May 25, 2026

The Dave Chappelle Gift Shop plus Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David's favorite Seinfeld epsiodes

Show Notes
Transcript

Johnny Mac shares Memorial Day greetings and comedy news, starting with Dave Chappelle’s new local merch store, The Chappelle Shop, at 221 Xenia Avenue in Yellow Springs, selling branded apparel and items and staying open late on show nights at The Firehouse. He recaps Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David on the Rushmore podcast discussing Seinfeld’s tiny initial four-episode order, harsh pilot memo, Elaine’s creation based on Monica Yates, origins of bits like the Close Talker and Soup Nazi, and their favorite episodes including “The Contest.” Radar Online reports Jimmy Kimmel is eyeing a post-talk-show future developing game shows. Eugene Mirman says he’s recovering from accidents, has a YouTube special Here Comes the Whimsy, and discusses Bob’s Burgers recording and crossover ideas. Jay Pharoah describes renewed Christianity and a rap album. Tiffany Haddish covers the 2026 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. Mel Brooks donates a massive archive to the National Comedy Center.

00:17 Chappelle Shop Opens
01:36 Seinfeld Origins Revealed
04:01 Kimmel After Late Night
04:38 Mirman Update and Special
05:17 The Bobs Burgers Hoax
06:24 Jay Pharoah Faith and Rap
07:04 Tiffany Haddish SI Cover
07:31 Mel Brooks Archive Donation

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/daily-comedy-news-with-johnny-mac-a-daily-briefing-on-comedians-and-the-comedy-industry--4522158/support.

Daily Comedy News is the number one comedy news podcast, delivering daily coverage of standup comedy, late night television, comedy specials, tours, and the business of comedy.

COMEDY SURVIVOR in the facebook group.

Contact John at John@thesharkdeck dot com

For Uninterrupted Listening, use the Apple Podcast App and click the banner that says Uninterrupted Listening. $4.99/month

John's Substack about media is free.

This is the animal sanctuary mentioned in the February 10 episode.

WEBVTT

1
00:00:03.200 --> 00:00:12.439
Callaroga Shark Media Happy Memorial Day. From the basement, it's

2
00:00:12.519 --> 00:00:15.199
Johnny Mack and his dog. Sometimes the dog hangs out

3
00:00:15.199 --> 00:00:16.839
in the studio. I don't know why she's here, but

4
00:00:16.879 --> 00:00:21.239
she is. From ysnews dot com, your home for Yellow

5
00:00:21.239 --> 00:00:24.920
Springs News. Dave Chappelle has opened a gift shop. It's

6
00:00:25.000 --> 00:00:28.960
Dave Chappelle's local merch shop, dubbed the Chappelle Shop. You'll

7
00:00:28.960 --> 00:00:31.480
find it a two to twenty one Zenia Avenue in

8
00:00:31.679 --> 00:00:35.719
Yellow Springs, Ohio, for sale or Dave Chappelle branded apparel

9
00:00:36.119 --> 00:00:40.920
including socks, pants, shirts, Thermoses lighters, Final Records, and more.

10
00:00:41.600 --> 00:00:45.039
Store manager Joe Harworth told ysnews dot Com it was

11
00:00:45.079 --> 00:00:46.759
a pop up that ended up lasting four and a

12
00:00:46.799 --> 00:00:50.880
half years. The front of Chappelle's shop faces Keith's Alley.

13
00:00:51.079 --> 00:00:54.320
Keith's Alley is named after longtime Yellow Springs News editor

14
00:00:54.439 --> 00:00:58.840
Keith Howard. Store manager Joe Harworth said that was intentional.

15
00:00:59.520 --> 00:01:02.320
The Chappelle Shop is directly visible from Dave's comedy club,

16
00:01:02.359 --> 00:01:05.640
The Firehouse, over on Corey Street. Arwitz said the building

17
00:01:05.640 --> 00:01:07.319
can really work with the club. The ideas all these

18
00:01:07.319 --> 00:01:09.239
people can line up, look over their shoulder and see

19
00:01:09.319 --> 00:01:11.959
us doors are open seven days a week neon to six.

