Mike Birbiglia's Working It Out - 181. Jo Firestone Returns: The Best Stand-Up (Who Doesn’t Do Stand-Up)

Episode Date: August 18, 2025

Jo Firestone is a multi-talented writer, actor, and comedian. In her third appearance on Working It Out, Jo explains the thought process behind her experimental live comedy shows, which often involve clay, paper mache, and pie. Jo also delves into the experience of working as the head writer for After Midnight with Taylor Tomlinson and discusses being the subject of a search warrant by the Paramount lot police after a golf cart mishap. Plus, Jo and Mike break down the various text acronyms for laughter and compare their experiences taking martial arts classes.Please consider donating to The Ali Forney Center

Do you know how many mics I've dated? No. Five. That's a lot. That's so many mics. If you're like... So many mics. It's like a song.

Oh, like Neil Brennan. That's three mics. Oh, sure. Oh, sure. Oh, sure. Oh, I could give a five mics. They'd say new and improved. That's your special, five mics.

That is the voice of the great Joe Firestone. We are so excited. excited to have back. Joe Firestone, one of our favorite guests of all time. Joe is a comedian, author, actor, writer. She even created two card games, Plunder Dome and Fruits. She played a small role in my film Don't Think Twice. You know her from Joe Perra talks with you. She was the head writer for After Midnight with Taylor Tomlinson. It's her third time on the podcast. And if you haven't listened to the first two, I highly recommend those. She is one of a kind. the episodes we've done with her are truly unhinged, as is today in the best way.

Thanks, everybody who came out to these four shows that I just did with Nick Kroll and Fred Armisen in support of John Mullaney's new tour. So fun, we are back. September 13th at Stanley Park in Vancouver, get tickets at berbigs.com. And if you haven't checked out the Good Life on Netflix, that is my new special out on Netflix. We've had so many people discovering the show lately, I think. between our episode with Bob Odenkirk, which had a clip that went so far and wide. It was on my TikTok and Instagram, it was seen by, I don't know, 25 million people or something.

And then hilariously, it was picked up by all these parenting and dad Instagram accounts. It sort of, you know, people putting their different own filters and commentaries on it. And it was a whole darn thing of Bob Odenkirk's answer to the. the question, who are you jealous of? And his answer was people who still have young kids at home. And it was very sweet, and a lot of parents really connected with it, including me and my wife. So if you didn't listen to Bob Odenkirk episode, you should check that out. That's a really, really good episode. And the full video of it is on YouTube, as well as the Kumail Nanjiani episode, who is on Broadway right now as Abraham Lincoln and O'Mary. So today we have this great

chat with Joe Firestone. We talk about what she does on stage now. Her comedy shows are, if you ever have a chance to see her, she's fantastic, very experimental, very experiential. Sometimes they involve clay. Her latest show at Union Hall in Brooklyn is a pie tasting show. We talk about working in writers' rooms, like after midnight, she's worked on the Tonight Show. There is no one like Joe Firestone, and I always have a great chat with her. Enjoy my conversation, with the great Joe Firestone. Last time you were here, it was, I would say, wildly unhinged. No.

You're hard, well, you're hard to wrangle. No. You're hard to wrangle. I come in a cage, and I say, here's the key. You did come in a cage, and then you let yourself out of the cage. It's over by the door. It's off camera. I'm great trained. But, okay, so I found out you were in town

Because I get the Union Hall Billhouse email Which people should get, by the way. That's great. It's great. Yeah, you find out what's going on. You find out what's going on in Brooklyn comedy scene. And they book great shows. They do.

I developed a bunch of shows there. Of course. All of my girlfriend's boyfriend special I did in that basement at Union Hall. Really? Yeah, yeah. And then we shot a lot of Sleepwalk with. I mean film at Union Hall. Oh, yeah.

All tons of parts of it. Yeah. Yeah. But you did. But so I noticed, I knew that you were the head writer for after midnight because I saw you. I was on it. You were great. Thanks.

I tried my best. And then it got canceled. Sure did. Sure did. That's what they said. So how did you feel when it got canceled were you like, because I know you like New York. So there must have been some hint of. relief that you get to come back to New York.

It was a silver lining, even though you got canceled. Being canceled sucks, but... Yeah. There was definitely a silver lining there with the coming back. I don't think that I am supposed... I am going to be... I'm not going to be those... That one of those people that's like, L.A. is this?

New York is this? Yeah, yeah. I'm... L.A. is a dolphin. New York is a Manta Ray. Yeah, whatever. I'm not doing that. Yeah.

But for me, that's... not really a place where I'm thriving. I finished the mentalist. I went through episode one through they get married. Okay. Okay. Robin Tooney and Simon Baker get married. Okay.

I've never seen an episode. At the beginning, they don't want anything to do with each other. You're going way past my intelligence knowledge of the show. So much time. Okay. I've spent watching the mentalist. Yeah. So I'm like...

Can I just say that you are younger than me, and sometimes you feel like my aunt? I don't know. I don't know. It took so long to get here, and I'm so sweaty. And then you're like, hey, how about this for a rass? Okay, so I'm young compared to some... You're much younger than me. Well?

