WATCH: Joe Exotic calls in from prison to share his thoughts on the 2024 election: ‘There’s not an inmate in here shooting for Harris'
The year 2020, for all the disaster and chaos it ushered in, did give us at least one good thing: “Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness” — the Netflix sensation that enthralled Americans with its eccentric cast and big cat drama. The show garnered nearly 35 million views in the first 10 days after its release, but after the star of the show — Joe Exotic — went to jail for his murder-for-hire scheme, the nation largely moved on from Joseph Maldonado.
However, in 2023, Exotic somewhat re-emerged in public discourse when he announced his intentions to run for president in 2024. Although his campaign fizzled out earlier this year, he is still watching the race closely.
On the last episode of “Normal World,” Dave Landau and 1/4 Black Garrett received a phone call from none other than the Tiger King himself.
Joe Exotic Calls in to Talk Kamala Harris & Prison Reform | Ep 157youtu.be
“Were you hoping for a VP spot?” Dave asked Joe.
“I’m hoping for a cabinet position,” Exotic responded, adding that he hopes to become the “director of Fish and Wildlife.”
“Who is your favorite candidate right now, other than yourself?” Dave asked next.
“We have to get Trump in there because Harris is gonna get us killed. Her and Biden’s been in there for almost four years. ... A couple hundred military bases worldwide have been been attacked of ours and we ain't done s**t about it. We're in the middle of Ukraine; we're in the middle of Israel bulls**t. Russia, China, and Iran and ISIS and them will steamroll her. There's no way they're going to take her serious,” Exotic railed.
“Do you think it's odd that Biden just all of a sudden stepped down and out of nowhere we're being forced to kind of believe that [Kamala Harris] was always the person for the job?” asked Dave, pointing out the buzz about Kamala being a DEI hire.
“I don't think that she was always the person to run. I think [Biden] really wanted to do it himself. I think old age caught up with him a little faster than he thought it would, and I think the only reason that she is even picked to even run as the nominee is because she is black and she is a woman.”
“Look, above all else, it don't matter if you're shooting for the economy to straighten up, world peace, or whatever — all they care about is that a black woman becomes president,” Exotic explained, adding that, “in [prison], Trump has every black vote.”
“There’s not an inmate in here shooting for Harris or Biden. She spent half of her life putting black people in prison that couldn’t afford to fight the fight,” he continued, noting that Harris and Biden’s promises of “prison reform” came to naught.
“With the inmates in there, is that their biggest issue — drug reform? Or do they want prison reform more than anything?” was Dave’s follow up question.
“We live like river rats, man — the mold, the broken down facilities, the electrical problems. We have 300 [people] and 6, 7, 8 toilets ... The food is pathetic, the medical care is pathetic,” said Exotic, adding that “there’s more drugs in here than the whole city of Wynnewood, Oklahoma.”
“When I get out of here, my goal is to testify in front of Congress about what goes on in here,” he told Dave.
As for his Trump endorsement, Exotic claimed that “the best thing [he’s] ever heard come out of Trump's mouth in a long time is if he becomes president he's going to shut down the camps and the halfway houses and send everybody home because if you can qualify to go to a camp, go home and work and support your family. Quit making the taxpayers pay this bill.”
To hear more of the conversation, including where the Tiger King is at in his trial, watch the episode above.
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Anti-woke comedy wins as Matt Rife, Tom Segura, and Shane Gillis specials dominate Netflix viewership
The biggest comedy specials on Netflix are predominantly from the most politically incorrect comedians, according to recent numbers released by the platform.
Comedians Matt Rife, Tom Segura, and Shane Gillis had the biggest streaming numbers for stand-up comedy specials on Netflix in the latter half of 2023, capitalizing on what most feel like is a return to uncensored comedy.
Rife has been particularly successful after "Matt Rife: Natural Selection" dominated streaming with a total of 13.5 millions hours watched on Netflix. Variety reported the special garnered over 10 million views in its first few weeks. It also reached the Netflix top 10 in 42 countries.
This parlayed into two more comedy specials on the platform for Rife, and according to Deadline, he is in the development stage for a sitcom with Netflix.
