The Comedy Cellar: Live from the Table - Jonathan Solomon, Jermaine Fowler, Estee Adoram, William Stephenson, and Mike Finoia

Episode Date: April 14, 2017

Jonathan Solomon is a Los Angeles-based veteran standup comic and stand-up teacher. He was on the original roster of Comedy Cellar comics from the early 1980s. Jermaine Fowler is a standup comedian and actor, and star of the new sitcom "Superior Donuts." Estee Adoram is the legendary Booker of the Comedy Cellar. William Stephenson is a longtime standup comedian who may regularly be seen at the Comedy Cellar. Mike Finoia is a standup comedian and Producer for the TV show "Impractical Jokers."

You're listening to The Comedy Cellar, live from the table on the Riotcast Network, riotcast.com. Good evening, everybody. Welcome to The Comedy Cellar show here on Sirius XM Channel 99, The Comedy Channel. We're here at the back table of The Comedy Cellar. My name is Noam Dorman. I'm here with guest co-host, Mr. William Stevenson. I didn't know I was going to be the co-host. Of course, what do they call the most feared woman in comedy? Our booker, Ms. Estiadoram. I don't know what you're talking about. And the guest today is a real figure from comedy seller kind of history and comedy seller hall of fame.

That's so sweet, Noah. I don't know if you know that you're remembered that way. That's very... No, I was surprised by the invitation, and anything you're adding is even more flattering. I'm thrilled. Mr. Jonathan Solomon. Yeah.

Who was really one of the main... What do they call it? Stalwart? No, Stalwart. Stalwart's a word. The mainstay comics in the first era of the Comedy Cellar. What year did the Comedy Cellar open? William, you were here.

No, I'm kidding. No, I wasn't. Come on. Because I left in about 97. I think we opened in 81. 81 is my... Wow. Oh, my God.

When did you start here? I was just telling Steven that Bill Grandfest, who was the guy who started the Comedy Cellar with Manny, came to Manny, had a rib joint on the Upper West Side. Oh, I didn't know that. Oh, yeah. You don't know that? That Bill had a rib joint? Well, no. I mean, it was a comedy club.

It was called the West Side Comedy Club, and it was a rib place. And then the comedy was after they tried to clear away the smell of the ribs, which was not very successful. So Bill said, the comedy is being overrun by the smell of ribs, and then he started looking for a place downtown. Did you know that, Esty? Absolutely true. I don't remember that.

Yeah. Let me, Esty, you have to speak up, or I've got to turn up your mic or something. No, I'm fine. You're fine? Yeah. So tell us a little bit, what was it like in those early days? The comedy sellers, you know, people were interested in these things. Well, I mean, I just have, they're probably self-centered,

but I just have my memories of what it was like for me. I guess if we think about it, I'll remember why. I remember a memory of your father, Manny, that's really, one of the things I remember about the Comedy Cellar, and Esty will hopefully be kind and say this is not true, but it is true. I was always late for my spots. Because, right? They were running from one club to the other.

And if they run late, they came here. And it's always been pressure. Not William. William Stevens is always on time. Always. But go ahead. But it helps if you schedule your spots with some reasonable amount of time in between. But, you know, the comic strip would say, you know, you want to be here at 11.10.

And then Bill would call and say, you want to be here at 11.10 and then Bill would call and say, you want to be here at 11.30 and as if there was a way of teleporting from the comic strip to the cellar, I would say,

oh yeah, I'll be there. So I was always calling from the comic strip and there was no cell phone and I would call and try to get Esty or Bill on the phone

and I had my motorcycle which did speed things up because the motorcycle is sort of like a time machine. Right. And I would call and I wanted to hear in Esty's things up because the motorcycle is sort of like a time machine. Right. And I wanted to hear in Esty's voice or in Bill's voice that they were forgiving me before I got there

so I wouldn't feel bad on the whole drive down. And there was one time. You're not going to get that from Esty. Yeah. But one time I got Manny on the phone. Oh. And I said, Manny, I got to talk to you. And he said, you know what?

And I went through my usual spiel. I'm going to be late. And Manny said, Manny's sort of physicality reminded me of my dad. I mean, they're two Jewish fathers. And he said, no, I don't know the exact words, but no comedy or no laugh is worth your health. They're getting hurt. So be careful in your motorcycle and get here when you get here. And I'm almost got a little chill now.

It was so sweet. There's no zinger to follow that? No. No. No. Maybe the zinger may have been off. The zinger was off the phone, I guess. Yeah.

No, he was just very sweet. It sounds like he was relieved to know you might miss your spot. Oh, that was it. That was it. Good. There's the zinger. 25 years later, I got the z it. That was it. Good. There's the zinger. 25 years later, I got the zinger.

That's what it is. Actually, we have that with, I can't, Esty sometimes from time to time, of course I can't say, well, somebody will cancel their spot, you know, and we'll say,

oh, okay. Like, oh, too bad, Esty. And she goes, yeah, too bad. Because sometimes, but anyway, I'm not saying, it was such a,

you know, I've carried this sweet, loving memory of Manning. And I come five minutes into the show, it's gone. Where do you think I learned it? Where did, it rubs off. No, he meant it for sure. Absolutely. Absolutely.

One, I mean, one thing, William, I'm sure you would say this. I hope this is still true, but we felt so happy. I mean, we knew to be grateful that we were in this moment of comedy just burgeoning all over town. There was, you know, in 19— We never felt grateful. I'm a, you know, not a grateful type person. I don't do those, you know, those things in the morning where you think about what you're grateful of. But my generation of comic, I think we knew we were at this burgeoning thing and there was a lot of stage time. You know,

you would be a late night act at one of the clubs and show up at two in the morning and there'd be 20 people to listen to you. You had two jokes, you know. I mean,

I remember the first time I ever performed, I had, I think I had one actual joke. And I actually have a cassette of it. And I listened to it about 20 years ago. And I

really do have one joke, which is amazing because Esty was asking me what I do now. I now teach humor writing and I teach a comedy class. And these, at the time, there was no language for how to come up with a joke. We didn't know. You know, we just were sort of feeling around. And now, having spent a lot of years looking at it, there is a language for how to write jokes. There's clear constructions. And I have these students, and they, as I say to them, anybody can learn to write funny. Your kids end up with these graduation shows with what feels like a set of real jokes, and they're able to write screenplays.

But they're not nearly as thrilled. I'm more thrilled for them. You know, when they do their graduation show, I'm like, you won't go to sleep for a day. You know, they're like, no, no, the show's at 10. I'm tired. I'll go home and go to sleep. Do you believe anybody can learn to be funny? I really do.

I really do. That is sort of the thematic thing of all my teaching. Put it this way. I mean, Amy Schumer, Jerry Seinfeld can whip up a... Come sit down, Mike. It's Mike Fennoyer. He's a regular comic guy. Hey, Mike.

Can whip up a, you know, a patade canard, some French thing that has to do with a deboned duck. I's a regular comic guy. Hey, Mike. Can whip up a patade de canard, some French thing that has to do with a deboned duck. I can't pronounce it, let alone make it. But that doesn't mean that anyone, learning the constructions and all that, cannot make a good tasty grilled cheese sandwich and then work their way towards making, you know, what the greats make.

What do you think, William? You don't agree? You do agree. I don't know. I don't know if you can teach somebody to write a joke and tell a joke, but to stand there on stage

and be funny. Well, let me... I'm saying they can learn to write funny. Yeah. Whether they can go on stage and deliver it is a second question. It's a different question.

That would be my observation. Yeah. Writing a joke is not the same as performing it. Right. Absolutely. Sometimes you can have a really mediocre concept that you, personality, enthusiasm, can sell it much better. Right. Than actually written world.

