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Jim Earl is a stage and radio comedian, comedy writer, musician and cartoonist from California.

Earl received a degree in Art History from the University of California, Berkeley in 1984, and then he began his comedy career in the stand-up comedy team of "Lank and Earl" with his high school friend Barry Lank. He later became a writer for the Daily Show winning the 2001 Emmy Award for "Outstanding Writing For A Variety, Music Or Comedy Program" and a 2000 Peabody award. After leaving the show he wrote and performed for a number of Air America Radio's radio shows: The Randi Rhodes Show, Unfiltered with Lizz Winstead and Rachel Maddow and Morning Sedition where he performed his regular bits "War on Brains," "Rapture Watch," "Morning Remembrance," "Sammy the Stem Cell," "Todd Brad: Policy Analyst," and "The 5 W's Plus 3 of Journalism." His comedy for the former show is now available for download on his own site, jimearl.com. Upon returning to California, Earl reunited with former Morning Sedition host Marc Maron on the Marc Maron Show which premiered on Air America Radio on February 28, 2006 and had its last show on July 14, 2006.

In December 2006, Earl went on to become head writer for the Friday ITch, a comedy-news program for nerds, broadcast on Techweb.com. In 2007, Jim also became a staff writer for "Talkshow with Spike Feresten" on Fox TV.

Jim is currently a featured performer on both the Marc Maron podcast WTF, and the David Feldman Comedy Podcast where he regularly performs with his band, The Clutter Family. Their eponymous debut album is due to be released in 2010.^{[dated info]}

External links[link]

• Jim Earl's personal web site, jimearl.com
• Jim Earl's Facebook page
• The Clutter Family
• Biography of Jim Earl on The Randi Rhodes Show's web site
• Biography of Jim Earl on the Morning Sedition web site
• David Spark's site with two photos of "Lank and Earl"
• Search results for 'Jim Earl' on the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences web site showing his Emmy award
• Search page for Peabody Awards on the University of Georgia web site. (Search for "Daily Show" or "Jim Earl")

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Marc Maron
Born	(1963-09-27) September 27, 1963 (age 48) Jersey City, New Jersey
Medium	Stand-up, radio, television, webcast
Nationality	United States
Years active	1980s–present
Genres	Alternative comedy, Cringe humor, Black comedy, Satire, Observational comedy
Notable works and roles	Morning Sedition WTF with Marc Maron The Marc Maron Show
Website	MarcMaron.com wtfpod.com

Marc Maron ( /ˈmærən/ MAR-ən; born September 27, 1963) is an American stand-up comedian and radio and podcast host.

He has been host of The Marc Maron Show, and co-host of both Morning Sedition, and Breakroom Live, all politically oriented shows, produced by Air America Media. He was also the host of Comedy Central's Short Attention Span Theater for a year, replacing Jon Stewart. Maron has been a frequent guest on the Late Show with David Letterman and made over 44 appearances on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, more than any other stand-up performer.^[1][2] He was also a regular guest on Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn and hosted the short-lived American version of the British game show Never Mind the Buzzcocks on VH1.^[3]

In September 2009, Maron began hosting a twice-weekly podcast titled WTF with Marc Maron, in which he interviews comedians and celebrities.^[1]

Early life[link]

Maron was born into a Jewish family in Jersey City, New Jersey, but lived in Wayne, New Jersey and Pompton Lakes, New Jersey until he was six. Maron's father then joined the US Air Force for two years, and Maron and his family lived in Alaska. When his father left the Air Force, he moved his family to Albuquerque, New Mexico and started a medical practice.^[1]

Maron attended Boston University, graduating in the mid-1980s.

Career[link]

Maron started his comedy career at The Comedy Store in Los Angeles and became an associate of Sam Kinison.^[4] He later moved to New York City and became part of the New York alternative comedy scene. He auditioned for the 1995 Saturday Night Live cast overhaul, but attributes being passed over to an awkward personal meeting with show creator and producer Lorne Michaels.^[5][1]

Maron continued to be a stand-up performer, and also began to appear on television; his voice was used in episodes of Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist, and he hosted Short Attention Span Theater for a time. He also recorded half-hour specials for HBO and Comedy Central Presents, as well as comedy showcases like the Cam Neely Foundation fundraiser, which also featured performers like Jon Stewart, Denis Leary and Steven Wright.