Rife had previously faced cancelation attempts for making a joke about a Baltimore waitress with a black eye. After the media's attempt to re-educate him, Rife posted an image from his stand-up special on his social media page with the caption, "If you've ever been offended by a joke I've told — here's a link to my official apology."
The link read, "Tap to solve your issue." Anyone who clicked was sent to a website selling "special needs helmets."
'It seems to me that there's always been policing of comedy, of there being ... guardrails.'
Second on Netflix's stand-up viewership was Segura's "Sledgehammer," which was watched for 12.2 million hours.
Not only has Segura had a slew of successful specials and two top-50 comedy podcasts, he has also managed to take unique ideas on the road. Along with athletes and fellow comedians, Segura recently hosted a "Punt, Pass, and Kick" event that blurred the lines between comedy and live entertainment.
The comic successfully capitalized on Super Bowl week in Las Vegas by holding the football-themed event. He also did promotions with MGM, hosted a blackjack tournament, and performed a stand-up show.
While Segura is rarely seen as offensive, he certainly does not play by the rules. His circle of friends that include Bert Kreischer, Joe Rogan, and more, also do not appeal to woke audiences
The same cannot be said for the third-highest ranking special on Netflix, Gillis' "Beautiful Dogs."
The words "retarded," "gay," and impressions of Donald Trump all make it into Gillis' typical shows, and that included his appearance as the host of "Saturday Night Live" in February 2024.
Gillis explained that he chose to hide some of his choice words from his rehearsal but added that "the right people" knew what he was going to say. The earth-shattering appearance landed him a new special on Netflix, along with the platform picking up his show "Tires," which debuted in May 2024.
Rounding out the top-viewed comedy specials was a surprising entry called "Where Was I" from former Comedy Central host Trevor Noah. It had 6.3 million hours watched.
Not so surprising, however, was Ricky Gervais' "Armageddon" and Dave Chappelle's "The Dreamer."
The numbers for those two were actually shocking given Gervais' special came out Christmas Day 2023 and Chappelle's a few days later on New Year's Eve. The specials garnered 8.4 million and 2.1 million hours watched, respectively, before 2023 ended.
Gervais, who has always been against political correctness, recently said he felt like the left wing has positioned themselves as the arbiter of comedy.
"It seems to me that there's always been policing of comedy, of there being ... guardrails," he told Fox News. "I think the difference is that it used to feel like it was the Right that was policing it. It feels like it’s the Left that’s doing it now, and it’s allowed the Right to become the arbiters of free speech. Which does feel like quite a significant shift."
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Will banning TikTok actually make a difference? 4 comedians weigh in
As debates rage over the TikTok bill, which would force the app’s Chinese parent, ByteDance, to sell the app, people find themselves conflicted.
On one hand, TikTok allows China to collect and store Americans’ data, which could pose a national security threat. Further, it paves the way for Chinese propaganda to be fed to the American people.
On the other side of the argument are those who cite the First Amendment as proof that a ban would be unlawful. It would also kneecap millions of businesses and influencers who depend on the app for revenue.
So what’s the right answer? Here’s what four comedians have to say.
“I don’t think it’s a good platform. I don’t think it’s healthy for people, but the only reason they want to ban it is because they can’t monetize it in that short amount of time,” says Matt McClowry, who ultimately thinks the app “shouldn’t be banned.“
Dave Landau agrees – “There’s nothing behind [the ban] that is ... reasonable,” especially considering that “[China is] already taking our information” via other data sources.
Bridget Phetasy speculates that those in government who are pushing the ban are just threatened that China has some control over the narrative – “We are the ones who will be in control of the propaganda here, not you, China,” she mocks.
“I don’t want it banned,” says ¼ Black Garrett, because “[TikTok users] are just gonna flock to Twitter.”
“Somebody had a really funny underrated joke on Twitter, and they said, ‘[A ban] will solve the fast food worker shortage,”’ laughs Bridget, adding that food servers will be “popping and locking” while you’re trying to order.
“Can I get a number two when you’re done twerking?” laughs Dave.
However, censorship is another thing to consider.
