Interview · moment 17 of 32
The Gotham Writers Workshop and the Old German Couple's Dieting Joke
from #179 - Sal Vulcano | The Tim Dillon Show · #179
4 min
Guest
Sal recounts taking a stand-up writing class before pursuing comedy for real, including a memorable elderly German couple in class and their unintentionally hilarious joke about dieting and eating a slice of tomato.
- Tim wanted to be a comedian since childhood after making classmates laugh and idolizing Eddie Murphy and Bill Cosby.
- He took stand-up writing classes at the Gotham Writers Workshop instead of performing live because he was too nervous to get on stage.
- The Workshop had a stand-up teacher who gave writing assignments, critiques, and class shows over eight to twelve weeks.
- People from that class still bring it up to him decades later, though he doesn't think they remember much beyond his face.
- Only one person in the dozen-person class seemed like they could actually become a comic; the rest were taking it for public speaking or party skills.
- Tim was in college with a finance degree in 1998, working at Prudential Securities while taking acting classes at HB Studios because he needed something he was passionate about.
- He graduated with a finance degree he hated and retained no actual knowledge of the subject.
- Students at Gotham would hand-write their material, photocopy it, and distribute it to the whole class so everyone could read aloud and critique.
- Tim saved copies of other students' material from the class, including work from the old German couple.
Eddie MurphyBill CosbyGothamStaten Island MuseumPrudential SecuritiesHB Studios