Mike Brian | TABLE READ PODCAST

What this episode is about

The main topic focuses on a gathering of writers to showcase and read sketches, emphasizing the celebration of their creative works. Mike Bryan, a seasoned comedy writer and performer, is featured as a guest, sharing his background in sketch comedy and his contributions to various notable shows in New York.

Key takeaways

• Comedians, like French onion soup, blend layers for lasting impact; Mike Bryan excels in both.
• Jonathan Gaffney and Samantha Locks celebrate unseen comedic gems; scripts aren't double-sided but talent is twofold.
• If a score equals 20 years, Lincoln's wordplay makes math historians cringe - or clap.
• Will Carey's 'Balance of Awesome and Disaster' podcast invites creatives to embrace life's duality.
• Skeptics critique Lincoln's flair: 'Four score' sounds fancier but '87 years' saves syllables.

What is discussed, and when

1. 0:00 – 5:00: Old School Sketch Show, At the Moment, Backdoor Barbecue, Baltimore, Maryland
2. 5:00 – 10:00: John Wilkes Booth, Gettysburg Address, Edmund Booth, Emancipation Proclamation
3. 10:00 – 15:00: Find Your Manhood, Old School Sketch Show
4. 15:00 – 20:00: Flavor Town
5. 20:00 – 25:00: The Sharper Image
6. 25:00 – 30:00: Quarter Pounder, Ad Supported Doctor, Burger King, DiGiorno
7. 30:00 – 35:00: Late Night Writing for TV
8. 35:00 – 40:00: Chris McNamara, Flavor Town
9. 40:00 – 45:00: The Moth, Backdoor Barbecue, Bad Trip, Curtis Wayne Wright
10. 45:00 – 47:48: awesomedisaster.com, Between Awesome and Disaster, Bowling For Soup, Chris Migliaccio

Notable quotes from "Mike Brian | TABLE READ PODCAST"

• Segment news in review since beginning his comedy career in 2014 Mike has been a writer performer and director on Old School sketch show a member of the pit sketch house team…

  about Old School Sketch Show · at 1:26

• With us we have a friend yes well I'm will carry I've been the tech for backdoor barbecue at the people's improv theater the guy running the lights in sound for the dur pretty…

  about Backdoor Barbecue · at 3:37

• Having me we're about to read a sketch and tell us what's the name of this sketch it's called four scores I wrote this a couple years ago for an old school sketch show and it's…

  about Four Scores · at 4:27

• We'll have you read stage cool all right lights up on John Wilkes Booth Tabitha Clara and Abe Lincoln thank you all for agreeing to Workshop the final draft of my Gettysburg Address Tabitha cholera Samuel you are truly my.

  about John Wilkes Booth · at 5:25

• Are we why don't you just recite what you wrote for last January's Emancipation Proclamation as Abe Lincoln talks they all feel like their point is being made very well on the first day of January in the year of Our Lord.

  about Emancipation Proclamation · at 7:14

• I didn't feel like a man anymore but with guns My Little Guy Fieri is finally taking us to flavor town cut to Derek and Derek's wife dancing in a random gazebo I didn't think…

  about Flavor Town · at 16:59

• You want to hear their heartbeat oh yes Dr Cole hits a button but an ad for the McDonald's Quarter Pounder pops up we heard you America McDonald's is now making the coder…

  about Quarter Pounder · at 26:01

• There's the storytelling scene in New York like stuff like the moth or This American Life that kind of thing where you're telling more of a personal story yeah for those I kind of have I outline beats of important points to the.

  about The Moth · at 42:22

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

• John Wilkes Booth — Person · 5 mentions · first at 5:30
• William & Carina Carey — Person · 2 mentions · first at 4:01
  In Baltimore Maryland and I am a podcaster as well I host the podcast between awesome and disaster with Will Carey oh my God what wait what's the podcast about I talked to comedians actors and people in pop punk bands about life in.
• Mike Bryan Fogerty — Person · 2 mentions
• Jonathan Gaffney — Person · 1 mention · first at 0:50
  Guys and we have a good time and we band her and we don't give you notes all right so I'm Jonathan Gaffney I'm one of the house and I'm Samantha locks you know what guests do…
• Samantha Locks — Person · 1 mention · first at 0:51
  Her and we don't give you notes all right so I'm Jonathan Gaffney I'm one of the house and I'm Samantha locks you know what guests do we have on right now we have our friends…
• Mary Todd — Person · 1 mention · first at 8:02
  I don't know people adored my all day Lincoln Douglas debates way back when has Mary Todd seen this speech she saw a version I don't know if Mt didn't okay it then maybe we should rethink this.
• Edmund Booth — Person · 1 mention · first at 8:44
  Notes well I have this joke about Edmund Booth being a better actor than John Wilkes Booth before the dinner break on parchment nine all but John laughs John Wilkes Booth is offended.
• Chris McNamara — Person · 1 mention · first at 39:57
  Doing a high school theater at the behest of my best friend at the time Chris McNamara and I had a really good time having this really tiny part and doing a few more shows I…
• Dimitri Martin — Person · 1 mention · first at 40:46
  Going into college and the guy that really introduced it to me was Dimitri Martin I saw Dimitri Martin special and that's when I learned about like jokes and one-liners out as…
• Mitch Hedberg — Person · 1 mention · first at 41:02
  Thoughts that's that's what I'm learning is so good I loved him and then that's how I found Mitch Hedberg and I found Steven Wright and then you know of course like big around…
• Curtis Wayne Wright — Person · 1 mention · first at 41:04
  Learning is so good I loved him and then that's how I found Mitch Hedberg and I found Steven Wright and then you know of course like big around like Jerry Seinfeld I don't get…
• Gabriel Iglesias — Person · 1 mention · first at 41:10
  Course like big around like Jerry Seinfeld I don't get me wrong I love storytellers too yeah like Gabriel Iglesias is a wonderful comedian Storyteller definitely it's like a…
• Joey Rinaldi — Person · 1 mention · first at 43:26
  Knew of was the bad trip storytelling which they do here in Brooklyn and I know Joey Rinaldi and he's done the show here at this house and I've been on it and it's it was like…
• Demi Lovato — Person · 1 mention · first at 46:20
  You might remember from their song right now and he's now a songwriter behind the scenes writes a lot with Demi Lovato so that was a really interesting conversation and me and…
• Chris Migliaccio — Person · 1 mention · first at 46:45
  See other interviews I've had with the rest of the back door barbecue crew Chris migliaccio has been on twice and then our the third member Paul Cohen he is my holiday guest…
• Paul Cohen — Person · 1 mention · first at 46:47
  The rest of the back door barbecue crew Chris migliaccio has been on twice and then our the third member Paul Cohen he is my holiday guest every year where we recap the year…
• Finn McKenty — Person · 1 mention
• Joe Toplyn — Person · 1 mention
• Marilyn Ghigliotti — Person · 1 mention

