Happy Sad Confused - Jerrod Carmichael

Episode Date: March 9, 2017

Jerrod Carmichael doesn’t need you to laugh at everything he says. For most comedians that might seem antithetical to their very existence, but Carmichael has different ambitions— as you might expect if you’ve seen his unique work. This week, we find out what’s on the mind of this brilliant young comic as he’s set to unveil his new stand-up special, “8” (debuting Saturday night at 10pm on HBO).  Taped only weeks after the election, Carmichael’s set is raw and real and yes, provocative at times. And here he’s all of the above — not to mention hysterical too — as he delivers his take on Trump, a culture he thinks is a little too whiny, and why so much comedy today doesn’t do it for him. Plus, Carmichael gives a sneak peek at season 3 of his critically hailed NBC sitcom, “The Carmichael Show,” why he wanted to make a network show in the golden age of cable, and what it’s like to be in a Transformers movie. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Jeep is a registered trademark of FCAUS LLC. This week on Happy, Sad, Confused, Gerard Car Michael, on comedy, Donald Trump, and killing all the robots. Hey, guys, I'm Josh Horowitz, and welcome to another edition of Happy, Sad, Confused. I'm your host. Welcome to the show. If you're new to it, where have you been? If you're not, thanks for coming back.

This week on this show, as I said, is one of the first. of the best and the brightest comics out there, the truly hysterical Gerard Carmichael. So excited to have him here. I should say, we are sadly without Sammy this week. As you can tell in the intro, I'm all by my lonesome. She's not feeling well. Don't worry. She'll be back next week. But for now, you've got me and just me for this sad little intro. But the good news is Gerard Carmichael is the guest this week. So in a moment, you'll hear this fun conversation with him. If you don't know Gerard, you should. First of all, what's your point? problem. He's one of the hottest stand-up comics these days, has an amazing career going. He has

the Carmichael Show, which is entering its third season on NBC, which if you haven't checked out, you really should. It's very much the format of a classical kind of sitcom, but a little bit of Norman Lear thrown in there, and that deals with topical issues, deals with hot button issues, but in a very funny way. And he is a young guy, I think he's probably like in his late, mid-late 20s, but is really like steering his own ship. Like this is his baby, the Carmichael show. And he's also got like this crazy stand-up crew going super strong. And his new special, which he was here to promote, is actually running on HBO the Saturday night at 10 p.m. It's called 8. It's a second comedy special for HBO. And it's really funny. I mean, obviously, you know, he's a super funny guy and

this is what he does. But like that goes without saying. But it's also, as we talk about in this conversation. It's very unique. He kind of embraces the awkwardness, the silences. This was taped pretty soon after Trump won the election. So that's definitely, I think, in the air. And it really captures kind of the mood of the times. And he's a, he's a very like, you know, it sounds cliche to call him a brave comic, an edgy comic. But those are kind of the term that makes sense for him. He's somebody that doesn't kind of go the safe route. And anyway, I would highly recommend checking out the special. We cover a lot of territory in this. He's also, You might have seen him. He kind of emerged on the scene, some small roles in neighbors and the sequel to neighbors, but he's also going to be the next Transformers movie this summer.

So we talk a little bit about that, too. But the important thing to know is that he's just a funny, funny guy, and that's what this conversation is. So this is my first time meeting Gerard, and hopefully the first of many. He's welcome back on the podcast anytime. And I think if you listen to this, you'll say, where the hell has he been, Josh? And when's he coming back? So don't worry. We will have him back.

In the meantime, enjoy this first conversation, the first of many, hopefully, with the hysterical Gerard Carmichael. We're rolling, Gerard. We're already rolling, and I'm already talking. Here, I'm pointing at you. Hey! Oh, no. That was loud of shit. Can we adjust the levels?

Do we want to keep that? Did we? Yeah. No, let's keep it. Let's keep it. No, I think because people listen to podcasts and stuff like on their way to work. But what if someone just jumped off the treadmill? You might have injured somebody, Gerard.

No, no, no, no. They were ready. They're ready for anything. You get off that treadmill. You're ready for anything. It's good to see you. It's good to meet you. Good to meet you.

Welcome to the MTV. We were trying to figure out rather than that we met before. I don't think we have. No, no, well, on the stairs, we were trying to figure it out because I didn't want to like do the thing where it was like, hey. So I just say, hey. I always just say, good to see you. Yeah, good to see you. Good to see you.

