S4E2: Colman DeKay Knows EVERYBODY!

THE BLURB: My friend COLMAN DEKAY knows everybody. And if he doesn't, he knows almost everybody. It's always been that way. The son of a publisher, Colman got used to writers like DONALD WESTLAKE, JAMES BALDWIN and NORMAN MAILER just "hanging out" at their apartment in NYC. A terrific writer himself, Colman would go on to write several episodes of TALES FROM THE CRYPT and the feature BULLETS OVER BROADWAY and NINE LIVES: A MUSICAL HISTORY OF NEW ORLEANS. He's also worked extensively with PENN & TELLER. I meant what I said: Colman DeKay knows EVERYBODY!SHOW NOTES:So – why do I say my friend Colman DeKay knows everybody? Because, as you’ll hear, HE KNOWS EVERYBODY! And, he’s so used to knowing everybody that he doesn’t even realize that he knows everybody. As you’ll also hear, Colman doesn’t drop names. But names - ones you recognize cos lots and lots of people know who they are - they come up in conversation because Colman was having a conversation with that person just last week. You know, like he’s having a conversation with you right now.An A List Literary SalonIt’s been like that since Colman was a kid. His family was involved in publishing in New York. His family’s Manhattan living room was a non-stop, A-List literary salon.A very, very, VERY scant sampling of the people Colman's rubbed elbows with since he was a kid: Donald Westlake, James Baldwin, Norman Mailer, Penn & Teller, Ken Kwapis, Steven Soderbergh.Colman became a talented writer himself - of screens small and large and of the stage. I first got to know Colman when he wrote a handful of episodes for us at Tales From The Crypt.Among Colman’s episodes - “In The Groove” and “Fatal Caper” and an absolute classic - “Staired In Horror” - which Colman wrote with occasional writing partner Teller from Penn & Teller.It’s a great episode because of the writing – and because we somehow put a whole Louisiana swamp on our stage in Los Angeles.New OrleansSomething about that part of the world – southern Louisiana, the swamps around there, New Orleans especially – has a powerful hold on Colman. Along with the musician PAUL SANCHEZ, Colman put together "NINE LIVES: AN ORAL HISTORY OF NEW ORLEANS", a 40 song cycle that tells The Big Easy's story via its music.Personally? I think Colman's ripe for a podcast of his own. A conversation just with his friends would be, in essence, a conversation with everybody. Everybody interesting.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.