Episode 584 - Chris D'Elia
Guest:All right, let's do this.
Marc:How are you?
Marc:What the fuckers?
Marc:What the fuck buddies?
Marc:What the fucking ears?
Marc:What the fucksicles?
Marc:How are you?
Marc:I am Mark Maron.
Marc:This is WTF.
Marc:Welcome to the show.
Marc:Thank you for coming.
Marc:Thank you for being here.
Marc:I appreciate your attention and support.
Marc:Those of you who are in, hanging out, listening to this.
Marc:Chris D'Elia is on the show today.
Marc:If you don't know Chris, he's a comedian.
Marc:I think I did a live one with him a while back from Montreal, but I didn't really get to know him.
Marc:I think I might have got to know him a little better this time.
Marc:He's on that show Undateable on NBC.
Marc:Season 2 of that show premieres next Tuesday, March 17th.
Marc:Chris D'Elia, who when I met initially...
Marc:When I first got back to Los Angeles, he was, I guess, I don't know how long he's been doing it at that point, but he was this kind of weird, darty guy that used to wear a hoodie and just hang around the comedy store and not really hold eye contact very long and kind of just almost like couldn't stand still, really.
Marc:I never had a good feeling about the guy.
Marc:And I saw him around, I saw him around, and he started to get a little attention on stage, and it became one of those things where it's like, all right, let's talk, let's do it.
Marc:So I talked to Chris D'Elia in a little while.
Marc:But I'm going to talk to you first.
Marc:Let me update you on some tour information for the Marc Maron Marination Tour, if I may, if you are interested.
Marc:I don't know if you know, but I will be in Rochester, New York or outside of Rochester, New York at the Comedy Club on March 20th and 21st, doing four shows up there.
Marc:And there are tickets available.
Marc:So why don't you come on down if you're in that area?
Marc:But I'm going to D.C., I'm going to Philly, I'm going to Boston, I'm going to Madison, Pittsburgh, Royal Oak, Michigan, outside of Detroit, Toronto, Austin, Houston, Dallas, Seattle, Vancouver, San Francisco, Asheville, North Carolina.
Marc:Charleston, South Carolina, Atlanta, New Orleans for now.
Marc:There's talk about adding more dates, more cities.
Marc:Some second shows have been added in Asheville, North Carolina, just added a second show there.
Marc:Seattle, Boston, Toronto.
Marc:There are two shows in Philly.
Marc:Things are looking up.
Marc:Go to WTF pod dot com slash calendar for that.
Marc:I got to get that thing in shape.
Marc:I'm immersed in the last week of shooting my show.
Marc:I'm exhausted.
Marc:I'm not complaining.
Marc:I'm just beat up.
Marc:And this is my directing week.
Marc:So I directed a bit yesterday and the day before.
Marc:Today I'm directing all day.
Marc:Very exciting.
Marc:New skills.
Marc:It's tricky to direct yourself.
Marc:Because I'm a pain in the ass.
Marc:And I don't take direction well.
Marc:Especially not for myself.
Marc:Ever.
Marc:So I just got to shut up.
Marc:Move through it.
Marc:That's the weirdest thing lately about being as uncomfortable as I can be in certain situations.
Marc:And there's this part of my brain that basically says, don't even pay attention to that.
Marc:Don't even pay attention to the discomfort.
Marc:It's just the way it is.
Marc:It's not always going to be that way, but right now it's just the way it is.
Marc:Why focus on it?
Marc:Why not just shut that part off, acknowledge it and do what you have to do.
Marc:All right.
Marc:It's what big surprise.
Marc:You're fucking uncomfortable.
Marc:And that's the way I work.
Marc:That's my work ethic.
Marc:I'm uncomfortable, terrified sometimes, not as much as I used to be, and I'm just not going to pay attention to those things.
Marc:I'm just going to plow ahead like a dumb person for the right reasons, if that makes any sense.
Marc:Someone plowed their fucking car into me the other day.
Marc:I got rear-ended, and it's jarring.
Marc:I'd forgotten that surprise.
Marc:I'm always anticipating hitting something.
Marc:I'm always anticipating hitting a car, hitting a person, hitting a curb, a wall, someone hitting me.
Marc:But you don't ever really remember that sound and that feeling until it happens to you.
Marc:And I was just waiting to go at a green light.
Marc:And the light turned green.
Marc:We were starting to move.
Marc:There were two cars in front of me.
Marc:And just like, kaboom!
Marc:And I just flew back.
Marc:Shit flew off the dash.
Marc:And I flew forward.
Marc:And then she hit me again.
Marc:Bam!
Marc:I don't know how that happened.
Marc:But that undeniable...
Marc:Dense crunching of metal.
Marc:And that thud.
Marc:And you feel completely out of control.
Marc:That moment is sort of terrifying.
Marc:Then it ended and I looked behind me.
Marc:How the fuck did that happen?
Marc:It wasn't my fault.
Marc:I wasn't texting.
Marc:I was sitting there.
Marc:Wasn't moving.
Marc:So I pull over and this woman gets out of a Mercedes SUV.
Marc:An old one though.
Marc:And she's like, I don't know what happened.
Marc:Her car is pretty fucked up.
Marc:My car is all fucked up.
Marc:Drivable, but big old dent.
Marc:It kind of buckled the side a little bit.
Marc:Hit the back end and buckled the side.
Marc:And she's going like, I had my glasses.
Marc:And I'm like, what?
Marc:What?
Marc:My glasses, I don't know.
Marc:My glasses came down.
Marc:And I'm like, oh, I don't know.
Marc:What is happening?
Marc:She goes, why were you stopped?
Marc:And I'm like, because there's a car in front of me.
Marc:But, you know, he exchanged information.
Marc:I'm glad nobody was hurt.
Marc:And I'm not one of those guys.
Marc:What kind of person?
Marc:I mean, I guess there is a type of person.
Marc:I've never been the type of person.
Marc:Like, would immediately, right when they got hit like that, would immediately be like, oh, my neck.
Marc:My neck.
Marc:My neck needs some money.
Marc:I've never been that guy.
Marc:Even when I didn't have money.
Marc:I was always sort of wary of lawsuits.
Marc:I didn't see it as an entitlement.
Marc:Hey, man, you should get whatever you can no matter what.
Marc:Personal morality is not important.
Marc:Personal integrity is not important, man.
Marc:Game the system.
Marc:Take it.
Marc:It's yours.
Marc:But there is something great about having a car you don't give a shit about.
Marc:That is a freeing thing.
Marc:I don't give a fuck.
Marc:I was on Sunday and they haven't called me.
Marc:I called the claim into her insurance company.
Marc:There's no way that she can claim that it wasn't her fault.
Marc:But...
Marc:but uh and i'm not even mad at her really it's just an accident i'm glad i'm you know no one's hurt but i don't give a fuck about my car and in my mind i'm like maybe i can get enough money to sort of take the money that to fix it properly and spread it around a little bit and maybe undent the whole car a little because it's all beat up for me you know running into walls of uh beside my driveway because i'm not paying attention and
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:I am proud to have a car I don't give a fuck about.
Marc:And now it has character.
Marc:It has character.
Marc:It's scarred.
Marc:It's wounded.
Marc:But...
Marc:You guys, you might remember a while back, I talked to a guy named Denny Tedesco on this show.
Marc:I was back on episode 517.
Marc:He's the son of Tommy Tedesco, who was a member of the Wrecking Crew.
Marc:And they were a group of studio musicians that were on just about every album from Sinatra forward through the Beach Boys.
Marc:I mean, they were all studio musicians here in L.A.
Marc:And they're a fascinating group of people.
Marc:And at that time, Denny was attempting to make a documentary.
Marc:about the wrecking crew and he was working on it for 18 years it was a real struggle there were a lot of issues with music rights and other you know roadblocks of this kind and that and when i talked to denny he wasn't even sure if the movie was ever going to get released it was it was a it was sort of a heartbreaking conversation because this was his life's work and he he had some uh some real problems so he wasn't sure that it was going to happen
Guest:All right, so 1996, I start this, I like to say 17 years ago, 17 years younger and 35 pounds lighter.
Guest:Basically, when I started in 96, dad got sick, right?
Guest:He passes away in 97.
Guest:And right after he passed, I put together a nice 14-minute teaser reel.
Guest:I got Nancy Sinatra.
Guest:I got Cher in it at this point.
Guest:I got everybody going.
Guest:But no one would touch this damn thing because the music.
Guest:And they all said- The licensing.
Guest:The licensing.
Marc:They said, you got- Oh, my God.
Guest:I didn't even think about that.
Guest:No, yeah.
Guest:At that point, now the film's got 120 songs in it.
Guest:and and and what 90 of them are hits yeah oh no yeah yeah 98 exactly yeah so i said to i so i kept going to everybody say you're never going to get the labels and the publishers to agree on this it's impossible yeah well i had to keep shooting and go on and carry on you have to have the music right you can't tell the story without it right so i you know you could talk about it well it's going to be a shit documentary
Guest:Right.
Guest:So I kept going and no one would ever jump in.
Guest:Finally, in 2006, I always talk about crossing that line where you went too far.
Guest:And my wife thought we just made the most expensive home movie ever.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:You know, it was like... How much are you into it for?
Guest:Oh, at that point, a couple hundred thousand.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And now, God, I don't even... I cringe.
Guest:Because I look at, you know, it's my house.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And so we said, all right, let's make the one jump.
Guest:Let's go for it.
Guest:We've got to get an editor, a producer slash...
Guest:And so I got Claire Scanlon, who was my editor, and we cut this thing.
Guest:In 2008, we got into the film festivals, did it remarkably well, excuse me, I could say, won a lot of awards, and no one would touch it.
Guest:Couldn't distribute it.
Guest:But you could show it.
Guest:I could show it, but I paid for the festival use.
Guest:But we got Kickstarter finally came in.
Guest:I needed like $350,000 to really do everything.
Guest:And I reached for $250,000 and got $300,000.
Guest:So we paid off the Musicians Union.
Guest:I have a few more songs now.
Guest:Now, I'm hoping to God...
Guest:as we you know you added a few songs no we've we've paid we only have a few more songs i did actually add a couple more since you've seen it yeah don't tell anybody okay i'm paying for it just don't tell my wife yeah yeah um but what i had to do is basically i still pay now i've only got maybe four songs left to pay and i'm done i've free 100 own this thing outright
Guest:holy shit so i i played by the rules i did not you know i've not released this film and your father would have appreciated that absolutely he was a union guy he got it you know so i'm just hoping to get this thing out there i'm doing fundraisers i'm doing literally i'm doing private screenings i do i've shown this film all around the world
Marc:Well, got good news for Denny.
Marc:And I'm proud to say that after talking to him that it's finally happened.
Marc:The movie is going to be in theaters tomorrow, folks.
Marc:They got all the issues straightened out and got a distributor.
Marc:And now you can see the movie in theaters and very soon on DVD.
Marc:You can go to wreckingcrewfilm.com to find out where it's playing.
Marc:And I want to personally congratulate Denny Tedesco for hanging in there, man.
Marc:He did it.
Marc:It's a good story, man.
Marc:It's a good story.
Marc:Someone should have made a documentary about Denny making the fucking documentary.
Marc:This season of Marin is going to be a trip, man.
Marc:Going to be some surprises.
Marc:We worked hard.
Marc:I dug deep for the acting this week.
Marc:I didn't think I could do it.
Marc:I didn't think I could do what I had to do, and I feel like I did it.
Marc:I did it the best I could, folks.
Marc:That's all you can do.
Marc:The best you can do.
Marc:All you can do is give it your all and not beat the shit out of yourself afterwards and say, well, that wasn't good enough.
Marc:All right, let's talk to Chris D'Elia.
Marc:Let me say what he's got.
Marc:What has he got?
Marc:Oh, he's got this new stand-up special called White Male Black Comic.
Marc:You can get it on iTunes, Amazon, and at ChrisD'Elia.com.
Marc:For just five bucks, he's got the undateable thing.
Marc:All right, let's talk to Chris D'Elia.
Chris D'Elia.
Marc:Some people know Eagle Rock.
Guest:Yeah, but that's where this is?
Guest:It's right over the hill, basically.
Guest:I've been there.
Guest:You have?
Guest:Yeah, Eagle Rock, yeah.
Marc:What were you doing over there?
Guest:It was so long ago.
Guest:I don't even know.
Marc:Did you grow up here?
Guest:I did, yeah.
Guest:And that's why I know Eagle Rock.
Guest:But when they sent me the email, they were like, it's near Eagle Rock.
Guest:And I was like, oh, yeah, I remember that place.
Marc:Yeah?
Guest:So it's good it's still here.
Marc:From some weird part of your past?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I grew up in La Cañada, you know?
Guest:Well, I mean, I moved there when I was 12.
Marc:La Cañada?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:That's like down the street.
Guest:Is it really that close to here?
Guest:Well, on the 2.
Guest:Yeah, on the 2.
Guest:Right, exactly, yeah.
Marc:So you just drove by the exit of this plane.
Guest:I did, now that I realize it was the two, yes.
Marc:Right?
Guest:Yeah, I was just following GPS like an idiot.
Marc:No, but it's funny, though.
Marc:There's some places, even where you grow up, where you're like, I don't know.
Marc:I've driven by that area for my entire life.
Guest:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Marc:But I would never go there.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Well, why would you go to La Cunada unless you lived there, really?
Guest:It's like such a home.
Marc:Well, there's a gym that I just joined in La Crescenta.
Marc:Oh, really?
Marc:Which is down the street.
Guest:Oh, so it is that close.
Guest:Wow.
Guest:La Crescenta is like next to La Cunata.
Guest:Okay, cool.
Guest:Exactly.
Marc:So it's like literally, like I just canceled my Y membership in Hollywood because I'm like, I can just drive.
Marc:That's too far.
Marc:It's like 10 minutes to La Crescenta from here.
Guest:That's funny.
Guest:Do your folks still live there?
Guest:Yeah, they live in La Cunata, yeah.
Guest:I'll go there after this.
Marc:Will you?
Guest:No, because they're not.
Guest:Oh, no, they are there, yeah.
Guest:They just got back in town, yeah.
Marc:Wait, wait, so where'd you start out, though?
Marc:Where were you born?
Marc:New Jersey.
Marc:You're a New Jersey guy.
Marc:I felt that.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:I knew that.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Because, I mean, the first time I think I, like, registered your existence was, like, I guess I moved back to Los Angeles in 2002, and then I did the American stuff.
Marc:Then I started going to the store, and I guess it was, like, 2006 or something.
Marc:Around there, you know, I knew a few guys there, but you were always, like, sort of looming around with a hoodie.
Guest:Yes.
Marc:Not really talking.
Marc:Like, you were like, this is Chris, and I'm like, what does he do?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Very quiet.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:And I'm like, what is that guy?
Guest:I know.
Guest:I have like a fear of like being involved.
Guest:Like if there's a group already.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Which the comedy store is very much like a fraternity like place.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:But it shifts, though.
Guest:It does.
Guest:Every evolving stream.
Guest:But I didn't know that going in, right?
Guest:So when I went in, I was like, I just don't want to say the fucking wrong thing.
Guest:Like, I remember once... I actually have a memory of... Which maybe made me the quiet person there on the comedy store.
Guest:I was... I'm friends with Steve Renaziza right now.
Guest:He's actually like... I love the guy.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:But I didn't understand his style and vibe.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And...
Guest:I had been married for like a year and a half.
Guest:Really?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:When I started stand-up, I was married for about a year and a half.
Marc:What year was that?
Guest:2006.
Guest:Really?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Okay.
Guest:And Ranazizi was married like the same, like a month later than I was.
Guest:And so I overheard him.
Guest:I overheard him saying, yeah, because I've been married now for about six months.
Guest:And I just was like, oh, that's a connection.
Guest:I mean, I didn't think that's a connection.
Guest:I was like, it's just a conversation.
Guest:This is how life is.
Guest:So I'll say something now.
Guest:This is how it works.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And I said, oh, yeah, no shit.
Guest:Me too.
Guest:And he said, oh, yeah, when did you get married?
Guest:And I was like, oh, well, I got married in August.
Guest:And he said, oh, well, I got married in September.
Guest:That was seven months.
Guest:to me.
Guest:And I was like, Jesus Christ.
Guest:End of conversation.
Guest:Yeah, I was like, yeah, I mean, I guess I can't argue with that, but I mean like, and then I was like, man, it's fucking rough out here.
Marc:I can't even get in on it like a month off and I'm out.
Guest:Yeah, I know, I know.
Guest:And I've talked to Steve about that since and I was like, yo, why did you say that?
Guest:Like, who gives a fuck if it's six months or seven months?
Guest:And he was like, I don't know.
Guest:He actually said, I don't know, probably because it wasn't fucking six months.
Marc:and so i was like yeah i get i get it now i get it here and i get you now but back then i was like hypersensitive to like being the new guy oh so you were just awkward yeah yeah because like i just uh i didn't know what you were up to and like i remember looking at him like how that kid doesn't even look like he can talk i know i mean how the fuck is he gonna be funny that guy i know and like in literally i i just remembered you wearing a hoodie all the time i know i did i wore hoodies all
Marc:and it was like you were just kind of lurking around yeah and i but then again like i never hung out and necessarily watched people you know so right and then by the time i saw you i'm like that was that kid with the hoodie now he's jumping around screaming yeah he's like huge i couldn't fucking believe it but your parents are both from jersey well my dad's from queens new york queens yeah and my mom's from newark
Marc:Oh, yeah, so you're real fucking East Coast.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:That's weird.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:So wait, but your dad was, he's an Italian guy.
Marc:Yeah, my dad's Italian.
Marc:Like real Italian?
Marc:My mom's Italian.
Guest:I'm half Italian, so whatever that equals.
Guest:What do you mean?
Guest:So your mom's not Italian?
Guest:No, my mom's Italian and my dad's Italian, but my mom's also Polish and I think my dad's Irish too.
Marc:Oh, really?
Guest:I don't know.
Guest:So they're not like...
Guest:You're not clear on it?
Guest:I'm American, you know.
Marc:No, I know.
Marc:But you didn't have any of that in your family?
Guest:You don't have like- Oh, my family, like I have an Uncle Vinny.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Like, I mean, when we go back, people are just like, hey, it's that.
Guest:Yeah, that's your father's side.
Guest:Yeah, absolutely.
Guest:And my mother's side too, though.
Guest:Like, you know, yeah, like I had a cousin, Butch.
Guest:Like, I mean, real Italian shit.
Guest:Where it was like, I would watch The Sopranos and be like,
Guest:Oh, that's comforting.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Marc:That feels like home to me.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And they would lie.
Guest:My family would say shit like, yeah, you know, he's connected.
Guest:And you're like, he's not, but okay.
Guest:You know, like that kind of shit.
Marc:Every Italian family is like, they think they got the one guy.
Marc:Absolutely.
Marc:Stole a truck once.
Marc:Absolutely.
Marc:And that's it.
Marc:So you grew up with that kind of like, what, spaghetti and pasta and grandmother?
Guest:Yeah, absolutely.
Guest:My dad would cook pasta all the time.
Guest:I mean, we had pasta probably, fuck, almost every day.
Marc:Did you have a grandmother?
Guest:Yeah, my mom's grandmother.
Guest:mom, Carmela, another Italian name, would cook.
Guest:Yeah, she would cook the meat sauce.
Marc:I like knowing that you're from New Jersey.
Marc:There's something about... Because my family comes from New Jersey.
