Episode 1491 - Albert Brooks
Guest:Lock the gates!
Marc:Alright, let's do this.
Marc:How are you, what the fuckers?
Marc:What the fuck, buddies?
Marc:What the fuck, Knicks?
Marc:What's happening?
Marc:I'm Mark Maron.
Marc:This is my podcast, WTF.
Marc:Welcome to it.
Marc:Kind of a big day today.
Marc:Kind of a big day today.
Marc:Alright, I talked to Albert Brooks.
Marc:Albert Brooks is on the show today.
Marc:I'll give you that for right now, but let me just take care of some business.
Marc:I'll be doing a live talk today.
Marc:With Cliff Nesteroff about his new book, Outrageous, at the New York Public Library this Wednesday, November 29th.
Marc:It's a free event, and you can go in person or watch the live stream.
Marc:Go to nypl.org slash events.
Marc:My Los Angeles dates are these.
Marc:I'm at Dynasty Typewriter on December 1st, 13th, and 28th.
Marc:The Elysian on December 6th, 15th, and 22nd.
Marc:And Largo on December 12th and January 9th.
Marc:San Diego at the Observatory North Park on Saturday, January 27th for two shows.
Marc:San Francisco at the Castro Theater on Saturday, February 3rd.
Marc:Also in San Francisco on the 4th, February 4th, I'll be hosting McCabe and Mrs. Miller at the Roxy Theater.
Marc:We've contacted the theater.
Marc:They should be putting up something for you to buy tickets with soon.
Marc:I'll be at Portland, Maine at the State Theater on Thursday, March 7th.
Marc:Medford, Massachusetts outside of Boston at the Chevalier Theater on March 7th.
Marc:8th, Friday, Providence, Rhode Island at the Strand Theater on Saturday, March 9th, and Tarrytown, New York at the Tarrytown Music Hall on Sunday, March 10th.
Marc:Go to wtfpod.com slash tour for tickets.
Marc:All right, here we go.
Marc:Listen up.
Marc:This is it.
Marc:Albert Brooks.
Marc:I love Albert Brooks.
Marc:Who doesn't love Albert Brooks?
Marc:I feel close to Albert Brooks.
Marc:I feel like he's part of my comedy vocabulary.
Marc:I feel like he had a profound influence on me.
Marc:I don't know if you can see it or feel it, but he's in there.
Marc:He's a special, special man.
Marc:A special, funny man.
Marc:Now, me trying to get Albert on the show goes back a while.
Marc:The first tweets...
Marc:That I sent him asking him to come on the show.
Marc:We're like in 2011.
Marc:Now we didn't even have a booking system back then.
Marc:It was just whoever, you know, we could get whoever I reached out to friends of friends, people on Twitter.
Marc:Occasionally that worked not too many times.
Marc:I think only once, maybe David Crosby, maybe not, maybe more.
Marc:I don't know.
Marc:I've done like 1500 of these things.
Marc:So I started pestering Albert in 2011.
Marc:In August of 2013, I tweeted, come on, let's end the charade.
Marc:I'll come to you.
Marc:And he replied, then you won't want me anymore.
Marc:It's more fun this way.
Marc:The fuck.
Marc:Right?
Marc:But he knew, he knew, he knew, all right?
Marc:And then in April 2014, I sent a letter to him through his reps asking him to be guests for the 500th episode.
Marc:That would have been special.
Marc:And they responded, quote, Mr. Brooks is well aware of Mark and his wonderful podcast.
Marc:When the time is right, we will let you know.
Marc:But at this time, he is working on a project.
Marc:He wanted me to let you know that it will happen before one of them dies, unquote.
Marc:All right.
Marc:So then I went back and forth with him later that year in 2015.
Marc:And then at the Gary Shanling Memorial, you know, I was walking out with a bunch of people.
Marc:I felt these hands on my shoulders.
Marc:I turn around and there's Albert in a golf hat.
Marc:He says, let's do the podcast now.
Marc:And then, you know, I went back and forth on Twitter and then I would check in with him from time to time over the years, just tweeting at him, you know, like things like Albert, it feels like it's time.
Marc:And then finally, finally, I did it again on October 26th of this year ahead of the new documentary that's out now on HBO, Albert Brooks defending my life.
Marc:But we got the message from the bookers saying that Albert would like to do it now that the strike is over.
Marc:But, you know, the courting process is pretty engaging.
Marc:And the project that he decides to come on for is literally a documentary where his best friend is interviewing him about his life.
Marc:But, of course, I'm going to talk to him.
Marc:And then we're like, well, is he coming over to the house?
Marc:No, he's allergic to cats.
Marc:But we don't have cats in the studio.
Marc:He's allergic to cats.
Marc:He's not coming to the house.
Marc:So am I going to his house?
Marc:No.
Marc:So the plan is for me to go to Santa Monica and meet him at the Georgian Hotel, which I've seen.
Marc:It's a landmark almost in Santa Monica, this beautiful old hotel.
Marc:But to me, that meant two things.
Marc:All right, so he doesn't want to come to my house for whatever reason, and he doesn't want me in his house.
Marc:I don't know.
Marc:Is he afraid I'm going to steal or see something?
Marc:I get it.
Marc:All right.
Marc:He doesn't want to host.
Marc:Fine.
Marc:I go to the Georgian Hotel, which I've never been in.
Marc:The place is stunning.
Marc:It's like this.
Marc:It's of a period.
Marc:It's beautifully restored.
Marc:It's just gorgeous.
Marc:It's this gorgeous old hotel, and we had a suite on one of the upper floors.
Marc:So I get there early, and it's looking out over the Pacific.
Marc:I mean, you couldn't have a better view of the Pacific Ocean at this place.
Marc:You know what's weird about that hotel?
Marc:The one thing I learned is that I didn't even know this place was like this.
Marc:And if I just want to get out of my house and my head for a couple of days, I would go check in at the Georgian.
Marc:I mean, Santa Monica is kind of a schlep.
Marc:It is kind of a day trip.
Marc:It could be an overnight trip and maybe two nights.
Marc:But just to sit on one of those upper floors in that suite and look at the Pacific Ocean.
Marc:Gorgeous.
Marc:It was great.
Marc:I got there and I'm like, I don't even want to work.
Marc:I don't want to even do the interview.
Marc:I just want to hang out here for a couple of days.
Marc:But no, I had to get set up, had to get coffee going, had to get the mics going.
Marc:I forgot to take a picture with me and Albert.
Marc:It doesn't matter.
Marc:So Albert comes.
Marc:First, this publicist comes.
Marc:She makes sure everything's all right.
Marc:And then he comes.
Marc:And, you know, I'm like, all right, here we go.
Marc:And I told him, I'm like, you know, you just did, you know, a documentary.
Marc:So what do you want me to do?
Marc:He's like, there's more stories.
Marc:All right, it's fine.
Marc:So we sit down and we do it and it was great.
Marc:Had a great time.
Marc:Great time talking to Albert.
Marc:Great time meeting him again.
Marc:But it turns out that if you listen to this interview, it can actually work as sort of a companion piece as it will because you should watch...
Marc:the doc Albert Brooks defending my life on HBO but this interview is totally different there's very few repeated points or stories and it kind of can work as a companion piece maybe it'll fill in some gaps for sure it's more Albert Brooks I thought it was great I really did
Marc:You know, I wish I could talk to him more.
Marc:I've had these moments with some guests.
Marc:Randy Newman was another one where I feel like maybe we could socialize occasionally.
Marc:But I don't know.
Marc:I don't expect that.
Marc:But I do feel thoroughly satisfied and honored to have had the conversation I did with Albert.
Marc:The documentary, Rob Reiner's documentary, Albert Brooks, Defending My Life, is now streaming on Mac's.
Marc:And again, this interview was recorded at the historic Georgian Hotel on the beach in Santa Monica.
Marc:And again, this interview is different almost entirely from the stuff that's in the documentary.
Marc:This is me talking to Albert Brooks.
Marc:You know, the last interview I did at a hotel where I drove into Hollywood was Jerry Lewis.
Marc:I interviewed Jerry Lewis and, you know, we had told him it's going to be an hour.
Marc:And he sat there and like on the money, a half hour.
Marc:And he said, OK, that's it.
Marc:And he walked away in the middle of it.
Marc:So a precedent has been set.
Marc:I don't want you to.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Sure.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:Is this the show?
Marc:Of course it's a show.
Guest:Well, I'm going to open by telling you this is the biggest mistake I've ever made.
Guest:Already?
Guest:And I'll tell you why.
Marc:Okay.
Guest:Because I was the white whale.
Guest:I know.
Guest:Every article, every last 20 years, five articles.
Guest:Who do you want to get?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:So I go from being on a list of four to being one of 20,000 tuna.
Marc:Well, I mean, but here's what happens.
Marc:So for me, you were the white whale, and I tried and I tried.
Marc:And now after you do a show where you tell everybody everything, you agree.
Marc:Well, I didn't tell everybody everything.
Guest:And, you know, I need something to be proud of to even do anything like this.
Guest:Because, I don't know, I never felt that just talking out of the blue made sense for me.
Guest:Even if it was, you know, your whole life?
