Fly on the Wall with Dana Carvey and David Spade - Brett Gelman Gets Mansplained to by Larry David and has Really Nice Shirts

Episode Date: July 24, 2025

The guys are joined by Brett Gelman to talk texting vs calling and the highs and lows of showbiz. Brett also shares a chaotic moment on Curb Your Enthusiasm, what it's like working on juggernauts like Stranger Things and Fleabag, and why he dropped serious cash on a T-shirt (even though Dana hates it). Plus, a story about doing a commercial with David that they still wish got to air and the brilliance of Chris Elliott. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If you don't park over the line, there's no joke! There's no joke, Jerry! Jerry! No show! I'm just a social mess. I don't... Like, most things I say are, uh... It's not even offensive, it's just like, uh, I'd rather not. Yeah, I mean, it's one of the biggest shows ever. Ever. And it's definitely one of the biggest shows in the world right now, if not like the biggest. I'm pretty friendly with him.

I mean, I'm not going to say we're BFFs, but. That's kind of cool. Yeah, I'm kind of a fan. I see him on stuff and then I ran across him. We wound up doing a commercial during COVID, right before COVID. So I definitely got to see if he remembers that. And we all mostly know him from Fleabag and

Stranger Things of course, that's Smash. One of the biggest hits in the world. Yeah, Stranger Things. He's been on the last four seasons and I think the new season's coming out this fall. Yeah. We'll ask him. So we got a lot of stuff with him.

He's a super cool, chill dude. And, uh, I make fun of him a little bit, but, um, I always do when I see him, but he's a real good guy, good sport. He's on TikTok a lot and surprisingly, uh, does some really like, I don't know if it's out of character in character stuff, but it's's pretty interesting and he's got a lot of followers over there. That's going to be exciting. Yeah, he's a good dude and let's hear from him. Here he is. Bretty there? All right, our guest today is Brett Gelman.

From Gelman's Menaise. From Gelman, are you ready for this? Gelman's over there. He doesn't understand what I'm going to do. Gelman, Regis. I mean, I really, in all seriousness and through all that stress, I'm so excited to meet you, Dana, and see you, David beyond here. So, you know, Dana, this is Brett, who's a, you know, business acquaintance of mine. Yeah.

We could say that, right? Absolutely. I mean, I think that like we were flirting with friendship. Yeah. And I think we should go back to that. We could start over. Dane is too tough, but I am available for friendship and Dane is far away. He lives too far. I'm quasi agoraphobic, antisocial, picked a weird career.

But yeah, do you ever go through that phase where like you meet someone at a club or whatever, and you're really connecting? This is dude stuff, not women. And you're like, I'll take your number and then even text a few more times. And yeah, this guy's really funny and smart. Would you have fun? And then it just stops one day and then you don't, it just, that's it.

Um, yeah, no, it happens all the time. You get it. Yeah. I think though, like that, that meeting point is real. Like I think you're excited. And then I think life and like the insanity of our own brains or neurosis starts to take over. And if it doesn't take that next step soon enough, it can go in the toilet. It's more out of sight out of mind. Like I think just logistically, Brent and I did a, I said Brent, that's another one you get.

If you say Brent, that's all, that happens to me all the time. That has to happen to you. That's a, that's a give up name. That's the name where at a certain point, I don't correct it. Yeah. Yeah, I'm Brent, fuck it.

Yeah. We did, didn't we do a T-Mobile commercial or am I crazy? Yeah, we did a T-Mobile commercial right before the pandemic. Fucking COVID. I think we were the last things I did that was still... I think there was even whispers like, are we still going to shoot this? Yeah, yeah, yeah. We did it, I think maybe February before March was the bad 2020 situation.

And it was Brett and I in, God, we were at the, not the DMV, no, unemployment office. Yeah. And you were an unemployment agent. And I was like in looking for jobs and then COVID happened. Right. So what I heard was, so we do this commercial, which was going to be on during the final four for March Madness. And it was a big commercial, maybe even 90 seconds, not just a minute. It was a long one. And so Brad, who I didn't know well or know at all, I just knew of seeing him and stuff.

Knew he was funny, but then we had a blast. So we do the commercial. It's funny. Uh, it, it, uh, roughly, I don't know if I saw rough cut, but I liked the director. I liked the whole thing about it. I was T-Mobile, it was all good. And then they, then COVID hits. So they said, we're going to push it because the final four, I don't know

if it's going to happen and And they started canceling fast. Anyway, slowly eroding. And then like a month later, they go, we're just going to hold it right now because America's not ready for comedy. And I was like, I don't know if this is Saturday Night Live. It's a 90 second commerce, but okay. So then I heard they held it more and they said,

oh, now we can't air it because we realized it's an unemployment setting and people are losing their jobs right now and not, no one's working. And I'm like, okay, I didn't, I didn't even get that part. I was like, oh, I guess it is. And then, um, and then later they, they go, we're going to air it. And it was aired as a 15 second Instagram commercial. So it was cut down to the nub. I mean, for a commercial, it was really good.

