Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast - GGACP Rewind: Episode #6: Jeff Ross

Episode Date: January 22, 2026

Gilbert and Frank visit the New York City apartment of “Roastmaster General” Jeff Ross to talk about some of his favorite roasts and roast jokes (he also couldn’t resist the urge to roast his tw...o interviewers). Jeff also recalls his friendships with showbiz icons Buddy Hackett, Bea Arthur, Sid Caesar and Milton Berle, including the time he was treated to a sneak peek of Uncle Miltie’s legendarily large appendage. Also, Gilbert chimes in on his infamous performance at the Hugh Hefner roast and the “Aristocrats” joke that spawned a hit movie! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Starting point is 00:01:41 the roastmaster general. He's a comedian, comedy writer, and he knows about old school comedians. He was at the Friars Club and just would talk and socialize with all the old timers. He was friends with Milton Burrell. And yes, we do touch upon the famous legend of Milton Burrell. So stay tuned. Ladies and gentlemen, Jeff Ross. This is Gilbert Gottfried's amazing colossal podcast, and I'm here. here with my co-host, Frank Santopadre.
Starting point is 00:02:32 Hi, Gilbert. And usually we have, don't interrupt, sorry. Usually, we like to have comedians on the show, but this time, luckily, we have a singer. Let's hear it for the dulcet tones of Jeff Ross. Hello, Frank, hello, Gilbert, Jeffrey. You are sort of beautiful to me. I keep my guitar around the house. It keeps me company.
Starting point is 00:03:05 Thanks for coming down, fellas. What an honor to be on the, what is it, third episode of your shitty podcast? What a treat. It's been my dream for days now to be on this podcast. It's actually like the 11th episode. Don't get carried away with yourself. Yeah, this is a real treat. Thanks for coming over my house with a sound guy and three sets of headphones.
Starting point is 00:03:29 It's great. Hostage videos have a bigger budget than this. Gilbert Godfrey has a podcast because looking at him is tough. So if we listen to him, yeah, turn up the volume, folks. This is one you really, you want to hear Gilbert at full volume today. Gilbert, you could do a podcast just by talking out the window. Everybody would hear you anyway. This is pointless to try to tape it and record it.
Starting point is 00:04:03 Just stand on the roof of your building. and the whole country can hear you. It's great. You got Frank here to add no personality. Thank you. Why don't you tell us about Jerry Lewis? What's that? Why don't you tell about your night out last night?
Starting point is 00:04:23 Last night I had a, there was an Abbott's Dinner at the Friars Club for Jerry Lewis. It's the anniversary of the nutty professor, so he had a little party, which was really fun. I mean, that's the thing about the Friars Club, and Gilbert knows this, is you get to meet, you know, your legends. You know, people you grew up admiring, like Shecky Green, for instance. Oh, yes. I got to see his ass as he was running out on my act. Unbelievable. I have my own thoughts about that, but we could talk about that later.
Starting point is 00:04:57 Oh, that's good. I like a guest who's ready to talk off the air. No, I'm saying you want to talk about Jerry Lewis first? Then we can talk about Jackie Green. Okay, okay, let's talk about Jerry first, because I think he's a little bigger than Jackie Green. Probably. Yeah. It was super fun.
Starting point is 00:05:13 looks great. He was so funny. He made a great speech. And I said, Jerry Lewis is the recipient of such an honor knowing you, Jerry. A lot of people don't know he's the recipient of the French Legion of Honor Medal, which is the equivalent here in America of, say, winning a Latin Grammy. I said Jerry Lewis is big in France. Then again, the French don't even know when they stink. It was super fun. Larry King was there, the former hunchback of CNN.
Starting point is 00:05:50 It was a great time. I said Larry King is to comedy what Martin Luther King was the comedy. I love it. It was fun. Brought up some classics. Now, you knew Milton Burrell.
Starting point is 00:06:07 That's right. Yes. There's a picture of them in this house right over there of my very first roast. It's great. Milton's last roast as Roastmaster was the first one that I was ever invited to be a part of. Did you know that?
Starting point is 00:06:19 No. Yeah. Was that the Stephen Seagal roast? It was in 1995, I think. It actually was. A roast of Stephen Seagal. It was right after a year where they couldn't get anybody. They roasted Whoopi Goldberg the year before.
Starting point is 00:06:35 And there was all this controversy with Ted Danson. Oh, that's a black face. Which, you know, if the roast anything goes. So the next year, you know, maybe it wasn't as hip to do the roast. And I got the call as a unknown. comedian from Gwynidge Village. They'd seen me at a golf tournament making fun of Freddy, Freddie Roman.
Starting point is 00:06:55 Oh, yeah. Yeah, so they said, oh, he's kind of roasty. He could probably do it. Back then, you couldn't YouTube, but the roasts were only these private events. So I had to go to the Museum of Broadcasting, and I looked up the roast, Dean Martin and all that stuff,
Starting point is 00:07:11 and I kind of got a feel for how you make fun and not just the honoree, but the other people. I didn't care about Steven Seagal. So then I saw, oh, I can make fun of Milton Burrell and Henny Youngman and Buddy Hackett. And I go, oh, all right, well, it's more about camaraderie. I get that. And, you know, the best joke wins kind of a thing. You have to have smart jokes.
Starting point is 00:07:28 It's a good audience. So I worked weeks on it, and I had my one nice suit that I bought for the Letterman show. And I went up to the New York Hilton, probably 1,500 people. And it was like my arena. I loved it right away just to see all those people packed into a ballroom at noon, which for a comedian is the middle of the night. I only slept a few hours, but my eyes were wide open. I couldn't.
Starting point is 00:08:00 And you had socialites and politicians and movie directors. And suddenly I wasn't just doing comedy downtown for a bunch of drunks and stoners. It was like, oh, this is like sober comedy. This is smart, witty. you know, roasting. It was totally different. And Milton Burrow was hosting and it was just crazy to just see him
Starting point is 00:08:24 live in person saying dirty words. Because you never saw that in clips or anything. Wasn't he poking you in the ribs through the whole? He finally brought me on. And towards the end, it wasn't a particularly great roast. Stephen Seagal was not
Starting point is 00:08:40 necessarily a good sport. He was wearing his ridiculous karate suit. You'd think Stephen Seagal would be the funniest guy there. Yeah. His movie Oh, what was it called? Oh, yeah, one of his crazy.
Starting point is 00:08:56 Hard to kill? No, not even that good. Under siege two. I'm sorry, I know that. Two. I apologize. I just come out. Not as good as one.
Starting point is 00:09:05 I think it was actually better than one was what people say. None of them were as good as three and four of them. Movies always get better than more you make. They get better at it. You know, under siege, he would just get fatter everyone. But I never really saw his movies. You know, he wasn't the draw for me. The draw for me was being able to write special material, practice my joke writing,
Starting point is 00:09:29 and then have these great comics around. Just, it would have been a cool story, you know. So I did it for the adventure. And I went up there, and Milton Burrell gave me a terrible introduction. I didn't know him. He didn't know me, obviously. He said, our next comedian is just back from Las Vegas. Vegas where he emceived a convention for lesbians with Dildo rash.
