SmartLess - "David Letterman: LIVE in Brooklyn"

Episode Date: July 20, 2023

We went to Brooklyn and sat down with both David Letterman and his sidekick (The Beard) for a hell of a chat n’ giggle.(Recorded on Feb 05, 2022)Listen to “SmartLess Live” episodes four weeks early and ad-free on Wondery+See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey, listener, and welcome to Smart List. Before we get into this incredible episode, I want just a moment of your time to set the stage a little bit. Sean and Jason and I went on a smart list tour last year where we recorded 10 episodes live in front of thousands of our biggest fans from Brooklyn to Los Angeles. And guess what? Right now there are more live episodes from our tour on Wondry Plus that you can listen to. You can listen to these episodes four weeks early and add free on Wondry Plus,

after which you can hear them for free wherever you get your podcast. Find Wondry Plus in the Wondry app or on Apple Podcasts. All right. Welcome to SmartLess. Hey, let's do that thing really quick where we finished a sentence. We do one word at a time. No, a sentence. We do one word at a time. No, no, like we do one word like the guy. Sorry, I'll start.

Okay, we, no, ready to go. We are so excited to be here. Oh, Sean. Sean, come on, let's go. This is like what is taking a fucking road trip with you. Hey, kids, let's build a story together. Yeah. How about we just go do the Friggin Live podcast? Great.

Yeah, let's do it. All right, guys. Welcome to... ...Forgin Live Podcasts. Wow. Wow. Wow. This is so nuts. So good. Woo! This is just ridiculous. I like pulling an Oprah.

I like pulling an Oprah one free and go. Take a seat. Take a seat. I know. I know. This started. This was a big surprise. I'm going to be a big surprise. I'm going to be a big surprise. I'm going to be a big surprise. I'm pulling an Oprah. I like pulling an Oprah one free and go, take your seat.

Take your seat. Take your seat. I know, I know. This started, this is a bit. We started this as a bit. And now we're here in Brooklyn. Oh. Oh.

With all these beautiful people. I know, I love it. Thank you for coming. Thank you for spending $5 a ticket to come see us. We really appreciate it. But good God, well, they're here. I guess we got to do this. Everybody all back.

They long to sit there really low. I'm sitting there. You're going to sit there. You're going to sit there. You're going to sit in the middle. I'm going to sit in the middle. Because tonight it's my guest. So I get the middle.

Why is that good news? Yeah, why is that good news? I was good news. I will tell you I am very Excited about my guest tonight. I am my heart is pounding pounding. It's not just the diet Red Bull I am now we've all had a lot of of red bull because we had a long night. Oh my God. Oh, Jesus. So we got stuck in, where were we? Boston yesterday. Boston yesterday.

And we were, our flight was supposed to leave at 10.30 after the show. And we ended up leaving at 5 this morning, 6 this morning, something like that. 45 minute flight took us eight hours to get here. Eight hours. So we've had like three hours sleep so we're getting the best version of us. But the best part is our amazing incredible director, Sam Jones.

We're stuck on the plane and we're all kind of just really quiet. We're trying to catch any kind of winks we can. And then we hear this. Oh God, yeah. And by the way, he's like, I didn't get any sleep. We're like, no, no, no, you're the only one who got sleep. Yeah. None of us.

And then we get to the hotel. They always make fun of me because I always have my kind of my things. Like when you travel, you have your things. And so I always ask for a fan and a blanket. I need an extra fan. So every time we pull into it. And listen to that gloss over.

Listen to that gloss over. Every time we pull into a hotel, Sean, there's always a 20 minutes later, there's a knock on the door. And a guy shows up with a fan and a big blanket. And we're like, no, wrong room. And then Sean shoots up. No, no, no, there's a knock on the door, and a guy shows up with a fan and a big blanket. Like, yeah. And we're like, no, wrong room. And then Sean shoots up, no, no, that's me. Because we're all staying together. Do we mention that?

We're staying the same room? We're all in the same room. It's all for the stupid ass show. Where do you see it? It's such a mistake. Actually, it should be noted, you wanted to stay in the same room. Well, I thought it was like,

well, if we're gonna do it, let's get full stupid ass. Yeah. So Jason's like, nothing, we're all gonna stay together and we're all just gonna be in, we can just 24 hour access to the cameras, six hours into it, he's like, fuck this. Yeah. It's a nightmare.

You're a nightmare. Because I'm not usually, this is, I'm peaking right now. I'm usually in such a bad mood. Am I not a moody guy? Yeah, you're very, very moody guy. Every morning, this coming straight at me, just his hair is about eight feet high with the bed head, with the cup of coffee,

so fucking angry, he's coming right at me. And he shuffles, too. You know how he shuffles? He walks like this. No, I'm not exaggerating. He walks like this, and he looks like, you look like all of his bones are so kind of like, he walks like this. No, I'm not exaggerating. He walks like this, and he looks like, he looks like all of his bones are so brittle,

like he's about to snap. Ha ha ha ha. But guess, is that true? It's true, it's true. Daddy's back hurts. Yeah, no. A lot. Um, what else?

I don't know. What else? So much else. Should we just get to the guest? Yeah, let's get to the guest. I mean, we got him with? So much else. Should we just get to the guest? Yeah, let's get to the guest. I mean, we gone with it. All right. Your guest.

All right, Granddad needs notes, too. Gang dash. We've been going to different cities, and in each city, we are trying to invite a guest that is part of its fabric, its spirit, its soul. This guy, so now you know it's a man, checks the boxes, he is also... Julianne...

Uh-oh. ...un... ... ... Julianne. Wait, no, I say... Don't turn them against us already. Wait, I may have skipped a sentence hold on a second Gang dash

We've been going to different cities and in each city we're trying to invite a guest that is part of its fabric It's spirited soul this guy checks those boxes. He's also an enormous hero to each of us. Oh He is comedy royalty. I know exactly who it is. Oh, shit, you don't know this thing. I know exactly. Don't guess it yet. Hold on. Mouth it to me.

Hold on. Don't let me see it. And he is the undisputed best at what he does. Right? There's no- Keeps going like this. Martin Short. Martin Short.

Short. Are Short. Short. Are you finished? Sorry. Dang, dash. Fuck. Thank you, Sean. All right. He's the undisputed best at what he does. No one better.

