Comedy History 101

From the archives: In 1961, Dick Gregory was the first African American comedian to headline a white club.

A pioneer in the world of stand-up comedy, Gregory's material mocked the bigotry and racism of the time. Gregory is equally known for his activism as well as his comedy. He's one of the most influential comedians in comedy history; inspiring the likes of Dave Chappelle, Eddie Murphy, and Chris Rock.

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Our special guest is Wayne Federman author of the new book: The History of Stand-Up: From Mark Twain to Dave Chappelle. Wayne's impressive creds include Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Larry Sanders Show, Silicon Valley - as well

as head monologue writer for The Tonight Show. We do some serious deep cuts into the history of stand-up comedy.

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From Our Archives: Remember in Goodfellas when mobster Henry Hill took his date, Karen, to The Copacabana? That was pretty true to form. The mob actually owned the legendary club. We saw this recently in the movie The Irishman - when Don Rickles was on stage performing for Crazy Joe Gallo.

We dive into the mob’s connection with The Copacabana - where you’ll learn such interesting tidbits as what happened to comedian Allan Drake’s wife when she had an affair with a mobster. Spoiler Alert: It doesn’t end well…

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From the Archives: Since the beginning of the 20th century, slipping on a banana peel has been a comedy trope. We’ve seen such legendary silent comedians as Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, and Laurel and Hardy - all do a variation of the slipping on a banana peel gag.

But how did the “slipping on a banana peel” gag come into our lexicon? And why don’t we see people slipping on banana peels in 2021? Listen on....

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We conclude our 4-part series on John Belushi - with his sad final years. This involves the film disaster, Neighbors - and what happened the night he died at the Chateau Marmont.

Ending on a good note - Belushi is ranked #1 by Rolling Stone - as the best sketch performer on SNL. He also has an Albanian stamp with his likeness.

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The Blues Brothers is one of the most iconic screen comedies of all time. The movie held the record for the amount of cars destroyed - and actually had a budget for cocaine. That's why production was a nightmare - largely due to John Belushi and his proclivity for drugs.

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John Belushi, at the height of his fame - was on top-rated TV show, SNL, had the #1 movie with Animal House, and had the #1 album with his band, the Blues Brothers. Belushi created

iconic comedy characters while on SNL - but backstage, he was kind of turning into a mess. We cover all this and more in Part 2 - of the History of John Belushi.

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In this episode we cover the John Belushi origin story. From his early days growing up in Wheaton, IL - to his stint in Second City and starring in National Lampoon's Lemmings. Plus, all the other theatrical twists-and-turns Belushi took before being cast on SNL - and changing the face of comedy.

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In celebration of the end of a shitshow era - we bring this CH!01 Select: From mocking a disabled reporter to making fun of a sexual assault victim - Donald J. Trump has proven there is a vastly different sense of presidential humor coming from the White House. I interviewed David Litt - head joke writer for President Obama - for a story in the NY Observer, to get his take on Trump as a purveyor of jokes and humor. We discuss his insights and the history of humor coming from the White House.

Trump is no comedian. But I’m sure he’d claim to be the funniest president in history – EVER!

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Part Two of our episode on the Richard Pryor comedy origin story. We cover his time underground in Berkeley, CA and discovering his true comedic voice.

We also talk about the time that Richard Pryor guest starred on The Partridge Family.

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