On this week’s episode the versatile writer, creator, actor, & comic Larry Wilmore talks about growing up in Pomona, CA and finding comedy and magic, hanging with President Obama. We compare notes on LA, TV, the Dodgers, SNL, Steve Martin, Eddie Murphy, losing a sibling and we challenge each other to do stand-up comedy.  

Bio: Emmy Award winner Larry Wilmore has been a television producer, actor, comedian, and writer for more than 25 years. He can currently be heard as host of Larry Wilmore: Black on the Air. The show features Wilmore’s unique mix of humor and wit as he weighs in on the issues of the week and interviews guests in the worlds of politics, entertainment, culture, sports, and beyond. Larry is currently in development on the comedy series Lately for ABC, a  behind-the-scenes look at the upstairs-downstairs dynamics of the people who work at a late-night talk show. He also serves as executive producer alongside Kerry Washington, in the Hulu legal drama Reasonable Doubt. Larry hosted and executive produced a limited weekly special talk series WILMORE for Peacock. Wilmore is perhaps best known for his role as host of Comedy Central’s The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore. Off-screen, Wilmore serves as co-creator and consulting producer on HBO’s Insecure.  Wilmore also helped to launch ABC’s black-ish as an executive producer and is a co-creator of the spin-off Grownish.  Previously, Wilmore made memorable appearances as the “Senior Black Correspondent” on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and hosted his own Showtime “town hall”-style comedy specials, Larry Wilmore’s Race, Religion & Sex. He has written for In Living Color, The PJ’s (which he co-created), The Office (on which he has appeared as Mr. Brown, the diversity consultant), and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. He also served as creator, writer, and executive producer of The Bernie Mac Show, which earned him a 2002 Emmy Award for “Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series” and a 2001 Peabody Award.  In April 2016, Wilmore hosted the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner in Washington, DC. Wilmore released his first book, I'd Rather We Got Casinos and Other Black Thoughts, in January 2009.  He currently lives in Los Angeles. 

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Bio: Randy and Jason Sklar can currently be seen in the fourth season of FX’s WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS playing fictional Property Brothers ‘Bran and Toby Daltry’. The Sklars produced, wrote, and starred in THE NOSEBLEEDS, a UFC original series that released this summer on UFC’s Fight Pass. The series is a hilarious deep dive into UFC’s history featuring comedy sketches, field pieces, and in-studio character bits.

The Sklars notably hosted and produced History Channel’s UNITED STATS OF AMERICA and created and starred in the ESPN cult hit series CHEAP SEATS, besides being guest hosts on JEFF ROSS PRESENTS ROAST BATTLE. Their television credits include GLOW, BAJILLION DOLLAR PROPERTIES, MARON, AGENT CARTER, PLAYING HOUSE, PARTNERS, GREY’S ANATOMY, CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM, IT’S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA, ENTOURAGE, CSI, LAW & ORDER, and COMEDY CENTRAL PRESENTS. They released their hour special, HIPSTER GHOSTS on Starz. They also recently produced the documentary, POOP TALK. The Sklars have recurred on the TruTV Series THOSE WHO CAN’T, several episodes of AMC’s hit series BETTER CALL SAUL, as well as the FX comedy WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS

Randy and Jason can also be seen in WILD HOGS and THE COMEBACKS, while their internet shows HELD UP, LAYERS, and BACK ON TOPPS have received critical acclaim. They also recurred as panelists on ESPN’s SportsCenter. They also developed an animated series DUMB PEOPLE TOWN, based on the podcast, with Will Arnett’s Electric Avenue and co-wrote the pilot VAL KILMER RUINED OUR LIVES with Bill Lawrence.

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Conan O’Brien and Jay discuss the neurotic need to constantly make jokes at the peril of personal relationships and true communication.  They also talk about their kids and wives putting up with them, their long friendship, podcasting, comedy, growing older in comedy, Conan’s new show “Conan O’Brien Must Go”, and reading commercials. 


Bio:Conan O'Brien was born in Brookline, MA, and started his path in comedy when he served twice as the president of The Harvard Lampoon. Conan went on to become a writer and producer on several television shows, including "Saturday Night Live" and "The Simpsons," until 1993, when NBC tapped him to take over as host of "Late Night." Since then, he's won four Emmy Awards, seven Writers Guild Awards, and the People's Choice Award for "Favorite Television Host." He has hosted two Emmy Awards, and performed at the White House Correspondents Dinner for two presidents. In 2010, his comedy tour was the subject of the documentary “Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop,” and led to a second multi-city stand-up tour in 2018.


