ABC Comedy News starring Fannie Flagg, Andrew Duncan, Kenneth Mars, Mort Sahl, Bob & Ray, Dick Gregory, Peter Schickele, and Joan Rivers (1973)

This is CNN

The Mike Warnke Story: A Viceland Outtake

Marc Maron presents Kliph Nesteroff's Classic Showbiz

Funny How with Kliph Nesteroff

Danny Thomas Presents The Wonderful World of Burlesque featuring Lucille Ball, Jerry Lewis and Shirley Jones (1965)

Illeana Douglas talks with Kliph Nesteroff

You might dig this free wheeling conversation on comedy, literature and more. I show up at the 14 minute mark.

The Joe Franklin Show with guests David Frye and Jay Leno (1982)

Late Night with David Letterman with guest Irwin Corey (1983)

Thursdays at 7pm Pacicif/10pm Eastern on CNN

The following premiere may offend some & drive others into huge fits of laughter. You've been warned. #HistoryOfComedy starts Thurs at 10p! pic.twitter.com/kFDgwRT074

— CNN (@CNN) February 3, 2017

Jerry Lewis interviewed at the Fontainebleau Hotel (1957)

Firing Line with guest Groucho Marx (1967)

The Steve Allen Christmas Show featuring Bill Dana, The Smothers Brothers and Buck Henry (1961)

And Tim Conway before he changed his name from Tom to Tim.

Keefe Brasselle, Jim Aubrey and How the Mafia Seized Control of CBS Primetime

I have composed a brand new article, but here's the rub. It's only available in exchange for a private donation. So click the top right yellow donate button.You can contribute any amount and I'll provide you with a copy of this 8000 word piece which took two years to research and four months to write. If you're on your mobile phone, scroll down and click "web version" and then you'll see the yellow donate button in the top right.

The story is that of Keefe Brasselle, a lousy nightclub singer with connections to the Mob. The one-time star of The Eddie Cantor Story knew how to cozy up to power and it paid off. He was close with the head of CBS Television, Jim Aubrey. When Aubrey got in trouble with the Mob, Brasselle saved his life. In exchange, Brasselle received three separate television series on CBS primetime in the fall of 1964. Along the way Brasselle was sued, shot at, wrote a tell-all book and had his nightclub burned to the ground. He was arrested for attempted murder when he tried to kill a sitcom writer in the early 1970s - and that's only scratching the surface! There's a lot to this story and it's all yours today for a private donation. Hit the yellow donate button in the top right corner to receive a copy and thanks for your continued support.

Jackie Kannon's Rat Fink Room - An Art Installation.

Hipsters, Flipsters, Finger Poppin' Daddies... if you happen to be in Manhattan, come check out this incredible art installation - a recreation of Jackie Kannon's Rat Fink Room, the proto-comedy club of the mid 1960s bankrolled by mobster Morris Levy. I wrote about this venue years ago for WFMU and that article is now the basis for this real-life recreation. Details here.

The Nancy Wilson Show with guest Richard and Willie (1975)

East Side West Side: The Beatnik and the Politician starring Alan Arkin (1964)

A Man Called Dagger starring Jan Murray with soundtrack by Steve Allen (1967)

The Frances Langford Special with guests Don Ameche, Johnny Mathis and the Three Stooges (1960)