Guest:I mean, you've got a whole life.
Guest:Yeah, I know, but it's nice to be able to attach it to something.
Guest:Your life?
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:In the current way, like attach it to something now.
Guest:Yes, now, present.
Guest:I understand.
Guest:So you're vital.
Marc:I understand.
Guest:You're not Jerry Lewis going, thanks for talking to me.
Guest:Walked away.
Guest:I'm remembering my own life from 80 years ago.
Marc:Not 80 yet.
Marc:No, I meant Jerry Lewis.
Marc:Oh, yeah, Jerry Lewis.
Marc:Oh, God, I'm not even.
Marc:Did you know Jerry Lewis?
Marc:I never met him.
Marc:How was that possible?
Marc:Why would I?
Guest:Because he was around, kind of.
Guest:But in high school, we used to stay up all night, that telethon, just waiting.
Guest:Just to watch him?
Guest:To watch him at three in the morning, lose it, and go crazy.
Guest:And he always did.
Guest:Maybe it was 3, 3.30.
Guest:Who's the cripple kid?
Guest:Get him out of here.
Guest:Every year.
Guest:Something bizarre happened around four of the boys.
Marc:He's sweating and smoking.
Guest:Where's that fucking McMahon?
Guest:Get him out of here.
Marc:That's what you waited for.
Marc:That was a thing.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:Comedian friends of mine, budding comedians.
Marc:In the 70s?
Guest:In the 70s would stay up to watch him all night waiting for him.
Marc:For the snap.
Marc:For the snap.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:People used to snap more, I found.
Marc:They don't snap as much as they used to.
Guest:That's another horrible result of social media.
Marc:Exactly.
Marc:We don't have the human experience of watching professional show people lose their minds.
Marc:It's absolutely true.
Marc:It is.
Marc:It's true.
Marc:I mean, like, I don't know who was around when you started, but you just never knew when someone was going to pop.
Guest:Well, I was saying the other, I think on the Bill Maher show, he was talking about the idea of Saturday Night Live.
Guest:Right.
Guest:And being from here, from Los Angeles, live television meant nothing to me.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Because there was no such thing.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Except the telethon.
Guest:The telethon.
Guest:And that was done from here in real time.
Guest:Right.
Guest:But if a show was done in New York... Yeah.
Guest:It was always, you never saw the disaster.
Guest:No.
Guest:So, to me, live was the Tonight Show.
Guest:Right.
Guest:They didn't stop tape.
Guest:If you were horrible, that's what went out.
Marc:It's interesting, when I watch those old Tonight Shows, how strange it really was.
Marc:It was because people just talked, and it could go either way, and people could just flail.
Guest:Well...
Guest:It's interesting because the 90-minute version was more like that.
Guest:Right.
Guest:And the last half hour was always the author and the guest that wasn't that great.
Guest:Right, right.
Guest:But there was more talking.
Marc:But I never noticed before that people like Rodney Dangerfield and like Rickles, they were drowning from the get-go.
Marc:That was their whole charm.
Guest:Well, Ronnie Dangerfield basically just did his stand-up sitting.
Marc:Right, until he ran out.
Guest:I never recall him talking.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:But Rickles, even though it was probably part of his act, you never knew where he was going.
Guest:Right.
Guest:And it might have been the same thing he said three nights ago at the Riviera, but it didn't feel that way.
Marc:Did you like him?
Guest:Of course.
Guest:How could you not like him?
Guest:You know, because he was dangerous.
Marc:Yeah, here he is.
Marc:Here's the coffee.
Marc:Come on in.
Marc:Happy birthday.
Guest:This was all a surprise, Mark.
Guest:Come on in.
Guest:Put it on the table.
Guest:Your last podcast.
Marc:Finally, you're the right one.
Guest:Apple didn't tell you, huh?
Guest:You're not involved in Apple.
Marc:No.
Marc:Well, they put it.
Marc:I know they put it up.
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Guest:Thank you very much.
Marc:I remember I was trying to think when I first started to have the experience of your stuff, and it was because of those SNL short films because they stood out more than the entire show.
Guest:Well, in your opinion, and I thank you for it.
Marc:But I remember watching it when I was a kid, that first season, I guess, and they would come on.
Marc:You're like, now what's happening?
Marc:And it was you.
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Marc:The one I remember, the one with the, what was it, a joke store?
Marc:With the woman, she was wearing the nose.
Guest:I don't know that that was my film.
Guest:But I've learned over the years that if you liked it, I'm taking credit.
Guest:I never correct people if they like it.
Marc:I remember the films, but what was the agreement with Lorne?
Guest:The agreement with Lorne was I would do six short films.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I would do them from Los Angeles.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:They were supposedly contracted to run before midnight.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And they were supposed to be three to five minutes.
Guest:And I did...
Guest:one much longer, and he rightly was upset.
Guest:It was 13 minutes.
Guest:It was the open-heart surgery.
Guest:And I don't think they would have run it, but Rob Reiner hosted, and he insisted, so they ran it with a commercial.
Guest:But that was the agreement.
Marc:Did that cause trouble?
Yeah.
Guest:Well, I don't, you know, I mean, I don't know what Rob and Lauren, if they have an issue today, but Rob said, no, you have to do it, which was nice.
Guest:But by the way, I understood.
Guest:Lauren didn't want 13 minutes, and that was probably my fault for going over, but the film, it just warranted.
Marc:It aired in its entirety.
Guest:With a commercial in the middle.
Marc:Right.
Marc:Did that bother you?
Guest:No, because it was that or nothing.
Guest:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Marc:Yeah, yeah.
Marc:Well, you know, I've talked to Rob, you know, and I've heard you talk with Rob because I watched a documentary.
Marc:You know, there are these stories, the main story about the, you know, the bad escape artist and everything.
Marc:But then I started to wonder, did you, when you were a kid, were you over at their house all the time?
Guest:No, no, I didn't even meet him till high school.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:So I, in high school, I was, I had lost my dad and Carl was like a surrogate father.
Yeah.
Marc:So was that part of the dynamic between you and Rob?
Marc:I mean, did he sense that?
Marc:Did you feel like, you know, come stay at my house?
Marc:You know, it's fun.
Guest:No, Rob was dealing with his own issues of being Carl Reiner's son, natural issues.
Guest:So, you know, Rob was on one track, but I wasn't the son.
Guest:So I sort of had my own dynamic.
Guest:He was Carl, and I could go hang out if Rob wasn't there.
Marc:Oh, I see.
Guest:Yeah, he was like, you know, like a surrogate dad.
Guest:Come in and entertain?
Guest:Well, I didn't have to entertain.
Guest:I mean, it was sort of tempting to see, especially if he had Mel and other famous comic people.
Marc:Hanging around?
Guest:Yeah, and people would sit around and talk, and eventually everybody would be funny.
Guest:And then you would find out, eh, I can be funny too here.
Marc:But when you were like a real little kid before your father died, whatever your memories were, I mean...
Marc:Who was hanging around the house?
Guest:By the time I was born, my father was basically out of, he was retired from show business.
Guest:Right.
Guest:His connection was the Friars Club.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Which was the original club on Rodale Drive.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And he loved that.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:But he didn't really do much of anything.
Guest:He was sick and he didn't do much of any show business work anymore except for these roasts.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And that's what he loved and that's where he died.
Marc:But did you go to them as a kid?
Marc:No, no.
Guest:No, I never went to them.
Guest:No, I was nine.
Marc:What about your brothers?
Marc:How old were they?
Guest:My brother was... When my father died...
Guest:My middle brother Bob was 16, I think.
Guest:Oh, so he was, yeah.
Guest:And my brother Cliff was 18, 19.
Guest:So they had had much more time with him.
Marc:Yeah, and Cliff was from another marriage?
Guest:No.
Guest:Oh.
Guest:I had a half-brother, much older, Charles, sports writer.
Guest:Right.
Guest:He was from, my dad was married, as I was told, for eight seconds.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And had a child, and that didn't work.
Guest:But he was looped in?
Guest:He wasn't.
Guest:You know, we would visit him occasionally.
Guest:I remember he was the sports writer for the San Francisco Chronicle.
Guest:And then I think because of his kid's health, he moved to Camelback Mountain, Arizona.
Guest:And I remember going there as a kid a couple of times to visit him.
Marc:Oh, yeah, but he wasn't like an estranged person.
Guest:No, we knew who he was, but he wasn't the fourth brother.
Marc:Right.
Guest:But he was a really great guy to me, and I loved him, but he wasn't like a fourth brother.
Marc:Sure.
Guest:He was a half-brother who we sort of saw occasionally.
Marc:Yeah, and so when you finally become your conscious person, your dad's been ill your whole life.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:It still just fascinates me that there's this community of show business that you grew up in, really.
Guest:Yeah, well, more because of knowing Rob and his father, if anything.
Guest:Because, you know, Rob would take me down to the Dick Van Dyke show and watch it and run lines with the actors and stuff like that.
Guest:But I know what you're asking.
Guest:When I was very young, Eddie Cantor did come over once.
Guest:What?
Guest:And I remember making him laugh.
Guest:I probably was five.
Guest:And I answered the door and he said, this is my son, Albert.
