Jake Shane is telling me about how he worked with Lena Dunham on his TikTok cameo in “Too Much” when he interrupts himself. “11:11! Make a wish,” he says with urgency, closing his eyes and clasping his hands in front of him.
Then his eyes pop open again. Wish still unmade, he says: “That is an OCD thing.”
It’s only a split-second of our conversation, which took place over Zoom a few weeks ago. But it perfectly encapsulates everything about Jake Shane that has sky-rocketed the Jewish 25-year-old social media personality, podcaster and comedian from rating octopus online to fame over the last few years. His comedy TikToks, album and tour are funny and savvy enough to capture the attention of the likes of Lena Dunham and have him be named one of the 25 most influential creators of 2025 by Rolling Stone. He’s so deeply entrenched in the world of pop culture, best evidenced by his celebrity-laden podcast “Therapuss,” so as to be a natural fit for a cameo on a hit Netflix show. And he’s built an entire platform on being candidly, relatably and irrevocably anxious.
@octopusslover8 Replying to @landryhinklee
Following the end of his summer 2025 tour “Live with Jake Shane,” a hybrid one-man show in which he talked about why he is the way he is, Jake sat down with me for a rapid-fire interview about everything from his anxiety and OCD, to his roles on “Hacks” and “Too Much” to the bar mitzvah theme he loves.
On His Sense of Humor
“I think my humor is very Jewish-leaning. I complain a lot, especially about temperature, so I’ve been told that’s a huge thing. There’s a lot of things I do that my mom’s like, ‘That’s very Jewish of you.’ It’s also very self-deprecating, which I think is from my anxiety of somebody else beating me to the punch about myself. And that’s also inherently a pretty Jewish thing.”
On His Favorite Thing To Complain About
“Something that I know I’m correct about, and other people will hype me up about it and tell me I’m right.”
On Being Jewish
“I’m not religious at all, it just was never a part of my life. My parents never took me to temple. But I always knew I was Jewish, it was just a part of who I was.”
On His Comedy Influences
“Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, who else do I love? I love Heather McMahan. I love Mary Beth Barone. I love Holmes. Oh, and Meg Stalter is everything.”
On His Cameo in “Too Much”
“I got an email saying, like, do you want to do a cameo on the Lena Dunham show? I was like, yes, of course. Me and Lena did a Zoom meeting, and I just — it was like, OK, I can die. That was like the greatest thing to ever happen to me. She’s just the most incredible person in the entire world and talking to her was the most full circle moment ever. She’s one of my biggest inspirations, and I just love her. The whole experience could have been so small. I just could have, recorded a video and sent it in. But she made it so personal. She said, you do exactly what you would do, and I trust you, essentially, which was awesome.”
On Anxiety
“My mom says it’s because I’m Jewish. But I’m just anxious all around.”
On His Bar Mitzvah
“I did not have a bar mitzvah. I don’t know why. I think it’s just because I’m fucking lazy. But maybe I’ll have a late bar mitzvah one day. But I went to a lot [growing up in Washington Heights], and they were so fun. If I ever had a bar mitzvah, I think I would want it to be early 2000s themed. I know that’s so run into the ground, but that’s what I would want.”
On His Role on “Hacks”
“I just love Jean Smart. And Hannah Einbinder is also just a fucking legend. It was so, so incredible to work with the both of them. They were mind-blowing, and they were so welcoming and so kind, and the whole crew was so kind. It was literally a dream come true. The whole thing, I was like, I never want this to end. I want to do this forever.”
On Caring About What Other People Think
“I think I’ll always care. I just don’t know about what, but there will always be something or someone that I care about, what they think of me. That might change and become less intense, but I will always probably care.”
On His Dream Podcast Guests
“Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Jennifer Lawrence and Lena Dunham.”
On His Must-Do Things in New York
“See my friends, go out until very late, go on dates — the dating scene is so much better there [than in L.A.] — get my favorite smoothie in the world, which is the PB and Joe from Juice Generation, go to Chez Margot, that’s where I’ve been going lately. And maybe go to Paul’s Casablanca. I haven’t been there in a while, but back in the day that used to be my favorite.”
On Sharing About His OCD and Anxiety Online
“My dad was like, ‘don’t do it,’ but I just did it. And I know I made the right decision. People come up to me and tell me that it’s nice to hear other people talk about it, which is, like, the best thing that they could say.”
On Dream Future Projects
“God, I don’t know. I always say I’m really down for whatever. I’m down to do anything. I just want to keep acting, and I want to just keep writing and like, I just want to be on set more. I know that’s where I’m happiest, and that’s where I’m having the most fun.”
