
Funny In Failure
Michael Kahan
All episodes
Best episodes
Seasons
Top 10 Funny In Failure Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Funny In Failure episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Funny In Failure for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Funny In Failure episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

#283: Pierre Novellie - Finding your Clown
Funny In Failure
04/07/25 • 80 min
Pierre Novellie is a stand-up comedian, writer, radio host and podcaster. He is co-host of The Frank Skinner Show on Absolute Radio, and recent TV appearances include World’s Most Dangerous Roads (Dave), The Mash Report (BBC2), and Stand Up Central (Comedy Central). On the radio, Pierre has performed on The Now Show (Radio 4), hosts the BBC Sounds podcast series Obsessed With... SAS: Rogue Heroes and co-hosts the hit podcast Budpod with Phil Wang. As a writer, Pierre was one of the regular writers on the rebooted Spitting Image (ITV/Britbox) and has also written on shows including Mock the Week (BBC2), The News Quiz (Radio 4) and The Mash Report (BBC2).
One of the UK’s most acclaimed live acts, Pierre‘s previous show Why Can’t I Just Enjoy Things? saw a sold-out run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and was his third show to have been placed in the top 20 best-reviewed comedy shows across the entire festival. His first special, Quiet Ones, was distributed by US comedy label 800 Pound Gorilla Records and has amassed over 250,000 views online.
Pierre will debut his show Must We? on Australian shores. Off the back of a sold-out Edinburgh Festival Fringe run, his new show is about life, fairness and expectations. He simply must! Pierre has established himself as a comedian's comedian who doesn't sacrifice accessibility for intelligence. His book Why Can't I Just Enjoy Things? A Comedian's Guide to Autism was inspired by an unexpected diagnosis from a heckler – and this show delivers the same incisive commentary and clever observations that have earned him critical acclaim across the UK comedy scene.
Performing at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival from 27 March - 18 April at The Westin, Three
We chat about autism, his brand new shows in Melbourne (currently out now), The Cambridge Footlights, The English class system, life changing heckles, his many identities, his new book, embracing your clown + plenty more!
Check Pierre out on:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pierrenovellie Melbourne Comedy tickets: https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/browse-shows/pierre-novellie/ Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@pierrenovellie Book (Why Can't I Just Enjoy Thinhs? A Comedian's guide to Autism): https://geni.us/pierrenovelliepb Comedy special: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiM8PwMzENg Website: https://www.pierrenovellie.com/ -------------------------------------------
Follow @Funny in Failure on Instagram and Facebook https://www.instagram.com/funnyinfailure/ https://www.facebook.com/funnyinfailure/
and @Michael_Kahan on Insta & Twitter to keep up to date with the latest info. https://www.instagram.com/michael_kahan/ https://twitter.com/Michael_Kahan

