Celeste Ballard (Wrecked, Sweet/Vicious) had a couple of dark creative periods in the last year which made her pass at an initial invitation to be on the show. Now she opens up about failed pitches and pilots, a personal setback that she used to jolt her career forward, the value in being Lorne Michaels' assistant, the importance of stating what you want, and shares a step by step process on how she pitches a show. CONNECT W/ THE NEED TO FAIL & DON FANELLI ON TWITTER: https://twitter.com/the...
Jan 28, 2020•1 hr 35 min•Season 6Ep. 126
YA author, Lance Rubin (Crying Laughing, Denton Little's Deathdate) was dropped by his acting agent and manager on the same day... which led him towards a career he did not plan for. We talk about the internal and external struggles that made the business side of acting difficult, how being on the other side of casting helped him realize why he sucked at auditioning, and the tools he uses to stay focused to write while raising two kids. CONNECT W/ THE NEED TO FAIL & DON FANELLI ON TWITTER: h...
Jan 21, 2020•1 hr 44 min•Season 6Ep. 125
Brett Davis (The Podcast for Laundry, The National Lampoon Radio Hour) takes us through many performance failures over his career, one which lead to a full on fist fight between his writing partner and some drunk audience members. We chat about the only episode of The Special he decided not to air, why he decided to end his public access show, feeling like a home-schooled comic and not going the traditional route, and the amount of pressure he puts on himself before every show. CONNECT W/ THE NE...
Jan 14, 2020•1 hr 22 min•Season 6Ep. 124
Larry Owens (A Strange Loop, High Maintenance) got rejected from his top three acting school choices and as a playwright from Yale. We talk about the daily setbacks during his Steppenwolf training, how you must fail during a monologue in order to perform it correctly, and why he turned down the chance to star in television show to perform as the lead in an Off-Broadway musical. CONNECT W/ THE NEED TO FAIL & DON FANELLI ON TWITTER: https://twitter.com/theneedtofail https://twitter.com/donfane...
Jan 07, 2020•1 hr 16 min•Season 6Ep. 123
In Part 2 of our conversation with Jocelyn DeBoer & Dawn Luebbe (Greener Grass, Adam Ruins Everything) we cover all things film festivals. We chat about getting rejected from Sundance four times before getting in, the ceremonious turned unceremonious conference call when they learned their pilot was a no go, and how they tackled filming 17 locations in 19 days for their Greener Grass feature. CONNECT W/ THE NEED TO FAIL & DON FANELLI ON TWITTER: https://twitter.com/theneedtofail https://...
Dec 17, 2019•1 hr 8 min•Season 5Ep. 122
Jocelyn DeBoer & Dawn Luebbe (Greener Grass, Buzz) were going through a dry spell in Los Angeles, so they walked on a treadmill next to each other at the gym, simultaneously watching Twin Peaks. In Part 1 of our conversation we talk about how Jocelyn helped create her own team and indie show after not getting onto a UCB Harold Team which eventually worked out to her advantage and how Dawn had one foot out the comedy door and was going to move to San Francisco before getting an opportune phon...
Dec 10, 2019•1 hr 13 min•Season 5Ep. 121
Paul Welsh (Brooklyn99, Crazy-Ex Girlfriend) was flown out back out to NY after he moved to LA and crushed his Daily Show audition - and didn't get it. We chat about why it took him multiple attempts to get onto a UCB Harold Team, how he dealt with a failed pilot he co-wrote, and how a short film he made, whose script got him his agent, got into zero festivals. CONNECT W/ THE NEED TO FAIL & DON FANELLI ON TWITTER: https://twitter.com/theneedtofail https://twitter.com/donfanelli AND PLEASE SU...
Dec 03, 2019•1 hr 25 min•Season 5Ep. 120
In our final One Year Project, guest Dan Black (Comedians of Wrestling Podcast, Adam Ruins Everything) feels like he goes backwards in his career some years. Like when he had to go back to work as a temp CPA and participate in a company wide intro to improv workshop after having improvised for years. The first part, recorded in 2018, Dan talks about how the barriers of working a corporate CPA job for many years turned him off to the business side of showbiz, how he manages his expectations, and ...
