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Catching Up With Comedians: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Rich Stein
Rich Stein, a long time standup comic, took a few years off the road to teach high school, get married, and have a kid. Now, retired from teaching, he is back on stages and reconnecting with old friends and trying to Catch up with Comedians. Plenty of funny stories, anecdotes and tributes to the greats both famous and infamous!
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- 1 weeks ago59 min
Comedian Bill Kirchenbauer joins host Rich Stein
Bill is one of three comedians I have given a second episode to as they had all achieved fifty plus years in the comedy business. In part two with Bill we discuss his 14 Tonight Shows as well as his introduction into the Norman Lear family by way of Alan Thicke. Martin Mull and Fred Willard hosted two groundbreaking television shows America Tonight and Fernwood Tonight! Bill as the bad toupee wearing, lounge singer, crushed his audition and was on both shows from beginning till end. Alan Thicke also got Bill a recurring role as Coach Lubbock on his hit show "Growing Pains" which spun off to Bill's very own starring vehicle, " Just the Ten of Us" which was a hit and ran for three years on the network. Unfortunately a big producer coveted their time slot and demanded it for his next show which didn't last 13 episodes. Bill talks about Robin Williams brilliance and propensity for stealing jokes, (a couple of Bills as well!) Thankful that he got his own show as many comedians never even get a pilot much less a show. He continued to work in sit coms, game shows, stand up and producing his own shows where he acted as host and emcee for corporate events, casinos and larger venues. Bill is happily retired now and living with his family in Bangkok, Thailand but hours and hours of his comedy is available on you tube and streaming channels and his new podcast The Kirchenbauer/ Haffenhauer 2 is currently on you tube/ Facebook or wherever you get your podcasts. I will leave an image of the podcast on my Facebook and Instagram pages where I show this podcast. Thank you and now here is Bill Kirchenbauer!
- 3 weeks ago1h 3m
Comedian Bill Kirchenbauer joins host Rich Stein
(Part One: of my podcast with Bill) My guest, Bill Kirchenbauer came of age during The Comedy Boom of the 1980's. Bill had been on the road ever since he was born in Romania, in 1953 as the son of a career military man and his wife. Once in the U.S. the army kept Bill and his family on the move, where they lived in almost all fifty states and he attended 20 different schools in 13 years; one year he attended 3 schools. As an only child, Bill loved television as it was his companion, teacher, friend and University for his future comedy career. He became quite good at puppet shows and was entertaining his friends and classmates shortly after entering public school. Before starting stand up Bill trained for three years as a mime and concurrently for three years in improvisation, which was akin to getting his masters in comedy. Many stand ups perform for the first time as a novice with little or no preparation! Bill made it to The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson by age 25 and went on to do movies, game shows, Mork and Mindy and went on to star as Coach Lubbock in ‘Growing Pains’ starring Alan Thicke and from that spun off to his very own show ‘Just The Ten Of Us’ which was a big hit on the network. For those stories and more please welcome Bill Kirchenbauer !
- Sep 27, 202658 min
Comedian John Kensil joins host Rich Stein
This is part two of my two part episode with Comedian John Kensil. I re- ran the final 90 seconds of part one to create a smoother transition to parts one and two. We were chatting about comedians when we were young and John mentioned how many of them came on to The Mike Douglas Show ( which was taped for many years in Philadelphia) and many actors came on Mike Douglas as they were acting in dinner theater so as to keep their careers afloat. Bob Crane was doing dinner theater after his tv work dried up and that became his undoing. We discuss Gilbert Gottfried, Redd Foxx, Slappy White, SCTV, Robert Klein, Woody Allen, Johnny Carson, Dean Martin, Norm Macdonald, Lenny Bruce and where John thinks comedy is going and how important it is for the young comics to know about and respect all the greats that came before them. Please welcome a great comic and Philly Legend: John Kensil
- Sep 13, 202653 min
Comedian John Kensil joins host Rich Stein
John Kensil was an absolute pleasure to chat with on my podcast. He brings over thirty years of comedy chops to our mics at C.U.W.C. and he is unbridled about the comedy business and its evolution. Unlike many comedians, however, he has a very fun and affable way of accepting what was/ is/ and always will be an ever changing and evolving business in terms of comedy tastes, comedy styles, approaches, genres and whatever else gets thrown into the stew. We ended up chatting for quite awhile and so this will be # one of what will be two episodes with the fun and funny John Kensil. John's credits include being a working stand up comic for over thirty years. He started writing comedy and performing while still a student at Temple University. He later wrote material for Jay Leno's Tonight Show as well as for Joan Rivers. He has appeared on How I Met Your Mother as well as The King Of Queens and appears regularly at Gotham Comedy Club, Stand Up New York and The Comic Strip. He is also a a local Philly favorite at The Comedy Cabaret and The Comedy Works. John hosts his own very popular podcast show"Kensil Culture" which has been streaming online since 2022. Please welcome: John Kensil
- Aug 30, 202659 min
Comedy Director Linda Mendoza joins host Rich Stein
