Good News York by Growth Mode Content - Good News York: A Hilarious Dive with Ryan Niemiller from America's Got Talent! | GNY Ep06

Episode Date: March 18, 2025

Good News York: A Hilarious Dive with Ryan NiemillerIn this entertaining episode of Good News York, hosts chat about various topics including birthdays, social media cues, and their excitement for upcoming guest Ryan Niemiller — a comedian known for being a finalist on America's Got Talent. They discuss Ryan's journey, his unique comedy that includes his disability, and his video game passion. The show also touches on John Cena's heel turn, their fondness for wrestling, and ends with an invite to Ryan's upcoming live show in Utica, New York on March 21st. Expect laughter, personal stories, and genuine camaraderie among the hosts and guest.00:00 Welcome to Good News York!00:17 Excited for Today's Guest02:25 Funny Anecdotes and Personal Stories05:12 Introducing Ryan Niemiller08:09 Ryan Niemiller's Comedy Journey13:22 Challenges and Triumphs20:27 Dealing with Trolls and Staying Positive22:04 Dealing with Online Criticism22:17 Ryan's Passion for Video Games23:21 Collecting and Curating Video Games25:56 Desert Island Gaming Choice26:43 Wrestling Fandom and John Cena Discussion35:02 Upcoming Comedy Show in Utica40:15 Promoting the Show and Social Media

You're listening to a podcast right now, driving, working out, walking the dog. If you're into podcasts, chances are you have something to say too. With RSS.com, starting your own podcast is free and easy. Upload an episode and we distribute it to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and more. Track your listeners, see where they're from, and start earning from ads just like this. If you've been thinking about starting a podcast, this is your sign. Start your new podcast for free today at RSS.com. You're listening to a podcast right now. Driving, working out, walking the dog.

If you're into podcasts, chances are you have something to say too. With RSS.com, starting your own is free and easy. Upload an episode and we distribute it to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and hundreds more. Track your listeners, see where they're from, and start earning from ads like this. Even with just 10 listeners a month. If you've been thinking about starting a podcast, this is your site. Start free at RSS.com Hey guys, welcome to Good News York.

Yes. It's Tuesday? It is Tuesday? This show might actually tell me, give me an idea of what day it is. I don't usually know what day it is. It's like Facebook. Everyone's like, I can't believe you remembered my birthday, thanks. And I'm like, that's because Facebook told me.

Yeah. But this show tells me what day it is. And I'm a little extra fired up today, Matt, and you know why. Because we have someone coming on that I'm very excited about. Oh, I thought you were talking about like a stomach issue. Oh, yes. of IBS and you took me out to lunch yesterday for Danny's birthday, Danny. Happy point, I did we love you.

And I have been shitting like a goose ever since, but it was well worth it because it was delicious. Bullen bear. Bullen bear is worth. Jesus Christ. All the way, I probably shouldn't do that, right? Because I said I'm shitting. It's not because of Billenbear.

But, hey, I'm... It's a best endorsement in town. They're going to sign up with a client today. Bullen bear is fucking phenomenal. I'm shitting like a goose because my plumbing is fucked up. It's not Bullenbear. bear. Should we start that again? There's a 30% chance that's going to make it to the episodes. I'm very excited because Ryan Niemiller is coming on today, a friend of Phil Fardas and Phil's a

friend of ours, and you may have seen him on such shows as AGT. He was one of the finalists on America's Got Talent in 2019, but he's nice. Yeah, he's very unique. He's got a disability and he plays into it. Yeah, March 21st, Burstown in on Burstone Road in Utica, New York. We're such a fan of this fellow that you're already all over it. No, and this is not a joke. I emailed him. Hey, buddy, we'd love to have you on the show, just fans of yours. We have a mutual friend.

Two days later, Phil got a hold of you and said, hey, I booked Ryan Neemiller at Utica in Utica on March 21st and we're like, there's even more of a reason to have. There you go. Yeah, we wanted him before he got booked. God damn it. We did it before it was going. We're ahead of the game. We're ahead of the game.

Progressive here at the old Good News York. Oh, Good News York. Good NewsYork.com, which, by the way, we are now streaming live at 5 p.m. Eastern. That is what we have decided. We are on at 5 p.m. Eastern. Good NewsYork.com. Sure. Yeah.

Yeah. You can also check us out on YouTube. We've got TikToks. We've got Instagram. We've got the Facebook. The Twitch. The Twitch. You can find us everywhere.

Twitter. Good News York. Yeah. Good News York. At Good News York on most of those platforms. Absolutely. I'm very pumped up for today. What a...

Yeah. I like watching Mike think in real time. You can see the gears turning and stuff. And then sometimes they just get stuck. I have a tell where my family, I fold my ear. I have really weird ears. See, now you're telling us that. I know.

I'm telling you my tell. Yeah, I guess when I fold my ears, I'm really, like, I'm thinking way hard. I appreciate the year one of the only, like, 90s band guys who didn't stretch your earlobes. So, baby, you could fit a bowling ball inside of them. That was like, I did have. That was a weird thing. I had one, two, three, four. I had six earrings and a nipple ring.

