Breaking Bread with Tom Papa - Episode 255 - Retta
Episode Date: March 18, 2025This week on Breaking Bread the hilarious Retta joins us at the table! She shares about getting her start in stand up, transitioning into acting, and hosting her show on HGTV. We even get the behind t...he scenes scoop of some crazy houses she's filmed at. As fellow New Jerseyans Tom & Retta also bond over home cooked meals growing up. Enjoy! For a limited time, Wildgrain is offering our listeners $30 off the first box - PLUS free Croissants in every box - when you go to Wildgrain.com/PAPA to start your subscription. Get 40% off your first order with Trade at https://www.drinktrade.com/papa Check out Retta's show, Ugliest House in America, on HGTV. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0:00:00 Intro Song 0:00:15 Wild Grain Ad 0:01:05 Tompapa.com 0:01:47 Welcome & eating bread 0:02:49 Traveling shows 0:03:44 Funky smells in houses 0:06:20 Pressure of Hosting & Ugliest House in America 0:09:44 Retta's personality & navigating HGTV 0:12:30 Standup into acting 0:14:28 Grass Valley, CA house & SangRETTA 0:17:04 New Jersey & moving out 0:19:45 Singing, religion, and musicals 0:24:45 Family & brother who is a sneaker head 0:27:15 Handbag obsession 0:32:29 Wild Grain Ad 0:34:08 Trade Coffee Ad 0:36:04 Liberian food growing up 0:38:00 North Carolina open mics 0:42:00 Moving to LA 0:43:38 Moesha 0:45:42 Stand up & creativity 0:49:47 Slackers audition 0:52:00 LA & the industry 0:56:57 Uncomfortable moment 0:58:29 Proud parents & cooking 1:02:49 New season of Ugliest House in America 1:05:30 Crazy house story ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 #retta #parksandrec #newjersey #housedesign Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Thanks for doing this.
No problem.
I have some bread for you.
I heard.
I'm excited.
Yeah.
Oh, speaking up, can you hand me my bag?
Yeah.
Because I can't do straight carbs and not take a pill.
Well, you don't have to eat it now.
Oh, okay.
You can take this home and do whatever you want with it.
You can eat it and give it to people.
Great.
Because I was like ready to eat.
I know.
There's only been a couple comedians that have actually eaten it on the air
because our listeners get very angry when we do.
For some reason, they love our podcast,
but they love when we make ourselves happy.
They get angry.
How's life?
Life is so right.
It's been, you know, slow in Hollywood.
Right.
I go back to work mid-April.
Mid-April?
That's good.
Shooting another season?
Yes.
I go on the road for H-GTV.
I know.
I really want to talk about this.
I had a brief show, a baking food traveling show.
Oh, huh.
And they're great shows.
Your show's very funny.
It's very cool.
I want to talk about it.
it. But the, it's a grind.
It's a fucking grind. Those shows are not easy to do to go out on the road with a crew and
get up early and go shoot all this stuff. And people don't realize what you got to do to
pull that shows off. It's, it's tough. I mean, it's, I did stand up. So, you know,
I did the road. Yeah. That was tough because I was by myself. Right. At least I have, you know,
company.
Uh-huh.
But it's also, you know, going into strangers' homes, which is, can be cool because it's like,
ooh, what's this?
What's this?
Because I'm nosy.
Yeah.
But also sometimes you run into that.
How long can I hold my breath?
Oh, really?
Oh, yeah.
Really?
I've had that a couple of times.
Oh, no.
Like strange kind of like hordery places or like?
Hortary or this person just has terrible, you know, foot funk and keeps his shoes.
out.
Oh, yeah.
Oh, this, you would, you can tell, if you watch, if you pay attention, you can see
me sweating and about to like pass out in this one room.
Oh, now I got to rewatch.
You see me look at my camera guy and my producer is like, bitch, we were in here first.
So we did in here longer than you.
I did a show a while ago that had couples that would come on the, on the show and they
would come to New York and they would stay in hotel.
and the production people, I didn't really,
I would just see them on set.
They'd be like, they'd bring the couple in on set
like later in the day and we'd interview them or whatever.
And I didn't find out until like halfway through the season
from the producers who had to go meet them in their hotel room
and prep them and stuff and get them already.
What was going on?
And they're like, no, you don't understand.
We're going to a hotel room with this middle-aged couple
in the morning after they've done,
stuff stuff in those bathrooms and they're like you walk in sometimes and they're like ooh okay you
guys are going to be great we'll see you at the studio I thought you're going to be like sex smell
which is probably just as gross yeah probably yeah no or that they've been like packing up the sheets
and you can tell they've stolen everything in the hotel room I'm sure yeah but real people in their
real lives is really funky that's tough yeah that's real tough I mean I totally like
more than you need to know.
But I'm like, you know, sometimes you forget you have to valet places.
And you're like, ooh, I just let something loose in here.
And now this guy's got to get in here.
Putting down the windows, hey.
Oh, yeah.
I'm like, I'm going to run the block one more time.
Was it your idea for the show?
No.
You just got the gig.
No, I think HDTV, um,
they had the idea.
I think they had the idea for a really long time.
And then they went to the production company.
And I think their production company, you know, approached me about it.
Got it.
I'm not sure if I was on HGTV's list.
That's great.
So you didn't have to audition.
They just wanted to offer thing?
Oh, those are the best.
But it was the kind of thing.
I didn't want to do it.
No?
No.
Because of the travel?
Well, not so much the travel.
I'm, I was like, I'm not a host.
I don't like the idea of.
hosting, like, because I'm like, I don't like to be peppy on per-like, have to be peppy.
Right.
And I'm like, you know, if I wake up in a mood, it's not going to be a good episode.
And so I was paranoid about that.
I've always been like a little bit nervous about the hosting thing.
And then the travel.
But I always complain to my reps in between seasons when we're shooting about not having enough work.
like, I need more additions.
I need more additions.
And so it was like, bitch, you just got an offer for something to actually be working.
Yeah.
In between seasons.
So, you know, man up.
So I was like, okay, I was going to, I did it, but I didn't, I definitely didn't think it was going to last.
Right.
Yeah.
And I also was like, five seasons?
Well, it's, I'm going into season seven, seven and eight.
They do, you know, they do two within the.
what do they call it?
The made-up television year.
Yeah, they call it the session.
So they don't have to pay you more money for another year.
So they can pack in three seasons of one year.
Right.
Stuck with that money.
Anyway, I was just nervous about being caught in reality.
Like I was like, I'm still like in actor mode.
Right.
But it was lucky because we only had one more season after my show.
Then it was, so the show got canceled.
