Breaking Bread with Tom Papa - Episode 41 - Joey Ryan

Episode Date: February 16, 2021

We break bread with the talented and funny Joey Ryan from the Milk Carton Kids and grab a Quick Bite with the one and only Tom Segura.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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How we go. Hey, it's time for Breaking Bread with Papa. Hey, don't you know, it's also a show. Welcome, everybody to another edition of Breaking Bread with Tom Papa. I'm Tom Papa. Thank you for spending some time with us today. We have a great show for you. You're going to really enjoy it.

We're going to break bread with my good friend Joey Ryan, who is one half of the milk carton kids. super, super cool band and super funny. Joey has this great combination of musical ability and comic ability, which is very unusual to find. And his partner, Kenneth Patton Gale also is, they're two, they got comic minds and comic personas in that they are, they're somewhat cynical and somewhat wise-assie, and yet they're also very sincere and write these amazing, beautiful, heartfelt songs. And if you ever get a chance to see them live, you have to

when this is all over and we get our vaccines and our butts, you have to see them live because the show is just a, you know, to walk out after having great laughs and great music is, you know, one of the best things you could do. We also have a quick bite with the great Tom Segora, one of our first guests. I think he might have actually been the first guest on Breaking Bread. And we, it's amazing, that's amazing. We've done a lot of these. We've had a lot of shows. And when Tom and I were talking, we were talking about how the next one, we will actually sit and break bread and we'll actually be able to share meals and I've been able to do that with just a couple of our guests in the fits and starts of this pandemic. But it's kind of weird that we're almost coming up on a year

of it and Tom and I still will not be in the same room eating and drinking, which that is our goal. There are certain people in my world who I really, really want to do that with. And it's not even that they're that unique. It's just in my head. I'm like, I've got to to get to that person and we kind of made preliminary plans and until I sit down with them at a table, I won't feel, I won't feel that things are right yet. So Tom Segoor, we will do a quick bite with him and see how he's doing and how he's mending after his big kerfuffle on a basketball court. It's kind of a tale about old people doing things they shouldn't. So that'll be great. One of the nice things that I have been craving during this whole pandemic and I got to do last week was, for some reason, the sitting in a restaurant with a crisp white tablecloth, that to me, it just shows a certain level of normality.

and it's not like I've been to a couple places where I go with my friend Gil and we sit outside and this picnic table and it's like a beer and wing joint and we have a beer and have a nice lunch it's fine. It's good. It's great actually, but it's not the proper silverware, crisp white tablecloth. This is now a grown-up endeavor that should be done indoors. and just means that you're just stepping out of the normal fray for a minute. And they've created this environment that feels special and makes you feel special. And for the short hour or two that you're in there, you're kind of transported. And then you go back about your life. The picnic table doesn't do that. The curbside pickup doesn't do. do that. The opening the containers at home could be the best food that you enjoy from your

favorite place, but when you're taking it out of a, when you're having to go around and undo the foil rim so the plastic top can come off, it's just not the same. And here in Los Angeles, we have opened and shut and opened and shut and we opened again, and I got to go share a meal with my daughter before she went back to school. At Petit, which is this French restaurant bistro that opened in L.A. And normally you do sit inside with the crisp white tablecloths and you can't do that, but they do have a good setup where they have replicated the tables with with that crisp white tablecloth. And we sat outside at long lunchtime, and they bring out a baguette and their special butter, and that tablecloth is

there, and we actually said it as we were doing it. We're like, we're unrolling a napkin and taking out good silverware. Oh, the excitement. No mask sitting there with somebody that you know for a fact is not going to contaminant. you. And it wasn't all the way back, but it was close. It was really close. And it was a great, great meal. The reason we went was we saw on HBO, Selena Gomez has this new cooking from home show. And she had chef Ludo, who is the creator of that restaurant. And he was on it. And he was making this omelet and telling her, kind of like cooking from his kitchen to her kitchen and trying to,

you know, a pandemic show. And she's adorable and fun and he's French and loud and it was very funny. And but we were really just excited because he was making this omelet. We're like, we're going to get that omelet and just the care and the style. It was just, ah, please. And then to be able to go and eat that the next day, Oh, what a treat. Just a treat. I really do crave it. That's one of the cool things about Joey Ryan. He lives kind of near me, and he is one of those people who I have in my mind of when I'm with him,

we're going to be getting closer to living the way we want to live. And we've made plans and had them canceled several times because we have children and other people and how badly do you need to have a coffee and a cookie with somebody? Is it worth risking the life of the people around you? Yeah, we're getting to the point where I think it might be. I think I would roll the dice on my family's health. Here's something I want to show you. If you're looking at this on the on the YouTube's or on the social media, I will describe it to you, if you're just listening to it on the podcast, when I started baking bread and started getting good at it and started distributing it to my friends and family and comedians, and I actually, you know,

I needed bags, I needed bags and had to research paper bags that could actually put the bread in it. And it took me a while and I finally found the right ones that were the right size. And, you know, that's a kind of a thing you don't really think about. You're thinking about just making this bread as good as you possibly can. And then it's like, well, you know what? The bag is kind of important. If you go to any place and they give it to you in any kind of wrapping, any kind of whatever, it makes a big difference. So I found the right one. And I now have been baking so much spread for so long and giving it and spreading it around the land like Johnny Appleseed that I ran out of bags. I ran out of bags and look at the size. I just got a new shipment of bags.

