Catching Up With Comedians

Pete George is one of those guests who comes on and just wins you over immediately. He is a fount of energy and enthusiasm. Every comedian has their own story which is what makes doing this podcast so exciting and entertaining for me, and hopefully for my listeners as well. 
Pete came from a musical background as his Dad played the accordion, which has spawned its share of jokes over the years but he was the first accordion soloist at West Point, and in the course of his duties he played for Presidents and heads of State.
While Pete could play the accordion, he gravitated more towards the guitar and being from Cleveland ( the future site of the Rock and Roll HOF, which he also helped campaign for to be in his home town) he ended up being in many bands in his formative years and always figured the rest of his life would be playing music professionally. 
Well, he was certainly half right. He still plays music professionally but it is presented in the context of his stand up comedy, which he is happily in the thirty plus year club in that profession.
Pete's Uncle, Don George certainly was a big deal in music as he worked for big music companies for his entire career including: A&M, Universal, MCA, Mercury Records and many more. He gave Pete some jobs before he started comedy which gave him invaluable experience on the Business side of show business.
Pete has great stories of coming into comedy and winning a fifty dollar contest on his first shot. He had talent from the start but is quick to point out that luck and good fortune didn't hurt either. Kerry Pollock, a seasoned Comedy/magician took him under his wing early on and from there he was introduced to weeks of continuous work on a circuit above what an opening act would generally be immersed in. He just put his head down and worked hard while keeping his eyes and ears open to what a Pro like Kerry could do with an audience night after night and week after week.
He has quite a story on how being cast ( as a principle extra) in the Film: The Shawshank Redemption, pretty much gave him better experience than he might've gotten had he spent the money and years getting a degree in film.  
Plus some sordid tales he witnessed but never really embarked in from Ye Ole Comedy Road and how he still loves doing comedy but is also enjoying continued acting parts.
Pete never turns down a gig but his management has requested he stay in town ( LA ) more so he can be available for casting in the many streaming series which have really become the best delivery system for comedy and short form episodic shows.
Please welcome my guest: Pete George to the CUWC microphone today! 
 

Comedian Jann Karam started out close to home in Arizona when she embarked on her journey in Stand Up Comedy. She soon traveled to Chicago where she studied in The Second City School of Improv, doing comedy sketches. Before long she traveled To New York City where she ultimately met the people and made the connections with the comics, writers, agents and clubs which helped define the path her career would take for the next thirty plus years. 
She not only got on those early stand up TV shows like "An Evening at The Improv" ( 4 appearances) but also performed on "Caroline's Comedy Hour" and was the lone female comic on what has long been considered one of the best Years/ Versions of "The Young Comedians Special" which aired on HBO yearly and had become the  premier and most coveted spot to show what you had to a national and worldwide audience. Jann appeared on   "The 13th Annual Young Comedians Special" ( 1989)
As her star continued to rise she appeared twice on The Tonight show with Johnny Carson, Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher, The Late show with David Letterman as well as spots on episodic shows like: ER, Mad About You, Diagnosis Murder, Norm and two of the greatest comedy series ever: Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm.  We discuss her Seinfeld spot which is considered one of the top episodes ever where Jerry and George try to figure out how to break up with one roommate, to pick up the other one, would best be solved by requesting a menage a trois to which both girls accept.  Jerry scarily rebuffs shrieking, "I CAN'T DO IT, I'M NOT AN ORGY GUY...I'd have to grow a mustache and get all kinds of robes and lotions....I'd need thick carpeting and weirdo lighting and get orgy friends...No, Im not ready for it!"
 
 It was probably one of Jerry's best line deliveries even with the smirk and smile he still pulled it off and George even caved and said,"Yeah, Me neither!"   So Jann Karam as Sandi, one of the potential partners of Jerry, entered into what has been called in SEINFELD LORE and on IMDb one of the top 73, or female dates, girlfriends, encounters with Jerry in the series no matter if it was brief, a date or anything in between.
Jann also discusses her roles on CURB Your Enthusiasm, which due to its long run has had an equally strong impact in terms of comedy as dealing with popular culture and the always changing line of comedy and how close you can get to it and in Larry's case, cross it. 
We also discuss Jann's independent roles and features that she has written and or produced as well as some of the many independent projects she has appeared on to support her friends and colleagues.  
 
Please welcome to the mics this week:
Jann Karam
 

There are more layers to this podcast that could fill the podcast time alone, much less a short description. Film Director: Brian Burkhardt raised in New Orleans had a rather colorful childhood which led him to performing his first stand up comedy in a federal prison in Texas. Mickey Joseph: born and raised in the Bay Area of San Francisco started comedy back in the hey day of the comedy boom and through some rough roads of his own still does comedy today as well as produces and sells some very unique art and enjoys playing and producing music.
It was a Vegas lounge comic named Vinnie Favorito who would ultimately bring these two men together in a joint project of producing a film for the big screen about someone who had risen to headlining clubs and lounges in Las Vegas and becoming the heir apparent to Don Rickles as the premier insult comic" of his time.  Along the way Vinnie had acquired a bit of a gambling problem and had a penchant for borrowing money from folks without reimbursing them in a timely manner.  On July 28th, 2025, their film "Vinnie Plays Vegas: The Con Man of Comedy". will premiere at the Crescent Theater in Beverly Hills and open wide on Amazon Prime streaming services August 11, 2025. Pre Buy on Apple TV -VOD starts on August 5th. Also available on VUDU and will be available in the UK and Ireland.
 Please welcome Brian and Mickey to the mics of CUWC:

