Andy Frasco's World Saving Podcast - EP 253: LeeAnn Kreischer

Episode Date: January 16, 2024

Everyone must shut up as Show Bard Shawn draws upon your heart strings with a new cover of  a classic tune. Let them tears flow, baby. Ironic covers: yay or nay? Andy & Nick discuss the merits of hipster ethics and whether Creed's music can every truly be 'good'. Plus: why do bassists often come from such gilded upbringing? On the Interview Hour we got our new favorite person, LeeAnn Kreischer! Andy & Nick got tight with the incredibly funny LeeAnn on Bert Kreischer's comedy cruise. Friendships (and wild origin stories) abound, so listen in... And guess what... Watch the full episodes Exclusively on Volume.com now in color!  Psyched to partner up with our buddies at Volume.com! Check out their roster of upcoming live events and on-demand shows to enrich that sweet life of yours. Call, leave a message, and tell us if you think one can get addicted to mushrooms: [phone]  Check out our new album!, L'Optimist on all platforms Follow us on Instagram @worldsavingpodcast For more information on Andy Frasco, the band and/or the blog, go to: AndyFrasco.com Check out our good friends that help us unwind and sleep easy while on the road and at home: dialedingummies.com Produced by Andy Frasco, Joe Angelhow, & Chris Lorentz Audio mix by Chris Lorentz Featuring: Arno Bakker Shawn Eckels

Now, a message from the UN. now You're a hard one I know that you've got your reasons Things that are pleasing you hurt you somehow Don't you draw the queen of diamonds boy, she beats you

if she's able The queen of diamonds, boy, she beats you if she's able The queen of hearts is always your best bet Now it seems to be some fine things Have been laid upon your table But you only want the one that you can't give Desperado Oh, you ain't getting no younger Pain in your hunger

Driving you home Freedom, oh freedom Well that's just some people talking This prison is walking through This world all day long But your feet get cold in the wintertime The sky won't snow and the sun won't shine It's hard to tell the night time from the day

You're losing all your highs and lows Ain't it funny how the feeling goes away Piers Perot Oh shit And we're live Andy Frasco's World Series Podcast I'm Andy Frasco How you doing? How's your head? How's your mind?

Are you following the Nick Gerlach Trivia Tour like I am? Two for two, baby I thought you were going to play Gamehenge last night I didn't Bullshit I don't know it Are you excited for your Victor Wooten show? Oh yeah

It already happened The repertoire, yeah, was it fun? Yeah, it was great, we killed it I heard the repertoire was full of 90s butt rock No, not 90s butt rock, 90s grunge rock What's butt rock exactly? Creed I don't want to call them butt rock, they're so good

Enough with this Creed bullshit I don't want to call them butt rock They're so good What about like Enough with this Creed bullshit Everyone fucking hated Creed I never hated them Everyone would talk shit about Creed Now they're the fucking talk of the town Everyone's such a fucking hypocrite It's kind of a joke though

Except the Obapod covering was real Because Compa really was a huge Creed fan Really? I don't believe it I believe it, he's weird Except the Obapod covering was real because Kampa really was a huge Creed fan. Really? Yeah. I don't believe it. I believe it. He's weird. He likes weird stuff.

Everyone was making fun of Creed. Everyone made fun of Creed for 10 years. Yeah, because it was funny. But now it's cool? Well, I don't think it's more like they're doing it to be ironic a little bit. I know. That's what I can't stand people. You don't like ironic covers, do you? if it's if you're being genuine to the

ironicness if you're not being if you're telling the line yeah if you're just like talking shit about it but all of a sudden now it's cool then you listen to it it's like that ironic thing people do when they like they're selling merch but they act like they don't want to be selling merch and they kind of you know what i mean they kind of make fun of the fact they're selling merch it's like oh yeah it's like you're selling merch, though. You're doing it. Yeah. You're bootlegging Grateful Dead shirts at the lot. I'm going to have to go ahead and give you this one. I think you're right about it.

Let's move on from the Creed thing. But that first album was kind of banging. But it is funny, too. But when I think of butt rock, I think more like Three Doors Down. Oh, I love that song. If I go crazy, where will you go? Call me Superman. I hate that music because I grew up in Indiana.

What about fastball? There's too many people that... No, they're too like... Like Marcy's Playground. That's a fastball song. So what about like... Three Dwarfs Down. What about Shinedown?

Shinedown's butt rock. I don't think Linkin Park is. I think they're more nu metal. Yeah. I kind of fucked with Linkin Park. That first record was dope. I think Linkin Park is nu metal. Limp Bizkit's Butt Rock. I don't think Linkin Park is. I think they're more nu metal. Yeah. I kind of fucked with Linkin Park. That first record was dope. I think Linkin Park is nu metal. Limp Bizkit's nu metal.

Korn is nu metal. And, you know, those... So what was Butt Rock? Shine Down. Three doors. Yeah. I learned to cocaine. Right?

She's a crazy bitch. She's a crazy bitch. It's music for guys that, like, become plumbers right after high school. It's not an insult. Plumbers make a lot of money. They do really well. But I'm saying, you know the kind of guy...

I grew up in Indiana. There's a ton of guys that unironically like Three Doors Down there. It's not like in California when you guys are like, Incubus is playing. Is Incubus butt rock? No. They're like trying to be art rock, kind of. Brandon Boyd's hot.

That guy's hot. Dude. I can never tell if I like that man or not. He's still hot. Yo, put up a picture of Brandon Boyd. He's got abs. He's got abs. Like a new picture of Brandon Boyd.

I can never figure out if I like Incubus or not. I think they're all right. I like their earlier stuff, I guess. He doesn't age. What is he doing? He's white. He's got a little Asian in him. I don't agree that.

I think every race... I don't know. I think white people don't age well. I think some people do and some people don't in every race, you know? Really? Yeah. Oh, yeah. Dude, he's so hot still. Holy fuck, dude! He's got Jared Leto energy, except for he is a rock star. He's a rock star.

Well, Jared Leto's a rock star. No, he's not. He's an actor. Oh, my God. Look how hot Brandon Boyd is. You can't be an actor and a rock star. That's insane how hot he got. Yeah. I think surfing. He surfed his whole life. You know, even Flea's got like a hot body.

Yeah. Surfing. Surfers are kind of hot. Anthony Keat is kind of hot. You never really see a big, fat surfer, do you? No. Which is weird because you just stand there. It's not hard.

You just stand on a board. No. You stupid ass. That's like the hardest. Let stand on a board. No. You stupid ass. That's like the hardest. Let's see Flea. It takes literally no skill. You just stand on like a fucking... Look at his body.

He's like, you got the Iggy Pop fucking body. What do you do? I want that body. How do I get the fucking like heroin chic body? I don't know, man. You see a little bit of rib. You don't see like... You're not too dialed in with your muscles But you still

Dial in gummies Speaking of dialing gummies Shout out dialing gummies Maybe he's in shape from trying to This segment Rating hot dudes Is by dialing gummies Do you want to dial in your body?

All fleece cardio Is from trying to distance himself From Anthony Kiedis for 30 years Speaking of dialing gummies though Dude Those fucking CBD I know I took only one or two last night

Oh my god It keeps me asleep I'm finally like Got my fear of not sleeping in my bed Cause I've I thought there was ghosts in my bed There is I saw one earlier I'm just kidding I just want to scare you

But normally they wake me up at night And the CBD is like not today devil You're going to bed and you're going to stay to bed And the CBD is like, not today, devil. You're going to bed and you're going to stay to bed. And the ghost is like, oh, I want to play. I want to watch Andy masturbate again. It's only for a couple minutes. He'll strike Jesus Christ again.

Where's the rest of his penis? Why does he keep on going to MILF porn? That's the whole penis? That's it? When I was a kid I used to. I don't. When I was a kid, I used to. I mean,

we have Leanne Kreischer on the show. Hey, hey, watch it. She's young. Her wife is the best. And this is such a great interview. We shouldn't be talking

about my masturbation habits, but in true Kreischer form, maybe I should because she's dealt with. I doubt that she's, there's anything we can say that she could, that would surprise or. She is so... I didn't realize

how punk rock she is. She's a badass. Her favorite concerts were Motley Crue. And Eagles. They just went to the Eagles show. And I'm going this weekend too, so I'm excited to see what they saw. I'm going to see the Eagles and Steely Dan.

I just got tickets for that show too the next day. Where's the Steely Dan. I just got tickets for that show too the next day. Where's the Steely Dan show? Forum. It's going to be dope. My friend's dad owns the Forum. Really? You know who he is. Oh, yeah. They own the Forum too? They own a bunch of shit like that.

They might not own it anymore, actually, but they did. That whole group owns so many venues. You don't know about this? Man. Making that money. I'll bleep it out Yeah, yeah I mean, it doesn't really matter, I guess Everyone knows who his dad is

I'd be in a jam band, too Why are all the bass players in jam bands Have, like, millions of dollars? You know what's weird about him, though? The first time they came to Indie They slept on, like, the cement floor Of my friend's basement What?

