The Need to Fail with Don Fanelli

In our final episodes of The Need to Fail, I will be checking back in with my original guests from seven years ago. Next up: Lauren Lapkus (The Wrong Missy, Big Bang Theory) who talks about not booking 90% of the roles she goes out for, how her true humor came through in The Wrong Missy and how she thought she would suck in the audition, getting written off of Orange is the New Black, her current vision board usage, and th...

In our final episodes of The Need to Fail, I will be checking back in with my original guests from seven years ago. Next up: Abbi Jacobson (Broad City, Disenchantment) who talks about ending Broad City and the pressures of adapting an iconic movie to the small screen. We also chat about how success hasn't stopped the doubts from creeping in, the missteps with Broad City and how audience feedback helped grow the show, the d...

In our final six episodes of The Need to Fail, I will be checking back in with my original guests from seven years ago. Next up: Josh Patten (SNL) who talks about how things have changed over his eight seasons at SNL. We talk about craft related setbacks & trying to get better at his job, how it took time and experience to look past his analytical approach, not getting any jokes on an episode where his mother came to w...

In our final six episodes of The Need to Fail, I will be checking back in with my original guests from seven years ago. Next up: Josh Ruben (Scare Me, Werewolves Within) who talks about his frustrating journey auditioning for SNL, the star-studded pilot he was cast in that didn't get picked up, his reflections on Sundance, and how his necessity with adapting and being in survival mode in the past is helping him cope with t...

In our final six episodes of The Need to Fail, I will be checking back in with my original guests from seven years ago. First up: Benjamin Apple (The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon, The Onion) who talks about how a year after our original conversation, he was let go from Jimmy Fallon. We talk about how the sketch that got him hired on the show did not fare well on national TV, the shame associated with publicly failing...

Edgar Momplaisir (Culture Kings, What Just Happened) gets candid, opening up about his personal demons, regrets, and rock bottom moments. We talk about not fully processing his best friends death, his frustrating audition process for the Daily Show, and not getting onto Maude Night at UCB while writing for a sketch show series. We also chat about funny funerals, religion, suicide and how humans will do pretty much anything...

Anna Salinas (badcomixbyanna, Sugar & Toys) went from a kindergarten art teacher to an assistant in the Reality TV department of a big agency working with someone who no one wanted to work with. We talk about the origins of her comic, badcomixbyanna, and how she communicated her anxiety and depression for many years but never really confronted it until recently. We also chat about how The Artist Way was a game changer ...

Joey Greer (Good Night, Alchemy This) got screwed up taking on the business side of Hollywood. We chat about how he applied his degree in theology to his creative pursuits, being sick and tired of feeling like he needed the industry's help to create something, and how he spent 16 hour nights trying to craft his comedy album. 

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James T. Robilotta (Leading Imperfectly, TEDx) is now a life coach and public speaker, but it took a lot of ups and downs to get there. We talk about how writing his book was the most polarizing thing he has done in his life, why the brain always feels stupid for letting the heart steer, chewing on his own words about authenticity and vulnerability as his marriage was crumbling, starting the first hip hop improv team in NY...

Ellen Haun (How to Get Away with Murder, Cinderella & The Glass Ceiling) was never cast in a show in all four years at USC. An accidentally dropped headshot ruined her final chance. We also chat about how she moved to NY after two agencies were interested and wound up not getting signed by either, how her riffed monologue wound up in the How to Get Away with Murder pilot, and the importance of garbage drafts.

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Michael Cruz Kayne (Late Night with Seth Meyers, High Maintenance) booked an off-broadway Stomp-like show called Hoopz, produced by Disney, and it was quickly cancelled after Michael Eisner saw it. We chat about testing for SNL, searching for validation in the UCB system, and dealing with the loss of his son.

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Charlie Todd (Improv Everywhere, Pixar IRL) tried for years to get Improv Everywhere on TV with lots of ups and downs along the way. We talk about how he wound up in handcuffs after an Improv Everywhere prank gone awry, seeing a network steal and produce one of his show ideas a year after he pitched it, being told by an agent how his show was a used car that he could not sell, and how this pandemic has been a gut check mom...

Robyn Schneider (The Beginning of Everything, You Don't Live Here) sold her first book at 18. It was the best and worst day of her life. Straddling a life between writing and medical school, Robyn overcomes trauma, book flops, book cancellations, theft, and a slew of other setbacks on the road to becoming a best selling author. Robyn talks about how she got through it all, shares some writing tips and tricks, and reveals t...

In Part 2 of our conversation, Jordan Klepper (The Daily Show, Klepper) talks about filling in as host of The Daily Show when Trevor Noah was sick, the joys of getting your own TV show and the gut-punch of it being taken away, and the life changing experience of being arrested. Jordan also takes us behind the scenes of life as a Daily Show correspondent, what he learned about mindset from The School of Life, and talks abou...

In Part 1 of our conversation, Jordan Klepper (The Daily Show, The Opposition) talks about his decade of ups and downs in Chicago, what led him to NY, and auditioning for The Daily Show. We chat about how frustrations led to Jordan creating his own popular sketch show in Chicago, how after a failed audition, he wound up eating at the Universal CityWalk Food Court overlooking the red carpet of a Fast & Furious premier, ...

Julie Buxbaum's (Tell Me Three Things, Admission) worked on her third novel for over two years, after giving birth to her first child, and made the painful decision to shelve it because it was capable but not exciting. We talk about her transition from attending Harvard Law School to becoming an author, her continuing self doubts, her routines that make writing less precious, and the importance of recognizing the differenc...

Sam Pancake (A Million Little Things, Arrested Development) got the dream call that he was getting his own TV show - but the deal was so bad he had to walk away, which actually opened up unforeseen acting opportunities. We talk about battling his addictions, his rock bottom moments, and his road to rehab and recovery, as well as what he learned about auditioning while working in commercial casting.

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Amy Spalding (We Used to Be Friends, The Summer of Jordi Perez) secured a literary agent, but it took another three years to get her first book published. We talk about the benefits of having a day job she excels at, burning her childhood novels in a family bonfire, the dangers of only participating in things you are good at, and why boredom is important for creativity and how the modern world is robbing us of it.

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Mark McConville (SuperEgo, Talking Tom & Friends) went to college to study music and was denied after his audition freshmen year. We talk about the formation of SuperEgo, the value of intention, landing a job at Disney after working 16 hour days at Starbucks and a retail store, and the importance of creating your own work.

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