Right. You know what I mean? Right. If it comes together, both of them, that's fantastic, you know? Yeah. Now you, and I said it to you earlier, that few things that your name always came up as one of the best writers of jokes. Yeah. And you always were. Yeah. And you wrote of jokes. Yeah. And you always were.

Yeah. And you wrote a lot. Yeah. And constant. Yeah. It was the joy of it was having new material. Things are coming back. I remember, it must have been 81 or 82, I was like a cool kid in high school because

we had a comedy club. I guess I had just graduated high school. Right. I still hang out with all my high school friends. And we came down to see a set at the Cellar. It might have even been prom night. No, it couldn't have been prom night. Anyway, you had the

set of the night and all my friends. Jonathan Solomon! Wow, Jonathan Solomon! I haven't thought about that in like 35 years or whatever it is. Can you tell me what I did right that night so I can get back to doing it? Was it you who had the joke about if I had all the money that I spent on cocaine?

Yes, I did have that joke. I could spend that money on cocaine. Think of all the cocaine I would have. Yeah, yeah,

yeah. I remember it all. Yeah, yes. Good for you. Yeah, I do remember what you said that night.

I wasn't a major partaker, but that was helpful at times. But that was a great joke. Yeah, thank you. Yeah. All right, anyway,

so now, now Mike is here, but I want to, I want to find out if a rumor is true. The rumor thank you. Anyways, so now Mike is here, but I want to find out if a rumor is true. The rumor is that you were the one who had the balls to confront Robin Williams about joke stealing. I'm glad you're

springing, they're not springing this on me, because Esty and I had this conversation out front. Big mouth, go ahead. We don't have talk. Unless I am having a senior moment that is lasting, I don't have talk nights. Unless I am having a senior moment that is lasting, I don't think that's true of me. I think, because I was, first of all, I was,

I wouldn't call Robin Williams a friend, but we were friendly, and we spent some time together socially. Excuse me. I remember very clearly now, right now. What you think of it, yeah? No. That Robin Williams always came down

when you were scheduled. That's nice. Wow. I remember that. And that probably had to do either with your friendship.

Right. Or inspiration for your writing. I don't know. But he always came when you were there. That's really nice to hear. Wow.

And that, yeah. I think just to clear it up though, I think what the possibility is, is when I started teaching stand-up because I actually was teaching kids stand-up just for fun. And then started seeing all these ideas and, you know, 10-year-olds didn't. So I started writing columns about ideas of stand-up. And I wrote, someone did a real mean-hearted takedown of some low-hanging fruit of comedians like Carrot Top in the USA Today.

So on the Huffington Post, I wrote a column defending Carrot Top. Good for you. In some seriousness and then, you know, like a joke, like why kick a man

when he's orange? And then, I ended the column by saying, if you really want to be serious about your critiquing of comedy, go after some of the

lions. And I said, Robin Williams, and I have a, I just told Esty, but my feeling about Robin Williams, and then a thing about George Carlin, which was Williams, you want to hear? Absolutely. That Williams was always tremendously funny, but got too much

credit for saying things that were wise. He was actually bringing up wise things and things with gravitas, but then the joke wasn't really on the point of what he was talking about. He would sort of take a left turn, and there's a lot of examples. If Al Sharpton bails on your ass, even rats are going, man, that guy's queer. From the Don King School of hair processing he's running for office in Idaho on the what a wild trade crazy chance in hell you'll be elected

ticket sorry my lips just went a couple of dyslexic people went thank you Robin thank you we're worried about the Pledge of Allegiance We were going to say One nation under dog It's okay I know people are going I've got a cure for this One nation under Canada above Mexico

Yes Yeah but then you have to do the whole There's anthems like Someone bless America Instead of in the dollar bill Instead of in God we trust, in Gates we trust. Mr. Gates, when did you realize you were creating a monopoly? Monopoly is just a game, Senator.

I'm trying to control the fucking world. Carlin, meanwhile, later in his career, what I said was he was saying very important things, but without laughs. So they had paired difficulties, or paired things that I think were inflated. And I've gotten a tremendous amount of pushback from some comics have said to me that I'm just wrong, and then gratifyingly, some other comics who are

our peers have said, no, you made a good point. I think you're right. Carlin had that thing he went on and on about political correctness, and people should be able to say retard retard and all of that. You know what I'm talking about? And it's really good. It's not funny.

I mean, it's not. I remember him having a bit. And, you know, Carlin, we know he's hilarious and a legend and an innovator. But there were lines towards the end when he would crank out those specials. I remember him saying once, homeless people aren't homeless. They're houseless. And we see the laughs that I'm getting right now. We're quoting that joke.

And the audience, you know, because they're sort of groupthink. You know, this is Carl and we must be laughing. I don't even get it. Hence my point exactly. They're not homeless, they're houseless. They don't have a house. No, I'm just listening in. I kind of came in a little late.

So the way I first did stand-up was I took a writing course, like a comedy. I always thought that comics were from another planet. I grew up on stand-up. I grew up on anything from – Who were you listening to? Well, Steve Martin has always been my favorite. But my grandfather brought me up on Rick know Rickles right and that stuff and we should Benny Hill SC you know SCTV Monty Python anything like that right um and then my dad got me into

more like the prior right and that stuff and my mom loved Seinfeld right but I didn't know how to break into that world like I just thought it was you didn't choose to do stand-up it just was something you I don't know like some wizard likes that you are now a stand-up, you didn't choose to do stand-up. It just was something you, I don't know, like some wizard said, you are now a stand-up comic. I didn't know how to break into it. So I lived in Colorado. I broke my arm. I came home, and I had nothing.

I wanted to get into stand-up. So I went on a horrible date with a girl to Caroline's. We were walking through Times Square, and I was like, anything to not have to talk to you. So I thought, stand-up, perfect. I could just sit. And I saw sign up for a class. So I thought, stand up. Perfect. I could just sit. And I saw it like sign up for a class. And I thought, all right, well, I've always been the funniest guy or whatever.

And I did no preparation. And I went to a class. And I got my ass handed to me, really. You know, and the woman, Linda, that ran the class. Linda Smith. Yeah, she's fantastic. She said. Very funny.

She said, you have what you can't be taught. Like, you're charming. You're likable. Like, I want to you can't be taught. You're charming. You're likable. I want to hear about you, but don't ever disrespect me by coming here next week without anything planned. What's going on in your life that you want to talk about? The first joke, I had just broken off an awful engagement. I talked about how my ex was so wealthy that she had a doorman.

You know, like her vagina had a doorman. And I had to sneak around back. And I don't want to be rude. You know. Esty loves this stuff. So that was like, and I came in and she was like, there you go. Like, you're finally talking about you. I don't think she taught me how to be a comic. I think it was more just like, it's like you have those things in you.

And it was nice to have it drawn out by someone who's seen everything, you know? And I had my first time ever doing standup was at Caroline's in the graduation class. Right. So I went up and did five minutes and it was applause after laughter after applause. And I was like, comedy is a breeze. Like, this is amazing. And then I did that same five minutes at an open mic like two days later, and I got crickets. Right.

And I'm like, oh, this is comedy. Okay. Like, I don't know everybody in the crowd. Who was the teacher, by the way? Who was the teacher? Linda Smith. Linda Smith. Who I think is still.

CBS? No, CVS. That Linda Smith. Yeah. She was a great comedian. She was very sweet. You've got to balance your response, though, because you probably got extra good laughs because it was a graduation show.

