Years ago, at the height of his success, Anthony Jeselnik couldn’t sleep. It was making him crazy. Hoping to find relief, the comedian sought help from a therapist he assumed would guide him back to a healthy sleep schedule. Instead, he encountered an apathy that stunned him.
“So what?” he recalls her saying. “So what if you don’t sleep? If you wake up, read a book. Find ways to be productive in your loneliness.”
Anthony Jeselnik grows earnest when he talks about his love for books.
(Ariana Drehsler / For The Times)
The advice resonated. Today, the comedian is still reading alone, only now he has a dog — and an audience. A lifelong reader, Jeselnik has transformed his literary habit into a popular online book club, Jeselnik Book Club, where he recommends novels and invites discussion on his YouTube channel. His first video, posted in January and reviewing Jim Thompson’s “The Getaway,” garnered over 31,000 views. Each month, he chooses a novel and offers it up for discussion.
“My goal was to curate and give people their best shot at enjoying reading,” he says. It’s a valiant effort, considering that reading has been in a steady decline. Last year, it was reported that the number of American readers had declined by 40% over the previous two decades.
“People will say, ‘Oh, I don’t like reading books.’ You’re choosing the wrong books,” says Jeselnik, his voice likely ringing with his signature snark because he, for the most part, knows otherwise. In 2022, bestselling writer Isaac Fitzgerald, who recently released the anticipated “American Rambler: Walking the Trail of Johnny Appleseed,” witnessed the power of a Jeselnik recommendation.
“It helps with the masculinity crisis in that reading is masculine. It is a masculine thing to do,” Anthony Jeselnik argues, advocating that young men trade online conspiracy forums for literature.
(Ariana Drehsler / For The Times)
“A friend texted me that Anthony Jeselnik, a comedian whom I loved — but had never met nor interacted with — shouted out his love of my memoir, ‘Dirtbag, Massachusetts,’ on his podcast. I was thrilled,” Fitzgerald says. “At my events, both in Chicago and throughout the rest of that year, more and more people in my signing lines told me they’d heard of the book from Jeselnik’s podcast. I was also buoyed by how many of the people in the signing lines were young men.”
Since then, despite Jeselnik’s self-proclaimed loner status, Fitzgerald and Jeselnik have struck up a friendship. “The man is a real lover of books, with excellent taste and, unsurprisingly, confidence in his convictions,” Fitzgerald says. Earlier this year, the author held a book launch event for “American Rambler” at Skylight Books in Los Feliz. Jeselnik hosted. “I think he may have single-handedly invented a new way to do literary events. I don’t know what to call it … a literary roast?” Fitzgerald says. “Everyone laughed for an hour straight.”
In a sun-drenched luxury apartment above Hollywood Boulevard, Jeselnik explains that he mostly avoids the press — because he says he’s become weary of cancel culture and identity politics, conversations that have mired comedy.
Still, he welcomes the chance to discuss books, his voice swelling with excitement at the mention of authors Emily St. John Mandel and Ottessa Moshfegh — both personal favorites. Almost an hour into the conversation, the comedian reveals that he has Joan Didion’s author photo tattooed on his chest. His hand rests on his heart as he evangelizes her writing — a surprisingly tender moment of sentimentality from a comedian who has made a career out of stinging misanthropy.
“She has the cleanest prose. I think she’s the best writer of all time,” Jeselnik says. “I’ve read all of her novels, a lot of her essays. Her book about her husband dying is one of the most heartbreaking books.”
In fact, Didion is a natural match for the comedian. He is renowned for his precise and restrained use of language, delivering provocative truths about people’s ugliest impulses and asking the audience to laugh at them.
In the comedy world, Jeselnik has become legendary for his razor-edged one-liners, each joke ending with a dark reversal. He’s gained a reputation as the provocative bad boy of comedy with irresistible charm. Over the course of his career, he has enjoyed toying with this stage persona, which he jokes is that of a “borderline psychopath.” His roast of Donald Trump catapulted him to stardom, and he has released five hourlong comedy specials, the most recent of which, “Bones and All,” debuted in 2024. On Instagram, he has over 1 million followers.
