Stand-up shop talk with a loose pulse.
What the Heck with Richard Dweck follows long, informal conversations with comedians about how they started and how it is going. The show lingers on open mics, local scenes, roast clips, audience behavior, and the private math of trying to get better.
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What the Heck with Richard Dweck is a long-form comedian interview show about the lived texture of stand-up. It is casual and conversational, but the recurring subject is serious: how comics find a voice, earn their confidence, and move through the social machinery around the stage. Richard Dweck’s conversations often start with basics. How long has the guest been doing stand-up? Where did they begin? What scene shaped them? From there, the show widens. A talk with Cousin Kenny moves through early-stage uncertainty, joke originality, local rooms, and the pressure to stand out without forcing a persona. Sean Steele’s episode circles the idea of counting sets, being shy, finding courage, and realizing that comedy often begins with saying the thing everyone else is already feeling. Andy Manalo’s return turns a stage name and a mispronounced introduction into a bigger conversation about names, fitting in, and the odd ways comedy turns awkwardness into material. Rebecca Kaplan’s episodes lean into New York comics, Comedy Fight Club, roast material, TikTok, Kill Tony, and the tension between short viral moments and a full written set. Other conversations bring in Texas, Florida, New Jersey, Austin, Palm Coast, Daytona, open mics, club politics, audience resets, and the way every scene can feel different while still running on the same nerves. The show is loose. That looseness is part of the appeal. It lets the listener hear comics testing opinions in real time, doubling back, softening a claim, then pushing toward a sharper point. It is not a glossy industry interview. It is closer to a working notebook with another comic on the line.
Made for: Best for listeners who enjoy inside-comedy conversations about open mics, local scenes, joke writing, crowd behavior, and the emotional grind behind stand-up. It especially suits fans who want comic perspective instead of polish.
What sets it apart: The show treats small comedy anecdotes as evidence of bigger scene dynamics, from social media clips to club politics to the ego math of getting better. Its value is in the unfiltered, peer-to-peer feel of comics thinking through the craft together.
Born December 28 1993, I am a self obsessed unintentional/ natural eccentric who is self-aware enough to self-deprecate but never change, somehow very love-able. I sang in high school( decent tenor ), I did improv comedy from 2009 to 2016 and have been doing stand up since July 18 2015.On this podcast I interview mostly comedians but also any creative content making person who piques my interest, on their start in their endeavor and how it is going
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Richard Dweck turns candid conversations with comics into a practical record of how stand-up careers, material, and stage confidence develop.
Richard Dweck keeps returning to the practical question beneath a stand-up career: how does a comic get better? His conversations with Sean Steele, Drew Dunn, Chris Grullon, Cousin Kenny, Kyle Colorado, and Carl Giannetto move through early sets, difficult rooms, audience…
A thousand sets before you really know? Richard keeps you company while comics sort out what works.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A candid look at improv, stand-up ego, and using comedy-scene frustration to spotlight working comics.
This episode looks past the punchline and into the machinery that makes comedy feel alive. It moves from long-form improv, where a title from the audience can become the seed of a whole performance, to the more bruising math of stand-up, where years of work can still feel like…
A candid, easygoing conversation about career comparison, live comedy, and the pleasure of seeing a friend succeed.
The episode uses a conversation with a working comic to turn a comedy career into something more lived-in than a checklist. SNL, a special, or a late-night spot remain possible markers, but the guest resists treating them as the whole measure of a path.
Two comics talk about protecting strong jokes, accepting praise and the nerve it takes to face a crowd.
Richard and a fellow comic talk about the value of a strong joke and why a headlining bit is worth keeping off the open internet. Their discussion of praise gets more personal.
What the Heck with Richard Dweck's Drew Dunn episode centers on voices, impressions, and the grind of building stand-up through New England, Boston, and New York City.
Host Richard Dweck continues his conversation with comedian Carl Giannetto in part two of their interview.
Comedian Carl Gianetto discusses his early start as an Elvis performer and his journey into stand-up comedy.
The host interviews comedian John Moses about his start in stand-up comedy, discussing his early beginnings in high school in Ontario.
Josh Martier says revealing his autism and anxiety onstage became a turning point after years of treating them as embarrassing.
Richard Dweck talks with Cousin Kenny about the New Jersey and New York comedy scenes, starting with Scotty’s, where he says older comics tried to “ball bust” without being good at it.
Sean Steele frames stand-up as a craft he has been building for almost two years, and he says he once tracked sets for three years because T.J.
Comedians discuss the challenges of having a difficult-to-pronounce name and early open mic experiences.
A comedian discusses how modern audiences, accustomed to short clips on social media, misunderstand the full-length nature of stand-up comedy performances.
Host and comedian Rebecca Kaplan discuss her comedy career, moving from New Jersey to Florida, and her involvement with Comedy Fight Club roasts.
Richard Dweck discusses improv, stand-up, and the Florida comedy club Christy's Bees, contrasting "yes and" teamwork with the ego of stand-up scenes in New Jersey.
Comedian Greg Behrens discusses the differences in comedy scenes between New Jersey and Florida, highlighting the challenges and unique opportunities in each.
A comedian discusses the challenges and evolution of comedy, offering advice to upcoming comics about staying positive and developing a thick skin.