It was very supportive. It was all gratuity. But then you went to an open mic where he was all other comics. So now I'm somewhere in between. Yeah. For the past, you know, but it was,

uh, she saw something in me and she started offering me like, you know, I've got this road gig here. I've got this here and like come to a guest spot. Like the next week she invited me back. And, um,

I just remember feeling like there was that moment where I was a teacher, I did sales I was a music journalist and the minute I got off that stage the first time I said well I finally found what it is I'm supposed to do and I've never felt any better Can you guys talk about that? What is it

that is so gratifying that you feel when you get off stage as a stand-up comic? I want to go back one step. Go ahead. The first gratifying thing, I came into New York City. I drove in. I was going to go to Catch a Rising Star to get a number. I had come from acting school, and I went to acting school because I didn't know you could become a comedian.

And actors, all due respect to actors, not for me. I stood in line with these comedians, and I said, I'm home. These are my people. I haven't done a set yet, but these are the people I want to be with. In fact, there was a comedy festival they tried one time,

Cabo Comedy Festival in Mexico. So we go down there, and Paul Provenza, who hosts the Green Room, was down there in Mexico, and we met Mexican comics who were starting out. And what they said to us was, they met Paul Provenza, and hosts The Green Room, was down there in Mexico. And we met Mexican comics who were starting out. And what they said to us was, they met Paul Provenza, and they got tremendously excited. And they said, The Green Room is why we want to be comedians.

And Paul said, Because you love the art of comedy? And he said, No, we want to hang out with comics. Their secondary thing was to do the sets. They just wanted to be with comics. Tough crowd and Dave Attell are really the reasons why I wanted to do. And now to have the, like, you know, Dave is now kind of bringing me to open form on the road. And I got to know Colin and everybody. And it's just like everything I ever wanted is coming true.

You live in the dream, Mike. Live in the dream. When I was 21, 20, I got the chance to interview Ken Kesey, the author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. I flew to Oregon and I interviewed him. I lived on his farm. Oh my god. You were a merry prankster a couple years later. I drove the bus around. Wow! It was amazing. Oh my god.

He said he saw a lot in me of Kerouac and a lot of that younger beat writer stuff. He said that to everybody. I know. That was his line. That's how he got me. But you know what? Burroughs said that the beat writer stuff. He said that to everybody. I know. That was his line. That's how he got me. But you know what? Burroughs said that the beat generation, I think it was Burroughs said, is you're a generation cursed with perspective. And what is a comedian but cursed with

perspective? Exactly. So two months after I interviewed him, he passed away and I turned out having the final interview of his life. I killed him. I was so boring. I killed him. But that at 21 years old, I'm 37 now, that taught me just to go for it. Yeah. Like, just go for it.

And all comedy has been is the people I appreciate seeing something in me that they appreciate. And I think it's a genuine, you know, like, passion for it. Can we suck William into sharing a little bit about what goes on in his mind? Because William is a... I mean, he's the third reason why I started Stan. He's a tetchy... William is like a Bah Humbug type character

and... A lot of kids I grew up with had like a Larry Bird poster on their wall or a Michael Jordan. I had William Stevenson. I know William 30 years. No shirt. I know William 30 years and I shirt. Do you have a William Stevenson sticker? I know William 30 years, and I've never heard him say anything sentimental or anything about how he feels. Say something, William.

What's it like for you doing comedy? What's important to you about it? Wow. Share, William. I know it's hard for you. I can talk about the first time I went on stage. It was the open mic in Washington at Garvin's Laugh-In. I think you've been there before.

And I was number 13. Sam Greenfield was the emcee. My girlfriend, who brought me there, who suggested I do comedy, was sitting in the middle of the room. How old were you? I was 25. I was sitting in the middle of the room. How old were you? I was 25. She was 30. And she said, one day, you should be a comedian.

And I said, shut up. And then she took me to her IHOP, and we wrote jokes on napkins until we had five minutes for me to go to this thing. And I remember, like it was yesterday, the lights, remember the lights?

Very bright lights, the stage was very high. Oh, at Garvin's? At Garvin's, yeah. I got through four minutes. I had to do five. And everybody knew it was open mic, so they weren't booing, but they weren't exactly laughing. And then I hit the last joke,

and people actually laughed. That's when I knew that I was going to be a comedian. I came back the next week. The week after that, two years later, I ended up here. Because of Adrian Tosh and Bill Sheff, who got me a spot at

Ketz on a Sunday night. And William used to perform at Washington Square Park, too. Oh, you did? Yeah. With Charlie Barnett and those guys? Charlie Barnett and Doofum Ghost. Ricky Villas. Yeah, Ricky Villas.

I just wanted to go back to what, excuse me, what's your first name? Mike. Mike. Yeah. What Mike said about talking the truth that Linda asked the truth, you know, they tell your truth. And when Don Rickles died, I was talking to some younger comics, and they were saying, well, and I understand what they mean,

that our generation of comics, we revered and had immense affection for the older comics, but in some way we thought they were passe because they weren't telling the truth as much. And I was saying, who's to judge who's telling your truth? And I remembered a story that happened at the Comedy Cellar, which was Jackie, I'm going to Puerto Rico to visit my hubcap. Who am I talking to? Mason. Jackie Mason came in.

Do you remember this? I don't know which story. Jackie Mason came in. Jackie Mason came in. And one of my favorite bits of Jackie Mason was he would say, and to me it was so my Jewish relatives, that when we go out to eat, when Jews go out to eat, they ask for a table. And then they're very difficult with the maitre d', the witch table. Then they sit down, they eat for 10 minutes.

And then after 10 minutes, they go, it's a little drafty here. Can we move tables? So Jackie Mason, I'm not sure he came to the cellar to go on or whether he was walking along with his wife and relatives. So he comes in, Bill puts him on. We're thrilled. These guys were revered. And then afterwards he says,

we'd like to go someplace to eat in the village. And they didn't know the village at all. So I big time jumped in and said, oh, I'll help you. I'll take you somewhere. And Bill had the MC. So I walk him to the Figaro, oh, I'll help you. I'll take you somewhere. And Bill had the emcee. So I walk him to the Figaro, and he says, you can sit down with us. And now I'm really thrilled. And we finally get a table.

Ten minutes in, he says, a little drafty. We got to go. We got to sit somewhere else. And with no self-consciousness that he just did one of my favorite bits. So who's to say who's telling the true story of who they are in some way? I think that to your question about why I do it or what's the love affair with stand-up is,

I mean, I'm addicted to pressure. I love pressure. I love being under pressure. That's why I love hosting so much. Most people are the opposite. I kind of have this weird thing, like if I'm comfortable, I'm uncomfortable. Now, can I pause there?

Because that's interesting because I don't know this, but I think William never feels pressure on stage. He seems to be totally – this is a compliment. He seems to be totally at ease and not pressured on stage. Is that true or is that just... That is true. Why do you think that is? That's his style. No, you're born with that.

I don't mean that like I... I feel like I work best with... When I'm hosting a show here, I feel like I'm representing the room and I want it to be a good time for everybody and I put that on my shoulders. It's just a temperament. Like, Natalie is always scared on stage.

I'm not scared by any chance. It's more like, put your trust in me. I did sales with this guy who killed it, and he never followed the rules. All he said, every time he'd see me, he'd go, Mikey, three things. I like you, I trust you, and I want to do business with you. And that always stuck in my mind all through everything,

through relationships, through relationships, through friendships, through work. Have you had any good relationships because the two you described were one you didn't even want to talk to and the other one was a divorce? Who? You. Oh, no. I have a good relationship now because we don't live together.

But, no. I just want the crowd to know right away that they can trust me and that it's going to be a good time. So I think what I mean by pressure there's no better barometer of pressure than you go up with a thought that you thought of and you got to make it funny. You got

to be funny by the end of the... That's the thing with a lot of stand-up now. I love jokes. I love going... You mean joke jokes? I love sitting and watching Dave Attell. The beauty... People go like, do you like hosting? Do you not like... I love jokes. I love going. You mean joke jokes? I love sitting and watching Dave Attell. The beauty. People go like, do you like hosting? Do you not?

