Letting Them Talk with Will Harris - Ep. 44 - John Ross Bowie (The Big Bang Theory / Stuart Fails to Save the Universe / Speechless / The Brink of War / Death in Paradise))

Today I’m letting John Ross Bowie talk. John has a true gift for comedy, but he’s also a gifted actor. Case and point: when he’s playing Barry Kripke, you often want to punch him in the face, but by the end of this podcast, you’ll want to buy him a drink just so that you can keep hanging out with him and having him tell you stories. John got his start in the theater, but you almost certainly know him best for his work on the small screen…and occasionally on the big screen as well, mind you, but it’s his TV credits that you know the best, and your list probably starts with The Big Bang Theory, where – as was just mentioned – he plays Barry Kripe. John is reprising that role in the new HBO Max series Stuart Fails to Save the Universe, and I for one freaking love it and can’t recommend enough. That said, one of the first things that’s said in our conversation is that, as of that point, I hadn’t actually seen the show yet. Now I have – predictably, the screeners showed up later that day – and I can rave about it. And we’ll have a follow-up bonus episode where John and I talk about it, just as soon as we can figure out when to record it. But make no mistake, it’s coming. But don’t let that stop you from watching it, because it’s an absolute blast. Fortunately, we had other things to talk about during our time together, including how he made it onto Big Bang in the first place. I also casually suggested a Speechless revival that he’s all in on. We talked about his memoir, NO JOB FOR A MAN, which I also highly recommend, and that led us into some fun music talk connected to his band Egghead. Other topics included the very odd film What The Bleep Do We Know?, some of his one-off episodes over the years, including Girlfriends and The League, and a great definitive Hollywood story to wrap things up. Oh, and when the conversation starts, I should clarify that you’ll hear him reference his invitation to the Zoom call, where it suggests that he should politely tolerate my questions, something which he adamantly refuses to do. Okay, that’s probably enough of an intro. It’s time to let John Ross Bowie talk.