Andy Frasco's World Saving Podcast - EP 165: Gilbert Gottfried & Frank Santopadre

Episode Date: March 29, 2022

As a wise man once said: "sometimes you gotta dip those balls in the fountain of youth, baby." He may be alive and well, but will Andy find the strength to leave Puerto Rico? Praised be the gods of comedy as we're graced with the voices of angels on the Interview Hour this week; Kings of the crude joke: Gilbert Gottfried and Frank Santopadre! The boys talk legacy, crafting a filthy joke, and Andy's excellent segues. End episode summary. Get your voyeur kicks in now by watching this episode via youtube.  Follow us on Instagram @worldsavingpodcast For more information on Andy Frasco, the band and/or the blog, go to: AndyFrasco.com Check out Andy's new song, "Wash, Rinse, Repeat" on iTunes, Spotify  Listen to Gilbert & Frank's Podcast! www.gilbertpodcast.com Produced by Andy Frasco Joe Angelhow Chris Lorentz Audio mix by Chris Lorentz Featuring: The Super Cocuzza Bros. Arno Bakker

Andy! Hey, it's me, Nick Gerlach. I don't know if you remember me. I co-host your podcast. I come over all the time. We used to work together. I used to come over and work with you before you decided you need like three vacations a month to stay sane. Why don't you get back to Denver and start girlbossing again because you've been in Puerto Rico for two weeks. Every time I get on Instagram, it's you and the Cucuzas drunk off drafts doing something ridiculous. For being on vacation, you're still sure on Instagram nine hours a day.

So come on, let's get back to your grind culture grind. Andy, I'm lonely. I'm bored. Please, please just come back, man. Like, I don't have anything going on, man. Like, my career's falling apart. I'm getting older. My girlfriend keeps telling me to, like, go for a walk in the park.

You're being annoying. You're home too much. Come on, buddy. I need you. I need to look at that curly hair again and look in those deep, deep Italian and Jewish eyes. Please. I need you. And I know you're not going to put this on the opening, so that's why I'm being so vulnerable.

Promise me you won't put these on the opening because... Fuck you, Andy. Fuck you. I'm being so vulnerable. Promise me you won't put these on the opening because... Fuck you, Andy. Fuck you. I'm sick of waiting. I might just start my own fucking podcast. Because you know that without me, yours is going to fall apart. Everyone always tells me when I'm at Cirrus, they go, you know what? You're the actual talent on the show.

You're the funny one. You should break off and do your own thing. I'm like, no, Andy's a good guy. He's a great interviewer. I really need him too. But guess what? Now you've been gone for two weeks. maybe I'm starting to realize I don't. And maybe I need to move on without you because you probably can't even afford me anyway.

Your little podcast is nothing without me, bitch. All right, and we're back. Andy Frasco's World Saving Podcast. I'm Andy Frasco. How's our heads? How's our minds? Did we drink our asses off at this trip? Go Tails! Well, for the listeners who aren't watching the video part, we are actually, is this like a jungle?

Jungle of San Sebastian, Puerto Rico. We are doing... We're watching waterfalls. Our tour guide, UV, UV Tour, is taking us everywhere. And we ran out of mushrooms, so we're doing this one sober, boys. But it's great. This is... I've never been to a waterfall and, like, jumped off it.

It's like... It feels like a... Like, I'm Jewish. I don't know. But it feels like a baptism. Baptized by the ropes of the jungle. How important is nature to this trip of ours? I think it's everything.

It's so beautiful here, man. Beautiful people, beautiful land, beautiful sea, beaches, sky. It's gorgeous. Got Makakus and Chakakus on the podcast today. Dude, our trip's almost done. This is the last couple days of our trip. I think it's perfect that we did this instead of staying at the fucking bars for two weeks straight. But like every good trip, you need a time to reflect.

And this is a perfect time to reflect. So what did we learn about our trip to Puerto Rico before we got Gilbert Godfrey on the show? Dude, show's getting huge. You're going to love this one. Gilbert Godfrey is the shit with his co-host Frank. They have a podcast, but we'll talk about it in a second. I want to talk about what makes this important. Why is it important?

I think that we're getting a little bit older now, and you got to go dip your balls in that fountain of youth every now and then. You keep the wrinkles out, keep the smile on your face, and just keep your starry-eyed views going. I feel like we forget, because I don't know about you guys, but i overwork and i forget that there's more than just my fucking computer and social media and there's actually stuff that will revitalize you outside of looking at what everyone else is saying you know absolutely you're in the hatchback on your computer this morning on the way out i had to get this podcast done i was in the hatchback yeah we were on a jeep and i had to finish the podcast so we didn't have room in the van so I sat in the trunk and did some work.

But coming back here, it's revivalizing. Is that a word? Revivalizing? Revitalizing. UV, get over here. I wanted to say hi to our tour guide, UV. Greg Brown, moved here. Tour coach, UV. Let's go!

UV tours! Sit here. Let's go. UV tours. Sit here. Sit right here. How important is Puerto Rico to you? It's my life now. It's where I live. Made it my home.

I hated leaving here so much. I wanted to make it. I always come back here. So this is my home. How many times have you done this tour? Brought people over to this tour? I'd say probably around 20. And you still don't get old of it? No, it's revitalizing every day, right?

Yeah. Like you said, everybody that went off that rope swing just a minute ago, the biggest smile on their face. It takes you back to being a little kid. Yeah, we did a rope swing off a waterfall. It's just been an epic brocation. I'm thankful to have you guys in my life. I'm thankful that we're all in this shit together because life is short.

If we can't enjoy the little things with the people you love, then why are we doing this, right? You hear that water, people? You hear that water? Hallelujah. The fountain of youth. So we're going to enjoy Gilbert Gottfried. Just a big old bro hug. Give me a hug, bros.

Come here. This is fucking... Come here. We're really out here, guys. We're really bonding over here. Hell yeah. This is some magical shit going on. It is, and I'm just thankful that we're not day drinking one more day

because I really don't think my liver could handle it. But when this is done, maybe we have a cocktail. Yeah, we're going on the cocktail cruise at 6 o'clock. Don't be late! Speaking of cocktail cruise, sign up for Repsy.com. Our sponsor, our fearless leaders. Repsy.com.

It's where if you have a band or if you own an independent venue or if you're a wedding planner, anything. Sign up to Repsy.com. They're a great booking agency. They don't take a fee if you have an agent. And if you don't have an agent,

take a little fee, no problem. They got to make money. You know, they're paying us too much money. They got to pay it all back eventually. But to sign up for Repsy.com. I love you guys. Any last words? This is going to be the last podcast from Puerto Rico.

Do you got anything else to say, Matt? Good times. Blessed. Thankful. Yeah, me too. Aren't you guys going sailing in two weeks too? We were going to, but we might just stay here. Oh, well.

Matt's like, Chad's like, no, please God. Well, I hope you guys be safe. UV, you've been the best tour guide ever. I'm having so much fun out here. I'm thankful for you to bring my friends out here and thankful that these guys know you so I can know you because you know, let the

stick man stick. That's what we say out here in Puerto Rico. Let the stick man stick. All right, guys. Enjoy Gilbert Gottfried and yeah, I'll catch you next week. Oh, we start our Twiddle tour. Go buy tickets. Buy tickets. See Frasco and Twiddle. And I got Nick and I got Ryan Dempsey on the show next week.

