Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast - GGACP Rewind: Episode #60: Josh Groban

Episode Date: October 1, 2026

Singer and actor Josh Groban has sold over 25 million records and performed with legends like Sting, Celine Dion and Barbra Streisand, which is why it was so surprising that he allowed Gilbert and Frank into his home to interview him. In an animated and laugh-filled discussion, Josh shares his passion for comedy, his affection for the “Problem Child” movies and his memories of guest-starring on hit series like “The Office” and “Ally McBeal.” Also, Josh coins a catch phrase, tackles the role of Tevye (at age 17!), mimics Jay Leno and duets with “Adele Dazeem.” PLUS: “The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T.”! Gladys Knight & The Pips! “The Beastmaster”! Old Groucho returns! And Josh sings “the hits” of Gilbert Gottfried! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Streaming October 14th. Only on Disney Plus. Don't forget to follow us on our Facebook page. Gilbert Gottfried's amazing colossal podcast. On Twitter at Real Gilbert, A-C-P, and on Instagram, Gilbert Podfried, P-O-D-F-R-I-E-D. You see, it's kind of a pun on the line. Nice name. Ah, never mind.

Godfrey. And this is Gilbert Gottfried's amazing colossal podcast. With my co-host and cohort Frank Santa Padre. And when the mic's not on, our guest this week is a multi-platinum selling recording artist

who has sold more than 25 million records, give or take 25 million. He's performed to sold-out crowds all over the world sung with everyone from Andrea Bachelia Susslingia on to Barbara Barbara Streisand. Some certain names I did have. Going in and out. I like it. It's like the end of Nutty Professor.

It really is. It really is. He's also an actor appearing in movies like crazy stupid love, Muffet's Most Wanted, and hit TV shows like Allie McBeal in the Office, Parks and Recreation, American Dad. He is also the youngest guest. Is that true? Oh, by far. The youngest guest we've ever had on the show.

Younger than Marty Short. We haven't had Marty Short. Oh, no. Oh, God. Well, then there you go. He'll be the youngest. And I'm sure he won't understand any of my references. Please welcome the multi-talented Josh Brolin.

Josh Brolin! Pleasure to be here, guys. See, so you can only keep my voice up a certain amount of time. It hurts my throat. Every time I do you, I need a lozen. Oh, God. You do have one of the greatest voices in all of show business. Nobody can do you.

You're just one of a kind. He is. You're just the best. You are. I've never heard Rich Little do it. Why don't we get Rich Little on the show and ask him to do you? We have to. He's a thousand, I think.

Is he? Yeah. God bless him. You know, but you are our youngest guest. Before this, Larry Storch from F Troop was our youngest guest. And he was 93. Really? Yeah.

So I'm just just under the bar. So you just, you just beat him. I just made it. How many of our guests have you actually? heard of. That's what I want to know, Josh. The show skews a little older. Barbara Feldon. Oh, you know, Barbara Felden? Classic legend.

Okay. No. Kenberry? I know Kenberry, of course. Okay. Okay. But this is, but this is a, you're a, you're a, I feel like you're a young hip, you're a, the kids dig you. I'm a, I'm a groovy guy. You're a groovy guy. I'm a groovy cat. We both have a, you know, look, I'm 34. I'm no spring chicken, but I'm not, you know, I'm not 94. We both have a passion for khaki shorts, I see. You know, so, you know, listen.

We both have sexy legs. I've been meaning to tell you. We've both got games for days. They're both like Betty Grabo. That's exactly right. That's exactly right. Listen, our style is coming back around again, truly. We are, you know, what Tyler the creator wishes he was able to do. How about Marty Allen? Does that name you anything to you? No, it rings a bell.

Because, you know, the hip-hop kids, they love Martin. This will bring it back to you. They love Marty Allen. You'll jump off the trip. And you'll say, oh, him. Hello there. Oh, Marty Allen. Oh, God.

I love this. That's always great when your signature line is just a greeting. Yes. Yeah, I feel like that's how you know you've made it in show business. So you know everything there is to know about. Yeah, yeah. Hello there. Hey, lady.

Well, yeah. There's true. Exactly. There you go. Marty Allen worked with the Beatles on the Sullivan show. That's how I know his name. And Marty Allen was in a team with Alan and Rossi. Alan Rossi and Young, yes.

Alan Rossi and Young, yes. He was the crazy Jew, and he had this handsome Italian singer. Oh, he did. So it was basically trying to recapture Martin and Lewis. When I got signed, they said, we want the look of a crazy Jew with the voice of a handsome Italian singer. So as show business has progressed, they've decided to kind of blend the two. And Josh Grobin was born, was born, yeah. So basically, you look like a Hebrew student.

Yes. Yeah, exactly right. Like you're coming out of the yeshiva and you're singing polyachi. Whose great-grandfather might have been Caruso or might not have been Caruso. You know, we're all. Now, your father eventually wound up hating the shoes, even though he was. He was born a Jew. He wound up hating.

My father doesn't have a hateful bone in his body. He is, we were raised with kind of all religions. We kind of grew up with kind of the universal. I mean, my mom was raised Episcopalian. My dad was raised Jewish but didn't really care one way or the other, I don't think. He just was like, oh my God, you guys get pine trees in your living room for holidays? Like, this is wonderful. We get to burn a log and open gifts.

Like, this is great. So, you know, he kind of converted when he. married my mom, but truthfully, we were raised kind of to study all of them. Oh, so you didn't have any strong religious upbringing? No, didn't really. I went to an Episcopalian elementary school, and, you know, and then that was it. But your father did donate to the Third Reich. No, that is, that is, your blue cards here are very smudged.

I think that, uh, yeah, I feel like, uh. And your new album is Dirtland, Durchland. Well, that is, that is true, actually. That might even where the confusion came from. My titles are odd. They come to me in dreams. And sometimes there's no rhyme or reason for them. But, yeah.

That would be an interesting collaboration album with Steve Reich, the contemporary composer. The three of us, it'll be a boy band. Your parents were not musical, but your grandmother. Yes, my grandmother was very musical. Yes, she played for, she was an accompanist for singers, and she played the piano and played the organ. And I remember I was having a voice lesson once at my parents' house, and my grandma happened to be over, and I'm just doing scales. And you know how grandma's just kind of wander into the, they just kind of walk in, you know, all of a sudden, boom, like grandma's there. Yeah.

Oh, hello, grandma. She goes, I once played that song for 25 cents for a whole hour. Well, goodbye. Walk back into the kitchen. Wow. And that was just, you know. Now, she played in vaudeville. Well, my grandmother on my, on my mother's side, played in vaudeville.

Yeah, she was kind of a flapper girl in the 20s. And my grandmother on my father's side played for 25, played one song for an hour for 25 cents, apparently. Now, did they ever tell you about the old stars back in vaudeville? You know, I only knew about my grandmother or my mother's side's vaudeville days because we, because of looking through old pictures. There's such a kind of a tragic and fascinating thing sometimes when you have a loved one that's in their 90s who passes away is you suddenly go through a treasure trove of history and you go, God, you know, Grandma did that? Sometimes they're very close to the vest about things they did and people they knew and all that. So, yeah, no, we weren't really talked to about it very much. I don't know why.

So the music skipped a generation for you. It did. Yeah. No, I'm waiting for your son to be a great singer. because we think it's skipped to generate. First of all, how do you know I have a son? Well, that's the next thing we're bringing up. Yeah.

Yeah, no, it'll skip. It'll skip my kids. My kids won't want anything to do with it. You know, anybody who's around me, I don't know. I mean, but your kids are into comedy, right? Yeah. Oh, yeah. Big time.

Yeah. My five-year-old son wrote Friends. Oh, fantastic. The theme song or the song? the show. And Joey. Did he create Joey? Yes, that was one of his failures.

