Artie Lange's Podcast Channel - 44 - JOHN SALLEY

Episode Date: January 10, 2022

Artie spends time with his good friend, NBA champion and entertainer John Salley.  Support Artie's sponsors… FanDuel Sportsbook - download the app and use code ARTIE to get your first bet risk-free up to $1000 Manscapted - go to Manscaped.com and use code ARTIE for 20% off your order plus FREE shipping Sheath - go to sheathunderwear.com and use code ARTIE for 20% off  Support Artie by joining at Patreon.com/ArtieLange or by clicking the JOIN button on his YouTube page. You'll get access to the exclusive Thursday episodes and nearly 400 Artie Quitter podcast episodes. Patreon supporters at the "Artie Insider" level will get access to Artie's voicemail line to leave a message to be addressed on a future show. To join this channel on YouTube to get access to an extra episode every week and the archives visit Artie Lange's YouTube channel.

Hey, what's up? And here with me now is the great Mike Bocchetti to tune in and check in. How you doing? Okay. Happy New Year. Happy New Year. I can't believe you're saying Happy New Year. Yeah, I know.

There you are. Let me fix my screen. I'll get it one of these days. Yeah, it looks fine. So what have you been up to? How everything going not bad not bad how about you good it's been a weird week really what happened i was really excited i don't tell too many people but i got what he called uh henry winkle wished me a happy new year. Oh, wow.

On Twitter, yeah. Why is that? I was on the Bennington show last October as a guest, and I talked to him for a little bit, and he was really nice to me, and he just wished me a happy new year. Oh, that's nice. On Twitter, because it freaked me out. I'm like, so Brennan the clown, and I was very grateful.

He told me to call him Henry. I'm like, whoa. So Henry Winkler, the Fonz, wished you a happy new year. Yeah, it was one of the best things ever. You're a big Fonz fan? Since childhood. Yeah. But the thing is,

I could tell Is there a TV on in the background, Mike? What? Is something on in the background? Is the TV on or something? Hold on. Tony. Tony. Tony. Tony. Tony.

I'm online. I can't hear. Just tell him to shut the TV off. Sorry. That's all right. Tell me more about the Fonz, Henry Winkler. He was incredible. One of the nicest people ever

He's a super smart guy He wrote like 34, 35 children's books Really? He said, I've been married since the late 70s Right? To the same woman And he's just a gentle He's really a cool Unassuming guy

And I didn't put it on Twitter or anything because you know what some other people we know take out like a 20 page ad in the Hollywood Reporter about it but you know what you've been in this business a long time so I'll buy you don't do stuff like that to celebrities

no absolutely not especially not the Fonz you keep it low key yeah exactly right that don't be like you know you No, absolutely not, especially not the Fonz. You keep it low key. Yeah, exactly. Right. That don't be like, you know, you work with a lot of huge people like yourself, and you don't act like a fan of them. Yeah, absolutely. You don't want to act like a fan.

No, it's the worst. I mean, because, like, when you met Norm, right, people knew him for years at the time. You weren't fed by taking pictures like what a Hawaiian showed on. Well, no, I was auditioning for something, so that would have been wrong. The protocol is, right? And a lot of people don't understand this sometimes. My family always used to say, if I ever got to work with somebody big, I'd do anything. They'd be like, get us an autograph. You know what I mean?

Get us this. Yeah. I'm like, I'm not there to be a tourist. And you work with De Niro. I didn't bother him. You didn't bother him at all? No, I kept my mouth I only spoke unless I was spoken to

that's a move I can tell you you think that was a good move? yeah it was a good move absolutely more work with De Niro right? no no but I'm saying you don't have to be a social butterfly with him

no you don't you're right about that that's a wrong thing to have to be a social butterfly with them. No, you don't. You're right about that. That's a wrong thing to do is be a social butterfly, especially in an antisocial situation. I know. You can't be all over them like a cheap suit. Yeah.

People know that. That's why, like, you know, people know, especially in this business at a certain level, like you why, like, you know, people know, especially in this business, at a certain level, like you are, Winkler is, they know people are working on them. Yeah, absolutely. You can tell when someone's coming in with a high one. There's no need to, because just work your butt off and focus. Is that what you do?

You work your butt off and focus? Yeah, but the thing is, I mean, I've got to work with him. I got to work with Lee Daniels. But the thing is, is there a secret how to get back in their eye? Is it what? I mean, you know, once you do something with like De Niro, how do you get to do other stuff? I don't know.

I guess he's got to like you. They like you or maybe they'll see you in something else. Right. You got to be right for the part. You know what it is? You just got to do it with them and keep getting out there and getting other stuff and maybe they'll remember you for other stuff. Right.

Now, Mike, the background is a sort of a recurring thing with you. It's probably the worst it's ever been. Hold on. Let me try it now. You're trying to get a full background in. Oh, I was going to tell you something really funny. What? I think it's funny.

