Ian Talks Comedy

Marc Sheffler joined joined me to discuss watching 50's children's TV; his father getting The Three Stooges for his tenth birthday; seeing Jerry Lewis in a movie and his dad telling him "Why not you?"; his dad getting him him a limo to the premiere of "The Last House on the Left"; going to college with David Duke; his dad sending sending him to the Catskills; working for comedian London Lee; having to pretend to be a conductor; selling a script to NBC; watching Dick Van Dyke and partnering with Sam Denoff; becoming stand up and throwing out his Catskills material; getting a spot at the Comedy Store; becoming friends with George Miller, David Letterman, and Andy Kaufman; Tony Clifton; writing How Bugs Bunny won the West; working on Co-Ed Fever and becoming life long friends with Heather Thomas; her intelligence; writing the pilot for Lewis & Clark but not getting hired on the series; having Johnny Carson apologize; writing for Sanford; Robin Williams; the Comedy Store being an orphanage for talent; creating his stand up character El Yid

Ellie Barancik came on and discussed her last name; her father being the last surviving Monuments Men; growing up with Bozo the Clown & getting to go to the studio with Bonnie Hunt; Clutch Cargo; watching Carol Burnett and surprising her with a tribute thirty years later; finding SNL and crushing on Dan Aykroyd; meeting him on the set of Dr. Detroit; discovering Letterman; dating Steve Koren when he was trying to get on SNL staff; meeting Dan Aykroyd again in 1991; going to BU with Greg Fitzsimmons and John Henson; being an NBC page; not getting fall 1990 SNL desk gig because they wanted to give her it in the longer spring gig; being hired by Jim Pitt and Michael Shoemaker; Letterman pages can become celebrities; taking messages for cast members; Adam Sandler; Herb Sargent took Steve Koren under his wing; typing up scripts for read through; Robert Smigel; Al Franken's in show changes; asked to move to Update in 1993; seeing the staff at SNL 50 ; last SNL was 92-93 season finale; Claire Shirey; going to Conan; embarrassingly meeting Conan in 1991; getting hired by Jeff Ross; reading writer submissions; the pressure of the daily show; being at the party after the first show and realizing they have nothing for the the rest of the week; Conan didn't want to do remotes; coming up with the Mr. T apple picking remote; getting to become a writer under apprentice rules; putting the show together with Jeff Ross; creating Conan & Andy's slideshow; writing for The Bonnie Hunt Show; watching the Bachelor; working with Steve O'Donnell

Ellie Barancik came on and discussed her last name; her father being the last surviving Monuments Men; growing up with Bozo the Clown & getting to go to the studio with Bonnie Hunt; Clutch Cargo; watching Carol Burnett and surprising her with a tribute thirty years later; finding SNL and crushing on Dan Aykroyd; meeting him on the set of Dr. Detroit; discovering Letterman; dating Steve Koren when he was trying to get on SNL staff; meeting Dan Aykroyd again in 1991; going to BU with Greg Fitzsimmons and John Henson; being an NBC page; not getting fall 1990 SNL desk gig because they wanted to give her it in the longer spring gig; being hired by Jim Pitt and Michael Shoemaker; Letterman pages can become celebrities; taking messages for cast members; Adam Sandler; Herb Sargent took Steve Koren under his wing; typing up scripts for read through; Robert Smigel; Al Franken's in show changes; asked to move to Update in 1993; seeing the staff at SNL 50 ; last SNL was 92-93 season finale; Claire Shirey; going to Conan; embarrassingly meeting Conan in 1991; getting hired by Jeff Ross; reading writer submissions; the pressure of the daily show; being at the party after the first show and realizing they have nothing for the the rest of the week; Conan didn't want to do remotes; coming up with the Mr. T apple picking remote; getting to become a writer under apprentice rules; putting the show together with Jeff Ross; creating Conan & Andy's slideshow; writing for The Bonnie Hunt Show; watching the Bachelor; working with Steve O'Donnell

Tom Dreesen joined me to discuss his half white / half black comedy team and the racism they encountered; how he and Tim Reid started as an anti-drug program; first saw TV at 17 (Honeymooners); being a pin boy, caddie, insurance salesman but wanting to be a comedian; The Tonight Show; getting bumped four times; his first appearance; working with Sammy Davis, Jr.; game shows; the exhilaration of working in front of 20,000 people not there to see you; Frank Sinatra always being on time, rising for women, and being a gentleman; how people always ask about the mob and not to have them do you a favor; Jules Podell; would stay at Sinatra's house; became friends; a saloon saloon singer and a saloon comic; Don Rickles; George Burns trying out new material at 95; the new Pope; Sinatra's charity; The Magnificent Obsession; materials own you; David Letterman vs. Jay Leno in love of stand up; Freddie Prinze; bat boy for the Cubs; introducing friends to their idols; Bobby Rydell; Wrigley Field is frozen in time; his one week as a talk show host; the Chicago Blackhawks

1. Fridays - Michael Richards as "Frank Zappa" (1/8/82) 2. New Show - Scabs Meeting (4/23/84) 3. Fridays - 2nd Amendment Debate (4/10/81) 4. Fridays - The Ronnie Horror Picture Show (12/12/80) 5. New Show - Roy's Food Repair (1/13/84)

Plus

Andy Kaufman and Kathie Sullivan (9/18/81)