In 2021, O'Brien concluded his 11 year run with "CONAN" on TBS, solidifying his 28 year career as a late night host and one of the longest tenures in late night history. His Emmy award winning “CONAN Without Borders” series has visited 13 countries and his podcast “Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend” currently has over 430 million downloads since it launched in 2018. His award winning digital brand Team Coco, which spans across digital and branded content, live events, merchandise and expertly produced comedy specials was acquired by SiriusXM in 2022. O’Brien recently completed production on an international travel series, “Conan O’Brien Must Go,” which premiered on MAX on April 18th, 2024.

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Jay smothers Weird Al with love and appreciation for Al’s perfection in his parody. We talk about Mad Magazine, Looney Tunes, pizza, travel, doing what you want, the power of an orchestra, the two pulls of being a comic vs a musician, how a true showman can come out of Linwood, and giving up architecture for being a professional goofball/genius. 

Bio: FEW WOULD HAVE GUESSED that “Weird Al” Yankovic – who as a shy, accordion-playing teenager got his start sending in homemade tapes to the Dr. Demento Radio Show– would go on to become a pop culture icon and the biggest-selling comedy recording artist of all time, with classic song and music video parodies such as“Eat It,” “Like a Surgeon,” “Smells Like Nirvana,” “Amish Paradise,” “White & Nerdy” and “Word Crimes.”  Now in his fourth decade as America’s foremost song parodist, he has been the recipient of numerous awards, including five Grammys® (out of sixteen total nominations) and a string of Gold and Platinum albums.

In 2015 and 2016, Weird Al’s Mandatory World Tour encompassed 200 shows throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe and Australia, including two nights at the Hollywood Bowl and a sold-out gig at New York’s Radio City Music Hall.  In the spring of 2018, Al performed 77 shows as part of his Ridiculously Self-Indulgent, Ill-Advised Vanity Tour, where he and his bandmates of over 35 years played setlists composed almost entirely of his original (non-parody) material, and without any of their signature over-the-top theatrics (no costumes, props or video screens). And in 2019 Weird Al followed up his most bare-bones tour with his most extravagant tour ever – Strings Attached – where he and his band were backed for each of their 67 shows by female singers and a full symphony orchestra.

Weird Al’s 14th studio album, the Grammy® award-winning Mandatory Fun (2014), became the first comedy album in history to debut at #1 on the Billboard Top 200 chart, and the first to even reach the top of that chart since 1963.  Yankovic set the U.S. record on Spotify for having the most tracks from one album in the viral top 10 at one time, taking the top four spots.  In addition, “Word Crimes” debuted in the Billboard Top 40, making Al one of only four artists to have had Top 40 singles in each of the last four decades (the other three being Michael Jackson, Madonna and U2).
Al has remained active as a recording artist.  June 2017 saw the release of Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (Dreamworks), for which Al co-wrote and performed the film’s theme song.  In August 2017, Al wrote and performed “The North Korea Polka (Please Don’t Nuke Us)” for Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO). In November 2017 Legacy Recordings released Squeeze Box: The Complete Works of “Weird Al” Yankovic, a remastered 15-disc box set (including a rarities album) plus a 120-page book of archival photos, all housed in a replica of Weird Al’s trademark accordion. Al also recorded cover versions of the Squidbillies theme for Adult Swim and the Ramones’ “Beat on the Brat” for a Dr. Demento compilation album, and produced remixes of two hit singles for Portugal. The Man (“Feel It Still” and “Live in the Moment”).  And March 2018 brought us “The Hamilton Polka,” a frantic tour de force mash-up of 14 songs from the Broadway smash, commissioned by Lin-Manuel Miranda himself and released as part of his “Hamildrops” series.
In addition to his cult-hit feature film UHF (1989), his late ‘90s CBS Saturday morning series The Weird Al Show and numerous AL-TV specials he has made for MTV and VH1 over the years, Yankovic has remained a staple of film and television, from appearances on The Simpsons, 30 Rock, The Goldbergs and How I Met Your Mother to performing live on the Primetime Emmy Awards and starring in his own concert specials for Disney, VH1 and Comedy Central.  In 2015 Yankovic took over as co-host and bandleader for the fifth season of IFC’s Comedy Bang! Bang!...

