So True with Caleb Hearon - Lea DeLaria Paved The Way
Episode Date: May 22, 2025Welcome back! Our guest this week is the legendary Lea DeLaria! Lea and Caleb talk her trailblazing career as the first openly gay comedian to appear on late night television, getting arreste...d, a certain harrowing night with Jesse Tyler Ferguson, and so much more! Check out Lea’s Jazz Brunch show! https://54below.org/artists/lea-delaria/ Join our Patreon for an exclusive extended interview with Lea and other bonus content! https://patreon.com/SoTruePodcast?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink Follow Lea! @realleadelaria Follow the show! @sooootruepod Follow Caleb! @calebsaysthings Produced by Chance Nichols @chanceisloudGo to www.hims.com/SOTRUE for your personalized ED treatment options.There’s no replacement for human connection. Better with people. Better with Alma. Visit www.helloalma.com/SOTRUE to get started and schedule a free consultation today.Make Any Day Payday! Thanks to Earnin for sponsoring the show! Transform your living space today with Cozey. Visit www.Cozey.com, the home of possibilities, made easy.About Headgum: Headgum is an LA & NY-based podcast network creating premium podcasts with the funniest, most engaging voices in comedy to achieve one goal: Making our audience and ourselves laugh. Listen to our shows at https://www.headgum.com. » SUBSCRIBE to Headgum: https://www.youtube.com/c/HeadGum?sub_confirmation=1 » FOLLOW us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/headgum » FOLLOW us on Instagram: https://instagram.com/headgum/ » FOLLOW us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@headgum So True is a Headgum podcast, created and hosted by Caleb Hearon. The show is produced by Chance Nichols with Associate Producer Allie Kahan and Executive Producer Emma Foley. So True is engineered by Casey Donahue and engineered and edited by Nicole Lyons. Kaiti Moos is our VP of Content at Headgum. Thanks to Luke Rogers for our show art and Virginia Muller our social media manager.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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This is a HeadGum Podcast.
McCrispy strips are now at McDonald's.
Tender, juicy, and its own sauce.
Would you look at that?
Well, you can't see it, but trust me, it looks delicious.
New McCrispy strips, now at McDonald's.
Because you were getting x-rays, we need to make sure that you weren't pregnant.
I could have solved that problem for you. Because you were getting x-rays, we need to make sure that you weren't pregnant.
I could have solved that problem for you.
What I said was, honey, honey,
if I'm pregnant, I'm changing my name to Mary
and taking to riding donkeys is what I said.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. And about six months ago, I pulled out all my late 90s sunglasses.
I've been wearing them ever since.
It's back baby.
Happily.
Well, Leah, I'm so glad that you're here.
Thank you for doing this.
Thanks for having me, Caleb.
It's so exciting.
I'm such a huge fan.
Who named you Caleb?
Who named you Caleb?
Well, you know my mom who was into the Bible.
Of course, because I mean, that's the only place you're gonna find a Caleb.
And that and seven brides for seven brothers.
Uh-huh.
Well, she says she picked it because it means bold, which we'll take.
And she's a nice lady.
But she, I grew up in Missouri.
Where?
Chill Coffee, up north.
Oh, I'm from St. Louis.
We're from Belleville.
Well, I'm from Belleville, which is, yeah.
Outside. But you say St. Louis because people are like if
you say Illinois people automatically go to Chicago. Yeah yeah yeah they take you
to Chicago but in fact you're from just outside St. Louis. Right. And you spend a
lot of time there right in St. Louis going is that where you were like
hanging out when you were growing up? I left so fast no I was I I was I left
home when I was let's see that would it be in I was, I left home when I was, let's see, that would have been 22.
So yeah, I left home when I went to San Francisco in 1980. But yeah, as a little gay kid, yeah,
I was growing up in St. Louis.
Yeah. And you went to San Francisco when you were 22 to do comedy.
I just, it happened. It wasn't that I went there to do comedy. It just sort of happened.
And mostly because the Valencia Rose
was this club that was opened by Ron Lanza
and they started doing this thing.
They were gay comedy night.
Like they had a little open night that was for queers.
So the Valencia Rose was definitely a kind of a queer
community house. It was
just so many things happen there. There was art, there was all this stuff. It was
it was queer people hanging out, you know, before we really had community centers.
