'Melrose Place' returns; get the scoop from actor Thomas Calabro

By BOB ANDELMAN

When last we spoke, Thomas Calabro was preparing to host ACME Comedy’s “ACME Saturday Night” live show and being described as a former star of the late lamented TV series “Melrose Place.”

Today, he’s once again a star of “Melrose Place,” which has been revived by The CW and airs every Tuesday at 9 p.m. And he also returned to host “ACME Saturday Night,” on January 23, 2010. You can view an archive of that perforance or watch new episodes when the online comedy TV show streams live every Saturday at 10 pm Eastern, 7pm Pacific, at www.acmecomedy.com.

(Thomas Calabro's website)

THOMAS CALABRO AUDIO EXCERPT: "The name, Melrose Place, remains the same but everything about it is different, so it's sort of like a whole new deal. My first scene--I was a dad, which Michael Manicini had never been before. That was new, too, so it felt like the first day on the set of a new show" 

Open in your default player
Detach into a separate window

You can LISTEN to this interview with THOMAS CALABRO, star of MELROSE PLACE, by clicking the audio player above!

Copyright 2010 Bob Andelman. Click here for copyright permissions!

Hank Rosenfeld, THE WICKED WIT OF THE WEST Irving Brecher biographer:: Mr. Media Radio Interview

BY BOB ANDELMAN

Hank Rosenfeld found the kind of book writing job that guys like me salivate over. He met Irving Brecher, a brilliant and funny writer from the Golden Age of Hollywood comedy, and spent hours recording stories from Irv about everyone from Groucho Marx and the Marx Brothers to Judy Garland and Jackie Gleason.

AUDIO EXCERPT: "Irv loved that movie, Meet Me in St. Louis. He had to read the entire script to Judy Garland because L.B. Mayer said, 'She doesn't want to do the picture!' She didn't want to be outshone in the movie by the little girl's part. But Judy used to come over to his house and sing. So he sold every line in the script to her like it was Shakespeare."

“The Wicked Wit of the West,” as Groucho called him, lived a long and productive live, starting out writing one-liners for Milton Berle in the 1930s, two Marx Brothers films, punching up the humor in The Wizard Of Oz, writing and convincing Judy Garland to star in Meet Me in St. Louis, creating the long running radio and TV sitcom, “The Life of Riley,” and writing the original film version of Bye Bye Birdie for Dick Van Dyke and Ann-Margaret.


Lucky for us, Brecher maintained a magnificent memory of the events of his life and spent his last years telling his stories to Hank Rosenfeld. Rosenfeld produced a book that is mostly Brecher’s memoir with some bits of Rosenfeld thrown in.  The Wicked Wit of the West is a terrific read for any fan of comedy, particularly the Marx Brothers/Milton Berle/Jackie Gleason variety. It gets my highest possible recommendation.

Open in your default player
Detach into a separate window

You can LISTEN to this interview with HANK ROSENFELD, author of THE WICKED WIT OF THE WEST, by clicking the BlogTalkRadio.com audio player above!

Copyright 2009 Bob Andelman. Click here for copyright permissions!

Jeff Kreisler, GET RICH CHEATING, author, comedian: Mr. Media Radio Interview

BY BOB ANDELMAN

I’m not a big advocate of cheating to get ahead in life.

But let’s face it, these are not normal times. So I’m willing to consider options that were previously anathema to a good two-shoes like myself.

Enter Jeff Kreisler, an old friend of the Mr. Media Radio show and the author of the new book, Get Rich Cheating: The Crooked Path to Easy Street. In this manual to the easy life, Jeff kicks ethics to the curb and puts readers on the fast track to mastering scams, frauds, steroids and public relations.

AUDIO EXCERPT: "The easy way to know that A-Rod is cheating is that he's wearing a Yankees uniform. That, right there, is the sign of the Devil."

 This is Jeff’s second appearance here; the rising humorist also came on to talk about My Wall Street Journal, on which he was an editor.





Open in your default player
Detach into a separate window

You can LISTEN to this interview with JEFF KREISLER, comedian and author of GET RICH CHEATING, by clicking the BlogTalkRadio.com audio player above!

LISTEN! Jeff Kreisler talking about My Wall Street Journal!

Copyright 2009 Bob Andelman. Click here for copyright permissions!

