Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum - Simon Rex
Episode Date: October 29, 2019Simon Rex (Scary Movie, Nervous Rex) joins this week to talk about his experience in this industry and the wide range of success he’s had from things like being an MTV VJ, a WB show actor, Vine famo...us, starring in the Scary Movie franchise, and even becoming the rapper Dirt Nasty. Simon opens up about the unstable household he grew up in and how the lack of a responsible father figure contributed to his “always on” and people pleasing personal development. We talk about his departure from being a hardcore stoner, his path to discovering his purpose, and the time he took LSD with his father. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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You're listening to Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum.
Simon Rex.
If you don't know him, he was in scary movies.
He was a VJ and MTV the back of the day.
He's dirt nasty.
He's got his own podcast called Nervous Rex.
He's really dynamic.
And as much as I wanted to talk about career and shit, we talked about dark.
Shit.
Like, I wouldn't say dark, but we like, you know, we got vulnerable, man.
We're both a little lost and people get lost.
And, you know, and hopefully you find yourself.
And that's what, you know, we're trying to do.
We're all trying to find ourselves, and I think, you know, everybody always appears like, you know, they have that facade, you know, perfect fence outside, the little, you know, beautiful little house and the family. Oh, I'm like, I bet they're so happy. And then you find out that the most dysfunctional family on the block. And that was my family, probably.
I mean, he also talks about, like, some fun drug stories and stuff like that. He went on a trip with his dad.
He went on a NASA trip with his dad.
Holy shit, man.
That was crazy.
And how we met with Jackson Brown's son in New York and how he met me when I had my van,
which I still have, shows you I haven't grown up.
But we talked about how like sort of your persona as when you're younger,
what gets you through things, the way you handle things, it doesn't always work when you get
older.
And some of those old ways that worked for you when you're young, they don't work the same way
when you get older.
And I thought that was interesting.
and I learned a lot and it flew by and I think we're both like we both said it we're both just exhausted
and I think you'll get that I hope you enjoy this one let's let's get in Simon Rex
It's my point of you you're listening to inside of you with Michael Rosenbaum
recorded in front of a live studio audience in case you didn't know uh simon rexas here and uh we just
he wanted to know what we're going to talk about now you you've been around i've been around
is that is that your way of saying i'm a slut no i think we're in hollywood you probably
mostly are a slut well yeah i think everybody's a slut every first of all everybody should be a
slut and there's no slut shaming's awful uh it is a double standard it you know it's okay for
like like it's okay for a guy to be a slut but women get shamed i think everyone's a sexual
creature, and they should, I think Americans are very, there's a very puritanical, religious
construct of this country more than most places. You go in the world where we are very
sexually oppressed, so it's, you know, it's taboo and it shouldn't be. So, but whatever, you know.
But whatever. Now, you, we met, I was in New York, you were in New York, where you,
you were friends with Ethan Brown, Jackson Brown's son. Correct. Jackson Brown's son.
Give me three songs by Jackson Brown.
Um, a whole lot of sleeping around. I sucked his dick.
and Jeremiah train.
That's not.
Jeremiah train.
No, running on empty.
That whole album was great.
Running on empty.
I went to saw.
Doctor my eyes.
Tell me.
And then what's the one from?
Running on empty.
What's the big one, though, that we love from the 80s movie Fast Times at Richmond High?
She's got to be somebody's own a night.
And I went to saw and play at Madison Square Garden.
And I at the time was very naive to who Jackson
Brown was and he's a fucking like a pillar in the rock world and I went and saw him play at Madison Square
Garden like VIP on the side and was just watching everyone sing along and I'm like how do I not know
and then I he played a couple of those jams I was like oh that's this guy oh that's him that's my
friend's dad anyway so Ethan Brown and you did a TV show a pilot for TV it was my first show
was called Talk Girl and it was with Leslie Bibb and the three of us they it was the first thing
I ever auditioned for I mean for well first thing I got but I remember I walked in there I was supposed to
the slob camera guy and I remember
just eating a bag of chips in the audition
they're like, who is this guy? You chose to have
an action. That's probably help you book it
and help you put it. They're like, this guy doesn't care.
Let's hire him. That's exactly what they did. They're like, oh,
look it. He brought chips into the audition.
So parallel to you, I remember,
I remember where it was, but I remember
meeting you and I swear
I thought about this on the drive over. I remember Ethan
introduced me. I was either on set of your
show or you were at the MTV Studios where I was a
VJ and I remember meeting you and you were
just like, you know, you're just an
animated, you know, electric personality and I was like, attention.
No, but I was like, oh, this guy's going to, I just knew.
I remember having the thought of like, oh, this dude's going to kill it.
And then I've watched your whole career be amazing.
So I was, I feel validated in my producer's Jewish brain.
And I was like, this kid's got zest up.
And then I was, yeah, I was a VJ and it's funny similar.
I booked it by not want, keep giving a fuck.
I got the job.
I remember.
Well, has your whole life, do you think, kind of been in a lot until you, look, obviously
so you started really caring about what you wanted to do
and, like, find all this stuff, find your way.
But do you think in the beginning, like, you were getting shit
because your look, you're a really good looking guy.
Oh, honey.
You've, oh, sweetie.
You've been a very, look, you're, you were blessed with looks.
Baby.
You were always, ladies love you, guys love you.
What was that song, ladies love me, guys adorn me.
Even the ones who never saw me, like, the way did I run met a show.
The reason why I'm in, I don't know, let's go.
It takes two to make a thing go right.
That'd be actually a good show to a podcast.
It takes.
Well, thank you, first of all.
Just I say thank you because there's no way of responding to that without sounding egotistical.
Yeah, thank you.
But what I'm saying when I'm finished is you, things came to you.
Very fortuitous in that there was no plan.
These things just happened and I was good at one thing.
It was taking an opportunity as it presented itself and not fumbling the ball.
But I was never like, I want to be a VJ.
I want to be an actor.
I want to be a rapper.
I was just fucking around.
And it happened.
So it's very, so people sometimes ask me like, hey, I want to come to L.A.
and do it what's your advice i'm like i don't know and i probably would tell you don't try right because
it's the worst business in the world and you and the best and the worst at the same time it's a two-sided
regalia but um yeah that's a tough one because i i don't know what happened it was just not by design
it just happened how old were you uh now well you're my age were you 47 44 i'm 46
yeah i'll be 47 we look young i feel i got gray hairs now yeah i got gray hairs too no gray pubs
yet, though.
No, me neither.
That's good.
Does the pubes get...
Stubble your hair?
The pubs get gray?
I'm starting to get thinner, which is a hum...
But the gray, I'm accepting the gray.
There was a window of time I went through where I was dying it to cover the gray as an
insecure reactionary thing.
And I'm like, ooh, that's worse than letting it ride.
So I'm not, I just let it ride.
Yeah, but you, so, I mean, I look at someone like you who I love who I've known for
a long time, but we never hung out a ton.
Right. It was always intermittent.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
It was like, oh, hanging out in my van in Vancouver.
That was probably the most one-on-one time we had was when we went out a couple times.
You were shooting the Superman show.
You saw Smallville.
Smallville.
And I was shooting Scary Movie 3 and we were both living in Canada.
