Interview: ‘Is This Thing On?’ Actress & Comedian Chloe Radcliffe on the Art of Disarming Comedy
With a new movie currently in theaters and a brand new stand-up special expected later this year, 2026 could have been comedian Chloe Radcliffe’s break-out year. But, since she’s already been listed on Deadline‘s 15 Comedians Ready to Break Out in 2025 – and named one of Just For Laughs’ 2025 New Faces – we are well beyond the point of breaking out and into the realm of soon-to-be superstar.
Even if you don’t follow stand-up comedy, you are probably already familiar with Radcliffe’s work as she was a staff writer onThe Tonight Show and was nominated for a 2024 WGA Award for her writing on Steven Soderbergh’s COMMAND Z, on which she also starred. Most recently, she appeared alongside Will Arnett and Laura Dern on the big screen in Bradley Cooper’s latest film, Is This Thing On?.
The film, which was released on Dec. 19, 2025, follows Alex (Arnett) as he explores a newfound passion for stand-up comedy while coping with his impending divorce. As Alex becomes a regular at a comedy club, he also connects with a group of comedians including Nina, who is played to perfection by Radcliffe.
“Bradley wanted to create the real experience of being at a comedy club and hanging out with comedians. And so, you see me sitting at the table with Jordan Jensen and Reggie Conquest and Matt Richards and all these amazing other stand ups who we work with in New York, who we get to hang out with. I’m in that crew. Jordan and I are the two characters that you also end up getting to see outside of the comedy club in some way. I go over to Will and Laura’s house and perform magic at their kids’ birthday party,” Radcliffe said. “I feel it was exciting to see how many little moments my character winds up being in sprinkled throughout the movie.”
Having written for The Tonight Show, Radcliffe is no stranger to working with superstars. She explained that Cooper, Arnett, and Dern are some of the best in the business with Cooper directing completely in the moment, Arnett having an innate instinct for comedy, and Dern being a unique talent.
“Laura Dern is so generous with her time and attention and is such a talent, but beyond that, she was so kind on set to me. Being on your first movie set can be unnerving at times.” Radcliffe said, adding that Dern took time out to check in with her and make sure she was having a good experience, a kindness that Radcliffe intends on paying forward when she gets the chance.
Radcliffe grew-up as a self-described “little dork” in Minnesota – regarding the current occupation of her state she says, “Fuck ICE, Abolish ICE. It’s awful, just truly evil.” She now resides in New York, but she still uses her “dorkiness” as a stand-up superpower as her love of math often comes in handy when writing jokes.
“I think that crafting a really good stand-up joke feels like a logic puzzle. Can you start at point A and work to point Z while making sure that everything holds water along the way? That’s sort of how my brain works and how it has forever,” she said.
Another one of Radcliffe’s comedy superpowers is her ability to disarm people with her personal storytelling while finding hilarity in the messiness of life, something she will surely do in her brand new hour-long special which was directed by Stuart Laws (James Acaster: Hecklers Welcome, Rhys James: Spilt Milk) and was recorded in Denver back in December.
“I have a huge birthmark on my face. And that means that when I enter any interaction, whether it’s on stage or whether it’s just interpersonal, I sort of inherently have this moment of needing to disarm people, but also this moment of like I can’t be phony because I have a huge thing on my face that I can’t hide. So, it’s very hard for me to have pretense because of a thing that I didn’t choose that I have had my whole life, that I love that is very much a part of who I am and has made me who I am. But, there’s just a sort of like, ‘Hey, we’re already here. We’re already dealing with the thing that you’ve never seen before.’ And so, if I’m going to start with that energy and if I’m going to open a stand up set talking about my birthmark, I don’t feel particularly inspired to back-up and go, ‘Anyway, traffic’s weird.’ Why waste the opportunity, which is we are into a personal sort of unpredictable zone immediately off the bat.”
Unpredictable zones are where Radcliffe feels the most comfortable. She even hosts a chat show,In Tandem with Chloe Radcliffe, while riding a tandem bike and interviewing another funny person a technique that leads to candid discussions.
“Conversations get very deep on the tandem bike very quickly because people are on the back,” said Radcliffe. “They don’t have brakes. They don’t have gears. They have no control. They are doing something that feels very, very unfamiliar and they get to be distracted by that thing. And on top of all that, they don’t have to make eye contact with you. I can ask these really prodding questions, and we just wind up talking about sort of deep revealing things, Talk about a disarming strategy – Put somebody on the back of a tandem, now that will disarm them.”
Whether she’s disarming you with a joke, an incredible performance, or a unique journey on a tandem bike, spending time in the world of Chloe Radcliffe is always a humor-filled delight.
Is This Thing On is currently in theaters across the country and keep an eye out for Radcliffe’s new stand-up special coming later this year (don’t worry – we’ll make sure you don’t miss it). For tour dates, comedy clips, and more information about all of her projects, head over to Chloeradcliffe.com.
