Episode 879 - Fortune Feimster
Guest:Lock the gates!
Marc:Alright, let's do this.
Marc:How are you, what the fuckers?
Marc:What the fuck buddies?
Marc:What the fucking ears?
Marc:What the fucksters?
Marc:I'm Mark Maron.
Marc:This is my podcast, WTF.
Marc:Welcome to it.
Marc:Today on the show, am I really going to do it?
Marc:Am I just going to announce the guests right up front, right the way it's supposed to be done, professionally speaking?
Marc:fortune feemster is on the show you may have seen her in uh on the mindy project uh or on chelsea lately or chelsea's other show she's also a very popular stand-up i see her at the store a lot the comedy store and i finally asked her the big i popped the big question will you do the podcast
Marc:And we had a nice chat.
Marc:Doesn't always happen like that.
Marc:And she just got engaged.
Marc:So that's fresh on her mind.
Marc:That's exciting.
Marc:Some happiness.
Marc:But so that's happening.
Marc:That Fortune Feimster will be on the show here with me in a few minutes.
Marc:How's it going, folks?
Marc:I don't know about you, but I'm having a hard time breathing.
Marc:Is anybody else having a hard time breathing?
Marc:Is it when these things happen?
Marc:I don't know if it's is it my mind?
Marc:Is it anxiety?
Marc:Is it stress?
Marc:Is it emphysema?
Marc:Is it cancer?
Marc:Is it the end of the world?
Marc:Why am I having a hard time breathing?
Marc:And this is not a complaint.
Marc:I'm not complaining.
Marc:I'm not whining.
Marc:I'm having a hard time breathing.
Marc:I wake up and I'm like, am I drowning in my bed?
Marc:What is happening?
Marc:Yeah, I don't know what the smog levels are.
Marc:I don't know what's still on fire, what isn't on fire, but the air has been shit out here.
Marc:And I guess that's not a lot to complain about, given that people are afraid to go outside on the East Coast because they might freeze before they get to their car.
Marc:They literally may freeze in their footsteps before they get to the car.
Marc:And I know, look, it's been cold before, but it's very interesting to me in these times where...
Marc:A lot of the time, all we can do is just search our minds for a precedent.
Marc:Is there a precedent for this?
Marc:Did somebody say it?
Marc:Is it written somewhere?
Marc:Is this the coldest it's ever been?
Marc:Is this the hottest it's ever been?
Marc:Is this the most fiery it's ever been?
Marc:Is this the most?
Marc:And the answer is yes.
Marc:Yes, it's the most.
Marc:Even if there was one other time, it's the most.
Marc:All of it is coalescing.
Marc:It's all happening and none of it is good.
Marc:So what do you do?
Marc:What do you do?
Marc:A lot of times you got to, you know, it seems like we can't wait it out.
Marc:It seems like there's urgency at hand.
Marc:But what do you do?
Marc:How do we change things?
Marc:I can't breathe.
Marc:I can't breathe.
Marc:See, after I say that, it all makes sense, doesn't it?
Marc:But oddly, I'm feeling okay.
Marc:I am about to engage in a fairly big process, a big shift.
Marc:Maybe I'm having some anxiety about that.
Marc:There is actually no shortage of things I would...
Marc:That I could be anxious about.
Marc:See, now this is where I'm a little loopy, a little tired, a little stressed out, a little short of air, as I brought up earlier.
Marc:And my brain doesn't seem to be working as much.
Marc:My brain skidded twice on stage last night.
Marc:Something about that main room on certain nights at the comedy store.
Marc:There's just something about it.
Marc:I don't know if it's an electrical force or a mystical force or just a strange thing.
Marc:quality to the air in there, but my brain just got stuck.
Marc:It got hooked.
Marc:It got, it got skipped on a couple of words and it fucked up the beats on a couple of my jokes.
Marc:And it's happened in there before.
Marc:It doesn't happen in other places.
Marc:I can't figure it out.
Marc:Is this a mystical event?
Marc:That's always the question.
Marc:How far are you going to let your brain drift?
Marc:How far?
Marc:So outside of being anxious all the time, I'm excited about these award shows coming up because I get to wear my new suit.
Marc:I think I'm thrilled and humbled and excited to be nominated for a SAG Award and a Critics' Choice Award for my work on GLOW.
Marc:Oh, by the way, I'm recording this before I watch the Golden Globes.
Marc:So I'm not mentioning the Golden Globes.
Marc:So there's that.
Marc:So I don't know if Allison won or not.
Marc:But I'm excited to wear my new suit, which I'm picking up on Monday.
Marc:I'll take some pictures and I'll share them with you here.
Marc:Here in the garage.
Marc:I'll share the pictures with you.
Marc:I'm not really anticipating winning or even... I'm not even thinking about that, to be honest with you.
Marc:I am excited to get dressed up and go to a thing.
Marc:That's what I'm excited about.
Marc:Nomination, pretty good.
Marc:Getting dressed up for a reason...
Marc:That I'm excited about with some new clothes, new shoes.
Marc:That's exciting.
Marc:And I'm excited to be living in a new house.
Marc:I'm excited to have new space, to have room to move.
Marc:And the thing that I was going to tell you about that's a little bit traumatic or I think a little bit anxiety inducing is I got to move this garage.
Marc:I got to move it.
Marc:I've decided I'm going to sell the cat ranch, sell the expansive two-bedroom, one-bathroom cat ranch, and I'm going to begin dismantling the garage and recreating it in the new place probably in the next couple weeks.
Marc:And I think that's causing me a little bit of... I may not know it right at the top of my soul.
Marc:It's not on the surface of my thoughts or my feelings, but...
Marc:It's going to be heavy, man.
Marc:But part of me is excited.
Marc:I'm just going to go through this place, book for book, piece of artifact for artifact, and decide what has power, what doesn't have power, what I want and what I don't want.
Marc:I wish I could have a garage sale, but I don't think I can.
Marc:It would be the garage garage sale.
Marc:But I don't know what I would be selling.
Marc:So I'm probably just going to cart all this shit with me.
Marc:But I'll give it to libraries.
Marc:I'll give it to Goodwill.
Marc:But yeah, it's going to be a big change, folks.
Marc:But I would like to say that I am moving to another garage.
Marc:It's literally another garage space.
Marc:Yeah, I think it might be a little bigger.
Marc:It's got a bathroom.
Marc:But I got to take this one apart.
Marc:I guess that's going to be a grieving process.
Marc:That's going to be an emotional journey.
Marc:But goddamn, I don't need a lot of these books.
Marc:I'm telling you.
Marc:I just don't need them.
Marc:Yeah, so... Move in the garage.
Marc:Wow.
Marc:Oh, man.
Marc:It's making me a little... I might get choked up.
Marc:Maybe I should do a show as I go through stuff.
Marc:Would that be interesting?
Marc:I don't know.
Marc:I'll be honest with you.
Marc:Can I be honest with you?
Marc:I had a photographer come over here and document the garage as it stands now.
Marc:I don't know what I'm going to do with those pictures, but I thought it was important to have it.
Marc:Maybe I should do some sort of video of the taking down the garage.
Marc:It seems sad.
Marc:It seems like a like a historical day.
Marc:And I think that's why I'm hanging on to this.
Marc:I think the houses is pretty empty.
Marc:But yeah, yeah, I think that part of it is just sort of like I'm just not ready.
Marc:I'm not ready.
Marc:I'm emotionally not ready, even though the new space is going to be great.
Marc:Just not emotionally ready.
Marc:So Fortune Feimster.
Marc:is a killer, man.
Marc:She's a great comic.
Marc:She fucking slays, and I've seen it happen again and again.
Marc:She'll be on the upcoming NBC show, Champions, and she'll be at House of Comedy in Phoenix, Arizona, this Friday and Saturday, January 12th and 13th.
Marc:We talk a bit about generating new material.
Marc:We're both in the same place.
Marc:I got a few Europe dates I got to get some new shit together for her.
Marc:But it was great to talk to Fortune, and this is me doing just that.
Marc:So what's going on?
Marc:Congratulations.
Guest:Thank you.
Guest:I appreciate it.
Marc:That's a big deal.
Marc:You got engaged?
Guest:Yes.
Guest:Yeah, this like two days ago.
Marc:You didn't know that was going to happen or did you?
Marc:Who did it?
Marc:What happened?
Marc:How'd it go?
Guest:I did it.
Guest:I'm technically the butch one.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Though I'm not very butch.
Guest:People were asking online.
Guest:They're like, how does it work when there's two chicks who ask who?
Guest:But I kind of always knew I would be the one to ask for some reason.
Marc:How long have you been together?
Guest:Two and a half years.
Marc:That's good.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:That's the right amount of time for people to do it.
Marc:People who aren't waiting.
Guest:Right.
Guest:People were like, I'm scared.
Marc:Yeah, we're buying time.
Marc:Maybe something better will come along.
Guest:Which, that was my experience with everyone I dated before her.
Guest:Oh, really?
Guest:Just constant, like, you'll do for now.
Guest:Right.
Guest:Like, them towards me.
Guest:Oh, yeah.
Guest:Yeah, they'll be like, I'll date you until I find something.
Marc:They were like that?
Guest:Yeah, they were like that.
Marc:A lot of heartbreak.
Guest:Yeah, quite a bit, but you know.
Guest:I mean, I never got super serious with anyone.
Guest:Right.
Guest:So it was like minor, minor little heart breaks.
Marc:What's her name?
Guest:Her name's Jacqueline.
Marc:And what does she do?
