Family Trips with the Meyers Brothers - W. KAMAU BELL Took His Mom Parasailing

Episode Date: July 14, 2026

This week on the pod, Seth and Josh welcome W. Kamau Bell! Kamau talks about a childhood spent constantly on the move, living in places including California, Indianapolis, Boston, Chicago, Mobile, Philadelphia, and the Bay Area, and how those experiences shaped his perspective on the world. He shares stories about choosing to live with his dad in Alabama, spending summers with his Southern grandmother watching game shows and soap operas, flying alone as a child, and taking family beach vacations. Kamau also reflects on traveling with his own family, including bringing his kids to destinations inspired by their favorite books and taking his mom on a cruise where she surprised everyone by trying parasailing. Plus, he discusses his new podcast and Substack, Who’s With Me?, which spotlights meaningful conversations and ways people can make a difference. Watch this episode on the Family Trips YouTube or Spotify, or listen wherever you get your podcasts! Get your tickets for Family Trips Live!8/12 - Philadelphia: https://tickets.citywinery.com/event/family-trips-with-the-meyers-brothers-il7k6b8/13 - Boston: https://tickets.citywinery.com/event/family-trips-with-the-meyers-brothers-iipsfk 00:00 Introduction with Seth Meyers and Josh Meyers08:24 Guest Intro W. Kamau Bell10:17 Supergirl Hate Watching16:36 Dropping Out & Finding Comedy19:18 Mobile. AL Summers 34:48 Bruce Lee Chinatown Trip36:47 Rocky Statue Dilemma37:13 Indianapolis Grandma Memories40:01 Solo Flights as a Kid43:58 Cruise With Mom Parasailing46:29 Redneck Riviera Beach Trips01:06:51 Speed Round and Farewell Support our sponsors: The BreadwinnerFrom Sony Pictures Home Entertainment The Breadwinner. Straight from theaters, the must-see comedy of the summer is now available to watch at home on digital — to enjoy again and again.Grab your family and don’t miss the comedy everyone is loving, with an 86% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. Get it now on Prime Video, Apple TV, or Fandango at Home. Rated PG. Article:Article is offering our listeners $50 off your first purchase of $100 or more. To claim, visit https://www.article.com/discount/trips and the discount will be automatically applied at checkout.IQ BarText TRIPS to 64000 to get 20% off all IQBAR products, plus FREE shipping. Message and data rates may apply.FitBodGet 25% off your subscription or try the app FREE for seven days at Fitbod.me/TRIP. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey, Pagie. Hey, Sufi. And hey, listeners, Tripsters, family trippers. What did we decide we're calling them Pashi? Tripsters. Yeah, tripsters. Tripsters, family trips is coming to you live this summer. Join us for our first American live shows at the City Winery on August 12th in Philadelphia and August 13th in Boston, also at City Winery. Family Trips Live in Boston is a partnership with Airbnb. And of course, you know we love taking the show on the and love seeing all of you. So come join us on August 12th in Philly and August 13th in Boston at Citywinery. Go to Citywinery.com for tickets. That's Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Boston, Massachusetts. Hey, bossy. Hey, Sufi. How are you? I'm good. I got the Poncas with me. Yeah, that's right. Pongas visited, and it's a rainy day. It's a rainy beach day, so we've been socked in. We played a little

bit of hearts already played three person hearts yeah um this is something that's new to them and uh 17 cards each one card in the middle and you don't know what that card is till the end and last trick takes that card no is that card not i i i that's what my assumption was it you just turn it over and it's just an uncounted point but if you if you if you blitz if you shoot the moon and try to take all the points if it's uh if a heart or the queen of spades is in there it's not a blitz and you're screwed Oh, wow. Yeah. I don't like that rule.

It feels to me like this better strategy would be the last trick takes it for what it's worth. But who am I? Who am I to fight the puns? I mean, you could change that in terms of House rules. I went to a Fourth of July party this year and we played a little cornhole and the girl who was sort of in charge of games. There was this whole like beer Olympics. And she said like a bean bag or a cornhole bag that is like leaning into the hole that. that's two points, which I had never heard before.

And I was like, really? She was like, house rules. And you can call house rules when it's your house. That's true. I could house rule it. Trying to think of the highlights. One is that every, in case you're worried, every hand of every time mom takes the queen of spades and hearts, she's shocked and she feels as though how could anyone have seen this coming? Yeah.

Her capacity to be surprised by a negative outcome in a game where everybody's fighting for their own positive outcome is shocking to me. We've been watching, she's been watching with the kids, Pirates of the Caribbean. A series of films that she probably missed when they were in theaters. All right, so I'm going to show you a character from the Pirates of the Caribbean. Would you say Caribbean or Caribbean, Pasch? We've always said Caribbean, at least in this context. It changes. We would like take a trip to the Caribbean.

That's Davy Jones. For anybody listening at home, Google Davy Jones, Pirates. What animal do you think mom said that looked like? I mean, I would hope an octopus or a squid. Walrus. She said, she went with walrus. And then two days later, she's trying to claim she said that because she knew the kids would think it was funny.

Did the kids think it was funny? They don't think, they think she thought it was a walrus. Then Ash said, first of all, you should know what a walrus looks like. like, because Ponca-Yeri looks like a walrus. Yeah, he does. And then Ash asked me to make this to prove his point. So that's, yeah. Uh-huh.

Pock-y-y-ry looks like what? That was a picture that went from Davy Jones to walrus to dad. To dad. And dad looks way more like a walrus than David Jones does. Yeah. Addie started calling dad, Ponky the donkey. Great. It's pretty fun.

Yeah. Yeah. And then she goes, Ponky to donkey. monkey, hurry, hurry the furry. She was just coming up with nicknames. I'm real happy. Hurry the furry.

Daddy the baddie. That's me. Mama, the llama. And then I said, what is Axel? And she said, asshole. We had that gone for us. That was pretty good.

Also, we went to a really great Fourth of July parade on Martha's Vineyard. And look, I saw this, this was like a slow motion car crash, but I, I could. couldn't get out of the way of it. So floats are going by. A lot of people throwing candy and Martha's Vineyard Gazette,

which is a great local newspaper. They're throwing out little paper hats, okay? And so I get one, and Axel gets one. And, you know, it's Fourth of July. We're celebrating 250 years. I'll put on a paper hat. And then someone from the Gazette runs back and shoots a little snapshot of us, and they put it on their Instagram.

Now, they're square hats, and that's not a good look. And... What, a square hat? A square paper hat. Okay. Like, you know, I'm just saying it was met with a lot of scorn from my circles. Oh, I see. Yeah.

The Strike Force 5 chat came across it. And Stephen Colbert said, it looks like you offer internships in Dufus Studies. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Kind of doofy. Kind of doofy. But, you know, you're just done celebrating.

Cute hat. Cute hat. How was your fourth? It was good, yeah. As I said, I went to a party that had some beer Olympics. Nice. You know, it was billed as beer Olympics, but it's been a long time since I've played, like, drinking games.

And there were a lot of things like, all right, everyone has to have a drink. We're going to listen to Whitney Houston saying, the national anthem. By the time the song's done, you have to finish your beer. And I'm like, no. Oh, yeah, that's not right. I want to drink the game where there's a chance that you don't have to drink. Yeah. And then we'd play like flip cup and I'd be like, you got to be like, do you have beer in your cup? I'm like, no, I have sparkling water, but that's what I'm going to do. I mean, I had a couple beers, but I had to drive home at the end of this thing. So I wasn't I wasn't fully adhering to, I think, the official beer Olympics rules. But that,

And then the night before, just kind of on a whim, I knew that at Beer Olympics, we weren't going to have fireworks because we were in like a canyon in Los Angeles that could catch on fire. But we went to one of my favorite things in L.A., the movies in the cemetery. We saw Shrek, the original Shrek, speaking of donkeys, which McKenzie had never seen, shockingly. And so it was just the two of us. We went on a date night, and they have fabulous fireworks there. and you're sort of just perfectly positioned for them. They play right after the movie. They also, there were a lot of fireworks that were not like boom boom fireworks.