And then he tried to create a million shows for Matthew Perry. He was a spin-off kid. He was more, you know, that's your forte. His forte is spinoffs. Yeah, he did the ropers. Oh, oh, yeah. Oh, my God. Really?

Interesting. So here's the thing. What did you listen to was a kid? kid. Because your parents were not in the business, but you were exposed to classic music. I was. I was exposed to all sorts of things.

Why were you exposed? Where are you going with it? What kind of? Whatever you just said to you were exposed? What did they show you? Here's an old record called, Ever seen a grown man naked? Yes. Here's a doll. Show us where the man. Show us where he touched you.

Yes. You know, in the 70s, you talked about loving records in the 70s, but there are some creepy album covers and titles in the 70s. Like, there were some very odd kind of bearded men, and I am right now. But like every vinyl, it seems like, is a bearded man staring into the distance. Like the name of the album was always like, show us on the puppet where he touched you or something like that. And back then it wasn't creepy, you know?

There were a lot of double entendre songs in the 70s. Did you know, Gil? Like Melanie singing brand new key? Oh, yeah. Afternoon delight. Yes. There was a period where there were, you know, and of course, bubble gum music. Yeah, yeah.

You know, yummy, yummy, yummy, yummy. And now. And, oh, and what was that? Oh, my dingling. My dingling. I want you to play with my dingling. Right, the Chuck Berry. Yeah.

But there was a song. You're just saying. Oh, yeah. Oh, the song. Yes. I was a song. I was, you got to contemporize it for the kids these days. Yeah.

All of those songs wouldn't make it on the radio these days. No, I'm sure not. No. But what did you listen? to. Because we ask all our guests what they grew up watching, what they grew up listening to. I grew up listening to, I loved Gladys Knight and the Pips. I loved kind of soul music. I loved Paul Simon growing up. Yeah, me too. First album I ever got was Graceland. And I just loved that, Rhythm of the Saints. It kind of was a, you know, first introduction to world music and those

rhythms and things like that. Right, right. And then I grew up listening to people like Mel Tourme. I grew up listening to the Great Croners. You know, I grew up listening to Caruso. I grew up listening to Frank Sinatra. Show tunes too? They play that stuff in the house? Yes, I mean, I was the one that bought the soundtracks to the show tunes because my parents would take me to see shows in Los Angeles. We got, you know, a lot of touring companies would come by and they'd play the Amundsen

in L.A. And then I would just terrorize my family by just playing soundtracks to Phantom of the Opera and Tommy and Sunday in the Park with George and even like the music from Cirque to Soleil, I thought was like really cool. I mean, acrobatic music. I just thought, well, that's. That's interesting, sure. So I just, I had a weird stack of, I had one of those very thick CD booklets, you know, where you could still flip through it.

And it was just filled with stuff. I grew up listening. Did you ever play Tevia? I did. He did. You did? Yes. Wow.

I will send you, because you'll put this up on a website. Yes. I will send you a YouTube clip of me doing if I were a rich man when I was 17 years old that you can put up on your website. Oh my God. I was Teviya. Yeah. So, so you're. I had to, I had to paste on a beard at that.

I did. I was a baby face. I couldn't grow a beard for the life of me. But I had five daughters. Yes. Can you do that speech about the five daughters? I don't know if I could do that. How does the speech go? It just goes, I had five daughters. That's the whole speech, right? Yeah. And I know there's also where he would go and in this hand. Oh, on the other hand. Yeah. I sell cheese, and on the other hand, ask the rabbi. I don't know. I forgot what it was.

Now, I heard you when you played... Have you ever played Tevi? Yeah. I would pay to see that. I would pay double. I'd have that. And the chickens and the geese. How old were you when you played?

I was 16. Wow. So, yeah, no, we all were just kind of pretending what it would feel like to be a 55-year-old, you know, Russian Jewish cheat salesman. We were all just, you know, carpooling in the... station wagon every day. We didn't really know what it felt like, but would you say zero Mustel was the, was the,

he was the greatest have you? Zero was probably the greatest. We had to sign on the show. Josh Mustel. Oh, really? A couple of weeks ago, yeah. Cool. How old is he? Josh, he's in his probably 60s? Oh, man. Still under the wire.

Yeah, and yeah, he was a kid on our show. Yes. He was a young whippersnapper. He was a youngster. He, uh, yeah, I thought Zero is probably the greatest. He was great. Why didn't he do the movie? I liked Topal. Topal. Topal. Topal. Yeah. Topal. Topal. Topal. That's his greeting to people.

Topal. Tau Paul. But yeah, he was good. I think he didn't do the movie because, and I hope this is the actual truth, that the producers thought he had a reputation for being a little bit difficult. It's difficult. To work with Old Zero. I would have imagined that people with one name would be more difficult than people with names. I would imagine if you're just Topal, you know, then... That's why Cher never played. Never played Tevia. Yeah. She began

Filzy. Sunrise, sunset. So just take us through this journey a little bit. I mean, how do you, how do you, and I know I'm skipping over years and I'm skipping over big important parts of your life, but listening to the music and falling in love with this stuff. Yeah. And how

and eventually your vocal coach gives a tape to The Great Day David Foster. That's right. I was singing All I Ask of You as Gilbert. Really? Yes.

I pay to see that, too. Can we hear two lines at least? Yes. There's a great version of Josh singing that with Sarah Brightman. There is. On line that I saw. As me, though. Beautiful.

Yeah. The boring version. Yeah, that didn't work. That didn't work at all. No, but I was, I was, it was actually. God, it was just around the time that I was playing Tevia. I mean, I was a kid. I was a senior in high school.

And David Foster called a voice teacher that I was with and said, you know, Michael Crawford was supposed to sing in an event for the governor of California. And he just pulled out. Oh, was Gray Davis's inauguration. Yeah. And so he says, who's got who's young who can sing the song? And I sent in, like, I was one of five tapes. And he picked my tape. And, you know, that was my first time singing in front of a professional audience.

So David Foster, also famous producer, also famous for being the man that ran Benverein over with a car. Yes, but that story actually is what happened was, at least I think this is the right story, is that once Benvarine went to the hospital for that injury, they found a brain tumor that he would not have otherwise noticed had he not been hit that man. I did not know this. I think that's what David Foster. I think that's maybe, yes, haven't you read David's autobiography? That was his story. Yeah.

So he saved Ben's life. That's what David Foster's lawyer. That's right. I said that. Listen, I've got a story. Yeah. That might very will be true. Yeah, like Lee Harvey Oswald said, well, Kennedy would have had a heart attack right then anyway.

You know, hindsight is 2020, they say. Oh, boy. Now, who ran over Stephen King? That was just a civilian. It wasn't a celebrity. I was fascinating by the fact that here's Benvereign wandering on the Pacific Coast Highway at night. Well, people do jog at night. That's true.

The ocean breezes. You know, I ride my city bikes at night. What are the odds of one musical legend being hit by a car driven by another musical legend? It's, that's show business. Right. We've all been hit by, you know, David in various ways. George Gershwin crashed into Frank Sinatra. Didn't know that.

Yeah. Really? That's famous. Well. So you're storytelling. What's just a... Benvereen, I heard this a little... He was in his wacky stage, too.

Did he have a wacky stage? Yeah, he might have been wandering aimlessly. Oh, really? And seeing dragons chasing up our stuff. Really? Oh, I didn't know that. Yeah, he was... And David was in a normal car with the headlights on, I imagine.

I don't know the whole story of it. Herine crossing sign, which is... With the fedora down. The fedora tip down in a silhouette. It is soft, smoothly dancing. These white gloves. Jazz hands across the street. No.