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Tony and Jay meet for the first time. We talk about the depth of his character, Primo, in “The Big Night” and why Jay can’t find that depth in real like. We also chat about growing up the 9th of 10 kids, the acting scene in Green Bay, WI., tailoring Monk for Tony, auditioning, the struggles of being an actor, & Tony’s biggest mistake which lead to his greatest joy, acting in Italian, being a creative producer, the magic of connection in live performance, and why we both wish we were Richard Kind.

Bio: Tony Shalhoub is a Tony Award, Golden Globe Award and four-time Emmy Award winning actor with a diverse and extensive resume. Most recently, he returned to the iconic role of the beloved obsessive-compulsive detective Adrian Monk in Peacock’s critically acclaimed Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie receiving ‘Best Actor’ in a ‘Limited Series or Television Movie’ nominations from the SAG and Critics Choice Awards. Shalhoub was born and raised in Green Bay, Wisconsin. His father emigrated from Lebanon to the United States as an orphan at age eight. Shalhoub's mother was also Lebanese. Tony spent most of his early acting career in the theater, after graduating from Yale Drama School in 1980. From 1980-1984 Tony was part of the company with the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, before moving to New York. He met his wife Brooke Adams in 1990 while working together in The Heidi Chronicles. Prior to the Monk movie, Shalhoub portrayed Abe Weissman on Amazon Prime Video’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, for which he has won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series and two SAG awards for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series. Most recently he received his third Primetime Emmy nomination for his role in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. On the Broadway stage, Shalhoub most recently starred in David Cromer’s The Band's Visit at The Ethel Barrymore Theater, winning a Tony for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical. Prior to that, Tony starred in Terry Kinney’s revival of Arthur Miller’s The Price opposite Mark Ruffalo and Danny DeVito. Tony’s other theater work includes starring in the Broadway productions of Act One, Golden Boy and Conversation With My Father, receiving Tony Award nominations for each performance. Tony also appeared opposite Diane Lane in Lincoln Center’s Off-Broadway production of The Mystery of Love & Sex. Tony Shalhoub is perhaps best known for his work as Adrian Monk in the hit USA Network television series Monk where he was Emmy-nominated for ‘Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series’ for eight consecutive years (2003 to 2010), winning in 2003, 2005 and 2006. Additionally, Shalhoub won a Golden Globe Award and two SAG Awards for his work on the show. Other notable TV credits include ‘Antonio Scarpacci’ in Wings, Braindead, Stark Raving Mad, Too Big Too Fail and Nurse Jackie, Shalhoub’s film credits include Eva Longoria’s Flamin’ Hot, The Assignment, Pain & Gain, The Men In Black franchise, Galaxy Quest, The Siege, The Man Who Wasn’t There, Big Night, Barton Fink as well as voicing the character of ‘Luigi’ in the CARS franchise and ‘Master Splinter’ in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise.

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Toby and Jay talked about art and trying to see art (and life) from unique perspectives. Jay calls Toby a weirdo. And, like a weirdo, he accepts it as the compliment which is what it was actually meant to be. We talk about failing at school, meeting a guy called Magic who makes pipes out of antlers, and working as a janitor in a church and 10000 other blue collar jobs before he became a great actor and artist. We also talk about his love affair with creativity and imagining he’s Frank Sinatra’s bastard son. 

Bio: Toby Huss is from Marshalltown Iowa and paints and acts in movies sometimes and streaming or tv shows at others and has a photobook, American Sugargristle, coming out this fall. Also most likely a record of original songs and some covers. This is his third time appearing on the Jay Kogen Celebrity Cook-Off.

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Entertainment Journalist and all around funny guy Kliph Nesteroff talks about a Canadian kid who got into collecting stories of strange and eccentric show business events. We both talk about our short lived stand-up days. Capturing worthwhile memories, and how Milton Berle was a jerk. I also stump Kliph when I ask him what else he would care about if I took show business stories away.

Bio: Kliph Nesteroff is an author and comedy historian, best known for his 2015 history of stand-up, The Comedians. His latest book, just released, is titled Outrageous: A History of Showbiz and the Culture Wars.