And we kind of knew each other from over the years.
And you came by my, the Sutton Place in your van and you just put all these lights in it.
I remember going, holy shit, this is the coolest thing you were.
And now you're like, what a loser.
No, now I got a van.
I just got one.
I just went and got a RV, a mini RV, a Volkswagen, Winnebago, and now I'm all about the van life.
And I become that guy because you planted to see 19 years ago.
Thank you.
No, 16 years ago.
2001, I think I was doing Smallville.
Okay, but you were, you had, this must have been season three or four because you were there in 2003.
I think I got the van as a gift to myself for season one.
I think I got that like as before I went up or the next season or something like that.
That's back when back nine was it.
The back nine days.
That means like, you know, you get a certain.
order of episodes and then you get the back nine usually it's 13 and then back nine so you get
21 and when you get that back nine phone call because i did w 13 and nine would be 22 oh would it be
oh yeah i'm bad at math um i i would uh i was doing wb uh shows as well in that era i did a show called
jack and jill and i do with amanda pete and i yeah and justin kirk it was jammy presley great
show great show jack and jill and i did a show called what i like about you with amanda bines and i did
Felicity. So I was had, this is back when they had holding deals and they gave me a holding
deal. They pay you to not act for another network. Here's a hundred grand. Don't do anything else.
Oh, okay. You understand what I'm talking about? Tyler, Tyler's here today. I was just like you.
Tyler's a head full of hair, big dick, flopping around. Yeah, I've actually, I've got a holding deal.
Oh, you do? Yeah, over the CW. Yeah. Oh, that's amazing. Yeah, it's great. Oh, so this was WB.
It's CW. It became the CW. Right. I always wished I was in a network with more than two letters.
Yeah, fuck.
You want to be on NBCW.
But look, I always remember.
By the way, I think you were cast in a part.
Tell me if I'm wrong.
Then they cut you or they, it was called Zoe Duncan, Jack, and Jane.
Yes.
Oh, my God.
Well, here's the thing.
They cast Jeremy Renner.
They fired him.
Then they supposedly cast you.
And then you had some kind of dark pass.
Yeah.
Oh, because it wasn't your talent.
Right.
It wasn't obviously Jeremy.
And it wasn't Jeremy Renner's.
And they cast me.
And I remember, I saw both.
I saw Jeremy Renner's version.
That was Jeremy Renner's.
And I go, and I remember watching and going,
I walked into the room with these people.
And I go, why, he's great in this part.
Why don't you want him?
Why do you want me?
Why did they?
They didn't want to do it?
I don't know.
They didn't like him?
No, they just, they go, because of what you're saying right now,
that you're actually walking in here and trying not to get the part.
Isn't that so weird that?
I just had no idea.
And look, obviously, Jeremy's a, probably an actor.
Well, yeah, and he went on to do great shit things.
I can't believe he was going to be the guy in the sitcom.
Yeah, that's right.
Duncan, Jack and Jane.
That's right.
Jack and Jane?
Yeah.
Yeah.
And who else was in it?
Selma Blair, dude.
So what happened with that?
And I did a table read.
And I remember, oh my God.
You were cast.
You did a table read and then they just fired you?
Yeah, this happens a lot.
I don't remember exactly why, but it has to have been,
dude, that's so crazy.
I didn't even remember that name until you just said it.
And then I remembered you got it.
And I remember thinking, oh, at least one of the boys got it.
Right.
And only lasted a year, so it's not like you.
I don't remember the commercial.
I remember.
It was like Selma Blair was.
the lead girl and you were her boyfriend.
I was like one of the guys who liked.
Yes.
Right, right.
Yes, yes.
God, WB days, bro.
That was a, I feel like those days don't exist.
I'm just glad I got to experience a sitcom once.
Best gig as an actor you can get is a sitcom, by the way, Tyler.
I mean, people say that because of, you know, it's Monday through Thursday.
You don't really do anything on Monday.
You have a pajamas.
And then Friday.
But you know what?
It's a lot of pressure.
It's like you're doing live theater every week learning the whole script.
Yeah, but you could fuck up.
It's a live play you could do.
But if you fuck up with the audience laps, cut, redo it.
So it's not like a play.
in that you have this safety net that you are allowed to fuck it.
Well, not allowed to, but if you fuck up, ah, ha, ha, take it again.
That was cute.
Yeah.
The play, you can't do that.
Were your parents good?
Good in the sense that they were good people?
Yeah, very loving mother.
Dad wasn't really around.
And we could get into that, too.
Pops, bounced when I was two.
Hippy parents, San Francisco, late 60s, you know, summer love 69 era, born in 74.
so this is a byproduct of that hippie era.
So very loving, but dad wasn't very present.
So you didn't see him at all.
No, not.
I'd see him maybe once a year.
Once a year.
Yeah, for a couple weeks.
That's hard for you.
Yeah, and then my mom, who's great,
she gave me all the love in the world,
but she had a series of shitty guys that I grew up
that were stepdads and shitty boyfriends around.
But then now, luckily, she has a great guy that she married.
But this is after I already moved out of the house.
So I had this sort of mixed bag.
of these father figures that weren't necessarily
the best. It's safe to set.
Like an alcoholic, boyfriend.
One was a Coke addict.
I remember once I had a stepdad who was a cocaine addict
who I remember I would get an allowance of five bucks per week
and I'd save it for months and I'd have like 60 bucks stashed in my room
and he'd come steal it to get Coke.
And I remember one time I came out to watch cartoons in the morning
and the TV was gone and my mom had to try to explain why the TV was gone.
He swapped it for Coke.
And as a kid you don't understand these.
And then as you get old, you're like,
oh, now that's why I get why he was erratic
and all these things you don't understand as a 10 year old.
So I had a, you know, that was sort of the father figure
in the household was that behavior,
which is why alcohol and coke are the devil to me,
which I never went down a path of those.
You never did.
Oh, no, I tried them, and I never liked them.
And it's funny because there's a misconception
that I'm a cokehead because I have a lot of energy
and I did a song called 1980,
which is a dirt nasty song where I talk about cocaine,
but they did it as a joke.
So everyone still thinks like,
I'm a cokehead, and I'm just like, well, I'm a lot of things, but I'm not a cokehead.
What are you if you're not, if you're a lot of things?
Well, now or in the past?
I was a big time stoner.
Like, I smoked so much meat that was like, I remember that to the point where it worked for me for a really long time.
It really did.
Like, it made me just walk into a room and just be that stoner energy like, huh, where are we?
What's going on?
How's my hair?
Like, booked it.
And then you get off the weed and you're kind of high energy and you frazzled.
And it becomes an enemy of creativity in a weird way for me.
So I'm off the weed now for a while
It's been a long time
You haven't smoked weed at all
In a long time
But it worked for me when I was younger
Because it really like not
There's a lot of power and not caring
Like not giving a fuck
Or at least even if you could do it
And pretend to not give a fuck
And walk in a room
Because you know how it is
You've been I'm sure on the other side
Of producing something
Someone walks in a room
And they want it too bad
It's a turn off
When someone comes in loose
Just like hey man
Like you did with the chips
Give them the job
Right? Do you agree with that?
