Comedy Means Business

Episodes

• 
  How Wife Katie Thurston’s Cancer Battle Changed Jeff Arcuri 20.07.2026 1h 24m

  Jeff Arcuri joins Comedy Means Business to promote his debut special — and first for Netflix — Jeff Arcuri: Nice to Meet You, which cracked the global Top 10 for English TV series in its first week. At the heart of both the hour and this conversation: the hardest stretch of Arcuri’s life, navigating a year-and-a-half saga with his now-wife Katie Thurston’s stage 3 breast cancer diagnosis. We get into learning to talk about Katie’s diagnosis onstage, how he’s been changed by the experience, the learning curve of performing in the round, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
• 
  Josh Johnson On Timelessness, Topicality, Greedy Thinking & New Beginnings 06.07.2026 1h 18m

  Comedian Josh Johnson joins Matt Grobar to discuss Symphony, his first HBO special, and how it represents the beginning of a new creative chapter, reflecting his longtime interest in juxtaposing music and comedy in his work, and his interest in crafting timeless art. As someone who has built something genuinely singular in comedy — pairing the mainstream credibility of work on The Daily Show with a massive YouTube viewership built on the back of weekly, hour-long topical sets — he delves into his creative process and how he keeps the machine running. Elsewhere, he discusses community building, scalpers, Ticketmaster, how the attention economy has become its own gatekeeper, why he refuses to think greedy, and the philosophy at the heart of his output: if you're in the world, you must be worth the world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
• 
  Eric André Talks Jackie Chan, Mob-Run Stand-Up Venues, New Netflix Comedy Little Brother 22.06.2026 1h 8m

  Eric André joins Comedy Means Business to discuss the making of his new Netflix comedy Little Brother —which he describes as What About Bob? meets Parasite — and the discipline with which he’s cultivated his singular brand of raunchy chaos, on and offscreen. In conversation with Matt Grobar, he also delves into mob-run comedy venues, his punk rock ethos, his admiration of Jackie Chan and new album Film Scores for Films That Don’t Exist, late night’s evolution, getting concussed by Little Brother co-star John Cena, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
• 
  Sarah Sherman Talks Maximalist HBO Special, Awkward SNL Dynamics, Bombing Like Oppenheimer 10.06.2026 1h 4m

  Sarah Sherman joins Comedy Means Business to discuss the crafting of her gonzo, body-horror variety hour, Sarah Squirm: Live and in the Flesh (HBO), and the building of one of the most singular brands of anyone at SNL. We get into the craft and cost of making a tactile, visually ambitious hour, the challenge of scaling weirdness without sanding off its edges, and what it takes to tour material this production-heavy. Sherman also reflects on her path to 30 Rock from Chicago’s underground alt-comedy scene, her steep learning curve at SNL, and how she’s thinking about the future of her career. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
• 
  Inside Ben Gleib’s At-Home YouTube Late-Night Show 25.05.2026 1h 7m

  As traditional late-night contracts under the weight of collapsing linear economics, Ben Gleib is making a bet on what comes next. In this episode of Comedy Means Business, the comedian, host, and entrepreneur breaks down the launch of Good Night with Ben Gleib, a late-night show built natively for YouTube — which he’s taping at his house. He reflects on what YouTube offers that network TV can’t, and how he’s thinking about everything from guests and episode cadence to monetization and platform risk. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
• 
  Atsuko Okatsuka On Emulating Lucille Ball, Embracing Inner Weirdo 11.05.2026 1h 12m

  Atsuko Okatsuka joins host Matt Grobar to discuss her latest special, Father, and the long journey toward trusting what she had to offer as a stand-up. She also talks growing up undocumented in Los Angeles, learning stand-up in a class off Craigslist, performing at the ocean and to the trees in her backyard, her appreciation of recent performances from Justin Bieber that prove “it’s ok to go small,” and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
• 
  ‘The End’ Of An Era For Ari Shaffir 27.04.2026 1h 9m

  Ari Shaffir joins Matt Grobar to discuss The End, the culmination of work producing longform comedic storytelling shows that goes back 15 years.. Fresh off seven months off the grid in Latin America, he also reflects on the nomadic lifestyle that’s shaped both his material and his outlook on the business. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
• 
  Pete Holmes: Reclaiming Show Biz Magic In A New Era 13.04.2026 1h 9m

  Pete Holmes chats with Matt Grobar about coming up through a version of Hollywood that no longer exists — and how he’s reclaiming that magic on his own terms. Promoting his new special Silly Silly Fun Boy, Holmes reflects on the disappearance of talent incubators that once helped build careers, the importance of mentorship and knowledge-sharing across generations, how he would approach building a stand-up career if he were starting out today, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
• 
  David Cross on New Special, Club Comeback, Live Nation Settlement 23.03.2026 1h 10m

  David Cross speaks to host Matt Grobar about his new special The End of the Beginning of the End, his return to comedy clubs after decades away from that circuit, the impact of the recent Live Nation-Ticketmaster antitrust settlement, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
• 
  Why Ali Siddiq Is Bypassing Streamers — And Hates Crowd Work 09.03.2026 1h 1m

  Matt Grobar speaks with comedian Ali Siddiq about his commitment to a direct-to-consumer career where he retains full ownership over his work, a journey that has recently led him to win an NAACP Image Award, becoming the first comic to achieve major awards recognition for an independently produced special. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
• 
  Max Amini’s Madison Square Garden Moment 23.02.2026 41m

