Comedy Sucks!

A new episode! Why? Joe and Brian and a special guest (kind of) get together to discuss the Wonder Woman sequel, the comedy wars, comedy venues closing, and the downfall of comic books. It's the year end wrap up you've been waiting for and also a great way to start the new year. So forget that the country is on fire and let us distract with our barely coherent rantings. 

Joe and Brian are back! Tom Kelly joins us to discuss the death and possible rebirth of New York. A praying mantis nearly derails the show and we attack Governor Cuomo as well as the comedy scene. Joe and Tom talk about their bonding experience in Florida back in 2006 and then things get weirdly political for some reason. Also whoever gave us a one star rating without leaving a review show yourself! 

We are finally back and holy crap what a loaded episode. We talk about the lockdown, the death and rebirth of stand up comedy, all the gigs that Joe did before everything went to hell, social media, movies, and barbers? We recorded this episode outside so enjoy the background noise of birds and helicopters. 

Joe and the gang (Brian) are back mainly to discuss the latest Star Wars movie. But also since we took such a long hiatus we also touch on the Joker movie, the comedy civil war, and Joe's America's Got Talent audition. 2019 year in review! 

This episode is kind of a throwback where *gasps* we actually discuss comedy for a full hour. Neil Charles, originally from New York and now living in Los Angeles sits down with Joe minus Brian Hogan who is with us in spirit.  We discuss auditioning for TV shows, bringer shows, Eddie Murphy's return to comedy, comics visiting other cities, and comedians who give each other unwanted notes. 

Joe and Brian are reunited and it's only mildly exciting. We jump right into the comedy chaos that went down online over the weekend which has us wondering, where does it end?  Joe tries to prove he's a nice guy and explains how he feels reinvigorated while performing recently. We also discuss the early days of the Long Island comedy scene, our shared hatred of Impractical Jokers and give a spoiler-y review of Spider-man: Far From Home. Get ready to cancel us! 

This week Joe Pontillo absorbs the power of the Dark Phoenix and decides to fly solo so he can not only give you a review of the movie but also close the book on 19 years of X-Men movies. Holy crap, where did my life go? It's a fun 30 minutes of X-Men talk and then Joe finishes it off with a quick rundown of some comedy news and pet peeves. Brian Hogan is of course there in spirit. 

It's our 50th episode, that we don't really celebrate. We also finally discuss Avengers: Endgame which has been ruining both Joe and Brian's lives for several weeks.  We don't really do a review though we just kind of make a bunch of ridiculous statements and Joe points out all the things that ultimately bothered him about the movie. Major spoilers! Also, duh. In addition to Endgame, we also discuss the 20th anniversary of The Sopranos and the finale of Game of Thrones a show which Joe has never actually watched. 

Took a while but we're back and on this episode Joe gives his long awaited (by no one) review of Captain Marvel. Bad news for the internet, Joe liked it but he took a lot of time to try and understand your hatred of the character, the actress, and possibly your general displeasure with Hollywood.  Oh yeah ***SPOILER-Y REVIEW*** Also Joe talks about how he fell off the wagon and did another roast battle and has once again retired from the circuit. 

Oh no, we're back again and this time we have Mike Calcagno on to discuss some recent gigs he and Joe did together and find out why he's doing comedy. We also talk about the Oscar's, Joe sort of reviews Aquaman and then we have a real breakthrough in the last five minutes of the show, so stick around! 

We are back for some reason with a kind of end of the year wrap up that's sort of a big mess. We attempted to discuss all of the big comedy news of 2018 and then fail miserably. Joe finally saw Black Panther and also shares his thoughts on Venom. Brian tells a story that goes nowhere and Joe tells a story that almost goes somewhere but not quite.  

Tell the world, we are back with an absolutely insane episode. We end up covering two months of comedy and entertainment news. Joe has a meltdown about a bad review and discusses his current feelings about doing comedy. We diss some other people's podcast and attempt to dissect the Eminem-Machine Gun Kelly feud while also catching up with all the apparent outrage we missed after the Captain Marvel trailer dropped. Stick around until almost the end to listen to us react to it in real time. Also YouTube drama and Henry Cavill out as Superman? Lol WTF Omg ROTFL!? 

