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Dave Attell, who I had not met before.
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So it was fun to.
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spend some time talking to him.
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I think he s a brilliant comic.
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I think his latest special, Hot Cross Buns, is something I d highly recommend.
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He s an incredible joke writer.
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And just getting to know how self-deprecating he is about himself and how humble he is about himself, we tried to kind of prop him up a little bit.
0
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But he s super smart and funny, David.
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Yeah, we give him actual awards he s won and things he s done and he disregards them.
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But yeah, I ve always heard positive about Attell.
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We overlapped a little bit on Signing Live because he was a writer.
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He came in to write, I think around Sarah Silverman year and Jay Moore, he said, but got into that grind.
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He s a comedian guy.
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SPEAKER_03
He s always been someone that really loves that more than being a performer as far as sitcoms or whatever.
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SPEAKER_03
That wasn t his lofty goal.
0
SPEAKER_03
Loved old comics like Mitch Hedberg, Bill Hicks.
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SPEAKER_03
So, uh, he talks about that.
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SPEAKER_03
He talks about how long a special would be, uh, how to name a special.
0
SPEAKER_03
We got into a lot of, a lot of interesting things and very, very nice guy.
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Yes, he s, as far as stand-ups, and if you talk to stand-ups, they ll always mention Attell, because Dave Chappelle, two days, but they ll always mention Attell as one of the greats, and I think he truly is.
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He s so unassuming about it, and vulnerable, actually.
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But yeah, Comedy Central kind of was a big part of his career.
0
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That s very interesting, and his time on SNL, and the way he thinks going forward in his career.
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I would just keep driving if you re driving, or if you re shopping or if you re gardening, just keep doing what you re doing and press play.
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SPEAKER_03
Yeah, I d say if you re in the supermarket listening in your earphones, pull the card over in the produce section and just listen.
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Don t get unfocused by cantaloupes or anything.
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SPEAKER_02
Yeah, if you re squeezing some French bread and going, is this stale?
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Right at that moment, press play.
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SPEAKER_03
Squeezing French bread and going, I just broke my finger, this one s too hard.
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When did this get into the store?
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Okay, here is Atel.
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Hey, can you hear me?
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Even worse, I can see you.
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At least recognize my presence, guys.
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Hello, fellas.
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Thanks for having me.
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You know, Dana, I just saw Mr. Tell.
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We ll talk about a special in a minute.
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But I just saw him at Kill Tony.
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SPEAKER_03
You know, he s the wrong guy to do it with.
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SPEAKER_03
He s too funny.
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SPEAKER_03
They should just throw me some sucker, you know.
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SPEAKER_02
Yeah.
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SPEAKER_02
What happened there?
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Because people told me that you just didn t talk.
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What was with Spade at Kill Tony?
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SPEAKER_02
That s what I got from my people.
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SPEAKER_01
Not even a welcome to the show?
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SPEAKER_01
Just jump right in?
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SPEAKER_03
Oh, for you?
0
SPEAKER_03
There s no welcome here.
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SPEAKER_03
We get right to the gossip.
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SPEAKER_01
Kind of like it s, it s like, it s always going like eternal.
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SPEAKER_02
Well, we do, we ll do a 20 minute interview where we ll just talk.
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SPEAKER_03
Oh yeah.
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SPEAKER_03
We, we, we do an intro after you leave.
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So it s like coming, our guests coming up.
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SPEAKER_02
So yeah.
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As we used to call it as first, I get it.
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SPEAKER_02
How do you not have a podcast?
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SPEAKER_01
I don t have a podcast.
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That s why I m excited.
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SPEAKER_01
You guys look a little jaded, but it was fun doing Phil Tony with Dave.
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I ve always been a fan of Dave.
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I m just going to say it.
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I think he classed up the show
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He put a fresh paint on it.
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I thought it was really great that he was a part of it.
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SPEAKER_01
Yeah.
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SPEAKER_03
We definitely had fun.
0
SPEAKER_03
I had fun with it.
0
SPEAKER_03
The hard part for me was, first of all, if I didn t talk a lot, that s not really my thing, is to rip into people and tell them, crush their dreams.
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SPEAKER_03
They re here to do one minute of standup.
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SPEAKER_03
It s a definitely funny process.
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SPEAKER_03
Kill Tony, Brian, his buddy, get out there.
0
SPEAKER_03
There s a band behind him, if you don t know.
0
SPEAKER_03
Most of Austin comes up to try to get on stage, it s literally most of the town, and they all have a minute to do their shit, and then Tony interviews them.
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And then we chirp in with our bullshit, but they know what they re doing.
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It s a very smooth running operation.
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SPEAKER_02
Let me ask you guys, because I ve only seen it once, and there was this Robin Williams-y young guy who was actually kind of great.
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Oh, this is cool.
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What is the core reason it s so successful, besides the reality show aspect?
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SPEAKER_02
Because I saw one where two guys went at each other.
0
SPEAKER_02
like really trying to dominate each other, two comedians, and it was like sort of a turf war.
0
SPEAKER_02
So is that part of the magic of it?
0
SPEAKER_02
It s fun to see people truly angry and kind of humiliated sometimes and also get laughs?
0
SPEAKER_01
It s a train wreck.
0
SPEAKER_01
And I think everybody loves to watch it.
0
SPEAKER_01
You know, I think everybody loves to watch the drama of it.
0
SPEAKER_01
Yeah.
0
SPEAKER_01
I think Dave is right.
0
SPEAKER_01
I mean, like, it is the biggest thing.
0
SPEAKER_01
I mean, like, you can t even like, you know, God help you if you need an operation that night, because I don t think you re going to be able to get one.
0
SPEAKER_01
I mean, everybody s there.
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The ambulance drivers are all there trying to get everybody.
0
SPEAKER_01
It s like the town shuts down.
0
SPEAKER_01
Like, oh, I see everybody.
0
SPEAKER_01
It s kill Tony night.
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That s what we do.
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Yeah, so what happened is I sat there and Attell is perfect for the situation because he just can say anything funny about anything, and Kill Tony runs the show, so I sit there as a class act and wait for my time to jump in.
0
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I wait till I ve got a little bit of a joke, but I was happy with that.
0
SPEAKER_03
I thought it was fun.
0
SPEAKER_03
Comfortable, because I had a fucking F5 tornado in front of me blowing a fan in my face.
0
SPEAKER_03
I don t know why there was a arc.
0
SPEAKER_02
Why do they always put you near air conditioning units on planes?
0
SPEAKER_03
I don t know, and I m such a pussy.
0
SPEAKER_03
It s unbelievable.
0
SPEAKER_03
Has the word not gotten out yet?
0
SPEAKER_03
I m like... So I put on my shades, honestly, because it was so...
0
SPEAKER_03
blowing so hard in my face, so this is a new move.
0
SPEAKER_03
Put your shades on, then I put my hat on, then I put my coat on, and Etel was starting to get worried, like, what s next?
0
SPEAKER_03
So then we watched, but he smokes, and Tony smokes, which smoking doesn t really bother me as much, because I grew up, my mom smoked, and every girl I knew smoked, and so I don t care.
0
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It was really the coldness, and then we watched,
1
SPEAKER_02
I thought it was fun, like people would do a minute, I think that s part of the appeal Dana, they do a minute and it s either fucking dead silence.
1
SPEAKER_02
And one guy said, how long have you been doing comedy?
1
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And he goes, 13 years.
1
SPEAKER_02
I go, I would have taken the under on that because he fucking, I thought it was one day.
1
SPEAKER_02
And I m like, oh, so, you know, that s that s the only meanness I can do to them.
1
SPEAKER_02
Everyone thinks I m a real mean.
1
SPEAKER_01
Does everybody pad the audience?
1
SPEAKER_01
It seems like you get your college buddies drunk and then you go do your minute.
1
SPEAKER_01
Right.
1
SPEAKER_01
Is there a lot of that going on?
1
SPEAKER_01
I would.
1
SPEAKER_00
None of these people have friends.
1
SPEAKER_00
They re all.
1
SPEAKER_00
It was emotionally cold in there.
1
SPEAKER_00
It was really, there was no love in the room.
1
SPEAKER_00
And I think Tony, he was the ringmaster.
1
SPEAKER_00
He enjoys this kind of like pulling the strings and he gets into their like real lives and everything like that.
1
SPEAKER_00
And I think we re of a different generation where it s like, you re supposed to be supportive to the new comics.
1
SPEAKER_00
Just go, hey, you know what?
1
SPEAKER_00
It s a process.
1
SPEAKER_00
You keep doing it, you re going to get better.
1
SPEAKER_00
But Tony, of course, tough love.
1
SPEAKER_00
No, none of that.
1
SPEAKER_00
He goes right at it.
1
SPEAKER_00
And, you know, I think at the end of the day, people get it, you know, like, this is kind of like, you know, it s kind of like reverse support, you know, in a way.
1
SPEAKER_02
Definitely.
1
SPEAKER_02
Definitely something like that.
1
SPEAKER_02
Yeah.
1
SPEAKER_01
Yeah.
1
SPEAKER_01
It was pretty fun though.
1
SPEAKER_01
Did you ever do anything like that?
1
SPEAKER_01
In San Francisco, there was a standup comedy competition, but you went through rounds at least.
1
SPEAKER_01
That was a big deal.
1
SPEAKER_01
I was in it in college in 77.
1
SPEAKER_01
Did you have any of that out where you were starting?
1
SPEAKER_00
there was always weird, you know, like, I guess it was always sponsored by somebody, you know, something like that, where it s like, you know, but I don t think it was anything like that scene.
1
SPEAKER_00
And I always, you know, since this is really kind of like our first real meeting is that I always wanted to ask you about like that San Francisco back in the day, because, you know, I knew slate, and I knew, um,
1
SPEAKER_00
a lot of the big names that came out of San Francisco and like how important it was to like comedy and especially stand up.
1
SPEAKER_00
And then it kind of like, you know, by the time I got there, you know, it was already like, I guess it wasn t as as wild as it was back then.
1
SPEAKER_00
But really, like, you know, I always heard all the stories about Robin coming down and even, you know,
1
SPEAKER_00
The punchline, the original punchline, and then Cobbs, you know, that s really the scene I knew.