They were just like lights. So it was relatively quiet for fireworks and then they would pepper in some booms. Oh, that's good. So it was like teasing you. And they always do like three songs, you know, with fireworks coordinated. The first song was Try a Little Tenderness, which is not what you think of for fireworks. The next one was Perfect Day by Lowe. Lou Reed, not what you think of for fireworks,

but it was great. And then there was like some disco bop that I didn't know was the last one. And it was, they were beautiful, it was awesome. That's fantastic. I was glad that I got my taste of the fireworks. Also, mom and dad's anniversary, fourth of July. Fourth of July, mom and dad's anniversary, 56 years.

56. It's unbelievable. God love them. Yeah. It's been very, very fun to have them around. And yeah, it's, it's a very fun. It's great. The kids wake up and immediately run over to their room and just start eating their cereal and dad feeds them toothpaste. They like to eat dad's toothpaste. And you know, Alexi is pretty, you know, Alexi puts a lot of thought into what the kids eat. So they're pretty happy when it's just a toothpaste straight from the tube.

Yeah. Well, I mean, at least it's better than toothpaste from anywhere else. Yeah, that's true. Toothpaste from the side of the sink. Hey, July 3rd, I went to a friend's wedding. Oh, yeah? Who's your friend? Just friends of mine in New York City. There was a little, there was. It's weird.

A Friday wedding strikes me as weird. Yeah, a Friday wedding. And, you know, again, I tell you more about it. There was an NDA. Oh. Yeah. But I had a wonderful time. I will say that.

Yeah, that's great. I'm very happy for my friends. They seem very much in love. and that's all you can ask. Yeah, well, we all hope, we all wish that you would have signed a DA, but... Yeah, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, telling y'all about it. Uh, all right, we got a great episode for you today, uh, W. W. Kamau Bell. He's got a, uh, a new podcast, who's with me, um, which is also the name of

his substack. Uh, he's been in the game for a, um, for a, um, minute, yeah, hosted a lot of shows, done a lot of stand-up comedy. Lovely person. Yeah. Enjoy and happy fourth. Happy fourth to everyone. I know it's passed, but, and happy 250th to this great country that so many of our guests have, have shared its wonder about. That wasn't my best sentence, but I think that hopefully the point across. Yeah. Also, I think as this, as this comes out, if I'm right, It's going to be best deal day. So, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. And that's sponsored by Amazon Prime, right?

Because they have the best deals. What? They have the best deals. Oh, yes. Okay, yeah. They're the best. When the person who knows you best in the world goes, what? Does that mean it was a good joke?

It was a good joke. It was better. You had me better with, you were disclos. Yeah. I should have just walked away from the tables. I thought I was on a hot streak. And now I know. We hadn't said who was going to be on the episode.

So, yeah, that was our mistake that we didn't, didn't tee that up first. All right. Love you, Paji. Love you, Zuffy. Nope. Family trips, brothers. Hello. What are you watching?

Unbelievable. I'm doing lots of things. I'm very. I'm just going to say, I don't expect this from somebody who also has a podcast. I was both listening to another podcast and I was making content for Instagram. So I'm actually, I was deep in it. You're a multi-hyphen it, so I would expect nothing less. Please put Instagram content maker in my hyphen.

You were not, this was not a man who was just zoning out watching a TikTok video. This was a man who was juggling. I was listening to a review of Supergirl, a movie I have not yet. scene and making fun of vanilla ice to put on Instagram later. Gotcha. I mean, it's incredible that you can do it all that I once. Is that all? Are you someone who's excited about seeing the new Supergirl?

No, no, no. I was a superhero comic fan when I was a kid. I more care about like keeping up with like when the culture is fired up about something. Right. Like people are really mad at the Supergirl movie. So I'm just like, that seems interesting. Right.

Yeah, exactly. Why? Yeah. There is that, you know, obviously, as somebody who makes art, it's rough at times to remember that people can have a negative critical reaction to it. With that said, I love a critic who has passion and puts a little work behind what they don't like about something. Yeah, so I think the interesting thing about, well, you know, is that lots of people hate it. Some people hate it for bad reasons. Some people hate it for legitimate reasons.

And I like sort of the fact that everybody, they're like, we all agree that we hate it. I hate it because I'm a misogynist. That's not why we hate it because the storytelling was bad. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, so you have to wake up every morning and decide what flag you're going to fly, and you could fly the wrong one. Nothing's worse when your flag is bumping into somebody else's flag, and you're like, oh.

I'm like, oh, it's the wrong rally. So you moved around. You were kind of all over the place, right? Yeah, yeah, I was born at Stanford University where my mom was in school at the time, but I did not grow up here at all. We quickly moved back to Indianapolis where she's from, lived there until I was about four or five. Then we moved to Boston,

which I feel very happy. Lived there until I was about 12, which Boston doesn't remember I lived there, but I did live there. And then my mom wanted to move to Chicago, and I was there for a few months, but then hated it and moved to Alabama to live with my dad, who was in Mobile Alabama.

The night I got there, I was like, oh, this was a mistake. But I stayed for two and a half years. And then I moved back to Chicago, finished high school, and then, you know, college in Philadelphia, back to Chicago out to the Bay Area.

We have basically been ever since. So it was a situation where you realized immediately. What did you hope to find in Mobile, Alabama? And what did you find? The way you asked that is so suspicious. What did you hope to find in Mobile, Alabama? So I used to, to be clear, I used to go there every summer. So I knew what I was getting into.

Gotcha. On some extent. But I was just mad at my mom that we had moved out of Boston. And I liked Boston and suddenly we were in Chicago. And I didn't, you know, I was the only child and sort of a didn't make friends quickly and was just resentful and wanted something familiar. And then I got there and found something familiar. I was like, but not, you know, I mean, my dad had gotten, I mean, he'd been remarried for a while.

But really, I went from being an only child with me and my mom to my dad was married to my stepmom and had, and they had, my stepmom had a daughter. So then I was in like a nuclear family where it was like, what do we all want to watch for TV tonight? Where I, with my mom, like, I got my TV, you got your TV. See you later. You know. So when you were in Boston, was it just you and your mom? Like, when did your parents split? Okay.

Yeah, they said, I don't remember. It's a very sad joke. I don't remember my parents being together ever really. When you said I'm moving to Mobile, Alabama, what was your mom's reaction? Was she kind of like, on God bless? It's funny. I wish I could bring her in. I think she was like, I know this is a mistake, but I have to let this kid do what he wants to do.

Because she knows, you know, the reason why I'm not sad. that my parents put up is because I can't even really imagine them getting along long enough to say, should we have sex? So I don't understand how I came to be. So she was like, knew who my dad was and was like, basically like, good luck with that. I mean, you know, and also was like, anytime you need me, I'm here. And so I used to call her every Saturday and just be like, I'm still here. You know, so it was very, we actually got closer while I was there. Oh, that's great. And what was, you said she was going to Stanford. What did your mom do? She was in Stanford to get a PhD in English.

The hang up was she wanted a PhD in African American literature. And at the time, Stanford did not give that as a degree. They didn't think African American literature was a thing. This was the early 70s. Even Stanford? Even West Coast Stanford. Yeah. So crazy.

Racism in California. And so she dropped out. So she never finished her degree. but nobody would know that or expect that about her. Gotcha. Did she work as an academic in Boston? It's just such a college town. Actually, it was like deeper than that.