Yeah, well. Hey, are you in your... 40s? Yeah. Yeah. Okay, so can I ask you something? What would you say a cowardly man in his 40s does for fun? For fun, cowardly.

I would just think like stays indoors, kind of agoraphobic. What's he do indoors? Oh, maybe watches Game of Thrones. Really? Yeah, like back to back. Okay. Over and over again. Okay.

Oh, that's good. That's good. Okay. Are you writing something where there's a cowardly man in his 40s? Yeah. And you were thinking of me. No, no, no, no, no. You think I can play that part?

I'm not razzing you. I'm not razzing you. I don't say, oh, you know, well, you seem like my nephew. No, this is just, this is just, I'm doing some research. I'm trying to, you know, I haven't, I don't do stand-up anymore. Yeah. And so. You are, you're doing stand-up.

I saw you at Union Hall. It was on the email. You would not believe what that show is. Okay. I would say it was one of the ones. worst. It was so bad. And I'm doing a second one.

So now you're quitting. No, I quit before. You quit, but then you came back for one final show at Union Hall and then you quit again? This show was not, oh, it was. Is it bad? Yeah. Really? Yeah.

I've never seen you not be good. It was so bad. And then, and during it, I was like, okay, so you know I got engaged. No. I got engaged. Congrats. Oh, thanks. It's like I pretty much held him at gunpoint.

We're going to send us the video to TMZ. Well, truly, I was like, we're getting married. Okay, so, so then he came, and I was like, don't come. And he's like, I'm going to come. Your fiancé. You know him. Yeah. Mike.

Yeah. Mike. Me. No. Yeah. We got engaged a few weeks ago, and that came to your show the other night. Okay. So, so basically, do you know, okay, do you know, truly, do you know how many mics have dated?

No. Five. That's a lot. That's so many mics. So many mics. It's like... Oh, like Neil Brennan. That's three mics.

Oh, sure. Oh, sure. Oh, sure. Oh, I could give a five mics. They'd say, new and improved. That's your special, five mics. Okay. So, so...

All right. Okay, so we were talking... Oh, so basically, I was like, don't come. Don't come. You're not going to like it. It's going to be bad. I knew it was going to be bad. Because, by the way, one of the great luxuries

of doing something, comedies when you get to a point where you don't have to have people you know in the audience. That hasn't. Yeah. So then... Do you think? Yeah. Yeah.

I mean, yeah, it'd be great to ride in a limo. Okay, so basically, I kept looking at him. Okay. And you know the face your loved ones make when you are making a fool of yourself. That's what he was doing. This is the face he was making. Okay. Oh, God.

And I was like, dang, that's true. Here's the thing is that I set it up really bad. Yeah. Where I was like, this is going to be not even a show, I'm sorry. And then people were like, oh. And then I knew already I'd set it up pretty bad. This is at Union Hall. Uh-huh.

This is your stand-up show. It's not a stand-up show. Well, why do you keep saying that? Because it wasn't. What was it? I told one joke, and they were like, oh. And then I was like, whoa. And then basically I was trying to get them to make the worst art ever so that we can cleanse them.

Okay. So that they can go off and make good stuff. So let's just call it a conceptual show. That is ridiculous. That's the premise of the show. Okay. Tell me what the joke is. I got like five pounds of air dry clay.

Okay. Great. So much. Five. Okay. I'm imagining. That's five pounds of air dry clay. It's clay you don't have to put in the oven.

Okay. And then did you hand it out to the audience? Yeah. And then I basically had them come up with like the worst, like, like a theater and the worst song and dance and pictures. And then it was just like, and then it was that that was to cleanse them. But this, this of course goes to what I love about your shows. You're saying it's not stand-up, but it's its own kind of comedy creation. It wasn't.

It's experimental. It's far out. Something. But you don't need the audience to, like, go nuts. You just need for it to be an experience. It seems like what you're going for is not set up punch, but rather an experience. And they got it. They will never forget it.

You know, I think it's just, yeah, I'm doing this other thing on Sunday. a pie tasting festival. I saw that. But people keep thinking it's a pie eating contest. Right. And we're going to run out of pie so fast because people only are supposed to eat one chunk. Yeah, that's a pie adjacent activity. Yeah.

But it's not the same pie activity. No. Yours is pie tasting. Yeah. And that, a more common one is pie eating competition. Right. Like competitive eaters. Right.

That's not what we're doing. Right. I hope nobody should. So. you do all these wild shows that are kind of bizarre concepts like the pie tasting you did a car wash show once oh that was rough like what would you do if it was just like there's no i didn't spend it no one bought tickets right no one bought tickets and so then they i had to front the cash and i didn't have that cash and so i wrote a check knowing it would bounce by the end of the day

And then luckily people came and drank a lot, which was great, because then they could. But it was, I was a little sweat in there for a bit. So, okay, you're doing a pie taste thing this week. This will have elapsed by the time this comes out. Yeah. This comes out in a week or so. You did the car wash show. These things are.

You did this recent show at Union Hall that you're telling me where you did, it distributed clay? No, like the clay was not even, that was probably the best part of it. And now I've got four and a half pounds of clay at my house. It's just like, these things are so poorly conceived. And then, but the thing is, is that I can, I'll execute anything. Okay. Yeah. And then immediately feel regret. Right. There's something in you that wants to execute and create and have a thing happen. If you were like, what part feels best? Yeah. Making it? Getting it done? Yeah.

Having people see it. Yeah. I would say making it, getting it done. Yeah, yeah. Like if you could just put me in a cell. And you're like, make seven buttons. Yeah, yeah. Whatever.

You like creating things. But then the reception is really the worst, the worst part. Yeah. One time I did this thing where I made a bunch of paper mache and let people beat it for four hours. Yeah. And I hid. Oh.

I couldn't watch it. What are you going to do at your wedding? Are you going to bring some of this energy to the wedding? I don't think people like this. No? Based on my numbers, no. I don't think people like this. And then I think also what I think is funny is not.

I'd say what you think is funny. Yeah. Other people think is funny. Okay. When you write a joke, it makes sense to others. But that's process of elimination. Like I always think of it as like a Venn diagram It's like here's what I think is funny

Here's what they think is funny And I'm trying to figure out like what's in that It's middle area, the little shaded area And so I think it's just one circle In my mind it's just one circle Your side What you think is funny And that's what other people

No that's what other people think is funny For you Oh yeah but that's a sight of hand That's a trick Oh everybody's magician That's I feel like nothing I think think is funny, is funny to others. It's not true.

No, well, okay. Can I tell you something? Okay. Can I tell you something that I think is really funny and makes people so sad? Okay. So I came back from L.A. in L.A. Mm-hmm. I was the shortest, ugliest person there.

In all of Los Angeles? Yes. I don't believe it. I looked around. I just don't believe this. And I kept trying to find an uglier shorter person. False premise. I kept trying to find an uglier, shorter person.

and I could not find me. Okay. And then I come back here and I'm surrounded by short uglies and I feel more comfortable. Yeah, yeah. Great place for them. But then if I say that, people are like, oh. Oh, right.

They feel bad. They feel bad. Interesting. It's just not, it's. You know what? Sometimes I think this goes straight into the working it out section of this podcast. But I think sometimes with stuff like that, If you're self-deprecating, it's like you need to orient the audience in that you're okay.

Yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah. Like, I was. Oh, you'd be like, I'm taller than children. Actually, I did just see a cousin yesterday. Yeah. God's so tall.

Oh, wow. Yeah, my daughter's tall. How tall? Five feet. Are you joking? No, I'm not joking. She's 10. That's how tall I am.

Yeah, exactly. Your daughter is five feet tall. Yes. What? Not only that, she's five foot and a half inch. Ew, I'm going to be sick. Are you serious? Are you serious?

I'm serious. It's intimidating for my wife, actually. She's getting there. He's on the way. I am going to be sick. No, no, I get it. Are a lot of your, like, people around you keep talking about, like, how the end is near? Oh, yeah, yeah.

like real severe pessimists. Yeah. Sure. So like a lot of my friends here are severe pessimists. Yeah. And I was like, and they were like, you got to buy a gun. And I was like, I can't buy a gun. I really just.

You have friends who are like, you got to buy a gun? Yes. And I was like, and then they're like, you got to buy a crossbro. Crossbow. And I was like, I just can't have this in my house. Yeah. Do you know what I mean? I can barely take the steak knives out.

I'm not going to do that. So then they were like, well, then you just take a like take a, like, take a, martial arts class. Okay, smart. And then I got the crap kicked out of me. I went to one class. I was choked within minutes. Wait, what?

I was pinned down by this girl's knees. Was it like kickboxing? No, it was a jujitsu. Oh, God. I couldn't believe it. Wow. I did kickboxing. That's good.

But there was no real combat. It was mostly like, you know, an instructor, you know. Yeah. And I wrote down an observation. I tried kickboxing, which was a huge mistake, my instructor explained to me. She didn't use those words, but at the end of the lesson, she said, quote, if you ever do this again, I said, I think I'm going to do it again. I just purchased a packet of lessons from you right there.

And then I go, she also called me short. She didn't say the word short. just said, when you jab, you want to jab up. And I said, or wherever my opponent is. And she said, what? And I said nothing. That makes me want to do that joke. That's a good joke.

You should do that. We could do kind of a jujitsu kickboxing combo act. That's what they're hoping for. That's what they're hoping for. Well, that's what the audiences are sort of begging for. Yeah, they do want that. But if I was, I think truly, I think if I was 5'10, I think my life would be so good. Really?

I would walk around. Your life is great now. I would walk around respect. You're a comedian, your comedy writer, things are going to, why? You've got put it in context. No? No, I think this would be really good. Are you 5'10?

5.9. Do you think your life would be better with just one more inch? 510, one more inch. I only thought about it when I saw the Celine song movie recently. Oh, that one. About dating. Oh, yeah. Where someone's like a professional dating expert.