20
00:01:12.120 --> 00:01:13.920
When there's a show at the club, the store stays

21
00:01:13.959 --> 00:01:16.640
open well into the night. Arwith tells us there were

22
00:01:16.640 --> 00:01:18.480
shirts with the classic c but there's also a lot

23
00:01:18.519 --> 00:01:21.079
of stuff that's loud and speaks to culture. On the

24
00:01:21.120 --> 00:01:22.920
back of one hoodie is the image of a lion

25
00:01:22.959 --> 00:01:26.159
with the stenciled word unstoppable, which also was the name

26
00:01:26.200 --> 00:01:29.680
of Chappelle's twenty twenty five special. Underneath that is a

27
00:01:29.719 --> 00:01:31.879
quote from Chappelle's mother, Sometimes you have to be a

28
00:01:31.879 --> 00:01:33.640
lion so you can be the lamb you really are.

29
00:01:33.640 --> 00:01:37.000
That HOODI will run you seventy five dollars. Jerry Seinfeld

30
00:01:37.040 --> 00:01:39.680
and Larry David were on the Rushmore podcast and they

31
00:01:39.719 --> 00:01:44.239
started talking about the classic television show. Seinfeld Larry David

32
00:01:44.280 --> 00:01:47.200
said the show's first episode order four episodes, was the

33
00:01:47.239 --> 00:01:50.159
smallest order in the history of television. The money came

34
00:01:50.159 --> 00:01:53.280
out of the same budget NBCUS for variety specials. When

35
00:01:53.319 --> 00:01:56.280
Seinfeld received the four episode order, it became someone else's

36
00:01:56.319 --> 00:01:58.959
responsibility to tell Bob Hope he wouldn't get a Christmas

37
00:01:59.000 --> 00:02:02.519
special that year. Wow, you gotta understand Bob Hope was

38
00:02:02.680 --> 00:02:05.359
a giant at NBC. That must have been an awful

39
00:02:05.439 --> 00:02:08.719
meeting to have. They went over the famous reaction of

40
00:02:08.759 --> 00:02:11.719
the pilot. There was a memo that noted no segment

41
00:02:11.759 --> 00:02:13.599
of the audience was eager to watch the show again.

42
00:02:13.919 --> 00:02:16.960
They called Jerry's life boring, George a loser and said

43
00:02:17.000 --> 00:02:20.039
Jerry needed a better backup ensemble. They were sold the

44
00:02:20.080 --> 00:02:22.039
show wouldn't be picked up, Larry David said, and I

45
00:02:22.080 --> 00:02:24.199
was thrilled because he felt like I had no more

46
00:02:24.199 --> 00:02:26.639
stories to tell. He said he had that same feeling

47
00:02:26.680 --> 00:02:30.039
after every season of Seinfeld and every season of Kerb. Now,

48
00:02:30.080 --> 00:02:32.759
if you've seen the pilot, and you probably have, Aline

49
00:02:32.800 --> 00:02:34.879
is not in the pilot. There's a waitress at the

50
00:02:34.919 --> 00:02:38.439
restaurant who was decided they needed a lady in the group.

51
00:02:38.560 --> 00:02:41.000
Jerry said, we were single guys. We couldn't write relationships.

52
00:02:41.039 --> 00:02:43.520
We didn't know anything about it. Larry David shared he

53
00:02:43.560 --> 00:02:46.919
had dated Monica Yates, daughter of author Richard Yates, and

54
00:02:46.919 --> 00:02:50.159
that the Alaine character was based on Monica Yates, and

55
00:02:50.240 --> 00:02:52.680
Jerry said if the character was an axe, it eliminated

56
00:02:52.719 --> 00:02:54.960
the element of will they or won't they. They also

57
00:02:54.960 --> 00:02:57.879
talked about the origins of some of the show's iconic things.

58
00:02:57.960 --> 00:03:00.520
As for the close Talker, Larry David said, their to them,

59
00:03:00.520 --> 00:03:02.680
they were two hundred in this audience right now. As

60
00:03:02.719 --> 00:03:05.240
for the Soup Nazi, that idea came from writer Spike

61
00:03:05.319 --> 00:03:08.159
first In, who shared a story about a hostile man

62
00:03:08.240 --> 00:03:11.000
selling soup in New York. Larry said people around us

63
00:03:11.000 --> 00:03:12.879
would just be talking and not realize they had a

64
00:03:12.919 --> 00:03:15.840
storyline for the show. Jerry said a single regret as

65
00:03:15.879 --> 00:03:18.080
Larry David not allowing him to work the phrase Oi

66
00:03:18.159 --> 00:03:21.599
the Vaults, a play on Eugevelts into an episode. Jerry

67
00:03:21.599 --> 00:03:25.240
Seinfeld's favorite episodes the Contest, The Soup Nazi, The MERV

68
00:03:25.240 --> 00:03:28.039
Griffin Show, and The Marine Biologist. Larry David said the

69
00:03:28.039 --> 00:03:30.400
Contest to the opposite, the puffy Shirt and the pen.

