Fly on the Wall with Dana Carvey and David Spade - Louis CK Is The Greatest Standup

Episode Date: November 6, 2025

Louis CK joins the pod to chat with Dana and David about his debut novel, Ingram, and how everyone related to being raised by a single parent, before shifting gears and talking about comedy. Louie shares all kinds of memories from working on The Dana Carvey Show, how Jerry Seinfeld helped shape Louis’ comedy chops, his decision to ditch Ticketmaster, and getting his FX show. 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

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We made merch. We made merch. They said it couldn't be done. It wouldn't be done. And they had a point. But guess what? Guess what? I'm so excited.

I can barely talk. Scooby-Doo. That's right. Oh, he just stepped on me. I didn't give you something to say. Are you excited? Scooby-Doo? Okay, there you go.

He's excited. He's excited at the idea that we made merch. That's right. Now you, and I'm calling you, dear listener, you can get your very own fly-on-the-wall hoodie, sweatshirts, t-shirts, and speaking of mugs, David. Sweatpants, everything. Of course, fly-on-the-wall trucker hat,

because it's me, and that's I wear stupid. it has all the time. But these are cool, very cool. Comfy, right? Comfy, stylish and guaranteed to make you slightly funnier. I don't know if it's guaranteed, but it's very probable, slightly funnier, and you can point out and go, ooh, fly on the wall. And it has a little spade carvey on there. That's the coolest part, actually. Orders are open November 6th through the 13th only. Only one week, Making it kind of elicit. Folks, time limit. Grab it before it's gone.

Go to shopfly on the wall.com. Shopfly on the wall. Hey, David, I just thought of this. I think Fly on the Wall merch would make a great gift for your friends and family. Wait a minute. Hold on thinking for the holidays. Right.

Yep. You know what I'm telling you that there's literally no better gift. Mm-hmm. And no one would be mad. They'd be ecstatic. It looks very cool. This is black with blue stripes. one I have and oh you have the sweats too on your legs anyway get get yourself uh something

uh too for yourself don't miss out order your flying the wall merch from november 6 pay attention to the 13th that's all that's it and then lights out it's closed shop flyin the wall.com all right so check them out folks see if you like it before we let me go well i want to mention before i go i want to say something nice about david Tags are different. Because tags are, they're like extra farts. They're just like, you know what I mean? People, if they really liked a joke, they would just, they'd take a long break of applause.

And I was like, what the fuck am I supposed to do? I'm standing there and they're applauding. They've shut down my show. Louis C.K. I don't want to brag, but I kind of gave him his start. No, I hired him as my head writer on the ill-fated or, great show whatever you think about it yeah every show so much discussed dana carvey show because it's it had its place in history so it was fun to see him because it's been so long and he was talking about how nervous he was he never seemed nervous to me but uh it was it was a new thing and watching

colbert and korel and all that oh he was nervous on your show when he was ready yeah yeah like 1996 he's like you know read out high school or something like yeah 20s or whatever he was but it was interesting um to and he's arguably one of the best out there i mean the for stand-up for just straight stand-ups he's in the discussion we do break that down a lot and i found it interesting just to get into like his methodology of what what he likes to introduce very uncomfortable premises or and gets the audience on their heels a little bit and then he deconstructs it gets them really laughing shames them for laughing at the previous one i mean it is high level stand-up that's great the things he was saying about his opener and how he was challenging him and so it's so interesting i

will say that because we talked pretty much just straight comedy the whole time like breaking down everything and how the performance and the joke and he's such a word smith but I was, I could have gone on, we could do him again easily because we went on and on and on. Yeah, he's, he's a scientist about it and he loves it. He also has a book out, Angram, which is a real book. It's not a comedy book. It's not his life as a comic. Angram is a kind of a bleak, riveting.

It's a riveting story about a young person's journey, leaving, leaving their home at such a young age and everything they go through. So, and it's written, you know, in the world of John Steinbeck or Mark Twain. It's, it's, leave it to Louis to write this great book. With great reviews, yeah. I mean, it was, I watched, I read the first chapter and I'm like, would never know it was Louis. It would just, this is a, no, it's just a well-written, interesting, riveting book, yeah. Well, there's Ingram and there's Louis, and he's got, he's doing comedy all over, so, you know him,

And here he is. Bad news, Dana could make it. Oh. Oh, hey. I know, look at these two. You look just the same. He doesn't look. He looks good.

How old were you? I mean. Hey, save it for the podcast. No, it's already started. Go ahead. It's always starting. Yeah. We have nothing.

We have no notes. We have no questions. Good. We have no statements. Good. It's called Carrying the podcast with Louie C. Yeah. I have a really nice.

nice thing to say to you yeah okay let's start really nice thing to start yeah we're yeah we're yeah we're always always always early so i thought this was kind of sweet and you would hear it yeah like it so i read the first chapter vingram yeah i'm like holy holy shit i mean what's going on here like and my wife is a reader like doesn't all fiction reads everything everything so i said honey will you read this first chapter i just went and did a couple things she goes it's incredible I just ordered the book. Wow. Yeah.

Because I thought, well, I can give Louie an honest compliment, no kiss-assing. This is exactly what happened. And I'll put her on the phone if I have to. But I thought, you know, and I talked to Dennis about it and goes, Christ's sake, it's a sea can't turn it into the next Steinbeck over here. I didn't talk to Dennis, but. I have to say, I was a little shock too. Louis has a book called Ingram.

Ingram. And I just read the first. first chapter because Dana was talking about it. You sent me the book. And I was astonished that it's one more different move that, listen, comedians write books. Sure. I wrote a book about my life. I wrote a book about stupid. Wacking books. Mine's

wacky and stupid. Exactly what you'd think. A five-year-old could do mine. But it was, even from the first paragraph, I'm like, okay, I wouldn't know who did this. You know what I mean? It's not like, oh, this is typical. Right. And it's just like a writer writing a great book. The fact that our little character, our guy, you get so attached because all this stuff's happening and he's just describing it, you know, he's not emotional or, you know? Yeah. And it's so, it's getting you in a different way where you're invested already.

Like, what is it going to happen to this little person? Yeah. You know. So, it's amazing. Thanks. I would love to think I could do that, but I can't. I hope the second chapter is as good. It really falls apart.

Well, I don't know. I mean, the art of it of just, just the sentence construction. So you've got your narrative in a way. You've got your story. And then it's like, without giving it away, how will I describe his dad walking by? Yeah. You know? And I guess you're just, it's a discipline and you're just really going. And when you get it, you're high as a kite, right? One sentence. Yeah. I had never done this before. I've written fiction. I've written short stories, which I've never done anything. with. It's what I really want to do when I was a kid, you know, more than anything. And so I just started doing it last few years. And this thing came because I just wanted to hear, I read a lot of American fiction, like Flannery O'Connor, Mark Twain, and, you know, Faulkner, guys like that, but also like, you know, what's your name? The Mockingbird. I'm really bad with names. Tequila Mockingbird? Irma Bomback? I'm kidding.