I'm struggling to hold it up. This is 200 bags. 200. That means that I doesn't seem possible, but that I have baked that much. I mean, it makes sense if I'm doing two loaves at each bake and I'm doing a couple bakes a week. But this is what I've realized is this is a business that I'm making no money at. I am just spreading it around. And look, it's a joy. It's a great excuse.

especially during this year to be able to see people. Like there are comedians that I know and love and just, you know, you see them on social media, but if I could throw a bread in a bag and drive over to Burke Kreisher or Ali Wong or Fortune or whoever and drop off these breads, it's like a nice little excuse for a visit. You can't just tell somebody, I'm just going to drive up to your house and stand on your lawn for a couple of minutes

and then just go about. You need, you got to do it. something. You got to tie it into some kind of an activity. Otherwise, you're just a weirdo. I am a weirdo, but I'm a weirdo who bakes. And I am, this is kind of a milestone that I actually needed to get a new shipment. It's the same thing as when I get a new 50 pound bag of flour. when that giant bag of flour lands with a thud on the front doorstep, there's a little pride, a little, yeah, this is something that we do, and we're plowing through it. Who else is getting multiple deliveries of 50-pound bags of flour?

Not a lot of people, and how many people need 200 bags at a time to rock it through? What I really need to figure out is how I can spread the reach in this little nonprofit of mine. Can I get this bread across the country in due time so like my daughter at school can get it or my family back east? can I ship it? I tried doing it early on. There was a, when it was doing the other podcast and I would try and get it to some listeners. There were a couple people that were really begging for it. And kind of pricey, kind of difficult, making sure that it gets there.

But I do have a recipe now for this bread, this country blonde bread that actually gets better like a day in. So maybe a travel day as it's maturing. I don't know. What I'm trying to say to you as you're listening is, I have you in mind and you could possibly get bread if we work it out. I got the bags. I got the flour.

Now we need some shipping. Oh, this is becoming a business. I got to get back on stage soon. All right. Well, we are going to start off with my good pal, Joey Ryan. He's so funny. He's so thoughtful. Well, the cool thing about him, too, is that he,

it's his thoughtfulness about comedy, which I really appreciated and liked. You have a lot of people that just like, oh, that's funny, he got some funny stuff, and whatever. But he really appreciates comedy and comics and different styles and different forms. And he would always want to talk about it and go into the weeds, which is something that I really, really appreciate and love to talk about. And I love also to talk about the same thing on the media. musical end. So we became fast friends and we got to tour around on live from here when he was

the creative director and I was the head writer. We got to work together for a couple of years in a row and got to travel all over the place and go to have these great meals and these great restaurants and he just became a great, great friend and I'm so happy to be able to sit and break bread with him and introduce him to all of you. And like I said, if you love the milk cart and kids and you listen to their music, go and see them live whenever we probably spring, summer, fall. I don't know. We'll get there. So now enjoy Joey Ryan.

And when we come back, we will catch a quick bite with Tom Segura. Papa. Hey, Joey. How are you? I'm doing well. How are you? How do I look? You look a little spooky.

Yeah. You know how I feel itchy? Yeah, that's why I started growing the beard for a while. And I was like around Christmas, I was like, oh, I don't have to be on camera. I don't have to do anything. I'm just going to let it rip. And I was like, I even got over like that the gray was in. I was like, I don't care if I look older.

But the itchy, I couldn't feel. Yeah, no, it's terrible. Yeah. Are all guys with beards itchy? I don't know. This is the first time in my life. I've ever had anything past about five days worth of just laziness and not shaving. And it was horrible.

And then my kids and my wife were like, you got to shave. Like, this is unacceptable. You have to get rid of this. And then I finally agreed with them. And I was like, oh, if I'm going to shave it. And they spontaneously rushed to stop me from going into the bathroom and shave. And they're like, no, don't shave it now. You've come this far.

So now it's like I'm being held hostage by my whole family. But every day I wake up and I'm like, today's the day. I mean, it grows so slowly. You don't know, but this is like two months. Oh, man, oh, man. Yeah. It's not very manly. And it looks good, though.

I mean, it does look good. You do look different, though. I know. You definitely change your face. And I, here's where I'm at. I shaved. And I had to like, I had to like,

scissor it back. It was so long. And I was like, you know, before you could actually shave it. Yeah. And I do the whole thing. And I'm like,

wow, I got my face back. I come walking up into the living room. Stand in front of my family. They didn't notice a thing. Not, didn't blink. Just like,

oh, he's back, whatever. I know. It's like this big deal in your mind. And then, you realize, oh, nobody's paying attention to me. I, you know what?

That line, I think you actually said that to me when we were out touring. Well, it was like nobody cares. No one's paying attention and nobody cares. Yeah, that's right. That really stuck with me. We're concerned about other people and what they're going to say about me

and should I wear glasses? Do I look fat? Nobody cares. No one's paying attention. No, it's very true. And I didn't, I admit, like, I'm a little surprised that it extended to your immediate family. Like, they should care and be paying attention. I met, you know, I met like the public, you know, like when, in our band, when we put out, we're like thinking if we should put out this song or that song is a single or whatever.

And it's like, oh, well, you know, last album, we kind of had a fast song is the first single. and that maybe this, you know, people will think we're just doing the same tricks again. It's like, nobody cares that nobody's paying attention. I know. Like if Spotify pushes it to them, they're going to listen to the first 30 seconds of it and that's about it. Yeah, that's really all it's going to do. How old are your kids now? Seven and three.

Seven and three, yeah. So they still care. They're still paying attention to you. Yeah, they have nothing else. No. Right. They have nothing else going on. Once they have friends and stuff, just like, dad, whatever, dad's just a guy over there.

Yeah. It's really funny. I was thinking this morning because, you know, we talk a lot about eating and what we like to make and stuff on this podcast. And I was thinking about your two kids because I was trying to even remember what meals were like when they were little. It's such, it's like trying to remember all the details of a tornado. It's like, you know it happened, but it's very fuzzy. Right. It's like, what did they eat?