Period. He has 52 Emmy nominations to prove it. Along with 12 wins. He's got a Kennedy Center Honor, a Mark Twain Award, but in the last few years he has selflessly chosen to stop everything and fill in for the recently deceased Santa applause. Will, Sean, Brooklyn, please welcome Mr. David Letterman. No! No! Come on, Dave. No! Thank you. Oh, no. Oh! Whoa!

Hi, Sean. Where's Pleasure to see you. Jason? Where's Pleasure to see you. Where? All my best, my friend. Nice to see you Jason. We're pleasure to see you. We're all my best my friend. Oh my gosh Thank you very much Hi, yeah, wow Thank you. What a what a lovely thing and what a beautiful theater and thank you and thank you again. That was delightful. I was, uh, holy shit, right?

Yeah. I'm sitting backstage listening to you guys. Thinking about the mistake you made. No, and I'm all I can think of is I hope this doesn't cut into my time. Yeah, sorry. We have run a little long. Let me get to question eight. Oh my gosh. Oh, this is key. Great. First of all, before you get into the question,

go well. It's so great to see you. Thank you for inviting me, please. Yeah. It is. Yeah. At risk of embarrassing you, I should say that, and I think I speak for Sean, but it is such an honor

to have you here. You have always truly been one of my friends. Oh, please. I know. And I've done your so many, and I've told you that before, but it's true, and I'm so delighted that you're here. Oh, God bless all of you. I would just like to add that he said he'd speak for me,

but I've never said anything like that. Oh, let me, I have a rundown. I have my own sort of document on you guys. My dossier here, when you were first on the show, what I remember about you, I think you were smoking. Yes. Yeah, you really? Yeah, I think you were.

No, I was going in and out of smoking, and you would check in on my various appearances as to whether or not I was smoking at the time. You didn't smoke on the show, though. No, I never smoked on it, but I did do, you liked when I went through my various smoking positions. Yes, yes. Which were, I told you I'd quit, but I missed doing the, like, me?

Yeah, yeah, sure. Like that kind of stuff. Yeah, I mean, that was the hook upon which you were booked. Yes. Yeah. I did it. And extremely funny and Toronto. I remember that about you.

Yes, thank you. Thank you. Now, yeah. And Sean, the last few times you were on the show, you were doing a musical across the... Promises. Promises hold for applause. Yeah. CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

And I don't know if it was between shows or before the show, but you came on with such inviable energy, such good natured, likable excellence as a human. That's the Coke. Yeah, very. And... LAUGHTER Whenever we would be talking after the show, as a human. That's the Coke. Yeah. And... Ha-ha-ha! Whenever we would be talking after the show,

the comment was always, why does it Sean have his own show? Well, like a talk show. I know you've had shows. Right? I mean, that would be fantastic. You thought about it? Yes, I thought about it.

It's very kind of you. And if I ever did it, here we go, you are one of the? Yes, I thought about it. It's very kind of you. And if I ever did it, here we go, you are one of the biggest reasons why I would do it. The biggest. Yeah, you are such a huge influence on me. And so many people, I know you hate that. You're like, where do I put it? No.

But it's like, it's really, really true you are what makes sense. Thank you. I really appreciate the opening of the hero of all of our show. Thank you. Thank you. Now, I'm here, and I'm not gonna get to you. Now you are on the show of Our Foreshirt. Thank you. Now, here, now I'll get to you. Now you are on the show many, many, many times. And I know you were believed in what we had pre-show meetings.

And it was not with me. No, not with you. Everyone was very excited. And then you would come on and be let down. Wow, can the guy talk? And I mean, really, we only had an hour show. And then he was so, he had so many stories. And he told them so well, and he had the memorized beat.

It was like talking to Charles Dickens for God's sake. And then at 10.45, the people would be in the broadcast center, at center, editing, because he had gone so long. So that's what I remember about the appearances of the three of you. You were in a blackout, weren't you, most of the time? I've been a blackout right now.

Now, this is a fascinating to hear you say this, because I've always wanted to ask you this, or anyone that I have been on a talk show with. Because, so, for those, there are for Tracy. Um, Tracy. Tracy. Tracy. Tracy, yeah.

John's sister is Wisconsin. John's sister in Wisconsin doesn't understand. Showbiz Lingo. Sometimes we got a filler in on the inside baseball. So, there is a pre-interview that a guest usually does, so that in the absence of a conversational skill, you have a set of predetermined questions and ballpark answers so that the host and the guest can have a palatable interview. Non-existent on this show.

Non-existent. That's not what I was talking about. No, it's not what I was talking about. No, it's not what I was talking about. No, it's not what I was talking about. No, it's not what I was talking about. No, it's not what I was talking about. It's not what I was talking about.

It's not what I was talking about. It's not what I was talking about. It's not what I was talking about. It's not what I was talking about. It's not what I was talking about. It's not what I was talking about. So now I, because I like all of us in this room and across the planet are a huge fan of Dave Letterman, you wanna make sure you got your stuff together. So I'd work on what could I possibly do, what's funny that's happened in my life in the last few weeks? So I've got some stuff to say.

He's doing it now. Yes. So I would have these stories and I thought I'm being responsible say. He's doing it now. Yes. Yes. So I would have these stories, and I thought I'm being responsible, because by the way, I remember watching you do an interview, maybe it was 60 minutes or something, where they would say to you, what constitutes a good interview,

and you said, and I never forgot it, it drives you nuts when people come on the show, and they think that you are lucky to have them sitting in the chair when, in fact, they're lucky to sit in the chair because they're trying to promote something. Yeah, I mean, we're really, I don't know. I just got a cue from the stage.

So I always wondered if I went on too long and now he's telling me I did all those years. They all know, they listen to the podcast so they know you go on too long and Dave knows you go on too long, but we all love you, Jason. Yes, we do. What?

Now you also, some of your colleagues visit with a guest before they come out. You never did that one. I would never do that. No. I love that. So there was a question 10, 15 minutes ago, you're going to go down and say hi to Dave. I was like, well, no, he never did that with any of his guests. I think that's why I probably shouldn't.

No, I would put a good decision. Yes, it was absolutely in my case. I can't speak for the world, but in my case, that was a good decision. Why? Because you're down, so 10 minutes ago, you're down and dressing, what are you doing? Everything I know about, well, that's none of your business.