I hope. How come people in other countries, right, not everybody, but a lot of them, always tell us they're way more important in their country than they are here? That always happens? Some people, they'll say something like, in my country, I was a brain surgeon, right? And I feel like saying, okay, but in this country, you're cutting cold cuts, so hurry up and buy roast beef. Nice.

No, but it's true. Is that new material? I've never met people from other countries like in my country, I own the kingdom. You own the kingdom? No, they would say to you, you know, in my country, I was now a prince. Then why did you come here if you had that good over here? Yeah, they would say to you, you know, in my country, I was now a prince. Then why did you come here if you had that good over here? Yeah, exactly. You came here to cut cold

cuts and get Mike Buscetti's roast beef going. I'll put it this way, right? I'm not downgrading immigrants or foreigners at all because we're a nation of immigrants. Nobody's a pure American except Native American people. Right. Everybody came from somewhere, I don't care if it was a thousand years ago

or two days ago, nobody's pure here. Absolutely not. You're right about that. And the thing is, some people like to give other people from countries hard times, but the thing is, first of all, it takes a lot of guts to come from another place where you don't even know the language. Yeah, it takes a lot of guts to come from another place where you don't even know the language. Yeah, it takes a lot of guts. And the culture.

Some people would never do it. And some people never did it. I know. But, uh, what do you call it? Um, speaking of, you know, I watched a lot of movies. The Many Saints of Newark. Did you like it? I'll give you watched a lot of movies. The Many Saints of Newark. Did you like it? I'll give you a little bit of a review.

Okay, go ahead. First of all, there weren't that many saints in Newark in real life. Yeah, right. Not only kidding, but here's what I thought were the good points of it. I really did have some good points in it. True blue-fence

Sopranos may not like it that much. Why is that? Well, this is the reason why I liked some of it, because I'm doing him an injustice, but I don't know the guy's name, but the actor that played Dickie Malthusante was great, because

first of all, he played a character like that true to life, because especially how one minute he'd be putting somebody in a life because especially like how one minute he'd be like, you know, putting somebody in a meat grinder. The next minute he'd be taking his niece and nephew to chocolate sundaes. Right. How he justified Montessante, right? And, you know, it just was, he did a great job. I don't know his name.

I should know his name. Yeah, if you're going to review a film, you should know the lead's name. He's the lead of it, right? Yeah, but then the guy who played Uncle Junior. Yeah. I liked him because, first of all, people don't realize Junior was a maniac, but he was also a goofy, quirky guy. Right.

And that guy did a great job. You know what I mean? And what do you call it? Imperioli's son did an awesome job. You know why? He made me think of AJ in the whole film. Imperioli's son? Oh, no, no.

James Galifiani's son. Oh, yeah. I was going to say, yeah. He did a great job because, first of all, it was like he was without, he didn't mimic him, but he was a separate person. But he did a great job playing. He reminded me so much of Tony's son, AJ. Right. Well, you don't want to be a separate person when you're playing the same guy.

No, no, but it was, you know what I mean? But the thing is like But the bottom line is I don't think Johnny Soprano wanted Tony to be in the mob at all No Not at all But I think his uncle

Diggy pushed him in I'm not going to give it away But especially what happened By the end of the movie With the pinky swear That was the moment That was like I'm sure I'm going to to give it away, but especially what happened by the end of the movie with the pinky swear, that was a moment that was like, I'm sure I'm going to be in the family business.

A pinky swear? At the end of the movie, almost the end. You think that happens a lot in the mafia, pinky swears? I think it was an Italian thing. I think it's just, but the funny thing is, what I don't get though is Dick Maltesanti said, I don't speak Italian at all. Now, wouldn't that be a little bit dangerous to be in the mob in those days and not speak Italian? Yeah, you should know what's going on.

I would assume a lot went on right under your nose. Yeah, but how, I guarantee, how stupid is it in their heart not to understand it fluently and be in it? How stupid is who? How bad is that to not speak Italian fluently if you're in that? Yeah, well, I mean, nowadays I guess you don't have to, but back then, you're right, a lot of people did.

You don't know what they're saying about you, you know what I mean? It's like, they'll be like, they'll laugh and shoot them when we're done with the lentil soup, you know what I mean? Now, can you speak Italian? No. Not at all? I'm American all the way, unfortunately. That's all right.

You're proud to be an American. Yep, we are, because, oh, what was I going to say? Do you have any New Year's resolutions? I have none, good the way I am. I'm only kidding. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know. I was never big on New Year's resolutions.

What about you? No, because you know what? People lie about them anyway. Yeah, it's true. Like I'm going to lose weight or something. About losing weight or like, you know, becoming a better human, all this stuff they say. I don't know. going to lose weight or something. About losing weight or like, you know, like becoming a better human, all this stuff they say.

You know, I don't know. Quit smoking. I know because people are full of nonsense. You know that. Right? What do you call it? I have an anniversary coming up next month. Probably in a few weeks. I don't remember the exact date.