Mike Chisholm joins me to discuss how his curiosity leads to conversations; Steve O'Donnell; our first time watching Letterman; meeting Letterman guests on twitch; Rick Sheckman; intern stories; becoming friends with Rupert Jee and speaking at his retirement; Steve Young; Paul Shaffer; swooning over Barbara Gaines;; Steve Weiner; learning how to podcast; Calvert DeForest; Matt Roberts does a three hour episode; editing, PC culture; censoring episodes; the r word; Midget Wrestling Warriors; saying something is gay; Don Rickles; Andrew "Dice" Clay; Howard Stern; blackface; Jjimmy Hat, Andy Kaufman, and Jerry Lawler; Merrill Markoe; befriending Jeff Altman and Dick Cavett; how my OCD affects my show; his ailing father; season 2 and being my Tony Randall

Chris Kelly joined me to discuss his dad and his love of lesson plans; living in Canada and having having one US TV station; Little Rascals; other comedy hubs beside Canada; his influence; improv; his dad writing for SNL; Harry Shearer; every TV show having its own process; Letterman's reaction to being passed by Politically Incorrect in the ratings; having structure even in lunch orders; writing for the Village Voice; getting hired on HA!'s After Drive and Comedy Channels Sports Monster; being told Sports Monster had no viewers in Philadelphia; being the first to write about sports in National Lampoon; getting to NL when they got rid of the nudity, and having it shut down; the letters; the "prefect game" in Late Night; Tom Gammill & Cathy; writing VO's for Penn Jillette; meeting Bill Maher and discussing the Politically Incorrect should have a Johnny Carson like monologue; Bills early TV appearances; Buffalo Bill, Geena Davis and Jay Tarses; Slap Maxwell; Richard Mulligan; Arianna Huffington; Christine O'Donnell; moving to ABC; writing with Bill his New Rule on football streaming; Roseanne vs. OJ jury episode; great talk show guests; Charles Grodin; Dom Irrera makes a host look good; Andrew Smith on Johnny Carson and getting his job by "whipping it out"; Bill Scheft; Reese Witherspoon; having to write 100's of jokes on the same topic; Top 10 list; calling to congratulate Bill on 9/11 episode that got him fired; all desk show bits were created by Bill except New Rules written by Billy Martin; The Kardashians; Regis Philbin; what's Bill like; best and worst guests; Scott Carter's tremendous fingerprints on the show; his cat book, Downton Tabby

Andy Cowan joined me to discuss his Seinfeld episode, "The Opposite"; his book and chapter on rejected Seinfeld plots; Danny Thomas; his idol, Jack Benny; Leave it to Beaver & The Honeymooners; going to Boston University; loving Letterman & VCR's; Nancy Sinatra and Seinfeld finale; jazz; how he tricked Lorne Michaels into a meeting; how he would "fix" SNL; Rick Moranis & SCTV; being a pre-interviewer on the Merv Griffin Show; writing spec Taxi's; ore-interviewing Orson Welles the day before he died; Whitney Houston; Ethel Merman; writing for Cheers and The Pat Sajak Show; Jerry Lewis; 60 Minutes then and now; Andy Rooney; Howie, a comic strip, cartoon, and sitcom stuck in development; Up & Down Guys; his podcast the Neurotic Vaccine; his new episode which which he considers his best

Diana and I discuss The Bellinis; Lenny (Luca Brasi) Montana; Hollywood High; auditioning for Marni Nixon Feast, Ozzie's Girls; guest starring in a memorable Happy Days, Chico and the Man, Medical Story, The First Nudie Musical, Starsky & Hutch; Paul Michael Glaser; The Love Boat pilot; Soap; audition; cast becomes family; Hollywood Squares, Dinah!; Perry Como’s Early American Christmas; Barney Miller; Steve Landesburg; I’m A Big Girl Now; Danny Thomas; Martin Short; People's Choice Award; American Bandstand "Who You Foolin'?"; All Star Salute to Mother's Day; Bob Hope; Bobbie Gentry; Don Rickles; finding out her show got cancelled while On Broadway; Peking Encounter; A Foot in the Door, Night Partners; Yvette Mimieux; Patti Davis Reagan; Hotel; No Complaints; Harold Gould, Murder She Wrote and friendship with Angela Lansbury; Trapper John, MD ; St. Elsewhere; Throb playing Paul Walker's Mom; success in Germany; The Bruce Diet; Home Free; Matthew Perry, Marian Mercer; Maggie Roswell, and teaching at Manhattanville College

Samantha Harper Macy joined me to discuss watching Perry Mason as a teen with her family; going to Ole Miss with James Meredith; being seen as a racist in Chicago because she is from the south; auditioning with Woody Allen; being shown around the city by strangers; modeling; taking acting classes from Lee Strasberg; hippies; sees Oh! Calcutta and for it; her sketch; meeting her husband, Bill Macy; Oh! Calcutta banned in her home town; Bill guests on All in the Family; Bill gets Maude and Samantha guest stars; her guest starring on Hot L Baltimore leads to Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman; working with Victor Killian, Louise Lasser, and Mary Kay Place; playing a hooker on Hill St. Blues; her husband's work in The Jerk, Movers & Shakers, Bad Medicine and The Late Show; working with Robin Williams on Mork & Mindy and Terry Bradshaw and Mel Tillis on a TV pilot; being directed in two films by Hal Ashby; her memoir, Naked in Oh! Calcutta and other Stories; and her play Two Sisters Cafe