Ian Talks Comedy

Barbara and I talk about her getting the job as film producer at Saturday Night Live; opening the 1981-82 season with Prose and Cons; The Khaddaffi Look; filming some of The Last Days of Silverman's Bunker; Jerry Lewis filming a movie that was never used; working with John Belushi pre-SNL; Babies in Makeup by Nelson Lyon; Fur: You Deserve It with a young Sela Ward; Jogger Motel; Seth Green and Bill Murray: what really happened; Man on the Street Films; George McGovern plays golf through the streets of NY; Video Victims aka Alan, A Video Victim; using Frederick Koehler a lot; The Girls of Saturday Night Live; the three episode arc on the Death of Buckwheat; Buddweiser Light with Robin Williams pretending to ice skate; making her commercials look authentic; Billy Crystal and Christopher Guest's Negro League characters spark the ire of Bill Cosby; makeup artist Peter Montagna makes Eddie Murphy unrecognizable in "White Like Me"; Andy Samberg uses many of her films in a SNL Best of Special; Saturday Night Live Film Festival; Colleen Atwood; Bebe Neuwirth gets one of her first jobs in "Needleman" film; Spinal Tap / Folksmen pre-tapes; Lifestyles of the Relatives of the Rich and Famous; Synchronized Swimming; Danny DeVito blows up ABC; bringing Fernando to Night of 100 Stars; Buddy Young Jr.; Rich Hall; Jim Belushi wants into the cutting room; making sure a giant penis wasn't to smooth in "The Bulge"; Billy Crystal as a substitute during the writers strike; the debacle that was In Search of Francis the Talking Mule; Jim Signorelli; The Lonely Island did the best films besides her; her renegotiations for her fourth season; Martin Short and the Mamie Eisenhower Center for the Dull; creating the 1984-85 opening montage; working on What's Alan Watching?; Mary Salter; Dan Castellaneta in Buckwheat sketch; working with Larry David; Escape from New York, New York; The Clams - a Birds parody; Don't Drink the Water; Hal Wilner

Bob Christianson joined me to talk about being the next Billy Joel; what it means to be a working composer; having Sgt. Pepper be his influence; going to SUNY Potsdam quitting student teaching; joining the Magic Show on Broadway; meeting and replacing Paul Shaffer in The Magic Show and Godspell; doing Gilda Live; performing "I Live to be Unhappy" with Gilda on Broadway; being in The Candy Slice Group; Doug Henning and Gilda Raner being private people; performing in the Broadway play Truckload; arrangeing the Disco version of Babes in Toyland recorded at MSG; touring with Jan Hammer; performing on Aretha Franklin's "Can't Turn You Loose"; being a session musician in the late 70's / eafrly 80's; subbing for Leon Pendarvis in the SNL band beginning in 1983; Jerry Lewis and Don Rickles ad-libs cause producers havoc; accompanying Jim Belushi as Boy George Burns and Rappin Jimmy B and saying "LFNY"; playing piano for Irving Caesar, Mr. Robinson, Michael Douglas; the bandstand being off camera from 1983 - 1986; being inNewsbar with Edwin Newman; backing up Danitra Vance; composing and arranging for The Late Show with David Letterman's 60 Piece Band; his 1982 recording session available on Youtube; writing the theme song to Gimme A Break; people making viral videos out of his music for Sex and the City and the NHL; winning an Emmy and having a documentary made about the NHL theme; losing an Emmy to A Christmas Carol to Lin Manuel Miranda; composing for the films Marvin's Room and Miracle; how he writes his sports themes; inspiration comes at odd times; how Lin Manuel Miranda wrote Hamilton; not being "too precious" with your songwriting; writing and playing on jingles solidifies your craft; deadlines make creativity; Sex and the City needed a lot of music weekly; todays movies need epic scores with no time to write them; why he still admires Billy Joel

