Episode 1142 - Chris Fairbanks
Marc:all right let's do this how are you what the fuckers what the fuck buddies what the fuck tastics how's that one i don't know if i ever have ever used that what the fuck tastics what the fuck tuplets
Marc:I don't fucking know.
Marc:How's it going?
Marc:I'm Mark Maron.
Marc:This is my podcast.
Marc:WTF, welcome to it.
Marc:Chris Fairbanks.
Marc:is on the show today.
Marc:He's a comedian.
Marc:He was actually on a live WTF back in, I think it was 2010.
Marc:But we have actually never done a full talk.
Marc:And he's a funny, quirky, odd guy.
Marc:He's got a new comedy special out now.
Marc:Chris Fairbanks Rescue Cactus is what it's called.
Marc:You can rent it or buy it at ChrisFairbanksComedySpecial.com.
Marc:I've been trying to watch specials.
Marc:Speaking of new specials, my old friend, she's not that old a friend, but she's been on the show and I like her.
Marc:Esther Pavitsky.
Marc:She has a new special.
Marc:Just released it.
Marc:It's on Comedy Central.
Marc:Esther Pavitsky.
Marc:Hot for my name.
Marc:It's available on demand and you can stream it for free at cc.com.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Little Esther.
Marc:So spiraling.
Marc:I don't know, man.
Marc:I guess it's rational.
Marc:I don't think I'm being irrational because cases are spiking here in Los Angeles.
Marc:I talked to my friends in New York, and because of their responsible behavior, things have leveled off a bit.
Marc:Nothing is normal, but there's not morgue trucks in the streets.
Marc:I'm not seeing that here either, but I live in a neighborhood.
Marc:All I can do is look at the numbers.
Marc:And feel like I'm surrounded by it.
Marc:And it's kind of terrifying.
Marc:I don't want to get it.
Marc:I don't know what it does.
Marc:I don't want to go to the hospital.
Marc:I don't want to be intubated.
Marc:I don't want to be on a ventilator.
Marc:It's terrifying and it's happening a lot.
Marc:People are dying in the hospital.
Marc:Intubated.
Marc:And I don't know if I don't.
Marc:I know I would count myself among.
Marc:The more empathetic people around.
Marc:Maybe I know I'm self-centered.
Marc:I know that I'm insensitive to a degree.
Marc:But to try to wrap your brain around the number of people that are dying of this fucking disease.
Marc:Because of irresponsibility.
Marc:Faulty shitty morally bankrupt leadership.
Marc:Thousands of people are dying and you don't want to get numb to that number so we know exactly what's going on.
Marc:I don't know that people conceive of it or if it's easy to conceive of.
Marc:But I'm haunted by it.
Marc:I have to go get a fucking checkup, I'm afraid to go.
Marc:I guess they're still doing those.
Marc:Are they still doing those?
Marc:I guess I'm a little out of the loop, but all I know is I'm haunted by
Marc:This idea of ventilators, like, you know, you just wait on a ventilator.
Marc:Do you know what that means?
Marc:Like to be intubated?
Marc:Look, I don't want to bring this up.
Marc:But I've got an image in my head that'll never go away.
Marc:On top of just the grief I'm experiencing now as I've discussed.
Marc:Yeah, I don't know how long this goes on for it, but it's different now.
Marc:I talked about it the other day.
Marc:I'm through the shock and trauma of my girlfriend, Lynn Shelton, dying suddenly, really.
Marc:And now there's just the loss.
Marc:The foundation of loss has been established in my heart.
Marc:But some of you know that when she did pass away, I was told...
Marc:that I could go down there.
Marc:I was told in the middle of the night by the doctor at the ICU that I could come down and spend some time with her.
Marc:Body.
Marc:Can't really hang out in hospitals anymore, but for some reason at that hour, it was not in COVID ICU.
Marc:He said, I can get you in.
Marc:And after some personal struggle, I decided to go down there and I went down there.
Marc:and she had passed, and I got there, and I walk in.
Marc:It was dark.
Marc:It was quiet, and she was there.
Marc:Her body was there, and they couldn't remove the tubes.
Marc:They had to leave all that stuff in, and she had been intubated, and it was devastating.
Marc:This is not just a mask.
Marc:You know, they run a tube down your throat and then someone has to keep an eye on that tube so you don't drown in your own phlegm.
Marc:This is horrible reality of what's going on for thousands and thousands of people in this country alone there in the hospital.
Marc:Thousands and thousands more
Marc:will happen.
Marc:And thousands and thousands and thousands were unnecessary.
Marc:Faulty leadership, morally bankrupt governance.
Marc:And I'm haunted by it.
Marc:I'm haunted by the fear of it.
Marc:I'm haunted by knowing what the reality of that is.
Marc:And Lynn didn't die of COVID.
Marc:But some of the symptoms that she had were similar to some of the things that happened with that.
Marc:in this sort of positive area of, uh, life right now, uh, there has been a, um, a grant was established in Lynn Shelton's name called the Lynn Shelton of a certain age grant.
Marc:It was established by, uh, the Northwest film forum, along with the, uh, Duplass brothers productions to, uh, to honor Lynn.
Marc:Um, and it's a $25,000, uh,
Marc:unrestricted cash grant that will be awarded each year to a U.S.-based woman or non-binary filmmaker age 39 or older who has yet to direct a narrative feature.
Marc:You can find out more about it if you are interested in it.
Marc:It's at the nwfilmforum.org.
Marc:It's the Lynn Shelton of a Certain Age grant.
Marc:A group of us are chipping in.
Marc:And I think it's a beautiful thing.
Marc:Because we live in a country where, not a country, a world, it's worse for women, but for a lot of people, they think that you get to a certain age and you're finished.
Marc:But actually, you get to a certain age and you should just be starting.
Marc:I mean, what the fuck do you really know?
Marc:When you're in your 20s, you're speculating, you're creating a fiction of a reality you think that exists emotionally.
Marc:I mean, you know, Lynn used to talk about that a lot, is that, you know, when you get older, you have some resource to draw from, emotional resource.
Marc:experience vision uh you know some of your time has run out so there's a an urgency and i think that's a beautiful uh thing that they that uh some of her friends came up with that idea and made it a reality that grant i think it'll help uh it'll help somebody realize their artistic dream what is your artistic dream does it matter what the fuck matters right
Marc:Wow, man, I got, you know, I mean, I'm going in and out of, you know, fear, anger, sadness.
Marc:for a lot of different reasons and it becomes difficult to compartmentalize.
Marc:I have to compartmentalize.
Marc:Are you able to compartmentalize?
Marc:Or like when you wake up, does your entire world fall to shit because of one fucking viral news story that enters your fucking brain, destroys everything in its path in terms of hope, faith, good feelings of any kind,
Marc:And then destroys all your visions of the future and then destroys your present by creating symptoms of panic and fucking pain.
Marc:And then goes down and infects your heart and makes that sort of tight, creates a tightness in your chest.
Marc:And then an inability to make yourself fucking breakfast.
Marc:How many breakfasts are being ruined by infectious news stories revealing the truth of what the fuck is going on right now?
Marc:How many breakfasts?
Marc:How many children are seeing a sad, wrenched face of a parent trying to look like everything's okay for them, but they just read that infectious news story
Marc:And it just ruined their face.
Marc:Can't tap into the heart.
Marc:Can't make the brain think positive thoughts.
Marc:Sadly serving pancakes.
Marc:God damn it.
Marc:So Chris Fairbanks, as I mentioned, his new special is Chris Fairbanks Rescue Cactus.
Marc:You can rent it or buy it at Chris Fairbanks Comedy Special dot com.
Marc:He also has a podcast.
Marc:Do you need a ride that he co-hosts with Karen Kilgariff?
Marc:And this is me and Chris Fairbanks coming up.
Yeah.
Marc:I've got a little six feet here.
Marc:I feel like I'm back.
Marc:I'm back far enough.
Marc:You've got the new plexiglass boundary, and it's not bothering me.
Marc:Yeah, yeah.
Marc:It does feel like I'm visiting you in prison a little.
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Guest:Have you heard back from the lawyer?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Well, that's what makes me nervous is a friend of mine who's a fireman, so they just test them at work, I guess.
Guest:He's also a skateboarder.
Guest:We've reached a point in the world where there's firemen that skateboard.
Guest:Sure.
Guest:But he had zero symptoms.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Totally.
Guest:And he had it.
Guest:Yeah, he had it.
Marc:Never had a fever, never had any... And why'd they just test him as regular precaution?
Marc:So how many of those people are walking around?
Marc:Who knows where anyone can get exposed to it?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:I've been a little sloppy, but I'm not at the beach.
Marc:I'm not going to bars.
Marc:I don't have that many friends.
Guest:Yeah, I don't think I'm being sloppy.
Guest:I get food brought to my house.
Guest:That's a way to get it, I guess.
Guest:But I don't go anywhere, man.
Marc:You live alone?
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:You all right?
Guest:Yeah, it is.
Guest:I talk to myself a lot.
Guest:I react to movies audibly.
Guest:I'm like, oh, she seems nice.
Guest:And I'm not, there's no one there.
Guest:I mean, there's just plants.
Marc:I know, dude.
Marc:Like, you know, I'm like trying to fight the impulse to talk to my dead girlfriend.
Marc:You know, it's pretty fresh.