So Gilbert has no interest whatsoever, Josh, in your personal history. That's absolutely fine. That's absolutely fine. Can I leave now? Yeah. But damn it, I'm going to... We have so much watermelon and cashew's left.

You brought the snacks, Gilbert. You want to just leave them here? Fine with me. Listen, I'll zip up my onesie and enjoy the list of this afternoon. I will be covered in watermelon juice dripping, dripping down my flesh. And then cashew crumbs permeating the felt of my onesie. You are like, you are seriously, when I watch your roasts, you are like a depraved Maya Angelou. Your perverted pros are a work of art.

The way you insult is second to none, truly. A depraved Maya Angelou. Yes. Maybe my favorite compliment that you've received. And this brings me to another topic. It's like when Frank was saying, you know, Josh Grobin wants to do the podcast. And I was thinking, what the hell do I want to talk to him about?

And he said, clearly not his history. I could show you the email begging me, by the way. If you'd like me to pull that out, I could send you at least four emails from the past year and the half of your sweet wife saying, listen, there's a cancellation. It was last minute. I shit you not. Don't you call me out, you motherfucker.

Listen, I will show you those emails. Yes, the girl who was the original. We'll bring snacks. Yeah. We'll come to you. The girl who was the original Marilyn in the United. pilot of the Munsters just died. And so we're going to try to get just...

We had the last living munchkin. Yeah. There is only one. Jerry Marin. But she hadn't heard of him. Yes. So we actually considered interviewing the last living munchkin. We have one of the guys who replaced the Dukes of Hazard when they were on

strike that guy. The car. Yeah. Yeah. We have the guy who washed the car on the show. And he turned to stop. Oh, boy. Well, anyway, listen, happy to be here. Sorry for your cancellation. Oh, that's nice. And whoever it is, it's their loss. But Frank said, oh, he's a fan

of yours. And I went, oh, Josh Grover. Yes. Yes. Yes. Oh, yeah, that guy. I have all his albums. Yeah, you know, the guy, you know, I, you ready for my catchphrase? Yeah. Hello. Right? Yeah. That, him.

That Josh Groban. Yeah. Yeah. I remember that. Yeah, sure. The Murph Griffin Show, when you used to go on there all the time. Yeah, I'm the guy who always says no to being on the dais.

Yeah. Yeah. That's that Josh Groban. Yeah. And I remember your straight man would go, and we're here with the astronaut who landed on the moon. And then you'd do your line. And then I'd sing my famous song, uh, moon rock.

Well, first you'd go. Oh, yes. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And everyone would start. Everybody would start doing it. Yeah, that's right. Round of applause.

That's absolutely right. Yeah. So when did you become a fan of mine? Fuck your career. I want to talk about mine. I'm tossing this card away. I became a fan of Gilbert's, I think, midway through a showtime three airing of Problem Child 2.

That was when I first became. aware. No, I, I, you had a number of great roles. I remember, well, two, two reasons I was a fan of yours. One is because I really did see many of your people when I was younger. But, but two also is that when I was, when I was just getting started in this industry, I was, I was 17 years old. I was at the American Airlines lounge at LAX. And I walked by and I recognized you and I said, hey, hey, Gilbert, how you doing? And you went, hey, hey, what's up, man? and I thought to myself those are the kind of moments that's special those are the kind of moments that just I don't know it stuck with me you wouldn't remember that but it was special to me

it was special to me. That's like to me every morning I wake up and I think gee whatever happened to that thing that's beautiful. That did that kid well that happened well I'm not exactly on that note but I was doing a

recording session for my last album and there was a that I recognized his name on the sheet. And I recognized his name. I said, well, that was the name of my piano teacher when I was six years old that can't possibly be. And so I stopped him in the lobby. And I said, I said, Robert Thies?

Rob Thes, is that you? He goes, yeah, yeah, thanks for having me out. Because he'd never been in any of my sessions before. I go, you taught me how to play piano in Los Angeles when I was 10 years old at that house in Hancock Park. And he goes, that was you? I said, yes, that was me. He goes, I've been following your grade.

I had no idea. I taught you piano at a young age. No, it's crazy. Sometimes that happens. Yeah, he was also holding a cup of warm cashews as well. Oh, yeah. At the time, yeah. It's not, yeah. I, I, this is halfway through the interview, and I forgot your name. Yeah, well. Yeah. So, uh. Brolin. That story is not as moving as meeting Gilbert. It does, yeah. Yeah, that's true. I'm trying to add just, just the slightest bit of emotional, you know, sustenance to this interview. I, I mean, listen, I, I, uh, I, uh, I told you what Stan Stand up comics.

You have to meet them 30 and 40 times. I mean, I love the bit we're doing here. We can do something an hour, an hour long of, get it? I don't give a shit. If you'd like, we can just continue that the entire time. Well, you heard the Busemi episode. Oh, yeah. So you know how it goes.

You knew how to pronounce his name at the top of the interview. Yeah. And yet somehow it's still transitioned into a 15-minute long discussion of how to pronounce his name. I still haven't heard you say my last. name. Yes. Goldberg? That's it. Yeah, that's it. Okay. Goldberg. Yeah. That's the Italian pronunciation. Thumbtack presents. Uncertainty strikes. I was surrounded. The aisle and the options were

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On October 14th, the Vision returns for the final chapter of the groundbreaking trilogy. That family wasn't real. You sure about that? I had a father called Vision. How is this possible? I'm losing my Don't miss the two-episode premiere of Marvel Television's Vision Quest

Nothing bonds a family together Quite like Mortal Jeopardy Streaming October 14th Only on Disney Plus Oh boy Got a lot of blue cards here Are we up? Yeah

Now when you... Go ahead You got a question for Josh Goldberg? Yeah, I was just doing my cat's race Yeah Yes Yes, yes Yes I come out and go, yeah.

You just saunter across the stage in a toothpaste tube costume, right? It just. Colgate toothpaste brought to you by Lucky Strikes, and then you would just go, yeah. Right, yeah. That works. God, I miss those days, don't you? How old are you during those commercials? 35, 36?

Yeah. Yeah. He was the original Alka-Seltzer kid. They were you? Oh, good. Now, in your house, you have a great photo of Groucho Marx. I do, yes.

Yeah, so you're a Marks Brothers fan? I am a Marks Brothers fan. I just finished reading his book, the Groucho letters. Have you read those yet? Oh, yes. They're fantastic. To all these great authors.

They're great. And what he would say is that, you know, is that, you know, not only did he have great wit, but his letters would inspire great wit from others. Like, people would feel like when you were writing Groucho, you had to be on your A game. Oh, yeah. Much like doing a Gilbert podcast.

You can't phone it in. Yeah. You have to be. You have to be. You can't come on and go, yeah. You can't just come on and go yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. I look forward to the soundboard. The soundboard some internet geek is going to make of this. And we're going to prank call people just going, who is this? Yeah. Have you heard Gilbert's old groucho? No. It's a special treat, Josh.

My goodness. This is Croucho at the end. When we was working ford-ful on a stage, the stage used to be, was the performers would stand on. And the performers back then were people who performed, and they would do a joke. A joke back in my day was you'd say something, and it would get a laugh.

And that was a joke. and you'd wear it. Is that really how he sounded? He used to go on the Dick Cavill show. And I remember I would see like the, you know, all the old Marks Brothers movies and I love them and I and I, they'd show like him on You Bet Your Life. And then he was away from the public eye and he would come back on the Cavett show. Yeah. With the cap with the little bird on the bird.

Yes. Yes. Or little like golf. I've seen the pictures, but I never heard the recordings. But now I feel like I was living in the... Yeah, and you'd go, oh, you know, where's that like really fast talking? Where's that thing? And he'd be there going... But was he very old?

