Behind The Bits with Scott Curtis

Mat Alano-Martin has spent the last 13 years on the road telling jokes and sharing stories all across America. He has appeared at comedy clubs, theaters, punk rock dives, redneck roadhouses, casinos, colleges, living rooms and everywhere in between. Alano-Martin’s albums “Profiled as Such,” “Blood Mouth” and “Midnight Nachos” can be heard in regular rotation on Sirius/XM’s comedy channels and he has appeared several times on the nationally syndicated The Bob & Tom Show and once on Laughs on Hulu. His first comedy special “Tango in Philly” will be out later this year. He has worked with such notable acts as Patton Oswalt, Tig Notaro, Maria Bamford and Chris Gethard and has performed at several festivals and prominent showcases across the country and beyond including:

– 208 Comedy Festival – Boise, ID

– 10,000 Laughs – Minneapolis, MN

– Altercation Comedy Festival – Austin, TX

– Beast Village Comedy Festival – Des Moines, IA

– Bird City Comedy Festival – Phoenix, AZ

– The Black Box Comedy Festival – Atlanta, GA

– Cleveland Comedy Festival – Cleveland, OH

– Cloudtop Comedy Festival – Sante Fe, NM

– Comcast’s “Look Who’s Laughing Now” – Indianapolis, IN

– Comedians You Should Know – Chicago, IL

– The Fest – Gainesville, FL

– Finger Lakes Comedy Festival – Ithaca, NY

– Fountain City Comedy Festival – Kansas City, MO

– Fresh Out – Los Angeles, CA

– Gilda’s LaughFest – Grand Rapids, MI

– Green Gravel Comedy Festival – Iowa City, IA

– High Plains Comedy Festival – Denver, CO

– Hong Kong International Comedy Festival – Hong Kong, China

– Hopkins Comedy Festival – Hopkins, MN

– Hot Tub with Kurt and Kristen – Los Angeles, CA

– If You Build It – New York, NY

– The Indy Fringe Festival – Indianapolis, IN

– Laugh in a Box Festival – Cincinnati, OH

– Laughing Devil Comedy Festival – New York City, NY

– Laughing Skull Comedy Festival – Atlanta, GA

– Let’s Fest – Fort Wayne, IN

– Limestone Comedy Festival – Bloomington, IN

– Live From Outer Space – New York, NY

– Lookout Comedy Festival – Chattanooga, TN

– Milwaukee Comedy Festival – Milwaukee, WI

– Parlour Car – Chicago, IL

– Pittsburgh Comedy Festival – Pittsburgh, PA

– Red Clay Comedy Festival – Atlanta, GA

– Sacramento Comedy Festival – Sacramento, CA

– The World Series of Comedy – Chicago, IL

He is also the co-founder of the Limestone Comedy Festival and his jokes have been used for the Frank and Funny greeting card line.

Mat & I talked about:

-     Handling drunk people while on stage

-     Getting to a place in stand-up where you feel authentic on stage

-     Making The Limestone Comedy Festival in Bloomington, IN happen

-     What it takes to go full-time into stand-up

-     The greatness of The Comedy Attic, in Bloomington, IN

Check Out Mat’s YouTube Special filmed for Helium Comedy Club here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAHGnXaep4Y&t=21s

Listen to Mat & Dwight Just Might here:

https://matanddwight.podbean.com/

Here’s my latest blog “Easy Passive Income For Comedians & Other People Who Need Money”

https://www.thebtbpc.com/blog/easy-passive-income-for-comedians-other-people-who-need-money/

If you'd like to support the show and get some cool perks, check out our Patreon page:

https://www.patreon.com/btbpc

Look for new stuff for Patrons soon!

Head over to the Behind the Bits website for extra content:

https://www.thebtbpc.com/

Get on our mailing list for news about future guests and more great content:

https://www.thebtbpc.com/p/mailing-list/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A house-filling favorite in Las Vegas since she opened as one of the hottest tickets in town in June 2000, Rudner is known for her epigrammatic one-liners. Over the course of a multi-year run she sold almost two million tickets, grossed over a hundred million dollars and become the longest-running solo female comedy show in the history of Las Vegas. She was named Las Vegas’s Comedian of The Year nine years in a row and in 2006 received The Nevada Ballet’s Woman Of The Year Award. In October 2017 she was given the Casino Entertainment Legend Award.

