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Noshing With Mike Morse – February 16, 2023

Comedian and co-writer and co-illustrator of Ha Ha History:

The First History Book You'll Want to Read!

This week on Ira's Everything Bagel Podcast, host Ira Sternberg welcomes the incredibly talented Mike Morse—a comedian, writer, and co-illustrator of the book Ha Ha History: The First History Book You'll Want to Read!. In this engaging episode, Mike Morse delves into his expansive career in comedy, his journey into writing, and how humor can be an educational tool. With his wit and unique comedic style, Morse has made a significant impact in the world of comedy, and in this conversation, he shares the inspirations and experiences that have shaped his work.

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Mike Morse's Comedy Journey

A Career Spanning Clubs, Theaters, and TV

Mike Morse is no stranger to the spotlight. With a career that has seen him headline at countless clubs, theaters, and colleges across the country, Morse has become a well-known figure in the comedy circuit. For eight years, he served as the opening act for the notorious Queen of Mean, Lisa Lampanelli, performing at prestigious venues like The Beacon Theater and Apollo Theater in New York City, The Borgata Event Center in Atlantic City, The Wilbur Theater in Boston, The Palms Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, and The Chicago Theater in Chicago.

Throughout his career, Morse has developed a comedic style that resonates with audiences nationwide. His ability to connect with people through humor has made him a favorite in the comedy scene, and his performances continue to draw crowds wherever he goes. Learn more about his work by following him on Twitter and Instagram.

From Stage to Page: The Creation of Ha Ha History

Writing and Illustrating a Unique History Book

In addition to his success as a comedian, Mike Morse has made a name for himself as a writer. His latest project, Ha Ha History: The First History Book You'll Want to Read!, is a collaborative effort that blends humor with historical facts. Co-written and co-illustrated with fellow comedians Neil Berliner, Joey Novick, Ron Beau Phillips, and Mike Crumbs, this book offers a comedic take on history that is both entertaining and educational.

Morse explains how the idea for the book came about and the process of bringing it to life. The book’s aim is to make history accessible and enjoyable, proving that learning can be fun when approached with the right perspective. Morse's background in comedy provided the perfect foundation for this project, allowing him to infuse historical events with humor in a way that appeals to readers of all ages.

Comedy Writing: The Art of Crafting Jokes

Writing for TV, Radio, and Roasts

Beyond performing, Mike Morse has an impressive resume as a joke writer. His material has been featured on many popular TV and radio shows, including The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Howard Stern Show, and The Comedy Central Roasts of celebrities like Flavor Flav, Donald Trump, Bob Saget, Larry The Cable Guy, and David Hasselhoff. His jokes have been broadcast on major networks such as CBS, NBC, ABC, HBO, ESPN2, A&E, AXS TV, and MTV.

In this podcast episode, Morse discusses the intricacies of joke writing and how he tailors his material to suit different audiences and formats. Whether it's a late-night talk show or a celebrity roast, Morse knows how to craft the perfect punchline to leave audiences in stitches.

Collaborations with Comedy Legends

Over the years, Mike Morse has written special material for a number of well-known comedians and personalities, including Howard Stern, Jay Leno, Jeff Foxworthy, Lisa Lampanelli, Robert DeNiro, Jeffrey Ross, Artie Lange, Wayne Brady, Ed Asner, and Gilbert Gottfried. Working with such legendary figures has not only honed his skills but also provided him with invaluable insights into the world of comedy.

The Importance of Humor in Education

Why Humor Matters

Throughout his career, Mike Morse has been a strong advocate for the importance of humor, not just as a form of entertainment, but as a powerful tool for education and communication. In this episode, he emphasizes how humor can break down barriers, making complex subjects more relatable and easier to understand.

Morse believes that humor plays a crucial role in engaging audiences, whether they are in a comedy club or reading a history book. This philosophy is evident in his work on Ha Ha History, where he uses comedy to make historical events more accessible and enjoyable for readers. By combining humor with education, Morse hopes to inspire a new generation of learners to appreciate the past while having a good laugh.

