Daniel Lobell

Daniel Lobell is a Los Angeles-based American stand-up comedian, podcaster, and comic-book writer best known for his podcast Modern Day Philosophers.[1][2] Comedian Marc Maron credits him with creating the first podcast focused on stand-up comedy, Comical Radio.[3]

For the Swiss-German drummer, see Daniel Löble.
Daniel Lobell
Born1982-83 (age 37–38)[1]
Queens, New York
Alma materBaruch College
OccupationStand-up comedian, podcaster, comic-book writer
Years active2007-present
Websitedannylobell.com
fairenoughcomic.com
moderndayphilosophers.net

He has released two comedy albums on Dan Schlissel's Stand Up! Records. He also created and writes the autobiographical comic book Fair Enough, also published by Stand Up!.

Personal life

Lobell was born to Orthodox Jewish parents in the New York City borough of Queens and grew up on Long Island. He is the oldest of four boys.[4] Lobell's family has roots in the Scottish and Turkish Jewish communities.[5][6] Though raised in a religious family, he was interested in comedy from a young age, inspired by Jerry Seinfeld, Adam Sandler, and Jim Carrey. Lobell fell away from his Orthodox faith in his 20s when starting as a comedian, but returned when his fiancé converted to Judaism before their marriage in 2015.[2][1] Lobell graduated from Baruch College in New York.[2]

Career

Lobell has been performing stand-up since he was a teenager in New York.[7] His comedy is frequently autobiographical,[8] often a combination of stand-up and storytelling[9] focusing on Jewish culture and faith, and Lobell's unusual status as an Orthodox Jewish comedian.[1] Lobell will not perform or travel on the Sabbath.[10] Despite his belief, Lobell's comedy often covers taboo topics such as sex.[6]

Lobell befriended Jackie Mason, George Carlin, and Carl Reiner after interviewing Mason for his college newspaper; Mason and Carlin became important mentors in his early career. He also worked for Mason selling audio cassettes after Mason's shows.[11][5] A fan of comic writer Harvey Pekar, Lobell struck up a friendship with him by cold-calling Pekar at his house in Cleveland.[12]

Podcasts

From 2004 to 2012, Lobell ran the podcast Comical Radio, on which he interviewed more than 1,000 comedians.[3][7][13] In 2009, he created a webseries based on Comical Radio, Rise of the Radio Show,[9] which featured performances from Patrice O'Neal, Colin Quinn, J.B. Smoove, Dave Attell, and Brian Posehn.[14][13] Lobell shuttered Comical Radio in 2012 and moved to Los Angeles to expand his career.[7]

Lobell began a new podcast, Modern Day Philosophers, in 2013 with the idea of approaching classical philosophy through the lens of stand-up comics, who Lobell felt were the philosophers of the modern age,[15] telling one interviewer, "my feeling is that all the knowledge in the world is accessible to everybody, it’s just sometimes hidden in code."[16] Guests have included Marc Maron, Reggie Watts, and Maria Bamford.[16]

He also hosts medical website Doctorpedia's Leading Voices podcast.[17]

Comedy albums

Lobell has released two albums on Stand Up! Records, 2013's Some Kind of Comedian and 2017's The Nicest Boy in Barcelona.[18][19] Reviewer Richard Lanoie, writing on The Serious Comedy Site, called Some Kind of Comedian unfocused but said "there is a hell of a lot to like."[20] Chris Milea of Stage Time magazine called the album "quite clever" and praised Lobell's "notable amount of ingenuity and risk-taking."[21] Reviews of Barcelona were stronger. Chris Spector of Midwest Record said Lobell had "mastered doing the observational thing without hitting you with it like a flying mallet",[22] while Lanoie called Barcelona a "rock solid" improvement on Lobell's first album.[8]

Comics

Lobell was an avid artist from childhood, and was inspired to pursue a career in comics by the examples of Stan Lee and Harvey Pekar. In 2018, Lobell began an autobiographical comic book, Fair Enough. The first issue covers his troubled school-age years and friendship with Pekar.[12][23]

Other work

Lobell performs regularly at the Laugh Factory and the Hollywood Improv in Los Angeles.[2] He has been a guest twice on the WTF with Marc Maron podcast.[3][24]

In 2017, Lobell performed his autobiographical stand-up show Broke as a Joke at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and Hollywood Fringe Festival. The show covers a number of Lobell's often-bizarre self-started business ventures, including stints as a breeder of hairless cats, a door-to-door lightbulb salesman, cleaning shark tanks in the Israeli city of Eilat,[11] and raising chickens with his neighbor, an Ecuadorian gang member.[4][10] Lobell followed in 2018 with Fat Chance, about his struggles with obesity.[25] He has performed multiple times at the Glasgow International Comedy Festival.[26]