Nov 26, 2019•2 hr 45 min•Season 5Ep. 119
Langan Kingsley was one job away from having to temp again. In Part 1, recorded in 2018, Langan had written on two shows and filmed an Adam Sandler movie, but was looking into the abyss of 2019 with nothing on the horizon. We chat about how her failures are related to fear, the cosmic promise she made if she ran into Amy Poehler, and how things usually happen for her when she loses all hope. Part 2 (47:43) covers her journey through 2019, where the job she thought she interviewed well for she di...
Nov 19, 2019•1 hr 18 min•Season 5Ep. 118
Our second installment of the One Year Project follows James III's (Astronomy Club, All That) into the unknown of 2019. Part 1 was recorded in December of 2018, where James was coming off of a good year but had nothing on the horizon. We talk about his imposter syndrome, the fear of getting into comedy, the genesis of the Black Men Can't Jump in Hollywood podcast, and the difficulty of balancing individual goals with group goals. Part 2 (58:30) picks up in 2019 where things were slow for a bit b...
Nov 12, 2019•1 hr 39 min•Season 5Ep. 117
Brandon Gardner is in the trenches as he a journeys through fatherhood, conflicting script notes, and the search for representation. In the first of our One Year Projects (inspired by Gardner himself), Part 1 was recorded in the fall of 2018 and covers Brandon's quick ascension through the ranks of UCB NY, the anticipation of becoming a father, and the struggles with trying to get representation over the years. Part 2 (1:29:40) recorded one year later, follows up on his movie script, state of re...
Nov 05, 2019•2 hr 45 min•Season 5Ep. 116
Lauren Ashley Smith ( Black Lady Sketch Show , The Rundown ) failed to get into a top MFA acting program two years in a row. But she never would have started writing if she did. We talk about how her day job as a producer helped prepare her to be a head writer, why it is a pleasure and privilege to fail, and the last minute packet change she made that got her hired at The Rundown (without having an agent or manager). CONNECT W/ THE NEED TO FAIL & DON FANELLI ON TWITTER: https://twitter.com/t...
Oct 29, 2019•1 hr 15 min•Season 5Ep. 115
Jack Dolgen (Emmy winning writer/songwriter for Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) was striving for something that was externally motivated instead of internally driven. So when there wasn't immediate interest from record executives in his first solo album, he quit music altogether. He chats about how his need to be great crippled him into multiple failures, the serendipitous moment that got him back into music, and the creative environment, philosophies, and songwriting process for Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. CONNE...
Oct 22, 2019•1 hr 33 min•Season 5Ep. 114
CONNECT W/ THE NEED TO FAIL & DON FANELLI ON TWITTER: https://twitter.com/theneedtofail https://twitter.com/donfanelli AND PLEASE SUPPORT TN2F ON PATREON FOR BONUS EPS & MORE: https://www.patreon.com/theneedtofail SUBSCRIBE/RATE/REVIEW TN2F on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. THE NEED TO FAIL IS A FOREVER DOG PODCAST https://foreverdogpodcasts.com/podcasts/the-need-to-fail Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Oct 15, 2019•1 hr 6 min•Season 5Ep. 113
Nate Fernald ( The Late Late Show , The Pete Holmes Show ) developed a name for himself in Chicago but ate shit for years after moving to New York. We talk about his praised SNL packet that led to nothing, deflating meetings with managers, his creative nighttime routine, and what it was like to spend years designing book covers for romance novels. CONNECT W/ THE NEED TO FAIL & DON FANELLI ON TWITTER: https://twitter.com/theneedtofail https://twitter.com/donfanelli AND PLEASE SUPPORT TN2F ON ...
Oct 08, 2019•1 hr 22 min•Season 5Ep. 112
Geoff Garlock (Orchid, Panthers, UCB) talks about the ups and downs of his multiple bands, from touring nightmares to record label drops. We talk about his journey into comedy, how therapy and Capes Coaching challenged his punk way of doing things, and how his songwriting and sketch writing methods have changed over the years. CONNECT W/ THE NEED TO FAIL & DON FANELLI ON TWITTER: https://twitter.com/theneedtofail https://twitter.com/donfanelli AND PLEASE SUPPORT TN2F ON PATREON FOR BONUS EPS...
