Breaking Bread with Tom Papa - Episode 203 - Dusty Slay

Episode Date: April 16, 2024

Tom Papa chats with comedian Dusty Slay about his comedic journey and personal life. They discuss Dusty's unique experiences and insights from performing across different states, the significance of personal connections, and his approach to comedy. Dusty also shares anecdotes from his tours, reflecting on the blend of humor and life lessons he's encountered along the way.Thank you to our sponsors. Go nuts.com/papa for a free gift and free shipping for an order of $29 or more. Go to wildgrain.com/papa $30 off your first box and free croissants.  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Dusty: Dusty Slay transformed from a community college dropout and blue-collar worker into a celebrated comedian with a distinctive flair for storytelling. His breakthrough came after a standout performance at the Just For Laughs Festival in 2018, leading to major success. Slay's comedy, honed through years of hard work and personal struggles, resonates with audiences for its authenticity and humor rooted in his early life experiences in Opelika, AL. Today, he captivates fans with his performances on major platforms like Netflix and maintains a strong connection to his Southern roots, living in Nashville with his family and embracing a comedy style that's clean yet relatable. About Tom: Tom Papa, a celebrated stand-up comedian with over 20 years in the industry, has made significant strides in film, television, radio, podcasts, and live performances. Notably, he's a regular on "The Joe Rogan Experience" and various late-night TV shows. Papa's literary skills are evident in his books “We’re All In This Together” and "You’re Doing Great!: And Other Reasons To Stay Alive," a collection of essays, and "Your Dad Stole My Rake: And Other Family Dilemmas," a comedic look at family life. His latest stand-up specials are “Tom Papa: What A Day!” and "Tom Papa: You’re Doing Great!" on Netflix.Beyond comedy, Papa's engagements extend to hosting "What A Joke With Papa And Fortune" on SiriusXM and appearing on NPR's "Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me." His love for baking led to hosting the Food Network series "Baked." As an actor, he's worked with notable figures like Rob Zombie and Steven Soderbergh and has appeared in several films and TV shows, including the HBO film "Behind the Candelabra." Additionally, Papa has contributed as a writer to projects like "Bee Movie" and various TV series. Residing in Los Angeles with his family, Papa continues to balance his professional life with personal interests like baking.Get in touch with or go see Tom live on stage!Radio, Podcasts and more: https://linktr.ee/tompapa/Website - http://tompapa.com/Instagram -  https://www.instagram.com/tompapaTwitter - https://www.twitter.com/tompapaFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/comediantompapa#TomPapa #breakingbreadwithTomPapaReplyForwardAdd reaction Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Insurance isn't one-size-fits-all, and shopping for it shouldn't feel like squeezing into something that just doesn't fit. That's why drivers have enjoyed progressives' name-your-price tool for years. With the name-your-price tool, you tell them what you want to pay, and they show you options that fit your budget. Enough hunting for discounts, trying to calculate rates, and tinkering with coverages. Maybe you're picking out your very first policy. Or maybe you're just looking for something that works better for you and your family. Either way, they make it simple to see your options. No guesswork, no surprises.

Ready to see how easy and fun shopping for car insurance can be? Visit progressive.com and give the name your price tool a try. Take the stress out of shopping and find coverage that fits your life on your terms. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates. Price and coverage match limited by state law. Today's episode of Breaking Bread is brought to you by the good people at nuts.com. If you're a snacker and haven't heard of Nuts.com, listen up. Of course, they have amazing variety of nuts, but that's not all.

They offer 50 varieties, over 50 varieties of trail mix, tons of flavored popcorn choices, energy squares, fruit, leather, and so much more. Right now, Nuts.com is offering new customers a free gift with purchase and free shipping on orders of $29 or more at Nuts.com slash Papa. Go check out all the delicious options at nuts.com slash papa. You'll receive a free gift and free shipping when you spend $29 or more. That's nuts.com slash papa. The packaging makes me happy.

Also, brought to you by the good people at Wild Grain. Wild Grain is the first ever bake from frozen subscription box for sourdough breads, fresh pastas, and artisanal pastries. Every item bakes from frozen in 25 minutes or less. No thawing required. I'm a bread snob and it's really good. For a limited time, you can get $30 off your first box. Plus, free croissants in every box when you go to wildgrain.com slash papa to start your subscription.

You heard me. Free croissants in every box and $30 off your first box when you go to wildgrain.com slash papa. That's wildgrain.com slash papa or use the promo code Papa at checkout. We'd also like to thank the good people at tompapa.com. That's right. We have got some huge shows coming up. I'm going to shine a light on the two that I need to get your support on the most. One, Netflix is a joke festival on May 3rd in Los Angeles, California at the United Theater.

Big theater, big fun. Kira is going to be opening on the show. It's going to be great part of the Netflix festival that's May 3rd. And then we just announced on June 15th in Washington, D.C., the taping for the next Netflix special. Very exciting. There are still tickets available for the second show, the 930 show, at the Warner Theater in Washington, D.C., and that will be my next Netflix special. special. There's also a bunch of other tour dates. We're doing a lot of casinos. We've got a lot of great

summer shows. We're going to Atlantic City. We're going to Omaha. We're going to Joliet, Illinois, Columbus, Ohio, a whole bunch of places. The tour is still raging along. So go to tompapa.com. Thank you to tompapa.com for coming on as a sponsor. It was hard to get them, but we finally did it. Making bread with Papa. Hey, don't you know? Hey, it's also a show. Hey. You're the first one where the restaurant walls have some stuff on.

Oh, I love that. Yeah. This whole building is great. It's pretty wild, isn't it? Nice paintings in the elevator. A lot of stuff along the hallway here. A lot of weird artwork. Yeah, I like this part of town.

I don't think I've ever been over here. Oh, no? Matt was saying, Matt lives here, and I was saying this is a cool part of town. Yeah. This is not the cool part of town. And I'm like, yeah, but that's why I like it, I think. A hundred percent. This is the valley.

And a lot of people, when I first moved out here, I was on a TV show and I asked the assistant, where's a good place to get my hair cut in the valley? And she just dropped her pen and looked at me and said, no one gets their haircut in the valley. Oh, wow. It was that uncool. Wow. But I have to say, it's been coming up. think, Joe? I've heard people say, and I know you're a big Kardashian fan, they've been saying that

this is the new Calabasas. Well, I don't know what Calabasas is, but the people, I will say, people are very attractive out on the streets here. I went to Mel's Diner. I had a patty melt. It was delicious. Nice. Fries? Fries, yeah. Good. Yeah. What do you put, you, when do you dip your fries in? I, you know, I did a little ketchup towards the end, but I did, uh, I did Just no sauce. You ever go mustard? Sometimes. With the fry?

Mustard's my favorite condiment, I would say. Me too. With a patty melt, I like Heinz 57 sauce, which I said that, and the waitress had never even heard of this sauce. I don't know if it's some sauce only sold in the south. Now we got it around. But a patty melt, like if you go to a waffle house or huddle house and get a patty melt and dip it in Heinz 57 sauce, each bite, don't put it on the sandwich.

Right. It's very good. Yeah, that's a good strategy. Yeah, and a little Heinz 57 on a baked potato could be really good too. It's like you discover it because it's on the plate and then you get it a little bit and you're like, oh, that's pretty good. You're like you two should be friends. Yeah, but mustard's my favorite. What about an A1 steak sauce?

I do like A1, but it's a bit too powerful. It is. Eating something, you're just eating A1. Yeah. A1 is like a like a man from the 50s who's, who's taken off his suit jacket and is ready to punch you in the face. Yeah, it's bold. Yeah.

Yeah. I like it, though. I do like it, too. Yeah. Last week, I went to New York and then Connecticut. I spent four days on that trip. I ate pastrami every day. You did?

And I love it. I mean, I feel like the northeast pastrami is where it's at. So good. Do you know where you got the pastrami? Well, first I went, I stayed around Times Square. So I went to some place called like the Brooklyn Diner. Yeah, that's a great place. It was good.

It had some thick pastrami. Mm-hmm. And then I went to, I think, Manhattan diner. Yeah. A little more, I don't know, in a different direction, around 33rd. Yeah. It was good. Yeah.

And then on my way out, I stopped at a diner. I went to Hartford to the Funny Bone. Uh-huh. So I stopped at a little diner in Connecticut somewhere. Nice. Real kind of weird-looking place. Classic diner, but no real sign. Uh-huh.

My waitress was like, she goes, she had a, like, a bad hip and was really struggling to get around in there and then she goes, I'm going to, she goes, I'm going to the bank and I don't know if I'll be back. So I'm going to go ahead and leave your check. And what did you think would be the reason she wouldn't return? You know, I just, I didn't even think about it, really. I just thought, I like this lady's honesty.

