Senses Working Overtime with David Cross - Annaleigh Ashford

Episode Date: June 19, 2025

Annaleigh Ashford (You Can’t Take It With You) joins David to talk about musicals, breast milk, and more. Catch all new episodes every Thursday. Watch video episodes here.Guest: Annaleigh AshfordSubscribe 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.

This is a HeadGum Podcast. I have to do Linda Lavon's memorial today. Again? How many memorials is this lady gonna have? She had one last night and then she has one today and then she has another one in LA. It's not for a while. So today I like... Her sweet husband did not explain today at all and then, do you know Billy Stritches? Wait, I've heard the name.

He's like a famous piano player, he played for Liza Minnelli. Okay. Anyways, he was like, do you know that it's supposed to be about Monday? And I was like, what? I was like, what do you mean Monday? Oh, that's why we on Monday and I was like, what? I was like, what are you doing on Monday? Oh, that's why we had to do it earlier. Yes, thank you.

Her memorial isn't until one o'clock, but they- Linda Lavin fucks me again. How many- even in death she- this woman- Sweet Linda Lavin. Ugh. Um, but anyways, they won't- I have to do sound check. Sound check. For a memorial? Oh, are you singing?

What are you singing? I'm singing the alice chimchimchiri. Which one the Alice theme song. It's like It's actually like really hard to get through because it was her song. You know what I mean? That's really like her that seems does it seem crazy to you it does but in a in a She would have loved it. She like I think it's funny I think like if at a memorial that you would sing the television theme song Well, I mean she was at I know she was I'm aware of that. Otherwise, it would be very strange Everybody's saying along with that's really the only time to sing the Alice theme song at a memorial is at.

Or unless you're in Linda Lavin and it's your club act. Those are like the only two times that it's appropriate to sing the Alice theme song. Yeah, even the club act is a little kind of narcissistic to me, but. Well, but all of our fans are like, we're here to see you sing the Alice theme song, because she sang it. You know what I mean?

Oh, she sang it in real life. Yeah. Oh, okay. You know, she played a nightclub singer on the show. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. So that was always a thing that like she's... and then they would re-record it every year. Wait, how does this song go? It's like, used to be sad, used to be shy. Funniest thing, the saddest part is I never knew why.

You know, it's really something. Going through life with blinders know, it's really something. Going through life with blinders on, it's tough to see. I had to get up, get out from under and look for me. There's a new girl in town and she's feeling good. Good. There's a fresh, feckled, oh yeah, I've watched it all time. In the neighbor, I've watched it all the time.

I know. Because there were a couple shows that my sister and I, the sister I'm closest with. Wait, the one that I met? Yes, yes. Who is a Broadway aficionado. Awesome. And so there was good times, and Alice kind of spoke to our situation where dad had left and my mom,

all of a sudden with no real skills, had to, you know. Do all the things. Do all the things. Do all the things. We had kind of the same relationship with our mom who was progressive and liberal minded, not that she's political in any way, but brought us up with those values. And yeah, we just kind of connected to those two shows in particular. That's sweet. But Alice also like having to move.

And we were in Georgia, which was not anyone's desire. Not even in Atlanta. Did you guys move to there? Well, so I was born there. Yeah. And then we moved, what do you mean yeah? I feel like I knew that. I feel like you told, I feel like,

I don't know why I know. It's not common knowledge. I'm wearing a Braves hat though. So hang on, I take it back. But I feel like I remember you being like, I feel like, I don't know why I know. It's not common knowledge. I'm wearing a brave set though. So hang on. I feel like I remember you being like I was born in Georgia, but that I thought it was the other way. Oh, you know what? We talked about this. Because you're from Oklahoma, is that right?

Denver, close. Close enough. Well, ish. Denver is but a cool place. Super cool. But Denver, Oklahoma, Nebraska, they kind of all live in the same geographical world. Yeah, but there's nothing cool about Oklahoma. No, or Nebraska.

Yeah. What was I going to say though? But you were born there and then you guys moved somewhere else before you were back? Yeah, we moved every year. So we moved literally annually until we moved back to Georgia when I was nine. So I was born in Atlanta, lived in three places in Florida, two places in Connecticut, and three places in New York before moving back to Georgia when I was nine and then stayed there. But then we got evicted from our apartment stayed there, but then we got evicted from our apartment, not too long, six months after we moved back. And then we had to find another place, all like shitty apartment, those prefab

70s rotting from the inside out and the outside in and the outside outside and the inside inside. Just garbage. Just garbage. Just garbage. Yeah. And then didn't really get kind of back on our feet. And then our dad left, and didn't really like right after he moved us down there and then took off. And didn't really kind of get back on our feet and get back to out of you know poverty level until I Want to say 10th grade? I went to school the arts Which saved my life. I've said that without Hyperbole, I think it possibly could have saved my life. Yeah move closer into the city and

It was a it was huge for all of us my life. Yeah. Moved closer into the city and it was huge for all of us, for everybody. Yeah. And I want to tell people we're talking to, is it Anna Lee or Anna Lai? I like Anna, Anna leakage ass face. Sure. Was that your high school nickname? Yeah. I wish. Yeah.

I just think that would have made things more fun. Anal leakage ass face. That's what my best friend calls me. My best friend Craig when we were in college, she was like, I'm gonna call you anal. Anal leakage ass face. Isn't that a good one? So that, it's a very good one.

And it fits, it fits your personality. Thank you, thank you so much. Your physical presence. Thank you. Thank you so much. Your physical presence. Thank you. Thank you so much. And you just had a baby, so there probably is a little leakage. All the time. As we're speaking.

I have my breast pump right here. Great. If you'd like some later. I'm good. I had some of my wife's breast milk. It was quite nice. Is that what you got in your matcha? Yeah, I have a little, it's like vanilla sweetener. It's really like what it breast milk. It was quite nice. Is that what you got in your matcha? Yeah, it's like vanilla sweetener.

It's really like what it tastes like. It's not bad. Do you know, I have, for some reason, this baby, we have an eight-year-old, but this baby, sometimes I tell my husband, I'll be like, you know when the, I'm pumping and also I breastfeed, but like, you know, when you give her milk at the bottle, like sometimes the nipple gets clogged

and she's like freaking out. And sometimes I'll be like, Joe, check the nipple. And he's like, you check it. You know, we do that thing where I'm like, no, you know, cause you want to just, it's easier to just like suck on the bottle nipple to see if it's clogged. But this baby, I'm like, I'm not doing it. You do it.

I make him check. For some reason I don't want to- I don't see what the big deal about checking is. I don't want to taste my own milk. Is it a second kid thing? I only have the one, but it was never an issue. I don't know what the big deal about check-in is. I don't want to taste my own milk. Is it a second kid thing? I only have the one, but it was never an issue. I don't know what it is this time. I'm like, I don't want to taste my breast milk

this time around, which is still delightful. Oh, I see, I see. Yeah, I don't know what the problem is for me this time, but it's like off-putting to me, which it shouldn't be. It's my own breast milk, but there's something about it where I'm like, I can't, I don't want to taste my own breast milk. But maybe it's not good. Maybe because you don't have much to go on.

How many other women's breast milk have you tasted? Unfortunately, only my own. Yeah, see, maybe it's not that good. And you don't, you're kind of now coming to that understanding and it's off-putting to you, not the physical act of it, but just like, this is nasty. This is like in an apocalyptic movie when they go and they find like they're so excited, they're like, there's an underground shed and there's like some canned food, you know, from like 48.

Did you watch Last of Us? Are you caught up? I am, yes. Okay. Are you thinking of that? No. I was. I went right there. Okay, but you know what I did have last night for the, I think, first time ever? Zombie dreams.

And they weren't that scary. It was more about I had to do this thing, I had to get out of this place, and it's because we watched two episodes back to back, my wife and I. But yeah, never had zombie dreams before. What kind of zombies were they? They were like, you know, they weren't the, whatever the infected things were the-

They look like flowers. They look like, they look like cankersaurs, you know? Yeah. And, but they were just like, they were more like people. Classic zombie? And, but they were just like, they were more like people. Classic zombie? More classic zombie, but not like arm falling off, kind of thing, more like 28 days later kind of zombie. Great.

