I sat down with the very funny and talented Josh Lanzet. Josh is a fellow high tech comedian. He works at Google, does stand up, and creates his own content. In this conversation we chat about outsourcing work to virtual assistants when you're way too busy, Josh's personal organization system, a meticulous approach to maximizing effectiveness of open mics, balancing a high tech job with comedy, and overcoming creative resistance. P.S. Sorry it's been a long time for me. Lately I have been trying to focus more on the creative parts of comedy, so I will be posting less frequently for the time being.

Working Comic Podcast

How to Be Productive, Rich and Funny with Josh Lanzet

I recently had a great conversation with Auggie Smith who is one of the producers of Montana's Big Sky Comedy Festival, a touring headliner, and the only person to win both the Seattle AND San Francisco International Comedy Festivals in the same year. In this episode, Auggie talks about what it's like being a headliner, gives some tips on getting into competitions, shares his perspective on comedy today, talks about how Big Sky works and much more! Enjoy!

Episode 52: Auggie Smith (Big Sky Comedy Festival)

In this episode we talk about traveling the world doing comedy, the power to make money, how opportunities domino, and much more!

Episode 51: Jr De Guzman, Musical Comedy and Traveling the World

Hi Everyone, In this interview, I sit down with Sarah Keller! Sarah is an actress, comedian and the producer of the "Roast Battle" live comedy show at the Comedy Store in Los Angeles. What started as a show hidden away in the Comedy Store's famous "Belly Room," Roast Battle has become a world-wide phenomenon. Since the inception of this show, roast battling now exists across the world and has informed the popular Comedy Central's Roast Battle show. We talk about what it takes to run Roast Battle, how to get into the comedy store, how to ASK for what you want and more

Episode 50: Sarah Keller, Roast Battle Producer and Asking For Opportunity

Hey everyone! I'm finally back in LA. While I was in New York, I had the opportunity to sit down with the very funny and charismatic Usama Siddiquee. Usama is a bit famous in NY for his incredible comedy hustle. At one point, he was hitting 28+ mics/shows PER week. That's four per night and more than anyone else in NY (and probably the country?). Usama was featured in Just For Laugh's and was recently passed at the Comedy Cellar. One thing I really admire about Usama is his incredible charisma. He has such a powerful, kind, magnetic presence and it's always something I look up to. In this interview, Usama and I talk about charisma, hustling, treating comics as PEOPLE first, being a good human, and just doing the comedy thing. Check out his podcast Mango Bae and follow him at @UsamaBinLaughin

Episode 49: Usama Siddiquee, Getting Passed at the Cellar and Bringing Charisma to Comedy

Hi Working Comic Fans, I know I have been sparsely posting, but I am still at it. I am probably going to do less than one podcast per week, but I am definitely not dropping the ball here. I've been travelling a lot and prepping my tech roast show "Socially Inept." I had a really cool interview with TV Show Writer & Comedian Curtis Cook. We start out talking about how Curtis got into comedy and segue into an interesting tangent on comedy politics. We spend most of the episode talking about recovering from an offensive bit, being edgy on stage, using stereotypes, growing from mistakes, and much more. These are a lot of the questions that I ponder over with my close comedian friends, so it was a real treat discussing them with the very well spoken and accomplished Curtis Cook. Curtis' Bio: Curtis Cook is a writer and standup living in Los Angeles. He’s done a few things on television you may have seen, like puking after a keg stand on a show called Flophouse or traveling through an Ebola checkpoint for a segment on Vice News or awkwardly interacting with Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein during a sketch on Porlandia or doing a standup set on Comedy Central. Most recently, you may have caught his work as a writer and correspondent for The Jim Jefferies Show on Comedy Central.

Episode 48: Curtis Cook (Jim Jefferies Show & Comedian) and Joke Politics

In this episode, I interview Devin Field. Devin is like a comedy "jack of all trades" - he writes for Jimmy Kimmel Live, performs on a coveted UCB Main Stage Team in LA, and is great stand up comic with a 30 minute comedy central special. Most people (myself included) complain about the difficulty of excelling in multiple areas of comedy at once, yet Devin is a walking testament that IT IS POSSIBLE.

Episode 47: Devin Field (Late Night Writer, UCB Main Stage, & Comedy Central Stand Up)

Hi Working Comic Fans, Sorry for the craaaazy delay. I've been MIA for about a month now. For the last three weeks of May I was travelling Europe with my girlfriend because I'm a monogamous wealthy jew and THEN I had three Socially Inept roast shows in a row. We had one big show at Cobb's Comedy Club in San Francisco on June 6th followed by two great shows in Los Angeles on June 13th and 14th. Anyway - back to business - in this episode, I interviewed Tyler Smith, the producer of the "Dope Show." The Dope Show is a comedy show where comics do their sets, get high, and then do them again. Tyler's show is prolific in the Pacific Northwest and he is able to MAKE A LIVING on the money he makes selling tickets. In my opinion, this is pretty much the dream for a comedian, so there's definitely a lot of cool stuff to learn. We talk about how the show started, marketing tactics he uses, and how he sells thousands of tickets per year. ENJOY!

Episode 46: Tyler Smith and The Dope Show

In this interview we learn how Biniam applies his social media marketing skills to his comedy career. He used to work for MakerStudios, a huge company that grew influencers and social media stars and connected them with corporate sponsors/brand deals. We also talk about his personal comedy career and how he got in with Comedy Central! I learned a lot and think this information is super practical to the modern comic. Bio: Ben Bizuneh's stand up was recently featured on Comedy Central. Ben Bizuneh is a writer, actor, and comedian who made his television stand-up debut on Viceland’s “Flophouse” and recently starred opposite Beth Behrs in the Lee Daniels FOX pilot, “Culture Clash.” Bizuneh has created several originals for Comedy Central Digital including Demitrinox’ “Antidepressant for Black Folk” and “How To Be Broke,” which recently wrapped its second season. Ben wrote on staff for “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and previously consulted on TruTV’s “Billy on the Street.”

