Writer, performer and stand up comedian GD Fenderson and Movie/TV writer/producer A L Katz (HBO's Tales From The Crypt) discuss what makes them laugh personally and what makes us laugh culturally. What exactly do we even mean by "a sense of humor"? From the eureka moment of imagining a punch line to the business of selling it, just like its subtitle says, What Makes Us Laugh is a serious look at the craft of creating comedy.
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THE BLURB: In the last episode, you met Alan's friend and former writing partner Gil Adler. Together, Alan and Gil wrote and produced shows like HBO's iconic "Tales From The Crypt" and "Freddy's Nightmares," and feature films like "Demon Knight" and "Bordello Of Blood". How two guys who came out of comedy found themselves in the middle of a horror legend.
SHOW NOTES
For more great podcasts, please visit Costard & Touchstone (costardandtouchstone.com)!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
27 May 2026
S1E9 It Came From The Crypt, Part 1
THE BLURB: For a decade, Alan and Gil Adler - this episode's guest - were not only best friends, but creative partners, too. Together they wrote and produced (and directed) TV shows like Freddy's Nightmares and HBO's iconic "Tales From The Crypt"; in fact, Alan and Gil co-created The Crypt Keeper. Though they made something of a career out of horror, neither Gil nor Alan actually were fans of horror. Both went into movies, TV (and, for Gil, the theater) expecting to make comedies. In this episode, we talk about how our paths converged and then put us on a collision course with Crypt.
SHOW NOTES
For more great podcasts, please visit Costard & Touchstone (costardandtouchstone.com).
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
20 May 2026
S1E8 5 Favorite Sitcoms
THE BLURB: GD and Alan lay down their 5 (or so) favorite sitcoms - the ones that helped shape their comedy sensibilities - from All In The Family to Modern Family, from Fawlty Towers to The Office.
SHOW NOTES
Please visit Costard & Touchstone (costardandtouchstone.com) for more great podcasts!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
13 May 2026
S1E7 Comedy Lifer, Part 2
THE BLURB: Writer, producer, TV executive, professor and comedian Dan Pasternack told us how to break into comedy in his last chat with us. In this episode, Dan takes us inside the comedy development process. How do shows like Portlandia get from the idea stage to the execution stage? Dan knows exactly how because he was an intimate part of it.
SHOW NOTES
Please check out the whole family of great podcasts at Costard & Touchstone Productions. Your next podcast addiction is just a click away!
https://costardandtouchstone.com/ (https://costardandtouchstone.com/)
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
6 May 2026
S1E6 Comedy Lifer, Part 1
THE BLURB: Dan Pasternack has been working in and around comedy his entire life (never mind his career)! Want to know how to break into comedy? Dan's done everything from writing jokes for top tier comediens to developing shows for networks to doing standup himself.
SHOW NOTES
Please check out the whole family of great podcasts at Costard & Touchstone Productions. Your next podcast addiction is just a click away!
https://costardandtouchstone.com/ (https://costardandtouchstone.com/)
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
29 Apr 2026
S1E5 Comedy Is Queer
THE BLURB: Though Kayleigh Weathers has been a therapist for a long time (she coaches queer folks on attachment styles and connecting with themselves), she's relatively new to standup comedy. That gives us a great POV on how someone with such a smart, distinctive voice, learns how to translate that into a standup routine. As you'll hear, Kayleigh was born Lesbian and raised Mormon (where the message was "pray the gay away"). That created more than enough internal conflict to power several standup careers. Comedy as very real therapy.
SHOW NOTES
You can catch Kyleigh Weathers here (https://queerlyattached.net/guest-podcasts/), here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnMFLbxff6E) and here (https://canvasrebel.com/meet-kyleigh-weathers/)!
Please check out the whole family of great podcasts at Costard & Touchstone Productions. Your next podcast addiction is just a click away!
https://costardandtouchstone.com/ (https://costardandtouchstone.com/)
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
22 Apr 2026
S1E4 Our Top 5 Funny Films
THE BLURB: Join GD and Alan as they share - with each other and you - their top 5 favorite funny movies. How did they choose - and more importantly, WHAT did they choose? Do you agree with their choices? There's one way to find out!
SHOW NOTES
Please check out the whole family of great podcasts at Costard & Touchstone Productions. Your next podcast addiction is just a click away!
https://costardandtouchstone.com/ (https://costardandtouchstone.com/)
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
15 Apr 2026
S1E3 Why Are Comedians So Effed Up?
THE BLURB: Nobody goes into comedy because they're happy. They may like making people laugh, but that's got nothing to do with being happy. In this episode, Glenn and Alan dive deep into how it takes a truly miserable person to be truly funny.
SHOW NOTES
If you enjoy this podcast and want to sample more like it, please visit us at Costard & Touchstone.com (https://costardandtouchstone.com/)
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
8 Apr 2026
S1E2 Early Influences
THE BLURB: In this episode, Glenn and Alan discuss their early comedy influences - the comedians, performers, writers and clever people who inspired their own comedic instincts. Sure, comedians and comedy make impressions, but, in both their cases, real life and people they knew also helped lay the foundations.
SHOW NOTES
If you enjoy this podcast - and want to sample more like it - visit us at Costard & Touchstone (https://costardandtouchstone.com/)!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
1 Apr 2026
S1E1 Does Everyone Have A Sense of Humor?
The Blurb: We assume everyone is born with a sense of humor. But, are they? What do we even mean by "sense of humor"? If it's like our other senses, we can be born without them - or lose them. In this episode, we'll ask a question that should have been asked long ago: does everyone actually have a sense of humor?
SHOW NOTES
If you enjoy this podcast - and would like to sample more like it - please visit us at costardandtouchstone.com (costardandtouchstone.com).
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.
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