Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast - Mini #136: Inside the "Gilbert" Documentary with filmmaker Neil Berkeley

Episode Date: November 2, 2017

This week: Wally Cox breaks the ice! Lewis Black busts a gut! Gilbert meets war re-enactors! And the many talents of Arlene Gottfried! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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it's never ordinary. At Bet365. Must be 19 or older. Ontario only. Please pay responsibly. If you or someone you know has concerns about gambling, visit connectsontario.ca. Hi, this is Gilbert Gottfried, and I'm here with my co-host, Frank Santopadre, and this is Gilbert and Frank's amazing, colossal obsessions,

once again being recorded at Nutmeg with our engineer, Frank Furtarosa. And our guest is a guy who followed me around like a perverted stalker, the filmmaker, Neil Berkley. Neil, welcome to the show. Colossal Obsessions. Thanks for having me. I get my own Gilbert Gottfried introduction.

Yeah. It's such a thing in the entertainment world. Yes, you do. Now, I think I'm familiar with one film you did called Gilbert. Yes. And he made a documentary about me that will open November 3rd and then in New York and then in L.A. November 10th through L.A. and selected theaters. Well, Darren Neal have got you trained. You know the dates.

Oh, yes. Yeah. And I actually said your name. Yes, you did Neil have got you trained. You know the dates. Oh, yes. Yeah. And I actually said your name. Yes, you did. Thank you for that. Yeah. And it's not even written on my chest. Now, tell a story about how this

came to be. This was, so you don't know this, but this is my third movie. I know about your other movies. I've seen them. Yeah, so I don't know this, but this is my third movie. I know. I know about your other movies. I've seen them. Yeah. So I've made, this is my third one. It was Harmontown.

And the one about Wayne White. Yes. Beauty is Embarrassing. That's right. That's right. And after I finished Beauty is Embarrassing, there's a Pee Wee's Playhouse through line in that. And I got real curious about what it's like to be a performer that is always in character and always, you know, acting a certain way on stage. And just talking to my editor, we realized that Gilbert's one of those guys that still

has a persona that everyone knows about, but knows nothing about his personal history. And I would talk about making this movie for about two years. I would tell everyone I'm going to do it, but I never tried to reach Gilbert, never tried to call his agent or his manager. It never really worked very hard to do it. I would just talk about it. And most people would roll their eyes or say that's a terrible idea. That's true. But one day I was walking down 6th Avenue with this woman named Astrid Dorff.

And she said, so what's your next movie going to be about? And I said, it's going to be about Gilbert Gottfried. And she looked at me like I killed her dog. Like I thought she was angry, but she was in shock. And she said, that's crazy. You said that to me because his wife is my best friend and they live two blocks that way. And sure enough, I had lunch with Gilbert the next day and he said, is a terrible idea yeah I paid yeah that's how I got it yeah he said this is a horrible idea I should be dead or cure polio uh but then a year later Darius said just come out with your little camera and maybe he won't notice maybe he won't notice you're in the living room he did notice but uh yeah I moved to new york and here we are and and i remember yeah you had said

it's always been my dream to make a gilbert godfrey documentary and i said you should set your dreams a lot higher and oh and the first time the elevator door opened and you were there yeah so that was so in the beginning of the movie, you'll see the first time we see Gilbert is something he does every day. And it's the first, what he did the first time I saw him and the elevator doors opened and no one was home and Dara didn't tell Gilbert I was coming over. So here I am with my camera and all my gear. And I said, uh, hi, I'm Neil. Uh, we met a year ago. Dara said, I can make a movie about you. And he goes, oh. And I said, oh, yeah. Did she tell you? And he goes, nope. And he turned around and just walked away and left me standing in the elevator. Perfect.

Yeah. And then you, I mean, you would show up at my house every day. You'd be there when I woke up. Yeah, every day. You'd be there when I woke up. Yeah, every day. And then you started traveling to gigs with me, and it was just horrible for me. Yeah, I moved to – I lived – Bart McDonough, my best friend, I lived on his couch in Tribeca, and every day I would take the train up to your house at like 9 in the morning.