Like, I love it. I'm watching my favorite comics while I'm working. I mean, how could you not, you know? So I look at it in a sense of like, you know, I'm always learning. But I work best, I think, with a gun to my head. You know, like I really love that feeling of I don't like complacent. Like, you know, just sit at an office and do a job. Like, I'm always like, you know, my mind never stops. Hey, how you doing Jermaine? But by the way

Tell is not particularly honest on stage. Tell is mostly really I mean, he's honest about his things that he's fascinated with like babies and porn whatever it is But and fruit but he's not he doesn't you look I mean you don't have we have no sense for what would tell I just love his joke and he's rever, he doesn't, you look, I mean, you don't have, we have no sense for what Wattel is. No, I just love his jokes. And he's revered, you know. We certainly have a sense he's dark.

He's dark. Yeah, I have a sense different than, for instance, you know, take my wife, please. He's closer to being

who he is than some of the guys who had an absolutely created persona. Yeah, you're right, but he's not, he's not like sharing. No, he's not Louis.

Jermaine Fowler is here. Hi, Jermaine. How you doing, Jermaine? I'm good. He's the baby. The baby. How old are you? I'm a 28-year-old baby.

He has a new show where Judd Hirsch plays your father or something. Yeah, congratulations. No, no, no. Is this the donut? The donut. Close. He plays my boss. Superior.

Superior. Taxi dad. Yeah, I'm a taxi dad. What's it like working with Judd Hirsch? Judd is amazing. How old is he? 82. He's 82.

Wow. But you wouldn't guess it. You wouldn't guess it. The man has got this enthusiasm. He's just amazing, man. Charisma is through the roof. Can you remember his lines at that? You don't want to talk about it.

Yeah, he can. Yeah, I mean, he brags about it. The man is like, I mean, I've heard people working with Al Pacino, and he can't remember his lines. Paul Newman, by the end of the panel, he couldn't remember his lines at all. It's why Nicholson is not, they say, that's why he doesn't want to work anymore. Can't remember his lines. Same reason.

Judd is the complete opposite. He remembers everything. And he's still mad. I would kill for that. So that means he was, what, in his 40s or 50s when Taxi was? He was in his 40s. Yeah, he was a late... He plays that wonderful,

he's the stable center surrounded by wacko people. Yeah. Man, I love that show. Yeah. Kind of like Seinfeld was on Seinfeld. In the mic,

it's not a... The chemistry is out of the chart. What chemistry? Between Jermaine and Judd? Yes. That's great. I love the guy,

so it's easy to work with that dude. And he gives me, the suggestions he gives me for choices and the way he just picks out, Judd? Yeah. That's great. I love the guy. It's easy to work with that dude. The suggestions he gives me for choices and the way he just picks out his spots to do whatever he does.

It's very, very inspirational. I feed off that guy. He's awesome. He's a sponge out all up. This is Jonathan Solomon. He was one of the first and most important comics of the initial Comedy Cellar generation. Before you were born. Probably the boy you seller generation. Oh, get the, that's a, oh. Before you were born.

Nice to meet you. Probably the boy you were born, yeah. I was born in 88, so. Yeah, before you were born. That was 10 years after I graduated high school. Wow. Tell them all. I wanted to, I did want to answer your question about why you love it, you know? Yeah, go ahead.

I mean, it's the greatest thrill in the world to stand in front of it. I'm not sure if this answers the question, but this is what I say to my students at the beginning of every term. You get to stand on stage and tell whatever is in your mind and in your heart. You don't have to set it to music.

You don't need a narrative. You know, you said the joke before. You write something down on a napkin at 5.30 and at 8.30 you go tell people that's what you decided and they laugh. You're done. And you've just said who you are. Now

admittedly there's a high bar there. They have to laugh every 20 or 30 seconds but putting that aside it's a pretty cool thing to just stand on stage and say this is what I think and this is what I feel and when they laugh they're sort of agreeing with you. The risk reward would not be enough.

The idea of being up there trying to say something funny and have the room just silent is so fucking terrifying to me. It's a horrible thing. I've seen you handle it well. It's a horrible thing. There's a solution

to that. I was saying to Esty that when I started teaching comedy, I just thought it was a crock. It was those who can't do teach, but there is some those who can't do teach because there's things I started teaching comedy, I just thought it was a crock. It was those who can't do teach. But there is some those who can't do teach because there's things I didn't understand when I was doing it. I always see if you guys feel it. I think there's a particular discomfort or dis-ease, like they say in a yoga class, dis-ease, dis-ease. The comedians have because if singer, you can go on and sing and you know you sang the song.

The audience walks out. I sang the song. Great. You do your play. You got the other actor. I did the monologue. Great. Stand-up comedy has to, the audience has to decide. They validate it. And validate. Then you were there. However, so I always had this discomfort and I didn't even know I had it. I submerged it in being as professional as I could be and telling myself I don't really care, which is a sure loser because in your heart of hearts, you do care. And what I've come to understand, and I was such as I was a good writer, but I was so stupid as a performer, is if you have a really clear point of view, you don't go on

stage to be funny. You go on stage to complain, be hurt. And if the audience doesn't care, you're still complaining. If I walk up to you, Norm, and I say, I just got here, and boy, the traffic coming in on the Holland Tunnel, and you're texting, I'm still upset about the traffic on the Holland Tunnel. It doesn't matter. So that liberates you. I think you're not going on stage to be funny. I say to my students, don't write jokes to be funny. Figure out the construction to be logical. Don't go on stage to be funny.

Go on stage to complain or be fascinated or whatever your verb is. I think that sounds right. At least that sounds like what the Louis C.K. branch of comedy is doing right now. Yeah. Louis is funny, but he's not really hitting punchlines. He's just exactly what he's got. He's got phenomenally well-written, constructed jokes. Yes.

Yes. But you still feel like he's just really going up there and just telling about it. And his is a wonderful week. You know, only last week, he said on stage, I'm doing comedy, I think he said 32 years. Yeah, 32 years. But I became funny and doing well only the last four years.

No, no. Only the last four years. He was pretty darn funny. No, what he said was I've been doing it for 32 years and only the last four have been any good, darn funny. What he said was I've been doing it for 32 years and only the last four have been any good. Have been any fun, yeah. Before that I was staying

in crappy motels and then he launches into that. Born Standing Up, Steve Martin's book. Right. The first page of it. He said 19 years

and 10 of it was spent learning. Right. Five was spent perfecting and four was spent in insane success. Right. He used to suck hard.

Yeah. He would scream into the microphone. I mean, I said this on the air. I'm kidding. I'm kidding. Yeah. But it was hard to watch because it was all screaming. It was. But he's become one of my favorites now to watch because you can't tell where he's going.

Yeah. And he gets there in his own good time, in his own way. And I've always admired him since he put me in his TV show. That's crazy. I think you're describing what Jonathan was talking about.

I think that's when Louis started doing these more long form, more just telling the stories, and they became funny in a natural way. I just don't want to feed the thing that I get from students who say, oh, he's just up there talking. No, he is constructed with great skill

and experience. But you know what I love about Louis? There's a tone that he has that he's exasperated. He's sort of worried, not in a neurotic way, he's worried for us. He's like, I'm worried about the human community that this is going on. He seems truly exasperated and surprised by, oh, my God, I've realized another thing that's not working.

