April 24-Pigs in a Blanket, Barbra Streisand, Cedric the Entertainer, Kelly Clarkson, All-American Rejects, Zygy Susser

0:18 Hi everyone, and thanks for joining us on history. In fact, it's about today, today's April the twenty fourth. Now I have a really funny comedian as my co host today. I know that sounds redundant, but not all comedians are funny, but my co host sure is. We have to go ahead and introduce yourself. Hi, Jeff, my name is Ziggy Sesser and I spelled ziggy z Ygy, so it's a little weird already and stuff, but that's me. So it got you on stage for the very first time. The first time I got on stage, like, I reached tired. I had worked for Social Security for like thirty five years, and I always wanted to be a common kind of so, like we even have Christmas parties in the DA parties at work, and I would write jokes to these parties for the last twenty years and people laughed, you know, my co workers. And I wanted to see if normal people would laugh at me as people I worked with.

1:12 And so I took a comedy class after I retired, and we had like five classes and then a graduation show at a real comedy club and I got laughs and wow, I mean, I mean it was a high like I never had before, lasted days and I was hooked. And that was like at the age of sixty six and ever since then. You know, I do comedy every now and then, and I keep looking for that high, and every now and then I get it. Every now and then there are like these perfect shows where everything's in sync, my humor, the audience, everything's working. So I love hearing people laugh. It's beautiful.

1:57 That is great, And it just finally hit me. That's got you got a fund funny premise. You actually retired from Social Security? Right right, that's good fight. I didn't even think of that. I like that. Can I use that? You bet? You? All right? All right, listeners, Now this isn't Ziggy's fault. This is my fault. I didn't look ahead. But today, on April twenty fourth, I. Love pigs in blank it, but I always feel bad about myself imagining myself eating a cute little piggin that's wrapped up in a nice little blanket. But I always get over it because tiggs in a leak it tastes so good. I say, here, pig here, pig Piggy.

2:40 Today is National Pigs in a Blanket Day. But for all those who don't like pork, we're gonna you can actually substitute the sausage or the hot dog in there and put something in kosher or just beef today. Right, my house was Frank's and jackets, that's what we quoted. Well, they're pretty simple. They just a biscuit with Frank and met around it. I'd be your jacket or a sausage or something like that, and you bake them. The Golden Perfection nineteen fifty seven, Betty Crocker, she put the first recipe for pigs in a Blanket and her cook but cooking cooking for kids. Yeah, Betty Crocker was actually a real woman. Yeah, they're really easy to make and fun to make with kids. But if you're like me, yeah, you'll just have them already pre made to stick them in the ovens and the joy of that. So I enjoyed some of your pigs in a blanket. So what do you like talking about when you're on stage?

3:28 You know, when I started, I would just tell jokes, you know, and jokes from everywhere whatever, mostly having to do with retirement and everything. As they get older, it's harder to remember the jokes. So I moved over to storytelling, kind of funny stories. So I tell true stories, like I have a story about how I met my wife. I mean, they're full of jokes. I still do them at comedy clubs, but you know, this way, it's easy to remember because they're based on truth. Story about my bird. I have a lot of stories about my bird, my wife actually stepping on them and make to bring to the ask mean's okay, but you know I have a whole story about that and him signing a medical release form whatever. So you know, I like stories and based on truth. It's easy to remember and I could put myself into it. So that's the kind of stuff I'm doing these days.

4:25 Does your wife ever tell you, hey, don't take that on stage. It's funny to mention my wife. First of all, she hates my comedy. She doesn't think I'm funny at all. I get a whole audience lamping. She does not think I'm funny. She's the worst of my worst audience. And she says, don't talk about me. You know, I don't want you to talk about me. I've cheated a bit, and I have talked about it, not in the way you thought cheating but you know, I have to talk a little about her, I think in a good way. But she does, you know, does not want to shet anyway. But you know, so she stays home do the show and I'll meet her after and stuff like that. I'm sure the bird doesn't mind if we talk about him though.