Starting point is 00:09:50 Jeff Ross. He just plugged me into one of his joke file jokes. And it was just off and running. I looked out and I said, a lot of you don't know me. I looked out at this huge crowd. A lot of you don't know me, but I looked at Steven Seagal. I was right to my left. I feel uniquely, but I feel uniquely qualified to be here today.
Starting point is 00:10:14 because I'm also a shitty actor. So it was self-deprecating, but also a great joke on Stephen Seagal. And I had a few good ones, and every time I got a big laugh, Milton had these giant fingers with pointy fingernails. Yeah. And every time I got a big laugh, he was sitting right next to me on the other side. He would poke me right in the ribs. And I would jump, I would flinch.
Starting point is 00:10:43 Every time I got on a applause breaker, a big laugh, he'd boom! He poked me really hard. And the only person who'd ever done that in my life was when I was at my bar mitzvah, my canter, did it to relax me. Like, while I was doing my haftora, I remember him poking me a little bit. And I never understood it. And because that had happened one other time in my life, I kind of let it go for a while. So I just figured it's something Milton's doing to make me not nerve. I don't think I even, I didn't have.
Starting point is 00:11:15 have the time to think about why he was doing it. I had 1,500 people watching me do my first roast. I was... So, was it that Milton couldn't stand the idea of someone else getting a laugh? I only figured that out later. Yeah. But in the moment, I was just sort of exasperated. And after a few pokes, I looked at him and I was like, what are you doing? I stopped. I stopped. And he used that is an opportunity to leap up and start heckling me. So in other words, he was just not going to let me go on a roll without him being involved. So I said, oh, a lot of, you never know what you're going to see walking around New York. I was just riffing.
Starting point is 00:11:59 I said, I was walking around downtown yesterday. I saw Milton and an antique shop, $1,200. Which is really just an old Andrew Lansbury joke I did on Letterman a couple of weeks earlier. And it worked. Like he came back at me, and then, you know, I was holding my own for a couple of rounds with Milton, and finally, way down at the far end of the dais, Buddy Hackett, who didn't even have a microphone, but he had that booming voice that everyone knew. He just said, Milton, let the kid work.
Starting point is 00:12:31 Remember when you used to? And Milton took off down the end of the dais and just planted one on Buddy Hackett's lips. Wow. And I said, Buddy Hackett and Milton, bro, between the two of us, they have over 100 years of homosexual experience. It made no sense, but it was just off Milton's kiss. And that was it. Milton gave me a nice round of applause, and I sat back down,
Starting point is 00:12:58 and we all went back to the club, and I was having a drink with Buddy Hackett. And it was just like, here I was with these, the Mount Roastmore of comedy. Here they were. I said to Buddy, why do you think Milton would have done that to me? What was going on there? He said, oh, he just can't take it when,
Starting point is 00:13:15 comedians are getting big laughs so he wants to be disruptive. Wow. Trial by fire. So, and then I went to Milton and Milton didn't drink but he was at a different part of the Friars Club after party, the after party. And I said, you know, Mr. Burrell, that was so exciting. That was my first roast. Is there any advice you could give me? You know, not addressing what he did directly just to see, I don't know why. And he said, he said, you know, what I remember for him saying was basically they only remember the home runs. In other words,
Starting point is 00:13:49 you don't need to be on for 10 minutes. You can be on with just the big big, you know, swings. So maybe I was going on too long, or maybe I'd have a huge joke and then a little joke, and he I didn't know what was going to work. It wasn't like I could go to the comedy seller
Starting point is 00:14:05 and try out roast jokes. Might as well be talking Latin. They didn't know what a roast was. It was a lost art, like jousting or journalism or something. So I took a lot from that. And I do still think about that. In other words, they only remember the home runs. I try to keep my sets tight and, you know, big swings only.
Starting point is 00:14:29 Fun, fun day. I have pictures of it in my house. And Milton was around after that, and we became friends. But he didn't host another roast after that. Now, of course, if you discuss Milton, Burl, you have to get to one subject. Of course. His penis.
Starting point is 00:14:48 Yes. What do you want to know? Have you seen it? I have it in a box in my living. It's next to a Hennie Youngman's violin. I did get a glimpse of it once. I don't know if I've ever told this story. Milton Burl's penis, ladies and gentlemen.
Starting point is 00:15:10 We were at the Friars Club in Beverly Hills, and he was very frail at the time. He'd even have been in his wheelchair. And why is that funny? I'm just, I'm thinking wheelchair and penis. This is, there's something very, that reminds me of another joke. Okay.
Starting point is 00:15:31 I was at a birthday party for Sid Caesar. Okay. Did you see his penis? Not yet. No. Roast him, may he rest in peace. May him and his penis rest in peace. But Milton was there in the,
Starting point is 00:15:46 was doing Sid Caesar's birthday party. I was a young comedian that they had on the show, and otherwise it was all Sid's pals. But Sid liked me, and he asked me to do this thing, which I believe is even out there somewhere. You could buy it in one of the Sid Caesar's DVD collector sets of my birthday show for Sid Caesar. I was at that show. Oh, you were? I was there. Well, there you go. It was a great night. Stan Lee was there, and you were on. And Milton Burrell, I introduced, you know, I said, oh, it's such a treat to be here for student. I see, you know, the great Milton Burl is here, and he brought a wheelchair for his
Starting point is 00:16:21 cock. And Milton leaped right out of his wheelchair and started coming back at me as he, as he, as he off of wood. He was a great guy, Milton. He, uh, he called me once. I forgot exactly why. It was some friars roast business, but he called me once in a hotel. And I was in Montreal for a gig and the phone in the hotel rings back, you know, a long time ago now. And, you know, it's Milton Burl. And of course, I'm like, hello, Alon. I thought it was Elon Gold to an impression of Milton Burrell. There was no way Milton Burl had tracked me down at a hotel in Montreal. But he did. And we became lunch buddies. We would often sit at the Fires Club in Beverly Hills. And he got me smoking cigars. He put one in my nostril. No, in his business.
Starting point is 00:17:17 nostril. He had that big, big nostrils. And he said, you don't smoke? No, I don't smoke. And he stuck one in his nostril deep. And he inhaled. He said, if it smells like horseshit, it's a real Cubano. And then he took that out of his nostril and popped it right in my mouth. He said that Fidel Castro sent him a box of Cuban cigars every Christmas, which I have no
Starting point is 00:17:42 reason to believe is not true since he played Havana in the old days. Wow. now, but you did see his penis. And on one of those lunch days. Because you got sidetracked. I did. I was eating lunch with him, and he asked for help getting up out of his chair and over to the men's room. He's very, very old and very frail at this point in his life.
Starting point is 00:18:09 And he went into the men's room, and he was, you know, urinating at the urine. you know, with one shoulder kind of leaning up against the partition because he was, he was weak. But, and then I just said, you know what, fuck it. I'm going to go pee next door. You know, maybe Gilbert Godfrey will have a podcast someday. In the last minute, if I ever seen Milton Burroughs penis. Very precious interview. So I did.
Starting point is 00:18:43 I, you know, I tried to look straight ahead and how my eyes go to the side. And you know what? It was gigantic. It was fucking gigantic. Milton Burrell had a huge cock. It's nice to meet your heroes, isn't it? Jeff, not be disappointed. Well, there was two heroes a once.
Starting point is 00:19:02 Milton and his cock. It was like long and wide. You know, he was peeing. This is more detail than I anticipated, but he was peeing. Tell me about the veins and everything. But I saw a lot of girth. You know, I saw, and that's what I remember. I never saw the whole thing.
Starting point is 00:19:24 because his hand was covering a big portion of it. I should say a small portion of it. And he knew I saw it. There's no question that he wasn't giving me the opening. I mean, at some point, I think that he, you know, passing the torch, if you will, he wanted one more witness from the younger generation to know that these weren't just jokes made up out of thin air. that the legendary jokes about Milton Burrell's penis were indeed based in reality.
Starting point is 00:19:57 I said that I was roasting one of the Yankees ones. Joe Torrey, New York, and Milton was there. And for some reason, you know, Milton, I wanted to work him into my baseball jokes. They said, Milton Burles' cock is so big it has a warning track. Somewhere there's a tape, you can hear Milton and Billy Crystal laughing.
Starting point is 00:20:21 The old day. This is fun. So you've confirmed that Milton Burrell has a giant cock, had a giant cock. Right. May it rest in peace. May it roast in peace. Now, okay, and you knew Buddy Hackett. Of course.
Starting point is 00:20:38 Well, of course, Alan King. Alan King here in New York and Buddy Hackett out in L.A. And Buddy became sort of a mentor, didn't he? Buddy was a good buddy. Very, very good pal of mine. Yeah. I met him at the Friars Club as well. Well, I was in the elevator going to, this is before this roast even.
Starting point is 00:21:01 Before I ever saw him, you know, I saw him perform when I was a beginner, a comedian. But the first time I actually met him was in the elevator at the Friars Club. I was going up to play poker with Greg Fitzsimmons and Elon Gold. And that was a big deal to get invited to the Friars to play poker because we'd always play poker in our crappy studio apartments, you know. And suddenly we were able to go eat with a waiter taking care of us and fancy clay chips. And you're at the Friars Club. You never know who you're going to see.
Starting point is 00:21:30 So I'm taking the elevator up to the card room, the George Burns card room, poker room, whatever it's called. And we stop on the second floor and buddy sort of waddles on what that walk of his. And oh, man, I'm like, wow. There's buddy, you know, so I got to say something. Mr. Hackett, I just want to say, you were my parents' favorite comedian. and I'm a comedian also and it's just such an honor to meet you and he shook my hand
Starting point is 00:21:56 and he looked me right in the eyes he said you know who hates farts the most midgets they live at ass height and the elevator opened up and he walked off and he didn't say anything else I didn't see him again to let Stephen Seagal rules
Starting point is 00:22:15 now you also knew as I also hung out with him like a handful of times Henny Youngman you know I didn't know any of as well. Did you know him well? I remember, I ran into him a handful of times and had lunch with him
Starting point is 00:22:36 once. When I was a little kid, my Aunt Bess, took me to the Carnegie Deli before a matinee. She would take me to Broadway shows. She was, she had, you know, basically, you know, a widow, and she had a little more money
Starting point is 00:22:52 than everyone else in the family. So if I wanted to see something or, you know, so she would take me to matinees, whatever. And I was probably 12, 11. We walked into the Carnegie Deli, and Henny Youngman's at a front table there. And I kind of knew who he was. You know, you knew the name.
Starting point is 00:23:13 He looked familiar. I kind of got it. Yeah. But I remember my aunt said, oh, Henny. And, you know, he kind of recognized her the way we do with, you know. And right away, she said, how's, whatever Henny's. sister's name was. It was an old like how's bitty or something like that?
Starting point is 00:23:31 Or how's Jenny? You know, and Henny oh, yeah, yeah, oh, she's fine. And they talked about, you know, old friends for a second. And Henny gave me a card, which I still have, that has a music note on it. And I remember seeing, and I went to that deli a couple of times
Starting point is 00:23:47 last week after my shows at Carolines. And I thought about that moment because now here I am, the comedian sitting there. And it's just so fascinating because Henny, worked and worked and worked. He always seemed to either need or want a gig. And I remember right up until he was in a wheelchair,
Starting point is 00:24:06 him showing up at stuff that I would be doing around town. We would do a sketch on the USA Network or a tribute to somebody at the Friars Club, and Henny would be there still working, still loving it, still in the gig. You know, they would have to feed him the lines one by one. He was very old. I think he probably lived to his 90s, right?
Starting point is 00:24:30 And I just was inspired by the fact that there was still a place that you could walk into the Friars Club where Hennie Youngman got treated like royalty, even when most of the rest of the world had forgotten about him, he still could walk in and sit at a table at the Friars with the Leroy Neiman portrait of him right on the side and make him feel good. You know, that's, to me, one of the great things about the Friars Club is that it's like, you know, everyone still knows your name.
Starting point is 00:24:59 I remember hearing a story about Henny Youngman that he was working somewhere in a hotel, and he was going down the elevator. After his or between, he was doing two shows that night, and in between, he was going to go back to his room, and this guy comes in, he goes, I'm getting married. Can you tell some jokes at my wedding?
Starting point is 00:25:23 And he said, all right, like $100. and they passed around that. Really? He got off the elevator, in between floors, got off the elevator, went to the wedding, performed, and then went back for the second show. Wow. For $100? Yeah. You think he just loved the...
Starting point is 00:25:44 He didn't need the $100, did he? I don't know, but he made $100 just for five minutes. Where did he eat lunch with him? Oh, I remember. We had the same agent at the time. William Morrissey. Yeah. He'd always do jokes about that, right?
Starting point is 00:26:01 Oh, yes. And he comes up to me, he's walking down the street with his violin case, and I put my hand out to shake hands, and he hands me the violin case. And we go into the restaurant, and he says to the matri-D, he says, give us a table near a waiter. And then when we're walking to the table, a pretty girl walks by, and he goes, you look tired. Why don't you go up to my room and lay down? And then we order, and then he says, wait a waiter, call the police.
Starting point is 00:26:41 And he goes, why? He goes, because our food's being held up in the kitchen. And then he said, are you married? And I said, no. And he said, what do you do for aggravation? That's great. One time I was walking That's great
Starting point is 00:27:00 One time I was walking on 55th Street I had just become a member of the Friars Club And he was still sort of You know It was very probably in the mid-90s So he He was still walking in And I was probably 10 feet behind him
Starting point is 00:27:17 You know, he didn't really know me at that point But I see any youngman's walking in ahead of me So, you know, I'm wired. him and as we're crossing the street a pigeon lands right by his feet and he goes anybody call? Any messages? He said any messages?
Starting point is 00:27:37 He did it for himself. That was what was so great about it. He didn't know I was behind him. Nobody was with him. He did it for himself. Which, you know, at a certain point, it's a reflex, right? Any messages? Jeff was...
Starting point is 00:27:53 A pigeon looked at him and said no. And I was up at his apartment where he had a collection. He was a tiny apartment, but he had one room that was a collection of just gag items. What do you mean?
