WTF with Marc Maron Podcast - Episode 1144 - Marsha Warfield

Episode Date: July 30, 2020

Not only is Marsha Warfield one of the early pioneers of the Comedy Store scene, she was also there at the start of standup comedy as we know it in Chicago. Marsha tells Marc what it was like to compete for limited spots while coming up against the politics and prejudices of the day. Marsha also talks about the friendships she developed with Richard Pryor and Paul Mooney, how her life changed overnight after her first episode of Night Court, and what it was like to retire from comedy for 20 years and come back as a 60-year-old rookie.  Sign up here for WTF+ to get the full show archives and weekly bonus material! https://plus.acast.com/s/wtf-with-marc-maron-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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fucking ears what's happening i'm mark maron this is my podcast it's called wtf welcome to it i don't want to get too lost in the darkness or the light, but here I would like to say that Marsha Warfield is on the show today. We reached out to her to have her on a while back, actually, and it was tough to schedule because she lives in Las Vegas. But now that we're doing things remote, it was a good time to have her on since she's part of the comedy store history and a a definite um important player in in in modern stand-up history might not remember her from night court she's going to be here she is here i talked to her you'll hear it today how's everybody holding up in this uh 50 state death factory what's going on out there

are you staying safe are you okay are you keeping it together kind of a lot of people are shredding a lot of people are sad a lot of people are losing people a lot of people are just trying to A lot of people are just trying to fucking keep it together, man. I get it. I definitely get it. It's a weird time because I think I said this towards the beginning of this thing. I said, however long this is going to go on for, people are going to come out of it knowing exactly who they are, what they are made of. Who are you? Because here's what's happening i i think

that a lot of people i would imagine that the veneer of self is starting to wear down to wear off the the sort of coding that you call who you are the puppet you inhabit uh is is is probably breaking down a bit and there you are right look at me look at me when i when the puppet's broken for those of us who based a good portion of our relevance on how we're seen or what we do in the world if you're not doing that in the world even if you're just not going out in the world i talked to a buddy of mine hadn't been to a to a fucking grocery store in five months really locked down and went out and because he had to go to the doctor and had a couple exchanges just regular exchanges with human beings and was moved to tears at the strange realization that it need that. We need it. So however you're deprived, I mean, a lot of you have people,

and a lot of you, like me, are sort of having people over, having dinners with people, distanced dinners, and going out in the world a bit, you know, safely, sitting outside a lot, waving friends calling people i mean i really try to get as much of that as possible but i think on the other side of that even if you have family or whoever you're hanging out with on a day-to-day basis if your sense of self is based on how you are seen or what you do or your job out in it and you can't go out in it anymore i would imagine that there's some moment of who the fuck am i happening who i who am i without all that possibly broke sadly hopefully not

but who am i without that stuff and that's some uh there's a lot of soul searching going on that none of us signed up for. I'm fortunate in that I can do my job here. But I didn't sign up to be the guy whose girlfriend died and he's crying at night talking to his cat again. And the cat's dying too. I didn't sign up for that. I didn't sign up for the man who has to sit quietly on his porch with a heavy heart wondering what it means

how do we integrate death into our lives I think that's a question everyone's asking and it's something that we have to deal with personally loss but also just the fact of so much death around hey but I don't want to be a bummer but also just the fact of so much death around. Hey, but I don't want to be a bummer.

You know, my girlfriend got nominated for an Emmy for Best Directing for Little Fires Everywhere, I believe for the finale episode. Lynn Shelton is nominated for a directing Emmy for a drama series or miniseries or whatever it is. Limited series. Very exciting. She would be so fucking thrilled and she is so deserving of that nomination and of that award. She was great at her job. She was great when she did it with complete creative freedom

and great when she did it to honor the vision of somebody else. I'm very proud of her and I'm so sad that she can't be here for this. This honor. Whatever you think of awards, I've talked about them before. Like when your peers honor you, it means something. And she would just be thrilled, and I know her family's thrilled. I know all of her friends are excited for her and i i think everybody just wish just wishes that uh she would call them and tell them how excited she is

but it's a it is a it's a beautiful thing that she got nominated and uh you know whether she wins or not it's it doesn't I don't think it matters to her. Maybe it does. I don't know how the afterlife works. But that was some good news. And it was exciting news and bittersweet for sure. For sure. But I'm very excited for Lynn.

I will think of her as if she's here and what she would be thinking. She would just be bouncing off the fucking walls. I'll tell you that. It's weird, man. Something is hovering around my being with this loss everywhere. And it's not bad. It's not bad.

Maybe it's because I'm in my 50s and maybe I'm heading into my late 50s. I'm going to be 57 in a few months. And it's going to happen. It's going to happen to all of us at some point. But the things that die, they just hover there. They're still here. Everything's still here.

Everything's still with you. It's just there's less clutter. There's less responsibility in a way. But that makes the love even more pure strange thing life and i know that uh you know honoring the dead and honoring the legacy of the creative people that have been in our lives like lynn and like her her parents uh you know put out a statement about her emmy nomination that was quite beautiful, a testament to her collaborative abilities, but also her complete control over her craft.

But it basically says that Lynn is honored by the Television Academy, is not only a tribute to her accomplishments as a director, but her style of directing, always in control, but kind-hearted, making the final decisions, but always soliciting input from her co-workers. Co-workers, yes, that is how she regarded everyone on set, from grips and gaffers and set and costume designers to the director of photography and the actors. This is an honor for the ultimate collaborationist who knew that she would produce her best if she teased the best out of her teammates. Very sweet. She certainly teased the best out of me. I'll tell you that.

Take a breath, man. Take a breath. Cry it out, people. So I got an email that speaks to something i've been saying to other people you know people are like when we're going to go back to work when are we going to go back to work and the only thing i can think of and i've been saying this for weeks months is that there's no work until there's a test that we can all take every day something easy something practical something that we can have 10 of in our medicine cabinet, something simple as a diabetes test, as a blood test, as maybe even a little machine that does it. I don't know, but I don't see how

anything happens without that. And I got this letter from this guy, a teacher, who said, dear Mark, I cannot, his name's Daniel. Dear Mark, I can honestly say that not a week has gone by in the last 12 years that I haven't thought about writing to you about something. Never more so than during your recent tragic time of loss and grief. I am so sorry. Thank you. I finished 12 years of graduate school in 2008. The economy collapsed and I was unemployed for 10 years. I'm just a few years older than you. Throughout that decade, sharing your journey kept me searching for my podcast from a garage. I found it. I'm a public high school science teacher. You also helped me quit smoking. This is why I'm writing now.

