Mike Birbiglia's Working It Out - 209. Jorma Taccone Returns: This Episode Sucks

Episode Date: April 20, 2026

Since The Lonely Island’s Jorma Taccone was last on the podcast, he survived a nearly 20 foot fall from a ladder. Now Jorma tells the full ladder story and explains how the near death experience changed his life. Plus, Jorma talks about directing his new movie, Over Your Dead Body, starring Jason Segel and Samara Weaving, and how he explained to his wife that he was making a comedy about someone trying to kill their wife. Mike and Jorma discuss whether being nice has helped or hurt their careers, and Jorma explains why if he says something “sucks,” it means he really likes it. Please consider donating to the Berkeley Public Schools Fund Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This is what they don't tell you before you make a movie is stuntman. They do the thing. They do the thing. Did I tell you this, right? I probably told it on our podcast, but when we were doing Harrod, there was a scene where it's a montage of Andy's character, Rod, getting hit by different. Like, he was doing a stunt, like, tests. And then he just gets hit by this car. And you're like, it's incredibly stupid.

And so I'm sitting next to the stuntman, and we're just waiting to, like, drive it. into a human. And then the guy leans ever to me, and he's like, don't tell anyone, but he broke his ankle earlier, earlier today. That is the voice of the great Yorma Tocone. Yorma, one of my favorite writers, actors, directors, sketch comedians, wrote for S&L for many years. He's part of the Lonely Island.

They made a movie called Pop Star, Never Stop, Never Stopping. They made Hot Rod, which he was talking about there. He made McGruber. His new movie that is just coming out is called Over Your Dead Body with Jason Siegel and Samara Weaving. It is so funny. It is in theaters now. I think it's a great episode today. I've known Yorma for a long time.

We're good friends. I'm a huge fan of his work. We really get in the weeds on writing and directing movies today. Super, super fun. By the way, thanks to everyone who's signed up for working at a premium on Apple Podcast. It's become this super. interesting experiment where I work out, even in like a more raw way, like new material, listeners jokes, answer questions. We've had Pete Holmes over there. We've had my wife,

Jenny. When you subscribe on Apple Podcasts to Working It Out premium, you just basically go in the app of Apple Podcasts. You go to Working It Out. It'll give you an option. It's $4.99 a month. And for that, you get these bonus episodes about once a month. And then you also, on every episode you get no ads and you support the show, which we work very hard on. It's an independent production. We really appreciate it. By the way, are you in Los Angeles? Are you in Los Angeles?

Because I'm going to be there May 6th, one night only as part of the Netflix is a joke festival. At the Wilshire Ebell Theater, I'll also be in Montreal this summer. I'm hosting a gala for the Just for Laughs Festival, really sending me. fundamental thing for me. I got my start there in new faces. In 2001. What? 2001? That can't be right. I think it's right. 25 years ago, I'm just making this connection now. 25 years ago, I was a new face. 25 years later, I'm hosting a gala for Canadian television. I'm very excited. Also in May, I will be touring in support of John Mullaney's tour along with Fred Armisen in Colorado Springs, Cool Town, Eugene, Oregon,

another cool town, Bend, Oregon, another Cool Town, and in August I'll be in Moorhead, Minnesota with him. I will also be, as they just announced, I'll be in Nantucket. I'm doing two shows in Nantucket at like a beautiful little Nantucket Art Center. So if you're near there, that's great. Tickets for all these things at berbigs.com. I'm not sure the nine tickets ones on sale yet, but the other ones are. Tickets at berbigs.com signing for the mailing list.

Oh, also to be the first to know about everything, in addition to signing up for the mailing list, text Burbigs to 917-444-7150 to be the first to know about upcoming shows and make sure it doesn't go to your spam. Love this chat with Yormitakone. We talk directing movies. We talk about his recovery from falling 15 feet off of the ladder last. year, I apologize for laughing. It is not funny. What's funny is that he's okay and it's uplifting. And it actually gets pretty deep on that. It's intense. But really, this is a great episode if you're interested in making movies and deconstructing the making of movies. He has a lot of valuable

insights into that process. Enjoying my conversation with the great Yorma Tocone. Your movie, I would describe it as comedy and then also like thriller. like murder horror thriller I've been describing it as like three movies and one it kind of goes from like suspense thriller to like kind of home invasion to like an action movie

how did you mention to your wife that you're considering directing a film about a protagonist murdering his wife well you know Mario Heller who's my wife who had done a movie called Night Bitch which is sort of about

a difficulty in a marriage as well. Sure. And, you know, when she was making that, there were moments where I was like, you didn't have to put our conversations in verbatim. Like, you didn't, like, the point being, point being that. She just made a movie. She made a movie. She made a movie.

