Ben Gleib has long been a favorite guest of Olivia Wilder, and this will be his seventh visit. He's here to talk about his new first ever hour-long standup comedy special, premiering on Showtime on June 3 at 10 PM.

Years ago, Esquire called Ben Gleib one of 6 comedians who could be "comedy's next big thing." The other 5 were Aziz Ansari, Patton Oswalt, David Cross, Demetri Martin, and Flight of the Conchords. It came true for the other 5, and now it seems to be Gleib's time. 

He spent 7 years as one of the most featured performers on Chelsea Lately, going on to host and executive produce "Idiotest," the Emmy nominated game show in its third season as the most watched original show on GSN. (He also helps create all of the show's brain puzzles.) 

Gleib is a regular on "The Today Show" with Kathie Lee and Hoda, has made multiple appearances on Comedy Central's @midnight, and recently was even guest co-anchor of ABC News digital, from ABC News world headquarters in New York.

*ONE LIVE LISTENER WILL HAVE A CHANCE TO WIN A FREE COPY OF GREG'S NEW BOOK: "THE SMARTEST BOOK IN THE WORLD!" Listen live for details.

Hard to believe, but this marks comic genius' Greg Proops 10th visit to Olivia Wilder Times. My favorite-ever guest returns to talk about his Proopcasts, VODcasts, his busy, busy, schedule traveling all over the world delighting fans and making new fans with his rapier-like wit, and amazing audiences with his immense encyclopedia of knowledge about random and interesting things, and his brand new book, "The Smartest Book in The World."

In his own (much better than mine) words:

Greg Proops is a stand up comic from San Francisco. He lives in Hollywood. It’s not that bad. Really.The Proopdog is best known for his unpredictable appearances on Whose Line is it Anyway? Professor Proops has a hit Podcast called The Smartest Man in the World. He has recorded it live in London, Australia, New Zealand, Montreal, Edinburgh, Dublin, San Francisco, Oslo, Amsterdam, Austin, Paris aboard a ship in the Caribbean and somehow, Cleveland. Find it at Proopcast.com or iTunes.



The Greg Proops Film Club is a popular podcast covering old and new movies also available on iTunes. He records and screens a movie monthly at The Cinefamily in Hollywood. Greg can be viewed on @midnight on Comedy Central. Proople Rain brazenly smokes dope on TV on The Green Room with Paul Provenza on Showtime. Greg has lent his voice to Star Wars the Phantom Menace, The Nightmare Before Christmas and was Bob the Builder.

Mr. Proops has been a guest on Red Eye, The Late, Late Show and Chelsea Lately on E!

http://www.gregproops.com/blog/

@GregProops on Twitter. 

Call 347-215-7536 to talk to Greg and have a chance to win a copy of his new BOOK: "The Smartest Book In The World: A Lexicon of Literacy, A Rancorous Reportage, A Concise Curriculum of Cool."

Welcoming back Ben Gleib, a standup comedian, actor, and host of the TV show "Idiotest," on GSN. He was a round table regular on "Chelsea Lately," on E! throughout its run, appearing on over 100 episodes, as well as a guest star on "After Lately." Esquire magazine named him one o "Six comedians who could be comedy's next big thing." He is the voice of 'Marshall the Sloth,' in the film "Ice Age- Continental Drift," the #2 animated movie of all time internationally. He also voiced the character, 'Dali,' in "The Book of Life." Recently he was seen on Comedy Central's "@Midnight" show. He worked for The Oscars, hosting The Academy's first-ever "Oscar Roadtrip," featured on the ABC Oscar's Pre-Show. Gleib is also one of the stars of the Kevin Smith movie, "Jay and Silent Bob's Super Groovy Cartoon Movie." He also makes appearances as a guest correspondent on CNN, sharing his comedic take on politics.

Ben's weekly podcast, "Last Week on Earth with Ben Gleib," on the Smodcast network debuted on iTunes as the #9 comedy podcast in the world, and was #1 on Stitcher for over 20 straight weeks. He has performed to sold-out arenas all over America, opening for Chelsea Handler and Dane Cook. He recently co-wrote and stars in the scripted webseries, "Cinedopes" on YouTube. Additionally, he has starred in the NBC prime time "The Real Wedding Crashers," appeared on "Good Morning, America," "Extra," "Home & Family," "The Late Late Show," "Last Call with Carson Daly," and "Last Comic Standing," among many others.

