WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.960 Welcome back to the Deep Dive. Today we're taking 00:00:01.960 --> 00:00:06.219 a really extensive look at a life story that 00:00:06.219 --> 00:00:08.500 honestly reads more like a tightrope walk than 00:00:08.500 --> 00:00:11.199 a career path. We're talking about Mark Moshe 00:00:11.199 --> 00:00:13.259 Kasher. Yeah. It's quite a story. And we're not 00:00:13.259 --> 00:00:15.619 just, you know, listing achievements here, comedian, 00:00:15.880 --> 00:00:18.820 writer, actor, host. We're diving into the sources 00:00:18.820 --> 00:00:21.760 to understand how someone with such, well, extreme 00:00:21.760 --> 00:00:24.160 contrasts in their background could even emerge. 00:00:24.420 --> 00:00:26.260 It's a fascinating puzzle. We've got material 00:00:26.260 --> 00:00:28.859 showing him as the child of deaf parents, actually 00:00:28.859 --> 00:00:31.359 working as a sign language interpreter by 17, 00:00:31.519 --> 00:00:34.159 growing up pretty poor in Oakland. But at the 00:00:34.159 --> 00:00:36.560 same time, in and out of mental institutions, 00:00:36.719 --> 00:00:38.600 dealing with addiction, crime. Before he was 00:00:38.600 --> 00:00:42.950 even 16, right? Exactly. today is to trace that 00:00:42.950 --> 00:00:46.750 path. How did this intense friction, you know, 00:00:46.770 --> 00:00:49.509 North Oakland poverty versus Satmar Hasidic Brooklyn, 00:00:49.810 --> 00:00:52.649 how did that forge the voice, the very specific, 00:00:52.750 --> 00:00:55.130 versatile voice that launched his career? What 00:00:55.130 --> 00:00:57.789 did all that chaos actually contribute? That's 00:00:57.789 --> 00:00:59.829 the core question, I think. Because when you 00:00:59.829 --> 00:01:02.890 look at the formal details, you see it reflected 00:01:02.890 --> 00:01:08.030 right there. Born July 6, 1979 in NYC, ends up 00:01:08.030 --> 00:01:11.939 in L .A. But the comedy itself. It demands that 00:01:11.939 --> 00:01:14.459 background. How so? Well, the genres he works 00:01:14.459 --> 00:01:17.840 in, observational, sure. But really, he shines 00:01:17.840 --> 00:01:20.340 in black comedy, tackling those really dark, 00:01:20.420 --> 00:01:23.340 taboo subjects and surreal humor, which kind 00:01:23.340 --> 00:01:25.780 of throws logic out the window. Right. And his 00:01:25.780 --> 00:01:28.680 topics are everyday life, sexuality, self -deprecation, 00:01:28.700 --> 00:01:32.900 but also religion, race. politics, heavy stuff. 00:01:33.099 --> 00:01:35.140 His whole life story basically is his source 00:01:35.140 --> 00:01:37.519 material. He's almost tailor -made to talk about 00:01:37.519 --> 00:01:39.420 these difficult things. And the industry noticed 00:01:39.420 --> 00:01:41.060 pretty quickly, didn't they? It wasn't like a 00:01:41.060 --> 00:01:44.359 slow build. No, not at all. 2009 was huge. iTunes 00:01:44.359 --> 00:01:47.530 named him Best New Comic. It's a major nod, basically 00:01:47.530 --> 00:01:50.049 saying, OK, this guy's got a unique, fully formed 00:01:50.049 --> 00:01:52.549 thing going on. He could somehow package that 00:01:52.549 --> 00:01:55.489 unbelievable past into jokes that worked. That's 00:01:55.489 --> 00:01:57.109 incredible validation right out of the gate. 00:01:57.230 --> 00:01:59.950 It really is. And that same year, his first album, 00:02:00.069 --> 00:02:01.670 Everyone You Know Is Gonna Die. And then you 00:02:01.670 --> 00:02:03.870 are, I mean, the title tells you a lot. Yeah, 00:02:03.969 --> 00:02:06.510 definitely sets a tone. It hit the top 20 comedy 00:02:06.510 --> 00:02:09.430 albums on iTunes. And then Punchline magazine 00:02:09.430 --> 00:02:13.360 called him a comic to watch in 2010. So. yeah 00:02:13.360 --> 00:02:15.539 the momentum was there people were ready for 00:02:15.539 --> 00:02:19.319 his kind of difficult honest humor OK, so let's 00:02:19.319 --> 00:02:22.400 dig into that foundation, that early life, because 00:02:22.400 --> 00:02:25.479 the contrasts start immediately. Born in Queens, 00:02:25.639 --> 00:02:27.740 New York, but that didn't last long. Right. The 00:02:27.740 --> 00:02:29.879 family moved when he was just one year old. To 00:02:29.879 --> 00:02:32.539 Oakland, California, specifically North Oakland, 00:02:32.659 --> 00:02:35.039 growing up around Temescal, Piedmont Avenue neighborhoods. 