Employee Of The Month

Comedian MARGOT LEITMAN's critically acclaimed memoir “Gawky, Tales of an Extra Long Awkward Phase" reveals why she was born to tell stories and perform. We talked about why storytelling rocks, stand up blows, how to quit a temp job, and win money (and a Prius) instead. www.margotleitman.com CATIE LAZARUS is the host of Employee of the Month Show. Our next live taping is Thursday, November 14th at The Bell House in Brooklyn. Come! www.employeeofthemonthshow.com

You don't need to be high to listen to this episode about what it takes to be successful commercial actors; although it make it easier to relate to Mary Crosbie, Moe Rosen and me. None of us were under the influence at the time, but we were/are clearly high on life. The net is if that you can break into commercial acting, do. It seems like all you need to be is as funny and fun as Moe and Mary. EMPLOYEE of the MONTH is a talk show about jobs. Catie Lazarus is a writer, storyteller, and comedian who one day (soon) hopes to do toothpaste commercials. She is also available for any dental hygiene advertisements.

LYNN CHEN is an actor, musician, and blogger. She is best known for doing indie films, and has appeared in White on Rice, Lakeview Terrace, NCIS, and Numbers. Chen created the blogs Thick Dumpling Skin and The Actor's Diet, both of which have helped Asian-Americans and actors struggling with eating disorders. She serves as Ambassador for the National Eating Disorders Association and has worked with The National Organization of Women (NOW) on their "Love Your Body Campaign." Marie-Claire recently named Chen a "New Change Agent." www.lynnchen.com

JESS WOOD is a stand up comic, actress, and author and our interview is a MUST listen. Probably the only California blond haired, blue eyed Jewess to make her television debut on Def Comedy Jam, Jess Wood's candor and sly wit about her thrilling, painful, fun, and utterly wild childhood is mind blowing. The utterly unique, bad ass who completely raised and then reinvented herself has most recently appeared in HBO's Phil Spector and Netflix's Urban Myth. In our interview, we talk about her writing a memoir about growing up in gang infested Hollywood, working as a tween prostitute, non-prescription drug distribution, starting over, and her mentors Richard Pryor and Mae West. https://twitter.com/TheJessWood CATIE LAZARUS is a writer, storyteller and host of Employee of the Month. Our next live taping is November 14th at The Bell House in Brooklyn, NY. Do not miss it. www.employeeofthemonthshow.com @catielazarus

TED TRAVELSTEAD is a hoot! He is also a writer, actor & comedian. He is the author of The Petraeus Files and co-authored Sex: Our Bodies, Our Junk. Travelstead got his big break playing the role Mordecai in “Children of the Corn II and has since gone onto doing Vine videos. He also works for Vanity Fair. You can follow him on Twitter @trumpetcake CATIE LAZARUS is the host of Employee of the Month Show and the next live taping is November 14th @ The Bell House in Brooklyn, NY. www.employeeofthemonthshow.com. You can follow her @catielazarus or just walk behind her and don't make eye contact. It won't be creepy for anyone.

LADY RIZO is a Grammy Award winner and singular cabaret sensation. We spoke about how she is reinventing the wheel. In this episode, you will also enjoy her live performance at Employee of the Month's first live taping at the Bell House. Special thanks to Shockwave, the world's best bandmaster and Yair Evnine as they accompany Ms. Rizo closer to heaven. So tune in to hear how this grande dame of downtown theater pays homage to the late great starlets like Peggy Lee and Nina Simone and collaborates with pop culture icons, be it Reggie Watts or Neil Gaiman. This month she'll release her latest album, a prime example of how Lady Rizo is quickly paving her way as cabaret's future. Catie Lazarus is the host of Employee of the Month. Our next live taping is Thursday November 14th, 2013 at The Bell House. Join me for Employee of the Month and then be my date for the following week for Lady Rizo's album release party at Joe's Pub. Or just listen to this episode and then decide how to spend your future.....