That was weird. So whatever, I had that stuff. Thank God I had that switch inside me that told me like, that's ear stretching shit. That's a bad idea. I agree. I had no. And whatever. It worked for some people.

And I had friends that did it and they looked good. But that was absolutely not. Did they look good? They did. They look cool. They were cool as hell. Not going to lie. The people that did that generally had also a creature.

crazy style. Yes. Typically, they put some effort into it. Had my tongue pierced as a teenager. What? Yeah. It's true. Hit it from my parents for a year and a half.

How'd you hide it? Just kept your mouth close? Yeah, they didn't notice. How they noticed is I went to lunch with my dad one day and sitting across the table from him eating. Ah. Yeah. That's how he noticed. But aside from that, as long as you're not looking straight on and it was pretty easy to hide, but...

Yeah. The similar thing happened when I was like, uh, that's... 17, I got my nipple pierced, me and my buddy. Yeah. And so when I got home... That's a weird buddy activity. I know. I don't even remember how it came about, but it sounds really fucking stupid.

Those are wild days. They were wild days. But I remember coming home, and it was like, for some reason that day, my mom wanted a big hug. We were just standing in the kitchen, and I was real sore and I had a bandage. And she's, oh, my God, come here and give me a hug. And I'm like, no, I said, and she hugged me. And I was wearing a white t-shirt.

And so I started talking to her after. And she goes, what's, you're bleat? And my nipple was showing blood. Yeah. And so the cat was right out of the bag there. Immediately. Yeah. What am I going to say?

Yeah. No, I just lactate blood, Bob. How long did that last? The piercing? How long did you have it? Yeah. Oh, I had it for Christ. Over a decade.

Oh, wow. 10, 15 years, yeah. Absolutely. You were really into it. Yeah. Danny got his butthole pierced. Isn't that true, Annie? One of the first in New York State.

That's some good news, York. Little bell rings every time he poops. He does. Oh, my God. Anyway, should we take a break and get Ryan in here? Yeah, let's stop this nonsense. Yeah, it is nonsense. Let the guest.

Yeah. We'll be right back on Good News York with Ryan Nieme Miller, comedian, extraordinary, AGT, one of the finalists. Live from California. Yeah. We made the dude wake up. I know. I that's the one part of this job with the booking part that I'm I've never done so I'm learning like booking people on the West Coast comes with a tremendous amount of guilt to be fair it is an optional thing but and here's the other thing anyone who's in the business and lives on the West Coast they know that kind of that's what they get for living wrong side of the country yeah come to New York that's right good things are great all right welcome back to good news York I'm

I am personally thrilled to welcome our, I would say this is our first celebrity guest. It definitely is. It's our first celebrity guest. Just don't tell Sean Kelsey that. Yeah, we want to remember that. And somebody who I admire greatly as a comedian myself, I am a big fan of America's Got Talent.

They've done a lot of great things for comedians. And especially for this next gentleman, our friend Ryan Niemiller is here from America's Got Talent. he was one of the finalists and in my book I say winner because when you get to the last five or ten people you won right

you won in a way because of the exposure you get and so we are thrilled to have you here on Good News York Ryan welcome to the show my man thank you very much I will say though having a million dollars

would have made me feel like more of a winner I'm going to say that yes my career is a lot better off because I did so well on that show, a million dollars wouldn't have been too shabby to throw on top of that. Just for the record. It's so easy for me to say it.

Oh, Ryan, you already won. You're like, no, I didn't, asshole. I don't have the million dollars. The real million dollars was the friends I made along with. You can't put a value on that. See, that's the official NBC answer. He's going to get booked on another show just because he knows how to spend it positively.

I got good to use. I appreciate you guys. I just want to let you know. I do love you guys because I woke up at 5.30 a.m. my time just to talk to you, Yahoo's. Wow. That added. So know that I appreciate you. We appreciate that.

That added, by the way, this is part of the gig that I didn't realize the amount of guilt that I feel when I got to book someone on the West Coast. And they're like, yeah, man, it's okay. That's going to be 5 a.m. here. And I'm like, oh, Jesus. I tried to accommodate it. But we do appreciate you being up this early, bud. Yes, it means a lot to us. In all curiousness, my one and a half year old would have had me up in about 30 more minutes anyway.

But this way, I can make you guys feel bad and you'll be nicer to me during the interview. That's fair. That's right. This is a wise gentleman right here. He's a wise man. He is. Stage. I've been doing this a long time.

Absolutely. So, Ryan, why don't you tell us a little bit about that? So obviously, we're talking about you on TV, but your career started obviously before that and has continued long since that's happened. So tell us a little bit about you that we don't know. Sure. So I've been doing comedy almost 19 years now. It'll be 19 years in October of this year. My comedy career can now officially do porn.

That's what we're going into for this year. In some states, in a lot of states, I can't do that anymore. But in some states, it can't. I live in California. That's one of the cool ones. Yeah. Yeah, I've been doing it 19 years. I started in L.A.

because I was dumb. I didn't realize that you didn't have to start there. It's one of those things that, like, there's so many little things with any career, really, but comedy especially where you don't know until you know. Sure. I grew up in Indiana. I grew up in a real small town in Indiana, went to school in Terre Haute, Indiana, not exactly the mecca of entertainment by any means.

