SHARK PARTY MEDIA

Announcing Josh Gondelman’s Newest Hour of Stand-Up Comedy 

JOSH GONDELMAN

Positive Reinforcement

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DEADLINE ANNOUNCEMENT - 6-2-25

Comedy Special out June 27 - Comedy Album out July 11

Friendly and delightful comedian Josh Gondelman (Last Week Tonight, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me!) is poised to release Positive Reinforcement (directed by Chris Werner of Last Week Tonight and Saturday Night Live), his latest hour of material, from Blonde Medicine as a full comedy special on June 27 and a comedy album on July 11. This fresh and upbeat hour of stand-up details his attempts to adapt to changing times despite being born in the previous century. Gondelman covers topics from novelty baked goods to proper pronoun usage and even creative retirement planning. He does it all while wearing a very nice sweater and a clean pair of sneakers, because he knew there would be cameras there.

Gondelman says that this new hour is about his approach to aging gracefully, rather than putting up his fists and challenging the inevitable passage of time to a bare-knuckle brawl. “I’m trying to allow the future to happen while still reserving the right to say ‘Hey, this actually is garbage!’ when something is garbage. It’s funny to me to take the contrarian position of: ‘The kids are alright.’”

Returning to live comedy in 2021 after taking a year-long break for the same reasons most of us weren’t leaving the house much in 2020, Josh Gondelman noticed a subtle but noticeable shift in his perspective. He was no longer one of the new kids on the block. In fact, the new new kids on the block saw him as one of the older guys. This produced a shift in Gondelman’s material that he was excited to explore. After years working in writers’ rooms, he took time from fall of 2022 through the spring of 2024 to tour this new material all over the country, sharing his new, lightly wizened perspective with audiences from coast to coast. “Fortunately I was already bald when this started, so that was one less thing on my mind both literally and figuratively,” he says. 

Predominantly, he hopes that people from all walks of life can have a good time watching Positive Reinforcement, which he recorded live at the Bell House in Brooklyn. Gondelman even sees it as a special you can enjoy with your parents, provided that you have cool parents. 

“I am not setting out to offend anyone, although I may upset my high school basketball coach who I accuse of lying about having dunked. Although in that case I am just saying what we were all thinking, we being my high school basketball team.”

Positive Reinforcement is out on June 27th on Blonde Medicine’s YouTube channel, and July 11 everywhere comedy audio is streamed or sold. 

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About Josh Gondelman: 

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Josh Gondelman is an Emmy-winning writer and comedian who incubated in Boston before moving to New York City. He New York-ly worked as the head writer and an executive producer for Desus & Mero on Showtime and had a wonderful time despite being in constant conflict with the show’s hosts over various sports rivalries. Gondelman also contributed to the final season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, which was a thrill for both him and his parents. Prior to that, he spent five years at Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, first as a web producer and then as a staff writer where he earned four Emmy Awards, two Peabody Awards, and three WGA Awards. His debut standup special People Pleaser (2022) was produced by Comedy Dynamics and is available to stream now. 

If Gondelman's face seems familiar, you may recognize it from his appearances on Conan (TBS), Late Night With Seth Meyers (NBC), and The Late Late Show with James Corden (CBS). But you may also know his voice from his regular appearances on the NPR news quiz show Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me. Gondelman is also the author of the essay collection Nice Try: Stories of Best Intentions and Mixed Results published September 2019 by Harper Perennial. Gondelman’s writing has also appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, New York Magazine, and many other publications without “New York” in the title. His debut essay collection Nice Try: Stories of Best Intentions and Mixed Results came out a few years ago, and you can still find it if you want a copy.

And, if you remember this far back, he was the co-creator of the popular Modern Seinfeld Twitter account.

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