Hershal Pandya
@hershalpandya.bsky.social
I write about comedy for Vulture.
This special achieves the rarest of comedic feats: an actual good joke about the word "unhoused."
I put out a special this year! You can watch it FOR FREE right here.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=1L9l...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=1L9l...
December 5, 2025 at 10:05 PM
This special achieves the rarest of comedic feats: an actual good joke about the word "unhoused."
People always talk about how ring cameras are bad because they create a surveillance state. No one talks about how ring cameras are bad because they ruin the knock knock joke.
December 5, 2025 at 9:51 PM
People always talk about how ring cameras are bad because they create a surveillance state. No one talks about how ring cameras are bad because they ruin the knock knock joke.
You look at the Netflix and Warner Bros. thing and it's like........remember when Microsoft had to go to court for including an internet browser on windows?
December 5, 2025 at 7:55 PM
You look at the Netflix and Warner Bros. thing and it's like........remember when Microsoft had to go to court for including an internet browser on windows?
Dutifully posting every article I write on Bluesky for the 12 followers who are active on here (most of whom also write for my publication) to see. Effective grassroots marketing!
December 2, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Dutifully posting every article I write on Bluesky for the 12 followers who are active on here (most of whom also write for my publication) to see. Effective grassroots marketing!
Had a nice chat with Cooper Raiff about 'Hal & Harper,' how impossible it is to make independent TV, and how all movie financiers are money launderers who don't know what they're doing.
www.vulture.com/article/how-...
www.vulture.com/article/how-...
‘Independent TV Is Not a Thing Yet’
Cooper Raiff wanted to make Hal & Harper his way. He says he went through hell to get it onto a streamer.
www.vulture.com
December 2, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Had a nice chat with Cooper Raiff about 'Hal & Harper,' how impossible it is to make independent TV, and how all movie financiers are money launderers who don't know what they're doing.
www.vulture.com/article/how-...
www.vulture.com/article/how-...
Wrote about a few of the actors on TV who made me laugh most this year:
www.vulture.com/article/best...
www.vulture.com/article/best...
The Best TV Performances of 2025
Scene-stealing ensemble players as impressive as the leads shouldering entire series.
www.vulture.com
December 2, 2025 at 2:20 PM
Wrote about a few of the actors on TV who made me laugh most this year:
www.vulture.com/article/best...
www.vulture.com/article/best...
Comedians doing crowd work:
What’s the worst question someone can ask after you tell them your profession? For linguists, it’s definitely “how many languages do you speak?”, but I’m curious what else is happening to the rest of y’all out there?!
December 2, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Comedians doing crowd work:
Spent some time letting Adam Friedland do various bits at me for NYMag's Year in Culture questionnaire.
www.vulture.com/article/cult...
www.vulture.com/article/cult...
What Adam Friedland Watched, Read, and Listened to in 2025
“Benson Boone at Wembley Stadium. It’s just the flips. Pretty much the flips.”
www.vulture.com
December 1, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Spent some time letting Adam Friedland do various bits at me for NYMag's Year in Culture questionnaire.
www.vulture.com/article/cult...
www.vulture.com/article/cult...
Wrote about why more artists aren't following in Taylor Swift's footsteps and releasing rerecorded versions of old albums, and about the artists who have.
www.vulture.com/article/rach...
www.vulture.com/article/rach...
This Is My (My Version) Song
Rachel Platten is among the small group of artists who have rerecorded old albums. Unless you’re Taylor Swift, is it worth it?
www.vulture.com
November 28, 2025 at 7:33 PM
Wrote about why more artists aren't following in Taylor Swift's footsteps and releasing rerecorded versions of old albums, and about the artists who have.
www.vulture.com/article/rach...
www.vulture.com/article/rach...
Me when I'm conducting an interview: "oooh, they're really engaging with my questions. Listen to all these long, discursive, nuance-packed answers!"
Me when I'm transcribing an interview: "Is there some RULE that says you MUST interrupt yourself 4 times per sentence???"