They were not doing it like that Who? We're talking about Yeah, Todd His dad owns the Knicks owns the nick yeah whatever yeah it's okay he doesn't act like that at all though no i'm what i'm getting at here is like the dude is like he they did the hard stuff yeah and i didn't know who his dad was the first eight or nine times i hung out with him every i mean every there's so many rich family bass players I know I can name five bands That have like

The bass player has Millions and millions Really? I can think of that one Another one Bass player W Hotels I thought it was some big bank

Either way it doesn't matter The bass player His dad Is a billionaire He's the bank guy He's the bank guy Fucking Phil Lesh's kid, Graham Lesh.

Yep. What's his dad do? Just kidding. And they're all humble. All the bass players are cool and humble. It's called old rich versus new rich. You know about that? Like, if I was Graham Lesh and my whole childhood was just like going on a PJ to gig to gig,

would I become an asshole? No, yes, definitely. I i probably would i don't know because it's like i had money but not like that no it's not that's like a whole you know i mean you're all right you're like upper middle upper middle class in los angeles i mean your dad's still working right yeah it's not like he's like yeah exactly like you know you were fine but but all the all those rich dudes are humble people don't really people don't really have a concept of how rich some of these people are. They're like, oh, my friend's rich.

He has a house, and then they go on vacation. It's like, no, you're just poor. Versus my homies who have rich parents but are guitar players. Yeah. They're a little more douchier. I know. What is that? I wonder.

Maybe because they're guitar players, and guitar players are just douchier by nature. Super alpha. Guitar players are alpha. Yeah, them and trumpet players. They're kind of on the same... Trumpet. Trumpet players are dicks, dude. Really? Yeah, but they should be arrogant. It's the hardest horn. It's like, it takes a certain guy to do it. Every instrument does have sort of a personality

to it. I've been watching Benny Bloom a lot lately. He just gets better and better. He's a great musician. Great musician, but just a great front man. Oh, yeah, yeah. He's good. He's great. I went to that gig with Sax Gordon. I just love his demeanor. I'm excited to be a front man. He's got that old crooner energy.

Yeah. He's got that Paul Inca. He's got that... Because he sings now. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That guy was amazing on Sax, huh? Yeah. Oh, Sax Gordon was dope. It's very rare I have to go I'm like I gotta see this guy Yeah

So grab yourself Some dialed in gummies They're great They're great And they're affordable And they're in every I got a busy weed I just saw

They just went to Cush Club They had them everywhere Yours are all medical Though they're no What Cush Club? The Frasco ones Are medical there But they have other

Oh really? Yeah they have And Toby's are back there Yeah cool They had all the stuff. Kush Club let me borrow a pound of weed. Borrow? For my photo shoot.

Oh. Would they front it? It sounds like they front it to you. Yeah, I'm like, don't smoke it. No one smoke it. They front me a pound. They front me a pound. I owe them two G's by Wednesday.

I love Kush Club. It's my favorite. Yeah, so if you're in the Denver area, I'll give this. This is a free plug. Go to Kush Club. Walk's the man dude Yeah Joaquin's the man He's been a good friend of mine for a long time

Man I got a busy week this week I leave for LA LA And You're mostly going on like fun things though It's Friday I'm going to

Start mixing The first two songs we're Putting out next month How long does it take you to mix a track? Four hours? A day Six hours That's about right Six, eight hours With Rick Parker I love Rick He did like Lord Huron putting out next month. How long does it take you to mix a track? Four hours? A day. Six hours.

That's about right. Six, eight hours. With Rick Parker. I love Rick. He did like Lord Huron. He's a cool hang. So I love hanging at his house all day. He lives in the Hollywood Hills.

This is a pro Lord Huron podcast, right? Yeah, we like Lord Huron. Okay, cool. You like him? I haven't checked him out enough. My friend's their sound guy. And he's cool. So I'm... They're fucking...

You know, you can't hate the hustle. They're fucking drawing. If they hire him and take him around, they must be nice guys. So Friday I'm doing that and then we go to Paul Anka. I'm going to take mushrooms with Todd Glass and Gaffigan. Oh, Gaffigan's going? That's funny.

He's from Indiana. And then Saturday I'm taking my parents to the Eagles Steely Dan game. Who do you like more? Eagles orSteely Dan game. Game. God. Who do you like more, Eagles or Steely Dan? Fucking Eagles. Really?

I think... Don't do it. I won't do it. Watch your mouth about Steely Dan around me. I know. It's a little nerdy for me. Donald Faggelson. What's his name?

Faggelson? Faggelson. Faggin. Donald Faggelson. Is that a slur? I think you accidentally did a slur. He's Jew. I like the Eagles.

I don't know. They're both amazing. But Steely Dan only has the one guy now. I mean, there's a couple great songs by Steely Dan, but Eagles have so many good songs. Steely Dan has such amazing lyrics, so I feel like you would like them more if you really dug in on their lyrics more.

I do respect how seriously they take the records, too. I watched their document on Asia, and they had like 10 bands. They said, nope, not good enough. Let's keep it going. I thought you'd be more into them because of the songwriting they do. I'm just not into all those weird chords. That's fair. I think that's fair.

But they're good. They're good. I bet you're going to like them more live. They're cool. I mean, their musicians are so good My dad has a hard on for Steely Dan and the Eagles Oh dude, boomer dads This is a fucking wet dream

So I'm excited to do that with them Eagles are cool And then Sunday I'm going to take Oh I'm recording, I'm writing a song with Kenny Carkeet From AWOL Nation again I met him on a podcast I like him because he's quick I like him because he's quick. I like

quick. When engineers and producers are quick and when we have an idea and you're not fucking up with the workflow, those are my best favorite producers. That's what I fuck with. That's what a good producer is. Yeah, Galbuta. Mostly about speed. I love Galbuta

and I love Kenny Karki. They're the best. And then Monday, I'm on two podcasts. Felipe Esparza's. I'm going on What's Up, Foo? Talk About the Valley. And then I think I'm on Carter Cruz, the Porn Stars podcast. No, former Porn Stars.

Former Porn Stars, yeah. And then I gotta go to Nashville next week. For two days. I'm gonna finish another song I wrote with Galbutin and Steve Pultz. That's album mode. I'm going to finish another song I wrote with Galbuta and Steve Pultz. Album. That's album mode. I'm going to do a completely different

approach for this album. I'm not going to go fucking pitch labels and plead and jerk them off just so I can get on a fucking record label. I don't understand why you need a record. What's a label going to do for you? Nothing. In this economy?

I'm just being cheap and I don't want to pay the $25,000 it costs to make a record every year. But you still pay that eventually anyway, don't you? Yeah, I pay it. That's what I'm just being cheap and don't want to pay the $25,000 it costs to make a record every year. But then you, but like, you still pay that eventually anyway, don't you?

Yeah, I pay it now. That's what I'm saying. Eventually, I get paid back from these labels. Exactly. But then they just get the money back

in their advance anyway, right? Yeah. So it's like, it's just you're going to pay it now or pay it later. Exactly.

And they don't even market your shit anymore like they used to. So it's like, and like, if I put it on a credit card, it's, it's the interest rate

is cheaper than what they're going to take. And you get points. And I get points. And I can go to the high end and go do some fancy shit. Yeah. Yeah. So that's my week.

Labels are for poor people and super rich people. I mean, I think the approach this year is I'm going to try to like, you know, do these 20-second videos to promote the lyrics and have these labels come to us. If we get a viral hit on one of these, then they'll come to us, and then they'll give us a lot of money. Yeah, but then theoretically, it's like, still,

then you need them even less. If they're starting to come to you, you really don't need them. Right. Because why are they coming to you? Because you have a product they want to sell, but you're already selling it. Fuck the man.

Yeah! As soon as the mainstream We're going independent! We're taking this show! What do you mean we're going independent? You've been independent for like 15 years. I always wanted to pitch Leanne Kreischer and Burt Kreischer on putting out my record.

That'd be cool. Yeah, because they did a great job. They promoted Shane Torres' special so well. To me, that's a cooler move than being on whatever new market. And they can help me with YouTube. They really crush YouTube. YouTube's hard, but once you get in that, there's a lot of money there. Yeah, I'm really proud of what Leanne and Bert did for Shane Torres' special

because that thing blew up. Yeah, he's awesome, too. He's great, and he deserves it. He listens to the pod. I've been talking to him. We're going to get him on the show. Yeah, yeah. He had that great bit about Guy Fieri, didn't he? Yeah. I listens to the pod. I've been talking to him. We're going to get him on the show. Yeah, yeah. He had that great bit about Guy Fieri, didn't he?

Yeah. I love that shit. It's so funny. Volume.com, baby. You want to do the pitch for volume.com? You should go to volume.com. This is one of the best live stream programs. I'm going to their company meeting next week.

Company. Shout out to volume. Go get to meet all the boys in New Orleans. We're going to have... We're staying at the Virgin Hotel. We're going to have a great time. Oh, that's cool. Richard Branson. We're going to have a great time. That's cool. Richard Branson.

We're going to stay up all night and talk about live streams. Sounds amazing. Through nitrous and cocaine. I'm done with cocaine. I'm done. After last weekend, I'm done. I'm just waiting for trivia to get so big that labels start coming to me to put up. Arista Records.

