Ian Talks Comedy

Adam Lapidus joins me to talk about using his initial; being 6' 9"; Conan O'Brien; NYC real estate; his father being childhood friends with Dave Davis and then reconnecting; meeting James L. Brooks and being asked to be a PA on Taxi at 16; going to NYU; getting a PA job on the Ellen Burstyn Show; Norman Steinberg; Megan Mulally; Jim Burrows secret of TV directing; writing freelance fo...

John C. Larrochia joined me to discuss growing up watching Dean Martin's Roasts and Johnny Carson; his funny family members; opening up in high school; joining FDNY; forming his foundation; touring Dallas; mechanical bulls; holding an Almost Gala; his TV show on You tube and Optimum; joining hazmat team; D.B. Frick; the charities sponsor: Barish & McGary; working in the Hazmat division; ho...

Jay Moriarty joins me to discuss how "All in the Family" changed TV; he and his partner writing a spec AITF and getting turned down; writing the "IQ Test" episode of Good Times; pitching "Louise's Daughter" to The Jeffersons"; getting a staff job; his 2 favorite episodes about MLK's death and the KKK; writing Jeffersons episodes about age discrimination a...

Jay Madison joined me to discuss growing up in Madison, Wisconsin; watching superhero shows an d old movies; Al in the Family; Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman and Fernwood 2Night; WC Fields; starting stand up in San Diego and moving to Minnesota; meeting Louie Anderson, Roseanne, and Tom Arnold; starting to write with Judd Apatow; rewriting a movie with Judd; getting hired at Roseanne; appearing at Eve...

Jerry Rannow discusses his love of old-time comedy and book about Mabel Normand; his comedy writer detective series; his first book on how to write for TV; growing up in Wisconsin in the 50's; meeting the head of Love American Style at a party and pitching; dropping out of UW Milwaukee to be in Bye, Bye, Birdie; his TV debut on Channing; guesting on My 3 Sons and The Beverly Hillbillies; being...

Ray Stewart joined me to discuss his love of movies, especially the Road Pictures; seeing a real life movie star in person; acting as far back in first grade; his mother who wanted to be an actress but directed all the towns productions with Ray coming along; going to the University of Texas; befriending Rip Torn; studying under Sanford Meisner; taking eight years to make a living from acting; his...

George Beckerman joined me to talk about early TV, his first writing job, 1983's NBC Yummy Awards; Paul Winchell and Pinky Lee; growing up in Forest Hills; going to high school with Jerry Springer; going into the textile business; getting his suits on the cover of GQ; selling his business and moving to LA; writing a screenplay "Beverly Hills Shrink" for Fred Weintraub; writing a spec...

Dave Hackel joined me to discuss growing up in Delaware, Ohio; being kept busy by TV; working in radio at 14; doing everything for a cable channel in Columbus for three years; moving to LA and getting a job that supplied prizes for game shows; Turtle wax; writing in the same building as game show writers; getting first break, on Fish; working with Abe Vigoda; getting staff jobs on Shirley, a Shirl...

Brandon Maggart joins me and discusses radio in the 1940's; how acting in a school play made him more verbal and popular with teachers; being a singer; going to Sewanee; getting invited to come to NY; going to University of Tennessee; singing and DJing; leaving the Air Force; his opera career; being a guide at NBC; working with Cathryn Damon, Renee Taylor (in Lil' Abner) and Sherry Britton in Top...

Ian Gurvitz joined me to discuss the derivation of his name; growing up in Plainview; TV he watched including Laugh-In and Batman; William Daniels; going to Ithaca College; moving to NYC and writing for comics; getting hired to write for short lived sitcom A Fine Romance; selling a Wonder Years; writing The Great TV and Movie Quizbook; creating Normal Life with Moon Unit and Dweezil Zappa; writing...

Comedian Trent Mabry joins me to discuss his podcast Echo Chamber; Rosie Ruiz: MLB umpires; watching Seinfeld at 6 made him want to be a stand up; his first and second times performing; differences between Indiana and NYC open mic's; importance of social media; not burning material; Norm MacDonald and Gilbert Gottfried; day jobs; winning Indiana's Funniest comedian and that driving him to...

Karyl Miller joined me and talked about growing up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in the late 1950's; being a loner; listening to radio and begging her father to buy a TV; going to Cal Arts for a summer program; not going to college; going to night fashion school; mom wanting her to marry a nice Jewish man; being inspired by Lily Tomlin; wrote spec scripts while designing dresses; met Garry Marshall;...

Ferris Butler and his biographer D.B. Frick joined me to discuss his garage band version of SNL "Waste Meet News"; his love for Sid Caesar and Ernie Kovacs; Brooklyn in the 50's and 60's; his pilot for the Vintage Seltzer Hour with Michael O'Donoghue and Garrett Morris; going to NYU film school and being taught by Martin Scorsese and classmates with Billy Crystal; creating Wa...

