The Callback Podcast

I was super excited to get John Riggi as a guest on the podcast. We have been trying to work that out since the podcast began. John is a stand-up comic that I became aware of while in Chicago. I was still attending open-mikes when John had already established himself as one of the city's top comics. From there I followed John's career which included writing and appearing on some of the greatest television shows of all time. The Larry Sanders Show alone is an all-time classic and my personal favorite. Check it out on Netflix if you haven't yet. We caught up with him in Los Angeles at his offices on the Warner lot. He has just come from an amazing run as producer and director of 30 Rock to launching his latest pilot starring Rebel Wilson of Bridesmaids, Pitch Perfect and Bachelorette fame. The show is called Super Fun Night and if it anything like John Riggi's other shows, it is bound for huge success. Thanks again to all of our listeners, and enjoy John Riggi.

On this podcast it is us hosts. We catch up with ourselves before Aaron heads out on a long tour, and we make our Oscar predictions. Who will win? We know. Just listen for the answers. Totally guaranteed to win any office pool or Vegas bet. Or your money back. Oh that's right. We give these shows away for free. On iTunes. If you haven't done so, go there and subscribe right now. It will help your chances of winning.

Our guest on this show is Steve Pink, who is a very busy man. He is a screenwriter, producer and director of TV shows and movies, most notably Hot Tub Time Machine as well as many projects with his long-time friend, John Cusack. I have known of Steve from the Chicago theater scene and have followed his career ever since. I have been trying to get Steve on the show for a while now, and we were finally able to do it a few weeks ago when he invited us to visit him at Sony Studios where he is cutting his latest film, About Last Night. He even let us have a private viewing of some never-before-seen scenes from his movie, and it is hilarious. Comedian and actor, Kevin Hart, was in the scenes we saw and was amazing. We will post links to trailers when they are made available. Until then, enjoy this great interview where we discuss his start in theater, hanging out with Hunter Thompson and a drinking game based on the Bear in Hot Tub Time Machine that is sure to leave you on the floor. Thanks to all our listeners, and please continue to spread the word to others to LIKE us on Facebook and subscribe for free on iTunes.

Our guest on this episode is Jay Larson. Jay is a very funny stand-up comic that I have seen live many times. If you get a chance to see him live, do, as he is hilarious. Jay actually hosts his own podcast with fellow comic, Ryan Stickler, called The Crabfeast. You can also catch it on Stitcher and iTunes. Jay is also on Twitter and Facebook. We came over to his place and had a fun time talking his breaking into comedy, his love of sports and all sorts of stuff. Really enjoyable time and I hope you all enjoy it as well. And as always, thanks to all of you for listening and keeping this thing going.

I was really happy to have Gillian Vigman as our first female guest. She is an improvisor and actress that is known for the movies The 40 Year Old Virgin, Step Brothers and The Hangover movies. She currently has recurring roles on TV in Suburgatory and The New Girl. If that isn't enough, she has been seen on what seems like every commercial ever made. She is Mrs. Jack-In-The-Box, the woman in the 1-800 CONTACTS commercial and is currently in the series of DirecTV spots. I know her from Chicago. We were in a comedy group together where I became aware of just how wickedly funny she really is. She invited us over to her home for the podcast and was just as funny as I remember her being. So much fun, and I can't wait to have her on again. Thanks again to all our listeners and enjoy Gillan Vigman.

I was so happy to finally get Rich Hall on the podcast. We had to do this podcast without Aaron who was traveling. I have known Rich for around 20 years. I used to tour with Rich as his opening act, and we caught up with him while he was in Los Angeles to record a segment for The Set List for English television. Rich became famous as a stand-up comic in the 80's and then was a regular on Fridays, Saturday Night Live and Not Necessarily the News where he invented Sniglets: words that should be in a dictionary but aren't. Millions of sold books later, Rich now resides both in Montana and London where he is a regular on many television shows. He has starred in many specials for the BBC and continues to sell out theaters and festivals around the world. If you get a chance to see him live, please don't miss it. He is truly one of the best. He took time out before racing to the airport to talk of his early stand-up breaks, moving to Montana and everything he has going on right now. Rich was so much fun that I am sure he will be back on soon. Great guest. Lots of fun. Enjoy.

This week we have another show with just us hosts. We recap the podcasts up until now. Edgar and I tell of meeting Mr. T at El Pollo Loco. Edgar talks about his recent Vegas trip. Aaron fills us in on his recent trip to Japan where he picked up some Tokyo bananas. Aaron and I tell of our failed attempts to approach potential podcast guests. I tell of my run-in with my girlfriend's asshole neighbors. Aaron closes out the show with his secret to making great ribs on the BBQ. It is always good to catch-up with the boys and share some laughs. Enjoy.

Bil Dwyer is our guest this week on the Callback Podcast. He arrived at our studios by rail one night and we were fortunate enough to sit down with him and talk earnestly about his stand up career, his work on television and film (such as Comedy Central’s “Battlebots”), his personal life and whether or not this lump warrants a trip to the doctor. Also, we learned some helpful tips on how to shoplift socks from the mall!

This week's guest is stand-up comic and television personality Tom Rhodes. I have known Tom for years from my days of opening for him at Zanies in Chicago. He is a very funny fan who sat down with us to talk about his extensive travels having brought his humor to many, many countries. We also talk to him about his past and current projects including his very own podcast which is going strong. For info on how to purchase his comedy albums, download his podcast, read his travel blog or check out anything else he has going on go to Tom's website.

So this week's guest on the Callback Podcast is director Chris Cottam.

 

I have had the pleasure of working with Chris many times for BBC productions and knew he'd be a great podcast guest. Aside from the amazing sense of humor Chris possesses, he has been a director of feature films, numerous award-winning commercials and award-winning television shows.

 

He was in Los Angeles one Saturday morning so we sat down to talk about his life and career, the many projects he is working on now, how he broke into the business, and his former working partnership with the famous photographer Rankin. Lots of tangents and flights of fancy. Lots of laughs and good times. Then the liquid Ginseng made an appearance.

 

Please Subscribe for free on iTunes, "Like" us on Facebook and keep listening and telling friends.

 

Enjoy!