It's like
it's even like when you go up to a girl
or a girl comes up to you
it's like if you try it too hard
she's like eh
she doesn't want you but if you're like
whatever whatever
there's a book called trying not to try
that I just read and it's an actual
like philosophy and there's a thing
in Chinese philosophy called the Wu Wei
which is the not trying
and the book doesn't make sense
it's a conundrum how do you try not to try
you're trying if you try not to try
because it's a whole thing when you're young
and don't give a fucking dumb and just
kind of you really aren't trying and then you kind of get older and things change and you kind
of overthink and you're not so that's sort of what I'm going through lately is this weird
phase of like having a conscience and caring and not being that guy it's like I don't give a fuck
getting not giving a fuck works in a lot of it ways and also like uh I think as you get older
for some reason I don't know if it's that we let fear get in the way or when we're younger we
our immune systems are up we have so much uh we just don't let the
affect us as much I think when we're younger in terms of we can we can handle stress more
as a youth as a youthful person yeah but when you get older it's like that whole fight or flight
you can't do it all the time you can't always be stressed you can't always be because it really
affects you physiologically that's that's like my issue I agree and that's why I go I've become
this cliche which is better than the other cliche which could have been the guy in rehab or
fucked up on you know whatever I go to yoga all the time now to get it out I do hot yoga and
I move to the west side I moved to the beach so I was your neighbor I lived
right here. I can't believe we didn't hang more because I was on Woodrow Wilson and Woodstock
right on the other side of Laurel Canyon for 13 years. And I sold my house three years ago
and I moved to the beach. I'm like, I got to get the fuck out of Hollywood. Like, I can't
stay in the corner of sunset and Crescent Heights one more fucking minute. What is it about the beach
that you love? The ocean. Do you just feel healthier when you're there? I feel so much
healthier. I've never worked less and never been happier, if that makes sense. And it makes
your life change so much of the ocean and being by that vibe of where everybody's just
chilled out and when I come here into the city I notice my shoulders tense up everyone's honking the
traffic's a little more congested you go to the ocean and everyone's just a little more relaxed
therefore I'm relaxed because I adapt to my environment like when I lived in New York I became a
New Yorker when I'm in Hawaii I'm like a Hawaiian when I'm at the beginning so when I'm in Hollywood
I'm a mirror of my environment I'm I think I'm hypersensitive I think my mom told me that when
I was a baby the doctor said that he's hypersensitive with light sound energy so I'm like
I get affected by what's around me in Hollywood after fucking 15 years just got to me.
Or it was just like, get me the fuck as far away as I can, but still be on a tethering distance
to be able to come to a podcast.
So yeah, I'm that guy who moved to the beach and goes to hot yoga and wear flip-flops around.
I'm becoming the big Lobowski.
Are you?
Without the weed.
Without the weed.
So you're, do you really consider, like, when you look in the mirror, do you like,
because, you know, I go through this, do you look at yourself and go, I love you, I love you, Simon.
Not that you have to say that loud, but you love yourself, right?
So funny you said this, you know.
Okay, I'm going to embarrass myself, but I don't know it.
It's funny.
I think my whole life I've hated myself so much that that's why I'm like, hey, look at me, except me.
This is why we're sick.
We're fucking nuts.
You know what I mean?
Like, you do stand up now?
Like, could you be any more sick in the head?
I'm sick in the head.
Right?
So there's something deeply rooted in that psychologically for us to want this approval, why we do what we do.
And I'm just aware of it.
I actually listen to it I actually listen to a YouTube self-affirmation playlist that plays for eight hours when I go to bed that just repeats I love myself for eight hours so while I'm sleeping I have I love myself pounding into my subconscious so I wake up and it makes me feel better in the morning.
Does it really work?
And when I went to yoga today, I actually tried something for the first time. I was laying there on the ground and my heart was beating really fast because it was a fucking gnarly class and I'm laying there.
at the end, when in Shavasana, which is like the star pose.
Like, you just lay like this.
And I just put my fingers on my pulse, which was like pretty fast.
And as it each beat was going, I repeated that mantra that I listened to.
I love myself.
As it was beating, I love myself.
Just to trick myself.
Dude, that's what it's come to.
And I don't really hate myself.
I'm just like, you know, I'm not reneging.
I'm just saying I go back and forth between genuinely loving myself and genuinely
hating myself.
I really do.
Yeah, I think I do that too.
You were Jewish.
Yeah, yeah, I'm Jewish.
Because my name isn't Rex.
That's my middle name.
It's my mother's maiden name.
Exactly.
My mother's maiden name is Yud.
It doesn't get much more Jewish.
Yeah, it does Rosenbaum.
It's pretty Jewish.
Pretty Jewish.
But you don't look Jewy.
See, you can say that because you're a Jew.
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But I'm going to a treatment center.
For?
Not for drugs or alcohol,
but because I've had like a lot of surgeries
and been in a lot of pain my whole life.
I just had spine surgery in my neck.
And I'm not a pill popper,
but I think I've just,
the physical pain has translated emotionally and psychologically.
And so I find myself a little bit disconnected and just overwhelm sometimes.
And I talk to some friends and there's this great place.
And I just kind of, it's funny, it's like, I'm not very close with my family, but, you know, I love my family.
But I sent an email to some close friends.
And, you know, my dad's response was, wow, I'm really surprised.
Like, no one had a clue.
Because the thing is, I feel like I'm always.
always the guy like you were talking about I'm always the happy guy I'm the guy who goes into a room and
everybody's like oh my god he's so funny and everything's great and he's so happy and oh my god he's
got so much going on he's always doing this it's exhausting he organizes these things and you know what
you're exhausted fucking exhausted I know I feel the same way I'm dude I'm the same guys you are in my
world I'm that guy too and I'm fucking over it I got to start loving myself I can you start I'm too
old for this shit I need to do things for me I need to love myself yeah no seriously and you know
what yeah you're right that transitions to emotional pain which is just like store your your central nervous
system stress dude stress is the underlying number one killer of everything first of all and i all i do now is
live my life trying to be as stress free as possible and i'm in this sort of goldilocks zone you know
what the goldilocks zone is that's where like the you in the universe with earth is like in this
goldilocks zone where the middle part drive yeah it's just a safe little pocket and i feel like and and
and i really believe this because i've had a lot more fame money and
objects in the past but I'm in this Goldilocks zone where I don't have too many things
but my because of that my stress level is so much lower and I'm not like running around like
I'm at this age and time where I'm just like I'm not chasing the girls like I used to
I'm not caring about if I get the job or not so I'm in this sort and I'm not being so hard
on myself it's it's just a weird transitional phase that I think we're both in a parallel
dimension because we've been on the same ascension since 96 yeah it's been a long 20
three years bro that's a quarter of a century we've been running around it's time it's enough
because you know i don't i said this before i don't want to be i don't want to be eight years old
dying and going uh what was it all for was it all just to try and please people was it tried to make
these people laugh was it trying to make everyone else's life better which is a great quality
i really like that quality about myself i like doing things that make people happy but if i'm not
happy it's like you know then what's the whole point of it all it's like i'm talking to my
myself right now with you because I swear to you this is exactly what I'm dealing with right now
and for the first time I'm I'm trying to be aware and hold the mirror up to myself and figure out
why I'm the way I am and I'm fucking exhausted and it takes a lot out of you to do it all the time
and you know I don't know if I really believe in this but there's a lot of things I've been
wrong about lately that I you know don't believe or believe in that I've been wrong about and
I met this girl who's like a psychic and I didn't really know I don't know if I believe in that all
too much but there must be some truth out there and she didn't even know me and she goes she just
looks at me and she just calls me out she's like you need to stop making everybody else happy and
be selfish and take care of yourself because it's going to kill you i was like oh fuck all right
what else you got and like she just called it out by looking at me and just saw it on me like that
because we all have a persona and a mask that we wear and we walk through life and with this business
wearing it's fucking a lot man it's a lot that's so anyway yeah she called me out and I was I like I like
being called out it's good I did too and I think people see some people are shocked some people are like
dude come on you're fine I mean come on just you're fine and then some people they go yeah you need
to take care of yourself so if you don't mind me asking what kind of retreat is this uh it's not really
a retreat it's more of like a treatment center okay it's um I don't know like psychotherapy right
have you done therapy before i've done some therapy and i just feel like my life i've been a therapy
i've been a therapy but i feel like you know i had some good therapists i guess in the past i just feel
like it became stagnant i want somebody to go this is what you fucking need to do i i i hate when i
have to figure it out because i'm tired of trying to figure it right because nothing else works i
need structure i know that i need to start there's things that i need to do but i can't seem to
do it would you consider psychedelic plant medicine as part of a healing process well it's
funny you said that because I tried for pain. I've been doing this thing called ketamine treatments.
