Funny Guy

West Bridgewater's own Spike Feresten, 44, believes there's room for one more late night talk show -- his.

Any other funny folks from West Bridgewater? There was a rumor that Gallagher passed through town. And, of course, John Davidson. He's from West Bridgewater.

John Davidson? Really? Yes. He's not funny, but he has funny hair.

You went to Berklee College of Music with dreams of becoming a rock star. What happened? Being a musician made me popular and saved me from being beaten up, but I didn't have the chops.

This is the second season of TalkShow With Spike Feresten. Don't we have enough talk show hosts? With Letterman, Leno, Kimmel, Stewart, Ferguson, and Conan, it's kind of a crowded field. I went to Fox and said, "You should have a show." They were in a good mood and said, "Here's $60,000. Go shoot a [pilot.]." So I called up Jerry Seinfeld, and he was kind enough to be my guest. I gave them the tape and didn't hear anything for a week, and then they called me back and said they wanted to do it.

Not bad. I was in a VW Passat and I almost slammed into the car in front me. It was one of those dream-come-true moments. I'd always dreamed of doing what David Letterman does.

You worked for Letterman. For five years. Then I moved to LA because I wanted a dog and a backyard and I wanted to drive. I couldn't do any of that in New York.

While working on Seinfeld, you wrote the "Soup Nazi" episode. Tell me about that? I used to get lunch there every day in New York. I was tickled by this guy who sold soup and yelled at people. I told Jerry and Larry [David] about him. It wasn't a pitch. We were just talking, but they were laughing. They said, "That's your first episode. Write it."

Now "Soup Nazi" is part of the lexicon. Yeah, a friend of mine said there's someone hacking into systems who calls himself "The Soup Nazi."

Tell the truth, Jerry's a tyrant to work for. Nah. I'd go to work and laugh all day. Saturday Night Live is a fun show to write for, but it's extremely competitive. There are little cabals everywhere, and you worry about who's saying what.

What's different on your show this year? I'm doing a monologue, and I'm losing the jeans. Now that I walk out in front of the desk, I have to wear nice pants.

I'm guessing someone dresses you. Oh, yeah. They march a woman into your office and she says, "Let me handle this."

Are there days when you don't feel funny? Your mood is no indication of the quality of your writing. Here's what I found: After five weeks of work, I felt burnt out, but my writing was the best.

Let's talk about your look. You have kind of an Ellen DeGeneres thing going on. I get feedback from the world on my appearance. I was on some blog called Men Who Look Like Old Lesbians. It's, like, Al Franken, Todd Rundgren, and me. But I think about what Chris Rock says: Who cares what you look like; just be funny.