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Smart Less: JB's Isolation & New Family Surprise

54:27 recording · EN · 4 speakers

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Brief overview

Ike Barinholtz traces his path from Chicago improv and MADtv to The Studio and trivia hosting.

  1. Chicago improv built the whole generationSeeing Tim Meadows, Amy Poehler and Adam McKay at an Improv Olympic anniversary show sent him straight to improv classes.
  2. The leap out of a series costs yearsLeaving MADtv restless for a sitcom, he did not work for about three and a half years before Eastbound and Down.
  3. Reliability keeps you hiredHe says he may not be the best or funniest actor, but he is on time and respectful.
Executive Summary AI
  • After opening banter about granola, yerba mate and Jason's couch-in-the-corner habit of building a cave in every rental, the hosts reveal their surprise guest: Ike Barinholtz, who got his start on MADtv with over 100 episodes, created Running Point with Minda Kaling, and stars in Apple TV's The Studio.6:00
  • Ike joins from a London hotel room, mic taped to his roller bag, because The Studio is up for a BAFTA in the best foreign show category against BBC One shows nobody in the States knows.17:08
  • He went to Boston University intending to be a politician, lost the first semester to pot, mushrooms and watching 2001 seven or eight times, hid it from his parents, and learned he was expelled on the way to a reward trip to Las Vegas, then took a three-hour Southwest flight of his father asking how could you do this to us.24:02
  • MADtv was his first gig, hired alongside Josh Meyers for five years, followed by three and a half years of no work, then Danny McBride's Eastbound and Down and six seasons of The Mindy Project, which led to writing and creating shows with partner Dave Stassen.28:08
  • He closes by running the hosts through a trivia round for his solo weekly podcast Funny You Ask, where Jason takes Oldsmobile, the Maritimes, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Westminster Abbey.40:44
Key Quote
“We got nominated for a bloody BAFTA.”
— Ike Barinholtz17:11
Key Quote
“And I did five years on Mad TV.”
— Ike Barinholtz28:13
Key Quote
“They are 8, 10, and soon to be 13.”
— Ike Barinholtz36:44