Name: The future of comedy? with Jesse Fox | You Made It Weird with Pete Holmes
Uploaded: 2025-04-23T14:00:08.000Z
Description: Watch the stand-up comedy video 'The future of comedy? with Jesse Fox | You Made It Weird with Pete Holmes' from Pete Holmes on Comedy Buff. Published 2025-04-23. Transcript available.

Watch the stand-up comedy video 'The future of comedy? with Jesse Fox | You Made It Weird with Pete Holmes' from Pete Holmes on Comedy Buff. Published 2025-04-23. Transcript available.

The future of comedy? with Jesse Fox | You Made It Weird with Pete Holmes

You made it weird, yes you did, you made it weird, yeah.
You made it weird, with Pete Holmes.
Yes you did, you made it weird, yeah.
What's happening weirdos, this is Jesse Fox.
Fox, said that like FM radio.
Jesse David Fox, who is an incredible author.
He just wrote, well it came out a little while ago,
but I just read it and it's incredible.
It's called Comedy Book and it's about the history,
the evolution and the impact of comedy.
Obviously we talk a lot about comedy in this episode.
Every single time I've sat down with Jesse,
it's been a delight and this is no exception.
He's also the host of the hit podcast, Good One,
where he interviews comedians about their process
and he is one of the senior editors at Vulture,
where he works as the comedy critic and he's awesome.
I love talking with him and this episode is one of those times
that I love talking with him.
Hey, Different Pete jumping in here to talk about the tour.
We have changed the name of the tour.
It was the PG-13 tour.
We are now calling the tour the Pete Here Now Tour
because I did one show under the banner PG-13 in Austin.
It was an awesome show.
I loved it, but I got off stage and I was like,
that wasn't, yeah, I'm not really PG-13.
I can't be standing in front of an audience
and not just use everything I got,
every trick, every word, every face,
anything I can to delight you
and make you laugh as hard as possible.
And what happened is I wrote a bunch of jokes
that were, you know, edging me out of the PG-13 category,
but they were my favorite jokes.
And I was like, I can't, I'm not going to cut these jokes
to stay in these boundaries that I made up sort of almost as a lark
because a lot of the material was cleaner
and now some of it isn't.
And then I was like, well, I'll call it the soft R tour.
And I was like, why am I even asking people
to look at this show through that lens?
Like, where is it on the spectrum of movie ratings?
I don't like it.
I don't, I'm putting it away.
I'm saying that's egg on my face.
I apologize.
It's not the PG-13 tour.
It's exactly like what I've done my whole career.
It's as dirty as I am.
And it's as honest as I am.
And I'm really happy to say
it is by far my favorite hour I've ever done.
And I don't want to do stand up with one hand tied behind my back
or blindfolded.
It's hard enough.
All I want to do is make you laugh.
All I want to do is delight you.
And I'm going to do everything in my power and in my skills,
my skills like Liam Neeson,
everything in my specific set of skills to get you there
and to get you laughing because we need that so much.
So no more PG-13 tour.
If you bought tickets to Toronto and you wanted it to be,
you know, you and your Nana, I apologize.
I'm sure you can call the theater.
But I think you should still come.
I think you'll still love it.
Just know it as the Pete Here Now tour.
So we're going to update that tour art as soon as we have it.
But the dates remain the same.
May 10th, I'll be in Toronto, then Los Angeles,
Nashville, Irvine, San Jose, Houston,
Royal Oak, Michigan, Washington, D.C., Boston.
We just added a second show for Boston and Cleveland, Ohio was just announced.
All of those are on PeteHolmes.com for now.
The new Pete Here Now.
The Pete Here Now tour.
All right.
Back to past Pete, throwing you to this show, to this episode.
I hope you enjoy it.
Enjoy.
Author of comedy book, Jesse David Fox.
Get into it.
I hope it's okay.
I determined from one of my podcasts, though I'm the guest,
it's useful for me also to keep notes.
Oh, that is a first.
It's like I've done enough that I was like,
why is this harder than when I host?