Not? Also the home above of the love sponge, surprisingly. Oh, wow. I don't know that. And Larry Bird is that. That's the two things we're going for there. Okay. And I knew comedy existed elsewhere, but it sounds dumb now.

I thought you had to go to New York City or L.A. to get started. Sure. So you train. It's like going to boot camp where you got to do that. And then you then you get to go to Owensboro, Kentucky and whatever. So yes, I started out there. I made it about three years in L.A. I just couldn't.

It was going from a small town to that was way different. Then I really started getting going in the Midwest back in Indiana. and then, yeah, it was a long grind. 12 years later, I got AGT. That was 2019 for me, and then it kind of, luckily I haven't had to get a real job yet. That's my goal. It's just to every year not have to put on a tie.

That is success. It's funny you're talking about moving to L.A. and New York. That's something that haunted me throughout my career is I didn't have the means back in the day to go to those places. But we live close enough to New York where I've traveled and performed there quite a bit. and I know the grind and how intimidating that can be, don't beat yourself up too much because back when I started comedy was actually Phil Farta, who you know,

and I started at the same time in the same comedy club. And back then, you know, there was two routes you could go, right? You could go to New York and L.A. and try to be seen by producers and get your own show, get a spot on the Tonight Show, you know, or you did the circuit thing where you played in Terre Haute or, And you could make anywhere up to six figures just being a really good club comic. I don't think you necessarily made the wrong move.

I think you made the right move. But yeah, you don't know until you're there how overwhelming it can be. And maybe it's not all cracked up what it's cracked up to be. Yeah, and it's one of those things too, though. I don't regret the decision. You're listening to a podcast right now. Driving, working out, walking the dog. If you're into podcasts, chances are you have something to say too.

With RSS.com, starting your own is free and easy. Upload an episode and we distribute it to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and hundreds more. Track your listeners, see where they're from, and start earning from ads like this. Even with just 10 listeners a month, if you've been thinking about starting a podcast, this is your sign. Start free at RSS.com. But, you know, I would have made a different path, Because I enjoy doing like New York and L.A., but I don't feel special there. Right.

If that makes sense, like for a grown ego, if you go to Des Moines, Iowa, they're pumped to see you at Bois. Yeah. They love that you came to go see that. 100%. In L.A., I'm going to be potentially the sixth most famous person on a five-person show based on the nature of what happens out here. Right.

I still have fun. You can still have a real good time. But like for your ego, you feel like a real big deal in Oklahoma. Yeah. Because you're... That's fair. You know, to them, they don't... L.A. and New York, you know, they're celebrities and people on TV all the time.

But in the middle of Iowa, it's, oh, my God, the guy from America's got talent is here. They're the... Look, L.A. and New York are the spoiled rich kids. Yeah. And the people in the middle of Iowa are the kids with humble upbringing. It sounds like there's probably... a good chance that those audiences not in the major cities also maybe pay a little more attention. Is that fair? Do they actually get into the act a little more?

Yeah, they care. I'm generalizing here a tiny bit. But like when you go to those type of town, and I'm not saying this to talk down to them like they're small folks. My home town was 3,000 people. These are my people. Yeah. Like these are people I associate with. For a lot of these people, if you do shows in L.A., for instance, there's a good chance that a large chunk of that audience, is going to be people who also are like struggling stand-up comedians or struggling actors or struggling. They're there for that. If you go to the middle of Kentucky, for instance, there's a chance that like you're performing for a couple who it's their one date night they get every month or two.

So they're just, they're going to have a good time. Damn it, no matter what it takes. We're going to enjoy this night. We finally found a babysitter. We have jobs that we have. They're real people. who have, like, real issues they got to work through. Yeah.

And so they're just, like, so appreciative. So they're going to do their best to welcome you in and let you do your thing and enjoy the night because they don't get those as often. I see. I love that you know that. Because I recently went to a show in a small town here in upstate to see the wallflowers. I don't know if you remember the wallflowers. Oh, I love Bob Dylan's son.

Dude, the second most successful Dylan. That's right. Jacob Dylan was so fucking drunk. Oh, really? But he was that drunk to where, like, you couldn't tell, is he drunk or is something real? Is he just something was off? Yeah. It was the most horrible show.

Then he started, like, turning on the audience and being like, you guys aren't real fans. And I thought there was a rope behind me where I heard them say, God damn it, we got a babysitter for this. We traveled from 200 miles away. And that's what you're talking about, where it's almost an added pressure. If you're doing it right as a performer, hey, I got to bring my A game in the middle of Iowa because these people, this is their one night out possibly for the month. They deserve it. Yeah.

That's how. Yeah. It is a new strike. After AGT, that's when I officially became a headliner. Before that, I would headline shows, but it was the type of shows where it gets promoted as comedy. Yeah. I promoted as Ryan Neemeller's show.

It's just, we're having comedy. I did a lot of Phil show, for instance. And they were all fun, but they were just coming out because Phil promoted good shows and it was comedy. Correct. You know, now people are coming to see me on purpose. That's awesome. And that does add an extra pressure.

