Breaking Bread with Tom Papa - Episode 243 - Jim Gaffigan

Episode Date: December 17, 2024

Jim Gaffigan and Tom Papa talk touring, performing, eating, and more. Wildgrain is offering our listeners $30 off the first box - PLUS a free item in every box - when you go to Wildgrain.com/PAPA --...----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tom Papa is a celebrated stand-up comedian with over 20 years in the industry. Watch Tom's new special "Home Free" out NOW on Netflix! Radio, Podcasts and more: https://linktr.ee/tompapa/ Website - http://tompapa.com/ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/tompapa Tiktok - https://www.tiktok.com/@tompapa Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/comediantompapa Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/tompapa #tompapa #breakingbread #comedy #standup #standupcomedy #bread Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Starting point is 00:00:59 Oh, who do we have today? Oh, just my pal Jim Gaffigan. How about that? I really, I feel like in our relationship, I just keep giving and giving. And once in a while people will be like, wow, your guests are so great, the podcast is so great. I'm going to send you bread.
Starting point is 00:01:20 Or they say things like, I was thinking about, baking you something and bringing it to the show. And look, I'm not complaining, but it doesn't happen. People don't do that. But I just keep bringing you great shows. Jim Gaffigan, come on. He has a new special out on Hulu called The Skinny, and it's really great. It's his 11th special.
Starting point is 00:01:46 11th, Gadsukes. I'm in New York City. I got to sit down with him. We have a great conversation. who's one of the first comedians that I met when I was starting out in New York City. So I think you'll find it hilarious. You'll find it heartwarming. You may even cry a little bit.
Starting point is 00:02:04 Probably not. But maybe. I don't know you. It's a great, great one. I couldn't bake him bread. I didn't even bring it up. Last time he was on the podcast, we were in L.A., I baked him bread. And then without knowing, I got on a flight back to New York.
Starting point is 00:02:21 he was on the same flight. We didn't see each other on the flight until we got off. And I got down to the car service picking me up. There was a guy holding a Gaffigan sign and a guy holding a Papa sign. And I waited for Jim and he opened up his backpack. And the bread was in the backpack. But now he's skinny. As he talks about in his special in a very funny way,
Starting point is 00:02:46 he's skinny. He's skinny. He's skinny. He looks normal. He doesn't look like. sickly. He doesn't look. He looks great. And it's better for him. But I could tell he, he doesn't want to be tempted with food. I could tell. So while he's on this journey, which is probably temporary, I didn't even bring it stop at a bakery. I just got to New York and I was like, let's just drink. We don't need it. We did open up some baillies, though, which is delightful because it's the holiday
Starting point is 00:03:17 season. And I heard a guy on the plane drinking baillies. I was like, I can do that. with Jim maybe. What a nice little treat. All right, enough of my blab and let's get to the conversation. The great Jim Gaffigan. It's time for Breaking Bread with Papa. Hey, don't you know? Hey, it's how we're going.
Starting point is 00:03:37 Hey, it's time for Breaking Bread with Papa. Hey, don't you know? Hey, it's also a show. Hey. Hi, welcome to Breaking Bread with Tom Papa. I am the host. announcer Jim Gaff again. Let's pass it over to Tom.
Starting point is 00:03:56 Tom. Thank you, Jimmy. Here we go. I got some baillies on the way. Bailey. Yeah, because there was a guy on the plane. I was going to do a show. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:04:07 And there was a guy on the plane not going to do a show. And he was just... And he's like, I'll have a coffee with baillies. I was like, that sounds delightful. So I haven't had it out of my head until today. It is interesting how those morning flights, when people are like, I'll have a scotch. And you're like, dude, it's nine in the morning.
Starting point is 00:04:25 I know. Can you at least hide it? God bless you. And then some of it is, is it, is it, or is it kind of like, I'm going to get my $2,000 worth for this flight? Or I always think it's, I'm scared to death. Yeah. I look like a businessman who has his act together. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:04:45 But I really hate that we're going in the sky right now. Yeah. Cheers. Good to see you. Congratulations on your new special. Thank you so much. Number eight. Number 11.
Starting point is 00:04:57 Gadsukes. Right. Eleven. That's amazing. You definitely have the fastest rate of anybody now. I'm just trying to be cool. You are cool. It is, it's, uh, are you dedicated to once a year?
Starting point is 00:05:11 No, not really. I was, I was all about I want to do 10 of them. I want to do 10. Mm-hmm. But, and, you know, we've talked about, like, the process and, you know, we're friends with Jerry who's like, there's no such thing as writer's block. Yeah. There, and so the panic that ensues and also that the traveling solitary lifestyle where there is, I enjoy the process of writing so much. And so, yeah, I mean, there is part of me.
Starting point is 00:05:49 that wants to produce, but some of it is the high of the creation more than the, you know, clocking one a year. Right. You know what I mean? Right. There is also like, you know, I'm under the opinion. There's two philosophies. One is like, you're never going to be missed if you don't go away. Right.
Starting point is 00:06:16 And then there's kind of, I believe, like, I've even toured in a way like this could end. This could definitely end. Like, yes. You know, I started doing theaters 2006. Uh-huh. And there was not an expectation that it was going to get as big as it's getting. And that, do you ever look for signs where like, oh, this is. This is where it's, end comes to an end?
Starting point is 00:06:44 Yeah, this is the boom is over. I did today. Really? What was it? This is a delight. It looks like we're drinking. I thought he was plain. That's what it is.
Starting point is 00:06:58 That's what it is. No, I had it today because I was on Instagram when I got to the hotel. Bragger. And just as a viewer. And I saw three really established good comics all with their videos of, hey everybody my tour just came out uh you got a whole bunch of dates and they're all going up and and then and it seems like right now everybody's got the same game plan yeah and they're all going to the same places and they're all seeming i don't know but seeming to have to push a little
Starting point is 00:07:35 bit more yes because the reason that post-pandemic the immediacy after the post-pandemic where people like i got to get out of the house now people are like i've been out of the house now people are like i've been out of the house. Yeah. I've seen some stand-up. I've seen them, you know, and yeah, some people... Do you think it's that? Do you think it... But there's the other part where you talk to people and they're like, no, this is, bands aren't going out
Starting point is 00:08:01 and selling anymore. It's comedians. And the blessing is your fans who know and love you are coming to see you. You have your tribe. And that's very different from A, B. C. comedian. Like there's not a lot of crossover. Well, I think... You and I have some crossover. Yes, yes. And Nate. And Brian. Brian Regan, obviously. He's the, he's the grandfather of us.
Starting point is 00:08:28 He's so old. Do you see his beard? He looks like Santa. He looks so great. But yeah, no, it is... But there is, but there is the bunch of other people who are selling out, you know, giant places who our audience has no idea who they are. Yeah. I mean, there is, I mean, this is, you know, some of it is like, if you're listening to this, you have to understand that this is, this is comedy nerd stuff, right? And it might not be everyone's cup of tea, but what I think is really interesting, which serves your point, is that it is not the end of the boom. In fact, the growth of stand-up comedy just in the United States has such an enormous upside. And there would be two reasons about that. them. One, and this is not a compliment or a criticism, this is just an observation. I mean, it is a compliment. I was sent numbers, unofficial numbers, for how the skinny is doing on Hulu.
