The Dan Le Batard Show: 'Ben Stiller Tells The Truth' Review

The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz is ESPN Radio's irreverent daily show hosted by Dan Le Batard and his co-host Stugotz, known for blending sports commentary with absurdist humor and celebrity guests. This review covers the 44.3-minute episode titled "Ben Stiller Tells The Truth About Dan: 'You're Knicks Fan' | Local Hour," where the hosts welcome actor Ben Stiller for a conversation that spirals delightfully from Stiller's take on Dan's notorious Knicks fandom into an extended riff on absurd funeral pranks—including a real service that rents mysterious women to cry at your funeral for $500. The episode also covers estate planning nightmares, how to structure funny goodbye messages, and touches on Dan's efforts to raise money for ALS awareness through his friend and legendary baseball broadcaster Luke Sciambi. Packed with the show's trademark tangential humor, extended conversations that build on each other's jokes, and genuine camaraderie between hosts, this is a worthwhile listen that showcases exactly why fans of the show keep tuning in daily. The chemistry between Dan and Stugotz, combined with Stiller's willingness to play along with the absurdity, makes this episode feel like eavesdropping on friends who genuinely enjoy each other's company. Episode score: 7.6/10. The episode contains 5 ads totaling 5.0 minutes (11.3% of runtime), which you can skip automatically with PodSkip while you listen.

What Makes The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz 'Ben Stiller Tells The Truth About Dan' Work

The magic of this episode lies in how quickly and naturally the conversation shifts from Ben Stiller reflecting on Dan's Knicks fandom—a running thread of the show—to an unexpectedly hilarious tangent about funeral pranks and absurd mourning services. Mike Ryan kicks off the riff by mentioning a real service called Dark Secret, where you can hire a mysterious woman to cry silently at your funeral for $500. She shows up, grieves in silence, and disappears—leaving everyone at the funeral confused about who she was and why she was crying.

What starts as a throwaway joke spirals into genuinely funny planning, with the hosts imagining increasingly elaborate scenarios. Could you hire this woman as a prank on someone else at the funeral? What if you made it even weirder by having clowns show up, and nobody explained why? The hosts riff on whether the clowns are there as a joke or just getting between gigs. It's the kind of conversation that could sound contrived on paper but lands perfectly here because the hosts build on each other in real time.

The best moment captures the absurdist energy perfectly:

"Or it could be one hell of a last prank to play on somebody."

This line encapsulates the show's sweet spot: mixing the ridiculous with genuine conversation. The estate planning discussion that follows—triggered when the hosts reveal that one of them has actually been doing estate planning after a sudden death in their circle—grounds the humor in something genuinely relatable. Funeral planning becomes an unexpected vehicle for both comedy and reflection. How do you structure a funeral to be funny without being disrespectful? What's the line between a tribute and a roast?

Ben Stiller's presence elevates the conversation; he's game for the absurdity while adding his own celebrity-world perspective on death, legacy, and how to be remembered. The show's best episodes often work because all parties involved are willing to be vulnerable beneath the jokes. Toward the end, the episode touches on Luke Sciambi's ALS fundraising efforts—a recurring theme on the show that viewers interested in other episodes featuring this storyline might explore in The Dan Le Batard Show: 'Dan Promises Boog Sciambi' Review—which shifts the tone back to something meaningful and shows the show's range beyond comedy. Sciambi, a respected baseball broadcaster who's been living with ALS, has been the subject of Dan's fundraising efforts for years, a running thread that gives the show unexpected depth.

It's the kind of episode that works because the hosts care about each other and their audience enough to let conversations breathe and go unexpected places. If you're a fan of The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz on Apple Podcasts, this is a solid outing that hits all the show's strengths. For more episodes that blend celebrity guests with the show's signature comedic tangents, also check out The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz: 'Drug Lords' Review (7.3/10).

The Ad Load on The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz: 5 Ads, 5.0 Minutes

This episode contains 5 ads totaling 5.0 minutes, which represents 11.3% of the episode runtime. The detected sponsors are NetSuite, Miller Lite, Cuervo, BetterHelp, and DraftKings—a mix of financial software, beer, spirits, mental health services, and sports betting. Most listeners don't mind a few ads on their favorite shows, but 11.3% is more than one-tenth of your listening time dedicated to commercials. Skip The Dan Le Batard Show ads automatically while you listen.

The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz Review: Is 'Ben Stiller Tells The Truth About Dan' Worth Listening?

Score: 7.6/10. This is a solid, entertaining episode with genuinely funny riffs, a guest who plays well with the hosts' chemistry, and moments of real conversation beneath the absurdity. If you enjoy the show's brand of tangential, irreverent humor and celebrity banter, you'll find plenty to love here, and the episode doesn't overstay its welcome at 44 minutes.

FAQ: The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz 'Ben Stiller Tells The Truth About Dan' Review

What is The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz?

ESPN Radio's daily three-hour sports and comedy show hosted by Dan Le Batard and Stugotz, featuring sports commentary mixed with absurdist humor. The show has aired for over a decade and is known for celebrity guests, unscripted tangents, and hosts who genuinely enjoy each other's company.

Why does the funeral prank conversation work so well?

The absurdity of hiring a professional mourner triggers increasingly ridiculous scenarios that the hosts build on collaboratively, improvising rather than following a script. The humor lands because it's grounded in real emotion—grief, legacy, how we want to be remembered—even as they joke about it.

How many ads are in this episode and can I skip them automatically?

This episode has 5 ads totaling 5.0 minutes (11.3% of runtime). Sponsors include NetSuite, Miller Lite, Cuervo, BetterHelp, and DraftKings. Yes—skip ads automatically while listening to any podcast with PodSkip.

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