Family Trips with the Meyers Brothers - PAUL FEIG Had ‘Sundahs’ with Grandma in Florida

Episode Date: December 16, 2025

The very dapper film director Paul Feig joins Seth and Josh on the pod this week! Paul talks about his childhood growing up in Michigan and memories of his father's army surplus store, his comedic beg...innings, and his journey to LA at 17. Paul shares fond memories of his family's vacations to Florida and the Caribbean and his (not so fond) experiences with his grandparents. Paul also chats about his latest movie “The Housemaid” out on 12/19/2025! *Note: We apologize for the occasional video freezes in this episode due to connection issues. Thanks for sticking with us! Watch more Family Trips episodes: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlqYOfxU_jQem4_NRJPM8_wLBrEEQ17B6 Support our sponsors: Olipop Buy any 2 cans of Olipop in store, and we'll pay you back for one Go to DrinkOlipop.com/TRIPS Shipt Shipt’s exclusive savings event: Season of Savings, happening now through December 28th. Shop tons of deals, including member-exclusive savings, all season long. Terms apply. Download the app or order now at Shipt.com Aura Frames Exclusive $35 off Carver Mat at https://on.auraframes.com/TRIPS. Promo Code TRIPS Blueland Blueland has a special offer for listeners. Right now, get 15% off your first order by going to Blueland.com/trips Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 Hey, Pudgie. Hey, Sufi. We haven't talked since Thanksgiving. Is that right? I think that's right. So much has happened. Yeah. I mean, we went our separate ways for Thanksgiving proper.
Starting point is 00:00:12 Yeah. After, let me just say, after I feel like we had maybe our strongest Myers family Thanksgiving show of all time. Yeah, it was a winner. You brined. I do recommend anybody who hasn't seen you brined. Just go look it up on YouTube. It's a spin-on. of you burnt the popular-ish I think very very popular in my mind and and it was great I
Starting point is 00:00:38 you and mom and dad were just absolutely tremendous with your performance there was one moment in it where mom and I sort of volley back and forth on a on the same monologue ripping people who yeah unbuttoned their pants on Thanksgiving sort of Shakespearean and yeah disdain for those who had unbuttoned their pants I did I I rarely read comments, but I read one that said, because apparently there's a two shot. Well, now I know there's a two shot because I've watched it. And they were like, it's so cute to watch Hillary Myers mouthing along with Josh saying his words. And then someone pointed out that I kind of do it too.
Starting point is 00:01:16 And you can see my mouth just making the smallest movements because, I mean, in our defense, we are looking at cue cards that have all the words written on them. So it's, yeah, I don't know. It's subconscious. It might be genetic as well because early on in my time at S&L I was often caught mouthing other people's lines. Yeah, yeah. I think it's like a little bit of anticipation.
Starting point is 00:01:39 You're just sort of gearing up for your next time to say what you're supposed to say. But it was really fun. It was such a special show. Also, my kids were guests on the show. Yeah? We had pre-taped that a week earlier. And we went our separate ways,
Starting point is 00:01:58 and I got mom and dad, and they came with us to spend the holidays with our family. And a bunch of people kept coming over to the house. And people kept asking to watch it. So I just want people to know. I'm not the guy who's like, you've got to see the kids. Yeah. People were coming over and they're like, oh, my God, we want to watch it.
Starting point is 00:02:17 So the boys and Addy got to watch it three times in, let's say, an hour. Wow. And on the third time, they started yelling out their lines before they set them on TV. and I had to pause it, I had to pause it and say, this is, this is worse. I will say they all, they were all like, oh, right, right, right, right. I'm like, I go, you're going to get your laugh, but don't, you don't get two laughs. Yeah. If you say it twice.
Starting point is 00:02:42 Do you think they're getting a big head about it? No, I think I was a little worried about it. I mean, I think they're going to want to do it again. I think it's exactly what happened with mom and dad. Look no further than what happened with mom and dad. Yeah, I will say, though, like, because, mom and dad and me do that episode like mom will get stopped in the produce section like they'll get recognized out in the world from people who don't know them who are like hey are you larry meyers are you and it's uh yeah yeah that's great uh it was uh it was a lot of fun it's one of my favorite little parts of the week before Thanksgiving is that we get to have a dinner with all our friends and then we do Thanksgiving show and then we come back to my apartment and we play some games very good games this year very good games. We played this game. I don't know if it's Dixit, Dixit, was one of the Spaled
Starting point is 00:03:36 the Yaris winners, which is the German game of the year. Oh, if they listen to Family Trips, they know Spel de Yaris. A previous winner of Spel de Yaris, great game. And then we played Monikers, which is sort of someone's taken a game that I've played at parties in the past and put it in a box. So it was like celebrities. kind of like celebrities yeah it could be phrases and things but also just a fun party game that you take it out of the box and I it always with every game people are always like wait I don't understand the rules and it's like no one understands until you play once just give it a beat just give it a beat you don't have to yell out hey you know we were I went over I want to ask you this question because so oh I'm gonna I'm gonna work backwards but I was on the Graham Norton show for the first time in life oh yeah which is really excited One of the guests had just won the British version of the show Traders.
Starting point is 00:04:31 Have you ever watched The Reality Show Traders here in the States hosted by Alan Cummings? I've watched an episode or two on a plane. The Game Mafia, it's sort of based on the game Mafia. Yeah. Do you like the game Mafia? I do, but it also, you need the right group of people. I will leave a party if it's time to play Mafia. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:04:54 I hate Mafia so much. yeah i hate that it's basically just people friends of yours accusing you or just saying it's i know it's or people saying it's not me dude you know me right yeah that's i mean that stuff's ridiculous yeah um anyway don't care for mafia uh but alan car who won british traders uh what it would a delight he was um yes right after um we wrapped up thanksgiving i went to london for the first time In over a decade, man, oh man, I can't say enough about London. If you're talking about a family trip, probably a little late for this year. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:05:32 But a Christmas trip to London is like nothing else. I mean, that's where it feels like a lot of classic Christmas stuff would go on. Look, if you're looking for a stuffed Paddington, if you're looking for a peppa pig and a Santa's hat, you don't got to look very far. You gave me, you made me the biggest nerd. in all of London. Oh, I'm so glad. Yeah. You got me a book.
Starting point is 00:06:00 John LaCarray is basically map of London. Yeah. It's not, like, book is the wrong thing. It's like a fold-out, like, pamphlet map showing you all the, like, where George Smiley would have gone. Yeah. And for those who don't know, the John LaCare books, but, you know, a lot of spies. The Smiley's books are my favorite, literally my favorite books in the world.
Starting point is 00:06:22 And total comfort reading at this point in my life. But it was funny because, like, I was with other people, and we were in Chelsea late at night about getting a taxi and go home. Like, ooh, if we just swing over here, we can see George Smiley's house. And they're like, what? I'm like, all, never mind. I'll do it later. But I sent you a picture of me with my big old fold-out map. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:06:44 Yeah. I feel you look less like a tourist if it's a literary map. Oh, I agree with that for sure. Yeah. I, so when you went off to Martha's Vineyard with mom and dad for Thanksgiving and I drove up to McKenzie's hometown for like three days, which was great, although I was sort of taken ill. So I spent a lot of that time sleeping. And McKenzie was very good to just be like, just rest. And I would just sort of sack out in this room. But before we left, we had it. Was it like a flu? Were you taking ill with a flu? It was sinusitis, as it turns out. Oh, that's pretty cool. Yeah, super cool. But before we left New York, we went and had a three-hour brunch at a restaurant in New York from 11 to 2 with our friends, the Moskoses. And it was just kind of an epic thing where I feel like at the end, I mean, the restaurant did give us a bottle of Prosecco late in the game.
Starting point is 00:07:42 Part of me was like, they'd want us out of here because there were a lot of people that were waiting to, sit down and we were a table of eight and had been there since opening and uh but they were you know they gave us a did they give you a like a a bottle a please leave bottle no no they popped it open they popped oh i see well then they came me yeah they put a bosecco on a little string and they dragged it slowly across the floor out the front door oh there goes your yeah we we had sort of a guest star this gal zaneb oh yeah zanab was a big part of our weekend Yeah. She's this Turkish actress who was in their version of Survivor twice. Oh, I didn't realize that part. And there were two, there were three people that worked at the restaurant who were Turkish, who came over, and they all just started chatting.