Starting point is 00:09:34 Right. Because I want them to succeed. I think every comedian wants Hulu to succeed. And so they were good. There were good numbers. And so then they had the list. So they have it broken down for like year to date. Who's on who's on YouTube?
Starting point is 00:09:54 Number one, who is number one on Peacock? Netflix. The generic numbers they get. Some of them are pretty unsurprising. Tom Brady Roast, Chappelle. Right. Just, you know, enormous. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:10:11 The thing that you don't realize, kill Tony is so big. It's enormous. You can't even contemplate. And so then you think like, okay, that is stand-up comedy. But that is
Starting point is 00:10:25 that and that's a total compliment to Tony Hitchcliffe. He knew and he curates it. And it is, it is roast and it is put down and it is improv. It's a lot of it. And it has heart.
Starting point is 00:10:42 That's the one. That's one thing people don't realize. Yeah, like, it has heart to it too. It has community, right? Right. It has community, and it's like heart in that, like, you with your best friends, we can all tease each other. Yes. And really know that it's not coming out of cruelty.
Starting point is 00:10:57 Yeah. And so, like, we're like, you know, like the greatest source of affection that two men can show is to give shit to each other. Right. Right. And so there's that. Oh, thank you. You look like shit. Thank you.
Starting point is 00:11:11 But the, so like the enormity of Kill Tony, which is, again, it's, I don't, it's not one of the, you know, we've been around, we've been kicking around long enough. There are the people that, like, you see the five years. You see where it's going to go up and where it's going to disappear. And maybe not disappear, but just come to a resting place. Yeah. I don't think, I think we're still at the beginning part of Kill Tony. I think also. of Kill Tony or of all of it?
Starting point is 00:11:42 I think, well, I think all of it, there is, I mean, to my point, there is an enormous population of people that are not regular consumers of seeing comedians individually when they're in a city. So that's where Kill Tony accesses people because it is such an event. Like Kill Tony is the big. biggest event comedy outside you know they try and do it like they did it with tom brady's roast that was an event comedy yeah and so there's that and then i also think uh that you know historically arenas are career killers right but i don't think that's true and i also think that like and this is uh hopefully i'm making sense here's another reason why the boom is not over is that I think that Nate is so much, it's not like Nate's obviously brilliant, very talented,
Starting point is 00:12:47 his success is not just the comedy consumer or the traditional comedy fan. He has expanded it so significantly that he is, and he's going to bring people into the, the the people that might be hesitant to be comedy. New, right. Yeah, so they're going to be new comedy world.
Starting point is 00:13:14 Right. Yeah, Leanne did that too, I felt like. Right, yeah. Leanne Morgan. Yeah,
Starting point is 00:13:18 absolutely. She tapped into an audience that wasn't really being served by comedy. They were probably like, I don't know if that's for me. Yeah. And then they saw an old school notion of what a comedian is. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:13:28 Yeah. I mean, those, when people, it's like there's a, you see it with different comics who, all of a sudden, a group who hasn't been spoken to
Starting point is 00:13:38 who hasn't had their own representation in comedy shows up and all of a sudden boom there's like a huge audience for it. So I guess what you're trying to say is through Nate's success we could probably get some of the people left over from him.
Starting point is 00:13:54 I think we can get some crumb. But he's also I think that Nate is there's he's so he's so much more nimble. The irony is that like you and I are kind of have been kicking around long enough
Starting point is 00:14:16 where it's kind of like Nate is kind of like when Obama showed up. Right. And he was, he could run for president because he hadn't done like, you know, Biden had done like the, you know, like the supermedited and stuff like that. You know what I mean? And but Obama hadn't done that. So Nate hasn't done anything political. He hasn't been in the NPR world.
Starting point is 00:14:41 He hasn't been on the view. There's no reason. And then it's just the sheer talent. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I hope you're right. I mean, that would be great. I mean, we only need the boom to last for like another 15 years.
Starting point is 00:14:57 And we'll be then be like on a boat. Yeah. So, yeah, I wonder if it'll, I wonder if it's going to keep expanding. Because it is also, you know, comedy versus a band. I think people, I think that relationship, someone, you know, people are diehard fans. Yeah. But like, even the people that I know that are diehard Springsteen fans, they've seen him 10 times. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:15:25 And he's one of the, he's incredibly prolific. But people are like, all right, I've seen him 10 times. Well, yeah, it's been going on for a long time. The one thing that a guy in Chicago told me, the guy who ran a theater was that the system to promote comedians is this streaming YouTube model. And so there's like a cool way for Rising Comics or Comics to feed an audience, go out and tour, do it. The model for bands was get your stuff, get on the local radio stations, go to the town, tour, and that's broken down. now it's TikTok and Spotify and it's fragmented so it doesn't feed the system that then ends up in that theater where we're doing our thing so he told me what used to be almost all bands is now podcasts and comedians.
Starting point is 00:16:21 Is that wild? And part of that is just the system of promoting young artists. But I think it also is stand up. I mean, stand-up and sing and music are kind of like there is no fourth wall. But stand-up is more fluid and can change. So, you know, like your modest mouse, as big as modest mouse was, they couldn't remain being modest mouse in whatever thousands era they were. right they had to eventually i don't know because i think yeah i mean there's there there is a
Starting point is 00:17:09 someone told me they're working on another spinal tap they're going to revisit spinal tap do like the next one which makes perfect sense because that rock band of that era would now be playing casinos like when you go around and do casinos you see like foreigners there and deaf leopard or what's left of journey you know what i mean yeah then it that's kind of like we're all all those big bands ended up. Yeah. And they have enough people because they were part of the heyday. Yes.
Starting point is 00:17:37 You know? And so they're all sober. Yeah. I mean? So they're in their 70s. Yeah. They've been living healthy for 20 years. They're on wife eight.
Starting point is 00:17:49 You know? Yeah. It is. Do you ever go out by yourself? Do you ever go out? Just solo? Yeah. No, I'm too much of a coward.
Starting point is 00:17:58 Well, some of it is. Yeah. No, because I know you do that, right? You'll just go out. Once in a while. Once and a while. And usually it comes because all my openers are busy. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:18:10 You know, and they've, and something popped up. And it's like, I'll do, I don't have to get a local for, you know, wherever. Yeah. And some, they might spoil the, you know, the soup. If you put the wrong comment. Yeah, yeah. Like, I got to clean up for the first time of it. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:18:30 This guy doesn't understand that that's filthy. Yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah, completely. No, it's, yeah, you don't want that. And some, it, performance-wise, it's kind of cool sometimes. Just walk out and they're excited to see you and you just go. And it's kind of remarkable how it works. Yeah. But, uh, I was asking more from the, uh, loneliness, trying, traveling side of it. It's a, it very, becomes very isolating very fast. Yes. That's, that's, I mean, there is part of me that relishes so much that, like, I'm doing Philadelphia this weekend, right? And those days of, you know, writing, decompressing. And I know that I'm going to be able to go out to dinner after the show with someone.
Starting point is 00:19:22 Right. That makes a big difference. You have to have that. And I also think that, and there's a difference between like hanging out with a tour manager or a comedian that is opening for you or someone like, in my case, Ted Alexander, who I've known for a hundred years. Yeah. That's so much different than even someone that you know in the town. That's a little bit where you're going to fall into the meet and greet. And so then you balance that of like the loneliness.