Marc:And I've got some of her stuff around, you know, but if I start doing that now, that could be the rest of my life.
Guest:Uh, I talked, my mom passed a couple of years ago.
Guest:It was a long 10 year Alzheimer's thing, but I talked to her.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And I didn't feel crazy.
Guest:No.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And I'm not a person that prays or I've never been a spiritual person.
Guest:I'm not even raised that way.
Guest:And I,
Marc:I pray a little.
Guest:I don't think it's great.
Guest:Yeah, I do now, too.
Marc:I don't know what I'm praying to, but I got trained to pray when I got sober.
Marc:And, you know, I'm still not a God guy, really.
Marc:Sure.
Marc:But to do it, it kind of feels good to do it.
Marc:Do you know what I mean?
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Guest:I talk to someone.
Guest:Yeah, I call him Craig.
Guest:I don't know who I... But, yeah, I talk to someone, too.
Marc:Yeah?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:I don't know.
Marc:I guess I do it now because, like...
Marc:And I imagine it's the same reason anyone does it.
Marc:When you feel powerless over whatever and you don't know really what to do, just sort of like vocalize it or ask for help or guidance.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Even if it's from the air, at least the feelings are, they're in you and they're out.
Guest:Right.
Marc:Right?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And I feel like even if no one's listening, it's almost on the therapy level, at least I'm vocalizing it.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:My buddy believes that prayers, even if you don't believe, are there's such a deep groove in the in the global or, you know, the spirit realm for everybody that the act of it is ancient.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:So it connects you to that.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:That's fine with me, man.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:I don't want to get too mystical because I'm always just two websites away from believing QAnon.
Marc:So I can't.
Guest:I know.
Guest:I've always thought I am ripe.
Guest:I am exactly what a Scientologist, like the stress test.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I think that I could easily get swayed into any cult.
Guest:If someone's nice enough and what they say makes sense, I'll be like, yeah, sure.
Guest:Actually, you seem happy.
Guest:I like your shoes.
Marc:i like your purple nike so i'll go with you yeah uh yeah i'm a little worried that i'm i i have to uh yeah i'm not my i'm i i don't i'm not a searcher i don't find that i'm going on a quest for answers yeah uh but uh but you know mystical bullshit you know in my past i've i've i've been suckered by mystical bullshit yeah because you know why not
Marc:Yeah, I know.
Marc:And then, you know, all of a sudden you got no control of your brain anymore and you're in fucking trouble and you're hanging around people you don't really like or know.
Marc:Yeah, yeah.
Marc:And they're looking at you funny.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah, there's too much judgment in that.
Guest:Well, I had a dad that said nothing.
Guest:Yeah, you just die and that's it.
Guest:I'm like, oh, OK.
Marc:Is that what your old man said?
Guest:Yeah, but I don't think he really believes that anymore either.
Marc:He's around?
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Oh, yeah?
Guest:Yeah, I want to go see him.
Guest:Where'd you grow up?
Guest:Montana.
Marc:Like in a city or on a piece of land?
Guest:A little of both.
Guest:I mean, we were in the middle of a small piece of land.
Guest:Missoula is the River Runs Through It town.
Marc:Oh, yeah.
Marc:Right, yeah.
Marc:That's the movie, River Runs Through It.
Guest:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Marc:Well, who was in that movie?
Marc:What the fuck was that?
Guest:Brad Pitt.
Guest:Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
Guest:Tom Skerritt.
Guest:That's right.
Guest:That's right.
Guest:Some guy that looks like Josh Brolin but isn't.
Guest:You go to watch the movie.
Marc:Skeet Ulrich?
Marc:Was it Skeet Ulrich?
Marc:I don't know if it was Skeet.
Marc:Oh, no.
Marc:I know who you're talking about.
Marc:That was the brother, right?
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Marc:Yeah, yeah.
Marc:What happened to that guy?
Guest:I don't know.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:I seem to be getting that movie confused with the golf movie in my head.
Marc:Caddyshack?
Marc:No, Bagger Vance.
Marc:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Marc:I don't know why.
Marc:Is that a Montana movie?
Guest:I...
Guest:No.
Guest:Has the same tone.
Guest:If you had said Legends of the Fall, I would have been like, oh, yeah, everyone does that.
Guest:It's another Brad Pitt.
Marc:Yeah, yeah.
Marc:And that's sort of, yeah, Anthony Hopkins.
Marc:Sure.
Marc:Legends of the Fall, guilty pleasure.
Marc:Good movie.
Marc:Not a bad movie.
Marc:I like that movie.
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Marc:Yeah, I like that last shot where the older, more hairy Brad Pitt just gets into it with the bear, and that's how it went.
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Guest:Oh, God, I love a good bear fight.
Marc:Oh, man.
Marc:Human versus bear.
Marc:How about that revenant then?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:I think that's the best of all bear fights.
Guest:Yeah, it is.
Guest:No, that has to be the best bear fight.
Marc:Oh, my God.
Marc:I want to watch it right now.
Guest:And growing up in Montana, that was such a fear is being mauled by a bear.
Marc:Is that true?
Guest:Yeah, yeah, because it can happen.
Marc:So Missoula is a town of how many?
Guest:Sixty five.
Guest:I think it stays steady there.
Marc:So it's small.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And it'll get up to 80 when people are in school.
Guest:But it's a liberal arts college.
Marc:Which is the University of Montana?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:So like how many high schools?
Marc:Three.
Marc:That's it?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:So everyone kind of knew each other?
Marc:Sure.
Marc:How did your family get to Montana?
Marc:You come from Cowboys?
Marc:What is it?
Guest:My dad, yeah, they are from, my mom and dad are both from there, but I was born in Monterey.
Guest:My dad was a radio guy there.
Marc:Really?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Morning?
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Marc:Morning drive time?
Guest:I don't know.
Guest:I wish that he has these reel-to-reels.
Guest:Oh, you got to digitize that shit.
Guest:Yeah, I really want to.
Guest:Does he have a reel-to-reel player?
Guest:No.
Guest:We just take his word for it.
Marc:Huh.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:You could probably bring that somewhere.
Guest:I would.
Guest:I mean, every year my sister and I talk about it being the best gift ever, but he doesn't seem that interested in listening to it, but I certainly am.
Marc:Well, yeah.
Marc:Well, I would think of, yeah, I think you get to a certain point where like, think about you.
Marc:It's like if someone said, Hey, I've got your first appearance on TV or do you want to see it?
Marc:I don't know.
Guest:I don't want to see my appearance this year.
Guest:I have a special out and I haven't watched all of it.
Guest:I can't watch it.
Guest:there's parts i can watch but then i'll be i'll watch a joke i'm like yeah i know where this goes i can't watch my i don't i remember i remember the exact response that got on that night yeah yeah and i don't want to watch it i've gotten over the fact that i have a nasally muppet kind of voice like that doesn't bother me anymore but yeah some of my material is just the worst from the old days or the new stuff oh let's try to we gotta sell this record
Guest:Yeah, oh, but I left all that stuff out on Rescue Cactus.
Guest:Yeah, well, it was hard to, at the end of the special, I just tried to tell the, I think my last joke kind of fell flat, and I just was telling the audience about my mom and how she passed, and I got a little money and helped pay for this special, so I want to thank my mom.
Guest:I just went to say that.
Guest:But instead, I started crying.
Guest:And then I stifled it.
Guest:And I'm like, well, that was weird.
Marc:You did?
Marc:You felt it come up?
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Grief's fucked, isn't it?
Guest:Yeah, it hadn't come up like that.
Guest:Certainly not.
Guest:I could talk to another person.
Marc:How long ago did she die?
Guest:uh it's been two years yeah but it's like it just sneaks up on you yeah yeah and at the weirdest because one-on-one i'll talk about it yeah i'm a damn cowboy right and then once there was a i think after you go through a whole set of stand-up and you're pretending to have all these emotions it opens you up to actually being emotional maybe that's what happened
Marc:But yeah, but also by that point you developed a relationship with this audience.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:You know, you kind of know them.
Guest:And I liked them.
Marc:They were a great audience.
Guest:I trusted them.
Marc:That's what did it.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:There are people.
Marc:I mean, what are you going to do?
Marc:I mean, you know, one-on-one, I'm having a hard time with, you know, with the crying with strangers because I only have a few friends.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:But if anyone asks me about it, my neighbors, I'm just, they're like, how are you doing?
Marc:I'm like, I don't know.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And they just stand there.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And they take it because they're human and humans are, I think, built to take it.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:They don't really know what to do.
Marc:But, you know.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I can take it when someone's crying.
Guest:I think it's weird when there's someone that can't take it and they're a grown up and it's like, you can't be around someone crying.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Yeah, I just think people can be around them, but I don't know that they know.
Marc:They've just got to let you do it.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:You know what I mean?
Marc:I don't know if they think they're supposed to be like, oh, my God, are you okay?
Guest:Or are you going to be all right?
Guest:It makes people uncomfortable because they feel like they need to say the right thing in that moment.
Marc:But some people, most of them have just kind of stood there.
Marc:Sure.
Marc:And then I dismiss them.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:You know, they stand there.
Marc:I cry.
Marc:I'm like, all right, I've gotten what I need out of you.
Marc:Hit the bricks.
Marc:Thank you for helping me through this little chunk of grief.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:But, uh, so that part I, I haven't listened to though, of my sweat that it's hard for me to watch.
Guest:I didn't want to leave that in there.
Marc:You didn't leave it in.
Guest:I did leave it in, but you got choked up.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And I, I felt like, well, people are going to think this is a stunt or something.
Marc:Um, really?
Marc:I don't know.
Guest:Yeah, I'd have to be a really good actor to pull off that.
Marc:Yeah, there's a lot.
Marc:I mean, it seems like this is a difficult time to lose people, certainly.
Marc:I guess any time is difficult.
Marc:But the weird kind of even just to have conversations, you know, you walk up to my house, I put my mask on, you got your mask on.
Marc:I'm like...
Marc:All right.
Marc:Okay.
Marc:Let's go do the thing.
Guest:Yeah, Mark.
Guest:He has a plexiglass thing.
Guest:It's great.
Guest:I just got this.
Guest:Yeah, it's nice.
Guest:It's very professional.
Marc:This is as nice as at the bank.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:I mean, plexiglass, it's a booming business right now.
Marc:I don't know what it's ultimately going to do, but I think we're okay.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:I think it does provide something.
Guest:Oh, yeah.
Guest:As far as I know it, we're only supposed to worry about flying particles of spit, right?
Guest:Yeah, so we're good on that.
Marc:We're good.
Marc:All right, so Missoula, three high schools.
Marc:Your dad does what?
Marc:He was a radio guy.
Marc:Oh, that's where we were.
Marc:Okay, let's go back to that.
Marc:So you're going to be the guy who at some point is going to walk into a place with a box of reel-to-reel tapes and...
Marc:And say like, do you have a thing where we can make this another thing?
Marc:Can you put this on the computer?
Marc:In Missoula, Montana?
Guest:I'm sure they have someone that does that.
Guest:Out here, dude.
Guest:You got to bring them out here.
Marc:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Marc:You can do it out here if anything ever starts up again.
Marc:I definitely think you could do it here.
Guest:I'm going to drive up there to see my dad.
Guest:I think that's the safest way to do it, and I'll come back with those reels.
Guest:How many are there?
Guest:And take them to Lightning Dubs.
Guest:Where did I used to go to get VHS reels made?
Guest:Oh, Lightning Dubs.
Guest:Remember Lightning Dubs?
Marc:I do remember.
Marc:They were a booming business.
Marc:It was cheap, and you can get a bunch of fucking video cassettes.
Guest:Yeah, I'd go get a box.
Guest:Boxes.
Guest:Yeah, and send them to Rich Miller and try and get booked.
Guest:Fucking Rich Miller.
Marc:Can you get me into Acme?
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:oh god rich rich was was he ever mad at you uh i sometimes yeah you know you i missed morning radio once i think you never know when you're gonna cross a miller i think i was not a great thing i think i was banned but i see him now and uh or i was in portland and he just went there because he likes dana gould and he just went to watch dana gould night sure
Guest:That alone surprised me.
Guest:I'm like, oh, after all these years, you like a comic and want to watch a comic.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And he laughed so hard.
Guest:I just watched him watching Dana Gould because I actually hadn't seen Dana do stand up live before his old material.
Guest:And, you know, when am I ever on a show with him?
Marc:Yeah, no, he's a good one to watch.
Marc:It's like watching the history of modern comedy.
Marc:When you watch Dana Gould, he can do everything.
Marc:Sings, dance, mimics.
Marc:He's a full-on guy.
Marc:He does a mic toss to punctuate a statement.
Marc:He's great.
Marc:He's really a unique person.
Marc:I like knowing that Rich Miller goes out of his way to watch Dana Gould.
Guest:He's like, he's my favorite comic.
Guest:That's why.
Marc:That's fucking great.
Guest:Maybe he had other business in Portland.
Guest:I think he has something to do with helium, but it was fun to watch him.
Marc:Yeah, he's one of those guys where he shows up, it's like, do you do a thing?
Marc:He's got a little piece of everything.
Marc:I don't know.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:So your dad was a jock, a morning radio jock.
Marc:Yeah, yeah.
Marc:Funny guy?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:He's very funny.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And he's an artist as well.
Guest:He's a painter.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I feel like my whole life I've kind of tried to be him.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:And in retrospect, that's a good choice.
Guest:But nice guy.
Guest:He is a nice guy.
Guest:A morally sound guy without the religion.
Guest:Did he have a job?
Guest:Yeah, that was the thing.
Guest:I think he had kids and he was doing radio and making furniture and painting.
Guest:Makes furniture too?
Guest:Reupholstering.
Guest:Yeah, I have some of his pieces in my house, like redwood burls that are sliced.
Marc:For the table?
Guest:Yeah, they're nice.
Guest:People are always admiring my furniture that my dad made in the 60s.
Guest:In the 60s he made it?
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Guest:Or maybe it was 70s.
Guest:But then once he had kids and it was hard to be an artist for a living, he moved back to Montana and got a government job appraising properties.
Guest:Oh, yeah.
Marc:Got him outside.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:He still does it sometimes.
Marc:What's your what's your mom do?
Guest:She was she worked for the city sewer billing.
Guest:That sounds like a made up job.
Guest:But you you know, there's someone that that gauges how much you owe for your sewer usage.
Marc:And that was your mom's gig.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And there's some people that aren't hooked up to sewer and they got a septic tank or they burn it.
Guest:There was a lady.
Guest:She was called the witch lady.
Guest:I remember her house was this.
Guest:This is a real person.
Guest:Her house was spray painted and she used to ride around town on a bicycle all in all black with a black veil.
Marc:Oh, my God.
Guest:And there was all these stories that, you know, children would get their fingers hit with a hammer.
Guest:Of course.
Guest:But she wasn't, my mom was kind of friends with her through this sewer billing.
Guest:She would show up and say, I got billed for the sewer and I put my excrement in the fireplace and burn it.
Guest:So, you know, I'm not hooked up to the sewer.
Guest:And my mom with her straight face would be like, oh, we'll just take this bill.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:The fireplace, huh?
Marc:Do you do it every time you do it, or do you wait?
Guest:Yeah, did she leave it outside until there was enough to burn?
Guest:Yeah, yeah, and then it lights up easier.
Marc:Yeah, I don't know.
Guest:Yeah, it's hard.
Guest:I don't know if she chewed her brain about it, but she did consider her a friend.
Marc:There was a woman who lived in my old building in Queens who used to walk around in a black veil and outfit, and she eventually jumped out the window.
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Guest:This one seems a little different type of... I don't know what ended up happening to her.
Guest:I do know that it was a one-story house.
Marc:Oh, that wouldn't have happened.
Marc:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Guest:She'd have to come up with another way.
Marc:She was the scary lady, though.
Marc:Everyone knew her as the scary lady.
Guest:You would see her riding around as a child.
Guest:It was so very vivid.
Marc:But generally in the after school specials, those ladies turn out to be nice and have something to offer.
Guest:Exactly.
Guest:If you're writing a script about her, she she brings insight.
Marc:And yeah, nice lady.
Marc:So your mother, this wasn't her dream job.
Marc:It was just what she did.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And how many siblings you got?
Guest:I have one older sister.
Guest:How's she doing?
Guest:She's doing great.
Marc:Yeah?
Guest:Is she in Montana?
Guest:She's in Spokane, Washington.
Marc:Were you guys close to Spokane?
Guest:Yeah, it's like three and a half hours away from Missoula.
Marc:Because I didn't know what to expect when I went up there, but it's like you want that city to do well because it's so cute.
Marc:There's that old mill building and there's the water going through it.
Guest:Yeah, Riverfront Park is beautiful.
Marc:Yeah, it's so beautiful.
Marc:But there is a darkness to it.
Marc:It's a combination of meth darkness and Nazis not too far away.
Guest:Yeah, there's Nazis lingering.
Guest:Hayden Lake, that panhandle of Idaho, there's a lot of hate there.
Guest:They have their little parades.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And I, you know, I just didn't like because there was part of me thought like, well, this is close to Seattle.
Marc:People are probably going to really build this up someday.
Marc:And I don't know.
Marc:I don't know if that's going to happen.
Guest:No.
Marc:But I enjoyed the club.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I haven't been there yet.
Marc:Oh, you haven't?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:I would have thought you would have went there.
Guest:Yeah, I know.
Guest:One would.
Guest:Why?
Marc:What's why?
Marc:No one's doing nothing now.
Guest:Yeah, yeah, I know.
Guest:It's funny.
Guest:I just had gotten a guy that was going to help me do just small theaters and stuff.
Guest:He does a lot of bands.
Guest:And then this happened.
Marc:And it's like, well, I guess we're going to cancel this.
Marc:Our entire life.
Marc:But Spokane, so what'd she do there?
Guest:She moved there to be a news person, an on-air news person.
Guest:She did, like, journalism.
Guest:What'd she say about the joint?
Marc:She married over there?
Guest:Yeah, and that's how I know about the darkness.
Guest:It's her husband's a fireman, so he's constantly a first responder to the dark side of Spokane.
Marc:Really?
Marc:Like the meth side?
Guest:Yeah, sure.
Marc:Ah, yeah.
Marc:So he's got the stories.
Guest:Yeah, so I've heard those stories.
Marc:Like lab fires and that kind of shit?
Guest:Sure, sure.
