My guest today Ted Lange was born and raised in Oakland California. While most people would recognize Ted from his 10 seasons starring as Isaac the Bartender on  THE LOVE BOAT;  before that show he  had already appeared in 4 to 5 films, was a regular in a sitcom that ran for 39 episodes and he had already appeared in the  Broadway  production of the musical HAIR!

TED Lange is a  GRADUATE from LONDON’S ROYAL ACADEMY and is  also a MEMBER of the  AMERICAN FILM INSTITUTE!

Ted went on to write and direct a dozen episodes of  THE LOVE BOAT 

While Ted has remained active and very visible on film and television over the years, his real passion is writing and directing for the live stage.

My guest today is Comedian Vince Harper.

Vince was dancing a lot as a teenager and inspired by his older brother, he started pursuing it full time.

From a young man, he had joined a dance group that performed on the stages at Disneyland and eventually they were good enough  to perform on TV shows, American Bandstand, Dance Fever, The Midnight Special as well as the Merv Griffin Show.

His group known as  "Dancin Machine" eventually was performing for the Stardust Casino in Las Vegas and soon after the group got a gig at the Chicago Playboy Club before Vince was legally old enough to drink.

VINCE was drafted by some old friends to start a Chippendale style version of male stripping and he was doing that around the time he started seeing more and more stand-up comedy legends like Richard Pryor, Sam Kinison, and Bill Hicks inspire him to start trying to add a little Comedy to his stripping routine.

Once he started doing Comedy guest spots at all the new comedy clubs that were exploding in the eighties, he had been bitten by the bug. He happily traded shedding his clothes for slinging his jokes.

He quickly took his years of experience as a dancer and started doing stand up all across the country and he has never stopped doing it and that puts him in the 40 plus year Comedy Club. 

In both enterprises you are fighting for your life and in both you can kill or bomb out and die.

Jay fought his way through the Bronx neighborhoods and school yards and later through the local comedy clubs and 

He fought his way into the house on season two of “Last Comic Standing” where he first came to national attention. He became a fan favorite where in an unprecedented move the producers brought him back for a wildcard shot on season three. 

To say Last Comic Standing was a big deal in Comedy would be an understatement;  there have always been Star Search type shows, but on L.C.S. stood the best and the brightest of club comedians as well as stars, young and old, who came on the show to be mentors, celebrity talent scouts and judges, as well as hosts of which there were numerous over the nine season run of the series.

George Hamaty started as a stand up comedian at Penn State and continued for twelve years developing an act while also studying acting.

After college, he decided to head west to Los Angeles, which is where I first ran into George.

He was only in LA for the years 1985 through 1991,  but he rose up the ladder from opening act to feature act and met many people and definitely made his mark.

George is  proud to say that as an Arab American, he relied heavily on his ethnicity.

 Personal drama forced him to leave the business but currently he is writing a book on his experiences which is part cathartic, part humorous and ALL TRUE;  Entitled: 

“I Could Have Been A Great Comedian, But Took Myself Too Seriously.”

Please welcome my guest and old friend,

Linda Marcus Smith joins me this week for her second appearance on the podcast. 

Linda gained much notoriety during the pandemic when she interviewed not less than 1000 comedians for her podcast "The Comics Spot."

Since the end of the pandemic, Linda has worked tirelessly rising up the ranks in the Las Vegas Comedy Clubs and Casinos.   Just over a year ago she decided to make the move back to her native homeland, New York City.

Linda has worked very hard over the past year to build up her Comedy Chops in the many Comedy Clubs of the New York "Tri-State Area."

Linda, as a proud army veteran is very passionate about raising awareness for all military personnel as well as veterans who may be in need of helping out or lifting up.

To this point, as part of her Comedy Journey, she is very passionate about booking her own shows for military audiences as well as booking Comedy Shows where Military veterans and their families may benefit from the money raised from these shows.

We also draw attention to the shows, dates and places that Linda will be performing at and producing over the next year.

We will announce those locations and dates at the beginning and the end of this podcast. Thank you for listening and please welcome my special guest:

 Linda Marcus Smith.

Welcome Dan Rosenberg to the podcast .

In 1992, Dan moved to Los Angeles to start a stand-up career at age 22. 

He sold cars in the daytime and did stand up at night.

When the Northridge earthquake hit in 1994,  he took that as a sign to leave LA while he could still catch a plane that had an accessible runway.

He moved back to Pennsylvania to coach basketball and  after that he ended up teaching Comedy traffic school in Orlando, Florida, which basically jump started his return to stand-up comedy .

A born salesman, and entrepreneur,  Dan started his own company, called “humor vision” where he went to, and performed at The “Just For Laughs” premiere comedy showcase in Montreal for seven years in a row.

In 2001 he saw Rick Springfield at the Universal Amphitheater and thought,( he’d be perfect for my sitcom!)

This is a story of how dogged determination, hard work and seeking out the right people can actually lead to dreams coming true.

Not only did he get Rick Springfield to star in his movie , but it has now won awards at multiple film festivals and Dan is now a full-time standup and working on his third hour long special for streaming on television

Welcome Dan Rosenberg

My guest today is David Uhlfelder who was raised in Colorado and started his comedy career when he was barely 20 years of age and pursuing an engineering degree at Cal State University, San Luis Obispo.

He earned his degree and has been working as a comedian for eight years now and without the assistance of a day job.

https://www.daviduhlfelder.com/    as well as 

Not only can you see his credits and comedy history but you can also peruse the locations where he produces comedy shows at myriad locations from San Diego to San Luis Obispo.

My guest today is Comedian, writer, actress: Brenda Pontiff.

Brenda Pontiff

I am proud to Welcome Comedian Bob Zany on my # 50 Podcast today.  

Born, Robert Tetrault in West Covina, California; the family later moved to the Sherman Oaks, Van Nuys section of the San Fernando Valley.

With two older brothers and one younger sister, Bob was Ensconced well into middle child status, but the family unit was close and parents very supportive of their brood.

Bob Zany started out in Comedy at the tender young age of 15 on none other than "The Gong Show" starring Chuck Barris 

The Gods of showbiz smiled down upon young Bob that day as he was not given the GONG but rather he was paid $125.98 as a "specialty act!"  In addition to that, he also gained a membership into AFTRA (the union) and was awarded a waffle iron as his take-home prize.

From that point on Bob was in show biz and he worked tirelessly from booking his own shows to working at the Ice House and wherever else he could get on stages before reaching  the age of 18

Among Bob’s many credits are:

Seven appearances on A&E’s AN EVENING AT THE IMPROV

Television series appeared on:

DOCS:

I AM COMIC

  As Bob was a throwback to the Comedians of Jerry's era, if he auditioned well, he was sure to score the show.  Once again his years of experience and dedication paid off as Jerry Lewis loved him and he performed on the telethon from 1991 until “ they fired the other guy” as Bob always said.  

So close to twenty years on the TELETHON and once he became part of "JERRY'S FAMILY as ED MCMAHON called it, Bob Performed on the Last Twelve years as a CO-HOST during the overnights which were the prime time Comedy Slots!

A true comedy legend at this point, having tread  the boards for 48 of his 63 years, Bob has gotten to rub elbows and work with the likes of Milton Berle, Jan Murray, Red Buttons, Rodney Dangerfield and Steve Martin. Additionally he has worked with Norm McDonald, Jim Carrey, Jordan Brady and Ritch Shydner, just to name a few of the modern era. 

 Mr. BOB ZANY!