Fitzdog Radio - Howie Mandel - Episode 1078

Episode Date: December 4, 2024

From AGT, St Elsewhere and St Everywhere Howie Mandel is hilarious as always and also shows a side you don’t always see. Great interview.Follow Howie Mandel on Instagram @HowieMandelMy Bookie: https://mybookie.website/FITZWatch my special "You Know Me" on YouTube! http://bit.ly/FitzYouKnowMeAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

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If you have questions or concerns about your gambling or someone close to you, please contact Connects Ontario at 1-866-531-2600 to speak to an advisor free of charge. BED-MGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. [♪ music playing on video-cord player-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass guitar-bass Welcome to Fitts Dogg Radio, 58 year old guy in a skateboard hat. I don't know how I feel about that. I feel good about it. It's comfortable. What am I going to do?

I bought a Mustang. I still do standup comedy like I'm 26. I mean, Jesus Christ, I'm not gonna grow up. I'll grow up when I die, for God's sake. I'll be a child. I'll be like my mother. My mom was just out for Thanksgiving. She's still youthful, fun. She's the best. She was out here for like five or six days. She's just, you know, Bronx Irish sense of humor, bus balls, great laugh. She's got her father's laugh, Laurence McCarthy from County Kerry. She's got his laugh. And we just had so much fun. She comes out every year for like 25

years. She's come out to LA for Thanksgiving. A lot of traditions as people know. We swim in the ocean after dinner. We play soccer. We have a we had a big dessert party back at the house. We had like 30 people over this year and and you know went out to my daughter's bartending now part-time and so we dropped into the bar she bartends at and they had a live band and my mom is out there dancing and she's 82 wouldn't leave she's the last way there was probably 20 of us at the bar that all met up and she doesn't want to leave at the end of the night she's the last one standing always after Thanksgiving we all go to the

beach and we dive in the water my mom stays back on that one with Tom O'Neill author of chaos and they clean up the dishes and they finish all the wine all the wine somehow they get it clean though we come back and the house is clean I don't know how they do it but that's their tradition and went to a museum went to LACMA the the museum in LA went to Redondo for the day walked around the canals. Poker is a big tradition too because she taught my kids how to play poker when they were probably about six and eight years old and we do that every year. Anyway it was just fun. Baked an Irish soda bread. A lot of fun.

And by the way, if you also want to have fun, Christmas is here and it's time to pick up the Sunday Papers t-shirt for the holidays if you want to grab a one says take it each and the other one has a very cool logo with a show on it it's 26 bucks go to FitzDawg.com check it out order it now get to you in about a week high quality Fabric a lot of fun for yourself or for a loved one for the holidays Also, I got a bunch of tour dates coming up if you're in San Francisco this weekend I will be there the 5th through the 7th at the punchline Cleveland Hilarities December 13 and 14 then I'm going to South Africa for a few weeks when I come

back I'll be in Janesville Wisconsin, NIAC, New York, Raleigh, North Carolina, Milwaukee, just added Boston I'll be in Boston Atlanta Pittsburgh Toronto go to Boston, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Toronto. Go to FitzDogg.com get some tickets for my winter dates. Oh it's gonna be busy. So anyway I had fun today. Yesterday I interviewed my guest the great Howie Mandel who is kind of a Renaissance man of entertainment's done it all. Act, actor, host, comedian, and we played a game that I started that I think I don't know see how it went I think it went pretty well it's a trivia game we'll call it what are we gonna call it? Hidden trivia? Hidden trivia.

So basically I laid in three trivia questions throughout the interview in advance. So I'll tell you what they were. I was gonna ask him what Nancy Sinatra's big hit song was. I was gonna ask him to name five of the six original NHL teams hockey and I was gonna ask him the longest running game show on the air today and we'll see how he did. Should I say the answers now? Yeah I'll tell you now. Boots are Made for Walking is the song. The six teams are Toronto, Montreal, Boston, Chicago,

Detroit, and the New York Rangers. Those were the six original NHL teams. And the longest running game show on the air is Price is Right. So we'll reveal the answers at the end, see how we did, see if he won a Sunday Papers t-shirts a lot of anticipation but how he goes back when my first time I auditioned for Catch a Rising Star which was the club in New York back in 93 90 no 90 probably

94 and I had an audition Kevin Meany set it up and who walks in I was about to go on and then the club owners like hold on we got a drop-in and it's fucking Howie Mandel who went up and annihilates the room destroys and then I get up and I bomb. So years later I'm at the Montreal Comedy Festival and he's Canadian so he was hosting the uh it's called The Gala which is a big show that they record it and it plays all over the world. It's like this huge TV taping and I went up and I bombed again. I don't want you to think I bomb a lot

but these were two Howie Mandel related bombs and and I went up and I bombed again. I don't want you to think I bomb a lot, but these were two Howie Mandel related bombs. And it was just, it was a three in the afternoon show. The whole audience was old people. I was on like three hours into the show. It was brutal and I bombed. Anyway, so Howie comes out and he says to me, he whispers in my ear after I say good night and he's

hosting he goes do you have another five minutes and I go you mean now he goes yeah I go fuck yeah so he goes up to the mic and he says to the audience okay look you guys been here three hours I know you're down this guy's a great comic I want you to give him some fresh energy he's gonna do another set. Please welcome back Greg Fitzsimmons. And I go up and I open by shitting on Deal or No Deal, which the crowd loved, how he loved. And then I did Five Minutes.

I'm not saying I crushed, but I got by. It was a usable TV set. And I've always, he's always had a place in my heart for doing that. He's a really generous comic. He other comics he's a great dude this interview was fucking good he was very funny and then he went deep we got into male friendship and he was very vulnerable about it I learned a lot about him I didn't know a lot of stuff that if you think you know how we Mandel I think you're gonna learn different from this interview a lot of layers so anyway you

know I'm from God everything deal or no deal America's Got Talent he's been doing it for 15 years he was on st. Elsewhere he was in Gremlins and really good dude here is howie mandel Hey, buddy. Hey, now. Hey, now? Hey, now. I'm trying to get a seat. There I am. Look at you. How are you? Did you have a good Thanksgiving?

I did. Well, let's, yeah, let's start with that. Yeah, I did. We have a tradition here. I live in Venice Beach. And our neighbors are all pretty tight. We've all been here for I live in Venice Beach, and our neighbors are all pretty tight. We've all been here for like 25 years. So every year, for 20 years, we play soccer in the morning,

and then we dive into the ocean at like seven o'clock at night, and then everybody comes to my house and we have a big dessert for like 50 people. That was incredibly random, but yet traditional. Yes, it's been a sort of combination of different goofballs. I'm in charge of the soccer. Somebody else is in charge of the dinner. Someone else does the beach.