Susan Mockingbird? Yes, Susan Mockingbird. Why don't we know her name? So Susan Mockingbird was, no, Harper, Harper Lee. Yeah, so anyway, there's this thing about the American voice, like the way that Americans, that there's an eloquence to it. Also, I read a lot about Abraham Lincoln, and, like, he was, like, educated by somebody who knew two things more than him. Right. But there's this way that American.

like soil speaks and I wanted to feel that voice somehow I wanted to see do I have that in me you know I was raised here I was a boy in America and I started to write this kids this kids started talking to me and I cared about him and I wanted to see what I felt like writing him was a way of taking care of him yeah but these terrible things kept happening too and I would just go it's rough it's a rough beginning why am I doing this yeah I wish I could I wish I had another way but the way I can take care of him is to give his honest and accurate an account of what he's feeling and how he's seeing it. And I kept being impressed that he just sees it and he reflects on it. And he's poetic about it, even sometimes humorous about it. And he just processes what's

happening to him. And he says when it hurts, but he doesn't complain when it hurts. You know what I mean? He just tries to do better next time. He's very old school. I'm fascinated by a lot of things. You know, I went to State College, but... Yeah, I didn't go to any college, so they're over me, yeah. Who else didn't go to college? It's a genius. All comedians.

Chris Rockings. The power of the spoken word. So we have all this media coming out, all different kinds. Yeah. But I'd gone a few years ago, and I went to the Lincoln Memorial, and we're inside, and I just looked up, I'd rather get a very good dress, and now I just had tears coming down. Yeah. The power of the spoken word is still.

Bill number one with a bullet. I'm Casey Kaysam. There's still nothing more powerful. So I did it yesterday. The written American word. The original American word. So that's why I can't imagine the satisfaction, and I assume you've gotten a lot of feedback on accomplishing that, you know.

It's quite an achievement. Well, I was sort of anxious as I wrote it that I would not finish it. I knew that there was a whole story to tell. I knew it was a book after about three days. I was like, this is a book. to tell a long story here. I didn't know where it was going. I didn't have it like mapped out like a movie. No, I didn't do that. I just would sit down every day and go, so what happened? And he's getting farther away from the house. So what happened? Yeah. Okay. So you're speaking to the book in real time.

Yeah. So what happened today? What happened today? Yeah. And what happened now. And then there was points where I kind of felt like that's part one. Like it just hit me. That's part one. And we're going to later or maybe we're going to write after. But something has shifted. Right. And I would feel his voice start to get more eloquent as he got older, which in a sense doesn't make sense because it's all in past tense. The one thing that kept me feeling okay about it was that it was all in the past tense. So I'm like, well, he's not dead.

And you can control. You're still the puppet master. I never feel that way, though, with fiction. You feel like it's driving you. I feel like I've got a responsibility to report what sort of the story is carved out of there. Like you're like, I can't do this. It won't make any sense right here. Right.

Well, it's kind of like car. carving a sculpture it's like the rock is there you can you can try to find something in it but it's not up to you what's really there you know what I mean in a sense that's a little bit high mind I think one of the hard parts if you if with ADD prevalent is like you get to an idea and you go 25 pages like God should I I have this other idea you know yeah yeah maybe I'll go to this other idea so stick to one thing for that long of times I didn't think I could do that but I've done a lot of work over the last few years on my myself and on my, what's going on in here.

So I've got a calm or spirit. So I'm worried about. I wrote another book after this one. I want to be able to say that. How long is it take for this one? A calm spirit. Yeah, it's right. It's good.

Well, that's the whole thing. Yeah. That's what Jesus said to his disciples. Peace be with you. Peace I give you. Peace. Is everybody said? Absolutely.

I don't remember that. Oh, yeah. He talked a lot. Peace be with you. Which movie did he say that? The one with, you know. Passion of Christ. What's his name?

Melvin Gibson Melvin Gibson's coming out with the resurrection he's going to fly it yeah well that he it's a nice thing about did you go to church when you're a kid or do you still Lutheran laps Lutheran now I'm a Catholic

so I grew up in Catholic church and you'd turn to your neighbors and say peace be with you yes and I always liked that part of it that was that is my current favorite part yeah because I realize that is the greatest gift you raise shake hands with somebody next to you

You shake hands. You say something kind of old and funny feeling, Peace be with you. You don't say that. In real life. No, when you're leaving the farmer's market. To the valet. You're connected.

And then when they give money, Dana tightens up. They go put a quarter in and Dana goes, I don't like this part. You get you foster more empathy. You become a better person. You're just fostering these teachings from 2,000 years ago. Yeah.

You don't agree, though. You seem a little against it. No, I got lost a little bit ago. Johnny, he's still on Ingram. How do you spell that name? I still, I'm like, I, G, no, I-N-G, and Ingram was his name. That's right. That's right.

Now, there is a spoken, didn't Chattner do a spoken word album on Ingram? It's going to come out later. I hope so. Yeah, I would want that like a, you know, interpretation. Didn't like the gray highway, whatever he called the gray road. The hard gray road. The hard gray road. Arm swinging like tools in the shed and the wind, possibly.

Something like that, right? That was his dad, yeah. What makes me thought, did it make you go back to your own childhood? Because we all, I mean, he had a really, that Silver Spoon, easy child. Which grew up? I'm the Joe Dirt guy. I'm Arizona. He had some rough and time.

But were you Joe Dirt or Jeter? I was a little bit like that. Even Ingram reminded me that a little bit. It's starting from sort of nothing. And then parents are gone, you know, in the, I don't want to give the whole movie a book away. But I grew up in Arizona, you know, middle, lower, whatever. Dad left, so we had three boys, mom, just trying to work and two jobs to keep us around. But trying to be home, but also how much do you pay a babysitter?

Yeah. That's how much he's making, but once the dad splits on a dime, there's really no plan. It's just, are you guys good? That's what my mom was raised this alone. My dad left when I was 10. Okay. And my mom worked. My dad didn't contribute anything.

Exactly. Either way. So my mom was like, all right, guys, she had four kids. And she's like, I got a microwave. That was the big move. We got a microwave. And there's a lean cuisine in the shed. Yes.

So fight over that. Yeah. That's on the good nights. Hot dogs are 30 seconds each. I remember her telling us, that's how you figure out how long to microwave anything. You just microwave, hot dogs 30 seconds. So if it looks like two, make it 60. You know what I mean?

Like the size of a hot dog was the unit. that's nice and she came home at seven at clock and sometimes I'd want to make her something you know but I was alone and I grew up in a suburb so we just own the kids just own the streets you just went out yeah nobody knew where you were yeah child support was optional back then yes there's only one thing a lot of people passed on it yeah it's weird isn't it that they were like my dad took a hard pass there is one thing worse than the dad leaving yeah what's that dad stays stays and yes it is Definitely. I'm not, I'm glad my dad wasn't around.

Yeah. You did? I'm glad he wasn't around. Did you ever reconcile with him? He, uh, for like a few minutes, yeah. Oh, okay. Yeah, we had like a 12-minute conversation that felt like, I'll take that. That's good. He's like, we good here? Yeah, that's good.