Guest:Just lots of birds.
Guest:I did a t-shirt design because I do illustration on the side.
Guest:And it was an illustration of whatever division he was in.
Guest:That station was called The Zone.
Guest:So it was a drawing of trailers and fires and fires.
Guest:hollowed out Camaros with plants growing out of the hood.
Guest:Oh my God.
Guest:A baby next to a syringe.
Guest:It was a very detailed, it was for the department.
Guest:And did they wear them?
Guest:Oh, sure.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:Just around the station, I think.
Guest:Not out at the events and stuff?
Guest:It might offend people at events.
Guest:Like, yeah.
Guest:Ribbon cutting mayoral ceremony.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Did you go to college in Montana?
Guest:I did.
Marc:Oh, so you went through high school and then you did the whole state school thing?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And stayed in my dad's basement and did four years and then your folks were split up.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Oh, you had to deal with that.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:But, you know, that was when did that happen?
Guest:I was like 14.
Guest:Oh, yeah.
Marc:That's like you're conscious and you're aware and.
Guest:But I pretty quickly thought it was a good decision for them to not be together.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I think I figured that out pretty early.
Marc:This wasn't working out.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I get it.
Guest:You both seem happy now.
Guest:But yeah, I live with my mom.
Guest:And then once...
Guest:And college happened.
Guest:I lived with my dad.
Marc:Moved you in the basement?
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Marc:So you guys were working on art projects together and shit?
Guest:We did, yeah.
Guest:Because the art side of school, I was painting and drawing.
Guest:I was an art major.
Guest:Oh, really?
Guest:That would be kind of demanding.
Guest:Hourly, they wanted you to spend a lot of time in the studio painting.
Guest:And then I had the rest of my credits, which were just...
Guest:math and things like that crippled me I can't I never could handle it it was really hard for me so there were a few times and I shouldn't even admit this but my dad would paint something and I'd turn it in wow is this the first time he admitted that publicly and that is the only dishonest thing he was ever involved with he's like we paint the same I taught you how to paint it's kind of like an extension of you painting yeah you're part of me you're like my brush
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Well, I mean, he would always bring up that, you know, there's guys like Picasso who would have a, you know, a team of guys that would paint like on a conveyor belt.
Guest:And then he'd look at it and he's like, yeah, I like that.
Guest:And he'd sign it like he didn't actually firsthand.
Marc:Sure.
Marc:So this.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:But he was also making millions of dollars.
Guest:right right i understand it's a good rationalization well yeah so then if i was making money it would have been okay you know no i i get it no but but you were doing your thing you just had to be similar to your day maybe he wasn't involved with the scandal i i did i needed to turn in six paintings i had like four done and i and you just did it you just i i painted on top of one of my dad's paintings and painted over 1978 the year he was in art school
Guest:And I think they saw through it.
Guest:Did they?
Guest:Why?
Guest:Yeah, it was reflected in my grade.
Guest:Oh, really?
Guest:Bad?
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Guest:That was the only time I got a bad grade in current school.
Marc:Well, I mean, yeah, if it was an old painting, you could tell from the surface, I would think that...
Marc:Right.
Guest:Well, oftentimes you reuse a canvas, you re-gesso it, and then from the back it would look like a canvas.
Marc:Was this figurative, abstract, realist?
Marc:What was your trip?
Guest:Oh, yeah.
Guest:I don't brush stroke-y realism, like close up maybe kind of abstract, but then you get further back.
Marc:Oh, right, right.
Guest:Kind of impressionistic-ish.
Marc:Sure.
Guest:I think those are the best guys.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Where it's just like you just when you look close, you're like, oh, my God, far away.
Marc:It looks like a house.
Guest:That's always what I wanted.
Marc:Now, of course, it's smudgy.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Exactly.
Marc:And were you were you good at it?
Guest:I don't know how good... I'm a good illustrator.
Guest:I do a lot of art for people.
Marc:Like comic stuff?
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Guest:I got more comfortable with close-up work.
Marc:Do you have any heroes of illustration?
Guest:Not necessarily of illustration.
Marc:Because I know guys who do that, they're like, that guy's great at lines, you know.
Marc:It's got a good line.
Marc:Yeah, yeah.
Marc:Kevin Christie's like, he's got a great line.
Guest:Yeah, he's a good artist.
Guest:Dave Clock, I'm sure they all have guys that they look up to.
Guest:And I oddly have kind of a comic book style with my illustration.
Guest:I've never owned a comic book.
Guest:I don't really.
Marc:Really?
Guest:Yeah, it's weird that I never got into that.
Guest:world comic books i've never had a comic book no i i got into them late not not young well what what was your thing music uh i was mostly skateboarding i thought that you're can you do like the pools and stuff
Guest:I got my hip replaced like three years ago now.
Guest:From a childhood injury or a new injury?
Guest:Just a gift from God.
Guest:The doctor said, you don't have cartilage.
Guest:That's why you scream when you walk and you're drinking a lot of whiskey.
Guest:It maybe even hurt back when I first met you, like in 03, and we'd go to that dirty Ramada basement.
Guest:Oh, my God.
Guest:That's when I first met you.
Guest:Paul Hughes' gig.
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Guest:And oh boy, they sent me to that.
Guest:Did you ever do the palms?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I ate it.
Marc:With Court and Paul?
Guest:Yeah, I really, I've never done that poorly as a comedian.
Guest:It's the worst.
Guest:I did very bad.
Marc:Yeah, I mean, I was so embarrassed in a way.
Marc:That was such a hard time for me.
Marc:yeah yeah you know because i'm coming in you know to this town you know knowing that like i've been at it a long time right but i want to establish myself at these alt venues because that's what people were doing yep and then you know like my wife at the time or i wasn't married to you yet you remember me yes i do this is right when i'm we moved to la at the same time that's 2002 uh three is when i oh okay yeah
Marc:You know, and I just like I had to dig in and figure out how to, you know, get, you know, into it, you know, coming, you know, and I'd already been at it in New York for years.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:TV credits and everything.
Marc:But it didn't make a difference.
Marc:And at that time, these alt rooms are so important.
Marc:I go to that Ramada.
Marc:It was the worst fucking place ever.
Marc:To do comedy.
Marc:Yeah, it really was.
Guest:It was haunted with no laughs.
Marc:It was because there was no audience.
Marc:It would just be comics and then you'd get people from the hotel to come down.
Marc:Against their will.
Marc:But oddly, I generated material there.
Marc:I don't know how.
Guest:I feel that way too.
Guest:I look back on it now as a place where it was pivotal in me adjusting to Los Angeles.
Guest:But you were always there.
Guest:and uh and i knew you because i remembered you had like a the shirt you wore on some oh like a pearl snap cowboy shirt yeah yeah yeah yeah it's like oh yeah he's the guy had the cool shirt yeah on on cars something yeah i don't know
Marc:I wouldn't have worn it on Letterman, but I did wear it on my HBO special.
Marc:I wore a black cowboy pearl button shirt.
Marc:Yeah, I used to wear those shirts.
Marc:Me too.
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Guest:And the last time, I haven't seen you for a while, but we both were doing denim on denim, denim shirt.
Marc:That's right.
Marc:You did the Canadian tuxedo.
Marc:That's right.
Marc:I saw a picture of you like that.
Marc:I did that.
Marc:Sure.
Marc:Sure.
Marc:So that was when we met.
Marc:So, okay.
Marc:So you graduate college with your painting degree?
Guest:yeah and immediately moved uh to austin to follow a girlfriend i thought i thought you always associated you with texas why is that it because that's where comedy wise i started and so i always said when i moved here i'm like i'm from austin because we're talking about comedy right now if you want to talk about me as a human i'm from montana
Guest:you know what i mean sure so you moved to austin with for the girl yeah and and how'd that pan out uh she married bill hader uh they were they but i think that they they're done now yeah yeah it's a shame so she has kids with hader and yeah they got divorced and she's a talented you know uh director filmmaker oh really yeah how'd she meet bill hader
Marc:He's not from Texas, is he?
Guest:No, that was when we first moved to L.A., we were kind of amicably splitting up and flipping coins for the bed and splitting up things.
Guest:Oh, wow.
Guest:And then they started dating and I thought he was a nice guy.
Guest:You signed off on it?
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Guest:I wish all breakups could be like that.
Marc:I think he is a nice guy, and he's a funny guy.
Marc:They had two kids, I think, right?
Marc:Or maybe one, I don't know.
Marc:Three.
Marc:Three kids that knocked him out.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Are you friends with her still?
Guest:uh i talked to when i heard of their split we we i was in boise where she's from so i was like hey here's your old high school like we uh being funny yeah helping out yeah i'm always good for a laugh yeah that's about it yeah what's up remember me yeah yeah you want to cry i'll stand here but that's about it so you go to austin and who's on the scene what year is that
Guest:That was, I moved there in 99.
Guest:Maggie and I were in an improv group.
Guest:In Austin.
Guest:And we ended up going to some improv festival there.
Guest:And around that time, she got into UT for film school stuff.
Guest:And so I went, I followed her there.
Guest:And then accidentally started going to open mics.
Guest:It wasn't necessarily my plan.
Marc:How do you accidentally...
Guest:I mean, one day realized I wanted to.
Guest:That wasn't my reason for moving.
Marc:Oh, OK.
Marc:OK.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:I thought I was going to do improv comedy there.