#278: Chris Parker - Creating Together
Funny In Failure
03/10/25 • 94 min
Chris Parker is an award winning comedian, actor, writer, show-runner and podcaster.
This past year Chris hosted the New Zealand Comedy Festival Gala, and toured his latest show, Give Me One Good Reason Why I Shouldn’t Throw My Phone Off This Bridge, to full houses throughout Australia and New Zealand. He also made his prime-time Australian TV debut on Thank God You’re Here (where he won the episode) and released the highly anticipated second season of Double Parked. Chris Parker is most commonly known for his funny Instagram and TikTok videos which built him a huge social media audience over the last few years. His legendary win on the hit New Zealand TV show Celebrity Treasure Island made history!
His 2018 New Zealand International Comedy Festival show Camp Binch, was awarded the prestigious Fred Award for Best Show in the Festival and went on to play to 5-star reviews and sell-out crowds at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Fun fact, the felt hat he made during the 2020 nationwide lockdown was acquired by and is on display at The Auckland Museum and Te Papa the National Museum of New Zealand. Kinda dramatic – don’t you agree? Chris is a theatre graduate from the renowned drama school Toi Whakaari O Aotearoa and he has appeared in and written multiple theatre shows across New Zealand, most notably Hudson and Halls Live! Where Chris played one-half of the famous gay cooking duo, David Halls and won best actor at the 2017 Wellington Theatre Awards.
Chris has appeared in feature films such as Baby Done, The Breaker Upperers and Nude Tuesday and has two feature films of his own currently in development. As a comedian and writer Chris is a regular face on New Zealand television appearing on 7 Days, Have You Been Paying Attention NZ, Jono and Ben, Funny Girls, Season 3 of Taskmaster New Zealand and the sitcom Golden Boy. Chris also co-hosts the podcast The Male Gays with fellow comedian Eli Matthewson, which has an upcoming digital video series in production. Chris was listed as The Herald’s top 5 Entertainment Heroes of 2020 and in 2021, was nominated for Television Personality of the Year. In 2022, Chris was the recipient of the inaugural Topp Prize awarded by the New Zealand Comedy Trust for Aotearoa’s most generous and gifted comedian. That same year released the comedy/documentary special Chris Parker: Back To School, about all boy schools in Christchurch. Chris embarked on an Australian and New Zealand national tour of his show Gentle Man to sold-out crowds and 5-star reviews and his debut novel Here for a Good Time was released through Allen & Unwin.
In 2023, Chris toured his new show, Lots of Love, Chris Parker, to sold-out audiences in Australia and New Zealand. Chris’s new comedy series, Double Parked, premiered in June and was created and written with Alice Snedden. He was the show runner and writer for the narrative comedy series Double Parked and is currently touring his live stand up (Stop Being So Dramatic) shows across New Zealand and Australia.
Stop Being So Dramatic are four words the self-proclaimed People’s Princess of Aotearoa Chris Parker has heard his whole life. Now those words also happen to be the name of his show touring Australia and New Zealand in 2025. At the culturally relevant age of 34, Chris is ready to address the drama queen allegations head-on. Stop Being So Dramatic promises to be an hour of high-intensity, feverishly paced and dizzyingly expressive comedy, it’s a one-man variety spectacle, chill, stand-up hour of laughs. That doesn’t sound dramatic at all – does it? Chris admits, there is some merit to the accusations, such as crying in every speech he’s ever delivered publicly, and there may have been a situation this year where he slept on his neck weirdly resulting in a neck brace. Still, Chris is sure he’s just a chilled guy, down to Earth and he’s ready to prove it to you in Stop Being So Dramatic.
We chat about his evolving voice, performing on a broken foot (multiple times), being an improv king and his 10 hour improv day, being the felting guy, his upcoming tour, being a show runner and leadership, thriving on celebrity treasure island plus plenty more!
Check Chris out on:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chrisparker11 Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@chrisparkernz Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/itschrisparker
Website: https://www.chrisparkercomedy.com Melbourne comedy tickets: https://www.comedyfestival.com.au/browse-shows/stop-being-so-dramatic/
-------------------------------------------

