On Comedy Writing

By Alan Johnson

Comedy

What's On Comedy Writing about?

Host Alan Johnson interviews working comedy writers about the business and craft of comedy writing.

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On Comedy Writing episodes:

05.08.2019
The Last Episode of On Comedy Writing (with Neal Sharma)
Neal Sharma (medical student, once turned in a research paper six months late) joins Alan to “make it weird” on the last ever episode of On Comedy Writing. Thanks for listening! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about...
05.01.2019
#102 - Moss Perricone
Moss Perricone (Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj) joins Alan to talk about why you should just go out and do an open mic, problems with NYU, and interviewing for his current job. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more...
04.24.2019
#101 - Jason Kim
Jason Kim (Barry, Girls) joins Alan to talk about why playwrights are having so much success in television, writing a musical about K-pop, and the pitching process. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit...
04.17.2019
#100 - Brian Wysol
Brian Wysol (Hot Streets, Rick and Morty) joins Alan to talk about doing Channel 101, making animations on his own, and creating his own show. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
04.10.2019
#99 - Glenn Boozan
Glenn Boozan (I Love You, America, Adam Ruins Everything) joins Alan to talk about the differences between UCBs on both coasts, doing the Second City Comedy Studies program, and why improv can sometimes be harmful in writing, See acast.com/privacy for...
04.03.2019
#98 - David Rabinowitz
David Rabinowitz (BlacKkKlansman, The Pack Theater) joins Alan to talk about going to Quinnipiac University (hell yeah), how he got BlacKkKlansman made without representation, and taking a tequila shot with Brie Larson at the Oscars. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and...
03.27.2019
#97 - Eric Moneypenny
Eric Moneypenny (AOK, The Pack Theater) joins Alan to talk about recording a sketch comedy album, going on tour with his sketch group opening for Drew Carey, and why there aren’t many sketch comedy television shows. See acast.com/privacy for privacy...
03.20.2019
#96 - Claire Friedman
Claire Friedman (Desus and Mero, Saturday Night Live) joins Alan to talk about doing stand-up in New York as a teen, working on the Harvard Lampoon, and moving from the business side of entertainment to creative. See acast.com/privacy for privacy...
03.13.2019
#95 - Eric Drysdale
Eric Drysdale (Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert) joins Alan to talk about writing on a Canadian sketch show as a teen, his Crazy Davis bit, and working on The Colbert Report. See acast.com/privacy for...
03.06.2019
#94 - Lucas Gardner
Lucas Gardner (Miracle Workers, The New Yorker) joins Alan to talk about free writing to generate ideas, self-publishing humor novels, and working with Simon Rich. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
02.27.2019
#93 - Mike Scollins
Mike Scollins (Late Night with Seth Meyers, Funny or Die) joins Alan to talk about digital comedy, writing an SNL monologue, and working on an awards show in the height of the #MeToo movement. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out...
02.20.2019
#92 - Karen Chee
Karen Chee (Late Night with Seth Meyers, 2019 Golden Globes) joins Alan to talk about watching old British comedy, why she likes political satire, and internal versus external monologue jokes. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your...
02.13.2019
#91 - Ben Warheit
Ben Warheit (Late Night with Seth Meyers, The Awesomes) joins Alan to talk about how drawing cartoons at his day job led to selling a pilot, the difficulty in directing animation voiceovers with celebrities, and the hallmarks of a good...
01.23.2019
#90 - Sam Brown
Sam Brown (Whitest Kids U’ Know, The Pack Theater) joins Alan to talk about making a pilot on film in college, the New York comedy scene in the early ‘00s, and the development process. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out...
01.16.2019
#89 - Bob Vulfov
Bob Vulfov (UCB, The New Yorker) joins Alan to talk about moving to America at 12, trying different things to generate ideas, and writing jokes on Twitter. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit...
01.09.2019
On Comedy Journalism with Jesse David Fox
Alan talks with Jesse David Fox (Vulture, Good One: A Podcast About Jokes) about comedy journalism. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
12.19.2018
#87 - David Angelo
David Angelo (The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon) joins Alan to talk about good sitcoms for writers to watch, why film school isn’t worth it, and sneaking in a packet that got him hired. See...
12.12.2018
Graduate School with Kelsey Harper
Alan talks with Kelsey Harper (The Magnet) about graduate school. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
12.05.2018
#85 - Scott Vrooman
Scott Vrooman (Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj, This Hour Has 22 Minutes) joins Alan to talk about being an economist while doing comedy, writing a book, movie, and television show with his sketch group, and breaking in to the American...
11.28.2018
#84 - Zach Rice
Zach Rice (Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj, The Onion) joins Alan to talk about doing many internships, tips for applying to The Onion Fellowship, and being the only white writer in a room. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn...
11.14.2018
#83 - Carrie Wittmer
Carrie Wittmer (The Belladonna Comedy, New Erotica For Feminists) joins Alan to talk about her comprehensive writing major, making herself write humor pieces every week, and being an entertainment journalist. New Erotica For Feminists is out now! https://www.amazon.com/New-Erotica-Feminists-Satirical-Fantasies-ebook/dp/B07D22FBSD/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1542162549&sr=8-1&keywords=new+erotica+for+feminists See acast.com/privacy for...
11.07.2018
#82 - Asher Perlman
Asher Perlman (The Opposition) joins Alan to talk about doing ComedySportz in high school, the Second City approach to sketch, and how to train for Improvised Shakespeare Company. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices....
10.31.2018
#81 - Zhubin Parang
Zhubin Parang (The Daily Show) joins Alan to talk about why he likes South Park, being a lawyer and doing comedy at night, and the difference in writing for Jon Stewart and Trevor Noah. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out...
10.24.2018
#80 - Joanna Bradley
Joanna Bradley (The Break with Michelle Wolf, Saturday Night Live) joins Alan to talk about playing jazz in high school, creating characters, and writing on SNL the week of the 2016 election. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about...
10.17.2018
#79 - Pat Cassels
