Inside Conan: An Important Hollywood Podcast - Chris Gethard

Episode Date: May 24, 2019

Comedian and Fellow Earwolf Podcaster Chris Gethard (Beautiful Stories From Anonymous People) joins Conan writers Mike Sweeney and Jessie Gaskell to talk about going from worshipping Conan in college to doing bits on the Late Night with Conan O’Brien show, one of the scariest and heartbreaking memories he has involving a Conan bit he was in, and going back to Public Access to help out the next generation of comedians.This episode is brought to you by Roman (www.getroman.com/insideconan).Check out Conan Without Borders: Australia: https://teamcoco.com/australiaCheck out Conan25: The Remotes: https://conan25.teamcoco.com/Got a question for Inside Conan? Call our voicemail: [phone] and e-mail us at [e-mail] Conan videos, tour dates and more visit TeamCoco.com

And now, it's time for Inside Conan, an important Hollywood podcast. Hi, welcome. Hi there. I'm Jesse Gaskell. I'm Mike Sweeney, and welcome to Inside Conan. An important Hollywood podcast. We are back in Los Angeles this week. Mike Sweeney, and welcome to Inside Conan. An important Hollywood podcast. We are back in Los Angeles this week.

We're very happy to be back, but we had a great time in New York City last week. We did. We were there for the upfronts. Yes. Which Jeff Ross, executive producer Jeff Ross. Of our show, talked about at length on an earlier episode. He did, in monotone. Yes, in his monotone way. And up front, again, it's when all the TV networks trot out their wares for advertisers and try to get them excited about the new season.

Yeah, new content. The new slate of shows. So what does TBS have in their new slate of shows? I was asking what was TBS, which a lot of listeners are probably like, what's television? Yes. What are these shows? Oh, yeah.

We should clarify, this whole podcast is about a TV show. That's right. Conan, hosted by Conan O'Brien. On TBS. It's been on TBS since 2010. It's in cable. It's in some people's cable packages. That's right. Or a 2010. It's in cable. It's in some people's cable packages. That's right.

Or a lot of people watch it online. I watch mine on those little stickers that come on fruit. I will only watch it live here in the studio. It's like going to a Broadway show for me. I am. I'm very, very old school. Speaking of Broadway, back to New York. Oh, yes. So you were at the upfronts.

Conan hosted the TBS upfronts, right? He didn't host it. He just appeared. He went out and did five minutes. He got on early. He did great. And then he got off stage and headed out the door. So you guys were there for about-

20 minutes. 20 minutes. No, about an hour total. Yeah. But it was great. But I heard his set went well. He did very well. Yes.

For our new overlords. Because now our company's owned by AT&T. Right. The writers wrote a lot of jokes about AT&T. They did. The writers wrote some great jokes. There were a lot of- Conan did them. Yes.

To great acclaim. After the upfronts, there's going to be a bad reception. Exactly. I had a line about, there's only two bars at the reception. The party only have two bars. Yeah. And it killed. It did.

It was great. A room full of executives. That's the worst thing you could have said to me. And sales executives. And then we got out of there and then raced back to the hotel. And then you and I met at the Earwolf Studio in New York. It's very fancy. It's right behind the library. Kind of like giving the finger to books

in the library. This giant podcast studio. We're going to put you at a business public library. And we talked to a lot of people who are rarely in LA. And so we went to them, which was great. Yes, because they're that big. We had to travel all the way to them. That's right. And one of those people, very funny guy that a lot of you probably know, is Chris Gethard.

Chris Gethard, who, hey, you're probably like, what's his connection with the Conan show? Well, he's been a guest the past few years, several times. Great guest. Yeah. But we found out that years ago on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, he made several appearances in some comedy sketches. It was his TV debut. Yes. He was like in his early 20s.

He was like a kid in college who would commute into New York City from New Jersey. That's right. Because he started getting small. Well, there's a whole backstory to it. Yeah. They're going to hear it. They're going to hear all about it. I think Chris really wanted to talk to us because he had something he wanted to get off his chest.

Yeah. He had a really traumatic experience on the show. Yes. That early on in his career, it sounds like almost completely wrecked him. Yeah. He said it was one of the most traumatic experiences he's ever had. I'm surprised he stayed in show business. I know. So he wants to come on and talk about it. So I don't remember what it is. I don't know what it is. And we're excited to hear what it is. And we promise when this is all over and we find out all about it,

we'll play the audio of this momentous event in his life, this sketch that was on the corner of the show. Yeah, we actually played it for him. Yes. In front of him. He tried to cover his ears and close his eyes. So let's get into it. All right.

Here's Chris Gethard. Well, let's introduce our guest. Oh right. Here's Chris Gethard. Well, let's introduce our guest. Oh, right. We have a guest. We have a great guest. Here in New York City. He is a staple of the NY comedy scene. Absolutely.

And a podcast aficionado. And he's been on Conan many times. Many, many times. Both as a performer and then as a panel guest. Yes, and today, hopefully, we're going to talk about some of his early performances on Conan. Before there was even video. Yes, before we moved to LA, which was now 10 years ago.

So without any further ado, it's Chris Guthard. Hello. Hi, Chris Guthard. Hi. Thanks for having me. Thanks for being here. Well, you were already here because you were recording 10 other podcasts. Yeah, I was cranking out all sorts of stuff.

I was making moves, hustling and grinding. That's what I'm known for. You actually live here and we had to knock you off your cot and say it's time. Well, I was very excited to have a reason to leave my house. And I say this with love love but I had my first kid a month ago. Oh my gosh. Congratulations.

Thanks. Wow. So anything that's like a legitimate reason to come up for air is a very welcome thing in my life. And I feel bad saying that

because my wife has less of those. Right. We could have her on this podcast too. Yeah, she would love it. We're open to that. She's currently sort of like

I just assume she has a podcast. Yeah, she has three or four. Okay. to that. She's currently sort of like... I just assume she has a podcast. Yeah, she has three or four. Okay. But yeah, she's currently serving the small god that has made her... Wow. What kind of child did you have? We had a boy. Oh, your boy. They call him a boy. Yeah. That's a god. And he's the best, and I love him,

but he has turned us into... I didn't realize they kind of enslave you. I didn't know that part. Yeah. That's weird. You thought he would just go off on his own right away. Well, everybody's like, you don't get sleep. But they don't mention you're also at his beck and call. And every time he moves, you freak out. And then every time he doesn't move, you are thrown into terror.

And every time he makes a sound, you have to beg him, like, what do you want? I don't know what you want. And this has been going on for a month where he's like a weird God that has, yeah, he's like enslaved us to his needs. And it's strange. You'll do anything to keep him going. What's his name? You might as well tell us.

His name's Caleb. Oh, great. We're calling him Cal. Cute. I like that. Yeah. I thought I really liked Cal. And then my wife and I both liked it.

And then we reversed engineer. You know, Calvin's the obvious one, but I think I look too much like Calvin from Calvin I really liked Cal, and then my wife and I both liked it, and then we reversed engineer. Calvin's the obvious one, but I think I look too much like Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes. So if he looks like me, I mean- Especially when you urinate. Yes, especially when I'm standing on the bumper of a truck. On the back of a truck, yeah. But I didn't want to saddle him with that curse if he winds up looking like me and is named Calvin. That is a thoughtful-

So did you two fight over names? No. We did fight over, my wife always makes the joke, she's fantastic at research, but she's not great at decisions. And I'm the opposite. I'm like, someone will be like, you should buy this thing. And I'll be like, great, sounds good. Let's do it.

Let's go. My parents are the same way. My parents just bought a house that they never visited. They just bought it off the internet in Florida. Like on eBay? It was like through some real estate site. It was in a complex that they really liked for seniors.

So they knew they liked the complex and they saw a house come up and they were in upstate New York because they're snowbirds and they're like, yeah, we'll buy it. I was going to ask where they did it from. Upstate New York. They bought a house in Florida. Have they seen it now? No, they're going down in a week. Had they been to the complex?

You said they liked it. They drove through the complex and they liked it. All right. Probably all of the houses are the same. I think they were like, they're all similar and not bad. And this one seems fine. But I take after them. So we didn't fight about names, but my wife had a list of about 30.

Okay. And at some point I said, what if we each write our top three off the list of 30 that we think are okay? And she said five, give me five. And then both of our number one was Caleb. So that sealed the deal. Oh, yeah.

What a great, and then it reaffirms your love for each other and how you're a perfect match. Oh, yeah. What a great game. And then it reaffirms your love for each other and how you're a perfect match. Otherwise you would have had to divorce. Look at that, yes. Before the baby even comes. Because it was around like seven months so that prospect of divorce was terrifying.