He talks. He got abducted by an alien, he says. Have you ever seen an alien, UV? I've seen some UFOs. I've seen a chupacabra. I'm not sure I saw an alien. A chupacabra? Oh, yeah.

We live in Puerto Rico, brother. What is a chupacabra? You don't know the chupacabra? No. Oh, have your eyes out on this, walk down this hill. As we cross this river, they're known to cross right down there. Shut the... You know I don't even like snakes, dog. Why are you going to show me a chupacabra?

You didn't like iguanas either, but chupacabras, they're cute. Yeah, these guys have been fucking with me. They know that I'm a city kitty and they've been throwing fucking dead lizards in my bed and these guys are fucking assholes. But stay safe. Find your beach, however they

say that, or find your waterfall. Find your bliss. Go chasing waterfalls. Yeah, like TL. Well, don't go chasing waterfalls. Let them chase you. Right, boys? Hell yeah. Alright, guys. We love you. Be safe out there. And don't forget to heal because we're all in this Alright guys, we love you. Be safe out there and don't forget to heal because

we're all in this shit together and we want you to last. Right? We want our livers to last. That's why we're not day drinking at the goddamn beach bar today. Well, for another two hours. I love you and enjoy Gilbert Godfrey and Frank Santapadre. I think that's how you say his last

name. You're going to love this interview. I'm pumped up about it. All right, let's go fuck shit up, huh? All right, guys, enjoy. All right, next up on the interview hour, we have Gilbert Godfrey and Frank Santapadre. Damn, hell yeah. Comedy legends.

You know Gilbert. Gilbert's been everywhere. Howard Stern's show. Damn. Hell yeah. Comedy legends. You know Gilbert. Gilbert's been everywhere. Howard Stern's show. He does all the comedy roasts. I mean, he's one of the OG shit talkers. And I'm so excited he came on the show. And Frank writes for everyone. He's run shows.

He's written roasts. He's written for the Friars Club. He's done it all. And this was such a fun interview. These guys have a podcast together. And it was a curveball for the Frasco podcast family. But I think you're going to like this one. So, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the interview hour,

Gilbert Gottfried and Frank Santapadre. What an honor. How you doing, boys? Boys! Can I call you boys? Boys! Boys! Can I call you boys? It's rare that anybody calls us boys. Yes.

Thanks for having us on. I feel like, you know, we all grow up, but our inner child is always, it never leaves us, right? That's nice of you to say. Yeah, but everything else that works leaves. The inner child stays there. How is your inner child, Gil? Yeah. Well, the inner child's going fine. It's the eyesight and hearing and walking that don't go well, but the inner child is working great. That's sweet. What's the hardest part about getting older? Oh, geez.

Getting up in the morning, going to sleep at night, washing your hands, brushing your teeth. The hardest part is the problem, right, Gil? Yes. Oh, man. I want to talk about your guys's relationship like how'd you guys meet what happened why did you decide to make a podcast why did you feel like this is the partner for you gilbert yeah well uh bud abbott was already dead he did. Only by 50 years. Yes. And I couldn't get in touch with Duke Mitchell.

Andy, I'll write you a check for 100 bucks if you know who Duke Mitchell was. I don't know who Duke Mitchell is, but I'm just going to laugh because this is amazing. Who's Duke Mitchell? There used to be a comedy team of Duke Mitchell and Sammy Petrillo. And Sammy Petrillo was a frightening, absolutely frightening exact copy of the young Jerry Lewis. Yeah. You know, Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin were a team, right, young Jerry Lewis. Yeah.

You know, Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin were a team, right, Andy? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I know that. Yes. These were two cut rate guys who came along to basically fool people. I mean, Sammy Petrillo fooled people.

Yeah. Duke Mitchell was like. A real poor man's Dean Martin. Yes. Yes. A starving in the street man's Dean Martin. Yeah. Duke Mitchell was like. A real poor man's Dean Martin. Yes. Yes. A starving in the street man's Dean Martin. Yeah. And they basically did a ripoff act of Martin and Lewis until I guess they got a cease and desist.

Right, Gil? Yeah. It's like, I don't I think they didn't even get a cease and desist because they were they made a movie. Bela Lugosi meets a brooklyn gorilla this is all true andy yeah bela lugosi uh act you know was actually in it to show how bad his life was going and and so they did this and first, it looked like they were going to stop it, like how Wallace from Paramount was going to put a stop. And then when he saw what a piece of shit it was

and how talentless these guys were, he said, just forget it. I'll fall apart on there. So your listeners should Google Duke Mitchell and Sammy Petrillo. Yeah. It'll be rewarding for them. You won't be able to tell the difference between Jerry Lewis and Sammy. It's frightening.

Isn't that show business, though? Like people just rip people off until they get a cease and desist. I guess. But that doesn't answer the question of how we actually met, Gilbert, which is the gentleman's question. Okay. Damn, you are a good podcast co-host. I'm going to shout it out to Frankie, dude.

Nice work, buddy. Back off. Somebody has to keep track. Well, I was looking for a partner. And Peter Marshall was at it. Marshall and Noonan. and and peter marshall marshall and noonan yeah we're just going to confuse andy with ancient references throughout the day you know we we met i i was a follower i was a fan of his andy and i used to go see him gilbert remember the old carolines at the seaport when you had a work at god when you still had a work ethic yes you would do a two-hour show yes yes now if i now if they want me for three minutes i go uh what

what is this slave labor i was a super fan of his, Andy, and I would go watch his shows, and I would approach him after a show. And, you know, he was one of those celebrities that had time to talk to fans after a show. And gradually, we would run into each other over the years at various events. I became a writer on a show called Caroline's Comedy Hour, which was hosted by a late great Richard Jenny, a New York based comedian. And Gilbert was brought in to play Robert Redford in a sketch. Yes. Once again, much like Sammy Fitzgerald and Jerry Lewis, me and Robbie Redford.

Exactly. Possible to tell apart. And then I would, we worked on that show. And then, uh, I worked on various shows with him over the years. I ran into him walking down Ventura Boulevard in Los Angeles because he doesn't drive.

No. And I gave him a lift to an autograph show where they had all these, uh, these, uh, you know, Don Knotts and, and Mr.

Roper from three's company. And all of these people would gather together in the valley to sign autographs. And I took Gilbert to that. It became like a Simpsons Mr. Burns kind of gag. Because even though I ran into him about 20 times, he still had no idea who I was. Yeah, it might as well. He picked me up like a child molester in a van. Like, I lost my puppy.

Can we drive around the area together? Hey, it's Comic-Con again. Get in the car, Gilbert. Get in the car. And that's where we met the voice of Snow White. Yeah. And Cruella de Vil, I think, was the other one. Did she play Cruella de Vil, too?

No. Was she the evil witch? She might have been the witch. Yeah. And and and yes, yes, she was the evil witch. And she's she's like about a thousand. And someone introduces her and says, oh, you and Gilbert have something in common. You are both in classic Disney films. He was in Aladdin and you were in Snow White. And she clutches onto my arm and like with a death grip and starts singing.

Someday my prince will come and i thought oh she's uh honoring me with and then she sings the entire song oh that's right yeah and it was you forget the best part she was dressed as Snow White. Yes. Yes. It was like whatever happened to baby Jane. Was she hot? We spent the whole day together. She's gone now. Was she hot though, pretty woman? Hot. Oh, yes.