Uh-huh. And then they fall in love with like Pedro Pascal, but then they have another boyfriend that's like Chris Evans. The materialist is the movie that I was referencing. And then the whole thing is, it's just very cynical about New York dating. Like men being like, I only want women who are blah, blah, blah. And women being like, I only want men who are six feet tall and up or whatever. I literally hadn't even considered that.

I'm five, nine. And I was never like, oh, that's on the short end of side. I thought it was like that sort of average five-nine. You know, it's like, I'm looking for a guy in finance, six, five, dead on. Yeah. Yeah, the height thing I never, yeah, I never considered. I know. It's a big thing.

It's a thing, apparently. People really like to me. I found out in this movie. That's how you found out. Yeah. I have no idea. It's like a huge cultural. Well, because I've been with my wife for 20 years.

I've been with my wife for 20 years, so I don't think about dating. I just don't think about it. But as a stand-up comedian, you have been exposed to so many jokes about dating. No, you're right. That I'm like, where did it not, how did it not come in? I have no idea. Everyone's like, short king, I want a tall one. I know.

That's true. Maybe I'm not watching enough of the other comics. I think you've got to check in. That's what everyone's talking about. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it's a big topic apparently. Size queen. Oh, okay, that's a thing, too.

Size queen. Yeah, what does that mean? It means I think that you want to have a big... Oh, interesting, okay. This junk isn't big enough for me. So that makes you a size queen? Yeah. If you're considering that, okay, interesting.

I am not the person to tell you this stuff. No, no, I think you're just the person because I have no other sources. I'm sorry that's the case. I just was the head writer for the show about the internet. No, I know. Every day I was like, wow. Like, I learned Google Docs three years ago. Like, this is, I'm not...

Google Docs? Google Docs. Okay. I thought once you did a Google Docs, you could never find it again. What do you mean you can never find it again? I thought once you did a Google Docs, it was gone. Google Docs? Do you know what I'm talking about?

Like a shared Google document? Yes. With someone else? Yes. Then I was like, once it's... What do you mean is gone? I did not know you could just go back to it. I just figured, ugh.

but I left that page It's gone But now I know Google Docs Forever And I know some internet terms Like Mudang Oh what's Mudang

Baby Hippo That's an internet term Yes like a wet Mudang was very popular Okay Mudang was very popular Is it an innuendo? No

It's like a wet It was like a wet baby hippo Okay And everybody loved Mudang But then Mudang started biting Okay And now Moudang just turned one. Oh, this is like an actual hippo, like at a preserve or something?

Yeah, yeah. Wildlife Preserve? Yeah, this was very big. What do you think? Okay, so you wrote for Jopara talks with you. You wrote for Z-Way. I can't believe you just learned about Moodang. After midnight.

I know I still don't even fully understand what you're talking about other than it's a hippo baby hippo. Well, it's mature now. Okay. So you've written for Jopara, Z-Way, the Tonight Show. after midnight. What do you think, what makes someone a good writer and a writer's from? For real? Why are you laughing so high? I just think it's like, well, I don't, not me. I think, I think it's like, I think truly, I think it's really, it's like this weird thing

where it's just like you really got to get along with other people. That's big, because you spend a lot of time with people. You get along with people. Sometimes. I've never seen you not get along with You know, I think I'm a little bit, I get a little grumpy. I'm a grumpy person. You're like mudang. I'm a little bit like muang. That was good. That was good.

That's good. That's a good writer's remove. That was good. Called back to your thing. That's really good. Yeah. No, and I really like, I like it when people, like, sometimes in a writer's room, you're like, no, that's a bad idea.

Yeah. But I really like when people are like, hey, here's another idea. Mm-hmm. Like a solution-oriented. Right. Yeah. But I would say that it was, I was, I tried to make it an, an pleasant experience, but it's hard to say, it's hard to say it if that happened. I always think of like collaborative writing things as like, you're like yes-handing what the other person says, yes-and-what-you-yes-and-what-you-yes-and-that, and then you build, build, build, and then you're like, is this something?

I know, but then, or you just throw it away. With late night, they're like, build it fast, and you're like, whoa, okay, and they're like, it's due now. It's like true, it's crazy. Like, you're like, you have three hours, right? The whole thing. Yeah. And then you're like, okay, let's do it. Build it fast.

Yeah. That's what it was like when I was on after midnight. I was like all day. I was like, this, this, this. Okay, now we're filming it. Which is fun. It's like Saturday Night Live, but in like a day. Yeah.

Yeah. Instead of a week. That's true. They do get a week. You get a whole week. Yeah. That one time I was at the Tonight Show and the Backstreet always walked by in chicken suits.

Yeah. And I was like, dang, this is really, this is really late night. This is a very late night. This is a very late night. That's a very late night. That's not true. Are you ready to admit in this podcast that you're a critical, darling? That is so not.

true. It is true. I think a lot of, usually if I get hired on something, I think, well, this is about to turn. Do you really feel that way? I don't, because I don't feel like, I feel like I don't have any, I feel like whatever I think is funny does not connect at all to people. Wait, but you were the head writer for After Midnight for, what, two years?

Uh-huh, about. Two years or so, yeah. But being a head writer is not, it's not like you're like, I got this creative vision. Come with me. Yeah. It's like, it's basically like you're trying to wrangle other people's ideas. Right. So like you're really not.

