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Writers' Bloc

Writers' Bloc is a podcast about comedy writing hosted by J.R. Havlan, an 8-time Emmy Award winning writer for the Daily Show with Jon Stewart. J.R. conducts hilarious, insightful, and extremely informative interviews with the industry's top television comedy writers and finds out how they got where they are, how they do what they do, and how the specific shows and projects the work on go from a blank page to a final draft. Be a fly on the wall for an in-depth sneak peak at the creative process that results in developing some of the best comedy shows on television. You love the sausage, now hear how it gets continue reading...
Writers' Bloc

Writers' Bloc is a podcast about comedy writing hosted by J.R. Havlan, an 8-time Emmy Award winning writer for the Daily Show with Jon Stewart. J.R. conducts hilarious, insightful, and extremely informative interviews with the industry's top television comedy writers and finds out how they got where they are, how they do what they do, and how the specific shows and projects the work on go from a blank page to a final draft. Be a fly on the wall for an in-depth sneak peak at the creative process that results in developing some of the best comedy shows on television. You love the sausage, now hear how it gets made.

Latest Episode

Episode 51: Hasan Minhaj

over 7 years ago

Hasan Minhaj is a comedian, actor, correspondent for The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, and now the star of "Homecoming King", a one-man show he wrote that's running at The Cherry Lane Theater in New York City thru November 15, 2015, and hopefully even longer than that. Oh! And he was also in a Pizza Hut commercial! I mean, this guy is killin' it. In this episode, Hasan and I talk about "Homecoming King" - where the idea came from, how he turned it into a one-man show, and the people who helped him put it together. I know it's a one-man show and all, but you still don't do this kind of thing without a lot of help. Hasan speaks very openly - as he does in the show - about racism and human judgment, two things he's been battling his entire life. And we talk a lot about one of the main themes of the show, "Log Kya Kahenge", which is Urdu for "What will people think?" It's a hell of a question. This is a good one, BlocHeads. Don't put it off... put it on!

Other Episodes

Bonus Episode: "Over The Edge" w/Mike Sacks

10/31/2015

"Over The Edge" is a 1979 movie about teenagers who rebel against the monotony of their planned suburban community and the adults who force them to live there. It's not the most famous movie you'll ever see. It's also not the best movie you'll ever see. But it got 89%...
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Episode 50: Mike Sacks

10/22/2015

Mike Sacks might know as much about comedy writing as almost anybody. Why? Because he's interviewed dozens of the best comedy writers on television for his books, "And Here's the Kicker" and "Poking a Dead Frog". But wait! There's more! Mike also co-wrote the hilarious "Sex: Our Bodies, Our Junk"...
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Episode 49: Sarah Pappalardo

8/20/2015

Sarah Pappalardo is the co-founder of Reductress, the first and only satirical women’s magazine. Reductress is a hilarious website conceived, developed, and run by Sarah and her co-everything, Beth Newell. Sarah tells Writers' Bloc all about how she and Beth took an idea and made it into an actual product...
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Episode 48: Matthew Diffee

7/29/2015

Matthew Diffee is a very funny man and an excellent artist, which makes him perfectly suited for the world of cartooning. Matt has been contributing cartoons to The New Yorker since 1999 and he now has a fantastically entertaining book out called “Hand Drawn Jokes for Smart Attractive People.” We...
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Episode 47: Arthur Meyer

3/4/2015

Arthur Meyer is a writer and performer on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" and the proud co-author of the fake menu "FUDS" which he, Dan Klein and Kelly Hudson lovingly crafted into the book, "FUDS: A Complete Encyclofoodia". BUY NOW! Arthur and I somehow manage to shove aside the...
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Episode 46: Ted Alexandro

2/4/2015

In an earlier phase of his life, Ted Alexandro was a music teacher, an experience he used to help co-create the web series "Teacher's Lounge" which recently won best Best New Comedy Web Series at the Cynopsis Awards. Ted and I talk almost exclusively about creating the web series and...
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Episode 45: Jessi Klein

1/21/2015

Jessi Klein is the Executive Producer and Head Writer for "Inside Amy Schumer" which is all an intelligent BlocHead such as yourself should need to know to just go ahead and start listening. She was also a development executive at Comedy Central which means she knows the business as well...
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Episode 44: Eric Drysdale

12/19/2014

Eric Drysdale is a man of many talents not the least of which is the writing of materials suitable for inclusion in the category of televised comedy/variety. On Thursday, December 18th Eric and his co-scribes ended their long run writing for The Colbert Report on Comedy Central and with any...
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Episode 43: Doug Abeles

10/16/2014

Doug Abeles is one of the cockiest comedy writers in the business, or more accurately, whatever the opposite of "cockiest" is. Those of you in your late 20's or later might be inspired to hear that Doug is a successful, Emmy Award winning comedy writer who didn't even start trying...
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Episode 42: Hugh Moore

10/1/2014

(undisclosed number of) years, so I was thrilled to find out he was not only working but also willing to talk to me about it. His latest gig was writing for a new sketch show called "Friends of the People" that will air on Tru TV starting in October. Hugh...
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