Starting point is 00:08:35 And then someone else recognized her from the show, and I feel like they maybe sent the bottle of Prosecco over. So, yeah, it was, I feel like it was nice for her to get her props. And Zaneb was there because Dad brought her. wouldn't tell us how he met her. No. Daneb was friends with our friend Finn Moskos, who was one of the, the child of the boom Chicago family,
Starting point is 00:08:59 part of the boom Chicago empire. Yeah. Yep, yep, yep, yep. Yeah, terrific weekend. Great trip. And also, I mean, you know, I know people don't listen to this podcast to hear how I'm doing with the Steelers season,
Starting point is 00:09:17 but I was flying to London and I'm like, you know what? I'm not even going to pay attention in the Steelers-Bills game because what's going to put me in a bad moon? I'm just going to land and look at my phone. And then I landed and looked at my phone and I was in the worst moon.
Starting point is 00:09:31 And I was like, you know what? I'm done. I'm done with the Steelers. I don't need this. And I did not watch a snap of the game on Sunday. And then I looked at my phone and then did a dance in a strip mall parking lot.
Starting point is 00:09:45 while my family was in a sushi restaurant and I'm back Pasha I'm back in welcome back Sufi that's good to be back we got Paul Figue on the show this week Paul Figue is yeah lovely guy to talk to lovely guy to lay eyes on
Starting point is 00:10:01 yeah famously wears his suit everywhere he goes so yeah a dapper dapper gentleman and yeah he's new film the housemaid he's coming to theaters December 19th
Starting point is 00:10:14 with, yeah, it's going to be a good one. I'm a big fan of these books. Are you really? Yeah. Oh, I didn't know that. That's exciting. Yeah. I mean, I mentioned it in the interview.
Starting point is 00:10:25 I guess you weren't paying attention. I kind of listened to the guest. I'm not really listening to you. I'm like zeroed in on them. When you're, also, when you're talking, I'm moving my lips to what you're saying? Oh, right. Yeah, yeah. I can't really hear.
Starting point is 00:10:37 But, yeah, Paul Feig. I mean, freaks and geeks. Yeah. Bridesmaids? Lots of classics. He's doing, knows what he's doing behind a camera. Yeah. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:10:46 Enjoy everybody. Hello, how are you? I'm fantastic. I'm fantastic. Thanks for having me on. Probably our most dapper guest I never had. And I mean, again, he's always dapper, but I was concerned. I was like, does he not dress up for podcasts?
Starting point is 00:11:27 Nobody wants to see that. I'm thrilled. You've had a very uneventful week, Seth. Yeah, it's nice. It's nice and low-key. And I like, that's how I like it. Good God. What world are we living in?
Starting point is 00:11:40 Anyway. Hey, can I tell you I had a very exciting Paul Feig moment that it never happened. for me before. Really? I'd never seen heavyweights. Oh, no. Oh, my God. Well, there you go.
Starting point is 00:11:51 It was very exciting because, obviously, I know you as a director and a writer. I was aware that you were an actor, but I feel like I had sort of missed your acting. Heavyweights came out after. I was too late for me, but now I have kids. There you know. It was a delight. It kind of weirdly holds up. I hadn't seen it forever.
Starting point is 00:12:08 They just did the 30-year anniversary with the cast, and I stopped by that. And, yeah, it was fine. I mean, it was kind of ahead of its time, weirdly, because the humor was a little more kind of, you know, Ben Stillerry, Judapitawi at the time. And it just bombed. Yeah, it was like a very, it was like a forerunner. It was like somebody saw in Ben Stiller what the future was going to be.
Starting point is 00:12:27 And this was like a nice dry run and a kid-friendly movie. Yeah, exactly. And it just bombed horribly. I mean, just tanked at the inbox. I will say the nice thing about it holding up is it's not, I think you might rush to the opinion that the conference. is all at the expense of the kids at the camp? Yeah, you know, I mean, definitely.
Starting point is 00:12:48 No, I mean, that's the thing. It's like when we did bridesmaids and people saw the trailer with Melissa doing the, you know, burping and saying, I don't know which end that came out of it. All this negative press came up before we came out saying we're going to be making fun of her. It's like, no, she's the coolest character in the movie. Yeah, yeah, she's the person you want to hang out with. Jump to conclusions. A real shame, looking back, it's a real shame when they review the trailers.
Starting point is 00:13:11 You know, I don't. I don't know why that wouldn't work, but somehow, you know. As a movie maker, I tell you, we would love nothing more than to not put out trailers. Yeah. The greatest experience. I have a friend who sort of taught me that, like, the first trailer that you see, maybe like nine months before a movie comes out or a year before, like, that one's fine to watch. But the closer it gets to opening day, you should look away because then they're just giving too much away.
Starting point is 00:13:36 And it's, yeah. No, they panic. Like, we're not tracking. Did you tell the end of the movie? Yeah. Fortunately, my new movie, Lionsgate, has been really good on hiding stuff. Yeah, which I'm very excited for. I'm a big audiobook fan, and particularly I drive to Mammoth Mountain from Los Angeles,
Starting point is 00:13:55 and I always look for a book that I can kind of do in about 10 hours, which gets me there and back. And The House Maid is one of those books. Oh, good. I love them as audiobooks, and I'm so excited. I've listened to the follow-up, and I'm so excited that you've made this. Oh, well, thanks. I appreciate that. You know, the audiobook I'm really into right now is Barry Diller's book. Have you listened to that yet?
Starting point is 00:14:16 It's fantastic. Quite a delight. I know that he re-recorded it. He wasn't happy with his first pass at his own book. I mean, it's funny. He like, because I did an audiobook for one of my, I wrote like this kid's sci-fi thing, and I did the audiobook, and all they kept saying is like slow down. Like, I was just ripping through it.
Starting point is 00:14:35 And so I listened to him, he's like really emotes and he's taking his time. I was like, wow, that's smart. That's cool what you do. Yeah, yeah. I think he, again, he obviously has an incredible ear and eye for when things are good or bad. And I think I like that he listened to his first pass. Because I'm assuming it's an terminal bull to record the audio for a book. So to want to do it a second time means you really.
Starting point is 00:14:55 It's kind of like torture because you don't realize what a bad reader you are until you are put in front of a microphone to do it. You know, and I can talk on camera, but for some reason reading your own words, like every other sentence I would trip up and have to stop again. And it was like torture for everybody involved. Yeah. Yeah. And were you ever like, this is, if the writing was better, I would. Totally. Who wrote this thing?
Starting point is 00:15:20 Also, Amanda Seifred's in your movie. And I'm just going to say, one of like a sneaky great talk show guest. Yeah. Oh my God. Because she's very her own thing. Yeah. And I think people sometimes maybe make a mistake with Amanda of, of like, observing her and thinking she's going to be one thing. And she is just.
Starting point is 00:15:40 such a delight. No, the minute that, look, the dulcimer comes out and suddenly, you know, America falls head over heels in love. She's, I mean, she's really the best. I mean, and she was so much fun to work with, and she's just, you know, really a free spirit in all the great ways that that means. So where is Mount Clemens, Michigan? High on top of a mountain. No, it's, it's right. It's part of Clinton Township, which, when you follow the presidential, you know, campaigns, They always have to stop in Clinton Township because it's very auto worker and blue collar, you know, that's where I grew up. But, yeah, Mount Clemens is kind of right, you know, if you're from Michigan, you're right about to here, you know. Gotcha, yep, yep.
Starting point is 00:16:18 Lake St. Clair-ish and, yeah, good old Midwestern stock. I love it. Did you have a good Midwestern upbringing? Yeah, I really did. I really did. I was there until 17 and I escaped to come to L.A. and be a tour guy to Universal Studios and then never left. So, no siblings, correct? No, only, just me. They said, forget it. One and done, man. Did you, were you close with your parents? Yeah, I really was. I had great parents. They were really, really good.