Maron frequently appeared in the live alternative stand up series he'd organized with Janeane Garofalo called "Eating It," which used the rock bar Luna Lounge in New York's Lower East Side as its venue from the 1990s until the building was razed in 2005.

His only major film credit to date is a small part–credited as "angry promoter"–in the 2000 Cameron Crowe film Almost Famous wherein he is seen first fighting with Noah Taylor's character, then yelling at and chasing after the main characters as they drive away on a bus.^[6]

His first one-man show, Jerusalem Syndrome, had an extended off-Broadway run in 2000 and was released in book form in 2001. In 2009 he began workshopping another one-man show, Scorching The Earth. According to Maron (in Scorching The Earth) these two shows "bookend" his relationship with his second wife, comic Mishna Wolff, which ended in a bitter divorce. Moment Magazine produced a piece on Maron, where he was interviewed about his experience with Jerusalem Syndrome. When asked if he really came down with it, Maron responded, "The premise of my book is that not only did it happen during a short trip I took to Israel, but it’s been happening to me all my life."

In May 2008, he toured with Eugene Mirman and Andy Kindler in Stand Uppity: "Comedy That Makes You Feel Better About Yourself and Superior to Others."

In January 2009, a collaboration with Sam Seder which had begun in September 2007 as a weekly hour-long video webcast became Breakroom Live with Maron & Seder, produced by Air America.^[7] Until its cancellation in July 2009 the show was webcast live, weekdays at 3 pm Eastern, with episodes archived for later viewing as well. In its final incarnation, the show was quite informal, taking place in the (actual) break room of Air America Media, with the cafeteria vending machines just off-camera. This meant occasional distractions when Air America staff and management alike would occasionally come in for food and drink. Maron and Seder also held court in an online "post-show chat" with viewers, in an even less formal continuation of each webcast, after the credits had rolled.

Maron's stand up comedy act is marked by his commitment to self-revelation and cultural analysis. He is particularly known for relentless on-stage exploration of his own relationships, with family, girlfriends, and other stand-up comedians that he has known and befriended over his many years in the business.

In March 2012, IFC announced that it would be picking up a series created by and starring Maron for a 10 episode run to begin sometime in 2013. The show will be autobiographical, and will revolve around Maron's life as a twice-divorced sober comedian running a comedy podcast out of his garage.^[8] The pilot shoot for this show was discussed in Episode 183 of WTF with guest Amy Poehler.^[9]

Radio[link]

From almost the first day of the progressive talk radio network Air America's broadcasts in 2004, Maron co-hosted Morning Sedition, a three-hour early-morning radio show with Mark Riley, which aired weekdays from 6am-9am Eastern time. The show was unique in the Air America lineup, in its heavy reliance on both live and pre-produced sketch comedy, utilizing the talents of staff writers, as well as the on-air hosts. The format was a left-leaning near-satire of typical morning "Buddy" radio programs, including recurring characters, interviews and listener call-in segments, and it attracted a loyal fan base.

As 2005 waned, it became known that Maron's contract would not be renewed on its December 1, 2005 end date due to problems with then Air America executive Danny Goldberg.^{[citation needed]} Goldberg reportedly did not "get" the comedy or agree with the satiric and often angry tone set by Maron and other writers (Jim Earl and Kent Jones) for a morning-drive time show.

On November 28, 2005 it was officially announced that Maron's contract had not been renewed. His last Morning Sedition broadcast was on December 16, 2005, and the show was discontinued shortly thereafter.

On February 28, 2006, Maron began hosting a nighttime radio program with Jim Earl as sidekick for KTLK Progressive Talk 1150AM in Los Angeles called The Marc Maron Show from 10:00 pm PST until midnight PST. The program was frequently delayed (sometimes for over an hour) due to KTLK's contractual agreement to broadcast local sports events–which would often go into overtime. The Marc Maron Show was never nationally syndicated by Air America despite reported contractual clauses promising so.^{[citation needed]} The show was streamed online live, but the show was not publicized, and the existence of the stream was not well promoted.^{[citation needed]}

On July 5, it was announced that The Marc Maron Show's final episode would be July 14. A few days before that date, Maron bluntly discussed his long struggle with Air America Radio's executives on-air.

