Walking through Comedy History with Jeffrey Gurian

Summary

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Podcast Summary: "Walking through Comedy History with Jeffrey Gurian"

Podcast: takin' a walk (iHeartPodcasts)
Hosted by: Buzz Knight
Guest: Jeffrey Gurian
Release Date: October 21, 2025

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Main Theme and Episode Overview

This heartfelt, humor-filled episode takes listeners on a literal and figurative walk through comedy history via the personal “Comedy Museum” of Jeffrey Gurian—a comedian, writer, healer, former dentist, and prolific comedy historian. Host Buzz Knight chats with Jeffrey in his New York City home, exploring his prized memorabilia, stories from decades in showbiz, reflections on happiness and healing, and insider tales about comedy’s greats. The episode combines nostalgia with practical wisdom for aspiring comedians and creative minds.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Nature of Comedy and Finding Confidence

• Opening Reflections: Jeffrey notes the difference between comedy and other performance arts—immediate feedback and authenticity are required in standup.

"If you think you're funny, there's only one way to find out: go up on stage. The audience will let you know right away if you're funny or not…in comedy, no one's laughing to be polite." — Jeffrey Gurian [00:00]

2. Inside Jeffrey Gurian’s Comedy Museum

• Tour of Memorabilia & Photos: Jeffrey shares decades of photos with legendary comedians: Milton Berle, Jerry Lewis, Sammy Davis Jr., Jerry Stiller, Ann Meara, Sid Caesar, Buddy Hackett, Paul Sorvino, Rich Little, Mike Douglas, Henny Youngman—to name a few.
• Sentimental Value: For Jeffrey, the photos memorialize one-on-one moments, not celebrity signatures.

"I never got one autograph in my life. It was not interesting to me...[Photos were] because I admire people that are successful, that accomplish things in their lives." — Jeffrey Gurian [08:55]

• Funny Moments:
  • Balloons everywhere in Jeffrey’s home; likened to symbols of happiness—“You never see balloons at a funeral.” [04:24]
  • “I have a house full of toys every place you look. When I lecture on happiness, I tell people to create their own happiness center.” — Jeffrey Gurian [11:45]

3. Milestones and Connections with Comedy Legends

• Milton Berle: Sponsored Jeffrey for Friars Club membership and became close friends.
• Jerry Lewis: Roasts, backstage stories, heartfelt recollection of Jerry’s tears on hearing the gene behind muscular dystrophy was found.

“He started crying, and tears were running down his face, and it was just me there to share that moment with him. Very special.” — Jeffrey Gurian [06:24]

• Personal Crushes: Joey Heatherton, and the surreal moment of introducing her to his ex-wife, reliving pop-culture history [08:14].

4. Healing, Happiness, and Overcoming Obstacles

• Spiritual Practice: Jeffrey’s home is deliberately bright for happiness; he describes himself as “like a plant—I need brightness” [11:45].
• Story of Overcoming Stuttering:

“I stuttered through my 20s and beyond...I had to cure myself, because no one was able to help me. It has to do with controlling your mind.” — Jeffrey Gurian [14:13]

5. Music’s Power in Healing and Memory

• Personal Story with the Beach Boys: Their music helped Jeffrey survive depression in high school.
• Music in Healing Work: Discusses his development of STAR Therapy (Spiritual Transformational Affirmative Resonance Therapy), using music and affirmative spoken word for pain relief.

“Music is very, very powerful. It can change your mood and it can change your life. And so I use it in my healing work.” — Jeffrey Gurian [20:26]

• Collaboration with Stephen Halpern: After a serendipitous reconnection, Halpern created music for Jeffrey’s guided meditation, “Journey to Your Heart” [15:50–20:26].

6. Behind the Scenes with Famous Comics

• Memorable Encounters:
  • Multiple layered photos with Richard Belzer and Paul Shaffer—an evolving meta-photo spanning 20 years [20:28].
  • Story of taking away Andrew Dice Clay’s headache in a diner parking lot [27:18].
  • Working with Amy Schumer, Bruce Willis, Patrice O’Neal, Bill Burr, Ken Jeong, and hosting events with Lorne Michaels, Kevin Hart, and more.

7. Comedy’s Healing and Transformative Power

• Workshops for Inner-City Kids: Honored for Black History Month for his outreach work [27:40].
• Encounters with Tragedy: Recalling nearly visiting Phil Hartman just before his tragic death [28:21].

8. Advice to Aspiring Comedians

• Candid Truths:

“If you're meant to be in comedy, you know it. You can feel it inside...It's very different being funny with your friends and being funny in front of strangers and trying to convince them that what you think is funny is actually funny...If you have talent, somebody will notice.” — Jeffrey Gurian [39:52]

9. Current and Future Projects

• Teasers: Hinted at a big project with D.L. Hughley, produced by the comedian himself [38:35].
• Books: Jeffrey promotes his eight books spanning comedy, happiness, and mindset, including collaborations with Chris Rock [43:03].