And yeah, and everybody gets drunk by the end of the night. We can tell the night is almost over. My mom drinks red wine. And when she starts- Your mom's involved in a soccer game? Yes. So she flies out from Florida and you can tell how far the night has progressed

because the teeth get pink from the red wine, then they get red. And when it goes purple, it's time for everybody to go home. Oh, so it's like a litmus, like litmus paper. She has litmus paper in her teeth that kind of lets you in the timer. Yes. Yes. It's like ninth grade chemistry meets alcoholism. Oh, so I just, like, I, I know you're going to think this is crazy,

but I get together with my family, my kids, their kids, and we eat turkey, and we watch football. Can you imagine that? No, no. I mean, we're not, like, we never would have thought of playing soccer and jumping in the ocean and getting mom drunk. Yeah.

You always have been so much more traditional than me in that way. Well, I'm American. You come down from Canada and you see our tradition and you say, okay, I guess we eat turkey and watch football. You know, it's just who you meet as an immigrant. Yes.

I just try to fit in. And as you can tell, I didn't meet you first. Because had I met you, we would all be wet and we'd have sand in our cracks and we'd have discolored teeth. Yeah. And we would, oh, look, it's Thanksgiving. That's a lot to be thankful for. Wait, speaking of Canada, how about your Blue Jays? Pretty hot this year?

Yes, I don't really follow baseball. I'm not a big baseball fan. Baseball is a little slow for me, but I will tell you, the Blue Jays, I threw out the pitch for the first game they ever won in their stadium, which was probably in the 80s. And the stadium, which is the Rogers Center, where they play, is most notably known for during, I think, an ABC during I think an ABC broadcast of a World Series

or something like that where they panned up, there used to be, I don't know if it's still a Hard Rock, but there's a hotel. Oh, right, right, right. You know, but. Yeah, I think it was the first stadium to do that sort of like high-end combining hotels and good restaurants. I remember going there. It was the first.

Yeah, it was the first, you know, and it closes and it opens. Yeah, yeah. It's like it talks about the Cowboys Stadium now, but this was like, we were so ahead of that, you know? So we had the hotel where you can get a hotel room and actually watch a game from your hotel room. It looks out onto the field. But what happened is ABC is shooting and I think it was a high fly out to left field

and they panned up and you could see that the wall in left field is actually the hotel. Yes. Somebody was hitting a home run, a home run against the window. I mean, is that, third base is, wait, first base is making out, second base. Third is the finger or the hand, it's manual. Oh yeah. So. Yeah. So it was a home run.

So the home run, he had her pressed against the window. No. What? I just, I have to think as a cameraman, you have to make an editorial choice at that point, depending on the couple. They didn't end on that. It went, it cut away, it cut away, you know, we're following, he was following the ball. I'm going to Google it as we sit here. And I'm telling you that it's true. It's Toronto. I believe it. I've actually heard that story. Oh, yes, I can confirm you 10 seconds ago.

That's where I heard it. Okay, so Jesus. But what about all right, questions I can Google and talk over to the Maple Leafs. The Maple Leafs are such an exciting team to watch this year. Are you watching them? No. What? American football. In fact, the thing I watched American football as a Canadian, I was a Canadian. I watched, did you watch the Buffalo game last night? I did so much fun. Oh, I love that. And I used to sit and watch the CFL, the CFL is Canadian football league. And when I was an archon. Doug Flutie. Not only Doug Flutie, do you know who,

well, Joe Theismann was our quarterback. When I was watching. And a lineman was Lou Frigno. No way, the Hulk? Yes. That's amazing. Who is, I think, for all intents and purposes, considered deaf. So I don't know how the huddle. He't know. Yes, yes. And the huddle. What? Yeah.

Well, I don't know how you are you a baseball fan? Your thing? Well, they obviously this year I'm from New York and I live in LA. So this year's World Series is pretty exciting. But I just love I figured you were a big Maple Leafs fan because they are like one of the original hockey. What was the original six teams? Do you remember what the which the original six teams were? Boy, I feel like I'm on a game show that I got miscast for. No, but I could guess, you know, I'm not really let me hear you guess what the first six hockey teams were. Because Toronto was one of them.

It would have to be Boston. Yeah. Boston, Toronto, Montreal, the Red Wings, Detroit, Chicago, the Blackhawks. Yeah. Where are they? That's five. That's five. One more. So I got five out of six. Five out of six. I got five out of six. All right. The last one is the New York Rangers. Oh, shit. Yeah. Who knew? It'll be a big city. Yeah. Yeah. And this year, I have a picture of myself with the Stanley Cup. And the Stanley Cup actually came to my house. No way! And I was the voice of the NHL Stanley Cup commercials. I did voiceover and they brought

the Stanley Cup to my house, which was, on one hand as a Canadian, that is bringing the Torah to a rabbi's house. But then you think of all the fluids that have actually. Oh, yeah. Dermaphobe. Yeah. Right. People know the tradition, but the teams get to keep it for a while. And I think have their way with it. You didn't drink out of it. No, I didn't. I shows up, has gloves on.

And I just. Yeah. I didn't take pictures. And I just did that last week. I just took pictures with the Stanley Cup because I'm a judge on Canada's Got Talent. And the company that airs Canada's Got Talent also has the hockey rights. So I'm a proud Canadian. Well, I'm proud American now, but I'm also a proud Canadian.

I've got dual citizenship. I'm bi. I hope you edit that in a good way. But I have two citizenship, so I took a picture with the Stanley Cup. But my favorite sport to watch is American football. Yeah, this weekend was amazing. So many of the Chargers and the Rams both won.

They both squeaked it by, but watching football in snow is about as exciting as it gets. And I feel back, cause I think, what's his name? The running back for San Francisco. He pulled his Achilles or something. I think he might be out for the season. But that was just a disaster for the 49ers.

That was horrible. It was just like a lot of bad skating. Yes. Trying to hold on and falling and just. What was great is that like a fullback could just keep going because the defenders normally they dig their feet in and they pull you down but the only way to tackle in that snow because the runner has the momentum is to grab them and hold on and get dragged so guys were getting seven eight ten extra yards after contact right but it was also a much slower game because a lot of them didn't have the speed. Yeah.

Well, Buffalo did, but no 49er could run. Yeah. And it was funny because the people who were calling the game kind of figured out the tactics of how to do it. Like you have to catch it and you have to be moving in that direction because if you already have some momentum,

then you could keep going. But if you catch it and you're standing still, you can't get going on an icy snowy floor. But it's so great when you're tackled and then you watch them slide for another 10 yards. It made me feel homesick for my childhood. Did you play American football growing up? Canadian football, yes.

Well, no, American. You know, CFL has different, we have different rules. Do you know that? It's a wider field, right? Yeah, and there's, I think it's only three downs, right? Am I correct? Okay. Yeah, I think it's only three downs

and I did play in school. We were, I was always fascinated with our Super Bowl is called the Grey Cup. We have the Grey Cup. Yeah. How much boring, more boring, it's a cup, those are the Super Bowls. Well, Stanley. We have the gray cup. How much more boring can we get? It's a cup, those are the Super Bowl.

We have a bowl, we have a cup. Well, Stanley sounds like a nerd, doesn't he? The Stanley Cup. We're American. That tells you, if you look at our awards for our sports, it kind of tells you the difference between America and Canada, right? Stanley Cup.

