Archive FM

Ian Talks Comedy

Sal Viscuso (Soap, MASH, Barney Miller)

Sal discusses growing up in Brooklyn and having TV and movies be his safe space; Catholic school; moving to California at age 12; going to public school; joining the drama department at UC Davis; studying at NYU under Olympia Dukakis; doing a few commercials and The Taking of Pelham 1,2,3 in New York; moving to LA and getting a role in The Montefuscos; The Montefuscos getting canceled; doing Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman; how being nice to a kid at an Elvis Costello concert got him booked on The Tonight Show; getting Soap; meeting Richard Nixon; befriending Diana Canova & Robert Urich; his mother's reaction; MASH; his father; Ray Abruzzo; Barney Miller; how his meatballs impressed Carl Reiner, Mel Broos, Anne Bancroft, and Dom DeLuise and got him three movies; Family Feud; Richard Dawson; Mike Douglas; his play A Steady Rain which landed him on Scandal; wanting to appear on The Bear; his meatball recipe


Broadcast on:
20 Jan 2024

Sal discusses growing up in Brooklyn and having TV and movies be his safe space; Catholic school; moving to California at age 12; going to public school; joining the drama department at UC Davis; studying at NYU under Olympia Dukakis; doing a few commercials and The Taking of Pelham 1,2,3 in New York; moving to LA and getting a role in The Montefuscos; The Montefuscos getting canceled; doing Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman; how being nice to a kid at an Elvis Costello concert got him booked on The Tonight Show; getting Soap; meeting Richard Nixon; befriending Diana Canova & Robert Urich; his mother's reaction; MASH; his father; Ray Abruzzo; Barney Miller; how his meatballs impressed Carl Reiner, Mel Broos, Anne Bancroft, and Dom DeLuise and got him three movies; Family Feud; Richard Dawson; Mike Douglas; his play A Steady Rain which landed him on Scandal; wanting to appear on The Bear; his meatball recipe