“Literally, one in every two videos I post ends up getting taken down,” says Dave.
“You just have this AI robot arbitrarily deciding things are inappropriate, which is how we're gonna all die,” says Matt.
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Kate Middleton supposedly spotted over the weekend, but wild conspiracy theories continue to circulate
After nearly four months of not being photographed, the Princess of Wales has finally been spotted, or so the U.K.’s Sun Newspaper reports.
According to various accounts, Kate and Prince William were seen shopping together at the Windsor Farm Shop over the weekend. Kate is supposedly happy and healthy following her abdominal surgery that took place in January.
But skepticism surrounding the princess’ whereabouts, her health, her marriage, and the potential the media is covering up a massive scandal continues to circulate.
“I’ve read so many conspiracy theories,” Bridget Phetasy tells Dave Landau and ¼ Black Garrett.
One such theory is that the Mother’s Day photograph of Kate and her three children was photoshopped to include Kate.
“Is she the floating head?” asks Dave.
Another theory is that “[Kate] is missing” because she’s “a non-royal,” and “bad things happen if you don’t marry your cousin,” says Bridget.
Supposedly, Kate’s royal duties will resume following Easter, however.
“A Kensington Palace announcement on January 17 [stated] that Kate Middleton had undergone a planned abdominal surgery ... and would not take part in royal duties until after Easter,” reads Dave.
“I guess she’ll rise again,” he jokes.
To hear the cast’s theories on Kate Middleton’s mysterious withdrawal from society, watch the video below.
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HILARIOUS: BlazeTV comedian roasts Biden’s SOTU address — 'His cabinet? What is it, Imodium and Tylenol?
“Every time you find humor in a difficult situation, you win.”
If this proverb is true, then Dave Landau won big last night with his commentary on Biden’s State of the Union address.
It’s an understatement to say the president’s speech was “a difficult situation” — a cataclysmic nightmare is perhaps a better descriptor. All the more credit to Dave.
Somehow, his comedy was able to bring light to Biden’s droning monologue about increased funding for Ukraine, enshrining abortion, and the danger of Trumpers, among other subjects.
Before the address even began, Dave set in on Sleepy Joe, first pointing out the president’s tardiness.
“Do you think they pulled over at a gas station and they're changing him on a Koala table?” he asked, adding that Biden’s doctor was probably preparing him for the speech by hooking him up “to a morphine drip, except it has to be meth.”
As for the audience members, Dave said, “What I love is what [Biden’s] done with diversity. Like, if you look at the room right now, it looks like a Joseph A. Bank fitting room in Salt Lake City.”
“Usually when there's this many well-dressed 80-year-olds in a room, somebody's getting embalmed,” he added.
Biden’s cabinet didn’t escape Dave’s caustic humor either.
“His cabinet? What is it, Imodium and Tylenol?”
As the president made his way to the podium, the audience erupted in applause. To that, Dave asked, “What are you clapping for? That he hasn’t fallen?”
“The only way that he could look more … ‘with it’ is if Mitch McConnell opens for him and closes with a stroke.”
And that’s just before the speech began.
To hear seven hilarious minutes of Dave’s best moments from last night’s SOTU roast, watch the clip below.
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Comedian Ricky Gervais slams critics of his latest Netflix stand-up special, vows to ignore them: 'Please don't watch'
The latest stand-up comedy special from comedian Ricky Gervais hasn't even been released yet. However, that hasn't stopped critics from feigning outrage over the comedian's stand-up routine, and even launching a petition to remove a joke from the comedy special from Netflix.
A Change.org petition with nearly 13,000 signatures is demanding Netflix "remove Ricky Gervais's offensive skit mocking terminally ill children" from his new "Armageddon" comedy special being released on Christmas day.
"I am writing this petition as a parent whose child, bravely battled cancer," the person who started the petition wrote. "The recent skit by Ricky Gervais on Netflix, where he refers to terminally ill children as 'baldy,' is not just disrespectful but also deeply hurtful. It mocks the courage and resilience of these young fighters who face their illness with grace and beauty despite their baldness."