Right. I was so excited though to be asked because I have such fond memories of especially, I mean of every, being on panel was such an honor, but those old days in New York, I look back now, it's one of those things where as you get older, you look back and realize, oh, there's been like a few stretches of my life that were these like golden ages. Right. And that being on the old late night show was a part of that for me.

That's cool. Maybe the formative stretch of my entire life. And you don part of that for me. That's cool. Maybe the formative stretch of my entire life. And you don't know that when you're dealing with it. I love that you have golden ages and you're still incredibly young. I'm 38. Yeah. That's young. Yeah, it is.

But I also started in New York when I was 19. So it is 50% of my life. Wow. So I think there is some warranted reminiscing of 50% of my fucking life I think there is some like warranted reminiscing of like 50% of my fucking life I've been doing this in this city and there's been so many times where it's ebbed and flowed and

when I started at UCB it was really exciting because I was in college did you start there like when it opened? pretty close right after they opened their first theater so I think everybody from college. Did you start there when it opened? Pretty close. Right after they opened their first theater. I think everybody from UCB, I haven't performed there regularly

in a number of years, but I feel like whenever you start, you feel like you just missed it when it was at its best. They had their first theater on 22nd Street, which was in an old abandoned strip club. I started right after they opened that. Then I always was like oh the people who were there they used to do their shows at a space called solo arts and i was like oh i missed the solo arts days i missed when it

was at its best when it was just in someone's living room yeah but yeah you got to imagine i was 19 and i would take the train up from ruckers university in new jersey oh you went to ruckers i went to ruckers so i was i i in, there was a little improv troupe there and that was, you know, that was 20 years ago. There weren't, there weren't now every,

I feel like now I have friends who their kid is taking improv classes and he's in fourth grade and there's like improv classes in his town. Like there weren't many

college improv troupes back then. So I showed up, you know, it hit the summer break. I was like, I really like improv. I was actually

extremely depressed and it was kind of the only thing that made me happy. And I found UCB's website, and it was just nonsense. It made no sense. It gave no information. It was all bits. Right. I always remember their class description said there were all these squares on their website,

and it didn't say what the links were. So you had to click all these different squares until you found the classes. And then it said... Was that intentional, or was that just bad programming? It was intentional. They were real. They were fucking..., was that intentional or was that just bad? It was intentional. They were real. It was real. It was very punk rock in a way that,

and I want to be clear, like I love UCB and I still think they do a lot of great stuff for people. But back then it was lawless. It was the wild west and their class description just said, um, we will teach you gorilla fighting techniques and spit takes. And that was it. And I just signed up. I didn't know what it was. My improv group had been doing like the Who's Line Is It Anyway games. And then I'd come up and I was like, I didn't even know

what long form was until I was like halfway through level one. I went and saw it. But being in college, that was, you know, I think that was 2000 that I started. Being a college kid in 2000, it meant you worshipped Conan. I have so many memories being at this house that I used to party at. It was this punk house on Robinson Street in New Brunswick, New Jersey. And we'd be blasting music and screaming and yelling. But when Conan came on, everybody sat down. I remember we would sit there with 40s and we would watch Conan. And we worshipped Conan. We, everybody sat down. What? Remember, we would sit there with 40s, and we would watch Conan.

And we worshipped Conan. We all worshipped Conan. My brother introduced me to Conan. And then I show up at UCB, and you go on a Sunday night. Right. And it's like all the people I was seeing on Conan. It was ASCAP on Sunday. You'd go to see ASCAP, and you'd see Stack and Dorf and Glazer.

Andy Richter. Yeah, you'd see Richter sometimes, Brian McCann sometimes. And then I'd start to, I took a class, my level two class was with Michael Delaney, who was on all the time then. I was like, what? And then you'd see the staring contest bits. And I was like, I'm this close. Yeah, one degree.

It feels like I am this close from just walking into my own television set. And then when I got the call, it blew my mind. How did they find you initially? Well, I can say very confidently, because I've been told this was the case. I was 20 years old, but I was a real late bloomer. So in the early days, I was cast all the time as a teenager so that the production wouldn't have to actually hire a teenage actor and bring a stage mom along. So I, one of my first

bits, I remember playing a, it was a desk drive where I was dancing with a girl at a senior prom and he ran, he drove the car through the senior prom and we all had to act like he ran us over with a car. Um, anytime, you know, saying saying that out loud it doesn't sound funny but it was pretty good and uh what was all behind his desk yes pretending the desk was a car yes and i uh yeah that i was playing a lot of when when you needed a young plucky kid you'd call me one one of the bits i remember loving the most was dorf wrote a bit about a kid going home for college on Thanksgiving break. And I was cast as that kid. And the good thing, Dorf always liked me.

He would come around UCB a lot and taught workshops to us. And we all were scared of Dorf because he was the real deal. Yes. He was like, oh, man, Chicago. Oh, yeah. We worked with him and he was. Well, all those improvisers. It, yeah. We worked with him, and he was... Well, all those improvisers.

It was tough. They were all these tall... Now improv kids are like me, short, dorky, white guys with glasses. But his era... You look at Stack and Dorf and McCann, they're all six foot plus. Imposing. Yeah.

Cary Grant started out in improv. Yes. But I remember Dorf always liked me because I committed so hard. And he committed so hard. And he cast me in this bit where we came home for Thanksgiving break. And one of the beats was playing football with your uncle. And he played the uncle. And he was like, I'm going to tackle this shit out of you.

And it's going to be real. We were in Rowie's backyard in New Jersey. Or his aunt's backyard in New Jersey. And if you watch that clip, he trucks me into the ground. Oh, wow. I have so many fond memories, yeah. That's great. That was a really funny bit.

I think he just wanted to bully you. He wrote that. It was a child by fire, for sure. I loved that one. I remember McBrayer got sick one day, and I got called in to replace him. And I was so scared because it was a Glazer bit, and I was terrified of Glazer. Terrified of Glazer. Again, yes, Glazer can be intimidating.

Yeah. Yeah. And another improviser that I worshipped as an improv nerd. Yeah. So what happened? It was good. It was satellite channels. But I was so scared because that was when McBrayer was like on a hot streak. McBrayer was like the go-to guy.

Yes. And everybody always knew. Like the reputation with Glazer was like, you don't really fuck around too much. Like he wants to nail his shit. He wants to crush his bits. He's not the guy you go and like you're like rubbing elbows with in the van on the way to location. Some of the writers, like this guy is, he loves comedy, he wants to nail comedy.

And I could just feel it. He and I had never spoken. And I could, I don't know. I don't want to put words in his mouth. I was also an anxiety riddled kid. But I remember feeling like he had McBrayer and now he's got me. And he's sitting here feeling like, is this shit going to get cut

that I put all this work into? Right. Did you have to go to a tanning booth before? I wish, I wish. I had to have very white teeth and very tense skin. But it was... You have the voice down. Yeah.

Me and Jack, it's funny. He and I are so close, but we've also publicly torn each other to shreds so many times. It's a weird relationship. But yeah, I played a Dutch boy on a show called The Weakest Clog, where I had to throw clogs against the wall, and then mine broke, and I had to be sad. And I remember Conan complimented my acting, was what I heard, and Glazer was thrilled. And I remember feeling like on the moon, like I was walking on sunshine, because I made

Conan and John Glazer happy, and that meant everything to me back then. That meant everything. Oh my god. That's so sweet. I don't know. I'm not letting you guys talk enough. I should say that before the end of this, we should also at some point, because I can reminisce about all the happiest memories. I'm in the beginning. I was at the 10-year

anniversary when you guys shut down the block. Yes. And he was leading a charge of hundreds of us. I'm right up front. I pissed off Ben Schwartz, a young Ben Schwartz, so bad then because they put all the after actors up front. Yeah. And he said, he tells me to this day, I kind of big time. He wasn't an after yet.

And he had pushed his way up to the front. And if I remember right, he was like trying to do bits with a friend of mine from UCB who's a young lady. And I think she had expressed that maybe she wanted him to stop and I kind of was like, dude, you should back off. And he's like,

you just tried to fucking big time me at the Conan thing because you were in the union and I wasn't. Oh, wow. When did he call you out on that? A couple years later. A couple years later.

Which is not really my style. Yeah, he told me for years. To be fair. It doesn't sound like that would be your style. I hope his old partner never hears this. He had a comedy partner back then who I think was notoriously kind of just annoying.