Triviavia Wrong trivia Endorsed by RCA Records The awesome They make a trivia album For like 80 bucks Head to volume.com guys They have a bunch of live streams

Hopefully Nick's trivia Will be up there All our songs All our songs All our podcasts Are archived there So if you want to watch Rewatch some of these

Great interviews Of these great acts, I feel like we're really becoming strong interviewing them as a team lately. Yeah, we're getting better as a team.

So head over to volume.com. Watch our faces. We look good. I'm day four, no cocaine. Let's go. Good job.

You went four days. It's also Wednesday. True, true, true. Wow, you made it from Sunday to Wednesday without doing cocaine. Cool. I mean, I'm not doing a lot, but I did. No, we don't do a lot of cocaine, guys.

We don't really do cocaine that much. It's a joke. Friday night, we're exaggerating. I did so much fucking cocaine. I was hurting. We're exaggerating. I was hurting. I was like, God damn it, Denver.

I could tell you were hurting Because on Saturday you didn't even have an Instagram story I was like damn this motherfucker Is hungover So if you want to see the glow back in our faces Head to volume.com It's 6pm and he hasn't even posted one Instagram story You didn't even share someone else sharing your thing

That's when you know Andy's hungover I'm having a hard day I ordered Uber Eats three times. Dude. Wow. I looked at my Uber Eats this month. Bad? It's disgusting.

I'm bad, too. I either... I mean, it's like... I think I spent $500 on Uber Eats last month. Holy shit. Oh, because you buy other people lunch and shit, too. Yeah, but... I love Uber Eats because I don't cook, so it's like...

I just spent... I just went to GoPuff to spend... I spent 50 bucks on Zins. You can get Zins on GoPuff? Can you get cigarettes

on GoPuff? Oh, yeah. I used to get... I didn't know that. I used to spend $12 a pack just so I didn't have to drive to the gas station.

They charge like two bucks extra. That's worth it. Yeah. Anyway, go to volume.com. But I am off... I'm still off cigarettes. We're such losers. but i am off i'm still off secrets we're such losers i'm still off secrets i mean we are actually like i know everyone thinks we're cool because

we have a podcast but we're fucking scumbags i mean you're in your late 30s i'm in my 40s early 40s and we both can't really cook a meal i picked yeah exactly and we're like talking about mental health yeah it's like maybe if you talking about mental health. Yeah. It's like maybe you have better mental health if you made yourself a salad one day. My cousin FaceTimed me and Aaron Ray FaceTimed me. And I was like, fuck. But I was already in the middle of a nitrous hit. I'm like, hey, how you doing?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's what that was. Yeah. She's like, Andy, turn the microphone or turn the video around. I want to see who's with you. And there was nobody with me. I was like, oh, yeah. Like, damn it.

Oh, yeah, about that. I was just trying to chill out. I was trying to stay at home. The only way I'm going to relax. Quarter pound a night or whatever it is. I don't know how they do that. All right. We got Leanne Kreischer on the show tonight.

We love Leanne. This was one of my favorite interviews so far she was so nice god and she's so fucking smart and she's i and then i started going into like what she she's written a bunch of stuff and i started reading and she's just i'm like a super fan of leanne kreischer and i love burt and burt's all right but i'm a lean I love Leigh-Anne. I mean, there's a reason he married her. I get it. And he fought for her. Because she was like, nah, get the fuck out of there. She said that he exaggerated that.

But I would never. In my heart, I don't think that Burt Kreischer has ever exaggerated one thing he's ever said. We love Burt. I don't believe in hyperbole from him. I think everything he says is true. I might go to the Super Bowl. Burt, you heard that right. I might go to Vegas and go hang out

with Bert and the team. Super Bowl sounds annoying to go to, honestly. Is that weird to say? I got a crush on Bert's head of marketing, Victoria. She's so cool.

Everybody, don't you? Not everybody. I get crushes. I do love crushing on people. It's fun. It's so fun. Yeah. Just crushing.

You know, just like, I'm not doing anything about it. I think you're cute. I'm not doing anything about it. I think you're cute. Like, I'm not doing anything about it. No, because if you do, it ruins it. Yeah. And actually, you realize you didn't like them. It's more like the dream.

The idea of like, I'll visualize like, going on dates with Victoria and like, you know, we're out there in LA and she's like, Getting Uber Eats. Yeah, she's getting Uber Eats.

She loves going to Vegas. Vegas is cool. I don't gamble really though. So it's like, Yeah, she doesn't need it. She likes going to the restaurants Vegas is cool. I don't gamble really, though. Yeah, she doesn't either. She likes going to the restaurants. Carbone. Oh, they have good restaurants there. Bomb restaurants.

Yeah, that's true. That's true. So, you're going to love this interview with Leigh-Anne Kreischer. Yeah. You are. Guys, next week, January 26th, the Ogden Theater, Denver. We're playing a 1,600 cap. Are there still tickets left?

There's like 300 tickets left. Damn, that's going to be sold out. Pretty good. We need to sell that before to make Daddy Scott Moral happy. So grab your tickets. It's his birthday. And I just got some special guests that I hired and there's 10 of them. I'm just going to say that. There's 10 of them. And they all

play the same instrument. They all play the same instrument. We're doing a ten-person sax battle. And they're hot. They're all hot. That means I don't have to sit in. Do you want to sit in? I've got to pay you, too. Fuck.

I don't have to sit in. I feel like I just have to pay you to hang out with me lately. Mm-hmm. Yeah. No, last night you didn't. No. Someone else was paying me. No, I paid $143 at the tab to hang out with, last night you didn't. Someone else was paying me. I paid $143 at the tab to hang out

with you last night. It was expensive last night at the Clayton. I don't have to sit in. I can just come hang out. I don't want you to sit in. You're one of the best sax players in Denver. I'm excited to be the frontman tomorrow. I know. Victor Wood, buddy. It's going to be fun. You're going to be cool.

I'm actually going to be a frontman. He's going to be like, this next song is called No, I'm a good front man. I'm good. I don't know. I talk on the mic every week for two hours. You have been getting better. Yeah, I know how to do it. Hi, guys. You're going to say

we're funk. This is Denver. No, I don't talk like that. Uh-oh, your manager's here. Hey, Jordan, what's up, bud? I thought you gave me a panic attack. I thought it was Schwartz. I'm a good front man. I don't talk a ton. I like to talk in between songs, introduce the band, get people hyped up.

I opened for you and it was pretty good. Yeah, it was really good. Remember, I got the crowd ready for you every night. Every night. Alright, guys. Enjoy Leanne Kreischer. We'll see you next week with LP Geoby. Yeah, Leanne. Let's go. Bye. Hi, Leanne. And we'll see you next week with LP Jobe. Yeah, Leo. Let's go. Bye. Bye.

Hi, Leanne. Hi, mister. How are you? I'm good. Oh, man. I keep thinking about that time we had in Philadelphia. Thanks so much for inviting me. Oh, it was so fun. That was a blast.

It was really fun. Thank you for coming. Oh, it was so fun. Do you like going on tour? Is that something you like to do, or is it something you do to entertain Bert? A little bit of both. A little bit of both, to be honest with you,

because tour can be exhausting, just the schedule and the grind of it. But, you know, I don't mind it. The problem is, you know know he snores pretty bad so when we were when we were on fully loaded on land i stayed in the ladies bus and then when i wanted to i would go sleep on his bus but i always had my own bunk so that i could actually sleep because he snores so badly you know yeah i mean? Yeah. I mean, you have to have that. I mean, like, if you don't have sleep on tour, I feel like that's, you start getting, like,

your brain starts just extremely fucking up. Some of the best marriages I've ever met have separate bedrooms. Yeah. It's a great way to have a good marriage. Yeah. Like, what is the recipe to a 20-year relationship? That's a really good question. I don't have a general answer for that.

I can have an answer specific to my 20-year relationship. Yeah. I really enjoy Bert, right? Yeah. I enjoy him. When we were first dating, we were really broke. And our dates were like pizza, cheap pizza, $10 pizza, and Scrabble or Rummy or Uno or a movie that was on cable because we couldn't afford to do anything. And we really enjoyed each other.

Like we had a really good time. So that's part of it. The other part of it is I think our our this sounds real hippy dippy but i think our value system really lines up like we value the same thing i value art kind of the same way he values art and i look at what he does for a living as art yeah so um that and the way we raised our kids kind of lined up so yeah totally totally. And it's like, because you grew up in rural Georgia, right? Like really small town Georgia. So moving to LA.

Like 1,600 people, yeah. Yeah, exactly. So what was that transition from moving from Georgia to LA? Because you guys kind of got together in LA. So what were you doing in LA for your career first? Well, I moved to New York first. Oh, really? I lived in New York for four years. What were you doing in L.A. for your career first? Well, I moved to New York first. Oh, really? I lived in New York for four years.

What were you doing over there? Yes, I decided. I was in my fourth year of college, and I was really unhappy, like massively unhappy. And my mom's husband at the time was like, well, what do you want to do? And I said, well, I think I want to study acting, but I don't actually know if I want to be an actor. I just think I need to like not be here.

