Laugh Tracks Legends of Comedy with Randy and Steve – Details, episodes & analysis

Time to get your rock and roll shoes on with Tenacious D -- the musical comedy creation of Jack Black and Kyle Gass -- who turned a fun novelty act into an ever more fun worldwide recording and touring machine. When Black and Gass first met in an LA theater troupe they couldn't have known how much their futures would be intertwined. While an early HBO show didn't catch fire, their debut album was a smash -- earning airplay on traditional hard rock stations as well as on comedy shows. The secret is that their music is REALLY good. Both Jack and Kyle are fine musicians and Black is possessed of a voice that would make metal vocalists the world over envious. There is a reason that in their movie "The Pick of Destiny" Jack Black's character (in a flashback to his youth) has a picture of Ronnie James Dio on his wall that he worships (and that talks to him). From there the boys have mixed albums with concert tours and they show no signs of stopping after 30 years. Rock on! And, as always, find extra cuts below (NSFW for sure) and thanks for sharing our shows!

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Tenacious D's first breakout song was Tribute -- and it's perfect that they purport to record this version in one of those cheesy recording booths that pop up at parties and clubs. https://youtu.be/_lK4cX5xGiQ?

The movie The Pick of Destiny really catapulted The D into a new level of fame -- and it included this gem. https://youtu.be/kVbbtuJfgIc?si=qehn_vlPjJhM_S7t

Tenacious D is about nothing if not the love of METAL music. Case in point, this great live version of The METAL!

https://youtu.be/Ceo8E40vdiI?si=r-bFUKLUyRMP-jJz

Sometimes comics start down unusual career paths (at least for a comic). How about accountancy? Bob Newhart famously plied that trade early in life. And today's Legend -- Ray Romano -- figured out his comedy path after studying accountancy in college. We suspect that Ray can hire out for an accountant these days after a career that includes a wildly successful sitcom, juicy voice acting roles, frequent guest spots on television (sometimes in dramatic roles), and a little professional poker tossed in the mix. Ray's family friendly brand of humor has gone down well with audiences since he first emerged in the late 1980s. Everybody Loves Raymond debuted in 1996 and launched him to the next level, along with wining him three Emmy awards over nine seasons. Most recently Ray has started taking dramatic roles as in Martin Scorsese's "The Irishman" and he continues to be a popular draw on the standup stage. As always find extended cuts below and thanks for sharing our shows!

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The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson was legendary for the comics it featured early in their careers. Here's Ray from his first Tonight Show appearance in 1991. https://youtu.be/1VcdnqH0PJc?si=wuX4NQ1GyzRopK6h

Everybody Loves Raymond was a smash focusing on the day-to-day live of a large Italian family. Here are some highlights. https://youtu.be/r6uuxO-sHT0?si=JuYxQDhW_M-kP5FD

Ray is a key part of the Ice Age animated movie franchise playing Manny the Wooly Mammoth with just the right amount of sarcasm and grumpiness! https://youtu.be/mVkDXaeqkHA?si=4_YmPEmIuJ_3M1Hg

Be honest, how many of you majored in bong hits at college? If so, you are in good company with today's legend -- Jon Stewart -- who claims he did just that back in the day. It doesn't seem to have lowered his productivity -- after three decades in the public eye Jon is as busy as ever with his second stint on the Daily Show. Since his early days, Jon has shown his ability to mix serious factual news with razor sharp satire first as a standup, then as an MTV host, and finally at the Daily Show where he turned a late night oddity into a cultural juggernaut. And, when he is in the mood, Jon can also conjure up a little Catskills comedy vibe as well. As always find extra cuts below and thanks for sharing our shows!

