Behind The Funny

Our friend Tom Stewart stopped by to discuss the new episodes he has coming out on his podcast My Paranormal Story.  If you listened the last time he was on, you know how much Scott loves this discussion.  Ace enjoyed this a little too much.  Tom brought some friends, EVPs (Electronic Voice Phenomenon), as examples this time which just added to the fun. 

Ace and Scott are hypnotized by this weeks guest.  By his stories that is.  Frank Santos Jr was this weeks guest and we start by reminiscing about Frank Sr, who Ace and Scott both had worked with.  Ace especially had some great stories.  Frank Jr has certainly made a name for himself and built his own legacy.  You think comedians have crazy bad gig stories, wait til you hear some from a hypnotist.

Ace and Scott talk to long time friend Jeremy Furtado this week.  We discuss his comedy career and his famous doppelgänger...

This week Ace and Scott travel out of the Ace-ment to have a conversation with Brad Mastrangelo.  We discuss Brad's beginnings in comedy which was based on a dare and how that built into him being one of the go to funny comedians in the Boston comedy scene and on cruise ships.  

Behind The Funny continues our talks with radio personalities.  Amy Pontes is Lite Rock 105 in Providence RI weekdays from 10am - 3pm.  We talk about her strange route to radio as well as her comedy improve career and her times doing standup.

Ace and I like to ask people for a few career wow moments.  AJ is the first person to start his career with them.  AJ is constantly working at becoming a better comic, he even left the podcast and went and did a set.  We talked about his comedy as well as his fundraising he does with his partner Ed Waugh.  Who has yet to make it to the podcast...   For previous Behind The Funny Episodes download t...

Dave Sinclair has that every dad look, then add comedy and you have the dad from Family Circus.  When Ace made this reference during this podcast, I could not stop laughing.  Dave is a great comic that now is producing events at Kilburn Comedy Cove in New Bedford MA.  He took the long route to comedy but we're glad he got there.  Go to  http://kilburncomedycove.com/  for info.  ACE5 coupon code fo...

Brian Mulhern is a very accomplished radio personality and comedy writer.  Brian is a go to go for any comedy roast dais.  The conversation centered around his time working with the Phil Hartman from SNL & News Radio.  They became close friends and worked on a lot of projects together.  We talked about Phil's death, which led us into Brian's own struggles with depression.  We started off with some...

Brendan Kirby is the co-host of the Rhode Show on WPRI 12 but his entertainment beginnings were in comedy.  He is an accomplished comedy writer who interned on Late Night with Letterman and even spent time in LA where he encountered Jay Leno and received feedback from Jay on his material.  He is a favorite on the dais of any roast he is on.  He came up with our new studio name, the Ace-ment.

Rodney was introduced to us by another guest we had scheduled who ended up sick and suggested Rodney.  Ace and I have been Facebook friends with Rodney for awhile but did not know him personally.  This turned out to be a really fun conversation.  Started comedy in Utah and now resides in CT.  He is a great guy with a great story.

Al and Bernadette are a comedy power couple and long time friends of Ace's.  Ace refers to them as the upper classmen from the Periwinkle's days.  Though they are both from New England, Bernie got her start in comedy in New York.  That's where they met before they were married.  They both put out a lot of video content online and Al tells about getting the gig on Bill Burr's "F Is For Family" on N...

Ray Harrington and Derek Furtado return to Behind The Funny to talk about their new project "Undependent".  It's a pilot they shot about two documentary film makers.  We talked about comedy festivals compared to film festivals.  Ray plays six degrees of separation bringing things full circle from the Comedy Connection in RI to making videos to Be A Man up to Undependent.  We start off with Ray des...

Ace and I traveled to the Winners Circle in Salisbury MA to talk to Juston McKinney and man was it worth it.  Fresh off his recording Marc Maron’s WTF podcast he still had a lot to say that he didn’t say on WTF.  He’s a very accomplished comedian with an unbelievable story.  From a tragic childhood, to being a sheriff, to TV holding deals.  He’s lived quite a life.  Ace knew Juston but I really en...