Yeah, and which I find physically more attractive, just in a biological sense. Me too. If I was gonna procreate. I mean, with a zombie? The 28 day later zombie. For sure. I do not. Not the walking dead zombie. No, no way. No way to the cankersaur zombies. No, Last of Us. How about the, I'm not gonna do anything. How about in the Last of Us the gigantic

monster ones versions. Yeah, there's a name for that version. They have a name? The gigantic cankersaur ones. Yeah. Yeah. Or like a, it's like a coldsaur, more like a, like a, right before, when it's peaking. I like that you saw a peaking coldsaur and I saw a flower. Yeah. I don't know what that means. It means I will have a greater chance of survival should that scenario play out.

You'll be like, they lost Analika Jazzface. Oh, man. Annali Ashford. My middle name's Amanda. It's too much. That's AAA. That's AAA. That's exhausting. Annalee, Amanda, Ashford. Was there a story behind your parents giving you the AAA?

Well, I don't think the AAA was thought out very much, but my mom was supposed to be named Annalee and at the last second they named her Holly. I think Annalee came from my great grandpa Clark's mom. She was like Annabelle Lee and then somehow Annalee like in the 60s was maybe a kind of a thing. An improvement? An improvement on Annabelle Lee. Annabelle Lee is like a lot. Annabelle Lee sounds like the ingenue in a book about pirates or something. Totally. I need a ribbon around my neck with pale skin and willowy lashes.

But yes, she chose Annalee, which is the way that we spell it is so extra. It's so Southern, but we're not Southern. I'm from Denver. When I first met you, I thought you might be southern. I mean, my name is ridiculous. But like southern in the sense that it's not legit, like, you know, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, like that kind of area of southern, but southern like in, like in Oklahoma, they're kind of southern adjacent, but not really, or Arkansas, you know what I mean?

Yeah, well, I also, I grew up in like a southern Baptist church, which was like sort of fascinating. Well, that was every, I mean, that was 90% of everybody where I was growing up. Yeah, oh my God, of course. Also, I do- Pinch of Pentecostal. Just a touch.

Yeah. Yes, just a hint. Just a touch. Yeah. Yes, just a hint. Just to make it fun. There's no snakes, but lots of yelling. Yeah. You know, some good old fashioned singing. Yeah. But-

Speaking the tongues. You know, just a hint. There was always just one or two people and everybody was like- Having an episode on the floor, writhing around. You know, it's just so, I guess you're worshiping the Lord in that way. But yeah, we, but the first time I went to Atlanta, I felt this way in New Orleans and I felt this way in Atlanta. You know, like, have you ever been to,

I feel this way in London too, where you're like, I've been here before. There's certain places in the world that you go that feel familiar to you. Well, I can't speak to London and New Orleans, both places that I've been to a bunch and loved, but Atlanta might feel familiar because it's lost a lot of its unique character over the years,

and there's like, we're gonna knock down these places and put up a Barnes and Noble and a Bed Bath and Beyond. And then when Bed Bath and Beyond goes out of business, we'll put in another big box store that'll go out of business. But you can eat, if you'd like, you can eat at the TGI Fridays and the Cheesecake Factory in the P.F. Chang's. Sounds delicious. So while Atlanta is close to my heart, a lot of it is based on older Atlanta. I think it's grown so much and it was so quick that it just sacrificed quite a bit of what

was unique and cool about it. Well, it still has unique and cool qualities. I mean, a lot of it is just, we're going to get rid of our trees and put in a Best Buy. Boo. Boo. The first time that I went, I played the Fox Theater. Oh, yeah. And we stayed right across the street at that hotel. It's called the Georgian Terrace. The Georgian Terrace.

Oh, I've got a whole story about the Georgian Terrace. It's amazing, and those rocking chairs. And I was playing, I was Puf Annie in Wicked. That was my first job on the road. Puf Annie? Puf Annie, yeah. It's her two best friends, Glenda's two best friends. Bo and Yang played it in the movie.

I haven't seen it. It's OK. I'm not aware. Just so we should get this out of the way, I'm not a Broadway person. So Annaleigh and I were in a Broadway-ish production. I mean, it was on Broadway, but there wasn't that much Broadway to it, but I would say. Really absolutely enjoyable. It was just great. I really, really

had an amazing time doing that. I had never met you, heard of you, even the things that you've done. I'm like, what? I was a huge fan of yours. Okay. But I'm not that in tune with Broadway. And I mean, of course I know the hits, you know, know of them. And I've seen a bunch of stuff, but it just wasn't my world. Like my sister's way, who you met is way, that's her thing. And I think Broadway is a very, maybe one of the most specific

things that a kid could want to do. Somebody who wants to get involved with the arts. Usually it's like, I want to be an actor, I want to be a singer, I want to do this, I want to make films. But the specificity of I want to be on Broadway is something that was just not part of my consciousness really. Also, it wasn't part of your soul journey and your artistic spirit. Yeah, yeah. My artistic spirit, I did, I was able to capture, and it's in a tiny, teeny, tiny little cage in my basement. Do you open it up every once in a while and sniff it in? I feed it.

You feed it? Yeah. What's it look like? Does it look like a kinkersaur or a flower? No, it's like a little me, but more kind of impish and has wings that I taped on. That you taped on? Yeah, they don't work, but I just thought it looked more interesting.

And they're real wings. They're like, what do you call them? What's the one with the four wings? I'm a dragonfly. Dragonfly, yeah. So I got some dragonfly wings from that place in Cobble Hill. It's the only place to get them from because it's tough to get them from the Dragonfly. And I'm not going to, you know, here's the thing, I live in New York City, and I try to avail myself of all the things at New York, the specialness. So I don't go online to get something I can, basically is two miles down the street, right?

You can get fresh. Yeah, I can get fresh. But it's also like, why would I get dragonfly wings off of Amazon? Which you can. I'll go to the dragonfly wing store. This is New York. I mean, you also, now you're gonna be paying a tariff for that dragonfly wing.

Even though it's locally sourced, you're still gonna pay that tariff. I mean, that wasn't part of my concern, but you're right, you're right. With new McValue and McDonald's, you get more than you expect for breakfast. Like buy a sausage burrito and add a sausage McMuffin for a dollar. Get more than you expect with new McValue at McDonald's.

Prices and participation may vary. Valid for item of equal or lesser value. I'm really happy for you that your creative spirit has artistic wings. Mine is wearing a sequin muumuu and a bad wig. That's really what mine is. Oh, that's what your... Creative Spirit. Oh, where is your Creative Spirit?

She's in my jewelry drawer. Okay. Yeah, she's just chilling there with some cheap bad jewelry. You know, it's very apropos. Now, you pronounce, I'm gonna pronounce it incorrectly, but you pronounce jewelry correctly. How do you say it, jewelry?

I say jewelry. Jewelry? And you say jewelry. I'm giving you all the syllables? Yeah. You give it two syllables and I give it three? Yeah, I give that kind of southern kind of, I know, it comes out every once in a while.

A little bit, a little bit. Yeah. Me too, and I'm not from the South. I know, that's a crazy thing. I don't know what that. You too, and I'm not from the South. I know. That's a crazy thing. I don't know what that's about. Your spirit, you seem Southern in spirit. I know.

Well, seriously though, I know. Your name, your face, you know, very. My roots, you know, I give you a sensible, Rudy blonde. Feels very Southern to me. Sure, sure. But you know that feeling, though? Have you ever been to like a place where you get off the plane and you're like, I feel like I've been here before. I feel like I've

in another lifetime. Yes. Well, not the lifetime part, but I think because I travel so much and pretty constantly, there's a lot of like, have I been here before? Like I was in, just a couple weeks ago, I was in Brussels and I sent some, I was talking to my wife and I was like, hey, when we were, last time I was in tour in Belgium, was that in Brussels? Where was that? And she's like, no, I think it was Bruges. And I was like, oh, okay, cause this looks familiar, but I can't, I don't know if I've been here or not. And you get that a lot, you know, all over Canada, the States, whatever.

