Breaking Bread with Tom Papa - Episode 60 - Billy Gardell
Episode Date: June 29, 2021Comedy powerhouse Billy Gardell comes by for some beautiful bread and we grab a Quick Bite with Rory Scovel who just released "Live Without Fear" on YouTube. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit po...dcastchoices.com/adchoices
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It's time for breaking bread with Papa. Hey! Don't you know? Hey! It's a
sourdough. Hey, it's time for Breaking Bread with Papa.
Hey, don't you know, it's also a show.
Hey.
Hey, everybody, welcome to another edition of Breaking Bread with Tom Papa.
I am Tom Papa.
Thank you so much for joining us at the table again.
We have a great show for you today.
We've got the very talented, the hilarious comedian and television star Billy Gardell.
And we're going to grab a quick bite.
with the very funny, another great actor and great comedian, my good friend, Roy Scoville.
More on those two in a bread.
Now this week, last week we were talking about hot dogs because it is summertime.
We are quickly approaching the 4th of July.
There is a lot of very important issues that we have to deal with.
What kind of drinks are you going to have on hand?
that you don't normally drink them when you're sitting outside. What kind of things are you going to be
grilling up? How fancy are you going to get? How are you going to master grilled corn? How are you going to
master grilled vegetables? How are you going to do your steaks? How are you going to do all of this stuff?
All very complicated. What about the sides? The macaroni salad. How are you going to do that and make
it something better than what you grew up with? Are you going to be able to develop a potato salad that
won't turn everybody off.
There's a lot of things to be considered and a lot of joyful things, seafood, all the rest of it.
It's great.
And we all talk all about that stuff.
But we're starting at the beginning.
We're starting with the simple things.
And in my book, when I just picture a Fourth of July barbecue, there's got to be some hot dogs around.
There's got to be some hot dogs waiting for me.
because look, if you are just going through your everyday life and you're just pounding hot dogs,
people are going to judge you.
And thank God.
Thank God they're judging you because you really shouldn't be eating hot dogs every day.
I would.
Look, someone called me a food sociopath in that I act on limits of what I should be eating
based on what I think is appropriate.
shit. Like, I could eat hot dogs probably 20 a day. No problem. In or out of a ballpark. I could just
keep eating hot dogs. I just love them so much. But the rest of society, your family, your friends,
your family, they look at you and they say, maybe you shouldn't do that. Ew, what are you doing?
Why is there mustard on your chin again? And thank you for all of that pressure.
because I really should, you shouldn't be eating them all the time.
You shouldn't be, you know, all the joys in life.
Donuts, bagels, bacon, all great things.
Moderation.
Okay.
So last week we, I cranked open a pack of Nathan's hot dogs.
Loved it.
Always a big fan of Nathan's.
But a little, as I described it, a little asparagus spears.
that was the size of asparagus spears.
Dodger dogs are similar.
If you go to get a dodger dog,
they're well-known hot dog.
I'm not going to,
I'm going to reserve comment on those for a minute.
But this was about what I have in my house
was Nathan's and Hebrew National.
Hebrew National, an all-beef hot dog.
Nathan's classic Coney Island hot dog,
love them both.
and I'm like, I've got money, meaning $10, I can get both packs and put them and bring them both home
and finally settle this little debate that's been in my head for my whole life, which is better?
Which one is better?
And thank you for sending me some videos.
Some couple people sent me videos of different methods of baking the hot dogs.
One actually had Susan Summers on it, Suzanne Summers, and they were doing this weird thing.
where they're actually frying the buns, pushing the buns down with the spatula, like flattening them,
frying on both sides, and then putting the dog split, butterfly style in between.
There's a lot to be done.
There's a lot of great stuff out there, and thank you for sending them along.
So I broke out the Hebrew National.
A bigger dog, a bigger dog, a tasty dog, a tasty dog for sure.
You know, there's not many hot dogs that I meet that I don't like.
They are solid.
But I have to say that snappy pork thing that a Nathan's gives you, even though it was an asparagus spear.
And I know I can go, because I googled it, I can get bigger dogs.
It was the pack that I bought.
But just on flavor, there is something special to the Nathan's dog.
Hebrew National is still good and a good different experience the same way like if you were to get some Bratworth or some knock worst or big sausage and make a sandwich out of that.
It's its own thing. It's kind of like its own thing. Hebrew National, it's a little bit its own thing.
So I love you. I will continue to eat you. I've got eight more in the pack to go.
or actually seven, so I'm going to eat them happily.
But head to hand, I'm giving it to Nathan's for now.
Because I still have more money.
I have another $10.
So why not go and get some brets?
Why not keep this hot dog thing going under the guise of research for the podcast?
If you have your favorite, let me know as well.
Tell me what your favorite is. Someone sent me a name, and I'm sorry, I'm spacing on it right now. I didn't ever even heard of them before.
Began with an S. I'm not exactly sure. So more on the hot dog controversy next week. Let's get to the podcast now. We've got Billy Gardell starting off.
Billy Gardell is a bigger-than-life comedic presence. He has always been a very funny stand-up comedian, and you know him from his big,
turn his big break on Mike and Molly. And then from Mike and Molly, after that show ended,
you think, oh, now he'll go back and do stand-up or whatever. No, he gets tapped by Chuck
Lori to do another sitcom, Bob Hart's Abashola, which is very funny, another heartfelt program.
And that is what Billy Gardell has. He has a big heart. Love's funny. He can have. He can
hammer. He can go into a club or a theater and just destroy in a heavy comedic way,
but there is a sweetness and there is a kindness that comes from him having a really big heart.
And we're lucky enough to be in the same circles because our kids go to school at the same
spot and we were able to run into each other. And this is a great conversation that I have with
Billy because you'll see his big heart. You'll see his comedy lineage for sure, but also it's,
it was a great chance for us both to talk about raising children and what that means to both of us.
And he's just a great guy to have in my life. Look, I love comedians. And when you have someone
that's also going through the same rhythms of life with a family, that is a cool thing. And also
he, little known fact, is way into trains. He's like a serious, the village, the whole thing. And I would
literally call him, starting maybe five years ago at Christmas time when I was having train
troubles setting up my train under the tree. And he would help me out. So it's a great conversation.
I think you're really going to like it. And then we'll grab a quick bite after that with Roy Scoville.
So for now, enjoy Billy Gardell.
That thing is really missing, I think, in people of like that you're not that important.
Yeah.
Yeah.
We've lost sight of that, Tom.
We've lost sight of that.
I know.
It's a very, I don't care about anybody else world.
Yeah, I know.
Are we good?
Rowland?
Yeah, it's, there's, my nephew was telling me,
was just going through all these discussions.
And he said, well, I know it's a, you know, all these things are changes for your generation.
I said, I said, well, it's not changes.
It's just, it's funny to look at young people and realize that you don't understand yet that no one cares about you.
Yeah. And how do you convey that and keep their hope up?
Right.
That's the bread basket.
