#300: Mike Scully - Janitor to Simpson’s Showrunner
Funny In Failure
Episode 300! thank's so much. Emmy, Peabody, and Writers’ Guild of America Award winning writer/producer Mike Scully has written many forms of comedy: animation, single-cam, multi-cam, hidden-cam, award shows, and live performance. After seven years of writing for shows you’ve never heard of, he joined The Simpsons writing staff as a producer in 1993. He was promoted to showrunner in 1997 for Seasons 9 thru 12 (considered the four most consecutive seasons of the show) and co-wrote and co-produced The Simpsons Movie, released in 2007. He was a consulting producer on the show until 2021 and...
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#299: Matt Tilley - Ghost Laughs
Funny In Failure
Matt Tilley is a former comedian and radio presenter and now the CEO of FightMND. He was one of Australia’s most respected radio personalities, with more than 20 years on air on major stations like FOX FM and Triple M. Many remember from his famous Gotcha Calls which were a national hit across Australia. Matt’s Melbourne breakfast shows have consistently reached number one for over 14 of his 20 years in breakfast radio. The Matt and Jo Show on Fox FM was a long running breakfast show that was known for holding the highest ratings over many years between 2003 and 2013. In 2014 Matt moved to...
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#298: Brennan Brown - Flow State
Funny In Failure
Brennan Brown is a stage and screen actor known for portraying complex and multifaceted characters. After graduating from Yale School of Drama, he landed roles on Broadway in revivals of Shaw’s Major Barbara, and Stoppard’s The Real Inspector Hound and The Fifteen Minute Hamlet, and in leading theatres throughout America. On screen Brennan has worked with such visionary directors including Tim Hooper on HBO’s “John Adams”, John Requa and Glenn Ficarra on both of their films, I Love You Phillip Morris, and Focus, State of Play (dir. Kevin Macdonald), Detachment (dir. Tony Kaye),...
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#297: Maurice LaMarche - Living In The Now
Funny In Failure
Maurice LaMarche is a Canadian comedian and voice actor from Toronto. He is most well-known for voicing The Brain from Steven Spielberg Presents Pinky and the Brain (for which he was nominated for a Daytime Emmy), Kif, Lrrr, Morbo and Calculon from Futurama (for which he has won two Primetime Emmys and been nominated for a third), Mr. Big from Zootopia, King Agnarr from Frozen, Mr. Freeze from Batman: Arkham City, Yosemite Sam from The Looney Tunes Show, Abradolph Lincoler from Rick & Morty, Toucan Sam for thirty three years in commercials for Froot Loops, and Orson Welles from The Critic....
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#296: Jena Friedman - I Can Do Anything
Funny In Failure
Jena Friedman is an Academy Award-nominated writer, comedian, and creator behind critically acclaimed series such as TRUE CRIME STORY: INDEFENSIBLE on AMC+, SOFT FOCUS on Adult Swim, and co-writer of BORAT 2: Subsequent Movie Film, which garnered her an Oscar nomination. Her writing credits include Netflix’s NOBODY WANTS THIS, ABC’s THE CONNERS, and she served as a field producer for THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART and writer for THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN. A contributing writer to THE NEW YORKER, Jena’s bestselling...
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#295: Mike de la Rocha - Win-Win Situation
Funny In Failure
Mike de la Rocha is visionary strategist, acclaimed artist and compelling voice for change. He is the co-founder of Revolve Impact, a globally recognised creative agency that merges art, activism and storytelling to drive social change, and Tepito Coffee, a company dedicated to providing meaningful jobs for formerly incarcerated individuals through its partnerships with Homeboy Industries, the largest gang intervention and rehabilitation organisation in the world. Celebrated as one of the most influential change makers of our era, Mike has been instrumental in some of the largest policy...
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#294: Liz Guterbock - Living a creative life
Funny In Failure
Liz Guterbock is an American born British citizen stand-up comedian, award-winning actor, improviser and voice over artist. In 2023 she made The Guardian’s 10 Best Jokes of Edinburgh Fringe and Dave Joke of the Fringe lists. Her 2023 Edinburgh Fringe debut show Liz Guterbock: Geriatric Millennial 4-star reviews from Funny Women, The Mumble and Pepper & Salt, and complimentary press from The Scotsman, Festmag and Chortle. In 2022, Liz was nominated by some of the country’s best promoters as one of 10 stand-up comedians on Union Jack Radio’s ‘Ones to Watch’ list. She was a finalist...
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#293: Sergio Perera - Our Own Roadblocks
Funny In Failure
Sergio Perera is a chef & nutrition expert. Having trained as a professional chef in some of Spain’s most respected restaurants and then training in Japan, a serendipitous moment saw Sergio become the go to private chef to Hollywood actors (such as Tom Cruise, Robert Downey Jr, Leonardo DiCaprio, Chris Hemsworth), athletes, royalty and politicians. Growing up in Spain he was naturally an advocate for the healthy Mediterranean diet, but it was working with actors which prompted him to study and learn more about nutrition and during his time with Chris Hemsworth he helped prepare him for...
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#292: Adriano Zumbo - Life is like a Recipe
Funny In Failure
Adriano Zumbo is a chef and TV presenter. He is one of Australia’s most celebrated pâtissiers and the star of the Netflix TV shows Zumbo’s Just Desserts and Sugar Rush. As a popular figure in the pastry world he has garnered many nicknames including, ‘The Sweet Assassin’, ‘Pâtissier of Pain, ‘Dark Lord of the Pastry Kitchen’ and has been lauded as ‘Australia's answer to Willy Wonka’. Adriano is a regular guest judge on MasterChef Australia and has appeared on Dessert Masters on Network 10. This country boy’s first taste of the sweet life was raiding the lollies and...
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#291: Troy Kinne - 'Nothing Special'
Funny In Failure
Troy Kinne is an award-winning comedian, actor, writer, producer and director. In the early days of his stand-up comedy career, Troy won almost every new comic competition in Australia. The Comic’s Lounge ‘You Gotta be Joking’ competition saw him receive the prize of a trip to New York to attend the American Institute of Comedy. He went on to perform at several well-known clubs in the U.S. including Caroline’s on Broadway, Stand Up New York, Gotham Comedy club, the Laugh Factory, The Hollywood Comedy Store and The Comedy Cellar. On returning to Australia Troy became a...
info_outlineKirsten Vangsness is an actor, YouTuber, podcaster, graphic novelist & playwright. She is most known for playing Penelope Garcia on the long running CBS crime drama Criminal Minds, for which she co-wrote 5 episodes, including the series finale.
In 2020, Kirsten launched her YouTube series KIRSTEN'S AGENDA as a way to promote mental health, wellness and civic duty. Her first season featured such guests as Aisha Tyler, Pauley Perrette and Karen David. She enjoyed the interviews so much she decided to spin them off into the KIRSTEN'S AGENDA Podcast, available wherever podcasts live.
Kirsten has long been deeply involved in the L.A. theatre scene, scoring two Ovation Best Actress nominations (for "FAT PIG" at the Geffen and "Everything You Touch" at Boston Court), LA Weekly Best Playwright of the Year nomination (For her Theatre of NOTE production of "Potential Space") and winning the Los Angeles Drama Circle Best Comedic Actress. She is a long-time member of Hollywood’s Theatre of NOTE where she serves on the Art Board.
In the summer of 2019, Kirsten took her one-woman show "Mess" (which Neil Gaiman has called his "favorite one person show") and her space romp, time travel, women in history, musical "Cleo, Theo and Wu" to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and was greeted with 5 star reviews and sold out shows. She is the star and executive producer of the film noir spoof “Kill Me, Deadly” which can be found on many streaming platforms, she can currently be heard on season two of the comedy podcast “Voyage to the Stars” as well as a sometimes host of PRI's "Selected Shorts".
In 2020, her animated short "Curtains" based on a short story she penned, was accepted in film festivals around the globe and she created a "Cleo, Theo and Wu" graphic novel with illustrator Kaitlin Bruder. She is the recipient of the HRC Visibility Award, the Open Fist Excellence in Arts Award and has been honored for her work with many charities including The Wildlife Learning Center, The Jacaranda Foundation, and The Unusual Suspects. In her spare time Kirsten can be found washing dishes at the Blinking Owl Distillery, which she co-owns in Santa Ana, California.
We chat about Criminal Minds, embracing success, love of acting, zone of incompetence and excellence, imposter syndrome, interventions, dyslexia, creativity, ideas and nurturing them, writing plus plenty more.
For the Criminal Minds fans out there, I’ve also been fortunate to chat with AJ Cook, Paget Brewster and Joe Mantegna who are all incredible in their own right.
Check Kirsten out on:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kirstenvangsness/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KirstenVangsnessOfficial/
Website: https://www.kirstenvangsness.com/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/KirstenVangsnessOfficial
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/vangsness.bsky.social
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