Episode 1573 - Ali Macofsky
Marc:all right let's do this how are you what the fuckers what the fuck buddies what the fuck of crats what the fuck nicks what's happening i'm mark maron this is my podcast thanks for listening welcome
Marc:Today on the show, I talked to Allie Makofsky.
Marc:She's a comic, very funny comic.
Marc:She's open for me on the road many times.
Marc:She got her start in comedy at age seven doing a prank phone call.
Marc:Yeah, she did prank phone calls on Kiss FM.
Marc:That was the beginning of her show business career.
Marc:But look, before I start doing everything, I just want to say how thrilled I am that Vice President Kamala Harris showed up for fucking work at that debate.
Marc:She was perfect.
Marc:And thank God.
Marc:Now, look, if she doesn't win, the only reason is people are sexist garbage.
Marc:That's the only reason.
Marc:Because if you can watch that or frankly, any day on your phone in the news, if you can watch any of that and still think that that fucking monster is capable of running anything or you're willing to forgive him for whatever flaws he has and think like, well, that guy's the guy.
Marc:You're you're a bad person.
Marc:You're not a good person.
Marc:I don't know what you've told yourself or what things you believe in.
Marc:I think what's happened that a lot of people don't mention is that at some point in time, you know the old saying, I'll believe it when I see it.
Marc:Under the radar, that has now shifted to I'll see it when I believe it.
Marc:And that's a problem, I think, culturally and globally.
Marc:But man, what a relief.
Marc:I was on set and I couldn't watch it.
Marc:So I'm getting updates from Brendan, who is the only guy I trust.
Marc:Maybe.
Marc:Yeah, he's definitely the only guy I trust with political insight.
Marc:And many other things.
Marc:But look, man, it was as good as it could have gone.
Marc:And you got to see who she is.
Marc:You got to see who he is.
Marc:But you do every day.
Marc:So, you know, look, we've got not only a fair fight, not only a good fight, but it's a very obvious choice.
Marc:But thank fucking God.
Marc:And I don't even believe that stuff, really, sometimes.
Marc:Maybe ghosts.
Marc:Anyway, I'll be a Dynasty typewriter in Los Angeles next Monday, September 16th.
Marc:Then I'm at the Elysian here in L.A.
Marc:on Wednesday, September 18th.
Marc:I'll be in Tucson, Arizona at the Rialto Theater on Friday, September 20th.
Marc:Then I'm in Phoenix at the Orpheum Theater on Saturday, September 21st.
Marc:And then back here in L.A., I'm at Largo on Thursday, October 3rd.
Marc:Phoenix, Orpheum Theater on Saturday, September 21st.
Marc:Come be part of it because it'll be interesting.
Marc:So look, I'm having app issues.
Marc:I just had some sort of realization the other day about apps, and I don't have a lot of them.
Marc:I don't use a lot of them.
Marc:But I start to realize that the app is probably the way, for the most part, obviously, obviously, it's the way that these sort of visceral handheld technologies literally take place.
Marc:They take over parts of our brain or they accelerate or expand or engage the parts of our brain that are already a little panicky.
Marc:I know it's all dopamine connected.
Marc:I know that you're going to be, you know, going through the thing you're scrolling or whatever, but I just had this moment.
Marc:I had to put a thing on my, I had to put a thing on my house.
Marc:If you have a house and,
Marc:A lot of insurance companies are getting, you know, they won't give you the coverage that you want for your house if you don't have this thing that you put on your water main, on your main water line.
Marc:It's this chunk of technology, this chunk of equipment.
Marc:that is connected to an app that will detect leaks in your house.
Marc:And if you need to shut it down from wherever you are, your water, you can.
Marc:I guess this is from the insurance company's point of view.
Marc:This is the way that they can get a handle or get ahead of water damage.
Marc:I understand that water damage is horrible.
Marc:Water and fire, though, you know, you give me a choice of the two, I'll take water.
Marc:And now fires are here.
Marc:That's the other thing.
Marc:We thought we got out from under it, California, but now it looks like the fires are here.
Marc:Fire time is here.
Marc:Good luck.
Marc:Godspeed.
Marc:But I got this water, this chunk of water technology on my water main, and I've got an app on my phone that tells me what it's thinking.
Marc:And I've had it for about a week.
Marc:And last night I get an email from my water thing, from my flow thing, my flow regulator, that it detected a small leak.
Marc:And then I'm like, oh, fuck, what is happening now?
Marc:And this is something I didn't have to deal with.
Marc:And now I can look at the app and it detects a small leak.
Marc:But it could be a toilet running.
Marc:It could be whatever.
Marc:So now I've got to alert the person staying at my house.
Marc:Maybe check the water.
Marc:It's just another thing.
Marc:I'm already worried, but now I have concrete reason because I've got a thing with a switch that's saying this is happening.
Marc:And I guess that's good, but it's like the ring camera.
Marc:Mine is set too sensitively because it wasn't picking up coyotes occasionally.
Marc:And at the very least, I'd like to enjoy seeing a coyote in front of my house.
Marc:And now I got it too sensitive.
Marc:So now every time a car drives by, it picks that up and I get that little ring.
Marc:But I just live with that and I get numb to it.
Marc:But now I've got a water app.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And now that, you know, and then I have the that whoop app that, you know, I thought we were going to advertise, but we didn't.
Marc:And now I can't get that off of my wrist.
Marc:So I don't even know.
Marc:how I slept or whether I got enough sleep or what my heart rate is or what my HRV is or what my recovery is, all those things that I don't understand, but I've become reliant on it to know whether or not I can function on any given day.
Marc:Whether or not whatever the thing says, I'm going to live the life I live.
Marc:But it does plant a seed of like, well, I guess I'm not completely up to speed here.
Marc:Where before you just be like, well, I'm a little tired, but I'll get through it.
Marc:Now it's like, well, now I know because.
Marc:So I'm just saying whatever information we're getting, it's just expanding our anxiety.
Marc:And it's kind of broadening the potential for panic and anxiety and concern.
Marc:And again, most of that is just hooked up to some sort of dopamine or cortisol reaction.
Marc:All of it ultimately leads to you becoming more reliant on this extension of your brain.
Marc:I guess...
Marc:I guess I'll find out.
Marc:I'll find out if there's a toilet running and then I'll be able to go, well, this app's not so bad.
Marc:But did I need it?
Marc:Maybe I did.
Marc:I don't know.
Marc:I'll let you know.
Marc:But it's on my mind.
Marc:And that's what they want.
Marc:Reliant.
Marc:You want to be reliant on that thing that says, uh-oh, on your fucking phone.
Okay.
Marc:Oh, my God.
Marc:Does it end?
Marc:Yes, it does.
Marc:You know, I've been watching, I'll be honest with you, in lieu of getting anything productive done in my trailer, I've been watching The American Office, which I have never watched.
Marc:I don't know how I missed everything, but I think looking at it honestly, I really don't watch TV comedies.
Marc:Much like I missed The Office.
Marc:I missed Seinfeld.
Marc:I didn't watch Community.
Marc:A lot of that had to do with the fact that, you know, when some of these things started was before streaming.
Marc:And, you know, I was out at night doing comedy and I just never made a time or I didn't have the drive to sit and watch TV because I was out at night.
Marc:That's the unusual life I live.
Marc:So I'd never really watched The American Office, and I've been watching it from the first episode.
Marc:And what's odd is I learned, look, I knew it was funny, and there's a great ensemble cast, and there's a lot of good comedy, and it's great writing, and Steve Carell is great, but I can't take it.
Marc:I can't take it.
Marc:As funny as that character is, if comedy is based on a sort of cringe element of
Marc:That is cringe without sort of that character has no self-awareness.
Marc:I don't know.
Marc:There's something about it that just gets relentlessly annoying to me.
Marc:And watching them in a binge way where you're just watching one or the other, as funny as it is, I find it almost...
Marc:after a certain point because there's no relief from that character's lack of self-awareness.
Marc:It's funny, but after a few episodes, I'm like, oh my God, it's just, I can't take it.
Marc:Maybe that's an unusual way to look at that show.
Marc:Again, I'm not taking anything away from the brilliance of it.
Marc:Just not for me.
Marc:And then I realized it's the same with Seinfeld.
Marc:I just can't take his character.
Marc:And as funny as it might be, it's just like I can't do it.
Marc:Because it doesn't float in the world of reality enough or something.
Marc:I don't know.
Marc:Again, not diminishing the brilliance of some of these shows.
Marc:There's plenty of heart in the office.
Marc:I get it.
Marc:But it's just not for me, I guess.
Marc:No crime in that.
Marc:Right?
Marc:I can't wait to get home.
Marc:My cats are... Oh my God.
Marc:Doesn't matter.
Marc:Some of you have kids.
Marc:Don't know how you do it.
Marc:I just... Everybody's okay.
Marc:It's going to be okay.
Marc:Look...
Marc:Allie McCofsky has a new YouTube show called Allie's Interview Show, and she's out on tour starting in Maryland on October 3rd.
Marc:You can go to AllieMcKofsky.com to see where she'll be throughout the fall.
Marc:But right now she's here, and this is me talking to my friend and very funny comic, Allie McCofsky.
Guest:I've never vaped.
Marc:I don't want to get involved with it.
Marc:Because I think it looks dumb.
Guest:You'd love it.
Marc:Would I?
Marc:Oh, yeah.
Guest:It's good stuff.
Marc:I probably would.
Marc:I think so.
Marc:But I remember there was a period there where people were getting very ornate vaping equipment.
Marc:Like they had like, you know, almost like when you were buying bongs and shit.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Are they still around?
Marc:Like the fancy vape?
Guest:Well, I wouldn't say that any of them are.
Marc:What's yours look like?
Marc:Just like the regular?
Guest:These are, I like these because they're like skinny and they're easy to.
Marc:They look like the things you used to plug into your computer.
Guest:Yeah, totally.
Guest:Like a little USB.
Marc:Yeah, USB drive.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:But the new ones, like all these new brands of vapes, it's crazy.
Guest:You can like play games on them.
Guest:For the kids.
Guest:There's like light up things on it.
Marc:For clubs.
Marc:You accessorize your vapor.
Guest:It's wild.
Marc:It's crazy.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:But you can't live without it?
Guest:No.
Guest:Oh.
Guest:I try.
Guest:I did once.
Guest:There was one time where I gave it up for like two months.
Marc:i don't know man i it's just like i've been on and off it so long and i know because like now i got the coffee i did that amoeba what's in your bag thing today and there's a dunking across so now i'm jammed oh you were in hollywood i was in hollywood and then i went to the dentist because i did i have a dubious tooth what's that fuck man i don't know i'm getting old god damn it and it's like fucking with my head all of a sudden what's the deal with this tooth
Marc:My gums have always been really kind of fucked up because of my bite.
Marc:But this tooth was just a little sensitive and I felt it up here.
Marc:And, you know, it's okay.
Marc:I just wanted to get a check before I go back to Canada for three weeks.
Marc:And it's probably going to need a root canal.
Guest:I mean, it might be good to save it up and wait until you're in Canada and get some free dental.
Marc:Yeah, but I don't know.
Marc:Can I?
Marc:I think so.
Marc:But not if I don't live there.
Guest:No, I think you can go.
Guest:Like what would happen if you were just on a vacation and you broke your foot in Canada?
Marc:I think you just got to pay out of pocket.
Guest:Oh, really?
Marc:Yeah, it's not just sort of like, oh, there's a place there.
Guest:But people go to Mexico to get like root canals.
Marc:Yeah, but that's not free.
Marc:It's just cheaper.
Guest:Yeah, that's true.
Marc:You know?
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:I don't know.
Guest:I'm sure you have good insurance.
Guest:It doesn't really matter.
Marc:Insurance rarely covers the things that you actually need to do.
Marc:It's probably looked at as a cosmetic surgery or they don't cover all of it.
Marc:I don't fucking know.
Guest:Yeah, I don't know.
Marc:All I can think is it's happening.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:The decay.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:It starts with the teeth.
Marc:Well, that goes on forever.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:So what's going on?
Marc:Like, I think we waited the right amount of time since you opened for me and I learned your life story in the car for me to forget it.
Marc:I'm like, I think I don't remember much about her, even though we talked for hours.
Marc:Maybe it's time to do this.
Guest:Refresh your memory.
Guest:There's a couple of dark spots.
Marc:I know your dad smoked cigars.
Guest:Yeah, that's about it.
Marc:I know you're from down here somewhere.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Right?
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:All right, good.
Marc:We're done, I guess.
Guest:Okay, great episode.
Guest:Now I can check it off the list.
Guest:I did Maren.
Marc:Yeah, you've done a lot of things.
Marc:But then I started thinking about...
Marc:Like the first time I saw you and I thought you were I didn't know what to make of you.
Marc:I just I thought like you were actually like I was.
Guest:Can I just say what?
Guest:I wish I had a story of like, well, I met you.
Marc:Do you?
Guest:No, but it's fun to do that.
Marc:Well, I think you always kind of kept aloof.
Guest:Well, in what way?
Marc:I don't know.
Marc:The first time I saw you, you were getting out of Joe Rogan's car.
Guest:Was I?
Marc:Yes.
Guest:Oh, we were coming from the improv.
Marc:Oh, you remember that one time you were in this car?
Guest:Yeah, because I've never... That was like our first time carpooling before, so it was very exciting.
Marc:And it was in that vet?
Marc:Was it the vet?
Marc:Or was it like a Camaro?
Guest:I think we had a Tesla.
Guest:I think it was just like a Tesla.
Marc:Oh, I don't know.
Marc:But like I was at the store and, you know, whatever my feelings about Rogan are, what they are.
Marc:But then I see you climb out.
Marc:I'm like, what?
Marc:Who the fuck is this person?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Where did she come from?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:A lot of opinions can be formed just from that one.
Marc:Why is she getting out of Joe Rogan's car?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Well, I didn't think anything dubious.
Marc:Sure.
Marc:But I'm just sort of like, why is that lady aligned with that guy?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Well, it's funny because sometimes I'll be doing certain shows, like whether it's headlining or just like locally, and depending on the audience or the neighborhood, the host will be like, oh, do you want me to say Rogan?
Guest:And I like look out at the audience and I'm like, not tonight.
Guest:I think we're good.
Guest:You can say something else.
Marc:Well, you know, it's a very odd thing because, like, I mean, you open for me, and, you know, my audience is what it is, a very polite, grown-up bunch.
Guest:That's my credit when I'm on the east side.
Marc:Is it Marin?
Guest:Yeah, I go Marin.
Guest:You can say Marin for this one.
Marc:But when you go into, like, what, where do you use the Rogan one?
Guest:If I'm, if there's, like, if I'm doing, you know those don't tell shows?
Yeah.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:They're like these kind of like secret lineup, random venue shows.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And a lot of times they're at like CrossFit gyms for some reason.
Guest:So if I do one of those shows and it's a lot of like jacked dudes in the audience, I'm like, I need them on my side from the jump.
Guest:So I'm like, you can use Rogan.
Marc:But like how many times did you do Rogan?
Guest:Well, I went on tour with him.
Guest:I did a couple of dates opening for him.
Guest:I would say maybe like six times.
Marc:At the beefy guy rallies?
Marc:At the... The 90% male audience shows?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:But it's great because they bring their girlfriends and their girlfriends show up and they're like, someone.
Marc:Oh, good.
Guest:Someone for us.
Marc:A lady talking.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:I don't get to do that.
Guest:It was nice.
Guest:It was fun.
Guest:Yeah, it was fun.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:But you did a lot of them or just a few?
Guest:I did a few of those.
Guest:And then back when he was living out here, I would do a lot of his local shows at the Ice House or the Store or things like that.
Marc:You were just in that crew?
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah, because when I was like a year into comedy, I started doing Kill Tony.
Marc:Right.
Guest:And so I was like a regular on that podcast.
Guest:How does that work?
Marc:You go up there and there's a panel of of guys who just, you know, shit on your jokes.
Marc:Well, because I remember doing it once early on when it was like in the belly room, but I never really understood the concept.
Marc:I'm not sure I do now, but clearly it's very popular.
Guest:Yes.
Guest:It's like a live open mic and podcast.
Guest:Yes.
Guest:Where anyone can sign up.
Guest:You put your name in a bucket.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:You sign up.
Marc:Even for Madison Square Garden?
Guest:Even for Madison Square Garden, I think, yeah.
Marc:So just like local New York comics?
Guest:I think for their bigger shows, like they'll have certain people who are definitely going on.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:But then they'll still do a few random polls.
Guest:Yeah.
Yeah.
Guest:But, yeah, you just sign up, and if you get your name pulled out of the bucket during the show, Tony Hinchcliffe, Brian Redman, and then two comedian guests will watch you do a minute of comedy.
Marc:A minute.
Guest:Yeah, just one minute.
Guest:And so when I was starting out, I was— And then comment on it.
Guest:And comment on it, yeah.
Guest:So it can either go really well, and it's really fun, or it can just be—
Guest:horrible and devastating yeah yeah which also I think because their audience is so big yeah it's like even getting shit on yeah is like people's dreams come true yeah right like it still does well for them by doing poorly it does yeah because you like garner this weird audience who like likes and they come see you when you suck
Guest:I don't know if they come see you.
Marc:But you're one of the people that was on Kill Tony.
Guest:But you've been on.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Now you're known.
Marc:But you did that when I was at the store.
Guest:Yeah, when I was up in the belly room.
Marc:Yeah, right.
Guest:So I just, I put my name in because I was doing open mics at the time and like local small shows.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:So I would sign up for it and I got pulled out of the bucket a few times and did fairly well.
Marc:For you though, you're a joke person.
Marc:So like a minute, that's like what, four jokes?
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah, especially early on in stand-up.
Guest:Like, all my jokes were just, like, two sentences.
Marc:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Marc:So it's good for that.
Guest:So it was helpful.
Guest:And it was good just for—because I became, like, a regular on that show.
Guest:So every week I would perform a new minute.
Guest:Which was cool because... In the ballet room.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Because all the guests were changing.
Guest:So it was cool to be able to, like, if you were on the panel, to be able to say, like, Marc Maron saw a minute of my material.
Guest:Right, right.
Guest:And so it was helpful, just kind of... It felt like school in a way.
Guest:And I had, like, dropped out of school, so it's like... Did you do Rose Battle, too?
Guest:I did it a few times.
Marc:I don't understand that either.
Marc:For me, going to the store, and I guess this is maybe old guy shit, where there's part of me that's like, what the fuck is this?
Marc:It's not the way you do it.
Marc:You know what I mean?
Marc:It's a gimmick.
Marc:And now I'm starting to realize, all right, old guy, so what?
Marc:Who cares?
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:It's like an extracurricular.
Guest:It's like if that's your only thing, then sure, that's kind of like.
Marc:But it's stage time of a sort.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:And roast battle is just what you get up in front of.
Marc:But that's not like a panel of comics.
Marc:You just get you just.
Guest:Well, sometimes I think there would be like a panel of comics judging.
Guest:So usually it's always like Jeff Ross was there.
Guest:And then it would be like whoever was in.
Marc:And you just shit on you just like play the dozens with somebody.
Guest:I guess.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:You just kind of go back and forth.
Marc:Uh huh.
Guest:But I think it's like a good comedy challenge of like writing a joke differently.
Marc:I'm not good at the roast jokes.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I had fun with it, but it definitely like after a while, I was like, I don't want to focus my energy on this.
Marc:But you feel like doing those things like, but did you do Rogan's podcast?
Guest:Yeah, I did it twice.
Marc:In Austin?
Guest:Yeah, both times were in Austin.
Marc:And he sat there for three hours?
Guest:Yeah.
Yeah.
Guest:I'm good for about one, I'd say.
Marc:I've never really watched it.
Marc:So what happens?
Marc:So you do, like he interviews, you do bits, and then for two hours you just listen to these other guys talk, kind of, or chime in?
Marc:Is it like morning radio?
Guest:No, I don't even know what to, I like, I remember the first time I did it.
Marc:Do you smoke a lot of weed when you do it?
Guest:I don't smoke any weed.
Guest:I'm sober.
Marc:Okay.
Marc:I forgot.
Marc:Well, now I know again.
Guest:Oh my God.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:So no, I don't smoke.
Guest:I just vape.
Guest:But I remember like going into it being like, okay, it's three hours.
Guest:I like had a big breakfast.
Guest:I was like, I got a fuel up for this.
Guest:And I was like calling my friends like, oh my gosh, do you have any, like any advice or whatever?
Guest:And my friend goes, if he starts playing videos of like animals being shot, you know, it's over.
Guest:It's over.
Guest:It's like after an hour of the interview, he's like, hey, Jamie, pull up that video of the deer.