Jeff Altman and I discuss growing up in Syracuse; his father, Arthur, teaching him slight of hand magic; learning more at Johns Hopkins; moving to LA and going to the Magic Castle; trying out at the Comedy Store; doing a comedy album with Denny Johnston; his Carson impression and two times he met him; doing his voice on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman; doing voices on Norman Lear shows and Archie Bunke...

Ivan Decker and I discuss his Netflix special; his current You tube special Popcorn; your wife asking you to get something that's closer to her; his son; grandparents; the frenulum; being behind on comedy in Canada; Paul F. Tompkins; debuting as a 16 year old doing Mitch Hedberg; being booed off stage; me seeing Carlin booed off stage; the internet allowing you to know who a comedian is before...

Robert Wolterstorff joined me to discuss being mentored by Norman Lear; a quick overview of his career; going to SFSU; being mentored by Norman Lear; selling a Good Times; going to work on the Jeffersons; turning down a chance to write / produce the Incredible Hulk; his pilot Pen 'n' Ink aided by Louis Schwartzberg; doing a college interview for Benjamin Spock for President that got picked...

Debra Frank joined me to discuss Sky King; wanting to be Mary Tyler Moore and he Girl from Uncle; being an extra in WUSA and meeting Paul Newman; dreaming of being in Perry Mason; being a tour guide at Universal; doin a Columbo impression on The Peoples Choice Awards; doing theatre and having a lot of downtime; writing a spec Rhoda script and a female Woody Allen film; being a stand in for Kathlee...

Jim Pankovits discussed with me his father teaching him the game; being a catcher made him know all parts of the game; Doug Rader; watching the Braves; playing and losing the Little League and College World Series; Ed Lynch; getting drafted and moving to second base; minor league travel horror story; getting called up; his first major league hit; the pitchers he went deep off of; facing Dwight Goo...

Babs Greyhosky joined me to discuss her love of early sitcoms; her and her father watching The Rockford Files; always wanting to be a writer; having a family friend in Don Bellasario; wrote spec scripts as a substitute teacher; moved to LA and became a secretary for Battlestar Galactica writers; typed pilot of Magnum, PI; humor; first assignment; her name; memorable episodes; stories the king; Gre...

Doug Sivco discussed early kids TV; watching SNL in high school; going to Rutgers and being on the radio; trying out to be an NBC page; NBC Nightly News; Space Shuttle Columbia; Election 1980; literally bumping into to Ted Kennedy; Letterman morning show; getting the job at SNL; taking messages for the cast; remembering hosts Elliot Gould, Chevy Chase, and Rodney Dangerfield; Burt Reynolds saves h...

Aubrey Solomon and I discussed being born in Canada; not watching TV since the 1960's; going to USC; his movie, The Klutz; working on the tv show The Art of Film; working on the TV show That's Hollywood and using his thesis on 20th Century Fox; he and his partner Steve Greenberg are asked to write a spec script about MLK & JFK; it gets to Jack Klugman; they pitch him an episode he like...

Jay Johnson talks to me about being introduced to puppetry by Ricky Layne and Velvel; starting with his cousins Jerry Mahoney doll at 11; having dyslexia; reading scripts; doing 918 shows the summer after high school at Six Flags in Georgia; hiss first puppet, Squeaky; working Rotary and Kiwanis Clubs in Texas; going to college for marketing; finding Edgar Bergen's trunk; Bob is in the Smithso...

Larry Mollin joined me to talk black and white TV; going to Georgetown to study foreign service; going into acting in summer stock with Jeffrey Kramer and Marty Nadler; transferring to Ithaca College; going to Canada where they paid artists; touring Canada's schools and prisons; Santa Jaws leads to a three-album deal; being a roadie for Blood, Sweat & Tears; being friends with the Second C...

Susan Lanier and I discuss MLB manager Hal Lanier; her song, "On the Way to Woodstock"; watching "The Miss America Pageant"; growing up in Dallas; being a DJ at 14; studying with Uta Hagen; acting in the film The Pickle Goes in the Middle; doing non-Union movies in NYC with Warhol and Putney Swope directed by Robert Downey, Sr.; going to LA and getting cast on Happy Days; not k...

Podcaster / author Jonathan Rosen joined me to discuss growing up watching TV with his family; being a teacher; not wanting to be in show business; being an author of children's author; writing a blog about nostalgia; meeting his co-host Ike Eisenman; his guest want list; landlines; Kim Richards; guests Paul Williams and Meeno Peluce; crushes Cher, Lisa Whelchel, Audrey Landers; leaving things...