Marc:But you don't strike me as like... I don't identify you as kind of an Italian guy.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I don't know, man.
Guest:When I...
Guest:i think part of well you know me just from when i've been doing stand-up and i think that when i when i when i was you know now as a stand-up like i i always feel like comedians are repping other places right and i came up here and i want to be like i'm from la yeah you know what i mean so because i started in la right you know so um and that's rare
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:It's a weird thing.
Guest:It is.
Guest:I know.
Guest:Well, and I know why now that I started in LA because it's hard to keep the eyes off of you when you're, when you're, when you're working shit out new.
Guest:I mean, Oh yeah.
Marc:It's hard to, uh, it's hard to, uh, to be anonymous.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:But was that, okay.
Marc:So your father, when you were 12 years old, why'd your father move?
Marc:Like he's a TV guy.
Guest:He's a director and a producer, but like a big shot.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:He, he, yeah.
Guest:He's done a lot of stuff.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:TV.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:So you grew up in the business, kind of.
Guest:Yeah, kind of, yeah.
Guest:When I was 12, we moved out.
Guest:My dad was a commercial director, and he had a company in New York, and he would drive there every day.
Guest:Right.
Guest:And then when we moved from New York, it was like he got a gig...
Guest:directing Doogie Howser, I think, was the first thing he directed.
Guest:Really?
Guest:TV-wise, yeah.
Guest:Steven Moschko gave him his first job.
Guest:And my dad says to this day he still has no fucking idea why he gave it to him, but he directed Doogie Howser.
Guest:And then he would fly back and forth, and then it got to the point where he was getting enough work.
Guest:He got on that show, he was one of the directors on that show, Northern Exposure.
Guest:Sure.
Guest:And so he was out here enough to where he would stay out here for a few months.
Guest:Right.
Guest:And then it just became, let's go visit Dad in L.A., and then it became, okay, let's live in L.A.
Marc:So he was kind of not around for a while?
Guest:Yeah, but not like any kind of damaging shit going on.
Guest:It didn't fuck you up?
Guest:No.
Guest:Something else did?
Guest:Not that.
Guest:Yeah, that did not fuck me up.
Marc:Something did.
Marc:Something made you screwy.
Marc:Maybe, yeah.
Marc:All right, so he's directing Doogie Howser.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And then what else does he do?
Marc:So you move out here, but he moves to La Crescenta, so you're not Hollywood.
Guest:La Cunada.
Guest:No, yeah, we moved to La Cunada, and I remember the big thing there was like,
Guest:hey kevin costner lives here he used to live there yeah and uh and i moved there when i was in you know i guess i was in it was right when everyone went to middle school so my parents were like hey uh it's great because all the kids are coming from different schools you know like right and that was kind of good uh but i remember when i got there this is this is actually pretty embarrassing not so much now because i'm a fucking man but like
Guest:I remember being I love the show 90210 the first one not the one that's on now the original a few years ago yeah the original and I loved Luke Perry yeah and I thought he was so cool and I did my hair like up like him yeah and I thought that that was how it was it should be in LA like I was like well they live in Cal they'll get it yeah you know Beverly Hills man
Guest:yeah yeah and when i went to i i just i would always get made fun of with that hair they would be like your fucking hair so high why do you do that and i would never say because fucking luke perry does it right you know but i knew that that was like i was like and i i'm such like a fucking i'm so like hard-headed that i would be like they don't know how it is in california this is how you do your hair in california
Marc:You're in California, but they're missing the point.
Guest:This kid coming from New Jersey with a grandmother named Carmella was like, they don't get it.
Guest:They don't get the California lifestyle.
Marc:But you identified with it early on.
Marc:So you're like, what, 13 or 14?
Marc:Yeah, I was 13, 14.
Marc:And you wanted to be Luke Perry.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Well, he was pretty cool, I guess, right?
Guest:He was like the cool guy when you were 13.
Guest:And my dad would direct that show.
Guest:So I got to meet him and I was like- Well, wait a minute.
Guest:So wait, you're 14.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:So your dad's like, yeah, I direct that show.
Guest:No, my dad was like, I'm going to try and get to direct that show because you love that show.
Guest:Really?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And he did?
Guest:And he was able to find his way in there and he directed one or two of them.
Guest:And we went on set and we met all those guys, Jason Priestley.
Guest:Did you have your hair out?
Guest:Yeah, yeah, yeah, I did.
Guest:As a matter of fact, and you know what?
Guest:Now thinking back on it, my dad must have said something to Luke Perry because my dad was, Luke Perry said, hey, come here.
Guest:And I walked over and he said, hey, you got cool hair.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And now actually thinking of, I mean, I haven't told that story in so long.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Thinking of it, my dad must have said, you know, hey, my son loves you.
Guest:He loves your hair.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:You're like John Travolta with Al Pacino in Saturday Night Live.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Right, right, right.
Guest:Al Pacino.
Marc:Way less cool version.
Marc:All right, so you're doing that.
Marc:You're doing your hair up in junior high, and your dad's directing.
Marc:Now, was that the first time you'd been to a set?
Guest:No, I went to Doogie Howser, and I went to Northern Exposure.
Guest:When you were like 13?
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:But wasn't Northern Exposure taping way up there?
Marc:Where did it tape?
Guest:Where did that tape?
Guest:I thought it was in Portland or something.
Guest:Yeah, it did, but we went up there, I think.
Guest:Oh, you did?
Guest:We did, yeah, and we took a trip up there.
Guest:That's right, we took a trip up there.
Guest:And I remember John Corbett being the nicest guy, man.
Guest:He would just be really cool and you hear all these stories about, oh, they're stars, don't bother them.
Guest:He was the coolest.
Guest:And then I got to meet all the cast.
Guest:It was just cool.
Guest:It was just fucking cool.
Guest:So did you know you wanted to do that?
Guest:I...
Guest:For me, it was never a thought to even ever do anything else.
Marc:It's weird, I guess, because it's practical to you because your dad's in the business.
Marc:There's a job people have.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:You know, like, obviously you wanted to be, you know, what's his name?
Marc:Luke Perry.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:But nonetheless, your access to it was that, like, my dad goes to work there.
Marc:It's like an available job.
Marc:There must have been some, like, closeness to it.
Marc:Like, it didn't seem like it was impossible.
Guest:No, because that was, yeah, I was a kid thinking about that.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Just, you know, my parents and even my brother, who's younger than me,
Guest:They're so legitimately entertaining and funny.
Guest:And it was just kind of our language.
Guest:Are they funnier than you?
Guest:I mean, here's the thing.
Guest:We all make fun of each other as a family.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And it's just kind of how we talk.
Guest:Right.
Guest:And I feel like I always got it the hardest.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And I think that...
Guest:i mean i remember feeling like not so much the family but because like there you know there was love there all the time like remember feeling like i gotta i gotta come back i gotta say something funny you know to be part of this you know like poor kid with the luke perry haircut getting his balls busted and they would fuck with me too my dad would call me ledge head
Guest:yeah yeah but your parents are still married yeah so you like grew up in a state i know man i i know everyone every time i read an article it's like oh comedians have demons and shit i always think like maybe my demons are like where are my demons they're maybe they're in there real real far you get along with your parents yeah they're fucking awesome i love them so much it's it's so weird have you see them often all the time i saw them yesterday
Marc:I love it.
Marc:Yeah, I don't... But I mean, it's sort of interesting because you have an intensity to you and a fundamental social discomfort that when you see you, you're like, that guy, he's trouble, that guy.
Marc:But you're just nervous in general?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:A lot of times people think, or people, they'll be like...
Guest:A lot of times people think, oh, he's a bro or something.
Guest:I couldn't be further from that.
Guest:No, you're like a loner.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And I think all that shit is in your head.
Guest:So it's like you're an outsider if you feel like you're an outsider.
Guest:You know what I mean?
Guest:Not necessarily because you're a fucking weirdo.
Marc:I think they just associate the look and maybe the confidence of who you are on screen or on stage.
Marc:But you're one of those guys not unlike a lot of us.
Marc:You do your thing, and then offstage, you're like, ugh.
Guest:Oh, man.
Guest:All it takes... Yeah.
Guest:Actually, I remember... This is before you knew who I was.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I obviously knew who you were.
Guest:I've known who you were forever.
Guest:But when I...
Guest:By the way, my dad's a big fan of yours.
Guest:Oh, really?
Guest:He really is, yeah.
Guest:Oh, that's nice.
Guest:I should say that.
Guest:So I remember you were at the improv one night.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:This was 2007 or 8, 7 probably.
Guest:And I was like, oh, fucking Marc Maron's on.
Guest:And I went to go watch you, and you came off stage, and I was like, and you just were in your own head just thinking about some shit.
Guest:I was the only person in the hallway.
Guest:I remember how it used to be with the hallway coming out.
Guest:And I was like, hey, man, that was great.
Guest:That was hilarious.
Guest:And you were like, eh, I fucked up.
Guest:and I was like and I was like how could he think he fucked up I remember this is before I really was you know doing yeah I wasn't a professional you're just doing it like a year yeah yeah and I was like how could he think he fucked up and now I totally know what that feeling is like you know like I just absolutely like because all it takes is
Guest:One little thing.
Guest:You get off stage and somebody says something like, oh, man, you were much better than last night.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:You're like, oh, what the fuck happened last night?
Marc:Yeah, I thought last night was good.
Guest:Tonight was not that good.
Guest:That fucks me up.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Oh, no.
Marc:Like, yeah.
Marc:You know, I think that's one of the things that people-
Marc:Don't realize, especially when you have the kind of confidence you have on stage or whatever.
Marc:With me, because I'm bleeding all the time and yelling and complaining or something, it's not so surprising that offstage I might be a little insecure.
Marc:But I think with somebody like you, they're like, what?
Marc:But you don't show it that much.
Marc:You just sort of mind your own business.
Marc:You're a mind-your-own-business guy.