There is no other opportunity to see, hear and smell Lin-Manuel Miranda, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, Robert Smigel, Lady Rizo, and Mo Rocca. Hope you enjoy this live taping which is a Valentine to New York, live theater, and podcasts. Employee of the Month's next live taping is at The Bell House on November 14th. For details go to www.employeeofthemonthshow.com

MO ROCCA stands out for being as funny as he is smart. He is as adroit at playing a serious journalist on CBS Sunday Morning or spoofing a self-serious correspondent for The Daily Show. Ultimately, his timing, wit, imagination, and intellect enable him to choose his jobs. Mo is currently starring in his own series MY GRANDMOTHER'S RAVIOLI on the Cooking Channel and can frequently be heard on NPR's Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me. He has done and will continue to do whatever he pleases, because, as Muhammad Ali, says, "Superman Don't Need No Seatbelt." Follow Mo @morocca Follow Catie @catielazarus and then go follow your dreams. Actually follow those first.

An Emmy, Grammy, Tony, Pulitzer and Employee of the Month winning composer, actor, writer, and hip-hop super star performer, Lin-Manuel Miranda can currently be seen performing in Marry Poppins. He spoke with Catie Lazarus about creating political commercials for Hillary Clinton to Elliot Spitzer, collaborating with Stephen Sondheim on West Side Story, and playing bar-mitzvahs before In the Heights and Hamilton made him a global sensation. Hamilton Mix tapes premiered off-off-Broadway at The White House, and led to the least known Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, finding his place in the pantheon of complex, prolific leaders. No other musical has done what Hamilton has. Miranda's riveting, utterly unique masterpiece brought together Republicans and Democrats, toddlers and elderly, wealthy and working class, and hip-hop devotees and musical theater junkies.

ROBERT SMIGEL is a legendary Emmy, Grammy, and now Employee of the Month award winning comedy writer, comedian and actor. Just to give you some background, as the comic genis has too many credits to list, Smigel and his cohorts, including Louis CK, Conan O'Brien, Adam Sandler, Dana Carvey, Bob Odenkirk, Dino Stamatapoulos, Stephen Colbert, Steve Carell, Will Ferrel, Jon Stewart, and Judd Apatow, transformed the state of comedy. Since he began doing stand up at NYU and improv in Chicago, Smigel is a magnificently mercurial comic original. His signature voice can be seen and heard in SNL's sketches like Da Bears and TV Funhouse Cartoons, including The Ambiguously Gay Duo. He is culpable for creating characters such as Triumph the Insult Comic Dog and the Masturbating Bear on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. In addition to writing and appearing on SNL and Conan, Smigel has also written and/or acted in films, like Zohan, Jack & Jill, and This is 40. His most recent Emmy win was for Night of Too Many Stars, an...

In this episode of Employee of the Month, Triumph poops on Brooklyn hipsters, podcasts, and reveals that Red Hook is named after his shvance. Thanks to Conan O'Brien, who just celebrated his twentieth anniversary on TV, as one of his greatest triumphs is TRIUMPH the INSULT COMIC DOG. A Grammy-winning comedian who got his start on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Triumph has gone on to insult the legendary Don Rickels, Michael Jackson, Bill O'Reilly, and, now, Catie Lazarus. For fans of podcasts, comedy nerds, which is almost an oxymoron as much as a cliche, and those who dwell in Bougie Brooklyn, or loathe people who do, this podcast is for you. Catie Lazarus is a writer and has interviewed Triumph the Insult Comic Dog for Heeb Magazine, Bark Magazine's critically acclaimed book Howl (Crown Books), and Employee of the Month Show. In this episode, you will hear an except from a field piece Triumph did with Jack MacBrayer for Conan (TBS). Incidentally, Catie Lazarus dropped out of her doctoral studies after...

What it's like to run a tech-start up? How did you raise millions of dollars in venture capital funds? What if it flops? How do you rebuild? Luckily for us, the indefatigable visionary Kathryn Minshew answers these questions and more in her fascinating interview with Catie Lazarus. Minshew co-created TheMuse.com, which will not only keep her in business for a while, but enable hundreds of thousands of people to follow suit. A former consultant, Kathryn Minshew was named one of Forbes’ 30-Under-30 in Media and INC’s 15 Women to Watch in Tech and, most notably, an Employee of the Month. www.themuse.com and www.employeeofthemonthshow.com

Ann Carr is an utterly unique character actor who has appeared on the Emmy Award winning show Louie, appears regularly at Upright Citizens Brigade Theater on a Maude Team, and is the star of the hauntingly hilarious web series The Actress. She has appeared in a ton of commercials, so we talked about what it's like to audition, which is like playing the lottery every day, and winning .it enough of the time. http://www.theanncarr.com and http://theactresstheseries.com Employee of the Month is a talk show about work. I interview folks who love what they do and we love them for doing it. Listening to these shows may be cathartic, informative, and inspire you to self-medicate. www.employeeofthemonthshow.com Special thanks to UCB theater and the WGA-East for making this podcast possible.

