In the early 60s, Richard Pryor was a clean cut, mainstream comedian who appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show. Then he had a meltdown in Las Vegas. Retreating from showbiz, he moved to Berkeley, California and began hanging out with The Black Panthers, the counterculture movement, and African American intellectuals. The experience changed the face of Richard Pryor's comedy.
History of Mother-In-Law Jokes
Mother-in-law jokes were big back in the era of Mad Men and the ‘50s. The joke genre was once a mainstay for stand up comedians. The premise includes the stereotype that mothers-in-law are generally overbearing, obnoxious, and unattractive.
What’s the historical origins of mother-In-law jokes - and what change in society led to their demise?
History of the World's Oldest Jokes
The oldest recorded joke in the world - dates back to 2,300 BC. It’s attributed to the Sumerians. Back in those old-timey days - fart jokes were all the rage. Go figure.
In this episode, we dive into several of the world’s oldest jokes - to see what was making ancient people laugh.
(Pt 2) History of Dolemite
We continue our history of: Dolemite. Eddie Murphy has a new Netflix bio-pic on comedian Rudy Ray Moore - and the making of the movie Dolemite. The movie was made for $100,000 in 1974- and in this episode we cover everything that went wrong during production; including a drunk director, hiring a real-life junky, and basically filming without permits.
History of Here Comes the Judge: Comedy's First Meme
Here Comes the Judge is a 1968 song by legendary comedian Pigmeat Markham. It become one of comedy’s first memes when Sammy Davis Jr. made it a catchphrase on the TV show: Rowan & Martin’s Laugh In.
The song, and Laugh In comedy sketch, became so huge - that 4 other versions of Here Come the Judge were released in the same year - all them making the charts. (The most famous by Shorty Long.)
Here Comes the Judge - also inspired the Baskin-Robbins flavor: Here Comes the Fudge.
Find out more about one of comedy’s first memes - long before there was the Internet.
History of Monty Python's German Episodes
In 1971, the legendary comedy troupe, Monty Python, went to Germany to film two episodes of: Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus.
The Pythons were reluctant to do the episodes - largely because they had to do the shows..in German. The only problem was - none of the members of Monty Python could speak German. The Pythons had to phonetically learn the scripts - to appear like they knew German - to very mixed results.
(Pt 2) History of Lenny Bruce, Censorship, and Free Speech
We continue with the literal trials of Lenny Bruce - and the nature of free speech in comedy clubs.
Does free speech mean that we occasionally have to listen to what we don’t want to hear?
We dive into the gamut of free speech from the controversy of Milo Yiannopoulos appearing at a NYC comedy club - to comedian Ahmed Ahmed having a comedy club patron call 911 on him for making ‘Middle Eastern’ jokes.
Are there limits to Lenny Bruce’s plight?
History of Beatles Producer George Martin's Ties To Comedy
The late George Martin will always be best remembered for his legendary work as the producer of The Beatles. Did you know that the man who made the Fab Four sound amazing got his start as a producer of comedy albums?
Yes, the man behind creating the soundscape for A Day in the Life - also produced comedy albums for Peter Sellers, The Goon Show, and Beyond the Fringe (featuring Dudley Moore). Producing comedy is where Martin learned his chops to produce such Beatles classics as Strawberry Fields Forever.
History of Tim Conway
Tim Conway was one of the greatest second bananas in comedy history. Sadly, he passed away on May 14th at the age of 85. Conway’s comedy career started on a local TV station in Ohio, and he made his mark in sketches alongside Harvey Korman on the Carol Burnett Show. He also starred in the much overlooked TV movie: Roll Freddy, Roll.
We love the comedy work of Tim Conway - and today’s CH101 episode is a tribute!
History of Alex Jones on Austin Public Access TV
Alex Jones began his career in Austin, Texas, back in the ’90s, as a local cable access cult figure - and built a rabid national audience by spewing out conspiracy theories.
To set the stage, ACTV (Austin Community Access TV) in the ’90s was pure Austin at it’s weirdest. Find out how Jones jumped on the scene as an amped up 22-year old - and originally wanted to be a standup comedian. Learn what happened when he got in a fight in the parking lot of ACTV - and claimed he was attacked by a man with “strange goat eyes.”
Read Harmon’s entire story about the incident in the NY Observer.