What was it? Oh, very old. Okay. Very old. And he would be like... You know, back then you'd wear a hat, and that was an article of clothing that you'd put on your head. And you'd go, oh, wow.

Oh my God. Wow. Yeah. But I became fascinated. Listen, trust us. Have him on the show. He's going to do the hat. He's going to do the hat bit.

It kills. We talk about the Marx Brothers a lot on the show and how we like the Paramount versions, the Paramount films more than the films where they, where MGM kind of imposed storylines and plots on them and love interests. Yeah, where they became like supporting players in their own movies. There were actual kind of storylines they had to follow as opposed to you. just being able to kind of roll and do their schick. And, you know, there wasn't so much of a structure to it.

But, uh, yeah. Now, speaking of the Marx Brothers and puns and wordplays and that sort of stuff, you like to write jokes. No, I don't. No, I absolutely don't. I could think of, I could think nothing I'd rather do, uh, really? Unless. I found your, your father's day joke, your hyphenated, uh, joke. That might be the only joke I've ever written.

And it's not even a joke. It's, uh, it's, uh, sounds like my act. It's a day. It's a, it's a, it's a, it's a, it's a, it's a, it's a, it's a, it's a It's a dad joke. If I had children, they would go, that is the most I would ever get out of this joke. Because I'd get, you know, a moment, a glance before they went back to Nintendo. You're looking at me like I should tell the joke.

My next album is going to be called, that's not even a joke. Yeah. He tweets puns all the time. Okay. All right. So what was it? What did I write? I said, how did the grammar, how did the English professor die?

He got over-hyphenated and fell into a comma. It's awful. I like it. Do you like it? I knew he would. He loves wordplay. I feel like I've got to be wearing khaki shorts to get away with that joke. I feel like that is a...

You should end it with, yes. Yeah. To break the deafening silence. You got to have a silence killer in an act, don't you? If a joke just doesn't go over, do you have a noise or a word that you can yell that just saves it? They used to be this comedian who would go on TV, like on the Sullivan and Merv Griffin. He was this black comic. I think his name was Freddie Rogers.

And his catchphrase was, oh, yeah. It's funny. He would do jokes, and right after the punchline, like the punchline was, I'm a cowboy. He'd go, and I'm a cowboy. Oh, yeah! It still gets a laugh in the room. It's not that much different than Dino-Mite. Yeah.

Her cooking is terrible. Oh, yeah! She got a mustache. Oh, yeah! I think the key is the inflection, too. I think if you yell something in a high-pitched voice, you could go, cashews! And everybody would laugh.

It's just, you know, that'll be, just yell cashews in a high voice. It kills. And he slipped into a comma. Cashew! Cashew! Listen, I'm learning a lot about comedy today. You won't cop to write a joke. I might write a second joke because of this.

But you tweet jokes. Fingers crossed. Well, I tweet silly, stupid things, and maybe they're, I don't know. Possible. Be careful tweeting. I don't know if I've ever told them. It's a dangerous business. It's a, it is.

It absolutely is. But that's okay. I mean, what else, what am I going to do, text friends? I mean, come on. Talk to people, you know, socialize. What else is there? I've heard you say that your fans, joking around with your fans and your fans being jokey with you gave you,

you think it gave you the freedom. Yeah. Just to sort of come out of that. that serious singer mode. Yes, because, you know, when I got started, I mean, there were a lot of very serious photographs taken, and there was a very serious image, and my music is very serious, and my voice is very serious, and there's all that. And so, you know, I kind of, I loved comedy growing up. I loved my dad's one of the funniest, funniest people I know.

You know, I grew up watching comedy. I grew up in an improv. He used to do jokes. Go on, yeah. That's what we call a setup, Gil. That's a setup. Yeah. He's a dog with a bone.

I could see your wheels turning from my ear. I could hear your wheels turning while I was looking at Frank. You know, I just, I liked comedy. So, you know, but it was a weird thing. When you're a kid and you've got a baby face and, you know, it's, and you've got a serious thing and a serious image. You know, people don't necessarily want to see silly. They don't want to see goofy.

So, you know, it's a fine line. So, so eventually. Eventually, you know, thanks to people like Jimmy Kimmel and people who kind of gave me bits to do where people said, oh, that's funny too. And Twitter helped too because I could write something that I thought was ridiculous or silly and my fans would be right there with me. So I realized, okay, we're not all one thing. You know, don't be afraid to kind of go there. Did you ever think in the middle of your songs you should talk like Gomer Pyle? Oh.

And just go, Shuzai. I am. Every now and that. I think cashew is a little stronger, personally. Cachews. Yeah, but, you know, but yeah. Because you made a good point. I saw an interview with Dan Rather, and you were saying that in the old days,

a singer would come out on a talk show, in the Carson days of the old talk show. The singer would get the last bit on the show. Would get the last five minutes on the show? Yes. And that was all the singer was known for. Yes. And you really couldn't break out of that. No.

As the singer, you rarely get couch time. So, you know, you get to go out there and sing for three and a half minutes. Sometimes it's two and a half minutes, the show. And then, you know, they come over and yeah, thanks a much for coming. And then you're done. Oh, he does a Lotto impression. Do your Lotto. Oh, he does Lennon. Yeah. The new album is called the Stages. Very good. Good. Good. Now, now do him bringing up a subject like it just came up in conversation about the guest. About the guest? Yeah, yeah. He would always like talk show host,

have to make it sound like they don't have it prepared to get. Oh, all. Oh, all. Oh, I guess not on the pre-interview, right. Oh, oh, got you. So, uh, cashews. You're a cashew farm, right? I noticed, yeah, cashews on your breath. What's the one you do? Yeah, yeah, because I know he would always be like a special, you know,

when he'd have, he'd try to prime a guest into doing a bit. Yeah. And he'd go, so I don't know. I rent somewhere that you were stuck in an elevator with a gorilla. All right. Yes. I read on Wikipedia. Yeah.

Oh, God. I think people would find this interesting. But that's tough, though. If you're a host, that's got to be tough. I realize this. I mean, truly, I mean, you do 500 guests a year or more. And each one of them, you've got to hit the marks of whatever the pre-interview was. I don't envy it.

Yeah, I used to get annoyed when they'd say, do you? have anything we can lead you into? And I thought, I don't want to do that. Yeah. It's boring. But now when you're a host, you go, oh, my God, that's right. Yeah. You need something to ask.

They're the ones to lead you in. Yeah. So I have nothing else to say to you. All right. I never stopped. I was going to say. And, you know, when you were talking about your image and covers being serious, yeah.

I remembered about a year or so ago, I saw David Copperfield on stage. Uh-huh. And now he's doing, you know, he's on stage with his shirt hanging out. Is he? Yeah. And just like, hanging out or on? Yeah, just no jacket. When I saw him, he was wearing a jacket, just a shirt and slacks.

And, you know, talking in a regular voice. And I thought, no, I want to see that. What was he doing before? I used to watch those specials. Well, when he used to. But I always thought he was understated. I always thought he'd be like, now I'm going to walk through the Wall of China. Watch this.

You know, like I also thought he was kind of like the cool. But he used to. to do like the Bob Fawsey hands and everything. Did he? Oh yeah, he was a big showman. Oh yeah, and his eyes would roll around. Yeah, yeah. Yes. There was fog. Yeah. So now he's doing minimalist magic? Yeah.

This is the show in Vegas that he's doing, right, where he's doing the intimate illusions. Yeah, yeah, well, well, I mean I believe there should be razzle-dazzle in magic just as in comedy. Yes. You know, when you start phoning it in, it's, you know. Catch-oos!

Catch-oos! Presto! I would love to see you do a magic guy, Gilbert. Was your management a little bit, were they concerned? You had a certain kind of an image that they were marketing, and were they conservative with you? I think, you know, I think that the concern has been, and I think still is today, they're going to hate this, by the way.