Yeah. We're a bowl. Yeah. You know, it makes Canada. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The Canadians, I don't think it gets the same. I think they changed it, but they got mad at me. They wanted me to be a the entertainment at the Grey Cup. Like they had a think of a Super Bowl dinner. Right. Before the game. I'm gonna think of a Super Bowl dinner. Right. Before the game, I'm gonna not take that call. No, I'm doing a little bit of a fundraiser. So I'm working the phones today. Anyway, they had eight teams, eight Canadian teams.

I'm not gonna ask you to guess who they were, but only seven names. Do you know that? Now. No, two of the teams teams Ottawa and Saskatchewan have the exact same name the Rough Riders. It was the Ottawa Rough Riders and the Saskatchewan Rough Riders. Wow. And people say no one are the Rough Riders and these are the Rough Riders. And I'm going to really, really couldn't come up with one more fucking name.

And that's, I said that, in my age and they got upset with me. They didn't see the humor in it. I go, it's not like you have 3000 teams. Yeah, yeah. Eric. Eight teams, seven names. And some of the most artistic people

come out of this country. You know that a lot of directors and comedians. Sure, Leonard Cohen. And Cirque du Soleil and everything that they come up with. And Rough Rider isn't even a, I don't think that's a name anybody really wants to share. No, it sounds like a place you go for brunch in West Hollywood after you take some poppers.

Oh, the Rough Riders. Yeah, the Rough Riders. Yeah.pers. Oh, the rough ride. Yeah. Rough riders. Yeah. They're not, I think now they, so they're, they're uniforms are, uh, I think it's black and red. I may be wrong. And that's okay for you. The people who comment on your thing, but, um, they changed their name. Uh, they're, their uniform is black and red. It might be red and white, but it's, I think it's black and red. Yeah. And then, so now they call themselves the red blacks.

Nice. Huh, huh? Well, listen, the last time I saw you, you were kind enough to have me on your podcast, Howie Mandel Does Stuff. We danced, we had a dance off, but I feel like there was never a winner announced from the dance off.

Or is it just a celebration? Well, it's both. So it is a celebration and there is a winner. I'm not one to gloat, you know, and I didn't want to, I think it was, I think if people watch the episode, it's just obvious. And I think I didn't wanna,, I think it was, I think if people watch the episode, it's just obvious. And I think I didn't want to, and you're the guest and I wanted to make you feel comfortable,

but I think it was just obvious. Oh, no, no, I don't think it was at all. I think that number one, you had a home field advantage. You planned it, you stretched probably. I'm guessing you had a choreographer. Paula Abdul was back there with you. There's no arguing. I don't know if you know what I do when I'm not doing your podcast, but I judged him. And dancers come from all over the world here. Howie Mandel has to say

about their moves. So isn't that interesting? Isn't that interesting? You know, I mean, nobody's surprised. You've got you got kids coming in from Dayton, Ohio, on the Greyhound, and they hit L.A. and they look at that walk of fame and you're on. I'm guessing you got a star in the Walk of Fame, right? Yes. And the state on Sepulveda. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha Who would have thunk? Who is the? I even think this was a job, let alone whether I'm qualified for it or not. You know, as somebody who's been in the business for 45 years, I just wanted strangers to like

me. Yeah. And I would do anything to humiliate myself just to make you like me. I think I was a little bit humorous and hopefully you enjoyed spending, you know, a few minutes with me. And then, you know, my whole career has been this weird whirlwind of, I can't fucking believe what I'm doing. But this, just judging. And the truth is, I think I'm really good at it. And I think I'm really good at it because I've gotten really comfortable in being authentically honest. I don't think I'm right. I just think I'm authentically honest. I don't think anything's

right when it comes to any art form. If you like it, it's great. If you don't like it, it doesn't mean it's not great. It just means you don't like it. So I never tell anybody that something's not good. I could just tell you what I think. Right. And you could take that with a grain of salt or you could, you know, maybe use it and find some inspiration behind my words. What comedians have come off that show with, has it launched anybody's comedy careers? No, but here's what it does. I don't know that it's, yes, I shouldn't say no.

I'm saying no because no comedian has won yet. But I believe that any comedian that comes on, and this is just by virtue of, how long have you been in the business? 35 years. Okay, so when we started out, there were places like the Tonight Show, Johnny Carson and things like that where, and for me it was, you know, HBO's Young Comedians special. Right.

Where you did it and then the next day you had a career. the be playing a stadium in your city and you don't even know their name. Right, right, I know, it's amazing. That could happen. So, my point is any comedian that has come on to our show, whether they believe it was a good experience or not, has benefited by it because, and I always say this to them, comedy is probably one of the hardest, and I'm not saying this because I'm say this to them, you know, comedy is probably one of the hardest and I'm not saying this because I'm a comedian and you're a comedian. Comedy is one of the hardest acts to appreciate. And you know, the easiest thing and I hope

I don't get killed for this, but singing kind of bores me. Yeah. And it bores me because you can walk into, you know, a Ramada Inn or you can go camping with friends and they can pull out a guitar and a lot of people can sing. Yeah. You know, and nine out of 10 times they're singing somebody else's song. So there's, I don't know what the creativity and you can go take guitar lessons and you can even take singing lessons and learn how to sing. So unless you're great and you stand out,

I'm not bowled over by that. But I don't think people appreciate somebody who comes out there virtually naked, and just spews their sensibility, their sense, and if it's not hitting, it hurts worse than any other kind of talent. Yeah, right. You need more, you know, if somebody comes out and sings a song, even a mediocre song,

everybody's going to sit quietly for the duration of the song. And then when the song ends, we just know it because that's what you do. You applaud and you go, yay. And they don't know they think it went well. If a comedian comes out here and does that, that that that and yeah it would be like the singer having to stop every 15 seconds and go is it good and everybody goes yeah it's good right and then continue playing the song. So the so so the point is and I always say that I say say, you know, especially on AGT, people in the room, when somebody's been hanging themself upside down and lighting themselves on fire

and they've got music and 10 dancers, and then you bring on little Joey, who tells you a little story about how his mom used to force him to do his homework, people are going, wow, this isn't as good as lighten yourself up. But it was actually more involved. And it's also scarier. So what I say to people who enter it, and I think every comic should do it. And I think every comic should do it at every level. You know, we're not an amateur show. Think of it as the US Open. You know, any people just compete and you could win it. Where are you going to get an audience?

