Senses Working Overtime with David Cross - Adam Pally
Episode Date: October 24, 2024Adam Pally (The Mindy Project) joins David to talk about improv, couch surfing, and more. Catch all new episodes every Thursday. Watch video episodes here.Guest: Adam PallySubscribe and ...Rate Senses Working Overtime on Apple Podcasts and Spotify and leave us a review to read on a future episode!Follow David on Instagram and Twitter.Follow the show:Instagram: @sensesworkingovertimepodTikTok: @swopodEditor: Kati SkeltonEngineer: Nicole LyonsExecutive Producer: Emma FoleyAdvertise on Senses Working Overtime via Gumball.fm.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Transcript
Discussion (0)
This is a HeadGum Podcast.
I'm gonna be a good friend. I'm gonna be a good friend.
I'm gonna be a good friend.
I'm gonna be a good friend.
I'm gonna be a good friend.
I'm gonna be a good friend.
I'm gonna be a good friend.
I'm gonna be a good friend.
I'm gonna be a good friend.
I'm gonna be a good friend.
I'm gonna be a good friend.
I'm gonna be a good friend.
I'm gonna be a good friend. I'm gonna be a good friend. It is nerve wracking to come into a podcast room and not know which seat is the,
you know, there's like therapy your first time
and you're like, am I on the couch or am I in the chair?
On a scale of one to 10,
how nerve wracking is that experience?
Super nerve wracking for me.
So you go 10.
Yeah, well, stakes aren't that high.
I was at eight.
Right, that's why I was gonna say one. Well, you're a different guy than me.
You seem to be more at ease.
I am.
I can see.
How are you?
I'm good, how are you?
Good, thank you. I'm so sorry that I missed yesterday.
Well, for a little backstory, the reason I changed my shirt was Adam was, and this is
all relative, late to coming to do the podcast.
Again, relative, some would say a little late, some would say that's egregiously late.
It was egregious.
Do you want to tell them how many minutes you were late? I Don't actually know that the I do that. Oh, I'm sure I figured I would say probably 45 for 56 56 minutes 56 minutes
traffic
Now you
Live in New York City. I do and where do you live Harlem Harlem? Okay?
You've heard about the subways Yeah, I wasn't coming from my house. Oh, okay. So where were you coming? Harlem. Harlem, okay. You've heard about the subways?
Yeah, I wasn't coming from my house.
Oh, okay, so where were you coming from?
A charity event.
I didn't, I'm asking you where, not what, not the thing.
Oh, I'm sorry.
Where did this charity event take place?
Golf course.
Where was the golf course?
Ridgewood, New Jersey.
Oh, so that is traffic-
Yeah, it was traffic.
Based, oh shit, okay. I thought, I Jersey. Oh, so that is traffic. Yeah, it was traffic.
Oh, shit, okay.
I thought, I didn't know about the charity event.
That's okay.
And to let everybody know, you were raising money,
I was part of an event to raise money
to complete the genocide of the Native American Indian,
which is not something I'm about, and I don't.
You don't have to be.
I don't, yeah, no, I mean, look, I'll take the stage time.
We're not a preachy organization.
Well, that's great, that's good.
You don't proselytize, you're not down the streets.
What do you raise the money for?
It was actually for underprivileged kids to.
Ooh, sorry, I got bored.
No, that's fine. It can be boring.
I understand. Especially if you're from privilege and you don't know.
Yeah, that's awesome.
It's something you can't identify.
Yeah.
It's for underprivileged kids
from mostly black and brown communities to get out.
Hey, that's racist.
I don't.
That's racist.
Okay. Nicole, push's racist. Okay.
Nicole, push the racist sound effects.
Do you have a sound effect?
How much does that happen?
A lot.
For me, I mean we have a.
We do have a lot of comedians
who also have podcasts on here,
so I would assume that.
Like the Austin, Texas group probably.
What should my racist sound effect be?
I'll put it in post, but.
I feel like it should be something kinda cutesy
cause you don't wanna like stuff.
Like what?
Like Shirley Temple going, I made a whoopsie.
Yeah.
What?
Like a what?
Oh, I've actually got that.
We'll be hearing that later probably.
Oh, great.
Anyway.
Something, it should be like something that was like a racist trope, right?
So it should be like...
Oh, mammy.
Yeah.
Kingfisher from Amy Sinanity or the Black Crow heckle and juggle or whatever.
Yeah.
Or like a Paul Lin like, oh, ah. Oh, like the the vaguely Jewish sounding animals on the Flintstones when they'd have to do
something they go, oh, well, at the bank, so living at the bank, they're always at the
bank at the bank.
Flintstones always had to go to the bank.
And I would always think is this was banking such a priority and it was a big deal.
It had just been invented.
And it was kind of a big deal.
The concept was. You think it went real.
Life changing. Bank?
Like, I think there was a big,
like, I don't think it was as important.
No, I think it went wheel, pillow, bank.
Bank, yeah.
Yeah, and then, and I, it was definitely a Jew.
It was definitely a Jew.
The 100%
Well, they got their hands in everything.
Jesus.
Especially the weather we do.
Oh my God, that's the craziest.
Hasn't it been nice out?
You're welcome.
That's, well, that's my joke.
But, oh.
No, there, remember the guy from, I wanna say Tennessee,
who's like a state senator,
and he went on this fucking,
it was about two, three years ago.
Not the Marjorie Taylor Greene space laser.
No, no, no, no.
This is prior, pre that.
Pre that.
And he went on this whole thing.
It didn't start this way, but it ended up like,
where I'm sure his handlers like, shut him up.
You know, he was like a younger black guy
from Tennessee, I believe.
And he went, he was talking about something.
Then it took this, went off the rails and he was talking about something, then it took this,
went off the rails and he was talking about
how Jews control the weather.
Was it Herschel Walker?
No, no, no, this is pre-Herschel Walker.
Herschel Walker had a slip up too.
Well, it was, well, that's generous to say slip up, but yeah.
But in that vein where he was like off on a trail
and then was like, and the people controlling the weather
and it's like, well, what people?
Oh, really, did he? Yeah, yeah.
Well, so yeah, I would just talk about that,
like how I had no idea.
And this is why didn't anybody tell me.
And I was talking about my relatives and then calling them.
And they're like, yeah, we control the weather.
And then this whole thing about, and then going,
you're welcome, you know, that.
Yeah, no, it's, I...
Control the, what, who, I mean, there are some crazy bonkers conspiracy theories that
are just like, head scratching.
But I get...
The weather is hard.
I get a, like the idea that man, that we faked the landing on the moon.
I don't believe that, but I can see,
in fact I have a friend, I haven't talked to him
in quite a while, but it was a good friend who,
I think I talked about it on this podcast before,
maybe somebody else's, but we, I was hanging out with him
and his wife, his then wife, at his apartment in Atlanta,
and then we were like, hey, let's go up to the corner and grab some
beers. Like, all right. There was like, you know,
eight of us, whatever. And so he and I went and
we're walking up. I've known this guy for fucking
ever, right? He did my first tattoo, right?
Cool.
And, and now everybody's going to know who it is.
And we're walking there and I don't even know how it came up,
but he said something about, you know,
we didn't land on the moon.
And I of course thought he was joking.
And then he fucking was yelling, you know,
read about the Van Alden radiation belt.
Like what, that's the only way I know about it
because I read, I researched it after he was screaming at me how we didn't land on the moon and man can't survive going, taking, bombarded with
that kind of radiation past the van Alden, but whatever it is. So, and I can see the fictionalized plausibility of, oh, they did fake it and all that stuff.
And none of my questions are logical,
trying to use logic to go, what would be in it for us?
And how many people would have to keep that a secret
and et cetera, et cetera.
And it just didn't matter.
And, but see, like something like that I get, I don't believe in it, but I understand And it just didn't matter. But see, something like that, I get.
I don't believe in it, but I understand
how your brain goes that way.
Aliens created the pyramids.
OK, I don't believe that, but whatever.