No, I'm kidding. Is that, you know, I'm so super serious about singing, and I'm so super dedicated and serious about music. but then when I'm off the stage, if I don't decompress that side, I would go crazy. And I think that the concern has always been to make sure that you don't lessen at all the seriousness that I have for the music by confusing that. But I think that, you know, I think ultimately, like I said, people want to see the big picture. I think people want to see all sides. And when I'm doing my shows now, it's loosened me up a lot more to be able to talk freely with the audience.

Whereas I think before on my first tour, I kind of felt like I was. I stuck to a script of, oh, thank you, thank you very much. And now for my next song, you know, I was very, I don't know, I was very kind of stiff, I think, early on. And now I feel like I can go out to the crowd. I can talk to people. So you do a little banter. I do banter. There are comedy writers, you know this, who write for, you know, who write for musicians.

Yeah. Who write stuff from Vegas acts. I know, you know. Yeah. Well, I haven't done that. Friends of mine have written for Clint Black and some people like that. Yeah, you'd be surprised. I like it better when it's off the cuff.

I think whenever I try to do stuff that's scripted, I, I, it always winds up needing to yell cashew because it doesn't right it goes false flat sometimes it it when people aren't used to delivering jokes it comes across like being a presenter on the academy award totally yeah that's exactly right horrible yeah it just it it's true it's true yep all right all right we got cards here josh what do you want to talk about let's talk about acting acting yeah all right uh and i heard you say this is interesting that you get pushback on auditions. I get pushback.

Because the people auditioning you have said things to you like, you know, yes, I know you're a singer, and we played there was a quote where you said, you know, we played your song at my mom's funeral. That's always an awkward when you're like auditioning to be, you know, the punisher.

Yeah, yeah. You audition for the punisher? No, but I'm just saying as an example. Or Pippi, the funny repairman. Pippie the funny punisher, truly, let's be real. Yes. You know, it's hard to get method in there when, you know, they're, they, they just, just played their, you know, your song at a funeral, I end or a wedding.

But you were, but yeah, they, they let you, I mean, that's another way. I always thought, well, oh, who was it? Oh, God. Who was it who was running for president who had, who had, who always held? No, no. He always held on. Bob Dole, Bob Dole. Bob Dole.

And. And the funny thing with Bob Dole, Bob Dole, after he ran for president and lost, he would pop up on sitcoms and Saturday Nightly. Oh, yeah. And when you saw him in that, I always thought, had he done the sitcoms first, the voters would have liked him a lot more. Yeah. Well, there's the pressure, I think. Well, you're right. I mean, people, some of these guys, I mean, I think people like Mitt Romney a lot more now.

that he's not running for president. Oh, yeah. There's people, like once people start loosening up and you see... We got in the boxing ring with the Vanderhollandhawfield to raise money. Should have done that before. They were great. Yeah. And because now the public goes, oh, I like this guy. Well, there's such a concern, I think.

There's such a control. There's a very type A control freakdom to people who run for office and to people in the entertainment industry as well. And I think that when you try and, you know, it's like the sand in the hand. When you squeeze it so tightly, it all falls out. When you just hold it, it all stays there. I think with these politicians, the same goes. They're so concerned with everything being meticulous.

They've got people that are reading, you know, moment-to-moment ratings of how a single statement played across a certain territory they want votes from. That how do you be human? It's impossible. It's impossible. You become a robot. And, you know, I think President Obama actually got that part really right from moment one, as he just knew how to be a person. Yeah, Bill Clinton, too. Clinton, too, yeah.

So you, did you feel like in the beginning? beginning, oh, I have to be like the serious, sensitive artists. That'll be my image. Well, or did you have people telling you that? I was 17 when I got signed. And I was 17 going on 12. You know, I was a late bloomer. I was, I was, you know, a sensitive kind of immature kid. And I got signed at a time when I was still terrified about performing. I still had stage fright. I was terrified about my voice of taking ownership of what it could do and the discipline of really working at it. So I had to kind of pretend to be hot shit while I was secretly terrified and learning. I was a student and a pro at the same time. So it wasn't until about five or six years ago where I felt like I put in my hours.

I had enough experiences and successes and failures and learning experiences to take ownership of it that I felt like, you know what, I can shed some of that stuff that I felt was maybe not so much about faking it, but more about having a shield, more about having a way to kind of protect. myself from the stuff that I was secretly really sensitive about. And I think that, you know, now I feel more comfortable in my own proverbial skin. Are you serious about acting? Is it a lark? It's not a lark. I am serious about it. I mean, I was taken from theater school when I was signed. So my whole background was, I didn't think I'd be doing TV and film acting. I thought

I'd be doing Broadway or plays or things like that. But the singing lessons were truly a tool that I was using to be a better actor. I thought that if I could sing as well as act, then I would have a better chance of getting roles in things. The singing wound up being something I was, you know, way better at, so it just took over. But I love acting. The stuff that I've done has been cameo, mostly stuff, and friends that have called and said, hey, we think we've got a fun role for you. Well, you played a convincing douchebag.

Thank you very much. Crazy stupid left. Yeah, thank you. That was method. Yeah. I sat behind that guy for many years in high school. You were good. Thank you.

In the beginning, singing was secondary. It was. Yeah, it was. I was at a wonderful, incredible arts. school called the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts. It continues to be a great, great, great school to this day. But you can choose your major. Once you can audition, it's a public school, it's free, but you audition for a major. So you're there for dance, or music, or visual art, or vocals. And I auditioned for straight drama. I auditioned as a theater major.

So the Tevia and, you know, all that stuff, that was, that was extracurricular. That was stuff I was stuff I was doing in my free time there. But I was taking voice lessons on the side. I wanted to focus primarily on my acting. Yeah. Now, I remember you a couple of years ago as... American Airlines Airport Lounge. Yes, yes. It was special for you, too, was it? I think about it every time I'm walking down the street.

Throw him a football jersey. I go, who's that tebia-looking kid? Who came up to me? Every time you're late for a flight to Duluth, you think of me. I wish he'd show up again. I remember you on TV as a nerdy kid who, get Ali McBeal to be a state. Yeah, that was my first big.

To the prom. I was singing at a charity event in Los Angeles, and David E. Kelly, the creator of Ali McBeal, and the whole cast was being honored that night. And I was slated on the bill between Ray Charles and B.B. King. Wow. So, like, yeah, I was, you know, the nap time. It was the trip to the bathroom music. But I sang my ass off that night.

And I remember meeting David Kelly afterwards, and he caught. contacted David Foster. I was only two songs into my debut record. Nobody knew who I was at all. And he said, hey, this kid, like, is there something I like him? There's going to be a big wedding episode. Robert Downey Jr. and Calista are going to get married in the season finale. You know, would your new guy, would you want to be a wedding singer? Would he be a wedding singer? It'd be a 30-second part, Avi Maria, whatever it is, you can go sing the song. And I couldn't believe, I couldn't believe that I was going to be on the show. It was going to be uncredited, but I was going to be on the finale. of this show.

Cut to about four days before we were supposed to film, Robert Downey Jr. was arrested and couldn't make it to set. That was during a really dark period for him. And David E. Kelly had to rewrite the entire show. So he was like, can you act? I'm like, I was just Tevya.

I've got five daughters. Does that answer your question? Cashew! And he loved it. He just loved it. So he wrote an entire episode about this agoraphobic kid who wants to take her, you know, his girlfriend to the prom and she breaks us hard and I wind up

hiring Ali to sue her and it was a whole thing. And then I wound up singing, you know, a song that David and I had just finished working on at the end of the episode. I couldn't have asked for a greater kind of Hollywood, you know, moment. Yeah, you wind up having her as a date to the plot. Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.