Marc:OK.
Guest:And then quickly preferred stand up.
Marc:Who was who was on the scene?
Guest:When I moved there, there was a lot of like, that guy was good.
Guest:He's a painter now.
Guest:That guy is named Tater Salad.
Guest:Ron White hadn't had his resurgence yet when I moved there.
Guest:He was hanging out in a straw hat.
Marc:Oh, so they called him Tater Salad?
Marc:Yeah, yeah.
Marc:The old name still stuck?
Marc:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Marc:That's hilarious.
Marc:He hadn't really had his resurgence.
Guest:Right.
Guest:That came with whatever...
Guest:wb blue collar who else was t-shon there too i just i would go to houston to watch the shannon christmas show so i that's how i used to do that right uh no just the shannon brother like charlie shannon and t-shon and what happened at t-shon man
Guest:He's around.
Guest:When I was working for this network, Fuel TV, he was always obsessed with bears.
Guest:There was the masturbating bear.
Guest:We did a skateboarding bear sketch together, and I went downtown to that hot house.
Marc:Didn't Conan have a masturbating bear?
Guest:Yes, I think he was responsible for that bear.
Marc:Yeah, because he wrote on Conan briefly.
Guest:Yeah, and then there's bears doing things on Saturday Night Live.
Guest:Anything bear-based.
Guest:It's Tishon?
Guest:It's Tishon, yeah.
Marc:And I don't know where he's been.
Marc:I've not heard of him in a long time.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:So you're in Austin, 99, starting open mics, and you're going to Houston occasionally?
Marc:Yeah, I do.
Marc:Who are your guys there?
Marc:Who are the people starting out in Austin that I would know?
Guest:Yeah, I mean, Howard Kramer and Chip Pope had already left, but they were like a duo and they would come and perform together.
Marc:Well, they were on, weren't they on some sort of weird MTV show?
Guest:Austin Stories, yeah, yeah.
Marc:And so what was that woman's name?
Marc:Lorehouse.
Marc:Lorehouse, yeah, yeah, right.
Guest:Yeah, those were, and those were the people I knew that had made it out of Austin.
Guest:Right.
Guest:But they would come and visit, but they were already gone when I'd moved there.
Marc:Do you know Matt Bearden?
Guest:i'm bearden's a very good friend of mine yeah he's a good guy yeah he's a great radio guy he keeps getting better and better yeah the like terrestrial radio in texas is still well you got more if you got drive time show you can still hang in there could people want to know what's going on on the road totally yeah and those guys once bearden got added to bob and dudley it got lighter and more fun i i enjoy doing that radio show
Marc:There's a couple of good crews I like doing radio with.
Marc:I kind of remember them, but there's some people that when I'm in certain cities, I'll go do them.
Marc:I like morning radio.
Marc:I do too.
Marc:I used to host morning radio.
Marc:If you're in with a good bunch and they're jamming, it's great.
Marc:It's really fun.
Guest:It always brought me anxiety when they were like, okay, what does he say to cue the five jokes you're going to tell?
Marc:I'm like, can we not do that?
Marc:Where you're sitting there waiting, and they're like, can you give him five things to set you up for?
Marc:I don't mind doing it, and sometimes it's better.
Marc:In some ways, if that's the way they're going to work and they're just going to throw it to me and I'm just going to kill, great.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:It's not as fun as getting into a groove with people that know how to talk.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:But in terms of delivering the goods to maybe sell a ticket or two.
Marc:Yeah, I guess.
Guest:You know what I mean?
Guest:It serves its purpose, especially when you're on for five, 10 minutes.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:It's like, how do I land this?
Marc:All you're trying to do is sell 10 tickets.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:But sometimes if you really fucking kill, people will come.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I mean, there was one there was one week where I was working with Paul Tompkins in Austin and we took a poll every night.
Marc:How was that?
Guest:It came because of the radio and not one hand.
Marc:Not one hand.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:How many people were coming?
Marc:Generally speaking.
Guest:Yeah, maybe that was the issue.
Guest:Yeah, maybe there's a reason Paul doesn't do stand-up anymore.
Guest:I don't.
Guest:Did he stop?
Guest:I just, every time I see him.
Marc:I feel like you did, yeah.
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Guest:He does things at Largo and like radio hours.
Marc:He's an empresario of some kind.
Guest:Yes, yes.
Guest:So.
Guest:I love hearing a word and then pretending.
Guest:I know what it means.
Guest:That's what I just did.
Guest:But I want this to be honest.
Marc:I want- It wasn't an episode.
Marc:I might have fucking- No, no.
Guest:Hey, that's not what I was doing.
Marc:No, no.
Marc:I know.
Marc:But I'm like, you like to do what you just did, but sometimes I use words I don't know what they mean, and I use them wrong.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:It's crazy in my 40s to find out I've been using a word incorrectly my whole life.
Marc:A person who organizes and often finances concert plays or operas.
Marc:A manager of a musical, theatrical, or operatic company.
Guest:Man, you nailed the use of that word.
Guest:Kind of.
Guest:He seems like that.
Guest:Oftentimes at Largo in Los Angeles.
Guest:It's just part of it.
Marc:God damn it.
Marc:So, boy, it doesn't sound like the relationship went sour.
Marc:So you stayed out there for, what, two years?
No.
Marc:uh yeah uh uh until she graduated 99 to 04 yeah 03 sorry yeah and then and then you're like we're doing it yeah we're going to LA and you're gonna leave me I came here really I felt like maybe we did both know that was happening oh really yeah I mean I haven't asked her that but was she uh already seen talking to him
Guest:No, no.
Guest:I don't think there is ever any overlap.
Guest:Or if there was, I don't know that I care.
Marc:No, you don't want to.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Don't go digging.
Guest:I just know that when we split everything up, oftentimes we would wear the same shirts.
Guest:She was roughly my height.
Guest:And I do remember they were at a party and he was wearing one of my shirts.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:That was the only time that one of the shirts that was hers that I used to wear and he was wearing it.
Guest:That was the only time where it's like, hey, I used to wear that shirt.
Marc:And that was that was the tone and feeling you had.
Marc:I have I find that hard to believe.
Marc:I have to assume that this made you fucking just eat your guts out for a little while.
Guest:No.
Guest:Do you get angry?
Guest:I feel like, yeah, I'm riddled with anger.
Guest:Yeah, but it didn't surface then.
Guest:But you have a Midwestern cap on it, do you?
Guest:I'm lousy with anger.
Guest:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Guest:I keep it capped.
Guest:Yeah, but it's there.
Guest:It's always there.
Marc:I try to- Just destroying your insides?
Guest:You just keep it- Yeah, I let it percolate and shift around and bubble.
Guest:Good, good.
Marc:Well, I guess, like, you know, stylistically, I can kind of feel it in the quirkiness of
Marc:yeah then i'm asking something that kind of the quick pace like just right underneath it is just a shit show of fucking fury yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah it's it's always sitting there but i really keep an eye on it oh yeah yeah to not do it yeah oh good upset so what happens out here you were we're doing the fucking ramada so where'd you end up
Guest:Uh, yeah, I immediately, I went.
Marc:Because you were in a crew, you had guys, you had friends, you were running with some folks.
Guest:Uh, not really, not, not really.
Guest:Yeah, I was, I was, uh, on the road featuring, I think I was working with Tig, that's what it was.
Guest:When we were splitting up, I was working with Tig.
Guest:We were like co-headlining somewhere.
Guest:You and Tig.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And I said, I'm going through a breakup.
Guest:She said, I'm moving out of a place.
Guest:And she said, I'm having fun with you this week.
Guest:Let's live together.
Guest:And I lived with Tig for like seven years.
Guest:Really?
Yeah.
Guest:We were almost recognized by the state.
Guest:I think we could have gotten like a tax.
Marc:I don't know that California does that.
Marc:I remember this now.
Marc:I remember it now.
Marc:I remember that was the thing.
Marc:Yeah.
Yeah.
Marc:I remember she featured for me in Tampa.
Marc:And we dressed the same.
Marc:That was always our joke.
Marc:It's like we kind of wear the same clothing.
Marc:That's funny.
Guest:I was going to come with the joke that you and I dress the same.
Guest:Well, maybe it's all three of us.
Guest:And I have a lot of TIG sweaters.
Guest:Yeah, see?
Guest:Every time I wear a cardigan with an animal on it, people are like, nice TIG sweater.
Guest:And I'm like, this is my sweater.
Guest:See?
Marc:I don't wear cardigans, but it's the bell bottoms, I think, was what started it and the shoes we wear.
Marc:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Marc:But I always describe her as somebody who has her own time zone.
Marc:There's always these pauses and beats where you're like, am I connecting?
Marc:Are we having a conversation?
Guest:And I learned from her and someone like Todd Berry uses pauses comedically.
Guest:I always felt like I need to just keep talking.
Marc:Fill that air.
Guest:Yeah, with manic quirkiness.
Guest:She has...
Guest:Fill the air, mask the anger, and keep talking.
Guest:But I learned from her that you can just be silent and off of the awkwardness of that moment.
Guest:Other people are laughing.
Guest:I saw her do it.
Marc:She's a master of it.
Marc:It seemed to be her life's work was to drag that pause out as long as she could.
Guest:And I've learned from it.
Guest:I occasionally resort to that now.