Mike Morse's Influence and Inspirations

Comedy Icons Who Shaped His Career

Every comedian has their influences, and for Mike Morse, these inspirations have played a significant role in shaping his comedic style. During the podcast, Morse talks about the comedians who have had the most impact on his career and how their work continues to inspire him. By studying the greats, Morse has been able to develop a unique voice that resonates with audiences and stands out in the crowded world of comedy.

Current Work and Popular Podcasts

Morse is not one to rest on his laurels. In addition to his live performances and writing projects, he is currently involved in several popular podcasts. These platforms allow him to reach a wider audience and explore new comedic territory. Morse discusses his podcast work in the episode, highlighting how this medium has become an essential part of his career and a way to connect with fans on a more personal level.

Mike Morse Podcast Episode Conclusion

This episode of Ira's Everything Bagel Podcast offers listeners a comprehensive look into the life and career of Mike Morse—a comedian, writer, and artist who has made a significant impact on the world of comedy. From his work on Ha Ha History to his performances at top venues across the country, Morse continues to entertain and inspire audiences with his sharp wit and unique comedic style.

For those interested in following Mike Morse's career, be sure to connect with him on Twitter and Instagram. His latest projects and performances are always just a click away, making it easy to stay updated on his comedic journey.

🔗 Useful Links:

  • Mike Morse Official Instagram
  • Mike Morse Official Twitter

FAQs About Comedian Mike Morse

Who is Mike Morse?

Mike Morse is a comedian, writer, and voice actor known for his sharp wit, humor, and appearances on various comedy platforms. He has been involved in the comedy scene for many years, performing stand-up and contributing to numerous television shows and radio programs. His comedy often includes observational humor, satirical takes, and clever wordplay.

What is Mike Morse known for?

Mike Morse is known for his work as a stand-up comedian and for his writing and voice work in the entertainment industry. He has made appearances on popular shows like "The Howard Stern Show" and has been involved in writing for various comedy programs. Additionally, his contributions to radio and his live performances have earned him recognition in the comedy community.

Is Mike Morse married?

Information about Mike Morse’s marital status is not widely publicized. He tends to keep his personal life private, so it’s unclear whether he is currently married or not.

Where is Mike Morse from?

Mike Morse is originally from New Jersey, USA. He has mentioned his New Jersey roots in various interviews and comedy routines, often referencing his upbringing in the state.

How old is Mike Morse?

The exact age of Mike Morse is not publicly disclosed, but based on the timeline of his career, he is estimated to be in his late 40s to early 50s.

