Bridger Winegar’s Podcast is the Gift that Keeps on Giving

As host and creator of the critically acclaimed podcast I Said No Gifts!, Bridger Winegar has always been uncomfortable with receiving presents from people. Naturally, this discomfort makes for the perfect icebreaker.

In Winegar’s weekly podcast, which has been billed by The New York Times as “one of the top podcasts for restoration and reflection,” the format gives listeners the feeling that they’ve dropped in on a quirky conversation between two friends. For fun, Winegar tells his celebrity guests “no gifts,” but of course, they all disobey, meaning their chat will eventually turn to whatever object lies beneath the wrapping paper.

What began as a fun hobby turned into a full-fledged passion project, and new episodes drop every Thursday. Winegar, whose background includes writing and producing for shows like Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, knew that he wanted to bring a more relaxed approach to the one-on-one interview format, and audiences cannot get enough of it.

OFM caught up with Winegar to talk more about the show, his comedy career, and more.

Can you begin by telling us more about your podcast, I Said No Gifts!, and what inspired you to start it?

Yeah! Hopefully, it’s clear from the title that it sort of centers on gifts. What happens every week is, my guest comes on; We chat; They reveal they brought me a gift against my wishes, and then I try to stay composed, and we talk about whatever they brought me. The title kind of popped into my head, and I thought that would be a fun, kind of refillable idea for a podcast that would allow the guest to bring something that they’re excited to talk about, whether it’s something they’re passionate about, something they find funny, whatever, and it all kind of clicked into place from there.

Ultimately, what do you hope listeners take away from it?

I want people to have a nice time. Part of the reason why I wanted to start I Said No Gifts! is because a lot of other podcasts I would try to listen to or enjoy, I felt like they were a little stressful, and I was getting the same information from guests that I had heard in other places. I felt this was an opportunity for guests to reveal things about themselves that maybe aren’t like the typical interview questions. Like, let’s just get into weird, specific things that guests want to talk about and have it be as low stress as possible.

The show celebrated its 100th episode not too long ago. How did it feel to reach that milestone?

It felt bonkers. We recorded the first 16 episodes between December 2019 and March 2020, so we had 16 episodes to go, and then the pandemic hit. Then it became this weird thing that was like, what is the show? We have 16 episodes that were recorded and no one’s talking about the pandemic, so at the time, we weren’t even sure if it was going to take off. Fortunately, I think audiences found it appealing to hear people talk about something other than how horrible the world was. We’ve been steadily gaining traction and we get to keep doing it, which is crazy to me.

Did you ever think a podcast would take your career to where it is today?

It’s been a weird thing because I’ve worked as a professional comedy writer for about eight years now, I’ve acted a little bit, I love performing and doing all these things, and this podcast still kind of feels like a fluke in my life. It wasn’t exactly something I had planned on doing, but it ended up being this hobby/career thing I get to do, and I have such a good time doing it. It’s weird. I’ll talk to other people in the business, and they’ll be like, “We listen to your podcast,” and it just feels strange that anyone’s listening to it.

You sort of mentioned this a couple minutes ago, but can you talk more about how you like to bring a more relaxed approach to the one-on-one interview format?

A lot of these people are people I’ve never met before. Maybe I’ve known them from afar or we’ve had some connections through comedy, but I obviously want them to be as comfortable as possible as quickly as possible, just so we can get into interesting things. Even before the podcast begins, I tell them this is a very easy podcast, we’re going to have a good time, and there’s nothing to worry about.

As far as hosting, I try to listen and be engaged as much as possible. I love when people listen to me and ask me questions, and I think that’s true of anybody, so I think that’s important. Regardless of what the person’s talking about, I try to make it interesting for both of us. Also, a lot of the people who have been on my show work in comedy. There aren’t that many generous laughers out there, and I think when you laugh at somebody’s joke or whatever they’ve done, that helps them open up.

Fortunately, I’ve been lucky to have very funny guests who make me laugh naturally. I haven’t had to do any forceful laughing, and I think that really helps people open up, feel comfortable, and relaxed. Plus, we’re talking about kind of low-stakes stuff. We’re talking about what they make for dinner and that kind of nonsense. We’re not going to get into some high-pressure topic and have a debate.

So, you seriously aren’t that comfortable with receiving gifts?

I’m not. I’ve now received over 100 gifts, which is bonkers, so I guess I’ve gotten a little better at getting them, but when someone gives me a gift and it has nothing to do with a podcast or show, I still don’t really know how to handle myself. I don’t like when people go out of their way for me.

Obviously, I really appreciate it, but I would rather they spend time and money on themselves if possible. If I receive a gift at a part, I’m like, “Shall I open it here? I don’t know what to do with this.” It feels like a spotlight is weirdly on me, and there are a lot of issues.

What about giving gifts?

I do like to give gifts, even though I’m bad at it (laughs). Sometimes because I’m a procrastinator and will put off purchasing until the very last minute, but I’m also an over-thinker. So, I will drain all joy out of buying a gift because I’ll try to turn it into a science and try to find the perfect thing for someone, and that’s something that I’ve learned in this podcast. A gift is such an unnecessary thing, so it really doesn’t matter what it is. The cliché is true for a reason. Like, it’s the thought that counts, but this thing you gave me in a box was not something I was planning on, so you can’t really be picky about getting it.

What is the best gift you have ever received from a celebrity?