1
SPEAKER_00
But you knew, like, the purple onion.
1
SPEAKER_00
What was the onion?
1
SPEAKER_01
Onion, a little tiny room.
1
SPEAKER_00
What was it called, though?
1
SPEAKER_00
The purple onion or something?
1
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, the purple onion.
1
SPEAKER_00
Yeah.
1
SPEAKER_00
Cool.
1
SPEAKER_00
Yeah.
1
SPEAKER_00
I never played there.
1
SPEAKER_01
And Cobbs moved.
1
SPEAKER_01
Did you ever play Cobbs before it moved?
1
SPEAKER_00
Yes, I did.
1
SPEAKER_00
There was a fire, a mysterious fire.
1
SPEAKER_00
Yeah.
1
SPEAKER_01
Right.
1
SPEAKER_01
That was Larry Bubbles Brown, I think, was the arson on that one.
1
SPEAKER_00
Another unknown hero of comedy, Larry Bubbles, who every time I play Cobbs, I make sure he s on the show because I love him.
1
SPEAKER_00
He s great.
1
SPEAKER_01
He s one of my best friends.
1
SPEAKER_01
He s an amazing human and extraordinarily funny, but such a... He makes comedians funnier because he legitimately
1
SPEAKER_01
Will if you say something he thinks is funny he ll laugh at it and then repeat it and keep laughing and it s really sincere cuz we have this running game we would show up you drive to the gig.
1
SPEAKER_01
And it s like a little theater and the guy goes hey are you with the show it s like we are the fucking show mother fucker.
1
SPEAKER_01
And then I said, you jack him up against the wall, say, listen, squirt.
1
SPEAKER_01
So to Larry Bubbles Brown, listen, squirt was the funniest thing.
1
SPEAKER_01
And he kept squirt and it went go for 10 years.
1
SPEAKER_01
But yeah, it was Slayton was amazing.
1
SPEAKER_01
Really hard to follow.
1
SPEAKER_01
Michael Pritchard.
1
SPEAKER_01
Robin was always around blowing the roof off.
1
SPEAKER_01
You re about to go on at the little club and Robin s going to do a set.
1
SPEAKER_01
They d be like three hours.
1
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, it was quite a quite a scene.
1
SPEAKER_01
I don t know if Boston was sort of
1
SPEAKER_01
We had Bobcat version.
1
SPEAKER_01
Bobcat came through and then Paula Poundstone from Boston and they blew up in San Francisco.
1
SPEAKER_00
San Francisco was definitely the place where people, I think, figured it out.
1
SPEAKER_00
And credit to you, Dana, I think you re one of the few guys that Larry Bubbles will get on a plane for.
1
SPEAKER_00
The guy hates to fly.
1
SPEAKER_00
I mean, look at him.
1
SPEAKER_00
He kind of looks like a dust bowl guy, you know, like.
1
SPEAKER_00
back of a back of a jalopy, you know, with his like piano or something tied up there.
1
SPEAKER_00
He s not a flyer.
1
SPEAKER_01
So he s like somebody it took one day to know him in 20 years to believe it.
1
SPEAKER_01
But I m not a great flyer, but I ve never walked a flight.
1
SPEAKER_01
There s times it s been thunderstorms and all that.
1
SPEAKER_01
I don t enjoy it.
1
SPEAKER_01
So I m meeting Larry, San Francisco SFO, and he s there, and we re about to board, and Larry goes, I think I gotta walk the flight.
1
SPEAKER_01
So immediately I was like, that s okay.
1
SPEAKER_01
We ll do it next time.
1
SPEAKER_01
I wasn t going to shit on.
1
SPEAKER_01
We ll do it next time.
1
SPEAKER_01
You just, you know, it doesn t matter.
1
SPEAKER_01
We re playing Vegas.
1
SPEAKER_01
And then I said, well, you know, maybe you, if you wanted, he doesn t drink at all drinks diet Coke, but he had, I guess one drink.
1
SPEAKER_01
And he got on a plane and then he s like, you know, he never it s not it does.
1
SPEAKER_01
I don t know.
1
SPEAKER_01
He ever drank after that was like, this is great.
1
SPEAKER_01
This is the way you do it.
1
SPEAKER_01
You know, so that helped him for that flight.
1
SPEAKER_00
But Larry makes up for it with his incredible knowledge of everyone s birthday.
1
SPEAKER_00
He can tell you the day of your birthday.
1
SPEAKER_01
which is like that looks good on the resume and ability i don t know if that impresses the ladies but hey what s your birthday and then i ll say that was a wednesday or he ll know and his classic line i went to the doctor and i said what s that lump on my testicle he said that is your testicle you idiot or something like that and then he doesn t
1
SPEAKER_01
No, but you can say to him, Tuesday, 1968, or yeah.
1
SPEAKER_01
No, March 31st, 1968.
1
SPEAKER_01
It was a Tuesday.
1
SPEAKER_01
And it was like, what?
1
SPEAKER_01
And you look it up.
1
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, he s great.
1
SPEAKER_01
He was a one of a kind.
1
SPEAKER_01
So I m just curious, I don t know, I m always curious, when did you know, when did, let s put it this way, when did people not want to follow you?
1
SPEAKER_01
Yeah.
1
SPEAKER_01
Let s just put it that way.
1
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, let s put it that way.
1
SPEAKER_01
I don t want any part of that fucking middle act.
1
SPEAKER_01
You know, when was it like you have to close?
1
SPEAKER_00
Um, how many years in like the New York scene, it was very, um, you know, back in the nineties, I guess, you know, it was really, um, it was a lot of really.
1
SPEAKER_00
Hardcore acts here at that point, but I wouldn t put it against Boston because I think Boston was definitely like another level of like, wow, these guys can blow, blow it, you know, blow it out.
1
SPEAKER_00
But.
1
SPEAKER_00
I I was a late night comic that s where they put me and I kind of like embrace it instead of like going like you know I m gonna move up or anything that I felt like at the end of the show like it was harder but it was also free or add to some degree where like you know.
1
SPEAKER_00
out of them, it was really like it was really it was kind of like the pond had already been fished out.
1
SPEAKER_00
But whatever was like a huge well, you know, so I was like, this is really good for me.
1
SPEAKER_00
But that was really them, like putting me there, you know, and then I kind of like,
1
SPEAKER_00
got better at it and better at it.
1
SPEAKER_00
And then when I would move up in the show, and it really has helped me on the road too, which is like, you know, following people and all that kind of stuff.
1
SPEAKER_00
I felt like I was stronger, I was a stronger act.
1
SPEAKER_00
And, you know, usually that means just more bad habits, you know, like, you know, I knew what to do and how to work the crowd and everything.
1
SPEAKER_00
But in terms of like, you know, I would say sometime in the 90s, you know, when I became a headliner, I actually really, you know,
1
SPEAKER_00
This is an SNL kind of thing here.
1
SPEAKER_00
I m kind of like what you would call the guy who didn t really... I know SNL is an experience that s different for everybody, but for me, it was kind of like something I did when I really wanted to do stand-up and agents and managers said this would
1
SPEAKER_00
be great and like you know, I auditioned and more like me and I was a writer.
1
SPEAKER_00
I wasn t a performer and you know, I really want to learn how to do it, but I didn t really have that mindset yet.
1
SPEAKER_00
I really wanted to be a stand-up, you know, I wanted to be Bill Hicks or Sam Kinison, but that s where I met Dave, who was really kind to me the whole way through and I was also a fan of his before I had, you know,
1
SPEAKER_00
You know, I really like to stand up.
1
SPEAKER_00
I like the way he did things.
1
SPEAKER_00
And, you know, to be honest, I was like, you know, it taught me more about show business than it did about comedy, because I saw how things work there in terms of like, you know, there s a host.
1
SPEAKER_00
And then if you get something on, you get to sit closer to Warren at the party.
1
SPEAKER_00
You know, it s like this kind of like levels and circles of like influence there.
1
SPEAKER_00
But I got to meet Mike Myers and, you know, the late, great Phil Hartman and, you know, Sandler, who always another guy, very cool to me.
1
SPEAKER_00
And I got to meet a lot of people who I, you know, have gone on to great success.
1
SPEAKER_00
And I was glad to like know them, but it was never my thing.
1
SPEAKER_00
But I think for you guys, that s really like where, you know, like things gel, like where you got to take all the stuff that you would learn, you know, like,
1
SPEAKER_00
And put it in an ensemble, you know, I guess format which, you know, I m impressed by that to this day I really impressed how people can take stuff and turn it into something a sketch or a movie or something like that so well.
2
SPEAKER_01
The reverse way, my standup, it was pretty goofy.
2
SPEAKER_01
It is now.
2
SPEAKER_01
When I look at jokesmiths or brilliant writing and people who can really take a topic like you do in this latest special, Hot Cross Buns, it s like a magic trick to me.
2
SPEAKER_01
Like, okay, there s the introduction and then you re turning it.
2
SPEAKER_01
And it s like, oh, wow, that s the best turn.
2
SPEAKER_01
That s the best payoff to that setup.
2
SPEAKER_01
And you re doing it over and over again.
2
SPEAKER_01
And for me, I was up there doing Choppin  Broccoli and Voices.
2
SPEAKER_01
I m just trying to do sketches in clubs with hecklers and blenders.
2
SPEAKER_01
So when I finally got to do Sketch, it was like, okay, that fit me.
2
SPEAKER_01
But you and that Dave, David, are just great writers of material, just real material.
2
SPEAKER_00
Well, I can t tell you how many especially girls I know would always bring up that chopping up the broccoli thing to me.
2
SPEAKER_00
They d be like, how do you got a joke like that?
2
SPEAKER_00
I m like, I don t got it.
2
SPEAKER_00
I agree.
2
SPEAKER_01
I think it s ridiculous.
2
SPEAKER_00
I can do that.
2
SPEAKER_00
So it s got a joke.
2
SPEAKER_02
No one s going to joke like that.
2
SPEAKER_00
You really you really like hit a nerve with these women.
2
SPEAKER_00
They love that bit.
2
SPEAKER_00
So, you know, don t throw it out.
