Dave Attell
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Yes, I have actually stayed at Airbnbs from time to time. And truth be told, I do really like them. I'm being totally honest right now that I've had great experiences with them. Yeah. I mean, you can have your look at you go get your own place, get your own pool, your own living room. You're not going to walk in an elevator. You're not going to see people when you're walking around in your undergarments. Yeah.

Yes. And if you don't understand what we're talking about, you should go online. What we're saying is you have a house with a kitchen and a bathroom and it's just for you, tailored for you. You liked your Airbnb over a hotel. Yes. And I do think I've had relatives stay nearby and sometimes it's very nice for them to do an Airbnb and have a little house and they're not underfoot. The last thing you want is your house guest to say, excuse me, um,

Where would I find a towel? That's a toughie when it's because they're naked. Well, it's like the 1800 time you say on the towel rack. Yeah. Thank you. I was going to look there. People don't even think hotels sometimes just go, hey, I'll go there. I'll get an Airbnb. So you won't regret it.

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Spend some time talking to him. I think he's a brilliant comic. I think his latest special, Hot Cross Buns, is something I'd highly recommend. He's an incredible joke writer. And just getting to know how self-deprecating he is about himself and how humble he is about himself. We tried to kind of...

prop him up a little bit yeah he's super smart and funny david yeah we give him actual awards he's won and things he's done and he doesn't disregards them but yeah i've always heard positive about attell we overlapped a little bit on signing live because uh he was a writer he came in right i think around sarah silverman year and jay moore he said uh but got into that grind and

He's a comedian guy. He's always been someone that really loves that more than being a performer as far as sitcoms or whatever. That wasn't his lofty goal. Loved old comics like Mitch Hedberg, Bill Hicks. So he talks about that. He talks about how long a special would be, how to name a special. We got into a lot of interesting things and a very, very nice guy.

Yes. He's a, as far as standups, and if you talk to standups, they'll always mention a towel. Uh, cause Dave Chappelle, two days, but they'll always mention a towel is one of the greats. And I think he truly is. Um, he's so unassuming about it. Uh,

and vulnerable actually but yeah comedy central kind of was a big part of his career that's very interesting and his time on snl and the way he thinks going forward in his career so i would just keep driving if you're driving or if you're shopping or if you're gardening just keep doing what you're doing and press play yeah i'd say if you're in the supermarket listening to earphones pull the card over in the produce section and just listen

Don't get unfocused by cantaloupes or anything. Yeah, if you're squeezing some French bread and going, is this stale? Right at that moment, press play. Squeezing French bread and going, I just broke my finger. This one's too hard. When did this get into the store? Okay, here it is. Atel. Hey, can you hear me? Even worse, I can see you.

At least recognize my presence. Guys, hello, fellas. Thanks for having me. You know, Dana, I just saw Mr. Attell. We'll talk about his special in a minute, but I just saw him at Kill Tony. You know, he's the wrong guy to do it with. He's too funny. They should have thrown me some sucker, you know? Yeah, what happened there? Because people told me that you just didn't talk.

Who me? What was with Spade at Kill Tony? That's what I got from my people. Not even a welcome to the show? Just jump right in? Oh, for you? There's no welcome here. We get right to the gossip. It's like it's always going, like eternal. Well, we'll do a 20-minute interview where we'll just talk and fix it.

Oh, yeah. We do an intro after you leave, so it's like coming up. And then it's like our guest coming up. So, yeah. I get it. As we used to call it, ask first. I get it. How do you not have a podcast? Or you don't want one? I don't have a podcast. That's why I'm excited. You guys look a little jaded, but it was fun doing Phil Tony with Dave. I've always been a fan of Dave.

And to say that, to say, I'm just going to say it. I think he classed up the show.

you know yeah he put a paint on it i thought it was really great that he was a part of it yeah we definitely had fun i had fun with it it was uh the the hard part for me was first of all if i didn't talk a lot that's not really my thing is to rip into people and tell them crush their dreams they're here to do one minute of stand-up it's kind of it's a definitely funny process kill tony brian his buddy get out there there's a band behind him if you don't know and then

The most of Austin comes up to try to get on stage. It's literally most of the town and they all have a minute to do their shit. And then we, and then Tony interviews him and then we chirp in with our bullshit, but they know what they're doing. It's very smooth running operation. Let me ask you guys, cause I've only seen it once and there was this Robin Williams, a young guy who was actually kind of great. Oh, this is cool. What is the, the core reason it's so successful? Yeah.

besides the reality show aspect because i saw one where two guys went at each other like really trying to dominate each other two comedians and it was like sort of a turf war so is that part of the magic of it it's fun to see people truly angry and kind of humiliated sometimes and also get laughs it's a train wreck and i think everybody loves to watch a you know um uh i think

Everybody loves to watch the drama of it. And I think Dave is right. I mean, like it is the biggest thing. I mean, like you can't even like, you know, God help you if you need an operation that night, because I don't think you're going to be able to get one. I mean, everybody's there. The ambulance drivers are all there trying to get everybody. It's like the town shuts down. Like everybody it's kill Tony night. That's what we do. Yeah. So what happened is I sat there and a tell is,

perfect for the situation because he just can say anything funny about anything and Kill Tony runs the show. So I sit there as a class act and wait for my time to jump in. I wait till I've got a little bit of a joke, but I was happy with it. I thought it was fun. I wasn't super, uh,

because I had a fucking F5 tornado in front of me blowing a fan in my face. I don't know why there was a arc. Why do they always put you near air conditioning units on planes? I don't know, and I'm such a pussy. It's unbelievable. Has the word not gotten out yet? I'm like... So I put on my shades, honestly, because it was so...

blowing so hard in my face so this is a new move put your shades on then i put my hat on then put my coat on and atel was starting to get worried like what's next so then we watched but he smokes and and tony smokes which smoking doesn't really bother me as much because i grew up my mom smoked and every girl i knew smoked and so i don't care uh it was really the coldness and then

I thought it was fun. Like people would do a minute. I think that's part of the appeal, Dana. They do a minute and it's either fucking dead silence. And one guy said, how long have you been doing comedy? And he goes, 13 years. I go, I would have taken the under on that.

because he fucking, I thought it was one day. And I'm like, oh, so, you know, that's the only meanness I can do to them. Everyone thinks I'm a real mean. Does everybody pad the audience? It seems like you get your college buddies drunk and then you go do your minute, right? Is there a lot of that going on? I would. None of these people have friends. They're all low. Insults. It was emotionally cold in there. It was really, there was no love in the room.

And I think he was the ringmaster. He enjoys this kind of like pulling the strings and he gets into their like real lives and everything like that. And I think we're of a different generation where it's like, you're supposed to be supportive to the new comics. Just go, hey, you know what? It's a process. You keep doing it. You're going to get better. But Tony, of course, tough love. No, none of that. He goes right at them.

And, you know, I think at the end of the day, people get it. You know, like this is kind of like, you know, it's kind of like reverse support, you know, in a way. Definitely. Definitely something like that. Yeah. Yeah. It was pretty fun, though. Did you ever do anything like that? In San Francisco, there was a stand-up comedy competition, but you went through rounds at least. Oh, yeah, that one was a big deal. I was in it in college in 77. Yeah.