Then it was the strike.
Right.
And because it's reality, I got to work during the strike.
Wow.
Right.
And then now with post the fires, everything's so slow.
Yeah.
After the strike that this is what I'm like.
A blessing.
Yeah.
No, it's great.
To pay my bills.
Those gigs are the best.
They're the best.
I know I've had those things too.
Yeah.
And it's kind of like, well, it's.
Oh, does that really mean?
Am I doing that?
Right.
But you can shoot a bunch.
Yeah.
You bank them and it doesn't need up your time to go do the other stuff.
Well, and you are.
It can, though.
That's a thing because it's...
Well, because you're on the road.
You're not just doing a strip show.
Yeah.
Right.
No, you're like where you just do like 10 in a week.
Yeah.
So it's, you know, it's...
How long are you out for...
I'm in and out because I had to...
They figured out a way to add like a little bit of time, you know, some downtime.
Yeah.
because it was really, really tough the first season.
So they're like, oh, mid-April to Labor Day.
Whoa.
But it is in and out.
So if I get something, you know, I can only shoot something else like during the two weeks that I have down for this month and that and stuff like that.
So it sounds like you have to be a movie star.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I'm not.
Yeah.
Don't go.
Yeah, you don't need television right now.
You need to go do a part for like a week and then go back to your thing.
Yeah.
That would be cool.
But anything else, if I get anything else, that other thing is in first position.
So they have to work around a different, if I get another schedule, they have to work around that schedule.
Oh, that's good.
So then they'd have to squeeze everything.
Yeah.
Oh, that's nice.
It's interesting, though, this is why they come to comedians to host these things.
Because like you say, like, you know, you might be in a mood, you might be whatever.
I mean, this is your stand-up, too.
I'm not telling you anything that I'm sure other people haven't told you.
but you have a good, you have a good snarky kind of no-b-s attitude about the world.
And even in the show, it kind of comes through like, what are we looking at here?
But you also, as Reda, you have this joy that's even when you're cranky, there's still that thing in your eye of like, she's not really me.
I mean, I think I'm getting better at hiding it for sure.
but it took a while because I was very
I took this
I was like this is HGTV
this is what it's supposed to be so I was very
HGTV just like you know
just saying what I thought
blah blah yeah and I didn't bring my personality
it was like for two houses
and then finally at the third house
my director EP was like
like be yourself
it was like be yourself
and I was like
okay
I just didn't know
I just watched enough
HD TV to know
this is how they do their
OTFs
we call them talking heads
but they call them OTFs
so I was just trying to do that
and then when he said that
there was a point where I was
I remember it was the Poseidon
house and I walked into the bathroom
that's in the basement
that had the
stalag
I don't know the difference
stalagites
and stalagites
and I go
what the fuck is going on in here
And he was like,
nice.
It's funny that you approach it because you're an actor.
Right.
So it's like,
well,
this is I'm going to play the role of an HGTV host.
Right.
Yeah, exactly.
And that's what I did.
And I was like,
well,
we feel like if they do this,
I couldn't understand why they would choose
as opposed to,
bitch,
what were you thinking?
So once I got that,
it made it so much easier.
Yeah.
Then you're just yourself.
Yeah.
Then you're just yourself.
Yeah.
They don't even have to.
like really sweat it. Yeah. Right? You just walk in and just be. Yeah. The only thing you just have to,
you know, I get the intro, the walk up intro, 30 minutes before we start. And that's the only
thing I have to memorize, really. That's good. You're smooth at it. Like you, you, because I've, you know,
you see people that are just a little corny with it. Really? Really. Like to get that down really quickly
and be able to put it out is a skill. I try. Yeah. Yeah.
Do you still love acting, though?
Yes.
That's your main.
Yes.
Yeah.
Or stand-up.
Acting.
Acting.
Yeah, I started stand-up as a means to an end.
You did?
Yeah.
You know, in college, I loved stand-up, and then I loved sitcoms, and it didn't take long for me to put two
and together that a lot of stand-ups were getting their own sitcoms.
Right.
So that's why I started doing stand-up.
I was like, if I do stand-up, there's a chance someone will throw a show at me.
So that's why I started doing it.
It was, yeah.
And then so once I started acting, I was kind of like not pressed.
When I was doing parks, I went on the road.
I still went on the road, but it got to a point where I could only go on weekends because I did colleges.
Okay.
So I could only do weekends.
And then it was just too tenuous.
I just had to stop.
Exhausting.
Yeah.
Yeah, it was too much.
Aziz did it for so long.
I don't know how, you know, going on the road every weekend.
I stopped after, like, season three.
It can break you.
It can break you.
I was a remember it always plays in my mind when I'm getting tired of during the touring of the Ray Charles movie.
You ever see, Jamie Fox?
And he's making a deal, as Ray Charles, he's making her a deal with the record label.
and he's going through the things that he needs.
I want ownership.
I want this.
I want that.
And one more thing.
I want my own jet.
He goes,
being out there in Torrin will kill you.
Right.
He goes,
I need to do it the right way.
And I need to,
I need my own jet to take me around.
And every time I, like, check into a day's in
after getting a rental car
and driving for two hours,
I'm like, that man, he was right.
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What my jet at?
Yeah, where's my jet to get?
Oh, here's a funny thing.
I was going back and scanning some of your shows,
and the one I, the first one that came up,
you covered a house in Grass Valley, California.
I think it was an early season.
Oh, uh-huh.
In Grass Valley, which I'm performing tomorrow night.
in Grass Valley, which is such an obscure place in California.
Was that the one?
Because there were, I think there were two.
It was one where they had like all weird stuff out on the lawn, a gay couple.
They wanted to get married out in the back.
They were sweet because they, they followed me on Instagram and I remember they had,
that was like right after, yeah, it was COVID because we were down in COVID.
And so we went on the road right after.
Right.
And during COVID, I was making my happy hour drink every day.
Yeah, of course.
Because that's when I was, I started getting my pool renovated.
Oh, boy.
During COVID?
We started three days before the lockdown.
Oh.
And remember it was pouring rain.
So my backyard was just mud.
It was just mud.
And because they had started the renovation, they had put the plastic on my,
on my doors.
So I couldn't even see the yard.
Oh, no.
So when they finally got to a place where they had poured the concrete or whatever and like started, it started cleaning up a little bit and they could take the plastic down.
Yeah.
I would make a drink and go sit in the empty hot tub and talk to my Instagram fans.
And I used to make a drink called Sangretta.
And so when I went to their house,
they made, they had the ingredients to make a sangrat.
