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On this 50th episode I have a conversation with comedian Mark Debonis (@TheMarkDebonis) and this is a great example of what I am happy my podcast has become. We talk about the aspirations Mark has had since leaving Canada for The States. And it's not the aspirations of superficiality and rather more why and how he is pursuing the role of a creator. We also talk about how good people attract good people and garbage attracts garbage, which is something I have always preached so it was good to hear it from someone else. For more information on Mark, visit his website at www.markdebonis.com

Dave Merheje (@davemerheje) is another comedian from Canada whom I worked with at the Montreal Just For Laughs Comedy Festival. It was a real treat to work with Dave because he was very prompt in his exchanges with me leading up to the festival. He was very receptive and cooperative in taking notes. On stage Dave is a great story teller and he's even better in conversation. We discuss his early days of comedy getting harassed crossing the border into the United States to do open mics and how customs agents heckled his jokes in his joke book. Man does he have some good tales. And we also discuss how things have been going for him the past year since he moved to Los Angeles. For more info on Dave, visit his website at www.DaveMerheje.com

I love when I get to know someone for the first time and it's on my podcast. That's what happened with Daniel Weingarten (@dwcomedy) in this episode. The first time I met him was during an audition he went to for a project with comedian Nick Guerra. The second time was at the Hollywood Improv. In total we spent maybe 15 minutes together prior to this conversation. We really break down the mechanics of pitching shows, constructing the delivery of a joke, and how to be in this Hollywood game for the long run. For more info on Daniel, visit him at www.twitter.com/dwcomedy

Ron Josol (@RonJosol) is a name I've known for a while, but never met him until we worked together at the Montreal Just For Laughs Comedy Festival. He was taping two TV sets at the festival and I worked with him on his sets since JFL hired me to consult with comedians and their sets. In addition to recapping our time in Montreal, we also discuss how to create a positive snowball effect in your career. Ron is originally from Canada, but has performed all over the world and shares his experiences taping TV sets for networks in other countries and also how he made the transition from MMA to comedy. For more info on Ron, visit him at www.twitter.com/RonJosol

Eric Shantz is the guy who got me into comedy festivals, because he invites me to his SLO Comedy Festival every year. He's one of the many people I owe for being able to work with Montreal Just For Laughs this year because he was the first to show me what the festival world is like. He puts on a great four day weekend every year in late March. It's like a comedy camp for comedians filled with parties, laughs, and friends. I highly recommend checking out what he's doing in San Luis Obispo. We discuss how he started the yearly festival and how he is ramping up to start a second festival he's calling The Big Bear Comedy Festival, which will amp up in early November this year. We also get into what it's like performing in Ireland where he lived for a few years. For more info on the SLO Comedy Festival, visit www.slocomedyfestival.com

Jonny Loquasto is one of the nicest guys in comedy. I've never met anyone who has had a bad thing to say about him. I love him because he's a big time sports fan, and since I'm a former sports journalist it's hard to find guys who can speak eloquently on the subject. Jonny has had a remarkable career in TV and now podcasting. He was the host of the TV show AXS Live and he recently partnered with FOX Sports on his wrestling themed podcast. Give Jonny a listen and I guarantee you'll become a fan. For more information on Jonny, visit his website at www.jlocomedy.com

Justin Rivera is the first comedian-magician to appear on my podcast. The first TV show both of us ever worked on was the same show, The Homies Hip-Hop Show back in 2007 when he was 23 and I was 21. Since then Justin has gone on to appear on America's Got Talent, and become a national touring comedian-magician. I have a million questions for him in our discussion about the magic community, because it's such a fascinating world to me with how quiet they keep. We also get into how comedians perceive him as a magician and how magicians perceive him as a comedian. For more information on Justin, visit his website at www.justinrivera.com

Comedian Francisco Ramos (@franciscoramos) has the mindset that I think every comedian should have. He leaves himself open to what the comedy universe tells him he should be doing. I always tell comedians to be open to becoming writers, producer, directors, or whatever else the industry wants you to do, because being a comedian might not be the thing that puts you on the map. Francisco talks to me about exactly that idea. We also discuss his upbringing in Venezuela and how his career has taken some pretty exciting strides in the past year like finishing in the top 10 of Last Comic Standing and appearing in two episodes of Lady Dynamite on Netflix. For more information on Francisco, visit his website at www.franciscoeramos.com

I sat down to chat with Leo Flowers (@leoflowers4real) one day after his breakup with his girlfriend, and in true Leo fashion, he opened with the honesty of it in his set the night it happened and also in his conversation with me. We also discuss how he has a more diverse resume than most comedians I know. He earned a scholarship to play football at Ball State. He was a marriage counselor. He is taking lessons to learn how to fly a helicopter. And he has accomplished all of these things with the very funny mentality of Lazily Ambitious, which he explains, and is an approach he has fully committed to that has yielded a lot of results in his life. He also has a terrific podcast called the Infodels Podcast. You can find more info on Leo and his podcast at his website at www.leoflowers.com

The first time Jeremy Scippio (@JeremyScippio) went on stage to perform comedy was at an audition for Def Comedy Jam, which he flew himself to Washington DC from Cincinnati. His second time on stage for comedy second was in a comedy competition for Jimmy Kimmel, which he got second place in. That's one of the more unique paths into comedy that I have heard. We discuss that and how he is also a classical pianist and wants to make an impact in the world to the point where he gets his own day like MLK. For more info on Jeremy, visit his website at www.jeremyscippio.com

Elissa Rosenthal has a very fascinating story and has one of the more unique positions in the comedy community. I met Elissa when she was a comedian with a drinking problem. The first night I met her we did shots of Jack Daniels in New York City. Now she is three years sober and teaching improv to other people going through recovery. She has so much clarity because of everything she has gone through. We have one of the more authentically real conversations I've had on this podcast, so make sure you give this one a listen all the way through.

