Ian Talks Comedy

Elaine Aronson joined me to discuss 60's TV; growing up in Newton, Mass; going to college for dance; graduating from UCSB with a degree in dramatic arts w/o talking a drama class; teaching dance; being a secretary at Empire Pictures; writing scenes for child actors; getting Ron Zimmerman as a mentor; writing a spec Molly Dodd; getting hired on It's the Garry Shandling Show; first episode is Gilda...

Michael Curtis joined me to talk Saturday Morning cartoons; going to SDSU Film Corps; having a local Emmy nominated public access sketch show; working on Return of the Killer Tomatoes; being a PA for many films, then an AD; meeting his partner Greg Mahlins; pitching and an episode of Dream On; a story for The Wonder Years; joining the writing staff of Great Scott with Tobey Maguire; writing The Ma...

Rosie Shuster and Marilyn Suzanne Miller join me to talk about MSM's love of the musical Peter Pan; Rosie loving her dad's joke books, West Side Story, and being in the audience of the  Ed Sullivan Show ; Rosie meets Lorne Michaels and Howard Shore; MSM goes to work for James L. Brooks & Garry Marshall; Rosie writes for Canadian children and crime game shows; sends a monologue for  Laugh In  t...

Gary Seith & Brad Robinson join me to discuss the A-Team; Mr. T's cartoon; 80's sitcoms; Alf; Pulp Fiction; high school journalism turns to making short films; college; Gary working for Fox Philadelphia and Clerks the Animated Series; Brad AD's his professor's films at Penn State; working on Hack, Always Sunny; Gary meets his wife on the set of The Push; Brad works on Ted & Blues Jasmine;...

Stuart Pankin joined me to discuss his first TV role; watching Winky Dink & Howdy Doody; Pats v. Geno's; Dickinson College English major; early off-Broadway and Broadway roles; San Pedro Beach Bus; Next Stop, Greenwich Village; Scavenger Hunt; Barney Miller; Alex Henteloff; Magic on Love Island; No Soap, Radio; Not Necessarily the News; no trailer had to use bathroom; playing different charact...

Peter Gaulke joined me to discuss seeing Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and It's A Wonderful Life recently in theatres; no new comedy films premiering; became bored in gymnastics, did comedy bits; tried to get on Gong Show but goes to Comedy Store to practice and tries out; comedy influences; Showtime Special; starting in LA stunts his progress; meeting Fred Wolf and making videos to sell to Dick Cl...

Chuck Sklar joined me to discuss his birth town; the Cubs and Blackhawks; his first memory of watching the 1968 Democratic National Convention; Captain Nice; Iowa comedians / comedy writers Harper Steele, Higgins Boys & Gruber; writing sketches for Toby Huss's comedy troupe; starting standup; being introduced as a great writer; moving to Boston from Chicago; callbacks; appearing on Evening at...

Lowell Ganz joined me to discuss how watching classic sitcoms was his "college"; his parents reaction to his constant TV watching; meeting Mark Rothman; Mark Rothman's dad giving a script they wrote to Jack Klugman and Tony Randall who gave it to Garry Marshall; getting hired, fired and rehired by  The Odd Couple ; "The Ides of April" and "Fear of Flying"; moving to  Happy Days ; writing the exper...

SNN's Jon Schneider joins me to unbox an awesome assemblage of Saturday Night Live memorabilia sent to me by Eileen O'Brien including over 40 episode rundowns, 3 full scripts, tickets to after parties, and a graphic novel depicting the 2/2/85 Alex Karras / Tina Turner episode

Chris DeLuca joins me to discuss the Staten Island / Long Island dichotomy; the Magic Garden; WPIX; Milford Plaza; first laugh in 3rd grade; writing in college; being a Letterman fan; Letterman's making comedy out of nothing vs. Conan's style; Conan product placement sketches; SNL internship; 1st week Chevy Chase / Robbie Robertson; Tom Hanks pacing back and forth trying to imitate Joe Pesci; eati...

Peter Montagna joined me to discuss the pronunciation of his last name; TV tubes; being a fan of monster movies; his goal of being a painter; graduating with a degree in nutrition; working at NYU; seeing SNL shoot a sketch near his job gives him the itch; reads Corsair's makeup book; quits his job; takes a class and then teaches with Burt Roth; corresponding with Dick Smith; not getting the ABC ma...

Don McEnery joined me to discuss knowing how to ask where the library is in Spanish; It's a Wonderful Life; attempting to be a singer-songwriter; a panic attack makes him decide to pursue standup; starting Long Island; observational humor; touring with Howie Mandel; worst gigs; comedy condos; working clean; working with Glenn "Mr. Bullhorn" Super and Sinbad; Dry Bar Comedy; getting on Evening on t...