It's nice. But at the same time, man, if you're headlining a small show that no one knew who was going to be there or your feature, for instance, man, that's one of the easiest gigs mentally for you because nobody was expecting anything from you anyway. So if you bomb, they don't remember because they don't care. If people liked me on television and spend this money and people have traveled to 2003. 300 miles to come see me for stuff before. I can't just go dick around and be like, I'm going to get drunk. You're not a real fan anyway. You guys are.

So, like, I got to try, man. It's a different pressure. That's right. So, Ryan, I got to know, you talked about the length of your career almost 20 years. Sounds like it took you from like your 20s to your 40s. How has your act evolved over those two decades? Are you talking about the same things as you were when you started? Or?

Ah, no. When you start as, I think my first actual stand-up, I had done improv and some theater stuff before that, but I started stand-up when I was 24. That's the tail into this. But then it's a lot of, it's a lot of dating's hard. And here's my really smart masturbation joke. Right. I'm changing the game with.

And it was stuff like that. And obviously, I have a disability. Part of it is, you know, early on, I could do shock and all with that. Uh-huh. Because there's nobody who looks like me. So nobody knew who I was, but when I would be on stage, they'd be like, oh, this is different. And I could play with that. Sure.

You know, now I'm a 42-year-old man with an almost two-year-old son. Life's different now. Sure. I'm a married dude with a menace of a baby. That's a lot of what I'm talking about now is just a lot of what I do is still peppered with a disability because it's my point of view. It's my life. Sure.

It's not a gimmick. It's who I am. Sure. And so that's where I always try to put the unique spin on things. Because there's a lot of comics who are dads. Yeah, right. Being a dad with a disability, there's a lot to like, you know, unfurl from that onion, so to speak.

Yeah. And I love that you lean into your disability. And, you know, for, as somebody who does stand up himself, like, I get that mentality of I'm not going to not talk about it because it's quite obvious, but I'm not going to always, you know, my whole act isn't going to be about that. It's a delicate balance and you do it brilliantly. And I got to commend you because, and I could be wrong, but before you, I don't remember seeing too many comics or people on TV with disabilities. And you've been part of paving the way.

I've seen comics since who have disabilities or even singers. And I feel like you're part of the paving the way for that. And I commend you for that. That's got to feel good. Yeah, yeah. It's one of those things that I'll be perfectly honest with you guys. When I got into doing this, it wasn't to be that. Like anyone who says, I'm going to go inspire people.

Yeah. Jack. Who the hell are you? You don't get to make that call. You don't get to go in to do that. I wanted to be on something like America's Got Talent, for instance, because I'm an attention whore. And that's millions of people who get to watch you.

And it would help me make more money. But once I, especially right after my audition aired, the amount of like emails and messages and all that type of stuff that I got from either people with disabilities or parents with people with disabilities. who are like, hey, thanks for being honest up there and being you, like, really started thinking, oh, this is a little bit bigger than just me trying to not have to work at Starbucks again. Right.

You know, like, it was, it's a little bit. So it's, I'm not going to claim everything I do with that is that. But it's nice to know that, like, the only person I remember ever seeing that had a limb difference on television was Jim Abbott. Oh, my God. I love Jim Abbott. Picture for the Yankees. Yeah, yeah, that, that was.

the only reference I had and I enjoy pizza too much to be a good athlete. So I had to go a different route. And I was like, if there's not going to be anyone on TV like me, I'll try to do it myself. Yeah. For those of you that don't watch baseball, Jim Abbott was a pitcher who, and correct me, Ryan, if I'm wrong, he had an issue with one of his hands, correct? Yeah, yeah, one of his hands. He was a from birth amputee. Yes. So he was missing his right hand. So he would put his glove. He would rest his glove on the hand with the disability, and he would throw the ball and then quickly put the glove on. Wow. It was wild, especially this was early 90s, I think.

You didn't see that. It was 80s 90s. Yeah. Yeah, he pitched no hitter for the Yankees. He was a good athlete. He has a career hit. There's some pitchers who never got a hit. That dude got a hit.

It was always funny because I grew up playing, like, used sports. I played Little League baseball until I was like nine or ten. and there would always be people who would be like, oh, you have a chance to get in the majors because Jim Abbott. And I'm like, I'm like, he's there. It's not the greatest make a wish of all time that they just rolled with it.

Like, he's also a freakish athlete. He happens to be missing pants. Like, he was great. I was not a freakish athlete. He's also an athlete. Right. It's not like I can go do that because I have a disability. That's hysterical.

I did not step the gym. It's so funny, the mentality. of people because I even got some of that. Most of the reaction when I was on AGT was positive, but you get people that are like, oh, they're only laughing because they feel bad for him. And I'm like, you over us to estimate people. They don't feel that.

You think people are nice just for the sake of it? Yeah. No, that maybe gives you the initial 30 seconds where they're going to be like, let's see what he can do. If they didn't think I was funny, those people would have turned on me in a heartbeat. Absolutely. When it comes to that.

Have you dealt with a lot of trolls after ATT? More than anybody else. Like I wish I had more creative trolls, right frankly. Because like if somebody's going to, if someone sees me like my, here's my general rule. If you don't think I'm funny, that's fine because comedy is such a subjective thing. Like you're not going to be for everybody. If you just don't like what I do, I think you're wrong, but that's fine. But it's people who are just because there's going to be two things that people try to troll me with.

And it's the same unoriginal shit every single time. it's you're a T-Rex or let me use my strong hand. That's the two things that they're breaking new ground. You're not going to hurt my feelings if I don't respect you because you're a hat. I don't care about that type of stuff. If you're going to insult me, be creative. Yeah, exactly. Make it hurt.

Go for the thing because then I'm at least going to be like, you put some effort into this. That's right. You're just like T-Rex. What are you me when I was three? Yeah. I understand this already. Like I do those jokes so much. better. You had to bring something a little stronger to the table. I don't respect. I nothing,

you. It's I don't care. Love it. Help me make money. People don't get that. No, we were just talking about that. They believe they're way more important and effective than they actually are. And I never understood it too, because I'm into a lot of nerdy stuff that I'm very passionate about. My room is a bit of a mess right now, but you can see there's a big bunch of video game controllers. I'm a big video game collector. I love sports. I love pro wrestling. I don't have enough time my day to love the stuff that I love. I get it. I don't understand why I would take a chunk of my day to be like,

you fucking suck, T-Ricks. Just don't watch me and go find. You're listening to a podcast right now. Driving, working out, walking the dog. If you're into podcasts, chances are you have something to say too. With RSS.com, starting your own is free and easy. Upload an episode, and we distribute it to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon music, and hundreds more.

Track your listeners, see where they're from, and start earning from ads like this, even with just 10 listeners a month. If you've been thinking about starting a podcast, this is your sign. Start free at RSS.com. There's not enough minutes in the day. It'd be happy.

Go do that. Brian, that was a great segue, because I actually wanted to take a detour from comedy for a second and talk about your love for video games and everything you're doing there, because I know I believe you're doing some streaming, and I know you're just definitely in that world, and we're a bunch of nerds. We love sports video games and...

Talk to us about that. Wrestling as well. Oh, yeah, yeah, I've always been a huge video game guy. I started with the original NES, I think probably when I was five is when we got in, five was six. And, yeah, I just fell in love with it. Like, it was never an issue where I was very fortunate. I wasn't really bullied as a kid. But I didn't have the best home life.

My dad was a career alcoholic kind of thing. So having video games, like for me, video games and pro wrestling were the two biggest escapes. Yeah. During that time, you could focus on something else. Even if the worlds are clearly fake and cheesy and over the top or whatever, at least for a little bit, you can just be like, this is what I'm in right now. Absolutely.

And that's what video games became. And I always loved them. I was always broke. And then I did AGT and had a little bit of extra money on the side. and now I own too many damn video games. And I have to, I'm starting to move some of the collection because my son is very selfish.

And when he was born, he took one of my game rooms. Oh, what a jerk. Yeah, a little prick. When do you beat him in Mario Kart the first time? It's going to be glorious.

I'm looking forward to destroying him in many things like that. But yeah, but now I have, I don't know, 15, 16 tubs just full of video game stuff in the garage. I got to move some of that, man. Like, I think that happens a lot if you're like, if you didn't have money and you start to get even a little bit of money,

you overcorrect. And you're like, I'm going to get every fun thing I could never have as a kid. And then you're just covered in piles of nonsense. And you're like, I should probably curate this a little bit. Honey, why are there three Nintendo power gloves on the front steps?

Listen. Yeah, it's the best part of being an adult is buying what toys you couldn't have bought when you were a kid. Oh, 100. 100% the best part. Yeah. And for me, I just need to focus more because I'm a checklist guy. I love having complete sets of things.

That's why I was so into like baseball cards and football cards and stuff like that. It's oh, you got to get every single one of them. And it really dawned to me. It was like, do I need four different versions of Madden 97 in my home? So now I'm thinking of it in the context of my son. Will Owen think this is cool or interesting when he's old enough? And if the answer is no, I'm trying to send it on its way. That's a good way to filter it out.

That's fair. That's brilliant. At the same time, I feel like what if the first three copies stop working? That's true. And here's the funny thing. I end up emulating all this stuff just for convenience so that I can stream it. Yeah. I'm, this will be my kind of, because I'm an artist.

I create things. I don't want stuff to pirate my stuff. Sure. If you give me the chance to legally buy something, I will always give you money. That's right. I will 100%. Nintendo, take my money. I will just take my credit card, charge whatever you want.

I'll buy those things. If I have to spend $300 to buy it from just some dude, like, I don't care at that point. Like, it's cool to have physical stuff and have, I'm going to keep the stuff I love. But if you don't let me actually give the developers money, whatever, man, at this. point like make it available i'll give you i'll pay you let let me i got to ask this and this is this could be a hack question i'll take a chance oh if you could you're you're stuck on a desert island you got one gaming system in one game what is it a link to the past for the super nintendo wow off the top of his head which means that's that is a clear cut winner for him definitely i'm really

bad. If you give me a question, name your top five or top 10 of anything, I'm going to struggle. Yeah. I have difficulty with that. But I can usually tell you my top of something. And for me, it's since so far, I'm looking to see if anything will ever knock it off its pedestal, but Legend of Zelda, The Link to the Past is my favorite game of all time. I still play it probably two, three times a year, which is why I don't get through my 10,000 video game collection. Yeah, that's amazing. That's awesome, man. I got to ask you, because you, just brought up that you're a wrestling fan. What are your thoughts on John Sina? Oh, man, it's, it's one of those things where it all makes perfect sense. Sure.