Some difficulties in relationships. And then I made a movie about two people trying to kill each other. So we're even. What's the guiding principle for the reality of the movie? Because I was like, I completely bought that they were a couple and that they were doing this outrageous thing. which is trying to essentially kill each other. I mean, I think that's one of the tricks and the challenges for me directing,

was trying to make sure that all the tones lined up, but also that that premise, which is, you know, it's a big buy in the beginning to have your protagonist have made this horrible decision to, like, kill his wife. It's unbelievable. And for you to be on his side somewhat. And what I like about the movie is that you're with him,

and then that perspective sort of keeps changing based on the conversation. Right. Like you get to a point with Sam where you're like, oh, fuck. Like she has her own grievances and I kind of agree with her now. Right. But they're both making a horrible decision to want to like murder their partner. Right. So but it's that trick of like liking these people enough to go on this journey

and wanting to see them suffer through it to then have some kind of catharsis at the end. So it's like it's a lot of threading of needles, which I found extremely challenging and awesome. And it's also like, it's also like, it doesn't hurt that you cast the guy who's, is it a man or a Muppet? I think that, I mean, as, as, as you,

for a man who's cast and brilliantly cast, I think a lot of your movies, I think that, that it's a huge part of it. It's so much of that. It's so much of that. And like, and as he said, he's so, fucking charming. Segal is so good at his job.

He's such a good actor, but then also like, obviously a hilarious comedian. But there's things that he does in it that are so dark. And we had discussions where we were like, there's goodwill towards him as a performer. Right. And you kind of need to spend it in certain parts and be like, okay, like, we can't go darker than this, but like we can get away with just this much. Right. Of horrible shit that he's doing.

You're with him in the beginning of the movie. he's fucked up by like wanting to murder his wife right and then you want to see him get like broken down physically and mentally to his core so that he can build himself back up and that's do you want this to happen to you i did that's what happened to me i fell off a fucking ladder i was a man that brings us to the ladder incident yes by the way of the questions we have last summer you fell off a ladder and were nearly paralyzed yeah of the members of lonely island who would be the most sad if they died. Who would be the most sad if they died?

That person in the Lonely Island died. Yeah. We're going to get back to that. I'm just giving you a preview. It's going to be the same. Would Andy be the most sad if Andy died? Is that what you're saying? No, no, no.

America. Oh, who would America be most sad about it? For sure. But Andy would also be the most sad if Andy died. When we wrote these questions, my prediction was, well people would be most sad about this is my your mom people would be most sad about

Andy dying and then time for second me and Akiva your impression of me is so similar to Seth's impression to me it's so sad that's a good impression of you

I think that weirdly we were talking about this a little bit yesterday I don't know how detail I got with the latter fall but just to give some backstory to the listeners you might not know know this and you can hear you talk about this also on your lonely island podcast with set yes yes yes where you break down essentially this podcast if you haven't heard it's very good it's

like you break down the history of all the lonely island sketches yeah yeah and there's a lot of them on that that's where they broke news that you had fallen off of a ladder in your home in Connecticut. I did it at I broke the news from my hospital bed. Oh my God. I got surgery at Yale. It was I think a day after my surgery that I was like in bed talking to these guys about but I was really doing it to just show

how brave I was. Yes. No, you are brave. That's always the word that comes to mind. A very dedicated podcast host. But yes, so I fell 50. I was hanging lights on a barn and I fell 15 feet off of a ladder. What had actually happened, which is very embarrassing, is that I had pulled the ladder out because it goes up so high that you can't unclic it with just one person. And I happened to be alone because my friend who was holding the ladder had gone inside

for a second. So I thought it would be smart to just pull it out and have it more at an angle so that I didn't have to like unclic it. I hate the story. Yeah. And my neighbor had also, who had loaned me the ladder, had told me, don't use this ladder because one of the legs is also a problem. Oh, God.

And so I, but I had kicked it out a little bit. And then I was almost thinking it was funny to be like on this ladder that was like at a, I don't know what degree angle, but not the correct one. By the way, ladder jokes are great. Oh, you have no idea how many of our fans have sent me such mean shit about ladders. But even you saying like, it would be funny if I was at some weird angle on the ladder. No, it's not funny. It's horrible.

Not anymore. No. Not anymore. But so like, so I was packing these lights and then it gave a little bit. So it like, maybe it dropped like six inches. And I was, I had this visceral like, oh, fuck. Yeah. I'm so high up in the air.

I'm going to die. and then a second later I'm falling and I had a whole thought in the air of like this is it like I'm dead so I hit the ground exploded my pelvis on my left side I fractured the pelvis on the right

my sacrum pretty shattered my pelvis on my left side detached from my spine broke my lower lumbar and so so the minute I hit the ground I was I never lost consciousness but like

pain beyond pain. I can only imagine that you pass out after that level of pain, which would have been nice, maybe. But so I'm writhing on the ground screaming for an ambulance for like 10 minutes. I'm sorry to be laughing.

No, no, please. For your entertainment, Mike, I... What is the pain feeling? Oh, I felt like a bag of bones. Like I felt like this whole lower part just felt like my bones were floating around. And then when I described that to my surgeon,

they were like, oh, yeah, that's what it was, that's what it is. Like, so. Like, in other words, I felt like your- movie. Like, like, like, like, and I don't mean to compare that to, like, anybody who's actually been to war, like, like, like, but it was, that is one of the things that we're going to talk about later.