Yeah. For the first time in my life. For the first time ever. We would have probably I'm sure we were at the same party Yeah, I think so I feel like I just missed you Because here's what I remember

When I was covering neighbors The first neighbors I remember everybody was telling me Like you have to talk to Gerard He's amazing in it And I was like, no, we're too big for Gerard We're not ready He's not big enough

We can talk to Gerard I get that Even still I'm surprised We're having this conversation Hopefully I didn't say that But I feel like somebody on our team said that And now this is Penance I'm making amends

Oh. And here you are. I'm happy to be here. Your office is cooler than where we record, though. I know. I was telling you, we used to record the podcast in the office, which had its advantages in that it had a lot of cool sensory input, and it said a lot about me, but audio-wise didn't, you know, give the rich-

Because you don't have the thing, these, the sound absorption boards, the, like, you know the technical terms, your experience. The sound boards. Yeah, the S-A-Bs. The S-A-Bs with the dryer sheets over. That's right. I put this together just for you. So we should get the business out of hands.

Are people still listening? No, they left. They left. Okay. Our average listen time is 45 seconds. They just pay check out. Yeah, because I like, buy dryer sheets. It's like, all right.

And then they went to the. Yeah. They're just here for the hello fresh ads. My great ad reads. They just want to know if I'm using Squarespace or not. SquareSpace. Is Squarespace, what is that again? Squarespace is how you design your own website.

They're actually not even a sponsor. so we're giving them a free plug right now. But every other podcast I listen to, I want Squarespace as a sponsor because I feel like I haven't made it yet. Someone bought my name, like online. You don't own your own identity. No, I did.

Someone gave it to me, actually. A very beautiful gift. A good friend gave it to me. And then I just didn't have a website. Do you have a good presence online? Do you have a nice gerard-carmichael.com? Is it a fun place to be? No, giraffecarmichael.com now belongs to I believe a real website.

state company. I don't know why, but it just shows like vacation homes. Last time someone checked. That's a good line of revenue for you in case that comedy doesn't work out. Yeah. You should get like a, now you need to get a different domain like draw Carmichael. Like, you go EDU if you want to go education.

Can you just get an EDU? Dot triple X if you want to go porn. Like whatever. Do people actually do triple X for porn? I feel like I read about that. Like that was a thing a few years back when they like they created that or that was an option. And I feel like that was going to be a thing. When the Internet first became a thing, kind of.

Which was like six months ago. Yeah, which was a few months ago. I remember trying to do a report as a kid, and I went to, like, Whitehouse.com. And at that point, it was still, it was like a porn site. Do you remember that? I think I do remember that. Have you talked about, have you covered that on the podcast? Yeah, we did that.

The first episode, Michael Shannon, we covered that for half an hour. Did he need a best though? Michael Shannon's the coolest. Ray knows. The publicist in the room. Like, I literally talk about Michael in every podcast. podcast. I'm not even exaggerating. How could you not? He's really, he's like dope as fuck. Can we say fuck on here? Yeah, we can say dope or fuck or as man. This is my favorite. Uh, have you

met Michael? No. Maybe. We should arrange that. No, I haven't. I would remember that. We should, because now that you've been on the podcast and Michael's a veteran, I think that's the next stuff. I'm going to approach him with that. Yeah, you just say, hell, happy second, just look at him, happy second, just look at him. Happy second, used. And then I'm going to hand him a script. He'll punch you. He'll bite you. I'm like, would you consider this role? Happy second. So you are doing the good business of not selling.

You're just reading the good word of a great comedy special. I saw it. Congratulations. You're getting word out there to the people? To the good people. Not the good people. Not them too. You want the bad people to watch?

I like the bad people to listen to. I kind of get the sense of that even watching the special, which is great, by the way. Thank you. It's called 8. It's on HBO, I think, this Saturday 10. That's that right? Yeah. Cool.

And it's your second special. Yeah, yeah. Second one with HBO and directed by Bo Burnham. Yep. And a good time. So is this what you work towards as a, as a, as a fespian comedian, a writer, actor, whatever the hyphen it is for you? Like, is this, like, big for you? Like, are you constantly thinking, like, when's the next special?