We get one billion hits on YouTube a year. Wow. Everybody who's on it, whether you believe they've done well or not, will get more bookings, will be able to sell their tickets for a higher price, we'll be exposed. If three people at our desk aren't responding,

if 1,500 people in the room aren't responding, don't play it for that. Play it for, look into that camera and talk to millions and millions and millions of people internationally and I promise you, you are gonna end up in a better place. If you make it all about Heidi Klum or Sophia Vergara or Simon Cowell laughing or deciding

whether that is a great joke, then that's on you. Right, right. No, I had a friend, you remember a guy named Tom Cotter who came on? Tom Cotter I think did well. He came in second place. He lost to a dog act, but Tom's one of my dearest friends and he absolutely his career went up three or four notches from that. And guess what? It stayed there. Pardon me? And it stayed there. And it should. You know, you just need to have constant exposure. Right. And people, I talk to comics all the time. They go, I don't want

to go in that way. I go, so where are you going to go where live in same day and same time, 6 million people are going to see you. Yeah. It's not going to happen on anybody's podcast. Right. And 6 million people are going gonna see you and it's gonna live forever on YouTube and TikTok. And you're gonna be seen by 10 million people. Just put your shit together, put it out there. It's not about winning the contest. It's about being exposed and raising your career and competing.

And everybody from Taylor Williamson to Preacher Lawson to all these comics, Tate face is he's a mime a comedic mime. And so is Piff the magic dragon. Sure. Who is a you know, a comedic he's got both those guys have their own room in Vegas now because of a GT. Yeah, you know, crazy. Now when it's been going for so long, if I feel what has it been like seven or eight years? 20. What? 20? No, it's been going for so long. If I feel what has it been like seven or eight years? 20. What?

20 now is starting. Yes. Day. Someday you're going to be the longest run. I wonder what the longest running game show is. And the history of Wheel of Fortune or Jeopardy or any of those. Oh, yeah. Maybe for us. But, you know, the thing about it is, and comics were sensitive people.

You know, one of my friends, Dan Natterman, did the show. And he hated his experience on it, hated it. And I thought he did amazing. Simon didn't love him. And Simon said something about one of his jokes. Dan Nanterman is one of the funniest guys. Do you know, Dan? One of my favorite jokes of all time is one of his.

He says, the gym teacher comes into health class one day and he says, kids, today we're going to learn sex ed and I'm going to teach you how to put on a condom. And if you're wondering why I'm holding a banana in my hand, I can't get an erection on an empty stomach. That's hysterical. So that's Dan Adam. And Adam is one of the funniest guys. And, and I don't blame anybody for not. Simon didn't love it. Okay. And Simon didn't get what Dan was doing and told him, honestly, about he didn't, he goes, you didn't make, you didn't make me laugh, which is true. There's always many more people in the world that aren't going to laugh than whatever we could capture on our shows or whatever. Right?

Well, British people don't get American comedy anyway. I don't know that that's true. You really think so? Yeah. I don't think that's true. But anyway, he told him that. And Dan Natterman, he said, you know, Simon, you may know music really well, but I don't think you know the difference between good comedy

and your asshole or something like that. He said something like that in the moment and the whole audience went, wow. They left that in the show. It's one of the best moments. That's great. In the history of AGT. And I remember going backstage after and Dan was like beside himself. And I said, Dan, you created a great moment. You know, all these moments. And that's another thing I'll say to comics. You need to be funny and be yourself from the moment you walked out there. Don't be like a magician.

Don't come out there all morose and unless that's your act and then go, Hey, how is everybody? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right, right, right. Be funny from the beginning. Be witty and also respond to what's happening in the room. Yeah. And that happened, I think, was Taylor Williamson funny from the beginning, be witty and also respond to what's happening in the room. And that happened, I think it was Taylor Williamson was having a little bit of a rough time and he noticed the fact that Heidi Klum was not responding. So he started directing it to Heidi Klum and created this romance. And that launched him into making it into the finals. And they brought him back even every year because they had this faux Heidi Klum Taylor Williamson thing, which also really raised him

where he was doing comedy. So yeah, anybody that are and even today for me, we all need to continually be exposed. Yeah. I'm on this podcast. Right. I had the opportunity even at the level I'm on to be on AGT at this time. I would do it. Michael Winslow was just on a couple of years ago because we haven't seen him in a long time.

You remember? Of course, the sound sound effect guy used to play purple haze with his mouth. Yeah. Yeah. Are you inviting me on AGT? I mean, is that what you're trying to get to here? I know you would do really well. Well, I'm a little dark.

That's why it would do really well. Yeah. To me, and I keep saying this to people. Even if something spectacularly doesn't work. Yeah. There's something, you know what I mean? You grab your- Yeah, absolutely. And then calling it out for what it is. This is, oh, this isn't my audience. This is not my, you know, there's,

there was this duo, this comedy duo. Do you know who Chop and Steel are? No. I think I've got the wrong names, but I think it's Chop and Steal so they got known a few years back for they would go on morning shows like Good Morning Cleveland yeah and Good Morning Cleveland had no idea they were comedians and they would do like a strength act or they'd go on as experts in something that they weren't. But they would book these shows.

But as you knew, these things went viral online. And you go, Oh my God, this like, I think their strength act was like they were breaking twigs you can do like horrible, you know, he could step on the basket and crush it. Yeah. Yeah. But they were the hosts of Good Morning Cleveland or Good Morning Wyoming. They took these bookings really seriously. They didn't have a research department. And these were funny little things. I think they got themselves, we didn't know, booked on AGT and their bit. I don't know that it made it to the air. I don't think it made it to the air, but it did make it to the, they did a documentary.

He just pissed himself on stage. No. And what was the stated intention of the act? What did they say they were gonna do? I think that's what they went on. I think they were gonna do some sort of display of strength or acrobatics or whatever. And the guy just stood there

and I didn't know that they, nobody knew they were comedians. Yeah. And one of them actually urinated, which I don't think NBC or AGT liked it. But then I saw, I was in a theater and I saw the documentary and they had, I guess they had a friend in the audience that recorded that.

That's great. Let me ask this because you've been doing it longer than me. You've been doing it what 40 years? More 45 45 years. What what is the I'm sure you never pissed yourself. But what did you ever have a moment on stage where you lost your voice or you shit yourself or, what happened? So I was in Puerto Rico and I was playing one of the,

I was gonna do a concert at a casino. Yeah. And the, I was in the restaurant and the chef came over and said he was so delighted to have Howie Mandel in his hotel. Did you order the seafood that I made tonight? I said, no, I actually ordered the steak and the steak was there.

He goes, please, you gotta try the seafood. So he brings me the seafood and I eat some of the seafood. And then he brings me something else that he tried. I couldn't, I can't say no. And he was just being the sweetest guy and he was giving me all this stuff that he had cooked. And then like within an hour, have you ever gotten food poisoning?

Yes, it's the worst thing in the world. I think there's probably things worse. I mean, as a Jew, I've heard about the Holocaust. I don't know if food poisoning is the worst thing in the world. But the truth of the matter is it was percolating. Yeah. In my stomach. And this is like an hour before the show. And I go, I don't know what to do. I just don't feel well. I don't feel well.

