Bullseye with Jesse Thorn

This week, we're doing something a little different: looking back on the work of Jim Coyle and Mal Sharpe. Two brilliant comedians, decades ahead of their time. The comedy duo recorded a series of hilarious and bizarre man-on-the-street records in the 1960s. They'd approach people with usually an absurd proposition: let's rob a bank together. Let's give a stranger a child. Let's become one person – all all three of us. Deeply weird and deeply funny questions. Jim Coyle died in 1993. Mal Sharpe died this past March. He was 83. We're taking time to remember the comedy duo by revisiting a couple conversations with Mal Sharpe. The conversations are some of the first celebrity interviews on the show, back when it was called The Sound of Young America. We'll also listen to some classic Coyle and Sharpe vox populi interviews.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Hey! It's Tina Fey and Robert Carlock - the legendary co-creating and writing team behind 30 Rock and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, two of the funniest TV shows ever! Tina and Robert join us to talk about their new Netflix special, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs The Reverend, an interactive, choose-your-own-adventure style special episode. Plus: SNL, 30 Rock, and why the teeth are the outside bones! Not the inside bones!Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Maybe you're looking for a distraction. Maybe it's a TV show. One that can transport somewhere else. Perhaps it's a world where iguanas are mail carriers, and lawn hedges are trimmed with shaving cream and razors. Three Busy Debras is that place. It's a briliant, bizarre show set in the fictional town of Lemoncurd, Connecticut. We'll chat with the creative minds behind Three Busy Debras: Sandy Honig, Mitra Jouhari and Alyssa Stonoha. They'll explain what it means to be a Debra, and where they initially got the idea of the Debras. Plus, what it was like to sell out Carnegie Hall.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

We're joined by comedian Eugene Mirman! The comedian and writer has opened for comedy duo Flight of the Conchords and played Yvgeny Mirminsky on Adult Swim's Delocated. He is also the voice of "Gene Belcher" on the popular Fox animated series Bob's Burgers. We'll talk about his latest project, a documentary titled It Started as a Joke. It's about Brooklyn's alt comedy scene as well as a personal story about his family. Eugene joins Bullseye to discuss dealing with grief, defining space in his life for silliness and why community is so important to him. All that and more on the next Bullseye!Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

This week, we're joined by the great Nikki Glaser! Nikki has been a star in the standup community for years, but she's probably best known for her performances on Comedy Central's Celebrity Roasts where her devastating one-liners really get to shine. She joins us to talk about her latest stand-up special Bangin'. Plus, she shares how she's keeping busy during quarantine, how she felt the first time she did standup, and what it's like to be a woman in comedy.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

We're joined by the great Christoph Waltz! We'll talk about his breakout role in Inglourious Basterds – Quentin Tarantino's bonkers World War II action thriller. At the time, Waltz was a relative newcomer to American films. His role as Colonel Hans Landa earned him not only his first ever Academy Award nomination, but also his first Academy Award. Almost overnight, he became an American movie star: The Green Hornet, Django Unchained, the most recent James Bond movies. His latest project is Most Dangerous Game on the mobile streaming platform Quibi. It's a retelling of the classic short story by Richard Connell. We chat about that, dive into his Opera career, how he stumbled into acting, and so much more!Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Bill Withers died last month. He was 81. For Bullseye this week, we look back at our two interviews with the soul singer responsible for such classics as "Ain't No Sunshine," "Lean on Me" and "Grandma's Hands." We look back at the life of the man, the myths behind why he left the industry and the soul of the artist. Bill also talked to us about charting his own course to happiness in life.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Cartoonist Ben Katchor is probably best known for his comic strip Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer, a comic about small businessman who roams the city capturing pictures of a fading ideal of New York. His newest work is called The Dairy Restaurant. It's an illustrated history of the Jewish restaurants that served as a kind of meatless counterpart to the delicatessen. Ben joins us to talk about the dairy restaurants of his youth, what he calls our "pastoral impulse" to find good food, and the first place he's going once he can break quarantine.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

It's Ed Helms, everyone! Helms got his start as a correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Then he was on the Office. Then, a little old movie called The Hangover. Ed Helms joins to chat about how all those projects changed his life. Plus: his latest role as a Detroit Police officer in the buddy cop comedy Coffee & Kareem.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

We're joined by the always sharply-dressed Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top! He's been the lead guitarist and singer of the band for over fifty years with classic songs like "La Grange," "Sharp Dressed Man" and "Legs." While the band's current tour dates have been postponed due to current events, their documentary ZZ Top: That Little Ol' Band from Texas, is available to stream online. The Texas native and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer joins Bullseye to talk about the group's legacy, their blues and psychedelic roots and his keen sense of style. Plus, he'll tell us how a BBQ joint became responsible for that legendary ZZ Top sound.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy