Welcome back to the Deep Dive. Today we're exploring
the life of someone who's, well, really managed
a career full of interesting, maybe even profound
contradictions. Yeah, it's fascinating. How does
someone with degrees in political science journalism
end up as a stand -up, known for, you know, pretty
crude blue comedy, and at the same time hold
down a major role on a serious financial drama?
It really is a path that defies easy labels.
It totally does. We are diving deep into the
sources you shared about Dan Soder, an artist
who for almost a decade was successfully juggling
stand -up, acting, and that really unique, challenging
world of live satellite radio. Right. So our
mission today is to quickly pull out the key
insights into his journey. We need to see past
just Dudley Manfee from Billions, obviously a
huge role. Absolutely central, yeah. But to really
understand him as... like this deep -rooted figure
in the New York City comedy scene, that whole
ecosystem. Exactly. So high level. Dan Soder,
born in 83. He's an American stand -up, an actor,
and a radio personality. And that dual fame is
kind of remarkable because the audiences don't
always overlap, you know? Not at all. You've
got the billions crowd. Interested in a high
finance, complex drama. And then you've got the
really, really loyal fan base for The Bonfire
on SiriusXM. He co -hosted that from 2015 right
up until 2023. And you see right away his career
has been defined by committing to those three
main things. Stand -up, radio, TV. Keeping all
those plates spinning at a high level. That takes
immense focus. Serious discipline with scheduling.
It really does. And maybe, surprisingly, that
discipline could trace back to his academic life.
But OK, let's start at the beginning. Where did
he get this sort of foundational perspective?
OK, so geographically, the journey starts in
Hartford, Connecticut. That's where he was born.
Background is Irish and Swedish. But the really
formative years, those were spent growing up
in Aurora, Colorado. OK. East Coast roots, Western
upbringing. Yeah, that kind of blend. It often
gives a comic a specific viewpoint, maybe a bit
more grounded somehow. And then we look at his
education. And this is where it gets, well. Pretty
striking. The sources say Smoky Hill High School,
then University of Arizona, graduated 2005. And
the degrees. Journalism and political science.
I mean, that's a curriculum built for analyzing
policy, elections, investigative stuff. How does
that connect to the kind of, you know, observational
but blue comedy he ended up doing? Well, that's
the really interesting part, isn't it? Journalism,
political science. These fields train you to
observe, to synthesize information, report complex
things pretty concisely. Right. Spotting patterns.
Exactly. Spotting patterns in human behavior,
policy failures, whatever. So maybe he didn't
end up reporting from Capitol Hill, but he definitely
applied that kind of intellectual tool pit to
stand up. Just instead of analyzing policy, he's
analyzing pop culture or everyday weirdness,
human flaws. It's like he learned the how of
observation in college and just pointed at different
subjects. The academic path was serious, but
the comedy bug clearly bit him pretty hard while
he was still there. Oh, yeah. While he was still
a student at U of A, he started doing stand -up.
It was an immediate pivot, apparently. Wow. And
that commitment was strong. Just a year after
graduating in 2005, he makes the big move, New
York City, 2006, to pursue comedy full -time.
He knew, I guess, that the New York grind was
where he needed to be to really hone his craft.
But before he jumped into that really competitive
comedy world, we should probably acknowledge
the sources mentioned some significant personal
tragedies early on. These kinds of losses, I
mean, they often fuel a comedian's worldview,
right? Their resilience. It often seems that
way in comedy, yeah. And the sources do highlight
some defining losses for Soder. While he was
still in high school, his father passed away
after a long illness. Then, just two years later,
devastatingly, his sister died in a car crash.
Wow. Two huge losses, one slow, one sudden, hitting
him right in those really formative teenage years.