He performed in and contributed writing for Hasidic comic Mendy Pellin's 2014 series Jewbellish the News.[27]

His work has been featured on This American Life[28] and TedX.[11] He is a frequent essayist for various publications focused on Jewish life, including The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles[29] and the website Aish.com.[30][31]

Discography

References
  1. Horwitz, Simi (2016-10-31). "Meet 7 Orthodox Comics Who Are Making Comedy Kosher Again by the Forward". The Forward. New York City. Retrieved 2020-11-13.
  2. "Kylie Wakefield, Danny Lobell". New York Times. New York City. 2015-08-02. Retrieved 2020-11-13.
  3. Marc Maron (2013-06-17). "Episode 398: Danny Lobell". WTF with Marc Maron (Podcast). Retrieved 2020-12-09.
  4. Torok, Ryan (May 31, 2017). "'Broke' life is rich in comedy material for Danny Lobell's show". The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. Retrieved 2020-11-13.
  5. Yaffe, Simon (2017-06-23). "Comedian laughing all the way back to his roots" (PDF). Jewish Telegraph. p. 32. Retrieved 2020-11-13.
  6. Lambert, Josh (2014-05-19). "Comedy Isn't Kosher, but It Can Be Funny". Tablet. Retrieved 2020-11-13.
  7. "About Us". Modern Day Philiosophers. Retrieved 2020-11-13.
  8. Lanoie, Richard (2018-04-09). "Danny Lobell – The Nicest Boy in Barcelona". The Serious Comedy Site. Retrieved 2020-11-17.
  9. Sass, Megan (August 12, 2013). "Some Kind of Comedian: Danny Lobell". Heeb Magazine. Retrieved 2020-11-13.
  10. Spiro, Amy (2017-06-25). "Broke, Jewish... and flying to Scotland". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 2020-11-13.
  11. Strauss, Ilana (August 11, 2017). "What it's like to be friends with Jackie Mason and George Carlin". From the Grapevine. Retrieved 2020-11-13.
  12. Noonan, Ari L. (April 11, 2018). "Danny Lobell Draws on Pekar for Comic Book". The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. Retrieved 2020-11-13.
  13. Gadino, Dylan P. (2009-03-02). "Comical Radio: The rise of Danny Lobell's comedy crew". LaughSpin. Retrieved 2020-11-13.
  14. Danny Lobell at IMDb
  15. Levitt, Lee (August 17, 2017). "Two Jews go into a comedy club, one old, one young..." The Jewish Chronicle. London. Retrieved 2020-12-07.
  16. Stamato, Philip (2017-07-20). "Seeking Adventure and Demystifying Philosophy with Danny Lobell". Vulture. New York City. Retrieved 2020-11-13.
  17. "The Doctorpedia Podcast". Doctorpedia. Retrieved 2020-11-13.
  18. Some Kind of Comedian at AllMusic. Retrieved 2020-12-09.
  19. The Nicest Boy in Barcelona at AllMusic. Retrieved 2020-12-09.
  20. Lanoie, Richard (2018-04-09). "Danny Lobell – Some Kind of Comedian". The Serious Comedy Site. Retrieved 2020-11-17.
  21. Milea, Chris (May 1, 2013). "Comedy Review: Danny Lobell, Some Kind of Comedian". Retrieved 2020-11-13.
  22. Spector, Chris (2017-07-25). "Volume 40/Number 266". Midwest Record. Retrieved 2020-11-13.
  23. "About". Fair Enough. Retrieved 2020-11-13.
  24. Marc Maron (2018-03-01). "Episode 894: Bill Janovitz/Danny Lobell". WTF with Marc Maron (Podcast). Retrieved 2020-12-09.
  25. Stewart, Donald (August 18, 2018). "Edinburgh Fringe 2018 - Danny Lobell: Fat Chance". Fringe Review. Retrieved 2020-12-09.
  26. "An Interview with Danny Lobell". Mumble Comedy. July 4, 2017. Retrieved 2020-12-09.
  27. Lagnado, Lucette (2014-11-03). "This Rabbi Raps and Riffs—on Judaism". Wall Street Journal. New York City. Retrieved 2020-12-09.
  28. "456: Reap What You Sow". This American Life. January 27, 2012. Event occurs at 38:56. Retrieved 2020-12-09.
  29. Lobell, Danny (August 12, 2020). "Sorry, Not Sorry: How Do We Forgive and Evolve in an Age of Cancel Culture?". The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. Retrieved 2020-12-09.
  30. Lobell, Danny (October 24, 2016). "A Comedian's Return to Judaism". Aish.com. Retrieved 2020-12-09.
  31. Lobell, Danny (December 24, 2016). "Chanukah: Why We Fry". Aish.com. Retrieved 2020-12-09.
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