Right. She's like, listen, this is what it is here. Okay, this is a diner. You've been here before. Yeah. I don't care what you tip. It's turn and burn for me. I was thinking like something.

something like her boyfriend wanted her to wait in the car while he robbed the bank. Oh yeah, maybe. You know? Yeah, she's the getaway driver. Yeah. The plan is for me to come back, but stuff might go south. Either I get arrested or we get enough money to where I don't need to come back here. Right.

Yeah, exactly. I baked you some bread. Oh, yeah. Thank you. It's still warm. Okay. Yeah. And I know you're on the road.

Yeah. So did you see I posted? I posted a. The making of this bread. Oh, no. And I talked about you. Okay. And I gave you some tips on how to eat it, which is pretty much when you're in a hotel room by yourself.

Just eat it like a mouse would. Okay. Just like a little bit at a time. Just start picking at it. Okay. And go for it. Can I check it out? Yeah, absolutely.

Why is it in a bag? I got to cart it. Okay. I brought it from home. Okay. You know, I felt it'd be weird just to be walking with my hands. Oh, yeah. You made this?

Yeah. I love this. Can I have a little bit right now? You can't. You want me to cut you a slice? Yeah. Oh, you know what? I was just going to mouse it up right now, right here.

Do you want, this is a bit, there's a lot of first going on on this podcast. Nobody eats the bread or you don't bake it for everyone. I bake it for everyone, unless I'm on the road. But we haven't, we, oh, this is so good. Oh, yeah. We haven't, we just got it. I'll just eat this. Okay.

Yeah, I'm okay with this. All right. Do you want butter on it? Yeah, I'll take some of it. Joey, can I have the butter and the knife, please? You know, I went to a restaurant in New Orleans. Yeah. And I ordered bread for the table, and they brought it out in a bag.

Yeah. And I was like, I asked why, and they seemed so confused. So that's why I thought there was something that you knew about bread in a bag. A bag definitely is a good way to store it. Okay. It's going to stay fresh in a bag. You don't want to go into a plastic bag, like a Ziploc situation, because there's too much moisture.

It'll keep it soft, but not as good. That's what they do, the Whole Foods. When you order some bread from there, they put it in a plastic bag. Yeah, the Whole Foods, people, they're very arrogant, you know. They are. They really think they know what they're doing, but they don't. I love bread. Joe, can we have a little napkin for Dusty?

He's a gentleman. Yeah, bread is really where it's at. Oh, man, that's great bread. Is it good? It's so good. Awesome. I appreciate that. You're welcome.

That's so funny. In my little video, I said, I'm making this for my pal Dusty. I hope he appreciates it. And I do. And you do. It worked out perfectly. Wow. That's great bread.

So how you feel in life after your special? Are you a star now? Well, yeah, I think so. Yeah, it feels very good. Like I'm selling out. shows. Nice. Not all of them.

Yeah, but people know you more. Yeah, people are coming to show. I was just, like I say, I was in Hartford. I've not been there in nine years. Right. I opened for John Hefron there nine years ago. Oh, wow. And now I'm back first time.

And I'm walking around the mall, trying to find the club. I don't even know where it's at in the mall. And I ran into three people that knew me, didn't know where the club was, didn't know I was in town. That's great. But recognize me. That's cool. They still weren't. coming to the show.

But it's nice to be recognized. I don't need everyone to come. Yeah. Yeah. It's like, you got it on TV. But it is great. But it's such a good special.

It really is so funny. It really made me laugh. Yeah, I'm doing some theaters now. Nice. I did a theater in New Orleans. Like I was down there and I ate the bread. And then after my show,

I was sitting outside, having a cigar with some friends. Nice. And a shooting happened in front of the theater. Cool. And then people took off, I heard gunshots and then people started running. Right.

And it was cool in a way. At the height of the shooting and the melee, were you kicked back just like puffing? Or were you like on the edge like, should we leave? Well, we did say, should we leave? But I was like, you know, this is New Orleans, right? I never felt totally safe here anyway. Right. So is it really any different now?

Yeah. And we were also behind a gate. Now, I don't know if the gate was locked, but there was something to it. It just felt secure. Bulletproof gate? No, no, no. They could have shot us for sure. But I just thought this, it feels like an authentic kind of, you know,

it's like we're separate from it. We're almost seeing a shell. We're, excuse me for getting real specific, but I enjoy a cigar. And I was thinking Joey over there, he's also known as Abraham Lincoln. Okay. He's, we're going to Florida. And I was thinking, we're going to get in tomorrow. We could have a cigar.

But as you know, where you have the cigar you got to really pick your spot because they're not very popular with people yeah so like where was this gate situation were you right outside of off to the side of the theater okay so we you know you go out to like the the performer door right stage door yeah and it's like you know i'm you know i'm the headliner of the star let's call it the stars door yeah so now i'm like i feel like i got a little like well i'll smoke the cigar here if i want to right and i don't i don't i don't don't say those kind of things, but I do have, that is one thing that's happened since I've done Netflix is now I'm like, well, you know, I'll, you know, I'll do the cigar here if I want to.

Yeah. As they're discussing, you're just slowly taking it out, cutting it. Yeah, you know, but Florida is great. I mean, you can smoke cigars wherever you want in Florida. Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. I'm thinking we're probably in a budget hotel. So there's probably a pool. There's probably people doing things far worse at the pool when we show up.

What part of Florida? Jacksonville. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, there's lots of worse stuff going on. I'm going there soon. I mean, it's, yeah, you can smoke cigars wherever. Yeah.

I used to do the comedy zone there. I'm doing a different spot this time, but I done the comedy zone, and they always put you at a hotel there that's the comedy zone is inside the hotel. Right. It's a very nice room. Yeah. But the hotel itself can be a little shady. my hotel room locked itself when I was staying there one time.

The thing on the inside, the latch, it locked itself. I got locked out. I closed the door and it swung around. I've never heard of that. But the people that worked there were able to get it open pretty quick. They knew it. They knew how that went down. That's not supposed to close when you leave.

Yeah. You know, Cat Williams had a special where he opened. He did it. He filmed in Jackson. And he opened with about 20 minutes of Jacksonville jokes. Yeah, I remember that. I'd never seen anyone do town-specific jokes on a special like that. He's the best.

Yeah, yeah. He does whatever he wants. I brought up Martin Lawrence last night at the comedy store. Oh, that's awesome. Very cool. Yeah, it was nice seeing him. Yeah. Going back up, he's doing a half hour and just like working it out.

He's very funny. All right, I love that. Yeah, it was good to see him. Yeah. Martin was, when I was a kid, was like the king. I mean, I had the show Martin and then, you know, bad boys. Yeah. Yeah, he killed it.

Yeah. Yeah, it was really good to see. Black Knight. That was a less popular one, but I really enjoyed it. It shows you how deep your fandom is. Yeah. Big Mama's house, obviously. Yeah.

So is your touring schedule pretty much the same? Yeah, I mean, I try to, you know, I got two small kids. Yeah. So I try to not be gone all the time. So I'm like, I don't go for long stretches. This is like a, if I come to L.A. or New York to do things, that makes my stretch a little longer. Yeah. But I, you know, it's like I go for two or three days and then I go home for three or four days.

I try to do Friday, Saturday, back home. And back home. Yeah, that's the problem when you do things during the week. Yeah. And then you're like, ah, then I might as well just stay out. Right. And then those, yeah, they get a little long. Yeah, it's like now I'll be gone for four days.

but when you add on the travel day, it's really like four and a half days. Right. And then I try to get up early to get home. So I'm like there, but I'm also like zonked out. Yeah. But I don't party. So I'm like, it's not so bad. Like if I were like drinking all weekend and like recovering, that'd be different.

Yeah. It's gotten to a point where recovering now means for me, like if I have one drink that night, I'm like my four o'clock in the morning is a little different. Oh, yeah. You know what I mean? and you're busing out to the airport super, super early. When you are hanging with the kids, what's your go-to? Do you do, like, a fort with a sheet?

Do you play in the yard? Do they like to watch you sweep the garage? I know they're little. Well, I've not gotten them to like watching me do things. That's ideal for me, because I like to do stuff outside. I like to try to do some gardening, plant some things, throw some seeds out. My daughter likes to get in there and help, but she's not, know, really that helpful.

And I get a little particular about it where I'm trying to not be the parent that's like, don't do that, don't do that. But when we're out in the garden, she's like, I'm weeding. Yeah. And then she's pulling up the vegetables because she's helping. She doesn't know the difference in between the vegetable and the weed. Yeah, yeah. You have a good-sized garden?

