Catching Up With Comedians

My guest today is David Uhlfelder who was raised in Colorado and started his comedy career when he was barely 20 years of age and pursuing an engineering degree at Cal State University, San Luis Obispo.
He earned his degree and has been working as a comedian for eight years now and without the assistance of a day job.To understand how you could visit:
https://www.daviduhlfelder.com/    as well as https://www.cal comedy underground.com/ 
Not only can you see his credits and comedy history but you can also peruse the locations where he produces comedy shows at myriad locations from San Diego to San Luis Obispo.David goes on the road as much as possible where he works as a Feature act and has been starting to Headline shows as well.Please welcome to my podcast this up and coming Comedian, Producer and Showrunner; David Uhlfelder!

My guest today is Comedian, writer, actress: Brenda Pontiff.A Texas, Gal, born and raised in Bay City.She was in the second generation of comics who started at Houston's Comix Annex  which began the famed careers of Sam Kinison, Bill Hicks and the Texas Outlaws.One of these Outlaws has had a rebirth of late:  Andy Huggins, of AGT fame. Brendaworked with Andy many years ago and now is opening for him at select clubs on the West Coast.Brenda, who refers to herself as a TEX-A-CORNIAN, proud of her Texas roots and moved to California in 1993, just four years after starting her stand-up career.Before stand up, she had worked for many years after college as an actress doing Cabaret shows while getting her masters. She also was an executive for Deloitte and Ernst & Young selling professional services.When Brenda‘s Mother became ill in the mid 2000's she returned to Texas to help her family navigate Mom‘s Health.While in Texas, she developed and grew her own consulting business and still has that business today while she pursues her comedy career as well.Please help me welcome a woman who is helping to establish a high mark in comedy for not only women but anyone who takes the stage and the microphone:
Brenda Pontiff

I am proud to Welcome Comedian Bob Zany on my # 50 Podcast today.  
Born, Robert Tetrault in West Covina, California; the family later moved to the Sherman Oaks, Van Nuys section of the San Fernando Valley.
With two older brothers and one younger sister, Bob was Ensconced well into middle child status, but the family unit was close and parents very supportive of their brood.
 
Bob Zany started out in Comedy at the tender young age of 15 on none other than "The Gong Show" starring Chuck Barris 
The Gods of showbiz smiled down upon young Bob that day as he was not given the GONG but rather he was paid $125.98 as a "specialty act!"  In addition to that, he also gained a membership into AFTRA (the union) and was awarded a waffle iron as his take-home prize.
From that point on Bob was in show biz and he worked tirelessly from booking his own shows to working at the Ice House and wherever else he could get on stages before reaching  the age of 18
Among Bob’s many credits are:
Seven appearances on A&E’s AN EVENING AT THE IMPROVSTAR SEARCHPOLITICALLY INCORRECT with BILL MAHERWORKING WITH RODNEY DANGERFIELD FOR TWO YEARS and filming a special with RODNEY!
Television series appeared on:ROSEANNETHE DREW CAREY SHOWTHE TONIGHT SHOW with JAY LENOCOMICS UNLEASHED FILMS:JOE DIRT THE INFORMANT  (Matt Damon’s attorney)
DOCS:
I AM COMICCLOSE BUT NO CIGAR
One of Bob’s personal victories and a turning point in his career was auditioning with scores of other comedian at The Improv, in 1991 to perform on the JERRY LEWISLABOR DAY WEEKEND TELETHON FOR MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY.
  As Bob was a throwback to the Comedians of Jerry's era, if he auditioned well, he was sure to score the show.  Once again his years of experience and dedication paid off as Jerry Lewis loved him and he performed on the telethon from 1991 until “ they fired the other guy” as Bob always said.  
So close to twenty years on the TELETHON and once he became part of "JERRY'S FAMILY as ED MCMAHON called it, Bob Performed on the Last Twelve years as a CO-HOST during the overnights which were the prime time Comedy Slots!
 
A true comedy legend at this point, having tread  the boards for 48 of his 63 years, Bob has gotten to rub elbows and work with the likes of Milton Berle, Jan Murray, Red Buttons, Rodney Dangerfield and Steve Martin. Additionally he has worked with Norm McDonald, Jim Carrey, Jordan Brady and Ritch Shydner, just to name a few of the modern era. 
After all this success, his most current special for the Dry Bar Comedy Channel has 10 million views on YouTube and over 40 (that’s FOUR O) million views on all social media, making Bob Zany one of the top 10 comedians for all the comics who have been seen on the "Dry Bar" specials.
A fitting benchmark for a man who has been working hard at his craft for close to 50 years.
Please help me Welcome, "The Most Sarcastic Comedian 0f All Time":
 Mr. BOB ZANY!
 
