Comedians

Several months ago, the White House contacted the comedian to see if he'd be interested in having the president as his guest. "I just didn't think that it would ever happen," Maron says.

Born in Karachi, Pakistan, Nanjiani moved to the U.S. for college. "I have a very conflicted relationship to where I'm from ..." he says. "It's still a struggle to negotiate some of it."

The star of the FX series Louie talks about the pain of his first-ever open mic experience and the "massive gift" of taking care of others before himself.

The Late Late Show with James Corden fills the post-David Letterman time slot on CBS. TV critic David Bianculli says that based on first impressions, Corden will "settle in nicely."

Larry David wrote and stars in a new play that has broken the all-time record on Broadway for advance ticket sales — more than $14 million. Fish in the Dark is a comedy about a family's rivalries and dysfunction as its patriarch passes away. David tells Fresh Air's Dave Davies that the idea came to him when a friend's father died.

The comedian who was a correspondent on The Daily Show for 7 1/2 years now pokes fun on Last Week Tonight. Oliver talks about tasing his leg, temping for a thief and remaining an outsider.

Originally broadcast June 19.

The comic tells Fresh Air that after Season 3, he "aggressively forgot the show existed for a few months." Then he got back to work — for Louie's fourth season. Originally broadcast May 19.

Ahead of The Colbert Report's last episode, Fresh Air listens back to interviews with Colbert. "I didn't realize quite how liberal I was until I was asked to make passionate comedic choices," he said.

The co-founder of the Monty Python troupe admits he wasn't "naturally gifted" at physical comedy, and learned a lot by imitation. His new memoir, So, Anyway..., covers his boyhood and early career.

The comedian and actor died Monday at age 63. In 2006, Williams spoke with Fresh Air's Terry Gross about improvising, his training and how people expected him to act crazy.