Yeah, I got a pretty good garden. Yeah. And I got a little land outside of Nashville where I have some fruit trees. Ooh, nice. I just planted them. Yeah. So I got some cages built around. around to protect from the deer.

How big, uh, did they start? Uh, they're bare root. Oh, okay. So I just put them out. I mean, they're, you know, they're, uh, head high, you know, but I, you know, they're, some of them are smaller, but, uh, or fruits. I got, I got apples, pears, plums, peaches and cherries. Whoa.

I don't know if they'll all take, but we'll see what happens. Yeah. I'm really interested in the plum. Yeah. I love plums. Yeah, I love plums too. I never saw a plum tree. Oh, yeah. See, I grew up in Alabama, and Alabama, Nashville's still the south, but Nashville is like the north of the south.

Yeah. It's still a little too cold for a lot of fruits. Right. Alabama, it's like you can grow almost anything you want. Yeah. Yeah, it's amazing. I used to have plum trees. My dad had an orchard when I was a kid that my granddad planted.

Uh-huh. It was apples, and we had a plum tree, a pear tree, a couple of fig bushes. Ooh, nice. Really good. Fig bushes. Yeah. I didn't know that figs grew in bushes. Yeah.

It might be a tree, but it's more bush-like. Yeah. Out here, they have that, like, things just grow. Oh, yeah. Well, California's the best for that. Yeah, God, it's so good. We had a lemon tree. We had a lime tree.

And I wish I had those. That'd be amazing. Those are good. Yeah. Citrus is good. Yeah. Oh, it's the best. These Meyer lemons and you just go out, pluck it, bring it inside, cook with it.

Oh, yeah. pretty good. You know, I like a little coconut water with a lime. Squeeze a lime and some coconut water. So good. Really? Cooner water is supposed to be really good for you. Yeah. Otherwise, it's pretty inedible, though. I remember the first time I had coconut water. I thought I had it before, but I'm thinking maybe I had some, you know, pinocalotta mix or something. Because I walked to this grocery store and it was real hot. And I bought a coconut water and I was like, I'm just going to drink this on the way home. It'll be refreshing and hydrated, and I took a sip, and I was like, oh, what is this? Yeah, I was like, what is this?

But if you take, you squeeze a little line in there, it really kind of opens it up a bit. Yeah. I'm trying to be a little healthier on the road. I was, because it just wears you out, you know? So bad, yeah. Really does. And I saw this fitness guy, and he was talking about some tricks that he does. One of his things was don't eat anything on the plane.

Don't eat on the plane. Oh, yeah, that's a good idea. However long it is, of course, no alcohol, but don't eat on the plane. Because it's mess with your digestion and it's going to mess you up. Oh, so anything, not just the things they give you. Nothing. Okay. Don't even bring your, don't even eat.

One of the other things he said was bring your own beef jerky and your own nuts. Okay. Because you're out on the road in like Salt Island. Everything you get is just has salt in it. Oh, yeah. And he was recommending to do that. The other thing, those sound like I could do. do that. But the other one was every hour on the plane, get up and start doing squats.

Okay. I don't have it in me to make that much of a spectacle. That's a little much. That's a little much. Right. Yeah. I mean, it's like, when you just say get up, I'm like, well, I do that. I got friends that tell me they have never used the bathroom on a plane. I flew from Nashville to LA. I used the bathroom three times. It's just a way to get up. Yeah, exactly. I'm like, oh, they got to go to the bathroom. Yeah, I'll get up and walk down there and do it. I'm the same way. Yeah, but I'm not doing squats.

I feel like that's going to make up with other people nervous. Yeah. If some guy, it would make me nervous from a guy just started exercising. And I also don't do squats anywhere else in life. I don't know why I start doing it on the plane. Yeah, exactly. Let's start doing squat thrusts. Yeah, I'll start with that in my hotel.

and then see where we go from there. The other thing he said was to not eat in hours you wouldn't eat at home, like whatever you left. So you leave Nashville and then you come out here. You can only eat in the hours that you would have eaten back at home for the first couple of days. So your clock isn't getting all screwy. I mean, that's a lot of math. It all makes sense. Yeah.

But it's like it's so hard. Like it's, you know, it's fairly late for me now. Like in, you know, in the day. It's not late at night, but it's late in the day for Nashville. Yeah. But it's like, you know, I still want to eat. Yeah. I mean, I got a loaf of bread here now.

I know, exactly. I'm going to go to my hotel and eat some of this bread. Unless this is some kind of prop that I'm not actually allowed to take. How is the bread? Would you like to give it? I would like to keep eating it, but I, you know, I'm talking to you and stuff. Yeah. I feel weird about it.

And you took the heel part of it. And that's kind of, you know, that's got a lot of action. into it. I can cut you another slice. It'll give you the... Well, you know, I do a lot of... I order a lot of bread. This is what I do on the road. Okay. I go, I go to Whole Foods. Okay. Or I usually just go to Amazon. Mm-hmm. And I order from Whole Foods.

You go to Amazon. You order from Whole Foods. Yeah. To come to your hotel room? To come to my hotel. It's like 10 bucks to get it delivered. Smart. And, oh, yeah. It's like 10 bucks to get it delivered. and then I'll order, you know, some sourdough bread, I'll order some cheese, some grapes, a few things. It won't be very expensive. You can even get packages of salmon, which I've done, and then say an avocado.

Oh, nice. All this stuff is not very expensive when compared to, say, you're on the road and you're like, I'm going to eat out every meal. Exactly. It's like it's not that expensive so you can get good organic things. Smart. And then I made, I took sourdough, I put a little avocado on there, or other. a little of that salmon and a little cheese. And you have these, you know, I'm making avocado toast in the room.

That's amazing. And I can do that for two days. That's great. I'm living luxury in there. That is luxury. For less money than I'd be spending if I went down and got some bar hamburger. Yeah, exactly. When we go on the road, Abraham Lincoln comes with me and I have to feed him.

And he doesn't eat a lot, but it's expensive. Oh, yeah. Every meal, he's like, no, I'm not eating in my room. He yells out. I declare I want to eat in a fine establishment in Jacksonville. He's doing squats at the table. It's a nightmare. Well, things are going to change this weekend.

We've got a new plan and you're on your own. You've got to order Amazon by yourself. I don't see you getting salmon and avocado from Whole Foods, though. No, it's all fast food on my side. Yeah. Does this Whole Foods sell hot dogs? Will they bring ready-made hot dogs? Well, I don't know about ready-made, but you can.

get some. That's the problem in a hotel. You can't cook anything. I know. When I was a feature, and I used to drive everywhere. I had a big Tupperware container. I had a hot plate. I had pots and pans. I mean, I've all been about this for a long time. I got sick of restaurants years ago. Yeah. And I just, there's, like, I went to Mel's Diner here. It was very good. But I'm like, this is just a patty mouth that I've had here. It's very good. But, you know, if I go somewhere like Denver, Comedy Works, they have a really, great condo. Love that condo.

I walk to the Whole Foods. I buy some things. Yeah. And then I cook every meal in there. Yeah, that's smart. Yeah, that's a nice place to do it too. Yeah. I also, like, I'll go and get one order from that Greek place next store to the, between the condo

and the club. There's a really good Greek place. Oh, and this is Comedy Works South. This is South. I've been to that one, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

It's a good spot. Yeah. And you get, the portions are so huge. You eat a little. You can eat it off of that for three days. Oh, yeah. Yeah, it's a good one. Yeah, I mean, it's like people, when I go to these cities, people are always recommended restaurants to me to go.

And I'm like, I don't, I hate restaurants. I hate them all now. I know. It's, is it the ordering? Is it the process? It just feels like everything's the same. Yeah, I know. You know, I mean, like, you can go to nicer places.

It feels like they use better ingredients. And I don't like, you know, like Waffle House and Huddle House. I've always liked, but it feels like now, maybe I'm older, but I just never feel good when I eat it now. I still like the taste, but I, it's not even like, oh, I'm nauseous or all my, it's like I physically am just not as good. Exactly, a little headache, a little measly. My dad, on the other hand, will eat it. He'll go, he'll come to my house, and he'll stop at Waffle House twice on the way from Alabama. It's five hour drive, but he'll stop there twice and eat it.

and feel the same. Yeah. I think he just feels so bad all the time and he's like, I was thinking about that the other night. Is there an age where you just don't ever feel really great again? You know what I mean? Yeah. Like when you're younger, you're like, I feel good,

and then it's noticeable when you don't. Now it's kind of, it seems like a low register of just kind of crummy. I think that just in, and I don't know what other countries are, doing but I think in America we just feel bad you can like you say talk about the salt island I think that's what's happened everybody is just eating this stuff all the time yeah where we feel so bad yeah that you don't even know that you feel bad because you're just like up this is how it is and then you start like eating healthy yeah and then you go and eat bad again like you used to and then you're like oh oh I feel it now like when I used to drink every day I would be hung over

But I was so used to being hung over. Right. This was just kind of who I was. Just a guy with a perpetual headache. Until I got back to the bar later that night. Yeah. I don't miss that either. When you first start out, it's like, we're going to the bar after and stuff.