And, yeah, I'd be there when you woke up. And then we traveled. We went to like 14 different cities. We went to Peoria, Baltimore, Providence, all over the place, Tampa. We went to Mexico. We went to Toronto. Wow. I even went to France to interview Richard Belzer.

You are dedicated to your art, my friend. It was an undertaking. You were performing in Mexico? Yeah what was I doing in Mexico? That's where the cruise went Oh the cruise Oh that makes sense That's right Okay

Yeah on the Impractical Jokers tour Yeah the comedy cruise Yeah yeah yeah We went down to Cozumel. And I remember it was like you'd follow me around, and I couldn't stand you. But I have too much of a pussy to say, get away from me.

I don't want a documentary made. Darrell was just glad I was there to make sure he would eat. Yeah. Go ahead, Neil. I always wonder if it doesn't look real because it's just me. There was no lighting. I would do the audio and I'd carry this big bag of gear around. No crew.

It looks like a home video is being made. So I always wonder if that looks real. But I learned early on that the best way to get on Gilbert's side is to loosen him up. And the best way to do that is to either tell him a dirty story or a dirty joke or talk about popular culture. So anytime we'd be in a room or out to eat, I'd always kick things off with a dirty story. Well, tell everyone the one about the photograph. Okay. So sure enough, we're in Minnesota. And this is one of the dozens of hours Gilbert and I sat backstage in a dirty green room and didn't talk to each other for a couple of hours.

Yeah. And I wanted to ask him some questions. So I'm sitting there, and I remembered this photo I had seen. And I said, hey, Gilbert, have you ever seen that photo of Marlon Brando blowing Wally Cox? That's an icebreaker. His eyes lit up, and he looked at me, and he goes, they have this? And this is on camera. I'm shooting the entire time. And I'm sitting there going, yeah, yeah, it looks like Marlon Brando blowing some guy.

And I sit there, and then it occurs to me that I have the whole internet on my phone. And I said, and this is the only time Gilbert ever yelled at me. I said, do you want to see it? And he goes, yes. What the fuck is wrong with you? Show me the photo. Why are you hiding that from me? Only you.

Yeah. That's the way to a man's heart is to bring up Brando blowing while he coughs. Get on his good side. You'd be surprised how popular it is. And then you started to see the dingy digi backstage areas oh man that that was the big i i had no idea what it's really like you know just like the the you know when gilbert travels in a not like most comedians yes level yes we're aware i'm the first time we traveled we went to philadelphia and i said yeah i I'm going to go with Gilbert. And Derek said, okay, you need to get a Megabus ticket.

And I said, what? And she goes, yeah, he rides the Megabus. And that's like an $8 train ride. But what she said is she goes, don't tell Gilbert, but you need to pay three extra dollars to get the front seat because he likes to look out the window. It's one of the best. The bus stuff is one of the best things in the movie. Yeah, it was so funny. We walked up there and when you ride the mega bus, it's over by the

West Side Highway and there's no coverage. You just sit on the sidewalk, wait in line. And I said, Gilbert, what are you doing? It rains. And he goes, oh, well, they all know me here. So when I show up, they let me sit under the tent. There's a moment in the film I have with Bill Burr, who's being interviewed as saying, how the fuck does he ride the bus? Aren't the passengers saying, wasn't that Gilbert Gottfried? And sure enough, a black girl on the bus

pointing at him going, is that Gilbert Gottfried? Oh, it's wonderful. And when we pulled up, they all welcomed him with open arms. Of course. You talk about the green rooms, too, and you have that great line in the movie where you say that Rodney said, no matter how big you get, you have to enter through the kitchen. Yeah, very telling.