00:02:35.400 --> 00:02:37.759 And the context there is really important. The 00:02:37.759 --> 00:02:39.939 sources stress that the family was living mostly 00:02:39.939 --> 00:02:42.840 on disability assistance, food stamps. So not 00:02:42.840 --> 00:02:45.699 an easy start financially. Not at all. It frames 00:02:45.699 --> 00:02:48.680 that whole West Coast childhood scarcity, navigating 00:02:48.680 --> 00:02:51.020 the system, that kind of thing. It's the bedrock. 00:02:51.199 --> 00:02:53.120 And then layered on top of that, the really defining 00:02:53.120 --> 00:02:56.900 piece, his parents were both deaf. Yes, they 00:02:56.900 --> 00:02:59.400 met at the World Games for the Deaf back in 1967. 00:02:59.819 --> 00:03:01.620 It's a central fact of his life. Which means 00:03:01.620 --> 00:03:03.780 he grew up not just bilingual, but bicultural 00:03:03.780 --> 00:03:07.460 in a sense. Hearing world, deaf world. Absolutely. 00:03:07.500 --> 00:03:09.439 Think about that connection to his later comedy. 00:03:09.879 --> 00:03:12.680 He's literally a bridge between these two distinct 00:03:12.680 --> 00:03:14.639 ways of communicating, different rhythms, different 00:03:14.639 --> 00:03:16.759 rules. But he wasn't just passively absorbing 00:03:16.759 --> 00:03:19.319 it. He became a professional interpreter. Yeah, 00:03:19.400 --> 00:03:23.180 starting at 17, which is remarkably young. Wow, 00:03:23.379 --> 00:03:27.280 17. Think about that, listener. You're translating 00:03:27.280 --> 00:03:31.259 complex stuff, legal, medical, maybe really emotional 00:03:31.259 --> 00:03:34.300 conversations at that age. It requires intense 00:03:34.300 --> 00:03:37.680 observation, understanding nuance, translating 00:03:37.680 --> 00:03:40.060 it instantly. It's like communication boot camp. 00:03:40.319 --> 00:03:43.479 You can see how that seal set, that hypervigilance, 00:03:43.500 --> 00:03:45.979 that ability to synthesize and translate feeds 00:03:45.979 --> 00:03:48.699 directly into comedy, right? Observing life's 00:03:48.699 --> 00:03:50.620 absurdities and translating them for an audience. 00:03:50.800 --> 00:03:52.740 Exactly. Understanding not just what's said, 00:03:52.819 --> 00:03:55.280 but how it's said, the meaning underneath. Crucial 00:03:55.280 --> 00:03:57.419 for observational comedy, crucial for black comedy. 00:03:57.599 --> 00:04:01.139 But then you layer on another massive split. 00:04:01.469 --> 00:04:03.169 The religious one. The religious one. His parents 00:04:03.169 --> 00:04:05.389 split when he was nine. But even before that, 00:04:05.430 --> 00:04:08.289 when Moshe was just four, his father, Stephen, 00:04:08.569 --> 00:04:10.550 who came from secular, even communist Jewish 00:04:10.550 --> 00:04:13.689 parents, had this huge transformation. He became 00:04:13.689 --> 00:04:16.750 a Hasidic Jew, joined the Satmar community in 00:04:16.750 --> 00:04:19.230 Brooklyn, which is, you know, a very traditional 00:04:19.230 --> 00:04:21.730 ultra -Orthodox group. Wait, Satmar, so you're 00:04:21.730 --> 00:04:25.120 telling me this kid is going from, like... subsidize 00:04:25.120 --> 00:04:28.300 housing and the general vibe of north oakland 00:04:28.300 --> 00:04:31.360 yeah pretty secular sometimes chaotic to spending 00:04:31.360 --> 00:04:34.959 summers in seagate brooklyn with one of the most 00:04:34.959 --> 00:04:38.160 insular strictly traditional anti -secular communities 00:04:38.160 --> 00:04:42.139 out there every summer talk about cultural whiplash 00:04:42.699 --> 00:04:44.779 It's almost impossible to imagine navigating 00:04:44.779 --> 00:04:47.060 those two realities as a kid. That's intense 00:04:47.060 --> 00:04:49.060 ideological friction right there. How do you 00:04:49.060 --> 00:04:51.019 even process that? It makes you an outsider in 00:04:51.019 --> 00:04:53.759 both worlds, doesn't it? Satmar Hesedism is known 00:04:53.759 --> 00:04:56.139 for its separation from modern secular culture, 00:04:56.220 --> 00:04:58.660 its strict rules. So he's bouncing between an 00:04:58.660 --> 00:05:00.879 environment where, you know, maybe scare city 00:05:00.879 --> 00:05:03.680 and street culture are realities and one where 00:05:03.680 --> 00:05:06.620 tradition and religious law are absolute. And 00:05:06.620 --> 00:05:08.970 this went on for years. Until his father passed 00:05:08.970 --> 00:05:11.410 away when Kasher was 20. And we should also mention 00:05:11.410 --> 00:05:13.430 his father lived with Goucher's disease. Oh. 00:05:13.509 --> 00:05:15.670 Yeah, it's a rare genetic disorder, more common 00:05:15.670 --> 00:05:18.449 among Ashkenazi Jews. So that adds another layer. 