Drug Abuse and Fur Babies, hard to describe this episode but Ace and I invited Alan Moreau and Derek K Moore in for a discussion on all things comedy.  We start off congratulating Derek for being signed by an agent, the conversation then takes on a life of its own but it turned out to be a fun conversation.

This episode was a long time coming. Ace has been working a while to put this one together.  We know Ray would be a great guest.  He’s a very funny comic and we are both big fans of his documentary “Be A Man”.  We loved hearing his insights on making the documentary and highlights from his comedy career.  This is one of my favorite episodes.

What an awesome conversation we had with the legendary Red Peters.  He has had an amazing career and his songs are known by comedy fans everywhere.  He is a musician and a songwriter who has made 5 CDs.  After appearing on the Howard Stern show, Red had his own show on SiriusXM called the Red Peters Comedy Music Hour.  Ace and I love hearing peoples wow moments and funny bad gig stories and Red ha...

Ace and I traveled up to Salisbury MA to meet with Dave Decker at the Winners Circle.  Dave Decker is regular in the comedy scene from Boston to NY.  Dave and I have been Facebook friends for awhile by this is the first time we had a chance to talk.  The conversation started with a funny moment when the loud speaker blasted the next order number that was ready and we were off and running after tha...

Ace and I travel to Hartford CT to meet this weeks guest Billy Winn.  We met at City Steam Brewery Cafe in the Brew Ha Ha comedy club green room.  Billy is not only a veteran comic, he has had a great career as a radio dj.  Billy's 30 plus years provided a lot of great stories for this episode.

Ace and I enjoy getting to know comedians but it is always a blast when we invite a couple friends in for a discussion.  John Morris and Jay Burns join us this week.  We started talking about health and John's recent health scare and from there we discussed SNL, working through jokes, and on.  When comedians get together we tend to throw shots at each other and this one was no different.

Ace and I are proud to put out our 100th show Pt 2.  We discuss and play clips from our first three seasons.  Order of clips and discussions are:   1) COMEDY SCENES w/ Tony V, Bill Campbell, Charlie Hall & Frank O'Donnell, Mike McDonald 2) META w/ Derek Furtado, Sue Costello 3) FAMILY Cathy Murray, John Morris 4) PARANORMAL w/ Mike  Murray, Tom Stewart 5) FUNNY STORIES w/ Tony V, Mike McDonald 6)...

Ace and I are proud to put out our 100th show.  We discuss and play clips from our first three seasons.  Order of discussions and clips are:   1) 100th show w/ Scott Higgins 2) Diverse backgrounds w/ Joe Hebert, Steve Donovan, Matty Blake, Chris Zito 3) Heartfelt stories w/ Amy Tee, Phillip Anthony, Sue Costello, Poppy Champlin, Jess Miller 4) Controlling comics w/ Mike McCarthy, Charlie Hall, Fra...

Ken Rogerson is literally the Funniest Man You Never Heard Of.  Ace and I have always enjoyed working with Ken.  A CT native like myself, he started comedy in Chicago before migrating to Boston during the comedy boom.  He was featured in the documentary "When Stand Up Stood Out" which was about the Boston comedy explosion.  He has appeared in the show Rescue Me as well as movies like Something Abo...

Chance Langton is a Boston comedy original.  He was part of the original comedy boom and is still entertaining crowds today.  He worked with Rodney Dangerfield and Eddie Murphy, you know, just to mention a few.  One of Adam Sandler's favorite comics.  In fact, Adam had Chance sing in his movie Eight Crazy Nights.  He has had an amazing career and Ace and I were thrilled to go along with him as he...

Alan is a very interesting case study to say the least.  He lives life like he does comedy, on his own terms.  He does not possess a filter on stage and yet finds the funny in situations others would not talk about out loud.  Armed with a quick wit and biting sense of humor, he is a lot of fun.  

Mike “Flynzo” Flynn was integral part of the start of my comedy career.  His open mics were where I first built my act.  He’s had quite a comedy career himself.  I met Ace at one of Flynzo’s open mics.  This one was close to home for me.