We were funny together. I loved it. I mean, 15, we could have, we got every drop out of that 15 seconds. Is there any way we could find that and show it right now? I mean, we should because America was- If you can, Greg, if not, don't worry about it. Here's my question.

One is, I can see you're on a set and you see another person with a kindred spirit, comedian, funny, funny, funny, funny, funny. And then you're just being, comedians are being really honest. I have diarrhea or whatever it is. And then you kind of tell each other or wink at each other, what are you getting paid to do this commercial?

Did you tell each other that? No, because I knew that David was probably getting paid way more than I was. And he probably knew that too. Well, we don't bring up such things on sets. I didn't bring it up during grownups. That's for sure. Right. I was like, Adam, this is all favorite nations, right?

Right. Wait, do you bring that up, Dana, when you're on set? Do you find out what people make? Oh, I don't know. I'm, you know, it's almost like a taboo. It's like a word you shouldn't say, but like celebrity net worth is something I check once in a while.

I don't take it seriously, but you know, the monetary aspect of the magic of show business, the way people perceive it is kind of interesting and how it ebbs and flows. And where you were in 2020, you were, you'd broken through, you became a star. So I just thought maybe it'd be fairly close, but I can't tell. David would be the veteran in that scenario.

That was the bummer is that Brett was doing great and he's very funny and we did a funny commercial and it's sad because I go, he and I in a commercial, this would have been a good one. I thought. So it was, I was sad to see it go. Sometimes I shoot stuff and it goes away and I go, okay. It was just kind of work. No, but that was, that was fun. Jody Hill directed it. Oh, was that? That's right.

Yeah. That's right. Like from, you know, the whole Danny McBride, David Gordon Green crew, you know, co-creator of all those shows. So he was great, but he like also just like was very loose and cool and let us do our thing too. And we just like- Yeah, he had cool glasses on too.

I wanted to get those glasses and- These glasses? Well, we'll have to get the band back together. Not those, you look cool in glasses though. You got a kind of a cool vibe going. Thanks, thanks, Lovewise. You got a kind of a cool vibe going. Thanks. Thanks. Likewise. You know, I work at it.

It's one of the things I work at. Yeah. Vibes are, you know, you can change your vibe. I had a... You can make vibes better. You can change. I had a shirt like that once, but then my mom got a job. Jesus. crowd work.

That was really big. I won't say the label. It's like kind of a... No, it's like, it's a fancy label. It's a little Jason Kelcey kind of look. It's huge too. It's very oversized. Yeah. I don't mind it though. It's very tent-like.

It's expensive, I think. So. Very expensive. Very. No, I dumped so much money into this shirt. It was crazy. That was your big investment? It is an investment. No, you take out, it appreciates over time.

I know right now, and this sounds like a weird thing, but they are doing, I saw a guy on, listen, it's no bullshit, he's on TikTok. And he was taking out clothes on layaway, but really blingy, expensive, not necessities, like check this shit out, and he had all this stuff. But clothes on layaway has been a while since I've heard that. I could see if you're stuck, but this guy wasn't stuck. He's just like, I'm going to blow this

shit up with his outfit. And I thought, Whoa, now you're getting in debt with clothes. That's tough. That is tough. No, I mean, not the right call. I don't think. No, that's like an ad. There's always that ad when you buy some, an expensive article of clothing, there's always that stress that I don't think ever leaves you. We were like, oh man, did I just like, it's just so stupid and irresponsible that I just bought this this article of clothing, but that added stress of putting that on layaway. Yeah. The thing about clothes, I have obviously nice clothing, obviously Dana has, and we, and if I get so excited, let's say about a shirt, let's just say a shirt. Or 300 shirts.

And I'm, and I'm, you know, I bring it home and I keep it on a hanger and I'm all excited, I'm not going to wear it here, I'll wear it here. Do all that rig and roll. Then I find out like a year and a half later, I'm in a clothing store, trying on a new shirt I like, and the one I liked is stuffed on the floor going I'm like who gives a shit about this Look at this new shirt and I'm like, oh, this is the same feeling I had about that one But now that one's run through the ringer and and we've lost something we've lost some of the love for it. Yeah You got to get rid of stuff. You gotta get rid of stuff. You got to clean out the closet

I mean, you know, of course you have those choice things that you keep forever, but then certain things, you gotta be like, once you start seeing it, is it's too much through the wringer? No, you gotta get rid of it. When you lose your love, I do agree with that woman that holds up and goes, you still, what does she say? She goes, spark joy.