00:05:19.149 --> 00:05:22.509 Chronic illness, maybe caregiving stress, financial 00:05:22.509 --> 00:05:25.170 strain possibly, to that whole East Coast family 00:05:25.170 --> 00:05:27.430 picture. And the family's religious ties didn't 00:05:27.430 --> 00:05:29.350 end there, right? His brother. His brother is 00:05:29.350 --> 00:05:31.410 actually a rabbi now. So that religious structure, 00:05:31.610 --> 00:05:33.790 that lineage, it's still very present in the 00:05:33.790 --> 00:05:36.769 family, even with Moshe's very different path. 00:05:37.230 --> 00:05:40.069 OK, so now let's get into the period that really 00:05:40.069 --> 00:05:42.870 defined his public narrative. The stuff from 00:05:42.870 --> 00:05:45.089 his memoir, Cashier in the Rye. Which is such 00:05:45.089 --> 00:05:48.129 a great dark title twist. Right. And the subtitle 00:05:48.129 --> 00:05:51.430 pulls no punches. The true tale of a white boy 00:05:51.430 --> 00:05:53.970 from Oakland who became a drug addict, criminal, 00:05:54.149 --> 00:05:56.829 mental patient, and then turned 16. It lays it 00:05:56.829 --> 00:05:58.829 all out there. And the time frame is stark, mostly 00:05:58.829 --> 00:06:01.990 between ages 12 and 16. Intense drug use, crime. 00:06:02.310 --> 00:06:04.509 But the mental health struggle started even earlier. 00:06:04.790 --> 00:06:07.560 According to the memoir, yeah. He talks about 00:06:07.560 --> 00:06:09.620 being moved in and out of mental institutions 00:06:09.620 --> 00:06:13.379 starting around age four, four years old. That 00:06:13.379 --> 00:06:17.079 suggests a really long, difficult struggle navigating 00:06:17.079 --> 00:06:21.019 his own internal world within these extremely 00:06:21.019 --> 00:06:23.360 challenging external circumstances. And getting 00:06:23.360 --> 00:06:25.459 kicked out of four high schools. I mean, that 00:06:25.459 --> 00:06:27.879 points to just constant disruption, constant 00:06:27.879 --> 00:06:30.620 rejection. It's amazing he found a way through 00:06:30.620 --> 00:06:33.060 that. It really is. Yeah. But the pivot is there. 00:06:33.220 --> 00:06:36.399 He got his GED at 16. That was the escape hatch 00:06:36.399 --> 00:06:38.680 in a way. A way to stop the motion. Exactly. 00:06:38.839 --> 00:06:40.819 Right. And he talks about being Percy's straight 00:06:40.819 --> 00:06:43.220 edge, now clean since he was very young. So that 00:06:43.220 --> 00:06:45.660 survival story, that transition from chaos to, 00:06:45.779 --> 00:06:48.639 well, relative stability and comedy, that's the 00:06:48.639 --> 00:06:51.620 engine. And that engine, interestingly, didn't 00:06:51.620 --> 00:06:54.100 immediately drive him to the stage. It drove 00:06:54.100 --> 00:06:56.560 him to academia first. Which makes sense, right? 00:06:56.639 --> 00:06:58.839 After all the chaos, maybe seeking structure, 00:06:58.980 --> 00:07:00.980 order, understanding, he started a community 00:07:00.980 --> 00:07:03.500 college. Studying theater. Okay, so performance 00:07:03.500 --> 00:07:06.079 was maybe always in the back of his mind. Possibly. 00:07:06.379 --> 00:07:09.139 Then he transferred to UC Santa Barbara. And 00:07:09.139 --> 00:07:11.540 look at what he studied. Religious studies with 00:07:11.540 --> 00:07:13.800 a minor in Jewish studies. I can go. After living 00:07:13.800 --> 00:07:17.120 those extreme secular poverty versus rigid Hasidism, 00:07:17.199 --> 00:07:20.180 he goes to university to formally study the history, 00:07:20.319 --> 00:07:22.480 the philosophy, the rules of belief systems. 00:07:22.699 --> 00:07:24.199 It's like he needed the intellectual framework 00:07:24.199 --> 00:07:27.439 to understand his own life. Precisely. And apparently 00:07:27.439 --> 00:07:30.000 before comedy really took over, he was seriously 00:07:30.000 --> 00:07:31.620 thinking about becoming a college professor. 00:07:32.120 --> 00:07:36.120 Jewish history. Wow. Imagine Professor Kasher. 00:07:36.220 --> 00:07:39.079 It's a different path for sure. But you can still 00:07:39.079 --> 00:07:41.600 see that academic rigor, that analytical approach 00:07:41.600 --> 00:07:44.600 in how he dissects complex social issues in his 00:07:44.600 --> 00:07:46.980 comedy now. He's not just making jokes. He's 00:07:46.980 --> 00:07:49.699 analyzing the code. So connecting that academic 00:07:49.699 --> 00:07:52.920 detour back to performance. How did he actually 00:07:52.920 --> 00:07:55.060 make the jump into stand -up? It seems like quite 00:07:55.060 --> 00:07:57.560 a leap from potential professor to open mic night. 00:07:57.720 --> 00:07:59.560 Well, the story goes it was kind of a fateful 00:07:59.560 --> 00:08:02.360 moment in 2001. He was in New York City, went 00:08:02.360 --> 00:08:04.519 to an open mic. Just as an audience member. Initially, 00:08:04.660 --> 00:08:07.339 yeah. And he sees Chelsea Peretti performing. 