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Explore the new Peloton cross-training tread plus at OnePeloton.ca. What about you? You're cute. Yeah, he's tough dad. Grew up. Tough dad? Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

He, uh, yeah, saw some stuff. Yeah. Uh-huh. And I just was, I got, for better for worse, I got a Disney face when I was, That's how you survived. I was a Disney face. So I'd go on stage and I'd have shaggy hair and I'd be in all these voices and laugh my ass off and no one. And people would go, well, you had a great child.

I mean, what are you? It was all just an illusion. Of course it was. But it goes to some pretty dark places. Same, yeah, same. Yeah, yeah. So. Yeah, being a boy is, I mean, that's the one I know and I know it's tricky.

Yeah. And you're a little alone in it. There is a cultural thing of like, you do this. you know for boys it's on you at least for for our generation maybe my generation like this is on you and uh i i did have a great mom my mom was a fantastic person and she was very she was raising four kids by herself while working so yeah she had limits that were just there but she was a great friend especially in adulthood later yeah she was the best phone call i would ever have i still she's the voice I reached to. I think that, you know, the word heroes tossed off a lot, but a single mom

working full time with four kids and making it through, just getting everyone through, the sacrifice of that. Getting everyone through. Her life is just on the way. Nothing. Deep. No dating, no, no fun. Oh, forget it. Forget that. Just, are you okay? Do you have a food? Do we leave an apple? Are you? That's it. And then a little humor. Always. She was always like, hey, I remember once I was going off to school and I was in a lot of trouble. I had just caused a lot of problems and I was going to school to face them. And my mom said to me on the way out the door, hey, don't let them get you down that bad. We love you here at home. Your loves. That's how she sent me out the door like this isn't the end of the world. Like go face it, but fuck them a little. Did you feel? I feel. I feel

smart thing to say to a kid. I was scared to stress my mom out. So, you know, like, do something wrong in school or bad grades? Yeah. I was getting good grades and I'm like, I got to keep this shit up because she gets so happy. I couldn't do it. I had terrible grades. And I had a period of just doing a lot of drugs.

And I stressed her out a lot. It hurt to see her how stressed out she was. Did you tell her, I will be a millionaire soon? I never told her now. But I did it. I did, she did get to see it happen. That's the greatest. Unbelievable.

I would give 100% of it to my mom. Like, I would never have gotten through that shit. I think the one who comes from nothing and then becomes, gets on TV and makes a lot of money. It's like a fever dream. It's almost like, did it really, is it really, did it happen? You mean for the family? The family, my siblings are for myself. The likelihood of it, you know, I would tell, I get laughed out of the room.

And when I started doing stand-up, you know, the neighbors would go, well, whatever you really end up doing this will kind of help your confidence yeah it was nobody in my high school nobody has ever gotten on tv it's no it's not even an option not even a possibility when we were working on your show there was a man a carvey show let's get into that at abc tuesdays at nine 30 perfect time slot how do we fumble that home yeah so that that there we had auditions for cast members in a guy named carrie prusa auditioned and he was wonderful, I don't know where he is now, but he did one of his, he did characters

for us. He just stood in the room and there was like five of us and one of his characters was my uncle when I told him I was auditioning for this show. And his uncle goes, you ain't never going to be on. No, Daneck. Those are professional actors. You ain't never going to be on. And

we almost wanted to give it to him just based on that, despite the uncle. A great take. Yeah, but, you know. But, yeah, so, I don't know, being a boy is, it is, it's, I feel like Ingram is like me without my mom in a sense, or a mom that was just so inundated and so, the heaviness on a person that she just couldn't, she couldn't. The mom part got to me, even in chapter one.

Yeah. I haven't gone to the part where he's on Star Search, but it takes, I know it's where it's It took me by surprise. Of course that's where it's going. It's so predictable. Ingram's like, Yeah, da, da, da, da, da, I did it, I made it. Yeah.

I want to hear more about the show when you guys started. Who found who? Did you find Louie? Smigel said, go meet Louis, so we met at Burlstein Gray. Right. Yeah. He was a fresh-faced kid.

Who was handling you? Was someone handling you? I wasn't with Bristol. I was writing on Conan. Yeah. Okay. And then I was on Kona for two years, and it just burnt me right out.

Remember you're saying this. It's a hard job. It was just too hard. It was because every show they treated it like it was S&L every night. Like that was every night. I could imagine. So I was like old when it was over. And I was 25.

Yeah. Daily shows are beating because you guys did a lot of bits and sketches. Tons of bits. It's just like, fuck. And the show was for those two years that I was there, it was just hated. You got the hated ones? Yes. And so it just was hard, hard, hard, hard, hard.

And then I went and wrote for Letterman for, a short while because he i wanted to be on there as a stand-up and i basically got told if you write on the show then maybe though if you take the writing job maybe though so i did it and uh was that wasn't a good experience for me and then uh and then you guys started your show yeah so i'm you were great and you stupid pranks are still but think of my point of view so i have this show there's a reason it's a disaster in a way but i wanted out even before it started it was way too i was i remember that yeah i was ready to go it was It's like, because Heather Morgan would come in and pitching me sketches.

I go, I'm, what, what? I was just fighting for parts on S&L. Now I'm in my own show. You're the Lord. Well, I didn't know I had Steve Correll and Stephen Colbert, who I adored. And the first day I rehearsed with him, I said, I must be rusty. Right. I must be rusty.

How so? Because they were just so. Yeah, they were quick. Yeah. Ten years younger, no kids. They were just like, like, and brilliant, you know, I must be rusty. But so I'm sitting back in life. And I go, oh, Corel is, oh, Colbert.

Yeah. Oh, they're hungry and you're full. Two guys, cast members, and their movie stars are incredible. He's got his show and everything. And they're like, oh, oh, Louis. Oh, I almost blushed. Oh, my goodness, Louis. Louis became the greatest stand-up, potentially.

Well, I hate because I do, he's a nice guy. We were here with Andrew Santino. He's just, you know. Nice kid. I do, I like that. He's funny, too. Casually, as a throw away, go, well, Louie's the greatest stand-up. Oh, that's nice.

I'm just telling you, I see that a lot of fun to hear, but. Oh, it feels good to hear that. Does it? Okay, because I don't want it to come off like. I respect that guy, Santino. He's good. He's really good. No, he just said it like it was just a fact.

And I don't know that, we can talk about that, but it is sort of interesting that story. I know you've told a lot. You can pitch your side. You start being on us on stage. Yeah. And then it just went from there. Well, I want to say, though, about your show, the Dana Carvey show. Taco Bell, Dana Carver.

The Taco Bell, sometimes the Mountain Dew, Dana Carbys show. The Empire Seton. After Taco Bell Bayes. Talk about, yeah, Jimmy Kimball, we were losing everybody. We were, yeah. It wasn't like that. I think actually the press was reporting that we were losing sponsors, even though we engineered it that way. We got PepsiCo to sponsor the show.

and we asked them to put a different one of their brands on every week. So we were shift. It was our idea. But the press was like, oh, I guess Taco Bell bailed. No, we switched on purpose. We had a plan. But the idea was to get a company, a parent company, that would let us have a different sponsor every week.

But anyway, for me, I was very young. I was weighing over my head for the job that I was the head writer of the show. I don't think so. And I had no idea how to. It was so stressful. It was the most stressful time. in my life. In my 58 years.