Starting point is 00:28:07 Well, like he had a card that had like two dishwashing liquids and it says, here's a picture of my pride and joy. That's what he would give people who asked for... And he had another card that was made out of that
Starting point is 00:28:26 kind of paper like the Federal Express type envelope paper that you can't rip. And it was a card that would say that you'd hand to a girl at a bar and it would say, if you want to have sex with me, oh, he goes, if you don't want to have sex with me, rip this card up. Unreal. Let me ask you about the time. I love, sorry, sorry. I love that it was, you know, unapologetic schick.
Starting point is 00:28:57 Yes. I'm the comedian. I'm not trying to be cool. I am doing the most over the top right to the stomach joke, you know? I miss that kind of comedy. Just where it's just. Don't they still have his fiddles still hanging in the Friars Club, isn't it? Yeah, I think it is.
Starting point is 00:29:14 I think it is. Up in that George Burns room. We will return to Gilbert Gottfried's amazing colossal podcast, but first a word from our sponsor. How did you and Gilbert first meet? I think our listeners. Wait, why do you think, Frank, why do you think Henny had such a small, why didn't he have a nice place and help?
Starting point is 00:29:37 And why did he live like that into his old age? It's interesting. Well, he's married, wasn't he? I don't know. That's what I mean. I don't know enough about him. And I think because he lived directly across the street from William Morris, he once hung out a sign outside his window that said,
Starting point is 00:29:55 hire thy neighbor. And working at a window. wedding for $100, to live it in a small apartment. You wonder what happened to his, or I guess he never had a big break or, but if we're still talking about him all these years later, he must have made some money.
Starting point is 00:30:13 You got to wonder. Well, he never had that series. He never had that sort of that mega break, but I mean, he was always working. Right. And you don't retire. He didn't retire. No.
Starting point is 00:30:22 How did you guys meet? I think our listeners would be curious to know. What listeners? Exactly. And we can move on to the next. Next question. The wife and girlfriend? Don't tell me, I'm not setting you up.
Starting point is 00:30:34 You guys meet a catch years ago? I don't know. I don't remember meeting Gilbert. Gilbert was just somebody who I suddenly knew. Yes. Do you remember? I don't know. Did we know each other before CSI?
Starting point is 00:30:48 Did we ever talk? We must have, but that's a good point. I bet that was our real bonding. Yeah. Yeah, because I don't remember any specific times where I got to talk to you until then. You were both on a CSI episode? Yeah.
Starting point is 00:31:04 Me, Jeff, and Bobcat Goldthwaite. And it was CSI, like the Vegas original one. Wow. And I was playing a comedian, a TV star comedian who was going back to his home club in Vegas. You were kind of like a Seinfeld coming day. I don't think so. I think it was more of a rock star comedian. star comedian. A leather jacket and chains. A daint cook. Something like that.
Starting point is 00:31:34 And a little bit of dice in there. Very macho, tough guy to act. And I wasn't, I wasn't do it. And I had a catchphrase. I forgot what it was. It was very annoying. Oh, my God. Because I remember we discussed this, like these writers who don't understand
Starting point is 00:31:53 how a joke is constructed or how a catchphrase. And it was something like, it's a terrible life. Don't you just love it? Oh, yeah, you're right. It was something like that. It didn't flow at all. Right.
Starting point is 00:32:08 So, you know, I didn't really have any funny schick. You know, and I mentioned Dane and Dyson, only in that it was supposed to be like a very sort of charismatic over-the-top personality. But as far as the comedy of it, it's so funny when drama writers try to write for a, Oh, my God. Someone to play a comedy. It would have been better to just get one of those guys probably to do something funny. But anyway, one of the characters put the whole thing was that I die on stage. Everyone hates me.
Starting point is 00:32:46 I have this annoying catchphrase or really mean to the audience. And then every time I take a sip of my drink, I'm killing myself. So by the third or fourth sip, I die right there on stage in front of the first. the audience and at first they think I'm kidding and then of course I do one last little shake and I'm dead and then the whole episode is in other words I die in the opening credits
Starting point is 00:33:10 then they have to figure out if it was Gilbert or Bobcat that poisoned me I can't believe I haven't seen this that's required viewing that's real sir Conan Doyle material right there yeah it was a joyous bit who you to decide because both of us
Starting point is 00:33:33 hated you for stealing our jokes, I think. And then I spent the rest of the week as a dead body on a slet. And they would see all the other things that I did. Like, I got a blow job from one of the waitresses.
Starting point is 00:33:51 They put coke on my dick and she had to pretend to be blowing me in the back out. They flash back the entire lead-up to my murder when they finally determined that Bobcat's character, my opening act, poisoned me. At first they thought it was the waitress, then I thought it was the bartender,
Starting point is 00:34:06 I think Gilbert, what were you playing? I was another comedian. Right. But another one, like basically a red herring there. You know, it's like I said, oh, that he's doing my bit at one point. They got a red herring who actually eats herring. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:34:22 Now, and I think when the waitress is blowing you, it's you stop her before you actually come. That's part of your character. You really remember this episode? Wow.
Starting point is 00:34:35 Yes. Because that's part of your character. Yeah, I wanted to go out and all revved up. Yes. Right, right, right. So he was, yeah. Wow. It's like Robert Flats.
Starting point is 00:34:45 I really remember this. I don't think I ever actually saw the whole episode. It was fine writing. Yeah. And, um... It was a popular episode because people bring it up all the time. And I, somewhere does a Polaroid I have with me. And you know what?
Starting point is 00:35:01 It was so real dying and then seeing, myself as a dead body and all that and laying there that I did have nightmares for a week or two after that about dying and stuff like that on stage. It was very method acting. And this, of course, leads us
Starting point is 00:35:18 to the obvious jokes. Well, you've died on stage many times. It was cool, but I do remember getting to talk to Gilbert out by the trailers. We had long days. What year is this approximately? This is probably...
Starting point is 00:35:33 Early 2000s? No, I can tell you when it was because the Jimmy Kimmel Live Show had just launched on ABC. Okay. Because I was doing both at the same time that week. I was guest co-hosting with Jimmy and doing CSI from 7 in the morning to like 6. Then Jimmy's show was live back then. So I was able to get there for the night live thing. And I remember they got a kick out of the fact that I wouldn't come to rehearsal.
Starting point is 00:36:04 So they would just mess with me and do stuff that night that I wasn't prepared for. And I only had a half hour to eat and take a shower and get my makeup on. And they'd always have a steak or whatever I ordered. And just as I was about to take a bite, Jimmy's cousin Sal would walk in and knock it on the floor. I'd have to go on live hungry and pissed off. And they thought that was so funny. And didn't they film you falling to the ground dead like 50 times? Yeah, they have on CSI.
Starting point is 00:36:38 I do remember that it was a, there was a bee story in the episode that had children. So there were kids out on location. We were way out in the valley somewhere. It was very, very hot. And, you know, it was too hot to stay in your trailers. So Gilbert and I would stand outside in the shade and chit-chat. And do you remember this? Yes.
