The Need to Fail with Don Fanelli
by Forever Dog
What do all of your favorite comedians, actors, writers, and artists have in common? At some point, they’ve all completely failed. Comedian Don Fanelli sits down with folks at the top of their game to talk about the times their dreams felt more elusive than ever. These hilarious, heartbreaking, and incredibly relatable stories remind us that failure is not only necessary when pursuing a dream, but ultimately the inspiration that keeps us moving uncompromisingly forward. Produced by the Forever Dog Podcast Network.
Episodes
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The Final Fail: Chris Gethard
In our series finale, we check back in with Chris Gethard (Beautiful/Anonymous, Space Force) who recently came close to committing himself for the first time in almost a decade. We talk about being on the downslope of success, where he fucked up along the way, the surprising success of his…
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Seven Years Later: Lauren Lapkus
In our final episodes of The Need to Fail, I will be checking back in with my original guests from seven years ago. Next up: Lauren Lapkus (The Wrong Missy, Big Bang Theory) who talks about not booking 90% of the roles she goes out for, how her true humor came through in The Wrong Missy and how…
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Seven Years Later: Abbi Jacobson
In our final episodes of The Need to Fail, I will be checking back in with my original guests from seven years ago. Next up: Abbi Jacobson (Broad City, Disenchantment) who talks about ending Broad City and the pressures of adapting an iconic movie to the small screen. We also chat about how…
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Seven Years Later: Josh Patten
In our final six episodes of The Need to Fail, I will be checking back in with my original guests from seven years ago. Next up: Josh Patten (SNL) who talks about how things have changed over his eight seasons at SNL. We talk about craft related setbacks & trying to get better at his job, how it...
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Seven Years Later: Josh Ruben
In our final six episodes of The Need to Fail, I will be checking back in with my original guests from seven years ago. Next up: Josh Ruben (Scare Me, Werewolves Within) who talks about his frustrating journey auditioning for SNL, the star-studded pilot he was cast in that didn't get picked up…
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Seven Years Later: Benjamin Apple
In our final six episodes of The Need to Fail, I will be checking back in with my original guests from seven years ago. First up: Benjamin Apple (The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon, The Onion) who talks about how a year after our original conversation, he was let go from Jimmy Fallon. We talk...
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Episode 150: Edgar Momplaisir
Edgar Momplaisir (Culture Kings, What Just Happened) gets candid, opening up about his personal demons, regrets, and rock bottom moments. We talk about not fully processing his best friends death, his frustrating audition process for the Daily Show, and not getting onto Maude Night at UCB while...
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Episode 149: Anna Salinas
Anna Salinas (badcomixbyanna, Sugar & Toys) went from a kindergarten art teacher to an assistant in the Reality TV department of a big agency working with someone who no one wanted to work with. We talk about the origins of her comic, badcomixbyanna, and how she communicated her anxiety and...
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Episode 148: Joey Greer
Joey Greer (Good Night, Alchemy This) got screwed up taking on the business side of Hollywood. We chat about how he applied his degree in theology to his creative pursuits, being sick and tired of feeling like he needed the industry's help to create something, and how he spent 16 hour nights…
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Episode 147: James T. Robilotta
James T. Robilotta (Leading Imperfectly, TEDx) is now a life coach and public speaker, but it took a lot of ups and downs to get there. We talk about how writing his book was the most polarizing thing he has done in his life, why the brain always feels stupid for letting the heart steer, chewing…
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Episode 146: Ellen Haun
Ellen Haun (How to Get Away with Murder, Cinderella & The Glass Ceiling) was never cast in a show in all four years at USC. An accidentally dropped headshot ruined her final chance. We also chat about how she moved to NY after two agencies were interested and wound up not getting signed by…
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Episode 145: Michael Cruz Kayne
Michael Cruz Kayne (Late Night with Seth Meyers, High Maintenance) booked an off-broadway Stomp-like show called Hoopz, produced by Disney, and it was quickly cancelled after Michael Eisner saw it. We chat about testing for SNL, searching for validation in the UCB system, and dealing with the…
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Episode 144: Charlie Todd
Charlie Todd (Improv Everywhere, Pixar IRL) tried for years to get Improv Everywhere on TV with lots of ups and downs along the way. We talk about how he wound up in handcuffs after an Improv Everywhere prank gone awry, seeing a network steal and produce one of his show ideas a year after he...