You're like the camp counselor. Yes. Yeah. Yes. Are you good camp counselor? No. No. Terrible.

But you weren't good at it? I'm terrible. You lose the kids in the forest? This is what I really did feel like, truly, like every day I felt like these, and these writers are very talented people. yeah but truly every day i felt like they came in being like teacher teacher please kill yourself and i just i just was i was like this is i i wanted to become that's what they were that was you were getting from them in my mind they didn't say that but you felt that from in my mind every yeah like there was this thing where it was like you know um you know l-o-l yeah so the jenzi

This thing called Edge Bowl. Okay. But I mixed it up and I thought it was T-Jab-Job-Bo. Okay. So I text that someone made a joke and I'm trying to give positive feedback. I replied T-Job-Job-Boh. What is that? But what does that mean?

What does the actual thing mean? Just, I just rolled on the floor or something. Okay, okay. I just rolled on the ball. Oh, okay. I'm rolling on for laughing is that what you mean Hold on I'm gonna look this out I just burst out laughing

I just burst out laughing that's it And I thought that I forgot what it stood for And I thought it was T-Chab Joe Bo L oh sorry IJBOL is slang acronym for I just burst out laughing Yeah I've never had that I've never gotten that from someone I can't believe I'm your youth ambassador

That's wild And then, of course, there's L-O-L-R-O-F-L-M-A-O. I know those. Yeah, but then it's like, I didn't hear the end of T-Jab-Job-Bo. They were like, you're T-Jab and my J-B, I couldn't hear that. I don't know what that means. I don't know either. And they kept going for T-Jab-J-Bobo.

I couldn't believe how much T-Jab-J-B. Wait, hold on. I got to look that up, though. No, there is no T-Jab-J-B. Oh, they just made that up. No, I thought it was Ijib-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B. But what was that? Nothing.

You know what, I bet? I bet people will comment on your stuff than sometimes say an inch bowl. No, never seen it. I think I'm not killing enough over text. No, you're killing. You're killing, you're killing. How do you laugh on text?

Uh-huh. Just two? No, no, I never do two. Two is wicked. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I would do one or four. Oh, wow, four is generous. That's nice.

Well, I, I'm a laffer. I once responded to. my fiance with two haze, and he's like, aren't you forgetting one? I have a thing recently where over text someone, like, I'll write, like, can't wait. Like, I'll see you that. I did it to you the other day. Yeah. See you at the podcast, can't wait.

Sometimes people are like, when you wrote can't wait, I was worried. What? Yeah, yeah. Like, it was like hyperbolic in a way that's not sincere. But it's like, no, it actually is sincere. I can't, I don't know. That's wild. I didn't think, now I didn't even realize.

realize that was something I needed to worry about. Okay. Add it to the list. You wrote on your substack, quote, I have. We are digging deep. This feels like it was. This is a gotcha interview. This is a gotcha.

This is a gotcha. This is a take down. They're not going to be having the pie tasting event this week. That's going to be canceled, Joe. Because we're going to release this in little dribs and drabs in a way that people are slowly realizing. You are not as nice as you see. I'm not nice. I've been telling people I'm not nice.

You got to spread the word on that because everyone thinks you're nice. You're nice. I'm all right, nice. You're pretty nice. Thanks. I would say that I'm not nice, but I have a high voice. I've never seen you not be nice. I'm not nice.

This is a bogus claim. Watch this. Say hi to me. Hey, Joe. For the audio listeners, that was just some kind of weird, begrudging. smile thing. They got it. They know. You know these people are listening with their eyes. Joe Firestone wrote on her substack, quote, I have started drinking five caffeines a day, four coffees and one soda. I think I'll stop once a tooth falls out, but for now, it's what I most look forward to. Without all five, my head starts to ache and my personality becomes someone

who nods but doesn't speak. My favorite is Phil's coffee because their coffee drinks taste like liquid cookies. I take a big sip and then I got to run around the room. I'm just so jazzed. And the question is what are you hiding from? See, this is when I was working. Okay. When I was working

Yeah, on After Midnight. Yeah. It was a beautiful job with beautiful people. Yeah. For me, I was so stressed out. Yeah. I was drinking five coffees a day. Yeah. Okay? I was listening to a lot of that music that's like, you're going to have a good.

Today, today's going to be the best one yet. And it's like really upbeat. Do you know what I mean? No, I don't know what you're talking about. It's like inspired by Lizzo. Okay. And it's like, today wasn't good, but tomorrow's going to be better. Okay.

You know what I mean? I'll take your word for it. And I crashed my car while that was planned. Oh, God. You crashed your car to a Lizzo rip-off? So bad. At least it would have some pride if it was to Lizzo. It wasn't Lizzo.

But it was a rip-off. I couldn't believe it. It was the crunching sound over the... I was like, this is not going to be a good day. It was not a good day. Your backup dancers must have been furious at you. But I just... It's just like...

I just, I found it to be so stressful every day. I was so stressed out. Just with that particular job? Yeah. And I was stressed out to be in L.A. I was stressed out driving. Okay. I would buy the writer's lunch on Friday.

