Episode 1033 - Jamie Lee

Episode 1033 • Released July 4, 2019 • Speakers detected

00:00:00Guest:Lock the gates!

00:00:09Marc:All right, let's do this.

00:00:11Marc:How are you?

00:00:11Marc:What the fuckers?

00:00:12Marc:What the fuck buddies?

00:00:14Marc:What the fucking ears?

00:00:16Marc:What the fucking Americans?

00:00:19Marc:Yay.

00:00:20Marc:Fourth of July.

00:00:21Marc:This is it.

00:00:23Marc:This is it.

00:00:25Marc:I hope you could afford to park some tanks around your house this year.

00:00:29Marc:That seems to be the thing to do.

00:00:31Marc:Not quite a parade, but, you know, just park a few tanks around or if you've got a truck or a Humvee, you know, just something that looks slightly militaristic or, you know, daunting, intimidating, spectacular in the kind of armament type of way.

00:00:50Marc:Don't be afraid to put it out in the yard this year because that seems to be the theme established by the man in the house.

00:00:59Marc:And yeah, just park them.

00:01:02Marc:You can't drive them around because they'll just destroy the streets.

00:01:05Marc:But you can have them towed in and just left around, kind of like a half-assed military trade show of some sort.

00:01:12Marc:And yeah, you could do that.

00:01:14Marc:How are you, by the way?

00:01:16Marc:Jamie Lee, the comedian, is on the show today.

00:01:20Marc:And she's got a couple books out.

00:01:22Marc:She's got a podcast called Couldn't Help But Wonder, which is available wherever you get podcasts.

00:01:28Marc:But it's the 4th of July.

00:01:29Marc:I don't know.

00:01:30Marc:I don't know what I'm going to do.

00:01:32Marc:I do know I'm going to I'm going to be away.

00:01:36Marc:I don't know.

00:01:36Marc:It's my second Fourth of July in the new place.

00:01:38Marc:And I kind of am a little nostalgic for the for the ongoing firework activity in my old neighborhood.

00:01:45Marc:It's always kind of jarring, exciting, because back in Highland Park, the Fourth of July officially starts in mid-June.

00:01:53Marc:But kind of goes on year round and then picks up intensity today.

00:01:56Marc:And I miss the excitement.

00:01:59Marc:There was one year on the 4th of July.

00:02:01Marc:I don't know if it was 4th of July or New Year's where a bullet.

00:02:05Marc:fell out of the sky and shattered my back windshield.

00:02:12Marc:It wasn't shot into the windshield.

00:02:14Marc:It was literally a celebratory bullet that was shot into the sky.

00:02:19Marc:You're just excited.

00:02:20Marc:You know, there are those days where you just got to shoot shit off.

00:02:25Marc:And it fell out of the sky into my car and broke my windshield.

00:02:29Marc:Could have fallen into a head.

00:02:30Marc:You know, and you wouldn't know where it comes from.

00:02:32Marc:The bullets do come down, fellas.

00:02:34Marc:I'm assuming.

00:02:34Marc:You know, I'm sorry.

00:02:35Marc:I don't want to be discriminatory or gender specific.

00:02:39Marc:People with the guns who get excited and shoot them up into the sky because it's that day.

00:02:44Marc:I know you're out at the lake.

00:02:46Marc:I get it.

00:02:47Marc:But what are you going to do today, folks?

00:02:49Marc:What are you going to do on the 4th of July?

00:02:51Marc:I hope you have a safe 4th of July.

00:02:55Marc:A confession to make.

00:02:58Marc:I'll decide if I'm going to get to it because it's it's a little I'm a little heavy hearted about it.

00:03:05Marc:You have options today.

00:03:06Marc:You can reflect on on what America and America's independence and freedom means to you and what we have to do in the future.

00:03:16Marc:to guarantee that or just be grateful for it or be angry about the nature of it at this point in time.

00:03:25Marc:I got a few emails I need to address, but I'm not going to read them entirely.

00:03:29Marc:Just to address the one who seemed to have a tremendous amount of...

00:03:33Marc:Heavy heartedness about the possibility of me losing hope.

00:03:38Marc:I'm not losing hope.

00:03:40Marc:I'm filled with hope, but I'm also filled with objective sort of practical and gut insight about what's happening in the world.

00:03:49Marc:But I'm not losing hope.

00:03:51Marc:I have I have a tremendous love.

00:03:52Marc:of uh of people despite what you think and uh and i believe in the good in people and i believe that and i believe in the power of the people and all that not losing hope so don't worry you know some days are better than others but i'm not losing hope the other one was sort of a along those lines it was a canadian fan who who tended to to sense that occasionally there was a heaviness on the edge of my tone

00:04:15Marc:That, you know, he was a depressive guy.

00:04:18Marc:And, you know, I know that sensitivity.

00:04:20Marc:You know, I have it with my father or my brother where you write when someone says if you have the sensitivity, if someone says, hey, how you doing?

00:04:27Marc:And you can hear it.

00:04:28Marc:You know, hey, how you doing?

00:04:30Marc:You know, just a little little tug to it.

00:04:32Marc:There's a little tug to all the sentences, even if they're talking about good things or mundane things or food or whatever.

00:04:40Marc:There's just a little bit of a tug.

00:04:42Marc:And if you feel that tug, it's an empathetic tug in a way, but it's also just the part of the heart that gets sucked in immediately to someone else's pain if you were brought up in that way.

00:04:57Marc:So I cannot say that I don't have that sometimes, but it's not it's not biological.

00:05:04Marc:It's fleeting.

00:05:05Marc:It usually might be happening for a reason that I don't feel like talking about, but I'm not living in it.

00:05:11Marc:And I appreciate your concern.

00:05:13Marc:I understand.

00:05:14Marc:I understand you feel the tug.

00:05:18Marc:I get it.

00:05:19Marc:So today, you all right?

00:05:21Marc:Where are you at?

00:05:22Marc:In the backyard?

00:05:23Marc:You out by the lake?

00:05:24Marc:Are you cooking a pie?

00:05:25Marc:Are you by yourself just shunning the noise outdoors?

00:05:30Marc:Are you not going to go around and drive on the roads because of crazy drunk people possibilities?

00:05:37Marc:Yeah, maybe just a short list of things you should...

00:05:41Marc:Look, if you be careful with the grill, maybe the coals are lit.

00:05:46Marc:You don't have to spray more fluid on it, even though that's fun.

00:05:50Marc:Well, you know what?

00:05:51Marc:Go ahead and do it.

00:05:52Marc:It's the 4th of July.

00:05:52Marc:Just stand back a little bit.

00:05:54Marc:It is exciting, and it's a powerful feeling to just watch the fire go up.

00:06:00Marc:But be careful with it because you don't want your meat or fish or vegetables or whatever your tofu dogs tasting like lighter fluid.

00:06:09Marc:So...

00:06:10Marc:Try to have more fun with the other things that are meant to blow up on today than the coals that you know are probably still lit.

00:06:18Marc:Yeah, and in grilling, you know, don't burn yourself.

00:06:21Marc:Don't burn the meat.

00:06:23Marc:If a piece falls into the coals, you know, you might want to get it out because it's not a great smell and people are going to assume that you're burning everything.

00:06:31Marc:But enjoy the sausages.

00:06:33Marc:Enjoy the burgers.

00:06:34Marc:Enjoy the turkey.

00:06:35Marc:Enjoy the grilled onion.

00:06:36Marc:Grilled onion is nice today.

00:06:38Marc:And, you know,

00:06:38Marc:figure out how you're going to do the fish make sure it's a tight fleshed fish that can hold up on the grill or else maybe put it in a little foil wrap it up with maybe some onion or peppers in there and do it like that the salmon yeah i'm just trying to help out some other pointers if you're out at the lake uh make sure that the water is deep enough okay we don't want any spinal injuries or people not surfacing so before you just go jump off because the guy who lives by the lake did it

00:07:06Marc:Make sure you understand what you're getting into so you don't break your bones.

00:07:12Marc:Also, maybe a little heads up that fuses in general fuses are unpredictable.

00:07:19Marc:This applies to both humans and to that thing you're holding in your hand that you're about to light.

00:07:25Marc:Don't know how quick that thing's going to go.

00:07:26Marc:It can surprise you.

00:07:27Marc:All of a sudden, you just, you touch it to the flames, and all of a sudden, you're missing a pinky.

00:07:34Marc:So, you know, be aware of the fuse.

00:07:36Marc:Maybe, as my dad used to say, you know, you put the firecracker down, you light it, and you step back.

00:07:40Marc:But who can resist, you know, lighting that firecracker in your hand and winging it?

00:07:45Marc:I mean, you got to wing a few firecrackers.

00:07:47Marc:You know what I mean?

00:07:48Marc:If you just, if you went out of your way to get a brick of black cat's,

00:07:52Marc:You know, you got a lot.

00:07:53Marc:You can throw quite a few of them or that's the thing.

00:07:57Marc:Be careful with the bricks.

00:07:59Marc:If you're going to light a brick of black cats, you know, not only is that fuse unpredictable, but man, it's pretty exciting because it's like, you know, they're all going to go, but they're also flying around.

00:08:09Marc:Like sometimes one of them will pop and I'll send a couple of ones, you know, out into the ether somewhere, right?

00:08:14Marc:Maybe on your shoe.

00:08:15Marc:And that's lit too.

00:08:17Marc:And you don't see it because it's flying.

00:08:18Marc:And then there you go.

00:08:20Marc:Then you're missing a toe.

00:08:22Marc:not with a black cat but it'll be jarring for those of you who went out and pursued the uh sort of slightly illegal more dangerous explosives m80s or the bigger uh don't don't don't light your dynamite too close to where everyone's eating you know if you're dealing with sticks of dynamite or small vials of nitroglycerin you know make sure you got plenty of distance from uh

00:08:44Marc:You and the family or the boat or whatever.

00:08:47Marc:Don't blow up the boat.

00:08:48Marc:Don't blow up your family.

00:08:49Marc:If you're if you're playing with dynamite.

00:08:51Marc:I think that's probably not many of my listeners, but there's got to be a couple out there.

00:08:55Marc:And you know what?

00:08:57Marc:Don't you don't blow up the animals.

00:08:59Marc:How about just no no hate based fun this Fourth of July?

00:09:04Marc:And if you're shooting guns in the air, make sure that, you know, the bullets, there's an arc to where they're going to go.

00:09:09Marc:And it's not on my car.

00:09:11Marc:OK, how's that?

00:09:13Marc:That leads me to my confession.

00:09:16Marc:You know, there was always bad kids that, you know, or mythological kids you heard who blew up frogs or blew up cats or with M80s, just horrible, horrible stories.

00:09:26Marc:And, well, I, you know, in a more demonic moment, just because, you know, I felt, you know, pulled in by the devil.

00:09:38Marc:I tried to blow up a frog when I was a kid with a firecracker.

00:09:43Marc:And it wasn't close enough to the frog.

00:09:46Marc:But I think I did.

00:09:47Marc:I think I blew off a couple of his little fingers, his little web fingers.

00:09:52Marc:But I'm happy to report that that frog continued to live in my backyard for a few years.

00:09:56Marc:And we called him Stubby.

00:09:57Marc:And I apologize to him personally.

00:10:00Marc:And now I'm apologizing to you.

00:10:02Marc:And I just want to tell kids that if you are compelled to blow up animals or bugs or lizards,

00:10:08Marc:Um, you know, make sure you're a psychopath and not somebody with a, with a conscience who's just doing it out of, you know, internal peer pressure, because you gotta live with that.

00:10:18Marc:You're gonna have to live with it for the rest of your life.

00:10:20Marc:You know, stubby, he ended up.

00:10:22Marc:Okay.

00:10:23Marc:He was okay.

00:10:24Marc:But, uh, I knew I'd done something horrible and it is horrible.

00:10:28Marc:Don't blow up the animals, but enjoy, you know, enjoy, you know, God bless America.

00:10:33Marc:And, uh, you know,

00:10:35Marc:Be careful out there.

00:10:36Marc:I'm going to keep it easy.

00:10:37Marc:I'm going to keep it light.

00:10:38Marc:And, you know, it is a holiday show.

00:10:41Marc:I just want you to just be safe.

00:10:43Marc:Be reflective.

00:10:45Marc:Understand that there's hope that America is a great country and it could be better.

00:10:51Marc:You know who I'm talking to, don't you?

00:10:52Marc:Yeah, you do.

00:10:54Marc:Don't blow up any people this weekend.

