Family Trips with the Meyers Brothers - JOHN EARLY was part of a traveling family “minis-TOUR"

Episode Date: June 25, 2024

Seth and Josh welcome THE John Early to the pod! He talks all about what it was like growing up in Nashville, making fun of his parents in his comedy shows, how he thought he was responsible for making the Macarena popular, and so much more! NissanThanks again to Nissan for supporting Family Trips, and for the reminder to chase bigger, better, more exciting adventures. And enjoy the ride along the way. Learn more at nissanusa.comMcDonald'sWe Love Mcdonald's and we love saving money it's a match made in heaven. Save money everyday with the McDonald's App. Must opt into rewards.BabbelHere's a special, (limited time) deal for our listeners. Right now get up to 60% off your Babbel subscription - but only for our listeners - at babbel.com/TRIPS

This episode of Family Trips is brought to you by the 2024 Nissan Pathfinder with seven drive modes. The Pathfinder is built for even the most epic journeys. Learn more at NissanUSA.com. Hey Pashi. Hey Sufi. You took a trip. I did. I took a great, a great last minute excursion to Oslo and Stockholm, which was just great. I mean, two of my favorite places I've ever been. Yeah. I would imagine a great time a year to go. It was so sunny. It was so hot.

It wasn't like oppressively hot, but it was high 70s, low 80s. One moment of incredible rain, like rain like you wouldn't believe. And we were in a taxi in Oslo going to the train station and I asked the taxi driver, I said, is this normal? And he said, in my 13 years in Norway, I've never seen

anything like this, which is fun to be part of something that's so epic. And yeah, it was just great. It was just with friends. We sort of had no plan of attack. The language is so funny. Like, I'm not making fun of them. Sure, sure, sure. Do it. Do it. I was just saying, like, we went to this food hall called Vipa, V-I-P-P-A.

And then you tell someone, they're like, what have you been doing? And you say we went to VIPPA and they're like, oh, VIPPA? And you're like, yeah, like it wasn't, that wasn't so far off. And then we went, got to Stockholm and we were staying on like Johannes, G-A-T-E-N. So if you were to tell a Swede, where are you staying?

It's say that. Johannesgaten. Oh, Johannesgaten. And it's like, so if you try to hit their intonation, it would seem like you're mocking them. But they also are never just like- So do you introduce yourself with their intonation? Hello, it's nice to meet you. My name is Josh.

Yeah, right? Yeah, it's insulting. But they would correct you. How did you get from Oslo to Stockholm? Did you take the train? We took the train. I did that. Yeah. Which is, it's like a six hour train. And we, I was seated sort of behind my back was the bathroom for the car on, you know, in our car. And it was locked and it was locked because it was not working, but there was no sign. So people kept getting up and standing just behind me, and they would stand there for an interminable length of time. And it became incumbent upon me, I felt like,

to explain to them that it's broken. I'm sorry, it's broken? No, I even, I Googled, I mean, I have it written down here, but I Googled the bathroom is broken in Swedish, so I could say to people and I'd be, Oh, did, Badrummet aus trage, trage six, and I'd be, So basically it's just English pronounced backwards. Yes. But it was unfortunate that that fell to me.

But then we went to the Abba Museum, which was so much fun. It really like, you know, we went to a bunch of museums, but you go to the Abba Museum and you start reading about all of them and you're like, I want to hear about when Barry was a child and how he came up and how they all, you know, their first appearances on television. You're reading things,

the same kind of things you would read about a famous painting or a famous sculpture, but it's just about these people. And their cultural impact is undeniable. While we were there, Abba was knighted in Sweden, which is like the first time people have been knighted in Sweden in like 40 years. And we might have been there for it. We were sort of like near the palace

and there was a big celebration. And then later on we read that they had been knighted. And so we like to tell ourselves that we were there. But yeah. Is there a queen in Sweden? Yeah. And then do you think they danced during Abba's night? Do I think the queen would have danced that night?

Yeah. I would think so. So a dancing queen. Yeah, yeah. I can't believe I didn't see where you were going with that. It's nice every now and then when I, I mean, it's not like that impressive a destination, but it's still nice when you don't see it coming.

Years ago when you and I were in Stockholm, we sort of stumbled upon this place, the Boulevard, which is where you play Patank or Jeux de Boulle, sort of a bocce form of a game. And we had an afternoon, we were sort of walking around this neighborhood and it wasn't time to go back to where we were staying yet and we wanted something to do and we went there. It was packed, beautiful sunny days. Someone had just canceled their court. And so I was like, what are the chances we can get a court? And she's like, oh, someone just canceled, so you can have theirs. You're on court 12, and it's so much fun, just surrounded by all these Swedes out

enjoying the sun, the afternoon, this great game. You know, the waiters will teach you how to play, will get you these beers. It was just fabulous. I remember how beautiful that place was and how I think I was running the marathon. No, maybe that was not, no, I was running a marathon on that trip. And it was like a few days later.

Yeah. And I was, my intention was not to have anything to drink, but it was too great a scene to not have a nice cold beer. Yeah. Yeah. And I did. And also like our first night in Oslo was a Saturday night, and I gotta say, Saturday night in Oslo was a Saturday night. And I got to say Saturday night in Oslo, it's nuts. There's this one part of town,

every bar has like a line out the street. We went out a little bit early, so we were sort of just beating the big lines. And there was a place called just Oslo Street Food, which has a bunch of stalls and a bunch of different, you know, little food stalls. And it was very crowded, but most of the stalls were closing down and it clearly was a place that was just, it was like where people were meeting and drinking and it was going to turn

into something, but we didn't know what it was going to turn into. And eventually like there's sort of a club inside and a DJ. But we got there early enough to get in before the big line. At this time, I was with my friends Molly and Eric. We came outside and there's this group of girls, Eric's single. So I sit down on the steps, then Molly, then Eric, and Eric's next to these girls.

He starts chatting up one of them. And then this other girl's almost in tears because her dog passed away three months ago, which is very sad. And Eric says, oh, my friend Josh lost a dog last year, and Molly lost a dog just a few months ago as well. And so this girl comes up to us and is in tears about her dog. And we're like, you know, it's so sad

and we're sorry to hear that. And then she starts talking about this like big time Hollywood agent who she knows, who's like a legit name I didn't know, but Eric later would be like, oh no, he's like huge. But this girl also was telling us how huge this guy was. Right, how he always- I should know if you've listened to this podcast, you know that Josh's dream is to be in a Oslo food court

while someone talks about a big time Hollywood agent. Keep going. Yeah. So she pivots real quick off of her dead dog. Sure. And starts talking about this guy who apparently is friends with her dad and wants to know if we know him and we don't.

I go get another round of drinks and I come back. As soon as I get back, she says, do you know this agent? I was like, no, I didn't know him before, I don't know him now. She's talking to us, someone gives her a glass of champagne, she doesn't want it. She puts it down behind my friend Molly.

