Episode 68 - Steven Pearl
Guest:Lock the gates!
Guest:Are we doing this?
Guest:Really?
Guest:Wait for it.
Guest:Are we doing this?
Guest:Wait for it.
Guest:Pow!
Guest:What the fuck?
Guest:And it's also, eh, what the fuck?
Guest:What's wrong with me?
Guest:It's time for WTF!
Guest:What the fuck?
Guest:With Mark Maron.
Marc:Okay, let's do this.
Marc:How are you?
Marc:What the fuckers?
Marc:What the fuck buddies?
Marc:What the fucking ears?
Marc:It's Mark Marin.
Marc:This is what the fuck.
Marc:Thank you for listening.
Marc:Thank you for being here.
Marc:I got to be honest with you.
Marc:I am strung out, wasted, hungry, nervous, anxious.
Marc:full of panic i can't even believe it what i've been going through the last couple weeks i have been going non-stop right now i'm looking at the empire state building from a hotel room down in the meatpacking district of new york city i was just in portland last week and i gotta say that live what the fuck that we did in portland was spectacular it was not only a great show but it was an event in my life that i won't forget i actually feel a little choked up
Marc:Like, I'm also very raw because I'm just I'm just not sleeping.
Marc:I've just been going nonstop.
Marc:We did the Bridgetown Comedy Fest.
Marc:It was great.
Marc:But the live what the fuck?
Marc:I mean, it packed out.
Marc:It was six o'clock in the afternoon on a Friday.
Marc:All you guys came and people who didn't know what they were going to see came.
Marc:We had a spectacular show.
Marc:But the fans, I mean, you what the fuckers.
Marc:Let me tell you, man.
Marc:I mean.
Marc:So, so great.
Marc:You know, and after the show, I got to meet a lot of you.
Marc:Some of you brought me homemade sourdough bread.
Marc:I got some cat toys.
Marc:I got a cigar.
Marc:I got a what else did I get?
Marc:I got a nerd cock donut.
Marc:I got I got a lot of love.
Marc:And it's the first time in my life I've actually been able to receive it.
Marc:And I'm so glad you guys appreciate the show.
Marc:We'll get that up for you pretty soon.
Marc:I just overwhelmed with emotion and it was so much fun and everybody was great on the show.
Marc:And I had a tremendous gaffe on stage with Ian Edwards where I really looked like a fool.
Marc:And, you know, the humility of looking like a fool in front of a room full of packed what the fuckers.
Marc:And having to suck it up and eat it was was really a great moment, believe it or not.
Marc:So look forward to that.
Marc:Another thing I want to tell you before I get to talking about where my head is at right now, I am.
Marc:I'm very tired, but I just booked three shows in the San Francisco area right in San Francisco at the at the Purple Onion, which is sort of a historical venue.
Marc:I'm gonna be there May 10th, 11th, and 12th at the Purple Onion in San Francisco.
Marc:You can't buy tickets online.
Marc:You can make reservations at 415-956-1653.
Marc:That's for the Purple Onion, May 10th, 11th, and 12th.
Marc:I wanna work out some stuff.
Marc:I wanna put an hour together.
Marc:I'd love you to come down.
Marc:The website's a little odd.
Marc:It's www.cafemacaroni.com.
Marc:dot com and you can get to the purple onion from there i guess that's it's a a guy who owns the properties there's a couple restaurants but it's c-a-f-f-e-m-a-c-a-r-o-n-i dot com for the purple onion shows may 10th 11th and 12th in san francisco uh just me and i'd love for you to come out it's a small venue it'll be intimate it'll be fun
Marc:That aside, today on the show we have Steve Pearl.
Marc:And I'm going to talk to you a little bit about Steve Pearl and about San Francisco because that's where I did the interview.
Marc:I interviewed him the same week I did Robin Williams.
Marc:And I'm so happy that you guys liked that Robin Williams interview because I was nervous about it.
Marc:I didn't know what I was getting into.
Marc:And, boy, did we get a good conversation with him.
Marc:Just low-key, intimate, honest, open.
Marc:And it was really a heartwarming experience for me.
Marc:He's such a nice guy, and I'm glad you enjoyed that.
Marc:But let's deal with the present because I'm about to go out of my fucking mind.
Marc:I mean, I have not slept.
Marc:I mean, I left Portland on the Sunday at six in the morning.
Marc:I got to New York.
Marc:I stayed at a shitty hotel because I went on Priceline.
Marc:I don't know how many times I got to learn this goddamn lesson.
Marc:If I'm going to get on Priceline and I'm going to go to a major city and I'm going to get the cheapest hotel, I'm going to be in a hostel.
Marc:I've already got fears of bedbugs.
Marc:Certainly, I wasn't in a place where I had to share a bathroom.
Marc:Not that I have anything against that, but I think I'm beyond the age where I need to be waiting in the hallway for a fucking toilet.
Marc:But they had no phones in the room.
Marc:The room was the size of a closet.
Marc:The internet was bad.
Marc:But I've gotten into this place where I believe I can tolerate just about anything.
Marc:And I don't think it's any sort of zen.
Marc:I just think that after a certain point when you're tremendously uncomfortable, you have to just say, all right, it's fine if my feet hang off the bed.
Marc:It's fine if I don't trust a hotel that I have to carry my computer with me.
Marc:You know, I can live through this.
Marc:I can get through this.
Marc:I do not have to fester about it.
Marc:And this happens a lot.
Marc:Like if I'm on the subway or if I'm in a, you know, waiting in line or things just aren't working out the way I want my, my old behavior really was this like to, especially if someone else is there.
Marc:This is also good, a good bit of wisdom.
Marc:Try to go places that are frustrating alone, because if there's someone else there, if you could start throwing a shit fit and have witnesses, then you're going to do that.
Marc:That's my experience.
Marc:And I'm not saying that you need to to not invite people to go with you, but just realize that that a lot of times when you're losing your shit, it's because you got someone there to lose your shit on or lose your shit in front of.
Marc:But lately I just locked down and I think it has something to do with having done morning radio for a couple of years where you just realize like I've got no sleep.
Marc:I'm about to lose my fucking mind and I've got to do this.
Marc:That got me into the Zen.
Marc:Also thinking I was going to die on cocaine.
Marc:I remember back in the day, there were many nights where I'd be just sitting in my bed, listening to my heart pound saying, dude, just lock in.
Marc:You're going to ride this out.
Marc:The worst that can happen is you die, but that might not happen.
Marc:So do not panic.
Marc:Do not make it worse.
Marc:stay in it and realize that it will pass.
Marc:So why am I freaking out about my fucking shoes?
Marc:I can't let this go, folks.
Marc:And I think I've got some sort of solution.
Marc:I don't know.
Marc:I mean, I know there's more important things in the world to be worried about.
Marc:And I know that things aren't great.
Marc:But I tell you, man, I mean, when I start losing my mind, I've been on four and a half hours sleep a night for the past fucking week.
Marc:And I'm not eating right.
Marc:And, you know, things are starting to break apart around the sides.
Marc:You know, when you get exhausted and you start seeing elves and goblins.
Marc:you know, just the outside of your periphery, some sort of weird vibration is happening outside, you know, just at the edge of your eye, just at the edge of your periphery.
Marc:And you're like, what is happening?
Marc:Is it closing in?
Marc:Is this the beginning of the light?
Marc:I'm to see at the end.
Marc:I don't know, but I find that it seems that what I do instead of panic now, instead of freak out, instead of get angry is lock in on something I'm obsessed about, like a fucking pit bull.
Marc:I mean, I was brought up with no emotional boundaries in the house.
Marc:Everything was enmeshed and connected and nobody had a sense of self or identity.
Marc:There was no discipline.
Marc:There was no real parenting.
Marc:And I really think that the reason I obsess is because it focuses me.
Marc:And sometimes those are good obsessions like this show.
Marc:And sometimes they're bad obsessions like whether or not my boots fit or cocaine.
Marc:I talked about my Red Wing boots that I loved.
Marc:I loved them.
Marc:I bought a pair of the Gentleman Travelers and Oxblood.
Marc:Loved them.
Marc:Wore the hell out of them already.
Marc:So then I bought another exact same pair of shoes.
Marc:Now, what's happening with me now, I had a glorious moment when I bought these boots where you're standing in the shoe store and you're like, holy shit, my life's going to be okay with these boots.
Marc:Everything makes sense.
Marc:I get to bring them into the Red Wing store whenever I want.
Marc:They're going to polish them.
Marc:They're going to oil them up.
Marc:They're going to fix whatever needs to be fixed.
Marc:If it's manufacturing, they're going to fix it for nothing.
Marc:I'm going to have a lifetime relationship with my Red Wing guy.
Marc:You know, I really built an entire belief system around these fucking boots.
Marc:And I got to be honest with you, I'm a few weeks into this pair and the new pair, and I don't think they fit right.
Marc:I don't think they're the right size.
