Rick Siegel is a former stand-up comedian who is best known for his legal efforts that made the California Labor Commission change their interpretation of how the California Talent Agencies Act is enforced. Siegel created LaughTrack, a national magazine about stand-up comedy, and later became a personal manager for comic performers, actors and writers. Most recently, he has created several environmentally-friendly products focused on the dry cleaning industry. He was chosen for induction to the National Conference of Personal Managers Hall Of Fame's class of 2017.
Career
As a personal manager, his clients included Leah Remini, Rondell Sheridan ; Ian Gomez ;Reggie Hayes, Rosa Blasi. He also convinced Craig Ferguson to immigrate to America and represented the Scotsman for over a decade, and he managed Nia Vardalos. Siegel produced her play My Big Fat Greek Wedding, and subsequently helped develop and cause the film My Big Fat Greek Wedding to be produced. In a case brought by Marathon Entertainment after he sued Rosa Blasi for unpaid commissions and she then petitioned the Labor Commissioner, asking for relief from her contractual obligations based on his alleged actions as a talent agent without the requisite license, the California Supreme Court found that the Labor Commission had wrongly not been incorporating severance when adjudicating Talent Agencies Act controversies. Siegel has written multiple articles related to the TAA that have been published by the Los Angeles Daily Journal, the regional trade paper for the legal field, including one the newspaper titled, "A Generation of Incorrect Talent Agencies Act Rulings" where Siegel showed how the current interpretation conflicts with four California Supreme court holdings. Rick Siegel founded and edited LaughTrack magazine, which had a 550,000 circulation and was handed to patrons at every major comedy club in the country, similar in manner to how Playbill is distributed to audiences at Broadway Shows. Under Siegel's direction, LaughTrack was the first national publication to write about comic luminaries such as Tim Allen, Larry David, Drew Carey, Ellen DeGeneres, Jonathan Katz, and Bill Hicks. LaughTrack debuted in March 1989 and that first issue showcased five new comedians in its "Breaking Through" column. That list included five-time Emmy winner Kevin Rooney, Bill Hicks, Jonathan Katz, Drew Carey and Larry David. In 2008 Siegel and his wife, Jennie Nigrosh, invented a reusable dry cleaning garment bag and began to market the bag under the banner of The Green Garmento®. In 2009, The International Housewares Show honored The Green Garmento with its DESIGN DEFINED 2009 designation and the International Hotel, Motel and Restaurant Show nominated The Green Garmento for one of its Editors' Choice Awards. In 2011, Entrepreneur Magazine called The Green Garmento, "One of the 100 Genius Companies To Watch." Siegel and Nigrosh are also co-inventors of the Gargantote, a reusable flat-bottomed laundry bag, and the Hawk Hanger,, a clothes hanger that lowers the carbon footprint, production, shipping and storage costs. Siegel penned a column about business, "The High Road," which first was carried by American Drycleaner and later by Cleaner and Laundry, two trade publications for the dry cleaning and laundry industries. He has also written several columns published by The Huffington Post about the 2008 Presidential Election.