Have I been, and sometimes I'll ask the audience, have I been here before? And, cause you don't, I mean, you're just, you're kind of in and out in 36 hours and- Isn't that a crazy way to see a city? Yeah. You know, like there've been, I'm sure a million times where you've been like, 36 hours and- Isn't that a crazy way to see a city? I'm sure a million times where you've been like, oh, I wasn't even here for 24 hours. Somebody says, oh, you've been to wherever, Edmonton? And you were like, yes, but I actually

couldn't tell you what it looks like. Is that the place where there's like lots of forest and then a big building and there's a cross at the end? The answer is no. Yes, no. I was just in Edmonton. Is Edmonton kind of lush though? I remember I think I was there in the fall. Edmonton is pretty flat. It's in the kind of central western part, I think. Because I think I went east to west, so I think that was after Winnipeg. I've been to Winnipeg. And Edmonton is north. Yes. Yeah, I think it's like north,

some kind of between central and west. Got it, okay. Before you get to Calgary. Winnipeg has like a really cute little town in their downtown, right? Yeah. Yeah, okay. Well, Winnipeg is, it's seen better days.

Yes, totally. That's for sure. But Edmonton is more, I think it's like Tar Sands, Oilfield, before you get into the cattle ranching part of Canada. I don't know what city I'm thinking of that's lush. See, I'm doing that thing where you're like, Vancouver is extremely lush. Super lush. It wasn't, I mean, I just spent like four months in Vancouver, which was great. Vancouver is beautiful. Do you like Vancouver or Toronto? Which do you like better to work in? I like both of them, but if I had to choose one to live in,

I would live in Toronto. I think I would too, because you're closer to New York and you get home. Even if that wasn't a consideration. All those places in Canada are great. I love Montreal, I love Toronto. Even Ontario's got some cool shit to it. I forget. I lived in Montreal for like nine months. I was a clown for Cirque du Soleil and I like completely forget. Of course you were.

Of course you were. How would I'm like, oh, what's Montreal? Oh, I lived there for like nine months. I love Montreal. I need to go do a do-over because I had such like an extreme experience. You know, the campus of Cirque du Soleil is like 45 minutes outside of the city and it's very nationalist and like very extreme. Well, yeah, that Quebecois kind of separatist thing is seriously. And my French is terrible.

And I was like, oh. Their French is terrible. What do you mean? Why? I was in a costume fitting and everybody kept going, why? Why? Why? And I was like, what does why mean?

And somebody was like, yes. And I was like, we? Yeah, they And somebody was like, yes. And I was like, we? Yeah, there are even French people, not even French people, particularly French people or people from France who speak. It's a dialect thing, same language, same words, but you can't understand half of it. No, and I already like I'm very challenged by French.

Anytime I have to speak another language, you would think I'd be better at it. I'm like an actor. So we have our year around dialects and sounds and something happens to me where I just freeze and I can't, I have like a panic attack and I can't talk. For me, it's about confidence. When I, and I'm pretty confident in a lot of things, but when I'm asked to do an English accent or Oh really? Australian or something, I just, my confidence goes booz, and I

For accents? Yeah. Oh, you're great. Well You did do a British accent when we played. Yeah, I've gotten better at it. And I lived in London for two years and I'm jelly, how fun.

That was great. Was it magic? It was great. I would live there in a heartbeat. I would love to live there. Yeah, I would too. I just was there for, I just did this European leg of the tour, which was about a month. Yeah, how did it go?

It was great. Yeah, was it fun? It was oddly enough, for the most part, the exact opposite of my prior European tours. I think this is probably my fourth, I'm going to say. Bravo. That's amazing. Yeah, it's fun. It's cool. And it's stand up.

At this point, I'm in known quantity, so people aren't gonna go, they're not gonna pay, you know, 45 euros to go, hey, who's that guy, is he funny? You know, so, but the Scandinavian shows are usually pretty, they're not bad. The only bad show I've had in Europe was in Antwerp that was not good I mean in Antwerp, which is beautiful beautiful city, but not but it was also during Antwerp Yeah, but that's in their language. It's beautiful and My lip fluid is this

That's the word. The way that I say it though is the pits and twerp. Yeah, you're American. I'm also giving Oh, you hear that accent that will, I don't care where you are, you know, wherever you are abroad, you will hear that American accent, you know, within 15 feet of you, wherever you are, and it's just like nails on a- Darring.

Yeah, it's jarring, nails on a chalkboard. What do you mean? You don't like a flat Midwest dialect? Loud, also loud. Antwerp, we're here to discover Antwerp. And also some, it's a complaint. It's usually about like- Yes.

Well, that's not how they do it. I don't, well well they should tell you. Explain what an Americano is. This Coca-Cola doesn't taste right. But so the Scandinavian shows were really good. Really, really, really crazy good. Great. But they're usually not.

They're usually like. Reserved. What. Reserved. What? Reserved. Yes, so you're not, you never really get it flowing. They're a good audience, they're attentive. They don't roll. They laugh, but they don't roll. And then you're doing an hour and 15 and you're like,

in your head you're like, well that didn't go that well. And then, and I've learned this now, but the first couple times, you know, you go, well, all right, Oslo, thank you, bye. And then they go fucking nuts and you get a standing ovation. So that, and then usually the UK is crazy good. But they were, it was so Scandinavia, Germany, although Bristol, Bristol England was fucking amazing. But then Bristol was like, we love you. I don't know where what that accent is.

I don't either. Yeah. I know it's Bristol. It wasn't. Yeah. It was like a sad mishmash. Yeah. See, that's what I'm afraid when I do an accent. I'm picking up, you know, stuff from the North and the South and Cornwall and Essex and

all the various regions and create a mishmash which people are like, what are you doing? It'd be like, you know, here's my American accent, you know, like what? You're mixing everything up. Which they all do that sometimes too, the Aussies and the Brits, they occasionally do that, but they get to hear us so much more, I think, than we get to hear them. Also, sometimes I feel like, you know, when you're working on a dialect with somebody from there, you're also getting whatever dialect they have. You know what I mean? Somebody from the North, you're also getting whatever they grew up in. It's just all, it's all kind of complicated.

Well, I feel like the North is easier to do. I do too. It's not really dark. That was the first one that I did. Well, it's up and down, isn't it? It's up and down. It depends on where you're, like, which part of the North to? Like in Yorkshire. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm not talking about, like, Scottish border.

I'm talking about, like, not the Midlands, but, you know, like, Liverpool, Leeds, Manchester, that strip that goes across in the North. Because my relatives were from Leeds and my family, I found this out when I got dual citizenship. Goes back. Are you dual citizenship? Yeah, yeah.

Oh my God, that's amazing. It goes back generations, Leeds. I assumed, this is just, I don't know, a dumb assumption I made that my family probably only went back to like couple generations and leads because I just assumed everybody came over from Russia or Eastern Europe, you know, escaping the pogroms or whatever and settled in England. But they go way, way back? Like way further than I expected. At least up to great, great, oh wait, grandmother, yeah, great, great grandmother.

That's amazing. Which is shocking to me. How'd you figure it out? I didn't. I wanted to get dual citizenship for a while because it would just make travel because I was always going back and forth. And I did these shows over there, so there's a lot of back and forth. And except I'm a strange from my dad who is from Leeds and I didn't want to contact him. And the only way I could facilitate this was to get his birth certificate or a copy or something.

And I wasn't gonna, you know, he's just a piece of shit. And he probably wouldn't do it anyway, but you know, wouldn't let, you know, whatever. So eventually somebody said, oh, use this service. They're out of Edinburgh and they're really good. And it was like $2,000 all in. Great.

And they said, I talked to them several times. We had Zooms and stuff. And I explained the situation, they're like, okay, if you can get us a copy of your parents' marriage certificate, I think we'll have enough to go on. Amazing. And they're all like, this is what they do. They're like detective genealogy type thing.

So I got them a copy of my birth certificate and my mom's, which my mom had, a marriage certificate and send it to them. And then, I mean, it was some searching database stuff, you know, and now with the technology we have, I'm sure they've amassed all this stuff, so they were able to get it. And honestly, two weeks later, they're like, okay, we figured it out. And they sent me this thing.

They got my grandparents birth certificates, which means that I know, because they had the grandparents on there. Yeah. So my great, great grandmother, they were all born in Royal Hospital in Leeds. Amazing. Do you get pictures, too? Of what? Did you get pictures of anybody? Or do you have pictures of anybody?

Oh, no. It's not like a service. It's not like finding your roots type thing. But could you find them at all? I mean, that's how it could. Did you look anybody up? I do. I just got names Abe and Anne. Abe and Anne. Abe and Anne were my grandparents. My dad's mom and dad and then their mom and dad's were I can't remember but I had an Auntie Pearly. Auntie Pearly? And Auntie Esther. Oh, and they talk like this, oh, open down, David, oh, look at him. Up and down, up and down.

I remember that. So you met him? Oh, yeah, yeah. I met that. You met Auntie Pearly? Auntie Pearly and Auntie Esther. Oh, look at him, and Rosie. Oh, yeah.

So I had a lot of the- That's so sweet. So I could kind of do like a Northern, you know. You've got it in your body. You've got it in your genes, darling. Yeah, I do. I do. Well, look at my shit. I've got it in my body. I've got it in my, so I can kind of do like a Northern, you know. You've got it in your body. You've got it in your genes, darling.

I do. Well, look at my shitty teeth. I have terrible teeth. I'm super British too. My grandma was adopted. On my mom's side, she was, we didn't know anything about her birth mom or her dad. And then when my mom did, like, ancestry.com or 23andMe, she came back like almost completely British, like so British. And then Ashford is a, there's like an Ashford Castle in Ireland and then there's a town in England called Ashford, you know, it's just like British. Yeah, and there's Ashford and Simpson, you know.

You know, them too. Yeah, they're both from England, right? Absolutely, absolutely. I mean, they would have to be. I mean, of course, you know. And Simpson was a, Ashford sounds very regal. Yes. But we also know that surnames, especially back then,

were given kind of without a whole lot of thought. So obviously your ancestors, you're not too far back, were able to shore up a kind of a, I guess, a fence or something with ash. With ash. Yeah. And that's what they did. You know, just a little ash. Yeah. I just like to say ash like this.

Who doesn't? Yeah. No, everybody does. You know? I actually, I would love to do one of those like, is it called Find Your Roots? Is that the show on PBS? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I would be, that'd be interesting. I would love to do Find Your Roots, but I would rather have them do it because I don't think I have the skill set to find my roots. And I think that would be a boring show anyway. So what I would like to do is have them find my roots and then present it to me in like a book form,

like almost like a- A beautiful book? A beautiful book that maybe was a 10th grade class project. I love a 10th grade class project. Who doesn't? I wonder what they do class projects like in 10th grade now, because now they have so many things that we didn't. Do you still get sheet protectors? What?

I mean, our kids, remember sheet protectors and a binder, like that you would put your projects in? You'd be like, well, let's do, it's the end of the semester. I need to put my project in sheet protectors. I don't even remember having backpacks until I was like, I'm serious. I mean, I'm sure we did, but I don't remember having, like all the kids- You blocked it out. I mean, I guess we had backpacks, but how else would we get our shit to school?

But you go to the locker, you get your locker for the year. Remember that was such a big deal when you got a locker for the first time? You were like, I'm getting a locker next year. And it made you feel like, oh yeah, I'm putting stuff in my locker. Yeah. And hang on, guys, I got to go to my locker. This isn't the locker I wanted. Okay, well, where's your locker? It's by Mr. Jank in Spanish class. That's so much better.

I don't know, I don't like, I'd rather have your locker. No, I'd rather have yours. No, you have a better locker. You're closer to the lunchroom, that's so much better. I remember discovering, I didn't know this for like a good five months, but that my, the last high school I went to where I was 10th, 11th, 12th grade had an elevator. Yeah, had an elevator.

Wow. I mean- And I guess it might've been something put in there for like disability. For sure. But yeah, I didn't even realize there was an elevator. Ours was all one level. Ours was a ranch style. Our high school is a ranch style. There was no... We didn't need one. That feels Western to me. That feels very Denver.

How about this? This is so wild. My mascot for my high school is the farmers. It's the wheat rich farmers. Can you believe that? I do. If you wrote it in a show, people will be like, that's crazy. We can't use that. Well, you want to, now I'm going to get super Southern seventies on you. The first high school I went to, it was like a, so there was no middle school. So we had elementary school and then the first high school I went to,

Crestwood, started in ninth grade. Okay, mine started in ninth grade. Did elementary school go to eighth grade? Oh, I'm sorry, eighth grade. Eighth grade. Okay. So elementary school went to seventh. Crazy. Yeah. Elementary school went to seventh and then high school was eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh, twelfth. That's wild.

And eighth graders were called Jinkers for some reason. And, but our mascot, the Crestwood high school mascot was the Crestwood Colonels. And it was the old school big mustat. yeah, like kind of a Kentucky Fried Chicken, Colonel Sanders type of guy, but more cartoony and more like slave owner looking. How, how? Full on, full on. With that weird tie. It's really comfortable.

Yeah, Crestwood Curls. It's a comfortable experience. The Crestwood Curls. I wonder what they are now. Crestwood is not there anymore. It became something else. Uh, it's a- Crestwood is not there anymore.

It isn't. Well, it's there, but the building is there, but they're now, they're like folded in. Same with my other school. They all got folded. They don't exist as the school I went to anymore. No more kernels. No, Crestwood is something else.

It got, I don't know what it is. And then Northside is now like North Atlanta or something like that, and it combined two different schools or something. And but this is this was a very surreal experience I had. I did this thing a couple years ago to celebrate. The whatever anniversary of the chronic town EP that REM did a bunch of guys got together, some of the county crows, the black crows, there's quite a difference. Let's do a bit.

The black crows and gosh, who else was a bunch of people put this like super group together to do where everybody came on to did REM covers. Awesome. Yeah, it was amazing. It was amazing. It was fucking amazing. And I wish I could remember more details about it. Those were like cool covers too. Like that one.

It was great. But there were people, there were members of like Gang of Four and Pylon and Elf Power and like amazing session musicians. And I'm forgetting a bunch, but like really cool, interesting. Fred Armisen did some stuff. Oh, Broadway guy.

Shoot, I'm spacing out his name. Super nice guy, gay. I know that's crazy, John Cameron Mitchell. Great, that's cool. And, oh gosh, who, I mean, just Darius Rucker, country guys, anyway, it was just this killer, killer lineup that switched around and Peter Buck and Mike Mills were part of it. Oh, and also some of the guys from Young Fresh Fellows and all,

just like this – it was amazing. They did a 40 watt in Athens as a warm up show and then we did Atlanta at some big theater by Truist Park and then live streamed. It was all to raise money as a benefit. I was posting it, emceeing, whatever. And so Peter Buck, so I got to Athens and just from the hotel to the stage door at 40 watt is like five blocks, tops. But one of those massive southern storms, right? So by the time I got from my hotel to there, I'm just soaking wet. Great.

And 40 watts is pretty old, you know, and it's a tight space and I'm in, like I walk in the door and I'm trying to get a lamb in it and Peter Buck's there who I've met before, but very briefly not, you know, we never like hung out or anything like that. And I'm soaking wet and I just want to get in, get a towel, get my laminate and whatever. He's like, hey, David. I can't remember how

he brought it up, but here's some crazy, he didn't say crazy. He basically, as I was trying, I wanted to hear it, I wanted to talk how cool, you know, and, but I really want to get a towel. And he told me that he and I were in Crestwood, he was in the first class in Crestwood, he's a couple of years older, not much, and he was, we were at the school at the same time. You were colonels at the same time. We were colonels. You were colonels together. I thought to think that, to say that.