It's bizarre, man. You show up on the bus and the waitress comes in with her dingy car and her baby seat in the back and drives you to the hotel. And then you sit in the back of these green rooms. You do. You walk through the kitchen. In the back, you're sitting next to crates full of lettuce, and there's like a sweaty plate of cheese and fruit. It's not glamorous. If you're lucky.

Right. Gilbert asked for the milkshake. Right, Gil? Oh, yes. the burger and the milkshake yeah oh the potato skins and and they uh it it's so weird because i think people assume your your green room's gonna be like frank and dean and sammy you know like no it No, not at all. It is not glamorous. Was it a rude awakening, Neil? You think, I'm going to make this film

about this world-famous comedian. I'm going to travel in style. You can buy a mega bus ticket and sweaty cheese. Yeah, it was a whole storyline that I was not expecting. There's a whole 10-minute scene at the beginning of the movie where we show Gilbert out on the road. And it's not what you'd expect at all. Yeah.

Gil, did you actually try to talk him out of it? Was it just the one meal? Did you make a full-court press to say this is a terrible idea? Yeah. I thought in order to make a documentary, you either have had to have cured some diseases or been dead for 20 years. Yeah, you never said no or told me to stop. People ask that all the time, like was anything off limits, but you never told me not to ask about things.

There was never anything off limits or any rules. It was always just I'd show up and we'd sit there and hang out for a while and there was there's a scene in the movie where you follow me where i did a benefit for saint jude's hospital yeah it's very touching with yeah very odd i mean yeah oddly enough that i think that if my memory is correct i think that was the first week we shot because there was a moment where daris had come out and try it and i shot for a week and then left for a while. And I think we went down to Virginia and you did that benefit. And I remember you didn't know me very well or what I was doing, but there's a moment where you're incredibly nervous about doing this benefit for children

with cancer. And of course, the guy that goes on before you tells this heartbreaking story about his daughter. And the whole time you can tell that you're just wracked with nerves and anxiety having to go up and do, you know. Dick jokes. Yeah. Yeah. So that's a very real scene in the movie. And, yeah, I think that was very early on. We will return to Gilbertfrey's amazing colossal

podcast after this and now back to the show yeah i mean i at what point and i'm watching it again yesterday and it's it's it's it's even better the second time around neil i have to say there's just no credit to gilbert. All credit to you and Dara. But I know him a long time, and to see him opening up on camera the way he does and saying things like, you know, at one point you say you feel like you're in the Twilight Zone because if your 25-year-old version of you came in into the apartment, he wouldn't recognize it or know what's going on or even recognize it as your life. Yeah. How long did it take before you gained his trust enough to have him start saying things like that? I think looking at the footage,

yeah, I've talked to the editors about this because I'd go home every night and I would ship footage back to L.A. And they said they remember the voice changing and the eyes opening and the stories becoming more sincere probably about two months in uh it took a it took a long time to i think who knows i think it's wore him down like eventually he just didn't

feel like performing and just said oh screw it i'm just gonna talk to this guy because he's not going away so it was an endurance test in a way yeah yeah and also you know like his sisters you know i think karen and even his sister arlene who who I didn't know and met very early on, didn't even know they existed. They kind of also gave him permission or gave me permission to ask certain things and talk about things. And she supplied you with some early photographs and footage of my grandmother. Arlene, this is. Yeah. Arlene Gottfried.

Yeah. I'll say this. One of the joys of doing this, and I've done it three times now, and every time I've met someone who I would never have met had I not done this. And in this case, it's definitely your sister, Arlene. I hope everyone goes home and looks up Arlene Gottfried photos. Yes, they should. Yeah, a four times published photographer who took pictures of New York that don't exist. It's the bombed out, scary, like rubble of the Lower East Side. She was there shooting all of it. She's a gospel singer, sweet, sweet, sweet person. And yeah, one day I was talking to her

and I said, hey, Arlene, I was online last night and I saw this short film about you that Life Magazine put out, like honoring your career. I said, what is this footage of Gilbert and his grandmother and your mother? And she goes, oh yeah, I used to carry around a VHS camera back in the nineties. And I said, well, you know, I'm making a documentary about your brother. Can I have that footage? And it was about 40 hours of footage of Gilbert in his mother's apartment eating dinner with Karen and Arlene and at his grandmother in the hospital or with a nursing home where she lived. Really beautiful, amazing stuff. And Gilbert's grandmother is funny to say the least. I think that's where the humor comes from. What was her name, Gil? Was she genuinely funny?