"We believe that comedy should never come at the expense of someone else's pain or suffering – especially when it involves innocent children battling life-threatening illnesses," the petition stated.
Other critics have slammed Gervais for using a pejorative term for someone with a mental disability or who is considered stupid.
Gervais addressed the controversy in a recent interview on BBC Radio 5 Live's "Headliners" podcast, and said offending people is an "occupational hazard" for a comedian. He also said that "99 percent of it" is "faux offense."
Gervais said he is "playing a role" in his stand-up comedy, like an actor portrays a character in a movie.
"I'm literally saying in the joke that I don’t do that. But people have a reaction," Gervais said. "They don’t analyze it. They feel something – that’s what offense is. It’s a feeling. That’s why ‘I’m offended’ is quite meaningless. What do you want me to change?"
"They’re not really offended," the brash comedian stated. "They just want to be heard."
"Of all the millions of people that watched it and loved it, only a few don’t like it," Gervais continued. "If I give them special attention and try and placate them, I’ve annoyed the other millions of people that got the joke. They go, 'No, you’ve ruined it for us!'"
"I've got a duty to the people that like it and get it. I wouldn’t sit down with a heckler would I? If I’m playing to 20,000 people, I wouldn’t stop the show and explain to them. I ignore them," he added.
"I can play to a million people, I won’t get a complaint," the stand-up comedian explained. "As soon as it goes on Netflix or as soon as someone writes up a joke that says this is offensive, people go, ‘Oh, that’s offensive.’ They haven’t even heard the joke. They weren’t there. Ignore them. They don’t count. They have no effect on me. They don’t count. They’re hecklers."
"They just want a reaction … being ignored has the same psychological effect as being slapped in the face. So I really, really enjoy ignoring people,” Gervais declared.
"Some people think that a joke is a window to the comedian’s true soul," Gervais said. "It's just not true. It’s a joke."
Gervais said of his critics, "They’re allowed to hate it. They’re allowed to not come to the show, but it’s not going to stop me doing what I love, and I’m not going to stop it at the expense of all the other people who love it. No one has to watch this."
Gervais wrote on the X social media platform about his new Netflix comedy special, "In this show, I talk about sex, death, pedophilia, race, religion, disability, free speech, global warming, the holocaust, and Elton John. If you don’t approve of jokes about any of these things, then please don’t watch. You won't enjoy it and you’ll get upset."
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Comedian Danny Polishchuk accused of 'sexual solicitation' by Instagram, banned from platform
Stand-up comedian Danny Polishchuk was banned from Meta platform Instagram recently, with the company citing "sexual solicitation" and helping to "arrange or encourage sexual activities."
The New York comedian is a popular sketch artist and podcaster, often appearing on fellow comic Ryan Long's YouTube channel, which has nearly 700,000 subscribers. The "Boyscast," the duo's podcast, also garners big views on their YouTube account, which has nearly 90,000 subscribers.
Polishchuk's permanent suspension came with the accusation of "sexual solicitation" from Instagram.
"We don't allow people on Instagram to help arrange or encourage sexual activities," Instagram said in a default message to Polishchuk, which he exclusively shared with Blaze News.
Examples included "sharing porn," "describing sex or arousal," and "offering or asking for sex or nude images."
This was coupled with a link to Instagram's "sexual solicitation" policy.
Meta, Instagram's parent company, details several types of posts that are prohibited under this policy.
Content that "offers or asks for prostitution," "engages in explicit sexual solicitation," or "engages in implicitly or indirectly offering or asking for sexual solicitation" is restricted. "Sexually explicit language that goes into graphic detail" about sex or arousal is also not allowed.
Still, the comedian's popularity wasn't enough for him to get a specific explanation surrounding his ban.
"I honestly don’t know what post it was; they didn’t say," Polishchuk told Blaze News.
The comedian thinks he might have been punished for a video making fun of a group called "Queers for Palestine," a video that was played on the Chris Williamson podcast for an audience of 1.1 million on YouTube alone.
"I just know I started by having issues on Oct 8, [2023]. I wasn't shadow-banned, which I think was part of the problem. I had a bunch of videos going viral, so, more attention on me," he added.