Rita’s first solo HBO special, Rita Rudner’s One Night Stand, was nominated for several awards, as was her eponymous English BBC television show that later appeared in the USA on A&E. Rudner’s two one-hour specials for HBO, Born to Be Mild and Married Without Children, were ratings standouts and she performed all over the country, filling Carnegie Hall in New York three times. In 2008 Rita Rudner: Live From Las Vegas was PBS’s first ever stand-up comedy special.

Rita Rudner has written five books; her bestselling non-fiction titles, Naked Beneath My Clothes, Rita Rudner’s Guide to Men and I Still Have It…I Just Can’t Remember Where I Put It, plus the novels Tickled Pink and Turning the Tables. The audio version of Naked Beneath My Clothes received a Grammy nomination. Her autobiography, My Life in Dog Years is available on Rita’s website and on Amazon.

Rudner is a frequent collaborator with her writer/producer husband of thirty years, Martin Bergman. The couple’s first produced film script was Peter’s Friends. The film, starring Emma Thompson, Hugh Laurie, Kenneth Branagh, Imelda Staunton, Stephen Fry, and Rita, won the Evening Standard Peter Sellers Award for Best British Film and was nominated for the Goya Award for Best European Film of 1994. The script was nominated for a WGA Best Screenplay Award and Rita won Best Supporting Actress at the American Comedy Awards.

The couple’s second film project, a TV movie called A Weekend In The Country, starred Rita, Jack Lemmon, Dudley Moore, Richard Lewis, Christine Lahti, Betty White and Faith Ford.

Bergman and Rudner’s last film, Thanks, premiered at the 2011 Palm Springs International Film Festival, won several awards on the film festival circuit and was bought by and frequently aired on Showtime.

In 2003, Rudner launched from Las Vegas her first syndicated daily TV show, Ask Rita, which featured a panel of celebrities lightheartedly attempting to solve personal problems submitted by members of the public; it ran for two years. For her work on the show, American Women In Radio and Television awarded Rudner a Gracie Allen Award for Best Program Host.

Rita helped write the 2001 and 2003 Oscar shows with Steve Martin and the 2002 Oscar broadcast with Whoopi Goldberg.

Rita Rudner moved to New York at the age of fifteen to become a dancer on Broadway. She appeared in several shows, including the original productions of Follies and Mack and Mabel. It was while in Annie on Broadway that she began exploring the comedy clubs of Manhattan. In the early ‘80s, Rudner took a full-time leap from chorus lines to punch lines and was soon a regular guest on both Late Night With David Letterman and The Tonight Show.

In 2009, Rita, Bette Midler and Sheryl Crow joined forces to perform a fundraiser for President Obama and the Democratic leader of the Senate, Harry Reid.

In 2012, Rita and Martin wrote and performed The Rita Rudner Show for BBC radio in London. Rita also appeared in the Showtime comedy special Rita Rudner and Three Potential Ex-Husbands.

In June 2016 Rita was invited and honored to speak about her career and technique in comedy at Cambridge University, England. In 2017 she was invited by Oprah Winfrey to appear on a cruise to Alaska that Oprah did in partnership with Holland America.

In 2018, Rita’s tenth TV special was released – A Tale Of Two Dresses. The special also featured Rita and Martin’s singer/songwriter daughter Molly Bergman.

Check Out rita’s Website here:

https://www.ritarudner.com/

Here’s my latest blog “Easy Passive Income For Comedians & Other People Who Need Money”

https://www.thebtbpc.com/blog/easy-passive-income-for-comedians-other-people-who-need-money/

If you'd like to support the show and get some cool perks, check out our Patreon page:

https://www.patreon.com/btbpc

Look for new stuff for Patrons soon!

Head over to the Behind the Bits website for extra content:

https://www.thebtbpc.com/

Get on our mailing list for news about future guests and more great content:

https://www.thebtbpc.com/p/mailing-list/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ginny Hogan is an NYC-based writer and stand up comic. She's a contributor for The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The Cut, The New York Times, Cosmopolitan, The Observer, McSweeney's, and Vulture, and she's written sketches for Comedy Central . Forbes profiled her as a rising satire star, and she was on Paste's list of top humorists. She now touring with her one-woman stand-up show, I Finished My 20s and All I Got Was This Stupid Sobriety.