I need to work towards the next special. Because back in the day, it certainly was that for comedians. Is it still like that, you think? I think not for me. It just kind of as the thoughts come and, you know, oh, yeah, I have enough ideas to do another special. And then we did another special. But it just kind of has to make sense content-wise.

Yeah. I never want to just do it for the sake of, you know. Time to push out that product. Time to do it again, man. Gotta get on the road. Got to do the thing. And do it. It's like, yeah.

Who wants to hear those thoughts? Right. I mean, this is a really interesting special in watching it because it felt like you're, in the best possible way, I feel like you're working stuff out on stage to agree. Oh, it's an emotional. I just really put it all out there. Like, just emotionally, it was like a lot of thoughts and feelings

that I just, I did kind of just work out. You know, that's kind of what a lot of the material is in the special. Yeah, I mean, what's the first thing you literally say is like, are we going to be okay, right? Yeah, and I'm asking myself, asking all of us, yeah. And like, anyone have an answer? Yeah. When did you tape this soon after the election?

In December, in December here in New York. So, okay, so, I mean, the obvious question, I'm sure that you're being asked a lot due to, like, the content of your show and the nature of your material, is like how, okay, so election, how much did that change, like this special, for instance? Like, how, where were you at in terms of what you were talking about on stage before and after? Um, I care about people more than like, so it doesn't really change. I'm just, I mean, people change in culture shifts, you know, so I, I did want to see what the election, what effect the election would have on, uh, you know, us, you know, and my friends and everything. But, uh, I don't really just talk about, you know, what am I supposed to get up there, you know? And then did you hear what Bannon did? Like, I'm not a, you know what I'm not a, you know what I'm not a thing. So. Kelly Ann Conway Yeah,

and then Kelly said, I'm like, who gives a fuck, man? You know, like, so I didn't want to do that. I don't do that.

So, um, it was enough to see, but that had already been happening since like July. Right. You know, like July, what,

it's a fact, it kind of happened already. But were you, like, what was your process, like election night? Like that seems like that's like our, like,

demarcation moment for a lot of people. It's like, where were you? Yeah. How do you process it? What had, I was on a different stage of, I was on, I was way past acceptance by election. Really?

I legitimately, I know it sounds like I knew he was going to win. Why do you say that? I named an episode of the last season of my show. Let's plug that too. Carmichael, no, I'm not that guy. But I named an episode President Trump, and we taped that like last April because I was like, oh no, he's going to win. You never discount the value of entertainment, ever. In America, never discount that.

Yeah, entertainment over actual idea or anything. It's depressing. I know, but that's us. That's us. Let's look in the mirror. Let's own it. Let's look in the mirror. Because both we're all guilty of it.

Nobody could stop talking about them on either side. You couldn't. Like, good luck trying. You couldn't. And if we could have fought that, then maybe you wouldn't have won't have. but we, you know, we couldn't. So where are you out with it now? Are you like, it sounds like you reconciled it even before election day?

Are you kind of like, how are you processing? I mean, it's every day. I would like for us to cut back on like sass. Everyone just has like sassy, whiny responses to stuff. I like protest and march. I like when people like, oh, no, no, I really want to change something. I really feel strongly about this. I really like that.

I like the passion. I could do without like the, everyone. Everyone sounds like a... Everyone's suddenly turned to do a comedian, a snark test. Yeah, it's like a snark fest. I don't even like... I don't even like that from comedians. Right.

This is Happy Sack Confused. We'll be right back after this. Right now, think of a friend, your mom, anyone you care about. What podcasts would they really love? Got it? Now do it. Tell them about it in real life or on social media. And if they don't know about podcasts, show them how.

Tell us what you recommended with the hashtag tripod. T-R-Y-Pod. Thanks for spreading the word. There was so much talk, especially like even in the run-up to the election, about like sort of like the normalizing of him, right? Like, what was your take on? If I have one more person tell me that talk about relating it to their eating problems, Right.

It's like, you're blaming drunk on your, stop. Stop. Like, stop. Do you think that's what, like, Martin Luther King was, you think he was going around? Oh, man,

I haven't eaten. I hadn't eaten since Kennedy. It's like, shut the fuck up for a second. Like, stop when you whiny, got there. Right, right.

I just got really angry. It's okay. Because people are whiny. It's like, go, like, seriously, go, like, I love what people are doing. Go, like, be at the airport. Yeah.

You know. Yeah. Do something, but don't. Do something, but the whole whiny, oh, I'm just so depressed. Like, okay, well, I don't know. We're all adults. Let's do something about it. Come on, man.

Come on. Like, are we going to complain? Is that what the four years are like? Because that's worse than Trump. The only thing worse than Trump are your complaints, your effortless, you know, like complaints about Trump are worse than Donald Trump. Yeah, we were whiny before. Now it's like steroided up. Yeah.

For an America that you won't leave. Right. You know what I mean? So it's like fix it or stop? Yeah, totally. So I mean, do you and do you, what was your interpretation of, I'm just curious from your perspective as a comedian, like the S&L having him on his host and Fallon kind of like tussling the hair. Did that bother you? I mean, no, I mean, again, it's entertainment. You know what I mean? Like, it's like, it's the people's job to, you know, to see past all of that. Like, you know, you're going to have, I mean, Trump has had airtime. Trump was doing what Trump has been doing since I was a kid. Right.

When I was a kid, I saw him on Fresh Prince of Bel Air. I saw him on a nanny. I saw him on Home Alone, too. I saw him on. Great performances. Yeah, great. Oh, come on. I mean, has he won a glow?

You know what I saw him like, you know, that's what I'll tell my grandkids. I remember Trump was cool-ish. Big-ish. Yeah, yeah, he was like, yeah, we kind of, like, that's, that was the nature of it. Well, that's the thing. Like, yeah, of course he was on Fallon, of course, he was on, had he been on SNL before? I don't know. Probably.

Maybe popped in. It would make sense as he had. I don't know if he had or not, but it makes, it would make sense. And especially as like a New Yorker myself growing up, like, yeah, this is the same guy we've had for all my entire life. He's been a joke and this is part of the package. So why are we acting surprised? Yeah. Yeah. I think the surprise is what it's like

it's like I'll be surprised by it. So when you... The man owned the whole stretch of New York City. You know what I mean? Like an entire stretch of the city. Like he's been everywhere for years. So NBC giving you

freedom to like do that last episode that dealt with Trump. Was that was that a conversation or they know what you do now and they know what the kind of stuff like yeah it's more so of an extent every now and then it's kind of like really pitch an idea are they still doing that for season three a little bit but we're having we're doing like some weird fun it's really fun but like my grandmother killed herself in the first episode we did this season spoiler alert something to look forward to sweeps I let out all the stops for the season for me yeah so it's like I don't know like they

every no and then they're like wait okay What is the note is there a notes process do you get a lot like yeah but now it's more of a discussion I mean it's some you know really great people at the network that I that I work with and it's more of a discussion you know it's like because it's understood that it's like no we're going to do this episode so we just you know we all try and chip in and make it the best it could possibly be so you guys are in good terms because there was a little bit of like friction over the renewal the last time around yeah I mean I still think it not even I think it's a lot to kind of wrap your head around, you know, like, I think the show, I mean, it doesn't fit.

Yeah. You know what I mean? I get it as an exact, like, it is a certain, you know, my heart's warmed to a certain amount of empathy for, I get it if you're looking at the show in context of what other comedies are and so it doesn't necessarily fit. Yes. So it is kind of like, what do we do with this? I almost get it.

Almost. Almost. So, I mean, you know, and if you guys haven't seen the Carmichael show, I mean, it is like, it's a weird blend of like a very familiar form. Yeah, it's the really, you know, the format is. It's classic. Yeah. Classic. When you think of like the living room TV, it's, that's what it is. And certainly, you know, people have made the, you know, comparisons to like Norman Lear, et cetera.

Yeah. Were you thinking about that when you were developing the show? Is that sort of the, you know what I, when I were a model or was there? Well, when I think about normal. Norman, I think about someone who treated his audience like adults. And so I think about the principle that he created these shows on. He created all these shows based on that principle of like, no, you are an adult and I'm going to treat you like one. So that's what I think.

I consider that when doing the show. And did you, were you like, did you have total confidence that would work that you would, that there was room for this kind of a show that treated the audience like adults and had some sophisticated humor and dealt with issues and was funny that there was an actual appetite for that on network television like rather it's an appetite i mean that's still you know hopefully we can still grow that's still you know in the process season in so that's what most people don't get there yeah but i i do know that it was a thing i didn't see a lot of people doing right especially on broadcast yeah you know what i mean like even on really a lot of comedies a lot of comedy is dumb yeah

It's dumb as fuck, even, dare I say. Yeah. You know, I would agree. And I was like, I don't want to do that. I was going to say, like, especially in film, I don't even know if I would qualify it. It's everywhere. Across the board. Everywhere.

