Shuli Egar is a hard-working man. When he's not covering breaking news stories such as the Craptacular (two guys competing to see who could shit the most over a 24-hour period) for the Howard 100 News team on Sirius Satellite Radio, he's hosting the Miserable Men show every Sunday, contributing to the team on The Jay Thomas Show or traveling across the country nearly every weekend to perform stand-up comedy. Oh yeah, he's also having his first child–a daughter–in March.
The 35-year-old is performing Friday at the Grove of Anaheim as part of the Killers of Comedy with Howard Stern show regulars including the barely literate stand-up Rev. Bob Levy, insult comic Yucko the Clown, microcephalic dwarf Beetlejuice and fellow comedian John Tole.
Egar, born in Israel and raised in Los Angeles, now lives in New York City. We caught up with him for a Q&A.
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Q: Are you the busiest man who works at Sirius?
A: I might be. It's me or the janitor. I do Howard 100 News, The Jay Thomas Show, Miserable Men, occasionally I pop in [Howard 101 nighttime sports host Scott] Ferrall and have been known to hang on The Jason Ellis Show. The only station I haven't hit is Out Q and I have been invited.
Q: What's your schedule like?
A: I'm there everyday. The Stern show goes on vacations, but we're not off. That's the hardest times because there's nothing going on. Depending on what's going on that day, I'm in the building around 8 a.m. On a normal day, I get my four stories done by 1 p.m. On Wednesdays, my stories have to be done before The Jay Thomas Show, which starts at 3 p.m. We do Miserable Men because it's good exposure and as a fan, I like the idea of weekend content on the channels. The Sunday to Monday swing is rough because we're in there until 11 p.m. and I have to be back the next morning, but my bosses are very flexible. It's tough when we're on the road. We have to take the early flight back and sometimes we go straight from the airport to the building. Usually the first couple hours are “what did Bob do,” “what didn't Bob do” or “who picked Bob up from the police station.” Four years ago, nobody was asking me to do any radio shows. It's still one of the coolest gigs.
Q: Wasn't Miserable Men started for guys to bitch about women?
A: Yeah, it was. Bob was living in his ex-wife's basement to stay around his kid. That qualifies as misery. I had just gotten out of a long-term relationship and Jim Florentine was single. One by one, it's like the Spinal Tap curse, we started finding ladies and getting involved.
Q: As someone who lived in Los Angeles, do you have any thoughts on Orange County?
A: To all my people in Orange County, allow me to say, “hola.” OC's awesome. I used to go out there and played beach volleyball, which was always a fun sight to see the kid from Powder playing volleyball. I love it out there. Beautiful scenery, pieces of ass out there. I would love to go back, but I'm not in a gang.
Q: What do you think about living in New York?
A: I love it. Unlike the West Coast, you know where people stand within five seconds. You know if somebody hates your guts or is missing to help you. There are so many different types of people here, yet there'll all on the same page, moving to the same goal. It's alive over here. There's a vibe and I like that.
Q: What advice do you have to people who want to get into stand up?
A: You start at the bottom, at the open mics. Find a decent comic and see if you can buddy up with that person. Having a buddy helped for writing, because I always find it easier to write for someone else. It's a long process. You're not going to know how or what to write for yourself until a year into this thing. I bombed so many times my first year, and that's important because that's where you learn how to do it. I'd take a heckler over the hum of an air conditioner.
Q: What's traveling with Beetlejuice like?
A: It's an experience like no other. I know a lot of people have roommate horror stories, but too many people don't room with people who, when you tell them we have to get in the van to go to the show, says, “OK, I just have to go change my underwear.” Or have to tell your roommate out of packing his shitty underwear. This past weekend, he was really sick and Friday I roomed with him. He wasn't have a great time, but we did four shows and he did all four. He's a consummate pro. I love the guy and I have a lot of real moments with him. At one point, he was holding his stomach and I asked what was wrong. I asked if he needed to take a shit and he said, “No, it usually takes me a month.” Two seconds later, he goes, “You know what it is? I never had had appendix removed.” Some nights he enjoys being out and some nights he does not want to be bothered by anybody. He's got this new thing now where he argues with Levy in his sleep. It happened Friday and Saturday afternoon when he was napping.
Q: Is having a kid going to slow you down?
A: Of course it is. I'm at a point in my life where this is something I want. I found somebody who is the perfect person for me. One moment when I knew she was the keeper was the second or third week we had been living together, I came home and she goes, “I cleaned this for you” and she handed me my bong. It looked like it had just gotten off the shelf. I'll be 36 in October. Sal [Governale] and I share the same birthday. I want a refund now. I had to put down Call of Duty 4 to do an interview, but I know what I'm capable of. If you leave it up to me, I'll be 46 playing Call of Duty.