Marc:Oh, so they do a lot of that kind of stuff.
Guest:Some stuff like that.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:It's kind of weird that I've never really watched it.
Marc:And I don't know if that's a principle thing or I don't listen to podcasts and I don't really, you know, it's not what I go to at all.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:I've seen clips and stuff, but I don't know what it would be like to be on there.
Marc:I did it here, but he just wanted to hear Candison stories.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:And I don't remember it being that long.
Marc:Maybe it was.
Guest:Yeah, I could have been.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:I feel like you're a good talker.
Marc:No, I can talk.
Guest:Yeah, you can, yeah.
Marc:Yeah, I just, you know, it's just like, I don't, what it really comes down to with the way the world is set up now in terms of like how one garners an audience is when it comes right down to it, whatever's going to go on between me and Joe is going to be tense.
Marc:You know, I've known the guy since he started.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:And like I do have, and I've shared, you know, not particularly fawning opinions of him.
Marc:So, you know, the exchange is not going to be great.
Marc:It'll be, you know, but there's nothing to gain from me because, you know, his people already don't like me for whatever reason.
Marc:And I'm sure I could do it.
Marc:But like, what do I need to do it for?
Guest:Sure.
Guest:Sure.
Marc:You know what I mean?
Marc:I've got this nice cultivated group of grown up people that enjoy coming to see me and there's plenty of them.
Guest:I'm sure there is a Venn diagram in which your audience and Joe Rogan's audience.
Guest:Yeah, there's like nine guys.
Marc:There's nine guys that aren't honest with their friends.
Marc:Who like me as well.
Marc:It's probably, it's all in my head.
Guest:It doesn't matter.
Guest:Yeah, it totally is.
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I don't know.
Guest:I just, I could imagine you doing one of his shows and doing very well.
Marc:You know, I wonder, I wonder, like, but I just don't, you know, there's just, he's got people on there where I'm like, I don't even want to sit in the same chair as that fucker.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Not comics.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Just people.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:That's like, you're going to try to make out, you know, Tucker Carlson a person.
Marc:I don't need that.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:You can make Alex Jones a person.
Marc:I'd rather them just be monsters.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:I know you can't comment.
Marc:And I understand it's a difficult position to be put in.
Marc:And I've dealt with it before.
Marc:I understand that, like, you know, on another level, you know, he's very good for comedy in terms of getting visibility.
Guest:Totally.
Guest:Yeah, I think it's very complex because it's like, sure, there's plenty of things that I like disagree with him on.
Guest:But I also am like, I think what he uses his comedy for is like so helpful to young comics.
Guest:And yeah, just like putting comedy on the map and...
Guest:Yeah, I understand that.
Marc:I mean, I used to feel that when I did Opie and Anthony.
Marc:I'd go in there and I'd be like, oh, my God, is there going to be like some woman blowing a guy for the second half of the show?
Marc:Is there going to be some sort of strange, racist clusterfuck happening that I have to kind of sit out and just not comment on?
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:And I guess there's a similarity.
Marc:It's not as extreme as that.
Guest:Yes.
Marc:But you are sitting there.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:So it gets to the point where you're like, no, I'm out.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:And yeah, I'm just I'm so easily bendable.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:You put me around that and I'm like, hell yeah.
Marc:Yeah, do it.
Marc:Get the tits out.
Marc:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Marc:I mean, I'm not quite like that, but you do.
Marc:There is part of me that's sort of like, all right, well, I guess I'll just hang in.
Marc:So wait, so where'd you grow up again?
Marc:Like San Diego?
Guest:No, I grew up in Long Beach.
Marc:Oh, right here.
Guest:Yeah, I grew up in Long Beach.
Guest:But I went to school in Orange County.
Guest:So it's weird because I'm like, I would love to be able to claim Long Beach harder.
Guest:But I feel like because I went to school in Orange County, I feel like that is really kind of what does Long Beach mean?
Marc:Like, how is it defined?
Marc:I mean, I know it was sort of like a rapper place, right?
Guest:Right.
Guest:Parts of it.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah, like Northside Long Beach.
Marc:Yeah, yeah.
Marc:It was like big hip-hop.
Guest:Yeah, Snoop Dogg.
Marc:Yeah, yeah.
Guest:Cameron Diaz, Sublime.
Marc:Yeah, that's kind of an interesting mix.
Guest:Me.
Marc:Cameron Diaz comes from there?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:She still lives down there?
Guest:Her and Snoop Dogg went to school together.
Marc:Isn't that great?
Guest:I know.
Marc:Snoop Dogg's become this kind of like lovable kind of.
Guest:He just won't stop.
Marc:This lovable pot clown.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:It's like, what would make this more fun?
Marc:And see if Snoop will do it.
Guest:And he will.
Guest:He will.
Marc:Apparently he made the Olympics bearable.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:I didn't watch any of it.
Guest:Well, and it's so funny because he's like pretty old now, I think.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:But he looks great.
Marc:I think he's got like great grandkids or something.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:He's got to be like, I don't know how old he is.
Marc:He's a good actor too.
Guest:You think so?
Marc:Sometimes.
Guest:What has he acted in?
Marc:He was amazing in, what's that one where he plays the, he's in a wheelchair.
Marc:Oh, it's training day.
Marc:He's got like a bit part in training day where they're busting drug dealers.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:And, you know, he's in a wheelchair and he was good in Baby Boy.
Marc:Fucking great.
Guest:I don't know what that is.
Marc:That's a masterpiece.
Marc:John Singleton movie.
Guest:Okay.
Marc:It's great.
Marc:Taraji Henson's in it.
Marc:But yes, Snoop plays the boyfriend that was in prison.
Marc:And he's great.
Guest:Interesting.
Marc:You gotta watch that movie.
Guest:Okay.
Marc:I used to plug it all the time.
Guest:I will.
Marc:I think it's a great movie.
Guest:Did you see Sing Sing?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:I had the real guy on here.
Guest:You had him on?
Guest:When's that coming out?
Marc:It's out.
Guest:Wow.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:Oh.
Marc:That was great.
Guest:I'm gonna have to listen.
Marc:Did you like that movie?
Guest:I loved it.
Marc:All right, so Long Beach.
Marc:So now, like, what is it?
Marc:Are you Jew?
Marc:Half Jew.
Marc:Right, I remember.
Guest:Dad's side.
Marc:The cigar-smoking Jew.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:So, like, what was going on down there?
Marc:What's he do down there besides smoke cigar?
Guest:Both of my parents were longshoremen.
Guest:So they worked at the docks in Long Beach and San Pedro.
Marc:Your mom was a longshoreman?
Guest:Yeah, my mom got my dad into the long-shoring game.
Marc:What does that entail?
Yeah.
Guest:I have no idea.
Guest:There's like a hundred different jobs you can have as a longshoreman.
Marc:So longshoreman is like a union designation?
Guest:Super union.
Marc:So like the longshoreman union.
Guest:ILWU.
Marc:Right.
Marc:But that covers a lot of different doc jobs.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:Probably.
Guest:I'm not.
Guest:It's such a weird job.
Marc:Yeah, just think like on the waterfront or something.
Guest:Yeah, totally.
Guest:It is on the waterfront.
Guest:Yeah, all the cargo that comes in.
Marc:So that was their gig?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Their whole life?
Guest:My mom, no, neither of them their whole life, but pretty much most of my life.
Guest:Yeah, I think they had done it for probably 20 years or so.
Marc:Oh, and they're both retired?
Guest:My mom retired.
Guest:My dad's like in the process of retiring.
Marc:Yeah?
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:How many cigars is he smoking?
Guest:He's cut back.
Guest:He's maybe on like one a day.
Marc:Oh, really?
Guest:Yeah, but he was like bad for a while.
Guest:He would do like five cigars a day.
Marc:Just all day long.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Not like the little mini cigars, like a full cigar.
Marc:Full like 45 minutes smoke.
Guest:Oh, yeah.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Does he chomp on him?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Is he a chomper?
Guest:Oh, he's a chomper.
Guest:And because he works down at the docks and he drives the trucks around, people hate.
Guest:They're like, was Larry in this car before me?
Guest:Because it'll just reek of cigars because it's an outdoor job.
Guest:So he can just kind of kick back, smoke cigars.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:So he's a character.
Guest:He's such a character.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:I remember you telling me stuff about him.
Marc:Was he into comedy?
Guest:I think so.
Guest:Yeah, he loves Rodney Dangerfield.
Guest:Right.
Guest:And he'll do impressions of Rodney all the time.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:He's very silly.
Marc:How did his family get out here?
Marc:Do you have grandparents?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Well, my grandpa's dead.
Guest:My grandma's waiting eagerly to die, but she's around.
Marc:But you grew up with them in your life?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:My grandpa, he died when I was pretty young, like around seven or eight, but they- Was your dad's parents?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:These are my dad's parents.
Marc:Are they like Jews from the East coast?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:My grandpa, I don't think he, I think my grandpa's from out here.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:My grandma grew up in Brooklyn.
Guest:She was saying like when she was growing up, there would literally be sheeps in Brooklyn.
Guest:Like it was a lot of like kind of farms.
Guest:Wow.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And, um, and her family was like super poor and
Guest:And then she moved out to like Culver City.
Marc:Uh-huh.
Guest:And.
Marc:Everything turned around.
Guest:Everything turned around.
Marc:She met your grandfather.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And they had like a furniture business or something or a liquor store business.
Marc:Classic.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And they got eloped.
Marc:They eloped.
Guest:They eloped.
Marc:Were they brought up Jewy?
Guest:Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
Marc:Really?
Guest:Oh, yeah.
Guest:Very Jewy.
Marc:So you had that component.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:There.
Guest:Yeah, definitely.
Guest:But my my dad in particular, very like laid back.
Guest:He's like casual Jew.
Guest:And I remember when I was going through the phase of my life where I'm like looking for meaning.
Guest:When does that stop?
Marc:You're not in it anymore?
Guest:No, I still have that part of me that wants community and whatever.
Guest:I love that.
Guest:I do.
Guest:There's something so fun about it.
Marc:No, I just, like, every few years I'm like, what am I doing?
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:And then, like, there's a clock on it now.
Marc:It's a fucking nightmare.
Marc:So do you have, like, does your dad have siblings?
Guest:Yeah, he has three other siblings.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Are they around?
Yeah.
Guest:They're all around.
Marc:Oh, yeah?
Guest:Mm-hmm.
Guest:But they're, yeah, they're, like, much more religious, and I remember I wanted to be more Jewish.