There are new developments. There is a growing realization the only way out of this crisis will require cheap, daily, rapid at-home tests for COVID-19. The good news is that these tests exist now. We call upon Congress to mandate and fund the approval, manufacture, and distribution of these tests to every household in America. When I say we, I mean me and a guy I know named John. Okay, that's what it is in parentheses. Please add your voice to ours.

It's louder. Your activism has inspired me to send the attached letter and accompanying information to all of my elected representatives, my union, my favorite media outlets. This is an underreported story. I hope you will talk about it.

Mark, you have all my love, admiration, gratitude, and my deepest sympathy, Daniel. So look, this is true. And you should know that it obviously has to happen. It's happening in other countries, but here we have such a tremendous leadership vacuum and a government that is so fucking broken that I don't know if it's going to happen. Will there be wealthy people

who are able to obtain that home rapid test? Yes. Will there be industries that use them to make sure they can generate revenue? Yes. Will you be able to get one because your government thinks it's a smart thing to do? Of course not. Of course not.

Right now, they can't even agree to emergency spending methods or mask mandates. It's fucking ridiculous. It's a grifter's picnic. It's fucking ridiculous. It's a grifter's picnic. And this will not change, folks, until you get rid of the people who are the problem. If you want rapid at-home testing, you better vote in November. It's not happening until there are new people in charge.

So right now, I'd like to share my conversation with one of the great women of comedy, Marsha Warfield. We talked, she was in Vegas. She's in Vegas. It was a nice chat. It was nice to see her,

nice to meet her. Now, it's another person I can put into the pantheon of people I have talked to from the comedy store's history, from comedy history. This is me and Marsha Warfield. You can get anything you need with Uber Eats. Well, almost, almost anything. So, no, you can't get an ice r need with Uber Eats. Well, almost almost anything.

So no, you can't get an ice rink on Uber Eats. But iced tea and ice cream? Yes, we can deliver that. Uber Eats. Get almost almost anything. Order now. Product availability may vary by region. See app for details.

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that's C-O-Z-E-Y, and start customizing your furniture. Hi, Marsha. Hi. I just texted Mike Binder to ask him if you talked to him for the documentary. Yes, I did. It was funny because I interviewed him years ago in the old garage in person. And when I talked talked to him he didn't even want to talk about

the comedy store and i told him you got to talk about the comedy store and now he can't get enough of it now it's like he's the guy that's putting together the most thorough history of that place yeah it's about 400 hours or so by now isn't it it's got to be it's got to be and i went over there it's so weird because i went because i was a doorman at the comedy store in the 80s. And I went over there and Peter Shore let us go through her stuff in that office. Okay. Upstairs. And I have her driver's license.

That's Mitzi Shore. I don't deal with my driver's license. I just know it's a one-of-a-kind souvenir. Everybody who was at the store when I was there does a spot on Mitzi. Of course. But you grew up, where'd you grow up? Chicago. The whole time in Chicago.

Yeah, I left Chicago. I started doing stand-up in Chicago in 1974. 74? Yes. What was the scene in Chicago? Who was around? Where were you performing? Tom Driessen had just broken up with his partner, Tim Reed. Right. And had started a Monday night open mic to work out. And at that time, that was almost pretty much brand new. The improv was around in New York. And I think the comedy store might have been starting.

But it was a new concept. And it was new to Chicago we weren't known for stand-up right it was mostly a sketch town compass players second city I uh I talked to Tom you know fairly recently and that was uh that was pretty amazing he's got kind of an amazing story and him and his partner Tim was it Tim Reed. Yeah, they were kind of a big act for a while. Well, yeah, they were groundbreaking. I mean, they were the first interracial comedy team, and comedy teams were much more common than they are now. Right.

But they did pretty well, and then they went their separate ways, and so Tom had this open mic, and they featured it in the Sunday Sun Times. And you had never done comedy before? You just were curious? And I was 22 years old and working at the phone company. And I saw no future there and had no idea what I wanted to do. So I saw that and I told a friend, I don't want to go out down there and do that.

They said, anybody can go up. I'm going to do that. And she said, okay. So I started writing stuff down, but a couple of months went by and I didn't go. And she kept asking me, when are you going? When are you going? And I kept saying, well, I'm not ready.

I'm not ready. So she showed up at my house one Monday at about six o'clock in the evening. Yeah. And said, put your clothes on. We're going. I'm not ready to go. Put your clothes on.

We're going. So I put my clothes on and we went down there way too early. Yeah. And finally, about nine, ten o'clock, I guess, Tom showed up and he went and introduced me. And at that time we introduced all the comedians as virgins. Yeah. I finally went on about two. How'd it go?

Nine scotches. So it was a bunch of comics, three drunks at a table, and the guy's sweeping up, because they just said, God is on the floor. And so I went on and I did the stuff. I opened with,

my name's Marshall Warfield, and I'm a virgin, so please be kind. And went from there. The comedians loved me. And the drunks were like, yeah, you're all right. And went from there. The comedians love me. And the drunks were like, yeah, you're right. So Tom invited me back. And that was the beginning. Did you and Tom come out at the same time out here? No, Tom left maybe a year or so before I did.

And I worked around Chicago. I did a lot of jazz clubs. I did a lot of folk clubs. I did a lot of folk clubs. I did a lot of, you know, whatever was available. And then I got the job as a house comic in an upscale urban jazz club. They had a 16-piece band. Oh, wow. They were trying to bring, you know, an upscale venue to the far south side of Chicago. But if you know that, that's a pretty remarkable thing.

And it was 1974. But I'm 22 years old. I had one cocktail dress. And at that time, you had to dress up. You know, we still had supper clubs. We still had Mr. Kelly's and the Happy Medium and places where, you know, you got really dressed up and had dinners on Nancy Wilson or Frank Sinatra. Right. And so I got to have my one cocktail dress. And I went down there and they gave me the job.