She was the editor of textbooks. She was an English textbook editor. And she made it her job to diversify the stories in English textbooks again. This is the late 70s. We got to Boston the same year, Larry Bird did. So, you're welcome, Boston. But yeah, so she was like,

in the late 70s and early 80s, like diversifying the stories in English textbooks. Gotcha. It's interesting when you said that Boston doesn't remember there. Like we, Josh and I are, you know, from Southern New Hampshire, we're an hour drive to Boston. And like Boston doesn't really like accept us as Boston either.

Like it's really like, if you weren't like born there and spent like a good like 40 years, they're like. Yeah, yeah. If you didn't run from somebody in a race ride, I don't think they can't choose being. Well, they're very much like, why were you,

if you're from Boston, why have you been elsewhere? Yeah, yeah, and why aren't you saying it every 10 minutes? Like, why aren't you? Like, Matt David and Binafl like do a good job of like saying Boston every... Yeah, yeah, they know they left, but they're like, you guys talk about it. Yeah, we get it, we get it. And we'll do the accent.

Every eighth movie, we'll do the accent so you remember. Did you, you then, when you, you did some college stuff in Chicago as well, so eventually you found your way to belonging there? Yeah, I mean, I, so I was it, I went to UPenn for about a year and a half, then dropped out of UPenn and went to, went to, went to, went to, went to, like a Columbia College in Chicago, which is like a media art school. And yeah,

and that's where I slowly found my way to comedy. That's great. Does having a mother who dropped out of Stanford? It helps. Having a mother helps. I'm sorry. But does having a mother who drops out of her PhD program, does that make it easier to then tell her that you're dropping out of UPenn?

Yes. Yeah. So both my parents, like both my parents were like the first in their family to go to college. My mom finished her undergrad degree, but she didn't finish her postgrad degree. And my dad, like, was the one of the guys who went back to college when he was 30s and got his, like, undergrad degree and his MBA. So I think for both of them, they're like, he'll go back if he needs to eventually. And here we sit still and eventually. Although my dad was pissed because I'd gotten into an Ivy League school, which is something he never would have been able to do when he was in high school.

And so he was, he was not happy about it. Are they, your parents both still around? Yeah, my mom actually lives in our house. We just moved her in last year. She's 89. My dad still lives in Mobile Alabama with his new wife, his new new wife. And yeah, he doesn't want to leave. Wait, when you say new, new, does this mean a third wife?

Or does this mean the step-month? Yes, yeah, this means the third. I mean, yeah, so he was married to my stepmom for many, many years. She passed away. And then my dad remarried again. And what was your closeness with your stepmother? Was she a big part of your life? I mean, so I lived there for two and a half years.

I used to go there every summer. And so, yeah, I mean, you know, it was rough because there was sort of a sense of, I mean, ultimately, it was great. But at the beginning, there was just when I got there, they were like, okay, now call your stepmom, mom. And I was like, I already have a mom that I call mom. I don't think mom's a title you can confer to other people. It's so weird to ask for that. Like, I mean, again, this is before there was a lot of art about mixed families. And before we saw movies about how to behave with children to children.

blended family it was called which is called this is what it is yeah right you have a this is when you're here this is your mom yeah and so it was also hard because my younger my step sister was very happy to call my dad dad because she didn't have a close relation with her dad at the time no i'm spilling all the family tea yeah but uh so so it was like well she's doing it and i'm like well i'm like it's hard to be i like my mom i'm no offense like if you like her so much oh why did you come here yeah exactly yeah Wait, what was this summer in Mobile, Alabama, like? I mean, that's what I do.

Like, when I see my kids now, I have three daughters, and how, like, scheduled their summer is right now, like a 15-year-old and an 11-year-old and an 8-year-old. And, like, my 8-year-old had two weeks of camp, but doesn't have camp today. And I feel like it's the first time you're having, like, a summer day that I used to have and take for granted of, like, you, like, I was writing about this recently,

like, waking up, eating breakfast, and then sitting in my grandmother's din all day, long as we watched like game shows, soap operas, afternoon game shows, cartoons, Wheel of Fortune about 530, primetime TV, and occasionally they would be like, go outside. That was summer for like three months. I'm so glad because I was so worried you were going to go the other way, which is like, throw open the door, you know, run down to the gully, you know, collect rocks. But I, you know, there was that part of summer that my kids are not.

never going to have. Also, just because of the way we, you know, feel about screens. And it's hard to argue, like, there's a real value to watching prices right. But, like, I really did feel like in the summer, it was like, I've earned this. I was in school all year, and I'm just going to sit here. And as I got older, I did a lot of, like, I mean, lying in my childhood bed, reading books on a beautiful summer day. And I remember making the argument to my parents. I'm like, it's wonderful to read in the summer. There's birds chirping outside. I can see the trees out the window. This is great. Like, the idea that I got to go run around, like, it's, it's outdoor school was not. Well, I mean, for me, the minute I started making

money from TV, I looked at everybody like, you were all wrong. Like, all that TV time is why I'm working TV now. Like, I was right. I was studying, apparently. So I really, me and my wife have very different attitudes for screens. And I'm like, it's not that you're on the screen. It's what the, what you're doing on the screen. Yeah. I do just want to point out, Seth just knocked outdoor school and every weekend what do you send your kids to Seth? Outdoor school well that's because

well here's the thing if I had a wife it's called come out if I had a wife who said like yeah on Saturday they can just watch TV all day I'd be like great keep them home but like we're not going to let him do that like somebody else take them yeah somebody else take them you know what I mean I'm like yeah like so much of our

I mean again and I get it and I'm not like you know I'm not going to sit down with my wife and be like I think they'd be better at school if they watched Alf. You know what I mean? But a lot of the way the time we spent with our parents was together watching television and enjoying television. Yeah, for sure.

No, in my house it was like the way that people used the radio. It was just on all the time. Yeah. And also it's sort of the thing about it that was good is that sometimes TV got, there was nothing to watch, and you ended up watching something you never were going to watch because you couldn't turn the TV off. What are we Philistines? You know, so and that's how you end up going like, huh,

I didn't know about this wildlife show or whatever. You know, you sort of ended up watching things that you weren't going to watch otherwise. Did you have any influence over the clicker? Did you ever get to drive? Or were you sort of a passenger in terms of what you were watching? In my grandmother's house, I was a kid. I was not in charge. Like, I had to, I had, that's why I got to watch a lot of soap operas when I was a kid.

And with, I mean, I actually wrote about this on my subject recently. Like, there would be blocks of TV where I got the first couple blocks and then she got the next couple. And so, like, I've wrote about Friday night. when I was a kid was like Incredible Hulk, Dukes of Hazard, and then Dallas. And we just sit there and she would watch the first two with me

and then I'd watch the last one with her. And then when Hulk got canceled, it was Falcon Crest and then Dallas. So yeah, there would be like you, you sort of like everybody got their block of the television. It's amazing. When they canceled Hulk, you're like,

well, I'm sure it'll be another superhero show and they're like, actually, we're leaning towards dynasty. Exactly. Actually, that Dallas thing. does really well. Yeah. Hey, we're going to take a quick break

and hear from some of our sponsors. Support comes from Sony Pictures, Home Entertainment, with the breadwinner. Hey, Baji. Hey, Sufi. Very exciting. Straight from theaters, must-seat comedy this summer,

now available to watch at home on digital to enjoy again and again. And you know who is in this movie, Pashi? Who's at? One of our great road trip pales of all time, Colin Jost. Oh, yeah. You know who else?

Who? Who? Well, someone who's been a guest on the show, Nate Bargettze. Yeah. Star. Star of this movie, really. Yeah, and he was the star of the podcast when he was on.