You know, you talk about throwing a pass where the bread baskets like that, that's the pass.
no one cares, but keep your chin up.
Yeah.
It's a hard window to hit with your kid.
Yeah, but it's really so important because it's like the quicker you realize that, the more at peace you are.
Like when you're a kid, going to like the beach or a pool and taking your bathing suit, like the first time you're in a bathing suit that summer.
Like, oh my God, the terror.
And I'm a fat kid.
Me too.
I had to have a t-shirt on.
So, you know, that was twice as traumatic for me.
Traumatic.
But then you become an adult.
And you realize, oh, no.
Everyone else is worried about them in their bathing suit.
Exactly.
Well, what I told Will was I tried to, we balanced it like this.
I said, your mother's going to tell you how the world should be.
Right.
And she's right.
However, I'm going to tell you what's really out there.
And if you can find somewhere in the middle of those two things, I think you can be calm and happy.
That's pretty brilliant.
So I tried that.
That's really smart.
That's really brilliant.
My daughter is, uh, right now, she's going back for sophomore.
more year. So it is a big change when they come back because now they're people with their own
habits. Yeah. And their room is different. Their, they're like, attitude is different. Maybe there's a
little more gratitude because they kind of realize when they get out there. Because mine's going away
this summer. So do they realize a little more like, wow, my parents did a lot for me when they
come back. Is that kind of the reaction you've had? Or hey, get back to serve me. Which one was? A little bit
A little bit of who are you to tell me what to do anymore.
Yeah, and get me something to eat.
And get me something to eat.
That's the key.
Yeah.
They're starving.
Yeah.
They eat such bad food when they're away.
They're so hungry.
And I would send pictures of my bread to my daughter just to make her want to come home.
Just put the hook in the water.
Absolutely.
My buddy said that too.
I said, you know, we want to go up and visit my son at college.
You know, every six or eight weeks, just go up and have a dinner with them.
And I said, but I said, I don't want to.
You know, I don't want to, I've never gone to college.
Like, the closest I got, I drove by one once.
But I didn't, but I, uh, truth.
But I, um, I didn't want to be that dad that's like, I don't want us to be,
everybody loves Raymond's parents, you know what I mean?
Right.
But I do want to be able to go visit him every few weeks and maybe take his,
yeah, his roommates to dinner or whatever.
And I was talking to my buddy of mine who's a college guy and he's like, dude, he goes,
they love when parents come.
Love it.
I go, why?
He goes, because everyone's starving.
Just like, you said, they're like everyone, they know of a parent.
comes, they're going to get a good meal.
They may get to go to a show.
Some groceries might land in the fridge.
Take them shopping, leave them some cash.
Yeah, so that'll be cool.
It's funny.
It's like I went and visited her and it was like she walked me around.
It was COVID so like we couldn't really hang that long.
But she's like walked me around the campus and this wasn't until spring.
Like she went the whole time and I couldn't even step on campus until spring.
Right.
And she's walking me around and I'm like, oh, this is, I'm now, I was the kid in this scenario.
Like you take your parents and you just kind of walk them until they run out of gas.
Yeah.
And then like put them back in the car.
Yeah.
And now that was nice.
It's hot.
Yeah.
We're those people now.
I'm going to go up and walk to campus with my son in a couple weeks and I'm excited.
I think I'm more excited than he is and he's pretty excited.
Really?
Yeah.
I just, the idea that that my son gets to do something I didn't get to do.
do really appeals to me.
That's kind of how I'm driven my fatherhood.
Like I want him to have.
I told him the other day we're sitting and talking,
I said, your job when you leave this house is to take all the good stuff I gave you
and keep it and take all the shitty stuff I gave you and throw it away.
And the quicker you start that journey, the healthier you're going to be.
And don't feel bad about it.
If I gave you a bad one, get rid of it, you know?
Will he tell you what the bad ones were?
Yeah, we're pretty honest.
Me and we'll have a very cool relationship.
Yeah.
We're very, I'm very, very blessed that I just, I have not, I've tried never to be a hypocrite with him.
Uh-huh.
And I've tried never to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to,
away from the problems I had, like, with alcohol.
Uh-huh.
And I just, and I just, and I just always been very open with him.
And I think because of that, he's honest with me.
He'll come to me with stuff that I don't think.
Right.
Don't know that that's a normal thing, but I'm very grateful for it.
Yeah. One of the, uh, one of the, one of the things my wife actually taught me,
when he was like three, you know, because you parent, like you were parenting.
Yeah.
My father was a lot of what?
Oh, shit.
So she said, what are you doing?
Yeah, so she taught me.
She kind of said, you know, if you blow up at him when he brings you trouble or
brings you something he doesn't know about or he's scared about or he's awkward about
when he brings that to you and you blow up.
Yeah.
Or if he made a mistake and you blow up, he's never going to tell you anything again.
Right.
And so that day I switched it.
And I was like, you can tell me anything.
I'm going to tell you the truth.
Right.
There are consequences to your actions, but I will shoot you as straight as I can shoot you.
And luckily, he's been just no trouble.
Like, it's so weird.
We have weird talks.
Like, I really realize our age difference in where we grew up.
Right.
Like, you know, like, I remember in high school, I was like, he was going to the park,
that's park that he didn't know these kids.
And I was like, well, put a little rock in your pocket just so you got it.
If anybody starts any shit, you can whip it up.
And my wife was walking behind me.
She said, what are you telling this child?
He doesn't know people like you.
He doesn't have friends like yours.
Rocking his pocket.
Yeah, and I was like, well, in case some trouble.
And Will was like, Deb, why is trouble going to start?
I go, well, I guess it's location, location, location, you know.
So, but I hear those things out of my mouth.
It's so funny.
I know.
I had a, they were talking about smoking weed.
And I was like, well, let me, let me tell her, like what I know about.
smoking weed and I'm like look you know you you have to you have to keep it in
check it's a it's an okay thing to do especially if you're not drinking I agree I
prefer he smoked than drinking yeah and I said um I'm like so you know you don't
want to smoke like you don't want to spend all your days smoking and it should be a
thing that you do it shouldn't be the thing that you do it should be the thing that
that's a great way to say that right but then I go I said uh I said so you know like when
it becomes like the only thing and it's always about where am I getting it, who am I with,
all my friends is, and you're just doing it all the time. She looked at me like, how much weed
were you smoking? I burned off eight or nine years, honey, but that's not what's important here.
No, I had the same talk with him. I was like Friday night, Saturday night after your work's done.
Look at it like that. Right. Or Saturday afternoon at the beach with your friends. I'm fine with that.
And I would prefer that than the booze. I really would. Totally. I just think, you know, look, I've
I've never smoked weed and told a cop to go fuck himself.
Right.
Are you allowed to swear on your podcast?
Yes, yeah.
Okay.
But my point is that.
Right.
If you're going to do something, I think that's the one.
But it's like you said, anything can go too far.
Here's how I said it.
I said, if at some point you're doing something and somebody who you really care about looks at
you and goes, bro, you should slow down.
Yeah.
And you hear the words, I got it.
Come out of your mouth.
That is the beginning of the end.
Right.
So just kind of look for that.
That's the beginning of the end.
That's smart.
That's when you have to make a change.
Yeah, that's really smart.
Right.
I mean, because that's really the only, you just, you know, your parent and you bring them through the,
and whatever they're going to do is fine.
Just don't get that problem.
Just drugs, alcohol.
It's awful.
And luckily, he saw, you know, my alcohol got out of control and then I've been sober 13 years.
So he knows there's a way back if he does get in trouble with it.
But I also told him, you got my blood.
So I don't know.
You could have two and drink like your mother or.
Yeah.
You could become a lunatic like I was, and you have to, you have to, you have to gauge that and be honest with yourself about it.
So you, 13 years ago, so you, so your career was already taking off?
No, it was, it was actually, I got sober and three years later my career took off.
For real?
I would have done it so much earlier.
Really?
I know.
Yeah.
Really?
Yeah.
No, I, uh, yeah, it, I'd come to the, at the end there, it was really bad.
Me and, me and my wife were, we were on real shaky ground.
And I had a, you know, four-year-old at home.
I was unemployable.
I just couldn't get a gig.
And we were in big debt and we were leaving L.A.
And, you know, she was, my wife, God bless her, was strong enough to say, you know, get sober, I'm leaving.
And I was smart enough that that was enough for me.
Like, for everybody, it's a different thing.
Like, some people have to lose everything.
Yeah.
Some people have to have the threat of losing everything.
Yeah.
It's a different level.
It's one isn't better than the other.
Sure.
But my pain level, thinking about those.
to not being in my life. Oh, God, yeah. That's what made me at least go attempt to get sober,
and luckily it took. It took. Luckily, I mean, for me, that's always the puzzle. And that,
not the puzzle, but it was a, I guess, a wake-up call of how deep the addiction can be.
When I saw people, friends, who looking at their kids, and that wasn't enough.
That's how. You know what I mean? Like, that was scary. My moment, my moment of clarity, I was
one night where she had just, she was like, you know, if you don't drink, I'm taking him and I'm
leaving. And then I went that night to a bar because I was going to do some writing.
That's where you get all your writing done at the bar at 10 o'clock. And I sat there and after a while
I ordered a tumbler Jameson and I looked at it and I thought to myself, if I drink this,
she's leaving. And I couldn't stop myself. And that was the first time I really realized,
thank God. It sank. Yeah. Like, I can't do it.
this myself. I have to go get some help to be able to deal with this. Because if I'm willing
to drink and lose them, because you hear people say, you know, I can't believe that's not
enough. When it gets you, it gets you. It does. And when it holds you, there's nothing that can
stop that dragon until you deal with some people who have been through it. And that's usually
the fellowship of that really helps you walk through this thing. And then there's other ways
that you learn to process, you know. It all comes down to fear or, or, you know, and it all comes down to fear or
anger or not being part of or not feeling good enough or less.
Like it's,
it's all about whatever you're medicating that hurt earlier.
Right.
And so you have to look at those things.
Yeah.
And so you have to be really,
really honest.
But once you get to that,
you start to realize that's not being weak.
That's actually being strong.
At least that's been my experience.
Right.
Yeah.
Were you funny in high school?
Yeah, I was all right.
You know, it's,
I was kind of like my stand-up now.
I was all right.
You know what I mean?
I've always been like a molecule.
you will be in a great stand.
Hold on a second.
Hold on a second.
That's a truth.
I'm going to interrupt you for a second.
Yes, I am.
No.
You are always super complimentary and always right.
I know, I know.
But let me, I'm going to say this because it's a podcast.
Because you have to.
I'm on here.
No, because we have microphones and I can't say it when we're just hanging out at school.
You always make me laugh.
You always made me laugh.
You are super funny.
You're very modest.
I wasn't smart enough, though.
But you have, but you are a, you're my kind of humor.
You have a very strong stage presence and.
My stage presence is better than my material.
Always has been.
And the way to, uh, and that you translated it to acting and being able to be funny on
television.
That was a gift.
You are in, in my, uh, in my eyes, you're, you're a gem.
You're a very, very kind man to say that.
And I take that as a high compliment from you.
I, I, I, but I always felt about my stand up that it wasn't ever as good as I wanted
it to be. I know we all go through that.
Sure. I think there's a
there's a given take with Road Comics and City Comics.
Like a City comic, I don't know, man,
they just evolve smarter. I don't know why that is, like a New York comic or a
Chicago comic or a San Francisco comic.
Yeah. Even an L.A. comic, you know,
because comedy isn't to me out here as dominant as it is in those other
series. No, no.
But I always feel like a city comic, there's just,
I don't know, there's more enlightenment.
And I think we're all products of our environment.
And I was just a road animal.
Right.
I was always driving on it.
Now, there's a give to that, too.
Sure.
Because if you can be a road comic and be funny in Florida and Alabama and New York and Philadelphia and Illinois and Phoenix, I think that translates for you on television.
Right.
Whatever that vibration you develop is translates onto TV so you're kind of universally able to connect.
Totally.
But I think the city comics just have a.
there's a smarter level of the game.
Well, it's weird.
I think maybe because the audiences perhaps are a little,
little harder,
a little harder to get.
And so you have to work a little harder for that.
So I think when they pop,
they can go to Kansas City and you're going to get all the,
the kind of scholarly people.
Right.
Their audience.
Whereas I was doing like,
you know,
I was doing like honky talks.
Yeah, like survival.
I followed a bull riding contest,
you know,
like that kind of shit.
Yeah.
But I,
but there was a gift in me.
that made me kind of an every man.
Right.
But I always admired the comics that really honed it in a city like five nights a week.
I was up in New York for a couple years.
And like 92 and 93.
New York just beat my ass.
Oh, yeah.
And in the best way.
Right.
I mean, it taught me just such a, like I had done well in Florida at these, you know,
a little one-nighters and resort gigs and beach gigs and honky.
And I thought, well, I'm a great comic.
I got it.
And then I went to New York and I was informed, you are not.
a great comic but it also gave me this perspective of you know man you have to you have to keep evolving
and i think my views were of a smaller mind being on the road all the time it was it was a little
too i think it was a little too crowd pleasing for me well that's it's i don't ever want to be
the guy that walks people that's just not my deal but i also wanted to say some things that i don't
know that i don't know that i developed the skill to say them and and well it's hard in those
It's been good for me that way to kind of open up a little bit.
It's just about survival.
We're all funny people, yeah.
We're all funny people.
Yeah.
And if you're able to survive in this, you know.
But then it becomes, well, what do you have to do to survive every night?
And if you're on the road, you've got a hammer, you've got to keep their attention.
They're scattery.
Right.
It's like, and it is more universal.
Yep.
And then the city, you have to survive a different way.
Yeah.
If you go up there and hammer and then those kids, you know, they're going to college or
or whatever.
They were all like kind of looking at you like with a different way.
So you adapt different moves to survive in that environment.
I just think there's a sharper,
there's a sharper mastery of the language.
And I think just by being in a big city,
your mind is more open.
But my mind eventually open,
but I got there late.
I wish I would have caught some enlightenment a little bit earlier.
Right.
I think that had to do.
That actually coincided with my sobriety too.
I had a bit of an awakening.
Uh-huh. Yeah. Oh, yeah. There's a difference, like, if you go and you get, you hone those things in, in a city and then before people know who you are and you go bring that to Kansas City or whatever, they look at you a little bit like, who do you think you are? That's like the beat and I got in New York. Exactly. Because now all of a sudden you're arrogant, you have to learn to communicate in a different way. Yeah. It's fun to watch that and who comes from what. Yeah. I love watching stand-up. I'm still a fan of stand-up. Like I told you when,
I saw you at the music room at the school, and I came over to say,
Your special was great.
Me and Will watched it.
You know, I like watching, I like to see what Burr's going to do.
Like, I can never go that far out on the edge.
I love Bert Kreischer's crazy, fun heart.
Like, it's always about, like, what are we doing to have fun?
Like, to me, comedy, I love Steve Byrne.
I think he's one of the most perfect guys out there, Nick Griffin.
Yeah.
But what I love is everybody's a different, like I always looked at comedy when I was starting out in two ways.
One was we weren't really carrying a message back in the late 80s.
We were just looking to not have a straight job.
Right.
That was the whole thing.
How do we do this?
I'm not working a Cuba.
And then the other side of it was it always seems like jazz to me, man.
It just seems like everybody tunes their horn a different way.
Yeah, yeah.
Because we're all kind of talking about the same shit.
Yeah.
But it's how you go at it.
Right.
And so to me, that really, it just seemed like jazz to me.
Yeah.
I like that fun aspect of it.
I still like watching it a lot.
Yeah, I know.
There is that thing when you're kind of before you've had success where you're looking at everybody
and it's you almost don't have the room to appreciate everybody because you're so hungry
and trying to survive.
You're just trying to.
Well, I think the best thing you can do is just work on you.
Yeah.
Well, that's key.
If you become one of the cats, it's like, fuck that guy.
And why did that guy get?
That has nothing to do with your, you're done.
You're done.
You're done.
You're going to stop right there.
But I like watching still because, you know, we're all talking about relationships, drugs,
politics, the airport.
Like, we're all talking about the same shit,
but when you hear a guy playing different notes,
you're like, whoa, how's he going to?
I just saw this guy, Nate Bargotsi.
Yeah, Bargazzi.
Incredible, breath of fresh air.
Really fun, really smart at it.
And, but so I like, I like where I see that.
I personally have pulled back from stand-up.
Uh-huh.
I've pulled back.
For a while there, I thought I was going to be done.
Oh, yeah.
I really came to a place where I thought it was going to be.
This has happened to me twice.
Uh-huh.
Once was in 2007 where I was just burned out.
Yeah.
I was just like thought there was no hope.
I was also on the brink of getting, you know, sober and all this.
Right.
It was all around the same time.
I got put on a tour, you know, right when I got sober on the Jameson Whiskey tour.
And I was not sober the first part of that tour.
And it ended up becoming this rock and roll thing.
Yeah.
I remember that tour.
But the very beginning was Steve Byrne, Danny Bevins, and Nick Griffin.
And those guys really re-inspired me.
Oh.
And they kind of made me have fun.
fun at it again. Right. And then they were so goddamn good in front of me. Like I was going up at the
check spot terrified of like, oh shit, I got to. But then I remember that tour.
Recently, I think the, I think the sitcoms have softened me a little too much. Well, I mean,
because it's just, it's so hard to want to get on a plane when people are coming like, do you want
some avocado toast and some shy tea? You're brilliant. I'm like, it's a little hard to go to the airport,
you know? But I, but I think there may be one more hour in me somewhere.
Because what's funny is when I stopped thinking about it, premises started coming.
You know, when you sit on and try to write, at least when I sit on and try to write nothing.
Nothing, yeah.
But when I let go, then the idea is come.
As long as I have a notebook, we're okay.
But I think my mother might be another hour in me, but my feeling on it now is I'm just not doing it right now.
But I'm not ruling out ever doing it again.
I kind of came to peace with that, which is nice.
Yeah, that's smart.
That's very smart because, you know, I've seen it before where it's your really good comic.
You're funny, but now you get these really great gigs, and those gigs are hard.
A lot of hours.
I mean, to be able to go.
But they're super fun, too.
No, there you are, but it does, but to do stand-up is such a beast.
To do both at the same time is just.
You have to constantly be doing.
There's some guys that can do it, and I admire guys that are, that are just on it every night,
and I just, I lost whatever that was.
Yeah.
But I didn't lose it in a bad way.
But no.
It's just shifted.
I will tell you this.
It's not like you're working at Enterprise Rent a car.
You're doing a networked show.
The acting thing really gives me the same joy of that feeling of going to open mic night.
Like, I love it that much.
I love it.
I love it.
I love rehearsal.
Yeah.
I love tapes.
I love getting it and redoing it until we get it and then finding it.
Like, I love that stuff.
That's what I really did.
How green were you when Mike and Molly?
Jim Burroughs, the legendary director from Cheers.
The best.
you know, friends and taxi.
Now I'm in that fraternity with him.
Oh, my God.
He did our first two years, and I would bet you the first three to six episodes he had to turn me towards the cameras.
That's how green I was.
Like, Billy, it's the...
But he was so sweet with me.
He was really, he was really, he really put his armor on me.
Yeah, he's amazing.
And Chuck was great that way, too.
Chuck, Lori, I'm dropping all these names on the floor.
No, these are huge.
I mean, because this was the thing.
They were so good to me at the beginning.
Yeah.
Because they knew, like Reno, who played my partner, came out of the fame school in New York.
Oh, wow.
Katie Mixon, who played my sister-in-law, came out of Carnegie Mellon.
Melissa McCarthy had already been on the boards with the Gilmore girls and, you know, studied at Illinois and was with the groundlings.
And, like, everybody had a pedigree.
Yeah.
And Neambi had, he was studied Shakespeare, you know, and New York at the festivals.
And Shuzzi Kurtz, Broadway Tony winner.
Randy Reed, Steppenwolf,
and Lou Mastillo, Broadway.
And then, I came out of a comedy club kitchen.
I'd like to be a part of the cast.
Were you intimidated?
Oh, God, it was terrifying.
Yeah, yeah.
But Burroughs was so good with me, and so was Chuck.
Like Chuck said, we're going to surround you with a great cast,
and we're going to walk the water up the hill with you.
So you don't have to do all of this yourself.
And they told you that in the beginning?
You tell you it was really good.
He was incredible.
Thank God.
And then Burroughs really took me under his wing and just gave me great.
he really gave me sage advice when I was starting about understanding the position you have.