Marc:I know this seems like a minor problem, and I know that you're like, dude, get over it, but I spent $500 on two pairs of those boots, and then I got the third one for free, and I love them, and I love the way they look, and I'm very committed to these boots, but I'm walking around now, and they feel a little big.
Marc:I should have bought them a little tighter.
Marc:So now all I can fucking think about is whether or not these shoes were a bad decision because it's not just a bad decision.
Marc:It's me being impulsive and not really thinking about making the purchase that I made.
Marc:But now I've invested in the company, in the boot.
Marc:I've invested money.
Marc:And now I feel my feet just moving around in the boots.
Marc:They're not hurting.
Marc:They're not rubbing on anything.
Marc:I guess it's fine.
Marc:But because everything is in chaos and there's a lot of things going on in my life, what my brain does is like,
Marc:Find an obsession.
Marc:And if it can make you hate you, all the better.
Marc:So now these wonderful things that I bought that I thought were great are now just like at the base of my being right now.
Marc:All I'm doing is thinking about my fucking feet and whether or not they fit right.
Marc:I'm completely consumed with it.
Marc:Like it's almost like it's become my religion.
Marc:Like it's become my God and the determinant of my faith is based on the space between the heel of my foot and the back of my boot and the space between the side of my foot and the side of my boot and whether that's going to be okay.
Marc:And I had this, you know, and I still believe in the shoe that I will tell you honestly, because I know what's going to happen.
Marc:This has happened once to me before.
Marc:And I don't know if any of you can relate to this, but I bought a pair of shoes that I love.
Marc:They didn't fit right.
Marc:You know, I had them for a few weeks and I just kept obsessing about it.
Marc:And I got angry and I was like, fuck it.
Marc:And I went out and bought the same pair of shoes in another size and they didn't fit right either.
Marc:So there they are just sitting there in my closet.
Marc:They might as well be talking.
Marc:They might as well be saying, hey, asshole, maybe you should have thought this through.
Marc:You know, all boots are for everybody.
Marc:So now I've got these boots on my feet that are basically as I walk saying, you're an idiot.
Marc:You're an idiot.
Marc:It's not our fault.
Marc:We're a good boot, but you didn't think it through.
Marc:So now, you know, we're being dragged along by you and your bad disposition because you didn't think it through.
Marc:So now I've got little fucking haters on my feet.
Marc:They're just hating me.
Marc:And I know they're good boots.
Marc:I know it's not their fault.
Marc:But I also know what's going to happen.
Marc:I'm going to give these to a friend and then I'm going to go out and buy a whole new set because I love the boots and I'm just going to have to live with that.
Marc:But I cannot just put them in my closet and have them sit there.
Marc:You know, a mistake of a beautifully crafted mistake, a beautiful American made lifetime guaranteed set of mistakes in my closet.
Marc:No, I will pass them along, perhaps try to sell them.
Marc:Hey, by the way, any of you what the fuckers want my boots?
Marc:I got a good deal on two pairs of almost brand new Red Wing boots.
Marc:They'll fit a just, I think, a little bigger than the size 12 foot.
Marc:I think my foot is 12, and you have to buy at least a size smaller in Red Wing, but I'm thinking I need to get a 10.5.
Marc:Anyways, this is where I'm at today, and I'm exhausted, and I love you all.
Marc:Now let's get to Steve Pearl.
Marc:You know, as a creative person, as a comic, when I was young and I was at the comedy store, Steve Pearl was there.
Marc:He was working at the store then as a comic, and he was a legend in San Francisco.
Marc:I didn't know that when I met him.
Marc:When I met him, he was like he was one of these guys.
Marc:I know that creative people do this and I know that regular people do this.
Marc:There are certain people you meet in your life that just make you, you know, you think they do it so right on that you think, why should I even bother?
Marc:Doing stand up comedy.
Marc:I'm not going to be as fast as this guy.
Marc:This guy just entertained the shit out of me.
Marc:And I was so amazed at the pace of his brain and how quickly and the references and the anger and the rapid fireness like, you know, you could be in a car with this guy.
Marc:And I was just it was just baffling to me.
Marc:And it's much like Robin does, and it's also much like Greg Proops does, and much like the late Warren Thomas did.
Marc:But you know what those comics have in common?
Marc:Is they all watch Steve Pearl.
Marc:They all watch Steve Pearl work in San Francisco in the late 70s, back when there was a scene at the Holy City Zoo.
Marc:There's very few people that I never forget, and that always, when I think back about having time with Pearl when I was 22 years old, 23 years old,
Marc:And just, you know, hanging out with him and having this riff monster in your presence.
Marc:It was just sort of like, you know, I get it with proof sometimes, too.
Marc:It's like I'm never going to be that fast.
Marc:It's like Butch and Sundance.
Marc:I don't know.
Marc:It's like there's part of me that thinks like I should be able to do that as opposed to just say I am who I am.
Marc:I do what I do.
Marc:I like what I do.
Marc:I don't have to judge myself against everybody.
Marc:Not everybody is an indicator that I'm doing something badly except my boots.
Marc:They are no doubt.
Marc:But literally, Steve was one of those guys that I was it wasn't even a matter of jealousy.
Marc:It was just that like, I'm just never going to be that fast.
Marc:And that, you know, that lyrical and nobody knows who Steve Pearl is.
Marc:But I'll tell you what.
Marc:And Steve Pearl is the is the demon seed at the core of the style that Greg Proops does, that Warren Thomas does, that, you know, I think even Tom Kenny to a degree back in the day definitely influenced Robin.
Marc:You know, Robin talked about him on his podcast and I was just thrilled to find him.
Marc:I thought he'd fallen off the face of the earth when I knew him.
Marc:He was very bitter.
Marc:Uh, he was angry, but I liked that angry riffing and, uh, and, and, and he was just inspired.
Marc:And so when I heard he was back in San Francisco, I was like, I got to track this fucker down.
Marc:And, and only because I just love to watch him go.
Marc:so i had a conversation with him and i wanted to put him into perspective for you he's a guy i respect a great deal and and he's a guy you know as crazy as he is uh i love him and uh and also he's a guy that had a profound influence on uh on major stand-ups and and stand-up in general and he's just an unsung hero so i really hope that you enjoy this interview i guess you could call it that i didn't get a word in uh but enjoy steve pearl
Bye.
Bye.
Marc:It's a podcast, and you can get it on iTunes for free, and a lot of people listen to it, and a lot of comedy fans and regular people.
Marc:I've become sort of hung up with it.
Marc:There's like 60-some-odd episodes up there.
Guest:Are we on the air now?
Marc:Sure.
Guest:Yeah, we're doing it, man.
Marc:I didn't want to waste any time.
Guest:You look well, man.
Guest:Thank you.
Guest:I'm in a great city, and I'm being well-loved, and things are going incredibly well.
Guest:I even quit smoking cigarettes six months ago.
Guest:Get the fuck out of here.
Guest:How about that?
Guest:Not a one.
Marc:Not a one?
Guest:Not a one.
Guest:And you got rid of the blue blazer?
Guest:The what?
Guest:The blue blazer?
Guest:I don't know if it fit anymore.
Guest:I'm getting fed well, as you can see.
Guest:But yeah.
Guest:Oh, don't make fun of that.
Guest:Yeah, I remember.
Guest:18 years in the ground for Sam.
Guest:Yo-ho-ho.
Guest:And a bundle of Coke.
Marc:Yes.
Marc:That's the old days, man.
Guest:The old days, yeah.
Marc:I'm glad you're happy.
Marc:I seem to have lost touch with you.
Marc:My guest in- How about you?
Guest:You happy?
Marc:I'm getting there.
Marc:I'm getting there.
Marc:Good.
Marc:I mean, you know, I was sort of there was part of me that once I found out that you lived here, I was like, you know, well, I hope he's miserable and dark and bitter and full of hate.
Guest:No, I got out of L.A.
Guest:Why would I be there?
Guest:The horns came off the head.
Guest:The three sixes went away.
Guest:Go to any comic at the comedy store.
Guest:You'll find three twelves and four horns.
Guest:So as we call it, Aunt Mitzi's hole.
Guest:An evil place.
Guest:Even Dick Cheney wouldn't even go there.
Guest:Oh, it's too dark for me.
Marc:I was there last night.
Marc:Why?
Marc:I go there and I work because I don't want to go to the improv and they finally put my fucking name on the wall.
Marc:Uncle Bud's house of no eye contact.
Guest:Also, I haven't seen you in a movie recently, so we're not friends anymore.
Guest:I never trusted you with a monocle.
Guest:That's what I say.
Guest:I'm waiting for him to die so I can play Howie's Place in Lake Tahoe.
Marc:I don't think he has anything to do with it anymore.
Guest:That room he does, so that's why I'm playing there.
Guest:Facebook, is Bud dead yet?
Marc:I want to play there.
Marc:I went to the store last night and actually said on stage to the people there because I went on early, and I just go there to work out.