It's hard to imagine that kind of pain not informing
his later stuff somehow. Yeah. Lending maybe
a darker edge or perspective even to lighter
topics. Definitely. And that resilience you mentioned,
it's absolutely crucial for surviving that initial
brutal grind of the New York comedy scene. For
sure. And if we look back even earlier, there's
that sort of. almost movie -like bit of trivia
from his childhood. Ah, yeah, the Mike McDaniel
connection. Exactly, his close childhood friendship
with Mike McDaniel, who's now, you know, head
coach of the Miami Dolphins. It's such a wild
connection, this, like, brilliant kind of eccentric
NFL coach and this blue comedian who's also known
for... playing a finance guy but they grew up
together in aurora colorado it's just a great
example of how talent develops side by side you
know two people who went into these incredibly
demanding fields one needing deep strategic thinking
like coaching and the other needing deep observational
and analytical skill like comedy and acting both
need serious discipline just applied in totally
different ways it says a lot i think about the
environment they shared growing up yeah that's
a great point okay so let's shift into the core
of his craft then The stand up for someone listening
who wants to understand, like the technical side
of his style. How would we break down the Soder
brand of humor? Well, the sources give us a pretty
detailed map of his genres. It paints him as
a specialist in that kind of edgy but still grounded
school of comedy. We're talking observational
first and foremost. That's the baseline probably
from that journalistic training. Right. But then
layered on top, you've got. Blue comedy, crude
humor, off color stuff, insult comedy, impersonations
and a lot of sarcasm. So it's where that high
structure observer meets the sometimes lowbrow
subject matter. Yeah. Using that analytical eye
to dissect things people usually dismiss. Precisely.
Yeah. Blue comedy, just for clarity, is usually
material that leans on. vulgarity, sex themes,
profanity, often delivered pretty unfiltered.
What Soder does, I think, is bring this dry,
often self -deprecating intelligence to that
vulgarity, which kind of elevates it beyond just
shock value and his subjects. Pulled straight
from that observational training, everyday life,
pop culture, how people act, sex, recreational
drugs, celebrities, current events. He seems
to apply the same focus to a joke about getting
high as a police major would to analyzing, like,
a trade agreement. It's the method, not just
the subject, that hints at his background. That
sharp observation definitely seemed to help him
get noticed early on. Let's chart that guest
era you mentioned, those early national exposure
points that kind of paved the way for his radio
career. What were the key steps there? Yeah,
his early TV visibility was really important
for establishing his persona. He was on MTV2's
Guy Code a lot, like a frequent face across seasons
3 to 5. That's 2013 to 2015. Oh, yeah, Guy Code.
That show launched a lot of comics. It really
did. Huge exposure to a key demographic. And
at the same time, he's climbing the stand up
ladder, you know. Yeah. Doing Combi Central's
The Half Hour, getting those crucial late night
spots like on Conan. Right. Building legitimacy.
Yeah. But maybe the most significant apprenticeship,
sort of a trial by fire, was in Satellite Radio.
He plugged into that notoriously. volatile world
pretty quickly, appeared on podcasts like Come
Town and really crucially became a frequent guest
on the Anthony Cumia show. Okay. And that connects
directly to his regular gig on the show that
really launched his Sirius XM career, right?
The source to say after the whole Anthony Cumia
firing. Right. The controversy. So Natter became
a frequent guest, kind of the third Mike, on
the Opie with Jim Norton show. That was on Faction
Talk. Exactly. And that environment, post -controversy,
super uncensored, live four days a week. That
was the real proving ground. It wasn't just popping
in as a guest. It was like a residency that tested
if he could be quick, improvisational, funny
under pressure, consistently. Working alongside
Jim Norton, too, who's known for being incredibly
sharp. Oh, yeah. That apprenticeship on Opie
with Jim Norton, it definitely prepared him for
the kind of demanding schedule that was just
around the corner. We also probably shouldn't
skip over his connection early on with arguably
one of the biggest comedy forces of the mid 2010s,
Amy Schumer. Good point. Yeah. He guest starred
on Inside Amy Schumer four times between 2014
and 2016 and had that small but. you know, memorable
part in Trainwreck in 2015. Right, the dumpster
guy. Yeah. Being part of that Schumer circle
was a huge seal of approval in the NYC comedy
scene back then. Even playing dumpster guy put
his name in the credits of a major movie, kind
of bridging his exposure from niche radio and
stand -up towards the Hollywood mainstream. It
just shows how well he networked within that
scene early on, maximizing his visibility across
different platforms. Okay, so solid foundation,
then stand -up, successful apprenticeship. in
pretty wild live radio. So the Nelder then launches
into what really became the defining radio era
for him, the bonfire. This is where he cemented
his identity and built this massive, dedicated
following. Yeah, the bonfires launched July 27,
2015. That was huge for him. Partnering with
Big Jay Oakerson, another great comic, they created
something really unique, I think. How so? Well,
it wasn't like a typical morning show, you know,
with planned bits or even a structured interview
show. It felt more like an authentic, often chaotic,
just stream of consciousness hang. Like you were
in the green room with two of the sharpest, funniest
guys at the club. Right. That feeling of eavesdropping.