2
SPEAKER_01
Well, it s since there is no joke other than a guy who s horrible and is utterly committed to how bad he is.
2
SPEAKER_00
But that s on Dana s album called Humble Down, because, you know, you are kind of in the
2
SPEAKER_00
I guess you could say the Mount Olympus of comedy.
2
SPEAKER_00
I mean, like, you know, people really not Olympus being successful to actually, like, do the kind of road that we do now, you know, like road is like a really it s never been better for everybody.
2
SPEAKER_00
I mean, like amphitheaters and these things.
2
SPEAKER_00
I mean, it used to be like in the 70s, 80s, like you saw, you know, like Martin or Dice or somebody like that doing that.
2
SPEAKER_00
But not everybody could do it now.
2
SPEAKER_00
There s like at least 20, 30 people who are selling out these mega, you know,
2
SPEAKER_00
venues.
2
SPEAKER_00
So that s not my thing, but I think it s really good for comedy.
2
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, comedy s a big deal.
2
SPEAKER_01
I love where you shot the special and the way it felt at Cobbs, the way it was lit and the tightness of the audience and stuff.
2
SPEAKER_01
I thought it really popped.
2
SPEAKER_01
Specials can sometimes lay there.
2
SPEAKER_01
I ve been in a few myself, and they don t quite happen.
2
SPEAKER_01
I think you were kind of saying, you guys are really great tonight.
2
SPEAKER_01
I don t know if you were
2
SPEAKER_01
just celebrating a moment, but it seemed like that taping of you and doing that set was a 10 from what I could gather.
2
SPEAKER_01
Which is a rarity.
2
SPEAKER_01
Like it really connected, but, or was it just, did you feel extra good?
2
SPEAKER_01
Cause they don t always go that well, right?
2
SPEAKER_01
The tapings and stuff.
2
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, no, that s true.
2
SPEAKER_00
Cause you know, the first year we had a lot of technical problems and the director of the, of the special, Scott Gallagher, he s a really good friend of mine.
2
SPEAKER_00
He s done my road work one.
2
SPEAKER_00
And like, I met him during the,
2
SPEAKER_00
He was director of the porn awards, the AVN awards.
2
SPEAKER_00
I ve known him for decades now.
2
SPEAKER_00
The one thing that you can t ever pay someone to do is be passionate.
2
SPEAKER_00
This guy s so passionate.
2
SPEAKER_00
We edited for so long.
2
SPEAKER_00
We were just trying to put all of these different things that I had done together in a cohesive thing.
2
SPEAKER_00
The crowd, of course, was better than me.
2
SPEAKER_00
My crowd s really good.
2
SPEAKER_00
I m not just saying that.
2
SPEAKER_00
Every company on the road like wow you re caught your crowd gets it they are really good they re older they re like couples who like you know basically like this is our night out offician autos they like what they like young judgmental group that you see kind of today now like.
2
SPEAKER_00
dripping into these clubs and they really kind of like understand sarcasm and like it s a joke and it s not like a pretty I m not preaching or anything that so they re up for anything and the crowd that you saw that tonight, especially the second route was it blew me away because I m in my head like we all know for specials like I got to do this and then this and I don t want to
2
SPEAKER_00
messed it up like I did on the first show.
2
SPEAKER_00
Meanwhile, I should have just rolled with them the whole way through.
2
SPEAKER_00
It would have been a whole different special, but still, you re right.
2
SPEAKER_00
The energy was like, I was very lucky that night.
2
SPEAKER_00
I was really lucky.
2
SPEAKER_01
I did like that a little.
2
SPEAKER_01
I don t remember if I ve seen it before, but there was a camera on the side of the stage you don t see, and then you would kind of look to it like it was a friend or something, a person.
2
SPEAKER_01
And I thought that was kind of nice.
2
SPEAKER_00
It wasn t a friend to disclose.
2
SPEAKER_00
I mean, look at it.
2
SPEAKER_00
I really didn t capture my best side there.
2
SPEAKER_00
But yeah, no, I love that.
2
SPEAKER_00
Whatever it is I m trying to work it into the show, I think we all agree those are the most memorable moments.
2
SPEAKER_00
Dave s really good at that.
2
SPEAKER_00
I ve seen him, something happens in the room where there s somebody in the room and he ll be able to
2
SPEAKER_00
like tailor a joke to them or like use it as part of a riff or something like that.
2
SPEAKER_00
I love that stuff.
2
SPEAKER_00
I think that s what makes stand up better than, you know, pretty much juggling.
2
SPEAKER_00
I mean, you never see that in juggling, you know.
2
SPEAKER_02
Well, you know, Dana, what I do, that s interesting.
2
SPEAKER_01
Let s talk about and what is the name of day?
2
SPEAKER_02
Hot Cross Buns is a good day because, you know, here s Dana s name is Blenders and Hecklers.
2
SPEAKER_02
That s a good name, actually.
2
SPEAKER_00
That s what you re thinking for your name of your special.
2
SPEAKER_02
That s I m thinking for the next Dana one.
2
SPEAKER_02
Mine?
2
SPEAKER_00
Yeah.
2
SPEAKER_00
Okay, all right.
2
SPEAKER_02
Hecklers and Blenders, because you said when I was doing it, I was just doing all Hecklers and Blenders.
2
SPEAKER_01
When I was starting out.
2
SPEAKER_02
Yeah, Blenders and Hecklers is better, yeah.
2
SPEAKER_02
I like that.
2
SPEAKER_01
The other thing that I loved about, I ll just say, the 35 minute thing, or 37 minutes, it s like, I think that we ve adapted to sending people stuff.
2
SPEAKER_01
And just this short attention span thing, it felt like the perfect length to me.
2
SPEAKER_01
I m not just saying it s like, that was just great.
2
SPEAKER_01
Because then there s no low.
2
SPEAKER_01
Everyone knows if you do an hour, you can only kind of go to 40 and then they re too tired or whatever.
2
SPEAKER_01
And you got to fight through the trench and then you got to peak again.
2
SPEAKER_01
So 35, it s just like, bam, bam, bam, you know, playing the recorder, boom.
2
SPEAKER_01
And it was like, ah.
2
SPEAKER_01
So you get to fight for that.
2
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, no, I mean, like, I think the cool thing about Netflix is that they ll let it be any length at this point.
2
SPEAKER_00
Like the idea, like you said, is like, it s all about attention span, but it has to be 40 minutes.
2
SPEAKER_00
And I told this to David that it has to be 40 minutes to get in their algorithm to get into like their different kind of like, I guess.
2
SPEAKER_00
So 40 minutes is what it had to be.
2
SPEAKER_00
We had it at 30,
2
SPEAKER_00
five and a half or something.
2
SPEAKER_00
And then they told us it s the week of.
2
SPEAKER_00
And once again, Scott, my director, said, whoa, we re going to do it.
2
SPEAKER_00
So we put more stuff in.
2
SPEAKER_00
And actually, the last thing we put in, which is me playing the recorder.
2
SPEAKER_00
Yeah.
2
SPEAKER_00
Seals, which we thought was a throwaway, became the talk of the special.
2
SPEAKER_00
So like, how often does that happen?
2
SPEAKER_00
Like, it was like, wow, you know, like, whatever.
2
SPEAKER_00
I really lucked out on that one.
2
SPEAKER_00
But
2
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, I would say 40 minutes for me personally as a viewer and fan of comedy.
2
SPEAKER_00
I ve watched a lot of my friends  specials.
2
SPEAKER_00
I just watched Jimmy Carr s special, really, really cool.
2
SPEAKER_00
He s a very funny guy.
2
SPEAKER_00
Awesome with the line.
2
SPEAKER_00
I mean, the guy can get hysterical.
2
SPEAKER_00
is that is the classic hour and like it works for him, you know, it s a it s a great show for me my jokes are so small like 3 a minute like that s usually what it is 2 to 3 minutes like I m like on fumes by like 30, I m really like okay.
2
SPEAKER_02
I d rather go shorter too.
2
SPEAKER_02
I think Theo s was maybe 45, 50.
2
SPEAKER_02
I envy that.
2
SPEAKER_02
I would say the same thing.
2
SPEAKER_02
You don t need it because also then it s going to go out, then it s going to get chopped up, and then everyone wants to see different bits, and no one remembers the whole hour.
2
SPEAKER_02
No one remembers.
2
SPEAKER_02
There s a handful they repeat.
2
SPEAKER_02
You don t know which ones.
2
SPEAKER_02
And then an hour is so long, and I m sure the algorithm says people last about 20.
2
SPEAKER_02
You feel like you want to front load your best shit now because not everyone s waiting for that big closure.
2
SPEAKER_01
I think 16 is average, last time I checked.
2
SPEAKER_01
Oh, wow.
2
SPEAKER_00
Is that it?
2
SPEAKER_00
Yeah.
2
SPEAKER_00
Best compliment I got, and I m not really a web guy, but we had to track it for the whole special, is one guy said, I watched it to the end, and I m going to watch it again.
2
SPEAKER_00
Usually people watch 15 minutes, then they immediately start judging.
2
SPEAKER_00
Like, hey, this sucked, or whatever.
2
SPEAKER_00
This guy trying to do, you know?
2
SPEAKER_00
But like, all the way to the end, that s a rarity, you know?
2
SPEAKER_02
OK, I got another name for your special, Dana.
2
SPEAKER_02
Algonation.
2
SPEAKER_00
I was going to call it the other Oppenheimer.
2
SPEAKER_01
No, I m going to call yours White Sweater Man.
2
SPEAKER_02
This isn t a sweater, but it s not.
2
SPEAKER_01
Oh, OK.
2
SPEAKER_02
It s a golf pullover, but I appreciate it.
2
SPEAKER_02
It was going to come off earlier and we had June Gloom.
2
SPEAKER_02
In April, but it s all gloomy and then it s supposed to burn off.
2
SPEAKER_02
Sorry if I lose you with this weather lingo, Dave, but it burns off because in LA we have May gray, stay close.
2
SPEAKER_02
Then we have June gloom.
2
SPEAKER_02
Yes.
2
SPEAKER_02
Then what you don t know is July fry.