Starting point is 00:16:49 They kind of each gave me the other side of what I needed. My mom was really supportive, and she really wanted me to be in showbiz, and, you know, even though we were in Michigan, so she didn't know what that meant. She just wanted me to be a performer or something, and she really, like, goofy humor. And then my dad was really quite a raconteur. He could tell a joke. like an old-time comedian can really keep you enthralled, which I'd have no skill at doing whatsoever. But between the two of them, he was kind of the smart humor. My mom was goofy humor, and together it produced this. Were they aware that you were absorbing their two sides of humor
Starting point is 00:17:24 for the purposes of a career? I don't know. Well, in kind of, because when I was a magician growing up, because that's what you do when you want to perform. Sure, of course, you buy an act, basically. So I was getting ready for the talent show in ninth grade and did my act for my dad. And he goes like, oh, you can't just do magic. You've got to have jokes.
Starting point is 00:17:45 And so he went into this file that he had because he used to go to the nightclubs and write down the MC's jokes, which I guess was the comedians back later. Yeah. So he had this whole giant file of these jokes. They were all fairly off color. Yeah. And he gave me. And so I peppered them through my act and I ended up winning the talent show.
Starting point is 00:18:04 But with jokes that were pretty. I mean, I told the first one, which was kind of a really rude joke, but kind of top secretly rude. But I got to the punchline, and there was a big silence, and then you hear all the teachers in the back of the auditorium just burst out laughing. Do you remember it? Do you remember your first blue joke? Yeah, it was, I can't tell it exactly. It was just basically the premise was an elephant escapes from the zoo, and one night it's up on top of a hill, and it's eating cabbage with its trunk. It's pulling them out of the, out and eating it. And so this guy is walking and he sees it silhouetted against the moonlight. So he just sees a silhouette of this happening.
Starting point is 00:18:43 So he goes to somebody's house and he goes, there's an elephant up there. He said, what's it doing? And said, well, it's pulling up cabbage with its tail. He said, well, what's it doing then? He says, if I told you, you wouldn't believe me. It's a shoving cabbage of your ass joke that won me the talent show. Hey, we're going to take a quick break and hear from some of our sponsors. The support comes from Ollie Pop.
Starting point is 00:19:05 Ooh. You know what I like about the olipop sodas posh? What's that, toof? Well, first of all, crisp apple is a flavor. Big fan of that. Delicious, but low in sugar. You know what I am all about this particular time of year with these ali pops? What's that? These adorable yeties. Yeah, there's yeties on the cans. Look at this vintage cola. Yeah, I got to say, when we were younger, we drank a fair amount of soda pop. And it wasn't necessarily good for it.
Starting point is 00:19:35 It was not good for us. It was not good for us. But now there's so much to love with olipop because it's good for your gut health. I'm going to go down to my list here. Tell you some of the nostalgic flavors. Vintage Cola. Classic group beer. Orange squeeze.
Starting point is 00:19:47 Classic grape, strawberry vanilla, cream soda, cherry cola. They also have a Dr. Pepper dupe called Dr. Goodwin and a brand new Sprite dupe lemon lime flavor. It's delicious. And as Poshy pointed out, take a look at this can because you ain't seen nothing yety. Right, Posh? Is that what you always say? Yeah, bravo, bravo.
Starting point is 00:20:07 It's a new holiday tradition. No matter how you celebrate this time of year, Oli Pop's holiday sodas, make the season brighter, refreshing, and more fun. Buy any two cans of Olipop in store and we'll pay you back for one. Works on any flavor, any retailer, including the Yeti Limited Edition cans,
Starting point is 00:20:23 go to drinkollipop.com slash trips. Olipop is sold online at drinkollipop.com and Amazon. And they're also available in almost 50,000 retailers nationwide, including Costco Walmart, Target, Publix, Whole Foods, Kroger, and H.E.B. Support comes from Shipped. Hey, Bouchy. Hey, Sufi. Tell us about Shipped.
Starting point is 00:20:45 Oh, well, Shipped makes the holiday season more joyful by helping you save time with same-day delivery on everything you need, groceries, decor, gifts, and so much more from your favorite local and national stores like Albertsons, Michael's, Target, and PetSmart. I love Shipped when I'm trying to get my fresh groceries. And then, once I got those, decor, gifts, everything else for hosting. And this is the time of the season when hosting is happening. Also, Shipt makes gifting easy with same-day speed nationwide coverage, personalized service from shoppers and affordability. Members get zero-dollar delivery fees on orders over $35.
Starting point is 00:21:23 Also, sometimes when you're planning so much for a big holiday party, you forget about the rest of the world that's happening around you and the fact that your kids still need snacks constantly. Yeah. Same-day grocery delivery. is a holiday miracle when you use Shipped, save even more during the holidays with Ships exclusive savings event. Season of Savings happening now through December 28th. Shop tons of deals, including member exclusive savings all season long. Terms apply, download the app or order now at shipt.com. That's shipt.com. Support for family trips comes from Lowe's. Stay cozy, stay home, and save big online during
Starting point is 00:22:01 Lowe's December deal drops, because honestly, why go anywhere when the deals come to you? Check this out. Lowe's is going to give you two free select tools from DeWalt, Craftsman, or Cobalt when you buy a select battery or combo kit. Yep, two tools. Free. It's basically a holiday miracle. Plus, rewards members get free standard shipping all month long.
Starting point is 00:22:23 Yet another reason not to leave your couch. Kick back, click around, and let the savings roll in. Shop new December deal drops on Lowe's.com every week this month. Fresh deals, cozy vibes, zero effort. Canada's Wonderland is bringing the holiday magic this season with Winterfest on select nights now through January 3rd. Step into a winter wonderland filled with millions of dazzling lights, festive shows, rides, and holiday treats. Plus, Coca-Cola is back with Canada's kindest community, celebrating acts of kindness nationwide with a chance of at 100,000 donation for the winning community
Starting point is 00:23:01 and a 2026 holiday caravan stop. Learn more at canadaswunderland.com. Would your father sort of break out these written jokes at dinners and things? Would he sort of stop things to be like, I got a good one. Yeah, well, he had them all memorized. It was really wild.
Starting point is 00:23:25 Like, if you asked me to tell a joke, they all go out of my head. But he would just, but he worked, it didn't really like, you know, there was a fellow who wants, you know, he starts with like a fellow or something. Yeah, a friend of a friend. Yeah, exactly. That's right. And he would just like, it'd be like a five-minute joke, but it wasn't like a shaggy dog joke. It was like a really, like, every moment was getting laughs. And then he hit the punchline and people went crazy. Oh, that's great. Yeah, it was pretty fun to watch that. What did your parents do when you were
Starting point is 00:23:49 growing up? My dad owned an army surplus store, sporting goods, but mostly army surplus in Detroit. And my mom kind of worked for my dad in the back off. office and uh i used to go to army surplus stores how do you start having an army surplus store like what i mean like yeah well he started with a pawn shop in in in like downtown detroit like the worst part of downtown detroit at the time and um i think it's just you start getting surplus because it's cheap goods that you can get and so that just started coming in and then yeah he just he eventually moved into this old he had one store out by like st clair that was pretty big and then he moving into an old A&P, which is a giant supermarket, and took it over, and it was mostly
Starting point is 00:24:34 surplus, but a lot of sporting goods, too. Got it. Did you ever work at that place? Oh, I was forced to work in that store. Seth, I had a whole career before I was 17 years old. It was one of the reasons I moved away. Starting at five, my dad just made me work in the store. It's like, it'll give you a character, and it'll keep you humble and all this stuff.
Starting point is 00:24:55 I was cleaning bathrooms from the day I started. started there until the day I left at 17. Oh, that, I mean, so it's even worse than we could have imagined. Oh, I didn't think of you stocking jantines or like finally spending time at the front counter, no. Oh, God, no, no. They made me do all these tasks because my dad just told everybody, keep them humble. Keep them like, so everybody dumped all their worst jobs onto me. And finally, I just said, okay, I'm moving to California.
Starting point is 00:25:20 I would be honest, if I, at what point when you were working at this story do you think you should make a sign to put outside that said bathrooms not for customers? At some point, I'm like, it's a store. Like, how much, who was destroying the bathroom? Exactly. And they destroy everything you do, though. It was always like, you know, because he sold lots of jeans and stuff that everything had to be folded. You know, so there's some shelves and shelves of folded stuff. And you would just, you know, spend your whole day folding stuff and one person would come through and just tear everything apart.