Yeah. Yeah. Her name was Minnie. Minnie. Yeah. In that footage, you can see that you she genuinely funny yeah yeah her name was mini mini yeah there's the in that footage you can see that you're you're genuinely amused by her oh yeah yeah there are parts yes she was very funny you know what i didn't get i wanted to put in the movie but i couldn't is that story about the ice cream cone oh yes yes we used to all go when we'd visit her at the home. We'd take her out, and one of our things to do was to go to this ice cream place, and we'd all share like one ice cream cone.

And when it would get to the end, I remembered when I still used to smoke grass, or as they call it now, weed, or whatever they call it. There was this thing, when you get to the end of a joint, you'd go, you'd hand it to the other guy and say, you want to kill it? And so I used to, when it got to the end of the cone, I'd hand it to my grandmother and go, here, kill it. And didn't she say it back to you? Yeah. Oh, yes. She used to say to me, after a while, when I get to the end of the cone, she'd go, you want me to kill it?

Minnie. Was it Minnie Gottfried or on your mom's side? Oh, on my mom's side. Minnie Zimmerman. Minnie Zimmerman. Minnie Zimmerman. It's great, Neil, how the family comes alive in the film. Yeah, I mean, looking back, you hear the interviews from Howard Stern, all those people that ask these questions.

I think this answers so many questions that fans of that show and even Howard Stern and people like that were asking the whole time, like, who are these people? What are they like? What's it like when you go home? Because you meet his mother, you meet both of his sisters, you meet his father, and you learn about all of that stuff and you see it. Like, we're in those rooms with those people that those rooms that Howard Stern's always asking him to describe on that show.

Sure. And it begins with me walking into the Stern show. And this time, you you know usually I'm at home I when I was at the Stern show I'd walk in we'd start doing crazy shit and laughing and here I was creeped in and kept my head down and and Stern was going is this true yeah you got married oh yeah it's a great opening yeah yeah it sort of sets it up. Like, I think, especially your fans, he asks all the questions they've always wanted to have answered. And then hopefully we, you know, answer them throughout the course of the movie. And Arlene, I have to say, she's one of the best parts of the film. I mean, you not only get the stories from Arlene, you know, the stories of your childhood.

I mean, she's the only person there that has really offering access to that. But then the photography must have been such a pleasant surprise to you. Oh my God. To have this, then you've got this visual world to work with. Yeah, it was unbelievable. Like I said, the first day we go there and she pulls out these books and said, this is my photography. And this beautiful gospel choir and these Lower East Side photos and Coney Island, these amazing pictures that she'd been taking all these years. Yeah, it was unbelievable. And she was a gospel singer. Yep, a wonderful lady and a Renaissance woman.

Much more likable than you, Greg, I have to say. Much more likable than you, I have to say. She was also there when your grandmother outed you. Oh, yeah. There's one part where my grandmother goes, but he's a homosexual. Did she really believe that? Yeah. I think jokingly she probably asked me if I had a girlfriend or something.

And I said, no, I'm a homosexual. That's what I want to know. What happened to the yoga? Pictures of you doing yoga. It's very impressive. You look like a contortionist. Yeah. The funniest part about it is I couldn't really i never took yoga

but that was an actual yoga position where you get in a lotus position cross your legs cross your arms behind your back and grab your feet well you're obviously double jointed even to be able to do that oh i used to be so flexible back then now Now looking at the picture, I'll break a bone. Yeah, you were all twisted up. But yeah, we have the photo evidence of that. The other thing that involved Arlene too that's so touching in the movie too is when you go back to what I assume,

was it President Street? Oh, yes. What I assume you go back and you're looking through the door and you see your dad's sign, which is just, it's a real sweet moment. It's still there. Yeah.