Is it the bottom of the list of things you're trying to like pay attention to? Right. Well, what does meal time like for you guys? I mean, so a lot of the times they, so they eat earlier than we do now. So we don't eat all together. I'm actually looking forward to the time when they get a little bit older so we can all eat together. What time are they eating? They eat it like five.

And I don't, we wait until my wife is a lawyer and she works, you know, from home. And so I wait until she comes out of her really sad cocoon. And it's like, you know, I'm like waiting there with a glass of wine for her. like soothe her back into reality and like seeing other people. So that'll be about like 630 or 7. But the kids, they're mostly eating like kind of kid food right now. Like they want pizza or chicken nuggets or mac and cheese and stuff like that.

But it makes me a little sad because they do, they are adventurous, but they're not like picky. You know, it's not just like plain, plain spaghetti with nothing on it and otherwise they have a tantrum. It's like if we put real food in front of them, they will eat it. But it's like, I'm not really going to cook two separate dinners, you know.

Yeah, right, exactly. I did that for years. And it wasn't two would have been a treat. It was really like four because I have vegetarians and, and picky. And it was literally like a line cook. It was like, okay, so this. And whatever they would, whatever the one child would say. the other side would say the opposite.

I'd be like, okay, so what do you want to do? Spaghetti or veggie burgers? Veggie burgers. Spaghetti. Yeah, that's right. It's like they're staking out their identities with their little meal choices every day. Yeah. And a bad parent helps that out and fosters it and gives them exactly what they want.

You know, I think the problem is we ask the kids what they want now. Yes. I never made a choice as a child. I was never rolling into the kitchen as a restaurant. That's right. That's right. I went on a total like Michael Pollan kick and read all his food books. And one of the things of the many things that stuck with me was how like it's become so easy to make a lot of different types of foods, you know, pre-prepared or packaged or semi-prepared foods at home that like.

Like, it's not uncommon for everybody to eat different things on the same day. Right. But like pretty recently, there was no way that everyone in the house wouldn't eat the same thing. Right. You know, just whatever is for dinner is what's for dinner. That's how it was, you know, when I was growing up. And like, if we don't ask our kids what they want, they just eat whatever we give them. But the minute you ask, it's like, if they don't get whatever the first thing they think of is,

it's like, I'll have to go to the store if they think of something that we don't have. you know, if I can't like succeed in manipulating them out of it, in about five minutes, like I'm getting in the car. It's so funny. God, it's so, when you said the thing about the plain pasta, like my daughter literally would look, if there was one pepper flake, like one little black pepper flake,

she would just push it to the center of the table. I can't eat this. Yeah. But I really. say you're you're your your go ahead uh we i've been uh for for the grownups for my wife and me i've been cooking a lot during uh you know it's been one of my saving graces oh you have yeah were you cook before this no not really and it coincided with my with the uh just sort of getting into reading every single michael pollen book where i'm like okay you have we have the time like now i have

the time and you know we we we sort of I had always thought of preparing food as something to be like minimized and you want to get it done as quickly as possible and if a recipe takes less time that's a virtue right and now I'm like this thing takes 20 minutes like that can't be that good you know I want I want the two hour prep time yeah something I can some I can get my hands dirty with and so I've been I've been really I just sort of decided at the beginning the pandemic. I didn't get into the sourdough. I know your big sourdough, but you were ahead of the curve on that. And everybody kind of jumped on the bandwagon. And I didn't get into that, but I did just decide that, like, spending an hour or two or three in the afternoon to prepare dinner was

going to be like a hobby. And I'll just put on music and drink wine or whatever and make food. Oh, that's so great. I know. I love when the schedule works out where you just roll in. I always think of my grandmother. I'm like, she spent all day in the kitchen, like the all day. So like if I could roll in there, if we're going to eat around six or seven and I'm hanging out in there at four. Yeah. And just, and this is just what I'm going to camp out for a while. It's, it is.

It's really the best. And let me tell you, my schedule has been working out like that lately. Yeah. What are you doing? Are you, you guys came out with more music? We've, uh, yeah. So. Right. Our, we're doing a sort of a live, not live, recorded video series called Sad Songs Comedy Hour, which is our online version of our Largo variety show, which you were a guest on and a bunch of other, mostly musicians.

And then, thank you. So that was fun, like, you know, sending files and videos back and forth to people and recording songs, singing harmonies with them. My bandmate and I, Kenneth, was in Canada for most of the pandemic, but once he came here, then we started writing a new album. So we're getting together a few times a week and writing songs. And we did our first live, like proper live stream of the pandemic, which I thought was going to be like a terrible experience, like playing a concert to a, you know, to a phone, to a camera. Yeah.

But it was so great. It had, like, I had as much adrenaline as for, like, a normal show. Like, you know, when it was starting and during the first song, like, it really gave me about 80% of the feeling of being on stage in a real show. Wow, that's amazing. Other than that, basically, nobody clapped at the end of the song, which is something we've really grown accustomed to. Which was, which, it's good that you foster that during your live shows. Yeah. So you're used to it.

You know, it's so funny. Like, I always remark, like, registered as one of the main differences between comedy and music is like, if you tell a joke that doesn't work, the audience won't laugh. But if you play a song that sucks, they will still clap. I know, I know. You know? Yeah. It's like such a softer land. I always wished, especially when I was starting out and struggling, I always wish that I had a guitar, just so at the end of the joke, I could go, da-na-da-da-da-bump.

Right. It's like, it's like, clap now. Yeah, exactly. Like in a TV, like in a recording of a TV show with the applause lights for the audience. Yeah. No, it's true. We've done, we've sometimes will, we'll, we, we've, we've, we've, we've, we've, we've, we've, We've, it's actually so awkward. We haven't done it more than once or twice, but we'll ask the audience before the song, like, just don't clap at the end of this song. And they can't do it.