Guest:She's a kindergarten teacher.
Marc:Ah.
Guest:So she's like a normal person.
Marc:It's like a noble profession.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Like a real life important job, not like a weirdo show business job.
Guest:Oh, I know.
Guest:And when I met her, she lived in Chicago.
Marc:How'd you meet her in Chicago?
Guest:At Gay Pride.
Yeah.
Marc:What were you doing at Pride in Chicago?
Guest:I have friends that run events out there for Gay Pride, and they were just like... And my best friend, who I lived with in L.A.
Guest:for seven years, was living there.
Guest:Oh, okay.
Guest:And they were like, come hang out.
Guest:Come hang out at Gay Pride, and we met there.
Guest:Kind of been together ever since.
Guest:It was...
Marc:Two and a half years ago.
Marc:So she was living in Chicago?
Guest:Yeah, so we were long distance for a year.
Marc:And then you were like, drop your life, come out.
Guest:Well, I mean, she had a very noble job even in Chicago.
Guest:She taught basically in the hood of Chicago and was an amazing teacher.
Guest:Still kindergarten?
Guest:still kindergarten yeah i would go to her school and you know she just was so good with these kids they loved her and these are kids who you know every kid in there had someone in jail or shot shot they'd seen crazy amount of things at five years old would come to school like didn't even have a coat you know yeah yeah chicago oh my god and i'm all like come to l.a
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Enough of this good work.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Stop being such a good person and coming to L.A.
Marc:Relax.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:So now... So she's been in L.A.
Guest:a year and a half.
Marc:She like it?
Guest:She does.
Guest:I mean, she hasn't found that school yet that's like... Because she wants to...
Guest:I was like, why don't you work at a charter school where the parents give you gift cards at Christmas?
Guest:And she tried it, and she's like, I miss my kids.
Marc:You must feel like you're making a difference.
Guest:Yeah, and she really wants to make a difference.
Guest:So she's subbing now looking for that school.
Marc:Well, she'll find it.
Guest:Yeah, for sure.
Marc:So how did it go?
Marc:What was the...
Guest:who decided like that well that's a that is an odd question but like yeah who decides who's butch and who isn't i mean i guess sometimes it's a parent i guess i take out the trash more maybe that's what it is i wear t-shirts a lot right um but it's not a disposition thing necessarily because if you were going by disposition she'd be the butch one right she's a teacher so she's got that like sit down yeah right yeah watch your hands yeah yeah and you're like yes ma'am
Guest:um so i guess she's a little more butch in that way but i just uh i knew she wanted like a a ring like that her dad's a jeweler so did you call him did he know before she did yeah i did call him i mean she knew like yeah i wanted her to have some input so we looked at a couple oh so it wasn't a surprise no it's hard when you live together to like surprise someone
Marc:I guess so.
Marc:Or I'm just lazy.
Marc:They may not know when it's coming.
Marc:She didn't know the day it was going to happen, right?
Guest:No, I mean, not really.
Guest:Also, that's kind of hard, too, because you're like, hey, after Christmas, let's go on a random vacation for two days.
Guest:A little weird trip.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:So I think she kind of knew it was coming.
Guest:So we went up to, I really wanted to do it at a place called San Ysidro Ranch in Santa Barbara.
Guest:Oh, it's pretty, right?
Guest:Yeah, we had a date up there early on and she's like, whoa, this is really romantic.
Guest:Good thing we like each other.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Or this would be, you'd be trying a little too hard.
Marc:What do you mean?
Marc:How'd that work out?
Marc:You went on one date?
Guest:An overnight date?
Guest:Our first week of dating, I was like, I didn't know it was so romantic up there.
Marc:Was it a day trip?
Guest:It was an overnight trip.
Marc:The first week?
Marc:You're like, let's do it.
Guest:I was really ready to make this happen.
Guest:And it closed down for a month because of all those fires.
Guest:Oh, yeah.
Marc:Is it still on fire up there?
Guest:No, I don't think so.
Guest:I don't know.
Marc:It's weird.
Marc:We live in a state where it's like, oh, maybe it's still burning.
Guest:Everything's burning around us.
Marc:Yeah, that's for sure.
Guest:We're just like doing a podcast.
Marc:Yeah, waiting.
Marc:That's LA though.
Marc:It is.
Marc:Waiting for it all to go down.
Guest:We're like, we've got to entertain.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:It's hard to know what to do.
Marc:You know, when you feel powerless, you do have to sort of just keep going.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:We've got to talk to people out there.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Make sure people know that we're all freaking out, but we're still, you know, we got to live our lives and keep talking to each other.
Guest:Our house just went down a hill from a mudslide, but whatever.
Marc:The garage is still here.
Marc:Yeah, exactly.
Marc:So, all right, so do you have wedding dates and stuff, or how's that?
Guest:No, we're like not your typical lesbians.
Guest:They're usually in a rush to get everything official and done.
Guest:We're like maybe two years.
Guest:Oh, really?
Marc:Is that what typical lesbians do?
Marc:They're just sort of like rings on, let's go.
Guest:A typical lesbian would have been engaged a year and a half ago and already married.
Guest:A year in.
Guest:Typical.
Typical.
Guest:We're not as typical.
Guest:I was just like, we know we're committed.
Guest:We're happy.
Guest:We'll do it at some point down the road.
Marc:So how was that ring?
Marc:It's a nice ring?
Guest:I'm pretty proud of it.
Guest:It's a little bigger than I would have normally gotten.
Marc:But whose input was that?
Marc:Her dad?
Guest:I mean, well, her dad tried to help me out.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:He was like, you don't need to get a ring.
Guest:I mean, a stone that big.
Guest:Right.
Guest:And she's just like, really like jewelry.
Guest:And I saw this.
Guest:The problem was we went to go look at stone.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And I brought her mom and the mom's friend with us.
Guest:Right.
Guest:So they're showing us different stones and they're like, Oh,
Guest:oh, that's pretty, that's pretty.
Guest:And then they bring out, you know, the big one at the end.
Guest:Everyone in the room, oh my God, whoa, it's so pretty.
Guest:Look at, oh, wow, wow, wow.
Marc:And you're looking at your wallet.
Guest:So I kind of, I was like, oh man, how do you like backpedal from that one?
Guest:You can't.
Marc:There were too many people involved.
Guest:Too many.
Guest:That was my biggest mistake.
Guest:I should have never gotten input, ever.
Marc:No, just do it on your own.
Guest:So that, you know.
Marc:So that's how she got the huge rock.
Guest:So she got the big rock.
Marc:Well, that's nice.
Marc:And she loved it.
Guest:She loved it.
Guest:And, you know, part of me getting her the bigger one, I knew she'd like it.
Guest:And she did, you know, uproot her whole life for me.
Guest:She had a job she loved.
Guest:Chicago is a great city.
Guest:She loves L.A., but it's different.
Guest:It takes a while to adjust.
Marc:Oh, no, definitely.
Marc:Yeah, yeah.
Marc:Chicago, like I've grown to really like Chicago.
Guest:Oh, it's a cool city.
Guest:It is.
Marc:It's like its own thing.
Marc:It's got its own vibe.
Guest:It's like a clean New York.
Marc:Yeah, it's got its own personality.
Marc:Obviously, there's good and bad, but it's like one of those places that is a real place.
Guest:Yeah, real people.
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Marc:It has a history.
Marc:You feel it.
Marc:It's got its own personality.
Marc:There's only a few cities like that.
Guest:Yeah, it's good food there.
Guest:Because a lot of the Midwest people live there.
Guest:They're good.
Guest:Sausages.
Marc:Yeah, there's all that Ukrainian kind of food and there's a lot of meat.
Marc:Chicago's big on the meat.
Guest:Oh yeah, so it's good.
Marc:So is Mindy Kaling really going to officiate?
Guest:Officiate?
Guest:I mean, we don't have any official plan.
Marc:Right, but so she's just saying.
Guest:She's just like, you know, we posted the picture and she wrote, yes, I will officiate.
Guest:And so I wrote back, yeah, for sure.
Guest:And then I didn't even know that any publication knew who I was.
Guest:And all these publications were like, Mindy Kaling is going to officiate Fortune Feimster's wedding.
Guest:Oh, really?
Marc:Well, now they know who you are.
Guest:Yeah, I'm like, oh, cool.
Guest:Maybe we'll get a free Chili's gift card.
Marc:No, I think you could probably pull that off.
Marc:I think you could probably pull that off with a couple of tweets if you really want a Chili's gift card.
Guest:I'm constantly tweeting them.
Guest:They finally sent me a sweater at Christmas.
Guest:It was a big, big moment.
Guest:Chili's?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:What are you talking about?
Guest:I tweeted them that I love them, and they sent me a Christmas sweater.
Guest:That's the America we live in, people.
Guest:Chili's.
Guest:It's a beautiful world.
Marc:It's Chili's for you.
Guest:Yeah, I'm a simple Southern girl.
Marc:Yeah, well, do you like Cracker Barrel?
Guest:Yeah, I like Cracker Barrel.
Guest:I mean, they're a little racist.
Guest:A little racist, yeah.
Guest:I don't feel as good eating food there.
Marc:Right, you used to.
Marc:Before I was woke.
Marc:Yeah, before you were woke.
Marc:i don't really say woke uh it's all right the um but but like in the south like there's other things in chilies you know like yeah i mean like what what happened to those mom and pop places there they're not a lot of those left anymore it's all the chain chain where'd you grow up i am from uh belmont it's a small town in north carolina outside of charlotte
Marc:Oh, so it's close to the other Carolina.
