# Ross Shafer (Almost Live!/Late Show/Match Game)

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/ian-talks-comedy-140290/ross-shafer-almost-live-late-show-match-game
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/ian-talks-comedy-140290/ross-shafer-almost-live-late-show-match-game.md
Podcast: [Ian Talks Comedy](https://stenobird.com/podcast/ian-talks-comedy-140290)
Published: 2026-05-23T13:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ian-fermaglich/episodes/Ross-Shafer-Almost-Live-Late-ShowMatch-Game-e3jn9fi
Audio file: https://anchor.fm/s/21d579e4/podcast/play/120349618/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-4-21%2F5066a9e0-71e0-c1ca-c92d-eed7a3ab6a12.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/ian-talks-comedy-140290/episodes/ross-shafer-almost-live-late-show-match-game
Duration seconds: 3598

## Resource

Ross Shafer joined me to talk about watching Rusty Nails as a kid; flipping bikes, cars, houses, and businesses; college football; owning a stereo / pet store named Woofers and Tweeters; hamster drag racing; going to a comedy club when he had an ulcer; seeing there was a science there; trying it and getting good enough to win Showtimes Comedy Laugh Off; having a day job and not being able to move to LA; bombing on Alan Thicke's Canadian talk show; pitching Almost Live!; getting the show on the air on the fly; creating fame for little towns near Seattle; Louie, Louie campaign makes it a hit, but no one wants to syndicate; gets job to host Late Show but has to cancel remaining gigs; writers to Johnny Carson; Writer's Strike causes theme shows like TV reunions; Ozzy Osbourne; Hollywood Squares & Howard Stern; finding out Late Show is cancelled that morning; getting Match Game; memorable trip; Sally Struthers and Charles Nelson Reilly; Iraq War preempts show and ratings dive; began doing corporate gigs; his WOW versus POW theory; the book Love, Johnny by Mark Malkoff

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## Transcript

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