No, but, like, but, like, but it felt like just, I honestly compared it to, like, when I saw my wife giving birth. And I also don't want to compare it to that either. That is a good comparison. You're dead on. Yeah, yeah, you are a hero. I'm a hero.

You're a war hero. And I know exactly what pregnancy is like. We got you. We got you, dude. That's the name of show, right? It's called We Got You. Here's what I'm worried about. You still fucking?

By the way, by the way, it's a 50-50, whether you're impotent or incogn-cogn- It's a 50-50. When people have your injury? So I'm going to let you guys guess. Am I incontinent? Am I impotent? Is he a man or a muppet? How do we get on it?

Am I a man or am I impotent? That's not bad. No, it's fine, you guys. It's fine. I'm good. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. I'm sure. I'm sure. I'm sure. I'm sure it's fine. Yeah. Wow.

By the way, this was the morning of my daughter's fifth birthday. Unbelievable. So while this was happening, Overcompensating, of course. You're probably like, I just wanted all eyes on me. Hey, guys, I'm going to put up lines over here. Really high in the air. Up in the barn.

God, I wish I had an impression of you. Whoa. Whoa. Now you're Aziz. That was Andy's question. Who was his question? What was, did you make a funny noise when you fell? Whoa.

Now! Here I come. Hello, ground. Hello. Hello, ground. That's too. fast towards the ground. That's definitely what was going to run for it.

This is too fast. I'm too high. Not too fast. Oh my God. I haven't laughed as hard on the podcast a long time. This is like killing me. All you need is like near death experiences. No, I know.

I was trying to explain to my daughter who was saying recently that she was like, it was so funny because at my birthday party, I was yelling, dad's going to die. Oh, my God. And then I was like, and then I was like, Zadie, that's exactly it. Tragedy plus time equals comedy. You got it.

It's hilarious. And there hasn't been enough time, but I'm going to let it go on this time because you're my daughter. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, that is... Here's the other thing.

Wiley, my son, said... It was right after this that happened. But he was like, Dad, if it had been filmed, do you think it would have been funny? And I was like, yes. Of course it would be. 1,000%.

Oh, of course. Oh, my God. A guy falling off a ladder. That's hilarious. Wait, so, did you... Did you have, when you thought you were going to die? Yes. Did you have any regrets?

Just the ladder thing. Clearly, clearly. No, weirdly. So my legs are pinned in the rungs of the ladder. So I know it's about to be the craziest, for how crazy the pain is. Can you describe what you mean by pins? My legs are in the rungs of the ladder. So you have video on this podcast, which is great.

So my legs are like entwined in the rungs of the ladder And any time I need to be shot the movie like at all Like even touch me I'm like Oh my god be in me fucking ambulance Just give me a fucking ambulance just get me a fucking ambulance for like 10 minutes But the EMTs arrive And I know it's about to be the craziest fucking pain in my life Yeah yeah

This part of the story has a point So I get pulled out Just wild again Anytime I moved it's like the wildest pain in my life I get put into the ambulance They're like how are the pain meds I'm like, not working. And they were like, do you want ketamine?

And I was like, yeah, I want ketamine. So once I had taken ketamine, I was like, you know what? This is all part of my journey. Yeah, of course. It is part of your journey. You know, I'm going to learn from this. And I'm very lucky. And honestly, like.

And what did you learn? I have definitely a new appreciation for life in general. Like, it's more of like an internal quietness, but with that feeling, honestly. Like, it's a global shift is how I would describe it. It's not always, it's not all the time. I still have, like, anxiety. I still have, like, there's a ton of, it's not like it fixed everything in my life. Yeah.

But I, as an example, you know that sort of almost like obligatory for New Year's when people are like, oh, this year was so tough. like you must be so happy that this like, cremere's over it. And I was like, my first thought was like, I'm beyond lucky. I like, I have no dark feelings about this whatsoever.

Right. I mean, like, I have pain and I have like really deep moments of like, fuck, this isn't going away or like I'm sore. Like, is this going to be forever? Like, is this, you know, like, I look fine when you see me on the street and like,

but like it's, it's painful. And I really, I have moments where I'm like, I'm going to feel like I'm 80 for the next, till I'm 80. Yeah. So I thing.

But like, But, no, I just, like, overall, I just feel, like, beyond lucky. Yeah. Beyond lucky. For people who don't know what directing a movie is like, what would you be your day in the life? You know, those videos are like, I'm a, I am a film director. I wake up in the morning.

I go to the set. Yeah? They ask me this question. They ask me this question. Like, what's the day in the life of a film director for people who don't know? I mean, I think it depends on what your process is. for me I always like to

do a shot list with my like the night before or usually honestly weeks before I get into it but like with my DP sit down walk through the location

with my DP so this can either be it's usually that I've done it in pre-pro and then on the day of I would redo our sort of our shot list in the morning with my DP

figure out with the shot list and then once I'm I'm actually working with the actors. You block the scene. Once I've blocked the scene, then I go off the year. I do not pay attention to the shot list at that point because I'm actually watching the scene and then seeing what in addition I sort of need. And if camera angles aren't quite working the way we thought they were going to be once people were on camera.