5:06 No, no, uh, you know it's funny. During COVID, you know, we were doing a lot of zoom shows and when I'm home, he's always flying around and he would land on my shoulder and sometimes he would Sure he might show up right now, he's a few feet away from me. But but he would show up, and people got used to seeing him. His name is Charlie. He's like a small parrot, really a green cheek Kanye they call him. And and he would be on my shoulder while I'm telling the jokes and uh, and people would miss, hey, where's Charlie. So it was very cute. He's he's good. I get a lot of material from him. He writes some of my jokes to some of my best jokes. No, he's a good guy. And he talks a little. He talks a little too, and and and and I know this is going to sound weird, but I'm somewhat toilet training him, like like like when when I can tell he's about poop, like he starts walking backwards, like I put my finger in his Oh yeah, I put him on the talk of a little garbage pail and hopefully if he's putting the right way, it goes in. But basically, it's a crap shoot.

6:09 And you're retired, so you have time, right, say that again. And you're retired, so you have time. Yeah, exactly, I'm retired and I'm lucky. My wife still works, so you know, I'm home below and everything, and and you know, I you know, I try to write, you know, the comedy and stuff like that, and it's good. I enjoy I enjoy I enjoy being retired. You know, I'm making a hole in my couch. But whatever, I like it. Well, that's awesome, all right, let's just going on entertainment. On April twenty fourth, Let's Got Your two thousand and five. The number one album was a Massacre about fifty cent fifty cent Olivia. They had the number one song Wet Candy Shops, The candy Shop and.

6:53 Stops to stop and go into. Kenny Chasney had the number one country song with anything but Mine. Even MACI Back to Cleveland so Loud? Are You Good?

7:34 Anything but. The top book was True Believer by Nicholas Sparks. Top movie was The Interpreter at the United Nations. A US Secret Service agent, he investigates an interpreter who overhears an assassination plot stars Nicole Kidman, Sean Penn, and Catherine Keenan. What kind of movies do you like? I'd like, you know, the Star Wars movies, like like comedies like dr I like all kinds as long as as long as they're good documentary, I like. I like them all. I like them all. So when you were younger, what kind of comedians did you like to watch and listen to. I used to watch like the X Sullivan Show, and all these comics would come on there, and I like them all. I mean, I you know, I can go way back, you know, and Henny Youngman and Ellen King and and uh Joan Rivers and everybody you know. And of course I like the Three Stooges and Jack Benny and and and modern you know, current comics too, you know, I like them with Richard pryor everybody, Eddie Murphy h Gary Goleman. Uh, you know, I like comedy in general.

8:51 So when you're backstays at the comedy club getting ready to do said, is that pretty good commod camaraderie or whatever between the comedians is their backstage. Comics are pretty nice. I found them to be pretty nice. And yeah, this this camaraderie. I mean, if you don't know somebody, you know, you introduce yourself, you know, you could talk to them, and you know, if I find comics to be nice in general, they're nice. A lot of some comics, like you know, some big ones, like they do one show after another, so like they come in, do their set and then leave to go to another club and do another set. So it's not like they're hanging out that long to talk to. But other ones, you know, do hang out and you could talk and exchange information and stuff like that.

9:42 That's cool. Let's see what happened on April the twenty fourth, eleven eighty four BC. The Greeks they'd been enable to conquer the city of Troy, so they offered them a piece they're offering. Yeah, it was a large wooden horse. It was twenty five feet tall, ten feet wide. And eight feet long. Now the Troe. They were so happy that they brought it inside the city gates and they had a big old party. Man, they celebrated. They couldn't believe that the Greeks actually wanted to have peace with them. Well, when they finally went to sleep or passed out, forty Greek soldiers who were hiding inside the horse, Yeah, they got out and opened the city gates. Let basically the whole entire Greek army in Yeah, didn't turn out well for Troy, that's for sure. Now, the Troy, it was kind of a thought, is kind of like an old wives tale throughout history. And finally, and back in eighteen seventy one, that's when they discovered Troy and it was buried.