Oct 01, 2019•1 hr 48 min•Season 5Ep. 111
Marcy Jarreau ( Brooklyn 99 , A Funny Feeling Podcast ) spent over a decade improvising but just couldn't gain any traction professionally and was ready to quit. We talk about how she dealt with being cut from house teams, flying in from her grandfather's funeral for a callback, and how she finally managed her personal demons. CONNECT W/ THE NEED TO FAIL & DON FANELLI ON TWITTER: https://twitter.com/theneedtofail https://twitter.com/donfanelli AND PLEASE SUPPORT TN2F ON PATREON FOR BONUS EPS...
Sep 24, 2019•1 hr 39 min•Season 5Ep. 110
Charles Rogers ( Search Party , Fort Tilden ) had a short film that was for sure going to get into a ton of festivals... until it didn't. We chat about how Season 2 of Search Party was the hardest creative experience of his life, the source of the characters he writes, and of course we talk about a Lisa Kudrow manifestation fail. CONNECT W/ THE NEED TO FAIL & DON FANELLI ON TWITTER: https://twitter.com/theneedtofail https://twitter.com/donfanelli AND PLEASE SUPPORT TN2F ON PATREON FOR BONUS ...
Sep 17, 2019•1 hr 4 min•Season 5Ep. 109
Jason Mantzoukas ( Big Mouth , John Wick 3 ) talks about all the gut-wrenching ups and downs of an NBC show he created that was never released and the silver lining postscript. We chat about what it was like to get positive performance feedback from peers and audiences but not from the industry, the point in his career where he decided to stop acting and auditioning, the importance of being allowed to perform in a bad show for a year, and how grateful he was to the casting director who told him ...
Sep 10, 2019•1 hr 34 min•Season 5Ep. 108
Scott Aukerman ( Comedy Bang Bang , Between Two Ferns ) felt like the golden boy of comedy in his early years but quickly got a showbiz education. We chat about how it took him over three years to get hired on Mr. Show, how producing his live show Comedy Death Ray helped sustain years of countless TV shows and movies he had written never being picked up, and how he was so broke at one point that his car was repossessed twice, he was on the brink of foreclosure and he was being denied an overall ...
Sep 03, 2019•1 hr 47 min•Season 5Ep. 107
Noah Segan ( Looper , Knives Out ) regrets being a little too picky early on in his acting career. He chat about the pilot he didn't book, the first time he made up reasons why he shouldn't get a job, how finding the desperation in his characters can make them the most dangerous, and how he looks at every major setback as an opportunity to come back. CONNECT W/ THE NEED TO FAIL & DON FANELLI ON TWITTER: https://twitter.com/theneedtofail https://twitter.com/donfanelli AND PLEASE SUPPORT TN2F ...
Aug 27, 2019•1 hr 31 min•Season 5Ep. 106
Don's on vacation so he is playing all 99 of his fake ads back to back. Enjoy this journey of stupidity and slowly improving mic quality. CONNECT W/ THE NEED TO FAIL & DON FANELLI ON TWITTER: https://twitter.com/theneedtofail https://twitter.com/donfanelli AND PLEASE SUPPORT TN2F ON PATREON FOR BONUS EPS & MORE: https://www.patreon.com/theneedtofail SUBSCRIBE/RATE/REVIEW TN2F on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. THE NEED TO FAIL IS A FOREVER DOG PO...
Aug 20, 2019•55 min•Season 5Ep. 105
Casey Wilson ( Happy Endings , Black Monday ) was forced to respond to an article saying she was fired from SNL for being overweight. This was four days after she was mailed her personal items from the show: a box of broken bottles and family pictures. We chat about how her anger issues were used as a motivator in her career, how an early manager firing went horribly wrong, and the insane story of her last minute Happy Endings audition. CONNECT W/ THE NEED TO FAIL & DON FANELLI ON TWITTER: h...
