Apr 28, 2017
Jeremiah Tower & Azhar Usman. David goes insane demanding to know why Ann Coulter won't go away?
Three of the biggest names ever to come out of my hometown, San Francisco: Comedian Christopher Titus, Comedian Mark Pita, and, this is huge, Chef Jeremiah Tower, plus my new friend, one of Dave Chappelle’s favorite opening acts, and he’s writing for tomorrow night’s White House Correspondents Dinner, Comedian, Lawyer, Husband, Father, Son and Holy Ghost Azhar Usman. Christopher Titus is working on his eighth comedy special. Mark Pita recalls the early days of San Francisco comedy scene, his first Carson shot, and what it's like to hang with your comedy heroes. Jeremiah Tower! If you know anything about food this is big, and if you don’t know anything about food you need to know who Jeremiah Tower is. It all starts with Jeremiah Tower. Before Mario Batali, before Thomas Keller’s The French Laundry, before Wolfgang Puck there was Jeremiah Tower who created the idea of a celebrity chef, he created not only California cuisine, he created American cuisine, he created farm to table he created the whole idea of being a locavore. He’s on the show today! Jeremiah Tower is responsible for Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California and Chez Panisse is responsible for the whole idea of locally sourced food. I know. It sounds crazy, but Jeremiah Tower in the late 70s and early 80s said, "To hell with French cooking, to hell with flying in fish from Chile, let’s cook with what’s right in front of us." You take that for granted, but until Jeremiah Tower nobody knew what fresh food tasted like. There’s a new documentary out called the Last magnificent, and it’s the story of how Jeremiah Tower didn’t just revolutionize modern dining, he created it. Martha Stewart, Mario Batali and Anthony Bourdaine are in this documentary, The Last Magnificent, it’s produced by Anthony Bourdaine, and the Last Magnificent is incredible, you’ll never look at food the same way again. So much of what we take for granted started with Jeremiah Tower in the early 80s, he went on to create Stars restaurant in San Francisco, and then, he disappeared. Fell of the face of the earth. Walked away from it all, left at the top of his game. Only to return two years ago to run Tavern on The Green in New York, as well as serve as the subject of this fantastic documentary The Last Magnificent. I would put this up there with Jiro Dreams of Sushi, that great 2011 documentary covering Jiro Ono the 85-year-old Japanese sushi master who runs a hole in the wall that Michelin gives three stars. So proud to have Jeremiah Tower on the show today. Christopher Titus has done seven comedy specials. Never happy with doing what's been done before, Titus makes sure every show has a specific theme, while simultaneously taking the audience on a wild ride of laughter. He is currently touring with his newest and eighth show, "AMERICA… REALLY?," in which he is half-assed running for President in 2017. After rave reviews of “Norman Rockwell is Bleeding,” Titus followed it up 2 years later with his rant on 9-11 and the world coming apart in “The 5th Annual End of the World Tour.” This 90-minute piece once again shows how Christopher is a comic who either suffers from A.D.D., or is an angry white trash maniac. After his second show, all hell broke loose in Titus’ life. A bad divorce and an amazing new relationship brought his third 90-minute show to life. “Love is Evol" goes through the ups and downs of love and divorce in a way that no comic has before. If you’ve ever been in love and had your heart ripped out, this show will heal you... and steel you for the future. Never holding back, Christopher Titus was able to do three ninety-minute shows in only five years. Most comics would take a break and recharge, but instead, Titus dropped “NEVERLUTION” in 2011. Neverlution takes on the entire country and its complacency with everything from terrorism and politics, to child-rearing and technology. Titus again shows he is up to more than just stand-up comedy.Between 2004 and 2011, Titus released six hours of comedy. Now what? “VOICE IN MY HEAD” is what. Titus turns his rage and hilarity inward, and kicks his own ass with this special about every mistake he has made in his life, including getting his TV show cancelled. The disc ends with an epic 28-minute piece about meeting Bruce Springsteen and what an idiot Titus continued to be in front of “The Boss." Only one year later, Titus released “Angry Pursuit of Happiness.” One of his best specials, Titus takes the audience on a ride through life. From the bit, “Arm the Children,” to His Dad’s ED problem, to