00:10:57Marc:Or today.

00:10:58Marc:Be careful at the grill.

00:11:02Marc:Don't dive in too shallow waters.

00:11:04Marc:I'm sorry.

00:11:04Marc:Am I being parental?

00:11:06Marc:Please don't blow up any animals.

00:11:09Marc:Keep your fingers.

00:11:10Marc:Be careful with the guns.

00:11:12Marc:Don't drink and drive.

00:11:14Marc:All right?

00:11:17Marc:God bless America.

00:11:20Marc:So my guest today is Jamie Lee.

00:11:23Marc:She has a podcast called Couldn't Help But Wonder.

00:11:27Marc:It's available wherever you get podcasts.

00:11:29Marc:She's also a stand-up and has written a couple books, wedding-related, I believe.

00:11:34Marc:And we talked a little while ago, and now you're going to hear us do that.

00:11:38Marc:Okay?

00:11:39Marc:All right, this is me and Jamie Lee.

00:11:44Thank you.

00:11:48Guest:so wait you didn't hydrate how long did you how far did you run um i never pay attention to distance i just pay attention to time yeah and i've gotten really into uh quote unquote making the treadmill fun by focusing on 30 second increments so every 30 seconds i do something different

00:12:11Marc:30 seconds, how does that even work?

00:12:12Marc:What do you mean?

00:12:13Guest:It's just to sort of gamify running because running on a treadmill is so inherently boring.

00:12:20Marc:To gamify, is that a word?

00:12:25Guest:I think so.

00:12:25Guest:It definitely applies here in that

00:12:28Guest:Like if you just go, okay, I'm going to be on the treadmill for 30 minutes, you'll hate it and think about that.

00:12:36Guest:You'll just think about the time the whole time.

00:12:38Guest:Right.

00:12:38Guest:But if you're like every 30 seconds, I have to be focusing on a change that's about to happen, whether it's like raising the ramp on the treadmill or like increasing the speed or decreasing the speed, whatever it is, just mixing it up for that entire 30 minutes.

00:12:51Guest:You don't really think about how long you've been on.

00:12:54Marc:I get it.

00:12:54Guest:Yeah.

00:12:55Guest:So it's helped me do cardio because otherwise I hate doing cardio.

00:12:58Marc:Really?

00:12:59Marc:Yeah.

00:12:59Marc:I go, I hike up a mountain right down the street.

00:13:01Marc:You should go hike up the mountain at Bram Park.

00:13:04Marc:40 minutes up.

00:13:05Guest:Are you like right by that mountain though?

00:13:07Guest:To where you like getting to the mountain?

00:13:09Marc:Yeah, it's like six minutes.

00:13:10Guest:My mountain is like a 45 minute walk from my house.

00:13:14Marc:Oh, which mountain?

00:13:15Guest:Griffith Park.

00:13:17Marc:Oh, right.

00:13:17Guest:Yeah, but if, I mean, I could drive there quickly, but if I wanted to do a whole walk.

00:13:21Marc:How long did it take you to drive here?

00:13:22Guest:It took me, I don't know, 15 minutes?

00:13:26Marc:So you could go here.

00:13:27Guest:Yeah, maybe I should drive up there.

00:13:29Marc:Don't tell people where I live.

00:13:32Guest:Maybe I should start hiking in a remote location, undisclosed location.

00:13:40Marc:I'm not telling people.

00:13:41Guest:Oh, okay.

00:13:42Marc:They have to figure it out, but I haven't told them.

00:13:43Guest:No, we're actually live from Wisconsin right now.

00:13:45Marc:There you go, Wisconsin.

00:13:47Marc:Jamie Lee, what's your real name?

00:13:50Guest:Jamie Lee.

00:13:51Guest:Jamie Amanda Lee.

00:13:52Marc:Are you a Jew?

00:13:53Guest:Yeah, on my mom's side.

00:13:55Marc:Just one?

00:13:55Guest:Yeah.

00:13:56Marc:Just one Jew?

00:13:57Guest:Just one Jew.

00:13:58Guest:But my mom grew up in Teaneck, New Jersey.

00:14:02Marc:Yeah, I know where Teaneck, New Jersey is.

00:14:03Guest:Teaneck's interesting because- Where'd you grow up though?

00:14:05Guest:I grew up in Dallas, Texas because my dad's from Texas.

00:14:08Guest:Like he has lived there his entire life.

00:14:10Marc:Really?

00:14:11Marc:How did your cowboy dad meet the Jew?

00:14:13Guest:They went to film school together in London.

00:14:18Guest:So my mom went to, she like dropped out of college.

00:14:21Guest:She went to like a small women's college.

00:14:24Marc:Which one?

00:14:25Guest:I think it was.

00:14:26Guest:Like Sarah Lawrence?

00:14:27Guest:No.

00:14:28Guest:Before they let men in?

00:14:30Guest:It starts with an E. I don't remember.

00:14:33Guest:Somewhere in New Jersey.

00:14:34Guest:No kidding.

00:14:35Guest:Endicott.

00:14:35Guest:Oh, wow.

00:14:36Guest:Endicott College.

00:14:37Guest:Yeah.

00:14:37Guest:So she dropped out of Endicott and very dramatically she like took a bus in the middle of the night and was like, I'm out.

00:14:44Guest:Yeah.

00:14:45Guest:And then decided she wanted to up and move to London and back in the 60s.

00:14:48Marc:Like, yeah.

00:14:50Guest:Yeah.

00:14:50Guest:So she moved to London and then my dad also moved to London.

00:14:53Guest:They went to the same film school and then they actually became like photography partners and they were photographers for ZZ Top.

00:15:02Guest:When they got together.

00:15:04Guest:Yeah.

00:15:04Guest:They, like, traveled around with ZZ Top.

00:15:07Marc:This is what your parents did?

00:15:09Guest:That's what they did initially.

00:15:11Guest:And then when I was born... When was that?

00:15:13Marc:Like, what era of ZZ Top?

00:15:16Marc:Early on, before the beards?

00:15:18Guest:Yeah.

00:15:19Guest:Yeah, pre-beards.

00:15:20Marc:Yeah.

00:15:21Marc:Like, so when they were a great rock band.

00:15:25Guest:Yeah.

00:15:26Marc:But wait, so they... Okay, so they meet in London.

00:15:28Marc:They're going to film school.

00:15:29Marc:Yeah.

00:15:30Marc:And then what, they come back to...

00:15:31Guest:They went to Texas.

00:15:32Guest:My mom moved to Texas with my dad.

00:15:34Marc:So your mom fell in love with your dad in London.

00:15:36Marc:But is this film school like photography film or motion picture film?

00:15:39Guest:I think it was all of it.

00:15:41Marc:Not clear.

00:15:41Guest:The school was called the London Film School, and I don't know that it still exists.

00:15:46Marc:And they're both photographers?

00:15:47Guest:Yeah.

00:15:47Guest:Not anymore.

00:15:48Guest:So they did photography for a while together and they were partners with ZZ Top.

00:15:53Marc:And they had a studio of their own.

00:15:55Marc:Did they do like other things other than ZZ Top?

00:15:57Guest:Not at the time.

00:15:58Guest:At the time they were just traveling around taking pictures.

00:16:01Guest:Of ZZ Top.

00:16:02Guest:Of ZZ Top.

00:16:03Marc:For how long?

00:16:04Guest:I actually don't know.

00:16:05Guest:I just know that when I when my mom got pregnant with me or maybe right before.

00:16:11Marc:It might have been after a ZZ Top show.

00:16:13Guest:Yeah, I know.

00:16:13Guest:I'm like, is my dad one of the beards?

00:16:17Guest:I don't really look like my dad.

00:16:19Guest:Maybe.

00:16:21Guest:But yeah.

00:16:22Guest:So then they they moved back to Dallas and decided to be more sort of stationary.

00:16:28Guest:And they opened a rock club together called the Hot Club with a K club with a K.

00:16:33Marc:This is when you're a baby.

00:16:34Guest:This is when I was really little.

00:16:35Guest:You're the first kid or the only kid?

00:16:36Guest:I'm the only kid.

00:16:37Marc:Wow.

00:16:38Guest:Yeah.

00:16:39Guest:So then from there, they sort of stayed in Dallas and then they became club owners and concert promoters.

00:16:46Guest:Really?

00:16:46Guest:Yeah.

00:16:46Guest:They owned, you actually, I don't know.

00:16:48Guest:I feel like you're, who knows?

00:16:50Guest:Maybe you went to one of their venues at some point if you ever visited Dallas.

00:16:53Marc:I didn't.

00:16:54Marc:Dallas is not a big stop for me.

00:16:56Marc:Houston a couple of times.

00:16:57Marc:Austin.

00:16:57Marc:I'm going to Dallas now.

00:16:59Marc:But so they were they were part of they were part of the rock.

00:17:03Guest:Yes.

00:17:04Marc:Scene.

00:17:04Marc:Yes.

00:17:05Marc:In the 80s.

00:17:06Guest:Yes.

00:17:06Guest:80s and 90s.

00:17:07Guest:Really their business really took off early 90s.

00:17:10Marc:Club owners.

00:17:11Guest:Club owners.

00:17:11Guest:So they owned these two venues.

00:17:13Guest:They were right next door to each other.

00:17:15Guest:One was called Deep Elm Live and the other one was called The Bomb Factory.

00:17:19Guest:And Deep Elm Live was slightly smaller.

00:17:22Guest:So it was interesting who would play it because the venues weren't that different, but one was slightly smaller.

00:17:30Guest:So it's interesting because it's like...

00:17:32Guest:Green Day would play Deep Ellum Live when Dookie first came out.

00:17:37Guest:Right.

00:17:38Guest:But Sublime or Silverchair played the bomb factory, and it's so interesting because you're like, oh, Green Day became this massive success, and Sublime is as well.

00:17:48Guest:But then you're like, oh, Silverchair was kind of like a one-hit wonder over here.

00:17:51Marc:Yeah, what was that hit?

00:17:52Marc:It's just-

00:17:52Guest:I don't even remember.

00:17:53Guest:I remember the song.

00:17:54Guest:I had the record.

00:17:55Guest:With the frog on the front.

00:17:56Marc:The frog, yeah.

00:17:57Guest:Yeah.

00:17:57Marc:It had the one song on it.

00:17:58Guest:Yeah.

00:17:59Marc:Oh, I don't remember what it was.

00:18:00Marc:I don't either.

00:18:01Marc:Doesn't matter.

00:18:01Guest:Good song-ish.

00:18:02Guest:Yeah, it was.

00:18:03Guest:Yeah.

00:18:03Marc:I mean, I listened to it a few times.

00:18:05Guest:Yeah.

00:18:05Marc:I wish I could remember what it was.

00:18:06Marc:It sounded like other songs of the period.

00:18:08Guest:Yeah, I never got into Silver.

00:18:09Guest:I never got into that album, actually.

00:18:11Guest:I think I had the album because I got promotional copies of a lot of CDs.

00:18:14Guest:So I listened to everything at least once.

00:18:16Marc:So you're growing up there.

00:18:18Marc:So by the time you're a teenager, your parents have these rock clubs?

00:18:22Guest:Yeah, and they're concert promoters.

00:18:24Guest:So they're also doing concerts at other venues around Dallas.

00:18:27Marc:So you probably got a lot of friends who you're like, I can get us into that show.

00:18:31Marc:Yeah.

00:18:31Guest:Yeah, a lot of users.

00:18:34Guest:I had my best friend, Bonnie, who's still one of my best friends.

00:18:37Guest:She was just kind of with me all the time, especially because when you're an only child, and she was an only child as well, you kind of latch on to each other in that sisterhood kind of way.

00:18:46Marc:Really?

00:18:46Guest:Yeah.

00:18:47Marc:Because I've talked to only children before, and I seem to, every time that I talk to one, I insist that it must have been a lot of pressure not to disappoint your parents or...

00:18:56Marc:That they were afraid that, you know, that they would lose you because not obviously any parent would be afraid of losing a child.

00:19:03Marc:But for some reason, if there's only one, it seems like the fear would be more intense.

00:19:06Marc:But no one has agreed with me.

00:19:09Marc:It's complete speculation.

00:19:10Marc:And every only child has said, no, I didn't feel that at all.

00:19:13Guest:I feel that now.

00:19:14Marc:Now?

00:19:15Guest:Yeah.

00:19:16Guest:Like when I'm with my parents, my mom gets so sad when I leave.

00:19:20Guest:Like if I go home.

