Also TV Trivia with King Of TV Paul Goebel from the Paul Goebel Show. Paul pops in to discuss his favorite new shows and then David peppers Paul and Robin Roberts with questions about TV trivia. David prattles on about Hitler’s nephew and talks too long about the Hitlers of Long Island. Yes. Some of Hitler’s first cousins ended up living in Long Island. Plus more union songs from Robin Roberts. Edited by Ben Schultz. Additional guitar playing by Acoustic Elements.
Herman Cain is a bully. Plus Occupy Wall Street with Janie Haddad Tompkins, Dylan Brody and Chris Pina.
Listen to the podcast by pressing the button above. Steven Alan Green tells the story of bringing Jerry Lewis to London. Along with Jeremy Kramer. And another Union song from Robin Roberts. Steven Alan Green became an early advocate of the London comedy scene and was responsible for introducing many American acts to the British circuit, most notably through his production of three “High on Laughter” charity galas during the early years of the new millennium. As we shall hear at one of these galas a temporarily infirm Jerry Lewis was unable to go on, spurring the creation of Green’s 2003 one-person show, I Eat People Like You For Breakfast. His recent one-person shows have received attention from such publications as Time Out London, the Evening Standard, The Scotsman and The Guardian. He has also done a considerable amount of voice-over work, most notably a series of spots for the UK’s Paramount Comedy Channel which culminated in Green’s on-air hosting of a weekend South Park marathon in late 2006.
Air America Radio writer and correspondent, internationally renowned political satirist and author of the acclaimed Seven Stories Press book Never Shake Hands With A War Criminal helped bring the Boston Comedy scene into the modern age when he founded two of Boston’s most fabled clubs: The Ding Ho and Stitches. Such acts as Steven Wright, Paula Poundstone, Bobcat Goldthwait, Kevin Meaney, Jimmy Tingle and many, many others cut their comedic teeth in the rooms Crimmins started and at shows he produced.
The Boston Herald’s Robin Vaughn’s review of one of Barry’s shows included a concise Boston Comedy history lesson.
“In 1979, Crimmins, a politically minded comedian from upstate New York, started booking Boston’s brightest, brashest young wits into the Ding Ho, a seedy Chinese restaurant in Inman Square. The club, run for and by comedians, was an unpedigreed underdog, but broke conventions of the day in paying its performers reasonable fees and maintaining Crimmins’ comedy booking standards. He was hell-bent on originality and unforgiving of plagiarism. It was boot camp for the best comics in Boston and some of the most successful standups in the country. ”
According to that same Vaughn review, Crimmins hasn’t lost any prowess as a performer.
“To his old crowd, Crimmins is the patron saint of original, creative comedy in Boston and a brooding ideologue. His wit is as sharp as his sense of social justice, which has been known to eclipse a joke or two. But his hour-plus show, ‘Chicken Soup for the Vegetarian Soul’, served as a persuasive example of what intelligent stand-up comedy, politically themed or otherwise, can be.”
After helping jumpstart Boston comedy, Barry left production to concentrate on performing. In short order he gained attention as one of the top political satirists in the country. He has made countless television appearances on everything from The NBC Nightly News to The HBO Young Comedians Special to The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. He has recorded two CD’s: Strange Bedfellows on A&M and Kill the Messenger on Green Linnet. His writings appear regularly in the Boston Phoenix as well as several other publications. He was a staff writer for the syndicated Dennis Miller Show and has toured in performance with Billy Bragg, Jackson Browne, Utah Phillips, Michelle Shocked, Steven Wright, Dar Williams and numerous others.
This show was edited by Ben Schultz.
Chicken Hawks Rewriting History. David talks about ending war in Iraq and the “Stabbed In The Back” theory. Plus Mentalist Max Maven, Kelly Carlin and Frank Conniff.
Kelly talks about efforts to rename a stretch of New York’s 121st Street, between Broadway and Amsterdam, in honor of George Carlin. Plus music from Gary Stockdale and Gary Shapiro. Edited by Ben Schultz.