Marc:Mm-hmm.
Marc:Like right there.
Marc:Yeah, right on the... And like what kind of... Is that... Well, Charlotte's pretty Southern.
Marc:Yeah, I mean... It's not... Charlotte's great.
Marc:I mean, I've had good shows there, but it's not Raleigh.
Guest:Yeah, I love Raleigh.
Guest:I went to college in Raleigh.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:I mean, Charlotte's got the whole banking thing.
Guest:A lot of banks.
Marc:There's like a Ritz-Carlton.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:It's like this bank hub.
Guest:So it's got like a mix of a little more sophistication with Southern.
Yeah.
Marc:Well, at least money with Southern.
Guest:Yeah, money with Southern money.
Marc:Right, because there's that whole little world there that's like really high end.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:And it's all because of the banks.
Guest:Yeah, and I mean, my town's literally 20 minutes from there.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And everyone in my town sounds like me and their accent's thicker.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:You go 20 minutes to Charlotte and no one sounds like this.
Marc:Is it because they're all from out of town?
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:I guess.
Marc:I don't think you just wash away the accent.
Marc:It must be because people move there to work at the banks.
Guest:I'd assume so.
Guest:I cannot get rid of my accent.
Marc:Have you tried?
Marc:No.
Marc:It's a nice accent.
Guest:It's good.
Guest:It's gotten better.
Guest:I've been in LA 15 years, but I watched videos from me in high school and it's pretty painful.
Guest:Like really?
Guest:It was kind of like this.
Guest:It was even slower.
Yeah.
Marc:So you grew up your whole life there?
Guest:Yeah, until I was 22.
Marc:How many siblings?
Guest:Two older brothers.
Marc:Oh really?
Marc:And what's your mom and dad do?
Guest:My mom was a school teacher, special ed.
Marc:For your whole life?
Guest:My whole life.
Guest:She's retired now.
Guest:My dad had a lot of different jobs.
Guest:Oh, yeah.
Guest:Yeah, he did never really find his passion, so he did a lot of different things.
Guest:I think the longest job he had was he was a manager at a trucking company.
Guest:Oh yeah?
Guest:And then he retired and then realized it's hard to pay bills being retired so he went back to work at an elementary school.
Guest:He's like in charge of the janitorial department.
Guest:Oh yeah?
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Not the same school that your mom was at, no?
Guest:No.
Guest:So they're like, you know, hard working, simple folk, nice people.
Guest:Southern American people.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Nice people.
Guest:Nice people.
Marc:And how'd your brothers turn out?
Guest:Good, no one's in jail, which we're all very grateful for.
Guest:One works for Homeland Security for the Coast Guard, and the other one works at Winthrop University in their student services department.
Marc:And are they all excited about you being in show business?
Guest:Yeah, I mean, nothing really impresses them.
Guest:They have kids and wives.
Guest:They're just like, cool, cool.
Guest:We gotta get Rylan to soccer practice.
Marc:You're like, all right.
Marc:Put him on television.
Guest:Yeah, like, guys, did you see it?
Guest:They're like, well, they can't watch it.
Guest:It's kind of dirty.
Guest:They haven't seen you on TV.
Guest:You're like, cool.
Marc:I'm always, like, I get kind of fascinated when people grow up in the South because, like, I have this weird, evolving relationship with the South.
Marc:Oh, yeah?
Marc:Yeah, like, I stopped generalizing it at some point.
Marc:Like, you know, I was one of those people that just sort of, you know, kind of lumped it all into, like, at least the people.
Marc:But then, like, as time went on, I realized, like, God, these people are nicer than most people.
Marc:And, you know, there's good and bad.
Marc:And, you know, it gets a bad rap.
Marc:And it's beautiful down here.
Marc:And I like the food.
Marc:And maybe I was just all wrong about the South.
Marc:And then something happens where you're like, nope.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:It's an interesting place.
Guest:It's an interesting group of people.
Guest:I love the South being from there.
Guest:I understand the people a little bit more.
Guest:You kind of are like, I get... Not everyone.
Guest:There's a lot of very...
Guest:like everywhere, there's a lot of very smart, educated people who are very aware in the world and are inclusive.
Guest:There are other people who just never quite left their bubble, which is any part of the country, you have people like that.
Guest:But they just kinda know what they know and don't wanna look beyond that.
Marc:It can be quite a hostile bubble down there.
Guest:Well, I was looking at that, you know, that video went viral with the whole Roy Moore stuff.
Guest:There was that Southern man who stood outside with a picture of his daughter that she had committed suicide.
Guest:And he said, you know, he was there to fight Roy Moore because Roy called people like her and his daughter a pervert.
Marc:And she was gay, right?
Guest:She was gay.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And, you know, it sort of reminded me of my dad.
Guest:Like, just a simple guy who, you know, he doesn't want to leave the South.
Guest:He's content where he is.
Guest:And if I wasn't gay, he would not know any gay person or think about it.
Guest:Right.
Guest:And, you know, might have at one point thought it was weird.
Guest:Sure.
Guest:But because I'm gay, he's like, yeah, I like gay people.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And it just reminded me of that guy, you know, like where, you know, he's like, I was against her, but then I lost her and I realized, you know, I was wrong and gay people aren't perverts.
Guest:Right.
Guest:It's as simple as that.
Guest:Sometimes you not someone committing suicide, but just knowing a gay person.
Guest:Sure.
Marc:I think that's true.
Guest:Part of it's just not having a gay person around.
Guest:Right.
Guest:And not seeing that their lifestyle is not that different.
Marc:Sure, or else there's those people that lock into just hating the other type of person, or they're something in themselves.
Guest:Yeah, some fear, yeah.
Marc:I mean, I can't, it's sort of, and I don't know if I'm wrong or if it's wrong for me to say, but some of the pictures of some of those sort of white nationalists in those protests, I'm like, oh my God, they're so gay.
Marc:Oh, for sure.
Marc:I mean, they just look so... I mean, maybe that's wrong for me to say, but that was my instinct.
Guest:Oh, for sure.
Marc:That there was an inner struggle going on.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I mean, some of the biggest homophobes or people that just hate people in general have something inside of them that they hate themselves.
Guest:They're just like, I'm going to push this out so far onto other people that no one can see it in me.
Marc:Right.
Marc:I literally think that all Mike Pence thinks about is like, don't think about dick.
Marc:Don't think about dick.
Marc:No dick.
Marc:Please, no.
Marc:Don't think about dicks.
Guest:Oh, you just looked at a dick.
Marc:Oh, God damn it.
Marc:It's just like his face.
Marc:I don't know.
Guest:It's a face of a guy that wants dick and can't have it.
Marc:Just can't.
Marc:Just will not allow it.
Guest:No.
Guest:I mean, and that's...
Guest:It's a real thing.
Guest:My mom dated for a minute somebody who, I don't know, I don't have proof, but I allegedly think he could be a closeted homosexual.
Guest:And he didn't like gay people.
Guest:And you're just like, yeah, somebody should tell you that there's something about you.
Marc:I've talked to people that have talked about coming out and struggling with certain things.
Marc:So I imagine that to some people, it's just sort of like, I can't, I can't.
Marc:What was your experience?
Guest:Um, I came out late.
Guest:I was like 26, 25 or 26 when I came out, which is, I consider late these days because now kids at 10 are like, I'm gay.
Guest:You're like, what?
Guest:Give it a minute.
Guest:At 10, I didn't know anything.
Guest:I was just like, soccer.
Guest:In hindsight, you look back, you're like, oh, I've been gay as soon as I was born.
Guest:But being from the South and again, not having examples of gay people, I didn't know any out gay people.
Guest:There were people in my hometown who were in the closet but married.
Guest:And you're like, wait, I think you might be gay, but you have a wife.
Guest:I don't know.
Guest:So I just only knew being in the closet or being ashamed of it.
Marc:But you knew you were gay early on.
Guest:I think so, but I just kind of shoved it down.
Guest:I didn't really even think about it.
Guest:And this was before YouTube.
Guest:This was before Will and Grace.
Guest:And those things do make a difference when you can watch a TV show and be like, oh, that registers with me somehow.
Guest:It exists.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:So I just kind of didn't date.
Guest:I just was sort of asexual for a long time.
Guest:Wow.
Guest:I was very studious.
Guest:Made good grades.
Marc:And soccer.
Guest:And soccer, lots of soccer, lots of putting lotion on my friends' arms.
Guest:Just arms, nothing perverted.
Guest:Just like, you look dry.
Guest:And that was my form of intimacy.
Marc:Well, that's nice.
Guest:Yeah, it was a more innocent time back then.
Marc:Did you grow up with religion?
Guest:We were Methodists.
Guest:We went to church, but it was like, that's what you do in the South.
Guest:But we weren't raging Baptists.
Marc:It's weird.
Marc:There are churches every few blocks in the South.
Guest:Oh, they're everywhere.
Guest:And that's just a social part of life.
Guest:You're like, oh, we're going to go to church on Sunday.
Guest:And that's your community.
Guest:And go out to eat afterwards.
Guest:And you're looking at the clock ready.
Guest:He better let us out before the Presbyterians, or we're not going to get to the steakhouse.
Guest:To Chili's?
Guest:Yeah, to Chili's.
Guest:So, I mean, we had that church in our lives, but we weren't, you know, luckily my family's pretty liberal.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And I've come from a long line of Democrats.
Marc:Oh, yeah.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:The old school Southern Democrats.
Guest:Yep.