Books & papers

• Late Night Writing for TV — Book · 1 mention · first at 33:46
  Finished my CPA exam and then was like I need something to do and a hobby and then picked up a book called late night writing for TV by Joe toplin that pointed me to the pit…
• The Pajama Game — Book · 1 mention · first at 40:08
  Doing a few more shows I would tend to get parts that had like big laugh lines in them my senior year I was in the pajama game and I played like the evil boss that didn't want…
• Infinite Jest — Book · 1 mention

Companies & orgs

• The PIT (People's Improv Theater) — Company · 6 mentions
• Old School Sketch Show — Company · 3 mentions · first at 1:31
• The Moth — Company · 3 mentions · first at 42:24
• Backdoor Barbecue — Company · 2 mentions · first at 3:42
• Between Awesome and Disaster — Company · 2 mentions · first at 4:01
  In Baltimore Maryland and I am a podcaster as well I host the podcast between awesome and disaster with Will Carey oh my God what wait what's the podcast about I talked to comedians actors and people in pop punk bands about life in.
• Kars4Kids — Company · 2 mentions
• Run DMV — Company · 1 mention · first at 1:37
  A writer performer and director on Old School sketch show a member of the pit sketch house team run DMV the co-host head writer of the late night style talk show at the moment…
• At the Moment — Company · 1 mention · first at 1:42
  Sketch house team run DMV the co-host head writer of the late night style talk show at the moment and he is at shows and writing featured on the Second City Network NYC sketchfest and more and you know you might think that this bios done.
• NYC Sketchfest — Company · 1 mention · first at 1:49
  Of the late night style talk show at the moment and he is at shows and writing featured on the Second City Network NYC sketchfest and more and you know you might think that…
• Second City Network — Company · 1 mention · first at 1:49
  Of the late night style talk show at the moment and he is at shows and writing featured on the Second City Network NYC sketchfest and more and you know you might think that…
• The Sharper Image — Company · 1 mention · first at 23:25
  Her shows we did a Sharper Image sketch where he's the satirized of the joke was if you come into the Sharper Image to just try stuff and they get like super threatening and…
• Southern New Hampshire State University — Company · 1 mention · first at 28:21
  Let's take a look nurse turns to hand the chart reveal scrubs has ads for Southern New Hampshire State University Dr Cole double clicks pulls up an image of an MRI okay liver…
• DiGiorno — Company · 1 mention · first at 28:32
  Are perfect that's a weird mark on your heart an ad for DiGiorno pizza pops up wait what's wrong with my heart oh I'm not sure I can see past the rising crest of DiGiorno pizza can't we skip it we can if you are willing to take a short.
• Burger King — Company · 1 mention · first at 28:49
  Survey add disappears that's not a mark on your heart that's just the Burger King I forgot we do business with royalty what is wrong with you there's nothing in my contract…
• Marlboro — Company · 1 mention · first at 29:18
  Practice I think it's time for you to go nurse enters turns escort Casey out back of Scrubs has ads for Marlboro cigarettes and New Amsterdam Vodka nurse begins to Usher Casey…
• Bad Trip — Company · 1 mention · first at 43:21
  Hands I haven't been to the mall storytelling show I've seen or actually knew of was the bad trip storytelling which they do here in Brooklyn and I know Joey Rinaldi and he's…
• awesomedisaster.com — Company · 1 mention · first at 45:42
  Related to me and what I do you can find on my website which is awesomedisaster.com I am willkerry23 on Instagram and you can listen to my podcast between awesome and disaster…
• Bowling For Soup — Company · 1 mention · first at 46:03
  Interviewed the actress Marilyn geekliotti from clerks the lead singer of Bowling For Soup wow the YouTuber Finn mckinty from the punk rock MBA the lead singer of the pop punk…
• The Punk Rock MBA — Company · 1 mention · first at 46:07
  Geekliotti from clerks the lead singer of Bowling For Soup wow the YouTuber Finn mckinty from the punk rock MBA the lead singer of the pop punk band Hit the Lights the lead…
• Hit the Lights — Company · 1 mention · first at 46:12
  YouTuber Finn mckinty from the punk rock MBA the lead singer of the pop punk band Hit the Lights the lead singer of SR-71 you might remember from their song right now and he's…
• SR-71 — Company · 1 mention · first at 46:12
  YouTuber Finn mckinty from the punk rock MBA the lead singer of the pop punk band Hit the Lights the lead singer of SR-71 you might remember from their song right now and he's…
• Table Read Pod — Company · 1 mention · first at 47:09
  You're listening to now apple or you can watch it on YouTube you can also find us at table read pod that's table read p-o-d for anyone that wants to find us we are on Twitter and Instagram and patreon yeah those are our things thank you.
• Stitcher — Company · 1 mention

Products & tech

• Quarter Pounder — Product · 2 mentions · first at 26:06
• New Amsterdam Vodka — Product · 1 mention · first at 29:19
  Nurse enters turns escort Casey out back of Scrubs has ads for Marlboro cigarettes and New Amsterdam Vodka nurse begins to Usher Casey out wait before you go on a scale of one to ten how would you rate your experience great love it that is.

