BEST OF HOWARD: Dulcé Sloan, comedian

Allow a few seconds for buffering.

Yahoo! player or right click HERE to download | Launch pop-up player

Yes, I've been very lame about putting a new show together! FOUR MONTHS? Even Johnny Carson never took that much time off!

However, editing is about to begin on a new episode with the one and only Vinny Bucci!

In the meantime, let me attach myself to the coattails of a true star in the making. You may remember Dulcé Sloan from very early on in our show, back in 2012. Since then Dulcé got a coveted spot in the Montreal Just for Laughs festival. In 2015 that's even bigger than a shot on The Tonight Show. And it's paid off, because she's now taking meetings in Hollywood! Yes!

Check out our 2012 interview (the best I had done up until that point, I thought), and remember when you see her on your TV or local movie screen, you heard of her here first!

Dulcé Sloan links:
Profile at Rooftop Comedy.com
Original videos, including "Sh*t Angry Black Women Say"

50 - Fans Salute David Letterman

Allow a few seconds for buffering.

Yahoo! player or right click HERE to download | Launch pop-up player

Possibly the most influential book on Art's life. How sad!

It's a very special episode of Art Howard at Night!  No, really, it IS!

Art salutes his greatest idol, late night television icon David Letterman. Joining him in discussing Letterman's 33 year late night career and retirement are Brian Arnold, a member of the Letterman fan Facebook group, and Jeff Zuk, creator of the tribute Letterman Twitter feeds @ByeLetterman and @ByeLettermanLT. Sit back and prepare to have your memory jogged as they discuss favorite guests, musical moments and bits you may have forgotten.

Art's comments: "Stay tuned for a sappy ending that seemed like a good idea when I thought of it as I walked around the park, but in hindsight may have been a terrible idea! However, it stands as the only recorded document that I'm capable of having fuzzy emotions.

"Although it's unlikely, I would like to think Dave might at least skim this one as he's out on the fishing boat in Montana sometime. After nearly 40 years of hearing people telling him how great he is, he can always dial this up and hear it one more time. Thanks, Dave!"

1 hr. 5 mins.
((( In stereo, where available! )))

Use the icons below to spread the news of this iconic show.

Relevant links:

• @ByeLetterman Twitter feed
• @ByeLettermanLT live tweets of the show
• David Letterman fan Facebook group (if you join, don't be a dick)
• Art's interview with Late Night/Late Show  writer, Joe Toplyn

ESPRESSO - Bill Cosby, Gloria Allred at Cobb Energy Centre

Allow a few seconds for buffering.

Yahoo! player or right click HERE to download | Launch pop-up player

Art's Comments: "When I heard history was being made so close to home, I had to go down and document what happened.

"Despite being accused of rape by close to 40 women, Bill Cosby performed a concert for his Far from Finished  tour at the Cobb Energy Centre. Though it's called Far from Finished, this is the only date of the last eight that wasn't canceled or indefinitely postponed!

"Gloria Allred, who you've no doubt seen on various national news shows, was on site. I got audio from Allred as well as one of the alleged victims, Kaya Thompson, her mother, and the protest organizer, Julie Mastrine of Care2."

"Though I've worked professionally as a small town reporter in the past, I haven't done news in years, and I wasn't on the scene officially as a 'reporter,' per se, but an interested citizen and documentarian of some of the history of my city. I was also pleasantly surprised that when I told the people under 30 that I wasn't with a network, I was just a podcaster, their interest in speaking to me didn't wane. In fact they said they loved podcasts and were very enthusiastic.

"Hope you learn and enjoy." 26 minutes.

LINKS:

• AJC: Protestors May Greet Cosby
• WSJ: Bill Cosby's Return to TV Canceled

Use the little white buttons below to share this with the people you know.

49 - Howard Stern: "Podcasts Are for Losers!"

Howard Stern (not actually a guest)

Allow a few seconds for buffering.

Yahoo! player or right click HERE to download | Launch pop-up player

Announcer Brian Clark joins America's Favorite Talk Show Host (that's Art) to analyze the King of All Media's assertion that "Podcasts are for losers!"

Art and Brian have toiled in both broadcast radio and podcasting, and they compare their firsthand experience to what Howard Stern describes. Is it true that to earn your wings as a broadcaster you need to go to terrestrial radio? Are the opportunities even there anymore? Or is terrestrial radio in its twilight? We discuss! 53 minutes.

Art's comments: "If you're looking for a lot of screaming and name calling, 1995 shock radio style, then you're in the wrong place. If you want to hear a real conversation about the future of radio vs. the future of podcasting, then you're in the right place.

"When I heard Stern's 'podcasting is for losers' rant, I just had to weigh in with my experience of trying to break into terrestrial radio vs. what I've been able to do with podcasting. And Brian Clark was a natural choice to join in, since he knows more about the nuts and bolts of radio than I do.

"One listen to this episode should convince anyone, even Howard Stern, that podcasting is NOT for losers! No way!"

If you like this episode (and even if you don't), say "Baba Booey" by sharing it with one of the white buttons below.

48 - Chet Wild Returns! (BONUS: Stu McCallister)

Allow a few seconds for buffering.