But I'll be in comedy 30 years then. 30 years weeks i don't remember the exact date but i'll be in comedy 30 years then 30 years you don't remember the exact date not exactly but it was like probably an early early to mid-january of of 1992 1992 wow but the thing is i actually started a little before that. I started doing comedy on September 7th, which was a Thursday, 1989. So why don't you have that as the anniversary? And I did it for, what do you call it, like till March of 1990. That's where I met guys like Levy and Otto and those guys.

Yeah, I was going to say, so why don't you make September 7th your anniversary date? So technically you've been in 33 years. I didn't stick with it, though. That's all right. So you went back to it. Yeah, but the thing is, now who knows what's going to happen with it because of the COVID and stuff. But you know what? I'll tell you one thing, Art.

There's other ways to make money in this now. You're just smart. I mean, you know a lot about the internet, you know what I mean? And production, especially creating content now. Absolutely. People are doing it without anything else. Like, look at our friendship quarantine. They put a special out on YouTube.

And the thing is, if you get enough of a hit, enough subscribers and hits, you'll be making some good money. Yeah. Now, what about you? Are you going to put any creative output out? Yeah, but the thing is, I'd like to make another CD. But the thing is, I don't know what it's going to be like out there in the coming year to be able to get up and work on stuff.

I think the TV's still on. Hold on. Tony? Who's Tony? Oh, that's my younger brother. Oh, your younger brother. No, what do you call it? But the thing is, yeah, I'm a little loud.

I'm so sorry. Yeah, I'm talking to the font. All right. You told everybody. What do you call it? But who else did you tell? You said you didn't tell anybody. No, I told my brother.

I'm talking. I'm sorry. What's up? Why are you up there? I brought this one. I'm so sorry. Hey, what's up, Tone? What's going on? How you doing, man? I got to hide my keys so you don't steal my car again.

If you're burning them up, killing them up, burning the rubble. Yeah, what happened? Mike stole your car and what happened? The fire part almost took the house across the street, the gate down. It looked like the jailhouse rock when those Rikers Island gates over there. I left it warming up in the winter and I come out and I thought I could trust him with my keys and all

of a sudden I'm chasing him off the block and he's staring for the rail in there. He almost scratched the car up. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That was it. I had to put him over my knee and spank him. Yeah, that's right. Be good it. I had to put him over my knee and spank him. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that's right.

It was good talking to you guys. All right, Tony. You too, buddy. Have a good one, Ed. I miss Tony. Yeah, happy New Year's. Yeah, happy New Year's. Happy, healthy New Year.

Thank you. Now, what happened with that, Mike? You said you stole your brother's car? Well, he had a 67 Firebird It was all soaked up And I Thought I was going to take you for a spin

And what happened? You took out the neighbor's fence? Well I was only 22 at the time He's a couple years younger He's like 18 at the time So I took his keys And I hadn't been driving in a while. And my neighbor had like a huge, high-fetched chain.

He saved it from Williamsburg, but Brooklyn was really bad. And they were always nervous when they moved in, how Staten Island was then. So I'm driving. I make a wrong turn. He goes to the fence, right? I'm pulling it out. I'm hitting the fence.

He comes out like a maniac. What do you call it? I gun it. the wrong turn he goes to the fence right i'm pulling it out i'm hitting the fence he comes out like a maniac what do you call it i i've gone and he's running up after me well shit happens mike what are you gonna do yeah but audie i was very reckless in my 20s because who isn't you know why because first of all when you're that young, you think you're invincible. Yeah, that's true. For sure, because, Arnie, I mean, I was very, like, very reckless in my 20s and probably 30s, but, you know, you've got to realize when you're 20,

you think you own the world and you're invincible. A lot of people do, not everybody. Well, did you think you were invincible? Yeah. You did. Yeah, and you know what? I'll be honest with you. I'm 60 now.

I didn't think I was going to make it to half this far. Some nonsense I did, Rojo. You're 60? Yeah. God, you don't look 60, Mike. Thank you. But the thing is... You look more 68-ish.

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You know, I was reading about you, and you hold the Georgia Tech record for personal fouls. Yes. That, to me, is fantastic. Yeah, that, to tell you, I don't, I don't believe in people being able just to do whatever they want to me. So, and I think they give you five fouls for a reason. Right. And I think you should use them.

And the first foul is usually an intimidating factor. Right. And, and I use it. Right. And I use it. Absolutely. And coming out of Canarsie High School in Brooklyn, you probably use it a lot in Georgia Tech. Yeah, I was angry. I don't even know why I was so angry.

You know, a black kid from Brooklyn going to Atlanta, Georgia in college. Yeah, what was that like? Well, Atlanta is 85% black. That was cool. You just shouldn't go outside of 285. But now it's different. Now it's a little different.