Starting point is 00:36:59 Like two trailers away would be these little kids and their parents or their, you know, whoever their teacher was on said, their child actors. And Gilbert would say really terrible, sexual, racist shit, just loud enough for them to hear him, but not quite know what he said.
Starting point is 00:37:19 Not Gilbert. Yeah, I would... So you'd just see the parents kind of look over and then go back, and, you know, they would just see us either laugh or you're trying to cover it up. Yeah, I...
Starting point is 00:37:32 It's surprising to think of me, saying something disgusting. But, yeah, I was constantly saying something really disgusting and perverted and bigoted. Oh, my God. But it was completely random and had nothing to do with anything. Yeah, I would go out of my way when I see a little kid go by. I don't even think I'm going to remember the things you said, but I'm not even going to expose you. Because it's so out of context.
Starting point is 00:38:00 There'd be some little two-year-old girl walking past and forget it. I guess she likes, let's just say NC. I bet she would love some NC. You guys can spend an hour now trying to figure out what that stands for. And if any of you can call with the correct answer, if you're among our first caller to tell us what NC stands for. That's how we killed time, and that's when I realized that Gilbert really had nothing to lose in life.
Starting point is 00:38:35 He was completely fine. was getting fired from the CSI. I was like, there's a guy who he knows who he is and where he's going. Where is he going? I admired Gilbert in that he not only, what do you call it, push the envelope, but he rubbed his dick all over. Yeah, I know, I've lost so many jobs since then. That's why.
Starting point is 00:39:04 But every time you get in a fight or an argument or you lose a job, it winds up being a part of your street cred. Yeah. You have so much street cred you'll be living on the streets then. Great. Now, you, you were over. If we could stop talking about NC. Do you have commercials on this?
Starting point is 00:39:30 No, no. And none forthcoming after that story. No. You told me you were at, you were at Sid Caesar's birthday party. And who else showed up, that last one, who you told me? I remember. Oh, this last one. Yes, at his house.
Starting point is 00:39:51 Oh, just recently, I mean last year. Oh. Well, he would have his pals back over from your show of shows. You'd have Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner and Rudy DeLuca and Dick Van Dyke would be a regular. And Sid would have these little dinner parties where he got to, he didn't get out much in the end. He was very frail. Sid Caesar, the great legendary sketch comedian. He was a great.
Starting point is 00:40:16 great guy. Sid had the best laugh. Somewhere I have a picture of him just laughing that I would look at. He's such a funny guy and those writers for your show of shows, they all still cared about him and loved them. He discovered them. He nurtured them. Mel Brooks, Neil Simon, Woody Allen,
Starting point is 00:40:34 Larry Gelbart, they all say was the smartest, funniest one at all of them. So I have fond memories of hanging out with Sid and those guys. And just for the Jewish holidays, We all got together at Sid's house just to reminisce one more time even without Sid, which was really beautiful. Mel Brooks helped organize that. He really, really admired Sid. And, you know, Sid was in a wheelchair. He was sort of, his mind was not as sharp, you know.
Starting point is 00:41:06 And he couldn't hear so well. But when Mel Brooks walked in with Carl, they would always drive in together, Mel would walk right out in front of the wheelchair and get right in Sid's face and he'd say, Sid, it's Mel Brooks and call writer! Like they were on a stage, you know? And Sid would light up and laugh and, you know, you know, Sid would look at him and go,
Starting point is 00:41:31 when are we going on? You just joke right back and we got them singing and stuff. And, you know, it's so, one of the fun things is, you know, these shows, they come and go, you have a gig here and there. But the friends you make along the way, the relationships you get to have,
Starting point is 00:41:47 that's what really sustains us. And one of the reasons that I love being a comedian. Talk a little bit about the B. Arthur incident. Jeff, hardcore comedy fans will know that you and B. and B. developed a relationship and it came off of an incident at one of the Comedy Central roasts. B. Arthur was one of those people who
Starting point is 00:42:09 I grew up saying she really is one of the funniest people. You know, I would see her do stuff and see my, you know, family crack up at the Golden Girls. And when she was on all in the family, I was a little, little boy. Oh, sure. But I didn't ever think I'd be in the same room with her in a million years, you know? This is like, couldn't possibly happen. So there we are.
Starting point is 00:42:39 Suddenly now I find myself. producing these Comedy Central roasts for the Friars Club. I'm like a guy who would help put together the dais, the comedians. I'd help people write their material. And Jerry Stiller agreed to be roasted. It was a big honor to him to have a friar's roast. His whole life, he said that's something he really wanted. And his son, Ben Stiller, came in Janine Garofalo,
Starting point is 00:43:06 and Jason Alexander, who was, at the height of his fame on Seinfeld with Jerry Stiller at the time. And Kevin James and let's see, a bunch of other funny, funny people did that one. Well, Seinfeld wasn't there and you had a memorable line about why he wasn't there. I said Jerry Seinfeld wanted to be here today, but he's fucking a motto on a pile of cash. But I didn't, you know, sort of a surprise. to me there's B. Arthur. I didn't I probably knew she was going to be there
Starting point is 00:43:46 but it didn't really register of like, wow, I'm up here with her and I felt a little guilty not mentioning her. I loved her. I mean, she was somebody who, you know, according to the people who wrote for the golden girls and so on and
Starting point is 00:44:02 that she was, and maud that she could you wrote a B joke in the script she could turn it into an A joke, a home run if you will, just by a look or adding little, you know, eyebrow to it. And suddenly you had a great big blow, a great act break or whatever. She would just save the day all the time for the writers.
Starting point is 00:44:24 Not to say that they didn't have good writers on those shows, but she really could make the writers look good. And I was like, wow, you know, I just can't imagine not calling her out or mentioning her. And I didn't really think to say anything sincere. That wasn't my style back then. I just was swinging for home runs, as Milton advised. And here I was, just a few years after my first roast. And now we're on TV, you know?
Starting point is 00:44:52 So now there's cameras that you could have a close-up. You know, you can make fun of somebody and get right in their face. And I write down on the margin, I have my script of all the jokes I've been working on, and I write down on the margin, B. Arthur's, Dick. I don't know what I'm going to say yet or where or when, but I'm late in the show, and I'm just watching this all go down, and I'm just thinking somewhere in here,
Starting point is 00:45:26 they got to mention B. Arthur's Dick. She's the new Miltonboro. And Sandra Bernhard, who I actually love singing at these roast because she always tries something different. And this time she tried singing to Jerry Stiller. She was doing a cabaret show at the time, and she had a little band put together. And she always tries something different, and I love that about her. And she went out and sang, I forgot it, but she put Jerry's name into a song.
Starting point is 00:46:08 It was like Magic Man or something. I can't remember. Oh, it was a heart song. It was. Yeah, I think it was. And didn't necessarily go over as big as she had hoped. And Jerry Stiller, she kind of did a. she like writhed on him.
Starting point is 00:46:26 She gave him a little lap dance while she sang it, which if you know, Jerry, he doesn't like cursing, let alone he would win, so he'd get very embarrassed, especially with his wife and his son, Ben Stiller, and Anne Mier is sitting not far away, and I think it was a little awkward. Suddenly, I get introduced. So I don't even get one joke out.