Oh, that's great. And I was like, God bless. I mean, I'm not going to drink it, but God bless.
I'm not going to drink what you just gave me.
Yeah. Very funny. Well, I'm going to Grass Valley tomorrow, so I can check in on.
I don't remember the town. I remember them. Yeah. I remember that yard.
Yeah, right. That yard was cuckoo bananas.
Yeah, really weird. That's funny that you were starting to renovate your own spot while you're starting
this show while you're doing this show. I just finished. I moved from the house. I moved from the house
to the pool and then the pool I did the yard. And from the yard I did the pool house. And so now I'm
pretty much done. Did it come out nice? Yeah. Yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah. The pool is really nice. Yeah.
Yeah. I need someone to do a surface around the pool. If you have a guy. I have a guy.
Yeah? All right. Good.
So your Jersey. I'm Jersey.
Are you really?
Yeah.
I grew up in Park Ridge, Montvale, like I'm in Northern Jersey.
Oh, okay.
North Jersey.
I'm central.
Your central Jersey.
I was born in Newark.
And then I went to Madawan High School.
Madawan.
Wow.
Nice.
Did you like Jersey?
I liked it enough.
And then when I left it, I was like, oh, I don't like it as much.
You know what I mean?
When you come back.
Right, exactly.
I had a friend that says that everybody from New Jersey.
Jersey when they get out there like, I had no idea this was out here.
And actually, I think I would love parts of Jersey that I didn't live in.
But it's like, you know, hometown.
It's like, I don't want to go back.
I don't want to go back.
You know.
Yeah.
There is that thing.
Yeah.
But there's also a draw that seems to like, I don't know, it starts to pull you back.
Jersey fans that I look at in awe that are.
that are like Jersey, the Jersey Pride, there's a comedian, I can't remember his name now, that's messed up, who has a tattoo of Jersey.
And I remember seeing it and I was like, bro.
Is Rich Voss?
Is it Rich Voss?
No, not Rich Voss.
I can't think of his name.
But I just remember being like, for real.
And he was like, yeah.
Like, legit, like, yeah.
He's like, what are you?
New York.
I go, no, bro, I'm from Jersey.
And I'm like, why?
That's why I'm asking why.
I am familiar.
Do you still have family there?
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Oh, my family's there.
How long?
When did you move out?
I moved to L.A.
Well, I moved out in college.
Okay.
So I went to North Carolina.
Right.
And then from North Carolina, I moved to California.
You went to Duke?
Mm-hmm.
Right.
Was that cool?
It was great.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And, I mean, I think that was the beginning of, like,
me being like, I don't need to go back to Jersey
because it was so
it was so pretty.
Yeah.
You know, like they had flowers along the freeway.
Yeah.
Which I found amazing.
You don't see that on the term.
I'm like, is this Holland?
Yeah, right.
You definitely don't see it on the Garden State Parkway.
No.
Which is really a misnomer.
Mm-hmm.
You know?
Yeah.
But, yeah, I think that was the beginning of me
being like, there are other places in the world you can be.
Were you acting in high school?
I did, yes.
I did school plays and stuff.
Oh, that's cool.
Yeah, the musicals mostly.
Oh, yeah?
Yeah, you can sing.
Yeah, I like to sing.
Do you still sing?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Do you belt around the house?
Yeah, but mostly in the car.
Oh, yeah?
Yeah, that's what keeps me from road raging.
Oh, really?
When people are cutting you off, cutting you off instead of saying F you.
F you just...
I mean, I still say it.
You're into an aria?
But I don't rage.
Right.
I feel like I said it on the way here.
Oh, really?
Like, fuck off.
But I'm calmer.
But you see, yeah.
When did you start training for singing?
Well, I was always in chorus.
Right.
So I was in chorus since I was little.
And then, you know, by high school, you got it.
I got it.
you know, got into like the magical group and we did competition.
Wow.
Yeah.
Wow.
Were you good right away?
Did you just know that you, was your family like that?
I guess so.
Was there someone in your family that did it?
No.
No.
I mean, we all sang in church.
Right.
You know, because we had to.
Right.
But, um.
What was your apostolic?
New apostolic.
New apostolic.
What is, what is that?
It's Christian.
It's Christian.
Other than that, I don't know how to describe it to you.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, because the Catholic churches that are an apostolic church, but new apostolic, I guess it's just another spin-off.
Just another Christian one, yeah.
Right.
And they had a good chorus.
Yeah.
I mean, they had like, my mother always sang.
So we originally, we were Baptist.
And then we moved.
And one day, my mom was like, we're going to this church.
So we changed churches, went to an apostolic church.
And we did.
And we always sang in the Baptist Church.
Right.
So my mom was like, we'll do the choir here.
And, you know, there we used hyminals, though.
We didn't use hyminals in the Baptist Church.
Yeah.
Baptist Church was a little more free form.
Right, a little loose.
Yeah.
And now you're holding books.
Yes.
Right.
Yep.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That is joyful stuff, though.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But we did like, I was in the youth choir.
I was in the, you know, congregational choir.
I remember if I, I had a few solos in church.
But it was school that I did, you know, singing, you know.
Yeah.
What was your best performance in high school?
My best performance?
Yeah.
Was there a standout?
Oh, no, that was college.
It could be college.
Well, college, I did the colored museum.
And that went really well.
I got, you know, rave reviews.
Yeah, it's the best.
In the local paper, not just the school paper.
Yeah.
And I did different, we all did different parts in that.
And then I did Day of Absence, but Day of Absence wasn't a musical.
I don't know that one.
Day of Absence was a play about what would happen in the world if all the black people disappeared.
Oh.
So it's pretty funny.
What happens?
White people can't do it.
Can't do it.
It's like naked kids running in the streets.
Houses just filthy.
It was crazy.
It's funny.
Yeah, that was my...
But that one was like...
Was that the first time?
like you felt like, oh yeah, people know.
That's when I knew for sure I was funny.
Yeah, that's because in the musicals, it's like, you know, it's silly.
But in Day of Absence, I was just a clown.
Right.
People were like, you were hilarious.
Were you funny just in life, like as a kid?
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, I don't feel like this gets turned on in college.
And even when we were little, my brother and I would like,
try to make my mom laugh.
Oh, yeah.
She'd be laying in bed and we'd just be like,
then-d-d-d-d-d-d-da-d-da.
And she was like,
enough.
And I don't know why we were so pressed,
but we were really pressed to like make her,
one of the things we used to do,
we would try to like, well, more me.
I would try to talk really, really ignorant.
My mother did not like, when we didn't, like,
conjugate a verb properly or whatever.
And so we would do that a lot
And she would be like, my ears are bleeding
That's enough
Just leave me 11
It's funny
I don't need it
Was your brother funny?
Yeah, he's really funny
Yeah
What does he do now?
He
I don't even know what he does
Oh really?
He's always well yeah
Because he's
I feel like he's all he does
Is like deal with the football
For his kids
Right
That's his career
He's got a million things
Is he still juries?
Jersey? He is.
And he's a big sneakerhead.
Oh, really?
So that's another thing. He sells sneakers on the side.
Oh, nice.
He's one of those guys.
Someone gave me sneakers. Someone, a fan of our radio show,
saw me in Converse All-Stars on stage, and he's like, no.
No.
It sounds like my brother.
Yeah. So he sent me these Jordans, and I really don't know from
what's cool, what's not.
And I wear these shoes and people are like,
where'd you get that of this?
Nice shoes.
We don't get it.
Yeah, we don't get.
I don't know.
It doesn't match the top, but holy cat, that's nice.
Yeah.
I'm like, thanks.
And I've been wearing them for a while.
Now they're like, you know, I'm like, you know, I know, I know, I know,
I know sneaker heads like they don't want to crease them.
They want to do that.
I'm been wearing these.
So I literally just put a call out on the radio show like, what else should I buy?
What's next?
I can't do it myself.
That's hilarious.
I remember in college, I didn't, I don't, I still don't know anything about Snickers.
Yeah.
But I remember in college I bought, with my first like financial aid job paycheck, I bought some British
Knights.
Uh-huh.
Have you ever heard of them?
Yeah, I've heard of British Knights.
Yeah.
I remember I wore them home and my brother was like, basically before they said, what are those?
He was like, what is on your feet?
And I was like, what are you talking about?
I was like, there are BKs.
He was like, do not come out with me.
My younger brother, do not come outside with me.
And then he was like, are you wearing Nike socks with like you can't wear the rules?
You have to wear the magic.
I was like, get out of here.
And now I kind of like, ooh.
Yeah.
Now it's cringy.
Yeah, I'm like, I don't know.
I did go to Foot Locker and just was like,
I'm just going to pick something I think that looks cool.
And I get some compliments on them,
but I don't know if they're really cool.
They don't get the response that the other ones got.
I don't care.
Yeah.
My thing's handbags.
Oh, yeah?
Yeah.
I mean, my thing, if I get a, I like your bag, I was like, worth it.
Right.
It was worth it costing too much money.
My daughter really likes them.
She's like 20.
And like she, I can tell.
Her older sister, no interest in Ambax.
She's in, she's like, I can see her.
Right.
And, well, you tell me, should I stop her or should I let her form this addiction?
Well, I will say, I mean, who knows?
They say it's an investment piece.
They say that.
Which, sure, until they're not.
Right.
I feel the same way about gold.
I'm like, this gold.
it's going to, the bottom is going to drop and people are going to be like,
nobody cares about your four knocks.
Right.
Just like money.
I'm like currency, why do we all buy into this bullshit?
You know, but I mean, but give me all the money while it's still worth something.
You know what I mean?
Yeah.
So for the time being, yes, it's worth it.
But there's some that are like, they're popular in certain groups, but I'm like,
that's not going to be worth any money later.
Right, right.
Like I got rid of all my coach bags.
Why?
I just, they, they don't really hold the value.
Uh-huh.
It's not like a Louis Vuitton or a, yeah, so I'm not as impressed about them.
So there's some bags that are just fun bags.
Right.
And I don't mean breast.
There are some bags that are just fun to have.
And I love a, like a kitsy, cute.
I get a lot of Kate Spade bags, which I don't think are going to be worth a lot.
But they're still fun and look cool.
It's the shape of an orange, you know.
There are lips.
There's that sort of thing I like.
And then there's some that I'm like, when I die, give this to my grandchildren.
Right.
My daughter was studying in Paris.
I'm so jealous.
Yeah, and I went to go, we went to visit and stuff.
And because of the handbag one, I didn't realize how deep the culture was.
Like the Louis Vuittan of it all and the Gucciate of it all.
And it was just like, this is legacy.
Like, this has been around for so long.
And it's treated with such a reverence over there.
And I was like, oh, maybe there is something to this.
And my daughter's like, so kind of I get this one?
I was like, hell no.
It's more than our trip.
This is more than our hotel for five people.
It's more than our trip.
I was like, yeah, they almost got me.
This whole story.
How long ago was that?
Well, that's not that long ago.
She's 20.
Yeah.
Because I was buying some bags.
I would buy a bag every year.
Yeah.
I would go to the outlet stores too.
I would go to the outlet store and get it Gucci or, but every year, once a year,
I would buy myself a bag.
This is when I was like just struggling and, you know, going on the, I was on the road still.
And now I'm not as pressed, but when I, my thing is if you walk out of the store and you're still thinking about the bag,
buy the bag.
Right.
And I learned that the hard way.
This was one that got away from me.
But I, there was a point where I was like, like buying bags.
And now the bags are worth a lot more.
Oh, really?
Yeah.
Like, there was like a crazy, where I won't buy, I will not buy them because they're, I'm
like, they're too expensive.
Ah.
And this is, I'm talking about resale.
Right.
I'm like, hell no.
I won't ever buy them anymore.
So I'm glad I got them when I got them because I'm never going to buy those bags again
because it's way too expensive.
Oh, man.
Yeah, that's the thing.
She's very poor.
But I have friends that, like, they have, like, these old louis that are now considered vintage.
But they're, like, they sell for, like, crazy.
I know.
So I'm like, yeah, if you can get in on the bottom floor or something.
Yeah.
Do it.
Yeah.
Well, she's going to have to get a job or something.
I can't support it.
Or get it with like a new, a new designer that'll be one day be legacy.
It's so contagious.
I mean, the sneaker thing is the same thing.
Like I, you're right?
You know people that like your brother obviously like they get into it.
And when they get hooked, they get hooked.
My brother's thing was rock one, stock one.
And so he would always buy two.
And that's why he has, that's why he's able to sell now because he's got shoes that came
out 15 years ago.
Man, oh man.
I just heard you grunt over there.
a good philosophy. You like that one?
You do that too. I'm not as in the sneakers, but when I do find one I like, I've never
heard the phrase rock one. It is pretty great. That just made its way into my life.
I kind of want to rock one stock one with everything in my life now.
One can of Pringles?
This will last the apocalypse.
Yeah.
Are you a hoarder? No. I'm just.
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Was your mom a good cook? Mm-hmm. Yeah. But my parents are from Liberia, so she made mostly Liberian food.
