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Mark interviews writer and producer Alan Zweibel. · The Mark Simone Show

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: News breaks out in every show.
• 0:02
  Speaker 2: Mark Simone on sevent ten.
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Woar well, hey with us right now? The great writer, producer,
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: best selling author, and great comedy mind. Alan's why Belle.
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: Make sure you get his book, Laughlines, his biography. His autobiography,
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: laugh Lines is a great book. And of course follow
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: him on Twitter and Instagram and all that stuff. And
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: you know him from Curby, Your Enthusiasm and Saturday Night
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: Live and a million other things. And he's with us now,
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: Alan's why, Belle. How you doing?
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: I'm great? Mark, how are you?
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: I'm good? Hey, your friend Larry David. I didn't know
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: he was such a Knicks fan until I saw him
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  Speaker 1: in the front row a couple of nights.
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  Speaker 2: I got to tell you something. I've known him since
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: nineteen seventy three. I didn't know he was that great
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: a Knicks fan. Also, okay, but when you're Larry David
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: and you're in town and you can get courtside, why
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: not you know? He and the Post for a couple
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: of days was quoting him and conversation with McEnroe and
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  Speaker 2: all of that. It was so much fun to see him.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, some of those celebrities I think, are you know
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  Speaker 1: they're not relevant, so you know, if they sit in
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  Speaker 1: the front row, suddenly they'll be relevant again. Like I
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: don't want to mention Mace and Roe or by whoever,
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: but there were a lot of guys that haven't done
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  Speaker 1: anything in ten years sitting the fren.
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  Speaker 2: Well, you know something, I think it's a perk of
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: being famous, or you know, I think it's worthy of
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: having their faces on TV. But I think you can
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: tell the fans from the people who are there, just
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  Speaker 2: like cosmetically. I think you're right.
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: Yeah, And why would you want to sit in that
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: front row. I'm looking at the President Trump, He's sitting
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: in the suite. He's in this big leather reclient. It
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: looks so luxurious. Down on the floor, you're in a
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: folding chair getting sweat thrown all over you from these players.
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: Why would you want that?
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  Speaker 2: You know, I've sat in no seats a number of times,
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: usually the guests of somebody. I couldn't do it myself, Okay,
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  Speaker 2: So I would go with Billy Crystal, I would go
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  Speaker 2: at A Million Years Ago with Gilda Rob Reiner. And
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: it's thrilling at first, and then you realize that you're
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: knee high for all the players that are going back
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: and forth, you go, wait a second, I'm not seeing
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: a lot of stuff a lot. It's only when they
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: get down towards the other end of the court that
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: you see them do stuff, and you go, wait a second.
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: It's a better game at home. I can watch it
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  Speaker 2: at home.
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  Speaker 1: It's like Nascar, you know. If people are sit in
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: the front row. First of all, you go death, all
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: that noise, but you can't see anything. You got to
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: be up high and look down to really understand what's happening.
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: So absolutely, and you're really high and you look the
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: super Bowl. I've never been to a super Bowl, okay,
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: so maybe I'd like to experience one. But you know,
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: look the party the night before. Great, and you'll be
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: amongst all those fans in the hoopla of it. But
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: once again, if you're home, you see it from a
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  Speaker 2: thousand different and the replays and close ups and whatever,
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: you know, and you can also go to the bathroom
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  Speaker 2: and not miss anything. So you know that that's where
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: I am oh Alan's bell.
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: Last time we talked to you, we're still working on
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  Speaker 1: the Rodney Dangerfield Broadway show. How's that coming?
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  Speaker 2: Yes, I am. It's on hold right now because I've
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  Speaker 2: finished No no, no, no, it's on hold because I
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  Speaker 2: finished the latest draft and the producers are going over it,
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: and I'm sure I'm going to get a battery of notes.
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  Speaker 2: But you know, it's still viable. And I also have
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  Speaker 2: a movie that I co wrote with Barry Levinson that
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  Speaker 2: Barry's going to direct, So I think they have the
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  Speaker 2: funding and now we're going to go out casting.
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  Speaker 1: Oh great, now Rodney Dangerfield. Everybody loves him on TV,
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  Speaker 1: the funny, charming, you know, grandfatherly to Now, in real life,
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  Speaker 1: Rodney was quite a wild guy and a lot different
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  Speaker 1: than that character. Is that going to be coming out
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  Speaker 1: in this Broadway show?
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  Speaker 2: It has to be in order to be honest, and
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  Speaker 2: I think it helps his story that he overcame whatever
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: liabilities were in his life, whatever deficiencies there were, bad
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  Speaker 2: parents and this and that, and for him to triumph
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  Speaker 2: the way he did by using his comedy. I think
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  Speaker 2: it's a very triumphant, very very winning story. So it
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  Speaker 2: has to be.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, but the Rodney, the wild Rodney, is going to
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  Speaker 1: be a little of that in there too.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, sure, sure. The producer bought the rights to Rodney's autobiography,
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  Speaker 2: and in it, Rodney goes into great detail about his
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  Speaker 2: not only his demons, but his vices. And it's really
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  Speaker 2: interesting because I'll, you know, I'll run into somebody and
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: the last me what I'm up to, and I'll say,
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  Speaker 2: you know, I'll tell them about the Rodney thing, and
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: they'll go, oh, you're going to include about how he
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  Speaker 2: walked around on the streets of New York at noon
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  Speaker 2: with the in pajamas. So people know that stuff, you know.