Brian Pollack talked to me about his love for The Honeymooners and it's writer Leonard Stern; getting the job and working with Stern on Sledge Hammer!; writers on the picket line look so young; holding cue cards; working on the Horror Hall of Fame in 1974; writing for The Jim Nabors Show and Hollywood Squares at the same time; George Gobel; Rose Marie and Debbie Reynolds; subbing as Cher's cue card guy; "surprising" Paul Lynde for a TV show and finding him dead; Paul was hostile and anti-Semitic when drunk; not knowing Alexis' Smith's career when she did his Cheers; meeting Mert Rich; Phil Kellard gets fired from Hollywood Squares; Jeffersons stole his original pitch and then offered him another episode to write; writing for The Love Boat; favorite episodes of Sledge Hammer!; the cast; firing Jamie Foxx from Roc; getting the job on Cheers with the episode "Please Mr. Postman"; getting a congratulatory phone call from Sam Simon; guest star Admiral William J. Crowe; Rob Long & Dale Staley; favorite episodes; winning the Emmy for "The Days of Wine and Neurosis"; the Dead Emmy Section of the 30 Rock Post Office; seeing gues stars in old movies and not realizing their careers; meeting Hank Aaron at Hollywood Squares; Cheers season 11 was werid; Kirsite Alley asks for them back; their friendship; doing a Cheers sketch for Disney; going to the same psychiatrist as Rodney Dangerfield; being made to re-write Patrick Carlin's script for The George Carlin Show, drawing the ire of George; having to do a rewrite for a new writer on Sister, Sister and having the writer Xerox "her" great reviews; writing with Bob Iles; Sherman Hemsley; Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer; Charles Dutton rejects a Roc script; Roc goes lives; Charles Dutton wants them back; working with Brian Doyle-Murray; Dan Hedaya, Jay Thomas, and Rhea Perlman; Woody Harrelson; imdb mistakes; writing a Simpsons; Boat Trip; his odd array of neighbors

Marc Jaffe joined me to discuss living in Cleveland after Seinfeld; remembering his first TV; Winky Dink; Johnny Carson; liked to write funny things but was not always funny in class; making the teachers laugh; being influenced by Bill Cosby, Woody Allen, and Steve martin; writing for Garry Shandling and Paul Resier; finding his own voice; appearing on Evening at the Improv; easier to do short shots on TV; being a comedian is harder now; improvising what became "Bill & Ted" with Ed Solomon & Mark Cendrowski; getting an MBA; starting standup as a graduate student in Michigan; spending a summer in Chicago moving up the ranks; comes to LA in 1981, the year of the strike; writes for Byron Allen; goes back to Cleveland and gets more work; agent arranges him to meet Jerry Seinfeld and give him comedy material; writes panel for Paul Reiser who vouches for him to Jerry; hired to write standup material for Jerry to perform in the show; pitches over 1000 ideas and gets three made; harder to pitch "The Bookstore" in season 9 because there were more pitches than the second and third season; he would write Jerry's material and Jerry would try it out in clubs with him; giving Jerry notes on performance; marrying an OBGYN and writing a controversial book about it; writing Goo Goo Ga Ga a funny baby book; inventing Elijah's cup, a Passover novelty; doing standup pre and post-Covid; retiring from standup; some older material can't be used because it's considered insensitive, some because the references are too old, and some because relationships are different (ie., daughter's boyfriend is now husband of many years); his wife's Parkinson diagnosis an his taking part in an experiment which isolated the Parkinson's marker; keeping secret his wife's diagnosis so she continue to work as a mohel; coming up with a one man show about his experiences "Side Effects May Contain"; talking about his wife's hypersexuality due to Parkinson's drugs on stage; his children's reaction; being a grandfather

James Patrick Dunne joined me and talked about growing up on the same blok with David Hasselhoff; how music drew him in; making piano records in high school; getting hired by Garry Marshall; being given access to all of the Paramount lot; scoring a movie for Dorothy Hamill; being a Phi Beta Kappa; writing "Do the Fonzie" for Happy Days; writing the theme song for Joanie Loves Chachi; writing "Nobody Loves Me Like You Do" for As the World Turns and having it covered by Anne Murray, Jermaine Jackson, and Whitney Houston; writing "Pumps Your Blood" and getting Anson to sing it; it's life as a jingle; changing the lyrics to "Wash Your Hands" during COVID; the Happy Days softball team; going on a 1980 USO show with Cyntha Weil, Anson Williams, and Marion Ross; the greatness of Marion Ross; his over forty year friendship with ex-roomate Ted McGinley; writing "When You Put Your Heart in It" for the 1988 U.S. Olympic Gymnastic Team and getting it covered by Kenny Rogers and going o #2; writing "Chance of a Lifetime" for the 1992 Olympic Track & Field Team, having it covered by Take 6 and winning a Grammy; writing college alma mater's and fight songs; writing "I'm a Big Girl Now" for Huggies; his career

