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Chapter 1: What is the theme of Michael Kosta's new book 'Lucky Loser'?
Hey, look, there's Michael Kosta of The Daily Show, the former tennis player, stand-up comedian. He's got a new book out, Lucky Loser. It's available to pre-order now, and you can get it everywhere March 11th. I did not know, I should have known, I did not know that he was a former professional tennis player. That seems like a very lonely way to make a living.
It sounds even more insane to say, man, it's such a hard, competitive, lonely way to make a living. Let me be a stand-up comedian instead. Yeah. Yeah.
That's what he chose. Michael, thank you for joining us. Thank you. Which of those careers is lonelier?
Oh, that's a great question.
That's a good question.
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Chapter 2: How does Michael Kosta compare tennis and comedy?
I also love that I came in right after the Dookie Bomb t-shirt for sale. That made me laugh. You know, that stumped me. That question stumps me. So good first question. I actually think being a comedian is lonelier.
Because, and I actually talk about this, I have this crazy night in Edmonton when I'm a brand new comic where these girls call my hotel room right after I perform and they say, hey, can we come upstairs to your room? And tomfoolery ensues. And the next day, I'm all alone. And I have this great story that I want to tell everybody, but you're at a Best Western in Edmonton alone.
Whereas even when I played tennis, and sometimes you were sharing a hotel room with competitors, you at least could pull a guy aside and say, check this out.
Do you think that one of the careers is harder than the other or more competitive than the other?
I think tennis is impossible, is nearly impossible. It's a nonstop calendar year. The physicality of it. I think comedy is tough, but you can make $14,000 a year playing bowling alleys the rest of your life pretty easily, I think. If you're willing to do the armpit joke and the, can I get a volunteer from the crowd and do the, you know, whatever this, that.
What is that? What is that act that you're turning into a career? You're a man who works with words for a living. I don't know what it is you're describing there.
This is true. Of course, only I would pick to do an act out on a radio show. But you get the volunteer from the crowd to come out. They put the arms through your armpits. And then you say, oh, we're cooking. We're making an omelet. And it's their arms and your... Great gig. 14 grand a year, you say?
Yeah, probably. A bowling alley tour, 14 grand a year. Whose line is it, anyway?
One of my first gigs, I was doing a bowling alley in a basement in Michigan, and I was bombing so hard that my feet were sweating. Oh. And... I could hear the people above me bowling strikes. And it was this amazing dichotomy of success and failure so close to each other.
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Chapter 3: Why did Michael Kosta transition from tennis to comedy?
Well, it's you. You're also our only guest. I'm shocked at how much... How many former tennis players that I know, they just hated tennis, and they excelled at it, and they hated it. Did you hate it while you were trying to succeed at it?
Yeah, you know, I always thought it was BS when Rafael Nadal would win, win, win, and then he would go, I just love this sport, I just love this sport. And it's like, are you serious? Because Andre Agassi says he hates the sport. Everyone I know has tennis trauma.
i talk about a kid in this book who cheated me when i was 11. i i still wait for the c train hoping i run into that kid i mean i'm 45 i'm 45 years old i have i have children It really affects you. And I think the reason there's so much hatred to the sport is at a very young age, you're thrown in these highly competitive problem solving situations alone.
I also think that's why it's such a great sport for kids to play is they learn how to navigate the world and unfairness. I needed more love for the sport to be more successful.
was losing a lot and was out of money uh that's a tough recipe for tennis success uh but now after a break from the sport i love it i love it i love it i love it i also play once a month i get one hour court time uh run around you know it's a nice reminder that i was actually good at something
Well, then you might be aware of the discourse right now going on with U.S. tennis. The Nothing Major pod has put up a bracket of the most handsome male tennis players going on right now.
I did not see that.
There was some bracket luck going on there because I don't actually think their final four is a true most handsome final four. So I'm going to run four names by you. You pick one in terms of attractiveness. These are men. Men. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Tommy Paul, Taylor Fritz, Matteo Berentini, or Lorenzo Musetti.
And we're doing women next.
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Chapter 4: How competitive is The Daily Show hosting environment?
You should be able to find it on Spotify.
Amid's laptop opened faster than I've ever seen in my life.
Am I right? I'm looking it up right now.
Wait a minute. That's a terrible question to ask after you've said that.
Because there's two active ATP players that rap. The Canadian, Denis Shapovalov, and I believe it's Lorenzi Musetti. He might have a single. Is Magnifico?
We've really gotten stuck in the quicksand here. We can look it up. It'll be easy enough. You can continue, though.
I went and watched Bertini lose a couple years ago at the U.S. Open, and it was remarkable that 96% of the audience was women, young women, divorced women, newly married women. I mean, it was remarkable. So what are we asking? Is Michael deciding who's the most handsome? I just want your feedback as I decide that it's obviously Tommy Paul.