So I'm always trying to find enhancements to the scenes, whether that's like additional lines, whether that's a moment that could happen. So, you know, there's just moments that you always want to be nimble enough to me to, like, get the shot, let's know what you're doing, but then also potentially throw it out or move if something is going to need to change. And sometimes that's because the car is not working or that, like, you know, it's like, especially in indie film, there's, we didn't have a lot of money for. Yeah, of course. So, like, our car wasn't skidding the way we needed to. We literally had to make, I had to call an audible on the day and be like, hey, I know we didn't prefer this, but can you get hit by a car? car, the tourist stuntman, and then he had to get hit by a car like seven times. We weren't going to do it like that, but it's like,

we... What do you mean? Can you get hit by a car? Well, we were going to do this thing in plate shots, where you get one pass like this, then you get another pass, then you get another pass, and you comp it all together so that your actors aren't in danger,

right? But then our car is like falling apart and it can't do the skid and it does. You have to like make audibles and be like, hey, can you get hit by a car now? I mean, this is what they don't tell. you before you make a movie is stuntman they do the thing they do the thing like they if they get hit by car they get hit by a car there's i did i tell you this really when like like i probably told it on our

pie guess but the uh when we were doing hi rod there's a there was a scene where uh it's a montage of andy's character rod getting hit by different like he was like doing stunt like tests so at one point dany mcbride's character is driving the shitty van with a mattress on the front of it and just and you find like andy's character comes out from behind a tree he's wearing like big stupid another little weird mattress wrapped around himself and then he just gets hit by this car and you're like this is what they're doing to like prep is like it's incredibly stupid but they for whatever reason allowed me to be in the car with with the stuntman because because I'm supposed to be like the videographer of the crew so I'm literally filming this thing happening

We're just going to hit a guy. And so I'm sitting next to the stuntman, and we're just waiting to, like, drive into a human. And then the guy leans ever to me, and he's like, don't tell anyone, but he broke his ankle earlier today. Because we had done another set. Because when you're a stuntman, you get paid per death-difying feet. Oh, my God.

So the other stunt that the guy who we're about to hit had done was that he's going on the hill on this skateboard thing and then like smashes into this winter big. And when he did this done, he broke his ankle. And so he wrapped it up. Like, these guys are just so badass that like, and I was like, wait, what? We're going to hit him? And he's like, yeah, yeah.

But he gets $1,500 a pop. So like, don't fucking tell anyone. I was like, oh, no, I won't, man, I won't. Oh, my God. No, I won't. I won't. They're so rugged. Oh, my God.

What the fuck? Like, yeah. And then the same thing. This guy was like, yeah, sure. And then he got hit by the car. I'll get hit by the car. Well, because they're, you know. We hadn't really planned it, so we had to roll off in a certain type of way and land in a kind of this position.

And it's based on my blocking. I need him to, we'd already done the blocking, so he needs to land. Oh, my God. Close enough to the blocking. I mean, it's brutal. And shout out to like, I mean, like to those guys. No, the stunt men and some women, unbelievable. The stunt man on sleepwalk with me jumped through a plate glass window in a stage and, you know, in my outfit or whatever.

And I was just like, so when you do that, are you, are you, you're not going to get injured because this and you're not actually doing it? They're like, no, no, we do it. Yeah. We are doing it. Yeah. And we get injured. Yeah. All right.

We, there's a stunt on when we were doing pop star where, you know, my character is a DJ. I have this ridiculous helmet on, I can't see anything. And then the joke we wanted to do was like, Andy's character is naked on stage. and I'm rushing to help him and I fall down stage. And it tends to always be my direction is like, can you do it more painfully? Like it's like you, the funny thing is when it looks like it's wrong. Yeah. And so that usually involves like your legs come out in a weird way, the helmet going first,

the falling downstairs in a way that like looks painful because painful is fucking funny. Yeah, I know. What's the thing that you most commonly say as a direction when you're directing? I will tell you what I, what I, say when things are going well and I'm excited that things are going well, when I say something sucks. Yeah. I usually mean that I really like it. Yeah. Like either that's so lame or that sucks. And it's hard when you're just getting to know a crew because one of the weird things about this job is that you're constantly, it's like starting a new camp every time you do a production. Yeah.

And so you have to be like, oh, by the way, when I'm like, oh my God, that sucks. Right. I usually mean it as like I think it's You know, maybe is that when it's like an awkward moment Or it's like a really stupid moment or you know But I love that I love when something is sucky I guess No totally

I didn't really answer your question though Like what do I most often say on set? Yeah My wife has started to say something Before Shields action occasionally Which was here we go baseball I like that I've started to say that

I love that. Here we go, baseball. Yeah. And action. Here we go, baseball. Yeah. If there were a Yorma-Ticone Film University, what would be five films in the curriculum? Oh, God.