Hot at the time. But we spent an entire afternoon together at this show and i gave him a ride home and and then i worked with him on i would see him at industry parties and i was a writer for a show at hln called the joy behar show and gilbert would come on and be a frequent guest and as i said even though it was now 20 25 times that we'd socialize together, dine together, work together. Still had no idea who I was. Yeah. So the only way I know him now is I have his name written on my palm.

Yeah. You see that you see that. Yeah. The notification that he put in your phone. That's it. All Frank. Yes. Which makes it upsetting when I jerk off. Oh, you got should draw a little

Senor Wences face on there, Gilbert. It'll seem like someone else. Yes. What was the moment you're like... Do you know... Do you remember Senor Wences? He's not going to answer a straight question. Here we go. I'm ready. I'm ready.

I'm ready to let this thing go. What were you saying? Nope. Keep going, Gilbert. Keep going. Do you remember or do you know Senior Wences? No, I don't. Who's that? Okay. How old are you, Ant? I'm 34.

Three? He's 34. Yeah. There used to be an old... He was even old then when i was three he was an old spanish guy and he would like paint his hand with a face yes yes it's like you know paint eyes and a mouth and lipstick on a hand and then have a little suit hanging down, like a little body. And they'd go, you know, are you alright?

Are you alright? And you want some candy? Are you on candy? Ah, he's good. He's good. And that used to be, he'd be on Ed Sullivan. Like, do you know who Ed Sullivan is? I know Ed Sullivan. Yeah. Okay. there we go.

We're making progress. We're bonding. We're bonding. We're finally getting it. We're bonding, baby. Let's go. I know Ed Sullivan. This is the kind of vital stuff we talk about on our podcast, by the way. Yes. Up to the minute news about Senior Wences, who lived into his

hundreds, by the way, Gil. Yes. And in fact, there's a Senior Wences Street or Boulevard in New York. There is, Senior Wences Way. Yeah. He was a Spanish, I believe he was Spanish. He was a Spanish ventriloquist who used his hand instead of a puppet. As a matter of fact, I just want to say the relationship that I have with to take a wild, wild guess. You don't know this actor because you didn't know.

Senior one. Guy's 34. Yes. The actor was Frank Ferguson. Shut up. And I said, there's an actor that looks just like Frank Ferguson, and it's killing me. I have the name. I can't remember.

And I asked Frank, and he said, oh, Arthur O'Connell. That sums up our relationship. Sad as it is. Worthless knowledge. You know, Thinking about younger generations and not being remembered and stuff, does it ever hit you? Do you ever feel like

no one's going to remember you as generations go on? Remember me now. Gil, that one's directed to you. Yes. How about you use my punchline already so I can. Yeah. Well, everybody.

I mean, I was talking to somebody not that long ago, and I said, I mentioned David Letterman. He's a guy in his, he did not who david letterman was he from latvia yeah yeah so you're talking to eastern europeans at the at the court authority he doesn't know who david letterman is yeah this guy didn't and well i just like I was watching a movie on TV and Paul Newman is in a scene with Robert Wagner. And at one point, Robert Wagner in the movie as a joke does a James Cagney imitation. And,

and I thought, Oh, nobody watching this movie knows who James Cagney is. And then it struck me. Nobody watching this movie knows who Robert Wagner or Paul Newman is. There you go. The movie is Harper, right? Yes.

Yeah. Robert Wagner, you should know. He was a star. He had a detective show, a hit detective show in the 80s called Heart to Heart. I'm Googling right now. But again, he's 34. Gilbert has prescriptions older than you, Andy. Yes.

So, you know, talk about that. Is it hard to fathom people forgetting legacy? Well, it's the funny thing, like when we first started putting this show together, I was thinking, you know, it probably won't work because nobody knows these people. No one knows the people we'll be talking about.

And now it's nice to hear when they listen to a show and they go, I didn't know who that was you were talking to, but I've been looking it up. And I really enjoy it now. And it's like sorts of fun homework assignment for them. But no, they don't remember anything. It's weird about comedy. People forget the comedy legends, but they don't forget their favorite band or their favorite record. It's still part of entertaining. Why is there no parallel

between comedy and music when people remember who were the great comedians? Or maybe I'm just in the wrong scene. I love comedy and I'm a fan of comedy, but I also don't know the comedian from 1967, but I could tell you what live

Zeppelin record there was. What's the difference between that? Listen, it's good to know even that. Yes. That puts you in the minority. It's why we do this show. May I get serious for a minute, Andy? Yeah, totally.

It's why we do this show, in part, is we're having this conversation, and it's really to to uh to the discussion of this podcast part of what inspired us to do it is to is to make uh help people remember these artists that are still uh important yeah or in cases of ones that are still living and working that there is gilbert likes to say that they're as good as they ever were. Totally. Yeah. It's, it's kind of like they used to be those shows like, uh, fantasy Island and love boat and a couple of other ones like that, um, that are these people that you thought were dead popped up on and you thought, oh, I enjoy seeing them again, and they're still good.

But, like, the world has forgotten about them. Right. That was really, as much as anything, that was the inspiration and the motivation for doing this show. And also, we're historians in a way. We love old show business. Right.

So we wanted to bring it back. We wanted to reminisce about it and be nostalgic for the stuff we love. But we also wanted to have excuse to pick the phone up and call these people and thank them. Acknowledge them for what they gave us. What was the most memorable one? We're up to 400 now. Wow. Let's fucking go, man.

Let's go, guys. Let's fucking go. Yesterday, I actually called up because it was his birthday, Neil Sadaka. Oh, yes. I know Neil. And that was a great episode, just sitting across the table from Neil Sadaka.

And he's had his his keyboard and he's playing the keyboard and singing songs and it's like we're getting a private concert. What did he teach you about work? That's the fun of it. I mean that wrote more than one song.

Applause for Andy's callback. I'm working on one joke. Oh, man. No, it's crazy. I'm a big fan. I love those big band guys. Those guys are just so amazing to me because it really is a play, a theater.

It feels like theater to me and how they have arcs in their shows and stuff. Talking to Sadaka, like what he still has it. Like we talk about being remembered, but like some of the guys start losing it as they get older, but some guys keep their brain spot on. Like who are the guys that you feel like just kept killing throughout their

whole career after talking through all these guys? That's a good question. Well, how about Norman Lear? He's still working at 99. Really? Yeah. I mean,

he's still taking meetings and setting up TV shows and Dick Van Dyke is going strong. I mean, these guys, you know, he's still dancing. He was on, he was,

uh, did a dance on a TV special recently. I mean, he dances. He remembers everything Yeah I did a show with Dick Van Dyke When I was in high school

I grew up in the valley And he lives in the valley too And we did a show at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Center And he was I felt like that man was dripping with pussy back in the day I don't know I just had this vibe He had a smile I just had this vibe. He had a smile and he had a vibe that made me

feel like this man's been fucking for years. In fact, the name of the episode that we did was Dick Van Dyke dripping with pussy. Dripping with an apostrophe and an apostrophe. We left off the G just to be

hip. Shout out to Dick's dick, y'all. Shout out to Dick's dick. That is the first time I ever heard Dick Van Dyke referred to that way. How about you, Gil? Yeah, and one time we had on Betty White and that episode was

Betty White, she loves cock. You know, you know, talking about being vulgar and stuff, like as we get, as we get. What a segue. 2022, you know, it's like, is it harder to be vulgar and harder to be a shock comic? Because you can't really talk about it.