Marc:When you were how old?
Guest:I would say this was, like, middle school.
Guest:Everyone started having, like, bat mitzvahs and bar mitzvahs.
Marc:Your cousins.
Yeah.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Yes.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:And I was like, I want to do that.
Guest:And my dad's like, it's expensive, which felt kind of like a bar mitzvah, you know, very Jewish.
Guest:He's like too expensive.
Guest:He's like, just have a party.
Marc:We can do one.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:But not with many people.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:We had a backyard party for my 13th.
Guest:You did?
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:But they didn't belong to a synagogue?
Guest:No.
Guest:And then I remember one year for Hanukkah, I was like, Dad, can I please light the menorah?
Guest:And he was like, yeah, just blow out the candles when you're done.
Guest:Just that type, you know.
Marc:It sounds like he just was over it.
Yeah.
Marc:That happens when you come from Jewiness.
Marc:You're just sort of like, ugh.
Guest:But my grandma, very Jewish.
Guest:My mom, she's not Jewish, and so we would do Christmas at our house.
Guest:My grandma would not come over if we had a Christmas tree up.
Marc:Really?
Guest:Yeah, she would not come to visit us.
Marc:Wow, this sounds like an entire section of Alex Edelman's show.
Marc:You need to capitalize on this half Jew thing.
Guest:I'll do a one woman.
Marc:Yeah, do a one woman about Christmas trees and cigars.
Guest:I got to get Burbiglia to back me up.
Marc:Oh, yeah.
Marc:Be real earnest.
Marc:Wear one of those wraparound TED Talk mics.
Guest:I would love to.
Marc:Scatter a few random things on the stage.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:So your mom never converted?
Yeah.
Marc:Why should she?
Marc:Your dad didn't give a shit.
Guest:I want to say no, but I feel like she took classes, but I don't think she officially converted.
Marc:She took how to be married to a Jew classes?
Guest:Yeah, it didn't work out well.
Guest:They did get divorced, but she tried.
Marc:What do I do with this Jew courses at the Long Branch Community Center?
Marc:Long Beach Community Center?
Guest:Complain.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Try to tolerate it.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:And don't take them too seriously.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:When did they get divorced?
Guest:I got divorced when I was about five, I think.
Marc:Oh, so you barely knew them as a couple.
Guest:I think that's the best time.
Guest:If there's any parents listening, if you're going to get divorced, do it when the kid's young.
Marc:So there's not this weirdness?
Guest:Yeah, because you don't really know a difference.
Guest:It's like they're two separate people who I love, but imagining them together, I'm like, it's so strange.
Marc:Did they both live down there, though?
Guest:Yeah, they were both in Long Beach.
Marc:So how far of a drive?
Guest:For what?
Marc:To go see one or the other between them.
Guest:Not for like 10 minutes.
Marc:Oh.
Marc:And they're friends?
Guest:They've gone through their periods, but they're friendly, yeah.
Guest:Now if we do like family get-togethers, everyone's there.
Guest:You have siblings?
Guest:Two older sisters, yeah.
Marc:You do?
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Makovsky's?
Guest:Well, now they're married, so no.
Marc:Older sisters?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:You were the youngest one?
Guest:I'm the baby.
Marc:Did they end up with normal lives?
Guest:So normal.
Guest:The most normal.
Guest:Very normal.
Guest:They have babies.
Guest:They got married.
Guest:Everything's just very by the book.
Marc:Did they do the Jewish thing or no?
Guest:My oldest sister, yeah.
Guest:She converted.
Marc:Oh, really?
Guest:Yep.
Marc:Married a Jewish guy?
Guest:She just had her baby's bris.
Marc:Bris?
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Come over.
Marc:Cut it off.
Guest:Little Moishi.
Marc:That's his name?
Guest:That was one of the options.
Marc:Oh.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:What'd they go with?
Guest:They went with Oliver.
Marc:Much different.
Guest:Yeah, very different vibe.
Marc:So she's down there, too?
Marc:They're all here?
Guest:No.
Guest:She's in Arizona, and then my other sister's in the Bay.
Marc:Oh, that's nice.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Arizona?
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Like Scottsdale?
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Scottsdale Jews?
Guest:Yeah, your joke about Josh.
Guest:Josh.
Guest:That's her husband's name.
Guest:It cracks me up.
Marc:Josh, Barry, Seth.
Guest:Yep.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:I'm talking...
Marc:Who's the guy who made that joke?
Marc:Greg Proops.
Marc:He says, it was at the Montreal Comedy Festival.
Marc:He's like, I was just talking to three guys named Josh.
Guest:That's so funny.
Marc:It's show business.
Guest:That's also Greg Proops from me and my dad would always, because I'm always like, was my dad like a big comedy guy?
Guest:And like growing up, all my memories are like watching Whose Line Is It Anyway with him, Last Comic Standing.
Marc:So he liked to get in the laughs?
Guest:Yeah.
Yeah.
Marc:So what happened?
Marc:So what's the age difference?
Marc:So your sisters split?
Guest:My sisters are seven and five years older than me.
Marc:That's a lot.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:So I was kind of a whoopsie.
Marc:Oh, really?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:My mom says I'm like a gift from God, but.
Marc:So she left all the, well, I mean, they got divorced when those kids were older.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:So my sisters like know them as a unit.
Marc:Right.
Marc:What did they report on that?
Guest:I think it was, like, all good.
Guest:It was fairly nice.
Marc:We never know.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:What's going on.
Guest:Totally.
Marc:So you were kind of a latchkey kid for— Oh, yeah.
Marc:Oh, yeah.
Marc:From what, 14 on, 13 on?
Guest:No, I would say—
Guest:pretty early on i mean my sisters kind of raised me in some ways because they were like the grown-ups you know what they turn you on to well that's the kind of i always hear these stories about the cool older sibling yeah and i think in some ways like they did i think my humor as a young girl was much more mature yeah for my like i was seven years old like making kind of inappropriate jokes or like making the adults laugh right
Guest:So I think because of me wanting to fit in with them, I knew how to like talk like a grown up.
Guest:But I was too young.
Guest:My voice was like, hey, you know.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:So I think that that's what helped.
Guest:But they were like very, you know, they listen to pop music.
Guest:Like I didn't get turned on anything cool or start smoking cigs.
Marc:No cigs?
Guest:No.
Guest:But they did.
Guest:I did that more on my own with my friends.
Guest:Like once I got into middle school.
Marc:So where does it like start to go south for you?
Guest:Pretty early on.
Marc:When do you define yourself against the grain?
Guest:Well, this is like a really weird fact that I've told you, but I'll refresh your memory.
Marc:An alley fact?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:When I was seven, I was... Oh, yeah.
Guest:Getting ready for school with my sisters.
Guest:We're listening to the radio.
Guest:Kiss FM with Ryan Seacrest.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And I'm like, I want to call in.
Guest:I want to like hear my voice on the radio.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:That sounds cool.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I hear other people calling in.
Guest:I want to call in.
Marc:And you're how old?
Marc:Seven?
Guest:I'm seven.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:So I go to my oldest sister and I'm like, what's the number?
Guest:You know the number.
Guest:What's the number?
Guest:Give it to me.
Guest:And she's like, I'm not giving you the number.
Guest:If you get on the radio, my friends are going to hear you.
Guest:You're going to embarrass me.
Guest:I'm not giving you the number.
Guest:Right.
Guest:So I'm like, okay, fine.
Guest:But now she tries calling in.
Guest:I've given her this idea.
Guest:So she calls in.
Guest:She doesn't get through.
Guest:She's in high school.
Guest:So my dad asked to take her.
Guest:So my dad and her are on their way to school.
Guest:Me and my other sister are at home.
Guest:I go into her room.
Guest:I hit redial.
Guest:I get in immediately.
Guest:But I have no game plan.
Guest:I haven't thought this through.
Guest:And so I'm like screaming to my sister.
Guest:I'm like, what do I say?
Guest:What do I do?
Guest:She's like, ask for Britney Spears tickets.
Guest:So I'm like, okay.
Guest:So I'm talking to Ryan Seacrest.
Guest:I'm like, hi, Ryan.
Guest:He's like, how old are you?
Guest:I'm like, I'm seven.
Guest:I was just calling to see if I can get Britney Spears tickets.
Guest:And he's like, okay, can you sing a Britney Spears song for us?
Guest:I'm like, of course.
Guest:So I started singing Toxic by Britney Spears.
Guest:I'm seven years old.
Guest:I'm singing like, the taste of your lips, I'm on a ride.
Guest:And I feel like I sing a good amount of the song.
Guest:No one's stopping me, so I'm just going for it.
Guest:And at the end he goes, we don't have Britney Spears tickets, but we have American Idol tickets.
Guest:And I was like, I'll only go if they're VIP.
Marc:Yeah, you said that?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And he's like, who is this child demanding VIP?
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:Like, that's not enough for her.
Guest:She's seven.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And so we keep going with the conversation.
Guest:He's like, where's your parents?
Guest:I'm like, I don't know.
Guest:It's seven in the morning.
Guest:He's like, what's happening?
Guest:So at the end of the call, he's like, stay on the line.
Guest:Our producer wants to talk to you.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:So I stay on the line.
Guest:The producer gives me his phone number and he's like, have your dad call us when he gets back.
Guest:We have an idea.
Guest:So I'm like, okay.
Guest:So my dad gets back.
Guest:I'm like, hey, dad, just talk to Ryan Seacrest.
Guest:Here's the number of the producer.
Guest:We'll talk to you.
Guest:And so my dad calls and they're like, we want to do this like prank calling thing.
Guest:We want to see if it'll work.
Guest:Because I think they did it with like Jimmy Kimmel and those people on K-Rock back in the day.
Guest:There was a bit like that.
Guest:So they were like, we want to try this.
Guest:Maybe not a kid, but a young person.
Guest:Right.
Guest:So like we want to see if this will work.
Guest:So my dad drives me up to Hollywood and we go to the studio.
Guest:It's right off Hollywood and Highland.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And we record like five episodes.
Marc:What do you do?
Guest:We pre-record five episodes.
Marc:You just call people?
Guest:One I called the DMV.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:To see if my sister can get a new driver's license photo because she looks really ugly in hers.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:and you're clearly a kid i'm clear i'm so clearly a kid yeah hi um i'm just calling to see if my sister she looks like an ugly duckling yeah and so we do calls like that i think i called like amoeba and i was just singing to them i'm like do you know what this song is and i would sing whatever the popular song was right um did people answer you like like what do you know like what the dmv say
Guest:Well, the DMV, we weren't able to get through to them.
