Director Linda Mendoza joins host Rich Stein

Director Linda Mendoza joins host Rich Stein

Linda Mendoza is an award-winning Director, born and raised in Detroit, Michigan. She was a Sociology Major before falling into the television industry.  Linda got her start in the multi- camera/variety genre as a production assistant. She worked her way up on hit shows such as 'In Living Color' and ''Saturday Night Live." Linda’s love of stand-up started at an early age.  Later her opportunities working with artists like Robin Williams, on 'Robin Williams at the Met', Billy Crystal’s 'Midnight Train to Moscow' and Martin Short's  "I Martin Short, Goes Hollywood" allowed her to learn the art of Stand-Up from the best. The 'Chris Rock Show' for HBO would help her transition to full-time directing and the 'Bernie Mac Show' would be her break into narrative, episodic television. Since then, Linda’s gone on to direct over 130 episodes of comedy including, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Black-ish, Grown-ish, 30 Rock and Scrubs. She has directed two features.  Chasing Papi for Fox 2000 and Relationship Goals, which is currently streaming on Amazon Prime. She is so thankful to her family for all the love and support. Her husband, Tim, for being the perfect life partner.  The beautiful young men she was blessed with, her son, John, and her nephew, Marccus.  And of course, her best friend and sister through it all, Dora. She is so grateful to God, for guiding her and helping her succeed.  Despite herself! Linda is proud to be a working member of the Director's Guild of America for over 35 years. Please help me welcome my very special guest today,  Director of comedy from sit coms to specials and the coveted Mark Twain Prize for American Humor: Linda Mendoza.

Comedian Tom Ryan joins host Rich Stein

Tom Ryan has been a full-time standup comedian for over thirty years.  He made two appearances on the Late Show with David Letterman and recently performed at  Carnegie Hall. Since  he was about 10 years old, Tom wanted to be a standup comedian. The  first standup comedy he ever heard was from David Brenner and George Carlin.  At  26, he left an insurance job in his hometown of Philadelphia to move to  Florida where he landed a job at a local golf course. The job lasted  only 3 weeks. Ryan  says, “Losing that job was the best thing that ever happened to me  because it forced me to confront exactly what I wanted to do with my life.” He took a job as a doorman at the newly opened Comedy Corner in West Palm Beach. It was the lowest paying but most  valuable job he ever had. It provided him with a complete comedy  education watching acts such as Jerry Seinfeld, Dennis Miller and Bill  Hicks. It  was not long before Tom made his stage debut. Within two years he was  working full time as a comedian. Since then, Tom Ryan has worked  steadily at comedy clubs,  concert venues and corporate functions across the U.S. In addition to  his Letterman appearances, he has also been featured on Showtime,  A&E, Comedy Central and NBC. He has performed as the opening act in  concert for B.B. King, Natalie Cole, Jeff Beck, Earth,  Wind and Fire, Aretha Franklin, Tim Allen, Steven Wright, Brian Regan,  Gary Gulman,  Jerry Seinfeld, and Dennis Miller just to name a few. Tom’s comedy can be heard regularly on Sirius XM radio.   His original style makes it easy for him to write for special events. He regularly headlines corporate events including Citigroup,  HP,  Morgan Stanley and Church and Dwight. Tom  believes that the best comedy comes from the most unlikely sources.  Here is an example from his act: “I was driving around the other day and  my oil light came  on. But that little symbol looks nothing like an oil can. When it first  came on, I  thought well, apparently my car is low on gravy.” BOOK NOW (https://tomryan.com/contact) Please welcome: Tom Ryan...

Filmmaker and Animator Gene Hamm joins host Rich Stein

This is Gene Hamm‘s third visit to my show. He brings a lifetime of art and animation to  his third feature film Entitled:  "Don’t Call Us, We’ll Kill You!"     It will be on the Roku channel. In addition to his work for Disney, Hanna Barbera, and many others, he has also taught animation for over 25 years at the Art Institute in Marin County. He is also promoting his new online  course where he will teach animation from conception to completion.    In this class, Gene will take you through all the components of animation, voices, special effects, storyboards and you will be able to learn by the end of this course everything that it takes to complete your animated film. The course will be available very soon on Animation A2Z.com  Please welcome the always busy and very animated Gene Hamm.

Comedian Andy Huggins joins host Rich Stein

Andy Huggins: Andy Huggins always loved Comedy and has a vivid memory of the sound  the audience made laughing hysterically in a huge movie theater, when he first watched the Marx Brothers in Duck Soup. After graduating from high school in Virginia, he started doing Open Mic nights and telling jokes between the musical acts. He moved to Los Angeles after Johnny Carson kept mentioning that all the wave of new comedians came from The Comedy Store on Sunset Boulevard. After working in LA for a couple of years, some comics he made friends with told him he should move to Houston,Texas to get way more stage time than in Los Angeles. He took their advice. Andy's story is different than most, even Rodney Dangerfield, who broke into Comedy in his 40s! Andy literally made it at age 68 when he brought over 40 years of doing one- liners in front of an international stage. His look and voice along with his integrity, work ethic and love for the craft of Comedy, ensures his third act to be a real barn burner! Ladies and Gents, Andy Huggins

Comedian, Prop Master and Show Runner Joe Dalo joins host Rich Stein

My guest Joe Dalo was born in Philly and raised in South Jersey. He started out like  most comics working open mics and progressed to the real comedy clubs like The Comedy works  and The Comedy Factory Outlet. He also wanted to be an actor and he was in the road company of Toni and Tina‘s wedding. Joe had a building and construction background which gave him another side hustle; He started getting hired on prank and hidden video shows as a builder and prop-master.  Due to his positive demeanor and leadership he worked his way quickly up the crew ladder because he was a guy who had the ability to hire the right people and get things done. He worked for years on Ashton Kutscher‘s show Punk’d and went from  PA to Show Runner and appeared on many episodes. He has also worked on all of the Jackass films in every capacity and personally built the “BIG HAND”  Which  famously slapped everyone big and small. He can also be seen in the upcoming Jackass Five! He is also on a show currently running on Netflix called FOUL PLAY, with Anthony Davis; I saw it on my queue as I was scrolling last night. After all that, his love and desire to do standup comedy still prevails and he is still out there hitting the stages; ladies and gentlemen, please Welcome Comedian, Joe Dalo.