Guest:Hello, Albert.
Guest:And I said, hi, Mr. Cantor.
Guest:We just had Apple Schneider.
Guest:And that's what I thought it was called.
Guest:And Eddie went, he's very funny, Pocky.
Guest:See that?
Guest:That's an important nugget.
Guest:Well, I didn't go back to my room going, I can make it.
Guest:I wasn't thinking that way yet.
Marc:But I guess I have this fascination with those generations because it seems that like Eddie Cantor, he was way back.
Guest:Way back.
Marc:And then when you start actually doing comedy, you're in the middle of some changing of the guard from the late 60s to the early 70s.
Guest:Yes.
Guest:I...
Guest:started on steve allen yeah which was a real what which was also a guy who started way back but was still going then right a lot of them all those variety shows yeah well that's what i did before people think i started on johnny carson i didn't do johnny carson until a hundred shows like the mid-70s right yeah like 70 maybe 72 i think yeah 73 right but i had done for example when merv griffin went to cbs yeah
Guest:I did 13 of those shows.
Guest:Really?
Guest:Those were like the place to go fuck around.
Marc:Right, sitting in the half circle?
Marc:Wasn't it like him and there were four chairs?
Guest:No, he had a desk.
Marc:Oh, he did?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:I'm thinking of Mike Douglas.
Guest:I did him too.
Guest:I hosted for a week.
Marc:there were all kinds of weird shows to do there was a guy named dennis holy yeah the dennis holy show yeah cincinnati right you just go do that's what you do but how does it sort of start because like one of the things that always there is a gap and i i know you know my friend cliff uh nester i do uh you know he he texted me to congratulate me on talking to you and i said how'd you find out he said i work with him on the thing you know great great historian that guy
Guest:oh amazing did you read that new book i did it's great yeah i'm gonna moderate him in new york yeah oh no no he's he he's the current uh encyclopedia he's the only one yeah well there might be another guy but we don't meet him yet yeah no he's because he doesn't write he just collects things in the play he comes in with a gun and that's the end of cliff yeah
Marc:But there's this jump from you at Carl Reiner's house behind the curtain to you on Carson generally in the history of Albert.
Guest:Okay, because most of what I... Okay, I can give it to you briefly.
Guest:No, no, we have time.
Guest:No, I'm just saying I can give you this jump.
Guest:I started in sort of mid-68 on—I might have done something in 67.
Guest:I think I did a local show in 67.
Marc:But did you go to college?
Guest:I did, but I dropped out.
Marc:But it was like acting, right?
Guest:Yeah, I went to L.A.
Guest:City College for a year.
Guest:Then I auditioned and got into Carnegie Tech.
Wow.
Marc:In Pittsburgh.
Guest:In Pittsburgh.
Marc:And that was a big acting program.
Guest:It was a big acting program.
Marc:So you went there for how long?
Guest:About a year and a half.
Marc:But is that where you got, like, did you start being funny there?
Marc:Were you writing?
Guest:Oh, I was funny in high school.
Guest:Oh, I know.
Guest:I heard that.
Guest:But no, I mean, I learned a lot there because there were classes in mime and movement and dance and stage building.
Marc:So you learned all the things to make fun of.
Guest:Exactly.
Exactly.
Guest:You need a toolkit before you can screw with it.
Guest:I mean, I really mean that.
Marc:Who was there?
Marc:Because I know there were people there.
Guest:Okay, there was an actor.
Guest:Charlie Haid was in my class.
Guest:Steve Bochco was in my class.
Guest:Really?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Wicked, Stephen Schwartz.
Guest:He was there too?
Guest:He was there too.
Guest:I'm leaving out some people.
Guest:Was McKean there?
Guest:Yes, but not with me.
Guest:But he went there.
Marc:So you didn't know him?
Guest:Not at Carnegie, no.
Marc:Isn't that wild?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:So you're there, but was there a thought that you were going to write comedy and do comedy?
Guest:I was actually writing comedy there.
Guest:I had a job there.
Guest:There was a...
Guest:At the time, out of Los Angeles, there was a radio syndicate that would do bits for all the disc jockeys.
Guest:So I would send in bits and get a check.
Marc:I think that's how New Heart started.
Marc:I think it was a thing.
Guest:It was amazing.
Guest:And then one of the reasons I didn't stay in school was because during one of the summers, the first summer, I stayed and was an actor in a dinner theater show.
Guest:And I remember because it was the group that was basically the Mr. Rogers group.
Guest:Okay.
Marc:The actual Mr. Rogers group.
Guest:Yeah, he wasn't in it, but his writers and the musician from the show, they were famous putting on a comedy dinner theater show.
Guest:And I asked them if I could do my own.
Guest:Each actor had a moment by themselves.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And they wrote me something, and I said, could I write it myself?
Guest:Let's just do it.
Guest:I think Pittsburgh knows what they're doing.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:So I bombed so badly the opening night, and then they begged me, why don't you write your opening thing yourself?
Guest:But the fact is that I never left.
Guest:So when it started the next year, it felt like I'd been there three years.
Guest:And then I had a great teacher, my favorite, who brought me into his office.
Guest:He and his wife were both teachers.
Guest:And he said...
Guest:we're leaving, and if anybody should go start this thing, I think you should.
Guest:So, you know, just go start your career.
Guest:Oh, really?
Marc:So when a teacher you respect that much, I just thought... Yeah, I remember when I was at the comedy store in the mid-'80s and I was doing too much cocaine, the drug dealer said I should leave.
Guest:LAUGHTER It's very similar.
LAUGHTER
Guest:See, I think the moral is sometimes a man says something and you listen.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:But anyway, so I came back here and I wanted only to be an actor.
Guest:I never wanted to do stand-up.
Marc:Yeah, see, that's what was interesting about watching the documentary is that, you know, like, you know, Chris Rock is saying, like, I can't believe you didn't work that out at clubs.
Marc:It's like, well, it's not stand-up in essence, right?
Guest:Well, it is stand-up because you have, yeah, but you have three and a half minutes alone if you are terrible.
Marc:But I mean, where were you going to do that kind of stuff at a club at that time?
Guest:I guess you could go to – I guess anything I did on television I could do in a club.
Guest:Sure.
Guest:I could do my dummy bit.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I could, you know, stuff with live animals I'm not going to do.
Guest:Right.
Guest:But most of the stuff I did I could do in a club.
Guest:Yeah, but you didn't want to.
Guest:I just never liked it.
Guest:I never – I didn't – I got used – listen –
Guest:One of the differences between now and then, and I hate that kind of thing because it just makes us all sound old.
Guest:So I'm not saying it was, well, I am saying it was better.
Guest:It was better for one reason.
Guest:There were no opinions.
Guest:There were no algorithms.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:There were individuals.
Guest:And if the individual, if on the Marc Maron show, Marc Maron liked you, you were on the show.
Guest:There was no other choice.
Guest:And so that's the only test I had to pass.
Guest:And I did a lot of stuff with Steve Allen.
Guest:And the first couple of times, the audience didn't laugh at all.
Guest:What were you doing?
Guest:Well, then when I did that mime, they didn't laugh until he started to cackle.
Guest:And then they realized, and then it becomes another dynamic.
Guest:Then it's almost good because they're not laughing.
Marc:Right.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And most people, they don't know what's happening.
Guest:they think like well this is sad this mime is really not doing well right but you just need that you need the boss yeah and and it was the same with movies yeah you could make a move you know you could make a movie if one person said fuck it he's funny let him go do it yeah not it's much different now as long as they don't lose a lot of money
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:But I don't think individuals give goes anymore.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:There's huge opinion machines.
Marc:Sure.
Marc:But there is, there is the capacity now to generate content on your own.
Guest:That's, and that's the difference.
Guest:And that's what I would have been doing.
Guest:Sure.
Guest:Because, you know, when I was in a freshman in high school, I had a CB radio.
Guest:Oh yeah.
Guest:And I would come home religiously and four o'clock was my show and
Marc:On the CB radio for truckers.
Guest:And I was on a street where there were no trucks.
Guest:So there was nobody that was ever listening.
Guest:But I would tape the talk button down.
Guest:It's the Al Einstein Show.
Guest:Good afternoon.
Guest:And I would do an hour with wreckers religiously to nobody.
Guest:So if there was YouTube, believe me, I'd be on it.
Guest:Nobody, no feedback, no indication anyone was listening.
Guest:Let me tell you a great story.
Guest:So I wanted to get a job in high school.
Guest:There was an FM station in Long Beach.
Guest:And they needed an all-night guy.
Guest:So I went down at nine at night.
Guest:To interview with a guy that was on the air.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And he's the only one there.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Now, these disc jockeys, they're the same all over the world.
Guest:Right.
Guest:They have this imagination that the world is listening.
Guest:Right.
Guest:And this guy had a map of the United States behind him.
Guest:And there were these circles in different colors.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:So from California to Chicago was a blue circle.
Guest:From California to Nevada was an orange circle.
Guest:From California to Sacramento was a red circle.
Guest:During a record, I said, what is that?
Guest:Well, that's our reach.
Guest:So on the weekend, we go to Chicago as easily as here.
Guest:It travels.