Guest:yeah i i um you have friends right oh yeah i i do i i i have i'm fortunate i have friends that i fucking love and forever or like comics for a long time yeah for a long time yeah yeah like you do a podcast right yeah how how often does that go up um it's like twice a week it's a 10 minute podcast we do 10 minutes and you do it with brian brian callen and will sasso
Marc:I don't know if I know Sasso.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I know Brian.
Marc:Yeah, well, of course you know Brian.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:I think we're okay, him and I, sometimes.
Guest:Oh, yeah.
Guest:The last I checked, we're okay.
Guest:Yeah, he's never said anything bad about you.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:But... You have old friends, like from high school or something?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Well, high school...
Guest:I have like one friend that I keep, no, I have two friends I keep in touch with from high school.
Guest:One was my brother's friend that is like one of my best friends now.
Marc:You stole your brother's friend?
Guest:Yeah, no, he's still closer than my brother.
Guest:All right.
Marc:What's the age difference?
Guest:My brother's three and a half years younger than me.
Guest:What's he do?
Guest:He's a director.
Guest:Yeah, like successful?
Guest:Yeah, he did a movie called American Animal.
Guest:It's on Netflix now.
Guest:It was one of those movies that was very critically- What was it about?
Guest:It was about a guy who is dying, and he decides one day that he's not sick anymore, and he's just going to live by those rules.
Guest:It shows him devolving mentally and physically over the course of three days.
Guest:And it all takes place in like an apartment.
Marc:Does he end up kicking the sickness?
Guest:No.
Guest:No.
Guest:He doesn't die or not die.
Guest:It's just kind of like his deterioration.
Guest:And it's sad, but it's funny too.
Guest:Did your brother write it?
Guest:He wrote it, directed it, and he plays the guy.
Guest:Oh, really?
Guest:And a lot of critics- What's his name?
Guest:Loved it.
Guest:Matt.
Guest:Matt D'Elia, yeah.
Guest:He was on some top five list, top 10 list.
Guest:Oh, yeah?
Guest:But it was one of those movies that just kind of didn't make it easy for him to do his second movie.
Guest:Oh, why?
Guest:Because it was so personal or so- Well, no.
Guest:It was very specific.
Guest:It was very specific.
Guest:But we have other stuff that we're putting together that we're trying to do, man.
Guest:You and him?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:You're working together now?
Guest:Dude, I just like working with people I like, man.
Marc:Well, that's good.
Marc:You like your brother then.
Guest:Yeah, it is good.
Marc:What about your old man?
Marc:Does he get involved?
Guest:He actually directed my last special.
Guest:Did he?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:The white male black comic.
Guest:Yeah, that I did for Comedy Central.
Guest:White male black comic?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:He was funny too because-
Guest:I, I asked him, I was like, Hey dad, can I, will you direct my special?
Guest:And he was like, you want me to fucking direct your special?
Guest:And I was like, yeah.
Guest:And he was like, fuck.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I would love to.
Guest:And I was like, all right, cool.
Guest:Just so you know, like I'm hiring you like just as a joke.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And it was funny too, because he made like, you know, he made like no money.
Guest:right of course right and you of course he doesn't give a shit about it right he's the most sentimental guy in the fucking on the planet so he was like my son you know yeah but uh um i'm joking around about him you know he made a few few thousand dollars and i was like now i paid you back for everything yeah you know we're even yeah yeah exactly so he did a good job i assume yeah i loved the way it looked and turned out and is it popular did it do well it did really well for me yeah
Guest:Yeah?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:In what way?
Guest:Just in terms of- Put butts in seats.
Guest:Did it?
Guest:Absolutely, yeah.
Guest:Big change.
Guest:Yeah, big, yeah.
Guest:You know what happened, actually?
Guest:From Netflix.
Guest:No, it was on Comedy Central, but you know what happened is there was a bit that got online that went viral that was like, that changed kind of, kind of changed everything.
Guest:Really?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Which bit?
Guest:It was a bit I do about drunk girls.
Guest:Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Guest:And it's, it, it, it,
Guest:It got to a point, not really now, but where people would be coming to see... If I shoot something and it airs, I don't do that joke anymore because I want to work on other shit.
Guest:I think other comics are that way too.
Marc:It's the way we think, but I'm of two minds about it.
Marc:I don't always know, especially when you're just breaking.
Marc:So let's say you get known for that bit, and then all of a sudden people want to... There's two kinds of people.
Marc:They're like, I hope he does new shit.
Marc:But those are people that have been watching you for years.
Marc:But some people are going to see that bit.
Marc:Some people are bringing friends like, let's go see him do that bit.
Marc:But look at Jim Gaffigan for a million years, Hot Pockets.
Marc:He couldn't get rid of Hot Pockets.
Marc:And now he does it as an encore sometimes.
Marc:Really?
Guest:yeah yeah encores are cool but but but to me and you know with all due respect it was a little different back then because you can just youtube it now you know what i mean so it's like mom of the mindset was like somebody calls out do the drunk girls thing i just i fucking say youtube that shit really yeah i got new stuff i hope you like this here we go you know
Marc:i just feel like that's the way i mean i do that too and i and i think that's right but nobody really there's nobody in my my my audience is sort of troubled polite right sensitive you know usually they're grown-ups and they're you know they're not going to be sitting there taping my bits clandestine i don't think i've ever been taped in a club where they put it up it's never been a threat for me which is a testament to having a good audience and
Marc:But the relationship I have with my audience is so intimate because of this thing and whatever.
Marc:That's truly awesome, man.
Marc:I envy that.
Marc:Right, but I feel the insane pressure to come up with new stuff, or at least, and you do too, but for the YouTube thing.
Marc:No, I guess I see what you're saying.
Marc:But no, but I mean, when you look at your audience, were they college kids usually?
Marc:Teenagers, what?
Guest:Well, it's like 2030, 20s, 30s.
Marc:Yeah?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And when the Comedy Central thing happened, you weren't selling out or now you can sell out?
Guest:I was not selling out and now I am selling out, yeah.
Guest:Are you doing theaters?
Guest:Yeah, I'm doing a theater tour now.
Marc:How big, the 800, 900, or 1,200, 1,500?
Guest:I'm doing 1,000 to 1,400.
Guest:Well, that's because of the show too.
Guest:Yeah, it's all different stuff, you know?
Guest:Right.
Guest:I think that it's good to... Like...
Guest:I have this thing where if I get any sort of like, like I did this episode of Workaholics, that show on Comedy Central.
Guest:And I played a pedophile and it was like a really like episode because I played a pedophile, but it was a funny show.
Guest:So a lot of that episode was very popular and a lot of people would see me and call me the guy, like the guy's name was Topher and they'd be like, hey, it's Topher.
Guest:Right.
Guest:Like that makes me never want to do that show again.
Guest:Do you know what I mean?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Or if I get popular or whatever, if something like that drunk girls bit, if people know me from that, I don't ever want to do it again.
Guest:Why?
Guest:Because I don't know.
Guest:I think if I'm being truly honest, this is kind of fucked up, but I've thought about this.
Guest:I think it has something to do with the fact that I feel a little bit of being totally honest.
Guest:I feel a little bit of...
Marc:i feel a little bit shitty that they know me from that bit right and they don't know me right which is a weird insecure thing well no absolutely like you don't want to be uh like you don't think it i get that too where it's sort of like there's like even just the other night i did a show and i was a little more aggressive than i than i i do uh like i i used to be more aggressive on stage and
Marc:push it more and like oversell and get angry.
Marc:But I needed to do it because of the situation I was in.
Marc:But I felt ashamed of it.
Marc:And I know that a lot of people are like, I didn't know you had it in here, whatever.
Marc:Yeah, I used to do that shit all the time.
Marc:I used to be a lot more aggressive on stage.
Marc:It's taken me years to relax.
Marc:So some part of my brain, like if somebody came up to me and said, I've never seen you before, you kicked ass.
Marc:There was part of me that's like, enough of that one.
Marc:Yeah, I don't want you to.
Marc:Like I'm not always like that.
Marc:Right.
Guest:That kind of thing.
Marc:But, but, but in, in, in, in you saying that, I mean, I can understand that about Topher, but do you think like you're, are there bits that you feel like you really representing yourself or you just feel that weird insecurity?
Marc:Like you're never going to be known or that anytime anybody likes you, you're like, but you don't really know me.
Marc:I mean, is that in there all the time?
Guest:I don't know.
Guest:You know what?
Guest:Like,
Guest:Another thing, too, that makes me think of what you're saying is, or what you're asking is, like, I've been doing stand-up for about eight and a half years.
Guest:Right.
Guest:So... But not a long time, really.
Guest:Right.
Guest:It certainly doesn't feel like a long time.
Guest:But, like, you know, my first hour was...
Guest:about stuff that I thought was funny, you know?
Marc:What, the special?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Right.
Guest:It was like, you know, stuff that I've observed and like, I'm like, oh, this is, that's funny to me.
Guest:You think like the German guy?
Guest:Well, that was before that.
Guest:But yeah, I talk about how like black guys laugh or something.
Guest:Right.
Guest:You know what I mean?
Right.
Guest:And as I get older and as I get older in comedy, it's more fulfilling to talk about stuff that has happened to me or how I feel about a certain thing.
Guest:How are you doing with that stuff?
Guest:You didn't do that on the special.
Guest:I did not do that on the special.
Guest:Because when I shot my special, I think I was 31 or something.
Guest:What was that, like two years ago?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And...
Guest:To me, my favorite guys were always silly.
Guest:I love being silly.
Guest:I just think that if it's silly- Like who are your favorite guys?
Guest:Like Eddie Murphy or Jim Carrey or Robin Williams.