Yahoo! player or right click HERE to download | Launch pop-up player

Chet Wild returns to the Laughing Skull Fest, Atlanta and Art Howard at Night!

Art once again catches up with Wild at the W Hotel in Midtown Atlanta. (Apparently there was turnover in the security staff and the new guys didn't know to keep Art off the premises.) They discuss various adventures Chet has had in the last year, such as:

• The status of his podcast with former American Idol  host, Brian Dunkelman
• Performing as a hologram at Comic Con
• His upcoming live show Crowd Work: The Musical

 

Michigan comic Stu McCallister is also in the room. As a bonus track, McCallister and Wild discuss the mental games and career obstacles that every career standup comic faces. 53 minutes.

Art's comments: "After a drought of guests, I return with not one but TWO! Who's the man? Hint: I'M the man!

"Chet again had some great stories to share. If you drew his career on a graph since our last meeting, it would be a continuing upward line.

"You'll also enjoy, as I did, being a fly on the wall and hearing two comedians on the frontlines of show business discussing their trade.

"Special congratulations to our previous guest Dulcé Sloan, who made it to 2nd place out of 72 comics at Laughing Skullfest!"

Links:

• Chet Wild
• Stu McCallister

Use the tools below to share with the fools you know.

47 - Glaze Your Eyes Over/Late `90's Radio Demo

Art in late `90's Carson Daly TRL style shirt.

Allow a few seconds for buffering.

Yahoo! player or right click HERE to download | Launch pop-up player

"Mr. Positive" returns to tell you where he's been hiding since Halloween!

Art gives you the behind-the-scenes details of his struggle to provide you with only the finest entertainment. Get the scoop on all the various blow-offs and cold shoulders he's endured in the name of entertaining you. Your breath will be taken away by how anyone could endure such morale-crushing indifference, yet rise again like a broadcasting phoenix!

At the end, get a listen to Art's amazing 1998-ish aircheck from his stint as a talk show host in a small Northwest Georgia town. Hear his co-host mesmerized into a hypnotic trance by a professional stage hypnotist live on the air! 44 minutes.

Art's comments: "You come here to be amused, not bummed out, but what can I do but tell you about what's going on?

"As for the circa 1998 radio piece, which was my demo tape for a long time, I think I say 'hip-no-tist' about 20 times too many, BUT, all these years later I'm pretty proud of how slick it sounds. Yes, I'm pretty impressed with myself. Somebody's gotta be!"

If you enjoy this show...ah, hell, you know what to do.

46 - Del Venicci, art rock band

Allow a few seconds for buffering.

Yahoo! player or right click HERE to download | Launch pop-up player

WARNING: This episode is not for the musically tepid or incurious.

Remember what it was like to hang out past midnight during the work week, drinking beer and listening to boundary-breaking music? Art had almost forgotten, too!

Del Venicci chats with Art in the parking lot of their Monday midnight show at club 529 in East Atlanta Village. The band discuss their connection to Italian opera, Andy Warhol's influence on their creative philosophy, and finger painting. Interwoven with the interview are songs from the set. 47 minutes

Art's comments: "When I saw Del Venicci's video for the song 'Shadow Braid,' I was quite impressed. Here was a band with not only a sonic but also an aesthetic vision, which virtually no band has today, and they were right here in Atlanta! As someone over 40 who is becoming accustomed to people under 32 not getting my references, I was also relieved when they knew who Bauhaus was.

"I don't know why I roll called every `80's alternative band in Atlanta I could think of, but I did. And I left out Impulse Ride and Liers in Wait. Music starts at about 9 minutes in."

((( In stereo, where available! )))

Songs performed:

Jungle Arms
Lights Out
Love Someone
Cantonese Luxury
Contagion

Del Venicci links:

• Haunted Hall  EP
• Video for "Shadow Braid"
• Performing "Contagion" on IndieATL.com
• 529 bar in East Atlanta

Show your friends you're hipper and cooler than they are by sharing this episode with the buttons below. Thanks!

45 - April Richardson, comedian, podcaster, "Chelsea Lately"

TV's April Richardson

Allow a few seconds for buffering.

Yahoo! player or right click HERE to download | Launch pop-up player

Chelsea Lately  roundtable regular April Richardson makes the time to chat with Art. The Atlanta natives discuss the hick perception of their hometown, what the term "redneck" really means, and whether Los Angeles or Atlanta is the more truly segregated city.

Then they get down to show business! How did a girl from East Marietta get to Hollywood? Will April be part of her old boss Chelsea Handler's move to Netflix? After the climax of her podcast Go Bayside!  at the L.A. Podfest, what will be the topic and format of her next podcast?

This show also introduces a new series of public service announcements called "The Internet Cares." 1 hr. 5 mins.

Art's comments: "Interviewing a true TV personality, I decided the best approach was to just be myself - the same mistake I've made all my life! Really, though, it was quite nice of her to take the time to talk when she could be chatting with a huge name like Chris Hardwick. We may one day look back on this like an interview with a young Joan Rivers after her first few appearances on Ed Sullivan."

April Richardson links:

• April Richardson.com
• Go Bayside! podcast
• YouTube channel with standup
• On Twitter

Use the little white buttons below to share this with the nuisances in your life! Thanks!