And then the whole next day is trying to feel close to normal for the show. Yeah. And all I was trying to do back in the day was get late anyway. It's like, I'm married now. Like, why would I want to go get drunk? Yeah, right. I'm like, there's nothing good. Like, that's like going to Vegas.

Yeah. Like, Vegas has nothing for me. I don't gamble. I don't drink. I'm not going to the strip club. What am I supposed to do here? Cirque to Saleh. Yeah.

Well, you know, the last time I went, I was like, oh, I'll get some tickets to some shows. Everything was sold out. I was like, oh, I guess you got to plan ahead for this. Right. I did the same thing. And there was, like, one show that you can get one ticket. It was like $700. Yeah. Yeah. I was like, I'll just go eat a steak for $40.

And that was, you know, I felt good about it. Yeah. I did a corporate, actually, I did a corporate gig with you. Oh, right. That was a while, yeah. Yeah, and that was my first trip to Vegas. I did a corporate gig with you. And I had nothing to do, but I got paid very well to do the gig. So I was like, you know what? I'll treat myself to a steak. Yeah. It was great. Yeah, that's great. Yeah. Like a gentleman.

Yeah. Yeah. Like a grown-up. Yeah. We're all, you're all now. Yeah, you know what? There was a lot of people on that show. I remember. And I won't say that a lot of people did bad, but I remember you doing well.

And then it seemed like no one was doing well for a while. And then Emma Wilman came up and she really opened it. She went right before me. I felt like she opened up in a way that when I went, I was like, oh, this is what I'm talking about. Yeah. It was that it was the set of. up was really weird. I had been hosting with those people during the day. I had done stand up

with them and was hosting their event. And so I was in with them. They knew me and liked me. So I went up and did fine. And then the next act, whoever it was, they were talking, they were tight, they weren't listening. And it was just bomb. Yeah. And then the next one, bomb. And then Emo came up and said, let's talk about this bomb. Yeah. And what's wrong with you people? Yeah. And like she completely kicked the door.

Yeah, she opened them up, started doing a little crowdwork with them. Yeah. And then it was like, they were ready to go. So I went up next and had a hot set. You really did. That's what I'm talking about. You were eating the steak. Everyone else was just back in the room crying. Yeah. And it was Jewel. It was for the company Jewel. Well, that was Jewel.

And the controversy had just come out about Jewel or whatever it was. The New York Times headline that day. Yeah. So they were like, no. No vaping jokes. Yeah. Yeah. Didn't the guy come back and apologize at the end? Didn't like the CEO come back and... Oh, maybe. I don't know.

It was like apologizing for the way they were acting. Yeah, that was Jewel. I was all set. I was like, this is going to be cool. Jewel, I've heard about this vaping thing. And this is... Maybe I'll start vaping. I don't know.

And then literally, like, the whole headline of the New York Times was Jewel, prosecuted for selling the children or something like that. Yeah, it was really wild, because I did have some vaping jokes, you know, but my vaping jokes were, I was all, because see, I always like cigarettes. I don't smoke now. Yeah, I smoke, uh, we keep them around just to play with. Yeah, I smoke cigars, but not cigarettes, but I do love cigarettes. And, uh, how long did you smoke for?

Uh, I would say, I don't know, 10 years. Nice. I smoke, I probably, you know, I started late because I, you know, I, you know, I, I, For a trailer park kid, I started probably around 18. Right. And then I quit at 29, so 11 years. When you're in the trailer park, are people offering your cigarettes pretty early? Well, like my friends that I would hang out with.

But I was like, you know, my parents didn't have a ton of rules for me, but they were always very against tattoos and cigarettes. So I have no tattoos. Right. But I did, you know, smoke a lot of cigarettes. But I started late. Yeah. I actually was in Panama City.

beach and I was 19. I had 18 or 19, probably 18. I had taken, we took a bunch of weed with us. Right. And at the time in Panama City, they were, they would give you a wristband for your hotel because too many people were staying in one hotel. Right. So then they would come around at night and do wristband checks. So they came to our room and then our weed was just out on the table and the people at the hotel just picked it up and put it in their pocket. I just took your weed. Yeah, and they probably just went and smoked it. Of course. There was nothing we could do.

So we just sucked it up. And then the next day, my friends were like, well, you've never smoked a cigarette before. They were like, if you smoke this Newport, you're going to get a buzz. And I did. And I loved it. I was on the terrain from then on. Did you stay menthol the whole time? No, I would go.

Marlboro light is what I liked. And I would also go a Marlboro medium sometimes. I like a little heavier than this, but not quite a Marlboro red. Do you miss it? No. I do enjoy it, but no, I'm too into it. It's like, one time I quit for, I don't know, six months or so, a year maybe, and I went to my uncle's house. My uncle lives outside of Gatlinburg in a town called Severeville, Tennessee.

And he lives up in this mountain, and we were up there and we were drinking. And I was like, I was smoking black and mild at the time. And I wanted to go get a black and mild. He was like, you can't drive. He's like, you're drunk. These roads are real windy. Have a cigarette instead. And I had that cigarette, and it was so good that I bummed another one immediately.

I just smoked two right in a row. And my uncle, you know, he's like in his late 60s. He's like, it's nice to see someone enjoy their cigarettes. Yeah, it's true. You know exactly what he's saying. Yeah. People are just like plowing through stuff, but to really appreciate it. Yeah, I was like, this is great.

My uncle, his doctor recommended that he quit smoking. So he quit smoking and they gained a lot of weight. Yeah. And he went back to the doctor and the doctor was like, you can't gain all this weight. And he's like, listen, I'm either going to smoke or I'm going to gain weight. Right. And he was like, just smoke then.

Really? Yeah. That's what he said. Oh, did it work out? Yeah, I think so. Yeah, I don't talk to him a lot, but he is still alive. Oh, that's amazing. Yeah.

I wish I had a doctor like that. Yeah, this is, you know, this is Tennessee. This is East Tennessee doctors. So growing up as a trailer park kid and now you're a successful comedian and, you know, your life is really changed. Do you feel like that was a really fun time? Do you give you, like when you're a kid, you're just like, this. just where I live. This is what I do and this is a other thing. And then it's not to you get out and live a certain way where you're like, oh, I guess it was weird that we didn't have a toaster.

Yeah, you know, I think it was just all gradual for me in a sense that, you know, my life is not so different other than I'm in a better financial spot, you know, but like I, in a lot of ways, I live the same. Uh-huh. You know, and I feel like, I was just saying this. earlier, I feel like that we had, we were just, like, my mom, my parents were divorced and my mom had a pretty decent job. She worked at a factory that made VHS tapes, which obviously is gone now. But at the time, pretty lucrative. So, you know, but she had three kids. Yeah. And so, and we were just spending our money, you know, you could argue the wrong way, or maybe the right way. Who knows? Like, we were going to NASCAR races. We were going, we had Auburn football tickets,

season tickets. We were going ordering pay-per-view wrestling, going to see WCW when they would come to Columbus, Georgia, you know. We were doing stuff. We had a toaster. You know what I mean? But what we didn't have was an address that I could be proud of. Right.

But you had all the fun. Yes. Yeah, yeah. And that was the problem for me. How many kids in the family? My mom had three kids. She has two daughters, my older sisters and me. Okay.

And then she, but my older sisters have a different dad. me. So, and then I have a younger sister, but we have a different mom. Okay. Dad, different mom. So my younger sister, not related to my older sisters. Got it. Got it, got it, got it.

And you all live there at the same time? A little, you know, sometimes. Right. My sister, my younger sister, the one in between, she moved with her dad for a while. Okay. And then my, and then I live with my sister, my mom, and my sister's boyfriend, who's now her husband of like 20 years or more. Right. Maybe 30. I don't know how long it's been. It's been a long time. And then,

and then they moved out and my other sister and her husband, who, or boyfriend at the time, but they've been married for like 30 years. But we all, you know, a bit of a revolving door in the trailer park. But that sounds like a very female dominated household. Oh, 100%. And they're all going to the wrestling and the Auburn? Oh, yeah. Nice. Well, they wouldn't all go, but my mom was just all about an event. My mom still has season tickets to Auburn games. Nice. She's all about an event. Yeah, yeah. Something big and splashy. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, my mom's kicking it. Like, she got married to her first husband, had two kids, got divorced, then married my dad. They were married a very short time. And my mom is like all about the freedom. And I can't see, I can't even see my mom married to my dad.