00:19:22Marc:Uh-huh.

00:19:23Marc:Well, now you're married.

00:19:24Marc:Even if I'm there for a week.

00:19:25Marc:Is there pressure?

00:19:25Marc:They're like, where are the babies?

00:19:27Guest:Yes, but they know that I feel the pressure, so I think they've kind of eased up.

00:19:34Guest:Like they don't vocalize it a lot.

00:19:36Guest:But yeah, being an only child...

00:19:37Guest:Yeah, you definitely bond with your friends really hard and they're over at your house all the time.

00:19:42Guest:Oh, yeah.

00:19:42Guest:Because I think that you, I think the big thing for me being an only child, the biggest characteristic is like, I really like my space, but I'm also really lonely.

00:19:52Guest:Yeah.

00:19:52Guest:So it's like this constant push-pull.

00:19:54Guest:So it's like, everybody out, but also like, I miss you.

00:19:58Guest:Right.

00:19:58Guest:It's just, I don't know where that stems from exactly.

00:20:00Marc:You still have that?

00:20:01Guest:Yeah.

00:20:02Yeah.

00:20:02Marc:Really?

00:20:03Marc:So you're like a needy person?

00:20:05Guest:I'm like hyper independent, but also I'm hyper independent and I love not having plans, but then I'm like, oh, I don't have plans.

00:20:12Guest:Like I have like constant FOMO, but then once I'm out, I'm like, I want to be home.

00:20:16Guest:Like it's just up, down, up, down.

00:20:18Guest:Yeah.

00:20:18Marc:Anything that's only childness?

00:20:20Guest:I just attribute it to that.

00:20:21Guest:Really?

00:20:22Guest:Because you're so used to having your own space as a kid.

00:20:24Marc:Do you have other problems like that?

00:20:27Marc:How does that manifest itself in other parts of your life?

00:20:32Marc:It sounds a little kooky.

00:20:34Guest:Yeah, I mean, it sounds really erratic, but it's all internal.

00:20:37Guest:I'm not acting on all of it.

00:20:39Guest:I deal with it.

00:20:41Marc:It's going on inside of you.

00:20:42Guest:Oh, yeah, it's happening within, but I'm not...

00:20:45Guest:Yeah, I'm not like tending to all of my whims.

00:20:50Guest:I just sense them and then try to quiet them.

00:20:53Marc:So now it was like your parents, the rock club owners, like were they partiers?

00:20:58Marc:Was there a party thing in the 80s?

00:21:01Marc:Was there trouble?

00:21:02Guest:Yeah.

00:21:03Guest:So it's interesting because I always like kind of wanted to write about this or do something with this.

00:21:08Guest:But basically my parents were...

00:21:10Guest:To me, the most, they were just like the best, most flawless people in so many ways in that like they really didn't drink ever.

00:21:22Guest:Like even when we were on vacation, it was like a little bit of wine, not in a self-righteous way or like a preachy way.

00:21:28Guest:They just were like not substance people.

00:21:30Guest:And they also were very like anti-tattoo and like all these things that you would assume like rock club parents would be like, yeah, everyone gets tattoos.

00:21:37Guest:Go get one.

00:21:38Guest:Were they kind of hippie people or-

00:21:39Guest:What are they, my age?

00:21:43Guest:No, they're older.

00:21:47Guest:They were very trusting of me, but they also were really strict with curfew and stuff like that.

00:21:52Guest:So they were kind of these model parents.

00:21:54Guest:And then there was the underbelly that I kind of learned about later in my life, which was when I was 14, I found out that my dad had been doing some things, some up-the-nose powder things.

00:22:08Marc:Dad was doing the blow?

00:22:09Marc:Yeah.

00:22:09Guest:Yeah, for like years, but he was so functional and he took me to school every day and like you're up.

00:22:16Guest:Right.

00:22:16Guest:But the reason I mean, that's true.

00:22:17Guest:But also, you know what I mean?

00:22:19Guest:Like in the 90s, like especially as a kid, like this is when like Pulp Fiction came out, like you associate cocaine with death.

00:22:27Guest:Like there's no now it's like, OK, there are people who like dabble in it or like, you know, they've tried it.

00:22:34Marc:I don't either.

00:22:35Marc:I associate it with a kind of good time for a couple of hours.

00:22:38Guest:But when you're a kid and you hear drugs, especially when you're pushed, these like anti-drug campaigns at school and you find out your dad's doing it, even if he has a grasp on it.

00:22:48Guest:You just are like, oh, my God, that's the most devastating secret my family could ever have.

00:22:54Guest:um one morning i woke up it was a saturday morning and i was up no no uh yes he was up but i i wanted to have a garage sale yeah and i wanted to go put signs up around the neighborhood so i went into his bedroom at like 7 a.m and i was like wake up we got to go do this and he was like twitching his neck like jerking like he had like a spasm like literally just like couldn't hold his neck straight um

00:23:17Guest:Yeah.

00:23:17Guest:So his head kept jerking back and forth.

00:23:19Guest:And I was like, mom, what's wrong with dad?

00:23:22Guest:And she got very dramatic because clearly this was like their deal breaker that they had.

00:23:27Guest:They're like, I now know.

00:23:28Marc:Was he awake when this was happening?

00:23:30Guest:Yes.

00:23:31Guest:And he was walking down the hall, like putting his shoes on, twitching, getting his keys, twitching.

00:23:35Guest:And I told my mom, I was like, well, he can't drive twitching.

00:23:38Guest:What's wrong with him?

00:23:39Guest:She's like, you want to know what's wrong?

00:23:41Guest:Your father does drugs.

00:23:43Guest:Yeah.

00:23:43Guest:And it was such an intense.

00:23:45Guest:I wish she had said, all right, the reason it's happening is because this, this and this.

00:23:51Guest:Let's talk to you.

00:23:52Guest:Let's like try to explain it to you in a calm way.

00:23:54Guest:But it was so the way she said it was like, our family is ending.

00:24:00Guest:You know, it just had this intensity that I think that if she had.

00:24:05Guest:said it more calmly I probably wouldn't have had the reaction I did but I was like oh my god this is like this horrible thing that I'm learning and you know I was duped for so long I had no idea that you guys would ever do such a thing like it was just so dramatic 14 and did it end the family

00:24:21Guest:Kind of.

00:24:22Guest:I mean, they're still married, but my dad was kicked out of the house, and then when he was let back in, he was sort of relegated to a smaller bedroom down the hall, and he sleeps in a twin bed.

00:24:34Guest:No shit.

00:24:35Guest:Still?

00:24:36Guest:Yeah, it's really depressing.

00:24:37Guest:Yeah, and my mom uses his side of the garage as storage now, so he parks in the driveway while she gets the garage.

00:24:43Marc:Wait, so this is 20 years later?

00:24:45Marc:Yes.

00:24:45Marc:And it's still going on?

00:24:47Guest:Yeah, uh-huh.

00:24:47Guest:And when I bring it up, my mom will be like, she's like, well, you know, it's just we always were arguing and stuff because of the business.

00:24:54Guest:Because, like, they did have this business together.

00:24:56Guest:And I do think working together has its own set of issues regardless.

00:25:00Marc:Do they still have the business?

00:25:02Guest:No.

00:25:03Guest:The business ended maybe 10, 12 years ago now.

00:25:07Marc:And you went to a lot of concerts, though?

00:25:09Guest:A lot of concerts.

00:25:10Marc:Really?

00:25:10Guest:Yeah.

00:25:11Guest:I went to a lot.

00:25:12Guest:And my dad... Good seats, too, right?

00:25:15Yeah.

00:25:15Guest:Yeah, although most of them were like rock club standing room situations.

00:25:19Marc:But I thought they promoted bigger shows.

00:25:20Guest:They did.

00:25:21Guest:I went to those also, but the ones that I really cherished were kind of smaller and grittier.

00:25:26Marc:So who did you see that made the big impact?

00:25:30Guest:The best show I ever saw.

00:25:31Guest:Best show you ever saw.

00:25:32Guest:Rancid at this place called Trees, which is a small club that actually has a tree growing up the middle.

00:25:39Marc:I think I've heard of this.

00:25:40Guest:Where is it?

00:25:41Guest:In Dallas?

00:25:41Guest:In Debellum, yeah, in Dallas.

00:25:42Marc:I've been there.

00:25:44Guest:It's a cool club.

00:25:44Guest:And they closed down for a while and then they reopened.

00:25:46Marc:Because I remember that element of it.

00:25:49Guest:Yeah.

00:25:49Marc:Could I have done a comedy show there?

00:25:51Guest:Possibly.

00:25:52Guest:It'd be great for comedy.

00:25:53Marc:I think I might have done a comedy show there.

00:25:55Guest:Yeah, it's like small, but then they have a balcony.

00:25:57Marc:You'd think I remember if there's a fucking tree in there.

00:25:59Guest:It's actually a subtle tree.

00:26:03Guest:It's like not a thick tree.

00:26:05Guest:It's kind of like, it's a little flimsy.

00:26:07Marc:Because I did some shows where I toured with some guys like me and Lucas Milandes and another guy.

00:26:14Guest:Oh, I love Lucas Milandes.

00:26:15Guest:Yeah.

00:26:16Guest:Yeah.

00:26:16Marc:I haven't seen him in a long time.

00:26:17Guest:Me neither.

00:26:18Guest:Kind of had a falling out with him.

00:26:19Guest:Oh.

00:26:20Marc:But it's all right.

00:26:21Marc:Okay.

00:26:21Marc:Not that bad.

00:26:23Marc:He just got drunk and was stupid.

00:26:25Marc:And I was like, go fuck yourself.

00:26:26Guest:Oh, no.

00:26:28Marc:But it doesn't diminish his talent.

00:26:30Guest:Quality, yeah.

00:26:31Marc:Yeah.

00:26:32Marc:I haven't seen him in a long time.

00:26:34Marc:I think he's all right.

00:26:35Marc:But, yeah, I feel like I might have done a show there, like I did a few clubs.

00:26:39Marc:It was a while back.

00:26:41Marc:I somehow avoid Dallas, but I'm going this year.

00:26:45Marc:I'm going in a couple months.

00:26:46Guest:That's cool.

00:26:47Guest:Where are you going to go?

00:26:50Guest:Addison.

00:26:51Guest:Maybe.

00:26:52Guest:What is that?

00:26:52Guest:Majestic Theater.

00:26:53Marc:Oh, maybe that sounds fancy.

00:26:55Guest:I'm sure there are some new cool venues we've gotten into.

00:26:59Guest:Oh, good.

00:26:59Guest:That's where I saw my first stand-up show ever.

00:27:02Marc:Who was that?

00:27:03Guest:Margaret Cho.

00:27:04Guest:It was so good.

00:27:05Guest:When was that?

00:27:06Guest:How old were you?

00:27:07Guest:13.

00:27:08Marc:Really?

00:27:08Marc:Someone took you to see Margaret Cho?

00:27:10Guest:My mom did, yeah.

00:27:11Marc:At 13?

00:27:11Marc:Yeah.

00:27:12Marc:That must have been a filthy head full.

00:27:14Guest:It was, but there was something about, it's like me and my mom, it's like two women watching a woman that it, I don't know, it's kind of like taking your kid to like a spa or something.

00:27:23Guest:steam room.

00:27:24Guest:This is what bodies look like.

00:27:26Guest:You kind of just deal.

00:27:27Marc:Well, it sounds like your parents were pretty cool.

00:27:29Guest:They were.

00:27:29Guest:They are.

00:27:30Marc:So you're in Dallas.

00:27:32Marc:You're just going to school with your only childness.

00:27:35Marc:Yeah, I went to the weirdest school.

00:27:38Marc:The other only child.

00:27:39Guest:Yes, we all went to this school that it was this really small school near my house.

00:27:44Guest:It was actually like a less than five minute drive from my house.

00:27:47Guest:And now looking back, it was kind of like

00:27:51Guest:It kind of had a homeschool vibe.

00:27:52Guest:It wasn't.

00:27:53Guest:It was like a real college preparatory school.

00:27:55Marc:Like a homeschool vibe?

00:27:56Marc:Like you went to someone else's house to go to school?

00:27:58Guest:Yes.

00:27:59Guest:It was a building and there were real classrooms and everything, but there were only 16 kids in my grade.

00:28:04Marc:How'd they find this school?

00:28:05Guest:I don't know.

00:28:06Guest:I guess because it was just in the neighborhood and they wanted to put me in private school.

00:28:10Marc:Yeah.