Pat Cassels (Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, College Humor) joins Alan to talk about starting as an intern at College Humor, the College Humor show, and writing political comedy. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad...
10.10.2018
#78 - Alison Leiby
Alison Leiby (The Opposition, The President Show) joins Alan to talk about taking a stand-up class, self-publishing a parody book, and writing satire through characters. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
10.03.2018
#77 - Django Gold
Django Gold (The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, The Onion) joins Alan to talk about absurdity in comedy, the death of digital comedy, and starting out on the digital team at Colbert. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more...
09.26.2018
#76 - Kristen Bartlett
Kristen Bartlett (Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, Saturday Night Live) joins Alan to talk about working standards and practices at Adult Swim, starting an indie sketch group, and drawing comedy from real life. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn...
09.19.2018
#75 - Broti Gupta
Broti Gupta (Speechless, Friends From College) joins Alan to talk about originally being pre-med in college, writing political humor pieces, and being the youngest in a writer’s room. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices....
09.12.2018
#74 - David Young
David Young (College Humor, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon) joins Alan to talk about doing magic as a kid, selling a show just before the writer’s strike, and writing on a docuseries. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn...
09.05.2018
#73 - Caitlin Bitzegaio
Caitlin Bitzegaio (The Rundown with Robin Thede, UCB) joins Alan to talk about discovering UCB while in grad school, the pitfalls of sketch students, and how she comes up with characters. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about...
08.29.2018
#72 - Mike Drucker
Mike Drucker (Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon) joins Alan to talk about interning at SNL, writing for Nintendo, and writing infotainment. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit...
08.22.2018
#71 - Heather Anne Campbell
Heather Anne Campbell (Saturday Night Live, Corporate) joins Alan to talk about starting improv at 14, The Midnight Show ending, and the development process. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
08.15.2018
#70 - Josh Comers
Josh Comers (Conan, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon) joins Alan to talk about handing out flyers in Times Square for stage time, starting a blog to write monologue jokes, and writing on the Comedy Central Roasts. See acast.com/privacy for...
08.08.2018
#69 - Mike Upchurch
Mike Upchurch (Mr. Show, The Chris Rock Show) joins Alan to talk about writing a sketch comedy thesis, the Mr. Show writing process, and teaching at The Pack Theater. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad...
08.01.2018
#68 - Bryan Tucker
Bryan Tucker (Saturday Night Live, Chappelle’s Show) joins Alan to talk about playing 500 shows with his college group, writing the Racial Draft sketch, and what he looks for in SNL packets. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more...
07.25.2018
Making An Independent Comedy Film with Daniel Shar
Alan talks with Daniel Shar about writing and directing SCRAPS, an independent comedy film. See the Los Angeles premiere of SCRAPS at the Downtown Independent on August 8th at 8pm! For more information, check out scrapsmovie.com. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and...
07.18.2018
#66 - Tom Ruprecht
Tom Ruprecht (Late Show with David Letterman, The Nightly Show) joins Alan to talk about starting out as an intern at Letterman, the development process, and working on the Jon Stewart HBO animation series. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn...
07.11.2018
#65 - Caitlin Kunkel
Caitlin Kunkel (The Belladonna Comedy, New Erotica For Feminists) joins Alan to talk about going to grad school, starting the Online Satire program at Second City, and writing a book. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your...
06.27.2018
#64 - Steve Young
Steve Young (Late Show with David Letterman, Maya and Marty) joins Alan to talk about his time at The Harvard Lampoon, writing a Simpsons episode, and being the star of an upcoming documentary. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn...
06.20.2018
#63 - Anthony DeVito
Anthony DeVito (The Break with Michelle Wolf) joins Alan to talk about starting stand-up late, doing road gigs, and writing for the White House Correspondents' Dinner. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
06.13.2018
Tech with Michael Goldenberg
Alan talks with Michael Goldenberg (The Pack Theater) about doing stage tech in Los Angeles. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
06.06.2018
#61 - Taryn Englehart
Taryn Englehart (The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Reductress) joins Alan to talk about growing up in a religious house, the fall-out from one of her Reductress articles, and producing a segment for Hillary Clinton. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and...
05.30.2018
#60 - Justin Tyler
Justin Tyler (The Opposition, Jetpacks Go!) joins Alan to talk about studying street theater for a year, selling a pilot with Jon Gabrus, and directing commericals. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
05.23.2018
#59 - Arthur Meyer
Arthur Meyer (The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Pangea 3000) joins Alan to talk about comedy superheroes not existing, watching SNL, and the way he was hired for Late Night. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your...
05.16.2018
#58 - River Clegg
River Clegg (The Opposition, The Onion) joins Alan to talk about working on his college’s humor magazine, making his own version of The Onion as a kid, and working with a writing partner. Check the @OnComedyWriting Twitter to read Alan's sketch...
05.09.2018
#57 - Seth Reiss
Seth Reiss (Late Night with Seth Meyers, The Onion) joins Alan to talk about the successes and failures of his sketch group, being the head writer of The Onion, and getting on staff at Comedy Bang! Bang! through a Twitter...
05.02.2018
Sketch Classes with Michael Goldenberg
Alan talks with Michael Goldenberg (The Pack Theater) about sketch classes in Los Angeles. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
04.25.2018
#55 - Sal Gentile
Sal Gentile (Late Night with Seth Meyers, UCB) joins Alan to talk about working on MSNBC for Chris Hayes, covering presidential elections from journalistic and comedic perspectives, and writing the A Closer Look segment. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out...
04.18.2018
#54 - Anna Drezen
Anna Drezen (Saturday Night Live, Reductress) joins Alan to talk about her “tense" relationship with writing, doing open mics, and writing a packet for SNL. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What's On Comedy Writing about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