Guest:Right.
Guest:In the daytime, we're to Las Vegas, but 24-7, we go through California.
Guest:If you were up in Sacramento, you'd listen as easy as you would here.
Guest:So the potential audience at any time at this station is 150 to 170 million people.
Guest:Wow.
Guest:Okay.
Guest:Anyway, let me finish this up.
Guest:Then we'll sit down and talk.
Guest:Give me 20.
Guest:Make yourself at home.
Guest:Nobody's at this little station.
Guest:So I wandered around.
Guest:I go into the transmitter room and all these cabinets.
Guest:And I opened the cabinet.
Guest:And to this day, I never heard that exact electronic noise of an entire transmitter shutting down.
Guest:And every needle went to zero.
Guest:And I'm frozen in there.
Guest:And in about 20 seconds, he, what did you do?
Guest:What the fuck did you do?
Guest:I don't know.
Guest:I just, I wanted to see.
Guest:You opened a cabinet?
Guest:So now he's off the air.
Guest:He doesn't know how to get back on the air.
Guest:It's not as easy as closing the cabinet.
Right.
Guest:Mark, we sat there for an hour and nobody called.
Guest:The phone didn't ring once.
Guest:And he's in front of a coverage map of 180 million people and no one called.
Guest:Finally, after an hour, he called the owner who was sleeping.
Guest:Hey, it's Bob.
Guest:What's the matter?
Guest:I don't think we're on the air.
Guest:What?
Guest:I'm hearing through the other end of the phone.
Guest:Well, something happened.
Guest:What the hell did that happen?
Guest:So I didn't get the job.
Guest:But to this day, it was the most memorable moment of a man's life just folding in bullshit in front of my eyes.
Guest:But I guess my point is I was trying to do everything like that.
Marc:You saw behind the curtain.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And I did get a job.
Guest:There was a big station in Los Angeles called KMPC.
Guest:And in high school, I got a job at the sports desk where I could leave on the phone the scores.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And that was a thrill.
Guest:It was almost like a show.
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Guest:Good evening, everybody.
Guest:Well, the Dodgers, you know.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And then I started to do bits of...
Guest:on the weekend with some of the DJs.
Guest:So there was this wonderful man named Bob Arbogast.
Guest:He's actually in the famous school for comedians film I made.
Guest:He's the spit take class.
Guest:And we got an actual job together in 68 writing this show called Turn On.
Guest:Which to this day...
Guest:ran once and only on the east coast do you have a copy of it no but it's going to be on youtube because george slaughter just announced oh he found it well it's his show he's got them yeah they did a year yeah and we all were at a big festive dinner at the beverly hilton for the west coast premiere yeah and it aired in the east and then an hour later people started whispering it's like i've
Guest:they just didn't air it anymore they took it off in new york after it aired they didn't air it in california why because they didn't like it i don't know it was supposedly a comedy show run by a computer and it had a computer soundtrack that's prescient it was well it's about to happen i guess and you know he had done laughing sure do you hear that outside a little bit do you want to tell him to stop
Marc:What, the vacuum?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:All right.
Guest:We're in a hotel and there's a vacuum outside.
Guest:That's great.
Guest:Mark's going to ask them to not vacuum, which means that a guest is going to check in here and see a filthy room and ask for their money back.
Guest:And the guest is going to say, the hotel's going to say, they're doing a... A renovation?
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:So you write the turn-on show.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:So that was the first thing I actually, and also in late 68, maybe it was, I don't remember, it was 68, January 69, I did a voice on Hot Wheels, also with Bob Arbogast.
Guest:I think he may have gotten me that job.
Marc:Well, so the radio thing kind of moves through you because it's on the records, too.
Marc:There's a play on radio.
Guest:You liked radio.
Guest:I do, because that was my father's life.
Guest:We used to have these big 16-inch records of his radio shows.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And I would bring my friends home occasionally from school and play one.
Marc:Well, there is something beautiful about radio, right?
Marc:I love radio.
Marc:And when your dad was doing it, it was pre-TV?
Yeah.
Guest:Yeah, he was big in the early 40s, so yes.
Marc:So it's interesting.
Marc:So he was there from the transition from radio to television.
Guest:And he would have gone into television if his health could have handled it.
Guest:He did a Playhouse 90 that my half-brother Charles wrote.
Guest:Really?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:So I remember him as an actor, but...
Guest:You just didn't see him in anything when I was born.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:He just, you know.
Marc:But he was part of the whole crew.
Guest:He was.
Guest:I mean, he used to tell you work for Al.
Guest:He was the comic on Al Jolson's show.
Guest:Wow.
Guest:And even as a little kid, we were told that Al Jolson was this...
Guest:terribly horrible man who, if anybody on his show... My dad once told a story that he was cracking people up in the dressing room, and Al Jolson came in and said, keep it quiet in here, there's a show about to start.
Guest:He just...
Guest:You can drive by hillside on your way to the airport, and you'll see a 900-foot statue.
Guest:That's his monument.
Guest:So that says everything you need to know.
Guest:About him?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:That's so wild.
Guest:So I used to work on the radio with Gary Owens.
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Guest:And I had that dummy bit.
Guest:And I came up with that just at a party with my friends.
Guest:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Guest:And Gary Owens, there was a CBS afternoon show in Los Angeles.
Guest:There was a weatherman named Bill Keen, and he had a show, a little talk show called Keen at Noon.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And he wasn't there for two weeks, and Gary Owens took over.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And Gary Owens said, hey...
Guest:Want to come on and do that dummy thing?
Guest:And I did.
Guest:And that was basically the first time I did it on television.
Guest:How old were you?
Guest:21.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:20, 21.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And from that, got a kinescope.
Guest:found an agent, and then I immediately got that, three months later, three Steve Allen shows.
Marc:That's how they booked them, three at once?
Guest:No, I did the dummy, and they liked it and gave me two more, and I had to come up now with two more things, which I did, and then got the tape of that.
Guest:Now I had an agent, William Morris, and that was shown everywhere, and then I got offered,
Guest:Ed Sullivan, Hollywood Palace, Dean Martin.
Guest:And I chose Dean Martin.
Guest:So I did the Dean Martin show in the fall of 68, and the producer of that show said, you got other stuff?
Guest:And I said, yeah, which you say when you don't.
Guest:He said, you got six summer shows.
Guest:So he booked me on the Dean Martin Gold Digger show for 69.
Guest:And I had four months to decide what kind of comedian am I?
Guest:What do I want to do?
Guest:So I liked these bits.
Guest:I liked these, you know, I could almost like scenes in a movie in my mind.
Guest:And
Guest:I came in about three weeks before the show.
Guest:He wanted to see what I had come up with.
Guest:And I did three things, and he looked at me, and he said, here's what I'm thinking.
Guest:He said, you're here, and he put his hand up very high, and the audience is here, and he put his hand down low, and he said, you're going to have a lot of trouble in your life.
Guest:And I said, I don't know what you're talking about.
Guest:This is all I think is funny.
Guest:And he was a very dramatic guy, and he looked at me for a long time, and he went, do it.
Guest:I just wanted to hear you say that.
Guest:He said, if you were my son, I wouldn't let you do it, because I know what's ahead.
Guest:But I went and I did that.
Marc:That's the second time a man has told you something.
Guest:Oh, I've had men tell me things.
Yeah.
Guest:I mean, you know.
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Guest:I mean, it's either a man or a woman.
Guest:Someone's always telling you something.
Guest:So anyway, he just wanted to see that I loved it.
Guest:Because I do believe that if you can talk somebody out of anything, they shouldn't be doing it.
Marc:Right.
Marc:That's true.
Guest:Especially in show business.
Marc:What was the first thing you did on the Dean Martin show?
Guest:I did The Dummy.
Marc:Okay.
Guest:The first thing I did on his show.
Guest:Then I did... Did it kill?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:The Dummy never didn't kill.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:The Dummy was like a Beatles song.
Guest:I mean, I could do it in Japan.
Guest:It just worked.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:It was just like... Right.
Guest:But, you know, I didn't want to keep doing it because then you're that guy.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:But I came up with...
Guest:My bits on—I came up that were the elephant trainer, were the elephant—I had to use another live animal.
Guest:I had another one of those kinds of things that I wanted to see in the documentary, but it didn't fit, which was the Albert Brooks Big Band.
Guest:yeah and there was how did that go well there was a whole band behind me but nobody was there and i said that the we were in chicago and the bus broke down and i flew and i don't normally like to do that because it's rude to the band right but anyway look the show has to go on so i did the whole thing with my mouth
Guest:I did blue moon.
Guest:Did that kill?
Guest:It killed.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.
Guest:And I'd point to the different seats.
Guest:Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.
Boom, boom, boom.
Guest:Blue moon.
Guest:Boom, boom, boom, boom.
Guest:And I had a solo.
Guest:And I said, look at the sticks.
Guest:Look at the sticks.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And what else?
Guest:I did the elephant.
Guest:I did the big band.
Guest:I did a terrible pickpocket.
Guest:I did.
Marc:But it all landed, right?
Guest:It was great.
Guest:And was Dean nice?
Guest:Dean wasn't part of the summer show.
Marc:Oh.
