Has anyone heard of a stand-up comic named David Jerusalem? The tricky part is that I might be misremembering the name.

July 15, 2008 7:57 AM

Back in the late 90s, I think in the winter of 1997-8, I saw a stand-up comedian on Conan O'Brien that blew me away but I've never been able to track him down since. I think his name was David Jerusalem. He made jokes about the Olympics and having been a heroin addict. He didn't perform in front of a mic but was interviewed by Conan. I've been trying to find information about this guy for years without success, does my description ring any bells for you?

It could have been later than 1998, possibly even as late as 2000. Here's what little I remember of his jokes (note: this isn't verbatim):

He didn't think much of olympic athletes, running around with poles and jumping over other poles. He compared them unfavorably to junkies who jogged down to the corner for their fix. He also said he missed one thing about being a junkie which was that back then all of his hobbies fit into a little box (at which point the comic did a "box-opening" mime).

Anyone know this comic?

posted by Kattullus to society & culture (20 comments total)

Was he American?
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 8:05 AM on July 15

He was American. I remember him being very New Yorkesque.
posted by Kattullus at 8:06 AM on July 15

Hmm, then I got nothing (not with any name like that anyway).
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 8:09 AM on July 15

Rick Shapiro?
posted by damn dirty ape at 8:10 AM on July 15

Tried the show archive?
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 8:17 AM on July 15

You could see if anyone here rings a bell.
posted by amro at 8:19 AM on July 15

I might not be remembering it correctly, gnfti, I saw this a decade ago, so anything you have might help me. Thanks for the link to the show archive, if it comes to that I can always just go through the archive, episode by episode, looking for that particular appearance.

It could be Rick Shapiro, but I'm not certain. I remember there being a site on the internet, possibly a news group or discussion board, where people reviewed every single Conan O'Brien episode. If Rick Shapiro was on in the late 90s he would have been mentioned on this site. I haven't been able to find the newsgroup or website with Google or Google Groups.

No one rang a bell, amro, when scanning the wikipedia list of comedians
posted by Kattullus at 8:26 AM on July 15

This was the active Conan newsgroup back then.
posted by damn dirty ape at 8:32 AM on July 15

Marc Maron, author of The Jerusalem Syndrome. You appear to be remembering the October 12, 2000 show (available on his web site, once you figure out that you need to disable your pop-up blocker).
posted by dyoneo at 8:47 AM on July 15

I searched alt.fan.conan-obrien but didn't strike gold searching for either [shapiro] or [jerusalem]. Though I ran across an "abstract" and had a vague memory of actually reading a negative review in a similar format of the appearance I'm searching for (but more opinionated than the one I came across).
posted by Kattullus at 8:49 AM on July 15

Was it David Cross? According to the show archive he appeared on the show in 1997 and 1998. Other comedians called David that appeared during this period are David Brenner and David Feldman. The latter is negatively reviewed as a hack and potential worst guest of the week on the alt.fan.conan-obrien newsgroup.
posted by wannalol at 8:55 AM on July 15

I'm having major problems with marcmaron.com, dyoneo. Can you describe the October 12th appearance in more detail?
posted by Kattullus at 9:04 AM on July 15

Kattullus, I just watched the video of Marc Maron on Conan from Oct 12th 2000 and it is exactly as you described in your question. Here is the direct link to the video of the appearance. Dyoneo got it.
posted by wannalol at 9:08 AM on July 15

katullus--dyoneo's correct: it's definitely the marc moran 10-12-00 show (I just watched it): he talks about "nikes for junkies" and the olympics, and a lot of what you mention remembering, etc. It has to be.
posted by ornate insect at 9:17 AM on July 15

In case you're still having problems watching the video:

"What's the point of that, watching the Olympics? How does that make anyone feel good, especially someone like me? You know, I watched for like three minutes, I'm like, okay, great, you're the fastest swimmer... Yeah, it's like, oh boy, he's the guy that jumps over the thing with the pole the best. Whoooo! You know, it's like, good luck with that. You know, I don't come from that, I've never been an athletic person... When I was young, my heroes, who were they? They were Keith Richards, you know, Jimi Hendrix, I mean, I come from the more sex drugs rock and roll school, you know, back when I was younger. When you do drugs, Conan, all your hobbies fit into a little box, it goes right in your desk. You know, when someone comes over, they're like 'what are we doing today?' 'Well I don't know, let's have a look (mimes opening box). I think we got our day planned here!'"
posted by dyoneo at 9:28 AM on July 15

Thanks, dyoneo! That is indeed it. Thanks for clearing up something that's bugged me for, well, almost eight years now.
posted by Kattullus at 9:42 AM on July 15

Marc Maron used to do a regular show on Air America called Morning Sedition, and now, every so often, he subs for one of the regular hosts.
posted by tula at 10:18 AM on July 15

He was just on Opie and Anthony last week talking about the divorce he's going through right now. Very funny guy.
posted by shinynewnick at 10:19 AM on July 15

hey this guy's pretty funny! nice.
posted by jcruelty at 10:43 AM on July 15

Hey, I saw that show, too! He made such an impression that I got tickets for his Jerusalem Syndrome act at the Westbeth Theater Center. The show was pretty good, but he was much funnier on Conan. I haven't seen or heard of him since.
posted by gentle at 1:25 AM on July 16