I'm nauseous. And I think like I'm going to explode out of every fucking orphan. I'm gonna anyway, come to showtime. It's nine o'clock, ladies and gentlemen, Howie Mandela Walker, it's packed. Yeah. And at the time, I don't do this anymore. And this is why if you go see a show now, like every other comic I know, I use a handheld mic. Yeah. But up until that night, when I was on tour, because I'm so I move a lot, and I like to use my hands and I like to pick up props and I use I always had a lav on a wireless

mic attached to my shirt. And I'm on stage and I'm on stage and I could feel my stomach grumbling and groaning and I'm nauseous and I think I'm gonna just empty out of every orifice, right? And I could feel it. I'm also concerned that the audience is, but I just, let me get through the show.

I'm on for 15 minutes, 20 minutes most. And then I just go, good night. I was just so sick. I run off the stage. I run through the back halls. I run into my dressing room. Nobody knows where I'm going and nobody knows what's going on. And I just ripped down my pants, sit on the toilet, and I'm telling you, have you ever been to Niagara Falls? The worst. But nobody knew what was happening or where I go.

Yeah. My crew, somebody runs and they start banging, they go, howie, howie, and I'm going, leave me the fuck alone. They go, howie, howie, and I'm going, leave me the fuck alone, they go, howie, leave me the fuck alone, and somebody says, take your mic off. Ah. So the whole audience, the whole audience

heard my sitting ovation to them. The most embarrassing, I never, and it's a hotel, it's a resort. I was staying there for another two days. Oh, God. I couldn't make eye contact. I couldn't look at anybody. Oh, worst moment I've ever had.

It's the worst thing that's ever happened in Puerto Rico. I mean, my God. Wow. Did you go back on or that was it? No, no, no, no, I was sick. But then the next morning I wouldn't go out to the pool. I didn't have, I wouldn't go back to the room. I just went, I just, it was like horrible.

I wonder if that guy did it to you on purpose. I mean, you're the king of pranks. Maybe that was his prank on you. I don't know, but from that day on, I've never warned that somebody goes, you want a wireless mic? I go, no, no. Yeah. Yeah. What was the prank? Todd Barry's a good friend of mine. And when we were coming up, we were like, you know, kind of fledgling comedians. We haven't really made it big or anything. And not that I have now. I'm sitting in a room with a plant. But you brought him on. I'm sitting in a room with a plant but you

brought him on sitting in a room with a picture of myself I you brought him on do you remember this prank you did that I'll tell you so Todd Barry who I love and I actually this makes me feel bad because I I I wanted I videotaped it I have a videotape of it yeah and I asked years later when I had a talk show, I invited him on and I wanted to show the tape and he wouldn't let me. So he feels bad about it. But it was in upstate New York. There was a, I sometimes play these theaters in the round.

They have these theaters in the round. And if you've ever been to them, Westbury is in New York like this. Westbury Music Center. Yeah. Yeah, but there's a lot of them. This wasn't Westbury. the Westbury's in New York like this. Westbury Music Center, yeah. Yeah, but there's a lot of them. This wasn't Westbury. That was in upstate New York.

I'm trying to remember the name. It doesn't matter the name of the theater, but you perform on a disc and the, and I love them because the audience is 360 degrees. So you're never far from anybody. Be 3000 people in there. Yeah. But traditionally these stages are made. They can have a music group in there. Yeah. But traditionally, these stages are made, they can have a music group

on there and the and the music, the stage can swivel, it turns. Yeah. Like a lazy Susan. Yeah. We don't use that as comedians, because you could just pace and walk around and face wherever you want. But in order to do that, technically, in the middle of the stage or just off to the side, you could take one of the floorboards out of the stage and there's a place to plug in all your monitors. So there's not, if they're spinning, there's not cords being wrapped around. You can plug into the middle of the,

for whatever reason, that when we showed up, we were showing up for a sound check, they had that door open. And Todd says to me, so where do we enter from, and we're standing like way back and there's an aisle that goes down the stage I go we just go down this aisle. Go to the stage, he goes well then after the show where do we go and there's aisles, you know, 306 about six aisles sections they can live, and he goes where do you leave from He just, I think he was just making conversation. I go, you see the trap door open on the stage? That's where you leave from. He goes, what do you mean?

I go, well, what'll happen is you go into that trap door. And just bend down and then knock on the floor because it's not, that thing was only like two and a half feet deep where you plugged in everything. Knock on that. They'll open it up and they take you down the stairs and you'll end up where you plugged in everything. Knock on that, they'll open it up and they take you down the stairs and you'll end up back in the dressing room.

He goes, can we run it? I go, we have no time to run it. Anyway, so he goes back to his dressing room. So then I go to the stage manager and I go, listen, here's what's gonna happen. Todd Barry's gonna get up on stage. He's gonna do his act. When he says good night, have, leave that door open to where you plug in all the speakers,

leave that off the stage. He'll see it. It won't fall into it. And then when he says good night, have all the spotlights focus on that hole and just leave them there, you know, and you'll see what will happen. Really? I go, yes, just do that. Okay. So Todd goes out and Todd is one of the funniest guys I know. Oh, great. 1000 people are screaming. They love him. Yeah, it's hard. I'm it's gonna be hard for me to go out and follow him. He's brilliant. And he goes, enjoy Howie Mandel. Good night. There's going to be a 15 minute they between the opening act and me,

they take 50 minutes so people can go get drinks and buy merch and whatever they have to do. So it's going to be a short intermission, then enjoy Howie Mandel, thank you. And he goes, thank you. And all the spotlights go to that hole. And he goes, thank you. And then he walks over to the hole. He steps down into the hole.

As he's standing in the hole, maybe comes up mid-thigh. So, and then he, with the lights still on and the audience still applauding, he bends down and I could see he's knocking on, it's not a door, but he's knocking on the floor there. And then the lights are still on him. And then the applause starts to, you know, they've been applauding for a while.

Yeah. And you could see like the hunch of his back sticking out of the middle of the stage and he's knocking on the floor. And then the house lights come up because they're going to take an intermission. Yeah. Everybody kind of stopped and you could see people milling around and still in the center stage. And, you know, every so often, because he's not getting an answer, you see his

head. He look, he looks up and he's looking around like they're not answering the door. And I'm stuck here in the middle of 3000. He's there for what seems like an eternity. Finally, he goes, fuck it. And he gives up and he stands up, crawls out of the hole. And you know, excuse me, up and down the aisle, people are milling because they're going to get their drinks. And he's going, excuse me, pardon me.

Excuse me. And he was somewhat humiliating and I feel bad because he's a sweet guy and he's a clean guy and he's brilliant. But even to this day, I have that video. No, if people understood Todd's personality, he is the most, does not want to be fucked with guy. He is the most like button down, that is so perfect knowing him. Yeah, but I felt bad because- So you got it on videotape and you've never shown it. No, no. All right. You can

get him to say yes, I'll give it to you. Someday there'll be a roast of Todd Barry and we'll have to get that tape and play it. Oh, because I used to be notorious for fucking with my opening acts. Yeah. You know, and I did it a lot. And nobody I did it more to I wrote a book, my biography, and there's a guy who appears on my podcast all the time, Lou Dinos. I mean, I feel horrible for the things that I did to Lou, but I did horrible things to Lou. Yeah. But it was funny. He goes on the podcast. He wasn't there the day I was there, right? No. Oh, he's not there all the time,

but he when he when he has a minute, he comes in and he sits there and he annoys some guests. He annoys some of the audience. And he's he's he's really funny and he's a sweet guy. I love your daughter. Jacqueline Schultz is so

funny. She's really great on the show. I'm so proud of funny. She's really great on the show. I'm so proud of her. She's a mom of two and she's getting old. So I get to work with my kids and my son actually built this studio I'm in and he produces, he's in the other room right now, producing, he produces, I don't know what's called the Girls Next Door, there's the, he's got Jason Alexander from Seinfeld.

He does a lot with Logan Paul, he did, when Logan's not in Puerto Rico and does it here, he's produced that and we have the playmate. Does he do Bill Maher? Bill Maher does a lot, no, Club Random, he doesn't do it, but Bill Maher is a company in this building. Right. It's Billy Corrigan and Fred Durst and a whole bunch of others. It's amazing. Yeah, but I loved seeing you and your daughter was like,

it was like Sinatra and Nancy, Sinatra, what was that song she had? These shoes were made for walking. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, I love that. Made for walking. Yeah. And that's my daughter. When you think of these boots were made for walking,

I think of Howie's daughter. I love the reference to an old Nancy Sinatra song. Well, my father was an AM radio host my whole life. he was one of the biggest radio guys in New York growing up. Yeah, and he played a lot of Sinatra and Nancy Sinatra I used to dance to it when I was a kid. That's why you were happy with the dance challenge on my yes yes always happy to dance always. So that's why you went into the business was it you following your father's footsteps. challenge on my yes, yes, always happy to dance always. So that's why you went into the business was that you following your father foot father's footsteps. Yeah, I mean, I think it's

when you're a kid and you see because he did radio, but he also loved to put on a tuxedo and go to charity events and MC the charity event and he would get up there and I'd see him with his notes before he went he was not a stand-up comic, but he had all his notes, he had his set stories, he had these great, he was a real New Yorker, grew up in the Bronx, I mean you walk into any tavern in New York City and people are yelling out,

hey Fitz, come on out, let me buy you a drink, like he was just a real man of New York. And so he would tell these great New York stories and then he would bust people's balls, he was like real insult comic kind of guy, but people always took it the right way. And I watched that and I became obsessed with stand-up from a young age.

And you know, and you were definitely one of the guys that I watched when I was a kid that I was like, I think the breadth of what people did in comedy back in the 80s was so much more interesting. Today, it's become very linear. People come out, they take the mic out of the stand, they talk about themselves, they do a model. I'm not putting it down. I just think you go back to like Bobcat Gulfway, Stephen Wright and

emo Phillips and you and Kinnison and like people were doing, you know, they were going much harder at the. You know what there is and I think that's coming back. You know, I was trying to revive the Montreal Comedy Festival. Oh yeah, that's right. They fought me all the way because I think one of the problems with some of these comedy festivals, it's that, you know, and that's very 80s. And in the 80s, that was kind of new, you know, to see.

And but there was a breadth of standup comedy was kind of new. on now, predominantly in Austin, but Kill Tony is, you know, we had a thing at the at the Montreal ConFest called New Faces and that's where a lot of the SNL people got their starts that got seen or got asked to audition. Right. Last most famous one was Shane Gillis who ended up getting it and then losing it and then posting it and bigger than ever. But if you look at Kill Tony, did you watch Kill Tony? I've been on it like 20 times. Yeah.

I love Kill Tony and I was on it once. I think that you see that breadth again. Right. Everything from Cam Patterson to some other great comics who are really different and do different things and are pushing the envelope and it doesn't look like 80s comedy anymore. Right. The Kill Tony itself doesn't look like 80s comedy anymore. Right, right, right. Yeah, there was a lot of guys, Kevin Meaney was a dear friend of mine. Did you, were you friends with Kevin at all? I wasn't friends, but I was a fan.

Yeah, yeah. I didn't know him, but I was a fan of. Yeah, yeah, he was always great. Who are your good friends? Obviously, you have people you work with, but like, who would you say is like your best male friend? I wish I had good friends. I think you are my best friend. I'd like to be friends with you. I'd like to be closer.

Well, you wouldn't? Yeah, I don't have I don't have a lot of friends. But my best male friends is probably my manager. His name is Michael Rotenberg and Michael he used to be my manager. Yeah, I know Michael. You see, he started one of the biggest companies. There are three arts and they're responsible for some of the biggest comedians you've ever seen. But Michael lived on my couch while he was going to law school. Well, you guys are both from Toronto, right?

Yeah, we grew up since we were both 14. We've been best friends. Wow, that's amazing. That would be my best male friend. Yeah he's a good man. Let me ask you this like do you ever find like nobody talks about male friendships it's always about like in the movies every it's always about romance but nobody talks about like how intimate male friendships can be. And yet there can also be elements of like competitiveness. Do you think that we take male friendships for granted

and don't really look at them the same way? Well, I don't take friendship for granted. I grew up pretty lonely. I don't have a lot of friends, you know, and people didn't like me. And what I talk about in my career, everything I've ever been punished for, expelled for, alienated for is what I get paid for, you know, as a, you know, I have

ADHD and anxiety and depression and this sensibility was making my trying to make myself laugh is what kind of got me through and is my survival technique. And there's a stigma attached to, you know, being open about mental health. So I didn't have a lot of friends, and there isn't a lot about it. But one of the things that I found incredibly inspiring just recently was Will Ferrell's new movie with his friend, I don't remember her name now,

but do you know what I'm talking about? No, I don't know this. Oh, it's a movie. It's brilliant. It's a documentary about, I think she was a head writer on SNL and then originally he transitioned. Okay.

He takes a road trip with her now. Yeah. He and I think he was surprised by the fact that I don't think he saw this coming. And this she was married with a child and then came to a time in his life where he felt he was not he and you should go look it up. Wow, that sounds amazing. Sad, funny, documentary. I think it's on Netflix right now, but there's a real compassion in friendships.

And I love, the friendships that I do have, I cherish. I'm not a social person. I'm somebody who locks myself away. Even when I'm on the road, I don't go out during the day. Yeah. Really. I, this is weird because, you know, that's what my business is, but I'm not a communicator. I would rather, and even if I am out in public, I don't like going to parties, I don't like events. And I love watching. Yeah. And I love being quiet.

Yeah. And I don't like, I love my time on stage. My time on stage is my most comfortable time in my life because that's the only thing that keeps me in the moment. And on any given day, you know, a couple times a week I drop in on the clubs even when I'm not touring. Right. Or the improv or the Laugh Factory or the Comedy Store or the Ice House and do a set because it's fun and it keeps me current. Yeah, right. And I get to write. But I don't. But I think the ADHD, because I have the ADHD as well,

and I think, and I see one of my kids has it and it affects her friendships. And it's difficult to stay connected to somebody when you have ADHD. Like, friendships rely on listening, reacting, and staying in touch. And we have ADHD, when you're not around the person, you kind of forget about them. And you're not the person that texts and staying in touch. And we have ADHD, when you're not around the person, you kind of forget about them.