That one's for you too, Gil. Oh, yes. really talk that was for you too gil oh yes is it harder to be vulgar uh it well it does it hasn't stopped me uh i mean you've been a controversy a bunch gilbert and no one like which one do you feel like you regret the most uh none hell none if it's if it's funny i'll regret something if it doesn't get a laugh yeah i'll remember like doing something and go oh boy that one bombed but not if it's like offensive it doesn't uh bother me what was What was your favorite one? So you, I, I don't know. Oh, well, I remember one time when, when Peewee Herman got arrested.

Uh, do you remember that? Oh yeah. Hell yeah. Yeah. He was, he was 11. I was 11.

He was masturbating. That was prime Peewee. Yeah. He was masturbating in a porn theater. And I went up on, uh, I was a presenter at the Emmys and I said, if if Pete that I sleep better at night knowing Peewee Herman's locked up, if masturbation is a crime, I should be on death row. throw. After that, they put on a delay

because they were able to bleep it in LA, but they couldn't bleep it in New York. And after that, I think I'm responsible for them putting a delay on the Emmys and I'm very proud of that. That's something to be proud of.

Well, let's get on to that too. Gilbert. Is your next question, why haven't we had Pee Wee Herman on the podcast? Yeah, I mean... Are you going to resolve it? Are you like... I don't think we have to answer that.

Are you going to be like the Oprah of the podcast scene to start bringing in like... You start calling in everybody. Oh my God. That's so... That's pretty amazing, Gilbert. What about you, Frank? Any time you ever written a screenplay or something and just didn't hit like you thought it would?

Oh, my God. Well, yeah, a couple in the days when I was writing screenplays in L.A. I'm not really so much a screenwriter. What are you? Most of them didn't hit. I'm a joke writer. I write really for comedians. Oh, really? A ghost writer and a

writer of comedians for award shows, roasts, events, talk show panel. I was always wondering about that. Do you have to take your ego away out of it? Plenty of jokes that didn't land by the way. I bet. How much time you got? I got, we got as long as you give me. But, um,

it's like, you know, being a ghostwriter, I think about this as a musician. So I want to think about it now, like the guys in Nashville who write all the big hits for these guys who take all the fame for the hits. Does it ever, do Do you have to take your ego out of it when you're writing a joke for someone, or do you truly enjoy hearing your joke being said by someone else? Well, of course. I mean, I guess like the songwriter

listening to the completed record, when the comic nails the joke, it's very rewarding. My ego's not that involved in it anymore because I'm not a performer. I really didn't have a desire to be a comic, so I've made a nice living writing for other people. It's pretty amazing.

I don't have too many complaints. But yeah, when it comes out just as you intended it, yeah, it's a beautiful thing. As Gilbert knows, there's an art and a construction to a joke. So it can be musical yeah tell me will you mind telling me what what you're like basically construction of what a good joke is that's hard to answer yeah um you know it you know you know it when you hear it this an economy of words um how do you answer that gilbert it's so instinctive it it is something like it is you exactly that you know it when you hear it and it's like there's

something that just sounds right it's kind of like um i i think about um how like a lot of comedians, they sound very musical. You know, when I listen to Who's on First Base, when Avinan Costello do that, it sounds musical to me. Like, what's the fella's name on First Base? What's the fella's name on... I'm not asking you. And it's something, it works. It's quick and to the point. Yeah.

I mean, the joke should be as as succinct as possible you know uh not have extraneous words so the challenge for me the biggest challenge for me isn't necessarily the construction of the joke it's writing jokes and then fitting them to different people's personas yes that's because a joke a joke, a joke that Gilbert does is not necessarily going to be a joke, you know, that, that, uh, that Bill Maher can do.

Right. Or, or Chris Rock or somebody like that. There's so there's, there's, there's, there's jokes have to be funny. Absolutely.

He doesn't hold himself to any standard. Hey, I've given up. They're still trying to get standard. Hey, I've given up. They're still trying to get away. What was the biggest bomb, Gilbert? Basically everything since I've

started. Do you mean a performance of his or like a joke that bombed? performance like do you ever did you ever feel like throwing in the town one time one time i was at an outdoor event i don't know if it was a radio one of these um uh industrial things where they hire you where there's no reason for a comedian to be there, but they hire a comedian. And I remember these big hedges outside.

And somewhere I figured when I got to the end of my show, it was bombing so badly. And I, you know, God knows I'm not an athlete. I climbed over the hedge rather than walk around. Yeah. Oh, my God. You're like, I'm fucking out of here. Yes.

Yes. That was. And what's sad is that's when you still cared. Yeah. Now I would have done longer. Oh, my God. I just thought of an example example andy of a joke that landed yeah uh i was writing for the betty because gilbert brought up betty white i was writing uh for the friars roast of betty white yeah maybe 15 maybe 15 years ago and i gave a joke a joke to uh joy behar and the joke was like g Gilbert, you know this one. Yeah. And all the jokes

were about Betty's age because she was pushing 90 at the time. Still hot, FYI. Still hot. I would have made love with her at 90 for sure. Oh, yeah.

Just keep it 100, but keep going. The joke was, Betty White's vagina is so old and so dry there are still Jews wandering in it. That was the joke and it it landed very very well and and betty uh there was great pleasure for me in watching betty react

to it because she laughed harder than anybody in the room oh my god so so so when you when you you know when you cook something like that up the night before and you're sitting there with a legal pad and you're just brainstorming and then you see it come to three-dimensional life the next day or two days later, that is pleasurable. That's rewarding. Tell me about Friars. You guys did a lot of stuff with Friars Club? Oh, yeah. Well, he did more than I did, but I wrote a bunch of them. Oh, my God.

Please tell me stories about this and like it feels like it's like it's true rap pack style like for comedians like what what was the craziest shit you're getting into out there because it seemed like it was just it was just a party all the time i wish uh-huh there were a lot of times I get invited to a big event at the Friars where they would be like a big celebrity event. And then I get there and realize I was the only celebrity there. Oh, you mean those in-house roasts they did at the club? Oh, yeah. Like the George Takei roast?

Boy, no one here has even owns a TV, let alone has been on. Yeah, but you were also on the larger deuses, the ones we did at the Hilton. Yeah, yeah. You were at Lauer Roast. And the U Hefner Roast. Well, that was Comedy Central, right? That was when Comedy Central was teaming up with the Friars Club. Yeah, for a while, Andy, they were a tandem.

They worked out a tandem. They worked out a partnership. But I think they only did four or five. They did Jerry Stiller and Rob Reiner and maybe two or three others. And then they went their separate ways. And then they moved on. So have you ever roasted them? Yeah, Gilbert was on a bunch of those Comedy Central roasts, of course.

Yeah, those were the best ones. So tell me about Friars Club. Was there cocaine? Were there women? Like, give me the back-end stuff. Okay. I wish to God. The only drugs there were heart pills.