Guest:I never would have.
Marc:That chair bit is just an experiment in pauses.
Guest:Oh, yeah, yeah, totally.
Guest:That's some, yeah.
Marc:The famous chair bit.
Guest:Yeah, it's like Buster Keatney.
Marc:Yeah, no, no, she's great.
Marc:And, you know, she seems good.
Marc:How many kids they got now?
Guest:She is doing great, yeah.
Guest:How many kids?
Guest:Two little guys, yeah.
Marc:Did you open for her?
Marc:So you opened for her a period of time?
Marc:Or how did that work?
Marc:Or you just were friends and you moved in?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Just that one week, we had so much fun laughing and being ridiculous together that we were like, yeah, I could live with this person.
Marc:Down by the beach somewhere?
Marc:Where was it?
Marc:Venice?
Guest:Yeah, I was in Venice for 16 years.
Guest:I just moved to Echo Park.
Guest:I feel like I'm part of the city now.
Marc:You were in Venice for 16 years?
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:Were you friends with Zach?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I did see that.
Guest:Did you ever, when you were in recovery and talking about you were eating a lot of candy and stuff, were you also, did you have a nicotine thing?
Guest:Were you chewing?
Guest:Okay, so you and me and Zach are the only people that are privately, I still dabble.
Marc:Oh, I got off of them, man.
Marc:I had the lozenges.
Guest:Well, I do these nicotine pouches now with no... They're white, so for some reason that makes it think I'm being healthy.
Marc:There's no tobacco in them.
Marc:Oh, really?
Marc:Well, that's why I was on the candy.
Marc:Yeah, I loved it.
Marc:But he dipped.
Guest:I saw him recently, or it was...
Guest:i was going to like he's a pro dipper i we i saw him he had his kids in a double stroller yeah and he had a big fucking dude and we pulled out we had both had some mint grizzly or some can of disgusting grizzly i yeah the cheap stuff yeah like you could get the best you could get top of the line copenhagen man pay the extra four bucks
Marc:Copenhagen's strong.
Guest:Yeah, and then he saw me walk into a Bar Method studio.
Guest:After I got my hip fixed, I started going to Bar Method, and I was the only dude, so I just wouldn't make eye contact.
Guest:But the little leg squats, and it was exactly what I needed.
Guest:It helped.
Guest:Oh, yeah.
Guest:That's what the doctor told you to do?
Guest:The doctor told me to go to some- Physical therapy?
Guest:Elizabeth Taylor Aquatic Center and swim around with these old people.
Guest:And right away, I was like, this isn't for me.
Guest:And I was going to physical therapy.
Guest:But I was seeing a girl that did bar method, and she said, you have to go to this class.
Guest:Everything you're doing, you can do it in a class, so you're not- And that was it?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And he saw me go in there.
Guest:He's like, have fun and-
Guest:Your ballet class.
Guest:And everyone's like, is that that guy from the movie?
Guest:I'm like, no, it's just some guy that chews.
Marc:It's just some tobacco chewer.
Marc:But he chews like he grew up chewing.
Marc:You grew up chewing?
Guest:Yeah, he's like from North Carolina.
Guest:I grew up around it, and it's one of those things where it's like, oh, that's for rednecks.
Guest:I would never do that.
Guest:And then at some point, almost as a joke, I put it in my mouth.
Marc:It's the best thing ever.
Guest:Or it's how I got a lot of comics in Austin.
Guest:I guess because of Bill Hicks.
Guest:They all smoke.
Guest:And I started smoking a lot.
Guest:And that's how I got off cigarettes.
Marc:Dipping.
Guest:Dipping.
Guest:And then I get off.
Marc:I went off and on the nicotine in all different forms for so long.
Marc:And I did the snooze for a long time.
Marc:And I used to get it from Sweden.
Guest:That's up the nose, right?
Marc:No.
Guest:No, that's pouch.
Marc:It's a pouch, but it's your upper lip.
Marc:And there's this idea that it doesn't hurt you.
Marc:It's like, what are you out of your fucking mind?
Guest:They're almost identical lips.
Marc:Yeah, because it was Swedish.
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Marc:And it had weird names.
Marc:And I was so in.
Marc:I was so addicted.
Marc:And I get really strong shit.
Marc:And I go to sleep with it in my mouth.
Marc:Oh, God.
Marc:And then when I got on the lozenges, I'd gone through cigars.
Marc:I just never went back to cigarettes.
Marc:I never went back to cigarettes after I quit them in 99 or whatever.
Guest:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Marc:Maybe I had one or two cigarettes, one with Keith Richards and one when my divorce went through.
Guest:Yeah, if Keith Richards hands you a cigarette, you smoke it.
Marc:But I knew I wasn't going to start again because I had the lozenges.
Marc:But I got off of those August.
Marc:I've been nicotine free since fucking August.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:But Bargetsy, he fucking dips.
Marc:yeah yeah he was the other he was the other and like you know he would i he he he would do like four or six of those skull pouches the skull extras yeah and i remember he gave me like oh he gave me a 10 like he opened for me at carnegie hall did i say i always his name up it's bargetsy right yeah i bargot see i yeah i'm such an idiot because it comes and goes but uh he's a good friend of mine
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Guest:So then when did he ever say his last name?
Marc:Yeah, I know.
Marc:Bargatze.
Marc:But I used to fuck it up.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:But Carnegie Hall, he opened for me.
Marc:And then afterwards, I was like, yeah.
Marc:Because I want to stay away from it because I didn't want to get involved with it because it's no good.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:It's no good.
Guest:Yeah, of course not.
Marc:But it's so great.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And after Carnegie Hall, he gave me a fucking pouch and he just gave me the tin.
Marc:And I'm like, oh, shit.
Marc:This is the best.
Marc:This is better than the show.
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Guest:Little reward.
Guest:That's why I don't know if it's that I have an addictive personality or that I just like little rewards.
Guest:Like I remember.
Marc:But I love being on that shit.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:I mean, yeah, the reward's one thing, but eventually you're just doing it all the time.
Guest:You have no vices now, right?
Marc:No, but I work him in somehow.
Marc:No, I don't do anything.
Marc:But, like, I wasn't drinking coffee.
Marc:I was drinking tea for a while.
Marc:And now I'm just fucking jacking the car.
Marc:Because now when she passed away and, you know, and now, like, you know, what am I doing?
Marc:You know, at least I'm, you know, you know, we had a good thing going.
Marc:And at least I was having sex and stuff.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Now it's like I got nothing going on.
Marc:I'm quarantined.
Marc:So I'm like, oh, yeah.
Marc:And every once in a while I get that feeling like I need to.
Marc:What can I just make another cup of coffee until I'm fucking nauseous?
Guest:On a much less traumatic level.
Guest:I was seeing someone that I loved and she disappeared at the beginning of quarantine.
Guest:She's just like, this isn't working.
Guest:So same thing.
Guest:It's like, well, now what do I?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And I find I am impressed.
Guest:I thought I wouldn't be able to handle it, but I'm kind of having fun.
Guest:I think this whole the fact that nothing is expected.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:Of me.
Guest:Oh, it's great.
Marc:And also, no one else is doing anything.
Guest:Right.
Guest:I didn't realize how competitive or how I was always looking.
Guest:I'm like, look what that guy has.
Guest:Oh, yeah.
Guest:Now that I'm watching Stephen Colbert in a messy kitchen doing his TV show with a confused look on his face, it's like...
Guest:Oh, we're all... It's the even playing field.
Guest:Exactly.
Guest:It's shit for everyone.
Guest:This is great.
Marc:Yeah, it's great.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Finally relaxed.
Guest:I don't know.
Guest:I think it may be unhealthy that that brings me comfort.
Marc:No, I've been... I talked about that right at the beginning.
Marc:I'm like, there's none of that.
Marc:Like, hey, that guy...
Marc:Nope.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Not doing anything either, really.
Marc:And it's relaxing because we're whether you're actively competitive or not.
Marc:It's hard not to judge yourself in relation to other people.
Marc:And now that we're all on the same page.
Marc:I mean, it's not like, you know, we're still going to go if we ever get to go back to our lives.
Marc:That's going to look the same.
Marc:But we minds will enjoy the reprieve.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Of that.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I'm enjoying it.
Guest:Yeah.
Yeah.
Guest:And I've gotten into other things.
Guest:I'm making dollhouses and drawing.
Guest:I'm into miniatures.
Guest:I don't play with dolls, but I've always wanted to make Wallace and Gromit Little Worlds.
Marc:Okay.
Marc:So how do you differentiate between playing with dolls and making walls?
Guest:I call it miniature houses.
Guest:Okay.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I leave the word doll out of most of my conversations.
Guest:I realized when I brought this up, I said doll houses straight with ease.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:But I meant to say I've been getting into miniatures.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:So I'm like a craftsman and then I'm like a train guy.
Guest:What does that entail?
Guest:Do you order stuff online?
Guest:Do you have the paints?
Guest:I did do a little painting.
Guest:It's the furniture is just like little Ikea furniture or more confusing.
Guest:There's no text.
Guest:I had to look online, you know, YouTube videos of 15 year olds putting together this stuff, but you distress it and it's tiny woodworking.
Guest:Then I had to make all these little books for the shelves and
Guest:Do you make them from a kit?
Guest:It is a kit, and some of it was easy to make.