Like if you're number one on the call sheet, if you're the center of the sitcom and you're a comedian,
you really have to understand that you're not ever going to be the funniest guy on the show.
You have to be okay with that.
Your job, in fact, is to set everybody else up.
That's your real, like you're going to get a few zingers, but the real hard laughs are going to come from your co-stars.
and you have to understand that your job is to set them up.
And there's an art to being a setup man.
You look at Johnny Carson.
You look at those guys.
Like I studied Carson the first two years of Mike and Maui, him and Carol O'Connor,
because I wanted him in Gleason, who's my idol.
Yeah.
But I wanted to learn how to react without even having to say anything.
I wanted it all up in here.
But that was the thing that Burroughs was saying, like,
if you can put your ego aside and not be the funniest guy in the room,
you have to be the quarterback.
You have to throw the ball.
to all these guys and then react off them
and that's going to make their performance better.
Right.
And if you can do that,
we'll be here for a long time.
He said, if you can't do that,
they're going to pack all this shit up
and we're leaving and somebody else is coming here.
And I thought that was a really cool way to say that.
Was Gleason that way?
Gleason, I think, was,
from what I've read about him,
he was not very disciplined.
He had a natural talent.
And I tell my son this all the time,
natural talent, and it's one of my curses.
If you have a little bit of natural talent,
it really makes practice hard.
But the guys that have natural tender girls who have natural talent and practice become great.
Right.
And so that's what I've been trying to instill in him is take your practice.
Take your practice because that's really where you can go up a level.
Right.
To break through.
So how are you studying Carson?
Well, I just just all videos.
Yeah.
I just watched all his interviews.
And one of the great gifts he had was he just knew when to be quiet.
Right.
And that's a real gift.
He just knew when to be quiet.
Yeah.
And to let the guest go until they either needed help or they hung themselves.
And then he was still gracious about it.
Yeah.
Like he was never mean-spirited.
I'm not a mean-spirited guy.
Right, right.
So I like, you know, my buddy always always say the truth without love is abuse.
So truth without love is abuse.
You know, there's people to go, I'm just telling the truth.
Right.
I know it's really hurting you right now.
He's up with the truth.
Right.
But I think the delivery mechanism, when there's a little love behind that, I think that's what forgives sarcasm.
I think it's what forgives.
It keeps us from taking ourselves too serious.
There's a great example of that that I just watched the other night and watching Charles Groton with Johnny Carson.
One of the greatest.
The two of them together.
You don't care.
You don't. Why are you asking?
You don't care.
What do you care about?
I read your book.
No, you didn't.
He didn't read it.
And then he would look at the other guests, what are you doing here?
Oh, just fantastic.
Oh, my God.
And how much is this paperback that's $9.95?
Well, now you're talking.
But you knew underneath that they didn't have any disdain for each other.
And I think that's the, that's the magic combo.
Oh, when they're actually so mean to each other that it makes the other one laugh.
Yeah, they can't stop.
They can't hold it together.
So great.
Yeah.
Just trying, like, he really nails Groden and Groden.
It's just like, he doesn't want to laugh, but he can't stop his face from smiling.
Help it.
Yeah.
And you knew, and you, Grodin was a master of not breaking to just not break.
Oh, my God.
What a talent.
So that's pretty, that's pretty amazing.
I did a pilot with Burroughs and it was like, oh, man, you just saw like this guy knows.
He just knows.
He just knows.
Yeah.
Yeah.
He just knows.
Yeah.
God.
I've been on set with him in the diner doing a scene.
Uh-huh.
And he'll come over and go, listen to me, honey.
because everybody he likes honey.
Honey, say the line, then drink the coffee.
Don't drink the coffee, then say the line.
Say the line, then drink the coffee.
And you're like, you're a stand-up comic.
You're like, what is he talk?
Why would that?
And then you do it, and there's a huge laugh.
And you're like, how did he know that?
Yeah.
How did he know exactly at that moment?
Yeah.
Like he would say things that like Swozy, like, don't stop.
Say the line, keep moving.
Right.
You know what I mean?
He had a great.
Yeah.
He's seen it so many times.
He's a guy that listens, too.
He doesn't watch the monies.
right once the cameras he knows her you have the shots like he comes over and listens to the scene he
wants to hear it rhythmically which is kind of really cool that's so cool that uh that you that you were
able to uh have that at the beginning and it's like a college education and what a blessing to in a time
when multi-cam comedies were disappearing yeah that you've had your whole run is multi-cam as a comedian
that is a huge blessing i swear to god i am literally the fat kid last one over the
offense is what it feels like. Right. And I have my whole career to, I just have to thank Chuck Lurie.
I mean, that guy, he was a guy that was convinced I could do it. Yeah. And to have somebody like that
believe in you is a game changer. A V guy. And then the fact that we're doing another one, because usually,
I was terrified of the second one. Uh-huh. Because I'm like, you know, usually, if you have one that's
semi-successful, the second one, you're dead in about four episodes. Right. Somehow we're going into season
in three. I give that all the chuck. He's just a genius. The guy he can see down the line, man.
He's got like a third eye. It's really, really, it's an amazing thing to watch. It's insane.
It really is insane. And, but what was really cool was, you know, Mike and Molly was such its own thing.
Yes. And then as soon as Bob Hart, Avershola, just the clip, just the very first trailer, whatever it was that I saw. And it's still you, but you knew immediately.
it was different.
This is a different guy.
Right.
This is a different.
And he's funny.
He's going to be funny in a whole different way.
Yeah.
It was, I mean, right from that first image.
Thanks.
That's awesome because I was very worried about that.
But like I said, again, that goes to Chuck and the writing cast.
And we have, this show is so unique.
And it says such a sweet thing, especially right now.
I'm very proud of this show.
Yeah.
Because again, it's about love wins.
Like Mike and Molly was two people that thought they'd never fall in love,
falling in love.
Right.
Bob Hart-Sabashola are two people from completely different cultures and backgrounds
that say,
let's try anyway.
Yeah.
And then to try to blend those families is gold because that,
it doesn't matter who you marry,
you're getting the family as well.
The whole thing.
The family,
the history.
To have both of those things happen and both of them be based in love,
I think is why people connect with that.
Totally.
It's a great.
I've become a very soft-hearted guy, man.
Yeah. I got to tell you, and, you know, the kid going off to college, the pandemic, it's really made me think mortality.
And I have not done the best with my health, my whole life. I feel like I've been quitting shit my whole lifetime.
I quit drugs, quitting booze, quit smoking. Now I've got to quit food.
They're big things. And I'm getting ready to tackle that one. But I really feel like, you know, my dad used to say, after 50, you got less summers in front of you than me.
behind you.
So think about how you want to spend that time.
And so I think the culmination of everything this year has made me really go,
I just need to get healthy at all costs now.