But Jews control the weather is so bizarre and requires. And I'm sorry, you're going to have to tell me, give me some kind
of proof that is beyond, yeah, of course they'll deny it. Yeah. Well, I mean, has there ever been a
better cover for people that control the weather than the people that are complaining about it the most. Interesting. Come full circle.
Truly, because like.
I've never heard a Jew and I know all of them.
That's like, isn't it beautiful today?
Never. Everybody is like, well, Jews love to complain.
It's too hot. Love to complain.
It's something to complain about.
Yeah, it's dry heat, no one ever,
never heard a Jew be like, it's gorgeous today.
So the fact that we would ever control that thing
that we're complaining about, it's like
a true diabolical skein.
And what do you get out of it?
Well, I think that what you get out of it is money.
Yeah, I think it's money, it's money, right?
Like people, I remember when there was like people being
like, well, don't listen to the hurricane is just big tape.
You know, like remember when they would be like
tape up your doors and like,
that's what they want you to do is like.
Staples and DM.
It's the same type.
I always thought that was code for like Jew,
in my opinion.
Like as a New York City kid,
whenever I heard anything that was like,
they are jacking up the price or like they,
that was always just like Jews.
Like it's just-
And now it's Asian Americans.
Yeah, I'm just glad we passed the book.
Changed quite dramatically.
Yeah.
Now, I'm sorry, is it Pali or Pallwai?
The pronunciation.
So you asked me that the first time we met.
Really?
Yes.
Oh my God.
You did that bit with me.
Stealing my own joke that I'm not even aware of.
You did that bit with me the first time we met,
which is, I don't know if you even remember this, but.
Was it the Gravid Water?
No, I was 23.
Oh, I do remember when you were 23.
And you were directing, you and Bob got hired by Montreal
to like direct sketch at Montreal one year.
Really?
And the two sketch groups from New York that they took
were me and Ben Schwartz and Bobby Moynihan and his group.
And you were working or something.
Yeah, it was-
Was Kristen Schaal and Kurt Braun?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
That was the other, they were there.
And like, it was your job to kind of like come in
and give us notes and then be the emcees of like the right the showcase
yeah, you know and
We were you know, we were so excited like Bob and Dave are like, you know
Like direct shown meet us and the first thing you said you're like roll calling you're like, is it play or?
Why and I was like sick?
But I love it I'm glad to have it.
That must have been somewhere in the back of my head.
I sure was.
Rattling around.
I'm going, let me be free.
Tickled that it came all the way back.
And I only, I mean, obviously not to like, go fall,
but like, you know, that was a huge moment for us.
That was a fun show, I remember it.
Yes.
That was really fun.
It was the beginning of everything for us.
I mean, we were 23.
Like, the crazy thing about that show
was it almost didn't happen
because we got stopped at the border
because one of my friends was doing a bit
and packed his whole bag full of avocados
and you can't bring produce into it.
Oh, he wasn't doing a bit for you guys
with the border people he was doing.
No, he was.
To us, when we got there, like, ha ha ha, this is like, he.
Oh, that is dumb.
So dumb.
And it was funny, like, the way he did the bit,
the kid is crazy, I don't know if you've ever met him.
He's one of the funniest people alive.
Who is it?
His name is Gil Ozary, he's now like.
Oh, the Avocado King.
Yeah, yes, that's how he's known.
He's like one of those guys, I'm sure every friend group,
every at least comedian friend group has one that's like,
I'm really just in it.
I'm not in it for like the audience laugh.
Like I'm in it to fuck with you.
Yeah.
For the rest, like to be in your-
John Benjamin.
Yes, yes, Glazer.
He's a lot of Glazer energy too.
Who's a hero of ours. And so we had to go to Montreal.
We had to drive up.
That is crazy.
Everybody's waiting at the rental car.
He's the last one there on purpose.
He's got this giant bag.
He gets in the car, doesn't say anything, sorry I'm late.
Four hours outside of the thing.
He goes, hey, can you reach into my bag?
And grab me my computer. I want to jot something down Bobby's in the back and Bobby goes. Yeah
Yeah, which one is he's like, it's a big big like duffel thing. He's like, yeah, sure. He opens it up. He's like
Gil
Just like avocados in here. He's like, oh no, I must've taken the wrong bag.
Everyone's like, fuck you, man.
Like, stupid bit, we were late, whatever.
And then we get to the border with 50 avocados.
And they're like, what are you doing with these?
And no matter what we said, they were like, wait, what?
We're going to the Just For Laughs Festival.
They're like, see, we're professionals.
And they're like, no, I got that part.
Like, what about the produce that you can't bring in?
And we were like, I have no explanation.
Like it was just, and we had to sit outside the car
and everyone's like, we're gonna do this freaking show.
It was like the, it was a crazy.
Yeah, I was just talking to my wife about this this morning using it as an analogy for
something else, but it is, it doesn't matter your stature, your, how attractive you are,
your wealth, or lack thereof, it going through the border and getting processed is how? Only, it's only determined by the mood
and the personality of the person you,
whose line you get in.
It's the ultimate.
One through 18.
It's the ultimate doorman energy.
12, yeah, 12, number 12, they're great,
they'll let you through.
Number 16 has had a bad day,
they don't like the way you look.
They're looking at you and they're like, what are you doing? They don't like the way you look at them. They're looking at you and they're like,
what are you doing?
They don't like your kid, whatever.
It's the craziest random lottery.
And sometimes it's great.
Sometimes it works out really well.
And sometimes it's a fucking bummer
and people are assholes and you have no power.
No amount of complaining, no amount of like,
well, I have to get to a wedding or it doesn't matter.
I always assume that there was a guy,
like a fictitious-
You know the Jews control the-
The border.
The border, yeah.
Of course, that's why we can't-
Of every border, yeah.
We're bad contractors, we can't get that wall up.
We, I would imagine that there is some,
We, I, I would imagine that there is some like higher up
in the, in the border control world that has to go to like big buildings and they try to get in
and they're like, I'm going to floor 19
and the dorm is like, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait,
where are you going?
And they're like 19, they're like, no, no, no pal,
deliveries around the back.
And then that guy walks away, he's like, that's talent.
Yeah, that guy's good.
How would you?
My friend, I couldn't help but notice your denial
of my entrance.
Here's a card, call this number, hang up.
Someone's gonna say no.
Let it, yeah.
You call this number, let it ring twice, hang up.
Then call back, let it ring four times, hang up Then call back, let it ring four times, hang up.
Call back, let it ring six times, hang up.
Call back again, I'm going to answer,
but my name is going to be Joyce.
You're gonna just act like everything's fine.
I'm gonna give you some coordinates.
Go to that coordinate, order me, it's a Chipotle,
order me a chicken bowl, it's the new one.
What's it called? It's like a, it's not like a Chipotle, order me a chicken bowl. It's the new one. What's it called?
It's like a spice.
It's not like a Chipotle bowl, but it's sorta like that.
But it's got chicken, rice, being all the kind of
regular based stuff.
But it's got some, it's a newer thing
with some additional thing.
I know.
Oh yeah, how about this?
You go fuck yourself.
Perfect.
You're perfect.
You're on.
I need you at the. I need you at the Canadian side of the Montreal,
upstate New York.
Listen, there's a comedy festival happening.
Yeah, nobody's to know this.
It is international, but nobody's to know this.
It's called Just For Laughs, trust me.
It's not just for the laughs.
Anybody who thinks they're funny, who's trying to be cute, trying to be funny,
deny them. Actually, no, no, hold them until just before the show starts.
It's so crazy. That energy is like doorman,
uh, garage parking garages that are almost full food, food trucks that aren't open yet.
You ever walk up to a food truck that's not like...
There's a little surly attitude.
Yeah, like you know when you're like on set or something
and one of the producers is like,
we got everybody a food truck.
And you're like, cool.
And you walk over and immediately you're like,
I'll have and like, hey, we're not open yet.
You're like, sorry. Sorry
That's so crazy that you would say that cuz all of those things are controlled by Jews all of them food trucks
I'm admitting I know that's crazy. I'm here. I don't know any of this stuff until just recently
Hey, so how many hands how many pots we have our hands in? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, yeah
The Yankee candle industry.
