Steve Byrne isn't here to pick sides in the culture or political wars.
That explains the Johnny Carson mug on his desk.
Byrne is a very funny stand-up comic, TV actor and, now, podcaster. By law, every comedian must have a podcast. Or two.
Byrne calls his new show "Confessions of a Standup Comedian," and so far he's living up to that title. He's opening up about his travels in the entertainment industry. This week, he's sharing his thoughts on the current late-night landscape and why appearing on one of the most popular shows caused him considerable grief.
"What do [today's late-night talk shows] all have in common? Well, they all certainly lean one way ... heavily left," said Byrne, a self-described Independent. "I wouldn't even say moderate left."
That led him to Greg Gutfeld. The Fox News personality's "Gutfeld!" show has routinely beaten the competition in the ratings, although the show now airs at 10 PM ET, a friendlier time slot on paper.
"Gutfeld!" lets stand-up comics crack wise on the nightly panel, riffing on breaking news and cultural nuggets. The show regularly hosts Jim Norton, Jim Florentine, Michael Loftus, Jamie Lissow and Joe DeVito, among others.
That's a tiny fraction of the greater stand-up scene, but most comics likely wouldn't agree to appear on the show.
Why? It's Fox News, and there's a professional danger in appearing on the right-leaning network.
Just ask Byrne. And he's not alone. Gutfeld explained to Adam Carolla in 2022 why so few comedians agree to share a space on his panel. Sometimes, it's simply the press representatives who block stars from appearing on the Fox News program.
And we all know why.
So Byrne had no problem appearing on "Gutfeld!" His comedy peers had other thoughts. He shared on his podcast how simply telling bipartisan jokes on social media caused blowback within his comedy community. "You're MAGA," some cried.
"I lost friends for having the audacity to tell jokes that villified the other side," he said, meaning Democrats.
"Then," he said. "I got asked to do Greg Gutfeld. And if you thought people were pissed off before, they were extremely pissed off that I had the gall to go do stand up, or prepare written jokes based on the news on Fox."
"I got put through the wringer, trashed, s*** on, unfollowed, blocked, etcetera," he said. "I read the headlines and write the jokes. That's it." He even got personally chastised when he showed up to comedy clubs. That made it personal.
He doesn't regret it, in part, because it helped his stand-up ticket sales. He also refuses to take sides. He follows the funny first and foremost.
Byrne noted that Fox News wasn't tickled about one Elon Musk joke he told on the network. Otherwise, he said conservatives are much more open to jokes that target them.
Democrats and progressives? Not so much.
"It's blasphemy," to take on Democrat politicians, he noted.