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Episode 143: Robyn Schneider
Robyn Schneider (The Beginning of Everything, You Don't Live Here) sold her first book at 18. It was the best and worst day of her life. Straddling a life between writing and medical school, Robyn overcomes trauma, book flops, book cancellations, theft, and a slew of other setbacks on the road to...
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Episode 142: Jordan Klepper (Part 2)
In Part 2 of our conversation, Jordan Klepper (The Daily Show, Klepper) talks about filling in as host of The Daily Show when Trevor Noah was sick, the joys of getting your own TV show and the gut-punch of it being taken away, and the life changing experience of being arrested. Jordan also takes…
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Episode 141: Jordan Klepper (Part 1)
In Part 1 of our conversation, Jordan Klepper (The Daily Show, The Opposition) talks about his decade of ups and downs in Chicago, what led him to NY, and auditioning for The Daily Show. We chat about how frustrations led to Jordan creating his own popular sketch show in Chicago, how after a…
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Episode 140: Julie Buxbaum
Julie Buxbaum's (Tell Me Three Things, Admission) worked on her third novel for over two years, after giving birth to her first child, and made the painful decision to shelve it because it was capable but not exciting. We talk about her transition from attending Harvard Law School to becoming an...
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Episode 139: Sam Pancake
Sam Pancake (A Million Little Things, Arrested Development) got the dream call that he was getting his own TV show - but the deal was so bad he had to walk away, which actually opened up unforeseen acting opportunities. We talk about battling his addictions, his rock bottom moments, and his road…
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Episode 138: Amy Spalding
Amy Spalding (We Used to Be Friends, The Summer of Jordi Perez) secured a literary agent, but it took another three years to get her first book published. We talk about the benefits of having a day job she excels at, burning her childhood novels in a family bonfire, the dangers of only...
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Episode 137: Mark McConville
Mark McConville (SuperEgo, Talking Tom & Friends) went to college to study music and was denied after his audition freshmen year. We talk about the formation of SuperEgo, the value of intention, landing a job at Disney after working 16 hour days at Starbucks and a retail store, and the importance...
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Episode 136: Paige Weldon
Paige Weldon (Heathers, The Late Late Show with James Corden) had a humor website she co-created hacked and destroyed. Five years of writing and artwork from herself and her friends went down the drain overnight. We chat about how messing up in her Heathers audition probably helped book her the...
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Episode 135: Hal Lublin
Hal Lublin (The Thrilling Adventure Hour, The Venture Bros.) flew himself out to NY to audition for Boom Amsterdam, positive he was going to get hired. He did not. We talk about how he wanted to quit the industry after his mother passed away and what brought him back, how he heard the possible...
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Episode 134: Aaron Abrams
Aaron Abrams (Lovebirds, Blindspot) had a panic attack in an audition after he thought the casting director had mistaken him for someone else. We chat about the role he didn't think he was going to book because he accidentally ate tacks in front of the casting directors, booking his first series...
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Episode 133: Atsuko Okatsuka
Atsuko Okatsuka (Room 104, Let's Go, Atsuko!) was new to stand up and flown down to audition for America's Got Talent. She was X-ed by Howard Stern during her set and booed by the audience. We chat about how being an immigrant influenced her early comedic style, why she works her standup routine...
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Episode 132: Todd Masterson
Todd Masterson (Gay Fat Friend, Fashion Police) got his dream job working for Joan Rivers and then it was all taken away. We talk about the origins of his GayFatFriend instagram account, almost getting to work at Family Guy, and how watching restoration and makeup tutorial videos helps him get…
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Episode 131: Dan Lippert & Ryan Rosenberg (Part 1 of our You're The Man Now Dog Podcast crossover)
In our first crossover episode, Don joins the boys of You're the Man Dog Podcast, Dan Lippert and Ryan Rosenberg to chat about personal setbacks and reflexions on their sketch/improv team Big Grande. We talk about how Ryan dealt with his three friends/teammates getting onto the same Harold team...