#220: Chas Licciardello - Uniting not Dividing
Funny In Failure
09/04/23 • 149 min
Chas Licciardello is a comedian, writer and presenter. He was a member of the satirical comedy group The Chaser. The impact that The Chaser have on Australian TV, culture and politics is not to be underestimated. They were fearless and there hasn’t been anyone like them since.
Chas is the creator and co-Executive Producer of ABC’s new entertainment series, WTFAQ. Formerly a member of The Chaser, Chas has appeared regularly on Australian TV over the past two decades on shows including CNNNN, The Chaser’s War On Everything and The Hamster Wheel. Over the last decade Chas has also pursued his love of American politics, and amazingly made it entertaining for others as the creator and co-host of the ABC’s Planet America.
WTFAQ has just premiered on ABC TV and ABC iview, and Planet America airs Fridays at 8pm on ABC NEWS channel.
WTFAQ’s crack team of presenters - Chas Licciardello, Alex Lee, Lawrence Leung, Lou Wall, Cameron James and Kirsten Drysdale - hit the sweet spot where comedy meets inquisition to answer the questions that have sparked curiosity in the minds of our audience for far too long.
We chat about getting arrested for TV, pranks gone wrong, being in the industry for 20+ years, collaboration, passion and love of his craft, his respect for Rove, fear, being patronised, his new show WTFAQ, gratitude, mentors and being a better person.
The video footage of this entire chat is now out as well (one day after release)! So check them out on YouTube under Michael Kahan Check Chas out on: Twitter: https://twitter.com/chaslicc Planet America Twitter: https://twitter.com/chas_usa Planet America Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/abcplanetamerica/ Watch WTFAQ: https://iview.abc.net.au/show/wtfaq Watch Planet America : https://iview.abc.net.au/show/planet-america ------------------------------------------- Follow @Funny in Failure on Instagram and Facebook https://www.instagram.com/funnyinfailure/ https://www.facebook.com/funnyinfailure/ and @Michael_Kahan on Insta & Twitter to keep up to date with the latest info. https://www.instagram.com/michael_kahan/ https://twitter.com/Michael_Kahan

#177: Brittany Schmitt - Gratitude
Funny In Failure
08/22/22 • 79 min
Brittany Schmitt is a comedian, writer and podcaster. She currently has a new comedy special from Ho to Housewife where (her words) she quite literally went From Ho to Housewife. She crafted a comedy special that tackles her experience of sex, drugs and basketball, plus a lot more. It’s very funny.
Here’s a little snippet from her life story which blew me away. Brittany fu*ked up and got a DUI. Super depressed, mortified, broke and with her back up against a wall, a friend suggested that she try stand-up because it was ‘cheaper than therapy’ and she could laugh at herself. The first time she stepped on stage, she knew that’s what she was born to do. The road hasn’t been easy, nor has it been exactly linear. So, she made up her mind to get sober, get her sh*t together and get serious about comedy.
Most recently, Brittany appeared on Comedy Central’s Stand-Up Featuring her debut comedy special, of course, titled From Ho to Housewife which premiered on 800 Pound Gorilla’s YouTube channel. Links are in the episode notes below if you’d like to listen to it.
So, as you can imagine, we dive deep and cover a lot, such as meeting Usher, going to jail, drugs, alcohol and getting sober, her new comedy special, her holistic forward moving mindset, gratitude, intuition and happiness.
The video footage of this entire chat is now out as well (one day after release)! So check them out on YouTube under Michael Kahan
Check Brittany out on:
Comedy Special From Ho To Housewife: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvegw-33f9o Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brittanyschmitt/ ------------------------------------------- Follow @Funny in Failure on Instagram and Facebook https://www.instagram.com/funnyinfailure/ https://www.facebook.com/funnyinfailure/ and @Michael_Kahan on Insta & Twitter to keep up to date with the latest info. https://www.instagram.com/michael_kahan/ https://twitter.com/Michael_Kahan