Thursdays. Wow. Sure. Nice. That is nice. I would go to pick up. I would go to pick up lunch. And it was like 11 people.

So it was heavy. Yeah. I'd go to pick it up at the front gate. Yeah. And sometimes I'd get the golf cart to go pick it up. Yeah. Okay. And one day I was just not in a good mood.

And I guess I drove on the wrong area. Okay. And I was picked, the police, the Paramount Police got a picture of me. Oh, the Paramount Studio police. And they were circulating it saying, who is this woman? Really? Let me show you this. Okay.

Okay. So people, they put up a sign saying, have you seen this woman? Yeah. And no one recognized me because I looked so bad. Oh, gosh. Mm-hmm. Was it like a surveillance photo, still image kind of thing? Because you drove the cart on the wrong side.

Yes. Wow. Okay. Oh, I found it. Okay, here we go. Look at this. Oh, my God. I mean, this is crazy.

Should we get this in this camera right here? Wow. You're going to have to send me that. We're going to put that on Instagram. I couldn't believe that that's what I... You mind if we put that on Instagram? No, that's fine. Did they find you?

No, because they sent it to the office manager, and they're like, who is this? And they're like, we don't know. That might be some kind of rogue PA. Wow. Was that worth it? Yeah, I think that was worth it. Yeah, okay. Okay, this is a slow round.

Oh, you know, people usually say lightning round. No, no, this is the opposite. Slow. Slow round. You do what you want to do. What's something you believed 10 years ago that you don't believe now? I knew it 10 years ago, for 2015. Yeah.

I think that maybe, I think that I believe, kind of. Comedy is my life. And now I'm like, that's, I don't, I don't know her. I don't know her. I don't have that hustle. That's interesting. You lost the hustle? Do you remember when you lost the hustle?

I would say that it was kind, I would say over the 2020, 2021. Yeah. And where I was like, oh, you know what? I could just stay home and make little, make, read and write. Yeah. So I'm mostly, I, it was like you were allowed to be an introvert. Yeah. So you're like, oh, yeah, I kind of like being an introvert.

Yeah. Yeah. What's a nickname you've been given that was particularly bad or good? Oh, I used to have, I used to dye my hair red. Yeah. And I found out that people at my college had been calling me the girl with the Ronald McDonald's hair. Oh, God. The girl with the Ronald McDonald's hair.

And then I used to work at this restaurant, and they called me a little piece of crap. What? Mm-hmm. That was their nickname for me. Why would they do that? They'd be like, little piece of crab, you got a four top. No. No.

Yes. As a restaurant? Yeah. Did they meet it like affectionately like? No. Really? Yeah. Did you, they hated you?

Did you, was it a hostile relationship? No, no. No, it was pretty good. But I think that that's, and then I tried to get meatball started for a bit. Oh, you tried to get that going? Mm-hmm. You thought that would be a good. nickname for you i'll call you that nick uh meiball yeah all right next one meball what's the song that

makes you cry oh i love that um i think it's pronounced siffy song okay that's on the telephone on the telephone is i try to call you do do do do do do do so rid do but don't do that one You know that one? Bless the telephone. Yes, bless the telephone. That's it. That makes you cry? It's so sweet.

It's so sweet. Bless the telephone. It's so sweet. I got to listen to that one. It's a sweet one. You're going to love it. You love sweet stuff. Okay.

All right, this is, we can work on material. If you have any material, that's sort of half baked, we're going to throw out the mix. I had this thing. I don't know if you have this with your fiancé, but it's like, I feel like falling in love is a shocking thing in life because you kind of like lose control. Like your whole life, you have like plans and goals and dreams. And then you fall in love and you're like, or whatever you want to do. You know what I mean? And it's interesting because this is a controversial take around my apartment.

Because Jenny saw me talk about this on stage. She was like, that's what you think happened. Like we've spent the last 20 years doing exactly what you want to do. And therein lies the complexity of relationships when people have two different perspectives on identical events. Yeah. And we're both right. Yeah.

Because, you know, a lot of, A lot of times people are doing what the other person wants to do simultaneously. Those things aren't connecting. Yeah. It's like, whatever you want to do, whatever you want to do, whatever you want to do, whatever you want to do, it's 20 years later, and no one's done what anyone wants to do. It's, yeah. And then sometimes I say on stage, like, so I'm telling you, if this feels familiar, which it usually does, you got to start doing what somebody wants to do because you're running out of time. Wow.

that's like that this is like the best life hack if you're going on vacation yeah with your couple with your person you split up every other day so it's like one day you make all oh that's really good and then the next day they make all the decisions because that's what you do with mike yeah because because otherwise you do that with all the mics I've done but it's like that's it's like you can't um otherwise you'll be like you're hungry and you're tired and you don't want to make, but it's like if you know that this is your day. Oh, that's great. But maybe you should do that with years.

Years. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I think, like, I'll do 2026, you do 2027, I'll do 2028. Well, I was like, Mike likes to pick where we live. Yeah. And I'm kind of like, okay, let's go along with it. Okay. But I like old stuff, and he likes new stuff.