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Jon's first national standup exposure was on David Letterman in 1992 -- from the start he was insightful, literate -- and very funny. https://youtu.be/wxUBJYzJrYg?si=zSUyqjkEqWIAkSXR

Jon had a much loved MTV talk show in the early 1990s and one of his guests was another tv legend -- Dick Clark! https://youtu.be/38BPMKLckVY?si=XMOA2PEzkwDnxJxj

Jon's second stint as Daily Show host was a delightful surprise that landed just before the 2024 presidential election -- and Jon's election night coverage was masterful. https://youtu.be/ZjMAfRq7V_s?si=DTiXEpJj73tg1YRa

Grab a bottle of Courvoisier and some "quiet storm" music because Leon Phelps, the Ladies' Man is in the house! Well, ok, it's actually Tim Meadows, the talent behind Leon who became an SNL favorite throughout the 1990s and who has built a solid career as a comic actor ever since. A product of Michigan, Tim learned improve there and at the Second City in Chicago where Lorne Michaels discovered him and added him to a strong cast. When Tim left he was (at that time) the longest serving SNL cast member and he turned that into a busy schedule of movie and TV appearances including Mean Girls, Inside Amy Schumer, The Goldbergs, and more. As always find extra clips below and thanks for sharing our shows!

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Tim's SNL breakout character was the always smooth Leon Phelps -- here's a full sketch. https://youtu.be/UNVn-Rpl7DI?si=MqezkJyagXSWYlNY

Tim provided SNL with a lot of impersonations over the years, but perhaps none more pointed than his take on OJ Simpson lawyer Johnnie Cochran. https://www.reddit.com/.../tim_meadows_hilarious.../...

Tim had a key role in the 2004 hit Mean Girls playing a beleaguered high school principal -- here dressing down a gymnasium full of students for circulating a "burn book". https://youtu.be/GGGBbxXgFug?si=4499G0KGo0wPOJP0

Tim can still bring the sketch comedy as a recent appearance on Stephen Colbert's Late Show demonstrates. https://youtu.be/YT1uE5x4zNw?si=Pu2rDACaLS5JpaRm

The name may not ring too many bells today, but from the 1960s through the 1990s you just had to turn on your television or (hit up your local comedy record store) and you were sure to run into the work of Sandy Baron who rose from playing the Catskills "borscht belt", to improv and satirical shows (including the US version of "That Was The Week That Was), to becoming a fixture in Vegas, in movies, and on television talk and game shows. In 1984 Sandy was introduced to a new generation of fans with his a role in Broadway Danny Rose, Woody Allen's tribute to shtickmeisters (and struggling agents), then in the 1990s he had a juicy late-career triumph on Seinfeld as Jack Klompus who was a comic antagonist of Jerry's dad. As always find extra cuts below and thanks for sharing our shows.

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We don't usually include other artists in an episode, but how can we fail to give you the whole Lou Rawls classic "A Natural Man" -- with lyrics courtesy of Sandy Baron. https://youtu.be/y9tS0loD3vQ?si=BkE-OA-wTpBUV701

Sandy had one shot at his own sitcom (Hey Landlord!) and it tanked after just one year. Being a great standup comic, Sandy was able to turn his pain to laughs in this routine from shortly after the cancellation. https://youtu.be/jdr0GcxAoQo?si=q-YB2UAcumQDJTdK

Woody Allen's Broadway Danny Rose was a love letter to the shtickmeisters of the past (and their sometimes hapless agents). Much of the story is told in flashback during a gathering of comics at the Carnegie Deli -- and Sandy was right in the middle of it. https://youtu.be/mXIM1JXWjm4?si=ZViQ3NSLjeJ4R3-g

Longtime fans were delighted when Sandy surfaced in the 1990s playing a pesky rival of Jerry Seinfeld's dad on the classic sitcom Seinfeld. Here are some of of the best "Jack Klompus" moments from the show. https://youtu.be/XLK1eqK2kEo?si=-9LZ0EwUQ1o4BDVw

OK, we're a day late but it's still a Happy St. Patrick's Day here at Laugh Tracks. And why wouldn't it be when we are featuring Irish comedy star of the small and big screen, Chris O'Dowd. From early roles in British tv, Chris got his breakout role on the classic British sitcom The IT Crowd playing Roy Trenneman, an information tech worker who is a master at avoiding work. The show's success launched Chris onto the big screen with a number of juicy supporting roles before he scored the role of Officer Nathan Rhodes in the 2011 blockbuster Bridesmaids -- a role that earned him a Screen Actor's Guild award. Chris remains busy with tv work, recently appearing in the lead role of Get Shorty, a comedy-drama loosely based on the 1990 book. As always find extra clips below and thanks for sharing our shows!

