Episodi

  • Performer/Writer Jim Wise Has 40 Years of History with Jay but Still Has Questions

    Performer/Writer Jim Wise Has 40 Years of History with Jay but Still Has Questions
    Jan 20 2026
    Writer/Actor/Singer/Improviser Jim Wise talks with Jay about meeting as runners on The Garry Shandling Show, song Improv, acting, writing for Mad TV, Jay Leno, The Groundlings, singing for a living, being one of the best song improvisers in the business, and how Jay pushed him in all the right directions. Bio:JIM WISE is a fervent improviser and an alumnus of the Groundling Theater. If you’re in your 30s, you may recognize him as the irascible Coach Tugnut from Disney Channel’s EVEN STEVENS. If you’re between the ages of 40 and 50, you might remember him from NBC’s JUST SHOOT ME as Kenny the Psycho who threatens to fold David Spade “like a lawn chair.” And, if you’re in your 20s, you may have heard Jim’s powerhouse lead vocals on “Goofy Goober Rock!” in THE SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS MOVIE. As a Writer/Producer, Jim’s credits include MADTV, SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, BETTER LATE THAN NEVER, BEST TIME EVER WITH NEIL PATRICK HARRIS, and CARPOOL KARAOKE. Jim also enjoys the distinction of being one of two writers who wrote for both THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO and THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JIMMY FALLON. Finally, Jim is delighted to be a guest on DON’T BE ALONE WITH JAY KOGEN. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    51 min
  • Screenwriters & Scriptnotes Podcasters, John August & Craig Mazin, Wonder If Writing’s Really the “Right Fit” for Jay

    Screenwriters & Scriptnotes Podcasters, John August & Craig Mazin, Wonder If Writing’s Really the “Right Fit” for Jay
    Jan 13 2026
    Writing legends John August & Craig Mazin talk about their journey to screenwriting, podcasting, & writing a book. They talk about how to boil down 15 years of shows down to a book, the origin of the scriptnotes podcast, the need to help people combined with being annoyed by people, what each of them considers good writing, why people who hate books on writing wrote a book on writing, there are no rules to screenwriting, customizing your process, the moment they thought the might be good enough to make a living at writing, their messiest jobs, their best jobs, the changing nature of show biz, and why the Scriptnotes book weighs a lot less than you think it does. Bio: Craig Mazin is the multiple Emmy® award-winning co-creator, executive producer, writer and director of the smash hit HBO series THE LAST OF US. An addition to setting viewership records for HBO, THE LAST OF US has earned 51 Emmy® nominations including 9 Emmy® wins, a Peabody Award, an AFI Award, a BAFTA Award, two SAG Awards, a DGA Award, a WGA Award, a GLAAD Award, two Film Independent Spirit Awards, and four Golden Globe Award nominations. Previously, Mazin served as creator, writer and executive producer of the HBO limited series CHERNOBYL, for which he won 2 Emmys®, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, a Peabody, and awards from the Writers Guild, the Producers Guild, the Television Critics Association and the American Film Institute. Looking ahead, Mazin is executive producing the upcoming HBO E-sports drama DAMAGE alongside writer, director and executive producer Celine Song. In addition to his work in television, Mazin has written numerous hit feature films, which have grossed over one billion dollars in theaters worldwide. Mazin can be heard on the popular screenwriting podcast Scriptnotes, which he co-hosts with fellow writer John August. Bio: John August is a screenwriter whose credits include Aladdin, Big Fish, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Corpse Bride, Frankenweenie and the first two Charlie’s Angels movies. He directed the 2007 film The Nines starring Ryan Reynolds and Melissa McCarthy, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. He earned a BAFTA nomination for his script for Big Fish, and a GRAMMY nomination for his song in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. In 2016, he received the Writers Guild of America West’s Valentine Davies Award in recognition of his humanitarian efforts and civic service. In addition to his work in film, John wrote the Arlo Finch middle-grade novel trilogy, and the book for the Broadway musical of Big Fish. Since 2012, he has co-hosted the popular weekly screenwriting podcast Scriptnotes. His company, Quote-Unquote Apps, makes utilities for writers (including Highland and Weekend Read) along with Writer Emergency Pack, which is used in 2,000 classrooms nationwide. Born in Boulder, Colorado, John received a BA in Journalism from Drake University and an MFA in Film Producing from USC’s School of Cinematic Arts. He lives in Los Angeles with his family. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    58 min
  • Michael McKean Says "Dignified & Beloved" May Not Be In Jay's Future.