So I want to move to New York. You know what's so weird? I'm born and raised in Georgia, and I love the way I grew up. I wouldn't change anything about where I grew up or how I grew up, but I definitely grew out of it, right? So it was a certain time where I was like, I can't actually do this anymore. And I wasn't making friends. I didn't have friends. I just didn't, it just didn't fit me as I grew up. So I was like, I just got to get out of Georgia. So I'm gonna go to New York. I lived there for four years and studied acting. And while I was studying acting, I started writing. So after that i was like you know what i'm gonna move to la i i kind of um i kind of got too boxed in in new york yeah even though i loved

it i needed more open spaces i needed less like stinky streets i just needed it to be a little more nature weather so i was like i'll try la'll try LA. When I was here, I moved here. Go ahead. What was the first shock? Moving into New York from Georgia. What was the first thing like, welcome to New York, Leanne? Okay, you ready? Yes, please.

I moved there without ever having been there. Oh, my God. Really? It was 1993. In 93, Disney did not own 42nd Street. This is pre-Giuliani. Oh, my God. Really? It was 1993. Uh-huh. In 93, Disney did not own 42nd Street. This is pre-Giuliani. So when I got off at the Port Authority, it was prostitutes and peep shows. The first thing I saw were, remember all those old movie theaters that were on, I think,

maybe 9th or 10th avenue and on 42nd street right yeah we're all triple x movie peep shows strip clubs prostitutes so i got off the port authority and was like okay wow i don't think we're in georgia anymore i don't really know where to go right welcome to new york hell's kitchen was actually Hell's Kitchen when I was there. I mean, I remember going to Indian food in Alphabet City and seeing my first dead body. Where I was like, a guy was actually dead. And when I came out of the restaurant after dinner, the ambulance was there like sheet over him dead. Whoa.

What? Yeah. It was a little bit different from Georgia. Are you coming in on my podcast? My husband's going to listen in. Hi, Birdie. Do you have FOMO? That's what?

So what was your? I'm just listening. Hey, Birdie. What's up, buddy? He wants to listen. I don't know. I think he's having some FOMO. You don't have to leave. You can sit here. But do you want to be? I don't know. I love it. I think he's having some fun. You don't have to leave.

You can sit here, but do you want to be... I don't know if... It's not... Okay. Oh, my God. Bye. That guy. I'm telling you what.

But, like, tell me... So, anyway. But tell me about, like, what was growing up like in Georgia? Was there, like, a lot of meth? Like, was there a lot of, like, was there a lot of drug? This was before meth. This was pre-meth. So, like, was it, what was the, I just, it's so fascinating.

You moving to New York, where it's so big to start this career. And congested. And congested. I would have the biggest anxiety attack. Did you never have anxiety when you were growing up as a kid? What made you just pull the trigger to go to New York? It's just so wild to me.

I know nothing about you. I know nothing about you, Leah. Are you ready? Okay. Give it to me. My parents divorced when I was seven. My mom died in a small hometown, 1,600 people. My dad's parents had an 88-acre farm,

250 head of cattle. I had to raise a calf from a baby every summer and sell it at the sale barn. I grew up super farm kid. Parents divorced when I'm seven. My mom moves me into the gay community in Atlanta. My mom's not gay, but she thinks safest place for a little girl is with a bunch of gay men. So I grew up with no children around, just gay men in Midtown in downtown Atlanta, close to Piedmont Park. So I had these two juxtapositions of life, right? I had this

really small town. We were related to every single person on my street. The church Bert and I got married in is on our street that my family built in 1843. I mean, like super rooted to Atlanta. My mom was a model and was just surrounded by all this kind of progressive thinking, even though my mom is the opposite of a progressive thinker. My mom actually is quite stereotypical Southern in her thinking. Very traditional. So, very not nice okay so um my dad is nice in his thinking mom

not nice dad's in the small town you'd think the not nice thinking would be there right but the not nice thinking was with my mom is just bizarre so when i i moved back to my dad when i was 13 and went to high school in that small town and my my dad told me then, he was like, you know, you're not going to stay here. You've already seen the city. You've already seen things that kids in your hometown have never seen. And it's not going to hold you. You're not going to be able to stay here. You may not even be able to stay in Atlanta.

Like, he just knew it when I was 13 years old. So I was like, you're crazy. I'm never leaving. I had lived with my mom for so long, had a really rough childhood with my mom, couldn't wait to get to my dad's house. And I was like, I'm never leaving again. And then of course he was absolutely right. As I matured, I matured out of all of that culture because I'd been exposed to so much in Atlanta that most kids in the South aren't really exposed to. And the AIDS epidemic took every single neighbor I had. So I just had this kind of bizarre happening. So I was familiar with living in a city, Atlanta by no stretch of

the imagination in the 70s is like New York City. but it was still kind of a city there was still traffic right there was still a lot happening so it was a big leap I think um I had a lot of crazy things happen when I first moved to New York and once I kind of probably about six months in it it became really hard to live there. But I am such a tenacious, determined person that I was like, I am staying here. I don't care if it sucks. I'm staying here because going back home isn't working. So I have to figure this out. And so what I figured out was LA is the perfect mix of Georgia because there's so much land and open spaces and sky and you can get to nature easily. And New York and there's more progressive thinking, a little more open in thinking and a lot more relaxed than New York. So L.A. is actually where I belong.

Yeah, totally. Does that make sense? Yeah, 100%. Yeah, because I lived in New York for a little bit, but I grew up in LA. It is a little more spread out. It does feel like that. Alana, I'm curious about the tension between you and your mom. What were you guys tiffing about when you were kids?

Okay. So my mom, I believe, she's never been diagnosed, but I believe my mom has some form of a borderline personality disorder. So she's been divorced six times. She was massively controlling. I'm an only child. So she was, what her disorder did was like control. I was a direct reflection of her.

So if like I was a big tomboy and she was a model. So I was not into dresses. I didn't even wear a shirt till I was like six years old. I didn't wear shoes or shirt. I was just never, never brushed my hair. And it was really not okay for her. That seems simple and like, so what? No big deal.

But she made me take 21 vitamins a day. She forced me to meditate. She was very into maharishi mahishi yogi i had to go to the center all the time and get into that shit um she monitored my this is so graphic but she monitored my bowel movements to the point where she would watch me like she was like not a regular person yeah really really really off the charts controlling, right? Controlling at a different level. Controlling to the point where I just shut my personality down entirely and was a void when I was with her.

She also made me steal things. She was a compulsive liar, and I would see her lying and know that she was lying. And if I'd ask her about it, I'd get in trouble. So I just stopped talking to her and stopped engaging with her. She also left me when I was four for a year and a half. Like completely? Like no talking communication?

Yeah, she moved to Chicago. Oh, just like left you with your dad. Yeah, she left me with my dad to go to Chicago to pursue being a model. She came back like twice, but she finally came back for good. My dad stopped sending her money. And then she like behind my dad's back, got an apartment, ran up all his credit card bills and then left him with all the credit card bills. Yeah. Completely destroyed my dad

financially. I didn't know that I was seven, but as an adult, I found that out. And, uh, you know, she never had any friends. She was a really successful model. She was actually the highest paid model in Atlanta for about nine years. She worked on the runway in Italy. She's beautiful, like 5'8", blonde, green eyes. I look like my dad. But yeah, really, really messed up. You know, had a boyfriend that had a lot of cash. We'd go to the Cayman Islands with like two suitcases full of cash often. What the fuck? Are you serious?

That's not suspicious. Everybody keeps saying, your mother should be a movie. And I'm like, she just was really, really... The positives of my mom is that in the beginning of Women's Lib, she was all about it. She really was a self-made person

in that she came from A smaller town Than my hometown And became this Really successful model She was so Is She's still alive She's very charming

She's very Gregarious Outgoing She's drop-dead gorgeous She's one of those people That you can't Stop looking at You know how like

You can't stop looking at Cher You just can't She's like that She has that thing Where you just can't stop watching her. Did you have commitment issues growing up? She also spent a lot of my... Did I? Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah, I bet. For sure. How did... Yeah. Because you're so good with family. Who taught you family? Who taught you how to have a family?

Your dad? My dad's family. Okay. Well, I was divorced twice, but his family is legit. Everybody on my dad's side of the family and my dad himself, my dad wanted that white picket fence. My dad really wanted my mom, and she just had mental health issues. Really? That's what it is. It's not her fault.

You know, it came from trauma in her own childhood and I get it as an adult. When you're a child, you think it's all your fault. Right. Right. Yeah. I must really be bad to not want to take 21 vitamins and drink niacin once a week. You know,

I must be the, that almost sounds like a Munchausen's by proxy A little bit or like some version of that It was a little bit It was tough It took a long time By the time I was 13 I was drinking heavily By the time I was 21 I was drinking a fifth of vodka By myself

And by the time I moved to New York Right before I moved to New York I had started losing my hair I had become really bloated And my mom took me to the doctor and he was like, she's, her liver's enlarged.

She's drinking excessively and I lied and was like, I'm not drinking at all. I don't ever drink. Yeah. So you were lying like your mom. I had a DUI.

You were suppressing too. I was repeating. Oh. Yes. Holy shit. I'd been arrested for DUI. I got arrested for vandalizing people's homes.

I was really bad. What? I was off. Leanne! All right. I don't know. Little bad girl. No one would think I look so nice.