After a savage cold open where Joe has an emotional breakdown about losing not one but two joke books, we dive into all the comedy and entertainment news that we can remember. We of course discuss the James Gunn situation and how everyone should delete their old tweets whether they're offensive or not.  We also briefly discuss Ant-Man and The Wasp (Spoilers) and Joe desperately tries to give away Brian's new TV. And if that isn't all we all go on a nerd rage about Fortnite. This is one episode you will probably want to miss!

We're back and we have a sponsor this month. Just like a real show! Check out www.Hempworx.com for more info. On the episode, Joe and Brian attempt to discuss Solo and explain how Star Wars fans are the most terrifying people on the planet. We talk about Roseanne and Samntha Bee, oh and also Robert DeNiro. And if that wasn't enough, Joe tragically waxes poetic about the current state of his career.  Make sure to check the schedule and let us know when you're ready to listen to this episode! 

A lot going on in this week's episode as we discuss Michelle Wolf and the White House Correspondent's Dinner and all the absurdity that followed. We also discuss some random twitter comedy news, an incident at a NYC comedy club and our much awaited semi-review of Avengers: Infinity War. This is an episode you probably shouldn't miss. 

After a long hiatus, Joe and Brian are back with a new episode of Comedy Sucks. We are also joined by long time friend and semi-fan of the show John Babatsikos. We go in on TV show revivals, asking for spots, Marvel movies and Joe has a weird conversation with Alexa that will probably get him put on a list. 

Joe and Brian are back from some reason! Once again they are here to discuss all the happenings in the comedy industry. This episode we focus on comedians sexually harassing people, YouTube ruining lives, videographers and movies. Basically this turns into an anti-nerd movie podcast in the last 10 minutes. 

Social media legend Ryan Walsh joins me this week. We've known each other on twitter for many years and we finally thought it was safe enough to meet in person. We discuss all the new and awful changes happening on social media and take a trip down memory lane. We also talk about sports and how they largely ruin our lives. 

We kick it old school this week with Joe ranting about a whole bunch of things while Brian tries and fails to comfort him. Weattempt to create a new comedy festival and discuss the perks of having a pro-badge for Comic-Con. Conventions galore! And we also discuss the podcast related chain of events that led to someone cutting ties with Joe on all forms of social media. 

Jeff Cerulli recently got verified on Twitter and this has been haunting me for months so finally I have him on the show this week to learn his secrets. Actually we barely talk about that and mainly discuss starting comedy, getting drunk, getting high, PC culture, and then needlessly list every venue that Jeff has had a show at. Brian is MIA this week so my co-host is Jeff's cat. 

We are back! Brian is back! And we have two guests in studio, Tim Thomson and Jessica Collazo. I had recently went to Connecticut to do a contest show with these two lunatics and the ride there and back were the only good things about it. We discuss way too many things. We talk about a magician for a bizarre amount of time as well as joke writing sessions and of course the black hole that is a comedy contest. We also discuss my history with music and then I demand that Jessica write a theme song for the show on the spot. 

Calvin Cato joins me for an absolutely hilarious episode. Calvin runs a lovely show at Freddy's Backroom in Park Slope and also used to run a show at a bar that had a giant moose head on the wall behind the performers. He also co-hosts a video game podcast which of course means we talk video games briefly (sorry haters). We discuss comedy feuds, comedy enemies, and fallen Last Comic Standing stars. We probably name too many names in this episode but that's what makes this podcast great! 

Joe Devito closed out the first show I ever did at Governor's back in the day and early on he was a minor inspiration to me in terms of doing as many spots as humanly possible while alienating your friends and family. So it's kind of cool that he's my guest this week on what is technically the one year anniversary of this podcast. That is something I never thought I was say *Weeps*. We also discuss the comedy dress code, Joe's past jobs, and audience members that say awful things to you. I also briefly discuss a wild incident on Facebook over the weekend that caused another comic to have a meltdown. 

Brian Hogan returns and we talk about Kathy Griffin, Bill Maher and the death of the late night comedy shows. Joe also rants about a failed business relationship he had with someone who is now loosely stalking him on Facebook. Every thing you need to know about the current state of comedy is in this episode so you probably don't want to miss it. 

After a hiatus, we're back with a vengeance. K.C. Arora joins Joe this week. We have come pretty close to hating each other over the years but a recent car ride has brought us together. We talk about road gigs, comics who annoy you with questions, and how we each got extremely lucky getting commercial work. This is probably one of the more positive episodes but don't get used to it. Also its the debut of our first sound effect! 