In 1995, music fan Ryan Schreiber created Pitchfork, a webzine by and for indie music lovers. He tapped into a starving market and filled a void as the internet launched and changed how we listen to, learn about, and distribute music. Pitchfork flourished even as musicians and music journalists often found themselves scrambling to make ends meet. Today, Pitchfork, for better and for worse, rates and reviews albums; but it also hosts its own music festivals, added sister websites, and experiments with inventive takes on covering music. Love it or loathe it, Pitchfork is an instrumental part of the indie music scene. Almost two decades after starting Pitchfork, Schreiber still goes out almost every night to listen to music and remains, first and foremost, a fan.

Lee Daniels' The Danny Strong is out in theaters. I mean Lee Daniels' The Butler is out in theater and Emmy-winning screenwriter and actor Danny Strong penned the script. In our interview, Strong says he can now choose his acting jobs, because he earns his living writing screenplays. However, he booked on camera roles from the minute he started auditioning and his success begot more success. His performance on Buffy led to a role on Gilmore Girls. He later met Matt Weiner on the "Emmy circuit," and Weiner hired Danny for Mad Men. Sure, Strong says he had to audition, but that's only so actor Samm Levine didn't get huffy. Enjoy our interview. There will be a part 2 live taping at 8 pm, Wednesday September 18th at The Bell House in Brooklyn. Do NOT miss the chance to meet and hear more from Mr. Strong, up close and personal. (Please note Mr. Strong did not appear in or pen the film Up Close and Personal.) For tickets, go to www.employeeofthemonthshow.com

JOY BEHAR is best known for being a founding co-host of The View, as well as hosting her own talk shows on Current TV and MLN. She, along with Whoopi Goldberg and Elisabeth Hasselbeck, were genuine about their political views, a first on syrupy and light daytime talk shows. Consistently candid, she is currently developing a play about first husbands. CATIE LAZARUS is a writer and host of the Employee of the Month Show. You can subscribe on iTunes or go to www.employeeofthemonthshow.com for details.

ADAM BUSCH currently stars on TBS's series Men at Work and is the lead singer of the indie folk band Common Rotation. He got his start as a teenager, landing his first film role in Léon: The Professional (1994). He then had a recurring role on the children's series The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo. Since then, Adam has appeared on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, House, Grey's Anatomy, Law and Order, The Jury, The Sarah Connor Chronicles. We discussed therapy, angst, narcissism, fear of success and fear of failure, and the joy and self indulgence of show biz. This is part 2 of our candid conversation and, yes, I will only release part 1 if the public demands it, albeit politely. You can do so here: www.employeeofthemonthshow.com.

STACY LONDON is a fashion expert, garnering attention for her reality TV show WHAT NOT TO WEAR, which she co-hosted with Clinton Kelly. Her best selling book The Truth About Style is coming out in paperback on September 3rd. CATIE LAZARUS is a writer and hosts Employee of the Month Show. The next live taping for the podcast is September 18th at the Bell House in Brooklyn. For details, please go to www.employeeofthemonthshow.com

JANEANE GAROFALO does stand-up comedy, acts, and writes, and is a lovely human. She says she'd like to work in a bead store and referee Animal Planet's Puppy Bowl one day. CATIE LAZARUS is a writer and host of the EMPLOYEE of the MONTH SHOW, a talk show about work, jobs, and labor. If you are in NY on September 18th, please come to the next live taping. Or subscribe to the podcast. Or do all three. (You are correct, only two options were offered. Mazel Tov.) www.employeeofthemonthshow.com

Emily Nussbaum is the television critic at The New Yorker. She previously served as an Editor-at-Large and Culture Editor at New York Magazine and Editor-in-Chief of Nerve. She is also Tweetworthy @emilynussbaum. Employee of the Month is a talk show about jobs, work, and labor. Catie Lazarus honors and interviews folks who forged their own way in the work world, and the universal we are better for it. www.employeeofthemonthshow.com @catielazarus