Janine joins me to discuss her renditions of the National Anthem and This Land is Your Land; moving to Long Island; Doc Pomus; studying historic preservation; getting a job as a receptionist in a service used by Howard Shore; Howard asks her to be his assistant; went to see Patti Smith perform; had to ask for lyrics from band for a shooting script, embarrassing her in front of Taj Mahal; trying to find Steve Jordan on show night; asked to create band space on home base; Leo Yoshimura balked because it didn't have union stamp; Howard called and it became bandstand; filed all paperwork, copyrights, and union activities; appearing in two sketches in the Mary Kay Place episode; SNL never cleared music rights; going through NBC's audio library and bringing music for writers to judge for sketches; Larry the cart guy; Hall Willner did the job muh better than she did; getting officially hired after Mardi Gras episode; Bonnie Raitt; the true story of Elvis Costello's 1977 appearance; giving a backhanded compliment to The Greatful Dead; hanging out with The Rolling Stones; having them sign a picture so that the crew members would know which Stone they were talking to; going to see a Broadway play with Frank Zappa the week after he hosted; not getting Kate Bush; having Gilda hug her when she said how sexy she was as Candy Slice; working on Gilda Live on Broadway; Desmond Child & Rouge; Milton Berle hated by crew who were there on his show thirty years earlier; Twitter's SNL hosts introduce musical guests; Gary Numan; Howard Shore would book someone the opposite of Jean Doumanian's picks; Sun Ra - master of the Walkman; Bette Midler; Linda Rondstadt and Phoebe Snow; The Roches appearance inspire their song "The Big Nothing"; Delbert McClinton; Bill Murray constantly playing The Amazing Rhythym Aces until they were booked; Jaco Pistorius eats the "prop" peanuts during a rehearsal of a Nick the Lounge Singer sketch; the backstage vibe of a party with show girls, camels, and Abe Lincoln: Eubie Blake & Gregory Hines; Steve Martin's Best Show Ever; helping Howard Shore score The Brood; Eugene Record; Michael Palin; crew bets when Jean Doumanian will "steal" Lorne's job; not liking Jean Doumanian; Jean not particularly liking television; SNL is for people who love TV; Walter Matthau; Kirk Douglas; O.J. Simpson; Michael Sarrazin; Marianne Faithfull; leaving with the original cast and having job taken over by Hal Wilner; Hal calling her to ask how things are done; becoming friends and producing shows with him starting in 1985; how Hal got her to start singing seriously; the real meaning of Save the Last Dance for Me; finding Van "Piano Man" Walls; her art.

When I started this podcast in 2020, my then eight year old daughter joined me to talk about her life. Now three years later, she rejoins me to discuss favorite TV shows, music, Youtube, school subjects, her dog, boys and more. Plus she performs Beethoven's Ode to Joy.

Lisa Mende joined me to discussed being asked but ot being able to be on the last Newhart; only being allowed to watch PBS but sneaking The 3 Stooges; always wanting to be an actress; being a child actress in Yiddish theatre; going to study acting at The University of Bridgeport; doing improv with husband Dom Irrera; different types of improv; stand-up being harder than Broadway or improv; the guerilla shooting of Hollywood Shuffle; co-starring in Scrooged as Bill Murray's mother; working with Richard Donner, Bill & Brian Doyle-Murray, and Jack Lemmon; guest starring in Hooperman with John Ritter; The Famous Teddy Z; His and Hers; John Paragon and her get the giggles shooting Honey, I Blew up the Kid; doing a double act with Michel Patrick King in Vegas, Florida comedy condos and The Merv Griffin Show; Dom Irrera writes and has tiny roles on SNL; the '70s/80's comedy community; playing Carol on Seinfeld; her audition; people asking her to say "You have to see the baby"; being on Cameo; shrinkage; The English Patient episode; guesting on Sex and the City; doing Nothing to Lose; co-starring in Rodney Dangerfield's last film;