And people were writing in saying who the kid was great. Who was the singer? And I was like, oh, wow. Okay, maybe we've got something here because people didn't know that I was the one actually singing in the part. They just assumed that there was like a 55-year-old guy, you know, doing the part for my singing.

So, you know, it was a good moment. And so you're saying you fucked Callista Flock? No, no, no, no. I'm not saying that at all. Oh, both of the part, he's so confused. He's so confused. He's adorable, though. My goodness. Isn't he adorable?

I love doing this with you, Gilbert. Yes. What other actresses have you fucked who you worked with? As easily as you fuck, Stollos de Flaka. I hope Harrison Ford's listening. You work with an actress, Gilbert, will be excited to know about. D. Wallace Stone. Yes.

On the office. On the office. That's right. Yeah. Fantastic. She was great. She turned us down, so we got you. Was she your cancellation?

We want to have her on the show. Yeah. Oh, man. Um, that was a lot of fun. Yeah, yeah, yeah, she's, you were Andy Bernard's younger brother. I was, yeah, yeah, I was, um, I was, uh, Walter, I was Walter, I was Walter, yeah, he was, he was originally named Walter until I was born and then they changed it to, to, to, to me. Um, so yeah, that was, that was a, that was a fun episode, uh, you know, anytime you can be a fan of a show and you wind up shooting on a day where the entire cast is involved in the scene and you can kind of, it was the shrewd farm. It was the, the shrewd farm. Yeah, we were all there and the, and the, just the, the, just the whole. whole cast was there, except for Steve, of course. And it was, you know, it was just a lot of fun. You know, as a fan, you're just sitting there going, you know, wow, like I'm in it. Ali McBeal, I felt the same way. We all watched that show. And I'm sitting there going, you know, people to watch them in action. It's just, you know, pinch me. And Mindy Kaling just sent you a,

sent you a direct message on Twitter saying, you know, are you going to be in L.A. on this day? We wrote a, wrote a part. We think it would be funny for you. And I had just played L.A. The night before it was just serendipity. Yeah, I love when that happened. Do you like auditioning? I mean, it's a different skill than anything else. I mean, it truly is a different thing than when you're on set. And so... He doesn't care for it, your host. And you don't like it.

Yeah, yeah. I think it's a forced weird environment. I never feel like I'd... Well, it's actually interesting. Whenever I feel like I didn't do well at all, I get it. And whenever I feel I nailed it, I'll get the call from the agent going, ah, there just wasn't something wasn't there, whatever it was, just wasn't there. Yeah.

There are times where you think, oh, well, that's it. Yeah. That's it. I'm writing my Academy Award speech now. Right, yeah. And it's like, no, they didn't, oh, yeah. And they go, no, no, they thought you were good. Uh-huh.

Yeah. Did you audition for Problem Child? Yes. You did. Yes. With the kid? No, no. He's coming on the show, by the way.

Is he? Yeah, Michael Oliver. I won't be the youngest anymore. Or maybe I still will be. How old is he? He's 87. Is he? Yeah.

He has this growing disorder. Oh, really? I think he has a gray. bold, bowl cut now, right? Yeah. You guys are neck and neck. You might be young. Okay, all right. Yeah. Michael Oliver, he's coming. I heard he was a sweet kid in real life, though. Yes.

Yes. Yes. Ish. Yeah. And John Ritter, of course, right? Oh, yeah. Yeah. John was fun to work with. In Toronto, every arrival is a statement, and nothing says it better than this. Cadillac Optic was the number one selling luxury EV in Canada for 2025. Find your rhythm across a seamless 33-inch display and an immersive 19 speaker, AKG surround audio system. This city demands agility and optic delivers with precision to make every drive extraordinary.

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Nothing bonds a family together quite like Mortal Jeopardy. Streaming October 14th, only on Disney Plus. You want to talk about this movie you're doing with Anna Kendrick and John Grisinski? Yeah, I was in Mississippi about a year ago, and we shot this movie. Speaking of The Office, John Krasinski directed the second episode, I did. That was my first time getting to know him as a director. And this is his first feature-length film. It's called The Hollers, which is a last name. And it's got an amazing cast. I play Reverend Dan. I play the guy who's kind of the

awshucks, a little gomer-pile-pile-ish kind of guy. And he's kind of the Reverend of the town, and he winds up dating the ex-wife of John's brother, played by Charlton Coepley, you know, of District 9. Do you ever see that movie, District 9? Yeah. He's the, uh, he's, uh, he's, uh, he's kind of the guy who turns into the alien. That's a freaky movie. And he plays, he plays, I am chappie. That's him.

Oh, I didn't see chappie. But, uh, yeah, it's, uh, Charlto and John and Anna Kendrick and, um, great cast. So, yeah, it was, I don't know when it comes out, but, uh, we had a good time making it. You fucked Anna Kendrick? No. Yeah. Geez. No, Gilbert.

No, I ended in a movie. The movie. I did a movie. Oh, I get those too big. It was John. I needed to fuck John to get the movie. He directed. directed the movie, Gill.

Have a watermelon slice. Your blood sugar is dropping at a drastic rate. So you did fuck the director. Thank God. Well, that makes sense. Does it? That's how I got problem child.

This may be the first guest we've had on the show that's a fan of the Problem Child movie. There's a breakthrough happening here. I have a sealed VHS box sets. Are you serious? I wouldn't tell anybody. Angeles.

You know, there's, I don't, I don't even know where to find it. There was a problem child three. Yeah. No one knows about it. Wow. It was a TV movie. Oh, was. Yeah.

Were you in that one too? I was in that one. I was the only one. You were the Eugene Levy to the American Pie continuum. Yes, yes. Yes, yes. Yes. And starring.

Gilbert. But that was your, that was your moment. Truly, the third one was your moment for the, head marquee name, right? And starring by default. You were the only face on the cover for the first time in that series. That's fun, though.

When you finally get to the third made for VHS, you get to be the star. That's right. I remember doing like one of these low-budget directive video. No. Yes. Believe it or not. Shocking. And it had like, I think like,

all these people like Mark Singer. Oh, yeah. Oh, the Beast Master. Yes. The Beast Master. Another one. You remember that movie? Yes.

Mark Singer. And I saw a trailer for it. And because no one in it is like, you know, if you've got a, you know, Tom Cruise, you go, Tom Cruise in. There's some people. Here they got to name, you know, everybody. Yes, of course. To help it add up to one big star.

and it was an action you see helicopters exploding and girls ripping their dresses open and in the midst of it the announcer goes you know mark hamel mark singer gilbert godfrey was it was it the great don la fontaine was it the great in a world gilbert godfrey yes and in the midst of like you know motorcycles crazy and machine guns going up. That's pretty cool. Yeah. I would just play that.

I would drink whiskey into the wee hours of the morning and just replay that over and over again. You weren't kidding when you told us that you spent a lot of time on the road, bored and watching movies. That you've actually gone through the problem child. I have. I have gone through the entire problem child and Beastmaster Canon. Yes. Now, do you get that thing? because you especially, you play like arenas.

Yeah, sometimes. And I mean, like thousands of people packing it. Sure. And then, you know, people are cheering. You're a god on stage. Oh, yeah. And then they're cheering. And then you find yourself sitting in your hotel room.

Yeah. Yeah. It's a real letdown. It is, you know, and I don't do drugs. So, you know, for me, like, that's a, that is a high that's unbelievable when you're out there and you feel that energy. And then you're, yeah, you're on a tour bus and you're eating a subway sandwich

and you're just kind of, well, all right, off to Peoria. You know, it's, it's, I can see why a lot of those guys, and look, I get it to a certain degree, but within the style of music I do, it's still somewhat of a mellow evening compared to, comparatively to the big rock shows and things like that. And I still feel that high.