Did you have any of that out where you were starting? There was always weird, you know, like, um,

I guess it was always sponsored by somebody, you know, something like that, where it's like, you know, but I don't think it was anything like that scene. And I always, you know, since this is really kind of like our first real meeting is that I always wanted to ask you about like that San Francisco back in the day, because, you know, I knew Slate and I knew a lot of the big names that came out of San Francisco and like how important it was to like comedy and especially stand up. And then it kind of like, you

you know, by the time I got there, you know, it was already like, I guess it wasn't as, as, as wild as it was back then. But really like, you know, I always heard all the stories about Robin coming down and even, you know, the punchline, the original punchline and then Cobbs, you know, that's really the scene I knew, but you knew like the purple onion. What was the onion? Ooh, onion, a little tiny,

room. What was it called though? The purple onion or something? Yeah. The purple onion. Yeah. Cool. Yeah. I never played there. And Cobbs moved. Did you ever play cops before it moved? Yes, I did. There was a fire, a mysterious fire. Yeah. Right. Uh, that was Larry bubbles Brown, I think was the arson on that one. Yeah. Another hero of comedy.

Larry bubbles who every time I play cops, I make sure he's on the show. Cause I love him. He's great. He's one of my best friends. He's, he's an amazing human and extraordinarily funny, but such a, he makes comedians funnier because he legitimately will. If you say something he thinks is funny, he'll laugh at it and then repeat it and keep laughing. And it's really sincere because we used to have this running game. We would show up, you know, you drive to the gig and,

And it's like a little theater. And the guy goes, hey, are you with the show? And it's like, we are the fucking show, motherfucker. And I said, you jack him up against the wall, say, listen, squirt. So to Larry Bubbles Brown, listen, squirt was the funniest thing. And he kept squirt. And it went go for 10 years. But yeah, it was Slayton was amazing. Really hard to follow. Michael Pritchard. Robin was always around blowing the roof off.

You're about to go on at the little club and Robin's going to do a set. It'd be like three hours. Yeah. It was quite a, quite a scene. I don't know if Boston was sort of the, we had Bobcat version. Bobcat came through and then Paula Poundstone from Boston and they blew up in San Francisco. Yeah. San Francisco was definitely the place where people, I think figured it out. And, and,

Credit to you, Dana. I think you're one of the few guys that Larry Bubbles will get on a plane for. The guy hates to fly. I mean, look at him. He kind of looks like a Dust Bowl guy, you know, like back of a tilapia, you know, with his, like, piano or something tied up there. He's not a flyer. He's like somebody. It took one day to know him and 20 years to believe it. Got it.

I'm not a great flyer, but I've never walked a flight. You know, there's times it's been thunderstorms and all that. I don't enjoy it. But so I'm meeting Larry, San Francisco SFO, and he's there and you're going to, we're going to about the board. And Larry goes, I think I, I think I got to walk the flight. So immediately I was like, that's okay. We'll do it next time. I wasn't going to shit on. We'll do it next time. You just, you know, it doesn't matter. We're playing Vegas. I'm like,

And then I said, well, you know, maybe you, if you wanted, he doesn't drink at all drinks diet Coke, but he had, I guess one drink and he got on the plane. And then he's like, you know, he never, he's not, he doesn't, I don't know. He ever drank after that, but it's like, this is great. This is the way you do it. You know? So that helped him for that flight. But Larry makes up for it with his incredible knowledge of everyone's birthday. He can tell you the day of your birthday.

Which is like, that looks good on the resume. I don't know if that impresses the ladies, but hey, what's your birthday? And then I'll say that was a Wednesday or he'll know. And his classic line, I went to the doctor and I said, what's that lump on my testicle? He said, that is your testicle, you idiot or something like that.

- That's his dick. - And then he does a . No, but you can say to him Tuesday, 1968, or yeah. No, March 31st, 1968. It was a Tuesday and I was like, what? And you look it up. Yeah, he's great. - He's a one of a kind. - So I'm just curious. I don't know. I'm always curious, when did you know? When did, let's put it this way.

When did people not want to follow you? Yeah. Let's just put it that way. When like, I don't want any part of that fucking middle act. You know, when was it like you, you have to close? Um, how many years in like the New York scene? It was very, um, you know, back in the nineties, I guess, you know, it was really, um, it was a lot of really, uh,

hardcore acts here at that point, but I wouldn't put it against Boston because I think Boston was definitely like another level of like, wow, these guys can blow it out. But I was a late night comic. That's where they put me. And I kind of like embraced it instead of like going like, you know, I'm going to move up or anything like that. I felt like at the end of the show, like it was harder, but it was also freer to some degree where like, you know, if you can get out of them, it was really like...

It was really, it was kind of like the pond had already been fished out, but whatever you thought was like a huge whale, you know? So I was like, this is really good for me. But that was really them like putting me there, you know? And then I kind of like got better at it and better at it. And then when I would move up in the show, and it really has helped me on the road too, which is like, you know, following people and all that kind of stuff. I felt like I was stronger. I was a stronger act.

And, you know, usually that means just more bad habits, you know, like, you know, I knew what to do and how to how to work the crowd and everything. But in terms of like, you know, I would say sometime in the 90s, you know, when I became a headliner, I actually really, you know, said.

this is an SNL kind of thing here. I'm kind of like what you would, you would call the, the, you know, the guy who didn't really, you know, I know SNL is an experience different for everybody, but for me, it was kind of like something I did when I really wanted to do standup and like, you know, agents and managers said this would,

be great and like you know i auditioned and more like me and i was a writer i wasn't a performer and you know i really wanted to learn how to do it but i didn't really have that mindset yet i really wanted to be a stand-up you know i wanted to be bill hicks or sam kinnison but that's where i met dave who was really kind to me the whole way through and i was also a fan of his before i had uh

You know, it's been important. I really like to stand up. I like the way he did things. And, you know, to be honest, I was like, you know, it told me more about show business than it did about comedy because I saw how things work there in terms of like, you know, there's a host. And then if you get something on, you get to sit closer to Lorne at the party.

There's this kind of levels and circles of influence there. But I got to meet Mike Myers and the late great Phil Hartman and Sandler, who always another guy, very cool to me. I got to meet a lot of people who have gone on to great success, and I was glad to know them, but it was never my thing. But I think for you guys, that's really where things gel, where you got to take all the stuff that you would learn, like

uh and put it in an ensemble you know i guess format which you know i'm i'm impressed by that to this day i really impressed how people can take stuff and turn it into something a sketch or a movie or something like that so well i'm atomic you know in a reverse way that it's like i was uh

My standup, it was pretty goofy. It is now when I look at jokes, myths or brilliant writing and people who can really take a topic like you do in this latest special hot cross buns. Um, it's like a magic trick to me. Like, okay, there's the introduction and then you're turning it. And it's like, oh wow, that's the best turn.

That's the best payoff to that setup. And you're doing it over and over again. And for me, I was up there doing chopping broccoli and voices. I'm just doing, trying to do sketches and clubs with hecklers and blenders. So when I finally got to do sketch, it was okay. That fit me. But, um, you and, um, that Dave, David are just great at great writers of, of material, just real material.

