Alley Oop podcast

This Alley Oop podcast episode takes place Live From Vietnam! (Or I guess recorded) Comedian Paul Morrissey is in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)  for the Magner's Comedy Festival and he talks with fellow comedians Matthew Giffen (United Kingdom) & Martin Mor (Ireland) about the shows in Singapore & the days spent in Vietnam so far. This conversation takes place in the Hotel lobby where there is some tension as the guys discuss their stay.

A special episode of the Alley Oop Podcast with the great Artie Lange. This is an except from an episode  the Artie Lange Uncensored podcast, to subscribe go to www.artiequitter.com  You know Artie Lange from his days at Mad TV and movies like Beer League and Dirty Work. He became beloved as the sidekick on the Howard Stern show and proved he is one of the funniest guys on the planet.  Artie and Paul talk comedy, yankees, who may or may not be having sex with Lebron's Mom, a Bob Uecker story that will make you laugh til you cry, and what a Liam Neeson and Artie Lange movie would sound like. 

      Paul talks with childhood hoops buddy, Nate O'Neil on this episode of the Alley Oop Podcast.  After a successful college career at Colgate University, Nate went on to play professional basketball for the Washington Generals (I.E. the team that loses to the Harlem Globetrotters) They talk about how he ended up there, and also about how close Paul was to becoming a Washington General at one point.   Nate talks about traveling the world, tells some great stories about playing against legendary players like Daryl Dawkins in arenas like Madison Square Garden.   Don't let this losing record fool you, Nate is still Colgate's all-time leading 3 point shooter (%) and is in the top five all time in the Patriot League athletic conference. He still dunked on his birthday this year.  Nate and Paul also reminisce growing up playing hoops in the Binghamton area and the notable players and playground games. 

An actual full-on sports episode, we get some great basketball insight with LA Clippers beat reporter, Dan Woike, of the Orange Country Register. Dan and Paul become friends on the set of a the Nike Chris Paul Commercials last summer where they were both actors playing reporters. The two love talking hoops and Dan talks about day-to-day life and travel as an NBA beat reporter. He also gives some great insight about the Donald Sterling situation and just how much it affected the team and their playoff run last season.  How will the Clippers do this year? Listen and find out. 

It's about 3am in New York City a few nights before Paul makes his debut on "The Late Show with David Letterman." After running a few sets, Paul meets up with Ari Shaffir at The Stand Comedy Club, and they walk around the East Village eating pizza and cookies.   Now back at Ari's apartment the two discuss Ari's recent tour of China, his TV show on Comedy Central and 1 hour TV special.  Paul also talks about the process of getting bumped and his return trip to NYC to be on the David Letterman Show. Things are going great for them both but talking about  that wouldn't be a fun podcast.  Ari complains about Verizon, and they both complain about how hard it was to get to where they are in comedy.  In the words of Joe Walsh,"I can't complain but sometimes I still do." No sports talk this episode, sorry.

The Alley Oop podcast returns with a great episode with comedian, author, former Fox Studio Executive and 12 Moth Storyslam winner Carlos Kotkin.  Comedian Paul Morrissey and Carlos are old friends from standup comedy and have performed with each other many times over the years and produced a show together called "Funny Writers Reading Stories."      Paul discusses his recent work on a sitcom pilot and also announces that he'll be appearing on the David Letterman show on July 10th.  This inteview is from several months back, and Carlos mentions shyly that he's working on an animated feature script which we now can disclose that it is the blockbuster sequel "Rio 2."  Paul & Carlos also discuss how to get a book deal and develop it into a TV show.  Carlos also discusses how he develped his penpal relationship David Sedaris. Carlos wrote a hilarious book about dating called "Please Got Let It Be Herpes," which you can purchase on amazon.com or go to an actually store that sells books. For more information, go to his website www.carloskotkin.com    

After an introduction by Paul from the Montreux Comedy Festival in Switzerland, special guest Stephen Tobolowsky talks about his career in film, TV and his recent writing endeavors including his book "The Dangerous Animals Club."

Dwayne Perkins is a New York born and now Los Angeles based comedian. He makes frequent appearances on Conan, and travels the world spreading his comic views.  Paul and Dwayne perform together often and cross paths outside of comedy at concerts, film festivals and sporting events. Dwayne talks about his competitive nature and philosophy of life with Paul. The two also reminisce about Big East Basketball and discuss the current state of the NBA and its superstars.   Paul & Dwayne will both be perfroming at the Promenade Playhouse on Friday, October 18th on the "Funny Writers Reading Their Stories" show. Dwayne will be reading a selection from his book, "Hot Chocolate For The Mind."