And there were six owners. And it was $100 a a week two shows a night five nights a week and uh they asked me if i wanted to get paid at the end of the week or every night i said i didn't pay me every night so every night the owners individually would come to me and ask me if i had gotten paid and i'd say no yeah yeah so i would end up getting a hundred bucks a night and i did that for as long as i the club was open and then i went on and did other things and after a couple of years i figured you know all the clubs were closing all of them the bands. The dinner clubs? Yeah. Everybody was moving to Los Angeles.

The Tonight Show had moved in like 73. From New York, yeah. Now, when you were doing those clubs, were you opening for a lot of musical acts? Yeah. Well, I did, like I said, opening with the band, a 16-piece jazz band. I did a lot of those kinds of shows.

And then a lot of times we would just, you know, find a venue and ask them if they had a mic. And if they said yes, then we said, well, can we do a show? And they'd say yes, and then we would entertain the four drunks at the bar. So you decided to move to Los Angeles in what, 76? March 8th, 1976. Well, March 5th, it was my birthday. I left on my birthday. How does your family feel about it? Do you come from a big family over there? Not a big family, but I was 22 and too stupid to be scared.

Right. And it was 1976. You have to remember, at that time, people were still hitchhiking across the country. Right. And they had driveaways. You could rent somebody's car and drive it for them to Los Angeles or wherever else they wanted you to. But there were all kinds of little caravans of kids headed out to Los Angeles, especially to California, a lot to San Francisco as the hate and everything

was still a hate. So I had told my mother I was going to California hooker by crooker. I didn't care if I had to, you know, hit tight, catch a ride, whatever. I was going. Yeah. And so she finally got that and gave me a trip to Los Angeles for my birthday. She probably thought you were going to come back. Right. Two weeks at the Pond and Little Hyatt house.

Oh, yeah. Right next door to the comedy store? Yes. That's why I chose it. It's right next door to the comedy store. So you had done some research. Oh, sure. What did you know about the comedy store before you got out there? That was where all the

comedians went to work out, be you know make their fame and fortune it was it was the place that it had become the place freddie prince uh jimmy walker they were on tv at that time and right and so like that was and richard was there 74, 75. So he was around. He got by occasionally. But the regulars were Jimmy Walker, Jay Leno. Letterman was the emcee.

Okay, so what happens? You go out for the two weeks and you audition? I went out for the two weeks. I went to the comedy store that night, the night I got there. And I told him I was a comedian. They let me in. And the guy at the door was John Witherspoon. Yes. And I told him I was from Chicago. He said, OK, baby, sit back here and I introduce you to everybody. And he did. Everybody that came in, he introduced me. She's from Chicago, blah, blah, blah. And then Paul Mooney came in about midnight. And Paul, I want you to meet somebody. And he introduced me to Paul.

And there's Paul Mooney. And Paul said, Mr. Paul Mooney. Okay. And then he laughed. And I said, I know you. I know you. I know you, you laughed on that Richard Pryor album. You're the guy who laughed because I could hear that saying, ah, really? Right. And so I, you're the guy you, you wrote on that. Then he said, yes. And so then we were friends from that point on. And I got to meet all of other comedians that were down there. And so I told Spoon I wanted to come by and just hang out, you know,

since I was only going to be there for a couple of weeks. He said, fine, come back. Come anytime. Just come on in. And I did. That was a Friday and Saturday, Sunday, something like that. So you got to watch everybody. Yeah.

On Monday night, I signed up and went on. Yeah. And another guy who had just gotten to town, and his first night was Argus Hamilton. He and I were comedy virgins together. And you couldn't find two more different people. That's for sure. We just are all opposites.

Oklahoma preacher's kid. Yeah. Yeah. And I just saw a post from him saying, you know, my grandpappy fought for that flag. And so we both share the same comedy store birthday. That's amazing. Yeah, we both became regulars. So Mitzi saw you?

I don't know. I never really paid a lot of attention to Mitzi. I mean, I paid attention to Mitzi. I just signed up. You know, I just signed up. And if I got spots, I got spots. If I didn't, I didn't. I don't, you know, I didn't know there was a, you know, a, you know, a genuflecting ritual that one was supposed to do.

You didn't. How did you not know? I didn't care. It wasn't the only place I worked. We would go to places like the 20 Grand and places in Inglewood and Compton and work out there, too. What was the vibe at the store in the sense of like, did it seem like it was pretty balanced? Like, you know, all kinds of people, women, black people, white people. Did you find that or am I just making that up? No white people did you find that or is it am i just making that up no we didn't find that we we we had the um the late night spots oh really so okay so it was like

that and um and if mooney showed up yeah you didn't get those and if richard showed up, Mooney didn't get it. There was a hierarchy and we got the last spots of the night. There were very few women. There was a couple of other black women besides Shirley. There was a woman named Brenda Barrett and Roberta Peril and they were both, we were all jockeying for the same one spot, you know. And this was before they started the franchising and the three-act comedy norm. Right, right. The clubs, yeah. When that started, I started working at the Laugh Stop in Newport Beach, and I got to be a regular there.

And that was the first club I got the headline. So when you went out there for two weeks, you auditioned, then you went back to Chicago, and you just got your stuff and came back? Never went back? Never went back. I got a job as a switchboard operator for an answering service. Back then, we didn't have the voicemails and stuff like that. Right. So when you wanted, you were big time.

Yeah. When you had someone else answer your phone, I was the one who answered celebrity phones. Oh, yeah? Was that exciting? Did you get any memorable incidents? Well, it was exciting for me i mean you know when bill bixby's phone rang you you know you tried to be the one who got it yeah then there were some people who weren't nice at all and you got to to you know experience

that firsthand sure so how did you because i know you did the you did the richard prior show did you were you finding that but i mean you were like did you feel like you were at least part of the the gang i mean there was seemed like there was either one gang or two gangs or like it seems like i'd like to picture that everybody was sort of tight at a certain point was that the case or no well the the politics of the room Well, the politics of the room are different than the politics of the comedians. I mean, the comedians, we were all in the parking lot smoking weed. We were all, you know, hanging out. We were friends.