10:32 Eighteen thirty three, Jacob Evertt and George Doltrie they invented the soda fountain New York City. In nineteen thirteen, the World Words Building opened up seven hundred ninety two feet tall, the world's largest tilling in the world until nineteen thirty. Yeah, that's when the Empire State Building passed it up. Now the World Worth Building. It only cost thirteen point five million dollars to build. Back then, now it's still open today and the top half is all condos, in the bottom half is all office space. Now, if you want to buy one of those condos that costs between three point two two and nine million dollars penthouse, it's sold for thirty million. Nineteen eighty the United States, they launt a rescue mission for the Americans being held hostage in Iran and the Iranian hostage crisis. Yeah, it was a complete disaster. Never even came close to get into the hostages.

11:14 A helipap doctor at crashed into a transport plane. Eight American servicemen were killed five were injured. In twenty thirteen, in world history, the deadliest structural failure that caused a building to collapse happened in Bangladesh. A clothing factory collapsed killed one thousand, one hundred and thirty four workers. Two thousand, five hundred were injured. They were almost all women and children. It reminds me a little. In New York we had this famous triangle shirtwaist factory fire, where like I think it was like a one hundred and forty eight something like that. I forget the number. Young women died and stuff like that were burned. It was horrible. I think it was nineteen eleven nineteen, not on this date, but in nineteen eleven, and a lot of laws were changed after that, so it was a terrible thing. It led to some good things, but it was a terrible thing that all these mostly immigrant women died.

12:11 In twenty twenty three, India passed China for having the most people. Indias has about one thousand, four hundred and twenty five billion people, surpassed China by about thirty million, and the gap is still growing. I have two kids competition with any of these countries. But I have two great kids. And I have a son who was married and lives in North Carolina and he has two kids. I have two beautiful granddaughters. We're going to be visiting them soon in a few weeks. And we have a daughter living in Chicago. She was with her partner. And we're very proud of both our kids. The great kids.

12:59 They have jobs and you know, self supporting, and they're just really nice kids, really nice kids. And my kids like that I do comedy. Yeah, I think they're a little proud of me. Like, you know, you know how many parents, you know how many how many kids have parents who who can say their comics or whatever right. So I'm happy that my kids are proud of me, and even someday has helped me with jokes, like I'll you know, I'll be working on a joke and I'll run it by one of one of my kids or whatnot. They'll give me their input, and it's good to get, you know, input from somebody from a different generation. And even though I'm old, they're young. And when I'm in a comedy club, there's no difference, you know, like I get laughs from all age groups. You know, my comedy has there's nothing to do with really age. It's just funny is funny, and to me that's you know that that's the most important thing. Some people say, you know as Ziggy like the stage name and z y g y, but no, it's my real name. My phone name is Sigmund s I G m U n D. But I spelled Ziggy z y g y because my parents came from Europe and they were Holocaust survivors and they spelled it the European way. They're from Poland, z y g and U n T. So that was on my original ber certificate and that's how I got ziggy z y g y. But then they got an americanized birth certificate for me, and now I spelled sigmund s I G

14:31 m U n D. But anyway, that's that's my name, and and I you know, performed comedy every now and then. Unfortunately I'm at a stage where to get on at a club. To get on the stage, I have to bring guests. I always have to bring guests. And sometimes there's two guests, sometimes it's four. Sometimes it could even be eight. And I hate bothering people. Even though after these people come to see me, they're they're they're thankful that they say, you know, they thank me for inviting them. They always have a good time and they tell me, you know, tell me when you're doing your next show. But I always still a little guilty asking people to come to shows. But I shouldn't. But anyway, but but that's you know, that's the story and stuff. But I like I like people hearing people laugh. It's it's it's great.