Concepts & topics

• Flavor Town — Concept · 3 mentions · first at 17:06
• Four Scores — Concept · 2 mentions · first at 4:33
• Gettysburg Address — Concept · 2 mentions · first at 5:39
  Lincoln thank you all for agreeing to Workshop the final draft of my Gettysburg Address Tabitha cholera Samuel you are truly my most trusted advisors happy to help Mr President…
• News in Review — Concept · 1 mention · first at 1:26
  Where he hosts and writes the show's recurring comedy news segments a segment news in review since beginning his comedy career in 2014 Mike has been a writer performer and…
• Emancipation Proclamation — Concept · 1 mention · first at 7:18
• Lincoln-Douglas debates — Concept · 1 mention · first at 7:59
  I don't know people adored all day I don't know people adored my all day Lincoln Douglas debates way back when has Mary Todd seen this speech she saw a version I don't know if Mt didn't okay it then.
• Find Your Manhood — Concept · 1 mention · first at 13:50
  We have two more sketches to go I know what is this sketches mate it's called find your manhood it is a little dark a little satirical but it puts a very it's through a very fun Singh Sani lens let's do it and yeah it's it's one.
• Ad Supported Doctor — Concept · 1 mention · first at 25:31
  Just seeing what happens when you put those two things together so it's called ad supported doctor we love it let's see let's go meaty stuff lights up on Casey who is pregnant Dr Cola enters.

Places & events

• Baltimore, Maryland — Place · 1 mention · first at 3:56
  Since show one I've also been a stand-up comic since 2007 I started in Baltimore Maryland and I am a podcaster as well I host the podcast between awesome and disaster with Will Carey oh my God what wait what's the podcast about I talked to.
• Ford Theater — Place · 1 mention · first at 9:15
  You need to think of the Common People when writing these things not all of us go to those fancy plays at the Ford Theater not for me at all I'd rather put some put someone I'd rather someone put a hole in mine yeah that would be wild.

Full transcript with timestamps

0:00 Willy give us a jingle oh it's terrible breathe gather round we got some things we need while you're in town you wrote some [ __ ] we're gonna read it it's table read two three table read I have a question Sam what are we doing here um well this is our podcast this is our pockets wait what is this podcast what do we do here again I forgot this podcast we we enjoy the writers we enjoy the writers we invite the writers fight writers on to read sketches or potentially other things that they have written that have possibly never been seen by anybody and we bring these artwork these writing artworks out of the closet we do and we celebrate you guys and we have a good time and we band her and we don't give you notes all right so I'm Jonathan Gaffney I'm one of the house and I'm Samantha locks you know what guests do we have on right now we have our friends Mike Bryan and William I don't know your last name

1:02 Carrie will carry will carry will carry so we are reading uh Mike's sketches so Mike is a comedy writer director performer and producer based in New York he's a founding member and executive producer of the sketch comedy show uh back door barbecue one of the Pit's longest running sketch comedy shows where he hosts and writes the show's recurring comedy news segments uh a segment news in review since beginning his comedy career in 2014 Mike has been a writer performer and director on Old School sketch show a member of the pit sketch house team run DMV the co-host head writer of the late night style talk show at the moment and he is at shows and writing featured on the Second City Network NYC sketchfest and more uh and you know you might think that this bios done our illustrious guest has more accolades yeah Mike has studied sketch comedy late night and sitcom TV writing satire and comedy performance at the Second City as

2:11 well as sketch comedy and long-form improvisation is the people's improv theater and Upright Citizens Brigade he loves sketch he loves writing sketch comedy that is collaborative fast and fun knows how to make an exceptionally passionate french onion soup and is a CPA who absolutely cannot do your taxes trust me neither of us want that that is is it actually in there that's that's in there because it's all in there this is a good bio uh it's the longest bottle thing that we've had it's the most well-written violence guests have don't have accolades this was just enjoyable the entire time what scares me I wrote that for like the pit sakes like we need a bio for our class your work I'm working on and now that I hear it out loud I was like oh my God this is so much it's great it's great I'm just sitting there I'm like no no we're flipping this on behalf honestly I just want to add you do a great Jon Stewart like you'd be

3:18 a great job Stewart replacement if we ever need to replace him but I don't think we need to replace it sometime soon unfortunately I also think on this in the show we're flipping the whole uh not wanting to read the bio on the head own your bio your Barbie's cool you're cool who else do we have I appreciate it with us we have a friend yes um well well I'm will carry uh I've been the tech for backdoor barbecue at the people's improv theater the guy running the lights in sound for the dur pretty much the whole duration the whole group since show one um I've also been a stand-up comic uh since 2007 I started in Baltimore Maryland and I am a podcaster as well I host uh the podcast between awesome and disaster with Will Carey oh my God what wait what's the podcast about uh I talked to uh comedians actors and uh people in pop punk bands about uh life in life in general the creative process and how they uh the whole idea of that

4:19 podcast is that life is a balance of awesome moments and disaster moments so we talk about both of them well um thank you both for being here thanks for having me we're about to read a sketch and uh tell us what's the name of this sketch it's called four scores I wrote this a couple years ago for an old school sketch show and it's um for that show I always like to do historical parodies so it's uh taken a pretty known historical item and getting a little behind the scenes look at it all right let's do it oh wait before we start I just gotta say these are some meaty sketches like this package this feels meteor it might be the paper as well yes set of sketches we've had it's not double-sided it's not double-sided it's not double-sided they're double-sided everything though well I just assume it's gonna have a lot of good content I hope it's not all dead air it's like when you're picking up a Cantaloupe at

