the comic's comic

Albert Brooks reflects on his career and his pet peeves about movies in lengthy one-on-one with Adam Carolla

You may have heard that Adam Carolla surpassed Ricky Gervais for the Guinness World Record of most podcasts downloaded. Well, that in itself is a triumph of quantity as it is quality, although you need a quality amount of fans to keep on downloading to become that popular.

Which is what you'll get if you download this 89-minute chat between Carolla and Albert Brooks. Carolla not only channels a WTF with Marc Maron vibe -- what with the dispensing of his usual show for a pre-recorded intro, and a drive to visit Brooks where he lives for an uninterrupted one-on-one discussion -- but also gets Brooks to open up about his career arc, about his (and Carolla's) pet peeves with modern movies, and about their siblings. As you probably hopefully know, one of Albert's brothers goes by "Super Dave Osborne."

You can tell it happened very recently, as they reference the IMF chief's rape scandal, Ahnold's love affair with his housekeeper, and Adam's appearance on Kimmel.

It's an insightful chat. A few profanities get thrown about. So think about that before you find yourself learning it's Not Safe For Work.

Listen to Adam Carolla and Albert Brooks talk comedy shop.

Not seen on TV: Albert Brooks tells Jon Stewart about comedy in the 1970s and the power of Johnny Carson

On The Daily Show, Jon Stewart has become fond of getting his guests to sit around for extended interviews after the cameras stop running. Only the cameras keep running for us here on the Internet. Last night, Stewart wanted to ask Albert Brooks about being part of the comedy heyday of the 1970s, and it quickly turned into a discussion about the power of Johnny Carson and The Tonight Show.

Gatekeepers are important.

Roll the clip!

 

Watch Albert Brooks re-emerge on Letterman!

Here's something you don't see all that often. It's comedian Albert Brooks on a talk show in 2011! Then again, Brooks recently did join Twitter, too, to promote his new book. So perhaps it's not as much of a surprise. Still enjoyable, though.

Even if he sold most of his material. Roll the clips for a proper explanation.

 

Part two includes Brooks responding to Osama bin Laden, Donald Trump and other villains. Oh, and Brooks and Letterman kiss on the lips, despite Letterman having a cold. Talk about going viral!

 

As for that new book of his, you can check out 2030 via Amazon.com:

RIP Monica Johnson, 1956-2010, award-winning comedy writer partnered with Albert Brooks

Sharon Stone may have played the muse for Albert Brooks in the 1999 film, The Muse, but in many ways, Monica Johnson was the real muse for Brooks, co-writing several of his popular screenplays over two decades, including, in fact, The Muse. Johnson died Monday at 54 from esophageal cancer.

In a statement, Brooks said: "Monica Johnson was an extraordinary person. Funny, smart, and so much fun to work with. The world has lost a great sense of humor.” Here is what he had to say about Johnson in a 1996 radio interview to promote the movie, Mother:

 

Johnson and Brooks won the best screenplay award from the National Society of Film Critics for Mother, as they also had a decade earlier for 1985's Lost in America. She also collaborated with Brooks in crafting the screenplays for Real Life, Modern Romance, The Scout and Muse.

Even before she became the unseen hand giving a second voice to Brooks' movies, she wrote several popular episodes of Mary Tyler Moore and Laverne & Shirley.

In the few years before her death, however, she had retreated to the desert and focused instead on art, as can be seen on her relatively new online site, where she also wrote this bio:

Monica Johnson spent her early years in medical and dental assistants’ school, with solid determination to marry a dentist. (She would have gone for an MD but had no self esteem.)

Then she got a lucky break: nepotism. Her brother introduced her to the world of comedy, and she hasn’t looked back, except for occasionally when she catches her coat in the door.

She has received many nominations and awards for writing comedy, TV and movies, starting with an Emmy winning episode for Mary Tyler Moore. She then went on to write and produce Laverne and Shirley – a job she hated because producing meant having to show up somewhere on time. She was a consultant on numerous TV shows, including It’s Garry Shandling’s Show.

Most of her writing has been in movies: Real Life, Americathon, Modern Romance, Jekyll and Hyde Together Again, Lost in America, Mother, and The Muse. She has won best screenplay awards from the New York Film Critics, the Los Angeles Film Critics, and national film critics. There are many she can’t remember because she has lost all her memory because of environmental toxins.

She went to the desert to find her health, her spiritual needs, herself and to write a book. She wound up in Palm Springs across the street from the Spa Casino. The spiritual aspect of the desert renewal faded like everything else left in the sun.

Exhausting her funds, she wrote the book Penny Saver, a few chapters of which are on this site. She also wrote a movie, Marrying for Money, up for auction with a sampling at this site.

Somewhere along the way, she began doing art work. This has replaced writing as her creative passion. She is prolific, funny, and hopes you enjoy this site.

Several comedians and writers have paid homage to her online. Here is what Michael McKean posted on Monday: