FAIRFIELD — Wanna laugh this weekend? Buy tickets to see Shuli Egar at Fairfield Comedy Club. He’ll be there Saturday (Sept. 24) at 8 p.m. performing standup comedy. Click this link to buy tickets.
Shuli is having a moment, as they say. Early last year he left the Howard Stern Show after 15 years. He felt he had hit a wall in terms of what he could do on the show, so he opted to strike out on his own and start a podcast (he also left New York to move to, of all places, Alabama). Click here for a 2021 story from Variety.
In the last few months his podcast, ‘The Shuli Show,’ has taken off; thanks, in part, to a series he calls ‘The Uncle Rico Show.’
It’s a YouTube show where Shuli and comedians Mike Morse and the Rev. Bob Levy make fun of John Melendez of “The Stuttering John Podcast.” Melendez, a legendary figure in Howard Stern history thanks to his red carpet celebrity ambush videos from back in the day, now hosts a sort of stream of consciousness political talk show.
John’s episodes were first dissected for comedic bits (and huge success) by “Who Are These Podcasts;” now Shuli is mining John’s shows for laughs.
But for Shuli the concept is a bit more personal.
John, according to Shuli, put him in a tough spot by telling people that Shuli, while working for the Stern Show, was feeding gossip to John, who found himself on the outs with Stern after leaving the show in 2004..
It’s the stuff podcast beefs are made of.
The following Q&A contains condensed excerpts from a R‑rated interview Shuli did Friday with “Insufferable Bastards,” part of the Valley Indy Podcast Network. Click here to watch the unfiltered, unedited, uncensored interview (warning: Shuli curses a lot).
Insufferable Bastards Podcast: As part of The Shuli Show Podcast, you launched “The Uncle Rico Show,” which is a YouTube program dedicated to roasting The Stuttering John Podcast. It’s hilarious, it’s addictive, I love it. STUTTERING JOHN DOES NOT and he made some copyright claims? WHAT’S THE LATEST?
Shuli: “John always claims none of this stuff bothers him. He’s a comic, he can take (it). It’s no big deal. We know one of those things is not true, aside from him not being a comic. It does bother him. He filed a copyright claim against one of our videos, which I think he’s done 10 times now between us, Who Are These Podcasts and others.“
IBP: You’re not a fan of John now, but isn’t he on the Mount Rushmore of Howard Stern personalities? What’s his legacy from the show?
Shuli: “This may surprise you (coming from me), but he’s one of the OGs … I loved (his) studio interaction … He was a great instigator, and that laugh was super contagious. He definitely contributed. I’m not taking away any of that.“
IBP: What was it like first going out on your own after 15 years working for The Howard Stern Show? Terrifying? Weird? Did it take awhile to hit a stride as a podcaster?
Shuli: “Yeah, it’s terrifying. But, not having anything; that terrifying fire that’s lit under your (butt) … You need that. That’s how I got there — by having that fire.“
Click this link to check out Shuli’s tour dates.