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Read The Full Transcript

Comedian Mike Morse Podcast Epsiode Full Transcript
Ira: Welcome to Ira's Everything Bagel where I talk with intriguing people about everything—their passions, pursuits, and points of view. There is history, and some would say his story, but there is only one hostory. My guest today is comedian Mike Morse, co-writer and co-illustrator of Haha History, the first history book you'll want to read. It’s available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and all the usual places. For everything about Mike Morse, you can go to writefunny.net. You can follow Mike on Instagram at instamikemorse, on Twitter at mikemorsesays, and his podcast on patreon.com. And Mike, welcome to the show.
Mike: Thank you for having me, Ira.
Ira: I was intrigued by your history book. You have a multitude of careers and talents, but I thought we would talk about the book. But you know what? Now that I think about it, before we even get into the book, tell us a little bit, for those who may not know, about your background as a comedian and a comedy writer.
Mike: Yeah, I’ve been doing stand-up since—I never had a real job. I got out of college, and I started doing stand-up. I was very fortunate that I started making a living, and you know, I’d always written, so I would supplement the comedy stand-up with writing for other people. And then it kind of flipped—now I do a lot more writing for comedians than I do stand-up. But yeah, I love both. And, you know, for quite a few years, I wrote for Lisa Lampanelli and was her opening act, so that was a great gig because it kind of combined both.
Ira: And also, you consult and teach too because you have writefunny.net, so there are people that can check in with you and learn how to write comedy?
Mike: Yeah, if they—a lot of comedians, they’ll have an idea and they don’t know how to put it into a bit. You know, I help them with that, whatever they need. I just got a client today that—well, two. I’m doing a writing roast for a politician that’s going to be doing some political roasts, and I just started writing for a ventriloquist. You know, she needs material for her and her puppets.
Ira: So, you’re writing for both of them.
Mike: Yeah, it’s kind of like writing a sitcom because you have two people talking, so you just let it go.
Ira: We should also point out that—or I should also point out, I hate it when we do the royal "we."
Mike: We can both do it!
Ira: We’ll both point it out—Mike Morse is the one who populated the theory that funny is usually in threes. And because of his name, it’s usually dots or dashes as well. And this book that you have written, co-written with Neil Berliner—is he the brother of Benign Berliner or anybody else?
Mike: He is good friends with the Kennedys.
Ira: There you go.
Mike: There’s actually four—yes, four of us wrote it: Joey Novick, Neil Berliner, myself, and Ron Beau Phillips. And yeah, it’s called Haha History, and it’s jokes about history. And there’s one for each day of the year.
Ira: I think you did approximately 364.
Mike: I think you didn’t mention my crumbs, but I’ll mention my crumbs.
Ira: Well, yes, he also illustrated part of it, and he illustrated other parts of it. How did this book come together? Because it’s always tricky when you’re a solo author or illustrator and you’re putting together a book—that’s a major event, which is probably why I’ve never done it because I’m inherently lazy and registered as well. I like short stuff, but a book is a bit much. But now you’ve got not just you, but you have a co-illustrator, and you have co-writers. So, how does that idea germinate, and then how do you assign the division of labor?
Mike: Well, it was all Joey and Neil. It was their baby. They came up with this—I think, I forget which had the original idea, but they came to me and said, "We want to start doing this." And so, we just kind of matched wits or half-wits and started. And we would just—you know, what I did is every day, I would get up and just go through the calendar. Whatever day I was at, if I started at March 3rd, I would write a couple of jokes about history events of that day and just write as many as I could. You know, write a couple and then March 4th, March…so, I tried to get 365 days of jokes in as small a time as we could.
Ira: Who had final veto power? So, you write these jokes, but did the group as a whole get to say, "You know what, we like A but not B, C?"
Mike: Yeah, Neil was the editor. He’s the one who amassed them all and decided which ones would go. And we haven’t thrown the other ones away—we can probably use them at a later date.
Ira: And are you all still talking to each other after?
Mike: No, no.
Ira: (Laughter) Yes, I’ve known Neil—I’ve known Joey longer. I knew Joey when I first started comedy; he booked me in a couple of my first stand-up jobs in the—probably early—yeah, late 80s, early 90s.
Ira: And you’re an East Coast guy, so most of these guys, I assume, are also from the East Coast?
Mike: Yes, Neil is originally from Brooklyn, Joey’s from New York, and Ron—I’m not sure where Ron is from originally. I know he’s moved around a lot. He was in San Francisco, and I don’t know if he’s still there. I’ve never physically met him.
Ira: Oh, that’s—I assume he exists. He may or may not. It may be a [__] email by Neil. Maybe AI or I.E., I don’t know which would be frightening if it works that way. So, do you find the process easy because you’ve been doing this so long? In other words, you mentioned about going to the calendar and looking up and seeing what was happening on this day in history or two or three things happening on this day in history and then crafting jokes for it. Is it second nature—I would say almost second nature? Is it second nature?