15:18 It's great for them and great for me. Well this I think it was only like two years ago. You were voting New York City's funny at Jewish Comic. That's true. There was a competition, and obviously Jerry Seinfeld in a lot of other things. In that competition, it was for people on my level, and I wonder, you know that's that's like one of the only things, if not the only thing I ever won. Funny Jewish Comedian in New York City in twenty twenty two is great. I also was lucky enough to be in a in a TV show, a documentary called Uh Now I'm blanking you. You tell me what's the name of it. I'm good timing, thank you, good time with Joe Firestone. She she's a great comic. She's a great comic, and she was doing comedy at a senior center and uh when COVID hit, it got on Zoom and then someone told me about it and I joined. And after doing it for I don't know what like two years, every week she would do it religiously, she decided to make it document to make a documentary about us, and and and you could see it on on Peacock It again, you know, good timing with Joe Firestone. And what I'm really lucky about was that she went on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon to promote it, and they showed a clip and the clip they showed is mine is of me and

16:52 and that was amazing and uh and and the reason they showed that clip is because one of the things I said, when you know, Joe was talking to me, was know, one of my dreams is to be on the Tonight Show, you know, but I know that will never happen. And then there Jimmy Fallon is saying, well, you know, you got on the Tonight Show. I mean that was amazing. I mean I wasn't there in person, but to have that clip shown of me was was was unbelievable. So that that was cool. And and and someone told me about you know, the TV show The Marvelous Missus Mazel huh that was That was on a while ago. I think it was on Netflix. Anyway. You know, I'm in the background. You can see the side of my cheek for I think a second something, so I can say I was on, you know, on another show, you know, two episodes. You can see me for a split second. But anyway, but that's cool, that's cool.

17:46 Yeah, saying you should feel guilty about asking people to come to your show. Then you've got all that. Behind you now, Yeah, yeah, thanks thanks, thanks, saying no, you're right, you're right, but whatever, But anyway, I have to have to do that. Let's see who was born on April the twenty fourth, Actress Shirley McLain. She's ninety one today. She's born in Richmond, Virginia. She is actor Warren Brady's older or Warren eighties older sister. Now, she might be a little out there, but she's had a great career in acting. Started acting in nineteen fifty one. Still is been nominated for Oscar six times. She won one for Terms of Endearment Some movies that the younger generation might know, or Steve Magnolia's Postcards from the Edge, Guarding Test Bewitched. She was married once from nineteen fifty four to nineteen eighty two, and they had a daughter, actress Jill Ireland. She was born in London, England, nineteen thirty six. That's kind of funny. Ireland born in London, England.

18:39 Bill was funny to me anyway. Anyway. Now, she had actually a pretty good acting career going with her first husband. He was actor David McCallum. He was in some old TV shows in the sixties and stuff. They had three sons. After they divorced, she was still doing pretty good, but then in nineteen sixty eight her career just took off. Ye. She married actor Charles Bronson. Yeah, they were in sixteen movies together. They had two daughters along the way, Jill. She died from breast cancer nineteen ninety at fifty four years old. Writer Sue Grafton. She's born in Louisville, Kentucky, in nineteen forty. Known for her alphabet book series. Got start off as for Alibi, DA is for Burglar, C is for her corpse, and so on. She started the series in nineteen eighty two. She made her all the way up to Y and why is for yesterday? And that was in twenty seventeen. Now, had she lived, Z would have been Z is for zero, But she died from cancer in twenty seventeen, so she never wrote Z.

19:31 She was seventy seven years old. She had a son and a daughter from her first husband a daughter from her second husband. She married her third husband in nineteen seventy eight. Soustasanties She love Fresias the Moon. That's Spams. Barbara Streissen. She's eighty three, born Brooklyn, same place as made Brooklyn, New York. That's so cool. She started singing in nightclubs and off Broadway theaters in the early sixties. Now she has sold over one hundred and fifty million records. She's won two Oscars, one for acting in the movie Funny Girl, the other for the song We Played Evergreen from the movie A Star Is Born. She has also won five Emmys, ten Grammys, and one Tony. She's one of the few entertainers to win the Grand Slam. It's called the Egod.