Starting point is 00:19:56 But like for me, I really think it's important to have those hours during the day, which I mean, I know you're kind of empty nester in some ways. Yeah. College and all that. Yeah. But like like the time to just not have the distractions or to like be able, I'm going to listen to a set, then I'm going to nap, then I'm going to do something. is what I really love. Yeah. But and I, and because as my life gets more and more hectic, uh, with kids and teenagers.
Starting point is 00:20:31 Yeah. I relish those times. So yeah, there's sometimes I go into a show and I go, I'm just going back to bed. Yeah. You know what? I've been signing books after shows. Oh my gosh. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:20:43 And I'm kind of loving it. Yeah. Well, some of it is be careful, though, because I think that like the mean greet stuff is so. it's so cool, right? It's very cool. But it's like, that's how you get sick. I know. That's how.
Starting point is 00:21:02 I know you're touching a lot of people. I think there's a hidden exhaustion factor. It's more exhausting than the set. Yeah. And there's going to be people that, you know, have an expectation. And you're like, but I thought you just wanted me to sign my book. It's like, well, I met you. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:21:23 And you're like, okay, thank you. And you ever see how Cedaris does it? David Cedaris. Does he do it on the stage? He does it before the show. I mean, he has like a bookstore set up in the lobby. And he sits and people get online and he signs up into a certain point. And then he goes, does the show and then goes back and does more signing.
Starting point is 00:21:50 It's ours. Hours. I mean, he's got the most amazing books in the world, so people want to sign them and, you know, but I mean, it's ours. Well, I love how he does. He tours with essays and gets the feedback. He's editing while he's performing. It's so brilliant. It's so brilliant. And it's, in a way, you know, in some ways, that's what, you know, no, I can't remember. But like, that's what Mark Twain did. Yeah. Mark Twain read essays. Yeah. You know what I mean?
Starting point is 00:22:26 He was the first one. Yeah. And he was kind of, but. Yeah. I don't know. But I mean, when I've, whenever had to bless you, when I've had to go do a read from a book. Yeah. For like an appearance or something, you quickly see the stuff that's not going to play in front of an audience.
Starting point is 00:22:44 Like, you've got to make some cuts to keep this kind of going. Yeah. What he's ultimately doing is doing that. and then that ends up in the book. Yeah. Oh, it's so brilliant. So brilliant. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:22:56 So good. How do you like being skinny? I think it's good. I mean, I think it's, I mean, you're a former pudgy, so you know what I mean. I kind of was, when I was showering today to come see you, I was thinking, are we crossing paths now? Are you going to be more in shape and I'll be heavier? I'm always missing the trend. I'm convinced that these appetite suppresses.
Starting point is 00:23:19 are going to be pretty standard. I think that unless they discover that the side effects, which they don't know, are really bad. I think that, you know, my glucose, all my pre-diabetic stuff went down. Wow. My knees don't hurt. Wow. Did you have blood pressure stuff? You know, I didn't have blood pressure stuff, but, you know, I'm, you know, I have an addictive.
Starting point is 00:23:49 personality. It's tampered it down. Has it? Yeah. Wow. So it's, so it's not a cure all. You just not like, you don't have that like I think about it all the time. Like yeah, what am I like on the way into the town like, okay, I'm going to New York. Did I get a steak? Should I get a steak? Should I get, should I go get all those sandwiches? Now, who am I going to eat with? Who am I going to eat with? Right. No, I have. It's like, no, I still think about that. I'm like, right. I'm going to Tampa. This time, I'm going to go to that steakhouse. in Tampa. All right, I'm going to
Starting point is 00:24:22 I got to figure out where to eat in a stero. I still do all that. You do? Yeah. But it's a different approach where I like to say that I eat
Starting point is 00:24:35 now I eat like a human whereas before I would eat like a dog. Right? Like a dog's like, can you believe this? There's a steak here. I got to eat the whole thing.
Starting point is 00:24:48 They left it. And so that's where. Yeah, that's how I feel. I never stop eating because I'm full. I stop because it's socially unacceptable to keep going. Or you're just, you know, like, but you're like, it's, yeah, so like there is, like, I went to Mahmoons. And it's, that's. So, I mean, I love like a good swarma stuff like that.
Starting point is 00:25:15 So. Yeah. And I would do that. But. So it doesn't kill. I won't have like dinner. I would usually have two dinners a night. Right.
Starting point is 00:25:24 I would eat with the kids and then I would eat late at night. Right. And it might be like a, you know, a cheeseboard with chopped up hot dogs. You know, nothing fancy. Yeah. But like, you know, box of trisketes. You know, like, there's also like there's, there's just too many nights where I'd be sitting there hang out with my wife.
Starting point is 00:25:43 And there would be like three boxes of triscuits. We're like, all right, maybe two of them. We're open, but like... We'd like to thank the good people at Quince for sponsoring today's program. If you spend a lot of time cooking at home, it's time to elevate your game. When your cookware actually feels good to use and is thoughtfully made and looks beautiful on your counter, it just makes the whole experience better. That's what I've really liked about Quince.
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Starting point is 00:26:45 I've got these good ceramic frying pans and sauce pans. They're very cool. They're good in your hand, and they clean easy, which is another very cool thing. The best part, everything at Quince is priced way lower than you'd expect, 50 to 80% less than similar brands. Go get it right now. Refresh your every day with luxury you'll actually use. Head to quince.com slash Papa for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada, too. That's Quince, Q-U-I-N-C-C-E. dot com slash papa p a pa for free shipping and 365 day returns quince.com slash papa do you what I'm saying yeah 100% the other night I was in I was in York Pennsylvania and I was hungry
Starting point is 00:27:40 and my opener drove home from there yeah and uh it was late and I never do this I never eat like this. I don't go to fast food ever. Oh, you don't. Ever. And I was part of the college thing when McDonald's when first came under attack. And I just never ate it. But I pulled into a chick filet. Oh, that's good stuff. Yeah. I had to Google online at the drive-thru. What do you get at Chick-fil-A? Like, what's the cool thing to get? By the way, it's a spicy deluxe. And I got that. Then I got into the hotel. and I got a bag of Doritos and a Kit Kat. And that was my meat. That was what I ate.
Starting point is 00:28:22 And I was like, I'm going to really pay for this. Felt really pretty great. No, well, there is also, it's, there's doing it one time, but it's like if you do it every day. Yeah. This was, this was like, it was Christmas. It was the last tour of the, it was last show of the year. Oh, wow. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:28:41 So I was like, I'm giving myself a treat. Yeah. No, well, that's, that's all, another thing is like, But the food, because when I did the food book, I was doing research. So I was like, all right, I'm going to Toledo. I have to go to Tony Paco's. All right, I'm going to Columbus. What am I going to eat in Columbus?
Starting point is 00:29:02 Yeah. Cains, you know, is a chicken place. Now it Keynes is everything. Yeah, there was just, I don't even think, I don't know where it is. Maybe it's from Indiana. I don't know. And so there is something that, drives that.
Starting point is 00:29:18 But for me, and I don't know, this has nothing, maybe, I don't think it has anything to do with that. Now, when I do shows,
Starting point is 00:29:27 I want to invite, like, people that make bourbon in the area. Oh. So I want to, I mean, I've gone so far as to,
Starting point is 00:29:39 so some of it is when I did the bourbon, I did it with my brothers. I have four, three brothers. Right. We all went down and did it. And so we had gone to Vegas. We had a brother's trip.
