#347: Comedy In a Cancel Culture—Tom Leopold

The Patrick Coffin Show | Interviews with influencers | Commentary about culture | Tools for transformation

Patrick Coffin

Catholicanswers, Christianity, Religion & Spirituality, Culture, Society & Culture, Commentary, Americanculture, Catholic, Conservative, Podcast, Christian

4.8 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 1 August 2023

⏱️ 72 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Christopher Guest (Waiting for Guffman, This is Spinal Tap, Best In Show, A Mighty Wind) said, “When it comes to comedy, Tom Leopold has an extra gene. You may not know it, but he has probably made you laugh.” Harry Shearer (The Simpsons, NPR, This Is Spinal Tap) called him “a semi-precious stone in the crown of comedy,” appellations Leopold treasures.

Indeed, he may well be one of the most prolific and successful comedy writers ever, having written for sitcoms in the US and the UK, material for Bob Hope, Lucille Ball, Jonathan Winters, Michael McKean, Chris Guest, Chevy Chase, et al.

Raised Jewish, the natural raconteur was baptized and received into the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil in 2011. The conservative-minded comedy writer and one-time actor has some fascinating insights into what we call the culture, especially important for the Covid-19 lockdown.

In this episode you will learn

Whether comedy is a skill you learn or must be born with
How his father’s storytelling tradition shaped young Tom’s imagination
What it’s like to meet, and write jokes for, your heroes
The time Vice President Mike Pence served him a coffee on Air Force Two enroute to Cleveland where Pence was set to give a talk written by Leopold
The meaning of “comedy is tragedy plus time” and “death is easy, comedy is hard”
How Jews and Catholics share a love of story

Resources mentioned in this episode

Episode 5 (wow!) of The Patrick Coffin Show with Tom Leopold about his conversion
Jonathan Winters stand up act “The Talent Show.”
Don Rickles at Ronald Reagan’s 1985 inaugural ball
Eddie Murphy’s first Tonight Show appearance (1982).

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Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Welcome to the show. We're going to talk about things that are funny. Are you ready for
0:04.3	some comedy? Is it time in this pandemic upside down world to laugh a little bit? We're
0:09.2	going to do today with my friend Tom Leopold. But first, I want to let you know this episode
0:13.4	of The Patrick Coffin Show is brought to you by drumrollmypillow.com. I love my pillow.
0:19.7	I love my travel version. They have sheets. They have pillowcases. My pillow is the last
0:25.3	thing I stick in my luggage before I go on a trip. I also love Michael and Dell. I've interviewed
0:30.5	Mike twice on this show. I'm very picky about who comes back for a second time. And comedy writer,
0:37.1	The Legend Tom Leopold is one of those second timers. He'll be here in a moment to talk about
0:42.9	the things that we're going to talk about, but if not rehearsed. So go to mypillow.com. My name
0:46.5	Patrick gets you a massive discount. Check out also the discount on Mike's new book, which is being
0:50.9	made into a movie. It's called What are the odds from, well, I don't know, this is the title,
0:56.2	but from crack addict to CEO again, mypillow.com. My name Patrick gets you a big Patrick Coffin Show
1:02.4	discount. Coming up next, Tom Leopold. But first, this fake celebrity endorsement.
1:13.7	The man's a national treasure, whether you're raising Arizona or just leaving Las Vegas,
1:19.8	the Patrick Coffin Show will blow your face off. As promised, Tom Leopold has been a staff writer
1:27.4	on shows. He ran the comedy writer's room at Columbia University. He's written for all the greats,
1:32.9	Bob Hope, Steve Allen, Lucio, Bob, Billy Crystal, Chevy Chase, Tim, Tim, this probably Tim in there,
1:39.5	Christopher Guest. But he is here and he is perhaps distracted with an instrument of some kind.
1:44.8	Tom Leopold, are you there? Tom, hello. How are you? I'm just about to finish my five hours of
1:50.9	practice a day. I can speak that G-court now. Hold on one second. You can pull. Okay. Looks like a
1:58.2	fender of some kind. That's not good personal. Oh, well, it was your fault in the accident in the
2:04.8	parking lot. Fender bend. It's a grouch. It's a grouch. Or in my case, a crotch. A crotch.
	...

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