Starting point is 00:25:48 So to this day, like, all I do is refold stuff when I'm in other people's stores. Because I know the pain of like, I just spend an hour folding all that stuff up. But also, you know, you get quite an interesting crowd when you have an Army surplus store. I like that you, I think a youth being surrounded by Olive Green convinced you to wear a suit every day. Exactly. Well, my dad always wore a suit and tie at work, you know. Did he? So this you inherited from him.
Starting point is 00:26:12 Yeah, it was like if you're an adult, you do it. And like he'd be in the back of the stock room, pulling boxes down and going through the garbage and stuff and just mostly like a sports jacket slacks in a tie. But it was always drummed in my head when you work, you wear a tie. And so when did you, because again, this is sort of the. iconic Paul Feig. Look, when did the, when did L.A. know that Paul was the guy who wore a suit? Was it when you started directing or was it even before then? No, it was basically after I did freaks and geeks. Gotcha. Because I said, well, I started, actually when I first moved out here in 81, I started
Starting point is 00:26:43 doing stand-up. And I was really into these things called willy wear suits, which were in the early 80s. And they were the kind of the baggy suit, where you'd roll up the sleeves, of course. Yeah, of course. We always rolled up our suit sleeves. And I would wear, when I, standout. I would wear like a polo shirt with a bolo tie and I had a flat top. So it was quite a severe look. But then as I was, you know, doing more stand-up, it was kind of, everybody was so kind of, you know, kind of more in the George Carlin mode. And so I was like, maybe I should. So I kind of went to vintage bowling shirts and Converse sneakers. And I kind of did that. And then once I did like freaks and geeks, I was trying to reconnect with some mythical high school version of
Starting point is 00:27:26 myself because I always dressed up in school, but I started wearing jeans and, you know, and, like, you know, just over shirts, like Oxford shirts over a T-shirt and grew my hair long and stuff and did that. But once Freaks and Case was over and I was out pitching new shows, like, I'd be in these meetings with all the suits, you know, and they would actually, back then, they were in suits. And I'm there in T-shirts and jeans and they put you on the low couch and you're kind of your knees are in your face and they're all, you know, dictating stuff to you. And I was like, I don't like this power structure. I'm going to go back to. suits and so I did and then the minute I did the industry decided suits weren't going to wear
Starting point is 00:28:00 suits anymore they're going to wear jeans and t-shirt so suddenly I was in rooms in a suit and tie and they were wearing jeans and t-shirt and thought oh this poor rub he wore his church clothes to this meeting but I like the power dynamics I was like I'm just going to stick with it I really like that I you know there was a chance that this is the way you've always dressed and what you just explained to us is this is your hundredth look you finally settled on your 100 100th look. Well, David Crossman, I was directing a rest of development, said, he goes, do you just wake up every morning and there's a big wheel of eras, and you spin it and say, okay, today on the 1920s?
Starting point is 00:28:37 So I have a lot of different styles I play with. Were you, did you, family vacations when you're growing up, was it the lake culture of Michigan? No, since my dad had the sporting goods store and he sold a lot of hunting equipment and stuff like that, he wanted nothing to do it. He hated that world so much. So it was always either Florida to visit my grandmother or the Caribbean because we'd have like one week, hit one week a year in like February he could go away when the holidays were over. And so, yeah, we would go on these kind of tropical vacations or drive down to Florida. So, all right, let's start with the tropical vacations.
Starting point is 00:29:11 Was that, was that rare amongst your peer group that you were going to the Caribbean back then? Yeah, yeah, it looked at as being very, you know, because my dad owned a store, so he was, you know, looked at it as being well-to-do, even though it was an Army's surplus store. and he would not let my mother ever have a Cadillac. She always wanted a Cadillag. And he said, if you have a nice car, they're going to think I'm charging too much. What did he drive? A station wagon.
Starting point is 00:29:34 Okay. Gotcha. All as long as he wasn't in a Cadillac. That's so... I mean, by the way, that talks about how good he was in business that he realized your mom's car would hurt his bottom line.
Starting point is 00:29:44 Yeah, he was smart. And, you know, so my mom actually had a Pacer. We had a Pacer. All right. The car of jokes, so many jokes. I was going to say, there had to be something between Pacer and Cadillac. lack.
Starting point is 00:29:55 Dodge Coronet, Plymouth Fury. I had a Plymouth Grand Fury in college. It was great. They're gigantic. It's gigantic. It's like a couch in the front and a couch in the back. Yeah, and I had to learn, like, drivers training on that car, just that thing trundling down the, you know, these two, you know, everything was just, you know, one way each way.
Starting point is 00:30:14 And so you're, you know, all I can see is every time with that giant car, I was just going to somehow clip the car coming towards me and die. But I didn't. I made it. Yeah, it was a friend in college. It was a friend's grandmother's car that I bought for like $300 and it would just turn off
Starting point is 00:30:28 in the middle of an intersection and then the power steering would go and I would just have to muscle it through the rest of the turn and then pull over and start it up again. Exactly. That was the thing and it would always like the carburetor would always stall, you know?
Starting point is 00:30:41 Yeah, great car though. Yeah, it was a great car. I like cars better now because they don't have all that stuff that stalls. Yeah. What was your Caribbean vacation like when you guys got down there?
Starting point is 00:30:51 It was fun. We'd always go to either like the Bahamas or Jamaica. We went to Haiti once. Wow. It was on a cruise, though. It was like a little mini cruise. And I remember stopping in Haiti and we got driven around
Starting point is 00:31:04 before all the, you know, all the Haiti went down way back when. Yeah, and it was wild. I mean, it's weird to go somewhere that is beautiful and nice, and then it becomes troubled later, and you're like, we were there. That's weird. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:31:21 And were you beached people? when you got there? Were you staying at resorts or hotels on the water? Yeah, always on the water. I would always, before apparently sunblock existed, I would be out on the beach all day and get such horrendous burns that I couldn't put on a dress shirt at night.
Starting point is 00:31:37 I mean, just screaming in pain, like, in bed and just, you know, blisters on your... Because you're just, you know, body surfing all day or whatever you're doing in the... Yeah, so, you know, yeah, being from the Midwest, and winter and you go away in their sun and surf, then you're just...
Starting point is 00:31:51 That's all you do. The Figs, I think. Take it the figs are a fair-skinned people. Yeah, very fair-skinned. We're white, then we're red, then we're pink, and then we're white again. And would you sort of go off on your own when you were down there? Would you hang out as a unit? Well, as I got older, we always took my cousin Philip, because I was an only child,
Starting point is 00:32:11 and so that was always the thing of, like, bring Philip along so he can take care of, you know, or be friends with Paul. He was a couple years older than me. And so eventually we would kind of go off on our own, but not really, but kind of to different parts of the resort and try to find people that we liked and go to whatever nightclub would let you in. But, you know, like those resorts, you know, you can go into the casino, you can go into the nightclub and they don't generally stop you. Yeah. What side of the family was Philip? Was he your mom's side or your dad's side? My dad's side, yeah. And was there a lot of
Starting point is 00:32:39 family from your dad's side in town and around? No, not really. We only saw, they were all Michigan, but they lived in Grosil, which was like an hour away from us. So, and I, he had like two older sisters and then him. And that was kind of it. That's the extent. kind of family that I were really in touch with. Gotcha. But he would kind of be, he and I were best friends, so it was really fun. How often did you see him during the year when you weren't on vacation? Only at holidays, really.
Starting point is 00:33:05 We'd see them on holiday. And then I would talk to him on the phone. We would, like, for some reason, talk for like three hours on the phone every day. And just... What was the age gap? Yeah, two years. Yeah, that's really funny to think about, like, three hours with the cousin you don't go to school with.
Starting point is 00:33:19 Like, what would you talk about? I don't know what we talked about. It's weird. Like, I just remember being on the phone for hours and, like, my dad, get off the phone, you know, all that kind of stuff. Because you're on the one, you know, then somebody picks up the party line, get off, you know. But then I was, but I had, like, my other best friend was my next door neighbor who was two or three years, actually three years older than me, who was my babysitter. And then we became best friends and we're still really close friends. Oh, that's great.
