The Flagpole Radio Café will return on Saturday, February 9, at 7 pm. Guest artist Tom Leopold will join the ensemble of local artists performing at Edmond Town Hall, 45 Main Street.

Tickets are $35 and are on sale at flagpoleproductions.org. For additional information, call 203-364-0898.

The Flagpole Radio Café is an evening of engaging music and compelling comedy performed by an ensemble of local artists. The ensemble comprises musicians Jim Allyn, Rick Brodsky, Howie Bujese, Cadence Carroll, Dick Neil, and Francine Wheeler and actors Martin Blanco, Barbara Gaines, Kate Katcher, and David Wheeler.

Of the occasional performance series, last offered in April 2018, Co-Producer Barbara Gaines remarked, “It’s time to come back.

“We never intended to be away for so long, and we all miss creating and performing the show,” she added. “The ensemble is very excited, and I believe our audience is as well.”

Co-Producer Martin Blanco added, “We’re also excited to have Tom Leopold as our guest artist. Tom Leopold was an important comic artist of the American comedy movement that so many of grew up with. Tom also writes and performs comic songs, and he’ll be bringing his distinctive song stylings to the Edmond Town Hall. If you are a fan of The National Lampoon, This is Spinal Tap, and Saturday Night Live, not to mention Seinfeld, you will not want to miss Tom Leopold.”

From writing for Seinfeld, Cheers, and Will & Grace to working with such comedic legends as Jonathan Winters, Bob Hope, Lucille Ball, Martin Short, and others, Tom Leopold has been at the epicenter of comedy for nearly 40 years. He began writing material for National Lampoon magazine and went on to work on The National Lampoon Radio Hour when it was created in 1973. There he worked with comic legends such as Chevy Chase, Christopher Guest, and Richard Belzer.

Mr Leopold transitioned into television sketch comedy writing when The Chevy Chase Show began in 1977. He has been a producer, story editor, and writer on a number of beloved American sitcoms, including Caroline in the City, Cheers, Ellen, Hope & Faith, Seinfeld, and Will & Grace.

Mr Leopold’s career as a comedy writer has moved beyond television in recent years. His third novel — Milt & Marty: The Longest Lasting & Least Successful Comedy Writing Duo in Show Biz History — was praised by critics and peers alike. He wrote The Mark Twain Awards Honoring Will Farrell, Bill Murray, and David Letterman.

Mr Leopold also recently wrote all the jokes for Vice President Pence’s Grid Iron speech and has written comedy speeches for such political folk as Retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, and former CIA Director Robert Gates.

Beginning in 2012, Tom Leopold entertained artists on radio as the co-host with Father Leo on Entertaining Truth on Sirius XM’s Catholic Channel. A former secular Jew and recent Catholic convert, Mr Leopold is a sought-after speaker for his hilarious, heartfelt, and poignant performance lecture, “A Comedy Writer Finds God: My Journey to Faith, One Laugh at a Time,” in which he tells the story of his crisis of no faith to his discovery of and conversion to the Catholic faith.

Mr Leopold has spoken at Catholic parishes, Knights of Columbus chapters, Catholic universities, Catholic conferences, libraries, and JCCs. In 2014, he was honored with The Christopher Spirit Award by The Christophers, a nonprofit organization rooted in the Judeo-Christian tradition of service to God and humanity.

Currently, Mr Leopold is developing a television show for the Blaze network called DWECK. He is the head writer and co-star for the politically incorrect series, scheduled to debut in March.

Mr Leopold lives with his wife, Barbara, and their two daughters, dividing their time between New York City and New Milford.