5:16 the store it's like oh that's got good weight because it could be a good one it's already it's a hearty pants all right so let's get into it um Mike we'll have you read stage stage cool all right lights up on John Wilkes Booth Tabitha Clara and Abe Lincoln thank you all for agreeing to Workshop the final draft of my Gettysburg Address Tabitha cholera Samuel you are truly my most trusted advisors happy to help Mr President Lincoln and I can't believe you invited Fame actor John Wilkes boots I'm just honored to get a peek at what will surely make history I hope it does John Wilkes Booth four score and seven years ago our our fathers brought okay pause is there a problem four scores and seven years ago what's a score well you see a score is 20 years so four scores 80 years therefore four score and seven years is 87 years yeah we got it why don't you just say 87 years it's literally less syllables

6:31 well four score and seven years is 87 years with some Flair I don't know what this a blanket voice they all exchange a skeptical look wrong but it's clunky like saying three yards two feet just say 11 feet you know you know you know for my acting and nothing else I'd say being succinct is Paramount I agree with John Wilkes Booth you're all being over dramatic are we are we why don't you just recite what you wrote for last January's Emancipation Proclamation as Abe Lincoln talks they all feel like their point is being made very well on the first day of January in the year of Our Lord 1863 all persons held as slaves with any state or designated part of a state this is what we're talking about you could have just said this fire points to Tabitha hi everyone I'm ending slavery and seen I don't know people adored um all day I don't know people adored my all day Lincoln Douglas debates way back when

8:02 has Mary Todd seen this speech she saw a version I don't know if Mt didn't okay it then maybe we should rethink this or we can stick with they put their hands up to silence silence Abe as they think have you considered connecting with them with a joke uh or rhyming oh yeah people loved Alexander Hamilton and his rap talking wrapping a speech oh my God John Wilkes Booth just blew my brains out I'm trying to be serious Whoa man you asked for notes well I have this joke about Edmund Booth being a better actor than John Wilkes Booth before the dinner break on parchment nine all but John laughs John Wilkes Booth is offended I uh I see how it is Abe parchment nine how long is the speech about 12 parchments I check out after one parchment Man one and a half tops hey you need to think of the Common People when writing these things not all of us go to those fancy plays at the Ford Theater uh not for me at all I'd rather put some

9:21 put someone I'd rather someone put a hole in mine yeah that would be wild this Gettysburg Address is supposed to Define our great nation I guess I'm worried if it's not verbose they won't listen to me you know Abe people are going to a war zone in full-on church clothes and wigs just to see you they'll listen you mean it yeah especially with all your great jokes like they're they're so great they're so so funny thanks John Luke's Booth I'm glad you're such a good support and don't take things personally John won't smooth gives him finger guns blackout great I love this I love the idea of just like uh a major historical figure living their life and just like people around them being like you did you did [ __ ] super annoying like it's so annoying for Abe Lincoln to phrase things in that way yeah um yeah like anytime someone starts using like four and five dollar words from the dictionary or just like yeah

10:29 can you just address this more plainly yeah yeah because there had to have been those people there had to have been people who just like were just like I don't know uh talked more simply and uh just like read a speech and it's like this guy is [ __ ] too much oh this guy is so pretentious this Abe Lincoln guy like Lincoln [ __ ] speaking away whether people could understand I don't want to do math while you're talking to me like we don't need this like with two percent of the population went to college back then right exactly which may think of Shakespeare it's just like I don't want to have to read what you mean on the opposite page just say what you mean yeah well the one thing about Shakespeare is he never wrote anything of course yeah before scoring seven years ago I don't know that's like the equivalent of like a guy in Brooklyn like quoting infinite jazz uh it's like oh that Line's from

11:26 infinite Jazz it's like maybe you should go die I don't know maybe should like reading other books Abe Lincoln is the presidential equivalent of like a annoying guy with a handlebar mustache in a bar on Bedford exactly yeah you may have read it but did you read it you know that is a really fun sketch so did you put the SketchUp anywhere this one went up uh at Old School sketch show like years ago I think November 2019. this is a pre-pandemic um yeah how was it recepted I it went pretty well it's um with that show it's all written and produced and put up in a week so very simple sketches is like very simple sketches very simple games very simple game easy to understand it's a nine o'clock 10 9 30 audience should be yeah keep it nice you know simple premises while executed is especially for that show in particular keep it easy and let the let the performers do all the great work all right well that's

12:31 great fun with the sketch anything oh does any what else have any last comments before no notes though no notes no no you can hate it well I'll just say as like having been Mike's friend and watching him grow as an artist from the booth over all these years I always am tickled by his right his writing style and as a history nerd of a lot of stuff I like uh stuff like this so I really enjoyed it I really enjoyed it too it's such a funny thing to make fun of Abe Lincoln for it's such a potential

13:14 through it all right should we throw them up I'm just gonna toss mine on the ground on the note of it being a hearty stack again I had to do a little yeah so we have a second sketch here we're having fun we have two more sketches to go I know um what is this sketches uh uh mate it's called find your manhood it is um it is a little dark a little satirical but it puts a very it's through a very fun Singh Sani lens um let's do it and yeah it's uh it's one when Sam and I were talking about this podcast it's like do you ever heard the sketches where it's like it would take so much to produce and put up well we can film it and film a read of it and I was like this is the right sketch for that yeah this is so hard to produce yeah this is yeah you'll see with the other cry honestly yeah this is honestly something that I want the podcast to be too it's like you have a great idea you write it you look at it and think I

