Dan Soder Doesn’t Have Time For Your Hot Takes

If all you know about Dan Soder comes from his supporting character Mafee on Showtime’s Billions, then you probably don’t know much.

Soder has co-hosted a regular weekday afternoon SiriusXM show with Big Jay Oakerson called “The Bonfire” since 2015 on Comedy Central’s radio channel. Comedy Central also gave Soder his first hour special, Not Special, in 2016. He also put out a half-hour for Netflix’s The Standups collection in 2017. Now he gets a higher profile on HBO for his new hour special, Son of a Gary, which premieres this weekend. His new girlfriend attended the taping in late October.

Soder was willing to dish with Decider about that, as well as his opening act on the road, a guy you may have heard a lot about this fall named Shane Gillis, and how Soder sees himself in the larger landscape of stand-up comedy.

DECIDER: You joke in this hour about the joy of having romantic crushes, so did revealing so much about yourself help jumpstart this new relationship?

Dan Soder: I think so. It was like one of our first official dates. So we had gone on some dates, but it was like one of the first like official like, “Hey, you should really come to this,” which by the way, I recommend to anybody: If you’re dating, and you have an HBO special, invite them to your HBO special…where you’re talking about all the darkest stuff that’s happened to you in your life. That’s a very good way of like, “Hey, you want a manual of why I am who I am? Here you go.”

Impressive. Equally impressive these days is keeping multiple professional suitors. You have a “day job” on SiriusXM via Comedy Central, a second gig on Showtime as a regular cast member on Billions, and you’ve managed now to put out specials on Comedy Central, Netflix and now HBO. How’d you manage to cover all the platform bases?

I’ve always just cared about trying to be the funniest I can be, which is, I always want that next evolution after I do something…

I’m off the road until January, because I don’t want to go on the road and just be doing stuff from the special and feel like oh, it’s the same comic I watched. I want it when people come and see me on the road that I’ve always got new stuff and this is kind of how he’s growing. Because I think it took all those other specials for me to get to here, and how I am and where my jokes are I don’t think I could have done jokes about my dead dad on my Comedy Central half-hour in 2013. I don’t think I could have done dead dad jokes on Not Special, the Comedy Central hour. Not even in The Standups. There’s certain comics like Michael Che that can just go up there and be like, this is who I am. And Big Jay’s like that. Like this is just who I am, and it’s funny. How I was raised, I didn’t have that confidence. And so it took me those specials to get that confidence back.

You don’t have a branded persona.

Not at all. I think I’m still figuring myself out and, you know, in comedy they always talk about finding your voice but I’m not even really convinced. I think now, more than ever, I kind of know my voice but I don’t have it locked in. And I’m fine with that, because I like watching comedians grow and change but also provide similar things like when I watch Chappelle’s Sticks and Stones. It’s not the same as Killin’ Them Softly. But it’s still Dave Chappelle. You’re still getting Chappelle-isms and Chappelle’s outlook on things. That’s why I like watching Bill Burr. If you watch Why Do I Do This versus Paper Tiger, it’s still Bill Burr, but it’s a whole new Bill Burr. It’s a whole new evolved version of him.

The opening credits of Son Of A Gary are from the 1980s.

How great is that? It’s 1983. which is the year I was born. And Drew Michael for his HBO special took the front half. Or he took the back half…I took the full thing. I asked is it alright if I do that? And what I love about Christopher [Storer, who directed this special] and Bo [Burnham], when they heard I want that, they said: “Then we’re going to definitely make that happen.” And they fought you know, they fought for me on things. I told them I don’t want it well lit. When I feel like I feel like with the HD technology, and all these new TV technologies, all these specials are shot to look like they’re on display at a Best Buy. That’s not what I want. You know, I’m watching The Mandalorian on Disney+. It’s not grainy. I think I’m sold more on The Mandalorian if it’s kind of like that hazy ’70s shot and you’re like, oh, this is the Star Wars world.

This is the Tatooine that you were looking for.

Exactly. I don’t want to see a Tatooine that’s 5G capable. I don’t want to see pixelated, because that and I think with HBO, I always grew up. I remember watching (Chris Rock’s) Bigger and Blacker or Killin’ Them Softly or Critic’s Choice, Dana Carvey, where you’re kind of like, “Who is this?” It’s like you walked into a room you didn’t expect to and you’re like, “What’s going on here?” and then you’re like, “I love this!” It grabs your attention. I wanted that.

Several comedians with specials this year decided to take time-outs during their hours to reflect on the state of stand-up comedy in 2019. You only do so in passing, with your idea of stand-ups as essentially “mall clowns.” I found it an interesting choice for you, specifically, considering you not only would have more perspective on the industry from talking to other comedians on the radio on a daily basis, but also because you’ve had Shane Gillis touring on the road with you, before and after he was hired and then fired abruptly from Saturday Night Live.

He’s one of my best friends.

So what do you have to say, then?