You were a colonel too. You were a colonel too. Oh my God, that's amazing. And yeah, it was pretty cool. It was really cool. You should be like, did you have a colonel letter jacket? Do you still have it? You know what? There was an embarrassing little bit of peer pressure where I actually bought a high school jacket. I didn't have any money.

I spent money. I went to maybe two or three football games, trying to be a part socially. We're out in the fucking woods and I didn't have a good time. That was not a good part of my life. But I tried. I think I even, I sold donuts, trying to school spirit, raise money for the- Go, Colonel, would you like a donut? Yeah. And I bought a dumb high school jacket or whatever.

And it was- I think you should wear it in life. That would be a great, great, you know. One, I have no idea where it is. Two, I don't think it'll fit me. Why not? Do you think, I thought you were gonna say it's not a... Look how fat I got.

You look great. Come on, let's just look at this dad belly fat. No, you look fantastic. All right, well thank you. Okay, I'm taking a right turn, but I'm so curious. Oh, I'm so sorry. You look fantastic as well. Oh, thank you. Thank you so much. I'm bloated and I always have to pee. I was going to say, I thought you had another on the way.

That's always my favorite. Sometimes people, when I was not pregnant, occasionally people would, like, I'd have on, like, the wrong muumuu. And people would be like, what are you expecting? Well, you know what the wrong moo moo is? Any moo moo. Any moo moo. You're wrong, moo moos are magic. No, no. But I keep, my grandma, I love, my grandma was like one of the funniest people

that I've ever, and I've spent a lot of time with funny people in my life, but she was like one of the funniest people I've ever known. She would get asked a lot if she was expecting and she would just say yes. She'd just be like, yeah, we're just so happy to be having another because it's like really uncomfortable and really like heartbreaking for people

when they say that to you and you go, no, I'm not expecting, you just told me that I looked bloated or fat. That is your handed on a silver platter the ability to make somebody feel shitty without When it's not really that big a deal. Yeah, and they never they should have more attacked totally and you have a

you've been given a Coupon to make somebody feel shitty without you feeling shitty for making them feel shitty. For sure. How many opportunities in life do you get that? You feel shitty too. When somebody says it to you, you're like, oh man. For me, usually it's like, oh, I'm having a case of SIBO right now.

We just need to treat my gut microbiome. I'm very bloated. I'm not going to be in that position. So I can't, it's easy for me to say that. It might be a painful, humiliating thing to hear, but all the more reason to go, no, I'm not. Why, what makes you ask that question? And just put them on the spot.

Just keep them going. Yeah. But there is... Oh my God. No, I'm so... I just thought you thought what? What is it? Tell me. No, I thought because it was probably the way that... You know what it is? It's the light.

It's the way the light is. Like if you turn this way, it's not so much... Now I see. Now, no, okay. You're... I'm what? No, I meant your body is, yeah, my body's what? I'm really enjoying this lassi. This lassi was my favorite part of the day. You know, I though, it's probably like true example of me avoiding conflict and being a people pleaser that I would rather just be like, yes, we're

so happy to be having another one. Oh, fuck that. Doing a couple months. Fuck that. It is though, it's so uncomfortable when somebody says it to you. I'm sure, yeah. You're like, oh my God. And then you're like, I just have to pee or maybe fart.

Yeah. It's really what's happening. But okay, I want to know. So maybe that's your, no, no, no. Thank you so much for asking and acquiring. I just have to fart. In fact, if you could cup your hands and open your mouth, I'd appreciate it. My that is my grandma actually, that's something that she would have said too.

My grandma like loved farts She was a really funny farter and thought farts were funny and that I was a funny farther her farts were hilarious She'd also be like pull my finger any chance that it was possible Which was a great to usually it's your grandpa that does that my grandpa would be like Carol Don't do it again. Oh, she, Norm, who cares? It's funny. You know, it's like a... Wait, your grandparents were parrots? Yes, how'd you know?

Well, just by the way you presented them. They weren't named Carol or Norm. Carol, Carol and Norm. You know my grandparents? You actually do a very good parrot. I was impressed with your parrot. Thank you very much, thank you. In the Broadway thing. I know impressed with your parrot. Thank you very much. Thank you. In the Broadway thing.

I know. What do we call it? Production. I used to say it was a, I said it was comedy essays on stage. A reading of comedy essays on stage. That's a good description. That's pretty much what it was. Yeah. But you had to say a reading because we were- People loved it.

I know. I kind of maybe shouldn't have done this, but I qualified it to a lot of people who I knew wanted to come and it was very expensive. I think it was okay to qualify it because you needed to explain it wasn't like a play. It's not a play. It's not a play. But I guess the tone I had was more of, it was almost apologetic in a sense. I hear you. I didn't dissuade people from coming, but I was like, we're sitting down and the cast is great and the scripts are funny, but that's what it is. That's what, you know, and there's like animation

and a band and stuff. Which made it theater. Which made it theater. Which made it more than just like a reading of comedy essays. And it was directed and it was directed well. Like that was a thing that was really cool about it that it all made sense. But I, yeah, I didn't want people to be disappointed. Like, you know,

you're not going to see War Horse or Wicked. We're not doing Uncle Ron, yeah. You know, it's not, it's not, what was that, the really theatrical one, the boy who mistook his dog for a thing or whatever? The Curious Incident of the Dog at Night Time? Yeah, at night time, which had some really cool theatrical stuff to it. Or War Horse. But, you know, I fucking cried at that. At War Horse. But you know I fucking cried at that. At War Horse? Yeah. Yeah, because it's a beautiful piece of theater.

It's amazing. I was blown away that you can see the people operating it. But you still believe it. But the scene where I saw it in London too, where I think it originated, original folks, the scene where the horse gets caught in the barbed wire during the war, you know, and I was like, I was tearing up, like, and you can, it's amazing that you can get transported like that, and you can see the people operating it. But I was still like, come on, war horse. I did the same thing on a ride at Disney World.

You know, like it's a reminder. You know, when you watch your kids play. That's different. I think it's sort of the same. It's not. It's storytelling. It's letting your, you know, when you watch your little kid play. Yeah.

And how they just like completely, completely abandon themselves to their imagination, you know, there's something, like there's not very many spaces you can do that as an adult where your brain just sort of like lets go of reality. And in a theater you do that, you know, like you kind of like get quiet,

even more than you do like in a film because like, you know, like you kind of like get quiet, even more than you do like in a film because like, you know, film and TV, you like, don't have to use your imagination as much. Yeah, good theater. And I kind of came into this world kind of via my wife who's done a bunch of stuff and she's on the board of SoHo rep and stuff and she goes and sees a lot of stuff

and there've been a couple of clunkers but she's usually really spot on about going, you should see this, you'll like this. No, there were a couple things where I was like, what the fuck is it? And it just made me angry. I get really angry at bad theater. Well, that's one thing.

When you go see bad theater, there's something about it. You can't just turn it off halfway through. You have to like, you're like. Get the fuck up and leave. That's one thing that's really hard for me. I've never actually left a show. I know people who can. They don't come back and intermission if it's really,

they're really unhappy. There have been a couple I was like, this is making me angry. I hate this pretentious bullshit. And it's empty and it's just little tricks and I don't give a shit. Not a lot. But again, you know, because of Amber, But again, you know, because of Amber, my success rate has been phenomenal. Because I don't see a whole, she sees, you know, 10 times as much as I do, but she'll go, you got to see this, you got to see that. And almost all like a strange loop. Yeah. Fucking blew me away. And I'm not a musical guy. I'm not, I kind of go into those with a little bit of skepticism and, but holy shit, that thing.