I think my favorite films would be, I would say, Goonies. Yeah. Die Hard, Pee We's Big Adventure, Shawshank Redemption. Mm-hmm. and the ice storm real variety there those are good ones yeah i love all five of those yeah all those are ones that i would watch multiple times i think that there's i do really appreciate when any filmmaker is trying to make something that has a repeatable watch factor i completely agree to it and it's hard to do what what do you think the key to rewatchability is like those five

movies are a great example of yeah i've probably seen all five of those multiple times it's like what about those five movies makes them rewatchable well they all kind of have different really appealing aspects to them i think peewee being like the road trip movie like you know like the point a to point b vibe of just like the journey thing is really fun and then there's just fucking amazing jokes in it and i love the character obviously diehard i think there's like a uh uh the claustrophobia thing i think is There's almost like a thing ingrained on us from like being little kids of like, I'm trapped in the thing and the guy's going to get me. There's a lot of that in action movies.

Like when you start fucking around with making action stuff, you're like, this is like being five years old. Right. The guy comes up and then there's lasers, you can't get there. But you're like, oh my God, this is like playing like what you did when you're thinking five years old. Shawshank, I think that there's something about movies that go like have a multiple year thing that like that feel. they just feel really satisfying. You're like you're watching a lifetime.

Right. You're watching someone's life. Yeah, like transpire. The Ice Storm, I think, has also this like cozy sadness to it. So there's like a romance to it. I think part of it sometimes is the photography. Sometimes the photography itself, you're like, oh, this is a painting. It's a series of paintings.

Goonies, to me, I think it's really hard to make a movie that is respectful to kids. Like, doesn't feel like it's talking down. Right. To kids, there's, like, death and dead bodies in that movie. The first line of Goonies, I think, is Chuck, like, getting his pizza on the window and going, shit! And, like, the moment you hear that as a kid, you're like, they're not fucking lying to me. This is incredible.

This is kids. This is like us. Yeah. I had that recently. It went back. I've been going back to, like, movies that I watched as a teenager when I fell in love with movies and being like, how do I see this now? It's like, I went back to say anything. Camera Crow.

I reference the end of that movie all the time. It's just such a classic. Because the end in that movie, and that was what I was actually referencing for over your dead body. Because there's a feeling that you get. The end of say anything, just to ruin it for those of you. You're good. You're good.

It's about a relationship. That's not like it's Romeo and Juliet, but it's like a relationship that you don't know if it's going to work between these two people. Right. And at the very end of the movie, they're on a plane together. and she says like, she's nervous to take the plane flight and he says, like, it's going to be okay.

The minute that seatbelt sign goes off, it's going to be okay. And you're looking at the seatbelt sign and you're looking at the seatbelt sign and then it cuts to black and it goes, ding. And you're like, they're going to be okay. They're going to be okay forever.

Into infinity. I don't know what's going to happen, but I trust that. And there's something so, I get like chills being like, oh, fuck, that's amazing. I like the five films on your syllabus. Those are good.

What are yours? Or is it not about you right now? It's not about me. Fuck. For another day. Fuck. I wish they were all your films. Sleepwalk with me.

Don't think twice. Where are the other posters? That's it. That's it. Oh, yeah. Well, until soon. This is pretty much. I know.

I know. I know. It's exciting. It's also just like scary. Oh, God. Fucking terrifying. It's more work than you could ever wish upon anyone. Which stage of the process do you hate the money?

Because production I love. Yeah. Filming I love. Yes. Pre-production, I think, is really hard. Like, it's just the not knowing anything. You're on location.

You're doing shot lists. You're figuring out what everything is. And then everything falls apart in front of your eyes. They'll go like, we're actually, we lost this location. We lost this actor. This person dropped out. You don't have a customer anymore. And it's just like, you're like, hey.

Yeah. So, well, and you're still getting it. That's how you act. That's how you act. But it's me doing you as a movie falls apart. No, but it really is. Like, unless, look, unless you're making a $200 million movie, which neither of us have done.

But, like, I don't know, when you're making a low budget movie, every day seems like a crisis. Crisis and, like, there's never enough money, time. Ever. Ever. Yeah. No, it's brutal. Even, yeah.

Even some big filmmakers we know who have, who feel this way oh yeah when when we were shooting um land of the lost for which i received a razi nomination uh for my my role is chaka that's pretty funny okay okay um but like but uh you know that's a hundred million plus dollar movie wow they had sets that were three million dollars like did like and and then i'd watch brad silverling who directed the movie like very good friend of mine like now and and he he he would get two takes i'd watch him get like two fucking takes that's wild yeah you're like, this is like indie film. It's not even like indie film.

You still probably get four. I mean, it's like, but you've got 70 guys and like skin tight suits that are passing out. And like, you're like, yeah, it's all just crazy. Like, so sometimes. It's crazy because it's like, you know, you talk about like, like, how do you train to be an actor? How do you train to be a director? All these things. And it's like a lot of it is you're saying like you're on this $100 million movie, land of the lost.

And it's like you get two takes. And like that's the training of the actor. The actor, the trainer. the training of the actor is you do it so many years so many times that when there's two takes both takes are usable yeah yeah and it's like and as a director and you've i'm sure you've had this because i've done this many times before i feel so bad about it but when you have a ringer like somebody who you're like oh i know this is all going to be gold and i shoot that person last because i'm just like spending the time that i need to spend with

other people or whatever and then you know one take you got a one take tony on there and you're like Like, holy shit. Like, you'll just watch somebody who's like, thank you. Yeah. Like, it's like, like, Kristen Whig is that. Like, Will Forte is, like, where you're just like, we were so fucked on time for like the, both of a grue movie and the TV show.

