Ian Talks Comedy

Ian Fermaglich
  • 4.4 (13)
  • Performing Arts
  • Updated Weekly

Join NYC teacher and former stand up comedian Ian Fermaglich as he talks comedy with some of comedy's best.

  1. 4d ago

    Catlin Adams (The Jerk / A Jazz Singer / Sticky Fingers)

    Catlin Adams joined me to discuss immigrating for Israel; Our Miss Brooks and The Gale Storm Show; 1950s anti-Antisemitism; being in acting class taught by Anna Mizrahi; auditioning for The Actor's Studio with Margaret Sherwood; her 60 years of friendship with Ellen Burstyn; taking class with Stella Adler; acting was about the craft; demystifying acting as making choices and sense memory; first TV role on He & She; parents let her stay in Actors Studio if she could pay for it and have a B average; her first film Up in the Cellar; getting cast; having to have stunt breasts; doing a McMillan and Wife; meeting Christopher Guest on The Fortune; shooting movie Katherine with Sissy Spacek and an unsure Henry Winkler; The Jerk is a smart dumb comedy; Theodora Van Runkel created her character's look; learning how to ride a motorcycle; improv in scenes with Steve Martin; her son watching it in school; Stanley Kubrick being a fan; getting the part by tackling Steve Martin and biting him on the nipple; Steve stood in lobby at premiere because of nerves; Jazz Singer is a great soundtrack; Neil Diamond was not a good actor; read for both female parts; changed scene to Neil turning her down for sex; her character kept changing; Olivier's acting was terrible; admitted doing the job for the money; quitting Square Pegs after being told teachers were going to be just as important as kids; going to AFI to learn directing; not knowing what to do; Obsession; Parasite; film waves; becoming friends with Melanie Mayron; writing Sticky Fingers for her and Rae Dawn Chong; Rae Dawn drops out and Helen Slater takes role; after movie, taking time out to have children; becoming an acting coach; Danitra Vance; Christopher Guest; SNL; Ellen Burstyn at 93; Lee Grant at 100; theater is for the rich now; directing Carol Kane

  2. Aug 8

    Bill Nuss (Mee-Ow show / NBC exec / 21 Jump Street ep / Pacific Blue creator)

    Bill Nuss joined me to discuss watching Off. Joe Bolton as a child; writing to Johnny Carson; his love of Honeymooners; going to film school backward; creating the Mee-Ow show at Northwestern with partner Dusty Kay; Seth Myers crediting it with his pursuing comedy; meeting Brandon Tartikoff; auditioning for SNL; Brandon gets them a pitch at Eight is Enough; going with Brandon as an exec to NBC; creation of Diff'rent Strokes; being in the room when the cancellation of SNL was discussed; worked on Cannell and Larson series; asked to write for A-Team & later 21 Jump Street; casting Johnny Depp; writing the Hulk Hogan A-Team episodes; "Lease with an Option to Buy" w/ Della Reese and worst episode of A-Team; writing a Psycho homage for Knight Rider and a The God's Must Be Crazy takeoff for the A-Team; creating the Booker character for Jump Street; favorite Jump Streets; Raven; guesting on his shows; The Hat Squad; Renegade; directing was easy for him; favorite episode of Booker; creating Pacific Blue; WWE & Mario Lopez; PB episodes "Stargazer' and "59 Minutes"; creating North Shore and having young Jason Momoa in the cast; NCIS; Hawaii 5-0; his passion project, the musical version of The Honeymooners

  3. Aug 1

    Melody Anderson (Flash Gordon / Manimal)

    Melody Anderson joins me and discusses having a crush on Tonto; going into radio journalism; hearing a radio broadcast of Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf and wanting to go into acting; moving to LA and modeling to pay bills; getting gigs of Welcome Back, Kotter, Pleasure Cove, Elvis, and BJ in the Bear quickly; starring in Flash with Max von Sydow; playing it straight; meeting Queen; co-starring in Dead and Buried with a sick Jack Albertson; getting great reviews as an undead school teacher; going against type on Bunker's Place; wanting to be like Jean Arthur or Carole Lombard; guesting on Fall Guy and with Dirk Benedict on A-Team and Battlestar Galactica; CHiPs; Police Woman Centerfold; starring in movies of the week; Manimal; loving the animals; show is made fun of but was a fun job; playing Edith Adams to Jeff Goldblum's Ernie Kovacs; High School USA; Boy in Blue with Nicholas Cage; St. Elsewhere; Murder, She Wrote; going to NYU to get her masters in social work; being a trauma treatment specialist; wants to be known for doing good; EMDR treatment; sees patients 20 hours a week; Zoom therapy; www.counselingbymelody.com; calming techniques; what she does if patients recognize her

  4. Jul 25

    Jill Kleck Woo (p.a. Fridays, The Blues Brothers, Eye Magic Productions)

    Jill Kleck Woo and I discuss being restless on a farm; watching the Brady Bunch and wanting to go to California; going to Ohio University; Bernie Brillstein offering a job in California; working with John Moffitt and Bill Lee; Friday Edition; musical guests; Andy Kaufman; Fridays next to Lawrence Welk; Don Novello; Maryedith Burrell; cancellation of Fridays; Not Necessarily the News; Rich Hall, Conan O'Brien, Al Jean and Mike Reiss; Tom Kramer & Michael Richards; Fridays now streaming; how she started her business; moving to Santa Monica; hiring crews for The Daily Show; sending crews to Fairbanks, Alaska and jungles of Thailand; working with The Daily Show since Craig Kilborn; Amy Kimmleman; how Fridays had pictures of their crew in the credits

