The Marx Brothers Council Podcast
An insightful but not too serious look at the Marx Brothers films, careers, and lives from some guys who really need to get out more.
Hosted by Matthew Coniam ("The Annotated Marx Brothers," "That's Me, Groucho!"), Noah Diamond ("Gimme a Thrill: The Story of I'll Say She Is") and Bob Gassel (he'll write a book someday...or perhaps read one). Featuring guest appearances by Marx experts, notable fans, and even family members.
New episodes post monthly.
For more info or to leave a comment, visit us at: marxbrotherscouncilpodcast.com
Follow us on Twitter: @MarxBrosPodcast
or Bluesky: @marxbrotherscouncilpodcast.com
And join the lively discussion on 'The Marx Brothers Council' Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1389369721281242
Contact us directly at: [email protected]
- Update frequency
- every 28 days
- Average duration
- 88 minutes
- Episodes
- 97
- Years Active
- 2018 - 2025
66 “The Little We Know About Leonard”
A deep dive into Maxine Marx’s 1980 biography of her father, “Growing Up With Chico”.
Matthew and Noah discuss the book’s honesty in taking on Chico’s self-centered lifestyle, while also portraying …
01:38:27 |
Tue 27 Feb 2024
65 “Our Rowe, Rohauer and Groucho Hour” featuring Mike Rowe and Groucho Marx
A VERY special episode as we are joined by TV writer, comedian, and Council member Mike Rowe to premiere a previously unheard 1967 interview with Groucho, conducted by the infamous film collector and…
01:39:22 |
Fri 26 Jan 2024
64 “Groucho and We” featuring Frank Ferrante
Groucho’s 1959’s autobiography, “Groucho and Me” is delved into, featuring the world’s most renowned impressionist of the man, Frank Ferrante.
The guys question if the book is truly an autobiography…
02:09:41 |
Fri 22 Dec 2023
63 “Coming Attractions” featuring Jerry Sroka
A busy two-fold episode. First the guys deep dive into the world of Marx Brothers movie trailers, exploring their sometimes puzzling approaches, noting unique footage or dialogue, and lamenting those…
01:45:45 |
Sat 25 Nov 2023
62 “Blooray, Blooray, Blooray!”
This month the guys look at two films with historically-important Marx appearances that were restored and released on a 2020 Blu-ray…now do you get the title?
First, Matthew and Noah dissect Harpo’s…
01:21:35 |
Thu 02 Nov 2023
61 “Groucho, Harpo, Chico, and Sometimes Scardino” featuring Don Scardino
“30 Rock”, “Only Murders in the Building”, “2 Broke Girls”, “The West Wing”…this is a minuscule sampling of series directed by our guest, director/actor/producer Don Scardino, a rabid Marx Brothers f…
01:23:33 |
Fri 22 Sep 2023
60 “The Misty Corridors of Time” Our 60th Episode Retrospective
On the occasion of our sixtieth episode (not counting the ones we don’t count), we look back at the history of The Marx Brothers Council Podcast. Starting with its origins, as most stories do, we rec…
01:09:48 |
Wed 09 Aug 2023
59 “Flywheel Rides Again” featuring Mark Brisenden
The lost 1932 Groucho/Chico radio series “Flywheel, Shyster, and Flywheel” has long been a white whale for Marx fans. While the scripts were discovered in 1988, and a few tantalizing recordings have …
01:14:39 |
Tue 25 Jul 2023
58 “Acid Reflux” - our ‘Skidoo’ deep dive featuring Cinco Paul
This month, we welcome back “Schmigadoon!” co-creator/showrunner Cinco Paul to help sift thru the curiosity that is Groucho Marx’s final film appearance, the ‘far-out’ 1968 comedy, “Skidoo.” You don…
01:38:53 |
Fri 23 Jun 2023
57 “So This Is Dr. Film” featuring Eric Grayson
Film preservationist and collector Eric Grayson joins us to examine the 2023 state of the Marx Brothers’ catalog. We discuss which films have missing, damaged, or subpar footage (and we don’t mean “G…
01:57:43 |
Fri 26 May 2023
56 “Question Marx”
Once again we dip into the mailbag for questions and comments from our loyal listeners. Bob joins us to serve as quizmaster, as we discuss subjects such as post-Duck Soup Freedonia/Sylvania relations…
01:10:07 |
Sun 30 Apr 2023
55 "Did You Ever Sit and Ponder as You Walk Along the Strand?"
What if Eddie Buzzell directed “Horse Feathers”? What if the Marxes did a film with Mae West? What if Harpo and Chico made shorts in the 1940’s?…
And what if Matthew and Noah did an episode ponderin…
01:21:16 |
Thu 30 Mar 2023
54 “There’s an Honored Guest Tonight” featuring Brett Leveridge
Piggybacking on Robert Bader’s superb “Groucho & Cavett” documentary, we are joined by Brett Leveridge, Marxfest co-host and house manager for Noah’s “I’ll Say She Is” revival, for an in-depth look a…
02:10:33 |
Wed 22 Feb 2023
53 “Duck Privates” featuring Nick Santa Maria
With Matthew and Nick’s book, “The Annotated Abbott & Costello” hitting the shelves, it is the perfect time to discuss the duo’s appeal, or sometimes lack thereof, to Marx Brothers fans.
We almost e…
01:35:57 |
Wed 25 Jan 2023
52 “I Got a Fire Engine!” featuring Brian Levant
Director/writer/producer Brian Levant (“Happy Days” “Beethoven” “The Flintstones” “Still The Beaver”) discusses his Marx-inspired career and new book “My Life and Toys”; a compilation of photos of hi…
01:41:31 |
Sat 17 Dec 2022
51 Speaking of “Speaking of Harpo” featuring Hannah Mira
Film educator Hannah Mira returns for a deep dive into Susan Fleming Marx’s long-awaited memoir, brought to fruition by Robert Bader.
01:24:51 |
Thu 10 Nov 2022
MiniCast: “State of the Podcast…and a Marx Mystery Solved”
We’re taking the month off from our normal festivities, but here’s an important update on our plans going forward, followed by a resolution to a “Room Service” mystery.
00:16:44 |
Sun 09 Oct 2022
50 “The Gods Look Down and Laugh”- our Animal Crackers deep dive featuring Heidi Gassel
Our final plunge into the official Marx canon brings us to “Animal Crackers” and Bob’s favorite non-manicuring gal, Heidi, joins us for the ride.
Your hosts have made no secret that this stands atop…
02:11:07 |
Thu 15 Sep 2022
49 “Four Empty Dunces” featuring Brad Sohlo
A look at the Marx Brothers’ relationship with intellectuals, focusing on Harpo’s friendship with writer Alexander Woollcott. Council member and Woollcott authority Brad Sohlo joins us to decipher ju…
01:03:49 |
Fri 12 Aug 2022
48 “Your Silent Partner”
With the imminent arrival of Susan Marx’s memoir, “Speaking of Harpo”, it’s the perfect time to celebrate the (not) mute, (not) red-haired, (not) second-born, (not) Adolph Marx.
Noah leads an examin…
01:43:21 |
Sat 02 Jul 2022
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