00:28:10Guest:And so they did.

00:28:12Guest:Yeah.

00:28:12Guest:And it was this teeny little school and like, it's just, it was very homegrown.

00:28:16Guest:And we like all my friends who went there, we all look back and we're like, what was that?

00:28:21Guest:It's so strange.

00:28:23Marc:Yeah, because it was just like so small and weird.

00:28:26Guest:Yeah, and like, yeah, it was just, it was so, I think, yeah, it was just weird that like there were just so few kids.

00:28:35Guest:Yeah.

00:28:35Guest:And so you're all like really, really close, which is great.

00:28:38Guest:But then in high school, I went to an arts magnet high school called Booker T. Washington.

00:28:45Guest:Oh, so that's where.

00:28:45Guest:And so I went to like a proper school.

00:28:48Marc:What's an arts magnet school?

00:28:50Guest:Um, it's where it's so the four sort of they call them clusters were visual art, theater, music or dance.

00:28:58Guest:And you have to like be accepted in your choice category and then you can go, but you don't have to pay tuition.

00:29:05Marc:Oh, so what were you accepted into?

00:29:06Guest:Visual.

00:29:07Guest:I went for painting and drawing.

00:29:10Marc:You were a painter?

00:29:11Guest:Yeah, not so much painting.

00:29:12Guest:Honestly, sculpting was my main thing.

00:29:14Guest:Sculptor?

00:29:14Guest:Yeah, sculpting was my jam.

00:29:17Marc:In high school?

00:29:18Guest:Yeah, I loved it.

00:29:19Guest:Really?

00:29:19Guest:I don't do it at all anymore.

00:29:20Guest:Yeah, I was really into it.

00:29:22Guest:And I like drawing.

00:29:23Marc:Sculptor.

00:29:24Guest:And I liked printmaking, which I didn't learn until I was there.

00:29:26Guest:What kind of sculptures?

00:29:28Marc:Sculpturing sculpture is hard.

00:29:29Guest:Yeah.

00:29:31Guest:I mean, just clay.

00:29:31Guest:Hard to appreciate.

00:29:32Guest:I tried to get into like welding a little bit.

00:29:35Guest:They teach you that, but- You're welding?

00:29:37Guest:I tried.

00:29:38Guest:I don't like fire in that way.

00:29:40Guest:I like kiln fire, not like sparks flying fire.

00:29:43Marc:So clay like figurative or just weird abstract shit?

00:29:45Guest:No, like I did like figures and I did like a bust of a friend's head.

00:29:51Guest:Oh, that's good.

00:29:51Guest:And then, but when I was like 10 years old, I got very into, do you remember like Fimo clay, like Fimo Sculpey?

00:29:59Guest:It's that like colored clay that you can buy at like Blake or whatever.

00:30:03Guest:Yeah, adult Play-Doh and you can bake it.

00:30:04Guest:So I was really into like making teeny little figurines in my house and like super, super detailed.

00:30:10Guest:Like I look back at some of the things I made and I'm like, how did I even like shape an eyeball that small?

00:30:15Guest:You were focused.

00:30:16Marc:You were alone with no friends.

00:30:20Guest:My friends got into the clay with me, which is now looking back, I'm like, oh, they probably didn't want to do that.

00:30:26Marc:But you wanted to be a sculptor?

00:30:29Guest:No, that's actually what I learned when I was there.

00:30:31Guest:I was like, I am good at this.

00:30:33Guest:And I felt proud to get into that school because there were some really, really talented people there.

00:30:38Guest:But about, I guess around my junior year, I was just like, what am I going to do with this?

00:30:44Guest:Because they started bringing in recruiters from like, you know, SVA and RISD and all these places.

00:30:50Guest:And I was like.

00:30:50Marc:Oh, a big art school.

00:30:52Guest:Yeah.

00:30:53Guest:They all came to our school.

00:30:54Guest:They like wanted to scoop us all up.

00:30:56Guest:And I remember just being like, I don't think I want a career in like being commissioned to, not that that's the only way to make money, but I was kind of like, what's the end game here?

00:31:06Guest:Like I just couldn't see it.

00:31:07Guest:Sure.

00:31:07Guest:So then I was like, I think I want to get into acting.

00:31:10Guest:So then like at the end of high school, I started doing more like theater and stuff.

00:31:16Guest:Yeah.

00:31:16Marc:You're in plays.

00:31:17Guest:Yeah.

00:31:18Guest:And did you switch over?

00:31:20Guest:So this is psychotic.

00:31:23Guest:I, my last, so junior year.

00:31:26Guest:Hmm.

00:31:26Guest:of my time at Arts Magnet, I kind of went through this weird phase where I was like, I'm getting a great arts education, but I feel like I'm slipping behind in academics.

00:31:38Guest:And so I ended up going back to the small school that I went to as a kid for just one year, my senior year.

00:31:45Marc:What?

00:31:46Marc:They had a high school?

00:31:47Guest:Yes.

00:31:47Guest:That small place?

00:31:48Guest:Kindergarten through 12.

00:31:49Marc:Oh, one of those.

00:31:50Guest:Yeah.

00:31:50Marc:Private weird hippie school.

00:31:52Guest:Exactly.

00:31:52Marc:So you bailed on the art school because you decided I should probably learn something practical.

00:31:59Guest:Yeah, I think I was feeling, which is so crazy because the education was fine at the arts magnet.

00:32:05Marc:It's just like there were some moments where I was like, oh, too much pressure like you had for the, you know, to keep up with the acting.

00:32:12Guest:It was.

00:32:12Guest:No, it was actually more like I was reading books that I had read in like seventh grade at my other school as a junior.

00:32:19Guest:And I was just kind of like, I don't feel like.

00:32:21Guest:At the art school?

00:32:22Guest:Yeah.

00:32:23Guest:So we were reading like, I mean, I don't remember specifically which books, but I just remember there are a couple where I'm like, oh, I read this when I was in middle school.

00:32:30Guest:Like, why am I reading this now as a junior in high school?

00:32:32Guest:Right.

00:32:33Guest:So you went back.

00:32:34Guest:I got really obsessive about that.

00:32:35Guest:And I went back for one year.

00:32:37Guest:And then you graduated.

00:32:38Guest:It was so dumb.

00:32:39Guest:Why was it dumb?

00:32:39Guest:What do you mean?

00:32:40Guest:I don't know.

00:32:40Guest:It just feels like a quitter move.

00:32:41Guest:It's like, just stick it out.

00:32:42Guest:It's one year.

00:32:43Guest:And like, this is a great place with great people.

00:32:45Marc:If that's one of your big regrets at this point, you're doing all right.

00:32:48Guest:Thanks.

00:32:48Marc:Like if that's one of the ones where like, oh, fuck.

00:32:49Guest:It is.

00:32:50Guest:It is.

00:32:51Guest:It makes me feel really good that you're saying that.

00:32:53Guest:It really is.

00:32:54Guest:I still think about it.

00:32:55Guest:I'm like, why did I do that?

00:32:57Marc:It's over.

00:32:58Marc:It's behind you.

00:32:59Guest:All right.

00:32:59Guest:Thanks.

00:33:00Guest:Thanks for the support.

00:33:01Marc:So where does comedy start?

00:33:03Marc:Where does that start to happen?

00:33:05Marc:But wait, so you finished high school and then you what?

00:33:08Guest:You go to college?

00:33:09Guest:Yeah, I went to college.

00:33:10Guest:I went to University of Texas in Austin.

00:33:13Guest:So did you do anything?

00:33:15Guest:I was a theater major and then I switched to TV and film and writing.

00:33:21Marc:So you were a theater major for a minute and then you had the same meltdown?

00:33:24Guest:For a minute.

00:33:24Guest:My grandmother shamed me.

00:33:25Guest:Yeah, I had a really judgmental grandma and she said to me- Which one, the Jewish one or the other one?

00:33:30Guest:Jewish one, yeah.

00:33:31Marc:Where was she, in New Jersey?

00:33:32Guest:Yeah, she was visiting and she said to me, you're really going to put all of your eggs in the acting basket?

00:33:38Guest:And I was like, all right.

00:33:39Guest:So then I think like two weeks later- That's not quite shaming.

00:33:42Marc:That's just fear and probably good advice.

00:33:45Guest:I know.

00:33:46Guest:But at the time, I was like, yeah.

00:33:48Guest:I mean, I listened.

00:33:49Guest:I was like, oh, she's right.

00:33:50Guest:But then it all swung back the other way, and now I want to act, and I do act.

00:33:55Marc:Yeah, but it's not like, what are you going to get?

00:33:58Marc:So you went to TV production?

00:33:59Guest:I was studying...

00:34:03Guest:I was just kind of circling around the shit that I do now, but never landing on it.

00:34:07Guest:Like, I feel like that was what college was.

00:34:09Guest:It was kind of like you're sort of it's like a puzzle and then you're kind of starting to assemble the pieces, but they don't actually make a puzzle with a clear image until later.

00:34:18Guest:so like I would like study I studied animation a little bit and I studied screenwriting a little bit but I was still performing on like my campus television they had a show that was kind of like an entertainment news show that had a comedy slant so I

00:34:34Guest:For just the school?

00:34:35Guest:Yeah, for just the school.

00:34:36Guest:So I was writing, and it was a live show.

00:34:39Guest:So I was writing monologues and stuff for that.

00:34:41Guest:And I had my own little, I had something, I don't know, honestly might have been called Jamie's Corner, which is the most only child name.

00:34:48Guest:But I had a segment where I just talked about entertainment news in a funny way.

00:34:51Guest:And I had my own two minutes on screen.

00:34:55Marc:Right.

00:34:56Marc:So you were kind of learning about the business in a way.

00:34:59Guest:Yeah.

00:35:00Marc:Writing, performing, producing television at a school.

00:35:05Guest:Yeah, exactly.

00:35:06Guest:Yeah, and then doing animation randomly just because I liked drawing.

00:35:10Guest:Animation with the female clay?

00:35:11Guest:No, I would have loved it because I love Scott Graham.

00:35:14Guest:Claymation?

00:35:14Guest:I love claymation.

00:35:16Guest:What kind of animation?

00:35:16Guest:You were drawing?

00:35:17Guest:Yeah, I was doing it like the hard way, like in Flash, where it's like you truly draw every single frame.

00:35:25Marc:But this is just things you could do in college.

00:35:27Guest:Yeah.

00:35:27Guest:I was just kind of like fucking around, but trying to focus on, trying to land on something that meant something to me.

00:35:34Guest:And then when I graduated college, my first job out of college was working at Comedy Central.

00:35:39Guest:I was working in their press department.

00:35:41Marc:In New York?

00:35:42Marc:So wait, so you moved to New York from Texas?

00:35:44Marc:Yeah.

00:35:44Marc:Because you got the job?

00:35:45Yes.

00:35:46Guest:I had interned in the city the summer before when I was still in school.

00:35:49Guest:Not at Comedy Central.

00:35:50Guest:I interned for a magazine.

00:35:52Marc:What magazine?

00:35:52Guest:It was called Jane Magazine.

00:35:54Marc:I remember that one.

00:35:54Guest:It was a great magazine.

00:35:56Guest:No, it folded.

00:35:57Guest:But it was really good.

00:35:58Marc:It was sort of a cool woman magazine.

00:36:00Guest:Kind of had a nylon vibe before nylon.

00:36:02Guest:Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:36:03Guest:But I was in the fashion department.

00:36:06Guest:I didn't know what the fuck I was... I did know what the fuck I was doing, but I just didn't have the language or the confidence...

00:36:13Guest:No, I just hadn't figured out exactly what I needed to be doing.

00:36:16Guest:But then, so it's kind of like whatever.

00:36:18Guest:I was like interning in New York and then like, you know, kind of doing some writing at school, but also doing animation, which I don't do anything with now.

00:36:27Guest:Like I was just kind of figuring it out.

00:36:28Guest:And then when I had the job at comedy.

00:36:30Guest:That's what it's for.

00:36:31Guest:Yeah, it is.

00:36:31Marc:I mean, I did that in college.

00:36:32Marc:You try everything you want to do and you did it like once or twice or you get a sense of it.

00:36:36Marc:And that's a good way to use the time if you're not career driven.

00:36:40Yeah.

00:36:41Marc:If you're a creative person, do as much creative shit as you can.

00:36:45Marc:At least you know.

00:36:46Guest:But I was career-driven.

00:36:48Guest:I just didn't know what that career was.

00:36:51Marc:You were generally ambitious.

00:36:53Guest:But I was also kind of a dork in that I missed Texas football games to work on my animation project.

00:37:01Guest:I always joke that I never did college right.

00:37:05Guest:I never blacked out.

00:37:06Guest:I had a boyfriend all four years.

00:37:08Marc:You missed college?

00:37:09Guest:Kind of missed football.

00:37:11Guest:Yeah.

00:37:11Guest:What do you mean?

00:37:12Guest:You're a football fan?

00:37:12Guest:No, I wasn't.

00:37:13Guest:But like that was the spirit of the school was like, go to these things.

00:37:17Guest:And like, I just kind of was like, I'm just kind of like working on my own stuff.

00:37:20Marc:But Austin was kind of a weirdo place then, wasn't it?

00:37:23Guest:Yeah.

00:37:23Guest:It's like this juxtaposition.

00:37:25Marc:He had one boyfriend for four years.

00:37:27Marc:And then when he moved to New York, he dumped him.

00:37:29Guest:It wasn't a blatant dumping.

00:37:32Guest:It was a fizzle.

00:37:33Guest:It was like, he's in Austin.

00:37:35Guest:I'm in New York.

00:37:36Guest:We saw each other a couple times.

00:37:37Guest:And then he got a girlfriend and I was like devastated because he was kind of like my rock.

00:37:42Marc:Oh, really?

00:37:42Guest:Yeah.

00:37:43Marc:Where'd that guy end up?

00:37:44Guest:He lives in New York with his new girlfriend.

00:37:47Marc:The third one or fourth one or whatever?

00:37:49Guest:Yeah.

00:37:49Guest:Maybe third.

00:37:51Guest:Yeah.

00:37:52Yeah.

00:37:54Guest:So, wait, what were we talking about?

00:37:57Marc:So you go to New York.

00:37:59Guest:Oh, yeah.

00:37:59Marc:Because you interned at the magazine, which was, you know, you're still in the zone of like kind of entertainment and coolness.

00:38:07Guest:Yeah.

00:38:07Guest:And then you end up Comedy Central.

00:38:08Marc:Who are you working for at Comedy Central?

00:38:10Guest:Well, I was working in the press department with Amy Miller and Aileen Boudot, who I believe is still there.

00:38:17Guest:I'm not sure.

00:38:18Guest:And then, yeah, it was a really- Not doing comedy, though, yet.

00:38:22Guest:Not doing comedy, but again, big comedy fan, watched a lot of comedy in college.

00:38:26Guest:I was like, oh, I work at Comedy Central.

00:38:29Guest:I didn't even know what publicity was.

00:38:31Marc:What fucking year is this?

00:38:32Guest:This was in 2006.

00:38:36Guest:What?

00:38:36Guest:Yeah.

00:38:37Marc:So you've been doing comedy like 10 minutes?

00:38:39Yeah.

00:38:40Guest:It doesn't feel like 10 minutes, but I appreciate that you think it's only been 10 minutes.

00:38:45Guest:I'm like, it's 2019.

00:38:46Marc:What are you doing here?

00:38:48Guest:No, but I didn't start stand-up right away.

00:38:52Guest:So actually, it's kind of funny.

00:38:54Guest:I was the publicist.

00:38:57Guest:That feels like a very loaded term for what I actually did.

00:39:00Guest:But I was the department assistant, and then I was also...

00:39:04Guest:sort of given the task of handling publicity for all stand-up in the network because the main focus at the time when I started was like getting the Dave Chappelle show back on track and like Daily Show and South Park.

00:39:17Guest:Like there were these big, big things that most publicity energy was sort of given to.

00:39:22Marc:So what did you have to do exactly?

00:39:23Guest:So I actually was at, I think I was at your Comedy Central Presents.

00:39:27Guest:I went to all the Presents tapings just to like make sure everything was okay.

00:39:30Marc:Which one?

00:39:30Marc:Like the 2006 one?

00:39:32Marc:Yeah.

00:39:32Marc:With the sheep and the politics?

00:39:34Guest:Yeah, yeah.

00:39:35Guest:The sheep and the politics, yep.

00:39:37Guest:And then, yeah, I went to like Live at Gotham tapings, premium blend.

00:39:41Marc:So you were like the Comedy Central girl?

00:39:43Guest:I was the girl.

00:39:44Guest:Yeah, I was just like hanging out.

00:39:45Marc:So I probably met you.

00:39:46Guest:Probably.

00:39:47Marc:I'm Jamie from Comedy Central.

00:39:50Guest:Yeah.

00:39:51Guest:I try to like not bother people.

00:39:53Marc:Bullshit.

00:39:53Guest:Because I also felt, I just, I know.

00:39:55Guest:At that time, I was just like, you guys were so busy.

00:39:58Guest:I was just like, oh, I'll just like sling back.

00:40:00Guest:Like, I don't, what do I...

00:40:02Marc:What do I do?

00:40:03Marc:You were helping out.

00:40:04Marc:But what did you do?

00:40:06Guest:Well, on a daily basis, I did a lot of press mailings.

00:40:10Guest:So if a new show came out, I made sure to get the advanced copies to everybody in the press.

00:40:16Guest:And I went to TCA's.

00:40:19Guest:Out here?

00:40:19Guest:I think I handled the website.

00:40:21Guest:The TCA's out in Pasadena?

00:40:22Guest:Yes.

00:40:23Guest:Yeah, I handled, they redid their website while I was there.

00:40:26Guest:So I was in charge of that.

00:40:27Marc:So you were almost like you're going to be a publicist.

00:40:29Yeah.

00:40:30Guest:It's weird to hear that.

00:40:32Guest:I mean, I knew pretty quickly this was not for me.

00:40:34Guest:And I knew that because I felt like I was terrible at my job.

00:40:40Guest:Talk about regrets.

00:40:41Guest:That's a big regret of mine.

00:40:43Guest:I was a shitty assistant.

00:40:45Marc:A shitty publicist assistant who gives a fuck.

00:40:48Guest:I know, but I feel bad.

00:40:50Marc:Get over it.

00:40:51Guest:Okay.

00:40:51Marc:You're gonna let this stuff go.

00:40:53Guest:Okay.

00:40:53Marc:You know, don't worry about going back to the other school.

00:40:57Guest:Okay.

00:40:57Marc:And, you know, you're a shitty publicist assistant.

00:41:00Marc:Well, you know, that's why you're not the publicist now.

00:41:02Guest:I was so selfish.

00:41:03Guest:What do you mean?

00:41:05Guest:I would just sit there and think about my own stuff of what am I going to- What do you think everyone does at jobs they don't like?

00:41:13Guest:Especially when right out of college.

00:41:14Guest:I need to be easier on myself, right?

00:41:16Marc:What are you so hard on yourself for?

00:41:17Guest:I don't know because it's just like you're responsible for so many people and I was always getting in trouble and I was like, I'm just bad at this.

00:41:23Guest:What kind of trouble?

00:41:24Guest:I just felt like I was like, I don't know, I would fuck up mailings.

00:41:27Guest:I remember I always had to write press releases.

00:41:33Guest:And you're supposed to turn them in on Fridays.

00:41:36Guest:And I'd get in Monday and I hadn't written it.

00:41:38Guest:And I'd just throw something together last minute.

00:41:40Marc:So you didn't want to do that.

00:41:41Guest:I know.

00:41:42Marc:So what happened?

00:41:42Marc:So how do you all of a sudden decide comedy?

00:41:45Marc:Because I knew another...

00:41:47Marc:Jesse Klein used to be an executive of some kind.

00:41:51Guest:That always gave me a lot of comfort.

00:41:53Guest:I was like, okay, I'm not the only person who's like- That jumped to the other side.

00:41:56Guest:Yeah, exactly.

00:41:56Marc:It's suspect.

00:41:59Marc:I've always found it's suspect, but Jesse's great.

00:42:01Marc:She's done a lot of great stuff, and I don't know why.

00:42:04Marc:But when you're coming up and you see somebody who's like, yeah, I'm in publicity on the Comedy Central, and then they're doing stand-up, I'm like, yeah, it seems like you're cheating.

00:42:12Marc:Yeah.

00:42:12Guest:I mean, I think, oh man, I'm like, I wish I hadn't worked at Comedy Central.

00:42:17Guest:I wish I had worked somewhere else.

00:42:18Marc:Why?

00:42:18Marc:Did you get flack for it?

00:42:20Guest:No, it's just like it started to get to a point where, so I had a roommate at the time who was taking improv classes at UCB and somehow she found a flyer or something for standup classes at Caroline's.

00:42:31Marc:Oh yeah, who's teaching that?

00:42:33Guest:Linda Smith.

00:42:34Guest:Oh, she's great.

00:42:34Guest:She's hysterical.

00:42:36Marc:She's great.

00:42:36Marc:I started with her in Boston a million years ago.

00:42:39Marc:We did comedy in Boston.

00:42:42Marc:i think she was doing it when i was in college so like when i when i did stand up like the first time i was really doing stand up was i was still in college it was like the mid 80s i think she's yeah that's where i met her cool she's funny yeah yeah she's best friends with lewis yes yeah yes all right so okay so like funny and warm you get the flyer got the flyer and you went class yeah and

00:43:04Guest:Although it was funny because early on they told us don't go to any open mics.

00:43:10Guest:Like it'll crush your soul.

00:43:12Guest:You'll wait a long time.

00:43:13Guest:Don't do it.

00:43:14Guest:Only do bringer shows at Caroline's.

00:43:15Guest:Wow.

00:43:16Guest:And I was like, oh, okay.

00:43:18Guest:And then my aunt.

00:43:20Marc:That was alternative motive there.

00:43:23Guest:Oh, totally.

00:43:25Guest:But I didn't know that at the time.

00:43:26Guest:I didn't know until way later.

00:43:28Guest:I was like, oh, that's why they told us not to do open mics.

00:43:30Guest:It had nothing to do with our well-being.

00:43:32Marc:No, they want to sell some drinks.

00:43:33Guest:Exactly.

00:43:34Marc:What about your aunt?

00:43:35Guest:So then my aunt Debbie, by marriage, she has a cousin who was doing stand-up at the time in the city, and he invited me to an open mic, probably like two classes into my car.

00:43:50Guest:His name's Matt.

00:43:51Marc:Is he still doing it?

00:43:52Guest:A little bit.

00:43:52Guest:Not really.

00:43:54Guest:But he so anyways, he was like, come do this.

00:43:59Guest:I think it was at the Village Lantern, maybe some club in the West Village or yeah, whatever.

00:44:05Guest:Bar with the back room.

00:44:06Marc:Oh, yeah.

00:44:07Marc:Oh, I know.

00:44:08Marc:Yeah.

00:44:09Guest:Yeah.

00:44:10Marc:It's like on Bleecker Street.

00:44:11Guest:Yeah.

00:44:11Marc:Yeah.

00:44:12Guest:So he downstairs.

00:44:13Guest:Yeah.

00:44:13Guest:So he's like, come with me.

00:44:14Guest:And I didn't go on until probably one 30 in the morning and I had worked the next day and I remember it.

00:44:21Marc:Welcome to the life.

00:44:22Guest:I know.

00:44:22Guest:And it didn't, I mean, looking back, I would cringe to watch those two minutes, but I was like, oh, that wasn't horrible.

00:44:29Guest:I mean, I didn't love it, but I definitely liked it enough to want to do it again.

00:44:35Guest:Yeah.

00:44:35Guest:And then I got kind of like, yeah, I don't know.

00:44:38Guest:And then I just, I also was DJing at the time.

00:44:40Guest:um i was djing with um these two friends of mine we had a group called fleet week what is that we just dj'd at bars and we actually were making really good money and getting really consistent gigs at like the delancey and this place called lit which i don't think is there anymore so you like mix you like uh you're dealing with all areas of entertainment

00:45:03Guest:Right.

00:45:04Guest:But but so the DJ thing, I think it came from the same place.

00:45:08Guest:I think I knew I wanted to be doing stand up, but I was just like, oh, this is another like activity that like gives you attention and like it's at night.

00:45:17Guest:But then when I realized I wanted to be doing stand up, I completely stopped DJing because they're both nighttime jobs.

00:45:22Marc:So did you start hitting the stand up pretty hard or what?

00:45:25Guest:Behind my behind Linda Smith's back.

00:45:27Guest:I was doing a lot of open mics.

00:45:29Marc:Right.

00:45:29Marc:So like a lot.

00:45:30Marc:And you're still working at Comedy Central.

00:45:32Guest:Yes.

