Comedy History 101

What do Happy Tree Friends, Sonic the Hedgehog, Gumby, and Mr. Bumpy of Bumps in the Night have in common? Ken Pontac has been a creative force behind all these wonderfully bizarre projects Ken joins CH101 to talk about how dropping acid before an Eraserhead screening led to working on Gumby, why tragedy equals comedy on Happy Tree Friends and the overall ethos behind his creative process. Ken als...

Ophira Eisenberg is known for hosting NPR’s Ask Me Another, The Moth mainstage, and her new stand-up special, I Used to Be Nicer. She also has the distinction of filming her previous special when she was 8 ½ months pregnant. Ophira joins Comedy History 101 to dive into the history of comedians who filmed their stand-up specials while pregnant. From Joan Rivers pushing pregnancy taboos on The Ed Su...

O.J. Unseen: Exploitation of Evil is the new HBO Max doc series that revisits Juiced, O.J. Simpson’s trainwreck hidden-camera prank show. It was meant as a comeback project for the double “alleged” murderer. And, I, Harmon Leon was hired off Craigslist to be O.J. Simpson’s “funny little sidekick.” In this CH101 reprise episode, I go behind the scenes of Juiced and what it was really like pulling p...

You Can’t Do That on Television defined Nickelodeon—and gave the world GREEN SLIME! Comedy History 101 talks to Abby Hagyard, who portrayed “Mom” on YCDTOT, to reveal the wonderfully weird history behind the Ottawa-based cult comedy classic. From working with a young Alanis Morissette to kids telling jokes inside lockers, to the show’s Laugh-In, SCTV, and Monty Python influences. Plus, find out ex...

We dig into the CH101 archives for firsthand tales from The Comedy Store with Borat director Larry Charles, Emmy-winning Arrested Development writer Jim Vallely, comedian/voice actor Joey Camen, Marc Maron documentary writer/producer Julie Seabaugh, and Comedy Store vet Freddy Lockhart. Larry Charles hustles $10 jokes to Jay Leno! Richard Pryor wanting to kick Joey Camen's ass! Mitzi Shore tells G...

The Daily Show became a comedy institution when Jon Stewart took over from Craig Kilborn. Former The Daily Show field producer Evan Cutler reveals how Jon Stewart reinvented the show, why Stephen Colbert stood out from day one, how Steve Carell got his break, and why The Daily Show stopped making fun of people—and started making fun of the news. Plus Evan shares stories of John McEnroe’s ill-fated...

Go inside the origin stories of three of the most influential sketch comedy shows ever: The Kids in the Hall, SCTV, and The State. Kids in the Hall co-founder Kevin McDonald, SCTV writer Chris Cluess, and The State with filmmaker Matthew Perniciaro (director of Long Live The State!) share how these legendary comedy groups got their start — from Second City and SCTV’s Emmy-winning run, to Kevin McD...

Mitch Hedberg is one of the most beloved and influential stand-up comedians in the history of comedy. He also made a movie, Los Enchiladas! Comedian/Los Enchiladas co-star Brian Malow takes us inside the wild, DIY making of Mitch’s rarely seen cult comedy, set in a Mexican restaurant in St. Paul, Minnesota. Mitch turned a TV development deal into a scrappy feature film featuring future comedy heav...

Emmy winning comedy writer, Bob Illes, has been in the writers' rooms with some of the biggest names in comedy. From Richard Pryor, Lily Tomlin, Steve Martin, Carol Burnett, Tim Conway, Martin Mull, Fred Willard, Bob Einstein, David Letterman, Lorne Michaels, and Norman Lear – to name a few. Bob is also the author of the new book, Funny Is Money, where he chats about writing for such classic TV sh...

Stairway to Stardom was a legendary NYC public access TV show that gave singers, dancers, comedians, and dreamers a chance to become stars. It's a cult classic that fans include Bjork, Alec Baldwin, & Paul Scheer . Long before social media, there was a Manhattan cable show that let people perform with the same passion they had dancing in front of their bedroom mirror - without fear of being torn d...

We talk with co-directors Charlotte Knowles and Regash about their film, Palestine Comedy Club. The acclaimed documentary follows a group of Palestinian comedians as they attempt to build a stand-up comedy scene under occupation—navigating checkpoints, restrictions, and censorship while using humor to connect, cope, and tell their stories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com...

Emmy Award-winning writer and producer Chris Cluess has had a legendary career writing for SCTV Network, Cheers, Night Court, MADtv, and The Simpsons. Chris shares stories about John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, National Lampoon, and what made the SCTV Network writers’ room so special with John Candy, Catherine O'Hara, Eugene Levy, and Joe Flaherty. We also dive into MADtv, the SNL rivalry, and what it w...

CH101 SELECT: We go inside Team Coco, Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, and Clueless Gamer with Will Becton. Will shares his comedic journey from UCB and working on the documentary aka Tommy Chong, to becoming an original member of Team Coco, where he worked the entire run of CONAN on TBS and was the engineer of the podcast Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend. Will tells us what its like to be the Zelig of c...

The Marc Maron documentary “Are We Good?” follows the comedian/WTF podcast host as he processes grief while creating some of the most personal stand-up material of his career. The film features insights from John Mulaney, David Cross, Nate Bargatze, W. Kamau Bell, and Laurie Kilmartin, exploring Maron’s rise from alt-comic to podcast pioneer. Producer/writer Julie Seabaugh joins CH101 for a deep d...

CH101 Reprise: The State was the MTV sketch show that launched the careers of Michael Ian Black, Michael Showalter, David Wain, Kerri Kenney-Silver, Thomas Lennon, Kevin Allison—and several more (the troupe had 11 members). From dorm-room sketches at NYU to comedy milestones like Reno 911, Stella, Viva Variety, and the cult classic Wet Hot American Summer, The State helped redefine alternative com...

I talk with Michael Bonfiglio, who, along with Judd Apatow, directed the new HBO documentary Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man!. Michael shares behind-the-scenes stories from Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles, The Producers, and Spaceballs, and we explore how Mel Brooks reshaped American comedy. We also talk about Bonfiglio’s collaborations with Apatow, including co-directing George Carlin’s Ameri...

Stairway to Stardom was a NYC public access TV show, described in The Onion as "without exaggeration, it was one of the greatest shows ever to be on television." Airing in the 70s through the early 90s, Stairway to Stardom was YouTube, before YouTube, and has fans ranging from Bjork to the Found Footage Festival. Performers of very questionable talent, ranging from off-key lounge singers to interp...

Former Daily Show head writer Elliott Kalan (MST3K, The Flop House), Joke Farming) joins CH101 to discuss his new book, Joke Farming, and the nuts-and-bolts behind professional joke writing. We go inside the Daily Show writers’ room with Jon Stewart, why MST3K once had too many jokes, how comedians write jokes on deadline, why inspiration is overrated, and how audiences complete every joke. A behi...

We pulled together the sharpest moments from our 2025 interviews with comedy impresario guests - who shaped modern comedy: • Larry Charles: Writer and director of Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, & Borat • Kevin McDonald: Founding member of Kids in the Hall • Ryan Cunningham: Producer of Broad City and Inside Amy Schumer • Alex Braverman: Director of Thank You Very Much on Andy Kaufman • Will Becto...

Reprise Episode: Broad City and Inside Amy Schumer producer Ryan Cunningham and Gold Comedy founder Lynn Harris take us deep into the world of inclusive comedy and comedy as social change. From behind-the-scenes Broad City stories (yes, that pegging episode) to how diverse voices are reshaping the comedy landscape, we explore why women being “gross” on screen was a cultural breakthrough—and how la...

CH101 Reprise: Larry Charles won an Emmy writing for Seinfeld, directed Borat, Brüno, and Curb Your Enthusiasm, and has collaborated with Larry David, Sacha Baron Cohen, and Bob Dylan . Larry joins CH101 for some serious comedy inside baseball: How he helped shape the voice of Seinfeld with Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld The chaos behind Borat's infamous poop-bag dinner scene What it was really li...

Before SantaCon became the most hated event in NYC history, it began as a San Francisco subversive experiment of fun by the same anarchic collective that spawned Burning Man and inspired Fight Club’s Project Mayhem. We talk to filmmaker Seth Porges, who has a new documentary about SanCon on how a subversive performance-art happening turned into a worldwide holiday of drunken chaos that’s now belit...

CH101 Reprise: Kevin McDonald is best known as a founding member of the legendary Canadian sketch comedy troupe – Kids in the Hall –which appeared on CBS, HBO, and Comedy Central, and had a revival season aired on Amazon Prime Video in 2022. Kevin joins CH!01 with tales of KITH, Winnipeg, & comedy in general. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We go inside the PBS documentary series United States of Comedy with director Habib Yazdi. The five-part series spotlights diverse voices shaping stand-up comedy across America—capturing the next comedic generation redefining American comedy culture. Habib shares stories from filming United States of Comedy, as we dive into creative resilience and what unites comedians across America. WATCH: https...

As you heard, they yanked Jimmy Kimmel Live off the air - because the Trump administration has declared a War on Comedy. Holy Overton window! In this reprise episode, we celebrate Jimmy Kimmel Live, and talk to Adam Spiegelman, who was a comedy producer for this iconic late-night talk show. Adam was at Jimmy Kimmel Live right from the start, and we do a deep dive into producing comedy and comedian...