In 2022, Chronicle Books published Ginny's second humor collection I'M MORE DATEABLE THAN A PLATE OF REFRIED BEANS. Excerpts have been featured in the New Yorker, Bustle, and the Cut, and it was named a top Vulture humor book of 2022.

In 2021, Ginny wrote YES WE MUSTARD, an Audible Original scripted comedy about a corrupt condiments tech startup. It was selected for their Best of 2021 list, and was rated their #1 comedy in 2021.

Ginny & I talked about:

·       Her start in stand-up comedy and how it started her satire writing

·       How she got published in high profile publications like The Atlantic and The New Yorker

·       The state of Twitter

Check Out Ginny’s Website here:

http://www.ginnyhogancomedy.com/

Get a “I’m More Dateable Than a Plate of Refried Beans” Here:

https://www.amazon.com/More-Dateable-Plate-Refried-Beans-ebook/dp/B09XP5Y7RN/ref=sr_1_1?crid=32PXJJRZECXZH&keywords=ginny+hogan&qid=1671487832&sprefix=ginny+hogan%2Caps%2C117&sr=8-1

Here’s my latest blog “Easy Passive Income For Comedians & Other People Who Need Money”

https://www.thebtbpc.com/blog/easy-passive-income-for-comedians-other-people-who-need-money/

If you'd like to support the show and get some cool perks, check out our Patreon page:

https://www.patreon.com/btbpc

Look for new stuff for Patrons soon!

Head over to the Behind the Bits website for extra content:

https://www.thebtbpc.com/

Get on our mailing list for news about future guests and more great content:

https://www.thebtbpc.com/p/mailing-list/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Known for whip-quick wit and rollicking improvisations, Sam Tallent is one of the sharpest, most original rising talents in comedy today. For the last 10 years, he has performed at least 45 weekends annually across America, Canada and France. Called "the absurd voice of a surreal generation" by the Denver Post, Sam is beloved by fans of contemporary comedy. He was a New Face at the 2019 Just for Laughs Montreal Comedy Festival, he won his battle on Comedy Central's Roast Battle, hosted the Denver episode of VICELAND's Flophouse and appeared on the Chris Gerhard Show to impress a girl. His critically acclaimed debut novel Running the Light - heralded as the “definitive novel about stand up comedy” (Marc Maron, WTF) - was published by Too Big to Fail Press in 2020 and his short fiction has been published on VICE.com and in BIRDY magazine. He lives in Colorado with his wife and his dog.

Sam & I talked about:

·       Writing “Running the Light” & the response he got from the comedy community

·       Performing for a diverse audience and making them all laugh

·       Social media

·       Doing crowd work without a net

Check Out Sam’s Website here:

https://www.samtallent.com/

Get a signed copy of “Running the Light” here:

https://www.samtallent.com/book/signed-copy-of-running-the-light

Here’s my latest blog “Easy Passive Income For Comedians & Other People Who Need Money”

https://www.thebtbpc.com/blog/easy-passive-income-for-comedians-other-people-who-need-money/

If you'd like to support the show and get some cool perks, check out our Patreon page:

https://www.patreon.com/btbpc

Look for new stuff for Patrons soon!

Head over to the Behind the Bits website for extra content:

https://www.thebtbpc.com/

Get on our mailing list for news about future guests and more great content:

https://www.thebtbpc.com/p/mailing-list/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ryan Singer is a comic’s comic who electrifies mainstream audiences with material that is both uncompromising and unpretentious. Halloween weekend of 2022, his special THE SUPERNATURAL premiered, the 1st comedy special filmed in a haunted school. He’s also been seen on IFC, ScFy and has released 4 full-length comedy albums: FREE LOVE (2018), IMMORTAL FOR NOW (2015), COMEDY WONDER TOWN (2012) and HOW TO GET HIGH WITHOUT DRUGS (2010), 3 of which were chosen as a Top Comedy Album of the Year. He is the creator and host of the popular ME & PARANORMAL YOU, the twice-weekly mindcast (podcast) in which he has in-depth interviews with paranormal investigators, experiencers and members of secret societies. Selected by LA Weekly as one of “10 LA Comics to Watch”, mentioned in NY Magazine as a “Comic to Watch,” was listed in Rolling Stone Magazine as “Comedian Who Should Be Big,” is a frequent guest on the WTF Podcast w/Marc Maron and the Bob & Tom Show, and his joke “United Snacks of America” has nearly 11 million listens on Pandora.

