Ep254 - Robert Horn: Learning to Laugh at Ourselves

The Theatre Podcast with Alan Seales

Robert Horn's life story is an incredible testament that you can use humor as a way of survival—well, that and a little bit of luck. From getting separated from his twin and sneaking out of an orphanage when he was a little over 13 to renting an apartment in New York that was possibly run by the mob and eventually moving to LA to pursue a career in writing, his life is anything but boring. Robert talks about how he got his first gig and how it was kismet, what a showrunner really does and why it's great training for theatre, and his myopic approach when it comes to writing jokes. He looks back on his life in New York City during the 70’s, which included working all sorts of jobs, including writing monologues for actors and working as a phone sex operator.

Robert has two productions currently on stage - the first is Disney’s “Hercules”, currently open at the Papermill Playhouse, the other is “Shucked”, which begins previews on March 8th. With his long list of works and achievements, Robert reminds us that we should never stop learning how to laugh at ourselves and follow our instincts.

Robert Horn is a Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and New York Drama Critics' Circle award-winning book writer. His career started in film and television where he worked as a writer on the CBS series "Designing Women" and as a writer and producer on the Fox series "Living Single". Following that, he created and Executive Produced the CBS series "High Society". He was also signed to an overall production deal with Warner Brothers Studios, where he developed, wrote, and executive-produced numerous network pilots and series. He also signed a script deal at Sony Studios and an overall pilot deal at ABC studios. Together with Bob Boyett, he created and wrote the FX series “Partners”. Robert's Broadway credits include "Dame Edna", "13 The Musical", "Back With A Vengeance", and "Tootsie" among others.

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• Instagram: @rhorn1

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