 
 

Today, joining me for his second visit is Gene Hamm;  a writer- producer and Animation Film Maker.
 
Gene has been working in animation for over 40 years…
…….starting out with Hanna-Barbera where he was a model maker and then onto  Prema Vision as the in house free lancer with the iconic "Art CLOKEY" who created Gumby, Pokey and so many other Beloved childhood characters using stop action editing. 
          In the ensuing years he worked for the likes of Disney// Sega video games,
          Walter Lantz, Tex Avery  and has also been teaching young people animation at
             the Academy of Art for over 15 years.
             Last year he joined me to talk about his animated film titled Hell TOUPEE ,      
             which WON film awards, and has been playing on Roku and other platforms!
 
  Today he is here to talk about his brand new 77 minute long animated  feature that’s been playing on Roku and Roku.com Titled "THE DREAM HAT!" This is a film that could really be a big hit among the HIGHLY COVETED children’s market and up into teens and young parents. It’s a HIGH ENERGY//  OUTSTANDING  film with a great message About love//hope and redemption!
 
Please Welcome back////my special guest/// The Professor of Animation: GEEEEEEEEEEENE. HAAAAAAAAAAAMMM!

Welcome to the show today, Wyatt Cote. Wyatt had figured out very young that he was a water child. He loved the ocean and by six years old, he was starting to surf the inside breaks in Long Beach and Huntington Beach. He loved the beach vibe and has been a surfer ever since.
Though he attended the University of Hawaii as his father wanted him to pursue a professional career, Wyatt decided early on the collegiate life was not for him and against his father‘s wishes he quit school and decided to start doing something he really loved, which was stand-up comedy.
At the tender young age of 19 years old, he started going to Open Mic. nights in Los Angeles. While his early attempts were hit and miss, he put everything he had into stand-up comedy, going out to clubs night after night and grinding out his material and  within a fairly short time he started to see and feel that he could really make a go at this stand up comedy life.
Now here he is eleven years later, barely thirty years old and those early dues he paid are really bearing fruit.
He generally features or headlines comedy clubs all across the country as well as performing at the Comedy and Magic Club in Hermosa Beach, which is the Crown Jewel of Clubs where only the top comedians perform. In addition to that he won First Place in World Series of Comedy Competition in Las Vegas in 2021.
Help me, Welcome a guy who is really going places in Comedy and someone who a lot of comedians both young and old could learn something from, Wyatt Cote.

 
Max Dolcelli is a man who has had to claw and fight for anything he ever had in life.  Born in Liguria, Italy the first son of a ship builder, he lost his father when he was but five years old but under him were a 3 year old sister and a baby brother. Life got immediately harder as mom couldn’t raise three young children without a job so Max and his sister went into a catholic orphange and mother moved in with Grandma with her infant and they would put one foot In front  of the other to cope with the loss of the husband, father and breadwinner. Fortunately for Max and his little sister after six months they were rescued from a torturous place where Max was made to kneel bare legged on rice for hours and his sister left bruised and both were psychologically scarred. Mama Angela would marry Papa Jimmy a year later and he took the entire family to America by way of New York Harbor.  It was no longer Ellis Island but for these native Italians who could not speak English, it was kind of a 1959 Ellis Island revisited.  Plus Papa Jimmy was a black man and that would also make their assimilation less fluid. Max’s journey to comedy was a long one ( as he was barely six when he landed in New York) and many kids gripe about when their family moved and they had to switch schools a few times.Max said his tough childhood made him tougher and he learned how to fight to defend himself and he learned how to get laughs to disarm his combatants altogether.Max took the stage at the New York Catch A Rising Star and through sheer guts and strength he did well enough on his first shot that the club owner told him to keep coming back that he could get regular stage time. Like many comics who I have had on my show, his desire was so great that he rose through the ranks of opener to headliner very quickly. He worked hard at his craft and has never really stopped over the course of forty plus years. He has been working the cruise ship circuit since 1989 which in Cruise years alone is a career and then some.Max still loves getting on stage and that is the most important asset in any comic over 70 who still chooses to perform.  I guarantee if you listen to this just to hear his Sam Kinison story alone you won’t be disappointed.  But there is so much more to Max than just the Sam story. He has had a long and successful career and has made and kept many friends along the wayLadies and Gentleman please welcome Max Dolcelli to the podcast…