God, I mean, so for real, if you go down,
you come out of the studio here and you go down Broadway
to Union Square on the east side of the street,
you will see the Mitzvah truck,
which has been there for a while and
I think I talked about this with one of my past guests who was ex-Orthodox and like...
Modi?
Who?
Modi?
No, Robbie Hoffman.
Oh, I love Robbie Hoffman.
Oh, she's so fucking funny.
I didn't know Robbie Hoffman was ex-Orthodox.
Oh, yeah.
And like, Coretti, not just Orthodox, but like, you know,
Satmir, Heretti, one of those like serious...
Tunnels.
Tunnels.
But like, this has just been a, you know, a little joke observation, but like, man,
the Orthodox Jews don't know what the
word now means.
They don't.
Because for four decades, I've been seeing these things saying, Mosheach is coming now.
Now, big letters.
Now!
I think what Jews think now means sometime.
Well, it's not, it doesn't. No. Now means now think now means sometime.
Well it's not, it doesn't.
No.
Now means now, sometime means sometime.
Yeah, but you've been on 47th Street.
It's like now, sometime.
Pay me when I'm, pay me whenever, you know?
I don't, no, I didn't have that kind of upbringing.
Where were you born?
I was born in Stuyvesantown.
Oh really?
Oh wow.
And stayed there?
Stayed there till I was like nine
and then I went to Chicago.
Which is why my accent is hot mess.
And then I-
I don't really detect an accent.
It's like just sporadic on which words sound like Midwest
and which words sound like New York City.
Say absolutely.
Absolutely.
Oh, there's Chicago.
There's a hint.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
Orange. Orange. That's a hint. Yeah, absolutely orange
Orange that's what I say orange. You're from the south, right all over but yes, mostly the south. Yeah, I feel like that's a common
Like oh say this is an interesting thing that
Somebody I said this word and they go. Oh, yeah, you can tell you're from the south
I was like why because only southerners pronounce it this way, but pronounce the word EGG.
Oh, egg.
Yeah. So I say eggs. And my friend Sean, who's also from the south is like, yeah, that's
a only southerners say eggs.
For like, it's just eggs pluralized all the time.
Oh, no no just a Y
Oh, yeah, why as as opposed to the correct pronunciation is EG egg egg?
Yeah, peg egg. Yeah, egg peg. Yeah
Say eggs. I mean there's no other isms that well that's not my favorite bits of yours
I forget which specials from it was like
I forget which special is from it was like the voice the oh yeah, it's
It's why I mean that's one of the best bits ever but like it is wild weird. It's wild how you can be in like
Long Island, what is it? Where where does it come from?
You've been long Island where it's like it has accent. Right. And if you see a Trump flag, they'll come out and they'll be like, hey, get off my lawn.
And you're like, where are you from?
Like, Hampstead?
Yeah.
Like, it's wild.
It's really, especially as you get like,
kinda into like rural, Midwestern farming stuff.
And you're like, how do you have a Southern accent?
Yeah, or like, you think you said Alaska?
Yeah, Alaska. That's wild like it and it does a motherfucker. Y'all don't want to fuck with me man
What?
Colorado like Colorado. It's like hey, man. You see these slopes
Isn't it supposed to be chill? That's racist too. But
Also, I didn't know
they had that kind of-
Racist on you, racist on you.
Can we cue up the racist?
Racist.
Oh, Mammy.
How I love you, how I love you, my dear old Mammy.
Or stymie saying something from Rodney Braskell's.
I can tell you.
How about dynamite?
Jimmy JJ Water?
That's pretty good, Dynamite.
So do you remember doing Gravid Water?
I did a lot of Gravid Waters for him for a while
because like.
It was a big one, it was like they moved it to,
it was a theater.
Yeah, I think it was for the Del Clos Marathon one year. Because it was like, wasn't it at the Chelsea Movie Theater
that they had brought in?
They were like, I think that's where it was on 23rd and like 9th, the SVA Theater.
And it was like, yeah, it was big.
It was like, does Tina Fey on that one or something?
It was a big one.
I don't remember the only,
you know, a lot of the regulars,
like there was, I think, Matt Walsh and Scott Adzett,
and I'm not sure who was here, the New York versions,
but, and it was the first time that I improvised
because I had done it, I had done the acting part.
Oh, let me explain what this is to the listeners.
Sure.
It's a brilliant idea, it's a really cool idea,
where Stephen, what's Stephen's last name?
Stephen.
Just trying to think of it.
God damn it, we'll think of it.
He had a brother that was in one of my improv classes too.
Yeah.
Stephen, I don't know.
Hey.
You got the internet over there?
Hey everybody, I'm in Lexington, Kentucky.
I'm in the middle of the tour.
And, but I want to tell you guys about Athletic Greens One,
which I actually have been using.
And I bring some with me when I'm on tour
that I steal from the head gum offices.
I don't steal, it's not really stealing.
If you tell them you're going to steal it,
I don't use the word steal, I just say take.
So I take them anyway.
I had a bunch, but I ran out.
But I like it.
I can't, you know, I'm not gonna to tell you it's, you know, a miracle
powder but I take it because it seems like it'd be a pretty smart thing to do. And it's
actually kind of tasty. That doesn't bother me either. And I just like knowing that I'm
getting those things, especially when I'm on the road and it's difficult to get those
things. And let me just tell you something about the prebiotics,
the probiotics, the gut supporting part of it.
It supports digestion, reduce bloating, keeps you regular,
which means you poo.
In a research study, 80% of participants noted less gas
and bloating after 30 days of drinking it. And 97% of participants felt that digestion improved after 90 days of
drinking AG1. Well, I would hope so. That's three months. Okay, nutrition that does
more. Here are some fast facts. AG1 is made with bioavailable ingredients that
work with your body and its powder form
makes it easy for your body to digest and access the nutrient dense ingredients in the
formula.
And it has all non-GMO ingredients.
It contains no added sugar, so my wife will be happy about that.
She's always going on and on about GMO.
AGI helps fill nutrient gaps and supports your gut
for healthy digestion.
I said that.
Just one daily scoop provides whole body benefits
like gut, immune, and stress support.
So start with AG1 and notice the difference for yourself.
It's a great first step to investing in your health,
and that's why I'm so excited to be partnering with them.
Try AG1 and get a free bottle of
vitamin D3K2 and 5 free AG1 travel packs. Those are the things that I use. I
get them to put them on the road there and I take them on the road with me in
my suitcase. And with your first purchase at drinkag1.com slash senses. That's a $48 value for free.
If you go to drinkag1.com slash senses, check it out.
And I'll see you in Lexington at the Opera House.
But this will probably play way after that.
So don't go to the Opera House.
I won't be there.
I will have moved on.
I don't know.
Where will I be?
Ann Arbor, Columbus, Toronto, Chicago. I'm not be there. I will have moved on. I don't know. Where will I be? Ann Arbor, Columbus, Toronto, Chicago.
I'm not exactly sure, but check officialdavidcross.com
to see where I am on tour.
Otherwise, talk to you later. Bye.
But it's a great concert.
That show is so fun.
It's so much fun.
It's fun to watch.
It's one of my favorite things.
Like I'm so excited to, you know, be done with my thing
so I can watch everybody else. And the really, like I'm so excited to, you know, be done with my thing so I can
watch everybody else.
And the really, like the masters, like Scott Adzit, Matt Wall, I mean all Tammy Sager,
just, I mean, everyone is just, just watching them and it's a skill that I am jealous of, I wish I had.
And I did that acting part.
Oh, again, to explain it.
So this guy takes roughly four pages out of a play.
Most of them you haven't heard of.
And it's just four pages.
Could be the beginning of scene, middle,
something where people enter or whatever. And one person is the actor, it's usually given to an
actors and quite often somebody works in the theater and then, you know, there's like sprinklings
of celebrities here and there and the script they get is only every other line.
They're characters' lines.
And then, so that's all you're getting is a script with,
say your character is Jason,
then Jason has approximately 32 lines
and they don't make any sense.
And because the other character,
it's always a two-hander, always two people,
and the other character's lines are missing.
