A calm, thoughtful look at success, drive, and what comes after the milestones.
Chester See and Peter McGraw spend most of the episode circling the same knot: hunger, craft, and what comes after a few milestones are already behind you.
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In their own words
Glimpse into the lives of comedians, improvisers, comedy writers, and other funny people from business, science, and the arts. Host Dr, Peter McGraw—a behavioral scientist, business school professor, and Director of the Humor Research Lab (aka HuRL)—sits down with funny people for a wide-ranging discussion of their habits, motivations, and secrets to success.
As heard by us
Based on 4 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Peter McGraw makes comedy's backstage judgments, creative pressures, and career decisions legible through curious, detail-minded interviews.
I'm Not Joking treats funny work as a craft shaped by working conditions, career anxieties, and arguments about taste. Peter McGraw keeps his interviews close to how comedy is made.
Why you'd press play
A comedy booker notices who reads the room before a set; now you will, too.
Press play if you want
- to hear why a comic might rewrite a joke after watching the acts before them
- to hear a cartoon editor ask what makes you hesitate before laughing
Talks about
Best episodes of I'm Not Joking
Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A measured comedy-history conversation that moves through roast battle, journalism, and post-9/11 scene-making.
Julie and Peter McGraw keep the episode grounded in comedy journalism, roast battle, and the post-9/11 debates that fed Tough Crowd and the surrounding scene talk.
A thoughtful comedy interview about how jokes get framed, tested, and defended.
Bob Mankoff makes the conversation feel less like a profile and more like a working tour of how comedy gets made and defended. Peter McGraw follows his path from a PhD in experimental psychology he quit, through years of rejection before the New Yorker, and into the editorial…
A sharp look at how comics read a room, miss context, and make a set land.
Luisa Diaz and Jason Zinnemann join Peter McGraw for a conversation about how comedy changes with context. Diaz, a New York City comedy booker, brings a practical read on lineups and how a room can shift a set, while Zinnemann opens the conversation toward critics, craft, and…
Podcasts like I'm Not Joking
Industry Standard w/ Barry KatzComedy careers, told from backstage.
Inside The ComedianComedy career interviews that swerve into invented history.
Episodes
- 1
Curtain Call
Caleb Warren's research finds cool things break rules, but only by being 'just deviant enough,' which is why cool fades.
Dec 30, 2020·1h 16m·2 clips - 2
Dropping Babies With Anthony Jeselnik
Apr 3, 2020·1h 22m - 3
Answering Business Questions With Shane Mauss
Apr 2, 2020·1h 31m - 4
Shtick to Business with Shane Mauss
Apr 1, 2020·57m - 5
Creative Help From The Masters Of Comedy
Mar 31, 2020·1h 10m - 6
All Your Single Friends With Daliya Karnofsky And Avra Friedma
Mar 30, 2020·1h 4m - 7
Man In Cargo Pants
Mar 29, 2020·1h 15m - 8
Man In Comedy Suit With Ryan Stout
Mar 28, 2020·1h 23m - 9
Developing A Character With Emily Pendergast
Mar 27, 2020·1h - 10
The Irishman With David Nihill
Mar 26, 2020·52m - 11
Unverified with Ari Shaffir
Mar 25, 2020·1h 2m - 12
Curating Comedy With Jake Kroeger
Mar 18, 2020·1h 5m - 13
Thinking Scientifically with Shane Snow
Mar 4, 2020·52m - 14
Looking for the Illogical with Merrill Markoe
Feb 19, 2020·1h 4m - 15
Things Are Gonna Get Easier with Jeff Kreisler
Feb 5, 2020·58m - 16
People Stories with Kristin Newman
Jan 22, 2020·1h 14m - 17
Relationships And Other Things With Stephanie McHugh
Jan 8, 2020·1h 31m - 18
Talking About Jokes with Jesse David Fox
Dec 25, 2019·1h 42m - 19
Thinking about Class with Madison Shepard
Dec 11, 2019·1h 7m - 20
Cheap Transformations with Todd Glass
Nov 27, 2019·1h 38m - 21
Experiential Science with Troy Campbell
Nov 13, 2019·1h 33m - 22
Collaborating With Lisa Chanoux
Oct 30, 2019·1h 19m - 23
Stunt Journalism with Joel Stein
Oct 16, 2019·1h 26m - 24
Working (It) Out with Tony Horton
Oct 2, 2019·1h 12m - 25
Working Hard Enough with Solange Castro
Sep 18, 2019·51m - 26
Animating South Park with Jack Shih
Sep 11, 2019·1h 21m - 27
Raising Eyebrows with Steve Stoliar
Sep 4, 2019·1h 11m - 28
Working On Spec with Claire Downs
Aug 28, 2019·1h 3m - 29
Getting The Price Right with Danielle Perez
Aug 21, 2019·1h 7m - 30
Smiling All the Time with Mike Reiss
Aug 14, 2019·46m - 31
Making Friends with Nicole Blaine
Aug 7, 2019·1h 18m - 32
Being Healthy with Will Hines
Jul 31, 2019·1h 11m - 33
Ignoring The Pettiness with Esther Kustanowitz
Jul 24, 2019·1h 16m - 34
Fighting Boredom with Adam Barsky
Jul 17, 2019·1h 2m - 35
Fearing Failure with Kym Terribile
Jul 10, 2019·1h - 36
Searching For Magnificent Obsessives with Joel Warner
Jul 3, 2019·46m - 37
Being A Professional with Mark Masters
Jun 26, 2019·54m - 38
Moving Cheese with Chester See
Hidden gemPeter McGraw opens with Chester See's unusually broad entertainment résumé.
Jun 19, 2019·1h 14m·5 clips - 39
Transformations with Gia Cognata
Jun 12, 2019·57m - 40
Roast Battles with Julie Seabaugh
Hidden gemPeter McGraw talks with Julie Seaball, a full-time freelance comedy journalist whose career has moved through roast battles, major magazine bylines, and long-running coverage of comic scenes.
Jun 5, 2019·1h 4m·4 clips - 41
Getting A Good Deal with Donnie Lichtenstein
May 29, 2019·52m - 42
I’M NOT JOKING updates with Peter McGraw
May 22, 2019·8m - 43
Writing Or Dying with Shane Mauss
May 15, 2019·1h 22m - 44
Having A Motor with Bob Mankoff
Hidden gemPeter McGraw talks with Bob Mankoff in a hotel room.
May 8, 2019·1h 9m·4 clips - 45
Twitter Friends with Luisa Diez and Jason Zinoman
Hidden gemPeter McGraw brings together Luisa Diaz and Jason Zinnemann.
May 1, 2019·1h 19m·4 clips - 46
Going West with Kendall Carroll
Apr 24, 2019·53m - 47
Live with Michael Smith from The Academy
Apr 17, 2019·36m - 48
A Great Comedy Room with Wende Curtis
Apr 10, 2019·53m - 49
Making Interesting Things with Dan Ariely
Apr 3, 2019·1h 1m - 50
Humble Bragging with Ovul Sezer
Mar 27, 2019·1h 2m