Well, I can't tell you how many, especially girls I know, would always bring up that chopping up the broccoli thing to me. They'd be like, how come you got a joke like that?

I'm like, I don't got anything. I agree. I think it's ridiculous. I can do that. No one's got a joke like that. You really hit a nerve with these women. They love that bit. So don't throw it out. Since there is no joke other than a guy who's horrible and is utterly committed to how bad he is.

That's on Dana's album called... You're being humbled now because you are kind of in the... I guess you could say the Mount Olympus of comedy. I mean, like, you know, people really... Mount Olympus. ...being successful to actually do the kind of road that we do now. You know, like, road is like a really...

It's never been better for everybody. I mean, like amphitheaters and these things. I mean, it used to be like in the 70s, 80s, like you saw, you know, like Martin or Dice or somebody like that doing that. But not everybody could do it now. There's like at least 20, 30 people who are selling out these mega, you know,

So, you know, that's not my thing, but I think it's really good for comedy, you know? Yeah, comedy's a big deal. I love where you shot the special and the way it felt at Cobb's, the way it was lit and the tightness of the audience and stuff. I thought it really popped. Specials can sometimes lay there. I've been in a few myself and they don't quite happen. I think you were kind of saying, you guys are really great tonight. I don't know if you were just celebrating a moment, but it seemed like that taping of you and doing that set

was a 10 from what I could gather, which is a rarity, really connected. But, or was it just, did you feel extra good? Cause they don't always go that well, right? The taping. Yeah, no, that's true. Cause you know, the first year we had a lot of technical problems and the director of the, of the special Scott Gallagher, he's a really good friend of mine. He's done my road work one. And like I met him during the, you know, he was the director of the porn awards, the AVN awards, you know? So I've known him for decades now.

And like the one thing that you can't ever pay someone to do is be passionate. And this guy's so passionate. Like we do, we edit it for so long. Like we were just trying to put all of these different things that I had done together in like a cohesive thing. And the crowd of course was better than me. My crowd's really good. I'm not just saying that every comic I bring on the road, they're like, wow, your comp, your crowd gets it. They are really good. They're older. They're like,

like couples who are like, you know, basically like this is our night out. Aficionados. They like, they know what they like. Young judgmental group that you see kind of today now, like dripping into these clubs and they really kind of like understand sarcasm and like, it's a joke and it's not like a, I'm not preaching or anything like that. So they're up for anything.

And the crowd that you saw there tonight, especially the second crowd was, it blew me away. Cause I'm in my head. Like we all know for specials, like I got to do this and then this, and I don't want to mess it up. Like I did on the first show. Meanwhile, I should just roll with them the whole way through. It would have been a whole different special, but still like, you're right. The energy was like, I was very lucky that night. You know, I was really lucky. I did like that a little. I don't, I don't remember if I've seen it before, but there was a camera on the side of the stage. You don't see. And then you would kind of look to it like you were like, it was a friend or something. Yeah.

a person you know and i thought that was kind of nice i mean look at it i really didn't capture my best side there but uh yeah no i love that i i i'm used to like you know the cat whatever it is i'm trying to work it into the show i think we all agree like those are the most memorable moments like dave's really good at that like i've seen him like you know something happens in the room where there's somebody in the room and he'll like you know like be able to like

like tailor a joke to them or like use it as part of a riff or something like that i love that stuff i think that's what makes stand-up better than you know pretty much juggling i mean you never see that in juggling you know well you know dana what i do that's interesting if i can talk about and what is the name of day hot cross buns is a good name because you know here's dana's name is uh blenders and hecklers that's a good name actually hecklers and blenders like that

That's what you're thinking for your name of your special. That's what I'm thinking for the next Dana one. Mine? Okay. All right. Hacklers and blenders because you said when I was doing it, I was just doing all hacklers and blenders. Starting out. Yeah, blenders and hacklers is better. I like that. The other thing that I love about your special, I'll just say, the 35-minute thing or 37 minutes, it's like I think that we've adapted to sending people stuff.

And just this short attention span thing, it felt like the perfect length to me. I'm not just saying it's like, that was just great. Right. I don't, because then there's no low. Everyone knows if you do an hour, you can only kind of go to 40 and then they're too tired or whatever. And you got to fight through the trench closer and then you got to peak again. Um, so 35, it's just like bam, bam, bam, you know, playing the recorder. Boom. And it was like, ah, so you have to fight for that. I mean,

Yeah. No, I mean, like, I think the cool thing about Netflix is that they'll let it be any length at this point. Like the idea, like you said, is like, it's all about attention span, but it has to be 40 minutes. And I told this David that it has to be 40 minutes to get in their algorithm to get into like their different kind of like, I guess. So 40 minutes is what it had to be. We had it at 30 minutes.

five and a half or something. And then they told us it's the week of. And once again, Scott, my director said, whoa, we're going to do it. So we put more stuff in. And actually the last thing we put in, which is me playing the recorder. Yeah. Seals, which we thought was a throwaway became the talk of the special. So like, how often does that happen? Like, it was like, wow. You know, like whatever. I really lucked out on that one. But yeah, I would say 40 minutes for me personally, as a viewer and fan of comedy,

Like I just watched, you know, I've watched a lot of my friends' specials. Like I just watched Jimmy Carr's special. Really, really cool. He's a very funny guy. Awesome. Like with the line. I mean, the guy can get. How long? Hysterical. Yeah. His is the classic hour. And like, it works for him, you know? It's a great show. For me, my jokes are so small. Like three a minute. Like that's usually what it is. Two to three a minute. It's like, I'm like on fumes by like 30. I'm really like, oh, okay. Yeah.

I'd rather go shorter too. I think Theo's was maybe 45, 50. I envy that. I would say the same thing. You don't need it because also then it's going to go out, then it's going to get chopped up, and then everyone wants to see different bits. And no one remembers the whole hour. No one remembers. There's a handful they repeat. You don't know which ones. And then an hour is so long, and I'm sure the algorithm says people last about 20. You feel like you want to front load your best shit now because –

not everyone's waiting for that big closer. I think 16 is average last time I checked. Oh, is that it? Yeah. Best compliment I got. And I'm not really a web guy, but we had to track it for the whole special is one guy said, I watched it to the end and I'm going to watch it again. Usually people watch 50 minutes and they immediately start judging like, Hey, this sucked or whatever I trying to do, you know, but like all the way to the end, that's a rarity, you know?

You know, Dana, I think we have a connection. We've been friends for a long time. And for this episode of Fly on the Wall, we've partnered with eHarmony, which isn't us. eHarmony is a dating app to find someone you can be yourself with. We are not dating. I want to clarify that. But the connection is what you want in a dating partner.

just someone like, if you found someone that listened to this podcast, that's somewhat of a connection. And then you sort of build on that. You want someone with some common ground. Yeah. It's not, it, look, if you want to connect romantically over, you know, super fly or fly on the wall, uh,

It just makes us happy. You don't want to be watching The Godfather and the person next to you goes, this movie sucks. So dumb. Yeah. You want to connect on all issues and harmonize in life. Similar sensibility, similar sense of humor, and similar sense of sense. I don't like when they watch The Godfather and they're like, everyone in this movie is so old. I'm like, they're 40.