Then you do that with somebody who improvises
the line that's missing.
And it doesn't matter what that person says,
the actor has to say the next line.
And then the improviser has to kind of steer the,
and it's genius and it's crazy.
And in the improvising,
I've gotten better at it as I've gone along,
but it's really hard and I'm still not that great. And the first time I did it, I've gone along, but it's really hard. And I'm still not that great.
And the first time I did it, which was that show,
I felt like, oh, I blew it.
I just blew it.
Like in the sense that I was trying,
I was saying funny lines that didn't help
make the whole thing.
Like when you watch, you watch AdSit or,
I mean, you're like, he just did a real scene by making this stuff up
and now there's a baby in a closet that they adopted.
And da da da.
And you get in the weeds real quick in that show.
I found, I never did it as an actor,
I only did it as an improviser
and I don't think I could do it as an actor
because I feel like that would be really challenging
to only know your side and to not.
It's challenging, but believe me, the improv is harder.
Really?
That's just not my skill, you know?
Yeah, but you're a great actor and a...
Well, thank you, but it was...
But when you...
When you watch like, and you were in a wheelchair, right?
I remember the scene now, yeah.
I think that's why I got a big response
because it was like a breakup scene.
You decided to be in a wheelchair like, at the end.
At the end.
Yeah, I was sitting in a chair
and she was breaking up with me.
And I was like, you can't do this, you can't do this.
And then she walked across the room at the end and I was like, please, and I wheeled myself with me and I was like, you can't do this, you can't do this. And then she walked across the room at the end
and I was like, please, and I wheeled myself.
And then it was like, oh, well,
that's why she's breaking up with him.
But that was really funny.
But that's a great example of that's,
and there's no script, there's nothing in there.
You were sitting down, you happen to be sitting down
because they will tell you that much.
They'll go, okay, you're sitting down at a desk.
Yes, exactly.
You don't know exactly where you are, but that's it.
I had seen it a bunch before I did it
because they had been developing that show for a while
and I worked at the UCB,
like doing anything, cleaning the stage or whatever.
And so I would see it quite a bit while I was working.
And you could see who was good at it and who wasn't.
And the one thing that I noticed
About people that were bad at it
Is that is the same thing that an improv the people that are bad at it is where they like?
ask a question
Expecting that to fill in the knowledge they don't have right and like that's how you get caught up in you know someone
Two people go on a stage
there's nothing there.
You're just trying to like paint the picture.
Right.
And so if you're asking like, for example, that a scene can be out of context, someone's
like, thanks for coming to my birthday party, dad.
Yeah.
Someone goes like, what?
Yeah.
You know, then the classic yes. And it's like the person who just called you dad is not going to be like, what? You know, then. The classic yes and.
It's like the person who just called you dad
is not gonna be like, that's right, you're my dad.
Like they don't have the answer.
And so anytime, and it always gets a laugh
when you say what, because it makes the last sentence
become out of context.
So no matter what in a, in Gravid Water,
someone's like, an actor responds by,
because their line is, oh, you're so petty.
Yeah.
The improviser is going to get a laugh by going, what?
Yeah.
But then-
There's nowhere to go.
They can't respond again.
Yeah, there's some, there are minimal amount of rules,
but they're strict.
And it's like, that was just always the shortcut is like,
just assume everything.
Don't ask, cause they don't know.
These poor people don't know.
They're like, I just always looked at the actors eyes
and be like, I'm so sorry that you have,
that I have to do this.
But like, you know, they'd be like, Oh, Reginald.
And I'd be like, Reggie, I'm sorry.
Like, you know, like, because now I'm fucking with you.
It's like, it felt bad, but it's such a fun show.
It's really, it's fun and watching, you know, you know,
again, like, it's such a great example is
for you to take, like, you've been sitting in that chair
and then you go and wheel yourself across,
oh, you're in a wheelchair.
Nobody's thinking that, like,
I hope he pretends he's in a wheelchair.
You know what I mean?
You're just watching this thing unfold
and now you've taken that tiny little piece of information
and now you have to reconsider
everything you've just been watching.
Yes, that's what's my favorite thing about that show
is because there are things in place.
Like, improv, I don't know if it was AdSit
or like one of those guys was teaching me once,
Lutz or something, and was like,
a shortcut way to think about improv is that
you're like, you know how I got on The Simpsons
when they would like go into a dark room
and you would just see eyes?
It's like, that's what happens
when two people walk out on a stage.
They don't know where they are.
They're just eyes.
So you start to turn on the lights really slowly
by saying stuff.
So you're like, you walk over, pretend you're getting coffee. He's this isn't anything to make fun of.
That's not it's sorry.
My phone's got a little attitude.
No, it's a legit point.
I'm just making a legit point.
OK, funny. Sorry.
I apologize. It's fine.
Uh, I was late yesterday.
Yeah. Well, the phone is aware of that. Yeah.
But like, you know, if I walk if we're just standing on stage and I walk over and grab a coffee pot and I'm like
Man, did I have a tough night last night bill? It's like
The light gets a little light brighter. It's like, okay, your name's bill
You know like getting information getting information. We work an office, and then you just have to think,
okay, well, we work in an office, my name's Bill,
he's had a tough night.
Or Bill is your lover, or Bill is your brother.
Or you wanna subvert it that way, it's like, you know,
the next line is just as important, if not more,
you go out and you're like, you're telling me,
you really worked me last night, now we're lovers.
It's like, you know, you.
And then you find out your brothers.
And then you find out your next line is like,
don't tell mom, you know, it's like now we're brothers.
And then, you know, but to say that,
that's just an easy way to think about it.
I think that sometimes.
Have you seen, I'm sure you have, TJ and Dave?
Yeah, many times.
I mean, the absolute king's best, the greatest ever.
The greatest, yeah.
I just worked with Dave, he was in this last show I did.
And Tracy Letts plays my dad.
Oh wow.
It was awesome.
Oh boy.
Tracy Letts was amazing.
I love Tracy.
But Tracy Letts is the only person
to ever sit in with TJ and Dave.
They've only ever done shows with.
I saw a show at the Bowery, not Bowery,
the Barrel Theater.
With Tracy?
Yeah, with Tracy, where they did three people.
He said, because I did a movie with him,
and he said that it was one of the most terrifying things
he's ever done.
But he still does it.
He still does it, he does it frequently.
I mean, I would,
I think I would faint.
I would get a little lightheaded.
And like, I can't keep up with,
I would never do it.
I, not that they would ever ask,
and nor should they,
but I feel like I would just be a fucking albatross
on whatever.
I'm telling you,
and I've seen them, I don't know, dozens of times.
I always send people their way.
And I say you have to watch more than one show.
You can't just watch one show.
Yeah, no, it's completely different.
It's like the it's TJ.
TJ and Dave is like a jam band to me.
It's like, you know, the sets can change every night
and you're going to see like, you know.
I don't know how they'd appreciate that.
I'll ask them. OK. Right now, do this. I don't know how they'd appreciate that analogy. I'll ask them.
Okay, right now?
You wanna do this?
Let's do this.
Um, but I've seen, and I'm not exaggerating,
I'm not being hyperbolic, I've seen, you know,
80 minute improv'd pieces where they play
multiple characters that were as poignant and amazing an evening
of theatrical entertainment as I have plays that went through multiple rewrites scripted
with casts and sets and all that special effects.
I mean, I remember one in particular about a kid who a kid who want, who kid, there's like a cul-de-sac
and this kid was kind of bouncing around from house to house.
And then you learn that his dad, you know, is like a, like a drunk or runaway or something,
his dad's not there.
And then the other, another dad kind of befriends him,
and they go talk, it's like, it took this poignant turn,
that turn that was, you know, and sometimes they do,
but they're just, the skill level of those guys is insane.
And they're really slow and dramatic,
and like, the laughs are huge, but they're not frequent.
It's not like a barrage, it's more like a play.