It's not physically possible. Yeah. They wait, they wait like two, three, maybe four seconds. And the awkwardness is so thick that they just have to, they just, eventually they just stop clap. They just start clapping. Yeah. That's hilarious.

They cannot do it. Comedy audiences can do it so easily. You have to beg them to do it. Oh, my God. Do you miss the road? Do you miss getting out of the house? I, you know, I just started missing getting out of the house after all these months. I miss, the only thing I missed right away was the 90 minutes on stage.

Yeah. All the rest of it, I was like. I got enough miles to last me a lifetime. You know, I've, I've listened to enough audio books in the like bunk of the bus to last the lifetime. Yeah. And if I could just do the 90 minutes a night on stage that I crave so much and which I think is important for, you know, society.

Like one thing I've been coming a little bit in tune with is like there's a lot of people out there who going to shows is their whole like social life basically. Like they make their friends from going to shows. I'm sure it's the same in comedy. But like, you know, there's a whole subset of the population out there who just basically rely on concerts and they go to several a month. And I don't know what they've been doing this whole time. I guess they've just been watching live streams.

But just this past week, I was like, you know what? I think it would be nice to have about three hours to myself to listen to an audio book in the bunk of a bus. I know. I know. I literally, I dropped my daughter off for college. We brought it to LAX. She was flying back to East Coast. When was this? This was just a week ago. And, oh, congratulations. Well, she's going back for it. This is her second semester. Like she was there in September. Oh, she started, she started right before the pandemic? Right before the pandemic. No, in the pandemic, September. And she went, okay. Yeah, and she went. And they just test and they did it all the right way. And then she was home for break for Christmas. And so this time, I just dropped her at the airport and watched her go check her bags. And I was like, wait a minute. I don't have a flight on my phone on my apps. I have zero flight.

she's getting to go on a plane. I was like just driving out of the airport like this sad little man. I was like, am I just retired? Am I retired man just driving other people to adventures? I know. That was like, that's like our home. That's where we feel most comfortable. Oh, God. You, you were so comfortable. You were more comfortable because we got to travel with life from here, which was great, because especially for me, because I always traveled completely alone as a comedian. Yeah. And musicians always seem to be like a bit of a crowd. There's always like other people.

We move in packs. Yeah, you move in packs. And I was the one thing that I really was always astounded by was how you would just, you'd leave the hotel. Like we'd have to get up super early and get to the gate and get on the flight, the first flight out. and I'd be like, okay, so I guess we've got to leave at six. You're like, I'll meet you there.

What do you mean you'll meet me there? I'm not leaving at six. And then you would leave at seven and just kind of like walk with that with no urgency, no rush, just walk through the airport. And I've been there for half hours waiting nervously. And you would just be like, good morning. And just walk. It's like you arrived as they said, Joey Ryan.

And you just walk out. And you just walk onto the plane. For me, it's like if you get there before they're urging you personally to get on the plane, you've miscalculated. Oh, man, I really, and I really thought like, I was even more nervous when I was younger, and I really thought I kind of cooled out over the years. And seeing you, I'm like, no, I'm still a wreck. You know, it's not, it is a little bit.

of like a Russian roulette like Daredevil kind of thing because there is nothing worse than actually missing the plane. Like that, I think in the past many years, I can remember I missed one. And it was of no consequence. Like I was traveling the day before the show and there was another flight. You know, it was, if you're going from like LA to New York, there's always another one unless you're like a red eye or something but I just got the next one I'm sure I missed like whatever dinner plans they had but it was not I remember justifying it to myself I was like how many

hours have I saved over these years not going to the airport early and was it worth it for this one missed flight I think it was I think it was worth but then the other side of it is so what am I doing? I'm staying in this, I'm staying in this holiday and express for another hour. It's stupid. There's no good reason. It's just the nature of it. But I have to say, I really do miss the traveling for live from here. It was such a crazy, big, unique project. And I'm sure I'll say in the intro that, you know, you and I, you and I actually got to meet the first time we met was meeting with that guy from the, from the production who they were looking for some help and met at a coffee shop. That's right. And I was like, who's this guy?

We passed each other on the way, we passed each other on the way in and out of the interview. Right. Yeah. And then you had the creative director job. I had the writer job. And then we just got to go work on it and it was so, it really was a really fun time. Crazy, crazy production. Yeah. The, I missed it the most this past December when it was like holiday time because those shows were always so special and sort of thematically tight and, you know, musically diverse, but like still centered around the holiday themes.

Yeah. Yeah. I missed it. I did too. Chris did too. I talked to him about it and just being like in New York, you're right there and like the center of of Christmas and just cranking those shows out. Yeah, so good. It was such a good mix of people and stuff. But the traveling was really, really cool. And you sent me that picture the other day of us eating crabs. And where were we? We were in Maryland. It must have been. Is that that? Maybe it was D.C. That outdoor national park? Yeah, yeah, Wolftrap.

Yeah. Wolftrap. Yeah, that's right. It would have been Wolftrap in Vienna, Virginia. And Guster was the musical guest, one of the musical guests, and all, they've got 17 dudes in their band. And we all led for crabs. That is actually, that's one, that's probably the main thing I miss is like the regional food specialties of eating everywhere. Like there we have this favorite

Like going to Play in Portland, Maine in the summer And having like having lobster Sitting by like sitting by the sea and having lobster from a shack It's just You know You don't feel like you want to fly all the way across the country Just to do that.

But when you're there Like when you're there it's like Oh it makes the whole thing worthwhile And crab yeah crabs in the chest at peak It's like one of the best things That was so. legit. It was just the big trays with a big pile of crabs, tons of old bay. Oh, and just sit there with everybody, just your hands are just all cut up from eating the crab and then the old bay is getting

in your cuts. That was so great. I actually went two nights in a row because I ended up with one other group and then I was like returned. By the end of it, I was so filled with sodium. Yeah. Oh, man. I feel like my mouth is going to be dry forever. I actually started watching the wire again just so I could see them eat crabs. It looks so good. That's so good. I know.

And then we go all the way through all of this. And you're on my mind a lot because we've talked about getting together just for coffee. Yeah. And then like we decided, okay, we'll get together. And then we had another lockdown like immediately after we even just talked about it. We're not, we're like literally a mind. and a half from each other. I know.

And this is what the pandemic has done. You know, it's good practice. It's good practice for when we all have to go live on different planets. You know what I mean? Like, I think this is, this is just what it's going to be like when, you know, when Elon gets his colony on Mars and like, if it gets bad enough here, enough people will go. And it'll be fine. Like, well, I'll be ready.

Right. We'll just have, nobody will leave their little eco pods and you'll have school and the kids will have play dates. I have felt that way here, like, especially when it's like at night or when the weather's bad, like walking down the hallway, I feel like I'm in like a scene from aliens or 2001 when they're like just have to travel for a year and a half to get there. And they're just like, I'm going to the workout room now. Right, right, right. When you exercise, I'm going back to the kitchen. Yeah. It's really good.

They go to the area that's spinning that, like, has artificial gravity so they can work out. Right, exactly. That's how I feel. Oh, my God. It's so lame. Yeah, we've had to invest in our hobbies. My wife does pottery, and me and the kids got into rock climbing. So we, like, got a bunch of pottery stuff for her to, like, you know, throw her pottery,

and we built a little rock climbing wall for, for us to climb on. But we've been going like real rock climbing out in nature where you can die. Wow. I did that for like a year or so right after college. Yeah, I loved it. I didn't keep going with it because I was living in New Jersey

and the time of year is pretty limited. But man, it was such a cool sport. It's so fun. Yeah. So you know how to do the ropes and everything? Uh-huh. You can bidet. with the best of them.

And you got the cool shoes? Yeah, we got the shoes, got the ropes, the harnesses, and all the gear and stuff. Is your wife watching the pottery show on, I don't know if it's Netflix or it might be HBO Max. There's a kind of like a challenge show, like a cooking show kind of thing, but all with potter.

pottery. Really? I had no, no, we haven't, I hadn't heard about this. Oh, she's going to love that. Oh, she would love it. Because I don't, I have no interest in pottery at all. And I'm like, I'm like, all in. Oh, you're watching. I'm like, oh, that handle is just, oh, I can't accept that. I feel like Seth Rogan is doing more for the promotion of home pottery than anyone in the past 20 years. It's really true. Do you think when, when it opens up, you're going to, we're going to, we're going to, we're going to, we're going to. to hang on to these hobbies? Or you think we're just going to blast off and never see our families again? Well, I've always been, I've always been like our lifestyle. Maybe it's different for comedy, but our touring goes in spurts. So it's like a few weeks at a time. And then there's always weeks at home. So I think I can still go rock climbing.

And I'm trying to get my wife to retire from being a lawyer and just do pottery. We're going to have to, you're not. have to move, I guess, but... You're going to have to live in a lean-to. Get one of these tiny houses. We're going to have to go by a big gross mansion in North Carolina, like from the S&L Zillow sketch or the Ted Alexander Zillow bit, I should say. Yeah, how about that?

I had seen that. I had seen that... I don't know if I had seen the whole special, if I had just seen the footage on YouTube or something, but I had seen his Zillow bit before. And I didn't actually put it together until you sent it to me that, like, it's the same premise. Yeah.

And because our Lexus sketch was eerily similar to the SNL thing. I mean, that one's funny because, you know, Katie, who wrote it for us, like wrote it for them and they didn't use it and then they did use it right so was it theirs no i think so i don't know i don't know enough about the details of it but like yeah i wanted to ask you so like it strikes me that like the alexandro bit about zillow is it based like it kind of shares a premise but i don't i didn't feel like a lot like the romew like the do you did you think that that's the same joke or can like people do the same premise and that's okay you know yeah it's i mean it's not uh it's not totally out of the realm that that's a pretty

common angle you know what i mean like yeah yeah you can you know like i had a i had a joke you know like back a couple specials ago something about like uh my my mom, like, mispronouncing MySpace and she's going on Facebook and calling it My Face. And it was like, you know, when you're dealing with cultural things like that, like those, those references, we're all dealing with it. We're all digesting it. Everybody's kind of, you tell now, like, especially with social media, there are range of kids coming up with jokes. Right. That are all that are cultural little touchstones, you know, that that's not it's not like it's so unique to the individual that right oh that guy took that

that's obviously a chris rock thing or right you know that's zillow we're all and look at it it really resonates because everybody's kind of thought that everybody loves zillow my 15 year old came in and we were talking about she's like oh i love i love zillow so you know what i mean like Yeah. But there is a habit, especially among sketch shows where there is a lot more poaching going on in that than there is in stand-up because there's an organization, there's all these moving parts, there's all this stuff. And, you know, a young writer sees something on YouTube and brings it in and the head person isn't even aware of it. You know what I mean? Like, you can almost get away with it easier. Yeah. For sure. You know. I wonder if also it's because like you're writing it for someone else. Like as a standup, you always got to be writing for your own voice. So it's like not everyone can do every joke.

Right. Right. Exactly. But with a sketch, you're like, oh, you got a whole cast of people to give it to. Yeah. I don't know. I love Alexandra's bit. And I also love that sketch.

And I don't know if I should feel bad about, you know, liking both of them. I know, exactly. I don't think so. I think we're allowed to enjoy whatever we want to enjoy. You can watch a Woody Allen movie. I wouldn't fault you. Okay. I got the all clear from you on Woody Allen. So are you writing now?