Paul's guest this week is Emmy-Award winning writer, comedian, Executive Producer and Showrunner Mike Royce.   A fellow upstate, New York native, Royce grew up near Syracuse and attended Ithaca College before heading to NYC to pursue comedy as a career.   Mike gives a lot of background on the New York City comedy scene post-boom when he was the house MC at the Comedy Cellar performing with a lot of his comedian buddies like Dave Attell, Todd Barry, Louis CK.  Mike then went on to a job as an audience warmup comedian on Spin City before teaming up with Ray Romano on Saturday Night Live and coming up with one of the great catchphrases of all-time "Sweet Sassy Molassy" during the hilarious SNL Sportscenter Spoof.  Mike then moved to Los Angeles when he was offered a writing job on Everybody Loves Raymond, and went on to win two Emmy Awards, before being hired as the showrunner for Louis CK's HBO Sitcom "Lucky Louie." From there he went on to be the showrunner on "Men Of A Certain Age" starring Ray Romano, 1600 Penn, and has a new show called "Enlisted" that begins in November on Fox.    The two talk about the transition from standup to TV writing and producing as well as getting into some sports talk, as Mike is a big hockey fan- NY Rangers and now LA Kings. 

Our guest this week is Josh Thompson, who is the mastermind behind the robot sidekick Geoff Peterson on "The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson" on CBS.  He was also the voice of Arnold Schwartzeneggar on the Howard Stern Show when MSNBC and George Takei were both tricked into thinking he was really the former Governor of California. Paul Morrissey and Josh first met when they were performing together at a storytelling show at The Improv in Hollywood.  Paul asks Josh about his upbringing in Cleveland and the influence of the Muppet Show on his career.  He also talks about turning a one day gig as the robot into a full time job on the Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson.  He also talks about his cool experiences on the show, and what it's like getting complimented by some of his idols like Paul Williams, Carol Burnett, Don Rickles, Richard Lewis and Dick Van Dyke. Josh describes his complicated day to day setup performing as the robot and gives some insight on his comedic style and what he's looking to do in the future with his career. Check out his Pokin Around Podcast on www.jrtvoices.com Josh will also be starring in the upcoming romantic comedy movie "Nowhere Girl."

Paul Morrissey catches up with one of his hometown buddies, comedian Sam Tripoli, who grew up in Cortland,NY, not far from Owego where Paul is from.   Sam is the host of the popular "Naughty Show" at the Comedy Store, and also host a podcast with the same name, as well as co-hosting the popular Punchdrunk Podcast along with Ari Shaffir and Jason Thibault.  Sam talks about growing up in Cortland, his quest to be class clown and his daring move to Las Vegas after high school to blindly pursue a career in comedy.   Tripoli gained notoriety as one of the best bar comedians, knows for his wild antics and willingness to do anything to entertain people in a wild atmosphere.  He then moved to Los Angeles and was passed by Mitzi Shore at the Comedy Store to develop his act. After being chosen to perform at the Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal, Sam focused on his special brand of "Naughty Show" comedy and eventually hosted his own TV show on Spike as well as making a series of standup TV appearances. He frequently opens for Joe Rogan and is a big fan of UFC.   Paul and Sam share a love of NBA basketball and hatred of the Lakers, with Sam being an LA Clippers. The two talk about happiness, their showbusiness dreams and what the future holds for them in standup comedy. 

Christopher "Kid" Reid is Paul Morrissey's guest on this episode of the Alley Oop Podcast.  Kid is part of the platinum selling rap duo "Kid N Play" who also starred in the House Party movies (1,2 and 3). He also tours as a standup comedian which is where the two first met while performing a standup show in the Los Angeles area a few years back. We also find out that Kid composed the Real Time with Bill Mahar on HBO.  The two talk sports right away- why was Doug Flutie never appreciated? What's it like to be a NY Knicks fan? Why is sports betting an insane hobby? They also talk about which point guards influenced Paul's game- from Tim Hardaway, Tiny Archibald to Mark Price. Kid also tells some great pickup basketball stories playing with Andrew Toney and Moses Malone. Kid also talks about how crazy it is for Phil Jackson to criticize Kobe Bryant, and how insane Kobe and his family must be to want to sue each other.  Kid talks about first getting famous and how important it was to buy his father a car. They talk about Paul's days as a reporter covering the Sacramento Kings, "White Chocolate" Jason Williams, and Kid tells a great story about what it's like to go drinking with Charles Oakley and Derrick Coleman.  They talk about old school Big East hoops- St Johns, Mark Jackson and his brother  Troy (AKA Escalade) who Paul went to summer basketball camp with. Paul asks Kid what it was like to chase his dream and achieve rap super stardom.  Kid talks about touring with NWA and the old school hip-hop scene as well as what the music scene is like now and the thrill of performing as Kid N Play at NBA games. 