So they started doing this Monday night gay comedy night and so I was like,
oh that's interesting, because I was writing plays at the time and they were
comedies of course and I so I went, I'm gonna go take a look at that,
right, and it was like, where are the comics?
They were like, they were like lesbians
with acoustic guitars, and like, there was a fucking mime.
There was a fucking mime.
Why would a mime show up anywhere where people wear T-shirts that say silence equals death?
Yeah.
So it was like, I mean, what the fuck?
So I was like, you know, there was one comic, his name was Tom Ammiano, he was the host of the show.
Tom was very good.
And I just thought, fuck this.
And you could see him, he's like, ugh, it's mine.
So the next week I went and I just tried out some material.
And all my peers say, no you didn't, I killed.
The first time I read it.
I think you did, I bet you did.
All my peers, every comic of my generation, from Dave to all of us that we all know each other,
they all tanked the first time they did it.
Yeah.
And Rosie O'Donnell went so far as to actually be stealing
Jerry Seinfeld's material the first time she was on stage,
because she didn't know that was a no-no.
Yeah.
She didn't know you weren't supposed to.
A lot of people do that when they start out.
They'll just do their favorite jokes up there.
Imagine.
It's like all these comics going, you suck.
You fucking asshole.
With like, she talks about it openly,
so I'm not like letting it out or anything.
But yeah, I fucking killed.
They were, you weren't supposed to do,
you're supposed to do like no more than,
I wanna say six minutes or something,
and when it was close to the time,
they would, instead of bringing out a hook or whatever,
they'd say telephone call, telephone call.
And they let me just stay on stage for 15 minutes.
I just, I did fucking 15 minutes.
You did 15 minutes the first time you got up there?
Good God.
It was insane. That's nuts. Yeah. So then after that you just
did you just start doing stand-up kind of all over the city or what was the? What
happened then was then Tom went you want to host this with me? So I hosted it with
him and then I said to Tom we should do we are now starting to get all these
comics that are pretty fucking good and we need to do another night that's not an open mic
where nobody's getting paid except us
because we were the hosts, that where we can pay
these comics and so we started doing,
so we had gay open mic comedy every Monday
and gay comedy night every Saturday night
at the Valencia Rose and he and I would switch off hosting.
Although we would, you know, tag team Monday.
We would tag team Monday, that we did together.
And basically, I did, you're gonna love this,
it was April 20th, so it was 420, 1980,
the first time I did that 15 minutes.
That was so long ago, we didn't even call it 420.
420 wasn't a thing, right?
You know what I mean?
It wasn't a fucking thing.
But it was 420, and by September of that year,
I quit my day job and was supporting myself solely
as a stand-up comic.
So from April doing your first set, 15 minutes,
which is psycho, to September, you're full-time
doing comedy.
Yeah.
That's nuts.
Yeah. What the fuck?
So I haven't had a day job since September 1980. What is, what are you,
how, how are you paying? What is, okay.
What is paying your bills full time with comedy at that time? What like,
are you mostly in San Francisco or you were on the road by then?
I was in San Francisco and on the road. So I mean, I didn't,
the problem with San Francisco was that was it.
You know what I mean?
There weren't that many places.
I performed at a lot of dyke bars and a lot of bars
and a lot of cabaret kind of places.
The kind of material that I was doing,
it wouldn't go, comedy clubs just didn't work.
It just didn't fucking work.
I tried, but you know, I'd be like,
having to deal with people heckling me because I was wearing a tie, you know what I mean?
And anybody that's ever seen me do stand up,
you are so fucking stupid if you try to heckle me.
That is just, you are just asking for death.
Are you fucking kidding me?
I mean, I got a mouth, right?
And that's the other thing, my comedy,
that's how I was able to do 15 minutes.
It's all very improvisational when you see me.
I mean, I know I'm gonna talk about something
and then I just start talking.
And so that was how I got to 15 minutes.
It wasn't like I even had material
that I was planning on doing.
I just knew I was gonna talk about this, this, this,
and that, that's how it went.
So at a comedy club, it'd just be me dealing
with the insults and it's like, can I,
I'd like to do a set.
So I found that if I went to the queer bars and the cabaret kind of houses, that'd be
great.