Watch 2001 Space Odyssey. Too much of this movie is in outer space. I don't like it. When do they land? When do they land? Why is that stupid red light acting so silly? Who's friends with a robot? We know dating isn't easy. That's why we partnered with eHarmony because dating is different on eHarmony. They want you to find someone who gets you, someone you can be comfortable with.

Yeah. I mean, the whole idea is you're going to take a compatibility quiz, helps your personality come out in your profile, which makes all the profiles on eHarmony way more interesting and fun to read. So I think this is the goal of dating sites, and I think eHarmony does it great. It's just finding somebody you're compatible with.

So get started today with a compatibility quiz. So you can find some and you can be yourself with. Get Who Gets You on eHarmony. Sign up today. Okay, I got another name for your special, Dana. Algonation. I was going to call it the other Oppenheimer. No? Oppenheimer.

I'm going to call yours white sweater man. This isn't a sweater, but it's nice. It's a golf pullover, but I appreciate it. It was going to come off earlier and we had June gloom in April, but it's all gloomy and then it's supposed to burn off. Sorry if I lose you with this weather lingo, Dave, but it burns off because in LA we have May gray. Stay close. Then we have June.

June gloom. Yes. Then what you don't know is July fry. And what Dana doesn't know is foggiest foggiest covers everything. Yeah. Southern California. Maybe it's maybe at the beach. Yeah. I think it just rhymes. Okay. Give me a September. No, I'm not there yet. September rain. No,

I thought this was that Simon and Garfunkel tune, but you know, every podcast can handle the weather. Usually people are like, you know, they're going to watch it later. You guys, I like how you dig in. You really believe they're going to watch this weather. The main thing about podcasting, which you both know is that everyone, uh, it's consuming this entertainment right now is doing something else actively. They are gardening. They are walking somewhere.

They're at the gym. So it's lo-fi and they're driving predominantly. They're driving. So they're not even, they space out. But they say they want to hear us legitimately talking. So part of it being not always funny and just being real or kind of boring is actually good. Dave, do you remember, was Sarah Silverman at your SNL when you were there?

Yeah, it was me, Sarah and Jay Moore with the new people. Then it was a couple of other ones too. I don't, I didn't, I really, I should have learned all the cast, but no. And at Norm's Memorial, who you were very funny and let's face it, Kevin Nealon crushed that. He was like gifted. He's such a gifted guy. He's brilliant. But someone has to do a bit about comedians going to funerals and it,

no one talks about the guy it's always about who crushed but it's always who got like no matter how sad you are did he kill did he kill but Nealon always kills in that kind of he's got that his style he's a great comic too he's another guy I was a fan of before I met him and the whatchamacallit at Norm's funeral who Norm was the new guy that year too you know and he went on to great success there and he he

you know, it was really cool to me. Like I, you know, brought him out to the clubs when, you know, before he got so busy and everything. But for me, Jay and I, we shared a room, you know, we shared an office then. And like, we were both kind of like, you know, for Jay, especially like who I thought had all the skillset, like he could do characters, he could do voices, all that kind of stuff. He's a good looking guy, you know, he's a good looking guy and everything like that. Very funny. You know, I saw the, you know, like how hard it is

the new guy there for me, I kind of already accepted my fate, but for him, like I was like, you know, yeah, I can't, you know, like you've got a future on something, you know, but I guess Farley was like another one that like, I got to, you know, meet him the late grade and like, uh, no one ever liked him, you know, like, uh, to this day, I've never met anybody that kind of comedic power, you know, do you know what I'm saying? Like that, like inner, like, like,

like a battery like i just say inner like just like constantly funny so um you know there was definitely a lot of great experiences and the most of the names we just talked about went on to great success you know sarah and of course uh norm you know still one of the best comics i think his comedy is underrated you know and uh jim diony who was talking to at the thing another guy like amazing guy we were talking about like just how like you know just norm like the master of timing you know i mean like

His comedy was that good. Well, as far as his peers, there's no way he's underrated. I don't know if the public at large. Yeah, that's what I mean. We all know, yeah, Norm was also a singularity, like Farley, God rest their soul. But Norm's timing was so unique, the way he would jump.

Yeah. The problem with OJ is like, he kills people. You know, I don't know. It's just kind of, you know, besides the killing part, he's a great guy. Anyway, Norman's also just, well, Dave at the funeral, which, uh,

whatever it was, it was a funeral memorial, whatever, but you know, with all these standups there, people will speak in quotes and it's really going to be a mixture of sad. And there's no way no one's not doing jokes, even though it's horrible. The hard part for me was going up and you're getting a little misty and here comes a Dolly shot. I was like, are we filming this? You know what I mean? You're rarely speaking from your heart and they're like, can we go again? Yeah.

Wow. So, so it was, you remember that it was filmed and then we stayed after and, and Conan was great on that too. Conan was always, Oh yeah. Conan was fucking funny. I fell on the way to the stage and then I told the guy on the side, I go, Hey, this step right here is higher than the steps. And I wiped down. He goes, he's a crew guy goes, Oh yeah. It's always been like that. And everybody fucking falls. I go, well,

Maybe look into that. I don't know. You're going to get sued every single day of your life. So I fell, of course. And then afterwards, is that the one we stayed after? Can I stop you for a second? Yeah, please. I took homage to Dick Van Dyke. That's what I saw. I saw a guy do a classic Van Dyke. Yes, you saw it right. The classic ACL tear.

I'm talking about because I separated this shoulder doing the Dick Van Dyke stunt at SNL playing Dan Quayle. And on Friday to pre tape on little tiny carpet with no stunt quarter grade three separated shoulder still still hurts.

Any hurts continue. Let's get into it. What's the healthcare like? I never stayed long enough to get on their program. Is it good? Oh, it's good. Oh, it's good. So Lauren goes, you're fine. So you're okay. You're a standup coming up and stuff. And then, uh, from what I read, you got on Letterman first, uh,

And then they showed up to Lauren or Lauren saw it. So what was Letterman like to go on with Jay and Sarah at a club? I think it was standing in New York. And then everybody became a performer and I became a writer. And back then it was like, if you're ugly, you're a writer. So I was like, okay, I'm ugly. They threw me into the, into the writer thing. And I'm up against these Harvard guys. And I was like, these guys really like, they're almost like, almost like I,

I guess Bill Robocop, you know, like really, they're really good at it. And like Dave Mandel. And there was a couple other guys who were like, just like, wow, kind of blew you away how young and good they were at this. And, you know, to be honest, like when you're used to writing for your own voice and then you write something for somebody else and it's good, giving that up, man, it's really hard. It's definitely a couple of times where I'm like, I got nothing, but I'm going to use it for my, you know, that kind of thing. Oh, yeah. Job, you know,

Did you did you that day? Did you get on update at all? Like you did. Didn't you? No, no, no. You didn't get it. I don't think I was. I don't think it was as loose as it is now where like if you feel like you got something good, you could try it. But, you know, I really like to be honest, like my writing experience there was what it was. And the guys who really like I kind of think got me.

people like Jon Stewart. I wrote on both of his shows before The Daily Show, and I was a character on The Daily Show. So to this day, I'd say Jon was really the guy who got me, and it was great being a part of that show. But, you know, at the end of the day, I think, you know, you guys probably know it ebbs and flows over there. It's kind of like a, it's kind of like a, like,

Like an animal has to keep moving, you know? And the people that are parts of it, like they have ears that are stronger than others. But, you know, the two people, the other two people on this podcast, they've definitely made this thing that kids grew up watching and they all want to be a part of it. I mean, like to this day, like there's kids out there right now, that's their goal. And, you know, I know this is something you say at the end of the podcast and we're probably not there yet, but I was like- No, it's over.