00:45:32Guest:And it was starting to I think it was just it started to feel like a conflict of interest kind of quickly for me.

00:45:38Marc:And like we're like so where does it end up?

00:45:41Marc:So you're doing like this.

00:45:42Marc:You're the scene that you came up in is different than the one I came up in.

00:45:45Marc:So like.

00:45:47Marc:You're doing a lot of these open mics, you're writing material, you're doing like the alternative rooms, Brooklyn and that kind of shit?

00:45:53Guest:Yeah, not so much Brooklyn, a lot of East Village.

00:45:56Marc:Oh really?

00:45:56Marc:So who are your contemporaries that I would know?

00:46:00Guest:Mike Lawrence.

00:46:01Marc:Oh yeah, I love Mike.

00:46:02Guest:Dan St.

00:46:02Guest:Germain.

00:46:02Guest:Oh yeah.

00:46:03Guest:Mark Norman.

00:46:05Marc:Okay.

00:46:06Guest:Those were my main ones that I saw pretty much every day at open mics, multiple open mics.

00:46:11Marc:Yeah, Dan must have been exciting.

00:46:13Guest:I love Dan.

00:46:15Marc:He's doing all right.

00:46:16Guest:Yeah.

00:46:16Guest:But I, yeah, we, and then I'm trying to think who else.

00:46:18Guest:A lot of people who don't- I love Mike.

00:46:19Marc:Mike's open for me.

00:46:20Marc:He used to open for me occasionally.

00:46:21Marc:He's very funny.

00:46:22Guest:He's excellent.

00:46:23Marc:Yeah.

00:46:23Guest:Yeah.

00:46:24Marc:And- So they were all starting out when you were coming up?

00:46:26Guest:Yeah.

00:46:27Guest:So we really like grinded it out together in that I would leave work.

00:46:32Guest:This is also how I was a bad assistant.

00:46:34Guest:I would like leave work kind of early just to like do the sign up.

00:46:38Guest:Yeah.

00:46:38Guest:Sometimes you could get a friend to sign you up, but a lot of times you're like, they would start to resent you

00:46:42Guest:for that so you're like I gotta actually like be there yeah so yeah I would just like do like three open mics in a night yeah and then slowly start booking booked shows like what like what Cabin was a big one for us oh out in Long Island City no it was in the East Village Sean Patton

00:47:01Guest:Sean Patton's show.

00:47:02Guest:Yeah.

00:47:02Guest:He was just such a lovely friend to me when I was starting out.

00:47:06Guest:How's he doing?

00:47:08Guest:He's doing well.

00:47:09Guest:I haven't seen him in a while.

00:47:10Guest:I haven't either.

00:47:10Guest:Because I think he lives in New York.

00:47:12Marc:Uh-huh.

00:47:12Guest:But I saw him when I was there.

00:47:13Guest:And he's at the cellar.

00:47:14Guest:And yeah, I think he's doing well.

00:47:15Marc:So you're doing Cabin.

00:47:16Marc:Did you break it?

00:47:17Guest:That was a big one to get on.

00:47:19Guest:I remember being like, oh, I booked Cabin.

00:47:21Marc:Like, this is it.

00:47:22Marc:Yeah.

00:47:22Guest:Yeah.

00:47:23Marc:And how much time did you have at that time?

00:47:24Marc:Probably 10 minutes.

00:47:26Marc:How much time have you got now?

00:47:27Marc:Like 10 minutes.

00:47:29Oh.

00:47:29Marc:But it's really polished.

00:47:32Guest:It's so different.

00:47:34Marc:It's such a tight 10.

00:47:36Guest:No, but now, yeah, now.

00:47:38Guest:We headlining, baby.

00:47:39Guest:We're doing it.

00:47:40Marc:Yeah?

00:47:40Guest:Yeah.

00:47:41Marc:You go out there?

00:47:42Guest:Yeah.

00:47:43Guest:Well, I had to cancel some dates recently, which I was really bummed about.

00:47:46Guest:For this to do the podcast?

00:47:47Guest:Yeah.

00:47:47Guest:I cleared my sketch.

00:47:50Marc:So you're coming up in New York.

00:47:52Marc:So you work at the cellar now?

00:47:53Guest:Yes.

00:47:55Marc:You kind of, you broke the scene.

00:47:56Guest:Yeah.

00:47:56Guest:It's kind of crazy.

00:47:57Guest:Cause I actually, I, I didn't.

00:48:00Guest:So when I was living in New York, the people that I started with, like Mike and everybody, like we, we, uh, we weren't in at the cellar.

00:48:07Guest:It was at least, I don't know if Mike would feel this way, but I was like, Oh, that's like a distant, that's like a pipe dream.

00:48:13Guest:Like, I don't know if I'll ever break in there.

00:48:15Marc:It's like a mainstream club.

00:48:15Marc:Like, you know, there's definitely, there's definitely a line drawn, uh,

00:48:19Marc:Between whatever the alt scene was and whoever comes out of it and then eventually breaking into the cellar, which is still fundamentally a mainstream comedy club.

00:48:28Marc:It doesn't indulge much bullshit.

00:48:30Guest:Yeah.

00:48:30Guest:And like my like I moved out here to L.A.

00:48:34Guest:right when my class started getting past there.

00:48:37Guest:So I missed this window.

00:48:39Guest:I don't know.

00:48:40Guest:It's just the timing thing.

00:48:41Guest:I just kind of happened.

00:48:42Guest:Oh, why did I move out here?

00:48:43Guest:I moved out here for a writing job.

00:48:46Guest:like in 2014.

00:48:48Guest:But that was kind of around the time that... On what?

00:48:52Guest:On the Pete Holmes show.

00:48:53Marc:Oh, you moved out here to do that?

00:48:55Guest:Yes.

00:48:55Marc:Now, okay, so let's... But didn't you do some other thing?

00:49:00Marc:Some MTV thing?

00:49:01Guest:Yeah.

00:49:02Guest:Oh, I was on Girl Code.

00:49:03Guest:Yeah.

00:49:03Marc:But that was younger, right?

00:49:05Guest:No, Girl Code was actually happening concurrently.

00:49:09Marc:To you coming up as a stand-up or what?

00:49:13Guest:It was like, I was basically like stand-up.

00:49:16Guest:Then I did Last Comic Standing.

00:49:17Guest:That was kind of like my first TV thing.

00:49:20Guest:I did two episodes of that.

00:49:21Guest:I made it to the semifinals.

00:49:23Marc:Oh, that's pretty good.

00:49:24Guest:And that was exciting.

00:49:24Guest:And then I started kind of doing college's.

00:49:26Marc:So you hammer away, you do the open mics, you go on a cabin, and then you audition for a last comic?

00:49:33Guest:Correct.

00:49:34Marc:And you and Pete, you were dating, right?

00:49:37Guest:We had broken up at that point.

00:49:40Marc:But he's a little older than you?

00:49:41Guest:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely.

00:49:44Guest:We dated for less than a year, maybe.

00:49:47Marc:yeah because i can't remember what's public information what's private information that's fine but what i heard about like because i remember you dated for less than a year we dated for less than a year when i was maybe like two years that sounds that sounds like a lot to me yeah

00:50:03Guest:It's kind of, it's weird because it's like.

00:50:06Marc:I don't want to be mean to Pete, but like he's a what, you know?

00:50:08Guest:Well, also when I. I don't even know how to respond.

00:50:14Guest:You don't have to.

00:50:15Marc:But I. I don't talk smack on this show too often.

00:50:17Marc:I'm going to let you do it.

00:50:18Guest:Okay.

00:50:20Guest:No, but it was, you know, I think it was difficult for me because I was new to stand up and I was so excited to just find people I connected with and like have that sort of feeling like, oh, we're all family and we all get each other.

00:50:33Guest:We don't have to explain each other to each other.

00:50:36Guest:And so, yeah, so I met Pete.

00:50:38Guest:He was definitely more seasoned than I was at the time, but still kind of in this like we're on shows together.

00:50:46Guest:He's not that much older than you, is he?

00:50:48Hmm.

00:50:48Guest:Like five years.

00:50:49Guest:Yeah.

00:50:50Guest:Yeah.

00:50:51Guest:So, yeah, I yeah.

00:50:54Guest:So we were whatever.

00:50:55Guest:So we were just like we started dating and then it kind of just became clear, like I need to be doing my thing and he needs to be doing his.

00:51:04Guest:But the cool thing is that because we we broke up and then he moved to Los Angeles.

00:51:10Guest:I was still in New York.

00:51:11Guest:Right.

00:51:12Guest:And then we had this project that we had worked on when we were dating.

00:51:16Guest:It was a parody of 19 Kids and Counting, that show on TLC, called Kid Farm.

00:51:21Guest:Yeah.

00:51:21Guest:And it ended up getting picked up to be a web series on Comedy Central.

00:51:26Guest:Yeah.

00:51:26Guest:And so we came back together to work on that together.

00:51:30Guest:Right.

00:51:30Guest:And then it kind of just seamlessly became like, oh, we're like work partners.

00:51:34Guest:We can do that.

00:51:35Guest:Yeah.

00:51:36Guest:Like the relationship was good, but it wasn't the relationship for either of us.

00:51:41Guest:Yeah.

00:51:41Guest:And now we're able to just kind of function in a career capacity, which has been great.

00:51:46Marc:That's nice.

00:51:47Marc:I can't imagine doing that with any of the women I've dated in my life.

00:51:50Guest:I, it is pretty, I don't have it with anybody else that I've dated where I'm like, I'm working with them or even, yeah, even buds really.

00:51:57Guest:I mean, it's not like, it's not tense.

00:52:00Guest:It's just like, no, neither of us are putting in an effort.

00:52:04Marc:And when did the last comic standing happen?

00:52:06Guest:Um, that happened around 2000.

00:52:08Guest:That was like right after Pete and I broke up, like 2009 or 10.

00:52:12Marc:So that was like, so that's a big break though.

00:52:14Marc:That's when you start doing the work, right?

00:52:15Guest:It felt like a really big break.

00:52:17Guest:Cause yeah, my mom was visiting and, uh, I was like, I, you know, she's like, okay, I'm going to go like walk around Soho while you like do your little audition.

00:52:26Guest:She wasn't that patronizing, but it was that vibe of like, yeah, I'm just going to like go...

00:52:30Guest:try to be on this show and i did two minutes in front of natasha leggero and greg giraldo and andy kindler they were the judges oh greg and it was really fun it was at gotham the auditions were at gotham which is like kind of i love that club i don't know it's just the old gotham or the new gotham yeah the one yeah so you didn't know the original one no yeah where is that

00:52:52Marc:Where was it?

00:52:52Marc:Maybe 22nd or something?

00:52:55Marc:It was a smaller room.

00:52:56Marc:I've only done the new one a couple of times.

00:52:58Marc:It seems very wide and weird.

00:53:00Guest:It is wide, but when it's good, it's really good.

00:53:02Guest:It's a hot room.

00:53:04Guest:Yeah, and they were just such nice judges.

00:53:06Guest:I mean, I think there were some other seasons that were a little more cutthroat and the energy was kind of like...

00:53:12Guest:Like, you know, you're going to win or lose.

00:53:14Guest:Like it kind of had that game show energy, but that was not the season I was on.

00:53:18Guest:It was very supportive.

00:53:19Marc:So after that, you had, you put together your hour and you started doing the clubs and colleges.

00:53:24Guest:Yeah.

00:53:25Guest:And then like two years later was Girl Code.

00:53:27Guest:I auditioned for that and got that.

00:53:29Marc:What is that?

00:53:29Marc:I've never seen it.

00:53:31Guest:Yeah, so it was a show that was on MTV.

00:53:33Guest:It was a talking heads show with an all-female cast, and we all basically were just doing stand-up on TV.

00:53:39Marc:But you did a lot of those, right?

00:53:41Guest:Yeah.

00:53:42Guest:Yeah, it was five seasons.

00:53:43Marc:Jesus.

00:53:44Guest:And it was really, it felt really special.

00:53:46Marc:Union gig?

00:53:47Marc:No.

00:53:49Guest:No.

00:53:50Guest:But it was like paying my rent and.

00:53:53Guest:In New York.

00:53:54Guest:Yeah.

00:53:54Guest:I didn't feel poor anymore.

00:53:56Guest:So you're doing colleges and you do.

00:53:57Guest:I mean now I would feel poor if that were my salary.

00:53:59Guest:Right.

00:54:00Guest:But at the time I was like killing it.

