Obsessive Comedy Disorder: The Podcast

What better time than the DEAD of winter for Dan and Paul to welcome two glorious guests to geek out over the marriage of monsters and mirth. Horror and comedy. First, John Kassir shares his saga from Star Search stand-up success story to spooky stardom as the voice of the punderful Crypt Keeper on Tales from the Crypt. Then, we hear how Jonah Ray Rodrigues matriculated from media maker to Meltdown to Mystery Science Theater 3000.

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The second half of this intimate tribute to Jonathan Winters explores Winters and the so-called “sick” comedians of the late 1950s and how his struggles with mental illness informed his groundbreaking work. The episode also includes remembrances from Robert Klein, Marc Maron, Maria Bamford, Jimmy Kimmel and his father Jim of the personal experiences they shared with Winters as well as more exclusive rare material from the recent 3- LP vinyl release, Jonathan Winters: Unearthed.

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Dan and Paul present the first half of a tribute to the late, great Jonathan Winters, featuring exclusive conversations with Robert Klein, Marc Maron, Maria Bamford and Jimmy Kimmel and his father Jim, all reflecting on their personal experiences with Winters. This salute also includes excerpts from the first posthumous Winters vinyl release, curated and produced by Dan featuring rare material from Jonathan’s personal collection.

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In the second half of our probe into the past and the perspectives of Penn Jillette, Paul and Dan dig into where Penn does and doesn’t find commonality with other funny magicians. Penn also rhapsodizes about Lenny Bruce, George Carlin, National Lampoon, Firesign Theater, Andy Kaufman, Albert Brooks, Jean Shepherd, Stan Freberg, Gilbert Gottfried and Martin Mull. And lastly, Penn explains how the purity of his artistic integrity and his long residency in Las Vegas are actually compatible.

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Dan and Paul travel to Las Vegas to spend a couple of hours with Penn Jillette to explore his views on the intersections of magic and comedy. In this first of two episodes, Penn describes his improbable path from juggling to clown college to the formation of the Asparagus Valley Cultural Society to the ultimate disillusion of that trio, which resulted in the birth of Penn and Teller. And how, through that entire journey, Penn grapples with his hatred of magic and his resistance to being funny.

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As one of the most celebrated writers on the Oscars and countless comedy/variety shows, Bruce Vilanch has decades of hilarious behind the scenes stories. Dan and Paul take Bruce all the way back to his earliest days writing for Bette Midler’s live act, his first TV jobs writing on Charo and Paul Lynde specials… and how all of that paved the way to Bruce writing and producing the groundbreaking 1977 gay-themed sketch comedy album Out of the Closet.

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Dan and Paul examine the rich history of animated comedy and the art of providing voice characterizations for the legendary Looney Tunes cartoons with Eric Bauza, the current voice of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Tweety Bird and Marvin the Martian. Their conversation is intercut with never-before-released audio from 1983 of an interview with the originator of all of those characters, the iconic Mel Blanc… as conducted by Dan when he was 14.

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W. Kamau Bell is a filmmaker, podcaster and the star of CNN’s United Shades of America. But before all of that, he was a brilliant stand-up comic, delivering searing, socio-political satire and social commentary with his signature style. Dan and Paul discuss Kamau’s evolution and ethos with him, ultimately illuminating why his recent Showtime documentary mini-series We Need To Talk About Cosby was so personal and profound.

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The conversation with John Cleese picks up right where part one left off, starting during John’s first trip to New York and the wild story of getting cast in a Broadway musical; meeting Connie Booth and the call from David Frost that forever changed his fate. John then discusses the beginnings of his relationships with many of his famous collaborators, leading into a fascinating exchange about the often messy nature of the creative process... and how all of that led to the creation of Monty Python.

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In this inaugural episode, Dan and Paul proclaim their lifelong love of Monty Python to introduce Dan’s conversation with John Cleese, recorded just hours after their notorious appearance on stage together at the 2022 South By Southwest Festival. John and Dan discuss that panel and the controversy that followed before exploring John’s earliest comedy influences, the evolution of British comedy and his introduction to writing and performing as a member of the now mythic Cambridge Footlights club.

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