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Archive for Red Carpet Events

COMEDY MATTERS – SPECIAL EDITION WITH JEFFREY ROSS ON BROADWAY, CHRIS DISTEFANO AT THE THEATER AT MSG, AND NATE BARGATZE AT THE EMMY’S!

Posted by on September 15, 2025

JEFF ROSS BRINGS A BANANA TO BROADWAY

I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Jeffrey Ross for more than 20 years, and there’s nothing better than seeing a friend do well, except maybe seeing YOURSELF do well! (LOL) I was at the Roast they did of Jeff Ross back in the day, when my pal uber-manager Barry Katz, who managed Dave Chappelle, Bill Burr, Tracy Morgan, Nick Swardson, Wanda Sykes and so many more, owned the Boston Comedy Club down in the Village! Below are just some of the photos of me and Jeffrey taken over the years!

WITH JEFFREY IN 2005
WITH JEFFREY IN 2006 AT A FRIARS ROAST
WITH JEFFREY IN 2007

As a member of The Friars Club for so many years, ( humble brag – Milton Berle was my sponsor! LOL) and as the main writer for the legendary Roasts for 12 years under producer Bob Saks, I was thrilled to watch Jeff climb to the honored position of RoastMaster General. He kind of took over for Milton as being the Roast Master and could always be counted on to absolutely destroy the crowd with such sharp material.

WITH COMIC STRIP OWNER RICHIE TIENKEN WHEN WE DID JEFF’S INTERVIEW FOR MY BOOK “MAKE ‘EM LAUGH“
AT JOAN RIVERS’ FUNERAL- JEFF LOOKS LIKE AN MMA FIGHTER
WITH JEFF AT GOTHAM COMEDY CLUB
WITH JEFF IN 2014
WITH JEFF IN 2015

So it was very exciting for me to see Jeffrey attain the honor of having a one-man show on Broadway, which only a handful of other comedians have done, like Jackie Mason and Mike Birbiglia. Other comics like the great Dick Capri, the very first comedian I ever wrote for, were stars in an ensemble like Catskills on Broadway which was still a HUGE honor, but doing it all by yourself is truly a rarity.

“Take A Banana For The Ride” is not only funny but the very touching story of Jeffrey’s life, having lost both of his parents at a very early age, and basically being raised by his maternal grandfather Jack, who he affectionately called “Pop Jack” and who Jeffrey credits for giving him the incentive to be in comedy. As a young man his grandfather would give him a few bucks and told him to “take a banana for the ride” referring to the bus ride from New Jersey to Manhattan where Jeffrey would perform in clubs.

No one outside of comedy knows the struggles you have to face and the obstacles you have to overcome to become known in comedy. It’s truly amazing that anyone ever makes it at all! Besides the personal struggles, which were huge, Jeffrey fortunately overcame a battle with colon cancer, the story of which he makes part of the show, revealing that they had to take 9 inches off of his colon, leaving him with just a “semi-colon”, a great joke that only a true comedian could come up with.

The show is much more than a “performance”, because a performance can feel just that, … like a performance, … like it’s contrived. Jeff speaks from his heart, as if you were with him one on one. It’s very personal. There were moments that It moved me and many people to tears. It needs to have an extended run!!!

WITH JEFF BACKSTAGE AT THE NEDERLANDER THEATER

Backstage after the show I had the opportunity to congratulate Jeff personally and reminisce about some special times we shared. Like the time in Montreal at the JFL Festival, when he and I were having lunch together, and a man came over to the table and apologized for interrupting our lunch but told Jeffrey to stay another day, because his film Patriot Act had won the top award! I never forgot that and neither did Jeff!

Then there was the time he lost his phone in an Uber, which is a very traumatic thing, and we were outside of a comedy club in Manhattan, and I felt so bad for him that instead of going inside to watch the show, I stayed with him and we used my phone to track down his phone and actually got it back!

THANK YOU TO STAND-UP COLORING BOOK!

Every once in a while I get contacted by some talented artist who gifts me with something special. This time it was Christian of Stand-Up Coloring Books on Instagram that created this little cartoon thingy for me promoting the new video about me, shot and directed by @TheHomeless Pimp, which you can see below if you are so inclined!!!

NOEL LEON AT EASTVILLE COMEDY

Noel Leon, comic/actress/influencer did a show at Eastville Comedy Club out in Brooklyn and people know that basically the only way to get me out to Brooklyn is to put me on the show, so she did! (LOL) Last year we had done a little film together called “A Walk In The Park” which she described as “an homage to Woody Allen” who was my comedic inspiration. He actually read my earliest material, and encouraged me to go further with it. Also I find it hard to go to Brooklyn because I have no beard!

Noel’s show is more like a performance piece, which would be great in a theater, as she does characters, mixed in with the jokes. She had Kate Robards as the host, with Mickey Gooch, who was there with his family including his Mom, but didn’t let that stop him from doing his material, and the always funny Corinne Fisher from her hit podcast “Guys We F***ed” dropped by to do a guest spot. Always special to see Corinne! Little did I know that I’d have the pleasure of seeing her again the following week backstage at Chris Distefano’s show at The Theater at MSG, which you’ll be reading about next! Totally fun night out in Brooklyn, … even with no beard! !

PROOF THAT I WAS THERE!!! ((NO BEARD!)
NOEL LEON ON STAGE
CORINNE FISHER ON STAGE

CHRIS DISTEFANO KILLS IT AGAIN AT MSG THEATER

Everybody loves Chris Distefano. There’s just something about the guy. You gotta love him! And talking about how long I know someone. I know Chris Distefano through his transformation from an infant when he was my guest on Sirius XM’s Ron and Fez show back in 2014 to the rock star he looks like now!

CHRIS D AS AN INFANT WITH ME ON SIRIUS XM
CHRISSY D LOOKING LIKE THE ROCK STAR HE IS!!!

So when his manager Emilio Savone, owner of 5 NY Comedy Clubs told me that he would be back at the Theater at MSG for the second time, I told him to save me two seats!

Of course Chris had his main guy James Mattern hosting the show. James opens for Chris all over the world. And I think it’s safe to say that nobody brings the energy like James Mattern, … and the guy doesn’t even need a mic! He could be whispering and you’re like ” James, tone it down!” LOL He gets the audience psyched and won’t even let Chris come out ’til they are at a fever pitch!

“Aruba Ray” Ellin flew in from Aruba … where he spends half the year performing at his own comedy club, … to be the first comic to entertain after James warmed up the crowd. Ray is reliably funny and takes self-deprecating humor to another level. Every audience loves self-deprecating humor cause it males them feel like they’re ok, but when Ray does a thing about his hair that makes him look like certain historical figures, the audience is screaming with laughter.

I’ll never forget the first night I met Ray, many, many years ago at The Comic Strip. I don’t even know if he remembers this. I started Comedy Matters 25 years ago and it was fairly new when this happened, but Ray saw me taking notes at his show, and didn’t know I was writing a column. He thought I was copying down his jokes, and when he found out the truth we both had a good laugh about it, and have been friends ever since.

He even hosted a diabetes fund-raiser for me at The Strip and starred in a little film I wrote for YouTube star Lauren Francesca, who played a character known as Besame Mucho, the best kisser in the world, and Ray had to kiss her in the film. I think he still owes me for that! (LOL)

( Well, … he did invite me down to Aruba this coming March, so that’s something!!! )

Then James announced a very special guest and Colin Quinn came out to thunderous applause. Colin and I go back probably even before I started writing Comedy Matters, to the days he was doing MTV’s Remote Control, and I was writing for MTV’s Friday Night Video Fights! We were both children, and MTV was in it’s infancy! LOL

WITH COLIN IN 2010
WHEN COLIN WAS MY VERY FIRST GUEST ON SIRIUS XM WITH RON AND FEZ-2014
WITH COLIN IN 2018 WHEN WE SHOT AN EPISODE OF HBO’S CRASHING AT THE COMEDY CELLAR

Colin was my very first guest on Sirius XM with Ron Bennington and Fez Whatley back in 2014. I knew him before he had any facial hair. Then we did an episode of Crashing together at The Comedy Cellar back in 2018 and in December of 2023 I got to open for him at the Vermont Comedy Festival and we had a blast hanging out and running around Vermont for the weekend. Then we drove back to NY together. It’s ALWAYS great to see Colin!

WITH COLIN QUINN BACKSTAGE AT THE THEATER AT MSG AFTER CHRIS D’S SHOW-9/11/25

After the show we all got to hang out backstage which as I always say is the fun part for me. It’s the part that most people never get to see! But that’s why you read this column! (LOL) Here’s a sneak peek for you guys, starting with the ovation Chris got after the show!

WITH MY MAN CHRIS D AT THE THEATER AT MSG

THE PROGRESSION OF NATE BARGATZE

No one can ever tell me I don’t have a good eye for talent. When I brought Nate Bargatze on Sirius XM as my guest back in 2014, I knew he’d be big, but had no idea HOW big! Highest grossing comedy performer in Boxscore history in 2024, when his “The Be Funny Tour” brought in 82.2 million buckaroos! In 2023 his special “Hello World” on Amazon Prime became the platform’s most-streamed original comedy special in its first 28 days of viewership, and this Sunday he Exec. Produced and hosted The Emmy awards on CBS at the Peacock Theater in LA. I think that’s a pretty big thing! And he looks like a different person! Success does that for people. It allows you to become who you were meant to be!

WITH NATE AT SIRIUS XM – 2014
WITH NATE AT JFL-2015
WITH NATE AT THE RICH VOS ROAST 2017

And this is how he looks now hosting The Emmy’s!!!

NATE BARGATZE HOSTING THE 2025 EMMY’S

Sorry but that’s it for this issue! More coming soon, but I wanted to get the Jeffrey Ross story out asap to encourage the powers that be to extend the show!

Make sure to follow Jeffrey on IG at @jeffreygurian and on TikTok at @jeffreylgurian and of course on YouTube when you watch the videos in this column!!! Bye for now!!!

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COMEDY MATTERS ROUND-UP WITH NICK KROLL, MARC MARON, JIM GAFFIGAN, MIKE BIRBIGLIA, HASAN MINHAJ, JIM GAFFIGAN, JEFF GARLIN, BORSCHT BELT COMEDY AND LOTS MORE!!!

Posted by on August 25, 2025
MIKE BIRBIGLIA AND HASAN MINHAJ AT 92Y TALKING ABOUT MIKE’S LATEST HIT SPECIAL “THE GOOD LIFE”

92NY KILLING IT ON THE COMEDY SCENE

In this issue of Comedy Matters alone there are three killer events at the 92nd Second Street Y! So kudos to 92NY!!! As for the first event, let me say that there are very few comics who can pull off solo shows. And even less ones who can turn them into films. Mike Birbiglia is one of those guys who can!

I’ve known MIke since the early 2000’s and have the photos to prove it! ( See below) And I’ve been a big fan of his ever since I saw his first one-man show “Sleepwalk With Me”, back in 2008 at the Bleecker Street Theater. It was presented by Broadway star Nathan Lane, and it was a huge hit! Thanks to Mike, I have’t been able to get word “jackal” out of my consciousness for the last 17 years. If you saw the show, you’ll get it.