No offense to you. Well, that's okay. I mean, he was a star over you as well. Mandy Moore, I would love to have her on this podcast. I was in a movie with her once. She plays Nate's wife, Three Children, Four Days in it as well. Directed by Eric Appel, who did the fantastic Weird Al movie a couple years ago with Daniel Radcliffe. It's a very funny movie.

To Nate and Their Three Children, Katie's the Ultimate Mom. But when her household invention leaves to once-in-a-lifetime deal on Shark Tank and takes her in a prolonged business trip, Nate must figure out how to keep the house from literally falling apart. Welcome to the dad era. Grab your family and don't miss the comedy. Everyone is loving with an 86% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. Starring the number one comedian Nate Bargettze, Summer can be chaotic. Movie night doesn't have to be.

Get it now on Prime Video, Apple TV, or Fandango at Home, rated PG. Support comes from Article. Article furniture is going to change the way your home looks. Yeah, it's going to look a lot nicer, Sufi. Yeah, you're going to feel happier when you walk into a house. Full of Article furniture, they offer curated collections for every style, be it of mid-century modern, coastal, or Scandy-inspired. And these are pieces that not only shine on their own, but also pair seamlessly with nearly any other Article product. It is quality without compromise, Sufi.

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Yes. That's when you'd watch TV. Were you close with her in general? Oh, sure. Yeah, I mean, I had a classic Southern grandmother, like a classic, like, you know, would like, like, wasn't, like, wasn't, what I was saying this? I'm like, how would my dad take this? Wasn't necessarily nice to you, but you knew she loved you. Yeah.

Yeah, I think that's a little bit like a New England grandmother, too. Yeah, we had, like, I have no doubt that she loved me one of the best for me, but certainly didn't suffer my foolishness. You definitely. I think it's like the Midwest is where you want to be if you want to actually know they like you. Yeah, or my kids, my wife, my mom is nice, but my wife's mom is like the classic, like, grandmother who, like, is making the arts and crafts and, like, you know, doing all the things with the girls, yeah. Where is she, where did your wife grow up? Monterey, California. Okay, gotcha.

Yeah, made famous through that HBO TV show that made Monterey seem nicer than it is. Yeah, it's always, that's how they do it. Yeah. It's like, Monterey. You, so your grandmother, you were an only child. Did your grandmother have other grandkids? Yeah, yeah, no, it was one of those. It was also that classic Southern family where there was like, you know, like some of my cousins were, some people I thought my uncles were actually my cousins, you know, like where it was like, because there was just so many generations of children.

And also so many like, well, that person died and then we took that kid in and, you know, where you sort of like don't know exactly how you're related to everybody. Yeah, so we had, but because I was by far the youngest, I was like, my cousins were a lot older than me, so I didn't grow up with them in the way that like my kids are growing up with their cousins because I was like, my mom had waited. It's funny to say this. She was 36 when she had me, which at that time was super old to have your first kid. Yeah. And so, whereas everybody else was having kids out of high school or in high school. And so I was by far the youngest on both sides of my family. So I was like an only child and also felt like an only cousin, except I had another,

there was another cousin who was the same age as me, but she was actually like, her mom was actually my first cousin, and then she was like, whatever that is, once removed cousin, but we were close in age. And that lady is author in Kay Jemison. Oh, how about that? Yeah. Did you, so when you would spend a summer in Mobile, would you just, would you interact with so much family?

Yeah, no, so for sure. Like, when I've taken my kids back there, I tell them, because they had, because I, first all, I love taking my kids back to Alabama, because I just feel like so many people are afraid to the south if you don't live there. So, and Mobile is like the southernmost tip of the south. Like the Gulf of Mexico is next. Not the Gulf of America. But so I will tell them, like, everybody's going to act like they know you and are related

to you. And everybody's going to be like, they're going to talk about you like they knew you when you were a baby, even if they're meeting you for the first time. You know. That's great. And so, like, you have to sort of, I just have to sort of, you have to just be ready for that. Like, there's going to be, like, 80-year-old women who are like, oh, baby, who are just going to come in for a hug.

I know we talk about consent. I know we talk about, like, you talk about like your body. Just, yes, that's all true. Just be prepared that they don't know any of that. We have, I hate to tell you this, I have waived your rights to consent. Exactly. But only for black women over the age of 70s. Yes, you are going to be manhandled by black women over the age of 70s.

And after how many times? Is it something now that your girls, you have three girls, correct? Yeah. Is it something they look forward to a trip to Mobile? Has it become a trip? Yeah, we're going to summer. We haven't been in a while. So it's funny.

Like, so my dad actually has a condo on Orange Beach. Alabama has beaches. A lot of people don't know that. But it's the part of Alabama. Looks like Florida should own it. But so we're going to Orange Beach. And my kids are like, oh, I really want to go to Mobile, which just sort of blows my mind. And also was like, I'd never said that one.

I was your age. But they want to go to his house in Mobile. And they, yeah, so they're sort of bummed out. What is the appeal? What is your dad have in Mobile that they like doing? It's funny. So my dad, I think my dad likes living in Mobile because he like was a titan of industry. And he got into insurance sales and then became in charge of insurance company.

Like he just, he got into the thing called reinsurance was the people who insure insurance, which is like the ultimate highest level of scam right under Bitcoin. And so he did well and has lived in New York and has traveled all over the world and could live anywhere he wants to, but likes living in Mobile because I think he likes walking streets of places like, and you thought I'd never be anything because he was like the kid came from the family that was poor and, you know, being Black in Mobile, nobody's supposed to be successful. So he really likes the fact that he's now like a big, a giant fish in a small town. So therefore, about 10 years ago, my dad, like, built his dream house.

And when you go into it, it feels like you drew this on a piece of paper when you were eight, because this is ridiculous. And because it's mobile, it probably cost half a million dollars. I don't know. Yeah, sure. It's like it's not, what he would pay for it in L.A. or in Manhattan would be very different. I mean, it probably costs more than that, but you know what I'm saying. Yeah. And so his house has an elevator in it, a completely unneeded elevator, like a co-exam.

Completely because he lives on the bottom floor. My stepmom lived on the bottom floor where she was alive. There is no need. And there's enough property where he could have just been a ranch house. But I'm like, this is eight-year-old you going, when I have a house, I'm going have an elevator in it. So my kids like riding up and down the elevator, to be honest. I might be getting this wrong, but I feel like I just read an article about the baseball

player, Dusty Baker and that he had an elevator in his house that went up to a room that has all his like memorabilia from playing. And it just made me really happy. I was like, I don't know, I don't know if it's because of baseball knees or what, but I'm like, I'm just happy Dusty Baker has an elevator in his house. No, it's just great. If you, I mean, that, again, talk about high levels of achievement. If you can, if you're born poor and black in this country and one day you have a house with an elevator in it, that's like, you know, that's higher than president, I think, you know. That's really good.

Is mobile, so the kids just like are, like, we're going to go to a house and just ride the elevator and. Yeah, and I mean, it's also like they, it's got a big backyard. It's like my, my, my, my, my, my dad's, uh, wife really is invested in being like the grandmother that like my mom isn't like on the, like she like gets them, like, so they'll show up and there's gift baskets and, you know, they're just like, you know, shoes and all their, like slip, new slippers and all their sizes. She really, shout out to Lola. She really goes that extra mile to make them.