Okay, you like vintage things. Sure. Yeah, yeah. And so then. And it's kind of like each time we kind of end up finding a place that's like... That seems pretty good. Built in the 1980s. Yeah.

Yeah. It's okay. You split the difference. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. But I got to pick, I get to pick up an apartment in L.A. And I picked one of the oldest ones I've ever seen.

Yeah. Old. Yeah. Yeah. They had one of these things in the bathroom with a little switch. Okay. It's like, it heats. Yeah.

It's like a heat in the wall. Okay. Have you seen this? No, no. I don't know this. It's like heat coils. Oh, okay. I guess like if you get out of the shower and you're cold, you put on these, it's very old.

I know nothing of this. It smells like, um... The heat coils, do you touch them? No, no. Do you put a towel on them? No, no. It's like protected by a grate. Okay.

So it's heat. Thermidor. Okay. That's heat. Yeah, I guess it's heat if you want to put it that way. Do you have any bits you're working on that are kind of half complete? Well, I guess I'm working on this, I'm working on this mystery book and I'm trying to come up with names. Okay.

Jacques. That's good. Terence. Right now I got Ted Belosi. Ted Belosi's good. And then I, and then he works for a woman named Darla Plankton. Perfect. I know, I know her already.

Say no more. Darla Plankton doesn't sound. I feel like Darla Plankton is a little bit of, of, of your, of the U avatar in the book. Can you think of a. Darla plankton? Can you think of a better? Yeah, I couldn't think of a better name for you than Darla Plankton. Can you think of a better last name?

It's so hard to think. Come up with names. No, Darla Plankton is perfect. No, I need a last name that's normal. No, it's great. That is normal. Darla Plankton. It's fantastic.

You should call the book, Garlandin. I feel like there could be 10 mystery novels with Darla Plankton as the lead. Do you have any... Are you doing any jokes right now? Like, what's that first joke you do in that show? Where you were, like, it bombed and then I do this other thing. I think I tried to do. do the joke, I tried to do the joke about being short and ugly.

Yeah. And then I tried to do the- Oh, that was that? Yeah. Okay. And then I tried to do-the-L-A joke, that you're the shortest person? Short as-ugliest person. In L.A. Okay.

And didn't get any laughs? Yeah. You get, they kind of gave you this look like, oh, we feel bad for you? Like, we feel bad that you're talking about this? It was like, oh, yeah. Oh, interesting. Yeah. but maybe like a way to be inclusive with that would be like don't feel bad for me you know what I mean

like if you feel that be like don't feel bad for me if if you were there you would also be the shortest ugly person we would we would be the short ugly army we shall go together to Los Angeles on mass and then we won't feel bad about it anymore really good approach yeah get them all in there all the short ugly army yeah i know if you're at this show you're short and ugly as well yes it's what's drawing you to it's my demographic that could be good that could be really good then we could stack on top of each other to a slam dunk stack on top of each other do a slam dunk it could be good yes okay so we have the joke about new york l.a at the beginning. Are there any other jokes at the beginning?

Basically, okay, so there's something that I'm trying to work about, I don't think this is, because I don't, I'm never going to do stand-up. Okay, but this is, so basically, I told my fiance, I called him when I finished the mentalist. Okay. I was so thrilled to finish the mentalist. When you completed the show, the mentalist. I called, and I was like, I finished the mentalist. And he goes, good job. Good job. And that, it felt so bad.

Why? Because you felt like he didn't get you? I just felt like if that's what I'm... Right, if that's your accomplishment. If that's what I did to get good job. Maybe you need to set your sights higher. Uh-huh. Good job.

But that was tough to get the good job. Good job. It's so funny you keep saying you don't do stand-up, But you're beloved. No, I don't, I'm not, I don't, you know when there's a fresh, there's a pizza place. Yeah. And there's a fresh, juicy cheese pizza. Yeah.

And it's big and round. Yeah. It's hot right out of the oven. And you're like, can I get a slice of cheese? Yeah. And then they pull out from under. Awful. Under a drawer.

Oh, it's devastating. Some kind of. I mean. I mean. Wooden plank. Yes. That's covered in. And you think, well, what about?

What about the new fresh one? And they got to get rid of this. Oh, God. And they heat it up and it's fine. It's fine. You know, you forget about it. So basically, I think it's kind of like, for me, I feel like I'm that old slice. No.

Yeah. I just don't think that's true. And I think that people, there's a fresh, like if I was going to Union, like if I was going to Union Hall, it'd be like, Union Hall, look at these, this hot pizza. Yeah. And then they're like, actually, look what we got. Look what you're getting today. And I just, I feel like, not all, it's like, I think it's good,

I think it's good to have older comedians, younger comedians, all ages. But for me personally, I just, I'm like, I think I'm probably, it's probably not where I'm supposed to, it's like, you know, I used to think, oh, I love, I love improv. Let me take all the classes. I'll be improviser. Turns out I just liked improv, like to watch it. Right.

Same with musicals. Right. I want to sing in dance. Turns out I can't. Just like to watch them. You know what I mean? And so maybe it's the same with comedy where I'm like that I think that I really like being a fan. Right.