WITH MIKE BACKSTAGE SOMEWHERE EARLY 2000’S
WITH MIKE BACKSTAGE AT THE BLEECKER STREET THEATER FOR SLEEPWALK WITH ME–2008

The sight of what he thought was a jackal in his bedroom, while sleep-walking, caused him to leap out the window in order to escape it. Thank G-d he survived because he’s done five more solo shows since, that people needed to see, and I believe I’ve seen them all. My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend, Thank G-d for Jokes, The New One, The Old Man In The Pool, and currently The Good Life which they played at the 92Y before Mike took the stage for a conversation with Hasan Minhaj,another great comic story-teller. Putting them together on the stage was a masterful choice.

WITH MIKE BACKSTAGE AT THE CORT THEATER FOR “THE NEW ONE”–CIRCA 2018
MIKE AND HASAN ON STAGE
ALL THE THANK YOU’S

Mike has a way of tackling difficult topics like his Dad’s stroke, and making it touching and funny at the same time. He also talked a lot about fatherhood in a way you can tell how happy he is to be a Dad. It’s always interesting to me personally cause I knew all these guys when they were single and now they’re Dads! LOL The show is definitely a must-see, and is streaming on Netflix, his 4th Netflix special.

I had gotten a taste of it when Mike did a guest spot on Judd Apatow’s show at The Beacon Theater last November during the New York Comedy Festival. And when I went backstage to see Mike we talked about his Dad’s stroke and how he was doing at the time.

Hasan’s latest special, his third on Netflix is called “Off With His Head” . I’ve been at all of his other two specials as well, the first being “Homecoming King” back around 2016, and then “The King’s Jester” in 2022. Doing a one-man show is such a different medium. I too had always wanted to do a one man show, but I could never figure out who that one man should be!!! Just a few of my Hasan memories!!!

FROM MY DANCING WITH COMEDIANS SERIES-1/8/16
AT JFL MONTREAL- PHOTOBOMB COURTESY OF TREVOR NOAH-7/24/15
BACKSTAGE AT THE CHERRY LANE THEATER FOR HOMECOMING KING-1/8/16

After the show as I always do, I went backstage to say hi and congratulate them both. Mike was running out to an event but kindly took a moment to run over for a quick hug, and then I got to see Hasan!

JEFF GARLIN REPS OLD JEWISH MEN

Old Jewish Men is a popular site on Instagram and for the second spectacular 92NY comedy event, Jeff Garlin agreed to be placed in that category in conversation with Noah Rinsky, the young Jewish man who wrote the book “The Old Jewish Men’s Guide to Eating, Sleeping, and Futzing Around” moderated by a real Rabbi, Rabbi David Ingber, who I’m not sure got all the jokes, since Rabbi’s are rarely known for their sense of humor!

When it comes to Judaism they have it down pat, but the number of Rabbis doing stand-up is probably very small, although I actually did see one at the Borscht Belt Fest, and more on that later on in this column!

Jeff told a funny story about his Bar Mitzvah, and how he put on a happy face for his Mom, but the truth was the only good thing about it in his estimation was the cake! And Jeff must have lost about a hundred pounds in recent years, so the memory of that cake may be the only cake he gets these days!

JEFF GARLIN ON HIS BAR MITZVAH

MARC MARON AND JIM GAFFIGAN PANICKED

The third 92NY comedy event was with Marc Maron in conversation with Jim Gaffigan, another amazing coupling of talent. It was part of the Newmark Civic Life Series at 92NY, and in each of these events I’ve known these guys for many years and I recall being at Marc’s show ” Scorching The Earth” back in 2008, mostly about his break-up with his second wife Mishna, who I also knew well.

That show left an indelible impression on me that has never left. I actually recall where I sat, 17 years ago, because I think I was traumatized by the honesty of his performance, and our traumas are deeply engrained in our consciousness. I didn’t know that anyone could be that vulnerable on stage or would want to be that vulnerable. I know I couldn’t do it!

In “Panicked” the opening was very political leading into studies of his anxieties, and relationships. like the one with his father who has dementia, and the theme of aging, all through Marc’s unique perspective. At the 92Y you get the opportunity to fill out question cards before the show, and I was wondering if I wrote something personal to both him and Jim whether they’d read it out loud, or possibly roast me in front of the entire audience so I chose not to do it!

I did get to say “Hi” afterwards when Marc stayed on the stage for a few minutes greeting fans. I had sent JIm an e-mail before the show to let him know I was coming, but he wrote back to me the next day to apologize that he didn’t see it till the day after! Oh well! ( The photos below show how long I know these guys!!! And NONE of us have aged one bit!!! LOLOLOL)

WITH MARC AT SCORCHING THE EARTH-2009
MARC IN 2002
WITH MARC AT 92Y FOR SWORD OF TRUST FILM-2019
WITH JIM GAFFIGAN-JUNE 2001
WITH JIM AT THE COMIC STRIP-2009
WITH JIM AMD JEANNIE GAFFIGAN AT CAROLINES-2015

NICK KROLL IN FREE SHOW AT MADISON SQUARE PARK

New Yorkers got a special treat on one of the hottest nights of the year both literally and figuratively. It was 95 degrees and Nick Kroll brought his talents and his close comedy friends Rachel Feinstein, Ricky Velez, Sam Jay, and Jason Mantzoukas to do a free show for 1500 people spread out on the lawn of the beautiful Madison Square Park where Nick’s wife Lily Kwong created the beautiful installation known as “The Gardens of Renewal.”

She worked in collaboration with the Madison Square Conservancy to transform the park into a living artwork with special plantings, including a beautiful Meditation Garden and an interactive Children’s Garden. Lily was there as well.

The weird thing for me was that I was due at the same time at an event out on Staten Island which is an hour trip, but I didn’t went to miss seeing Nick perform. so I went there first knowing I could not stay for the whole thing. There was heavy security and metal stanchions closing off the space where Nick was hanging out “backstage” in kind of a tent with Jason Mantzoukas who I even recognized from the back! Some people, … like myself, … seem to be easily recognizable even from far away! (LOL)

NICK AND JASON MANTZOULAS IN THE TENT
NICK ON STAGE
THE AUDIENCE

You had to sign in with people in order to get to the area where Nick was hanging out, but I planned to watch the show from outside the metal stanchions so hopefully I could leave without disturbing anyone. That worked until Nick spotted me loitering at the gates and yelled out something like ” Let Jeffrey Gurian in” which I was very grateful for. So I went in and took a seat on the ground with everyone else, and got to see Rachel and Nick perform before I had to leave. A commitment is a commitment! But seeing Nick perform even for a few moments is always worth it to me!

Nick led the 1500 person audience in a guided meditation and issued an unusual challenge!!!

MARCUS RUSSELL PRICE AND THE HOMELESS PIMP BOTH VISIT THE COMEDY MATTERS CRIB

Not together but at separate times two of the most celebrated photographers and videographers on the comedy scene honored me with a visit to the Comedy Matters crib to check out my Comedy Museum, and shoot fun stuff with me! It would be hard to find a major comedy event where you wouldn’t see Marcus running up and down the aisle shooting pix of the action, and then again backstage. Even backstage at shows at places like City Winery like a recent show where Nick Kroll did a guest headliner spot!

WITH MARCUS RUSSELL PRICE IN FRONT OF ONE OF THE WALLS OF THE COMEDY MATTERS MUSEUM

Both of these guys also shoot and direct comedy specials, and Marcus has also produced shows, some of which I attended at Lincoln Center! ( Classy guy!!!) I think Pimp told me he directed 30 comedy specials already.

I got to experience Pimp’s talent when he filmed me on Chris DiStefano’s podcast, and for Joe DeRosa’s music video “Mouth On My Money.” He did such an extraordinary job of adding hilarious special effects, like where there was about 100 of me on the screen all doing different moves.

I neglected to say that my part was dancing like a maniac to the song played by Joe’s group Salsa Windfall. I keep meaning to ask Joe how he chose that name! When I agreed to do the part I had no idea I’d be dancing alone! (LOL) It was one of the most fun things I’ve ever done and I totally challenged myself to do it! You can see it here! ( Above!) Btw, Joe just got to perform on a Dave Chapelle live show!

Anyway I had a blast with both Marcus and Pimp. We shot lots of video, … even of me playing the piano, … which is still being edited by both of them. but which you will be seeing very shortly!!! Personally I can’t wait!!! This is a little video I shot with Pimp!

PODCAST KING COMES TO VISIT

It was truly a month for people visiting, shooting videos and recording podcasts at the Comedy Matters crib. Radio legend Buzz Knight, who produces the podcast Music Saved Me, through his company Buzz Knight Media, now also produces two other podcasts including “Takin’ A Walk” and the one most pertinent to readers of this column ” Comedy Saved Me.”

The “Music Saved Me” podcast, as well as “Comedy Saved Me” is hosted by Lynn Hoffman, a superstar radio and TV celeb interviewer, known for the intimate depth of her interviews, and It explores music’s healing and transformative power by featuring personal stories from musicians who have been impacted by their art. Now they’re doing comedy, and I was honored to be a guest! And strictly by coincidence the podcast came out this morning!

WITH BUZZ KNIGHT IN FRONT OF TWO OF THE WALLS OF THE COMEDY MATTERS MUSEUM
ON ZOOM WITH BUZZ AND THE AMAZING LYNN HOFFMAN

When Buzz came by to see the famed “Comedy Museum” with photos going back decades, he decided we should also tape an interview for “Takin’ A Walk”, which included an in-depth interview of my long history in comedy. Will be out very soon and the link will be posted!!!

BORSCHT BELT FEST A BIG SUCCESS

The tremendous success of Netflix’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel has led to a resurgence of interest in that time, … the 50’s, when hotels like Grossingers, The Concord, and The Nevele were the place to be seen.

The Catskill mountains resorts were known as The Borscht Belt because many of he early immigrants who built the hotels and came to stay were Eastern European Jews who ate borscht. Not sure if I ever had any , but it was a soup made from beets. I may not have had any borscht but I certainly frequented the Borscht Belt. It’s where many comedians performed before the days of comedy clubs. I was there as a child, singing solo in a choir and also as an adult, meeting and writing for the various comedians that performed there.

I was recenly in several scenes of a new documentary called ” We Met At Grossingers” Exec-produced by Harris Salomon of Atlantic Overseas Pictures and Bobby Friedman of Bungalow Entertainment, and directed by award-winning director Paula Eiselt. They had their LA premiere on July 9th.

WITH DIRECTOR PAULA EISELT AT GOTHAM COMEDY CLUB

It’s the 4th doc on comedy I’ve been in and we shot my scenes at Gotham Comedy Club, where I was interviewed by Paula and Bennett Elliot and where I brought some photos from back in the day as well as postcards I collected as a child from Grossingers, which are still in pristine condition. The other films I was in were a doc on Robin Willams, which I think was called ” Robin Wiliams- Come Inside My Mind”, “The Business of Comedy”, and “Eat, Drink and Laugh- The Story of The Comic Strip.”

Harris and renowned writer Alan Zweibel, the man who gave me my start in comedy, have created a scripted series called “The Mountains” of which you’ll be hearing a lot about in the near future.

Now in Ellenville, NY there is a Borsct Belt Museum and for the third year in a row they sponsor the Borscht Belt Comedy Festival over a weekend at the end of July. There was an opening night party on Friday night, and a lot of fun shows over Saturday and Sunday culminating in a street fair on Sunday afternoon.