But there was, like, takes where it's, it's raining. The audio's bad. Like, it's in between, like, a thunderstorm. Lightning strikes always, like, make you, like, all the flags up to come down and everything. And Whig is like fucking knocking it out of the part. You're just like, I wouldn't be able to do this without that. Wow.

Like, just unreal. Yeah. I'm going to go to slow round. Who are you jealous of? Who am I jealous of? God. And then who were you jealous of that you thought of but didn't say?

If I'm being completely honest, I think that a difficulty that I have with the industry in general is that the whole thing makes you kind of jealous. Oh, interesting. You know what I mean? Like, it's like, and it's part of the reason I think I live in New York, too,

so I can be slightly removed from it. I like making what I like. I'm really proud of what I like, but it's also like, whenever I go to LA, it's like a million fucking billboards of like everybody making shit. And we're really lucky. I'm happy for everybody,

but it also makes you be like, am I doing the right thing? Do I know what I'm doing? Like, I don't know. And I don't want to really have that feeling. I want to just sort of be, you know, like, make what I like. And so I don't know.

Do you feel like that or no? Are you just kind of... Yeah, I mean, I was thinking, about you when we were prepping these questions yesterday and I was like I was like you're one of the nicest people I've ever encountered period but also just in show business and like I was like I don't know if it's a question but it's like do you ever feel like being nice holds you back in show business um or does it help you I think that it helps you when you get the job you know what

I mean, like, it may not help you get the job, but, like, but after you, after you have the job, like, working with Juliet Lewis was fucking amazing on this movie. Like, she's a legend. She's great. She's worked with every fucking huge director ever. And the fact that she was like, let's make another one. I was like, that's the biggest compliment I could ever get. Yeah. Is that, like, I'm nice enough and also potentially good enough at my job to warrant somebody like that.

Yeah. So want to work me again. It's true what you're saying. Like, I think if you're an actor or a cinematographer or a designer and you hear Yormitokone's making a movie, I think the nicest factor actually does push you towards it. Maybe. I think. It's like saying, like, he's nice. It's not going to be a nightmare.

It's not going to yell at me. Yeah, you're like that plus, it's shooting in Hawaii, you know, like those two things. Yeah. Pretty good. Finland. It's like, Finland was great. It was great. It was like a destination wedding.

No, totally. It's got to be pretty gorgeous there, right? Well, the choices were between that and no shade, but it was Winnipeg. And just seeing the pictures of Winnipeg, I was like, oh, God. It's like... Is it Finland for Hudson Valley? Yes. And by the way, driving from Helsinki to this little town, it's not a little town, it's like

the second biggest city, which is Tampa Day. Well done. Wow. Thank you. Thank you. But as we're driving up, I was like, this looks like upstate New York. It has birch trees. That's the main...

No, I was strict. I was totally tricked. Yeah, it was great. Have you ever been punched in the face? Yes. Who punched you? I got punched in, I've been punched many times in the face. Really?

Yeah, oh yeah. Name one. Name one. First time I got punched in the face was by like, not like my brother or whatever. Like you're not counting like wrestling with your brother and actually, whatever. No, I got punched in sixth grade. I went to sort of a, it was kind of a rough middle school in Brooklyn, California. It was called Malcolm X.

And I was, for whatever reason, it was after school. And I was charged with keeping the classroom safe. Nobody was in it. And I was opening the door to talk to some of my friends. And then this kid was trying to get into it. He was trying to force his way into the, I don't know why. He was trying to force his way into the class. And I was shutting the door and he punched me in the face.

And the first time I got punched by like a stranger. I've had multiple fights with, like, friends of mine, just like being mad and like punched my really yeah my friend mark shotlin and i like punch each other so many times in the face yeah over and over like teenagers as teenagers we were yeah 13 or whatever wow and uh my friend toby who i you know i love all these guys yeah first guy not so much yeah didn't like like him too much but i've also like punched other people too yeah i still feel about yeah can i tell you the one i'm the most proud of them yeah sure so i was i was uh riding the bus to same to go to go to go to malcolm

Max, so I was riding 36 bus that Wolfrey used to drive. And this kid, Reza, was always fucking messing with people. He was an actual bullying. Okay. And at one point, he was sitting behind me, and he put, he took off his shoe and put it on my head. I like this story already. And I just turned around and clocked him right in the face. No way!

Like, without thinking at all. Just like, turn around, punched him, and then never got messed with again. So that's the prison. That's the bro. Yeah, I guess. stab a guy in the yard. Yeah. Yeah.

What's that? You got a shank Reza. Why do we all know that? Why do we all know that? That's a fucking great question. No, no. And that's, by the way, that's a good premise. I've been doing a lot of premises lately at the stage of what do we all know that we kind of shouldn't know?