And it's just really a winning point of view, if you want to go back to the word point of view. They become, the great comedians have become philosophers in our day and age. Yeah. And that's a tall order. I mean, not everybody can be a philosopher, right? There was one thing. You sit down, and you're on a show

that we know. I just wanted to say, to me, there's a thing that I imagine people at home think of Jonathan Solomon. They don't know who that is. We talk about Robin or something. We use his first name. I think there's a wonderful thing that needs to be explained,

but it's part of a wonderful thing, that when we call these guys by their first names, when I'm with my relatives or friends, they go, if I say Ray Romano and I say Ray, they look at me like I'm name-dropping and being untruthful. How could I possibly know Ray Romano? And I think one of the wonderful things about stand-up comedy is, yes, guys like Ray and Jon Stewart and I all came up at the same time, and they went on to greater success. But the other thing that's really cool is, let's say it's your first spot, weekend spot ever at the Comedy Cellar.

You know, Esty has passed you, and you get 15 minutes. And you go on, and you have this great set. And then Robin Williams comes on and does 40 minutes. Later, you walk upstairs to this bar and you and Robin Williams are having a conversation where you're talking about the exact same thing with utter equality. And so when we name drop, it's not name drop,

there's a true heartfelt empathy and brotherhood and sisterhood that we had for each other. And I'm not sure when Robin died, there was a lot of Facebook activity. And then strangers sort of came in and said, you loser comics are riding on the heartbreak of Robin Williams and claiming you knew him. And that Facebook page then was shut down. And it became a Facebook page you have to be grandfathered into. You know the Facebook page I was shut down and it became a Facebook page you have to be grandfathered into you know the Facebook page I'm talking about

Yeah, it's a bit because because people don't appreciate that so I think that's a wonderful thing about stand-up is is the is the Brotherhood between huge star guy doing 15 minutes. Well, that's the thing I'm fascinated by music and I look at like old jazz, you know And you got like people that played the same instrument but played it entirely different ways and the fact that like you could sit around a table we're all musicians we're all you know writing playing our instrument our way but we can sit and enjoy it together you know and i can respect what you're doing you can respect what i'm doing or not but you're doing it your way i'm doing it mine that's the thing i love about stand-up you know i started i'm doing a show around the corner at fat black pussycat called hot seat and what it is is That's the thing I love about stand-up. Yeah. You know, I started, I'm doing a show around the corner at Fat Black Pussycat called Hot Seat.

And what it is is it's just kind of like an experimental thing where we go up with a new story or premise that maybe we're trying to crack. And then we open it up to the crowd for Q&A. Right. And it's so much fun. And it's been, a lot of my friends that i've had on it have been so thankful because it's like things they've been trying to crack they couldn't and we look at things from a certain eye we want to you know trim the fat and whittle it down to the most minute you know least amount of words to the funny yeah but getting a civilian's perspective is kind of awesome

sometimes you know so it's just a fun new way of doing things and it's great to be able to do a project with other people that, like, you know, I love and respect. You're doing that two weeks from now? What night? It's tonight, and what's the 12th and the 26th of April. 26th of April. Yeah, 830. It's so much fun.

I don't want to miss this, and we can go back to talk about whatever anybody wants to talk about because I'm told that this is very interesting to people. Can you describe for the whippersnappers, what the— The whippersnappers who are making who knows how much per week on Supreme Donut. If I'm a whippersnapper, I'd love to. Yeah, go on. Right now, the comedy seller—

Superior Donut. Superior. Say it without any ego. The comedy seller is like the big guy on the block. Can we just stop for a minute? Noam, congratulations. Thank you. Are we allowed to say four-letter words?

Yeah, sure. This is fucking amazing. That was six letters. Seven letters. This is amazing. When you started and when William started, we were the lowest on the totem pole. There was catch.

Talk a little bit about New York comedy scene in those days. The other clubs, what were they good at? Yeah, I mean, well, they were names. Catch Rising Star was known as Catch, one word. Improv had been started, but we're losing you? He's got to go on. Bud Friedman had started the improv, so that had to be legendary. And you were an outlier.

Yeah, I mean, you were an upstart. But I don't know that the comedians felt we were going downtown to a lesser club. You didn't? No, I really don't. We loved the room. We had a new spot. It was a new spot.

For me, it was. Yeah, I don't... We had difficulty getting some of the comics that worked uptown, like Catch, to get them down here until many, many would pay cat fare to get some people down. Well, maybe, okay.

They wouldn't come down. It was easier to get from the improv to the comic strip than Catcher in the Star. Correct. So maybe location-wise, location-wise, you had a problem. But the room in and of itself and who was here, I'm not so sure.

I remember the comedians in the old days complaining that the cellar was a difficult room. Wow. Yeah. I just remember this. The layout of the room. It was that aisle in the middle where people would go to the bathroom. That was the problem.

Man, that's ridiculous. I'm really not remembering that. We get used to it after a while. Yeah. Yeah. No, it was an issue. I'm not blowing smoke, though. I don't remember that.

In fact, I have an odd memory. I had a girlfriend who... You have to put that out there somewhere. I don't know about you guys, but the reason I was in comedy was women. Skinny Jewish boys. If you had told me selling vacuums was the way to get women, I would have done jokes on the side. Send me to the Sears appliance department.

But I remember I had a girlfriend and I didn't want her to see me perform because I thought that brought a certain thing into the relationship. And then six months in, she said, you have to, and I don't, I remember that I, the where I took her to, to see me perform was here. So there must have been a reason. What did you think it would bring into the relationship? That she would like you because you were a performer? What I didn't like was I didn't want to have the perfume.

We had met away from a comedy club, and we had a very, it wasn't, me being on, me being funny wasn't part of the relationship. I felt like I was being seen on a level, and I wasn't, and I thought that if I brought into it that that would somehow put a distance between us. I brought my wife to see me do stand-up for the first time at the brokerage in Long Island.

I was about seven months in. I was hosting a show at the brokerage to the right of the stage. If they have a big party, they pull this red curtain and they open up one table for the whole party. And it was like Olive Garden commercial extras. It was like the most loud, boisterous Italian family party. And I'm on stage hosting and I tell the crowd, I go, would you guys shut

the fuck up? And they chewed me up and spit me out. They destroyed me. For your first time with your wife? The back of my knees are sweating. I'm flipping out. I'm trying anything to salvage. I'm sweating. First time with your wife. The back of my knees are sweating. I'm flipping out. I'm trying anything to salvage. I'm looking to the rest of the crowd to help me, and they're like, you're on your own, kid. I walk back over to the table that she's at, and I'm like, that wasn't bad. And she looks at me, and she goes, are you any good at this shit?

She goes, that's the worst thing I've ever seen in my life. And she grabbed me by my shirt. She grabbed me by my shirt and brought, right? She grabbed me by my shirt and brought me out into the hall and told me every single thing I did wrong. And I swear to God, that moment was like, I want her in my life.

I need that brutal honesty. Right. Because up until then, it was going and hanging out at the one club that I did and we had the kind of girls that just hung out to mess around with the comics.

Right. And it was a joke. That's not a long... That's the sprint, not the marathon. But her doing that right away, it's been... Women, God bless them, right? I mean, they like the alpha male, but they also have the instinct to take care of the runt of the litter, kind of.

We can't identify with that. Both things are happening. Well, there's a struggle. In every joke, there's a struggle at the last minute. Will the audience laugh? And the comedian basically wins the struggle each time, if he does. So in that sense, you're being the alpha male. But there's a moment of vulnerability between the last word out of your mouth and will they laugh.

And the women, I think, are also drawn to this guy has put himself out there and there's a vulnerability. This is going to sound incredibly pathetic but here's one thing i remember about the that i loved about the comedy cellar i shouldn't say this is comic strip patch rising star the improv the women from the show would stream back into the bar and i would be there you know like jason bourne searching with the identity stuff. Where's the girl who laughed at the blowjob joke with the Pat Benatar hairpiece? You know, I got to find her.