And I was so happy to be out of New York. No snow. The thing I do not like is sleep. Right. I realize I don't like sleep. I love everything black but ice. Yeah, me too. But, you know, how did growing up

and playing basketball in Brooklyn shape your game? One, I grew up in an Italian Jewish neighborhood, so I learned to run fast and save my money. Right. And I played with all the Jewish kids, so there was a lot of passing and schemes and setting it up. And I learned the fundamentals. setting it up. And I learned the fundamentals. Literally a guy, Bonnie Davis thought the most important thing I should have are the fundamentals of basketball.

Then I had a guy named Arnie Hershkowitz who also thought so coach Reiner, Ted Gustis, Lou Dalmata, all these guys, Gil Reynolds. It was about fundamentals and playing the game a certain way. So by the time I got to college and Coach Krimmer was yelling at guys and grabbing their jerseys, I had been through some of the toughest coaches in the world. Yeah. And some of the – so I always knew coaches coach, players should just play.

And when you knew fundamentals, people would say, oh, good game, good – certain people. But the people who knew basketball, they knew what I did. They knew I held my guy but way below his average. I was vocal. And in New York, you know, you get embarrassed in the streets. You know, you kind of hang it up. Right.

And so we thought basketball originated in Brooklyn. At least I did. I did a documentary with a guy named Booth. It's called Ball Side Middle, which talks about all the great Brooklyn basketball, you know, street games. Yeah, there's a lot. Yeah. Yeah, it was definitely, I was definitely happy to grow up learning the sport.

You went to high school with the guy who invented Starbucks, right? Yeah, no, I went, I grew up in the same neighborhood. I just saw him too last month, Howard Schultz, and I connected with Howard and his son has a podcast, a sports podcast right there out of New York city. And he, and I videoed last, I guess now would be 90 days ago. I was in Brooklyn and I videoed my old project.

I still only go in the daytime. Bayview houses in Canarsie. It's not what it used to be, but it's still home. Every time I go there, I get this feeling that I have to work 10 times harder. All I have to do is go back and walk around the neighborhood. When I get back to Los Angeles, there's no sleep, no sleep to Brooklyn. That's what it is. I know.

I lived in LA for a while and people say, what's it like living in LA? I said, well, I was playing softball and shorts in January. That's what it's like. It's wonderful. Wonderful. Yeah. It's tough to beat that. Yeah you you you've had a storied career man i mean you played against some of the best jordan magic bird who's the best guy you played

against uh his name is magic larry bird johnson because you know and i always everybody always goes because i always say michael jones not the greatest all time he was the greatest in the 90s i do it just really to piss people off because that's what i like to do but in the 90s from 1991 to 1998 uh 97 98 798 it. It was Michael Jordan to win six championships in, in seven years is amazing. Yeah. So I would say I played with Michael and against him. Akeem Olajuwon, Larry Bird.

Well, all of the Celtics. Right. And, and Akeem Olajuwon. Let me tell you, I'm an African born an American. I'm born in America, and he's an African. And I could see the degeneration of my race once I looked at me and I looked at him. I was like, oh, boy, if I would have had all these Africans and not some of this Scottish I got at me and I looked at him. I was like, boy, if I would have had all these Africans and not some of this Scottish

I got in me, what am I doing with hair on my chest? You got Scottish in you? Yeah, man. Some Scot got it. That's what a Sally is. It's a clan in Scotland. Is it really? Yeah, real talk.

A clan? Yeah, I was in the clan before I was in style. But yeah, I literally, Akeem had these cheekbones and his eyes were red. And he was, you know, built like a steel wall. And he ran like a gazelle. It was my height. It was the scariest thing to play against Akeem. He never had an off game.

Yeah, he's a name that, you know, people leave out when they mention the greats, you know. Because he's Muslim. If he wasn't a devout Muslim, we would hear more about him. Is that true? That is, to me. To me, that's the truth. Because he's in the top 50 players of all time.

And anybody and everybody that's played against or with or seen Akeem play, he should be mentioned in the top three of the greatest centers ever. Yeah, no, absolutely. I mean, you know, you just said this is physical presence and then, you know, a real smart player and, uh, could do everything, but you was a six, 11 guy. You were, uh, holding your own against a guy like him, right? Yeah. And it was a trip when I look back at it now, Artie, if I see any video. Now, this is a trip, and I don't know if this comes from the fact that I started smoking cannabis 21 years ago, but I don't remember the games.

I guess it was such a mental psych job on myself that I never remember the games unless I see them. Really? I can't tell you the outcome. Yeah, not one game. There's not one game in my career. I never remember the games unless I see them. Really? I can't tell you the outcome. Yeah. Not one game. There's not one game in my career I can go back to. Even the finals?

No, because I was literally, I hypnotized myself. Because when you're in the finals, the hardest thing about the finals is not that the team across from you is so great. They are, okay? To get to the top two teams, you do have great teams. But the thing that is, it's during the season. If I play on Tuesday, I got to play somebody else on Thursday and Friday and maybe Sunday.

