Ian Talks Comedy

Dan Vitale joined me and discussed social media presence; attention he got from Marc Maron's podcast; Lorne Michaels seeing him; his audition for The New Show; his fluctuating weight from 1986 - 1991; Cobra Kai; streaming services give more content; Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, Bill Burr & Louis CK; being Lorne Michaels protege; being funnier now than when he was "hot" in the '80's because he's off alcohol and drugs and older; being listed above Norm MacDonald as a SNL cast member in Rolling Stone; growing up in Island Park, Long Island; other famous Island Park residents including Al D'Amato and the basis for Tony Soprano; where he did stand up pre Covid; living through Covid and protests; going back to college and feeling like Johnny Lawrence from Cobra Kai; IPhones; Dave Attell, memories of Don Novello and Randy Quaid; wanting to know who from his cast was invited to the 40th anniversary; Joan Cusack; Anthony Michael Hall; Damon Wayans; Jon Lovitz; Nora Dunn; Dennis Miller; Danitra Vance; Terry Sweeney;  A Whitney Brown; Jim Downey; Franken & Davis; remembering the Madonna episode and the horrible week working with Chevy Chase; being with world's largest man Michael Hebrank (1100 lbs.) at the Brookhaven Rehabilitation Center; intermittent fasting; coming back for the Ron Reagan Jr. episode; residuals; current SNL; Baldwin's Trump vs. Carrey's Biden; Taran Killam; Darrell Hammond making SNL a civil service job; Alan Zweibel; and John Murray

Entertainer, comedian, and podcaster Mark Malkoff joined me to talk his early influences; Norm Macdonald; Andy Kaufman; our fanaticism for Saturday Night Live; being in the audience for Letterman and Conan; Don Novello; Carl Reiner; Mel Brooks; Biff Henderson; working for the Late Show with David Letterman; Donick Cary; the trials of being head writer; Rich Hall; guests he's still working on; Dyan Cannon and Angie Dickinson; how he does a family friendly podcast; the work that goes into his show; being ghosted by a guest; how you never know why a guest can't make it, the "Will Ferrell curse"; Loni Anderson; how mistakes aren't aired anymore; Isabella Rossellini; Daljit Dhaliwal; K-Marr the Discount Magician; Otero; how Letterman hit the ground running; Carson guests who were never asked back; Carson v. Letterman guests; Letterman doing the show for himself vs. Leno doing it for NBC; guest hosts; Johnny's legacy; trial by fire of hosting a podcast

Jeff Abraham talked to me about the clients he had as a comedy publicist including The Amazing Jonathan, Pam Stone, Jeff Foxworthy, George Carlin, David Brenner, Andrew "Dice" Clay, Bill Maher and George Lopez; His book The Show Won't Go On - which chronicles the deaths of performers onstage including J.I. Rodale, Dick Shawn, and Parkyakarkus, The National Comedy Center, and his upcoming book on the Ritz Brothers.

We discuss Cheers using the perspective of two guys from the UK who were just born when it went of the air and me, a guy who watched it from when he was eight until it ended when he was fifteen.

Alan Safier joined me and we discussed the things we have in common; his first exposure to theater in kindergarten ; his 4th grade play; a summer camp play; Ohio University; his performance in the 30th anniversary of New Faces of 1952; working with Eartha Kitt; starring in Stop the World, I Want to Get Off with 10 year old Rob Lowe; playing John Adams in 1776; performing in Merchant of Venice and Romeo & Juliet; playing Charles Guitenau in Assassins; doing West Side Story with Tony Dow and Barrie Youngfellow; tying James Whitmore for most consecutive one man shows with three: Say Goodnight Gracie, A Christmas Carol; and Joseph - about Jesus' father; other comedians whose lives could have been one man show; meeting Rupert Holmes; getting into character as George Burns and Albert Einstein; Ethel Merman; Tom Wopat; and the Cleveland baseball team

Dennis joined me to talk about books he didn't write, the first time he watched SNL, Dan Aykroyd and the Blog Diet sketch; his sketch group Kamikaze Radio; seeing Mr. Mike and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir; the Brer Rabbit Mr. Mike sketch; Michael O'Donoghue's third season; Attack of the Atomic Lobsters; Mr. Mike's Mondo Video; Hugh Fink; Mr. Mike returns for SNL's 7th season; Dennis has Michael O'Donoghue's files; At Home with the Psychos; Fridays and how hard it is to find cast members; Rich Hall; The New Show

Dennis Blair joined me to talk about originally being a musician; his love for Steve Martin; the first time he got laughs at a gig; auditioning at Dangerfield's; opening for Rodney; writing two specials with him; helping to write Easy Money; his fallout with Rodney; starting to open for Joan Rivers; working with Garry Shandling; getting back in Rodney's graces to be in Rover Dangerfield; what to do if an audience member picks an obscure singer; what to do if a "crap" song is picked; bombing; improvising a whole show; his month long slump while opening for Carlin; Carlin premieres The Modern Man to him; parodying Paul Anka & Eminem in front of them; warming up sitcom audiences; forgetting some gigs and appearances; being in Billy Joel's tell her about it video; rescuing a drunk Rodney for a Tonight Show appearance; being a plant to yell  how tall was he; being a sounding board for Rodney's new jokes; his wife comes home and remembers some appearances

Donick Cary joined me to talk about interning and then writing (and head writing) Late Night / The Late Show with David Letterman, his character A Guy in a Bear Suit, working with Mujibur and Sirajul and Rupert Jee; The Simpsons, writing D'ohing in the Wind, The Last Temptation of Krust; producing and writing The New Girl, Parks and Rec, and A.P. Bio

Allan Havey joined me to talk about early comedy influence; studying drama in college; coming to New York as part of a comedy team; doing stand up in New York at the time of the comedy boom; The New Show; Young Comedians; doing David Letterman; Night after Night; HBO's One Night Stand; the success of Jerry Seinfeld & Larry David; Louie; Mad Men, and Billions

William Ham joined me to talk about Mad magazine; his 1st SNL; Chevy Chase; George Carlin; our SNL streaks; Fridays is the Cracked to SNL's Mad; SCTV; favorite SNL writers Michael O'Donoghue, Marilyn Suzanne Miller and Tom Schiller; Dan & Peter Aykroyd; Bill Murray; Phil Hartman; Dana Carvey; Eddie Murphy; Bill Hader; Will Ferrell; Jane Curtin; Gilda Radner; Joulia Louis-Dreyfus; Jan Hooks; Ana Gasteyer; Harry Shearer; Richard Belzer; Christine Ebersole; favorite episodes; least favorite episodes; favorite and least favorite characters; musical guests