SOME KIND PERSON POSTED THIS PHOTO OF ME ON STAGE
)L-R) WITH JEFF CAPRI AND SANDY HACKETT

Robert Klein was honored with an event at the museum, where there were posters of Milton Berle, Jerry Lewis, Joan Rivers and all the other people I had the honor of working with. One of the highlights for me besides headlining two of the shows on Saturday and Sunday was finally meeting comedian Jeff Capri, the son of the very first comedian who ever hired me to write for him, the great Dick Capri ,who left us so recently at 93 years of age. I also got to re-connect with Sandy Hackett the son of the legendary Buddy Hackett. He and Jeff were doing a show together.

VINTAGE POSTER IN THE BB MUSEUM
ROBERT KLEIN LEANING ON THE WALL AND WATCHING HIS DOC WITH EVERYONE ELSE

It was a great time and I’m sending a big shoutout to Robin Kauffman from the Borscht Belt board, and comic/booker Alejandro Morales, who just announced that he’s moving to Chile!

PICK UP ON THE PICK UP WITH PETE DAVIDSON, EDDIE MURPHY AND KEKE PALMER

Next time you’re home with nothing to do, and you wanna see Pete Davidson be hilariously funny in a starring role opposite Eddie Murphy and Keke Palmer, just go to Amazon Prime and look for The Pickup. It’s an action-comedy heist film where Pete and Eddie play two mismatched armored truck drivers who get involved in a crazy, wild, dangerous situation when a routine cash pickup goes awry thanks to Keke Palmer, who plays a very interesting role. Especially in the opening! So great to see Pete doing so well and on his way to becoming a Dad!!!  

I’ve known Pete since he was a teen and used to come do my late night show at The Comic Strip, when I was co-hosting with Jordan Rock. I did Sunday and Monday nights, and Jordan did Tuesday and Wednesday! Pete would come in with Jordan and was funny from the jump. Then he got taken under Nick Cannon’s wing, and wound up on SNL for 8 seasons. He’s always been a great guy, and I’ll never forget when he introduced me to someone important to him by saying, ” This is Jeffrey Gurian, a guy you can trust!!!” To me that’s the most important thing someone can say about you!!!

The film also features Eva Longoria playing Eddie’s wife and Andrew “Dice” Clay playing the armored car owner/dispatcher! I hold the honor of being one of the only people ever to write for “Dice” and he says it openly cause he’s that kind of guy!!!

WITH PETE AT THE STRIP 12/20/11
PETE AND JORDAN ROCK
-3-26-12
WITH PETE AT THE PAUL VIRZI SPECIAL HE PRODUCED WITH BILL BURR-8-13-17
WITH THE AMAZING KEKE PALMER
TAKING AWAY A HEADACHE FROM “DICE” OUT IN LA IN 1998 AT THE ICONIC MEL;S; DINER
WITH“ “DICE” UP AT SIRIUS XM HOLDING THE PHOTO OF US FROM 1998

PLAYING A BAD MAGICIAN

I got hired to play a failed magician in an online commercial! Luckily I had a moustache collection and a derby, … cause you never know when you might need such things!!! Click the link to watch!

I think that’s enough for this column. More coming soon. In the meantime follow Jeffrey on Instagram at @jeffreygurian and on TikTok at @jeffreylgurian and I’ll see you out there Iin the clubs!!! And if you have any fun ideas or would like him to be in your show or project, you can reach Jeffrey at jeffrey@jeffreygurian.com

Posted in: Celeb Photos, Comedians In The News, Comedy, Comedy Central, Comedy Clubs, Comedy Events, Comedy Festivals, Comedy Matters, Comedy Thoughts, Comedy Videos, Entertainment News, Happiness Information, Happiness Information, Jeffrey Gurian News, Podcasts, Red Carpet Events, Stand-Up Comedy, TV Show, Unusual News

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Comedy Matters Round-Up With Highlights of NY Comedy Fest, Judd Apatow, JB Smoove, Jiaoying Summers, Gilbert Tribute and so much more!!!

Posted by on November 26, 2024
Comedy Matters Round-Up With Highlights of NY Comedy Fest, Judd Apatow, JB Smoove, Jiaoying Summers, Gilbert Tribute and so much more!!!
WITH JUDD APATOW AT HIS SHOW “JUDD APATOW AND FRIENDS” AT THE BEACON THEATER

I have to start this column with a shout-out to “The Queen of NY Comedy” Caroline Hirsch and Andrew Fox for this amazing 20th year of the New York Comedy Festival. Over 100 shows in 5 boroughs. They actually ran out of boroughs or there would have been more!!!

Next I have to thank their amazing hard-working team, namely Louis Faranda, head of booking, who’s been with Caroline the entire time, Greg Charles long-time head of publicity, and Carolyn Gitomer and Jonny Moran who work with Louis to make sure that everything runs smoothly. And it does!!!

CHRIS DISTEFANO – NEW YORK’S NEXT MAYOR?????

In the order of shows I attended, I started with Chris DiStefano’s “Hat Trick” which kicked off the festival’s first night. Chris did three shows in a row at each of New York Comedy Club’s venues. Six P.M. for the first show on East 4th Street, 7 P.M. for the 2nd show on 24th Street, and 9:30 at the new location on the West side where Stand Up NY used to be. I love their huge green room cause it’s big and they always have candy!

MY INTERVIEW WITH NEW YORK’S NEXT MAYOR

Owner Emilio Savone is amazing and now has five locations! We often reminisce how he started out as a ticket seller at The Comic Strip when I was writing the book on that legendary venue, that features a foreword by Chris Rock. I have some amazing news about Chris D. that I promised to keep secret until they’re ready for the world to know. So don’t even ask cause I won’t tell. But I do think he’ll make a great Mayor!!! ( Watch the video above!)

I’m good at keeping secrets. I kept a secret for Jerry Seinfeld for three months when he was doing his Netflix special at The Comic Strip. He asked me not to write about where he was doing it, and it would have made a great scoop but I don’t do things like that! I would never ruin a relationship for a scoop! Not even for Jason Scoop!!! (LOLOL)

WITH YOU KNOW WHO!!!

LOTS OF GARBAGE AT CHELSEA MUSIC HALL!!!

There were so many shows to choose from it was really hard to make a choice but the next night I went to see Are You Garbage, an audience participation show at one of my favorite venues, Michael Ginsberg’s Chelsea Music Hall where Seth Herzog does his Sweet shows. It was H. Foley, and Kevin Ryan with guests Sam Morril, and Mike Cannon. There may have been more but I had to leave to catch Judd Apatow and Friends at the Beacon Theater.

(L-R) Sam Morril, Kevin Ryan, and H.Foley in “Are You Garbage?”

JUDD APATOW AND FRIENDS SELL OUT THE BEACON

It was absolutely no surprise that the show was sold out for the man I refer to as “The King of Hollywood”, but with my All Access Pass I was able to hang backstage until luckily one single seat happened to open up. What’s special about Judd is that with all of his success people who have never met him will be glad to know he’s still a humble guy! Success has not gone to his head!

He opened up with a really strong probably 20 minute set, brought out the always funny Ricky Velez, who has a Judd-produced special, then he introduced Loudon Wainwright Jr. who did about 5 songs, and then Mike Birbiglia who I caught up with backstage and who did pieces from his new show “The Good Life” which he’ll be performing this coming March! Can’t wait! Mike has done more one man shows than anyone I know since Jackie Mason!

THIS SPEAKS FOR ITSELF
JUDD SENT ME THIS PHOTO LABELED “HANDSOME MEN”! LOL

Among other things Mike talked about his Dad’s stroke, which was made even more difficult because his Dad is a neurologist, so he knows everything they are doing for him, and maybe even more than they do. When I first met Ricky and Mike they didn’t have kids. Now Mike has a 9 year old daughter and Ricky has a six year old son! And speaking of kids, Judd’s daughter Iris was there and brought a ton of her friends! So special for a Dad. That’s the kind of stuff I like to talk about. There was a professional photographer backstage that got great photos of everyone. I on the other hand did the best I could! (LOL) Don’t judge me! (LOL)

JUDD AND FRIENDS ON STAGE
JUDD AND FRIENDS BACKSTAGE

Judd made it extra special for me by agreeing to participate in a really big project looming on the horizon that I’m involved with, along with D.L. Hughley, Jeffrey Ross, J.B. Smoove who also said “Yes”, Chris DiStefano, Colin Quinn, Mark Normand, Joe List and several more big names!

IRIS APATOW IS SECOND FROM LEFT
MIKE BIRBIGLIA AND RICKY VELEZ
WITH MIKE BIRBIGLIA
WITH JUDD APATOW

KATIE BOYLE ROCKS NYCC

Next on my journey was Katie Boyle’s special taped at New York Comedy Club on 24th Street. I love her accent and as you’ll see in the video below, … the audience did too!

NATALIE ORTEGA IS WICKEDLY FUNNY

Natalie Ortega’s Funny Girls was another stand-out performance for me again back at Chelsea Music Hall. It was an all women’s show but Natalie really stood out for me. She’s a natural and a real multi-talented comedy force. She has a role as Nessa Rose in Wicked on Broadway but she told me her great love is stand up comedy and she’s really good. She brings a level of excitement to the stage that’s palpable. I was so impressed I couldn’t wait to tell her. And I waited till right after her original song titled ” I Want To F**k Pete Davidson”! That’s really the name of the song. It’s not a cover. It’s original! I asked her if she knew him and she said “Not yet!” I can’t wait to tell Pete!

NATALIE ORTEGA ON STAGE
CLASSY NATALIE IN A GOWN

BEFORE WE GET STARTED

Ryan Reiss had a big honor during the festival. It was one of the main shows at The Hard Rock Hotel which was the base of operations for the festival. Six years of hard work led to a documentary film in which he starred called “Before We Get Started.” It was about the world of warm up comics. At one special point in the film Ryan gets to pitch his idea for a TV show to Howie Mandel, which was a long time dream of his. You actually get to see it happen on camera!

RYAN REISS AND PETE DEMAS
RYAN REISS PITCHING TO HOWIE MANDEL

Every TV show has a warm up comic. It’s a very different form of comedy than just coming out and doing your act for 15 minutes. The star of the show depends on you to get the audience psyched and ready for their appearance. Ryan and producer Pete Demas showed the film to a packed, sold-out room at The Hard Rock, and it was fantastic! A must see for anyone who loves and appreciates how hard it is to do comedy. And long time warm-ups like Tom Kelly, Gary Cannon, and Joey Kola, currently with the Drew Barrymore Show, who’s doing it for 31 years were all in the audience.

COMEDY GIVES BACK LUNCHEON

Back in 2011, Zoe Friedman, Amber J. Lawson and Jodi Lieberman did a wonderful thing in creating Comedy Gives Back. It’s a non-profit that is basically the safety net for the comedy community by providing financial crisis relief, mental health and chemical dependency treatment. Many comics are struggling to make ends meet and the ladies held a luncheon at Gotham Comedy Club, which thanks to Chris Mazzilli always makes itself available for a good cause, to spread the word about their work.

(L-R) ZOE FRIEDMAN, AMBER J. LAWSON, AND JODI LIEBERMAN
ZOE WITH ALAN ZWEIBEL
WITH ALAN ZWEIBEL

I got there early and had a chance to shmooze with the ladies and partake of their complimentary pizza lunch, until we were joined by Alan Zweibel, the man who gave me my start in comedy while he was a main writer up at SNL in the earliest days of the show. To this day he says he can’t get the image of “creamcheese on the ankles of elderly women who wore their stockings rolled down like bagels” which was a little film I made starring my grandmother that I brought up to SNL. It’s a story that has been told in the little doc they made about me in 2020. Some of the past recipients of CGB’s generosiyy were there to sing their praises. I also got to re-connect with Joanna Briley who once gave me the honor of being the opening act for the 2nd night of the Martin Luther King Comedy Fest in Bed-Stuy Brooklyn, a true honor for me!

