Lori Nasso had never written a sketch when SNL hired her. She joins Inside Late Night to talk about learning on the job, surviving the pressure of live TV, and how a fake Scottish accent led to a recurring role with Craig Ferguson.

With late night under growing pressure to meet the moment, Bill Carter, Mark Malkoff, and Jon Schneider break down a pivotal stretch for the genre in this month’s edition of LateNighter’s Roundtable Podcast.

Emmy Award-winning writer and St. Denis Medical co-creator Eric Ledgin joins Mark Malkoff to talk about his path through late night, from years of writing packets and facing rejection to landing a job at 'Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.' Ledgin shares what it was like writing monologue jokes under constant pressure, navigating 13-week contract cycles, and learning in Fallon’s fast-paced writers’ room. He also discusses producing pretapes, the realities of joke counts and job security, and how his late-night experience shaped his transition into scripted comedy.

Lew Morton joins Mark Malkoff to discuss writing for 'Saturday Night Live' during its turbulent 1993–1995 rebuild, and learning under legendary head writer Jim Downey—before going on to NewsRadio, Futurama, and Family Guy.

Gideon Evans and Kathy Egan-Taylor have spent decades behind the scenes of some of comedy’s most ambitious shows—from The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and Michael Moore’s TV projects to Da Ali G Show, Brüno, Billy on the Street, and more. On this episode of Inside Late Night, they join Mark Malkoff to share stories from the field, including producing pieces with Stephen Colbert, Rob Corddry, Ed Helms, and Steve Carell, the challenges of landing—and keeping—interview subjects, and the art of making a segment work when plans fall apart. Along the way, they revisit Jon Stewart’s early transformation of The Daily Show, encounters with Donald Trump and O.J. Simpson, getting banned from Disney World, and the unpredictable realities of producing comedy on the street. They also discuss their podcast, Bad Elizabeth, which explores the lives of infamous Elizabeths throughout history.

On the eve of his return to host the Academy Awards, late-night legend Conan O’Brien joins Bill Carter for a wide-ranging conversation about stepping back onto one of television’s biggest—and riskiest—stages.

Brian Kiley spent 27 years writing for Conan O’Brien across Late Night, The Tonight Show, and the TBS run of Conan, earning an Emmy and 16 nominations along the way. On this episode of Inside Late Night, he joins Mark Malkoff to talk about joining the show in 1994, the relentless pace of writing dozens of monologue jokes a day, and his many last-minute stand-up appearances when comics canceled. Along the way, Kiley shares memories of Conan’s writers room, performing on Letterman and The Tonight Show, and what it’s like working with O’Brien again now as part of Conan’s Oscars writers team.

Vance DeGeneres broke out on Saturday Night Live’s first season with Mr. Bill—and later helped shape The Daily Show during Jon Stewart’s earliest days as host. On this episode of Inside Late Night, he joins Mark Malkoff to talk about sending homemade films to SNL, the unexpected fallout from Mr. Bill’s success, and landing at The Daily Show just as it was finding its political voice. It’s a wide-ranging look at a career that’s zigzagged through comedy, music, the Marines, and some pivotal moments in late-night history.