A prime time show. I'm sorry to hear that. That was the most stressful job I ever had. But, and I was, all of that stress melts away. I'm left with a massive education I got from it. But working with you was a big deal for me. You were legendary. How old were you when we did the show?

61. No, I was 40. Isn't that funny that we were younger than all of us. We were way younger. 40 is another. There's light years for me. Oh, oh, yeah. And you were the, but I loved working with you because you were, you had this great,

deep traditional, um, background of comedy and you were a, uh, purebred. You're just, you're just a, you know, um, Hall of Fame guy. You're great at what you do. Thank you. And you still are. And, uh... Are we recording? Yeah, yeah.

I just want to make sure. We just found a clip. Go ahead. So good. But, and you're very kind and you were very generous with sharing your history. and stories about where you'd been. And I remember one time, because I was still doing stand-up when I was on that show.

Yeah. And I did my second shot on the Letterman show. And I just sort of left work and ran over and did Letterman. And I came back to work. And the next day, you said, weren't you on Letterman last night? And I was like, yes, sir. Like, I was just sort of like a guy that works there. You weren't you on the David Letterman show last night?

And I said, yeah, and how did it go? and I said, it was good. And so you said, I want to see it. And you went and got someone to get a tape of it. And he and I sat in the office, just the two of us. Oh, and you watch it together. And he watched, he said, I want to watch it. And we watched it.

And I was proud of the set. Sure. And Dana stood next to the TV, and he pointed at the TV afterwards. And he said, do you understand that when I was out there doing what you're doing, being a stand-up? And if you had a set like that back in whatever, the 70s or 80s. Yeah. Superstar.

You would have been a huge, never to look back again, star. Like a set like that. You'd be everything. You'd walk everywhere. You'd walk in and they'd give you a standing ovation. You'd be the next guy. So I was right. Well, it took a long time.

It took a lot. Which is okay. It's actually better that way. But anyway, that just meant so much to me. Well, I'm glad to hear that. It's true. Those are building blocks at that point. I learned a lot from you.

I quote things you told me. Like, I once pitched a joke to him. It was when we were doing my favorite bit we ever did on the show, which was Tom Brok, uh, recording several versions of Richard Nixon's... One of the best sketches. I was just in it. Gerald Ford, yes. Gerald Ford is dead tonight.

He was attacked by a circus lion and a convenience store. So that was the joke. Oh, that was the... The joke was, he was... Preparing in case he died. Yeah. Yes, in case he died. Scenarios.

For every possible one I can throw up? Yes. Yes. So Gerald Ford died today. He was mall to death by a mountain lion in a convenience store. And so we did it in the first take. In the second take, I approached the desk and said to him, just put a pause between Mountain Lion and in a convenience store.

That was a good note. And he did it, and it got two laughs. Yeah, I love it. And I just sitting back there, I was doing my job. Data goes like this to me and brings me over. you bought me an extra laugh. Do you understand how powerful it is? You bought me an extra laugh.

That's big. You're valuable. That was meaningful to me. And I say I repeat that to young comics all the time. About timing and about the class of the moment, everything. I do like helping younger comedians. I enjoy it. I mean, with Corel and Colbert, you know, same kind of thing.

They were such gentlemen married. They're kind of. conservative in that way in the real lives and so sweet and earnest and then obviously so talented I also loved Heather Morgan I loved her

She was strange and enigmatic I put her in a movie after We did that show And I loved her I don't know where she is now But she was like a groundling person The groundlings

She was so funny She was it Pat Nixon In a cell or something So her thing was we did Was First Ladies as Dogs I think you can see it on YouTube or whatever but it's her dress who's not biting on that sketch

It's hysterical All the first ladies But then she would find a dog that they were like And she'd do them as dogs And it was fucking genius Yeah brilliant You know it's funny you're saying about that double laugh Like I mean Nate Burgazzi comes to mind

But when you're watching And you have an audience that's really in your vibe And they're laughing at setups Like you're getting extra stuff On your way to your big part yeah it's great when you get a good crowd and you're on your game there's nothing like a joke turning into three that's right and then some tags tags are tricky to me that's different tags are different because tags are they're like extra farts they're just like you know what I mean

it's just a little extra how much more how much more can we fart this out until the audience and some some audiences you can't fart that much no you can't because they they they barely by the punchline and you go here's where I used to have nine tags I'm bailing right now because they didn't buy this part no right and sometimes it's like when Muhammad Ali

punched out George Foreman there was this one one punch and George starts falling and he had the next punch cocked but he never threw it that's right so he knew he's going down he watched him go down yeah yeah but he kept it

because otherwise he would have it would have been like too many tags yeah but I like a thing I've been doing on stage recently I'm on tour again now is it's almost like a pre-tag it's like they haven't laughed yet but I'm going to stop here

or like this is a bad idea to say this so I'm going to say it and then stop talking it's interesting if you say something I'll give you an example which is the hardest part of every show I do and I don't know whatever it'll be out there I don't care I'm talking about the hard what's the worst thing that can happen to you like it's a subject

about what's the worst thing Such a Louis C.K. Right. What's the worst thing? Yeah, but it's already funny. So, well, because it's somebody that told me always prepare for the worst. Right. Which means you have to first decide what's the worst.

What's the worst? Yeah. And so the bit I had been doing was that for me it's about it would be getting my, somebody torturing my balls. And it's a long bit that I'm not going to repeat here about ball torture. And it's all easy laughs. It's just huge. Daniel Craig had it in Casino Royale, I believe.

Seated in the. the chair naked and they... Yeah, and the ball, just all, just jokes about ball torture. Yeah. And, but one night I was doing it and I said, I'm about to say, for me, the worst would be someone torturing my balls. And I, and I just said, for me the worst, well, besides one of my daughter's dying and having to tell the other one that she's dead. Yes. And then I just stopped talking.

And the place just went, ugh. Yeah. And I just waited. and there's whispering. Awkwardness. One guy shrieks laughing and everyone looks at him. And I'm just watching the room change. Awkward laugh, yeah.

I'm just watching the room. It's just high wire shit, man. It's so interesting to watch a room change like that. And then go, okay, you're done. All right, now the ball stuff, and it still kills. It doesn't hurt the ball stuff is just the ball stuff. We all forget it happened. But there's a moment in there.

This pause is the more interesting part. It's really something. something I've done charity events where right before me is a terminal patient in a wheelchair yeah and I thought oh man it's over yeah and they need the release of course they do so bad when I go up that it's actually you know because well because you live in the world with that so it's like you're if you're being funny you live in the world where people get hurt and where there's tragedy yeah it's all in the same world so if you if you toss the salad a little bit more and let these things be next to each other more.

Are you kind of, I mean, I don't know where you're, it just seems like, are you even more playful with the form? Yes. Because you already broke it in the early knots. There are so many things we don't have to talk about that nobody had ever talked about and made it work. Like the guy who makes the, the latte. And you walk away and that word goes in your head.