    Michael McKean Says "Dignified & Beloved" May Not Be In Jay's Future.
    Jan 6 2026
    Michael McKean talks about going from goofball to respected dramatic actor, how his high school drama teacher, NYU and Carnegie Mellon pushed him into a lifetime of being a creative person, Christopher Guest being his roommate, the credibility gap, being a long haired hippie, how Rob Reiner and Penny Marshall got him on “laverne & shirley”, being a writer, Annette O'Toole being the perfect partner, always searching for the right performance, glenn gary glenn ross, how being in real rock groups like “the left bank” led to “spinal tap, and how being in a movie with Jack Nicholson and Ellen Barkin can go from elation to disaster. Bio: Michael John McKean is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, composer, and musician. Over his career he has received a Grammy Award as well as nominations for an Academy Award and a Primetime Emmy Award. McKean started his career as Lenny Kosnowski in the ABC sitcom Laverne & Shirley from 1976 to 1983. He was briefly a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live for its 19th and 20th seasons from 1994 to 1995, and played Gibby Fiske in HBO series Dream On (1990–1996). He has acted in films such as Used Cars (1980), Clue (1985), and The Big Picture (1989), the latter of which he also co-wrote. He is also known for having collaborated with Christopher Guest acting in his films such as This Is Spinal Tap (1984), Best in Show (2000), A Mighty Wind (2003), and For Your Consideration (2006). He co-wrote the song "A Mighty Wind" (for the Guest film A Mighty Wind), for which he won a Grammy Award, as well as "A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow" from the same film, which was nominated for an Academy Award. He was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in 2019 for his role as Chuck McGill on the AMC series Better Call Saul (2015–2018; 2022). Since 2020, he has voiced Lou Pickles in Nickelodeon's Rugrats franchise. He has acted in shows such as Curb Your Enthusiasm, Veep, Grace and Frankie, Breeders, and The Diplomat. On stage, McKean made his Broadway debut as Edna Turnblad in the musical Hairspray (2004). He took on dual roles portraying J. Edgar Hoover and Robert Byrd in the political epic play All the Way (2014). He has acted in Broadway plays such as the Tracy Letts play Superior Donuts (2009), the Gore Vidal revival The Best Man (2012), and the Lillian Hellman revival The Little Foxes (2017). To date, McKean is the twenty-second highest-earning game show contestant of all time, having accumulated $1,115,400 during his appearances on Celebrity Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    59 min
  • Gammill & Pross Disparage Kogen & Wolodarsky