She holds it up. Does this spark joy and you feel it and you go, I really like this. Good memories. Keep it this one. Dead air. Nope. This is nothing. I'm holding onto this closer to people.

Like you can have an unneeded obligation with an article of clothing that is being micro corrosive to your, to your psyche. Absolutely. Heavy duty. I think about this way too much. Yeah. I'm going to think about it from now on. Yeah.

Yeah. Just, just because you can afford it doesn't mean you should have it. I once bought a jacket, I think it Barney's, for a thousand dollars. And I could have got the same thing at Target for $88. I mean, literally the same. And for years I referred to it as the thousand dollar jacket. I felt ashamed of it. I eventually threw it out in anger.

But there is kind of a disease when you first get a little extra money. And I would ask you, you kind of buy, did you have a very silly purchase? Did you get a Porsche? Did you, you kind of buy, did you have a very silly purchase? Did you get a Porsche? Did you have any when you first got extra, extra? I know. I don't think so.

I'm always afraid that everything is a silly purchase. You know, that's smart. I definitely have again, like splurged on clothing where I'm just like, Ooh, that's not good. One, one silly purchase was I found out it wasn't like a purchase. This guy that I knew he had to go fund me and, and it was for his dog. And what I thought it said was, is like, my dog needs surgery, or it's going to die. I thought it was like the dog needs surgery.

So I'm going to put a, you know, I just got a big paycheck. I think I'm like, I'm going to put a good amount of money into this dog surgery to save this dog. I love dogs. Then after I found out the dog had already had surgery and he just needed money because he had paid for his dog's surgery, which is a completely different thing. Yeah. This guy wasn't that good of a friend.

Now I might even consider him. An enemy in a way. I, uh, like I really don't like him anymore. It's heading that way. Yeah. You know what he should have put? He should have called it a go fund me. And then you just, I just want to have fun.

Yeah. But I think that's great. Yeah. No, I mean, that's, that's like a curb your enthusiasm episode. Yeah, that's right. It really is. The dog was already fine. The dog was healed. He took my money. If it was a curb episode, I go up to him, I'd be like, hey, what are you doing?

Like, I thought your dog needed the surgery. I thought your dog needed the surgery. Right. I'd ask for the money back. And he would go, I got the surgery. So it's your money. I put it in the surgery. So I'm filling that hole back. So it's basically the surgery money.

And then the guy would be mad. The guy would be mad that you're asking for it back. What do you want the money back for? Right. That's my best Larry Day. And then, no, I love it. Long Bendy Twizzlers candy keeps the fun going. Keep the fun going. Keep the fun going.

Twizzlers, keep the fun going. Didn't you do curb? What did you do on curb? You did- Yeah, I did a short thing on curb where I was the pig Parker and the whole thing where I parked slightly over the line and he got really mad at me for that, but it was sort of like my experience on it was like, kind of like a curb episode. Cause at first I thought I of like a Curb episode. Because at first I thought I was like a total moron.

Yeah. Because in the rehearsal, it was a huge car. I couldn't see over the hood, so I couldn't see the lines. So I park and I see him walking towards the car and he's shaking his head and I'm like, okay, here we go, dream come true. I'm doing this with one of my heroes. Then he's walking, she's like, no, no, no, no, no, no.

You see, you're parked perfectly in the space. I look and I'm like, oh no. He's like, see, the whole thing is, you park a little outside of the space. Pig parker, yeah. And then that affects everybody else who parks, and that's why I get mad at you. I'm like, no, no, no, I promise I'm not stupid. No, you knew that. I like you restates the whole thing that you thought you didn't get at all.

You thought you didn't get the joke. Because I didn't audition, so you thought I was just some stupid, annoying actor that didn't understand comedy at all. It is exactly a curve episode for him to walk up and then he's explaining the show to you and you're like, no, I know, I just can't see. If you don't park over the line, there's no joke. There's no joke, Jerry. Jerry. No show. And then I had this

too. Then like after the first take, you know, I mean, he's laughing. So you're immediately put at ease because you're like, oh my God, he's like, he's loving it. And then we do like two takes, the second take goes even better. And we're laughing together and I'm like, holy shit, I'm sharing a laugh with him right now. And then I'm like, oh my God, it's so crazy. It's like we're literally arguing about nothing. And it's like nothing was written, like a cartoon coming out of my mouth. And I was trying to grab it before it reached his ears.

Cause it was just like, that's the stupidest, cheesiest fucking thing I could say right now. And he looks at me, he goes, yeah. Stops laughing and he's like, yeah. It's pretty much the basis of my whole career. Yeah. And I was like, yeah. This wasn't clever.

