Allison Raskin, of Just Between Us and the comedic soap opera GOSSIP, talks about getting fired from her improv group, her #MeToo moment, and leaving BuzzFeed. She explains why constantly performing could cause more harm than good.
Jun 23, 2018•25 min
TV regular and stand-up veteran Julian McCullough discusses his first times on stage including when he performed stand-up immediately after seating customers and how it felt serving fellow comedians. As a comic, he explains why it's important the jokes you DON'T tell.
Jun 09, 2018•45 min
Comedy Film Nerds’ Graham Elwood visits NYC to talk about his stand-up beginnings that include Judd Apatow and Doritos, and we have the tape! Graham discusses the lows that included bankruptcy and divorce as well as the highs that now include success and starting the first nationally-syndicated Native American stand-up comedy show.
Jun 01, 2018•32 min
Today we visit with Comedy Film Nerds’ Chris Mancini, and we talk the beginning of podcasting and the early mistakes. We discuss his start in stand-up, his experience managing a comedy club, and what’s more important to him – his podcast or performing on stage.
May 25, 2018•23 min
Actor Jeff Meacham is doing very well with the show Black-ish, but, before that, Keith and Chemda worked with him as children’s party entertainers. We catch up with Jeff and go over his rise to success, the scary detours on the way, and his stint with QVC.
May 11, 2018•45 min
Comic and musician Nick Thune lets us know where and how it all began, the differences between comedy music and regular music to those in the business, and what he learned about women.
May 05, 2018•23 min
Actress, writer, and comedian Gaby Dunn discusses her first times in the spotlight. Yes, she has a massive following and videos with millions of views, but first, there was MTV audition-crying. Enjoy!
Apr 28, 2018•28 min
While selling the radio station records he was supposed to be playing, Dan Soder painfully learned how to write jokes, saw how alcoholism affected networking, and discovered the politics of picking an opener.
Apr 21, 2018•20 min
25-year stand-up veteran Ted Alexandro talks about breaking out from a stand-up duo and going solo to begin his illustrious career as well as sharing his first joke on stage ever, his performance that led to being cast as a rape survivor on HBO’s Oz, and his Conan debut.
Apr 14, 2018•42 min
Legend Gilbert Gottfried covers his first times in comedy while sharing his need for attention and being raised by television. The gang covers Gilbert’s early impressions, his breaks on TV, and the time Jerry Seinfeld sucked off Boris Karloff. This god of laughter is hilarious and personal as he chronologically covers his rise to stardom.
Apr 07, 2018•45 min
Comedian Alia Janine not only talks about her first time performing stand-up, which happened to be with Andrew Dice Clay, but she talks about other firsts as well, including her first dance as a stripper, her first time masturbating on camera, and her first porn scene with another person. Frank, honest, and as raw as it gets, Alia shares her various beginnings and behind-the-scenes secrets.
Mar 24, 2018•53 min
Kevin Allison, from MTV’s The State and host of the Risk! podcast, shares his monumental firsts on stage. From his first time performing with members of The State (with no clothes on), to his first catastrophic character work following the show's cancelation, and finally to his first story-telling experience which helped him decide his new career path, Kevin covers all the milestones in this highly personal interview.
Mar 17, 2018•1 hr 17 min
Fletcher Christian Finnegan, Comedy Central staple and veteran stand-up comedian, talks about his performing debut at NYC's alternative art house Surf Reality, the same place where Keith and Chemda first met. Christian shares with us his thoughts on comedy and intellectualism, how he got his creative juices flowing, and the seemingly obvious mistake open mic'ers are making.
Mar 10, 2018•1 hr 6 min
Myq Kaplan has had many successes in comedy from competitions like Last Comic Standing, @midnight, and America's Got Talent to his late-night sets and live comedy tours around the world. Listen to this episode about his start in comedy, and why failing might be the way to the top.
Mar 03, 2018•34 min
Wunderkind Ruby Karp, who was featured in a video on feminism with Amy Poehler at age 7, performed a TED Talk at age 12, and wrote a book at age 16, shares with us the first time she performed solo comedy on stage. She can do it all, including being a basketball if she wants to.
Feb 24, 2018•34 min
Emmy-nominated New York Times bestseller Laurie Kilmartin tells us when she first learned the shocking news that comedians don’t actually perform off the cuff onstage. With that knowledge at hand, and after seeing people floundering one after another, 22-year-old Laurie took the mic to show everyone how it’s done.
Feb 17, 2018•36 min
NPR host and award-winning storyteller Ophira Eisenberg joins us to talk about her very first time on stage. Was the $300 for the stand-up class a scam? The teacher said she had great stage presence, sooo...
Feb 10, 2018•37 min
With a little burlesque, some comedy, and a hint of opera, Matteo Lane finds his way to his opening line. Find out what Matteo’s first time doing stand-up was like in this episode.
Feb 03, 2018•41 min
When Adam first did stand-up, he chose to play a character of a tree doctor who healed trees while hating bushes. He was in a taco restaurant at an anything-goes open mic. Except this didn’t go. At all.
Jan 27, 2018•31 min
Jared’s first time doing stand-up was at an open-mic known for being super supportive of new performers. Unfortunately, his act was the least supported ever. Find out why in this episode.
Jan 27, 2018•50 min
Emma tells her never-before-heard story of the actual first time she performed stand-up. It involved making sure her guests got more drunk than they wanted to, an awkward pep talk, and hiding behind a kitchen counter.
Jan 27, 2018•35 min
In this intro-episode, Keith describes how he didn’t understand stand-up protocol and asked to perform for the first time at an already booked comedy show in Manhattan.
Jan 10, 2018•14 min