You've been doing the ketamine treatment? Yeah. I want to try that because I suffer from mild
depression. Now people, yes, so people think that it's special K. It's the party drug. It's not at all.
I'm not a drug addict. I don't do drugs. I don't want to take a Norco every day for my pain in my neck.
But this is what it does. You should read about it, but go at the ketamine centers of Los Angeles.
But they, it's kind of like a disconnect and rewiring of your.
brain and reset. Oh, I use it. I use it recreationally on my own because I'm a big fan of ketamine.
It's one of the only thing that gets me out of my prefrontal cortex, which is the part of your
brain that says, you got to do this. Why don't you do this? You got to go in here? I like
ketamine. I think it's a very helpful tool. It helps you? Absolutely. So that's what I've been
doing. I'm not like, I did mushrooms twice in my life and I freaked out and I go, I don't like to be
out of control. Maybe you're too cerebral and you're probably too hyper-intelligent for mushrooms
that might work against you. I'm just wondering what could be good for you. I just did LSD with my
dad the other day. Jesus. The dad that was absent? Yep. So check this out. Oh, boy. Yeah, this is real
life. So my dad and I were never that close. My dad reached out, he had a stroke a few years ago,
so he has a scar from his neck to his stomach and he's just, it aged him significantly. So he has
always been a hippie his whole life. So he does psychedelics to him. It's normal. So I had a little bit
of LSD that I've had in a bottle for a long time that I use once in a while as a reset, not like, hey,
let's just go get fucked up like I'll do it by myself and go to spend a day alone and go do like
go inside and you can function it's scary I don't I don't take like two hits and watch the walls melt
they just do like somewhere between micro dosing and and there enough to enough to where you're
it does something to you can you function now yeah absolutely I'm not going to be driving a
operating a machine or a vehicle I'll just take a walk on the beach or go to nature and unplug turn the
phone off for eight hours big fan of that ari Sheffir comic big supporter of psychedelic
is self-induced therapy.
He talks about it all the time.
On his podcast, I think this could be very beneficial to people all the time.
Anyway, so I'm not afraid to do it alone.
I think you should do psychedelics alone.
I think it could help you deal with a lot of things.
So my dad recently said, can you get any LSD?
And I said, it's funny.
I actually hadn't done it in 20 years,
and I just kind of rediscovered it and did it a couple years ago.
So, yes, I have a bottle of liquid LSD.
That's like 99.9% pure, which is just like lightning in a bottle.
And so I put five drops on mints, and I sent them to him for him and his wife to do together as a bonding chemical so they could therapeutically heal and just, you know, they're getting older and they want to do it.
So I sent it to him and how funny is this?
I listen to Duncan Trussell's podcast the next day.
And the next day after I send my dad LSD, he goes, and someone just got arrested for sending their dad acid in the mail and the son and the dad went to jail.
I'm like, what?
Why am I hearing this now?
What the fuck's going on?
So I freak out.
I told my dad, like, just be careful.
So I hid it in a dental floss.
I put the mints in a thing in dental floss.
It got to him, it was no problem.
So the other day I was working in Charlotte.
He lives in Asheville.
I was working in Charlotte.
I had a day off.
I rented a car.
I drove up to see him.
And he says, hey, you want to do some of that LSD you sent me?
And I was like, for real?
My first instinct was, I don't want to trip with my dad.
I'm going to be like, oh, my God, I used to be in your balls.
Where were you?
Yeah, well, we've had that talk.
I could go backwards to that later.
I've had the full, like, I let them have it years ago and kind of, and we had that talk.
We're kind of past that now.
So we did a little LSD together, and we walked around the Biltmore estate, which is the largest residential house in the country, I think.
And they have a beautiful botanical garden.
My dad's a photographer.
So we went out there and we took photos.
We tripped down.
We walked through this beautiful garden and the plants were coming to life a little bit.
And he started telling me all these things.
I had no idea about our side of the family.
It was a very healing, nice day.
and I'm glad we did it.
But yeah, dude, I did LSD with my father, dude.
Yeah.
Well, my dad was, it's funny because my dad was a, he was a hippie.
And my mom married him when he was 18 with one pair of jeans that he owned and long hair.
And she was 23 with two kids and he married her and had me a year later.
So you have half family?
Yeah, yeah.
I have two half, I have a half brother and half sister for my mom's first marriage.
And my dad had two girls after the marriage with my mother.
Oh, you have a lot of halfies.
Yeah, and it's all spread out.
It's a pretty dysfunctional family.
Well, most people don't talk.
families isn't yeah yeah exactly and that's what i've come to learn it's not like i'm like poor me
but don't do that either i know i do that because i'm like everybody's dysfunctional right well not
see i have the thing for me it's like uh i actually just said this to our jude angelini who's a great
friend and a great pod he's a he's a he's an author and a dj guy on a radio and he's he i did
what you just did i said yeah you know my dad was never around i'm like yeah but you know what
50% of the population of america's parent a dad was and he goes no no he goes don't do that he called me
out. He's like, don't do that. Don't diffuse your, like what, like, that's a fair thing to
acknowledge and don't, you don't have to dismiss it. Like, oh, it's no big deal because
everyone else says, it's, it's okay. You know what I mean? It's okay that you're going
through all this stuff. And it's good that you're talking about. And, and having these people
listen to it's important. Yeah. That's why podcasting is really good today. This wouldn't happen
on the Tonight Show when you're promoting Smallville for five minutes. They go, okay, let's go
to commercial. Rosamom up talking about ketamine. Yeah. Infusion.
I'm glad you're doing that stuff.
I think it's important.
There's medicine out there.