Guest:Well, that's nice.
Marc:And still, they still are.
Guest:still very my mom's a huge democrat like she's like the only woman like it was driving around with an obama sticker on her car oh really she got any flack for that oh she got a lot of a lot of mean looks uh-huh she was any friends over oh i'm sure uh she'd be in the they call it the beauty parlor and uh people would you know the beauty be like he's a muslim and she'd be like you shut your mouth he is a good man
Guest:Yeah, so she was definitely like the lone wolf in that area.
Marc:It's intense, man.
Marc:The South is a little intense.
Guest:But my family was, when I finally did come out, I had moved to LA at that point, and it just, you know, after being here for a little while and seeing gay people, seeing it as normal, it finally happened.
Guest:Happened.
Guest:Came out.
Guest:I was watching a Lifetime movie.
Guest:I swear to God.
Guest:I'm not a great person to be like, you know how some organization is like, TV will make you gay.
Guest:I'm not a good person to deny it because I watched a Lifetime movie.
Guest:And it was a young girl realized she was gay.
Guest:She was in high school.
Guest:The Truth About Jane, I think, was the movie.
Guest:Stockard Channing was her mom.
Guest:And obviously, this had been bubbling up in me for quite some time.
Guest:And the young girl realized she was gay.
Guest:And she was brave and...
Guest:Her mom was against her.
Guest:But at the end of the movie, like, you know, she was out.
Guest:Her mom was proud.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And for the first time in my life, I was like, oh, my God, I'm gay.
Guest:Like, I said it out loud.
Marc:To yourself?
Guest:To myself.
Guest:It was the first time.
Guest:I was like, I'm gay.
Guest:Oh, wow.
Guest:what and i didn't know what to do with it i was like i don't have any gay friends i've never kissed a girl like it was all like what now yeah yeah but were you excited or like freaked out freaked out for sure yeah yeah you're what were your thoughts like i gotta kiss a girl i gotta see what this is all about and it's really weird to realize you're gay without having ever even kissed at 26 i can't imagine it
Guest:I seem, it seems so naive in hindsight.
Marc:Did you kiss boys in the past or anybody?
Guest:I had kissed, yeah, some boys.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And it was just like, yeah, okay.
Guest:I guess this is what all the fuzz is about.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:But yeah, I had never kissed a girl.
Guest:And I think like in maybe elementary school, I had, you know, grind, like dry humped a girl once.
Guest:Yeah, right.
Guest:Had a sleepover.
Guest:That was pretty great.
Yeah.
Guest:That was the height of my awakening of like 10.
Marc:So what happens at 26?
Guest:Well, this was back when Craigslist was the place to find activities and meet people.
Marc:What year are we talking?
Marc:How old are you, if you don't mind me asking?
Guest:I'm 37 now.
Guest:Okay, okay.
Guest:So this was like 2005.
Marc:And you've been here, what, a year?
Guest:I moved here in 2003.
Guest:Okay.
Guest:So a couple years, two years.
Marc:Okay.
Guest:And I would go on Craigslist to find, that's how, when I was trying to meet friends, I would go on Craigslist and I joined a soccer league and a tennis league.
Guest:I went to African drumming classes.
Guest:I was just trying to meet people.
Guest:Trying to get engaged?
Marc:How long had you been doing comedy once you got out here?
Guest:I had not started yet.
Guest:Is that really?
Guest:I started in 2005.
Marc:You started out here?
Guest:Yeah, out here.
Guest:Huh.
Guest:2005.
Guest:I came out and started comedy at the same time.
Marc:But was that your intention?
Guest:No, I came out here to be a personal assistant to an actress.
Guest:I...
Guest:Long story short, I was the speaker at my college graduation in 2002.
Guest:Okay.
Guest:And our commencement speaker was an actress who was from Raleigh, and she spoke.
Guest:We hit it off, and through a series of events, ended up later that summer, she offered me a job as her assistant.
Guest:in LA I had already had plans to move to Spain for a year very random part of my story I moved to Spain for a year I grew up very poor and I was like I want to see the world and I don't want being poor to stop me from that so I took out a loan bought a ticket to Spain and moved there for a year to teach English and travel around Europe yeah
Marc:Okay, so maybe we'll go back and come back up to you.
Marc:So you go to which college?
Guest:Peace College.
Guest:It was a women's college.
Guest:No kissing?
Guest:No kissing!
Guest:It was a totally missed opportunity.
Guest:What were you- But it was a conservative women's college.
Marc:So what?
Guest:There were convents that were- There was like one gay chick at my school, and she was basically harassed and left a year later.
Marc:Oh, really?
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:I can't.
Guest:I know.
Guest:It seems like that would have been the jackpot of Gatom.
Marc:If anything, did you feel the feelings?
Guest:Oh, for sure.
Guest:For sure.
Guest:I mean, I was surrounded by women constantly in pajamas and underwear.
Guest:I mean, it was like, oh, the temptations were everywhere.
Guest:But you're just like, no!
Guest:I like boys!
Guest:They're so cute!
Oh!
Guest:I just can't wait to get a boyfriend.
Marc:I hope you talked like that to them.
Guest:I was very intense back then about my friends.
Marc:Did you have a lot of friends over there?
Guest:Yeah, that was my thing because I didn't date.
Guest:I was always the social person.
Guest:I had a lot of friends, a lot of different groups of people.
Marc:So what'd you study there?
Guest:Communication.
Guest:There wasn't a lot to, there weren't a lot of choices.
Marc:Was it just a small college?
Guest:Yeah, really small.
Guest:It's in Raleigh?
Guest:Liberal arts, yeah.
Guest:Now it's co-ed.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:But back then it was all girls.
Marc:And you just chose that because of?
Guest:I got a scholarship.
Marc:Oh, good.
Marc:I was born.
Marc:A soccer scholarship?
Guest:I wish.
Guest:No, academics.
Guest:Yeah, I mean, when I was graduating high school, I really wasn't sure I was gonna be able to go to college.
Guest:Anything other than I didn't have money.
Marc:Right, just a financial thing?
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:So, all right, so you do like four years there?
Guest:Four years.
Marc:Study communications.
Guest:Mm-hmm, so I can learn to communicate.
Marc:Yeah, you don't kiss any girls.
Guest:No kissing of girls.
Marc:And then you just decide Spain.
Guest:I had gone to Mexico two summers in a row through my school to study the Mayan ruins and stuff like that.
Guest:That's cool.
Guest:That was awesome.
Guest:I was like, oh, I really love Spanish.
Guest:I love meeting people who are different.
Guest:I was from a small town in a small college, and I was seeing the world for the first time.
Guest:And I was like, I want to see more.
Guest:But I wanted to go further.
Guest:And I only picked Spain because they spoke Spanish.
Guest:I wanted to learn Spanish.
Guest:And it was in Europe.
Guest:And I was like, that would give me the opportunity to see another part of the world.
Marc:What city did you live in?
Guest:Sevilla.
Marc:Oh yeah?
Guest:Was it great?
Guest:It was awesome.
Guest:It was awesome and it was one of the hardest years of my life.
Guest:It was the year that we went to war and it was the year after 9-11.
Guest:So everybody was on high alert and Spain was one of the only countries to aid us in the war.
Guest:And so all of the Spanish people were very against it and went to the streets every weekend to protest it.
Guest:And I look very American, I sound very American, so people were not very friendly to me.
Guest:So it was a tough year.
Guest:I went to a school to learn Spanish and a lot of the European kids there would challenge me on it.
Guest:I had to read the news every day because they would challenge me constantly about American politics.
Marc:Were you like that before?
Guest:Not as much.
Guest:That really made me, you know, because I didn't want to be like, I don't want to be the stupid American that comes to Spain.
Guest:Right.
Marc:So you had to have some opinions.
Guest:I had to have opinions and read books and be on the, you know, just the know of politics.
Marc:That's an interesting reason to have to...
Marc:You'll get engaged.
Marc:It's just like, I got to defend myself against these Europeans.
Guest:I don't want to, I sound stupid.
Guest:I don't want to, I don't want to not know what I'm talking about.
Guest:Cause you know, I start talking and people just assume I don't know anything.
Marc:Well, that's the problem with the accent.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:So I, I was able to, you know, have intelligent conversations and the people that I came across and were like, Oh, Americans aren't so bad.
Guest:I was like, Oh, my own little victories.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Um, so yeah, I did, I did that for a year and,
Guest:learned some Spanish, it's all gone now.
Guest:I think it was 14 years ago.
Guest:I mean, I have it, it comes back when I need it.
Guest:You can understand it probably.
Guest:Or 15 years ago.
Guest:Yeah, I can understand it.
Guest:And I taught English and I did get to travel all over Europe, but I ran out of money and left like a month earlier than I anticipated.
Guest:But I came back to the States and moved to LA to work for the actress.
Marc:You can't say who it is?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Emily Proctor was her name.
Guest:Oh, okay.
Guest:She's CSI Miami.
Guest:Oh, okay.
Guest:The blonde on Saturday.
Guest:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Guest:Yeah, so she was from North Carolina.
Guest:So she's the reason I moved out here.
Marc:Were you her assistant for the time?
Guest:I was her assistant.
Guest:I was a terrible assistant.
Guest:I was an awful assistant.
Guest:I had a couple jobs.
Guest:One of the main jobs being to look after her cat.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And I lost her cat like four times.
Marc:Wow.
Marc:That's the worst feeling.
Guest:But the cat would like disappear.
Guest:Like he would go into a closet and it was like he was going to Narnia.