Starting point is 00:33:44 Yeah, it's kind of weird. These are, like, most of these stories are like, this is a guy who wears a suit when he's older. All my friends were older They were like authority figures Right There's no rebellion going on whatsoever Would those With the holidays
Starting point is 00:33:58 Would you guys host Or would you go to the cousin's house An hour away? It traded Yeah And my mother was very high strong And so she would just dread When she had to do it
Starting point is 00:34:08 But then my dad would kind of take over And he would cook the turkey And then But there was such It was such regimentation In our family Of what got cooked And where you ate
Starting point is 00:34:18 And what you did You know, like my aunt was always famous for bringing green stuff, it was called, and it was just like, you know, green jello with some bunch of stuff in it, but it had some kind of cream in it. But that always showed up. My dad was famous for making, he had to make this big ball of cheese and then roll it in crushed nuts and put it out. And then there was also the chopped liver ball, which I always had to get the grinder and do and just couldn't even smell it. And then when the party was over, would you take the full untouched ball? and save it for next year? Exactly.
Starting point is 00:34:52 No, the Figs would tear through that ball. Oh, really? So the chopped liver ball did very well. The chop liver ball was not chop liver. All right, I'm trying to make some sort of a joke. You know what I'm going for. Yeah, no, they loved it. No, everything got consumed in our house.
Starting point is 00:35:06 That's great. Do you, is that a holiday you still look forward to as we're coming up on Thanksgiving? Yeah, you know, I do, I guess I'm my mother's son because, like, we got invited somewhere. So, oh, good. We got to go somewhere. If we're ever having to host it, which we used to have to do when my wife's parents were alive, it was always like, oh, no, they're coming out here from Chicago, and we have to cook this meal. And I would find shortcuts around it.
Starting point is 00:35:30 I found out once that the four seasons in Pasadena, you could buy a full meal from them. So I would just go and pick it up, you know, and pass it off as my own, which was always great. Yeah. Yeah. I do a similar thing when my parents come out here for Christmas. I live right by a grocery store that sort of does a full thing, and it's like, well, that's, There you go. Hello, Boston markets.
Starting point is 00:35:52 Exactly. I cook some things, but yeah, it's a good option. Would you fly to Florida? You would drive, right? No, we drove. Oh, no, we drove. That was my favorite thing. Oh, wow. Yeah, we would get in it, go pick up my cousin,
Starting point is 00:36:04 and get in my dad's station wagon and open to the back thing so you could sit facing back and torture drivers who were facing you. And, but the greatest thing was that we would drive in the first stop was always Lexington, Kentucky. And in Lexington, Kentucky, in the middle of the winter, there was this, I, I don't know if it was a holiday inn or what, but it had an indoor, like, terrarium that was a pool. So it was like a tropical pool. And we just thought that was the greatest thing ever.
Starting point is 00:36:31 And so that was my favorite part, once we had to leave there. And then it was like another day or, I forget if it was a day or two days to get down to Florida. But it was all about stuckies. I don't know if you guys remember Stuckies. It was a, like a rest. Yeah, totally. And I think they're kind of still around maybe, but that was like. There would be these billboards that say like 200 miles to Stuckies.
Starting point is 00:36:53 We're like, oh, my God, and they count down, you know, another, you know, 30 miles. And you'd get there, and it would be all candy and stuff, but also they had magic tricks, but little tops magic tricks. And that was my favorite thing, so you'd go and buy magic tricks and stuff. So we actually, I had real fond memories of those trips until we got there and they had to spend time with my grandmother, which was not fun. So there you go. Is that just like sitting around in a living room with your grandmother? Yeah, and my grandma, God bless her. She was, you know, she was lovely, but she was also kind of overbearing.
Starting point is 00:37:27 So it wasn't a guy. Do you think your grandmother was excited for your arrival? Oh, yeah. No, I was her favorite, which I have great guilt that I kind of didn't. But my grandmother didn't like my mother. And so, you know, her mother-in-law, and so she would kind of torture my mom. My mom wasn't used to being around people like that because the figs are very kind of brash. And the arting stalls my mom's side are very quiet.
Starting point is 00:37:48 and, you know, Canadian-kney British. Yeah. And then here comes my grandmother, who originally from St. Louis, and just like, bra, on her and stuff. And she could never compute why it was all happening. And so I had to watch my mother weeping constantly, you know, to me. Oh, that bad. You got that bad. Oh, yeah.
Starting point is 00:38:06 She's all, your grandmother, you know, is like, so I was traumatized by that. And then I brought to grandma who would basic instinct me. Because she would wear this house. dressed, like a house dress. Oh, God. Yes. That part of the basic estate. It's better when it's a grandmother, it's almost better to get ice picked than what you're in. I would have taken anything other than this. And I would get brought
Starting point is 00:38:28 this is back, you know, when we were just back at home in Michigan, when she was still living there. And I would be taken to my grandmother's house on a Saturday afternoon, and I had to spend like three hours with her. You know, my dad would drop me off. I'd go there. She would fix me a ice cream
Starting point is 00:38:44 sunda, as she would call it, a sunda. I don't know why. My family pronounce it that way, and I would have to sit on this footstool, and she was sitting her chair in the sundress, and tell me the same stories over and over again, but with legs akimbo. And you're just like, I mean, it's such an exercise in like keeping your eyes up because you know the whatever was going on down there. That was my, that was my Saturday for years and years and years. Oh, my God. So when she moved to Florida, it must be the best thing ever. It was the greatest. But then they just stored it up.
Starting point is 00:39:18 and I had spent days of days later. What would Philip do during this time if you were down in Florida? Oh, he was out sunbathing or something. He always found some way to get out of it. Yeah, well played. Well played, sir. Those terrarium swimming pools,
Starting point is 00:39:34 which I also remember very fondly. And I think back then, they were, like, constructed to trap the bacteria. Like, it almost felt like a dome to make... It was almost like a hazmat-type area. Oh, very much. everything was grown there we need containment if this gets out like it's gonna in fact the entire town
Starting point is 00:39:54 but those it is uh what a what a fun thing for kids even today to be in a yeah oh yeah when you're from the midwest and the in you're in stuck in cold weather anything that's sunny and warm yeah swimmy is great yeah it's also those uh it's funny when before kids had phones it was really enough to just see a different billboard saying you were closer oh yeah oh and playing a Auto bingo, too. You would get the auto bingo cards, you know, where it'd be like, you know, if you see a pine tree, you get this. And if you see a, you know, a car from, or a truck, then you do. And that was hours of fun. No, I'm so glad we didn't, you know, it sounds like an old man talking about. I'm so glad we didn't have phones and iPads and all that. We were so we were so present, you know. Were you listening to music in the car and the ride? Well, kind of. My dad, like, all my dad liked his talk radio, you know, so it was a lot of that. And we didn't really have anything to play music on. So it was just. singing songs in our heads, I guess. Yeah. Where in Florida was your grandmother?
Starting point is 00:40:54 She was Fort Lauderdale, I think. Okay, so not near any of the parks or... No, no. Nothing fun whatsoever, John. Just checking. Was it a week? And it would be a full week with grandma. Oh, yeah, full week, yeah.
Starting point is 00:41:09 And, yeah, just, you know, and she would cook dinners and then her friends would come over. It was all very... You know, I spent my whole childhood with adults. And because of that, though, I didn't really like kids because I found kids to be kind of annoying. And so I just so wanted to be an adult. So I think that's part of all this, the way I dress and stuff, too. I just were so into being an adult or the idea of getting to be.
Starting point is 00:41:33 Hey, we're going to take a quick break and hear from some of our sponsors. Support comes from Aura Frames. Hey, buddy. Hey, Sufi. Orra Frames, we can't say enough about it. I mean, there's still time for everybody who's listening to get. A Christmas present, a holiday present, for someone you love, that I guarantee they will love. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:41:53 I mean, I've mentioned this before, but it's such a good gift that everyone sort of on my annual list already has one of these, which is kind of a burn, because I can't give them to them again. No one is upset when they get a beautiful frame preloaded with the photos of people they love. Every time you think, oh, I'm going to, you know what I'll do? I'm going to make a picture book for Mom and Dad. I'm going to go through all my photos and I'm going to get it bound in paper. And then, you know what? It's just going to sit somewhere. Nobody's going to ever look at it.
