Interview Jackie Mason with Emerson College In his one-hour interview for the American Comedy Archives at Emerson College, Jackie Mason talks about where his comedy comes from, and the process of building his act. He describes his start as a Catskill comedian, where he created his persona, and his first television appearance, on The Steve...
Interview Billy Crystal In his three-hour interview, Billy Crystal talks about his early life, and becoming interested in comedy at a young age. He describes attending NYU to study film, where he learned from Martin Scorsese, and met Christopher Guest. He recounts getting Buddy Morra to manage him, and his appearances on...
Interview Jamie Masada with Emerson College In his one-and-a-half hour interview for the American Comedy Archives at Emerson College, Jamie Masada talks about how he came to found the Laugh Factory, and Richard Pryor being the first comedian to take the stage there in 1979. He describes figuring out the business of owning a comedy club in...
Interview "Weird Al" Yankovic with Emerson College In his one-hour interview for the American Comedy Archives at Emerson College, “Weird Al” Yankovic talks about his early years, and his first break, getting his music played on the “Dr. Demento” radio show. He describes the types of parodies he does, and how he tends to stay away from satire and...
Interview Irwin Corey with Emerson College In his hour-and-a-half interview for the American Comedy Archives at Emerson College, Irwin Corey (1914-2017) talks about his status as “the world’s foremost authority” and his comedy style. He discusses the then-current state of comedy on television, and the signature comedy of various performers...
Interview Chuck McCann with Emerson College In his two-and-a-half hour interview for the American Comedy Archives at Emerson College, Chuck McCann (1934-2018) talks about his early life, and seeing many performers on stage as a child, including Danny Thomas and Abbott and Costello, due to his father being a musician. He speaks of his early...