THE LOVE FOR GILBERT GOES ON

One of the other big events of the festival was the tribute to Gilbert Gottfried at the Hard Rock. It was called “Celebrating Gilbert” and the screen said “Still Screaming”. HIs wife Dara hosted the sold out event and there was no chance I would miss this since Gilbert and I were friends since probably the late 70’s or early 80’s. We had a long fun history and I really loved that guy! In the early days at Carolines, he literally made me laugh until I was in physical pain with his squid material and absurd references! He would proudly claim that no one had more squid material than he did, as he tore a napkin into strips like the tentacles of a squid!!!!

CAROLINE HIRSCH ADDRESSING THE PANEL (L-R) FRANK SANTOPADRE, DARA GOTTFRIED, JUDY GOLD, SUSIE ESSMAN, AND RICHARD KIND
MY EARLIEST PHOTO WITH GILBERT CIRCA 80’S
DANCING WITH GILBERT 1992
GILBERT WEARING THE GLASSES I MADE FOR HIM FOR A FILM I WROTE FOR TV THAT HE STARRED IN!

It was a spectacular event with people sharing stories of Gilbert and how unique he was, and also his reputation for being cheap. Truthfully the most exciting part for me was meeting his kids Lily and Max. I remember when they were born and now Max is 15 and Lily is 17. I knew Gilbert so long I was with him in the hospital when his appendix burst back in the early 90’s. I used to drive him home when he lived with his Mom. I once asked him if she “got him”, … if she knew he was “Gilbert”, … if she had any idea who he was, and he said “No!” To her he was just her son Gilbert!

After everyone on the panel shared their stories Frank Santopadre went out in the audience to speak to people like Chevy Chase, Robert Smigel, and other people who had known and worked with Gilbert. I was sitting in the very last row and I was dying to tell one of my many Gilbert stories. I didn’t know how I was going to get their attention though, and my heart was pounding.

I told myself if I didn’t do this I would never forgive myself and never get another chance, so I started nervously walking down the aisle towards the stage, and two women came up behind me encouraging me to share my story. I think they were from the festival. As I got close to the stage I got up the nerve to call out ” Frank, can I tell a story?” And Frank said “Jeff Gurian, ladies and gentlemen, and handed me the mic.” The story I told is below and Chevy Chase was sitting right in front of me as you can see in the video thanks to videographer Bob Sweeney, who filmed the whole event!

At the end of the event something very special happened. Bruce Hills who ran JFL Montreal for so many years came down with Nick Brazao who currently runs the programming at JFL to present Dara, Lily and Max with a huge sports jersey that says Gottfried 55! Not sure why it was so huge, but 55 is the year Gilbert was born!

WITH LILY GOTTFRIED
DARA, LILY AND MAX GOTTFRIED
DARA, LILY, BRUCE HILLS, NICK BRAZAO, AND MAX GOTTFRIED AND THE JERSEY!!!

And the proverbial icing on the cake was when it came out on Page Six in the NY Post! ( With my photo no less!!! LOL)

VINNY GUADAGNINO BRINGS IT AT THE STAND

I went to Vinny’s show truly not knowing what to expect. Many actors and people on TV think they can do stand-up comedy just because they’re used to being on camera. Most of the time it doesn’t work. Stand-up comedy is an art form all unto itself. It does not translate.

VINNY G ON STAGE
WITH VINNY GUADAGNINO
JIAOYING SUMMERS ON STAGE

I was pleasantly surprised. Vinny is funny and I got a chance to tell him so after the show. He had no idea who I was so I don’t know if it meant anything to him, but I like to tell people when I think they’re doing something good. Creative people need to be re-affirmed! Also on the show was Jeffrey Asmus, and Jiaoying Summers who I also saw a couple of nights later at her own show at the Laurie Beechman Theater!

NEW FACES AT THE HARD ROCK

Most of the big industry shows were held at The Hard Rock. Lots of new and not so new fun talent. I walked in when my friend Soo Ra was on stage. Also Natalie Cuomo was a stand-out who’s soon to be married to Dan LaMorte, but the winner of the NY’s Funniest was Jamie Wolf who I picked as well. I just hope he doesn’t seriously injure his neck doing the airline crashing thing! ( Inside joke!)

SOO RA ON STAGE
NATALIE CUOMO ON STAGE
WINNER JAMIE WOLF ON STAGE

J.B. IS DEFINITELY SMOOVE

Hadn’t seen JB Smoove in a while but he’s definitely one of my faves, so when I saw he was going to be at Town Hall I put it on my list of “Must-See” shows, and he definitely brought “the ruckus” as he’s prone to do! This was my final big show I covered at the festival!

I got there early with my assistant Jake Rothwell, and went right up to his dressing room. Backstage at Town Hall is huge and very difficult to navigate. To this day I always find it fascinating to see what goes on backstage. Maybe it’s because most people have no idea what it’s like. His dressing room was full of people and he was reviewing some notes when I came in. I had texted him to let him know I was coming because I don’t like to just show up with no notice.

He greeted me warmly and introduced me to his lovely wife, and then because he was busy prepping, I split to let him get ready, and told him I’d see him afterwards. He does such an entertaining show and the audience really loves him. I told him he brings joy to the stage, which is very special. Lots of people are funny but not everyone brings joy to the stage. We talked about his new game show on Amazon Prime called “Buy It Now” that just launched on Oct. 30th, where entrepreneurs get a chance to pitch their products, and the differences between that and Shark Tank.

We also reminisced about the loss of our mutual friend Richard Lewis, his cast-mate from Curb Your Enthusiasm, and JB’s great book ” The Book of Leon.” I was at the book launch with JB and Fifty Cent!

HAVING A BITE TO EAT WITH JB SMOOVE AT JFL MONTREAL 2010
WITH JB AND FIFTY CENT FOR THE BOOK OF LEON (SEE IF YOU CAN SPOT ME! LOL)

It was so great to see the festival back again! Can’t wait for next year to do it again! That’s it for this column, but the next column is coming soon! If you liked it feel free to let me know at jeffrey@jeffreygurian.com

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I hope you all have lots to be thankful for!!! Follow me on Instagram at @jeffreygurian and I’ll see you in the clubs!!!

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COMEDY MATTERS SUPER ISSUE CELEBRATES 25 YEARS, WITH NIKKI GLASER, KEVIN HART, CHRIS DISTEFANO, D.L. HUGHLEY, SETH HERZOG, KRYSTYNA HUTCHINSON, PAUL RUDD, ALEX MOFFAT AND SO MUCH MORE!!!

Posted by on October 3, 2024

COMEDY MATTERS 25th ANNIVERSARY

It may sound strange, but it wasn’t until I started writing about Seth Herzog’s 20th anniversary of his show Sweet, and acknowledging what an amazing achievment that was that I started wondering how long I’ve been doing Comedy Matters, and realized that I had started it in 1999, which made 2024 it’s 25 year anniversary of covering the comedy scene.

It’s been a few months since my last post and if you read on you’ll see why, so I’m going to briefly fill you in on what’s been going on in NY comedy thru the eyes of Comedy Matters.

TOM BRADY ROAST IS HUGE FOR NIKKI GLASER

Everyone totally crushed on the Tom Brady Roast. Kevin Hart was an amazing host and Roastmaster General Jeffrey Ross added to the hilarity with his never-fail killer jokes. That’s why he’s the Roastmaster General! Tony Hinchcliffe, Andrew Schulz, Tom Segura, Bert Kreischer, every single one of them killed. (Sorry if I left anyone out!!!)

But as a result of Nikki Glaser’s incredible performance roasting Tom at the very non-politically correct Roast on Netflix, she’ll be hosting the 82nd Golden Globes coming up on January 5th on CBS. I remember going to the premiere of the Nikki and Sara Live show on MTV back in 2013, when she had her own show with Sara Schaefer, and it’s so cool to see her reach superstardom. Nikki is a force. Her latest special on HBO, “Some Day You’ll Die” is up for an Emmy. She hosted and Exec. Produced F-Boy Island for three seasons which led to her hosting and Exec. Producing the spin-off “Lovers and Liars.” So major congrats to Nikki!

(L-R) BERT KREISCHER AND TOM SEGURA TEAM UP ON THE BRADY ROAST
WITH SARA SCHAEFER AND NIKKI GLASER AT MTV BACK IN 2013

GROSSINGERS DOC DUE FROM BUNGALOW ENTERTAINMENT AND ATLANTIC OVERSEAS PICTURES

The popularity of the Netflix hit The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel had led to a resurgence of interest in that era, the 1950’s and particularly about what was known as The Borscht Belt which were the incredible hotels in upstate New York like Grossingers, The Concord, The Nevele, The Raleigh and so many more.

Bobby Friedman the head of Bungalow Entertainment is producing a documentary on Grossingers, along with co-Exec.Producer Harris Salomon of Atlantic Overseas Pictures. It features owner Jenny Grossinger who paved the way for powerful women in the entertainment business. Grossingers was one of the best known hotels, that even had it’s own airstrip to fly in the big stars that performed there. I was interviewed for the doc because I was at Grossingers at two different points in my life, … as a kid singing solo in a famous Hebrew choir that sang at the hotels for the High Holidays, and again as an adult writing comedy for many of the big stars that performed there.

My interview was to be held at a comedy club which turned out to be, where else but Chris Mazzilli’s Gotham Comedy Club where so many amazing things take place. Judd Apatow was just there doing a special show about a week ago. The doc is being directed by award winning director Paula Eiselt who interviewed me, with the assistance of Bennett Elliot and Catherine Rierson from Bungalow Entertainment. Can’t wait for it to come out!

WITH AWARD WINNING DIRECTOR PAULA EISELT AT GOTHAM COMEDY CLUB

UCB IS BACK WITH ASSSSCAT BETTER THAN EVER

In a never-ending list of things lost to Covid, UCB was one of them. Fortunately it’s back in a killer new location on 14th Street. Amazingly huge space. I attended the grand opening on Sept. 13th, and was pleasantly surprised to see Sasheer Zamata, Chris Gethard, and Zach Cherry among the improvisers. The host that night was James Austin Johnson from SNL. Improv may not be as reliable in terms of laughter as stand-up, but it may be the hardest thing in the world to do and they totally have my respect!

(L-R) Sasheer Zamata with a shaved head, James Austin Johnson in front and Zach Cherry in the rear with the glasses. Other names unfortunately are unknown to me! Send them in if you know!!!

CELEB PHOTOG MARCUS RUSSELL PRICE PRODUCING SHOWS

Marcus Russell Price is at every major comedy event shooting photos at the request of whoever is headlining the event. And it’s because he’s that good! I will always be indebted to him for shooting the two photos that appear below, at the exact second that I walked through the door at Carnegie Hall to congratulate Nick Kroll on his sold-out show, only to find out that due to Covid, they blocked everyone but me from coming backstage to see Nick, … even his family!

