On Wednesday, The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz welcomed comedian Rob Delaney for an interview.
Most of the comedy to come out of the segment, however, was of the unintentional variety.
As Delaney discussed his 2022 book, A Heart That Works, which details his two-year-old son’s fatal battle with brain cancer, Le Batard broke down while discussing his own grief regarding the passing of his brother, David Le Batard, earlier this year.
“I don’t know what your pain is exactly. I can’t possibly know even though you’ve written a book,” a visibly choked up Le Batard said. “But I feel like I lost a son because I raised [David].”
Delaney did his best to comfort Le Batard, telling the Meadowlark Media co-founder, “I’m so incredibly sorry.”
At that point, the television feed of the show took an unexpected turn, focusing not on Delaney or Le Batard, but rather producer Billy Gil, who was dressed like an old fashioned baseball player — complete with a cartoonish white mustache.
Despite still sobbing, Le Batard couldn’t let the awkwardness slide.
“There’s an old timey baseball player here, Rob!” the former Miami Herald columnist shouted. “I can’t cry in front of these people. Do you know how weak it is? I’m a blubbering idiot, Rob. I need this to be funny.”
Delaney proceeded to get the segment back on track, discussing the “f***ed privilege” he felt watching his other sons mourn the death of their brother together. As Delaney continued to offer advice to Le Batard regarding his grief, Gil reappeared on the screen, this time wearing a black handlebar mustache.
“Thank you for your assortment of mustaches,” Delaney said, noting the change in facial hair.
As Le Batard expressed frustration with wanting to both laugh with Delaney and discuss grief with him — but not being able to do both — the comedian pointed out that it was actually an ideal representation of what it’s like to go through the loss of a loved one.
“I honest to God think that the absurdity of that is a very helpful thing,” the comedian said. “S*** gets interrupted. You learn in my book, some of the first times that we laughed after Henry died were in dealing with the funeral home guy, the undertaker, who helped with Henry. And his f***ing name was Barry White. So laughter and grief go well together and the laughter doesn’t mean you’re not grieving.”
“My wife was pregnant when my son died…watching brothers mourn a brother has been very difficult…it’s heavy sh*t.”
– @robdelaney joins the show for an extremely emotional conversation with Dan about grieving and the loss of loved ones.❤️
📺 https://t.co/xLO9a9vt2u
🎙️… pic.twitter.com/Ikp2UIaxWj— Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz (@LeBatardShow) December 13, 2023
The interview didn’t end there and it’s well worth the watch for anyone looking for an example of what The Dan Le Batard Show is like at its very best.
In theory, the idea of having a well known comedian on the show, only to compare grief experiences, is somewhat absurd in and of itself. But that the show was able to lean into the absurdity and produce not only entertaining, but also meaningful content, shows why Meadowlark Media’s flagship show has managed to carve out its own place in the ultra competitive sports media landscape.
[The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz]