I was drag racing for money. You got it out of your system. Did you ever sell drugs? I did not sell drugs, but I do have a cousin that cooked and sold meth, so it was adjacent. We all got a cousin that cooked and sold meth out there. So when did you have your first relationship? Like, if commitment was like kind of a situation that you didn't really understand, like, when was like the first time you really fell in love? That I really fell in love?

Yeah. I thought I was in love in high school. Another complex thing about my mom is that she was very sexual. So she was very, she was naked all the time in my house. She like cleaned the house totally naked. Her body was like an open book for me. So I didn't know that. But actually, as a child, that's actually like a form of abuse. I didn't think I was

abused, but as you grow up, you go, yeah, it's just not normal. That's my mom. So I just think, yeah, everybody's mom vacuues totally naked. Totally. You know, everybody's mom meditates completely nude with her 10-year-old daughter. Holy shit, man.

And I saw her using sex as power, for her sex was a power and you know she just kept marrying and divorcing people so she'd marry somebody divorce them a year later marry somebody else divorce them 18 months later so i saw this pattern so my first boyfriend i was a sophomore in high school he was the sweetest guy ever. And it was a really positive experience, but I got bored really fast. And then the second time, I thought I was in love and he cheated on me and I was like, well, this sucks. So now I'm going to always be in control and I'll just cycle through boyfriends. I was never like a promiscuous girl. I was a serial monogamist, right? I'd be in a relationship for three months, six months, nine months, and then I'm out. And I'm out. And I'm out. And you know, my dad also, my dad's so smart. When I was about 21, maybe I said to my dad, I don't understand why all my friends

are getting married or they're getting engaged and and I can't hang on to anybody like I can't I don't have a boyfriend my dad goes oh honey you're not gonna meet your husband till you're in your 30s and he won't be normal wow Nostradamus nailed that one uh and I was, that is the meanest thing you could ever say. And he's like, oh, honey, you just can't. You're just not going to be with a normal guy. It's just not going to work that way for you. And he was right. So I got into therapy when I was 23 because I'd stopped drinking. Actually, when I was 21, I woke up one morning in my own bed, I woke up one morning in my own bed No idea how I got home

My bedroom window was open Outside my window was my purse I was living in Atlanta And I actually just crawled out the window And followed my purse, my shoes Remember this is the early 90s My pantyhose I just started getting undressed From the time I parked

Until I crawled in my window I don't even know why I went in the window Probably couldn't find my keys Yeah Which were in the ignition Of my car And my car door was open

Wow So at this point I thought Maybe I need to address This issue I'd already Gone to jail for DUI So

What was triggering All the drinking, though? You think, like, at 20? Trauma, yeah. But, like, It was a childhood. Did you not love yourself? Like, what was it? No.

No. It was made very clear to me by my mother that I was not lovable. What the fuck? Everything I did was really wrong. Now, my dad loved me unconditionally, totally. But my mom was like, nope, nope. Everything I did was, if it didn't, I believe that she has narcissism as a

personality disorder. And with that disorder, if you don't line up exactly with that person, you're actually life-threatening to them. It threatens their actual being. So if I didn't line exactly with her, I was completely cut out of her. I'm dead to her now. I've been dead to her multiple times throughout my life. First time I was 13, I moved in with my dad. She knew I was moving with my dad. And from the time I left, I didn't see her for like a year and a half. Didn't hear from her. She destroyed everything I left in her house.

So I don't have a single baby picture of myself. I don't have any pictures of my childhood because she threw them in the garbage. What? Yeah. Did she like, do you feel, Leanne, this is fucked up. Like textbook narcissism. Totally. Hold on.

Yes. So when was the first time you actually felt like you loved yourself? How old were you? Probably in my late 20s. What the fuck? You never felt love until your late 20s? Not really. I mean, I started working on it when I was 21, when I was like, this is fucked up.

I can't. This is me not. This is not about like, this is fucked up. I can't, this is me not, this is not about alcohol. This is about pain. Yeah. Like this is about pain. And I, this is going to sound really goofy,

but a song is what woke me up. What is it? And it was, you ready? Yeah, please. Desperado by the Eagles. Oh my God. I cry every goddamn time that song comes on. You've been out riding fences.

Oh, God. What did you hear in that song that made you change? You better let somebody love you before it's too late. God damn it. I used to drive my car. I used to drive really fast because I used to drag race as a kid. And so I would drive really fast and I would go, if I just cut the wheel 90 degrees, it'll be over. I don't have to deal with it anymore.

It'll just be over. And I was thinking that when that song came on and I heard it and I went, okay, this is about me not allowing love in my life. It's not about not Someone not loving me I'm not letting anybody love me Right Even your dad? I gotta figure out what that's about Even your dad?

I did my dad But you know my dad was fragile My dad Yeah Is a whole nother ball of wax Give it to me My dad is a sweet My dad is Bert Kreischer

Sensitive Yeah Sweet Loving Yeah Frat boy Obviously not at 75 When you probably met him on the boat Bert Kreischer. Sensitive. Yeah. Sweet. Loving. Yeah. Frat boy. Obviously not at 75 when you probably met him on the boat.

Yeah, yeah. He was nice. As a young person, I mean, he was 21 when he had me. Man. I was his only child. And he's all of a sudden single. He had a breakdown when my mom left. And then my stepmom divorced him when I was a sophomore in college and he had another nervous breakdown and moved into my dorm with me and live with me in my dorm because he couldn't

manage because he was maybe slightly suicidal and my grandma I'm an only child and my grandma was losing her mind and so he just moved in with. And he would sit on the couch in my dorm room and wait for me to get out of classes every day. And then she was just like clung to me for a long time. So I had no parent that could take care of me. So my dad loved me. So the parent became the kid. Yeah. Kid became the parent, you mean.

Correct. Yeah, so you were the parent of your dad. From about four years old yeah Oh man Leigh I want to hug you And you're an only child so it's all you You were completely alone That's right There's no one to share it with

I was totally alone I did have a cat I was really into my cat Were you into like playing by yourself? Like you said you had like no friends I do Yeah Yeah

Damn it So what about those years through 21 so like your your dad moves in with you how do you how do you like that's got to be the weirdest the weirdest thing right because you don't know what love is you're in college you're in a dorm you're in a fucking dorm and your dad is just waiting for you to get out so he could play with you not exactly a big place, you know, a dorm room. Right. No, my roommate was sweetest, sweetest girl.

She moved in with her boyfriend. Everybody loved my dad. My dad is the guy that, you know, I was a cheerleader in high school. He was the cheerleader mom. He drove us to every ballgame. He knew all my friends. Everyone has always adored my dad. The same happened with sorority. As soon as I joined the sorority that was in college, if we needed to build something

for Rush, my dad would come build it. So everyone knew my dad. And I lived on the sorority floor in my dorm. So everybody knew him. So of course, when this happened, everybody was like, well, of course. And my roommate moved in with her boyfriend so he could have her bed. And, you know, it was obviously odd. But if everybody hadn't really kind of already known it, it would have been even more odd. The transition was easier. Did he ever flirt with any of your college students? No.

No. He was a good man. He was a good man. No. He's not that way at all. He's not at all. No. Do you think depression's genetic? I think it can

be, yeah. Do you think past trauma? What was his parents like? What was your grandparents like? His parents were awesome. I mean, they were awesome. They were farmers. My grandpa had 250 head of cattle.

My grandma raised chickens for a living. She also worked in a men's suit factory sewing suits. They went to school together in that church where Bert and I got married is where they went to school. So they just kind of grew up together. My grandma was like, you know, they were just great, salt-of-the-earth, basic people. And my dad is a great, salt-of-the-earth, basic person who married like the Tasmanian devil. And in high school, she wasn't the Tasmanian devil. She really wanted to be that.

And I don't think she was able to because of her mental health stuff. Right. Her upbringing was really difficult. So I think she was running toward this positive family, this man that adored her and my dad, and all my dad's siblings get along so great. It's such a great family environment that I think she was running to that. And at a certain point, you know, when you have kids,

it's freaking a lot lot And it triggers a lot So if you have I was lucky enough to be 33 Before I had a child She was 20 She got married three weeks after she graduated high school She didn't have a shot Did she want to have a kid you think?

Did she? Yes They were pregnant three times They lost two children they miscarried two so yeah she wanted she wanted kids my dad wanted kids too but but uh at a certain point you know they moved on i guess or like let's just push pause and you know my dad also pretty progressive guy she worked to put him through trade school. He was a mechanic. He has like four certifications as an auto mechanic. And when he was up and running in his own shop, he said, well, it's your turn. What do you want to do for a

career? You don't have to just be a stay at home mom if you don't want to be. What do you want to do? And she wanted to be a model. And back in the day, you go to Barbizon modeling school. So he paid for her to go to school. He was doing, he was supporting her. He was being a real team player. And he got paid back with, I think, the trauma caught up with her. Her trauma caught up with her. And she couldn't deal with it.

She really, I think, the control part. Listen, when you have a two-year-old having a tantrum, you're not in control. Yeah, you're right, right, right, right. And you have to surrender to what's happening until you can become in control again. And I don't think that worked for her. No. I gave birth to myself. Her name is Isla.