Currently he is on the #BenGleibWorldTour2015, "The Last Week on Earth" podcast, and enjoying his second season every Wednesday on GSN, 10/9 Central, with "Idiotest."

Hugh Acheson is the author of the James Beard Foundation Award-Winning Cookbook "A New Turn in the South: Southern Flavors Reinvented for Your Kitchen," "Pick a Pickle: 50 Recipes for Pickles, Relishes, and Fermented Snacks," and his new book, "The Broad Fork: Recipes for the Wide World of Vegetables and Fruits." He is a chef/partner of the Athens, Georgia, restaurants, 5 & 10, The National, also. the Atlanta restaurant, Empire State South, and The Florence in Savannah. He is a James Beard award winner for "Best Chef Southeast," and was named a "Best New Chef" by Food & Wine Magazine. Hugh competed in Bravo’s Top Chef Masters, Season 3 and currently stars as a judge on Top Chef.

*One live listener will be the recipient of a FREE copy of his newly-released cookbook, "The Broad Fork: Recipes for the Wide World of Vegetables and Fruit."

@hughacheson (Twitter)

http://hughacheson.com/

Sean Kanan stars on "The Bold and the Beautiful," the number one syndicated show in daytime in 120 countries. He plays the deviously sexy Deacon Sharpe, a role that he made famous also on the sister show, "The Young and the Restless."  Recently he starred in "My Trip to the Darkside" and subsequent sequel, "My Trip Back to the Darkside."  Early in his career, Kanan was chosen  by Oscar-winning Director, John Avildsen from over 2000 hopefuls for the role of Mike Barnes in the Karate Kid III. Kanan's popularity in Italy and ability to speak fluent Italian garnered him the lead role in the film "Sons of Italy," and landed him on the in Italian version of the popular show "Dancing with the Stars," for 9 weeks. In conjunction with his acting career, Kanan has had great success as a producer and writer. . On the comedy stage, Kanan has performed at leading clubs, including the Laugh Factory, the Comedy Store, Dangerfield's, the Brokerage, Uncle Vinny's and other venues. In addition, he has performed in Sam Shepard's "True West"stage play twice. Sean's book, "The Modern Gentleman; Cooking and Entertaining with Sean Kanan" is currently available on Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble. Kanan co-hosted a celebrity parenting radio talk show called Kanan's Rules, available for download on iTunes podcast.  He also had a regular role on the series "Camera Cafe," executive produced by Antonio Banderas. He worked under executive producer, Francis Ford Coppola on the prime-time series, "The Outsiders," and he appeared in the miniseries "Wild Palms," executive produced by Oliver Stone. Sean also dedicates much of his time to numerous charitable and nonprofit endeavors including ASPCA and the Anti-Defamation League's anti-bullying campaign.

Summer Moore, a Colorado native, lived in several states, which gave her life experiences to draw upon for acting and writing screenplays. She began acting at a very young age, performing in theater productions in Colorado, Alabama, and Hollywood.

Following graduation in southern California, she landed roles in film, television, theatre, and internet. Some of her credits include on The Doctors, Banzai, The Andy Dick Show, Catch Me if You Can, Just Married, 24, and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Her acting abilities cover a wide range of characters, from serial killer to comedic leading lady.

She is involved as Host and Spokesmodel for a non-profit organization, "Captive Daughters," to help end sex-trafficking. She has made numerous appearances on their web series, and continuing work as a spokesmodel, she launched the U.S. introduction of a beauty line, "La Rochelle, Paris."

As a writer, besides having a non-fiction book accepted for publication, she has a wide assortment of screenplays to her credit, including comedy, drama, horror, and thrillers. She produced a comedic webseries, "Peace and Quiet," which she also wrote and starred in. Realizing she had a knack for producing, she produced a feature that she wrote, "The Warning," a horror film, due to be released soon on VOD and DVD.

Shari Shattuck has appeared in more than two hundred television shows, films, mini-series, movies of the week and commercials on her acting resume.  A few of her acting credits are the television shows, ‘Dallas,’ ‘Sisters,’ ‘Life Goes On,’ ‘The Young and the Restless,’ and ‘Babylon Five.’ Her film credits include “On Deadly Ground” with Micheal Caine, “Spy Hard” with Leslie Neilson, and “A Man of Passion” with Anthony Quinn. In addition, she has performed most of Shakespeare’s major female roles on stage as well as a host of other characters, including the lead role in a hit production of “Cabaret.” Shari has also written and directed for the stage. Daily Variety’s rave review of her play, “In Progress,” said,  “Shattuck’s delightfully romantic comedy not only displays her talent as a stage performer, but also as a writer.” Her many years of acting and directing all contribute to her sense of drama, comedy and story as a novelist.

