Comedy History 101

The Jerry Springer Show has the notoriety of being the trashiest of all the trashy daytime talk shows. In 1995, a group of Canadian comedians pranked the Springer Show - and appeared on a segment entitled: My Husband Slept with the Babysitter. The prank made international news - and inspired many other Jerry Springer infiltrators followed over the years - including yours truly. Our guest today is...

Irate encounters with Bill Murray. Cary Grant at The Friar's Club. Margarita lunches at The Russian Tea Room. This was all part of being a celebrity journalist at People Magazine in the 1980s - for our guest Michael Small. And check out Michael's podcast: I Couldn't Throw It Out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Michael Small was a staff member of The Harvard Lampoon. He is our guest today - on his history at one of the oldest and most prestigious humor magazines in the world. The alumni of The Harvard Lampoon include such icons in comedy as Conan O'Brien, Greg Daniels, Jim Downey, Colin Jost, BJ Novak - and numerous writers for SNL, The Simpsons, Letterman, Curb Your Enthusiasm - as well as almost every...

I interview the directors behind the new documentary, Satan Wants You - which tells the story how the Satanic Panic of the 1980s was ignited by the book, Michelle Remembers. Find out how the book was used by law enforcement to convict innocent people - and was later determined to be a complete hoax. The episode I produced for 99 Percent Invisible, mentioned in our show, can be found at: 99percenti...

I talk to Joe Pickett and Nick Prueher curators of the Found Footage Festival - on their love of found videos, infiltrating TV shows, sabotaging America's Got Talent, and their new documentary, Chop & Steele. Learn how posing as a strongman duo landed Joe and Nick in a major lawsuit and what was the reaction when they peed in their pants in front of Howie Mandal, Simon Cowell, and Scary Spice on N...

More Grateful Dead stories? We talk to Frankie Accardi-Peri who co-managed Grateful Dead ticket sales from 1984- 1995- and she has some Dead insider stories to tell. This is a companion episode to my interview with Steven Marcus who was the Dead's ticketing head honcho. My interview with Frankie was part of research for a fiction script I wrote for the podcast Paperless - and my episode entitled:...

Joe Raiola was a writer and editor of Mad magazine for 33 years. And he has some stories to tell on how Mad shaped comedy in America - and whose voice resonates through such entities as The Onion, The Daily Show, The Simpsons - and beyond. Take time to 'like,' subscribe, and comment on ComedyHistory 101. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Edinburgh Fringe Festival is the biggest performance festival in world. It takes place during the month of August and has launched the comedy careers of Monty Python, Eddie Izzard, Fleabag - and just about every major comedy figure in the UK. Its where comedians go to get their Beatles 10,000 hours of Hamburg performing skills. The Edinburgh Festival is both amazing and soul-crushing at times....

Revenge of the Nerds is one of the classic comedies of the 1980s. And we talk to Andrew Cassese who played child-genius: Wormser in the movie. Revenge of the Nerds featured early roles from such actors as John Goodman, James Cromwell, Anthony Edwards - and Andrew tells us some behind the scenes antics of what it was like to be an onscreen members of the Lamda Lamda Lamda fraternity. Learn more abo...

Comedian Freddy Lockhart has the notoriety of being the very last person to EVER bring up Seinfeld's Michael Richard on stage as a comedian - the night he had his infamous meltdown at the Laugh Factory. Freddy was also there, at the Comedy Store - the night Joe Rogan confronted Carlos Mencia on stage for being a joke thief. Freddy shares these tales & his recent experience taking on an A.I. in a c...

Reprise: Our guest is Art Bell; the man who pitched the idea that became Comedy Central. Art was also the head of programming at the network. We do a deep dive into the origin of such iconic shows as Mystery Science Theater 3000, South Park, The Daily Show - and talk about the early careers of Jon Stewart, Marc Maron, and Bill Maher. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adcho...

Mr. Bill is one of the most iconic characters in the history of Saturday Night Live. He got his start in the first season of SNL - as a viewer submitted Super 8 film. In his heyday, this bundle of Play-Do was the third most beloved character on SNL - right behind John Belushi and Gilda Radner. And we are talking to Walter Williams - the creator of Mr. Bill - who also become a staff writer at SNL....

Some of the best comedians in the world come from Ireland. We're talking your Dylan Morans, your Ardal O'Hanlons, your Tommy Tiernans - and just about every comedian you've seen on the TV show: Father Ted. And we have Irish comedian Johnny Candon - who joins us to give a brief history of stand up comedy on the Emerald Isle - whose modern day roots begin at a venue called The Comedy Cellar, upstair...