And you're not the person that texts and checks in and all that stuff because you just get sort of sucked into whatever distraction you're in in your life. And that's not the expectation people have in close friendships. I also have this overlying discomfort with and concern this overlying discomfort with and concern that how I'm being of how I'm being perceived outside of show business. So if we're having a discussion, any discussion, I've never walked away from any discussion without off of a platform like here I'm just answering questions basically. And it doesn't really feel like,

if you and I just went for lunch, I'll miss you for two or three hours after the lunch. I would think, did I say something that- Oh, really? Yeah. I think I offended him. I think I might've said something. Or I know he laughed at something I said, but he knows that I was kidding, right?

He was so concerned about everything and it runs over in my head over and over and over again, ad nauseum, so I'm just, if I stay in the fetal position alone, I'm just comfortable, I'm more comfortable. I'm so, I'm just, I live in fear of offending, hurting, a nuisance to anybody. Is that OCD?

I don't know what it is. So that's my OCD manifests itself in very different ways, mysophobia and intrusive thoughts, but that might be if they keep going, that could be- Right, right. Always, my mind is going places that really is not comfortable. So I have to stay busy and I have to stay doing... This is an easy conversation because this is a podcast. So I'm just

being more reactive than active. And in life and social situations where I have to be active, You know, and in like in social situations where I have to be active, I'm not confident with my actions or myself or how I'm being perceived and what effect I'm having on others. Right, interesting. And then, so you've been married now, what, like 30 years or something?

No, also like I got 44. Do you find that in your mat, cause I do with my marriage, like it's my place where I don't feel like that. It's a place where I just feel so unjudged and accepted that I think I spent a disordinate amount of time alone with my wife.

Well, and that's the only place that I'm really comfortable and the only person, like you're saying, best male friends, but that's my, oh my God, there's another human being that knows me better than I know me. Right. Has absolutely no expectations, understands, I never, well, I do apologize for things all the time, but. Right. But you're right.

And I know most people can't find that. And I know how lucky I am to have found that. Yes. And I feel that I'm so much luckier than she is. This is, I'm a piece of work. And even though people might, you know, see me on something or spend a couple of hours with me at a show and think this might be fun,

this is not, don't judge a book by its cover. I'm not fun. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, I think when you find the right person, they, it's the right person because they don't cling to your shortcomings. And they they love the things about you that maybe people people don't see on TV, you know, she makes me better. You know, I don't think I'd be sitting here today

if it wasn't for I got to tell you like for a guy and we talked about this on my podcast, who says yes to everything and is tries to be as, and works really hard at trying to be positive. I mean, there are times where I just wanted to give up, just give up. And it was incredibly painful. And she's the one that said, no, no, no, no, no, you need this. Yeah. Need this. And I get, listen, as somebody who's an entertainer and wants to share whatever it is we have, nobody gets more out of it than me. Yeah, like as much as an audience may enjoy a little show that I put on, if it goes well, that's for me. It's always for me. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think when I hear some people talk about like Ellen DeGeneres is always like,

I'm just happy to spread joy to people. I'm happy to give to them. And that's not true. I would love that to be the paradigm, but the truth is there's many levels where it feeds me, whether it's my ego, whether it's my itch to be creative, whether it's to not- Did you see her last special? What's that? Did you see her last special? Yes. I felt really bad.

I thought it was wonderful, but that's where it wasn't that. Right, right. Do you think so? Yes, it was very much, it felt like a spin. It felt like a justification. I didn't see anything in there that took on her being canceled from Hollywood other than

justifying it. And I'm somebody, I was a producer on her show for the first two seasons and I felt like she's one of the best. I took the job because I felt like she's one of the best comedians ever. She's amazing and I felt like that special was an opportunity for her to go a little bit deeper and peel back some layers and explain why she interacted with people the way she did and people would have accepted it. People would have said, wow, you're a human.

You know, and she didn't do that. Where didn't she do that? When she said, I am demanding, I am tough. I'm a woman. And then they clapped for five minutes. And it was like, well, no, but you also are somebody that made people cry at work every day. And you're somebody who fired people relentlessly. And you created an atmosphere of fear in the workplace.

And there was, I think there should have been some accountability for that because people know that. And there was, I think there should have been some accountability for that because people know that. But isn't that justified in the sense that when that camera is turned on and you're seeing the show, she does stand up comedy really well. She hosts really well and she's really likable. In the fact that we are all multi-dimensional and I'm not condoning, you know,

I'll just say that, you know, I think we've all done things in our life and in our job and even in our own marriages where I've said something to my wife that I had to apologize for, that I had to, and I don't know that the place to apologize is on a Netflix special, but when I got into the Netflix special, but you must have a much different take on it because you were inside and I wasn't inside. But my take on it is I'm not perfect. I am flawed, but this is who I am. And the fact that my imperfections and my methodology became fodder for the world

and attacked me, this is how I felt about it. And yes, I am, she ended up with a really good show. I'm not condoning that somebody should be brought to tears to make the show great, but I thought that she really humanized herself with that special. Well, yeah, it's true. I mean, I think I'm too far inside of it. And I think my expectations of what needed to be said were, and I think I can, like, I defend Louis CK. He's a good friend. So maybe from the other side of that, I felt like his apology was, I don't want to say sufficient

because for different people they had different expectations of what his apology should be. But I certainly have given him, I have accepted him back if I ever fully rejected him even. I accept that he is imperfect and I felt like he did apologize. And maybe because I'm friends with him, I'm processing it different than how I was left with my experience with Ellen working on the show. Was your personal experience rough? Yeah.

Oh, sorry to hear that. Well, you know, look, I got a lot out of it and I've worked for a lot of tough people in my life. So it did not, I got a lot out of it and I've worked for a lot of tough people in my life. So it did not I was not traumatized by it. But I was I always felt like the disparity between who she presents herself as and who she truly was. But I think maybe your point is she's putting out a show that brings a lot of joy to a lot of people.

And in the end, maybe that's worth something. You word it's a show. It's a show. You weren't in the show. You were in her life. You were in her work. You weren't in the sh you didn't do the show. You know, I think even now, this discussion that you and I are having, just my persona right now is so is so far from what people perceive me as. Right, right. The perception of people, you know me more, you've seen me backstage, you're in the business.

I think the average person thinks of me as a very light, silly little guy. And that's okay. And I know that there's people that get joy from that. There's people that laugh at it. There's people that mock it. I'm filled every day on social media. Are we responsible for making sure that whatever persona we're putting out there is close to who we are?

I think now there is more of a reaction to authenticity and that's why TV is going away. And so it's kind of growing. Right, right. They're seeing this more than they see the, you know, those afternoon shows, which are just light. And it wasn't a place for her to, if she was frustrated with somebody to air that. Right.

