Dropout CEO Sam Reich Reveals Why He's Not the Only Host on 'Make Some Noise' Season 5

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Published Oct 1, 2026, 9:59 AM EDT

Reich discusses guest hosts, his ‘humiliation kink,’ and how he teams comedians together

Photo: Kate Elliot

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As one Dropout show ends, the next one begins. Game Changer season 8 came to a close last month, but Make Some Noise season 5 is right on its heels. Fans got their first peek recently with a hilarious trailer, which includes a notable surprise. While Dropout CEO Sam Reich has been the longtime host of both shows, he’ll be letting other people take his spot behind the Make Some Noise desk on a few occasions this season.

Demi Adejuyigbe, Elaine Carroll, and Kurt Maloney will all guest host Make Some Noise in season 5, marking the first time Reich won’t be the one doling out prompts and points. So what does this mean for the future of Dropout's popular improv show?

“This isn't part of me marching away from the show necessarily,” Reich tells Polygon. “I think there's a way in which this might be like a backdoor audition for a new host at some point.”

Reich is keeping the door open for the following season of Make Some Noise to feature guest hosts as well. “It's nice to get fresh blood in the mix in order to vary up the dynamic some,” he says.

Make Some Noise frequently mixes things up by bringing in performers from outside Dropout’s consistent stable of comedians, like Wayne Brady for a season 2 episode. A guest host, however? That’s an entirely new dynamic.

“It is a more comfortable experience for me to watch other people do the work than it is for me to do the work,” Reich says.

Photo: Kate Elliot

It’s a surprising thing to hear from Reich, who never looks uncomfortable when he gleefully tortures contestants on Game Changer. But Reich doesn’t feel a need for the spotlight. “I know that the character I play on Game Changer might make you believe that this isn't the case, but I'm not in love with myself,” he says.

Maybe that's why Reich is so willing to be the butt of the joke and get bullied by contestants. Hosting Game Changer and Make Some Noise has unlocked Reich’s “humiliation kink,” he says. No better example of that might be when he asked for Game Changer contestants to freestyle a Sam Reich diss track. Lisa Gilroy killed it with lines calling Reich a “mushroom man” and threatening to throw him down the stairs.

Gilroy and Pete Holmes are known for endlessly ribbing Reich, and they’ll be paired together on an episode of Make Some Noise in season 5. When asked if he just felt like being bullied that day at work, Reich responds, “Listen, I did that because I knew it would make for a great episode of television. And it did.”

Gilroy and Holmes are certainly an inspired team-up, and Reich and his Make Some Noise crew have various reasons for why and how they pair comedians together.

“Sometimes I'm catering to a group dynamic," Reich says. "This next season I have Angela [Giarratana], Kylie [Brakeman], and Jeremy [Culhane] on together. They do a podcast together.”

Photo: Kate Elliot

In other cases, deciding pairings is as simple as Reich asking who people want to be partnered with and seeing what he can do.

“Sometimes it's because they all roast me to shreds.”

Make Some Noise season 5 will feature plenty of new and old faces across its 15 episodes, including Siobhan Thompson and Ben Schwartz.

“We're lucky to have a stable of folks who are so keen to play with each other no matter what,” Reich says.

Keen to bounce off one another — and keen to humiliate Reich.

Make Some Noise season 5 premieres on Dropout.tv Oct. 5. New episodes stream every other Monday.