That needs to be my number one priority so that when this is done,
and I'm God willing another two, three seasons, if we're lucky the way television is now,
that I'd like to be that couple that visits their son and then maybe travels with my wife
because my wife deserves this time.
Yeah.
She has been married to a lunatic for a long time.
She has put herself second for a long time.
Right.
She is deserving of the best version of me I can give her.
And I'd like to be that cool old couple traveling on the train.
That's the coolest.
That's my goal now.
That's my end game.
That's where I'm going.
We're trying to anyway.
Well, two things.
Sorry for ruining the beginning of that plan by baking you this bread.
I love you for that.
Well, you've been teasing me with this bread since three years ago.
I'm finally seeing a loaf.
Billy, please start.
after this bread because I'm so proud of this one. I will. I got a few food funerals and then I'm going
on lockdown. That's what I call them. It is a it's a country blend which means it has
all-purpose flour but mostly wheat and rye. Let me just cut that right in half and make a sandwich.
I can make a sandwich on anything. That's hilarious. Oh, did you fix your, I got to ask you,
did you ever get your trains working? Oh yeah. Okay. Yeah. I wasn't kidding. I said I'd come over. I'll
fix them. No. I'm all about the, uh, the Christmas train. I'm all.
Oh, my God.
Yeah, no, I was, just for our listeners, I got so into my train set.
I love it.
I love it.
For the Christmas.
And I did it when I was a kid with this little ramshackle thing.
And now, like, I'm the dad, and I get to do it.
You get dad time on that.
You start to really get into it, and the village is so great.
Yeah.
I look forward to it.
I have all the market.
And the only thing that can happen now, and we've talked about this is if I get, like, a garage separate from the house where I can, like,
that's next.
That'll be the next step.
That'll be the next step.
Wait until they're all gone and then you can do that and she'll be grateful you're away from.
Yeah, I know.
It's so great.
There's something so addicting about it.
You have to tell your listeners the story, my favorite story.
Your favorite.
Okay.
About you?
When you saw me on the airplane.
Because this is my favorite.
I keep this in my mind a lot.
This is such a great thing you shared with me.
We were over in the drama department waiting on a play.
Yeah.
Our kids were in school.
And you told me to share that because that's my favorite story.
It really puts it in perspective, man.
Yeah, I think that's,
I realized we were at the same school because I never really ran into you.
I know that guy.
And yeah, the story real quick is, is, I was doing something.
I was, I had gotten something.
We were doing well.
I was on something where I was in first class.
Right?
And that only happens if someone's paying for it.
So something was happening at the moment where I was in first class.
And I'm sitting there.
It's for that early flight, head in East Coast someplace.
And it's a little delayed.
And it's like, they're not closing the door yet.
So they're obviously waiting for more people to board.
But the stream of people is done.
There's no more like, it seems like it's done.
Why are we closing and moving?
I'm looking at my watch.
And all of a sudden you come on the plane, sweaty.
Yeah.
In a rush.
Like you obviously just made this flight.
And I don't remember in my head.
A brown paper bag.
There was no luggage.
Is this true?
Because that's in my mind.
That is true.
You had a brown paper bag instead of luggage.
Brown paper bag with shit coming out of it.
That's right.
And you come on.
and you're like, I'm like, hey, Billy.
You're like, oh, hey, hey, I'm going to do a show.
I'm like, all right, good to see.
And you go to the back of the plane.
And I watched you go.
And I'm like, wow, he doesn't look good.
Poor Billy.
And I said, I wonder what's going to happen to him.
That's the greatest.
You just said it so sweetly, like we're waiting to go into the theater to watch our kids in a plane.
You're like, I just always thought, I wonder what's going to happen to that guy.
It was like a very genuine kind thing to say.
Like, I'm not going to spend.
a lot of time on it, but I wonder what's going to become that man.
What's going to happen to that guy? So it's a treat to have not happen and be sitting here with you
doing this. Yeah, but wait, but thank you. But before that, the end of the story is it literally was,
I'm going to say, three weeks to a month later. Was it that soon after? It was that soon after
that they announced that you were going to be in this show, Mike and Molly, and or at least
got the deal for it, whatever it was. It was literally
I was watching a comic who is like, do I do this anymore?
Yeah, and that's right where I was.
Because this is beating my ass.
And then within a month, you're on CBS in like one of the tent pole comedies.
Not good, man.
I love that story so much.
It's a great perspective one for me too because it brings me right back.
And it is a good one to remember because it can turn at any minute.
Yeah.
I always tell any young comics or performers that I talk to,
Just stay at the table.
It's the biggest casino on earth out there.
Stay at the table.
Let them take the car, shut the electricity off,
keep the phone on, and stay in the casino.
Right.
The only thing I did write consistently is I didn't quit
and I wanted to a bunch of times.
Right.
But the only thing I did write was I didn't.
Sometimes I was too broke to leave and that was a blessing.
Too broke to leave.
I was too broke to leave Los Angeles.
Like I'd call my manager, I'm leaving.
He's like, you don't have any money.
You're not going anywhere.
So I must go over the money.
Carla and get your $7 lunch and shut up.
The other part of it is, you talked to a little bit about it before,
your son's going to go to school.
Yeah.
And you're giving you perspective of like, of your own mortality.
Yeah.
And that is very well, that's very prescient because when my daughter, my daughter,
when they're good friends, but my daughter left a year ahead.
So I did all this stuff you're coming up to last summer.
Yeah.
And what are you got for me?
me. It's great. It's brutal. It's all of that. It's a great way to say that. Yeah. You cry a lot. Yeah. I cry a lot anyway. Like, even when the kids would be in a singing thing, they'd be said it will. They'd be like, is your dad crying again? I know. Like, I'm just, I'm not guy. You're saying in person anyway. You don't keep it in. No. But no, you cry a lot because they're leaving. But it's that, but it's, and then it gets great. They come back for Thanksgiving and you're like, oh, they're doing it. Like,
it's so great.
Like that part was over, like feeling that sadness, not completely, but I wasn't, it's
all relative.
Like, sure.
I literally had to pull the car over after dropping her off.
I don't doubt that.
Because I couldn't see.
No, I'm, I'm, I'm really scared about August.
Yeah.
That final goodbye is going to be scary.
It's rough.
It's rough.
But at the same time, like you said, you're rooting for them to launch.
You want them to go find their own life.
And everybody says that.
Everybody says, well, this is.
is what you, this is what you worked for so they could go out in the world and you're like,
yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
I didn't think about it.
Yeah.
When, when she got pregnant with him, I thought about baseball and I thought about Easter and
I thought about Christmas and I thought about Thanksgiving and I thought about first grade.
Yeah.
I did not think about him leaving.
Yeah.
So it really has been, and I hear parents, there's some parents you hear, they're like,
I can't wait until they go to college.
I didn't have that experience with my kid.
No.
You know, if he could live here, tell you.
was 40, I'd be fine with that. That's what I keep telling them. That's what I keep telling me.
I don't get a bigger house. You don't have to go anywhere. You won't even know I'm here.