Ryan & I talked about:

·       His growth in stand-up over his 20-year career

·       How he writes

·       Skirting around the perceived rules of stand-up comedy

·       Changing hearts & minds by poking fun at your own ideology

Check Out Ryan’s Website here:

https://www.ryansingercomedy.com/

Check out Ryan’s special “The Supernatural” here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfhwtjer5uY&t=1s

Here’s my latest blog “Easy Passive Income For Comedians & Other People Who Need Money”

https://www.thebtbpc.com/blog/easy-passive-income-for-comedians-other-people-who-need-money/

If you'd like to support the show and get some cool perks, check out our Patreon page:

https://www.patreon.com/btbpc

Look for new stuff for Patrons soon!

Head over to the Behind the Bits website for extra content:

https://www.thebtbpc.com/

Get on our mailing list for news about future guests and more great content:

https://www.thebtbpc.com/p/mailing-list/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nick Leydorf is a fun-loving, Michigan comedian with a quick wit and a third nipple. When he’s not on stage, you can find Nick in his office being a lawyer, paying off his student loans. Described as “funny, adorable, and non-threatening” by one writer, Nick talks about his unrelatable profession in such a relatable way that audiences can’t help but laugh.

So far, Nick has performed in festivals around the country including Cleveland Comedy Festival, Crossroads Comedy Festival, Gilda’s LaughFest, the Detroit Comedy Festival, the Savage Henry Comedy Festival, Big Time Garbage Festival, What a Joke Comedy Festival, Stoop Fest and the Elsie Dairy Festival. Okay, the last one was because Whitesnake had to cancel.

Nick is also the co-host of the comedy/law podcast “Free Consultation” and just recorded his first album to be released later this year.

Nick & I talked about:

·       Self-producing his first comedy album

·       Writing from personal experience

·       Using social media for exposure

·       Not being afraid to fail

Check Out Nick’s Website here:

https://comedianat.law

Here’s my latest blog “Easy Passive Income For Comedians & Other People Who Need Money”

https://www.thebtbpc.com/blog/easy-passive-income-for-comedians-other-people-who-need-money/

If you'd like to support the show and get some cool perks, check out our Patreon page:

https://www.patreon.com/btbpc

Look for new stuff for Patrons soon!

Head over to the Behind the Bits website for extra content:

https://www.thebtbpc.com/

Get on our mailing list for news about future guests and more great content:

https://www.thebtbpc.com/p/mailing-list/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Paul Moomjean is a stand up comedian, actor, and writer living in Los Angeles. He has worked for Nickelodeon, Viacom, and been on Laughs on Fox. Before starting stand up, Paul was a teacher and college professor. Curently he resides in the San Fernando Valley, his hometown. Paul recorded a comedy special for VidAngel in 2017 and his album "Guys Like You and Me" was released in 2018. Paul recorded a popular Drybar special that is available on YouTube called “It’s Hard Being Fat in Los Angeles” and has since dropped a lot of the weight he talked about in that special. Paul also teaches comedy classes at Flapper’s Comedy Club in Los Angeles.

Paul & I talked about:

·       Moving from teaching to comedy

·       A 5 minute set vs a 20 minute set vs a 45 minute set and why some jokes fit into only certain length sets

·       How teaching makes you a better comedian

·       Showing vulnerability on stage

Check Out Paul’s Drybar Special here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyzwsGnmg00&t=1305s

Here’s my latest blog “Easy Passive Income For Comedians & Other People Who Need Money”

https://www.thebtbpc.com/blog/easy-passive-income-for-comedians-other-people-who-need-money/

If you'd like to support the show and get some cool perks, check out our Patreon page:

https://www.patreon.com/btbpc

Look for new stuff for Patrons soon!

Head over to the Behind the Bits website for extra content:

https://www.thebtbpc.com/

Get on our mailing list for news about future guests and more great content:

https://www.thebtbpc.com/p/mailing-list/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Scott Dikkers performs, writes, and animates the new weekly TV show, Scott Dikkers Around, available ad-free wherever you get podcasts.

His long career in comedy began with his syndicated comic strip, Jim's Journal, which led to a New York Times bestselling book collection. After that, he founded the world’s first humor website, TheOnion.com. He’s served as The Onion’s owner and editor-in-chief, on and off, for much of the last 30 years.