To finish the thought, it was just like, you know, there was a point there where I was really depressed and I was like, you know, I guess it's not for me, but like Bill Hicks died. I think that was like a big deal. Like he died and I was kind of the only guy there who seemed to be really upset about it. And I was like, what? I

I mean, this guy, Billy, and like, nobody really kind of got it, you know? And I was like, well, I'm not really like connected. Like I'm not connected to them. Like I am to like the comedy world. So I kind of knew that I was like, that's what it is. So just a little insert there. So,

I don't know. Did you ever play spellbinders? I think it was in Houston. Anyway, probably. Yeah. Anyway, I just went down there a couple of times, early eighties, way before I said, and then my opener was Bill Hicks. Wow. He was really young and he had a big sport coat and he come out and he, he,

he obviously was great immediately. It was like, damn, this is my opener. But like 10 minutes in, he would take a beer out of his jacket. He would put a cold beer. It's like, I go, it's a long way to go. Um, the whole time we, our game was, I go, I'm going to do the dice in the cockpit joke. So I just, as my opener, he, he loved that. I was trying to intentionally alienate the audience. I came here on Mexicana airlines and the, the pilot had dice in the cockpit, you know,

But did you know Bill or work with him twice, three times? And like, he gave me a great compliment one time. He gave me a tag on a joke and I was like smiling for like two days after that. But I didn't know him probably the way you did. But I will say one thing is that like, you know, a lot of people consider him like the grandfather of alt comedy or woke comedy. But the fact your story says it right there. He's playing a club, a dive club in Houston. Yeah. And like,

The guy could hold his own against anyone. He played through the South. He played through everywhere, anywhere you can go. And he did this all like, when he was like 17, 18, 19, 20 years old. And then he was like, you know what? There's more to this. And that opened his world. And like, you know, he, he became a deep thinker and he's like, Oh,

always was like a well-read dude and so like talented i mean like i remember one time we were at the original improv in new york and he was hanging out with some of us afterwards and he's like hey is that a guitar and he immediately picked it up and it was like stevie ray vaughn came in the room like he was that good you know but like the guy was always like searching and like trying to push it and like when you see him on letterman i think you're not really getting the whole like feel of bill hicks i mean you got to see him live and you know to this day his last

play at Caroline's. I didn't go that night. I really wish I did, but that was right before he basically said, I'm too sick to perform and I'm going back home and I'm going to have to do that. And, you know, that was kind of the end of it. So I kind of missed out on like a, you know,

something that would never, ever happen. You know, like it was like, whatever it was, it was dumb of me not to go that night. So anyway, but how cool was it when it was open for you? Like, well, he wasn't Bill Hicks, Bill Hicks then, you know? Yeah. He was just, uh, did he change his name? Did you, Dana, could you tell he had something there? Yes. And I liked him immediately. I could tell he was incredibly bright and, uh,

But we were just playing this little goofy club and, and he had something right, right, right off the bat. And then I saw one, I guess he had a special or something. I saw him a few years later and yeah, he took it to this whole other idea. Mort Sahl meets Sam Cannon. I don't know. He went very stepped outside the lines of a standup, but remained really funny, which is sort of the hat trick, you know?

When you were doing comedy, like in the 80s especially, how much influence was the show Seinfeld on you? Because it seems like everybody was like, you do this till you get the sitcom and then you never have to do it again. Right? I'm sure that came at you guys that way the whole time. I was chasing the sitcom dream at the improv where Tim Allen got picked up and then Roseanne. Both of those were huge shows. Home Improvement. And they're basically looking... They were in the audience a lot because...

It wasn't about killing, which I didn't get. It was just what persona can we write a show around? And I didn't get that at all. I was sweaty trying to fucking get laughs. But you were always I always thought you were so I just always like started. I really dug what you were doing. All right. I remember at the 10 p.m. improv night, I walked in at the end. Damn, you're who we both know. Like.

like he's like, Hey, he's playing over there. You want to come to, I'm like, yeah, I want to check it out. And we watched him from the balcony and it was just like, so funny just the way you will, you know, like you, you basically had them. So, you know, you got to play with them a bit. So I love that. David doesn't. And I've been guilty this many times of pushing, uh,

And David never seems to push. And so it's very calm to watch just his brain working. You know, it's not like he's dancing for his dollar. There's money. I get, I get the complaints I get sometimes in the road or like, it didn't look like you were even trying. I'm like, this is all fucking the whole idea. Like it's all thought out. And you just go, you're just like, and I go, I still talk for a straight fucking hour. Like it's hard to do, like have a setup punch. I have this all weave into each other.

But if it looks casual, that's a good idea. You don't need yada, da, da, da, da. You know, also I was going to tell you, I didn't, um, Bill Hicks and Mitch Hedberg, I didn't really appreciate or get to know after or get to know their work until it was too late. So I was never really, I remember they heard that Bill Hicks might've been on Conan when I was at SNL. I don't even know if I knew who he was. I just heard that and said, oh, that guy,

I'd heard of a little bit, but later on, even now you see on Tik TOK or Instagram, you can see clips and that's kind of nice because there's so many things I just didn't know. Uh, especially Mitch Hedberg. I see on there a lot, but these guys are great guys that just floated around and then it just too early. Yeah.

Well, Mitch especially. I mean, this is like something I do know is that people always say, oh, these young comics, they sound like you, like me. That's what they're saying. And I go, if you want to know the one guy who's been jacked the most, it's Mitch Edwards. So many generations of comics who know.

Now, I have like grown up, I guess, watching him and just his voice, his cadence and his style. Like, I mean, I've seen it a million different ways. And I used to like in the beginning be really angry. Like, that's Hedberg. You're doing Hedberg up there. You know, that's what the guy's doing. And now I get it. It's just like they don't really get that it's Hedberg anymore. They just like know that it's funny, I think. You know, I don't know. I'm trying to be generous to them. But I mean, that's really one of those things where it's like,

Hedberg had a big impact on the generation of comedy. You know, I'm just putting this together a little bit. Theo Vaughn and Hedberg, just not that he's ripping them off, but both have a quirky... Well, Mitch did have this quirky timing. And I don't know, was he from the South or any kind of accent, but he just had a really weird way of speaking. He was from many...

Wisconsin, I guess, Minneapolis. And he moved south and his joke was like he was driving and he had something wrong with the front end alignment and he ended up there. Like he was trying to get his access and the car got very left. He was pulling to the right. Oh, I see. Something like that. So that's how he got there.