Guest:I swear to God, we'd both look all over this closet and he wasn't there.
Marc:That's a big closet.
Guest:And then like two hours later just walk out like, oh, that was, you know, I just went into a time warp.
Guest:I'm back.
Marc:Yeah, that was true.
Marc:Time traveling.
Guest:Yeah, so I did that maybe a year, a little, a year and a half maybe.
Guest:But I sucked.
Guest:I can't I think it's sort of a relentless job depending on who the person is obviously I mean she was totally nice and she was busy working you know those hour dramas they work all the time did she have to sit you down and go like look one of those conversations yeah I was like let's just go our separate ways cool cool cool alright
Guest:I also was, while I was there, I started writing part time.
Guest:I ended up being a journalist after that for seven years.
Guest:Her neighbor wrote for the LA Daily News.
Guest:She covered events in town.
Marc:And you've got a communications degree.
Guest:I know.
Guest:I mean, I had to use that big degree.
Guest:You're ready to go.
Guest:And she she needed help.
Guest:And she because I had met Emily through my speech at my college.
Guest:Yeah, I heard you can write.
Guest:You want to write for me part time?
Guest:I was like, sure.
Guest:So then that started to take president.
Guest:And then I and then from there, another you were just right.
Marc:What kind of stories?
Guest:I would go to events at night.
Marc:Uncover them?
Marc:Like local events?
Guest:Like celebrity events, premieres and stuff like that.
Guest:It was cool.
Guest:My first interview was with Will Smith on the red carpet.
Marc:Oh, really?
Guest:It was crazy.
Marc:So you're like one of those people with the mic?
Guest:Yeah, I was one of the people standing on the carpet with the mic, little...
Guest:tape recorder and uh so that led to another um part-time journalist job for a syndicated column this a woman marilyn beck she was kind of the liz smith of the west coast right uh they hired me and so i started doing that and so that kind of started overtaking my life so i wasn't doing the assistant stuff right covering so every event yeah yeah
Guest:But then after the assistant job ended, the company I was working part-time for was like, we want you full-time.
Guest:So then I was a journalist for the next seven years.
Marc:Celebrity journalist.
Marc:Showbiz journalist.
Guest:Yeah, it's so weird.
Guest:For how long?
Guest:Like almost seven years.
Marc:Did you have like a point of view?
Marc:Like do people know who you were?
Guest:No, I mean, the publicists all really liked me and would always be like, will you talk to my client?
Guest:I mean, sure.
Guest:I mean, I interviewed Carrie Washington when no one knew who she was and Lindsay Lohan before she had blown up.
Guest:Really?
Guest:Viola Davis I interviewed several times.
Guest:Her publicist was like, will you please interview?
Guest:I mean, not now.
Guest:She's great.
Guest:She's huge.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:So that part was cool to see the trajectory of these.
Marc:Yeah, but so you were in it though.
Marc:You were in it on that side.
Guest:Yeah, that was weird.
Guest:That was my waitress job.
Guest:And then I started comedy at the Groundlings at night, 2005.
Marc:So that's how it starts.
Marc:And this is all, so you're doing the journalist job and you're like, I'm gonna take the classes.
Guest:Well, I didn't have friends.
Marc:Wait, so what year are we at now?
Guest:2005.
Marc:How old were you then?
Guest:25.
Marc:All right, so it's still a year away from the Lifetime movie.
Guest:Well, I think it might have happened around that same time.
Marc:So you still couldn't make friends?
Marc:It can be a lonely town.
Guest:It's a lonely town.
Guest:And I was from the South where you meet friends in the gas station.
Guest:Here, everyone's like, don't look at me.
Guest:Don't talk to me.
Guest:Your neighbors don't even talk.
Guest:so you're just living in an apartment i had one friend and that you know and that which was my roommate i moved in with i met him through the csi miami show he worked on there and he needed a roommate so i moved to him he became my one friend and we were like been still best friends to this day um but i was just like i need friends this city's very lonely
Guest:And, you know, it was hard.
Guest:There were times when I wanted to leave and I was like, I don't know if I can do this.
Marc:You were playing soccer and stuff?
Guest:I was playing soccer and meeting people like that.
Guest:But I was like, you know what?
Guest:I had done theater in college.
Guest:Right.
Guest:And I was like, you know, but I never got to do comedy.
Guest:It was always like weird plays.
Guest:Like what?
Guest:God, I mean, no one would have ever heard of some of these plays.
Guest:And then a couple Shakespeare things.
Guest:I was like, I'm not meant to do Shakespeare, though, you know?
Marc:But you did a lot of theater.
Guest:I did a lot of theater.
Guest:I had a lot of stage fright then, though.
Guest:I would want to throw up before going on stage, yeah.
Marc:So you decided to do The Groundlings as a social... As a social thing.
Guest:And I just immediately was like, this is what I've been missing my whole life.
Guest:Really?
Guest:Yeah, I just knew right away.
Guest:I was like, I love this more than anything.
Marc:So it's wild.
Marc:So what was your story with The Groundlings?
Guest:Did you make it to the main stage and stuff?
Guest:I did up to Sunday Company for a year and a half.
Guest:And then the last six months where they vote on me...
Guest:I got hired at Chelsea lately, and so, you know, I don't know.
Guest:I didn't end up making it in the main company.
Guest:I don't know if it's because I sucked or if it's because I got a gig.
Marc:So you were there a year and a half total?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Well, at the groundlings, like, seven, six or seven years, but the Sunday company part was a year and a half.
Marc:So you were just, you were in the classes?
Guest:Classes and...
Guest:Because it's such a popular school.
Guest:I don't know what it's like now, but at that point, sometimes you'd have a year in between levels.
Guest:Oh, really?
Guest:So in that year, you'd take extra classes.
Marc:Were you working out at all?
Marc:Were you doing sketch shows at UCB or anything?
Guest:No, I never did UCB.
Guest:I don't know why.
Guest:I started my own sketch comedy and improv group because I was like...
Guest:how am I gonna get better if I'm not practicing?
Guest:So we would throw stupid improv shows in the back of a bar in Venice.
Marc:Oh really?
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:So you just carved your own little path somehow.
Guest:Yeah, I was like, I don't know what I'm doing.
Guest:I didn't have an agent and manager for a very long time and I was just like, I'm just gonna try to get better at this until somebody wants to work with me.
Marc:So right around this time then, you're starting out the Groundlings and then you have the Lifetime moment.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Which was a very freeing moment of my life.
Guest:Relief.
Guest:It was a big relief.
Guest:So it's interesting that comedy and coming out came at the same time because it was almost like I was a new person.
Guest:Right.
Guest:I was this newfound... And you were excited.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:This weight was lifted off me.
Marc:You feel whole...
Guest:I felt whole.
Guest:I felt like a sense of peace that I had never felt.
Marc:So is that when you started doing the stand-up?
Guest:I started stand-up in 2007 at the Comedy Store.
Guest:So this woman, Lisa Joffrey, came to one of those sketch shows that I was doing.
Marc:In the back of a bar?
Guest:In the back of a bar.
Guest:And she was like, you are a stand-up.
Guest:You have a very specific point of view.
Guest:Why are you not doing a stand-up?
Guest:And I was just like...
Guest:because it seems scary, and I don't know how to do it.
Guest:She's like, oh, take my friend's class.
Guest:Are you from Adam Barnhart?
Guest:You know him?
Guest:No, no.
Guest:Okay, so he does a show at the Comedy Store on Sunday nights.
Guest:In the belly room?
Guest:Yeah, in the belly room.
Guest:So he had a class, so I took his class.
Marc:And then you get to perform in the belly room?
Guest:Yeah, so at the end of it, I performed in the belly room.
Guest:And I loved it, but my, like, you know, I think I talked about hating strawberries.
Guest:That's...
Guest:That was my routine.
Guest:I was like, clearly I have some work to do.
Marc:Not too personal.
Marc:You weren't going too deep.
Guest:No, it was not.
Guest:But I knew being up there, I love the feeling.
Guest:Right.
Guest:So he said, if you want to do the music for my show every Sunday night, I'll give you 10 minutes.
Guest:So as a brand new comic, I got 10 minutes.
Marc:What do you mean do the music?
Guest:Like press play.
Guest:Like a DJ.
Marc:Bring people up.
Marc:Like, you know, do the music when people come up.
Guest:Press play and stop.
Guest:I mean, it was very simple, but I got 10 minutes every Sunday for the entire year of my first year of standup.
Marc:And in the belly room.
Marc:And that's how it started, 2007.
Guest:That's how it started, 2007.
Marc:No kidding.
Guest:And so I would do plenty of shows in between, but having that 10 minutes every week was huge for me.
Marc:Doing mics and stuff?
Guest:Yeah, I did a lot of gay shows, too, because they didn't care as much about, like, oh, you don't have any TV credits.
Guest:It was just like, oh, you're fun.
Guest:You bring people.
Guest:Come to a show.
Marc:What were the gay shows?
Guest:Like, Ackbar, Aaron Foley had a show.
Guest:They do a show there.
Guest:There was the M-Bar, remember that?
Guest:Yeah, yeah, sure.
Guest:They used to have a bunch of shows there.
Guest:They would have some shows at some of the gay bars.
Marc:And were you talking about that then?
Marc:How long did it take you to start talking about...