20:32 Only twenty one people have done it. Barbera's first husband was hector actor Elliott Gould. They had a son, and then she then married actor James Brolin in nineteen ninety eight. Are you a native New Yorker? Yep, yep, yep. Born in Brooklyn, stayed there for a long time and got married and now we live in Manhattan. We live in Manhattan. Pretty cool?

21:22 Is that? Yep? That was yep? That was Jack Blade. Okay, that was Jack Blade singing for the band Night Rangers. Jack is seventy one born in Palm Desert, California. Jack Starlout and the band Rubicon then helped form Night Ranger in nineteen eighty two. He sings lead on every hit they have except their biggest sister, Christian. Their drummer Kelly Kegy sings that one on the side. Jack was in the group Damn Yankees with Tommy Shaw and Ted Nugent. Jack married in nineteen seventy seven and they have two sons. Had you read this one? Do you like the comedian Cedric the entertainer?

22:04 Yeah, sure, sure. He's sixty one today. He's born in Jefferson City, Missouri. Started out as a really successful stand up comedian. Then of course he went into TV. He was on the Steve Harvey Show. He's been starting in the neighborhood since twenty eighteen. Some of his movies were the original Kings of comedy, barbershop movies, done a lot of a lot of voice. Rols sedricated daughter from a girlfriend. He got married in nineteen ninety nine and they have a son and a daughter. So Zickie, do you watch those talent shows like American Idol and The Last Comic Standing and all that kind of stuff?

22:53 Yeah, yeah, yeah, and no comic position. They've gotten fired. I think I think they got the closest they got to, like, you know whatever, Being in the final two, but no comic has ever won. But I even tried out for myself. I you know, sent them clips whatever went on auditions that they do you know on Zoom, but I was never chosen. But it's always fun to watch. I love watching it. Cool. Well, that was Kelly Clarkston. She was born in Fort Worth, Texas, forty three years old today. She won that first season of American Idol in two thousand and two, sold over fifty five million records. A moment like this, since you been gone stronger, what doesn't kill you? My life would suck without you. Yeah, those are some of her big hits. Now, she's going to be doing a residency in Las Vegas and Caesar her Palace from July fourth and until November.

23:40 If you want to go check her out in Vegas. Now. She's done a lot of TV also. She was a coach on the TV show Voice for seven of the seasons. She has her own daytime talk show. It's called The Kelly Clarkson Show. She's been doing that since twenty nineteen. She married once for nine years and has a son and a daughter from it. See begins You out. Forgives You find the Dawns meets you. Outs just as well forgives YOUWN. That is Tyson Ritters, singing lead for the band The All American Rejects. Tyson is forty one born in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

24:22 Tyson the guys formed the band during high school in Stillwater. They thought the name of the All American Rejects just sounded cool. I think it's cool too. Some of their hits dirty Little Secret, it Ends Tonight, move Along, gives you a Hell. Theree Rejects will be touring from July seventh through mid November. Tyson married in twenty thirteen and they have a son. Holland Times Sounding Manning's That's country singer Carly Pearce and she was born in Taylor Mill, Kentucky.

25:11 She's thirty five. Every little thing I hope you're happy now with Bryce Lean, what he didn't do and never wanted to be that girl with Ashtley McBride are some of her hits. Carly is out on her Hummingbird tour now if you want to see her. She married once for eight months, so you got her beat. I gotta beat by a little. I've been married forty two years, so I got to beat by a little man. But let me let me tell you a little about if anybody is interested in my comedy, you know, if you're in New York, you know, I'd love you to come to a show. I don't perform every week or anything like that, but I post things on like Facebook. On Facebook, it's Sigmund, Ziggy Susser. I kept the Sigmund even ever he calls me zig I kept the sigma in case, you know, people who didn't call me Ziggy remember that name, you know, you know by the way, I can tell you this funny little story. My first day in kindergarten. Uh, the teacher takes attendance and I never heard my name called, so I never raised my hand. And she says, you know, what what what what? What's your name? You know, little boy?

