Comedy

Standup comic Will Durst. Durst's passion is politics, and the election season is providing him with plenty of material.

Film Critic Stephen Schiff reviews "Coming to America," the new Eddie Murphy film that co-stars one-time TV talk show host Arsenio Hall. The movie is a comic fable about a pampered African prince who travels to the slums of New York to find the perfect woman.

Comedy legend and Monty Python co-founder John Cleese wrote and stars in the new movie A Fish Called Wanda. He talks about the development of the film with co-stars Jamie Lee Curtis and Kevin Kline and director Charles Chrichton.

Smith has showcased her deadpan humor on stage and television, including spots on the Late Show with David Letterman. Lately, she's been more interested in acting, hoping to distance herself from what she sees as sexist and racist trends in the world of stand-up.

Critic-at-large Laurie Stone examines the style and content of Lewis Black's stand-up comedy. She says Black may not always be fall-down funny, but his political humor is trenchant.

Critics and network executives hated it, but fans loved Gilligan's Island; it's been on the air for twenty-five years. Show creator and writer Sherwood Schwartz -- who also wrote the Brady Bunch and My Favorite Martian -- has a new book about the program, called Inside Gilligan's Island.

Hesseman played disc jockey Dr. Johnny Fever in WKRP in Cincinnati, and now stars as a high school teacher in the comedy Head of the Class. He tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross about how his performances and personal experiences inform each other. Early in his career, Hesseman sold two ounces of marijuana to an undercover police officer; he later had his record expunged.

The network's new comedy is based on the Diane Keaton movie, and features many of the same actors, writers, and producers. The television version deviates from the original plot, but the message, says TV critic David Bianculli, is just as muddled.

Carol Leifer wrote for Saturday Night Live and later started performing her own material on stage. A recent divorcee, she's surprised by how bleak the dating scene is. She joins Fresh Air to talk about her personal and working life.

Critic-at-large Laurie Stone reviews Joan Rivers' new standup act. Stone says the performance loses steam midway through, when Rivers resorts to attacking the women in her audience. Rivers has grown more confident, accomplished and glamorous over the years; Stone hopes her comedy will one day reflect those changes.

Comedian Richard Belzer returns to Fresh Air to discuss his new satirical book. He talks about how his humor is evolving, becoming more aware of the problems of racial and sexual humor.

Oscar-winning actress Sally Field stars opposite Tom Hanks in the new movie Punchline. Field's character Lilah is an aspiring stand-up comic who still has a lot to learn. Field also produced the film. She talks about her early career in television, and the risks she took to pursue her dream of acting.

Krassner, who died July 21, published and edited the magazine The Realist from 1958 until 1974 and became known as "the father of the underground press." Originally broadcast in 1988.

Krassner publishes the countercultural and satirical magazine The Realist; he founded it in 1958, while he still lived with his parents. He also cofounded the yippies, who sought to combine politics and theater--and participated in the protests at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Krassner now brings his left-leaning politics to the comedy stage.

Hanks made his name in Hollywood in films like Splash, The Money Pit, and Big. He stars opposite Sally Field in the new movie Punchline, in which he plays a standup comedian. To master the role, he developed and performed a routine, which he performed for months before shooting began.

Jonathan Katz stars as standup comedian Jackie Shore in the new movie Things Change, which was written by his friend David Mamet. Katz played a con man in the earlier Mamet movie House of Games, which Katz says was loosely based on their experience as small-time ping pong hustlers.

Winters' stand-up comedy of the 1950s and '60s was often improvised, and featured a variety of different characters, all of whom he gave a different voice. He has a new book of paintings called Hang-Ups.

Rock critic Ken Tucker says the recent crop of comedy albums has the chaotic, aggressive spirit of rock music. They don't have the same structure and allure as LPs from the 60s and 70s, but new CDs from Sam Kinison, Will Durst, and Dennis Miller are worth checking out at least once.

Critic-at-large Laurie Stone recently saw the actor and comedian's latest routine, which was notable for avoiding the issue of race entirely. The jokes instead relied heavily on jokes about domestic life, many of which, Stone says, were unfunny and repetitive.

TV critic David Bianculli shares his picks of the upcoming season. He says some new mini-series and returning programs rise to the top of his list.