Episode 281 - Spike Feresten

Breaking Bread with Tom Papa

All Things Comedy

Comedy, Comedy Interviews, Arts, Food

4.9 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 9 September 2025

⏱️ 95 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Today Spike Feresten joins us at the table! He's written for your favorite shows including Late Night with David Letterman and Seinfeld - and he's here to talk all things comedy! Tom talks with Spike about his many interests - collecting cars, playing live ball tennis, and designing watches. Enjoy! Check out Spike's podcast Spike's Car Radio. Text PAPA to 64000 to get twenty percent off all IQBAR products, plus FREE shipping. Message and data rates may apply. ButcherBox is offering our listeners $20 off their first box and free protein for a year. Go to ButcherBox.com/papa to get this limited time offer and free shipping always. ------------------- 0:00:00 Intro 0:01:02 TomPapa.com 0:01:57 Patreon Shoutout 0:02:27 Pressures of Spike's bread 0:03:10 Seinfeld stopped Tom from golfing 0:05:00 Collecting cars 0:10:10 Paul Newman's flat loafs and Tom's fascination 0:15:29 Comedy writing vs stand up 0:17:00 Playing tennis, live ball 0:25:50 Writing for Letterman, Seinfeld 0:30:50 Writing "Soup Nazi" episode and working with Larry and Jerry 0:40:10 Seinfeld bungalow and Hollywood magic 0:42:00 IQ Bar ad 0:44:05 Butcher Box ad 0:45:41 State of comedy in Hollywood 0:48:48 Fox late night show and cancellation 1:01:02 Colbert cancellation 1:06:12 Podcast - Spike's Car Radio 1:07:20 Personality of people who drive specific cars 1:12:10 Uncomfortable moment 1:14:32 Tom & family past Seinfeld and Spike driving Porsches 1:16:05 Father forcing fist fights 1:20:02 watching Friends and old Seinfeld episodes 1:22:35 Designing watches ------------------- Tom Papa is a celebrated stand-up comedian with over 20 years in the industry. Watch Tom's new special "Home Free" out NOW on Netflix! Patreon - Patreon.com/BreakingBreadwithTomPapa Radio, Podcasts and more: https://linktr.ee/tompapa/ Website - http://tompapa.com/ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/tompapa Tiktok - https://www.tiktok.com/@tompapa Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/comediantompapa Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/tompapa #tompapa #breakingbread #comedy #standup #standupcomedy #bread #seinfeld #latenight Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Letterman was 14 stories right on Broadway.
0:03.1	He had Sullivan building.
0:04.3	Yeah.
0:04.6	What a big operation. Massive. The Seinfeld, the number one show, that's got to be skyscraper. The diehard building, it's got to be. Yeah. And they walked me onto the lot into this tiny bungalow. And I'm like, this is it? This is where you make this show? Where the hell is everybody?
0:25.4	But it was just the, you know, it was just the producers and the creative team.
0:26.8	And it was really chill.
0:27.9	It was really nice.
0:29.4	That's why show business works, though.
0:31.7	It's the illusion of show business is always right. I remember I was shooting something and I got to go on the set where Tom Brokaw would do the nightly news at NBC.
0:42.3	I forget even why I was there.
0:43.5	I've shot there.
0:44.4	Yeah.
0:44.9	And you walk behind the desk of Tom Brocaulte's nightly news.
0:49.7	It's got to be made out of marble.
0:52.3	And you just walk and it's fake. It's a balsawood desk. Yeah, it's balserwood. And there's like shit underneath it. Yeah. And that's like this. Oh, yeah, this is why show business works. It's breaking bread. Hey, everybody. Today's episode is brought to you by the good people at tompapa.com. Wow! It's really hard to get these guys.
1:14.5	We feel pretty lucky. Uh, my tour dates. I'm going heavy starting in September. We're doing a
1:22.5	whole bunch of dates. We're going to Erie, Pennsylvania. We're going to Pittsburgh,
1:26.5	Borgantown, West Virginia. Then we're off to Canada.
1:29.3	We're doing a bunch of shows in Regina and Winnipeg and then, ooh, St. John's and Moncton, a bunch of places up there.
1:36.3	Big shows coming up in Philadelphia, New Jersey, a whole bunch all the way through to the end of the year on the Grateful Bread Tour. Go to tompapa.com and look up all of those beautiful tour dates.
1:48.3	We'll be doing book signings.
1:49.6	There may be some pugs involved.
	...

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