Guest:And so we ended up using my sister to pretend because my sister was up there with me.
Guest:Okay.
Guest:The whole family came.
Guest:It's our big Hollywood break.
Guest:No, the oldest sister.
Guest:And so she came up with me and she pretended to be the DMV person.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Just because we're like, we got to get this one.
Marc:Oh, you fudged it.
Guest:We faked it.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:And then at a certain point, a lot of those calls were done by actors because there was a law about prank calling.
Wow.
Marc:Oh, so they're all fake.
Guest:So we had to eventually stop, like I think in the last year of me doing it.
Marc:How long did you do it?
Guest:I did it for about three years.
Guest:Really?
Guest:Three and a half years, yeah.
Guest:I did it from when I was seven to I think 11.
Marc:And how many did you do, like 100?
Guest:I mean, there would be four a week, and then on Friday people would pick their favorite to be played.
Marc:So you're getting paid?
Guest:Not at first, and then they're like, oh, this is illegal.
Guest:We have to start paying you.
Marc:So did you get into AFTRA because of it?
Guest:I actually, maybe I did.
Guest:It was a really strange experience because it truly happened by, like, pure coincidence.
Guest:And so, like, I remember, you know, then they got me an agent or, like, a manager or something, and they would send me on auditions, and I had no idea what I was doing.
Guest:Like, I got brought into Disney to do a Hannah Montana audition.
Guest:Mm-hmm.
Guest:And they're like, OK, like, can you do a monologue?
Guest:And I was just like, what's that?
Guest:And they're like, you can go.
Guest:I was like, OK.
Marc:Oh, that's Miley's show.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Oh, yeah.
Marc:Were you a fan of that show?
Guest:Once it came out.
Guest:Oh, yeah.
Guest:I was like, I auditioned for that.
Guest:I bombed it.
Marc:I have no sense of her other than her pop star-ness.
Marc:Oh, I just got a record of hers.
Guest:You would love her.
Marc:No, I love her.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:I mean, I love everything about her, but I don't know her music really, but I know she can sing her ass off.
Guest:Have you heard her do like the covers of like... Yeah, I've seen her do that stuff on reels and whatnot.
Marc:And I believe my buddy is managing her now.
Marc:I'd love to talk to her, but it just hasn't happened.
Marc:But I was doing that Amoeba What's in Your Bag thing and I got her last record.
Guest:Nice.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Like she's a, I think she's like powerful person.
Guest:She's the real deal.
Marc:Totally.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:So you didn't get that role and you went out on other stuff?
Guest:Yeah, I never got anything.
Marc:But that's where you got the show business bug?
Guest:Well, that's like, no, because I really enjoyed doing it.
Guest:It was so fun.
Guest:And I guess it just, it wasn't that I got the show business bug.
Guest:It was more that like...
Guest:My idea for what a job could be changed.
Marc:Oh, yeah.
Guest:I was like, oh, you can just do like silly stuff and make money.
Marc:These people just talking on microphones making money.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:So I feel like that's kind of what the shift was for me.
Marc:Oh, yeah.
Guest:And then I went through the period of being a has-been, you know, in middle school.
Marc:Did they know you at school?
Guest:Oh, yeah.
Guest:I was a big deal at school.
Marc:Really?
Guest:Oh, yeah.
Guest:I had fake friends.
Guest:It's like all this stuff.
Guest:It's just so funny picturing an 11-year-old kid in middle school being like, oh, did you know that Nick only dated you because you were on the radio?
Guest:I'm like...
Marc:Did you have an entourage?
Guest:I had a bit of an entourage.
Guest:Yeah, I had some friends.
Guest:They were using me for Shark Tale's movie premiere tickets.
Marc:Did they go to the studio with you?
Guest:Not that I can remember.
Marc:So your dad would have to drive you in every time?
Guest:Well, so eventually.
Marc:Or they'd send a car?
Guest:So, yeah, so my dad used to drive me in and then he gave it to my sister.
Guest:He was like, you can drive her in.
Guest:And then eventually they would have someone from Kiss FM bring me in.
Guest:So they'd have their like wrapped car with like Ryan Seacrest face all over it.
Guest:Come pick me up from school.
Guest:Everyone would know because I'd always leave one day a week.
Guest:We'd make it we'd pre-record calls.
Guest:So they'd pick me up on like a Tuesday, like half an hour before school ended.
Guest:And people would be like, Ali's going to Hollywood.
Marc:You were a star.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:I did a parade or two.
Guest:I did a local parade.
Guest:Did you?
Guest:Uh-huh.
Guest:The Long Beach Christmas Parade.
Marc:Now, like, you think if Ryan saw you now, he'd be like, hey.
Guest:Well, the funny thing is he was never in the studio when I recorded.
Guest:It was always like a producer.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And so I would see him a few times.
Guest:There would be like a yearly, like, clear channel meeting.
Guest:group brunch in malibu yeah that i'd go to so i'd see him there i'd see him at like the concerts like wingo tango or right jingle balls yeah and um and so i'd see him there but recently i did a zoom like call in with him and so we got to like re for what
Guest:i don't i think it's like promote a show or something of yours yeah it wasn't that he didn't know you no from but you had to refresh his memory no no no he he remembered it was like you know where's little ally now okay okay yeah yeah um but yeah it's just strange it's wild yeah and like what happened in american idol did you go oh yeah i went which year what was who was on that one
Guest:I don't remember.
Guest:My neighbor, because my parents were divorced and I was a latchkey kid, like a neighbor took me, like an older lady.
Guest:She took me and she was like, you have to wear black because if you wear bright colors, they won't seat you in front.
Guest:And she was so wrong.
Guest:We got put in the back.
Guest:I was like, this is the worst day of my life.
Guest:I blocked it all out.
Guest:I have no memory from that because I was so disappointed.
Marc:So this is like you're not even in junior high yet?
Guest:No.
Guest:Or no, I guess my last year of doing it was my first year of middle school.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And then like what happens?
Marc:You know it's another job, but how do you proceed with your life after that?
Guest:I guess luckily it was like low enough stakes or not too much change.
Guest:I think it was more devastating for my dad because my dad would use all the perks.
Guest:I remember one time he picked me up from school in a rental car because his car was in the shop.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:He picks me up in a drop top convertible.
Guest:He was like, they were going to give me a Honda, but I asked them if they listened to kiss FM and turns out they're a big fan of yours.
Guest:So I got the convertible.
Marc:That's hysterical.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Was there more of that?
Marc:Cause like, I remember with radio, they had all kinds of deals going on.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Free promotions, food, all that shit.
Guest:I would go to a lot of kids' events, like the Shark Tales movie premiere.
Guest:That was a big one.
Guest:You got special treatment?
Guest:I got some VIP.
Guest:I introduced the movie.
Guest:I got to bring on, no doubt, but more so Gwen Stefani at one of the concerts.
Guest:Oh, that's cool.
Guest:I got to meet a lot of cool people.
Guest:Ryan Seacrest was trying to do a show at the studio, like a TV show, interviewing a musician.
Guest:So he wanted to bring me on.
Guest:So there's like...
Guest:It never came out and I hope that there's footage of it somewhere because there's an interview of me with, I want to say Twista.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:The guy who raps super, super fast.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Right?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I don't know.
Guest:And I was like, can you, can you do Sally sells seashells by the seashore?
Guest:You know, just like dumb little kid stuff like that.
Guest:But it never came out.
Marc:Was there a live audience?
Guest:Not for that.
Guest:Those were like in the green room before they went out to perform.
Marc:Wild.
Marc:You had a full career in show business.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Very strange.
Guest:Really fun, though.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:But like and then you just go on through high school and not doing anything.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And then I'm just your regular middle school, high school girl.
Marc:Like you seem pretty well adjusted.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:But I think that's because I was on the radio.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:Like it wasn't a big deal.
Marc:I mean, parents, it doesn't seem like there was like insanity.
Yeah.
Guest:No, I mean, definitely my, so after once Lil Allie was over, I aged out of it at 11.
Guest:Is that what they called you?
Guest:Yeah, Lil Allie.
Guest:And they made my birthday April Fool's.
Marc:That's so lucky that you didn't become a full on child actor.
Guest:I know.
Marc:It would have been a nightmare for you now.
Guest:Part of me, I used to be like, what could have been?
Guest:I could have been something.
Guest:And then I'm like, I'm very grateful that things worked out the way they did.
Marc:Most of the time, it's not great for the kid actors.
Guest:No.
Marc:Yeah, you had just the right amount of fame.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Yeah, local.
Guest:It was perfect.
Guest:Local fame is great.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:You're still anonymous.
Guest:Yeah, especially because no one knew what I looked like.
Guest:I remember at the time, there would be Yahoo answers.
Guest:People would ask, who's this little girl?
Guest:I bet it's some 30-year-old in Ohio who's a voice artist.
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Guest:Oh, really?
Guest:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Guest:People had all these conspiracies.
Marc:You're already trolling the comment boards.
Marc:You're already looking.
Marc:What are they saying about me?
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:God, you got that very early on experience of that.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:so when do you start like deciding to do the comedy thing so then i get into high school and i'm on youtube i'm watching a lot of youtube and i start seeing all these clips from the laugh factory and i'm watching them and i'm like man that looks fun yeah pretty close by like who um do you remember who was sort of like oh that's that i can do that
Guest:I don't want to say.
Guest:It's really embarrassing.
Marc:Oh, really?
Marc:It's embarrassing, like, you as a high school student?
Guest:Here.
Guest:I mean, Chris D'Elia.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:You know?
Guest:Yep.
Guest:His perfect audience, a high school girl.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Becomes a huge fan of his.
Guest:Right.
Guest:Because I think, too, it makes sense.
Guest:Like, my sister, my oldest sister, when she would pick me up from school,
Guest:I remember I was in fifth grade and she picked me up and she had the Dane Cook album, the CD.
Guest:So we'd listen to it on the way home and it was hysterical.
Guest:I loved it.
Guest:And then I go to the Laugh Factory and there he is performing.
Marc:After high school you mean?
Guest:No, like when I'm in high school, I'm like driving to the Laugh Factory.
Marc:With friends?
Guest:No, I would go alone.
Right.
Marc:In high school?
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Because you get those, what, those Groupon tickets or whatever they are?
Marc:What are they, how do you get tickets?
Guest:I think I bought, I bought tickets.
Guest:Oh, really?
Guest:Well, I had child start money.
Marc:Oh, yeah.
Guest:So I'd buy my Lafayette.
Guest:Big radio person.
Guest:Oh, yeah.
Marc:And it's what, 18 plus, sir?
Guest:It's 18 plus, so I use my oldest sister's expired ID.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I, like, bit it where it said expired to make it look like a dog.
Guest:So if people asked, like, oh, I can't see, I'd be like, oh, my dog, sorry, my dog chewed it.
Marc:And that worked?
Guest:And it worked.
Yeah.
Marc:So you're going there when you're what, 15?
Marc:16.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:And you go to the lab factory and you see the, I guess he's not even older yet.
Marc:It's still, he's just sort of over the hump of being Dane Cook, but he's there.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And it's still exciting to see him.
Marc:Yeah, sure, sure.
Guest:And so I would go, I'd see him a lot.
Guest:I'd go at least once a week.
Yeah.
Marc:From 15 on?
Guest:About 16, yeah.
Marc:And you've seen all the Laugh Factory acts.
Marc:A lot of Tony rock.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:No, I feel like at the time it was like, it was Delia.
Guest:It was Adam Ray.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:It was Dom Herrera.
Guest:I remember I would go so much that one night Dom Herrera during his set, he looks at me and he goes, are you stalking me?
Guest:He goes, I've seen you here.
Marc:Yeah.
Yeah.
Guest:And I was.
Marc:So that was your place.
Marc:Never the store.
Guest:I didn't even know about the store.
Guest:I had no.
Marc:Because you just saw it on YouTube.
Guest:I would just see the Laugh Factory on YouTube.
Guest:I didn't know about the comedy store until my sister for my, I think it might have been my 18th birthday.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:She took me on a TMZ tour.
Marc:Oh, okay.
Guest:So the TMZ tour is going down Sunset Boulevard and she goes, or maybe that was my, I don't know, whatever.
Guest:It's driving down Sunset and it's like, here's the comedy store.
Guest:And I'm like, what is this place?
Guest:It just sells like whoopee cushions or something.
Guest:Like I just couldn't, like I didn't even.
Marc:You didn't think like, what's that haunted old building?
Guest:No, I truly was like a comedy store.
Guest:Oh, right.
Guest:A store for comedy.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Novelty.
Guest:But my sister was like, no, this is like a really cool.
Guest:It's like a famous club.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:And so from that point on.
Marc:You're obsessed with what's going on in there.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And so one night, me, my mom and my sisters, my mom's also a big comedy fan.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:Which is great, but also kind of annoying for me now at this point.
Marc:So she was when you you would watch comedy with her, too.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Yeah?
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:I know I got hung up on your dad, but you get along good with your mom, too, right?
Guest:Yeah, it's complicated, but I love her.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:It's still complicated?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:What's that about?
Guest:You know, just alcoholism.
Guest:Oh, she's got that?
Guest:She's got a bit of that.
Marc:Oh, so you grew up with that.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:But not your dad.
Guest:Well, my parents, they met at a 12-step convention in the desert.
Oh.
Guest:No.
Guest:Yes.
Guest:They met at like one of those like, I think it was like.
Marc:What was it called?
Marc:Something paw?
Marc:Icky paw?
Marc:Icky paw.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:They met at one of those.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:So that's where their love story begins.
Marc:So they were both sober.
Guest:They were both sober.
Guest:And before they had me, they had about 13-ish years.
Marc:Of sobriety.
Guest:Of sobriety.
Marc:Long term.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And then by the time they had me, they're like, things are different.
Guest:You know, we have three kids.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Let's get back on it.
Guest:Let's try it out.
Guest:We can handle it.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:So my dad started first.
Guest:He'd go to the neighbor's house, drink in the garage.
Guest:I think he was a little bit sloppy at first, but then kind of got a hold on it.
Guest:And then my mom was soon after him and just never really could get a hold on it.
Marc:So your dad's still able to drink?
Guest:He's able to, I've only seen him drunk once, but it's like he smokes five cigars a day.
Guest:So it's like, if it's not drinking, there's something else he is.
Marc:Well, at least cigars aren't going to make you like, you know, destroy your life.
Guest:Totally.
Marc:But your mom never kind of got it under control.
Guest:No, she, you know, she has moments and waves of like having sobriety, but.
Marc:Wow, they were so dug into it.
Marc:So scary.
Guest:I know.
Guest:It freaks me out because I've been sober now almost nine years.
Marc:So wait, so when did you start drinking?
Guest:I started drinking, I mean really drinking, like in high school, like at the end of high school.
Marc:Yeah?
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:And so you're starting to get into comedy but not doing it yet and you're boozing it up?
Guest:I'd done one open mic.
Marc:In high school?
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Where?
Guest:At the Laugh Factory.
Marc:Yeah, how'd that go?
Yeah.
Guest:I have a video of it somewhere on my computer.
Marc:Is that good or bad?
Marc:A reminder?
Guest:It's cute.
Guest:For my first time doing comedy, it's very cute.
Guest:It's a very cute video.
Guest:I'm so nervous.
Guest:My hand's shaking.
Guest:There's an Italian guy, a tourist, filming me on my phone just cracking up.
Guest:He thinks I'm hysterical.
Guest:Oh, you had him hold the phone, did you?
Guest:Oh, yeah.
Guest:And...
Guest:It was crazy because when I was at the Laugh Factory, it was me, my sisters and my mom were just there to see a show.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Dan Cook is there.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And I'm like, he's, I got it.
Guest:He's my first comedian that I like really knew and loved.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:So I run up to him after he goes on and I'm like, I'm a huge fan.
Guest:I'm only 17 years old.
Guest:I really want to do comedy.
Guest:I don't know how, I don't know what to write about.
Guest:I'm not even old enough to be here.
Guest:What do I do?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And he turns to Jamie.
Guest:Jamie's there.
Guest:And he's like, Jamie, this girl's 17.
Guest:Can she do comedy?
Guest:And he's like, how did she get in?
Guest:She's not supposed to be here.
Guest:But he was like, they have an open mic here.
Guest:It's on Tuesday.
Guest:Jamie said that?
Guest:Or Dan?
Guest:No, Dan said that.
Yeah.
Guest:And he was like, just go home, write like three to five minutes of whatever you think is funny and then go to the opening.
Guest:So that night I go home, I'm fired up.
Guest:I'm like so invigorated.
Guest:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Guest:I'm writing the set.
Guest:I talk about how my dad's lazy.
Guest:He won't kill the bugs in my room.
Guest:Oh, yeah.
Guest:He's got Judge Judy on in the TV.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:It's bad comedy.
Guest:But for my first time, I think it's pretty charming.
Marc:But you're thinking about what's funny.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:And I talk about, I had planned an introduction for when I get on stage.
Guest:It was like, oh, I'm so out of shape.
Guest:Even the stairs, just going up the stairs, you know, exhausted or something.
Guest:And then it had like pause for laughter.
Guest:I was like, that's going to crush me being out of shape from getting up the stairs.
Marc:A kid.
Marc:A kid.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:It's winded.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:How'd that go over?
Guest:Fine.
Guest:Yeah, it's fine.
Guest:I'll show you the video sometime.
Yeah.
Marc:So, but when, how's the drinking unfold?
Marc:Like what, how, how bad did that get?
Guest:I feel like it got pretty bad, but I think too, I'm sure it could have gone, I could have gone longer and probably gotten away with it for a little bit longer.
Marc:So you start drinking in high school.
Marc:So when you start doing comedy, you're boozing?
Guest:No, I never, I don't, I don't drink when I'm doing comedy, but I would drink like after shows or after open mics.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:So when does that start?
Marc:Right.
Marc:When you graduate?
Guest:What, comedy?
Marc:Yeah, outside of the open mic you did in high school.
Guest:So I go to college because I have money saved in a Coogan account.
Marc:Radio money?
Guest:My radio money, half of it was saved for college.
Marc:Was that enough?
Guest:Which was so ambitious of my parents.
Marc:It's pretty smart, and they didn't spend it.
Guest:It's smart.
Guest:Well, my dad did.
Guest:He bought outdoor patio furniture.
Guest:my sisters told me we're having family dinner they're like did you know that dad spent your money on outdoor patio furniture how much was there after three years pretty good amount yeah in total it was a really good amount but then but the problem is that half of it i received upon you know the age of 16 so i'm like going to coachella every year buying the ugliest outfits yeah so i blew through that money real quick
Marc:Where'd you go to go?
Marc:You went to college in Orange County.
Guest:I went to this school in San Diego called San Marcos.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:It's a pretty bad school.
Guest:Like what?
Marc:A little liberal arts school?
Guest:No, I don't even know what it was.
Guest:It was just a UC.
Guest:It was a commuter school.
Marc:You just chose it because it was nearby?
Guest:I got in.
Guest:My grades were horrible.
Guest:I didn't do well in school.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:They said, yeah.
Guest:I said, okay, I'll go.
Marc:So how long that lasts?
Guest:So I lived there for a year, but I went to school for like maybe two months.
Guest:And so that's where I was.
Marc:You lived on campus or just insane?
Guest:Yeah, I lived in a dorm.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Well, that's not a commuter campus if they had dorms.
Guest:They had dorms.
Guest:A lot of people would drive in from Temecula.
Marc:Okay.
Guest:A lot of people like in Temecula would go there.
Marc:So you lived in the dorms.
Marc:You barely went to school.
Guest:I didn't go to school.
Marc:Boozing it up?
Guest:Oh, yeah.
Guest:Oh, yeah.
Guest:Drinking a lot.
Guest:Really drinking a lot.
Guest:And then I came back home.
Guest:Well, the day after I graduated, I went to Israel.
Guest:I went on birthright.
Marc:Where did that come from?
Guest:I just I was like, OK, well, I'm not going to go back to school.
Guest:I'm young.
Marc:Did your grandma like what made you think you should do that being, you know, barely Jewish?
Guest:I think I had heard about birthright and I was like, I want to go free trip.
Guest:How was that?
Guest:It was amazing.
Guest:I extended my trip.
Guest:I stayed for a month.
Guest:It was my first time like being away as an adult.
Marc:Were you like on a kibbutz or something?
Guest:one night we did like a kibbutz yeah and then who'd you go with the birthright group oh all right and i was i was boozing it up after the trip because i extended for a month i was loving it while i was there i was like i have to stay longer right and when you're on birthright they bring a couple soldiers who are your age yeah to join the trip with you just for fun yeah and one of the girls who was a soldier she's like you can stay with me if you're extending your trip yeah so i'm like okay
Guest:I get to her house after my trip and there's guards, there's security cameras.