As I talk about this, it's funny because I'm thinking, okay, how do I bounce back here and make
people think I'm not out of my mind?
I'm not crazy.
It's like I'm always trying to validate.
No, no, no, I'm doing this, but I'm still, because here's the reality.
I am, I function.
I went to my friend's birthday yesterday.
I had a great conversation, really made her day.
I love my dogs.
I enjoy my dog.
I'm looking around your room.
You have some great accolades.
You're a smart guy that do these books.
I haven't read half of them
Okay, yeah, they're just like pretending
I've read a lot of them
This is my uncle's books
He wrote those two
Life as I blow it
My friend Sarah wrote
Thomas Wilder
The Road to Paradise
Chevy Chase is
I did a movie with Chevy Chase
He was a dick
Sorry saying it
I love Chevy but I've heard that a lot
He was really mean to me
That I don't like
He was really mean to me
And everyone else
And no one liked him on the movie
But whatever
He's still a legend
And I grew up loving the guy
I don't take it personal
There's a lot of assholes in Hollywood
Whatever
all I can tell you is I've been through some pain I want to get rid of it I'm doing everything in my power which I think is healthy so I credit myself and going hey you want to get to the bottom of this let's work on your mind let's work on your body let's like let's be the best person I could be because I want to be the strongest I can because I don't want to live a life that's just sort of like you know just going through it I one of those little apps that I was listening to like you you said you were listening to something that like you know I love myself you just a you
YouTube video.
A YouTube video.
Well, there was the same thing.
I was listening to some guided meditation, the 10 minute long.
I just pushed, you know, listen to this.
And it said, the one thing I took from it that I got almost a little emotional in it,
the voice said, stop trying to get through life and try to enjoy life.
And it was so simple and so like, what?
But it's so true.
I feel like I try to get through it.
I try to get through moments.
How do I get through that?
I just want to get through that instead of going, hey, let's have fun like you used to.
Let's go up on stage and let's have fun.
and let's have fun let's enjoy the moment it's hard for me to be present like i want to be well you
you have the jewish brain which goes 110 miles an hour so you have the monkey mind which is your
best friend and your worst enemy that voice that keeps you up in night is also why you have this
house in the hills and a podcast and an amazing career right let's be honest let's call a spade a spade
so it's a gift and a curse sure sure i think okay because i'm yeah of course i'm very lucky
Are you Ashkenazi Jew?
I am.
Me too.
I just did my DNA guess.
I'm 51% or 49.
So you're half as good as me.
Yeah.
But I'm not religious at all.
No, no, that's DNA.
That's genetics.
Yeah, yeah, it's genetics.
It's a way of the...
Because I'm not religiously Jewish at all, but it's a way we are culturally the way we think
and it's a different thing.
So anyway, there's a type of therapy I tried that you might be interested in called
EMDR therapy.
I motion desensitization reprocessing, which is for soldiers who,
come back for more with trauma, but for somebody like you and I, you can actually use it for other
reasons such as, I'm fucking this, you know, I'm always thinking I can't really, I want to be in
the moment, which should be applied to acting as well. I mean, you know, you're an actor. Like,
how great is a scene when you're actually, like, not thinking about your line and you're just
breathing and listening and responding? Like, that's when you're doing good work. It's like
life too. So anyway, EMDR therapy, I did for a while. And isn't it like tones or? Yes. So
it's binaural waves and you're holding these sensor things that sort of vibrate left, right, and
and it does these things with your brain
where it accesses stored trauma
that you may not even realize you have.
Does it really work?
I'll tell you this much.
My second time in there,
I'm doing the thing,
I'm holding the thing,
and you're looking at a pencil
going back and forth
and they're asking you questions
as they're doing the bineural like stimulation.
And all of a sudden,
she's just asking me questions
and I've talked about therapy a lot of times
and I just start leaking like a faucet, bro.
I don't even know what thought triggered
this amount of tears
that came out of me that felt so good to get out.
It was like, it felt like cathartic.
I'm like, and I'm laughing and crying.
I'm like, I don't even know what this is about.
She's like, it's working.
And it just, it had a very dramatic effect quickly.
And I guess it's a shortcut to accessing what you might come up
and talking for hours and hours and hours quicker.
And it just surfaced all this shit.
And there's a place I can go to.
Oh, yeah.
I could tell you the lady's name.
It's here in L.A.
And it's worth trying.
I mean, look, if you have...
Why not?
I'm always worth...
Yeah.
It's always worth a shot.
It seems like you're willing to experiment.
Yeah, I'm open to stuff, you know?
I'm happy to share her information with you.
She was recommended to me by a good friend.
I recommended someone, another mutual friend of ours who I won't say his name and I went to this person as well.
And liked it?
Actually, I don't remember the result.
I'll have to get back to you on that.
But I liked it.
And I can tell you from my experience, I thought it helped.
Because I guess I've been going to therapy since I was three years old.
My mom said she had me in therapy when I was three.
because when my dad left, I acted out a lot.
Of course.
You didn't have a father figure around.
And the ones that were around were doing coke and stealing my money, you know?
I mean, how did you mean?
This is why I'm single at 44 years old.
I'm single at 46.
No kids.
Do you honestly?
I do.
I struggle with it.
I do.
And then sometimes I'll see like some fucking entitled kid with their iPad having a panic attack with their parents or something.
And I'm like, oh, fuck that.
But then part of me is like, that's part of the experience of life that I want to have.
And it's the ultimate.
Unselfish Act maybe that's what you and I need to chill the fuck out his kids is a kid so it's like it's not about us
It's not about us anymore. It's about them and that's the that's the thing I don't think my mother. I don't think she didn't
When you have a child the child becomes the center of attention and for my mother she couldn't handle that
She always wanted to be the center of attention really always my mother
Wanted it to be always about her she wanted to be pretty forever
She in fact she had two my brother and sister and she
used to say, hey, we're having friends over the house.
Do not mention your brother's sister.
Nobody knows I have them.
I don't want anybody to know I have them.
And this is in New York?
Where'd you go?
This was in Indiana because we moved from New York to Indiana.
You feel New Yorkie to me.
Well, my whole family's been New York and I was born there.
Okay.
I lived there for the first eight years.
But, you know, I definitely have that New York, I guess, spirit, all sports, all that.
But, you know, I grew up in the Midwest, which I'm thankful for.
But, you know, I came from a family that everybody, you know, I think my parents always
would say, oh, that family down the street.
Someone says having an affair.
Oh, they're, they're assholes.
They're this. And you start to believe it as a kid,
and the older you get, you go, no,
you guys are fucked.
You're the fucked up ones.
It's amazing how I, like, you believe your parents.
You believe your parents.
You can do that.
And then all of a sudden, and look, I do,
my dad's turned over a new leaf and all these things.
My issue is trust.
Like, if you ask me a question,
I'm going to, I'm going to tell you the truth.
Or I'm going to tell you as much as I can without,
if I don't want to divulge too much information.
But I feel with most of my family that I don't believe most of what they say.
It's a really hard thing to understand, but I just don't believe them.
You know, it's interesting.
As you get old, you look back on all the things that you didn't understand like you just said.
Or like, you know, I was saying I didn't remember as a 10-year-old,
what a cocaine addict behavior was like.