I think the story is going to be great. I think there's plenty of motivation behind it. But it was still shocking because there was no way that guy was ever. He's the make a wish guy. I felt there was just too much, always too much money and too much clout involved with him just being that guy. Yeah. That now that he's not, I thought it was done really. I thought it couldn't have been. I thought Cody played his part. I thought the whole thing was great. I'm excited.

I never thought that as a really actually wrestling nerd that I would be this excited for John Sina in 2025. Right. I'm in. I'm so in. Ryan, I'm with you because my son is five and he got into wrestling a couple of years ago, which now gave me an excuse to buy action figures and pretend that it's for him. But so he's a huge Cody Rhodes fan naturally, but he, I'm not even kidding you.

Within the last three weeks, we were watching old John Cena videos, and he's obsessed. And my poor son just watched him heel turn. And I'm like, buddy, I'm like, I promise he hasn't been a bad guy in 23 years. I don't. But here's my take. I wonder if, because now the McMans are stepping out in a way, I wonder if this is the first bold move that the new regime is pulling, because this would be the equivalent of Hulk. Hogan becoming a bad guy back in the day, you know? Yeah, yeah, it's probably the most, or it's a little too early to say because like the follow

up is always important on these things. Yeah. But probably the biggest turn since Hollywood Hogan. Yes. Yeah, 96 with the NWO. 100%. Yeah, I think it was. And it's also, I think why it was even more unexpected is just the fact that, man, who turns

heel during their retirement? Yes. Because everything I understand is this is like. like legitimately his like, right, he's just too, he's too busy, he's given his life to wrestling.

Now he's doing all these movies and voiceovers and everything else. This is legitimately his goodbye. And to do this for that is brilliant. It is. And I agree with you because when Derek Jeter retired, they did this farewell tour for a year every student. Like this would have been like Jeter becoming a red sock for his last year as farewell tour.

And my whole thing though is I'm trying to think in terms of story and character arc. how where does it go because he has to fin it he can't finish out as a heel at rassalmania or kenny i don't know like i'm would you have any thoughts on where you think it could go my kind of initial thought and i'm just saying this as a nerd i don't know we all are so my initial thought he's got to beat cody at mania yes because you don't waste this if you're going to turn john cina heel you don't waste it i think it probably ends and i don't know if he's going all the way until next year's mania for this. When they say it's his retirement year,

I don't know if they've ever said it's literally calendar year. Yeah. Or just the final end. I think it ends with him walking out as a good guy. Cody probably rebeats him at some point to get it back. It's to help elevate Cody even more to the next step. Yeah.

And Sina, he sees the light and ends up probably putting the rock in his place in some variety. He says he's not going to leave as a piece of shit. No. Like, that's what I mean. And also, I don't think the fans will let him. I honestly think that he's going to, everyone's wanted this for so long. I think he's going to get cheered during a lot of this because hardcore wrestling nerds are going to be like, finally, this is what we wanted.

Like, I wonder if they're going to have, because him and Orton were huge rivals. I wonder if Randy Orton's going to be a part of the story. We'll have to see. They'll cross paths at some point. Because before he leaves, the no-brainer kind of matches in my eyes are Orton, punk. Yep. AJ styles, like people he's had these histories with that he can still wrestle that are still around.

You've got to do something with all of them at some point in there. Maybe you just made me realize maybe that's part of the reason they had him turn is because a lot of his longtime rivals are now baby faces. So maybe they had to make him bad to make it make sense. I don't know. But I'll tell you this. If someone tells you, oh, I totally saw this coming. They're full of shit.

Yes. Nobody did. Yeah. I will be honest. I had tongue and chants. Sheik predicted something like this, but it was done with, but it was done with the like the cadence of this will never fucking happen. Right. Wouldn't it be neat if this happened?

Yeah. Got me hook like it. It's hard to, especially in the age of information and technology, it's hard to legitimately shock people. Yeah. And I felt this was pretty shocked. It was. It was. You have a favorite?

I call it pay-per-view, but now it's main event. I've always been a Royal Rumble guy. What's your? Oh, yeah. Easily Royal Rummore. That's the show that got me into wrestling. Same. Same.

The very first, I got into wrestling during one of the lamest times to be a wrestling fan. 1993. Oh, you're close to me. Yeah, 93 to 95 is generally considered one of the roughest periods of major professional wrestling. Yeah. But it's brutal. You and I are the same age.

So I, too, remember my first one was WrestleMania. Five Savage versus Hulk Hogan. That was what got me hooked. Browder. Hey, brother. Yeah, for me, I remember my buddy had a tape that had WrestleMania 5 and 6 on it, and I watched it a ton. But for whatever reason, I watched those, but it didn't make me want to seek out the TV shows or whatever reason.

I just, oh, this is fun. I really like this. And then what actually got me was visiting my grandma one time. She was in a real small town in southern Indiana. and we'd always get to go to a little local store. It was called Ben Franklin, a little kind of, think like a cheap Walgreen store. And, oh, here's $5. Go buy whatever you want. So my brother and I went to the store and they had the WWF.