And like he worked in kitchens. He was just basically kind of like a kind of like a stoner kitchen guy. And that's where he started doing comedy. But he definitely had that kind of like Southern, like, you know, that kind of charm. And Theo also is like, you know, because I always feel of him as like Cajun, you know, like he has that cool like there's just something there. Yeah, it's cool. You know, Rosetta Stone, the most trusted language learning program.

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you're constantly mentioned and referred to. You know that, right? I just want to, because I always assume that everybody, it's hard to know how people perceive you, but I'm just saying anecdotally,

Just, oh yeah, but it's hell was there and it's hell. It just, I don't know. It's just, I hope it's nice to hear. It's a good rep to have. Yeah. Be less excited about my success. No, it just kind of angers me quietly, but I just, I thought this wasn't going to be all about you and it's sort of turning that way.

I mean, we can talk about the weather again. I mean, Oh my God, there's some monsoonal moisture. I didn't mention earlier. David's a great, great standup. Now back to, uh, the goat. Yeah. Listen, um, I was also of that generation of like a lot of them passed too quickly. Edberg, Geraldo, Greg Geraldo, who's another great line guy. Um, Patrice. So I was of that kind of group, you know, like of that, of that, um,

you know, that time in comedy. But I would say that the reason why people talk about it is because I'm out there. You know, like I really, you know, have been doing the club so long now. I mean, honestly, I don't even know like what the exit strategy is anymore. It's like part of the... I don't think you have to have it. Dan, that's a good biz to be in. To your point, you're like... It is, it is.

You'll see someone and we're going to talk about insomniac in a second, but you'll see someone at different times throughout their career. So then the latest thing, I don't pay attention to everyone all the time, was this special. And I go, oh, maybe that's his best special or certainly haven't lost a step or anything. So why would you ever stop?

You know, I mean, I don't think there's been any slippage. I don't know. Do you ever feel, I mean, this is like a good crew to ask is like when I was first starting out, I felt like my, my writing and my performing were low. And then like,

as I would keep going, like the writing would get better, but the performing still suck. Then the performing for a year was better than the writing. And then it became this. So now I feel like they're both kind of equal. Like I kind of know what I'm doing and I can write a joke and, you know, I'm able to like turn whatever I want into a joke eventually. I mean, like we all know we fight that battle every day, but you know, I'm like, this is a good spot to be in. I'm glad like, you know, I'm able to do it and the crowd's still getting it, but like,

Am I relevant? Am I any of the things that are important in today's comedy world? No. So I'm also going like, you know, hey, I'm not doing it for everybody. I'm doing it for my crowd and I'm doing it for, you know, what I want to do. But at the end of the day, you got to entertain. Right. So like what point are you just kind of like, here,

Here comes that old hack, you know, like, no, you see my, what is relevant today? Like, is it the topics, the style? I mean, seem like, I don't know. You tell me, I don't know. It seems like your, your topics were all of today.

Well, that was also a post pandemic special, which the one, the two things that Netflix asked me and I asked them questions because I go is name of special important. That's why I like, it was funny that you guys are bringing up these names and I'm like, no, cause I don't want to call it hot crust buns. I wanted to call it, you know, I want to call it something else. And they said, Oh, that's not that good. And then they said, don't,

I go, what turns people off? You have all this data now. And they said, COVID jokes and political jokes. People don't want to hear any of that. So I'm like, I'm sad. I don't have any of that stuff. And then I realized I got like a COVID joke, political joke in the first five minutes. Even other well-hidden jokes. Yeah.

Well, I like your little turn on a little political thing. And you go, I'm a, I'm a, I'm a Biden guy, Hunter, Hunter Biden, you know, but it's the way you tell it. One of my reps, favorite jokes. He's always telling me about it. Yeah, no, that's a good one. You know, but then it was like,

That's a political joke. What do we do? Blah, blah, blah. Oh, shut it down. We kept it in. Yeah. So, you know, I'll go killer. I'll go killer. Yeah. So, you know, relevant in terms of like, you know, am I going to preach to the people? I was never that guy. I was really kind of, you know,

a line guy, a joke guy. I'm like, it's all about the jokes for me. Well, Dave, I think it's the same thing where it's like, even though you think it's a throwaway joke, some people like give it a life all its own and you're like, you're taking it too far. It's not that, you know? Well, Dana, you know, he was just saying a good point when we started, it was like sitcom and all that. There's a point, Nate Bergazzi, Theo right now, where you could start as a standup

And it's actually less money to go into movies and TV. So they're making so much or they're just on the road that you don't have to do anything other than be a standup and, and you just keep working. And Dave's been doing it a while and he keeps making money. And if it keeps working and he's got a crowd, he's got a good rep and that works. I mean, it's hard to keep it going for a while, but these guys do great. So,

You could say, I don't want to stop and do a sitcom. It's I'm going to lose money or I'm going to, that's so weird because it's less of that in the world and less comedy movies out there in the world and more standup gets bigger and bigger. It's amazing. Both Nate Bergazzi and Bert Kreisner kind of intimated to us that they felt like we were really in show business because they hadn't had a movie or a TV show. We're like, wait a minute. You're,

You're the master of your own fate and you're making more than a sitcom star. Well, you picked up two great names because Nate and Bert both into the spectrum, super funny guys. And both of them went through that process of developing all that kind of stuff. At the end of the day, they're doing exactly what they should do. Their crowd loves it. And also really good dudes. They're great to the other comics. Oh, yeah.

Man's right. So they're doing everything right. But they also went through that endless loop of development. And I think it would be great, like cleansing. If like everybody, all the pitches that were ever pitched to you, like you could like basically whisper it on a rose and drop it in a well, like, you know, and I'm a father taking care of six refugees.

And I run a laundromat and just throw that, you know, like in the well, like that's done. That'll never be used again. You know? Yeah. So ask, ask about this. Cause I'm going to ask him about something else. I got mine is about your porn show. Oh, the porn show. Great. Dave's old porn. And did you,

Who were those favorite porn stars? But go ahead, say something first. Those were the 70s iconic age of porn. I knew them from the AVN Award. I had started doing it then. And we basically wanted the tribute to them because I'm like the only idiot who bought the rights to use these films because everybody would be like, why would you buy these rights? They're all like the mafia or something like that. So I bought the rights to these legendary films.

And they're very dramatic and they're like acting and there's like car chases and all these weird things that you would never see on OnlyFans right now. So these guys and ladies, they kind of built, you know, the renaissance of porn. You know what I'm saying? So it was fun to have them watch their things. And then we bring out the younger, the adult stars, and they would also weigh in on it. And then there were comics that went on like Rogan, Bill Burr.

so many great names that were on this thing. Amy Schumer, you know, like just like all the people I knew and like having them like kind of throw, we throw them like, just like looking at it, Marin, all these different people. And you would have been great at it. You, I love that. Yeah. I don't think you're a porn guy. I like to just watch stuff and comment on it. That's funny. Well, there you go. VH1 style. Yeah.