They didn't come back. They didn't come in here. They went out the door down McDougal Street. So the one place I really felt like I could relax and fucking eat was in the olive tree because I didn't have to be looking around for where's my next future ex-wife. Why couldn't you say that?

No, it's just pathetic about me, not about the club. Yeah, that's pretty pathetic. That is pretty pathetic. I think so. Well, when William first came around, I was dating the keyboard player in the wall and William tried to steal my girl.

Don't think I don't know about it. We've never spoken about it. Steal or cock block? No, steal. Like you were already together. We've never spoken about it. Steel or cock block? No, Steel. Like you were already together. We were already together, yeah. He was calling her. I was just staring at her, sitting in the audience at the Y.

I didn't say nothing to her. I did hang out with her one time on the steps in Brooklyn where I used to live. But I would just stick, because she played and she sang. And she was very, what do you call it? I was captured by her. Gorgeousness. The sounds are coming out of her mouth,

and the notes coming out of her fingers. I never really, hey man, you should be my girlfriend and drop a note. I never said that. I'll tell you a Robin Williams story that leads to women. Robin came in here one night, and he invited me to go up to, I think the restaurant was called Columbus. It was owned by Rick Fields, who owned Catch a Rising Star.

And there were two women in the audience who were one more gorgeous than the next. And they, you know, attached themselves to Robin. Robin was inviting them to the next. And they, you know, attached themselves to Robin. Robin was inviting them to the restaurant. So we went up there with them. And, I mean, models are supposed to be gorgeous, but these are supposed to be tall.

But this woman, this must have been a hyphenate. She must have been model WNBA power forward. And we go to this place, and Robin's not interested. And so she settled for me. And great. Well, this, we go back

to her hotel. Cause she was like up traveling. I think, you know, Tokyo, Milan, where she, we go back to her hotel. We have intercourse, right? And I have a strong feeling that I have accomplished zip that made no effect on her. And I don't even ask, you know, did I, And she just sort of looks over at me, and I hope the millennials know this name. She just looks at me and she goes, don't worry, the only time I've ever gotten off was with Rick James. Nice. And then she said, but it's okay, but it's okay, I think you're funny. And that does not save your ego. If you've been told that you don't measure up because you're not Rick James, being told, oh, but you're funny is not And that does not save your ego. If you've been told that you don't measure up

because you're not Rick James, being told, oh, but you're funny is not, that's not a saver. You don't walk out with your self-esteem repaired. It's not bad. It's not bad, though. I want you to describe to me what Will looked like. Like, if I were blind, or like, if you needed to describe to me...

William? Back, like, in his... He looked the same. I mean, he's gained, I don't know, 30 pounds. I picture you like... Black people. I like to picture folks in the past, you know? And I picture you very pimpy. Pimpy?

I picture you like a bright suit, maybe like big hair. He's exactly like he is now. No kidding, really? That's very anticlimactic's exactly like he is now. No kidding, really? That's very anticlimactic to me. There's William. No shit, really? When Sopranos came out, somebody gave me a jersey that had Tony Soprano's name on the back. Remember, I used to wear that just about every night.

Now I wear this. I wear this as much as I can. You look like a defensive lineman coach. I'm the black Judah Friedlander. I'm going to wear this until I'm done. William hasn't changed in any discernible way. I'm surprised.

Right, SD? I've never been a pimp. I just pictured you in a purple suit. I did have a purple suit when I did the Apollo Comedy Hour because I thought I pimped. I just pictured you in maybe like a purple suit. I did have a purple suit. I did have a purple suit when I did the Apollo Comedy Hour because I thought I needed to. So they wouldn't boo me. Did you ever do the Amateur Hour, the Apollo Wednesday night? No, I did the Apollo Comedy Hour.

No, I know, but you never did that. I never did the... Wait, I'm curious about the Apollo Comedy Hour that you did because I remember there were some black comics who were sort of more like Warren Hutchinson who the Apollo audience didn't take to because they felt they weren't black enough. What was your set like? Is that fair to say that they didn't feel they were black enough? Am I saying something? No, no, that's true.

When I auditioned for Deaf Comedy Jam, I got booed off the stage in Jersey because there was just a... I went up after a guy who talked about not getting caught while fucking. Right. So now I'm coming up and doing what I'm doing and they're like

no, we're not buying that. And they booed me literally off the stage but the guy who booked the show booked me on the show and it went fine. Oh. I know. It was weird. In a purple suit? You got booed on? No, I didn't have the purple suit.

I had something worse than the purple suit. I had the crazy pants from an African festival in Brooklyn and I had a pink top that matched the pants but I didn't wear the pants

the top that was exactly like the pants. So it was kind of weird, but... So do you think the whole explanation for the first set was the clothing? It could have had something to do with it, for sure. I have no idea. I don't even know what we're talking about right now. The happy ending, though.

You had a good set when you did the show. I did the show. Deaf Comedy Jam worked out fine. Right. Even though it was that weird close. Who's the most famous celebrity that you're one degree of separation? He's Rick James. Who are you?

Oh, Jesus Christ. Oh, you mean Rick? One that way. Oh. Wow. Well, my ex cheated on me with a drum tech from Nickelback. So I guess I'm one degree of separation from that. SD?

SD? I'm trying to think. one degree of separation from that sg one degree of sexual separate thought of it that way no I can't you know how you know who I can't say Keith Keith I'm sure there's a few who is the who is the most famous person that a woman that you've slept with has also slept with? Can I say it? Yeah. I don't think I can. Yeah, you can say it. Go ahead. Sinbad.

Sinbad. Sinbad. I think I got you all beat. Okay. Noam, you got us beat? Robert De Niro. Wow. There you go.

Not bad. That's good. Did she go, don't worry, the only time I got off was with Robert De Niro? No, it was the opposite. She goes, I'm going to call Robert right now.

Oh, no more Robert. I found you. That's amazing. That's great. There's got to be another one or two. Make one up. Come on. You're a celebrity.

Sinbad. You were on Star Search, right? This is Keith. Was it against Sinbad? No. Chappelle? Who was it? Chappelle was on that episode.

He was on there. It was Brian McMillan. Wait a minute. If you did Star Search, you must be a contemporary of mine, but I don't. I'm Jonathan Solomon. Keith Robinson. Hey. How you doing?

I don't think we spent a lot of time in the same clubs at the same time, but Star Search. I did Star Search 93. I think that's around the very beginning. I definitely watched that. I avidly watched. It's on YouTube. You can see Keith with a flat top hair.

I deserve to win. I was voting in my living room. I was screaming for you. Should I? Did you just start? Yes, I did start. I was screaming for you. Should I? Did you just start? Yes, I did start. And there was an odd thing about Star Search. The numbers would come up under on this panel for numbers,

but you didn't see the numbers. So you're standing, there was this dumb look on your face like, did I win? And the audience at home goes, no, you lost. I just averaged your numbers. So you always look, you lost, and you look like a fucking math idiot. What's that? It was a three, three, four. Three, three, three, right. So you know you lost you lost and you look like a fucking math idiot. What's that? It was a three, three, three.

Right, so you know you lost. But you don't know. We're almost out of time. You started to say something before and I cut you off. You know what I think is interesting? You were talking about the other clubs and how in the beginning it seems like north of

Dangerfields and the Strip and all that up there is like, you know, it's obviously not in the best days, I guess, or whatever. But down here seems to be like it's amazing how like the shift, it seems like north of like a certain part of the city. It's like not much is really going on, you know? Well, I mean, now we... I don't think it's geography anymore. No, but do you know what I'm like... It's... I know what you're saying. I mean, come on. I know what you're saying, but I just think of like... I don't think it's geography anymore. I know what you're saying.

