How To Write Funny
Scott Dikkers
Scott Dikkers, founder of TheOnion.com and The Onion's editor-in-chief for most of the last 25 years, interviews celebrities, writers, and other people in the comedy industry about their background, philosophy and process.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Apr 11, 2016 • 51min
Episode 19 | Steve Dildarian
TV and commercial copywriter Steve Dildarian enjoyed three seasons of his own funny and critically acclaimed animated series on HBO, The Life and Times of Tim.
Feb 18, 2016 • 53min
Episode 18 | Jermaine Affonso
Scott talks with Jermaine Affonso, a former writer for The Onion who's now the Editor in Chief of Clickhole, which many have called the funniest site on the Internet.
Oct 31, 2015 • 56min
Episode 17 | Jerry Rocha
Jerry Rocha, from Dallas, TX, has been performing stand-up for 20 years. He's appeared on Conan. Last Comic Standing, and his TV special, The Gentleman Jerry Rocha, presented by Gabriel Iglesias, premiered this month on Fuse.
Oct 10, 2015 • 45min
Episode 16 | Beth Newell
Beth Newell founded, with Sarah Pappalardo, the women's news parody website Reductress.
Sep 23, 2015 • 52min
Episode 15 | Louie Anderson
Louie Anderson is one of the most successful stand-up comics of the last 30 years. He created and starred in the animated TV series Life With Louie. He’s written several books, including Dear Dad: Letters from an Adult Child, and The F Word: How to Survive Your Family. For a time he was the host of TV's Family Feud.
Sep 10, 2015 • 47min
Episode 14 | Daniel Greenberg
With the worst audio quality yet, Scott talks via wax cylinder and copper wire with literary agent Daniel Greenberg, who represents humor writers, comedians, and comedy celebrities. He also discovers new talent in the humor sphere and gets them book-publishing deals.
Aug 31, 2015 • 1h 23min
Episode 13 | Andy Borowitz
Scott and Andy Borowitz take a ride through his varied career, from being President of the Harvard Lampoon, creating the hit TV show The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, stand-up and lecturing, to having his homegrown humor email list become so popular it was subsumed by The New Yorker.
Aug 24, 2015 • 46min
Episode 12 | Bob Einstein
Scott picks up the phone and talks with master comedy actor, writer and producer Bob Einstein, the man behind Super Dave Osborne.
Aug 17, 2015 • 54min
Episode 11 | Todd Rosenberg
Todd Rosernberg created one of the first viral online cartoon series, Odd Todd.
Aug 10, 2015 • 1h 1min
Episode 10 | Anna Lefler
Scott talks with Anna Lefler, a humor author who got started as a Mommy blogger. Her first comic novel, Preschooled, comes out this fall. Her previous book was The Chicktionary: From A-Line to Z-Snap, The Words Every Woman Should Know. She's also written and performed for the Nickelodeon/NickMom TV show Parental Discretion with Stefanie Wilder-Taylor, and is a three-time faculty member of the Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop