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Comedy and Feedback:

  “In comedy, no one’s laughing to be polite. Either you’re funny or you’re not.” — Jeffrey Gurian [00:00 & 39:52]

• On Healing and Spirituality:

  “I use music in my healing work...Music is very, very powerful. It can change your mood and it can change your life.” — Jeffrey Gurian [20:26]

• On Creating Joy:

  “My inner child is my best friend.” — Jeffrey Gurian [11:45]

• On Sensitivity:

  “I’ve learned sensitivity is a great strength. It’s not a weakness.” — Jeffrey Gurian [15:50]

• On the Brutal Honesty of Comedy:

  “If you think you’re funny, there’s only one way to find out: go up on stage...the audience will let you know.” — Jeffrey Gurian [39:52]

• Memorable Story:

  “Joan Rivers figured it out...My nurse had strict instructions to never interrupt me with a patient unless it’s for show business...the only one no one believed was Dr. Dangerfield.” — Jeffrey Gurian [39:52–42:41]

• On Talent:

  “Talent finds a home. If you have talent, somebody will notice.” — Jeffrey Gurian [42:29]

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Key Timestamps for Important Segments

• How Comedy Differs from Other Arts: [00:00]
• Welcome to Jeffrey’s Comedy Museum & Balloons: [03:39–04:34]
• Memories of Milton Berle & Jerry Lewis: [04:36–07:57]
• Reflections on Photos, Happiness, and Living Space: [08:55–12:47]
• Overcoming Stuttering—Personal Journey: [14:13]
• Music as Healing—STAR Therapy and Stephen Halpern: [15:50–20:26]
• Meta-photos with Richard Belzer & Paul Shaffer: [20:28]
• Belzer Stories and SNL Roots: [25:40–26:29]
• Encounters with Comedy Greats (Dice, Schumer, Willis, O’Neal, et al): [27:18–30:00]
• Advice to Aspiring Comics: [39:29–42:41]
• Promoting Books and Parting Thoughts on Positivity: [43:03]

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Final Thoughts & Takeaways

• This episode radiates not only the history and laughs of comedy legends, but also Jeffrey Gurian’s belief in joy, healing, and personal growth.
• Memorable moments and pearls of wisdom for creatives abound—especially for anyone drawn to comedy or pursuing any creative art.
• Jeffrey’s reflections on resilience, sensitivity, happiness, and the need to "just get up on stage" offer inspiration well beyond the world of showbiz.

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For more on Jeffrey Gurian’s work and philosophies, check out his books or tune into him on other podcasts like Comedy Saved Me with Lynn Hoffman.

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Transcript

[Jeffrey Gurian]

Taking a walk if you think you're funny, there's only one way to find out is to go up on stage. The audience will let you know right away if you're funny or not. You know, if you're a singer, even if you're not good, they'll look forward politely when you're done. In comedy, no one's laughing to be polite. Neither you're funny or you're not, you know.

[Buzz]

Well, this is exciting. So I'm at Jeffrey Gurion's place in New York City. Jeffrey is on Comedy Sabie with Lynn Hoffman. So I can't wait to walk through Jeffrey's Comedy Museum.

[Jeffrey Gurian]

This is an iHeart podcast.

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[Podcast Host]

Taking a walk.

[Buzz]

Is this the house of Jeffrey Gurion?

[Jeffrey Gurian]

It sure is. Come on. Goodness gracious. This is the coolest thing ever. Welcome to my comedy museum. Jeffrey, get a balloon and make yourself grow.

[Buzz]

I love a good balloon. Time at a time.

[Jeffrey Gurian]

Good. I have plenty of time. I got enough balloons for everybody.

[Buzz]

How often do you have to refurbish these?

[Jeffrey Gurian]

Well, when they get to be like this, you see these little ones, they lose their air. Then they become balloon soup. So I've been on my stove, I got a whole pot of balloon soup. That's where they go. You never have an old balloon, right?

[Buzz]

You never have enough balloons.

[Jeffrey Gurian]

And you never have enough. It's like too much tuna. If, you know, my thing with Nicole and John Mulaney. There's never too much tuna. There's never too many balloons.

[Buzz]

I love it.

[Jeffrey Gurian]

Balloons are a symbol of happiness. You never see balloons at a funeral. Balloons signify fun times. And that's why I always have balloons.

[Buzz]

Well, thank you for having me here, Jeffrey.

[Jeffrey Gurian]

It's my pleasure, Buzz. I'm really happy that you're here. And this is, you know. Where do we start? Well, it's an ego monument to myself. You'll notice that in some of the pictures, I even let someone else be in the picture. It's not just me. But these pictures go back more than 30 years, and they're all very special to me. Me and Milton Berle, who was my sponsor in the Friars Club. Milton. This was in 1985 in Los Angeles at the LA Friars Club. Milton was. You know, I grew up watching him on the Ed Sullivan Show. I couldn't believe that we were friends. And he sponsored me for membership in the Friars Club. And I got to write for Milton, you know, and his George Burns and Red Buttons and Tom Bosley and Jackie Mason, who I wrote a movie for, and Sammy Davis Jr. Wow. And I mean, just the Mr. Lewis. Yeah, Jerry Lewis. I got the honor of writing for Jerry Lewis, and we became friends. And I went to Las Vegas to see him with Pat Cooper. The great Pat Cooper. Down here is Jerry Stiller, Ben Stiller's parents, Jerry Stiller and Ann Mera and Tova Felcher, by the way. That's me with the 80s porno mustache. Just in case you wonder who that guy was with the big mustache, you know, here's another picture from Jerry. He said, well, thanking me. I wrote his roast. I was the main writer for the Friars club roast for 12 years. So when Jerry was roasted, I had the honor of working with him.

[Buzz]

One of my favorite movies of all time is King of Comedy. I mean, would you agree with me that Jerry's kind of playing himself a little bit?

[Jeffrey Gurian]

A bit, yeah, a bit. But, you know, he had a reputation for being hard to deal with, let's say that. And when I met him, he was so nice. I mean, it depends on how you meet people. They sent me to his hotel. I think he was staying at the Waldorf Towers. A man named Bob Sachs was producing the roast in those days, and I was his main writer for 12 years. So he sent me to the hotel, and Jerry was so gracious. And we sat together for two nights, just he and I alone, working on material for the roast. And while I was with him, he got a phone call that they discovered the gene that caused the Duchenne form of muscular dystrophy. And he started crying, and tears were running down his face, and it was just me there to share that moment with him. Very special.

[Buzz]

That's amazing.

[Jeffrey Gurian]

Yeah, truly. Truly an amazing thing. And we had stayed in touch for a while. As a matter of fact, there's a picture on this wall of me and Jerry that was taken in Las Vegas. Oh, wow. I went to visit him backstage. I got to write for him and Sammy Davis Jr. They had been friends for 40 years, and it was the first time that they performed together. And we got this picture with Sammy at a Friar's roast. But I got to write for them. They were performing together in Las Vegas, and Jerry called and asked me to write material for that. I met Sid Caesar, you know, the great Sid Caesar, of course, and Norm Crosby, Dr. Ruthven, you know.

[Buzz]

Oh, I got an important one here. Important part of my life here. I'm going to go to the very top there.

[Jeffrey Gurian]

Joey Heatherton. Oh, she was my crush. Oh, Joey Heatherton.

[Buzz]

That's her there.

[Jeffrey Gurian]

Yeah, that's her, too.

[Buzz]

Remember the ad that she did for Perfect?

[Jeffrey Gurian]

Yes. You know that I had permission from my wife. So silly. I was married. I kept a picture on my desk, never thinking I would even know her. And we wound up hanging out. I went home one Day to take my kids out for the day. And I introduced her to my ex wife. I thought she was going to faint.

[Buzz]

Now, her father was a Mary Mailman.

[Jeffrey Gurian]

That's right, Ray Hetherton. And she was so gorgeous. Unbelievable. Yeah.

[Buzz]

So did you start capturing your life in pictures at the beginning of your comedy life or were you capturing pictures when you were in your dental part of your life?

[Jeffrey Gurian]

I captured pictures all the time. But, you know, years ago, people didn't have a camera with them all the time. These were taken by other people. I didn't have a camera with me. It was amazing how I got these. And you know what? I always like to explain. I never got one autograph in my life. It was not interesting to me. The reason I took pictures was because I admire people that are successful, that accomplish things in their lives. And it's like if you meet somebody in a group of 10 people, they'll say, hi, how are you? Nice to meet you. But there's a very good chance they're not really aware of your presence when you're alone with them, when it's just one on one, unless they're insane and they have to know you're there. That's when I would take the picture. Just me and them in a picture. And I would like, I'm actually meeting all these people and I don't even know how I did it. People say, how'd you meet all these people? You haven't seen this wall yet. There are many walls here. But this wall, there's. Well, here's me and Pat Cooper. Buddy Hackett. I was just with his son last weekend at the Borschville Festival. Sandy Hackett came over to me. Great Bunny Hackett story. The Friars Club asked me to call Buddy Hackett. He was the roastmaster for a big roast. And they said, call Buddy and offer him your assistance in writing jokes. Well, I must have got him on a bad day. I was in a bad mood and he was very insulted that the Fraggles club thought that he would need help writing jokes. So he was very angry and I was apologized. I said, look, it wasn't my idea. I didn't get your number. Out of nowhere, they told me to call you right the day of the roast, he came over to me and we sat down together and he apologized. He said he was very sorry. He was just in a bad mood that day. They didn't know who I was and we took this picture on him. Sandy loved that story about his dad. Just amazing. Paul Sorvino. Oh, yeah, we got to be very good Friends, Rich Little. I got to write for his roast with him. George Siegel.

[Buzz]

Mike Douglas.

[Jeffrey Gurian]

Mike Douglas. Mike Douglas. On this wall, there's me and Milton again. At an event in his honor, he was honored as man of the Year. There's Henny Youngman and Tony Orlando.

[Buzz]

There's another Jerry up there, too.

[Jeffrey Gurian]

Yeah, another Jerry Lewis thing. And at the top, Myron Cohen and Bordeau Gunty. Oh, wow. And Dick Schoen, if you remember. Dick Schoen. Jan Murray. Yeah, I got to write for one of those kinds. Wow. Just so amazing to me, this one looks like I created it with cgi. If you remember the Woody Allen movie Zellig. Yes. Henny Youngman, Sid Caesar, Gene Bayless, Jan Murray, Norm Crosby. And what the heck am I doing up here? It's, like, amazing. Oh, I love it. I created it.

[Buzz]

Oh, my God.

[Jeffrey Gurian]

My big hands on that one. I have a house full of toys every place you look. You know, when I lecture on happiness, I tell people to create their own happiness center. And what that means is that the only place you can control your environment is where you live. Once you leave the house, you're at the mercy of whatever the universe has in store for you. You go left or right, your whole life is dead. You go left, you could win the lottery. You go right, you could trip and fall. Who knows? You go the way you're supposed to go because if you overthought it, you become catatonic. You wouldn't go anywhere. So the only place you can control your environment is where you live. And some people live in dark apartments, and they wonder why they're depressed. As you'll see, I need brightness. I'm like a plant. So my carpeting is white, and my piano is white, and my car is white, and I have bright colors all around, and I have toys and crayons and balloons. And you would think little children lived here. But I do it. For me, it's perfect. My inner child is my best friend.

[Buzz]

I walked in, I wasn't necessarily feeling that great. I got stiffed with an earlier meeting. But you know what? It's all forgotten because I'm in a good space here.

[Jeffrey Gurian]

That's.

[Buzz]

So when I'm in your Comedy Museum.

[Jeffrey Gurian]

Comedy Museum. And, well, what I've learned is that things work out the way they're supposed to, not necessarily the way we expect them to or the way we'd like them to. But we were supposed to do this today instead of you doing that other thing.

[Buzz]

You know what?

[Jeffrey Gurian]

And that's why it worked. Out this way. If you had done that other thing, we might not be doing this. And I've had to learn to think that way. I've been studying spirituality for about 30 years, and it's changed my way of approaching the things that happen in your life. It just. It leads you to be more comfortable.

[Buzz]

I believe I sent you Thich Nhat Hanh.

[Jeffrey Gurian]

You know, he sent it to.

[Buzz]

Yes, sir.

[Jeffrey Gurian]

I wasn't sure who sent that.

[Buzz]

That's me. And that was because of your spirituality and the importance on taking a walk of mindfulness. And it's a little gift that I pass on to people because I so love it. It so connects you with a moment that's very special.

[Jeffrey Gurian]

Thank you so much for sending that.

[Buzz]

You're very welcome. It's my pleasure. I instantly connected with you when we spoke on the phone. I knew this was gonna bring greater things and greater joy.

[Jeffrey Gurian]

It's what I write about. I write about happiness, mindset, and changing negative thinking to positive thinking and overcoming obstacles. All of us are given obstacles to overcome, and you can either be crushed by them, or you can draw on some inner strength sometimes that you didn't even know you had to overcome them. I always talk about it myself. I was mere stutterer. I stuttered through my 20s and beyond. I couldn't even say my name. I can never say Korean. And now, as an avocation, I work with stutterers all over the world. As you can see, not only don't I stutter, but you can't even shut me up. I have a. I talk a lot, but, you know. But I'm very grateful that I don't stutter anymore. And I had to cure myself because no one was able to help me. And it has to do with thought controlling your mind. There was nothing wrong with me. I realized one day I didn't stir it when I was alone. I only stuttered when I was trying to talk to somebody else, which told me you can't have a true disability based on your location or who's in the room with you. If a man has a limb, he lives in every room of his house. He can't go into a room and close the door and walk perfectly. But if I can speak for myself alone, then theoretically it means there's nothing wrong with me. So I use that information to cure myself.

[Buzz]

That's why you're perfect for being on with Linhoff. Been on Comedy Saved Me. We also have the other podcasts, Taking a Walk and Music Saved Me. You told me a story about what Music means to you in terms of connecting with it and the power of it that I think related to the Beach Boys. Can you tell that story?

[Jeffrey Gurian]