Guest:Big.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And I just think that that's-
Marc:funny and i feel like that's me i feel like that's me too so like and also i think you get lost in it too because like your off stage personality is you know sort of quiet right and you know like you kind of get big yeah like i i know that like a lot of your bits like are it's character driven and it's things that like everyone can understand and there's like you know you know goofy um kind of not stereotypes but you know you kind of you take it you take something that's familiar and then kind of push it over the top yeah
Guest:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Guest:Definitely.
Guest:And that is definitely what I did on my first special, for sure.
Guest:And I still have material like that.
Guest:I'm going to shoot my next special.
Guest:But for instance, there's a bit in my next special that I'm going to do.
Guest:I dislike sports.
Guest:I just don't... I never care.
Guest:Yeah, I think I've seen this.
Guest:And to me, when I...
Guest:The first time I started talking about that bit, I was like, I could never get away with saying that.
Guest:It's definitely anti-bro.
Guest:That's true.
Guest:Right.
Guest:Yeah, exactly.
Guest:But it's actually how I feel about it.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:So I was like, I'm going to talk about how I don't like sports and I'm just going to see how it goes.
Guest:I saw you do it at Oddball.
Guest:Right.
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Guest:It went good.
Guest:Well, thank you.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:But-
Guest:Now the bit's a little older and I've done it for about a year or a year and a half.
Guest:And I can't wait to shoot it so I don't have to do it anymore.
Guest:But when I first started doing that bit, I was like, man, it feels really good to let people know that I don't like sports.
Guest:You know, it's so funny.
Marc:It's like the first time you ever spoke your mind.
Guest:Yeah, exactly.
Guest:So so and I have a stand.
Guest:Yeah, exactly.
Guest:And it felt so fucking good.
Guest:And it felt like I was growing up, man.
Guest:It felt like I was like as a comic.
Guest:Yeah, it really did.
Guest:And I was and and and and I think that I did get a little attention, at least in the clubs quickly, you know, like early on.
Guest:like I was getting thrown going in between two comics that I'd watched growing up and I was like oh fuck I gotta be good you mean when he started or recently you mean when I first started right yeah and I was like I have no business going in between fucking John Caprilo and Dove David or whoever it was and it felt like in the past few years I've really been able to just kind of
Guest:also i don't give a fuck now like you know what i mean like when you first you're like i really care what these people think and now i realize as a comedian making people laugh is amazing i love it but yeah but i really am up there for me right i don't know if that's how you feel as well like that's it's really all i got yeah
Marc:I've never known as everyone's entertainer.
Marc:Right.
Marc:Yeah, I don't know.
Marc:No, no, but I think it's a natural evolution.
Marc:I mean, you're eight years in.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:You've paid your dues a bit, and you've got your chops, and you know how to do it, and you know how to really blow a room apart.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And I think also when I see a guy like you, somebody who's so big on stage, that I don't know how you adjust from that.
Marc:I think that the experience of doing characters and then sort of doing all the physical humor that you do and sort of acting things out, that eventually when you feel comfortable up there and you feel real confidence as opposed to like, I just got to kill.
Guest:right right that you know you got a little more space right right um and you know that that that kind of thing like like i i've i've i'm this is this won't be on the next special i do but i've started doing new material now where i'm talking about how like i have i how i don't have kids and how that makes me feel and how my friends i'm watching them have kids yeah and that's all very personal to me you know like and um and that feels therapeutic and and that's now it's like uh
Guest:that being said me doing that on stage it's not going to take away from me if i'm telling a story about a kid then all of a sudden the kid said this and doing the kid as a character you know what i mean like right that's just silly and that's just what i like doing well that's how well that's your style exactly so now you're saying that you're able to inform your style with more of your point of view right as opposed to just doing you know these uh broad character bits yeah
Marc:right that's good man i mean in eight years to be quite honest with you just because you got the success that you've gotten because your ability to uh to entertain you know it's good that you you still are conscious of growing as a comic as who wants to do something more personal yeah i mean yeah it's sort of the curse of being able to entertain early on like most guys kind of stumble through eight years right and then a break comes right right like you know from the get-go because you were so you know
Marc:you know, big, you know, you're like, that guy can do it.
Marc:Right, right.
Guest:And you're like, all right, I got 10 minutes.
Guest:Yeah, I'll do it.
Marc:Yeah, I had 10 minutes, exactly.
Marc:You know what I mean?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:So, all right, so after, so in high school, what were you doing in high school?
Marc:Were you doing acting?
Guest:Yeah, I was doing, I was doing acting, I was acting, I was doing, like, plays and shit.
Guest:So you wanted to be an actor?
Guest:I did, yeah.
Guest:I always wanted to be a comedian, but,
Guest:that was so scary to me so i was like i'll be an actor yeah you know like when i was 11 i'll be an actor i'll get famous and then i'll do stand-up right did you ever think in your mind which is an idiotic idea by the way let me put that out there what to do an actor first to to to have the to not come up as a comedian is is wrong i
Guest:No, no.
Guest:Well, it's not wrong.
Guest:I shouldn't say it's wrong, but it's way harder to be respected among your peers.
Guest:As a comedian.
Guest:Yes.
Marc:If you don't come up as a comedian.
Marc:Like if you wanted to be an actor and then you became a comic.
Guest:I feel bad for people that are actors that have always wanted to be a comedian and then they're like, I'm going to try it.
Guest:Because it's like, oh man, you got to be extra good almost.
Marc:Well, what's worse is guys who want to be actors and they put together 10 minutes to try to get showcases.
Marc:Right.
Marc:In a way.
Marc:But I don't know how clear you were about what you were doing when you started.
Marc:But even when you talk to Dice, Dice wanted to be an actor.
Marc:Really?
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:That's all he wanted to be.
Guest:Really?
Guest:He wanted to be a fucking actor.
Guest:I mean, there's different reasons to do stand-up.
Guest:For me, it was always about...
Guest:I feel like I'm a comedian.
Guest:And acting is great because you can work if you work.
Guest:But did you train as an actor?
Guest:I did, yes.
Guest:But I dropped out of everything.
Marc:So you're in high school, you're doing things.
Marc:In your heart, you want to be a comedian, but you don't have the balls.
Marc:But you want to be on camera.
Marc:So you want to act.
Marc:So you're doing plays.
Marc:Were you taking classes?
Guest:Was your father helping you out?
Guest:I went to NYU.
Marc:Now what's your dad thinking when you're telling him you want his career in show business?
Guest:Before he ever saw me do anything, he was like, I should probably talk to him about how hard it is.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And he did?
Guest:And then I think he saw me in a play and he was like, I'll let him, you know.
Guest:Seems like he might have some.
Guest:Maybe.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Who knows?
Guest:I was probably terrible.
Marc:He didn't tell you this though?
Guest:He didn't say that?
Guest:No.
Guest:Eventually he said, I was thinking I was probably going to have to.
Guest:Because, you know, look, my dad's in the business and he said he's... No, dude, he's heartbreaking.
Guest:He sits down in front of actors all the time, his whole life, and he says a lot of actors come in and audition and he wishes somebody who loved him would be like... Stop.
Guest:Maybe you should, you know...
Guest:Yeah, in a caring way.
Guest:I mean, my dad's not cold.
Guest:No, it's heartbreaking.
Marc:I mean, I notice it all the time.
Marc:It was touch and go for me for a long time, but I didn't have anything else to do.
Marc:But I have to assume, even when I was doing my show and I got to audition people, I could barely handle it.
Marc:I know.
Marc:To sit there, it's just sort of like, and I don't know what they're doing.
Marc:I know.
Marc:I don't know what they're doing all day.
Marc:I don't know what you like.
Marc:It's just heartbreaking.
Marc:It is, really.
Marc:It really is.
Marc:But, you know, if someone's got a dream, they got a dream.
Marc:Yeah, you got it.
Marc:And you never know.
Marc:Who the hell knows?
Marc:But at some point, you kind of know, right?
Marc:I guess.
Guest:Yeah, but sometimes.
Marc:You just don't know.
Guest:Yeah, you're right.
Guest:But that's the thing, though.
Guest:It's like if you hit on 20, sometimes you're going to get an ace.
Guest:And when that happens, people hear those stories and they're like, oh, well, I'll fucking try.
Marc:Right.
Marc:But but but also for some people, the payoff is is is different.
Marc:You know, like if somebody gets like a like a one episode on a TV show and they've been banging the head against the wall for six years, a big deal.
Guest:Right.
Marc:Right.
Marc:You know what I mean?
Marc:I don't know.
Marc:It's a projection to assume that they're all heartbroken.
Marc:That's absolutely.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:But I'm doing it, not you.
Marc:No, but I feel the same way when I'm watching that.
Marc:Yeah, because it's our own fear.
Marc:I mean, you did all right.
Marc:You have more success than I did when I was your age.
Marc:But still, I got to imagine that on some level, well, you're doing pretty fucking well.
Marc:I don't assume that you're sitting there going like, what if this ends?
Guest:Well, that's the other thing, too.
Guest:That's one of the best things about stand-up.
Guest:You can always do stand-up.
Guest:You can always do stand-up.
Guest:I mean, that's true.
Marc:In my mind, I know I can do that.
Guest:Right.
Guest:I can always do that.
Guest:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Marc:But all right, so you go to NYU?
Marc:You went to NYU?
Guest:Yeah, I went for a year, and then I dropped out because that was just like...
Marc:To the film program or the acting program?
Guest:I went to the acting program.
Marc:You got in.
Marc:That's an audition situation, isn't it?
Guest:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Guest:So you were good enough to get in, and then what happened?
Guest:You did.
Guest:Yeah, yeah, I got in.
Guest:And I got in, and then I just, when I think about it now, because I don't ever really think about it, but when I think about it now,
Guest:It was just like, I didn't understand.
Guest:I get acting is a craft or whatever, but we had breathing class.
Guest:We literally had a class called breathing.
Guest:And that was the class name.
Guest:And you would go and you would fucking breathe.
Guest:That was the class.