I was like, oh, well, when I host,
I'm like keeping track of what I want to say.
Yeah, of course.
That makes perfect sense.
So then I was like, oh, well, if I also have notes.
Well, can I tell you, that's exactly what happened with me
is when I was guesting on other people's podcasts,
and this was over 10 years ago,
that I would take notes.
Yeah.
And it's because I wanted to be hosting.
So you already have a podcast.
I already have a podcast.
You host the podcast, good one, and this is Jesse Fox.
I never do that.
I never really introduce the guest.
That happened the last time I was on.
You were like, let me do an intro.
I don't know what I did.
That's what happens.
You get introed.
That's very nice.
And we're here to talk about, well, it doesn't matter.
Now I've turned it into a proper comedy.
I'm sorry.
Let's act like I just walked in.
What would you say?
Oh, what's up, man?
Oh, yeah, I used to live here.
It's actually the same small talk as I come in every single time.
It's become routine.
Where the guest is already sitting down?
No, I usually, Katie had to get you because I was,
we double booked.
We've never done that in our lives.
In over 10 years, I've never double booked.
So Carol Leifert just left and you're coming in and you were,
I'm going to use the word mensch.
I said, would you please kill an hour and a half?
And you did it.
And I know your time is valuable and I appreciate it.
Oh, that's very sweet to think my time is so valuable.
It was very lovely to get to walk around Los Angeles.
I love it.
And this neighborhood is one of the few walkable areas.
Exactly.
I mean, I used to live a very long time ago, around-ish here.
And I was like, oh, I can like see what it was like
and see if I remember.
That hasn't changed that much, right?
No.
I didn't know.
I was like, what if they knocked down the housing complex
or whatever?
And they didn't.
Oh, they didn't?
That's nice.
Yeah, no, it's pretty much the same.
Like the House of Pies is right over there.
And when I was watching Pumping Iron,
the Schwarzenegger documentary,
and he talks about going to the House of Pies and stuff.
And I'm like, holy shit.
Schwarzenegger ate carbs.
And it's so annoying.
I'm going to do my impression.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Everybody knows.
Who cares?
It's just going to be funny for me.
But he goes like, you can eat anything you want.
You just have to burn it off.
And I'm like, fuck you, man.
Who's eating a pie and then burning off 2,000?
He is.
Yeah, yeah.
I eat a pie and I go to bed.
Yeah, well, if you burned it off,
you can look exactly like him.
I don't want to.
I cut a line.
This is up your alley.
I'm excited.
I'm excited for this.
Because you love comedy.
I love your book.
And I want to tell you,
so many comedians have gone,
have you read Jesse's book?
And they go, it's really good.
And I actually do want to tell you what they really say.
They go, it's really good, actually.
I would get that.
And that has nothing to do with you.
Yeah, 100%.
It has to do with the undertaking of writing a book about comedy.
And then comedians are like, it's actually really good.
So a lot of people told me to check it out, not just you.
So to start with some inside baseball,
because I know you love it.
So my last special, I had a joke about Kumail being newly buff.
And some of those jokes made it in the special.
I go, I've hugged Kumail.
I'm like, what are you mad at me?
It's about how it's not fun to hug a hard body.
But there was another joke in there where I go,
I knew Kumail when he had a unibrow and smoked parliaments, which is true.
Now he looks like a horse in a medium t-shirt.
And I thought that was a fun way, if you don't know who he is, to be like, he's
jacked.
Yeah.
I give it to Neil Brennan and Mike Birbigli and Andrew Santino.
Those are usually the three people I give my specials to.
And Neil Brennan writes, I love that you called Kumail a horse in a medium t-shirt.
And he says this, he goes, and it's racist and no one will catch you being
racist.
He's messing with me.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
But he's saying like, it's because he's brown.
Oh, interesting.
This is fun intel for me.
I had no idea.
I told the joke a thousand times.
I never was like, this is a fun brown joke.
I was like, it's a horse joke.
Horses aren't only brown.