I have two powerful music stories. Yeah. The Beach Boy saved me in high school because I was very depressed in high school. It's a strange time to go through. And as a kid, I'm an empath. I didn't know that word, that I don't think I knew it. But I feel things more deeply than I want to and I have no choice. So it means that there was a time if I was with you and you were sad, I was sadder for you than you were. I overfeld my feelings. And it's very hard to handle that, especially as a boy, as a guy, you know, men don't like to talk about sensitivity. It's another thing that I write about because I've learned sensitivity is a great strength. It's not a weakness. So the Beach Boys helped me get through it. I put on their music. Don't Worry, Baby helped me. Rhonda wrote the songs and it always made me happy. And years later, I got to meet them on the red carpet because besides everything else I do in comedy, I'm a comedy journalist, Comedy Matters TV. And I have over 650 videos that I've shot with people in the comedy world. Not that they're in the comedy world, but they showed up at a Friar's roast and I got to interview them and I got to thank them for saving me, for helping me get through high school and my other thing, how comedy saved me. I use music in my healing work. I spent 12 years at NYU as a clinical professor at Oral Medicine and orofacial inia. And because of stress, many people clench and grind their teeth. It's called bruxism. And it causes a lot of physical symptoms. And it can cause what people think of migraine headaches and facial pain and neck pain and shoulder pain and even back pain. And people live in terrible pain without realizing that it's coming from their jaws. They're not true migraine headaches. In this country alone, there's more than 150 million people who suffer with what they think are migraine headaches that are really coming from their tmj. And so I wound up. I developed a technique of healing called STAR Therapy. S T A R. And STAR is an acronym for Spiritual Transformational Affirmative Resonance Therapy. The resonance stands for my voice because I speak the whole time I do it. It's like a guided meditation and refers to music, which is what this story is going to be about. And mostly it refers to a truth. If I say something to you that you need to hear, it'll resonate inside of you as a truth. So I was using music by a man named Stephen Halper, who is known as the father of new age music. He's a man in his 70s now, and I sent him a letter more than 20 years ago telling him that I was using his music to take away pain from patients. Because music, it gets absorbed by the second chakra. And I'm very into energy exchange. That's a whole other story about my life. I've been involved in energy since I'm a child. When I was a very little kid, I already felt that I could take away pain with my hands. And I would do it on my sister, my little sister. And I used it all through my life. When I was in practice as a cosmetic dentist, people would come to me with headaches, and I would take it away just through touch. So I wrote a letter to Stephen Halpern telling him that I use his music, and I never heard from him. Twenty years goes by, and I come home one day, and there's a message on my phone. He said, I'm calling you in reference to a letter that you sent me 20 years ago. He said, I never saw it. It turned out his assistant had it. Thank God he didn't throw it away. Filed it away, put it in a drawer. Stephen is working on his memoirs. Came across my letter and tracked me down. My number never changed. And he said to me, he was so moved by what I wrote, he said, I want to put music to your words. Write me a guided meditation. And I did. And he has music. He put music to it. And it's called journey to your heart. It's giving me chills. I can't believe it. Then I have a guided meditation with Stephen Halper. And so about a year ago, I did a weekend. I land a weekend workshop at the Omega Institute for holistic studies, which is a very famous institute where Deepak Chopra speaks and Carolyn Mace and all. And I did a weekend there, and I brought that music to use for my students who came for that weekend. You know, very special thing for me, using music. Music is very, very powerful. It can change your mood and it can change your life. And so I use it in my healing work.

[Buzz]

I love it. That's a great. That's a great story.

[Jeffrey Gurian]

And here on this wall. So here are some of my favorite comedians. Me dancing with Gilbert Gottfried from my Dancing with comedian series. We lost him this past year. Such a dear friend. Here's us when we were kind of kids. I still have my mustache. This one is a crazy one. Okay, it's me, Richard Belzer, and Paul Schaefer holding a picture. Oh, wait. Okay, hold on a second. It's me, Richard Belzer and Paul Schaeffer holding a picture of me, Richard Belzer and Paul Schae holding still another picture. That little picture is that one over there. And then a few years later, I brought it with me. We stood in the same order and took that picture. And a few years later we did that. And then we actually got the fourth at the Friars Club. The four in one picture and a picture and a picture and a picture. We did this over about 20 years. Oh, here's Charlie Sheen when I was still in my dental office with Chuck Zito, who was not a famous actor in those days. He was Charlie Sheen's bodyguard.

[Buzz]

Hell's Angels.

[Jeffrey Gurian]

Very much Hells Angels. He just had a documentary about his life. I was there at the premiere. Judd Zito, an American hero, an amazing guy. He's been a friend of mine all these years.

[Podcast Host]

We'll be right back with more of the Taking a Walk podcast.

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[Rush Band Promoter]

For over 50 years, they redefined rock. The spirit lives on.

[Buzz]

Monday Warrior.

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Me.

[Jeffrey Gurian]

Me stride.

[Buzz]

Today's Tom Sawyer. Me.

[Jeffrey Gurian]

Me.

[Claude AI Announcer]

Pride.

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Keddie Lee and Alex Lifeson. Rush Live 50 Something Tour. Sign up for pre sale access at Ticketmaster. Legends don't stop. They evolve. Rush.

[Podcast Host]

Welcome back to the Taking a Walk podcast.

[Buzz]

I want to go back to Belzer for a second.

[Jeffrey Gurian]

Sure. So I grew up, I think I.

[Buzz]

Told you, in Stamford, Connecticut. He grew up in Lake Bridgeport, Connecticut.

[Jeffrey Gurian]

Oh, I think so.

[Buzz]

Yeah. And so I would see him often as he would come up to the radio station that I worked at in Fairfield County, Danbury, Connecticut. And then I'd see him at, you know, when Howard Stern would do Grammy week from LA and New York and I would bring my radio station to that same roundtable that Howard was part of. Bells was a big regular, as you remember, on Howard. Every time I ran into him, what made me feel so special about Belzer is he never forgot. He wasn't like, hey, who are you? Yeah, yeah, like, you know, looking at you like you didn't know. He always said he always remembered.