Mike: Well, you learn how to do it. It’s never easy. It’s always a challenge to try to craft, as they say, something funny out of whatever you need to craft it from. But you know, I’ve written jokes for a million years, and I used to write monologue jokes for The Tonight Show, and it’s very much in that kind of structure. It’s a topic, and you have to find the funny in it and keep it as short and concise as possible.
Ira: Now you have the advantage that the people and events that you write about are generally dead, so you’re not going to get feedback from them.
Mike: There are a few—I think we have a couple of Bill Gates and…oh, okay…Abraham Lincoln, George Washington—they’re not going to complain.
Ira: Right, they’re not going to complain.
Mike: I have been haunted a few times.
Ira: What’s been the reaction to the book so far?
Mike: Apparently, it came in at number one for the new joke book on Amazon. I don’t know numbers. I’m the comedy guy. I’m like, "Just tell me what to write, I’ll write it, you guys worry about the numbers." But apparently, it was doing very well on Amazon. Thank you to everybody out there who bought it or pre-ordered. You can get it on Kindle as well as a physical copy.
Ira: Kindle’s good—that way, you can take it with you on the airplane and write along with nine million other books, and it doesn’t weigh that much.
Mike: Right. And yeah, I let those guys know at the outset that I’m so bad with numbers and business. I was like, "Just tell me what I have to write. I will sit here on my butt and write it, and send it, and then let me know." And then, you know, a couple of months later, this comes.
Ira: So, all right, good. Hold it up again and this time, don’t let the light reflect. You got to practice that when you make TV appearances. No, right now the light’s hitting you.
Mike: Oh, is it?
Ira: Yeah, you want to get it at a certain—that’s it, that’s the angle. There you go, I’m kidding.
Mike: Okay.
Ira: And I drew a little cover there—that’s my stuff. So, how does it—this is a cliché question, but it has to be asked. When the book comes out, and you hold it in your hands—not the virtual copy, as you would get in Kindle, but an actual physical copy—do you get a sense of immortality? In other words, this thing is going to be around long?
Mike: I doubt it’ll be around after I…(laughter). But no, it is nice. It’s nice to see, you know, stand-up comedy is so ethereal where you do your joke, and then it’s gone. Unless you’re filming it, then it’s just you and the live crowd—you have a great time, and then it’s over. Even with the podcasts I do, we do record them, but you’re there in the moment, and I never go back and look at them. So, it is what it is. But this, you know, it’s nice where you’re like, “Oh, I took all that time to write this stuff, and it’s here.”
Ira: Okay. And now you have something to give away for the holidays, right?
Mike: I’m sure they’re going to give me…Neil’s going to make me buy them.
Ira: Is there some stuff?
Mike: When I didn’t even realize he sent me this, he autographed it.
Ira: So, now it’s not worth it?
Mike: Oh, I’m not telling him (laughter).
Ira: You could give it as a gift to someone and say, “This was from Neil.”
Mike: Listen, I want my friends to stay my friends (laughter).
Ira: Fair enough. Would I, could I impose on you to just give us one or two samples from the book?
Mike: Sure. (Flipping through the book)
Ira: And about your various—I think you’re up to 2,000 podcasts a week that you’re on, but we’ll talk about that in a minute. But I want to stay with the book—it’s killing me.
Mike: You know, I’m 23 years old. Look at what it’s doing to me.
Ira: I know a lot of 23-year-olds with gray hair.
Mike: March 4th, 1793: George Washington gives the shortest presidential inaugural speech at 133 words. Some say this is because Washington was a man of action, not words. Others say it’s because he forgot to sand down his wooden teeth and has a mouthful of splinters.
Ira: (Laughter) I see a little illustration there.
Mike: Yes, there’s the illustration of the mouthful of splinters.
Ira: Another one?
Mike: (Flipping through the book) 1867: Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel patents dynamite, the first of three patents he would receive for the explosive material. To boost sales, he immediately gets on the horn to hire celebrity spokesman Jimmy “J.J.” Walker.
Ira: That’s a great cultural reference, a pop cultural reference. Many people will get it, others won’t. But if you are in that gestalt…
Mike: Not every joke is for everybody.
Ira: That’s exactly right, and I like that fact that it’s not. Do you do stand-up?
Mike: I have in the past.
Ira: It’s funny you should ask that. I don’t normally reveal that to my audience, but I have done it in the past—not at the level of most of you guys, but I’ve dabbled in it.
Mike: You’re a dabbler?
Ira: Yes, in my early years. Then I got sidetracked to broadcasting, writing, public relations, hotel industry, and so on. I have been away from it, but I do speeches, so that I guess would fit in the realm, in a way.
Mike: It is public speaking. Once you can do stand-up in front of a crowd, then you can—then public speaking is easy because you don’t have to worry about having a laugh every 20 seconds.
Ira: That’s right, exactly. Boy, that’s why I admire anybody that can get up in front of a group at a comedy club, who of course has been drinking, as opposed to a speech where maybe they’re having lunch and they’re talking among each other, but you can get their attention a lot easier than the drunks in the front row.