So, and it's also very clear, like, the Christmas presents have all gotten better since they got married, like, because my dad would just go to Amazon and go, what do, like, whatever the number one. gift for an eight-year-old girl would be he would just buy that like something you know uh so yeah so so they they like it because it's just it's very much caters to them but they're gonna yeah how uh how long when you were a kid how long would you go uh to mobile in the summers was that your whole summer yeah it was the entire summer i felt like school was out on friday afternoon and then saturday morning i was on a flight and then i then you know let's say school started on a monday i'd be back on like maybe that saturday before school started

Wow. And so would your mom basically just be a mom with no kids for the summer? Yeah, that's the funny part is that for years I would be in Alabama. I feel so bad for my mom. She's got to be so sad to be alone by herself all for three months. She's got to be so sad. Like, she's got to be so depressed. And then as an adult, I carried that with me for years.

Then as adult, I fed her, she's like, that's when she was having fun. Of course. Capital F fun. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And especially as someone who was a single mom during the year, like they needed it. I would imagine she needed even more than a normal parent would. For sure. And she also was very good about like I never as a kid, like I met some men who came through the house, but there was never like a this is your new dad or this is my boyfriend.

She was very good at like, you know, these men were not allowed to like call me son. And later I was like, I guess that's the guy she was dating. But, you know, so she was very good at like separating church and state. But did you, what were your friends? vacations like would you ever sort of go to non-mobile places or non-boston would you you and your mom go on getaways or yeah i mean so certainly there were like like when we lived in chicago there'd be like trips to go to my grant my her mom's house in indianapolis that was like there weren't a lot of like major huge vacations although when i was little little we went to disneyland that's like one of

our first memories. And then, like, there were a couple, like, the biggest vacation that I were ever taking is we went to San Francisco one time, which was years before I ever thought I would live in the Bay Area. And because I was, this is my, this is like the way I look back, go, oh, that's proof that my mom loved me. So I don't know how we ended up picking San Francisco, but I do know that once we got there, that she allowed us to stay in a hotel near Chinatown because I was a fan of Bruce Lee, and I knew Bruce Lee had been born in Chinatown. that's a mom who loves her son. Yeah.

And there's all the places you could stay in San Francisco. We stayed in the, in the Hilton Chinatown because my mom was like, and I walked around the streets of Chinatown looking for Bruce Lee memorabilia, which at the time was not as easy to come by as it is right now. That's funny. I would have thought they would have been out in front of that. I mean, that's peak, kind of peak Bruce Lee. I mean, this is like the peak, I mean, I feel like we're actually in Peak Bruce Lee now. This was like, I don't know, what was I? Like, late, late.

Like, this is the 80s. So I was a teenager, and there was a period of time where the Bruce Lee industrial complex hadn't fully kicked in yet. So, like, I remember going to like a shop that, like one of those Chinatown shops that has like everything, like my friend Kevin Caddoch would say it has videotapes and parkas and sprites. And they had to get a Bruce Lee iron on on a white t-shirt that I had forever. That was the way I got my Bruceley T-shirt. Whereas, you know, like so it was not, it was before I'm friends with his daughter now. And it was before she had like assembled all the rights back and really kicked it up into high gear. It is funny.

That's how you know you're not fully there. It's like you still, there's assembly required. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Put that on that and sell that to me. It's always funny because like, you know, somebody being from a place makes natural sense. My wife's from Albuquerque, New Mexico.

And it's funny when I, sometimes when I go back and I'm like, they're selling Walter White memorabilia. Exactly. I'm like, which part of this reflects well on Albuquerque as a culture? other than the beautiful vistas. It's like Philadelphia not knowing where to put the rocky statue. Is this art or is this sports? Yeah. It's something because it's rocky, but we don't know exactly where it goes.

Yeah, but we know we can't get rid of it. Yeah, we know we can't get rid of it. People be real mad if you get rid of it. People are flying into town to take pictures with it. We just don't know where it goes. Is it history? Maybe it's history. What was the, so your mom, Indianapolis, was that a city that you would look forward to?

Were you close with her mother? Yeah, I mean, her mom was more of the, like, grandmother who quietly sits in the chair and doesn't say, you know, like there was not a lot of like, you know, there wasn't a, like with my mom, with my mom's mom, I have a lot of memories with her and being with her and being hanging out with her. With my mom's mom, there was not, there was not as much excitement in Indianapolis. She never got over the fact that the Hulk got canceled. No, she was really pumped out of her. She just got real. After that, she got real quiet. She got real quiet

She got real quiet. Yeah. It is funny just having different vibes from grandparents Because I think like I went to, you know, we had one in Pittsburgh and we had one in, you know, sort of coastal Massachusetts. And as much as it's about where you are geographically, so much more it's about like who the actual grandparents are and what they want to do for fun. Yeah, no, for sure. Like I've always been aware that my mom, like I said, she's 89, is a better like when you're when you're like over the age of 11, she kicks in as a grandparent. Like when you're like ready to talk about the real shit.

Yeah, we had one of those. Right. And then the other one, like once you get over 11, you're like, oh, you an old lady. What in Indianapolis, were you, were you downtown? Could you like, if you walked out of your grandmother's house, were you in the city or were you? That's a good question. I mean, no, no. I mean, this is also like, we're talking about like 70s and early 80s.

So I wasn't really going anywhere. where maybe across the street. And also Indianapolis is, I mean, you know, it's so funny. Indiana, quiet as it's kept, is actually Mississippi. It's just Mississippi with the northern accent. So it's certainly not a place that I would have been, my grandmother would let me walk around town. Yeah, fair enough.

I'm laughing about the horror. Yeah. Turns out it's everywhere. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it's, I mean, so I, when I think about Indianapolis, I think about being at my grandmother's. house and like just being there and like they're you know it's just also like my the other thing about that grandmother she was like she did cook she was really good cook and when she died it's that thing you

know you hear the expression we lost some recipes like we lost a ton of recipes with her because my mom is great at a lot of things that's not one of them so funny what a funny about like my grandma used to make hand pies which were like that's what we called them which is basically like a hostess apple pie but homemade you know so like a and and my mom, we tried to make it at one point after she died and it was like, this is good for nothing. You know, so that's, we lost the hand pie recipe.

What, uh, would you, did you and your mom ever, like, get on an airplane together and go anywhere? Or was that, yeah, no, I mean, I mean, I think that, yeah, so we went to, went to D.C. one time. I think really it was like, again, single parent. I'm trying to think of other, I mean, we, there would be, I guess what I think about probably once we went to the behind, Mama's one time when I was a little kid.

And I remember being there as a little kid and be like, this will be better when I'm an adult. You know, so there was like, there was definitely like a once a year trip, but it'd be like a big deal. We were not going on. I was on planes a lot because my dad was in Alabama. Like, so as a kid, I was like the kid who was always like who knew how to fly. Like I tell my kids these stories. Because at the time, and when I tell my kids these stories, they think it's like a horror story. Like I was flying by myself since I was like four years old.

Yeah. So like, you know, my mom's just just walking me to the gate, sitting me in a chair, looking at the gate agent going, you got this? You know what I mean? And so, and then I would just, and then because I'm flying Alabama from like Boston, you have to connect through Atlanta. No big deal. Just the busiest airport in the world. And, you know, being handed off to people one after the other. So by the, and then by getting to, this is back when you could walk into the gate to get off the gate in Alabama and my dad would be standing right there.

So it was like, and I tell my kids that and they're like, no, no. You know, my, my oldest kid is 15, she's never flown by herself. Yeah. I mean, I don't know if I, I'm trying to think of the first time I did. I was probably close. Well, 15, 16, maybe. But it's four is nuts. But again, once you do it, then you're fine, I would imagine.

Well, yeah, and I think also it was just like, my mom was like, I'm not, I don't want to see your dad's. I'm not flying out of him. Right. Yeah. It's going to take a lot of time. There's a connection. Yeah. I mean, I just, yeah, I wouldn't have done that with my kids.