2
SPEAKER_02
And what Dana doesn t know is foggiest.
2
SPEAKER_01
Foggest.
2
SPEAKER_01
Covers everything, yeah.
2
SPEAKER_01
In Southern California, maybe at the beach.
2
SPEAKER_01
I think it just rhymes.
2
SPEAKER_01
Okay, give me September.
2
SPEAKER_00
I m not there yet.
2
SPEAKER_01
September rain, no.
2
SPEAKER_00
I thought this was that Simon and Garfunkel tune, but you know, not every podcast can handle the weather.
2
SPEAKER_00
Usually people are like, you know, they re going to watch it later.
2
SPEAKER_00
You guys, I like how you dig it.
2
SPEAKER_00
You really believe they re going to watch this weather.
2
SPEAKER_01
The main thing about podcasting, which you
3
SPEAKER_01
both know is that everyone who s consuming this entertainment right now is doing something else actively.
3
SPEAKER_01
They are gardening, they are walking somewhere, they re at the gym.
3
SPEAKER_01
So it s lo-fi.
3
SPEAKER_01
And they re driving predominantly, they re driving.
3
SPEAKER_01
So they re not even, they space out.
3
SPEAKER_01
But they say they want to hear us legitimately talking.
3
SPEAKER_01
So part of it being not always funny and just being real or kind of boring is actually good.
3
SPEAKER_00
Dave, do you remember, was Sarah Silverman at your SNL when you were there?
3
SPEAKER_02
Yeah, it was me, Sarah, and Jay Moore with The New People.
3
SPEAKER_02
Then there was a couple other ones too.
3
SPEAKER_02
I didn t, I really, I should have learned all the cast, but no.
3
SPEAKER_02
And at Norm s Memorial, who you were very
3
SPEAKER_02
funny.
3
SPEAKER_02
And let s face it, Kevin Nealon crushed that.
3
SPEAKER_02
That guy is like gifted.
3
SPEAKER_02
He s such a gifted guy.
3
SPEAKER_01
He s brilliant.
3
SPEAKER_01
But someone has to do a bit about comedians going to funerals and no one talks about the guy.
3
SPEAKER_01
It s always about who crushed.
3
SPEAKER_00
It s always who got like, no matter how sad you are, did he kill?
3
SPEAKER_01
Did he kill?
3
SPEAKER_01
But Nealon always kills in that kind of, he s got that, his style.
3
SPEAKER_01
He s a great comic too.
3
SPEAKER_02
He s another guy I was a fan of before I met him.
3
SPEAKER_02
the whatchamacallit, at Norm s funeral.
3
SPEAKER_02
Norm was the new guy that year too, and he went on to great success there.
3
SPEAKER_02
He was really cool to me.
3
SPEAKER_02
I brought him out to the clubs before he got so busy and everything.
3
SPEAKER_02
But for me, Jay and I, we shared a room.
3
SPEAKER_02
We shared an office then.
3
SPEAKER_02
We were both kind of like, you know, for Jay especially, like, who I thought had all the skill set, like he could do characters, he could do voices, all that kind of stuff.
3
SPEAKER_02
He was a good-looking guy, you know, he was a good-looking guy and everything like that.
3
SPEAKER_02
Very funny.
3
SPEAKER_02
You know, I saw the, you know, like how hard it is for the new guy there.
3
SPEAKER_02
For me, I kind of already accepted my fate, but for him, like, I was like, you know, yeah, I can t, you know, like... You ve got a future.
3
SPEAKER_02
...get on something, you know?
3
SPEAKER_02
But I guess Farley was, like, another one that, like, I got to, you know, meet him, the late great and, like,
3
SPEAKER_02
No one ever like him, you know, like to this day, I ve never met anybody that kind of comedic power.
3
SPEAKER_02
You know, do you know what I m saying?
3
SPEAKER_02
Like that, like inner, like like a battery, like I just say inner, like just like constantly funny.
3
SPEAKER_02
So, you know, there was definitely a lot of great experiences.
3
SPEAKER_02
And the most of the names we just talked about went on to great success.
3
SPEAKER_02
You know, Sarah and of course, Norm, you know, still one of the best comics.
3
SPEAKER_02
I think his comedy is underrated, you know.
3
SPEAKER_02
And Jim Dione, who I was talking to at the thing, another guy, like, amazing guy, we were talking about, like, just how, like, you know, just Norm, like, the master of timing, you know, I mean, like, his comedy was that good.
3
SPEAKER_01
Well, as far as his peers, there s no way he s underrated.
3
SPEAKER_01
I don t know if the public at large, but yeah, that s what I mean.
3
SPEAKER_02
Like, yeah, we, you know.
3
SPEAKER_01
We all know, like, yeah, Norm was also a singularity, like Farley.
3
SPEAKER_01
God rest their soul.
3
SPEAKER_01
But Norm s timing was so unique, the way he would jump.
3
SPEAKER_01
Yeah.
3
SPEAKER_01
The problem with OJ is, like, he kills people.
3
SPEAKER_01
You know, I don t know.
3
SPEAKER_01
It s just kind of, you know, besides the killing part, he s a great guy.
3
SPEAKER_01
Anyway, Norm is also just
3
SPEAKER_00
Well, Dave at the funeral, which, uh, whatever it was, it was a funeral memorial, whatever, but you know, with all these standups there, people will speak in quotes and it s really going to be a mixture of sad.
3
SPEAKER_00
And there s no way no one s not doing jokes, even though it s horrible.
3
SPEAKER_00
The hard part for me was going up and.
3
SPEAKER_00
you re getting a little misty and here comes a dolly shot.
3
SPEAKER_00
I was like, are we filming this?
3
SPEAKER_00
You know what I mean?
3
SPEAKER_00
You re rarely speaking from your heart and they re like, can we go again?
3
SPEAKER_00
So it was, you remember that it was filmed and then we stayed after and- And Conan was great on that too.
3
SPEAKER_00
Conan was always- Oh yeah, Conan was fucking funny.
3
SPEAKER_00
I fell on the way to the stage and then I told the guy on the side, I go, hey, this step right here is higher than the steps.
3
SPEAKER_00
And I wiped down, he goes, he s a crew guy, he goes, oh yeah, it s always been like that, and everybody fucking falls.
3
SPEAKER_00
I go, well, maybe look into that, I don t know, you know, you re gonna get sued every single day of your life, so.
3
SPEAKER_00
I fell, of course.
3
SPEAKER_00
And then afterwards is that s what we stayed after.
3
SPEAKER_00
And then we.
3
SPEAKER_02
Can I stop you for a second?
3
SPEAKER_02
Yeah, please.
3
SPEAKER_02
Homage to Dick Van Dyke.
3
SPEAKER_02
That s what I saw.
3
SPEAKER_02
I saw a guy do a classic Van Dyke.
3
SPEAKER_00
Yes, you saw it right.
3
SPEAKER_00
The classic ACL tear.
3
SPEAKER_02
I didn t know that s what I m talking about.
3
SPEAKER_01
I do because I separated this shoulder doing the Dick Van Dyke stunt at SNL playing Dan Quayle on Friday to pre-tape on little tiny carpet with no stunt quarter.
3
SPEAKER_01
Grade three separated shoulder.
3
SPEAKER_01
Still hurts.
3
SPEAKER_01
Still hurts, continue.
3
SPEAKER_02
Let s get into it.
3
SPEAKER_02
What s the healthcare like?
3
SPEAKER_02
I never stayed long enough to get on their program.
3
SPEAKER_02
Is it good?
3
SPEAKER_02
Oh, it s good.
3
SPEAKER_01
Oh, it s good.
3
SPEAKER_00
Lauren goes, you re fine.
3
SPEAKER_01
Okay.
3
SPEAKER_01
You re a standup coming up and stuff.
3
SPEAKER_01
And then from what I read, you got on Letterman first and then they showed up to Lauren or Lauren saw it.
3
SPEAKER_01
What was Letterman like to go on?
3
SPEAKER_02
I was going to be live with Jay and Sarah at a club, I think we were staying in New York.
3
SPEAKER_02
And then everybody became a performer and I became a writer.
3
SPEAKER_02
And back then it was like, if you re ugly, you re a writer.
3
SPEAKER_02
So I was like, okay, I m ugly.
3
SPEAKER_02
And then they threw me into the writer thing.
3
SPEAKER_02
And I m up against these horrible guys.
3
SPEAKER_02
And I was like, these guys really like, they re almost like, I
3
SPEAKER_00
Robocop.
3
SPEAKER_02
They re really good at it.
3
SPEAKER_02
Dave Mandel, and there was a couple of other guys who were just like, wow, it blew you away how young and good they were at this.
3
SPEAKER_02
To be honest, when you re used to writing for your own voice and then you write something for somebody else and it s good, giving that up, man, it s really tough.
3
SPEAKER_00
It s hard.
3
SPEAKER_00
Isn t it hard?
3
SPEAKER_02
There s a couple of times where I m like, I got nothing, but I m going to use it for my art, that kind of thing.
3
SPEAKER_02
Oh, yeah.
3
SPEAKER_02
I guess that isn t his job.
3
SPEAKER_01
Did you did you that they did you get on update at all?
3
SPEAKER_01
Like you did.
3
SPEAKER_01
Didn t you?
3
SPEAKER_02
No, no, no.
3
SPEAKER_02
You didn t get it.
3
SPEAKER_02
I don t think I was.
3
SPEAKER_02
I don t think it was as loose as it is now, where like if you feel like you got something good, you could try it.
3
SPEAKER_02
But, you know, I really like to be honest, like my writing experience there was what it was.
3
SPEAKER_02
And the guys who really like I kind of think got me.
3
SPEAKER_02
He will like John Stewart wrote on both of his shows before the daily show and I was character on the daily show so to this day I think John was really the guy who got me and I was great being a part of that show, but you know at the end of the day I think you know you guys probably know it ebbs and flows over there is kind of like it s kind of like a
3
SPEAKER_02
like an animal, it has to keep moving.
3
SPEAKER_02
And the people that are parts of it, they have years that are stronger than others.
3
SPEAKER_02
But the other two people on this podcast, they have definitely made this thing that kids grew up watching, and they all want to be a part of it.
