Terry Gross

We rebroadcast a tribute to the great vocalist and composer Thomas "Fats" Waller from May 19, 2004. Guitarist and singer Marty Grosz and cornet player Randy Reinhart join us for a special in-studio performance in honor of Waller's 100th birthday. Waller wrote many hit songs, appeared in films in the 1930s and '40s, and wrote Broadway musicals.

Before The Onion and The Daily Show, Mort Sahl's shtick satirized the news of the day. Sahl revolutionized stand-up comedy, leading the transition from tame jokes to the dark, satirical wit of comedians like Lenny Bruce and Woody Allen. Terry Gross spoke to Sahl in December 2003.

Dave Chappelle, who has a self-titled variety show on Comedy Central, has been called the funniest man on television. Richard Pryor calls Chappelle his favorite comedian. Chappelle himself claims he's America's No. 1 source for offensive comedy. We rebroadcast an interview with Chappelle from September 2004.Enter Me

Matt Groening is the creator of the highly acclaimed animated Fox sitcom The Simpsons. He tells us how the show and its characters evolved, and discusses his role in the production of some 300 episodes. Groening also created the TV series Futurama and still draws the weekly comic strip Life in Hell.

David Sedaris is the author of the best-selling collections Barrel Fever, Naked and Me Talk Pretty One Day. His essays appear regularly in print in The New Yorker, Esquire and GQ and can be heard on the radio on This American Life. We rebroadcast a June 15,2004, interview with Sedaris.

Actress Cheryl Hines plays Larry David's wife in the HBO hit comedy Curb Your Enthusiasm. She used to be a member of The Groundlings, a Los Angeles-based comedy group that spawned many stars. Hines says her time with the group helped prepare her for her HBO show, which is almost wholly improvised.

The complete 45-episode series of the TV show Pee-Wee's Playhouse is now out on DVD. Comedian and actor Paul Reubens originally created the Pee-Wee character at the Los Angeles improv group, The Groundlings. An HBO special followed. In 1985, Reubens made the feature film Pee-Wee's Big Adventure. Pee-Wee's Playhouse went on the air in 1986. It ran on CBS for 5 years, garnering 22 Emmys. In 1991, Reubens was arrested for indecent exposure at a Sarasota, Fla., theater.

Former standup comic Tom Kenny is the voice of SpongeBob SquarePants, the star of his own cartoon show on Nickelodeon as well as a recent feature film. SpongeBob lives under the sea in the city of Bikini Bottom where he works as a fry cook at a greasy spoon called the Krusty Krab. He is incurably optimistic and naive. The show premiered in July 1999 and now is a huge hit with children as well as adults, spawning a merchandizing bonanza. Kenny is in the feature film, The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, and is also on its enhanced soundtrack. (Original airdate: 11/16/04).

Nick Venet produced more than 300 albums during his career, collecting numerous Grammy nominations and awards along the way. Venet was also Bobby Darin's producer and friend, and co-produced a Darin box set (on Rhino). We rebroadcast a March 19, 1996, interview with Venet, who died in 1998.

In the new film Beyond the Sea, two-time Academy Award winner Kevin Spacey portrays Bobby Darin, a singer, songwriter and Oscar nominee. Spacey also produced and directed the film, and he sings Darin's songs in it — and in a nightclub act. Spacey plays in Las Vegas on Dec. 26 and Dec. 27.