Polishchuk said he had been suspended from the platform twice for the same issue before the permanent ban, but won previous appeals.
"I got suspended on Oct 8 for the same issue. Appealed in the app. Lost instantly. But then had a chance to write a second appeal where they manually review your account and I got it back. Same thing happened two days later and again I got it back. Then nothing until November 8," he recalled.
November 8, 2023, is the day after the aforementioned clip was played on the popular podcast.
Polishchuk stated repeatedly that "no specific post was referenced" by Instagram, and he still can't be certain what caused the ban. Regarding the accusation of "sexual solicitation," the comic simply stated, "Obviously I didn't do that."
Instagram did not respond to request for comment regarding the nature of the comedian's ban, what specific content caused an issue, and whether or not he was given the chance to remove it. This article will be updated with any relevant responses.
Polishchuk has continued to joke about sensitive issues, including in incredibly successful sketches. One of the comedian's most popular videos included a comparison of the strikingly similar ideologies of woke progressives and racists.
That video has been viewed nearly 9 million times on YouTube.
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Hilarious! Comedian Dave Landau ROASTS candidates after 4th GOP debate
Comedians are known for being truth-tellers, and Dave Landau is no exception — especially when it comes to his post-debate analysis.
Glenn Beck found Landau’s roast-style analysis “strangely spot-on” following the fourth GOP debate hosted by Megyn Kelly and News Nation.
“They did have better etiquette than usual, but I’ve still seen more manners at a fist fight at Golden Corral,” he tells a laughing Glenn.
One moment Landau seems to remember fondly is the sign Vivek made, which was a piece of paper with “NIKKI = CORRUPT” scribbled across it.
“He didn’t have time to do a bad drawing of her,” Landau laughs before showing Glenn that he made some signs as well.
“Chris Christie + current eating habits = diabetes,” one sign reads. “Nikki Haley + two more years = hot flashes and night sweats,” reads another.
He even went after the originator of the sign method, Vivek.
“Vivek + fake hate crimes = Hasan Minaj,” he reads, holding the sign proudly for the BlazeTV team.
He didn’t spare DeSantis either.
“DeSantis + shoe lifts = DeSantis,” he reads.
But the roast doesn’t end there.
“I think Vivek could be a good attack dog, I just don’t see him as a president. He just seems a kind of nerdy kid you’d invite to a party just so when he passes out you could draw genitals on his forehead,” he jokes.
As for Nikki Haley, “she just looks like an actress who’s about to lose a lot of work. Like she’s right at that level.”
And while others believe DeSantis won the debate, Landau sees it a different way.
“DeSantis is coming off less to me like a strong presidential candidate and more like an angry WNBA coach who’s down by 40 in the half,” he says, adding that while he likes him, “he just seems like he’s very mad at, like, his high school daughter.”
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Is Obama gay? Here’s what 3 comedians have to say about it
Dave Landau, ¼ Black Garrett, and Mike Eshaq all have one thing in common: they love to make jokes, especially when those jokes poke fun of the people responsible for the political nightmare plaguing the country.
But their recent conversation about Barack Obama’s sexuality was 100% serious — although there was plenty of humor thrown in there too.
They watched a clip of Tucker Carlson discussing Obama’s explicit dealings with Larry Sinclair in 2008.
“You know, in 2008, it became really clear that Barack Obama had been having sex with men and smoking crack. And a guy came forward [Larry Sinclair] and said, 'I'll sign an affidavit.' And he did. 'I'll take a lie detector.' And he did. 'I smoked crack with Barack Obama and had sex with him,”’ Tucker says.
“Well, that was obviously true, [but] nobody reported it, not because they were squeamish about sex or drugs, but because the Obama campaign said anyone who reports from this gets no access to the Obama campaign,” Tucker continues.
“Now, we're just, like, hanging on the whole gay thing. I want to know more about the crack s**t,” says Eshaq.
“He wrote in his diary or, I guess, or in his book ... about how he fantasized about having sex with men,” Dave says. “I know he used to hang out with a lot of people in Chicago in the '70s that were very, uh, loose with drugs.”
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