Her first book, “Loaded,” was selected by Publisher’s Weekly as one of the Best of 2003. She has since published seven novels, co-produced the films  “Redemption” and “Scream at the Devil” with her husband, survived two fires, four mudslides, many rattlesnake relocations, and being the class-room-rep-parent-association-member for her daughters’ classes. Her new book, “Becoming Ellen will be released in the summer of 2015. She lives in the National Forest above Los Angeles

Powerful and versatile actor, James Wilder has been garnering awards and shining reviews in his new independent film, "3 Holes And a Smoking Gun," in which he portrays a duplicitous, washed-up screenwriter. He was named Best Lead Actor at the Red Dirt International Film Festival, Best Actor at the Winter Film Awards and Independent Spirit Award at the Garden State upcoming Film Festival. The film was also awarded the prestigious Grand Jury Prize at the Red Dirt International Film Festival and Best Screenplay honors at L.A.'s Downtown Film Festival.

James Wilder's indelible portrayals include an ambitious lawyer in the Emmy Award-winning drama "Equal Justice." co-starring Sarah Jessica Parker, and the charming but sleazy drug dealing seducer in the series "Melrose Place." The New York Times said "James Wilder, as Carl Isaacs, is a thoroughly malevolent character, one in whom evil, rather than insanity, prevails," regarding his portrayal of serial killer Carl Isaacs in the acclaimed Miramax film, "Murder One."

The multi-talented Wilder started off as a street performer, who took his juggling three chain saws act from San Francisco to New York and Europe. He performed at the legendary Moulin Rouge in his mother's native Paris at the age of 14. He studied at the famed NY Actors Studio . If that isn't enough, Mr Wilder also designs exclusive leather jackets and jewelry, refurbishes vintage furniture that he finds at auctions and flea markets, collects classic cars and commits to acting projects only when it inspires. “3 Holes And A Smoking Gun” is one such project. and is also a formidable architect and clothing and jewelry designer. It seems there is little this dashing actor cannot do.

Karen Pittman is an accomplished American actress and singer, born in Mississippi and raised in Nashville, Tennessee. She received her Bachelor of Science in Voice and Opera at Northwestern University and received her Masters of Fine Arts from NYU's Graduate Acting Program. Karen is starring in the Pulitzer Prize winning Broadway play "Disgraced," written by Ayad Akhtar as well as co-starring in the third season of FX's "The Americans." "The Americans" which premiered on January 28, 2015.

Viet Pham grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area with parents who loved food and cooking. His upbringing inspired him to pursue a career in food, and he graduated from the California Culinary Academy in 2002. While attending school, Pham interned at Michelin-­starred Fifth Floor Restaurant in San Francisco, CA under award-­winning chef Laurent Gras. Pham went on to cater local private events before relocating to Provo,UT to secure the Executive Chef position at Spark Restaurant Lounge.There, Pham met his business partner, Bowman Brown, and the pair opened Forage Restaurant in Salt Lake City, UT in July, 2009. Though a unique concept in the Salt Lake City restaurant scene, Forage Restaurant was well-­received by the community and quickly emerged as the top eatery in the area; it won Salt Lake Magazine’s Best New Restaurant in Salt Lake City in 2010, Best Restaurant in Salt Lake City in 2011, and Pham won Best Chef from the magazine in 2012.

Pham won Food & Wine Best New Chef in 2011, after receiving a nomination from the magazine the previous year for People’s Best New Chef: Southwest. His scallop sashimi with Meyer lemon confit was also featured in Food & Wine in "The 10 Best Restaurant Dishes" in their 2010 feature story. The James Beard Foundation nominated him as a Semi-­Finalist for Best Chef: Southwest, in 2011, 2012, and 2013. In 2012, Pham participated in Food Network’s show Extreme Chef where he was runner-­up. He also competed on the network’s marquee program, Next Food Network Star in 2013 and defeated Chef Bobby Flay on Iron Chef America. Pham has appeared in Bon Appetit, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, Reuters, and The Salt Lake Tribune. This Spring, 2015, Pham will open his new restaurant, Ember + Ash, in downtown Salt Lake City.

Most recently, Pham was seen last month on Food Network's Kitchen Inferno.