I can't see my mom married to anyone. Really? She doesn't like anybody telling her what to do. do. She don't even like me trying to tell her what to do. I'm trying to like help her out with, you know, some, you know, decisions here and there. And she's like, she's like, not having it. She's like, I'd rather make the wrong decision than you tell me what to do. Oh, wow. She doesn't say those words, but that's the sentiment. Right. That's so funny. And now she's married again? No, no. Never married. Now she's retired. So she's, you know, she's kind of living with my sister. My sister's got quite a household now. My sister has a stepdaughter who has two kids

by two different dads that are not in the picture. And so my mom's kind of like babysitting these kids all the time. Right. It's wild. Did you see your dad a lot? Yeah. My dad, you know, he had joint custody, so I would go up every other weekend. Oh, that's cool. But he got remarried when I was young and I had two stepbrothers. Okay. How were they? They were great. Well, yeah. Well, yeah. But, But in a great way. Yeah, in a fun way. I was the smallest, you know. But, you know, we had a good time.

One of them was just a year older than me. We had a really good relationship. Yeah, his friends would beat me up all the time. But we were all friends. Right. You know, it gave me a good perspective. Because the trailer park I was living in, I was kind of king of the trailer park. Oh, you were?

Yeah. So then every other weekend I'd get picked up and go to my dad's house where I get beat up all weekend and then come back and be king again. Right. And take it out on everybody back at home. Yeah. So it's a balance. If you're like me and you enjoy having snacks in your house,

things always at the ready, where else you're going to go? Just go to nuts.com. Joey, can you hand me the big bag? This one really makes me happy. Go to nuts.com. They're so great. Their website is as fun as they're past.

packaging. Their products are really, really good. And you just spend a little time on the website and you go through and you're like, yeah, I could use some nuts. Yeah, I could use some almonds with no salt. Yes, I can use some chocolate, maybe some popcorn, maybe stuff the rest of the family doesn't know about. And then they deliver right to your house. If you're a snacker and haven't heard of nuts.com, listen up. Of course, they have amazing variety of nuts, but that's not all. 50 varieties of trail mix, flavored popcorns, energy square. There's so much more. Nuts.com is your one-stop shop for freshly roasted nuts, dried fruits, sweets, pantry staples like flour, and so much more. At Nuts.com, quality is a top priority. They roast their nuts and pop their corn the same day it ships. So they reach you deliciously fresh. They really figured it out.

It's so good. I have this pantry. You open it up and there's all these little nuts.coms in there. And look at these little sampler things, sampler packs. My wife's a teacher. She has these sesame sticks. You just grab them and go. Great company. Truly, truly, truly. Right now, Nuts.com is offering new customers a free gift with purchase and free shipping on orders of $29 or more at Nuts.com slash Papa. So go check out all of the delicious options at Nuts.com slash Papa. You'll receive a free gift and free shipping when you spend

$29 or more. That's Nuts.com slash Papa. Okay, so I bake a lot of bread and people are always saying to me, Tom, how can I get your bread? A lot of our listeners are always saying, please figure out a way to get me the bread. And I'm like, well, it will cost me $50 on FedEx to send you bread. And then along came wild grain. And look, I'm a comedian. I'm not really in the business of doing business. Does that make sense? So I wasn't really my objective, and I have to say, I'm just happy that wild grain figured it out, because when I'm on the road and come in, and Wild grain has sent me some stuff, and you just pull this nice cranberry loaf or sourdough loaf out of the freezer, and you only have to bake

it for like 20 minutes, and then you got this really kick-ass bread. So I feel like Wild grain, in a way, should thank me for making bread popular. But I thank them for being a little. But I thank them for being a sponsor on the show and really creating a great product. Every item baked from frozen in 25 minutes or less, no thawing required. And you can now fully customize your wild grain box. So you can choose any combination of breads, pastas, and pastries. We have these really good cookies by them. You can even build a box of only breads, only pastas, or only pastries, if you would like. For a limited time, you can get $30 off the first box, plus free croissants in every box. box when you go to wildgrain.com slash papa to start your subscription. You heard me right.

Free quassants in every box and $30 off your first box when you go to wildgrain.com slash papa. That's wildgrain.com slash papa or use the promo code Papa at checkout. When you go to the site, it's going to seem like, wow, they really figured out like warm, cozy breadlike goodness. And when it shows up on your doorstep, you're going to see that that's exactly what they did. Thank you to wildgrain.com. We'd also like to thank the good people at tompapa.com. That's right. We have got some huge shows coming up.

I'm going to shine a light on the two that I need to get your support on the most. One, Netflix is a joke festival on May 3rd in Los Angeles, California at the United Theater. Big theater, big fun. Kira is going to be opening on the show. It's going to be great part of the Netflix festival that's May 3rd. And then we just announced on June 15th in Washington, D.C., the taping for the next Netflix special. Very exciting. There are still tickets available for the second show, the 930 show, at the Warner Theater in Washington, D.C.,

and that will be my next Netflix special. There's also a bunch of other tour dates. doing a lot of casinos. We've got a lot of great summer shows. We're going to Atlantic City. We're going to Omaha. We're going to Joliet, Illinois, Columbus, Ohio, whole bunch of places.

The tour is still raging along. So go to tompapa.com. Thank you to tompapa.com for coming on as a sponsor. It was hard to get them, but we finally did it. Could I tell you something about your act and my act? Yeah. I have a joke right now, and I have to change the wording of it because of your act. Oh, no.

I'm sorry about that. And it's so funny because it's such a common thing to say, but you obviously have carved out. We're having a good time. Oh, no. It's so powerful, and it's such a part of you that I have this joke and I'm like, you know, I'm not going to go do that because I'm, you know, I'm not right, but I'm having a good time. And I'm going on. And I'm like, every time I say it, I see your face in my good thing.

So I change it to fun time. Okay. Well, you know, it is funny that I'll be hanging out with people and they'll go, you know, we're having a good time. Or I'll say, I'm having a good time. And they'll look at me like I'm doing a bit. And I'm like, I get that I've made this a bit, but there's a very common phrase. Exactly. And a wave, too.

People think when they, if they see somebody in a picture waving, I get tagged in it. I'm like, I didn't invent the wave, but it is fun to take two very common things. Very common. And just take them over. It's like somebody taking hello. Yeah. Yeah. Well, you know, you've done it.

It's funny that you change it to fun time because not every, people will say to me, they'll go, we're having fun. And I'm like, well, that's not. Yeah, we are, but that's not what I say, though. I had a special called You're Doing Great. And I was telling people during that year, like, you're doing great. You know, you don't have to work so hard. You're doing great. And people do the same thing where they come up after the show and they're like, you're doing fine.

Oh, yeah. You're doing okay. Isn't great? Like the thrust of what we're saying here? And I named it that. It was in print. You can see it. You're doing all right.

Yeah. It's like, that's what I say when people say, we're having fun. It's like, I say this like a thousand times in my set. Yeah. It's the one thing that you shouldn't get wrong. Right. It's like my mom's name's Edna, E-D-N-A, and my grandmother used to call her Edner. I'm like, you named her this.

You can't name her and then get it right. This wasn't a nickname. She was mispronouncing her name. Edna? Edna. You did it. But they say Southern is like a slowed down version of the British accent. A lot of British people, I think, will do ER instead of A.

Edner. Yeah. Like my wife's name's Hannah and she had an English teacher at some point. He would call her Hanner. Hanner. Really? I don't see that being English. I don't.

I mean, that's... Hanner. Hanner. Yeah. That doesn't sound so English. I think, you know, I'm probably more suthering it up. Right. And it also might be just the Southerners trying to say we're actually more cultured than you think.

That's very well. That could be it. Yeah. Actually, we're just British. Yeah. We skip the North. Yeah. We're actually Brits.

But they say like the Cajun accent, like Louisiana is just a slowed down French accent. Yeah. Yeah. That one kind of makes sense. I love the way people. speak down there. New Orleans, that's just a big gumbo. If you get outside of New Orleans, too,

into like small town, Louisiana, it gets pretty wild. It gets pretty wild. Like, you're in those situations. You're like, I think we need subtitles in real life right now. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. They did when that gator show where they were like hunting the gators,

swamp people or something? Yeah, something like that. We're in America, but it was all subtitled. Oh, yeah. Well, my buddy, I was hanging, he lives in New York now, but he's from like a small town in Louisiana. We were hanging out and he called his dad. Like his dad smokes a lot of cigars but can never get his son to smoke cigars with him,

but he was smoking a cigar with me. So he's like, let's FaceTime my dad. I was like, okay. And his dad was so country. Really? And he was fishing. I was like, I don't know how we're going to keep this going. Because your dad, if he didn't know I was your buddy, would probably not like me.