Yeah. We went back to the childhood home where they all grew up and looked inside and the only remnant was this hand-drawn sign that your father had drawn inside the building. Answer a question for us, Neil, too, that I'm sure you've been asked about the process of making a film like this. I mean, how much footage did you shoot in terms of, I guess, time? Yeah, we're told that it's about 400 hours of footage. 400 hours of footage.

So it's a night. Go ahead. It's whittled down to 98 minutes. So it would be a naive question to say, to ask, does this come together in the editing room? Obviously it does. Uh, it absolutely does. I mean, James Lesh, Jake Hostetter, they, they sat in a room together for eight months and cut this thing. Um, yeah, it doesn't happen quickly, but you're whittling through all that and, you know, it comes down down to frames and just a couple seconds here and there.

And then things happen. We didn't know certain parts of the story that are revealed later on. So there are surprises in the editing room where you're looking at the footage, and even though you shot it, you don't know, oh, my God, I've got this wonderful thing here. And you're putting a puzzle together, aren't you? It's absolutely a puzzle. I mean, you kind of know, like, you know,

it's the story of Gilbert's life and career, but it's more about his. I mean, you kind of know, like, you know, it's the story of Gilbert's life and career, but it's more about his life now. So things kind of reveal themselves over time and you discover things. And like I said, especially in the case of Arlene, we learned things throughout the process and got to see things and got to experience and things with her. And that all unfolded over the course of the nine months. You look back and I've talked to Gilbert about this, like this movie was shot and made, it couldn't be done again. Like it just physically could not be done again. It was this one window in time where everything happened like it was supposed to. Not supposed to, but everything happened right there. I mean, it's pretty amazing how it all came

together. Kind of a moment, You captured a moment in time. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Again, especially, again, like not to dwell on it, but with Gilbert's sister and Arlene, I'm so, so happy that I got a camera in front of her when I did and got to capture it. Yes, and now it's nice to have that footage of her. Gilbert, do you have any compassion for these strangers that had to sit in a room and go through for over 400 hours of your life?

And, you know, we've got, like, Louis Black commenting and Artie Lang and Howie Mandel, a bunch of people. Bill Burr, David Tell, Susie Essman. Whoopi Goldberg. Whoopi and Jeff Ross and Joy and Penn Jillette.

Louis was sitting next to me at the screening and I tell you, he was howling. Really? He was so happy. I wish you could have seen the look on his face. My favorite thing is that comics like it. Oh, yeah. Because usually films about comedy, they can't stand. Because, you know, you know what the business and the life is.

Oh, absolutely. I mean, the whole time I was telling Dara, I said, you know, I really just want comics to like it. And she would say, don't you want millions of people to see it? And I'd say, yeah, but I want comics to like it because if they like it, then we did a good job. And I remember you'd always say that the Joan Rivers doc like set the bar for documentaries about comics so yeah and also when I would like a great pleasure was talking to these comedians about uh Gilbert and about comedy and I remember that when I would leave they would all say some version of hey don't screw this up we like Gilbert a lot like pressure's on uh and so they let me know but oh that's sweet yeah

they all wanted to be good and they all they've all come out of the woodwork to say how much they like it I mean I think Howie Mandel called you and Artie Lang have all called you to say how much they like it. Yeah, and Artie and Howie were all saying, anything you want us to do to plug the film, we'll do it. Yeah, yeah. Also, you know, it's funny, Neil. The film ends up being about so many things. It's obviously about Gilbert's life. It's obviously about Gilbert's life. It's obviously about Gilbert's family.