Marsh McCall was one of the original writer's of Late Night with Conan O'Brien and became head writer of the show. He's also a showrunner, Executive Producer and writer of funny things on the New Yorker online. Marsh is Beatles expert, and also plays basketball with Paul every once in awhile.  The two talk about their love of Monty Python, the TV show Fawlty Towers among other influences.   Marsh was a newspaper writer in San Francisco Bay area before moving to Los Angeles to pursue a career in TV writing. He landed his first job as one of the original Conan O'Brien writers, along with Louis CK, Robert Smigel, Bob Odenkirk and shared an office with Andy Richter.  After the first year, Marsh became head writer and then moved back to Los Angeles to Executive Produce "Just Shoot Me" and a host of other TV shows. It was just announced that Marsh will be writing a TV show with Jamie Foxx called "Dad, Stop Embarrassing Me" for TBS.

Emmy-Award winning TV writer, director, producer, screenwriter and major league play-by-play announcer Ken Levine is my guest.  Ken has packed in a few lifetimes of dream-chasing and it's all paid off; from writing on TV shows like MASH, Cheers, Frazier to announcing baseball games for the Seattle Mariners, Baltimore Orioles and San Diego Padres.  Paul talks to Ken about his recent blog post on www.kenlevine.blogspot.com  in which he challenged actor/producer Zach Braff's use of kickstarter to raise funds for his movie.  Ken believes things like kickstarter should be for the up-and-comers, not merely as a pubicity machine for millionaires to raise more millons. The two discuss that and also Ken's early success with his TV writing partner David Isaac's on shows like MASH and Cheers. Paul gushes about one of his favorite movies, Volunteers- starring Tom Hanks, John Candy and Gedde Watanabe---- which Ken Levine wrote the screenplay. Ken talks about chasing his dream from doing by play by play by himself into a tape recorder at Dodger stadium, to the Syracuse Chiefs, to the major leagues with the Baltimore Orioles.  Ken also discusses the current state of television, comedies of the past, and the future of sitcoms. Are 3 camera sitcoms going to be extinct? Ken says not so fast.  

For this episode, Paul catches up with his old buddy, comedian Jim Gaffigan,  and they discuss Jim's new book "Dad Is Fat" which was released on May 7th, and available at bookstores now! Jim discusses the inspiration of the book, his life with his wife raising 5 children in New York City.  The two reminisce about doing shows years ago in NYC and touring together.  Jim is also fascinated about Paul's weird food habits and preferences. Especially the fact that Paul has never tried guacamole.  They discuss trying bone marrow at a dinner they had an Paul's friends high end restaurant in NYC. They also talk about Jim's climb to standup success with his 3, 1 hour comedy specials.   Then the two get into some sports talk when they discuss growing up in small towns and also we found out both Jim and Paul had to wear eye patches when they were kids. Jim talks about his wrestling and college football career. The fact that football practice gave him nightmares, and the intimidation tactics the football coaches at Georgetown tried to use on him to keep Jim from quitting the team.   The two talk about Jim's future plans, the benefits of being underestimated, and avoiding humiliation in showbusiness.  To purchase "Dad Is Fat" online, go to www.jimgaffigan.com 

We go back to the future in a way with Larry Miller. This special bonus episode is an interview I did with Larry Miller a few years back in the green room of the Comedy & Magic Club in Hermosa Beach.  Larry had just returned to doing standup on a regular basis and was preparing for an appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman.  Paul and Larry talked about his return to serious standup, what he missed about it and why it gives him so much pride and makes up so much of his identity.  Did Larry and Seinfeld trade acts? Was Larry originally cast as George Costanza? Paul has a few questions and Larry is kind enough to answer them.

