My Opening Line

Shane Mauss, comedian who made it to national television by year 3, shares his ups, downs, and secrets to success. From him calling up his local club and saying, “I want to be a comic,” to headlining, to late night TV and his own Comedy Central special, Shane shares the joys and devastations of his chosen profession.

Road Dog Paul Hooper is this episode’s guest. After visiting 10 countries and 42 U.S. states, Paul talks about life as a comedian on the road for over 2 decades. We chat about how audiences differ from place to place, the changes in how comedians have been treated over the years, and the appeal of living out of a suitcase. Find out, from this 2-time high school drop-out, if the classroom is actually important, and learn why classic books are dumb.

The hilarious and energetic Mehran Khaghani joins us to talk about his beginnings as well as his confrontations with Joe Rogan and Roseanne Barr. The gang talks about using laughter to combat physical violence, the comedy that changed their lives, and the hypocrisy of morality. Mehran describes the cocaine use on Last Comic Standing and how that show led to him regularly performing at the world-famous Comedy Cellar.

Abbi Crutchfield shares how it all started, including her cultivating her own comedy… group? club? in college. Abbi talks with Keith and Chemda about small town living and everything that led to her hosting TruTV’s You Can Do Better.

Mark Douglas is the creator of the extremely popular YouTube channel The Key of Awesome, which has over 5.4 million subscribers. The channel features musical parodies of some of the biggest songs in pop culture including Kesha's TiK ToK (with over 160 million views). In this episode, Mark talks about his first time on stage in high school and his innate ability to lampoon. He addresses the horror of “ambush shows,” the necessity of a musician knowing Free Bird, and he even chats about some sex stuff. (The guy loves it!) Mark explains why he quit his channel at its news-making height, and he leaves us with a performance of his hit song Reggae Shark.

Roast Battle Grand Champion Mike Lawrence worked at McDonald's for 7 years before landing multiple TV appearances. Mike discusses the effects of growing up with a comedian mom, discovering his comedy skills while working the fast food window, his move to The Big Apple and its financial burdens, and his rise to success.

Carmen Lynch talks about being in the Top 20 on Last Comic Standing within 2 years of performing stand-up before regaling us with stories of how she learned the secrets of stand-up comedy, her attendance at a Learning Annex stand-up class while ignoring her psychology degree, the lust of David Letterman, and her recent appearance on America's Got Talent.

Overwatch’s Mercy joins us to talk about her break in theater, television, and one of the biggest video games of all time. Lucie Pohl talks about her first times performing, getting a role taken away from her, taking away a role from someone else, and navigating the next level world of video game fandom. From her debut of jumping on a restaurant table and flashing her family and their friends at the age of 7 to performing her one woman show depicting the tumultuous end of her 10 year relationship after she cheated on her fiancé – and surprise! Her ex shows up to the first showing! – it’s a Hollyweird tale, and you’ll hear it all.

Bonnie McFarlane talks about starting her comedy career in Canada, making her way to clubs in the U.S., and the differences between the audiences in the two countries. From her first time on stage to her first moment on television, Bonnie shares the unconventional ways she got passed at clubs and landed an agent.