For Caleb Hearon, baring it all on stage doesn’t feel vulnerable — it feels natural.
The comedian’s debut standup special “Caleb Hearon: Model Comedian” premieres Friday on HBO, blending deeply personal stories with biting political commentary. Whether he’s talking about his father’s sudden death or “redneck conservatism,” Hearon uses humor to dissect the contradictions of modern American life.
“It doesn’t feel very vulnerable to me,” Hearon told TheWrap. “It’s natural … I’ve tried to just tell the truth about my life and the world as I see it.”
Originally from rural Missouri, Hearon amassed a following through viral TikTok sketches and his popular podcast “So True.” He’s also appeared in “Sweethearts,” “Overcompensating” and “Jurassic World: Dominion.” But no matter the medium, Hearon said his mission is simple: to make people laugh.
A self-described leftist, Hearon doesn’t shy away from politics in his debut special. But he pushes back against stereotypes that progressives are “insufferable, boring, woke scolds.”
“The trans people, the nonbinary people, and the lefties that I hang out with — we make incredibly f-cked up jokes, and we laugh about everything,” he said.
For Hearon, commentating on the state of the world is an integral part of his comedy, and he does not see that changing for some time. Growing up poor in rural Missouri, he says his worldview was shaped by class struggle, and he’s baffled when people are surprised by his progressive politics.
“To me, the only outcome of that experience is leftism and a disdain for rich and powerful people,” he said.
In debut special, he doesn’t hold back, roasting leading conservative figures — from joking about Vice President JD Vance’s mascara to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ “gay voice.”
“I think the response to the time we’re living in being conservatism is batsh—t insane, and I think those guys are clowns,” he said. “I feel like, not only do I have a responsibility, but I just have a deep desire to talk about how silly and insane I think that is.”
One of his sharpest jokes in the special takes aim at the left’s weak attempts to defend transgender people by simply saying they exist.
“Well, of course they do. They owe me money,” he joked in the special.
Preparing for his first comedy special, Hearon said it was crucial to build credibility with his audience especially as he broaches touchy subjects like politics, suicide and homophobia.
“It’s a real intricate balance of trying to talk about serious subjects, sometimes politically or even about yourself,” he said. “If the goal is first and foremost to make people laugh, you really have to structure it in such a way that you know you’re taking care of the audience and letting them know, ‘Hey, it’s okay to laugh.’”
Hearon joked about his own suicidal ideations as a closeted twenty-something gay guy. Now in his thirties, the comedian joked suicide’s more of a young man’s game.
The standup filmed his special in Chicago, where he got his start in the comedy world. Hearon said he chose the city not only because of his personal connection to it but also because the city knows comedy and how to engage with it.
“There’s just some cities in the United States where comedy audiences are locked the f-ck in,” he said.
During a crowd work section of the show, Hearon asks members of the audience to act like his middle school bully. Hearon said he went back and forth on including the bit in the special, but ultimately felt comfortable doing so because of the relationship he built with his crowd.
While Hearon’s primary goal is to make audiences laugh, he sees being a standup as a customer service job.
“You paid money to come out and see me do comedy like relax. Let me take care of you,” he said. “Sometimes they just need the permission.”
“To me, it makes me feel less alone in the world to talk about the serious things that we all experience and have to reckon with during our time on Earth,” he said. “I hope that first and foremost, people will laugh at the fact that we’re talking about that in the way I’m talking about it, but then I hope also that people will just feel seen.
“Ultimately, life is a joke. It’s hilarious that we’re alive, and all this sh-t we have to deal with has to be funny, or else, what would we do?”
“Caleb Hearon: Model Comedian” premieres Friday Sept. 19 on HBO and HBO Max.