Starting point is 00:46:51 I just go. Andrew Bernhard, holy shit, I wouldn't fuck you with B. Arthur's dick. And boom. I might as well have just gotten off on that joke. The joke's okay. But they cut to her looking at me as if it was a scene in a sitcom. And she didn't have a response. She just stared at me.
Starting point is 00:47:19 And let the laugh go and go and go and go. And then she did the finger. She looked at me like, I'm going to get you, you know. Oh, yeah. And she just made my B joke into an A moment. And it made me realize, you know, how important it is to connect, you know, not just read a bunch of jokes off a piece of paper, but, you know, find moments that are real moments and look at the other person and try to make it personal. Don't say joke about someone, say it to them.
Starting point is 00:47:52 And that's one of the tricks. and she, you know, I didn't really see her afterwards. I didn't think too much about it because I did the rest of my roast and I had other responsibilities that day. And then as the weeks and days and weeks went on, I was hearing about this joke everywhere I went. People would stop me on the street and you know, B. Arthur's dick. People would send me pictures of B. Arthur and constantly quote that joke.
Starting point is 00:48:19 And I realized that the joke was more famous than I was. Because they wouldn't even know my name, but they knew that I told that joke. And I go, gosh, wow, if I'm hearing about it, I wonder what she's hearing, you know. She must be, someone must be saying something about it to her. And I remember it got written up in Time Out in New York as one of the great TV moments of the year. And suddenly I thought, like, I'm making a career off this ridiculous improv. And quite a bit of time went by. and it became so out of control
Starting point is 00:49:02 that I thought I needed to talk to her about it I wanted it to be a good memory for her and not weird and I hadn't done it. I wasn't the roast master, general, whatever, back then. I was just a comedian doing the roast and I wanted to be Arthur to be my friend if I ever saw her again.
Starting point is 00:49:19 I don't know. I don't know why I did it. I guess I just felt like I needed some sort of closure with it. And I saw that she was doing a one woman show in L.A. at some theater. It was a benefit for, I believe, an animal charity of some kind. So I bought one ticket.
Starting point is 00:49:35 I bought flowers. I went to see this show. And it was great. And she sang and told funny stories and she did the whole thing barefoot at a, you know, a theater. A very beautiful theater in L.A. And there was a long line of well-wishers
Starting point is 00:49:51 afterwards. I somehow got my way backstage. And I waited to the end. I got out at the very end of the line because I wanted to be able to talk to her and not just rush through for a picture or a handshake. And
Starting point is 00:50:06 I hand her to flowers and she said thank you. I said maybe I even said Miss Arthur. I don't know if you remember me but we met at Jerry Stiller's and she goes, you nailed me you prick. That's great.
Starting point is 00:50:28 And you know, we took some pictures and She gave me a nice hug, and she wound up coming back to the roast. She did the Pam Anderson roast after that, and so it was good that I went, I think. And it was a fond memory. She was still one of my all-time favorite funny people. I remember meeting Be Arthur just once, and it wasn't even like, you know, trying to be funny. It was at some event, and I was backstage, and I run into Be Arthur. author and she goes you know hi gilbert how are you and i said don't find be and she goes uh so you're
Starting point is 00:51:08 still living in the same place and i go yeah and you and she goes yeah and then we're talking making small talk uncomfortably and then there's a pause and b author goes do i really know you or do we just know each other from tv and i said i think we know each other from TV and she turns around and walks away. Oh, wow. Wow. Wow. You think she was trying to be funny?
Starting point is 00:51:42 I don't know. I figure it was one of those, it really was one of those moments. We both saw each other on TV and we assumed we knew each other, but we really didn't. So she knew there was nothing to talk about. And, oh, we will return to Gilbert Gottfried's amazing. colossal podcast after this. Now, let's talk about, this was one of my finest moments. And you were the producer and the MC and everything.
Starting point is 00:52:20 That was at the U. Hefner roast. Oh, in 2001. Yeah. I was not the MC, but I was one of the comedians. And I did produce that show. It was just what, two weeks or two and a half weeks after 9-11. There was still like black smoke in the air all over New York. They elected a new pope?
Starting point is 00:52:49 That's white smoke, yes. Oh, well, that's white smoke. We were going to do the Hugh Hefner roast in New York, and there hadn't been a... He had been the biggest roast. We had done. You know, this was Hugh Hefner at the height of his ridiculousness
Starting point is 00:53:21 with seven blonde girlfriends, and it was going to be a great roast. I mean, we had so many funny people lined up, and suddenly, you know, plans change. It was 9-11, and everything obviously shut down in New York.
Starting point is 00:53:42 You didn't know what. scary and we all know what that's about and were you in new york at the time oh yeah i was in i was in a la actually and you know there's a couple days there where you don't know what's going on and you know as a comedian you're like all right well could have some time off this is not going to be you know there's no late night shows there's no sunday live there's no comedy clubs uh the world has changed even yeah i remember all of new york was walking around like like zombies. Right.
Starting point is 00:54:15 And I remember I was riding down in an elevator in my building. There was a guy standing there. And neither one of us said anything. We just kind of like looked at each other and sort of slightly shrugged our shoulders. There was like nothing to be said. Such a, everybody was speechless. And, you know, all the news was that it was all bad. And it was, you know, missing people.
Starting point is 00:54:40 So it was an emergency lockdown. That's something for people, not New York. There was all over the city on fences, photos of people. Like they were still looking for them, hoping they would show up, hoping they had amnesia from the event and would pop up somewhere. You know, and I remember Dave Chappelle was in my, I had Dave Chappelle and Adam Ferrar, the two comedians were living further downtown, and they came to my apartment at 300 Mercer Street,
Starting point is 00:55:14 and we spent the night just sort of up on the roof, and we walked around, and it was kind of like you want to give blood, but there were no survivors, so the hospital sent us away, and you just sort of, you know, you twiddle your thumbs, and you go, I'm in the middle of a war zone, and I can't do anything to help myself or help anybody else.
Starting point is 00:55:34 And I remember with the photos on the fences, all I could think is like, oh, my God, don't these people know, these people aren't going to just pop up. Right. So what do you do? You know, you're in, I'm in my apartment and I go, even my manager at the time, Bernie Brillstein was scared.
Starting point is 00:55:58 Yeah. When old people are scared, you go, this is some serious shit. What the hell is happening here? And, you know, you start to figure out, all right, it was a terrorist attack. and it seems to be over. And now it's New York, smells. It's smoldering. And, you know, everybody's walking around, including me,
Starting point is 00:56:19 with your mouth and nose covered by your shirt because you're essentially inhaling the World Trade Center and everything that was inside. You're inhaling ashes of dead people. Right. So you start to get stir crazy. And by that weekend, I went down the street from my apartment to the comedy seller.
Starting point is 00:56:41 and the only people there were the stragglers, tourists essentially from other countries, who couldn't get out of New York. Right, because all the airports were shut down. And they were either crashing on couches or in hotels, and they wandered into the comedy cellar for some air conditioning and maybe an hour of thinking about something else. And I remember doing a couple of jokes. I can't remember what they were.
