Uploaded November 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Comedian Myq Kaplan joins in Season 3 Episode 4 of Funny You Should Mention for a deep dive into joke logic, philosophy, and the very slippery business of defining who counts as a comedian. Using his new special Rini as a jumping-off point, he and Mike wander through Grecian maxims, the paradox of the heap, why some laughs are closer to enlightenment than punch lines, and how his relationship with Rini turned into a whole cosmology of love, language, and life on stage. Along the way they talk genre, jazz, governing boards of comedy, and what it means to do "Myq and Rini based" comedy instead of fitting into anyone's box. Plus, revisiting Biden world's insistence that the disastrous 2024 debate did not hurt the president in the polls.
Topics include:
• Philosophers, magicians, and the Dr Pepper lawsuit
• The Paradox of the Heap and how relationships change form
• Guinness Records and the line between riffing and punchlines
• Why Barry and Breaking Bad are the same genre
• Language, names, and Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea
• Dave Attell, Maria Bamford, and the Board of Good Comedy
• What comedy would be like without laughter
• The love story behind Rini and the philosophy of monogamy
Watch Myq Kaplan’s special Rini on YouTube: youtube.com/watch?v=y0uf9i_z-Aw
🎧Listen to Funny You Should Mention Here👉open.spotify.com/show/2jJUIUX02jywsGliTYJzKE?si=38048996368f4c59
_______________________
Follow us:
INSTAGRAM:
/ pescagist
TWITTER:
https://x.com/PescaGist
https://x.com/pescami
Visit Mike's website:
mikepesca.com
Join the "Pesca Profundities" membership and get access to the Gist List Newsletter:
mikepesca.substack.com
Get a premium edition of the podcast and help support Mike's work:
subscribe.mikepesca.com
_______________________
CREDITS:
Creator & Host:
Mike Pesca
Producer:
Corey Wara
TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 – Are Comedians Really Philosophers?
04:50 – How Jokes Break the Rules of Language
08:13 – The Paradox of the Heap
10:50 – When Relationships Become Relationships
13:40 – Babies, Phonemes, and How We Learn to Speak
16:50 – Language, Culture, and the Power of Names
20:30 – Ursula K. Le Guin and True Names
22:00 – The Guinness World Record Comedy Show
25:10 – The Twins Bit and Identity
27:40 – Genre Is Marketing (Barry = Breaking Bad)
30:30 – Music, Ritual, and “The Water We Swim In”
32:30 – Raymond Smullyan and Planet Without Laughter
35:11 – Meditation Without Striving (Jhāna)
38:00 – Who Defines “Good Comedy”?
41:10 – Dave Attell and the Art of Testing Jokes
43:40 – Verlyn Klinkenborg and Volunteer Sentences
45:02 – What Comedy Would Be Without Laughter
47:50 – How Comedians Stop Laughing and Start Thinking
50:51 – On Wifely Devotion and “Wife Guy” Culture
54:20 – Myq Kaplan on Polyamory, Monogamy, and “Re-agamous”
58:00 – The Story Behind the Stool in His Special
01:00:40 – How Rini Shapes Myq’s Comedy
01:04:30 – Making Jokes Make Sense
01:08:40 – Stephen Colbert and Dropping the Persona
01:11:47 – A Man Obsessed With Words
01:13:17 – The Comedy Menu (Doubled Through Love)
Comedian Myq Kaplan joins in Season 3 Episode 4 of Funny You Should Mention for a deep dive into joke logic, philosophy, and the very slippery business of defining who counts as a comedian. Using his new special Rini as a jumping-off point, he and Mike wander through Grecian maxims, the paradox of the heap, why some laughs are closer to enlightenment than punch lines, and how his relationship with Rini turned into a whole cosmology of love, language, and life on stage. Along the way they talk genre, jazz, governing boards of comedy, and what it means to do "Myq and Rini based" comedy instead of fitting into anyone's box. Plus, revisiting Biden world's insistence that the disastrous 2024 debate did not hurt the president in the polls.
Topics include:
• Philosophers, magicians, and the Dr Pepper lawsuit
• The Paradox of the Heap and how relationships change form
• Guinness Records and the line between riffing and punchlines
• Why Barry and Breaking Bad are the same genre
• Language, names, and Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea
• Dave Attell, Maria Bamford, and the Board of Good Comedy
• What comedy would be like without laughter
• The love story behind Rini and the philosophy of monogamy
Watch Myq Kaplan’s special Rini on YouTube: youtube.com/watch?v=y0uf9i_z-Aw
🎧Listen to Funny You Should Mention Here👉open.spotify.com/show/2jJUIUX02jywsGliTYJzKE?si=38048996368f4c59
_______________________
Follow us:
INSTAGRAM:
/ pescagist
TWITTER:
https://x.com/PescaGist
https://x.com/pescami
Visit Mike's website:
mikepesca.com
Join the "Pesca Profundities" membership and get access to the Gist List Newsletter:
mikepesca.substack.com
Get a premium edition of the podcast and help support Mike's work:
subscribe.mikepesca.com
_______________________
CREDITS:
Creator & Host:
Mike Pesca
Producer:
Corey Wara
TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 – Are Comedians Really Philosophers?
04:50 – How Jokes Break the Rules of Language
08:13 – The Paradox of the Heap
10:50 – When Relationships Become Relationships
13:40 – Babies, Phonemes, and How We Learn to Speak
16:50 – Language, Culture, and the Power of Names
20:30 – Ursula K. Le Guin and True Names
22:00 – The Guinness World Record Comedy Show
25:10 – The Twins Bit and Identity
27:40 – Genre Is Marketing (Barry = Breaking Bad)
30:30 – Music, Ritual, and “The Water We Swim In”
32:30 – Raymond Smullyan and Planet Without Laughter
35:11 – Meditation Without Striving (Jhāna)
38:00 – Who Defines “Good Comedy”?
41:10 – Dave Attell and the Art of Testing Jokes
43:40 – Verlyn Klinkenborg and Volunteer Sentences
45:02 – What Comedy Would Be Without Laughter
47:50 – How Comedians Stop Laughing and Start Thinking
50:51 – On Wifely Devotion and “Wife Guy” Culture
54:20 – Myq Kaplan on Polyamory, Monogamy, and “Re-agamous”
58:00 – The Story Behind the Stool in His Special
01:00:40 – How Rini Shapes Myq’s Comedy
01:04:30 – Making Jokes Make Sense
01:08:40 – Stephen Colbert and Dropping the Persona
01:11:47 – A Man Obsessed With Words
01:13:17 – The Comedy Menu (Doubled Through Love)