Jesse, I spent so much time going, horses can be black, they can be white, they
can be spotted,
they can be zebras.
It doesn't matter.
They can be zebras.
I think zebras are horses.
Come on.
That's a good joke.
Zebras are horses.
I had it.
That reminds me of another joke I had where I go, this is how the presidents go.
Washington, Lincoln, Kennedy, Clinton, like none of those other guys count.
Yeah, yeah.
It's like zebras.
When you think of presidents, your brain has four presidents.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And Hamilton is one of them.
And he wasn't.
Yeah.
You know what I mean?
But he's on the 10.
Come on.
Any whoozle-woozle.
Sorry I'm talking so much, coming off my leafer buzz.
Leafer buzz.
Sorry, PTSD.
That seems up your alley.
I ended up cutting the joke.
It cost, let's say $3,500 because the picture was locked.
Oh, wow.
We went in and trimmed out me saying, Kumail looks like a horse in a medium t-shirt.
And here we are.
That's a ripe comedy area for you.
Did you ask Kumail?
Believe it or not, I've been friends with Kumail a really long time, especially
when he first
got buff.
There was a real air to his celebrity that even I was intimidated by it.
And I didn't want to bother him.
And I didn't want to say, do you think this joke is racist?
Like I just went, forget it.
Yeah, yeah.
If anyone can think I'm saying that, I'm cutting it and I'm not going to bother
him.
Later, I saw Kumail and mentioned that I had cut out a joke thinking he might
say, what
joke?
He just went, thanks, man.
So I was like, oh, I did the right thing.
Yeah.
Like I thought it was going to be like a green room, like really?
What joke?
And I'd tell him and he'd be like, that's fine.
But he just went, thank you.
Because I think he was getting a lot of attention.
I feel like Hassan was telling a joke about him as well.
Like it felt like a lot of people in comedy felt like they needed to reckon
with the fact.
Well, Hassan put up the picture.
Yes.
Which I'm like, I mean, you want to get out another comedy book.
I'm like, Ken audio video.
I'm a real, I'm a fucking Amish.
In terms of video.
When it comes to comedy, I'm like, get that out of here.
I'm not saying that to drag Hassan.
And I think what he does is amazing and millions of people love it.
I'm just like, whenever there's like a show and the premise of the show is
there's a screen
and we're going to draw what you're talking about.
I'm like, no, thank you.
So you're writing that down with the thing I was going to say.
Yeah, go ahead.
But well, two things.
One, his last special, he doesn't do that anymore.
Well, yeah, I didn't know that.
But I said, well, yeah, I would imagine that that's like a fun thing to play
and then maybe not do.
But I did think, I was recently, I spent a lot of time thinking, could a
comedian play The Sphere?
Do you know The Sphere in Las Vegas?
Yes, that's probably going to happen.
And I say that with a sigh.
But like, what, who can do it?
What is it, right?
Sebastian can do it.
Yeah, we can sell it.
But then what happens?
I mean, do it.
But like, what happens on the screens?
A big close-up of Sebastian's face.
I literally thought you were going to say a bowl of spaghetti.
But you have a lot of material about a fork going into it, twirling it.
But it's Will Smith eating the spaghetti AI, so it's like disturbing.
I don't know, man.
Like, where are you on that?
I haven't read the whole book.
Does that come up?
AI?
No, not AI.
I do have that on my notes.
I'd love to talk to you about that.
But my notes.
But when it comes to supplemented stand-up in any way, is that in there?
I think, I'm trying to remember if it's in there.
I get a little bit about when specials had documentary footage intermingled.
Yes, Jenny Slate.
Yes.
Which I thought was fantastic.
It's, my issue with it, and I will say like this.
Oh, I can also talk about issues with it.
Sure, sure.
I'm going to tell you my issue with it.
I think it was perfect for Jenny's, but keep going.
And other specials did it, so Jenny is watching.
I'm not specifically on the critique.
And I also, my colleague at Vulture, Catherine Van Arandaa