And then she's like, are you two together? And I say, no. And she's like, yeah, because you're gay. I'm like, okay. And then I don't know if it was like because she thought I was gay and she wanted to get back at me or something, but she stood up and she started grinding on my buddy Eric out of nowhere. This is a girl who was in tears about her dog.

And starts grinding on Eric who'd been talking to a girl and I think making some headway. And then the grinding girl sits next to Eric and just starts making out with him. And as soon as it happens, unintentionally or intentionally, but Molly knocks this glass of champagne over, which breaks glass, gets Eric and this, you know, girl who's a bit of a mess, gets them all wet, so cuts off the make-out. The girl Eric had been talking to says, we're done, like, I got no more time for you.

Eric has no idea what's happening. He didn't know why this girl was grinding on him or making out with him. He was just sort of, he's a bit jet lagged and- Sure, there's a lot to take in for Eric. A lot to take in. So that cut that off. And as we were leaving Oslo Street Food, that girl was talking to the bouncers because she had left. Now there was a very long line

and she wanted to get back in through the exit and they wouldn't let her in. And she was like, these guys don't know who my dad is. I'm having them Google my dad. Based on this woman's behavior, do you think there's a chance that her dog killed itself? I don't know. I don't know. Her friend, this other girl that Eric was talking to, said that her dog had been murdered as well. Which is I think a strange way to phrase it. I don't know. Maybe we lost something. I'm hoping this isn't the first any of our listeners have heard about Norway.

Because Josh is making it seem like a real dog crazy place. I mean, yeah. Here's, this is the, I'll never forget, I was on the train from Oslo to Stockholm the first time I heard the Kanye West song Power where he has the line, fuck SNL on the whole cast. And I remember having a real like, ah! Oh! Oh! He got called out.

Got called out. But yeah, it was a fabulous trip. Both of those cities are spectacular. Also in Sweden, in Stockholm, I stopped by Meatballs for the People, this great meatball restaurant. Didn't you know Meatballs for the People? I did, yeah. But what did you eat?

Vegan meatballs. And how were they? Delicious. Great. Yeah. Yeah. I'm so happy that you get your meatballs without having to disobey your principles. Thank you. Yeah, me too.

Yeah, it was a great trip, great friends, great places. I feel like so much more to do in both of those cities, so I'd be happy to go back anytime. Well, that's a very resoundingly positive review for Stockholm and Oslo. And I'm happy you're back. Yeah, glad to be back. Glad to be back. This is, if you are listening right now

and you've never heard of John Early, I think that you will both enjoy this podcast and want to educate yourself on his complete oeuvre. He is so unique, so wonderful, so sweet, and it was just a fantastic conversation. Yeah. Yeah, I really like this guy. So. And you're going to listen to him right after you hear our good friend, Jeffrey Tweedy. Family trips with the Myers Brothers. Family trips with the Myers Brothers. Here we go.

So we should play brothers. We should play brothers. We should play brothers. Well you and Josh should play brothers. My God, I mean that, the hair, just everything. Oh, but why not you? I mean, I'd love it too, if you guys would involve me, I would love it. Yeah. Yeah, we'll see, we'll see if we can write a part for you.

It's not, it doesn't feel organic yet. I am so happy to have you here. I'm gonna come and visit me soon on my show. And I will echo a lot of this sentiment. You are one of our favorite guests. Your special now more than ever is so wonderful. And I'm just gonna jump in because I feel like there was a family trip

involved in this special, which is your parents, obviously took a trip to New York City to be in the audience for your special. Yes. And it's one of the funniest uses of parents in a special. I don't want to give anything away, but you do sort of throw the spotlight on them. Yes, it's like a kind of torture device. And did they know that you were going to sort of put them in the special that way?

Well, you know, I wish I could keep the illusion alive and say that they were totally surprised, but the truth is it's something I have been doing to them for years at my live shows. Gotcha. And I did, but there was the first time I did it. They were, they had absolutely no idea. And it was one of the most like thrilling artistic experiences of my life. Were they happy about it? They were very happy.

I mean, they were shocked. Yeah. And you know, there's obviously a certain level of discomfort that I'm like enjoying, but like for the most part, I think they find it very sweet and silly. One of the, well, there's a couple things I want to ask about. One that you've been doing it for a long time means your parents have been coming to your shows for a long time. Have they always been?

Does that mean have they always been really supportive of your journey into being a performer? Completely supportive, just seamless. It was totally fine. Yeah, I'm very lucky. Is it correct they're both former ministers? Yes, they're both. My dad is, they're both ordained ministers. My dad was ordained as a Presbyterian minister, my mom as a Disciples of Christ minister, whatever that means. Matthew 10 They sound more hardcore.

Matthew 11 They sound more hardcore, but I think it's all kind of just like milquetoast Protestantism, you know? Thank God. But when I was really, really young, they were like full-time ministers. And then I think they both kind of were like, they both kind of did religion adjacent jobs after that, but they don't do it full time anymore. So I never, I think I would have been much more traumatized had I actually been like the pastor's son, you know, like kind of the face, like the the family, the public facing, you know, pastor son, but that was not the case. I all I really did was just kind of someone's at the door.

All I'll just I know what it is. It's a delivery. All I really did was kind of get in the back of the car and and go to like, they would just preach all over the South. They would do guest preaching or they would do weddings or funerals. And I would pop around and go to these weird churches in the middle of nowhere in like Mississippi and like sit in the back and just be bored out of my mind.

So home base is Nashville? Yeah. Okay, and you have one sibling? Yes. And where is she? Is she a sister, older, younger? Older sister. She's about six years older than me. So is she also in the sort of traveling minister road show in those days? Yes, totally.

Would you two, were you a team? Would you sort of be like, hey, like, let's go see if they've got donuts in the basement or would you have to just sort of like endure? It was all about donuts. It was all about donuts for me. That is my, like, people always assume, I mean, I definitely kind of exploit this

in my biography of myself coming out this fall. I'm kidding. There's no book. But in talking about my life, I like to kind of drop that my parents are ministers and let people's imaginations go crazy. They assume I was like, you know, I don't know that they're like, Baptist like tent revival, you know, which is just totally not the case to me religion or that I was like, you know, a gay kid like quaking in fear of like my, you know, my religious parents, it's really, really not the case. All religion was for me was like the hunt for Krispy Kreme.

all religion was for me was like the hunt for Krispy Kreme. It was just... And I was like, and 90% of the time, I was disappointed. Because it happened like once, and so I just every time was like, it could happen again. And then it was always like some baked good that was like inedible. And I was like, just get Krispy Kreme, it's what the people want. Yeah.

I somehow feel like this is an analogy of faith, the idea that it happened once, and then you just, your belief was that it would be there every time. That's beautiful. My sister and I would just like, we would play tic-tac-toe on the bulletins, the church bulletins. And, you know, sometimes we would just try

to entertain ourselves really. So we were very in it together. We would like highlight words in the bulletin or underline words in the bulletin to like make a story, you know. Wow, that's very advanced. Make some, yeah, thank you. And also using what you got in that moment. Yeah. Yeah. You know, and then we'd also, the big thing to keep ourselves entertained was like singing the descant,

the soprano descant of like every church hymn. And like, we would just die laughing. It was, it's very sweet and very fun. What percentage of people do you think are trying to hit the soprano part in any given congregation? Well, it's usually just, it's usually just the, it's reserved for the choir, which is why that was fun.

It's like for the advanced musicians in the choir, then everyone in the congregation is supposed to just like hum along. Gotcha. And so that is what would make us laugh so hard. Gotcha. It's like, yeah. And did she have your same performer bent? Was she like that as well?

Well, interesting the use of the word bent. Yes, I was looking for a different one and landed there. Oh. Oh. She is, my sister is extremely funny, but for some reason didn't feel the need to spend her life making money off of that. She chose a life of integrity and privacy, but no, she's very, very funny, but no, she's not a performer.

Got you. Who, in your early years, who was the audience you were most aiming for approval from? Your parents or your sister or, or a stranger? It was my sister and her friends. Yeah. Six years, I would imagine having a six year older audience. That's a real something to aim for. Yeah, exactly. It felt, because they were in high school when I was in middle school. So they felt so cool to me.

And, you know, it was girls, it was like funny girls. And so I would just, I would basically just like rip off Sherry O'Terry routines, you know, and perform, I would just do like morning latte for them, basically. Yeah, probably played pretty well, I'm guessing. Yes, it did. I was good at it. Yeah.

I won't lie. I want to say like there's this really nice thing that happens in your special when you cut to your parents. You don't say they're ministers, but they kind of look like they are. Like, it's not shocking. It's not shocking after the fact, you know, that's the case. But also they look very, like, loving and supportive.

It's a really... Because you sort of cut to them when you're talking about, you know, sex. The things that any performer would not... Like, any... You would think any performer's parents wouldn't want to be on the spot in that moment. And there's a real lovely shyness and recoiling from them that you can tell they genuinely are sort of in on the game. Yes, totally.

And I was worried, like, you know, cause I've done it, they've come to my show, my big show where I had the spotlight, like probably eight times over the years, you know? So I was worried that we wouldn't get the kind of authentic surprise and embarrassment from them. But the truth is, it's not just what I'm talking about. It's that there's an audience full of people who are actually surprised, the audience is never expecting it. And so they're, they're just like, and it's so sweet the way people just know. I don't have to cue them in any way to just like give them just like overwhelming applause and love.

And I think that's what's actually making them shy is a room full of people like screaming for them, you know. And there's a really nice move that, of course, you would only do if it wasn't true. You're so mean to them. And the audience knows that the only reason or way you would do that is if it wasn't true, is if you really love them. Well, thank you. And this is what has been shockingly... I mean, I think most people understand that when they're watching it. But there was a very prestigious critic who like was

talking about it as if it were like, I don't know, suffocatingly kind of like ironic or disaffected or like, you know, and I'm like, what? Like to me, it's so obviously full of love. Yes. You know, like, and I'm a comedian, I'm not gonna actually go, I just wanna take this time to say how much I love my parents and they, you know what I mean? Like, of course I'm gonna do the opposite thing

and you're gonna have to interpret that underneath that is actually like, it's a very tender act. It is, it's also, there's something sort of novel about the idea. It's that counterintuitive thing that I think is actually more true than people would lead on, which is a lot of comedians actually do get along with their parents, and their parents loved, at a very young age, that their kids could make other people laugh, and then want to come.

Like the fact that they come eight times. I just did stand up, and my parents came, like the fact that they come eight times. I just did stand up and my parents came and Josh came. And you know, my dad's come enough that he can, he feels fully confident to say, I feel like that bit's worked better in the past. Oh God. And so you both, you know, you're both frustrated about the honesty

because he more often than not is right. But it's also like this really special thing of like, well, he has seen that bit six times. So, you know, he has the right to say. Yeah, it's really sweet. Yeah. Yeah. Hey, we're going to take a quick break

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What's that, Zoof? You know I get ripped off in foreign countries. Yeah. Yeah. You know I go into a merchant, I'm paying two, three times ticket price for items. Yeah, not because you want to, not because you're being nice. No, I just don't know the words.

Yeah. And with Babel, now I can learn the words quickly, so that before a trip, before a vacation, I'm ready to go. Thanks, Babbel. Now Babbel has over 16 million subscriptions sold, plus all of Babbel's 14 award-winning language courses are backed by their 20-day money-back guarantee. Here is a special limited-time deal for our listeners.

Right now, get up to 60% off your Babbel subscription, but only for our listeners at babbel.com slash trips. Get up to 60% off at babbel.com slash trips. Spelled B-A-B-B-E-L dot com slash trips. Rules and restrictions may apply. So did you take any family vacations that weren't part of being out on Ministour? Ministour, very nice.

Yeah. Ministour, oh my God, that's my next tour. Yeah. Thank you. By the way, obviously I should title something Son of a Preacher Man, what am I doing? You have two new specials, Minister or maybe Son of a Preacher Man, the Minister.

Yeah, yeah. But it just, I think the reason, but then it excludes my mom. Yeah, that's true. Yeah. Anyway, yes, we did go on vacations. Yes. There are some,

and there are some very memorable ones. There's like there's like a kind of there's like the family want there's a trip to we took to Disney World to drive or fly you know like we flew to Florida from Nashville. Yeah. And it's particularly memorable to me because this is the trip where I was eight years old. I had no understanding of geography. I didn't know if we were going to a different country or to a different state. And I frankly don't know, and it's possible I still don't know the difference between a state or a country. And so I just was like, I all I knew was like, we're flying somewhere else to another world, you know, and there was a mariachi band. And they, they played, they basically they were like, we're gonna do the Macarena. Does anyone know the Macarena? And I raised my hand

even though I didn't know the Macarena. And they brought me up. And I was and they like kind of sweetly like taught me the Macarena and I did you know, whatever. I'd never heard it. I never seen the dance. And that was the year that there was the gigantic Macarena craze, where the big song, the big pop version of it came out. And when I got back to

Nashville and I started hearing it on the radio and we started doing it in PE, I literally was like, I brought the Macarena to America. I was, I sincerely was like, wait, wait, wait. It's like, that came with me. Like I actually felt that I was responsible for bringing, for like the craze in the United States. Well done.

Even though I had only been in Florida. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that's like, even like, the best part is even if you thought you'd brought it from Florida, that would have been a crazy thing. But the fact that you thought you brought it from America, even though it was from Florida is a nice bonus. Also, it's fun now to actually have an eight-year-old

and know for a fact they think like that. Just like, yeah. Why would they know? Yeah. They don't know like the way like like, yeah. Yeah, why would they know? Yeah. They don't know like the way like pop music, you know, like they don't understand like media cycles. Do you think that you thought that sort of the craze

that ensued and you saw all these people doing the dance, do you think they had sort of seen a home movie of you doing it in Florida? And that you also, you were sort of seen a home movie of you doing it in Florida and that you also you were sort of on the on the vanguard of that part of it? I don't think I thought that they had seen it. I just thought like like I was kind of one small like like like little pebble in a in a lake that then right there was a rippling effect Like I thought like this happened to me, I maybe kind of told someone about it. Maybe I like played someone the song.

And then before I knew it, that had kind of spread like wildfire and everyone had like the Macarena craze. I remember, and I bet we were in Florida as well, but we were on vacation the first time I heard Al Yankovic's Eat It. Oh my gosh. And so we heard that and again, I think I had a sense of like, this is something that

only is happening where I am now and this isn't home. And I remember going back to recess and being like, gather round. Y'all are about to have your minds blown. And it was like, everyone's like, yeah, no, we know, eat it. Like it came out on all the radios at the same time. Yeah. My fiance's best friend, Julia studied in the Netherlands in high school for like a semester and came back

and thought that she had brought Mambo number five back with her. And it's like, yeah, I know what it is. They're all big songs. These are all big songs. These are all big important songs. Yeah, that you guys brought back. So thank you.

And did you guys travel well as a family? Yes. I mean, I think I caused a lot of drama in my on road trips due to my there was a lot of like like bathroom issues you know. Interesting. Yeah, like in I mean first of all I there's something so beautiful about like car trips I mean I know people still take them. But the fact that we didn't have screens, and we for hours were forced to because the most vivid thing about those trips to me are like that the main challenge was like how to not be bored out of your mind. Yeah. Yeah. And like, I remember like, making a little like putting a

little like, making a little hoop out of paper and like, tying it to the my mom's like the, the head of her car, her first seats and then like, crumpling up a ball and make do make a little basketball goal and like, you know, they're just it was there were we what you know, they're just, it was, there were, we, what, kids today, they do not know how to deal with their boredom. Yeah. Yeah.

I, again, I've done this a few times, shout out to my wife. Preach. Preach. Shout out to my wife. She will not, the kids do not have screens in the car. And it is- Really? It's really amazing. It's really great. Like we will now we will- And do they freak out?

We know, we will like listen to like fairy tale stories, you know, like, and that's a slight drag as an adult, having to listen to them, but then you can just turn it, you can turn it into white noise if you just like stare. Yeah, yeah. If you stare like the dotted yellow lines long enough, you're really just not even in the car. But it is, and then my two and a half year old

is doing a lot of like, she wants to draw. And the only thing about that is she's got, you know, she is, let's be honest, two and a half year olds have weak hands. She's just dropping her markers the whole time. And the amount that it's like, oh my, the yellow. And that's a real hazard. But they don't have screens and I think it's better

because they are all sharing. That's so impressive. But they know about screens. Yeah, because they look at their parents. Right, yeah. I mean, we're looking at it the whole time. I've got it rigged up. Like I think the last drive home,

I was watching Godfather 2. Just like, yeah, I barely could see the road, but what a film. I think the last drive home I was watching Godfather 2. Just like, yeah, I barely could see the road, but what a film. I had a really, Josh is busting us accurately for the fact that we look at our screens too much. And we went to a thing at school, this is a very, a teacher said something to us

because everybody's worried now about kids and screens. I think they were before, there's a new book out, Anxious Generation. But they said, don't, when you're a parent, when you pick up your phone in front of your kids, say what you're gonna do. So if you pick it up, you have to say, I'm gonna check the weather.

And then you pick it up. And it's amazing how it stops you from being like, I'm gonna do Wurdle. I know we're all having breakfast, but I'm gonna do Wurdle. I know we're all having breakfast, but daddy, daddy's gonna do Wurdle while you're talking. No, this is similar to the Macarena. This is actually something that I thought I invented like the other night, which was like, I was with friends

and I was like, we have to just say what we're, like if you pick up your phone, that's fine, but you actually have to acknowledge, like say what it're, like if you pick up your phone, that's fine, but you actually have to acknowledge, like say what it is you're doing, because most of us, it's so unconscious. Like I don't know why I'm picking up my phone. I have no, for example, why is it right here? Yeah.

Literally why is it next to me? Well it's because you can't deal with boredom. It's a boredom fixer. Yeah. Yes. But I pick it up, and then if you actually say what you're doing, it's so humiliating. It's like, I'm checking Instagram for the 45th time. And I opened Instagram, I closed it, and then I opened it again.

Yeah. Is usually what it is. It's like back-to-back checking. It's so bizarre. I heard some, a good thing to do when someone's looking at their phone is to just ask them, is everything okay? And then they're like, oh, passive aggressive. Yeah.

Passive aggression. Yeah. But it makes them realize that like, oh, yes, I'm being rude right now and what I'm doing has like, it's not important. Unless it is. And then you can say like, oh, no, there's an emergency I have to attend to, etc. Yeah. Can you just drill down a little bit more on the minister, what did you say? What was your

word for it, Josh? The minister. Minister. The minister. So you would, was this always on weekends that you would go out on the road? Yes, typically on Sundays. It wasn't constant by any means. We were, you know, members of a Presbyterian church in Nashville that we mostly went to. I should also say this is a huge, this is a huge piece of information about me is that when I like when I was West West Borland, the bassist in Limp Bizkit. Okay, his dad was our minister. Great, cool.

At my church in Nashville. And his dad baptized me. Wow, and now this is something, when you're getting baptized, wait, timeline me, how big is, how old are you in Limp Bizkit is a big deal? It was way before Limp Bizkit was a big deal. But was there a time that he was your minister

and they were known? No, sadly. Yeah. Yeah, that would have been cooler, but he did baptize me, I will say that again. Congrats. It's funny that even though now you're famous, you're trying to pass that off as your claim to fame. It's like, it's okay, John, you've done your own stuff that's actually better than being

baptized by a man related to the bassist of a band I don't think you like. Is it on your resume under special skills? No, it should be, it should be. Also Steve Winwood was at my baptism. Wow. And that's what it means to grow up in Nashville. That's great. Oh, but he was there

because he knew someone else getting baptized, what? No, he was like, I guess, kind of checking out the church. Okay. He went, apparently he lived in Nashville, maybe, still does, he's still alive. He's alive, I think. Yeah, I think he's alive. He is alive. Yeah. But yeah, he, I think, was doing kind of church touring. Gotcha. In Nashville. Yeah. That can happen, you know? Yeah. Big fan, big fan. I know he's alive because we just, about a couple months ago, we did a sketch

where Andy Samberg via Zoom played Steve Winwood. Mm-hmm. And in like a, like in a child's wig, the kind you would buy if your kid was into wigs, like that bad a wig. Yeah. And at one point he goes, I wanna admit something Seth,

I'm not really Steve Winwood. And he took off his wig and a bunch of people in our audience gasped. And I had a real like, are you just, have you just been like trained to gasp when someone takes a wig off? Like what? Cause we all knew it wasn't Steve Winwood, right?

Yeah. That's really sweet. Did you see a lot of, because I know, I sort of, I think incorrectly assumed only country musicians were in Nashville. Like 15 years ago, that would have been my guess. And now I realize almost all genres of musicians are in Nashville because I think so many great musicians are there that sort of span all genres. musicians are in Nashville because I think some of the great musicians are there that sort of span all genres. But was that growing up?

Did you just sort of see musicians everywhere you went? This is the thing. I have no kind of like mythic or like attachment to Nashville. Like I just was in my house. Yeah. How far were you from downtown? Is it, what's the main drag? Is it Broadway?

Yeah. Yeah, it's like downtown Broadway. Like I was probably 12 minutes, 12 minute drive from there. And, but even then it was still known as like, just like extremely just touristy, you know? That part of it. It's hard to feel like the kind of authentic country. It's hard

to feel that it mostly feels like a kind of a tourism thing. Right. Yeah, I would just say a couple times and I have really enjoyed it. I will say I love it. so, bopping from one music venue to the next and just checking it out and then, yeah, it's really fun, fun town. I have that problem, and I think Josh is probably better than I am, but I, we grew up in New Hampshire, when people say they're going to New Hampshire

and ask me what to do, I have nothing to tell them because all I ever do is go to our house. That's it. Yeah. I like our house. That's all I ever do. Kind of all I really want to do. You know, I did. I did one time I worked at a Mexican popsicle place in Nashville.

Uh huh. Las Paletas. And I served Emily Harris. Great. And Randy Travis. Those are two real, I mean, those are real walk of fames. Real deal and like extremely sexy people. Like wild, it's crazy. What makes a popsicle a Mexican popsicle? Well, it's, you know, in Mexico on every street corner,

Josh, there's street corner, Josh, there's a little paleta carts, little freezer freezers on wheels. And this this Mexican family, these like sisters, they're they're they're like legends now in Nashville. They moved from Guadalajara to to Nashville somehow. And like and they open this Mexican pops away. So there's like there's like rose petal popsicles avocado popsicles chili lime Mexican chill or like hot chocolate chili. It was very not hot chocolate obviously because they're frozen but um

Yeah, it was it was a very it was a very like me being like quirky in high school. I see. It seemed like a plan for that job. Was there a good, was there a uniform there or was there like a t-shirt that you had to wear? Was the? No, I just wore my own clothes. It was even change.

It was 250. And so it was the easiest job. Like it was so easy. I just said, which one do you want? Open it, boom, boom, and then even change. Yeah. It was cash only. So I didn't have to deal with any machine. You wanted it equal parts, quirky and easy. I thought I was like, I know, it felt like, it feels like the girl who works in the bookstore, you know. It does feel like, yeah.

It is like in a, yeah, right, Mexican popsicle. He works at a Mexican popsicle stand. She works in a bookstore. What about Nashville hot chicken? Was that something that you knew in its authentic form before it became a worldwide phenomenon? I'm so embarrassed to say no. Because of my whiteness. I think we never got hot chicken.

But since it exploded, I have gone to the original spots. And I really love it. I really, really obsessed with it. I really love it too. We went to one that is really, it feels like a shack. I don't know if you know what I'm talking about. Yeah. Bolts, chicken and fish.

Yes, yes. It's so incredible and truly hot. So hot, we drove to Knoxville from Nashville. And I think I was driving and my head was out the window like a dog. I was so, it was the most, and I've since, I did hot ones and yet I think I ate less than I did at Bolton's because it was so good.

I couldn't stop eating it, and yet I knew how awful the burn was gonna be. I just couldn't stop. I know, I know. It's really, did you get the fish sandwich? I didn't, I just did the chicken. I should've. It was extremely good.

Yeah. I'm glad, I'm glad it's gone worldwide. And you're right, it's Boltons. It's not Bolts. Yes. Gotcha. They got a good vegan sandwich over there, I'm guessing. For me, for your boy Josh. Probably. Probably. We can check. Yeah. They can just dump. You know what they can do though?

They can just dump hot sauce on your tongue. Great. Yeah. And then you can like eat a banana. They can just dump, you know what they can do though? They can just dump hot sauce on your tongue. Right? Yeah. And then you can like eat a banana. Yeah. Hey, we're gonna take a quick break and hear from some of our sponsors. This episode of Family Trips is brought to you

by McDonald's. Hey Poshie. Yes, Sufi. You know, I've often got a whole family in my car. Yeah, you got a lot of kids. Yeah, I also don't have to tell you, this podcast is about family trips, and one of the key things about a family trip

is keeping them fed. And sometimes you're on the road and everybody's hungry, and you just time. Time is of the essence, my man. Do you hear me? Time. I do. I hear you. And what I love about the McDonald's app

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Buy one, get one. Buy one, get one. And that's great, because I buy one for one kid, another one gets one, and the third one fends for themselves. That's how you find out who's the strongest. Yeah, downloading the McDonald's app is a no-brainer, because you get a new deal every single day. I would say the most important time for us, like, 3. If it's 3 p.m., and we had two earlier breakfasts

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See Nissan Towing Guide and Owner's Manual for additional information. Always secure cargo. Here we go. All right. So Disney, you go to Disney. What's Disney like? Does it blow your mind aside from the Macarena as an eight-year-old? Are you wearing

Mickey ears? Any memories? I think it did blow my mind. Like, I don't know where this came from in me, but I was very, very scared of, like, doing the kind of, like, fancy thing as a kid. You know, like, I, when we, when my parents told us we were going to Disney World, I was like, I was like worried about the cost. You know, I was like, I was like, are we sure like that's a lot. That's like a big sacrifice financially for the family, you know, like I for some reason I absorbed whatever financial anxiety there was like for my parents and I was also like embarrassed about looking kind of like

you know I don't know it's like like some like crass like American you know going to Disney or Alden eating ice cream and getting fat or something you know what I mean like I don't know why I was concerned with these things. I was already pretentious at that age, somehow. Gotcha. So there was just a lot of general anxiety, I think. So I remember being kind of terrified by the whole idea and then being immediately so soothed by like the power of Disney. You were able to enjoy it. You were able to let go of some of that anxiety and. Mostly able to totally enjoy it, but then also like immediately critical, like why are you enjoying this?

Yeah. Like, you know, you're just like everyone else, John. You know, like, I don't know, it was very. You think you're special because you sell Mexican popsicles, but you're just like everybody else. Yeah. But yeah, I was, so, but no, I remember just being like, it's real, like it is real, the magic of Disney is real.

Now would I feel that today? I don't know, and that's kind of a question for you, Seth, like have you gone with your kids? We haven't gone yet. I think we are probably a year away. We would have probably gone by now, except we had a third, and so she's too young to enjoy it. And I think we'll wait for the whole gang.

Yeah. I am very excited for it. I'm really excited for Harry Potter World because the boys have actually engaged. I think more than the Disney movies, they have a connection to Harry Potter. So that will be, that will be very cool. It's interesting.

And that's at Disney World? No, that's at Universal. But just theme park life, I'm kind of looking forward to. I was wondering if we were just maybe a little bit older than you so that we, I think it was maybe not that ability to be snobby about what a theme park was when we were young. But now, Josh, wouldn't you think it's true that mom was pre-snobby?

Like mom thought Disney World, she would have talked about it like the worst thing in the world, even before we went. Yeah, but she's just always had that aversion to sort of crowds and to... Excess. Excess, she doesn't like being... Yes.

Jostled. She might say she'd get jostled in a line. Yeah. Yeah, so that was never her bag. She just wants to be on a beach. Yes, that's, and my family, we were not beachy. Like we were, this is really hard for me to talk about, but you know, I grew up landlocked.

You seem okay, you seem like you've come out of it all right. Years of therapy. How long into your tenure at NYU before you sort of admitted to your friends that you were landlocked? I'm embarrassed to say it was like, it was after I had already graduated. There's a lot of lake, isn't it lake culture in Tennessee? Or am I just immediately jumping to the stereotype? No no no, no no, there is, there's absolutely lake culture. Again, my family, like we didn't, we weren't the most like, you know, my parent,

there was a kind of like subtle, subtle crunchiness. You know, my parents met at Vanderbilt Divinity School, which was like very kind of progressive and, um, for a Southern Divinity School, you know? Um, and so there was, I don't know. We, there, we didn't like, I know they'll listen to this and I'm going to just use this opportunity to So there was, I don't know, we didn't like, I know they'll listen to this and I'm gonna just use this opportunity to confront them and say like, we didn't have fun.

Well, it sounds like they wanted to take you to Disney and you were like, I don't know, guys. No, we didn't. Eight year old looking down his nose at Disney. What did you wanna do? I love, they literally had an eight year old, A three-year-old looking down his nose at Disney. What did you want to do? I don't know. They literally had an eight-year-old. They're like, so are we just like everybody else?

Is that what you're telling me? I think I was impossible in this regard. I really don't know. What we did was we went to the mountains in North Carolina. Okay. Because there was like a Presbyterian, like, there's a place called Montreat that is like, where the kind of Presbyterians go or like where Presbyterian ministers go, I don't know why. But it was like a little tiny Presbyterian town or something with like a lake and like and it was genuinely

beautiful. And that is how we like those were the family trips was driving to North Carolina and staying in the mountains for like a week and just like we would rent a little house. And it was very actually beautiful and low key. And I do like we just would do nothing. We would just like cook and like walk in the creek. And we go to the barn dance on Friday night. And like it was very, very sweet and peaceful.

And that is I that was instilled in me very young. And now I that is my kind of dream vacation is like house nature cooking. Yeah. Yeah. And maybe that's why I was looking down at Disney World. Yeah. Could you like leave the, would you leave the house and go run around in the woods on your own? Or would you and your sister hang out? Or would there be like sort of local kids or if it's a vacation destination,

a bunch of people who are like, we rented a cabin down the street, and you just meet up with kids and sort of do what kids do. Yeah, you would meet up with kids and sort of do what kids do. Yeah. You would meet in the, in the, the, the Creek. Like it really, we meet in the Creek and got up to some crazy shit. But yeah, but I mean, that is also the beauty is like a time when like, I mean, I don't, I can't imagine having kids now. I don't know what I would, you know, but like my parents just, yeah, they would just let us leave for hours and hours.

And we didn't have phones and we, you know, there was no way to, they were, they just knew we'd come back, you know? I will say, I mean, even in modern times, I would probably feel the best about my kids if they were in a Presbyterian mountain town. Yeah, it does. Good place, good place to cut them loose.

That's true. I am also like, as I picture the creek, I'm like, I bet it doesn't even come up to their neck. You know what I mean? Like that's the best. No, no, exactly. Best body of water possible is a creek. Yeah.

Would your sister hang out with you or would she be like, I'm gonna go hang out with these teenagers and you hang out with you or would she be like, I'm gonna go hang out with these teenagers and you hang out with your Creek friends? Your river rat. Yeah, she would hang out with me, she would hang out with me a little bit, but mostly she would find the older friends in the place. And then I would then try to tap dance with them,

impress them, make them laugh. Yeah. End of the night with your parents, were you a board game family? Were you a watch a movie together family? I don't know. Would you sing together? Sometimes.

My mom and I often sang The Carpenters, literally. Does your mom, you have a beautiful voice. Does your mother? Seth, shut up. You do. You lead in your special, you sing after the gold rush and it might be my favorite version of it. I'm like so, it's so shockingly earnest and great.

I mean, there's some- Oh my God. You are taking the air out of it in a nice way as well, but it's really, I'm like, Jesus. Well, you know, we based that arrangement on the, like the harmonies on the Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, Amy Lou Harris cover of that song. Yes, which is a wonderful version.

It's so good. And we just took their exact harmonies, based. Based. But, yeah. We were inspired, lovingly inspired. But yeah, we were, my mom and I would sing, we did a lot of puzzles. But there was lots of, I was a very kind of, I liked my isolation as a kid.

I liked to go off alone and watch movies. And do you feel like your isolation was respected? Do you think your parents clocked, oh, this is John likes this, and this is an important part of his development? Yes, yes. I think they knew I was watching movies and I was kind of fostering

in my early obsessions with things. What were you, like, did you have VHS tapes then? Like, what were you watching? I would tape I Love Lucy, you know, and just watch I Love Lucy reruns all the time. And frankly, and I know this is a loaded subject here on the pod, but like, you know, just the women of SNL, like of every generation, you know, like that was like, like of every generation, you know, like. That was like.

Because that was such a big project, because I could go back and kind of it was such a clear kind of thing, it's like, who are the women of this five years? Who are the women of this five year? You know, and so there was a lot of kind of encyclopedic, like beautiful mind, like, you know, Ellen Claghorne. And did you have that sort of completionist DNA for a lot of things? Definitely. Yeah.

Yes, definitely with, well, with, with like TV and. Yeah. By the time you were in high school, do you think your parents knew, I'm assuming you knew you wanted to be a performer and did they know as well? Were they like, oh, this is what John's going to do? Yeah, it was pretty clear. I was doing the plays, I was doing Nashville Boys Choir, I was doing show choir, you know, I was, yeah, that's what I was doing. And it was like,

and then by high school time, it was with a kind of Tracy flick, like Ferber. Yeah. Like, it had become less just like fun and like intensely managerial. It was, it got, it got strange. So was, was choir intense then at competitions? Could you have fun at those or was it like guys? Well, my school wasn't, this was the problem. This is maybe the reason for the managerial.

And by the way, the garbage truck has decided to come right now in case that's, I don't know if you can hear me. And it comes into your living room, right? Yes, yes, I have that new. You pay that extra to have them actually just drive the truck, right? Just, yeah.