Starting point is 00:29:51 And then they're like, what are we going to do another brother's trip? And so I was like, all right. I was like. And so like, I mean, you like some cocktails, right? Yeah. But like Kentucky and Tennessee. It's just, I just like. The bourbon trails.
Starting point is 00:30:07 All that bourbon, all that, you know, the whiskey, Uncle nearest, all that story. I love the story. I like, you know, when the, you know, like, comedians have this kinship with chefs. Yeah, yeah. But I feel that when I talk to distillery guys. You're a master distiller's. Yeah. I also feel that way about people that are really into bourbon.
Starting point is 00:30:33 Yeah. It's a strange. It is a strange. It's a, there's an overlap there kind of like, yeah. It's like, well, you know, I have this bottle of blends that they ship to Japan. And I'm kind of like. Maybe 20 years ago, I'd be like, that's just silly. And now I'd be like, that's pretty cool.
Starting point is 00:30:48 He's got a bottle of that. He's like, yeah, it's a Japanese black version. Well, you had that great joke a long time ago about wine. Yeah. When you would talk about the wine aficionados and like, well, it has a bouquet. You're an alcoholic. Yeah. I always remember that.
Starting point is 00:31:03 It's the same thing. Once you get the story and it goes deeper into you, it really makes it so much more pleasurable. Yes. So, like, you chose that. But what is your boot? What is your booze? When I'm home and just having a cocktail, it's a kettle one martini straight up with olives. Okay.
Starting point is 00:31:23 Yeah. And some of the olive juice in there or no? No. No. That's too dirty. Lean, yeah. It can't be too salt. Do you do, are you vodka?
Starting point is 00:31:33 Are you one of these people? Vodka. There's no calories in vodka. No. No calories of vodka. No, I just like the martini. I like the ritual of the martin. the look of the martini.
Starting point is 00:31:46 And if I have gin, I become a maniac. Oh, you do? With a headache. Yeah. I'm not good on gin. My father can't drink gin. I can't drink gin. It's just something in our makeup.
Starting point is 00:31:58 Gin is no good. So I went vodka. I think of gin. I'm like, it's the only reason they still make tonic. Right? There is just like no one that's ever been like, let me just have tonic. Like every kid who's like, oh my God. I found a soda.
Starting point is 00:32:18 It's like the baker's chocolate of sodas. Right. But gin, yeah. I mean, I'll, I think sometimes during the summer, I might have a friend that's like, I'm going to do my, like my friend Kenny's like,
Starting point is 00:32:29 I'm going to do my gin and tonics. And I'm like, all right. It sounds appealing. And the first one is really nice. It's crisp and cold. Yeah. But the,
Starting point is 00:32:37 the bourbon thing, I did this corporate gig for the Jim Beam people. Oh, shit. I want that. one. And they were, they're really great. And they, like, sent me a whole bunch. And that was the first time that I started to, like, you know, they had like, all the different ones, Hayden's. Yeah. Hayden. And I was like, oh, I get this. This is, this is nice. I totally get it. And it's like also. How was yours doing? Oh, it's fine. It's, it's less of a business and more of like, it's sold out. You know, we just do runs and it sells out. So it's. That's great. It's one of those. So we'll keep going. I. I think my partner's like, would you like to make money? And I'm like, yeah, well, I just don't want to be like hawking it. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:33:20 Like, I do think that like, like even, you know, as much as we travel, right? There's certain cities you go to and you go, wow, you know, because I mean, I'm sure you're like me. I love going everywhere. Yeah. I love like Cheyenne. Yeah. I love Birmingham. I love all these cities.
Starting point is 00:33:40 Red wing. The history. I love, you know, Lincoln, No. Nebraska, you get a runs up, all this stuff. Yeah. But I feel like, you know, there's certain places where I'm like Kentucky and Tennessee. And believe me, I'm from Indiana. I'm not supposed to say this.
Starting point is 00:33:56 But like, like Lexington, Kentucky, like you're like, this is like a jewel. This is like, yeah, like Kentucky, there are cities in Kentucky where you're like, you know, it's not supposed to be like this. Do you what I mean? Yeah. Have you seen some of the other cities? No, like you go to some cities and you're like, I'm sorry.
Starting point is 00:34:15 I don't know what happened. I know. You're like, how did I sell tickets? Maybe some of it is because I'm from the Rust Belt and like Kentucky and Tennessee. I mean, obviously Nashville is a boom city and has been a boom city for a while. But like there's even like the boring parts. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:34:33 Like it's like, oh, this is so boring that you have a world famous distillery an hour away. Oh, this is so boring. but the finest horses bred in America. Or you have like the best basketball or the best country music. It's like Kentucky. And you don't lock your doors. Yeah, Kentucky in Nashville. I'm just like, oh my God.
Starting point is 00:34:58 And that's not to say that I don't love New England or the Pacific Northwest, but there's just something about, I feel like it's just like the, maybe they're just the rich people survived in Kentucky and Canada. Does that make sense? Yeah, it totally makes sense. There's sometimes, you go to these little towns, like in Pennsylvania or Ohio, and they were upstate New York. And you're like, these were beautiful.
Starting point is 00:35:26 Even Jersey, there's all these, you know, Pesake and all these, they're like, oh, this was. Oh, I mean, I love. So perfect. Yeah. And Rochester, what a monster they were at one time. I know. They're like, we're Rochester. We're Rochester.
Starting point is 00:35:41 We got Kodak. We got Xerox. We're like, we're unstoppable. We have the. Yeah. And it's still. It's still like a great city. And it's like, by the way, it's like, but all the work is gone.
Starting point is 00:35:56 All the work is gone. And I go in those places and I'm like, how can I fix this? What do we think? And I'm from a Russ felt area where my dad is in, you know, the entire time he'd be like, you know, Gary's coming back. Gary's coming back. And I'm like, dad, it's not. I'm back. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:36:14 Like it's, it's, well, Syracuse, I just heard, Syracuse is now making, some company came in is doing microchips.
Starting point is 00:36:22 Oh, really? And already they say you can see it's turning. Like it's, there's restaurants now and real estate and people are coming in. And, yeah, it's like,
Starting point is 00:36:33 that's what you need. You need something, some place. And also in these places, I was just talking about this with my father. It's like, there's another story like that with another town where they're, the jobs are leaving.
Starting point is 00:36:45 And it's like, the government's got to come in and just make sure this company does not leave. Do whatever you can to keep this company in that town and those 5,000 jobs. Absolutely. I don't understand why if there is this double standard where, like, a sports team's like, hey, we need you guys to spend $3 billion for this stadium. And the cities are like, well, we've got to do it. And then another company is like, hey, it would really help us out if we could do our factory over there.
Starting point is 00:37:15 And they're like, no. No, you can't, you evil corporation. I'm like, I know. Maybe it's just, maybe everyone just has to make whiskey. Yeah. Maybe whiskey's going to save America. Yeah. Who knows?
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Starting point is 00:40:08 Thank you and happy holidays from Wild Grain. Can you hook me up with the Pope? The Pope, yeah. Yeah, no. I was, I had to shoot my special and couldn't go see the Pope when every comedian in the world went. Right. But I feel like you have more of a direct line. You've been with the Pope twice.
Starting point is 00:40:27 You know, we vacation. You know what I mean? It's like, I want to go. You know, he's got a Pope's, a snowmobile. He does? Pope Mobile Mobile. A snowmobile. A snowmobile.