Right. As far as jockeying for spots, that's a whole different thing. Sure. Of course. Yeah. We got to know each other and you got to hear different perspectives. Like I said, Argus is from a whole different world than me. And being able to talk and, you know, face to face, one on one and have really serious conversations was nice. And to also hear that Charlie Hill Charlie, yeah.

Go on stage and say, I went to Custer Memorial Junior High. It puts things in a perspective you've never heard before. And so there was that going on, but there was also you know, why is that guy

going on before me? Yeah, yeah. Fuck that guy going on before me? I've got as much material as him. Yeah, yeah. Fuck that guy. Showbiz. Yeah, Charlie Hill is still to this day. I mean, I feel I don't, I have to, there's a whole little world of new Native American comedians that I haven't really talked to. And I didn't get to talk to him because he had passed away.

I haven't really talked to, and I didn't get to talk to him because he had passed away, but he was really like the only one for many years that represented that ethnic group, and he was really good. He was great. Nice guy, too. He was. He was a sweetheart, and Andy Blumetie from Hawaii, and like I said, just different people from different backgrounds that you'd never really run across any other way. And that was the beauty of watching, sitting

in the comedy store and watching comedy. For sure. I got to see all those different perspectives. And was everybody gunning for the Tonight Show? When was your first TV spot? You know, there's always been people with different formulas about how to make it. Yeah. And I realized early on there is no one way to make it. No two performance ever made it the exact same way. Everybody follows their own path.

it the exact same way. Everybody follows their own path. And so, The Tonight Show and the mechanics of it that people would, you know, you need two giggles, a laugh, a chuckle and a ha-ha within the first 30 seconds. And then I'm just like, I can't build an act that way. It just doesn't feel natural to me. And so I never really pursued the Tonight Show. I did the Jim Neighbors show. I did the Mac Davis show. I did the Burt Griffin show. Wait a minute. The Jim Neighbors variety show. Yeah. This is like, you know, you have these experiences. That was sort of still when old show business was in charge, right? I did the Alan King show.

How long did these shows even last? I mean, I kind of remember them from when I was a kid, but Mac Davis had a variety show, right? Yeah. And Jim Neighbors was a variety show, and the Alan King show. They would just try variety shows with everybody. Was the Alan King show on that long? Not really.

And he was one of the last of the suit and tie cigarette yeah uh you know drinking hand comics and red fox were i can't think of others that were still working but then the dean martin rose was still on too. Did you do that? Yeah. I did the Tommy Chol Rose though in Vegas with on the Playboy channel. And I started working the Playboy

channel. You have to remember Showtime and HBO were startups. Most people didn't have Showtime, HBO or the Playboy channel but those were uh they were pretty much all in the same thing so i like the playboy channel for the freedom and you know smut of it what about the richard pryor show because that that thing is kind of uh

like that i've watched that uh you know uh once or twice and and that just felt like you know he just went down to the comedy store and got everybody to come down on a bus or something well mooney was uh was instrumental in that mooney was a writer and and was very involved with the with the production. So when Richard wanted an ensemble, he just asked us. At first it went per sketch. They needed people

to do certain sketches. The Star Wars sketch and whatever for the opening. And so we went down for that. And then the next week, Richard, they were like, well, you know, you guys work. Let's

stick with this group. And so pretty much it ended up being a core group, but we weren't hired for the run of the series. Who was it? It was you and was Sandra Bernhardt there yet? Sandra Bernhardt,

Tim Reed, Mooney Twins, Mooney Spoon, Robin. Robin, yeah. That was the first thing he did. Yeah, I think that's true. Just about everybody pretty much got a chance to do it who wanted to or who was available. And did you get to know Richard at all or no? Well, see, I had been at the comedy store you know and i would sit in the back and just watch comics and so if somebody didn't show up

i was available to take that spot right then it became a thing where when the heavy hitters would would show up and you know take somebody's, of course, who's going to deny Richard Pryor or whoever's spot? So they would take the spot and then everybody would say they didn't want to follow him. So they would ask him if they could go on in front of him. Right. And most of the time Richard said, sure. Well, he asked me if I wanted to go on in front of him. Right. And most of the time, Richard said, sure. Well, he asked me if I wanted to go on in front of him.

I said, no, I said, do you know, I learned in Chicago, the hard way, it doesn't matter who went on in front of you. You do your set,

whatever it is, do your thing. If people, um, you know, if they're through with comic comedy, after they saw that guy, they'll leave with him.

The people who stayed want to see more comedy. So don't cheat yourself or them. Do you say? So he asked me and I said, no. And that went on for a while. And then one night he goes on and I go in the back to get a drink. And the next thing I know, they're going, Richard's introducing you. What do you mean? Richard's introducing you what do you mean Richard's introducing you he's calling you up front and so I run back you know up the steps and I'm standing there and he said you know I want you to listen to this lady she's really funny I like her a lot and he introduced me and I went up and did my set in front of him. And I found out later that he appreciated that I never asked to go on first. He thought that was kind of weak.

Yeah. The people who did. And so. So he respected you. Yeah. I guess, you know, he definitely had a sweet side to him. He was very shy and soft spoken most of the time. Like Robin. It's not until the lights come on, you know, and they take the stage and then something happens and they become who they

are. It's amazing though that you learn those skills because it's really true that that whole idea of, you know, that you go up and do you no matter what the situation is. And that's all you can do. And in the sense that because there's those people that want to go before a big act or else they try to jump on the energy of the person before them or whatever. But none of that's going to matter in the long run if you don't know who you are. None of that's going to matter in the long run if you don't know who you are. No, and so it helped me a lot when the next year or so, I entered the San Francisco comedy competition. Oh, yeah.

Who was in? 79? Yeah. I did it in 92 and 93. Who was in your year? Dana Carvey. Yeah. And I don't remember everybody.

And, you know, some, because see, they had a national too. And I don't remember if, who did which one. Robert Wall. Yeah. Mike Powell. a lot of people didn't make it to the finals just about everybody went up it was a crazy was it crazy back then

where it was just kind of you never knew what was going on or how they were judging and they yeah so I mean I went they I think it was a month long thing you had to do a month of shows oh I got it I found it it was a month-long thing. You had to do a month of shows. Oh, I got it.