Starting point is 00:42:26 When we go visit our parents, they, sometimes Mom just, like, stands at the counter waiting for the picture to change, knowing that whatever's coming up next is going to delay her. Yeah. I mean, that might just be because your conversation has waned. Yeah, that's true. There's a lot of dead spots with me and Mom these days. You're telling a story you've told a bunch of times before. Let's be honest. If someone is talking that's making Mom look at the picture frame, it ain't me.
Starting point is 00:42:53 Here's the thing, unlimited free photos and videos. You just download the ORRA app, connect to Wi-Fi. You can pre-load photos before it ships. Keep adding from anywhere, any time. You can personalize your gift. You can add a message before it arrives. Share videos and photos effortlessly straight from your phone all year long. Gift box included.
Starting point is 00:43:11 Every frame comes packaged in a pretty. premium gift box with no price tag. It's really a fantastic gift that we can't say enough about. For a limited time, save on the perfect gift by visitingoraframes.com to get $35 off ORA's best-selling CarverMatt Frames, named number one by Wirecutter, by using promo code Trips at checkout. That's A-U-R-A-Frames.com promo code trips. This deal is exclusive to listeners and frames sell out fast, so order yours now to get it in time for the holidays. Support the show by mentioning us at checkout. Terms and conditions apply.
Starting point is 00:43:49 Support comes from Blue Land. Hey, Bashi. Hey, Sufi. Holidays, great time to be in a cozy, safe home. But, you know, the one thing that oftentimes you can't see while you're feeling cozy, while you're feeling safe, are the hidden microplastics that could be sneaking into the place and people that you care about the most. And a lot of times those microplastics are hiding in your laundry or dishwasher pods. Ew. No, boy, no. That's why I made the switch to Blue Land
Starting point is 00:44:17 across all my cleaning products, especially during the holidays when most of us spend more time cooking, hosting, and cozying up indoors. Blue Land products meet the highest standard of clean. They're effective yet gentle on people and the planet. In fact, Blue Land was named an EPA safer choice partner of the year.
Starting point is 00:44:32 From cleaning sprays and toilet bowl cleaner to dishwasher and laundry detergent tablets, blue land's formulas are 100% microplastic free, made with certified clean ingredients It's free from chlorine, bleach, and harsh chemicals that are safe to use around my family. You love not having to choose between the safe option and what actually gets your home clean. I've got a lot of Blue Land products, and they have these reusable tins. So when you reorder products, you just take them out of, like, bags and put them into the tins.
Starting point is 00:45:02 And so you're not getting big, bulky, plastic bottles every time you refill your cleaning supplies, which I really appreciate. Blue land's thinking about that stuff, Posh. They're one step ahead of us. Yeah. And I appreciate it too. Also, Blue Land's hand soap is getting a festive upgrade with cozy scents like wintry pine, toasted vanilla, and winterberry. It's the perfect gift for your loved one or yourself to reduce waste.
Starting point is 00:45:25 Blueland is a special offer for our listeners. Right now, get 15% off your first order by going to blu land.com slash trips. You won't want to miss that blu land.com slash trips for 15% off. That's blueland.com slash trips to get 15% off. here we go um you said your mother's side of the family was sort of via canada did you ever go up there was uh were those grandparents in the mix uh well i had the one grandma there both my grandfathers died like before i was even born um so i never knew them but i had a grandma who lived in windsor ontario but we just kind of go visit her say hi and go to this one restaurant that she liked and then we'd go
Starting point is 00:46:06 we had a cottage on Lake Erie that we would go up to every week, and that was really fun. I used to love that, but this was when Lake Erie had the mercury poisoning, and so you weren't allowed to swim in it, but we still swam in it, so God only knows what's going on inside me. That was, and how far from your house was the Lake Erie Cottage? You could walk there. It was this, it was called Seymour Beach, where we lived, and it was way out kind of, you got to go into rural Canada, outside of Windsor. And, yeah, it was on this kind of dirt road that wound around and you could walk down
Starting point is 00:46:42 this dirt road and there were other houses and then you'd get right to the beach. So it was like a 10-minute walk to the beach. So it was pretty magical, I've got to say. And how long did it take to get from Michigan to Windsor when you would visit your grandmother? How long was that drive? There was about like an hour to get to the cottage. No, not bad at all. Like a half hour, I think, to get to Canada.
Starting point is 00:47:00 And then you'd either take the tunnel or we always took the tunnel, actually. We never took the Ambassador Bridge because it was too far out of our way. Gotcha. Would you, were you friendly with the other families who own the other cottages around there? Weirdly, no. Okay. I don't know why my family is never kind of, and it's, my wife and I continue this tradition. We don't really get to know our neighbors unless they come over to us and then, okay, hi.
Starting point is 00:47:25 And, you know, yeah, it's weird. I don't quite know why we had that family dynamic. It's just we're just glad you're making a breakthrough. through today. Thank you. And realizing that it's true of you even now. Oh, it is. I mean, tell you, there's, yeah, unless somebody comes over with, like, a basket of, you know, baked goods and forces us to be their friends. But then that's nice when they do. When the two of you met, like, it must have been, uh, the amount of, uh, I don't know, like, things that had to align for two people who are so antisocial to meet. Exactly. Well,
Starting point is 00:48:01 Weirdly, we're, like, really social with, like, people that we kind of consider to be fun, you know what I mean? Right, right, right, yeah. We're just always been weird about, about, I don't know, just any, any relationship that feels like you have to do it. I think snobs is the word, yeah, yeah. Yes, Seth, you nailed it, you nailed it. I think it's a technical term. Well, a neighbor, there is something about a neighbor is like they're always going to be there. So if they come over once and then they feel like they're, if you allow an open door policy to be a soon, by one party, then they might think there's an open-door policy when there's not really one.
Starting point is 00:48:36 Josh, that's a big part of it. It's like if you don't put limits, people will just go through. We are, I mean, a beloved member of our family, basically, but our parents, and that's the house we grew up in, our neighbor, Franz, literally kicks the door in of our house like it's an old Western saloon. Yeah. He comes in, and he'll come in to any part of the house. He screams, where is everybody? or is anybody home Anybody home is the first thing he's scream So he's like right out of a sitcom Yes He is a sitcom neighbor
Starting point is 00:49:07 It's very exciting to like late in life I'm not late in life But late in life Realize that you had a sitcom neighbor growing up Yeah he sounds like Bill Daly From a Bob Newhart show He's Howard
Starting point is 00:49:18 Also to have a franz is very fun Yeah with a thick accent Thick accent Yeah Oh actually German Franz He's uh It's um Like Ukrainian right isn't it
Starting point is 00:49:29 Oh It was, yeah, he did some time, like, in a work camp. In a work camp. Like, he was off in Siberia. But he deserved it as we've always been. There you go. We had a German neighbor down the street who, I think my father found out, used to be one of the Hitler youth. Oh, great.
Starting point is 00:49:49 So, I know. That was the rumor that floated around. I can't say if that's true. Yeah. You know, crazy kids. It's easy to tag the German neighbor from down the street. At a certain time in history is like, oh, yeah, they were... Why is he such a punching bag, exactly.
Starting point is 00:50:05 Yeah, yeah. Did you... And when you're like, are you from Germany? And they're like, no, Argentina. And you're like, I'm waiting. All right. How far was Mount Clemens from Detroit? That must have been pretty close, right?
Starting point is 00:50:17 Yeah, like 20 minutes to get down there. You know, but back when I was growing up, you, you know, sadly, you didn't go down to Detroit unless you were going to Greek town. That was like, either you'd go to a Tigers game or go to Greek town. Otherwise, you didn't go downtown. Detroit and when I got older and we'd go on like press tours for my movies and stuff and we'd go to
Starting point is 00:50:34 Detroit it's like like I'm like all going to do is be in downtown Detroit because I want to take advantage of the thing that we were all told to be afraid of. And it's it's great down there. It's really cool. It's all kinds of local restaurants and businesses. Detroit's amazing. And I recently went and I think I was in Royal Oaks, Michigan. That's where I was born. Oh, great. So I was doing stand-up and Royal Oak the same night, there were two downtown, they were like two huge comedy shows as well that I think you should leave show was there and there was another comedy
Starting point is 00:51:03 and I was like that a city in one night could like support three stand-up shows I was like this is a and you just walk around and everybody's out and that old Art Deco style it's a really cool I mean you could buy
Starting point is 00:51:16 they were selling those giant office buildings downtown for like a dollar or something but they were they're beautiful old buildings and yeah yeah no I you know but yeah we're very starved for entertainment we were in Detroit when I was growing up.