Guest:early on but i didn't have any dating experiences you had no experience it was more most of my stories are like repression you know repressed did someone finally come up and go like let's kiss me yeah ah god it took a minute but finally it happened and i was like whoa this is i made a good choice not a choice but you know why did i wait so long yeah what was i i mean that for sure if there are any regrets in life it's that i didn't come out earlier
Marc:I can't imagine what it's like to have your first real kiss at 26.
Guest:I mean, that was the weirdest part about my life is for a long time I was going through dating as you would in high school.
Guest:Right.
Guest:People were like, really?
Guest:Why are you putting up with that at 29?
Guest:I'd be like, because I didn't do this at 19.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:So I had to make a lot of mistakes later in life.
Marc:With people?
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:But you learn.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:But was it fun?
Guest:Yeah, I had a lot of fun.
Guest:I mean, I made up for lost time and had good times, bad times, fun times.
Marc:Yeah, I just got, it must have been pretty exciting.
Guest:Yeah, I mean, I wish I could have done it younger.
Guest:It sucked to be like in your early 30s, you know, still making those mistakes.
Marc:Right, you just find new ones.
Guest:Better late than never.
Marc:Sure, I don't, you know, I imagine those mistakes are, hey, it's, you know.
Guest:Well, you just kind of like... It's hard.
Guest:...put up with whatever.
Guest:Because you're like, I just want love.
Marc:Right, yeah.
Guest:So I'm gonna take whatever you're willing to give me.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:That's the biggest mistake.
Marc:Oh, that's bad, yeah.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Yeah, yeah.
Marc:I find that...
Marc:There's different elements of that where you're just sort of like, oh, it's just gonna be a pain to get out.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:You do feel like that.
Guest:You're like, oh, I've already put this time into it.
Guest:It's like, I've invested.
Guest:I've invested in this.
Marc:It's just gonna be messy and drama.
Marc:I'll just go through life half kilter.
Guest:For sure.
Guest:I have a weird thing where I never want to hurt anybody.
Guest:So even if I knew it wasn't working, I didn't want to hurt them.
Guest:So I would just be like, I'll just stay here.
Marc:And how did those end eventually?
Guest:I mean, eventually they would just do so much crappy things where it was like, I gotta get out of this.
Guest:Eventually I had to jump ship.
Marc:Oh, good.
Marc:So you learned those lessons.
Guest:I learned, but it, you know, it take me, especially in the beginning, it took a very long time.
Guest:But as each relationship happened, it would happen.
Guest:The beginning to the end would come sooner.
Guest:I would know sooner.
Marc:It's just like, I never talked to, I don't think I've ever talked to anybody who started learning that stuff at like, you know, 26.
Guest:Right, right.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And now you're getting married.
Marc:Well, you're engaged.
Guest:I'm engaged.
Guest:And it's nice.
Guest:She's an adult.
Guest:And the nice thing about her is I never had to convince her to want me or like me.
Guest:And that I felt like I was doing constantly before her.
Marc:I imagine that now the confidence around what you do in the gigs and doing the stand-up, because you're a strong stand-up, man.
Marc:You're a killer.
Marc:I didn't know where it came from or how, but your command of the stage is pretty amazing.
Marc:I appreciate that.
Marc:You really do a great job at it.
Guest:I mean, my stand-up is an interesting thing for me.
Guest:I know I don't... I should put more into it.
Guest:I mean, most stand-ups are, you know, at the Comedy Store, Laugh Factory, five, seven days a week.
Guest:I did that in the beginning for sure, but I've...
Guest:I'm at a point right now where I'm just like, I'm having a little bit of a writer's block where I'm just like, I don't know.
Guest:I got to push through this.
Marc:Right.
Marc:You got to go just do the short set.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:So I'm like, it's that time where I have to push through and that's the hardest thing.
Marc:Which hour are you on?
Marc:How many specials?
Guest:I've done two half hours.
Guest:I was working up to an hour when Netflix asked me to do the half hour stand-up series.
Guest:And I was just like, all right, I'll just go ahead and do this.
Marc:A really good half hour.
Guest:Yeah, a really good half hour.
Guest:And I'm glad I did.
Guest:It was a really cool series.
Guest:And I think it was a...
Guest:like worldwide is a nice platform.
Marc:Yeah, there was like eight or 10 of you guys.
Guest:Yeah, it was like six of us.
Guest:And it got really good feedback on that.
Guest:And so now I have the other half of that hour that I'm working on and then I need the new half hour.
Guest:Because I do want to do an hour.
Guest:Yeah, I'm right there with you.
Guest:But God, I'm like such an awe of you guys though.
Guest:I mean, you just get up there and just like talk.
Guest:You just talk.
Guest:Talk it through.
Guest:Yeah, you talk it through.
Guest:And I get a little like hesitant to just get up there and talk.
Marc:Well, it's not everyone's bag.
Marc:You know what I mean?
Marc:I mean, if you're a writer, you're a writer.
Marc:You know what I mean?
Marc:Like I'm a talker.
Guest:I have to write everything down.
Guest:I don't like to get up there.
Guest:I mean, I do a lot of improv.
Guest:When I'm on the road, I talk to the audience a lot.
Guest:But I don't just get up there with a story.
Guest:I don't know where this is gonna go.
Guest:Which I need to, I gotta work through that.
Guest:Stand-up's like an evolving thing.
Marc:It can be terrifying.
Marc:I'm trying to work out a new bit.
Marc:And it's like, it's not, it's just not there.
Marc:And like, it's just that feeling of being in the main room and you're, and you're, you're, you're doing good.
Marc:And then you're like, I gotta do the new thing.
Marc:And then you put it out there and it's like, it's not there yet.
Marc:But like, at least I've earned enough gravitas to be like, well, that didn't work.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And people, you know, and people love you and are so familiar with your work that they just are like, I just like being a part of this journey.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Maybe he'll get it.
Guest:I'm still working my way up to that.
Guest:And you know, it's just like, I got to push through that fear.
Guest:It's hard.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Because like it really, it starts to weigh on you in weird ways, you know, like, cause you know, you're standing up and you know, that's what you do.
Marc:And you know, part of you sort of like, well, maybe I don't have to do it.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:But don't you get squirmy if you don't go up?
Guest:Yeah, I do.
Guest:I do for sure.
Guest:I fault the I'm a stand-up for a long time.
Guest:I don't know why.
Guest:Maybe because I started in improv and theater that when I got to stand-up, I felt like a little bit of like...
Guest:Am I just like a phony that's trying to be funny?
Guest:Am I really a stand-up?
Guest:I kind of resisted the stand-up thing.
Guest:Identifying as a stand-up.
Guest:But then I was touring a lot and I was like...
Guest:guess i'm a stand-up i'm touring a lot and now i'm just trying to like bill burr will be like what is wrong with you just like you're a stand-up go up there and talk like you're funny and i i don't know why you are not like just doing stand-up 24 7 but like he's like why are you doing this acting stuff you're gonna stand up he just yelled at you for no reason
Guest:But, like, out of love because he's so supportive of me and has been from day one.
Guest:And, like, I thought someone like him would hate someone like me who's just, like, silly and going up there, like, you know, I'm going to tell silly stories.
Guest:He's been so awesome to me and has really pushed for me to push myself.
Guest:So, you know, and he's right.
Guest:Like, I need to get up there and push through that fear and just embrace that I'm a stand-up and share my life, you know.
Guest:because there's a lot of things you're gonna it sounds like a lot of things are still happening yeah i mean you know it's life is going life is going on there's plenty to talk about you know it's just more like my stand-ups come it's a lot of stories but i've not yet really dug into the darker parts of life yeah it's i usually try to keep it pretty positive right and pretty like
Marc:So there's something compelling you?
Marc:You're feeling like I gotta challenge myself.
Guest:I don't know, just like, or I thought about writing it in a, like I sold a TV show based on my life a couple years ago, but I know that there's a darker comedy version of it that, and maybe that's why the original one didn't go.
Marc:And you know it's in you?
Guest:I know it's in me, and so it's like when is that gonna come out?
Marc:Like what elements would, in terms of like your experience, would you consider dark?
Guest:I mean, I guess more of just childhood and growing up.
Guest:Like most comics, I had stuff in my life that was challenging.
Guest:My parents divorced at a young age, and there was a lot of drama surrounding my family.
Guest:How old were you?
Guest:I was 12.
Guest:Oh, yeah.
Guest:We didn't have money.
Guest:The lights would get shut off on a weekly basis.
Guest:But we were living in a big house and I came from a good family.
Guest:We were that lower middle class family that kind of slipped through the cracks where everyone thought we were good and we couldn't pay our bills.
Guest:My mom was a teacher trying to take care of three kids.
Guest:I think some depression happened for her after the divorce, which turns dark.
Guest:It gets dark.
Guest:Oh, yeah.
Guest:You sort of become the parent all of a sudden.
Marc:When you're like 12 or 13.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:So there's that part of my life that I just kind of kept to myself and haven't really ever delved into as far as comedy.
Guest:And my family would go through hard times, but as a family we'd always find the humor in it, so I have a tendency to see the funny in darkness anyway.
Marc:Yeah, did they both stay in the same town?
Guest:Yeah, they were still in the same town.
Marc:And did they communicate?
Guest:not a lot back then they're good friends both my parents have gone through a a journey you know they i think they both after the divorce kind of like we're like well we uh we're gonna go live our lives now and you're good luck kids yeah kind of they made a lot of mistakes and luckily i had a grandmother who you know was the person who was like you know what are you doing like come home from school i mean from your friend's house and uh
Guest:You need to do your homework.
Marc:Did she live around too?
Guest:She luckily lived around the corner.
Marc:That's what neighborhoods used to be.