And I can— Yeah. I personally broke a toilet tank lid Over the toilet Over Isla Cause she's so Frustrating As a toddler

And as I'm raising her Going If this is what my mother Dealt with I see why she left Like without the tools She had She

She was like I'm gonna kill her Or I should leave Like I had a different perspective Do you ever Does your trauma ever Like does your trauma Ever relapse as you get older in life? It absolutely does. What's an experience that you had later in your life that it relapsed?

I absolutely have the hardest time asking for help. Yeah. Perfect example. I wanted, we have a sectional couch. This happened two weeks ago. We have a huge leather sectional couch in my house. Remember, I live with three other adults. And two big ass dogs.

And two big ass dogs. I moved that sectional couch out of my house into my driveway by myself. And three other adults were in my house. Oh, they were home even. And it never occurred to me to go, hey, maybe I should get a little help on this. Nope. I was like, if I can just get some leverage and two furniture dollies, I can get this motherfucker out the door.

And I did it. You did do it. Is this why you're the CEO of Birdie? Birdie Boy Productions? I think it might have something to do with it. Yeah. You like control. I don't know if I like control,

but I don't think there's a lot that I can't do. Right. And you're organized. Makes sense. Yeah, totally. Yeah, I'm really organized. Like, Bert says, let's build a festival festival and I go, let's do it. I have no idea how to do it, but I can tell

you this. If I can get a sectional out my house by myself, I can figure out how to run a festival. So, was that the same mind state when you're like, I'm going to fall in love. I'm going to commit to someone. I'm going to commit to Bert or I'm going to commit to something. Was that that same mind state or did it take a long time to actually commit to someone. I'm going to commit to Bert, or I'm going to commit to something. Was that that same mindset,

or did it take a long time to actually commit to somebody? I'll tell you what happened. I kept going through relationships, and they were not like Bert. They were very different than Bert. Right. And when I met Bert, I went, okay, hold on.

This is different. And I was not in therapy. I was in therapy for about three years when I was 23. When I moved to LA, I stopped therapy and I just kind of lived my life. Why? And I found, why? I just kind of wanted to see if I could do it on my own

without therapy. So, and I was doing great until I was in a relationship with, I had a writing partner who was the exact carbon copy of my mother. And I'm in this relationship going, this is my mother. Why am I here and why can't I get out? This is my mother. Why am I here and why can't I get out?

What's happening? And then at the same time, Bert showed up and I went, okay, I don't know how to do this. I have no role model for a positive marital relationship. And I am currently repeating the relationship with my mother, which I will not do with this new person. I need to be in therapy again right now. So I went back into therapy, learned why I was in the writing partner relationship, fixed that, and then said to my therapist on the first day, I have two problems. One is I'm repeating a cycle. Two is I'm in a new cycle with a new type of person, and I don't know how to do this, and I really want to know. Even if this isn't the right guy, I need to figure out how to do this. So I was 32.

Bert told me he was fighting for like, to have you commit. I remember him saying something like that. Like you broke up really early. You broke up and you're like, you're over it, but he kept on fighting for you. What was it?

Is that it? Have you never heard stories from Bert Hyperbole Kreischer? I saw your sweatshirts yesterday. That was fucking hilarious. What did it say? This isn't real. What did it say on your sweatshirt? That's not real. That's not real. He says that to me all the time. I'll go like,

I'm really suspicious our mailman is stealing packages. And he'll go, that's not real. And I'm like, have you ever even seen our freaking mailman? You don't even know what I'm talking about. But already it's not real. It does happen You don't even know what I'm talking about. It's definitely a thing. But already it's not real.

It does happen. That's not real. I mean, yeah, that's not real. From the greatest storyteller on earth. So how did you get out of that cycle of parenting from what you've learned from your mom versus how you parent your kids? Part of it was being really self-aware, right? And being very curious. So instead of being reactive as a parent, I tried to be curious. It didn't always work, but that was my focus. It was like, if I go, huh, I wonder why this is making me feel this way. Or I wonder why she's

having that behavior instead of stop doing that. You know, the way I was parented was stop doing that or I'm going to spank you. Right. Well, I was like, well, they're doing it for a reason. And I think I'd been in therapy enough to understand that everything has a reason. It comes from a base. Maybe it's genetic. Maybe it's conditional. Maybe it's learned. But isn't it right to be curious about that? I mean, Georgia has so many genetic similarities to Bert that when she got here and started doing certain behaviors,

I went, oh, my God, I have to now stop being upset with Bert for this behavior because it is just genetic. He actually can't help it. Right. Interesting. It made me like, and I did that for myself too with Isla, is I would look at Isla and go, oh, wow, I am so stubborn and bullheaded sometimes and it doesn't serve me. Interesting. And I'm watching this child do the same thing, and it's not serving her either.

So how do you approach that advice to her? How do you give her that advice? Man, it's not easy. Sometimes she doesn't hear it. My mother-in-law gave me great advice. She said, with a kid like Isla, you have to say it, and eventually it'll sink in. It may be 20 years from now. And that advice was true for me too, because my mom had great advice for me. She wasn't all bad. She was very gregarious. She was very friendly. I actually think I have her

personality. I don't have my dad's personality. I'm much more similar to my mom. Never meets a stranger. Flirty in a fun way. I think I'm kind of flirty in a fun way. She was flirty in a, hey, let's get busy and then I'll dump you away. But I took some of that, which is fun. And then, yeah, I took a lot of positives from her. And she did have a lot of good advice. She would always say things like, don't make a joke at someone else's expense. That's really a cheap joke. If you can't say something funny that doesn't make someone else look bad, you shouldn't talk. And I was like, that's really great advice. She had a lot of things like that.

Every morning I woke up in her house, she was singing. Every morning. She loved music. She always had popular music on. Queen and Eagles and Doobie Brothers and constantly into music. I have a huge love of music, and it's directly from my mom. My dad didn't care much about music. She definitely exposed me to art and she took me to the Fernbank Science Center all the time. She really wanted me to be exposed to more than most kids from my small hometown could ever have the opportunity to have.

So there were parts of her that were, you know, being exposed to Maharishi Mahishayogi was really important too, because I don't like to meditate, but I understand a different spirituality that's not Southern baptism. Yeah, true. And like, that's interesting because yoga wasn't like the big popular thing back then like it is now. It's probably a lot different. It's not yoga.

It's transcendental meditation. Oh, okay. Okay. Okay. I thought you were saying... Still, though, I feel like that's a lot more in the culture now than it was then. A hundred percent. Yeah.

Yeah, we were total freaks. We only shopped for groceries at a health food store, which is where they pour the peanuts in the thing and squash them out to get your peanut butter. Everything was like... I was not allowed sugar. I couldn't have processed foods. I couldn't have fast food. She regulated everything i put in my mouth she regulated everything that came out of

my body um i was really thin i was really really thin and when i took my kids to the pediatrician when they were growing up i was just talking she was asking me about my own health history so she could relate it to my kids. And I grew four inches in college. And she was like, that is not normal. That's from a malnourished childhood. Oh, right. And I was like, what? She was like, what was your diet like as a child?

And when I was telling her, she was like, oh, okay. Now this makes sense. You are finally eating. Yeah, you're back. That's what happened is you started eating. You finally got protein. Holy shit. Dude. Yeah. Leanne. Leanne. And now. sense you were finally eating yeah that's what happened is you finally got protein yeah holy shit dude yeah leanne and now one would think she was trying to make me really healthy 21 vitamins

drinking niacin acidophilus on my popcorn brewery on my popcorn i had to like everything had to be like that there was a purpose for everything that I put in my mouth. Was she anorexic? I was, I don't think so, but I don't know. She was very thin. She looks like Cher from the Naked Day. You know Cher's like nobody. That's what her body looks like.

Just ridiculous. Do you think she's jealous of you now, of your success? I think so, but I don't know. I haven't talked to her in a long time. I think she definitely hates me. So I definitely know that to be true based on other family members in her family who I still talk to. She definitely hates

me. I'm still dead to her. But that's okay. Do you feel like you could ever kind of hash it out or no? You think that that ship has sailed? Nope. I tried. You know, I reconnected with her in my teens.

And then she and I got in a very bad argument when I was 23. Dead to her again. Reconnected to her right before I started dating Bert. So my early 30s. And she was angry at me when, you know, Bert and I got pregnant on the pill. So we were, I don't think I ever was going to get married. I think I was for sure just going to like sail off into the sunset by myself. Right. Just be in a relationship.

I wasn't planning on having kids. I didn't think I knew how to do it. I didn't think I'd be a good mom and but when we got pregnant on the pill i have such a faith in like the universe i was like well obviously this is my path because we were actively trying to prevent this and it happened anyway so this is my path so okay then like everything else if i I'm going to do it, I'm going to fucking do it. Right. So I embraced it, and I love being a mom and being married, but I definitely was not planning on this. I didn't think I'd be able to do it. But when I was pregnant, I reached out to my mom again to tell her I was pregnant,

and that was the last straw for her. I'm dead to her, doesn't want to know Bert, doesn't want to know my kids, nothing. What the fuck? And then she kind of busted in on us. I went to see her parents once with my kids. George was probably

eight or nine. Isla was six or seven. She just walked in the back door, hey, I'm your nonny. And we were like, what?