Marc:I don't have anything invested in anymore.
Marc:It doesn't creep me out anymore, but there was a moment where I was at the store.
Marc:I said, you don't realize this place was never fun.
Marc:This is not a fun place.
Guest:Well, it was always dark.
Guest:In the day, it might be evil, but something was going to happen that night.
Guest:Oh, something would happen.
Guest:Especially in the Sam day.
Guest:It might have been ugly and horrible, but something was going to happen.
Marc:Right, right.
Marc:And I said, this place is like, it's a serial killer with a clown's makeup on.
Marc:Pretty much, yeah.
Marc:It's the structural personification of John Wayne Casey.
Guest:It's black and red, the school colors of hell.
Guest:That could tell you something right there.
Guest:You look at some of the names.
Guest:Charles Manson, David McGregor.
Yeah.
Marc:Steve Pearl is my guest.
Marc:And I'm so glad I tracked you down because... I'm not hard to find.
Marc:You were kind of hard to find for a while.
Guest:Oh, really?
Guest:All you need is a copy of Catcher in the Rye.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Or the sequel shortstop in the Pumpernickel.
Guest:He brought the assassin out of low self-esteem, and he threw a rock at Pete Best.
Guest:But that's another story.
Marc:No, is that true?
Marc:Never know.
Marc:How would I know?
Marc:But when I met you, you're back here.
Marc:But you disappeared for a while.
Marc:That was my point.
Marc:I remember seeing you at the comedy store.
Marc:I don't remember.
Marc:My years get blurry after I left, because I met you in 1980.
Marc:87.
Marc:87, right?
Marc:And when I came out there and got lost in about a year.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And that was the Sam Kennison period.
Marc:But you had been a mythological, not a mythological, but a mythic character in the Bay Area years before.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:See, I've mentioned you so many times on the podcast because I think you're one of the funniest guys ever met.
Guest:Two bucks will get me on the bus, but I appreciate that.
Marc:I'll give you the two bucks.
Guest:I'll take you two bucks.
Guest:I'll give you the two bucks.
Guest:It's equal to 70,000 in Canada.
Guest:There's this guy in the orange $19 bill.
Guest:Why?
Guest:He won a chicken wing eating contest in the 30s.
Guest:He can throw up further than anyone else in Parliament.
Marc:You said things, there was a couple things you said that I never forgot, ever, because you were living with Kravitz, and I was doing blow all night, and I'd come over to your house to relax.
Marc:Right, but you seemed more together with it than I did until I left, and then you somehow got sucked into that whole nightmare up at the house with Sam.
Guest:A little bit.
Guest:I had my own nightmare.
Guest:I didn't have to have Sam part of it, but let's just say I did not sleep in 1987 and I did not blink in 1988.
Guest:We were all into that horrible crap.
Marc:I know, but I remember one time.
Guest:What did you say?
Marc:Because I was living at that house and Kenneth would come over with the cast of Freaks and we'd all party.
Guest:Who's bed will I piss on tonight?
Guest:Help me throw the furniture out the window if you're my friend.
Marc:What did you say?
Marc:Oh, Sam Kennison, brilliant.
Marc:Two short screams followed by a long scream.
Guest:I thought he was brilliant at first, but then something happened to him.
Guest:I do a bit called Famous Last Words where I have, like, hey, Richie, why is the ground coming up so fast?
Guest:Buddy Holly, February 3rd, 1959.
Guest:Hey, fuck you, Pop Marvin Gaye, April 1st, 1984.
Guest:And, of course, we get to, you know, suck hard of your cheap skank.
Guest:I'll steer with my feet, Sam Kennison, April 10th, 1992.
Guest:A whole bunch of things.
Guest:Some clubs won't let me do it.
Guest:That's how good the bit is.
Marc:You had some great bits, man.
Marc:I still do.
Marc:I know.
Marc:I was a star here in three area codes.
Marc:One time, I remember, there was one thing you said.
Marc:There were just these fragments where we walked away around the corner from Travis's house so I could get some vitamins.
Marc:I'd been up all night, and I bought a packet of those vitamins.
Marc:Oh, yeah.
Marc:Yeah, and I put them in my hand, and I'm like, I don't know what's in there.
Marc:I used to put those in my nose.
Guest:It's got to be good for me.
Marc:Yeah, we did that.
Marc:And then you said you would pick shards of glass out of a half gram of Coke, but you're wondering about the vitamins?
Guest:Oh, some of the Coke had seeds in it.
Guest:I'd get it from the guy selling oranges on the freeway.
Guest:Oranges and buy Coke.
Guest:Oranges and buy Coke.
Guest:A dollar for the oranges and two for the eight ball.
Guest:You got it, man.
Marc:Then there was one night I said to you where I think I'm doing too much Coke.
Marc:And you go, why are you shitting pebbles with Satan's face etched on them?
Guest:Oh, is that what I say?
Guest:God, I forget what I say.
Guest:And then a lot of the other guys, well, you forgot.
Guest:I think I'll use that.
Guest:Oh, that's happened to you.
Marc:But so coming back here to San Francisco, I mean, when were you, because it's my contention, and I don't know if you can agree with it.
Marc:I don't know how much humility you have, but I believe that you were the seed of creativity in this scene.
Marc:When was the high point of the Holy City Zoo?
Marc:When was that place the place?
Guest:Well, I got out here.
Guest:I came out here in early 79.
Guest:I wanted to just get out of New York, and I wanted to do stand-up.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I didn't have too many friends in New York, and people were interested into what I was into, which was like smoking a lot of weed and blues.
Guest:Time to go.
Guest:And some things never changed.
Guest:Anyway, but now I have a card, so you can't pull me over.
Guest:Anyway, I came here in early 79 for about three months, and I lived at the Ansonia Transient Hotel, where you could hear the razor blades going against people's wrists in the next room.
Guest:I can't dig it anymore.
Guest:so uh and uh i just started hitting the clubs in the holy city zoo i went there i don't know some weeknight and it was packed there was a little horrible urine smelling cabin i remember it i was there at the end of it like the final phase yeah but i guess i was there when it was it had been going for a year or two whatever because i think robin used to play there in like 76 or something i don't even have to ask robin williams okay yeah but uh
Guest:I went there one night, and it was packed, and just the energy was amazing.
Guest:I just, you could feel it walking in, and these, you know, it was, I don't know, I think it had open mic or whatever it was.
Guest:People go on, and some of them were funny, some of them weren't that funny, but everybody was killing, and I go, I gotta try this.
Guest:So I signed up, and I went on, and I killed, and I go, this is sweet.
Guest:So, and then I found other clubs, and I started hitting the zoo, and Tony DePaul comic was running it then, and this really slimy guy, John Cantu, who is so, he's dead now, but we used to say he had worms in him before he died.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:But, yeah.
Guest:It was just a great place to be.
Guest:And if you were just starting out, it was very friendly to you.
Guest:And then eventually, I think I started the first paid show there in early 81.
Guest:Yeah, it was like New York night and me and some other New York comics.
Marc:Now, who was here at that time?
Guest:Okay, back then it was me.
Guest:Robin would show up.
Guest:I didn't really get to be.
Marc:But he was nothing yet, right?
Marc:No, no, no.
Guest:He made it.
Guest:He got, Mark and Mindy was late 78.
Guest:So I guess he got known like September of 78.
Marc:So he was on TV already and he came up there.
Guest:Yeah, he was big, but he would still, and what I still admire him to this day is as big as he is, he's like the Beatles, man.
Guest:You can't get much bigger.
Marc:I know.
Guest:Now, Robin, which one of you is the drummer for the group right here?
Guest:Which one of you joined?
Guest:Which one of you is the rhythm guitar?
Marc:He's like the former president of comedy.
Guest:Oh, yeah.
Guest:But it was great because he would still come up here as he still does and just work out with the guys, man.
Guest:As big as he was and big as he is, he still does that.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:great and when you say work out with the guys see i it's my belief that there was something invented here there was like you know some people talk about improv but now improv has to do with you know many people doing sketches based on things oh yeah we need the name of a director a type of food and way too much stage time hello we're chopped olives we uh we we we need we need a color red i heard green okay we we need a type of food pizza i heard sushi okay we need we need a president
Guest:a hearty i heard mckinley okay now here's our funny comedy sketch from the same things we've been doing uh i can't eat that sushi it's green i'm president mckinley don't shoot me and there's 87 of us and we split the check and we live in a tree and we eat dirt exactly but you guys invented this riff style comedy well that was me there's a guy mike pritchard big guy uh and uh jeremy kramer who is real fun him and rob were very tight um
Guest:Kevin Meany, Billy Jay.
Marc:Because there must have been kids suckling at the teats of Pearl, because I think without you, there's really stylistically no Warren Thomas, no Greg Proops.
Guest:Well, I always said Warren developed a very brilliant comedy style.
Guest:Mine!
Guest:He called him the Black Pearl.
Guest:But we used to have, you know, he's a friend, man.