3
SPEAKER_02
I mean, to this day, there s kids out there right now, that s their goal.
3
SPEAKER_02
And I know this is something you say at the end of the podcast, and we re probably not there yet, but I was like- No, it s over.
3
SPEAKER_02
Like, to finish the thought, it was just like, you know, there was a point there where I was really depressed and I was like, you know,
3
SPEAKER_02
I guess it s it s it s not for me, but like Bill Hicks died.
3
SPEAKER_02
I think that was like a big deal.
3
SPEAKER_02
Like he died.
3
SPEAKER_02
And I was kind of the only guy there who seemed to be really upset about it.
3
SPEAKER_02
And I was like, what?
3
SPEAKER_02
I mean, this guy, Billy and like nobody really kind of got it, you know, and I was like, well, I m not really like connected.
3
SPEAKER_02
I m not connected to them like I am to like the comedy world.
3
SPEAKER_02
So I kind of knew that I was like, that s what it is.
3
SPEAKER_01
So just a little insert there.
3
SPEAKER_01
I don t know.
3
SPEAKER_01
Did you ever play Spellbinders?
3
SPEAKER_01
I think it was in Houston.
3
SPEAKER_01
Anyway.
3
SPEAKER_01
Probably, yeah.
3
SPEAKER_01
Anyway, I just went down there a couple of times, early 80s, way before SNL.
3
SPEAKER_01
And then my opener was Bill Hicks.
3
SPEAKER_00
Wow.
3
SPEAKER_01
He was really young and he had a big sport coat.
3
SPEAKER_01
And he obviously was great immediately.
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It was like,
3
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Damn, this is my opener?
3
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But like 10 minutes in, he would take a beer out of his jacket.
3
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He would put a cold beer.
3
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It s a long way to go.
3
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The whole time.
3
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Our game was, I go, I m going to do the dice in the cockpit joke.
3
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So just as my opener, he loved that I was trying to intentionally alienate the audience.
3
SPEAKER_01
I came here on Mexicana Airlines and the pilot had dice in the cockpit.
3
SPEAKER_01
But did you know Bill or work with him twice, three times?
3
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And like, he gave me a great compliment one time, he gave me a tag on a joke.
3
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And I was like smiling for like two days after that.
3
SPEAKER_02
But I didn t know him probably the way you did.
3
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But I will say one thing is that like, you know, a lot of people consider him like the grandfather of all
3
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comedy or woke comedy.
3
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But the fact your story says it right there.
3
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He was playing a club, a dive club in Houston.
3
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Yeah.
3
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And like the guy could hold his own against anyone.
3
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He played through the South.
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He played through everywhere, anywhere you can go.
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And he did this all like when he was like 17, 18, 19, 20 years old.
3
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And then he was like, you know what, there s
4
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more to this and that opened his world.
4
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He became a deep thinker and he always was like a well-read dude and so talented.
4
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I remember one time we were at the original improv in New York and he was hanging out with some of us afterwards and he s like,   Hey, is that a guitar?  
4
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He immediately picked it up and it was like Stevie Ray Vaughan came in the room.
4
SPEAKER_00
He was that good.
4
SPEAKER_00
But the guy was always searching and trying to push it.
4
SPEAKER_00
When you see him on Letterman, I think you re not really getting the whole like feel of Bill Hicks.
4
SPEAKER_00
I mean, you got to see him live.
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And, you know, to this day, his last play at Caroline s, I didn t go that night.
4
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I really wish I did.
4
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But that was right before he basically said, I m too sick to perform and I m going back home and I m going to have to do that.
4
SPEAKER_00
And, you know, that was kind of the end of it.
4
SPEAKER_00
So I kind of missed out on like, you know, something that never, ever happened.
4
SPEAKER_00
You know, like it was like whatever it was.
4
SPEAKER_00
It was dumb of me not to go that night.
4
SPEAKER_00
So anyway, but
4
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How cool was it when it was open for you?
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Well, it wasn t Bill Hicks then.
4
SPEAKER_01
Yeah.
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Did he change his name?
4
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I don t know.
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Did you, Dana, could you tell he had something there?
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Yes.
4
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And I liked him immediately.
4
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I could tell he was incredibly bright and.
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But we were just playing this little goofy club and and.
4
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He had something right, right, right off the bat, and then I saw one, I guess he had a special or some I saw him a few years later and yeah, he took it to this whole other idea.
4
SPEAKER_01
Mort Sahl meets Sam Kanison, I don t know, he went very, stepped outside the lines of a stand-up but remained really funny, which is sort of the hat trick, you know.
4
SPEAKER_00
When you were doing comedy in the 80s especially, how much influence was the show Seinfeld on you?
4
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Because it seems like everybody was like, you do this till you get to sitcom and then you never have to do it again, right?
4
SPEAKER_00
I m sure that came at you guys that way the whole time.
4
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I was chasing the sitcom dream at the improv where Tim Allen got picked up and then Roseanne and it was, both of those were huge shows, Home Improvement.
4
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And they re basically looking, they were in the audience a lot because
4
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It wasn t about killing, which I didn t get.
4
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It was just what persona can we write a show around?
4
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And I didn t get that at all.
4
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I was sweaty trying to fucking get laughs.
4
SPEAKER_00
But you were always I always thought you were.
4
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So I just always like started.
4
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I really dug what you were doing.
4
SPEAKER_00
All right.
4
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I remember at the Tempe Improv, I think one night I walked in at the end.
4
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Dan Muir, who we both know, like he s like, hey, he s playing over there.
4
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You want to come?
4
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I m like, yeah, I want to check it out.
4
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And we watch him from the balcony.
4
SPEAKER_00
And it was just like so funny just the way you will.
4
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You know, like you basically had them.
4
SPEAKER_00
So, you know, you got to play with them a bit.
4
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So I love that.
4
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David doesn t.
4
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And I ve been guilty this many times of pushing.
4
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And David never seems to push.
4
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And so it s very calm to watch just his brain working.
4
SPEAKER_01
You know, it s not like he s dancing for his dollar or his money.
4
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I get I get the complaints I get sometimes in the road or like it didn t look like you were even trying.
4
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I m like, this is all fucking the whole idea.
4
SPEAKER_02
Like it s all thought out and you just go.
4
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You re just like, and I go, I still talk for a straight fucking hour.
4
SPEAKER_02
Like, it s hard to do.
4
SPEAKER_02
Like, have a set up punchline, have this all weave into each other.
4
SPEAKER_02
But if it looks casual, that s a good idea.
4
SPEAKER_02
You don t need yada, da-da, da-da.
4
SPEAKER_02
You know, also, I was going to tell you, I didn t...
4
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Bill Hicks and Mitch Hedberg, I didn t really appreciate or get to know after, or get to know their work until it was too late.
4
SPEAKER_02
So I was never really, I remember they said Bill Hicks might have been on Conan when I was at SNL.
4
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I don t even know if I knew who he was.
4
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I just heard that and said, oh, that guy.
4
SPEAKER_02
I d heard of a little bit, but later on, even now you see on Tik TOK or Instagram, you can see clips and that s kind of nice because there s so many things I just didn t know.
4
SPEAKER_02
Uh, especially Mitch Hedberg.
4
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I see on there a lot, but these guys are great guys that just floated around and then it just too early.
4
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Well, Mitch especially, I mean, this is like something I do know is that people always say, all these young comics, they sound like you, like me.
4
SPEAKER_00
That s what they re saying.
4
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And I go, if you want to know the one guy who s been jacked the most, it s Mitch Edgerton.
4
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So many generations of comics now have grown up, I guess, watching him.
4
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And just his voice, his cadence, and his style, I mean, I ve seen it a million different ways.
4
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And I used to, in the beginning, be really angry.
4
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That s Hedberg.
4
SPEAKER_00
You re doing Hedberg up there.
4
SPEAKER_00
That s what the guy s doing.
4
SPEAKER_00
And now I get it.
4
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It s just like, they don t really get that it s Hedberg anymore.
4
SPEAKER_00
They just know that it s funny, I think.
4
SPEAKER_00
I don t know.
4
SPEAKER_00
I m trying to be generous to them.
4
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But that s really one of those things where it s like, Hedberg had a big impact on the generation of comedy.
4
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I m just putting this together a little bit.
4
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Theo Vaughn and Hedberg, not that he s ripping them off, but both have a quirky
4
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Well, Mitch did have this quirky timing, and I don t know, was he from the South or any kind of accent, but he just had a really weird way of speaking.
4
SPEAKER_00
He was from Wisconsin, I guess, Minneapolis, and he moved South, and his joke was like he was driving, and he had something wrong with the front end alignment, and he ended up there, like he was trying to get to Texas, and the car kept veering left.
4
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He was pulling to the right, I see.
4
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Yeah, something like that.
4
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So that s how he got there.
4
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And like he worked in kitchens.
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He was just basically kind of like a kind of like a stoner kitchen guy.
4
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And that s where he started doing comedy.
4
SPEAKER_00
But he definitely had that kind of like Southern, like, you know, that kind of charm.
4
SPEAKER_00
And Theo also is like, you know, because I always feel of him as like Cajun, you know, like he has that cool, like there s something there.
4
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, it s cool.
4
SPEAKER_01
By the way, I just want to... You know that you re kind of a touchstone for stand-up, right?
4
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Like Etel, Etel.
4
SPEAKER_01
It s constant.
4
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For me, coming back from SNL and playing some clubs and playing with Larry, other people, you re constantly mentioned and referred to.
4
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You know that, right?
4
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I just want to... Because I always assume that everybody... It s hard to know how people perceive you, but I m just saying anecdotally,
4
SPEAKER_01
Just, oh yeah, but Attell was there and Attell, it just, I don t know, it s just, I hope it s nice to hear.
4
SPEAKER_01
It s a good rep to have out there.
4
SPEAKER_00
Yeah.
4
SPEAKER_00
Are you less excited about my success?
4
SPEAKER_02
No, it just kind of angers me quietly, but I just, I thought this wasn t going to be all about you and it s sort of turning that way.
4
SPEAKER_00
I mean, we can talk about the weather again.
4
SPEAKER_00
I mean.