The great comedian, actor, and writer Larry Miller joins Paul on this episode of the Alley Oop. The two became close friends since working at the Comedy & Magic Club in Hermosa Beach together a few years back.  Larry told Paul's parents he was one of the good ones, which made his mom and dad feel good about his path as a comedian.  Paul gives Larry a gift--a Jerry Garcia tie, which meant a lot because he's been holding on to for awhile. They haven't seen each other since Larry had a serious fall last year and was hospitalized, but Larry is back and healthy as ever which Paul was happy to see, and even happier to finally give him the tie.   Larry discusses his comedy beginning, auditioning as a drummer/comedian at the Comic Strip Live in NYC, where Jerry Seinfeld was on stage the first time he ever set foot in a comedy club. Seinfeld and Miller have been best friends since that time and continue to work together.  In fact, is it true that the two friends even traded each other's acts a few times? Paul talks about the best comedy show he's ever seen- Seinfeld & Larry Miller at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas.   Larry talks about how he was really inspired and amazed when saw Bill Cosby at Carnegie Hall with Seinfeld and some other comedian friends. Larry plays drums, piano and cello. Just in the last few years, he's incorporated music and singing into his one man show "Cocktails with Larry Miller."   Paul admits to taking a tapdancing class, and Larry doesn't judge, replying "It's good to be in showbusiness."    Paul asks Larry to discuss the beginnings and evolution of his legendary standup piece "The Five Levels Of Drinking." The two discuss their love of the movie "Midnight Run", and Paul coaxes him into telling stories about Val Kilmer and the famous Dennis Farina  "Secret to Showbusiness" story that Paul loves to hear.   Larry admits to being a Grateful Deadhead. The two share a great moment and Larry says he will buy a tie for Paul the next time he sees him. 

This episode features our guest, two-time Emmy Award winning writer and comedian, Jeff Cesario.   Paul gets the scoop on what sports Jeff played as a kid in Kenosha, WI, and how he went from playing in the school band, earning a living playing in bands and his leap into standup comedy.   Jeff won two emmy award writing for HBO's Dennis Miller Live, was nominated for another Emmy writing for The Larry Sanders Show with Garry Shandling.   He also wrote the screeplay for Jack Frost, and was nominated for another Emmy writing for the 2012 Academy Awards.  Cesario has achieved just about every milestone in standup comedy as well.  The Tonight, Craig Ferguson, HBO and Comedy Central specials.   He talks about how Louie Anderson and Dennis Miller shaped his comedy career. Jeff also discusses being roommates with Dana Gould for a month at a festival in Scotland.   Cesario also talks about his current job as the Executive Producer on the TV show BrandX with Russell Brand on Fox. 

Actor W Earl Brown continues his talk with Paul Morrissey about the fine show "Deadwood", which Earl played Dan Dority and also joined the writing staff during the 2nd season with show creator and writing guru David Milch.  The fellas discuss the language of Deadwood, how Earl got his buddy Steve Earle a part in the show which is not so flattering when he first heard about it. Earl also talks about performing at the Jack Clement Tribute, how writing and producing a movie is not good for you health.  Earl wrote and produced "Bloodworth" starring Kris Kristofferson, Val Kilmer, Hillary Duff and himself. He also talks about his amazing journey to get the part of Warren in the Farrelly Brothers movie, "There's Something About Mary" and working with Paul Thomas Anderson on "The Master" and how his fistfight with Joaquin Phoenix in the film was not exactly acting.   Earl is aslo a die-hard Murray State Fan and the most famous alum, (when he's not rooting for Kentucky) 

Actor, producer and writer W Earl Brown sits down with Paul Morrissey for this episode of the Alley Oop Podcast. The fellas discuss growing up in rural towns and early comedy influences like John Belushi, SCTV, Robin Williams, Andy Kaufman, Eddie Murphy and Franklyn Ajaye. Earl also talk about what it's like to work with people that he idolized as a kid.  He discusses his experiences working on "Backdraft", Deadwood and with the Farrelly Brothers in the movie "Their Something About Mary."    Earl talks about producing his own movie Bloodworth, his phone call from David Milch to tell him that Deadwood was cancelled and the ups and downs of working in Hollywood.  Earl also discusses how he keeps his passion to create and how he was responsible for his friend, singer Steve Earle,  playing a character on Deadwood who ends up having sex with a horse during one episode.  