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Chris gained wide fame in Britain with his role as Roy Trenneman a snarky and slacking information tech worker in The IT Crowd. https://youtu.be/wXEsldiW9Xg?si=V4dkLgceu75UJ0e-

For American audiences, Chris had his breakout role in 2011's smash hit Bridesmaids. Chris played Officer Nathan Rhodes, winning a Screen Actor's Guild award for his work. https://youtu.be/6rJdK0_3BL0?si=0cy6Xpmlhiu4CYUF

Have an extra cup of coffee because you are going to need to be on your toes to keep up with this week's Legend, improv comedy superstar, as well as a a fine television actor, Ryan Stiles. Born in the US, Ryan was raised in Vancouver, BC and got his start doing standup and writing for the CBC when he was tapped for the British version of Whose Line is it Anyway. He was lured back to the US as a regular in the Drew Carey show, then what do you know -- Drew launches a US "Whose Line" with Ryan front and center in the cast. That show has also spawned successful improv tours by the cast which continue to this day. Ryan also had a long run as a regular on the Two and a Half Men sitcom, and in his spare time he founded and occasionally appears at an improv comedy theater and school in his home of Bellingham, Washington. As always find extra clips below and thanks for sharing our shows!

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Ryan is known for improv but this is a fun bit -- produced by the Second City in a film noir fashion. https://youtu.be/CpSXAO-N_qQ?si=wB6qeA8Neyl0AGQB

Whose Line started in the UK and one of the fun games was Questions Only! (yes, you can speak only in questions). Here's the UK cast in action (also including Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood). https://youtu.be/JcDzy6IgIcg?si=9NZHEC3T8sLr0lFF

On the Drew Carey show, Ryan played Lewis Kinski, a buddy of Drew's, who was known for having the lamest pickup lines in town. Here's a few to avoid!https://youtu.be/mzIYmvhyyDk?si=JJ3231qEynqn-GvK

Ryan is a community-minded guy, living in Bellingham, Washington. After his Whose Line fame he set up an improv theater where he occasionally appears as in this parody of a late night talk show -- Bellingham T'nite! https://youtu.be/tEc0mBm1lRs?si=FYLKnVH6nkNabWxx

Grab your best duds, we're hopping in the Time Machine for Las Vegas in the 1950s to catch up with The Rat Pack -- or at least the comic relief -- in the form of Joey Bishop who was a presence in Vegas showrooms, in movies, and on television well into the 1980s. A product of the New York nightclub scene, where Frank Sinatra caught and liked his act, Joey was Frank's opener for years and when Sinatra took the helm of the Rat Pack, he brought Joey along for the ride. That association would end in the early 1960s, but Joey remained a celebrity and hosted his own ABC late night talk show in the mid-60s. A deadpan comic, Joey later became a frequent game show panelist, as well as a talk show guest host. Frank Sinatra's death in 1998 left Joey as the Rat Pack's "last man standing" -- as we always say, comedy keeps you young! Find extra clips below and thanks for sharing our shows!

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In the late 1990s snarky record fans started discovering records with celebrities not known for their singing having at it nonetheless. Joey weighs in here with Your Cheatin' Heart from his 1968 album Joey Bishop Sings Country and Western. It even won an award from the Academy of Country Music. https://youtu.be/_ghzOy3X1uE?si=fDIdIQWd-E07JjX8

Here's a nice sample of Joey's standup comedy from an appearance on the Dinah Shore Show back in 1960, when the Rat Pack still ruled. https://youtu.be/VR2j8nDwNbs?si=PW8wboAyjoLHz55o