But I can certainly understand those, some of those real heavy rock bands that just felt an explosion of adrenaline out there. And then they go to a hotel room. And I'm also lucky that I can walk down the street. And for the most part, people are either really respectful or have no clue. So I can still live a pretty private anonymous life. And I can be the one people watching still, which I think is essential. I noticed you came into my place with enormous sunglasses, Gil.

The paparazzi won't leave them alone. Absolutely. I don't know what that's like. like to have to deal with that. And a dog was pulling me along. That is... But, you know, I totally, even me, I mean, you know, I'll get the cheers and the laughs and Adelausian during a show.

Sure. And I go back to the hotel and I totally understand why people do, why performers do drugs. They want to keep the high going. Yeah. Because because there is, it's not just. even just right after the show. It's the 22 hours of your day sometimes that you're just twiddling your thumbs in some hotel room somewhere.

You don't necessarily want to go out and exert yourself or go out and be recognized, whatever. You kind of get after show 50 or 60 or 100, you get into a routine of just hanging until it's time to be on. And then you've got to be on. And then you're off. And then you've got to let down. So, yeah, it's, and the real depression comes when the actual full tour is done, done, done. You have that honeymoon period of that week where you're just kicking back and you got all those shows behind you and you can go back to, you know, just doing normal stuff, seeing your friends and going out to restaurants and all that.

And then you suddenly realize that the structure is gone. That's the thing that kills me is when the structure's gone because I like knowing that I have to get myself ready for those two hours every night. And then when you get off the road and you know you've got like a year ahead of you where the time is yours. You write when you want to write. It's almost too much time. It's almost too much. You get so used to the institutionalized aspect of being on the road that, yeah, it's a come down. When you're about to go on stage, do you go, wait a minute, what, they're all here to see me?

How am I going to sing? You know, do you get that feeling? I get that feeling, I think, way earlier in the process. If I kind of, if I had that Ashuk's Why Me moment seconds before I went on, I think it would, it would mess. with me. I think I've got to find more ways to kind of pop myself up and I get excited to go out there. But, you know, there's plenty of moments just, I think those moments happen when you're

just by yourself and, you know, you've got a big thing going on sale or a big album coming out or whatever. You kind of sit back and reflect and, you know, we're all our harshest critics deep down. And so, you know, I'll sit back and do, why me. And then I'll just yell cashew with jazz hands to the mirror. Jazz hands. Yeah, like Fossi, you know, and say it's

showtime, you know. Yeah. You know, this sort of played into the origin of this podcast, him being bored on the road. Oh, oh. Just call. Yes. As board or more bored than you are today? Well, nothing will beat this. Well, nothing will beat this, truly.

He would call me to talk about the Beast Master. Yeah. Well, it would be much older. Right. Yes, of course, sure. We talk about, like, Cabinet of Dr. Callagard. Oh, God. Have you seen that movie?

Is it, the 10,000 fingers of Dr. T? Oh, the 5,000 fingers? Yes. Yes, I was being generous. Is that Hans Conrad? It's one of the biggest of the most awesome movies. I always thought that that should be made into a Broadway musical. I always thought that that would be a really odd, off, off, off Broadway musical.

We could be in it together. You guys could. I would love to see that. I could play your father. I was thinking about you two in the Sunshine Boys Revival. Oh, yeah, nice. Yes, perfect. But with music.

Of course. You're sure. It wasn't the Marasco Theater. It was the Belasco Theater. Yeah. I say it was the Belasco Theater. Is that my part? Well, you're in the Belasco Theater.

What am I doing? Now, you want to bring Chess back, speaking of Broadway. I would, as a chess fan, as kind of the, one of the culty chess fans, I would like to see a show with music as brilliant as chess has. I love Benny and Bjorn. Be as successful as I think that music deserves to be on stage. The story has always kind of been a little iffy. The book has always been lacking. And it's dense.

It's chess during the Cold War. I mean, it's not exactly, you know, bring the family. And it had a Broadway run, but it was an unsuccessful. It was kind of unsuccessful in every run that it had. It just didn't quite... Did it have more than one? I remember the first one. There was a West End.

There was a Broadway, and there was a Swedish. And we did it at Royal Albert Hall as a concert, and it worked much better. We had all the musicians on stage. I saw you. Adina and Adam Pascal. Adele Dazim. Adele Dazim, yes, played Florence. And, you know, it worked better because there wasn't all the costumes and all the staging.

It was just kind of presenting the music as it should be presented. And I think a kind of semi-concert version of chess would actually work quite well on Broadway. Do you know that show, Gill? Chess? No. Tim Rice wrote the lyrics and... Anything that you're interested in what you're doing. He doesn't know any Broadway.

That's why you asked about filler on the music. roof. It's the last Broadway musical that he actually He's a fantastic kind of guy. He wanted this thing Try to remember. Yeah, that's right. Yeah. He's been trying to remember this whole interview. Tell us quickly about working with the Muppets because we had Paul

Williams on the show. Oh. Paul, yeah. Of course. Yeah. You fuck Miss Picking? No, Gil. That's where the hand is supposed to go. It's not sexual. So confused. He's so confused.

He is. Bless his heart. Sweet, sweet Gilbert. So sweet. So cute. Yeah. Isn't he? Yeah.

You know. But, no, it was great. I, you know, grew up with the Muppets, and they're bringing the Muppets show back, which is a lot of fun. Yeah, but they're doing a different kind of version of the Muppets. Are they? They're doing a, well, I use the word adult. Full frontal nudity. Is that what it is?

Yeah. Well, that was always a given. Fossey, I don't think ever wore pants. They're trying to do a slightly, I don't even know what this means or how it'll be executed, but a more mature Muppet show. A mature. Okay. Who knows what's in store.

But you were in the Muppets most modern. They had on the Muppets or on Sesame Street, I heard a couple of years ago they were going to have a Muppet whose father was in prison. Oh, what's on Sesame Street? Yes. And I think he rapes Kermit in one point. Really? Oh, man.

Well, in the shower. I'll have to IMDB that later. But before we wrap up, tell us about singing. Oh, please let us. Please. He doesn't care. This is basically how it goes. He just looks for openings to accuse your father of being a brown shirt.

Pretty much, pretty much, yeah. Tell us about singing with Streisand. I think our listeners would be very interested in that. Okay. The show's about showbiz and that's a showbiz icon. Okay, yes, she is indeed. That was one of my actual one of my first duets ever. Right after I did Ally McBeal, I was asked,

Barbara was a friend of David's, and she came in the studio, and she was doing a duets record. And that was, you know, talk about being terrified and being kind of in a master class and being professional at the same time. She was very, very kind to me. She didn't have to have me on her record at all. It was a complete unknown.

And she had me on. And we sang a song on that first record. And then, you know, now 13, 14 years later, we've now sang again on her new duets record. And any time you sing with her, it's, you know, you're well aware that you're in the same, you know, breathing room is a real legend and somebody that you can really learn from. No matter how experienced you are, it's always a masterclass.

But yeah, she's great. Her interpretation, her process is, I think, the most fascinating part about her, because her voice is obviously incredible. But it's the way that you, when you get to watch her in an actual session, you know, crafting the song, that's when you see how the mythology and the legend has developed. Because, you know, she comes from that school where if you put the energy into the process and into the work, then the response from people will be there. And as soon as you start to slack on those things, it's no coincidence that the goosebumps

aren't quite there. And she puts it into the process entirely. I saw the clip online. I mean, she still sounds great. Yeah, she does. To have that gift this long in her life. It's great. And I'm glad that she's touring now more. And, you know, so yeah, she's been a good friend. Because, you know, Gil did, you don't bring me flowers with her before. Yeah.