I know what you're saying, but I just think... That's too much. I worked too hard to worry about geography. No, it's definitely not that. Never mind. I just thought it was weird. Go ahead, say it. It's like an hourglass and everything. The sand is pouring down here now,

and I'm glad to be one of those grains of sand. That's all. I think that... Jesus, Keith, did you hear that? We've gone from like, whatever, like 10 or 12 shows a week to like 40 shows a week. And by doing those 40 shows a week,

we're making it irrelevant to go to other clubs. People are happy just to come down here and... Yeah, if you can do three shows and stay here and rotate again, why go anywhere? And now it's feeding on it. I think that's hurt the other clubs. People are happy just to come down here and stay here. Yeah, if you can do three shows and rotate again, why go anywhere? And now it's feeding on it. I think that's hurt

the other clubs. You know, this past weekend when Ray Romano came by, not just rapping a name, he says, he actually addressed that. He says, oh my God,

he's around all over town to make the amount of spots that I can do in one night here between the different rooms. I have a Ray memory. It goes back to what I was saying about having a point of view. How stupid I was.

My idea with my jokes was, I wrote these jokes. The audience knows I wrote them. I'm now going to tell the audience the jokes I wrote. That was the level of involvement. So Ray and I were at, this happened more than once, we we were at the comedy stop in Atlantic City and we get so bored because there was like 18 shows in five days or whatever.

So we would start switching. Did you do this, Warren? Switch bits with a guy? I never did that. Yeah, because you know the guy's bits perfectly. And Ray would go on with my bits and do better than I did with them. And I'd go on with his bits and do better than I did with them. And I'd go on with his bits and do worse because Ray was so wonderful. He was so, when he would tell the joke, you totally got the sense this has never occurred to him before.

He's truly befuddled by his wife and he just thought it up now. Am I sensing this? And I guess everybody can. Well, you're too young. If you knew, if you had all the wisdom about comedy and everything that you have now, in your 25-year-old head, do you think you could have put your career on a drastically different trajectory? I absolutely, yes. I absolutely could have accomplished more, yes.

And it pains me now that when I started taking apart stuff, and I feel great that, you know, Louis C.K. had an episode where Gary Marshall says to him, you know, your future isn't bright. Ten years from now, you're going to be teaching comedy at a college. I'm doing that. So it's nothing to be proud of, you know, but I certainly am devoted. Nothing to be ashamed of. Well, I'm devoted to it.

You're doing what you love, right? Yeah. That's all that matters. And to find these things, some of it sad. You know, I go, damn, I wish I'd known that and put that into, I wish I'd known that at the time. You feel that way, William? Yes. If I'd have slept with somebody, I could have been the host of

Deaf Comedy Jam. And I didn't want to. She was horrific. What? Wow, we can figure out who this is. Who you didn't sleep with. Who was it? Somebody, some woman who was working on Deaf Comedy Jam who hit on me

when I was working at the Empire. But you got to do the show anyway. Purple suit. Despite the funny pants. He's talking about all the wisdom of insight into comedy and life

that he has. You're talking about you didn't bang the right broad. That's exactly right. Right. That's exactly right. I don't think that's a verifiable story, William.

Well, that's what happened. You didn't prostitute yourself, and you feel bad about it now. I feel kind of bad. Martin Lawrence or William Stevenson. Let's think about that a little bit. I take William Stevenson.

I don't know Martin Lawrence, so I don't want to... But I certainly would take William Stevenson, too. That's what you know as opposed to what I don't know Martin Lawrence, so I don't want to, but I certainly would take William Stevenson, too. That's what you know as opposed to what you don't. Has Esty, I don't mean to make this show all shout-outs, but to be here with Esty, Esty would sit in that chair at the Comedy Cellar, and I know you don't do it anymore, but you would sit there, and you heard our jokes a hundred times, and you would smile, and you just felt like, maybe that's why. I don't think it was, but you would sit there and you know, you heard our jokes a hundred times and you would smile and you just felt like, maybe that's why

I don't think it was the best. I mean, you just sat in that chair and you smiled. I know, but now they tell me that if I'm in the room, they're too nervous to perform. Oh. It shifted a little bit. But it's amazing because you did look enthused every time

and you heard the jokes night after night after night. I know. My wife could learn something from Esty. Huh? Nothing. What did you say? I said my wife could learn a lesson from Esty. That's what I said.

Show off. I tell you, I did once for Backstage, the magazine, many years ago. An interview, you mean? They had a symposium about comedy. And on the dais, we had a director, a writer, producer, comedy club owner, and a booker.

Right. Myself. Yeah. And a room full of people. And most of the questions, especially after everybody left, the line was like in front of me. How do I get on? What should I do? How should I do?

Whatever. And the thing that always struck me, and I made a point there, I, from my perspective, the comedians are the most intelligent, gifted individuals because of their own words. Because they don't sing somebody else's song or words or whatever.

And when you get on that stage, it's you and your personality that you need to sell the best you can. If you have good words but your personality is lacking or you're lazy about it, you're not going to sell the joke and you're going to bomb. And you

can have a lesser material with greater personality and kill it. Right. But again, the part I'm hearing about that is how good comedians, they're sensitive without being annoying about it. We get all the references. I remember Larry David once said, before he was Larry David, when he was just the guy that we would run into see because, you know, all comedians jump over the fountain at Caesars, but he'd go over five trucks and the fountain.

And he would just say, do you remember him ever saying, he would say, hanging out with comics ruins you for hanging out with anyone else. I agree. I agree. But not just the comics, but somebody that has the level of intelligence and sense of humor. Yeah, and that's a comic. I love to hang out with him, never mind that he's my boss. Oh, yeah, no, I'm your grandfather, too. No, no, no.

Listen, it's my ball, so I get to play. What's that? Let me finish. He has the personality and the sense of humor. Wait, I got a question I got to ask. I got to ask this question. I can't believe. Have you, I'm so curious now,

have you ever once or twice or ten times done stand-up? No, I would never. You're just totally sure you never even want to... No interest. That's so interesting. He's a lawyer. He's a scholar. I got that. But I was just...

But I want to talk about... Ruining you to hang out with anybody but comics, there's two aspects to that. You crave the comedians because they're interesting and they're funny. Because you figure that they understand you better than anybody else.

But also, then you go to family dinner and you make some remark that you wouldn't even think, and everybody silences, and they look at you like, what the fuck did you just say at my dinner table?

Right. And you realize it's just miserable. You cannot speak freely anymore. And you become used to it. I try very hard to keep in touch with friends from my childhood, and I've got nothing to talk about with them anymore. It really sucks.

I have nothing to talk about. Well, you know, I've really enjoyed this process, but in the full confession, when we used to sit at this table, which I remember when I remember it was a bunch of tables that way, I never said a word. I mean, I'm glad that Esty said I was a prolific and good writer, but among comics, I would just sit there and be entertained. In fact, I remember I went out to L.A. and I had a party,

and I invited New York Comics, and I got really touching. I was flattered by the turnout, and my girlfriend was there. The woman I was dating then, and she was very impressed by the people, and we were having a wonderful time. It was a bowling party, if you can believe it, with comedians. Then we retired to the bar. And they're just cracking up. And they're saying funny stuff. And at a certain point, she grabs me by the arm.

She said, are you okay? And I said, why are you asking me? I'm having the best time of my life. It's my birthday. And they're all making fun of me. And she said, oh, that's what I, they're being so cruel to you. And I said, no, this is great. I'm being roasted by the best comedy talent in LA.

She didn't understand that at all. I love to listen to them be funny. That's your perspective for me. Yeah. I love seeing roasted laughing somebody else. I couldn't take it. Oh. I could not take it.