Tommy comes back for a part two where he deftly and hilariously lays out the second part of his comedy career;  once the 90's came and out went the once burgeoning comedy clubs.  Thankfully what happened for Tommy and other enterprising and well rounded entertainers were The Poconos ( resorts) The Catskills ( much more varied) than most folks had come to believe, The Casinos, Atlantic City, Day Cruises, and wherever a group of folks assembled of any race, color or creed and entertained the thought of being entertained. 
Tommy is one of those rare folks who has mastered just about every discipline in comedy from Clown, Mime, Prop Comic, singing, dancing, jokes, gags, impressions and anything else that the club promoter decides to add on three minutes before show time.  In Addition to that he is a Great STORY TELLER in every sense of the word.  Every great story teller also needs great stories and lucky for Tommy and his audiences, most notably, WE LUCKY DUCKYS, ABOUT TO EMBARK HERE ON PART TWO:  
THESE ARE HIS STORIES, THAT HE LIVED, which gives them the
AUTHENTICITY
that ultimately makes them so believable, so funny and so real.
please welcome back to the CUWC mics:   TOMMY MOORE
 

The Legendary, Comic, Writer, Producer from Philadelphia joins me for a much anticipated second appearance.  Because he is such a fan favorite and an old school gent, I was able to persuade him into ( A TWO PARTER ) telling us stories that chronicle over fifty years in the business of fun, funny and making people laugh. 
In this first episode # 38, Tommy regales us of stories that predate the comedy clubs which slowly started appearing in the seventies. Then a comedy boom started across the country in the eighties and by the nineties the clubs started to disappear due to many factors, a few of which there were more comedians competing for less dollars and other socio-economic figures that came into play, which Tommy explains.  
Tommy was a local Philly boy, born and bred and while he was never a "made man" in the "Good Fellas" sense, he was street wise and business wise enough to know how to deal with them, as well as all the other myriad club bookers, managers, agents, and wanna be show biz types that one encounters in the always wacky and always changing business of show. 
I know you will enjoy this PART ONE episode Of Tommy Moore as he tells tales only like a master story teller can.  Ladies and Gents;
The Great TOMMY MOORE:

Kivi Rogers,  who I worked with early on in our stand up careers, went on to work in television sit coms, series, movies and has been happily employed as a Top Headline Comedian on the Royal Caribbean line of cruise ships since 2008. 
In his early days he worked on the road at comedy clubs as well as the college circuit. After getting into Las Vegas and getting more of a name for himself he was a top opener for the Temptations and other high profile music acts for a period of time between the nineties and the early two thousands. He has funny stories about some Las Vegas gigs, working on Everybody Loves Raymond and going to lunch with Peter Boyle, his idol since watching “ Young Frankenstein” as a kid …
He shares a little heartache and a few hiccups along the way but his indomitable spirit and Never Say Quit attitude took him past any detours that he encountered. We also discussed how prevalent depression and mental illness and stress is in the entertainment business and what mental health issues did to top comics like Rich Jeni, Robin Williams and countless others and Kivi is thankful and grateful for his entire  journey;Sometimes just pinching himself for being able to make a living and raise his kids and support his family in a manner that he may have only dreamed of while growing up as a child in South Central, Los Angeles.  Please welcome to the CUWC mics today, Mr. Kivi Rogers
 

Carrie Snow was raised in the Bay Area with one sister and two parents.  These days that might not always be the norm but in her day it generally was.
In 1978, she took an under grad degree from ( CAL) Berkeley, and to the sheer delight of her parents,  started doing stand up comedy at what she, nor anyone else knew, was to be the advent of a comedy boom unlike any other time in American or modern day history.
 Many things contributed to that timing but Carrie was actually hopping on to a train that had been slowly chugging along since 1972, when The Comedy Store first opened its doors and within five years, every major city would have comedy clubs and most minor cities would have comedy in bars, saloons, restaurants or wherever someone could convince an establishment to let three novice funny people talk into a microphone at least one day per week.
 Carrie went further than most in the biz and ended up as a television writer, producer and talent in addition to being a much sought after stand up comedienne in Major Comedy Clubs in the U.S. and the greater planet Earth!
Please welcome the rather saucy and outspoken:Carrie Snow! 🎙️🤣🎬