  5. Jul 18

    Robert L. McCullough (Bionic Woman / BJ & the Bear / Falcon Crest)

    Robert L. McCullough joined me to discuss watching test patterns and Captain Tom; going to BHHS w/ Burt Ward; going to Stanford to mingle; became a page and a gopher at Universal; becoming a set locator for Bionic Woman and pitching a script; goes to Eight is Enough, then BJ and the Bear; writes "Gasohol", "Beauties and the Beasts" and the creepy "Blonde in a Cell of Gold" guest starring Paul Williams; getting call to "fix" Falcon Crest, makes it more soapy; creates show bible on stories on his wives 10 siblings; Jane Wyman was the hard worker ; getting Lana Turner to guest star; Jackie Collins Hollywood Wives; Arthur Hailey's International Airport; Dark Mansion; odd meeting with Loretta Young; signing Joan Fontaine; O'Hara, with Pat Morita; Zorro, four seasons with Duncan Regehr; Daniel Craig's first TV appearance, High Tide with Rick Springfield; Soldier of Fortune with Dennis Rodman; Tag Team pilot with Jesse Ventura & Randy "Macho Man" Savage; creating script contests that lead to things; going one on one with new writers and creating a how to podcast.

  6. Jul 13

    Art Dielhenn (director Punky Brewster / Head of the Class / Sister Sister)

    Art Dielhenn joined me to discuss watching Roy Rogers; having celiac disease and dyslexia; a drama coach turns him onto acting; realizing in college he is not an actor; moving Oppenheimer's possessions as a moving man; spending 7 years directing at KRMA Denver; moving to KQED San Francisco and directing Pauline Kael; Peter Bonerz is a guest and invites Art to L.A.; Norman Lear hires him as an AD on Apple Pie and Hello Larry; does Sanford and says Redd and Jamie Foxx are two funniest people he's ever worked with; working with Jack Shea on Silver Spoons; Insight; getting the job on Punky Brewster; "Perils of Punky" episode; censor problems; 15 minute episodes; going to Webster; everyone hates Susan Clark; being friends with Soleil Moon Frye's mom and they both protect Soleil; going to Head of the Class; Howard Hesseman being miserable; working with Brian Robbins, Dan Schneider, and Elaine Stritch; getting hired to direct Free Spirit, wanting Amy Yasbeck as star, but getting Corrine Bohrer; wanting and getting Allison Hannigan as co-star; directing a Cosby Show and having to give Cosby notes; directing Pacific Station and dealing with a depressed Robert Guillaume; having fun with Ron Liebman; Sister, Sister with Tia & Tamera Mowry; directing Lifetime show Maggie; going into life coaching; getting clients; going to AA; writing Get Out of Your Head and Addiction is a Family Disease; how alcoholism is a progressive disease even if you're not actively drinking

  7. Jul 4

    Dan O'Shannon (Newhart / Cheers / Modern Family)

    Dan O'Shannon joined me to discuss Cleveland kids TV and his documentary; going to Cleveland State for a year; doing stand up; getting to know his character; buying a Cheers script to find a template for a spec script; Marc Sotkin reads spec, hires him on It's A Living; writes for Safe at Home; writes a freelance Charmings; getting hired with writing partner Tom Anderson on Newhart; writing a freelance Cheers on off time; coming up with the Newhart finale at same time as Bob's wife; Cheers episode "Two Girls for Every Boyd"; "Who is Cliff Clavin" and Alex Trebek's acting; Spanky MacFarlane; almost getting Bill Clinton; "Severe Crane Damage" - did not write We Will Rock You opening; Freudian slip joke; coining the phrase "Did I say that out loud"; writing the episode were Lilith divorces Frasier; "Woody Gets an Election"; Kelsey Grammar becomes Frasier; the last name Kraypence; his 1993 sitcom The Boys with Anthony Edwards replaced by Christopher Meloni; Suddenly Susan with Rodney Dangerfield; Oscar nominee for Redux Riding Hood; Maggie; Frasier episodes "Sliding Doors", "Rooms with a View"; Don Juan in Hell"; Modern Family "Fly with Me", "having to service all characters, "Undeck the Halls"; his books "What are you Laughing At" and "The Adventures of Mrs. Jesus", pilot "Furst Born"; moving to Cleveland"; long driving trips

  8. Jun 27

    Seth Freeman (Lou Grant / Brooklyn Bridge)

    Seth Freeman joined me to discuss going backstage on Kukla, Fran & Ollie; Hop-along Cassidy; writing for his school paper; teaching math to inner city students so they gain pride; deciding to move to LA; becoming a gofer at MTM; being mentored by Gene Reynolds, Allan Burns, and James L. Brooks; Jeff Melvoin's book on TV writing; WGA Foundation for TV writers; knowing all aspects of TV production in case you become a producer; working on the TV show Brooklyn Bridge; CBS wants to spin off Lou Grant; MTM wants to make it a drama; his episode "Hostage", "The Cop"; pitching an episode then doing the research; writing an episode about message parlor girls, prisoners of conscience and the blacklist; "Rape" came from Allan Burns and his wife's charity work; writing a spec Bob Newhart and getting both sitcoms and dramas which made him what Lou Grant producers wanted; creating Lincoln Heights, getting an MA in public health right before COVID 19; CBS thought Lou Grant would be cancelled after 13 weeks; was eventually cancelled last minute because of Ed Asner's politics

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Ratings & Reviews

4.4
out of 5
13 Ratings

About

Join NYC teacher and former stand up comedian Ian Fermaglich as he talks comedy with some of comedy's best.

Information

  • Creator
    Ian Fermaglich
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    335
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Ian Fermaglich
  • Show Website
    Ian Talks Comedy

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