Comedy

Howard Mohr wrote for the popular radio show A Prairie Home Companion. Steeped in the world of Midwestern humor, he has written a new book called "How to Talk Minnesotan."

Merrill Markoe is one of the few prominent women television writers. She specializes in comedy, and helped launched Late Night with David Letterman. She is currently developing an HBO special show with Harry Shearer.

Graham Chapman came out while working on the sketch comedy show Monty Python's Flying Circus. He discusses his activism to support gay rights, and how he his fellow cast members came up with several of their classic sketches.

Comedian Emo Phillips revels in awkwardness. He's known for his appearances on Letterman and HBO and bizarre fashion sense.

Harry Shearer got his start in show business at the age of seven. He now writes comedy for television and radio. Shearer joins Fresh Air's Terry Gross to discuss his experiences onstage, finding an outlet for his political humor, and his love of bad TV.

Graham Chapman came out while working on the sketch comedy show Monty Python's Flying Circus. He discusses his activism to support gay rights, as well as the many times the television program lampooned conventional masculinity.

The writer has columns in Playboy and the Village Voice. Her new book -- a satirical take on dating, sex, and fashion -- is called But Enough About You.

Phyllis Diller became a comedian at the age 37; she and her husband, who had five children together, believed it would be the best way for her to support the family financially. She is known for her frazzled onstage persona, jokes about her imagined husband Fang, and her many plastic surgeries.

Avner Eisenberg, known as "Avner the Eccentric," is a "new vaudevillian"; he uses juggling, magic, acrobatics, and clowning in his act. Eisenberg also performs as a theater actor. He also appeared in the film "Jewel of the Nile."

Comedienne Phyllis Diller joins the show to describe how she got into comedy at the age of 37, after working as a housewife, reporter, copywriter, and in press relations.