That's Liberian food like? A lot of stews, rice and stews. And there's a thing called foo-foo, which I don't like. My dad,
likes my, my mom, I guess, likes.
And then my middle brother now likes when we were younger.
He didn't like it.
But what is it?
It's almost like, God, almost like a giant dumpling.
Uh-huh.
But you rip it off and you eat it with soup, with a soup.
Mostly they call it pepper soup.
But they pronounce it peppa soup.
Pepper soup.
And, I mean, you can eat it with other things.
You can eat it with, oh my God, I was about to say the wrong thing.
Pita bread?
Like an okra sauce or whatever.
No, not pita bread, because it's like a bread thing.
Oh, it is a bread thing.
Yeah, it's a starchy thing.
Okay.
Yeah, and my brother eats it.
I don't like it.
You don't like it?
Why?
What's it taste like?
It doesn't taste like anything to me.
Oh, really?
It just tastes like a pasty dough almost.
Uh-huh.
To me, it almost tastes like it's not fully cooked.
Oh, like the texture.
I know what you mean.
Yeah.
And so it's not for me.
But people, and you eat it with like a spicy, super, I call them stews, but, you know, you can eat it with whatever.
Can you cook this way?
No.
No?
No.
No.
No really cook.
No.
Oh, really?
Nope.
It's bad.
I mean.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, my big thing was spaghetti.
Right.
And that's, you know, with sauce and a jar.
Yeah.
So where'd you go after Duke?
You came out to L.A.?
I came right to L.A.
Yeah.
So you developed as a comic in L.A.
No, no, no.
No, I stayed in North Carolina for four years.
Right.
And then I came here.
Because you did good nights and, right?
Yeah.
So was that like the first place we started to cut your teeth?
Yeah.
Cool.
That's a good spot.
I did the open mics.
The open mic every.
Tuesday or Wednesday?
Right.
Yeah.
Do you remember the date of your first one?
No.
No?
Mm-mm.
I don't remember.
The first time I did stand up.
Late 90s?
Yeah.
Yeah.
The first time I did stand up, I did it.
I remember I was working for pharmaceutical firm doing chemistry.
And I remember telling my co-workers.
that I wanted to do, going to stand-up.
I've taken an acting class at the Raleigh Little Theater,
you know, on the weekends.
But I was, you know, all in preparation of starting, you know,
my acting career one day.
Yeah.
But then when I realized the whole stand-up thing,
I was like, oh, maybe I'll do stand-up.
That's probably smarter and quicker.
Right.
Than, you know, doing scenes in this basement.
So I told my coworkers, that's right.
I told my coworkers, and one day one of the chemists had said, he saw this thing in the paper to get an agent.
There was like having almost like a talent show.
Of course, you had to bring 10 people.
Yeah.
So, that was a little shit.
But so I invited, you know, friends, most of which were from work.
I had come up with what I was going to say on stage.
and do you remember bud not bud ice uh it was an ice was a butt ice maybe it was butt ice yeah i think you're right um
i drank a six pack of that before going on stage and i was i just remember i was sweating i remember
this point where i took my hat off and put it on backwards and my hair was sticking out because they
taped it so there's footage of that oh nice um but anyway so there was a bunch of us and then
the person with the most applause would get
repped by this again
of scam. And this is an agent based out in, this was in North Carolina
and the agent was based in Florida maybe. Okay.
So basically they were just touring the country, getting money from folks.
Right, getting the night. So I did well
but the kid that won basically, it was this little kid that was
singing and his church, his whole church was there.
So they're all cheering.
But because I did well, they were like, well, we'd like to rep you too.
Ah.
And I was like, really great.
And I never did anything.
You never heard from them.
I mean, I feel like they did like mail me a contract, but I knew enough to be like,
yeah.
How much?
What percentage?
Yeah.
For the rest of my career?
That hasn't started yet?
No.
Yeah.
But yeah, my.
But you were getting traction pretty early.
You were like as far as like just, I mean, as far as performing and having the audiences like you.
Yeah, I did.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
I did well.
So then I took a class.
Yeah.
Well, no, that's not true.
I did an open mic one night.
One of the comics liked me and said, I teach a class.
You should take it.
I won't charge you.
So in this class, I worked on a bit that I did for 1,000 years.
Yeah.
Because it held up.
Yeah.
And then, you know, the graduation I did the bit, it killed.
And I was like, ah, me.
And so I stuck with it.
Nice.
So you get traction.
You get your, you feel like, okay, I can do standout.
And then you had to L.A.?
Did you go to New York?
You didn't go to New York.
I don't know why I have had in my mind you were in New York.
No.
I don't know.
Maybe because Parks was such a lot of New York people.
I just felt like you were the same.
No, I didn't.
I came here.
And I, like, I did, I did like, I would open for, like, road comics out there when they'd come to town.
Right.
Sometimes there was a show that they did over at, like, UNC.
Uh-huh.
There was some, there was a circuit.
I forget what it was called, but they would stop at a little bar.
at UNC and sometimes they would have me be the middler there and then you know a couple of
spots in like Raleigh and then the guy who uh Dan French do you know Dan French because he lived
here for a little bit yeah and he writes yeah um he so he used to tour so sometimes he would take me
to be his midler good that's cool yeah and it's interesting so you come you decide to go L.A because
you you know that's
Acting is going to be the thing.
That's where I got to be.
I just assumed I was going to be doing stand-up at an open mic, and someone's like,
do you want a comedy show?
Do you want to come?
And I have to be like, as a matter of fact, I do.
What was your first acting thing out here?
Was it sunny?
No.
I did an episode of Moesha.
Oh, okay.
I did an episode of Moesha.
And then, huh, I can't remember what was after that.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And was that pretty early from when you got out here?
Or did it take a while?
No, no.
It was...
Quick?
Yeah.
It was...
So, Mara Brock Akeel wrote for Moesha.
Mara, who's like a big producer-writer now,
she dated a friend of mine in college.
And so when I was doing stand-up in North Carolina,
that friend's roommate was like,
you know Brian used to date such as such?
And I was like, I don't know who they,
she's a writer, you should talk to her.
And so he hooked us up.
So we talked on the phone before I ever moved to L.A.
So when I moved to L.A.,
I let her know I was here.
And then one day she was like,
there's a part for a stand-up comedian in Moisha.
You should come in audition it for it.
So I auditioned for it.
It was insane.
What do you mean?
But I wasn't, I was just the worst.
I never, I didn't know.
You never did know how to do it.
No, I didn't know what, it was a mess.
It was a mess.
But I think I was like, just charming enough.
They were like, well, maybe.