This was just nothing. That's why Larry is so sweet. We had him on this show and, uh, but he's kind of intimidating because his whole comic genius is seen through everybody and everything into the minutia of what's really happening. So it kind of can get in your head a little bit sometimes. Absolutely. No.

And my whole thing is, is I am a person to constantly be seen through. Just like I'm just a social mess. I don't like those things I say are. It's not even offensive. It's just like, oh, I'd rather not. I feel like, oh, text regret is big. I mean, text regret in the moment. I'm sending it. And then you look back and you go, holy shit, that comes off so terrible.

Oh, text regret every single day. I hate it. I hate texting so much. I really, I really do love talking on the phone. Texting gives me so much anxiety and I mostly text because people don't want to talk on the phone. I, texting gives me so much anxiety and I mostly text because people don't want to talk on the phone as we know. Uh, you know, Brett, have you ever gotten to the thing where you are texting? First of all, I can't spell that well, so I do voice notes. But if you're texting and you're going back and forth with someone, it's

funny and you're just laughing and you spell two things wrong and you've got to go back. I'm like, I'm not as quick now because they think I'm thinking of this joke this whole time. Then I see them starting to talk again. I'm like, no, I'm just fixing the joke. They're like, oh yeah, that's funny now, but it would have been funny 30 seconds ago. Right. It's terrible. Yeah, it's so much stress.

And the ghosty thing means they're reading your last text, right? So that's what makes it more urgent. Holy shit. That means they're starting to type. No, they're typing. Yeah. Well, that's the dots. The dots are fucking on your ass.

They're coming for you. I know they're so fast. Yeah. It's really not good for taking each other in and listening. I mean, I know this is a cliche thing to say, it's been said millions of times for the last what? Like 10 years, but like it's not good for communication. That's why I love your voice notes.

I think that's a better way. That's fun. Definitely. Dana gets too much. He gets diluged with them. I got him on them now too. I know, I missed them. I gets too much. He gets diluged with them. I got him on them now too. I know. I missed them.

I was getting them. It was, was I not replying enough? Was that the thing? No, you were good. I think, I think our problem with our dating was you were geographically far from me and it was hard to coordinate a dinner or something. In Los Angeles? Yeah.

Okay. Well, I'll come to you. Were you. In Los Angeles? Yeah. Okay, well I'll come to you. Were you at Echo Park or something? Yeah. And then it was also COVID, so it was like hard to, I mean, I think you can tell I have medium to a lot of germs and I think that threw you a little bit. Maybe, maybe you were-

I like maybe. Give me. Brett, let me ask you this based on you being feeling like you're a social mess. Besides the tragedy of COVID, was there anything about the quietness of the pandemic that calmed your brain down? Cause I was curious. Just when show business shut down,

everything shut down and you just got to. Like in the beginning, it was that thing of like, you ever get like, you know, you get the flu or you get a really bad cold and there's almost like something that's a relief about it. You're like, Oh my God, I don't have to do anything. I can just like, it gives you the excuse to just fuck. Yeah. No one expects anything either.

Yeah. Like it gives you the excuse to just fuck off. Yeah, no one expects anything either. Yeah, like I can take this time and that's what COVID was at times. At first it was also like, oh, is the world ending? This is terrifying. But at first it was like, okay, yeah, it was just me and my now wife and our dogs.

And it was calming, but then it became isolating. That I mean, you say you're a horror phobe Dana. Is that is that calming to you to be alone? Sometimes does it go between calming and isolating? Hmm, no,'m just calming really. There's so much stimulus, you know, World War II documentaries on YouTube. I mean, there's a lot of stuff that's really interesting. I watch it. That's calming.

I like that. But I would just say I'm an introverted extrovert on some scale. I wouldn't say it's dramatic, but when I go out there in a social situation, I lose energy after a time and want to get quiet and other people get energy from parties and things like that. You know, cause that when I do stand up, it's so extroverted, so much energy that it sort of makes me tired, but I do love it. So, yeah, I think what you know when I'm extroverted and being really extroverted and it goes well, like I do a performance or have a day on set that goes well, or even like I go to a party

and I do social, I have a good time, then I have more energy and I actually have to come down from it. I have to come down from it. That's probably true too. Yeah. I have a lot of energy. I have an annoying amount of energy. When you're shooting and you're giving it 70%, are you tired? Yes. Yes. Did you work with Swartzen? What'd you do on Pretend Time? What'd you do there? We'll get to your other stuff. Stranger Things.

Right. I know you're going, why aren't you asking me what the fans are begging for? The season premiere of season five. The date is just, it's all over the web. It's wild. It's wild. Stranger Things scared me. The show itself or like the idea?

Yeah, I watched, I was watching it the first season and I was like, is this a scary show? I thought there was kids in it. I thought it was like ET or something. Yeah, I know it's like, it's, I, my, it is really scary. I mean, my mother took a while to watch it and I was like, no, you should watch it. She's like, is it scary though? I was like, it's not that scary.