I found it. In the finals, it was you, Mike Davis, Dana Carvey, Michael Winslow. Yeah. And A. Whitney Brown. A. Whitney. Yeah. Yeah. So, okay, so you go up.

So you just heard about it, or you'd been working up in San Francisco? I had been working the Punchline for a while, too. That was another club I got the headline early. Yeah. And you won. And I missed a show. Huh. You remember that, well, at that time, you did like six shows for the finals and they dropped the lowest score.

Well, I got lost trying to find the venue. I got totally lost and turned around. By the time I got there, the show was over. And so I couldn't go on. And everybody was like, okay, well, she's out the competition. She missed the whole show. And I said, what difference does it make if you throw away an 8.5 or a zero? You throw it away.

That was trash. Yeah. way at 8.5 or zero you throw it away that was in the trash so yeah then I went on and you know the other five counted and I managed to win but I managed to win because I learned that it doesn't matter who you follow the jockeying for spots in the competition was funny and it was a mad mad mad mad world kind of funny, I don't want to go first. You go first, you go last. You're in the middle and nobody remembers.

I don't give a shit who goes when and where. Whatever spot you guys don't want, give it to me. It's sort of wild to hear how it was still so crazy because it starts out with like 40 comics, right? Yeah. It goes on for like a month and people start to lose their minds.

It got really crazy. You never lived up there? No. You just worked up in San Francisco a lot? I managed to score a car. Yeah. And so once I got my car, I drove all over California just for the heck of it. I never drove in Chicago. I didn't know how to drive when I bought a car.

Yeah. I didn't have any credit. I didn't have any driver's license. I had no business buying a car. Right. But I saw an ad that said they were yeah 1979 chevy nova yeah drove it all over california did you go back to chicago to work over the time that you were in la yes i did in fact i In fact, I just had a trophy over there from the 40th anniversary of Zany's. Zany's. I started there when they first opened up and would work there regularly for years and years. So you were really there at the beginning of that comedy club boom thing so when they started building those places were you like on the road constantly headlining because i remember seeing your picture everywhere it must have mean you must have spent

a lot of time out there at those clubs when they first started opening yeah i got to uh fortunately i got to work a lot of the uh franchise clubs yeah i started like i said at the last stop and the improv then all the other giggles teehee yuck yuck ha ha but you could work every week right for probably pretty good uh living well i worked you know if i could work a couple of times a month. Yeah. As long as I could make rent, I was good. Sure. I was fine and then spending the rest of the time in L.A.

trying to get other gigs. Get on TV? Yeah. So how did that happen for you? Because like Night court was a big deal man well before night court i was doing like i said i wasn't really pursuing acting yeah my agent decided who the agent i i got after um the comedy competition in san francisco uh named fred Amzell.

He was always sending me out on roles and I'm like, I'm a standup. He's like, go do the thing, see what happens, what the hell. Yeah. So I, I was, after the prior show, I got a show called That Thing on ABC. And that's how I got my first agent at ICM. I had the gig, you know, they offered me the gig and I didn't have an agent.

So I called ICM and said, I got a gig. I need an agent. They said, you have a job? I said, yes, I have a job on TV. They said, you have a job on TV and you don't have an agent? I said, yes. They said, hang on. job on TV and you don't have an agent. I said, yes. They said, hang on. And they gave me an agent.

And that was how I got an agent. Did you stay with that person? He passed away, one of the first AIDS victims. And so I was there until then. And then we started doing stand-up.

I did shows like the Pat Sajak show. I did Gordon Elliott's show. Huh. I didn't even know what that is. Yeah. They were a lot. Talk shows were popular at that time. Oh, Pat Sajak.

Yeah. They tried to get him to be like a Carson almost. Yeah, I did those. And I started doing game shows. I love game shows. I wanted to be the next Betty almost. Yeah, I did those. And I started doing game shows. I love game shows. I wanted to be the next Betty White. And so I started doing those kinds of things and doing stand-up.

And then Night Court, Brandon Tartikoff was from Chicago. And he was the head of President NBC at the time. And so Reini, who was a producer on Night Court, was also from Chicago. I had no idea either of them knew who I was. But after Flo Halle passed away, I had done a pilot with Flo. She had told me all these wonderful stories about her and her brother starting in show business in the 30s and 40s, and he was one of the

dead-end kids, Billyup and then and she was working and i just loved talking to her yeah so she was on night court and i'm doing stand-up yeah she passed away uh three weeks before they were supposed to go back uh from hiatus oh my gosh the second bailiff to have died over the hiatus. Selma Diamond had passed away the year before, so they were in a tizzy. What do we do with the female bailiff part? Do we want to do it? Do we want to can it? Do we just stick with full?

Do we have revolving bailiffs? They didn't have any idea. So Fred, my agent, sent me over. I said, just meet with them. See what happens. Yeah. I go in. I'm dressed pretty much like I do now.

I got on sweats. I got a pack of cigarettes at the time. I smoked. I had a pack of cigarettes in my hand. I went in. And Ronnie's there. And Night Court, you have to understand, was a really big hit at this time. So it had already been on two seasons?

It had been on three seasons. I started the fourth season. go in and ryan needs how you doing that's it how you from chicago yeah i'm from chicago he said give me one of those cigarettes okay sure i gave my cigarette and we sat and smoked and just talked yeah and he said okay well we'll let you know what we're going to do. You know, it was good meeting you. And I said, thanks, good meeting you. And I left. That was, you know, because I'm a stand-up. Yeah. So, and I was going to Seattle.

