Josh Gondelman

Josh Gondelman is a comedian, essayist, and television writer whose humor pairs self-scrutiny with an unusual investment in kindness. He wrote for Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, served as head writer and executive producer of Desus & Mero, and contributed to The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Nice Try gathers personal essays about good intentions, awkward outcomes, Jewish identity, work, relationships, and how surface politeness differs from genuine care. Harper Perennial published the collection in 2019 under the fuller title Nice Try: Stories of Best Intentions and Mixed Results. Gondelman brings the timing of stand-up to incidents that include summer camp, preschool teaching, romantic mistakes, and offering strangers short pep talks. The pieces do not present decency as effortless. Instead, they ask how politeness can fail and why improvement still deserves another attempt. That mixture of warmth and accountability also runs through his comedy albums and specials, including Dancing on a Weeknight and People Pleaser.