But yeah, I was like, my show choir wasn't serious. Like it just was kind of people who just were like needed to take some sort of elective or do some sort of extracurricular thing. And like it was not, it wasn't people who wanted to be on Broadway. Right. And I was like, guys, I was like, we are humiliating ourselves. I was like, talking to the administration at the school being like our school,

it's not even that we're not placing, it's that we're not even trying to place. Like we're not even entering the competition. It's like, what's going on? Josh and I have recently reflected back on our times as college improvisers and the fact that we were maybe a little hard on our casts as far, you know, like, in a way that we don't,

we're not proud of. In a way that I apologize to an auditorium full of people saying that. At a reunion. Josh just did a reunion, mea culpa. Did you apologize seriously? I did, and I sort of like, I read the room in terms of like, there had been a panel discussion

and you know, someone on the panel was like, I didn't love my time in this show, Meow was the improv show. She was like, a lot of times it was stressful, a lot of times I felt like I was sort of, you know, being pushed to the side. And I feel like even though she was a different generation than me, I could sense that there were other people

who had the same experience in the room. And at least for my own sort of personal, like I don't think there was any animosity that anyone was holding onto, but if anyone from my cast had held onto that, I wanted to say like, look, I'm sorry, I was 18. I didn't have great control of my emotions and I probably could have been a bit nicer.

And so sorry about that. That's beautiful. Do you think people remember like being on show choir with John Early and remember you as being a real taskmaster? Probably. Yeah. I would imagine.

I mean, I don't think the people in the show, I imagine that the students, I think I was mostly a good time with the students. It was the teachers. That is what truly haunts me. Yeah. Is like it was the kind of like. Like, let's step it up. Yeah. Yeah.

What was your best role in a high school play? If you if you had to have you had to submit tape to a casting director. This is so hard, Seth. Is it because you're so good in everything? Yes, yes. No, there was lots of like, I would submit like,

I was the pirate king in Pirates of Penzance to Kevin Klein. I was in Pirates of Penzance, I played pirate. Gotcha. But yeah, that was my first time just being like, I prefer being funny. And like, I was often cast, and this is really traumatic as the lead.

I was often cast as the romantic lead. And it was just the romantic lead and it was just, you know, it was just you had to just like sing pretty and you had to like be romantic with girls, you know, and like it was but beyond just the sexuality part of it, I just found it to be so like I had no way in as a performer, like I just, I was so like limp. And so when I got, when I did the pirate thing, I was like, oh yes, I like being funny.

Like I like being a ham, you know? Yeah. So that was, that's the role I would submit. It is really, I mean, I do remember the first time cause Josh and I would do like comedy nights at our high school. And the first time you realized your peers appreciated the thing you liked most about yourself,

did you get the sense that your student body was also excited to see you as the ham? Yes, definitely. That's great, right? It was very sweet. Is that the best feeling in the world? And we were very, it was the best feeling in the world. And like, you know, my pretentiousness

did lead to some good things. Like, you know, my pretentiousness did lead to some good things. Like, you know, I was very obsessed with. Near the end of my time in high school, I was very obsessed with Strangers with Candy. And, you know, and that led me down this road of like seeing what one of the plays that she and David Sedaris were doing together and like and and I it led me down to a world of like kind of interesting theater at that time. And like we did lots of really cool plays that were very kind of subversive and funny. And I don't know, there were some good stuff.

Did your sister leave Nashville or did she stick around? She is now back in Nashville, but she left for a while. But yeah, she's now raising two kids in Nashville. So everyone's all together, except I'm the one that's flown the coop. And did your parents come to New York a lot to visit when you were at NYU and then living there after? A little, yes, every, definitely they did.

They did. And it was very fun. Yeah. Take them out to restaurants, you know. Did you ever take a family vacation up to New York before you moved there for school? Yes. Okay, this is, I'm glad you bring this up because these are also memorable vacations was like

the solo trips with mom and dad to New York. Oh, right. Like, I took an extremely memorable trip with my dad to New York. My first time was in New York when I was like 10 or 11 years old. extremely memorable trip with my dad to New York. My first time was in New York when I was like 10 or 11 years old, and we went to see SNL. Oh my gosh, how, now how does a Nashville minister

pull tickets? This is what we call the Vanderbilt connection. Ooh, all right. Because this is like the, because Vanderbilt Divinity School, my parents, my dad then worked at Vanderbilt after Divinity School. Can I guess?

Wait, can I guess if there's a is there a name? Is there a famous name about to be dropped? I wish. But I it's very possible, but I don't know the name. OK, gotcha. There was something it might it

may not have even been a Vanderbilt connection. It may have literally been that there was some sort of producer or something who at one point was in my dad's like congregation at like this church in Nashville. It was some sort of like my dad being a minister and therefore kind of like local celebrity kind of thing. And he got us tickets. So as this kind of gives me goosebumps,

because I would imagine your dad getting to tell you that he got those. Do you remember that moment? I don't remember the specific moment, but it was like the biggest dream come true ever, ever, ever. Absolutely. Also, I don't know, you can't get in there at 11 anymore, can you Seth?

Yeah, I bet you can't. I don't know, you can't get in there at 11 anymore, can you Seth? Yeah, I bet you can't. I don't think you could then. And this is why we had such a real hookup. Right. Yeah. Like clearly my dad knew someone at the top because like- God. We, yeah, maybe it was God herself. But we were like, I remember when we were in line at 30 Rock, if you will.

And this girl, this like teenager came up to me and was like, she was like, oh, he's not going to be able to get in. This wasn't someone who worked there, by the way. This was like someone in New York. She was like a dream, a dream ruiner. Yeah. And I literally burst into tears. I started sobbing and my dad was like, no, we have tickets. They know that you're young, we got in, you're fine. I was like, but she's sad.

And then we fully got in. It was not an issue. It was Lucy Lawless was the host. Great. Elliot Smith was the musical guest. Wow. Wow. Meaningless to me at the time.

Um, but you know, it was like it was the end of like the reign of like Will Ferrell and Molly, Anna and Sherry, you know, and it was like, it was the coolest thing that had ever, ever happened to me. I was just like in heaven. And then my mom took me a few years later. And this is like, this is like now me knowing I'm gay to so like, just a little more going to going to New York was a little more like, you know, I don't know, it just was very loaded or something. I just thought, I don't know. I thought something was going to happen. I don't know what I thought.

It was just something sexual. And nothing did. And but we went to see Chicago with Michael C. Hall and I don't know, it very sweet it was so it was so amazing I guess there's no story here beyond just like you know I just genuinely remember like I said to my dad and I wasn't kidding like when we got back to Nashville I was like I miss the smell of the sewer like just like the steam from the sewer was like so romantic and exciting to me. I could not believe it.

I have the reverse of that happening, which is yeah, my kids hate the smells of New York City and Of course. And I love New York City. I love everything about New York City. I walked up Third Avenue today. I was like City. I walked up Third Avenue today. I was like, I'm gonna walk up Third Avenue, which is not one of our finest avenues. And I still just love, I love all the worst avenues I love. And the other day we were walking in, and again, like steam is just shooting out of the subway.