On my second visit with Comedy Director Linda Mendoza, we cover her extensive directing of the Gershwin awards for Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Burt Bacharach, Paul Simon, Paul McCartney and her equally expansive direction of the Mark Twain Awards for American Humor, including: David Letterman, Bill, Murray, George Carlin and Tina Fey. We also discussed her directing of so many icons of comedy in both sitcoms and specials, including, but not limited to: Martin Short, Bernie Mac, Chris Rock, John Leguizamo, Nikki Glazer, Wanda Sykes, Robert Klein and Robin Williams, who besides his comedy genius, Linda says he was the kindest and most humble person and unlike any other human she had ever met. ladies and gentlemen: Linda Mendoza
- Aug 15, 20261h 5m
Comic, Actor Chip Chinery joins host Rich Stein
Chip Chinery‘s life and career should be a college course, a documentary or at least a footnote at the National Comedy Center in Jamestown, New York. Chip started Comedy as an amateur at just 15 years of age. He performed stand up through high school and into college where he was active in Theater, film and video classes and he produced and starred in his own documentary at Miami University in Cincinnati titled “From Here To Fraternity’l After college Chip worked at the CBS TV affiliate in Cincinnati as a cameraman and later won an Emmy for “on air reporter” in the Midwest region. By twenty four Chip had been an amateur Comic with over 100 sets under his belt so he decided to quit his bank job and work one complete year just doing stand up to make his living. It was this experience which he would journal and compile to write his first book: Charging Mount Stand-Up. From 1989 to 1990 he started as an opening act/ MC and made it to where he could feature or middle by the end of the year. By the 90s he decided to move to Los Angeles and go full time into the business; taking acting and improv classes, and he slowly started getting commercials, sit com and film roles; Third Rock from the Sun, the Drew Carey Show and he did a very memorable Seinfeld as well as Curb, That 70’s Show, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Big Bang Theory and dozens more. A pleasure to welcome a man who put all his chips on the table and through his own hard work, spirit and determination, He Made It! ladies and gentlemen welcome Chip Chinery.
- Aug 1, 202659 min
Comic, Actor, Bob Greenberg joins host Rich Stein
Bob Greenberg, conceived in the Catskills and born at New York Hospital in Manhattan was destined for the stage. Bob has done everything in this business from comedy clubs to television sitcoms, dramas, mini-series and films. A longtime member of the Friars and Lambs, Bob has Won Best Actor Awards for Jimmy Breslin: How To Read The Newspaper and The Stella in two New York Theater Festivals. A talented character Comedian and impersonator, he regularly portrays Jackie Gleason, Lou Costello, Oliver Hardy and many other notables in stage shows and comedy performances. His talents have brought him to Conan O’Brien’s show as well as The David Letterman Show and Saturday Night Live. Off Broadway plays include The Jazz Singer and films include Big Money Hu$tla$, Maid In Manhattan and Disclosure Day; a film directed by Steven Spielberg and just released within the last month. Please welcome a gentleman who is not only a great actor, comic and artist, but a patron of the arts as well: Bob Greenberg
- Jul 20, 202651 min
Comedian Jimmy Shubert joins host Rich Stein
Jimmy Shubert born and raised in Philadelphia was one of seven boys with a police detective Dad and a school teaching Mom. Jimmy attended a magnet high school for the creative and performing arts and he was a professional working magician by age 15. He especially liked taking the acting classes Jimmy started performing stand-up comedy right out of high school in the local Philadelphia area. He moved out to Los Angeles during The Comedy Boom of the eighties and after being noticed by Sam Kinison, he became one of Sam’s outlaws and performed with them in Las Vegas casinos, showrooms and at the Universal Amphitheater in front of 6500 people In 1997 JIMMY did well enough at the Montreal "Just For Laughs" festival to get a holding deal to develop a sitcom for 20th Century Fox JIMMY has performed all over the United States twice, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Ireland, Mexico, and along with Drew Carey performed for the troops in the Middle East and Afghanistan for Armed Forces Entertainment. JIMMY Polkes holes and political correctness from a working man’s point of view. His latest album released on iTunes, Apple, and Amazon Music depicts that being a Comic in today’s culture is like walking through a minefield wearing clown shoes! His fifth Comedy album produced by Grammy Award nominated Dan Shlissel is entitled : "Clown Shoes!" Jimmy kicked off his very busy acting career in 1999 playing Vic Jr, the bouncer in the movie “GO” directed by Doug Lyman. That movie became a cult hit and catapulted Jimmy into many other high profile films such as Mr. and Mrs. Smith starring Bran-gelina, Jerry Bruckheimer‘s Coyote Ugly, One Hour Photo starring Robin Williams and The Italian Job starring Charlize Theron. On television Jimmy did fifteen King of Queens over five years, several appearances on Entourage and guest starring roles on Monk, E.R., Two Broke Girls and Disney’s hit show Zeke and Luther. Jimmy has been in all the big Documentaries about Comedy from 'Dying Laughing' to 'I am Sam Kinison' to the three part masterpiece by Mike Binder, which shows the entire history of comedy from the early 1970s until present time simply entitled "The Comedy Store!" Please Welcome a man who has truly been through every phase of show business from television, movies, stand up, magic and he is still going strong: Jimmy Shubert
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About Catching Up With Comedians
Rich Stein, a long time standup comic, took a few years off the road to teach high school, get married, and have a kid. Now, retired from teaching, he is back on stages and reconnecting with old friends and trying to Catch up with Comedians. Plenty of funny stories, anecdotes and tributes to the greats both famous and infamous!
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