Like, I watched that in awe. Like, how did he land this? How did you make it okay? So you broke all that. So now it seems like, as Fingali was stand up and playful with it because you already have your iconic

so is it more fun in a way to dance outside the lines so it's the more you do it the more the spectrum grows of what you can see what is possible and as long as you keep trying as long as you're willing to be uncomfortable as long as you're willing to have discomfort in the room

so if you always go for what you know works that's going to get narrower till one day you're going to go like I can't do this yeah you're bored that's my act go ahead It's natural. If I have a second of silence, I go, I'm not going to do it. Well, also, one second. One second of silence.

Well, also, you know, you've got trained audiences. Sometimes they yell out when I have a pause. And it's the toughest thing because you want those things you're trying, or you want to just, you need two beats, not just one, you need two before something, and they get in there. That's the worst. Because when you feel that, it makes you go faster. Yeah, and that throws it off.

But that's the, like I had a young guy open for me, Dan Dosimo, very funny, young kid who I saw on TikTok and wanted to, it's the only thing I look at in these apps is stand up because I don't know everybody out there anymore. And I saw this new voice. I'd never heard of him before. And he's from Chicago. And I was going there to play the Chicago theater. It was actually just a couple weeks ago. So I asked him come do five minutes at the top of the show. And it's interesting to take a guy who's just really.

really a beginner and make him open to 3,500 seats like in a major concert. So I watched all of his sets. And I gave him a challenge. I said, do a different set every night. You're doing three nights. And he said, I'll do it. God, to work with Louis, my shit is fucking bad. So for his show, he's really killed.

I said, great. Show me something else tomorrow. Second show, he did 10 minutes. Killed. The third show, I said, you're only doing five. And again, I want it different. And the crowd was tougher, the third show. And I saw him, and I saw him go up there like, this has been going great.

And I saw him go, whoops. And then right before the end, he went to a bit I'd seen before. And so. Did you spank him? I came. You look so hopeful. Was he grounded during your set? Well, sometimes, you know, if you say something really softly.

That would have been a good character for you, a guy who always goes there with every information. Did you spank him? Which does very little energy toward it. Did you spank him? Yeah, the did you spankum guy? In case you're into it too? Did you spank him? Yeah.

You did? What's my catchphrase? But I'm fascinated you're up there. Oh, so I'll just finish with Dan. So I asked him what happened. Why did you go to a good question? He said there was a moment I felt I dropped, I felt the energy dropped. I felt, oh, and you're here, you're watching.

It's high pressure. I said, this is that moment is everything. that panic, getting past that panic without doing, without servicing it by doing something safe is going to be your whole thing. Is if you can get past it and go, I'm still going to do something that's not necessarily a great idea. Because this big guy, big guy's watching me. Fuck them. I got to do this thing.

It's important to me. Yeah. That's going to make all the difference for you. One thing I found out about myself is I'm just completely different in a small. room because I can do one-man sketches. I do the world's first sociopath in ancient times, you know, hey, where's Steve? I don't know. What's that arm coming out of the ground? It's Steve. I hit him with a rock. Am I weird? I don't know. There's only 39 of us on the planet, so you might want to tamp that down. Well, sometimes I leave the tent at night and I scratch myself with bushes. Oh, that's

strange. You're weird, aren't you? So I can't do that in 3,000 seats or a corporate date, but in a small room, And then what happens to me, if the audience is not laughing, I love it. Because I'm doing some, I'm doing... You mean in a small room. Yeah. Because I can sense... I see them not laughing, and I'm doing the most ridiculous thing, and that makes me laugh. But this is, you know, 50 years in, you know.

Yeah. It's so funny when they don't laugh. It's hilarious when they don't laugh. It's fucking... It's the only funny thing in the world. It's an un laughing audience. It's hysterically funny. Luis C.K.

plays to silence, throws a party at the hotel. When you do a thing and they're just sitting there, you're just like, that's the best. But you're doing it unfamous, all this stuff, and then you're doing it famous. Yeah. You know, Dennis Miller, you know, and we love. Yes.

So was my favorite still is one of the top guys out there. No doubt. He's such a wordsmith, and so I was opening for him. Right. And he saw me, he says, why don't you come on the road? Same thing. It's like a huge deal. So I do it.

And then he goes, from when he saw me, I had done different stuff, and he goes, what happened? And I go, oh, he goes, where was the stuff I saw? And I go, well, I had done a couple road gigs and I wasn't killing. And they said you got to, some of your stuff is a little weird. And so I tweaked it to think it would be stuff

that would do better. And he's like, Jesus, dude. He goes, I liked you for that. Yeah. He goes, do that. He goes, fuck that. Go back to that. And if it doesn't work, then you're not supposed to be a stand-up.

But don't try to second-guess it. That's very good advice. He goes, because this isn't making you laugh. No. That was the greatest, I was like, yeah. And he's like, just whatever you were doing, whatever your thought process was, just keep doing those type of jokes. And if they don't work, then it's just not working.

But that's the stuff that I like. Yeah. And if you can get through that, like you say, you push through it. It somehow catches on. it was such a great observation from it because you can then you're yourself

and audiences come with expectations but they drop them in a hot second when they see you doing something interesting they go well I want to hear

some jokes and then they see you being like well I don't know what that guy's doing but I'm in a weird joke where you don't get it I always go like what is this guy doing

well the thing is there's so much potential in a moment on stage beyond the one laugh that if you don't get, if you're willing, if you can detach emotionally, or you don't put your ego in it. That's the most dangerous thing for a comic is like, I don't like the way I feel when they're not laughing. Because it's like being a scientist and you put in some whatever and then it doesn't, and you go, wait, but why isn't it changing into pneumonia? Like you should just be studying what happens. And for me, like if I put something out there that confuses them or

upsets them. I've just changed the chemistry in the room. That means I have a whole bunch of other things I can do now that are beyond that moment that different laughs, laughs that feel different because they came after discomfort or after confusion instead of just like, you know. I've been at this 50 years. I feel I'm a comedy school. You should go a master's class. I mean, but that's amazing. I'm really curious of the first time you leapt to a giant room. Did you have to fight harder for being this authentic in each moment because Luisi K's here. The big

big rooms well. The first early big rooms is pretty quiet for 10 minutes when there's 20,000. It takes longer to, you mean really big room, really really well, whatever the first room where you're a little intimidated, like maybe you had to try a little harder to be your authentic. Well the very

very first time I did a theater was I opened for Jerry Seinfeld when I was 19 and I got to open for him in a club in Boston and he liked me. So He took me to some, like, thousand-seat theaters. It was before he had his show, but he was already a big deal. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And he took me to, like, five gigs, and a huge education for me.

Yeah, Jerry is. And he's a... Jerry's something else. He's a guy to study. As far as a writer, can I give you this one, Jerry Seinfeld thing I love to do? He has a new album out. It's an LP. Yeah.

And it's called Paperclips, Why? Sorry, I just liked that joke. I don't know why. I did it for Jerry. Paper clips, why? with a big smile. Anyway, so go ahead. So you're all...

Do you have to work on pauses and stuff if it's a big, big room? Yeah, so I learned this from Jerry. So I did... I opened for him, and I've just had 19-year-old been doing comedy for like two years or one almost.