He's a lovable dude who's just annoying. And my guess is I probably big-timed his partner, and he was the collateral damage. Because I really loved Ben from the start. But I have all these happy memories. But also, I would say to this day, one of the scariest and most heartbreaking memories I have involved a Conan bit, too. Oh. Absolutely.

Well, we're out of time. Yeah. Yes. You gotta tell us. It was bad. It was bad. Oh, boy. I still cringe

when I think about it. Oh, no. I talked about it, I think on a podcast or something. Was this something that aired? It was. Okay. So we can find it. Oh, my God. And I think about it. I talked about it, I think, on a podcast or something. Was this something that aired? It was. Okay, so we can find it. Oh, my God.

And people have found it, especially since the archive was just put up. You've talked about it. I've talked about it publicly, and a few fans of mine were like, is this the thing you're talking about? And they will link to the clip, and I cannot watch it. And it must have been in 2002 or 2003. It was bad. It fills me with panic to this day.

It was a bit, I wasn't even the funny part. I was the setup man. I was playing a page. Yeah. And I'll never forget, the whole idea was I was going to run down the hallway,

interrupt Conan while he set something up, and I just had to say, I forget if it was like, the landlord is coming, or Mr. Blah Blah Blah is coming. It was like some figure of authority in Conan's life. It was like exposition. It was the setup of like,

hey, this guy that you're, he's tracked you down, and he's on his way, and I'm supposed to warn you, this guy is coming, and then I go away, and the guy comes in and does the bit. And we rehearsed it,

and it went fine, and does the bit and we rehearsed it and it went fine and that's light lifting and i had done probably 15 bits then so i think i was like pretty accepted you were pro people thought i was like a nice quiet hard-working kid and i'd done a couple things that worked so you know it's a very family vibe it was really cool and i even when you go and do bits that get cut and you're sitting in the hallway with all these people and it's just a fun day and like everybody's in a bear suit holding the head and then they're like a bit got cut and you go it was like the most fun stretch of life so i was part of the gang and i'm not throwing anyone under the bus it was my fault but you will remember that were, I don't know if they were of equal status, but there were two stage managers back in the day.

Yes. And one of them, I think, was a little bit more of a taskmaster. And one of them, I won't name names because it's not fair. One of them, I think, was a little bit more wanted to be one of the gang. Yes. If you know who I'm talking about. Oh, yes, I do. One of them was probably the one who still works for us.

One of them, yes. Now. To call him a taskmaster. Probably the one who still works for us. One of them. Yes. Now to call him a taskmaster. I think when it's go time. Oh, he was the taskmaster. Yeah. If it's who I'm thinking. Yes. It's the guy who I still run into in LA.

It's just when it's time to get the work done. Yeah. He's getting the work done. He's the nicest guy in the world. Yeah. When the show is up and running. I thought he could have been either one of those people. Yes.

So the other guy who I have a lot of love for not throw him under the bus. He was the one holding the door. And the whole thing is the door opens. I thought he could have been either one of those people you described. So the other guy, who I have a lot of love for, not throwing him under the bus, he was the one holding the door. And the whole thing is the door opens, I walk out. He has the headset on. And he and I, he's like, how you been? This and that. And we're talking and kind of joking around. And then all of a sudden he goes, oh, okay. And opens the door. And I was like, what? And I

hesitate. So I run out and I'm like, Conan, Conan, whatever the name was, Conan, Mr. Hubert's come in. And Conan just looks at me and goes in front of the whole live audience. I mean, this is the taping. It's not dress. He goes, why don't we take that back? And let's see if you can hit your cue. And I was just like, okay. And you just see me. I'm pretty sure that's not in the script. Oh God. And I'm already such a pale bird but you just see any you see the blood drain out of my face and i just nod and step back and uh the door opens again i come out i say the

line again and he just gets a huge laugh he says something like right oh wow that's such a surprise surprising news real surprising news he's really blindsided me with that one, Kate. And roars, roars. Right, right. And I went back out and it was just sweat. Ugh. Ugh. Hearing how I worshipped the show and then got to walk onto it. And then I'll never forget, though, the sweetest thing in the world, Brian Stack and Kevin Dorff, before I even got to the end of the hallway, I saw them run into my field of vision

and they were like, it's okay, he got a laugh. He's never mad if he gets a laugh. He's never angry if it leads to a laugh. And I was just like, oh God, oh God, oh God, oh God. And I watched it that night. You were inconsolable. I think I cried when I watched it. I think I cried.

And I don't know if it was directly related, but I stopped getting called as often directly related but I stopped getting called as often after that. Oh my god. I stopped getting called as often. Wow. Permanently?

No. I remember when when the show was switching over I got a call from Celia then that was like Celia Plievo

who's our casting director. Hugely important to me like helped so many of us. Celia was great. In the early days, the UCB was sort of like a symbiotic... Oh boy, yes. You guys helped us all get

health insurance through the union. It was huge. It was huge. And she called me when you guys were switching the show over or moving to LA and she was like, yeah, we're bringing in all the old time people we love and getting everybody one more bit. And I was like, oh, great.

So I was brought back, but I don't think between those two things, I did more than one or two other things. And I got why? Because I mean, maybe you had just aged out of the, there's truth to that. There is truth that like some of those roles I used to get, it wouldn't make sense. And I was now like 24, 25 years old. Yes, yes. I was no longer helping to skirt child labor laws.

I will, what you experienced, I observed, happened to other people because someone really wasn't paying attention. Yeah. Same person? Yeah, sure. Every now and then. The person? Yeah, sure. Every now and then. The queuing was not good. And it just drive me crazy.

But it was my fault. It was my fault. I'll never forget. Because he was like, oh. It wasn't your fault. But the door opened. And I knew it was just so. Door opens. Walk out the door.

And he just opened it. I went, wait, huh? And I just, I was like, oh. But no, it is his job to cue you and so it's not your fault. We'll share responsibility. Please let it go on this. You can see my body language now though.

Years later. Yeah. Years later, you can see that I'm still like, oh God, I dropped the ball. I have a technical question. I mean,

that would be a very easy thing to pull up in post, right? The space after the door opens. I gotta laugh. Oh, I thought it was. No, I mean, that would be a very easy thing to pull up in post, right? The space after the door opens. They got a laugh. Oh, I thought it was... I mean, if Conan had just played it... Wait, correct me if I'm wrong. I got the impression.

Did they leave in the whole thing? They aired the whole thing on NBC. I thought maybe they pulled it up. But they kept the whole thing in because Conan got the laugh. He got the big laugh. But if he hadn't, if he had just played along with it and not thrown you under the bus, which he did. Because we knew then, too.

All the UCB people knew. At dress, once they say Conan's on his way down, put your game face on. He's the most lovable dude in the world. You watch him on TV. But this is a job. And he's who he is for a reason. And you nail it in dress. And the writer reason and you nail it in dress and then you help the, and the writer wants you to nail in dress so they get their shit on and then you

nail it on the show. Maybe this will make you feel better. Conan cried that night afterwards and said, I should not have made fun of that actor. Oh, I thought you were going to say, I should not have employed that human being. Now you've been a guest. How many times on the show since then? I think three. As a panel guest. I think three.

And have you brought that up? Did you ever tell him this? No, I'm too heartbroken still. Oh, you don't want to talk? Yeah. Oh my God. Well, it seems like the next time you're on, you should show that clip. If I am.

If I am. I think we should have you redeem yourself. At this point, I felt really good about my first panel appearance. My second one, not so much. The third one, I felt like I bounced back. Conan's opinion matters more to me than it should. He does not know. I think I said to him on the air that when we were doing the Gethard show,

I would constantly think about, is this something that Conan would give a thumbs up to? That was like a standard. I took my writers, my entire cast and crew actually, when we got picked up by cable off of public access, I rented a giant house in the Catskills and we all went there for a weekend to just sort of say like, hey, we're going to cable.

A retreat. Yeah, and I was like, I don't want to betray anybody who helped us get here so we all got to learn how to do this. We're just going to go over. And I showed everybody the comedy that has most influenced me and influenced my approach to the show. And the very first thing we watched,

and I've said this on record so many times, I was like, I think this is the height of comedy. As far as I'm concerned, this is the best piece of comedy I've ever watched. And it was Conan Takes Mr. T Apple Picking. To me, that is the high watermark of everything I was chasing with my TV show. I would, if I could nail one thing as good as that,

I would have felt good. So his opinion does matter so much. But now the last time I did it, we actually joked around backstage a bunch and I was like, okay, I can remember this is just, he doesn't remember that. He doesn't care what I did on a show in 2003.