So, you know, you're just really going with the motions and along the motions and hopefully you have a good game. But in the finals, you only have one team to focus on. Right. That means if he likes corned beef sandwiches, you want to know who's making them, where they're making them, what else he puts on them, you know, everything about them. So it's so intense and you know,

it seems like the referees, a lot of times when we play the Lakers, it feels like eight on five. Magic would go through the lane, yeah, ref! And the ref would blow the whistle. Is that true? It's a true statement. You can ask anybody. Magic would go through the lane, and you're, ref!

And everybody would move out of the way. And he would just lay the ball up. Yeah. It was an unbelievable trick. And he was way more resilient than most people. So when you hit him, you know, he'd just go to the foul line like LeBron. But a lot of guys, when you hit him,

they want to turn around and act like they want to fight. As soon as we see a guy act like he wants to fight, we win. Yeah. Because if you want to fight and not play, you're an idiot. You got to just want to play. Yeah, and the Pistons did that a lot. Yeah, well, it was a game within a game within a game. It's a psychological war as well as a physical.

What about the best coach you ever played with? Did you go with Daly or Phil Jackson? I'm going to say Chuck Daly was my favorite coach I've ever played with. That's a good way of putting it. He was my favorite coach because he gave me a shot. He talked to me like a human, like a man. And you know when you're a rookie, you're not human. I don't know if you can swear on here. Yeah, you can.

So there's whale shit, and then you're under that when you're a rookie. So you're beneath well shit. But he didn't talk to me like I was well shit, and I really appreciated all he did with me. Phil Jackson, I learned in the game how the triangle works. I understood him as a player, understanding how to deal with players. But my favorite coach to play for would have to be Chuck Daly. Yeah, that's a good answer, I think.

You also have a talent, and I got to say this as a guy who's in performance. I have a lot of talent. Yeah, you do. One is definitely hosting a show. The other is being a charismatic actor. Yes. And I'm not just saying that. I mean, you know, you're definitely a guy who's funny.

I read that you were friends with Eddie Murphy and you appeared at comedy clubs early in your career. Yeah, I would a lot of guys would go to strip joints. I'm not going to say I hadn't freaked with them. Right. But when I was really serious about the craft,

we would get in and I would find out where the comedy spot was and I would go to the comedy spot. I got to meet George Lopez and become friends with him because I watched his set. And then I would practice my set. And look, I have way less children than most athletes. Good for you. I don't have any bad nights.

And my joy was going to comedy joints and laughing. And I think laughing, you know, they said, if you have a hearty laugh every day, you live longer life. So I always knew that that was a medicine for me to laugh at the perils of life. Yeah. But like the work you did on the Best Damn Sports Show was great. I mean, we love you, too. Yeah. Well, you know, you got to sit around and Well, you know, you're going to sit around and they go, Hey, we're going to pay you this amount of money to talk about what other people do. Sign me up. And a lot of people overthink it,

but that's really what it is with talk show like that. That is. And, and the deal is they used to always call me the player. Apologies because I would never take the side as the player being wrong. I said, the player can't be wrong. And they go, why? I go, come on, you cuddle them their entire life and then you want them to be a human later. No, you can't do that. You can't get them to be what you want them to be. And especially a lot of these guys didn't know the people and I knew everybody. Give me an example. they had this thing about Kobe, you know, a lot of people did because they just felt,

you know, they were so in love with Michael and I was telling them how great this kid Kobe was. And when Kobe came on to the Best Damn Sports Show, Chris Rose, who was the host, literally said to me later, you know, I was 100% wrong about Kobe. This guy's amazing. But when you, you know, when you only see the mamba and you only see the killer mentality

and he's beating up your team, people tend to dislike you. They want to pick sides. And with Kobe, you can't pick sides. The guy's a basketball great. And if you look at it that way and don't compare him to anybody, you would agree he's a basketball great. And if you look at it that way and don't compare him to anybody, you would agree he's a basketball great. So I just always knew these things that they go through.

A lot of people don't realize what an athlete goes through. You may say, hey, the game's at 730. And you and your people prepare to watch the game at 7.30. Athletes, that game has been 24 hours. He had to think about it the day before. He had to think about it six hours earlier. He had to think about it again when the coach was talking about it. He had to think about it on the layup line.

Right. You know, it's so much. It's not like a Broadway show where you know the beats and what's going to happen. I'm not saying a Broadway show is not entertaining. It and what's going to happen. Not saying the Broadway show is not entertaining. It's just, you already know the lines. Right. So, but when you're an athlete, you know, any second could end your career. Yeah.

Something different could happen. Yeah. So it's, it's a, it's an unbelievable mental game. Chuck Daly used to say I had the best mental health of any athlete he has ever seen. And I didn't understand what he meant by mental health until I retired and realized we were all crazy. You know, I just didn't beat up any women or throw anybody through glass windows or go race car drive and things like that. Probably a good idea. Yeah, I did all that when I retired.

