"Seinfeld" Writer Carol Leifer Appeared On Letterman’s Show 25 Times | Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend

Hi, my name is Carol Leafer and I feel. fresh about being Conan O'Brien's. friend. It's new. It's fresh. It's new. It's fresh. Yes. Well, we have we have crossed paths many. times but never had a chance to sit down. and this is a treat for me because I've. wanted to talk to you. Uh and this is our opportunity right. now. It. because we've worked side by side. Uh we just did the Oscars together. You. were a writer on the Oscars. I was. hosting the Oscars. And yet there's all. this running around and we keep passing.

each other in the hallway. So, it's nice. to sit down because you have, in my. opinion, one of the best careers of any. comedy writer I can imagine. Wow. High. I mean, think about it. Think about. this. This is these are the shows and I'm I'm. I'm explaining it to you as if you've. lost your memory in an accident. I'm a. doctor that's come in and I'm telling. you your name is Carol Leaper. You've. written on Seinfeld, Hacks, Curb Your. Enthusiasm, Modern Family, Saturday.

Night Live, The Larry Sanders Show, and. 10 Academy Award shows. That's insanity. Yeah. Oh, and you're leaving out the. Colgate Comedy Hour. Yes. You killed it in 1952. Thank you very much. You were a fetus when you wrote for that. show. Um, I uh there's so much to talk. about because there's the world of. comedy writing, but what I want to start. with is you come from the world of.

standup 1970s. And I've talked to people. like Susie Esman about what it was like. in those early days to be a woman who's. trying to do standup comedy in the. 1970s. Yes. And it was, I would guess, uh, not. easy, not an easy thing to crack. You know what? It was actually quite the. opposite because there were not many. women and I always thought that was a. tremendous advantage.

because um, you know, I always talk. about the 70s standup. They were looking. for comedians, right? But it's really true. So when I started. there were like four or five women. comics you know Rita Rduer was of my. generation and um they wanted women. comics and I always felt I got so much. support from the guy comics. I mean yeah. a lot of people thought it was a little. rough and tumble and all that but um I. got so much support so I found it to be.

advantage. I mean, what was obnoxious. was way back then, they wouldn't put on. two women um following each other. It. was like it had to be separated. Like, we'll have the singer, then the. ventriloquist, then a woman, then the. monkey act, then maybe another woman. You're a novelty. It's like, yeah, it's like someone who can separate both. shoulders, you know, right? The contortionist, then a woman. Yeah. Another oddity.

that represents 50% of the population. and is responsible for the continuation. of our species. That one of those. things. It's so weird. I could follow a bearded woman. Yes. I got it. I've been mistaken for a bearded woman. John, it's so interesting to me because. you get started in this time and the. thing that always fascinates me is. what's the impetus? What makes Carol. Leafer as a young woman decide I'm I'm.

going to go swim upstream against the. current and get into this profession? I. mean, it's it's strange enough in those. days when a man decides to do it, but. where did you come from? What made you. want to do this? Well, I think you know. um as always wanting to be a performer, you know, like most people's greatest. fear is speaking in front of large. groups of people. Most performers fear.

is um not speaking in front of people, right? You know what I mean? You had it in you. You were you were you. wanted to be in front of those people. I did. I did. And what I liked about. standup was anybody can do it. You know, I was going to school at Bingmpington. Uh Paul Riser was in my theater group. and um he told me, you know, like one. day, you know, during the summers I go. to these comedy clubs and uh on audition. night and I perform and comedy clubs.

were so new then, you know, so when he. was talking about clubs, I was like, "This guy goes to clubs. What is he like. Vicone. performing at these places?" Um so he. was like, "Anybody can go on." So, I. always love that about and I still love. that about standup. It's like you want. to go on, it's not like an actor where. you have to audition and you know, right? Or a musician where you need to. have your tuba with you. Yes. You you can just walk in, you can be. somewhere, you can go up and you can do. a set.