one of his most epic pieces, “Here’s How Life Goes,” you will laugh your ass off while reconsidering your own life choices. In “BORN WITH A DEFECT,” Titus tackles one of his toughest subjects to date-- kids. In an hour and forty minutes, Titus deconstructs the love of children and proves that they really don’t care about us at all. He also gives parenting advice and tells stories that would make a child therapist get a restraining order. As he says in the show, “If you are a parent this show is therapy, if you don’t have kids it’s 90 minutes of birth control.” If you are counting, that’s seven specials in only 12 years. Titus has done the work, paid his dues and has the history to show that he is one of the best comics working today. Not happy to just write bit after unrelated bit, Titus always brings a cohesive, complete show. Titus’ comedy is part rant, part confession, part therapy, but ALWAYS funny. His reputation is one of a hard, funny comic who takes no prisoners and gives the audience everything he has, in every show he does. He has tackled the world, relationships, families, the human race and most of all, himself. Mark’s career flourished in LA, first, fulfilling his dream of appearing on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson then subsequent appearances with Jay Leno. Mark landed a job as host of Totally Hidden Video for the FOX network, playing different characters in hidden camera situations and then hosting Friday Night Videos for NBC. Mark has made guest appearances on Mad About You and Third Rock from the Sun. For Comedy Central Mark has appeared on Premium Blend; The A-List; Dr. Katz; and Make Me Laugh. Mark wrote and starred in his own sitcom for NBC but the pilot wasn’t chosen for the fall season. Head of NBC, Warren Littlefield picked a show called “Union Square” instead. It lasted three episodes. Mark predicts that his show would have lasted at least four. When the word came down that the project wasn’t a go Mark magically received a call from the top rated morning show in the San Francisco Bay Area to be the roving entertainment reporter/host. For five years Mark brought his unique comic expertise to the man on street format and enjoyed the original approach to interviewing newsmakers, movie stars and everyday folk. In 1997 Mark achieved the comedy version of the hat trick when, during a show, he made a women (name withheld) laugh so hard she wet her pants, cried, and liquid came out of her nose. There is no higher honor. A favorite on the comedy club; college; and corporate circuit, Mark has also opened for Chris Issak, Celene Dion, Vanessa Williams, Paul Anka, Kenny Rogers, Olivia Newton John, Smokey Robinson, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, and Rick Springfield. The prestigious ELAN AWARDS has chosen Mark as Master of Ceremonies five times, and Anthony Robbins has employed Mark to liven up his financial seminars. Every Tuesday in Mill Valley, California, Mark runs a comedy showcase at the 142 Throckmorton Theatre new comics a chance to develop. Veterans like Dana Carvey, Robin Williams, and Richard Lewis have also stopped by. AZHAR USMAN is a standup comedian, actor, writer, playwright, and producer. He is one of the hottest standup comics based in Chicago; CNN called him "America's Funniest Muslim," and Georgetown University identified him as "one of the 500 Most Influential Muslims in the World." In 2010, standup icon Dave Chappelle–for whom Azhar has opened over 50 times–commented "Azhar Usman is untouchable." As the co-founder of the international comedy showcase "Allah Made Me Funny–The Official Muslim Comedy Tour," he has toured over 20 countries, on five continents. His comedy has been profiled/reviewed by over 100 major world media outlets including The New York Times, The Economist, BBC, The Guardian, NPR, TIME Magazine, Al-Jazeera, USA Today, and Fox News. Besides appearing regularly on television, and in numerous documentary and independent films, he served as executive producer of Mo Amer's first one-hour standup special "Legally Homeless" (directed by Jay Chapman), and most recently, served as a creative consultant on Hannibal Buress' 2016 Netflix comedy special, "Comedy Camisado." Azhar guest stars as KKYMAN CANDAHAR on Amazon Studios' new big-budget original series PATRIOT (created, written, and directed by Steve Conrad). In the Spring of 2017, he appeared on Pete Holmes' popular podcast "You Made It Weird," where he announced that he will record his first ever one-hour standup special later this year (to be directed by Ramy Youssef and executive produced by Hannibal Buress).
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