Starting point is 00:51:31 So any comedians or anybody that would come, I remember seeing Kippa Dada, who used to be, I think of that's from, Seth, remembering that. Because he was on Make Me Laugh, which that was, honestly, I think that show started the whole stand-up comedy scene, clubs. But I remember going to see Kippa Dada like three nights in a row. My mom had to tape me because I was like 14 or whatever.
Starting point is 00:51:55 And then years later, worked with Kipa Dada, opened for him once. Wow. Which was really weird. I think I 100% only know Kipadda's name through our mutual friend, Steve Higgins. Yes. Just like the amount are Steve Higgins, a producer at SNL, announcer on Jimmy Fallon, and his capacity to drop a name that no one else in the room knows.
Starting point is 00:52:16 To us, they're vital new, fresh new name. Bruce Baby Man Bomb, Gary Mule Deer. Oh, I could go through the whole list. That's your Rosetta Stone. It really, yeah. Very, like, like, didn't quite happen, comedians. Yes, exactly. Well, you know, a great book is,
Starting point is 00:52:33 and I don't know if it's even print anymore, but if you can ever find it, it's called The Last Laugh. And it's the story of all the comedians that we fell in love. I mean, like, it's got Rodney Dangerfield stories when he was Jack Roy. It's got everybody. But it's really the history of comedy. So anybody who likes comedy, try to find that book. It's out there somewhere, I guess.
Starting point is 00:52:51 I said this on our other, this is just a quick. I was saying this on my Lonely Island podcast, but I saw Higgins. I went to the Amy Polar show and then afterwards it was like the great flashback to just hanging out in Higgins' office where I used to see you all the time.
Starting point is 00:53:04 And you know that's the place to be where basically everybody like sort of convenes to lament how things should have gone better. And Higgins was doing a really funny bit where he was talking about how when he was coming up, he used to write jokes for Fang
Starting point is 00:53:17 Phyllis Diller's husband. And he was like, yeah, Fang was trying to do a rebuttal act because he felt like he'd been treated very. And it was like, I'm like, Who? And again, now I'm 51. The writers now are like 25 years younger than me. I'm like, Higgins, who is this bit for? Like, he's just doing it with so much enthusiasm that it's crushing. That's the greatest. No, that is that, I mean, you know, for years and years, I was always there.
Starting point is 00:53:42 Seth, you remember me sitting in the front row being the only guy that didn't look at the cue cards, which are you once complimenting me, huh? But that was the place to be, boy, in Higgins. And I mean, honestly, there are a few people funnier in this. Steve Higgins. Just like pound for pound. If you know, you know, yeah. And then when the Higgins guys get together, forget it. It's just a laugh fest. Don't try to compete, I always say.
Starting point is 00:54:04 That's true. When you would go to Tigers game, was that you and your dad? Was that you and the whole family, or the whole family being the three of you? I got taken with the Cub Scouts several times. My mom took me a couple times. But this was the old Tiger Stadium, which was a pretty scary place. Like, it was not a fun place to go. It was fun to watch the game.
Starting point is 00:54:25 But it was all just, it was all eyebeams and painted dark, you know, green and it was so old. You know, now they have Comerica Park, which is a big, beautiful thing. But so it was kind of intimidating. And I remember once that I got falsely accused of something. My friend and I were looking, like looking over this railing at the crowd that was sitting down below. And all of a sudden, these two guys, young, like teen guys who were working as security guy, I don't know what they were. one guy came up and put me in a headlock from behind. I was like, and he goes, you're spitting on the crowd.
Starting point is 00:54:59 You're spinning on the crowd. I was like, what? And I got accused of like spitting on the crowd, which I clearly did not do. And they would not believe me. And then my mother, when she came out and she like kind of got them to let me alone. And then she didn't believe either. And then she finally goes like, well, maybe your mouth looked a little juicy. And I was like, how dare you?
Starting point is 00:55:18 And so to this day, my, I have the biggest, like, fear of being falsely accused of something. Yeah, you don't strike me as a spitter-honor. No. Thank you. I know. I've been spat on, but I'm not the spitter. By the way. Justifiably so.
Starting point is 00:55:34 Well, exactly. I would never false you accuse you of spitting, but you've asked for. Oh, no, totally. As many of my fans on the internet can tell you. I went to, I made the point of driving to Tiger Stadium the last year before they tore it down and to speak to, like, that, how dark and gothic it was. Like if at the end of the game They had said By the way
Starting point is 00:55:57 All those players died a hundred years Like it really felt like a ghost story And there's no parking So it's all You had to park in people's like Front yards And they would charge you a lot of money for it It was really poorly planned
Starting point is 00:56:11 A guy, I remember parking and a guy Of which I realized was It was a full shakedown where a guy said Hey if you want to give me five bucks I'll watch your car And I was like oh Right This is you know like
Starting point is 00:56:22 If you're like, no, I think I'm going to roll the dice. Like, that was fully the guy who's going to steal my car. Exactly. I think it's only a $5 protection fee. Yeah, it wasn't a very nice car. He grades on a curve. So your family's, your wife's family is from Chicago? Yeah, Chicago and, yeah, from like Highland Park.
Starting point is 00:56:42 So anyway, from Chicago goes, that's not Chicago. That's the, what do they call it, the north end? Yeah. So there you go. The North Shore, North Shore, that's it. North Shore, had you spent any time there prior to meeting her? Yeah, well, my dad, because of the Army Surplus Store, twice a year, he had two buying trips. One was Chicago, and then one was in Las Vegas.
Starting point is 00:57:05 We would drive to Chicago, so that was a big thing. And I loved it. I mean, I went crazy for it. And when I was a magician at Marshall Fields, the department store, used to have a magic section, believe it or not, this counter that was run by this guy, this doughy guy, who was not a very good magician, but he would put on, like, a show every hour that, like, nobody would watch except me and my mom. And he was such a, he was such a, like, a passive-aggressive performer because he was kind of this dower guy, but when he got to a stage, he would put on this, like, like, Joker's smile and do these things
Starting point is 00:57:41 really fast and do these tricks. Like, he clearly didn't want to do it, but he had to pretend like he was having a good good time. But I would just go and stop. We just got school photos where you could tell, like, our boys were told to show their teeth, so it's, like, the most unnatural smile. And I feel like, I feel like this guy got the same notes from a Marshall Fields manager being like, you know, when you do a magic, you got to smile more. Yeah, oh, no, yeah, give the crowd what they want. No, there's a picture of me that on the internet, I've spent my entire career trying to
Starting point is 00:58:08 purge off the internet, and it gets used every time they do something about me. It's me with that dumb, you know, that, like, smile that's completely insincere. And it just keeps getting used, even though my hair's not white in it. and now it is a lovely shade of white. We're very excited for your film. Congratulations. Thank you. Thank you so much.
Starting point is 00:58:28 It must be nice to have something coming out. It is. It is. And on the big screen. Back on the big screen after three streamers. I know. I will tell you, in this day and age, Paul, when you get, you know, Paul has a movie coming out, you know, on 1219. Is that right?
Starting point is 00:58:45 Yeah, you're correct. And it's so delightful. It's so delightful when it does. doesn't immediately say on which streamer. You know, exactly. Because I have a, I've been trying to make an effort to go to movie theaters more, and I'm remembering how much I loved it and how much the collective experience improves things. Well, you know, I mean, because I engineer all my movies for a theater full of people,
Starting point is 00:59:07 even the streamers, because we test them in front of test audiences of, you know, 200, 300 people. And so it's all teed up for this big group experience. And, you know, and then you have the premiere, and it kills the premiere, and everybody's going crazy. And it's like, and it's out on TV. And you can't even have that thing of, like, you know, the great thing is when you have a movie coming out in theaters. Because all my movies up until the last three were in theaters, that night you get in a car and you drive around to different theaters
Starting point is 00:59:35 and come to the back and watch people watch the movie and see how many people who are there. And it's so much fun. You hear everybody laughing and you know the movie works. And, you know, when it's on a streamer, like, what do you drive around to people's houses and peer through the window? Yeah.