That actually could drop into that run. Like, why do we all know that's prison? Yeah. But everybody uses it as like, you know, like, you know, like. like first day first day at camp fucking first day on a film set

there's like aren't there like people who have we heard stories about like on film sets like that somebody gets fired the first day because you're trying to like at a sort of dominance basically

yeah yeah I do that third day oh I keep them guessing just kidding I'm never fired name I should have fired some people

I didn't yes that's correct like a flood of people went through my mind Like, oh, my, why am I so nice? Oh, God! It is a hindrance. Okay, I have material.

Oh, good. Okay. I feel like if you're lucky in life, you find a person who understands you the most in the world, and if you're really lucky, that person wants to spend any meaningful amount of time with you at all. That being said, about once a week, my wife will stare at me while I'm doing an activity,

and she'll sort of wince, and then she'll say, what are you doing? And I'll explain the activity. And then she'll start laughing, not with me, at me, with no one. And I'll say, what are you laughing at? And she'll say, no reason. And that's the end of the conversation.

That's the person who understands me the most. Yeah. But I think that at the end of that, you actually feel even closer to her. Oh, that's interesting. Based on that. Oh, that's very interesting. I'm like, oh, you do get me. Oh, that's really...

Like she gets you so in the entirety of you that she finds you ridiculous. I think that's love. That's right. Yeah. I think that's correct. And I think that that's probably where the bit should go.

Okay. Sweet. I'm glad we worked it out. I broke my shoulder. It was like a decade ago. I broke my shoulder. My arm was in a sling. And they sent me to a physical therapist.

I'm lying. I bring this up only because maybe you have a similar incident. I'm lying on this physical therapy table. And this guy is doing stuff to my shoulder that made me think this is definitely making it worse. And at a certain point, I started to wonder if my arm was just going to fall off. And then I started to think, if my arm falls off and it's just hanging by the skin and the muscles and the tendons, what will I say to this man? and I came up with, well, it was on when I walked in. It is ridiculous how often while I was in wild pain

or about to be in wild pain, how I was just trying to think of what joke I was going to say. Oh, that's interesting. To the doctors, yeah. Yeah, like at one point, we kept, I've had this thing on our podcast where I keep talking about how I'm trying to look like Jeremy Allen White, like from his Calvin Klein.

Yeah, I can see that for sure. No, not anymore. Like, I can't. Oh, no, I don't see it anymore. I used to see it. Well, now I'm trying to look like Jeremy Allen White's dad. So, but one of the things, like, because me and my wife have a bet that I was in a year, I was going to try to look like Jeremy Allen White from his Calvin Klein spread. Look it up.

Talk about sex pot. Wow. And, but. Talk about what? A sex pot. Okay. Sure. He's a sex pot.

Yeah, good looking guy. People still say that. Yeah. I think so. Anyway, so, so don't distract me. No, no, no. And so when the doctor came in, like, like, you know, this is I'm laid out. I'm getting a, I got traction, so I'm getting a pin drilled through my femur, two pins drilled through my femur.

And we were, I was trying to have conversations with the doctor and the nurses, like, just being like, can I still look like Jeremy on? It did make it confusing. Because then when I would like shriek in pain, they'd be like, oh, Jesus, he was like two seconds ago. You were like talking about Jeremy. Ooh, yeah. Yeah, no, I literally said, I wrote if my arm was falling off my body in physical therapy, I would definitely apologize to them.

Oh, yeah. You know what I mean? Because my default is always to apologize. I'm so sorry, my arms on the floor. Usually it's attached to my body. Sorry, there's so much blood. Whenever I have a gaping wound, there's always a lot of blood. Oh, excuse me.

Yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah, that's great. But I don't know. I think there's something there. And then this was a true story. I would go to physical therapy. I went for years from my shoulder. And when I would travel, I couldn't get physical therapy.

So I'd go for a sports massage. And I was in Texas. And I went on Yelp. And I found this place. And I show up. I'm in an Uber. And I get, it's someone's house. And I'm like, this can't be it.

Like, there's no business here. And I get it. I walk up and it's like, this is just guy's house. And I'm like, this could really go any which way. And he had me fill out a personal form and intake form. He goes, don't worry, I'm not going to put this in the cloud. And I want to be like, I'm really not worried about the cloud. I trust the cloud so much more than I trust you.

I'm worried about you on the ground. So I'm getting a massage from a gentleman at a home in Texas. And he says to me, I just started this job. And I thought, oh, no. And he goes, I had another job for 20 years. And I had to make a radical life change. And I thought, he's trying to bait me, right? Like, so I'll ask what the radical life change was.

And so I said, what was the radical life change? And he goes, one day I found my wife with her head in the lap of a guy in a Taco Bell parking lot. And now I'm in. Yeah. Yeah. I am too. Now I'm like, this is no longer a massage in a Texan man's home. Now I'm in a Showtime miniseries, and I had a lot of questions.

And the one I went with was, how did you know she was in a Taco Bell parking lot? And he said there's an app on my phone called Life 360, where you can track your family. And he goes, but listen, this is all true story. He goes, listen, the good news is. And I thought, this isn't going to be. the good news. He said the good news is that she and I have talked about it and we may get back together in our golden years.