Starting point is 00:57:11 But I said, no, that kind of felt good, actually. You know, it's not for the general public, just for the few people that want to hear them. Here they come down to the comedy cellar. And then I go home that night. And I'm like, fuck, man, it's a cliche now. But back then you say, well, you know, the show must go on or the terrorist win. The terrorist win. That's all you ever heard of.
Starting point is 00:57:31 You don't go on with, you know. And at this point, they were winning. We were fucked. This was like, this was 3,000 dead people in the Pentagon. and this was like, you know, all is lost. And I go, well, you know, now it's a few days later. And I go, what are we going to do with this roast? We have all these trucks and camera trucks and crew unrented.
Starting point is 00:57:57 You know, we have the Hilton rented. It's all paid for. And we have to decide, basically, by Monday afterwards, what we're going to, if we're going to cancel it, Or we have to commit to these expenses, you know, and with Comedy Central, there's always this lavish party afterwards, and it's a black tie affair, and, you know, it's, it would be inappropriate. But I thought, well, what if we cancel the party, but do the show? what if we give all the proceeds to the party to the Twin Tower Fund
Starting point is 00:58:40 and make this almost a benefit? In fact, you know, the first benefit post-9-11 would be October 2nd. So I wrote a letter out to the Friars Club and to Comedy Central and to Hugh Heffner. And I sent it to all of them on that weekend, and the response started coming in. And the hardest part would be how to get Hugh Hefner and his blonde pussy posse out to New York,
Starting point is 00:59:18 because none of the comedians were necessarily going to come unless, you know, they felt safe. It was Jimmy Kimmel was going to emcee, and there was Adam Carolla and Cedric the Entertainer and Sarah. Sarah Silverman and you know all these other people that were coming just to be there is you and iced tea and you know Stephen Colbert was there Stephen Karel was there
Starting point is 00:59:45 and I think Triumph and those Smigel was there and it was taking hold that if Huff would come then everybody would and you know my point in the letter was that
Starting point is 01:00:01 Huff is the very reason the terrorist sadas. He's a pornographer and he's a very outspoken person about free speech. He was the first club owner, casino owner to book black comedians to do a regular stand-up act and Dick Gregory was going to come out. He was at the rose. And if you cancel this, it really is the terrorist one more little notch on their victory belt. They go, this is the very guy the terrorists hate. fuck it. Let's just do a show and whatever it is. It'll be a document of that time. And maybe it'll be a feel good to the people that are there. And maybe it won't. But canceling it, it just didn't sit well with me. And Huff, to his credit, came out. And Sarah and Jimmy and all those
Starting point is 01:00:56 funny comedians came out. We did still put on our tuxitos out of respect for Huff. And it wound up being not just a good show, but like a great show. I remember the mayor of New York, sent a proclamation, giving us his blessing. And I remember it being extremely well attended, packed to the roof at the New York Hilton. And Jimmy Kimmel did an amazing job as the host. He really set the tone. And he got the first laughs and kind of got the thing rolling. and I felt a sense of sort of relief,
Starting point is 01:01:33 like a little tension came out of everybody's shoulders. People were laughing. Rob Schneider, who is a funny guy, went on, and he had a couple good jokes, and a couple jokes didn't work. And there hadn't been a reference to 9-11, really, in the show yet. And I ran over, and I put my arm around him and fun everybody, and I said, Rob, let's keep going on. Let's get on with it.
Starting point is 01:01:58 Hasn't there been enough bombing in this city? which is an easy joke, but the right joke in the moment. And it wound up being one of the best. And then Gilbert went on at the end and ruined everything. Gilbert went on that night and told a joke about wanting a connection. Well, maybe you should tell it. Yeah, I said, I have to leave early tonight. I have to fly out to L.A.
Starting point is 01:02:31 I couldn't get a direct flight. We have to make a stop at the M.P. Empire State Building. You know, and somebody yelled too soon. And I thought it meant I didn't take a long enough pause between the setup and the punchline when he said that. I thought I should have said, two, three, four. Ah, Empire State Building. And then, and that's what, that moment to me also symbolizes how people take offense and what they're okay with.
Starting point is 01:02:59 And because it was like, after that booing and hissing and getting up from. the tables. Then I go into the aristocrats where I'm talking about the mother's fucking the son and the dogs blowing the father. And they're like cheering. And I thought so terrorist attacks are bad taste, but incest and bestiality are fine. You were just warming up and they were going to go on that journey, or at least some of them weren't, some of them weren't. But when somebody yelled too soon and you heard that, did you start to panic? I remember being a, well, I certainly had that feeling after the joke when they yelled too soon that I don't know if I was there for like three seconds or 200 years because it's like I had lost the audience as much as anybody
Starting point is 01:03:58 has ever lost an audience. But you adjusted and went, did you stick with your plan? Did you plan to do the aristocrats? No, no, no. I just figured at this point there's nothing further to lose. I might as well talk about a boy eating his mother's twat, you know? So I go into that and it's like they're cheering, you know, it was like. I remember it being cathartic.
Starting point is 01:04:29 I remember looking to my left and seeing Jimmy Kimmel essentially crying with laughter. And I remember seeing Rob Schneider at a certain point fall off his chair and was like crawling on the floor. Yes, he was rolling around on the floor. And that was like the greatest moment for me was like, aside from the audience cheering and laughing, was getting to look at the other comics on the dais laughing. How many times have you had previous? I don't think I've ever told it on stage before. Really?
Starting point is 01:05:05 Yeah. In person, I mean, I've told it. But I don't think I've ever, I think that's the first time I've ever said it on stage. Were you doing jokes in your act at that point? Yeah. Well, I started off with, I said, tonight I'll be going by my Muslim name, hasn't been late. And I remember I was following Ice Tea. And Ice Tea was up there going, you know, I'm going to kill you white motherfuckers,
Starting point is 01:05:40 and I'm going to rape you white bitches. So I went on and said Ice Tea stole my whole act. And I said, but I'm doing it anyway. I'm going to kill you white motherfuckers, and I'm going to rape some of you white bitches. Is my recollection correct? Were you wearing a waiter's jacket? So there's an added element of complete silliness. Oh, by God.
Starting point is 01:06:04 It was... Why were you wearing a wiser jacket? A white tuxedo jacket? Yes, a long white tuxedo jacket like that a dorky teenager would have as a graduation. I got that jacket when 14 streets still had shitty places around
Starting point is 01:06:22 where you could go into a store and buy anything and you didn't know... And it was so cheap, you just bought it. And there was like... It was like a prom tux. Yeah, yeah. And then... there was a tuxedo place going out of business.
Starting point is 01:06:38 I'm 14th Street. And there was this white tuxedo jacket, long white, like the length that Groucho marks would wear. And one of those bits were practically to my ankles, a white, bright white tuxedo. And I think I got it for like $5. Wow. So I wore that. And I had a tee- I had a bow tie that I bought in another store for about $0.25.