It's the love story with Dara. It also is about comedy. It's also about the risks of comedy. It's also about how Gilbert has been this high wire act all these years and doing risky comedy and the price that you pay when the Aflac thing happens, which is very, very well handled in the film. There's so many dimensions to the movie. There's something for everybody is I guess what I'm saying. It's a cliche, but true here. Definitely. Yeah. And that's been the nice thing

like we've been testing this movie or these ads online. And over the weekend, we got an incredible response from women, but only focused on women. They loved what they saw, which was unexpected. Oh, and I should take now to announce I am getting a divorce. And I'm available. You're going to capitalize on the heat? Yeah. Your wife, I'd like to point out to our listeners that Dara's giving you the finger through the glass.

Oh, yeah. It's got the relationship with his parents. It's got the take on that. It's got, we talk about Aflac. We talk about Too Soon. We talk about all those things. And I was on a radio show recently where the host said, you know, his wife couldn't stand me. And he goes, I want you to watch the documentary anyway and and uh he turned and looked at her and said you adore him now right

wow yeah yeah i can see that i can see that you come across you owe this man a debt of gratitude. Come across as almost human. Almost. As sweet and good-hearted and genuine. And the stuff where Darragh is talking about, and I hope I'm not giving anything away for the people that haven't seen it, but where Darragh is talking about the Aflac situation and saying, he's not cruel. He didn't do this to be cruel.

It's the psychological defense that he has, the way that he deals with tragedy. It's very, very humanizing on a lot of levels. Yeah, we really wanted to show that relationship with Dara and the kids. The kids are amazing. Oh, Lily has some great moments. Oh, my God, yes. She has some great moments. And Frank, you're in it.

Frank's in it also. It's my best feature God, yes. She has some great moments. And Frank, you're in it. Frank's in it also. It's my best feature work. I want to thank you. Well, I like you in Schindler's List, too. I was good in When Six You Get Egg Roll. And a highlight of my career, of my life, was being three feet from Gilbert and Dick Van Dyke singing Put on a Happy Face. How about that? That was what Happy Face. How about that?

That was what a moment. How about that? Yeah, you shot a bunch of podcasts. Oh, yeah, I shot a whole lot, yeah. Chevy? Yeah, a few of them made it in. Chevy, Richard Kind, and Dick Van Dyke, yeah. That's why I mean the movie is there's just a million things going on in this movie. I remember just recently someone was talking who knows Louis Black,

and she said, oh, he takes a bus everywhere. And Dara said, oh, so does Gilbert. But see, his bus has a bathroom and a sauna. Whoopi has a bus like that. Yeah, and a dining area. Yeah. You know, he's not squeezed in with a bunch of strangers. With people from the Kiwanis.

Oh, yes. You know, the other, go ahead. I say we are putting, a lot of these moments we're talking about that aren't in the movie, we are going to put them online somehow, some way. There's an extended cut coming out on the DVD or on Vimeo or something later on that's got 45 more minutes of all this wild, crazy stuff. Oh, great.

Things that just didn't make it in. Yeah. Like me pointing out pennies to Gilbert and things like that. Things that you hated to cut out? Oh, yeah. And there's one moment that I'm sure the audience looks at and says, oh, this had to have been set up. And it wasn't. I was playing a gig in Chicago and staying at a big resort. And they were having a war reenactment.

Every war. Yeah. But my favorite, of course, World War II, I walk in and the Nazis couldn't have been nicer. They're taking selfies with me. They all saw Problem Child. Yeah. I don't want to ruin it, but you'll see in the movie.