Oh, really? Right. Like, I feel like that about my own dad, right? I feel like if my dad, my dad would, I feel like he would hate my comedy if I wasn't his son. Why? I don't know. Kind of country. Yeah, but I just think, I'm, I feel like to real, like real country people, it's like, I'm like, I'm too weird country.

Oh, you're like, uh, Alt City kind of guy? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm country, but I'm weird. Right. I'm artsy. That's funny. Like, when I come out, I feel like a lot of people think, if they don't know me, they think I'm going to be, you know, like a Larry the Cable guy.

Right. And people that want me to be Larry the Cable Guy are very disappointed. And people that don't want me to be are very excited. Like I opened for Larry the Cable Guy. Did you? Me and him hung out and we had a great time. Yeah. But his audience was not a big fan of man.

Really? Yeah. Because I was pumped. I was like, this is going to be awesome. Yeah, I would think. I've been waiting on this my whole life. Yeah. And they were nice.

I don't know. That's so weird. Yeah. Because it's close, but not close enough. Even he went out. He goes, how funny is dusty? And I was thinking, you weren't listening to the set, though, huh? Because you think I'm funny, but I don't think they did.

You think they thought I was good. Oh, that's funny. Yeah, like a degree of it. Yeah, there's certain places you show up and it's like, you can't even fake it. Oh, yeah. They just know. Yeah. You're not what we want.

Yeah, because, you know, it's like I am who I am. You know what I mean? And I am very country. I grew up very country. Yeah. But I, you know, I don't know. I just, you know, I've lived in Charleston, South Carolina for 10 years. Right.

Which is still Southern, but very, very artsy. Yep. Yeah. Yeah. Classic city. Yeah. Yeah. It's so funny.

Because it's only Larry is the only one who brings out that hardcore of country, right? I think so. Yeah. I think a Ron White audience, I'd do okay. I'm open for Jeff Foxworthy. and those shows were good. Yeah, yeah. But this is Larry the cable guy at a casino in Oklahoma.

It was a huge room. And I, you know, and I did well, but it was like not what I wanted to get. Not a lot of sleeves. I was preparing for the special and I thought, oh, this will be good. I'll work out some stuff here. Yeah. It was making me doubt the whole thing. Maybe we shouldn't shoot this special.

Yeah, yeah. And then we went out and we had cigars by the pool. Like the pool was closed. Right. The security guard was like, you guys can go out there. And then I guess shift change happened. And a new security guard came out. And he was like, you guys can't be out here.

And then I saw, like, Larry the cable would be like, turn on the Larry the Cable guy voice. And these guys go, oh, man, their eyes get all wide. They're like, oh, they were like, can we take a picture with you? They were like, you stay out here. They were like, you stay out here as long as you want. Oh, thanks, Phil. Yeah. Oh, it's so powerful.

Yeah. It is so powerful. It's so powerful. Because it's not so different than the character, but it is a heightened version. Yeah. You know. Yeah. It's kind of the way you're explaining how your life you don't live that differently now than when you did when you're a trailer park kid.

Yeah. You know, you're still gardening and you're doing all your stuff. You like to be outside. And it's not that far, but just those degrees make a big difference. Yeah. I mean, and I'm also married to someone that did not grow up. the way I did. So she grew up.

She grew up in Canada. Okay. She did grow up on a farm in Canada, but with, you know, with their married parents and they were, you know, very Irish Catholic family. Traditional. A lot of structure. Right. I really cared about how they ate.

Like my wife tells me that they would, on like Friday night, they would get a small, her and her and her brother would get like a small bowl of chips and like a little, like this much Coke. And that would be the treat for them. and me, I'm drinking room temp Sam's Cola all day. Chips from the bag followed by some cereal. Calling it dinner.

Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I ate cereal for dinner a lot. Yeah. I mean, nobody. My mom's working third shift. She's like, I'm sleeping right now. Is your mom still living there? No, she lives in Tennessee now.

But yeah, we moved out of the trailer park when I was 14. I know the date because, you know, my, my, you know, when you get your learner's license, it has your address on it. Right. And my address was lot eight Moore's trailer park. So I was like, oh, man, everybody's going to want to see my ID. Right. Let's get out of this trailer park. And thankfully, we did move. Just in time. Yeah. It seems so trivial now. Yeah. But in 10th grade, I was like, oh, I need this. Right. I need this. So you are conscious at that time, like we'd like to get out. Yeah, I mean, when I was, you know, elementary school, primary school, that sort of stuff, I didn't think about it at all.

I had a bunch of friends over to the trailer, friends that did not grow up in trailers at all. Right. And then, you know, when I got to middle school, I started to become a little self-conscious about it. But overall, still fine. Yeah. But high school is when it really started to hit me. I was like, oh, no. I'm a poor kid.

Right. All of a sudden. But it's like, you know, I look back and my dad actually was financially doing fine. Uh-huh. He could have made my situation a good bit better, but my dad was just cheap. Uh-huh. You know, so. He was living, living the life.

Yeah. Yeah. He's taken me to, you know, seers and buying me the same color shirt in a different, or a same pattern shirt in a different color. Right. He's buying me long sleeves in the summer. My mom was cutting off the sleeves and hymn in it. Oh, really?

Yeah. Come on, dad. Could you sound like. And then my dad, I get older. My dad, like, wants me to start caring what people think. I'm like, oh, you did not raise me to care what people think. My dad harasses me about my hair. And I'm like, listen, you got to let it go.

I'm a 40-year-old man. He really at this age is still? Still, the last time I saw him, he. or asked me about my hair. Really? You got to let it go. Yeah. All you're doing at this point is affecting our relationship in a negative way.

Is he like more military kind of guy? Well, he's not really. He's just got, you know, my dad has this little everything. He wants, it's like you could, my dad could be like, I want you to drink out of these clear cups. And then the next time I see him, I'm drinking out of the clear cup. And he's like, why are you not drinking out of the white cups? That's what my dad does.

Right. It's like, he's like, oh, you should be eating more uncut loaves of bread. And then the next time I'm doing this, he goes, why are you making it so hard on yourself? Eat sliced lobes. He's just always making new rules and he doesn't remember what the old ones were. Yeah, he has no idea. I don't even think he remembers what he says yesterday, but he's like, oh, he's ready to tell me. What was his career?

My dad was an insurance salesman and farmer. So he always like, I mean, he made a really great career out of, like he would go to work about nine o'clock and come home about two every day. And then as he got older, it would be, you know, maybe 10 to noon. He built up enough of a clientele. Right. To where he was just making residuals and he would sell a little bit here and there. And then he would farm. Farming's what he really wanted to do.

Got it. Black Angus cows. Oh, nice. And he loves, you know, bailing hay. And so when I was growing up, my dad would ride the tractor. He would cut the hay and then the hay would dry in the field and then you would want to rake it and then immediately bail it. So there would be two tractors. So I would rake on one tractor and he would bail.

Right. And it would be, I actually, I liked it a lot. But if something went wrong and I didn't realize it, I would look up and see my dad like yelling and waving and I'm like, oh, I'm about to get yelled at. Oh, no. And I'm like, I don't even want to be out here. Now you're yelling at me. Is he a tough guy? Yeah.

Uh, you know, mainly just yelling. He wasn't like, he wasn't physically abusing anyone, but, uh, I've been verbally abused a few times. Right. Um, but, uh, yeah, just, uh, you know, I've seen him yell at all his friends. His friends will come over to try to help him work and he's yelling at his friends. He's just yelling everywhere. And he's like, I can't get anybody to help me. Well, I, well, imagine.

That is kind of a funny way to live, isn't it? Yeah. He's like, ah, nobody wants to help me. I'm like, well, I know why, but you don't want to help me. want me to tell you. Right. He doesn't come and see your stand-up? No, he does.

If I'm close by, he'll come see it. He will. Yeah, and he's into it. Oh, that's good. Yeah, he does like it. But I do wonder, I do think sometimes that my dad likes my comedy because I'm like, everybody else likes it. And he's like, okay.

He's like, yeah, this is good. This is good. But if I were like receiving criticism, he'd be like, yeah, you got to stop doing that. Yeah. I told you to cut your hair. Yeah. Like he saw me bomb.