Guest:I'm like, I'm in the ghetto.
Guest:Why did I agree to this?
Guest:Like, this is so scary.
Guest:And it turns out there's all this security and cameras because her dad and mom are like these big...
Guest:israeli socialites like the mom is like a tv personality the dad is the minister of energy or something wow and turns out the dad i think got in trouble for some sexual oh yeah misconduct yeah but i stayed with her i stayed with some random soldier that i had met when i was blacked out at a bar i stayed in a hostel and
Guest:It was all very dangerous now.
Guest:Looking back at it, I'm like, I was drinking so much.
Marc:So you had no real sense of what was really going on in Israel.
Guest:No, not at that time.
Marc:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Guest:But when I came home, I was like, I'm going to join the army.
Guest:I'm going to join the Israeli army.
Guest:I want to go back.
Guest:I want to live there.
Guest:I'll be a medic.
Guest:Yeah, sure.
Guest:I'll do something noble.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:I'll help people.
Marc:And how come you didn't follow through on that one?
Guest:Well, so I'm getting all the paperwork.
Guest:I'm like, okay, I'll be there for three years.
Guest:By the time I'm out, I'll be 21.
Guest:I can do comedy.
Marc:And you'll be tough.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:I can get, yeah, I'll have stories.
Guest:I'll have structure.
Guest:I'll have routine.
Guest:Sure.
Guest:I'll be able to get into all the clubs and bars.
Guest:And so I get home.
Guest:I'm looking at all the info.
Guest:Okay.
Guest:One year I just learned how to speak Hebrew and I do training.
Guest:And then the other two years I go out there easy.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:So I'm getting all the paperwork together.
Guest:I'm telling my dad, my dad's side of the family.
Guest:Everyone's like, you know, great for you.
Guest:I tell my mom we're at dinner and she's like, so what are your plans?
Guest:Like, are you going to go to college?
Guest:What's, what's going on with you?
Guest:And I'm like, well, I'm glad you asked because I've actually come up with the perfect plan.
Guest:I'm going to Israel.
Guest:I'm going to join the Israeli army.
Guest:And she steps outside and she just starts crying.
Guest:She's smoking a cigarette.
Guest:I walk out there.
Guest:She's like, why would you do that?
Guest:She's like, okay, why don't you just drop out of school, live with me full time and do comedy?
Guest:And I was like, okay, that sounds like a pretty good deal.
Yeah.
Guest:So that's what I did.
Guest:No more Israel.
Guest:I was just living with my mom.
Guest:I started going to open mics every night.
Guest:And you're drinking with your mom?
Guest:No, no.
Marc:No?
Guest:I like to keep that separate.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:So you're doing open mics.
Marc:So this is like you're, what, 20?
Guest:At this point, I'm 19.
Marc:Man.
Marc:And what happens to make you decide to get sober?
Yeah.
Guest:Um, I, the, like, last major thing was crashing my car in a blackout on the freeway in Sylmar.
Marc:In the desert?
Guest:Uh-huh.
Marc:And... It was, like, a one-car accident?
Guest:Yeah, I hit the center divider.
Guest:Luckily, like no one was hurt.
Guest:And I think I probably like ended up falling asleep and was just driving so slow that like any cars near me were just moving right along.
Guest:But yeah, I crashed my car in the center divider.
Guest:Highway patrol came.
Guest:for whatever reason they didn't arrest me yeah i and you drove the car home no i tried driving it away or driving it off the freeway but it was totaled yeah so it wouldn't drive so who came and got you my sisters i was calling everyone i was calling my mom my dad my sister no one wanted to go to selmar no one answered it was like three in the morning yeah my sisters lived on the west side and they ended up picking me up
Guest:In Sylmar.
Guest:And when I got in their car, they were like, it is a miracle.
Guest:You reek of alcohol.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And.
Marc:Where were you?
Guest:I was leaving an open mic called Echoes Under Sunset.
Marc:In Selmar?
Guest:No, it was in Echo Park.
Marc:How the fuck did you get out to Selmar?
Guest:At this point, I was living with my aunt and she lives in like Westlake Village or Thousand Oaks.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And so I think I was either going to her place or I was going to Santa Monica and somehow ended up in Selmar.
Marc:I picture Selmar as out in the middle of nowhere.
Guest:It is.
Guest:And when the highway patrol came, they're like, where are you going?
Guest:And I was like, Santa Monica.
Guest:And they were like, you're in Selmar.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:I mean, it's like, you know, there's no reason to go out there.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Unless you're going to Six Flags.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:Which I wasn't at three in the morning.
Marc:So you were just wasted and driving.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:I don't even remember getting in the car.
Guest:I think that night I had nowhere to go.
Guest:I was leaving this bar for a friend's birthday after the open mic.
Guest:And I tried going.
Guest:The guy who ran the open mic lived in the venue.
Guest:So I knocked.
Guest:He answers the door.
Guest:He's like, Allie, why are you here?
Guest:It's 3 in the morning.
Guest:And I was like, I don't know.
Marc:That was that one like right under the bridge?
Guest:Under the overpass, yeah.
Marc:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Guest:So I was thinking maybe he could let me in.
Guest:I could crash there.
Guest:And he's just like confused why I'm there at 3 in the morning.
Guest:And I was like, okay, no problem.
Guest:And I think I just got in my car planning to sleep and I ended up driving.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Wild.
Marc:That's scary, man.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Blackouts and you're in.
Marc:It's like a classic blackout story.
Marc:There's no reason to be in Selmar.
Marc:And it's far.
Guest:So far.
Guest:I mean, I'm just like so grateful that no one was hurt.
Guest:That would be horrible.
Guest:So then my sisters were like, Allie, you have to take a break.
Guest:Like, you can't be drinking.
Guest:And I'm like, I don't get it.
Guest:Like, I'm just so, I'm like, what do you even mean I have to take it?
Guest:Like, that was one time I drank and drove.
Guest:Like, why do I need to stop drinking?
Guest:I'll just stop driving.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:It seems like the obvious solution.
Marc:That's a great alcoholic solution.
Guest:Totally.
Guest:Totally.
Guest:So now everyone's checking on me all the time.
Guest:My mom, my dad, my sisters.
Guest:Are you okay?
Marc:But you knew you had it in the family.
Guest:I knew it was in the family.
Guest:And so the moment that I remember I needed to stop was...
Guest:I just couldn't take a break.
Guest:It was just like, I don't get how that's the obvious solution and this is taking a break.
Guest:Right.
Guest:And just the fact that I could not stop.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And I had started going to meetings because I'm like, if I go to meetings, then my family will get off my case.
Marc:Had you ever been with any of your other family?
Guest:I went with my mom when I was younger.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:They'd have a little playroom for the kids.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Okay.
Yeah.
Guest:And my mom, you know, she's kind of on and off drinking.
Guest:So I'm like, well, meetings don't really work.
Guest:Like sobriety is kind of... Right.
Guest:You know, maybe it works for a little bit.
Marc:So you're going to meetings in Hollywood and shit?
Guest:So I'm going to meetings in Hollywood for like three months.
Guest:More park?
Guest:No, I was going to the comedy store.
Guest:Oh.
Guest:I couldn't escape.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And, yeah, I was going for three months.
Guest:I'd take a notebook.
Guest:I'd write down everything that made me different from whoever was speaking.
Guest:I'm like, well, they said they got sober at 40.
Guest:I'm 19.
Guest:So...
Marc:You're really trying to build a case.
Guest:Oh, yeah.
Guest:I'm taking notes.
Marc:Yeah, yeah.
Guest:I'm writing down why I'm not an alcoholic.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:And I'm not drinking for about three months.
Guest:I'm just staying sober.
Marc:And you're doing open mics.
Guest:I'm doing open mics.
Guest:And I started drinking again.
Guest:And, yeah, when I was still drinking before the car accident, I had some money left from the child star case.
Guest:So I was like, I'm going to go to London.
Guest:I'm going to do comedy in London.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Because I don't need a car there.
Guest:Oh, I guess this must have been after the car accident then.
Guest:I was like, I don't need a car.
Guest:They have a train.
Guest:I can do comedy.
Guest:I can drink.
Guest:Because I'll be old enough to drink there.
Marc:Yeah, and you won't be in cars.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Did you do that?
Guest:So I'm getting ready to go.
Guest:I bought a one-way ticket.
Guest:I was like, I'm living there.
Guest:Everyone's like, what are you going to do?
Guest:I'm like, I'll be a bartender.
Guest:I'll do whatever.
Guest:And I'm with my friend Alex and she's helping me pack.
Guest:And she's like, so what did you say you're going to do over there?
Guest:And I was like, well, I'll be like a bartender or something and then I'll get my visa.
Guest:She's like, for being a bartender, you'll get a visa?
Guest:I'm like, yeah, you have to get the job first and then you get the visa.
Guest:She's like, no, that's not how it works.
Guest:So it ended up being a three-week trip.
Yeah.
Guest:So it ends up being a three-week trip.
Guest:I blow through all my money.
Guest:Now I'm coming home.
Guest:Are you doing comedy?
Guest:I do two shows while I'm there.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:One's like maybe an open mic.
Marc:But this is just sort of like this is your bottom.
Guest:This is my bottom.
Guest:Oh, yeah, because I'm at a hostel.
Guest:I'm hooking up with weird Australians.
Guest:There's always Australians at a hostel.
Guest:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Guest:I'm waking up blacked out.
Guest:It's bad.
Guest:It's bad.
Guest:Oh, my God.
Guest:And I'm like, and then I go to Paris and I'm hooking up with another Australian.
Guest:And I'm like, how did I even I'm drinking Jager bombs in Paris.
Guest:I'm like, that's not what you do here.
Guest:You drink wine.
Guest:You eat a baguette.
Marc:You're not even getting out and around.
Guest:No, I'm staying at the bar at the hostel with these strange people.
Guest:You're a real alcoholic.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And so I was like, you know, when in Rome, when I get home, I'm going to do it differently.
Guest:I don't want to be an alcoholic.
Guest:I'm not an alcoholic.
Guest:I'll drink normally when I get home.
Guest:I get home.
Guest:I don't do that.
Guest:I'm just back where I left off.
Guest:And so I was like, OK, I have to.
Marc:It's such a classic geographical.
Guest:Oh, totally.