I think Tommy Paul is an excellent, excellent, handsome man who wears a shorter short, and I do appreciate that. I think this whole baggy short thing, tennis, you got some of the best legs of all sports. What are you doing?
Yeah, Berentini, though, is a dish. Not looking good for you, though. I did Google, and AI's overview on this is there's no information about a music album by tennis player Lorenzo Mussetti.
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Chapter 5: How did Michael Kosta's experiences shape his comedic career?
I wrote it because it even surprises me that I'm here now as a comedian and I kind of had to recap what the hell was going on. i love tennis that was my dream uh and it didn't happen i made eleven thousand dollars over four years my career high ranking was 864 in the world which is still my email signature and
was got hired in the Daily Show, was starting to have some comedy success, was starting to sell tickets, was starting to tour. And I just, and I was also about to have a kid and I was like, I need to figure out how we got here. Cause it surprises me even when as a kid, all the posters on my wall were tennis players. I think it's a really fascinating story. And when I share it with people,
whether athletics or not, they pull from it and they connect. And I think it's a good lesson for all the young kids out there. Yes, have a dream, but you're probably gonna fail at it. So if you can try to learn something from that first dream, odds are it'll help you with your second profession or career.
Michael, what was the thing that made you say, you know what, I'm gonna try my hand at professional comedy?
I was out of money. Um, when I used to play professionally, you know, you win, win, win as a junior in college, we won four big 10 championships, university of Illinois. I won something like 80% of my matches in college. You get to the pros. I'm all I'm doing is losing. Every week I'm losing. The tournament starts on Monday, and my Monday at 2 p.m., I'm out of the tournament.
You know, it's like, so what do you do with six and a half days when you're in Zihuantanejo, Mexico, playing a $10,000 future? And if that city sounds familiar, it's because that's where Andy Dufresne escaped prison to in the Shawshank Redemption. That was my first pro tournament. So I started to write ideas online. that were funny, interactions that were funny.
I wanted my mind to get out of tennis just for an hour. And when I finally wrapped up and I was living with my parents in Michigan and I was hired as the assistant coach at University of Michigan, I had these binders of jokes. And I had a month before the team reported and before my life was going to be over as a college coach, as it is.
And I signed up for an open mic and I took these folders of jokes. And my first joke, which I describe in grave detail in the book, was called crotch karate. And I went around the audience and I pretended to karate chop them with my crotch. And it's bad then and it's bad now.
I just love the idea, like, this was the birth of a great comedy career.
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Chapter 6: Why do audiences trust comedians for news?
That's a good question.
Or morning Zoom. Doing this show is great, but I never know what's coming through my headphone.
I wish that hadn't been. I feel like we could have done that better than we've done it.
No, that's an all-time good sounder.
It's amazing how many people stop me and say, you're where I get my news. And I go, you know, we're on Comedy Central, right? You know that we don't uphold or have to be upheld to any journalistic integrity. I think, yeah, you know, what's that great movie where the news anchor loses his mind? Network. You know, I think that's a great synopsis.
um i wish our news channels were publicly funded they weren't for profit i think every time i see a lower third on cnn or fox i go they're just doing that so we keep watching it doesn't really seem like they're trying to inform us there is a trustworthiness with comedy there's a trustworthiness with comedians there's this thought that comedians tell the truth
um i always think it's hilarious when comedians get held to a higher standard than a politician or an elected official but i do think people enjoy that they're coming to see us and we'll make them laugh oh and also i learned that donald trump just signed an executive order that you can't swirl vanilla and chocolate ice cream today or whatever it is um So good question. It's a good question.
Might not be a simple answer. I'm just trying really hard to not be a slapdick on your guys' show today.
Are you somebody who is trying to laugh to keep from crying at the daily news events that are happening that make America shake?
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Chapter 7: What are Michael Kosta's thoughts on the current state of tennis?
Excellent dismount. Thank you. Thank you, Michael. Good talking to you. Again, a reminder, the name of the book is Lucky Loser, and it's available to pre-order now, and it'll be available everywhere March 11th. Pleasure talking to you, sir.
Thanks for having me.
Was your answer Musetti, though?
Was that the final answer? My answer is Barentini. Yeah, Barentini. And also in that Netflix documentary, he wins in five sets and he's in the cold tub and he calls his grandparents and they're watching live in Italy at like 3 a.m. And it is just, it is a tear. He's not just a handsome face. He's also a good guy. I want that to be my dismo.
All right. I preferred your previous one, but you get to choose, sir. Thank you. Nice talking to you. Thank you. Bye.
Yeah, sure thing. Hey, you sold that car yet?
Yeah, sold it to Carvana.
Oh, I thought you were selling to that guy.
The guy who wanted to pay me in foreign currency, no interest over 36 months? Yeah, no. Carvana gave me an offer in minutes, picked it up, and paid me on the spot. It was so convenient.
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