My wife certainly would not do that. but it was just the most efficient way to get it done. But I remember the point that, like, at some point, I think when you turn 12 or 13, you go out of, like, they don't, like, hand delivery you places anymore. I remember the first time I was at an airport at, like, 12 or 13, and suddenly it's like, no, get yourself to the gate.

Right. Like, make your own connection. Like, you're like, but two weeks ago, you were doing this for me, you know. I wasn't paying attention. You were supposed to learn. This was also instruction. Yeah, this is the last time you were doing.

ever get to fly by yourself with help so i remember being like really freaked out about like getting through the airport by myself did you were do you think you were good company for your mom on trips like when you were uh in dc and it's just like mother and son like no we were that's that's the difference with my mom or relation to my dad we were were me and my mom were legitimately like friends right and liked hanging out together and like to sort of doing things and she from a very early age because she could always afford babysitter she would take me places which i think really was one of the defining things about my personality is i was always a pretty good listener because i'd be around adults and just be like man i don't know

none of this but it sure is interesting so uh yeah so we i was a i was a i would say i was a good hang for my mom and one of the things that i really like with my kids is i've replicated like i feel like i'm a good hang for my kids and we like we actually generally like each other in addition to having being uh legally tied to each other right when you went to the bahamas is that or you like staying on the beach somewhere? Are you at something? Yeah, we're at, we're at like a, like a classic, uh, Nassau resort.

Uh, oh, it's funny. So we, yeah, so we're, it's just reminding of another trip, uh, of that. So we, yeah, we went to, we went to a resort and got to get around town a little bit. My memory is just of like the fact that it was hot and that it was all the fun looked to be something that you could do if you were an adult. Like I remember it did not seem like it was not. This was before, I think all included. exclusive resorts with like slides and thing like you know with like the kid area where like when

me and my mom go my wife go places so it's funny so years later we went back to the homas but it was as a result of like i got booked on uh jesse thorn maximum fun podcast network i know that too yeah he had a cruise that was like that also was like so he had booked me on the cruise to do stand-up and my wife was supposed to go and she was pregnant so she because she was too pregnant to go and so But the last minute, I was like, mom, do you want to go? So at the time my mom was in her 70s. And so I took my 70-year-old mom on her first cruise ever. And again, it was like, like it was one of the greatest, most ridiculous things ever to take.

We're staying in those tiny cruise rooms. We're like, you know, you wake up and you can touch both walls like this. And took her on this cruise ship. And we got to sort of like hang out for a few days for several days on this cruise ship while, you know, around you. everybody's getting as drunk as possible and I'm doing stand-of-comedy at night. And one of the greatest moments I remember for that cruise trip is we're sitting at breakfast

one day, and this is a classic my mom sort of thing. She's looking out the boat and she sees people like parasailing off the back of a speedboat. And she's like, what? What is that? I was like, that's parasailing. People do that? Yeah, they're doing it right now. Why would you do that? Because it's like

a thing you'd want to, I don't know, people do everything. Is it dangerous? I'm sure it's probably fine. They're not going to do it it's dangerous. Why would anybody want to do that? Over the course of an hour. I think I want to do that. Did you get her up there? So we went parasailing.

It was like one of those moments you're like, this is like maximum mom. And just such a like, she looked at it was like angry. This is how my mom works. She's angry. I don't like that. I think that's dumb. Why would anybody do that? What time can we go?

Did she enjoy the experience in the end? She did. She did. She had a great time, but I just always remind her of, like, that moment of, like, that's a classic, like, whenever she gets really, like, upset or bothered by something, sometimes it's like, I actually like that a lot and I want to try it, but I'm afraid to say, you know, so, yeah. I think there's also part of my mom that is so from Indianapolis, like a poor kid from Indianapolis, poor black girl from Indianapolis, that her world was so small and she thought she was never going to escape it. And everything she wanted to do is to escape that world. and so she's but she's still in a place for sometimes she feels like why did they get to do that over there?

I'm mad at them. It's like actually if we pay $75, we get to do it too. That's a nice trump card on your dad because she's like, you know that's like a thousand elevators. That's how tall it was. That's how high it was. Would you ever go anywhere with your dad, stepmom, and step-sister? Yeah, I mean, that's the like the big,

because my dad, like I said, my dad eventually became, of Titan of Industry, but now it was a kid. He worked. He was like a bank manager. So when you're in Mobile, the big trip is either New Orleans, which we went to a couple of times. But the more main trip is like the beaches of,

like they call it the Redneck Riviera, which is where I'm taking my kids to. And that's what they call it. And it's basically the beaches of Alabama and Florida that's close to Alabama. And you'd rent these like, you know, sort of motel condos. And that would be your trip is on the beach.

It's funny, these beautiful beaches, that happened to be on the least popular parts of Florida and Alabama. So, and that's where I'm taking my kids. Now the condos are like these giant towers. But that was like the, when we were going to the beach, that was the time we were like, we have lived well. We have done well in life. We're going to the beach.

And, you know, you go to the grocery store and you have to buy groceries. It's the fun part of staying in a condo on the beach. You have to buy groceries. Are we going to finish this box of cereal? You know what I mean? Yeah. Oh, I mean, it's so sometimes I get frustrated when, Like, I took my oldest, who's 10 to Boston, and we did all the historical museum stuff.

And all he cared about was, you know, room service. Yeah. And part of me is, like, so mad that his focus is in the wrong place. But then when I remember trips, I think the most exciting thing was that we were going to go to a different grocery store that had all the same stuff. But it was just a different grocery store. It was so excited. Well, that's what my wife does. This is, like, you get to buy the cereals you don't normally buy.

that we will never buy for you at home. So like that, the serials that are like little packages of serals all, do like 12 of them all together. So my kids are like, I finally get to discover what this fruit loops is all about. Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. It's also so funny as a kid, you're like, it's a variety pack of 12 and then three days in, you're like, I hate the other nine. Exactly. Why didn't we just get 12 of the ones we liked? But at least now you know.

Yeah, exactly. I feel like you observably knew it was a lot of like, oh. Oh, wait. I didn't, in my excitement to get the fruit loops, I didn't realize how many of these were brand forward. Exactly. Brand, no raisins. Hey, we're going to take a quick break and hear from some of our sponsors. Support comes from FitBod.

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See terms for details. When you went down to the Redneck Riviera, would you know other people who, like a lot of times people, you know, just growing up around in New England, like you'd go to Florida, and then people you happen to know would be sort of staying nearby. Would you know people who were going to be there as well? Or were you just... No, I mean, this is what I miss.

And I mean, when I see my kids do it, I get really excited. Like, it was the days when you were like, you would just be a kid. Me and my steps were jumping in the pool. and whatever kids were there, you sort of just became friends with for the day. You know what I mean? Which I feel like doesn't happen the same way it used to because parents aren't as open to that. And also kids have devices. But just the idea of like, oh, you're in the pool.

We're in the pool. Now we're all friends. You know what I mean? So like that's what I remember about it. It was a time of those friends for three days. Yeah. Yeah. It was interesting you mentioned earlier because I feel like the friends from three days

when you realize it's over and you're like never going to see them again. You don't really want to work to do it. You know, you're like, what are you going to do, right? Be pen pals to be like, hey, been in any pools lately? No other shared interests have even been breached. But it's also like it's funny when you talk about like a summer of watching soap operas. I feel like there's that same thing, whereas like you think that they're, you realize like, oh, I've just been on a moving train.

Yeah. There's no, I'm not going to be here for any conclusions. No, no. You know, I'm going to like. The beginning of every summer would be like trying. trying to pick up, where did I miss? What are hoping that guy doing now from days of our lives? I can't remember.