Me when I'm transcribing an interview: "Is there some RULE that says you MUST interrupt yourself 4 times per sentence???"
November 24, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Me when I'm conducting an interview: "oooh, they're really engaging with my questions. Listen to all these long, discursive, nuance-packed answers!"
Me when I'm transcribing an interview: "Is there some RULE that says you MUST interrupt yourself 4 times per sentence???"
Me when I'm transcribing an interview: "Is there some RULE that says you MUST interrupt yourself 4 times per sentence???"
Groucho Marx would have really liked Berghain.
November 16, 2025 at 7:03 PM
Groucho Marx would have really liked Berghain.
How do you hold people accountable for laughs in a society where accountability no longer exists? Wrote about this after watching Ziwe's latest interview with Eric Adams:
www.vulture.com/article/ziwe...
www.vulture.com/article/ziwe...
Ziwe’s Post-Accountability Comedy
In her recent interview with Mayor Eric Adams, the comedian’s signature style of confrontation appears to have grown outdated.
www.vulture.com
November 13, 2025 at 7:18 PM
How do you hold people accountable for laughs in a society where accountability no longer exists? Wrote about this after watching Ziwe's latest interview with Eric Adams:
www.vulture.com/article/ziwe...
www.vulture.com/article/ziwe...
Just got to the end of a 7-minute long comedy video on YouTube with 8 credited writers. Great to see comedy writers nabbing these coveted opportunities to write 8/7 of a YouTube vid!!
November 13, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Just got to the end of a 7-minute long comedy video on YouTube with 8 credited writers. Great to see comedy writers nabbing these coveted opportunities to write 8/7 of a YouTube vid!!
A nice young person helped me renew a permit the other day in a bureaucratic setting, and he ended every second sentence he said with the words "type thing."
The interaction was very professional, and I love that part of that was him swapping out "type shit" for "type thing."
The interaction was very professional, and I love that part of that was him swapping out "type shit" for "type thing."
October 29, 2025 at 4:39 PM
A nice young person helped me renew a permit the other day in a bureaucratic setting, and he ended every second sentence he said with the words "type thing."
The interaction was very professional, and I love that part of that was him swapping out "type shit" for "type thing."
The interaction was very professional, and I love that part of that was him swapping out "type shit" for "type thing."
Tried out a fun little "Who's on first" riff with my 4-year-old nephew the other day about the TV show "Is it Cake?"
"What are you watching?"
"Is it Cake?"
"Well, is it?"
"Is it what?"
"Cake."
"Noo,'Is It Cake?'"
"Well, is it?"
Predictably, he hated it.
"What are you watching?"
"Is it Cake?"
"Well, is it?"
"Is it what?"
"Cake."
"Noo,'Is It Cake?'"
"Well, is it?"
Predictably, he hated it.
October 28, 2025 at 9:14 PM
Tried out a fun little "Who's on first" riff with my 4-year-old nephew the other day about the TV show "Is it Cake?"
"What are you watching?"
"Is it Cake?"
"Well, is it?"
"Is it what?"
"Cake."
"Noo,'Is It Cake?'"
"Well, is it?"
Predictably, he hated it.
"What are you watching?"
"Is it Cake?"
"Well, is it?"
"Is it what?"
"Cake."
"Noo,'Is It Cake?'"
"Well, is it?"
Predictably, he hated it.
It's a shame how capitalism has narrowed how we define "productivity."
It's all about "taking tangible steps to complete tasks."
It's never about, "depleting all your mental energy worrying about tasks so you have none left to actually do them."
Smh. Goldman Sachs.
It's all about "taking tangible steps to complete tasks."
It's never about, "depleting all your mental energy worrying about tasks so you have none left to actually do them."
Smh. Goldman Sachs.
October 28, 2025 at 12:01 AM
It's a shame how capitalism has narrowed how we define "productivity."
It's all about "taking tangible steps to complete tasks."