My whole opinion is there’s too many opinions. I think there’s people that are very, very funny that sometimes can say the wrong thing or something can get misconstrued. And in the case of Shane Gillis, all of a sudden these people think he’s just a racist, mean person. Man, I know that guy better. I guarantee I know him better than you. And whoever is thinking this, I’m talking about whoever’s reading this right now, that’s like, “I know Shane.” I know Shane, and he’s a great person. And he made some mistakes and words that he chose, but he’s one of the funniest people I’ve ever met in my life. Same with Big Jay. Same with Joe List and Michelle Wolf. If you looked at my green room (at the HBO taping), it wasn’t, you know, like, alt-right. You know, or it wasn’t far left. It was people that you see, like, it was Michelle Wolf, Shane Gillis, Big Jay. It was anyone that wanted to come by and be a part of it. Comedy to me is so important because it’s my people. If you’re a comedian, you’re my people. And I love you. And I think we can have disagreements about things. But I think in general, and you know this, that this business, there’s a lot of scum bags in it. And there’s a lot of phonies in it.

Indeed.

And I think there’s death to the phonies. I think there’s a lot of posers walking around right now. I think there’s a lot of people that should be VJs on MTV, or they should be Entertainment Tonight correspondents. Stop trying to be a fucking comic, because a comic to me is a person that’s willing to go on the road and bust their ass and make shit really funny. And I enjoy having features on the road that make me nervous that when I’m waiting to go up as a headliner, thinking I might not do as well as my feature. Tim Dillon, Shane Gillis, other people that I’ve brought on the road that I’m like, damn, this is a hard follow.

Features who can destroy.

Yeah they kill the room, which drives me and is going to only make me better. And then there are people that are very opinionated, who only have hot takes, but no jokes. They just want the audience, the acknowledgement. So I think with this hour, it was like, listen, man, I’ll have my own opinion on it in a funny way. But I’m not going to have that breakdown moment where I’m like, sit on a stool and be like, “Here’s what’s really going on…”

I’m glad that you made that choice. So many comedians today are taking 10 minutes out of their shows to deliver a state of the union address.

It’s a very weird thing. It’d be like if a chef stopped making a dish and was like, “Well, let me tell you what I think about organic food,” and you’re like, “I don’t give a shit. Make the dish.” Is it delicious? You know what I mean? Like, I’m here to eat your dish. I’m not here to learn what you think of culinary experiments. Stop. Stop doing that. And not that I don’t think comedians should have that take because I think you can. I think you can do it in a way where you can be funny and also let it go. And I think that’s what that mall clown thing is like. However important, I think I am, trust me, I don’t think I’m that important. Trust me at the end of the day, I know exactly what this game is.

You talked about learning, finding your voice as a comedian. With Billions, which is on another network, as they used to say, how would you compare how you felt as an actor and as a character on Billions in season one versus coming into season five?

Something that I’ve stayed consistent on while working on Billions is I am a comedian learning how to act. From season one until now, I’m learning how to be an actor on that show. And so from season one, you’re seeing me learn how to act versus season five, where I’m still learning how to act. The greatest thing that Brian Koppelman and David Levien did was to assemble an all-star cast of people — whether it be Asia Kate Dillon, or Daniel K. Isaac, or Samantha Mathis. Everyone that’s on that show is a killer in their own way.

You know, Kelly AuCoin, who plays ‘Dollar’ Bill? He’s an unbelievable actor. So is David Costabile, who plays Wags, and Maggie Siff, who plays Wendy. You’re just around greatness. And it’s like, “Oh, if I’m trying to learn how to be good at acting like them, why don’t I shut up and learn?” That’s always how I’ve been with comedy. You know, whether it be at the Comedy Cellar, or The Stand or anywhere. If Colin Quinn is talking well, then I should probably shut up. If Jim Norton is talking, I should probably shut up. You know what I mean. Sarah Silverman comes in and sits down on the table. I want to hear what Sarah Silverman has to say. I don’t think Sarah Silverman should listen to what I have to say. And I think we’ve lost a lot of that with social media. I think a lot of people are like, “Well, my opinion is just as important as this person.” No. What social media does do is it gives smaller, disenfranchised groups an opportunity to have a voice which is very important. The backlash of it is that you’re seeing people who should shut the fuck up, talk louder. And I think that’s, that’s kind of where I’m at in my head is why don’t I shut up and let the people who know what they’re talking about, talk more?

I love that you joke about still having a roommate, despite all of your success. Does that mean you’re like Jay Leno and not touching any of your TV or radio money?

It’s very close. You know, that’s one of my favorite things in Comedian, which is my favorite movie about stand-up, is when Jerry Seinfeld tells Jay Leno, you’re like, you’re too worried you’re gonna be a janitor?! And I immediately identified with that, and it’s like, you know, I take care of my grandma, my mom, and I don’t care that I live under a train. There’s other people that might s–t on me for it. In fact, they are there’s, there’s, there’s other comedians that have made fun of it in fun ways and not fun ways. But it’s like if f— you, I’m taking care of my grandma. She’s set. she’s 92 and she’s okay and my mom is 71 and she’s a nanny for another family. If I can help her, I will. I live with Mike Vecchione, one of the best working stand-up comedians. I live in a boxing gym. I live at the gym. I am waking up and running bits. You know what I mean? And this is an opportunity where as I grow up and if I have a family and stuff, that’s going to end and if I don’t take full advantage of it, I’ll feel like an idiot.

Sean L. McCarthy works the comedy beat for his own digital newspaper, The Comic’s Comic; before that, for actual newspapers. Based in NYC but will travel anywhere for the scoop: Ice cream or news. He also tweets @thecomicscomic and podcasts half-hour episodes with comedians revealing origin stories: The Comic’s Comic Presents Last Things First.

Watch Dan Soder: Son of a Gary on HBO Go and HBO NOW