1 rich Libsyn https://www.libsyn.com 90 600 Stephen Rosenfield and I had a great conversation about comedy, how one can learn the craft, how comedians prepare and how he got his start. Stephen is the director and founder of the&amp;nbsp;American Comedy Institute&amp;nbsp;where folks with the comedy bug can receive great training either by way of their monthly comedy classes or in their year long program. I happen to know Stephen from working on the&amp;nbsp;website&amp;nbsp;for the school. &amp;nbsp;It's a great resource if you'd like to know more about how you can join in! Topics covered in the interview: Intro &amp;nbsp;(0:00) How we met through Ted Greenberg and&amp;nbsp;The Complete Performer&amp;nbsp;(2:13) How it all began, working on the writing&amp;nbsp;(4:58) Growing up and being funny and the need to express yourself&amp;nbsp;(7:39) Being well rounded as a comedian, Louie CK (10:11) Taking note of subjects and attitudes that are working (15:50) Comedians that have reinvented their persona (19:48) Comedians who seem to be making it up on the fly have worked hard to prepare &amp;nbsp;(22:03) Stephen's role as teacher, how to create a hyphenated career&amp;nbsp;(25:50) The One Year Program at American Comedy Institute (27:06) Doing &quot;bringer shows&quot; (bringing in an audience to the clubs) and when comedy was &quot;rock and roll&quot; (32:45) How to build and audience as a performer (39:15) Keeping warm after bombing &amp;nbsp;(42:07) Off Off Pod with Stephen Bittrich http://offoffpod.libsyn.com <iframe title="Libsyn Player" style="border: none" src="//html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/2740797/height/90/theme/custom/thumbnail/yes/direction/forward/render-playlist/no/custom-color/88AA3C/" height="90" width="600" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen></iframe> https://assets.libsyn.com/secure/content/6990605