    Gammill & Pross Disparage Kogen & Wolodarsky
    Dec 30 2025
    Writers Tom Gammill and Max Pross discuss being comedy writing partners and then not being partners on SNL, Gary Shandling’s Show, Seinfeld and dozens of great comedies, while Marc Wolodarsky and Jay Kogen, also former writing partners, do the same. They discuss the state of show business, what’s life like after writing, becoming an EMT, writing novels, pilots with puppets, development hell, pitching shows to people who weren’t born when we started, Harvard Lampoon, David Letterman, and The Simpsons! Tom Gammill was writing partners for 40 years with Max Pross before Max dumped him. Their credits include “SNL” “Letterman” “Seinfeld” and “The Simpsons”. After the breakup Tom wrote and starred in the play “A Morning With Ernie Bushmiller” which ran for one performance, and was a Consulting Producer for the final season of “Curb Your Enthusiasm”. Wally Wolodarsky began his career as a writer on The Tracey Ullman Show. Writing with Jay Kogen, he received an Emmy. Wally was a writer and producer on The Simpsons for the first four seasons, where he won his second Emmy. With his wife Maya Forbes he has written several features and television shows including Monsters vs. Aliens, A Dog's Purpose and The People vs. O.J. Simpson. Wally produced Infinitely Polar Bear starring Mark Ruffalo and Zoe Saldana. Together, Maya and Wally wrote and directed The Polka King starring Jack Black and The Good House starring Sigourney Weaver and Kevin Kline. Max Pross spent forty-two years writing for television, and now atones by working as an emergency responder.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    54 min
  • UnCabaret Founder, Beth Lapides, Says Creativity Belongs To Everyone But Jay

    UnCabaret Founder, Beth Lapides, Says Creativity Belongs To Everyone But Jay
    Dec 23 2025
    UnCabaret founder and host, Beth Lapides, talks about creating the show to have a place to perform then how it shifted to a place where she nurtured Taylor Negron, Judy Toll, Patton Oswalt, Margaret Cho, Bob Odenkirk, Janeane Garofalo, and everyone else to be the best performer they could. She talks about how to be creative and how to stop getting in your own way, how life is change and change is good. She finds joy in pulling weeds and eating just the right amount of pizza. Bio: BETH LAPIDES works at the intersection of comedy, creativity and consciousness. She is the creator, host and producer of the legendary, genre shifting, UnCabaret - widely considered to be the original “alt-comedy” show. The LA Times called her the ‘godmother of alternative comedy.” She’s produced UnCab for Comedy Central, Amazon Studios, audible etc. And created its spin offs Say The Word and The Other Network. UnCabaret continues to help launch and relaunch some of your favorite iconic comedic voices. Beth is the author of Recorded Books’ original audio book “So You Need To Decide,” which was on Vulture’s Top 10 Comedy Books of 2022 and which Variety called “a potentially life-changing treasure.” Her first published book, “Did I Wake You? Haiku For Modern Living,” opened the door to a wave of comedy haiku. Her very first books were handmade artist books and were shown, among other places at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Her wide ranging muti-disciplinary career has included writing for O Magazine, correspondent-ing on NPR’s All Things Considered, touring her solo shows – currently It’s A Lot – hosting a daily radio show for Comedy World, shepherding an extremely short lived talk show for MTV, developing a pilot with an Emmy award winning producer, hosting a podcast called Life and Beth, and running a campaign to make First Lady an elected position. An occasional actress, she was the first guest star on Will and Grace and the performance artist on Sex and The City – and has appeared in many indie films most often as an offbeat authority figure. Beth had a parallel career as a teacher and muse, known for her ability to help creators find their authentic voice – understand their own process, transform, complete and produce their work. She’s gone from teaching comedians to coaching a vast array of creatives - currently in a framework called The Infinite Creator. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    59 min
  • Shane Black, Fred Dekker, Jim Herzfeld, & David Silverman of “The Pad O’ Guys”, explains why I’m not “Pad O Guys” Material

    Shane Black, Fred Dekker, Jim Herzfeld, & David Silverman of “The Pad O’ Guys”, explains why I’m not “Pad O Guys” Material
    Dec 16 2025
    Shane Black, Jim Herzfeld, Fred Dekker, and David Silverman look back on their formative years at UCLA and the shared house that became a creative hub and lifelong support system. What began as a loose collective of film-obsessed college friends evolved into a 24-hour open-door hangout where movie watching, gaming, writing, joking, and low-budget filmmaking fueled both friendships and ambition. In the early 1980s, these young creatives found their voices, their confidence, and their drive by building a scene together. The group reflects on how that community shaped their careers and helped launch work that would later define modern film, television, comedy, animation, and genre storytelling. From blockbuster screenwriting and cult-classic filmmaking to animation history and television production, their shared origins reveal how collaboration, camaraderie, and persistence can have a lasting impact on both art and life. The episode celebrates the power of creative tribes and how a single house full of passionate film nerds helped produce some of the most influential movies and shows of the last three decades. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 ora e 3 min
  • Rebel Comedy Writer/Director Larry Charles Chats About Jay’s Lack of Courage

