Louis Katz Podcast

Eliza Skinner (http://elizaskinner.com/) and I take on the big issues like shitting in your pants at Disneyland.

I've been anxiously waiting to see "Mad Max: Fury Road" since I was 10 years old.  I loved this series when I was a kid.  So I decided to re-watch all four Mad Max movies in 24 hours and then discuss them with podcast regulars Jason & Vinh.  We drank as we watched, and since there were a lot of movies, we did a lot of drinking.  Hopefully not too much...

Finally made it back to the states, although my luggage took an extra day to get here! To commemorate being back in Los Angeles, I'm releasing this very LA-ish podcast, featuring me and my West Coast co-host Jason, bullshitting while taking in a view of the entire city at sunset from a hill in Griffith Park. We talk about various hobo survival techniques and the rise of choco chicken.  Trust me, it's a good one. 

For the last international edition of the podcast, I actually hooked up with one of my good friends from back home, comedian Moshe Kasher (@moshekasher). He's been working in Rome on Zoolander 2 for the past month, so he decided to come up to Norway to kick it with me for the last leg of my tour.  And then I returned the favor by coming to Rome to hang with him for a bit! Mosh and I go way back, so we got some interesting tales to tell...

My tour of countries full of unexpressive white people with varying degrees of English comprehension continues!! Last week, I did shows in Latvia, Estonia and Finland before heading to Saint Petersburg, Russia, for some much needed R&R.   But before that, I was traveling around the Baltics with these guys: Mantas Katleris, one of the biggest comedians in Lithuania, who performed in English for the very first time on this run, and Daniel Veinbergs, an Estonian comedian who turned 19 while we were on tour. These guys were very funny and cool to hang with on the road.  And, they're making history as pioneers of stand up in their respective countries.  

The first leg of my 2015 European Comedy Tour is over!! I had a blast performing throughout Sweden, and it's all because of one man: Stockholm-based comic and all-around good dude, Martin Soneby.  He put together my entire Swedish run and promoted the hell out of the shows on his own podcast, to the point that that his listeners got sick of hearing my name.  And his efforts paid off: we had 3 packed shows in Malmo, Gothenburg and Stockholm!   At the very end of the run, we sat down to reflect on our little tour, and talk a bit about life and comedy in Sweden.   

Guy Branum is the very first friend I made in comedy.  Mostly because he had a car and we both lived in the East Bay.  He's had a very successful career writing for Chelsea Lately and Totally Biased, but this year, he finally broke through as a stand up as well.  We sat down and talked about how after killing it in relative obscurity for years, he finally got people to notice his stand up.  We also talk a bit about the LA and NY comedy scenes and today's backlash against "mean" and "offensive" comedy (I know, I talk about that on like every episode.  Sorry.). Enjoy, and please buy Guy's album: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/effable/id977936207

We recorded this episode on 4/20, so I had planned on talking about drugs to some extent.  We ended up going way past weed to ayahuasca, a psychedelic drug known for giving users profound insights into life and existence.  So yeah, things get kinda deep.  And then we talk comedy a bit. Anyway, it's a good one. Be sure to follow all my guests, @myqkaplan, @zachsherwin and @gograntgordon      

Sat down with a couple of very funny comedians, Grant Gordon (@gogratngordon) and Janelle James (@janellejcomic). Grant and I host a weekly show together in Brooklyn known as Sack Magic.  He also lived with my parents and I for two weeks this Winter. Janelle opens for Todd Barry and Hannibal Buress on the road.  She's also the very first female guest I've had, making her the Valentina Tereshkova of this podcast. Wow, Janelle's credits look way more impressive than Grant's.  He's gonna hate me for that.

Alon, a new guest to the show, joins me and Jason, my irregular West Coast co-host.  Alon has a baby on the way, so that influenced a lot of our discussion. But not the part where we talk about gay porn. This was Jason's first sober podcast.  Can he still entertain without being mentally lubricated by the liquor????  There's only one way to find out!!!

I sit down with my old friend Oscar, a very talented musician who records under the name "SISTER MANTOS." We talk about dating, queer identity, political correctness, and my all-time favorite comedy bit. The audio quality is a little rough because we recorded this outside next to an abandoned pool near Downtown LA while eating po' boy sandwichs.   Check out Oscar's music here: http://www.sistermantos.com/

I drink a bottle of Tequila with my friends Jason and Andrew as we discuss growing up with a "'Nam Dad," and Scarface's place in the pantheon of gangster movies.

I speak with my good friend Jasper Redd (https://twitter.com/jasperredd) about our early days in comedy and the influence music had on both of us.  We talk about a lot different music, so to accompany this episode here's a Spotify Playlist that includes most of the stuff we talk about.  https://open.spotify.com/user/124009337/playlist/0ZdElagDNINivNdBhJ2iX0

This is the first episode of the podcast I wish I didn't have to do.  But I guess comedians are supposed to have podcasts now. Anyway, in this episode, me and three of my oldest friends, Jason, Dave, and Vinh, discuss the movie Chappie. For a first episode of something I really didn't want to do, I think it turned out pretty good. Enjoy!