He didn't care that night. He probably doesn't even know it was you. No. I don't think he can know it was you. I will say that I legitimately do not think he remembers that I used to do bits on the show. I don't think he knows that. I bet. And I'm psyched about that.

Because you're so professional. Yes. And because it means he doesn't remember that one day. He does have a pretty good memory for when you make mistakes. Oh, God. Yes. Why? I don't mean you specifically, but just people in general.

Anyone who works on the show. And he brings up something I did that got cut in 1999. That's his hair. If there's just a quiet moment where, hey, let's enjoy the quiet moment. Or I can rake Sweeney over the coals. But you're also not the first. It happens all the time where people, like, it's their first big appearance on the show and they flub a line. Which is so much worse than missing the cue, I think.

I always, and some people, you could tell they're a little nervous in rehearsal, and that's when I, that's usually, I'm just like, oh no, if they're not super cool in rehearsal, that's a bad sign. When you add the crowd and churn

up, they often go up on the line during the show, and it's just, oh, it up on the line during the show. And it's just, oh, it's the worst. Worst feeling. I just feel so bad for them. Matt O'Brien has his story of when he played Poseidon. Right. Or was it Aquaman?

I don't know. It was something made up. Aquagod. Yeah. And he stood up in the audience and I think the line was my powers are limitless and he completely tripped over my powers are limitless. That's perfect.

And then Conan's just like, except for the powers of speech. Yeah, exactly. But then he got a huge laugh on it. And it made the air. And it was a blooper. The last week of the shows, when we were winding up in New York back in 2009. He aired that as part of a blooper bit.

But not your piece. I am certain, though. That's the thing. I'm certain if I had the heart to watch it again, I'd watch it and be like, oh, it wasn't. It's probably not that bad. It sounds really funny. I know. Yeah, it's not that bad.

But it cut me to my quick. Oh, God. It cut me to my core. Well, especially the way he built it up. Like, you were working your way in. You were kind of like, yeah. You know, they're calling me once a week. This is your dream job.

Yeah. I wasn't one of the once a week guys. I wasn't Delaney or Charlie Sanders. I was a solid twice a month guy. All right. And then sometimes I'd go on a little hot streak. But here's the other thing that was so fun was I was part of this comedy group at Rutgers. Right.

And then there was this other comedy group that was like much, Regard is much cooler than that. Oh, I hate them. And they hated me. They hated me. Wait, this was at Rutgers? At Rutgers. They hated me.

We had a little feud between our groups. How did you get into a feud? An improv feud. Because we were college kids who took it too seriously. But our improv group was like, fine. And then we just, we went on a hot streak where there's a bunch of people who still, 20 years later, do a ton

of stuff around New York. One of our guys went to Boom Chicago and Katie Dippold who's your former intern, has written some hugely successful movies. Really big screenwriter. Yeah. She and I were in the same improv group together.

She's great. She lived on my floor freshman year, and I convinced her. She was pledging a sorority. And I was like, you're 10 times cooler than that. You're so funny. Come join the comedy group. And she was in- Did she do it? Did she listen to you? Yeah. cooler than that. You're so funny. Come join the comedy group. Did she do it? Did she listen to you?

Yeah. Well, she was in both comedy groups. Whoa. I feel like I can air out some dirty laundry. She was in that group first, and then I convinced her to join our group, and then we became the hot ticket around Rutgers. It was college improv. Yeah.

I will say. It's a big school. Were you yet appearing on Conan at that point? No. No, okay. But I knew all those kids. So she was dating a guy in that group. I was madly in love with her.

That was a thing where they were like, why are you in this group with this dude who's clearly just fawning over you? And then I knew, though. I knew all those kids were also watching Conan. I knew, though, I knew all those kids were also watching Conan. I knew it. And then one night, the first time I was on, I was like, I know what's coming. And they went out of their way to just shit all over me. And I'm like, I know they're mad.

I know they're mad. And I know it's jealousy. And I know that in some way. That feels great. When you're a college kid in the year 2000, 2001, and you have a feud with another comedy group, and then I show up on Conan, it's like drop the mic, we won the feud.

Right. Were they like, oh, what, are you related to him or something? A lot of stuff like that. Yeah. A lot of stuff. People love to go to something like that. But it was also the best. I was like...

Oh, that's so satisfying. You kept your trap shut and you just let them watch it. Just let them watch. Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you. I would go to every college reunion and still be lording that over. I have not gone back to any reunions.

I am jealous you went to Rutgers in New Brunswick. I went to Rutgers in Newark. I never knew that. Well, it's not something I brag about. Same here. I hated it. Did you hate your Rutgers experience? I commuted 70 miles a day. From where?

From Montville, New Jersey. Montville? Montvale. Montvale, more up north. Yes. Yeah. I was living with my crazy mother. Yeah.

You know I'm an obsessive Jersey guy. I didn't know that. Yeah. I worked at a magazine about Jersey for years. I'm happy I grew up in New Jersey. I love it. I'm proud of it. I'm probably obsessive Jersey guy. I didn't know that. Yeah. I worked at a magazine about Jersey for years. I'm happy I grew up in New Jersey. I love it. I'm proud of it. I'm proud of my back.

I didn't turn my back on it. Yeah. Yeah. Love it. I didn't know you were obsessive about it. I love it. What's your big Jersey obsession? Yeah, what was your beat at the magazine?

The magazine is called Weird New Jersey, and it's all about haunted places in New Jersey. Oh, my God. That sounds fun. So this was the same era. My day job. The Pine Barrens. Yes. Stuff New Jersey. Oh my God. Oh. That sounds fun. So this was the same era. My day job. The Pine Barrens. Yes. Stuff like that.

The Jersey Devil. Right. Trying to think what's up near Montville because that's pretty far up north in Bergen County, right? Exit 172. You know, a lot of Jersey kids sneak into abandoned mental hospitals. There's the Devil's Tree, a haunted tree. There's really nothing haunted.

The Devil's Tower in Alpine. But when you're aboard- Nothing was built there until 1960 it's true everyone's still alive no one's died yet so I loved it I loved it

but yeah take the train in I hated Rutgers my life was like I'd go to Rutgers I think I packed all my classes into two days a week

maybe three days a week I'd work two days a week at this magazine about ghosts and then almost every night you did that in college yeah and then almost week. I'd work two days a week at this magazine about ghosts. And then almost every night- You did that in college? Yeah. And then almost every night I'd drive in and do classes or shows at UCB. You had a plan. I mean, that's very impressive to me.

Yeah. You were very cool. I would be like, well, I'm in college. I'll be honest. What I was, was very, very depressed. And it was the only thing that made me happy was comedy and this magazine. So I was like, I know I'm going, very depressed. And it was the only thing that made me happy was comedy and this magazine. So I was like, I know I'm going to drop out. And I tried to drop out. My parents were heartbroken. So they told me to get a degree.

I got an American Studies degree. And I just knew. How often do you use that degree? I mean, I knew before I graduated. I was making fun of it. But I knew. It's like many Jersey dads. I was like, okay, I got to work as hard at comedy as my dad works at his job or else he's going to call bullshit on this.

Were you like your parents? Did you choose Rutgers without seeing it first? I did. I chose it without seeing it. And largely why I went was they didn't make me fill out an essay. My grades were good enough that I just sent it in as a safety school. And then I got in and I was like, I'll go there. And then I looked back on that and realized, oh, I made a major life decision on a whim.

And I looked back and I was like, oh, that was the beginning of some severe clinical. That was an early warning sign that I had what would later be diagnosed as pretty severe clinical issues with depression. But I just needed an escape. Although it sounds kind of genetic as well. Oh, yes. Your parents are. You mentioned your dad. My dad's a workaholic.

There's a lot of alcoholism in my extended family, not my parents. Me too. Yeah. Rutgers, alcoholism. New Jersey, hard life. Yeah. And yeah, it was just, I'd drive in,

I'd get those Conan gigs every once in a while. I was doing shows. It's so funny because. It's the best life. It sounds like the opposite of a guy who's depressed. It sounds like a guy with a life plan. It's like, I'm going to go to college, but I'm also... Yeah, really focused.

Yeah, very focused. It was also just so exhausting. Yeah. I think that was where a lot of the... I was just sort of manically trying to escape my own brain. Right. And I was so tired all the time. But I also look back and I'm like,

oh, that was simultaneously one of the toughest stretches of life and one of the most beautiful, like you said, where I'm like, oh, I put in the work and made it work out. Right.

