Thursday August 14th, 2014 – 11am
Posted Aug 14, 2014 11:56:18 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The second hour of the 570 Midday Show
11:00 Andy Nulman, Co-Founder of the Just for Laughs Festival
Show business history is filled with stories of comic kings who fought against depression and substance abuse, not always successfully.Jonathan Winters, Williams’ hero, was institutionalized for a time. The effortless Dick Van Dyke once said he was “mostly drunk for 15 years.” John Belushi and Chris Farley died of overdoses. Mitch Hedberg, Freddie Prinze, Richard Jeni — all funny men, all gone before their time. There’s no question that comedy can be a form of escape — and recognition. Richard Pryor, one of the most brilliant comedians who ever strode on stage, was raised in a brothel, married multiple times, struggled with demons both societal and personal. He was ruthless — especially on himself. Yet he was scathingly, mercilessly funny. It was comedy that drew blood, comedy as catharsis. Chris Farley, on the other hand, grew up in a close-knit, comfortable clan — but also sometimes seemed to be running from something. His immersion in Matt Foley, the divorced motivational speaker who lived in a “van down by the river,” was both hilarious and a little scary. “We lose at least one great comic to suicide or ODs every year,” tweeted comedian Michael Ian Black on Monday. “Our jobs are to communicate, but we seem to not know how to ask for help.”
11:30 Kay Quinn, KSDK-TV reporter and anchor
The Huffington Post’s Ryan J. Reilly and the Washington Post’s Wesley Lowery were arrested Wednesday evening while covering the protests in Ferguson, Missouri after the death of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown, who was shot by a police officer last week. The journalists were released unharmed, but their detentions highlighted the town’s ramped up police presence, which has left numerous residents injured by rubber bullets, pepper spray and tear gas during protests held every night after Brown’s death. SWAT officers roughed up the reporters inside a McDonald’s, where both journalists were working. Reilly snapped a photo, prompting cops to request his identification. After the incident, Lowery and Reilly both emphasized their experience was minor compared to those of other protesters who have been swarmed by SWAT teams and hit with rubber bullets and tear gas:
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