And then, but then I remember her calling and saying, do you, are you in SAG?
And I was like, and SAG is.
Yeah.
That kind of thing.
She was like, oh, okay.
So I didn't get the part.
Oh.
But a couple episodes later, I got offered.
heard a different part.
Oh, nice.
So I got, that's how I got, I got Taft hardly through Moisha.
Oh.
And that's how I got my SAG card.
Yeah, that's always a funny first call when you're like, okay, so the money you're
going to get paid is going to pay for your SAG membership.
But now you're in SAG.
Exactly.
Exactly.
But it's worth it.
Yeah.
I am.
Do you miss stand-up?
Because you're a good stand-up.
I don't.
You don't?
Well, I don't miss.
No, I don't miss.
It was the road.
The road was hard.
It was really hard.
And I'm also a lazy writer.
Oh, huh?
I'm a lazy writer.
Right.
When I'm in the mode, you know, you're just used to waking up, going to the cafe writing.
Right.
That, the idea of that right now.
Yeah.
No.
No.
Really?
No.
No.
Interesting.
It's interesting.
Yeah, because you were so good.
I remember your presents.
I think ours were around the same time.
And you had such presence.
And it was like, yeah, I could see going the distance.
But that stuff is, yeah.
I do say, which is the same thing I say about being a doctor.
I was like, you know, I could go back to it.
Yeah.
If I had to, I could go back to it.
So it's the kind of thing that's in the back of my head that if need be, you start writing and start doing the open mics and get out there.
Do you feel like creatively?
taking on a role and, I mean, you were able to really cultivate, like in Parks and really cultivate a character and a role.
Do you feel like that is, it kind of scratches the creative drive in the same way that other people like the writing?
I mean, I still, I want to create a show.
So I've pitched stuff before.
Right.
So I do have, my mind does go into the creative in that way too.
I did a pilot last year and I got to have my hands in a lot of it and I really enjoyed that.
You know, from, you know, watching tapes to costuming.
Right.
All of that.
Set design and all that kind of.
Yeah.
The set design, not so much.
That wasn't me.
I mean, I have an idea of stuff and what I maybe think things should look like.
Yeah.
But when it came to, you know, punching up and doing story, adding to story,
yeah, costuming, and then casting.
I enjoy that.
Right.
Yeah.
Sounds like you might be a producer.
Yeah.
I think I enjoy that.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Would you ever produce for something you're not in?
I'm actually working on some things.
Are you?
Yeah.
I am working.
I have my hands and stuff and, you know, giving notes on scripts and stuff like that.
Right.
I'm not going to be in.
How much did you like having a character, though?
Like, I'm Parks to be able to.
Well, that was, you know, that was my first series.
And I remember my manager saying, he's like, okay, so the casting director was like,
it's not going to be a lot, you know, she won't be a regular right away.
But, you know, they were using the office as the model where eventually everybody became regulars.
And I was like, I'm not doing anything.
I'm just going to go sit on set and learn.
You know, because it's a lot of, you're in the bullpen.
So you're in the background of stuff.
I might as well go and learn.
I don't really know how sets work.
Right.
You know, I've done Moesha.
Right.
You know, and not much.
Yeah.
So to know that I was going to get stuff to do and then eventually become a regular and all that,
that was throwing.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's very exciting. Man, that's crazy that that was like really your first, you were so strong.
I did, like I did do like little parts in movies. I remember I did, um, little Dickie. Uh-huh. Yeah. I did Little Dickie. And I did, oh, um, oh gosh, uh, with Jason Seagull and, um, oh God, it was a college movie.
movie. Why can't I think?
Slackers. I did slackers. Slackers. Yeah. I got, I think I got because I didn't want to go to the audition.
Oh, really? I had broken my ankle. Uh-huh. And I was in a cast, and I remember a friend of mine was in town,
and we were out in Santa Monica, and I get this call from my agent. I don't, it's a, cell phones were new.
and so my phone, I was like, no, no, I just got this phone.
Who has my number?
Who else has a phone?
So I remember getting an audition and I was like, oh, I can't do it.
My ankle's broken.
I'm in a cast.
And so she's like, oh, okay.
And then calls back.
They think it might work for the part.
It might be funny.
And I was like, where is it?
They're like Santa Monica.
I was like, nope.
Not doing it.
I'm not going.
I'm not going.
I was like, come on.
Well, actually, I think she said Santa Monica first.
And I said, no, my ankle's broken.
Yeah.
And then they said it might work for the part.
Anyway, so I remember going to this audition for John Pappsadera.
And I pull in, so many people were auditioning.
There was no parking.
I pulled into this thing.
I parked behind a tow truck.
If I wasn't looking for it.
Oh, no.
So I parked behind a truck.
You hooked it up to the chains.
I ran in and I was like, I can't stay.
I got to go.
I was like rushing.
Yeah.
And I went in.
And I read for him.
And he was like, that's great.
I got to go.
He's like, well, let's do it again.
I was like, homie, I cannot get toad.
I am so not.
I can't afford to get toad.
Yeah.
And so rushed through it.
And I think he was like, she don't even want it.
And that's why I got that part.
Oh, isn't that amazing?
That's the way it goes.
You just saying no first.
That was my first.
I think that I might have done that before I did.
No, no.
If you could just bottle that.
Like that's the way you should treat every offer.
I got to go.
No, not doing it.
I don't have time.
I'm busy.
You and your movie.
So much.
I was like, said to Monica?
Nah.
Sorry,
home.
Tell me when he moves it to Hollywood.
Yeah.
So how are you feeling about L.A.
No.
I mean, we've been, you love L.A.
And do you feel like the business is going to start coming back here?
I have a lot of people that are, a lot of people are, I love it too.
And a lot of, but a lot of people are starting to get nervous or leaving.
Well, I mean, I don't, I don't particularly, my, I did a girlfriend's guide.
I did three years in Vancouver.
Mm-hmm.
I did one year in Atlanta.
Uh-huh.
So I don't prefer that.
Vancouver much harder, obviously, because customs.
Yeah, it's a drag.
But I'm like, but if I have to, I'll, you know, I'll go where the work is.
I don't want to have to.
But I feel like we're kind of moving, you know, talking to a friend who are producers and stuff like that that are actually working, working, you know, doing stuff.
they because um newsome is trying to get stuff back in in california i feel optimistic i mean i feel like
everybody was feeling optimistic until the fires i know really so i feel like you know the fires
kind of threw a wrench in our plan and especially now that you know it's it's a hardship on
crew that I feel like they might work harder to get the incentives back so that we can work here.
That would be great.
Please.
I know.