I think that stretch of life is tough for everybody too. I mean, I think that's a really, like your brain is growing. Solidifying. Yeah. Yes. In a way that is painful.

But you also, aren't you comparing yourself to other people you kind of look up to and like, where were they at this age at 22 and oh God,

I'm behind. Yeah. And then I, because I was always behind. But you sound ahead of everybody. And then some of the people at UCB would try to tell,

like I was 21 years old. I was on a team with Rob Corddry, Jack McBrayer, Seth Morris and Brian Husky. Like these guys were heavy hitters. I was this kid would try to tell like i was 21 years old i was on a team with rob corddry jack mcbrayer wow seth morris and brian husky like these guys were heavy hitters i was this kid and i'd be all like oh god i'm dropping the ball nothing's happening and they were like you're 21 and i'd be like i know i know and they'd try to explain they'd like we didn't you're so ahead of the curve like you've done this for years and i remember husky being like we were all pissed when you showed up because you had done it in college.

And we were like, that's not fair. Isn't that funny? You're ahead of the curve. That's funny. But you didn't even get to enjoy your envy-making youth. I didn't. I didn't. I look back.

It's one of my only regrets was that I didn't realize that that was such a good stretch of life. And now I know it was. Well, when you were doing improv with all these heavy hitters, did you ever get to a comfort level where you wouldn't even think about it and just go on stage, or was it always like, uh? Eventually. Well, I'll say when I got to that point where I couldn't think about it and never had anxiety, I got there,

and then there were probably about five years where I still was really heavily invested in being the best. And then once that wound up wearing off, and I was just showing up and doing shows and screwing around, that's when I knew it was time to leave. And that's when I kind of recommitted to comedy and attacked stand-up instead. Because I don't ever want to be someone who can just stroll

on stage and not feel that kind of worrisome. A little pit in your stomach. And then you get the adrenaline rush that comes with defeating that. I just feel like if I'm, I didn't want to no offense to my compatriots at UCB but like maybe sometimes you'd see somebody where it's like

what are you still getting out of doing it? And it's I don't judge but I just wonder where it's like, what are you still getting out of doing it? And it's, I don't judge, but I just wonder. And it's like, I just, I wanted to keep pushing myself. So I switched to stand up after a certain point. I love how you're always challenging yourself. I try. I try. So when did you switch?

So podcasting now, I know, what's going to be the next frontier? Well, I'm at a real crossroads because my show my show you know we did my show on public access for four and a half years and then we had i think uh three seasons between two cable networks so we did over 200 episodes i kind of defined my life right and it's canceled now and it was time to cancel it and it hasn't made me too sad and i don't have many regrets um but it's kind of the first time in in probably 10 or 12 years that i don't really know what i'm gonna do next um that's kind of exciting kind of exciting because i'm now also at an age i'm also now at an age and an experience level where i'm like, I think I have enough goodwill.

I think people regard me as a pretty above board dude that I think I'll land on my feet. And in comedy, as you guys know, it takes a very, very long time to have that confidence. But like this is the first year where I first year since 2002, where I think I'm not going to make or no it's 2006 where I'm not going to make health insurance through acting gigs and I'm like that's scary right but I think I have enough money saved up now that I can just pay for health insurance and keep trying to maybe do some stuff I like so I'm actually going back to public access tv oh oh awesome which is maybe a downfall but I'm to go back in a way where I'm, I'm trying to, I'm trying to build something to sort of take what I built.

And I've always taken a lot of joy. If you look at the writer's rooms I had from, um, my show, I think one of the big legacies of my show is there's a lot of people who are starting to catch buzz who their first gigs acting and writing were on my show. That's great. Oh, cool. So you're being like a Conan for a while. I was lucky enough to tell Conan that backstage. I said to him, I was like, you know, you did that for UCB and I'm trying to do that for a lot of the young standups in New York now.

So like Julio Torres, who's at SNL and had a Times article about him. I gave him his second ever job. Oh, that's great. Joe Firestone went to Fallon and I gave her her first job. Gary Richardson, who writes at SNL, he wrote on my, like if you go through a lot of people's resumes who are starting to do the cool stuff and get sucked into the gears of the big machines,

like how did you find them? I just love comedy in New York. I just love it. Like there's nothing, still to this day. You know, you do so many shows, stand up, improv, whatever it is. And so many of them are the same. And then once every six months or two or three times a year, you see somebody who you haven't seen before where you're like, oh, this city can still. You just still have to work hard enough in New York

that brilliant people are going to- Pop up. They're going to show up with talent. Their skin is going to wind up thickened and you're going to see them and you're going to go, oh, and it really did, it gives me so much joy to be someone who can help them. So I'm trying to build a system where I can kind of go,

public access took me to two different cable networks and we got a pilot on comedy central that didn't go it's like we we got did that all so maybe I can take what I built and recognize like that's not me anymore I'm not the underground guy anymore I can't claim to be but maybe I can build something that's I put my name on and right whatever that means to people maybe they'll keep an eye on it and I can go these are the people who are slipping through the cracks right now who are ready to blow up who you're going to want

to see and that would give me a lot of joy at this age. That's great. Yeah make it less about me. And it's a cool thing because when you started out and you just want to be in comedy the last thing you probably thought of is someday I'm going to get to help all these. Yeah.

But you must be very proud. Very, very proud. Very proud. And I think of how the UCB helped me. And I'm like, I'd love to build my own version of what they gave. When you think about it, they didn't need to build that theater and just hand the keys to all of us. I think about Judd Apatow.

I think they've been paid for that. I think it got them a lot. But when you think about when it started, they sunk all the money they made off their sketch show. They didn't know it was going to be what it is now. Yeah, they doubled down and took a big bet on themselves and it benefited hundreds of us. I think about Judd Apatow has kind of taken me under his wing.

And I think about those writer's rooms too that we built. And I've always wanted to ask you guys your perspective on this. Because I remember, especially when I started coming around, that era, like, you think about all the guys who I was around back then in your writer's room. And I'm like, that's probably one of the best sketch groups that's ever been assembled. If you asked anybody back in that stretch who's like scouting Second City,

like who are the people you would want on us? I'm like, you'd want Dorf and Stack and Glazer. They'd be like everyone's top three out of Chicago at that time. And Blitz and Coleman and Allison and McCann. Like you put all those people in the same room. And I was always so, I don't think I ever submitted to write for Conan. But I was always so jealous of like, I want to be in a room with all those people.

I want that. And then I was eventually able to build that. And it was a huge point of pride. That's great. Back then, oh my gosh, we would do the show, eat dinner, and then go back and work on the

next day's show. And it was five days a week. And the sketches, like Clutch Cargo, things like that, were much more labor-intensive to write. And also the live sketches would have several, it'd be like, oh, let's cheer up the postal service or something. It would have like pre-tapes, graphics, and then two or three little live sketches. And just assembling those every day was a lot more.

People probably burn out a lot faster than yeah it's so cool to watch though it was so cool you'd like do it in dress and sit there and wait to hear if conan wanted to like move forward and see it himself and then being in the room with all you guys when i was 21 22 23 and just sitting you know sit in the seats and wait for your thing to come up right but just to watch you and him and the writer and whoever was there, and just to watch it just, we do it once, and then to just watch all you guys

just pass the ball at lightning speed with like, all right, that's going, and this is getting bumped up, and this line needs to be a little bit better, and the ending needs something like this, and why aren't we? It was like a master class in comedy for a 22-year-old improv kid.

It was the best. A lot of the ending needs something like this. A lot of times it would be like, oh, there's no ending. You need a pistol. Endings are the hardest. Someone has to die. That was so nerve-wracking, though, because for the live bits, we'd have to change a script, turn it around, distribute the scripts to everyone. Everyone checks out the new lines and rehearse it again.

Yeah. And they were real sticklers. Conan and Jeff Ross were about not going late. I remember. And it's like, oh, come on. How about 5.35? No, 5.30. It's funny.

It's almost like, I almost want to say it felt like comedy boot camp. Yeah. But it's almost more accurate to say that every single episode felt like comedy D-Day, where it was like, it is go time and let's go make it happen. Where it's like, we're flying in and we're doing it, and we get one chance, everybody. And it was just cool. It was just cool.

Well, the UCB, I mean, when I started there in 95, and then the UCB started in New York, and there were very few improv groups in New York. Yeah. And it's crazy. I think there was Chicago City Limits. Yeah, which was more of the short-form-y. Right.

