StraightioLab Book Club: Murder on Sex Island w/ Jo Firestone (RE-RELEASE)

Podcast: StraightioLab
Hosts: George Civeris & Sam Taggart
Guest: Jo Firestone
Date: December 30, 2025
Episode: Book Club: Murder on Sex Island

Episode Overview

This special book club episode reunites George and Sam with comedian and writer Jo Firestone to discuss her debut mystery novel, Murder on Sex Island. With their trademark blend of irony, intellect, and absurdist riffing, the trio dives into Jo’s process, the “autofiction or not” aspect of the book, and the comic trials of creating art, being professionally “normal,” and surviving the treacherous world of self-publishing. What begins as a discussion of a murder-mystery set on a Love Island-type reality show transforms into a hilarious, meta-examination of self-doubt, creative process, and the existential perils of being funny for a living.

Main Topics and Discussion Points

1. Jo’s Reputation, Professional "Normalcy," and the Gift Dynamic

• Jo jokes about always prepping and giving gifts, while Sam describes his awkwardness at receiving them.
• George analyzes Sam’s social anxiety vs. adherence to norms, and Jo confides her attempt to "act normal" with limited success.
• Quote:
  • Sam: “The stress outweighs the gift’s value.” (04:21)
  • George: “The fear is what makes you act correctly.” (04:39)
• Jo shares a story about an evening out, where her attempt to be normal devolves into imagining being flipped onto a cactus and peeing herself, establishing the tone for the episode’s blend of the mundane and the bizarre.
  • [06:54] Sam: “Can we just be normal tonight? …then Joe sees a cactus and goes, what would happen if I flipped upside down and got stuck on this cactus? She says, and then I start peeing on myself…”

2. Book “Autofiction” — Is Louella Jo?

• The hosts continually needle Jo about whether the protagonist, Louella, is based on her (“It’s not an autobiography…It’s fiction!”), teasing out the line between fiction and memoir, mousy women, and the impossibility of true objectivity in writing.
• They reference the recurring motif of “cacti” in Jo’s life and book.
• Quote:
  • Jo: “I am not the same as the character! It’s not autobiography.” (18:52)
  • George: “You wrote it.” (19:08)
• Lots of gentle gaslighting and riffing as Jo resists their attempts to conflate her and her character.

3. School, Bullying, and Personality Archetypes

• The trio swap stories about switching schools, being bullied or mousy, and the various survival tactics of being outsiders.
• Discussion of “charisma” and the invisible social capital Sam possesses, as well as George’s approachability.
• Quote:
  • George: “Sam has a charisma that stays with people. …They will keep asking you, how is Sam, forever?” (24:30)
• Jo: “I’ve never commanded respect in my life.” (38:49)
• (Riff on Jo’s physicality: “Back for days. Firestone!” [13:33])

4. Jo’s Writing Process and Self-Publishing Ordeal

• Why write a book? (“Basically what happened is I didn’t have any work… I don’t really like going outside at night anymore.” [20:55])
• Shares how she self-published the novel, ordering an early batch that came out “really big” (“the size of a calendar” [46:57]).
• The editing process—facing plot holes, going through multiple drafts, and the absurdities of self-promotion (“I keep going into bookstores, being like, I wonder if my book is here. It’s not. Then I had to walk out. Real humble.” [60:02]).
• Riffs on choosing the mystery genre, struggles with writing sex scenes, and the irony of the book’s title being “Murder on Sex Island” but being “pretty light on the sex.” [45:13]
• Quote:
  • Sam: “You’d be surprised how little sex there is.” (45:17)
  • Jo: “It’s so hard to be like, he put his sausage in there or whatever.” (45:18)

5. Absurd Workplace Dynamics & “Pre-com” Communication

• Behind-the-scenes on working together, notably the After Midnight writer’s room that Jo led (as “head writer”) where professional conduct and surreal interpersonal misreadings collided.
• Jo’s invented “pre-com” term for Sam’s signature micro-complaint face (“pre-com meaning pre-complaint, not what you think!” [66:09]).
• Recurring bits about offering drinks, holding cups with two hands, and failed attempts to appear “professional.”
  • Quote:
    • Jo: “…I would be like, hey everybody, who needs milk? Who needs water? And everyone would be like…” (50:39)

6. Suck or Fuck: Bits, Stand-up, and Meta-Jokes

• Jo discusses stepping back from stand-up, but relents for George’s show—delivering a “Suck or Fuck” segment that delights and confounds.
• The hosts debate the nature of bits vs. “real” comedy, riff on wordplay (“wet wrap vs dry wrap”), callback structures, and their own “improv trap” of self-referentiality.
  • Quote:
    • George: “This book is what? Non-penetrative.” (69:52)
    • Jo: “But there’s also no sucking.” (69:55)

7. Themes: Feminism, Satire, and Anti-Fame

• They prod Jo about the “feminist” aspect: “Pretty much spoiler alert, there’s like a group of killers. Why?” (63:12)
• Discussion of how the novel intentionally plays with the trope of poison as a “feminine” weapon and critiques systemic sexism.
  • Quote:
    • George: “The men take advantage of, like, systemic sexism by basically using poison, knowing the police … will think it was a woman.” (84:00)
• Talk about satire, whether the story was inspired by Jo’s experience in entertainment, and the “anti-fame” throughline of the book.
• Teasing Jo about the connections between eroticism and violence in the book (“Were you scared writing it?” [108:52])

