The Tobolowsky Files

If life is perplexing just remember: It’s almost always about the guitar.

Transcribed - Published: 11 January 2021

One afternoon in New York, I was a winner. Lucky for me - I still have the proof.

Transcribed - Published: 4 January 2021

This picture was taken before I knew I was going to be a character actor. Every disaster, at one point, looked like a success. Unfortunately, every success also can look like disaster. That’s why there are so many bars in New York.

Transcribed - Published: 28 December 2020

How do you make a merry-go-round more like a roller coaster? You ride closer to the edge.

Transcribed - Published: 21 December 2020

A love letter and a prayer for a beautiful girl with short legs. I am referring to Belle. Pictured is Ann and Belle sleeping together. Unfortunately, I am not in the bed, but someone had to write the story.

Transcribed - Published: 14 December 2020

Life can be hard. Sometimes we have to be unconscious to know what’s happening.

Transcribed - Published: 7 December 2020

Movies depend on seeing what is no longer there. How is that different from remembering this morning? Or dreaming about tomorrow?

Transcribed - Published: 30 November 2020

We may not have control over what happens in our lives – but we do get to tell the story.

Transcribed - Published: 23 November 2020

1976. Beth and I meet our first famous person in Los Angeles. He asks me for a loan. It goes downhill from there.

Transcribed - Published: 16 November 2020

I was 13 when I got my first job. Uncle Hymie hired me. Heaven help us all.

Transcribed - Published: 9 November 2020

You never get a warning the day the world ends.

Transcribed - Published: 2 November 2020

Life is like a long-running television show. The characters that shaped you return. Some delight. Some threaten. But the most troublesome seems to be my former self.

Transcribed - Published: 26 October 2020

A love story about a girl, a cat, and a five-dollar loan that was never repaid.

Transcribed - Published: 19 October 2020

How I became a writer. I think laws were broken.

Transcribed - Published: 12 October 2020

I played a part in “The Jefferson’s” LIVE for 22 million people. I think. I have to check my resume to be sure.

Transcribed - Published: 5 October 2020

I thought I knew what happened in my life. Then, I heard an untold story and the world changed.

Transcribed - Published: 28 September 2020

When I was little, I was afraid of the dark. Not anymore. That is where answers hide.

Transcribed - Published: 9 June 2017

Imagine a season of theater so bad it is beyond imagination. Got it? You’re not even close.

Transcribed - Published: 1 June 2017

Stephen remembers a couple of things he forgot. One of them is in his suitcase.

Transcribed - Published: 24 May 2017

Sometimes when you reach your destination you discover you haven’t even started.

Transcribed - Published: 17 May 2017

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step…and a case of Coors.

Transcribed - Published: 10 May 2017

There are two places you never forget: the holy places and the places that weren’t.

Transcribed - Published: 3 May 2017

We should never forget the Berlin wall. I carry a piece of it with me wherever I go.

Transcribed - Published: 26 April 2017

Anyone can be a soldier. You just have to know what you're fighting.

Transcribed - Published: 19 April 2017

What is the difference between an answer and the real answer? I start with three questions.

Transcribed - Published: 12 April 2017

What does a story for my father and the end of the world have in common? The answer is hidden. Note: This episode contains adult language.

Transcribed - Published: 5 April 2017

The most surprising thing about the future can be the past.

Transcribed - Published: 29 March 2017

A journey down the creek past the end of the known world leads to treasure and the unexpected – proving that what is gone, can return with a vengeance.

Transcribed - Published: 22 March 2017

We may be born knowing everything we need to know. The problem is we have a short attention span.

Transcribed - Published: 13 August 2015

Stephen learns from his brother Paul that sometimes sports can be death-defying.

Transcribed - Published: 22 April 2015

Nothings happen to everyone. The challenge is to fill them before they fill you.

Transcribed - Published: 25 March 2015

The only difference between mystery and certainty is that everyone loves a good mystery.

Transcribed - Published: 2 February 2015

Episode 1: the 2014 Version. "Sex, Death, and Halloween." Sometimes a picture says it all.

Transcribed - Published: 28 October 2014

You try many things on a first camping trip: peyote, skinny dipping, death. We were lucky. We got two out of three.

Transcribed - Published: 26 September 2014

Theater is like life, you never know what will happen next. That's supposed to be the good part.

Transcribed - Published: 5 August 2014

We’re all gamblers. The only difference is that some of us know what a sure thing looks like.

Transcribed - Published: 30 May 2014

Here is the "Million Dollar Rabbit", Thistle. Is he really worth that much? The truth is he is probably worth more.

Transcribed - Published: 17 March 2014

The Return: The conclusion to the Travel Trilogy. Ann and Stephen discover the secret to happiness from a sheep on the coast of Scotland.

Transcribed - Published: 24 February 2014

What could possibly go wrong when the sun is always shining? We test the limits. Part 2 of Stephen and Ann in Finland.

Transcribed - Published: 30 January 2014

There are a lot worse things than traveling to Europe with a girl you don’t really know. On second thought….

Transcribed - Published: 20 December 2013

Education is a tricky thing. I learned a lot when I became a father--so who was the teacher?

Transcribed - Published: 21 November 2013

The end of Stephen’s first experience on Broadway demonstrates that the difference between hope and tragedy depends on when you choose to close the curtain.

Transcribed - Published: 26 February 2013

It often seems like our world vanishes before our very eyes. But what is more amazing are the things that seem to reappear.

Transcribed - Published: 29 August 2012

Stephen prepares to leave his family for Broadway. Along the way he learns some unexpected lessons from his past about the future.

Transcribed - Published: 29 June 2012

Stephen auditions for Broadway: A morning of terror, an evening with a lap dancer, and an unexpected discovery of where a lifelong dream comes from.

Transcribed - Published: 18 May 2012

Stephen learns about acting from a horse. Winning and losing may not be how you play the game but if you can, figure out where the arena is.

Transcribed - Published: 13 April 2012

The conclusion of the heart story trilogy. Stephen finds the missing time from the recovery room. It comes with a message he didn’t expect and will never forget.

Transcribed - Published: 10 February 2012

Part Two of the Open Heart Surgery Adventure. Some journeys are best enjoyed without actually having to reach the destination.

Transcribed - Published: 6 January 2012

Crossing the Rubicon. In history or literature it was the act that couldn't be undone. I just couldn't remember if it was at the beginning of the story or the end.

Transcribed - Published: 25 November 2011

Come see the Tobolowsky Files LIVE in Boston and Seattle.

Transcribed - Published: 14 October 2011