Comedy

This week, Pryor was the first recipient of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts' award for humor, The Mark Twain Prize. (It will be broadcast on the Comedy Central cable channel Jan 20th). In 1995, he published his story, "Pryor Convictions and Other Life Sentences" A strong man who has overcome such ordeals as a drug addiction, self immolation, and six marriages, Pryor is now battling multiple sclerosis. (REBROADCAST from 5/22/95)

Lovitz played the pathological liar on Saturday Night Live, among many other characters, such as Annoying Man and Harry Chanukah. Now he's a regular on the sitcom "Newsradio." (REBROADCAST from 4/28/92)

The Firesigns created satire out of the political and civil upsets of the late 1960's, drawing big underground radio and college campus audiences. Members Phil Proctor, Peter Bergman, Phil Austin, and David Ossman got their start doing a late night radio talk show, "Radio Free Oz," with the host in the persona of the Wizard of Oz. Since then, the Firesigns have done 13 comedy albums. Their new album, their first studio album in 20 years is "Give Me Immortality or Give me Death" (Atlantic/Rhino) (REBROADCAST from 11/6/93)

Satirist and columnist Harry Shearer. He's the host of the syndicated NPR radio program, "Le Show," does several voices on "The Simpsons" and is a weekly commentator on ABC TV's World News Now. He talks about the Clinton sex scandal.

Political satirist and impressionist Jim Morris. He began lampooning the presidents at about the time Ronald Reagan was sworn into office. Since then he's impersonated George Bush and Bill Clinton. He'll discuss what he's done with his act since the Clinton scandal broke.

Comedienne and actress Tracey Ullman. Her HBO series "Tracy Takes On" has been nominated for seven Emmys. Each week on her show she features a gallery of characters talking about a topic, such as families, sex, money and crime. She also has a companion book "Tracey Takes On" (Hyperion), and there's an HBO home video release of her previous shows. Ullman is a native of England. She got her start in the U.S. with The Tracey Ullman Show, and has since won several Emmys and Cableace awards.

Comedian Drew Carey is the star of the ABC hit sitcom The Drew Carey Show. Carey's 1997 book, "Dirty Jokes and Beer: Stories of the Unrefined" has just come out on paperback. It's his autobiography as well as a joke book.

Actor/comedian/screenwriter and playwright Steve Martin. He stars in "The Spanish Prisoner." He is also an author. He's written two books; "Picasso at The Lapin Agile and Other Plays" (Grove/Atlantic Press; just out in paperback), and a collection of short stories, "Cruel Shoes." His screenwriting credits include "L.A.

Standup-comic Bob Newhart. This Friday he performs at Carnegie Hall in New York City as part of the Toyota Comedy Festival. Newhart has been a part of the American comedy landscape since 1961 when his debut comedy album "The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart" became a surprise hit. (Now available on CD, on the Warner label) Since then he's starred in three TV shows, including the Peabody award winning original "The Bob Newhart Show." And appeared in numerous films.

Comedian Jerry Seinfeld from an interview recorded before his "Seinfeld" fame. He also wrote the bestselling book "SeinLanguage" . (REBROADCAST FROM 9/2/87).