Exactly. And the first time I went on on. my first audition, I you know, it's also. something about being young and having a. lot of balls that you don't have later. on in life. um. you have more to lose later in life. I've noticed that. I I completely agree with what you're. saying. There's a period in my life where I had. a $380 a month apartment. I had a a a beat up 1973 Plymouth. Valiant and uh I'd do anything. I'd do.

anything. I sold my body for sex. and enjoyed it. and often would Yeah. Win-win. Yeah. Win-win. I wouldn't even take the. money afterwards. Uh but um yes, I know. exactly what you're talking about. So I went on audition night. My first. audition night I like killed. It was. amazing and I thought like, "Oh my god, this is not only so great, it's so easy. Like I'll be on Johnny Carson next week. It's amazing." It wasn't until the.

second time that I went on that I. completely bombed like so bad that I. invited friends from college to come see. me cuz I was like, "Oh, you know, I'm. doing great." And you can actually and I. had a tape recorder on the table and you. can actually hear my friend in the. middle of my set going. muttering how horrible it was going. over. So then I saw like to be a. stand-up comedian it takes some work. You have good nights, you have bad.

nights. There are a lot of factors that. go into it. Who you follow, what time of. the night you go on, how inebriated. the crowd is. So you have to learn to. negotiate all that. You talked about Carson. I know your. real break came with uh Letterman. Yeah. Because Letterman show um which was you. know such an influence on me. I'm. I think. I think I'm 17 or 18 when he does the.

morning show and then switch he does. switches over to the late night show. So. I'm maybe 19 years old when he starts. the late night show. And um comedy is my. religion as a 19-year-old. And so I. become a total acolyte. Uh and and I'm. looking at David Letterman saying, "Oh, this person's showing me the way." He. would You knew Dave? I didn't. You didn't know Dave? No. No. In 1980, kids, I was in a. contest called the big the New York.

laughoff. And it was a contest, you know, of. comedians. And um you know that's so. funny to me today. It's like back then. that's how you got exposure. You were in. contests you know. and it aired on Showtime and Letterman. saw that and recommended me to the. Tonight Show for that. Okay. And then the Tonight Show saw my big. laugh offset and they passed. Yeah. So then when Dave got his show, they. just reached out and said, "Would you. like to be on?".

And he put you on a bunch of times. Yeah. I was on 25 times. Yeah. Yeah. And they gave me an open door. It. was like whenever you have a new set, come on. Which was amazing. There's such a almost like a lemmings or. sheep kind of mentality where people. don't think you're the real McCoy. But. once you've been on a show and there's. tape of you and there's a famous host. saying, "Ladies and gentlemen, please. welcome Carol Leafer." Suddenly they're. like, "Oh, right.". Yeah. You're one of them.

Well, you you were one of them before. You just It's a magical thing and um. but not really until you go on TV. I. mean to this day my first appearance on. Letterman is like one of my the best. days of my life. Yeah. Because like suddenly you're not just, you know, kind of in it, you're really. in it. Also, it was a different era. Mhm. Than today. I mean, I talk about this a. lot and when I talk about it to my kids, I sound like an old wizard telling.

people about the beginning of how Earth. formed. But um. it was so different that my dad bought a. VCR to tape me, you know, at the time it. was like $1,000. Wow. Right. Right. Well, they were made. of gold. The only VCRs were all gold. They're made by Rolex. Then they went. got into the watch business. But but but. one of the things that was interesting. too is I've talked to people from that. era uh you know ahead of you but they. were like you know Steve Martin or.

comedians of that generation they would. say they would go on Johnny Carson show. and the next day they would walk down. the street and car people were shouting. out of cars because half the country. watched. Do you know it was the equivalent of. being on the Super Bowl except it. happened every night. Yeah. because there was literally one. late night show. And I remember when. there was, you know, there's there's. Carson and then Letterman after Carson. And occasionally there'd be another show.

that they would put up, but it wouldn't. last that long. Yeah. Uh. who is MV Griffin? M Griffin. Yeah. Yeah. During the. daytime, but who was watching TV during. the daytime? Uh I wasn't. Uh so to me it. was uh if something happened I mean I. remembered when um David Burn for the. talking heads went on Letterman and Dave. interviewed uh Dave Letterman. interviewed David Burn. and everybody I talked to the next day. because we were all in college. We had all seen it.

Yeah. There was no um it was just a it. was a time when we were all gathered. around the same campfire. and so uh there was a magic to that. which gave you this legitimacy and. power. The Freddy Prince story he did I think. like one. appearance and then he got like Chico. and the Man the next day. got his own series. Right. Right. And he was very young. He. was like 20 or 19 or 20. Yeah. But it. was definitely like a star maker.