500 episodes listed below
Comedy craft, life stories, loose fast talk.
The Sport of Life is a talky, guest-led interview show built around comedy, performance, and the strange work of staying sharp. Conversations move from stand-up and film comedy to baseball memories, family stories, food bits, Shakespeare, saxophone discipline, and comedy club dates.
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The Sport of Life is a guest-first interview show with comedy near the center and curiosity pulling it outward. It is brisk and conversational. The show favors performers and creators who can tell stories about how they work, how they survive weird career turns, and how they keep making things when the easy version stops working. Recent episodes move from club comedy to film comedy, from Shakespeare to smooth jazz, from youth sports schedules to TikTok restaurant power. Yakov Smirnoff's episode frames comedy as both a legacy and a live problem, with Branson becoming a story about empty rooms and grinding toward fuller ones. Josh Wolf's conversation starts with middle-aged body jokes and slides into college baseball, Texas culture, and the shock of arriving from Massachusetts. Josh Scherer brings food media, Mythical Kitchen, Keith Lee, storytelling instincts, Costco food, Malort, and friendship-through-shared-discomfort energy. Zach & Danny Guarino bring sibling chaos, wiffle ball fights, pillow boxing, Denver roots, Los Angeles adaptation, and the kind of family memory that turns into a bit before anyone can stop it. Barry Corbin's episode slows down for acting, Westerns, Shakespeare, Chekhov, Stanislavski, and the stage training behind a long career. Kenny G talks about Super Bowl preparation with Charlie Puth, practice reps, bad habits, and the obsessive precision that separates solid from great. Sal Vulcano's conversation covers stand-up after Jokers, a first special, parenting, absurd talk-show ideas, and the pleasure of turning small subjects into big comic engines. David Zucker brings film comedy, family banter, Austin, Davy Crockett collecting, and museum donation stories. The show works because it treats craft and everyday life as connected. A joke can lead to a serious point. A sports story can explain performance. A family aside can become the clearest part of the interview. It suits listeners who like relaxed celebrity conversations with enough specificity to feel earned.
Made for: For listeners who like informal long-form interviews with comedians, filmmakers, sports figures, musicians, and authors. It especially suits people who enjoy craft talk when it is wrapped in banter, family stories, and road-life specifics.
What sets it apart: The show connects comedy interviews to the broader habits of performance: repetition, resilience, timing, competition, and personal history. Its range feels unusually elastic, moving from Malort bits and sibling fights to Shakespeare training and saxophone precision without losing the thread.
Trey Elling chats with comedians, filmmakers, sports figures, musicians, and authors about their stories.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Trey Elling turns performer interviews into lively conversations about craft, touring, persistence, and the stories that surface when the prepared questions loosen.
Trey Elling gives guests room to turn professional talk into loose, revealing conversation. Josh Wolf moves from stand-up and touring into college baseball and Texas culture, while Yakov Smirnoff recounts rebuilding his audience through hundreds of shows in Branson.
A Malort toast becomes funeral catering plans; Trey Elling lets you enjoy the detour.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A veteran comic's Branson hustle, told through the kind of numbers that stick.
The conversation leans into the practical math of staying visible and staying in demand, following Yakov Smirnoff from the packed Branson theaters that kept him there to the first show that opened with 17 people.
A comic hangout that moves from Smedium jokes into Texas college football memory.
The episode opens with Smedium shirts and middle-aged body jokes, then settles in once Josh Wolf starts talking about Trinity in San Antonio, his baseball days there, and the culture shock of moving from Massachusetts to Texas.
A loose, funny conversation about storytelling, food shows, Malort, and the friendship test of drinking something terrible.
Josh Scherer brings a food-world sensibility to a conversation that keeps circling storytelling, friendship, and the odd rituals people build around eating and drinking.
Kenny G uses a Super Bowl collaboration and one hidden breath to show why practice has to be precise.
Kenny G's approach to performance comes through in a focused discussion of the Super Bowl, small musical mistakes, and the routines that make craft reliable.
A first special opens into a grounded look at stand-up's slow build and the small ideas driving Vulcano's next project.
Sal Vulcano's first stand-up special becomes a measured look at the long apprenticeship behind a new hour. He describes jokes in Terrified that took more than 10 years to find their final shape, and the episode uses that detail to frame the special as more than a post-Jokers…
Felipe Esparza turns a youth baseball memory into loose, off-kilter comic storytelling.
Felipe Esparza's baseball memories land with the same loose energy as the larger conversation around them. The talk moves from Adult Swim voice work to why a booth can feel easier than acting, then settles into a youth game derailed by an assistant coach stripping naked in the…
Joe Rogan's marathon one-on-one talks, from UFC judging debates to Bob Lazar's UFO claims.
Bateman, Hayes, and Arnett riff, then talk shop with guests like Adam Sandler.
Peter Sagal leads NPR's live news quiz, pairing celebrity guests with listener call-in games.
Comedian Chris Gethard takes one anonymous call a week and can't hang up first.
Mike Pesca opens with a monologue, then digs into Supreme Court ethics and Iran policy.
Comedian Felipe Esparza joins Trey Elling to discuss his wild history with the Los Angeles Dodgers, from working as a souvenir seller to throwing out a first pitch.
Owen Smith discusses how his son's curiosity about his childhood stories and desire for a PS5 inspired them to collaborate on writing a humorous book together.
Comedian Josh Wolf joins Trey Elling for a wide-ranging conversation about middle-aged fitness, family, and comedy.
Yakov Smirnoff sits down with the host in Austin for Moon Tower Comedy Festival.
The episode opens with a T-shirt joke.
Josh Scherer talks with the host about what makes a good story.
Two siblings discuss their competitive childhood fights, including wiffle ball and pillow boxing, and compare their experiences growing up in Denver versus living together in Los Angeles.
Actor Barry Corbin discusses his journey into acting, his passion for Shakespeare, and his early experiences performing in Shakespeare festivals and theater productions.
The Sport of Life host interviews Grammy-winning saxophonist Kenny G ahead of a performance at the Paramount Theater in Austin, covering his philosophy of performance and preparation.
The Sport of Life host interviews Sal Vulcano—comedian and Impractical Jokers cast member—ahead of a standup performance at ACL Live at the Moody Theater in Austin, Texas.
David Zucker discusses his life, family, and the donation of his Davy Crockett collection in a humorous interview about comedy and filmmaking.
Owen Smith discusses how his son's curiosity about his childhood stories led them to co-author a humorous book together.
This episode features an interview with Olympic athlete Alex Ferreira discussing his partnership with pet food company NULO and how his dog Brandy supports his training journey toward the 2026 Winter Olympics.
The host discusses the challenges of running a small business, particularly restaurants, while preparing for an interview with comedy legend Eddie Pepitone.