Guest:He wasn't there.
Marc:Oh.
Guest:So, you know, he was fine.
Marc:Was there a host?
Guest:Yes, it was his daughter, Dina Martin, Paul Lind.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:It was, you know, three hosts.
Marc:He was funny, right?
Guest:He was funny.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I only met him once.
Guest:I met him in the hallway of NBC.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And I walked past and I said, hi, Mr. Lind.
Guest:How you doing?
Guest:He said, don't you just want to be home sometimes in bed and eat yourself to death?
Guest:I guess so.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:That was it.
Guest:They would, man, they would use him when nothing else would work.
Guest:Just the way, the way he would deliver that line.
Guest:That poor guy had to make everything into a joke.
Guest:Oh my God, I asked for salad.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:It's just a line.
Guest:All right, Paul, and this is the closing line.
Guest:Let me see what it is.
Guest:That's no dog.
Guest:That's his purse.
Guest:Okay, let's do it.
Guest:He just got a line.
Guest:He delivered it.
Guest:He did it.
Guest:No, he delivered it great.
Guest:Okay, so you do those four Dean shows.
Guest:No, I did six summer shows, and then I did the variety television circuit.
Guest:Right.
Guest:Everything.
Guest:Ed Sullivan, Hollywood Palace, Johnny Cash, Everly Brothers, Helen Reddy, Flip Wilson, all the shows.
Guest:One, one, one, one, one, one, one.
Guest:Two and a half years of that, then I did a Johnny Carson show.
Guest:Wow.
Guest:You know, the thing is, you do Ed Sullivan.
Guest:Right.
Guest:So Ed Sullivan on paper, 45 million people watch.
Guest:Right.
Guest:But the crazy thing is...
Guest:You don't feel that the next day.
Guest:But if you do a Johnny Carson show, the next day in your world, everywhere you go, show you on that, show you on that, because that's the bubble.
Guest:So it was a much bigger difference.
Marc:deal because the next day the dry cleaner saw you right they give the woman in the market saw you the whole country watched Ed Sullivan but Southern California places like that the Tonight Show was the bigger show wow so when you did Carson were you like and also like I just it's curious to me because still we're going into the 60s right so you still like I imagine on some of these shows you had these old guys like Buddy Epson and people like just showing up to do bits and things right
Guest:You were always on with an older guy.
Guest:Right.
Guest:There was always somebody like that on the panel with you.
Guest:I was always the youngest person.
Marc:And it's so wild when you're a younger person because I just remember it myself when I'm doing some of those talk shows where you see those guys in person.
Marc:You're like, oh, my God.
Guest:I never really – I guess because maybe because –
Guest:That I probably did get from my dad, that I already knew what, oh, my God, looked like.
Guest:So it wasn't a big deal to me.
Guest:I mean, I didn't ever look at someone and go, oh, my God, look how old he got.
Marc:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Marc:And you were focused on your own shit.
Guest:But let me tell you a story I've never told.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:Such a meaningful story.
Guest:uh harry sheer and i produced my second record called a star is bought and that was a record where it was like it was done sort of after the motown story where it was a documentary about myself yeah the conceit of the record was that we were going to make a cut to be played on every different kind of radio station so this would become the biggest record ever made
Guest:So we made one for blues, for FM, one for classical music, and the one for old-time radio, we claim that we discovered my prenatal work.
Guest:Now...
Guest:I loved Jack Benny.
Guest:That was my comedy hero.
Guest:And Harry, what he did was Jack Benny as a boy on his television show.
Guest:So we both had this connection.
Guest:But I had been on a show with Jack Benny, and he was so nice to me on the show.
Guest:He did something, Mark...
Guest:I was on a Tonight Show with him, and I think I did the elephant bit.
Guest:And at the end of the show, during the last commercial, Johnny leans over and he says, Jack, do you want me to say any specific good nights?
Guest:And Jack said, ask me where I'm going to be, will you?
Guest:So it comes back and the piano's tingling and Johnny says, Albert Brooks, thank you.
Guest:Wayne Newton, Jack, where are you going to be?
Guest:And Jack Benny said, never mind about me.
Guest:This is the funniest kid I've ever seen.
Guest:So now your idol teaches you, oh, you can be that.
Yeah.
Guest:So generosity works.
Guest:Great.
Guest:Okay.
Guest:So we go to see Jack Benny because I'm doing, we found the so-called Albert Brooks show.
Guest:Right.
Guest:And we produced this great old time radio show with much of the actors that worked on my dad and the real orchestra and the great tinny sound.
Guest:And I wanted to have a feud with Jack Benny.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:So we get in a meeting with Jack Benny on Tuesday and
Guest:He dies that Friday, which nobody knew meeting him.
Guest:But we're sitting in his office, and I say to him, so Mr. Benny, I'm doing a record album, and on this record album, I would love if you would do something, because we're doing this old-time radio, and I never got any other word out.
Guest:My hero says to me three days before he dies,
Guest:radio, radio.
Guest:That's all I'm remembered for.
Guest:I've done everything.
Guest:I've done television.
Guest:I've done movies.
Guest:And I'm going, I don't even know you from radio.
Guest:Oh my God.
Guest:No, no.
Guest:I know that.
Guest:I know that.
Guest:And Harry and I left.
Guest:I drove home, Mark, with a profound, maybe one of the most profound lessons of my life, which is you better not hold on to anything.
Guest:because if the king, if the god of comedy, in my mind, doesn't even know three days before he dies how important he was, if he's still going, and you know, you and I get it as we get older.
Guest:It's happening to me now.
Guest:Okay, so you just can't go there.
Guest:If you try to hold on to your life, you're going to be really sad.
Guest:You can't do it.
Guest:It's impossible.
Guest:So for whatever reason, and I'm saying maybe because he had stomach cancer and maybe it was just feeling shitty and maybe on a normal day he never would have said that.
Guest:But just to hear somebody, your idol, telling you you're a nobody who you are, I just said, I'm never going to play that game.
Guest:I'm never going to do it.
Marc:Well, but isn't that thing in his head because it was an insecurity.
Marc:He was misunderstanding.
Marc:He didn't, you know, he didn't.
Guest:Yes, it was an insecurity.
Guest:And I'll say maybe he was ill and that's what did it.
Guest:But Jack Benny.
Guest:I know it should be insecure.
Guest:Right.
Guest:So.
Guest:So, you know, when you're when you're in your 20s and you see this happen in front of you.
Guest:If you're smart, I think you go, I'm not going to play that game.
Guest:I am not going to assume that anybody will ever know me at all.
Guest:It ain't going to happen.
Guest:And if it does, great.
Guest:It's an accident.
Guest:And if they like it, thank you.
Guest:That's why I said thank you when you complimented me on a film I didn't know.
Marc:I'll just take what I can, and that's all I can do.
Marc:But you were able to apply that at that age?
Guest:I mean, you really were able to... I stored it, and I have pretty much lived it.
Guest:I don't... I have no expectations of anyone remembering anything ever.
Guest:I just don't...
Guest:I don't care.
Marc:But what about the other thing?
Marc:Because what I was dealing with, like I just did four shows in Denver on Friday and Saturday.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Long shows and the stuff I'm doing takes a lot of investment, a lot of honesty and whatever.
Marc:So I'm exhausted.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Now, when I talked to you, when I saw you at Sarah's party a couple of years ago and I told you I was going to the comedy store, you're like, you still go?
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:Well, I was, you know, I was half jealous and half amazed.
Marc:But here's the question is that what I'm starting to realize and I always knew and I imagine you always knew is that whatever you expect, this is the other side of what you're talking about emotionally to come back to you from performing.
Marc:It's not going to come.
Guest:No, it's not.
Guest:If it does come, you have a lonely life.
Guest:If you're getting your emotional fill from an audience, I'm happy for you, but that's not where it would be okay for me.
Guest:Right.
Guest:And I always used to, I almost envied people that could do it.
Marc:Yeah, I could never do it.
Guest:I wish I could do it.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:You know?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Well, I always thought that my job was to sort of slightly alienate them and then try to get them back.
Marc:That's how I grew up.
Guest:Well, that's like a great exercise.
Marc:I'm a professional at it now.
Guest:Gary Shanling called me like two weeks before he died.
Guest:He'd been going down to the Huntington, the one in the beach.
Guest:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Guest:And he said, I think I invented a new kind of comedy.
Guest:I said, what?
Guest:He said, I'm, it's fascinating.
Guest:I'm up there for the whole time without one laugh.
Yeah.
Guest:And I said, Gary, you invented drama.
Guest:I said, it's the other part of the mass.
Guest:I don't think this is an invention.
Guest:But he was so fascinated that he could talk and nobody reacted.
Guest:He was so tickled with that.
Marc:Really?
Marc:Well, that's a good reaction to it.
Guest:But I used to watch George Burns at 100.
Guest:And even in that Don Rickles documentary, you see him backstage.
Guest:You can barely walk.
Guest:The light hits.
Guest:He's like 20.
Guest:Right.
Guest:And I wish I got that enjoyment out of it.
Marc:Yeah, you never did.
Guest:No, I never did.