But everything I know about running a talk show, I learned from Johnny Carson. And Johnny Carson... He never came back. He was the guy before Jay Leno. Jay would come back into the room, but Johnny... Yeah, I understand it was like the Rotary Club with Jay. But Johnny would never come down,

because he always felt like, whether I know the guest or do not know the guest, I want oh hi welcome to the house moment and that initial electricity or lack thereof should should come naturally that's the point that's the point of the whole show can I ask you this what was your do you I'm sure you remember what was your your first meeting like with Johnny what was that event was that because he was hiring you to do the show? What was that, Paul? What was that, Paul?

Or was that a regular appearance? Yeah, the first time I was on the tonight show as a guest. And it's interesting because we're talking about Johnny Carson. Had we been talking about Johnny Carson 30 years ago, the room would be full of a different kind of electricity. Sure, yeah. But for those who didn't experience that, he was, I think, the best ever at the show business,

late night, television, and so on, so formal. With that question. And if you look at what he did now, the consistency of what this guy did. I mean, it wasn't once a week. It was night after night after night. I will watch reruns with my husband. I'm gay, Dave.

I would watch... Still? Yeah, still. Yeah. I am taking every medication. It's not working. Okay. Oh, my God.

This is awful. I know it's an awful... We need stuff to cut, Dave. So, Dave, I would... Me and Scotty, a lot of times, check out old Johnny Carson episodes. And it's amazing how long he spoke to the guest. It was like a 20 minute, 30 minute interview.

And are you happy that you didn't have to do that? Or would you have preferred to have the time? Well, that's an excellent question. I think you always would like a little more time, especially if you're enjoying the moment, the guest. But the thing about Johnny, he just was always Johnny, and it didn't make any difference who the guest was, or what was going on. You just wanted a chance before you went to sleep to visit with your friend, Johnny. And he did that for 30 some years.

And there was, I never saw the guy break a sweat. I never saw him miss a beat. But people feel the exact same way about you. How you do? Well, how many, how many, like to see the paperwork on this? How many, and we're going to get into Jason's appearance on Johnny Carson, his first one.

Oh, yeah, there you go. There you go. It's great. And I wish we had an image we could pull up, because it's tremendous. This is great. But how many times did you do the tonight show with Johnny, before you then he sort of anointed you as the,

you know, to do the late night? Well, you guest hosted a bunch, yeah? Yep, a few times, maybe a couple of dozen times a guest hosting and appearing as a guest on the show. And then we got the 1230 show, which Seth Meyers now has, and Conan O'Brien had that show for a while as well. I wanna tell you something,

I've been listening to the show. And yes, and I had it on when Ryan Reynolds was on. God bless Ryan Reynolds. And a great Canadian. And I started thinking, oh, this is, I have to talk to him for the little Netflix deal. And I listened to him on your show, and I thought there's no point.

This is the best piece of entertainment, not in a film with Ryan Reynolds and friends. I just, it depressed me. So today, I thought, okay, I'm gonna be there in Brooklyn and I'll just listen to another one. And it was very son and child. Yeah. Yeah.

Oh right, I know, and he was on your show a lot. Yes, he was. And we love to talk about a guy that had to have a little editing. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. They were still working on his last segment. You know the story about his getting,

when he's first started in pornography as a young cameraman. And that story, which was about five minutes at our show, was 40 minutes. And we all agreed that even for us, we thought there's no way. My mom can't hear this story. We pulled it out, and we'll ever hear it.

It's the most repulsive story. It is repulsive. You can ever imagine it's really. We rarely do that. So the same thing with this, I know Barry Sonnetfeld, as Will mentioned, and I couldn't finish listening it because it was so good and I thought, oh, I'm going to go out there and just dump all over their show.

And I tell you what I love about it is the theme music for the podcast. It's great. It's catchy. They haven't put the bar too high. No, no. It's great. You know the show can live up to that.

Yeah. And then the very son of a film, when you were in London. Yes. And I'm thinking this is the example of why radio ruled the world before television. Instantly now, I'm envisioning myself being in London and you guys I assume were on the West Coast. Yeah, yeah. Didn't really come to mind.

In slippers. In slippers. In PJs, but I just I was delighted by it, but then again the interview with Barry Sanovel was so good I couldn't finish that one either. I'm sorry now are you are you are you love are you loving doing long-form Conversations as opposed to the the 10 minute sprints well. There's two different things here Yes, the longer the better but but but you know, they's two different things here. Yes, the longer the better, but you know, they're two different machines. The talk show is understanding he had trouble on the airplane coming in from LA. That's the talk show. Yeah And then the longer form is have you ever seen an airplane? That's that's a whole different story

It's a little roomier in that house. And we will be right back. SmartLess is supported by rocket money. Have you ever rediscovered a subscription you forgot about and had been paying for months? I have, and I can't say what it is because I don't want to get in trouble. I just found out like a couple months ago, I've been paying for something and I can't say what it is, because I don't want to get in trouble. I just found out like a couple months ago, I've been paying for something that I didn't know I was getting, or not getting for that matter.

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That's rocketmoney.com slash smartless rocketmoney.com slash smartless. I'm Rex Chapman and these days most people know me for trolling weirdos on the internet, which is fun, but believe it or not I had a whole career before that playing basketball in the NBA. I played for four teams over 12 years in the league alongside so many incredible players. But no matter where I went, there was one guy on every team who was totally untouchable. That was the owner. Plenty of fans don't even know who owns their team, who's making the backroom deals and

moving players around like pieces on a game board. But every week on owned, we're to take the fancy elevator sneak pass security and find out what it means to be a power player in the big leagues of pro sports. Now I said, I keep giving the money, but they keep getting the same result. The family is like the wealthy but un-sixie Kardashians. Follow OND wherever you get your podcast. You can listen early and add free on the Amazon music or one DRIAP.

All right, back to the show. When you decide who you want to talk to, or you, because like for us, it's obviously it's see if hero x, y, or z is interested in talking to us. And, or who could we learn something from because we are less than smart? That's true. How do you go about deciding who you want to be? It's the same.

Everything is a compromise. And sometimes you're pleased with a compromise. Sometimes you have to take one and wait your turn. It's not, that's the most difficult part about it. I'm guessing you gentlemen perhaps do not have the obstacles that we sometimes have getting guests for our show. Because hang on. No, no.