Yeah, a lot of Lipitor. Yeah. Oh, my God. I saw Freddie Roman snorting. What about, like, the Roger, Roger Like the Dangerfields of the world Those guys weren't just like ripping lines and doing jokes Like I just felt like that was like the scene back then It's just like

I was only at the You have no mansion Once I found out there was a party And I went there And well the first time I tried to get in Once I found out there was a party and I went there and, um, well,

the first time I tried to get in, I said, uh, hi, I'm Gilbert Gottfried. I'd like to stop over the mansion. And they said, oh,

we're not open to the public. Uh, oh, that's fucked up. Really? And, and so finally there was one where they knew who I was and they allowed me in. And also I was like, you know, I did see like there were some girls there with body paint on.

So I'll give that. that but as far as i was waiting for it to be like one wild orgy which i think i think in in hef's days when he was younger i think it really was like like a wild illegal orgy you were about 25 or 30 years too late kill exactly or you could have been james khan yes you could have burned through the place yes yeah james khan when he got a divorce to deal with his heartbreak he moved into the playboy mansion oh my god and and just basically non-stop well i guess he would stop every now and then to call the kitchen, have them make him a gourmet meal, eat that, get his energy back, and then I heard also he would have his son with him, who was like two, and he would say to the son, hey, you see that redhead there by the pool? Tell her daddy wants to talk to her.

The perfect wingman. I never saw cocaine all the years I was at the Friars Club, West Coast and East Coast, Andy. I never saw anybody doing any cocaine. Well, bummer. It wasn't what you think.

Man, I went to the Friar Club once. I never saw someone getting up from their chair. As Jeff Ross used to say when he looked around the room, I've seen younger faces on cash. It was not a young crowd. Tell me your relationship with Jeff Ross. I feel like he's really inspired by your style of comedy. What was it like

him growing up and meeting you and you meeting him? Did you think he was good at first? Did you think he was shitty? Give me some of that. What did you think of Jeff in the beginning years? That one's you, Gil. Oh, okay. He sucks. Fuck him. Oh him oh wait are we still on

you've slandered james khan now go for jeff ross yeah no jeff ross i i kind of hit it off with uh right away he was one of those people and uh what what'd you see in i don't probably at a comedy club or something and yeah no i remember uh yeah uh we've hung out a few times jeff is i've worked with jeff a bunch of times he's he's one of the to give him his due he's one of the best joke writers in the world yes yeah and and i remember one time we had him as a guest on the podcast and he i i remember on it was i was walking to his apartment and on the walk over i I thought, oh, damn it. Why didn't I think of it before? I should have thought of having him roast the show, having him roast the podcast. And then when I got there, I thought, I said, look, I know it's too late, but you don't think you could roast it? And he goes, no, no, I need time to prepare and and i said okay fine and then

i introduce him and completely rips the show to spreads he did i think twice yeah yeah hysterical yeah very funny man i mean like and like us he's a fan of old comedy. He's a student. Yes, he grew up around all of those. Burl and all those guys. He has the same affection that we do. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. What do you love about the art of writing a joke? What got you into this? I'd love to hear the background story, Frank,

of who you were before you knew you'd be a professional joke writer. What was your high school growing up up were you getting picked on where were people or were you like gilbert gilbert picked on me yeah he threw my clothes in the girl's shower um i wasn't picked on no i went to i went to high school uh out on long island and uh i i my dad was an illustrator and a painter, and that was the path for me. And somewhere along the line, I started watching people like Gilbert and going to comedy clubs and falling in love with comedy. And I was influenced by the original Saturday Night Live and Python. That was my era.

And over the time, I taught myself to write jokes, uh, you know, developed an ear for it, if you will. And, and I fell in love with it and, uh, you know, but I bounced around. I had a very long career doing a lot of strange things. I lived in LA for time and I wrote for the Muppets and I wrote, I wrote kids shows. I wrote Saturday morning cartoons. I used to write a trading cards for the tops company out of brooklyn remember garbage pail kids stickers yeah yeah i used to i used to write those i used to write bazooka joe comics i did every kind of gag writing and joke writing that a human being can do on my way up um i did so what is the life of like what like what's your day-to-day process like are you you're basically selling jokes so

if you don't want any jokes you can't make any money so it's like do you force your brain do you force your brain to like i have to write like is it like a something or does it come to you like do you for music for me like sometimes i think of it like as an open vessel sometimes the vessel's open and we can make these beautiful art pieces, but sometimes the vessel isn't open and you have to just keep playing with it until the vessel opens. Is the same process with joke writing? It's a discipline. I'm sure Gilbert would tell you the same. Somebody gives you an assignment, an award show, a roast.

I used to write for comics that would sit in on the news segments with Robin and Howard on the Stern Show. Yeah. I wrote jokes for Howard on the Stern show. Yeah. Um, and I, I wrote jokes for Howard for a short time, uh, that, you know, you have a window of time to do it and, uh, you know, and you know, your topics or, you know, where you want to go. And, uh, once you've been doing it as long as I have, they just come. Yeah. It's amazing. You're writing in the voice. I mean, it helps to have an understanding of where somebody's coming from to understand their psychology a little bit and their persona and their voice a little bit and then you and then it's a job of matching writing what you think is funny and putting it in their words what about like when you're doing

it's so long i don't think about it that's it's funny it's like because you mentioned music and whenever I have a composer on the podcast, I always ask them that too. It's like, where does songs come from? Yeah. Cause to me, it's like, I have no idea.

Like, Oh, how did this music come to you in your head? And how does that happen? Do you write music, Andy? Yeah, I write music.

I'm in a band. We do 250 shows a year. So I'm on the road 10 and a half months a year. I've been doing that for like 15 years. And I write all my own music. And I've scored a Judd Apatow film about Gary Goldman, The Great Depression. Sure, yeah. Yeah, Goldman.

Oh, so you must know Mike Bonfiglio. Oh, Bonfiggy, dude. I love Bonfiggy. He's the dude. He's the best. Oh, hell yeah. He's a fan of this show. Well, shout out to Bonfiggy. He's the dude. He's the best. Oh, hell yeah. He's a fan of this show. Well, shout out to Bonfiggy, Will.

Shout out to the talented Mike. And Judd's been on with us, too. Yeah, Judd's amazing. Good gig for you. Congrats. Thank you, sir. Yeah, but Gary Goldman, he's all about that focus. I think he's one of the best, uh, best writers out there.

And, uh, but he was telling me, he thinks of it like an athlete and you have to train your brain into, I'm going to work today. I'm putting on the pants and I'm going to write a joke. Even if it sucks, I'm just going to write jokes every day until I get better. And it's basically, I think all art is the same thing. And like going back to like when I was asking you about how a joke is, maybe it's not an idea. It's how our brain reacts to art. Because you said like,

it's like music when a great joke happens, where it's just the flow is right. The beat is right. Maybe that's a brain thing. It's hard. It's hard to analyze because you have people who do a kind of a structured joke, you know,

with a setup and a punch. And then you have somebody, let's take Gilbert for example. Gilbert, a stream of consciousness bit, like your Ben Gazzara bit with the UFO, with the flying saucer. You couldn't teach anybody to write that.