Aug 13, 2019•1 hr 11 min•Season 5Ep. 104
Anthony Atamanuik (The President Show, What We Do in the Shadows) had some dark days in Los Angeles. He was doing coke at The Jim Henson Company, had a failed threesome in a car with two sex workers, and was readily watching Judge Judy with a Latin King while they counted bags of meth. And when he got sober, he felt like a failure moving out to New York. He talks about the hard lesson he learned from working on 30 Rock, having to find empathy for Trump in order to play him so accurately, and how...
Aug 06, 2019•1 hr 59 min•Season 5Ep. 103
Cipha Sounds ( Chappelle's Show , 25th Hou r), the self proclaimed Forest Gump of Hip-Hop, denied his gut and turned down touring with people like Rhianna and Jay-Z in order to be loyal to his radio show. We talk about the fear of leaving Hot 97, his home for 17 years and how he over-prepares when DJing which gives him the freedom to improvise. We also chat about his social anxiety and how finding improv and therapy completely changed his life. CONNECT W/ THE NEED TO FAIL & DON FANELLI ON TW...
Jul 30, 2019•1 hr 37 min•Season 5Ep. 102
Anna Drezen (SNL, Reductress) talks about battling an alcohol addiction and her nightmare job as a concierge. We also chat about how she wrote her SNL packet a week after sobriety, being okay with a B+, and her constant fear that she picked the wrong career. Don talks about a recent turnaround in the intro. CONNECT W/ THE NEED TO FAIL & DON FANELLI ON TWITTER: https://twitter.com/theneedtofail https://twitter.com/donfanelli AND PLEASE SUPPORT TN2F ON PATREON FOR BONUS EPS & MORE: https:/...
Jul 23, 2019•1 hr 26 min•Season 5Ep. 101
Special guest Bobby Moynihan (SNL, DuckTales) takes us through his early years at UCB, his strategy the second time he auditioned for SNL, some of his failed characters, and how he was both grateful and scared after he left the show, when his sitcom got cancelled. The 100th episode of The Need to Fail Podcast was recorded Live at the Lyric Hyperion on June 14th, 2019. CONNECT W/ THE NEED TO FAIL & DON FANELLI ON TWITTER: https://twitter.com/theneedtofail https://twitter.com/donfanelli AND PL...
Jul 16, 2019•1 hr 12 min•Season 5Ep. 100
Richie Moriarty ( What We Do in the Shadows , Search Party ) was going through a major personal low while experiencing his first professional high. We chat about his divorce, his Just for Laughs experience, and a particularly awkward interview with famous casting director Allison Jones. CONNECT W/ THE NEED TO FAIL & DON FANELLI ON TWITTER: https://twitter.com/theneedtofail https://twitter.com/donfanelli AND PLEASE SUPPORT TN2F ON PATREON FOR BONUS EPS & MORE: https://www.patreon.com/then...
Jul 09, 2019•1 hr 23 min•Season 5Ep. 99
Justin & Jordan Shipley (Wrecked, Deadbeat) sold the first thing they ever wrote together. Then they had to figure out how to make a whole season of it. Writers rooms, sets, budgets, locations, time frames - the brothers admit they were out of their element at first. We talk about everything they learned from that first season, the mistakes they made and how they pushed through them, how they write together, and the importance of soft focus. CONNECT W/ THE NEED TO FAIL & DON FANELLI ON T...
Jul 02, 2019•1 hr 37 min•Season 5Ep. 98
Jesse David Fox (Vulture, New York Mag) admits that he was not a good writer for years. We talk about the ins and outs of his podcast, his biggest writing regret, and how his desire to be heard outweighed his desire to be good at first. CONNECT W/ THE NEED TO FAIL & DON FANELLI ON TWITTER: https://twitter.com/theneedtofail https://twitter.com/donfanelli AND PLEASE SUPPORT TN2F ON PATREON FOR BONUS EPS & MORE: https://www.patreon.com/theneedtofail SUBSCRIBE/RATE/REVIEW TN2F on Apple Podca...
Jun 25, 2019•1 hr 35 min•Season 5Ep. 97