And when you are writing, because your music is so great, but you also have a comedy bent to your live shows, does that just, does the comedy stuff just kind of emerge as you're finding it out on a tour? Or do you kind of contemplate stuff in that? Do you write that part out as well? Well, definitely not while we're writing songs. The songwriting and then the stuff in between is so separate. And it's part of why we feel like we have to do something in between the songs

because our songs can be so sad or like melancholy. emotional or anyway it's just like earnest they're just like totally in earnest and uh that's definitely a big side of us as people and as writers but it's not you know we're also

lighthearted and sarcastic and yeah you're two wise asses yeah you know I think I always felt like there's something so there's something so artificial about the whole thing of getting up on stage in front of a group of people and turning out all the lights except

the ones that are pointed at you and everyone shuts up except you get a microphone broadcast through these big loud speakers and you just how can you be in that situation and not comment on it every time and just like act like it's normal and be like oh this is what I deserve to play you this shit that I wrote in my bedroom like it's just too it's too precious you have to undermine it. I used to think at every turn and now I'm realizing, you know, finding the balance of like, you can't undermine it too much because people do like to be carried, you know, they like to get carried away and suspend their disbelief and, you know. Yeah. We have friends who just put on a 90-minute show of straight folk earnestness. And that's wonderful too. People love it. It's just

And I can't, I just can't do it. It's, I feel like the audience trying to hold their applause. Like, I can't help, but try to, try to undermine the thing. So that's kind of where it came from. So then we like, you know, we undermine our songs or each other, you know, we kind of give each other shit or we'll, yeah, make fun of the song before we play it. Right. But then play it in total earnestness.

Yeah. You know. But, but, but it's not, it's not so, it's not so whiplashy either. though, because it's still kind of in, it's still your voice. It's still, yeah, there's a, you know, you convey a certain thing without speaking at all. You convey a humor and an earnestness. Like you could just stand there and you would kind of sum up what you guys are about. Yeah, that's a good point. And also, you know, it's also, as much as, uh, sad or emotional or earnest songs are part of the folk tradition, also storytelling.

and jokes and, you know, and sarcasm is a huge part of the folk tradition, too. I mean, some of the funniest stage performers are folk musicians. The late John Pryne, rest in peace, is one of the great storyteller, comedic storytellers of all time. Oh, so great. It's amazing. I literally, I could listen to him every single day. And you could listen to the same song every day and still be like, come away like, not even with something new, but just like you appreciate it.

I don't know what it is. What is it? You know, you know music. I don't, I, yes, but the beauty of it is that it's, I think it's kind of leaves, that it leaves you dumbfounded every time. Our friend and mentor, Joe Henry, always talks about how he, the thing he loves about music is specifically that it's mysterious and that it it seduces more than it explains you know yeah the we were we we we were the hosts the last couple of years of the americana music

awards which is in nashville at there and there's like an awards show and a bunch of performances at the ryman and this past last year in september um uh john prine and bonnie rate were doing a surprise performance of Angel from Montgomery. And so I was sitting alone in the pews during rehearsal, just like waiting for the rehearsal of our next segment or whatever. Yeah. And they just came out. And the two of them, it seemed like they hadn't seen each other in months or years.

But I know they had been doing some stuff around this song recently. So I know that, but they, she just came out, stood next to him, and just the two of them in an empty rhyme and started in on Angel for Montgomery. And I swear to God, I mean, I've heard the song a hundred times more. I'm probably a thousand times. Her version, his version, everyone else's version. And she opens her mouth for the first line. and I'm just like ugly crying alone in the pews that I'm looking around to see if anyone's watching me. And I'm like, no, okay, I can let it.

I can let it go. But it was totally involuntary. And I, you know, I don't know how to explain that. It was just the totality of all of it, including the fact that you've heard the song so many times. So all the different associations that you have with the song and everywhere you've been and the things you were doing when you were listening to it, over the years. And then just there is a thing of a quality of certain people's voices

that can just cut so deeply, so immediately, emotionally that like, it hardly even matters what they're singing sometimes. It just hits you. When we got to work with Pryne on live from here when we were in New Orleans and Rory Scoville

was on the show as the guest comedian and he didn't know who Pryne was. And same thing in rehearsal. Same thing. We're sitting on the wings and I'm like, we've got to hang for this. We've got to watch him rehearse before we get out of here. And he's like, oh, all right. And we sat down and he start playing. And he turns to me like a couple minutes in. He goes, how do you go from not knowing who someone is and then making you cry within two minutes? And he wasn't the great depth of prime, the soul. of it was he was singing like funny lyrics. He was saying things that were kind of amusing, but it was also moving at the same time. It's like, yeah. But see, that's where I'm envious of your shows is that you can have those moments and you can. Yeah. Your songs are very moving. And then you get to have the humor to it. And it's like, it's a very, the two elements that I always

find lacking in comedy is it's hard to be abstract. Like you can sing a song lyric, you know, that makes no sense and put two words together that don't belong together and then it can live in a song and provoke these thoughts in people. You can't do that when you're telling us a joke. Right. It's too, if you're abstract, they're puzzling. They can't, and you're not going to get there. So it's like that part of the language, like he, I always try and like mess with it, but it's very difficult, difficult to do. Is, are there, are there any comedians that, you know, that, uh, pushed that boundary that, you know, kind of left of center, but did it well? No, I mean, it's not even left of center. I mean, there are people that, that will be odd, you know, and, you know, like Demetri Martin or, uh, you know, different people, you know, you can be odd, but you can't be...

Right, it's got to make sense at some point. Yeah. You can't really have the mysterious part of it because it just, you know, song lyrics can be weird and nobody knows what they are. People don't even know, think they're singing it and everyone has their own version of what they think the word is. Oh, it's the best. Yeah, it's so great.