Well, here's the advantage. The advantage is they are going to be poor and hungry for a long time.
Right. So if you can have family vacations and you can lure them in with food. Yes, yes, indeed.
That's the thing. But the point I really wanted to make, and you'll go through all of it.
But when you mentioned your mortality, that is one thing. It's, it would be, you,
became very clear to me that it is one of the events that you're not bigger then.
Right.
Right?
Yeah.
Like you have, like, you're strong and you, you muddle your way through life.
And there's a lot of things where you can stand up tall and be like, I know how to handle
this.
I can get through these things, whatever.
I'm strong.
Yeah.
You build yourself up to where you're strong.
And there are certain moments in life that hit you.
Just beat you.
Deaths, big goodbyes that are just bigger than all of us.
Yeah.
And this is one.
I agree. Those are great words, man.
Yeah.
Those are great words. Yeah.
So if you want to come over on your way.
Bro, I'm going to have to hide.
I'm going to have to hide from my wife when he leaves for a little while.
Oh, well, you know what was so funny is...
Actually, you know, truth be told, I think she's handling it better than I am.
Well, because she lets it out probably.
She's smarter, stronger, more emotionally evolved.
There's those things.
Yeah, there's all those things.
My wife, when my wife caught me crying in the bed like two days before we were leaving.
Yeah.
When it was really obvious, it was all happening.
happening. So I'm literally, we're going to bed and I'm, she catches me crying in bed.
The joy that she had just seeing me cry. Knowing that you were done. Knowing that I was actually
a human being and emotional and like, like you, she was. Lids through you. Nobody doesn't think that.
But the joy is really. I get it. No, I get it. And then I stopped crying and then I'm like,
I'm not crying anymore. This is, it was worse having her be like, are you crying? And then she
wanted me to do it more, I think. She'd be like,
look at this picture when you guys were little.
Just be merciless with it.
Here's a keychain he made for you in third grade.
How's that?
So brutal.
So brutal.
Yeah, man.
Well, it's going to be, uh, it's such a cool thing, though.
I'm excited.
I was excited to be at his graduation.
I was there.
Yeah, they got to do their, their walk this year, which is great.
So nice.
Everybody suffers.
And, but I did feel bad for the kids with their school stuff.
And the thing we talked about all year was acceptance.
Mm-hmm.
I just said, look, in this life, you're going to have to push through something you don't want to do.
Yeah.
Whether it's work or with a relationship or whatever.
And now you know how to do it.
Yeah.
I said so, but while he was, he had a couple bad days during it, but I just kept saying, look, it's okay to have a bad day.
It's okay to be down, but you have to accept the situation.
Right.
Because if you can accept it, then you're only fighting the problem.
You're not fighting yourself and the problem.
And he kind of turned the corner on that and he was, he was all right the rest of the way.
but to see them walk was great.
My kid is very much my kid.
He graduated with honors and didn't know it until he got there.
Like they handed him the cords and he was like, what are these for?
And they're like, you got the grade average, whatever that was.
With distinction.
And when they said, yeah, when they said it was distinction, me and Patty were like, he got distinction?
All right, well, you know, so it was awesome.
It's so great.
It really, it really makes me very happy when my daughter, just like a week ago, I think
it was literally after graduation.
and it's literally like almost midnight.
And she's like, Will's coming.
We're going for ice cream.
I'm like, what?
You go for ice cream?
I'm like, I didn't know Will smoked weed.
She's like, we're going for ice cream.
Yeah, right.
How much weed were you smoking?
Just driving around the neighborhood.
No, I think it's good.
And I like that he hangs out with good kids.
That's one thing I can say I taught him.
Because when he went to Campbell Hall, which is a fluent school,
It was private and, you know, I just said, when you go over there, don't make any friends, this was like seventh crazy.
Don't make any friends for two months.
I said, watch how everybody acts.
I am.
Pick the kids that have the qualities you're looking for.
Because you are what you surround yourself with.
And he listened to you?
He did.
He has an incredible group of friends.
I can't find the dirt bag.
I can't find the me and his friends.
You don't find a guy with a rock in his pocket.
I'm like, where's that kid?
I know.
And they're like, what's wrong with you, old man?
Someone has a rock in their pocket.
in good grades. The debit card works. We're going to the beach, man. Be cool, you know.
Oh, it's so great. Well, man, I have to say, you know, you go through this little comedy run,
and it's really great that you've entered my life. Dude, I love you to death. We love your family.
And like I said, my son just thinks you guys are the paas are the coolest. The coolest.
We'll have to get everyone together all at once. That would be fun. We're all ready for that, man.
We're ready and vaccinated and we're ready to face the world again. Now, all you have to do is
give me an honest review of this bread.
after you get home.
Now you can...
Can I text you with that?
You can text me with that?
I'm going to give you the review as if somebody,
a sommelier drank wine.
I will give you the review of this bread.
You have my word.
That'll be awesome.
You have my word.
And it just came out today, so...
Perfect.
It'll be done tonight.
Or tomorrow toast is going to be accurate.
That's not going to go till tomorrow.
It won't happen.
No, good chunk of that's going away
as soon as I get to the parking lot.
You're the best.
Thanks, really.
Thank you, Tom.
All right.
That was the great Billy Gardell.
Thank you so much.
His program.
And now,
it's time for a quick bite with Rory Scoville.
Rory has a new special that is available on YouTube.
We'll get into it when we talk to him.
He is such a funny, such a creative comedian.
And now on YouTube, it's special is called Live Without Fear.
And it should still be available on YouTube.
It's live without fear.
No, it is live without fear.
It is live without fear and it is available right now.
Let's grab a quick bite with Rory.
He'll tell us all about it.
One of my favorite comedians of all time, the great Rory Scoville.
Oh, beautiful.
I was thinking about you for two reasons.
One was your new special and I'm going to plug it right now that's streaming on the
YouTube and live without fear or live without fear.
It's really up to you.
But then the other one, and we'll come back to that in a second, but I was driving by your house the other day because there's a guy not far from you who fixes old typewriters out of his house.
And I had to drive him.
So much away about your favorite thing.
About that I.
In rich typewriters.
I started using typewriters because I like sending notes to people, but my handwriting is so bad that they can't read it.
And I feel like if you type it, then people think, well, you cared enough to slow down.
It's not as impersonal as just knocking it out on your laptop.
Do people go the other direction, though, and think it's psychotic?
Does anyone ever think that?
Yes.
anyone I tell
anyone like right now
when I tell them what I'm up to
that's usually the response
yeah I'm going to get a new
spool of ink for my
well I'm listening to my record collection
I was about to say that's how you go
how do I want up all these kids getting into vinyl
I know
I can't believe
so much work and you have to be so precise
run on these things. Like mortgages
and law documents and books. I understand it.
I had an old typewriter and I tried to
in high school, I had this fantasy that I was going to write a
movie and I wrote three pages
and was like, fuck this
career because of this typewriter.
When I type on it,
And then I go to the laptop.