8. Jo’s Influences and Recommendations

• Jo’s favorite books:
  • The Friend by Sigrid Nunez
  • The Appeal by Janice Hallett
  • The Secret History by Donna Tartt [104:31]
• George interjects with literary trivia and admiration. [105:49]

9. Notable Memes, Callbacks, and Running Gags

• Babies knowing Jo’s partner as “Toe Tec”—“babies often know him as Totec” (40:58), speculating on past lives and the uncanny.
• Multiple callbacks on “big back,” “micro/macro” trends, “people love to go like this” (holding things with both hands), and “veiny tube” as euphemism for penis.
• Riffs on the Gilded Age, meme culture, and their own recursive attempts to end the show with a “button.”
• Closing with a discussion of “long boobs” as an improv “callback”—which…isn’t really a callback. (“What is the long boobs calling back to?” [114:23])

Notable Quotes and Moments (with Timestamps)

• On Social Anxiety and Gifts:

  • George: “I could see Sam being more nervous about how to respond to a gift than he is happy about receiving it.” [04:10]

• On Self-Publishing Woes:

  • Jo: “It was like the size of a calendar.” [46:57]
  • George: “You’re climbing the stairs—meanwhile, you’re surfing on the book.” [47:07]

• On Sex in the Mystery Novel:

  • Jo: “Unfortunately, there is no intercourse.” [45:11]
  • Sam: “For a book called Murder on Sex Island it’s actually pretty light on the sex.” [45:13]

• On Workplace Communication:

  • Jo: “Basically…if I’m like, hey does everybody want a present? Or…coffee? I can tell when Sam goes like (inhale)—that is a stage of pre-com.”
  • Sam: “But you must understand…people are like, Joe, that is crazy.” [66:19]

• On Writing Process & Editing:

  • Jo: “Then eventually it became a published book. But then they were like, you have a lot of plot holes. So then I had to revise the book and write it again. So I’ve written this book, I think, 19 times.” [47:29]

• On Charisma and Approval:

  • George: “If you introduce someone to Sam, they will keep asking you, how is Sam, forever.” [24:30]

• On Improv and Callbacks:

  • Jo: “I try to do cowlbacks like you will.”
  • Sam/George: “Callbacks!”
  • Jo: “No, cowlbacks.” [113:59]

• On Not Being Able to End the Episode:

  • Sam: “But it’s hard to wrap it up. I’m struggling to find an end point.”
  • Jo: “Okay, I’ll give you an end point…”
  • (Proceeds to immediately start a new tangent about hormonal birth control and “long boobs.”) [109:43 – 112:46]

Key Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment | Key Moments | |-----------|------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 03:38 | Cold Open/Introductions | Gift-giving, “normal” behavior, dynamic among hosts & Jo | | 06:54 | Dinner Story/Cactus Bit | Jo’s failed “normal” attempt | | 13:33 | “Back for Days” | Nicknaming, playful body shaming, comic rapport | | 20:55 | Why Write This Book? | Jo’s origin story, not going outside at night, transition from standup | | 30:12 | Jo’s Formative Years/Mousey Women | Mousey archetype, resisting autobiography label | | 46:30 | Self-Publishing & Editing | Calendar-sized book, endless revisions, humility in bookstores | | 66:09 | “Pre-com” and Office Communication | Workplace language and miscommunication | | 69:01 | “Suck or Fuck” Stand-Up Bit | Bit description, wordplay riffing, satire of comedy tropes | | 84:00 | Feminist Twist in Book | Antifreeze, murder, leveraging sexism | | 104:31 | Jo’s Favorite Books | Recommendations and literary preferences | | 112:46 | “Long Boobs” Callback Attempt | Meta-comedy, failed callback | | 116:44 | Episode Wrap-up | True affection between the hosts and guest, attempts at closure |

Final Takeaways

• Creative Process: Jo’s journey with Murder on Sex Island illustrates creative tenacity, humility, and the comedy inherent in trying something new, failing, editing, and persisting.
• Friendship & Comedy: The chemistry between George, Sam, and Jo is characterized by relentless bit escalation, affectionate roasting, and digging beneath the comedic personas for flashes of vulnerability.
• On Being Perceived: There is a running subtext about social persona versus internal identity—“mousiness,” professionalism, charisma, the longing for approval, and the fear of exposure or “being found out” as a fraud.
• Book Details: Despite the tangents, they do discuss book content and themes: a feminist twist on a reality TV satire, the struggle to write sex scenes, and the realities of self-publishing.
• Signature Absurdity: The show’s blend of intellectual satire and downright silliness—“people love to go like this,” “the veiny tube,” “cowlbacks,” calendar-sized books—set this episode apart as quintessential StraightioLab.

Memorable Moments & One-liners

• “Babies often know him as Totec.” (40:58)
• Jo: “I just wish I could watch improv.” (114:49)
• “People love to go like this.” (50:05)
• “Your book is non-penetrative.” (69:52)
• “I am nearly 40 and I never have spent an hour and a half like this.” (106:50)
• “If I had to decide between suck and fuck, I would choose fuck for this book, which is better.” (74:08)

Conclusion

This episode of StraightioLab Book Club is less a straightforward literary interview and more a riotous, tangle of bits, loving ribbing, and genuine insight into the creative process and the contradictions of being a “funny person” in real life. Jo Firestone’s Murder on Sex Island is at the center, but the true subject is the messiness of friendship, work, and the compulsion to make everything—especially one’s own failures—funny.