“I was trying to be the devil onstage and somehow ended up as likable anyway,” he says of his storied career. This interests him in literature too — transcending reputation through good art. “Edgar Allan Poe wrote these books about psychopaths and killers. Authors do not equal their persona.”
“I’m trying to make reading cool again,” Anthony Jeselnik says. “Reading is a solitary act in the way that stand-up comedy is a solitary art form.”
(Ariana Drehsler / For The Times)
Jeselnik’s book club recommendations are eclectic and literary — the kind of titles name-dropped in MFA writing workshops and met with impressed nods at dinner parties. Most recently, he recommended “Stoner” by John Williams, “Dept. of Speculation” by Jenny Offill, and “Paradais” by Fernanda Melchor. He curates his recommendations painstakingly, choosing brisk reads of around 250 pages that he hopes will hook new readers.
“I’m trying to make reading cool again,” Jeselnik notes. “Reading is a solitary act in the way that stand-up comedy is a solitary art form.”
He hopes his fan base embraces a life of reading. Similarly, in 2025, comedian John Mulaney also began recommending books on social media. “There are so few books for guys that are literary. There’s a lot of John Grisham and Jack Reacher, but there’s not something literary that a guy can sink his teeth into,” Jeselnik says. “If it’s well written, and the writer is great, then I’ll go on any kind of journey they take me on. I don’t always understand everything that I read, either. But reading a great writer, it’s like listening to classical music.”
With anti-intellectualism in comedy on the rise, he says his book club stands as an antidote to the manosphere. Young men passing time on conspiracy theory-infested corners of Reddit should instead pick up a novel, the comedian argues. “It helps with the masculinity crisis in that reading is masculine. It is a masculine thing to do,” he says. “The Hemingways of the world were out there. It used to be a badass thing to be a writer, and a brave thing to put your thoughts onto the page and publish them.”
The comedian has been a voracious reader since childhood. When he was in a Montessori school, the teachers discovered that reading would soothe Jeselnik. “I could go sit in a corner, and you can be a juvenile delinquent reading juvenile delinquent books.” Reading gave him a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction that followed him into early adulthood — a penchant he would like to stoke in his fans.
Early on, when Jeselnik discovered Bret Easton Ellis’ work, it felt revelatory. “Once you got outside of the curriculum, it was revolutionary to me to read Bret Easton Ellis; to read about sex, gay sex, to read about drugs, and people, young people, doing this was fascinating.”
Starting a book club felt like a natural progression for Jeselnik’s decadelong career, he explains. “In terms of how I do things and my approach to stand-up, instead of doing a podcast, having a book club seems like a natural extension of that.” There’s an earnestness in his appreciation of great literature that translates to his videos. “You can tell that I like the book and want people to enjoy it at the same level.”
Jeselnik, 47, imagines his comedy career is winding down. Thankfully for his fans, he has other creative ambitions. “I’d love to take a crack at either short stories or writing a novel.”
He reflects on the trend of comedians who, later in their careers, seek new legitimacy. “You see a guy like Jim Carrey: the last thing he wants to do is make anyone laugh anymore. He wants to be taken so seriously,” he says. Jeselnik believes his stage persona spared him from that particular crisis of self. “People are afraid of me. Fans who approach me are careful because my stage persona is borderline psychopath,” he says. “I don’t feel that same need to be taken seriously. I think I am taken seriously.”
His comedic sensibility explores cruelty, shock, transgressions and antiheroes — and it’s also what continues to draw him to literature. “I love bank robbers. I love the idea of the villain winning. That is revolutionary to me. You’re raised on TV, and things have to be wrapped up in half an hour, and the moral has to hold,” Jeselnik says. “I love that books don’t have to play by those rules.”