Guest:But then there's a little chandelier with these tiny wires, and you have to wire this lamp through.
Guest:Yeah, it was a lot of work.
Guest:Are you in that world now?
Guest:I think once you're in, you can't get out.
Guest:I'm looking at my next dollhouse, miniature house.
Guest:I think I might go greenhouse.
Guest:You're going to make a greenhouse?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Huh.
Guest:Well, there's different areas of my apartment.
Guest:I put the bookstore on the bookshelf.
Guest:I thought that was fitting, and now I have my plants that I talk to because I don't have pets, and I think I'll put a little greenhouse next to them.
Guest:And then I did this weird thing in my apartment where I put up wallpaper of a snowy mountain in my bedroom.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And after I did that, I'm like, well, I have to make my bedroom look like a cabin, so I have lanterns and snowshoes.
Guest:Really?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah, everyone thought I was being a weirdo.
Guest:But right when I finished it, we're in lock-in and no one can go outside.
Guest:And it's like, well, who's laughing now?
Guest:I wake up and look at a snowy mountain every day.
Guest:It's virtual outdoorsy.
Marc:So this is the world you're living in?
Marc:Yeah, yeah.
Marc:And you're going to do a greenhouse miniature next?
Guest:Well, I have a tropical living room.
Guest:I got there.
Guest:It's like these wall mural, like photo murals.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And it's like palm trees in my.
Marc:Oh, in the living room.
Marc:So that's where you can do the miniature.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:That's the next project.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And as your third one.
Guest:No, I don't.
Guest:It'll be my second.
Marc:The second one.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:After the bookstore.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:OK.
Guest:Now.
Guest:And eventually I want to make a little clay guy and do some stop motion animation.
Guest:I've always wanted to get into that.
Guest:Well, that seems easy.
Guest:Do that with your phone, no?
Marc:Yeah, I think you're right.
Marc:There's no miniature people involved yet?
Marc:Not yet.
Marc:I haven't made any people.
Marc:Oh.
Marc:And now are you going to do that from the kid or are you going to do your own thing?
Guest:Yeah, I'll make a little guy on my own.
Guest:Clay?
Guest:Order some clay, yeah.
Marc:Or some of that plasticine stuff?
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Marc:Polymer.
Marc:Yeah, yeah.
Marc:Polymer.
Marc:Someone made me my dead cat.
Guest:Oh, yeah, that's impressive work.
Guest:That's a handmade, there's only one of those?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:That's great.
Marc:That's my cat with my cat's colors and my cat's weird two different color eyes.
Guest:And I think you're right.
Guest:It is.
Guest:Wow, yeah, that's really cool.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I think you're right.
Guest:It is easy.
Guest:It's just make a little guy, you move him a little, take a picture, move him a little more.
Marc:I don't think you can make him out of this.
Marc:You're going to have to make him out of something that's malleable.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Right?
Marc:Yeah, I got to...
Marc:It'll be all right.
Guest:It sounds like you got your work cut out for you.
Guest:But what else am I going to do?
Guest:I've been doing cooking videos.
Guest:I've been- You've been cooking?
Guest:Drawing.
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Guest:I had to learn.
Guest:I didn't know how to cook anything.
Marc:Oh, and how's that going?
Guest:Yeah, it's just very enjoyable.
Guest:Good.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:You're growing up.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Just lock me in an apartment and I become a man.
Marc:We were talking about cats coming up.
Marc:Now, you don't have a cat now?
Guest:There's a cat that's been coming.
Guest:What does this mean?
Guest:This cat has a collar, so I'm not just going to snatch him up, but I started saying hi to him outside my kitchen, like when I'm...
Guest:washing dishes he comes and just stares there but he meows like he's in pain or something is wrong or the way a cat is loudly meowing when they're pregnant or something i'm like what's going on and he's kind of skinny yeah but lives next door yeah but i i said hi and he figured he jumped on the roof
Guest:walked across the apartment and ended up in front of my door.
Guest:So he figured out where my front door was.
Guest:Right.
Guest:I've decided he's smart.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:So it's all I want out of a cat.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:And, but I, I didn't start feeding him.
Guest:Once you start feeding a cat,
Marc:No, they'd never go away.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And then, like, yeah, I've had cats at the old house that would come around that I think were other people's cats.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:I actually had to put one down, and I don't know if it was someone else's cat or not.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:It was all fucked up.
Guest:When I lived with Tig, there was a cat, two cats, Sid and Nancy, that lived under my Mustang, and I would put food under the car.
Guest:I figured...
Guest:But then Tig just started feeding these cats right on the porch.
Guest:And I'm like, you know we have cats now.
Marc:Right.
Guest:And there's some possums.
Marc:They'd all line up.
Marc:Oh, yeah.
Marc:Possums, skunks, everything.
Marc:Fucking raccoons.
Marc:Everything will eat cat food.
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Guest:And so that's how I got my first cat.
Marc:And it's funny when you'd see the cats and the other animals out there together.
Marc:Just kind of like...
Guest:It was cat, possum, cat, possum.
Guest:A lot of people don't know possums and cats are totally cool together.
Guest:They'll eat out of the same dish.
Marc:They don't judge.
Marc:Possums are fucking too much.
Guest:Yeah, they're really not.
Guest:There's times if you squint or if they're young, they're kind of cute.
Marc:But boy, they don't age well.
Guest:It gets rough.
Guest:They get their teeth.
Marc:The baby ones are cute.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:They're very rat-like.
Guest:I think it's the tail is the reason I judge them.
Marc:Oh, the tail's in the fucking hands?
Marc:All of it, man.
Marc:The fucking teeth?
Marc:They're worse than rats.
Marc:Why do possums have thumbs?
Marc:I used to do a bit about it.
Marc:I can't remember what the bit was, but it was a long bit.
Marc:A rat with thumbs?
Marc:About how ugly possums are, gargoyles.
Marc:And raccoons are just burly.
Marc:There was a family of raccoons that started eating cat food, and it was chaos when they'd come onto the deck.
Guest:oh yeah just like oh raccoon a raccoon will kick your cat's ass the family it's a whole family and they're fat and you're like how much are they eating they have zero fear they will come they'll take something out of your hand and then stare at you like what took you so long they have real hands yeah little black hands yeah with little thumbs it's crazy little tiny yeah howler monkey hands
Marc:But no cat for now.
Marc:Do you think this cat is sick?
Marc:Is that what your concern is?
Guest:I'm just keeping my eye on him.
Guest:Did you talk to the owner?
Guest:No, no.
Guest:Every time I've tried to get close to the cat, why are you meowing at my door if when I open it to you, you run away?
Guest:So, you know, I'm not going to try.
Marc:It's hard to understand, man.
Marc:But pain sounds like pain.
Marc:And you know what I mean?
Guest:Yeah, this cat's in pain.
Marc:Oh, really?
Guest:Of some kind.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Or did you mean my pain?
Marc:No, I mean, it's like you would know.
Marc:I mean, cats wanting food.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:But, you know, howling is like a separate thing.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And I'm no cat specialist.
Marc:No, no.
Marc:But I've had a few.
Guest:I've always prided myself or been proud of prided.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:On being able to whisper cats.
Guest:I'm pretty good.
Guest:I can pick up a feral cat.
Guest:I mean, that's nothing I should brag about.
Guest:But cats trust me.
Marc:Like a real feral you can pick them up?
Guest:Oh, yeah.
Guest:Austin is riddled with stray cats.
Guest:They don't care about cats in Texas.
Guest:No offense if you're from Texas and love cats.
Marc:Some people just see cats like they're rats.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:They're just this fucking annoying animal.
Guest:And I think certain parts of the country, they think that more.
Guest:Yeah, for sport.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And I've picked up cats that are out.
Guest:Street cats.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I like cats.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Why don't you get a cat?
Guest:Because I was on the road a lot.
Guest:And I'm like, even my plants are dead when I go home.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:I have to have someone.
Guest:Right.
Guest:And which can be arranged.
Guest:And I could do that.
Guest:So, no, I don't know why I don't have cats.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:I mean, they're all over.
Marc:You just go pick one up.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And during this whole quarantine thing, it would have been nice, I think.
Marc:Well, it's not over.
Marc:You might have a few months.
Marc:You could really dig in with a cat.
Marc:And wait, so now the new album is available?
Guest:Yeah, it's actually a special.
Guest:It's on Vimeo On Demand.
Guest:Oh, it's like video.
Guest:Yeah, it's very well produced.
Guest:I really am proud of it.
Guest:Vimeo On Demand.
Guest:Or there's a website called We're Gnarly.com.
Marc:We're gnarly.
Guest:It was the guy that produced it for me is an old friend and he's a talented filmmaker and he just had this URL already sitting around from like the early snowboarding days.
Guest:He used to make snowboard videos.
Guest:Okay.
Guest:And I used to snowboard a lot.
Guest:So I knew him back then.
Marc:So you're in the board community as well.
Marc:I am a member of the board community.
Marc:When did you break your hip?
Marc:You're not doing that shit now, are you?
Guest:I am again, and I feel great.
Guest:And the doctor said this thing's bulletproof.
Guest:It's the only part of your body that isn't going to get.
Marc:Oh, they replaced the hip.
Guest:Yeah, or it's a helmet on top of my femur and then another piece of metal in the socket, lubricated by, I guess, my own body.