I had a visceral reaction and my entire soul shut down and I was silent for the rest of the day. Never spoke. Bert was like, I've never seen you like that ever. It was a trauma response.

Yeah. And then at the end of the day, she was like, oh, well, now that I've met you guys, I guess I'll start coming to California to visit. And Bert was like, oh, no, we'll never see you again. Yeah. Like you didn't come to our wedding. This is over. He said that to your face? Yeah.

That's awesome. Yeah, he did. And she got so angry. She wrote a letter. And I know her handwriting. She misspelled my name in the address of the letter. What? So I just handed it. On purpose, maybe.

Yeah, she misspelled my name. I handed it to Bert and went, this is going to be bad. So I'm just going to have you read it. And if it's not bad, you let me know. But if it's bad, I don't need that in my psyche. So he goes in the backyard, reads the letter, and he comes back and goes, she's dead to us now. And I don't care. You're never working it out with her.

And he had for our whole relationship said to me, don't you think there's something you could do to work this out with your mom? Don't you think there's something? I mean, I'll sit down with you. He was really compassionate. And when that letter came, he was like, okay, we're not working with someone who lives in reality. Wow, that must have been intense. Oh my God, dude.

You said you were talking about suicidal thoughts. Have you had multiple thoughts like that growing up as a kid? Did you understand it younger in your life that you're having these thoughts? I had them only up until I stopped drinking and started saying, I'm really upset. And this, I'm something, I'm in pain. Like, I didn't understand. I don't think I understood that there was a way out of it until that fucking song.

Oh, my God. You better let somebody love you. Thank God for the Eagles. I'm going to clap for the Eagles. It's just Eagles. Just so you know. Eagles fans get mad at you. It's just Eagles.

It's not the Eagles. Did you know that? I didn't know that. Yeah, the people are weird about that. Jesus Christ, man. So, was Bert patient in the beginning of your relationship Like how You must have been hard to deal with

In the beginning of the relationship Because you didn't want him You were pushing him away for so long Like he had to have been a patient guy Well I didn't really push him away I just kept being honest About not knowing what I was doing Right

So this is the way our relationship worked Okay I asked Bert out He not knowing what I was doing. So this is the way our relationship worked, okay? I asked Bert out. He, I gave his roommate my phone number. He'd never called me. So I called his roommate and went, what the hell is it?

What the, what the fuck? We had a great time bowling. We were in this group bowling and he didn't call me. Why not? And his roommate just handed him the phone and said, ask him yourself. So I said to Bert, what are you doing? I'm a cute girl.

We had a great time. Why haven't you asked me out? And he just kind of stuttered for a minute. And I went, hey, if you ask me on a date, I'll say yes. Make it easy for you. And he said, you want to go on a date? Wow. Yeah.

I love you so much. You should get into sales. I love you so fucking much, Leah. You should sell insurance. I was like, what's he doing? He was totally into me. And now he's not calling me? I don't play games like that. I'm 30 fucking two years old.

Come on. Either you like me or you don't. Right. And you liked me clearly. So he hangs the phone up and goes to his roommate. I think she just wants me for my body. He was kind of ripped back then. He was ripped, right?

He's kind of ripped now. He's hot. He's always been hot. He was ripped of ripped back then He was ripped, right? He's kind of ripped now He's hot He's always been hot He was ripped Yeah Hot, hot, hot, hot But ripped I saw some handsome

Can we go handsome at least? Ripped Okay, ripped He was ripped No, he was Obviously, he was adorable I thought he was the best So

He comes to pick me up for the date and I'm dressed for a date. And he's like, oh, this is a date. Has a panic attack. Can no longer tolerate his shoes. Can't tolerate his collared shirt. Doesn't eat at dinner. Doesn't let dinner end. And then goes, how about we go somewhere else for dessert? Okay. He doesn't eat dessert. How about we go to a bar for a nightcap? Okay. Close down the bar. How about we go to Ralph's and pick up a six pack? Okay, and then I'm like Get out! It's like 3 o'clock in the morning You gotta get out!

9am the next day, he calls me, what are you doing tonight? Next day, calls me at 9am What are you doing tonight? Next day, what are you doing tonight? What are you doing tonight? Every day, he started just doing whatever I did He was there Is he obsessive like that? Does he get into like, yeah night. Every day, he started just doing whatever I did. He was there. He went to yoga.

He went for a hike. Is he obsessive like that? Does he get into like, yeah. I feel like that's like when he gets into something, he just goes full in. Sounds like a golden retriever kind of, but I mean that as a compliment. Yes, 100%. So, yeah. So, that's how it started.

And we, like I said in the beginning, ate pizza and played Scrabble. First and foremost, we were really good friends. Even though we were dating, that relationship was built on being really good friends. So because we were really good friends, I felt like I could tell him anything. So when I was like, hey, I'm feeling things I don't understand. I could say that. And then he would be patient with me knowing what my history was.

How long did it take you to get comfortable talking about your feelings with him? A long time. A couple years or what? A long time. Isla was a baby probably. Maybe Isla was one or two.

So at that point, we'd been together like five years. Something like that. She's the younger one, right? So you had kids pretty early in your relationship. About a year and three months. No, a year and a half. That's interesting. Two years into our relationship, we had a baby.

So a year and like Six months we were pregnant Okay Interesting yeah Man Leigh-Anne I want to hug you You are This is This is wild

Yeah What Can we talk a little bit About your writing How Like Was writing Like a way

To get away From the real Does that make sense Yep Was that like Yep You were just so suppressed That you wanted to have This imagination story in your life?

Mm-hmm. Yeah. I started writing when I was in middle school. I actually won an award in our state for creative writing in middle school. What did you write about? What was it? I was a journaler. What was the story?

In middle school? I don't even remember. It was some kind of like sci-fi. What if it's the machine and Bert stole it? Right, exactly. Bert stole her middle school story. I am actually the machine. No.

I don't remember, but I never like journaled or anything, but I've always been a voracious reader. I just love to read from a really young age, and I read constantly. And then I didn't even really know you could be a writer for a living. I didn't, you know, obviously someone wrote these books, but I didn't put two and two together that someone actually does that for a job. And when I was in New York, I was acting, people kept saying, you got to change your accent, man. You got to change your accent. And I kept going, why? Like southern people don't exist in the world right like the nurse nurse two in er can't be a southern person you know come on so I just started writing for myself

and then when I moved to to LA acting really wasn't my thing and I was I just started writing all the time I also obviously had a million side hustles to pay for my rent. But yeah, I wrote eight screenplays. One was made. Four were optioned. And right before I got pregnant, Sony asked me to develop a book into a screenplay. And then their deal with the book author fell through. I wrote a pilot that I raised the money for,

had a director, was ready to shoot myself. The director fell through, got pregnant. I was super morning sick when I was pregnant with Georgia. And then once Georgia was born, Burt went on tour when she was three days old. So I didn't really have, I was just mom. So, and I can't write. I was an immersive writer in that I would write

like 12 hours a day, six days a week. I didn't know how to do it any other way. So I can't like write while she's napping i couldn't do that i also had a day job and had multiple day jobs while bert was trying to build his career i managed 139 unit apartment building by myself with no handyman and i sold avon what the fuck-Anne? Are you kidding me? Is there anything you missed? No pride, baby. No pride.

I love you so goddamn much. Hold on. So what? Were you bummed out that you couldn't write anymore? That moment when you felt like you just couldn't do it? That hurt you? Because that's like your heart. You know, it wasn't really tied directly to writing.

It was tied to me being able to express me in some way. So the reason I started my podcast was that like my creativity sort of shifted into helping Bert with his sets. I do not write for him at all, but definitely run stuff by me and we'll brainstorm stuff and then he'll write. Or when he's working on a special, you know, a standup routine live looks very different than it does on a small screen. So like you may say the word great three times in one story, but on the small screen, you can't really do that. So people will just turn the channel. So I do a really good job of about a month out watching his sets and cleaning them up for him, helping him clean it up because he's so in the moment,

he doesn't know and I sit in the audience and clean it up for him. So that gave me a lot of creativity. I've also been a Girl Scout troop leader for 13 years. I also volunteered really hardcore at school. I ran all our finances.

Have you ever slept? I have a huge friend group. What'd you say? Have you ever slept before? You should try. Yeah, you sleep? I don't sleep a lot. I've always had a lot of energy.

My dad used to say I was like a wound up top at all times. So I've just always been like this. This is just how I roll. What about when like Bert spends a shit ton of money? Do you get pissed?

Yes. I fucking bet, dude. I was at Phil, I'm like, this man's just buying like $3,000 worth of wrap. They bought a house on two bears this week for Habitat for Humanity or something. They split an entire house. The only thing that gives me comfort is he doesn't know where our money is. So at some point he's going to have to ask me for it. It's all buried in the backyard.

What's the most obnoxious thing bert's bought bought like early in his career when you guys didn't have money oh early in his career hmm uh probably uh really expensive sneakers yeah he loves sneakers come home with like 250 sneakers and i'm like what are you actually doing that's like i can't pay our health care now. What are you doing? And he just doesn't put two and two together ever. He never has. When we were really broke, he came in one day and he was like, hey, I need 50 bucks to go gamble with Daniel Tosh.