Yeah, and also when they, when like one of them comes back,
you know, they play multiple characters
and one of them leaves and comes back as a character
that you haven't seen, you forgot about 10 minutes ago,
and then says some reference to something
that you thought was totally innocuous, you know,
and then becomes the focal point for this other thing is, is it just their, their, you know,
brains are still traps.
Yeah, they're the best ever.
I did, I did the thing with Dave twice. We've done it where we, we were Chicago, Atlanta, and we'd come out and go,
hi, we're improv group, Chicago, Atlanta.
My name's Dave, I'm from Chicago.
And I'm Dave, I'm from Atlanta,
and together we're Chicago, Atlanta.
And then we would do the typical setup.
Okay, so we're gonna get a couple of suggestions from you
and you will help us set the scene and we will
improvise and everything will be completely improvised. But it's important, you know,
the more information you give us, the better. And then we just go through this ridiculous 10 minute
long asking questions about the, what time is it? Is this AM or PM? And da da da. How cold is it?
What's the dew point? You know, all these crazy
things. And we keep saying, it's important for us. We want to get everything right, da da da.
And then we'd go, I mean, it was a long time, just silly stiff a chip. What is his zodiac sign? Okay,
great. And have either one of us turned an ankle before when we were kids? Okay, great.
And then we would go through this whole thing
and we would start the scene
and it would go about 45 seconds to a minute long
and then someone would die
because they're allergic to something
and then we both yell at the audience like,
you didn't say he was allergic to fucking the cereal,
come on!
You know, and warm up. I love it love it that reminds me there's so many bits
like that that that like I love a challenge of the audience like that and then and then a
like man I'm actually not gonna do it like a buddy of mine named Rob Lathan who's one of the
funniest guys uh I don't know I haven't seen him in a while, but he I don't even know what he's doing, but he
used to do this bit where he would come out and he'd be like I
Am a speed eater and I'm going to tonight break the record for eating
You know you name it whatever it was like he would buy like a hundred Big Macs or you know
50 in in one minute and he would do the whole thing. He's like, are you ready?
Is this side ready is this side ready? Are you ready to see me break the record for the mall?
And everyone be like, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, and you'd be like start the clock. They put the clock on he'd be like, are you mark?
get set
Go and the music was sorry and the clock was start and he'd start and around the one minute mark
you would realize he's not gonna finish.
He's not gonna finish.
And then at like three.
Was he trying to speed it or was he just eating regular?
No, he was like, you know, but he's a regular guy.
And so, and then he would like scream out, one!
And then like, he like really struggled. He'd like start, you know, he'd be like, he'd really struggle and start, you know,
he'd be like, dude, he's like, oh God,
and there were like 50 burgers left, you know?
And then the clock would go off and he'd be like,
ah, I didn't get it.
That was it.
That was it.
And it was just like, and then he'd pack up the burgers. And then he'd be like, I mean, I guess, do you want a burger?
And it was like so small and sad, the end of it.
But it was my favorite bit, because like the audience, that and another, I can't believe
I'm just like shouting out other bits, but Owen Burke, another amazing dude, used to do a bit called level Knevel, which is he
would come out in a full evil Knievel outfit with a music playing.
Level Knevel.
Level Knevel, dancing around, full music, helmet on, dancing, take the helmet off, big
show.
And then he'd reach around his back and he'd pull out a giant level.
Oh God.
And he'd dance around and he'd take one chair
and he'd move it.
And he'd be like, are you ready?
He'd take another chair and then he'd put the level down
and it would get right.
And he'd be like, yeah!
And it was, it killed me like every time.
Then he would level someone's hat on their head.
And like, it was just so nothing.
It was so.
But something something you might see somebody busking out in Washington Square.
Yeah, it's like you would never.
But it was the most.
I think it was like the most amazing piece of art.
If I could like put that in a museum.
Do you ever see
John Glazer's bit about being a dream median?
No, but I love every laser
I I don't I don't want to say it here because if he does it I don't want to blow up
But it's a I'll tell you afterwards. It's very funny
It's just you know very much like you know John Benjamin or you know certain comics where they
The whole thing is you know anti-comedy or whatever, but it's like this long setup
and you're like, where the fuck is this going?
Because you're never not fooled
that it's not a comedian doing a bit, you know?
Which is what I love, it's like,
that is, I hate that.
And when you realize the joke, you're like,
as I remember, I was sitting there,
it was at the old UCB, and just going like, oh my God.
Because I was slightly ahead of the audience
by maybe seven seconds tops,
but I realized what he was doing and I was like,
oh Jesus Christ, you motherfucker.
Oh yeah.
He just took seven minutes of our.
Oh yeah, on purpose.
Yeah, on purpose.
I mean, he's another one of those improvisers.
Like I've seen him, I've done a show where he will play
one character the whole show and have three lines
and it'll just like, he'll put them perfectly
and he won't press and he won't come out for another scene
and he won't do anything.
But he's like, but wait for this character,
I'm gonna do it three times and that's it.
It's like, he's just, he's the best.
He's also such a nice bleeding heart.
He's a second city guy too, right?
Mm-hmm, yeah.
Pinata Full of Bees was his,
that's like a famous sketch show
that like was passed around on VHS when I was a kid.
Oh yeah?
Was like, yeah, him and Poehler and stuff.
And like, it's like, have you seen this sketch?
And this sketch was all pinata,
I think it was called pinata full of bees.
What was I gonna say?
I mean, I feel like I'm,
there's so many sketches of yours that are like,
do people, is that a big,
are people constantly referencing in our younger,
like when people come up to you, they're like, this sketch, this sketch, this sketch.
Yeah, but I like that.
I mean, that's nice.
It's the greatest.
Yeah, it's very cool.
And a bunch of them I've forgotten,
I need to be reminded of, but I know that-
Do you want me, are you asking me to tell you?
Yes, I'm asking. Nicole, Google me, are you asking me to tell you? Yes, I'm asking.
Nicole, Google me.
All right, fine, the one where the band comes in
and you're burnt.
Yeah, Titanic.
That's pretty good.
Is this what you wanted?
Nope.
Okay.
What was I gonna say?
Oh, I know that people, I've gotten,
somebody will send me an iPhone thing of like,
this is our college group doing the audition sketch
and stuff like that, you get that a lot.
I mean, that's like one of the best sketches.
I taught that.
And there was, really?
Yeah, I taught sketch for years.
There was an Italian, somebody did it, oh man.
And it was an Italian comedy group
or it was on a TV show and all these people were like,
oh, cause they didn't say it was our bit,
they just made it like their bit.
And they, I think they changed like two or three things,
but they were like, you fucking assholes.
That's an American, oh, excuse me.
It's my wife. Hey, excuse me. It's my wife.
Hey, you're on speaker.
Oh, I'd like a divorce.
Okay.
Who are you?
Where are you?
Doing my podcast.
Oh, whoops.
That's a dumb joke.
Do you have a second or?
No, I'm doing my podcast.
Oh, you're literally recording it right now?
Yes, I am.
I'm recording it right now.
Oh, I'm sorry. I'm recording it right now. I'm recording it right now. I'm recording it right now. I'm recording it right now. Um, that's a dumb joke. Uh, uh, do you have a second or?
No, I'm doing my podcast.
Oh, you're literally recording it right now.
Yes, I am.
OK, well, OK.
I do have a question for you.
Call me after. OK.
I love you. You're my one and only.
OK, bye.
That was nice. Yeah.
Um. I don't know if I'm going to be I'm dying to know what that question is.
Well, let's find out.
The tone of it didn't seem the tone didn't seem urgent like that.
No, she doesn't call it. She doesn't call with urgent problem.
What Adam would like to know what your question is.
Who does he think is going to win the election in November?
Oh no. Really not about Israel v Gaza? I feel like that's...
I'm sorry you're breaking up. You're breaking up.
She called you to ask me who I think is going to win the election.
Yeah, that's she doesn't even know that, a, that I'm doing a podcast and B,
that you're my guest.
So I'd say that those are poor improv skills.
And then you pushed her towards Gaza.
Yeah. With your good improv skills.
Yes, I thought this was a...
That was where we were gonna succeed.
That's where the, to get us back on track.
Yeah.
Let's talk about Gaza. Comedy, comedy.
