Comedy History 101 Podcast: Best of 2025

We’ve pulled together the sharpest moments from our 2025 interviews with comedy impresario guests - who shaped modern comedy:

• Larry Charles: Writer and director of Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Borat
• Kevin McDonald: Founding member of Kids in the Hall
• Ryan Cunningham: Producer of Broad City and Inside Amy Schumer
• Alex Braverman: Director of Thank You Very Much on Andy Kaufman
• Will Becton: Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, Team Coco, Clueless Gamer
• Paul Myers: Author of John Candy: A Life in Comedy

• Matthew Perniciaro: Director: Long Live The State

• Michael Seth Starr: Author of Rodney Dangerfield: Nothing Comes Easy
• Seth Porges: Director of Class Action Park and the new Santacon documentary

Plus Jean-François Brisson with a special Canadian Comedy History 101 recap.

SantaCon w/ Director Seth Porges

Before SantaCon became the most hated event in NYC history, it began as a San Francisco subversive experiment of fun by the same anarchic collective that spawned Burning Man and inspired Fight Club’s Project Mayhem.

We talk to filmmaker Seth Porges, who has a new documentary about SanCon on how a subversive performance-art happening turned into a worldwide holiday of drunken chaos that’s now belittled by the likes of John Oliver, Colin Jost, Jimmy Fallon and all of NYC.

You might know Seth’s previous HBO Max documentary, Class Action Park, about America’s most dangerous amusement park.

United States of Comedy w/ Director Habib Yazdi

We go inside the PBS documentary series United States of Comedy with director Habib Azar. The five-part series spotlights diverse voices shaping stand-up comedy across America—capturing the next generation redefining American comedy culture.

Habib shares stories from filming United States of Comedy, as we dive into creative resilience and what unites comedians across the United States.

WATCH HERE