And I look back, I'm like, how did I not understand?
That's why he was doing.
So it's interesting looking back, but it's also good to really,
realize that and I think everybody's
flawed it's too what we as humans do
it's not just your family or them saying down the block
they're doing this and that people like
to put people in a box I've noticed everyone wants
to just put a label on you with a ribbon on it and be like
oh Michael Rosenbaum the funny guy
actor I put him in a box that's what he is ribbon
on it that's done
once you do that you limit you to what the
fuck you are a lot more than that
you could be whatever the fuck you could be an author you're a podcast
you could do whatever fuck you want people just want to be like
oh Simon he the rapper
Simon oh the
scary movie guy oh he's the vj guy oh the guy from vine people just want to bam it's too easy to do that
i think we as humans do that a lot i'm guilty of it i'm trying to be aware of when i do that be like
because once there's like a famous quote i can't remember who said it it's like some famous philosopher said
once you label me you limit me from all the things that i have potential to be something along those
lines right and i think we all do that and it's yeah it's uh human behavior we all do a lot of weird
things especially in this town you know everyone just wants to be like oh he it's like a big high school
there's only like 3,000 of us in that isn't that something it's high school everybody knows everybody
everyone's fucking everybody and everybody's like what do you do like what you're never going to find
someone in this town it's tough to find someone in this town I mean do you think first of all
what made you stop smoking pot what made you change and say was it did you have like a nervous breakdown
did you feel like no no no I just it's not working no no I just stopped working for me like it's we
this reverse effect on me where I started getting paranoid and insecure and questioning everything
where it used to make me relaxed. It made the opposite. And I actually went to a doctor about it.
He goes, yeah, it's common that in your mid-30s, the weed chemistry, THC has a changing effect on your
brain to where it does that to a lot of people, you're not alone. Some people smoke it forever. Some
people, it stops working for them or it has this effect. So that's what happened to me is I just
smoke it. I'm like, I don't feel comfortable right now. And it used to have the opposite effect.
where if I wasn't smoking, I had to smoke weed to relax and get comfortable, you know,
because I wasn't comfortable in my own skin.
So for the first time in my life, like the last few years, I've been the most sober I've ever been
just like dealing with emotions.
You realize when you're getting high all the time, you're just putting a lid on everything.
You take the lid off.
Do I had a wet dream two nights ago?
You know, it's funny?
I almost had a wet dream too.
I had one at 44 years old.
I think I've had one like, yeah, I used to worry about that because I'm like, why am I in my mid-30s and having a wet dream?
But then I found out it's a good thing.
It's a healthy libido because that means you have a healthy active libido and your brain, everything's working.
So you asked your doctor.
You said I came in my pants last thing.
I didn't ask my doctor.
I have a friend of mine who's sort of a, my buddy.
Premature ejaculations.
He's an expert.
He's an expert.
He's an expert.
Well, premature ejaculations.
I said premature.
Yeah.
I've had that problem as well.
Do you ever use like a rub or something on your?
I have used that.
Yeah.
Does it work?
Well, it worked as a lubricant.
I came really fast.
I'm just kidding.
Yeah, there's some stuff that works.
numbing agents. Everybody has sexual dysfunction.
Yeah, I don't care. Dude, I don't care about that
shit anymore. Like, yeah, dude, I've suffered
from it. I haven't. It's all in your, everything's
in your head, you know? Everything. Everything.
But yeah, dude, the fact
that a thought could trigger
that to happen in my 40s
blew my mind. I was just, I woke up laughing.
And I had one in a two months ago, and it was two robots
sucking my dick at the same time.
It was like they were on a crank machine. They're Asian robots.
Which is interesting. Well, that
I guess subconsciously, what's that saying?
if you're Sigmund Freud or Carl Jung
What would you say that means
That I'm having a double Asian robot
Give me a head and I came in my dream
That would by the way
That's what was about segments I've ever
I've ever heard
But by the way
I'm just being honest here
No no no I love this I love this
And you know what
I just read something
You were saying something just now
It made me go oh my God
Not because of pop but it was
It was that
Somebody quoted saying
Those things that worked for you
when you were young
those things like the energy this
this eventually they stop
working for you when you're an adult
and that's when you have to change your ways
and I think that's why we're compromising
we're questioning things because
those bullshit like little things like
I'm going to be the center of attention
no you're going to exhaust yourself
you can't do that anymore
you can't do that you have to take care of yourself
in whatever way it used to work because
you're young and your testosterone levels
are good and everything's balanced
and you don't have an iron deficiency
but when you get to a certain age it's time to fuck off dude we need to fuck off you're right where
you're supposed to be and so am i and it's all good we live in a different universe that most
therapists couldn't understand like first of all is there okay you you and you and i have
had let's despair to say moderate fame enough to where people will stop you and talk to you and
say uh hey mike can i have a photo with you hey da da or you look like paul rod i'm like wow
right right i wish um you look like ashley judd um now
Fame is a weird thing
that psychologically has affected me
and I've had a very low level fame
but enough to where you know people come up to me
and hey what do I know you from
and then you're like going over you're like
It's the worst thing in the world
because then you're just like okay
you're looking at them going okay
based on their age and you know ethnic background
you might guess what they know you from
with me if it's a brother black human
a scary movie right scary movie
if it's like a 23 year old something
it's like vine if it's and I have to look at them
up and down and do the math and then say what I think it is and then when you're wrong you're
just listing off all the shit I don't do it anymore if somebody goes what are you in I'm not going to
answer that question it's embarrassing it's awful because first of all I'm probably not the guy
you're thinking of totally and you're not actually I sound like a douchebag you can't win you my credits
I don't win the worst I had one guy in a bar I think I've said this before I go hey come here man
I'm like uh no you're gonna he's telling me to come here with his finger oof I'm like what may
come here my girlfriend wants to meet you I'm like uh
your girlfriend come to me yeah oh i like it that's what i said he was a big guy i thought he's
going to be the shit i mean but i was like i'm not i'm not a wind of doll it's it's you know
it's uh this this happened to me the other day i was um on tour with micky avalon who i do music
with and i go on the road and do my my character dirt nasty and i do these live music comedy
shows i take it on the road it's great it's a fun time it's actually like i get to go to
the trenches of america like you do as a stand-up and i'll be in you know st louis doing a live
show and bringing people on stage and improving and i don't know what's
going to happen, so I keep it fun to myself. Can you make a lot of money doing that? I make enough money
to live at the beach and eat sushi and have an RV, so I'm happy. You know, I make like, I make, you know,
enough to have a good living. I got to, I'm very lucky. So I could go on the road and do that. And I love
going on the road and interacting with fans and real life, but there's always that one person, at least one
person, especially when you get into the flyover states, not to isolate anyone listening, but when people
aren't used to seeing celebrity, it's a whole weird other thing where they can't, they don't know how to act
around you and it gets because they never seen
anyone before, right? Right. So in
LA, people are used to seeing someone they don't care about
you. But you go to, you know, Vincennes
Indiana. That's where I grew up. There you go.
Near there. So you get it. You go
back there and it's like, oh my God, come
everywhere. They're literally like you're an animal in a zoo. Like come
look, touch him, he's real kind of shit, you know?