14:26 don't have 20 million dollars I don't even have half a million dollars I don't even have a dollar I don't have dollars I I might have negative painting my car so they can't find it yeah exactly so yeah like this is like there's so much comedy that's just sitting in the world that isn't celebrated isn't used and like um that is also just like if I don't know even if you wanted to put it up even if you liked it it's too expensive so let's do it let's do it let's read two stage directions let's go all right open on Derek who's sitting distant from Derek's wife she's clearly bored he's embarrassed for guys getting older can come close fumbling a burger off the grill Mo's wife gives him a not again look your manhood feels insubstantial shooting a basketball and missing the hoop your little Kool-Aid man can't wait to break through that brick wall anymore but it doesn't have to stay that way it

15:39 doesn't revive your manhood with guns cut to video diagram of a man's body sixty percent of men feel uh sixty percent of men feel like age has gotten the best of them but with guns you'll be able to feel like an umbrella you'll be able to uh you'll feel I can't read you don't feel like you're um no no don't do it for me I can't read today I have a typo so that's my bad but with guns you'll feel like an umbrella can be ready for heavy rainfall as the vo speaks the diagram of a man's body targets the generals that rise and starts firing off bullets Chiron mental depiction only not physical event effect of guns cut to Derek and Derek's wife sitting in bathtubs in the middle of the mountains Derek pulls out the gun out of the water and Derek's wife gives him a Lusty look and don't worry if your insurance covers it guns are easy to get Chiron like very very easy to get guns can solve men's little problems whether it's moderate

16:45 cut to Derek holding his handgun severe cut to Mo with a lawn assault rifle or even critical cut showing off his entire safe of rifles handguns and grenades cut to Moe and Moe's wife at the grill I didn't feel like a man anymore but with guns My Little Guy Fieri is finally taking us to flavor town cut to Derek and Derek's wife dancing in a random gazebo I didn't think I'd ever feel like a big strong boy again but with guns my pastas finally Al Dente cut the tit back at the basketball hoop I tried everything growing a beard shaving even listening to Joe Rogan's podcast but with guns I finally feel like a guy again trust me fellas guns work Derek's wife nods in an insinuating matter Derek and Derek's wife go in for a kiss but the gun fires off wounding Derek's leg the sound cuts off immediately and they are visually trying to fix the wound as the vo speaks oh the chunky one side effects of guns include lack of

17:58 social awareness shooting yourself becoming that friend becoming that Uncle becoming that guy at work desire to wear camo in public shooting yourself randomly screaming in public places shooting yourself and a cute diarrhea ask your doctor if you're healthy enough for guns Chiron you will be everyone is apparently cut to chat at the basketball hoop the best decision I made was getting guns Chet shoots the basketball and misses he pulls out the gut his gun and fires repeatedly until the hoop Falls the ball rolls through the Fallen hoop Chet looks at and smiles lay up cut to Derek who is now in critical condition the Medics are there as Derek wife tries to explain how Derek got shot don't drink alcohol in excess with guns seek medical attention if guns last longer than 36 hours and you start calling yourself Daddy really uh really reminds me of like something that should be on SNL that I would like see on there and it also

19:05 reminds me of like the classic advice that your your sketch 101 teacher will tell you when they're going over advertisement sketches which is like right with like a million dollar budget in mind I imagine you wrote this in a UCB 101 or 102. this was yeah I think this actually was a UCB I saw the whole thing in my head as yeah the gun me getting shot I saw like me slowly dying I I see the graphics on the screen yeah I really think for my right template this is a really really it's very strong like charity advertisements I think it's like a perfect little uh satire yeah it heightens well the beats are really good I love the fact that I mean I love any sketch or anytime anyone mentions Guy Fieri and flavor town in the same sketch I award uh you know a gold star to any sketchy and [ __ ] yeah chat Mo Derek like all classic like dudes who would be getting guns kind of uh things like absolutely I love

20:15 sketches where they it stays true to like a good sketch is a good thesis statement statement is erectile dysfunction but also guns yeah yes like yeah like ones make your pee pee heart was like yeah yeah like it has very clear point point of view and like it never like you're hitting all of the points you would make about like guns and gun ownership and the culture around it but you're not sacrificing jokes yeah you're also hitting all the points that make like medical advertisements funny and also erectile dysfunction although it's not that funny and also it's just um yeah with the subject matter it's a like it's a very light and fun way to it's it's a more fun way to like satirize like gun culture in America which is just making fun of dudes it's like the best way to do it it's like yeah why do you have like six thousand years all the time oh yeah well I just I so many people from my hometown I I saw

21:18 them like I I knew that person yeah yeah I know this person too it's my dad honestly that is my dad he owns like six guns and none of them are like scary guns they're all like shotguns and pistols and yeah kind of like older historical guns but he does wear camo all the time and is a little bit like chaotic like he does kind of like scare you a little bit I love that I love seeing a person that scares me a little bit with lots of guns in your face they're all hidden oh even better I love a nice size I love an Easter egg hunt that could send me to the hospital she went to go grab a shirt from the from the closet and all of a sudden I'm just shocking just shotguns yeah oh did you hear what happened to Bill he died he died my answered his gun instead of the phone also these sketches too the advertisement sketches it's such a nice format to keep this yeah right it's just like here's the fun here's the fun

22:30 here's the fun here's the fun because when you're writing it it's like if you go off on like wild tangents that don't make any sense it's like why this why would a commercial be doing this it like forces you to just be like what do I think is funny and then just like cutting and cutting and cutting out different versions of that funny thing oh yeah and using the different Vehicles like I love commercial parody I sorry my tummy just went off wow um but I was working with some folks on Commercial parodies and the fun topic is just like how can you use the different vehicles of a commercial to make jokes and like how do you get it out of the dialogue and it's always really fun when you're rewriting it oh yeah commercial parodies are like one of my favorite kinds of sketches not to go to off topic but one of my other favorite commercial parodies Mike has done is uh on one of her shows we did a Sharper Image sketch