Nobody is respecting the intellect of, like, an audience. Do you think that's just going for the easy joke? Do you think it's just like... I think it's fear. I think it's fear. It's like, you know, everyone's terrified. Everyone's really, really frightened. Executives don't want to lose their jobs and, you know, creators.

writers, comedians don't want to lose their position. Right. And everyone wants, you know, and so everyone rests comfortably knowing that we're making content that no one's going to feel strongly about. And I do feel like... But hopefully go see. And I do feel... And some things are great.

With that said, I don't want to just sound super cynical. And it really does highlight... And it's probably always been like this. You know what I mean? I'm speaking of this era. But they're great... You know what I mean? This new season of VEEP is insane.

Oh, the next season? This new season. I mean, the most recent season. Yeah, it was amazing, right? Yeah. I'm just watching it, so I'm calling it the new season. Well, no, it's so funny. I literally had not seen Veep

until like a month ago, and I binged the entire four or five seasons. And I'm, like, feel like such an idiot. Oh, man, yeah. It's late to the party. It's, like, amazing. I mean, Julia Louis-Dreyfuss is just, like, a perfect actress.

Yeah, pretty much. Yeah. So, yeah, it does feel like, I mean, it's like safety is probably the enemy of comedy, right? Like, just going down the, the middle and going for vanilla and and there is I guess a cost to kind of like alienating an audience and I even got that sense frankly in watching your comedy special the new one is like one thing I really appreciate and I don't know if this permeates through all your acts over the last whatever eight or 10

years you've been doing it but like you don't seem afraid to kind of piss some people off and like this is a discussion I'm not like you don't all have to love me or love what I'm saying no you should I mean you should you probably will disagree with some I'm giving you really really honest thought and perspective, but you probably will disagree with a lot of it, good. You felt something, you know what I mean? Like, we can still continue this conversation. Like, it doesn't have to just be, you don't have to just immediately shut down. And a lot of times with comedy, especially people hear buzzwords and they turn off. Because in the context of like, well, you're supposed to laugh, people think comedians are supposed to be like court jesters. And so then

you hear something, you know, they don't think that there's a philosophy or a thought process attached to it. So they hear a word and then they shut down, you know, and then, and that's when the articles get written. That being said, you might want to consider for the next special dressing up as a court jester. That could be fun. I know. It's just saved the most fucked up.

I got a cut, I said like fuck like 90 times already. We got an adult audience. Our under 12 audiences dwindling. It's okay. Okay, good. They need to grow up sometime. Yeah. Right?

But my dad took me to see Players Club when I was like eight. Was that a Hard R? Like seven or eight. Players Club, for whatever percentage of your audience that knows that movie, they'll realize that it makes me find to sound like, hey, horrible. It's about a, this isn't the synopsis, but it's about a stripper. It's like the coming of age story of a stripper. It can be sweet. It wasn't.

I had a very similar experience I'm like 30,000 years older than you I remember a school Yeah, I am No I was a school trip How are you? Can I ask?

Are you really? Calm down It's oil valet I just exfoliate all day Right You seriously Congrats man Thank you

Congratulations It's wonderful It's a everyday is a gift Congrats man Embrace your life All you have it Man You look like you could just

You fit with the whole You look so young With the kids? Yeah you and the kids Okay My point was I saw a movie you're old enough to be like my young uncle

let's do it I don't know what's entailed do I have to any responsibilities have to get you gifts you can be by young uncle by like that like a young dorky uncle Josh yeah yeah yeah by the the kid my grandma had when she was a teenager that's a story anyway it's a horrible story

but I saw heart condition I'm sorry I just stopped no it's okay it's okay just for context so I don't trail off it was a movie Bob Hoskins and Denzel Washington called Heart Condition that my, it was a school trip and it had like the most like F-bombs

I'd ever heard. Yeah. I was like 12 and it scarred me in a good way, I think. Someone was referencing that but I haven't seen that movie.