I like seeing other people's stuff. Right. Does that mean I need to go out there and do it? No, I don't know. Yeah. But some people need to get out there and do it. I think you need to get out there and do it. I think you're going to be doing it to your dying day.

Oh, wow. Maybe. I don't know. You don't think so? No idea. I know. Really? Yeah.

Okay. I think the specials are going to evolve, but I think that it's going to stay tight. Wow. But you think the thing for you is mystery novels? Unfortunately, I'm not great at those either, but I think I'll get there. Like, I shouldn't have read a review.

Oh, is a bad review? The review said this is the dumbest fucking book I've ever read. It said that? The review said that? If you said this is the dumbest fucking book I've ever read. Was it in a publication? The New Yorker. The New Yorker said that?

Wow. Dumbest fucking book. I disagree. But it's, you know. Wait till they read Lisa Plankton. Is it Lisa Plankton? Darla Plankton. Darla Plankton much better.

All right. Well, the last thing is working out for a cause. Is there a nonprofit that you like to contribute to? We will contribute to them. And then we'll link to them in the show notes so that others can contribute. Hmm. I would have to say, you know, I always like, I always like what they're doing at the Allie Forne Center. Alley Forne Center. I'm going to look it up just so that we get a proper, a proper link. Of course. The Allie Forne Center, transforming lives, Alliforne Center.org. The Alliforne Center was founded in 2002 in memory of Alli Forne, a homeless gender nonconforming youth who was forced to live on the streets where they were tragically murdered, committed to saving the lives of LGBTQ plus and at-risk young people. Our mission is to protect them from the harms of homelessness and empower them with the tools needed to live independently. Can I tell you something?

Yeah. And I stand by this organization, but I used to do this stand-up show at Housing Works. And before the events, before every stand-up show at Housing Works, they would say the mission statement, which is basically about how they're helping people with HIV-AIDS and homelessness. Uh-huh. And it depressed people. I know. So much. True.

Even though they were there to support. Yeah, non-profit events is tricky because you always have to just. grab what the thing is, and it's like challenging issues. And every single show, they were, I was like, this is going to be, oh, I always thought, could we maybe skip the mission statement? And they're like, that's the whole point of the show. And I said, you're right, you're right, fair enough. And every time it was uphill, ooh, it was uphill.

Yeah, we will contribute to Alleyfornay Center.org. We'll link to them in the show notes and encourage people to contribute as well. Yeah. Joe Firestone, thanks for being here. This is awesome. Me. Wow. Beautiful. Working it out because it's not done.

We're working it out because there's no one. That's going to do it from another episode of Working Out. You can get Joe Firestone's book, Murder on Sex Island, at your local bookstore. Check out her website, joefirestone.com, for her upcoming shows. You can watch the full video of this episode

on our YouTube page at Mike Barbiglia. Subscribe. We're almost at the 60,000. subscriber mark, which means I'm a... I think it means I'm a YouTube star. I'm pretty sure that's what it's called. Subscribe because we are posting more and more videos. Don't miss that. Check up for Bribigs.com

to sign up for the mailing list and be first to know by my upcoming shows. Our producers of working it out are myself along with Peter Salomon, Joseph, Beryglia, Mabel Lewis, and Gary Simons. Sound Mix by Shub Sarin, supervising engineer, Kate Balinski's special thanks. As always, to Jackie and and oven bleachers for their music.

Special thanks, as always, to my wife, the poet J. Hope Stein. We have a show called Jokes and Poems that's going to be at Joe's Pub in New York City soon in September. Sign up for the mailing list to be the first to know about that. Social thanks, as

always, to our daughter, Una, who built the original radio fort made of pillows. Thanks most to all to you who are listening. If you enjoy this show, and I really mean this, go on Apple podcast and rate and review us. I think you can actually do it also on Spotify now. You can put, at very least, you can put a comment now underneath the episode.

That's what I've just found out. But if you put a little thing on Apple Podcasts, it really helps us out because people don't know where to begin. We have over 180 episodes, all free, no paywall. We've had Jane Wickline and Leva Pierce and Chelsea Handler and Alex Edelman and Bob Odenkirk and Kumal. What was your favorite episode? it's really helpful for people who just found the podcast. I always have that. You know, the reason I always say that is that I'll find a new podcast, right?

Like, I'll find Song Exploder, for example. That's a podcast I like. And I'll go, okay, I like this, but like which are the ones that are the ones? You know, Radio Lab. I'll go, like, I love this podcast, but which are the ones that are the ones for all time? And that's actually really helpful when you find a podcast that you like. which are the ones. Thanks most of all to you who are listening.

Tell your friends, tell your enemies. Text your coworkers and use the proper language. Send a text that says, hey, you got to check out this podcast. Mike Brubigley is working it out. Or W.I.O. Where Mike Brubigley, it talks about the creative process with other comedians. It made me dot, dot, dot, dot, it's right. Idbal.

Not T-Jobobobo. not LOL, it's a podcast called WIO, and it makes me age ball. Thanks, everybody, we're going to have. We'll see you next time.