All right, I've lost a few friends.
Okay. In the comedy world.
No.
Glazer.
No, Brett Gellman.
Yep.
I don't know. Brett Gellman won Yeah. I don't know.
Brett Gellman won't work with.
Smoke.
What?
I don't want any Brett Gellman.
No, no matter what I say, I'm going to get a text now.
Positive or negative.
You saw Brett's, uh, uh, thing about his Billy Crystal 700 Sundays.
One of the best.
Brad and I were on it,
started on the same improv team.
Oh my God.
700 Cats is.
700 Cats is so.
One of the fun, that's a similar bit.
Yeah, I saw that before I had seen any of the actual thing
that it was parodying.
I don't even, you don't really have to see it,
but have you seen 700 Sundays?
No, but I know Billy Crystal enough to know the schmaltz.
That's like, you, I mean, isn't it like, am I not
preparing yourself for, because it's theatrical.
It's not just, I mean, yes, it's tons of schmaltz from him,
but the theatricality of it is so cloying and saccharine.
And I mean, I got about 30 minutes through
and I'm like, Jesus Christ.
And I walked out and I was on the plane.
Hello.
Now Phony, that's where you, Phony.
All right, well, that's where the Phony would come in.
Oh, Mammy.
Yeah, I mean, it was, I did that's where the phony would come in. Oh, mammy.
Yeah, I mean, it was, I did watch it on a plane and I was like, holy shit, this is so,
like he, there's a point where he opens,
because the stage is like his house, like this.
Yeah, that's the stuff that's.
Oh, dude, it's like.
I mean, does it open with like a walking bass
and then he's like, oh, I didn't see you there
I hope I don't remember. Oh, that sounds like my upstairs neighbor
Yeah, and then the footsteps that are added to when he walks to the window and puts the thing up
And there's like a awful he's like hello
There's a point where he
opens up a door to a room
and is on the stage.
And it cuts to some video of him at his old family
home in Long Island.
Now.
Like he is now.
Yeah.
Like looking wistfully.
Oh, it's just, you forget that the majority, the vast majority
people who go to see and support shows on Broadway, a show that runs, has an extended run,
either tourists susceptible to marketing, you know, and not that there aren't good shows out there,
but I mean, if you've got kids and they are screaming about going to see Aladdin or Frozen,
you take them to see it. Sure.
And if you know that Hamilton is a cultural touchstone, you take them to see Hamilton, whatever.
And then the other part of the Broadway audience,
and it's 90% comprised of these two groups,
they aforementioned one,
and are these kind of the monied,
often gay, kind of older New York,
Upper West Side, upper west side,
upper east side, village, you know, just supporting,
just supporting crap.
Like, and it's just, it's so not clever, interesting,
or it's, you know.
Like my grandmother used to belong
to the Manhattan Theater Club.
And she would always be like telling us
about some bullshit she saw, you know,
like Alfred Molina and King Richard or whatever.
And no matter what, you'd be like, was it good?
She'd be like, fuck, I walked out.
It's like part of it is that, you know, it's like.
I, you know, I, there was a, what I think,
I want to say John Gilgud in something that was
Hugely
Promoted and popular and it was so bad. I I don't think I've
I'm trying to think if I've ever walked out of shows
This might be the only one who walked out of but it was a big deal, right?
It was like John Larroquette as fucking.
It was.
Sir, Sir No DeBergerac.
It was. Horrible.
It just was so over the top directed
and like people in the audience kind of thing
and like, oh God, and what was it?
It was, it was Jonathan Lithgow, I believe.
Oh my God.
I believe, and he was and it was a famous play.
Non-musical.
Non-musical, and they did, it was like a redone,
repurposed, whatever it was, Troyliss and Cressida,
I don't remember what it was, but it was like
the hot ticket, and da da da, and you go there,
and you're like, Jesus, guys, this is awful.
Yeah, have you ever done a play?
No, I refuse.
Yeah, I did it once.
It's hard.
Well, what'd you do?
I did a drama in New York at the one on,
what's it called?
The roundabout?
It was on 44th and 8th.
Yeah.
And it was like a long run.
It was like six month run.th. Yeah. It was like a long run. It was like six month run.
That's long.
It was long.
And I did it after I had had a failed sitcom
that got like really trashed.
And I was like, and people really hated me
and they were like, he's like bad.
So I was like, he's the reason the sitcom didn't work.
Which is like, maybe true, but also probably not.
You just control the sitcoms.
Right, yeah. We control the weather in a three in a multicam but I I so I was like I'm
gonna do a play and I did a play and it was really fucking hard it was not fun
what was it it was called Cardinal and it was again it was about Chinese
immigration or not Chinese specifically but the the characters were Chinese and
it was like and you played the the Singhulu Pee?
I did, I played a Chinese character to push my range.
No, it was like, you know, it was like I was a mayor
of a small town and it was about just all that stuff
and it was really hard to do that every night.
And I don't want to say boring, but like, boring.
I think that's the fear a lot of people have, you know?
Yeah.
Is like, and I was kidding, I would love to do a play,
and there's, I can't say anything yet,
but I have a conversation tomorrow
with a writer and director of a limited run thing.
Really, a play play?
Yeah.
Yes and no.
It's definitely a thing that will be on Broadway,
but it's more in the vein of,
gosh, I don't know what you'd call it, like vignettes?
Like the vagina monologues?
Kinda, kinda, where you could be reading something
and so it doesn't have near the,
like I've gotta hit my mark, I gotta memorize this
and I believe they're all kind of monologues,
I don't know, I'm saying too much about something
I don't know that much of that I ultimately
may not even be a part of, I hope to be
and I was contacted about this.
But, you know, Bob Odenkirk and I,
gosh, I wanna say a year and a half ago-ish.
Bob had this idea.
We would do at the Geffen Theater in LA
with an eye towards doing a run in New York,
Glengarry Glen Ross with just comedians,
where like we've talked about Bill Burr,
Chris Rock, Tim Heidegger,
people who were I think capable of doing, pulling it off.
And then we with Mammot wouldn't do it
unless the Geffen did another one of his plays that the Geffen had said no to and he got very
very upset and said you can't do it and then I think Bob might have even written something to him via the artistic director at the Geffen. And he still was like, no, no, no, no.
That would've been really cool.
It would have been, I think it would have been great.
But Gary Gunn Ross is also like humor filled, you know,
like you're going to get laughs.
I think it would be, uh, yeah,
I think it would be a great vehicle for comedians who've shown acting
chops.
And it will be because it is going to go on Broadway with not this idea is completely
set.
We had this idea of they said no or Mamet said no and
then I just learned fairly recently that they are gonna do with Bob and Bill Burr
amongst some other people. I don't know if they're all comics but that will be
happening on Broadway I believe in midwinter. Of Glenn Gary. Yeah. And who's playing Ross?
Who's playing?
Well, Glenn Bosnian, Glenn and Gary's going to be Bill.
Gary's going to be Bill and Bill's going to be Ross and Ross is going to be Glenn.
Not how I thought it. Yeah.
I mean, they're tweaking it outside the box.
Yeah. And who's going to play?
Glen Gary and Glen Gary is played by Kevin Spacey
You know looking for a single yeah interesting. Yep, and timing is right. Yeah, and Kevin Spacey will be played by
George Santos and then George Santos is being played by Bernie Madoff
Yeah and then George Santos is being played by Bernie Madoff. Yeah, very interesting.
I like the way you cast.
Yeah, but this isn't me.
This is something I've read.
Who you're working with.
I'm not, this is not me.
This is-
I gotta get a ticket.
Yeah.
I always thought Bernie Madoff dead
would make a good interesting actor, character actor
in a play.
Bernie Madoff like a bandit.
Um, does that phone work for your things too?
Or just, I mean, it should.
Yeah, that's really for that.
It's really, um, kind of just like picks and chooses.
Huh?
Yeah, that's not fair.
Um, you should give your guests the option of a want, want button.
Well, it's not button.
It's just my, uh, my, my tone, my, uh, what do you call
it? My alert.