Starting point is 01:07:11 Just for the roast? I had already had this in my closet. And I thought, oh, I'm doing a roast. This will be. I've got the perfect outfit. So the Twin Towers collapsed and you went right down to the neighborhood for some going out of business sales. Oh, God. I wanted honor the death of 3,000 people
Starting point is 01:07:35 with a $5 tuxedo. Unreal. It was all, I had that shit lying around my apartment thinking, I'll never use this, and then when the plane... You wear a red tie? I think it was a black tie. I'm not sure.
Starting point is 01:07:56 It's a black one? I'll have to look. I'm sorry, I know this, but it was a black tie and a white tuxedo jacket. And then when the plane crashed, into the World Trade Center, I thought, oh, I couldn't put on that jacket now. Gilbert, I have to ask, was this, the 9-11 material? Was it something that you came up with that night? Was it something that you thought about for weeks?
Starting point is 01:08:20 No, no. It was like shortly before I was like just sort of thinking of it. And you thought, I'm the guy that's going to go for this. Yeah. I, you know, I like, I want to be the first one to make the, most obscenely tasteless September 11th joke. And then an ad lib leads to a movie. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:08:41 You know what? They didn't even know about that. Yeah. They interviewed me for the aristocrats, Paul and Paul Prevends and Penn. And they didn't know about it, believe it or not. And I said, is this the joke? Are you guys talking about the joke that Gilbert did at the 9-11 rule? And it didn't occur to me that it was.
Starting point is 01:08:59 We didn't use that part of your act on the broadcast on comedy. Comedy Central. So unless you were there, they didn't know you did the aristocrats joke. And I didn't really know the joke. And, you know, I didn't even realize when they, when they first asked me to be a part of that documentary, that that's the same joke you did.
Starting point is 01:09:20 And I said, oh, you got to track down Paul Prevenza. His movie, you got to see when Gilbert did that joke. They didn't even know. And I couldn't believe that they didn't know. I was like, you're making this not knowing. That happened? I always thought the incident inspired Of course.
Starting point is 01:09:36 Paul and Penn to do the film. No, I told them. And then I helped them track down the rough footage because I had worked on that show. So I was very proud that they did indeed track you down and broke that into the documentary is essentially became the soul of that movie, which, you know, showed all the comedians.
Starting point is 01:09:59 And I thought it was a very cool doc and showed what we do as an art form, not necessarily as, it was just great. It showed comedy as jazz, and it showed how different personalities, you know, make a difference. And then you and Bob were the, you and Bob Saga were the heart of that movie, I thought. And I remember, well, I remember when they showed it on TV, you don't see the aristocrats, obviously, or they just have to play a sirens. Right, right. is a bleep.
Starting point is 01:10:32 And it's like, I think about 80% of what I did was cut out. Yeah. Yeah. Well, that's all right. It's a movie. But people got that. And I love, I love that we, our little 9-11, Hugh Hefner roast, is still something comedy fans are talking about. Anyway.
Starting point is 01:10:53 You want to talk about, tell us about performing for the troops, because I was reading about it in your book. He worked for the Third Reich. Yeah. That was the interesting. part. It was when the Jews were being let off. Jeff Ross thought, hey, I can make a dollar
Starting point is 01:11:11 performing for Hitler's troops. And I thought, and in no fairness, he wasn't working a lot at the time, so he needed the money. You know, Hitler, for all his faults, he paid talent
Starting point is 01:11:29 when he took care of talent. Got an illusion. Right? Yeah. You know, for all his faults, he had a great, very generous laugh. And I remember years ago I was a catch-a-rising star as the backup comedian. And I used to sit by the bar and hear comedians, you know, just talk and shop. And I was absorbing it all.
Starting point is 01:11:57 And, you know, one comedian was complaining that a guitar act was up there taking the big weekend spots. In other words, an act that a lot of people would say should be on a cruise ship, somebody who did song parodies or something. And the other comedian said, well, what are you talking about? You know, he's popular. People love him. And the first comedian said, Hitler Drew. Doesn't mean it's a good act just because he was popular.
Starting point is 01:12:30 I'll always do shows for the troops. Hopefully we won't always have troops in harm's way, but there's no better audience, no more appreciative. By the way, no more sophisticated audience than an army or military audience. Interesting. They're diverse. They come from 18 to 55. And they get it, you know.
Starting point is 01:12:55 They don't have to be drunk. They don't have to, it's not date night. They're there because they need a laugh. So I love it. I'll always appreciate them. and selfishly you never get a more responsive crowd. How many times have you gone overseas to do it? I'm not even sure.
Starting point is 01:13:14 I've been to Iraq twice. I've been to Afghanistan. I've been to Germany, Djibouti, Africa, Korea, Oman, a couple other places. I'm not even sure where I was. Yeah, if you're an entertainer, any chance to go do that, you should do that. I love it.
Starting point is 01:13:40 I might go in the fall again to Afghanistan. Anything you want to talk about that's coming up? No one's still listening. You should have done it back. Maybe if you ask me in the beginning, I would have happily plug my tour days. We can edit and put it up toward the front. I will be in Atlanta this summer.
Starting point is 01:13:57 I'll be in Nashville this summer. I'll be in San Francisco this summer. And a whole bunch of other stuff. If you go to roastmastergeneral.com, my tour dates are up there you can follow me at real geoffrey ross tweet me some bullshit and uh congratulations to you and you on your new podcast i hope this is uh bigger than all my other failures yes why not to say anything that gets you condemned from show business well yeah no no no at this point I have no jobs to lose anymore, so it's okay.
Starting point is 01:14:48 Why are you dressed like a Cuban dentist? Gilbert comes over, drinks my wine. What are you going to eat after this? When you order out. Those almonds and mangoes are going to disappear, too. That's for sure. We got some snacks from Virginia here. So, anyway, this was one of the best times I had today.
Starting point is 01:15:22 Thanks for having us. over, Jeff. My pleasure. I hope this is... Thank you. How many... Who else have you interviewed besides me? No one. We couldn't get anyone that stupid. Drew Friedman, Bill Persky,
Starting point is 01:15:42 Billy West, Paul Schaefer coming up. Dick Cavett. Professor Erwin Corey. Boris Karloff's daughter. Really? Yeah. What was that like? She was fun. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:15:59 But this has been the amazing, Gilbert Gottfried's amazing colossal podcast with my pal, Jeff. Can we stay on until it's no longer a good, good show? We had a good show. Let's just stay on until it's not good. Let's have an open-ended amount of time that we could be on. We were doing so good for 50 minutes. Let's stretch out 20 more just so people can go, oh, it was good. First half was good.
Starting point is 01:16:26 No, when you first said that, all I could think is that the audience has gone, and which part was the good part? Here's how long the show is every week, folks, till the food gets here. That should be the name of the show, till the food gets here with Frank and Gobel. They did research for their interviews, like, where's the nearest Chinese restaurant? That's the research they do. It's not that extensive. It's great.
Starting point is 01:16:58 Lord knows the world is wondering. the podcast world wants to hear from Dick Cavett and his cutting edge of technology. He doesn't even know you recorded him. All right, good luck, fellas. Oh, thank you, Jeff. Thank you for having me. I had a great time in my own living room.
Starting point is 01:17:24 Thanks for coming over. Thank you, Jeff Ross.

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