Starting point is 00:40:41 And, no, I've met him. twice, but he has no idea who I am. I know, but I'd like to just be close to him. It was pretty interesting. Was it? Yeah. I mean, it's, it's interesting for so many reasons. One, what's going on with the Catholic Church where they're inviting comedians? Like, are they like, all right, well, you know what? We've tried everything for 2,000 years. What do we get the comedians? Let's get the court gestures in here and see what the hell they know. No, but some of it, he did it because he, you know, acknowledges the importance of humor, which, you know, if we ever start taking that stuff seriously, it's the end of our sense of self-awareness.
Starting point is 00:41:26 If we're like, I help people. You know what I mean? It's like, that's when you see a comedian do that, I help people. You're like, you're done. You're done. Yeah, but as corny as it is, when you do hear stories of how, like, you, I'm sure you hear all the time. You know, you got us through this horrific thing.
Starting point is 00:41:46 We watched you in a loop because during this thing. You know, that is pretty great. Oh, it's very nice. Yeah. Very nice. And then it was also strange because, you know, comedians, we are, you know, we're the misfit toys, right? And so when we're at the Vatican, it was like this meeting.
Starting point is 00:42:06 So they had like all these comedians from all these countries. And there was like definitely some blurry things. you're like, is that guy a comedian or a weatherman? You know what I mean? Yeah. But like they were, uh, it was a meeting, uh, it was kind of like, we're all sitting there waiting for the Pope and I was like, this is like every poorly behaved kid in church or a synagogue or a mosque.
Starting point is 00:42:30 Like I was like a Rami and I'm like, he probably in his, when he was growing up in his mosque, they were like, that Rami can misbehaved. He won't shut up. Yeah. All the poorly behaved kids from every religion. Yeah. trying to make everyone laugh and quiet. They're like, mommy's talking too much.
Starting point is 00:42:46 So that was. Was it that way or did people get a reverence? I think there was this. It was interesting to see different comedians. Uh-huh. Handle it in a different way. Yeah. So it was, it holds, you know, an importance to different people.
Starting point is 00:43:02 So like, we're raised Catholic. Yeah. You know, or are you like, Whoopie was there. And Whoopi's like, I got to. tell him a couple things. I'm like, I don't know if you're going to change things with the you know, whoopies like kind of like, I got to do my, I got to do me. And so it was fun. And then Colbert's like, well, I wrote his book on tape. So he probably knows me. I'm like, Stephen, he doesn't know you. But I want him to know me. But like, it was fun. It's also,
Starting point is 00:43:34 in the end, it's just fun to be around comedians. Well, yeah. David Senaris was there too. Oh, was he? And so. So he was so funny because he wrote about it. Didn't he write about it? Oh, I'm sure he's going to write about it. And he bought, so we were sitting at dinner the night before, Colbert had all these comedians. And he was like, he was like, I want to buy a full cardinal outfit.
Starting point is 00:44:05 And he goes, and the conversation was, you know, for Halloween, And he goes, no, I just want to, like, have it. And so we were all on this, this email chain. And then he posts, I'm sure it'll be in his book. Yeah. And he looked like a cardinal. He looked like a cardinal. You can just get one.
Starting point is 00:44:26 He's kind of, he's kind of, he's kind of, like, yeah, you know what? He would work. And elegance and, you know, like, yeah. But he had all the accoutrements and everything. Wow. That's amazing. Right. Man, is it, is it, is it, uh, without getting into too much of it, is it, uh, does it feel like
Starting point is 00:44:49 there's a different presence with him, like a charisma being around the Pope than it is being like you're just your local priest. It's no, I mean, there is so much pomp and circumstance like those Swiss guards. Yeah. Um, dress like they're on, you know, a playing card. Like the tall umpalumpus. Yeah. So the pomp and circumstance is so that I don't think he is like that.
Starting point is 00:45:22 But again, like he gave this reading. I mean, he had a prepared speech. And we were given the translated versions. And then he read. And he was obviously going off. So all the Italians and Spanish, Spanish comics were like, ah, ha, ha, ha. And I'm like, so.
Starting point is 00:45:42 didn't know what he was saying. But yeah, no, there's something impressive. I think. Yeah. But, you know, it's, you know, it's weird. When you're in the presence, like, around certain people, like, you know, like, I remember when I met Bill Clinton, I was like, there is something of like, there's something happening here. Yeah, there's an energy. And when I did the Al Smith dinner, there's the, um, the, the, um, the, the, um, the, the, um, the, the, um, the. dais room where we all sit and then we line up and go in there. Right. And they were waiting for Trump. And it was very interesting because these are all billionaires and politicians. And then Trump shows up.
Starting point is 00:46:26 And you could see, like, he even had an effect on the guy who owns Home Depot. Right. Do you know what I mean? And a lot of them hate each other. Right. You know what I mean? Yeah. It was like it was a strange kind of.
Starting point is 00:46:42 Yeah. A glance at a high school that I didn't go to. Uh-huh. I was like, oh, yeah. So, yeah, Letitia James and Trump. I know what's going on there. And then Chuck Schumer and Trump. I know what's going on there.
Starting point is 00:46:58 And then there's the other people that are like Maria Bartolomo. Yeah. Was there and I know what's going on with that. And so it's. It was fascinating. It's fascinating that they, because it seems, I was talking about this with Kimmel too, that it seems when you watch it from the outside and they're all saying hateful things about each other. And then you hear stories like that, like they just are like backstage, whatever, and they're like chummy.
Starting point is 00:47:30 And it's almost like it's professional wrestling in a way. Like it's very performative. And then they're like, ah, that was a good one last week. No, there is something really, I mean, I think that way about, I mean, politicians are so weird for so many reasons. Yeah. They're like, what if there was an entertainment industry, but we weren't paid. You know what I mean? That's what politics is. Right. Yeah. Even though a lot of them end up being millionaires. I don't know how that happens.
Starting point is 00:47:57 But, but, yeah, no, I think that there's a real, I mean, the entertainment industry, you can't really. take things personally. Yeah. But, yeah, some of the things, I feel like even, I feel like Biden, I don't know where he, but like even when he picked Kamala to meet the VP, I was like, dude, she was the one that almost derailed your campaign completely. Right. And he was like, yeah.
Starting point is 00:48:26 Yeah. So like, there is part of me that's, I view that forgiveness as something I'm envious of and also kind of, you're weird. Yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah. I do think that with at the Allsmouth dinner, it was pretty interesting the way Trump really went after de Blasio. Like it was just like, I was like, all right.
Starting point is 00:48:53 You did such a good job on that. You did such a great job. But it was bordering on. But it was. His attack of him. Yeah. It was just kind of odd. Like we're like, I don't know if you need to go.
Starting point is 00:49:06 that deep. But I walked away with, you know, as a, so like when you were talking about like doing solo shows, like there's a, when you're doing great on stage, you know, you might be sitting, you know, might be standing flat footed a little bit, right? Not, not defensive. You're not on your heels. Yeah. But you're most likely at the beginning of a show, you're on the top, you're on the balls of your feet. Yeah. Right?
Starting point is 00:49:34 Yeah. And with Trump, I felt like he was on his. heels, not in a defensive way, just kind of like, just like, just so smooth and easy. Uh-huh. And just like slaying. Right. I was like, and so I watched him. I was sitting right next to him.