4
SPEAKER_02
Oh, my God.
4
SPEAKER_02
There s some monsoonal moisture I didn t mention earlier.
4
SPEAKER_01
David s a great, great stand up now.
4
SPEAKER_01
Back to the go.
4
SPEAKER_01
Yeah.
4
SPEAKER_00
Listen, I was also of that generation of like a lot of them passed too quickly.
4
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Edberg, Geraldo, Greg Geraldo.
4
SPEAKER_00
Yeah.
4
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Great line guy, Patrice.
4
SPEAKER_00
So I was of that kind of group, you know, like of that of that.
4
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that time in comedy.
4
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But I would say that the reason why people talk to me is because I m out there.
4
SPEAKER_00
I really have been doing the club so long now.
4
SPEAKER_00
I mean, honestly, I don t even know what the exit strategy is anymore.
4
SPEAKER_00
I don t think you have to have it.
4
SPEAKER_01
To your point, you ll see someone, and we re going to talk about insomniac in a second, but you ll see someone at different times throughout their career.
4
SPEAKER_01
So then the latest thing, I don t pay attention to everyone all the time,
4
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was this special?
4
SPEAKER_01
And I go, oh, maybe that s his best special or certainly haven t lost a step or anything.
4
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So why would you ever stop?
4
SPEAKER_01
You know, I mean, I don t think there s been any slippage.
4
SPEAKER_00
I don t know.
4
SPEAKER_00
Do you ever feel I mean, this is like a good crew to ask is like when I was first
4
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Starting out, I felt like my writing and my performing were low.
4
SPEAKER_00
And then as I would keep going, the writing would get better, but the performing still sucked.
4
SPEAKER_00
Then the performing for a year was better than the writing.
4
SPEAKER_00
And then it became this.
4
SPEAKER_00
So now I feel like they re both kind of equal.
4
SPEAKER_00
I kind of know what I m doing, and I can write a joke.
4
SPEAKER_00
you know I m able to like turn whatever I want into a joke eventually I mean like we all know we fight that battle every day but you know I m like this is a good spot to be in I m glad like you know I m able to do it in the crowd still getting it but like am I relevant am I any of the things that are important in today s comedy world no so I m also going like you know
4
SPEAKER_00
Hey, I m not doing it for everybody.
4
SPEAKER_00
I m doing it for my crowd and I m doing it for, you know, what I want to do.
4
SPEAKER_00
But at the end of the day, you got to entertain.
4
SPEAKER_00
Right.
4
SPEAKER_00
So like, what point are you just kind of like, here comes that old hack, you know, like, no, you see my saying that what is relevant today?
4
SPEAKER_01
Like, is it the topics, the style?
4
SPEAKER_01
I mean, seem like, I don t know.
4
SPEAKER_00
You tell me.
4
SPEAKER_01
I don t know.
4
SPEAKER_01
It seems like your your topics were all of today.
4
SPEAKER_00
Well, that was also a post-pandemic special, which the two things that Netflix asked me, and I asked them questions, because I go, is name of special important?
4
SPEAKER_00
That s why it was funny that you guys were bringing up these names.
4
SPEAKER_00
Because I don t want to call it Hot Cross Buns.
4
SPEAKER_00
I want to call it, you know,
4
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want to call something else.
4
SPEAKER_00
And they said, Oh, that s not that good.
4
SPEAKER_00
And then they said, Don t, don t what I go, what turns people off, you have all this data now.
4
SPEAKER_00
And they said, over jokes and political jokes, people don t want to hear any of that.
4
SPEAKER_00
So I m like, I m, I m sad, I don t have any of that stuff.
4
SPEAKER_00
And then I realized I got like, a COVID joke, political joke in the
5
SPEAKER_00
first five minutes, even though they re well hidden jokes.
5
SPEAKER_02
Well, I like your little turn on a little political thing and you go, I m a, I m a Biden guy, Hunter, Hunter Biden, you know, but it s the way you tell it.
5
SPEAKER_00
One of my rep s favorite jokes.
5
SPEAKER_00
He s always telling me about it.
5
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, that s a good one.
5
SPEAKER_00
You know, but then it was like, that s a political joke.
5
SPEAKER_00
What do we do?
5
SPEAKER_00
Blah, blah, blah.
5
SPEAKER_00
Oh, shut it down.
5
SPEAKER_00
We kept it in.
5
SPEAKER_00
Yeah.
5
SPEAKER_01
You know, I ll go killer.
5
SPEAKER_01
I ll go killer.
5
SPEAKER_00
Yeah.
5
SPEAKER_00
So, you know, in terms of like, you know, am I going to preach to the people?
5
SPEAKER_00
I was never that guy.
5
SPEAKER_00
I was really kind of a, you know, a line guy, a joke guy.
5
SPEAKER_00
I m like, uh, it s all about the jokes for me.
5
SPEAKER_00
Well, Dave, I think it s the same thing where it s like, even though you think it s a throwaway joke, some people like give it a life all its own and you re like, sure.
5
SPEAKER_00
Taking it too far.
5
SPEAKER_00
It s not that, you know,
5
SPEAKER_01
Well, Dana, you know, he was just saying a good point.
5
SPEAKER_01
When we started, it was like sitcom and all that.
5
SPEAKER_01
There s a point, Nate Bregazzi, Theo right now, where you could start as a standup and it s actually less money to go into movies and TV.
5
SPEAKER_01
So they re making so much or they re just on the road that you don t have to do anything other than be a standup and you just keep working.
5
SPEAKER_01
And Dave s been doing it a while and he keeps making money and it keeps working and he s got a crowd, he s got a good rep.
5
SPEAKER_01
And that works.
5
SPEAKER_01
I mean, it s hard to keep it going for a while, but these guys do great.
5
SPEAKER_01
So you could say, I don t want to stop and do a sitcom.
5
SPEAKER_01
It s I m going to lose money or I m going to.
5
SPEAKER_01
That s so weird because it s less of that in the world and less comedy movies out there in the world and more.
5
SPEAKER_01
Stand-up gets bigger and bigger.
5
SPEAKER_02
Stand-up is amazing.
5
SPEAKER_02
Both Nate Bregazzi and Burt Kreisner kind of intimated to us that they felt like we were really in show business because they hadn t had a movie or a TV show.
5
SPEAKER_02
We re like, wait a minute, you re the master of your own fate and you re making more than a sitcom star.
5
SPEAKER_00
You picked up two great names, because Nate and Bert, both into the spectrum, super funny guys.
5
SPEAKER_00
And both of them went through that process of developing all that kind of stuff.
5
SPEAKER_00
At the end of the day, they re doing exactly what they should do.
5
SPEAKER_00
Their crowd loves it.
5
SPEAKER_00
And also really good dudes.
5
SPEAKER_00
They re great to the other comics.
5
SPEAKER_00
man s right.
5
SPEAKER_00
So they re doing everything right.
5
SPEAKER_00
But they also went through that endless loop of development.
5
SPEAKER_00
And I think it would be great, like cleansing.
5
SPEAKER_00
If like everybody, all the pitches that were ever pitched to you, like you could like basically whisper it on a rose and drop it in a well, like, you know, and I m a father taking care of six.
5
SPEAKER_00
And I run a laundromat and just throw that, you know, like in the well, like that s done.
5
SPEAKER_00
That ll never be used again.
5
SPEAKER_00
You know?
5
SPEAKER_00
Yeah.
5
SPEAKER_00
So ask, ask about this.
5
SPEAKER_01
Cause I m going to ask about something else.
5
SPEAKER_01
I got mine is about your porn show.
5
SPEAKER_01
Oh, the porn show.
5
SPEAKER_02
Dave s old porn.
5
SPEAKER_01
And did you, who are those favorite, favorite porn stars, but go ahead and say something first.
5
SPEAKER_00
Those were the seventies, um, iconic age of porn, you know, like, and, um,
5
SPEAKER_00
You know, I knew that from the Avianna Award, like I had like started doing it then with, you know, and we basically wanted the tribute to them because we got like, I m like the only idiot who bought the rights to use these films because everybody would be like, why would you buy these rights?
5
SPEAKER_00
They re all like the mafia or something like that.
5
SPEAKER_00
So I bought the rights to these legendary films and they re very dramatic and they re like acting and there s like car chases and all these weird things that you would never see on OnlyFans right now.
5
SPEAKER_00
So these guys,
5
SPEAKER_00
And ladies, they kind of built the renaissance of porn.
5
SPEAKER_00
You know what I m saying?
5
SPEAKER_00
So it was fun to have them watch their things.
5
SPEAKER_00
And then we d bring out the younger, the adult stars.
5
SPEAKER_00
And they would also weigh in on it.
5
SPEAKER_00
And then there were comics that went on, like Rogan, Bill Burr, so many great names that were on this thing.
5
SPEAKER_00
Amy Schumer, just like all the people I knew.
5
SPEAKER_00
And having them kind of throw them, just looking at it.
5
SPEAKER_00
Maren, all these different people.
5
SPEAKER_00
And you would have been great at it, dude.
5
SPEAKER_00
I love that, yeah.
5
SPEAKER_00
I don t think you re a porn guy.
5
SPEAKER_01
I like to just watch stuff and comment on it.
5
SPEAKER_01
That s funny.
5
SPEAKER_00
Well, there you go.
5
SPEAKER_00
VH1 style.
5
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, we could do Tracy Lourdes.
5
SPEAKER_00
Tracy Lourdes, of course.
5
SPEAKER_00
Yes.
5
SPEAKER_00
I mean, there was so many, so many names and that was for Showtime.
5
SPEAKER_00
And I guess this was before, you know, what was their big show over there?
5
SPEAKER_00
Yeah.
5
SPEAKER_00
No, it was not.
5
SPEAKER_01
I m trying to think I m not putting it was the Christie Canyon had a sitcom over there.
5
SPEAKER_00
Well, what happened was it s like me and my other guy who s a great guy, Jeremy.
5
SPEAKER_00
He s the editor and he was also the director that we we like through everything we had into it because we believed in it.
5
SPEAKER_00
You know, we covered all the dirty stuff with like interesting graphics.