Guest:I got enjoyment out of making movies and doing other things, but the live thing, and it's one of the reasons I thought maybe I should try it again to see, because people keep saying, it's different now, it's different now.
Marc:Oh, really?
Marc:But when did you actually do the touring stand-up?
Guest:Okay, so about five years into working on television, I got a call from Neil Diamond.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:to open for him.
Guest:And that became a regular gig.
Guest:So that was the first time I ever went and did that.
Guest:And the first four weeks of doing shows, I was doing my TV bits.
Guest:Like an impressionist, I do a bit, I turn around, I do another bit.
Guest:And then after about a month, I started talking to them.
Guest:And then after about three months, I was just talking to them.
Guest:But, you know, it took me a while to use that arena and to feel comfortable doing it.
Guest:Did you hear that?
Guest:Five dollars.
Yeah.
Guest:Yeah, right.
Guest:Right.
Guest:And by the way, I liked it.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:But then when I had to tour, I didn't want to go on my first record.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:you had to go out and promote or they wouldn't promote right and i didn't choose to do that and i watched it fail and then i booked all these clubs late and it was too late the record company had passed me yeah but that's you know i spent a long time on the road by myself there was that circuit
Guest:that you would do the troubadour, the bitter end, the cellar door, Paul's mall.
Marc:And what are you doing?
Guest:Like 30, 40 or 50 minutes?
Guest:No, I was the headliner.
Guest:I did an hour, two shows, three on the weekend, which was insane.
Guest:I never understood that.
Guest:I, all I wanted to do was get up there and say, good evening, please run and find the other people that were here earlier.
Guest:Just ask them.
Guest:I promise you it went well.
Marc:So that wasn't for you.
Guest:No, I liked it during the hour.
Marc:Sure.
Marc:But the waiting and the loneliness.
Guest:No, it just didn't.
Guest:I think it's, you know, when you start to think that you can possibly make films, then you think, well, that makes sense.
Guest:You put your blood here and then at least it's there.
Marc:And you have total control.
Marc:You're not worrying about an audience.
Marc:You can make decisions.
Guest:Well, by the way, as it turns out, I think you have more control doing stand-up than anywhere anymore.
Guest:Right.
Guest:You know?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:It's hard to get total control anymore.
Guest:But yes, I had total control because I was in it.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:So if they wanted something that I didn't like, I would say, you have to find someone who looks like me.
Marc:Right.
Marc:So was it when you got Georgie Jessel on that one record?
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:I mean, you know, that was great.
Guest:He did it.
Guest:He was happy to do it.
Marc:Oh, that's so funny.
Marc:So the first movie, what was the... You think it came from that short film that made you do Real Life?
Guest:Well, the first movie...
Guest:Actually, I was working with Harry Shearer and Monica Johnson, and I came up with a movie that we actually wrote that I didn't make because it was becoming too complicated.
Guest:What was that?
Guest:It was...
Guest:Remember Werner Earhart?
Guest:Yep.
Guest:Okay, so it was a guy like Werner Earhart who whole gimmick was how to program your dreams.
Guest:Right.
Guest:So it was an est riff?
Guest:It was est.
Guest:And the whole reason to make the movie was the image of 200 people sleeping and he'd walk amongst them.
Guest:And, you know, we had a phrase, be your own REM, R-E-M brand.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And it was a cool story, but I worried every time I went home because I didn't know that I could direct it.
Guest:It seemed like I was writing past the point at which I was comfortable.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And then one day I saw a Margaret Mead quote about the Loud family, which is at the end of the real life.
Guest:And it was such a profound quote.
Guest:This is, I believe, as new and as significant as drama or the novel, a new way in which to look at life by seeing the real life of others portrayed by the camera.
Guest:And then so my movie was we go one step further.
Guest:We not only see the real life of others, but the real life of the camera.
Guest:And so then I became excited about doing that.
Guest:And that I thought I could direct.
Guest:But I even got scared after I got a go and I went to Carl Reiner.
Guest:And I said, do you want to direct this?
Guest:And he read it, and bless his heart, he said, you have to direct this.
Guest:I can't do this.
Guest:This is you.
Guest:You do this.
Marc:So that became... It was so funny.
Marc:It is so funny.
Marc:I always talk about the scene where Grodin's trying to negotiate with you to take the... The dead horse out.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:How did you hook up with Grodin?
Guest:Ever since I saw him on Candid Camera, I thought he was the most natural actor I'd ever seen.
Guest:And I just liked him.
Guest:And he's funny too, right?
Guest:He's funny and he's real.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And, you know, he can play that guy.
Guest:And I just went to him and he said yes.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And the difference between, obviously there's a lot of differences, but between doing bits and doing live comedy is that you can really work the whole thing out, right?
Guest:Well, actually doing live comedy without trying it out in front of an audience is perfect for movies because you can't really try a movie out in front of an audience.
Guest:It just reinforces what you think is funny.
Guest:so you believed you have to yeah you have to yeah if you lose that you're done and and let me tell you something there are examples of filmmakers who have written stories about their lives that were important to them and they make the movie yeah and then
Guest:the movie ends in a certain way that their life ended and that's why they wanted to make it and the studio tests it and the ending seems too down yeah and they convince the filmmaker to do an ending that has nothing to do with his life and he does and the film makes two hundred million dollars yeah that filmmakers done yeah because their compass is out the window right then the next time they sit down to write
Guest:Well, gee, I don't know.
Guest:The last movie ended where I ate an elephant.
Guest:What should I do now?
Guest:You marry the elephant.
Guest:But I'm saying once you give that up in the kind of movies I made, if I had to give that up and a couple of movies, I had to give them up after they were made.
Guest:I made, I wrote a movie, I didn't direct it, called The Scout, about a baseball scout.
Guest:And it ended a certain elegant way.
Guest:And the studio, it was a nightmare for me.
Guest:Because they didn't like the ending.
Guest:And they made the director without, you don't have to see the movie, but it was a scout who was banished to Mexico and found the greatest baseball player ever done.
Guest:Brendan Fraser played him.
Guest:And this guy was nuts and had a breakdown and couldn't even play.
Guest:And the scout took him to a shrink and finally got him to play.
Guest:and the movie ended where all he had to do he just didn't want to play but he took the mound and he did one pitch at 110 miles an hour yeah and that was the end of the movie well the studio said not good enough put the whole game put the big game which defeats the purpose
Guest:Michael Ritchie, bless his heart, did a version of a nine-inning World Series game where this guy was hitting and pitching, and I begged the studio.
Guest:I said, I'm going to get the bad review.
Guest:You won't even remember this.
Guest:Sure enough, remember the New York Times, why would Albert Brooks write such a corny ending?
Guest:So the few times where that's happened...
Guest:I've been kicked in the ass for it.
Guest:I don't mind getting kicked in the ass if I get my movie made that I want.
Guest:Then that's okay.
Guest:What am I going to do?
Guest:It's like you do a bit that you like.
Guest:If they don't like it, then what are you going to do?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Suck it up.
Guest:Right.
Marc:But I think it's very interesting that the training that you got from rehearsing the stuff that you did on television once, that that confidence and that focus and then having it work gave you the confidence to stay with you through your whole life.
Guest:Mark, I don't know how somebody starts today and with social media and they do something and then they go home and if they're tempted, read what people say.
Guest:Because to me, that's just pouring gasoline on a career.
Guest:I mean, in a bad way, smothering them, killing them.
Guest:I never wanted, I didn't want your opinion.
Guest:What do I care what you think?
Guest:The boss is laughing.
Guest:I like it.
Guest:That's it.
Marc:Right, and also I think that's what inspired so many people to do ballsy comedy, take risks.
Marc:I know guys, and I imagine you had an impact on Kaufman and on, well, I mean, there's certain people who are contemporaries.
Guest:He was once very nice.
Guest:He came up to me once after a show and said, you're the reason I got into this.
Marc:He was very nice to me.
Marc:And David Cross, my friend, also a guy who I started with, who was, you know, a fan of yours and would just, you know, he believed, you know, I remember one time I was interviewing him and he, you know, he became big with Mr. Show and a bunch of other stuff.
Marc:And we started together.
Marc:I remember years ago I was on radio and I had done standup with him for years.
Marc:And I said, who, who would have ever thought you'd be the guy?
Marc:And he looked at me and goes, I did.
Guest:Yeah?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Well, I mean, you know, you have to, don't you?
Guest:I guess so, yeah.
Guest:I mean, I guess you can have a nice career if you don't, but everyone along the way does.
Guest:I don't know what your brain's doing.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:But, I mean, there's so many people.
Guest:When I met my wife...
Guest:I was making Mother, and I took her to Paramount to see my office.
Guest:And there's a parking lot there with 4,000 cars in it.
Guest:And she said, who are all these people?
Guest:I said, every one of these cars is someone trying to keep me from doing what I want.
Marc:It was true.
Marc:So that confidence kind of carried you straight.
Marc:There's no movie that you did where you had all the decisions where you don't look at and say, I wish.
Guest:OK, well, I'll tell you in one movie, but I acted in it.
Guest:The in-laws, but it wasn't called that.
Guest:So I got offered this movie to do with Michael Douglas called The Wedding Party.