I was talking to people at ABC and they're all in.
They're like 90% of what we're doing is in L.A.
Really?
Yeah.
Oh, thank God.
Yeah.
Then you talk to other people and they're like, we're doing stuff in Belgium now.
I was like, wait a minute, what?
Yeah.
How much could you possibly save?
It can't be that much.
That's what I'm saying.
Can it be that much?
I don't know.
I mean, I guess the incentive works with, you know, getting the crews their work.
And so that's how they justify it.
You know, the countries or whoever justify giving the incentives.
Right.
But I'm not sure how all that works because I had a friend.
She was telling me about, you know, getting the money and this has to be in the escrow.
and then you have to give this percentage to sag.
And I was like, yeah, I don't want to be that producer.
Right.
I don't want that on my hands.
Yeah, no kidding.
Yeah, to figure that stuff out.
Yeah, they work it out and, you know, they go where the incentives are.
Right.
It has to, I mean, this whole place is built on it.
Yeah.
Right.
It's a giant sign.
Yeah.
Right.
I know.
We've stars on the streets.
This is the place.
I'm saying it.
Big studios everywhere.
Jeez.
Yeah.
Yeah, what are we going to do with these empty buildings?
I know.
Yeah, it's got a...
It has to.
Because even when they were giving...
Someone was giving the speech,
O'Connor was giving the speech during the Oscars and talking about the fires and, you know,
that all these crew people and are out of work.
And I was like, he could keep going.
It's not just the people that were working on the film.
It's the people with the restaurants and the dry cleaners and the supermarkets and all of like these...
These costume houses.
Yeah, it stretches way beyond just the...
production.
It goes to,
this whole city is built on that.
Yeah.
Yeah,
it would be nice if it were to come back.
I mean,
the,
the,
the, um,
the EPs of it all,
the companies that pay,
that do your payroll.
Yeah.
Right.
Exactly.
Now,
I don't want to,
um,
make you feel bad,
but,
uh,
there is a huge Netflix,
uh,
studio being built in New Jersey.
Is it really?
in Jersey?
Billions of dollars.
Yeah?
Like around Mammoth,
around that area.
Really?
Yeah, Long Branch kind of area.
There was an old arsenal
or barracks or whatever.
They're converting
and making this into a huge studio.
So you may be going back.
At the very least,
I can check in on the rentals,
the parental.
I think they're doing
something in Phoenix too, not Netflix.
I believe Phoenix is starting
trying to get into the game.
Right.
I can't.
Oh no, this company is doing the casino stuff.
But I think there's stuff starting.
I was like, I'd rather go to Phoenix than...
Yeah, than Vancouver.
Get on a flight.
No kidding.
Yeah.
So...
Yeah.
We do a thing on this program called an uncomfortable moment.
Uh-oh.
It's not so bad.
I think this one is actually kind of cute.
We have our crackerjack staff do some research and stuff and find things out about people.
Oh, gosh.
And as we're both...
I thought I scrubbed it.
As we're both Jersey kids, we seem to have found...
Remember great adventure in New Jersey?
It looks like you and I might have been on the same roller coaster at the same time.
And I have to say for someone who's shitting on Jersey, you look pretty happy there.
My makeup is fire.
Whose body is that?
I don't know.
I have it looked like that since sixth grade.
Well, what's so sad about mine is it's like probably a face for me doing stand-up.
That's how over the top I am.
I can tell the lighting.
You're right.
The lighting.
That is a special.
That shot is from a...
I'm really trying.
I'm really trying.
We're so much smaller than the people behind them.
Clearly those were their children.
This could be us.
We could go back to New Jersey.
Your folks are still there?
That's nice.
Are they proud?
Oh, very.
My dad used to, when I started doing so, so when I did my first TV appearance
was on the Jenny Jones show.
Wow.
And my dad that day had a haircut.
He went to the barber.
And when I got on, when I went up, you know, they say from Jersey.
And then the guy was like, hey, man, is that your daughter?
And he was like, yeah.
And he knew I was going to be on, but he didn't realize it was going to be on in the barbershop.
Oh, that it was airing.
And so he was like the king of the shop that day.
And then after that, my dad used to work for Con Air Corporation.
And he would take tapes, whether it's stand-up or me on Moisha or whatever.
He would record everything.
And he would take tapes to work and let people sign them out to watch me.
Oh, really?
Yeah, he was a walking blockbackster.
That's amazing.
They would have to sign them out like a library.
They would sign.
They would sign.
You know, so he knew who had them.
That's so great.
Oh, man.
And I'm like, you would take a bin in?
That's amazing.
Well, they said they wanted to see it.
God bless.
That's so great.
Do they come out here?
They were just here like a month ago.
Oh, no, two months ago.
Oh, yeah.
They were just here.
Oh, that's nice.
My mom cooked for my friends.
Oh, really?
Man, I don't know Liberian food.
Well, she did, she did, my mom does a ridiculous mashed potato.
Oh, really?
Yeah, so Thanksgiving is traditional.
I mean, she does stuff for my dad.
Separate, like a baked fish, well, a crab stuffed fish.
And baked crab fish.
What?
She does a stuffed snapper.
My dad likes snapper.
So she does a crab stuffing for his.
Oh, nice.
But then everything else is pretty traditional.
Right.
But she does an insane mashed potatoes.
So when she comes, she,
She does smothered pork chops, but it's like a Liberian spin.
It's a little bit spicier.
And then the mashed potatoes.
Oh, man.
And it's really good.
You're bringing up a horrible memory I have of this Thanksgiving where my wife, I do all of the cooking mostly.
And my wife handles the mashed potatoes.
And she's usually on point.
And it was like getting late.
And I'm like, we should be, aren't you?
potatoes.
She's like, I got it.
I got it.
She didn't have it.
And as I'm putting everything out, her and, you know Aaron Foley, you know the comedian
Aaron Foley?
She's a friend.
She was over.
And I just hear them laughing and trying to mash hard potatoes.
It was a disaster.
I got it.
I got it.
You didn't have mash for Thanksgiving.
No, we had lump.
We had lump potatoes.
we're all lumps
yikes
yeah
it ruined everything
yeah that
that would really ruin our Thanksgiving
if we didn't have my mums
your moms yeah
what makes them so good
they're just so creamy
buttery
it's just I mean
it's butter
it's everything bad
you know like
buttermilk
oh boy
cream
butter butter
right
all of it
yeah milk
well evaporated milk
Our producer on this show is a vegan
And I keep trying to tell them
Butter doesn't count
You should have butter in your life
I'm concerned about them
I'm like I can see not eating a bunch of animals or whatever
But come on some butter
Yeah
On your toast
I mean
And your mashed potatoes
Why can't they use
Butter?