And I'm just doing my stuff. And it was the 80s, and there was more... People used to talk about applause breaks back then, you know, was a thing then. So there was like... People, if they really liked a joke,

they would just... They'd take a long break of applause. And I was like, what the fuck am I supposed to do? I'm standing there and they're applauding. They've shut down my show. It's nothing to do. I love the physical. Yeah, it's just like, what do I bow?

Yeah, it's like three minutes into the set. Yeah. So I asked Jerry, what do I do? And he said, stay in the bit. Stay in the moments to keep inhabiting the moment that got you that applause. Right. If you're like angry and the bit is about anger and they're applauding, just, stay in that, stay in that, and carry it to the next moment.

It's still the bit in their heads, too. They're like, you don't just drop it. No. And I think about that now, because a lot of the bits I'm doing in this tour are more about a feeling than words. They're more about conveying a ridiculous emotion, but it's real to me. So I keep, when they get, they're laughing, and I look at them sometimes like, why are you laughing at this?

and that if you stick with it you see it you feel it starts to actually rise the laughter starts to turn into and you can feel it changing and it's because of your attitude informing it your body language yeah because you're still in it you don't just go like anyway that's that a lot of comedians have a habit of dropping their eyes down of their feet between bits anyway

I've got it you know sometimes I have a yellow pad and I have my stuff and I just right stay there that's great and for me if I'm just say I'm doing Joe Biden or something. Just stay there. If they love it, it'll be 15 minutes. That's right. Doesn't matter.

That's my new idea in my head is when I'm in a bit, I want to be thinking, this is what I came here to talk about. Right. This one. Yeah. Yeah, I'm just here. This is it. So that's in the big rooms, like, because some of the bigger ones, it feels like you

have to pump a lot of gas into the room before you can light it. And there's a lag. But if you keep your timing and you keep your. They find you. They find, they find your timing. They do, because also you are one, you think you're 35,000 against one. But they each think they're one to one.

So you have to know that your perception is distorted. Yeah, people used to say, how is it going on TV with 20 million people watching? I go, it's probably two at a time. Yes, and they're all watching one guy. And they're just in a room with two people. It's not that big of a deal. On SNO, you're just trying to get that audience to laugh.

you're not always cognizant. One thing I was interesting, found interesting watching you over the years is that you do have a toolkit. Like, you have a lot of physicality. You do a lot of act outs. You have certain voices that you'll use. And you also have, which everyone has is some,

you have a certain occasionally, you'll just let out a big smile and a big laugh, you know? Sure. And I talked to Jerry about that, that all the greats have that moment to signal to the audience or to actually just let out release. Yes.

But you have a lot of little moves you do that are Louis C.K. moves that are little act outs. Are you aware of these? Some of them I try to get rid of. Really? Yeah. Yeah.

Just change. Yeah, like I have a voice I try to get out of. I have a voice that when I hear it, I go get out. What is it? It's this guy? That guy. And he's trying to explain

and he starts cracking because he doesn't think you're getting it. And he's really upset. But he's inside, he's going like, what are you doing? Stop it. So, and maybe it's an age thing. I'm trying to be this guy. Open the throat.

I go on with hot tea. I open my throat. Yeah. I'm talking like this. And I'm talking. Yeah. I'm a human being and I'm talking in the moment. Right.

I'm not chasing a moment or running away from one. I'm in it. And if I start to feel like I'm chasing, I go, okay. Okay. All right. Get back into it. Take a second. Anything.

I got a question about your. It's interesting. Ticket master thing. When did you go from, I always thought it was so interesting, you've got to be the first guy to do it, where you sort of, everything's run from Louis ZK. Everything's run from emails. It just, you didn't need anyone after a while, right? And did, did you get any blowback from ticket places or do you say no more ticket master? I'm just going to. Well, it was back when the first thing I did was sell my own special on my website. Oh, that was a big deal. Yeah. Because I was doing a special each year. I was filling a theater. theaters. I was only doing stand-up at the time, and I was loving it. It was like the height

for me. And I could do two hours. It was crazy. And I could fill any place I asked to play. And I saw, so I wanted to do a special and no one was doing them. Sometimes that happened back then. There was no Netflix then, and HBO had quit it. They were just like, we don't really do it. It was like a lag. You don't want to go to comedy. You don't want to go to something too small. No, and there was nothing around, and I thought, well, I'm, I'm one of the top guys. Like, I'm some people's favorite. So, like, whatever. I'm in the ALDS.

I'm in the Division League series. Fair. Yeah, fair statement. And so how do I use that leverage? Well, what would happen if I sold it myself? What if I created a store for one product and sold this thing by myself? And I got, I hired some guys that do that. and they interviewed me about how I wanted the store to look

and I thought about all the things I hated about shopping for things like having it put in on your address and make them your best friend I said just tell them they can buy it and they'll never hear from me again and just drop your email if you want to hear from me you know and so I did it

and it made a shit ton of money right away and then I had all these emails and so I was able to when I toured also I was able to blast out and sell tickets and then I started looking at things like Ticketmaster and, you know, the fact that a lot of my tickets were getting sold for like $1,000 on Stubhub and stuff. And that was a drag.

And people on Ticketmaster were paying like $12 on top for extra fees. And the tickets were a lot. And I always charged less than other comedians. I used to look at what is Kathy Griffin and Jim Gaffigan's price and go a little under? That was my... That's how I priced my tickets. of all people. A little under those folks.

Because I respect those two. Yeah. And I thought I just want to be an easy ticket to buy. That's all. So, but that made me more easy to scalp like it was a better investment. So my fans, anyway, this is a long story. I don't want to take this much time. No, I like this because it's so interesting to me that happened.

And that's what Theo's been talking about when we were doing this movie. He's like, why don't we do like Louie and we just, you just buy it? I think it's a good idea. It works. If you already have a follow. which you guys obviously have, but... It's risky. And I go, I don't think people have done it.

Maybe they've done it with movies. I go, should we be the first? I mean, I go, let's watch someone fuck it up and then go, oh, here's what they did wrong. Now we do it. That's right. But to be first is tricky to do. It can be. And I had confidence because I was selling so well and because I had an audience that wanted

to see me. But then I started thinking about how Ticketmaster has the emails of everybody who buys your tickets. They have the, those are the Glenn Gary leads, you know? Like they have the emails and they can contact everyone who has seen you, but you can't. And so we found a ticket company called E-Tix who would do exactly what Ticketmaster did for $12. And they charged like 50 cents. And they make it white label, which means it looks like it's your company. And so we decided let's just do that.

But then we learned that Ticketmaster has a large monopoly on this stuff and that they pay theaters to not use other, they pay them a premium to not use other companies. Start finding that shit out. Which is smart for them to do. And I didn't have a problem with Ticketmaster. They just, they had a lot of power. Right.

And I just, so I created an alternative. Our tickets were way cheaper and we hired people who were ex-scalpers to keep our stuff off the secondary market. It cost a lot of money to do this. So I made like a quarter that tour of what I would have made. But you put it in place. And it was fun. It was so fun to do this.

