Dying to Get on Letterman

In

What would you do if you only had a limited time to live?

In 2005, comedian Steve Mazan was diagnosed with inoperable liver cancer and given five years to live.

Like many comedians, he had one dream — to be a guest on the Late Show with David Letterman.

For five years, he’d been working full-time as a comedian but it was still a struggle. He says when faced with his own death, he realized he couldn’t wait around for his “someday” dream to come true. He had to chase that dream right away.

After his diagnosis, he went through all the stages of grief — denial, anger and finally acceptance. Then he set his mind on one goal — achieving his dream to get on Letterman. He started a project called Dying to Get on Letterman.

That project has now evolved into a book and an award-winning documentary.

Steve explains his grassroots campaign to get on Letterman’s show and how it felt when he finally heard from producers — and they rejected him.

He eventually heard from another Letterman producer and you won’t believe what the producer told him. Did he ever make it on the show? Listen to our interview and find out how he kept trying again and again to make his dream come true.

Plus, he updates us on his prognosis today.

To watch clips of Steve performing and to find out more about his book, “Dying to Do Letterman,” click here to visit his website.