00:08:07.939 --> 00:08:10.600 No way. Yep. Who he knew from junior high back 00:08:10.600 --> 00:08:13.620 in Oakland. Small world, right? Totally. So seeing 00:08:13.620 --> 00:08:16.899 her gave him the push? It seems like it. He basically 00:08:16.899 --> 00:08:18.379 went up to her afterwards and said, hey, take 00:08:18.379 --> 00:08:19.839 me with you next time I want to try performing. 00:08:20.430 --> 00:08:23.389 That takes some serious nerve. Absolutely. Especially 00:08:23.389 --> 00:08:25.529 coming from that almost academic background. 00:08:25.709 --> 00:08:28.649 His actual first time on stage wasn't even in 00:08:28.649 --> 00:08:31.170 New York. It was back in SF at an open mic at 00:08:31.170 --> 00:08:33.909 the Lugged Store Gallery. Okay, so he dives right 00:08:33.909 --> 00:08:38.049 in. Dives right in. And spends the early 2000s 00:08:38.049 --> 00:08:40.730 really honing his craft in the Bay Area. He was 00:08:40.730 --> 00:08:43.190 a regular at places like the Punchline, Cobb's 00:08:43.190 --> 00:08:45.509 Comedy Club in San Francisco. That was his proving 00:08:45.509 --> 00:08:48.379 ground. Developing that unique blend of trauma 00:08:48.379 --> 00:08:51.779 comedy and sharp observation. Exactly. Figuring 00:08:51.779 --> 00:08:54.120 out how to make that incredibly specific, chaotic 00:08:54.120 --> 00:08:58.779 life experience relatable and funny. Then, like 00:08:58.779 --> 00:09:01.299 many comics, he made the move to L .A. in 2008. 00:09:01.740 --> 00:09:04.779 And then came 2009, that pivotal year we mentioned. 00:09:04.879 --> 00:09:06.360 Yeah, that's when it really clicked on a bigger 00:09:06.360 --> 00:09:08.940 scale. Winning Best of Fest at the Aspen Rooftop 00:09:08.940 --> 00:09:10.940 Comedy Festival, that's a big deal in the industry. 00:09:11.120 --> 00:09:13.700 And that opened doors. Immediately. Got him invited 00:09:13.700 --> 00:09:15.340 to the Just for Laughs Festival in Montreal, 00:09:15.480 --> 00:09:17.679 which is huge. Then the TV appearances started, 00:09:17.820 --> 00:09:20.980 like Comedy Central's Live at Gotham, and of 00:09:20.980 --> 00:09:23.279 course releasing that debut album. It all happened 00:09:23.279 --> 00:09:26.519 fast once it started moving. It really validates 00:09:26.519 --> 00:09:28.379 that he had something genuinely different to 00:09:28.379 --> 00:09:32.259 offer, right? Built from that unique past. Completely. 00:09:32.259 --> 00:09:35.019 It was this perfect convergence of critical acclaim 00:09:35.019 --> 00:09:37.899 and audience connection, all fueled by material 00:09:37.899 --> 00:09:41.100 that was just deeply, authentically him. Now, 00:09:41.120 --> 00:09:43.080 something else that seems really important is 00:09:43.080 --> 00:09:45.539 his writing. It wasn't just an afterthought to 00:09:45.539 --> 00:09:47.700 the stand -up. No, definitely not. He was writing 00:09:47.700 --> 00:09:50.720 seriously quite early on. There's this long -form 00:09:50.720 --> 00:09:53.440 monologue, Look Before You Leap, that got published 00:09:53.440 --> 00:09:55.559 way back in 2003. While he was still in college. 00:09:55.919 --> 00:09:58.059 Yeah, in this collection called Monologues for 00:09:58.059 --> 00:10:01.879 Men by Men, Volume 2. So the instinct to shape 00:10:01.879 --> 00:10:03.960 his experiences into a narrative, a structured 00:10:03.960 --> 00:10:06.759 piece, was there early. Interesting. Not just 00:10:06.759 --> 00:10:08.799 punchlines. Right. And he wrote for Heed magazine, 00:10:08.940 --> 00:10:12.659 too, in 2011, 2012. Kind of sharpening that written 00:10:12.659 --> 00:10:14.799 voice before the big one, the memoir, Casher 00:10:14.799 --> 00:10:17.960 and the Rye, came out in 2012. Which really cemented 00:10:17.960 --> 00:10:20.740 that backstory for a wider audience. Absolutely. 00:10:20.820 --> 00:10:23.259 That book was him taking all that personal history, 00:10:23.399 --> 00:10:26.500 the trauma, the chaos, and turning it into, well, 00:10:26.580 --> 00:10:29.889 intellectual property, artistic capital. He also 00:10:29.889 --> 00:10:32.950 dipped into TV writing, got a credit for an episode 00:10:32.950 --> 00:10:35.070 of The New Normal. Called, pardon me. That's 00:10:35.070 --> 00:10:37.450 the one. And he's still writing. There's another 00:10:37.450 --> 00:10:40.149 memoir coming out, Subculture Vulture, a memoir 00:10:40.149 --> 00:10:43.250 in six scenes, expected in 2024. So he's clearly 00:10:43.250 --> 00:10:45.590 someone who sees himself as an author who performs, 00:10:45.809 --> 00:10:47.990 not just a comic who happened to write a book. 00:10:48.090 --> 00:10:50.870 Okay, part three. Let's talk television presence. 