I first met Anthony Desamito at the SLO Comedy Festival in 2015. He has a very memorable personality, which is why I am surprised I don't remember him from the Cracker Barrel in Yuma, AZ where he used to work as a server and where I frequented on pit stops on my way to Tucson, AZ from San Diego. Or I am surprised I don't remember him from El Centro, CA where he was born and I spent my summers as a child because my Uncle lived in that horribly hot town. Basically what I am saying is that Anthony and I have crossed paths at many different times in our lives, but didn't know it. He also just moved from Phoenix, AZ to Los Angeles last week and we speak about the guts that takes. For more information on Anthony visit his website at www.anthonydesamito.com

Ryan Harvey Pearcy (@realrhp) is ridiculous in the best sense of the term. He makes me laugh off stage more than most comedians do on stage. He works the door at the Hollywood Improv, which gives him one of the most unique perspectives in comedy. In our chat he shares some unique stories of some of Hollywood's most famous comedians and celebrities who walk through the doors of one of the most famous comedy clubs in the world. Ryan is also a comedian and he shares some of his awkward humor and bits with me as well. He is so out of the box that he has bits not only on stage but off stage as well, like his famous pear cider bit. He also gets serious with me, when we discuss why he left his job managing a Chili's in Arkansas to give Hollywood a shot. For more info on Ryan, visit his Twitter at www.twitter.com/realrhp

I first met comedian Mona Shaikh (@monascomedy) at a TV taping where she performed a very risque set in front of her Mom where she discussed blow jobs and even made fun of her Mom. It was very ballsy, which makes sense when you find out Mona grew up with four brothers, worked for Morgan Stanley, and started comedy in New York. We discuss all of those things in addition to some really intense subjects like her car blowing up and avoiding molestation when she was younger. We also get into how her unique background of being a female Muslim from Pakistan has impacted her viewpoints. For more information on Mona, visit her website at www.monashaikh.com

I love chatting with comedians I don't have a history with, because you're hearing their story for the first time with me, and my conversation with Natasha Pearl Hansen (@nphcomedy) is a great example of that. She was pre-med when she decided to pursue a career in comedy. We discuss that, her upbringing in Wisconsin, what the improv scene is like in Chicago, how the Virgin Islands are a great source of comedy for her, and what to do and not to do when starting your own production company. For more information on Natasha, visit her website at www.natashapearlhansen.com

One of my favorite names in comedy is Forrest Shaw (@forrestshaw) and that's who I chatted with today on my podcast. He not only has one of the more unique names in comedy, but his path to comedy is just as unique in that his prior career was that of a Marine Biologist. In our conversation we get into exactly what a Marine Biologist does. We also attempt to tackle the problems in our wasteful nation here in the United States. And on the more fun end of things, Forrest shares what it's like opening for one of my favorite comedians in Jim Jefferies, and how having goals can get in the way of having appreciation for what you do have. Give Forrest a listen and for more information on Forrest visit his website at forrestshaw.net

Ryan Broems (@ryanbroems) is the ultimate example of not judging a book by its cover because he has the one of the wildest hair styles in comedy that always makes you look twice. He also has a very unique past, including serving in the Air Force working with bombs when he was a teenager. His look is starting to book him some gigs, including a show I was working on last year. He also has a highly successful podcast on iHeartradio, which was actually my introduction to the podcast world when he invited me to be a guest a few years back. You can check out more on Ryan on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ryanbroems

Comedian Melissa McQueen (@melissa_mcqueen) is a performer in the greatest sense of the word. I've seen her excel in stand-up, sketch, improv, and even in karaoke. She was on the Frank Caliendo sketch show Frank TV, and has made it very far in the audition process for Saturday Night Live and the original MadTV. She was also slated to be a cast member on the recent reincarnation of In Living Color, which unfortunately never aired. She even married another sketch performer in Pat Kilbane who she met on FrankTV. We discuss all of those times in her life and how her karaoke night at Barney's Beanery is one of the things every person in LA should do at least once. She also gives me one of the nicest compliments someone in the comedy world has ever given me. For more information on Melissa, visit www.melissamcqueen.com

What I love about the comedy world is that there are so many different people in it that it's impossible to meet everyone. When I met comedian Briana Hansen (@thebrianahansen) we realized we had over 50 mutual friends in common, most of which are comedians. But it was our non-comedian friend John Barra who introduced us at a Emmy's panel event of Modern Family on the FOX lot. In our discussion we talk about how she discovered she could rap, how she started her monthly show Metaphysical Comedy in The Lab at The Hollywood Improv, and how Danny Zuker of Modern Family was one of the nicest guys to impart wisdom on us that night on the FOX lot. For more information on Briana visit her website at www.thebrianahansen.com

Comedian Jay Mandyam (@jmandyam) recently surprised me with a character reel he put together of him doing some impressions and some original characters he created. I was blown away, because I have known Jay for about six years ever since he moved to Los Angeles, and I didn't know he could do characters. When I know someone as something for so long, and in Jay's case as a stand-up comedian, I am always pleased to see them trying something new and even more pleased to see them show off their range. Besides that, we discuss his infamous Oscars Party that he throws every year for comedians, what it was like witnessing The Roast Battle blow up, and how he got to open up for Chris Hardwick in the same theatre in Texas where he once saw George Carlin perform. For more information on Jay visit his website at www.jmandyam.com