letters – The Comic's Comic

Conan O’Brien’s high-school letter to E.B. White

December 5, 2019December 5, 2019

Conan O’Brien graduated from Brookline High School in 1981. As a junior, the teenager who was not yet a beloved TV writer and late-night host apparently wasn’t feeling much love for the game. Until he got a hold of some E.B. White. White, a longtime contributor to The New Yorker …

Phil Hartman’s handwritten letter offers advice to a young comedian

August 16, 2011August 16, 20115

In 1997, while Phil Hartman was enjoying his post-SNL fame in primetime with NewsRadio, a 19-year-old aspiring comedian named Mike Scott wrote Hartman a letter and included an audio recording of his early routines. Amazingly, Scott not only received a reply, but also Hartman’s honest assessment of the recording. There’s …