You couldn't stand up in front of a comedy class and say, here's how we're going to deconstruct this, because it's so specific to your mind and your sense of absurdity. And it's funny. It's like when I was doing a show in England and they wanted to like kind of like make some of the references I had more, you know, that people get, you know, in England, they wouldn't really get Ben Gazzara. And they said, well, who else could you say? And I remember thinking, no, to me, it's got to be Ben Gazzara. Because there's something funny about saying Ben Gazzara.

But what about that joke? Tell Andy your joke that you used to do in your acts. And I'll just give you the first couple of words of it, which was, I wonder if people in the Middle Ages used to walk around. Oh, yeah. I did a whole bit about Nostradamus. I still do it. I don't throw anything away.

Is that the Chachi bit? Yes. Yeah, right. Because Nostradamus also predicted one day Henry Winkler would have his own show. And back then it was the 1400s. Beware Winkler. Chachi, I could see.

But Winkler, not so much. Oh, sure, Chachi. Of course, Chachi. But Winkler, I don't. Now, if we dissected the frog, as they say in comedy, which kills the frog, he's combining

a modern reference like Chachi. I can't believe I'm doing this to you. Like Chachi and Henry Winkler with the Middle Ages. And what makes it extra absurd is that the people in the Middle Ages sound like old Jews from Brighton Beach. In his Winkler, I could see. But how do you explain that? I mean, how do you? It's just funny because it's so married to him.

It's so married to his persona. Nobody else, which is why people don't steal from Gilbert, because nobody else in the world could sell that. Right. It's just like there was a comedian years ago that I loved when he would pop up on TV all the time, and that was Charlie Callis. And he would make faces and do these weird sounds, you know, going.

And all this. And I thought, boy, it makes me crack up. And I thought, how can you tell a person like, oh, no, there's this guy. He looks funny and he makes these weird sounds. And it's like there's no way of explaining it. That's it. Yeah, it's pretty amazing. It's kind of like music, I guess, because we're basically ripping off the same four chords everyone else has and we're adding in a different interpretation.

That's right. chords everyone else has and we're adding in a different interpretation that's right it's just like um you know an abbott and costello in there who's on first base there's one party goes you know i'm a good catcher myself and abbott goes so they tell me and i think i crack up when he says so they tell me no way to explain why that's funny, but it's funny. The joke I was referring to, by the way, Gil, in your act was, wasn't it, I wonder if people from the Middle Ages used to walk around. Oh, people in the Middle Ages, in the 1400s, people were walking around going, this is a long time ago. This is now. This is a while ago.

Because everybody in his perspective does. But that's an absurdity. That joke is, some people, I guess, would call it Dadaism. But nobody could write that because that's so wedded to who he is and his worldview how hard was it to write jokes for howard stern i did it for a very very short time and uh it was just jokes uh based on the news yeah um based on the day's news uh i think he had a he had a brief flirtation with uh with looking at jokes from writers you You know, again, the same as it is for everybody else.

You know, you're just, you're capturing a persona and then trying to write from their persona and a primary emotion, whatever that is. I mean, yeah, ghostwriting is basically, you're putting on the costume of the person and you're just making them sound cooler. And you're trying to make yourself laugh, obviously. Going back to Howard Stern, Gilbert,

what happened with you over there? Why did that stop? Yeah, Gilbert. Yeah. Eventually, they catch on. What happened? Eventually they catch on. What happened?

I'm a big Stern fan. I've been sure we all are up show with Gary and stuff. Yeah. I was just curious because you're so good at it. Like what happened? Why, why, why, why did you stop?

It's, it's the funny thing. Um, and show business, especially life in general, but I always feel you can never uh sit back and kick your shoes off you know you're never actually there that's true yeah so it's like yeah like i was a regular like you know semi-regular i'd come on a lot on Arsenio Hall, and then one day just stops.

Because you know there's a conversation somewhere in the producer's office where they're going, yeah, we've had Gilbert on a lot. Yeah. As a matter of fact, bringing back Charlie Callis, I actually remember hearing the story. Somebody, the producer, was talking to Johnny Carson. And one of them said, oh, well, I don't know. We could have Charlie Callis on. And he goes, we've had him on and off already. And that ended it.

Did you ever watch the Larry Sanders show, Andy, on HBO? Yeah. I think it's a lot like that. Talking about great joke writing. And that ended it. Did you ever watch the Larry Sanders show, Andy, on HBO? Yes, I love Larry Sanders. I think it's a lot like that. Talking about great joke writing, there's a scene where Jeanine Garofalo played the booker, the talent booker on that show, Paula. And Gary Shandling's character, Larry Sanders, is looking at the index cards on his bulletin boards to see which guests are coming up. And he pulls off a card and he says, now this is what i'm talking about who's michael chiklis and she says he's the commish and he said no no i was doing my impersonation of america who's michael chiklis now that's a great joke. Yeah.

Yeah. I don't know which, I don't know which writer wrote that joke. Paul Sims, maybe the show runner, somebody, but that, that is, that's just a perfect.

Yeah. It's a perfect joke for the perfect character in the perfect situation. And it's kind of spot on with how fucked up the entertainment industry is. Like we want to go, it's what's comfortable and we want to go with what's bigger, but we're not taking risks on new things anymore. Does that make sense? I feel like there's no A&R anymore in the development of being an artist.

It's just like you either get good or you don't, or you have to be the sidebar. Is there a new age developing? I don't know what with me. I feel like the exact second I thought I had show business kind of figured out. It all changed. What happened? And it's like, yeah, now I don't know how show business works.

Like, I don't quite understand like, oh is on this channel but it's not you know like in in my in my mind if you were to say to me like or name two stars you know I'd go I don't know uh Tom Cruise and Julia Roberts but now there are people like on the internet who are like come on they put on things where they squeeze a blackhead or whatever and they're much bigger what channel is that yeah i watch it my pen i watch it yeah is that the blackhead channel yeah and i i i've spoken to comedy club owners who say they book people from the internet and they say they have like like maybe three minutes of material uh but the crowds uh are like you know it's a mob scene yeah are you saying that if you were coming up now that you would have a different a different

and maybe a more difficult path yeah i don't don't know. Yeah. I, I, cause I, I completely none. What, what, what I'm so, what I'm, I'm glad they didn't have all this cause I'd be scared if I would have recorded any of my, my, me on stage years ago. Cause I, I don't want the way I was then, like totally unprepared and inexperienced

to be all over the place. Now it is like that. This assumes that you're prepared now. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, but isn't that what the charm of why people like to Gilbert? Yeah, but I mean, it was like, like, just I don't know. You know how you look back at stuff you did years ago and you go, oh, God, that cringy.

How did I think that was any good? And it's like now that would all be around. Yeah. So maybe it's a blessing in disguise. Yeah, yes. That no video was taken when... Because yeah, I was thinking about that too with how people are... I'm not going to call it...

I'm sick of calling it cancel culture, but it's like how people are reacting to stuff that you said 20 years ago when it was appropriate. I talked with my buddy, you know Todd Glass? Sure. That's one of my- Funny guy. That's one of my close friends out in the comedy world.

He has this thing like, it's about evolving. It's like we evolve all the time as humans. Why can't we evolve our speech too? You know? Oh, that's interesting. Have we evolved at all, Gilbert?

No, no, not, not, not if you watch my head, you watch my act. We haven't even discovered fire. It's so funny.

