San Francisco Comedy Blog

by Andrew Lowder

Barry Sobel first hit it big in the late 80s and went on to be nominated for an Emmy for his work on Saturday Night Live. His many TV and film appearances include the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, Revenge of the Nerds II, Doc Hollywood, MTV’s Lip Service, as well as The Barry Sobel Show on Comedy Central. Barry started his comedy career in San Francisco and returns next week for an appearance at the Rickshaw Stop.

December 27th @ Rickshaw Stop
155 Fell Street, San Francisco

Hi Barry. Might as well jump right in. Appearing on Carson at such a young age must’ve been nerve-wracking. Were you petrified? How did that all come about and what was it like?

Barry Sobel: My appearance on Johnny Carson, currently being bootlegged on the web, was the second time I was ever on. In fact, it was just the opposite of nerve-wracking. When Johnny was intro-ing me, I yelled out from backstage. Not a lot of people do that. I just knew it was going to be one of the greatest moments of my life. I was so excited to get out there. It surprised Johnny, and Ed covered by going, “Voice from above sir…”

How did you get to be the first guest? That’s like Billy Crystal-style.

BS: I didn’t learn ‘til hours before that I would be on first, followed by Betty White and Tiffany, which of course is hilarious. I got to stay on for two segments. That just happened. I had superpowers of confidence instilled in me by Jim McCauley, to whom I attribute my total success. He said that I had ‘a lot’ of material, so I didn’t think twice.

Jim McCauley was the talent booker that broke all those careers?

BS: He was the ‘man who changed your life’. A year before, Jim saw me at The Improv and asked me to do the show. I said “Just like that?” He said, “No, you worked for years, this is the easy part.” And that was the first Tonight Show. The second one was more what is referred to in a comedy career as the ‘big break.’

What led up to it?

BS: A surreal amount of events, all at the same time… I worked on Punchline, a movie with Tom Hanks, who chose me to write with him and teach him how to do stand-up comedy. In the middle of Punchline, I went off and filmed Nerds II, I had appeared on “Showtime at the Apollo” with my rap inspiration, the Beastie Boys. I had been on many HBO specials, I was VJing on MTV (my all-time favorite job!). Comedy Central was running a commercial with me and my Mom. I even played myself on a freakin’ “21 Jump Street”! It was insane! Many things went into my big break, and in fact, Jim was right, it was the easy part.

Are you making any of this up?

BS: Not a word. It was a very big year and since this is a web interview, I am hoping this spills over to Wikipedia or that other Internet Data Base. ‘Daay don’t know me! …daay don’t know my b’tness… (Can you tell the people I am doing this in a wigger voice and that I still got it?).

So you were quite the big deal for awhile there. So, no offense, but what happened?

BS: Well my much publicized break up with Madonna didn’t help, nor did that incident with Robbie Williams at a Blur concert.

Let’s leave it at that. You started in SF, right?

BS: Yeah, and everything happened because I started in SF at the Holy City Zoo and The Other Café, both magical places. I cannot begin to describe their coolness. Then there was The Punchline that was connected to The Old Waldorf. I was there every night doing comedy or watching acts like Pat Benatar or Huey Lewis. One night, Bruce shows up…

Your all time idol Bruce Springsteen…

BS: Bruce Springsteen! The reason for my very existence… right after I did a set next door! Bill Graham owned both the Punchline and the Waldorf and had me open for many of the acts, and once in a crazy notion, he would put me on in front of a quarter of a million people at a rock festival.

The era when Comedians were Rock Stars!

BS: Nowhere more prevalent than in the Bay. For example, Joel Selvin once had me in the same ‘pink section’ article as The Clash… I showed it to Mick Jones who autographed it for me at the SF Civic Center while passing me a joint.

That all sounds crazy.

BS: There was this benefit once at Oakland Stadium. Comedians in between the bands, it was sick. Warren Thomas was on, then Tracy Chapman, Barry Sobel, The Grateful Dead. I’m not kidding! I was so lucky to be a part of it. In SF, I was part of a time where I had to do 20 minutes when I only had 5, 45 when I had 15… It made ya have to be great.

What about your first time on stage?

BS: I started in an improv group called “Spaghetti Jam”. When I was 17, in my second show ever, I was on stage with Robin Williams who at the time was the most famous person on the planet. When he would ‘show up’ at a club, the word spread like wildfire and people would run down the streets to pack the place. It was a like A Hard Days Night. Well, he blew me off the stage, but I learned a thing or two.

Did he ever see you do stand-up?

BS: Years later at the Comedy Store, I was on in the Main Room. Mitzi was my champion. Eddie Murphy always had me go on before him and Richard Pryor was performing and wanted me there, as he was a big fan, which of course is inconceivable. So Robin was going to surprise close the show because who can follow that. I knew he was watching, and afterwards Robin told me he was proud. It meant the world to me. And this from a kid with absolutely no show business aspirations whatsoever. I wanted to grow up and become a harness race driver at Monticello Raceway. I was going to be the next Luc Ouellette.

I’m not sure I know who that is…

BS: After all that blatant name-dropping, I figured I’d give you something to Google.

How did you get involved in writing on SNL?

BS: In ‘96 I thought up a three-minute talk show that I sold to Comedy Central. Jimmy Fallon made his ‘network debut’ on our first show. Although many people on SNL had opened for me, or were my peers, it was only Jimmy that was gracious enough to invite me to “the party.”

SNL was an amazing experience. I loved the place. I went in early on Thursdays cause that was when the musical guest came in. My friend Marci Klein and I would sit just a few feet away from Radiohead and I would take in every second of all the rehearsals. I’m a TV kid. It wasn’t lost on me that SNL was the greatest, most legendary place ever to work. I will always be grateful.

You went on to produce from there?

BS: I got an overall deal at MTV Networks and made a talk show pilot for VH1 called “Old School.” We wanted to bring back everyone we ever loved in the history of pop culture… and here’s the hook… We’d treat them like the stars and heroes that they are. It turned out not to be the right tone for that network. I’m not sure VH1 really ‘Loves the 80’s/90’s’ at all. They make shows where people you never heard of, who have done NOTHING, make fun of pop icons, who have accomplished more than all of those ‘talking heads’ combined.

How did you get back into stand up?

BS: I sort of never stopped, but I wasn’t touring. I saw Mitch Hedberg on Letterman and we became buds. He made me want to be a comedian again.

There’s stories all over the place about how Mitch was as cool to new guys just starting out as he was to established acts…

BS: By the way, I can’t leave it at that.

Didn’t mean to get off topic. What else were you up to during that time?

BS: I did a gaggle of projects, movies, and TV shows during the next part of my career, more than most, including inventing a ‘three minute talk show’ for Comedy Central which is back in production for the web. It’s just, you know, no one ever likes the second Album, er CD, I mean download. I assure you the third one will be my “OK Computer.”

How did you get involved with Tom Hanks on Cartoon03?

BS: I never brought Tom a project before. I never felt anything was worthy ‘til two aliens sent me a spacerocket and I… “left on a journey, and came back with an adventure!” 02 and 03 are my dudes. We live together on Planet Earth and do EVERYTHING… inspired by the music of Radiohead. Tom thinks it is “sorta brilliant.” My friendship with Tom is the coolest thing. I am the luckiest boy in the world that he picked me.

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