#185: Hayley Sproull - What's the worst that can happen?
Funny In Failure
10/17/22 • 99 min
Hayley Sproull is an actor, comedian, TV & Radio Host, writer, director and is New Zealand’s Jack of all Entertainment trades. You may recognise Hayley immediately, having been the host of HAVE YOU BEEN PAYING ATTENTION and THE GREAT KIWI BAKE OFF for the past 3 years. She populates the airwaves too, on ZM's Fletch, Vaughan and Hayley Breakfast Show.
Hayley burst on to the scene in 2012, after graduating from Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School with a Bachelor of Performing Arts in Acting in 2011. Her passion for theatre and comedy lead her to create a number of successful comedy works, and earned her an array of praise and accolades, including Best Newcomer at the NZ International Comedy Festival back in 2012, the Chapman Tripp Theatre Award for Most Promising Female Newcomer in 2013 and Best Actress and Best Composer at The Wellington Theatre Awards 2016. She was also nominated for an NZ Film Award in 2014 for her role in the short film School Night.
She has been a writer on many series including Jono and Ben, 7 Days and Funny Girls, with a weekly segment Hayley Bailey featuring on the Jono and Ben show. She still regularly creates comedy content, and fits in acting roles when she can, most recently you will have seen her in the sitcom Golden Boy which premiered in 2019 and ran for two seasons.
Also, she has hosted many events including the 2018 Comedy Fest Gala, the Queenstown Winter Festival, Big Wednesday at The Classic, and the Basement Theatre Christmas Show. When she isn’t writing, performing or composing, you’ll still find her on the marching field with her team Royal Command.
We chat about her passion for marching, culture and belonging, PCOS, creating pathways for success, starting radio, hosting a bake show, being a goth, my favourite word... pivoting, entertainment and juggling multiple professions.
The video footage of this entire chat is now out as well (one day after release)! So check them out on YouTube under Michael Kahan
Check Hayley out on:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hayleysproull/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/hayleysproull Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hayleysproullcomedy/ Doco: Cystic Sisters: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmrLaXTXQL0&feature=youtu.be Radio (Fletch, Vaughan & Hayley) : https://www.zmonline.com/ https://www.instagram.com/zmonline/ ------------------------------------------- Follow @Funny in Failure on Instagram and Facebook https://www.instagram.com/funnyinfailure/ https://www.facebook.com/funnyinfailure/ and @Michael_Kahan on Insta & Twitter to keep up to date with the latest info. https://www.instagram.com/michael_kahan/ https://twitter.com/Michael_Kahan

#098: Lisa Cox - What Are You Grateful For?
Funny In Failure
12/28/20 • 89 min
Lisa Cox is an award-winning writer, author, model, public speaker, consultant, presenter and advocate for disability representation. She is actively changing the way disability is represented in mainstream popular culture – like the media, fashion industry and more. Lisa is also the author of two books and her work has been published nationally for publications such as the Huff Post and The Sydney Morning Herald.
You’ll hear more about in the episode, but here’s the little teaser as per Lisa words, “At age 24 I had a brain haemorrhage, like a stroke. It was caused by a nasty infection and to this day, nobody knows how I contracted it.
Before that, life was pretty good. I’d been to university and graduated with two degrees (bachelor of business communications and media), played lots of representative sport, travelled overseas, moved into my own place and after years working in the corporate sector, I had just been promoted in my dream job at an advertising agency”.
After my brain haemorrhaged at the airport one morning, I spent the next three weeks in a coma and two month on life support. Pneumonia, heart attacks and uncontrollable seizures took hold of my body as all of my organs shut down.
Technically, I died twice in hospital but was resuscitated (obviously!) to keep living out a life I loved. My family was told they might have to turn off my life support but then my brain started to recharge and every single cell in my body regenerated...”
You’ll hear the rest in this jam packed episode, where we chat about being a disability advocate, health and exercise, dealing with challenges, having a success mindset, adapting, “inspirational p0rn”, being on life support, victim mentality, death, mental health, resilience, and gratefulness.
Check out Lisa on:
- Instagram: lisacox.co
- website: https://lisacox.co
Follow @Funny in Failure on Insta and FB and @Michael_Kahan on Insta & Twitter to keep up to date with the latest info.