Starting point is 00:49:50 Yeah. And it was like, and it was interesting because then when I watched the footage, it was, I was like, it's a little bit how like, Some people are better looking on camera. Yeah. Like he is, he has such a presence and a personality. Yeah. That, you know, he's kind of like just these throwaway lines land well. Uh-huh.
Starting point is 00:50:20 I'm trying to think of like, if there's a comedian like that, that is just very, the, the. But just throws it away. The cavalier nature comes across as strength. Uh, like, uh, Tosh maybe. Yeah. Yeah, maybe. You know?
Starting point is 00:50:39 Yeah. And just, he's like, he's enjoying it so much just himself that it's. Yeah, I mean, well, well,
Starting point is 00:50:46 Trump obviously doesn't. He doesn't care if. There's no, Blasio. But like, in his mind, he's like, all right,
Starting point is 00:50:54 I'm going to do a couple. All right. I didn't like, like, he looks around the room, didn't like that person, that person betrayed me. I'm going to destroy them.
Starting point is 00:51:04 Yeah. But in kind of a, much more of a 3D chess thing than than simple revenge. Does that make sense? No. It's like he was like, like I feel like just the way he embraced Chuck Schumer and
Starting point is 00:51:23 Governor Hockel in a way where you know that he's had falling out with Schumer. And you know he's had a weird, awkward business. relation. I think he's a lot more forgiving than he's betrayed. Uh-huh. But with there's certain cuts that he won't forget. Right. Right. Do you know what I'm saying? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So he's playing it. But he kind of, he kind of defended Eric Adams up there. Oh, big time. Yeah. Big time. And so I'm sitting there going, wow. You know, like, yeah. I'm sure Eric Adams, as a price of entry to be mayor of New York, was probably pretty staunchly anti-Trump.
Starting point is 00:52:06 But I don't know. You know what I mean? Yeah. It's just. But it was, yeah, you're indicted. I'm indicted. I think that like there's certain people that are just playing at a different level. Like John Stewart's playing at a different level than a lot of us.
Starting point is 00:52:22 Yeah. I remember when Trump came on the marriage ref, which is the only time I was interacting with him, he came on the marriage rep and he entered like the makeup area. pretty, you know, he's a pretty tall guy, pretty dominant figure. And tonight's going to be great. We're going to get great ratings. It's going to be all, we're going to get great rating.
Starting point is 00:52:40 People are really going to work. What are you going to see tomorrow? Like, and he's been talking that way for 40 years of we're going to kill it tonight. We're going to get the numbers. Wait to you see what I do tonight. Like he's been talking that way forever. Yeah. Forever.
Starting point is 00:52:58 Yeah. There's no wavering. There's no, like, he's so dialed in on this is the game. Yeah. It's remarkable. Right? It's interesting. And I think it's easy for people to say it's bluster.
Starting point is 00:53:12 I don't know. Now I'm sure I'm going to get in trouble for even saying. No, but no, I mean, you know, this is, we're really talking about a performer. Yeah. It's the performance aspect of him, you know? I mean, we can get into the minutia of, you know, what he wants to do to people and that kind of thing, which could be horrible. But that performing thing, that entertainment thing is, is. Yes.
Starting point is 00:53:33 And also what, like, we know he's Teflon, but like, he is Teflon. Like, I don't think people understand. Like, there is something that, you know, I think comedians understand that there is some people that get away with murder, some people. But, like, you know, if when I occasionally will curse on stage, people are like, what the heck are you doing? You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah. Because you've set it up that way. And even at the Al Smith dinner, like Trump went, like, if you look at it from like an objective standpoint, like the topics that I'm discussing about the night are like, what about this, this and this?
Starting point is 00:54:19 And I'm like, yeah, that's a whole different thing. Yeah. But. Yeah. But that's also like, you know, the fact that that is the point that we're not even discussing. is this Teflon things. Things do not stick to him. No.
Starting point is 00:54:36 When you're so outrageous, yeah, it's like you can't, you're not, that's, they're beyond the pale, but if you, but if you were Tiger Woods
Starting point is 00:54:43 and you have a problem, yes. Well, that's a huge character flaw. Yeah. It's a bunch of different thing. Yeah. We do a thing on this program
Starting point is 00:54:51 called an uncomfortable moment. Okay. Okay. We have our Cracker Jack staff do some, um, research on people. Oh,
Starting point is 00:54:59 oh no. But we're friends. So I don't think it's too uncomfortable. This was, you know, when you, the special is called Skinny. Yeah. And you've been doing a lot of work on yourself.
Starting point is 00:55:12 And you're very fun. Your jokes in the special are hilarious about it. Thank you so much. I've been, it's funny. It's, it's, I think I saw you do the Manjaro joke very early.
Starting point is 00:55:22 Yeah. On Come to Papa, I think. Yes. And I've been telling that joke ever since. Just to be what Jim's got a, he's already got an amazing joke. The first joke about the Ozympic things. And, you know, but you're also still the every man or you pretend to be.
Starting point is 00:55:38 And someone dug up a picture of you recently with no shirt on. Yes, that's... Is this you? Yes, this is when we did a gladiator two. Right. I was, you know, it's sad because I, you know, I never will look like that. And who is that woman at this? So that is kind of a Roman time.
Starting point is 00:56:01 Yeah. Is that like, I don't know. Greek or something? It's, uh, it looks like gladiatorish. What about, let me like, do you exercise? Like, do you do sit-ups while you're skinny just to like try? No, no. You're not going to come all. I don't, I don't work out. Ever. I mean, I walk. Right. Around town. So you do, you do like a hundred sit-ups. No, I just do. I do the peloton. I cycle on the peloton. I did push-ups for a while. I was really dedicated, but then I've stopped. Yeah, I mean, I, you know, and I'll get back to it. But like some of it is once I closed a couple rings, gardening, I was like,
Starting point is 00:56:39 right, I'll do the gardening. I know it's like, doctors are like, that's not raising your heart rate. But yeah, so I will do, yeah, I'll eventually head back to that. But, yeah. I mean, don't you think that like when you're walking through an airport, which I will and you will in the next couple days? Yeah. You're like, I'm getting steps.
Starting point is 00:56:59 Yeah. These are the shoes I'm commuting now. Oh, there you go. Because they're like these running shoes. I used to wear boots. I'm like, I want to be cool in the airport. I want to wear boots. And I'm like, this is like lazy.
Starting point is 00:57:11 Like when you see everybody when they're running shoes, you're like, these guys just, they just quit on looking good. It's so much better. Like I'm actually going through the airport. Like, I think I'm kind of jogging right now. Yeah. No. And some of the gates are like so far away.
Starting point is 00:57:27 I like when they give you, they're like, 10 to 15 minutes. You're like 10 to 15 minutes. I know. It's going to take me 15 minutes to walk there? I know. It's really true. Do you get any, what's the reaction that you get? Or if you get reaction when you talk about Bible stories and stuff on, you have it in your special.
Starting point is 00:57:50 The last couple, I think. Yeah. They're very funny. Oh, thank you. And it's like a, but do you get any people that are sensitive about it? I mean, it sounds like in the room the reaction is great. Yeah. No, it's weird.