Then I went to, what happened was I came to New York City and I did a set at Don't Tell
Mamas and a woman who owned a nightclub in Provincetown, Massachusetts, was in the house and she walked up and she said,
"'We don't really have any lesbians.'"
In P-Town, no shit.
Well, we didn't.
We didn't, we didn't then.
Now there's a ton.
Back then, she goes,
"'We don't have any real,
"'there aren't really a lot of lesbians.'"
There were actually a lot of lesbians who went there.
There were just no lesbian performers.
But I don't know if it'll work.
You wanna come try it. So I don't know if it'll work. You want to come try
it. So I came and the first show I had, there were two people in my audience, right? It's like,
fuck it. We're just, we're going to work this out. So those two people told their friends. And then
by honestly, after a couple of weeks, I was selling out every show, a hundredkes and n****s are coming to my show. Every show. And everybody at that
time, so we're talking 1982, right? So that was the place that everybody went for, if
you were queer, you went to Provincetown. So that really made me kind of a household
name with queers in Canada and America and that's when I was really
touring. I went on a major tour and then it was 93 that I did the Arsenio Hall
show. The first openly gay comic to do late night. Yeah well actually television
period in America. We pushed the late night because it's more prestigious.
It just is. But the reality was is that I was the first openly
gay comic on television in America. And then once I did that, that set me on the road all
over the world, every English speaking country in the world. Yeah. And so that happened.
You know, what? Not to ask you a what was it? How was it back then question? But I am
going to. Oh, please do. You you know, being gay is such a huge,
I don't think about it much, it's just my,
it's just what I talk about up there.
Yeah, you bitches, you bitches.
I knew it.
You should fuck you and get down in your hands
and kiss our fucking feet.
I knew it.
For what we've given you, you fucking assholes.
Here she goes.
Just once, I'd like you to get a little bit
of the discrimination that I had to fucking deal with.
You climbed uphill both ways in the snow.
Yeah, motherfucker, but I did.
I know you did.
You fucking, I didn't even start this shit.
They have like gay clubs in high school, you know.
I had a club in high school for lesbians, it was P.E. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha You got arrested you got arrested for open notorious homosexuality in my home state, Missouri and in Illinois
What the hell does that mean? So what happened? You were just lesbian in public?
In Illinois I got busted for I was holding a girl's hand
You criminal
In Missouri I was doing a whole lot more than holding her hand
What they walked in on you eating pussy?
What's going on?
We were by a lake, that's all I'm going to say.
Where in Missouri was this?
Columbia.
Oh, come on.
You were allowed to be gay over there now.
Oh, it's Stevens College?
Yeah.
OK, so here's the skinny.
I'm not Stevens College.
No, here's the skinny.
Here's the skinny. So my not Stevens College, come on. Here's the skinny, here's the skinny.
So my best friend went to Stevens College, right?
I did not go to college.
Well, you went for five minutes, right?
I went for five minutes and left.
It was boring, it was too boring for me.
So what I would do is I would go visit her
basically every weekend.
So I basically was a student at Stevens College. I mean, if you are what you eat, I was a student at Stevens College.
Yeah, I bet you were real popular at Stevens College.
I gobbled those girls down, man. It was so much fun, which is why I was there
every weekend, every weekend to visit my my best friend and she never saw me, I just dropped the suitcase.
See ya Sunday night!
Good lord.
So you got arrested in Columbia.
Did they take you to jail?
Yeah, I was bailed out the next morning.
It was not a crime that I got a major fine for,
I didn't have to go in front of a judge
or anything like that. Did you at least get a cool mugshot out of it? I
hope so I assume so. God don't remember. We got to find it. We tried to find the
record we tried to find some of these records and these records are so old
that a lot of no ones and the one that happened in Illinois the it burnt down
like the courthouse where all these records were burnt down.
Jesus.
So that was gone.
That one's out of there, yeah.
Yeah, that was gone.
Good Lord.
Did the other girl get arrested?
Oh yeah, we were both arrested.
Oh nice, okay, that's fair.
We were both arrested.
We got...
They put us in separate cells though, like they thought,
what am I going to continue eating her pussy in prison?
We got to put us in separate cells.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that was smart of them.