[Jeffrey Gurian]

He was definitely like that. And he was one of the first, once I did that live started, he was a host for a weekend because I was up there. That weekend must have been in the early days of SNL, which was 75, you know, crazy, crazy Let me see what Joe Rogan. Oh, look at that. Years ago when he had hair and Tiffany Haddish. Here's me taking away a headache from Andrew Dice claim down in la. Somebody on a camera and got that scene, which was great. We were sitting. You know, I'm one of the few people that ever wrote for Dice. And he says it openly. I don't just say that on my own. He said it on one thing on Sirius xm. He shouted me out three times in an hour. And we were sitting there talking about material that we were working on. And he said. And he had a bad headache. And I said, well, sit down, I'll take it away. And we were at the parking lot of Mel's Diner and someone had a camera and got that picture. Isn't that cool? It is cool. Is this Amy Schumer? Yeah, Bruce Willis, when I wrote for him for his roast, you know, this was a great honor. I was Patrice o' Neill's co host on the Black Phillips Show. I'm definitely one of the only white guys that was ever honored for Black History Month. It's the truth. I was honored for Black History Month. They had a big event at Hunter College. Me and Danny Simmons. Russell Simmons, brother. Oh, wow. And it was because I created comedy workshops for inner city kids and I was his co host. It was a great honor. He left us too early at only 41 years old. See if he can slap me in this picture. That's what he said. And jb smooth. See if he can pick me up.

[Buzz]

I think I can.

[Jeffrey Gurian]

You think you can?

[Buzz]

I believe so.

[Jeffrey Gurian]

Did you remember the great Phil Hartnett?

[Buzz]

I was gonna say, yeah, that's him.

[Jeffrey Gurian]

Sitting at my piano over there.

[Buzz]

Oh, yes.

[Jeffrey Gurian]

I was supposed to see him that terrible weekend that he was killed in 1998. I was out. No way. And he invited me to come out for the weekend. I don't remember why I didn't go, but I told my mom that I was spend the weekend. And when the news came out, the initial report was that two men were found dead in his house that my mom called in a panic to see if I was all right. It's crazy.

[Buzz]

Oh, man.

[Jeffrey Gurian]

Who was a dear friend?

[Buzz]

Who is this little hottie over there?

[Jeffrey Gurian]

Victoria Selvsted, One of the hottest models in the world. Yeah, she was amazing. Let me see. Who else? Michael Bolton. Great comedy fan. Love Rodney Dangerfield.

[Buzz]

Oh, wow.

[Jeffrey Gurian]

We used to do a lot of stuff together. Yeah. Let me see on this wall. Let me see behind you. Here's right here. Ben Stiller. Oh, yeah. Michael Ian Black. That's me in there. There's another Phil Hartman and Dana Carvey. Jon Lovitz. Jon Lovitz introduced me on TV on my national comedy debut on Access on Access tv, Gotham Comedy Live. Here is me and Pauly Shore. Lorne Michaels, the founder and producer of Saturday Night Live. And Pete Holmes. And here's another picture with me and Patrice. He was so big. And Dante Nero was the second co host. I was the third co host on the show on XM Radio. Robert Woll. I haven't seen him in a long time. Oh, what a good guy on this wall.

[Buzz]

This one here.

[Jeffrey Gurian]

Yeah. See, here's me and Woody. He almost smiled. Not quite that night. I actually made him laugh that night. I hadn't seen him in many years. And his best friend John Demania was going to reintroduce us. And I was about to say to him, woody, I'm a good friend of Jack Rollins, and I don't know what made me change, but at the very last second, I said to Woody, I'm a very good friend of yours. And it just struck him, so funny. And he laugh. And he said, really? How long do we know each other? I'm like, decades. We're very close. And he just laughed. And I'm like, I can't believe I'm making Woody Allen laugh, you know?

[Buzz]

Oh, how great.

[Jeffrey Gurian]

Seinfeld and Kevin Hart. That's why I produced the benefit. Kahiti and Kevin Hart was the star and may Pan, the one that John Lennon left. Yoko for about a year or so. Oh, yeah. Hassan Minhaj. Jimmy Fallon, of course. One of the nicest guys in the business.

[Buzz]

Bill Burr.

[Jeffrey Gurian]

Boston guy. Yeah, Bill Burr, when he had hair. Rain hair. Joe Piscopo before he started working out. Ken Jeong, another doctor in show business. Another. And then on this wall, this was my cover story in the New York Times. They did a story about me. This was backstage on Broadway with the stars from the Catskills. On Broadway. It's so funny. I just did the Borsch Belt Festival this week. Dick Capri was the first comedian I ever wrote for. And I got to meet his son, who's also named Jeffrey. Jeff Capri is a comedian who was performing at the festival. I never knew him. I knew of him. And we finally met. Dick also passed away this past year in December at 93 years old.

[Buzz]

I see one Baby J down here.

[Jeffrey Gurian]

Oh, wait, this.

[Buzz]

Joe Mulaney, baby.

[Jeffrey Gurian]

Oh, yeah.

[Buzz]

Yes.

[Jeffrey Gurian]

Oh, yeah. I wasn't aware of who you meant for A minute. Yeah. Nick Kroll and John Mulaney. And that's them in character. That's the jacket that they made me. That's an exact replica of the Guardian angels. But mine says Gurion Angels. My greatest piece of memorabilia.

[Buzz]

See him in September of Boston.

[Jeffrey Gurian]

Yeah. He's amazing. And there's Amy Poehler, Joan Rivers. That picture there is. When I brought Michael Bolton to meet Ray Romano. We were out in la and they were both fans of each other, but they had never met. So I brought Michael to the set of Everybody Loves Raymond. And there's my dear friend Danny Aiello and Matt Dillon. And let me see. Peter Max, the great artist. Joan Rivers, Katy Perry's comedy debut. And Judd Apatow, the great Charles Brodin. Charles Brodin was amazing. His daughter Marion is a great comedian as well.