I can't believe.
I'm like, you know what?
You could say a lot of things about mankind,
but they really nailed it with this improvement.
Yeah, the evolution of that was a leap.
Oh, my God.
Yeah.
Like now, like I would have to ask you to do something,
I would have had to type it out on my computer,
put it in an envelope,
waited for your response.
I also have to mail back to you.
Right.
So the quick thing that you wanted was at least six.
And people, I'm sure, were coming into the bar, even then going,
foof, it has been crazy lately.
Yeah.
I've got carpal tunnel supposed to get it.
I just want to slow down to the days of the abacus.
Imagine, like, when someone's,
emails me now with a timely, like when they need a timely response and it's even somewhat business
related, I become so angry. I could not imagine getting a note and then put it in the, like, I would
not talk to each other going into the coal mine. If you don't live in my town, then I just don't talk to you.
Do you expect me to buy a stamp? Oh my God. Well, it was, it was, I'm going to send you a picture of the
typewriter.
It's hilarious.
And the guy that's into it is in my neighborhood.
He lives near you, yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
You should get a typewriter just so you can go visit him.
Or maybe next time when something breaks, I'll pick you up on the way over.
Yes.
Pick me up.
I want to go see what he's doing.
And I want to see how he fixes it.
It's pretty crazy.
He's really, when he dies, there's never going to be another typewriter fix.
Congratulations on the special.
I started watching it.
Thank you.
It's so funny.
I'm so excited because it's the best, not the best thing that you do, but one of the great things that you do.
Improvising your stand-up and you're always very fearless, combine, when I've worked with you, you've always combined your written stuff and your, but then you would always, you just, you wanted to always play around and do other stuff and you always, like, did the combination of it.
And that you leaned in and did all of that for this special is such a brilliant idea.
I firmly believe a lot of comedians.
who are naturally presentationally funny.
People who are great writers,
and they do fine on stage,
but they might not be as vulnerable
to actually have a capable of doing this
and would also maybe discover a lot of interesting elements
about their stand-up.
Like, for instance, I decided to leave the mic-stand,
the mic in the mic-stand for at least the first 10 minutes
so that I couldn't pace around.
I had to stand still and I had to think while standing still.
In a situation where I had no prepared material, I really...
Right.
Yeah.
You know, I...
First of all, first of all...
I started just leaving it in the mic stand for another reason to see if the material that I wrote
was strong enough without me pacing around and mugging it up.
And I'm still doing it now, which is crazy because in the beginning I was so running around.
I was like, am I just fooling them or is there something...
Is there something funny here?
See doing it, but there's also that there's also the other part of it is, you know,
and they ask you to go on a TV show or they ask you to go do a, you know, a theater,
like a corporate event or something like that.
I always feel like they're, like now it's time that I have to break out.
Like if I were to just go up and improvise, I'd be so terrible to, if people were paying me.
Right.
Yeah, well, at those shows, I kept the tickets that was very low because I was under the impression I was just going to bomb six straight times.
One show out of six that was the weakest of the, I mean, one of the shows obviously has to be the weakest no matter what.
And I talked to a guy who came to all six shows, and I asked him, I was like, you know, if you didn't come to any of their shows and you only came to Tuesday, was that a bad show?
And he was like, no, there was a fine show.
And I was like, yeah, I think I only, I think the only just because I know how fun the other shows were that I look at that show differently when really.
it was also just an okay
naturally funny
I think if you went up and just
was like you know what 20 minutes I'm not even
gonna I'm just gonna talk and see what comes out
I think you'd be so shocked
yeah I would love to
it really is inspiring like I
truly because like last night
I was at the comedy store and it was really
fun but I hadn't
thought about it or worked on anything from
the night before
I just was busy and didn't get to
really think about the set so it was like
Well, just to go up and repeat what I did last night, you know, there's some value to that, you know, because there's a lot of new things and I'm kind of, but it would be so much better if I just kind of like went for it.
And, you know, I didn't think that actually until I watched your thing and was, and they're talking to you now.
I just went back up and spit it back out and was proud of myself that I got one line.
But man, why not?
You know what I mean?
like we're at the comedy store.
It's not like there's no consequence.
There's no consequence.
That's what I liked about booking it in that theater and going up,
knowing that the crowd knew the conditions of the show.
You know, my next iteration is I want to do it and not advertise that I'm doing it.
So I don't have the safety net of the crowd any sort of leeway
and just let them not know is this made up.
just kind of, I'm the only one that knows that that's what I've gone up to.
Right.
To your point, there are so many shows that you do in a year where truly, if you went up
and we're doing 20 minutes, you know, at the hot tub or something, the most random show,
I think you'd go, I think you'd honestly walk away going, oh, my God, I have three new
solid concepts that only appeared to me because my back was against the wall and I didn't
know what to talk about.
Yes.
No, I mean, I did a show where we started talking about the Eskimo Pie desserts, and I, we got to, and I started doing a bit on if none of us know if that's an offensive or a derogatory term.
And then I was also talking about how none of us really, like, we were even like, what even is an Eskimo pie?
Like, what is that actual?
Yeah.
And I told someone, I was like, there's no coffee shop I would sit in and ever, my brain would never go to that.
Right, right, right.
And you'd never go to it because it's so.
abstract but
realistically those abstract things are just as
relatable
as you know, relatable.
Yeah, yeah.
Inspired me.
I would, I'm going to try it.
And then if I, and when I
bomb more, if I bomb more than
two nights in a row, I'm going to come
to your house with a typewriter
and beat you with it.
I'm trying to tank, I'm trying to
tank your career now.
This is a long con.
So funny.
All right, before I let
you go,
Did you eat anything fun today?
You know what?
I've started to eat yogurt with granola,
cashews, and coconut shavings.
Wow.
Part of me thinks that it's fun.
I've discovered that at 40.
It's very...
That sounds delicious because I'm over 40, too.
Yeah.
It's a great way to start the day.
And then you feel like, you know, I did something that, you know,
is healthy but also did taste good because there's so many things.
So great.
Well, hopefully.
if my typewriter doesn't break, I'll just drive bread to your house again.
Now you can come inside the house.
Yeah, that's right.
Last time we were right, we were sitting out front.
That would be so great.
All right, that sounds wonderful.
Love you too, Roy. I'll see you soon.
Okay, bye.
Bye.
All right, that's our big show.
Thank you so much for listening.
Make sure you like and subscribe.
Make sure you give us nice stars and tell us how great we are.
I'd like to thank our producer, Aaron, in the back, for helping get these podcasts out in the greatest way.
He's always yelling at me when I record things wrong.
So thank you, Aaron, and thank everybody at all things comedy.
Thank you to Wild Alaskan Company.
Thank you also to our good friends at Greensmith Farms, Hemp.com, Greensmith Farms, CBD.
You guys are awesome.
Roy Scoville, Billy Gardell, another great episode.
We thank you so much.
all your hot dog tips and more next time. See you soon.
