When Paul F. Tompkins announced his decision to step away from Speakeasy, we thought that would be the end for the chatty, laid-back web series. Instead, Defy Media’s MadeMan brand, which distributes the series, decided to retool with a new host. On November 16th, Speakeasy will return, with comedian Russell Peters replacing Tompkins at the helm.
Peters will begin his tenure as the Speakeasy host by turning the tables on Tompkins and interviewing him. Once the proverbial torch has been passed, Peters will move onto other guests, including Michael Shannon, Anthony Jeselnik and Constance Wu. Snippets from Peters’ first episode can be seen in a trailer released on the MadeMan channel (which is also currently hosting videos from its second annual Gentleman Up campaign).
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Tompkins hosted Speakeasy for three years, but in July 2015, he revealed that his schedule had gotten too crowded, and as a result, he decided to drop his talk show web series from his list of commitments. When Tompkins’ fans learned Speakeasy would continue without its original host, they reacted with disappointment and outright scorn. Said one commenter, “that’s one hell of a dapper suit to fill.”
MadeMan subscribers and Tompkins aficionados shouldn’t count Peters out just yet. Speakeasy’s informal, almost podcast-like tone made it worth watching, and while Peters cannot match Tompkins’ deep podcast experience, he has appeared on everything from WTF to You Made It Weird to, yes, Speakeasy. We will see how he goes about filling that dapper suit once November 16th rolls around.
