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He is still baffled that a comedian jumped off the Store’s roof because he was not getting enough sets. Although he laments the friendship he lost and believes comics are due their pay, he maintains that the era was wrought with too much reverence for the Store. He had been writing screenplays all of his life, and his unusually early foray into comedy, starting in his late teens, was just the beginning. Binder’s sites were set on something more substantial then becoming a regular at the Store. His dear friendship with Jay Leno was soured when Binder went against his peers, and performed during a job action which saw comedians calling for paid performances. The Store holds some weight in the comedy community. And long before the comics of today, legends like Richard Pryor, Sam Kinison, and Jay Leno worked out there. Joe Rogan stepped on stage during a Carlos Mencia set at the store to publicly accuse him of stealing jokes from Rogan’s opener, Ari Shaffir. Tony Hinchecliffe slept in his car behind the building.
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It’s where Joey Diaz enjoyed the best water pressure a comedy club’s showers could offer a homeless comic. It’s where Maron worked the door for a year before beginning his Los Angeles comedy tenure. The Comedy Store is the hall of legends in these circles. Some context is due for those who, unlike me, aren’t addicted to podcasts such as the "Joe Rogan Experience," "The Church of What’s Happening Now" with Joey Diaz, Bill Burr’s "Monday Morning Podcast," or Maron’s "WTF," to name only a few of the burgeoning comedian podcasts. Recalling the early days of the world famous Comedy Store in Los Angeles, California, when Richard Pryor was honing his act, and founder Mitzi Shore would tell a comedian looking to put on a show in Detroit that that’s her job, Binder sought to dispel the illusion that becoming a regular at the Store is the end all be all. On today’s episode of Marc Maron’s "WTF" podcast, former comedian and longtime filmmaker Mike Binder gave the comedy world, whose exploits are gaining notoriety due to the increasing popularity of comedian hosted podcasts a reality check.