Don't Be Alone with Jay Kogen

Novelist/Environmental Activist, Stephen Markley talked about the coming environmental disaster and other laugh out loud subjects.  Stephen thinks there’s hope but mostly it’s by applying pressure to big business and government which sounded hard to Jay.  We also talked about writing for ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING  (Jay and Stephen shared stories about working with Steve Martin and Dan Fogelman), writing a 900 page book which also sounded hard. (Stephen loves writing. Jay would rather nap.) We also talked about why he has no relationship and it may have to do with spending all his time writing 900 page novels...

On this week’s episode the versatile writer, creator, actor, & comic Larry Wilmore talks about growing up in Pomona, CA and finding comedy and magic, hanging with President Obama. We compare notes on LA, TV, the Dodgers, SNL, Steve Martin, Eddie Murphy, losing a sibling and we challenge each other to do stand-up comedy.  

Bio: Emmy Award winner Larry Wilmore has been a television producer, actor, comedian, and writer for more than 25 years. He can currently be heard as host of Larry Wilmore: Black on the Air. The show features Wilmore’s unique mix of humor and wit as he...

Bio: Randy and Jason Sklar can currently be seen in the fourth season of FX’s WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS playing fictional Property Brothers ‘Bran and Toby Daltry’. The Sklars produced, wrote, and starred in THE NOSEBLEEDS, a UFC original series that released this summer on UFC’s Fight Pass. The series is a hilarious deep dive into UFC’s history featuring comedy sketches, field pieces, and in-studio character bits.

The Sklars notably hosted and produced History Channel’s UNITED STATS OF AMERICA and created and starred in the ESPN cult hit series CHEAP SEATS, besides being guest...

Conan O’Brien and Jay discuss the neurotic need to constantly make jokes at the peril of personal relationships and true communication.  They also talk about their kids and wives putting up with them, their long friendship, podcasting, comedy, growing older in comedy, Conan’s new show “Conan O’Brien Must Go”, and reading commercials. 


Bio:Conan O'Brien was born in Brookline, MA, and started his path in comedy when he served twice as the president of The Harvard Lampoon. Conan went on to become a writer and producer on several television shows, including "Saturday Night Live" and "The Sim...

Jay smothers Weird Al with love and appreciation for Al’s perfection in his parody. We talk about Mad Magazine, Looney Tunes, pizza, travel, doing what you want, the power of an orchestra, the two pulls of being a comic vs a musician, how a true showman can come out of Linwood, and giving up architecture for being a professional goofball/genius. 

Bio: FEW WOULD HAVE GUESSED that “Weird Al” Yankovic – who as a shy, accordion-playing teenager got his start sending in homemade tapes to the Dr. Demento Radio Show– would go on to become a pop culture icon and th...

Tony and Jay meet for the first time. We talk about the depth of his character, Primo, in “The Big Night” and why Jay can’t find that depth in real like. We also chat about growing up the 9th of 10 kids, the acting scene in Green Bay, WI., tailoring Monk for Tony, auditioning, the struggles of being an actor, & Tony’s biggest mistake which lead to his greatest joy, acting in Italian, being a creative producer, the magic of connection in live performance, and why we both wish we were Richard Kind.

Bio: Tony Shalhoub is a Tony Awa...

Toby and Jay talked about art and trying to see art (and life) from unique perspectives. Jay calls Toby a weirdo. And, like a weirdo, he accepts it as the compliment which is what it was actually meant to be. We talk about failing at school, meeting a guy called Magic who makes pipes out of antlers, and working as a janitor in a church and 10000 other blue collar jobs before he became a great actor and artist. We also talk about his love affair with creativity and imagining he’s Frank Sinatra’s bastard son. 

Bio: Toby Huss...

Entertainment Journalist and all around funny guy Kliph Nesteroff talks about a Canadian kid who got into collecting stories of strange and eccentric show business events. We both talk about our short lived stand-up days. Capturing worthwhile memories, and how Milton Berle was a jerk. I also stump Kliph when I ask him what else he would care about if I took show business stories away.

Bio: Kliph Nesteroff is an author and comedy historian, best known for his 2015 history of stand-up, The Comedians. His latest book, just released, is titled Outrageous: A History of Showbiz and the...