It was at the time, WWF magazine. Yeah. And on the cover was Yoko Zuna, just looking giant. He just won the 93 Royal Rumble. Yeah. For whatever reason, I went, yep, that's the thing. I'm going to buy that magazine. and I found all the TV after that.

So I got in at like episode three of Monday Night Raw just because that's happened to me when it started. Yeah. And I've been. That's awesome. That's freaking great. You know what I miss? The only thing I miss about the old days is remember you'd watch on like Saturday mornings

or whatever it was. And it used to be where they'd have a superstar. So you'd have whatever. Whole Compton verse Jim Wilson. And it was just like a guy in bluish, like whatever you call those modems. Yeah. And you knew they were just like, knew they were going to lose, which opened the door for when Razor Ramon got beat by the

one, two, three kid on Raw and lost his belt. That was like the biggest deal in the world because the one, two, three kid, that wasn't his name at the time. He was just like Chad Johnson. Yeah, I think too, because I remember that pretty vividly, because that was one of the early moments of Raw. He had just had a different name. They were making fun of them because every week he was something.

Like one week he was the Lightning Kid when he wrestled as in GWF at the time. Yeah. He was cannonball kid. Oh my God. I didn't remember that. That week he was just the kid. The kid. And then he got nicknamed the one, two, three kid.

But it was mind-blowing because it was like, that never happened. The no-name guy, we all know, like, we pretend, what if, and then they get their ass beat. But it was like the biggest deal. It was the Washington generals. Yeah. For the Harlem Globe Trotters. That's exactly right. That's perfect.

Oh, man. We should probably bring it back to comedy for just a minute because we can probably talk about this forever. No, no. That's great. That your state needs is John Sina talk. That's it. That's not good thing, right.

We've got to get that drop. You ever see that, that old classic radio bit where they, they keep calling people, trying to give them tickets to the John Sina show, and they, we'll find it. It's phenomenal. Okay. I like it. One of the few fake radio bits that I actually will give some attention to. There you go.

Let's talk about some comedy again, because one of the reasons, now, first of all, spoiler alert, I want folks to know. Oh, yeah. That Mike and Ryan were in conversations to set this up before the show that you're going to be on in Utica was put together. That's true. We wanted you on just because we love you. We're going to talk about that, but I just want folks that we were into Ryan before it was locally cool. Before it was cool, Yudica.

But he is coming to Utica, and our man, Phil Farda, is the comedian and the promoter and the crazy dude who puts that all together. Phil will actually be on the show tomorrow to talk about this some more, but the main man will be there. Ryan, just tell folks just a little bit about what they might expect if they come out to see you here in Utica at your show. It's going to be fun. Like, I always hate when I have to like when I say this because I think people think I'm blowing smoke. But legitimately, I love coming to Utica. So it's been probably five, six years at this point. Yeah.

The biggest reason this got set up is that before I did age. Fee, Phil booked me for stuff out there all the time when I was just, when I was just a dude. That's awesome. And they were always fun shows. Phil has always treated me. I've always had a good time. I don't think it's still open was Cavalos. That was the, yep.

They just recently closed down. Yeah, that was usually the big show. Yeah, you put me on three or four things. And some of them more successful than others. Some of them were, I remember there was a couple of like old folks homes, I believe. Phil's one of those dudes. Phil's a grinder man. Yes.

And he'll try to make everything work. And some of them do. Some of them don't. But that dude's going to try anything and everything. Yeah. That's why I always appreciate him. That dude hustles. For sure.

And it was one of those things that I haven't been out that way in a while. I'm going to be doing a college in Albany the night before. And I was like, hey, Phil, while I'm out here, I haven't done this in a while. Do you want to set something up? Perfect. And we did. And I'm excited. It's nice to a lot of new doors.

opened up for me when I did AGT. But one of the things that's important to me is keeping the old doors open as well. Nice. Because once you get on TV, it's easy for people to be your buddy then. Sure. Oh, yeah. Come on out. Of course you can do our club now.

Yeah. I want to remember the people who, when nobody gave a shit, you know, the people who actually gave a shit. That's right. I want to still be as cool to them as possible. And Phil's an old buddy of mine. Will Phillips is going to be on the show as well. The cool thing about Will.

Like, it's a crazy thing. I actually have known Phil or a Will since 1996. Yeah, he was out in L.A., right, with the same time as you? I knew him before that. Oh, wow. We met Will on IRC in wrestling channels. Yeah, but we were both like 14 years old. So I knew Will online for a decade plus before we ever met in person.

Yeah, Will's one of my legit, one of my oldest friends in the world through nerdy wrestling stuff. I love it. So I'm always excited to get sick. And it's incredible. Man, if he would have pushed harder with actual stand-up, like he's so brilliant. He's hilarious.

One of the best writers legitimately I have ever met and worked with. He's so clever and smart and brilliant. I did. It's a good show. I did a show with him where he closed with the 12 days of Christmas bit. Have you heard him do that? Yeah. Genius.