Marc:Yeah, you guys were friends.
Guest:He came along a little later.
Guest:I came out in 79 when these other guys were doing it.
Guest:And then Warren came around, I think, early 81, something like that.
Guest:And then some other guys.
Marc:But this whole process of the sort of riff style where you just, you know, you have to have a certain mind for it.
Marc:But there's a rhythm to it that you just sort of open the fucking mind up and just fucking go.
Guest:Well, this place was...
Guest:A lot better than L.A.
Guest:in the sense that you could make mistakes up here.
Guest:Nobody would see, oh, he's not ready.
Guest:Now he's ruined for life.
Guest:You could make mistakes and learn up here.
Guest:Because I was horrible when I started.
Guest:I used to write bits on my hand.
Guest:Oh, that was no lady.
Guest:That was my, where's my hand?
Guest:Wife.
Guest:And, you know, it took me three years to learn how to take the mic out of the stand.
Guest:You look like you're ready to throw up and run off stage.
Guest:No, no, that's my big ending.
Guest:But I kicked myself in the back of the head and sang Viva Las Vegas in Turkish and
Marc:Do you remember the time?
Guest:I swallow a bicycle and shit out a jeep.
Guest:Nobody else can do it.
Guest:Thank you.
Marc:Ta-da!
Marc:Do you remember the night where it just sort of broke open, where you just put it aside and it just happened?
Guest:It might have been like three or four years after I started.
Guest:It just happened.
Marc:I don't know.
Guest:You just said, fuck it?
Guest:It's like when Johnny Winter realized he could make a guitar come.
Guest:Yeah, exactly.
Guest:You just keep doing it.
Guest:And then one day, whoa, I can throw the chains off now.
Guest:I'm free.
Guest:I can fly into the ionosphere.
Guest:And it just happened.
Guest:And there were a lot of guys doing it.
Guest:And we all, I guess we all influenced each other.
Guest:But it was like music in the 60s.
Guest:You know, there were just so many good people here, you know, unknown, but just slamming, man.
Guest:Right, right.
Guest:And we just hung out after hours, of course.
Guest:I've always, yeah.
Marc:Oh, it was a separation.
Marc:Yeah, let's talk about my car for eight hours.
Guest:Yeah, I wonder if I could write off this eight ball.
Guest:It counts as a comedy session, yeah.
Guest:yeah but uh yeah one joke it counts and then in the holy city zoo sat like 10 people i mean they're about yeah about 70 or something but it was great because um it was where everybody went after they played another club or something everybody ended up there and there was a music club the last day saloon right next to it so there's you know good bands would be playing there guys you can gate mouth brown there and a bunch of carlos and tanny's staying out and johnny winter still your you met jerry garcia
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:How was that?
Guest:He was alive, so yeah.
Guest:He's a very nice guy.
Guest:I met him a couple of times.
Marc:Are you still best friends with Johnny Winter?
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Weren't you in Colorado or something?
Marc:No, I've been through Colorado, but I never spent time with him.
Marc:No, but weren't you living in some other state other than California?
Marc:No, never.
Marc:I mean, I thought there was this time where I was like, has anyone seen Steve Pearl?
Marc:And they were like, I think he's in Iowa.
Guest:I want to find out where Buddy Holly's plane crash.
Guest:Iowa, idiots out wandering around.
Yeah.
Guest:Or as we call it in New York, the gateway to Nebraska.
Guest:No, I've always lived in California.
Marc:Do you remember those bits you used to do?
Marc:I still remember Merv Griffin and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Marc:Ooh, is your new movie Violent Arnold?
Guest:It is action-packed, Merv.
Guest:Now bend over and I will show you my biggest muscle.
Guest:Ooh, we'll be back after many commercials.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah, I will butt fuck you with my nipple.
Guest:And kill you.
Guest:I still throw that line in now.
Marc:Yeah, why not?
Guest:Do you do Taft?
Guest:The best of 86.
Guest:Do you do Taft?
Guest:Who's the president who's so stout he gets in a bathtub he can't get out?
Guest:Taft.
Guest:Who's the cat whose weight's so great his belly button is a state?
Guest:Taft.
Guest:Damn right.
Marc:Taft.
Marc:Have you stopped doing stand-up at all, or you just kept going?
Guest:No, I never stopped.
Guest:Hell no, man.
Guest:I'm a junkie.
Guest:I ain't getting off that kick.
Guest:I still do it.
Guest:I just don't work that much.
Guest:Nobody's offered.
Guest:And club owners, well, if you play chuckles, you can't play chortles, and don't say the word was, and don't use verbs.
Guest:People here don't like action words, and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Guest:And I just did this gig in South Carolina.
Guest:It was a sweet room.
Guest:I've been there before.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:But I decided to get political, and I forgot this is a blood-red state.
Guest:Some of these people owned Obama's a while ago.
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Guest:So I'm talking about Obama.
Guest:Somebody else, like, communist bastard!
Guest:Oh, really?
Guest:Like, what, 10 walkouts there?
Guest:Okay, what else do you want to talk about?
Guest:Are you serious?
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Guest:It's just, ehhh!
Guest:You know, everything's like, put the brakes on when you mentioned.
Guest:Just like that.
Guest:I'm a huge fan of Obama.
Guest:I approve what he does.
Guest:Oh, you can't do that.
Guest:Quit making me laugh.
Guest:That's socialism.
Guest:And they left?
Guest:Yeah, I got a bunch of walkouts, man.
Guest:It was like I ran over their dog or something.
Marc:I just don't understand these idiots.
Marc:They all shop at Walmart, so they're wearing communist pants.
Guest:Yeah, exactly.
Guest:And they're wearing it and doing it.
Guest:It's two different things.
Guest:That's right.
Guest:Yeah, there's something.
Guest:What can you do?
Guest:Just go to your little tea party meeting and good luck to this.
Marc:So you were here in San Francisco, like, till what, 82, 83?
Guest:I was here from... No, no, I was here from... Actually, I came out in early 79 school, but I went back to New York, packed my stuff, you know, saved my pennies.
Guest:Did you do comedy in New York or not at all?
Guest:I did a little bit in New York.
Guest:I did it in 77, 78, and a little bit in 79.
Guest:Like at Catch Rising Star?
Guest:Catch Rising Star, I'd wait online all Monday, but...
Marc:That was the late 70s, so all those, like, you know, Larry David and Seinfeld and Paul Reiser and all those guys were not broken yet.
Guest:No, I didn't know who any of them were.
Guest:But they were there, right?
Guest:I guess I went on an amateur night, so I just knew the other amateurs.
Guest:And sometimes I'd kill and sometimes I'd go down the tubes.
Guest:But the first time I ever did it, I went to the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan.
Guest:And right before I graduated, in June of 77, they had a talent show, and somebody signed me up without telling me, knowing I was like, you're funny, you should go on stage.
Guest:And then I was drinking beers, and I was a little buzz, so they called my name, you bastard, so I'll get you later.
Guest:But then I went up, and I don't remember what I did, but I killed, and I won.
Guest:I won the first prize, which to this day I have not received.
Guest:I think it was like a $20 check and a Big Mac or something.
Marc:Maybe someone listening will make it even.
Guest:I don't think anyone's still alive, but...
Guest:But I was like, wow, this is how I started hitting the clubs in New York.
Guest:I think if I had bombed that first time, I never would have done it again.
Guest:I go, well, that's not for me.
Guest:But then I kill it.
Guest:Well, I know I can kill now.
Guest:I'll be a star in a year.
Guest:I'll be on the Teddy Fun Show.
Guest:The Teddy Fun Show.
Guest:I'll be the king of UHF.
Guest:And then I just started hitting clubs in New York.
Guest:And it wasn't that easy.
Guest:But sometimes I do real well.
Guest:I hit the improv and the catch on comedy on amateur nights.
Guest:and uh but i just didn't want to be in new york anymore and i wanted to be in san francisco because i went and took a trip there in 76 that's another story but i fell in love with the place and uh i went there in early 79 checked it out loved it went back to new york and that halloween of 79 flew back dropped my suitcase at this apartment i rented with no furniture in it and hit the holy city zoo that night and that was it man so i was there from 79 that june 24th 1987 i packed the u-haul moved to la at the kinnison's urging after i worked with them up here and i'll get you
Guest:to the comedy store, blah, blah, blah.
Guest:And he did.
Guest:He lived up to his word.
Guest:He got me.
Guest:He forced Mitzi to see me.
Marc:He had a great set.
Marc:And it was fun for like six years.
Marc:Did you honor your part of being his bitch in the agreement?
Guest:No, I danced on the edge of the circle without jumping in the circle.
Guest:No, so I didn't have to stick my head up his ass like Alan Stevens did.
Marc:I was just like...
Guest:I was just, like, a kid.
Guest:I was just running around doing this coke.
Guest:Oh, yeah, you were, like, living, you were a kid in Crestville, and I'd show up and play harmonica, and the best story, I wasn't there, but I heard that Dangerfield visited him in Vegas, and Sam was up all night and sitting in a chair and sweating and shirtless and his belly sticking out, and there's a mirror licked dry and empty bottles, and he just all fucked up, and he goes, hey, get a load of Nero.
Guest:Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
Guest:You can't beat that.
Guest:Ding, ding.
Guest:No more calls.
Guest:We have a winner.
Marc:Get a load of Nero.
Marc:Oh, my God.
Guest:That's the king.
Guest:King Rodney talking.
Marc:Now, when you got to Los Angeles, I mean, you got pretty – it got weird, man.
Marc:Remember there's all those porn stars running around?
Guest:Well, I was a king up here, and I go, well, I mean, I guess I'll have to eat shit again.
Guest:But people knew I was friends with Sam, so nobody really fucked with me, which was great.
Guest:It's like being in prison.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:He grabs Sam's belt loop and he might trade you for a pack of cools someday.
Guest:But no, no, I never had a problem with that.
Guest:I don't think he'd fuck with people he knew would hit him back.
Guest:No, I think that's right.
Guest:I think you probably scared him.
Guest:You were smarter than me.
Guest:Well, yeah, and I had a rep from up here in San Francisco.
Guest:So I never had a problem with it, but I just didn't get too close to him because I knew because I saw that gang.
Guest:It was amazing because this is the big time.
Guest:Right.
Guest:It was Hollywood and Sam was ruling the roost and porno stars and strippers and dealers and blah, blah, blah.
Guest:and i thought it was cool you know i was indulging myself so yeah i just thought it was sweet you know and uh you know i just had a good time for quite a while so and then it stopped being fun yeah and then la became a living hell and i know i saw you briefly at some point long after that and you were just miserable oh yeah i was and a lot of people have told me man you sound a lot happier now well you're like a different person thank god i mean like i don't like i went back there i couldn't even go into that place for years because it creeped me out and then i went back and i was sort of like hey there's the old guys and you're like yeah
Marc:Oh, yeah.
Guest:Fuck you, little man.
Guest:Yeah, that place was like a coke hangover in itself.
Guest:What about you?
Guest:How about Jack Carter?
Guest:How about these beatniks today?
Guest:With the bongos and the hair down to the tops of the ears and the sideburns and the beards.
Guest:What are they, girls?
Guest:Jack Carter, Jack Carter.
Guest:That's my mantra sometimes.
Guest:Jack Carter, Jack Carter, Jack Carter.
Marc:Did you ever see those guys when you were growing up?
Marc:I mean, you're a little older than me.
Marc:I mean, when you watch comedy, what the hell planted in your head?
Guest:Well, when I was a little kid, I remember seeing those guys on Sullivan or whatever.
Guest:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Guest:I always thought there were guys that just funny stuff happened to and they just told me.
Guest:Wow, I wish funny stuff would happen to me that I could be.
Guest:Then I got older and then guys like Carlin and Pryor and the hipper guys came along.
Guest:I go, wow, this is sweet.
Marc:Do you remember when Pryor was coming around in the late 80s?
Marc:I remember.
Marc:Once or twice and he was kind of fragile and weird.
Guest:Well, the first, I didn't, I was a late Pryor bloomer because I saw him in Lady Sings the Blues and Wild in the Streets and all these little goofy movies and everything.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:But then when he did that live double album in 79, I took it out of the library, man, and I just freaked out.
Guest:I was like, not too many things make me laugh until I'm hurting myself.
Marc:That was live in concert from the movie, too, right?
Marc:Oh, yeah, yeah.
Guest:And then I saw the movie.
Guest:This is amazing.
Guest:And, yeah, I was a diehard fan since then.
Guest:And then my first week at the Comedy Store ever in 87, I had to follow him three times in one week in the main room.
Guest:I think Mitch goes, let's see how I'm going.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And the first time I went down in flames, and he was starting to get sick then, but he was still, you know.
Guest:Yeah, yeah, yeah, I remember.
Guest:And then the second time I went up, I go, oh, I opened with, oh, I feel like Pat Boone following Hendrix at Woodstock.
Guest:And then I had him, and then I did well.
Guest:And then the third time I destroyed it because I just kind of knew what avenue to take to, you know, get him on my side and then let him ride my wave.
Guest:Sure.
Guest:But, you know, it was just, oh, I'm in a real school now, boss.
Marc:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Marc:Welcome to the big time.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Now, so you left L.A.
Guest:when?
Guest:90?
Guest:90.
Guest:I left L.A.
Guest:No, I left the last April.
Guest:I wish I left in 90.
Guest:I did it.
Guest:How do I say it?
Guest:There was a young lady who back then in the 80s was one of many, but she was a sweetheart.
Guest:She was 19, and I was a dirty old man at 31.
Guest:How old are you now?
Guest:I'm 32.
Guest:Okay.
Guest:54.
Guest:I was 54.
Guest:I wondered.
Guest:I lost contact with her in 88 or so.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I just wondered because he was such a sweet person.
Guest:I just, man, I never.
Guest:Was she down in L.A.?
Guest:No, she stayed up here.
Guest:OK.
Guest:And I had no idea where she was.
Guest:And then finally I found someone with her name on the Internet.
Guest:And there was a phone number and I called the number and some Mexican guy.
Guest:Hey, hello, what do you want me to go?
Guest:Hang up.
Guest:She's married to a teamster.
Guest:And then I go, wait a minute.
Guest:There was an address there.
Guest:So I'm going to send I'm going to send a letter.
Guest:I'm either going to get my ass kicked or nothing's going to happen.
Guest:But I said this is the first letter I've written.
Guest:You know, and he says, I got a computer.
Guest:So I mail it.
Guest:And then two days later, I hear from her.
Guest:There's a message on my phone.
Guest:Hi, this is Nina.
Guest:How you doing?
Guest:Whoa.
Guest:So I called her up.
Guest:And we just picked up where we left off.
Guest:Holy shit.
Guest:So a couple weeks later, I came up here.
Marc:With a 20-year break or how long?
Guest:With a 22-year break.
Guest:I hadn't seen her since 88.
Guest:And what was it?
Guest:And now you've got love in your life.
Guest:And we just picked up.
Guest:And I moved.
Guest:I stayed with her for two weeks.
Guest:Everything worked out amazing.
Guest:So I went to L.A.
Guest:I packed everything I could, put the rest in store, said bye-bye.
Guest:So...
Guest:I came back up here, and I've been very happy ever since.
Guest:That's fucking sweet.
Guest:I'm going to marry her once a certain affair is taken care of back east.
Guest:In fact, I came up here two years ago to do a gig.
Guest:First time I'd been here in like 20 years or so.
Guest:And I drove by my old apartment, and I thought about the times we had there.
Guest:I go, where is she, man?
Guest:Where is she?
Guest:And then I found her.
Guest:That's a sweet story.
Guest:She's the best.
Guest:Yeah, we would have thunk.
Guest:In fact, one day we went to the old apartment, just made out outside of it.
Guest:I just want to break in full circle yeah who's living here now yeah it's beautiful man I feel like I've come home again you know I never felt home in New York and I don't want to live in LA anymore it's a sewer I got tired of hearing you with the red bandana drop the gun you where the official bird of LA is the police helicopter and just other reasons but I just I feel ah 415 safe yeah so everything's amazing man I'm happy you're happy
Marc:So do you ever go by the Holy City Zoo?
Guest:Oh, yeah, I have.
Guest:It's now the Dirty Trick Saloon.
Guest:And I went there, God, about six, eight months ago, something like that.
Guest:And there's a kid working there in the late afternoon.
Guest:And the kid didn't even know what the place used to be.
Guest:And I told him it was all cleaned up.
Guest:And there's a pool table with the stages.
Guest:Wow, man.
Guest:The urine smell is gone, but so is the magic.
Marc:Places are magic, aren't they?
Guest:But I told the zoo.
Guest:It was like the Fillmore East for comedians.
Marc:And the kid was like, the Fillmore what?
Guest:Sam Kennison played here, Robert Williams.
Marc:Didn't you see Hendrix?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I saw him in Madison Square Garden in May of 69.
Guest:There's a little clip of that on YouTube, by the way, now.
Marc:Of him playing or of you being there?
Guest:No, no, no.
Marc:The young griff.
Marc:You're in the audience like, oh, look at him.
Guest:It was the first time I ever took acid.
Guest:I was in the eighth grade with my friend Richard Cascardi.
Guest:We saw Jimmy Hendrix, man.
Guest:And we didn't even know what acid did.
Guest:We'd never done it.
Guest:I didn't even smoke pot, I think.
Guest:I was 13.
Guest:I was in the eighth grade.
Guest:And we took it.
Guest:Oh, wow.
Guest:Oh, man, it started hitting just as Jimmy came on.
Guest:And I remember Richard's going, man, we're going to be like this forever.
Guest:And I'm going, yeah, isn't it great?