Craig Shoemaker says you can’t hit a moving Target and he proves that every day.He started comedy as a junior in high school and put himself through college doing stand up. Craig Shoemaker may not have hit the ultra fame of Seinfeld, Tim Allen or some but he has gone far beyond the limits of many comedians.He tore through the early years doing every show that comedians did like Evening At the Improv, Caroline’s, Comedy Central, and as his career flourished he did two Comic Reliefs and through Whoopi he did 75 Hollywood Squares, tons of sit coms: Night Court, Coach, The Fresh Prince, Parks and Rec and many more.    
He went on to write and produce his own comedy specials, television series, Films and he was named  Comedian of the Year at the American Comedy Awards.While many might be resting on their laurels after all that he has been mentoring younger comics in sobriety and  inviting them into his circle by letting them tour and open for him and see what life is like in the higher levels of the comedy world.
Craig has authored two books and through his Laughter Heals Foundation and Laughter Worx  he has been bringing the power  of laughter to the business and corporate world and raising the bar from stand up and trying to help people really experience the healing powers of laughter.
Craig was getting pulled by his business partner so this is a somewhat abbreviated podcast today but all things Craig Shoemaker are easy to find online. He is still a busy touring comedian, as since recording  this podcast he just returned from Headlining at the Tempe, Arizona Improv and knowing him he is probably already off sharing the love and the laughs with another lucky group of humans somewhere in the world.
I hope you enjoy ( as much as I did hahaha) the dynamic comedy of Craig Showmaker!

Bruce Baum first attended UC Davis as a Poli/Sci Major and intended to play for the Football team. But providence stepped in and he joined up with his cousin Ken and started a comedy duo on campus where they also played guitar and banjo, sang funny songs and started getting people's attention. 
Before long he wrote a screenplay and moved back to LA and was accepted into the UCLA Film Dept. based on Bruce's screenplay and their ever growing list of gigs they were performing around town. 
AS Bruce says on the pod this was all pre comedy club and comedy explosion but his timing was spot on as no less than Robin WILLIAMS, DAVID LETTERMAN, GARRY SHANDLING et al were featured in his early student films.
As fate would have it Bruce was just starting to cook as the infamous Sunset Strip was giving birth to The Comedy Store and with it the first wave of comedians who were  born and bred there, most of whom traveled from the four corners of the USA as well as Russia ( Yakov ). Bruce was one of those original types who wasn't just telling jokes or doing a monologue on stage, rather he used props and played musical ditties and created more of an audio/visual panorama of comedy from the stage. 
His class of Comedy (1976) gave stand up a Turbo boost by doing comedy in syndication on the show "MAKE ME LAUGH" hosted by Bobby Van.  It played the same comedians for five days straight and in smaller markets that did not yet have comedy clubs. By the early eighties every major, medium and small city had COMEDY CLUBS EVEN IF IT WAS ONLY IN A BAR, SALOON, RESTAURANT OR BANQUET ROOM.  Comedy had exploded and Bruce and his comedy colleagues were riding the perfect storm.  Bruce went on to headline at comedy club, casinos and night clubs for the rest of his career all the while writing, producing for television series as well as appearing on Hollywood Squares, Match Game, Arsenio Hall, The Simpsons and creating his own brand of short films and independent features which were always and still to this day his passion. 
Look for " BRUCE BAUMS PERSONAL STASH" soon to be streaming on your favorite services as well as all his award winning shorts and films that were featured on Fox television, Comedy Central, SHOWTIME, HBO, as well as his student films with Robin, David and Garry and his epic Clown Away starring George Carlin, Garry Shandling and Carrie Snow.
When in doubt go to BruceBaum.com where you can access his Facebook, Instagram and Youtube Channel which will link to all of his comedy content, films and merch.
please welcome to our mics this week,  Bruce "baby man" Baum 

Comedian Mark Knope has the distinction of getting divorced and doing his first stand up comedy spot, while he was training for his insurance license in Albuquerque, New Mexico way back in 1986.
That sounds more like the start of a Farrelly Brothers comedy film but for Mark it was the start of a new life and his comedy career has been going strong for 40 plus years.
Mark had been working as an insurance salesman for Liberty Mutual, but once he found comedy he attacked it with the type of perseverance that one truly needs to not only make it but have a sustained career as a comedian.   I first ran into Mark at the Newport Beach LAFF STOP where they ran a Monday ZOO nights for the up and comers, first timers, and guys like us who had a little experience but needed a room to practice and work on " The Act!"
We kind of fell out of touch until social media came around, but we reconnected as Fbook friends and it was easy to see that he has worked his entire adult life as a stand up in comedy clubs, colleges, and on the corporate circuit, which is a very coveted and niche market for any comedian to maintain.
I always remember Mark as a friendly and good guy who always had a smile on his face and it seems like his confident and friendly demeanor has served him well throughout his professional life.
We catch up and chat about the glory road days of the eighties and nineties and how he stays closer to home now and in addition to headlining clubs and opening shows for big name stars, he also does many benefits and shows for causes to help out folks who need some assistance or a little more attention to their programs.
Mark was also happy to bring me up to date to his son Drew and daughter in law Lauren and their three children who have made him a proud Grampa.
I only wish the hour didn't go by so quickly but it was great to catch up with not only a great comedian but just a great guy; Please welcome to the CUWC's mics this week:
Mark Knope