History of Slipping on a Banana Peel
Since the beginning of the 20th century, slipping on a banana peel has been a fixture in physical comedy. A comedy trope, if you will. We’ve seen such legendary silent comedians as Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, and Laurel and Hardy - all do a variation of the slipping on a banana peel gag.
But how did the “slipping on a banana peel” gag come into our lexicon? And why don’t we see people slipping on banana peels in 2019? Find out all this and more as we do a CH101 deep dive into the history of slipping on banana peels!
(Pt2) CH101 Select: Comedy That Crosses The Line
It’s Part Two of our episode on comedy that crosses the line. You know, the edggggy comedy that goes too far for the times. We dive into Bill Hicks getting censored on the David Letterman show to the revolutionary comedy of Dick Gregory in the early ‘60s - to the cartoons of Charlie Hebdo.
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(Pt 2) History of Marvelous Mrs. Maisel's Comedy Influences
Rachel Brosnahan won for Best Actress at the Golden Globes for her portrayal of the Mrs. Maisel. On this episode, we dive into Part Two of the real-life comedy influences on the fictional Mrs. Maisel - and cover such legendary comics as Joan Rivers, Phyllis Diller, Anne Meara, Moms Mabley, Elaine May, Totie Fields, and Jean Carroll.
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History of Marvelous Mrs. Maisel's Comedy Influences
Did you see the Golden Globe Awards? The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel was nominated for several. Rachel Brosnahan won for Best Actress for her portrayal of the Mrs. Maisel. The show is about a stand up comedian in New York City during the 1950s. But who were the real-life standup comedy influences on the fictional character?
We do a deep dive into the comedians that helped shape the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
(Pt 2) CH101 Select: History of SCTV
We continue with Part Two of our history of SCTV, the iconic TV comedy sketch show that launched the careers of John Candy, Joe Flaherty, Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, Catherine O'Hara, Rick Moranis, and Dave Thomas.
This episode we dive into the later years of SCTV with such movie spinoffs as Strange Brew, starring Bob and Doug Mackenzie.
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Ch101 Select: History of SCTV
We dive into the history behind the legendary sketch comedy show: SCTV.
Learn how SCTV was an offshoot of the original Toronto company of Second City - and find out more about the original SCTV cast that consisted of John Candy, Joe Flaherty, Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, Catherine O'Hara, Harold Ramis, and Dave Thomas.
Hear what about our favorite episodes - and learn the meaning behind, "Crane shot!"
(Pt 2) History of Peep Show And Its American Pilot
We continue with Part Two of our history of the pilot for the American version of Peep Show. How did they take one of the funniest shows ever and turn it into one of the most unfunniest TV pilots of all time? David Mitchell and Robert Webb must be rolling in their graves. (Despite the fact that they are still very much alive.)
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Here is the shitshow that is the American pilot of Peep Show:
History of Kentucky Fried Movie
Kentucky Fried Movie is a flick that not only launched the career of the Zucker Brothers but also film director John Landis. The movie was made in 1977 right before their comedies, Animal House and Airplane, became international sensations.
We dive into the origins of Kentucky Fried Movie, what it took to get made, and it’s place in comedy history.
Also, a shout out to our new sponsor: Drunk Bible Study.
History of The Groove Tube: Comedy That Led to SNL
The Groove Tube is a 1974 comedy film that gave both Chevy Chase and Richard Belzer their first screen roles. It’s also a film that laid the groundwork for the humor of early Saturday Night Live.
The low-budget movie, which satirizes TV and counterculture of the early 70s, began as an innovative theater show in NYC’s Lower East Side - with the Channel One Theater Company.
Directed by Ken Shapiro, The Groove Tube was the brainchild of the humor of the first generation of comedians coming to age in the TV generation.
History of Richard Pryor's Children’s TV Show: Pryor's Place
In 1984, Richard Pryor had a children’s TV show called: Pryor’s Place. This was two years after his classic concert film, Live on the Sunset Strip, - and four years after lighting himself on fire while freebasing cocaine.
The Pryor’s Place only lasted one season and was produced by Sid & Marty Krofft. The show takes place in an inner-city neighborhood. There’s puppets, celebrity guest stars, and Pryor giving moral lessons to kids.
The best part is the theme song to Pryor’s Place performed by Ray Parker Jr. who did the Ghostbuster’s theme. It’s so catchy - that it will haunt you forever.