It's not particularly a great movie. Playas Club, heart condition. And Beverly Hills Copp when I was a kid also rocked my world. Oh, that was great.

That's, I was actually just talking about that last night about how great of a comedy it was because it was truthful. I was watching some comedy the other day

and it was just like no one got killed or no one got You know, like, but like in Beverly Hillscott, people... Yeah. People die. Yeah, yeah.

They're treated you're like a fucking adult. Do you... 15. Okay. Did you see your guy Lil Rel and get out? He was amazing. The movie's amazing. He's amazing.

Yeah. That's such a fucking movie. That's one of the things that's good. Right? You know what I mean? That's like really great. It's okay. There's still some good stuff out there, guys.

Yeah. And it's, and it really stands out, you know, in the landscape of just like, you know, talk about a movie that a lot of people would be. afraid to do or not even know how to do and Jordan just really hit it out of the park and does it appeal to you? Rell is Rell is one of the funniest

Rell makes me cry laughing he may be the funniest person. Just his way about him is it the words he says or his way or both like him everything he's just so effortlessly funny yeah it's makes me mad

makes me mad sometimes he's hitting the table guys he's just punching at the air makes me but that's such a great role he gets to be like speaking of truth he speaks like he's the truth teller

in that movie he's like saying what's on the audience's mind and that's such like a fun yeah you know just I don't know vessel for the audience

right yeah yeah exactly yeah someone showed me the meme of him like just like the best friend that you want

like the best friend everyone needs you know like yeah he's the best he's the best you're listening to happy sad confused we'll be right back after this do you want to work into i mean i know you're doing some acting and you've done some acting in film does creating kind of like your own kind of film or have you written scripts for the film is that

appeal to you as well i mean you've got a lot going on obviously with car michael show but yeah it's my favorite it's my favorite thing it's my favorite thing like kind of creating it and it's just like, you know, making the content you want to see, making the television you want to watch or the film you want to see or the, you know, same thing with stand up. And stand up being such a personal, my stomach just growled. Did we get it? I hope so. If you didn't know it, that was like a loud.

That was like loud. You got to edit that out. No, no, we're keeping it. We're boosting the audio on that. Oh, man. People need to know he's a star just like us. I had, I guess I didn't eat too heavy. I had like blueberries and eggs.

But I eat that every morning. That's my every, I'm a creature, I have it. That's your, give us your, eggs and blueberries. That's how you start the day? Yeah. What kind of eggs? Sunny, two eggs, sunny. Runny, like a runny kind of thing?

Too runny. You know, a picture-esque sunny. Do you prepare it yourself or do you have a team of the drug Carmichael team prepares it for you? I don't want to answer that. Because it just seems weird to say I don't make my own eggs, but I don't. I go to a restaurant. Okay, that's acceptable. Yeah, it's not a team

There's always There's, it's easy to get sunny side up eggs People think it's hard Wherever you are People always say It's impossible to get sunny side Right now in the studio We were like oh

We just peeked the head out the door I was like we need two eggs sunny Actually like 20 minutes We could get it 15 It's New York yeah L.A might take time with the driving A little bit yeah

But that's the event Yeah we can get yeah Have you gone Hollywood Have you changed Would the kids that you grew up with Say that you've changed a bit with the success? I don't talk to them anymore.

Right. That's fair. No. No, I don't think I, I work, I just work. So it's not even really time to, I mean, no. Right. Pasta got a little bit better. Sources are a little nicer. I eat better pasta. Right.

A really good pasta. You're very organic now. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Farm fresh eggs. Yeah, but it's like, yeah. But it's, that's pretty much it. You are a big time movie star because you're starting. You're going to be in the next transatlantic.

Transformers movie. Me and the robots. Me and the machine. It's me versus the machine. Are you the guy that takes a minute? Wallberg is just on the sidelines. You're the guy? I just like saying that. Well, I'm fascinated by that because I've spent some time. I've been on a set of a Michael Bay film. Oh, really? Which one? The first Wahlberg one. Was it the last one? Was it the last one the first Wahlberg one? I think so, yeah. I can't remember it. Yeah, it was the last one, I think. Okay. How was it? How was the experience? It was fun. I felt like it was a badge of honor because he yelled at me at one point in a very nice way. He was like, he just got on the bullhorn. He's like, Josh, I need you to get out of the way, man.