I want to say, everybody I knew when they, because people, they're surprised to see me. They say, well, what are you going to do? And I mentioned this, oh my goodness. Yeah. For some reason, people really embrace the idea of the show. I don't get it. That's oh my goodness. For some reason people really embrace the idea of the film. I don't get it. That's a good point for some reason. That's the part of this success. It's so beautiful because it's so organic because I believe you are friends

from a previous existence. Yes, we're three. And we did start it genuinely so that we could spend time with each other. And it came in a COVID before the pandemic. And that was quite legitimate. And we did set the bar very low. It was very DIY. And it's still, for all intents and purposes, is the way we do the show, the way we put it together. Do it myself. Do it myself.

Thank you. And we, and we, we, we, we try to keep resetting the bar as low as possible. And that's where I wish I could go back and tell my parents in high school how important it was to keep the bar low. That's what I was building to this, you know what I mean? It's like being in the admiral's club waiting for a flight

and you hear three people genuinely interesting and friendly talking to one another. But you had ratings to tell you, oh, there are people watching. We literally opened up our laptops again, and our pajamas doing this, had no idea if people were listening to this. And then you nice people bought tickets to a tour,

which was the only verification we had that people were listening. It's a little absurd. Thank you very much. It is absurd. Dave, I, you know. Oh, it's absurd. Hold it over the side.

This is great. You really, really wanted the man. It's not, you know, everybody. Let me help you out, favorite color. You know, Dave, I don't know if you know that Sean was nominated. For a host of the year. Oh, host of the year.

Host of the year. I, I heart radio podcast, host of the year. Oh, host of the year. Host of the year, I heart radio podcast, host of the year. And again, I'm not to belabor it, but Sean sent Jason in the text saying, hey guys, congrats, we were nominated for this award and the second sentence highlights the fact that he was nominated for a host of the year. To which Jason I was appointed,

well congrats, I guess. Yeah, he didn't read for host of the year. To which Jason I was put in, well, congrats, I guess. Yes. He didn't read the body of the email, just the headline that we got in a couple of nominees. Well, on the most joyous part of that whole thing was you losing. That's right. You lost.

Who wins host of the year? Who is host of the year? No idea. No, no, no, seriously. Who won? I'm being serious. I have no idea. How do you earn nominee?

You should know. Yeah. You've been nominated. You know all the people in here, I can't. I sure. I should. I should. Throw a pin up on your wallet.

Yes. And most of them are John Stewart. I swear. You do. You know, the grind of a talk show that you, the late night of the day of the letterman, everybody knows the grind is just, you work your balls off, like five days a week, you're always there,

everybody knows that, and because of that, you tend to have a more reclusive life, and we all, people are kind of amazed when you appear anywhere, because it's like, oh my god, it's like a magic trick. It's like somebody pulled you into these accusations that you're a reckless. Right?

Oh my god, he's walking upright. But so what do you think has changed since your show? You chose to end your show from then and now have you evolved into other than your Netflix, other than business wise, what do you reflect upon now and think differently about? Your Honor, could I hear the question again, please? Is that what I sound like? Oh, no, that was not even close to what it was better.

That was worse than that. That was Reader's Digest compared to you. Well, I could have started. While you're answering, I'm going to start studying my question. I don't know exactly what to say. Yes, that's OK. That's OK. I just think like, are you more open to things

that you weren't now that you may have not been? Well, I realize that, and perhaps the three of you feel the same, and I hope not, when you have a show, and I don't know that it's like that now, but I was so single-minded that I shut out a lot of other experiences in my life that I should have been enjoying. Well, this is what I'm talking about, David.

Well, I wish you had said that. Easy. We're just not pressing them. Why are you making this so contentious? If you want to lay down for the rest of the therapy, I can go sit over there. But I will say that many, many things that are more important to me now than I knew they were when I had a show.

And I think that's lopsided. So that's a regret of being on the air that long ago. I feel like we're scurrying around family. Let's talk about family, Dave. OK. No, let's talk about your family. What about your sister? Thank you.

Sheeran, she's going to come to Madison. I love Binda Madison, University of Wisconsin. Beautiful. Yeah. Yeah, we're going there. Yeah, I'm going to say we're going there. Yeah, that's the same. Now, I used to love you talking about your drive to work in your monologue.

Did you drive here today? I rode here. You rode here today. Did you? We sent a car? Someone did. OK. Now, do you?

What will? I'm sorry. I thought you meant a motorcycle. I legitimately did. I wish. Oh, you know how I got here? Am I Harley? You know, you got motorcycles.

And I wish it was a door. I came on my motorcycle. My Harley, Davidson, today. That's not true. No. No, no. You've got some. You've got some.

Yeah, but when you get to be my age, every time you get on when you think, oh, I shouldn't be on this. Right. And so they are less written than they get to be my age, you every time you get on when you think, oh, I shouldn't be on this. Right. And so they are less written than they used to be. Do you still like driving fast? Yes, I do, but I don't anymore. I lost my license for a month because of driving fast,

and that took it right out of me. Because... On the merit. On the merit part of the race. Yeah, that is yeah, that's a great road to drive quickly on What what what how fast hands of Connecticut highways hey, yeah How fast where we going? The fastest I've gone in a passenger car. There's two figures. There's the European number and then there's the Long Island

Expressway number. Long Island Expressway 140. Yeah, that's Christmas. Autobahn 150. Nice. Wow. Nice. Now, don't you agree with me?

Nice. Don't you like it a lot. I think that makes a lot of sense, right? So there's no sense. Jason Lemme. No, Jason, you're a very...? So there's no scene, Lemon. Jason, no, Jason, no, Jason, tell him, you're a very, Jason has won the... Well, please, yes, I said,

cheesy celebrity race. You won the... Oh, the Toyota celebrity, Ron, great. But you did that, didn't you? I never did it because I knew I would make a fool of myself. Oh, I bet you would. But you won the race? I did pretty well.

He, first, one year, second and third. I don't like to brag. Wow. So you were on the podium three years in a row? I don't know if they were consecutive. Yeah, I know. But I'm fine. And Jason, you're not going to switch the subject.

And in a non-salebredy race, you also partook in a professional race in the polcanoes, am I right? Yes, we did a lime rock. A lime rock. And then the polka nose, am I right? I, yes, we did a lot, lime rock and then the polka nose, I got in a spill because some dingbat, got in a crash in front and then I had to go through the wreckage, flipped over and the wheel well came up, the wheel came up through the wheel well, smashed my ankle, broke a bone,

only broke a bone I've ever had. And then I said, I'm gonna leave this to the professionals, I'll go back to the cheesy stuff. Well, he illustrates exactly what kept me from doing this sort of thing. He's exactly right. Now, were you on the oval at Pocano? Um, the tri oval. The tri oval? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Um, that you can get some speed going there. But, uh, it's speaking of speed, don't you? What kind of car were you in? This was a Sport Truck series, so it's pick-up trucks, but lowered. It's not, yeah, see, it's not that impressive. There is nothing. Right? Nothing impressive.