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David, fresh off of a weekend with Donny Osmond talks about a lifetime of celebrities. Idolizing them, meeting them, interviewing them, befriending them and eventually making them stars once again on his grammy specials. We also talk Neil Diamond, Joni Mitchell, Frank Sinatra, and Phil Rosenthal plus a special surprise call from Brad Paisley! 

Bio: David Wild is a Peabody and Emmy-winning television writer and producer, a New York Times best-selling author and prominent pop culture commentator. Wild was a College Scholar graduate of Cornell University who then worked at Esquire and Rolling Stone where he served as Music Editor and wrote numerous cover stories for over two decades. Since 2000, Wild has also been writing and producing well over a hundred high profile TV specials including all of The Grammy Awards since 2001, working with Grammy hosts from Jon Stewart to Queen Latifah to LL Cool J to James Corden to Trevor Noah, as well as countless other award shows and network specials including The Academy Awards and The Emmy Awards. Wild has received numerous Emmy nominations for his work, and was most recently nominated in 2021 as a producer for The Grammy Awards, that same year winning a Daytime Emmy that same year as a writer for The Independent Film Spirit Awards. In 2021, Wild was also an Executive Producer for Shine A Light, CNN's acclaimed 9/11 tribute special hosted by Jake Tapper, marking 20 years since Wild received his first-ever Emmy nomination as Head Writer for 2001's Peabody and Emmy-winning America: A Tribute To Heroes.  Since 2022, Wild has co-hosted the “Naked Lunch” podcast with Phil Rosenthal — their “Lunch” guests have included Jimmy Kimmel, Jane Fonda and Keanu Reeves, to name just a few. And just before the WGA Strike of 2023, Wild served as Head Writer for hosts Dolly Parton and Garth Brooks on the ACM Awards. Wild has written numerous best-selling books both as an author and co-author, including New York Times best-sellers with the cast of "Friends" and Brad Paisley, as well as penning liner notes for artists including The Rolling Stones, Ringo Starr, Hall & Oates, Fleetwood Mac, LL Cool J, Aerosmith and Stevie Wonder. Wild lives in Los Angeles with his wife Fran and their two sons.

From Straw Hut Media

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Eugene Garcia-Cross talks about growing up in Pennsylvania, losing his dad early, and becoming a literature professeur only to give it all up to be a Hollywood comedy writer. Only to wind up writing books on the side. He also talks about struggling as a 35-year-old assistant, how to be patient for the next job. making the most out of the writers room and having good times even on bad shows.

Bio:  Eugene Garcia-Cross despite being born in Pennsylvania is an optimist. He received an MFA in fiction from the University of Pittsburgh, became a teacher and then threw it all away to pursue his dream of throwing it all away which forced him to find something else and that was becoming a professional writer. The author of the story collection Fires of Our Choosing, he lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two sons. As a TV writer, Eugene has written for NBC, the Disney Channel, and NBC’s Peacock streaming service.  His new novel, “Miss Me Forever” is on sale now.

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Nicole talks about the difference between creation and nervous activity and how hard it is to distinguish between the two. We also talk about procrastination, Elvis Costello, the need to let ideas simmer, collaborating on a show, making an album, the meaning of music, the tricks to productivity, and the joy of baby steps. 

Bio: For two decades, Nicole Atkins has created her own brand of spectral American rock & roll. She's an old-school torch singer for the modern world, funneling her award-winning songwriting chops and genre-spanning influences — including psychedelic rock, Muscle Shoals soul, the pop grandeur of Roy Orbison, and the dark drama of Nick Cave — into six albums that have earned a global audience. Regularly featured on year-end "best of" lists by Rolling Stone, NPR, and The New York Times, Atkins has collaborated with artists from across the musical spectrum, including David Byrne, Chris Isaak, Spoon, Elvis Costello, Tommy Stinson, and the Old 97's. The title track of her major-label debut album won The ASCAP Foundation Sammy Cahn Award, and her songs have appeared in prime-time TV shows like Dexter, national ad campaigns for American Express, and on the Billboard charts, with tracks like "Domino" becoming Top 40 AAA hits. A road warrior who has performed everywhere from Carnegie Hall to Late Night With David Letterman, Atkins is also a professional illustrator and painter whose work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal and No Depression.

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