And I never had a, I never was anti-ticketmaster. I'm a capitalist at heart. You weren't full pearl jam. No, I just was like, let's see if there's another way. And sometimes we would find a room that didn't have a ticket master partnership and we would engage them. And then they'd call us back and say, ticket master found out we were doing it. But we made that room a bunch of money. So.

Do you forewold? rooms i mean you rent i did back then but now i just don't have that kind of leverage now now i just i use ticket master i let them charge what you know i just i'm just one of the guys now that's a program did eventually this it's too it's too overwhelming yeah and you don't have the time to do it no thing the money the money aspect of the show business and then that the fun you know and like they'll go oh we got you this much to play this casino or whatever and then i go there and the tickets are like way overpriced too much And then there's a few empty seats.

You're like, no, I want a cheaper. They don't, we live in different parallel universes. All right. So this one, Dana, this is Pura. Yeah. This is sort of a new move here. I know. Reimagining the future of fragrance.

Interesting. Right. It's the smart home fragrance brand that's redefining how people scent their spaces. So this is an app control diffuser, right? And it's got premium clean, safe fragrances. So you just, you pick one and you pick intensity and you can throw it when you want, as strong as you want, because, you know, sometimes you go in a house and you go, this house is like an old person.

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The thing that also impressed me was when you went to FX and they're like, Louis, you know, make a show for us. Genius. And comedians, we'll quote this, what do you have to pay me? What's the least amount you'll pay me where I just go make the show and hand it to? Is that correct? Yeah, more or less. I mean, John Langraf, who ran, he still runs FX.

He, it was a dialogue with him. So he was like, I'll give you $150,000. First, it was like, I'll give you $100,000 to do a pilot. And I said, the only way I'm doing that is if I hand you a DVD, you wire me $100,000, and I'll hand you a DVD. we don't talk between those two things. He was like, done. So we did it. I handed him a DVD.

They went nuts for it. They had a bunch of notes call. And then after the notes call, I called him. I said, I'm not doing that. I'm not taking notes. I did the whole call. I didn't listen to one thing. Everything a comedian would hate, you just said, no.

Well, because I had this, the power I had was joyful. In other words, yes, because he said, he would say, well, you know, it's standard practice. And I'd say, it should be. It's smart of you to give notes, but I don't feel like it. So let's just not do the show. I'll give you back the $100,000. It always ends with, let's not just... Let's just not do it.

Here's the money. I don't feel like it. I think you're really doing the right thing. I'm not... And he was like, ah, okay. But then when we went to series, he wanted to do the show for very low again, and I would say, well, give me more. And he'd say, okay, but I got to ask the boss for that money.

I'm giving you checks I can write at my desk. Right. And no one asks. Cool. But if you want more money, you need more interference. So he kept me, he was a great, that guy's a brilliant guy. So he became an ally. That's right.

And he also, when I pitched to give him credit, when I pitched the show, when I went there, he was like, I want you to do a show. And I said, I don't really need a TV series. I was on the road. And I said, maybe a sketch show. And he said, I don't want a sketch show. And he said, I want you to do a show about your family, the stuff you talk about on stage. And I said, I don't, I would sell that for a lot more money somewhere else.

That's what I said to him. And he said, what if you do a show that feels like sketches but has a central theme of your life? And I said, that reminded me of Annie Hall.

There's like animation. And I said, and he goes, if you want to make Annie Hall the TV show, I'm happy to have you do that. So he helped me come up with what the show was.

And that became an iconic. And their currency, their currency is ratings. It's also awards. For them, it's all awards. Do they want to be awards, and it just gets it. It can be a show that does nothing, but it wins, and they love it.

That was another thing when that show came out, and Big Veal. It was, I don't, using the term loosely, it was Woody Allen level of writing in humanity and your character, you know. I don't know. What's your favorite Woody Allen movie? Any Hall is a huge one. So crimes and misdemeanors, he has a bunch tied for first. crimes and misdemeanors husbands and wives Annie

so what's Hannah and her sister's Love them all Beautiful And then the early ones Take the money and run It's hysterically funny There's one

And bananas I mean fuck I love all of them Every few years Paul and I Will just sort of go through Woody You know Right

Zellig The one where he's sort of ahead of its time Zellig Zellig He turns into Like he's a chameleon And what do you call it a banana's he's in a court

it's a courtroom scene right he does the whole yeah but there's this one part where he says to the judge this trial is a mockery and a sham do you know that he says do you know that there's not one homosexual on this jury and the judge says yes there is

and he goes oh which one is it the big guy at the hundred there's a movie that's kind of you'll you'll know it when I tell you but it's something in the modern air that makes me feel so good and it's a woody movie and it's a touch for my wife and I that we will

revisit it and that's midnight in Paris I don't see it Holy fuck Wait is it does he fly through the air with Goldie Hawn No that's some other city right It's like 2014 midnight express What happened with it is that he finally Found the best surrogate Woody

So Woody can't play the part So we put Owen Wilson in Oh he would be good yeah Sort of had the same kind of rhythms Yes maybe we could just live here in Paris You know but it's it's it's It's a really fun, if you're ever bored. I'll check it out.

Yeah, definitely should. Yeah. I like to guess. Before we let me go. Well, I want to mention two things. Before I go, I want to say something nice about David Spade. One and only. Please.

Okay. So I was a comedian in New York and the bottom fell out of comedy, like all in one day. Like all the clubs were closing. Like 90? 90. This was 1992. Cable TV had come in and usurped or whatever. But all the clubs closed.

Everyone was, and every, so S&L had a big changeover of writers and staff, a cast. And so they were coming to see everybody at Catch Rising Star. All the comedians were getting seen. And I did a showcase, and it was, David Tell was on it, Laura Kightlinger, Ginny Graflo, Jay Moore. I mean, a bunch of people got seen that night. And I was put on first. And I hated that I was on first, but there was the club owner. was very didn't like me very much john stewart was hosting the show and so this is like i got no

i can't pay the rent like this is i need i just want a writing job i'll take anything but this felt like the last train leaving for comedy for a lot of us so um we're gonna do the the show starts because it's they're not there no s&L people are there and the show starts and uh and he goes you're going on first i'm like they're not going to see me they're not here and he goes too bad John Stewart stretched as long as he could to kind of set the table

try to get someone to be in the room on there's an empty table there was no what people to watch it's like pointless to go on yeah no one's gonna see me oh and so finally Stuart looks at me and goes like this I'm sorry and he brings me on

and I start doing my set for no reason now because I mean I'm happy there's an audience there but there's nobody and then they come in while I'm on stage the like 12 people Jim Downey oh the whole bunch of them come in talking and I'm like this is fucking hell David is in the group I don't know David at the time didn't know him maybe a hello once in a while a little bit but he saw me and I saw him do this oh oh this guy come here sit down he's made them all sit down and said yeah watch him watch

this guy he settled the table down and he made them watch me and i didn't get the job but the next day jim downy called robert smigle and said i'm not going to hire this guy but you should and he gave me the i got the other last train going which was conan oh so it did work out something yeah so i appreciate it thank you because that must if that's the j more we know of course i'm glad i did some something right yeah the whimsie j more god and kightlinger yeah because she did a year or two Yeah, yeah, yeah. That was a big night. Then you hosted four times.