It's never about, "depleting all your mental energy worrying about tasks so you have none left to actually do them."
Smh. Goldman Sachs.
It's all about "taking tangible steps to complete tasks."
It's never about, "depleting all your mental energy worrying about tasks so you have none left to actually do them."
Smh. Goldman Sachs.
Every creator of a TV comedy: What if the protagonist was — get this — vapid and self-obsessed?
Television networks: No way! You wouldn't!
Creator: It's revolutionary.
Network: Here's millions of dollars.
Television networks: No way! You wouldn't!
Creator: It's revolutionary.
Network: Here's millions of dollars.
October 16, 2025 at 6:26 PM
Every creator of a TV comedy: What if the protagonist was — get this — vapid and self-obsessed?
Television networks: No way! You wouldn't!
Creator: It's revolutionary.
Network: Here's millions of dollars.
Television networks: No way! You wouldn't!
Creator: It's revolutionary.
Network: Here's millions of dollars.
Music straight up doesn't get better than Lauryn Hill and D'Angelo harmonizing the lyric "nothing but you" over and over.
October 14, 2025 at 10:49 PM
Music straight up doesn't get better than Lauryn Hill and D'Angelo harmonizing the lyric "nothing but you" over and over.
I don't think I'd ever conceived of the world going on without D'Angelo. "Spanish Joint" forever. This sucks so much.
October 14, 2025 at 10:31 PM
I don't think I'd ever conceived of the world going on without D'Angelo. "Spanish Joint" forever. This sucks so much.
A couple years ago, I learned how to make a humane fruit fly trap by putting a piece of banana in a glass jar, covering it in saran wrap, and poking holes in the top with toothpicks.
The problem is that nothing in my life works as well as this thing catches fruit flies.
The problem is that nothing in my life works as well as this thing catches fruit flies.
October 12, 2025 at 3:46 AM
A couple years ago, I learned how to make a humane fruit fly trap by putting a piece of banana in a glass jar, covering it in saran wrap, and poking holes in the top with toothpicks.
The problem is that nothing in my life works as well as this thing catches fruit flies.
The problem is that nothing in my life works as well as this thing catches fruit flies.
Ugh I wish I was wearing my super baggy trousers right now in tribute.
October 11, 2025 at 7:34 PM
Ugh I wish I was wearing my super baggy trousers right now in tribute.
Reposted by Hershal Pandya
Doing mutual aid to raise the money the Saudi Arabian government was going to pay me to cover the Riyadh comedy festival, which I was definitely 1000% offered but forfeited due to morality reasons.
September 2, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Doing mutual aid to raise the money the Saudi Arabian government was going to pay me to cover the Riyadh comedy festival, which I was definitely 1000% offered but forfeited due to morality reasons.
Not included in this interview: The moment when Will Arnett stopped me mid-question to absolutely clock me with, "Hershal, are you Canadian?"
www.vulture.com/article/will...
www.vulture.com/article/will...
Will Arnett Will Retire When He Has $19 Billion
He’s a man of ‘very highfalutin tastes.’
www.vulture.com
September 24, 2025 at 1:52 PM
Not included in this interview: The moment when Will Arnett stopped me mid-question to absolutely clock me with, "Hershal, are you Canadian?"
www.vulture.com/article/will...
www.vulture.com/article/will...
Nate Bargatze is a great comedian, but he was always going to be a strange fit as an awards show host. I wrote about his Emmys performance here.
www.vulture.com/article/nate...
www.vulture.com/article/nate...
Nate Bargatze’s Awards-Show Purgatory
He couldn’t figure out how to position himself as a celebrity outsider or insider, and by trying to keep a foot in each camp, he fell flat.
www.vulture.com
September 15, 2025 at 7:57 PM
Nate Bargatze is a great comedian, but he was always going to be a strange fit as an awards show host. I wrote about his Emmys performance here.
www.vulture.com/article/nate...
www.vulture.com/article/nate...