26:32 And I said, you know, Ziggy Susser And she said, you're not Ziggy, so so you're Sigmund Susser. I was five years old. That was the first time I ever heard the name Sigmund. No one ever called me Sigma. Sigmund's not a little kid's name. You know, you have to make an adulta have Sigmund. So you know, my mother piss picks me up from from you know, kindergarten, and I say, you know, the teacher said, my name is Sigmund. Is that true? And she said, yeah, that's true. I couldn't believe it. You know, do you under what it's like to be five years old and realize your parents have lived to you your whole life? It's you know what that does? Okay, it makes them into comedian. But anyway, but that's where I thought that I was Sigmund. I was really anyway. So on Facebook, I'm Sigmund Ziggy Sesser.

27:15 I have some YouTube videos. On YouTube, I'm Ziggy Susser. I have you know, I don't I don't put a lot. I'm not good with social media. But I have some stuff on Instagram at Ziggy Susser, on TikTok at Adziggy Susser. I've done stuff, you know with my with Charlie the Bird on TikTok so some videos you know of me some with Charlie and stuff like that, and basically you know, and and my my email address is uh Ziggy sessor z y g y s U s s e r at gmail dot com. If you're ever in New York and want to see me, you know, just you know, you can, you know, get in touch with me. And and and I can do a show as long as I can bring between two and four people. I can put myself into a show and I'll be happy to perform anyway, you know. Hope, hope you you know you like that. I like doing this. So so thanks a lot, Jeff.

28:17 It was a pleasure, and I hope people got a kick out of it. Yeah, and you've been really good and all that information you get it, we're gonna put it on the show notes. So if you didn't get it, but as email and how to get to his social media and all that kind of stuff down. So yeah, I definitely want to say it. And if you've got like he said, he's got some YouTube videos out there. Yeah you can see how funny is. Just click on that. You guys will be in for a really nice surprise. He's funny as thatch. And And and I'm thinking of doing my own podcast at some point, Like I have an idea. I even have a title. I know, if it's okay to say it, if somebody steal it if I say it, but you know, I want to call it like social insecurity. And I don't know if it's Zicky sensors, socialistecurity, soci security and sensor anyway, that's why do you have any thought? What what do you think would be better Ziggy sensor and social and security with social security with Ziggy sensor? What what what do you think would be better? Titled?

29:11 I think social Insecurity with Ziggy would be better. Thank you, thank you, and and and it's not talking about social security. It's talking about I mean, it's not talk about social security, you know. I mean, I work there. I don't want to talk about it. But it's it's talk about people, you know, how you know, how we all have social social insecurities and and how we've overcome stuff and stuff like that. So, uh, I hope I get it off you know, off the road, you know, with whatever of the track, whatever you want to call it, and going off the track. But anyway, I hope I get to do it. No, I think it'll be really good and I think eyould ever really enjoy it. Thank you, Thank definitely, thank you for being here today. It's been it's been great talking to you. And uh, we have an internet radio station.

29:55 It's called Country Underground, right, now where we play the best up and coming country started. We're gonna end a day with Kristen Kristen Krause. This is their song Silver. I don't know, I'm not, I'm not. I'm know. We ain't proving. You're the best thing I ever had. But it ain't working. You're doing a badrick pill on no cud hear this heard. I was trying to cook pay night to my head. You see Thomas, I see red and you say I'm never home, but you sound the when hours go home. You're trying to change me. I'm still the same Silver, just hampy Gold. We go, we go, we go, we go around our circles. Mom Mama said, honey, you shouldn't be jumping her nose looking it's supposed to be this once we started. I'm in the Suppo pray by my head.

31:05 You see down this this out sea ring. You say I'm never home, which you sounded when hours go home. You're trying to change me. I'm still the same as Silver. Just camping go. You should no bed now, we can't be together down Silver, just camping go