Jim Fisher and Jim Staahl

Comedy writers and Second City legends Jim Fisher and Jim Staahl joined me via Zoom. We discuss Fish's early days in a stand up comedy duo, joining Second City as David Steinberg's understudy, being groomed as the next David Steinberg, Jim Staahl's college career, being called a "funny" Hamlet, auditioning and understudying all five male performers (Fisher, David Blum, Joe Flaherty, Brian Doyle Murray and David Rasche), Fisher unionizing Second City giving the performers a week off and Staahl having to sub for all the men, Fisher passing out from mono at intermission and Staahl going from eating dinner to onstage before Act II, corporate gigs, leaving Second City with Tino Insana and forming The Graduates, going to the Comedy Store and filming a special with Robin Williams, Staahl joining the cast of Mork & Mindy when Robin crashed his auditioned and they improvised together, being a go-between for Mork & Mindy execs for Robin and Jonathan Winters, Tom Poston, Jay Thomas, the practical joking of former guest Stu Kreisman, the Osmonds poo poo a wine taster sketch, writing and performing with Steve Martin in a special, the menschness of Martin Short, creating, writing and performing in Laugh Trax with Howie Mandel, Gail Matthius, and Lucy Webb, writing "Sledge Hammer", jokes that wouldn't fly today, and their Magnum force parody episode Magnum Farce.