It's not that scary. And then like a couple of days later, she called me at like three in the morning and like left a voicemail. I missed her call. And she's like, Brett, it's three in the morning here. I'm watching the show. You said this was not that scary, Brett. This show is very scary, but I can't stop watching it. Yeah. It's well done. That's the thing. I mean, those kids like get the shit beat out of them

sometimes by demons. Yeah. By demons. Yeah. A demon will just like, boom, to like a little girl. It's like very intensely violent, but like I think it's gotta be in order to have integrity, I think. Have you ever met Millie Bobby Brown?

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I have. I don't know how sets work. I don't know how it works over there. No, no. I guess I could have worked out where I didn't. Like I haven't had like, have I had, I've had like not even like a scene with her necessarily. But no, I've met him. Yeah, I know Melvin. And those three dudes are the four, how many, there's four dudes, three dudes?

There's four guys, four main guys. I think I ran into them all at something and they were all pretty cool. I like them. They're all really cool. Those kids do have, they're a good, good heads on their shoulders. Absolutely. Very tough. It's such a monster hit that it's probably, you're at least somewhat in the business for a while where you can kind of had highs and lows and you probably,

I'm guessing, just appreciate it. And it's harder to keep your feet on the ground when it's the first thing you do is like so big. Yeah. I think like the, it's always seems to me, on the ground when it's the first thing you do is like so big. Yeah. I think like the, it's always seems to me when I'm like talking to them is that they, they're either naturally that way or they've worked at making sure they stay grounded and they have people around them that keep them grounded.

And they like all, the thing is like, I think too, it was kind of like their school, I think. I know I'm speaking for them, but I think they helped keep each other grounded because they were in this. Yeah, they're all about the same age. They're all kind of hanging out. The outside world is, but to leave that, I always compared like friends is like when your first thing works so well, it's really hard to have everything stay in balls in the air.

The rest of your showbiz, right? Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Cause like for me, the shows are real high after some other highs, but mostly lows and also we all have things that we loved that we really believed in and meant a lot to us that didn't do well. So you go through that too, and you learn. Well, not every, and then we were all in things that maybe did well that we didn't really dig that much. So we've had like that whole, all those colors of experiences where we can stay right in that like.

And to keep your confidence level just throughout it all, like you're still good at it or you're still a good person. It's just, and people look at you differently and then they pay attention, then they don't pay attention. That's for younger. I mean, as an adult, it's hard. So if you're younger, I just like show this. And you're already dealing with like that type of shit as a kid or as a teenager. That's just so, so hard. And yeah, then you add on showbiz. Followers you have, how many, who's more famous on the set?

It's sickening. I know it's crazy. As Dana says, it's roughickening. I know. It's crazy. As Dana says, it's rough out there. I just call it an emotionally violent sport. No, it's fucking really rough. It's really crazy. Well, we all do it.

I think I didn't want to interrupt. Sorry. But I mean, you did so much before this, you know, I watched researching, you know, with Adult Swim and Comedy Central and shows. You did something with Chris Elliot and all this stuff. And you're doing well, but nothing is popping. And then you get this thing, which I guess is the biggest show by numbers or in the last eight years. No, absolutely. Yeah. I mean, it's one of the biggest shows ever. And it's definitely one of the biggest shows in the world right now, if not like the biggest. And no, you

really, it's pretty tripped out to like be in other countries and people really know who you are and also be like oh this is like kind of the equivalent of what Star Wars was the original Star Wars was yeah you know and what those actors were seen as and that like you're seen as like a part of people's family in a way like it's it's pretty wild I mean like it was seen as like a part of people's family in a way. Like it's, it's pretty wild. I mean, like it was this and like fleabag, fleabag jumped you up there. The same industry that made me bag was a real industry one. Like everyone's like, yes, like we're worshiped it.

Awards bait. Yeah, for sure. Like that Emmys and Golden Globes, it was like all eyes on her, all eyes on her. Everybody, no matter how big they were. Everybody was just like, when you were sitting at the table or you're sitting in the seats,

you could feel people, everybody in the room watching her. It was wild. Yeah, so after all this time in the show business, you got these one, two, huge critics, brilliant, and then stranger things. So did you have absolute gratitude? Were you, I mean, how do you process?

Or are you angry about it? Are you angry? Why? Don't let people see how brilliant I was 10 years ago. Oh yeah, that's right. You know, fuck Stranger Things. I'm so grateful. I have nothing but gratitude for it.