Exactly. And it started on Sirius XM's Comedy
Central Radio. But the commitment level right
from the start, this wasn't just a weekly podcast
thing. No, definitely not. No, it was a huge
time sink, needed incredible consistency. It
quickly ramped up to airing Monday through Thursday,
two hours live, 6 to 8 p .m. Eastern, hosting
live, uncensored, four times a week. That forces
you to constantly generate material from everything
around you. Eight hours a week of live radio.
Wow. Yeah. It's a real application of those journalistic
observation skills, but applied to the immediate
moment constantly. And their chemistry, Soder
and Oakerson's, it became pretty legendary in
that world. What was the dynamic that clicked
so well with the audience for... What, eight
years? Well, Oakerson brought that big, loud,
often really self -deprecating energy, you know,
the sort of ultimate fun -loving older brother
type. So Waiter, drawing on that analytical side
we talked about, was often the drier, sharper,
quicker wit, the foil. He'd be the one maybe
synthesizing the chaos or dropping that unexpected
killer punchline. That balanced Big J's warmth
and Soder's sort of cutting observation. It made
listeners feel really involved, like part of
an ongoing, unfiltered chat about life, pop culture,
the comedy scene. That personal connection is
key for satellite radio. And it's interesting
how the show navigated the business side of things,
the volatility of satellite radio. Yeah. They
didn't stay put on one channel the whole time.
No, they didn't. And that says a lot about their
resilience, I think. In March 2021, Comedy Central
Radio basically pulled the plug on all its talk
shows. So the bonfire had to move. They shifted
over to the Faction Talk channel, adjusted their
time slot a bit, 5 to 7 p .m. ET. And the fact
that their audience, this huge established fan
base, just followed them. It proves the show's
success was about them, the hosts, their chemistry,
not just the channel brand. They were kind of
corporate restructure proof. That's impressive.
So that eight -year run delivering that high
-level, high -commitment radio, it ended fairly
recently. Can you give us the timeline for the
end of that partnership? Sure. Soder's departure
was announced February 22, 2023. So that wrapped
up the eight -year tenure. But the transition,
it kind of speaks to how tight that NYC comedy
scene is. He was replaced by another well -known
comic from that circle, Robert Kelly. So there
was continuity for the audience. And Soder, true
to form, didn't really take a break. He immediately
spun that huge audio platform he'd built into
new independent podcast projects, kept that output
going for his audience. Instantly, yeah. Launched
his solo thing, Soder, in November 2023, capitalizing
directly on his name and his distinct point of
view. And then early 2024, he co -launches The
Regs, joining an existing group with Luis J.
Gomez, Joe List, and Robert Kelly, the guy who
just replaced him on The Bonfire. Ah, okay, yeah.
It's a great example of how that scene works.
Competition, sure, but also a lot of collaboration,
keeping the talent working together even if they
switch chairs or platforms. Okay, time to pivot
now to the third dimension of his career. And
specifically, the longest, most widely recognized
role, the one that introduced him to a whole
different global audience, far from the blue
comedy radio fans, Deadly Matthew on Billions.