David, fresh off of a weekend with Donny Osmond talks about a lifetime of celebrities. Idolizing them, meeting them, interviewing them, befriending them and eventually making them stars once again on his grammy specials. We also talk Neil Diamond, Joni Mitchell, Frank Sinatra, and Phil Rosenthal plus a special surprise call from Brad Paisley! 

Bio: David Wild is a Peabody and Emmy-winning television writer and producer, a New York Times best-selling author and prominent pop culture commentator. Wild was a College Scholar graduate of Cornell University who then worked at Esquire and Rolling Stone where he served as M...

Eugene Garcia-Cross talks about growing up in Pennsylvania, losing his dad early, and becoming a literature professeur only to give it all up to be a Hollywood comedy writer. Only to wind up writing books on the side. He also talks about struggling as a 35-year-old assistant, how to be patient for the next job. making the most out of the writers room and having good times even on bad shows.

Bio:  Eugene Garcia-Cross despite being born in Pennsylvania is an optimist. He received an MFA in fiction from the University of Pittsburgh, became a teacher and then t...

Nicole talks about the difference between creation and nervous activity and how hard it is to distinguish between the two. We also talk about procrastination, Elvis Costello, the need to let ideas simmer, collaborating on a show, making an album, the meaning of music, the tricks to productivity, and the joy of baby steps. 

Bio: For two decades, Nicole Atkins has created her own brand of spectral American rock & roll. She's an old-school torch singer for the modern world, funneling her award-winning songwriting chops and genre-spanning influences — including psychedelic rock, Muscle Shoals soul, the pop grandeur of Roy Orb...

We talk about how to pronounce Bowie, the love of Monty Python, Elvis Costello, growing up in New York, the Ramones. John’s new play, Brushstroke, my love of John’s wife, Jamie Denbo, John’s possible love of Jay’s wife if he ever meets her, John Cleese, John’s dad who wanted to be an actor but never did it but then turned John on to great movies, the freedom of giving up on expectations, and how they should be friends but weren’t… yet.

Bio:John Ross Bowie is an actor and writer originally from New York City...

Paul and Jay discuss looking like losers and feeling like winners, and wearing clothes to match your goals and garner respect, being authentic, Mt. Clemens, Michigan, directing, collaborations, why Paul prefers dinners with girls, why I’ll have to fly to London to see him again, his next movie, his wife Laurie, drinking Artingstall Gin, Paul’s “Cocktail Time!” booze recipe book, and what made us think we could ever be funny.

We talk about trying to stay positive in a down comedy market, how Jay did or didn’t fit in writing a pilot with much younger people, what started the desire to perform, inspirations, Boy Meets World, and the trick to showbiz is just never leaving. 

Bios: Lucy Blehar is an actor, writer, and musician from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (home of Heinz Ketchup). She received her BFA in acting from DePaul University in Chicago where she made her TV debut as a murdered sex worker on NBC’s Chicago P.D. Since moving to LA in 2016, Lucy has studied and p...

We discuss our friendship since 1985, teaching at USC, the graphic novel “Defiant” about slave Robert Smalls who stole a southern ship and gave it to the north, Rob’s analytical brain, being teamed with a monster, being fooled by a first meeting, insane show runners with guns on the table, being a black writer, the sunk cost fallacy, making The Princess & The Frog, Will Smith vs Martin Lawrence vs Chris Rock and the slap, AI asking, “What is art?”, wine lessons, and oxtail fried rice! 

Bio: ROB EDWARDS is a veteran of movies and television who wrote and produced sh...

We discuss our friendship since 1985, teaching at USC, the graphic novel “Defiant” about slave Robert Smalls who stole a southern ship and gave it to the north, Rob’s analytical brain, being teamed with a monster, being fooled by a first meeting, insane show runners with guns on the table, being a black writer, the sunk cost fallacy, making The Princess & The Frog, Will Smith vs Martin Lawrence vs Chris Rock and the slap, AI asking, “What is art?”, wine lessons, and oxtail fried rice! 

Bio: ROB EDWARDS is a veteran of movies and television who wrote and produced sh...