Nothing. More exciting than watching trucks. Oh, where do I get my season pass? So, from the excitement of car racing to something truly mundane, I really want to know, what'd you do today? What do you do every day? Now that's what I'm interested in. I want to know what's just a normal day for Dave.

Are you an early riser? Let's start there. Not an early riser. I go to bed late. I stay up late watching climbing movies. Oh, no, no, shut up. Wait a minute. Will, oh God.

He loves, he loves, any of the foreign crime shows on Netflix with subtitles. He'll talk to your ears bleed about that or climbing stuff. Yeah, but wait, what about solo? Did you see solo? Free solo. Free solo. This is years ago for me. Han Solo. No, no, no, see solo? Free solo. Free solo. This is years ago for me.

Han Solo. No, no, no. Free solo. I'm down to watching Salavaki and people climb their way through the Tatras in English subtitled. And I don't know why. I know Alex Hanel, like he's a member of the family. Yeah, sure. And I can't stop watching.

That's the free solo guy. Yeah, he's amazing. I know he's been on of the family. And I can't stop watching. That's the free solo guy, Alex. Yeah, he's amazing. I know he's been on the show, eh? Hey, no, he's the Canadian. That's the Canadian. Sorry. Now, there's something about Mal. But he should be on the show.

He should be on the show. And the 100-foot wave, too. Sorry, just that's incredible. Of course, yeah. Anytime you see these people who are doing incredible things, and the other guy who was 14- just that's incredible. I mean, any time you see these people who are doing incredible things, and the other guy who, yeah, 14-pick. Excellent, yeah.

And we're good. And, no, there is something about Mount Everest. Did you get heckled a lot last night with the business? Yeah, well, we did. I mean, if, if, you know, the sound of seats emptying, counts as heckling, I'm sure. Forgive me.

Can't wait there were quite a few people that left. Let's go, Carol. It's your first, Ellen. There is something about Mount Everest that's like a magical draw to me. Do you have a Mount Everest draw at all? Well, I know quite a lot about Mount Everest from the two dozen films I've watched

about climbing Mount Everest. Would two dozen films I've watched about climbing Mount Everest. Would you? Oh, God no. Really? What do you like about what's fat? I don't know. Yeah.

I just don't know. Somebody's seeing a challenge through like that kind of a hefty lift. Yes, the scenery, typically lovely. And the kind of things I will not see probably in my lifetime regrettably. Yeah, I felt that way like when I went to Paris for the first time. I was like, well, there's a full tower.

It's just like every movie and post-credits. I got it. I'm ready to go. Well, when you're climbing Mount Everest, every film about climbing Mount Everest, I'm sorry, did I lean on your laughter? No. It wasn't going to get higher. So you would not, what about your base camp? No, no, good Lord, no. It's just a helicopter ride.

No, it's not. Helicopter's can't fly above 20,000 feet. Because the air is so thin. No, no, no, but they do rescues that are higher than that, right? No. No. No.

God. Rescue's above that elevation are rarely successful. But you get into what they call the depth zone. The depth zone, yeah. Where your body starts consuming itself. Yeah. And the air is so thin and you lose your voice, and you get dizzy, and you get blockheaded.

And I heard one man describe, he was was coughing up tissue from his own throat. Oh. So you see why I can't live without him. LAUGHTER David. That's great. Now, you don't do climbing either. I don't do climbing either.

My dad climbed Kilimanjaro when he was about 73. Wow. Which is not huge, yeah. But it's a big deal. But it's pretty big. Nineteen thousand feet. And what? Yeah. I always tell these guys stuff about my dad

and they're like, what? And I'm like, well, you never, you guess, and it turns out they never ask. Yeah. Well, kill me. They wrote a book during quarantine. He wrote a note. Yeah, you board us with earlier.

Yeah. And fiction. And fiction. A fiction, but based on a true story. You guys never ask about my dad. Well... It's not a happy story. How do you describe a black hole?

Like, you know what I mean? Well, it's just a just a tire screeching. Speaking of speeding away, yeah. And we don't mean it. Sean, he invites this day, by the way. Just in case you think we're being cruel, he set me up for that. I feel like I came on a bad night.

I know you did come on a bad night. I wanted to ask you just to get out of climbing for a second and go back to just, because I'm fascinated with when you started doing late night. And in fact, I think you, and correct me if I'm wrong, started actually in a daytime show in the hosting capacity. I used to watch it all the time.

It was on NBC at like nine in the morning. Yes, I used to watch it as a kid. I was fascinated by you. Because nobody was doing that kind of comedy, especially in the day and the morning. But you started and that you got that job coming out of you were a standup for many years. And what was that transition like?

Did you know at that moment you were saying, goodbye to your stand-up career and that you were going in different direction? Yeah. In my day, those days, a long time ago, was much easier to know what you were gonna do and know how to get there. And so I knew that if I wanted to get a television show,

I had to go to California and start doing stand-up. And then you get on the tonight show, then if you're lucky other things happen. And that's exactly what happened for me. Where did doing the weather in Indianapolis fit into that plan? That was my nascent television career. So that was the door that was open happened to be the weather door? Yes. Yes. Yes.

And did you enjoy that? I just enjoyed, first of all, not a meteorologist. Did not know anything about the weather. Still really don't. But it was, you know, I was like 20 years old and they put me on TV. So that's kind of what I enjoyed. And then I knew that this is what I wanted to do with my life,

not this necessarily. But nobody wants to do this. It's only about 15 minutes more. Yeah. You're all. And so then I went to California and I got this show and we moved to New York. And it was like Sean said, it was 90 minutes live.

And within a month, the NBC daytime television that were collapsed. And affiliates were running. They were selling their stations. They were burning things. Insurance people were investigating all because of me and my friends. And I don't know how you guys felt about your on-trader showbiz, but you've made a life of it when you were trying to. No, no, but I mean, along you were trying to. I'm trying to. No, no, but I mean, along, you were born to it. Yes, yeah.