Yeah, the Billions role. Started late 2016, ran
right through 2023. This is maybe the ultimate
example of that professional sport we talked
about. Namathy isn't a comedian, not really a
sidekick in the traditional sense. He's a key
recurring character on a prestige drama series
about, you know, the moral gray areas of high
finance. And what makes Maffy work so well as
a character, especially with Soder playing him?
Well, Maffy often functions as the audience's
weigh -in, right? And the comedic relief, but
still a highly competent guy. He's often the
slightly awkward one, the nervous one, but maybe
the most fundamentally ethical person inside
the pretty morally bankrupt world of Axe Capital.
I feel for him. You do. And Soder's delivery,
that dry, grounded quality, that inherent observational
skill. It makes Mafi a believable counterpoint
to the huge egos and, frankly, sociopathy of
the main characters. His ability to deliver serious
lines, but with this underlying current of, like,
nervous, honesty, it's the total opposite of
his stand -up persona, and it really shows his
range as an actor. It really is remarkable. One
day he's riffing totally uncensored about God
knows what on live radio. And the next day he's
on set delivering complex dialogue about market
manipulation for Showtime. That's a level of
professional separation not many artists can
pull off. It really speaks to discipline, doesn't
it? Maybe learned back in that Polishite program.
You have to understand the structure of the world
you're in, whether it's the structure of a joke
or the structure of a multibillion dollar hedge
fund. He somehow maintains the integrity of two
completely different performance worlds at the
same time. Okay, let's quickly run through the
timeline of his stand -up specials. These are
the purest expression of his comedy, right? And
they show a clear climb up the distribution ladder.
Right, so first hour -long special was not special.
That came out on Comedy Central in 2016, established
his early style, showed he could hold an hour.
A year later, 2017, he's part of that big Netflix
push for stand -up. He had a tight 30 -minute
set on the final episode of their series, The
Stand -Up. And then the big one, the sort of
ultimate validation for... mainstream stand -up
appeal, getting an HBO special. Yeah, absolutely.
Son of a Gary. That dropped in 2019. HBO, I mean,
that's still often seen as the peak for stand
-up specials. Signals, critical and commercial
success. And Son of a Gary, it felt like a comic
maturing a bit. More reflective material, maybe
touching on some of that earlier tragedy we mentioned.
But still keeping the edge and the sharp observations
showed he could really craft a compelling hour
-long narrative. And even after leaving the daily
radio grind, He kept producing stand -up. His
latest special, On the Road, came out in 2024,
but this time on YouTube. Yeah, and that move's
interesting, too. It shows his confidence in
his fan base, right? And comfort going direct
-to -consumer, releasing it himself on YouTube,
bypassing the traditional networks. It shows
the kind of leverage audience -wise and maybe
financially that he built up over all those years
on radio and acting. We should probably also
mention his supporting movie work, like playing
Randall in that 2019 comedy Drunk Parents. Alec
Baldwin, Salma Hayek, just keeping his hand even
in supporting roles. Yeah, it rounds out the
filmography. But if we're looking for those things
that really resonate with his core fans, those
aha moments, we have to talk about that specific
niche expertise he has. His deep love for pro
wrestling and especially. That legendary impression.
Ah, yes, the Macho Man. This is crucial for understanding
his whole vibe. Soder's a lifelong wrestling
fan, and it's not just caggable fandom. It's
baked into his persona, particularly through
his impression of Macho Man Randy Savage. And
it's considered top tier for a reason. Doing
impressions well, it's not just mimicking a voice.
It's understanding the cadence, the timing, the
whole personality behind it. So during nailing
the unpredictable intensity and just bizarre
phrasing of Macho Man. It proves he's a real
deep cut expert. He's applying that same observational
rigor to the tiny details of this niche pop culture
icon. And that passion actually turned into professional
gigs, right? Monetizing that deep knowledge.