00:10:51.529 --> 00:10:54.809 Because after that 2009 breakthrough, he really 00:10:54.809 --> 00:10:57.269 became a familiar face, didn't he? Oh, for sure. 00:10:57.350 --> 00:10:59.889 He hit all the key stand -up platforms. Late 00:10:59.889 --> 00:11:02.370 Night with Jimmy Fallon twice, 2010 and 2012. 00:11:02.690 --> 00:11:04.870 Right. John Oliver's New York stand -up show 00:11:04.870 --> 00:11:08.970 in 2011. He did Conan. Showtime's Larry Wilmore's 00:11:08.970 --> 00:11:11.110 Race, Religion, and Sex. That Wilmore show seems 00:11:11.110 --> 00:11:13.090 like a perfect fit, given his subject matter. 00:11:13.250 --> 00:11:15.490 Totally. It shows he was comfortable diving into 00:11:15.490 --> 00:11:18.090 those complex social and political topics, which, 00:11:18.129 --> 00:11:20.389 again, links back to his background and his tendency 00:11:20.389 --> 00:11:23.230 towards black comedy, dissecting identity, race, 00:11:23.389 --> 00:11:25.710 faith. And it wasn't just U .S. audiences, right? 00:11:25.769 --> 00:11:27.990 He took this stuff international. Yeah, that's 00:11:27.990 --> 00:11:30.529 really interesting. Beyond Montreal, he played 00:11:30.529 --> 00:11:33.169 the Catlass Festival in Kilkenny, Ireland, the 00:11:33.169 --> 00:11:36.129 Melbourne Comedy Festival in Australia. Plus... 00:11:36.350 --> 00:11:39.490 Big U .S. festivals like Fun Fest and South by 00:11:39.490 --> 00:11:42.549 Southwest in Austin. So the humor travels. That 00:11:42.549 --> 00:11:45.909 chaos is universal. Apparently so. Or at least 00:11:45.909 --> 00:11:48.250 the way he frames it, the family dynamics, finding 00:11:48.250 --> 00:11:50.929 your identity, questioning authority. Those themes 00:11:50.929 --> 00:11:53.289 resonate pretty widely, it seems. And when it 00:11:53.289 --> 00:11:55.409 was time for his own solo special, he went back 00:11:55.409 --> 00:11:59.029 home. Symbolically, yeah. Moshe Kasher. Live 00:11:59.029 --> 00:12:02.350 in Oakland. Recorded January 2012. Released on 00:12:02.350 --> 00:12:04.730 Netflix. He filmed it at the New Parish Nightclub. 00:12:05.070 --> 00:12:07.429 right there in his hometown that feels significant 00:12:07.429 --> 00:12:10.210 bringing this big career milestone back to the 00:12:10.210 --> 00:12:12.129 place where all that early struggle happened 00:12:12.129 --> 00:12:14.210 it's like a reclamation isn't it saying look 00:12:14.210 --> 00:12:16.830 i came through this and i'm bringing my success 00:12:16.830 --> 00:12:19.350 back here it's not just telling stories about 00:12:19.350 --> 00:12:22.090 oakland it's celebrating in oakland beyond stand 00:12:22.090 --> 00:12:24.610 -up specials he branched out into other tv formats 00:12:24.610 --> 00:12:28.509 too hosting acting right he was on chelsea lately 00:12:28.509 --> 00:12:31.080 a lot as a panelist That was a great spot for 00:12:31.080 --> 00:12:32.720 Comics with Quick Wits back then. Definitely. 00:12:33.000 --> 00:12:34.639 And then he got his own show on Comedy Central, 00:12:34.899 --> 00:12:38.000 Problematic with Marcia Kasher. Ah, yes, Problematic. 00:12:38.000 --> 00:12:39.840 That seemed tailor -made for him. Absolutely. 00:12:40.100 --> 00:12:42.779 Yeah. Premiered in 2017. He wrote it. He hosted 00:12:42.779 --> 00:12:45.340 it. And the whole point was tackling controversial, 00:12:45.360 --> 00:12:49.059 complex issues head on. You really see the religious 00:12:49.059 --> 00:12:51.259 studies major coming out there wanting to foster 00:12:51.259 --> 00:12:54.460 debate, analyze the tough stuff. Using comedy 00:12:54.460 --> 00:12:57.379 to make difficult conversations accessible. Exactly. 00:12:57.740 --> 00:12:59.559 Yeah. It was less about just landing punchlines 00:12:59.559 --> 00:13:02.600 and more about insightful analysis. But then 00:13:02.600 --> 00:13:04.840 there's his acting, which has some surprising 00:13:04.840 --> 00:13:08.580 depth. Like what? Well, the standout role, the 00:13:08.580 --> 00:13:10.320 one that really brings his unique background 00:13:10.320 --> 00:13:13.759 full circle, was on Shameless. Oh, yeah. What 00:13:13.759 --> 00:13:16.679 did he play? He played Ruben, a character who 00:13:16.679 --> 00:13:19.899 is gay, deaf, and used a wheelchair. Wow. So 00:13:19.899 --> 00:13:21.799 he actually used his sign language. He did. It 00:13:21.799 --> 00:13:23.899 wasn't just, you know, learning a few lines. 