over Zoom to talk about those pre-Ellen years, when he was moonlighting as a spin instructor, and summer coordinator at the Detroit Zoo in addition to developing his stand-up, sketch and improv chops in the Detroit-area comedy clubs; how he convinced Louis Faranda at Carolines on Broadway to take a one-nighter chance on him as a headliner; the importance of establishing "My Straight Friends" as a monthly showcase at The Comedy Store in Los Angeles despite living in Seattle; and how much it meant to him to perform stand-up on the final season of Late Show with Stephen Colbert. There's a lot to get to, so let's get to it!

April 6, 202637 min

Troy Walker

Troy Walker is a writer for Jimmy Kimmel Live! who also wrote for Kimmel's turns hosting the Oscars, but he came up through the Denver comedy scene while also graduating from law school and working in money laundering compliance. Walker returned to Denver to record his debut comedy album at Comedy Works. Esquire debuted in February 2026 via Blonde Medicine, with Walker joking about growing up in Colorado and eventually making his way in LA. Walker sat down with me over Zoom to talk even more about that, explaining what has made the Comedy Works in Denver one of the nation's premier comedy clubs in the eyes of headliners and new comics alike, how he balanced one-nighters in Wyoming and Colorado with law school, and how seeing his peers enjoy success helped convince him to try to make it in Hollywood, too. There's a lot to get to, so let's get to it!

March 30, 202633 min

Maggie Winters

Maggie Winters is a South Side Chicago comedian who came up in improv with iO and as a stand-up through Lincoln Lodge's FemCom program, and she first found a wider audience online with millions of views for her front-facing character videos on TikTok and Instagram. 2023 was a breakthrough year for Winters, as she appeared as a recurring character assisting the youth group in HBO's The Righteous Gemstones, as well as a "New Face" at Montreal's Just For Laughs. That same year, she debuted her one-person show, Marguerite, which she took to the Edinburgh Fringe in 2024, and filmed in 2025 at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in Los Angeles. The show combines onstage storytelling with video clips from her life growing up on the South Side of Chicago. Marguerite premiered on St. Patrick's Day 2026 on the UCB's YouTube channel, co-produced by Abso Lutely, and Winters sat down with me over Zoom to talk about her comedy start, adapting her show for people outside of Chicago, and what comes next. There's a lot to get to, so let's get to it!

March 23, 202643 min

Mark Vigeant

Mark Vigeant blends clown, improv, physical theater, and multimedia to create interactive comedy shows such as The Best Man Show, which he took to the Edinburgh Fringe in 2024 and 2025, and released as a special on Dropout in February 2026. Vigeant is based in Los Angeles, but started his career with the Upright Citizens Brigade in New York City where he performed improv and sketch, played Trumpet Boy for The Special Without Brett Davis, hosted a series online for Seriously.TV, and earned himself a screen-test audition for Saturday Night Live. Vigeant caught up with me over Zoom to talk about how his brushes with near-stardom, as well as his 2021 documentary about the "Pizza Rat" phenomenon, influenced his views on fame and ambition; how he was inspired by seeing other Fringe shows by the likes of Moses Storm, Natalie Palamides and The Umbilical Brothers, and how releasing a Dropout special has influenced what he's doing next: a 2026 Fringe show about a YouTube survivalist called Out There. There's a lot to get to, so let's get to it!

March 16, 202634 min

Jamie Lee

Jamie Lee is an Emmy-winning writer and producer on Apple TV's Ted Lasso who began her comedy career in the press office of Comedy Central. Her first break in front of the camera came via panel shows, most notably MTV's Girl Code, as well as performances on both Conan and The Late Late Show with James Corden. As a writer, her credits have included HBO's Crashing, TV Land's Teachers, Peocock's Killing It, Hulu's Chad Powers, and of course, Ted Lasso. Her book Weddiculous, led to her starring in the Netflix series, The Wedding Coach. But her current passion project is a stage show, My Friend Katy, investigating how and why her childhood friend died suddenly and mysteriously while Lee was in college. Lee took the show to the Edinburgh Fringe in 2025, and she caught up with me over Zoom in March 2026 between shows at Union Hall in Brooklyn as she prepares to adapt her stage show into a special. There's a lot to get to, so let's get to it!