After we did those selfies during the day, I said, you know, you guys are good guys. If you want to come to the show tonight, just come on out. I didn't know they would go in full Nazi regalia. Oh, my God. They're there with the swastika armbands and the army and and that clinking their glasses. They're daiquiris. it looked like berlin when do you when do you know neil this is a this is a strange question but when do you know you're shooting how many hours of footage 400 about 400 about 400 i mean and and weeks into it months into it when do you start to know you've made two other films you've been down this road

before when do you start to hit the sweet spot when do you when do you start to know? You've made two other films. You've been down this road before. When do you start to hit the sweet spot? When do you allow yourself to say to yourself, I think I've got something here? All of them have. You kind of see the light at the end of the tunnel beyond halfway through. You do. You're reaching around in the dark for the first half of the process, not knowing where it's going to go or what you're going to do. And then something happens where it all kind of clicks and then it goes downhill from there.

And then it all comes together in that last month, but definitely halfway through, you're still trying to find your way and figure out what this thing's about. Yeah. Especially when you're, especially like, again, the movie is about his life and career, but it's about his life now. And we don't live in stories. We don't, you know, our lives aren't stories. So I was just following him until a story happened so and uh another favorite thing in the movie and i won't give too much away either but as uh is is is dara um uh trying to explain for the audience what shall i call it to be tactful you're collecting oh yes hoarding and it's absolutely fascinating i mean

too it's a psychological portrait of of a of a very interesting, you have a very interesting psychological makeup. Yeah, I've got millions of hotel shampoos, hand lotions, everything. And Neil very cleverly made those the favors at the screening. they gave out they gave out complimentary soaps and shampoo if your audience doesn't know gilbert's uh somewhat frugal uh oh i don't know where they get that idea and and yeah gilbert uh i'm sorry daris showed me all the the secret stash there was one time in in los angeles and i've got video of this and we'll put it up after a show it was gilbert's birthday and they said gilbert we got you these donuts and've got a video of this, and we'll put it up. After a show, it was Gilbert's birthday, and they said, Gilbert, we got you these donuts.

And it was a bunch of donuts that said, Happy Birthday, Gilbert, on them. And instead of being, like, happy and thankful, he was distressed, like really stressed out by this. And I said, Gilbert, what's wrong? And he goes, How am I going to get these donuts back to New York? Incredible. Oh, gosh. And I shoved them into my suitcase and when i got to new york it was unrecognizable what they once were well yeah there's a there's a scene of you going through

the luggage and you're like oh and you know and here's some cookies some fig newtons things you don't want to part with it's incredible we were at Big J. Oakerson's house and I'll put this footage out because I shot the whole thing he offers him a glass of wine and Gilbert says yeah but do you have like a paper cup and he goes yeah I have a paper cup

so he goes okay pour it in there and he goes okay do you have like a lid you can put on that and it was a Starbucks cup and he goes yeah I can put this lid on it. And Gilbert goes, okay, now tape that up. He goes, are you getting this wine to go? Yes! Who gets wine to go?

Hilarious. Neil, there's so much to like about this movie. As I said, it's about comedy. It's a romance. It's about this strange cat sitting next to me this very eccentric man suddenly i've turned into sammy yeah oh yeah uh hey that strange cat daddy oh it's it's poignant like i said it's about it's about risk taking it's about your your journey as a comic and people have told me that there were parts they were laughing

but more surprising there were parts they were crying. Yeah, a great review we got was from Doug Benson, the comic. Oh, we know Doug. Yeah, he said it was the sweetest and filthiest movie he'd ever seen. Imagine. Alright, that's great.

That's it in a nutshell. And what did Judd Apatow say? He loved it too. Judd loved it. He had's great. That's it in a nutshell. And what did Judd Apatow say? He loved it too. Judd loved it. He was oddly moving. That's been the biggest comment. Ira Glass said he knew he would laugh at a Gilbert doc, but didn't know he would cry. So we covered all the bases, I think.

Gil, aren't you glad you said yes? Never did. You should. He still hasn't. He still hasn't. He still hasn't. Is it, I watched you sitting in the theater. You were a couple of seats away from me at the screening. And are you still uncomfortable looking at your life on the screen?

I picture, I've said it a few times. For me, I picture what hell must be like. You die, you go to hell, and you're forced to watch your life. Yeah. And I can't imagine anything more painful. Is it becoming a little less painful with each viewing? It's still. Still.