Really? And I was like, oh, yeah. This is awesome. That's fun. Welcome to Hollywood. I know. Where were you here? No, it was in Detroit.

Yeah. We're shooting in Detroit. Yeah, we're shooting in Detroit. It was fun. But was that kind of weird to be in that context? Was that, like, how much is that commerce, how much of that is like just a, a, also just experience you want to have as an actor as someone in the United States? I was really curious about the experience because I wanted to see what that, that, was. was, you know, I mean, that's a different thing.

That's different than anything. Yeah. Yeah. And even for action, even for, you know, it's genre. Yeah. That's the extreme. It's still, yeah. And it's such a, it's interesting.

Yeah. It's like an actor's equivalent of being able to just like try heroin once. You know what I mean? Let's try heroin. Were you guys doing heroin on the set of Transformers? No. That sounded like I'm lying. That was a very bad one.

It's weird to have to really, to give a, no, we, but just for the record. Did you do, these are not the talking points, the Paramount. Did you? Did you not? These are not the talking points paramount, I'm sure, wants me to, let's be just clearing up that we did not do heroin. Let me rephrase it. How much heroin did you guys do on the set of transomers? What are you doing? Of a career I need to protect. You've had a good run. Don't be selfish.

Just a hero. investigations. What do you put on, like, the occupation form? If you're like, is it writer, performer, actor, comedian? Like, when someone asks you that doesn't know what you do, what do you say you would do? I usually shrug and go, I don't know. No. I make enough to buy nice eggs.

Yeah, yeah, I eat blueberries. I don't know. I don't. What do you think of yourself as, though? Self-employed. Are you an entrepreneur of yourself? Yeah, yeah, entrepreneur of self. You know, like, yeah, kind of self.

I never know what to write on those things. Yeah. Yeah. I enjoy being a producer probably, probably the most, if I'm being honest with you. Yeah. What about that? It's just a degree of control, a degree of- Yeah, it's the only way to guarantee, or have somewhat of a guarantee of content and tone

and creating it and making sure that the intentions are delivered. Yep. Yeah, being a producer. Were you burned at any point not having control on projects that kind of taught you that lesson that, like, I need to kind of be the captain of my own ship? No, I kind of came in with the expectation that you can be burned, not controlling. You know enough of the industry? We've heard the stories. Yeah, yeah.

You know what I mean? Like, you know what it is. If any time you walk into not your project, it's not your project. Right. And, you know, at best you hope for some sort of. collaborative effort but ultimately you don't have the say on a set that's not yours or on a script that's not yours and so i just try to avoid those so far so good relative to have you like do you count as someone as like your greatest advocate that kind of got that helped you steer you

in the right direction that's a good question um no i mean just in general you are you i like watching and people kind of create for themselves and create things that they seem to have fun with. So is that like when you think of someone like Louis and something like that? Are those kind of models like what he's able to do? Louis Seinfeld, you know, you look at, you know, every, in the lineage of comedy, prior Cosby, Murphy, you know, Louis Seinfeld, all those guys, you know, that did their thing. you know or do their thing you know so it allowed me i kind of can't i started really specific i don't really do i don't really do a lot of things right you know just kind of start it that way and was was the the bargain of going the network route which has worked like you know as we

kind of talked about it was kind of like seemingly in some ways an odd fit are you happy you went that way as opposed to kind of going somewhere going to the fxes of the world yeah yeah because And was that about audience just like getting it out there to the widest possible audience or honoring the form that is known on networks or what? Yeah, well, it seemed to be like a form that could still work. There's potential for, you know, again, like a smart, funny show that you could create in this. It wasn't broken. It was just like looking at an abandoned playground.

Right. You can still swing here. There's still a thing. You know what I mean? Just people weren't, you know. They weren't even giving it a shot, it seems like. Yeah, and it's a more difficult process. So once you, I mean, if you develop with, you know, a broadcast network, like a major network, like you can really develop anywhere after that.

Like, as far as process goes, it's such a tedious. Yeah, yeah. And network executives are really, you know, especially like testing and all these things are really. So if you can make it through that, run that gum, run that gum. Yeah, then it's like, oh, yeah, I got this. Oh, I could do it like, oh, what are we going to do for the internet? Yeah, okay. Where no one will watch until it's actually out there?