5
SPEAKER_00
And like at the end of the day, I lost money doing a TV show.
5
SPEAKER_00
It was like one of those like to fail.
5
SPEAKER_00
Like it was just like
5
SPEAKER_00
I don t know.
5
SPEAKER_00
I was just a star of a TV show.
5
SPEAKER_00
I m 100 grand in the hole.
5
SPEAKER_00
How did that happen?
5
SPEAKER_01
I got the rights to seek his catalog.
5
SPEAKER_02
It was like one of those things.
5
SPEAKER_02
So I m just curious about Insomniac because.
5
SPEAKER_00
That I made money on, but I lost a kidney.
5
SPEAKER_00
So there you go.
5
SPEAKER_02
You lost a kidney?
5
SPEAKER_00
No, no.
5
SPEAKER_00
It was a lot of drinking.
5
SPEAKER_00
I really drank on the show and it was a travel show.
5
SPEAKER_00
The people who helped me make that also, just awesome people.
5
SPEAKER_00
out all hours of the night for days and days at a time.
5
SPEAKER_00
And that was my idea.
5
SPEAKER_00
That was like, what happens after the show?
5
SPEAKER_00
You go out.
5
SPEAKER_00
And I also wanted to do late night jobs.
5
SPEAKER_00
So, you know, everything that we kind of did on that show became its own entity on other shows.
5
SPEAKER_00
And people like, do you feel that, you know, it s like, I don t care.
5
SPEAKER_00
I don t care who s doing it, whatever.
5
SPEAKER_00
When I did it, I did it the best I could.
5
SPEAKER_00
This was before cell phones.
5
SPEAKER_00
It would never work now with all of the technology.
5
SPEAKER_00
Well, you re the first one.
5
SPEAKER_00
That s good.
5
SPEAKER_00
And to be honest, like, you know, I think Anthony Bourdain did the ultimate travel show.
5
SPEAKER_00
Like the guy found what it s really about.
5
SPEAKER_00
Food is universal.
5
SPEAKER_00
And I always felt like, you know, this guy, people always like, hey, he s doing a travel.
5
SPEAKER_00
I was like, there s nothing like that show.
5
SPEAKER_00
That guy really, you know, he found the thing or that was his thing that like, I mean, you can t, you can t top what he did.
5
SPEAKER_00
So I m just one of many travel shows of the, of the, of the time.
5
SPEAKER_00
So, wow.
5
SPEAKER_02
Jeff Ross goes down a lot.
5
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Yeah, you re like, this is shitty.
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That was horrible.
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And then that happened.
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I think it was ahead of its time to put a comic in those situations, improvising and being real, authentic, you know.
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Well, let s talk about Comedy Central, because that was like, I think, the heyday of Comedy Central.
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The Chappelle Show was killing it.
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To this day, I d say probably the top, if not the top five, the top three of great sketch shows.
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I mean, him and Neil, what they put together there, I mean, amazing.
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And then my show was there.
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I felt like we were a utility show, you know, like we were like, they would always go like, okay, we need you to do this and this and this.
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I m like, but it s snowing there.
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SPEAKER_00
It s like, well, you got to do it, you know, because it was an outdoor show most of the time.
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SPEAKER_00
So it wasn t always the spring break.
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SPEAKER_00
So it was really tough on us weather wise.
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SPEAKER_00
Sorry guys, also running a Bitcoin factory here.
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SPEAKER_00
So anyway, yeah.
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So that was what that was.
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That was like the serious travel show.
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And I would do road after that.
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But here s the thing, you guys will love this.
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And I m sorry if I m babbling.
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No, this is good.
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I get asked about the show all the time, but the real deal is that a lot of the people who watched it were in high school who couldn t go out yet.
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SPEAKER_00
So I was always like, well, if this show is such a hit, how come the club isn t full?
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SPEAKER_00
Or how come this tour is not making money?
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SPEAKER_00
And it turned out they weren t old enough yet to go to see a live show.
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SPEAKER_00
So years later, they all caught up with me and then some.
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SPEAKER_00
But back then, I was like,
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SPEAKER_00
You know, I don t get it, man.
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SPEAKER_00
I mean, where is everybody?
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SPEAKER_00
Everybody s talking about it.
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SPEAKER_00
I m drinking with everybody.
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SPEAKER_00
Like, what s going on here?
5
SPEAKER_00
And then it turned out because we re ready to, like, go to clubs yet.
5
SPEAKER_00
So that was it.
5
SPEAKER_00
So Comedy Central, you had all my credits now.
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Captain Miserable, Roadwork.
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These are my specials.
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SPEAKER_02
Your specials.
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SPEAKER_02
The Ugly American.
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SPEAKER_00
That s why I did that for Jon Stewart.
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That was my character.
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SPEAKER_00
And now, of course, that one is the ugly American.
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SPEAKER_00
I assume everybody considers us all ugly at this point.
5
SPEAKER_00
But back then it was a lot of fun, because you could be inappropriate, put Jon down.
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SPEAKER_00
He always had a great sense of humor.
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And then you and Jeff Ross are a cool pair.
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Bumpin  Mouse.
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That was another one.
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That was another thing.
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And we wanted to get Dave on that for sure.
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SPEAKER_00
Like, we did the three, we did three episodes in New York at the Village Underground.
5
SPEAKER_00
And to be, to be fair, you know, bumping mics, that s Jeff s idea.
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SPEAKER_00
We just started doing it for fun at the end of the shows.
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SPEAKER_00
He would come to town, he d be on stage, I d bring him on stage, we d go at each other.
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SPEAKER_00
And like, you know, he is the roast master.
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We all know that.
5
SPEAKER_00
So, you know, it was great keeping up with Jeff and then like learning like how to work
5
SPEAKER_00
together it s really difficult as you know like to have another voice on stage and how to like you know back back and forth we got really good at it we toured a bit on it and the shows that we did people still to this day come up and talk about that so i would say jeff is fearless everything i wanted to cut out of the thing he kept in and people loved it so he was right and he was wrong and you know i guess at the end of the day i m a coward because i m like oh we re gonna
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We re going to get a blowback on this and that. 
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And he s like, what are you nuts?
6
SPEAKER_00
I mean, come on, let s keep it in there.
6
SPEAKER_00
So I always give it up to Jeff.
6
SPEAKER_00
I guess he could see through the trees, whereas I was like, we re heading into the rocks.
6
SPEAKER_01
I think you did it one night and brought me up and I sat there on the side of the mic with you guys.
6
SPEAKER_01
Is that possible?
6
SPEAKER_00
I think so, yeah.
6
SPEAKER_00
Do you remember where it was?
6
SPEAKER_00
Was it in New York or LA?
6
SPEAKER_01
No, is it possible?
6
SPEAKER_01
No, not Largo.
6
SPEAKER_01
We ve never done Largo.
6
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, that was a trick and you passed.
6
SPEAKER_01
No, maybe it was the Comedy Store, we ve never done it there.
6
SPEAKER_01
Maybe it was...
6
SPEAKER_00
What was the comedy store so you know but yeah both of you would be awesome cuz let s face it the crowd is not just a fan of us but of comedy so they were like they just they were great and it s good if you decide cuz you guys talk and get and carry it and then i just chirping.
6
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, no, I remember now.
6
SPEAKER_00
It was it was we had a lot of really great.
6
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It was all because of Jeff, because Jeff knows everybody.
6
SPEAKER_00
So we had the late, great Bob Sackett, Gilbert, who were both really good friends with me.
6
SPEAKER_00
He did it.
6
SPEAKER_00
And then we had Bob Sackett and Gilbert together, which was like kind of a Kong versus Godzilla moment.
6
SPEAKER_00
It was like an awesome, very similar.
6
SPEAKER_00
These two go at it, you know, of course.
6
SPEAKER_00
And what was the Bruce Willis was on it.
6
SPEAKER_00
I mean, like we had some really big names that came by and that was all because of Jeff, you know.
6
SPEAKER_01
So far, nothing is because of you in this whole, in your whole career.
6
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, I like to think I m just kind of like the, uh, I m the ring around the bathtub.
6
SPEAKER_00
That s a lie.
6
SPEAKER_02
can I just ask you, what do you, like, what you re gonna tour all the time?
6
SPEAKER_02
Are you out now, or what do you, how often are you going out, and do you have a new half hour?
6
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, what do you do with that?
6
SPEAKER_00
That s great, I think we talked about it at the- It s horrible.
6
SPEAKER_00
Tony, it s like,
6
SPEAKER_00
He s already judged.
6
SPEAKER_02
Because you need about a hundred great jokes, right?
6
SPEAKER_00
No, it s so tough to do a special.
6
SPEAKER_02
You need a hundred jokes to do jokes.
6
SPEAKER_02
I do chopped broccoli for 19 minutes.
6
SPEAKER_02
That s boom.
6
SPEAKER_02
I repeat one phrase over and over.
6
SPEAKER_02
But guys like you or Larry Bubbles Brown, it s like really good jokes every 15 seconds, 20 seconds.
6
SPEAKER_02
Hard to get a half hour.
6
SPEAKER_00
Uh, I got about 15 minutes of okay.
6
SPEAKER_00
And then probably 30 of like, Hey, I m trying up here, you know, but yeah, I gave, I, I, you know, forgive the term.
6
SPEAKER_00
I shot my load on the last one.
6
SPEAKER_00
And like, I hadn t been in this situation in about four or five years where like you got nothing.
6
SPEAKER_00
And I talked to the young comics, like Sam Morrell, Mark Norman, these guys turn hours, like now every like three months.
6
SPEAKER_00
They re like turning the hours and I m like, yeah.
6
SPEAKER_00
And they also get it like, you know, yeah, when you got nothing and then you re going back out there, like you really like, you know, it s really a sad, like, you know, it s like God s love.
6
SPEAKER_00
Where is it?
6
SPEAKER_00
You know, like you re really there alone, though.
6
SPEAKER_01
Or you tip the crowd and say, hey, work in my work in my new hour warning.
6
SPEAKER_02
Have you ever gone up with notes then, like with a notepad, so they kind of know, hey, I m just, that s what I do.
6
SPEAKER_02
Like, I don t know what s happening next, but I feel bad for the audience when I m not.
