“Billy On The Street with David Letterman” with Jena Friedman (Inside The FOD Vault Episode 7)

Academy Award nominated writer and comedian, Jena Friedman (The New Yorker, The Daily Show, Borat Franchise) has picked “Billy On The Street with David Letterman” from the Funny or Die Vault.  She and our host, Marcos González, cover everything from true crime to American girls dolls to anxious emojis. Follow along as Jena and Marcos talk through field producing and TikTok rabbit holes. 

Jena Friedman is an Academy Award-nominated writer and comedian. She is the creator of Soft Focus on Adult Swim and True Crime Story: Indefensible on AMC+. Her writing credits include BORAT 2: Subsequent Movie Film, The Conners on ABC and The Late Show with David Letterman. She was also a field producer on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart from 2012 through the end of his tenure in 2015, where she wrote and directed field segments. ​She’s a contributing writer to The New Yorker and her first book, Not Funny, recently published by Simon & Schuster, is a national bestseller. Additionally, she has appeared on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, Conan, and the Sundance hit movie Palm Springs (Hulu). Stream her first stand up special, American Cunt (2016) on Spotify and her second special, Ladykiller on Peacock.

Follow Jena

TikTok: @jenafriedman
Instagram: @jenafriedman
X: @jenafriedman

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Key Moments

0:00 Intro
1:29 Why Jena chose Billy On The Street
6:27 Making light of serious topics
10:46 Jena’s American Girl Doll satire show
15:57 How Jena’s trajectory had a throughline
20:29 Comedy world in the internet age
31:43 Intersection between comedy and true crime
36:18 Final speed round questions

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Series Credits

Hosted by Marcos Gonzalez
Executive Producers: Adrien Finkel, Darren Miller, & Ben Rosen
Director of Photography: Ali Arminio
Production Manager: Savvas Yiannoulou
Production Coordinator: Ellen Burns
Sound Mixer: Will Harrell
Gaffer: Kishan Patel
Production Designer: Christina Phensy
Art Dept. Assistant: Carolyn Deskin
Hair and Makeup: Brenna Haukedahl
Editors: Brandon Fryman & Dallas Baker
Assistant Editor: Rina Klanfer