70
00:03:31.039 --> 00:03:33.400
As for the Contest, Larry David had the idea in

71
00:03:33.400 --> 00:03:35.840
a notebook for two years before pitching it, figuring no

72
00:03:35.840 --> 00:03:37.680
one would want to do it. He was shocked when

73
00:03:37.759 --> 00:03:40.159
Jerry told him he loved the idea. Larry was so

74
00:03:40.280 --> 00:03:42.599
convinced NBC wouldn't let them film the script he was

75
00:03:42.639 --> 00:03:45.319
ready to quit on the spot. However, that directive never came.

76
00:03:45.919 --> 00:03:47.919
It's sold after the table read the ad sales team

77
00:03:47.960 --> 00:03:51.000
went nuts. As for the boyfriend episode, that's the one

78
00:03:51.000 --> 00:03:53.280
with Keith Hernandez, Jerry said it was one of the

79
00:03:53.280 --> 00:03:55.400
biggest thrills of the series. It was a long speech

80
00:03:55.400 --> 00:03:56.759
and I knew would get a lot of laughs if

81
00:03:56.800 --> 00:03:59.639
I got it right. That speech the conspiracy of the

82
00:03:59.639 --> 00:04:03.000
second Radar Online, which tends to be a little gossip,

83
00:04:03.039 --> 00:04:05.800
he says. Jimmy Kimmel has big plans for life after

84
00:04:05.919 --> 00:04:10.240
Late Night. Insiders say Jimmy Kimmel can't stop bragging about

85
00:04:10.280 --> 00:04:12.719
he's going to be the next Merv Griffin, who was

86
00:04:12.759 --> 00:04:15.680
the mastermind behind shows like Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune.

87
00:04:16.120 --> 00:04:18.839
An insider says, as Kimmell looks at the declining and

88
00:04:18.879 --> 00:04:21.720
contracting talk show world, Jimmy is preparing for what's next.

89
00:04:21.720 --> 00:04:24.000
With the right idea, game shows can be very cheap

90
00:04:24.040 --> 00:04:26.639
to produce, and Jimmy also sees these projects as potentially

91
00:04:26.680 --> 00:04:29.240
employing a lot of his family members and longtime staffers.

92
00:04:29.240 --> 00:04:31.800
Should Jimmy kimmelive and its run in the next few years,

93
00:04:32.360 --> 00:04:34.279
his talk show is important to him, but Jimmy's now

94
00:04:34.319 --> 00:04:35.800
wants to prove to his bosses that he can be

95
00:04:35.879 --> 00:04:38.480
useful in many other ways beyond just hosting. He's been

96
00:04:38.480 --> 00:04:41.160
helping to create interesting shows and unique formats for going

97
00:04:41.199 --> 00:04:44.959
on thirty years. Eugene Merman told Ner Trompolis that he's

98
00:04:45.000 --> 00:04:47.560
recovering well after his recent accidents. He says, I'm feeling

99
00:04:47.560 --> 00:04:49.680
pretty good. I'm healing and recovering and doing all right.

100
00:04:50.439 --> 00:04:52.360
He explained that if you saw the images of the

101
00:04:52.360 --> 00:04:55.560
wreck car, it looked terrifying, but the car is quite destroyed.

102
00:04:55.560 --> 00:04:57.800
But I was pulled from it before that it fully happened.

103
00:04:58.279 --> 00:05:00.680
All the very kind messages from everybody have obviously been

104
00:05:00.800 --> 00:05:03.399
very sweet and heartwarming. He's got a new special. It's

105
00:05:03.399 --> 00:05:05.439
called Here Comes the Whimsie. You'll find that on YouTube.