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: So yeah, and often it was the bathrobe and he
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: didn't quite tie the thing around his waist enough.
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  Speaker 2: I think that might have been on purpose, but I
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  Speaker 2: don't know. I'm not sure.
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: Hey, everybody should follow Alan's wybel on Twitter. Good stuff there.
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: I see there's a picture you with Sebastian Manuscalco, who's
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: probably would you would you agree, maybe the biggest comedian
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  Speaker 1: in the world right now stand up comedian?
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  Speaker 2: Well, yeah, I mean he's amongst them. You know, you
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  Speaker 2: got John Mulaney, you know, you got Chappelle, but you
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  Speaker 2: got certain guys who can fill out any venue for
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  Speaker 2: multiple nights, and he's certainly high up there.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, but last time it was the Garden, it was
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  Speaker 1: two shows a night for multiple nights. I don't know
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  Speaker 1: anybody that does two shows a night at the Garden.
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  Speaker 2: Well, you know something, We went because I had not
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  Speaker 2: seen him in person before, and we got these great seats.
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  Speaker 2: We got a box the sixth row and you look
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: behind you and you look up and you look down
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  Speaker 2: and you go, my god, this is Madison Square Garden.
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: And he did a show this afternoon, and they held
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  Speaker 2: him over a couple of nights. It's just unbelievable.
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  Speaker 1: Now, explain his delivery to me. He's the funniest guy
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  Speaker 1: of the world. It's fascinat because every comedian is louder,
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: they're aggressive or there. It's his delivery. His voice gets
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: so tiny at times. How does he do that?
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  Speaker 2: I think you're absolutely right. Marks. There's a lot of
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  Speaker 2: inflection and you can almost feel the words the way
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  Speaker 2: that he delivers them, you know. He uh. He does
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: this routine about going to a satyr for the first time,
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: where you sit down with a thousand people and then
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: you wait two hours to eat, and he compares it
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: to an Italian dinner that the minute is any smell
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  Speaker 2: is wafting into that into that room, people are like
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  Speaker 2: scavengers and you know, and you know, and not only
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  Speaker 2: is it true, but it's really really funny. His attitude
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  Speaker 2: about it. There's a little hint of bewilderment, you know.
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  Speaker 2: So I think that that's very, very infectious. I think
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  Speaker 2: people respond to that.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, but you know, any committee would be loud, like
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  Speaker 1: Seinfeld will go two hours or Chris Rock till hours.
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: But he says two hours. It's very How does he
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: do that? It's a it's an incredible talent.
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  Speaker 2: It's an incredible talent, and it's an incredible choice that
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  Speaker 2: he made. I'm not saying that it's calculated. He could
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: very well. I never met him, so that could be
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  Speaker 2: his natural demeanor. But it's in an era where people
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  Speaker 2: sometimes raise their voice for emphasis. He went the other way,
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  Speaker 2: either naturally or by design. And you listen in and
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  Speaker 2: you're not and you're not hit over the head by it.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's fascinating, But hey, Ellen's hibo were you teaching
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  Speaker 1: at Princeton?
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  Speaker 2: I was teaching at Princeton, and next I guess about it.
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  Speaker 2: Next spring I'll be teaching at Columbia teaching it. Yeah,
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  Speaker 2: it's it's a shorter driver. I live right over the
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: Bridge in New Jersey, so you know, but it's one
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  Speaker 2: day a week and it was really interesting. It was
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  Speaker 2: really interesting too because these Princeton students. The course was
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  Speaker 2: in something all right, I hope you're sitting down. It's
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: called it was epistolary.
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: Literature Specialty to what the hell is that?
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  Speaker 2: No, no, no, I know it is. That's why I
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: brought it up. Well, what that means is any kind
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  Speaker 2: of car It's correspondence, it's mail between two people and
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: that and you know what I mean, it's dialogue between
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: a letter writer and a letter receiver and back and forth.
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  Speaker 2: And I was They asked me if I would teach that.
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: I said, you bet, and then I googled what that
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  Speaker 2: meant after I accepted the job. But it was fascinating
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  Speaker 2: for me. The Princeton students look, obviously they're really really smart.
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: You know, they go to Princeton for God's sake. It
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: was a past fail course. But the kids were so
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: math oriented, technology oriented computers AI where there's an exactitude, okay,
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: you know two and two are always equals four. For
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: me to teach writing where they allowed to use their imagination,
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: go outside the lines, create something that doesn't exist right now.
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: It took about three or four classes for them to
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: loosen up a little bit. It was really fascinating.
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: Yeah, this sounds great. Well we'll get back to this
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: next thing. We're out of time. But that's fascinating stuff.
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: Yeah it is.
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: Everybody, get Alan's Whitebell's book Laughlines. It's a wonderful book
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: with a lot of laughs and a lot of great stories.
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: And make sure you follow them on Twitter and his
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: instagram is great, and go to Alan it's Allan's why
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: bell dot com writ your website, right, that's right, Alanswhitebell
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  Speaker 1: dot com. Alan's ye Bell. Thanks for being with.
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: Us, Thanks for having me Mark, Take.
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: Care all right, take care. Uh hey, we've got a
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: lot coming up, don't forget. Buck and Clay will be
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: here at noon today with a great show right here
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: on seven ten wo r