Yeah, you wait till you get out to do stuff like that. Who's this girl? I don't know, put her out the room butt naked with shoes on. Yeah, that's better to do when you wait till you get out of the game. Yeah. How were you, you were 6'11", how old were you when you wait until you get out of the game. Yeah. You were 6'11". How old were you when you started to get recruited? You talked about getting your ass kissed from a certain age.

I wasn't that tall at 15. I was like 6'1", 6'2". Oh, really? Yeah, I had this unbelievable growth spurt going into my junior year, I grew four inches one summer. And then I would grow. My body was killing me, Artie. I'm going to tell you, man, my feet were growing.

My mother bought me a pair of shoes and told me she wasn't buying me another pair because she just bought them last month. And my foot had gone from an eight to a 10. Right. Wow. In the summer. So it was like I was the werewolf in London. You remember American werewolf in London? I was growing, listening to music.

So I remember the growing pain. And then when I went to college, I was 6'9". I went to Georgia Tech in 1982, 6'9", and I left at 6'10". Wow. And when I finally retired from the NBA, I was 6'11 and 3 quarters. So I was growing into my 30s. You kept growing into your 30s, my God. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

into your 30s my god yeah yeah yeah and everything you know everything was uh what i mean by players being colored you think about it when you see a kid he said man this kid is pretty good this 10 year old is like it looked like he's like a pro basketball player and then all of a sudden you see him at 15 and you go wow this guy's gonna be something well guess what in three years he's going to the nba right so he had no time to learn about finance no time to learn about love no time to learn about um how to deal and talk to people no time how to do media uh media um i guess uh what is it media classes yeah uh none of that the the blessing as I was raised by a mother as a Jehovah Witness. And even though I'm no longer part of that faith, I had to knock on doors as a young kid since I was six years old and present you with the Watchtower and Awaken.

And I grew up in an Italian Jewish neighborhood, so there was a lot of cursing and name-calling and a lot of no, get the hell away from my door but you know you had to knock on the next door and not have that energy from the last door so i learned to use uh booze and chairs sound exactly the same to me because they come out of the same people and they come from the same place so i don't I never really care. Like I can play in the gym with no one in it and play really hard and enjoy the game. If there's people watching good for them. Right.

A lot of guys don't see it that way. I did. Yeah. So you actually went door to door as a Jehovah's witness. Yeah. I went, I went door to door. Hi, my name is John Sally from the Watchtower and Track Society. What's your relationship with Jesus? My ancestors killed him. Get away from my door, big bro. There you go. Well, you know, listen That's an experience In and of itself If you don't learn something about human beings doing that

You're not alive And I grew up, you know, in the 70s So You grow up in the 70s, man It was everything Think about everything that was happening in the 70s Just getting out of Vietnam Disco starts

It's the first time black people or white people in Vietnam War are fighting side by side and fighting each other in Vietnam. uh who else jimmy carter takes over uh there's there's there's gas lines uh the the disco starts all of a sudden heroin is now not just with jazz players but it's throughout every neighborhood black neighborhood or in the country um it just it just was a crazy time. And, you know, we hear about it, the music of the 70s and that kind of stuff. But, man, growing up and the changing of the guard. And then, like, I always go back to 1977 in New York. There was a blackout for three or four days. And then 1978, Roots comes out. And it's one of the first times black people ever got to see exactly what it was as close to they can get to as gruesome as it was.

And the race riots started in all different cities, Boston, New York, Oakland, Detroit, Detroit in the 60s. You know, that was really big. Yeah. And and and and and black people just started saying, hey, man, you know, that was really big. Yeah. And, and, and, and, and, and black people just started saying, Hey man, you know, enough's enough. Everything was happening for us. We had a TV show called soul train. We have Bill Cosby doing fat Albert and the Cosby kids and, and African art shows and things just was moving. And we still weren't on TV. MTV just started 1978, 1979. And rap music started in 1973, right? Yeah.

With Kool Herc. And it was the new rebel music pushing forward. I watched this thing on Netflix. I know you know this comedian, really funny guy, one of my favorite comedians named Russell Peters. Yeah, sure. Yeah, Indian brother. He literally produced, executive produced,

Hip Hop Evolution on Netflix. Check it out. You start seeing how hip hop literally changed the way we do things in America, with Luke Campbell being the first. They were going to send him to jail for explicit words. And they said, you can't do that with Richard Pryor has four albums. Eddie Murphy did Delirious. Millie Jackson.