And other than that, I don't think. Yeah. Were there comedy sports? Was that something that was slow? No comedy sports. I remember hearing that a bunch of the UCB guys, Michael Delaney and Billy Merritt. Right. A bunch of the UCB guys, Michael Delaney and Billy Merritt, they had a group that ran out of a theater called the National Improv Theater, which I remember wound up being a sort of front for Scientology. Oh, my God.

So there was that improv group and then a couple independent things. Those two often run the same track. But UCB noticed a vacuum. Yeah. And then just all these talented people from around the city just got sucked right in. And the original four, because they were pals with

Andy and Stack and Brian McCann, they said, oh, let's get Amy and Matt and Ian and Matt. And they started they were on the show two or three times a week in all these different sketches Yeah, and I always kind of feel like that part of their story. I just just them being on Conan a lot

It never gets written about it all I know and it doesn't get written about and all like the UCB oral histories, too I really should because I think those I think they fed each other in a real, I would, I know that for us being like, cause now you go to the UCB school, not talking bad, but like it's a shiny place. Like,

right. And it's like every college age to, you know, 30 year old person who wants to do comedy is, it's like a mandatory now. Isn't there a giant Bible? They have a big giant manual that Ian and Matt wrote. And it's like mandatory now isn't there a giant bible they have a big giant manual that ian and matt wrote and it's like a college it's like comedy college and that's amazing it's amazing and a victory for them right that they built it but you remember back then it was like

yeah punk rock scum people yes doing comedy well where are those people now they need a place yeah public access television for the scum people. That's where public access comes in. I don't know anything about the current state of public access television. How do you do it? It's wild. Do you pay for it? No.

You just get to do it? I was doing my show at UCB, and it became a hot ticket, largely because in 2009, I randomly tweeted Diddy and was like, well, you come do a comedy show in a supermarket basement with me. And inexplicably, he wrote back and was like, yeah, sure. What? So every time I did it, so I did it once a month and every month it would sell out instantly because nobody wanted to miss the week, the month Diddy did it. Yeah. So I had this like golden. Yes. sell out instantly because nobody wanted to miss the week the month did he did it yeah so i had this like golden yes and then it was just me and a bunch of my friends and we started doing i thought

it was just going to be a parody of a talk show because i've always loved talk shows right and it just very quickly became this like weird aggressive collection of people doing a lot of sort of like just fucked up bits lots of like violent stuff and antagonistic stuff and very manipulative of each other but people were addicted to watching it and and it was kind of running its course though did he eventually came and did it and then the show wasn't selling out automatically anymore and then a couple times it didn't sell out and i was like ah maybe i'll end this thing and just remember it when it was this instead of letting a Peter out and writer and then a former student of mine from an improv class sat me down and he was like you know I work at the public access studio

and I was like what do you want yeah he's like I think your show would be perfect for public access and I was like oh, oh boy, here we go. And then he put, he was like, you know, it's a three camera studio. You can broadcast live. There's no content restrictions. He's like, you can curse all you want. You can have nudity. He's like, you can't be naked in the studio,

but you can pre-tape it. All the nudity rules are just because they don't want like people's balls touching the chairs and stuff. That's always a good rule. It's like, you can broadcast it, tape it live, take phone calls. We stream everything online so you don't have to watch it just in New York. And I was like, wow. When he described it, I was like, I.

A free studio? And I was just like, I feel like he's just let me know about something that no one realizes exists. Yeah. Yeah. I have, I have free reign. And it took a lot of work. and in the show is if you go back and watch our whole they're all on youtube like it was really bad it was a really bad thing and our show had been so beloved at ucb that i was really cringing because i'm like man this version

is just so shitty and then but when it got good it got really good and again this collective of people came to sort of be a part of it. Very funny Conan connection I just remembered. So growing up in New Jersey, there was a guy who made his own homemade television show, who I worshipped. Big influence on me. Uncle Floyd. Uncle Floyd.

Who? Is known legally as Floyd Vovino, the older brother. What? Of Jimmy and Jerry. No way. From the Conan brother of Jimmy and Jerry Vivino. No way. From the Conan band. Yes. Yes.

Wow. I remember sitting in the green room. So they grew up in his shadow. That tells me a lot. He was, especially if you grew up in New Jersey, the biggest deal. Of course. He was the best. He had this show.

So weird. It started out on UHF. Yeah, those upper channels. And he wasn't public access. He was like pay for play. His was like you can pay for airtime and then you're allowed to sell advertising, which you can't on public access. So he made a living off of it or at least part of his living off of it. And he did tours.

He'd do like live gigs around. Yeah, and he still does. He still plays like firehouses. Yes. He had his own comedy club and was in like Lobby of a Holiday Inn on Route 46 in Wayne

for a while called Floyd's. I loved him. I think that explains a lot about me. You being familiar with Uncle Floyd and knowing the type of shit

I've done. Yes. That is the natural. It's like a mix of Uncle Floyd and did you ever listen to WFMU radio growing up in Jersey? It's legendary. It's like this weirdo station that my brother got me when I was eight or nine, just free

form, commercial free, strange stuff. And then I ended up reading about it. But yeah, it was. I grew up in West Orange. Who's the famous DJ on there? I think Tom Sharpling is the one that's the comedy darling. Tom Sharpling. He's a good friend of mine. But Vin Skelsa, wasn't he on there? Yes, I think Tom Sharpling is the one that's the comedy darling. Right, Tom Sharpling. He's a good friend of mine.

But Vin Skelsa, wasn't he on there? Yes, I think so, yeah. I was thinking of the rock and roll DJ. Yes. He used to be in... Real taste makers.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's just this mix of punk rock and WFMU and Michael Floyd. What was that crazy variety show on Manhattan? I'm sure you know about it. Was it Beyond Vaudeville?

Yes, Beyond Vaudeville. Yes, which became Oddville on MTV. That was one of the other shows that jumped. Oh, right. It skipped. And then Jake Fogelnest, who was around UCB in the early days, he did Squirt TV on Public Actions, and that jumped.

Uncle Floyd jumped for a season. Yeah, he was on after SNL, right? Exactly. And they took- Or like on SNL's off week, something like that. Something like that. And I was super excited to watch it. And they polished it up.

And, you know, of course... Like when Wayne's World gets bought by Noah's Arcade. It was starting to happen to my show by the way, too, on True TV. And that's part of why we were okay with going away. But you'll love this. So when I started on Public Access, I was like, I know who needs to be the first guest. Because if there's one guy who made his own... The Uncle Floyd show is so weird.

He was almost like an old vaudevillian. Yes. He'd wear a hat and a suit jacket. He'd sing songs at the piano. Upright piano that he'd bang away on with both hands. One of his big songs, I'm from New Jersey and I'm proud about it. I love the Garden State. And then he'd tell jokes and they were kind of like these lovable cheesy one-liners.

A lot of bits with puppets on his show. A lot of puppets. It doesn't sound punk rock to me, but I'm... Well, here's the thing. Tell me, yeah. He had musical guests. That I was just going to say. And then he'd cut to the musical guests and you'd be like, that's fucking Dee Dee Ramone.

That's Dee Dee Ramone. What is going on? And then this other thing I loved that I outright stole. Stern does it too. A lot of people do. And for someone who just complains so much about getting called out on a flub thing, you'd hear him, he'd just be rambling

or something and you'd hear the cameraman be like, I want to go home, Floyd. And then he'd start jawing back and forth and he'd leave it all in. And you're like, oh, this is this weird show. Sort of almost like. Sort of a parody, but maybe not exactly. Maybe they all hate each other. It's aware of what it is though.

Yes. So I went to his website and I was like, if I could get the blessing from Uncle Floyd, that would be what an amazing way to start. That's a great idea. He's the godfather. I'm telling you, my show, for my show, which an amazing way to start. That's a great idea. He's the godfather. I'm telling you, my show, for my show,

which was really tiny and never really broke mainstream, we had good guests. I mean, we had Diddy, we had Paul Rudd, we had Method Man, we had John Hamm.

What? We had big people on my show. One of the Ramones? I don't think so. We never had a Ramone. All right. Never had a Ramone. The person who by far

smacked us down the hardest. Uncle Floyd. Multiple times. Really? Angrily. What do you mean angrily? Like just said no. He was used to be on it. His manager emailed us. For a long time I thought it wasn't a manager. Now I think it was.

But he basically wrote back and he was like, hey, Floyd never did. Because I wrote and I was like, I'm doing my own public access show. I was really inspired by Floyd. He made his own show. Right. Explained the whole thing. And I was like, it would mean the world to me. I'm a Jersey guy.