Connors is a culture journalist in L.A. She covers books, food, entertainment and offbeat Los Angeles. She’s currently at work on a book of essays about tourism in all its forms.
Madison Square Garden. Decades before the July 3 wedding of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce catapulted the venue into a new category of global prominence, the Manhattan arena loomed large as a symbol of success.
For the select list of comedians who have sold out the place, filling the arena is considered a pinnacle of achievement. It’s a triumph so encompassing that it inspired the central plot of the final season of “Hacks,” as Jean Smart’s veteran stand-up Deborah Vance demonstrates she’ll do just about anything to sell out the Garden — including putting herself in a glass cube above the Las Vegas Strip and almost perishing up there. “She needs a legacy-defining win, something that’s going to be the inarguable lead to her obituary,” says Paul W. Downs during a Zoom call with his “Hacks” co-creators Lucia Aniello and Jen Statsky.
“With Deborah, she likes to go big and Madison Square Garden is big,” adds Statsky. “It’s a testament to what an iconic place it is because we were like, ‘There’s one option here and it’s MSG.’”
So what does it really take to sell out MSG? Back in the day, a comedian could go on “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson” and become nationally known. Now, YouTube subscribers and TikTok followers are part of the equation, along with specials on Netflix, HBO and Hulu. The road to MSG is a long one, with few shortcuts. It usually begins with years of playing club dates, then theaters and larger arenas, creating demand. But the payoff is substantial: With 15,000 to 20,000 seats depending on the configuration, a single night can gross up to $3 million in ticket sales. Then, a streaming platform might fork over $5 million to $20 million for exclusive taped performance rights. Plus, there’s the unquantifiable: “Venues often come and go,” says Aniello, “but Madison Square Garden feels like forever. The name itself has remained protected as this kind of sacred thing.”
Only about 20 comedians have ever achieved the milestone, including the likes of Eddie Murphy, Steve Martin, Chris Rock and Amy Schumer — the only woman in this elite group. The Envelope spoke to six of them to understand what it takes and how it feels to reach comedy’s Promised Land.
Max Amini
(Frazer Harrison / Getty Images)
Number of sellouts: 1 Date: Feb. 15, 2026 Max Amini Tour
“No one sells out Madison Square Garden alone. Behind every artist is an audience that believed before the rest of the world caught on, a family that sacrificed, a team that worked tirelessly. I’m incredibly proud of my team because they believed in this vision long before Madison Square Garden was even a conversation. One of the greatest lessons I’ve learned is that success is never built by one person. It’s built by people who trust one another, challenge one another, and refuse to let each other settle for less than excellence.”
Nate Bargatze
(Jason Kempin / Getty Images)
Number of sellouts: 3 Dates: Sept. 26 and 27 (two shows), 2025 Big Dumb Eyes World Tour
“I believed I could make a career out of stand-up comedy when I was in my 20s, even when it sounded like a crazy thing to do. I was just hoping somebody would come to the show. You spend so many years doing clubs it’s hard to picture anything bigger than that, until it happens. … Selling out Madison Square Garden, let alone selling it out three times, wasn’t something I ever expected, but it was the result of believing in stand-up, believing people still want to get out of the house and laugh together, and believing in hard work each and every day.”
Dane Cook
(Jesse Grant / Getty Images)
Number of sellouts: 3 Dates: Nov. 12, 2006 (two shows) and Nov. 9, 2009 Rough Around the Edges Tour,Isolated Incident Tour
“When I think of history and legendary artists selling out, it’s the greatest honor of my career. To get to experience that even once, it’s an achievement that forever changes how your career is viewed. I’m standing backstage in the hallway looking at all the photos, it’s like getting an energy massage, realizing the history of this incredible edifice. In my quiet moment pre-show, realizing I’m in rare air, I wanted to enjoy it as much as possible. It is a privilege. When I let the crowd know we got there together, I can still feel the energy in my chest.”