Starting point is 00:59:47 Watch them, you know, watch them being on their phone while your movie's on, and then going, I didn't understand this one part. It's like, yeah, guess what? Because you weren't watching the movie. Was there a, with bridesmaids, was there a moment in the film of, you know, obviously a film with so many iconically funny moments
Starting point is 01:00:03 that you most enjoyed watching within an audience full of people who were seeing it for the first time? Well, it was opening night because we were really predicted to not do well. Our training was really bad and all that. And so I had Melissa McCarthy and her husband Ben Falcone over for dinner to kind of lick our wounds,
Starting point is 01:00:19 because we were told if we didn't make $20 million opening weekend, it would be a failure. So the numbers are coming in. I know it's going to be $13,000, $15,000, $17, $19. And then it hit $20 and then it hit $22. And I said that, you know, them, let's get in the car. So we got in the car and drove down to the arc light in Hollywood and came in the back and the place was packed and rocking. And that was probably my greatest experience of watching one of my movies.
Starting point is 01:00:43 It's so, I mean, that joy of obviously like, you know, I've been on Z. stage where, you know, there's moments where people are laughing, but to be behind the audience while a thing you made is on a screen, like, that must just feel like the great relief because, like, the work is done. Like, you don't have to worry about, like, tripping over the next joke or anything. It's just like, oh, my God, if that, once that takes off, it must just, you know, the rest of it's going to soar to. It's magic. You know, there's a great scene in that, one of the movies about Hitchcock, I forget which one, I think it was one of Anthony Hopkins, where he's in the, in the lobby, watching through the door, watching the
Starting point is 01:01:16 shower scene in Psycho. And it's going, like, people, screaming, he just starts dancing around the lobby. And that's kind of how you feel. It's like, wow, like, we're really affecting people. And that's what I love about The Housemaid is it gets very crazy in a way that the audience
Starting point is 01:01:33 just goes nuts for, and they get very, very interactive with the movie, which is exciting. I mean, it's the missing thing. Like, people have been, like, I mean, a few people have been recently saying on social media. Like, sometimes when you watch a movie for the first time, it came out in the 90s,
Starting point is 01:01:48 and you miss something, you're like, oh, that seems like that person was overacting or, you know, that was a weird line read. And then people are like, oh, I was in the theater. That crushed. Because, like, collectively when everybody knows it's a weird line read, it becomes the joy of experiencing it together.
Starting point is 01:02:04 Whereas, like, it passes right by you when you're watching it on a streamer. And that's, I've been on the soapbox about this a little bit because, you know, my last two movies, let's say, I did, School for Good and Evil, it's more of a fantasy, but then I did,
Starting point is 01:02:18 Jackpot, which is just an out-and-out comedy, and then another simple favorite, which was pretty funny. And, you know, it got kind of shitty reviews and all this, and people have reacted how they did. And you realize, when the movies you love, especially the comedies you love, when you watch them, you bring along that experience of the first time you saw it with an audience. Yes. You know, and that's what makes you fall in love with it.
Starting point is 01:02:40 You love the movie, and the movie has to be good, obviously. But then every time you listen, you can be by yourself, you hear that audience. That was, for me, was Star Wars. Because I saw Star Wars opening weekend in Detroit That movie is laugh a minute In a way that now Star Wars has become so serious I'm like I just loved that first Because I mean that movie just destroyed on a laugh level
Starting point is 01:03:00 It's kind of crazy Yeah no it's nice That it was the audacity of it Plus it was also they all felt like A human beings back then Yeah because the stakes were high But they were still lighthearted and you know It was a fun mix
Starting point is 01:03:13 It's like they were the last Characters in a Star Wars movie who didn't know they were in a Star Wars movie That's exactly Didn't know how important It all worth. Yeah, this really matters. I know. You think Luke wasn't worried about tracking.
Starting point is 01:03:28 I know Han Solo wasn't. He was just coo. No, no. He was never. I just found myself in New York. I was seeing like a matinee, a play, and I was seeing an evening play. And I had a gap of time in the middle where I was in Times Square
Starting point is 01:03:42 and I was tired and I was like, I'm just going to go to a movie theater and I'll just take a nap and there was the 40th anniversary screening of Back to the Future and I could not sleep at all. I was so riveted and just being in a theater
Starting point is 01:03:54 and my whole plan was I'm gonna go to this theater and I'm gonna sleep for a couple hours because I need it but it just turned me up because I missed that movie and I loved it so much.
Starting point is 01:04:04 And it's just like there's nothing like it and just there is something about a movie being really big in front of you. It just makes it kind of epic you know. Somehow watching movie on TV
Starting point is 01:04:16 People obviously have giant screens in their houses, but it's still, it's almost like you own the people in the movie when you're watching on that. And when you're in a big theater, they own you. Like, you are just fully in their, you know, command. And the other great thing, you know, now when we put together like a streaming movie, you have to be aware of, like, we could lose people in 30 seconds. Like, all they have to do, like, when I'm bored, like, a movie, at least we, if you're the most, you know, discerning, impatient movie goer ever, you're still going to give a movie 10 minutes before you walk out. So, go, okay, we've got 10 minutes to grab you. We'll take that over 30 seconds. Yeah, that's true.
Starting point is 01:04:51 All right, before you go, Paul, Josh is going to hit you with our speed round. Oh, bring it on. I love it. Here we go. You can only pick one of these. Is your ideal vacation relaxing, adventurous, or educational? Relaxing. What is your favorite means of transportation?
Starting point is 01:05:07 Airplane. 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 man's a family. No. What a family? Oh, gosh. This is a tough one.
Starting point is 01:05:26 Do I have a pass option or I have to... No, we can come back to it. We'll come back to it. Okay, thank you. Yeah, work in the background on this. If you had to be stranded on a desert island with one member of your family, who would it be? My cousin, Philip.
Starting point is 01:05:40 And you are from Mount Clemens, Michigan. If you had to pitch Mount Clemens, Michigan to try to get more families to come visit, how would you pitch it? Come for the – come for the – the pizza that you can get in every, like, drug – not drugstore, but, like, it's not a boutega, but I guess it's a Michigan bodega. We have a lot of Italian delis.
Starting point is 01:06:06 Okay, gotcha. Come for those, but then stay for the Greek coffee shops. Okay, great. Very good. Good answer. Seth has our final question. Paul, have you been to the Grand Canyon? No, I have not.
Starting point is 01:06:16 I've flown over it. Do you want to go? Yes, but in a very comfortable way. Yeah, yeah. So not really. Glamping. Yes, exactly, not really. It's a deeply uncomfortable place, and I'm just going to tell you, go somewhere else.
Starting point is 01:06:31 Okay, good, excellent. It was nice to fly over it. I was really impressed by that. Thank you so much. I can't wait for the movie. It is always a delight to see you, Paul. Everybody check out The Housemade on Descent. 19th in theaters yes thank you Seth thank you Josh and Seth it's always great to see you
Starting point is 01:06:48 thanks pal thanks so much thanks guys It was the Midwest, specifically Mount Clemens. Paul Feig was in the Army surplus store, scrubbing toilets, learning to be humble, and at 17 moved to LA because he knew he wanted more. But as a boy, Paul was doing magic, his daddy gave him some jokes, peppered those throughout his performance it was a hit with the folks matter of fact he won a competition first place he was the boy who won the prize now he's a man who works just like his father because when he works he wears a suit and tie
Starting point is 01:08:12 War willies wear suits had those sleeves rolled up mixing up his style every time that he showed up bowling shirts his fashion settled after freaks and gigs the man is so bespoken is of which i bespeak back when all in his family driving down to florida auto bingo always brought in smiles watching for signs with stirred anticipation 300 miles 100 miles 100 miles 30 miles to Stucky. The first stop down was in Lexington, Kentucky. Paul thought that the hotel was so cool. Look like it had a terrarium from space there. Terrarium was the pool. Oh yeah.
Starting point is 01:08:58 Going to grandmas, it had its complications on Saturdays an unwelcome surprise. Because in her house dress she'd offer and Missonda. And don't look, Paul, you must avert your house. your eyes Your eyes You
Starting point is 01:09:19 Oh Oh You you know, oh, oh, uh, E.
Starting point is 01:09:33 E. Oh. Oh. Oh. Mm. Mm. Oh, me.

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.