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Episode 130: Bill Posley
After Bill Posley's (The Day I Became Black, Survivor) family filed for bankruptcy and his house was foreclosed on, he didn't have money for college. So he joined the Army after high school and graduated from basic training... on 9/11. He talks about how the army prepared him for failure, how he...
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Episode 129: Daniel Shar
Daniel Shar (Scraps, The Onion) published an article called "You Miss 87% You Do Take if You Are Me in 2019" in which he documents over a thousand attempts at making money and furthering his career last year and breaks down all of the results. We talk about weighing his findings and his big...
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Episode 128: Morgan Evans
Morgan Evans (Netflix, Disney+) had the worst year of his life when he moved to LA, after the movie he wrote was optioned. We chat about the struggles of drought years and money management, the frustration with not being able to transfer from the digital world to linear television, and how he...
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Episode 127: Achilles Stamatelaky
Achilles Stamatelaky (Broad City, UCB) is in his head. He's been getting to the final round interviews for a ton of writing jobs and not landing any. We chat about why he thinks this is, his UCB journey, writing hacks, the struggles with having to be your own assistant, and how after overhearing…
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Episode 126: Celeste Ballard
Celeste Ballard (Wrecked, Sweet/Vicious) had a couple of dark creative periods in the last year which made her pass at an initial invitation to be on the show. Now she opens up about failed pitches and pilots, a personal setback that she used to jolt her career forward, the value in being Lorne...
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Episode 125: Lance Rubin
YA author, Lance Rubin (Crying Laughing, Denton Little's Deathdate) was dropped by his acting agent and manager on the same day... which led him towards a career he did not plan for. We talk about the internal and external struggles that made the business side of acting difficult, how being on…
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Episode 124: Brett Davis
Brett Davis (The Podcast for Laundry, The National Lampoon Radio Hour) takes us through many performance failures over his career, one which lead to a full on fist fight between his writing partner and some drunk audience members. We chat about the only episode of The Special he decided not to…
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Episode 123: Larry Owens
Larry Owens (A Strange Loop, High Maintenance) got rejected from his top three acting school choices and as a playwright from Yale. We talk about the daily setbacks during his Steppenwolf training, how you must fail during a monologue in order to perform it correctly, and why he turned down the...
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Episode 122: Jocelyn DeBoer & Dawn Luebbe (Part 2)
In Part 2 of our conversation with Jocelyn DeBoer & Dawn Luebbe (Greener Grass, Adam Ruins Everything) we cover all things film festivals. We chat about getting rejected from Sundance four times before getting in, the ceremonious turned unceremonious conference call when they learned their pilot...
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Episode 121: Jocelyn DeBoer & Dawn Luebbe (Part 1)
Jocelyn DeBoer & Dawn Luebbe (Greener Grass, Buzz) were going through a dry spell in Los Angeles, so they walked on a treadmill next to each other at the gym, simultaneously watching Twin Peaks. In Part 1 of our conversation we talk about how Jocelyn helped create her own team and indie show…
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Episode 120: Paul Welsh
Paul Welsh (Brooklyn99, Crazy-Ex Girlfriend) was flown out back out to NY after he moved to LA and crushed his Daily Show audition - and didn't get it. We chat about why it took him multiple attempts to get onto a UCB Harold Team, how he dealt with a failed pilot he co-wrote, and how a short film...
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The One Year Project: Dan Black (Parts 1 & 2)
In our final One Year Project, guest Dan Black (Comedians of Wrestling Podcast, Adam Ruins Everything) feels like he goes backwards in his career some years. Like when he had to go back to work as a temp CPA and participate in a company wide intro to improv workshop after having improvised for...