23:22 where he's the satirized of the joke was if you come into the Sharper Image to just try stuff and they get like super threatening and like yeah it just it's one of my favorite things it's just a try stuff I'm just having a mall just just for that purpose we all had that friend who had that Mom who would just buy the stuff do you want one too it's like I guess sure yeah well I why not this is great uh this is great satire I love this sketch although we might ruin uh my life and potentially other people's lives around me because I potentially after this sketch might refer to my penis as a little Kool-Aid Man

25:06 it's okay it's a mental note now so we're flying through we're having a great time I Loved These first two sketches what's our last catch this one is taking a little bit of a a concept that we see all over the Internet and putting it in a putting in a different environment and a doctor's office and just seeing what happens when you put those two things together so it's called ad supported doctor we love it let's see let's go meaty stuff lights up on Casey who is pregnant Dr Cola enters all right Casey I'm waiting on a few results but things look great thanks Dr Kola it's good to know that everything's okay while we're waiting why don't we take a look at the little one Dr Cola does a sonogram the baby pops up on the screen see lungs are good growing on track you want to hear their heartbeat oh yes Dr Cole hits a button but an ad for the McDonald's Quarter Pounder pops up we heard you America McDonald's is now

26:11 making the coder pounder and Big Mac with real beef only 2.99 the ad goes away and we hear the heartbeat heartbeat sounds fantastic good but was that what was that McDonald's thing about oh well McDonald's used to make their burgers with a mixture now they're using real beef no I get that part but why is there a reference to make the McDonald's Quarter Pounder on my sonogram oh they didn't tell you tell me what is my baby okay your baby's excellent your insurance however not so much so in order to pay for things your visit with me is AD supported ad supported yeah you know how YouTube has ads your visits with me do too okay the sonogram looks great but your heart rate is a little high so I'd like to check a few things nurse nurse enters let's run some baseline tests nurse turns to do tests back of Scrubs has ads for Geico and Progressive nurse exits doing a bit the next during the next bit

27:17 of dialogue while he's running those Let's test your vision in hearing can you read that chart one vision and hearing wait for the queue sound effects the cars for kids soundtrack one eight seven seven cars for kids c-a-r-s cars for kids one eight seven seven cars for kids donate your car today perfect I could have just known the song No the test said c-a-r-s and the song is k-a-r-s cars for kids and yes I need to say that in order to earn my commission teaching sound effect I'm sorry Dr Cola but these ads are a bit overwhelming I know this can be stressful it's stressful for everyone is it it is which is why I recommend the com app if you subscribe during this visit you can receive three months free with the code nerd centers with the chart let's take a look nurse turns to hand the chart reveal scrubs has ads for Southern New Hampshire State University Dr Cole double clicks pulls up an image

28:25 of an MRI okay liver looks good lungs are perfect that's a weird mark on your heart an ad for DiGiorno pizza pops up wait what's wrong with wrong with my heart oh I'm not sure I can see past the rising crest of DiGiorno pizza can't we skip it we can if you are willing to take a short survey add disappears that's not a mark on your heart that's just the Burger King I forgot we do business with royalty what is wrong with you there's nothing in my contract that says I can't do business with Burger King and McDonald's that's it I can't handle add supported thing I like this my name is Joe but I have to make patients like you call me Dr Coca-Cola so if you don't like how I run this practice I think it's time for you to go nurse nurse enters turns escort Casey out back of Scrubs has ads for Marlboro cigarettes and New Amsterdam Vodka nurse begins to Usher Casey out wait wait before you go on a scale of one to ten

29:27 how would you rate your experience great great great love it that is uh uh gonna happen I think tomorrow yeah this is this is the future yeah that's the future you're gonna go and see someone's scrubs and they're gonna be like sorry I need to change and then they're gonna come back and it's just gonna be like uh yeah I'm gonna be okay with it if I paid less in health insurance for it but I don't think that's gonna happen no no no no no it's for inflation exactly it'll just be in order to keep paying what you do now which is too much you'll have to get a lot of sponsored content yeah yeah and then they'll have a more expensive insurance rate where I don't have to have exactly I love the idea of like doctors like jocking for sponsorship yeah and be like yeah I gotta I gotta I gotta I gotta sponsor up yeah I got a doctor sponsored by Coca-Cola

30:38 as far as the quality of the beverage I find it uh Delight I'm just merely going on pure sales okay okay oh my God yeah no no no I understand they still haven't gotten that guy's jet yeah Dr kill is gonna be a reality I love this unfortunately oh my God for cards for kids for kids one eight seven seven cars for kids donate your cars today you've never heard that I've seen the app but they don't play that that song and add as far as I know anymore it's one of the most evil advertisers I mean they're trying I don't even understand they just the song is evil I it's a historically like annoying song like even in the grandson what are they giving the cars to the kids well no there's a hole I forget what it was there's a whole thing under it where they're like not even like recouping like they're just liquidating the cars and I'm like using it to like pay for the charity and like 10 of it goes to

31:51 the kids yeah of course because if you're giving money to charity like 90 of the money goes to the Charities operating yeah and exactly and what are these and and and this is something that's probably burned up before it's like what are what good are these cars to these kids they can't drive unless you're like cars like old cars to teeny teenager like need a car disenfranchised and need a car right but I don't think that that's what I don't think that's what it is awesome quick question what year is this sketch happening because McDonald's is offering a burger for only 2.99 so I think that this is technically a sketch in the past or McDonald's has altered it that is a great question like the definition of real beef in the future is probably stretched a little bit real in like 100 years from now just means like real crickets uh yeah no yeah we're all gonna be eating bugs very soon yeah yeah for sure but listen the sketch was