And I'm, and Michael R. Jackson is going to be here coming, I think on Wednesday. Awesome. He's doing the podcast. And he's, he's awesome. I met him after the show. But Strange Loop was just- It's art. It's art. And I was telling everybody I knew, who also kind of share my reluctance to go to the theater

unless something is- Go to those fashion musicals. You know, unless it's highly recommended. But I was like, you got to see a Strange Loop. It's amazing. That's the thing. like in this art form, when it's right, it's really right. But when it's wrong, it's like painful.

I totally, it's also because it's, you're really having to like, you know, the old saying is, you know, you sing when you can no longer speak. That's like the whole thing. So the stakes have to be super high. You also have to create. Wait, you sing when you no longer.

When you can't speak, you sing. So what does that, oh, meaning if you don't have anything to say, you start singing. More than that. Like it's a crutch. It's a crutch if it's not made well. But if it's made well, it's like you can't, with words, express what you need to express.

So you have to sing it. I see. So it's not a negative, it's a positive. It's a positive when it's like you can't with words express what you need to express so you have to sing it. I see. So it's not a negative, it's a positive. It's a positive when it's done right. Right. Like that's the origins of it. Well, that explains Grease, the musical. There's so much about like Grease is the word. Like you can't say that, you have to sing it. I get what you're saying totally.

Summer Lovin', they couldn't really explain it with just a story. They had to sing that story. Yes, right. I get it. But like in every musical too, there should be an I want song. So like a great example that like, have you seen Little Mermaid? That's literally the thing that went through my head when you said that. Have I seen Little Mermaid? I have an eight-year-old daughter.

I have seen Little Mermaid, I have an eight-year-old daughter. I have seen Little Mermaid 117 times. So like she has an I want song right at the beginning. Da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da certain words she's like, oh, what do you call them? Shoes? Well, cause she's not a human. She can't remember what they're called. She doesn't wear them from the human world. Feet. What do you call them? She has all these other words. Oh, what does she, I got gizmo, what does she say?

Got gizmos and done it plenty. I got who's it's and what's it's galore. You want thingamabobs? I got 20. I got 20. But who cares? No big deal. I want more.

I know the best. Oh, just give me a little taste of that. I wanna be where the people are. I mean, Jodie Benson, nothing better. Also, but your inflection is perfect. People are, I wanna see, wanna see them dancing. That is spot on. I know, I've listened to it.

That is a really good impression. Once a zillion times. Yeah. I mean, I tried to sing like her when I was younger. It's like, you know, you wanna be like a Disney princess. That's one thing, like I would love, love, love to... Now I've aged out of the princess roles, but if I could just be some weird mom or aunt or now I'm a villain. Sunset Boulevard.

How about Sunset Boulevard? Sunset Boulevard. Right? You're aged out of princess by getting into... I mean, Sunset Boulevard is a Disney movie. That's a, but I really, in a Disney cartoon, now I'm more into the, I'm your evil stepmother land where I get a song where I get to sing like this. Here you come. Annalee, I mean this sincerely. Do you think, because you're really, really funny and you're funny, you know, just in person and then when we did that show, you were fucking awesome.

With multiple different things spanning a wide range. But do you think your singing voice might have hampered your, because your singing voice is so good, did it hamper your becoming more of a comic actress or something? I would say in the, you know what's a weird part of my career

is that people usually think of me for whatever they saw me in last, which is sort of a compliment because. Well, that's the only way I know you. Because I've never seen. What, you were in Wicked? No, you were in what? I was in.

You won a Tony, for fuck's sake. I won a Tony for a show called You Can't Take It With You. Do you know that play at all? Is that Mosshart? Yeah. Yeah. It's like. I don't know it, but I know of it.

Beautiful play. It's like a it's like. I don't know it, but I know of it. It's a beautiful play, it's like a classic, classic comedy. And I played a ballerina, really though, this girl who was terrible at dancing, but thought she was good. Her name is Essie, and she's. Well, that's Broadway in a nutshell, isn't it? I mean, hey.

But my whole thing was that I wanted her to not know that she was bad. So the equivalent would be, you know, when somebody gets up to do karaoke and at the beginning you're like, oh, I think they're good. And then they're terrible. But it starts out with like, yeah, I know exactly what you mean. There's a hero. When you look inside your heart, you don't have to be afraid of what you are. Do you know what I mean?

Just say, yes, I've been a fat. Not so much tone, but they're like overcompensating by doing. I have to say you're a man. Yeah, yeah. You have to be afraid of what you are. be afraid of what you want. She started out good. There's a hero. You know, if you start out good. Yeah, I know exactly what you're talking about. So I tried to do that physically with my dancing.

So I would do like a perfect leap, but like my foot would be sickled and a little bit like not right. And my hands were like pretty, but not right. Like everything was just a little off I was on pointe shoes, but like I wasn't all the way up on my boxes Did you get any grief from people with palsy? It wasn't like that it was more like like ballet dancers when it's like a crack baby

Not quite see I couldn't go I couldn't go like if you go too far then it's not funny Then you're like, that's ridiculous. Agreed, agreed. So it had to be just a little bit bad, just subtly terrible. Yes. And thinking she was very good, that was the thing I was like really committed

to how good I was. So anyways, my point is, is that I would say most of my stuff on stage has been in the land of comedy. And like I did a, I played this part in Kinky Boots Most of my stuff on stage has been in the land of comedy. And like I did a, I played this part in Kinky Boots where I sang this song about just realizing that you're in love with somebody. You know that moment when you're like,

oh my God, I'm in love with this person. Am I gonna shit my pants? You know that when you see them, you're like, I feel all the feelings, but I'm terrified by it. Well, that's like an anal leakage thing that goes back. We're coming back around at the beginning of the- Absolutely, anal leakage ass face. So I would say that I feel like the opposite has sort of been the case where vocally sometimes

I sing crazy, like I stoof crazy things, and then I do a show like S sending the park with George where it's super comedic but the score is really classic. Sweeney Todd too, vocally. I did like some kind of fun things. Were you in the, I don't know what you call it, the reimagining? The last revival? I don't know when it, I saw it... I saw the reimagined, the one that was super dark and... With Patti LuPone? Patti LuPone, yeah. Amazing. That was like 12 years ago. Yeah. So 12 years ago now. That was the revival before the revival I just did. I did a revival in

the... I did it in 2023. Me and Josh Groban, I played Mrs. Lovett and he played Sweeney. And we did a classic revival of it. So full orchestra. It was a little more comic and yeah. Full, full orchestra. But I would say I definitely, the way that Stephen Sondheim wrote about the show

and the way that Hal Prince wrote about the show, but especially the way that Steve wrote about it. He would always say it's a musical comedy horror. That makes sense. And so comedy to me, I was like, it's so dark that it has to be funny. And that's always kind of the way he talked about it. He thought it was a comedy.

So I really took that one to heart. There have been productions that have really heightened the comedy he talked about it. He thought it was a comedy, so I really took that one to heart and it was beautiful. Well, there have been productions that have really heightened the comedy of it. Yeah. But yeah, I saw that, again, it was another thing that a friend dragged me to, and I'm like, I don't wanna see this, and it was so cool. Because it's one of the best musicals I've written.

That's one thing, I've gotten to do two of his shows. I don't know about that. I think Sweeney Todd and Sunday in the Park with Georgia are in the top 10 best musicals ever written. My personal opinion. I would say Aladdin. I would say, what's the bubble one, where the guy does the bubbles?

The bubble show. The bubble show. The bubble show. I would say. I love that you've seen the bubble show. I have too. I've seen the ads for it. I've been, I bubble show. I would say... I love that you've seen the bubble show. I have too. I've seen the ads for it. I've been, I took Jack, it's fun.

I'm sure my daughter would love it. That's another cool thing, great thing about living in New York is she's seen a bunch of shows and she loves them. Oh my God, I didn't see my first Broadway show until I was coming to college. You know, I was like 16, it was crazy. Yeah, well that's how it should Well, that's how it should be.

That's how it should be. You don't get to see Broadway until you're coming to college. If you're lucky. If you're lucky. No, Ashford's going to go to Broadway and watch a bunch of gays flitting around singing about, you know about fancy imagination stuff. Ain't a leakage of space, not for you. You get back to the hayloft. What is a hayloft?