Scott Sharp joins us this week. Scott is originally from Colorado and currently lives down the block from Joe. Brian Hogan misses this episode but he does awkwardly text Joe midway through the episode. Joe takes us through his week of performances and reveals the subject matter that new comedians are beating into the ground at a rapid rate. We also talk about what happens after a comedian isn't satisfied by their set and Joe explains why music and comedy usually don't mix. 

This week Joe and Brian battle to the death in slow motion! Joe describes every gory detail about a disastrous gig that he and Neil Rubenstein did over the weekend in Pennsylvania. Then we talk Kardashians, Pepsi, producing shows, bed bugs, and Joe once again apologizes to someone he's wronged. 

This week Joe discusses in detail his history with March Madness comedy competitions including his most recent experience. We spend a lot of time defending Iron Fist and reading someone's twitter meltdown about the show. Speaking of twitter, Joe seeks forgiveness for possibly being a troll to a former Letterman writer back in 2010. Brian laughs and/or coughs a lot. 

This week we are joined by a special guest...sort of. We get tough on internet celebrities, cocaine, bringer shows, and male feminists. Joe discusses his recent highs and lows, fears for the future, and reasons he may be suffering from comedy fatigue. Joe is forced to defend Facebook Live which gives you an indication of how bad things have gotten. 

This week we kick it old school!  No guest, but Brian is back! That should excite absolutely no one but you get a ton of rants and meltdowns from Joe. We even take the time to go through Facebook just so Joe can find more things to flip out about. If you enjoyed the early episodes than you'll hate this week. We also find out what the hackiest jokes of all time are and we go back to that terrifying time known as "The Start Of Joe's Career".

This week Joe sits down with and gets drunk with Kevin Downey Jr. in his atomic bunker. Brian takes the week off and it's probably for the best. We discuss a terrifying array of topics including Kevin's origins, the many places he's lived, and how hard it is to find someone that hates him. We also discuss all the not really offensive Barron Trump tweets. How far is too far? I can't remember. I also don't remember most of this episode. If you didn't hate Downey or me before this, you will after listening! 

One of Joe's oldest and most unfortunate colleagues, Angry Bob joins us. Joe explains how difficult it is to explain their friendship to people as well as the horrifying reactions people have when his name is spoken. We stopped speaking briefly in 2011, Bob doesn't remember but Mark Hamill does. Brian coughs a lot, and we somehow reference Murder Mysteries yet again. 

First show of 2017 and it's a big one. Rich Walker joins us and Joe grills him on a number of topics. We semi mourn the death of a fellow comedian and Joe waxes poetic about his brief time as a star of Murder Mystery Theater. Brian can't believe it. Also epic rants about a certain comedian who claims to be a millennial. 

Our Christmas show! (Not really) Johnny MacDonald joins us eventually but first Joe completely eviscerates MTV and then we talk about some Brooklyn venue that closed under controversial circumstances. Once again we must guffaw at the term "Comedy Community". When Johnny arrives we talk about comedy club Christmas parties, starting and re-starting comedy, and the world's deadliest roller coasters for some reason. 

After another hiatus Brian and Joe are back with a new episode of "Comedy Sucks". Joe complains about people mispronouncing his name and the word exotic gets thrown around a lot. Tracey Carnazzo joins us and we talk about about making the least amount of money possible doing comedy and then we make fun of a bunch of people we secretly don't like. Just kidding, please book us! 

Stephen Parrillo joins us and mostly depresses us to the point of abandoning the podcast altogether. We talk about his struggles with breaking into the comedy scene, his wardrobe and his obsession with death. Joe talks about some recent terrible gigs and Brian interrupts the show to ask a really basic question. 

This week we ambush TJ Del Reno and harass him about canceling on shows that both Brian and I had him booked on. We quickly make up and then talk about video games, post election hysteria, recycled trolls, and have a semi-awkward conversation about sex. TJ then hijacks the show with awful product placements and Joe finishes telling everyone about his 6 day mini-tour of randomness.

This week Joe is on the road and decides to do an episode of the podcast on his own while staying at the Holiday Inn Express in Mount Pleasant, PA. (Very nice hotel btw) In the first half of the episode Joe talks about his week of shows and then gets infuriated by Brian even though he isn't there. In the second half Joe answers questions that people posted on Facebook and he gets kind of real and aggressive with some of his responses. Listen before podcasts are outlawed! 

