Ian Talks Comedy

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...

Julie Larson discusses growing up in Geneva Illinois; Mike Royko; her dad being her greatest comedy influence; growing up in a crowded house; southern sitcoms on the 1960's; Rose Marie; moving to Chicago in 1980; taking classes at Second City; moving to L.A. in 1984; becoming a Comedy Store Player; meeting Colin Mochrie & Ryan Stiles; performing with them at night while working for a law f...

Sal discusses growing up in Brooklyn and having TV and movies be his safe space; Catholic school; moving to California at age 12; going to public school; joining the drama department at UC Davis; studying at NYU under Olympia Dukakis; doing a few commercials and The Taking of Pelham 1,2,3 in New York; moving to LA and getting a role in The Montefuscos; The Montefuscos getting canceled; doing Mary...

Markus Jennings and I discuss our mutual love for Saturday Night Live; Chris Farley; Jim Downey; getting tickets; my episode backstage; Chris Elliot; how he can't have a favorite episode; my favorite episodes; favorite cast; impressionists JAJ, Dana, Phil, and Joe Piscopo's versions of the same people; favorite musical guests; cast members; and trivia

Rick Mischel and I discuss being native NYers; growing up on film; went into law entertainment; read scripts at Electric Pictures; becoming Senior VP of Acquisitions for Live Entertainment; FHE; producing Suicide Kings; becoming President of Harvey Entertainment licensing Casper & Richie Rich; Mainframe CGI creates DVD films (Max Steele); Reach Games; Sony hires him to create a features studio...

Former child actor Sparky Marcus (Issoglio) discusses the origins of his name; being on TV before watching it; first job a McDonalds commercial at 3 1/2; being a SAG member; working on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman; playing a child evangelical preacher; being spanked by Dabney Coleman; Freaky Friday; working with actors who don't like children; not liking to watch himself; not remembering being o...

Covers of some of the most famous songs by people you didn't think would do it: Sammy Davis Jr, Jack Albertson, Carroll O'Connor, Glenn Close, Terry Bradshaw; Jim Nabors, George Burns, Frank Sinatra, and Tiny Tim

Kenneth Tigar joined me and discussed the pronunciation of his last name; his favorite radio shows; hist first TV; watching Requiem for a Heavyweight; Norman Lloyd; acting was just a hobby; getting a PhD in German from Harvard; translated Brecht plays into English; working on The Proposition improv troupe and Broadway show with Judy Kahan, Paul Kreppel; and Fred Grandy; leaving the Proposition to...

I talk to comedian / actor Dave Konig on working with The State; Jon Stewart; Kevin Meaney; Gilbert Gottfried; appearing on Subway Q & A, Hardcore TV;, Law and Order, The Apprentice, Louie, Crashing, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel; the schedule for comedians on cruises and shooting a Dry Bar Comedy Special

Neal Marshad joins me to talk about his father, a graphic artist for Look Magazine; living near a movie theater; learning how to film high school football games; 16 mm vs. the split 8 cameras; going to film school with Leonard Maltin; his editing and documentary professors at NYU; is first documentary, "Sculpture by Isaac Witkin"; working friendship with Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara; cre...

Eddie Deezen joins me to discuss 1941; working with Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, and Christopher Lee; Midnight Madness and tough night shoots; loving most of the cast; doing a pilot with Ally Sheedy that didn't get picked up; doing a back door pilot on The Facts of Life; co-starring on Punky Brewster; going to The Tonight Show and getting his foot run over by Paul McCartney; Beverly Hills Vamp w...