32:50 a delight we're gonna rip this one up let's do it I love this catch the next section here which is I want to ask a serious question oh God lay it on me when did comedy first happen for you for me it would have been around 2014 2015. um so the way I got into to writing was um as mentioned in my very elaborate bio that I've now heard out loud it um I I am a CPA that's like what I do by trade so um I graduated college and was studying very densely for the CPA exam and if you need a break so I started watching like Jimmy Fallon Clips I was like oh this is fun um just as like a little seven minute break like his monologues all that fun stuff and then finished my CPA exam and then was like I need something to do and a hobby um and then picked up a book called late night writing for TV by Joe toplin that pointed me to the pit started doing classes at the pit I fell in love with writing and doing sketch comedy but for

33:56 me it was and then produced shows and all these years later still at it and um yeah it for me it was very much a after college thing it was never like a theater kid or anything like that um when did you graduate college 2013. oh wow um so yeah it's been a while that's how I kind of got into it in the very spark notes it's a longer story but keeping it brief so basically uh don't take this the wrong way but studying for the CPAs was boring you were like [ __ ] I need to do something fun I need something entertaining yes um and now you're not a CPA really anymore oh unless you are oh no I'm actually like I am an accountant by day oh wow that is my job yeah that's what you do with Peloton yeah I'm doing I do like I do the most accountanty of accounting I do like the accounting rules and I interpret them yeah wow and um what is the writing process like for you do you sit in a dark room do you hang

34:56 out with friends do you I take acid or something that would be news to me that would be yeah no that's let me tell you that you don't come up with Guy Fieri flavor Town Sober uh for me I usually write my first couple of drafts or premises alone or I'll even come up with like a first page of like just establishing who what where and then what's the Twist and I'll bring that to a table or a group or even if it's just like a pitch but when I'm writing my sketches I'm usually doing it alone usually when I'm figuring out what to write it's dependent on who am I writing for and what show am I writing for so is it a late it's going to be a late night show is it gonna be in weekday show it's gonna be a weekend show we are my show um is a rotating cast one so who am I bringing in is there a theme I'm working towards um similar like what I was saying with old school like old school I always write

35:50 simple premises executed well because like you have a day to write everything so it really comes from there and then also as we start to write like we'll do our pitch meetings and I like to figure out what's missing so like if we have a lot of two-person sketches or a lot of group sketches like a very flat show I'll be like okay can I write an energetic sketch can I write a song can I write something a little bit poppy um just like give a layer to it so it's usually geared towards like what am I writing for I don't I don't do a ton of writing just like hey I wrote the sketch and one day it'll be there it's usually just like trying to figure out what I hope to use this for one day or put right towards someone for uh so yeah once I start generating those ideas then I like to write by myself for a little bit and then I'm very type A so I'll literally print it and then just start hatcheting it up so

36:40 by the time it gets the table read it's on like V5 because I just keep on being like Oh but you could say like this a little bit better or like this could be better this could be a joke that's that's a good process to have because I feel like I feel like people cut things on their computers these days and it's hard to like go back yeah and like look at like what you had there originally because sometimes I feel like what you have there originally it can be funny too yeah because you would definitely like and also sometimes you'll get feedback and like the feedback doesn't gel with the original idea or like you try it and you get it read so I think the add one actually is a prior version I rolled it back to one that I liked because we changed that one a lot yeah um for a show and it worked for like or it got cut for the show um for time but um because it's a great sketch it was only for time and that's

37:26 it but I hate when sketches get cut for times oh [ __ ] it's the worst the worst but um yeah it's I I like saving all the versions remember what I have like even it's like also like sometimes you find a character or a joke where like the sketch doesn't work but you really like the character right so I can move them into a different sketch where it's like all right bill can now be like this Barb person who has much more layers to her than like Bill who says what like that kind of stuff yeah I feel like there's also a similar logic there with stand up uh where a lot of people are like writing notes like jokes on their phone and then they like to leave them and rewrite them and don't save the old version so that it's like [ __ ] this joke was way funnier when I was doing it like a year ago why what is it not funny now exactly what what changes what change yeah and that can be used like so many

38:15 uh different things they can't even just vary from like show to show like especially in New York if you're doing like a couple sets every night yeah uh one crowd could be very much in a certain mood like that's very much a real then you get in a certain mood and your tonality changes it can be so tricky exactly and and it's very much like what what is the vibe at that moment at that moment it's it's uh comedy is just like one of those like very much in the room when it happens kind of things yeah I feel like the best stand-ups have to be good enough improvisers to read the room and like Engage The Room rather than just telling their jokes yeah which is something I've only recently learned yeah I would absolutely really agree with that I like I liked stand-ups like go up with like maybe 70 I always say like go up with like 70 of a plan yeah yeah but like give yourself that 30 to change a few things last minute or like

39:14 decide if you know there's a lot of couples in the room and like telling jokes about you being single and sad is maybe not the the best Vibe oh yeah of course or if you're on a or if you're on a show and like every comic has talked about this same thing in the news maybe I don't want to talk about that same thing or if the one couple in the front has been picked on by everybody maybe you don't exactly exactly same question to me when did comedy start for you and what is your writing process like wow when did comedy start uh start for me so I will say probably the seed got planted in high school I uh started doing a high school theater uh at the behest of my best friend at the time Chris McNamara and I had a really good time having this really tiny part and doing a few more shows I would tend to get parts that had like big laugh lines in them my senior year I was in the pajama game and I played like the evil