Scott's work has won a Peabody award, the Thurber Prize for American Humor, and dozens of Webby Awards. In addition, he earned the #43 spot on Time magazine’s list of the Top 50 “Cyber Elite” alongside such iconic figures as Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and George Lucas.

Scott shares his humor-writing secrets in the best-selling How to Write Funny book series. The latest addition is How to Write Funny Characters. He mentors comedians and comedy writers via a series of online classes he developed through the Second City Training Center in Chicago. He offers workshops, live writers' rooms, and free resources for comedy writers through the How to Write Funny website.

In his spare time, Scott is an accomplished voice actor who’s performed in many national commercials, video games and animated cartoons, including Saturday Night Live’s “TV Funhouse.” He’s also written and directed several award-winning short films, two feature films, Spaceman, and Bad Meat, and several novels. His latest is The Joke at the End of the World.

Scott & I talked about:

·       Comedy is a marketing game

·       Blue Ocean vs Red Ocean strategy in stand-up

·       Meta Humor

·       Finding your own style vs going with current trends

Check Out Scott’s website here:

https://scottdikkers.com/

Here’s my latest blog “Easy Passive Income For Comedians & Other People Who Need Money”

https://www.thebtbpc.com/blog/easy-passive-income-for-comedians-other-people-who-need-money/

If you'd like to support the show and get some cool perks, check out our Patreon page:

https://www.patreon.com/btbpc

Look for new stuff for Patrons soon!

Head over to the Behind the Bits website for extra content:

https://www.thebtbpc.com/

Get on our mailing list for news about future guests and more great content:

https://www.thebtbpc.com/p/mailing-list/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ariel Julie is a theater kid turned comedian and she’s proof that the rules of comedy are merely a suggestion. At 3 years in, she’s already headlined and put out a YouTube special called “Weiner Patrol”. Her style of humor is bold and audacious yet endearing at the same time. Ariel is a great example of not waiting for the industry to find you by making your own stuff happen.

We talked about:

·       Her stand-up being and extension of how she already carries on a conversation

·       Jumping into headlining before she thought she was ready

·       Recording her special DIY style

·       Assessing her act and moving away from the parts that don’t fit how she wants to move forward

Check Out Ariel’s Linktree For All Her Socials & a Link to “Weiner Patrol”:

https://linktr.ee/ArielJulieComedy

Here’s my latest blog “Easy Passive Income For Comedians & Other People Who Need Money”

https://www.thebtbpc.com/blog/easy-passive-income-for-comedians-other-people-who-need-money/

If you'd like to support the show and get some cool perks, check out our Patreon page:

https://www.patreon.com/btbpc

Look for new stuff for Patrons soon!

Head over to the Behind the Bits website for extra content:

https://www.thebtbpc.com/

Get on our mailing list for news about future guests and more great content:

https://www.thebtbpc.com/p/mailing-list/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Johnny Taylor started performing comedy at age 33. His storytelling style that explores some of his darker and weirder moments in life keep the audience laughing and gasping at the same time. Johnny frequently tours with Brian Posehn and has two albums out on the Stand Up! Live label “Tangled Up In Plaid” & “Bummin’ With The Devil” are available for purchase or streaming wherever you get your comedy albums. Johnny writes for The Hard Times online magazine and is the host of The Hard Talk with Johnny Taylor on their podcast network.

Johnny and I talked about:

-     His writing technique

-     We broke down his “Grapes” bit

-     If you’re not having fun your first year of stand-up, you should probably quit

-     Moving to longer sets before you’re ready and how it makes you ready

Check Out The Hard Talk Here:

https://open.spotify.com/show/0Lo0VG26tDoZb0rtqmVJ80?si=67c7158521b44f7d

Here’s the first set we talked about:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hwNoMotQ24

Here’s Johnny’s early set we discussed:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQOEyH0qHcM

Here’s my latest blog “Easy Passive Income For Comedians & Other People Who Need Money”

https://www.thebtbpc.com/blog/easy-passive-income-for-comedians-other-people-who-need-money/

If you'd like to support the show and get some cool perks, check out our Patreon page:

https://www.patreon.com/btbpc

Look for new stuff for Patrons soon!

Head over to the Behind the Bits website for extra content:

https://www.thebtbpc.com/

Get on our mailing list for news about future guests and more great content:

https://www.thebtbpc.com/p/mailing-list/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.