Emmy Winner Peter Tolan Talks Comedy, Bravery & Dick Jokes With The Harold Ramis Film School

Emmy Award-winning television screenwriter, director, producer and Harold Ramis Film School advisory board member Peter Tolan visited students in January to discuss his life, his work, his influences and his use of dick jokes to satirize ideas of masculinity in society—all the while being very, very funny.

What else would you would expect from someone who won an Emmy for writing one of the most influential and groundbreaking comedies in television history, “The Larry Sanders Show”?

Comedy takes bravery

Tolan began by talking about his first experience with Second City, an interaction based on abject lies. While en route from Massachusetts to Minneapolis for a new job, he stopped in Chicago and decided to visit Second City. He told the person at the front desk he had an audition (which he did not) and that he'd come all the way from Massachusetts for it (which he had not). He got to audition for Second City that day. He didn’t get in right away, but was later asked to join a touring company--an opportunity he turned down because of his burgeoning success at Brave New Workshop.

The takeaway? Comedy takes bravery. You have to be brave in order to put yourself or your work in front of people and ask them to laugh. (Pro tip: Don’t show up at Second City and lie about a scheduled audition—we’re a lot smarter these days.)

The magic of the 5th note

Speaking specifically on improv, Tolan stated that the magic happens when you are all truly "there." He said that this rarely, if ever, happens, but when everyone on a team works together, is in sync with each other, listening and reacting to one another, you all come together and create a moment that is recognizable by everyone (on- and off-stage) as special and unrepeatable. It’s akin to when a barbershop quartet harmonizes their four notes so perfectly that they create a fifth note. This emphasizes the importance not just of teamwork—but of good teamwork, when you cease to be individuals and come together as one.

Understanding timing, understanding audience, understanding people

Tolan spoke of his experience as a writer and performer at Brave New Workshop, Minneapolis’s famed comedy-satire theater founded in 1958 by former circus aerialist and juggler Dudley Riggs. Performing allowed him to better understand comedic timing, saying that improvisers should be similar to racehorse jockeys who have a clock in their head to calibrate the pace of their races.

He also spoke about putting on a musical sketch show as a college student. The show was a hit on campus because he knew the audience was the campus. He tailored the show towards college students in general, and his fellow UMass Amherst students specifically, using the “Fiddler on the Roof” song “Tradition” to profile different groups of students. In his version, the song was titled “Tuition.”

Later in his career, Tolan worked as a writer for “The Larry Sanders Show.” In addition to understanding the mechanisms of the show, Tolan understood his boss, Garry Shandling. He knew how to work with him; he understood what Shandling wanted from his writers. Genuinely enjoying the act of creative collaboration has served Tolan well, as he went on to co-create two of his own series with Denis Leary, “The Job” and “Rescue Me,” as well as "The Jim Gaffigan Show," with (obviously) Jim Gaffigan. 

The individual is universal

Nolan advised the students to ask themselves, “What is the plot of land you stand on that makes you unique? What experiences will allow you to elicit art that speaks to the public?" He cited Carl Reiner creating “The Dick Van Dyke Show” and Garry Shandling's “The Larry Sanders Show” as examples of writers who were able to create something massively successful by taking stock of the singularity of their lives and writing to it. He advised his audience to do the same.

Join The Harold Ramis Film School at The Second City Training Center for an open house to find out more about the only film school in the world focused entirely on comedic storytelling. Hear from current students, faculty and staff and get your questions answered during this free event on Wednesday, April 12th in Chicago. Register online now.