I used to see Todd glass at, uh, todd at a place you you're in la are you la based i'm i live in denver now but i grew up in la yeah oh you're in denver there used to be a club on robertson in la where uh where you could go see uh todd glass i can't think of the name of it they used to do that uh beth lapidus used to do her show there. Todd always. Fantastic. Always killed. Yeah, he's. Yeah, great, great.

And a lively, energetic performer, physical. Is there a lot of lively comedians these days anymore? I don't like a Kennison, a Glass, like new comedians, like who are really just. There must be people like that out there. Gilbert and I have to confess, and I don't want to speak for you, Gilbert, we don't watch a lot of new comics, do we? Yeah, it's like, because when I watch a comic, it's like, you know, after you've been doing it for a while, you sit there and you go, ah, that's clever. Ah, yeah, I can see where he did that. You're too jaded to laugh because you're deconstructing

everything i kind of think like probably when movie makers uh sit in a and watch a movie they go uh see see i see where that cut was that was really sloppy we asked barry sonnenfeld when we had him on our podcast that question are is it Is it hard for you to lose yourself in a movie because you're looking at the strings the whole time? Yeah, I think with comedy, Gilbert's right. That happens. You know, that joke is, well, you've heard this. They say the way a comedian laughs, he says, that's funny. Yeah.

And I think there's something to it. You get too, you're too close to it. And, and you just, is it a question of us not loving the art of it? Or is it the question of us being defeated by the actual music industry or the art industry? Maybe we're just question,

you know, I remember one time I was working on something, either a movie or TV thing, but we were all at our a bar restaurant afterwards and on tv there was like you know a chase scene and some cop show and there were the uh the stunt guys were watching that gun ah ah you see see that move they may yeah that one again and then and it's like you know i'm just watching a typical chase scene but to them they know each trick yeah but i'd hate to get too jaded i mean i saw ricky gervais's last stand-up special i loved it

i love patten oswalt's last special yeah i, I mean, it's still, I mean, great comedy still works for me. I'm still happy to see it. Yeah. And I'm still impressed by the talent of this. I love Eddie Izzard. I love Billy Connolly. I love so many people. I don't want to, I fight hard to not get to that place where I'm just analyzing.

Yeah. That would be no fun. I know. I do that, too, all the time. Like, sometimes I can't enjoy going to my buddy's concerts because I'm just analyzing. That would be no fun. I know. I do that too all the time. Sometimes I can't enjoy going to my buddy's concerts because I'm thinking about, oh, the front man could have been in the crowd or the guitar player could have took a better solo.

I'm like, if I would have thought about this when music wasn't my occupation and it was just my hobby and how I never took music for granted back then, I would have kicked myself in the, in the face for thinking like this. I think, you know, going back to my first question, when we get an older, you know, it's like, maybe that's it. We're just fucking jaded. And maybe that's why we don't want to keep inspiring yourself. Maybe that's why we need

to get, I'm going to pump you up, Gilbert. You're going to fucking do this, buddy. We're going to get you funny again. We're going to get you Gilbert. You're going to fucking do this, buddy. We're going to get you funny again. We're going to get you funny. You're going to be fucking legendary at this. We're going to get you back to fucking loving comedy again, Big Daddy. Hell yeah. What gets

Gilbert up is knowing that the club has flooded when he's on his way to do the gig. That's my fantasy. That the sprinkler system went off. That's my number one fantasy when I'm backstage is that the owner will come back and say that we had a fire or a flood. There's no show tonight. Oh, here's your check.

Why do you think it is not good enough? Yeah, I don't know, but I here's your check. Why? Do you think it is not good enough? Yeah. I don't know, but I just enjoy. One time, just recently, I was supposed to do two shows in the night. And they said that they'd screwed up in their advertising and only advertised it as one show. So the other show, uh,

you know, they, they were all the tickets were for one. And, and he says, would, would you mind terribly? We'll pay you for both shows, but if we canceled one of them, you'll do one show. And I, and I, I practically came in my pants. Oh, you're like, yep, I will take that. I will take that offer. Yes.

If he could do a cartwheel, he would have done a cartwheel. How important is money to you guys? Again, that's you, Gil. Yeah. I like it. And the more, the better.

Did it. So I don't want to bring it. I know you probably talk about this all the time, but I never dreamed, thought of having you guys on the show. I've had to ask this. Did it break your heart when you didn't get that Aflac money anymore? Get the what? The Aflac money.

The money. Did that break your heart? When that check stopped coming in? Broke his wife's heart. Yeah. Any penny. I'm not kidding. That's a big,

you know, that's a big, that's like, you know, heartbreaking. What did you learn from that experience is what I'm trying to say. Nothing. That's the sad part about it. I'm still not careful. That's what I say.

Yeah. Well, fuck yeah. Always be you, Gilbert. Always be you. What about you, Frank? Ever like, you have anything like you didn't take a job? I also missed the Aflac money. Did you ever, like, say no to a job that ended up being, like, this huge success or anything?

Oh, God. No, I don't think so. I've said yes to so many things. I'll take that. It's not in my nature to turn work down. So I haven't, I guess I've been fortunate in that I haven't seen too many things blossom. Yeah. That somehow passed me by.

Well, that's beautiful. I mean, you know, any career has regrets. You know, or roads not taken or things you wished you'd done or things you wished you'd gone out for. But, you know, I'm lucky. I think even Gilbert would admit that we're lucky to make a living at fun, at what we love. Yeah. You tell that story, Gilbert, about if your dad could see you now. Yeah, I always think that whenever I start like bitching about how my life is and I'm thinking if my parents came back to life and I'd

say to my father, oh, God, it's awful. I get paid this amount of money to get on stage and tell a couple of jokes. It's really. And, you know, I'm talking to someone like him who got his hands dirty. Yeah. And and it's like, so, yeah, when I think about that, I think about, you know, what I'm making, what I'm doing. It's like it's I I go up,, I make some faces, I tell some jokes. Oh, it's horrible.

Yeah, I think we're grateful. And another thing that I always remind myself is like all the years that I was just kicking around on these nightclubs where you waited around in no money if they just put you on stage. And there were people for years that I saw coming in there. And I bump into them at every club. And then you wake up one day and you go, whatever happened to that guy? And what is his name?

And it's like, they disappeared. Yeah. It's crazy. What if like, I get, it's also, you know,

it goes back to, is it the anxiety that's rooting us to never be satisfied? That's why we're jaded. Maybe, maybe there's something to be said for that. I mean, if you're ambitious, I guess you always want more, but you also get to a certain stage of life where you have to have perspective. Right. I mean, people pay me large sums of money to write funny things on a piece of paper, and I don't have to sell fertilizer on the phone. I mean, I'm extremely grateful for everything that's happened.

And with this podcast, too, we've gotten to meet many of our heroes. Listen, I was sitting in a room. I'll pay you a compliment, Gilbert, though I'm loathe to do that. I was sitting in a room, Andy, with two of my comedy heroes, with Gilbert and the great Stephen Wright. And I was sitting between them room, Andy, with two of my comedy heroes, with Gilbert and the great Stephen Wright. Yeah. And I was sitting between them in this little studio, and the two of them were going back and forth. And it was a pinch-me moment for me. I thought, well, I'm just a kid.

