Duncan Trussell

Comedian, podcast host, spiritualist.

Duncan Trussell is an almost singular comedic mind. Since 2012, he has hosted the critically acclaimed Duncan Trussell Family Hour, a podcast through which he explores comedy, introspection, philosophy, and spiritualism. In 2020, in partnership with Adventure Time’s Pendleton Ward, Duncan adapted his podcast into the wildly popular Netflix series The Midnight Gospel. Today, he continues to perform stand-up and is a recurring guest on the Joe Rogan Experience.

We’ve spoken to some of the biggest comedians in the world, and we wanted to explore Duncan’s cerebral style with him and see what his one-of-a-kind brain makes of the chaos.

So what did we talk about?

As America stews in its post-election hangover, Duncan seems refreshed in his willingness to discuss the insanity of modern politics. His take is not that of a pundit, but an outsider, almost as if looking from outside the tank. And after observing two of the most unbelievable political campaigns in modern history, it’s blindingly clear that what we’re told to believe and what we ought to believe share very little.

“Every four years, the whole country goes nuts. It’s a national menstrual cycle.”

To Duncan, political campaigns in America aren’t merely deceptive (at least in the way we all accept they are) – they’re “ghost stories”, with all the villains, anxiety and spook tactics the metaphor suggests. The goal? Alienation.

Identifying that as the motivation explains a great deal. Springboarding from a conversation about Tony Hinchcliffe’s controversial Puerto Rico joke, Duncan asserts that the Democrats’ insistence that half the country are irredeemable “garbage monsters” is not what it looks like - moronic politics - but, perhaps more depressingly, smart strategy: alienate your enemy, animate your base, and make it impossible for the latter to show the former any compassion.

But both sides are guilty. The right and left have stirred up a critical level of distrust, and rather than reaching out to one another and hoping to understand, to do so is a betrayal. If you’re willing to listen, “you’re probably one of them.” And it’s all by design.

In Duncan’s mind, it all seeks to prevent the one thing that might stop the mayhem…