00:13:24.039 --> 00:13:26.440 He could bring genuine fluency and understanding 00:13:26.440 --> 00:13:29.840 from his life as an interpreter to a complex, 00:13:29.879 --> 00:13:33.159 dramatic role on a major show. That's incredible. 00:13:33.279 --> 00:13:35.080 It really proves that none of that background 00:13:35.080 --> 00:13:37.139 went away. Not at all. And he's popped up in 00:13:37.139 --> 00:13:39.440 other strong roles, too. Played Moshe Feferman 00:13:39.440 --> 00:13:42.120 on Transparent. Was Duncan Traub on Brooklyn 00:13:42.120 --> 00:13:44.980 Nine -Nine, November on The League. Appeared 00:13:44.980 --> 00:13:47.909 on Drunk History, The Good Place. So he's comfortable 00:13:47.909 --> 00:13:51.690 moving between stand -up, writing, hosting, acting. 00:13:52.029 --> 00:13:55.049 Pretty versatile. Very. He clearly enjoys exploring 00:13:55.049 --> 00:13:57.389 different ways to perform and communicate. Okay, 00:13:57.429 --> 00:14:00.190 so part four, Let's Talk Podcasts. Because Kasher 00:14:00.190 --> 00:14:03.110 didn't just dabble, he really mastered the format, 00:14:03.230 --> 00:14:05.309 exploring wildly different approaches. Yeah, 00:14:05.350 --> 00:14:07.330 he jumped in relatively early and made a significant 00:14:07.330 --> 00:14:10.350 impact. The first big one was The Champs. Right, 00:14:10.429 --> 00:14:13.710 starting in 2011, co -hosted with Neil Brennan. 00:14:13.870 --> 00:14:16.480 Co -creator of Chappelle's Show, yeah. And DJ 00:14:16.480 --> 00:14:18.659 Doug Pound doing sound effects and beats. What 00:14:18.659 --> 00:14:21.200 was the vibe of that show? Kasher himself described 00:14:21.200 --> 00:14:23.820 it as basically him and Neil hosting an hour 00:14:23.820 --> 00:14:26.899 of ridiculous chat with Doug adding sounds. Yeah. 00:14:26.919 --> 00:14:29.919 But it had this very specific provocative hook 00:14:29.919 --> 00:14:32.740 initially. Which was? Their concept was having 00:14:32.740 --> 00:14:36.840 a rotating black guy guest each week. Oh, OK. 00:14:36.960 --> 00:14:39.559 That's bold. Definitely bold. Very much in that 00:14:39.559 --> 00:14:42.179 black comedy vein, pushing boundaries around 00:14:42.179 --> 00:14:45.039 race. And they got some amazing guests because 00:14:45.039 --> 00:14:48.840 of it. Wayne Brady, David Allen Greer, Questlove. 00:14:49.059 --> 00:14:51.120 So it was intentionally structured around that 00:14:51.120 --> 00:14:53.980 racial dynamic. Initially, yeah. Very much leaning 00:14:53.980 --> 00:14:56.759 into uncomfortable territory, which, again, feels 00:14:56.759 --> 00:14:58.639 connected to his background, his willingness 00:14:58.639 --> 00:15:00.519 to go there. Did they stick strictly to that? 00:15:00.620 --> 00:15:03.330 Mostly. But the sources say they occasionally 00:15:03.330 --> 00:15:06.009 strayed from its guest format. Had people like 00:15:06.009 --> 00:15:08.850 Bobby Lee, Jose Canseco, Aziz Ansari on too. 00:15:09.110 --> 00:15:11.929 It clearly resonated, though LA Weekly named 00:15:11.929 --> 00:15:15.870 it Best Podcast in 2014. It ran until 2016. So 00:15:15.870 --> 00:15:18.669 a success. What came next? A real shift in tone 00:15:18.669 --> 00:15:20.590 and format with How Untold Discussion Series. 00:15:20.850 --> 00:15:22.789 This premiered in 2014 on the Nerdist Network. 00:15:23.070 --> 00:15:25.149 How Untold. What was the concept there? This 00:15:25.149 --> 00:15:27.029 one felt much more like the academic side of 00:15:27.029 --> 00:15:29.309 Cashier coming forward. It was a live monthly 00:15:29.309 --> 00:15:32.370 podcast focused on a single topic per episode. 00:15:32.649 --> 00:15:35.210 Right. And the structure was key. An hour -long 00:15:35.210 --> 00:15:37.470 chat with an actual expert on the topic plus 00:15:37.470 --> 00:15:39.970 a panel of comedians. Ah, interesting. So like 00:15:39.970 --> 00:15:42.710 serious knowledge meets comedic commentary. Exactly. 