How old were you, sir, Jason? How old were your first professional engagement in show business? Little house on the prairie. Little house. Does that, that he knows that? He knows that. Does that, how does that feel, Jason?

I'm, it's going to take me a while to get over that. I remember seeing you on a couple of silver spoons. Oh yeah. Yeah. Dave, did you think that you were gonna do when you moved out to California as a standup? Did you think that you have aspirations to be an actor, to do a sitcom?

Was that something that was, no. What I wanted to do was. Who wants to do those? You know. Ha ha ha ha. Me? No. No, what I wanted to do was... Who wants to do those? It's me. Me? No. No, I just knew I wanted a Johnny Carson's job. Right, right. So you always knew that. If we've not his job, a job like that.

Yeah, because I can't do it all the time. We talk about that a lot, like if you, when you're that young knowing exactly what you wanna do, that your odds go up that you will achieve that, because you're so focused on a goal, isn't that? But what made you, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, Johnny was so good at so many things, and one of them was his kindness and conservative sort of approach to certain things. He was very unthreatening. It's actually a different, it's actually a different,

it was very unthreatening in the best way. Now, your sense of humor has got this incredibly awesome hilarious edge sarcasm, dryness to it, which is near and dear to my heart. Your sense of humor has got this incredibly awesome hilarious edge sarcasm, dryness to it, which is near and dear to my heart. What made you confident that you would be able to make a career of that without America being afraid of it? He's trying to say, why did you think you could be in showbiz? Oh, thank you.

Oh. Well, I was, I had horrible grades in school. I knew I wasn't going anywhere academically, and I had a speech class, my sophomore year in high school, where the first thing you had to do in speech class, stand up and give us an impromptu, five minute introductory speech. I did that, and when I sat down, I realized, oh, I know exactly what I want to do. So, the schooling of it made no difference, oh, I know exactly what I want to do. So the schooling of it made no difference, and then later I figured out a way to do that.

So as you point out, a rare comment on your part. Yep. He does listen to the show. It's amazing. It's so flattering. And I feel bad for a lot of people who just don't know what they want to do, right? Because if you do know that, it's a true gift. Yeah, I agree. But that you were able to take that sense of humor and you do your show and somebody

sits down in that guest chair and they're not being a good guest. And I'll bet that incredibly sharp, caustic sort of sense of humor in the best sense of the word starts to fire and you have to start the self-edit of, how nasty can I be to this person? Yeah, because they deserve it. And America that's watching knows they deserve it, but you gotta kind of calibrate it.

What is that process? Well, yeah, really quick, one of the funniest examples of that in history is the walking phoenix when you just couldn't get anything out of them. And I think your line was, I think your line was, I think your line was, I think your line was, well, I'm sorry, you couldn't make it tonight.

I think you were right. I think your line was, I think your line was, well, I'm sorry, you couldn't make it tonight. Well, I'm sorry, you couldn't make it tonight. I think you were right. Well, I'm sorry, you couldn't make it tonight. Well, I'm sorry, you couldn't make it tonight. Well, I'm sorry, you couldn't make it tonight.

Well, I'm sorry, you couldn't make it tonight. Well, I'm sorry, you couldn't make it tonight. Well, I'm sorry, you couldn't make it tonight. Well, I'm sorry, you couldn't make it tonight. We'll be right back. Since his death in 2009, the world has struggled with how Michael Jackson should be remembered, as the King of Pop or as a monster. I'm Leon Nefak, the host of Fiasco and the co-creator of Slow Burn. And I'm Jay Smooth, a hip-hop journalist and cultural commentator. Michael Jackson was accused of child molestation for the first time in 1993. Our new podcast Think Twice, Michael Jackson, is the story of what came before and what came after.

Throughout the podcast, we explore what makes Michael Jackson seemingly uncancelable. And we dig into the complicated feelings so many of us have when we hear Billie Jean at the grocery store. Through dozens of original interviews with people who watched the story unfold firsthand, think twice as an attempt to reconcile our conflicted emotions about Michael Jackson, the man

with our deep-seated love of his art. Listen to think twice, Michael Jackson, wherever you get your podcasts, or you can binge the entire series ad-free, unaudible, or the Amazon Music app. And now back to the show. And then the opposite would be true. The opposite would be, he did the nicest thing for me once.

We're doing the interview and I said something that was unkind to someone in my family. I thought it was funny and I could say because they were in my family and the audience roared with laughter. We go to commercial and then Dave leans over and he goes, so what we're going to do is I'm going to reintroduce you. You're going to come out and we're going gonna cut that career-cancelling comment you just made. And I remember this, sir. And I said, what do you talk, which part? He goes, you remember when you called such and such and such and such, and I was like,

but they love that. He goes, you're not gonna love it. We're gonna redo the top. And I came back, he re-entrusted me. I came back, we reshot the whole big. How many times have you done that? That was such a nice thing you did for me. Not...

That was the only time you ever did. Never did it, didn't have to do it much. I had to do it quite a lot with myself. Yeah, really? Yeah, yeah, really. I was gonna ask you, do you remember those vividly? The top... Do you have the top 10?

No. Why, I wish... I-I-I'm not asking you. Sure. Yeah, we live in fun times. But I remember this was a thing, Sarah Palin. Near and dear. Near and dear.

Remind me. Remind me. This was a joke I told Sarah Palin and one of her daughters had been at Yankee Stadium. Already funny. She had two daughters at the time. I don't know the state of the family now, but at the time I think there were two. And there was a younger one and an older one. I assumed that it had been the older of the two. It was a matter of the... I'm loving it.

I'm loving it every more, so I love it. Keep going. So I assumed it was the older daughter. And the joke was some clumsy suggestion that Alex Rodriguez had made a move on the daughter. Later, I find out to my embarrassment that it was, in fact, the younger daughter, this joke entirely inappropriate.

So now I... Oh, I remember that. So she was south of 18. I don't know her age. I just know that I had made a mistake. So I thought long and hard, and we had meetings on it, and we crafted an apology to Sarah Palin and her family and to everyone at Yankee Stadium.

And did they respond? Well, here's what happened. I now, it's, I do the opening and you can just feel the lead and sense of dread in the theater because I'm about to pour my guts out, apologizing, and it deserved an apology. It was stupid, ignorant, more than stupid. Which is better, by the way. Ignorant.