In 2008, Marc and Sam Seder expanded their prior collaboration on a weekly hour-long video webcast (streamed at The Sam Seder Show website) into a daily show (and "post-show chat") produced by Air America Media called Maron v. Seder. The show became Breakroom Live with Maron & Seder starting in 2009, and could be viewed on Air America Media's website. On July 15, 2009, after less than one year, Air America Media canceled Breakroom Live.

According to the show's hosts, the cancellation was for financial reasons. Ironically, the day before the cancellation, the show got some of the first real publicity it had received when MaximumFun.org posted its podcast of an interview with Maron on The Sound of Young America.

On the final Breakroom Live webcast, Maron said that this marked the third time since 2005 he'd been told by an executive at the network that his services would not be required in the immediate future. Co-host Sam Seder pointed out that this would be the end of his fourth show at Air America since the troubled network's inception.

Podcast[link]

On September 1, 2009 Maron began a twice-a-week podcast called WTF with Marc Maron. Released Mondays and Thursdays, the show features interviews with fellow comedians, both old friends and acquaintances. In a free-form discussion, Maron and his guests touch on topics like the arc of the interviewees' careers, shared past experiences, and stories from the road. The show was originally produced after hours in the Air America offices, to which Maron and his producer still had keys. Around the 20th episode Maron temporarily moved to Los Angeles, before announcing the move would be permanent in the 22nd. WTF is currently recorded in his garage, with the bulk of the guests meeting him there, though he does have a mobile set up to take to guests. WTF has reached No. 1 on iTunes comedy section numerous times. Though it is a free podcast, it has a number of rotating sponsors and accepts donations.

On May 17, 2011, it was announced that a version of WTF with Marc Maron is now available for non-commercial broadcast via Public Radio Exchange. The initial offering is ten episodes edited from previous podcasts, designed, according to co-producer of the broadcast package Jesse Thorn, "to capture what makes WTF special and communicate it to folks who aren't comedy nerds–or even necessarily comedy fans." Initial station pickups include WBEZ Chicago and the Public Radio Remix service on SiriusXM.^[10]

On May 6, 2012, 'WTF with Marc Maron' won the award for "Best Comedy Podcast" at the 2012 Comedy Central Comedy awards.

Personal life[link]

Maron lived in Astoria, Queens through the 1990s and most of the 2000s, but moved back to Los Angeles in the fall of 2009. He has been married twice, to Kimberly Reiss and Mishna Wolff (a former stand-up comedian). Both relationships have been a large part of his act at various times. During numerous appearances at the Edinburgh Fringe festival in 2007, Maron riffed on his then-recent separation and divorce from his second wife, Mishna Wolff.

Maron has also spoken openly, both in his act and on his podcast, about his alcohol and drug use during the 1990s. He also speaks openly of his caring for numerous stray cats, which he takes into his home. This has led to him to refer to his home, on the WTF Podcast, as the "Cat Ranch." In a February 2012 episode of WTF with Bill Maher, Maron confirmed that he was an atheist.^[11]

Published works[link]

• The Jerusalem Syndrome (2001) ISBN 978-0-7679-0810-8

Media releases[link]

CDs[link]

• Not Sold Out (2002)
• Tickets Still Available (2006)
• Final Engagement (2009)
• This Has to Be Funny (2011)

[edit] WTF with Marc Maron podcast

See also[link]

• The Marc Maron Show
• Morning Sedition
• Marc Maron and the Temple of Doom

References[link]

External links[link]

This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links, and converting useful links where appropriate into footnote references. (July 2011)