Bob Byington, Kristen Tucker, HARMONY AND ME writer/director, producer/actress: Mr. Media Radio Interview

By BOB ANDELMAN
Harmony and Me, Bob Byington’s new film about a young man struggling to make sense of being dumped by his girlfriend, is being promoted as a slacker comedy. But the term that struck me—and it may be seriously dated—is “sad sacker.”

The character of “Harmony”—which is a man, not a woman—is played by Justin Rice. And he is so convincingly hapless as a rejected suitor that I wanted to send him over to my mother’s house for a comforting bowl of chicken soup.

A film like this succeeds, I think, when it absorbs you into the lead’s much and mire. And that, Harmony and Me does.

As for filmmaker Bob Byington, his film RSO (Registered Sex Offender)—premiered at the South by Southwest festival in 2008. And he was recently awarded the Stanley Kubrick Award for “Bold and Innovative Filmmaking” at the Traverse City Film Festival.

AUDIO EXCERPT: "There's a tone to the world that landed in my lap in 2007. I wrote some of this stuff down and got it into a script. I found that the theme of the script had a universal quality. We were going to call this The Last Break-Up Movie You're Ever Going to See."

Harmony and Me will have its opening night theatrical premiere at MoMA—the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan—on Friday, September 18 @ 7 p.m. Bob Byington will introduce the film and then be joined for an onstage discussion afterward by the film’s lead, Justin Rice. The film will then screen daily through Thursday, September 24.

Joining Byington in this interview is Harmony and Me actress and producer Kristen Tucker. In the film, she plays Jessica, the woman who dumps Harmony and bursts his heart in a million, billion pieces, setting the action in motion.

Open in your default player
Detach into a separate window

You can LISTEN to this interview with BOB BYINGTON, writer and director of HARMONY AND ME, and producer and actor KRISTEN TUCKER, by clicking the BlogTalkRadio.com audio player above!

Copyright 2009 Bob Andelman. Click here for copyright permissions!

Jason Stuart, MAKING IT TO THE MIDDLE comedian: Mr. Media Radio Interview

Jason Stuart
Comedian
------------

I’m not one to put labels on a person, but I guess if the cover of Jason Stuart’s latest DVD can describe him as “America’s top gay stand-up comic,” then it’s okay for me to repeat it.

But that leads to a question: Does “gay” mean homosexual men only? If he’s the nation’s top gay stand-up comic, where does that leave lesbian comedians such as Ellen DeGeneres, Rosie O’Donnell, Carol Leifer or Judy Gold?

And Jason, if you’re #1, who is #2?

Open in your default player
Detach into a separate window

You can LISTEN to this interview with comedian JASON STUART by clicking the BlogTalkRadio.com audio player above!



Copyright 2009 Bob Andelman. Click here for copyright permissions!

Ralphie May, AUSTIN-TACIOUS, LAST COMIC STANDING comedian: Mr. Media Radio Interview

Ralphie May
Comedian
------------

Ralphie May is the big man on the comedy campus. You know that if you’ve ever seen him—he’s a heavyset southern guy with soft gentle looking facial features.

Then he opens his mouth—and, oh my God!

You probably remember Ralphie May best from season one of “Last Comic Standing.” Since then he’s proven himself to be one funny, funny MF-er.

Which reminds me – if you’re under 18 or easily offended, tune Mr. Media out for the next 30 minutes ad check out the FlyLady or Dr. Blogstein. This show is strictly for grown-ups.

Open in your default player
Detach into a separate window

You can LISTEN to this interview with comedian RALPHIE MAY by clicking the BlogTalkRadio.com audio player above!



Copyright 2009 Bob Andelman. Click here for copyright permissions!

Eugene Mirman, FLIGHT OF THE CONCORDS, THE WILL TO WHATEVS comedian: Mr. Media Audio Interview

Jon Klein and Eugene Mirman image by Aaron Landry via Flickr

Eugene Mirman is one of the driest comedians I’ve ever encountered. He’s so droll, so subtle, that at first it’s difficult to detect if he’s on or really believes what he’s saying.

Here’s a hint: he’s on.

Mirman, who you may know from his guest appearaces on the HBO show “Flight of the Concords” or his appearances on the comedy web site, 23/6, is promoting his first book, The Will to Whatevs: A Guide to Modern Life.

You can LISTEN to this interview with standup comedian EUGENE MIRMAN, author of THE WILL TO WHATEVS and regular on "FLIGHT OF THE CONCORDS," by clicking the BlogTalkRadio.com audio player above!

Copyright 2009 Bob Andelman. Click here for copyright permissions!