Showing results by author "Eugene Mirman" in All Categories

[Contains explicit content] Elna Baker helped hundreds of babies get adopted at her old job. No, not human babies. Elna was a fake nurse at a fake adoption center in FAO Schwartz, where she helped place realistic baby dolls in the homes of wealthy Manhattanites. Hear how she got attached to a little bundle of plastic joy in her story she told for RISK! in New York City. Host Eugene Mirman digs into the details of Elna's unusual job in this episode of Hold On.

[Contains explicit content] San Francisco in the late '80s was a real swinging place - sometimes literally, as was the case during the Loma Prieta earthquake. Seasoned improviser, actor, and comedian Greg Proops (Whose Line Is It Anyway?) remembers being in the city as it was thrown into chaos in this harrowing episode of Hold On with Eugene Mirman.

[Contains explicit content] Moving back in with your parents is rarely a sign that your life is going in the right direction. On this episode of Hold On, host Eugene Mirman sits down with comedian Matt Braunger to hear a funny, but cautionary tale about a pivotal time in Matt's life. Hear why he was forced to live with his folks and what it meant for his relationship with them and his stand-up comedy career.

[Contains explicit content] If there’s one thing “Weird Al” Yankovic loves, it’s jamming out on his accordion. If there's one thing Eugene Mirman enjoys more than pausing comedians' pre-recorded stories for his hit show Hold On, it's pausing comedians' stories they haven't ever recorded before on his hit show Hold On! On this episode, "Weird Al” opens up about going under the knife on live TV for the surgery that redefined his iconic look and Eugene gets inquisitive about the whole eye-opening ordeal.

[Contains explicit content] The most unusual thing about comedian Moshe Kasher's mom is not that she's deaf. It's that she subscribes to some very liberal views in regard to sex. This, naturally, had a big impact on Moshe's childhood, as he detailed in his story from a Don't Tell My Mother show in Los Angeles. In this episode of Hold On, host Eugene Mirman digs deeper into how deafness, sexuality, and the 90’s rave culture informed Moshe's upbringing.

[Contains explicit content] Reggie Watts (The Late Late Show) is a comedic genius and musical mastermind, but he’s not a rude dude. Stopping a person telling a story is a rude dude thing to do...unless they're a guest on an episode of Hold On and you happen to be a master story-disrupter, like Eugene Mirman. In this excellent episode of his storytelling series, Eugene cuts into Reggie's thrilling tale of mushrooms and bathrooms to politely prod for more detail.

[Contains explicit content] Wyatt Cenac (The Daily Show, People of Earth, and Seeso's Night Train with Wyatt Cenac) found an interesting application of the scientific method while volunteering at a science museum: a drunk-driving simulator. Eugene Mirman had Wyatt call a cab to the Hold On studios to talk all the theories and hypotheses his unique experiments in virtual recklessness yielded. Drink a few digital beers and hit the road with Wyatt and Eugene in this very educational episode of Hold On.

[Contains explicit content] Storytelling can bring together people from many different cultures and, at the Just for Laughs Festival in Montreal, it brought together Eugene Mirman and Gad Elmaleh for a special live recording of Hold On. Montreal was a fitting place to hear the tale of Gad's transition from the French tradition of live comedy to a more casual North American stand-up style. It's also fitting that Eugene was on hand to casually interject with thoughtful and funny questions.

[Contains explicit content] Comedian Kurt Braunohler (IFC's Bunk, Audible's Wedlock) once found enlightenment in the oddest of places: an Apple store bathroom. There, the seeds of inspiration were planted in his mind and he decided to take an unconventional break from his (then) long-term relationship. Eugene Mirman sat Kurt down to hear how that unusual plant went and to ask a few burning questions.

[Contains explicit content] They say that cats have nine lives. Well, comedian Chris Fairbanks was lucky enough to share several of those lives with a stray he took in. Chris told a few memorable anecdotes about his feline friend for The Narrators in Denver. On this episode of Hold On, Eugene Mirman breaks out the catnip to learn more about the indelible origin story of Chris' fiery furball companion.

Michael Ian Black (Wet Hot American Summer, The State) admits to being conservative in his proclivities, but on his honeymoon to Amsterdam, he decided to give marijuana a try.

[Contains explicit content] Mike Lawrence is an excellent comedic competitor on shows like @Midnight and Roast Battle, but his adversaries on those shows might set their sights on his pre-comedy pursuits for japes and jabs if only they knew...in high school he was big into slam poetry. Thankfully, Eugene Mirman is a friendly fellow who's curiosity trumps any temptation to mock. Mike shared his story of coming up through the slam poetry open mic scene in Florida in a story for RISK!

Horatio Sanz is an important figure in the Chicago comedy scene. The Chicago neighborhood that teenage Horatio would frequent with his friends also happened to be home to a few unsavory characters, one of whom may have improvised a little vigilante justice and a lot of arson.

[Contains explicit content] David Cross (Mr. Show, Arrested Development) is a pillar of the comedy world, but even a man who is known for acerbic, often political standup and metatextual, intricate sketch writing can still have a soft spot for a good old-fashioned prank. Eugene Mirman brought David onstage at the NYC Podfest to revisit the impromptu execution of that practical joke and ask him questions about how it all played out. Live from New York it's Hold On with Eugene Mirman!

[Contains explicit content] If you thought Eugene Mirman would only travel to Montreal for the Just For Laughs Festival in order to do a special, live Hold On event once, you thought wrong! No need to beat yourself up over it, though. Instead, enjoy a night of stories and questions from this year's festival featuring: Katherine Ryan telling the horrifying tale of a radio contest gone wrong, Gina Yashere recounting a disastrous Acapulco trip, and Kurt Braunohler and Lauren Cook go halfsies on their own tricky travel tale.

[Contains explicit content] W. Kamau Bell is no stranger to getting approached by strangers since he's a TV personality (Totally Biased, United Shades of America), prolific stand-up comic, and father of two undeniably adorable daughters. The reasons he gets approached, however, don't always relate to who he actually is or what he's actually doing with a cute baby in his arms.

[Contains explicit content] On this episode, comedian Steve Agee (The Sarah Silverman Show) opens up to Eugene Mirman about his first experience with the party drug ecstasy. Once the story gets going, the questions start flying. Learn about the good times and the bad times that can result from taking recreational drugs as Steve explains the how and why of his hilarious true tale that he originally shared at a Don't Tell My Mother show in Los Angeles.

[Contains explicit content] Lizz Winstead: Daily Show creator, author of Lizz Free or Die, radio host, stand-up, activist. There isn't a part of the political comedy landscape that she hasn't had a hand in. The personal is political, too, so Eugene Mirman invited Lizz to come into the studio to share her unique experiences with end of life planning for her parents and all the lessons she learned.

Dana Gould (Stan Against Evil, The Simpsons) is a comedian of note, sometimes credited as the progenitor of alternative comedy, but anyone who has heard his act or his podcast, knows that he's big into horror and sci-fi movies.

[Contains explicit content] Nick Thune doesn't go looking for fights, but fights seem to find him anyway. When they do, though, it's his inability to let some things slide that causes his momentary anger to boil over into small acts of passive-aggression: snarky rejoinders, anonymous notes, and the occasional sarcastic email. Find out which option Nick chose when confronted with an unprofessional doctor in his story live at SF Sketchfest for Porchlight, A Storytelling Series.