Yeah, fucking ridiculous.
That is so funny.
Well, I have been a huge fan of yours for such a long time,
but I knew you before Orange is the New Black,
but Orange is the New Black was where I really
spent a lot of time watching you.
Yeah, that's when everything exploded.
I've had, like I said,
I've had three feeding frenzies in my life
The first one was our Senio and the second one was on the town
That was when the whole Broadway world opened up for me
and I became that I was the toast of New York for a while and then
Orange is a new black which and I you know, I've been moderately famous my entire life
I've always said for me. It was a long climb to the middle. Yeah. Right? You know? And then Orange is a New Black. Explosion. Yeah. So I can't,
yeah, I can't go anywhere without getting my picture taken a thousand times.
Did you ever imagine when you were growing up in Belleville were you like
yeah I'm gonna be a big famous comedian someday? Yes I did. I knew it. I knew it.
Not a comedian, but I always want but I'm doing what I wanted to do
my whole life, was to perform.
In whatever way that may be.
It just so happens that comedy took me there.
Yeah.
You know, so great.
So after Arsenio, you start kind of this,
that's Arsenio's 93.
Yeah.
And you start touring around all over the place.
All over the place.
I did like the Edinburgh Festival
and won Best of the Fest. And then they have another festival in Wellington, New Zealand. I won Best of
the Fest there. I did a big tour of Australia. I've been to Australia a bunch
of times and do the five cities. And England, and I actually did live in
England for about a decade. I had a place in England and a place in New York. I was
going back and forth constantly.
You were in London? In London, just outside of London, and a place in England and a place in New York. I was going back and forth constantly. You were in London or where?
In London, just outside of London,
and a place called Northwood, which is west of Wembley.
Most people know it because it's next to Pinner,
where Elton John was born.
But I like Pinner because there's a pub there
called the Queen's Head,
and it has different ales every Friday.
So I was there usually every Friday
trying one of the new ales.
Nice.
Why'd you stop doing that?
Why'd you stop the back and forth?
Well, first, because my girlfriend and I split up.
So she lives in the house that we own together.
And God bless her.
Enjoy her life.
You know, we're dykes, so we're friends.
Yeah, of course.
Talking on the phone every day, sitting flowers.
It's culturally a lesbian thing. You know the phone every day, sitting flowers. It's culturally
a lesbian thing, you know, you keep your exes around. That way you can borrow a backpack
in any color to go with any outfit. It's funny how those things, nothing has changed. Every
lesbian I know, fucking 20 year old lesbians, 70 year old lesbians, some of those things
are just like, that's how it is with y'all. Y'all are over there being friends with your exes
in a crazy way.
I know, I had this young guy come up,
we were going into the cubby hole,
and she started to go in and then she turned around
and she goes, I can't go in there.
And I said, why?
And she said, my ex is in there.
And I went, bitch, let me know when 10 of them are in there.
And I walked in, I was like, you gotta be kidding me.
One X is in there?
Jesus.
Level up, Rookie, that's crazy.
Crazy, come on, let's go now.
Yeah, I have that conversation with,
I've always been the bad girl dyke comedy.
I think everybody knows that.
I've always been kind of the badass.
Kate Clinton was always the good girl.
Kate and I are really good friends, by the way.
So I've always said, Kate, why don't you please just
just be like you are off stage, on stage once.
Just do it once, just be mean once.
But we, Kate had a party and it was all these
like dyke performers that were there.
And they started talking about how many times
they'd had sex with how many different people.
And my head was exploding,
because they were like,
oh, I think I've had sex with six women.
What?
I've had sex with more than six women in two hours.
Are you kidding me?
I know, and then Kate,
because I guess I must've been making quite a face,
because Kate looked at me and she said,
it's in the thousands, isn't it, Leah?
And I went, yeah, Kate, it is.
It's like.
And you were dodging the cops while you were doing it.
That's nuts.
Right, thank you.
Yeah, we gotta put some respect on your name, I understand.
I'm gonna start spreading the word.
Leah was really about it.
That is so funny.
So you were, okay, when help me understand the timeline.
You're in San Francisco in the 80s.
Yeah.
And then how long do you stay there?
And then where do you go?
