Journalist/Comedian Harmon Leon dives into comedy cult classics, comedic influences, and all things comedy history.
Former Daily Show head writer Elliott Kalan (MST3K, The Flop House) joins CH101 to discuss his new book, Joke Farming, and the nuts-and-bolts behind professional joke writing.
We go inside the Daily Show writers’ room with Jon Stewart, why MST3K once had too many jokes, how comedians write jokes on deadline, why inspiration is overrated, and how audiences complete every joke.
A behind-the-scenes look at joke writing, comedy craft, and how humor helps us make sense of the world.
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.
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.