Guest:It's amazing that it works.
Marc:No, I've seen them before.
Marc:My dad used to put those in.
Marc:Oh, really?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:He's an orthopedic surgeon.
Marc:Oh, yeah.
Marc:So I've actually seen those out of the body.
Marc:Sure.
Marc:Like on his desk.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:And I held one in my hand.
Guest:I'm like, this is going in me.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:And it's the best decision I ever made.
Marc:But now you're back on the fucking board?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:He said, I can't damage it.
Guest:He said, go ahead.
Marc:What about the other hip, dummy?
Guest:uh yeah it's not feeling great and i know i have to get that one fixed you didn't shatter this one it was just worn out yeah interesting it's been bothering me since my teen years so nothing i did is a reason that my cartilage has been wearing away so he didn't blame skateboarding okay i it just hurts to land on so how do you wear ridiculous padded pants 45
Marc:Yeah, I mean, just don't go crazy.
Marc:I mean, we're breakable now.
Marc:Yeah, I know.
Marc:I can't tell you how many fucking 50 to 60-year-old people, man, I see on mountain bikes up there.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Just cranking away in their little outfits, and I'm like, all right.
Marc:And then a buddy of mine, he's a little older than me, out there on his mountain bike, broke his fucking hip.
Guest:Yeah, but I've had plenty of injuries.
Guest:I've broken both.
Guest:And it's worth it in a weird way.
Marc:Okay.
Marc:Maybe I'm just being a puss because I don't do that shit.
Marc:I'm a hiker.
Marc:I run.
Guest:Oh, and I've always been cautious.
Guest:I've never been.
Guest:Even when I was young, I wasn't like, let's do, you know.
Marc:You weren't flying in the air out of pools?
Guest:Uh, once I was good enough to do it, I was.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:But I, I made sure that fundamentally I was able to do that stuff.
Guest:And so I had friends that were, that progressed before me, but I, I went.
Marc:Are there pictures of you in the air?
Guest:Uh, like on the internet?
Guest:I think the.
Marc:No, just in general.
Marc:Do they exist?
Marc:Have you holding the board in the air?
Marc:You know, like.
Marc:Maybe.
Guest:Maybe somewhere.
Guest:I was never really on camera a lot.
Guest:You just have to take my word for it.
Guest:Okay.
Marc:I believe you.
Marc:I want proof, man.
Guest:I'm not buying it.
Guest:I had a cousin that was a pro snowboarder, and I just kind of would follow him around to different ski towns.
Marc:Snowboarding is different.
Marc:Yeah, I tried it.
Marc:I grew up skiing and I just missed it.
Marc:I missed the you got to grow up doing the snowboard or you got to be.
Guest:I think you're right.
Guest:And I know a lot of kids now are skiing.
Guest:There's skiing is popular again.
Guest:Oh, yeah.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:It's it's most kids are skiing now because my ex was, you know, came up snowboarding and she just snowboards.
Marc:I tried it when I went up skiing at Mammoth once.
Marc:It was okay, but, you know, it's a whole different set of, you know, you got to relearn or learn first.
Marc:Yeah, you have two effective edges.
Marc:It makes more sense.
Marc:Yeah, but your body is more like skateboarding with a snowboard.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:That's, of course, why I started doing it.
Marc:Sure.
Marc:So you've been doing stand-up now for... 20 years.
Marc:Jesus Christ.
Marc:And I remember you went through a lot of different outfits.
Yeah.
Marc:Hair configurations?
Marc:Yeah, yeah.
Marc:There was a while there I thought, like, is he doing an old Western character?
Guest:I found that when I had a mustache, the audience took me more seriously, like...
Guest:Even police officers, I'd pull up next to a cop and he'd nod at me.
Guest:Sure, you're one of us.
Guest:Yeah, or at least I work for the city or something.
Guest:But I always struggled with confidence on stage.
Guest:And when you have a mustache, people are like, oh, I'll listen to this guy.
Guest:I don't know how I've discovered that.
Guest:I just noticed a difference when I grew one for fun.
Marc:But you worked – like, you're always out there.
Marc:I mean, you've worked hard, right?
Marc:Yeah, I've spent a lot.
Guest:You've been touring for a long time.
Guest:A long time on stage.
Guest:Yeah, I spend a lot of time on stage.
Marc:And, like, now do you have – like, have you amassed a following?
Guest:Through podcasting, suddenly there is an audience.
Guest:And I don't think – I think a lot of these – it's mostly women that –
Guest:Wait, which podcast?
Guest:Do You Need a Ride?
Guest:It's called with me and Karen Kilgareth.
Marc:So now how do you know Kilgareth?
Marc:How did that come to be?
Guest:When I worked for I had a TV writing job and and her husband at the time was one of the camera guys and they had like a party at their house.
Guest:And I've heard from Jimmy Pardo and other people at the beginning, before everyone had a podcast, people always said you should do a podcast with Karen Kilgareff, who I knew of but didn't know her well.
Guest:They all decided?
Guest:Maybe something in the way I talk.
Guest:They saw that we, because we do mesh conversationally and figured that out right away.
Guest:And I was at her house and I said we should do a podcast.
Marc:She's like a huge podcast star.
Guest:And before that, she had a podcast with me and then started this murder, My Favorite Murder podcast.
Guest:And that immediately blew up.
Guest:But she continued to do Do You Need a Ride with Me?
Guest:And so now, gradually, these murderinos are going to my shows.
Guest:And a lot of times, I don't think they've ever even seen stand-up before.
Marc:Yeah, I found that at the beginning of podcasting, I had a lot of people coming to shows who were like, we should go support Mark.
Marc:I'm like, I've been doing this since I was 20.
Marc:This is the thing I know how to do.
Marc:I appreciate you're going to come support me.
Marc:Why don't you just come be part of the audience and not say it like I need fucking help.
Guest:It's great, though.
Guest:I'll take it.
Guest:And a lot of times you can tell it's a podcast audience because they're quiet.
Guest:They're used to listening to these shows at work.
Guest:And if they laugh out loud, they might get in trouble from their boss.
Guest:So they're just silently smiling.
Guest:And I'm like, okay, I could get used to this.
Guest:They're enjoying themselves.
Guest:They're just not the most vocal.
Marc:But it's interesting that I used to take it so personally, and I don't know, it doesn't seem like you did, because I've always been a comic.
Marc:And the podcast was something that sort of came out of desperation.
Marc:And this idea that no one knew me as a comic for a couple years was just a knife in my side.
Marc:I've been doing that my whole life.
Marc:But now everybody, now I don't care where they come from.
Marc:If everybody's into it, great.
Marc:So you're saying mostly women?
Guest:Yeah, and they're kind people.
Guest:Sweet.
Guest:They say only supportive things.
Guest:And I've seen friends of mine that have a following through stand-up or through a TV show.
Guest:I was opening for Tosh for a while.
Marc:Oh, no.
Guest:I like Dave Attell a lot.
Guest:I'm a big fan of Doug Stanhope, and it's a crowd of drunken dudes.
Guest:that heckle and don't know how to, alcoholics a lot.
Guest:Oh yeah, you're just kind of management.
Guest:And I'm just this sober, sweet, gift-bearing women come to my shows.
Guest:It's the best.
Guest:It's the best.
Guest:They're sweet people.
Guest:Tosh, where were they, like kids?
Guest:Yeah, I think that when I was opening for him a lot, it was bigger venues like Vegas.
Guest:And it was just, yeah, people that liked Tosh.0.
Marc:Like 22-year-olds?
Marc:Sure.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And it tells like kind of guys at the end of their rope.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I remember he was getting sober and I was opening for him somewhere and just people handing him Jägermeister because he was using Jägermeister as a catchphrase.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:It's like you can kind of figure out how that might backfire.
Marc:Stan Hope just has these radical weirdos.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Off the gridders.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And, oh, man, all of them make me nervous.
Guest:Like a room of dudes makes me nervous, I think.
Marc:Oh, yeah.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And that's usually if you're... Yeah, because if you're not like, you know, if you don't want to be a leader...
Marc:Like if you don't have that in you, it's like, I can take these dudes where they need to go.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:I don't want to be in that.
Marc:I don't want to be one of those dudes.
Marc:I don't want to lead those dudes.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:I mean, I just want regular people who are a little sensitive, a little nervous, a little angry.
Marc:And I'm getting that now.
Guest:And I love it.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Well, congratulations.
Guest:Thanks.
Guest:Thanks, man.
Marc:Maybe they'll be there when we get out of this fucking shit show.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Well, that's the thing.
Guest:We can still podcast, so it's just keeping them at bay.
Marc:How often do you do that one with Karen?
Guest:Weekly?
Guest:Every other week, yeah.
Guest:Okay.
Guest:I think my favorite murder is a couple times a week for her, so mine is bi-weekly.
Guest:It's great seeing you again.
Guest:Oh, yeah.
Guest:Great to see you, too.
Guest:Good talking to you.
Marc:Thanks.
Marc:That was Chris Fairbanks.
Marc:He's a nice guy.
Marc:And he braved it out.
Marc:We both braved it out.
Marc:We talked through the plexiglass six feet away.
Marc:Didn't touch each other.
Marc:Had the windows open and got out.
Marc:Here's a little distorted guitar for you.
Thank you.
Marc:Boomer lives.