Shuli Egar, an ex-staffer on Howard Stern’s show, talks about what it was like to work for the radio star
Shuli Egar decision to uproot his family from their cramped two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment in the New York City borough of Queens for the airiness and charm of Huntsville, Ala.
Right in the midst of a global pandemic and citywide shutdown drew a mixed reaction from his close friends.
The pandemic spelled death for the Israeli-born Egar, who relied on jobs as a performer and musician.
To get away from his dismal situation in Fresh York, where he couldn’t work out new stuff because restaurants and comedy clubs were closing, Egar and his family drove 14 hours to Huntsville, where Egar knew a comedy club owner.
Thanks to an open-door policy at the local comedy club, Egar soon found himself on the receiving end of southern hospitality and able to play concerts.
Fast forward to now, and Egar has established “The Shuli Show,” a new podcast that was previously produced for Patreon but is now produced by Hurrdat Media.
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“The first thing we noticed when we came out here was that there was no politics out here,” Egar said of his new home to Fox News.
“No one was mentioning this side or that side.” The doors were open.
Everyone was hiding behind masks, and folks were just going about their daily lives.”
Egar, on the other hand, claimed his decision surprised his friends, who are still surprised to see him whenever they perform in Huntsville.
“I moved to an area of the country where stand-up was still happening indoors, albeit in a reduced capacity,” Egar explained.
“I’ve had the opportunity to work with some fantastic comics who have passed through town, which is always a blast.” They’re my acquaintances.
I usually like shocking them by revealing that I am now based in Huntsville.”
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Despite starting a new life in Huntsville, the stand-up comedian left behind not just his home in New York City, but also a 15-year stint on the “Howard Stern Show.”
“Howard was incredibly supportive,” the writer-comedian recounted of the moment he told the shock jock of his leaving.
“He praised me for 15 years of service, and I told him what an honour it was for me because when I first started doing stand-up, I started in Vegas and played to four or five people a night,” he said.
And so, coming into that studio where it was just him, Rob, and Fred [Norris] — here are these three individuals, plus Gary [Dell’Abate], so it’s four or five, sometimes six people — that was my audience. In my head, that’s a sold-out show,” Egar continued.
What did he think of his time on the show? When they were on-air, Egar made it his aim “to make Howard laugh,” knowing from his years as a viewer of the show that “when he laughs, the audience laughs, and you’re doing something well.”
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“That was always my objective,” Egar explained. “That’s been my ambition since I was a little boy starting school in America in the States, when I had a strange name and people would tease me, and instead of fighting back, I’d make them laugh.”
“I’d want to make that individual laugh all the time.” And it was the same with him. As a comic, he was instrumental in shaping my sense of humour. Egar remarked, “He was my Johnny Carson.”
Egar’s interaction with Stern stands in stark contrast to his claimed chilly manner, which has been accused of him by many show insiders.
In a December exposé, Page Six quoted a show insider as saying that Stern is “worse than Ellen [DeGeneres]” and that employees are ordered “not to stare” at him at work.
However, for Egar, working with Stern for a single day “would have been terrific,” but working with him for over a decade “was great,” as he puts it.
“He thanked me,” I said. And I believe he understands deep down inside that I am capable of more and that I should try.
I mean, here’s a guy who did something similar. He did, after all, roll the dice. “He took a chance on himself,” Egar remarked.
“He went up against management,” Egar continued. He refused to take s—t from anyone.
He wouldn’t take no for an answer and went on to become the greatest radio personality of all time.
So I believe there’s a part of him that understands. And I had a terrific time talking with them.
I also had the opportunity to live a dream for 15 years. It was fantastic.
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