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!!!

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.

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.

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!!!

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!

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)

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)

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!

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!

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.

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.

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.

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!!!

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