Absolutely genius. I love that man. Yeah, he has a few Halloween bits, like the awkward house or the uncomfortable house instead of a haunted house. Oh, gosh. His carbon monoxide joke, just please come see him. Yeah. Stay for me. But he's so funny.

Not too. And he's a local boy. I think he grew up in Saratoga Springs, I want to say. Yeah. And he's lived outside of his time in L.A. He's more or less been. He's a local yokel, as they say. He's legit.

For sure. Not to derail it too much, but years ago, Will and Phil Farda had this bit, this whole YouTube, I think it was a podcast series called Comedians in Coffee, where the two of them sat in a bathtub filled with coffee and told jokes. And one of the reasons I bring this up is recently I was on Twitch flipping through and I saw this stream where these two dudes were sitting in a tub telling jokes. They didn't, they wasn't filled with coffee. Right. But it was totally like, I took a picture and meant to show it to Will, go, hey, these guys are ripping you off. You definitely invented this years ago.

Imagine being that lame that the thing you steal is sitting in a bathtub with another dude. Listen, they made it hilarious. They did a whole second season, I believe, where they had like a bathtub in a field. Like, sometime you got to talk to Will. We'll get him on here and talk about that. In full suits. Because it was a parody of the Jerry Seinfeld. Yes.

Right. Show. And I learned full suits just sitting there. telling weird jokes about Rick Flair and stuff. Oh, it's so funny. It was so funny. Why have we not seen? I have not seen it.

It's a phenomenal series. It's so good. Tragically underrated. Yeah. But anyway, growth mode content is actually a sponsor of this show coming up in Utica. So in the links and in the description, all that will be the links. But we will have some free tickets to give away to folks as well.

Yes. Which is pretty cool. And we'll be there. That I was hoping we're going to ask me that. Yeah. Okay. I believe I'm saying this right. I think it's Burstone.

Yep. Yes. Where it's March 21st, you can see Ryan E. Miller with Will Phillips, Phil Farda, at the Burstone Inn on Burstone Road in UK, New York. So we'll have links to get tickets at Good News York.com. It's right near the great Burstown. Yeah, and I think that's your birthstone is a Burstown. Yeah. Pay homage to the Burstown.

Yeah, absolutely. Rob it for good luck. Robert for good luck. Ryan, what are some places we should tell folks to check you aside from the show that's coming up. Give me some websites, stuff like that. Obviously, the show would be first and foremost. Yeah, that diapers are expensive. My son from shitting on the drapes, which he likes to try.

He's very advanced. Yeah. Human feces is his favorite art medium. That's beautiful. But yeah, so crippletreat.com is the website. Any dates down there? Awesome. Triple threat was going to be my pro wrestling name, by the way.

That's where that came from. That is the best. I mean, it is absolutely the best name. It really is. We'll go with the Jurassic Park. And for those of you listening, in case you misheard, he did not say triple threat. He said, co-riple, cripple, threat. I love it.

Triple threat. Yeah, one of the best things I've, I've, it worked out well for me. I've got a lot of mileage out of that there. All the social media is cripple threat eight, because there was seven before me, but I've the power. I am their leader now. It's a, it's a pope situation where one dies and new one gets, but that's kind of how. I'm the captain now.

Yeah, white smoke starts billowing from the top of the Shriners Hospital. It's very, you can find me on there. Like you said, like I'm trying to rebuild like kind of social media and stuff. The last year, I was working a little bit, but I was more or less stay at home dad. And this is me really getting back on the road and do it. So please, comedy in 2025 is very different than even when I started in 06. Yeah. Comedy used to be you'd show up in a cool place like Utica,

hopefully do well at your show. People at the show would go home and be like, hey, you got to go see this guy next time he's here. Hopefully the next time it's more and more. Comedy in 2025 is tricking algorithms to show your dick jokes to more strangers. So please follow, comment, share, if you like anything on there. And then the other thing I'm doing, like you alluded to earlier, getting really back into Twitch streaming to kind of make use of my large video game.

So if you want to actually come and hang out, try to make it a fun, chill. I'm above average at video games. I'm not going to say great, but for having half hands, I think I'm pretty damn good. A lot of retro stuff, a lot of cool stuff. So if you just want to come hang out and talk on there, it's Twitch.tv. TV slash crippled threat eight. That's awesome. That's awesome, man.

Ryan Neemiller, he's coming to town. We're going to talk about that. My favorite old Christmas Carol right there. Yeah, that's a great song. Yeah, Ryan. Ney Miller coming to Utica March 21st. Did I get that right? You pulled that out.

I did. March 20, we should probably have that shit ready next time. March 21st, Utica, New York on Burstone Road at the Burstown in, Ryan Neemiller from AGT, gamer, comedian, drape cleaner. And guy who's had sex at least once. Guy, we have, he's had sex once. Like, he can never, you can never say, he's probably a virgin. He's got a child.

We checked with, what's the show, where they, He's a paternity test. Mori Povich, we're all set. This guy fucks. This guy fucks. That's actually what's going to say. Cripple threat. This guy fucks.

That's on the posters, I think. Ryan, thank you so much for being part of Good News York. And we love you, man. We'll see you. Come back anytime. Anytime. And we'll see you on the 21st. All right.

See you guys tomorrow then. All right, buddy. All right, thanks, guys.