Starting point is 00:58:04 I was, you know, religion is such a consistent thing. And some of it is, it's more of a, it's usually the stories are universal. Right. Which cuts down on some explanation. Yeah. Then there's also the element of, they're usually about a human being. like it's so much like the depth of it yeah it's it's human error right right also like there is something and I think I got excited because there are you know if Christians like it and the atheists
Starting point is 00:58:43 like it you know like if the believers and the nonbelievers like it that's kind of fun like hearing a youth minister using it or hearing about like people like this is proof God doesn't exist look at this too you're I mean like I kind of get it then I mean I mean then I mean I mean then I I think I'm doing it right, but there is, it's, you know, there is, some of it is sloppy. Like, so I on my, on the skinny. Yeah. The, it's, to answer your question, not really the religious, the comments, the material is usually fine. Right.
Starting point is 00:59:21 But there is something of like people will, and I don't know if you encounter this. Like, they're like, I was disappointed that you ever even brought up. X. You know what I mean? Yeah. And what I did do is when I'm talking about like, I have this joke about a Viagra press conference where they reveal some of the side effects. All the questions.
Starting point is 00:59:41 Yeah. And at one point, a guy goes, Jesus Christ. Yeah. And so someone was like, that is, that's it. Wow. That's it. And I was like, is that interesting? But it did stand out to me though when you said it.
Starting point is 00:59:59 Well, you know, being in the, you know, it's, that's just me being sloppy because, of course, where I grew up in the Midwest, saying that is not as offensive as it might be to someone in rural Indiana. Uh-huh. You know, like I come from kind of where rural and suburban and rust belt meet. Uh-huh. But that being said, I should know better. Right. But there is part of me that's like, in the end, I'm kind of like, you know, like Catholics will say that. Right.
Starting point is 01:00:37 We don't attach it to taking the Lord's name in vain. Right. You know, I mean? Yeah. We wouldn't, you know, like, it's kind of like early parenting. Like, you don't have to say that. You can say something else. Right, right, right.
Starting point is 01:00:50 But in, you know, there is something because I don't, my point is not to offend or alienate people. that might in their belief system that might be offensive yeah that is a powerful one for some reason it right it's yeah it's it it it stood out when you said it in the joke i was like oh uh because i know it to some people it's worse than an f bomb right you know yeah and so the but i do think that there is but it's so funny and oh thank let me just say like like that saying that at these moments yeah and then this joke is one example example. It is so perfect. It's so pitch perfect. Right. And I think there is also, and this is, I mean, if we got to end, we can end. But like the whole thing of, I do think it's really important. And you've been touring as long as I've been doing this. The important thing is, you know, this relationship we've established with audiences, you know, in places we're going. You know what I mean? It's like I'm going to Orlando for the, you know, eighth time.
Starting point is 01:01:59 Right. And not only do you have to deliver the funny, but you have to be an interesting, engaging friend, and an interesting engaging friend, the conversation evolves. Right. And some of that is, I think that, and we live in such a divided time, but I do think that deep down we like being friends with someone that we don't want our friends to have a, identical viewpoints to us. Right.
Starting point is 01:02:30 I mean, maybe I'm being, you know, because among comedians, but like, I think it's really important that like, you know, I mean, people that love Chris Rock, it's like they don't have a lot in common with Chris Rock. They just know that he's funny and brilliant. Right. But they're, but he's also has a relationship with them. Yes.
Starting point is 01:02:48 And they know, like Cedaris. Yes. He, he, uh, it's a big Cedaras night here. Uh, but he's so funny. Uh, but he's. can be filthy. Yes. And I went to see him once live. And it's all, it's like our crowds.
Starting point is 01:03:03 Yes. It's like our crowds, you know, kind of like just, you know, middle-aged, you know, whatever people and families and whatever. And he's dropping F-bombs and talking about some racy stuff, but he has that relationship. I said to my wife, I said, that was surprising like they don't see, it seems like a
Starting point is 01:03:20 crowd that would get offended by it. And they don't because their friend is Dave Sedaris. Right. And Dave has been true to himself the whole time and he uses that language and they come to expect it and they're cool with it so now they're friends.
Starting point is 01:03:35 Yeah and I think that's and so like friends evolve and you know like sometimes friendships don't last but I think it's and I think it was Todd Glass that was like he was like you gotta keep challenging them because you don't want them to define you
Starting point is 01:03:53 because I remember I had like some joke where I was like it was something kind of making fun of people that are homophobic. And he was like, I'm so glad you're doing that. He goes, because you don't need those people. And in a way, you don't. Right. You don't, you know, like, when you tell a joke and or you're a setup and they laugh at the wrong part,
Starting point is 01:04:15 I'm like, I got to rewrite that. Right. Because like, I don't want someone to think that I'm going that way. Right, exactly. You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah. I guess the point I'm trying to make is we're great people. We really are great people.
Starting point is 01:04:30 Where you fly to? Oh, you got to go to the West Coast. West Coast. That'll be fun. And then you come right back for the holidays. Are you almost done? Yeah. You wouldn't really, I mean, for this special, the skinny on Hulu right now,
Starting point is 01:04:43 you really put in a lot of work. You were everywhere. I saw you on ESPN. I saw you popping up at the airport. Well, some of that is the Hulu. Oh, Disney. Empire. Oh, right, right.
Starting point is 01:04:56 So they have all those things. And so it was good. It was crazy. But you were doing a lot. Yeah. And there is something about that where, you know, I do think that like publicity was you should do it and then you should kind of take a break. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:05:19 Yeah. Yeah. And then kind of go away. So what, what, all right, let me ask you this. What would you do dancing with the stars? No. Would you do the mass singer? No.
Starting point is 01:05:34 Right? No. Would you do, I'm trying to think of what other one is there? Would you do a house flipping show? Would you do? Some of it is I'm so busy. I mean, we started this. It's like.
Starting point is 01:05:51 Yeah. Because there's also, and I look at Bill Burr, And I'm like, I see he kind of shows up for comedians, which I think is really cool. And there's this general thing. But I'm like, I'm going to be in L.A. for 12 hours. Do I have to do everyone's podcast? Right. But.
Starting point is 01:06:07 Yeah, you don't have to do everybody's. And then, you know, but like some of it is like you want to be, you want to kind of hook people up. But there's, there's too. Yeah. But you're very generous. You're very generous with your time. And it's a lot. You know, you really do a time.
Starting point is 01:06:24 And a big wide birth of it, you know, from morning shows to late night shows to I mean, edgy podcasts like this. I mean, this is the edgier one. Yeah. It's like, by the way, so there's going to be, it's like we've seen the impact of what is a promotional tool. It's ever changing, but it's changing pretty dramatically. Yeah. So like the, you know, I mean, we've been talking, you know, like, so like the pod, the power of podcasts or the importance of long form discussion.
Starting point is 01:07:01 That's what I'll call it. Yes. Is, it is pretty important. Yeah. Yeah. No, absolutely. I mean, to really like. Do you ever do an informal at your show, say, where are you going the next show at in January?
Starting point is 01:07:17 Or you're done with December or you have one. Right. No, in Cleveland. I'll go to Cleveland. So, but that's, like, if you did an informal thing of, like, how many people listen to the podcast, but it would be weird because it would. No, I know. I actually, yeah, what's your point? My point is, is like, does it, I mean, you're very good at, you're very good at the Netflix show.
Starting point is 01:07:42 But, like, is it expanding the audience or is it this? It's weird. It's weird not knowing. like you can't know. I did a show in Niagara Falls at that casino up there. It's a great spot. And Falls View.