Eddie Feldmann joined me to discuss growing up in Saugerties, NY; comedy albums and cartoons being his entree into comedy; a 3rd grade Catholic school essay gone awry; working in his families deli; getting a criminal justice degree from SUNY Oswego; trying an open mic in Virginia; moving to Virginia Beach to pursue comedy; Bob Saget & Joe Bolster get him to come to NYC; not getting passed at C...

Jon Beckerman joins me to discuss watching the UK "Friday Night Dinner" and adapting it for the US; Three's Company; writing farce; Michael Watkins; casting Carol Kane; Dayenu scene; playing full contact Jeopardy; Julia Louis Dreyfus gives helpful note on the DL; growing up near Mr. Rogers; writing for the Harvard Lampoon; getting on as an artist; writing on a pilot called Dirty Laundry; writing H...

Dawna Kaufmann joined me to discuss writing jokes for JFK, Khruschev, and Phyllis Diller as a child; JFK assassination; working for Don Kirschner's Rock Concert; her stage roles in the late 60's / early 70's; working on game shows for Allen Ludden & Grant Tinker; writing for Weekend Update; being the impetus for Phil Hartman's Anal Retentive Chef; Herb Sargent; Chris Farley being scared to "fl...

Dan O'Keefe joined me to discuss growing up in Chappaqua: writing for the Harvard Lampoon; joining the National Lampoon; writing letters from the editors; favorite pieces; writing for MTV and Comedy Central; writing for Cracked Magazine; submitting packets for Letterman & Conan; getting hired by Jay Leno; Jay-walking; Sprang (Spam and Tang); late night ghetto; grew up without TV; read a lot of...

Mike Teverbaugh joins me and discusses his names pronunciation; his new play, The Mostly True Story of a Common Scold; his other play, The Dugout; watching Captain Kangaroo as a child; Batman 66; going to UCLA to become a sportswriter; meeting his wife and future co-writer; writing spec scripts; joining an entertainment softball team; that leading to working on Who's the Boss; Billy; working on Ge...

T. Sean Shannon joined me to discuss his YouTube series "Baseball Card Theatre"; his favorite cards; going to the Astrodome with his six brothers and sisters for a whole day in the '70's; O-Pee Chee; his idol, his brother Charlie; having a funny mom; doing standup at 18; starting in club that Kinison, Hicks, and Andy Huggins started at; being influenced by Jack Douglas and Charle...

Rob Ulin joins me to discuss watching Gilligan's Island and Dick Van Dyke Show as a kid; wanting to be an actor; going to Harvard and being on Lampoon with Conan; writing a letter to Norman Lear who mentored him; writing the teleplay for a Married with Children; writing an episode of Hard Times on Planet Earth; how Ferris Bueller the TV series almost made him quit writing; Chloris Leachman; wr...

Bruce Handy joined me to discuss how to write picture books; children's literature; his book on the subject Wild Things; Goodnight Moon, Judy Blume, Willy Wonka; his first TV memories of the JFK assassination and Romper Room; reading Mad Magazine and starting his own at 10 years old; writing for the Stanford Chaparral; All the President's Men; National Lampoon; college humor mags; starting...

Mary Jenifer Mitchell and I discussed her early Tv favorites Liberace and Oral Roberts; going to NY after high school graduation; spending the summer of '66 in NYC; going to college in Colorado and dropping out; moving to NYC to be an actress in 1967; becoming friends with Michael O'Donoghue; not trying out for SNL b/c she was visiting her injured sister; being part of the Tom Eyens Eye Re...

Lori Nasso joined me to discuss watching Twilight Zone as a kid and SNL as a teenager; loving to play characters; going to college to study theatre; joining Second City and auditioning for SNL; getting hired as a writer and only knowing Cindy Caponera; being scared by the New York Magazine article; helping Will Ferrell with Get Off the Shed; writing the Rita Delvecchio sketches with Cheri Oteri; L...

Norman Stiles and I discuss watching Howdy Doody and having a friend on Mr. Wizard; being a welfare worker and writing jokes for Allen & Rossi; writing for the Merv Griffin Show; getting into the Childrens Television Workshop and then Sesame Street; how Sesame Street is taped in chunks; creating Count von Count; Jim Henson not being around; the TV special Out to Lunch; working with Christopher...

Marc Warren & Dennis Rinsler joined me to discuss their childhood influences; meeting in college; becoming teachers in NYC in the 70's and writing a script based on it; getting it sold and moving to L.A.; working arduous hours on Madame's Place; working on 1/2 Hour Comedy Hour, the pilot for Putting on the Hits, and FTV; Fast Times the TV show; Together We Stand / Nothing is Easy; Fran...

Eileen O'Brien joined me to discuss going to college to be a teacher; taking a job that led her to a South Carolina PBS station; discovering the world of production; becoming a PA on Great Performances; working as a PA for George Carlin; the hamburger story; getting started at SNL; Kevin Kay; doing cue cards for the Eddie Murphy showcase in September 1983 and messing up; Robin Williams; Audrey...