Yeah. No. You know, Stranger Things is also looked at as sort of a very interesting, I mean, I think that gets a lot of praise too, for being such a cool, you know, it's not like the fleabag type of show, but it's just different lens, you see it and go, shit, they know what they're doing, you know? Oh yeah, no, I mean, I think it is artistically,

you know, one of the best things I've ever been a part of and one of the best things out. Yeah, I'm really proud to be a part of it. Yeah, I mean, you know, if it was big and it was bad, would it? I don't know if I would have the gratitude I have. I think the gratitude mostly comes from that I get to be on a really awesome show. And then on top of that, it's those rare moments where the thing that's really good is also really successful. Right.

And it looks like you're having a blast. I was looking at some clips. Just having a lot of fun. It's really fun. It's like, I mean, playing that character is really like a character I grew up loving, you know? Like watching like Danny DeVito and like romancing the stone. Right?

Yeah, that's a great one. I mean like just comedic, the comedic relief in the big action or sci-fi thing. And then he's kind of a prick and he's grouchy. And you know, he's the, he's the per, you know, the truth-sayer in a way, but that nobody likes or wants to be like. And yeah, I mean, it's just like such a kid fantasy of wanting to do this and that being one of the

types of things I wanted to do. You do like a year, you shoot for a while, and then it takes a while to come on. And then people like woof it down in like three days. And then you go, God damn, all that work. And it's like, oh, okay, what next? I think they watch it like a lot of times though. I think like the, I think that's like rewatch it a lot. It's kind of interesting because it's good in a way

you have that break because people just go back and cram it over and over. No, it's wild. It's wild. I mean like people are really like, when's it coming? Like, their hands are like pissed. They're pissed.

Like, they're like, I need it, I need it. Yeah. And well, I, you know, I did this show. They're gonna get a little appetizer because in this sort of, I did this show, I shot it like two and a half years ago and it was with the Fleabag producers actually. And we shot it in the UK, it's called Entitled

and it's like this really crazy gothic horror comedy show and Netflix just bought it and so it's coming out. Oh, that's great. It's called Entitled, July that's great Entitled July 15 title. Yeah, if someone said to you the phrase when it rains it pours. Would you relate to that? No, well now you have another show you got fleabag he's got he's out of control Stranger things I'm greedy He's out of control. He's had enough. Stranger things.

I'm greedy. I'm greedy. I want more. More. Will it go away? Or what is this the peak? Do you have agents and managers that go, listen kid, because they're older than you. We got to plan your next move.

But you've already written and produced, you're already a self creative. You know how to do all that. Entity. You're not just an actor for hire. You have this massive resume of creating your own stuff. So thank you. You have leverage now, though. Leverage. They're going to be happy to see you in the room or they have been for a while.

I think I mean, hey, I hope so. It's like when you're in the vacuum in your house and you're just like with your people all day, it's like hard to see yourself that way. You're like, and there's so many obstacles for everything that like it's easy to like not notice the yeses. So it's like, I've constantly trying to get so many things moving because I don't know what's gonna hit.

The most peaceful time is like when you're making the thing because then it's almost like being sick. You're like, this is all I can do and for it to be good. So I'm just like on this thing. And then, but then when you're in the in-between times and all these things are swarming about, it's real weird.

I mean, like, I feel like certain rooms I can walk into and people are gonna be like, yes, oh my God, what do you got to do? And there's other rooms I'm gonna walk into and people are gonna be like, yes, oh my God, what do you got to do? And there's other rooms I'm gonna walk into and people are gonna be like, who the fuck are you? Who are you? I'd be curious to ask you this question. Like now in 2025, the industry, AI, the strike,

the whole thing that went on, and what are these streamers looking for? What are they trying to buy? Just the, because I'm not in that world. Is it involved? Is it changed? Well, how would you describe it right now? I don't know.

I really don't know. I mean, like you always hear all these things that people are saying, but then you don't see the industry really change all that much in terms of like what they're buying and what works. It always seems like what hits is like an accident. Yeah. It's always off the beaten path. Then they go, now we go chase that. So let's do a stranger things. And you're like, that's been done. And it came out of the blue. And then something pops up over here and they go, no, that's what we should be doing.

Like nobody wanted stranger things. And like the Duffer Brothers were like, you can't have the leads be kids and like all the stuff. And then, you know, Netflix was young and it was just like all these things lined up for it to become a massive hit in that moment. And I think that's all. You never know. I pitched Kids and Monsters to Ted Sarandos in 2014. And he just got real quiet and said, oh, we'll talk later. I never heard from him. Then I saw Stranger Things, I went, huh.

No, because Dana added, he said, it's a poorly written show about kids and monsters. Kids and monsters. But back then they wanted poorly written. That's what they were going for. That was their chasing. I like when you, you know you're doing well when your agent's like, what do you want to do now?