00:15:42.850 --> 00:15:45.169 It's that perfect blend again. Yeah. Using his 00:15:45.169 --> 00:15:47.570 intellectual curiosity to guide the deep dive, 00:15:47.690 --> 00:15:50.370 but keeping it accessible and funny with the 00:15:50.370 --> 00:15:52.690 comedian panel. The first episode, for example, 00:15:52.690 --> 00:15:56.509 was about harems. Harem's. Okay. Yeah, the expert 00:15:56.509 --> 00:15:58.269 was Jillian Lauren, who'd written about that 00:15:58.269 --> 00:16:00.649 world. And the comedians were Pete Holmes and 00:16:00.649 --> 00:16:03.129 Beth Stelling. So the comedians kind of act like 00:16:03.129 --> 00:16:05.330 the audience, asking the dumb questions? Pretty 00:16:05.330 --> 00:16:07.129 much. Or the absurd ones. It keeps it from getting 00:16:07.129 --> 00:16:09.309 too dry. It's a great format for learning something 00:16:09.309 --> 00:16:12.190 substantial while still being entertained. A 00:16:12.190 --> 00:16:14.769 real deep dive podcast, you could say. Then things 00:16:14.769 --> 00:16:17.929 got more personal. Right. In 2019, he launched 00:16:17.929 --> 00:16:19.889 the Endless Honeymoon podcast with his wife, 00:16:20.009 --> 00:16:22.730 Natasha Leggero. Also a comedian? Also a very 00:16:22.730 --> 00:16:25.450 funny comedian. So this podcast really reflects 00:16:25.450 --> 00:16:28.690 his current life stage marriage, parenthood eventually. 00:16:28.970 --> 00:16:31.889 They basically turn their relationship, their 00:16:31.889 --> 00:16:35.289 issues, their dynamic into ongoing content. That's 00:16:35.289 --> 00:16:37.629 a classic comedian move, right? Mind your own 00:16:37.629 --> 00:16:40.929 life. Must provide endless material. You'd think 00:16:40.929 --> 00:16:43.809 so. It shows that collaborative side again, building 00:16:43.809 --> 00:16:45.649 something creative out of their personal life. 00:16:46.029 --> 00:16:48.929 And then most recently, bringing it truly full 00:16:48.929 --> 00:16:50.909 circle. Back to the family. Back to the family. 00:16:51.129 --> 00:16:55.100 In 2020. He started Kasher vs. Kasher. With his 00:16:55.100 --> 00:16:57.980 brother. With his brother, Rabbi David Kasher. 00:16:58.500 --> 00:17:01.240 Launched specifically during the pandemic to 00:17:01.240 --> 00:17:04.980 talk about life, faith, navigating that weird 00:17:04.980 --> 00:17:08.539 time. Wow. So the kid balancing secular Oakland 00:17:08.539 --> 00:17:11.660 and Hasidic Brooklyn ends up co -hosting a podcast 00:17:11.660 --> 00:17:15.089 with his rabbi brother. about modern life. It's 00:17:15.089 --> 00:17:16.890 pretty remarkable, isn't it? It brings all those 00:17:16.890 --> 00:17:19.190 threads, family, religion, his Oakland roots, 00:17:19.309 --> 00:17:21.609 his Brooklyn summers, the intellectual curiosity, 00:17:21.609 --> 00:17:24.069 the comedy all together in one project. Speaking 00:17:24.069 --> 00:17:26.130 of that personal side, let's quickly touch on 00:17:26.130 --> 00:17:28.109 those milestones in part five because they definitely 00:17:28.109 --> 00:17:30.869 feed into his work now. For sure. So he married 00:17:30.869 --> 00:17:34.069 Natasha Logero in October 2015. And she converted 00:17:34.069 --> 00:17:36.450 to Judaism, right? Yes, that's noted in the sources. 00:17:36.650 --> 00:17:38.849 Okay. Which adds another layer to how that cultural 00:17:38.849 --> 00:17:41.170 and religious background continues to be part 00:17:41.170 --> 00:17:43.160 of his shared life. And then they had a baby 00:17:43.160 --> 00:17:46.220 girl in February 2018. And that partnership, 00:17:46.359 --> 00:17:49.640 both personal and professional, led to more joint 00:17:49.640 --> 00:17:52.420 work. It did. The big one was the Honeymoon Stand 00:17:52.420 --> 00:17:54.900 -Up Special in 2018. It was released on Netflix, 00:17:54.980 --> 00:17:57.400 but also as a comedy album. So they both performed. 00:17:57.640 --> 00:17:59.259 Yeah, it was a co -headlining special, basically 00:17:59.259 --> 00:18:01.980 weaving their individual stand -up with material 00:18:01.980 --> 00:18:03.819 about their relationship, marriage, and pending 00:18:03.819 --> 00:18:06.279 parenthood. It really showcases how their domestic 00:18:06.279 --> 00:18:09.630 life became central creative fuel. Okay, and 00:18:09.630 --> 00:18:11.269 just to round things out, let's quickly list 00:18:11.269 --> 00:18:13.890 his main recorded works, his discography. It 00:18:13.890 --> 00:18:16.549 shows that evolution. Right. Starts with the 00:18:16.549 --> 00:18:19.509 big one in 2009. Everyone you know is going to 00:18:19.509 --> 00:18:22.829 die. And then you are. That raw, edgy debut. 00:18:23.170 --> 00:18:25.990 Then the homecoming special. Moshe Kasher, live 00:18:25.990 --> 00:18:28.769 in Oakland from 2013, capturing that live energy 00:18:28.769 --> 00:18:31.390 back home. Then the collaboration. The honeymoon 00:18:31.390 --> 00:18:33.829 stand -up special with Natasha Leggero in 2018, 00:18:34.130 --> 00:18:36.009 reflecting that partnership. And the latest. 