It's another one of our great soft landings. Like, you know, you can sing whatever. you want and they will clap. This is the arrangement. It's so wonderful. And then it's also being able to shift gears and be sincere with it, which is you can do, you can have moments of that in stand-up, but in a theater you can actually. Right. In a club. It's hard. It's hard. I used to tell this story about a friend of mine who passed. And in a club, people were like, what is he doing? You know, Like, right. It was, it's not what they're there for. Yeah, it's not what they're there for. They're like hammering drinks and making out with their girlfriends. And they're like, why is he talking about death right now? Right. You know what I mean? In a theater, you can't tell a serious story when there's a two drink minimum. Yeah. And that's the other thing. You can't tell a true. They can't, they never think you're being serious. Right. Right. But there's, you know, I feel like, and I don't know enough, but it feels like. I don't know enough, but it feels like. Like, you know, there's a, there is a style of storytelling in comedy, which is maybe like really in vogue right now where you can have tender and earnest moments as part of it.

But yeah, I guess you wouldn't, maybe I'm just not aware of it, but maybe maybe that's coming up in like the alt scene. So they're in theaters from the beginning and you're not really coming up in clubs and bars and stuff. Right, exactly. you don't have to, the clubs and bar path is you have to hammer and hammer quickly. And then, yeah, then when you're in these other spaces, you can kind of like, you can, but you know, it's, I always feel like it's, it's sliding into the one person show at that point. Yes. You're kind of like, you know, and what are the people coming out for? Are they coming out just to hang with you and go down that path, whatever way you want to go? melancholy or whatever or are they coming because they just they want to laugh for an hour and a half

like they never right they haven't all year long right you know it's funny i i love i love both i love all of it yeah i recognize that it's different and it would be hard to maybe do both and and everyone maybe has to pick kind of pick a lane at some point but i love i love both both expressions of the form. Yeah, yeah. No, it's, there's not, I know that some people are like, we'll watch specials now and they're like, you know, where are the jokes? And it's like, well, you know, just because they're not doing it the way you were doing it when you were coming up doesn't mean, you know, it should be growing. It should be moving forward. Right. And maybe this is, you know, maybe this is all, all part of it. Yeah. Really interesting. Well, when we you, now that California, has opened up a little bit. I'll bake you bread. Yes. And when you come back from your travels for next week,

we'll sink it up where I will complete the bake, show up with bread and we'll have coffee. I'll make some coffee. It was just my birthday, so I'm stocked up on like my snobby coffee that I get when it's a special occasion. What is the snobby coffee? Do you mind me asking? Lately, I like,

there's a, so we do pour overs in the chemex, and I like this roaster in Boulder, Colorado called Dragonfly. And they have like, you know, normal snobby coffee, but then they also have the shit that's like birthday snobby coffee, you know?

Yeah. Where it's like, you know, the bag is way too small and the price tag is like, I'm going to drink this, you know? Right. Yep. It's kind of like wine in that way, though, where it's like once it gets over a certain amount, it's, you know, you've got to convince yourself that you're drinking somebody's artwork. Right. And, you know. Their expression.

Yeah, exactly. And I will say, it's really good. It's not, it's not eight and a half times better. than the normal snobby coffee. Yeah. But it is really good. And so... Oh, it sounds amazing.

All right. I'll pour you a cup of that. That sounds great. But if you... All right. Well, we, you know, we should be seeing each other much more often. And we could also go out for coffee now. We could actually set some places without our families.

Let's do it. I can't imagine. I know. It's so weird. They're always here. All right, man. Well, thank you so much for being here. This was great.

This is a nice show. This is one of the great, this is the whole reason of doing this was to literally break bread and sit with people. And we should be eating and drinking, but at least we get to catch up like this. It's, it plays a lot. Of course. Great to talk to you. All right. I'll see you soon.

See you soon. Safe travels. Thank you. That was the great Joey Ryan. I told you you'd like him. And now, let's get a quick bite with our good pal, Tom Segura. Hey, buddy. How's it going?

Good, man. I just felt like I should talk to because it's Valentine's Day. I mean, you're the first guy I thought of today. Yeah. You wake up. You think candy, flowers. Tom. Tom.

What's going on time right now? What's he wearing? In Florida? I'm in Florida right now. Yeah, I'm visiting my parents for a few days. They both got vaccinated. Wow. Then I've already had COVID, so, you know.

I didn't know you had it. I had it in December. Oh. So you guys are the future. We're the future, man. Holy cow. What's it feel like? Well, it's nice to be able to just see them.

You know, I didn't see them a year and a half. Oh, my God, I know. My parents are getting their second dose in, like, another week. Yeah, it's, I think actually my dad's fully back to my mom's on round one. But, you know, I'm not really a threat to them, so. Right. Wow, good for you. Yeah, so I'm going to see them, and then I'm going to go do shows in Palm Beach.

Oh, that's a good idea. idea. Yeah. I haven't done stand-up now in three months, so. I know. I'm in the same spot. I'm literally, the beginning of it,

I was like kind of sneaking out and doing spots once in a while. Now I haven't, and now I'm officially on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I need to do it, man.

Yeah. Do you think people will come out? I think so. I mean, the shows are, I mean, their ticket is gone. So, Oh, cool. They're doing half capacity, you know.

Oh, they are? Yeah. Oh, that's good. Well, we'll see. Yeah, well, that's great. This all literally sounds like I'm talking to someone, like I'm coming back to planet Earth, and you're telling me about what it's like.

We're doing shows. All my parents. Oh, yeah. Oh, God, it does feel good. I feel like we're on our way, not just because I'm doing it this week. I feel like, you know, the world is, it's on its way. so yeah good good feeling to have god 100% how are you healing up after your big basketball thing

my big fall yeah I'm pretty good man you know I mean I've made a lot of progress I'm you know I'm walking around I'm using my leg using my arm it's just got to get stronger like I've you know at my left quad but it's all doing well you know I worked out today at a gym here that's good that's good I uh yeah I I literally I'm sure you've heard this a thousand times, but I literally watched it like, oh, right, now I have to cross basketball off my list of things.