My parents didn't go to college, and I'm just a kid from Queens and Long Island. What the hell am I doing in this room with these guys, these magicians? So I always have perspective about it. And I try, you know, this sounds corny, but I do try to find the gratitude in it. It's been a wonderful

ride. Well, I'm here to pump you up, Frank. Frank, you are good enough. You are powerful. You deserve to be in that fucking table big daddy you are just like those greats and i swear to god thank you if you treat yourself bad like that i'm coming over to your house in la wherever the fuck you live frank and i'm gonna pump your all right sorry all right keep going sorry frank yeah but it's like with me i always uh i always remind myself what happened

to all those comedians that i saw every single night who just seemed to have fallen off the earth yeah yeah and uh and and always always were thinking uh what would my parents think if this is what i'm bitching about yeah it's true it's true i always think about that i i think it's you're never too old to be a little starstruck either too and just and and and like i said because i'm talking about gratitude even gilbert for all that he's achieved and he's you know in a movie with eddie murphy and and aladdin which was a very big thing for him gilbert i'm speaking for you again yes but going back to dick van dyke we had dick van dyke on the show and gil was like a kid in a toy store with him yes like oh what am i doing here with dick van dyke it's like sometimes you meet those people you go where like well wait a minute a minute. This isn't a real person.

How is he? How is he walking around in real life? This is a guy in on TV. That's and aren't you also thinking I'm a I'm a kid from Coney Island. And yeah. And what the hell am I doing here with Dick Van Dyke? Yes. Oh, exactly.

You know, so try to have perspective. I'm thinking of, I'm thinking the same thing. What the fuck am I doing here with these two? I'm just a dumb musician. And when I talk to you, I think, what the fuck am I talking to you for? That's sweet. It's mutual.

Guys. Oh, Andy, this was fun was fun dude thank you so where where can they find your podcast gilbert oh gilbert uh gilbert godfrey's amazing colossal podcast and you tell wherever fine podcasts are sold it's on apple music it's SoundCloud. Go to gilbertpodcast.com. Our site. We're on Instagram. We have a million Facebook pages. We have a Twitter account. Gilbert has a Twitter account. We're unavoidable.

I also do cameos, video shoutouts. Go to cameo.com slash Gilbert Gottfried. Dude, I'm telling you, I'm on Cameo too. It paid my mortgage. So shout out to Gilbert making that money, baby.

I know you talk a lot. Make that money, Gilbert. Pay that mortgage, Big Daddy. Pay that mortgage. You know, this is the only way I get applause like that. He's a podcast host with an applause machine. You have to appreciate that uh guys

Eddie we appreciate you asking us on no you guys are the shit I got one more question um you know we talk about memory

and we talk about you know you talk about why you started your podcast to keep these legends that you love in the ears of the generations

of now that's the reason so let's ask you what do you guys want to be remembered by boy oh boy well that's the thing that's what goes back to like uh frank and i were talking to somebody and we mentioned groucho Marx and they had no idea who Groucho Marx was. And then you remember like, and that was years ago, Groucho Marx. Now there's people like, you know, it's like people like,

it seems it gets quicker and quicker. People are forgotten. I think, yeah, it's true. I think six months after this podcast, I think six months after the podcast ends, what I'd really love is for Gilbert to remember who I was. He evaporates into the night.

I expect it to come full circle. he, he, he evaporates into the night and yeah, he's like, I expect it to come full circle. You know that I, I run into him. I run into him like eight months, 10 months after we've ended the show. And I say, Gilbert,

remember me? We did a podcast together for eight years. And he says, he says, yeah, I remember you. You're the guy in the blue shirt. Yeah.

Oh, Frank. And I'll serious though. What do you, what's your legacy? yes oh frank and all serious though what do you what's your legacy you're such an amazing writer what do you want to be remembered by oh gosh it's always scary because i i i see that's something i also catch when they're interviewing a celebrity and they say uh how would you like to be remembered? And it's like, as a matter of fact, I think it was Robert Redford in an interview. And they said, how would you like to be remembered? What would you want on your tombstone? And he answered the question. And then when the mic was off, he said, I know what you did.

And that's like to have something when that person's dead. And that's great. Yeah. I mean, I've written a million jokes and a lot of shows. But I will say that the podcast, I mean, sitting in a room with Gilbert and Stephen Wright and sitting in a room with Robert Wagner know, Robert Wagner and Alan Arkin and Alan Alda and all these people. This has been the thrill of my career. So cool. You know, this to me, and it isn't even what I set out to do.

I never had any designs on getting behind a microphone or being a broadcaster or a podcaster or anything like that. I just wanted to write jokes and hang out with comedians and clubs. And I think this is the best work that I've ever done. And this is what I'm proudest of. This is the show, the 400, 600 episodes that we've done, Gil,

if you count the many episodes. And there's been some interest. We've been approached by some people who've talked to us about acquiring the show and archiving the show and making it, uh, available for future generations. And, uh, it's really, uh, it's, it's a tremendously

flattering because, um, we're proud to do it. You're going to not need that Aflac money soon here, boys. Let's go. When you get that it when you get that big one. When CBS comes to you, you're like, you know what, Aflac? Suck it. No problem. Guys, thanks for being part of the show. I love you. This is amazing. Hopefully I can catch you guys in L.A.

I don't know. Maybe I could see you soon. I would love to watch you bomb, Gilbert. It would be great. That would be awesome. Anytime I'm on stage. Wait a second. It'd be great. Oh, yeah. Anytime I'm on stage. Wait a second. He's in Florida. I'm in New York.

You're in Denver. How are we catching each other in LA? Oh, then perfect. I play in New York and I'm playing in Florida. I'm just going to just find your houses on Yahoo. Just come over. The addresses are on there. Drop by anytime. Well, guys, thank you so much. Keep inspiring people. Thank you. Thank you so much. This is amazing. Thanks, man, thank you so much. Keep inspiring people. Thank you.

Thank you so much. This is amazing. Thanks, man. And I hope you have a great day. Fuck shit up out there. Gilbert, go out there. Just come all over the world. They're ready for you, Gilbert. Come on. We're ready for you. Have a good one, guys. Thank you so much for being part of the show.

Thank you. Later, guys. Later. Bye. Wow. Gilbert Godf much for being part of the show. Thank you. Later, guys. Later. Bye. Bye. Wow. Gilbert Godfrey and Frankie. That was amazing. I was like, that's a kid in a fucking, what do they call that? Kid in a candy store. Thank you guys for being part of that.

All right. You tuned in to the World Sefer Podcast with Andy Fresco, now in its fourth season. Thank you for listening to this episode, produced by Andy Fresco, Joe Angelo and Chris Lawrence. We need you to help us save the world and spread the word. Please subscribe, rate the show, give us those crazy stars, iTunes, Spotify, wherever you're picking this shit up. Follow us on Instagram at world saving podcast for more info and updates. Fresco's blogs and tour dates you'll find at andyfresco.com And check our socials to see what's

up next. Might be a video dance party, a showcase concert, that crazy shit show or whatever springs to Andy's wicked brain. And after a year of keeping clean and playing safe, the band is back on tour. We thank our brand new talent booker Mara Davis.

We thank this week's guest, our co-host, and all the fringy frenzies that helped make this show great. Thank you all. And thank you for listening. Be your best, be safe, and we will be back next week. No animals were harmed in the making of this podcast as far as we know. Any similarities

or knowledge, facts or fake is purely coincidental.