I talk to Jordan Belfort - the man whose life story was told onscreen in the Martin Scorsese movie: The Wolf of Wall Street (as well as in the movie: The Boiler Room) - where he was portrayed on screen by Leonardo DiCaprio. We dive into the history of The Wolf Wall Street - as well as what it was like to share a jail cell with legendary comedian Tommy Chong of Cheech and Chong. Take time to 'like,...

The Kids in the Hall are one of the most iconic sketch comedy groups in history. And we do a deep dive into their origin story with Paul Myers - who knew KITH in their early days. Paul is the author of The Kids in the Hall: One Dumb Guy, the executive producer of the documentary The Kids in the Hall: Comedy Punks, as well a the brother to Mike Myers - and he gives insights into what it was like to...

Legendary comedian Rick Overton joins us to talk comedy. Rick's IMDB page is the size of a phone book; and includes Beverly Hills Cop, playing Matt Damon's boss in Steven Soderbergh's, The Informant! - and Showtime's: I'm Dying Up Here. We do a deep dive into Rick's comedy origin story - spanning back to his jazz musician father who played with Thelonious Monk. Like, subscribe and comment on Comed...

The iconic TV show Last Comic Standing - ran from 2003 to 2015. It was a reality show, where comedians competed to be, well, the last comic standing. The show helped launch the careers of such comedians as Amy Schumer, Gary Gulman, Nicky Glaser - and our guest today: Rob Cantrell. Rob was a finalist on Season One of Last Comic Standing - where he lived in a house in the Hollywood Hills with such c...

Our special guest is Wayne Federman author of the new book: The History of Stand-Up: From Mark Twain to Dave Chappelle. Wayne's impressive creds include Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Larry Sanders Show, Silicon Valley - as well as head monologue writer for The Tonight Show. We do some serious deep cuts into the history of stand-up comedy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adch...

As a tribute to the great Jackie Mason - who passed away this weekend - we have a reprise of our episode on Caddyshack 2. Jackie starred in the movie - which has the notoriety of being the worst sequel OF ALL TIME! Jackie took on the Rodney Dangerfield role for the movie - in this classic battle of the snobs vs. the slobs, (Spoiler Alert: The slobs win in the end!) Learn more about your ad choices...

Legendary comedian Rick Overton joins us to talk comedy. Rick's IMDB page is the size of a phone book; which includes Beverly Hills Cop, playing Matt Damon's boss in Steven Soderbergh's, The Informant! - to Showtime's: I'm Dying Up Here. Rick also has a new comedy special, out called: Rick Overton's Set List. We do a deep dive into Rick's comedy origin story - spanning back to his jazz musician fa...

From the archives: Sasha Baron Cohen plays activist Abbie Hoffman in the Netflix film, The Trial of the Chicago 7. As seen in the film, by day, Hoffman was in the courtroom - fighting conspiracy charges. By night, he would regularly perform at The Second City. Hoffman's stage appearance marked a transition at the theater - from a bunch of squares doing sketches; to progressive radicals that change...

To bookend the pandemic, we have a CH101 reprise on comedy helping to deal with tragic events. We look at comedy right directly after 9/11. They said irony was dead - but comedy help us pull through tragedy - especially with The Onion, SNL, Letterman, The Daily Show, and Gilbert Gottfried's legendary joke at the Friar's Club Roast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoic...

Our guest is Art Bell; the man who pitched the idea that became Comedy Central. Art was also the head of programming at the network. We do a deep dive into the origin of such iconic shows as Mystery Science Theater 3000, South Park, The Daily Show - and talk about the early careers of Jon Stewart, Marc Maron, and Bill Maher. Art also has a new book out: Constant Comedy: How I Started Comedy Centra...

From the archives: I talk to David Litt- former head joke writer for President Obama. We dive into what made Obama funny in the Oval Office; and contrast that to Trump's vastly different sense of presidential humor. (Trump's humor wheelhouse: mocking a disabled reporter and making fun of a sexual assault victim.) You might also know David Litt from his recent appearance on Newsmax - where he was b...

From the archives: In 1961, Dick Gregory was the first African American comedian to headline a white club. A pioneer in the world of stand-up comedy, Gregory's material mocked the bigotry and racism of the time. Gregory is equally known for his activism as well as his comedy. He's one of the most influential comedians in comedy history; inspiring the likes of Dave Chappelle, Eddie Murphy, and Chri...