I'll tell you this, if your gram, by there was anything like ours, they love to watch it and they don't like answering questions. I feel like the more questions, also the more questions you answer about a soap opera, the more you feel bad about watching it in the first place. Yeah, yeah, yeah, no, just don't interrupt my stories was a common refrain. Yeah. I feel the same way about sports and having like introduced my boys to it and now it's all they want to talk about.

And I'm just like, it doesn't matter. Shut up. They're like, who's the best? Who is the best Red Sock ever? I'm like, I don't want to, it doesn't matter. Nobody knows. You don't know them. Nobody knows.

Well, it's funny because I had that happen with my oldest daughter. She was not, because it's funny, I have these three daughters and none of them are like superhero interested, which as a kid that was, if I, if I lived through the air as a kid of the super movies, I'd be so excited. But none of them are. So I sort of had to see some of these, I had to see most of these Marvel movies and DC movies by myself. But then finally, my oldest daughter got interested in the Tom Holland Spider-Man movies,

but only because Zendaya was in them. Yeah. And so she sees Zendaya as being the equal of Spider-Man in those movies. But what it means when you watch those three movies is they're so tied into the Avengers MCU universe that there's constantly like, who's that guy? I got to pause. Okay, look. So that's Iron Man.

Let me explain all of who Iron Man is and why he's being mean to Tom Holland in this scene. All right, let's press play. Who's that guy? Okay, that's Toby McGuire. Let me explain why Toby McGuire is he, you know. Oh, no, I haven't to explain multiverse to children. That's not fair. I remember, like, growing up, I don't know if you were a comic book person,

but, like, when you used to grow up and, like, we would buy, like, just road trip comics. So, you know, it wasn't when I was going to the comic store, which I did later in my life and, like, picking everything up. But you'd buy, like, an Iron Man 261, and then there'd be, like, a little asterix. It's, like, see Iron Man 248. And I'd be, like, to my mom, like, we got to find a store. We got to find a store with back issues

Because I don't know what's going on I used to sell them Like in like 7-11s There'd just be a rack of comic books And it was just sort of a rack of odds and ends Of random issues that had not been sold And you're like, great But now I'm in the middle of a story

That I'll never be able to figure out again It's also a reminder of the difference Between a comic book and a book Which is like you'd go to a store You'd like buy eight comic books So you'd be like Well, this drive is going to splash by Nope and I'm done

It took me 11 minutes. Exactly. I remember when comics went from being 60 cents to a dollar, and I was like, a dollar, but it's still the same five minutes of enjoyment. Like, I can't invest a dollar into this. Yeah. Same drawings. Spider-Man didn't get a nicer house. No, no, he never does. He never does.

Were you guys, were you more pool people over ocean people if you had that option at a place in Alabama? Me and my wife, this is where, okay, well, if we're talking about, as a kid we were yeah yeah you can go any era yeah so as a kid i would say i mean we went to the beach but i would say we were more pool people as an adult i am fully a pool person i've been to the beach enough in my life thank you beach you've done well you've done your time beach and now is your wife a beach person is that way my wife totally a because she grew up monterey so the smell of the ocean is really important for her like it's a real like sometimes she has to we live in the in oakland sometimes she will like once every couple months so we'll drive to monterey just to get the

smell of the Monterey Ocean in her. And the Monterey Ocean is not like a warm. It's not a, it's not, you know, Northern California Beach is not Southern California Beach. But she's definitely a beach person. But to me, the beach is just a lot of work that doesn't, that doesn't ever pay off. It's accurate. Even walking onto the beach is hard. Everything you're saying is accurate. Everything you're saying is accurate. Did, uh...

The pool is just there. Right. It's funny that you, you know, wasn't really home per se, uh, being, you know, from Northern California and yet you've ended up back there as as as your home now. I mean, when I moved, when I moved here, I was like, I'm going to move to the San Francisco Bay Area. It's going to be a brand new thing. And my dad was like, you know, you should have moving back home, right? And I was like, what?

Like, because I never really thought of myself as a native Californian. And even now when I have to tell the story of my life, I have to be like, okay, I was born in California. But no, because then people started, well, where did you go to high school? No, no, I didn't. I was not here for all that. But yeah, so there is something about me. Something about this that makes sense that, like, when I moved to the Bay Area, I thought I'd be here for like two years and then moved to L.A.

And you know, get a sitcom, movie deal, all that stuff. You know, the young Chris Rock package where you get a sitcom and a movie deal and a lethal weapon sequel. But, like, none of that happened and I ended up staying. And now, you know, now I can't, now I'm pot committed. Yeah, that's fantastic. I mean, I was in New York for a couple years with my first TV show. But then, Susan Woff got pregnant again. move right back.

Any exotic trips you've taken with your wife and your daughters? So, yeah, the great thing, and I don't know how you feel about this, but you guys feel about this, but the great thing about being in this business is that sometimes you get to take them on work trips and sort of, it doesn't always work to split the difference. But, but like, you know, so like we got to, you know, when I was in Montreal, when I, when we had two daughters, we went to the, we went to the, just for laughs in Montreal, and I took my daughters with me. And it's sort of cool to walk, have them walk around town and go, see that

tiny poster underneath that giant poster? The tiny poster is me. My voice would immediately be like, why don't you have the bigger poster? Yeah, exactly. We're sure. For sure. Yeah, yeah. Like, there's a, there's a picture of them. Like, there's all the comics who have shows at the festival and my daughters

are at the bottom of this giant poster of all these pictures because my poster was at the bottom of this. Yeah, so. That's great. So, yeah, so we've gotten to like, when my daughter, my oldest daughter was six weeks old is when I've gotten to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. So we had to get her passport of six weeks old and take her to Edinburgh Finch Festival. And I got to like walk around Edinburgh with this baby and like one of the, the, the, the, the giant thing while handing out flyers for much.

Oh, man. We've both done Edinburgh. And the one thing that I'm not jealous of is doing it with a six month older. Six week old even six weeks old. Six weeks old. Yeah. Wait. Do you remember your venue at Edinburgh?

Where'd you play? I was in those, it was definitely in the places where the comedy shows were. Like, I don't know, like, where, is it the,

starts with the P, I think? The Pleasants? Yes. I was like, there were, I was, I was in a good,

I was in a good central location and in like a hundred seat venue. That's some nights had eight people in it, but you know, you, that's okay. By the way,

100, for your first fringe, I wouldn't recommend going bigger than 100. No, no, for sure. No,

I actually wouldn't recommend doing it at all. Yeah. Did you just do it once? Yeah, that's what I remember. I was there. And I remember seeing, there's a comic name Glenn Wool who was there, who had a really good year. This was like 2011, 2011.

And they were like, after 10 years, Glenn Woolf finally has his breakout show. And I was like, 10 years? No, I won't be back. I'm not going to. If I don't break out in one year, I got to, I've had hard enough time breaking out in America. I can't pot commit to Scotland. Well, also, like Josh and I kept going back with improv shows, but that thing at Edinburgh where standups have to come up with a completely new hour. Yep.

To go back to it. You're like, what? Yeah, yeah. No, it's, if I was like, I would have to move here for this to all make sense because it's like I'm not, but I'm, and I'm not doing that. So I was like, I will never. It's like the thing about halfway through. I suddenly had this like, because it went fine-ish, you know. Yeah, sure.

Because you know how Edinburgh works. You get the star reviews. They put them on your poster and, you know. So, and if you, but they only put them on if you get four or five. So I remember like Michael Winslow was there when I was there. And you couldn't even see his face for all the five-star reviews Michael Winslow got. You know, and it's like, shout out to Michael Winslow. He doesn't have that kind of acclaim in this country.

