Based on his Netflix comedy special, “Blocks.” Neal Brennan interviews friends and colleagues about the things that make them feel lonely, isolated, and like something’s wrong – and how they are persevering despite these blocks.
In this week’s episode, Neal Brennan interviews comedian Heather McMahan (‘Son I Never Had’ on Netflix) about the things that make her feel lonely, isolated, and like something’s wrong – and how she is persevering despite these blocks.
Brennan continues to perform stand-up regularly in the Los Angeles area as well as nationally. His first one-hour stand-up special Women and Black Dudes premiered on Comedy Central in 2014. In 2017, Brennan released his second one-hour stand-up special 3 Mics on Netflix to widespread critical acclaim. 3 Mics features Brennan switching between three different microphones symbolizing three different styles of comedy. On January 1st, 2019 Brennan released an all new half hour of material on Netflix as part of the Comedians of the World series. Brennan has also performed stand-up on Last Call with Carson Daly, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Lopez Tonight, and Conan.
As a film director, Brennan has helmed feature films, television episodes, documentaries, stand-up specials and nationally syndicated commercials. His directing credits include the feature film The Goods starring Jeremy Piven, multiple episodes of Inside Amy Schumer, JAY-Z’s 4:44 documentary series that featured Will Smith, Chris Rock, Kendrick Lamar, Michael B. Jordan, Trevor Noah, and other celebrities, comedian Michelle Wolf’s critically acclaimed one-hour HBO special Nice Lady, a series of commercials for the ESPY’s, and several nationally syndicated commercials for major brands featuring celebrities and athletes including Lebron James.
In 2011, Brennan, comedian Moshe Kasher, and DJ Douggpound, started a podcast called The Champs which ran until 2016. Guests on the show included actor/comedians Wayne Brady, Chris Rock, Mario Joyner, Shawn and Marlon Wayans, and David Alan Grier, adult film star Lexington Steele, rapper Too $hort, and professional basketball player Blake Griffin.
Brennan co-wrote the cult classic film Half Baked with Chappelle as well as episodes of SNL that featured Chappelle and Aziz Ansari as hosts. He also wrote comedy material for the 83rd Academy Awards and for Seth Meyers’ speech at the White House Correspondents Dinner in 2011. In that speech, Meyers infamously poked fun at Donald Trump, who was in the audience.
Starting in 2016, Brennan became a contributor to The Daily Show with Trevor Noah as “Trevor’s friend Neal.”
This Week’s Special Guest:
Heather McMahan: If you don’t know who Heather is already, don’t worry, you will! Comedian, actress and host Heather McMahan is currently touring around the US on her Heather McMahan: The Comeback Tour. When she’s not traversing the country, McMahan is working on developing her comedy series I Can’t Right Now with NBC and hosting the podcast, Absolutely Not with Heather McMahan. Absolutely Not leapt into the top ten on iTunes on the day of the release and was included on Entertainment Weekly’s top 10 podcasts of 2021.
She can also be seen in the Netflix special Netflix is a Joke Festival’s Jane Fonda & Lily Tomlin: Ladies Night Live at the Hollywood Palladium alongside female comedian heavyweights Michelle Buteau, Cristela Alonzo, Margaret Cho and Tracey Ashley. She recently starred in the Netflix feature Love Hard, alongside Nina Dobrev, Jimmy O. Yang and Darren Barnet.
A beloved standup comedian, Instagram storyteller & the best friend everyone wants, Heather has seen her fandom skyrocket with fans and the industry falling for her voice, her wit and her southern flair. Her audience on the platform has an average rate of engagement 4.4x higher than the average influencer on the platform and her growth has been explosive, doubling her following in just three months. In 2022, Heather was featured on Variety’s annual Comedy Impact Report, which profiles the most exciting and impactful comedians working across film, television, social, stand-up, sketch and more.
Checkout more episodes of Blocks w/ Neal Brennan featuring Ralph Barbosa, Matt Rife, Dan Soder, Sarah Silverman, and more HERE