So I left, went to Seattle. To the underground. Got off the plane. Yeah, got off the plane. They met me at the airport and said, call your agent. I said, what happened? They said, call your agent. I called my agent and said, you got it. I your agent I said what happened they said call your agent I called my agent said you got it I said I got what again night court that was that that's a

big life change though right I had no clue what it was going to mean what big changes everything and you were you were you were in Seattle were you gonna were you about to do the underground for fox or for that's so funny man just because i can picture that you're like i'm gonna go work the weekend in seattle and then you get that job and the whole life changes there you go i think i did the weekend and showed up the you know monday morning sure you went ahead and did the weekend of course how that's what you do but like when you get back so you'd only done stand-up on television really oh and the Richard Pryor

thing but I mean I can't but now you're now you're on ABC but I had never done ensemble work so and I never you know done anything like that so I am petrified and i'm nervous as all get out yeah almost as nervous as when i did that sketch with richard pryor where i was sitting around eating i had no i didn't know what to there was no script to do that scene there was no which scene which scene was that richard and i eating seducing each other across a restaurant. And I had no dialogue. No, nothing. All it said was

Richard comes in, sees a beautiful woman and they seduce each other with food. It goes viral three times a year. Yeah. On YouTube? Classic. It's been shared so many times.

I had no clue at the time how to do it. I just did it on instinct. So I go to do night court, and I figure I got to take acting classes. I talked to my agent. I said, well, who do I do? I mean, right now, it was two weeks we go into that.

I got to know, you go and you take this class and I went to the class and we did one little scene and they said, you got to buy a book, you know, part of the thing once you buy a book and read the book

and come back next week. So I bought the book, I opened it up to page one, it said the key to acting is to keep it simple. So I closed the book and never looked at it again. I showed up at work the next time when I went to birthday. And I told Harry, I said, I'm so nervous. I don't know what I'm doing. He said, I don't know what I'm doing either. I'm a stand-up dude. You just be fine. You'll be fine.

And that was happening. I guess that must have been pretty exciting. I mean, in terms of, you know, I can't imagine. Like, I've worked with not like that ensemble. There were so many, you know, great comedic actors on there. But just to be sort of getting in the flow of that, like seeing how everyone else is funny and then kind of feeling how you're funny among these people it must have been exciting it was very exciting it was uh it was a learning

process you know i learned a lot yeah and i got uh you know stretched a lot yeah you know way out of my comfort zone oh yeah how so How so? Because I'm a stand-up. Yeah, I know, but as a stand-up, you keep saying that, and I say that too, but there's so many stand-ups that end up in television one way or the other, and I guess it takes a minute for us to learn how to act.

But, you know, once you get the hang of it, you're usually, you got pretty comfortable, didn't you? Well, to a degree. But I was much more excited when I got comfortable on stage doing stand-up. I think some people start in the business as stand-ups, but they're not stand-ups. They don't want to do stand-up comedy. They just use it as a stepping stone.

I never looked at it that way. Yeah, me neither. I wanted to be a stand-up comedian. Yeah. And so the acting was nice, but it was a sideline. In my mind, I was still going out on weekends and doing gigs. Of course. I would get finished, you know, with Night Court on Friday night.

I want to plane at six the next morning to be wherever to do some weekend somewhere no yeah i get it i was doing stand-up so and also it's like with the stand-up it's our thing you know we have complete control we are the only one doing it it's it's what we do it's how we share our thoughts and our in our heart and uh you, and no one can fuck with it. Well, you're the philosopher, you know. Yeah. And it's a necessary function, you know, those critiques of society that keep people honest, you know. Bullshit call it.

I call bullshit on that. Yeah, I always thought that. i always thought that i always thought that was a very important job yeah so i that's where i wanted to be that's what i wanted to do and the only other woman at the time who was doing that kind of grab the mic and you know state your opinion yeah was elaine boososler. Yeah, Elaine Boosler. I keep trying to get her on the show. I think she's mad at me. I'm not sure why.

Well, if you got a puppy. I know. I need help with my doggy. She likes the dogs. I don't know what I did to offend her, but were you guys close to you and Elaine? We hung out, you know,

we were part of the, the strike, the comedy strike. And, uh, so you were there for the strike. What year was that? 77,

78. Really? That was the, Oh my God. So you were there when LeBitkin killed himself? Yes. I was very much involved. Yeah.

Because I read the book, and I can't, like, figure out. I can't quite remember. And I talked to Dreesen about it. That was pretty heavy, man. You know, because, you know, Dreesen never went back there, you know, after Steve committed suicide. No. Well, we had pretty hard feelings.

Yes, we're from Chicago. I'm from a union background. My mother was a union rep, president of her tri-state local, okay? It was union, you know? Right. Union label. Yeah, right. Look for the union label. And so, and being from Chicago and of union protections,

I mean, I've been in a union since I was 15. Yeah. And it was just so unfair that comedians weren't getting paid. Yeah. While at the same time, the comedy store franchise was exploding. She didn't own, you know, the building when we first got there. She, you know, that was the annex was a little room. They just let her have that, you know.

And next thing you know, she owned Ciro's. Well, it wasn't Ciro's, but, you know. Yeah. That tradition, that room, that legend. Yeah. And La Jolla, she's got property in La Jolla. There were two condos in La Jolla. You got two condos in La Jolla.

You got a ranch in the back. You got clubs in Westwood and whatnot. And nobody's getting paid. It just was, I couldn't wrap my head around it. So you're dug into the organizing with Tom? Yeah. There must have been a very weird and crazy time to deal with the comics that crossed the line.

Yes. And the tensions that happened there. Those, you know, and i will not name them but there are still hard feelings about that i have never forgiven them really never and ultimately though the the the strike you you got we did get paid right you got we did get paid right Bud Friedman

right away yeah whatever Mitzi gives you I'll mint whatever yeah and so that's when people started going to the improv because in the beginning you couldn't work both she wouldn't let you or they both

wouldn't let you you couldn't work both. She wouldn't let you. Or they both wouldn't let you. You couldn't let. And it was a location thing. Yeah. For some reason, people felt like stopping off the strip was better than stopping. Melrose, nothing was happening at that. The Melrose was paint stores. Right.

You know, empty lots. There was nothing going on there. And so people would, on their way to the valley stop at the comedy store yeah well once the strike started having the boycott and then everybody's uh and bud said i'll pay you everybody moved to the improv wow So that's what... I ended up being managed by Bud. You did? Yeah. How long were you managed by Bud? Oh, until about... until right before I got

an encore. No kidding. Yeah. Did you get along with him all right? Sure. Him and his family, I would sing and I hung out. I just hung out at the Improv. They would have dance nights and stuff. Oh, yeah?