[Buzz]

Really?

[Jeffrey Gurian]

Yeah, she hosts a lot of shows.

[Buzz]

You know what? I think Charles is one of his greatest, if not his greatest role in a movie.

[Jeffrey Gurian]

I hope it's an old one.

[Buzz]

Midnight Run.

[Jeffrey Gurian]

Yeah. Yeah. Great. Midnight Run was amazing.

[Buzz]

Yeah. Is that Mariah Carey in you?

[Jeffrey Gurian]

It is, yeah.

[Buzz]

At you, Carrie, Jeffrey and all the gals love you.

[Jeffrey Gurian]

Brooke Burke and Denise Rich.

[Buzz]

No, Denise, not personally, but.

[Jeffrey Gurian]

And Britney got no. What's her name? Lisa Gastineau with High Voltage. Yeah. My old friend, High Voltage. Now I'll show you inside. There's more bleeding than that. I ran out of frames and I ran out of. I ran out of wall space.

[Buzz]

This is a Peter Max right here, isn't it?

[Jeffrey Gurian]

Yeah. Oh, this is something that Peter Max made for me personally. I was honored by. With a film. I wrote the first interactive film that Sony ever made. And Peter Max was my guest at the party in my honor, 1993. And he drew this on a dinner napkin for me. Oh, fabulous. And I have it. It's because I used to teach him to say words in a different way. So instead of wild, I told him to pronounce it wild. Because he was an artist and he was conceptual and he understood that you don't have to pronounce words the way you're supposed to.

[Buzz]

Yeah.

[Jeffrey Gurian]

So he called me Dr. Wild and he wrote wi with two dots over it so you'd know to pronounce it. So that's another fun piece of memorabilia that I have. More pictures, believe it or not. These are authors of Brown Owens.

[Claude AI Announcer]

Starting.

[Jeffrey Gurian]

With James Gandalf Eating at the Towel.

[Buzz]

Greatest TV show ever, don't you think?

[Jeffrey Gurian]

Greatest ever. And I did a movie. I wrote a movie called I Am Woody and the guy that Played Johnny Sack was not allowed by hbo. He was under contract. He couldn't play a gangster, so he played a doctor. And it was about a violent mob boss who was obsessed with Woody Allen. And he survives a mob hit and he comes out of it with amnesia. And now he thinks he's Woody allen. But he's 6 foot 5 and 300 pounds. So he's a huge Woody Allen. And he won some awards. That poster over there was called I Am Woody. This movie, I'm youm Man, is the first interactive film that was ever made that I wrote with Michael Mee and Black and then Garant with guys that went on to form the State on mtv. Sony paid a half a million bucks to outfit the theater on 19th street with buttons. And the audience would press the buttons and change the direction of the movie.

[Buzz]

Wow.

[Jeffrey Gurian]

Yeah, it was really. It was. The very first one was a movie I wrote with Scott Baio called Face to Face.

[Buzz]

Dean Stockwell.

[Jeffrey Gurian]

Yeah, Dean Stockwell. I had a bunch of new stars. Joe Vittarelli, Alex Rocco. A bunch of big stars were in it. That's my I Am Woody movie. That's the first book I ever wrote. Filthy, funny and totally offensive. It was based on my writings for the Friars Royce. And they asked me to get celebrities to tell them their favorite nasty jokes. So I got 250 celebrities to tell me the nastiest jokes they knew. Horrible. Horrible. And there's me, Scott, Theo at the premiere for our movie, and Peter Dinklage. Whoever knew that Peter Dinklage would go on to be one of the biggest stars in the world.

[Buzz]

Right?

[Jeffrey Gurian]

That's when we first met. And then back here, you can follow me through. Here's Jim Gaffigan when he first came to New York. I was just with him the other night. Jim Gaffigan. He and Mark Maron, one of my favorites, did a thing at the 92nd Street Y for Mark's new special called Panicked. So I was there as a guest. But that's Jim when he first came to New York. He looks younger now than he did then. Oh, yeah. You know, now here's another. Me and Milk Berle and me at the Friars Club. Howie Mandel, holding my book, Filthy, Funny and Totally Offensive. Lewis Black, Russell Peters, David Cross, John Cleese. I was very excited to meet John Cleese because I'm a big Monty Python fan. Yes. And here's Mitch Hedber. This was taken shortly before he passed away. My dear friend Richard Lewis. A lot of people think we have similar hair. Let's Talk about that. Jackie Mason again. Colin Quinn. Jeffrey Ross, who will be opening on Broadway. So looking at hair, I knew one of these guys when they had him. Amazing. Yeah. Jeffrey Ross was opening on Broadway, I think, in the next month or so.

[Claude AI Announcer]

Really?

[Buzz]

Yeah. David Steinberg, right? To the right.

[Jeffrey Gurian]

Yeah. David Steinberg. Yeah. Also, he used to be a dear friend. I haven't spoken to him in a long time. Another Gilbert picture. Russell Peters. Tracy Warden when he had a mustache. Another Howie Mandel picture. Yeah. So it goes all along amazing. All along carefree. Yeah. Crazy, right?

