Woody Allen discusses his life and art, the influence of both success and failure on his work, and how he finds comedy in life’s difficulties and trials. He discusses his first screenplay, “What’s Up Pussycat?” and other comedians who have influenced the development of his own comedic work, including Mort Sahl, Charlie Chaplin, the Marx Brothers, and George S. Kaufman.

The biographer discusses the early life of comedian Groucho Marx, his stage career, his brothers, and their mother/manager, all further described in the book, Hello, I Must be Going: Groucho & His Friends.*Please note: some sections have been edited out from the original recording due to copyright considerations