Comedy History 101

Bruce Cherry is a comedian who wrote jokes and comedy material for George W. Bush and a host of other politicians. And we do a deep dive into the writing process on creating humor for the Commander-in-Chief.

I originally interviewed Bruce for a story I did in Vice.

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In the world of The Three Stooges, Shemp Howard deserves more love.

Shemp was the original Stooge who appeared in 76 Stooge shorts. He also virtually saved The Three Stooges, was noted as the Ugliest Man in Hollywood, and is responsible for the phenomenon of 'The Fake Shemps.'

And we talk to Geoff Dale, the only man in history to have written a biography of Shemp Howard, aptly titled: Much More Than a Stooge: Shemp Howard.

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Kliph Nesteroff is one of the leading comedy historians and the author of the new book: Outrageous: A History of Showbiz and the Culture Wars.

And we talk about his book, censorship in comedy, how every generations declares that "comedy is over" - and how the old guard often refuses to accept culture shifts in the comedy biz.

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Mark Katz is a former joke writer for President Bill Clinton. He shares stories about writing humor in the White House, writing presidential jokes during a time of impeachment - and his take on which presidents are natural comedians. (Spoiler: Trump does not fit the mold.)

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A CH101 Select: The iconic TV show Last Comic Standing - ran from 2003 to 2015. It was a reality show, where comedians competed to be, well, the last comic standing. The show helped launch the careers of such comedians as Amy Schumer, Gary Gulman, Nicky Glaser - and our guest today: Rob Cantrell.

Rob was a finalist on Season One of Last Comic Standing - where he lived in a house in the Hollywood Hills with such comedians as Ralphie May, Rich Vos, and Cory Kahaney. Rob tells what it was like to go from obscurity to being on an NBC prime time TV show - as well as tales of the San Francisco comedy scene in the 2000s.

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The Jerry Springer Show has the notoriety of being the trashiest of all the trashy daytime talk shows. In 1995, a group of Canadian comedians pranked the Springer Show - and appeared on a segment entitled: My Husband Slept with the Babysitter.

The prank made international news - and inspired many other Jerry Springer infiltrators followed over the years - including yours truly. Our guest today is Canadian comedian, Ian Sirota - who was part of the comedy team that infiltrated the Springer Show - and we share insights on the sleaze that went on behind the scenes.

Here's a link to the story on my Jerry Springer in Vice.

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Irate encounters with Bill Murray. Cary Grant at The Friar's Club. Margarita lunches at The Russian Tea Room. This was all part of being a celebrity journalist at People Magazine in the 1980s - for our guest Michael Small.

And check out Michael's podcast: I Couldn't Throw It Out.

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Michael Small was a staff member of The Harvard Lampoon. He is our guest today - on his history at one of the oldest and most prestigious humor magazines in the world. The alumni of The Harvard Lampoon include such icons in comedy as Conan O'Brien, Greg Daniels, Jim Downey, Colin Jost, BJ Novak - and numerous writers for SNL, The Simpsons, Letterman, Curb Your Enthusiasm - as well as almost every known comedy entity in TV and movies.

Be sure to check out Michael's podcast: I Couldn't Throw It Out.

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I interview the directors behind the new documentary, Satan Wants You - which tells the story how the Satanic Panic of the 1980s was ignited by the book, Michelle Remembers. Find out how the book was used by law enforcement to convict innocent people - and was later determined to be a complete hoax.

The episode I produced for 99 Percent Invisible, mentioned in our show, can be found at: 99percentinvisible.org/episode/devil-in-the-details

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I talk to Joe Pickett and Nick Prueher curators of the Found Footage Festival - on their love of found videos, infiltrating TV shows, sabotaging America's Got Talent, and their new documentary, Chop & Steele. Learn how posing as a strongman duo landed Joe and Nick in a major lawsuit and what was the reaction when they peed in their pants in front of Howie Mandal, Simon Cowell, and Scary Spice on NBC TV.

More at: foundfootagefest.com

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