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Marc Maron

• Marc Maron at the Internet Movie Database
• WTF with Marc Maron – Podcast
• Sam Seder and Marc Maron video webcast
• Break Room Live website – Archived Episodes
• November 2004 interview with Marc Maron
• Review of Marc's 2000 one-man-show, "Jerusalem Syndrome"
• Youtube:Marc Maron in Cameron Crowe's [Almost Famous]-(5 min 48 sec)
• Review of Marc's 2009 one-man-show, "Scorching The Earth"
• Review and Interview from 2009 Montreal "Just For Laughs" Festival run of "Scorching The Earth"
• Interview with Maron on The Sound of Young America from maximumfun.org
• Interview with Marc Maron on Music Life Radio
• Sedition Radio, a SHOUTcast stream of comedy and interviews from fan-archived episodes of Morning Sedition and The Marc Maron Show.

This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (November 2011)

Barry Lank (born 1960) is a comedian, journalist, and former writer at Air America Radio.

Lank was born in Diamond Bar, California in June, 1960, the first person born there after the area converted from cattle ranchland to a residential development. He attended high school in Claremont, California, and earned a bachelors degree in English literature from the University of California, Berkeley in 1983, a masters in creative writing from San Francisco State in 1996 and a masters from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 1997.

He began performing as a stand-up comedian in San Francisco in 1982, and three years later formed the comedy team "Lank and Earl" with his high school friend Jim Earl. After the team broke up, he worked as a reporter at The Hour in Norwalk, Connecticut, a comedy writer at Court TV, night editor and columnist at the Herald News in Passaic County, New Jersey, and editorial writer, editor and columnist at the Courier-Post in Camden County, New Jersey, before joining Air America.

Lank wrote and performed on several shows at Air America and delivered the "B.S. News" segment on The Randi Rhodes Show.

Currently, he is Senior Writer for Digital Media at Elauwit.^[1]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Barry Lank's web site, barrylank.com
• David Spark's site with two photos of "Lank and Earl"
• Alberto Gonzales, cannibal - YouTube video

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Morrie Robert Yohai (pronounced yo-high; March 4, 1920 – July 27, 2010) was an American food company executive best known for his creation of Cheez Doodles, a cylindrical baked cornmeal puff most often with a cheddar cheese flavor.

Yohai was born on March 4, 1920 in Harlem to Jewish immigrants from Turkey and grew up in the Bronx. He earned his undergraduate degree in 1941 from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.^[1] He worked for Grumman Aircraft after graduating from college and enlisted in the United States Navy during World War II. He pursued flight training, assuming that since he knew how to build planes he would know how to fly them. He was shifted to the United States Marine Corps and piloted planes in the South Pacific.^[2]

Yohai was the president of Old London Foods, a food products company originally established in the 1920s by his father (and his cousin) as King Kone. The company had manufactured ice cream cones and would later produce cheese crackers, popcorn and Melba toast. The company was looking for a new snack in the 1950s and had a machine that could extrude cornmeal under pressure through a narrow hole that would be cut to three-inch lengths by a blade. Baked with orange cheddar cheese and flavorings, Yohai gave them the name "Cheez Doodles".^[1] The name came to him while he sat around the table with other employees sampling different alternatives for the cheese flavoring.^[2] In 1965, the company was bought out by Borden, which also made Cracker Jack and Drake's cakes.^[1] In April 1967, Yohai was named as group vice president at Borden Foods and as chairman of the firm's Old London Foods and Wise Potato Chips divisions.^[3] Yohai recalled that one of his responsibilities involved making decisions as to which tiny toys would be included as prizes in packages of Cracker Jack.^[1]

Yohai was proud of his association with Cheez Doodles, and fondly retained a photograph of Julia Child eating from a bag. Attending a 2004 display of a work by Sandy Skoglund at a Napa Valley museum depicting several life-size figures covered in Cheez Doodles, his wife proudly told the gathered guests that her husband had invented the product.^[1]

Yohai left Borden after the company relocated to Columbus, Ohio. He started teaching at the New York Institute of Technology and was chosen to serve as the associate dean of the college's school of management. In his later years Yohai became involved with Jewish mysticism and Torah study. An author of two books and 500 poems, he was one of the founders of the annual New York Sephardic Jewish Film Festival.^[1]

