Episode 36 — Ritch Shydner — A Hilarious Historian of Stand-Up Comedy

Learning To Fail

Comedian Ritch Shydner joins Jason on this episode of Learning to Fail Podcast. Jason was introduced to Ritch by some mutual friends who thought they might have a bit in common. It's much more serious than that. These guys love each other! This interview took place the first time they ever met in person, and will not lose your attention for a minute. Take a deep dive into the world of stand up comedy with a guy who's done the Tonight Show, with Johnny Carson, 14 times! He's a legend in the comedy world and a cool, humble dude. He's played every club in the country and is now traveling the circuit with his 1-man show about the history of stand up comedy.

ABOUT RITCH

Learn all there is to know about Ritch at RitchShydner.com

Ritch's new book, Kicking Through The Ashes: My Life as a Stand-up in the 1980's Comedy Explosion, is OUT NOW! Read a story from the book here..

In the 1980’s, Ritch made numerous appearances on TV, including Late Night with David Letterman and The Tonight Show with both Johnny Carson and Jay Leno. He did an HBO half-hour special, “One Night Stand.”

He played Al Bundy’s co-worker on “Married with Children”, and made guest appearances on many other TV shows, such as “Designing Women” and “Roseanne.”

Ritch was able to translate his modest success on TV into an obscure film career, appearing in Steve Martin’s, "Roxanne," and Eddie Murphy's, "Beverly Hills Cop II," before moving on to minor roles on smaller pictures.

Ritch wrote for sitcoms such as "Roseanne", "The Jeff Foxworthy Show," and HBO’s “The Mind of the Married Man.”

Ritch wrote material for Jeff Foxworthy’s Grammy nominated comedy albums, “Totally Committed,” and “Big Fun.” He also wrote for Ron White and Jay Leno.

In 2006 Ritch was co-author of a book on stand-up, “I Killed.” Order "I Killed" here!

In 2010 Ritch produced and performed in an award winning documentary on the world of stand-up comedy, “I Am Comic.” This movie can be seen on Netflix.

Currently Ritch is writing a movie adaptation for HBO of Bill Maher's book, "True Story".

Jay Leno: “And remember, Shydner, don’t tell anyone you wrote those jokes for me.”

Jerry Seinfeld: “Ritch Shydner is a terrific comedy writer and definitely one of the good guys.”

Jeff Foxworthy: "Ritch helped me write two albums, both of which were nominated for Grammys. I've always thought that he was one of the best stand-ups ever."

Bill Maher: Back in the day, in the dingy ratskellers in which we learned our craft, Ritch Shydner was always the comic the other comics came into the room to watch, because he was the funniest. That hasn’t changed, and I’m afraid neither have the ratskellers.

Find Ritch online at ritchshydner.com

Find Ritch on Social Media at facebook.com/ritchs

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