Guest:and i i i mean dude imagine you in that class like me in that class it's the same thing you're like what so but i and then i'm like all right well let's do the thing and then we would do the breathing and then and then a teacher would be like that's not really how you're supposed to do it and you're like what the fuck are you talking about
Guest:We've been breathing the whole, I've been breathing for the whole, my life, dude.
Guest:And then there were classes that were, there was a movement class and then there was a, I was just like, yo, get me the fuck out of here.
Guest:This is not happening fast enough.
Guest:This is not the kind of acting I had in mind.
Guest:You know, and maybe that means, I don't know.
Guest:Maybe that means I'm disrespectful.
Guest:I don't know what the fuck that means.
Guest:But for me, I was like, this is not what I, I can't do this.
Guest:So that was one of the things where I was like.
Marc:You learned nothing.
Guest:Well, no, there were teachers that I respected there that I was like, oh, I like this.
Guest:I like what he's saying.
Guest:And I can remember specific things where... Like I remember one time I did a scene with somebody and one of my acting teachers that I liked a lot, his name was Ronnie.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:He was like, hey, you're not making eye contact with the person.
Guest:Make eye contact with the person the whole time.
Guest:And I was like, okay.
Guest:And I did it.
Guest:And I remember when I was...
Guest:doing the scene with them I was like wow this feels like fucking for real you know and I was like oh that's a good fucking note fucking look at the guy you know so that's funny if you wrote a book one fucking look at the guy
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:To breathe.
Guest:Breathe.
Guest:I guess.
Marc:Don't get too hung up on it, though.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Right, right.
Guest:So... What other things did you carry?
Guest:So I left that.
Guest:So I left NYU.
Marc:But that's one of those weird things, though, where you're like... It stuck in your head, right?
Guest:It did, yeah, for sure.
Guest:Absolutely.
Guest:I mean, I remember that class.
Guest:I remember that year pretty fucking vividly.
Guest:Like, that was a formative year in my life.
Guest:Like, I was in New York for a year.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:It was cold.
Guest:as fuck yeah you know in the winter never been out yeah since you were 12 yeah even still when you're a kid you're invincible you know right now you like it when it's yeah now i'm 19 and i'm like oh this is real cold i'm a person i'm out i'm walking in the streets some guy will be like fuck you and i'm like yeah you know like this is me in life now yeah you know yeah and uh and uh did you miss home
Guest:I think I... Yeah, I don't know.
Guest:I had been home and always very close with my family.
Guest:So I think that year I was like... You know, I felt okay.
Guest:I felt good.
Guest:Yeah, good to be away.
Guest:But I did go through...
Guest:An actual real kind of depression.
Guest:I wasn't going to class by the end of the year.
Guest:I was only sleeping in the day, and I would only see the night.
Guest:I would wake up at 6 p.m.
Guest:and then just kind of go work out at 2 a.m.
Guest:So you're isolated.
Guest:Yeah, I was pretty fucking isolated, and I was not in college.
Guest:It was like I was a New Yorker.
Guest:What were you doing?
Guest:I was like not a... Just going out all night eating?
Guest:I would wake up.
Guest:I would eat yeah I would go to work out at 2 in the morning yeah and then go get something to eat I'd be like the only guy I felt like Travis Bickle right I was like I was like taxi driver like I was like you know look at these creeps look at these fucking scum look at these fucking people and I'm one of them someday a rain will come right exactly so I was like Travis Bickle in the beginning of the movie yeah and yeah so and so you call your parents and say I'm gonna drop out
Guest:Yeah, and they were mad.
Guest:And I wrote a script that was called Union, and it was about kids that were in and out of college.
Guest:They were spending their last summer together before...
Guest:They were in at a junior college and they were spending their last summer together before one of them was going away to real college.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And I actually, I gave it to my dad.
Guest:Yeah, it was a feature script.
Guest:I gave it to my dad and he was like, it's really not, it's not that bad.
Guest:Like, I'm going to give it to my guy.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And so he helped me out and gave it to his agent.
Guest:His agent was like, okay.
Guest:It was not bad.
Guest:And then I had an acting agent.
Guest:I personally gave it to my acting agent.
Guest:And they were like, this is really good.
Guest:We want to give it to the literary department.
Guest:And they gave it to the literary department.
Guest:And I ended up selling it.
Guest:Really?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I wrote it when I was like 19, 20.
Guest:And I sold it.
Guest:And never came to fruition.
Guest:How much?
Guest:Did I make off it?
Guest:Oh, God.
Guest:Maybe $60,000.
Guest:Uh-huh.
Guest:I mean, that's a fucking lot of money for like a 20-year-old.
Guest:Hell yeah.
Guest:And I think what happened was they optioned it and then they hired me to rewrite it.
Guest:Okay.
Guest:That was what it was.
Guest:And you rewrote it?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And it made the rounds and it was like this production company that bought it and then it just never came out.
Guest:It never got into production.
Guest:And then I got the rights back and then I ended up selling it again to a different company.
Guest:So I made more money off the same script.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And you're like, this is how show business works?
Guest:I know.
Guest:I'm like, but as a kid, as a 20-year-old, I was like,
Guest:I want to fucking people to see my shit.
Guest:Like I don't give a fuck about, you know.
Guest:I was always fortunately very fine.
Guest:Like my dad was in the business and he was always there for me monetarily if I needed it, you know?
Guest:And so that was never a real concern for me, which is very fortunate.
Guest:So that script was like three or four years I was trying to get this thing made, giving it to different people.
Guest:i would write i would write every day i would read every day different ideas different scripts yeah all right every day for eight hours like obsessed i would write every day from like and then nothing was happening and then i was always like because i always want to be a comedian and i would always come back to that and i was like you know what this plan of being an actor that's in the business and then getting people to see hey maybe i could do stand-up isn't working
Guest:I've got nothing to lose.
Marc:Were you doing any parts in movies or TV?
Guest:I did a part in a movie that never came out.
Guest:But you were auditioning.
Guest:Yeah, absolutely.
Marc:Because you had an acting agent.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:And now you had a literary agent too.
Guest:Yes.
Guest:And what happened was I was like, I need people to see what I'm doing right now.
Guest:Right.
Guest:And I was like,
Guest:stand-up comedy, I can go on stage tonight and open mic and be in front of somebody.
Guest:Right.
Guest:And they'll fucking understand that.
Marc:But see what you're doing right now for acting?
Marc:Or for what?
Marc:Just because you wanted the reward of creating something and having it received.
Guest:Well, I always...
Guest:thought i was funny right and i was like i my my friends oh i i loved making them laugh and i was like i'm just gonna make people i don't know laugh right i'm gonna try and do that because that's what i that's what i always wanted to do most importantly so you've been writing obsessively eight hours a day auditioning doing little parts and things that no one would see right you're four years into it you're like 22 years old yeah and when do you decide i started doing i did stand up once when i was 23 and
Guest:And then I was like, I don't, I don't have a clue how that went.
Guest:And then I didn't do it again for about two years.
Marc:That happened to me too.
Marc:Really?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:When I was in college in 19, maybe 83 or 84, like there was one summer, I think it was the summer before my last year.
Marc:I'm like, I'm going to do it.
Marc:Like I'd done a team thing with a guy and it was fun.
Marc:I'm going to do it myself.
Marc:i just did open mics for a whole summer and drank and like just going on late yeah and i'm like i don't god damn it it just almost killed me yeah because i was so fucking miserable really but i had another year of college and i kind of put it on hold for that last year the stand-up and then right after college i moved out here and became a doorman at the store oh really i didn't know you're a doorman
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:So why were you miserable though?
Marc:Well, I just, because it was so hard.
Marc:Is that like, there was no way in.
Marc:There was no alternative room.
Marc:There was no nothing.
Marc:It's like, you want to be a comic?
Marc:Here's where the open mics are.
Marc:All right, so go sign up and then see what happens.
Marc:So there was a lot of like, I would try to sign up almost every night to go somewhere.
Marc:And then you'd end up like, you know, it was usually like Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, maybe at places.
Marc:And then you'd wait around all night and you'd get bumped.
Marc:And then you like, you'd go on for four people and I'd be drinking.
Marc:Right.
Marc:And it was like, and you do five fucking minutes, and your whole world is around these five minutes, and you do five minutes, and you don't got another set for two weeks, and you just sat there going like, oh, fuck, I gotta do these five minutes.
Marc:You know, it was like crazy.
Guest:It feels like you feel it now.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Everything's hanging on it.
Marc:Like, I didn't know what else to do.
Marc:I didn't want to do anything else.
Marc:So it was like, you just like all day, you're like, oh, next Tuesday, I'm going to do it.
Marc:And I hope I can go on when there's more than five people there.
Guest:11 people, yeah.
Marc:Right.
Marc:That was what it was.
Marc:Wow.
Marc:And then, but whatever.
Marc:So where'd you go on when you were 23?
Guest:The Ha Ha Cafe.
Guest:Oh, out in Burbank?
Guest:In North Hollywood, I guess it would be.
Guest:And then I went again when I was 20.
Marc:What'd you do?
Marc:Like one guy?
Marc:One bit?
Marc:One character?
Guest:Two characters?
Guest:No, I did five minutes.
Guest:I don't even, you know, five minutes of, I don't even remember.
Guest:Really?
Guest:I think I talked about the joke.
Guest:Oh, I talked about the TV show 24.
Guest:That was really popular.
Marc:Okay.
Guest:Um, it was my new year's resolution.
Guest:I remember in 2006, January 2nd, I went on stage and I was like, I'm going to go on stage once a week.
Guest:I went on stage January 2nd and I was like, fuck it.
Guest:I want to see January 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th.
Guest:And I was just like, I just did it.
Guest:I just started doing it every night.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And I loved it.
Guest:And then like a month later, I got my first real whatever show.
Guest:It was a bringer show.
