JewCE 2024 took place in November 2024 and the conference has posted up videos of its panels including “The Best-Known Comedy Writer You’ve Never Heard Of.”

You know The Simpsons? You know the Minions from Despicable Me? You know Jay Sherman, The Critic? You know Johnny Carson, Garry Shandling, Joan Rivers, the Oscars and — yes — the Pope? Mike Reiss does. And unlike you: personally. (Yes, even the animated ones.) For more than three decades, Mike Reiss has written for, co-created and “punched-up” some of the most revered comedy cartoon series and live-action movies of our modern era. He writes children’s books, is forced to be up on all the podcast and Twitter meshugaas, and has traveled the world — multiple times (yes, including the North and South Pole … multiple times). Mike is, in a word, one of contemporary comedy’s most ardent purveyors of laughs … but clearly not one of its best word-counters. Pop culture historian and co-author of Mike’s hit memoir Springfield Confidential, Mathew Klickstein, will be engaging his longtime friend and colleague in a brain-busting and soul-searing session of deep-dive questioning, also pulling questions from the audience for those who always wanted to know why the Simpsons seem so Jewish, if ALF actually ate all of those cats, and whether or not Garry Shandling really used two “r”‘s in his name.