The King of Late Night TV, Steve Vizard

Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps

Josh Szeps

Society & Culture, Education, Comedy Interviews, Comedy, Self-improvement

4.5 • 905 Ratings

🗓️ 5 April 2026

⏱️ 45 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Steve Vizard is Australia's Johnny Carson. Tonight Live with Steve Vizard was Australia's Tonight Show in the 1990s, after Vizard had previously created two of Australia's biggest-ever sketch comedy shows. This episode is part of the Uncomfortable Conversations Comedy Festival extravaganza. Josh headed to Melbourne for a ten-hour Substack Live marathon with five of the greatest comedians. You'll get a new episode every 48 hours for the first two weeks of the biggest comedy festival in the world. Steve joined Josh to recount tales of the golden age of late-night television, the mishaps of hosting a live show every night, Kimmel, Colbert and how broadcast TV is evolving… and Andy Lee interrupts the podcast briefly.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Gahy, humans. The world's biggest comedy festival is still underway. I popped down to Melbourne.
0:08.5	I did a 10-hour live-screened substack marathon with five of the greatest comedians in today's fourth thrilling
0:16.6	installment of the uncomfortable conversations comedy extravaganza. Steve Weisard, Australia's Jolly Carson,
0:24.8	the king of 1990s late night. Tonight Live with Steve Weisard was Australia's Tonight Show in the 90s.
0:33.5	Weisard had previously created two of the highest rating most successful Australian comedy shows of all time. That was sketch comedy shows,
0:40.5	full frontal and fast forward. Steve joined me to recount tales of the
0:45.8	golden age of late night television, the mishaps of hosting a live show every
0:51.8	single night, Kimmel, Colbert, and how broadcast TV is evolving.
0:56.9	It was a huge genre to sit down with the one, the only, Steve Weizard.
1:06.2	We're back on the live stream with, really, Australia's Johnny Carson.
1:10.4	We could say, Steve Vis Carson. We could say.
1:11.5	Steve Visard.
1:13.0	We could say that.
1:14.4	One could say that.
1:15.6	One could say that.
1:16.3	One could say all sorts of things.
1:19.4	The Australia's finest butterfly.
1:21.4	That's it.
1:22.0	For example.
1:22.6	Yeah.
1:23.7	No, they're really the only late-night television host
1:28.4	who Australia ever produced in terms of the American late-night format.
	...

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