Jim Gaffigan
(Jamie McCarthy / Getty Images for Bob Woodruff Foundation)
Number of sellouts: 1 Date: Dec. 12, 2015 Contagious Tour
“I never thought selling out MSG was a possibility. When I started stand-up it was an unrealistic goal for any comedian. Having lived in NYC for three decades, MSG had exceeded its legendary status for me. MSG is where I brought my kids to see the Knicks and Rangers play. It’s where I saw Bruce Springsteen. Pulling off a sellout seemed like a gamble but worth it. There is something special about an audience seeing you at MSG. I think people coming to the show understand there is a special-event status to a show at MSG.”
Matt Rife
(Ethan Miller / Getty Images)
Number of sellouts: 2 Dates: July 18 and 19, 2025 Stay Golden World Tour
“MSG is the top of the mountain. It symbolizes the pinnacle of ticket-selling success as a comedian. If you can sell out the world’s most famous arena, in the toughest city in America … you’ve made it. For me it was beyond a dream come true. Growing up I always thought selling out comedy clubs was the ceiling for success for stand-up comedians. I never thought I’d be one of them. To not only sell it out twice, but to be the youngest comedian to ever sell it out … it’s still hard to comprehend. It feels like a literal dream, that I can’t remember if it actually happened or not.”
Andrew Schulz
(Bryan Bedder / Getty Images for Food Bank for NYC)
Number of sellouts: 2 Dates: May 3 and 4, 2024 The Life Tour
“I am born and raised in NYC. My dad had so much respect for MSG he would make me wear a collared shirt whenever we stepped in that building. This place had holy significance to me before I knew I wanted to be a comic. Once I decided to make comedy my life I had one goal. It was to sell out MSG … wearing a collared shirt of course. I thought about walking onto that stage every single day for 17 years straight. And then it happened. Dreams do come true.”
Adam Rowe joined BBC Breakfast presenters Emma Vardy and Roger Johnson on the famous red sofa to discuss his thoughts on the cancellation of Live at the Apollo.
Adam Rowe shared his take on the cancellation of BBC’s Live at the Apollo(Image: BBC)
A comedian has shared his thoughts on the axe of BBC’s Live at the Apollo, arguing that comedy audiences still “need something”.
34-year-old stand-up comic Adam Rowe appeared on Sunday’s instalment of BBC Breakfast to discuss his career highlights at the Apollo.
Talking to news presenters Emma Vardy and Roger Johnson, Adam said he wasn’t “surprised” the BBC decided to let the show go.
However, he did mention that it would still be good to have a programme that showcases talent live on stage. He said: “It was a massive platform.
“I think it should still be there; I think there should be a home for British stand-up.” He later added: “We need something. We need something like ‘you can watch the best of British stand-up here’ and if it’s not going to be Live at the Apollo, it’s going to have to be an independent that does it online. Maybe YouTube or something.”
The star also added that Live at the Apollo introduced a whole “generation” into the world of stand-up comedy, adding: “It’s not going to be there now.”
After more than two decades, it was recently announced that Live at the Apollo has become the latest casualty of the broadcaster’s cost-cutting plans. The stand-up series, filmed at London’s iconic Hammersmith Apollo, will not return after its next run, the BBC has confirmed.
The decision forms part of wider savings measures as the corporation looks to reduce spending by hundreds of millions of pounds in the coming years. Describing the move as a “difficult decision”, BBC bosses paid tribute to the programme’s legacy, highlighting its role in introducing audiences to both established comedy stars and rising performers in a prime-time slot.
Since launching in 2004, Live at the Apollo has become one of the broadcaster’s most enduring entertainment shows. It has also provided a platform for countless stand-up comics and helped many of them rise to mainstream success.
Before the curtain falls, one final series will be recorded at the Hammersmith Apollo later this year, giving the long-running format a final send-off.
Despite the bad news, Live at the Apollo is not the only show to be affected by the changes. The BBC has also confirmed that Blankety Blank and Celebrity Mastermind have been dropped as part of the same round of cuts.