Lenny Bruce. You can't put me in jail for putting curse words on a record. And they won the case, and it changed the way everything is done in America. The, you know, the First Amendment stood up. That's true. They were going to send him to jail for that? They were going to send him to jail for doing Me So Horny on stage in stage in broward county oh my god i i didn't know yeah it was it was cool it was cool music until the white kids in long island started pumping it

right and their father's cadillacs out loud to go me so horny what is happening oh you shouldn't be in trouble for playing it he should be in trouble for playing it. He should be in trouble for making it. So it just shows where the world has changed to and how it's gone now. Well, you do, you do a lot of, uh, you know, you're involved with a lot of causes, uh, operation smile. Yeah. I, uh, I went to, uh, I was a part of, I went on a tour down in Brazil with Operation Smile. It's a great, you know, they help people with cleft palate.

And, you know, one, they're ostracized by their community. Two, it's hard for them to eat. Three, they have to be taken care of. So once they, you know, get the hole in their mouth, literally what it is, um, fixed, you know, they feel like, you know, they can smile again. So, and I know how important the smile is, you know, when white women walk on the elevator and I smile, they don't hold it. They only hold that person with one arm, but, uh, but a smile is important. It breaks, it breaks the ice, man.

It shows confidence in yourself. It tells people that you're unarmed. It's an important thing. Yeah, it could be disarming a smile. Yeah, it disarms. It tells you exactly what's happening. You know, if I walk up to you, mind if we dance with your dates like they did in Animal House,

and I smile. You go, yes. Why not? So what are you up to now, mostly? What are you doing now? Well, one of the things I was going to talk, I started a network. Like, I literally got tired of waiting on you to, you know, get back from Tahiti tanning and stuff.

And so we can do this show that you had. No, I, I realized the world was changing and I realized that the 1994, I went to a guy who represented a couple of ballplayers and I said, there's a thing called the internet coming out. I said, this is so amazing. We can get into this thing. We can own a mall. And people, some of you, you think people are going to buy their clothes, look at it, buy their clothes, have a ship to them without trying them on, man, you gotta be crazy. In 1994, it sounds like it.

And now, you know, you look back and the only way you buy, 86% of things were purchased online. So with me seeing what was happening with Web3 and the metaverse and NFTs and crypto, I jumped in like a Navy SEAL, two feet with my arms crossed into the water right out of the helicopter into it. So I started a network with three or four of my partners and it's called Spark, S-P-R-K, Spark Network and Spark NFTs. And, you know, the world has changed. When they asked me, they'll tell you when they say, hey, you want to do the Artie Lang show? And I said, yes.

And, you know, because you're my friend and I know that the world is changing the way we're doing things now. This is the last year. The way you're doing it right now is the last way. This is the last way of doing radio slash podcast. From now on, everything will be an NFT. And they're literally cutting out the total middleman of all things. So you won't have to come up with an idea, pitch the idea, wait for somebody to give you a check. Right. Pretty soon, this show right here is NFT and people are going to buy it directly from you. And then when they finish watching it, which they probably won't, because this is a great interview, but you got John Sally.

which they probably won't because this is a great interview because you got john sally on but when they do they're going to resell it and you know it's just going to change the way we watch television film do everything so we started spark network we're going to launch february 22nd um 2022 that's my number 22 so i'm doing. Right. And, and we literally a launch and pre-launch and our pre-sales of our NFTs. Russell Peters will be the first standup show in NFT history. A big one by big, he was the first on Netflix to believe it or not before Dave Chappelle, the first and the first Netflix stand-up special was Russell Peters. And so we plan on repeating that. And I think he's going to shoot it out of Dubai.

We're going to be at the Bitcoin conference down in Florida in April and hosting the show. So the show is literally a novice like myself in crypto talking to all the so-called, I'm going to say so-called self-appointed experts in crypto. And we're going to find out if this is really what's happening. I know it's really happening when they changed the name of the Staples Center to crypto.com. They changed the name of the American arena in Miami to, I think, XRP. This is when the U.S. dollar now has coin. The U.S. dollar is no longer a dollar. They have a crypto coin.

And everything has already been digital, right? You do everything with Cash App, Apple Pay, Venmo, Zelle. So you really don't touch paper anymore. And I just think the safe way of being is going to be in crypto. So I'm just literally learning every day. I'm on YouTube four hours a day. That's the new college in case you needed to know. Yeah, absolutely. It is. So putting your kid in college is you throwing money away because if they have to ask a question, they ask Siri or Alexis or Google.

And, you know, my daughter, I think she got a master's at Google University. Right. Yeah, that's so true, man. I mean, you know, smart thing to do. Yeah, you got to be ahead of 57 now. And I know asking questions that may seem dumb to a younger person before other person since we've been indoctrinated different way, idea and to own it. Right. And I decided to take my ideas, shoot them myself and put them out for the public.

That's what YouTube is doing. YouTube is, you know, the fifth, the fifth network. Now, matter of fact, it might even be the best of all four, because no matter what you do on television,

they're going to send you to their YouTube channel. What we're doing is we're putting things on mental health issues with Dr. Dan Rather, him helping out. I get to talk to people. I got a show coming out about crystals and rocks and gems and my crypto show that I have not named yet, but I literally would be on explaining as quickly as possible. I know a lot of people don't want to sit around and be bored by things. So I want to do what Larry King did by asking the questions, getting the answers and then moving on. Right. And I mean, listen, that's absolutely the way stuff is going.