Guest:And we're gonna do.
Guest:And all I said was, listen,
Guest:Don't ever call it The In-Laws because The In-Laws wasn't my holy grail, but there were so many movie critics and so many people that remember that like it's their child.
Guest:That's great.
Guest:And it was called The Wedding Party.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And they made a trailer called The Wedding Party.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Then they found out they were coming out the same day as Bruce Almighty, which Universal had.
Marc:Jim Carrey movie.
Guest:That's right.
Guest:And the wedding party tested huge.
Guest:And the guy that made it got cocky.
Guest:And Universal said to him, you know, we own the wedding party.
Guest:And all we want is don't come out the same day as Bruce Almighty.
Guest:And the guy said, fuck you.
Guest:I'm testing 96.
Guest:I want that day.
Guest:And they said, well, you can't have the title.
Guest:And I got on the phone.
Guest:With Warners, with him, with Michael Douglas, I begged them.
Guest:I said, please, guys, we're going to get one star taken off just for this title.
Guest:I said, you're going to see my son, Michael, you're going to see the name Peter Falk right next to yours.
Guest:And we don't have to.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:and nobody cared they just didn't care they said too bad michael i like michael and he said you know critics are critics they'll say whatever they want i said i know but i know roger ebert and the in-laws is his holy grail and and don't look please it came out as the in-laws every review in america yeah well albert brooks is
Guest:Maybe as good as Alan Arkin, but not really.
Guest:And Michael Douglas is no Peter Falk.
Guest:I said, why are we reading these names?
Guest:You promised.
Guest:You promised.
Guest:So that's something that I had no control of.
Guest:But was it based on the in-laws?
Guest:Yes, it was a guy.
Guest:It was, yes.
Guest:A CIA guy and a dentist.
Guest:But if you call it the wedding party, you can do it.
Marc:But what about your movies?
Marc:All your movies?
Guest:Except...
Guest:I, I wrote the muse and I, the studio I wrote it for didn't choose to make it.
Guest:And I then had to go get money and it had an ending.
Guest:I liked very much where the Sharon stone character, the movie ended as I originally wrote it where a doctor and a nurse knocked on my door and
Guest:And said she was from an asylum and wrapped her in a straight jacket and took her away.
Guest:And that was the end of the movie.
Guest:And I went to Miramax and Miramax said, we'll make it, but we don't like that ending.
Guest:you know so i added on a little more where she eventually became the head of paramount and it was okay i didn't like it as much as mine and miramax didn't make the movie but i had rewritten it for them and then somebody else offered a better budget and they liked that rewritten script uh-huh
Guest:So that was literally it.
Guest:Every other movie was exactly to the second to the word that I wanted.
Marc:And do you look back at any of them and think, well, I could have done this or that?
Marc:I don't do that.
Marc:You don't?
Marc:Why?
Marc:Because I don't believe it.
Marc:No, I mean, why do it?
Marc:Because you just beat.
Guest:I don't even like watching it.
Guest:No, I like to think things went well.
Marc:And yeah, I mean, I think they did.
Marc:They're all great.
Marc:I mean, I watch them.
Marc:I watch Modern Romance and the Lost in America at least once a year.
Guest:I like looking for comedy in the Muslim world.
Guest:Yeah, yeah, that's great.
Guest:Much more than the release would suggest the people did.
Guest:But that was a nightmare experience for me.
Guest:Because the movie was bought by Sony, released by Sony, trailer was made.
Guest:We were on our way to the Toronto Film Festival.
Guest:And that summer was the Danish cartoons.
Guest:Oh, right.
Guest:And all of a sudden, they won't use the word Muslim in the title.
Guest:And I said, it's why I made it, just to show you that nobody will get killed.
Guest:I'm the buffoon.
Guest:I'm the comedian that can't find the comedy.
Guest:It's not against it.
Guest:We can't use it.
Guest:So I said, I can't make it here.
Guest:I mean, they sent us that, and we tried to make it, and
Guest:Warner Independent, which had that Penguin movie, they did it and put $4 into it.
Marc:So that was a disappointment.
Guest:Yeah, well, that's what you learn.
Guest:If no one's going to advertise, no one's going to come.
Guest:Right.
Guest:When you're young, you think, oh, advertising doesn't mean anything.
Guest:They'll hear about it, and then they'll talk about it.
Guest:Nope.
Guest:Nothing.
Nothing.
Guest:You don't buy NFL football, nobody comes.
Marc:Yeah, yeah.
Marc:Now, defending your life and the mother movies, were these, because you talk about a little in the doc, were these, did you resolve personal issues with those movies in any way?
Guest:Well, defending your life, I didn't.
Guest:I mean, look, you know, fear is always a big issue.
Guest:I can't say that I got over fear because I made that movie.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And occasionally when I still find myself afraid, I think to myself, well, Jesus, if there is a court, if there's anything like what I said, can't I say I made the movie?
Yeah.
Guest:I may still be afraid, but I made the movie.
Guest:Can't that count?
Guest:Mother was really... You know, what Mother says is that these women who raised you gave up their life are not just mothers.
Guest:They're defeated people who had dreams.
Guest:And that was...
Guest:I, I had to realize that before I made it and making it felt even better because, you know, to see your parent like that.
Guest:I think there's a great line in mother where, you know, he, the whole experiment is mother.
Guest:I no longer see you as my, I see you as a failure and it's wonderful.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And what's that your experience with your mom?
Yeah.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Did she, was she around when you made it?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And you know, and it was the time when entertainment weekly would let like a relative review it.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And I actually, she said, honey, they asked me to review it.
Guest:I said, if you don't give it four stars, uh,
Guest:I'm literally never going to talk.
Guest:Oh, I wouldn't.
Guest:Yes, you would.
Guest:You'd take a half a star away and say I wasn't standing up straight.
Guest:Just give it four stars.
Marc:Tell my mother that.
Marc:And she did.
Marc:Yes.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:But did she see herself in the movie?
Marc:Did she?
Guest:You know, I took her to see it.
Guest:And all she said was.
Guest:Oh, some of that reminds me of us.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:I said, some of it.
Guest:Name me one moment that does, you know.
Marc:Well, they don't always see it that way.
Guest:They don't.
Marc:It's weird.
Guest:No.
Marc:My mother, a couple of years ago, I'm going down there tomorrow to Thanksgiving, and I cook.
Marc:Where is down there?
Marc:In Florida.
Guest:Oh.
Marc:So, but I remember I was just cutting vegetables and, you know, casually she said, you know, Mark, when you were a baby, I don't think I knew how to love you.
Guest:Wow.
Guest:But that's a huge admission.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And it's like, thanks for the missing piece.
Guest:No, I, I never, uh, my mother once gave me the most amazing advice when I, I, I saw the first time I ever saw a shrink and you know, that's not good news for them.
Guest:Yeah, I know.
Guest:You really need that?
Guest:Do you really think you need that?
Guest:Yes, I think I need it.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:But she said the most amazing thing.
Guest:She said, well, honey, just remember, the more truthful you are, the more money you'll save.
Yeah.
Guest:Wow.
Guest:I thought, that's the greatest advice for a shrink I've ever heard.
Guest:And then she said, do you want me to come with you?
Guest:No, I'm going to talk about you without you there.
Marc:That's beautiful.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:So do you want to make more movies?
Guest:Well, I think about it.
Guest:Part of the reason I loved the movies was the theaters.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:They're coming back.
Guest:Well, they are.
Guest:But up until now, anybody who would make a movie with me would pretty much do it streaming.
Guest:And it's hard to make a movie.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:The most fun part of it was finally sneaking into the back of the Bruin.
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Guest:You know, like when you made a comedy album.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:If you didn't go to your friend's house and sit them down, you never, ever heard it with an audience.
Guest:And a movie, you could sneak in and, wow, this is playing.
Guest:It's wonderful.
Guest:That thing worked like I thought.
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Guest:You could watch it.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And that was such an ingrained experience.
Guest:So if I could make a deal with someone where I would know that there'd be theaters involved, I might think of it again.
Guest:Do you have a script?
Guest:I might do it again.
Guest:I've got ideas.
Marc:With the book, the story of what happens to America, was that conceived as a movie?
Guest:No, but it was conceived as a book, but it's being...
Guest:possibly as a, as a series.
Guest:Uh, it was supposed to be, it would make a very good limited series or even, uh, and, uh,
Guest:Before COVID, it had 100-mile-an-hour traction.
Guest:And then after three years of no show business, it lost its... Momentum?
Guest:It just... Other things came in.
Guest:It became too expensive at the time.
Guest:It's back being considered again.
Guest:I would be willing to do... I think that would be something that could be great.
Guest:But I have ideas for movies.
Guest:I just have to, you know...
Guest:I have to get all of the skin, the tough skin back.
Marc:Where'd it go?
Guest:The armor.
Guest:It went into a comfortable chair in front of my computer.
Marc:And family.
Guest:Yeah, I mean, you know, but I think I'm going to be acting again soon.
Guest:I'm in discussions with Jim Brooks to play a part in his new movie.
Marc:Oh, yeah?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Well, you and you like because like it seems that from the beginning we just wanted to be an actor.