Starting point is 01:08:01 And someone, I was going to tell a joke. And it was just going right into the special that just came out. And I was a little self-conscious about it because I didn't want to do that much material from it because it's so fresh.
Starting point is 01:08:15 Yeah. Like even doing one from like two specials ago, that's better to do than like what they just saw this week. So anyway, we've talked about that. And I said to the crowd, I said, oh, this is like I just said in my special. And I said, who's seen my special? Yeah. Which I never do because it is awkward.
Starting point is 01:08:33 Yeah. And I have to say it was a smattering. Yeah. It was a smattering. Well, I think. A thousand people. Yeah. My fans coming to see me, they may have held off or whatever, or they're busy or they're
Starting point is 01:08:48 Some of them held off. But, you know, like, there's, it was a surprising little focus group of, it's never, it very rarely is what we think. You know what I mean? Like where they found us, how they got here, what they like about us, what shows their fans of, whatever. It's, it's so hard to figure it out. And so, like, because don't you have sometimes when you do something like, really have a great show or something and there's like no social media about it? Because the crowd's not on social media. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:09:20 And there I am Instagramming like crazy for the next show. Yeah. Who am I talking to? Yeah. And what is an effective way of getting the message out there is tricky and ever changing? Yeah. Yeah. It really is.
Starting point is 01:09:39 Well, I mean, if anything, I can pretty much promise you. And I think Max is with me on this on the board. you're going to feel the impact of tonight. I think it's, I already feel it. You feel it? Is your phone buzzing in your pocket? I feel like I'm a little nervous to go outside. Congratulations.
Starting point is 01:09:58 Thank you so much. So great. I could spend all this time, but we should go home. And so early, so you're all right, here you go. And then that's our show. Thank you everyone. Thank you very much.
Starting point is 01:10:07 And remember, go to tompapa.com or Jim Gaffigan. Don't forget to grab a t-shirt on the way out. do you have a place here or you're going to be here for a hotel so you'll feel a desire to like i got to finish this or you're a mail it uh no i'm here for the week so uh i'll probably drink it might you want it no i can send you home with it no no no that's not my point that's not my what was your point is how much of a how much of a how much of a car here's the thing because The thing that goes in my head is, should I, when I get to New York, should I get a steak? Who am I going to eat with?
Starting point is 01:10:50 Can I go to the Soho cigar bar? I love that place. I love that place. Can you add this in? Yes. He still go. Well, by the way. I love that place.
Starting point is 01:10:59 I love that place. And the owner's great. Yes. And I shot my cigar and spirits magazine shoot. Did you see my comment? What's that? Did you see my comment on your Instagram post? You had the cover of it with your, and I saw.
Starting point is 01:11:13 I was like, are we sexy now? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I didn't really shot at there. I wanted them to do the Hulu party there. Oh, that would have been perfect. So much cooler. So much cooler. And it's just such a great vibe.
Starting point is 01:11:32 Yeah. So who have you gone over there with? Because I have no one in front of many. Ronnie Chang. Yeah. Island Havy. And so you'll smoke a cigar. Smokes cigar. Sometimes I'll go by myself.
Starting point is 01:11:45 Right. And just write little notes and just kind of relax by myself. One of my greatest moments is when you sit there because it's the Holland Tunnel traffic in the summer when they have all the windows open. And you're just smoking a cigar with a scotch and you're just watching traffic. You're just watching people aggravated in traffic. One of the greatest moments I went with Alan Havy after the seller. Yeah. And Chappelle had finished doing S&L and came down with his friend. to go to the Soho cigar bar and he saw us there.
Starting point is 01:12:16 So we were hanging with him and talking for a bit. And on page six, it was Chappelle hangs out with Tom Papa after S&L. I was like, yeah, we're old friends. But yeah, those are the things that are in my head. Like what am I going to drink? Soho cigar. Why? So like, the Soho cigar place.
Starting point is 01:12:37 Yeah. Why is that so perfect for us? And we're, because I wasn't always the type of guy that would love that place. Now I'm totally the guy that would love that place. It's relaxing. It's indulgent, but without being like outrageous. You know, like, you know, you get up two scotches and be okay. You know it's going to be a certain tone there.
Starting point is 01:12:57 It's not loud. It's not too loud. And comedians, we need to be able to hear each other talk and laugh. And we know that like everyone in there would want to hear a story about Winston church. Yeah. Right. Yeah, exactly. It's like, here's my story about Winston Churchill. Oh, you know, yeah, or like Mark Twain or, you know, or even Jackie Robinson. Yeah, you're like, oh, you want to hear that story. A little history or something. And he smoked a cigar too and he had this port from
Starting point is 01:13:29 1942. Wow. Yeah. I love it. How late does that place stay open? Pretty late. Yeah. Yeah, pretty late. like twoish. My only concern, like I got to go to some morning radio tomorrow. I don't want to walk in there smelling like, no, no, no, no, no. You know, you smell the next day. I've done that.
Starting point is 01:13:49 Yeah. I've done that. And that's, I mean, I hadn't done that for like 20 years. Yeah. And then I did it and I'm like, am I going to do press buzzed? Or just even stinky. You got that clam breath. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:14:03 The whole thing of like, the that's the only thing about drinking bourbon now is that like if you have like let's say you have two beers a nice buzz and you da da da da if you if you have like two bourbons which is normally what i'll do i'll be like good night everyone yeah i mean i'll be with my wife we'll have two drinks we'll be like this is perfect yeah but if you're out and you end up getting deep into like number four yeah late at night not only are you a mess Then in the morning, you're like, I got a, what do I? How do I, how do I comb my hair? And so like, yeah, the whole day is maintaining. It's trying to like get to normal. Yeah. It's really,
Starting point is 01:14:49 get to normal. It really takes a lot. No, so you need the sweet spot. If I, if I, if I can sneak in there, like around five or six. Oh, wow. When my family's not here. Yeah. And I don't have a spot that night. Yeah. That's perfect. If I can go in there and go from like six to eight. Wow. And then go to the hotel. That's pretty, that's pretty good. See, my whole thing is, like, I have to get up.
Starting point is 01:15:16 I get up and my wife does everything, so I don't want you to think that. But I get up at 6 a.m. or 6.15. I'm definitely a napper. Yeah. But, like, that's why even if I negotiated a thing where I could go out and go there. Yeah. I'm like, do I want to do that? And then I'm like,
Starting point is 01:15:36 I'm going to wake up. I know, exactly. Drunken dad. You feel like a piece of garbage. Yeah, you know what I mean? Well, when you come back, we should definitely, now that I know that you're into it, too, we'll find the time. And I also have to pick the right outfit because you're going to smell like cigars. I know.
Starting point is 01:15:52 You got to get the clothes. And when you're traveling, at least you're home here. Yeah. I'm traveling whatever sweater I'm in. Yeah. I'll put them in those bags. They have those bags. Oh, really?
Starting point is 01:16:01 At the, yeah, they have like these bags over hangers. So you can chain. You can put your. stuff in there that you don't want to get wrecked. Oh, my God. And then you can smoke in your t-shirt or whatever. Oh, my God. Yeah. They got it all figured out. Oh, wow. Yeah. That's great. All right. Let's All right. Let's do it. Thanks. Thanks. Appreciate it.

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