NICK KROLL FILMING ME AS I ENTERED HIS DRESSING ROOM AT CARNEGIE HALL WITH MIKE BERKOWITZ LAUGHING HYSTERICALLY!
MIKE BERKOWITZ REACTING TO SEEING ME ENTER NICK KROLL’S DRESSING ROOM

Nick thought it was so funny that he took out his phone and filmed it for Instagram. The only other person with him was uber-agent to the stars Mike Berkowitz of WME fame who was laughing hysterically at the fact that they didn’t let anyone in but me! When it comes to super agents you would be hard pressed to find a comedy superstar not repped by Mike. To name just a few, … Bill Burr, Hasan Minhaj, Nick Kroll, John Mulaney, Amy Schumer and John Oliver! To see Nick’s reaction when I walked into his dressing room click the link below!

So when I heard that Marcus was actually producing comedy shows at Lincoln Center there was no chance I was not going to attend. I was almost expecting him to perform but he just introduced the evening and each of the comedians. Both shows were great and sold out and I hope he decides to do more this coming year.

(L-R) MARCUS RUSSELL-PRICE, JOEY DARDANO, JORDAN ROCK, ROSEBUD BAKER AND THAT SAME GUY!

NEW YORK COMEDY CLUB TAKES OVER STAND UP NY LOCATION

Emilio Savone and Scott Lindner are killing the game. I think this makes five New York Comedy Club venues, and Emilio always makes sure that I get to attend every special event he does. They totally renovated the old Stand Up NY space on West 78th Street and had a grand opening. I particularly appreciated the huge green room they created downstairs where offices used to be. It’s always nice to have a cool place to hang before going up.

It was a star-studded line-up including two of my faves, Chris Distefano and Corinne Fisher who I absolutely love! Always so glad to see how well she’s doing. Her comedy partner in crime, Krystyna Hutchinson will appear in this column a bit further down. And I just got word as I’m writing this that Chrissy scored a Hulu special! Well deserved Chris!!!

WITH CHRIS DISTEFANO WHO JUST GOT A HULU SPECIAL
WITH CORINNE FISHER
WITH CHRISSY D AND EMILIO

COMEDY TIDBITS

I’m involved in something that could be HUGE thanks to the two guys you see standing with me below. No more can be said, but if it happens it will involve many of my big-time comedy friends so when D.L. Hughley was at Levity Live in Nyack, I made sure to stop off and ask him in person if he would be kind enough to participate. He said I didn’t even have to ask and that of course he’d be involved! A true friend!!!

We reminisced about the time he took me out to dinner to make sure I ate!

I was at Sheba Mason’s show one night at Three Monkeys waiting to go on when I heard them announce a comedian to the stage and I thought maybe I heard wrong. I was pretty sure I heard them say Greg Giraldo Jr. What a nice surprise to find out it was Greg’s son. I’m sure he knew already, but I got to tell him what a great, talented guy his Dad was and afterwards sent him some photos of his Dad and I from back in the day!

WITH GREG GIRALDO JR. A VERY FUNNY YOUNG GUY

We lost a great actor and dear friend Tony LoBianco and at the funeral service at St. Patrick’s I ran into two other old friends, comedy legend Joe Piscopo and radio legend Frank Morano!

WITH TONY LOBIANCO
WITH JOE PISCOPO AND FRANK MORANO

Wound up on one of Victoria Arnstein’s shows with Mae Planert and saw what her husband Mark Normand did to her! (LOL) Such a nice girl! Major congrats to the expecting parents! I keep telling him how great it is to be a Dad!

WITH THE VERY FUNNY MAE PLANERT WHO IS “WITH CHILD” THANKS TO MARK NORMAND!

Got on an AA flight to Minneapolis to be a Keynote Speaker to 500 doctors on Happiness and as I boarded the flight, the main flight attendant yelled out, ” Hey Jeffrey!” Turns out it was Soo Ra a very funny comedian who’s in my new TV pilot “The Raw Side of Comedy.” I knew she was funny but never knew she was also a flight attendant for the past 7 years! I made her take photos on the plane!!!

WITH SOO RA THE COMEDIAN/FLIGHT ATTENDANT

Zeuses Muses an entertainment company hired me to do a show with funny comic Anna Manis at The Red Room above New York Comedy Club’s 4th Street location. It’s like a speakeasy, and it was part of a national tour. Very fun show!

ON STAGE AT THE RED ROOM WITH ANNA MANIS

“A Walk In The Park” the Woody Allen-ish type film I co-starred in with writer/director Noel Leon was chosen as an official selection for the NY Shorts International Film Fest slated to be shown on Oct. 14th, at the Cinema Village Theater, and if I’m lucky I’ll even get to see the final version beforehand! It’s a really sweet film about an unlikely friendship!

xr:d:DAFxoXJb-KY:13,j:2726210195446358814,t:23101918

HOLISTIC COMEDY

Everyone’s heard the saying that laughter is the best medicine. Well because of my double career as a doctor (20 years on the Board of The Assoc. for Spirituality and Psychotherapy, 12 years on staff at NYU in Oral Medicine and Oro-Facial Pain, and 25 years as a Cosmetic Dentist) and an Amazon best-selling author with 8 books, three on Happiness, mindset and changing negative thinking to positive thinking, I’m getting asked to speak at holistic-type events bringing comedy into the mix.

In July I was the Keynote Speaker in Minneapolis at the Minneapolis Convention Center to about 500 doctors and the topic they gave me was ” Surviving A Career in Dentistry Using Positive Thinking and Humor”, and about a week ago I led a weekend workshop at the prestigious Omega Institute for Holistic Studies where Deepak Chopra speaks. Big honor! The topic they gave me was ” Heal Your Heart With Humor.” The middle photo below shows the line going out the door of people wanting to say hi and have me sign a book for them. I guess what I had to say resonated with them! (LOL) ( Humble brag!!!)

To help promote the event I went on WABC radio with my buddy Frank Morano on his hit show “The Other Side of Midnight”, i-Heart Radio with the amazing Xen Sams on her hit show “A Moment of Xen”, and had the honor of being the very first guest on Krystyna Hutchinson’s new podcast “The Voices In Our Heads” in her amazing new studio, and produced by my old pal Mike Coscarelli who’s producing a bunch of podcasts now. Krystyna of course is still doing “Guys We F**ked” with her comedy partner Corinne Fisher!

WITH FRANK MORANO
WITH KRYSTYNA HUTCHINSON IN HER BRAND NEW STUDIO

Even better Krystyna asked me to release her TMJ cause she’s been getting jaw pain from grinding her teeth from stress, and that just happened to be my specialty at NYU.

Got to exchange “best-selling” books with Mick Jagger’s girlfriend Melanie Hamrick and tell her my Mick Jagger story!

SWEET CELEBRATES 20 YEARS

I swear, … this is the last item. I can’t write anymore! Sweet is almost old enough to vote! Seth Herzog has achieved the impossible and kept a comedy show running for two decades. In next month’s column I will do a deep dive into the two shows he did at Chelsea Music Hall with owner Michael Ginsberg, but suffice it to say that both shows were amazing. I’m excited to say I’ll be doing Seth’s Halloween show on Oct. 22nd also at Chelsea Music Hall telling the scary story of my heart attack!

One show was on a Sunday night and the other was on the following Tuesday night. Huge crowds, and interviews were done for an upcoming documentary. Got to re-connect with Michael Ian Black, Todd Barry, who always makes me laugh hard with his sarcastic point of view, Jeaneane Garofalo who opened her set by giving away three pair of pants from a Target bag, and Richard Kind who improvised a song about people in the audience with Seth and Michael Ian Black. Michael and I co-wrote the very first interactive film for Sony back in 1992 called “I’m Your Man.”

In the Tuesday show it was Alex Moffat, Mark Normand, Paul Rudd, Justin Theroux, Richard Kind and more and I got to re-connect with the great Dave Hill who told me he loved my performance in Joe DeRosa’s video “Mouth On My Money”! Dave’s new one man show at the Soho Playhouse is called “Dave Hill-Caveman In A Spaceship”! Gotta see it real soon!!! Those photos in the next column coming very soon!!!

MICHAEL IAN BLACK AND SETH HERZOG
TODD BARRY
JANEANE GAROFOLO AND HER BAG OF PANTS
RICHARD KIND MID-SONG

IF YOU’RE NOT TOO TIRED AFTER READING THIS WHOLE BLOG POST YOU CAN FOLLOW JEFFREY ON INSTAGRAM AT @JEFFREYGURIAN AND ON TICKTOK AT @JEFFREYLGURIAN SEE YOU SOON!!!

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STAR STUDDED GARDEN OF LAUGHS RAISES 2 MILLION BUCKS FOR KIDS

Posted by on April 15, 2019

I had been waiting for weeks to cover the biennial “Garden of Laughs” at the Hulu Theatre at Madison Square Garden. It’s a star studded event that raises money for underprivileged kids and kids with disabilities. It’s produced by Rory Rosegarten of The Conversation Company and his team, and features some of the biggest comedy stars in the biz as well as many top actors. We were expecting Jerry Seinfeld, Bill Burr, Jon Stewart, John Mulaney, Michael Che, John Oliver, Iliza Shlesinger, Tiffany Haddish, Brian Regan, and actors Debra Messing, Lucas Hedges, Ansel Elgort, Michael K. Williams, Toby Leonard Moore, Gaten Matarazzo, and all hosted by 3 time host Steve Schirripa of Sopranos fame.

WITH RORY ROSEGARTEN PRODUCER OF GARDEN OF LAUGHS

A lot of people don’t know that Steve booked some of the biggest comedy acts when he used to book talent in Las Vegas, and he’s very funny in his own right. Not every star decides to do the red carpet so we’re never really sure who’s going to come out. It was slated to start at 6:30, so I made sure to get there at 5:30 to have time to set up because there’s no real schedule with a red carpet. It’s very stressful. Sometimes several stars come out at once and while you’re talking to one, another one you would have liked to talk to walks by. It’s also all improv. Some journalists come with stock questions that they ask each person. Not me! All my stuff is improv’ed on the spot.

I specifically had my videographer show up at 4 to pack the camera bag and make 100% sure we had all of our equipment.  We went over it together.  So imagine my surprise at 6:10 when he suggested that we do a mic check and the shock ran through my body when we realized we hadn’t packed the microphone.  I can’t describe the horror, and the icy cold feeling that ran through my body. Weeks of planning, and I’m on the red carpet with no mic.

The one thing you need to do interviews besides the camera and we didn’t bring it. I decided I’d have to run home and get it. But I live on the other side of town and it was rush hour. Perfect! I told my assistant to try and shoot some B-roll, and I ran out like a maniac, flashing my red carpet badge to security as I ran through one door after another. As I was running I tried to figure out which would be the fastest way to get home. Should I run back to 8th avenue to take the train, call an Uber, or just jump into a taxi.

I chose the closest taxi and just like in the movies I told the guy to step on it. I said I had to get across town and back in 20 minutes which was impossible. I turned on my WAZE and we got to my house at 6:26. I told him to wait in the downtown direction, jumped out of the cab, ran past my doormen, got the mic and ran back downstairs so fast that both of my shoes opened and I didn’t stop to re-tie them.

Just past 6:30 my assistant texted me that no one had come out yet. As we got closer to the Garden he texted me that John Mulaney was on the red carpet! Shoot! I was hoping he’d come out late but he came out first. Luckily my videographer had the sense to tell John he was working with me, and that I had to run home to get my mic, so John left me this hilarious message, which made it a little bit better!