Guest:That's the beauty of small towns.
Guest:And she looked out for me.
Guest:My parents were really trying to figure out their lives.
Marc:How young were your parents?
Marc:They were normal age.
Guest:It's not like they had kids young.
Guest:They just, my dad came from a bad home.
Guest:He didn't have any parental figures.
Guest:He hitchhiked to school.
Guest:I mean, you talk about a rough life.
Guest:My dad had a really bad go at it.
Guest:And so he didn't really learn those parental things.
Guest:Sure, sure.
Guest:My mom came from an affluent family, so she didn't learn some of those life skills because everything was sort of handed to her.
Guest:Perfect storm.
Guest:You bring these two people together.
Marc:The one thing they have in common is an inability to parent.
Guest:Exactly.
Guest:But they loved us, and they taught us the basic human decencies.
Guest:My mom did keep a roof over our heads, so I never want to poo-poo that because I had opportunities.
Guest:I went to school.
Guest:I had clothes on my back.
Guest:Certainly a lot of other people had it rougher than I did.
Guest:But you just deal with the fallout of a family falling apart.
Guest:Right.
Guest:My mom and brother really had butted heads for a long time so it was a very hostile place to be and so school became my outlet.
Guest:I just kind of committed myself to being the good student and the athlete and the funny kid so that it would hide
Guest:the chaos at home.
Marc:That's how you manage, right, yeah.
Marc:That's where you could control the situation.
Guest:Yeah, and I used humor to make friends and, you know, you just kind of, you know, you're not ready at that age to be the grown-up and you're just taking on a lot.
Guest:Oh yeah, yeah.
Guest:But I had really good teachers that they would like, you know, I'd come to school after some like World War III fight happened that morning and
Marc:It was mostly between your brother and your mom?
Guest:Yeah, just like a lot of chaos there and my teacher would be like, do you need a second?
Guest:And I'd be like, okay.
Guest:And I'd go in a room and cry for like five minutes and then wipe my eyes and be like, okay, bye.
Guest:It was like crazy, just like how you deal with it as a kid.
Guest:But like I said, my grandmother was like my rock and without her, I don't know that I would have been as focused.
Marc:Sure, you have to have one person in your life that just loves you unconditionally.
Guest:That's really the most important thing, and, like, she got me through all that.
Guest:She died when I was 18 the day after I moved to college.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:So, again, it's kind of like she had, like, been sick that she had cancer, and she had said at the beginning of the summer that she was going to see me off to college.
Guest:Right.
Guest:And the doctor was like, there's no way.
Guest:She has, like, three weeks to live that she has this, like, major...
Guest:cancer surrounding her spinal cord and her brain and it was a skin cancer that went inside as a tumor and they said it was like excruciating and she never once said ouch or anything she ended up living for three more months and I
Guest:I was going to college, and I knew I wouldn't see her again, and so I went over there.
Guest:She was unconscious, and I said goodbyes, and you don't know if she's there or not.
Guest:I said my goodbyes, and she died the next morning.
Guest:Oh, geez.
Guest:It was crazy.
Guest:She really did...
Guest:see me to college.
Marc:She way held out.
Guest:I was like, good Lord.
Guest:And, and like the doctors who studied, cause she had a very interesting case, a whole team of doctors studied her and they were like, she should have never lived that long.
Guest:Like it defies medicine and science.
Guest:Oh my God.
Guest:And the, the, what she had was so painful.
Guest:I can't like, I can't believe that she lived that long.
Guest:So in my, you know, I'm like, she, she held on for me.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:So after that, I kind of just was like, I don't want to, I don't want to like disappoint her.
Guest:You know, she did this thing for me and I'm going to, you know, go out there and try to not be an asshole.
Guest:Well, you're doing great.
Marc:But it is interesting that, you know, hearing about that, you know, that your basic job was to, you know, keep your shit together.
Marc:Mm-hmm.
Marc:You know, for other people that were out of control at too young an age and that you basically, you know, you had to stuff down all the stuff that your ability to kind of, you know, maintain without expressing your own emotions.
Guest:That's probably why I was in the closet for so long.
Guest:It's like, I have too much shit to deal with to even...
Marc:But also, you know, if you don't want to deal with something, you're very good at not dealing.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I just eat a cheeseburger.
Guest:Oh, God.
Marc:Go to the crying room.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:So, you know, but all that stuff, you know, makes you stronger.
Guest:And I think that's why I have the work ethic I do.
Marc:No, yeah, I think that's I think that's right.
Marc:I think that, you know, there are a lot of times the stuff we do to just, you know, survive emotionally turns out to be if you can if you can isolate the parts that are good.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:You know, they all come with a little bit of bad shit.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I mean, you know, I wouldn't change anything.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Now I have such a motivation.
Guest:I'm like, I never want to have a house that's chaos.
Guest:I want peace in my life.
Guest:I want to be able to pay my bills.
Marc:It drives me every day, you know, and also you have your, your, you know, you're emotionally whole.
Guest:and it took a long time I had a lot of therapy yeah you got a lot of therapy yeah I went to therapy you know because I was I had those mother issues and family issues that were seeping into dating life where again that sort of accepting the morsels of love for people and I worked you worked through it you know not saying I have all the answers or I'm fixed but
Marc:Yeah, are both your folks alive?
Marc:Your mom's alive?
Marc:They are, yeah.
Marc:And now you get along with them?
Guest:Oh yeah, we're all very, that's the crazy thing.
Guest:Like now, because like if you had told me at like 22, I'd be like, oh my family's, like I'm basically an orphan.
Guest:Like we'll never have a unit.
Guest:It's all lost, hope is lost.
Guest:But my folks both kind of did a weird 180.
Guest:around, I don't know, 22, 24 years old that I was, where they both kind of grew up a little bit.
Guest:And now I call both of them and I talk to them on a regular basis.
Guest:They're good people, they care about me, they're good parents.
Marc:Good grandparents?
Guest:yeah good grandparent you know they still like have their moments where you're just like hey go go see your grandson like oh yeah uh but uh you know i i'm proud that we've gotten to this point and there are times in the where i've been like hey remember this crazy fucking story that happened yeah
Guest:It's hard for, you know, especially my mom to hear it.
Guest:She's like, I can't believe that was me.
Guest:I can't believe that happened.
Guest:And, you know, it's like they were different people almost.
Guest:Of course.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And I had a lot of resentment for a long time, especially towards my mom for some reason.
Guest:And Spain weirdly helped heal that because for the first time in my life, I was like, I need my mom.
Guest:I miss my mom.
Marc:Exactly.
Marc:This chaos is bigger than her chaos.
Guest:Yeah, I'm like, holy crap.
Guest:I cannot believe I'm saying this.
Guest:Because before that, I was like, screw you.
Guest:I hate you.
Guest:And then she actually came with me.
Guest:She drove across the country with me when I moved to LA.
Guest:And I remember we were in Vegas.
Guest:And we were walking down the hall.
Guest:And like I said, I always had that dynamic where I was like the mom and she was a child.
Yeah.
Guest:And I kind of snapped at her about something like you would a child.
Guest:And some woman was like, hey, you shouldn't talk to your mom like that.
Guest:And I was like, it hit me for the first time.
Guest:I was like, oh, she is my mom.
Guest:Like, I got to stop dying.
Guest:reprimanding her in this way so it really like shifted our dynamic yeah it was like uh she was like uh it was like this african-american security guard woman i was like yes ma'am you're right i mean
Marc:That was the moment.
Guest:That was the moment.
Guest:I stopped being a dick.
Guest:I just kind of realized you can't hold people to the past constantly.
Marc:But also when your parents are emotionally immature and you have that dynamic with them, it's hard to see them as parents.
Guest:Yeah, exactly.
Marc:You know what I mean?
Marc:They're just sort of like, oh, God, what the fuck?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:You want to be like, what the fuck were you thinking?
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:You had no idea.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:But now, as an adult, I'm just like, ooh, I don't know if I can be a parent.
Guest:Right.
Guest:That looks hard.
Marc:I know.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:My parents have mellowed, too, to a certain degree.
Marc:And my mom's gotten a lot better in terms of being attentive and stuff.
Marc:But she was pretty self-involved.
Marc:But it's still hard.
Marc:We get along good.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:But it's still sort of like, we grew up together.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:You know what I mean?
Guest:You gave birth.
Marc:Yeah, yeah, and we hung out.
Marc:I watched you go through your shit.
Guest:Right.
Marc:But it's okay, which is good.
Guest:I mean, you know, every relationship's different.
Guest:Sure.
Guest:And sometimes you evolve out of those chaos things.
Guest:Sometimes they get worse.
Marc:But when it's your family, they're always going to be there.
Guest:They'll always be there.
Marc:Something's got to happen.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:You don't want to be shut out from them.
Guest:And I love my family.
Guest:I'll tell stories occasionally to my girlfriend now, her fiance.
Guest:And she's like, holy shit.
Guest:I can't believe that happened.
Guest:And I'm just so far removed from it.
Guest:I'm like, yeah, whatever.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Right, from when you were a kid?
Marc:Just like with the fights and stuff?
Guest:My sister-in-laws have that thing, too, where they hear all of these crazy stories from around childhood, and so they want to be protective of us, and they're very like, oh, I don't know how I feel about your mom or dad now.
Guest:And we're just like, no, no, no, we're good.
Guest:I mean, like, we're laughing about it now.
Marc:Right, because you shut it.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:You compartmentalized it.
Guest:But it's interesting to, like, tell strangers, you know, not strangers, but people.