Kevin Kelton joins me for a writer's commentart for the November 10, 1984 episode of SNL hosted by George Carlin with musical guest Frankie Goes to Hollywood. We talk about working with Carlin; Carlin getting a second chance to act on SNL after not doing it on the premiere; Kevin assisting with a line for Gary Kroeger in cold opening about learning a Walter Mondale impression; odd '84-'85 opening credits; Harry Shearer credited after he left; George is only 47 in this show; was in a great mood whole week; crowd is smaller because they are in a different studio; Carlin takes on religion; supposed to be his fallow period but he's still funny; Willie and Frankie; Chris Guest, Harry Shearer, Martin Short & Billy Crystal did not like other writers writing their characters; Harry would "ice" sketches at read through; Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood added to rerun; Eddie Murphy always lifted what you wrote; Eddie leaves in February 1984; Joe Piscopo thought it was his show but Ebersol didn't; Joe Franklin Show sketches written by Billy, Chris, and Marty; Chris Guests' Senor Cosa; Jackie Rodgers, Jr.; Martin Short and Gilbert Gottfried always "on"; Ghostbusters Show with Chi Chi and Consuela (Mary Gross and Julia Louis-Dreyfus); talent of these women; NY accents make people not seem birght; Kevin appears on Dating Game; Ye Olde Comedy Club - George Carlin as a Revolutionary War comedian; costumes department rents Blue Coats for the Red Coats; Hessians; 60 Minutes Parody; Harry's Mike Wallace; Harry getting fired; 1985 Writer's Strike; Nathan Thurm: Hal Wilner; Not a Cop sketch by Nate Herman; Billy Crystal is the Willie Mays of Comedy; Ted's Book of World Records; getting a sketch cut for time; Larry David's SNL experiences become Seinfeld episodes; Jim Belushi as Bobby Knight inspired chess coach; Pamela Stephenson's breasts have a mind of their own in an Update bit with Kevin under the desk; Andrea Martin; David Misch; Andy Breckman; script coordinators; musical guests; Rich Hall; Strategic Airborne Contraception; goodnights; Jerry Lewis, his new book

Paul Barrosse joined me to discuss his influence of vaudeville and fifties TV comedians; working with Sid Caser at SNL; Dick Ebersol's host choices; Sid wanting more rehearsal time; he and Tim Kazurisnky fitting the same nichde so he knew he wouldn't get airtime; being in a comedy cabaret troupe with adults at 16; directing Threepenny Opera at Northwestern; student written comedy revues led to the Practical Theater Company; PTC had plays, improv revues and rock; improv was scripted beforehand; his theory of improv; how the Practical Theatre Company (himself, Brad Hall, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Gary Kroeger) got hired for Saturday Night Live; their love for the Beatles; the network censoring him out of his part in his first SNL sketch, the PTC Club; letters about "A Christmas Message from April May June"; Nukes are for Kukes, Brad's guitar at Weekend Update and Dick nixing political and physical comedy; Davey Wilson nixes ideas if to hard to direct; difference between Letterman and SNL; writing a Tonight Show parody for The Smothers Brothers; writing Best Little Whorehouse on the Prarie for Robert Blake; Blake's being friendly only to him; Blake's hatred for Michael Landon and Hal Roach; writing Hell Bent for Glory for Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis, Battered Husband and My Friend Zeus for Gary Kroeger, and Guy Crazy for Beauand Jeff Bridges; memories of Stevie Wonder; Ed Koch; Northwestern University houses his sketches; his season only writers Ellen Fogle and Tracy Torme; was let go because he was hired at same pay as cast members and was most expensive and newest writer; he did not handle it well with Dick Ebersol who was friendly to him; went back to PTC; producing specials for TV Land including "100 Greatest TV Themes"; creating Little People, Big World; doing documentaries with Elizabeth Smart and Mary Kay Laterneau; his daughters, all of whom are now in show business; future shows of the Practical Theatre Company