Oh my gosh, there have been so many good things. I’ll name a couple recent highlights. Weird Al gave me a trophy of his from high school, which feels like such a crazy piece of memorabilia. Like, what a personal thing. Then other guests have given me things that are very useful. Bowen Yang gave me these Onsen bath powders, which are so lovely. You pour them in the bath; The bath turns into a wild color like neon green, and it smells very good. It’s so relaxing.

One of my early guests was Emma Thompson, and she gave me all this Scottish candy, which felt very thoughtful, and it seemed like something she really wanted to talk about. Then people will do a nice crossroads of things. Cole Escola gave me a beautiful waffle iron, which is probably the most expensive appliance I now own. They gave it to me largely as a joke because it’s such a deeply unnecessary thing to own, but it’s also like, I now have a waffle maker I would have never considered purchasing for myself.

What are your thoughts on gift cards?

I love gift cards! They have been unfairly maligned for years; It’s ridiculous. Last June, Will Arnett was on the show, and he gave me a $25 Target gift card. He was like, “I got you,” and I was like, “No, you didn’t. I love gift cards.” I value them more than money. I said on the episode, “I’m going to make a commitment to using this rather than saving it like I usually do with gift cards. I’m going to buy two things of laundry detergent.” I did, and they were extremely useful. I have no problem with gift cards.

Years ago, I worked at a job where the boss was a very wealthy person. This was before I started writing or anything, and word got out that he was giving us each a $5 gift card to Starbucks for Christmas. I think that’s where gift cards can get a little tricky. It’s like, if you have the means to give a better gift card and you don’t, then it’s really an insulting thing to do. I spread a rumor around the office telling everybody, and then it got bumped up to $20. I felt like a real office hero (laughs).

Have you always wanted to pursue a career in the entertainment industry?

Yes. I grew up in Utah and have loved comedy for as long as I can remember, but until I was in my 20s, it didn’t seem like a remote possibility. Even moving out of the state, it didn’t seem like something anyone ever did. So, to pursue comedy or entertainment felt like a very far-fetched dream. For it to be working in any way still feels like a fantasy to me.

You got your start by interning on The Late Show with David Letterman and later worked on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson and Jimmy Kimmel Live! What were some memorable takeaways from working on these shows?

Working at Letterman, the takeaway there was that this business can be as brutal as you could possibly imagine. I learned early on that there was going to be a lot of suffering and a lot of things that didn’t feel good. That wasn’t a negative experience, but I think anyone that worked on that show at this point would probably say it was not a positive atmosphere to be in most of the time. I still had a good time, and it still felt like a miracle to me. I got to be on the show, meet Dave, and it was like, “What’s happening?”

It was this thing where it felt like, and I try to always remember this, even when it’s as awful as it can be and you feel terrible, wild things like meeting Dave Letterman and making him laugh can happen. This business can swing so violently. Then working for Jimmy Kimmel, the thing I learned was that it can be a good business. Even when you’re as famous as Jimmy, you can still be kind to people. You can still look out for people from the bottom to the top and just treat people like family, which at that point, didn’t feel like a possibility in this industry. He proved me wrong in a huge way.

I must ask, how did you crash Craig Ferguson’s car?

(Laughs) Part of my job was kind of inexplicable, which was moving his car from location to location. At one point, I had to drive his car from Las Vegas back to LA, but in this particular circumstance, he drove this massive SUV and he had moved into a new home with a driveway that was probably built for a small Porsche.

I had to go pick up his massive SUV, and while turning a corner to get out of the house, I ran into a pole, which I take absolutely no responsibility for. Not my fault. I hit it, freaked out, and I was like, “I don’t know what to do.” I backed up, hit it again, pulled forward, hit it again. Like, the only way out of this is just to run up against the pole and drive out of the driveway. I think it was probably $6,000 of damage to the car, but I have no regrets about it. Zero regrets!

And then your punishment was to come on the show dressed in a hula skirt and coconut bra.

Yes, he handled it in an interesting way. The four years there, I continue to be mystified by it. He didn’t yell or get mad at me. He just did this thing of punishing me on air by putting me in various embarrassing costumes. I’m sure he knew this, but I was getting paid for each appearance. I was like, I’m making more right now than my PA job. I will do anything for money right now. So, I felt like I was winning. It worked out as good as it could have.

Now, you are making your name as a writer and have worked on shows like Single Parents and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Does writing comedy just come naturally to you?

No, I wouldn’t say it’s effortless or that it just comes to me. I think I have some innate sensibility that I’ve kind of worked towards being able to harness in some way over the years, which still feels very difficult to pin down and it frequently escapes me. However, I guess I can tap into it often enough where I can use it for my benefit, at least for now. Hopefully it doesn’t go away completely. At least for another 10 years.

What more do you hope to accomplish with your career?

I would love to continue to write, create, and perform comedy. I would also love for this podcast to continue to grow and be as enjoyable as it has been. Hopefully, I’ll eventually have enough money to store all these gifts because there’s not enough room in my home for all of them at this point. It’s become a real liability in my life.

Before we wrap up, are there any other upcoming projects or anything else you would like to mention or plug?

I wrote an episode of The Afterparty, which is an Apple TV+ show that’s currently airing and you can watch all the episodes now. Then hopefully later this year, there will be a new Netflix show called Blockbuster that I wrote on over the past few months, and that’ll be a fun time.

Stay up-to-date and connect with I Said No Gifts! by following the podcast on Twitter and Instagram @isaidnogifts. New episodes drop each Thursday and are available on all digital streaming platforms.

Photos courtesy of Robyn von Swank