Have you written anything? What's your dream, Brett? What do you want to do now? Drama, you're like a cross between David Cross and Paul Giametti. So we got Giamatti. You're a gold kid. I'm telling you. I look better than those two though, right? I mean, I look better than those two. between David Cross and Paul Giametti. So we got Giamatti. We, you're a gold kid. I'm telling you.

I look better than those two though, right? I mean, I'm better. You look good. I'm better. Right, you're, well, yeah, I understand what you're saying. When you're a forward thinker, you don't just bring your A game, you bring your AI game.

Workday is the AI platform that transforms the way you manage your people, money, and agents so you can transform tomorrow. Workday, moving business forever forward. I'm working on T-Mobile, the movie. And also, like, this thing you wrote. I like when your mom calls you. She goes, three in the morning, she goes, Brent. Right. And you even let her say Brent. It's the first time that she's called me

at three in the morning and not called me Brad. That was the one positive thing about that message, other than that, she was watching the show, of course. What did you do with Nick Swartzen? Because I know this is sort of a low light in your career. Nick Swartzen, who's a friend of ours. I love Nick. You want to pretend time with him? Yeah, I love that show.

I love it. Yeah. No, I mean, that was one of those, you know, like Nick was one of those people, you know, you got on that show and I was like, okay, I'm doing okay. Yeah. Did you know Nick before that? Because I know him and he's like, if I say, I saw you, he goes, he's a really good friend of mine. I'm like, all right, that's enough. I didn't know him like incredibly well, but like, you know,

I would see him perform and stuff and I would, I was like, this guy's so funny. And he was so funny. He is funny. I hate to say it. He's funny. Sweet. Nice guy.

Yeah. He's a sweetheart. It meant a lot that he put me on the show. Yeah. All right, Dana, what do you want to, what do you got for this guy? Anything else? This guy's been a good guy. There's so, the resume is so big.

I mean, too much of a resume. Eagleheart with Chris Elliott. Oh, I think it's brilliant. And Conan produced that. I assume, how long did that go? That was 2011 to 2014, three years or something? It was like three seasons. I mean, Chris, I think,

is one of the funniest people of all time. Oh, for sure. And I mean, Chris made me tough, man. I mean, Chris, he like, wow. It really felt like a lot of times that the show that we were filming was the break. And that the actual show is what was happening in between the takes.

A lot of times. It was like crazy, crazy elaborate bits. Mostly of him telling me how terrible I was. And that like at times I was like I think that this is a joke but even if it's not it's so funny. It's so funny and I mean did like I mean the the genius of the guy, I mean, really, and then the guys who made that, Jason Wallner and Michael Komen and Andrew Weinberg, they were such fans of his and knew his voice so well.

And it was like, I mean, it was, you know, they idolized Get a Life and they idolized all the Letterman bits. So it was like taking that and putting it in this Walker, Texas Ranger type of world that was completely insane, completely insane. And I loved playing, I mean, it was, I learned a lot from working with him and watching him.

Yeah. Yeah, he is good. Well, I grew up watching him on Letterman and just thinking, this is such an odd move. Like if you don't know comedy and I was growing up going, is this for real? Like it's kind of fun to watch that stuff and then start to like it. No, I mean, like some of the stuff he made, he did like made like Andy Kaufman stuff look at Main Street. I was going to bring up Andy Kaufman.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I like him better than that. Yeah. He's what I he's what I call too funny. It's like sometimes you you you can't laugh. You laugh later. Like he did a one man show. Was he playing George Washington or something?

FDR. FDR. Sorry. Yeah. And that's the kind of thing you're watching it. It's like it's so fucking funny kind of thing you're watching it. It's like, it's so fucking funny that you have you're laughing later. You can't. There's so many like, there's like, he does something where it's like, there's four funny things, half different funny things happening at the same time. Almost. It's so like, yes, very dense. Like, you're processing it for a while. Nutrient dense.

It's so pointedly passive aggressive about people, self-right, or self-congratulatory people doing one-man shows, you know? And it's drippingly sarcastically aggressively clarity in that. No, that was like, yeah, that's his big thing. It's like he thinks show business is stupid and insane. Yeah, self-important, ridiculous.

Yeah, and it's like his whole thing is making fun of show business. And it's like as good of an actor as he is too, he's also, he's doing great acting and then also making fun of acting. Kind of against the system. Yeah. Yes.

True rebel. Yeah. The funniest. I mean, really, he met, there was one time where it was this long bit, it was so hot and I was like in this table and my character's legs had been severed and they built this apparatus and they made me stay in the table and it was too complicated to get out of the table.

And we were in this like fucking warehouse in Santa Clarita where they're like hosing in AC. It's not like meant to be filming in. And like I'm already a sweaty guy and sweating so much. And then, and then he comes up, he's like, ew, you smell like duty. And he made like, he had the whole crew. He's like, everybody check out how much Brett smells

like duty. And he had the whole crew and cast line up and smell me. And then, and I was laughing hysterically. And then this was an important moment in our friendship, I think. And then I went into my trailer later that day and he had taken underwear and drawn with a magic marker, brown in the ass.