Of course as we got near the Garden we got stuck in traffic, and every block seemed to take a year. Finally we pulled up in front, I gave the driver a big tip just like in the movies and ran back in, not expecting to have to go through airport-like security again. But I was wrong. Very wrong.  I flashed my badge but it did no good. I told the guy I had forgotten my mic and had to run home to get it and I was missing the whole red carpet but he wouldn’t hear of it. He said he had to do his job. The only man in Manhattan who had to do his job. And of course because I was so nervous I kept leaving something metal in one pocket or another and literally had to go through the metal detector about 10 times while the people behind me waited patiently.

Finally he let me through and then I first had to re-fill my pockets. By the time I got upstairs I had missed Mulaney and Tobey Leonard Moore from Billions who I would have loved to talk to, so I finally bent down to re-tie my shoes, and then Michael K. Williams came along. I loved Michael’s characters “Omar” on “The Wire” and  “Chalkie” White on Boardwalk Empire so I was excited to talk to him. He told me that working with Martin Scorcese was a dream come true for him and that he also works with kids from Garden of Dreams which is the charity itself that Garden of Laughs raises money for.

WITH MICHAEL K. WILLIAMS ON THE RED CARPET AT MSG

To tell you the truth I had never noticed that he had a scar that ran from his forehead right near his eye and down onto his cheek. Obviously I didn’t bring it up, he did. He said he was working with a young boy of 14 who also has scars on his face from an assault, and that he was able to give him some reassurance that he’d be okay. Michael told me he had been assaulted by a gang on his 25th birthday. Man’s inhumanity to man.

Rory Rosegarten came out and told me had been looking for me because he knows I always come early to these things. When I told him the mic story he said the exact same thing that John Mulaney said without having heard him say it. You can hear it for yourself in the video below. He was there with his family.  I was able to congratulate him on another successful show, and it was great to see him looking so healthy again.

Michael Imperioli who played cousin Christopher Moltisante on The Sopranos came out next, and we hadn’t seen each other in years so it was so nice to re-connect. He’s got a movie coming out with Nick Cage, and an NBC TV series based on the movie The Bone Collector, and when we inquired about each other’s health and I told him I had survived a heart attack he said he was sorry, and it sounded like he said he was sorry I survived. Funny!!!

WITH MICHAEL IMPERIOLI ON THE RED CARPET AT GARDEN OF LAUGHS

Bill Burr is always a great time on the red carpet and as soon as he sees me he starts yelling out things like “Oh no”, and “This is gonna be good.”  I told him I was thinking of texting him to let him know I was going to be there so he could think up some insults for me, but he said he didn’t need any advance notice because they just came naturally. He started out by asking me about my sport jacket and if I had gotten it at Woodstock, which was actually very funny.

LAUGHING WITH BILL BURR AT GARDEN OF LAUGHS

 

I asked him if he knew of the You Tube video called “Bill Burr Roasting People” which has over 5.4 million views and opens with he and I on the red carpet where he says he hopes I go bald so that one day we’re two old bald guys on the red carpet.” He said that not only does he know about it he hates that people think he doesn’t like me because he LOVES me, … and that made me feel really good.

I had sent him a recording that the late great Patrice O’Neal had left for me on my phone one night at 4:05 A.M. It was the first night we had done the Black Phillip Show together and Patrice was so happy with it he couldn’t wait to call me and so humbly suggested that we do a show together just the two of us. He said he didn’t want to assume anything, as if I might have said “No”, but unfortunately we never got to do it. I still get messages and e-mails from guys who track me down to give me props on my work on Black Phillip.  R.I.P Patrice. Btw Bill said he listened to it, and I hope he did cause it’s one of my greatest possessions, along with the phone message that Richard Lewis left me saying that some jokes I had written for him were “hilarious” and if he was ever going to use anyone else’s jokes it would be mine!

Bill’s interview went on so long that at one point he asked me if it was still an interview or just two guys talking on the corner! Then he offered me a $700. class he was giving on how to end an interview. He’s hilarious and the very best! And he’s off on a tour from Iceland to Israel!

Just when I thought it was over, I left the red carpet but luckily didn’t pack up yet when I saw Tracy Morgan talking to Bill Burr and went over to catch up with Tracy. His new season if his TBS show “The Last O.G.” was premiering that night and we had a few laughs on camera. He always says something so nice to me and this time he said, “You ARE comedy!”

WITH TRACY MORGAN AT GARDEN OF LAUGHS

Last on the red carpet was John Oliver who was going to be the very first presenter that night. I asked him if his kids were old enough to know that he’s playing Zazu the bird in the new remake of The Lion King directed by John Favreau due out this July.  He said his son is only three and he took him to a movie in which he did the voice of a porcupine named Steve.  He told him that was his Dad and his son said ” No it isn’t”, just like my Too Much Tuna sketch with Nick Kroll and John Mulaney. Anyway this little video is a recap of my adventurous day on the red carpet of Garden of Laughs.

Please feel free to “Like”, Comment and Subscribe and please share it with a friend.  On Twitter and IG I’m @jeffreygurian

 

 

 

 

 

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Patrice O’Neal 7th Annual Benefit Smash Success

Posted by on February 21, 2019
Patrice O’Neal 7th Annual Benefit Smash Success

Every year for the last 7 years without fail, Bill Burr and comedy exec. Maureen Taran organize a special tribute to the late, great Patrice O’Neal. It’s truly amazing the respect that Patrice still gets. He left us on Nov. 29, 2011, and the love is still there.

It had a lot to do with the man himself, because other comedians have transitioned to that other plane, but people don’t talk about them as much, or do annual benefits in their honor. I always say that Patrice was much more than just a comedian. He was a comedy philosopher. He had a well thought out point of view, on many things, especially on how men should act around women.

And as I said the love for Patrice is just as strong as ever. I personally come across it, without exaggerating, probably on a weekly basis. People write to me by e-mail, or on FB or even stop me in the street and give me props for what we did on The Black Phillip Show. I’m always surprised because it was back in 2008, but people say that what we did changed their lives. That’s heavy for a radio show. And it was one of the greatest honors of my career to have been Patrice’s co-host on that show. We had a very unique relationship and one that his wife Vondecarlo could attest to.

You can hear it yourself in this rare phone call from Patrice to me the first night we did the Black Phillip Show together. it took a lot to get Patrice excited and he was not known for just throwing around compliments but he called me at 4:05 A.M. because he couldn’t wait till the morning to tell me how much he liked what we did together.

Anyway, Bill and Maureen hold the show at City Center, a venue in the heart of Manhattan which according to Google holds 2750 people, and every one of those 2750 people were there last night to see an incredible line-up of talent.  Rich Vos MC’ed a show that Patrice would have been proud of.

Although Rich said that it if had been a benefit for him all these years, … maybe Patrice would have shown up, … one year.  And then Rich brought up Joe List who ( and I’m sure it wasn’t for me) happened to do a lot of dental oriented material which is not a common theme. He even said that in root canal you take out the roots and throw them away and I meant to tell him that it’s the nerves they take out not the roots, but hopefully he’ll read this and find out.

Aussie comic Brendan Burns made the mistake of making fun of Vos, and Vos came back with nuclear weapons. He did that with every comic that made jokes at his expense, which was just about every one of them. And later at the after-party, his wife comic Bonnie McFarlane told me she was backstage with Rich and offered suggestions to him for the comebacks!

At the after party over hors-d’oeuvres I told Vos that he was like President Trump (not anything political), who doesn’t let anyone say anything about him without clapping back twice as hard. No one gets away with anything.

Mark Normand had some good advice for the audience.  He said it was ok to be offended, just shut up and keep it to yourself. Michele Wolf made fun of Vos’ foot size and he made fun of her voice. She also talked about otters raping baby seals, which she swore to be true, and white women’s privilege, which she also swore was true, and as she left the stage Vos asked for a big hand for Michael Rappaport.

Gary Gulman showed his prowess as a wordsmith as usual by deconstructing the word “ruthless” as having no ruth, like “Buzzi” or “Bader Ginsberg”, and went on to use words like hijinx, and tomfoolery. Writing these notes in the dark by the way was very difficult. I could hardly read my writing. And photos were out of the question. They had everyone place their phones in Yondr bags which in case you don’t know is a special bag that locks the phone inside of it until you leave. They literally leave you holding the bag!

After mine was locked I was worried that I had left the ringer on and that I’d get a call during the show and wouldn’t be able to turn off my phone  because it was locked in that stupid bag, but I didn’t want to leave to have it checked.

The music was hot and was supplied by Cipha Sounds who I had just seen the night before at Chelsea Music Hall where he performed on Ryan Ling’s Bird Brain Comedy Show, but this night he was spinning hip-hop in between acts.

And then it was Chris Redd from SNL followed by Bill Burr who closed the amazing show. Everybody killed. No surprise there.

And then it was off to the after-party at a place called Esther and Carol’s down on Broome Street. It’s the lounge of the Soho Hotel and it was arranged by the owners of The Stand who host the after-party every year. Unfortunately they are still waiting for their new two-level club to be finished down on West 16th Street, so in the meantime they’ve been doing pop-up shows in this cool lounge.

I walked in early and Bill was there talking to Maureen, and he saw me out of the corner of his eye and because he takes pleasure in torturing me, made sure to say something very loud like, “I sure hope that guy Jeffrey Gurian doesn’t come”.  I laughed and told him it was too late that I had already snuck in.

They had the whole staff there including owner Cris Italia, Joe Harary, and the always lovely Adele Carollo, and they had good food and drinks.  All of the comics who performed were there, as well as Ronny Chieng, Joe Bartnick who opens for Bill, Luisa Diez, Bonnie McFarlane who I spoke to the longest of anyone, and Krystyna Hutchinson who was also celebrating her birthday and came in with Wendi Starling, whose hair is now short and dark and I almost didn’t recognize her.

Joe List “the dental expert”, with Mark Normand and Michelle Wolf

But the highlight of the party for me was when I heard someone calling out my name and I turned to see Patrice’s Mom Georgia calling me over to say hello. She was sitting in the balcony with her daughter Zinder, because she made it down this long flight of stairs which was not easy for her, and they wanted her to sit in a safe place.

She’s always so gracious and we reminisced about Patrice and how great he was, and I told her how many times people contact me about Black Phillip and she said he always loved that show so much.  Then we took the photo you see above and for me that was the highlight of the evening.

I didn’t get a photo with Bill because I never know how to approach the man! (LOL) When he was getting ready to leave I walked over to say goodnight and he was talking with Ronny Chieng but he stopped his conversation to yell out, ” Jeffrey you have to stop crashing parties”, and I was concerned that Ronny didn’t know he was kidding!

So I decided to post some of the many photos that Bill and I have taken over the years, starting back in 2005. Great job Bill! Hope to sneak into #8 next year too!

With Bill Burr back in 2005

 

With Bill Burr in Montreal at Just for Laughs

With Bill Burr at West Side Comedy Club in 2018

With Bill Burr at the taping of Paul Virzi’s special 

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The Phenomenon Known As Sebastian

Posted by on January 21, 2019

There’s only a handful of comedians that can fill an arena like Madison Square Garden with 20,000 seats, much less four shows over one weekend!  That’s 80,000 people who came out in the cold and pouring rain to see Sebastian Maniscalco do his thing on his Stay Hungry Tour.

There’s also very few performers who only need one name to identify them. Oprah, Cher, Elvis! Nobody ever said Elvis who? And now there’s Sebastian, holding it down in the comedy world!