Guest:And all I remember is I was reminded of a UFO fight in space.
Guest:And we had school the next day.
Guest:Richard didn't show up, and I kind of crawled in, crackled.
Guest:And they go, are you OK?
Guest:I don't think so.
Guest:I learned everything in the world last night.
Guest:You can't teach me.
Guest:So they sent me home.
Guest:I go, I've seen the answer.
Guest:I've seen the answer.
Guest:I've seen the answer.
Guest:I've heard it and seen it.
Guest:And it sure ain't a Woodmere Junior High School North, you fucking squares.
Marc:Woodmere.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Long Island?
Guest:Yep.
Guest:That's hilarious.
Guest:That's where I grew up.
Marc:And what about, did you see Dwayne Allman, too?
Guest:Yeah, I saw Phil Moore East, March 12, 1971.
Guest:It was the Ellen Bitch Group with the Pointer Sisters backing him up on vocals.
Guest:The Allman Brothers recording their live album, and they were barely known.
Guest:And then Johnny went around with Rick Derringer, and that was for $5.50.
Guest:Whoa, man.
Guest:And I remember Dwayne coming out there, and I just remember thinking, hey, it's Opie from the Andy Griffith Show, and he's a hippie.
Guest:Look.
Guest:He's in red hair.
Guest:This is all wrong, brothers.
Guest:We're recording our third album here tonight.
Guest:And then I go, oh, and I forgot.
Guest:Oh, yeah, Johnny's coming on after this.
Guest:Because I was so impressed.
Marc:That was the Live at the Fillmore East album?
Marc:Yeah, yeah.
Marc:The one I just listened to in the car in your honor so I could try to get up to speed?
Marc:I was there that weekend.
Guest:I know I wouldn't be able to say much, but I wanted to at least be right in the right frame of mind.
Guest:I'm trying to give you five hours in like one.
Guest:But no, I was there.
Guest:I mean, I still got one picture I took of Dwayne that night.
Guest:It's on my wall there.
Guest:Who else did you see?
Okay.
Guest:name of my rolling stones i saw the stones like a bunch of times yeah oh and 72 i saw them i'd won tickets every they had this thing the garden didn't want people lining up and wrecking the place so they had send us postcards and let's see if you have our computer if our new 1972 computer picks you up and everyone i knew sent hundreds of postcards i sent one as a joke and i won you know and everyone was my best friend all of a sudden hey old pal it's like mick taylor
Guest:It was the best Stones that I ever saw.
Marc:Like Goathead Soup tour or something?
Guest:No, it was the, that was a year later.
Guest:This was the Exile on Main Street tour.
Marc:Get out of here.
Guest:And they were fucking great, man.
Guest:It was Stevie Wonder, the Stones, and they all jammed at the end.
Guest:And it was amazing.
Guest:I sold two tickets.
Guest:I won four tickets.
Guest:And I had to pay for them.
Guest:I had to go to, I said, pick up your tickets.
Guest:It was like $6.50.
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Guest:$26.
Guest:And then I sold two to a guy I didn't like for $400, which was a lot of money to a 16, 17-year-old kid back then.
Guest:And I gave a third one to a friend of mine for nothing.
Guest:And I went, it was like,
Guest:Great fucking show.
Guest:I still love the color slides.
Guest:I can't imagine what that would be like.
Marc:Because I have no sense, like, I didn't pick up, like, you're a little older than me, but I just get this feeling, like, I don't know if I'm a fascist or that, you know, in the sense of, like, I can't see how music gets any much better than that.
Guest:It doesn't.
Guest:It doesn't.
Guest:It was a window open from, like, I'd say 1965 to 1973, and that closed forever.
Guest:You know, a lot of good ones died, but...
Marc:Why do you think that happened?
Marc:Because my theory is that like, you know, so rock and roll was invented basically in 1957.
Marc:And the further away you get from the center, like that was really the most creative time.
Marc:And then something broke apart or maybe we're just getting old.
Marc:I can't figure it out.
Guest:Well, well, yeah, I always had blues and rhythm and blues.
Guest:That's been around forever.
Guest:And then it evolved into rock and roll in the mid 50s, which meant white boys were doing it.
Marc:Right.
Guest:White guys got turned on to it.
Guest:And you had great guys in the 50s, Eddie Cochran, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, all these guys.
Guest:And it was like later in the 70s with Hendrix and Joplin, everybody dying around the same time.
Guest:You had Buddy Holly going down in a plane.
Guest:You had Eddie Cochran getting killed.
Guest:Chuck Berry was in prison.
Guest:Jerry Lee's career was ruined for marrying his cousin.
Guest:Just all the good guys just, and then you had Frankie Avalon and Fabian and that crap.
Guest:And then luckily the Beatles came along and saved our souls.
Guest:Do you ever listen to the Beatles and just go, where the fuck did that come from?
Guest:Every time.
Guest:Every time.
Marc:I mean, I can't even figure it out.
Guest:It's rock and roll and then touched by God.
Marc:Yeah, exactly.
Guest:I don't even think they knew what they were doing.
Guest:None of them were trained musicians.
Marc:It just happened.
Marc:If you listen to Revolver, that was delivered by aliens.
Marc:I don't know where the hell it came from.
Guest:Oh, Sgt.
Guest:Pepper, everything, everything, everything.
Guest:Where the hell is that coming from?
Guest:They started out as a good rock and roll band, and it could have stopped there, and then, oh, the Beatles, they were a good rock and roll band, I remember them, and it just kept going and going, and then they were followed by The Cream and Hendrix and Santana and Johnny Winter and all these other, you know, they kicked the doors of, here come the real guys.
Guest:Right.
Guest:The real army's coming.
Guest:Were you ever a Who guy?
Guest:The first concert I ever saw was the Who opening for The Doors, August 2nd, 1968.
Marc:You saw Morrison?
Guest:Yeah, I saw him twice.
Marc:What was that like?
Guest:The first time was in 68, and he was great.
Guest:I think it would have been fun to be Jim Morrison from 66 to 68.
Guest:After that, it would have been a nightmare.
Guest:It was like being Kennison.
Guest:But he looked great.
Guest:He was jumping all over the stage.
Guest:You can hear the concert.
Guest:It's on YouTube.
Guest:There's a bad audience recording of both the Who's set and the Doors set on YouTube.
Guest:But I remember it was a revolving stage and it broke down when they were facing us.
Guest:And the Who were amazing.
Guest:I wasn't that familiar with them.
Guest:They smashed their instruments and the drummer was amazing.
Marc:So they were new.
Guest:Yeah, it was a year before Tommy came out and before Woodstock, so nobody knew who they were.
Guest:I was 12 years old.
Guest:I'd never been to a concert before.
Guest:And I'm just, whoa, I got to get into this.
Guest:And then the Doors came out.
Guest:Whoa, because I never heard anything that dark in my eyes.
Guest:Indian Lake is the scene.
Guest:Hey, hey, we're the monkeys.
Guest:And then it was like...
Guest:Oh, the dead whore on the ground and peanut butter coming out of a ride.
Guest:And he was amazing.
Guest:And I just remember I got up really close to the stage.
Guest:He was like where that door is, 10, 50 feet away.
Guest:And I was just in awe.
Guest:And I just remember thinking two things.
Guest:I go, I know I like girls, but that guy is really good looking.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And then looking at Robbie Krieger going, he looks like he's about to cry any second.
Guest:He had that Steve Wright worried look on his face.
Guest:But I was like, whoa.
Guest:And my father wouldn't let me go to this concert.
Guest:It was at the Singer Bowl.
Guest:My father worked for Singer, so he got the tickets.
Guest:But I've heard about that Morrison.
Guest:You're not going.
Guest:But that's where I want to go.
Guest:And I told him, look, I love you, Dad.
Guest:But you can beat me up or punish me or whatever.
Guest:But I'm going to sneak out of the house.
Guest:OK, I'll take it.
Guest:But I'll be waiting outside.
Guest:There better not be a riot.
Guest:And of course, there was a riot afterwards.
Guest:He's doing the end.
Guest:Come on, motherfucker.
Guest:Cops are busting heads.
Guest:And me and my friend Johnny Roberts, who went to the show, we were just walking through.
Guest:Hey, we're 12.
Guest:They won't hit us.
Guest:And nobody bothered us.
Guest:We go outside.
Guest:My father literally grabbed us and threw us in the car.
Guest:You're not leaving the house again until you're 37.
Guest:Of course, he relented.
Guest:He let me out when I was 35.
Guest:But it was amazing.
Guest:Wow, I got to go to one of these every month.
Guest:Did you ever see Chuck Berry?
Guest:Yeah, I saw it a bunch of times.
Guest:I saw him.
Guest:If you ever saw that movie, Let the Good Times Roll.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:There's something he did with Bo Diddley.
Guest:There was an oldie show at the Nassau Coliseum.
Marc:I almost threw up on Bo Diddley once.
Guest:Did he?
