{"id":10,"date":"2008-11-21T13:12:07","date_gmt":"2008-11-21T13:12:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zigory.solidvox.com\/?p=10"},"modified":"2010-03-29T12:06:54","modified_gmt":"2010-03-29T12:06:54","slug":"interview-with-hugh-fink","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zigory.solidvox.com\/?p=10","title":{"rendered":"Interview with Hugh Fink"},"content":{"rendered":"

Listen, download, or podcast this interview<\/a><\/p>\n

Warning: The “F-word” is used in this interview. Do not listen or download if you have a problem with that.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Guest: Hugh Fink
\n<\/strong>Emmy Award winning TV comedy writer (for “Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Program”), stand-up comedian, TV producer.<\/p>\n

Hugh Fink’s credits include: Saturday Night Live, The Drew Carey Show, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, The Showbiz Show with David Spade.<\/p>\n

Greg Zeigerson talks with Hugh Fink about his career and how comedy works.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Hugh Fink (photo by Ann Johansson)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Topics covered include<\/strong> …<\/p>\n

How Greg Zeigerson has known Hugh Fink since their college years at New York University<\/a>. About the name “Hugh Fink”\u00a0… \u00a0reactions to that name from birth and beyond.<\/p>\n

Deciding to be a comedian. The influence of government monopoly, Indianapolis Water Company. Hugh’s comedic quest to expose hypocrisy and stupidity.<\/p>\n

The influence of having a younger sister with Down Syndrome<\/a> – how this contributed to developing a “sense of wanting to lighten things up” and overcome stress and sadness.<\/p>\n

What do all good comedians have in common? “Every good comedian has some anger” says Hugh Fink. He explains why.<\/p>\n

Different approaches to comedy. The problem with the formulaic “surprises” used by many sitcoms.<\/p>\n

The joke Hugh Fink wrote for Steve Martin<\/a> (at one of Steve Martin’s Academy Awards monologues) that didn’t get used. Teaching comedy at UCLA 10 years ago and the Gallagher Exclusion Test.<\/p>\n

What makes a good and original comedian and how good comedy comes from some aspect of the comedian’s actual personality. Australian comedian, Barry Humphries\/Dame Edna as an example of good and effective comedy.<\/p>\n

\"Dame<\/a>
Dame Edna Everage (photo by Greg Goman)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Barry Humphries as Dame Edna Everage<\/a><\/p>\n

Another example is David Spade<\/a>. Comparing the real David Spade with David Spade, the comedian. Explains Hugh Fink: [paraphrased] “It’s the guy who got the cr– kicked out of him as a kid. The small, slightly-built nerdy kid who was ridiculed … but then discovered his own razor sharp wit … taking on people and things that were more powerful than he was.”<\/p>\n

Why Hugh Fink cancelled his appearance<\/a> at a benefit concert at his old High School – North Central High School<\/a>, Indianapolis – in 2006. How school organizers considered part of his proposed comedy routine highly inappropriate, upsetting, and offensive. Two days before he was to appear, the school asked him to change it.<\/p>\n

Listen to the “offensive” comedy routine and judge for yourself: CLICK HERE<\/a> [The offending line: “I’m glad I got to meet the school principal, Mr. Quandt. He seems like a cool guy. Though I’m not sure why he’d ask me, ‘Where’s the best place to score weed?’ “]<\/em><\/p>\n

How “what is funny” has changed. How comedy done in poor taste can’t hurt the recipients of the comedy, but it can lower the standards of the profession.<\/p>\n

Hugh Fink’s influences and favorites include:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n… Bill Cosby<\/a>!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n… The Marx Brothers<\/a>!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n… Martin Mull<\/a>!<\/p>\n

About the pilot for a new late night talk show with Steve Schirripa<\/a> (Sopranos) that Hugh Fink has been working on.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Steve Schirripa<\/em><\/p>\n

How Hugh Fink got started with his stand-up career after winning a college contest held at the Comic Strip<\/a> club\u00a0– sponsored by Columbia Pictures. He co-won with Robert Smigel<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Meeting David Spade and producing “Spade in America”. Working at Saturday Night Live. Working on the Drew Carey<\/a> Show. Working on the Craig Ferguson<\/a> talk show as Head Writer.<\/p>\n

Why Hugh Fink intentionally moved away from performing and towards writing and producing shows. But now would like to get back in front of the camera.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Listen, download, or podcast this interview Warning: The “F-word” is used in this interview. Do not listen or download if you have a problem with that. Guest: Hugh Fink Emmy Award winning TV comedy writer (for “Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Program”), stand-up comedian, TV producer. Hugh Fink’s credits include: Saturday Night Live, The Drew … Continue reading “Interview with Hugh Fink”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zigory.solidvox.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zigory.solidvox.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zigory.solidvox.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zigory.solidvox.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zigory.solidvox.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/zigory.solidvox.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zigory.solidvox.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zigory.solidvox.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zigory.solidvox.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}