Guest:where but at the haha oh so that was your place but oh yeah for years that was my place yeah I loved that place yeah um because you could do the open mic and then stay and do the show right um and it's an intimate room it's not a bad room yeah it's not bad at all yeah uh it's anytime someone's coming up they're like what should I do go to the haha cafe yeah hang out do that shit yeah
Guest:um and then that's like the version of like don't go don't go to the store yet absolutely stay in the town absolutely stay over the hill for a little while absolutely i did this i did the comedy store like two years in and i fucking i mean i i ate shit and i was like
Guest:how how how did i eat shit that much at the or yes oh that though because the hardest room ever it's like it'll eat your guts out yeah to figure out how to play that room yep it's fucking it's crazy it's crazy even even if even if you don't do it for a while and then you go back you're like wait wait wait wait wait
Marc:okay how do i do this again well yeah because it's like you know like sometimes in that room that first joke doesn't go you just feel it like a boom it's so weird and interesting how it's like that you're right and and there are nights there where you're like oh this is this is the best this is gonna get like you know like oh yeah absolutely i'm not gonna get them over the hump it's not gonna happen right right right right
Guest:Right.
Marc:But it's okay.
Marc:So you're two years in at the Ha Ha.
Marc:You're just doing that.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:And then what?
Marc:You go to a Monday night at the store?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I went to Sunday or Monday, whatever it was.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I went with some of the guys I knew from the Ha Ha.
Marc:Who?
Marc:Oh, fuck.
Marc:Still around?
Guest:No, none of them.
Guest:I don't think any of them are.
Guest:Really?
Guest:And I ate shit specifically hard.
Guest:Because you're cocky.
Guest:More than anyone.
Guest:Yes, yes, absolutely.
Guest:Because I probably was doing well at the ha-ha.
Guest:Right.
Guest:And I was like, I got this shit.
Guest:Right.
Guest:That's the worst attitude at the comedy store.
Guest:Oh, no, yes.
Guest:It'll just eat you.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And so I was like, okay.
Guest:And I remember having the thought, don't go back there again for a while.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:This is the comedy store.
Guest:And I was like, I should have more respect for this fucking place.
Guest:And I didn't go back until people would be like, come by the comedy store.
Guest:I'd be like, nah.
Guest:For how long?
Guest:Another year.
Guest:Another year and a half.
Guest:I remember, I wanted to make it where I never wanted to be the guy who was like, can I do a spot?
Guest:Right.
Guest:I always thought...
Guest:If somebody wants me to do a spot, they'll ask me to do a spot.
Guest:And that's how I'm going to play it.
Guest:And keep your dignity.
Guest:100%.
Guest:That's how I'm going to play it.
Guest:And so I would do the belly room, and I did the belly room for probably a year and a half.
Guest:Just out of stubborn pride, you weren't going to fucking kiss any ass.
Guest:Absolutely not.
Guest:Right.
Guest:And I didn't do it.
Guest:And I would literally stay there from 9 to whenever.
Guest:And even when I would get on, I would stay there afterwards because I felt like being here is a good idea, you know?
Guest:And...
Marc:So you were just a guy hanging around.
Guest:Yes.
Guest:Mind you, I was married then.
Guest:When did that happen?
Guest:That was 2006.
Guest:Who the fuck did you marry?
Guest:I married a girl, a really sweet girl.
Guest:She's great.
Guest:Her name is Emily.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:How long did you date her?
Marc:Two years.
Marc:Uh-huh.
Marc:And then you got married.
Guest:Then we got married for about a year and a half.
Marc:What went wrong?
Guest:Well, I think it started with me doing stand-up every night.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And then- Were you living with her or you were married?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:We were living together in the valley.
Guest:In an apartment?
Guest:Yeah, an apartment in the valley.
Guest:And she wanted to start a family.
Guest:She's not in the business?
Guest:No, she is an actress and she works every now and then.
Guest:And I just-
Guest:Yeah, it just, I was, I mean, it's just so cliche, but I was married to the, you know, stand up.
Guest:It was like, that's so corny to say.
Guest:Right.
Marc:And so it didn't end acrimoniously or what?
Guest:We're cool now.
Guest:You are.
Guest:Like, she's great.
Guest:She's engaged.
Guest:Okay.
Guest:And whenever I see her, you know, you run into people in LA, you're like, hey, what's up?
Guest:How you doing?
Guest:You're happy to see it.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Not that it matters to what I think, but the guy's great.
Guest:You know, it's like, it's cool.
Guest:It's cool to see.
Guest:What's a good story?
Guest:Well, also, I think that up until she got engaged recently, I would always feel guilty.
Guest:Right.
Guest:And now that this may be conceded, but now that I know that she's engaged and happy, I'm like, oh.
Marc:Thank you.
Guest:okay good i didn't destroy her life yeah well it wasn't that bad right no no but she loved you yeah yeah and you know yeah she wanted a family and i was like but i gotta make money yeah but i'm selfish and yeah but what about i want everything i want yeah i want to do stand up and fuck random people
Marc:That's a lot of things I still have to do.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:But, all right, so how does it transpire at the store?
Guest:Well, so Tommy, who worked as the general manager, right, he was there every night almost, and
Guest:Laying the school on you?
Guest:It's like, pretty soon, man.
Guest:Pretty soon.
Guest:Well, I never even went down there because I didn't want to... I was so insecure.
Guest:I didn't want people to be like, oh, he's probably near me.
Guest:I didn't want Tommy to think, oh, he's near me because he wants a spot.
Marc:You'd be one of like 20, 30 people wandering around acting like they didn't really want anything.
Marc:I know.
Guest:I know, right?
Guest:I know.
Guest:Being cool.
Guest:So Tommy actually said to me, he said, hey, when are you going to start coming down to the original room?
Guest:Sunday, Monday.
Guest:And I was like, oh, shit.
Guest:This is what I was...
Guest:You know.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I wasn't trying to get any spots.
Guest:So he saw you up there.
Guest:I think he, well, he, and he said, he's like, you know, I peek my head in every now and then, you know, and people talk about you and you come, you know, come down Sunday.
Guest:I'll get you in.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And I was like, okay, I'll be there Sunday.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And I got there Sunday, and I remember Dan Bilek, who would run the room there, I would be like, hey, Tommy said to come down or whatever, and Dan's like, yeah, okay, Tommy told that to 20 fucking people.
Guest:And I was like, oh, shit, okay, that's how this works.
Guest:So I was like, okay, I'm just going to be here until 2 a.m.
Guest:If you got time, great.
Guest:If not, fuck, I don't give a shit.
Guest:And then I would do that Sunday, Monday nights.
Guest:So now I was doing that Friday nights, Sunday and Monday nights.
Guest:I would get on every now and then, maybe every other week.
Guest:You'd wait there all night.
Guest:I would wait there all night.
Guest:I'd be like, this is my job, I guess.
Guest:If I want to be a comedian, this is part of it.
Guest:Waiting.
Guest:I would do it every... Dude, I'm telling you, I would do it Sunday, Monday from 9 to fucking 2 a.m.
Guest:I would sit there.
Guest:And I wouldn't hate it.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Because you're watching everybody else.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And you're sitting there going like, I can do that.
I can do that.
Guest:Yeah, you know, or I'm hanging out back, meeting people.
Guest:Like, I don't know.
Guest:It was just like, I don't know.
Marc:Yeah, no, I know this.
Guest:Yeah, yeah, you know, but like- It's our people.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:So- So eventually what happened?
Guest:So eventually Tommy was like, so eventually I got on and then he's putting a showcase together for Mitzi.
Guest:This is when she was still watching the showcases.
Guest:And it was, I think it was the last-
Guest:I think it was the last time she came to the club for a showcase.
Guest:And I went up and she passed me.
Guest:And I think the next person she passed was Justin Martindale.
Guest:But that wasn't for a showcase.
Guest:She was just like there and saw him in a bringer show.
Guest:yeah and i don't think she's been there since that was it huh yeah got in under the wire yeah so and then that feels good though that felt good and then he just started working you yeah he started working i would do fucking 12 30 spots um but that makes you like i was never the guy that had that that was always a drag because you really got a fucking push i made you strong right i yeah it really did and i i fucking loved 12 30 spots man
Guest:I would still do them.
Guest:If that was my spot, I would still do them.
Guest:I loved doing it, man.
Guest:Why?
Guest:I loved that there were eight people that I fucking don't know that maybe two of them thought, hey, that guy looks cool.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Or maybe six of them thought, fuck this guy.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I just loved that.
Guest:I loved being like- The half empty room?
Guest:Fuck it.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:What the fuck do I have to lose at this point?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And then if I got them laughing-
Guest:Man, that was like the best thing ever.
Guest:I was just like, man, it was a step.
Guest:Every time that happened, it was a step closer.
Guest:These idiots have been here for three hours.
Guest:They've seen some really funny guys and some fucking terrible guys.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Their brains have been fucked.
Guest:Right now, they're like, man, stand-up comedy is probably the last thing I want to watch.
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Marc:We'll go after the next guy.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:All right, this guy will stay one more.
Guest:Yeah, and they're just being there.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And if I made them laugh, I felt like a step closer to just being a real comedian.
Guest:And then he just started integrating you into the schedule.
Guest:Yeah, and then one night...
Guest:He was like, yeah, I'm going to put you after John Caparulo.
Guest:I'm going to put you... He would always put me after Rick Ingram.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Doing crowd work.
Guest:He would tear the room apart and people love him.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And he's hard to follow.
Guest:And I would go up and try to put the room back together.
Guest:And then I just felt like, man, I have no business being here.
Guest:I have no business being here.
Guest:But then...
Guest:You're just like, oh, I guess I fucking know everybody.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I guess I'm one of these guys.
Guest:You know?
Guest:You just kind of like, oh.
Guest:Then you look at someone else looking at you like that.
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Guest:And you're like, oh, shit.
Guest:I'm the Steve Renizzisi part now.
Marc:Yeah, yeah.