Because it's not like
You're not killing the animal
You're not killing the animal
You're just squeezing some parts of them
Yeah
Give me a juice
Right
Give me the squeezins.
That doesn't count.
I bet there would be a lot more vegans if you let butter in.
This little loophole.
There'll be a lot more vegans if you let ham in.
Yeah.
So when's your show coming out again?
The new season, it's not confirmed confirmed,
but right now June 15th is when they say,
Oh, cool.
That's good.
Yeah, my wife watches a lot of HGTV, and she's always saying that it would be like the perfect gig.
I mean, it's such a loyal audience.
It's such a cool, right?
I mean, it's, yeah.
And I tend to, if I don't want to be, if I'm doing something around the house, or not around the house, but in a room, I can turn on HGTV.
Yeah.
And you don't have to pay attention because you watch the beginning, you see.
see whatever the mess is.
And you hear them click, click, click, clack until they start to show it.
Then you can watch the end.
You know what I mean?
It's really true.
And wait for the reveal.
I love a before and after.
Yeah.
Nothing makes me happen.
So it's actually our show to me it's a little bit harder because the before and after,
you don't know who's before you're using because you go to 15 different houses and
then you finally get to watch an after.
Yeah.
So I'm like it better be entertaining.
there's no after in the first five episodes.
Right.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So when you talk about the travel being rough for stand-up, is it, is this okay for you doing
this travel show?
Like is it?
I'm saying it's better because, one, I don't drive.
Right.
You don't have to do.
I have a driver.
And I, I'm not by myself.
Right.
There's a team.
Right.
You know what I mean?
Yeah.
Support.
hair and makeup. I've got company.
You know what I mean? It's not me alone in my room.
I know. Yeah.
So that is a big part of it.
It just makes it so much better.
In this last season I had, every once in a while I get, I'll have a friend with me.
Yeah.
So even that's like a little mini like time with a friend.
Oh, just to come along for the shoot?
Sometimes I have some people that will come.
Oh, that's nice.
And then last season, my friend who's the producer, on her downtime, she handled, because I were
the girl that does
did the talent producer
she couldn't do the show
so my friend did the job
and she was really good
so the production company
really liked her and then I was with my friend
for like a couple of weeks
oh that's really fun
it was good that's good
well congratulations it's great
I mean really like back to what you're saying
like a gig that you didn't even see coming
right is like this little engine
yeah right
I was like, I don't want to do this.
Can you give me one more funky house story?
One more funky?
Like, oh my God, I've got to get out of here.
This is something we didn't see on the air that's...
You mean, like, funky, like smell or just weird?
Either.
Okay, so there's this one house where every comment that I made
was something they had already...
done themselves.
Oh.
And I was like, I mean, what are these?
It was their improvement?
Yes.
Oh, really?
So, but it, but it started bad because I remember walking in and you don't see it in the show.
Uh-huh.
I walk in and I look and there's like this shelf, this high shelf.
And up on the high shelf is one of those lawn jockeys.
Oh, no.
Yeah.
From the olden days?
Yeah, from the olden days.
And I remember being like, and then I turned towards my producer and they're like, I was like, so the shot, the shot, the shot.
The shot in tear, right?
The shot on tier.
And they're like, yeah, yeah, yeah, don't worry about it.
Don't worry about it.
We're not putting it in.
Yeah.
How about we cut this whole part?
How about back to the van?
Because like they would have to.
Right?
Right?
Because they, like, there's some houses that they can't do because these people have, like, these gun racks and they can't move it.
Oh, man.
So, um, so that's how it started.
Jeez.
And then I found out later when they talked to the home, they're like, well, we can't, we couldn't lift it.
We couldn't move it.
And I was like, you lifted it up to there.
Yeah.
It didn't.
It didn't grow there.
Whatever.
But here's the thing.
I don't care.
You have it.
Yeah, why do you have it?
Whether you move it or not.
And it was so funny.
It was, I felt like it was the husband that was kind of like over me.
Because the wife and the kids love me, but the, were there his kids?
Yeah.
No, I can't remember.
But, and the youngest loved me and was like, and I was, we were wearing matching colors.
And I was like, look at us.
We matched.
And she was like, oh, boy, we match.
And she just loved.
And I know he was like.
but then that's when I went in and everything I commented on was work that he had done and I was like
oh boy and I literally woke up to my producer as like can we find out the things that they did so I don't shit on it
yeah so we get out of here alive that's so crazy well I can't wait to go back and watch to see your face
I'm going to watch you with a new perspective now yeah I'm like I don't care about the house I'm
to see how this place smelled.
There's one post.
There was one where when we went in thought,
the woman kept saying,
I'm so sorry for this smell.
I'm so sorry for the smell.
I'm so sorry for the smell.
And I was like, and trust me,
I have a very active gag reflex.
There's nothing getting past.
This knows.
And she just kept saying it.
And then we went into the basement.
And I was like, oh, it's in here.
Oh, no.
I was like, I feel like,
It was like burned into her nose.
And so she just, she's triggered when she comes to the house because it was like a house
that was still they had to work on and stuff like that.
So they didn't spend a whole lot of time.
And I went into the basement.
I was like, we got to get the fuck out.
What was it?
It was moldy, like a, it had been flooded or something.
Oh, man.
It was bad.
It was so bad.
I was like, do you guys spend time in here?
It's like, well, we mostly hang out outside.
it was like girlfriend.
What?
Get out of here.
She was so, she's like, we had the doors open, you know, expecting we had the doors open for so long.
It was like, no long enough.
No, this doesn't work.
But that one I did say it.
I was like, oh, I smell it.
Oh, you did on camera.
Yeah, that was.
Oh, really?
It was bad.
Oh, man.
Well, I'm going to find it.
This is going to be good.
She had said it.
She kept saying it through the show.
I was like, I smell it.
Right.
And holy cow.
Well, thank you for being here.
This was really fun.
Thanks for having.
Yeah, it was nice spending time with you.
And I can't wait to spend time with you on set in New Jersey when we're on a show together.
Well, hang out.
When we're running that Netflix studio.
Yeah, right, exactly.
You make it.
I'll be in it.
And we'll be in New Jersey happily ever after.
All right.
Thank you.
Thanks, Tom.
We got it, kids.
There you have it.
Great conversation with Red.
Make sure you check out her show. Very funny.
Next week, we have Chelsea Handler coming on the program.
Very exciting. That's going to be a good one, too.
You guys are the best. Thank you for listening.
We'll see you soon.