Episode 45: Biniam Bizuneh on Working with Comedy Central and Mastering Social Media

I had a great interview with Caleb Synan last week. We chatted about his experience doing Conan, his philosophy regarding high pressure performing situations, his incredible 'Just for Laughs' experience, mastering social media and much more. Bio: Caleb Synan is one of the hottest young comics in the country. (Funny AND good looking!) His unique background as a preacher’s kid from a small southern town gives him the ability to relate to any and every crowd -- even though he’s a big old millennial who lives in LA. Want proof? He’s written and starred in two different Comedy Central web series: “Deadliest Chef” and “Wise Words” (That’s the internet!) And he’s performed on CONAN (twice!), Last Comic Standing (once!), and Fuse’s “Uproarious” (TV! That’s right!)

Episode 44: Caleb Synan on Just For Laughs and working under pressure

Awesome interview with comedian Paige Weldon! We chat about starting out at UCLA doing comedy, producing a comedy album, doing a late night set, a day in the life of a comic, performing at colleges, podcasting, balancing your life, and MORE. Paige Weldon is a writer, actor and comedian based in LA. You may know her stand-up from appearances on The Late Late Show with James Corden, Comedy Central Stand-Up Featuring, or her album Girlfriend at the Time from A Special Thing/Literally Figurative Records. She was also recently named one of Time Out LA’s top 10 comedians to watch, as well as a New York Comedy Festival Comic to Watch. As an actor, she can be seen recurring on the Paramount Network’s TV reboot of Heathers and Comedy Central’s Corporate. She also was very active in the stand up comedy club at UCLA right before I went there.

Episode 43: Paige Weldon (Producing an Album, Podcasting, Progressing as a comic)

I had a great chat with Erik Escobar last week. Erik is a working comic based in LA who does a lot of road work in the Pacific Northwest. He has been seen in Last Comic Standing and a handful of Buzzfeed videos. In this interview, we talk about hetting into NACA and doing colleges, stand up comedy strategy, getting Road gigs and more!

Episode 42: Erik Escobar, Mexipino Road Comic

This week I interviewed comedian, mathematician, and (unofficial) world record breaker for doing the most consecutive nights of comedy shows in a row. Sammy is incredibly talented and has a very unique set of skills. His math major background clearly influences his humor and the projects he chooses. I really love the amount of emphasis Sammy places on taking care of one's physical and mental health - two things often overlooked by busy comedians. We talk about a ton of great things during this interview including structuring your day, learning from 1001 nights of comedy, taking care of yourself, turning data into comedy, hosting a math show on a major TV network and MORE!.

Episode 41: Sammy Obeid, Comedian and Mathematician

I had such an insightful interview this past Tuesday with Neel Nanda. After I made him an atrocious unsweetened coconut milk latte, we got to chatting. In this interview we cover headlining and selling out, finding your niche audience, getting on TV without an agent, transitioning out of open mics and into shows, and MUCH MORE. This interview is jam packed with incredibly helpful content. Bio: Starting comedy in Atlanta, GA and now based in Los Angeles, Neel Nanda has performed all over the country with some of comedies’ biggest acts. Neel has most recently performed stand up on ABC's JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE & has acted and performed on COMEDY CENTRAL's ADAM DEVINE'S HOUSE PARTY. In 2018 he was a featured comedian on AMAZON PRIME’S INSIDE JOKE with Asif Ali. Neel has also made notable appearances on MTV and on IFC's GARKUNKEL AND OATES SHOW. Other networks where you can catch his stand up comedy include HULU's COMING TO THE STAGE, & several episodes of the series FLOPHOUSE for VICELAND directed by Lance Bangs. Neel recently featured at Bridgetown Comedy Festival in Portland, the Laughing Skull Festival in Atlanta and was the runner up for the Westside Stand Up Showdown (2015) in Los Angeles. Aside from just performing standup, he currently produces a few shows in LA including "Unnecessary Evil" at the Westside Comedy Theater, which was recently named one of LA Weekly’s top 10 stand up shows. You can catch Neel every week at his show on the Westside where he has shared the stage with comedians like Hannibal Buress, Demetri Martin, Laura Kightlinger, and even Yakov Smirnoff.

Episode 40: Neel Nanda (Getting on TV Without An Agent)

I recently had a great interview with Sierra Katow! Taken from her bio: She first began performing standup at 16 and was the youngest comedian featured on season 9 of Last Comic Standing on NBC. Her standup was also featured on Last Call with Carson Daly, Laughs on Fox, and Acting Out on MTV. Her festival credits include the Seattle Int'l Comedy Competition, Boston Comedy Festival, the Women in Comedy Festival, the LA IO West Comedy Festival, the Comedy Comedy Festival, the Women In Comedy Festival, and the Funny Women Fest LA. She's currently writing for a new show on Eko and serves as producer of the podcast Queery with Cameron Esposito. In the past, she has worked as a writers' assistant for Drop the Mic on TBS and Take My Wife on Starz and served as VP of The Harvard Lampoon. In this interview we talk about Harvard computer science, the Harvard stand up club, being an Asian American woman in comedy, getting into coding, doing colleges, post college guilt, process of selling an animated short, getting into Laugh Factory, comedy end goals, festivals being over-hyped, morning rituals, and more.

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Working Comic Podcast

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