Oh, did you? They put Neil Diamond. It's amazing. little mixing can do sometimes erase an entire duet partner sometimes just turn into a solo where they were unforgettable, not King Cole. Where they were unforgettable for sure.

Yeah, yeah. In, you know. Now you fucked Bob restraining. No, Nat King Cole. Oh. Yeah, yeah. You want to humor us and take a swing? I'm a virgin, Gilbert.

That's what makes this whole bit really, really funny is that I've never, I don't even know what that's like. I don't know. It's funny to say, it's funny to say, you know. You want to take a swing at some of these and indulge us? Oh, sure. Can we exploit you? Okay.

Try the ones. Now, are we sharing the same? Uh-huh. I'm going to, what are we? Gilbert jokes for Josh. Oh, thank you. This is. Kara Joki.

Oh, oh. We're doing, yeah, jokes. This is Josh favoring us by singing some Gilbert Godfrey jokes. Oh, okay. Setting some, interpreting them in song. And, oh, warm up by saying. Cashew, cashew, cashew, cashew. Cashew, cashew, cashu.

Yeah, good. This has never been done on the show. You know, nuts are actually bad for a singer. Yeah. Yeah. That's why they had them. That was a setup. That was a setup. Thank you.

But I want to tell you. Yeah, but anyway. Oh, yeah! But enough about Castratis. How would you like me to do this? Do you want me to just sing one of these? Kind of like you did the Kanye tweets on Kimmel. This would be more of a musical theater because these don't have really the structure,

song structure to them. They're a little bit free form. The name of this is a one-man show. Yes, Spotlight hits. Gilbert, we hardly knew ye. Yes. A review. Josh Groban is Gilbert Godfrey.

Problem Child, the musical. All right. Let's see what it sounds like if they're not work at all. So, a guy walks up to his son and tells him, son, if you don't stop masturbating, you're going to go blind. And the kid says, hey, dad. I'm over here many more. I think that's great.

Want to try the middle one? The middle one? No, I want to do the... You want to do the other one? I want to do a longer one because it's better when it's conversational. It has a real kind of saundheimish quality to it. How about the third one? That's a good good.

How about the aristocrats? I can sing the aristocrats. Oh, okay. Yeah. Okay. Well, let him get through this. All right. A man gets home runs into his house.

He slams the door and shouts, honey, I just won the lottery. Pack your bags. The wife says, great. What should I pack for the ocean or the mountains? He says, I don't care. Just get... DVD, Gilbert Gottfried, Dirty Jokes. Commercial by Josh Brolin.

By Josh Brolin. That's true. Josh Brolin. Yeah. That one had a... That was more of a fussy kind of... That was great. I like that.

Thank you so much. The jazz hands made sense. Do the aristocrats. That's a career ender. I feel like that's a... No, no. Your career's already ended. It's ended now, yeah.

You know, a half hour ago. I did. You have nothing to worry about. That's true. One day I will do the aristocrats. Maybe if we do a second follow-up kind of documentary, maybe I'll tell it in song. With old singers.

Yeah, maybe I could grab, get like a We Are the World kind of group together and everybody takes a line. Oh, that's a great idea. Yeah, that'd be fun. Aristocrats for charity. And the father is fucking the dog. And shit and piss and... Yeah.

He the son is fingering his sister. Yeah. Is that the closest you can get to singing? Yes, okay. All right. You have to hear him sing on the show. It's a great. I can sing as good.

Gissel. Can you? Give me some Georgie Jessel. Would you? Okay. One bright and shining light that could me wrong from right I found in my mother's eyes. Those way we tell she told of streets all paved with cold. I found in my mother's eyes,

just like a wandering sparrow, a lonely soul. No, give us all six verses. Come on. There's something wrong with your show when you have Josh Grobin on the show. And Gilbert Gottfried is doing the singing. Yeah. Oh, Lord.

What a treat. That was beautiful. It was stunning. So anything you want to, anything you want to promote? Anything you want to plug you guys? No, right now, all of its jobs have been pantsy. Exactly. I have nothing.

You got a new CD. I wouldn't be here if I had something to promote. Tell us about stages. Okay, sure, yes. It's a, it's a, an album of all those great show tunes. Some of the songs I grew up with. One from Willie Wonka. Yes, pure imagination.

Someone over the rainbow. Finishing the Half, something in the park with George. Anthem from Chess. And get the fuck out. by Gilmoggi, which is a bonus track. It's one of those where you have to let it, even though it's all iTunes now, you've got to let it play for an hour of silence before you finally get to the song.

And your foundation? Tell us about that. My foundation is called the Find Your Light Foundation. I was talking about the great arts program that I went to in school, and I grew up with incredible arts education programs. I was one of the lucky ones growing up. And so, you know, it really stemmed from visiting schools, visiting programs, getting letters from people where they were finding those programs being cut drastically. Since I was a kid, they'd been cut even more. And so the Find Your Life Foundation is a program that's bringing arts education, hopefully back to those programs that are being cut, getting instruments to the hands of kids, getting arts and cultural awareness into the hands of young people.

And so we're teaming up with groups like Turnaround Arts, which is Michelle Obama's organization. and we're seeing firsthand how arts education is turning great programs around. But, yeah, it started for my fan base. They gave me a donation when I was playing the Greek theater for $70,000. They collected all my autographs and put them on eBay and gave them back to me. And so we want you to start a foundation. And so that's how it started. It's important.

You know, believe it or not, singing was canceled in my school. Was it? Yeah. Did you have anything to do with it? If you had the Find Your Life Foundation, then truly we would have all been less with at least a couple more notes in your range, I think. There would have been...

Do you have anything else to ask this man? Why, yeah. Which did you fuck? Well, listen, how long do you have? Like Maria Callish? Maria Callis. Sure. Joey Hetherton?

Yes. The last living munchkin, Gilbert. Yes. Oh, boy. You want to take us... Can we... You don't know the deprave things I had to do to Gilbert to get on this podcast.

Yes. Could you sing them? Yeah. I bought snacks. We got snacks. You won snacks. Just one more time, Josh. Could you sing?

One more? And I blew Gilbert Godfrey. No request. Not doing requests. Sorry. What do you do? Do anybody ever shout a joke request from you? Do you take requests on stage?

Do people yell the aristocrats like they do free bird at you? Is that your e-bird? Yes. They light a lighter. Yeah, God, that must get, you know. Let's try the last one. A redhead tells her blonde step sister, I slept with a Brazilian. The blonde replies, oh, my God, you slut, how many is in a Brazilian.

Vasil. Viva Brazil. Okay, I'm Gilbert Gottfried. This has been Gilbert Gottfried's amazing colossal podcast with my co-hosts, Frank Santo Padre. And today, we spoke to the man who is known for fucking Callista Flockhart, Anna Kendrick, and Miss Piggy, as well as I think Tody Fields. Yes.

Oh, and I think he sings. Do you get these references at all to you know? I just, God bless you. I'm already on a jog somewhere. In my mind, I'm running down the Hudson. I'm feeling. Yeah. And before I say his name, say your famous catchphrase.

Cashew! Yeah, well, I know not to tell you who that is. We all know the catch you. It's Mr. Cashew himself. Josh Grobet. Thank you, yeah. Thank you, Josh. Thank you for having me, Gilbert.

Thanks, thanks. Now get out of my house. I brought you WandaVige. I was an Avenger, but I'm not a hero anymore. It's like I'm losing my... On October 14th, the Vision returns for the final chapter of the groundbreaking trilogy. That family wasn't real. You sure about that?

I had a father called Vision. How is this possible? Don't miss the two-episode premiere of Marvel Television's Vision Quest. Nothing bonds a family together quite like Mortal Jeopardy. Streaming October 14th. Only on Disney Plus.