Ignorant? Yeah. So I went through the, I'm way. Ignorant. Ignorant, yeah. So I went through the, I'm so sorry, and I didn't mean to, and please forgive me, Sarah, and your beautiful daughter, Tiffany. And we go to commercial and they come back, and they said, her name is Sean. LAUGHTER

LAUGHTER CHEERING Did you tell you had a apology for the apology? Yeah, then we had to do the whole thing again, which was now, you know, nobody wants to sit through the nearly tearful apology twice. Yeah, sure. So you have the luxury of being a slight tape delay where you can go back, you can catch something like that. How do you then?

Have you ever done that? I did Conan once, and I was driving when he was doing after the Tonight Show, the Conan Show, and I was driving back. We had done a bit in the opening, and I thought, boy, I'm gonna spend a lot of time running an apology in the right column of the Huffington Post next week about why this joke.

And so I called and I just said, can you just take it out? They did. And it was a great joke. Did you get requests? Did you get requests like that from guests that would go out? Oh, yeah. In those days, you would hear about it

the next week from their publicist. Sure. Or you would try to make the booking again six months later, you would hear about it from the publicist. I said this one thing that we had to get cut out which we'll cut out of this too is Yeah, I was just like a flip. They might be recording and they won't cut it So Now what is the joke? Can you tell the joke? All right, if you don't tell anyone You know go Sean, Sean. By the way, this was, I'm guessing this was 10 years ago, too.

And it was just a joke that was, again, I thought a great joke. By the way, if he gets canceled, Dave, will you fill in for Will? Sure. No. He doesn't own a laptop. Oh. So that's the requirement of the game. It's just don't own a laptop. Oh. So that's the requirement of the game. It's just don'ting a laptop.

What were you doing in London, by the way? I was writing. I was doing a rewrite on a script. Oh. I'm filled with my, with Chappy. I don't know if people remember Chappy. I remember the name from the show. Yeah.

My writing partner. So we were doing a... Dave, you just missed kind of, I mean, we just touched on it. You kind of missed that cancel culture. Just at the end, yes, it was happening, but not at the rate it. You Dave, you just missed kind of, I mean, we just touched on it. You kind of missed that cancel culture. Just at the end, yes, it was happening, but not at the rate it's happening now, right? That's all.

Yeah, do you think the writing, no, no. Do you think that you're writing process? Good point. Good point. Good point. Careful with the good point. But, slowly. And then he said, good point.

Do you think that you're writing process with your staff each night would have been different in today's culture? Yes, yeah. Without question. Absolutely. And my personal feeling about this is, Careful. And you hear quite a lot of discussion about,

oh, are we too woke? Or is it, are we cancelling too quickly? Are we overcorrecting? And I feel like, you know, let's overcorrect and see what happens. They all create, it's just, the worst that happens is, oh, we've overcorrected. And then it'll re-correct. But there are many, many things a person needs

to be smart and sensitive about that, here to four, perhaps we were not. Two of my favorite guests that you had on your show a lot. One was your first guest and your last guest, Bill Murray. And the other one was the incredible. And I was fortunate to know a tiny bit, Charles Groden. Can you talk a little bit about those two guys? Well, Bill Murray, I a put you in business.

He was in Boston last night. I don't know why he didn't use him. No. He's playing golf at the beach. Oh, playing golf, I'm sorry. Okay, I got some bad info. We couldn't make Bill deal last night. No, Bill put you in business.

And he did it on our first show at 10-30, I think, or, no, 12-30, whenever I was deal last night. Bill put you in business and he did it on our first show at 10, 30 I think, or no, 12, 30, whenever. Depending on time zone. And then he came on the failed morning show. Bill came on and Steve Martin came on the failed morning show also. And it was people like this that gave us a lifeline because they were so and still are beloved and generous.

And to come on, these two guys, and just a miserable little smoking rag of snot. Sure. Yeah. Was something like that? That's what I was talking about them? No, no, I'm talking about my show. I'm not sure.

Not my show. No, it was great. And so in every case, having Bill on the first show was lovely. And did it make you feel like you're making us feel right now like a validation beyond your wildest expectations? We're real happy you're here. I'm happy to be here.

I loved Bill then, and I love Bill now. And he's never, he was always on the show. And he was always generous with his friendship and his talent for me in the show. I think it's such a brilliantly hilarious guy, another guy that, of course, we all, they're... Easily hilarious. That's never worked hard.

Well, there are certain people we always, I was describing that they have no choice in the matter. Bill has no choice but to be funny. Will Farrell, whom we had on our first night in DC, has no choice but to be funny. Marty Short, maybe the funniest person in the planet, has no choice in the matter. He wakes up and that's the way, that's his disposition. But I was also going to say, in Jason brought up, we'd been talking about Charles Grote, and Jason did a film with him, and he was an incredibly funny guy,

an incredibly good actor, and what I always loved about his appearances on your show is he came in with a point of view. So he had a story, which was often that he was not pleased about being on the show. Yeah, not to be there. And it's somehow immediately even you saying, welcome to the show, he was really put off by that. That's right.

And did that kind of, he set up a parameters of a game for the two of you? Yeah, it was delightful, but that model, that template comes from his appearances on the tonight show at Johnny Carson. And he would go on with Carson, and his point of view with Carson was, you don't know anything. You're wealthy. You don't go anywhere. You have people do everything

for you. And then he would start with Johnny. For example, what's a quarter-milk cost? You don't know what a quarter-milk cost. And he would just run Johnny around the theater like that. And the feeling was that that there's bad but no they both loved it and it was the same dynamic that he brought to our show that must have been one of those examples of a guest who when they came on they made the show better and that's so grateful that he'd been there that's that's exactly right and you mentioned Marty short oh my goodness this guy Marty Marty you're right can't help but be fun.

Can't help and I love because he does it all these ways and old bit, but he'll walk into Sean's house and go, I can't believe you live here. I mean, I've seen your work. I can't believe. Yeah. You know, just true. That's all he does.

That's all he does. By the way, by the way, every time, every time I laugh. Of course. Yeah. Of course, brilliant. Yeah, brilliant. laugh. Of course. Yeah. Of course. Brilliant. Yeah, I am brilliant. When are you Canadian? Yeah, very Canadian.