It's a loft. Where you keep your hay? Where you keep your hay, yeah. Hey, hey girl, hey. No, this is a different. And also why would you keep a greeting? Do you need a loft for a greeting? That actually, that should be, there should be a little thing, you know, when you walk into some people's houses and they're like, welcome, you know, like their little mat says

it, their Siri says it. If you have a barn, you should have your Siri go, hey girl, hey, when you walk into the barn. Welcome to the hay barn, then do the snap thing. Hey go, hey girl, hi, when you walk into the barn. Welcome to Hey Marn, then do the snap thing. Hey girl, hi. That's fun. Wait, I want to ask you a question that I've been dying to. How was Europe in the last month?

How was it navigating as an American? Was it a fucking nightmare? Was it so wild? No, it was, I mean, it's palpable. Yeah, people know how you feel about. Yeah, well, I had an opening, I kind of stumbled upon this opening that really worked well, that I can't do here, but I would come out and I just thought, you know, and then I kind of rifted on stage, but I was like, you know, I love

Oslo. Oslo was my first show in the European tour. I love it. It's beautiful. And, you know, I love this city. You know, been here a number of times, love this country. How much you want for it? What, you want a million? It's great. A million? We're going to take it. It's great. You know, and then I would million? It's great. We're gonna take it. One way, you know, and then I would say- Break the ice, get out of the way right away. And they would laugh like insanely.

It's like they'd laugh harder than you would, because, you know, it's an absurd notion. And then I would say, I wanna get this out of the way, I wanna talk about something briefly. I just want to acknowledge it and then we can move on. But I've been doing this a long time and this is a palpable thing and I can see you guys and I can see and sense that you are all jealous of my freedoms.

Then they would laugh again. Great. And then I would talk about the freedoms that I have as an American. And just riffing shit. Also, Oslo and all these places, Stockholm, it doesn't matter, wherever, they function at a higher level than any American city. They function at a higher level than any American city. And they are, there are people swimming in whatever that body of water is off of Oslo, where they have like the, what do you call them?

The sauna rooms that are on like little boats. And then they go in and get, take a dip. Yeah, and then they go in the water. They do a cold plunge. They do a cold plunge. And they invented it. But I mean, can you imagine trying to do that in, like, I don't know, Lake Michigan or the Hudson River or,

you know, I mean, no, no. Yeah, the answer is no. But and everything you have to go to the emergency room afterwards. Yeah. And it's it is and it's You'd have to go to the emergency room afterwards. Yeah. And it's immaculate, clean. There's no litter. I don't know what they're doing with their homeless, but they're not there. It just functions at a higher level. The mass transportation in Europe is clean on time, beautiful.

Clean on time, spacious, it smells nice. Not like our journey here today. No. I mean, the idea that there are hundreds of millions of Americans who truly think we've got it better than everybody else and that we are freer than they've been. Whether it's like human freedoms or economic freedoms, it's just absurd. Preach, brother. I'm walking around going, for real, the transportation system in New York is, I wouldn't say filled with, but I'd say 20% of the subway cars or buses have mentally ill, disturbed people on them that you're dealing with.

And in Oslo, it's like 90% of the transportation systems with tram, subway, I don't know if they have, yeah, buses are filled with the most beautiful people on the planet. Beautiful, ridiculous. buses are filled with the most beautiful people on the planet. Beautiful. They're really pretty. Ridiculous. They have clean, because they have clean water. It's their water. Because they take those dips.

They take those dips. And it's just like a clean, and the things that we've traded, that we have said, okay, we want to have these conveniences and these things, and what we're going to trade for those things and those conveniences are clean water and clean air and a really pleasant experience traveling from point A to point B. And we're going to trade those off. We're going to trade those things in. We're going to have disgusting, shitty, deadly water and deadly air. What are you talking about? Are you talking about guanis?

Guanis is so clean. Remember when the dolphin got stuck there and then died? Do you also remember it got buried? I just wanted for those of you not familiar, what was it about five years ago? That sounds right. A dolphin somehow mistakenly made its way from the harbor into the canal in Gowanus.

Just look up the Gowanus canal on Google Maps, have fun, enjoy looking where it is. It's a super fun site that never got cleaned up. And then the dolphin was stuck there and like, oh, we got to save this dolphin. Too late. Just a couple of days. Remember when Irene happened and if you had been flooded,

that was anywhere near the Gowanus Canal, they were like, do not eat your vegetables in any garden for like five years. They were like, don't eat them. It's so- But the trade off is great because we, I mean, you have those snacks. Oh, the snacks in America are- They're so healthful. I'll tell you what, and this snack reminded me of this. So Europe wasn't, I didn't get this palpable tension that I did in Canada.

And I was in Canada for a couple weeks and those folks are fucking pissed. Yeah, I went, I was there. And they should be. They have every right to be. I was there for a day and was like, whoa, you could feel it zinging. Oh yeah, they are fucking angry. And also customs was kind of interesting. It was like everything whoa, you could feel it zinging. Oh yeah, they are fucking angry. And also customs was kind of interesting. It was like everything, that part was fascinating.

I felt the same way, everybody. For Canadians to be like, fuck you. Telling jokes right away, like I popped in and they were like, well, we're not happy to see you, you know, so you're right. It was, it was. Canada's pissed, and again, they should be. They're like, it felt like going to Thanksgiving

and your brother being like, fuck you. Like right when you walked in there, like are you kidding me? How could you do this to us? You know, it was like really, I agree it was palpable immediately. But that's kind of why I was curious, like what did it feel like in Europe?

Because my experience in Toronto for the two days that I was there was, everybody was like, you can't believe this is happening. Yeah, I mean it was way more pronounced in Canada. Europe, it was, it was, you know, it wasn't anger. It was like, and also, you know, they know that I don't represent that. Thinking and, you know, um, you know, much like we can look at Turkey or Hungary or, you know, various other places and go, you know, this isn't the citizenry, you know, it's not their fault.

They live under this, you know, they make it more difficult to vote. It's rigged and, you know, and we're in in they see that in us now you know like they understand that. Us you know this this whoever's listening to this podcast and you know who are fans of ours are like well they're not the problem you So there's an understanding there, but yeah, it's... It's wild. I'm doing a callback. There's a line and you can't take it with you, which you don't know and have not seen. These are crazy times, grandpa. One of the characters says that. These are crazy times, grandpa? Yeah, these are crazy times, grandpa. I bet that's not the only production that that's ever found. I bet there are other maybe

books and novellas and plays and musicals where somebody says these are crazy times grandpa. Yeah. I bet that exists somewhere outside of you can't take it with you. I just like the Russian character of Kolinkov saying, these are crazy times grandpa. Sure. There you go. It's a Russian character. A lot of parallels here. It's crazy. It's crazy. Crazy times, Grandpa. Now, Annaleigh, I close every episode and it's been a delight to have you here.

It's been a delight. I could just sit here all day and talk with you. Well, that's the idea, you know. I know you have to go to Linda Lavin's funeral, not funeral. Memorial. Memorial. Because she's been buried already. She was buried in cement and then dropped.

Is that correct? That was her wish? Sweet, sweet Linda. You know what? I'm having a really hard time accepting that Linda Lavin passed. I'm not. You what? Yeah, it's just-

You've accepted it. She, to me, she was always just going to live forever. I just loved her so much. I also, I knew her at the end of her life. I got really close to her. I feel that way about Tyne Daly. You do? No, I don't.

I was kidding. Do you know Linda played Gypsy in Gypsy right after Tyne? Yeah, everybody knows that, Annali. My daughter knows that. There's farmers who know that. That Linda, Linda. That part of musical theater history you are familiar with. I don't know any of that shit.

But yeah, sweet Linda Lavin. Okay, so what happens now? Sweet Linda Lavin. Uh-oh. Had the Red Sox one last night, I believe. Congratulations. Thank you. Do you root for them? I do.