Yeah, oh, okay, we can do that. So, okay, coming full circle on the special, um, well, you know, what do you see when you see back of this special? Is this like a marker in time for you? Is this something that, like, is catching sort of you at a specific moment? Oh, oh, I mean, it's only the second one, but it is just, this is where I am in this moment, how I feel in this moment. It can change. A lot of things will change, but it's just me being as honest as I possibly can be for that moment. And do you like, because as I said before,

I kind of like seeing the audience at some cases, like not even knowing what to do with you for a second. Yeah. And kind of like not knowing whether to laugh or not or, I mean, you know, it's a positive special. They like it. But I don't want to like oversell it. There's like weirdness to it. But it's no. I mean, because that's, that's, That's the thing. It's like, it's a, it's a, to me, what comedy is, is a, you know, just a bearing of your emotions. And obviously you have the, the obligation to the format is to be funny and to have a point. Yeah.

And I do have that. But I like to try and show the full range of emotion and full range of thought. And, you know, it's not just about like, I mean, it's, you know, you get up and say a lot of things that get laughs. Right. Right. Again, there's the easy way, and then there's, you know, challenging and conversing with the audience in the way and kind of having a dialogue. I just try and pick the way that's fun for me and that I find interesting. I really find that route interesting and fulfilling. You know, and a lot of the people at my, even outside of traditional stand-up comedy, you know, pushed thought. You know, like reading Twain, I'm sure it wasn't always just knee-slapping. So where are you at on a Carmichael show for season three?

Have you shot everything? We are shooting as we speak. Is this going to be on the show? This little... What? You didn't see the GoPro that I... The podcast episode. The podcast episode of the Carmichael show.

Lowest rated show ever. But so, okay, you're in the middle of it. And you're enjoying it. Is the process of actually making it fun? Or, like, what's the fun part? I love it. I get to work with my friends. Yeah.

Yeah. I, like, love the people I'm around. I like the process. I like the show. And then sometimes I forget it's coming out. Sometimes forget people to get, like, I'll, you know, I'll watch a cut, you know, just in my home and be like, oh, that was great. Then I forget, I'm like, oh, yeah. Then, oh, and then it's kind of, and then we're going to release that.

Oh, that's fun. That'll be fun. I'd be interesting. I hope. I hope. Yeah, I don't know. So, and is there anything that you, right? now that you're not able to do thanks to the show and being able to do specials like this that

you want to do? Is there something on the to-do list in the imminent future that you want to get to? No, I mean, try and be good about scheduling and try and schedule things out so that my focus and attention can be on what it is and I'm doing. And I try to make sure that I'm doing what I want to do in that moment. And I want to do the show and I'm so excited by doing the show. So it's fun to do it. Like the special was tape before we began production and I wanted to do stand-up and I did it and want to do the show now and do it and I just hope that whatever we do next is exactly what I want to do. Well people as I said can check out 8 the new comedy special HBO the Saturday night 10 p.m. Check it out. It's very funny but it's also just like as I said

it's not your run-of-the-mill comedy special. I appreciate that you bring something very unique that you want to explore on stage and you're not afraid to kind of be honest and open and embrace that kind of awkwardness that comes with life on stage. I appreciate you saying that. It's while we're checking out. And Carmichael Show, do we know a timeline of when we're going to see it or no?

No. Okay. But this summer, we get to see you fight robots. Somewhere it'll be on. The summer, yeah, I'm fighting. I'm going to take it on all the robots. All the robots. They're renaming the film, Transformers.

All the robots. Gerard, it's great to meet you, man. You're welcome anytime. Thank you very much. And your office next time, no. Okay, we'll just need to move every single bit of equipment, which is going to cost a lot of money, but you'll help with that bill. No, I'll help move.

Okay, that doesn't do much. I'm lying. I'm not going to help you. Gerard Carmichael, everybody. Thank you. Add laughter. Add applause. Thank you. Stomach growl.

And so ends another edition of happy, sad, confused. Remember to review, rate, and subscribe to this show on iTunes or wherever you get your podcast. I'm a big podcast person. I'm Daisy Ridley and I definitely wasn't pressure to do this by Josh. This episode of Happy Sad Confuse was produced by Michael Katano,

James T. Green, Mukda Mohan and Kasha Mahalovich for the MTV Podcast Network with additional engineering by Little Everywhere. You can subscribe to this and all of our other shows on iTunes, Stitcher,

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