Joey's 1967 late night ABC talk show didn't last long, but it's a great period piece and a chance to see his co-host -- a very young Regis Philbin. The "Nehru jacket" bit we excerpted is in the first few minutes, but this whole clip is great including a visit from Sammy Davis Jr. https://youtu.be/sM7Fzz0qjuM?si=svjee052G_5QHU4A

As with so many 50s/60s starts, in the 1970s Joey found his footing as a reliable game show panelist -- here Joey plays a bit of the Match Game. His bit is about 12:15 in, but the whole thing is a blast of 1976 nostalgia. https://youtu.be/Ad7IENuxZZw?si=rn6_XdQ-2UWprQd8

If we were playing television trivia and said "Sally Rogers" you would say "Rose Marie" -- this week's legend. But there was a whole lot more to Rose Marie than her role as a comedy writer on The Dick Van Dyke show. A child singing sensation, Rose Marie spent time on the vaudeville circuit, eventually making it to Broadway with a featured role in South Pacific. She frequently guested on early tv sitcoms before she landed the role of a lifetime and became part of television history along with Dick Van Dyke, Mary Tyler Moore, Morey Amsterdam, Carl Reiner, and Richard Deacon. In particular, Rose Marie's Sally Rogers and Morey Amsterdam's Buddy Sorrell were fan favorites and appeared from time to time as a duo act. When Rose Marie died, Nell Scovell, creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, said that Rose Marie's Sally Rogers was the "patron saint of female comedy writers." Not a bad way to be remembered! As always find extra clips below and thanks for sharing our shows!

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Rose Marie got her start as a child singing sensation (known as Baby Rose Marie) -- and here is one of her hits. https://youtu.be/XGBqxkqAvMk?si=4yB0AhtS2YppRZfW

Rose Marie landed a prime role in the Broadway production of Top Banana back in 1951 as well as the 1954 movie version. Here she is at a 1978 Johnny Mercer retrospective, singing her spotlight song from that show.https://youtu.be/NYWcwPMArXg?si=QyT0ebw4dZL_CC-2

Rose Marie and Morey Amsterdam sometime reprised their Sally and Buddy act for live audiences including this fun spot on the Hollywood Palace. You even get Groucho Marx as the host. https://youtu.be/cQik0KEpgZY?si=Qn_SQ8hT2WHEZYIP

Rose Marie and Morey Amsterdam appeared together in a sweet episode of Caroline in the City in 1996. (It also turned out to be one of Morey's final appearances).https://youtu.be/zMNHiXrGqDk?si=7VO-SABFUGUTK2An

Take a wooden puppet, a guy who can't quite keep his lips from moving, and add impeccable comic timing and you just might come up with Edgar Bergen, often considered the premiere ventriloquist of the 20th century. With his "dummies" Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd, Bergen was a hit in vaudeville, then on radio -- quite a feat for someone whose act generally requires the audience to see the artist. But Bergen's rapid verbal repartee with his puppets -- especially Charlie McCarthy -- captivated audiences and led to movie roles and tv appearances down the line. Bergen earned not one, not two, but three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to movies, radio, and television. As always find extra clips below and thanks for sharing our shows.

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Here's a nice long sample of Edgar and Charlie in action, from their 1950 Thanksgiving special. https://youtu.be/oJVrK408nyQ?si=-nhi_PPPvj9JfsBZ

Bergen's other comic foil was Mortimer Snerd -- as slow-witted as Charlie McCarthy is quick-witted. It led to fun, as in this bit with Bing Crosby.https://youtu.be/_8YBiWU5Ok4?si=o-Dum7JIiABl9hVk

In 1939 Bergen and Charlie starred in You Can't Cheat on Honest Man with WC Fields and Charlie wasted no time in annoying his co-star. https://fb.watch/xQv-XqQbRm/

Bergen and McCarthy made their final screen appearance in 1978's The Muppet Movie -- a fitting farewell to a master puppeteer. https://youtu.be/5EDVCevIB-Q?si=sh9Nhmus0fSxWQ-P