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Friday, July 27, 2012

My Favorite Comedians

My Favorite Comedians





Uploaded by  on May 14, 2009
Love and Death (1975) Theatrical Trailer with Woody Allen voice-over.

His trailer for “Love and Death” got me interested in film comedy. I’ve always loved funny movies, but I remember being mesmerized by the previews for the Woody Allen film “Love and Death”. As Woody Allen says: “My father owned a small but valuable piece of property”, an old bearded man reaches into his coat and pulls out a piece of sod that he holds majestically.

Woody Allen inspired me to write humorous prose. All thanks to looking through an issue of “Scholastic” magazine in high school and reading this in “The UFO Menace” by Woody Allen: 

“UFOs are back in the news, and it is high time we took a serious look at this phenomenon. (Actually, the time is ten past eight, so not only are we a few minutes late but I’m hungry.)” 

I had never read anything like that before! Yes, I had been interested in comedy long before that; and would even make up jokes, but I do believe that reading that little bit got me interested in writing comedy. (And possibly that little bit inspired me to use parentheses so much.)






Uploaded by  on Aug 2, 2011
Steve Martin tells Johnny Carson he has to leave on "The Tonight Show" in 1978.

To pick a defining moment for standup, I would say watching Steve Martin (on a talk show, possibly “The Mike Douglas Show”) when he performed “The Cow Pasture Shuffle”. (Too bad I couldn’t find a clip of that iconic moment.) He held a deck of cards over his hand and let the cards plop down like a cow “fertilizing the field”. Thus, Steve Martin inspired me to want to perform standup comedy. His zaniness. His ability to stir crowds into a Beatlemania-style frenzy, only with comedy, instead of music. (Although he sang and played music too.) 






Uploaded by  on Nov 26, 2009
Brian Regan on Emergency Rooms. From the live DVD "I Walked on the Moon" - Recorded live in 2004 at The Improv in Irvine, CA.

Brian Regan is my favorite current standup comedian. His inflections, expressions, antics, and material teach us we can be truly hilarious without resorting to dirty tricks.

For more of Brian Regan, see: 






Uploaded by  on Nov 8, 2007
Mitch Hedberg's last performance on the Late Show with David Letterman (with guest host Elvis Costello)

Sadly, I didn’t “discover” Mitch Hedberg until after he died. But his cadence, delivery, and fast-paced material teach us to go for the laughs. No monkeying around, just make people laugh.

For more of Mitch Hedberg, see: 


My secret favorite comedian ...





Uploaded by  on Jun 1, 2007
Bitten by a radioactive clueless teenager, it's Whatever Man!

But maybe that’s no secret. 
I’ve made myself (and others) laugh my whole life. 
(Usually on purpose.)

 For more of me, keep reading: 
Heaven-Bent
My Favorite Blog
and my books on Amazon!


P.S. This post includes excerpts from my forthcoming book: “How to Write Comedy Jokes”

 COMING FRIDAY August 3: My Favorite Pranks

 COMING FRIDAY August 10: Some of My Favorite Steve Martin Jokes

 COMING THURSDAY August 16: My Favorite Elvis Songs


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