In Part 2 of the interview with Kevin Rooney, we begin with Paul digging up a clip of Kevin in the movie "When Harry Met Sally." Rooney talks about his move from NYC to California, his first TV spot on Evening at The Improv, getting on the Tonight Show, and his long relationship with Jay Leno.  Paul also asks Kevin about his move from standup to TV writer/producer working on Emmy Award Winning shows like the Dennis Miller Show, Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher, and as a producer on My Wife And Kids & 'Til Death.  Kevin's showbusiness Homily's are quoted quite a bit by Judd Apatow and Dana Gould, so Paul's asks him what it feels like to be a showbusiness veteran and what projects he would like to work on in the future. The two also finally get into some sports by discussing  the Super Bowl and talking about how easily those NY Giants/NE Patriots Super Bowls were to going the either way.

In this episode, Paul sits down with Emmy Award Winning TV Writer, Actor and Comedian Kevin Rooney.  The two have quite a lot in common, including a working class background, attending many different colleges,  and both of them also truly enjoyed working as a custodian before pursuing standup comedy as a career.  Paul digs into the archives and finds Kevin's appearance on the TV Show "Cheers" to begin the episode. Kevin talks about the long road from college to the army, to more colleges, then to New York, coming out to Hollywood, enjoying success in showbusiness as a writer and a producer while putting standup comedy on the backburner.   Great comedy minds like Judd Apatow and Dana Gould quote Rooney's advice often, so sit back and listen to Paul pick Kevin's brain about comedy, showbusiness, and life from a guy who has been through it all. 

Comedian Ari Shaffir continues his chat with host and teammate Paul Morrissey for Part 2.  The episode begins with Ari's reaction to the "Greatest Round Of Boxer Ever"- Ron Lyle vs George Foreman Round 4.   The boys discuss performing in the clutch.  Check out all the videos they talk about on www.alleyooppodcast.com   Raul Ibanez, Larry Bird's clutch finish in the 3 point contest, Ron Dixon running back the openign kickoff in a playoff that Paul was at,  Randolph Childress' killer crossover, and the world's worst free throw ever.   Ari also talks about becoming friends with the UFC fighters, what it's like to go to the big fights and who he roots for.   

Comedian Ari Shaffir joins Paul Morrissey for a Holiday Episode of the Alley Oop Podcast. Ari discusses his little league and volleyball career, Bill Burr on Breaking Bad, Paul's quest to get Ari in the Rothstein Mafia on the TV Boardwalk Empire. They also discuss how Ari says,"Mark Maron helped Paul's career even though he swore he wouldn't." Ari gets prepared for his first TV special and why he's relaxed about it. They also talk about how they became teammates in the comedian basketball league, what things upset them now- which including bad referees and traffic. Ari also talks about Larry Bird's famous steal and why he falls asleep in public places during very important sporting events. Paul explains why Kobe Bryant and Carmelo Anthony are selfish to their teammates and gets Ari and the rest of the audience to watch "the greatest round of boxing ever" on youtube. If you want to play along, search on youtube "Ron Lyle and George Foreman, Round 4."  Hear Ari and Paul's reactions at the beginning of the next episode (which can be considered Part 2 of this one) LISTENING VIDEOS AND PICTURES ARE ON THE OFFICIAL PODCAST WEBSITE: www.alleyooppodcast.com 

Your host, Comedian Paul Morrissey interviews comedian/actor Gerry Bednob- most famous for his role as Mooj, the foul mouthed employee in the movie "40 Year Old Virgin." Gerry has been in over 20  comedy feature films directed by such Comic geniuses as Judd Apatow and Kevin Smith. Paul and Gerry are old friends on the comedy circuit and reunite for this episode at Gerry's ranch in Chatsworth. They talk about Gerry's upbringing and soccer career in Trinindad, his comedy career beginnings in Toronto when he was almost pulled off stage by a hook, and his film career in Los Angeles in comedy classics like "Zach and Miri Make A Porno"  and "Five Year Engagement."

In this episode, Paul Morrissey interviews Steve Mazan about his project "Dying To Do Letterman." It started when Steve was diagnosed with cancer six years ago when Doctors gave him a minimum of 5 years to live. Steve decided to chase his comedy dream to perform standup on "The Late Show with David Letterman."  Miraculously, Steve achieved that goal which was filmed every step of the way in his award winning documentary "Dying To Do Letterman." He also wrote a book, won an Emmy Award for TV writing and has done a bunch of other impressive stuff while you've just been sitting there reading this. Steve shares his funny and inspiration story with Paul, and they also talk about the Super Bowl Shuffle.