Part of an official statement from the BBC reads as follows: “We are incredibly proud of all three of these much-loved shows and would like to thank everyone involved, both in front of and behind the camera, for bringing them to screen and making them such a success over many years.”
BRIT comedian Alex Kealy and his wife Mhairi Beveridge have announced the arrival of their baby girl.
He took to Instagram to share the news with his fans as he unveiled the first pictures of the little bundle of joy.
Comedian Alex Kealy has announced the birth of his baby girlCredit: Instagram/@alexkealy/@mhairibeveridgeHe and his little girl twinned in matching England topsCredit: Instagram/@alexkealy/@mhairibeveridge
In one video, she could be seen fast asleep as her little chest moved up and down slowly.
The stand-up star also shared pictures of himself and Mhairi posing with their baby daughter.
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In one snap, Alex and the baby twinned in matching England tops as he tuned into a match.
Revealing her name, he captioned the post: “She’s here and she’s huge!
“Our daughter Ada Robyn Kealy arrived last week weighing 9lb3oz. We love our pig.”
His fans flocked to the comments section to congratulate the pair as one gushed: “Congratulations she’s beautiful.”
Another person enthused: “She’s gorgeous!!! Look at her hair! A princess! Biggest congratulations to you both Alex!!!”
Somebody else commented: “What a cutie pie.”
Alex’s wife Mhairi posed with her little girlCredit: Instagram/@alexkealy/@mhairibeveridgeFans and well-wishers flocked to the comments section to congratulate the coupleCredit: Instagram/@alexkealy/@mhairibeveridge
Yet another penned: “She is gorgeous! Look at that hair!!!”
While a fifth added: “Congratulations mate! Very happy for you.”
Alex rose to prominence as a comedian after reaching the final of the prestigious So You Think You’re Funny? competition.
He debuted his first show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2016.
Alex is a writer and regular contributor for BBC Two’s Mock The Week.
The performer and his wife Mhairi tied the knot in June 2024 as he revealed the news on Instagram a few weeks later.
He shared snaps of them from their big day as he told his fans: “Belated “I got married last month and it was the best day of my life”
“Post: snaps from ceremony and speeches (Mhairi’s was so good it led to panicked last minute rewrites from those who had to follow her).”
Alex has previously revealed that the pair met on on X, formerly known as Twitter.
During his Edinburgh Festival Fringe show The Fear in 2024, he joked that he now sees X as “a dating app where people should create an account, get a wife, and then leave.”
Martin Mull was best known to audiences for playing comedic characters like Col. Mustard in “Clue” and Gene Parmesan in “Arrested Development,” but a new exhibit opening next year at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art seeks to elevate the role Mull was most proud to inhabit: a respected painter.
“Martin Mull: The Joys of Indoor/Outdoor Living,” co-curated by comedian Steve Martin and Hammer Museum Director Emerita Ann Philbin, comes to SBMA next June and runs through October. It will be the first major museum exhibition of Mull’s artwork in 20 years.
The paintings featured include scenes of unassuming houses visited by otherworldly guests, dead-eyed office workers, gravity-defying displays and lambs being led to the slaughter. They play with perspective, color, space and time to illuminate postwar American tensions, be they racial, political or existential.
“Martin Mull’s work as an artist will certainly be his primary legacy,” Martin said in a statement. “After a full-time career in painting, in the last 20 years of his life with his technical gifts fully developed, Martin’s art coalesced into tight, narrative paintings of a peculiar nature. Combining surreal elements with family idioms, he formed his own worried portrayal of American life.”
Martin Mull’s “Band on the Run,” 2014. Oil on panel.
(Estate of Martin Mull)
The exhibit, which will take over the museum’s 6,000 square feet of main galleries, will feature more than 50 paintings and drawings by Mull, most of which come from the artist’s estate and the private collections of Mull’s entertainment industry colleagues, including Steve Martin, Jennifer Tilly, and Ted and Nicole Sarandos .