You know, those big like steam tubes. And we walked through it and my oldest, who has a real real penchant for drama like took a gulp of it and then for eight blocks said I think it's still in my chest. I'm like it's not the steam's not in your chest still. That's not how it works. But it is like that's it.

It's so funny because they I but I think if you never have been in New York and you're your age and you go, it's just the best. It was so magical. It was so cool. Yeah. I also like that you went to go see Chicago and you can say, you know, it was sweet, but it also like, I feel like a lot of people go to New York and don't go see shows. And I think to bring a kid to a show, a teenager or, you know,

a younger kid, it sticks with them. Oh my God. It's really magical. It's really amazing to see live performers performing and it's, I don't know, maybe because I'm, you know, I've always loved theater and clearly you're a performer, maybe it hits us different, but I think it just hits kids in such a good way. I think it's such a good thing to do with your kids.

Well, and also, like, I remember specifically the broad, like, I am that when you hear about Broadway as a kid, you're assuming it's like stadiums. Because it's like, apparently the biggest thing ever. It's like the, that, you know, the all end all. And like, so I was so shocked by the intimacy of the theaters and the ornate kind of old theater quality. And it's like 700 people sometimes. Like, you know, in the audience, I was like, oh my God, I thought we were gonna be in a giant arena

seeing these shows, you know? And- I still am caught off guard. Like all these, I mean, I go a fair amount and I still walk in and think, oh right, it is so much more intimate than I remember. And you can't believe, especially, you know, I've brought the kids to see The Lion King

and it's just insane that they're that close to people performing as opposed to just watching a movie. And when you go as a kid, it's like the last time you're gonna be able to go before your knees are jammed up in front of the seat in front of you. Yes, exactly. And heaven forbid you have a jacket. Where's that go?

I saw my dad when we went that first trip, I saw Beauty and the Beast starring Tony Braxton, y'all. Wow. So y'all. Wow. So y'all know they had to change the keys. Because she's a bass. I mean, she's literally a bass. Yeah. Yeah. That's not, yeah, if you learn it, you don't want to learn on the night Tony's singing. But she was amazing. I might.

She was so good. Yeah, that's true. Yeah. You know, our parents did the same thing. You know, we would so good. Yeah, that's true. Yeah. You know, our parents did the same thing. You know, we would go to see a, we lived about an hour from Boston. We'd see shows there, but they started taking us to New York City and the purposes would be to go see shows. Yeah.

I remember seeing, we saw the original Angels in America, which was an incredible show. Are you kidding me? Yes. And then they brought us back a year later to see. To see this second? Perestroika, if it was. Yeah, and it was, I just remember- Oh my God!

First time I saw Jeffrey Wright. It's just amazing. That's so crazy that y'all saw that. It's the best, and so you just, the same thing now, which is, we're trying, I think that the kids now can go and appreciate it. Although it was so funny, the first time my wife took, when he was six, she took our son to see Lion King.

And they have such an, our kids go to bed so early. They're literally never up when it's dark in New York City. Oh no, yeah. So my son came home from Lion King, and it had been the latest he'd ever been up. And I was like, how was it? He's like, he goes, there's a place called Times Square, there are more lights there.

And literally, immediately just taking a cab home from Lion King, he was like, there's lights everywhere. Oh, that's so cute. Felt so bad for Julie Taymor that at the end of the day, it's like, well, the puppets were great, but then he saw Times Square for the first time. There's also nothing more romantic to me than the show that's been running for 20 years.

And just like, what are the, who are those stage managers? Yeah. I have to play one, obviously. Yeah. Like the Phantomantom stage manager who's been doing it for like 25, 30 years, you know, like I just like, what is the vibe?

Like are people happy to be there? Right. What's going on? Here's the movie I want for you, John. Yeah, thank you. You're the stage manager, it's year 15. Yeah. And they, the lead gets sick

and they can't find the understudy and it turns out you do know the part. Of course I know the part, yeah, that's beautiful. But they're gonna have to change the key. They do have to change the key, you're being a real hard ass about the key thing. Yeah, I have like weird demands. You have a rider ready to go. And it's like the best night of my life.

But it's just like kind of like everyone's like, thank you so much for stepping in and I'm like, that's it. A full diva for the night. This is no surprise here. It's been a fantastic conversation as it always is with you. I can't wait to see you. I'm gonna see you in early June. And I can't wait.

Josh is gonna ask you some questions that we ask all of our guests. Okay, here we go, John. You can only pick one of these. Is your ideal vacation relaxing, adventurous, or educational? Relaxing. Very good.

What is your favorite means of transportation? Train, plane, automobile, boat, bike, walking? Train. If you could take a vacation with any family, alive or dead, real or fictional, other than your own family, what family would you like to take a vacation with? The family from the corrections.

I'm kidding. I'm sorry. I would go with, I would go with the, maybe the sopranos. I mean, it would be scary obviously, but just food wise, like I would be excited to eat Italian with them. The excess of food, yeah, good. If you had to be stranded on a desert island

with one member of your family, who would it be? Oh my God, well, they're all gonna listen to this. Oh no, I mean, I'm gonna say my dad, My God, well, they're all going to listen to this. Oh, no. I mean, I'm going to say my dad because he is because he's extremely funny. He's and he's a compulsive joker. And I think that would actually I'm sure it would get in the way in like terms of basic survival. But I think in terms of like

managing anxiety, I think the laughter would really help. Gotcha. Yeah, you are from Nashville. Would you recommend Nashville as a vacation destination? Yeah. You're not going to get it's not going to be like relaxing. You're not going to get the relaxing. You can get educational and you can get really good food. Yeah, you can get adventurous, I guess. Yeah, no, I think drunk.

Yeah. Yeah. And you can hear some great music. I think a lot of those bachelorette parties are fairly adventurous from the looks of things on the outside. Completely. They're like the like those weird like where you bike and like drink at the same time. What is that? Yeah. It's fun.

It's fun. Yeah. And then Seth has our final questions. John, have you been to the Grand Canyon? No. Do you have any interest? Completely dying to go. Oh, interesting.

I don't know how that was going to break, but I did not think it would break so hard one way or the other. No, it is very, very much a goal of mine. I love mountains, I love hiking. I love big, would you call that a vista? I think you would. Yeah, there's some vistas out there that I think you would.

That does, I do thank God have the capacity to be brought to my knees by a Vista. All right. So I would like to do that. Oh, great. All right, wonderful. This has just been a delight. I will see you soon.

We love you very much, John. All right, thank you guys. All right, bye. Bye, buddy. Bye. When John was young, he'd triumphal with his family from church to church, just riding in the back seat In the back row, tic-tac-toe He insists would sing the soprano

Anxiety at Disney Thought that they were being too fancy In North Carolina rent a cabin out in Montree He would sing Carpenters with his mom that is so sweet To meet kids his age he would walk down to the creek Hang out in the creek SNL at 11 how does dad get a ticket? At Bolton's in Nashville he eats the hot chicken He was baptized by a dad of Limp Bizkit

A dad of Limp Bizkit Rollin'!