[Buzz]

Yes. So what are you working on these days, Jeffrey?

[Jeffrey Gurian]

Well, I have a huge potential project. When we turn off the camera, I'll show you the sizzle reel because I don't think we can shoot it.

[Buzz]

Okay.

[Jeffrey Gurian]

With D.L. hughley. You know D.L. hughley?

[Buzz]

Of course I do.

[Jeffrey Gurian]

The original Kings of Comedy. Yeah, there's me and DL and it's a huge, huge project that DL Will be producing it.

[Buzz]

All right.

[Jeffrey Gurian]

That's as much as I can say right now.

[Buzz]

We like teasing people. Chris Rock.

[Jeffrey Gurian]

Chris Rock. Nick Cannon, Cedric the Entertainer. Eric Andre, the craziest man in comedy. Right. There's Tracy working it. Well, no, backstage at one of the shows in Brooklyn. I went out to visit him there. So there's a lot. It's amazing. Jeffrey, he did these articles about me.

[Buzz]

So, Jeffrey, though, what would you tell somebody who might be listening and watching, who is thinking about getting into comedy and isn't quite sure. They don't have self confidence, maybe, and they don't understand the depth of the work and what the art of the work is. Give them some reality and some encouragement.

[Jeffrey Gurian]

Well, interestingly enough, those two things don't really go together. If you're meant to be in comedy, you know it. You can feel it inside. If you think you're funny, there's only one way to find out is to go up on stage. The audience will let you know right away if you're funny or not. You know, if you're a singer, even if you're not good, they'll look forward politely when you're done. In comedy, no one's laughing to be polite. Either you're funny or you're not. And it took me many years to get the courage to go out on stage because I had been writing for famous people because I was a dentist. I didn't want to look like a novelty. I wanted people to take me seriously. So I didn't even tell them about my day job. Joan Rivers figured it out. She saw something. My nurse had Strict instructions to never interrupt me with a patient unless it's for show business. So my nurse would come in and she'd say, you know, Dr. Lewis is on the phone. If it was Jerry Lewis or Richard Lewis, she'd say, Dr. Burrell is called. The only one no one believed was Dr. Dangerfield. So she comes in one morning, and she says, Dr. Rivers is on the phone. Can you take the call? And I said, sure. Okay. So I go, and it's Joan's calling from Las Vegas. And she says, what do you do during the dinner? I said, I work. She said, well, obviously you work. What is it that you do? So I knew she knew because the Times article had come out, and then there was a. The TV shows were doing stories. My multiple careers. So I said to her, is this concerning the vicious rumor going around that I'm a dentist? I said, joan, you know, I've heard of accusing people of a lot of things, but that's really low. And she just laughed, and she goes, why didn't you tell me? I think it's great. And I said, because no one hires you in show business because you're a dentist. They hire you in spite of the fact, you know, it's not exactly a prerequisite to go to dental school to be in show business. So what I would tell people is like, look, it's a very hard field to make a name for yourself. If you think you're funny, there's only one way to find out. You go up on stage and an open mic and see how people respond to you. It's very different being funny with your friends and being funny in front of strangers and trying to convince them that what you think is funny is actually funny. So it's a good way to find out. You go up at an open bay in front of a whole room full of bitter comics who think they're funnier than you, and see if you can make somebody laugh. You know, if you're meant to be in comedy, you'll know. Takes a lot of perseverance. Like any. Anything in the entertainment world, you have to believe in yourself. And if you really think you have talent, you know, there's a saying, talent finds a home. If you have talent, somebody will notice. There comes a point where you have to be honest with yourself. If you're not funny, you just have to admit to yourself, maybe this is not for me.

[Buzz]

It's a perfect way to end this wonderful episode of Taking a Walk here in New York City with Jeffrey Gurian. Also, check out Jeffrey on the Comedy Saved Me podcast with our dear friend Lynn Hoffman. But Jeffrey, it's an honor to meet you in person and thanks for all you continue to give us, sir.

[Jeffrey Gurian]

Thank you very much Buzz. It's an honor for me to be on your show with you and if people do like happiness, go to Amazon and check out my books. You know I write books. I have eight books now, five on comedy, one with Chris Rock, I have three on happiness, mindset, Overcoming Obstacles, and changing negative thinking to Positive thinking. They can. So you just have to look up Jeffrey Gurion on Amazon and all my books will come up. Thank you so much.

[Buzz]

Thank you Jeffrey.

[Jeffrey Gurian]

You're very welcome.

[Podcast Host]

Thanks for listening to this episode of the Taking a Walk podcast. Share this and other episodes with your friends and follow us so you never miss an episode. Taking a Walk is available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your page. Podcasts.

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[Jeffrey Gurian]

What kind of man would let this.

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Happen to his family? Inspired by shocking actual events, I'm working.

[Jeffrey Gurian]

On a story about about the Murdochs. Their abuses of power are playing out in real time.

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Starring Academy Award winner Patricia Arquette and Jason Clark.

[Jeffrey Gurian]

It's only cheating if you get caught.

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[Jeffrey Gurian]

This is an I Heart Podcast.