Yeah, we could do Tracy Lords. Remember her? Tracy Lords, of course, yes. I mean, there was so many names. And that was for Showtime. And I guess this was before, you know, what was their big show over there? Yeah. No, it was... No, I'm trying to think. I'm not putting them down. It was the... Christy Canyon had a sitcom over there. Well, what happened was, it's like...

me and my other guy, who's a great guy, Jeremy, he's the editor and he was also the director of that. We, we like threw everything we had into it because we believed in it. You know, we covered all the dirty stuff with like interesting graphics and like,

At the end of the day, I lost money doing a TV show. It was like one of those like too big to fail. Like it was just like, I don't know. I was just a star of a TV show. I'm a hundred grand in the hole. How did that happen? I got the rights to Seeker's catalog. It was like one of those things. So I'm just curious about Insomniac. That I made money on, but I lost a kidney. So there you go.

- You lost a kidney? - No, no, it was a lot of drinking. I really drank on the show and it was a incredible show. And you know, the people who helped me make that also just awesome people being out all hours of the night for days and days at a time. And that was my idea. That was like what happens after the show, you go out and I also wanted to do late night jobs. So, you know, everything that we kind of did on that show became its own entity on other shows.

And people are like, do you feel that, you know, it's like, I don't care. I don't care who's doing it, whatever. When I did it, I did it the best I could. This was before cell phones. It would never work now with all of the technology. Well, you're the first one. That's good.

And to be honest, like, you know, I think Anthony Bourdain did the ultimate travel show. Like the guy found what it's really about. Food is universal. And I always felt like, you know, this guy, people always like, hey, he's doing a travel. I was like, there's nothing like that show. That guy really, you know, he found the thing or that was his thing that like, I mean, you can't you can't top what he did. So I'm just one of many travel shows of the of the of the time. So, wow.

Well, that's Jeff. I belittle every. Yeah. You're like, this is shitty. That was horrible. And then that happened. I don't know. I'm not really, I think it was ahead of its time to put a comic and that those situations improvising and being, being real authentic, you know, it was like, well, let's talk about comedy central. Cause that was like, I think the heyday of comedy central, the Chappelle show was killing us to this day. I'd say probably the top,

if not the top five, the top three of great sketch shows. I mean, I mean, him and Neil, what they put together there. I mean, amazing. Yeah. And then my show was there. I felt like we were a utility show, you know, like we were like, they would always go like, okay, we need you to do this and this and this. I'm like, but it's snowing there. It's like, well, you got to do it, you know, because it was an outdoor show most of the time. So it wasn't always the spring break. So it was really tough on us weather wise.

Sorry, guys. Also running a Bitcoin factory here. So anyway, yeah. So that was what that was. That was like the serious travel show. And I would do road after that. But here's the thing. You guys will love this. And I'm sorry if I'm babbling. No, this is good.

I get asked about the show all the time, but the real deal is that a lot of the people who watched it were like in high school who couldn't go out yet. So that they, I was always like, well, if this show is such a hit, how come the club isn't full? Or how come like this tour is not making money? And it turns out they weren't old enough yet to go to see a live show. So years later, they all caught up with me and then some. But back then I was like, you know, I don't get it, man. I mean, where is everybody?

Everybody's talking about it. I'm drinking with everybody. Like what's going on here? And then it turned out that they just weren't ready to like go to clubs yet. So that was it. So comedy central, you had all my credits now. Yeah, we did miserable road, road work. I mean, these are my specials, your specials, the ugly American.

That's why I did that for Jon Stewart. That was my character. Of course, that one is the ugly American. I assume everybody considers us all ugly at this point. Back then, it was a lot of fun because you could be inappropriate and put Jon down. He always had a great sense of humor. You and Jeff Ross are a cool pair. That was another one. That was another thing. We wanted to get Dave on that for sure.

like we did the three, we did three episodes in New York at the village on the ground. And to be, to be fair, you know, bumping my access Jeff's idea. We just started doing it for fun at the end of the shows. He would come to town at stage. I'd bring him on stage. We'd go out of each other. And like, you know, he is the roast master. We all know that. So, you know, it was great keeping up with Jeff and then like learning like how to work

it's really difficult, as you know, like to have another voice on stage and how to like, you know, back, back and forth. We got really good at it. We toured a bit on it and the shows that we did, people still to this day come up and talk about that. So I would say Jeff is fearless. Everything I wanted to cut out of the thing, he kept in and people loved it. So he was right and he was wrong. And,

And, you know, I guess at the end of the day, I'm a coward because I'm like, oh, we're going to get we're going to get we're going to get blowback on this. And then he's like, what are you nuts? I mean, come on, let's keep it in there. So I always give up the Jeff like, you know, I guess he could see through the trees, whereas I was like, you know, we're heading to rock. So, yeah, I think you did it one night and brought me up and I sat on the side of the mic with you guys. Is that possible?

I think so, yeah. Do you remember where it was? Was it in New York or LA? No, is it possible? No, not Largo. I think it was somewhere where I... We've never done it at Largo. Yeah, that was a trick and you passed. No, maybe it was the comedy store. We've never done it there. Maybe it was...

Yeah. It was the comedy store. So, you know, but yeah, both of you would be awesome. Cause let's face it. The crowd is not just a fan of us, but of comedy. So they were like, right. They just, they were great. And it's good if you're on the side, cause you guys talk and get and carry it. And then I just chirp in. Yeah. No, I remember now it was, it was, we had a lot of really great, uh,

It was all because of Jeff, because Jeff knows everybody. So we had the late, great Bob Sackett, Gilbert, who we're both really good friends with. He did it. And then we had Bob Sackett and Gilbert together, which was like kind of a Kong versus Godzilla moment. It was like an awesome. Very similar. These two go at it, you know, of course. And what was he? Bruce Willis was on it. I mean, like we had some really big names that came by and that was all because of Jeff, you know. So far, nothing is because of you in this whole, in your whole career. Yeah.

Yeah, I like to think I'm just kind of like the, I'm the ring around the bathtub. That's a lie. I'm a nibbler, Dana. And I think you are too, but you always know me that I just have to keep the energy going. And I think because I learned from my dad, pistachios are a good source of just, you know, nibble, wake you up.

They're always delicious. I actually named a character in a movie I did called Master of Disguise. The lead character's name is pistachio. That's how much I love pistachios. Yeah. Well, wonderful pistachios have literally come out of their shells. It's the same taste. It's delicious, but...

It's a lot less work. As you know, cracking them open can be a little bit of a job. Less cracking, more snacking is what I say. That's what I say. That's what you say. And I'm going to use that when my wife goes to the store. Wonderful pistachios. No shells. Flavors come in a variety of award-winning flavors, including chili roasted. Honey roasted. Mm-hmm.

Sea salt and vinegar, smoky barbecue. Sea salt and pepper is one I like the most. And I'm going to try this jalapeno lime. They don't have a red, red necky flavor just yet. Yeah, look at him there. Red, red necky loves pistachios. I like to crack things open and put them in my mouth.

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Can I just ask you, what are you, like, what you're going to tour all the time? Are you out now? Or what are you, how often are you going out? And do you have a new half hour? Yeah, what do you do with that? I think we talked about it at the... It's horrible. Tony, it's like...

Because you need about a hundred great jokes, right? No, it's so tough to do a special. You need a hundred jokes to do jokes. I do chopped broccoli for 19 minutes. That's boom. I repeat one phrase over and over. But guys like you or Larry Bubbles Brown, it's like really good jokes every 15 seconds, 20 seconds. Hard to get a half hour.