Erin started her career in the Bay Area ( San Francisco) after earning her degree from San Jose State in Marketing and Advertising.  She worked for a few years in marketing and walked by a comedy club one day and thought, Wow, what is this?
Just a young woman in her early twenties and comedy was barely one to two years away from experiencing a BOOM! Comedy clubs would be opening in every major city in the country, with smaller satellite clubs putting on amateur and open mic. night comedy nights in every bar, restaurant or room where they could set up a mic. stand and hold people's attention for an hour or more!
So Erin's timing could not have been better. Her experience in Advertising helped prepare her as she had always been comfortable presenting and speaking in front of clients and her life long love for comedy and comedians she loved also helped incentivize her to dive in head first and start hitting the clubs frequently. The one thing that ALL COMICS agree on and it may be the ONLY THING comics agree on is that the  way to get better, learn your craft and develop your skills as a comic is by getting STAGE TIME and LOTS OF IT!!!
Erin prepared her set for her very first spot and unlike a lot of comics ( myself included) who did not have their first set down cold, Erin went up and did well; well enough she was offered follow up work for the following week. 
Erin's Dad had been a sportswriter for all the major teams in The Bay Area and Erin had  worked in Silicon Valley during her career in Advertising. Living and breathing in the shadows of Apple, Google & Microsoft teaches you very quickly that business is not for the faint of heart but for people who are ready to strap in and go for the Gold.  Oddly enough, Comedy may not be that much different for the ones with the ambition to go all the way and try and make it to the top of the mountain.
The truth is only very few comics make it to the height where everyone knows their name.  There are many who made it to the top and couldn't handle it and ended up quitting or getting out when their mental health took precedence.
I say that because Erin is also in a special class, as she has been able to work for her entire life and make a living doing something that she loves. Many more folks have done it and quit or done it as a sideline, but to do it full time and make a living at it is truly the most commendable and honorable addendum anyone could add to their career.
  Erin has been married to COMEDIAN  BOB ZANY for thirty years.  They often work together on radio and television shows and hosted their own podcast.  In addition to  being successful stand ups, they both work with many charitable causes including the Las Vegas and Southern Nevada PET RESCUES.
Please welcome to the mics of CUWC, my conversation with Erin O'Connor 
 
 
 

 
John Caponera grew up in a large family on the south side of Chicago. The family home sat just across the street from a large park which became a playground for him and his friends. No matter what season, they played baseball in the warm months and when the pond froze over in winter they played hockey and fit in every other sport in between.John went to college wanting only to play baseball but he felt he wasn’t getting enough playing time so he took his English Professor's request and auditioned for a main stage production of “ One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest.”He not only was cast but he was bitten by the acting bug.He would act in all the MainStage theater productions until his graduation. When he couldn’t afford to move to New York where he could study acting at the level he wanted to, he moved back to his hometown and started tending bar.Once again providence kicked in and he was coaxed by friends to enter a comedy contest for $500 prize money.  He won first place and took the laughs and the cash!His final exam in acting was to perform a ten minute comedy act and he had not only gotten an A+ and the reward of honest laughter and applause from his teammates but an additional spark went off in his head that he was getting laughs and encouragement from classmates and teachers who are not always an ideal audience and will be the first ones to tell you if you are barking up the wrong tree. John's journey from this point parallels what every person who ever decides to do stand up for a living should and must do! Get stage time as much as possible even 4-5 sets a night which is why the early stand ups from cities like New York, Boston, San Francisco and others got better faster because in their formative years they are going up five times a night to different crowds and grinding it out. The  second key is to always be writing, never let your act atrophy as John says on this podcast.  Keep writing, keep pushing yourself to not rely on the same jokes that work, because as you go on more and more television shows, repeating material is the sure sign that you are coasting along and just getting by.John, who I have been a big fan of from the first time I saw him on television and live on stages rarely repeated material on successive tv spots and he was always working on new stuff if you saw him performing at the Comedy Store.Beyond doing the Tonight Show, dozens of episodic shows like ER,  L.A. Law, The Drew Carey Show, he even had his own sitcom titled: THE GOOD LIFE which is the brass ring that all stand ups aspired to get at that time. Without any nepotism or connections to show business in the least, John is a great example of what you can achieve if you put your mind to something and work very hard at your craft and always keep learning and keep your eyes on the prize. John was and still is one of the funniest guys I have seen come out of my generation of comedians. Check him out on you tube and the next time you are in Las Vegas where he performs regularly there at the clubs and casinos!
Please welcome to CUWC: John Caponera