And I didn't say this, but I thought I'm not optimistic about that plan because it's just going to happen again, but at this time it'll be in a cracker barrel because life comes at you fast, 360. I've been to many of those, by the way. I've like, like a, it ends up being someone's house. Someone's house. Massage. Yeah, what are we doing?

And then you're like, well, I paid for this, so like I guess I have to do it, but like I'm not, like, psyched on it. Sometimes you're in a situation and you go, well, this will hurt this person's feelings if I leave here. I was once riding in a cab. We were going down the West Side Highway and the dude was going like a hundred miles an hour. Yeah. Like, just like, we're going to die. Yeah. And my solution to it was to close my eyes so that when the accident happened,

I would be relaxed. I was like, I think I could survive more. Rather than just be like, hey, don't kill us. You know, like, I'm just going to relax and hopefully not die. Like two New Year's Eve's ago, Jen and I got a yellow, with Una, got a yellow cab. No. And it was like, oh, we're going to die. This is, this is like, he's fearing this way.

There's cars beeping. Like, it's just like this person's not well. Yeah. And I think it's because of Una being there That we were like, we're gonna go. Actually, we're gonna get out at 71st. Yeah. We just remembered, we forgot.

But you also just didn't tell him to slow down. You were like, we gotta get out of here. Well, no, you can't tell man how to do his job. I suppose. Well, Mari occasionally, and I think this is a good hack, is to be like, sir, I'm pregnant, can you just please slow down? Because I'm going to get nauseous. I'm pregnant's good.

Sometimes it's good. Sometimes Jen will be like, I'm going to throw up. Yeah, that's a good one. As long as they know their skin in the game. Yeah, throwing up is like nobody wants that. Nobody wants to throw up in the car. Yeah. Right in with your suggestions on how to.

Wow, you're such a good podcast personality. We talk a lot about the interaction between our listeners. Do you have any tips for supplements? Because that's a big audience. Summers? Your audience talks about supplements? I'm kidding. Okay.

I was really excited. Have you had like berbiglia supplements? You should totally fucking do that. Get swall. Burbigs. Berbig it up. And then you just typing? Oh, fuck yeah.

The third act is way better now. That's my impression of Mike. Mike, Barbiglia. Fuck yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, that's so fucking all the threads come back in the end. Oh, shit. This fucking kicks ass.

Done. You break a lot of laptops. Fucking done with that one. That would be so rad. Every time you're dumb as you go, fuck this. Bad, you want to have sex? Done with a nurse, Chris.

This one was so fucking personal. Make a bunch of people cry on this one. Fuck yeah. Broadway, here we come. The last thing we do is working out for a cause. Is there a nonprofit? I know you contribute to a lot of the nonprofits. Is there one you want to highlight? We will contribute to them and link to them in the show notes. The Berkeley Unified School District is the one I would like to donate money to.

Berkeley Public Schools Fund.org. Equitable public schools for the well-being of Berkeley. We're going to contribute to them. We're going to link to them in the show notes. Thank you. Your McCone, great movie. Thank you, Mike. Bangor. Thank you. done.

We're working it out because there's no... That's going to do it for another episode of working it out. You can follow my buddy Yorma on Instagram at Yorma Ticone. His movie Over Your Dead Body is in theaters now.

Super funny. Check out his podcast, which is called The Lonely Island and Seth Myers' podcast, where they break down all the Lonely Island sketches. As a matter of fact,

last time he was on the podcast, if you want to go back and listen to the first time Yorma was on, we literally just break apart a bunch of lonely island sketches. And then they stole the idea. They made its own podcast.

I don't begrudge them that. Parallel thinking. They deconstruct their own sketches. And in my version, I guess I'm asking him. Anyway, they didn't steal it, but there's a lot of parallel thinking. Check out Burbank.com. I decided for the mailing list to be the first to know about my upcoming shows. The full video of this episode.

on YouTube. Just search Mike Berbiglia and subscribe. We're posting more and more videos. Our producers of working it out are myself along with Peter Salomon, Joseph Barbiglia, Mabel Lewis, and Gary Simon. Sound Mix by Ben Cruz. Supervising Engineer Kate Balinski. Special thanks to Jack Antonov and bleachers for their music. I believe they have three new songs out now from their forthcoming album. I love the new songs. There's one called The Van that just came out. Fantastic. Follow Jack on Instagram. Special thanks to Mike. wife, the poet J. Hope Stein, and our daughter, Una, who built the original radio fort made of pillows that made this all happen and made this crystal clear sound. Thanks most of all to you

who are listening if you enjoy the show. Rate us and review us on Apple Podcasts. It really does help. Tell your friends, tell your enemies, tell the paramedics who are rescuing you after you fell off a ladder. I hope you don't fall off a ladder. But if you do, as they're giving you painkillers in the ambulance on the way to the hospital, you can say, hey, EMTs, does his ambulance have Apple car play? Before I fell off the latter, I was listening to Mike Brubigliate's working it out. It's a podcast where Mike Barbiglia talks about the creative process with other comedians and filmmakers.

I'd love to finish this episode before we get to the emergency room. Thanks, everybody. We're working it out. We'll see you next time.