What's Our Podcast? with Beck Bennett and Kyle Mooney
Episode: Fran Gillespie
Release Date: August 27, 2025
Host: Headgum
Summary by Podcast Summarizer
Episode Overview
The debut episode of What's Our Podcast? features comedians Beck Bennett and Kyle Mooney, alums of Saturday Night Live and former roommates, as they attempt to answer the question: what should their podcast even be about? To help them solve this existential riddle, they bring in their close friend and frequent collaborator, Fran Gillespie (SNL writer and performer). The episode is a self-aware, meta-experiment in podcasting—mixing rambling improvisation, insider comedy talk, affectionate roasting, and spontaneous concept-building.
Episode Structure
- [00:00–11:59] – Hosts riff, introduce themselves, toy with the podcast’s meta premise, and warm up
- [12:00–22:45] – Guest Fran Gillespie joins; intro banter, SNL stories, and group dynamics
- [22:45–31:00] – Theme song debate; Fran pitches idea: “Auditions” as a possible podcast format
- [31:00–55:56] – The “Auditions” pilot, including personal stories, awkward auditions, and mock script readings
- [55:56–end] – Debrief, self-rating, further goofing, and loose wrap-up
Key Discussion Points & Highlights
1. Meta-Premise: Making a Podcast About Making a Podcast
- The episode opens mid-banter, emphasizing the lack of a defined format.
- Beck and Kyle explain their hook: “We don’t know what our podcast should be about, so each week a guest tells us.”
- Humorous comparison to Smartless:
“It's kind of like Smartless, but instead of the guest being a mystery, it's the subject of our show that's the mystery.” (Beck, 02:09)
- The hosts are playfully anxious about the spontaneous format and their own ability to “just talk on a microphone.”
2. Hosts’ Chemistry and Self-Deprecation
- Much of the early conversation is Beck and Kyle gently mocking each other’s habits and podcasting inexperience:
- “Dude, we're figuring this whole fucking rhythm out right here.” (Kyle, 06:28)
- They acknowledge newness, working out “the rhythm,” and nervousness about the undefined format, but turn this into comedy.
3. Introduction: Fran Gillespie
- Fran is introduced as an SNL colleague and close friend who “grew up” with Beck and is one of the three’s “world” of funny people.
- Amusing group-dynamics banter about being “sisterless men,” familial quirks, and sharing cramped office quarters.
- “There is something about sisterless brothers…there’s, like, aggression. There's, like, physical play.” (Fran, 15:13)
- The group jokes about not knowing “basic makeup stuff or clothing names,” and Fran tries to “trick the sisterless boys.”
4. Theme Song Debate
- A running bit involves playing multiple versions of a theme song made by Beck & Kyle and soliciting brutally honest (and comedic) feedback from Fran.
- “There’s some sort of low tone that is actually making my molars chatter...almost, like, unlistenable.” (Fran, 19:06)
- This segment exemplifies the show’s collaborative, half-serious approach to all creative decisions.
5. Fran’s Podcast Pitch: “Auditions” [23:20]
- Fran suggests the podcast focus should be on “Auditions,” given all three have experienced the trials and tribulations of acting tryouts.
- “The podcast is about auditions. Because...did you guys meet at the Commit Us auditions?” (Fran, 23:20)
- They discuss the overlap between “auditions” and “tryouts” (sports vs. arts), and how the process is equally humiliating and revealing in both.
6. Developing 'Auditions': Segment Ideas
- The trio brainstorms formats:
- Sharing “most embarrassing auditions.”
- “Sliding doors”/“near misses” — auditions that could have profoundly changed their lives.
- Reading sides from particularly strange or uncomfortable auditions.
- “There’s something about, like, biggest...something where, like, you either, the...somebody won it and you maybe had a chance.” (Kyle, 25:52)
7. Launching an Auditions Pilot (Mock Podcast Segment) [30:29]
- They re-introduce themselves as if “Auditions” were the real podcast, parodying industry lingo and opening rituals (slating name/height).
- “You could slate your name and say how tall you are.” (Fran, 28:49)
- Warm, funny mock-theme:
“Auditions, that's what it's all about. You told us auditions is our podcast. That’s what we’ll talk about with Beck and Kyle and our guest, Fran Gillespie.” (Beck, 30:29)
8. Stories of Audition Horror and Humiliation [31:12–41:00]
- Fran confesses that auditions “always humiliate me,” leading to self-sabotaging lack of preparation.
- “I think always humiliates me…because I can't really separate the human level of what's happening, which is just so humiliating…” (Fran, 31:23)
- They tell stories of embarrassing or surreal commercial auditions, e.g. Fran being asked to lick a (real) toilet lid for a Hotels.com spot.
- Beck recalls screwing up (“fartsmoan” instead of “smartphone”) at a callback and losing the role to his friend.