So I had this woman the other day. Literally, I took a picture with their
husband and then next thing, you know, they're like having
a drink at the bar with me and my friend. They kind of just came over. We'll get
you a drink. And I'm like, it's not worth the $7 to have to
hang out with my fans for an hour. I didn't say that. I'm thinking it. Sure enough, they get too
comfortable because I'm nice. And then, you know, she's whipping out her phone and she just starts
filming me and she's just like, go. She says, go. I'm like, go. On camera, I'm saying this. I'm like,
go. She's like, do, do you? Like, be funny. What did you do? What I just did to you? I just
stared at her and I'm on camera and I think I just looked at her. Disconnected. And I didn't
give her anything that she wanted. And then she realized what she was doing. She was like, oh, I'm
sorry i just let her know like what just pulled the string on my back i'm a human being what are you
doing and people just don't get it i like moments i like having a moment with someone who we're having a
moment right now yeah yeah we're having it of course we're having a three sim with tyler but like i like
a moment where it's somebody who isn't in the industry which i envy usually because they're
somewhat they have some normalcy and then uh you know we're having a moment and like oh my god we're
talking about this and i just want to stay in that moment i don't want it to become
it's weird it's nice to be recognized but also it's also it comes with the
territory but sometimes you just want to be like hey man I'm just a I'm just
really a genuine dude I try to be a genuine guy I just want to be me and sometimes
I mean look that's not what I signed up for that's not what we signed up for but and
that's hard for me sometimes because I go I just want to be I just want to be I'm just
a dude man I just want to yeah you're a human being do we have to take pictures
do we have to call your mom do we have to do we have to like just enjoy this moment
moment. Like Steve Martin used to, people go up and go, hey, can I have your autograph? You go, no, but you could have this card. And it says, I met Steve Martin.
That's right. That was in his book, wasn't it? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I love that.
It's a weird thing because you're right. We put ourselves out there for this. We asked for it, but there's times where you just want to be like, dude, I just don't want this heat on me right now. Like I just want to chill out. And some people would say tough shit. Yeah. And you know what? And I bet you most of the people listening are like, boohoo, cry me a river.
Yeah. Until you live it, it's hard to explain.
saying that's what my point being coming full circle.
How could a therapist possibly understand psycho?
They need to have like a Hollywood fame therapist for specifically people like us who are at this point of our life.
We're like, what the fuck for some help?
And because not everyone could possibly understand what it would be like in that situation psychologically, what it does to you.
It's a weird fucking thing.
Yeah.
And I don't think like, I love my success.
I love doing this podcast.
I'm doing another podcast.
I love writing.
I love directing.
I love all of it.
But for me, I really do envy people who had really great upbringings.
I envy people who have a loving connection.
I just interviewed Ralph Machio and his parents were great and they're loving and they're clothes.
Well, no.
But like, and I look and I'm like, God, it just helps so much in this young thing.
Like your developmental stages, like, Simon, if you had a dad that was there, it would have been a completely different story for you.
I probably wouldn't be sitting here because I wouldn't have been like, look at me.
I wouldn't have been in this business.
Yeah.
And I hate that about it.
myself. I hate that I go in and the only way I'm comfortable is if I'm making someone
laugh. I'm like, hey, you haven't heard my Rodney Dangerfield. They're like, why? I didn't
ask for it. I'm like, hey, all right. How are you? You know, and I'm doing this.
Well, you got a lot of, look, you're talented. So it's almost like you've just gotten used to
your own persona, which is that guy because you were really, you're a talented guy,
man, you're smart, hyper-intelligent, smart, fast-thinking dude. So it's like that's your tool.
That's what you've survived on this far. You know what I mean? That's what you've made a living
off of it. It's how you've gotten chicks. It's how you've gotten food on the table.
So you're just used to it. And it's hard to break that pattern. I'm going, dude, it's so bizarre
we're having this talk because I'm going through the same thing on my different journey, but the
same kind of thing where I'm just for the first time in my life, just like, I'm fucking
exhausted, dude. I'm exhausted. I'm exhausted. And I don't have to make everyone laugh all the time.
And it even got to the point where like the other night, I remember I was having, and I was just
sitting there like, I'm just going to take a vow of silence and just not feel that I got to entertain
and everyone and it was so weird because everyone at the table was like dude where are you like
come back this is you okay that happened to me at dinner the other night people were like are you
okay they think you're like it's like no i just i'm shutting it off for a minute Tyler you know what it
is i'm gonna say this i feel like i'm a child i don't know whether you believe in god or not it doesn't
matter i do but i mean if there could be this one moment where something just says this is what
you should be doing i want you to do this i want somebody to tell me what to do it sounds so stupid
it sounds so immature i just want somebody to go michael this is what you need to do i promise you
this is gonna work a lot easier if you had that isn't it good if you just had god i feel like i
life's full of tough decisions you got sometimes you gotta make those and that's fucking hard look
i wish that too i think everybody wishes they had that and as far as going backwards a little bit
about being a kid forever.
That's another thing I'm dealing with
is for the first time in my life.
I'm trying,
I'm not trying to grow up,
but I am growing up.
And part of that,
I want to stay youthful forever.
I still want to be like,
pull my finger,
kid,
or make, you know,
just be a silly,
be a silly goose.
I never want to take life too seriously.
So I'm in this weird,
conflicted zone of where it's like,
grow up,
but stay youthful.
It's like, well,
what does that mean, you know?
How about,
you know what Spielberg said?
What?
Spielberg.
You're fired.
Yeah,
he never, you know.
He said,
said this he said on an interview he said i am the most immature person i am so immature listen
this but it's okay to be immature if you're responsible okay there's there it is i am immature
but i am responsible then you're okay you're spiel but yeah but no i like that he said that because
he's like it doesn't matter how immature you are as long as you're responsible human being i'm i love that you
said that I'm going to remember that because that's exactly
sums up how I'm
taking care of my shit. I'm not fucking like
life isn't going down
the toilet because I'm fucking everything up around me
but I still want to be fucking silly
and laugh and fucking you know
sabotage it right yeah no I think
that's exactly the way to put it
half of me is like growing up
as a trap that's true and the other half
but I don't think it's just you and I think
this whole I think there's a big thing happening
in today's culture where
there's an arrested development where
men are age and even older like when you see some dude like dressing and acting when he's like old
like he's young that it's kind of hard to watch tight jeans is a 60 year old guy it's that thing and
i actually just watched a video uh or if they're comfortable with themselves that's another
thing if they're really genuinely happy with themselves whatever whoever they are and whatever
you're doing great because that's another thing i'm trying not to judge i don't want to be judgmental
anymore and it's hard because you know it's sort of like when you judge people you're really
kind of doing it to yourself right you're you're really kind of doing it to yourself right
You're like something about yourself that you hate.
It's like, why do they have to do that?
Except for the lips, the fake lips.
Duck lips.
I don't like that.
I don't either.
Everyone looks trying to looks like Angelina Jolie and it's disgusting.
That's one thing I'm learning about myself is that when I find that I'm pointing the finger at somebody else, I'm like, oh, wait a minute.
Maybe that's what I do.
Psychology 101 would say I'm projecting and that's what I do.