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The One Year Project: Langan Kingsley (Parts 1 & 2)
Langan Kingsley was one job away from having to temp again. In Part 1, recorded in 2018, Langan had written on two shows and filmed an Adam Sandler movie, but was looking into the abyss of 2019 with nothing on the horizon. We chat about how her failures are related to fear, the cosmic promise she...
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The One Year Project: James III (Parts 1 & 2)
Our second installment of the One Year Project follows James III's (Astronomy Club, All That) into the unknown of 2019. Part 1 was recorded in December of 2018, where James was coming off of a good year but had nothing on the horizon. We talk about his imposter syndrome, the fear of getting into...
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The One Year Project: Brandon Gardner (Parts 1 & 2)
Brandon Gardner is in the trenches as he a journeys through fatherhood, conflicting script notes, and the search for representation. In the first of our One Year Projects (inspired by Gardner himself), Part 1 was recorded in the fall of 2018 and covers Brandon's quick ascension through the ranks…
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Episode 115: Lauren Ashley Smith
Lauren Ashley Smith (Black Lady Sketch Show, The Rundown) failed to get into a top MFA acting program two years in a row. But she never would have started writing if she did. We talk about how her day job as a producer helped prepare her to be a head writer, why it is a pleasure and privilege to...
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Episode 114: Jack Dolgen
Jack Dolgen (Emmy winning writer/songwriter for Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) was striving for something that was externally motivated instead of internally driven. So when there wasn't immediate interest from record executives in his first solo album, he quit music altogether. He chats about how his need...
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Episode 113: Megan Koester
CONNECT W/ THE NEED TO FAIL & DON FANELLI ON TWITTER: https://twitter.com/theneedtofail https://twitter.com/donfanelli AND PLEASE SUPPORT TN2F ON PATREON FOR BONUS EPS & MORE: https://www.patreon.com/theneedtofail SUBSCRIBE/RATE/REVIEW TN2F on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, or wherever…
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Episode 112: Nate Fernald
Nate Fernald (The Late Late Show, The Pete Holmes Show) developed a name for himself in Chicago but ate shit for years after moving to New York. We talk about his praised SNL packet that led to nothing, deflating meetings with managers, his creative nighttime routine, and what it was like to…
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Episode 111: Geoff Garlock
Geoff Garlock (Orchid, Panthers, UCB) talks about the ups and downs of his multiple bands, from touring nightmares to record label drops. We talk about his journey into comedy, how therapy and Capes Coaching challenged his punk way of doing things, and how his songwriting and sketch writing…
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Episode 110: Marcy Jarreau
Marcy Jarreau (Brooklyn 99, A Funny Feeling Podcast) spent over a decade improvising but just couldn't gain any traction professionally and was ready to quit. We talk about how she dealt with being cut from house teams, flying in from her grandfather's funeral for a callback, and how she finally...
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Episode 109: Charles Rogers
Charles Rogers (Search Party, Fort Tilden) had a short film that was for sure going to get into a ton of festivals... until it didn't. We chat about how Season 2 of Search Party was the hardest creative experience of his life, the source of the characters he writes, and of course we talk about a...
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Episode 108: Jason Mantzoukas
Jason Mantzoukas (Big Mouth, John Wick 3) talks about all the gut-wrenching ups and downs of an NBC show he created that was never released and the silver lining postscript. We chat about what it was like to get positive performance feedback from peers and audiences but not from the industry, the...
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Episode 107: Scott Aukerman
Scott Aukerman (Comedy Bang Bang, Between Two Ferns) felt like the golden boy of comedy in his early years but quickly got a showbiz education. We chat about how it took him over three years to get hired on Mr. Show, how producing his live show Comedy Death Ray helped sustain years of countless…
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About this show
What do all of your favorite comedians, actors, writers, and artists have in common? At some point, they’ve all completely failed. Comedian Don Fanelli sits down with folks at the top of their game to talk about the times their dreams felt more elusive than ever. These hilarious, heartbreaking, and incredibly relatable stories remind us that failure is not only necessary when pursuing a dream, but ultimately the inspiration that keeps us moving uncompromisingly forward. Produced by the Forever Dog Podcast Network.
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Forever Dog
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