On Comedy Writing episodes:

The Last Episode of On Comedy Writing (with Neal Sharma)

#102 - Moss Perricone

#101 - Jason Kim

#100 - Brian Wysol

#99 - Glenn Boozan

#98 - David Rabinowitz

#97 - Eric Moneypenny

#96 - Claire Friedman

#95 - Eric Drysdale

#94 - Lucas Gardner

#93 - Mike Scollins

#92 - Karen Chee

#91 - Ben Warheit

#90 - Sam Brown

#89 - Bob Vulfov

On Comedy Journalism with Jesse David Fox

#87 - David Angelo

Graduate School with Kelsey Harper

#85 - Scott Vrooman

#84 - Zach Rice

#83 - Carrie Wittmer

#82 - Asher Perlman

#81 - Zhubin Parang

#80 - Joanna Bradley

#79 - Pat Cassels

#78 - Alison Leiby

#77 - Django Gold

#76 - Kristen Bartlett

#75 - Broti Gupta

#74 - David Young

#73 - Caitlin Bitzegaio

#72 - Mike Drucker

#71 - Heather Anne Campbell

#70 - Josh Comers

#69 - Mike Upchurch

#68 - Bryan Tucker

Making An Independent Comedy Film with Daniel Shar

#66 - Tom Ruprecht

#65 - Caitlin Kunkel

#64 - Steve Young

#63 - Anthony DeVito

Tech with Michael Goldenberg

#61 - Taryn Englehart

#60 - Justin Tyler

#59 - Arthur Meyer

#58 - River Clegg

#57 - Seth Reiss

Sketch Classes with Michael Goldenberg

#55 - Sal Gentile

#54 - Anna Drezen