And got this email back that was heartbreaking where he's like, listen, Floyd never did a show for free. He was never public access. He always sold advertising. He respects himself too much as an artist you shouldn't you should if you're an artist you should he goes the honest truth is floyd was a touring comedian the gas crisis hit in the 70s oh boy so it became economically not viable to travel as much so he started the tv show he wrote this yeah definitely wrote this. Only Floyd would have this information. It was heartbreaking. It was heartbreaking.

But he's got some serious blocks around it, it sounds like. I wish I could talk with him because it sounded like a guy who didn't realize that very genuinely he inspired a lot of people. Wow. It's weird because he's doing our podcast tomorrow. Look at that. We even offered, so when we went to Cable and we had budgets, I reached out again about let's book him as a musical guest because we can pay him

for that. Oh, that's great. And he doesn't have to be in the spotlight. He doesn't want to. Just come on as a musical guest. Didn't want to do it. Wow. And I worked up the guts at one point when I was doing the late night show a lot where you'd be in that central green room and everybody

would be coming and going and I think it was Jerry Vino walked by and I finally had the guts where I was like hey I grew up in Jersey and he was like yeah and I was like I really really liked your brother Floyd's show and he just kind of was like yeah Floyd Floyd did some stuff man

and we didn't get. Floyd doesn't talk to me. I don't know. I don't know. Not since the oil crisis. But I wish. I wish I got to pick his brain more because Uncle Floyd is the best. That'd be great if your next new direction involved Floyd. I wish.

Yeah. I wish I could get him. He's like my great white whale. He is your great white whale. Well, they say not to meet your heroes. Yes. So it might be. It's true.

Sounds like this is what it is. But to totally exchange emails with their management yeah it was but then i think his this that guy has tweeted at me since i've been like that's on everything and i'm like oh you know it went well why are we getting floyd yeah i want floyd man i want more floyd in my life i like yeah maybe maybe he's not you know maybe he's not well or something he could don't know. Or he got stage fright. There's also rumors that he has the single biggest personal collection of music on vinyl in the entire world. What?

That's a rumor about Uncle Floyd, Vivino. Because he grew up in a very musical family. Yes, clearly. Apparently he's spent his entire life collecting vinyl, starting with old Italian opera that his Italian family would listen to. Like 78s. He has a storage space filled with tens of thousands of pieces of vinyl. Oh, my God. He's a legendary figure.

If he needs money, he could just sell some records. I'm sure he could. I would love... I wish that I had... I wasn't so anxiety-riddled as a kid, and I had managed to charm the Vivino brothers into filling me in more because I had my shot and they didn't fight. They didn't fight. Well, we see Jimmy at work.

Yeah, we could ask. Why don't we ask him? Let him know that I'm obsessed with Uncle Floyd. We'll get back to you. Why don't we, this will be a little project. Oh, yeah. We can have Jimmy on and we could ask him about it on the podcast. Yeah.

And we can, you know, if you have a pitch for Floyd, we'll work it through the fan. Yeah. I'm serious. But he was a piece, I think being a weird comedy kid on the East Coast, he was a bigger part. Like I've talked with Apatow about him where he's like, oh yeah, we all watched Floyd on Long Island. It was like Floyd, Howard Stern, Andy Kaufman, David Letterman.

Yes. Those to me were the big four of growing up on the East Coast. That's the mix that led to me being a comedian. You think of Andy Kaufman as an East Coast. Long Island guy. Yeah. Long Island guy. Yeah.

Did you ever go to comedy clubs when you were young or in college? You just went to improv. I remember there's a... You'll appreciate it. Here's another thing I want to make sure I say, because I've talked to you about this. I got passed at the Comedy Cellar about two years ago. Do you know Mike Sweeney is still very legendary there?

I believe it. I've told you that. Do you remember? I think they're thinking of Steve Sweeney from Boston. Oh, no. People mistake me for him all the time. Well, you used to host there all the time, right? I did.

SD has told me that she still considers you, and comedians have said that you were the best host at the comedy show. It's because I stopped doing it. So all of a sudden, it's like, oh yeah, he was great. But I always heard that you would go out there and just blaze with crowd work, and it was untouchable.

Well, I was very lazy. It's just I was like, oh, I didn't write any. Another day without writing anything, I'll make fun of the people from Denmark. That's just I was like I didn't write any another day without writing anything I'll make fun of the people from Denmark. That's my ticket to success It was great. Yeah, I never glad Esty like I remember there's a club that I bet you know in New Brunswick Called the stress factory. Yes, that's work there. It's like kind of a legendary Legendary and the owner I think he just stopped doing it in a couple of years, but the owner himself would get up on stage and do this intro. Vinny?

Vinny Brandt. Vinny Brandt. And when I was in college, I went on a date with a girl who I had a big crush on. She's a sweet girl, gymnast, very cool, very cute. And she was like, I'm going to organize our date, because she knew I was pretty socially incapable. She had seen me doing improv. But you're the decision maker. Well, it's now.

Did she really say, I'm going to organize our date? She did. She said, we're going to go on a date. I think we made out once, one night randomly, and then she was like, I'm going to organize a date. No, we'll make out. And then she go, I meet up with her that night, and she's like, well, I know you like comedy, so we're going to go to the comedy club. And we went to the Stress Factory.

And Vinnie Brand used to do, he had a phone on stage and he would prank call a Chinese restaurant the night that we were there. And then they did a thing where there was a big movie screen in the corner. And they had a camera that would point out at the crowd. And it would put people's faces up. Like a kiss cam. Yes. And it would superimpose captions oh and they put one on me a 22 21 year old me on a date already just such a self-conscious human being and it just uh superimposed the word sex machine right below

my face and i just sat there and i remember it went on long enough that i kind of finally gave it a like okay joke's over and then that got a big laugh and then it stayed lingering on me and i just had to sit there humiliated on a date and that scared me off from comedy clubs for a while yeah so i got lucky that you see i mean there's only a small window where it goes well yeah it didn't we didn't go on more dates after that. My confidence was shot. I didn't have much back then anyway. But yeah, I avoided clubs for a long time and found them very intimidating.

So I was lucky that UCB kind of dovetailed into the alt. It was kind of Luna Lounge into UCB and then UCB out into Rafifi. And that's where I started doing some solo stuff. Ah, got it. Cool. Oh, yeah. Like when you do your one man shows, so where do you work that material out? There's a, there's a venue in Brooklyn that I really like called Union Hall.

Oh yeah. That's a really great, great space for comedy. And, uh, it's downstairs, downstairs, very intimate. They, they, that crowd has proven to be very supportive of me. Oh good. Um, yeah, Brooklyn takes care. is very intimate. That crowd has proven to be very supportive of me. Oh, good. Yeah, Brooklyn takes care. But then because I'm a maniac who likes to work hard,

my one-man show is all about suicide attempts and stuff like that. And I would go and do that material at clubs. I would do it on the road. I'd do it at colleges. Because I was just like, I got to make sure this stuff doesn't just play in Brooklyn where everybody's artsy and open to discussion. So I would just go and bomb.

Wow. And bombing with that material. I was going to say. It's pretty lonely. But that's, you know, I think, I mean, I'm out of the standup world, but I think some people do get into that little, you know, that kind of protected where the audiences are great all the time. It's that cocoon.

I think it's hard to step out of that. I would want to get used to it. And some people can, you know, really pay their mortgage doing it. Yeah, of course. I always wanted to be, I always really admired the people I saw who, like I felt like Birbiglia and Mulaney were the two guys where I was like, oh, they show up at UCB and they got to cut out after the show because they got to go do Caroline's. Right.

And then they're going to go do like a weird NPR storytelling event to close out the night. Right. Where I'm like, oh, you can do it all in this. Yeah. It's part of why I stay in New York. It's because I think as a comedian, it's still one of the only towns, maybe the only town where it's like, you can play in front of every type of crowd within three days. You can play in front of

tourists, in front of Jersey, Long Island crowds, you can play in front of artsy crowds, you can just go find out if a joke works in front of anybody in this town. That's kind of the game to me that I'm addicted to. And you do, it does

get into an ego thing where it's like, I don't care what the conditions are. I feel that I should be able to do well. No matter what. I remember I used to there was a comic that they were putting me on after I won't name him, at the comic

strip and he would just he had a boom box and he would just destroy oh wow and they put me on after him at like 1 45 in the morning and i went down it just he was the one i could not follow him and that's infuriating it was and i was just like i'll put me down for next week and it makes you better we gotta set up a show with you. Oh, I would love that. No, I mean, that's so much of what comedy, I think that that's why people stay in comedy.