There are some parts I like and other parts where I go, oh, no. But that's life. Yeah. That's your life in a nutshell Neil it's it's a great picture and I'm not just saying that because I'm a friend and I'm not just saying that because I'm in it it's entertaining for for Gilbert fans I think it's obviously it's made some converts oh yes yes good yeah so uh it's a must-see. It really is. Thank you. And you say, Neil, that I'm going to be getting a lot of pussy from this. Yes. Yeah, absolutely. Was that your writer?

Yes. That's the thing people don't know about documentary film. A lot of chicks are out. Really? Yeah. Errol Morris is getting laid like there's no tomorrow. Yeah. Ken Burns is getting getting laid like there's no tomorrow. Yeah. Ken Burns is getting blown in the other room.

Yeah. In black and white and Civil War outfits. With narration. Yeah. By Orbit. There's a slow zoom in on it. And the reviews from the reviewers have been amazing. Yeah, knock wood.

It's gone pretty well so far. Okay, so give us the specifics again. All right, November 3rd at IFC Center on 6th Avenue in New York City. That's the big one. Everyone please come out. Oh, and that night it's going to be me and Gilbert and Dara hosted by Ira Glass. He's going to be hosting our Q&As.

And then the next weekend, we're going to be in Los Angeles at the Lemley Fine Art and the Lemley Monica. Me, Gilbert, Dara, and Howie Mandel is going to host that one. And then also, October 31st, tune into the Stephen Colbert Show. Gilbert's going to be on that promoting the movie. Oh, yes. Terrific. Yeah. That's a lot of press promoting the movie. Oh, yes. Terrific. Yeah. That's a lot of press, Gottfried.

Oh, yeah. And then I'll go back to being a total unknown. Back to the bus. Yeah. Now, this has been a real thrill. This is a big deal to me, and Gilbert's a big deal in the comedy world. Been doing it 45 years now, so there was a lot of pressure, but I'm glad people have received it well and like it. And now that the comics like it, I hope the fans like it.

I hope fans like it. I hope people that don't like Gilbert like it. I hope everyone likes it, but I'm very happy to have done it. I dare say, you know, there are people, when you say Gilbert Gottfried, and there are people say, oh, he's a little on the abrasive side. I'm trying to get into the mindset of somebody who isn't a Gilbert fan seeing this movie. I think you will have even more converts. I really do. Because you come across so goddamn likable, I don't know how he did it.

Deserves an Oscar and a Pulitzer. It's like you're better at special effects than George Lucas. In that sense, it's a miraculous piece of work. Thank you, Neil. Thank you. At a screening, Paul Williams. Paul Williams.

I knew where you were going. At a screening, Paul Williams was there, and he watched it, and at the end, he comes up to me, he hugs me, and goes, I love you even more now. A man who knows what it's like to be followed around by documentary. Oh, yes. By camera.

It was also uncomfortably terrific, Doc. Neil, it's wonderful. Very excited to see what happens. Go to gilbertmovie.com to find out more and follow us on all the social media. Wonderball. Number third, IFC. Thank you. Gilbert, I know you hate the thought of it, but you're an icon.

Oy. And I do, and you put it in the movie, I do always compare it. What scares me is because it's like that scene in Wizard of Oz, like don't look at the man behind the curtain. Well, I think this peak behind the curtain is satisfying and well worth the journey. We'll see how Neil feels when he spends a little bit more time around you. And thank you, Dara Gottfried.

Thank you, Dara. Thank you, Neil. you yeah and thanks thank you dara gottfried thank you dara thank you neil and so we've been talking to filmmaker of a film called gilbert a documentary on gilbert gottfried and uh that's coming out november 3rd new york and november 10th in la and selected theaters. And this has been Gilbert and Frank's amazing colossal obsession. We'll see you soon. Thanks guys. Colossal obsessions.