Yeah, I did all that. So were you on Mitzi's bad side after that? I never went back to the comedy store. Well, I did go back. And then one night she bumped me for Glenn Super. Glenn Super? Yeah. The guy with the megaphone?

Yeah. Oh, my God. So that with the megaphone? Yeah. Oh my god. So that was the end of that. That was that. That was the end of me. It was done. And so, yuck on after. No I won't. Were there several comics that didn't go back after the strike?

Well, some of us went back for a minute and whatever but it just wasn't it was no longer a good fit and it was no longer the only game in town yeah jamie masada who at that time was hanging out at the comedy store and during the strike jamie was about 15 16? I'll open a club. I'm going to open a club. I'm going to give you guys. I'll pay you guys.

I swear. I'm going to open a club and I'm going to pay you guys. I don't care because this is not fair. This is not right. And he was always around the strike. He was always around. Yeah. And so everybody was like, yeah, you're going to open a club.

And sure enough, he opened a club. I remember that place back then yeah well that the original place it was like almost like a hallway it was like next to that chinese restaurant but it was remember you walk in and you're in the room and you walk all the way down to go to the bathroom which was like you know right next to the stage right i vaguely remember that place i now that you mentioned it i know it was uh over there wasn't it over there by greenblatt's yeah it was but it was next to the old formosa before they closed it down on uh on no not formosa no that the chinese restaurant that greenblatt's like remember there was a chinese restaurant next to the original laugh factory that

that that i think became Green Boy. I don't remember, but it's, yeah. Green Boy has been there, but I remember, you know, the college company. It's right there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was 100 years ago, man. Yeah, I know. I know.

I know. But, yeah. And he opened it. He did it. He opened the club. He opened the club. He did it, and it's a Hollywood institution now. Now it is yeah and i remember

him as a kid so so once so once you start doing the the night court did that get your your ticket sales up and did everything change in that way oh that it it was amazing the night the day after it aired okay my stock went up with the community and the comedians right away. Yeah, right. But once the night after the first show aired, I had no idea what celebrity was.

You know, even though I was headlining clubs, working around and doing fine, I was happy. Just the, Nyko, Nyko, damn it, Nyko, Nyko. I was not prepared for it. And the thing that really shook me most was I had lost my observer status.

As a comedian, you know, we're the observers yeah and uh i i had no point no place to observe everywhere i went i was being observed and so it was a very strange thing for me to get used to i don't know that I ever did. Well, that's interesting because even when I started doing this show, you know, like I've been doing comedy all my life, you know, and then once this got popular, people go, I really liked the podcast. And I think like, well, what about the standup?

I've been doing standup my whole life. And a lot of people don't know about it. But like when you're a comic in your heart, that's the priority. And it becomes this weird world you live in where you want to make sure at least know that people are appreciating you for what you love to do. Right. Yeah. But, you know, it's part of the game and part of the thing, you know.

But you were selling tickets at least. And, you know, I imagine you were writing new material either way. Right. you know but you were selling tickets at least and you know i imagine you were writing new material either way right oh what i had gotten to the point before i retired for uh quite a few years i had gotten to the point where a stand-up was easy yeah uh and i don't know that that's a good thing. Why? Because everyone, because you were popular? No, because I, I was so comfortable in what I was doing.

I knew that if I wrote a joke, I could do it that night and it was going to hit. I knew how to do stand up. Right. It took a while. I knew how to do stand up and it, it kind of lost the challenge for a minute. Interesting.

And then when I started back again a few years ago, all that was gone. I was a rookie. I had to start from scratch. And so I started going back to bars, going back to, you know, the bare minimum, whatever, and started from the ground up. How long were you out for? Almost 20 years. And so you moved to Vegas. Now, when you moved to Vegas, did you have a residency there or something? No, I did not work after 2001. I did not work until about

2016. Did you get depressed or something or are you just done? It was a combination of a lot of things, but it was more family oriented than anything else.

Oh, yeah? And I needed to be here with family. Uh-huh. And until I could, I wasn't as needed. Right. And I started back again. Huh. And how are you finding it it's very interesting as a as a

you know i started as a 60 year old rookie yeah and um it's humbling in one way but in a in another way it's so exhilarating it's like to be at this age and still have things to look forward to, still have goals to meet and, you know, along the way, steps to take is a blessing. I see a lot of people my age who don't. They've crossed everything off. And now, you know, on their bucket list are things that are just fun stuff. You know, I want to go to Hawaii. Well, on my bucket list is I want to work here. I want to go there.

I want to do this. I want to get my own show. I want to do this. I want to do a one-woman show. It gives me things to look forward to, which is, like I said, a blessing at my age. Well, I mean, also, you've got your observer status back. Well, that's a good thing. Double-edged sword.

Nobody cares if you watch. And it seems like that you've had a life and a lot of changes in your life that you could address probably in a way that you couldn't address back when you were doing stand-up before. Yeah. Well, that comes with living. Yeah. All of us. It's a different stand-up at this age than it was at 22. What do you talk about?

Because I know that you went through stuff with your family and i you know i did some reading and i know that you came out recently now do you do you do you talk about that stuff sure yeah do you find that there's a new audience for it for me all uh every audience is new right but uh i've always wanted to do stand-up for a cross-section. I never wanted to do so much all women, all gays, all blacks, all gays. Yeah, sure, sure, sure. I wanted young people, old people, and I'm finding that I'm getting that, that the audiences are diverse and, you know, some not receptive because I don't shy away from the topics that are really moving the country right now.

The racism, the sexism, the, you know, ageism, all of that. Yeah. And sometimes it's hard for people to take. yeah but i i say you can't fix what you won't face and so let's put it on the table and let's talk about it i'm gonna come from a point of view you might not have heard but like for you in terms of facing stuff i mean it did it seems like it did take you a long time to at least publicly deal with being open about your sexuality. But that and but that but that wasn't because you were hiding it. It was just because so much has happened, you know, and the benefit for me, I look back.