We always talk, who should we roast? Everybody says, SDS. No, she can't do it. No way. I don't know. You roast No she can't do it No way I don't know You know someone can say Something totally cruel to you And if everybody's laughing

It feels like No It feels like a A hussy She doesn't like it I would take it to heart Wow Because I think of

I think of myself As an over sensitive person But I I would take it to heart Because I believe That even in a joke Right There's always

A little bit of a truth. So if anybody would say something bad, I'll be on the fence. All right. I'm with you on that, but somehow enjoyed being drawn and quartered by the best comics. We're at our end,

but since you're talking about roasting, I don't know if anybody has anything they want to say or any stories about Donald Rickles since he died this week. No, I just, he made my grandfather laugh and my whole like. But not you? Before I understood what he was saying. But when you watch him now, you find him dating? Yeah, but I just, it's nostalgic to me.

But I just remember the rhythm. Like it would be like, bop, bop, bop, bop, laughter. And my grandfather would crack up. And to me, that's why my grandfather was the guy I always remember the rhythm. It would be like, bop, bop, bop, bop, laughter. And my grandfather would crack up. And to me, that's why my grandfather was the guy I always wanted to impress. So that was my first gauge of how to make him funny or how to make him laugh. So he was great. But 90 is a pretty damn good run. He didn't make me laugh half as much as some other comedians.

I just never got that, you know, you talk about somebody in the audience and that's your whole act. I never got that as being, for me, this never made me laugh. So got one yay and one nay. I think if you come with anything that unique, that you're inimitably known, that's Don Rickles, the first joke. That's Hall of Fame stuff. Don Rickles has always made me laugh.

When I was 10, I was laughing at the roast, the celebrity roast. I would roll. He was very funny. You know, I just thought he was hysterical. You'll be remembered forever for that Frank Kent. You see, I'm talking to somebody's story. I mean, you just can't.

I had a long, long drive this weekend, and I was listening to NPR, and they had an interview with Don Rickles and Bob Newhart, and they were interviewing each about the other. Which is so interesting that they were such good friends. Yeah, I guess Newhart said that Rickles was one of the sweetest people in the world, and when they interviewed him, he was a very humble guy. He didn't have an ego about it. He just did what he did.

And he said, he goes, I wouldn't go out there with jokes. He goes, I would just do what came naturally. And that's what I like the most about him. We also lost Charlie Murphy today. Yeah, today. We're losing their generation and our generation at almost the same pace. Yeah, 57.

Leukemia. Leukemia. Yeah. Oh, whatever. And there is something. I don't think it's just because of nostalgia. 57 leukemia leukemia yeah whatever and there was there is something I don't think it's just because

of nostalgia there is something about Carson and Rickles these really were giant talents and personalities Rickles a giant talent

but when Carson died I remember comedians calling each other on the phone you know the damnedest thing it was almost like this feeling like he'd been off the air

for years but you sort of felt like, well, now I know I won't be doing Carson again. As if somehow the show was, if he was alive, you could still go and be on Carson. Tell me about it. I mean, he was God. When I talked before about wanting to be a comedian for my little boy, 10 years

old, my parents had lost track of me. I was watching Carson, and I didn't know how those people ended up there. I didn't know how you became one, but that was it. There's a list of people, I always found it interesting, that are so dominant in whatever, in their genre, as it were, that there's no debate about

them, like the Beatles, or Bob Marley and reggae, and that Carson. There's nobody, there's no school of thought that says, oh, Carson wasn't great. I would almost say the Beatles is the Rolling Stones. With Carson, I don't know who else you say. I mean, it's just Johnny Carson for a long

time. What's that? David Letterman. Yeah, but that's later. What, around Carson's time? Was that Smothers Brothers? No, but some people cared for Letterman, some people didn't care for Letterman. Some people liked that brand of humor, some people didn't. But Carson, he appealed to every age. We watched him in high school, and our grandparents were watching him.

The Beach Boys wrote a song about him. You know the Beach Boys wrote a song about how brilliant... I think it's called Johnny Carson, about how brilliant Brian Wilson wrote a song about how brilliant Johnny Carson was. Wow. At the time, Carson was on the air. Well, also, I mean, you have to be accurate.

There was no other show on Channel... Channel 4 was it. But to do an hour and a half, I mean, wow. But people tried. Cavett tried them. And Cavett was great. I mean, it's not like these other people were not great. No, absolutely.

Dick Cavett's interview with Sly Stallone. When Sly and this family stone, when that guy is three sheets to the wind, 700 sheets to the wind, is one of the great saves you'll ever see a person doing on a talk show. YouTube that. All right. Anything else? Keith Robinson, you want to say anything? No.

I agree. You agree? You like Carson. Yeah, I love Carson. William probably didn't. Did not. Of course you didn't, William. Why did you?

I didn't. Because he was no Arsenio Hall. All of his jokes. No, I hated Arsenio Hall. But all of Carson's jokes ended with him going, oh, it's not funny. Let me show you how I feel about me not having that joke go over. They weren't really. Well, he did some savers in his monologue.

But his main, he did more that was not not a funny joke, that was funny, than actual jokes. You know, actually, Tony DeSantis, who's one of the guys Tuesday nights who hangs out with the comments in LA, said that when he first started writing for this show, he turned in all these wonderful jokes, and the producer said, have you watched the show, Tony? You need to write a lot of lousy jokes, too. Is that true? Yes. You can't give us all good jokes.

Because, you know, yeah. You would save them. All right. Jonathan Solomon, thank you very, very much. No one's going to find me at Jonathan Solomon. It's got to be schoolforstandup.com. Schoolforstandup.com. And go ahead, Essie.

What's that? Yeah. It's a thrill for me. I haven't seen you. Essie was really excited when she heard you were coming. I haven't seen you in, my God, like 20 years heard you were coming. I haven't seen you in 20 years. I mean, we're hanging in the middle of the street like you would think that. Yeah.

But no, for real. Did you guys ever? It's a very... No. She must have done it with somebody after all these years. Somebody. She won't tell us who. It had to be...

Is that where you... What? That's a whole other show. What, what, what? You had to have done it with one of the comics. Yeah. I don't want to hear this. All right.

I don't want to hear this. I think that's a special hour with Esty. Oh, my God. With Esty, there was no degrees of separation. It was the celebrity. Yeah. All right. Okay.

It wasn't geography. No, it's really a thrill to see you again You look great, you sound great Thank you I'm so flattered and honored to be on the show I really am And this has been just a pleasure It's so funny because Stephen says to me

Do you remember a comic named Jonathan Solomon? What? Do I remember Jonathan Solomon? We have the same birthday William and I have a huge affection March 11th Do you remember Jonathan Solomon? We have the same birthday. That's how I know. Yeah, William and I have a huge affection because we, March 11th. Do you like that birthday? No, I hate that birthday.

I did until Jonathan Solomon had it. All right. Mike Fennoy, what's the date again for your hot seat? August 20th, or April 26th. April 26th. And I had an album come out a couple weeks ago. It's doing well. Mike Fennoy, Alive in Burlington. You can had an album come out a couple weeks ago. It's doing well. Mike Fennoy alive in Burlington.

You can get it on iTunes and all the other things. I saw the cover art and everything on this album. It's kind of a labor of love. Yeah, it was great. It was really great. I used all Burlington, Vermont people to do it. All local artists, local recording studio, local openers. It was great.

I have decided I have a bucket list thing I want to do. I want to see you do one set. Noam, I want to see you do one set. I'll get right to work. William, you got anything you want to say? Do we get to eat here? Yes, you get to eat here. That's all I need.

Thanks, Noam. Thank you very much. It's been great. Good night, everybody.