Todd Montesi joins us to update his banned list. We talk about Todd's semi-illustrious career and how the business has changed nine different times since he started. After that we rant about sports, energy drinks, Irish bar owners that hate everything, college gigs, and A & E trying to show episodes of "The Sopranos".  If you hated all of our previous episodes then you'll absolutely love this one. 

Anthony DiDomenico joins us so Brian can awkwardly wish him a happy birthday five more times. We discuss Anthony's rise through the Long Island comedy ranks, the decline of the open mic scene and casual racism. Joe also talks about a recent struggle he had getting a sleeping comedian out of his car and we try to figure out why anyone would buy by a Shaq soda. 

Apparently Matt Burke was in the hospital recently and I didn't notice. He was also almost out of comedy 2 years ago and again I did not notice. I always thought I kept pretty good tabs on him but I guess I've been lying to myself. Either way Matt is a guest on our show this week and he's hilarious. We wonder why anyone would want to get into comedy and we discuss the best place to be in the event that martial law goes into effect. It's a very uplifting episode of Comedy Sucks! Listen with the whole family. 

Stephanie Holmes joins us this week to talk about comedy, Indiana, and share war stories about dealing with certain lovable lunatics in the comedy scene. Stephanie and I both almost hated each other when we first met but have been perpetually brought together by my 2008 zombie film "Street Of The Dead". For some reason Brian feels the need to profess his love to everyone we talk about. 

An alarming amount of comedians are Mets fans and Joe Pontillo is one of them. This week we are joined by Billy Kammerer, another comedian/Mets fans who is filled with lots of rage that Joe tries to turn outward into something humorous. This episode is a little different but it is just as dark and hilarious. We mostly talk about our experiences with the Mets and their horrible fans but we touch on a number of topics and check in with Brian to make sure he's OK.

Aldo Marachlian joins us to discuss his struggles with cracking the NYC comedy scene as well as dealing with people who have no idea what nationality he is.  Joe discusses filming his first TV spot and how his mother always reacts to good news with bad news.  And we figure out what's the most distracting thing that can be happening in the audience while you're on stage. Comedy! 

Fresh from his tour of a million states, Dennis Rooney joins us to talk about his journey and how it has changed his life forever. We also get to the bottom of the non-existent Rooney-Hogan feud and Joe talks about how he is being haunted by both a creepy comedian and a creepy family member. 

J.L. Cauvin, the spirit animal of this show joins us to tell us that everything we're doing is wrong. We talk about places that J.L. is banned from and now Brian and Joe might be banned from those clubs as well.  J.L. also explains what's wrong with the NYC comedy scene and Joe decides to go in a different direction with his YouTube account. 

Dennis Holden of Dennis Has A Podcast joins us to discuss comedy, Tony Danza, marathon shows, wrestling and all the questionable people that Joe has met because of Dennis. Joe also ridicules Brian for loudly making fun of a mutual friend while he was five feet away in a car with the window rolled down. And for some reason we discuss the many times that Joe has played Pittsburgh. 

Allan Finn joins us and we do a lot of healing in an attempt to mend some fences within the comedy industry. Allan demands to know who hates him and both he and Joe admit to being raging psychopaths at some point in their careers. We also discuss Allan's time as a Times Square ticket seller and wonder how he didn't get beaten up more often. Brian doesn't say much this episode but he and Joe share a tender but awkward moment. What else would you expect? What a show!

Neil Rubenstein joins us and we talk about something controversial in the comedy community. What a shock!  Neil also tries to get Joe to be less miserable while convincing him that comedy doesn't suck which makes us question the entire basis of the show. And at some point Brian builds up enough courage to ask a question. Special note: While discussing a sensitive subject we chose to bleep out someone's name to protect someone from something, we're not sure what though. 

Brian Hogan returns and Mike Keegan joins us. This week we talk about performing for religious groups and how people always seem to think Joe is Jewish.  Joe talks about some awkward Facebook interactions with other comedians and the word "Balls" is said far too many times. 

Joe is joined by Brian McGuinness who is hot off his new voiceover gig with Elizabeth Banks!  We talk about lots of awful and not so awful past gigs and high five each other over the fact that we both married women who have nothing to do with stand up comedy.