Mike: And in public speaking, if they are not really into what you’re saying, they’re not going to yell, “You suck!”
Ira: Exactly. There are no such things as hecklers in public speaking.
Mike: Right.
Ira: Do you—speaking of hecklers, do you have lines ready for the potential heckler?
Mike: You know, there are lines that have been in there after years and years of doing it. But usually, I like to deal with the situation, who the person is, you know. It’s sort of almost like a live roast. If they’re going to come at me, I’ll see what their weak spots are and just go after them. Luckily, it rarely happens where somebody is really antagonistic. Usually, it’s just somebody a little too drunk, a little too happy, and you play around with them a little bit, and they’ll calm down.
Ira: My sense of you is that, unlike several of your compadres in the industry, or most of your compadres in the industry, you always have struck me as—I’m not going to say a gentle soul. It’s not that so much as you’re low-key in your approach to humor and in performing. I mean, you’re very funny, but it’s not at a screaming level or a brash level, if that makes sense. Have you had that observation from other people?
Mike: Well, it really depends on the situation I’m in. I did a lot of Friars roasts, and during those, you really have to be kind of in your face. That’s fun. You have to go in there knowing you’re going to be Don Rickles, yeah, this fat guy, this ugly guy. That’s fun, and that’s a whole different mindset. When I was opening for Lisa, her crowd really wanted hard-hitting stuff. You couldn’t go with the “airplane peanuts” material—they would just start yelling at you, so you had to come out and be hardcore. But my normal stand-up is a little more laid back and fun.
Ira: I assume that’s part of your nature, so in other words, you exaggerate yourself for the situations with roasts and working for them?
Mike: Well, it’s also the funny thing about a performance, and even podcasts or whatever, is you bring out parts of yourself that you don’t necessarily show in real life. If you did it, you’d probably be arrested. Just like Howard Stern—he’s a really nice guy if you’re talking to him. He’s going to be polite, attentive, and respectful. But once the microphone goes on, he’s going to go after anything that’ll make people laugh, and that’s where he gets the whole shock jock thing.
Ira: Going to the podcast for a moment, the challenge, I would think, on a technical level with a podcast is—there’s always that slight delay, so you’re—it’s how do you manage to work that so you’re not stepping over someone else’s line or even the guest’s line?
Mike: Well, fortunately, for our podcasts on the Shuli Network, especially The Uncle Rico Show and The BS Show, it’s Shuli, Bob Levy, and myself. I’ve known Bob over 30 years—we kind of started in comedy together, and then we did Miserable Men on Sirius Radio together for five or six years, whatever it was. So, we know how we work. We can almost tell when somebody’s going to say something, so you back off. If they start, and you start, you know it’s instinctive at this point—it’s like playing on a team.
Ira: But the only time that would be a challenge, I would think, is if you have a guest on the podcast and you’re not sure of their rhythm?
Mike: Right, well, that’s where you kind of sit back and just let—Shuli is the host of the shows, so he’s the band leader. He will ask the questions usually, but if we have a question we want to ask the person, we know when to go in. It’s all just practice.
Ira: So by the numbers, how many podcasts are you doing each week?
Mike: 642.
Ira: (Laughter) And how many of them are in the high history book too?
Mike: We have a lot. We have The Uncle Rico Show and The Blunder Years, both dedicated to making fun of Stuttering John from The Howard Stern Show—long story, you don’t have to listen to it, but if you ever tune in, you’ll realize what we do. Then there’s The BS Show, which is just the three of us watching clips of weird stuff we found on the internet and making fun of it. Then there’s The Miserable Men Show, which is the three of us plus a couple of other people who we try to get guests and just talk about how miserable it is to be a man.
Ira: (Laughter)
Mike: And then there are a few others. Those are the ones I’m involved with, and I’m working on one that’s going to be music-based that should be hopefully premiering soon.
Ira: So, you're going to have your own podcast on the Shuli Network?
Mike: Yes, if it all works out, it’s going to be called F That Tune, and we’re going to have guests on to talk about songs they hate—songs they can’t stand to listen to. So yeah, it should be fun.
Ira: Have you found that because you’re doing so many of these podcasts, you’ve had to get more technical? Have you started using different equipment or doing things technically that you didn’t do in the past?
Mike: Oh, yeah. When we started doing this several years ago, it was just as a goof during the pandemic. The three of us got together and started doing a very low-res interpretation of the old Miserable Men Show. We’d just get on Zoom like this and fool around. But as it got bigger and better, now I have a professional microphone, a professional camera, and lights—the round lights, the side lights. I even have a screen I use for some of the shows with a green screen. So yeah, all of a sudden, it’s like, "Oh damn, this is like a job now."
Ira: But the advantage is, you don’t have to leave the house.