Marc:Exactly.
Marc:That's funny.
Marc:So how did the relationship with Whitney, how did that casting go with her show, with Whitney?
Guest:We started doing, well, she had been around doing open mics.
Guest:and when you started i had i when i already started i knew of her but but haha um nah she was everywhere yeah i felt like are there three i was like are there three of her like she just went everywhere doing everywhere she was a fucking she was like doing a set somewhere where there was no show yeah and um and you'd be like oh all right uh and so she would be like i remember one of the first things she said to me she was like
Guest:You from San Diego?
Guest:And I was like, no.
Guest:And she's like, you look like you'd be from fucking San Diego.
Guest:You look like healthy and shit.
Guest:I was like, I'm from New Jersey.
Guest:And she was like, oh, all right, well, that's a compliment.
Guest:And I was like, oh, okay.
Guest:Did you have a romantic thing with her?
Guest:No, but like...
Guest:At least to me, it felt like flirting.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:You know?
Guest:But... And then we just... You know, she was like my peer in comedy.
Guest:So... And, you know, coming up, you really cling to those.
Guest:Sure.
Guest:So...
Guest:we she got passed at the comedy store yeah and then maybe like a year later I did and um but she would like be like very like coachy to me but I wanted it it wasn't like she was you know and um and so she was like I wrote this script I'm gonna try and pitch this show I wrote it with you in mind to play my boyfriend and I was like oh cool I wonder who's gonna end up playing it you know like because that you hear that fucking every other day in Hollywood and
Guest:yeah as a young actor so so uh she was uh she she she was like i sold it and i was like whoa yeah that's fucking awesome yeah to nbc oh great she was like i want you to play the boyfriend i was like cool i mean i've heard that so much so whatever i'm jaded at this point it's like i grew up in the business i know how it goes right so um
Guest:She's like, hey, we want you to come in and read for it.
Guest:I was like, cool.
Guest:I went in and I read for it with her and the producer of the show.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And I left and Whitney called me.
Guest:She's like, hey, we're going to test you for it.
Guest:Like, you're great.
Guest:And I was like, oh, cool.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I'm not going to get this fucking part because it... You know why?
Guest:Because it was written for me.
Guest:That's why.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And there's a million actors.
Guest:Right.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:It's just not how it works.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And so I tested for it and I had really long hair and a beard.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And I was like...
Guest:I'm not cutting it for the test.
Guest:They're going to fucking... Who gives a shit?
Guest:They're going to be like, he's too hairy.
Guest:And who cares?
Marc:I went in and... So I get some part of you really just is insecure and like, fuck you.
Marc:Yeah, absolutely.
Marc:100%.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:You almost didn't want the part.
Guest:And at this point...
Guest:Yeah, and at this point, I mean, a part of me was like, at this point, I was like, whatever, I can do stand-up.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:You know, and... But deeply wanting the part.
Guest:You know what I mean?
Guest:I mean, just, like, would probably kill small animals for this part.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And I auditioned for it, and I got it, and...
Guest:And I cut my hair for the part and I trimmed my beard.
Guest:And it was funny too, actually, because I was like, oh, they're going to make me fucking go short and everyone on TV has it.
Guest:And they were like, let them keep a little beard.
Guest:And I was like, oh, cool.
Guest:Maybe they think that's my style.
Guest:Maybe they know me a little bit.
Guest:So I got it and it got picked up and we got a first season and it felt like we were holding on the whole first season, just trying to figure out the show.
Guest:And then we got a second season and we were like, fuck, cool, man.
Guest:And then it got canceled and then I got this other gig, Undateable.
Guest:How'd that come about?
Guest:Bill Lawrence a fan?
Guest:Yeah, it was actually funny because I was on Whitney for the second season and you know how they don't decide to pick up the shows for a while until they do.
Guest:It's a nightmare.
Guest:and bill lawrence cast brent morin who you you know brent yeah he's a comedian funny and he um his buddy might have known him for years and years and years like i've known him for when he first started when we first started stand-up we kind of started at the same time but he was 19 yeah so so uh brent so brent would uh brent had that part he had like the the co-lead of the undateable and bill was like
Guest:He said something like, you're friends with Chris D'Elia.
Guest:I want him to be the other guy.
Guest:And Brent's like, that's great.
Guest:He's on Whitney for NBC and Undatables for NBC.
Guest:You can't even have him in second position because if they say... The whole thing was, if the head of NBC said, yeah, shoot that pilot with Chris...
Guest:then he's kind of saying who gives a fuck about Whitney in a way.
Guest:Do you know what I mean?
Guest:Right.
Guest:You know what I mean?
Guest:Otherwise, if they pick up both shows, they got to reshoot Undateable.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:But Bill has got some clout, so he was like, I don't care.
Guest:If you pick up Whitney, great.
Guest:I still want to shoot the pilot with Chris.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:So I shot the pilot and Whitney got canceled.
Guest:And Whitney was like, I called Whitney.
Guest:I remember I called her and I was like, hey, they offered me this role on Undateable and I don't want to take it.
Guest:Obviously be in second position, but I don't want to take it unless it's okay with you.
Guest:And she was like, oh, go for it.
Guest:Of course.
Guest:What network is it for?
Guest:And I was like, NBC.
Guest:And she was like,
Guest:oh uh okay well yeah fuck it i mean you gotta you gotta you gotta work so but that was a sign to her that it must yeah the writing was on the wall i guess i you know i guess looking at it just yeah that's what it was but it it's certainly the head of nbc was like bill lawrence i'm not deciding to cancel whitney if you want to shoot the fucking pilot go ahead
Guest:It felt like that.
Guest:So Bill was rolling the dice.
Guest:It felt like Bill was rolling the dice.
Guest:Right.
Guest:So I don't really know the real reason of why.
Guest:And how's the show doing?
Guest:Undeadable is doing well.
Guest:We're going into the second season.
Guest:I think creatively, the show is NBC really likes the show.
Guest:And the people who watched it, it feels like they really like it.
Guest:So that's great.
Guest:That's not always the case.
Marc:And how's your dad feel about your success?
Guest:He's the most sentimental guy in the world, so it's almost emotional to watch him be emotional about it.
Guest:He posted a thing the other day, because I played Town Hall the other day at the New York Comedy Festival, and he put this post on Facebook.
Guest:My grandfather, bam.
Guest:uh, Grandpa Bam, he, you know, he passed away, but he used to sell newspapers, like, right near Town Hall, and, uh, that's, like, just emotion overload for my dad, it's like, I mean, my, man, my dad used to sell papers here, and, and make people laugh, you know, people would drive up, politic, from politicians to, to, to garbage workers, and, and they would come up, and my, my, and my dad was selling papers, and now you're here, and you're, and you sold out Town Hall, and,
Guest:Now that I say it out loud now, it's just really sweet.
Guest:And it's just very cool that my dad feels that way about that.
Marc:Well, I'm glad you're doing well.
Marc:It was good talking to you, man.
Guest:Yeah, it was good, man.
Marc:I feel like we got to know each other.
Guest:Yeah, I do too, man.
Guest:I've spent enough time with you, but it's nice to have this conversation with you.
Marc:All right, thanks for doing it.
Marc:That's it.
Marc:That's our show.
Marc:That was Chris D'Elia.
Marc:This is me.
Marc:I'm back.
Marc:I enjoy talking to Chris.
Marc:I enjoy the comedy store.
Marc:That's where we work.
Marc:Comedy store, between me and you, is really the last of the... In LA, it's the only real comedy club.
Marc:It just is.
Marc:It is exactly how it was, give or take a few repairs and weird impulsive additions.
Marc:But the structure is the same.
Marc:The tone of the room is the same as it was in the early 70s when Mitzi Shore took it over.
Marc:It is a very cool place to go again.
Marc:I'm very thrilled about that.
Marc:The crowds have been great.
Marc:They're selling out again.
Marc:And it's really the only real comedy club ever.
Marc:in Los Angeles right now.
Marc:The Ice House, too, is actually a great old room.
Marc:But I go to the Comedy Store because it's a comics comedy club.
Marc:You know when some people say you're a comics comic or whatever?
Marc:The Comedy Store is actually a comics comedy club, and it's its own world.
Marc:And I'm glad people are starting to appreciate the weird, creepy history and darkness, and those rooms are just magic some nights, and other nights they're just fucking evil.
Marc:But it's pretty amazing to see the life coming back into that place.
Marc:I don't even know why I'm talking about it.
Marc:I just want to make sure everybody knows that if you come to Los Angeles, go to the Comedy Store because that's the real shit there.
Marc:All right?
Marc:That's what I'm saying.
Marc:Go to WTFPod.com for all your WTFPod needs and get on that mailing list if you want to hear from me every week and get some merch if you want.
Marc:New posters are coming.
Marc:Check the dates.
Marc:Check the dates.
Marc:WTFpod.com slash calendar.
Marc:Get some just coffee if you want.
Marc:I don't know, man.
Marc:for years my relationship with the comedy store was so weird and so tenuous and so frightening it was really like uh like i said that before though is like you know going to talk with your abuser every time it went to work there just there was something that just blew my mind about that place but it's really fascinating it's cool again and i you know
Marc:it's amazing to see some place like that that's gone through so many different weird periods you know in the 70s early 70s Richard Pryor turned that place inside out made it up just to like pack it out then there was the Kenison years and the Dice years and then Robin and Roseanne and Jim Carrey were there the years and then there was the weird years some years where it was just like dangerous even and
Marc:And it kind of, like, wandered.
Marc:Didn't know if it was going to survive.
Marc:And now it's just, like, thriving.
Marc:It's such a trip, man.
Marc:I was a doorman at that place when I was 22.
Marc:I feel so connected to it.
Marc:It's just so good to feel it being alive.
Marc:I'm rambling about the fucking comedy store.
Marc:Jesus.
Marc:Boomer lives!
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