Like one time I was doing this joke and it was a bit of a dirty joke for me. And it was more about like, you know, like I saw a guy on stage one time and he was a real young guy. And he was talking about the first time he ever watched like a porn, right? And he goes, he says, he was like, it was weird. The download speeds were so slow. And I was like, it's weird to me that the first time this guy watched porn was on a, on a, on a, on a, on a, the internet because I know the first time I saw it was on a VHS tape and my biggest complaint was having to rewind it back to the place where my dad left it at.

Right. And so my dad came to a spot in Columbus, Georgia, which is pretty close to where I grew up. And he saw me do that joke. And it crushed. And he was like, he loved it. He was like, ah, I was worried that he wouldn't like it. He's like, oh, I love it. It's so funny.

And then the next year, I'm back in Columbus. And, you know, I'm still doing that joke. Yeah. And, but this time he came with his wife and his cousin, his cousin's wife, and some other people from their church. And then the joke really bombed. Uh-huh. It really bombed.

And my dad's like on the phone, like a week later, yelling at me about how I'm so dirty now and I got to clean it up. Oh, really? And it's like, yeah, you liked it when it went well. Yeah, right. And he hated it when it bombed. But it was like... So the first time I saw him,

the first time I did the grand old opery, I invited him up and he came with a buddy and it was a really hot show. Yeah. And he was back on board. Is your family an influence because you do work pretty clean? Yeah, I mean, you know,

I mean, I'll think of a dirty joke here and there and I may go to the open mic in Nashville and do the joke just to be like I want to. to do it. Yeah. But for the most part, it's just kind of the way I don't really think like that. Right. So I'm like, you know, I don't, I just don't, I don't know. I find that, you know, I can talk about adult subjects without being dirty. Right. And that's what I like to do. I, I do like a broad appeal. Like, I want people to be able to come with their, like, I have, like, I had an older guy tell me at a club one time, he goes, he said, thank you for having the kind of comedy that I can

watch with my kids. Like, they were grown kids. Yeah. And then, like, grown kids can watch. with their parents and it can be a thing because you know I don't know I figure you've done the same thing I've done it where you put on a comic that you like yeah and you're showing it to people and then you're like oh he's saying stuff that this room is not gonna like yeah I've had that a couple times I did that with a Mitch headberg album and I never thought of Mitch headberg as dirty but I actually went on like a church trip one time and on the way back me and another guy were like yeah let's listen to some Mitch headberg and he was just He was, you know, just dropping a lot of F-bombs, and I was like,

I this feels inappropriate for the car. Right, right. And I just, like, you know, I just kind of want to do comedy that's never really the inappropriate car ride comedy. Yeah, I have a lot of times kids will come with their parents. And they've heard me on Netflix or NPR or something. And they're the one that kind of like gets the family to come, you know? Yeah.

Like 14, 15, like that age. Yeah. Which is always so great. I love it. But then there's always that time I'll be like, there's that one joke. Was it too much? Oh, yeah.

And I asked a mom once. I said, was it okay? Was it okay to have your watch it with your son? And it wasn't too much. And she said, no, no, no. She said, you gave him just enough to make him feel like he's getting away with something. Oh, yeah. Oh, I like that.

Right? Right on the edge. Well, yeah, because, you know, now that I, like when I'm doing clubs, kids can't get in, right? It's usually 21 and up. But now that I am doing some theaters, I will notice more kids being at the show because I am pretty clean.

But, you know, I got a lot of, I like to do drug jokes. I mean, I messed around with drugs when I was younger. And I like talking about it. Yeah, it's very funny. It is very funny. And it's like, you know, and then when kids show up,

I'm like, oh, I did four minutes on crack. I never smoked crack, by the way. But I did four minutes about, how I would like to, you know? Yeah, isn't it funny? I mean, because it's, like, the subject of drugs is a lot heavier than saying a word. But depending on who's listening, the power of just saying and the F word is much worse than you telling a long tale about getting high with your friends and doing some messed up stuff. Oh, yeah.

Isn't it weird? It is weird. And then someone else could have the opposite, you know? It's also weird how just a few letters. can really, like, in Nashville, there's this place called Haddy Bees, and they're a hot chicken place. Right, right. And their hottest chicken is called shut the cluck up.

Right. And I'm like, we really change it that much. I mean, you know, it's like, now we're saying cluck and it's okay. Like, if I tell you to shut the cluck up, is that really, did that really change it? Yeah. It's not the F that's really the power of part of that word. Right. Yeah, I do really like it, though.

I like when they roll up and it's like two kids and the parents and they've had a great time. Yeah. And I like that. Well, I like it too because, you know, you also have created a memory for this parent and their kid that they went to see this comic show before. Yeah. And I think that's important. Now that I have kids, I really think about that. I took my daughter recently, who's almost three to the opera to see me do comedy.

and she had never seen me. She sees me, you know, I'll have to watch videos of myself. I say have to because if I just say I'm watching videos of myself. But, you know, we're editing videos for this and that. And my daughter will always say, oh, you're talking to the people, talking to the people. So I took her to the Opry and it didn't really seem like it, that she even knew what was happening. But then the other day, she's, you know, about, you know, almost. three. Right. And she was like, but the other day, she's like, I want to go back to the grand old

opery. And she kind of said it like that. She's like, I want to watch you talk to the people. That's so great. And I'm like, all right. That's what I'm talking about. Yeah. It's amazing. Yeah. I want to see you talk to the people. Talk to the people. Yeah. Like you're a preacher. I know. Out on the circuit. Yeah. But it's like the way the opera set up, like she went backstage with me. So, and then there's some pew set up behind you performing on stage. Right. To where you can sit and face the audience.

Uh-huh. And watch. So she basically, you know. She took those seats? Watch the audience. Wow. Listen to me. Wow.

That's cool. Yeah. Now I'm doing comedy just to impress my daughter. Yeah, 100%. And support my family. Right. We'll get ready because they're going to go through a stage where they're going to find their own celebrities.

Oh, yeah. different cartoon characters, people, and whatever. And I kind of lost, like, my wife would be like, we're going to watch Dad on Conan. And they would just get up and start dancing in front of it. And they were like, let's be clear, you are not the star here. You know, and the internet has ruined the power of being on TV. I know. Because now they can see you on a screen at any time.

I know. It's not a big deal that you're like, I'm on national TV. I know. I just saw a clip for a TV show. and the people came out. They had been on the Tonight Show. This is all scripted, but they were out on the street, and they're like, we were on TV,

and they all started cheering. And I was like, oh, I missed that. Oh, yeah. It is still a big deal, but it's not a big deal. Yeah. You know? Because chances are, nobody sees it. I know.

You're on TV and you're like, you didn't watch that. They're like, no, I'll watch it on YouTube tomorrow. Yeah, I know. Sometimes I think that, like, when you go do a late night spot somewhere on TV, and you're like, this whole infrastructure, you're bringing these people in, all those people working behind this.

This is all just so we can have some clips tomorrow. Yeah, yeah. It's crazy. I know. It really is it because it's like the clips mean more than the show. The first time I did the Tonight Show in 2018, it was a big deal. And I still love doing it. It's still a big deal to me.

But that first time was like this, you know, it's like even though the internet still was what it was then is it is now, but it's like my friends and family, they were all so excited. My phone blew up. People were just texting me nonstop. Yeah. The last time I did it, I don't even know that I got a text. I know. It's weird. They're like, yeah, you're doing it again. Yeah, I know. It's so strange. So strange. Then you go on a podcast and your phone blows up. Yeah. You know, just your comedian friend. Oh, yeah. Talking to you. So weird. But it is fun to go do. It's still exciting. It's so fun.

I know. Because it feels like show business. Yeah. You know? Yeah. Anything where you're going and, you know, as much as I'm like, I don't want to get makeup, it's like the, you're sitting in a room, people putting makeup on you, brushing your hair, ironing your shirt for you.

Yeah. I'm like, all right. It's all right. Yeah. You're in a green room. They got a bunch of snacks. Yeah, but, well, I mean, I don't think Fallon's ever made you. your bread. No, that's true. That is true. Yeah. He has never made me bread. I know. Everyone talks about

him being such a good guy, but... He never gave me any cigarettes, either. Yeah. You know. Yeah. How cool a guy is he? Well, really. I don't know. I'll have a talk with him, though. If I ever get invited back, I'll ask him for, uh, for some cigarettes. It's nice. So, uh, you're touring now. Everything's good. Your, uh, daughter's like that you're talking to the people. Is your wife happy with the, uh, special account? My wife's into it. My wife used to do comedy. That's how we met.

She's from Canada. I was living in Charleston, and we met in New York City at an open mic. Nice. Where you got free pizza for signing up for the thing. So I've come a long way from the time I met her. That's great. Yeah, I mean, she's into it. I think, you know, she's, you know, she's, you know, manning the wheel at home, right?