Marc:And when you when you act, you like being a serious actor.
Guest:Well, I like it.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I mean, I enjoy it.
Guest:And and, you know, when I started, as I say, it's all I wanted.
Guest:And a manager.
Guest:of another comedian once came up to me at a show, a variety show.
Guest:And he said, I know you want to be an actor, but I want to show you something.
Guest:I swear to God, there was a blackboard.
Guest:And he took a piece of chalk and he drew a line.
Guest:He said, that's the stage door.
Guest:And then he drew little stick figures.
Guest:He said, all those people are actors.
Guest:Then he drew a stick figure in the back and he said, that's the comedian.
Guest:then he drew a line right to the front of the door he said if you if you're willing to do comedy that's and i swear to god mark i said give me the chalk i took one of the stick figures in line i drew a bubble yeah hey why did that asshole butt in line i gave him back the chalk he said what is this i said i don't know i thought we were playing like a game
Guest:And he was right, but he was wrong.
Guest:I got in the door, but I never got offered acting.
Guest:And I got deeper and deeper and deeper into comedy.
Guest:And that's when I'm saying I'm on the road in the winter in these clubs doing three shows a night in St.
Guest:Louis going, this isn't acting.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:You know?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And also, I guess also when you do your own movie and you're doing some version of a comedic character that comes from you, I mean, the challenge of doing real acting is different.
Guest:What do you have to do?
Guest:I don't care if it's a comedic character or not.
Guest:It's all acting.
Guest:Right, right.
Guest:I mean, people say, you know, I don't care if you use your own name.
Guest:Sure.
Guest:I mean, let's use Jack Benny.
Guest:Jack Benny on television wasn't the Jack Benny you saw in his house.
Guest:It's a character.
Marc:It is, but sometimes they're closer to that.
Guest:They are close, but you're still doing something.
Guest:You're putting on a coat.
Guest:You have to act it.
Guest:You have to be, you know, let's put it this way.
Guest:The greatest thing Jack Benny taught anybody who was willing to watch was...
Guest:less little teeny so you know I don't believe if you were talking to Jack Baney in his home yeah and you said something odd he would look off to the side you know right but but his character knew how to do all of that perfectly yeah so you know it's it's all acting but
Guest:The world thinks if you have another name and you have a gun, you're a better actor.
Guest:Instead of Mark, if you're Bob and you're a serial killer, somehow you're a better actor.
Guest:It's meaningless.
Guest:You either can present something real or you can't.
Marc:And what do you use to do that?
Marc:I mean, you just have it naturally?
Marc:Do you still have like a...
Guest:When you have to play a heavy, you know... Well, I mean, first of all, it starts with the words.
Marc:Yeah, of course.
Guest:And I'm saying, and the situation.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I mean, I had to convince Nicholas Refn in Drive.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:You know, will people believe you if you... And I said, Nicholas, if you should... If I...
Guest:take a gun and shoot you right through your ear and blood comes out, people will believe me.
Guest:They're not gonna laugh at that.
Guest:They're gonna believe it.
Guest:They have to see it first.
Guest:If you're afraid, they're never gonna see it.
Guest:But if the story is part of it, you come on, maybe you look a certain way, and then you follow the story.
Guest:And if you're an actor, and a good actor,
Guest:you meld into the story you don't stand out right you you're part of the story yeah so the i that was one of the things i learned at carnegie was right that teacher that i told you i love yeah that was something he taught i never forgot
Marc:If he mellowed into the story?
Guest:Well, he was talking about being on stage, and he gave an example.
Guest:He stood in front of a class, and he said, if you're not talking and you're waiting for your line, but you're moving around a little bit, he said, you're diverting attention.
Guest:He said, but if you're completely still, and then the way he scared people, he said, and then...
Guest:And he would point.
Guest:And people jumped.
Guest:You said your line.
Guest:People give attention.
Guest:But it was an example of how to be quiet.
Guest:Because quiet is a huge part of acting.
Guest:There are so many actors that can't be quiet.
Guest:You always see the engine running.
Guest:And you don't want to see that.
Guest:Until they need to, you want quiet.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And that's part of acting.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:People don't talk about it as much.
Guest:And listening too, right?
Guest:Well, that's 90%.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Because if you listen, then you're going to answer better.
Marc:And what was it?
Marc:How did you like working with Judd?
Guest:I liked it.
Guest:I mean, you know, I love Judd.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Judd's funny because when you say what he wants, then you can say stuff.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And then they start yelling things to you from Video Village.
Marc:Right, right.
Marc:Try this.
Guest:Say, I don't think my schmeckle's that big.
Guest:And I would yell back, I'm not going to say schmeckle.
Guest:I don't want to say that in your movie because you'll use it.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:So this part, do you know what it is?
Marc:What the thing you're trying to get?
Guest:Well, it's not for sure.
Guest:So I don't like to be one of those guys.
Guest:But I do know it's a governor of a state.
Guest:You know, Jim hasn't done a movie for many, many years.
Guest:And he's certainly somebody when he calls, you've got to say, what?
Guest:I'm interested.
Marc:Yeah, yeah.
Marc:He's great.
Marc:And what about voiceover stuff?
Marc:Are you doing any?
Guest:I would do more if I got more calls.
Marc:Yeah, yeah.
Guest:You know, I liked the cartoons.
Marc:Yeah, they're fun, right?
Guest:Well, you know, it's funny in show business because there's two things that they tell you in show business.
Guest:How come I'm not getting this?
Guest:Well, you've got to do something and then they'll hear you.
Guest:So after Finding Nemo, I wasn't getting a lot of voices.
Guest:And I said to my agent, what's the problem?
Guest:It was too famous.
Guest:It became too big.
Guest:I said, oh, great.
Guest:So let me get this straight.
Guest:You can't do it because it's nothing, and now you can't do it because it's too big.
Guest:All right, see you later.
Guest:I can't do anything, man.
Guest:I'm supposed to be in a medium-sized failure, and then I'll work forever.
Marc:Yeah, just right in the middle.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Well, it was great talking to you.
Guest:Mark, I enjoyed it.
Marc:I think we did it.
Guest:I hope at least we'll get some nice reaction.
Marc:We will.
Guest:But as we said to the audience, what a weekend.
Marc:Yeah, it doesn't matter.
Marc:It doesn't matter.
Marc:There you go.
Marc:Great, right?
Marc:It was great.
Marc:I'll remember that one.
Marc:Even if I don't listen to this, I'll remember it.
Marc:Again, the documentary, Albert Brooks Defending My Life, is streaming on Max.
Marc:And thank you to Melissa Volpert and everyone at the Georgian Hotel for hosting us there.
Marc:It was very nice.
Marc:Hang out for a minute.
Marc:Okay, so last year I was in London and did a bunch of WTF interviews with guests while I was there, like this one with Rob Delaney from one year ago this week.
Marc:And this is the second one I did with him, but this is a lot happened, as many of you know.
Guest:I haven't done much stand-up post-pandemic because I've been fortunate to be doing a lot of acting work, and I have young kids, and after Henry's death, I don't...
Guest:You know, I massively prioritize family time.
Guest:So I would love to be doing more stand-up, but now with the book and acting, I haven't done much.
Guest:But I was doing a shitload up until the pandemic.
Guest:Really?
Guest:But I've only been on stage.
Guest:Yeah, no, the reason I specified I'm happy to be holding a mic is because I've been doing things where projection was necessary for the last few months, but it's always like a British head mic where, come on, I want to hold my gun.
Guest:You know what I mean?
Guest:So...
Marc:I didn't know there was a thing, a British head mic.
Marc:You mean the TED Talk mic?
Marc:Yeah, the TED Talk mic.
Guest:The wraparound mic?
Guest:Yeah, Brits love that.
Guest:They'll do stand-up in one of those.
Marc:It always looks odd to me.
Marc:I always feel like you're sort of expected to do magic or something.
Marc:Yeah, a little trick.
Marc:Pull a rabbit out of your hat.
Marc:But I was looking at the... I haven't talked to you... No, it's been a long time.
Marc:2010.
Marc:Is that true?
Marc:Is that fucking nuts?
Marc:That's distressing.
Marc:That's when that podcast, when we did that podcast.
Marc:My Lord.
Guest:But I don't feel distant from you.
Guest:No, I'm very abreast of all that you do.
Guest:In fact... You're familiar to me.
Guest:Yeah, The Bad Guys is on heavy rotation in our house.
Guest:You're so good in that.
Guest:Thank Christ Mark Maron is doing cartoons because your voice is so just glorious.
Guest:Oh, good.
Marc:It's so good.
Marc:That's episode 1387 with Rob Delaney, which also includes a short talk with Sam Lipsight.
Marc:You can listen to that for free in whatever podcast app you're using and get all WTF episodes ad-free by signing up for WTF+.
Marc:Just go to the link in the episode description or go to WTFpod.com and click on WTF+.
Marc:And now we will randomly select...
Marc:a guitar riff from the massive archives of improvised guitar riffs, some of them sounding much like the other.
Thank you.
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Thank you.
Marc:Boomer lives.
Marc:Monkey in the Fonda.
Marc:Cat angels everywhere.
Marc:All right, all right, all right.