That's really funny. Some people have like bird chirps or like, uh,
just like a chime, but you have the, the sound of, of a car. I was joke dying.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Of an awkward moment.
What's the psychology behind that?
Um, I mean, I ran my phone through the Helsinki Institute,
sent it up there, spent six weeks,
and still waiting to get the specific results.
I can tell you kind of in a nutshell,
there's Superman complex, there's pre-related anxiety,
there's dysfunction pre-related anxiety, there's a dysfunctional harmonic conversion,
so all those kind of applications.
Yeah.
Great, thanks.
I'm so glad that we got this on the books after yesterday.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Are you shutting this down?
Are we done?
No, I just assumed that that was a natural ending point
Well, you should never make a assumption. No, no, you should never assume anything because it makes an ass you out of me
Okay, so we were done no we can be no I just feel like we're I feel like you're trying to get me out
Of here with these well, what how why I don't know
I feel like these I just got me at a feel like these keep coming at a rate. You asked me about the fucking thing on my phone.
But they're coming at a rate faster now.
And I've.
You think I'm, you think I took it easy and then.
I think you took it easy, I mean in the beginning
it was very friendly and now there's a sort of like,
like you know when you have a house guest,
and it's like, I'm ready for them to be gone.
What's the best way to do that?
It's like start farting or something,
you know what I mean? Like I feel like that's what's happening. Now I find, I don't, I'm ready for them to be gone. What's the best way to do that? It's like start farting or something. You know what I mean?
Like, I feel like that's what's happening.
Now I find, I don't, I've never really understood.
I mean, I guess maybe if there's certain people,
but I've never understood the trepidation,
hesitation people have with like,
oh, I gotta get rid of this guy.
How do I get rid of him?
You just say, hey man, it's really late.
I gotta get to bed. Yeah, no, that's different though.
But I think it's more of a youthful experience too,
when you're way younger and people are like
surfing on couches and it's like,
how long is this guy gonna be here?
Oh sure, well that, I've been on both ends of that.
Yes.
I mean, mostly the couch end.
Yes, me too. Oh, I spent years overstaying my welcome,
because I had nowhere else to go, I had no money.
Yeah, and you think that that's part of,
I think like, at least in my experience being on that couch,
you think that you're part of it.
It's like, yeah, we're all in this together, right?
And the person who's couched on is usually like. Well, I usually the you're there because of the kindness of a friend of yours,
but he has roommates and it's the roommates who are like, hey, dude.
You know, how long is this going to go on?
Yeah.
Or, yeah.
And, and it's a legit thing.
And I've also been on the other end of that where it's like, hey man, this guy, you know,
I understand the situation, but he's gotta be out here
in like two or three days.
Have you also had that with in-laws?
Cause I've also had that with like a parent
that comes to stay and you're like, wow,
you've been here a long time.
I mean, it's a joke in my household, but, uh,
my, well, my wife will, uh, quite often bring up,
uh, my sister or mother, uh, when she's
shorthanded and needs help with our kid.
So, um, and they're happy to come up.
Right.
Um, my mom takes a little bit, she's 80 a lot and,
and you know, she needs a little help here and there,
but not really. She's very pretty self-sufficient.
She'll just plop down and play candy crush or just read.
I mean, those are the only two things she does and
complain that she's cold.
Oh, I didn't realize you were Jewish.
Oh, yeah, totally Jewish. Well, they're more Jewish than I am.
I can't believe I didn't pick that up.
Changed, I believe it was changed at some point.
You came into Elisabeth as Christ.
As Christ, yeah.
Then changed it to cross.
Jiminy Christ. I was Jiminy Christ.
We gotta make this.
And I'm old, but I'm not that old.
That you came through Ellis Island?
I'm not Ellis Island old.
I made your family.
They did come through, yeah.
They were all from Leeds, England, and my dad was the youngest of five, and they all
came over.
Kind of, I think it's three.
The cross is a British name.
I mean...
It is British.
Right?
Oh, well, I have dual citizenship.
And when I was in the process of doing that, I learned,
I, and this is just, uh, naivete on my part.
And I just, it was a dumb, I had no reason to think this, but I just always assume,
maybe because Eastern European Jews,
I always assumed, or Western European Jews,
that my family had not been in England that long,
but then when they were doing the research
that is part of the requirements
for getting the dual citizenship,
my family goes back way, way, way longer than I expected.
In England.
Like in England, yeah, specifically in Leeds.
I mean, it goes back at least to my great, great-grandmother and great-grandfather, at
least.
You're like your second-generation immigrant, kind of, right?
I mean, yeah, I mean, I'm first generation American cross.
Right, so which is basically makes you a dreamer.
Yeah, that's why I voted for Obama.
The first time, then I was like, enough's enough.
I mean, yeah.
A tan suit threw me.
I couldn't handle it.
What was he thinking?
I was furious.
Furious, I'm sitting there, I'm still angry about it.
I'm still angry that he.
The audacity.
The disrespect.
Tan?
To him, to come into that office
and disrespect the office
by calling the White House a shithole.
That was Obama, right?
Or am I thinking of somebody else?
I think that was actually Trump.
Oh, all right.
But you're right though.
It's so gross to talk about women like Obama did,
like recorded, recorded on television with Billy Bush,
like Obama did saying.
No, that was Trump.
Yeah.
Oh. You know what I thought of way too late?
I have a place upstate in...
Must be nice.
Sullivan County. It's awesome. It's amazing.
And I was just there last week.
My daughter started school again,
so we'll be up there, not as...
She goes to school in Sullivan County
as opposed to down here?
No, no, she goes to school here,
meaning our extended extended stays up there
where we can stay for 10, 11 days, you know, outside of
winter break and spring, you know, are pretty much in your family.
You call those squeak walls, right?
Those little breaks that you guys get.
It's a it's a or chip chip, you know, you have to chip.
It's one's a squeakle, one's a chipwreck.
One's a chipwreck, right.
We love puns.
The low it's called.
We love puns.
We love puns, yeah.
And there's, you know, it's less and less so,
but I've not been up there for 16 years now, something like that.
But it's still pretty Trumpy.
And there are a couple places that I really...
There's one specific and then there's another one that's kind of adjacent to it.
But there's one of my favorite bars and sports bar and really amazing food,
but there's a heavy Trump element to it.
And I always get in conversations with people
and there's a definite respect, nobody, you know.
And they know who you are and they know like,
Some of them.
How you like, they know.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Okay. And I've gotten in, yeah, yeah. Okay.
And I've gotten in heated discussions,
but nothing where it's like violent
and an undercurrent of violence or anything like that.
And even those are kind of rare.
And again, most people know me and you know,
it's all copacetic, but I,
they had, they were passing around a, like a fake box of cereal
called fraud flakes.
And it was Biden, it was like a cartoon of Biden
and it was all Sleepy Joe endorsed
and all just dumb, like really dumb puns.
And these guys were just giggling,
they thought it was so funny.
And it occurred to me later to,
because I know they're gonna vote for Trump,
but to ask, and I mean this in a very serious way,
like what information would you have to learn
to not vote for Trump?
Forget about the opponent, whoever it is,
forget about, is there a world in which you learn something,
either he says something or you find out this piece of,
like what's the thing that would make you not vote for Trump?
Do you think?
And I'm not saying you vote for somebody else,
but just a vote.
Just to be like, I don't think I wanna vote for this guy.
Yeah, what is the, and I-
Do you think that the answer somewhere could be like,
run a child sex ring out of a pizza place?
Like-
I don't think they would.
Do you think that way?
Let's say that was. Maybe.
Like, let's say that all that,
let's say some reason, all that 4chan bullshit
actually turned out.
I think it's 8chan.
8chan, 8chan?
8, 8chan.
Sorry.
I don't know how to explain what I'm saying.
I'm lost, but like, go back to what you said before.
Just that I would, curious,
it's not a gotcha question, it's not a trap.
I'm not, there's no right answer, wrong answer,
but what is the thing?
If you learn something.
But there's nothing left, he's raped, he's murdered.
That's kind of my point, that's, wait, he's murdered?