    Rebel Comedy Writer/Director Larry Charles Chats About Jay’s Lack of Courage
    Dec 9 2025
    Larry discusses his brilliant autobiography Comedy Samurai, becoming a writer, Friday's, arsenio, seinfeld, mad about you, borat, curb your enthusiasm, and all of the strife and feeds, and turmoil they and he created. We talk about the passion that drives you to take risks. And why wearing pajamas is dangerous.Bio: Larry Charles, rose from the mean streets of Brooklyn and the working class housing projects of Donald Trump’s nefarious father Fred, to become the director of BORAT, BRUNO, THE DICTATOR and RELIGULOUS amongst others. He directed Bob Dylan and an all star cast (Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Jessica Lange and Penelope Cruz among others) in the film, MASKED AND ANONYMOUS which he and Bob wrote together. He has also directed numerous episodes of CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM and was one of the original writers and producers of SEINFELD. He has been nominated for 12 Emmys, winning two, 8 Golden Globes, winning one, a Peabody award and some other stuff too. He has collaborated with a diverse group of cultural icons from Mel Brooks to Michael Moore to Nicolas Cage. In 2018 he created, directed, wrote and starred in the four-part limited series for Netflix, LARRY CHARLES’ DANGEROUS WORLD OF COMEDY. His new film for A24, Dicks: The Musical (formerly and more preferably Fucking Identical Twins), premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in the fall of 2023 and won The People’s Choice Midnight Madness Award. And yet, despite all this, or because of it, he remains kind, humble and grateful. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    57 min
  • Universally Loved Actor/Writer Michael Hitchcock, Explains Why Jay Isn't

    Universally Loved Actor/Writer Michael Hitchcock, Explains Why Jay Isn't
    Dec 2 2025
    The always in demand, Michael Hitchcock, talks about how children's theater led to adult theater which led to a career of acting and writing with the groundlings, mad tv, christopher guest, crazy ex girlfriend, currently the lowdown and nobody wants this. We chat about writing vs acting and what it takes to realize where you should be. Bio: Actor, writer, producer (and when he was a teenager, semi-professional magician), Michael currently appears as Ethan Hawke’s frenemy “Ray” in the critically acclaimed dramedy “The Lowdown,” available on FX and Hulu. He also plays Kristen Bell’s rather clueless dad in the Netflix hit comedy, “Nobody Wants This.” Many dog lovers recognize him as Parker Posey’s husband “Hamilton Swan” in the Christopher Guest iconic comedy “Best in Show,” and has appeared in Guest’s other celebrated films “Waiting for Guffman,” “A Mighty Wind,” “For Your Consideration,” and “Mascots.” Additional acting credits include “The Paper,” “Jackpot,” “Palm Royale,” “Your Place or Mine,” “Crazy Ex Girlfriend,” “Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar,” “Black Monday,” “Space Force,” “Bridesmaids,” "Glee," "United States of Tara," "Men of a Certain Age," “Super 8,” “Serenity,” "Entourage," "Party Down," and "Arrested Development." Writing and producing credits include the acclaimed television series “Crazy Ex Girlfriend,” “Glee,” and “Mad TV.” He also wrote the films "House Arrest,” “The Ultimate Christmas Present,” and “Where the Day Takes You.” He is an alumnus of the sketch and improv comedy troupe, The Groundlings, and has performed comedy improv for the U.S. troops all over the world including Japan, South Korea, Iraq, Bahrain, Cuba, Guam, Honduras, and Kuwait. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    52 min