00:54:02Marc:Right.

00:54:02Marc:So you're doing that.

00:54:03Marc:You're doing stand up and then Pete says come right on this show.

00:54:05Guest:Yeah.

00:54:06Yeah.

00:54:06Marc:Now, wasn't there a thing, though, where you were his girlfriend, but you wanted to play his girlfriend, but you didn't get to?

00:54:14Marc:No.

00:54:14Marc:Or something?

00:54:15Marc:No?

00:54:15Guest:Wait, what?

00:54:16Marc:I don't know.

00:54:17Guest:Oh, wait, you mean crashing?

00:54:19Marc:Yeah.

00:54:19Guest:Oh, so crashing...

00:54:23Guest:crashing uh the way that happened so i was writing on crashing i was writing it on writing on it on the first season and then second season they were like okay well there's there's probably gonna be like a girl comedian that pete hangs out with right and i was like oh that sounds interesting to me um and then yeah i kind of was like pitching myself for it and they're like we don't think you're right for it

00:54:47Guest:it's not the right energy we're looking for.

00:54:50Guest:And so I was like, okay.

00:54:51Guest:And then I kind of just like, whatever, hung back.

00:54:54Guest:And I was like, it's just not, it's not my role.

00:54:55Guest:It's fine.

00:54:56Marc:Did you talk to Pete?

00:54:58Guest:Not really.

00:54:58Guest:Hmm.

00:55:00Guest:Yeah.

00:55:00Guest:I don't like that character was not, that relationship was not built on our relationship.

00:55:05Guest:And I,

00:55:06Guest:I make that clear only because it's like the process to get that role was such a process.

00:55:11Guest:Like they truly were auditioning every person in comedy, actress, huge names.

00:55:19Guest:Like they were doing a full wide search.

00:55:21Guest:And so I wasn't even allowed.

00:55:25Guest:I don't want to say allowed, but I wasn't being considered to audition for it.

00:55:29Guest:And then last minute, Pete was like, oh, yeah, you know, we're going to bring you in.

00:55:32Guest:And I was like, oh, OK, cool.

00:55:33Guest:And by that time, I was content writing on the show and kind of had made peace with the fact that like this is just not my part.

00:55:40Guest:Right.

00:55:41Guest:So when I went in, I think that because I was in that headspace, I had a really great audition and had a lot of fun.

00:55:46Guest:And then I didn't hear anything for two weeks.

00:55:50Guest:Yeah.

00:55:50Guest:And I showed up at work because we're still in the writing offices in New York.

00:55:55Guest:And everyone was being really weird to me.

00:55:57Guest:Like, I don't know.

00:55:58Guest:I just like felt it.

00:55:59Guest:I was like, what?

00:56:00Guest:And I was like, oh, my God, it's because I didn't get it.

00:56:02Guest:Yeah.

00:56:02Guest:Don't they feel bad for me.

00:56:04Guest:Yeah.

00:56:04Guest:And then I texted my manager.

00:56:09Guest:Yeah, I texted my manager and I was just like, what's going on?

00:56:13Guest:Have you heard anything?

00:56:14Guest:And then it turns out the reason they were being weird is because I got the part.

00:56:18Marc:You got the part.

00:56:19Guest:Yeah, I got the part.

00:56:21Marc:But how come I've watched some of them?

00:56:23Marc:I watched the last season, I think, when you guys are kind of like, it's weird, but you guys make up.

00:56:31Guest:Yeah, we're like friends in the last season.

00:56:33Marc:So this was the second season mostly?

00:56:35Guest:The second season.

00:56:35Guest:Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:56:37Marc:So you got the part.

00:56:38Guest:Yeah, I got the part.

00:56:38Guest:It was crazy.

00:56:39Marc:You got to be Pete's girlfriend again.

00:56:41Guest:Oh my God, please don't put it like that.

00:56:45Marc:Are you married at that point yet?

00:56:46Guest:Yeah.

00:56:47Marc:You are?

00:56:47Guest:Yeah.

00:56:49Marc:When did you get married?

00:56:50Guest:I got married almost three years ago.

00:56:51Marc:And then you, like, and then you, so, all right, so you're writing on Pete's show, you write your wedding book.

00:56:56Guest:Yeah, I wrote a book called Wediculous, An Unfiltered Guide to Being a Bride.

00:57:00Marc:Just being a snarky, you know, take it down and notch the whole... I mean, yeah, I don't know.

00:57:06Guest:Snark, sure.

00:57:08Guest:But, like, it was more just that when I was getting married, I felt like all the materials that were available to brides, they were all so... I don't know.

00:57:18Guest:They all felt really fake to me, and they all felt really fear-based.

00:57:21Guest:It was like, oh, if you don't do X, Y, and Z, your wedding's going to be a failure.

00:57:24Marc:Well, it's just like this habit.

00:57:26Marc:There's a whole industry that has a lot of...

00:57:29Marc:sway on how it's supposed to go i mean i had a big wedding and i've had a small wedding neither of the fucking marriages worked out so but i know you know i know what both of those are like i know what a big wedding is like and what the pressure is so you just needed to kind of make it more accessible and like try to show what's really necessary and what isn't to have a good time

00:57:51Guest:Yeah, and also just making sure that people didn't feel alone.

00:57:58Guest:Because I thought that when I was getting married, it was particularly isolating and alienating that every person was saying to me, like, oh my God, this is the most special time of your life.

00:58:07Guest:This is the most exciting time of your life.

00:58:09Guest:And I was like, why am I fighting with my fiance so much?

00:58:12Guest:And why do I feel weird towards my parents and his parents?

00:58:16Guest:And I don't know.

00:58:17Guest:I was like, things just feel so...

00:58:19Guest:sad and, and angry.

00:58:22Guest:And, and then the more people I talked to were like, yeah, we also felt that, but no one's really talking about that.

00:58:29Guest:You're like almost not allowed to.

00:58:30Marc:So I wanted the best day of your life.

00:58:33Marc:It's a fucking night.

00:58:34Guest:I know.

00:58:34Guest:I call it your medium day.

00:58:36Marc:Yeah.

00:58:36Guest:Yeah.

00:58:36Guest:It's not the best day of your life.

00:58:38Guest:It's, it's a nice day, but it's very, it's like a production.

00:58:42Marc:Is he in show business?

00:58:44Marc:He's a comic, right?

00:58:45Marc:You guys used to do it.

00:58:46Marc:That's right.

00:58:46Marc:You did the thing together.

00:58:47Guest:Oh, we have a show together.

00:58:48Guest:Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:58:49Guest:You still do it?

00:58:49Guest:Yeah, a monthly show, yeah, at UCB called Date Night.

00:58:52Marc:And he's a stand-up?

00:58:53Guest:Yes.

00:58:53Guest:What's his name again?

00:58:54Guest:He started doing stand-up more recently, yeah.

00:58:56Guest:Dan Black.

00:58:57Guest:Uh-huh.

00:58:57Guest:Yeah.

00:58:58Marc:Where'd you meet that guy?

00:58:59Guest:On a podcast.

00:59:01Guest:Oh, yeah?

00:59:02Guest:Yeah, we were both on a podcast.

00:59:04Guest:He came on in character, and I was just like, whatever, myself.

00:59:09Guest:And his character was very, very funny, and I just kind of had a moment where I was like, how have I never met this person?

00:59:15Guest:They're like truly the funniest person.

00:59:17Marc:So now you're a show business couple.

00:59:20Guest:Oh, yeah.

00:59:20Guest:How's that going?

00:59:20Guest:Power couple.

00:59:22Guest:It's good.

00:59:22Guest:I mean, like my, you know.

00:59:25Guest:What's he doing?

00:59:26Guest:He also has a podcast and he like books a lot of commercials and stuff.

00:59:30Guest:So he's like more, he's like sort of in that UCB acting realm.

00:59:34Guest:is it good is what good being with a performer yeah um yeah i mean it's it's it's good it's mostly good i would say but i think my big issue with marriage in general is like i like i've said like my parents have a bizarre they have a bizarre marriage your dad sweeps in a closet yeah and i just in general don't i don't really know it's weird i have like two extremes in my life i have like

00:59:58Guest:My parents, dad sleeps in a closet.

01:00:01Guest:And then I have like my grandparents who had like the most beautiful love until my grandmother died three years ago.

01:00:07Guest:And then my aunt and uncle have been together since high school and they're super into each other still.

01:00:10Guest:So I kind of don't know what like the gray area looks like.

01:00:13Guest:I have two extremes.

01:00:14Guest:So I'm always trying to navigate that.

01:00:17Guest:Yeah, it's good.

01:00:18Guest:But I just sometimes I'm like, am I built for this?

01:00:21Guest:I don't know.

01:00:22Guest:Yeah.

01:00:23Guest:I don't know what's real.

01:00:26Guest:Who does?

01:00:28Guest:Who knows what's real?

01:00:29Guest:Trying to figure it out.

01:00:30Guest:Yeah.

01:00:30Guest:It's interesting.

01:00:32Marc:So when, but you guys don't, you're not competitive or sort of like.

01:00:36Marc:No, he's super supportive.

01:00:38Marc:That's good.

01:00:38Guest:Yeah.

01:00:39Guest:Yeah, yeah, yeah.

01:00:40Guest:Not competitive.

01:00:41Guest:There have been times like when we were getting.

01:00:43Marc:Obviously you're not going up for the same things, but I just mean in terms of like sometimes when someone's working and someone isn't, it gets a little gnarly.

01:00:49Guest:Yeah, like when he started doing stand-up, I mean, he would admit this too.

01:00:52Guest:Like, I think, you know, when we first started dating, he wasn't doing stand-up.

01:00:56Guest:And that was kind of like, he was like the improv guy and I was a stand-up person.

01:00:59Guest:So we had like commonalities in that we're both doing comedy, but we're not doing the same thing and associating with the same people.

01:01:06Guest:So when he started doing stand-up, I definitely was like, oh, that's like my world.

01:01:10Guest:So it's like an adjustment where it's like, I still like, I have to be supportive and not like...

01:01:14Guest:weird about it like sometimes i get weird because i'm like i there's it's almost like i'm i'm a baby and i have to take care of the baby and now it's like oh we have a second stand-up baby now that we have to nurture and it's a lot

01:01:29Guest:Oh, no, your face.

01:01:31Marc:No, it's all right.

01:01:33Marc:Yeah, I mean, I know.

01:01:34Marc:My second wife was a stand-up, but she's not a stand-up anymore.

01:01:38Marc:She's gone.

01:01:39Marc:So, all right, so you write on Crashing for three seasons.

01:01:44Marc:You act on two of them.

01:01:45Marc:The writing experience was good, and everything, the relationships all stayed pretty good.

01:01:49Marc:Now, I guess they're not picking it up.

01:01:52Guest:They're not.

01:01:52Marc:Was that, did you guys know that was coming?

01:01:55Guest:I didn't.

01:01:56Guest:Pete had said something about how he was like, I don't know if we're getting a fourth season.

01:02:00Guest:But we actually did a brainstorm room to kind of map out what a fourth season might look like.

01:02:05Guest:And it was really fun.

01:02:07Guest:So I was kind of bummed to not be able to carry out that vision that we had.

01:02:11Guest:So it was a surprise.

01:02:12Guest:Yeah, it was.

01:02:14Guest:But now I'm like, oh, well, it was really expensive to make and...

01:02:19Marc:You don't know how many people were watching it?

01:02:21Guest:Yeah, I don't have that information.

01:02:22Marc:Do you find that when you go on the road now, people know you from it?

01:02:26Guest:Yes, which I love.

01:02:27Guest:And people really loved that character in a way that makes me... It's just nice.

01:02:32Guest:It's kind of like...

01:02:35Guest:like i think about like with your role on glow i'm like not only is that i mean glow is like such a phenomenal show just in general but then it's also like that's such a cool character you get to play like he has depth and like i don't know he like he resonates i i feel like i was happy that i feel like that was that character yeah yeah i really do i'm really like proud to have played her

01:02:58Marc:Yeah.

01:02:58Marc:So now what are you doing?

01:02:59Marc:Club dates?

01:03:00Marc:Why'd you have to cancel some dates?

01:03:01Guest:Oh, just just like potential.

01:03:05Guest:There was like a thing that might.

01:03:06Guest:I don't know.

01:03:07Guest:A thing popped up and it was like, oh, you might like book this thing so you can't leave.

01:03:12Guest:So that was what happened.

01:03:13Guest:So I had to cancel a couple of dates, but I'm going to reschedule.

