Laurie Kilmartin has always been one of my favorite comedians. Her stand-up and her books are phenomenal, and her tweets genuinely make me laugh every day. We chat about her early days doing comedy in the Bay Area, day jobs, working the road, and writing for Tough Crowd and Conan.

Jackie Kashian is a fantastic comic with a unique style of quick and punchy story-telling. I opened for Jackie in 2012 and I still remember a specific piece of advice she told me that week. She’s the only comic I know of who did her first set, then immediately started performing every single night for almost a year. We chat about her early days starting stand-up in Wisconsin, her quick NYC stint, her move to Los Angeles, her own podcast (The Dork Forest) and I recall a story from 2012 that pretty much foreshadowed me starting this podcast.

Todd Glass cares more about stand-up than anyone I’ve ever met. From the pre-show announcements to the lighting in the showroom to the vibe in the green room, Todd takes control and lets you know you’re in for an experience. Todd started stand-up at 16 and loves all the little nuances that the audience (and other comics) might not even realize. We talk about those nuances, his writing process, anger, and Jager (we’ve done A LOT of Jager shots together.)

BONUS EPISODE! Natalie Windle Fell has dabbled in stand-up, but that’s not why she joined me on my podcast. Her first book, “Rude Awakening: A Mixtape” was released and, within days, every copy Amazon had in-stock was sold. We chat about the journey that led to her awakening, the importance of music in our lives, her writing process and (OF COURSE), I ask her about her short stint in comedy.

Mary Santora is a fantastic comic out of Cleveland, who just released her debut album, ‘Hillbilly Boujee.’ Mary’s first set was an unusual one with hundreds of supportive people in the crowd – that’s basically unheard of. Unlike most comics, she does a lot of her writing live, on stage. We chat about different writing styles, dealing with grief through jokes and doing stand-up while bartending and waiting tables.

Monroe Martin is a fantastic comedian and an even greater podcast guest. As soon as we start talking, he immediately starts complimenting me. Big fan of when episodes begin like that. Monroe and I have been on countless shows together as we came up through the Philly scene, and since his move to NYC, he’s been on Comedy Central, “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” and “Last Comic Standing.” We share some Philly stories, talk about comedy homework and wearing suits on stage.

Creator of Showtime’s “Funny Women of a Certain Age…” comedian Carole Montgomery sits down with me for a comedy chat covering everything from her early days in NYC to her laundry-list of credits including “Tough Crowd,” “Politically Incorrect” and one of my favorite long-lost gems, “VH1’s “Stand-Up Spotlight.”

Blake Wexler started doing stand-up in the Philly-area when he was 15…and I hated him for it. OK, I didn’t hate him, but he stole my thunder of being the youngest comedian in Philadelphia. Blake is a very close friend and we had a lot to say in this episode. We share some Philly-related stories from our early days, how he would call bars to see if he was even allowed in to perform, his mom driving him to open-mics, his days at Emerson College in Boston and then moving to Los Angeles.

Joe List and I have a ton of similarities in comedy – both of us started shortly after high school, neither one of us had any idea what were were doing, but we both knew that we loved doing stand-up comedy. We cover everything from performing in Chinese restaurants in Boston, moving to NYC, performing on all the late-night shows and appearing on Netlfix’s “The Stand-Ups.” Joe and I talk a lot of comedy and realize we have a lot in common.

“After 51 years in stand-up, I still get excited about new material.” Tom Dreesen is 81-years-old and still out there making people laugh. His new book, “Still Standing…” is filled with countless stories across his five decades in comedy. Tom was half of the first (and only!) black-and-white comedy team alongside Tim Reid, he has made dozens of appearances on Johnny Carson and David Letterman and spent fourteen years performing in every casino, theater and arena as Frank Sinatra’s opening act. He shares alot of great stories with me – everything from poor kid shining shoes in Harvey, IL to performing in front of 40,000 people in HI opening for Sinatra and everywhere in between!