Marc:You're like, I can go live the life I want.
Guest:Well, and then it was so funny because at that point, like once I get sober this time around and I start hearing things, I'm like, oh, I have so much in common.
Guest:I was really trying to find things that didn't fit.
Marc:You finally did it.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:You joined the club.
Guest:I joined the club.
Marc:And you just stayed sober since then?
Guest:Yeah, it is weird.
Marc:Did you go to meetings?
Marc:Do you still go?
Guest:Yeah, not as much as I used to, but I'm trying to do more like Al-Anon type of meetings.
Guest:I found a good one if you want to go.
Guest:Really?
Guest:Yeah, it's really good.
Marc:Yeah, I mean, I'm sober so long, but, you know, the other issues persist.
Guest:Oh, yeah.
Marc:And Al-Anon's helping you out?
Guest:Yeah, definitely.
Marc:Because you don't want to drink anymore.
Guest:No.
Guest:And that's kind of the nice thing is like, okay, I've been able to manage being sober and I like it, but now there's other things that I could definitely work on.
Marc:Fix the other shit?
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:And then you just stuck with comedy, kept doing open mics.
Marc:Were you working at the store?
Yeah.
Guest:Yeah, I worked at the store briefly.
Guest:On the door?
Guest:At the door.
Guest:Yeah, I think I was only there for maybe like six or eight months or something.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Because then it got to a point where luckily because of people like Rogan and stuff, I was able to like start going on the road.
Guest:And so then it was like, well.
Marc:To do 10, 15?
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And I was like, I'm either going to be a shitty co-worker or I just won't work here anymore.
Marc:Right.
Guest:So then I quit.
Marc:And you did comedy pro.
Guest:And I did Comedy Pro.
Marc:How long have you been doing it now?
Guest:Ten years.
Marc:Wild, right?
Guest:I know.
Marc:And you're headlining now.
Guest:And I'm headlining.
Marc:How's that?
Marc:How's the set?
Marc:Strong?
Guest:It's good.
Guest:I like it.
Guest:I want to get rid of it, though.
Guest:Because it's like the... It's all of it?
Guest:My hours.
Guest:Yeah, I mean, obviously there's like a lot of stuff that I've...
Guest:Moved through.
Guest:Moved through, but I'm kind of like, I want to just get rid of this and start over.
Marc:Are you going to do a special?
Guest:Dump it?
Guest:I don't know.
Guest:I kind of want to.
Guest:I just, like, I want to get rid of it.
Guest:I want to start from scratch.
Marc:Does Rogan have a production entity now?
Guest:I don't know.
Guest:I didn't move to Austin, so I'm a little bit out of the loop on all things Rogan.
Marc:I know they're shooting specials there, but, I mean, I don't know if he's, like, it seems like you could probably shoot it.
Guest:Yeah.
Yeah.
Marc:You know?
Marc:I think he's got it all set up there.
Marc:But I know Fitzsimmons shot his there, but I think they did it legit.
Guest:Yeah, I bet.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Well, it's amazing you haven't done it like a YouTube thing.
Guest:I know.
Guest:That's kind of the way things are going.
Guest:I might.
Marc:Do you have a YouTube presence?
Guest:I'm building it.
Guest:I had a podcast a while ago that I stopped doing because I just was over it.
Guest:And then now.
Guest:What are you doing now?
Guest:Well, now I'm doing this.
Guest:Interview show?
Guest:Yeah, Allie's interview show.
Guest:How's that going?
Guest:I mean, I put out one episode, so I don't know.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:But I'm excited about it.
Guest:Like, it's more fun for me because I'm like, it's sillier.
Guest:It's not really a podcast.
Marc:Is your boyfriend producing it?
Guest:Yeah.
Yeah.
Marc:Is that the place?
Guest:No.
Marc:He's got a studio now, right?
Guest:No, we are recording.
Guest:He does have a studio, but we're recording the interview show at Star Day Vintage in Los Feliz.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:And so it's all shot there.
Marc:People come in.
Marc:Would you interview a musician or something?
Guest:I had on Dylan Francis.
Guest:He's like a music producer and DJ.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And then my next interview is going to come out soon, and that's with St.
Guest:Vincent.
Yeah.
Marc:Oh, I just saw her in Vancouver.
Guest:I heard.
Guest:Isn't she the best?
Marc:Totally.
Guest:She's so good.
Marc:I'm so glad.
Marc:I didn't know if I had her contact info.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Because I'd interviewed her and I'd seen her around a bit.
Marc:And I was like, I'm here.
Marc:Can I come?
Marc:She got back immediately.
Marc:It was great.
Marc:Great show.
Guest:Yeah, she's so talented.
Guest:I got to open for her on the road.
Marc:Oh, that must have been an okay audience.
Guest:It was all right, yeah.
Marc:Because that's not a great gig opening for music.
Guest:No, and I was like, I'm going to say yes to this because even if it's bad, it'll be so interesting.
Marc:To be with her.
Guest:To just be opening for a musician.
Guest:Right.
Marc:But she's kind of special.
Guest:But she is pretty special.
Marc:And her audience is kind of special.
Marc:They're not like just, you know, yahoos.
Guest:No, they were all like nice and smart and they let me talk about my butthole and they were pretty cool with that.
Marc:That's the big test.
Marc:That's like the litmus test of nice and smart.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Is if you can free the butthole.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:It was so fun.
Marc:So what are you on the road a lot now?
Guest:Yeah, I got some shows coming up.
Guest:Yeah, just on the road.
Marc:Maybe I could... You want to go out with me again?
Guest:Yeah, that was so fun.
Guest:Your audiences are great.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:I had so much fun on the road with you.
Marc:It was fun, yeah.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Yeah, it's weird because I really have to...
Marc:It's odd because I still do it the old way where you rent a car and you're just driving for hours.
Marc:Like, who can be in the car for it?
Marc:That's the audition.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Like, I know your comedy, but like, is it going to be okay in the car?
Guest:I know.
Guest:I was also nervous.
Guest:You were?
Marc:It was good.
Guest:I was like, I think we'll get along pretty well.
Guest:I feel like I'm pretty perceptive.
Guest:Yeah, I'm not hard to get along with.
Marc:I just don't want to be uncomfortable.
Guest:And we got a good trial.
Guest:We got a trial run in when we were in San Francisco.
Marc:That's right.
Guest:We did a test road trip.
Marc:When I drove you back.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:That was such a good idea.
Marc:But then you were like, yeah, but the plane left anyways.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:We had good Indian food, though.
Guest:It was so good.
Marc:Like, I want to go back to that place.
Guest:I know, just that spot off the freeway.
Marc:Yeah, that was fun.
Guest:Like in Bakersfield?
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Well, I found out, like I told you, right?
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:It's because the truckers are all Pakistani.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Yeah, we got to go back.
Marc:That's right.
Marc:We stayed at the same hotel.
Marc:What the hell was I doing there?
Marc:Oh, I did the Castro.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:What's his name?
Marc:Taylor?
Guest:Oh, Taylor Williamson.
Marc:Taylor Williamson.
Marc:He's an interesting guy.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:All right.
Marc:Well, I'll let you know the dates because I got to go on tour next year.
Guest:When do you finish filming?
Guest:When does that wrap up?
Marc:That wraps up in the middle of September.
Marc:And then I got a month off and then I'm shooting a movie here in October, November for five weeks.
Guest:That's exciting.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:So that's happening.
Marc:But then like I got to shoot an HBO special next spring.
Marc:So I got to go.
Marc:I've moved all these dates.
Guest:You're shooting a special.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:Oh, that's exciting.
Marc:Another HBO special.
Marc:Wow.
Marc:But now I don't even know how my hour is.
Marc:It was pretty good when we were working together.
Marc:Wow.
Guest:Well, as soon as you're done filming, you're going to be nonstop doing comedy, and you're going to be so excited to be back.
Guest:You'll be so fired up to be performing.
Guest:It's going to bring a whole new energy.
Marc:Yeah, I'm trying to work it out.
Guest:Your last special was so good.
Marc:Thanks.
Guest:You know when something you watch or you listen to something good and you remember where you were?
Guest:Oh, really?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Like certain podcast episodes, like I remember where I was driving when I listened to it.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And with your special, I was doing some college gig in like, it was like Arkansas.
Guest:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Guest:And I remember being at the hotel watching it.
Guest:Yeah, it was so good.
Marc:Oh, thank you.
Marc:Well, now I got to meet that standard.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:It'll be great.
Marc:Thank you.
Guest:Good talking to you.
Guest:You too.
Marc:There you go.
Marc:That's a good story.
Marc:Allie Makovsky.
Marc:Go to AllieMakovsky.com to see her tour dates and check out Allie's interview show on YouTube.
Marc:Hang out for a minute, folks.
Marc:Look, people, you asked and I answered.
Marc:And now we've got another Ask Mark Anything episode posted for full Marin subscribers.
Marc:Sign up now so you can get my answers to questions like this one.
Marc:I'm a diehard Dave fan and your Dave Matthews bit is the funniest, truest shit in the world.
Marc:Most Dave fans I've shown it to feel the same way.
Marc:Has Dave's camp ever reached out to have him on?
Marc:Would you even talk to him?
Marc:I don't remember.
Marc:Brendan would know.
Marc:I believe that maybe it was.
Marc:I don't feel like it wasn't an option.
Marc:Maybe it was.
Marc:But I imagine not unlike with Trey, Anastasio, like my aversion to having him on is that I really don't know the music.
Marc:and you know and i had a moment with dave matthews at the willie nelson birthday celebration at the hollywood bowl where i'm like oh my god you know this guy's clearly the real deal it was just never my thing and yeah and i busted on dave matthews and i busted on his fans and i'm glad to hear that at least it was on the money but i imagine i would have him on uh but it would take a lot to get up to speed and i'm always worried like i don't want to be disrespectful you know like there you know
Marc:There's times where I've interviewed people whose work that I don't necessarily love, but I can wrap my brain around it.
Marc:And sometimes it's a better interview than when a fan does an interview.
Marc:But yeah, I don't know.
Marc:I don't want to commit to it, but I would probably rethink it and be more open to having Dave on at this point.
Marc:To subscribe to The Full Marin, go to the link in the episode description or go to WTFPod.com and click on WTF+.
Marc:And a reminder before we go, this podcast is hosted by Acast.
Marc:Here's some classic guitar riffing.
So
Marc:Boomer lives!
Marc:monkey lavanda cat angel is everywhere man they're everywhere man
Thank you.