A resident of Kings Point, New York, he lived in a luxurious home on Long Island Sound, which his wife would call "the house that Cheez Doodles bought".^[1] He died at age 90 at his home there on July 27, 2010, due to cancer.^[2] He was survived by his wife, the former Phyllis Marcus who he had married in 1947, as well as by a daughter, a son and a granddaughter.^[1]

References[link]

External links[link]

Biography portal

• Sandy Skoglund Cheez Doodle instillation piece photograph

This section relies on references to primary sources or sources affiliated with the subject, rather than references from independent authors and third-party publications. Please add citations from reliable sources. (September 2010)

Jim Rohn (September 17, 1930 - December 5, 2009) was an American entrepreneur, author and motivational speaker. His rags to riches story played a large part in his work, which influenced others in the personal development industry.

Early life[link]

Emanuel James "Jim" Rohn was born in Yakima, Washington to Emanuel and Clara Rohn. The Rohns owned and worked a farm in Caldwell, Idaho where Jim grew up, as an only child.

Career[link]

Jim graduated from high school 3rd out of a class of 140. He went to college for a year and a half before dropping out and joining the work force. At age 25, according to his accounts, he was working as a stock clerk for Sears collecting a weekly $57 paycheck. He wasn't broke but struggling financially, unable to see a way that would lead to his personal ambitions.^{[citation needed]} Around this time, a friend invited him to a lecture given by John Earl Shoaff, an entrepreneur who impressed Rohn with his wealth, business accomplishments, charisma, and life philosophy. At that time, Shoaff was VP of Sales in a nutritional supplement company called AbundaVita. In October 1955, Rohn joined AbundaVita and began a process of personal development that culminated in his becoming a millionaire by age 31. Shoaff, who had challenged Rohn at age 25 to reach for this goal, died one year before Rohn achieved it at age 31.

Rohn was invited by a friend to come and tell his "rags-to-riches" story to his rotary club. He accepted and titled his talk "Idaho farm boy makes it to Beverly Hills." The talk went so well that soon others began asking him to speak at various luncheons and other events. In 1963, at the Beverly Hills Hotel, he gave his first public seminar. He then began presenting seminars all over the country, telling his story and teaching the personal development philosophy he felt had led to his accomplishments.

Throughout the '70s, Rohn conducted a number of seminars for the management and employees of the Marketing Dept. of Standard Oil (California) which now does business as Chevron Corporation. At the same time, he conducted a personal development business called "Adventures in Achievement" which featured both live seminars as well as personal development workshops. Ultimately, he presented seminars worldwide for more than 40 years.

Tony Robbins who worked for Rohn in the late '70s, was mentored by Rohn during the early years of his career. Others who credit Rohn for his influence on their careers include authors Mark Victor Hansen and Jack Canfield (Chicken Soup book series), author/lecturer Brian Tracy, T. Harv Eker, author/teacher Vincent's Genesius Evans, from Indonesia. Rohn's last protege was leadership/motivational speaker Chris Widener, who continues Rohn's legacy teaching Twelve Pillars Seminars based on Widener and Rohn's book (Rohn's last), the Twelve Pillars of Success. Widener and Rohn worked together from 2002 until Mr. Rohn's death.

Rohn was the recipient of the 1985 National Speakers Association CPAE Award for excellence in speaking. He is also the author of 17 different books, audio and video programs.

Death[link]

Jim Rohn died of pulmonary fibrosis after an 18-month battle on December 5, 2009 in West Hills, California.^[1]

[edit] Five Major Pieces To the Life Puzzle

Rohn's book Five Major Pieces to the Life Puzzle, published in 1991,^[2] was built around what he considered the five components of success:

• Philosophy - how you think
• Attitude - how you feel
• Action - what you do
• Results - measure often to see if you are making progress
• Lifestyle - the kind of life you can make for yourself out of the first four pieces

See also[link]

• Personal development
• Motivational speaking

References[link]

External links[link]

• Jim Rohn official website
• Jim Rohn official FaceBook page
• Jim Rohn's biography at Woopidoo biographies
• 70 Jim Rohn Quotations at BrainyQuote.com