9. Sliding Doors Moments
- Kyle shares the story of his first “TV audition” (for Greek on ABC Family)—his fantasies of success, his nerves upon seeing a more famous actor, and bombing the performance.
- “All of a sudden I’m in some room with other actors a similar age, one of whom was a little famous, was on Seventh Heaven…” (Kyle, 38:48)
- The request for a glass of water became a running joke; it’s both “relatable” and “dooming” in the eyes of a casting team.
- Fran tells of being a finalist for the Lena Waithe role on Master of None before joining SNL.
10. Mock Audition Scene Reading [43:07–52:08]
- Fran produces sides from an especially uncomfortable self-tape, involving a post-coital scene and a sudden suicide mention, which she performs with Beck.
- The reading quickly devolves into raucous, self-aware commentary about the ridiculousness of audition sides, industry tropes, and their own inability to play such dramatic beats with a straight face.
11. Reflection and Debrief [55:56–end]
- They wrap up by reflecting on the “podcast within a podcast” structure, what worked, and their own performances.
- “I’m going to give myself an 8...8.5 just because I had fun.” (Beck, 58:05)
- “I’ll give myself a 7, too.” (Kyle, 58:16)
- Considerations for future structure: jump into the guest’s pitch/segment more quickly, and keep the up-top banter lean.
- Gratitude and affection for Fran’s unflappable, honest presence.
Notable Quotes & Timestamps
-
Early Meta-Premise
“We don't know. And we wanted to start a podcast, and the space is flooded...but nobody, as far as we could tell, was looking for their podcast in their podcast.”
(Beck, 01:52) -
On Sibling Dynamics
“There is something about sisterless brothers...there's, like, aggression...a full not understanding of just, like, basic terms that men with sisters know.”
(Fran, 15:13) -
Theme Song Roast
“There's some sort of low tone that is actually making my, like, molars chatter...almost, like, unlistenable.”
(Fran, 19:06) -
Pitching Auditions
“The podcast is about auditions.”
(Fran, 23:20) -
On Preparing for Auditions
“I can't really separate the human level of what's happening, which is just so humiliating...I spend very little time prepping.”
(Fran, 31:23) -
Audition Horror
“It was like, so the hotel's so clean you could eat off the toilet...and they had a toilet lid there and they encourage you to lick it.”
(Fran, 33:49) -
Sliding Doors
"I almost wonder if it should be...just a free for all...I feel like we'll hit all of that if we just start talking about our audition experiences."
(Kyle, 27:28) -
Audition Reflection
“I was going down to San Diego...and incidentally, I was thinking about the Facebook event page...I lived in this future where I had it, and like, everybody was coming over to support me...”
(Kyle, 38:07) -
On Not Getting the Role
“I tested to be the Lena Waithe part on Master of None, and it was just Lena and I.”
(Fran, 53:10) -
Self-Rating and Debrief
“I thought the auditions podcast was decent. I thought we had good stories...I found myself being sillier than maybe I needed to be.”
(Kyle, 57:27)
Memorable and Funny Moments
- Ongoing gentle sibling rivalry; poking fun at each other's conversational styles.
- Theme song critique, with Fran's hilarious, unfiltered reaction to the "tooth-rattling" bass.
- Repeated riff on being “sisterless” and their collective lack of knowledge about “basic makeup stuff.”
- The reading of a post-coital, suicide-referencing scene for an audition self-tape—a masterclass in awkward group comedy.
- The group’s universal recognition of the “sliding doors” heartbreak of auditions that could have changed everything, but ultimately didn’t.
- Self-aware rating and criticism of their own performances throughout the episode.
Timestamps for Important Segments
| Timestamp | Segment | Notes | |-----------|----------------------------------------------|--------------------------------| | 00:00–11:59 | Opening Banter & Premise Setup | Hosts riff, explain format | | 12:00–22:45 | Fran Gillespie Introduction & Group Chemistry | Candid SNL & sibling dynamics | | 18:44–22:45 | Theme Song Critique | Fran’s brutal feedback | | 23:20–31:00 | Fran Pitches “Auditions” Podcast | Segment brainstorming | | 31:00–41:00 | Audition Horror Stories / Sliding Doors | Humiliating/funny anecdotes | | 43:07–52:08 | Mock Audition Scene Reading | Script read + spontaneous riff | | 55:56–end | Debrief & Self-Rating / Wrap-up | Reflections & closing bits |
Conclusion
The first episode of What's Our Podcast? is a boisterous, self-aware exploration of comedic chemistry and creative uncertainty. Beck, Kyle, and Fran meander through the process of figuring out what their show should be, land on the universal misery (and comedy) of auditions, and demonstrate that—format or not—the secret is just being themselves, busting each other’s chops, and telling stories no one else could.
For fans:
- Expect future episodes to be equally meta, unscripted, and guest-driven, with a heavy emphasis on real-life comedy experiences, candid stories, and playful mockery among close friends.
- Watch or listen for more moments where the search for a podcast topic becomes the podcast itself.