Oh, good for you. Oh, yeah, yeah. The Red Sox and Braves, both anti-Yankee. I'm with you on that. Very much so. My husband's a Cardinals fan, so I'm automatically... Yeah. Yeah.

But then I'm from Denver, so I'm like, go Rockies. And he's like, you're not allowed to do that. You were absolutely allowed to do that. First of all, it has no bearing on the fact that they're just an awful team and not going to get better for a while. I mean, I'm not going to be able to do that. I'm not going to be able to do that. I'm not going to be able to do that.

I'm not going to be able to do that. I'm not going to be able to do that. I'm not going to be able to do that. I'm not going to be able to do that. I'm not going to be able to do that. I'm not going to be able to do that.'s like, you're not allowed to do that. You were absolutely allowed to do that. First of all, it has no bearing on the fact that they're just an awful team and not going to get better for a while. God love them. Their front office, we got some issues in the front office.

Beautiful park. Love that park. Wait, are you talking about the Rockies? Yeah, yeah, Colorado Rockies. OK, because I know the Cardinals are not having their best moment as well. No, but they're- Historically- On a better-

They always will be on a better track historically. But yeah, the Rockies, you know the Rockies are a younger franchise. I do know that. So- Have you been to the park? Yeah, a bunch of times. Yeah, it's beautiful. It's amazing, it's gorgeous.

And great for kids too. Fantastic. They have that whole area that's like a playground up there. It's beautiful. Which is smart. I love, yeah, I love up there. It's beautiful. Which is smart. I love, yeah, I love the stadium. It's great.

What was I going to say though? Baseball, red side, oh, my daughter decided to mess with me. Last night we were in this sports bar up, we were upstate, just her and I. And there's this place that we, you know, there's very little there. But went in and decided to tell everybody that I was a Yankees fan. And I was like, absolutely not. And she's like, my daddy is a Yankees fan, daddy is a Yankees fan. I was like, no, I'm not. That is not, I've got a Braves hat on for daddy is a Yankees. No, I'm not.

Listen, you know, all right. It gets very dramatic. I get it. My husband would be like freaking out if Jack said that. I get it. Oh, when I was doing the increasingly poor decisions of Todd Margaret, there was one, there was a scene.

I don't, it was in the, It was in the characters' apartment or something. It was like flashback where he lived in Portland. And everybody knew my allegiances. And they had dressed a bunch of Yankee stuff in the thing. And I came on and I did not have the sense of humor about it. Like I was like, you know, start production meeting or whatever. I was like, all right, listen, so I'm thinking we start, hey, hey, uh-uh, get that fucking

shit out of here. I was like really angry. Get the fuck out of here. Michael, Michael. Yeah, I get it. Ha ha. No, get all that Yankee shit out of here." I was really angry. Amazing. Get the fuck out of here, Michael. Michael. Yeah, I get it. Ha ha. No, get all that Yankee shit out of here. And then people are always like, oh, okay. But it's kind of, you don't know what you're stepping into. You'll be in the UK and you're

like, boy, Arsenal didn't or something or Liverpool and people, it's not funny. No. Yeah. That is the one place where like my husband's like, they get it. They get it. Okay, so, Annaleigh Ashford. Inaleeca Jazzface. Inaleeca Jazzface, where, do you have anything to plug?

Oh yeah. Beside your butt hole. Hey-o! And my, my sweet little. Sweet breath. I was going to say my sweet little milky tits. Um, I just, uh, we just aired the final episode of Happy Face on Paramount+. Um, you can watch.

What is that? on Paramount+. What is that? You can watch. It's a show that I just finished airing on Paramount+. It's about the daughter of the happy face murderer who was a serial killer in the 90s. A real person. Yeah, a real person. Oh, shit.

Dennis Quaid plays the happy face killer. And I play his daughter, Melissa. Did he like carve happy faces or? He would write letters to various news stations throughout the country, like admitting to his murders, and he would sign with a happy face. Anyways, she came out as his daughter and now as an advocate for people who've been

like touched by the trauma of crime and it's like her story. Touched by the trauma of crime. It's a great classic song. So anyways, yeah, you can watch the full season now. We just dropped the last episode last week. Wait, what's it called again? Happy Face. Happy Face.

On Paramount Plus. On Paramount Plus. Watch it. I play Melissa. Yeah. See, uh, Analeeka Jazz's face as Lisa. Melissa. Melissa. Um, which has the word Lisa in it. Uh, in Happy Face on Paramount Plus, the daughter of a craze serial killer that is,

if you're not careful, you just might learn something. You got it, what a great plug, that was perfect. People who've been touched by crime. All right, here, so I end every episode with a question from my daughter. Okay, oh, I love that. And this is, she actually said this today. So this is for you. Okay. And you can answer it any way you see fit. Great. This is my today's question from Marlo.

Why does every girl want the opposite of the hair they have? Marlo, what a great question. I had this whole thought process actually on the way here today, because I'm thinking about maybe cutting my hair, like short, short. I think it's because your hair grows, so it's always changing. Like every day your hair is changing.

And also your hair never ever looks as good as it does when you leave from getting it cut. So you're always trying to get it back to that state. Also, your hair never ever looks as good as it does when you leave from getting it cut. So you're always trying to get it back to that state. So I think those are two reasons. And also it's because it's something you can change about the way that you look. There's nothing else about you that you can really change the way that you look. Well, that's not true.

I have her scheduled for breast augmentation surgery. You put it in the books. You're like, when she turns 18, she will go to Dr. Libin on the Upper East Side and she will get the augmentation that I have designed. Yeah, put money away. It was a college fund. We moved it. We moved the funds into- Yes, especially during the- It was all the things. When the terror stuff We moved the funds into. Especially during the, when the terror stuff happened. Oh my God. The trade wars, you were just like changing.

Contact lenses, tattoo underneath the upper part of the lip. My old sister got that. She's like, oh, it's the one thing I regret. Poor Carolyn. Nobody sees it. But- What does it say? It says like bang with an exclamation point.

She's going to listen to this too and be like, why do you tell people? I know. She's so smart and so cool and that one, nobody sees it. But yeah, I would say going back to your hair, it is. It's like something you can change. Dude, you can change your hair and your facial hair. Like, you know, you can't change anything else on you by like a tattoo takes a long time.

And I mean, a tattoo you can change, but you can't change it back. Your hair, it grows back, you can change it back. You dyed a crazy color, you can dye it back. You can shave it, you can cut it. But I think the key word, and I don't want to editorialize in this, you know, it's not my place, so try not to do that. But I think the key word, and I don't want to editorialize in this, it's not my place, so try not to do that, but I think the key word is opposite. What does every girl want the opposite?

This is a different kind of question than what I was initially thinking. If it's more about the opposite of it, it's like, what is it about you that you don't like or don't love or want to change? I would say, I don't always think, I don't know, what is it about, do you want opposite hair than your hair? Or do you think girls just want the opposite of their hair? I don't know if I want the opposite, just sometimes I want something different.

So that's a bigger question. All right, well I'll get you on the phone with her. but just sometimes I want something different. So that's a bigger question. Mm-hmm. Hmm. All right, well I'll get you on the phone with her. Yeah. Also smarty pants. What a smarty pants. She's a smart sweet girl. She was brushing her hair this morning

and she was like, oh, it's getting kind of long. And we're like, yeah, it is getting kind of long. Cause she had it cut, you know, not too long ago. Cut three months ago probably. Yeah, yeah. And then she said, what does every girl want the opposite of the hair they have? That's a good podcast question. That's really sweet.

Yeah. So she gets quarter. She gets a quarter. For every podcast question, she gets quarter because she's earned it and she gets a piece. She has a little piece of the show. So I pay her for that. I don't normally pay her to do like chores or anything like that you know some extra things outside of that but i. I feel like if i'm she's contributing to this thing that you know. Then she should make over so i want to say two hundred sixty dollars an episode she gets a writing credit.

I want to say $260 an episode. She gets her writing credit. Absolutely not. Come on. That's bullshit. All right. This was a treat. I have to pee my pants. 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.