Guest:What was it?
Marc:Just, like, mostly fighting and yelling?
Guest:Yeah, just crazy.
Guest:Like, my mom went through, like, a crazy spell.
Guest:Like, she probably should have been committed at some point.
Guest:Oh really?
Guest:But I think her meds, she was going through a depression and I think had a chemical imbalance.
Guest:I think the doctors put on a lot of different things that just messed everything up.
Guest:So it's just like a lot of crazy shit happened as a result.
Marc:How many years was that?
Guest:like six years.
Guest:Oh, wow.
Guest:Like when I was like 12 till probably, right after my granddad, she mellowed out.
Marc:So it's good that it leveled off.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I mean, I think she grew up, they got her meds right.
Guest:I mean, she's not a crazy, she's a very smart woman.
Marc:Was it like bipolar or something?
Guest:I don't know, she never got the help to see.
Guest:So I don't know.
Guest:But she did get, I mean she would go to a doctor and got some medicine that leveled everything out.
Guest:That's good.
Guest:And I mean, we don't have, that's, again, I'll tell her those stories now, she's like, what?
Guest:It seems like it's a different person.
Marc:Yeah, I mean, I'm old enough to have a few of those.
Marc:We're like, that was a bad time.
Guest:You're just like, that happened.
Guest:But you kind of probably see it as like that's a person that doesn't exist.
Guest:Like you're looking at it from the outside.
Marc:Well, yeah, but you know it existed, but you can't really, it's hard to answer for it.
Marc:It's hard to sort of deconstruct it.
Marc:Like I know why I had certain feelings or acted certain ways.
Marc:And it is a matter of growing up to a certain degree and realizing certain things.
Marc:Some people have an easier go of it.
Marc:If you have one good parent, it seems like
Marc:You've got a better hold on things.
Guest:And you know what, had I not had my grandmother, I definitely wouldn't be in LA.
Guest:I definitely wouldn't be doing this.
Guest:I could have ended up in jail.
Guest:Who knows?
Marc:Yeah, who knows?
Marc:It's weird to think that way.
Guest:Yeah, you just have that one steady, steady person.
Guest:Oh yeah, thank God.
Marc:It makes a huge difference.
Marc:What's your relationship with Chelsea these days?
Guest:I mean, we're good.
Guest:I did her show a lot.
Marc:That's sort of like the new one, but the original one is really what got you the following, right?
Guest:The original was my big break, as they say.
Marc:And you were there a lot.
Marc:On the panel.
Guest:I was a writer full time.
Guest:I started there in 2011 and before that I could not break into the, I was doing the groundlings, a lot of stuff.
Guest:I, like you, tested for SNL a couple times.
Guest:You tested for SNL?
Guest:Yeah, twice.
Guest:Oh really?
Guest:Two summers in a row.
Guest:2009, 2010.
Guest:Brutal, isn't it?
Guest:It's so brutal.
Guest:That was one of the most nerve wracking things.
Marc:Just you in that studio?
Guest:Oh, yeah.
Guest:Me in the studio with them behind the desk.
Marc:Did you do Lorne meetings?
Guest:I never got to the Lorne.
Guest:I know you did the Lorne meeting.
Guest:Yeah, I had Lorne meeting.
Guest:Yeah, I did not get that far.
Guest:You fucked me up for years.
Guest:I bet.
Guest:I bet.
Guest:I tested for them twice, and then he and Kristen Wiig and a bunch of people came to a Ground Link show as well.
Guest:So three times he saw me.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Nope.
Guest:I don't know what the...
Guest:The thing was, but I, that wasn't happening, and I just wasn't getting a break, and then I sent a writing packet in for Chelsea's show.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And thank God, like, she hired, they hired me.
Guest:I had a meeting with her, and I honestly think I got the job because of where I was placed in the meeting order.
Guest:Oh, really?
Guest:She doesn't like to have meetings.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And I think I was the first person.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I'd already met the producers, but I would think I was the first meeting, and she just didn't want to be there any longer.
Guest:And thank God she liked me.
Guest:And after 10 minutes of talking, she abruptly stood up and just was like, I'm done.
Guest:Thanks for coming.
Guest:And I called my manager.
Guest:I was like, I definitely didn't get that.
Guest:She...
Guest:interrupted the meeting stopped it and told me to get out and the next day they said i got the job and i was like couldn't believe it and that changed everything for me because i was broke i was so broke i could i mean i didn't know how i was gonna pay the bills the next month and um started there the beginning of 2011 and stayed until 2014 and
Marc:She's a good boss, right?
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:I mean, she seems pretty loyal to people.
Guest:She's very loyal.
Guest:I mean, you know, I had a different experience with her than other people.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Everybody has their own experience.
Marc:She's not the easiest person in the world.
Guest:I mean, you know, she's who she is.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:You know, like you see her on TV.
Guest:She's not putting on airs.
Guest:That's her.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:But she's always really good to me.
Guest:From day one, she just, I don't know, saw something in me or took to me.
Guest:She would give other people shit, but never me.
Guest:She was always so cool and took me on the road.
Guest:That's where my whole career started.
Marc:Doing the stand-up professionally.
Guest:I had only been in stand-up three years when I got that job.
Guest:Suddenly, I was a headliner.
Guest:It was crazy.
Guest:That's tough.
Guest:It was tough.
Guest:I mean, because I didn't have the material to back it up yet.
Guest:So I was having to learn as I was on stage.
Guest:Being like, these people paid to see me.
Guest:I better figure this out.
Guest:And then I left the show before it ended to do a Tina Fey pilot.
Guest:And I think that was hard because she really loved me.
Guest:And I think...
Guest:wanted us to work together for a long time but she knew I had these aspirations to be an actor so I ended up leaving her show to do the acting but I stayed on the round table and we stayed friends and then
Guest:She kind of took a year off.
Guest:I didn't hear from her very much because she was traveling the world, I think.
Marc:Yeah, she got a house in Spain or somewhere.
Guest:Yeah, and then she started her new show and started having me come back on doing Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:All those crazy characters.
Guest:Ivanka Trump, who I obviously look nothing like.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:It started because Ann Coulter had backed out at the last minute.
Guest:She was supposed to go on Chelsea's show and backed out.
Guest:So Chelsea was like, will you come put on a blonde wig and read from her book?
Guest:I was like, sure.
Guest:So that's how the characters started.
Marc:That's good.
Marc:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Guest:Yeah, so we're good.
Guest:I mean, she's always been good to me.
Marc:Yeah, so what do you got going now aside from struggling to conquer the fear to get the more stand-up going?
Guest:Yeah, well, acting has kind of taken a little bit of precedent over things at the moment.
Guest:I finished up the series radio on Mindy for three seasons, and I started her.
Guest:She's producing a new show called Champions.
Guest:It's on NBC TV.
Guest:oh really it'll i think come out we don't have an air date yet what is it uh it's uh anders holm is the main guy in it he um and mindy's character have a kid together but he just found out about it and the kid's a young gay kid who wants to come to new york uh to be in an art school and um anders character owns a gym and
Guest:So it's called Champions.
Guest:The gym is Champions.
Guest:And so he has to suddenly like, she's like, here's our kid.
Guest:The only way he can go to the school is if he lives with you.
Guest:So suddenly he's like this single bro-ish dude who's having to care for this 15-year-old gay kid while running this boxing gym.
Marc:Oh, that's interesting.
Guest:So I play one of the, his best friend and one of the trainers at the gym, obviously.
Guest:oh that's great this sounds like a big part you shoot the pilot already yeah we we're like on we're i think on episode like five right now oh you're really in it yeah so it'll i think come out sometime in spring or late spring early summer that's great so yeah we'll see but you know that whole group is uh mindy and her whole team they're so good to me so i was happy to keep working with them nice it sounds like everything's good
Guest:It's not bad, and I sold a movie to Steven Spielberg, I'm hoping.
Guest:What?
Guest:I don't know, we'll find out what happens with that.
Marc:You wrote a movie and you sold it to Steven Spielberg?
Guest:His company, Amblin.
Guest:What's that about?
Guest:It's called Bad Cop, Bad Cop.
Guest:Bad Cop, Bad Cop?
Guest:Bad Cop, Bad Cop.
Guest:Two rookie cops, female cops who really suck at their job, who are kind of like just in charge of errands.
Guest:get blackmailed into doing the dirty work for another, like a lieutenant who's like a bad cop.
Marc:It's a comedy, though?
Guest:It's a comedy.
Guest:It's kind of like a comedic training day where we're going to do all this crazy shit.
Marc:That's great.
Guest:Yeah, so we'll see that it's in the rewrite stages right now.
Guest:Busy.
Guest:We'll find out if that goes.
Guest:Getting anything made these days is not easy.
Marc:Well, yeah, but being employed isn't either.
Guest:That's true.
Marc:It sounds like you got a lot going on.
Guest:Well, it's been good.
Guest:I'm just happy that I can pay my bills.
Marc:Yeah, Bill's right.
Guest:I don't want to make Bill upset.
Guest:Yeah, you stay on it.
Guest:I'm going to start writing again.
Marc:All right, good.
Marc:It was great talking to you.
Guest:Thanks for having me, Mark.
Marc:That was a great talk.
Marc:And as I said before the talk, Fortune Feimster will be at the House of Comedy in Phoenix, Arizona this Friday, January 12th.
Marc:All right.
Marc:I'm drowning.
Marc:I'm going to play.
Marc:I'm drowning.
Marc:Boomer lives!