Yeah, you hosted four times. You're traveling the world. I just thought this is something that comedians talk about, recently about you. And I think Jerry mentioned this. Just again, Hey, do you this. He said it.

The family trip, and you get the kids in the luggage, and you put the wife in, and then you walk around the car, and that's your vacation. That's your vacation. It's the walk from the car to your door. Yeah, that's true. It's just such a well-observed moment, and it was done so.

It just sticks with me. And the recent one, which blew my mind, I guess I saw YouTube or something, was that you did this bit about Goodwill hunting. I guess you hear about that because it was like, oh, no, what, he can't, what is he? This movie's 30, and yet it was completely irrelevant. It was so funny, the physicality of the hand you're doing, him typing. Oh, yeah, yeah, him typing the movie. And just doing this.

I'm like a really tough guy, but I'm amazing. I'm a genius. And I beat up everybody. But I beat everybody out, but it's incredible. Yeah. And that's just funny seeing that and doing just a slightly altered voice. And you get such a long bit out. I watch it before he came over this morning.

And you get so much out of it. Thanks. There's a lot. Thanks. I still watch your clips. Instagram is good because they come in, like you said, watching standups. You'll see new ones, but you're on there. So I see these bits.

And I was trying to remember them to go when he comes in. I got to say this. But there's too many. So it's always good to see what I haven't seen. And I'm like, this guy's still pushing these killer bits out. I'm trying to sum up your advice. It's a little bit like the emotional warfare of stand-up. Like if you're in a kitchen and had a drink in you with friends,

that voice back there is not really, and you're kind of telling a story. That's right. That's not there. No. You're not a future-tripping, past. And so to take that but have $20,000 look at you or $300 and emotionally calm that down. and just be centered. Well, it's saying this to yourself

about every moment. There's, this feels new and jittery, but it's okay. This isn't the last moment. And there's potential in this moment. And it's going to pass and don't, don't, and savor it. No matter what it is.

So I feel that way in life. And on stage has been helping me a lot. I was asked this once, on one of these type of podcasts. How do you turn someone on? How do you turn someone on? Yeah. I don't know how.

Well, whatever you guys are doing right now is working. All right. Do you need a blanket? I thought it sounds like a riddle. I thought it was a riddle. I just said to him, turn yourself on. And they go, no one's ever said that. I like that.

Turn yourself on. So sometimes I do try to find a way out of the boredom in the tedium of stand-up. to get excited, and whether I'm altering something or stepping outside, whatever I'm doing to make myself feel joyful, because sometimes you don't get there. Sometimes, I do think that there's a, like,

there's a phenomenon that happens to me. Sometimes I shoot two shows to do a special, and the first show, I'm just too, I got too much adrenaline, and the crowd's dry, so I really struggle. And then a second show, I just feel great. They've been out already. They're a later crowd, or they're looser.

and it's wonderful. I go back and look at them when I edit it. I end up using the first show more. Because the first show, I'm like on edge, and I'm not happy, and that's funnier. I'd rather watch a comedian who's really not comfortable. We as comedians want to be like, we just want to be like, I'm mad, it's going great up here, but that's not fun. It's not fun to watch for stand-up. It's not fun to watch somebody who's in the pocket and feeling really great.

It's fun to watch somebody who's like, I don't know how to explain this to you. kind of hate you a little right now and I want to go home I'd rather watch that okay that's great I'm gonna do a set tonight and apply all these techniques good and there's gonna be a giant I've already made a little text there's gonna be a huge picture of you at the comedy store behind me and I go this is the guy who told me to do this set and when I'm running they take me off in handcuffs yeah I go oh it's very interesting well god that's fascinating I know wonder you're still at the top of your whatever so the Istanbul improv I'm looking at Dana all these Places you play.

I'm going to Istanbul, yes. Crazy. Yeah. Have you been there before? India? I'm always going to India. In the valley. Never been to India, never been to Turkey.

I've been to Athens and Bucharest, some of the places I've been to. And they all speak English. They all, stand up in English is all over the world now. It's a big thing. Yeah, I play a lot internationally. Well, my stuff about Ralph's work? I don't, mate. If you explain what Ralph's is, yes.

Oh, you got to give it a little of that first. Just a little. Yeah. Superbarm. market. Now we're in. Do you mind if I get a selfie? Oh, no, sorry. Well, geez, Louise, can you come back in a few months again? Whatever you want? I'm really happy to be here.

I could do it for another two hours. That was really fun. Thank you, Louis. Great to see you. You're Louis C.K. You're David Spade. I wrote a book. It's on Amazon. Oh, Ingram. Yeah. Did you have that book? Can we hold it up? Engram is the book.

Do you have the Ingram book? Yeah, let's hold that up. We can cut this part. Because the cover is really cool and the texture of the cover. Yeah, I like it too. Did they show that? Book people are so different than TV people because TV like you're like,

you guys don't know what the fuck you're doing and they ask stupid questions. But book people are smarter than me. So like I got an email from this woman saying like I went through the book yesterday. Like she went through the whole book. She's like, I think that your original strategy for commas in the book was better than what the editor.

The editor did and I want to restore it. And I wrote back to her and said, Got to be really honestly, I don't know what the fuck you're talking about. Do whatever you think is best. So the cover, I showed them a cover of Grapes of Wrath that I really liked, a vintage version. And I said, this is the vibe. And they just, they came up with this. Well, it's all how it's done.

And it just looks really cool. Yeah, it's a nice, the book is Ingram. Here you go. The gentleman joins us. Louis C.K., he's going to be at the comedy store tonight at the Ice House Tuesday. Thursday he'll be, sir, laughs a lot in Fresno. but right now he's got a new bestseller Louis X.K. It's called

Ingram. Funnily enough. But anyway, that is... That's a cool. See how that's faded. I don't know if it's a Photoshop thing or someone painted it. Yeah. It does kind of draw you in. So that's another...

But that's full circle what we wanted to talk about. This is your latest achievement. Have you had enough compliments? There's a pouchful. A little more, please. But it is impressive, is hell now. Thank you. And when I finish it, I'm going to call you.

Good. I hope so I talked to Dino today on the way here He's my buddy I know there's only one Dino He's the only ones Yeah All right

All right Hey guys If you're loving this podcast Which you are Be sure to click Follow on your favorite podcast app Give us a review Five Star rating

And maybe you can share An episode That you've loved with a friend If you're watching this episode On YouTube Please subscribe We're on video now Fly on the Wall is presented by Odyssey and executive produced by Danny Carvey and David Spade, Heather Santoro and Greg Holtzman, Maddie Sprung Kaiser, and Leah Reese Dennis of Odyssey.

Our senior producer is Greg Holtzman, and the show is produced and edited by Phil Sweet Tech. Booking by Cultivated Entertainment. Special thanks to Patrick Fogarty, Evan Cox, Mora Curran, Melissa Wester, Hillary Schuff, Eric Donnelly, Colin Gail. Sean Cherry, Kurt Courtney, and Lauren Vieira. Reach out with us any questions to be asked and answered on the show. We can email us at fly on the wall at odyssey.com. That's a-u-d-ac-Y-I-com.