It is this like addictive, I don't know, you need to keep creating situations where you're able to satisfy that need to, for validation. It's so fleeting.

Right, because you only feel as good as your last joke. It's so true. There's a room I'm obsessed with stories about that a lot of the New York comics used to jump out and do called the Peppermint Lounge. Oh, the Peppermint, no.

Do you know about this? It was largely an African American room in East Orange, New Jersey. Where was it? East Orange. I never did it. I never did it. Legendarily one of the hardest rooms of all time. Have you performed there?

No, it's closed. I wish. Because I grew up in West Orange, home of Rascals. I never went to Rascals. I once did. I got hired to host a fashion show in East Flatbush. And I remember I saw Chris Rock at the comic strip, because he grew up in Brooklyn. I said, you know, I'm hosting this show in East Flatbush.

He goes, I won't even go to East Flatbush. But it was great. It was great. It was really fun. I love, that's still one of my favorite feelings is like, what's the scenario that's probably not going to work? Yes. Can I go make it work?

Yes. And that's why I loved that. When my show jumped to cable, they were like, well, you can't do it live anymore. That's insane. But then True TV, to their credit, I have some misgivings about the way I was treated there, but by and large, it was a great experience. But to their credit, they said we want it to be live again. And being on live TV where it can be a disaster.

Yeah, that's incredible. I love it. That they said yes to that. Yeah, that's really cool. Loved it so much. Loved it. Did you ever do the Orthodox Comedy Club? They used to be in Lower Broadway on Saturday night.

Like Orthodox Jewish? Yes, like Hasidic. I wish that was still around. It was dinner and they'd have the stand-ups go up on during dinner and I was like, oh, they're going to hate me.

But they were the hardest on Jewish comics because the comics were all reformed. Oh, right. And so these comics... So they're rather a Catholic than a reformed?

They were fine with me just because, you know, it was more of a novelty item. Whereas the Reformed, because a lot of Jewish comics would talk about being Jewish, and they were kind of like, you're not really Jewish. Yeah. I was like, oh gosh, I didn't even think of that. They'd have a tough time. There's a guy who runs a room still, and I've never done it, and I want to.

I should before I hang it up. It's in a hostel on the Upper West Side. Oh, wow. So it's just to German and Australian backpackers who are passing through New York. And it's in the lobby of a hostel. And I have heard that this guy who organizes it, it's the only show he does, and he will do 15 to 20 minutes between each act. Oh, my God.

Which, if you know anything about comedy, it's insane. That's insane. The Germans love it. I love the setup of finding the worst room in America. All I want. Yeah. All I want.

That's a show. A comic at the Cellar. I asked him if he ever used to do the Peppermint. He said yeah. And he said he was there one night and said he saw a comic bombing and someone in the crowd stood up and was like, get the fuck off the stage.

The person in the crowd had been eating buffalo wings. Started just whipping the bones at him on stage. Oh no. That's all I want. What a humiliation. It's all I want is to do a room so hard that if I fail, I'll get pelted with chicken bones. Yeah, that you come home with buffalo stains. Just tell us where you're performing next, and we will bring plenty of wings.

All I want. Oh, man. Okay, I think- I think we're being told. We've been waiting. I'm so sorry. I ran out. I'm sorry.

It went by so fast. I just, I have some more Jersey Hell gigs I wanted to talk about. You guys can keep in touch. All right, we will. You don't have to stop talking after this recording ends. Okay. Chris, thank you so much.

It's really fun to hear about those early New York days of yours. I loved all of it. I just love your approach to comedy. Oh, yeah. It's really fascinating. It's inspiring.

Yes, very inspiring. It's a real joy to think about those days. The idea that I've been brought in in any sense with your show, it's just a hugely meaningful thing to me. And I do not say that lightly. So I'm so psyched to be a peripheral part of it and so jealous if everybody gets to be a bigger part of it.

And it's the best. Well, let us know if you'd ever like to be in a sketch when you come to LA. Oh, that would be the dream. That would be the dream. For God's sake, don't be jealous. We'll get you that Astra insurance.

I need it. Believe me, I need some. We'll have to do a lot of sketches on our show to get it. We used to get them out, but that was the best part.

You're like, I'll dress up as a robot again if it gets me closer to health insurance. I need a physical. All right, thanks. Thank you, Chris. Thank you, guys. Sorry, we're long. I need a physical. All right, thanks. Thank you, Chris.

Thank you, guys. Sorry, we're long. I think they queued up the sketch. I totally forgot about it. Did you want us to play it? Can we play it? I will watch it. This will be the first time I've watched it. Wait, really?

Are you okay with that? Yeah. I'm fascinated to see if it's as bad as I think. If you were the writer of this, how mad you would have been at me for flubbing your bit? I don't think I'd be mad. I think you'd like the happy accidents. I would just be relieved that I hadn't fucked it up.

Yes. That's the thing. Exactly. Okay, well, anyway. You know, folks, our budget's been cut so much, we're having trouble paying the rent this month. It's true. So we're doing everything we can

to hide from our show's landlord. Huh? Hide from our show's landlord. Hide from our show's landlord. There you go, good cue. Apparently we've cut back on the cueing too. Why don't you go back and we'll try that again. I tell you, we've had to cut things back so much. We're doing everything we can to hide from our show's landlord, huh?

Conan. Yeah, hey, I didn't expect to see you our show's landlord. Huh? Conan. Yeah? Hey, I didn't expect to see you. Well, he's on his way. Mr. Slotnick is coming. Oh, my God. Mr. Slotnick's coming. Here we go.

Come on. Conan? Okay, we can stop it now. Yeah. I have to tell the listener, Chris, it was like a three-quarters of a second delay. Yeah. It was such a short... But he said it again.

He said that, you hear me say, huh? If you rewind it, you hear me go, huh? When the door opens. And then he says the line again. He went for the easy laugh. He saw an opportunity for a laugh.

Exactly. That's what happened. He wasn't mad. I can't. He clearly wasn't enjoying... He didn't like the pender bit beat right before because his leg was... Oh, he's jiggling.

He was a little self-conscious. So he was... You actually did him a giant and you know what i would even say that the camera cut to the door was premature it was well i felt like that was early yeah i'm not even i'm not saying this just i was also i have so much more hair i was shocked to see well i'm so young I'm so young in that. I didn't want to mention that. I'm so young in that. You're beautiful. It's bad. The time was like, I know that you probably felt, it felt like seconds out there. Also, though, I could feel both. You're being so nice now, but I could feel when it happened.

I could feel both of you internally going like, yeah. No, no, no, no. I was just thinking, oh, that was it? That was kind of what. Oh, I cringe. That was my reaction. If your wife knew how you spent the past hour instead of helping her with that, with Cal. Beautiful Cal.

I really do. I think you need to let this one go. Yeah. All right. We'll wrap it up. Okay. Okay. That was Chris. That was Chris.

That was Chris. It was fantastic. Yeah, and I swear it really was like the smallest pause in that sketch. I know. We were all angry. I was so underwhelmed. We were like, that was it? Wait, what?

You built this up. I was prepared to go to bat for you. And no, it was... You were the sketch performer who cried wolf. I totally get it from his point of view. I know. In your head, those like every millisecond is interminable when you're out there and you're just feeling the weight of like the audience, like they're all holding their breath for you. But also thinking, oh, they're never going to ask

me back again. Yeah. That, the trauma of that. It would be funny if we talked to a casting director and they were like, yep, no, he screwed up. That was it. He's off the list. Well, I've seen that happen. But anyway, Chris Gethard, what a delightful guy. Great guy.

He has his own podcast. Beautiful Stories from Anonymous People. And it's on Earwolf. Oh, my God. That's crazy. Unbelievable coincidence. Weird. Yeah, it is crazy how that stuff happens.

And that's our show for this week. Yes. Thanks for listening. Yeah, thanks. And we'll talk to you next week. We'll see you on the flip side. Yeah. We like you.

Inside Conan, an important Hollywood podcast, is hosted by Mike Sweeney and me, Jesse Gaskell. Produced by Kevin Bartelt. Engineered by Will Becton. Mixed by Ryan Connor. Supervising producer is Aaron Blair. Associate producer, Jen Samples. Executive produced by Adam Sachs and Jeff Ross. Jeff Ross.

Jeff Ross and Team Coco. And Colin Anderson and Chris Bannon at Earwolf. Thanks to Jimmy Vivino for our theme music and interstitials. You can rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts. And of course, please subscribe and tell a friend to listen to Inside Conan on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, or whatever platform you like best. Ta-da! This has been a Team Coco production in association with Earwolf.