106
00:05:05.879 --> 00:05:08.399
In that special, he jokes about a club with bizarre

107
00:05:08.480 --> 00:05:10.920
rules about jackets and shoes. Merman said, you get the

108
00:05:10.920 --> 00:05:13.000
feeling they're almost like, we're so sorry, but someone from

109
00:05:13.000 --> 00:05:15.800
two hundred years ago insisted on this rule. He talked

110
00:05:15.839 --> 00:05:19.560
about Bob's Burgers. Now, longtime listeners to this program know

111
00:05:19.639 --> 00:05:22.120
that I am hip to the hoax that is Bob's Burgers.

112
00:05:22.120 --> 00:05:24.160
If you're new, let me ask you two questions. Have

113
00:05:24.279 --> 00:05:26.759
you ever seen Bob's Burgers? The answer is no. And

114
00:05:26.959 --> 00:05:29.319
have you ever met anyone who has seen Bob's Burgers?

115
00:05:29.360 --> 00:05:31.680
The answer is also no. No. I understand this artwork.

116
00:05:31.720 --> 00:05:33.759
I understand you used to hear Joe Buck promote coming

117
00:05:33.839 --> 00:05:36.240
up after the Cowboys game there's a new Simpsons and

118
00:05:36.279 --> 00:05:38.800
an all new Bob's Burgers, but you never actually saw

119
00:05:38.839 --> 00:05:41.079
Bob's Burgers because you switched over to NBC and watched

120
00:05:41.079 --> 00:05:43.920
Sunday Night football. This is a hoax. Think about the

121
00:05:43.920 --> 00:05:46.839
types of comedians, Eugene Merman, Kristin Shawl, These are the

122
00:05:46.920 --> 00:05:49.879
kind of people that would do such a hoax. Kristin

123
00:05:49.920 --> 00:05:51.839
won the Kaufman Award. I mean, how many clues do

124
00:05:51.879 --> 00:05:54.360
you need ask for the hoax? Eugene Merman said, I

125
00:05:54.439 --> 00:05:56.879
never expected a cartoon to exist for this length of time.

126
00:05:57.399 --> 00:05:59.680
I Dora making a comedy that's both a family comedy

127
00:05:59.720 --> 00:06:02.120
but all so idiosyncratic in its own way. People are like,

128
00:06:02.160 --> 00:06:05.000
oh my god, that's my family. Merman says. The cast

129
00:06:05.040 --> 00:06:09.600
frequently records scripts has written before, experimenting with alternative deliveries, improvisations,

130
00:06:09.600 --> 00:06:11.879
and fresh joke ideas. He says, well recorded is written,

131
00:06:11.879 --> 00:06:13.360
and then sometimes it'll be like, can we try this?

132
00:06:14.000 --> 00:06:16.600
He has an idea for Bob's Burger is crossing over

133
00:06:16.639 --> 00:06:19.360
with the equalizer or the born identity. The idea is

134
00:06:19.399 --> 00:06:21.079
Gene has amnesia and he's like, why am I so

135
00:06:21.120 --> 00:06:24.720
good at making tacos? And slowly he remembers. Jay Farrow

136
00:06:24.759 --> 00:06:27.600
has a renewed embrace of Christianity. He said, I had

137
00:06:27.600 --> 00:06:29.399
a lot put on me early and pretty much had

138
00:06:29.399 --> 00:06:31.279
access to whatever I wanted. But I found out that

139
00:06:31.279 --> 00:06:34.160
that never makes you happy. He is expounding on his

140
00:06:34.199 --> 00:06:37.600
philosophy in a new Venture, a rap album. One of

141
00:06:37.639 --> 00:06:39.639
the tracks is called life is Good when You're Rich.

142
00:06:40.000 --> 00:06:41.879
One of the verses is I'm telling you how I'm rich.

143
00:06:41.920 --> 00:06:43.639
I said, I'm rich with my family, I'm rich with

144
00:06:43.680 --> 00:06:45.240
my friends. I'm rich for the love of God that

145
00:06:45.279 --> 00:06:48.839
will never end. Jay Pharrow said recently, a pastor drove

146
00:06:48.879 --> 00:06:51.519
from Tennessee to Columbus, Ohio to attend a show. He

147
00:06:51.560 --> 00:06:52.879
came up to me after the show and he goes,

148
00:06:52.920 --> 00:06:53.959
God told me to give you this. It was a

149
00:06:54.000 --> 00:06:56.120
blue Bible with my name on it. The Bible is

150
00:06:56.120 --> 00:06:58.160
book marked at the exact mark that I had stopped

151
00:06:58.160 --> 00:07:00.759
reading on my Bible. App took that moment as a

152
00:07:00.800 --> 00:07:02.920
sign to get myself together, he said. The Lord is real.