Marc:Well, he was playing.
Marc:It was at the Lone Star in New York.
Marc:And he was going to be playing there.
Marc:And I went there.
Marc:And I was going to meet my friend.
Marc:I started doing tequila shots.
Marc:And I'm sitting at the bar right next to Bo Diddley.
Marc:And I knew that he used to be a sheriff up in Taos or one of the places in New Mexico.
Marc:And I grew up there.
Marc:So I said, I'm from New Mexico.
Marc:Weren't you a sheriff there?
Marc:I felt the chili coming up.
Marc:And I had to run outside and I threw up in a cab instead.
Marc:I didn't get to see Bo Diddle.
Guest:I saw him a couple of times.
Guest:Well, my friend John Paris, who played with Johnny, was in Bo's band for a while in 99.
Marc:What was the best concert you ever saw?
Marc:Seriously, top three.
Guest:Well, oh, God.
Guest:Well, I saw... Obviously the Hendrix one.
Guest:Oh, God.
Guest:Well, I barely remember that one because I was so messed up.
Guest:The Doors and the Who was amazing.
Guest:Every time I've seen Johnny has been amazing.
Guest:I saw every time I've seen Johnny jam with Muddy Waters and James Cotton.
Guest:That was amazing.
Marc:Those records are good.
Marc:What were there?
Marc:Two or three of them, right?
Marc:Hard Again.
Guest:Yeah, but there's a live one called Breaking It Up, Breaking It Down.
Guest:That's the one to get.
Guest:And then there's a bunch from the show I was at in New York around there.
Guest:It's a motherfucker.
Marc:I listen.
Marc:You know, the one Johnny Winter I'm going to go to is before the real blues.
Marc:I still listen to Still Alive and Well a lot.
Marc:Oh, yeah.
Marc:That's a good one.
Marc:It's like classic 70s rock.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Well, now his new manager, he's had this thing called the Bootleg Series.
Guest:And there's six of them out now.
Guest:It's all live stuff from the 70s.
Guest:From that period?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:It's killer, man.
Guest:They just got all these songs and they slice them together.
Guest:And that's the stuff they get because nobody can touch them live.
Guest:Did you ever see Stevie Ray Vaughan?
Guest:I never did.
Guest:I almost did once.
Guest:Did you like him?
Guest:I liked him a lot, yeah.
Guest:I thought he was very good, but I'd rather listen to Johnny.
Guest:Stevie was amazing.
Guest:He was the real thing.
Guest:I think he was going to pass the torch from Johnny to Stevie if he lived.
Guest:Unfortunately, he got killed in that stupid helicopter crash.
Guest:Bill Graham.
Guest:Yeah, some idiot driver.
Guest:I don't need the radar.
Man.
Guest:What do I need to see a mountain for?
Guest:I heard Bill Graham was kind of difficult.
Guest:But Johnny is, when it comes to real blues, Johnny, I put Johnny in that category as Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf.
Guest:He is one of those guys.
Guest:You never saw Howlin' Wolf, did you?
Guest:No, I never saw Howlin' Wolf.
Marc:Was he dead by that time?
Guest:He died in early 76, so I could have, but I didn't.
Guest:He must have been something.
Guest:Yeah, you can go on YouTube and see a whole bunch of clips of him.
Guest:How about Ike and Tina Turner?
Guest:No, I didn't see, no.
Guest:When I saw The Stones, it was B.B.
Guest:King.
Guest:I saw him in 69 also.
Marc:I saw The Stones at Madison Square Garden in 1981, and James Brown was supposed to open, but he bailed at the last minute, so they pulled Screaming Jay Hawkins out of some studio apartment that he was living in.
Marc:It was the weirdest thing because he clearly didn't have his act together, but it was just him with a make-do pickup band in front of the lights were still on, everyone's waiting for The Stones, and he's up there with his voodoo stick.
Guest:I saw screaming Jay Leno once.
Guest:Yeah, I got a spell on you, man, because you're mine.
Guest:I got a new car, too, with a voodoo car.
Guest:My chin got in the way.
Marc:Where are you going to be working coming up?
Guest:Nowhere, ever.
Guest:I don't know.
Guest:I'm looking for work.
Guest:Not that much, but I really don't want to go on the road anymore, man.
Guest:I don't want to live on the road.
Guest:I don't know how you guys still my age and older live on the road like that.
Guest:I just can't do it.
Guest:I'm just very comfortable here.
Guest:I can kind of work when I want.
Marc:Where do you usually work?
Marc:Up at Pitta's place?
Guest:Pitta's place.
Marc:How long does he let you do?
Marc:What do you do, like an hour?
Guest:Oh, no, I wish.
Guest:I'd love to do an hour there.
Guest:Why wouldn't he let you do an hour?
Guest:Because there's other comics on the show.
Guest:That's why.
Guest:If he wants to give me my own show, I don't see it coming, but I could kick it.
Marc:Doesn't he do a standard headliner format?
Marc:He doesn't have an open.
Guest:No, it's him and I think four other comics and a little break in between.
Guest:So everybody does my 1520.
Marc:It's just like rich white people with wine.
Guest:They're good.
Guest:Well, it's better than talking about Obama in South Carolina.
Guest:No, I know.
Marc:I was up there once, and I had a great time.
Marc:I mean, it's a great room.
Guest:It's a sweet room.
Guest:I like it.
Guest:I love that room.
Guest:And the lady, Lucy Mercer, who runs it, is a sweetheart, and everybody's just real nice there.
Marc:And it's always packed.
Guest:It's always packed, yeah.
Guest:It's once a week?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I don't know how it does the rest of the week with the other shows, but...
Guest:The comedy show, he does it every week, though?
Guest:I think the room sells out.
Guest:People just want to go, and they know they have a good time.
Marc:Yeah, it's nearby, and they can get home before midnight.
Guest:Yeah, yeah, so it's sweet.
Marc:And they only have to drive free blocks when they're wasted on wine.
Guest:Yeah, exactly.
Guest:They can take a rickshaw or whatever.
Guest:I don't know.
Marc:What was the worst stage experience you ever had?
Guest:Oh, God.
Guest:Okay, El Paso, which is the asshole of North America.
Guest:I hate that place.
Guest:I did a gig there, and it was supposed to be $1,000 for two nights.
Guest:I go, okay, I'll do it.
Guest:I have to take three flights to get there.
Guest:These guys, oh, we'll save $1.50 if we put them on three planes.
Guest:On one of them, there's this hot-looking woman.
Guest:I was single at the time.
Guest:And we're talking, hey, how you doing?
Guest:Hey, what's going on?
Guest:This is nice.
Guest:All of a sudden, her cell phone rings.
Guest:She goes, you motherfucker!
Guest:Did you smoke all the crack?
Guest:I'll fucking kill you when I get home.
Guest:Lucy!
Guest:He's like, okay, I don't want to talk to everybody.
Guest:So I finally make it to El Paso, and they go, oh, by the way, the second show was canceled, so we're going to leave 500 on there.
Guest:And I got there like two days early, because the next day I was supposed to do a radio show, and the radio show was canceled, so I'm slept there for four days.
Guest:And I'm in this crappy little hotel, and the guy who answers the phones are, had a voice box, and can't you give him any other job?
Guest:This is creeping me out.
Guest:So I have another Chesterfield.
Guest:So...
Guest:And you couldn't get CBS, so I couldn't watch Letterman at night.
Guest:I used to like to watch Letterman.
Guest:So I get to the show.
Guest:There's only one of them.
Guest:And I'm opening for a noise band.
Guest:What's a noise band?
Guest:It's like the sex pistols after they gargle with a pine cone and a porcupine.
Guest:so uh i i just i'm just getting yelled at and booed and people are giving the thumbs down no matter what i'm doing so i do so it's like 40 minutes i did like 20 i don't want to do this shit anymore so i did like 25 or something and one of the few times i did not do my time i just said fuck this this is useless and i get off and i'm just watching and then the noise band comes on during the first song they say a bottle comes flying hits them right in the middle of the forehead knocks them out
Guest:I go, okay, I'm going back to the room.
Guest:I got a couple of bottles of malt liquor and called my friends.
Guest:Well, I'm stuck here for a few more days.
Guest:I'll see if I ever get back.
Guest:And they did pay me, and there's nothing to do and nowhere to go.
Guest:It was like 150 in the shade.
Guest:It was just fucking horrible.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:El Paso's bad.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Who books that room?
Guest:Sorry.
Guest:I haven't been back there.
Marc:Did you ever have to leave because it was dangerous?
Guest:Let me think.
Guest:I know there have been.
Guest:I can't think of it right now.
Guest:Oh, yeah.
Guest:In England, man.
Guest:In England, I played this place.
Guest:When I went there in 87, there's like three clubs there now.
Guest:There's like a thousand clubs.