And I laughed so hard. And it was like a test to see, are you gonna like get upset about this? Are you gonna think it's funny? And because I thought it was funny, it made us get a lot closer. Well, he sounds like a delight to work with based on- A delight.

A delight. It was just like great. Maybe it was a Svengali kind of way to get you to relax. I think so. I mean, we had already been doing so many like hostile bits and stuff like that, that I think he knew that I think it was funny. Yeah. Does it sound like abusive?

Does that sound like abusive? No, I've heard stranger things. But my point is this, I had to take that. It's eccentric. You'd have to be there. I'd have to be there in the moment to know if it was aggressive or funny. Yeah. We'll decide that.

So what you're saying is it's an uncomfortable story. Yeah. right? Well, I've got some Mickey Rooney stories that we'll save for the next time we have you on. But yes, I've worked with Chris on SNL and yeah, that's him being funny. Yeah, I don't think that's his sense of humor. And he knew that you would think it was funny, too. Exactly. David, final comment?

I just did something with Chris and he was very mellow the whole time. So I think he didn't think I was funny enough to rub my underpants. You think so? No, we weren't on the set long enough. We only did a day or two, but definitely. But if your scenario was different, but he was perfectly fine. He got my dress.

I was hosting SNL and he got the church late get up during rehearsal. It wasn't even in the sketch. He came out, hey, isn't that special? I'm the church bitch. How are you? And then he threw a shoe at me. I said, Chris.

And Lauren came in, Chris, please. I said, Chris. And Lauren came in. Chris, please. That's just him. That's too far. Thank you, Brett. Thank you, bud. Thank you, guys. Oh, we're showing a quick photo before we leave.

Oh, that's cool. Oh, wow. That's already funny. The get up that you have on, Brett. It's funny already. It's really hot too. I look really hot in that picture. You do look like it would be one of the YMCA guys.

Like you'd be another character in that. Yeah. You know who I look like, Dana, if you could see me straight on. The village people. Michael Douglas in Falling Down. I have those kind of glasses on. Yeah.

But we just kind of fucked around and it was a lot of laughs. At least the whole shoot was fun. It was really fun. But thank you, boss. Uh, appreciate you talking to us. Pleasure. Thanks, Brett. No, it's been so great being on here.

And, uh, I gotta have you guys on my podcast sometime. What the hell is that? What's it called? I do it with my wife. It's called Neurotica. Neurotica. Interesting. Yeah, my wife, my name is Diane. I'd be called? I do it with my wife. It's called Neurotica. Neurotica, interesting. Yeah, my wife, my name's Diane. I'd be happy to, I'm happy to come on.

I have earbuds. I have a technical thing set up. I have an Echo set up in my room. No, part of the thing on our thing is that it's technically a mess the whole time. We barely hear her at the end of it. Mo-fi. Yeah, it doesn't work.

That's all right. I think that's fine. Okay, well, he just took off Dana, you guys chatted a little bit after and. We did a little bit. Yeah. That was interesting how you guys were almost best friends. That was an interesting moment. Yeah, we're going to pick it up. We're going to pick it up again.

Yeah. Because we had a good run that day on the shoot. The old T-Mobile commercial we can't stop talking about. They might bring back. There's some whispers right now. Is it okay for me to say I would love to see it? Is that too much? I wonder if we get, I don't know if we have a regular version of it, but we could play

it. We'll look into that. I'm sure it takes one Google search. I've noticed a pattern with some of our guests that are doing very well in show business. A lot of aw-shucks, you know, sincere humility about it. So that was kind of Brett in a way. I think that's people that he's liked it anyway. And also he's had the stuff that worked, didn't work, worked medium, worked a lot,

like everybody. So he's like on a big one and it's pretty exciting. So. I mean, the most extreme in my lifetime was Eddie Murphy, essentially right out of a high school senior, I guess he was 19 when he came out on SNL and it just went pshh, 19. I mean, you made it at 20 in two months and that was a lifetime beyond Eddie.

20 in two months. No, I was grinding out for free drinks doing stand up. You got a cameo in a movie and then you went back to the grind of opening up. I like when they go, if you go on, you get two free drinks, but even that feels like too much. I don't remember working for alcohol. I honestly don't.

Anyway, that's another story. This is Brett, and I'm glad you guys liked it. I hope you did. And we'll see you next time. This was Brett, and my name is officially Brett. And so we'll see you. We'll see you the next time on This was Brett and my name is officially Brett. And so we'll see you, we'll see you the next time on Super Fly on the Wall.

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