“Steve talked about how Mull’s painting practice was his deepest passion, despite the fact that his fame was as an actor and comedian. It prompted me to do a little research, and I became very intrigued by his body of work. I wrote to Steve, ‘Martin Mull. There’s something there.’ That’s how the project began,” she said.
Along with Martin and Philbin, the upcoming exhibition is led by SBMA Chief Curator James Glisson and Amada Cruz, the museum’s director and CEO. In a news release, a museum spokesperson said Mull’s work “upsets any storybook picture of perfection” and resists nostalgia while acknowledging its allure.
Martin Mull’s “Envy,” 2008, from the series “Seven Deadly Sins.” Oil on linen.
(Estate of Martin Mull)
“It’s so deeply strange — dark and funny, hopeful and menacing all at once,” Philbin said. “The paintings are about the smoldering tensions that underlie the American dream, so I think it’s a particularly apt moment to bring them back into the public eye.”
Mull, who died in 2024, received his master of fine arts degree in painting from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1967. Though he went on to craft a career in the public eye as a musician, comedian and actor, painting remained his “true vocation.”
Martin, a longtime friend of the multidisciplinary artist, echoed this sentiment in an email to The Times.
“If a comedian says he is also a painter, run. Except this once.”
After his Netflix roast inspired tit-for-tat feuding among comedians and backlash from viewers over a joke about George Floyd, Kevin Hart’s stance is clear: All is fair in love, war and comedy.
During a Tuesday appearance on “The Breakfast Club,” Hart addressed the controversy stemming from Netflix’s “Roast of Kevin Hart,” which aired earlier this month and included material that shocked viewers. Tony Hinchcliffe, who helms the No. 1 live podcast in the world, “Kill Tony,” applied his politically incorrect approach to comedy that similarly outraged audiences at a 2024 campaign rally for then-presidential candidate Donald Trump.
“The Black community is so proud of you right now,” he quipped at Hart. “George Floyd is looking up at us all, laughing so hard that he can’t breathe.”
In 2020, Floyd was murdered by police Officer Derek Chauvin, who pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes, until he died. His last words were “I can’t breathe,” which he said more than 20 times. The killing sparked global unrest and the largest civil rights protest since the 1960s. Hart attended Floyd’s memorial and private service in Minneapolis.
“The George Floyd joke, it wasn’t a tasteful joke to our culture,” Hart told the podcast. “But our audience that’s watching the roast … you get why they’re doing it, you get why the racial humor is on the table.”
Hart continued that the approach to comedy is nothing new and said, “Tony Hinchcliffe arguably had the best set, or one of the best sets.”
“Would I tell those jokes? No, but do I get why they’re being told? Yes,” Hart said.
Floyd’s brother, Terrence Floyd, spoke with “Breakfast Club” host Loren LoRosa after the roast aired and said that he expected Hart to step in and tell Hinchcliffe he’d gone too far.
“What do you want me to do? Drag him off?” Hart asked during his appearance on the podcast. “That’s not what I agreed to do. That’s not the job at hand. The job at hand was to produce a successful roast, which I did.”
Not only has the Netflix roast caused a stir among viewers, but the comedians who participated also have been trading slights in recent weeks. Chelsea Handler didn’t mince words when she offered her take on Hinchcliffe, as well as Shane Gillis, who also performed a set during the roast. According to Handler, ex-girlfriends of the controversial comedians slid into her DMs and told her what she said she already knew about them.
“They’re racist,” she said during an appearance on Deon Cole’s “Funny Knowing You” podcast. “That they’re bigots, that they’re sexist, that they think they’re like invincible.”
Handler said that one of Gillis’ jokes about lynching Hart was “worse than rape.” In response, Gillis told the Hollywood Reporter in a statement that Handler was capitalizing on the moment.
On Monday’s episode of “Kill Tony,” Hinchcliffe responded to Handler’s remarks by calling her “a bit of a c—. “