Yeah, we've just seen devil out of Canadians here tonight. Yeah, he's... Listen, I don't want to take any more of your time. You're just an incredible guy. I mean, no, listen, you got to... 58 minutes into this. You don't want to take any more of my time. I... Listen, you know, you got a minute into this you don't want to take any more of my time

I I just can't tell you just be personally. I don't want to speak for these two. This is a Peak in my life and will be hard to be top. I thank you so much Way too kind. No, seriously. I concur. Wait, I think the first time I did your show, I think it was the first time that my parents really believed that I was in show business. Yes. And it's been an absolute thrill to get to know you.

Well, everyone, Sean, did I leave you out? Is there something loving to say about me. No, I do. And it's a longer reach, but go ahead. Yes. No, I... You should have your own talk show. OK, well, by the way, Sean... No, I just want to say...

I want to say... You were going to have a talk show. Who knows what's happening? So listen. Oh, no, wait a minute. You can't keep something like that from these guys. From all these guys. There's a veil. They're not going to say anything. No, I echo what Will said about, yeah, no, about,

and I know you've heard, I know your reaction whenever there's praise that you know, it's always, I get who you are, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. You know, I'm rolling your eyes. No, but I really want to, because I'm never going to have blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah Well, you came back again and again and you always had me back and it was such a every time was like was just like now I just can't believe I'm in your presence because I'm very well. You're so kind Thank you, yeah, yeah, but you didn't you guys weren't guests on the show by accident No, I was I was yeah Somebody can't No, I would love, I would. He wears that, yeah. Somebody chance, like the last minute. That's always good to have.

I will say, there was about five or six years where I was lucky enough to be doing a couple of talk shows and I kept hearing from them. I say, maybe try to get on David. No, he doesn't, not done like kids or, or doesn't want kids on. No, no, didn't say that. Well, it like, I had to...

Wow, yeah. Yeah. If you're too young, no, no, no, I didn't say that. Like I had to... Wow, yeah. Yeah. If you're too young, it's like, but so when finally, it was the yes it was like, when you were old enough to be on the show. Yes. Wait, I'm gonna really embarrass you last thing. This is gonna embarrass the show you.

You know, you did something. You did something. You had a lot of fun. More fun thing on such a high note. No, I know, you did something. You did something. You had, you had, we were on. We were on. No, I know. I said, you're gonna take it further. You were on Alec Baldwin's podcast a long time ago, and you said during the interview, you said,

we just had Sean Hayes, who was doing a show called, I don't know, High Ho promises across the street. And, and you said, God was he funny. He's one of the funniest people, and I saved that clip, and it's still on my phone. Really, yes. And so I will say this. Now I'm going to admit something. I moved into, still not gay.

No. What's happening? I moved into a new house, and oh. And I had not gay. No. I, I, I, what's happening? I moved into a new house and oh. Uh, and, and I had a bunch, I had a, at, at a, at a bunch of photos that were on my laptop and I, and I, and I, and I put them in, and it created a file to print some photos and a lot of photos of the kids, et cetera, uh, to put up outside the boys' rooms. And one of them that I put up to be printed was a photo of, I guess somebody sent me from your show, and I was sitting on the chair just like that

with we did at the top, where I was mimicking, smoking. And the thrill to me was that you, I was doing this bit and you were laughing. And it is figures prominently in my hall amongst with my family and you. Yeah. This is a true story. If my boys were here, they would attest to this. Because it was such a monumental moment in my life.

So thank you, and I thank you. Thank you. There's some pathology behind that. Yeah. How old are your kids? I have three boys. I have a 13-year-old Archie, and I have an 11-year-old able, and I have a 20-month-old, oh, Denny. Very nice. Very good for you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. And you? All of this, I'm not sure their names, but I think it's fifth. He's been making Ozark for the last six years, so... Oh, yeah. Yeah. We love Ozark. You know, Thank you. He's become a very successful, not just actor, and we all love him.

He's become a really successful and incredibly talented director. And, no, it's true. That's just a very successful one. No, you are a successful one. You're talking about showbiz. It needs to be talked. Yeah, you started as a kid on, and I give you a lot of shit, but you started as a kid on, on Little House in the Pra of shit, but you started as a kid on Little House in the Prairie,

and now you become a really successful and very talented director. Yes, you're a nice man. You know what's interesting about it? Show business is a meat grinder, and to begin when you're a child is one thing, to begin when you're a child, and then grow and evolve into a continuing success

in other and every area of show business. Yeah. Virtually impossible. Yes, for sure. Well, Sean, you and OPE is about the only... I'm going to read your Wikipedia page. Thank you. Well, it's easy when you have a north star

of incredibleness like yourself, sir. Let's please all thank the one and only big letterman Thank you very much Thank you very much Always a pleasure my friend. Thank you. Now. I'm going out here Thank you Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. There's a lot of fun. I appreciate that. Thank you Jason. Thank you. I mean, I mean, so crazy.

You guys got Dave Letterman. Yeah. I, uh... This is, I'm gonna get a lot of, I'm gonna get a lot of shit for this, but I legitimately just telling him that story and then him looking at the face as I'm telling that I almost started to cry. I saw you say I saw him start to cry. I did will he's really so. Yeah same I was like should I tell him this and I'm going to break down it's gonna be embarrassing.

So but you know what did you notice what he did on the way out which was really cool. He did the same thing that he did on his talk show where he goes like this and he just goes hey thanks for coming thanks for coming. Thanks for coming thanks for coming I really appreciate. You know I don't know about you guys I. I really appreciate it. I was the best. I don't know about you guys. I mean, I know you guys as a teenager, as a guy who's whatever, does matter how old I am. But growing up in the 80s, the thing to do

was on weeknights was to stay up late enough to watch late night with David. Before he did the late show on CBF, which was also amazing, but to do that, and so much of the things that I loved about comedy were formed from watching him. Yeah, for sure, for sure. And just so that you guys know, not that this is about us,

because it's about all of us, but just so that you guys know. Since when is it not about us? This was an enormous thing for us. us like the fact that he said yes I mean He said he said yes to do this he said yes to do this because People listen to it. That's you guys. So thank you for doing this for us and how Thank you for doing this for us. And how would he sign off at the end of the night?

No, Sean, no. What I'm just asking. Give us a second. Let it breathe. I'm just saying I can't remember how he would. Just knowing that he's still out there speeding along all those highways and byways. Thank you guys so much. Smartless is 100% organic and artisanally handcrafted by Rob Armjurf, Bennett Barbaco, and Michael

Granterry. Smart, last.