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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 ago53 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
- 3 weeks ago59 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
- Jul 5, 202648 min
Director Linda Mendoza joins host Rich Stein
Linda Mendoza is an award-winning Director, born and raised in Detroit, Michigan. She was a Sociology Major before falling into the television industry. Linda got her start in the multi- camera/variety genre as a production assistant. She worked her way up on hit shows such as 'In Living Color' and ''Saturday Night Live." Linda’s love of stand-up started at an early age. Later her opportunities working with artists like Robin Williams, on 'Robin Williams at the Met', Billy Crystal’s 'Midnight Train to Moscow' and Martin Short's "I Martin Short, Goes Hollywood" allowed her to learn the art of Stand-Up from the best. The 'Chris Rock Show' for HBO would help her transition to full-time directing and the 'Bernie Mac Show' would be her break into narrative, episodic television. Since then, Linda’s gone on to direct over 130 episodes of comedy including, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Black-ish, Grown-ish, 30 Rock and Scrubs. She has directed two features. Chasing Papi for Fox 2000 and Relationship Goals, which is currently streaming on Amazon Prime. She is so thankful to her family for all the love and support. Her husband, Tim, for being the perfect life partner. The beautiful young men she was blessed with, her son, John, and her nephew, Marccus. And of course, her best friend and sister through it all, Dora. She is so grateful to God, for guiding her and helping her succeed. Despite herself! Linda is proud to be a working member of the Director's Guild of America for over 35 years. Please help me welcome my very special guest today, Director of comedy from sit coms to specials and the coveted Mark Twain Prize for American Humor: Linda Mendoza.
- Jun 19, 20261h 3m
Comedian Tom Ryan joins host Rich Stein
Tom Ryan has been a full-time standup comedian for over thirty years. He made two appearances on the Late Show with David Letterman and recently performed at Carnegie Hall. Since he was about 10 years old, Tom wanted to be a standup comedian. The first standup comedy he ever heard was from David Brenner and George Carlin. At 26, he left an insurance job in his hometown of Philadelphia to move to Florida where he landed a job at a local golf course. The job lasted only 3 weeks. Ryan says, “Losing that job was the best thing that ever happened to me because it forced me to confront exactly what I wanted to do with my life.” He took a job as a doorman at the newly opened Comedy Corner in West Palm Beach. It was the lowest paying but most valuable job he ever had. It provided him with a complete comedy education watching acts such as Jerry Seinfeld, Dennis Miller and Bill Hicks. It was not long before Tom made his stage debut. Within two years he was working full time as a comedian. Since then, Tom Ryan has worked steadily at comedy clubs, concert venues and corporate functions across the U.S. In addition to his Letterman appearances, he has also been featured on Showtime, A&E, Comedy Central and NBC. He has performed as the opening act in concert for B.B. King, Natalie Cole, Jeff Beck, Earth, Wind and Fire, Aretha Franklin, Tim Allen, Steven Wright, Brian Regan, Gary Gulman, Jerry Seinfeld, and Dennis Miller just to name a few. Tom’s comedy can be heard regularly on Sirius XM radio. His original style makes it easy for him to write for special events. He regularly headlines corporate events including Citigroup, HP, Morgan Stanley and Church and Dwight. Tom believes that the best comedy comes from the most unlikely sources. Here is an example from his act: “I was driving around the other day and my oil light came on. But that little symbol looks nothing like an oil can. When it first came on, I thought well, apparently my car is low on gravy.” BOOK NOW (https://tomryan.com/contact) Please welcome: Tom Ryan...
- Jun 8, 202628 min
Filmmaker and Animator Gene Hamm joins host Rich Stein
This is Gene Hamm‘s third visit to my show. He brings a lifetime of art and animation to his third feature film Entitled: "Don’t Call Us, We’ll Kill You!" It will be on the Roku channel. In addition to his work for Disney, Hanna Barbera, and many others, he has also taught animation for over 25 years at the Art Institute in Marin County. He is also promoting his new online course where he will teach animation from conception to completion. In this class, Gene will take you through all the components of animation, voices, special effects, storyboards and you will be able to learn by the end of this course everything that it takes to complete your animated film. The course will be available very soon on Animation A2Z.com Please welcome the always busy and very animated Gene Hamm.
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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