40:13 boss that didn't want to give his Factory workers a raise so there's a part in that play where I have to I have to jump across the stage when Like a Knife gets thrown at me and I have to and I got this big there's a I got this big laugh line and that probably set the seed as far as the concept of stand up I didn't really start thinking about stand up as a thing I wanted to try doing until I was probably like later in like going into college and the guy that really introduced it to me was uh Dimitri Martin I saw Dimitri Martin special and that's when I learned about like jokes and one-liners out as opposed to storytelling so that's what made me really want to go on stage and try saying like quirky weird surreal thoughts uh that's that's what I'm learning is so good I loved him and then that's how I found Mitch Hedberg and I found Steven Wright and then you know of course like big around like Jerry

41:08 Seinfeld I don't get me wrong I love storytellers too yeah like Gabriel Iglesias is a wonderful comedian Storyteller definitely it's like a different type of Comedy though yeah like it it apps it absolutely is and he's always and and Mike my favorite comic storytell is also always have jokes along the way yeah yeah so and then as far as like a writing process um I love to uh I've taken really gotten into uh to free writing uh relatively recently because I like to just that will help me really flesh out an idea like if I just start thinking of a topic and I write everything I can think of on that on that topic and that will give me ideas of like okay maybe there's a joke here and there's a joke there as far as uh like straight set up punchline kind of stuff um because once you kind of get the general idea of of joke format like set up and then the twist those are a little easier to kind of think about more

42:08 mathematically right and then when it comes to uh storytelling because I also to kind of for anyone who might not be familiar there's like Club stand up which is very much like setup punch where the focus is on yeah last and then there's the storytelling scene in New York like stuff like the moth or This American Life uh that kind of thing where you're telling more of a personal story yeah for those I kind of have I outline beats of important points to the uh to the detail of the story and then I think about jokes around that around that yeah exactly and then part of doing being a solo performer compared to when we do sketch is you go up and you see what works and then you feel what doesn't work and then you start reconfiguring it yeah maybe I shorten stuff down stuff and punchier maybe maybe I saved the more emotional catharsis or as I like to call it the and in that moment moment because like if you've ever gone to the

43:07 moth lots of those stories and with someone saying and in that moment and that's the conclusion they always do this kind of sweeping gesture with the hands I I haven't been to the mall storytelling show I've seen or actually knew of was the bad trip storytelling which they do here in Brooklyn and I know Joey Rinaldi and he's done the show here at this house and I've been on it and it's it was like good I liked it I liked that there was like a theme each like show but I actually that was like the only storytelling show that I knew of is the moth like well the Muff is also similar The Moth often has themes as well do they do an open mic or is it like an open mic for sure you're telling or is it just like show like a show there's the boss usually are where people go in and people want to get on on a list and then you might get on or you might or you might okay so it's like a list kind of loose Open Mic situation yeah it's kind

44:05 yeah it's kind of like a booked mic right so if you're there early you could be lucky right right yeah cool that's good to know well listen we really thank both of you for coming here before we head out we want to know where can we find you yeah oh yeah yeah yeah where can we find something do you plug yourself give us handles say your names again if you want to give your address or whatever give us your shows let's do it yeah so um I am Mike Brian Fogerty I'm at the Mike Bryan on Instagram which is where I post most of my shows and all that fun stuff in terms of stuff coming up in June June 22nd and June 24th we'll have backdoor barbecue that we'll be working on where we're working on casting that right now again some awesome directors so rotating cast show so if you're ever interested in sketch working with us performing with us check it out we always bring in guests it's a great show thank you it's

45:03 such a great show I appreciate that I love your Jon Stewart yeah we do it's a mixture of sketch and then I I do the the news and review um comedic News segment which we're writing right now for our April show um and then uh also if you're ever interested in learning late night style writing I'm working on the late night style writing program and teaching that at the pit not sure when the class next class well series will come in we're in the middle of the first one right now but uh keep an eye out for those as well if you're interested in that thank you so much and and uh I am will Carey uh everything related to me and what I do you can find on my website which is uh awesomedisaster.com uh I am willkerry23 on Instagram and you can listen to my podcast between awesome and disaster everywhere you get your podcasts Apple Stitch or Spotify even the ones I haven't uh mentioned yet and I've interviewed people's uh I and we

45:59 interviewed the actress Marilyn geekliotti from clerks uh the lead singer of Bowling For Soup wow the YouTuber Finn mckinty from the punk rock MBA the lead singer of the pop punk band Hit the Lights the lead singer of SR-71 uh you might remember from their their song right now and he's now a songwriter behind the scenes writes a lot with Demi Lovato so that was a really interesting conversation and me and Mike Mike punk music I do oh yeah do you know Demi Lovato and I rip some licks yo what the [ __ ] Mike has been uh Mike has been on the show twice and you can also uh see uh other interviews I've had with the rest of the back door barbecue crew uh Chris migliaccio has been on twice and then our the third member Paul Cohen uh he is my uh holiday guest every year where we recap the year and Pop Punk Around uh Christmas Hanukkah that's amazing we love it and also where do we find this podcast this podcast wherever

47:03 you're listening to now now apple or you can watch it on YouTube you can also find us at table read pod that's table read p-o-d for anyone that wants to find us we are on Twitter and Instagram and uh patreon uh yeah those are our things thank you so much for coming everyone and uh yeah we'll have another one of these podcasts goodbye podcast thanks for having us oh it was so much fun but I guess that it's all done foreign

Questions about this episode

What is "Mike Brian | TABLE READ PODCAST" about?

The main topic focuses on a gathering of writers to showcase and read sketches, emphasizing the celebration of their creative works. Mike Bryan, a seasoned comedy writer and performer, is featured as a guest, sharing his background in sketch comedy and his contributions to various notable shows in New York.

What is mentioned in this Table Read episode?

57 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including The PIT (People's Improv Theater), John Wilkes Booth, Old School Sketch Show, Flavor Town, The Moth, Backdoor Barbecue. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "Mike Brian | TABLE READ PODCAST"?

The episode runs 48 min; the transcript is about 7,951 words in 45 timestamped sections.

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