  Max Amini joins Comedy Means Business on the heels of his biggest year yet. We unpack how he cultivated one of comedy’s biggest and most passionate audiences — with nearly 26 million followers and billions of views across platforms — how India became a major international stronghold for him, and what it means to him to have become the first Iranian-American to headline Madison Square Garden. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
• 
  Matt McCusker's Journey From His Broke Era To His First Netflix Special 20.02.2026 41m

  In this episode of Comedy Means Business, host Matt Grobar talks with Matt McCusker about his first Netflix special and the path that led there. McCusker reflects on experiences with social anxiety, his brokest years as a comic, and working with Shane Gilis to turn Matt and Shane’s Secret Podcast into a major grassroots success story. He shares how a “small business” mindset fuels everything he does and why his only real goal is to make bored people at work laugh while also delving into his passions for long-form writing and animation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
• 
  Michael Strassner's Journey From Rock Bottom to The Baltimorons 09.02.2026 50m

  Matt Grobar speaks with Michael Strassner, the co-writer, producer, and star of SXSW breakout The Baltimorons, about turning personal setbacks into creative fuel, culminating in the best year of his life. Strassner reflects on getting sober, his collaboration with filmmaker Jay Duplass, and how his scrappy, deeply personal indie built its audience through word of mouth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
• 
  Inside Stapleview: Sam Grey, Daniel Lantsman On Mission With Digital Comedy Co. 26.01.2026 48m

  Matt Grobar sits down with Stapleview founders Sam Grey and Daniel Lantsman to discuss the origins of their comedy-focused management and production company and how they’re looking to rethink how comedy gets made, distributed, and monetized. On Comedy Means Business, the pair share their predictions for the next era of digital comedy, touching on what it takes to turn internet bits into valuable IP and what’s required to generate long-term careers from short-form content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
• 
  Unpacking Nurse John’s 5-Year Rise From Frontline Nurse To Global Comedy Headliner 12.01.2026 50m

  Matt Grobar sits down with comedian Nurse John and his manager, Logan Watkins of Select Management Group, to unpack John’s extraordinarily rapid transition from nurse to internationally recognized touring stand-up. The pair breaks down what it took to translate digital fandom into sold-out live shows and get into the realities of scaling a live business at warp speed, plus what John’s building toward as he expands into a multi-platform career. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
• 
  Kumail Nanjiani Talks Return To Stand-Up With ‘Night Thoughts,’ ‘Fallout’ Season 2 & An Unforgettable Encounter With Robin Williams 15.12.2025 48m

  Today on Comedy Means Business, host Matt Grobar speaks with Kumail Nanjiani about returning to stand-up after more than a decade and the process of crafting new special, Night Thoughts. Kumail breaks down the unglamorous reality of restarting this side of his career, also revisiting the Chicago alt scene that shaped his voice and the wild energy of L.A.’s Meltdown era — including an unforgettable Robin Williams drop-in. Kumail also opens up about navigating the “actor doing stand-up” stigma, his plans to get behind the camera for his feature directorial debut, and how he came to join Fallout Season 2. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
• 
  The Mindful Grind Of Developmental Representation — With Business Casual and Omnipop’s Carly Hoogendyk 01.12.2025 1h 1m

  Today on Comedy Means Business, host Matt Grobar chats with the sketch group Business Casual and their manager Carly Hoogendyk of Omnipop Talent about the mechanics of developmental representation — from the POV of both the artist and their rep. Jeremy Elder, Corey Peter Lane, and Hunter Saling trace their path from UCLA improv kids to Edinburgh Fringe regulars and the creators of their signature show Cowboys, while Carly breaks down how she scouts talent and helps artists to scale their careers responsibly. The group also digs into the realities of a “no new friends” Hollywood, why loss-leader gigs are worth the investment, and how long-game relationship building and relentless output have shaped Business Casual’s rise. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
• 
  Essential Social Media Strategies For Comics — With Authentic Talent’s Logan Potter & Allen McRae 17.11.2025 50m

  Today on Comedy Means Business, host Matt Grobar speaks with Authentic Talent’s Logan Potter and Allen McRae about the social media strategies they’d recommend to any comic, in a moment when the digital space has become an essential revenue driver. They explain why Reddit is the platform every stand-up should be looking further into, why “influencer” shouldn’t be a dirty word, the value a manager adds to a comic’s rep line, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
• 
  Danny Frenkel’s Plan to Fix Live Event Ticketing With Punchup Live 03.11.2025 52m

  Today on Comedy Means Business, host Matt Grobar sits down with Danny Frenkel, co-founder and CEO of Punch-Up Live, who unpacks his vision to build the company into “the Amazon of live entertainment.” From his early years in ads measurement at Facebook to rolling out his own e-commerce platform, the goal of which is to give comedians more direct ownership over their audience, Frenkel breaks down the issues plaguing the broader ticketing ecosystem and the solutions as he sees them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
• 
  Caleb Hearon’s Guide to Breaking Out Without Selling Out 29.09.2025 44m

  Today on the Comedy Means Business podcast, host Matt Grobar speaks with Caleb Hearon about his debut special, HBO’s ‘Model Comedians,’ and how he built a major platform for himself in the digital space. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices