Don't Be Alone with Jay Kogen

Wendy Liebman - talks about her joke prompts as a help for writing, people who want to be picked on in the audience, being an actress as and turning to stand-up, slowing down your performance, the audience as a community, jokes that lead you somewhere, the joy of the Jindo dogs, AI stealing jokes, Steven Wright, the plusses of being a comedy team, Phyllis Diller, comics who get their own sitcom, j...

Comic/Writer/Actor/Podcast-Entrepreneur Al Madrigal talks to Jay about representing our culture in our work.  We also chat about the dangers of a guest based podcast, the pleasures of morning golf vs lunch, how Neal Brennan’s podcast “Blocks” is better than Jay’s, ADD, Vyvanse, roadrage, comic on comic anger, leaving the parent’s staffing company business to be a comic, the reality of show busines...

Comic/Writer Jim Vallely talks about dignity, flirting, young people, being a joke guy, Arrested Development, Golden Girls, My Wife & Kids, Don Reo, our mutual love of The Rockford Files, how being broke is good motivation, having a daughter who's working while you're unemployed, jokes vs emotional engaging of the characters, casting is 1/3 of a show, boyish only lasts so long, trying to not be an...

Comic, Writer, Podcast Greg Fitzsimmons talks about growing up in a the son of a well known radio personality who lived large but was a tough dad, learning how to be a fighter, being a Boston comic when being brave was more important than being funny.  The power struggles on Ellen. Being on the road. Having kids and dealing with them differently than his family did. Actually living past the age of...

On today’s AUDIO ONLY show we talk about the value of anonymity, how to try and not let The Simpsons take over your life, being writers and actors, bad auditions, the value of improv, The Tracey Ullman Show, Chicago (the city), singing dancing, the thoughts behind jokes, being actors and writers, the origin of The Simpsons, how actors often know their characters better than writers, being a creati...

Emmy Award-winning producer/writer Al Jean has worked on THE SIMPSONS since it became a series in 1989. He has a credit on over 600 episodes and been showrunner for 22 seasons. In addition to nine Emmy Awards, he has won two coveted Peabody Awards and was nominated for two Golden Globes. Currently he serves as executive producer and showrunner. He also served as writer and producer on "THE SIMPSON...

Author David Wolinsky talks about whether the internet is helping or hurting more, AI destroying movies and TV, dopamine addiction, The Onion, going cold turkey on social media, the email monster, and the idea that asking questions without having the answers is better than trying to figure it out. Bio: He's a former Onion editor best known for once interviewing the watermelon-smashing comedian Gal...

Alex Edelman is an outstanding stand-up, writer, and creator of Just For Us talks about making his acclaimed broadway triumph, the death of his friend and collaborator - Adam, retiring the show, loving that others can do it, always being a student, staying curious even when you know alot, being an introvert on stage, being miserable does not equate to quality, jokes that don’t quite work, me winni...

Comic Writer Debbie Kasper discusses her tumultuous life and what it would take for Jay to make his one woman show. Bio: Debbie Kasper is a multiple Emmy-nominated writer and an award-winning solo performer. After touring the country a few times over as a comedian and also with several theatrical shows she wrote & starred in, Debbie turned to television writing (Roseanne and The Rosie O'Donnell Sh...

Alex Edelman is an outstanding stand-up, writer, and creator of Just For Us talks about trying to be an artist, how Greg Daniels is the best writer/showrunner/teacher, The Paper, the strength he gets from friends, the music in dialogue, meeting at UnCaberet, the greatest sitcom jokes of all time, camera awareness in a mock documentary, how everyone is a director now, AI, and how Alex refuses to us...

Josh Corey talks about the journey to become a boxer and why he needed to challenge himself and turning that into a podcast called “From Writer To Fighter.”  He also talks about coaches and sparring partners being key to learning, the danger and pain of it, being in the moment, becoming a writer with the encouragement of teachers, working for Jay as a writer’s assistant, the process of learning to...

Liz Feldman talks about turning tragedy into comedy and drama by being open. She also talks about being a young stand-up, writing for other comics, sexual harassment in the writers room, having to be better than men, her motherhood journey, how to be a show-runner, the Groundlings, deciding that her future was writing not acting, and all the guests that won’t do my podcast but does her new podcast...

Actor comic and writer Jamie Kaler talks about trying to manage a career while still making dinner for his girls, how's staying home to be a dad forced him to find other outlets, how podcasting in social media is the next big hurdle, how the navy helped him be funny, how stand up comedy has changed, and how to survive the wild ride of show business. Bio:Jamie Kaler An accomplished actor, comic, ho...

We talk with Texan/South Asian stand-up, writer, director about his journey from Texas, his love of comedy and its connection to his father’s love, a family of doctors, was stand-up a phase, bad jokes, going to USC film school, his love of sitcoms, Jess Oppenheimer, making his first pilot, putting his road career on hold while he takes care of his mother, opening for the great D.L. Hughley, being...

Comedy and radio legend Phil Proctor talks about the origin of the Firesign Theater, his love of radio, his many careers as an actor, reporter, writer, comedian, author, and how he made the New York, San Francisco, and LA scenes when there were scenes to make!  He also talks about his biography “Where’s My Fortune Cookie” and how he almost died three times.  Let’s see if he survives our podcast. B...

The conversation continues and we talk about being more confident as we get older, learning to be happier in the writer’s room, Linda Lavin, bad table reads, dealing with notes, notes are not helpful, politics in shows, Ryan Murphy’s genius, trying to make multi camera sitcoms in a world that may not want them, being high school friends, Sidney Pollack, David getting the writer’s job, Jay was poli...

Max and David talk war stories about working on “The SIngle Guy” including Ernest Borgnine, playing poker, NBC screwing Jay over, Buz Kohan, David Bowie, The Garth Brooks Joke, Max telling the show runner stuff he shouldn’t, having your partner being yelled at, the love of Jim Burrows, lunch of Walter’s, setting up boundaries, Will & Grace, Mid Century Modern, early success, why they never hired J...

Writer/Actor/Singer/Improviser Jim Wise talks with Jay about meeting as runners on The Garry Shandling Show, song Improv, acting, writing for Mad TV, Jay Leno, The Groundlings, singing for a living, being one of the best song improvisers in the business, and how Jay pushed him in all the right directions.  Bio:JIM WISE is a fervent improviser and an alumnus of the Groundling Theater. If you’re in...

Writing legends John August & Craig Mazin talk about their journey to screenwriting, podcasting, & writing a book.  They talk about how to boil  down 15 years of shows down to a book, the origin of the scriptnotes podcast, the need to help people combined with being annoyed by people, what each of them considers good writing, why people who hate books on writing wrote a book on writing, there are...

Michael McKean talks about going from goofball to respected dramatic actor, how his high school drama teacher, NYU and Carnegie Mellon  pushed him into a lifetime of being a creative person, Christopher Guest being his roommate, the credibility gap, being a long haired hippie, how Rob Reiner and Penny Marshall got him on “laverne & shirley”, being a writer, Annette O'Toole being the perfect partne...

Writers Tom Gammill and Max Pross discuss being comedy writing partners and then not being partners on SNL, Gary Shandling’s Show, Seinfeld and dozens of great comedies, while Marc Wolodarsky and Jay Kogen, also former writing partners, do the same.  They discuss the state of show business, what’s life like after writing, becoming an EMT, writing novels, pilots with puppets, development hell, pitc...

UnCabaret founder and host, Beth Lapides, talks about creating the show to have a place to perform then how it shifted to a place where she nurtured Taylor Negron, Judy Toll, Patton Oswalt, Margaret Cho, Bob Odenkirk, Janeane Garofalo, and everyone else to be the best performer they could. She talks about how to be creative and how to stop getting in your own way, how life is change and change is...

Shane Black, Jim Herzfeld, Fred Dekker, and David Silverman look back on their formative years at UCLA and the shared house that became a creative hub and lifelong support system. What began as a loose collective of film-obsessed college friends evolved into a 24-hour open-door hangout where movie watching, gaming, writing, joking, and low-budget filmmaking fueled both friendships and ambition. In...

Larry discusses his brilliant autobiography Comedy Samurai, becoming a writer, Friday's, arsenio, seinfeld, mad about you, borat, curb your enthusiasm, and all of the strife and feeds, and turmoil they and he created. We talk about the passion that drives you to take risks. And why wearing pajamas is dangerous. Bio: Larry Charles, rose from the mean streets of Brooklyn and the working class housin...

The always in demand, Michael Hitchcock, talks about how children's theater led to adult theater which led to a career of acting and writing with the groundlings, mad tv, christopher guest, crazy ex girlfriend, currently the lowdown and nobody wants this.  We chat about writing vs acting and what it takes to realize where you should be. Bio: Actor, writer, producer (and when he was a teenager, sem...