The sources confirm that, yeah. He guested on
the Wrestling Soup podcast back in March 2016,
kind of a nod to that community. And importantly,
his impression skills landed him voice acting
work. In 2022, he actually voiced the Macho Man
character in five episodes of the animated show
Paradise PD. Wow. When you can turn a really
specific, high quality impression into paid acting
work, you know you found a sweet spot. OK, let's
bring in some recent personal context to connections
that have maybe broadened his public profile
even more. We should probably touch on his partnership
with Katie Nolan, the sports personality. Right.
December 2022, Katie Nolan announced their engagement,
publicly confirmed they'd been together for a
while. And that's a classic kind of merging of
two very visible media spheres. Right. Comedy
acting meets sports media. And looking back through
the sources, it's not totally out of the blue.
He'd appeared on her Fox Sports 1 show, Garbage
Time, with Katie Nolan earlier in his career.
Yeah, it just reinforces the idea of how... interconnected
the New York media and comedy worlds are. Professional
collaborations often bleed into personal relationships,
which further cements his position across different
industry segments. He's not just stuck in the
comedy bubble. He interacts with high profile
people across the media landscape. So just to
give the listener the full picture of his work
rate, let's quickly recap his consistent TV film
stuff over the last decade or so. It just shows
how he was juggling all this. It really is a
decade of steady work. OK, so. 2013 -2015, Guy
Code. 2014 -2016, Inside Amy Schumer. Trainwreck
movie, 2015. Then the big acting commitment,
Billions, running 2016 all the way through 2023.
Right. Plus, Drunk Parents in 2019, Flatbush
Misdemeanors in 2022. I mean, that's basically
a full -time screen career happening alongside
the daily grind of the bonfire and touring as
a stand -up. It's pretty intense. Yeah. So, okay,
let's step back. Look at the whole arc of Dan
Soder's career. We started with this idea of
contradiction. the serious academic background
versus the crude comedy. How do we synthesize
his success? What does this career tell us about
the kind of discipline needed to succeed? across
such different platforms well what's fascinating
i think is that the evidence suggests the rigor
wasn't ditched it was just re -aimed soder seems
to have succeeded because he brought the discipline
of a reporter and a political scientist you know
observation synthesis working under pressure
meeting deadlines like four live shows a week
yeah he brought that discipline to the seemingly
chaotic worlds of blue comedy and live radio
so he used that formal training to impose structure
where maybe you wouldn't expect it. Maintain
these multiple high -profile roles for almost
10 years by treating comedy and acting with the
same kind of seriousness he might have once applied
to political science. Exactly. He's like a living
embodiment of that tension between analysis and
absurdity. He took the tools for serious reporting
and pointed them at the human condition, whether
that's crafting a complex joke about celebrity
meltdowns or playing a character dealing with
billions of dollars in high finance, switching
between being McAfee and being that sharp, quick
radio host. took more than just talent. It required
immense professional focus and, yeah, discipline.
Which brings up a really interesting question
for you, the listener, as you think about this
journey. Solicitor's degrees, right? Journalism
and political science fields focused on facts,
structure. But his main comedy vehicle, heavily
focused on pop culture drug use, his biggest
acting role, a financial drama about moral ambiguity.
Yeah, so we have to ask. Which part of that highly
structured background do you think was the most
crucial tool for him? Was it the college training
and analytical observation? Was it the trial
by fire of that early radio apprenticeship on
Opie with Jim Norton? Or maybe even the resilience
built from early tragedy or the discipline learned
at hanging out with a rigorous mind like Coach
McDaniel back in childhood? Which of those was
the key ingredient for sustained success across
such different improvisational fields for so
long? It really makes you think that. True comedic
depth might require, well, depth of knowledge.
It's not just about being funny, right? It's
about understanding why something's funny, how
to sustain it, and how to deliver it consistently
across four different platforms week after week.
It's a powerful thought to chew on. The intellectual
discipline of a journalist fueling the success
of a blue comedian. Always great unpacking a
career with such compelling contradictions. Absolutely.
Thank you for joining us for this deep dive.
We look forward to hearing your thoughts.