And I was like, well, I don't have it. And he goes, well, just go to the bank and get it. And I went, dude, we don't have it. It doesn't exist. Like, I can give you $24 and then we have nothing. And he's like, that's not real. Yeah, it's actually real. He just never had... He's never worried about money.

Listen, before me... No, before me, he used to take his check from the X show, put it in his backpack, week after week after week, and after several months would fly home to his dad and hand him the backpack. He wouldn't even look at the check. Put it in my bank account for me kind of thing?

That's incredible. Yeah. Terrified of money. Early in the relationship, he said to me, if I know what's going on with our money, I'm going to stop writing art because it's all I think about.

I'll be worried about it. So you have to do it all. You think without you, he'd be living in a Rolls Royce? Yeah, because that'd be the only thing he owns. Exactly. Everything. Yeah. Yeah. Dude. Down in Skid Row. Yeah because that'd be the only thing he owns Exactly Everything Yeah

Yeah Dude I know you gotta go Leanne I got a couple more questions And then I'll let you go By the way This has been fucking fantastic Getting to know you like this

Well let me just say this I love you I feel like I've known you my whole life I met you on the cruise in October Yeah And you're one of my favorite people on the my whole life. I met you on the cruise in October. And you're one of my favorite people on the planet, Andy. I love you. Leanne, I feel like

we're kindred spirits and I'm just so I'm just like blessed to have you as a friend, really. Like I love everything you do and I love like hearing your story more and more and hearing the trauma you had to deal with and who you are as a woman now is just fucking such a beautiful story.

And like, I feel like with the Shane, like now you're producing comedy specials. Like Shane Torres, you produced Shane Torres' comedy special, right?

Oh, that's cool. I did, yeah. Well, so do you feel like working on, working with Bird on specials after special,

what made you decide to like, let's just start helping our friends out? It actually was Birdurt's decision, sort of. Burt was talking to Shane about it. I don't know the context of their first conversation, but I know he said to Shane, if Leanne can do it, then I'll do it. And Shane was like, absolutely. So Burt came to me and said, I'll only do this if you do for me, if you do for Shane what you do for me. And I was like, absolutely. So Bert came to me and said, I'll only do this if you do for me, if you do for Shane what you do for me.

Right. And I was like, yes. So every special that we've done together, Bert and I, I do what I'm talking about, sit in there, prep him. And then I sit in the control room and I talk to the director about shots. And then what I really do, what my heavy lifting is, is I sit in the edit. I love editing a special. It's fun, right?

Editing rules. I love it. What do you see in it? They tape it three times, right? Or two times? I think everybody does it different. Yeah. What's your approach on editing a special? No fat, baby.

Don't get precious about anything you say. Trim all the fat. You should be like you're on a roller coaster. Right. You never want to get off. If there's ever a moment where you drop out, something's wrong with the moment. It's either not supposed to be in there at all

or the angle is wrong or it's in the wrong place or there's something wrong with it. You should never stop watching. And I actually listen to a special more than I watch it. So when you're approaching an edit with your cut the fat. Cut the fat. Cut the fat.

See where it moves. Don't make anything too precious. Don't be attached to anything. You know, as the artist, they're be attached to anything you know as the artist they're really attached to their work i completely get it right so to to not be the artist and and want the funny you know the thing about too when i grew up with my dad every other weekend in three months in the summer he had two male roommates so i was, Central. All we did was watch Saturday Night Live, every Mel Brooks movie, George Carlin, Gallagher, Richard Pryor. They were constantly watching stand-up.

I wasn't really interested in stand-up, but it was always around. And I think having that always in my ear has been great now in this life with Bert and surrounded by comics is I think I have a knowledge of comedy that's not maybe normal for someone like me. So when I watch those specials, when we're doing Bert's special, I really watch it from, I think, growing up all those years, watching those great specials. What's your opus that you've ridden yourself, that you feel like it didn't get the shot that it deserved or anything? You said the pilot? The pilot was pretty awesome. What was it about?

It was about me managing an apartment building. Let me tell you about some crazy-ass tenants I had in that apartment building. It was a comedy then? It was a comedy, yes. And it was a single-camera comedy. This was in 2003, so when single-camera wasn't a big thing. And yeah, it was about the people in my apartment building. But the main character was me. I love it.

Or was, you know, me symbolically. I wasn't going to act in it. I just wanted to make it. But that'll come back maybe. Not even that. I think I have a book in me maybe. Yeah. Oh, my God.

You have multiple books in you. I have a book. I love my podcast so much. I want you to come be on my podcast. I purposely didn't ask you any questions because I have so many questions for you, but I was like, I'm going to make him come and answer them on my couch. Yeah, I'm coming

in town. I'm coming in town in January. We'll try to set it up. I would love that. Leanne, God, I'm obsessed with you and I'm so thankful you're in Bert's life for real. You're in Bert's life for real Like I'm just You're the best

I wish we were related Yeah I wish you were my mom Older sister Well I can adopt you I'd love it I'd be honored I got one last question for you Leanna When it's all said and done

What do you want to be remembered by As being a kind, generous person. Yeah. And a good mom and a good wife. That's it. Kind, generous person. My grandpa died. He was the kindest, generous, most amazing human. My grandpa, my dad's dad. Remember, we have 1,600 people in my hometown. 1,500 people came to his funeral. What? He sold it out. That's a mark of a good human being. And I strive to be that good human being. From the example that was given to me by my grandparents and my dad, I strive for that every day, to be the person of your your word to be good to every human being you see

because that's the way you're supposed to be you're not supposed to be nasty to people you're supposed to be kind and generous and that's what I hope I'm remembered for how does your how does your dad sorry one more question

I'm so fascinated with you how does how did your dad approach how your mom treated you? You know what? That's a really interesting question. I don't think anybody's ever asked that. My dad is a very wise person.

Think about what I told you he said about who I was going to marry and not being able to stay in this small town. He very wisely let her fall on her own sword. He never talked badly about her. He never said one negative thing about her. Her behavior spoke so loudly, he didn't need to say a word. And he was wise enough to know that. And when I was an adult, I asked him why he never complained about her, why he never had an opinion about her. And he said he felt as a parent it was wrong to rob a child of the ability to develop their own opinion about their parent. And he's right.

What a good man. Yeah, that's smart. It's hard to do, though. Is he still in love with her? I don't think he is anymore. I think she's been so bad to me that he can't. But I think he was for a very, very long time, probably until I was in my early 20s.

Wow. Fuck. But no, I don't think so anymore. I think she's shown enough of herself that he can't really be that. He can't, no. I don't think so. He is an exceptional human being. I was so blessed and lucky to have him.

I wouldn't be who I am without my dad, for sure. With all his flaws, with all his moving into my dorm, with all his, you know, brokenness, he loved me unconditionally. I had a phone call with him every Wednesday night. He never missed. And I got out of school every other weekend at 3.30, and that man never was late. Not

one time. And every time I was with him, I felt like the center of his world. You know, lucky for him, he didn't have custody of me, so he had a whole life where he could have a life. And when I showed up, I could be the center of his world. But the message was really clear from him. Did that piss you off?

What? Him not having custody? Because you wanted to deal with your mom? I felt like that'd be some animosity, too, towards your dad. No, no. I got the benefit of having the judge tell me in front of my parents

who I would be living with, so I understood that it was not his fault. Yeah, it wasn't your fault. And his behavior made it very clear and his behavior made it very clear his behavior made it very clear he would have loved to have had me my whole life oh man so no of course i didn't have any honesty toward my dad well yeah it was it was yeah well i'm happy he's he's still you know he's still in your life and that's fucking that what a fucking leanne power power power that's great power i love you um thanks for being on the show you're What a fucking... Leanne. Power. Power. Power.

That's great power. I love you. Thanks for being on the show. You're the best. I can't wait to see you again. I can't wait to hang out. They hug you. It's going to be great.

Stay here. Same. I love you too. Yeah. Tell Birdie Boy I say hello. And yeah, don't work too hard. You work your ass off. You know, Victoria.

I love Victoria. I've been getting closer with Victoria She's amazing She's so powerful and smart And the whole crew you have around Birdie Boy Productions It's all women It's badass It is badass Women rule the world baby

You know we call ourselves the badass bitches We have a team jacket We're badass bitches baby Victoria's a badass bitch man She's awesome. Everybody here is awesome. We don't fuck with bad people. No time for bad people. That's not what love is, right?

They're easily replaceable, bad people. You've dealt with so much non-love that you actually can... Maybe that's the beauty of your story. You felt non-love that you know what love is now, older in your life. 100%. 100%. I know

what I don't want with great clarity. Amen. Thank you for your story. Thank you, guys. Thanks, Leanne. I'll push the podcast when we're out here. Thanks for being on the show, Leanne. Thank you. I'll see you in LA, please.

I will. I'll hit you up when I'm in town. Okay, perfect. All right, bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. That was amazing. That was amazing.

You tuned in to the World's Health Podcast with Andy Fresco. 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.

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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.

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