I had skiing on there that I'm not going to do and water skiing, and now I guess I can't even play basketball. You know, I mean, I was going hard, like I was going hard when we were playing. Yeah. But I've been playing, like,

this is the thing that people don't realize when they watch that video. I've been playing tennis three times a week for 90 minutes for the last six months. I was lifting weights three days. Like, I wasn't, like, active. Right.

And we played basketball. We played two-on-one, and we finished. And we started doing these silly dunks, and, like, it's all going fine. I'm like, I'm fine. Yeah. And, dude, it's, it's like the equivalent of walking out of a building and getting, like, hit by a truck. Like, that's what it, that's how random it felt, and that's how much it

hurt. Oh, you must have been so puzzled just laying on the ground. Like, what the else just happened to me? I thought a fucking gun went off. Like, God. Also, when I got to the, I was with it, you know, trauma surgeon, he's like, dude, he goes, it takes a tremendous amount of force to tear your fatality. And I go, he's like, what were you doing? I was trying to dunk, die. That's how hard I go. Yeah. he's like oh I guess that makes sense that's so disheartening he's actually more disheartening hearing that you were like pretty good shape I mean I was definitely overweight like and and that's for sure but I wasn't like sitting around is my point like people go right I was dude you know just trying to do something out of nowhere I'm like no man I was doing shit like five six days a week

yeah well that but you know what I was like literally on the stationary bike and was like, oh, that was pretty good. Like 30 minutes. I was so proud of myself. When I compare that to like what I did in high school when I was playing football, I mean, that wouldn't even be half of a warm up for anything. You know what I mean? And now it's like in my mind, it's like I really did something, which you did,

but it's not really like really in shape. Oh, yeah. And this is totally like reset me. So like I'm already down like 25 pounds. from the end. Wow. Wow. And like, it's all I, I mean, it's all you think about.

Like, you're just like, all in my head, I'm like, I needed to, like, I was, I was, I was an active person, but I wasn't taking diet seriously and I wasn't being smart about. And then you start thinking about all that, like, you said, like, skiing and you're, I'm just like, I don't know. Yeah. No, it's too early. I, you know, the key, the weight is such a big thing. Like, whenever I think of like, whenever my doctor, like, talks about, like, you know, you you want to make sure your blood, you know, you want to make sure your blood

pressure is good or if you want to be physical or you want to be able to stretch it all just comes down to just lose more weight you should be 20 pounds lighter and then none of these problems are yours it's it's such the cause of so many i mean i'm so lucky like my blood works good for sure like if you carry extra weight it eventually causes nothing but problems there's not a lot of fat old people i've heard that dude like i've been hearing that for years now. I know. And every time I hear it, I close my eyes and I'm like, yeah, I don't think I ever see old fat people, you know.

I know. So what are you doing to, what are you eating? Can you be good about diet? Yeah. Or are you just not, or you're just eating less and it's just kind of coming off because of what you're going through? It's, no, it's like, now I'm trying to hit 200 grams of protein a day. and I'm basically avoiding, you know, any rich foods. I'm not eating treats, like, you know, sweets and desserts and stuff.

And, you know, maybe like once, I don't know, every few weeks, like, you know, one meal. But I'm trying to eat clean, man. I'm trying to eat clean. I hear you. You know? Okay, let me throw this problem at you then. Yeah. Because trying to be a nice guy, we both try and be kind to people in our lives.

And my friend Robin from New York sent me a form because her daughter was selling Girl Scout cookies. And I'm like, yeah, you know, fine, I'll give you a 30 bucks. And what you just showed up was eight boxes of Girl Scout cookies in my house from the lemon ones to the thin mince to the Samoas. and so I've got all these boxes of Girl Scouts. Because he's on my counter right now. What do you do in that scenario? Do you throw them out? Do you keep them around and challenge yourself every minute that you're walking through the kitchen?

The best move is give them all the way as soon as you can. Right. That's part. It's like tomorrow morning, you know, cleaning a lady cone, whatever. You just go, here's eight boxes of cookies. Right. Yeah, that's right. Yeah, don't even spread them out.

Whoever you've been to first. Whoever you're going to, all of them. Dude, I can't be around shit. Like, now I will do this. You know, when I love something, like, I love this croissant place. I will buy croissants to give them. I would like, I want to see your face eating them. Right.

Yeah. I don't want to keep them at home. Yeah. No, it's too much. I'm not that strong. No way, dude. I can't, I mean, any, like, if you give me pastry, I'm fucked.

I really agree. Like, if you brought over bread, like breast-baked bread, there's no way. I'm going to be like, oh, okay, yeah. You're right. Yeah, no. I can't be around it, dude. Yeah, no, it's impossible.

It's impossible not to eat it. All right, buddy. Well, I'm not going to keep you. Have a great time in Florida. Have great shows. Give me a call and let me know how the shows go. I really want to hear how life on earth is. Yeah, for sure, man.

We'll do. All right. When do you come to. home. I'm going to stay here. I'm going to fly home next Sunday. All right. All right, buddy. Have great time. All right. Thank you, pal. All right. See you soon. All right. That's it for the big show. I hope you had a really good time. Thank you for listening. As always, subscribe and pass around the word about our good show. Give us lots of reviews and all the different places. Make sure that you reach out. continue to reach out on social media. I do my best to get back in touch with you. And

thank you for sending me all the pictures of your bread and all of your good stuff. You guys are the best. I love growing this community and we'll continue to do it. You guys enjoy your life.