Mike: Oh, it’s great. But it was fun—last week, we did a convention, DabbleCon, up in Rochester, New York, where people from literally all over the country came just to watch us do a podcast and a comedy show. It was the first time all three of us had been in a room together in 13 years.
Ira: It must have been something, just the fact that all three of you were physically together.
Mike: It was fun, yeah. In a non-sexual way, I mean.
Ira: (Laughter) Well, no, no, no… we'll do that too.
Mike: Yes, Bob Levy is a sexy beast.
Ira: Do you find it different from a technical standpoint? You’re interacting, so you’re doing a stage show in a way. I know it’s a podcast, and people are going to listen to it and watch it, but at the same time, you’re performing to the audience as well. Do you find that’s a different kind of approach, or are you pretty much just doing it the same way?
Mike: It was kind of the same, but it was fun hearing instant feedback. We usually see chats when doing a live podcast, and people can type what they want, and we can read what they’re saying. But to actually hear laughter and have people yell stuff out and give us ideas was great. It was a lot of fun. We were a little nervous about how it was going to go, but it went great, and we’re going to be doing a lot more of them around the country.
Ira: So if they go to Patreon, Shuli Network, they’ll find you in all the shows?
Mike: Yes, and they can subscribe. We also have free ones on YouTube—just look for the Shuli Network on YouTube, and you’ll find the free ones we give out. Join the Dabbleverse!
Ira: I have a philosophical question for you. I didn’t want to start off the show with it, but I think it’s a good one. Given your background and what you’re currently doing—what’s the name of that book again?
Mike: HaHa History.
Ira: Right, HaHa History. Why is humor important?
Mike: Humor is important because people need humor. If they don’t have humor, then there will be no humor. It’s something that everyone needs, and sometimes it’s overlooked. It’s a relief valve. At the convention, we got a beautiful email afterward saying that this guy's best friend had died of leukemia that week, and he was really down. He thanked us for putting him in a better mood because he was there and got to experience the whole thing. You get that sometimes when you’re doing live comedy—it makes you feel really good. People just need a chance to decompress and laugh at life, to forget about their troubles for a while.
Ira: Do you think there can be too much humor? Do people sometimes use it to deflect and avoid dealing with problems?
Mike: People will find a way to deflect, whether it’s humor, denial, or drinking—there are plenty of ways to not face situations. I think humor is a healthier and more benign way to do that.
Ira: I’ve noticed that when you do art, people say they can’t draw a straight line. When you play guitar, they say they can’t play or sing a note. But after a comedy show, no one ever says, “I have no sense of humor.” But some people don’t, and nobody wants to admit it.
Mike: Right, some people have no sense of humor, but no one wants to admit it. You’ll meet them—those who say, “I don’t think that’s funny,” but claim they have a good sense of humor. No, you don’t.
Ira: What’s in the future for Mike Morse, besides writing HaHa History 2?
Mike: We actually have a few more books in the works with different subjects of history. We’re just going to keep doing the podcast, and we have a lot of live shows coming up—stand-up shows. And tonight, I’ll probably go to sleep. That’s my immediate plan.
Ira: Some of what you do requires discipline, and yet you’re used to it—like writing each day for the HaHa History book, looking up what happened in history on that day, and crafting lines. But some of what you do is more natural and spontaneous, like the podcasts. It’s an interesting mix—a balance between discipline and spontaneity.
Mike: It’s all discipline. You have to be there if the podcast is at 9 AM—you have to be there at 9 AM. But you know, sometimes you have a headache or other things going on, but once you’re on camera, you focus on what you’re doing. It’s the discipline of finding the funny while the camera is on.
Ira: Before I let you go, can you name two of your favorite comedians, living or dead, who influenced you?
Mike: George Carlin was definitely the biggest influence. When I was a little kid, I remember asking my parents to get me his Class Clown album—the one with the seven dirty words. I didn’t tell them that was on it.
Ira: So he influenced you with the dirty words and the drugs? (Laughter)
Mike: Yeah. But that album opened a whole new world of comedy for me. I loved watching The Tonight Show and whoever was on it, but hearing that more subversive stuff and what you could do with language and comedy—that was a big influence. Later on, Steve Martin became another influence. He wasn’t just stand-up—he brought in music, props, and whatever he thought was funny. It was like, “Wow, I’ve never seen anybody do that before.”
Ira: That’s a great way to leave it. My guest has been comedian Mike Morse. He’s the co-writer and co-illustrator of HaHa History: The First History Book You’ll Want to Read. It’s available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and all the usual places. For everything about Mike Morse, go to writefunny.net. You can follow Mike on Instagram at InstaMikeMorse, on Twitter at MikeMorseSays, and check out his podcast on Patreon.com and the Shuli Network. For those who don’t know, that’s S-H-U-L-I, the Shuli Network. Mike, thanks for being on the show.
Mike: Ira, thank you so much. I had a great time.
Ira: Me too. And join us every Thursday for a new shmear on Ira’s Everything Bagel.