And the camera was on. Yeah. But if he is frustrated, even wrongly frustrated with somebody, it's humanity and you make the choice of whether to be her friend, whether to be your employee, whether to be your partner, or to quit. Right. And right. And I don't think there's anything wrong with quitting or not liking it, or even speaking up against it. Right. I don't think we have an obligation to be, you know,

if our brand is the nicest person in the world, did you see the new, and it's kind of in the same vein, did you see the Netflix documentary on Martha Stewart? Yes. To me, it's kind of the same. Yeah, well, yeah, I think it falls into a similar category because I know somebody that worked for her and she was very tough and she had a tough reputation.

But the point is that I think that that documentary made was she got thrown in jail because she behaved the way a man would. I mean, she got torn down because she was the CEO of a multinational corporation that she started from scratch. And that as a woman, it was a very different experience to being called a bitch is so minimizing and marginalizing to somebody who's really just behaving like a highly successful executive. But aren't you saying the exact same thing about Ellen where you're saying, yeah, her because she was this incredibly successful comedian who lived on the brand

of being kind to each and every person, And that was just because that's what she built. And that's business. And that was making a lot of people, men and women and companies, millions of dollars. Because that wasn't what was happening on a day-to-day basis, 24-7, that she should be demonized for that. Or thrown in jail. Yeah.

Now I'm talking about Ellen. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, it's a good point. Now you definitely, I have to separate my experience from what her overall effect has been, you know, as a public person, you know, has she had people raise money for charity? Has she bought empathy to certain causes? Absolutely, you know, as a public person, you know, has she had people raise money for charity? Has she bought empathy to certain causes? Absolutely, you know. Has that hour been an hour of escape? Right. You

know, in the background, Greg and a bunch of other people maybe are getting berated, maybe getting humiliated, maybe are set up in a in a weird way. Yeah, right, right. And I also think that she has a very, as somebody who is a proponent of mental health and seeing how I came from an incredibly coddled background, I know her background, her background. I don't know it well, but I know that, you know, her father was this religious zealot who wouldn't take medications

and the mother escaped with the children. Yeah, yeah. He doesn't have a great healthy upbringing. Right, right. She's actually made something of herself, you know. Yeah. I'm not arguing with you. No, it's not. I think it's a very healthy discussion because I think I have to check my my opinion of her a little bit. You know, I think it's very reactionary and maybe not fair. And part of it is I was in an NDA for a long time. But now that she left the country to go to England, I'm like, all right, I guess I can talk about her. But being under an NDA kind of makes it build up a little bit. Not only being under an NDA, the difference is you're the first person that I've talked to personally that probably had first-hand issues. Right. Because you were face-to-face and had the wrath of whatever this is.

Right. Whatever those moments are. Right. And you as a responsible adult can make the decision, well, you know what? Life's too short. Fuck you. I'm gone. And that's okay. And you know, there are people that have dealt with me. I'm not just that silly guy that don't want to work with me anymore. As I said about my wife, I'm not the easiest guy in the world. And I'm not condoning it. I've had to. I've had to apologize for. Less than perfect behavior.

Yeah, I think we all have. Yes, but you do. You do. That's huge. A lot of people don't apologize. That takes humility. It takes accountability. You know, that's where I learned that as a parent. You know, that's character. As a parent, you know, as a parent, I've done things as a parent that are probably wrong or said things that I shouldn't have said.

You know, as a parent, what you'd learn in life is, oh my God, your words and your actions really affect another human being. Right. Right. Until you have a child, you don't know how much you're affecting another human being. Right. Right. Until you have a child, you don't know how much you're affecting another human being. Right. I thought that one day I was going to grow up, have kids and teach them about the world. But what happened is I grew up and had kids and they continually teach me about the world. Right. Right. And I think that when your when your child sees you apologize to them, that gives them a life lesson. That teaches them about frailty and humanity.

It shows them that this person who they look up to, as a child, literally depending on you for food and shelter, they're everything. And when that person can flip the power structure and apologize to you, that's really powerful for a kid. Yeah. Well, we talked about that even on my podcast, my daughter, who I do it with, we had a really rocky relationship for like four years. Horrible. Let me guess 16 to 20, 14 to 18. Yeah. Yeah. And I ended up in therapy for it with her. Wow. I've had to, you know, kind of face

my shortcomings. And I promise you, in those moments, I thought I was so right. There's no other. Yeah. And I'm getting it done. And I'm raising this is how you raise a child. And I've made so many mistakes. Right. And I'm such a different person than I was. Yeah. Yeah. But and I don't think that's any different than maybe somebody who hasn't had children and just has to deal with other people. You know, there's not. Oh, yeah. I think that when you have children, you're forced to grow or leave, you know,

and you're forced to step up and to go to therapy with a child is an opportunity. Like if you go to therapy and everything's going great in your life, you're not gonna get anything accomplished. But if you go in there with an agenda and some issues that are raw and in the moment, that's when you can really make changes to yourself.

But I went into therapy thinking, I don't need this, she does. But I went in, she wasn't gonna go in if I didn't go in. So I thought I was gonna have somebody on my side. Tell her. Tell her. Tell her. I was more me.

It was more me than her. Yeah. All right, listen, I don't wanna keep you. You're the best. I love hanging out with you. You're such a good dude You're so honest and funny You got some dates coming up people want to see you live MGM Grand in Vegas January 17th and 18th January 25th at the Buffalo Resort in Santa Fe, New Mexico January 31st in Detroit the 19th in Fargo February 20th in Rapid Fe, New Mexico. January 31st in Detroit, the 19th in Fargo, February 20th in Rapid City, South Dakota, February 21st in Onamia, Minnesota.

Wow! The 22nd in New Albany, Ohio, 23rd in Northfield, Ohio. Also, Morristown, New Jersey, Annapolis. Coming up, go to How HowieMandel.com, get yourself some tickets. Check out the podcast, HowieMandel Does Stuff, which I was lucky enough to be on. It's a lot of fun, it's always silly. And I wanna tell you, I started a new segment on this podcast that you didn't know about. There's a trivia contest that happens,

and you kinda caught caught onto it. I just before the show, I do an intro to the show and I announced that I was gonna ask you three trivia questions and if you got two right, you win a Greg Fitzsimmons t-shirt. I didn't win a t-shirt. You did, the questions were, what was Nancy Sinatra's hit song?

You said, boots are Made for Walking. I got that. I said, what were the original six hockey teams? I said, if he gets five, I said, if he gets five right, I'll give it to him. You got five. Wow. So that's two.

And then you missed. I said, what's the longest running game show? It's actually Price is Right. So I got two though, right? Did I get two out of three? So you want a t shirt? I want a shirt. I want a shirt. I want a shirt. I want to break

for t-shirt. I want to share. I got two other. Oh my god. Oh my god. You did it. You know. Oh my God. Yep. Thank you. Yeah. A lot of people is the and you're the inaugural episode of this. This has never been tried before. Oh wow. Well, it's catching on like wildfire. I feel it. You feel it? I think it's going to be a meme. Okay. I just think it's either catching on like wildfire or I have a urinary tract. Something hurts a little bit. All right, Howie, thank you so much for your time. Thank you, buddy.

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