Comedy

Cartoonist Dave Berg discusses his work and Mad Magazine.

Penn Jillette, Teller, and Wier Chrisemer form the troop Asparagus Valley Cultural Society. Today, they, sound engineer Marc Garland, and guitarist Gary Anderson, join the show for an interview and perform their music, comedy, and magic. The group also shares their favorite classical records.

Billy Crystal is a comedian currently enjoying success on television. He also grew up around jazz musicians due to his father's business; Billie Holliday was his sometime-babysitter. Crystal joins the show to discuss his career and jazz memories. (INTERVIEW WITH DAVID KARPOFF)

Playwright Ralph Allen discusses the history of burlesque theater and it's influence on his new comedy musical, Sugar Babies.

Writer Ralph Allen returns to Fresh Air to talk about his new musical Sugar Babies and the history of burlesque, and to tell his favorite jokes from that tradition. Fresh Air listeners call in to join the conversation.

Writer Christopher Cerf co-edited a humorous speculative history called The 80s, which anticipates what happens in the coming decade. Fresh Air listeners and host Terry Gross discuss a number of whimsical predictions.

Former Saturday Night Live writers Al Franken and Tom Davis are touring the country with their own show. They join Fresh Air to discuss comedy and writing.

Minnie Pearl is a country comedian and star of the Grand Ole Opry. She joins the show to discuss her life, career, and new memoir, "Minnie Pearl, an Autobiography."

Humorist Fran Lebowitz talks about her career as a writer and how her choice of profession has affected her personal life. The interview is briefly interrupted by a press conference by President Reagan about the assassination of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat.

The comedian's morning television program, The David Letterman Show, was recently canceled. Since then, he's been a frequent guest host on The Tonight Show. Letterman explains the differences between daytime and evening programming, as well as how he paid his dues as an up-and-coming comedian.