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BAGEL BYTES

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“Bagels are the only bread that are boiled before baked. Once the bagel dough is shaped into a circle, they are dipped in boiling water for 3 to 5 minutes on each side. After that, they are drained and baked for about 10 minutes.”

Bagels have been to space! “It’s safe to say that the treats from Fairmount Bagels in Montreal are out of this world. In 2008, Astronaut Greg Chamitoff boarded Discovery for a 14-day flight into space. Accompanying him? Eighteen bagels from Fairmount, a shop owned by his aunt.”

“The word Bagel comes from the German word “bougel,” meaning “bracelet,” and by way of the Yiddish “beygl” which means “ring.” So, if it is not in the shape of a ring or bracelet, it is NOT a bagel.”

“What sets bagels apart from other types of bread is the fact that they are boiled. Some imitations are steamed, but they do not have the same chewy and crunchy crust and are not true bagels.”

“The first beugel bakeries were founded in New York City in the 1920s. Later the name was changed and called a bagel.”

“The hole in the middle of your bagel is no mistake. In fact, this bread was baked with a hole so vendors could slide them on to dowel rods, making it easy to transport them to wherever they would be selling their bagel that day.”

“Bagels are the only bread that are boiled before they are baked.”

World Champion Competitive Eater Joey Chestnut won Siegel’s Bagelmania Bagel Eating Competition in Las Vegas January 13, winning the title, a championship belt and $5,000 of the total $10,000 prize pool.

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