#173: David H Steinberg - Delusionally Optimistic
Funny In Failure
07/25/22 • 98 min
DAVID H. STEINBERG (writer, producer, director) entered Yale at age sixteen and earned his law degree from Duke before abandoning his legal career to attend USC’s Peter Stark Producing program. Steinberg’s first spec sale Slackers became a cult classic movie and he has had ten films produced, including three in the American Pie franchise, the DreamWorks animated feature Puss in Boots, and Disney’s Tinker Bell and the Pixie Hollow Games. As a director, Steinberg wrote and directed the award-winning short film, “The Babysitter,” starring Academy Award-winner Brie Larson, and made his feature directorial debut on the romantic comedy Miss Dial. In television, Steinberg was nominated for a WGA Award for his work on The Simpsons, and he has written for a variety of animated and live-action series. He was the Executive Producer and Showrunner of No Good Nick, an original series streaming worldwide on Netflix, and currently has another show in development at Netflix, as well as films at Disney and DreamWorks Animation.
We chat about breaking into the business, killing your screen writing babies, being fired, working with his wife, becoming a show runner, giving back, being delusionally optimistic, collaboration, disappointments and expectations. The video footage of this entire chat is now out as well (one day after release)! So check them out on YouTube under Michael Kahan
Check David out on:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DavidHSteinberg Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidhsteinberg/ ------------------------------------------- Follow @Funny in Failure on Instagram and Facebook https://www.instagram.com/funnyinfailure/ https://www.facebook.com/funnyinfailure/ and @Michael_Kahan on Insta & Twitter to keep up to date with the latest info. https://www.instagram.com/michael_kahan/ https://twitter.com/Michael_Kahan

#214: Aisha Alfa - Stepping Up
Funny In Failure
07/24/23 • 81 min
Aisha Alfa is an award-winning comedian as well as an actor, writer and host who can currently be seen co-starring with Kaley Cuoco & Chris Messina in the new dark comedy thriller BASED ON A TRUE STORY, created by Craig Rosenberg and Jason Bateman.
Aisha was previously seen in GOOD TROUBLE, SORRY FOR YOUR LOSS and multiple seasons of DEGRASSI: THE NEXT GENERATION & THE NEXT CLASS.
Her incredible life and upbringing has given her a comedic edge and vision to see the world with a much broader lens. She was born in Nigeria, raised in Canada, lived in South Korea and France and now calls Los Angeles home.
Aisha recently released her debut comedy album ALL THE PARTS (produced by All Things Comedy—Bill Burr & Al Madrigal), produced the YouTube interview series PLUS ONE about motherhood, pregnancy and fertility, and launched her own podcast titled, THE SHOUT OUT SHOW, available on all podcast platforms.
Aisha has travelled the world performing comedy including the prestigious Just for Laughs festival in Montreal (Trevor Noah Gala, Kevin Hart LOL, and Homegrown), South Africa (Goliath Club, Cape (Town Comedy Club), Switzerland (Montreux Festival) and more. Aisha was also a Bob Curry Fellow at Second City, an NBC STAND UP Finalist, nominated for a Canadian Comedy Award and a past winner of Winnipeg’s Funniest Person with a Day Job from Rumor’s Comedy Club.
We chat about her previous life as a professional soccer player, wedding planner and a coach, collaboration, finding your voice and performing, authenticity, passion, abundance and happiness.
Just to note this chat was recorded prior to the writers strike*.
The video footage of this entire chat is now out as well (one day after release)! So check them out on YouTube under Michael Kahan Check Aisha out on: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aishaalfa/ Website: https://www.aishaalfa.com/ Standup Special: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=te4rcxP5wPc ------------------------------------------- Follow @Funny in Failure on Instagram and Facebook https://www.instagram.com/funnyinfailure/ https://www.facebook.com/funnyinfailure/ and @Michael_Kahan on Insta & Twitter to keep up to date with the latest info. https://www.instagram.com/michael_kahan/ https://twitter.com/Michael_Kahan
Show more best episodes

Show more best episodes
FAQ
How many episodes does Funny In Failure have?
Funny In Failure currently has 340 episodes available.
What topics does Funny In Failure cover?
The podcast is about Success, Comedy, Podcasts and Comedy Interviews.
What is the most popular episode on Funny In Failure?
The episode title '#047: Smoke & Mirrors with Jude Perl (part 1)' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on Funny In Failure?
The average episode length on Funny In Failure is 86 minutes.
How often are episodes of Funny In Failure released?
Episodes of Funny In Failure are typically released every 7 days.
When was the first episode of Funny In Failure?
The first episode of Funny In Failure was released on Feb 18, 2019.
Show more FAQ

Show more FAQ