I who drive everywhere had a feeling that wouldn’t be a good idea this night so I called for an Uber. I’m basically right across town from MSG, so theoretically it should take a good 15-20 minutes to get there.

The VIP meet and greet was set for 9-10 P.M. between his last two shows. I was told to go to the 8 Penn Plaza entrance which is for employees and media, and make my way to the 5th floor and then down to the third floor for the party.

The car picked me and my date up at 8:15, and I arrived at 8 Penn Plaza just past 9:30 after having to get out and walk the last four blocks in the pouring rain which had been predicted to be snow. For whatever reason traffic was INSANE. Much worse than usual. Every block, every avenue backed up! So lucky I didn’t drive.

As we walked over  we saw huge billboards with Sebastian’s face on them announcing his show. I got excited just by seeing them. Most comics have the experience of seeing their face on a flier, but to see your entire being on a billboard in Times Square has to be beyond belief.

And in the Garden he and Pete Correale were up on the Jumbotron for their podcast “The Pete and Sebastian Show”!

The lines outside of MSG were crazy but I thought we’d have an easier time at the 8 Penn Plaza entrance. WRONG!!! The line was out through the door and into the street. We managed to get inside where it seemed like nobody was moving. They had metal detectors and heavy security but nobody was moving.

I called upstairs to let Sebastian’s Levity Live people know I was finally there, but it was so noisy it was hard to hear anyone. They had my tickets and VIP party passes at a special table, and we just missed an elevator because they said there was no more room. The guards made us put on our VIP passes. We weren’t allowed to just hold them, we had to WEAR them!

We finally got an elevator and the first guy that got in said, ” Hey I know you. Aren’t you the “Master Panelist” from Comics Watching Comics on Amazon Prime?” I admitted that I was, and then another guy got in who referenced me from “Too Much Tuna” with Nick Kroll and John Mulaney, and even the elevator operator said he knew me. That was kind of crazy! Obviously I’m very well known in elevators throughout the land!

When we finally got to the fifth floor, we were ushered vaguely to another place that wasn’t clear but some nice guy said, ” Don’t worry I’ll show you where to go.”

And we finally got there around 9:40 just in time to see Levity’s Alex Goodman standing with Sebastian’s opening act Pat McGann. Alex kindly showed me into the room where Sebastian was mingling and taking photos with the crowd, directed by Levity honcho Judy Marmel.

We got to exchange pleasantries with Sebastian, and I was amazed how calm he was knowing he was about to face 20,000 people in a few minutes, but I guess once you do it three times before, the fourth time feels like “old hat”, as they used to say in 1810!

When we took our seats, in the third row with a great view, I just sat there trying to take in the aura of 20,000 people. As a comic, if a club is full depending on the club there’s maybe 300 people. Lots of clubs have 125. Twenty thousand people is unimaginable, and you really have to put in years of stage time to be able to handle that and not go insane with fear!

You also have to hope they don’t all want to come over your house for a drink afterwards! That call to your wife would be crazy! Honey some people are dropping by. How many? About 20,000!

Pat McGann showed why he was chosen as Sebastian’s opener by doing a strong opening set with great stories about his wife, kids and family in general.

And then it was time for Sebastian, who hit the stage like a rockstar in a sparkly, multi-colored jacket that was the first thing he mentioned.

Then he discussed the fact that people had been wondering whether they’d have to cancel the show because of the weather. He laughingly said something to the effect of,  “Hey this is not a brunch where you can just go, ” The  weather’s not so great. We’ll do it next Thursday! This is Madison Square Garden.  It took me two years to plan this thing. It’s not being cancelled for a little rain.”

He got thunderous applause from the time he came out till the time he left the stage. It’s not only his stage presence, it’s his physicality that always amazes me.  He acts out almost every joke he does and contorts his body so it looks like the people he’s talking about.

He’s married to a Jewish woman which gave him the ability to compare Jews and Italians in talking about his wife’s upbringing as compared to his, and people were absolutely hysterical. A guy near me almost fell out of his seat!

He told great stories too like the time his wife made a one year old birthday party for his daughter and ordered an alpaca to make an appearance. He needed to get a permit for the alpaca and the story was hilarious. He even walked and made faces and noises like an alpaca. That’s not easy to do!

Talking about the condition his wife was in after she gave birth, he said she looked like she had been thrown out of an airplane, and that made me laugh out loud which like many people in comedy I don’t usually do.

I had to learn that early on when writing for very famous comedians who would look at the jokes I wrote and with a very serious face say, ” Oh that’s funny.  And THAT one’s VERY funny. I’m hysterical!”, without even cracking a smile.

He announced the good news that he has a son on the way. Very exciting. He certainly proved why he was worthy of the respect of 80,000 people who braved the freezing cold and rain to come out and join him. I’m sure he could have done at least two more shows.

I really look forward to seeing him again!

 

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Kevin Hart Produces Keith Robinson Special

Posted by on June 4, 2014

Keith Robinson is often called a “comic’s comic”, which means he’s very highly respected by his peers.  In the world of comedy that means a lot.  Because from the time they start out, all comics want to feel like they’re the funniest of all, and because of that they often don’t encourage their peers!  A lot of comics don’t even take the time to say ” Nice set” after another comic performs.  It’s such an easy thing to do, and means so much to a fellow hardworking comic, but out of fear, they keep it to themselves.

Keith Robinson and Jeffrey Gurian backstage at The Gramercy Theatre in NYC after Keith's killer show!

Keith Robinson and Jeffrey Gurian backstage at The Gramercy Theatre in NYC after Keith’s killer show!

I make it a point of telling other comics when I think they did well.  We all need encouragement.  Anyway, I digress! (LOL) Kevin Hart, who’s career is absolutely HUGE, and getting bigger by the moment, produced a Keith Robinson special called ” Back of the Bus Funny”, at the Gramercy Theatre in New York City.

But not only did he produce it,  he came out on stage to welcome the audience before the show started, and said that Keith Robinson was his mentor and he wouldn’t be who he was today if not for Keith!  What a tribute!  And what a  great, and selfless  thing to do.  Kevin didn’t have to say that but he was being honest, and you could tell that he meant it!

Keith Robinson producer Kevin Hart and Jeffrey Gurian backstage after Keith's show "Back of the Bus Funny!"

Keith Robinson producer Kevin Hart and Jeffrey Gurian backstage after Keith’s show “Back of the Bus Funny!”

I got to know Kevin originally when I co-produced a comedy show at Westbury Theatre on Long Island starring Kevin back in 2010.  It was right after the earthquake in Haiti and we decided to make it a benefit for that ravaged island.  My partner was Haitian and I have a lot of Haitian friends, and thanks to Kevin we sold out the place.  Three thousand people came out to see Kevin kill it, with Tony Rock as the feature, and Haitian-American comic Wil Sylvince as the MC! Needless to say, a lot of them were late, (LOL), but they came, and that’s what counts!

Kevin Hart and Jeffrey Gurian promoting their show at Westbury Theatre back in 2010!

Kevin Hart and Jeffrey Gurian promoting their show at Westbury Theatre back in 2010!

So when I run into Kevin periodically it’s always good, and I’m really happy for his success!  He’s got 11.7 million followers on Twitter and will probably have more than 12 million by the time I finish this blog post! (LOL)  Two years ago, when I interviewed him for Black History Month,  he had only 3 million followers, and in two years time his popularity has grown so much, … I wish my investments would grow like Kevin Hart’s Twitter following!

Zainab Johnson opened the show and it was really cool because I had just seen her the night before on Last Comic Standing.  She’s got a shaved head, .. I don’t wanna say “bald” because “Bald” to me implies that you somehow lost your hair.  Her’s is obviously a fashion choice!  And it works for her.  She wore a belly baring outfit on LCS and did the same at Keith’s special.  The girl is proud of her abs! (LOL)  And she’s funny too,  so it’s a good combination all around, ’cause abs by themselves don’t fill seats!

The audience was packed and there were lots of Keith’s friends from his Tough Crowd days.  Colin Quinn was sitting in front of me with Chris Rock and Gary Gulman.  Next to me was Robert Kelly and Vondecarlo Brown, Patrice O’Neal’s wife.  Keith gave Colin a shout-out in a very funny, but backhanded way by saying there were people in the audience who used to be famous, like Colin Quinn, and nobody laughed harder than Colin.  Well that was the confrontational energy that Colin brought to Tough Crowd, and he told me once in an interview that  he wanted it that way!

Kevin Hart and Chris Rock enjoying the festivities!

Kevin Hart and Chris Rock enjoying the festivities!

Robert Kelly, Colin Quinn and Gary Gulman backstage for Keith Robinson!

Robert Kelly, Colin Quinn and Gary Gulman backstage for Keith Robinson!

Vondecarlo and Jeffrey Gurian at the after-party for Keith Robinson's show!

Vondecarlo and Jeffrey Gurian at the after-party for Keith Robinson’s show!

The show had a really cool set and Keith came out, literally from the back of a bus, wearing a very cool looking suit.

The backdrop of Keith Robinson's set, where he stepped off the back of the bus to open the show!

The backdrop of Keith Robinson’s set, where he stepped off the back of the bus to open the show!

He thanked Kevin, and mentioned that Kevin had a HUGE following on Twitter, and that probably 12 of them were white!   He said that Kevin was like “the Red Lobster of comedy”! (LOL) He went on for an hour with really strong material.  There were so many strong spots but I particularly like when he’s talking about the saying, ” Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.”  Now I’m paraphrasing here, but he says something like guns DO kill people.  if you wanna kill someone you use a gun.  No one goes around choking people.  There’s a reason you never hear of a mass choking!  And then he acts it out, like a guy’s sneaking up on someone to choke them, and it’s hysterical!

Many years ago, when I was writing for Weekly World News I did a story on a man who claimed to have personally killed every person in Manhattan!  He says he did it about two weeks before, and that he single-handedly snuck up on each and every person in the borough and strangled them, while under the influence of an entire pack of cigarettes.  Police spokesmen were quoted as saying they felt that the man either lying, or else he was covering up for someone else.  What the public wanted to know was, ” Who are police spokesmen anyway?  What kind of a job is it?  Are they actually policemen or just men who speak?  Has anyone you know actually ever met a police spokesman, and if not do they in fact exist?” 

Anyway, after the first show we all went backstage to congratulate Keith and it was Chris Rock, Kevin Hart, Gary Gulman, Robert Kelly, Jermaine Fowler, Marc Theobald, Vondecarlo, Kevin’s posse, and lots more people eating, drinking and letting Keith know how good he was.  Then he had to split to do it all over again for the second show!  That has to be hard, following yourself on a really great performance!  Now they have to go to the next step!

Colin Quinn and Georgia O'Neal, Patrice's Mom!

Colin Quinn and Georgia O’Neal, Patrice’s Mom!

Everybody laughing and having a good time after the show!

Everybody laughing and having a good time after the show!

Another candid backstage photo of Kevin Hart and Chris Rock!

Another candid backstage photo of Kevin Hart and Chris Rock, with Keith in the foreground!

But  between Keith’s talent and Kevin’s heat they should have no trouble finding a home for this special!  I for one can’t wait to see it again!  It was a great night and very special to see Kevin and Chris again!

Chris Rock, Jeffrey Gurian, and Kevin Hart backstage after Keith Robinson's show!

