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

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

Kattullus — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 07:57:35 -0800

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?

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 08:05:04 -0800

Was he American?

By: Kattullus

Kattullus — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 08:06:20 -0800

He was American. I remember him being very New Yorkesque.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 08:09:08 -0800

Hmm, then I got nothing (not with any name like that anyway).

By: damn dirty ape

damn dirty ape — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 08:10:05 -0800

Rick Shapiro?

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 08:17:50 -0800

Tried the show archive?

By: amro

amro — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 08:19:39 -0800

You could see if anyone here rings a bell.

By: Kattullus

Kattullus — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 08:26:16 -0800

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

By: damn dirty ape

damn dirty ape — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 08:32:53 -0800

This was the active Conan newsgroup back then.

By: dyoneo

dyoneo — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 08:47:51 -0800

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).

By: Kattullus

Kattullus — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 08:49:40 -0800

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).

By: wannalol

wannalol — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 08:55:17 -0800

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.

By: Kattullus

Kattullus — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 09:04:56 -0800

I'm having major problems with marcmaron.com, dyoneo. Can you describe the October 12th appearance in more detail?

By: wannalol

wannalol — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 09:08:50 -0800

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.

By: ornate insect

ornate insect — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 09:17:02 -0800

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.

By: dyoneo

dyoneo — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 09:28:33 -0800

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!'"

By: Kattullus

Kattullus — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 09:42:19 -0800

Thanks, dyoneo! That is indeed it. Thanks for clearing up something that's bugged me for, well, almost eight years now.

By: tula

tula — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 10:18:49 -0800

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.

By: shinynewnick

shinynewnick — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 10:19:46 -0800

He was just on Opie and Anthony last week talking about the divorce he's going through right now. Very funny guy.

By: jcruelty

jcruelty — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 10:43:56 -0800

hey this guy's pretty funny! nice.

By: gentle

gentle — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 01:25:15 -0800

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.