So I leave for two. And I think you have a joke about this where you talk about you go on the road and you're like down, you're like, oh, I'm having an awful time. Yeah, some of your best acting is calling home. Because, yeah, it's true, though, it's like, I go to, you know, I'm in LA. She's like, how is it? I'm like, oh, I hate it here. What a grind. Oh, the sun is shining and it's just beautiful. I hate it. You really got to turn it up. Wheat is legal. People have been treating me well. I know. You still like weed?

You know, I don't do it as much. Yeah. I was, I did it. Since I quit drinking, I think I did weed like every day for 10 years. Not all day. Yeah. But I might at nighttime, have a little bit after my shows or whatever. And I just, about three months ago, I kind of quit, maybe even four months ago. I just quit doing it. Really? And I don't really miss it. Yeah. Did you stop because you weren't enjoying it as much? Yeah, it just was getting to be too. strong and I had too many like kind of freakouts.

One time I was here. Oh, you didn't your specialty talk about that. Yeah. One time I was here and I bought some like one to one ratio, THC to CBD. Yeah. I didn't even do a lot of it, but I was in a hotel and I woke up. I did it and I was watching something on my laptop, fell asleep, woke up and I thought I was my, I don't know. I thought I was my gallbladder was going to explode.

I don't even know where that's at in my body. But I had convinced myself that my gallbladder was going to explode. And I was freaking out. It was during the Netflix as a joke festival last year. And I was like, a lot of people were at the hotel. So I wanted to walk around, but I'm like, I don't want to leave this room and run into anyone. So I just was like, am I going to go to the emergency room in Los Angeles? And then I like started burping.

And I was like, okay, all right, I feel good again. And it was just like so, I was like, I had too many moments like that where I'm like, is the little bit of enjoyment I'm having really worth it? I know. That happened to me, too. It was such a shame because it was fun and it does open up your mind. But every time I would smoke it, I was like, as soon as I got high, I would think, I can't wait for this to be over.

Yeah. You know? Yeah. It was like, I can't. That's what I say. I'd take a hit. I'd freak out for a while and then I'd start, I'd be like, all right, all right. Okay.

And then I'm like, let's take another hit, you know? I know. I'm not freaking out. I'm not hot. Right. Exactly. But then you're out here and you go to these shops and stuff and you're like, I think I'm just having found the right one. Yeah. Like there probably could dial this in and be pretty happy. It's all too strong. I know. Like one guy, I was talking to a guy, I was trying to find out the difference in Sativa and Indica. And he was describing one. He goes, yeah, this will make your kind of your fingertips feel numb or whatever.

And I'm like, okay, well, I don't want that. I don't. You got any non-heart attack? weed? Anything that doesn't have a physical uncomfortable feeling? What about a weed where I just kind of enjoy myself? Do you have one of those? I know. My wife was excited because Jane Fonda was saying that the reason she has so much energy at this age is she gets nine hours of sleep a night because she takes some kind of weed. I don't know if she smokes it or it's an edible, but she gets, every night, she does that, she sleeps for nine hours, and that's why she has all this energy for the day. So my wife is now on a quest to find out what Jane Fonda's smoking. Oh, yeah.

Yeah. Yeah, don't just say that out loud and not share that with people. Give us instructions of where to go. I don't know. I don't even sleep sometimes now. I mean, I'm like, if I come to L.A., I'm on central time, right? That's what I live on. So I'm in that, but I'm home, my daughter will wake up at like 7 a.m.

So I'm getting up at like 7 a.m. and then, you know, I'll travel here and just my whole thing is messed up. I'm waking up at 5 a.m. I can't sleep past 5. It's just a, I don't know what's going on. Yeah. I don't even know if that makes sense, but I. No, the time zones, it seems like it would be silly, but it really has an impact.

Unless you do a lot of squats on a plane. Yeah. Now that may be it. That might be the thing. I flew today. Yeah. And it was a great flight. But I'm like,

I just, you know, my grandfather was born in 1900. I never met him. He was, died in 1966. But he, my dad told me that he would plow a field with a, with a horse and hand plow. Oh, God. And then he would get up at sunrise, go do that, and then come home and take a bath or whatever, and then go to work at the cotton mill. Oh, God. And I'm like, and he had a, and then, you know, here we are two generations later.

I'm flying all over the country. Like, I'm not built. for this. I'm like, I'm too, I've advanced too fast. What do you mean for your genetic lineage? Yeah, my body is like, let's be on the ground. Let's touch some dirt. What are you doing? Yeah. You're zipping around the country. Yeah. Do you get tired of the travel or do you still enjoy it? I enjoy doing comedy. Yeah. I do get tired of traveling. Right. Because I don't, I don't do anything anymore. People are always recommending things. I don't do any of the stuff. Yeah. You're just calling whole foods and making avocado A lot of toast.

Yeah. For me, show day is all about the show. Right. And I'm like, people go golfing. I know. I never understand. It does. I am convinced any activities you do during show day, you're taking away from the show.

I think so, too. I know some people can do it. For me personally, if I'm like, people are like, we're going to go watch some races. I'm like, or go to the beach. I'm like, it's going to be a shitty show. Yeah. If I leave my hotel to go do something, all I'm thinking about is getting, I got to get back to my hotel. Right.

I got to get back there. I know, exactly. And I also need time to be alone there in the new hotel. If you go to another city. Oh, yeah. I need an afternoon just to be alone. Yeah. I mean, yeah.

Yeah. You got to restart. It's almost like you exert, even though I don't run around on stage at all, it's still a lot of mental energy. Yeah. I mean, I'm like joke, joke, joke, joke. Yeah, you're thinking. I got an order and I got a whole thing I'm trying to do. Yeah.

And I feel like my body, I'm just reserving all my energy to let it go at night. That's why two show nights is really hard. It is really hard. Because you're like, you get up, you get your energy up, you go out, you do a show, you go meet and greet. You're like, boom, that was awesome. You go sit down in the green room for 30 minutes and you're like, let's do it again. I know. It is a lot.

Let's do it again. But when you were clubbing, when you were running around with your hot plate in the back of the car, I'm sure there was sometimes you were doing like two shows and that went really late or sometimes three shows. Do you ever have those? Oh yeah. When you were, yeah. Yeah. Those were rough.

Thank God you were young. Well, I loved it. Yeah. I would be bummed if there were, because I'm like, I need the stage time. Uh-huh. So I would be bummed if there was less. Like if I would show, I got used to doing 30 minutes as a feature. And if I showed up and they were like, due 20, I was, I'd be bummed.

Right. I was like, oh, no. Right. I need the stage time. That's funny. But now I just did three shows in Indianapolis in a day. I did an hour each show. Yeah.

And it was not as bad as I had built it up to bed. Really? I was like, this is going to be the worst. But they were, they were hot crowds, hot shows. Yeah, they're psyched. I've done some where I don't sell well, the club, because we added a show because the shows were selling well. Right. But I've done them where the club is just like, nope, we do three shows on Saturday.

Right. That's what we do. So the early show will be good. The second show will be great. The third show, there's four people in the audience, and they're drunk. They don't even want to be there. I know. I always said, I just wanted to get, during those days, I just want to be big enough where the waitstaff isn't disappointed at the end of the night.

Yeah. Yeah. There's nothing like being at the club and you see wait staff going home. You're right, putting on their jacket. Because, you know, now that's how they remember you. Yeah. So you've ever heard of the comic Dusty Slate? Yeah, he doesn't make any money for the club.

Right. Yeah, we're overstaffed. I don't know why. Well, this was great, Dusty. Thank you for coming. Yeah, thank you for having me. How long are you staying in L.A. for? I'm here one more day, and then I'm off to Lincoln, Nebraska for a show.

Nice. That'll be good. Yeah, and then Iowa City, Iowa. Wow, very cool. Yeah. That's great. Well, it's so good. I mean, when I first saw you, maybe it was at that corporate gate where you killed.

But I would say to, our producer, I was like, he's going to be huge. He's just so funny. And we both watched your special independently because we don't live with each other. But we were both so elated because we see a lot of stand-up. And this was one that just made us giggle. It just made us both laugh. We were both like giddy with just like purely how funny it was.

Well, I appreciate that. Yeah, it really was. That is what I want. I mean, I guess in a way you could say that's what everyone wants. I don't know if that's true. That is what I want. I don't, I'm not trying to make any points. I just want people to laugh.

Yeah. And I want everybody to be able to laugh. Now, I realize if you're not raised in the South, you may not know what a Western sizzling is, but you get the idea. Right. Yeah, exactly. Well, you did it. Enjoy the rest of your bread. Thank you.

Do whatever you do.