But in Edinburgh, they were like, he is the guy, you know. Wait, Michael Winslow from like police academy? Yes, yes. Was doing, he was getting five stars for. His poster was lousy with five-star. Like, you know, because they just glue them on. And after a while, you barely can see the performer for all the five-star reviews. And he was like...

Is there nobody who does sound effects in the UK? Apparently not. Apparently not. Yeah. Different enough from everybody else that it was like, well, if you want to see something unique... Yeah. Yeah. And Edinburgh is definitely like about doing something you...

They like things that are... They're not... They're like things that are unique or that feel like nobody else is doing this. By the way, no... Good for him. Good for him. I want to make sure. Yeah, no shade to Michael Winslow.

I'm delighted. every time I saw him on screening, I'm very happy that he had... Yeah, if you Google his Jimmy Hendrix impression, it's actually, like, amazing. And so if he closed on that, I get where the five-star reviews are. And I don't mean his impression of the speaking voice of Jimmy Hendrix. I mean, of the guitar. Do your daughters get a vote on where you've taken vacations? Do they ever say, like, hey, we would love to go here?

So one of our most sort of, like, well, sort of most talked about... about family vacations was I was walking through the streets of Berkeley one day and this woman stops me, recognized me. I said, I just wrote a children's book. Can I give it to you? And I was like, of course you can. And the name of the book is called Mr. Okra sells fresh fruits and vegetables. And it was about a man in New Orleans who had a truck where he would drive around the city

and sell fresh fruits and vegetables. And the book is all about all the different places. It's sort of like the blueberries were blue like this building in New Orleans. These tomatoes are read like this place in New Orleans. So it's like all about like it's like a tourism guide to New Orleans set against this character. And it's also he sings the song. So when you read the book, if you're a good parent like I am, you sing a song with it. You know, like it's all about how he sings through the streets of New Orleans.

And so I took it home and immediately sort of became a part of our family children's book cycle. And at the time it was just my oldest daughter was around. And then my middle kid was born. and I started reading it to her, and she loved that book so much that she's like, I want to go to New Orleans. And I was like, and New Orleans is only two hours from Alabama.

So I was like, we could probably pull this on. The next time we go to Alabama, we can just drive the two hours to New Orleans and we can go to New Orleans. And so we did. And so she was like four at the time. And so for years,

and it was a great trip. And also the book, a good job of laying things out. So, like, you'd be like, wait, the green palm fronds are next to the church, which is across from Cafe Dumont. We just knocked out three. Yeah, that's huge. We knocked out three pages.

I mean, that might be absolute pinnacle vacation, which is based on a book your kids love, but in a town that's built for adults. Yes. Yes. Really good. Yeah, because we had our babysitter with us at the time, or child care person. And so she would watch the kids at night. And me and my wife would walk around New Orleans.

And we'd have our own tour of New Orleans. So, yeah. So it was like, and it was great because it gave my four-year-old the sort of, I planned a family trip, you know, and she felt all good about it. It was a good trip. And that book, and it's funny, it's not a famous kid's book. I think if you look at it, try to order it, I don't think they printed up a lot of copies of it. But it's like, it's funny when, you know, Good Night Moon gets all the credit, you know, Mo Willems, who should get all the credit against all the credit.

And then I think probably a lot of families have the random kids book that they only have that no other family has that somehow made a big impact on their family. And for us, it's Mr. Okra sells fresh fruits and vegetables. And now, as an adult, she talks about wanting to live in New Orleans sometimes based on this whole experience with him.

That's amazing. Yeah, my kids love Good Night Moon. They made us take a vacation to an old woman's house. We had to be quiet the whole time. We want to go to an old woman's house at bedtime. Yeah, and she was like, just leave my house. Good night. They were like, oh, the mush doesn't taste as good as

I thought it would. Yeah, the bignets at Cafe Dumond are much better than the mush. Oh, man, Cafe Dumont. I just was at Cafe Dumont. Um, Dammecumel, you have a new podcast as well. Yeah, so my new podcast started a little over a month ago called Who's With Me, which is also the name of my substack.

And every week, I sit down and talk, have interesting conversation with people. And it's It starts out with me giving people their flowers so I can tell them why I admire them or why I invite them on the podcast. And then I have some very specific questions for them. And then it ends with me asking them for ways that they would like my audience to help. You know, because at this time of history, we need to figure out how we can, you know, turn this ship around. Well, congrats on that. And it's lovely to see you and talk to you.

Yeah, good talking to you. Thanks, guys. Before we let you go, Josh is going to hit it with our speed round questions. Okay. Okay. Here you go. You can only pick one of these. Is your ideal vacation relaxing, adventurous, or educational? Relaxing. It's not even close.

What is your favorite means of transportation? My favorite means of transportation. A plane. 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 family vacation with? Oh, the fictional part is what's opening up all the things. The Brady's. Ooh, fun. Although things that go south for them sometimes.

I remember when they mentioned Hawaii. They said, touch this thing we found in the ocean. No, thank you. I'm good. I'm good on that. I just feel like they would have a lot of snacks and a lot of good cereals. If you had to be stranded on a desert island with one member of your family, who would it be? My eight-year-old, because she's basically feral.

Okay, great. What is your dream destination for a family vacation? Uh, someplace that is dads only. Um, someplace that is, that is, uh, that, uh, is, has good Wi-Fi and is hot and, uh, but is also close to the beach so my wife can go to the beach. But I want to, I want a pool. I want heat and I want good, good Wi-Fi. Okay. Great. What is your, what is you, would you consider as your hometown? You've been all over. So what's your hometown? My hometown is Oakland, where I've been living for many years and where all my kids have been have been born. Okay. If you had to get more families to come visit Oakland, what would you tell them about that town?

That Oakland is the blue bubble that everybody makes fun of. So, like, if you want to come to a place where you can relax, it has, because we have all the diversity, the food is great, Lake Merritt is great. There's a hang on the weekend at Lake Merritt. It has all the people, all the stuff, all the things, and it's a lot cheaper than San Francisco. Yeah. I host a California podcast, and we were talking to the visit Oakland people, and they've got like a taco trail, I feel like. And they've got all these trails. And, yeah, when I was looking at the stuff that they have on offer, it really looks like a great town.

And we very recently added a Bruce Lee Avenue, so we're doing the right thing. Oh, look at it. It is heyday right now. And then Seth has our final questions. Have you been to the Grand Canyon? No. Do you want to go? Yes.

All right. There we go. I was kind of hopeful that we're like, we're kind of the same age and I was hopeful that you hadn't gone because you like me think it's overrated. But I wish you the best. Well, here's the thing. I hope you have a great time with your family. No, no, no, no, no, no, Seth. I don't need to go.

Okay. But I sort of took it as like, you were. were inviting me. Yeah, it does sort of, Seth, the way his voice goes. Okay. Yeah, because you're like, would you like to go? It was like, it was a this. Yeah.

You're right. All right. It wasn't, yeah. So I'm going to change it to this. But you don't want to go, right? There we go. Then I get it. I get it.

I thought we were becoming friends. Now I know or not. Okay. Thanks for having me. If you want to be a friend at a Grand Canyon, find a different friend. I'll be your friend for the Grand Canyon. I'm into it. Um, yeah.

W. Kamal Bell, it's so nice to talk to you. Thanks for being on the pod. Great to meet you. Thank you. Thank you. Family Chips, brothers. O. W. Come out there. O'Dobo.

Come out there. It must have been confused. Of Chicago, he was disapproved. Went to Alabama for his high schooling. Made in China. Was an iron. A parasail behind shows and soap. That's house was a little.

bit to state till they said you're 13 now get yourself to the gate in the summer left his mom thought she'd be sad when he was gone but in truth she was the one who was have less and montrude try to sand that egg