Chris Rock, Jeffrey Gurian, and Kevin Hart backstage after Keith Robinson’s show!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Seth Meyers Takes Over Late Night Tonight

Posted by on February 24, 2014

In the ever-increasing entertainment empire that is under the guidance/ownership/leadership of king-maker Lorne Michaels, Seth Meyers will take over the reins of Late Night tonight, a week after his friend and former SNL cast-mate Jimmy Fallon replaced Jay Leno on The Tonight Show.

 

Jeffrey Gurian of ComedyMattersTV.com interviewing Seth Meyers on the red carpet of the Just for Laughs Awards luncheon!

Jeffrey Gurian of ComedyMattersTV.com interviewing Seth Meyers on the red carpet of the Just for Laughs Awards luncheon!

In a NY Post article, Seth credits the confidence needed to make such a move to Lorne’s support in suggesting him for the gig.  It’s such a HUGE thing to have someone like that behind you.  It makes all the difference in the world, when someone with that much power believes in you!

Jeffrey Gurian with Lorne Michaels at a Writers Guild Awards event!

Jeffrey Gurian with Lorne Michaels at a Writers Guild Awards event!

Lorne created Saturday Night Live in 1975 and the show has gone on to provide some of the biggest stars we know today like Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Will Ferrell, TIna Fey, Amy Poehler, Eddie Murphy, Jimmy Fallon and on and on!

It’s a huge amount of pressure to do a show five nights a week where you have to interview A-list celebs every night, and keep it fresh and hip!  He’ll be in the same 30 Rock building  he’s called home, since 2001 when he joined the cast of SNL.  Within a period of two years he went from writing supervisor to head writer, and then to Weekend Update co-anchor with Amy Poehler.

He, like Jimmy Fallon has been doing test shows during the week with guest celebs like Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb of “Today”, and a few guest comics as well.  His bandleader is also an interesting choice, former SNL star and current star of IFC’s Portlandia, Fred Armisen.

Interesting fact: Portlandia was created by Jonathan Krisel who also directs Kroll Show on Comedy Central, and during the last NY Comedy Festival, when Nick Kroll did a panel at The Paley Center, ( formerly the Museum of TV and Radio), Seth was the moderator, and Jon Krisel was on the panel, along with Nick Kroll and Exec. Producer of Kroll Show and sometime actor on the show, John Levenstein.

KrollShowGraphic_PaleyCenter_SetyhMeyers_11_9_13

(L-R) Jon Krisel, John Levenstein, Nick Kroll, and Seth Meyers at The Paley Center in a panel on Kroll Show!

(L-R) Jon Krisel, John Levenstein, Nick Kroll, and Seth Meyers at The Paley Center in a panel on Kroll Show!

It happened to be during that panel that I got a great surprise.  Not only did Nick give me a shout out from the stage, before showing my ” Too Much Tuna” sketch with him and John Mulaney, but they also showed the upcoming sketch I’m in, which I understand will be the finale of the 2nd season, with me playing myself in a sketch with Laura Dern, Amy Poehler, and Katy Perry!

Jeffrey Gurian with Laura Dern, as C-Czar's mom. on the LA set of Comedy Central's hit Kroll Show!

Jeffrey Gurian with Laura Dern, as C-Czar’s mom. on the LA set of Comedy Central’s hit Kroll Show!

Jeffrey Gurian with Amy Poehler on the LA set of Kroll Show in a sketch that will air in the new 2nd season!

Jeffrey Gurian with Amy Poehler on the LA set of Kroll Show in a sketch that will air in the new 2nd season!

Amy and Seth are very close as they shared the Weekend Update desk for two years from 2006-2008.  This past summer in Montreal at The Just for Laughs Festival which is the biggest comedy festival in the world, Seth presented Amy with the Breakout Comedy Star of the Year Award at a huge awards luncheon.

AmyPoehlerGraphic_Montreal_7:24:13

Seth Meyers at the podium at the Just for Laughs Festival presenting Amy Poehler with the Comedy Person of the Year Award!

Seth Meyers at the podium at the Just for Laughs Festival presenting Amy Poehler with the Comedy Person of the Year Award!  Amy is partly shown sitting behind where he’s standing!

She will be his first guest tonight along with VP Joe Biden.  Interesting mix!  Later in the week he’ll have Kanye West, and Patrick Stewart!

Seth is such a charming, humble, and likable guy, he’s a natural for the spot and people will love him.   Just last year he got married to human rights lawyer Alexi Ashe and he says his new schedule will allow him to start a family!  ( Not by himself, with Alexi’s cooperation, of course! LOL)

Between Seth, Jimmy, and David Letterman, they’ll be bringing major entertainment back to New York in a very big way.  So many more stars from LA will be here to do the shows!  Very exciting.

We’ll all be watching you tonight Seth, and we know you’ll totally kill it!  Below you can see my little interview with Seth in Montreal just before he presented Amy with her award!

 

 

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Posted in: Celeb Photos, Comedians In The News, Comedy Central, Comedy Clubs, Comedy Events, Comedy Festivals, Comedy Matters, Comedy Videos, Entertainment News, Featured, Jeffrey Gurian News, Nightlife Events, Red Carpet Events, Singles Events, Sketch Comedy, Stand-Up Comedy

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Princess/Housewife Carole Radziwill Writes A Fun, Sexy Book!

Posted by on February 11, 2014

I get to meet lots of fun people within the confines of what I casually refer to as “my life”, (LOL) but I have to honestly say that one of the most fun people I’ve met in a long time is Carole Radziwill, who just happens to be a real live Princess.  Fortunately, … although she’s elegant, she doesn’t act like a Princess,(in a GOOD way!)

Jeffrey Gurian with Princess Carole Radziwill, who only dressed like a Princess because Jeffrey begged her to!

Jeffrey Gurian with Princess Carole Radziwill, who only dressed like a Princess because Jeffrey begged her to!

She became a Princess by way of marriage to Anthony Radziwill, who was the son of socialite Lee Radziwill, (younger sister of Jacqueline Bouvier, better known as Jackie Kennedy, wife of JFK), and his father Polish Prince Stanislaw Radziwill, which was how he came by the title he never used.

He passed away in August of 1999 after a five year bout with cancer during which time his wife Carole was his primary care-giver, which right away shows you a rare level of character.   Anthony was a cousin to JFK Jr. who with his wife Carolyn, and her sister Lauren, all perished in a plane crash that very same summer, while on their way to a wedding and a visit to Anthony.

The pain of those multiple overwhelming losses led to Carole’s first book in 2005, a memoir, and the NY Times bestseller, “What Remains ; A Memoir of Fate, Friendship and Love (Scribner)

And leaving her a young, attractive widow gave her the authority to write this new book “A Widow’s Guide to Sex and Dating”, coming out on Feb. 11th, (today!), and  which I plan to purchase at her book-signing at Barnes and Noble on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2014 at 7 P.M.

That’s the Barnes and Noble  at 2289 Broadway for you New Yorkers, between 82nd and 83rd streets, on the ultra-hip Upper West Side.  When you really think about it, almost every part of NYC these days can be considered “ultra-hip!”

In an article in the NY Post, Carole talked a little about her book, and a lot of it seems to be about empowerment, a topic I love.  One of the tips she mentioned was ” when he shows up 20 minutes late for a date, you shouldn’t still be there.”  I love that, and wonder if it pertains to both sexes.

I’ve had women show up hours late for a date who were meeting me at my home, and several times I didn’t want to be there or answer the door when they finally arrived.  On more than one occasion I told the doorman not to ring me, but then felt guilty about it later!

It’s the height of disrespect to show up so late, but values these days seem to have changed.  It’s probably my own fault for dating out of my generation! (LOL)

In another tip she advises women not to have sex with a man until he THINKS he’s in love with you!  Not necessarily when he KNOWS he’s in love with you, but when he THINKS he’s in love with you.  However she admits that sometimes that can happen  for men before they even meet a woman.  If so, does that means sex on the first date?  I’ll have to ask her that when I see her!

I’m looking forward to the new season of Real Housewives of NY, which premieres on Tuesday March 11th on Bravo, not only to see what Carole and the girls are up to, but also because I’m going to appear in a few episodes this season.  I got to know Carole personally when I created a comedy sketch for her and LuAnn DeLesseps to perform in.

LuAnn DeLesseps and Jeffrey Gurian at a gala Jeffrey produced in honor of Susie Essman!

LuAnn DeLesseps and Jeffrey Gurian at a gala Jeffrey produced in honor of Susie Essman!

LuAnn and I have been friends for more than 20 years, and she had always told me she wanted to do comedy.  Last June I was out in LA shooting an episode of Kroll Show for Comedy Central and LuAnn was out there shooting a show for the Oxygen network and playing a character named “Donna” that she loved.

I went over to join her on set and she was having a blast and told me she definitely wanted  to do something comedic with me.  I told her to call me when we got back to New York, and she did.  She said that she and Carole wanted to make fun of their “royal” titles, which was very “hip” of them to do!  LuAnn is a legitimate Countess, and Carole is a legit Princess.  Both of them received their titles  the same way, … by way of marriage.

My writing partner Lance Rizzo, and I created a sketch for them that they loved, and that Bravo loved as well and it will be on the new season.  I brought them to The PIT, ( People’s Improv Theatre) founded by my friend Ali Farahnakian, who was one of the original founding members of UCB, and he graciously offered us the use of his theatre to participate in an improv class just to get the girls feet wet.  Bravo filmed us in that class.

(L-R) Improv teacher Richard Hollman from The PIT, Carole Radziwill, Jeffrey Gurian, and LuAnn DeLesseps after their improv class!

(L-R) Improv teacher Richard Hollman from The PIT, Carole Radziwill, Jeffrey Gurian, and LuAnn DeLesseps after their improv class!

Then Bravo came to my home and filmed me, LuAnn and Carole in a planning session about the script.  I though it would be best to film the sketch as a video and show it as part of a live “improv” show at The PIT, which is what we did.

Jeffrey Gurian, Carole Radziwill, and LuAnn DeLesseps in Jeffrey's apartment rehearsing the sketch for RHONY!

Jeffrey Gurian, Carole Radziwill, and LuAnn DeLesseps in Jeffrey’s apartment rehearsing the sketch for RHONY!

 

I brought in the hysterical Cult Comedy Picture Show group which I am proud to be a part of, and they filmed the sketch also at The PIT,  and some of them participated in the acting as well.   The founding members are George Gaffney, Brent Katz, and Lance Rizzo, along with Jake Hart who was our main host and voice over guy for the sketch.

The cast of Cult Comedy Pictures at The PIT for the RHONY shoot!

The cast of Cult Comedy Pictures at The PIT for the RHONY shoot!

Then we filmed the actual live show at The PIT where we showed our video sketch, the details of which must remain secret until the show airs.  And then after we wrapped the season, Carole had a surprise 50th birthday party which I was invited to and that got filmed for the show as well.

Jeffrey Gurian with Carole Radziwill at her 50th birthday party!

Jeffrey Gurian with Carole Radziwill at her 50th birthday party!

So I can personally attest to the fact that Carole is a spectacular and fascinating person, who is so funny and delightful, (much funnier than she even realizes!), and I hope you’ll join me at her book signing where I plan to buy the book and report back to you!

 

 

 

 

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Posted in: Book Reviews, Books, Breaking News, Celeb Photos, Comedians In The News, Comedy Events, Comedy Matters, Jeffrey Gurian News, Nightlife Events, Red Carpet Events, Self Help Information

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