Here’s my conversation with Maz Jobrani, an Iranian-American comedian who writes about his life in “I’m Not A Terrorist, But I’ve Played One On TV.” I asked him about being typecast in those roles and when he decided he wouldn’t do them anymore. We also discussed how his family assimilated into American culture when the […]
Austin Tichenor and Dominick Conti — two-thirds of the Reduced Shakespeare Company* — were in the studio with me to talk about their latest production, “The Complete History of Comedy (Abridged). We took it from the beginnings (cave comedy) through Abe Lincoln’s standup comedy and into modern times, and I had Austin perform his signature […]
Carl Reiner is, inarguably, a comedy legend. You may know him from recent movies like “Ocean’s 11/13” or classics like “The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming.” He created “The Dick Van Dyke Show” and has appeared on dozens of other shows, including as recently as earlier this year in a guest spot on […]
I was saddened to hear about the death of John Pinette, a very funny man whose life ended in a Pittsburgh hotel room this weekend at age 50. I first met John in 1998 when his career was taking off. I saw him perform on a Thursday night at the DC Improv and tear the […]
Harold Ramis — who wrote, directed, or acted in some of the funniest movies ever (“Animal House,” “Ghostbusters,” “Stripes,” “Groundhog Day”) — died today at age 69. So I dug into my archives to find an interview I did with him about his then-new movie, “The Ice Harvest,” starring John Cusack and Billy Bob Thornton. […]
David Steinberg has been in the comedy business for 50 years, as a performer, writer, director, and producer. On Monday night, his “Inside Comedy” series will return for its third season (with guests Jimmy Fallon and Zach Galifanakis), preceded by a 90-minute documentary about his career entitled “Quality Balls.” Today, David was back on my […]