To all the wonderful ladies

It’s always a joy to hear others rediscover, through my own mahvelous interpretation, the ecstasy of an uninhibited Jerry Lewis performance.

To think that a poor Jewish kid who came from nothing, the urchin who danced in the street for pennies just to maintain his Ripple habit — I’m talking about me now — would achieve podcast accolades by emulating someone far more talented than himself, is indeed humbling.

Now, Michael Angel is just the latest podcaster to enjoy a little reflected thrill by playing my very Jerry cover of a Sinatra classic. Continue reading

Posted in: Podcast Roundup at 12:20 pm Sun, Dec 27, 2009.

Goldstein gang renews gigglefest

I call it a stage persona, you call it a bad first impression.

Gotta admit, though, that I just can’t help myself. The invitation to appear on a rare episode of Schnauzer Logic flips my joke-writing switch and starts me churning out the sort of dark, political, Yiddische commentary I would have hoped to read at Lenny Bruce’s memorial service.

Alas, once the show begins, I realize I’m expected to engage in conversation with a panel of literate grownups, all born too late for What’s My Line? and too smart for radio, but perfect foils for the independent new medium of podcasting. Continue reading

Posted in: Interviews at 8:04 pm Fri, Dec 25, 2009.

How To Write Stand Up Comedy

What? You funny?

Honestly, I expect that reaction. Who made this nudnick the spokesmodel for stand up? By what authority is some would-be, who’s never been closer to a Comedy Central special than his TV remote, now the go-to guy on getting laughs?

Well, there’s your first and most important lesson in show business: You don’t have to be good. You just have to know somebody. And I know George Smyth. Continue reading

Posted in: Interviews at 12:54 am Sun, Dec 20, 2009.

Don’t play this one for your mother

Almost two years after the infamous 9/11 release of The Best Of The Red Peters Comedy Music Hour, Vol. 1, the reviews keep rolling in.

Let me just flip through some of the reviews here…hmmm, don’t have any. Must have misplaced them. Continue reading

Posted in: News at 11:01 pm Sat, Aug 22, 2009.

How to survive Auschwitz

Just imagine what Poland’s besieged Jewish community might have accomplished with the informational and emotional resources of Twitter and Psychology Today, had they been available back in 1944.

Oy! The tragedy! Even today, Twitter, with its inexhaustible cache of self-styled #lifecoachweasel(s) and green-themed avatars, has stoked me with the emotional support to weather such traumatic events as Iran election riots and the John and Kate divorce. Continue reading

Posted in: Hot Topics at 2:08 am Wed, Jul 15, 2009.