Denny Johnston returns for a second episode. After amassing fifty plus years between his musical and comedy career, I feel it is only right to devote at least two episodes to Denny Johnston. I already wrote a lengthy bio for Denny in the previous podcast #43 so let me just say that we go a little deeper into his beginnings. If you have ever listened to the great theme song for the TV show: THE ROCKFORD FILES, you will hear the work of the student who was in the same metal shop class with Denny. None other than Mike Post. Mike, along with Denny's future first wife Susan, performed at a gig and Denny not only dug their music but also really dug their female band member.  
There are many people who have stories of going to high school in LA with people who later became famous or infamous. 
We took a little tangent and talked about Yellowstone and Kevin Costner for a bit with a little Ray Liotta mixed in for variety.
Denny recalls a few falling outs with comedians but so many more that he admires including but not limited to Sebastian, Bill Burr, Louie CK, Anthony Jeselnik and others. 
When you think that Denny was just starting out when Laugh-IN and The Smothers Brothers were on the Television and The Vietnam War was dividing our country.
 He is still getting on stages  but no longer going on "the road" as that is the one thing that all comics must give up at one point otherwise they will end up dying on a road gig; which for some is what they have chosen either intentionally or not. 
So sit back and listen to a guy that has been doing stand up for fifty years and counting and still does it with a smile on his face and a song in his heart.
Ladies and Gents:   Denny Johnston
 
 

Denny Johnston started his entertainment career performing with the Back Porch Majority in 1967-68 and went on to work with The Christy Minstrels in 1969. Young comedian Steve Martin was opening for these musical acts at the time and Denny watched Steve carefully and was amazed how he came out every night to just entertain the audience using every tool he had in his bag to be funny!
 Denny became friendly with Steve Martin, Gary Muledeer and other comedy acts who used musical instruments, lyrics, and singing to add variety and entertainment to their act.  As this was the era of The Smothers Brothers and other anti-war musical acts, It was not uncommon to use songs and musical accompaniment to spread your message however Denny, Steve and Gary were not trying to forge any political statements and if anything they were there really just trying to spread humor, laughs and bring some joy and happiness to a nation and a world that was already feeling the effects of war and a growing sense of hostility between the youth and the older generations.
Denny has worked as a comic for over fifty years which is why I am featuring him in  two separate podcast recordings. His story is quite unique as he never really made the millions that some comics who achieved sitcom level fame and notoriety but as a comic myself and a student of comedy I never saw him do anything but kill on the live stages when I worked on the bill with him or I watched him from the audience. He was a throwback to when comedians of the " olden days" went out every show to KILL, lest they be pulled from the stage with a hook or a hoop or worse yet LOSE a gig or a FUTURE gig if word got out that you failed to produce LAUGHS!
You will hear stories today of his start ups at THE TROUBADOUR in Los Angeles/ reconnecting with his father who had been a famous crooner with Jimmy Dorsey and had a successful film career for a period of time. Denny getting his Carson Spot but with John Davidson and getting his Letterman spot as well.
 His Las Vegas Years, Placing NUMBER ONE and Beating out four other famous comedians for The NATIONAL LAFF OFF in 1980, and second place the next year out of 109 entrants in the highly coveted and respected SAN FRANCISCO COMEDY COMPETITION.
Denny Johnston regularly played all the television shows that featured the top comedians of the time such as EVENING AT THE IMPROV, SHOWTIME COMEDY CLUB NETWORK, THE ARSENIO HALL SHOW, DR.DEMENTO 20TH ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION and many many more.
Where Denny truly shined, like many other great performers such as Shecky Greene, Don Rickles et al was on the live comedy stage. Some entertainers, and often some of the greatest could not be captured on the small screen as their talent was being in the moment and performing for that crowd that was assembled in front of them that night.
In our discussion here, many reasons why the live performance is the true barometer for what makes a GREAT COMIC, come out organically in Denny's stories of the things that worked in his career and the things that did not. 
I was honored to have Denny on my podcast and if you are a fan of comedy and comedians Denny is a living time capsule on stand up comedy, with over a half century of time where he performed to audiences and with a very high batting average of laughs and success..
Please Welcome to the mics of CUWC/ 
DENNY JOHNSTON