00:18:36.710 --> 00:18:39.890 Crowdsurfing Volume 1 from 2020. Which sounds 00:18:39.890 --> 00:18:42.150 like it leans more into that spontaneous crowd 00:18:42.150 --> 00:18:44.849 work energy he's also known for. So you see the 00:18:44.849 --> 00:18:47.890 arc from solo trauma mining to collaborative 00:18:47.890 --> 00:18:50.730 relationship stuff to pure improv energy. So 00:18:50.730 --> 00:18:52.690 wrapping this all up, what's the big takeaway 00:18:52.690 --> 00:18:54.789 for you, the listener, from this deemed dive 00:18:54.789 --> 00:18:58.410 into Moshe Kasher's life and work? When we synthesize 00:18:58.410 --> 00:19:00.430 this whole journey, it's really a story built 00:19:00.430 --> 00:19:03.930 on navigating intense, almost unresolvable contradictions, 00:19:03.950 --> 00:19:06.759 isn't it? Absolutely. You go from that incredibly 00:19:06.759 --> 00:19:10.500 challenging youth mental health crises, addiction, 00:19:10.839 --> 00:19:14.960 poverty, institutionalization to somehow getting 00:19:14.960 --> 00:19:18.440 a GED at 16 and then pivoting to master academic 00:19:18.440 --> 00:19:20.640 religious studies. And crucially, he didn't just, 00:19:20.720 --> 00:19:22.900 you know, get through it. He actively used it. 00:19:22.940 --> 00:19:25.299 He minded intellectually. All those experiences, 00:19:25.480 --> 00:19:27.700 the poverty, the Oakland -Brooklyn split, his 00:19:27.700 --> 00:19:30.220 parents' deafness, the religious whiplash, the 00:19:30.220 --> 00:19:32.559 addiction became the fuel for this incredibly 00:19:32.559 --> 00:19:35.460 diverse media career. The comedy isn't separate 00:19:35.460 --> 00:19:37.619 from the hardship. It's born directly out of 00:19:37.619 --> 00:19:39.759 it. Navigating deaf culture versus the hearing 00:19:39.759 --> 00:19:42.599 world, addiction versus sobriety. Secular life 00:19:42.599 --> 00:19:45.099 versus ultra -orthodoxy. Exactly. The subject's 00:19:45.099 --> 00:19:46.839 everyday life, sex, self -loathing, religion, 00:19:46.960 --> 00:19:50.059 race, politics. They aren't random picks. They're 00:19:50.059 --> 00:19:51.859 the direct result of being an outsider, sometimes 00:19:51.859 --> 00:19:54.420 an extreme outsider, in multiple conflicting 00:19:54.420 --> 00:19:56.799 systems. It gave him that unique perspective, 00:19:56.859 --> 00:19:59.539 maybe, the ability to see the absurdity in pretty 00:19:59.539 --> 00:20:02.740 much any structure or institution, which explains 00:20:02.740 --> 00:20:06.000 the black comedy, the surreal stuff. Definitely. 00:20:06.299 --> 00:20:09.039 And that brings us to maybe a final thought, 00:20:09.160 --> 00:20:10.559 connecting back to the very beginning. What's 00:20:10.559 --> 00:20:14.299 the real lasting impact of all that time he spent 00:20:14.299 --> 00:20:16.799 working as a sign language interpreter? You mean 00:20:16.799 --> 00:20:19.000 on his comedy specifically? On his whole communication 00:20:19.000 --> 00:20:21.740 style, yeah. Think about what that job demands. 00:20:22.079 --> 00:20:24.500 You're not just swapping words. You're translating 00:20:24.500 --> 00:20:27.559 complex thought, emotion, cultural nuance, timing, 00:20:27.759 --> 00:20:30.920 rhythm instantly between two fundamentally different 00:20:30.920 --> 00:20:33.019 modes of communication. It requires incredible 00:20:33.019 --> 00:20:37.299 focus and empathy. Hypervigilance, clarity, this 00:20:37.299 --> 00:20:40.380 almost uncanny ability to read subtext and intention, 00:20:40.740 --> 00:20:43.480 working as that bridge between the deaf and hearing 00:20:43.480 --> 00:20:46.380 worlds. It's like he received this profound training 00:20:46.380 --> 00:20:48.599 in communication and observing human behavior 00:20:48.599 --> 00:20:50.859 long before he ever thought about telling a joke 00:20:50.859 --> 00:20:54.200 on stage. So that skill, translating across cultures, 00:20:54.259 --> 00:20:57.539 translating silence into meaning, that's fundamental 00:20:57.539 --> 00:20:59.660 to his art. I think you could argue that. It 00:20:59.660 --> 00:21:02.539 gave him this unique capacity to take complex, 00:21:02.619 --> 00:21:04.900 multilayered ideas, whether they're intellectual 00:21:04.900 --> 00:21:08.039 or emotional or just plain absurd, and make them 00:21:08.039 --> 00:21:10.000 understandable, make them land with an audience. 00:21:10.279 --> 00:21:12.480 He learned how to make the unfamiliar resonate. 00:21:12.859 --> 00:21:15.519 how to give voice to experiences that might otherwise 00:21:15.519 --> 00:21:19.400 remain unseen or unheard. That skill, honed as 00:21:19.400 --> 00:21:21.539 a teenager bridging two worlds, might be the 00:21:21.539 --> 00:21:23.480 bedrock of his entire career as a communicator.