Well, I mean, I think we think he's murdered, right?
He killed her when she fell on those stairs or something.
Was this a staircase thing?
Yeah, I mean, like, she conveniently died.
You've seen her gravestone, right? Yeah, I mean, like she conveniently died. You've seen her grave stone, right?
No, why was it?
Oh, dude, for real, you have to Google...
Marla Maple?
It's not Marla Maple.
No, it's Ivana.
Ivana, yeah.
It was her, unless this is a thing,
but I'm,
I'd have to look on Snopes, but I'm almost positive, 99%,
that she's buried on his golf course. Yes, I know that.
So that's real.
And it's like over by like, like they just cleared out a little area
of some bushes. I'm not kidding.
And there's like a little grave marker.
And then it turns out it was for like tax purposes
There's some shit. There was some reason
That benefited them to put her grave on like, you know, the 15th hole. Oh god. It's like a marker
It's like a tee-off. Yeah
That's so gross and weird, but I do think he's the mother of his kids
Yeah, but I do I mean like come on. He's the mother of his kids. Yeah, but I do, I mean, like, come on,
he's definitely had people killed.
Or, like, I could see him strangling a prostitute.
Yeah, it's not, I can definitely imagine it,
I can visualize it, but I can rationalize it,
but I don't, I don't think he personally
would have done anything like that, I think he would.
But I don't think he personally would have done anything like that. I think he would Uh, but I don't think he did
But but but even still if they if if a voter
If it came out was like holy shit explosive news. Donald trump in his youth
Killed someone. Yeah
He would probably
Be like I was young
Whatever and people be like he was young whatever he had bone spurs. Yeah, I was young, whatever.
And people would be like, he was young, whatever.
He had bone spurs.
Yeah, I don't think it would matter.
That's just the question I would put to people, you know?
Do you think there's a thing?
I don't know.
I don't have the answer to that.
Next time I'm up there, I will definitely,
if it's organic, if it comes up organically,
I will definitely ask that.
But it was something that occurred to me
when I was coming home, like,
ah, shit, I should ask that to those guys.
It's a really interesting, you should write that down.
If you ever go on Bill Maher's podcast,
I would love to see you guys discuss that.
Discuss.
What, that same question.
Why, what do you think he would say?
I don't listen to his podcast.
Me either, I just.
No, okay.
Adam, thank you.
Do you have anything to plug?
Yeah, I have a television show out called Mr. Throwback
with Tracy Letts and the Stephen Curry,
the basketball player.
Wow. Yeah.
It's a comedy.
Wait, like a series?
Mm-hmm.
With?
With Stephen Curry.
Yeah.
Wow, whoa.
It's awesome.
It's the best thing I've ever done.
Wait, tell me about this.
You're gonna love it.
It's the best thing I ever did.
I love Tracy Letts, I love you. You're gonna love it. It's the best thing I ever did. I love Tracy Letts, I love you.
You're gonna love it, it's awesome.
And he's good?
Stephen Curry?
He's so funny, and it's by the,
I did a show with the Russo Brothers called Happy Endings.
Oh yeah, yeah.
Same team, same team.
And it's with Stephen, it's like a...
So what's the premise?
The premise is that I play a vintage salesman,
like those guys that like, you know, make videos online
that are like, we're selling throwback hats,
we're selling this.
And I'm down on my luck and I need money really bad.
And the only person from my life I know
is my former middle school teammate who's Stephen Curry.
Who plays himself.
Yeah, and then I go and I take advantage of him.
And where does Tracy Letzkoff in?
He plays my dad.
Oh, wow.
Yeah, who was the coach of the team.
Who wrote it?
I wrote it with the guys.
Oh my God, that sounds amazing.
It's awesome, it's so good.
It's out now.
The throwback.
It's called Mr. Throwback.
Mr. Throwback.
On Peacock and it'll be on NBC starting on September 12th.
Oh, that's awesome.
Yeah.
September 12th is literally.
The day after September 11th.
Nicole, Google September 11th.
I'm pretty sure it is the day after.
I don't think we have to.
Google it. Nicole, you haven't Googled one thing. I've asked for the whole show. Why would you Google that?
Google
The 12th is definitely after the 11th. Well, you know what's right before the 10th
The 10th comes before the 11th. What is it?
No
to go back Okay, your show comes out on the 11th. What is a? No, to go back.
Okay.
So your show comes out on the 12th of September.
That is literally the day after my tour starts.
Oh, sorry.
Sorry.
Yeah, I think I'm in Seattle.
It's called the end of the beginning of the end.
And as you know, you can just go to my website,
officialdavidcross.com, that is all the things.
I know Portland sold out, sold out.
That's great.
Big theater, beautiful, I love Portland.
You know what they call Seattle and Portland
when you sell them out?
It's the tower one and tower two of the Pacific Northwest.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah. It's the Tower One and Tower Two of the Pacific Northwest. Well, that really, but that's what's crazy is that's been a phrase that's been around
since the 70s.
It's crazy.
Oh, Jesus Christ, are you all right?
Oh my God.
What the fuck?
I'm sorry, I'm having a little mini 9-11 right now.
My respiratory system is having a mini 9-11. I do an impression of an inappropriate rabbi trying on shoes that are too small for him in the latest set.
Can we do a pre-, let me, I got a few. You go. Okay, no, no, I'm not going to do it. I'm going to be doing this on tour. I'm going to blow it on the podcast.
I'll do mine.
Okay.
Wait, you're really not going to do it? I thought, all right, I'll do mine. All right. This is, um,
this is, uh, Adam Duritz from the Counting Crows, uh, hosting a political talk show.
Okay.
political talk show. Okay.
What do you think of,
what do you think of what's going on in Gaza right now?
I think it's terrible.
Yeah.
Yeah, I think it's awful.
Yeah.
Yes, I think it's awful and I think it's, you know,
I'm glad that people are protesting
that Yahoo and yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Give me another.
Oh, fuck.
This is a J Leno
J Leno as a
J Leno in the in it as a as a newsie
Alright Adam and a Pally. Thank you so much for coming on I end every Have you heard about this? Jesus. All right, Adam.
Annapalli, thank you so much for coming on.
I end every episode with a question from my daughter,
who is seven.
Great.
And so this is your question, Adam.
Ready?
Why do trees take so long to grow?
Why do trees take so long to grow?
Why do trees take so long to grow?
What was your daughter's name? Marlo.
Well, Marlo.
It's because they're so important to the world.
And every part of them growing is another part of
every part of them growing is another part of
the world growing with them. So it takes a lot of time
for the world to kind of
heal itself, which is kind of what trees do.
Nice answer.
Usually my answers are like, which is kind of what trees do. Hmm. Nice answer.
Usually my answers are like, I don't know, just cuz, come on, let's make this light.
All right, Adam, thank you so much for coming down.
Thank you so much, really.
I love you so much.
I love you too.
You're a huge.
You look like the kind of guy who would call people
brother a lot, or say brother.
Hey brother.
I don't really, I know.
You just have that look and vibe.
I know I have that vibe.
But maybe it's because of the longer hair.
Yes, which you told me yesterday
looks like I've let myself go.
I don't know if I used that.
You did, you said, oh, you've let yourself go.
I like it, I think it's a good look.
Thank you.
I think I said something like,
oh, you must be working on a no, you did not.
Impoverished character who's down on his luck.
No, there was no it was.
I thought it was a retaliation.
You know, maybe a little substance abuse,
you know, found himself in Baton Rouge
much longer than he expected to be.
You said you said, and I quote,
did they find you in a pond? did they find you in a pond?
Did they find you in a pond?
All right, brother.
All right, thank you so much, David.
You got it, thank you.
Sense is Working Over Time is a headgum podcast
created and hosted by me, David Cross.
The show is edited by Katie Skelton
and engineered by Nicole Lyons
with supervising producer Emma Foley.
Thanks to Demi Druchen for our show art and Mark Rivers for our theme song.
For more podcasts by Headgum, visit Headgum.com or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts and maybe we'll read it on a future episode.
I'm not gonna do that. Thanks for listening. That was a Headgum Podcast.