153
00:07:03.120 --> 00:07:06.920
He is real. Tiffany Hattish is on the cover of

154
00:07:06.959 --> 00:07:11.439
the twenty twenty six Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue. Tiffany said

155
00:07:11.439 --> 00:07:13.600
preparing for the shoot helped her reconnect with her physical

156
00:07:13.639 --> 00:07:16.439
strength and discipline after years of injuries and personal challenges.

157
00:07:16.959 --> 00:07:19.519
She said the cover opportunity stem from a dream she

158
00:07:19.600 --> 00:07:21.519
had when she was young when she competed in track

159
00:07:21.560 --> 00:07:24.480
and field. She said she later began intentionally visualizing herself

160
00:07:24.480 --> 00:07:28.519
appearing on Sports Illustrated and eventually pursued the goal more seriously.

161
00:07:28.879 --> 00:07:32.480
The Swimsuit issue is on newsstands tomorrow and Good News

162
00:07:32.480 --> 00:07:34.920
from the New York Comedy Center in Jamestown, New York.

163
00:07:35.000 --> 00:07:39.560
Mel Brooks has donated his archives to the museum. The

164
00:07:39.680 --> 00:07:42.519
archive comprises nearly one hundred and fifty thousand creative in

165
00:07:42.519 --> 00:07:46.480
production documents and over five thousand photographs, and it offers

166
00:07:46.519 --> 00:07:49.160
an unparalleled record of brooks creative life and the development

167
00:07:49.199 --> 00:07:52.879
of works that transformed American comedy and culture, including Blazing Saddles,

168
00:07:52.920 --> 00:07:56.040
Young Frankenstein, The Producer's Silent Movie, History of the World

169
00:07:56.040 --> 00:07:59.480
Part One, and Spaceballs. The archive begins with mel Brooks

170
00:07:59.519 --> 00:08:02.720
earliest handwritten comedic notes, creating during his service in the

171
00:08:02.800 --> 00:08:05.680
US Army during World War II. It then moves through

172
00:08:05.720 --> 00:08:07.839
his work with Sid Caesar on TV shows like Your

173
00:08:07.839 --> 00:08:10.720
Show of Shows. In a statement, mel Brooks said, I've

174
00:08:10.720 --> 00:08:12.439
always been proud to say that I make people laugh

175
00:08:12.480 --> 00:08:14.079
for a living. So knowing that my work will have

176
00:08:14.120 --> 00:08:16.680
a home at Comedy's National Archive and continue making people

177
00:08:16.759 --> 00:08:20.079
laugh leaves me with a deep sense of pride. I'm

178
00:08:20.120 --> 00:08:23.040
honored that my contributions will be preserved for future generations

179
00:08:23.040 --> 00:08:25.439
at the National Comedy Center, especially because it's a place

180
00:08:25.480 --> 00:08:28.040
that was meaningful to my best friend Carl Reiner, who

181
00:08:28.079 --> 00:08:30.839
believed in the importance of preserving comedy's history. I know

182
00:08:30.879 --> 00:08:32.399
he'd be happy with our work that'd be run for

183
00:08:32.440 --> 00:08:36.080
the next two thousand years or maybe more. Other comedian estates,

184
00:08:36.080 --> 00:08:39.000
including John Ervins George Carlin, have donated their files to

185
00:08:39.000 --> 00:08:41.799
the Comedy Center. Jereny Gunderson said of this collection, it's

186
00:08:41.799 --> 00:08:43.240
as big as it gets in the way he so

187
00:08:43.360 --> 00:08:46.399
fearlessly satirizes the darkest moments of humanity in the post

188
00:08:46.399 --> 00:08:49.080
World War two era. And with that, let's go have

189
00:08:49.080 --> 00:08:51.000
a hot dog or something. Enjoy the rest of the

190
00:08:51.039 --> 00:08:52.919
holiday weekend, and we'll meet back here tomorrow