I got about 15 minutes of okay. And then probably 30 of like, Hey, I'm trying up here, you know? But yeah, I gave, I, I, you know, forgive the term. I shot my load on the last one. And like, I hadn't been in this situation in about four or five years where like you got nothing. And I talked to the young comics, like Sam or Elmar, when these guys turn hours, like now every like months,

They're like turning hours. And I'm like, and they also get it like, you know, yeah. When you got nothing and then you're going back out there, like you really like, you know, it's really a sad, like, you know, it's like God's love. Where is it? You know, like you're really there alone. So, or you tip the crowd and say, Hey, where can my work in my new hour warning? Have you ever gone up with notes then? Like with a notepad. So they kind of know, uh, Hey, I'm just, uh,

That's what I do. I don't know what's happening next, but I feel bad for the audience when I'm not. I like where you do that because I think a lot of the crowd go like, oh, I'm getting to see the process. Yeah, they do.

wow, I really kind of would like a more finished thing, you know, because yeah. Yeah. But you guys are getting this stuff that, you know, but it's a good trick. It's a trick because they laugh hard. You're like, is this anything polished? Joe, I just go, you're going to hate this bit. And then I'm going to tell it to you again and point out where, why and where you're going to hate it. So that always helps the bit. Cause they go, yeah, that's true. They're going to hate it. It's not too bad. But the, the, the thing that I like is when, you know, I'll, uh,

uh you know do the jokes that didn't make it you know and those are that's

People are like, why didn't that get in there? Always gets a better laugh. They're like, that's not that bad. So what's the most money you've made in one single calendar year? What? Oh, you take questions from the audience. No, I was asking you. I'm really into celebrity net worth and stuff, but I'm just, you don't have to answer that. I'm making millions more than I actually am.

But I'm on tour because my mom has round-the-clock care. She has dementia, which is very expensive. And we wanted her to have another disease, which is less expensive. Good job, Dana. But that's what she's going with. This is real. This is real stuff. So part of it is like, I'll never quit. I'm a rogue. The other part of me is like, I got these bills. I can't quit. So that's part of it. And the other thing is, I really wouldn't know what to do with myself if I wasn't out there. But I would say that...

you know as long as i'm still um you know everything gets harder but the actual show like the flights the hotels all the food all that kind of stuff you know for us that's our lives but it really does kind of grind down on you but the shows for me like it's like yeah there's good ones and bad ones but like as long as i'm coming up with one new thing then you're like okay i guess i'm still able to do this so you know yep that is fun getting ideas is one of the

fun things left in life if you get a good idea positive coming out of old dave it's a good code to crack if you can still go come up with a bit and just go oh fuck oh this is cool oh and then it works you're like that gives you a little uh juice everybody says that everybody bob newhart would say that you do your same old set you try one joke out

or bit. And if it works, you're just kind of like, oh, that was a great night. Yeah, it's fun. I got a new toy. You can still do it. Yeah. Yeah. But I go back to Chris Rock for what you were saying. It's like, it's a job. Like Lorne Michaels. What do you think of Lorne Michaels? I think he gave me a job. And so the fact is you're still in demand and people want to pay you money to go do your thing. So why stop? It's nice.

Well, are you enjoying it now that like, you know, you can just go out and, you know, like, I guess basically do whatever you feel like doing. You know, there's really no pressure now like that. You're able to just go out there and like enjoy it. You know, so many, so many years. It's either about like, you know, I got to do this because it might lead to this, all that kind of stuff. Like for you guys, especially like just go out and have fun with it. Right. Yeah. It's just some days I wake up. I just want to get on Southwest today.

It's enjoyable. Yeah, I don't travel that much. But yeah, in the early days, it's painful to even think about the amount of stage fright I had and the amount of fear. Oh, yeah. I was terrified for years. Yeah. I mean, during college days and Rob Williams was there in the beginning and then he went and got more committee, but he was always coming back.

And he was so powerful and so explosive, it was just sort of like, oh shit. - It's hard to compete with. - Unfollowable, would you say? Like at his heyday, like there's no way anything could follow him, right? - No, 'cause he always thought, he apologized to me once, like he took something from me. I try to take your whole act. I mean, he came up with, others did it. Talk about influence. He came up with this conceit of a Shakespearean actor that has no act and they just pushed him out on stage.

And then he learned how to do that. But that spontaneity and, oh, go and jump in the audience at the time. I remember Gary Shandling's thinking, why, why am I even trying? Why am I doing this? Are we in the same business? Tornado, but it did make you work harder. You're like, okay, that's the level of killing. Cause in those days you just wanted to just kill.

And so Robin did sort of make you go, okay, I got, I got to get better. So that was the good side of it. It seems like every laugh was a home run with him, or at least that's what, you know, you see when you look at those old tapes, just like,

It was just crush, crush, crush. Like Jim Carrey, another guy, like crush, crush, crush. There had to be in the beginning, especially times where people were just kind of like he was ahead of the crowd. They didn't get him, right? Like immediately, did they or did they? Sometimes Robin would come into the Holy City Zoo, the 60-seater in San Francisco in the late 70s. And, you know, he'd do two hours. And in those days, he was kind of drinking and stuff. And sometimes people would start to walk out after it just because he was just out there. But I think...

His rhythm, wherever his voice came from, he's from Detroit and Marin County, but this voice was... And right now there's a man going, hello. And after a while, you're just seduced by it. I was on stage doing improv once and he's going, right now there's a man going...

the man going whoa and and he didn't have a line he still got it yeah yeah but it sounds like a joke the voice was so and then he wouldn't really use the mic was also another thing you'd stand away from the mic oh hello and and this sense that like he didn't know what was going to happen and so it was a nice one of those shooting stars yeah well that's that's another thing that's like you know

It took me a while to get comfortable and it took me another while to figure out what I'm doing. But there are people who are just gifted who immediately, boom, they got it. That's who they are. And then they run towards it. So just like...

I mean, there's definitely a deep bench of guys and women who are just that good at it. You know, I don't know. I don't know. You should watch your own special. Yeah, Dave's one of the best. That special, I happily recommend it to our listeners.

just go on Netflix. It means a lot coming from you guys, you know, and I hope this podcast is successful. I mean, eventually you'll get those stands that other podcasts have for the microphones instead of this morning radio kind of feel. Fucking motherfucker. I mean, our parent company is in bankruptcy. So we, we're, we're on a budget. This,

I'm at a holiday inn. Yeah. That's a set. All right. Dave, thank you for coming out, buddy. Hey, let's, let's make a plan. If I'm ever that way, you guys please come on one of my shows and I'd love to be a part of whatever you guys are doing. I would love to. I'd love to see you in person, Dave. Definitely. Thank you, David. All right. Bye. Pleasure. Hot cross buns, Netflix.

This has been a presentation of Odyssey. Please follow, subscribe, leave a like, a review, all this stuff, smash that button, whatever it is, wherever you get your podcasts. Fly on the Wall is executive produced by Dana Carvey and David Spade, Jenna Weiss-Berman of Odyssey, Charlie Finan of Brillstein Entertainment, and Heather Santoro. The show's lead producer is Greg Holtzman.