01:03:15Marc:But what are you doing?

01:03:15Marc:You doing like weekends at clubs or are you doing just one offs?

01:03:19Guest:Yeah.

01:03:19Guest:Weekends at clubs.

01:03:20Guest:Oh, yeah.

01:03:21Marc:Yeah.

01:03:22Guest:you draw pretty good yeah it's been really good since crashing it's it's been I mean like girl code was helpful but crashing I feel like has been even more helpful people really like yeah the people who love that show like love that show what crashing yeah yeah but I guess that's every show

01:03:38Guest:The people who love it just love it.

01:03:40Marc:What kind of people are they?

01:03:41Marc:How do you generalize?

01:03:42Guest:They're pretty, I mean, a lot of them are just comedy fans.

01:03:45Guest:Right.

01:03:46Guest:A lot of them are Pete fans.

01:03:47Marc:Yeah.

01:03:48Guest:And then a lot of them are Judd fans.

01:03:50Guest:Like they kind of follow his whole trajectory.

01:03:53Marc:So what happens now though?

01:03:55Marc:So now you get cut loose from a show.

01:03:58Guest:Yeah.

01:03:59Marc:And what are you developing your own stuff?

01:04:00Guest:Yeah.

01:04:01Marc:Are you looking for, yeah, you are?

01:04:02Guest:Yeah, I have a pilot with Freeform that I wrote.

01:04:06Marc:I don't even know what that is.

01:04:08What?

01:04:08Guest:It's a network.

01:04:10Guest:Okay.

01:04:11Guest:It used to be ABC Family, but now they're like edgier.

01:04:14Guest:Now they're free form.

01:04:16Guest:Yeah.

01:04:17Guest:No more families.

01:04:18Guest:No.

01:04:19Guest:Whatever, man.

01:04:19Guest:Fuck the families.

01:04:21Guest:We're free.

01:04:22Guest:But yeah, so I wrote this script that I was working on for like truly two and a half years called The Girlfriend, and I'm working on that right now.

01:04:30Guest:And then I have a show based on my- So you got a development deal with them?

01:04:33Guest:Is that it?

01:04:33Guest:Yeah.

01:04:34Guest:Okay.

01:04:34Marc:So they're like, here's some money.

01:04:35Marc:We like this idea.

01:04:36Marc:Fix it.

01:04:37Guest:Yes.

01:04:38Marc:Right.

01:04:39Guest:Yeah.

01:04:39Guest:So I had a script, did like two pretty major rewrites, and now I'm waiting to hear about things.

01:04:43Marc:Yeah.

01:04:44Marc:And what else were you going to say?

01:04:46Guest:Oh, yeah.

01:04:46Guest:I have a show that I'm developing based on my book.

01:04:49Marc:On the Weddellicious.

01:04:51Guest:Yeah, Weddellicious.

01:04:52Guest:Weddellicious.

01:04:52Guest:Yeah.

01:04:53Guest:Yeah.

01:04:53Guest:Everyone calls it Weddellicious.

01:04:54Guest:That font really fucked me.

01:04:57Guest:It looks like Weddellicious.

01:04:58Guest:Yeah.

01:04:59Guest:Everyone says Weddellicious.

01:05:02Guest:And I'm like, it's Weddellicious.

01:05:03Guest:I mean, it's a fake word regardless.

01:05:04Marc:Right.

01:05:05Guest:Still, I'm like, I should have had a clearer.

01:05:07Marc:So how does that jump to a book, a show?

01:05:10Marc:Like it's a weekly thing.

01:05:12Marc:You do like one chapter of the book as a sort of out in the world show?

01:05:19Guest:Kind of.

01:05:21Guest:Well, I think it's going to be with a streaming service, which I don't think I'm allowed to talk about.

01:05:24Guest:But I think it's going to be kind of like a Queer Eye vibe for weddings.

01:05:31Guest:So it's going to be like funny, but also helpful.

01:05:34Guest:Right.

01:05:34Marc:Are you going to be on it?

01:05:35Guest:Yes.

01:05:35Marc:And you're going to bring some other people?

01:05:37Guest:Yeah, I'm going to host it.

01:05:38Guest:We've already cast the couples.

01:05:39Guest:So we're going to, it'll be an hour long.

01:05:42Guest:Oh, I see.

01:05:42Marc:You walk through this shit with the couples.

01:05:44Guest:Exactly.

01:05:45Guest:I like help them.

01:05:46Marc:Is there a dude involved for the dude?

01:05:49Guest:Do you know what I mean?

01:05:50Marc:So you're dealing with a groom and a... Oh, yes.

01:05:55Guest:Mostly bride focused, but yeah, we handled a couple for sure.

01:05:59Guest:Especially if they're arguing or anything.

01:06:01Guest:I wanna get in there.

01:06:02Guest:You wanna make sure you... Get in the weeds and... Oh, yeah?

01:06:04Guest:Yeah.

01:06:04Marc:Make some funny.

01:06:05Guest:What's going on?

01:06:05Guest:Make it uncomfortable.

01:06:06Guest:What's going on, you guys?

01:06:07Guest:Yeah.

01:06:07Guest:One of those shows.

01:06:08Guest:Well, I just think that like, yeah, like I was saying, I think that it can get really tense around weddings.

01:06:14Guest:And I think people feel like a lot of shame, you know, like they're like, oh, well, if we were more solid, we wouldn't be fighting.

01:06:21Guest:And it's like, no, the wedding brings that out in people.

01:06:23Marc:I just remember when I got married at the big wedding, you know, it was like a big thing about the food and that like I wanted a certain type of food or wanted them to do it.

01:06:29Marc:But you don't what you don't realize, it's like, you know, whatever your special request is, it's just wedding food.

01:06:37Guest:Exactly.

01:06:38Marc:You know, it's like, yeah, they'll accommodate you, but it's not going to be amazing.

01:06:41Guest:No, I always say that, like, I think it's great if the food is great at your wedding.

01:06:45Guest:That's wonderful.

01:06:47Guest:But I think quantity is actually more important because I think when people go to weddings, there's a sense like your guests kind of feel like they're sort of trapped on a deserted island and they're fending for themselves because they're kind of out of their comfort zone and they don't necessarily know anyone there.

01:07:02Guest:Right.

01:07:02Guest:And you have to stay.

01:07:04Guest:Because if you leave, you're an asshole.

01:07:05Guest:Yeah.

01:07:05Guest:So, like, you need to make sure your guests are just, like, very nourished.

01:07:09Guest:Because I think that the worst thing is if, like, you get a tiny piece of steak and, like, three little carrots.

01:07:13Marc:And you got a whole nother two or three hours.

01:07:15Guest:Yeah.

01:07:16Marc:You got to dance.

01:07:17Guest:And it's also, like, don't give me a lot of food because I require a lot of food.

01:07:20Guest:Give me food because I need to, like, emotionally eat my way through the next five hours.

01:07:24Guest:Yeah.

01:07:25Marc:This sad event that I'm forced to go to.

01:07:27Guest:Exactly.

01:07:28Marc:I was told, someone told my brother, I don't know where I heard it, that on your wedding day, you should hold hands with your bride or your groom always.

01:07:37Guest:I've heard this, yeah.

01:07:38Marc:Right, so you have the same experience and not separate experiences.

01:07:43Guest:Yeah, I think that's hard to hold hands the whole time.

01:07:47Marc:The whole time.

01:07:48Marc:Where are you?

01:07:49Guest:What?

01:07:50Guest:That sounds terrible.

01:07:50Marc:It's just like all of it's just sort of like now we're going to smash the cake in the face.

01:07:54Marc:Like what is it?

01:07:54Marc:It's like a fucking charade.

01:07:56Guest:The smashing the cake, I mean, that is a hard no for me.

01:07:59Guest:Like I had spent four hours getting my makeup done.

01:08:02Guest:You didn't smash cake?

01:08:03Guest:No.

01:08:03Guest:We fed.

01:08:04Guest:We gently fed.

01:08:06Guest:Did you do it?

01:08:07Guest:Is he Jewish?

01:08:08Guest:Yes.

01:08:09Guest:Did you do a Jew wedding?

01:08:10Guest:Jew wedding?

01:08:10Guest:Yes.

01:08:12Guest:Why do you say it like that?

01:08:14Guest:Because it was tricky for me.

01:08:16Guest:I guess you're theoretically Jewish.

01:08:18Guest:Yeah, but when you grow up in Texas, it doesn't look the same.

01:08:22Guest:At least my experience was not the same.

01:08:24Guest:I did not grow up with a lot of traditions.

01:08:25Guest:My family's not religious.

01:08:27Guest:My dad was raised loosely Baptist.

01:08:30Guest:So my husband's from Long Island.

01:08:34Guest:Oh, so it's real Jew stuff.

01:08:36Guest:It's real, yeah.

01:08:38Guest:What town?

01:08:39Guest:He's from Roslyn Heights.

01:08:41Uh-huh.

01:08:41Guest:Yeah, so kind of near Nassau, Nassau County.

01:08:44Guest:How long has it been in the marriage?

01:08:46Guest:We've been married almost three years at the end of this month.

01:08:49Guest:Three.

01:08:49Guest:Yeah.

01:08:51Marc:Yep.

01:08:52Guest:Yep.

01:08:53Marc:Yeah.

01:08:54Marc:The three to four, that's a rough one.

01:08:56Marc:If you get through the three to four, you can make it.

01:08:58Guest:Oh, okay.

01:08:58Guest:Is that a thing?

01:09:00Marc:It was for me.

01:09:01Guest:Okay, okay, great.

01:09:03Marc:I didn't make it through three.

01:09:04Marc:Either time.

01:09:06Guest:You're doing great.

01:09:07Guest:This house is beautiful.

01:09:08Guest:You're killing it.

01:09:09Guest:I'm all right.

01:09:09Guest:You're all right.

01:09:10Marc:Yeah, and a lot of things.

01:09:11Marc:There's some good things going on.

01:09:13Marc:All right, so what are we looking for now from you?

01:09:18Marc:What happens?

01:09:18Marc:We're not really promoting anything, are we?

01:09:20Marc:We know what you're up to, and you can get the book, and you can watch you on Crashing, but that's sadly over.

01:09:27Guest:I have a podcast that's gonna be about Sex and the City called Couldn't Help But Wonder, and I'm doing it with my friend Rose Cerno.

01:09:32Marc:What is it about?

01:09:33Marc:What does that mean, Sex and the City?

01:09:34Guest:We're going through the whole series.

01:09:36Guest:We're starting from the first episode.

01:09:38Guest:And it's like that show was on 20 years ago.

01:09:41Guest:So we're kind of discussing like the cultural relevance.

01:09:44Guest:You're such a lady.

01:09:45Guest:Such a girl lady.

01:09:47Guest:I am.

01:09:48Guest:But like the new version of the girl lady.

01:09:50Guest:Is it important?

01:09:52Marc:Okay.

01:09:53Marc:Is it important to you?

01:09:54Marc:Are you excited about the Sex and the City?

01:09:56Guest:I am.

01:09:57Guest:Yeah, I'm really excited.

01:09:58Marc:Because you haven't watched it in 20 years?

01:10:00Guest:Yeah.

01:10:00Guest:Well, I've watched it since, but it's fun to like kind of talk about like what parts are still relevant or yeah, just kind of how it applies to now.

01:10:09Marc:Okay.

01:10:10Guest:Yeah.

01:10:10Marc:That sounds good.

01:10:11Marc:And you're going to be touring and whatever.

01:10:13Guest:Yeah.

01:10:13Marc:Do you feel good about what's happened here?

01:10:15Guest:I loved it.

01:10:16Guest:I did.

01:10:17Marc:I'll talk to you later.

01:10:19Guest:Okay, bye.

01:10:25Marc:That was Jamie Lee.

01:10:27Marc:Go listen to her podcast, Couldn't Help But Wonder, available wherever you get your podcasts.

01:10:31Marc:Also, all my tour dates are at wtfpod.com slash tour.

01:10:36Marc:And if you're interested, if the movie Sword of Trust is screening near you, go to swordoftrust.com to get the full rundown of where it's playing.

01:10:47Marc:It opens next week.

01:10:48Marc:I'll be in New York at the 92nd Street Y with Lynn Shelton and my friend Sam Lipsight.

01:10:54Marc:moderating a q a and it's opening around the country so go look for those dates people will you so now i believe um i will play some uh some distorted nice guitar for you

01:11:26Guest:Thank you.

01:12:00Marc:Boomer lives.