So I'm trying to like find those things that I'm like, oh, fuck, am I that guy?
Yeah.
You know?
What about purpose?
I think that, you know, to some, I know you got another thing.
too. No, it's okay. But no, this is good. This is good. We're finishing up. But for me, okay,
that's the big, we get the big stuff. That's where I get into the big stuff because you can't
live your whole life without purpose. You have to have purpose. And like, you know, am I charitable?
Yes. Do I feed the homeless? Yes. Do I give people things? Yes. Do I feel like I'm a good
? Yeah, I do. But purpose, I think, really involves more of how you feel. How you feel when you're
doing something altruistic, something that makes you feel good. Altruistic means unselfish.
Yeah, it means you're doing it with no thought of like, oh, if I donate, everybody on Facebook is going to see that I donate it.
Right.
I'm doing it because I really want to help someone and nobody needs.
Mark Messia, my hockey jersey right there.
Yeah, yeah.
He said a real man and an honorable man is somebody who does these kind actions when the cameras are on.
Right, for sure.
And that's, of course, that's the thing.
And we all do both.
Well, there's nothing that if you ever feeling down and out about anything, they say go do something for somebody else and you'll feel better.
I actually did that recently, and it's going to sound like I'm being non-altruistic by saying this,
but I'll go spend seven bucks at Whole Foods and get a big organic roast chicken in Venice,
and I'll go to the alleyway where all the junkies are and I'll give it to them.
And the look on their face, when I give them this hot chicken,
and I don't need to put it on social media.
I mean, I'm telling you now, but it feels so good to be like, oh, my God,
that's seven bucks to make these guys, like, eat a good meal.
My problems ain't that bad.
It kind of puts things in perspective.
So it's very important to do that.
Now going back to purpose
I think you and my
yours and my purpose
is to entertain people
and that's why it could be exhausting
but you are here to make
when you go on the road and do stand-up
which you've still been doing a lot of you're not
oh you're not okay but you've been doing stand-up
I was doing stand-up for a year
oh yeah I thought you're still doing it
then I started with the band and we have an album
come out so you entertain people good
yeah so most but here's my that's your purpose dude
sure sure that's your purpose and that's mine
and that's why you even
when you get in these ruts and you got it like maybe creatively you can't always be on and
sometimes you go into the but at the end of the day you are here to put smiles on faces for people
that have real fucking nine to five office jobs and wear a suit and have a boss yelling at them
and sit in traffic all day you're there to lighten up their life a little bit because I know for
me because I ask myself this all the time and when it's like yesterday I was in uh in Santa Monica
and these two like dudes roll up on me and like man you made me laugh my whole childhood man thank
you and I was like oh that's that's my purpose I did my job that makes perfect sense I made them
I made them laugh at a time in their life.
And it's like, you know what?
That's what I got to keep doing.
So whether it's a silly Instagram video, a silly song, a play, a fucking movie, whatever it is.
Like, we're here to do.
And you too.
And that's what this podcast is.
So that's your purpose, I believe.
Yeah.
And look, I think you're right.
I think like for me, I do love doing the podcast.
I do love coming and having a conversation with you and being able to open up.
And maybe one person goes, oh my God, that helped me.
Yep.
one person comes up to me and goes hey you know i was listening to you and simon or i was listening to you
and it made me really that that's what it's about that it is about that it is about that and it's like
you know um yeah that's true and it's it's it's hard to look it's it's it's ignorant for people who
aren't in the industry who do work nine to five jobs to think we should only be happy and we're
this and we don't deserve to be depressed or we don't that's fucking ignorance and it's ignorant
for us to say you know what i mean yeah yeah i don't think that's fair either but i am very
lucky and we've said it we've done a bunch of great shit i'm just saying that everybody
is fucked up in a way everybody has issues and unless you talk about them unless you talk to
someone about them unless you try to be a better person things aren't going to get better for you
these podcasts are a good platform to do that i'm noticing that when i've been doing because i i started
a podcast as well called nervous rex which i'd love to have you on one day and uh when is that
uh it's every wednesday i drop one it's just been a couple months of them but yeah i started
say it again nervous wrecks i love it yeah so i'm learning that in having these talks i've been on this
side of the podcast love but now that i'm hosting it and have people on dude you put your phone away
for an hour and have a talk like this you and i in 20 years have never had to talk like this
you know what i'm saying we're no bullshit put the phone away yet it's going to be shared with
people and people are going to connect with it they can be like you know what those guys were being
real it wasn't like a song and dance like hey bat ha bap babbub that's what these things are
here for and i think they're important and that's why they're uh i think they help a lot of people
I know personally I listen to a lot of other podcasts that I learn things from and you know
sitting in traffic on a podcast like oh wow I didn't that's interesting maybe I need to work on
you know what I mean it helps people these are good these are a good thing it ultimately it's just
like how can I be a better human being how can you be a better human being how could Tyler be a
better how can we just be a lot of work to do on himself how could be a lot of work man what are we
gonna say I haven't said anything this whole show you guys are just talking about me no it's
good i like i like the spotlight it's great oh he's but you know he's he's smart
well he's the strong silent type and you and i over here going loquacious birds
bah ma'm he's sitting there going these guys don't shut the fuck up it's amazing that you guys think
that i don't talk that much though now you do talk anybody that knows me yeah yeah go ahead
plug it cynical cartoons okay listen to tyler's podcast cynical cartoons and don't forget to
listen to nervous rex nervous ryex yeah like simon wrecks you'll i'd love to have you on
i'm coming on all right great
Dude, this has been a real treat.
No, this is good.
We'll have part two another time.
Dude, we have to have part two.
I mean, I didn't expect to get this deep.
That's okay.
That's why these are good.
It's refreshing.
Like, I didn't mean to talk about the treatment center.
No, that's good.
I'm glad you did.
And if you keep it great, if not great, it doesn't matter.
But I think it's good to be transparent and be honest.
And I kind of, I think it's good for you to do that, personally.
Yeah, I think it's good.
I think it's the more honest you are with everybody, the more honest you.
Because only you know the truth.
You could sit here and I could say, oh, how happy I am.
fucking day.
But when you look in the mirror at night,
you go to bed with yourself,
you know, if you're not happy.
You know, it's the guy that's going,
yeah, everything's great, honey, yeah,
oh my God, those are the ones that's probably.
Yeah, I don't want to be that.
I wouldn't.
Yeah, I love you.
You know what I mean?
Thank you for allowing me to be inside you.
Oh, baby.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Star shoot out across the darkest night
My heart skips to be tonight
I'm feeling all right
Taking everything one day at a time
There was something I thought I might find
And I float in my fantasies
And all my dreams of love
I'm going out of my head
With my back up against the wall
So happy.
Hi, I'm Joe Sal C. Hi, host of the Stacking Benjamin's podcast. Today, we're going to talk about
what if you came across $50,000. What would you do? Put it into a tax advantage retirement account.
The mortgage. That's what we do. Make a down payment on a home. Something nice.
Buying a vehicle. A separate bucket for this edition that we're adding. $50,000. I'll buy a new
podcast. You'll buy new friends. And we're done. Thanks for playing everybody. We're out of here.
Stacking Benjamin's follow and listen on your favorite platform.
