Late Night’s Future, Pete Davidson’s Sobriety, and Nate Bargatze’s Boxscore Lead

Johnny Mac covers comedy news while plugging episode two of his podcast “Is Late Night Dead?” and discussing Bill Carter’s view that Jimmy Kimmel Live’s Brooklyn week (with 150,000 ticket requests) shows late night remains a hot, hard-to-match format despite podcast evolution. Nate Bargatze tells Fox News he avoids politics, aiming for simpler, less polarizing comedy, and later tops Billboard’s August Boxscore for the sixth time in 2026 with $6.5M and 87,000 tickets, with Matt Rife and Max Amini next. Pete Davidson tells Variety he’s sober except for about four beers a year, quit drugs and weed, removed 200 tattoos tied to past pain and self-harm, and will keep a Hillary Clinton tattoo. Other items include David Cross joining a new breakup-and-dating film, a New York Times profile of Chris Rock on insecurity, Prince, and “woke 1.0,” Amini on humility and global touring limits, and Drew Carey set to host season 12 of CBS’s returning Undercover Boss.

00:13 Is Late Night Dead Plug

00:37 Kimmel Brooklyn Buzz

01:17 Podcasts Versus Late Night

01:46 Nate Bargatze Simpler Times

03:02 Pete Davidson Sober Update

03:54 David Cross New Movie

04:12 Chris Rock Self Esteem

05:02 Rock on Woke Era

05:44 Max Amini Staying Grounded

06:40 Amini Culture and Touring

07:36 Amini YouTube Success