My act is pretty much a retrospective. Yeah. That brings us to today. pretty much a retrospective yeah that brings us to today yeah you know i i talk about how uh i was born uh the same year oprah winfrey a couple of months apart yeah in the year of brown versus the board of education so we grew up with the civil rights movement and i take it from there you know and that is a perspective that i don't know that you always get you know that how we got here what it was like to be gay in the 50s and 60s and not have any concept of homosexuality whatsoever none it was not talked about it was not talked about, it was not, there were no, it was just not spoken of. And so to not be able to find what makes you different.

Everybody will tell you you're different. Nobody says how. And so you just know that nothing makes sense. And- There was no community. If it was, it wasn't. I wasn't allowed to know it. Right. You know what I mean?

It was like not, it just was not on the radar. People did active things to keep you from that. Sure. See, they saw what they saw and they tried to stop you. It's like when kids would be left handed. Yeah. You saw your baby going for their left hand. Then you smack their hand and you,

some people went so far as to tie them around behind their back. So they would have to. Right, right, right, right. And they did the same thing with children. They thought we're gay.

It's like, Oh, he wants to play with that doll. No, you can't play with that doll. You have to play with this G.I. Joe and go kill something. You're a boy.

To have those kinds of negative reinforcements but not have any idea what you're being protected from was a different thing that I don't know kids have to face now. At least they know why people hate them. At least they know why they don't fit in. Right. Yeah, there's at least,

well, now there's definitely a strong community that they can, they know what their feelings are and they know that they're okay, at least to some people. Right. Right. They at least know they exist. right knowing they exist that's right

and you got what was there like a family a lot of family pressure like to to not be hard to put into into uh so people understand it was don't you want to look nice don't you want to look pretty why do you want to wear jeans why do you want to do this why don't you want to look nice? Don't you want to look pretty? Why do you want to wear jeans? Why do you want to do this? Why don't you want to get your hair done? Why don't you be a lady? Yeah. I don't want to do that. Why do I have to?

What is boy stuff and girl stuff? Why is it boy's girl? Just do what I want. Yeah. And so it wasn't so much you know you can't be blah blah blah blah you know it was more like this is what you're supposed to be and i don't feel that and most of it i think you know the less the more benign but you know, it seems like a lot of times it's out of concern

that parents do that. It's not good, but they think your life is going to be more difficult. They're trying to protect you, but we know more now. And a lot of it, you know, I don't feel resentful. I feel, you know, like they did the best they could.

They were wrong. Yeah. Why did it take you so long, do you think, to be public about it? Well, you have to remember, nobody was public about it until Ellen. Right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And she paid a price for that. I guess that's true.

It wasn't, there were a lot of people. Right. Who, I have found out myself. Right. Who were gay. Yeah.

I had no idea. We'd never, and I knew that. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. We didn't talk about it. It wasn't something that was spoken of.

That's sad. It seems, but now, now everything's on the table. You feel better. I'm fine. You know, I just, my whole thing is I don't want any more kids growing up that way. Yeah. Afraid to be who they are. Right. Well, that's good. I think that's good. Any more celebrities to die who they are. Right. Well, that's good. I think that's good. I don't want any more celebrities to die with that secret. Right.

You know? They had to live their whole lives as sex symbols, some of them. Right. As, you know, objects of other people's desire, but they couldn't express who they were. I don't want that to happen again. If I have any little bit of influence, any tiny little bit of influence, that's what I want to use it for. I know we're all kind of stuck in this horrendous virus situation and now a very sort of active and explosive protest situation. Do you have, do you find that you have, do you have hope in general?

Oh yeah. Yeah. I also have, but I have also not become, I've always, I think, been a bit of a realist. You know, there are things that won't be addressed because people don't want to face them. We don't want to face the horrors that we have committed as a nation, as people, as we have been horrible to each other. And as some people have gotten much more of the brunt of the negative than others. And as a nation, as people, we don't want to face that. And until we do, we'll keep having these spot fires, you know, instead of just

addressing the whole thing before the whole thing burns up. Right. And so I have hope that, you know, these little spot fires are going to be put out, but I don't know that I have as much hope that they're going to prevent the forest fire. You got to realize that it could all go up. And until we face that, yeah, we're going to keep,

it's been going on periodically. You go back in history, I mean, these things happen pretty regularly. The oppression and the sort of creating the systemic racist state has been going on since the beginning of the country. Right, and then there's somebody said, hey, stop that.

Yeah, right. There's war, and there's this And then there's somebody says, hey, stop that. Yeah, right. And there's this and there's reconstruction and then the people say, fuck that. We want our slaves back. And they come back and say they lost cause and start building the hero statues and they've been gone with the wind and just

rewriting history. And then it comes like you have a Harlem Renaissance and people's migration and their thing and then you got the Tulsa race riots and this, that, and other. And there's a Jim Crow and a civil rights movement

and we finally overcame and then, no we didn't. There's a southern thing in the and now here we are and we refuse to understand that it's going to keep happening until you

fix it realize that it's not black, white, male, female as a triple, well quadruple minority you get to see everybody's nuttiness, you know.

Yeah, yeah. And so. Well, I hope we can at least acknowledge it before the big fire. I do, too. I hope we can fix it. I hope, you know, you and I can do our part. Yeah. Well, I think we just did a little bit.

And help people understand. It'll be okay. Okay. I'll take your word for it. It was great talking to you, Marcia. Thank you. It's great talking to you, too. Mike Binder says hi, by the way,

and I'll tell him we had a nice talk. I'll tell him I said hello. I remember him. He was a tiny kid. He was brand new. I know. He was. Like a teenager, right? Yeah. He was a tiny kid. He was brand new. I know he was like a teenager, right?

Yeah. He and Dave Chappelle and Eddie Griffin. Are the guys who started when they were young? They were, they were, they called me an old lady back then. Yeah. I remember Chappelle when he was like 16, 17 coming up to New York. But he was a great student. He wanted to know everything. He wanted to know everything. He and Chris Rock.

And, you know, these were teenagers when I met him. They wanted to know and they wanted to hang out. They wanted to learn. And they did. They sure did. And now they're teaching everybody. That's for sure. All right.

You take care of yourself. You too. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Bye-bye. That was great talking to Marsha Warfield, still out there working when she can, when we all can. A legend. All right. Now I will play, play play not play play some guitar Thank you. guitar solo Thank you. Boomer lives