On today's show, a conversation with author and comedian Ritch Shydner. Ritch Shydner rode in on the wave of the 1980s stand up boom, playing stages coast-to-coast, working with the best comedians of the era along the way appearing on HBO, David Letterman, both Jay Leno and Johnny Carson's TONIGHT SHOW as well as working and writing on shows incl. ROSEANNE, MARRIED ...WITH CHILDREN, and THE JEFF FOXWORTHY SHOW. Shydner took time off from doing stand-up in the late 90s but has returned in recent years, I had the good fortune to see Ritch play the Borgota in Atlantic City a few weeks back where he took control of a crowded house and again delivered his lean compact set like the seasoned professional that he is.

It's all in Shydner's recent memoir, “Kicking Through the Ashes: My Life As a Stand-Up in the 1980s Comedy Boom” on the Mr. Media imprint, a highly-readable book, where Shydner is witness to the birth of modern comedy while working with people of the stature of Jerry Seinfeld, Steve Martin, Robin Williams and Sam Kinison, as well as taking the stage on some of television's most-watched programs. But deeper down in the details there's a beautiful quiet desperation where struggles with economics, status, and chemical abuse, all led to a personal and professional collapse. Plus, there's jokes.

I wanted to talk to Shydner about the book but I also wanted to talk about our shared past. We both grew up in the same small Southern New Jersey town, Pennsville, a town of about 14,000, historically tied to the county's DuPont chemical plant and later, The Salem Nuclear Power Plant. It's the kind of small town kids dream of escaping when growing up and Shydner's success was a sort of inspiration and source of local pride. Although I had never met Ritch before, I did attend kindergarten with his younger sister, Rhonda and I believe Ritch was friendly with my cousin Cheryl since high school. As I'd hoped, that Pennsville camaraderie kicked in right away, and we talked about Ritch's opening for the Ramones, working for Roseann Barr, taking bad advice from Sam Kinison making a lethal faux pas with Johnny Carson, his friendship with cult comic Bill Hicks, being competitive with his stand-up ex-wife, knowing who to make fun of, swimming in chemical waste and more.