And I'm happy for you, man. Thank you, man. Thank you. Check it out. Yeah. I could recommend John Sally to anybody as far as being funny, as far as being a guy who knows how to host a show. So it sounds like a perfect situation for you.

Yeah, man. I called one of my old producers from the Best Damn Sports Show, wanted him to work with me and he kept saying you should do a podcast you should do a podcast now i did a podcast in 2011 kevin henchman great writer great guy it's called spider and the henchman and uh we were getting like a hundred thousand uh views a week we were on adamolla network. I didn't make any money. Um, but I, but what I did is I, I was able to keep my, keep my chops and, um, I was able to realize the way people were digesting information now. So, you know, now just 10 years later, I think I have, because it's the wild, wild West, the crypto world and the NFT

world is the wild, wild West. There was a stat the other day that said only 200,000 people are into the NFT world. They spent $3 billion. Wow. 200,000 people. I know. And it's grown. Every six months, it grows 113%. So if it continues to grow by 100% every six months, it will have 3 million people on before you know it. And that'll be the way people are getting their things. The best thing about it is when you buy something, you now own it. And I said that I have about six iPods.

And my daughter said, well, you just keep these for nostalgia. And I go, no, I own that music. Yeah. That's right.

When I get on Apple music, if they don't feel I paid that week, everything that I saved is gone. I was like, no. One time Apple was like, we can't let you play that music because we can't prove that you didn't steal it. I was like, one time Apple was like, we can't let you play that music because we can't prove that you didn't steal it. I go, I'm

50 years old being there. I've been playing since I was 20. Why would I steal music? And I said, look at, I said, who steals Pink Floyd? Like, brother, I own all that. Yeah, absolutely. Pink Floyd, everybody owns that. Yeah, absolutely. Pink Floyd, everybody owns that.

Yeah, I own that. So it's a better way of owning things and a new way of owning things. They put the strength back into the hands of the people. Well, John, I'm happy for you, man. Spark Network. That's right. S-P-R-K. No A. S-P-R-K, no A. S-P-R-K, no.

No Arnie yet, but that's what we got to get. We got to get Arnie to do his show as an NFT on the Spark Network. And the reason this is, I'm glad about it. The reason I'm knowing that my network is going to be bigger than every other network, is going to be bigger than every other network, and this is not being braggadocious, if that's a word, is because it costs $150 on another platform. I'm not going to say the name of the platform, OpenSea. $150 for me to buy NFT.

That's crazy. I got to give you $150 for me to buy something just because it's on your platform? Right. You know, this is worse than a strip joint. That bottle shouldn't cost $300. Anyway. Definitely not. Yeah, she's not worth $100.

So in that mentality, we only charge $0.07. Wow. And I already know. And somebody said, that can't be right. No, it's charge seven cents. Wow. And I already know. And somebody said, that can't be right. No, it's a race to the bottom. We only charge seven cents because you should not be charged when you're spending money to buy something in this future. And everybody is stealing the money because there's wedding prices.

You know what I'm saying? It's like bridezilla and girls are going to get a dress. So everybody's like, oh, they'll do it. They don't care that everything is about the money. And we're about the movement of this lifestyle. So I'm very Bitcoin heavy because they've never been hacked in 12 years. It is only 21 million of them. So I just think I focus on what these NFTs are going to be, what the metaverse is going to be, what's the next step in society. Well, John, thank you, man. Thanks for coming on. Definitely.

And thanks for being a good friend. You always have been. Yeah, man. Stay alive, brother. You look great. Yeah, thanks, buddy. You look have been. Yeah, man. Stay alive, brother. You look great. Yeah, thanks, buddy. You look very black. You look like a black, very light-skinned black guy right now.

You better not drive at night. I'm 25% Native American. Oh, really? I found that out recently, yeah. Wow. I took one of those tests that you take now to find out your race. So you're 75% German, 25% Native American. I'm 75% Italian and German.

25%. Oh, man. That's amazing. Bizarre, though. Yeah, exactly. Bizarre, though. That's me. That's the most racist thing I've said in about, I don't know, six minutes.

Well, listen, man, thanks for coming on. And I'll be in touch with you. Yeah, whenever you need me. Have already called me and I'm available, bro. I'm retired. All right, John. Thanks, buddy. And. I'm retired. All right, John. Thanks, buddy. And good luck with everything.

All right. Peace. The great John. The great John Sally. And thanks for listening to Artie Lang's Halfway House. Make sure to go to patreon.com slash Artie Lang to get the exclusive Thursday episode. Make sure to share this episode with everyone you know. As Artie says, take care and brush your hair. We'll be right back. Bye.