The Real Unknown Comic- Murray Langston

Murray Langston owned a popular comedy club that all the stars would appear at and the club went bankrupt.  So someone suggested that Murray go on the Gong Show to make a quick amount of money.  But he didn't really have an act.  So he decided to put a bag over his head so that people wouldn't know it was him, and got onstage and started insulting Chuck Barris with some one liners and people loved him.
He became an overnight success.  He was hired in LasVegas for 15K a week and still didn't have an act.  So he hired a band and called them the Brown Baggers and had some girls that danced called the Baggettes.  They would play for a half hour, then Murray would come out an do a few minutes of one liners and just kept building his repertoire of jokes. Eventually he had enough material to finally take his show on the road.

Murray was headlining at Seekers Comedy Club in Scottsdale when I first shot him for my TV show.  The second time he appeared he was headlining at Knuckleheads in Phoenix, AZ.  He has always been one of my favorite comedians.

Interview with the Unknown Comic
Murray Langston - the Unknown Comic - Unbagged
My Interview with the Unknown Comic On BS Cactus

Roseanne Barr: First TV Interview 1984

Roaseanne Barr: First TV Interview 1984

Long before Roseanne appeared on The Tonight Show - she appeared as a headliner at Seekers Comedy Club in Scottsdale, AZ.  I shot an interview with her at United Cable Television and was going to insert excerpts from her performance into the interview.  But unfortunately the machine ate the tape, so I only had a very short emergency backup tape.  As fate would have it the best part of her act was destroyed.  However the interview has survived as well as a short tape of her performance, and it is probably one of the first known tapes of Roseanne.

Comedian: Charlie Hill

Charlie Hill was known as the only Native American Indian comic at the time he appeared on Evening of Laughs and later on Backstage Pass and Backstage in Arizona.  He was very popular in Los Angeles and played the part of the spiritual friend, Tommie Lighthorse on the series, The Bionic Woman.

When I first met Charlie I was doing promotions at Chuckles Comedy Club.  He came to town with a large entourage of family and he was feeling under the weather.  I gave him some herbs that cured him, and after that we became friends.

                                                  Charlie and me live on TV

Vic Dunlop, me, Charlie Hill, Joe Corcoran 

Joel Samuel Presents the Worlds Best Ventriloquist - Dan Horn -1984

Clearly my most watched and favorite video on YouTube is of Dan Horn, one of the world's best ventriloquists.  Dan came onto the entertainment scene before Jeff Dunham and Terry Fator.  Dan was a cast member of the longest running children's television show produced in Arizona called Wallace and Ladmo.

Dan was a real friend of the show and performed several times on Backstage Pass and Backstage in Arizona.  This video was taken from his nightclub act and was not presented for young viewers because the puppet Orson was a favorite on children's television in Arizona.

An interesting story behind the scenes is that I had asked Dan to perform on my series Backstage in Arizona.  I had bought prime time airing which was 7 pm on all the local cable channels in the valley (Phoenix).
Dan had a good act that included a bit of "blue" material with his puppet Orson.

When Dan showed up at work the next day to tape the next episode of Wallace and Ladmo, Wallace asked him if he had been on TV last night doing his adult nightclub act?  Dan got really nervous and said that he didn't know, but maybe?  (He had no idea when the program was due to be aired).  Wallace said, - Well, Chuck Alvey (program director of KPHO) wants to see you and there's a rumor that you are getting fired.
Apprehensively, Dan walked down the hall to Chuck's office.  He told me that it was the longest walk of his life.  Just as he put his hand on the door nob Wallace yelled, "just kidding, Dan".

Eventually this helped propel Dan into a headline nightclub career, appearing on TV, and receiving awards for his ventriloquism act.

Nowadays Dan can be found performing on cruise ships and on his own channel on YouTube.
Hope you enjoy the show!  Joel
                                     Dan and me Posing onstage for Storer Cable TV Comedy Hour