We Got Bruce
Video: Bruce Vilanch Live With Billy Masters
By Mister D
April 25, 2025

Billy Masters LIVE (S05E1) – 4-25-25 – One of our most popular guests returns to Billy Masters LIVE. Bruce Vilanch is a writer, an actor, a personality, a raconteur, and a helluva good time. In his latest book – “It Seemed Like a Bad Idea at the Time”, he brings us behind the scenes of some of Hollywoods most misguided events – from the Academy Awards to variety shows. And he does it all with his trademark wit and candor.

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NPR
Podcast: Bruce Vilanch On NPR’s Bullseye
By Bullseye
April 16, 2025

Bruce Vilanch was the head writer for the Academy Awards for 14 years. It’s the kind of entertainment he writes for where he really excels: star-studded variety shows with big, brassy musical numbers. A Bruce Vilanch show will almost certainly have bits where the A-list actor turns to the camera and winks at a joke she just told about herself.

He’s worked on countless such TV shows dating back over 50 years. Sometimes, those shows turn out great! Think of Billy Crystal at the Oscars, or sellout live shows for Bette Midler, Lily Tomlin, Robin Williams and more. The stuff that’s not so great, well, you can read about it in his new book: It Seemed Like A Bad Idea At The Time: The Worst TV Shows in History and Other Things I Wrote. This includes things like The Brady Bunch Variety Hour, awkward bits at awards shows, the now infamous Star Wars Holiday Special.

The post Video: Bruce Vilanch On NPR’s Bullseye first appeared on We Got Bruce!.

Bruce Vilanch is a writer, comedian, actor, stripper and would-be adult film star (only if you have an IMAX screen). He won two Emmys for co-writing the Billy Crystal Oscar shows and lost a half-dozen more for other things. For four years he was a Hollywood Square, just to the left of Whoopi, if that’s possible. He starred on Broadway as Edna Turnblad, plus-sized housewife, in the musical HAIRSPRAY and toured with it for a year, including a few months at the Pantages in Hollywood. He has been committing television since the 70s, writing some of the most notorious flops in the industry’s long
list of same, which he just chronicled in his book IT SEEMED LIKE A BAD IDEA AT THE TIME, available everywhere books are still sold. There is a documentary about his life and work GET BRUCE, available for you to Netflix and chill. He’s looking forward to meeting you all, as the only thing he’s ever done that’s remotely Rotary is to put a chicken on a spit.

Bruce will also have copies of his new book for sale and be happy to autograph them for you at our event!

Bruce will be joined in a “fireside chat” by longtime friend and colleague Shelly Goldstein. Shelly is a writer-actor-singer-comic who has written for every genre of TV, film and stage. Her one-woman music & comedy shows play throughout the US and UK. She wrote the Emmy-winning PBS musical special, CHICAGO VOICES & Sheryl Lee Ralph’s DIVAS SIMPLY
SINGING on ABC.

Most recently, she co-wrote the CW’s 2025 series SHERLOCK & DAUGHTER, starring David Thewlis. Her play, MAGNIFICENT MILLICENT debuted in the West End in 2024.

She has written for such performers as Stephen Colbert, Steve Martin, Lily Tomlin, Jay Leno, Larry Wilmore, Sharon Stone, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Tiffany Haddish, Yoko Ono & many others.

Shelly has also won the New Yorker’s iconic Cartoon Caption Contest.

Dress Code
The City Club maintains a dress code.

Attire can certainly elevate or diminish the experience of others. They consider ball caps or beanies, tank tops, flip flops, distressed denim, shorts, team athletic attire, and t-shirts with no jacket as too casual for City Club LA. Their staff takes pride in their appearance, so they ask their members and their guests to respect their dress code at all times.

Friday, May 16, 2025 | 12:00 – 1:30 PM
Register In Person | Zoom Registration

The post Bruce Vilanch To Speak At Rotary Club Los Angeles & Sign Books first appeared on We Got Bruce!.

You Tube
Video: Bruce Vilanch On The View
By The View
March 3, 2025

The Emmy-winning comedy writer, Bruce Vilanch, shares his takeaways from the 2025 Oscars, his favorite moments writing for awards show hosts and discusses his new book, “It Seemed Like A Bad Idea At The Time.”

The post Video: Bruce Vilanch On The View first appeared on We Got Bruce!.

You Tube
A Conversation With Bruce Vilanch At Stonewall
By Stonewall National Museum
March 20, 2025

Stonewall National Museum welcomes renowned writer and comedian Bruce Vilanch for a special reading and conversation of his new book, It Seemed Like a Bad Idea at the Time.

The post A Conversation With Bruce Vilanch At Stonewall first appeared on We Got Bruce!.