6
SPEAKER_00
I like where you do that because I think a lot of the crowd go like, oh, I m getting to see the process.
6
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, they do.
6
SPEAKER_00
Like, wow, I really kind of would like a more finished thing, you know, because yeah, yeah, you guys are getting this stuff that, you know, but it s a good trick.
6
SPEAKER_01
It s a trick because they laugh hard.
6
SPEAKER_01
You re like, is this anything polished?
6
SPEAKER_02
I just go, you re going to hate this bit.
6
SPEAKER_02
And then I m going to tell it to you again and point out where, why and where you re going to hate it.
6
SPEAKER_02
So that always helps the bit because they go.
6
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, that s true.
6
SPEAKER_02
They re going to hate it.
6
SPEAKER_02
That s not too bad.
6
SPEAKER_00
But the the the thing that I like is when, you know, I ll.
6
SPEAKER_00
you know, do the jokes that didn t make it, you know, and those are, that s the people like, why didn t that get in there?
6
SPEAKER_01
It always gets a better laugh.
6
SPEAKER_01
They re like, that s not that bad.
6
SPEAKER_02
So what s the most money you ve made in one single calendar year?
6
SPEAKER_00
What?
6
SPEAKER_00
Oh, you take questions from the audience.
6
SPEAKER_02
No, I m going to, I was asking you, I m all, I m, I m really into celebrity net worth and stuff, but I m just, okay.
6
SPEAKER_00
You don t have to answer that.
6
SPEAKER_00
I m making millions more than I actually am, but I m on tour because my mom has rabbit clock care.
6
SPEAKER_00
She has dementia, which is very expensive.
6
SPEAKER_00
And you know, we wanted her to have another disease, which is less good job, Dana.
6
SPEAKER_00
That s what she s going with.
6
SPEAKER_02
So this is real, this is real stuff.
6
SPEAKER_00
So
6
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part of it is like you know i ll never quit you know i m a road the other part of me is i got these bills and i got a quick so that s part of it and like you know the other thing is i really wouldn t know what to do myself if i wasn t out there but i would say that you know as long as i m still.
6
SPEAKER_00
You know, everything gets harder, but the actual show, like the flights, the hotels, all the food, all that kind of stuff, you know, for us, that s our lives, but it really does kind of grind down on you.
6
SPEAKER_00
But the shows for me, like, it s like, yeah, there s good ones and bad ones, but like, as long as I m coming up with one new thing, then you re like, okay, I guess I m still able to do this.
6
SPEAKER_00
So, you know.
6
SPEAKER_01
Yep.
6
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That is fun.
6
SPEAKER_01
Getting ideas is one of the fun things left in life.
6
SPEAKER_01
If you get a good idea.
6
SPEAKER_00
It s a good code to crack.
6
SPEAKER_00
If you can still,
6
SPEAKER_01
go come up with a bit and they just go, oh, fuck, oh, this is cool, oh, and then it works.
6
SPEAKER_01
You re like, that gives you a little juice, I think.
6
SPEAKER_01
It does for me.
6
SPEAKER_02
Everybody says that.
6
SPEAKER_02
Everybody, Bob Newhart would say that.
6
SPEAKER_02
You do your same old set, you try one joke out or bit, and if it works, you re just kind of like, oh, that was a great night.
6
SPEAKER_01
You know, it s fun.
6
SPEAKER_02
I got a new toy.
6
SPEAKER_01
So you can still do it, yeah.
6
SPEAKER_02
Yeah, but I go back to Chris Rock for what you were saying.
6
SPEAKER_02
It s like,
6
SPEAKER_02
It s a job.
6
SPEAKER_02
Like Lorne Michaels, what do you think of Lorne Michaels?
6
SPEAKER_02
I think he gave me a job.
6
SPEAKER_02
And so the fact is you re still in demand and people want to pay you money to go do your thing.
6
SPEAKER_02
So why stop?
6
SPEAKER_00
Well, are you enjoying it now that like, you know, you can just go out and, you know, like, I guess, basically, do whatever you feel like doing, you know, there s really no pressure now, like that you re able to just go out there and like, enjoy it, you know, so many, so many years, it s either about like, you know, I got to do this, because it might lead to this, all that kind of stuff, like for you guys, especially like, just go out and have fun with it, right?
6
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, it s just some days I wake up, I just want to get on Southwest today.
6
SPEAKER_01
It s enjoyable.
6
SPEAKER_02
Yeah, I don t travel that much.
6
SPEAKER_02
But yeah, in the early days, it s painful to even think about the amount of stage fright I had and the amount of fear.
6
SPEAKER_02
Really?
6
SPEAKER_02
Oh, yeah.
6
SPEAKER_02
I was terrified for years.
6
SPEAKER_00
Wow.
6
SPEAKER_02
Yeah.
6
SPEAKER_02
I mean, during college days, and Rob Williams was there in the beginning, and then he went and got more committed, but he was always coming back.
6
SPEAKER_02
And it was so powerful and so explosive, it was just sort of like, oh shit.
6
SPEAKER_01
Hard to compete with.
6
SPEAKER_00
Unfollowable, would you say?
6
SPEAKER_00
Like at his heyday, like there s no way anyone can follow him, right?
6
SPEAKER_02
No, because he always thought, he apologized to me once, like he took something from me.
6
SPEAKER_02
I go, I try to take your whole act.
6
SPEAKER_02
I mean, he came up with...
6
SPEAKER_02
Others did it.
6
SPEAKER_02
Talk about influence.
6
SPEAKER_02
He came up with this conceit of a Shakespearean actor that has no act, and they just pushed him out on stage.
6
SPEAKER_02
And then he learned how to do that.
6
SPEAKER_02
But that spontaneity and, oh, go and jump in the audience at the time, I remember Gary Shanling thinking, why am I even trying?
6
SPEAKER_01
Why am I doing this?
6
SPEAKER_01
Are we in the same business?
6
SPEAKER_02
Tornado.
6
SPEAKER_02
But it did make you work harder.
6
SPEAKER_02
You re like, OK, that s the level of killing, because in those days you just wanted to just kill.
6
SPEAKER_02
And so Robin did sort of make you go, OK, I got I got I got to get better.
6
SPEAKER_02
So that was the good side of it.
6
SPEAKER_00
But it s it seems like every lap was a home run with him or at least that s what you know you see when you look at those old tapes just like it was just crushed brush brush like Jim Carrey another guy like brush brush brush there had to be in the beginning, especially times when people were just kind of like he was ahead of the crowd, they didn t get him right like immediately did they or did they.
6
SPEAKER_02
Sometimes Robin would come into the Holy City Zoo, the 60-seater in San Francisco in the late 70s, and he d do two hours.
6
SPEAKER_02
And in those days, he was kind of drinking and stuff.
6
SPEAKER_02
And sometimes people would start to walk out after just a, because he was just out there.
6
SPEAKER_02
But I think his rhythm, wherever his voice came from, he s from Detroit and Marin County, but this sort of like, this voice was, and right now there s a man going, hello.
6
SPEAKER_02
And after a while, you re just seduced by it.
6
SPEAKER_02
I was on stage doing improv once and he s going, right now there s a man going,
6
SPEAKER_02
The man going, whoa.
6
SPEAKER_02
And he didn t have a line.
6
SPEAKER_02
He still got a line.
6
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, yeah.
6
SPEAKER_01
It sounds like a joke.
6
SPEAKER_02
The voice was so... And then he wouldn t really use the mic, was also another thing.
6
SPEAKER_02
He d stand away from the mic.
6
SPEAKER_02
Oh, hello.
6
SPEAKER_02
And this sense that he didn t know what was going to happen.
6
SPEAKER_02
And so it was a nice one of those shooting stars.
6
SPEAKER_00
Yeah.
6
SPEAKER_00
Well, that s another thing.
6
SPEAKER_00
It s like, you know,
6
SPEAKER_00
Took me a little while to get comfortable and it took me another while to figure out what I m doing.
6
SPEAKER_00
But there are people who are just gifted who immediately, boom, they got it.
6
SPEAKER_00
That s who they are.
6
SPEAKER_00
And then they run towards it.
6
SPEAKER_00
I mean, there s definitely a deep bench of guys and women who are just that good at it.
6
SPEAKER_00
I don t know.
6
SPEAKER_02
I don t know.
7
SPEAKER_02
Watch your own special, because... Yeah, Dave s one of the best.
7
SPEAKER_02
That special, I would... I happily recommend it to our listeners.
7
SPEAKER_02
Just go on Netflix.
7
SPEAKER_00
It means a lot coming from you guys, you know?
7
SPEAKER_00
And I hope this podcast is successful.
7
SPEAKER_00
I mean, eventually, you ll get those stands that other podcasts have for the microphones instead of this morning radio kind of feel.
7
SPEAKER_00
You fucking motherfucker.
7
SPEAKER_00
I mean...
7
SPEAKER_02
Our parent company is in bankruptcy, so we re on a budget.
7
SPEAKER_02
I m at a Holiday Inn.
7
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, that s a set Dana s in front of.
7
SPEAKER_01
Dave, thank you for coming out, buddy.
7
SPEAKER_00
Hey, let s make a plan.
7
SPEAKER_00
If I m ever that way, you guys, please come on one of my shows, and I d love to be a part of whatever you guys are doing.
7
SPEAKER_02
I d love to see you in person, Dave.
7
SPEAKER_00
Lovely.
7
SPEAKER_00
Thank you, Dana.
7
SPEAKER_00
Dave, thanks so much.
7
SPEAKER_01
Pleasure.
7
SPEAKER_02
Hot Cross Buns, Netflix.
7
SPEAKER_01
This has been a presentation of Odyssey.
7
SPEAKER_01
Please follow, subscribe, leave a like, a review, all this stuff.
7
SPEAKER_01
Smash that button, whatever it is, wherever you get your podcasts.
7
SPEAKER_01
Fly on the Wall is executive produced by Dana Carvey and David Spade, Jenna Weiss, Berman of Odyssey, Charlie Finan of Brillstein Entertainment, and Heather Santoro.
7
SPEAKER_01
The show s lead producer is Greg Holtzman.