Guest:they must have liked you in england no uh some of the most of the shows i did really well i had no problem with them it was one where they were just it's called the tunnel club and they were just drunk and rowdy and and uh i think my interest and you know this guy's an american so i went up there and they were just like talking and yelling and i go oh fuck you if it wasn't for us you'd be going see guy they had to rush me out the back and throw me in a taxi no shit yeah
Marc:What do you think are like, because I mean, in talking about like, I'm not going to talk about anything specific, but like, you know, there are guys that, you know, you influence.
Marc:There are guys I think that, you know, your voice, you can hear it.
Marc:You know, I heard a guy the other day, this kid, Eric, I forget his name, but I busted his balls because he there is a style that I think that you sort of created that is sort of, you know, kept going, you know, through Warren and through.
Marc:Oh, yeah, yeah.
Guest:It's rambling and whatever it is.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Right, but there's definitely a rhythm and a pace to it.
Marc:So, like, my question is, and I've seen it with people who listen to Attell or listen to Todd Berry or listen to Mitch Hedberg, that it's a very strange thing that you don't steal jokes, but you can literally steal someone's drive shaft.
Guest:Oh, yeah, sure, sure.
Guest:You know, I can take the whole style and everything.
Guest:The delivery system.
Guest:There were some guys that did that, and what can you do?
Guest:You know, I just...
Guest:I guess you can't do anything.
Guest:Not much.
Guest:Behind every genius, there's a guy going, that guy stole my shit.
Guest:Behind every sitcom star, there's a guy living at a bus station going, he took it from me.
Guest:And he's right.
Guest:That was my life before I got here.
Guest:You son of a bitch.
Guest:Did you ever see Lenny Bruce?
Guest:I met him when I was 10 years old.
Guest:I didn't even know who he was at the time.
Guest:My father saw him, and he told me about it.
Marc:Oh, really?
Guest:I didn't know he died when I was 10 years old.
Marc:Oh, was that long ago, right?
Guest:Yeah, he died in 66, August 3rd.
Marc:Did that have any impact on you?
Marc:Did you listen to his records?
Guest:No, not until later, not until much later.
Marc:But, I mean, didn't have any real influence on you?
Guest:No, I can't.
Guest:I unfortunately know, but I did.
Guest:We came to visit California in the summer of 66, and I was walking along Fisherman's Wharf with my father.
Guest:We went to L.A., then we drove up here, and I saw my first hippie in the Hague.
Guest:I saw a man with hair down to his shoulders in 66.
Guest:I didn't know what it was.
Guest:And anyway, we were walking, and Professor Erwin Corey was there with the chubby guy with the beard.
Guest:I think he's still alive.
Guest:Yeah, he is.
Guest:And my father was, oh, Erwin Corey and blah, blah, blah.
Guest:And he said, Lenny Bruce, I didn't know who he was.
Guest:And I went shaking hands with Lenny.
Guest:We had kind of a clammy handshake.
Guest:It was near the end for him.
Guest:And I shook hands at Irwin Corrie.
Guest:I go, Daddy, who's he?
Guest:That's real rude.
Guest:I didn't know that.
Guest:And Irwin Corrie was like, Young man, never say who is he.
Guest:Say how is he.
Guest:And blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Guest:And I go, I don't like this guy.
Guest:I ended up working with him like in 85 when we got along great.
Guest:Did you tell him that story?
Guest:I did.
Guest:He didn't remember.
Guest:I was never in San Francisco with Lenny.
Guest:I never.
Guest:Really?
Guest:He denied everything.
Guest:I know who I met.
Guest:And my father told me, I didn't even know about Lenny Bruce until years later.
Guest:Maybe like 10, 15 years ago, I asked my father, we were talking about that.
Guest:He said, oh, that was Lenny Bruce.
Guest:What?
Guest:I shook hands with Lenny Bruce.
Guest:Yeah, that's when it went into you, Stephen.
Marc:Yeah, probably.
Marc:Something dribbled out of his withdrawal-ridden hand.
Guest:My father saw him in 1960 in New York and said he was brilliant, and he went to see his show that night.
Guest:I think he was at the Avalon or the film.
Marc:In San Francisco?
Guest:In San Francisco.
Guest:I think the Mothers, Frank Zapp and the Mothers are the opening band.
Marc:I have that poster.
Marc:It was at the Fillmore.
Guest:Yeah, I have that too.
Marc:The orange poster.
Marc:He saw that show?
Marc:He saw that show.
Guest:And what did he say?
Guest:And he said there was some weird rock band that went on.
Guest:He didn't know what they were.
Guest:They were throwing things and yelling.
Guest:And then Lenny came on and mumbled and fell down, and it just sucked.
Marc:Oh, really?
Guest:Yeah, it was near the end, so he didn't like it.
Guest:But he said in 60, he was brilliant then.
Marc:Did you ever see any of those rock performers or comics that couldn't get through their set?
Guest:I saw Sam a few times.
Marc:I remember being up at that house, dude.
Marc:The one time that was really profound to me was that
Marc:Remember when he hired that guy to babysit him?
Marc:And then that guy ended up getting high too.
Marc:And like there was one time where he'd been up for three days up at the house where I live.
Marc:And he's supposed to play University of Arizona in Tucson at a stadium or an arena.
Marc:And it was the one time where he couldn't get up.
Marc:They couldn't get him up.
Marc:And I just set my brother up who was going to school there, you know, with tickets, you know, backstage, you know, maybe hang out with Sam a little bit.
Marc:And this is like, you know, five, 6,000 seater that he had sold out.
Marc:And I got to call my brother up and say, he ain't going to make it.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:He's on the floor.
Guest:Yeah, I remember when he missed the Joan Rivers show because he passed out in the hotel.
Marc:That was later, though.
Marc:Once I left L.A.
Marc:hearing voices in my head and running from a mystical system that I invented.
Marc:Get out of this town.
Marc:Get out of this town.
Marc:One of the last nights I was in L.A.
Marc:was at your fucking house, sitting there listening to the voices going, how far out can I go?
Guest:I got tired of stepping on needles.
Guest:I didn't mind stepping on a spoon, but needles.
Marc:I got to get out of here.
Marc:Oh, poor Stevie.
Guest:Yeah, so I got my own little place.
Marc:Has anyone died that I need to know about?
Guest:Who's died?
Guest:Careers?
Guest:I can see that any day.
Marc:You're still alive, and you seem like you're doing great.
Marc:I'm still here.
Marc:I'm a bull.
Marc:You can't kill me.
Marc:I know, buddy.
Guest:I'm still here, and things are going great now.
Marc:I love you, Nina.
Marc:Well, Steve, I love you, and I'm glad you fucked me.
Marc:Love you too, bro.
Marc:Let's go over to the Tendro, and I'll buy you some Indian food.
Guest:Oh, cool.
Guest:Let's go to the Habakkuk Inn.
Marc:Again?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Not that place again.
Marc:Well, that's it.
Marc:That's the show.
Marc:Are you exhausted?
Marc:Did Stevie Pearl spin you around?
Marc:God, it was great to see him.
Marc:And thank you all for listening.
Marc:If you want anything WTF related, merchandise, if you want to follow us on Twitter, if you want to email the show, if you want to donate or subscribe to the show with a little bit of green, a little jack, a little bread, that's always welcome.
Marc:No pressure.
Marc:But, you know, trying to make a living.
Marc:We also...
Marc:I want to encourage you to get on this, uh, email update that we're doing.
Marc:I'm writing a weekly update with information about the guests with, uh, you know, things that are going on with me eventually with some special deals.
Marc:And that'll come to you every week if you get on the mailing list.
Marc:So I encourage you to do that.
Marc:There's also links to our sponsors there.
Marc:Just coffee.
Marc:Co-op has got the WTF blend.
Marc:Uh, I don't think it's bitter cause I'm not, I just hope it's dark and tasty.
Marc:Um,
Marc:like I am, and also punchlinemagazine.com.
Marc:Please go there for any news that you may want about the comedy biz and who's up and what's up and movie reviews, videos, and up-to-date stuff about the comedy industry.
Marc:And also, please, if you're in San Francisco and you want to come see me, I'm doing three nights at the Purple Onion.
Marc:That's a classic venue.
Marc:It's an intimate venue.
Marc:I'll be there May 10th, 11th, and 12th.
Marc:You cannot buy tickets online.
Marc:You can make reservations if you call 415-956-1653 or go to www.cafemacaroni.com.
Marc:That's C-A-F-F-E macaroni, M-A-C-A-F-E.
Marc:a r o n i dot com and you'll be linked to the purple onion there it's the same uh same people own it and i really appreciate all you guys came out in portland and i really appreciate all you what the fuckers and what the fuck buddies supporting the show i i continue to have a great time doing it and i continue uh to uh to actually build a deeper relationship with you and with myself and i i think you're witnessing that and i think it's a good thing i'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop
Marc:But the ones I have on are definitely are going away.
Marc:And I'm going to go buy a whole bunch of new red ones.
Marc:Whatever.
Marc:I love you.
Marc:See you later.