Well, once I started doing Provincetown, let's see, we were we were kind of we were in San
Francisco, we went to Provincetown to do the gig there.
Then we kind of said we
liked New York so we were we were in New York for a minute and doing Provincetown
and then the my comedy partner was actually my girlfriend we split up so
she went back to San Francisco and I basically did Provincetown Boston.
Gotcha. Yeah but only for a couple years cause 93 was when I went to LA after Arsenio,
I was in LA.
Yeah.
Fucking hated it.
And I'm just very East Coast.
Yeah, far too East Coast for LA.
I just, you know, drives me fucking crazy.
What about it?
A lot of white people with dreadlocks.
Yeah.
I just, you know.
I think they've all moved north now,
you might be safe these days. Yeah, I might be a little safer. They're in Seattle and Portland now. I don, you know. I think they've all moved north now. You might be safe these days.
Yeah, I might be a little safer.
We're in Seattle and Portland now.
I don't know, it's just a little, also, I'm just,
I don't have, I remember going into the New York bagel
place that's there on Santa Monica Boulevard.
What was it?
I think it was literally called New York Bagels.
Wasn't that the name of it?
I don't know.
It was a bagel joint, and I went in there
and I was kind of in a hurry and I went,
I went, eh, eh, duh, duh, duh.
And the guy by the counter was like,
it looks like such a nice day today.
It looks so nice out.
Is it nice out?
It looks really nice.
And you go make that fucking bagel.
And I basically, put that fucking bagel in a bag!
God!
You know, so.
No time for politeness. I just, yeah, I'm not, that's what I mean.
I fit in here so much better.
You know, it's, and I'm kind and nice to people.
A lot of people think I'm not, which is interesting if you talk to me for more than a couple of
minutes.
You know, I'm actually a pretty decent person and a nice person.
I'm not mean unless you deserve it.
And if you deserve it, I'll come at you so fast. Yeah, I know. I can feel it.
Yeah. I'm scared of you. You can't be afraid of you. No, I'm not.
You can't be afraid of me. I'm not. But no, I just want you on my team.
I want you on my side. If something, if some shit goes down and you're in the
room, I go, please let me let her be on my side. Oh hell yes. Yeah. I don't want
to be. I don't want to be on your side. I, hell yes. Yeah, I don't wanna be, I don't wanna be- I'm already on your side. I don't wanna be against you. Cause you're a bear, right?
Sure, why not?
I'm not.
I'm not.
I'm not.
Sure, why not?
Because, you know, I just always say I'm bear adjacent.
I mean, if I was a, I'd be a bear because, you know,
all they wanna do is eat, fuck, and laugh.
And that's just my life right there.
Wait, that is what I wanted to do.
Wait, hold on.
You're a bear. You're a bear.
Wait, hold on.
You are a bear.
Hold on.
Were you hanging out with a lot of gay guys
in San Francisco? Always, yeah.
My best friends are still all gay guys.
Yeah, are they all here?
No, no.
Well, I think famously people know
that Jesse Tyler Ferguson is my best friend.
And yeah, and he and Justin,
and I have a ton of gay boyfriends
like here in the city that I hang out with.
All the boys at Titanic are gay,
every stinkin' one of them.
Oh my god, I just outed Andrew Keenan Boulder.
Um.
Um.
Um.
Um.
Um.
Um.
Um.
Um.
Um.
Um.
Um.
Um.
Um.
Um.
Um.
Um. Um. Um. Um. Um. at a game night for Dan Levy's birthday last year.
There was like, you know, maybe eight of us.
And I, God, it was so humiliating.
I misunderstood.
We had played a game where, maybe it wasn't quite charades,
but we had played a game where you say out loud
what the thing was and then someone else acts it out.
Basically, there was a part of the game
where you say out loud the clue.
What?
Celebrity?
Maybe? There are three rounds and the same clues.
Yeah.
Celebrity.
Okay, so there's one where you're supposed to say it and one where you're not supposed
to say it.
Yeah.
Well, I thought I was doing the say it round when I was actually supposed to be doing the
quiet round.
And I got up in front of everybody and I so confidently just yelled out the thing.
And everyone in silence is like, and I ruined the game, of course.
And everyone in silence.
And then Dan just goes, honey, that's not this round.
And my reaction was to sprint out of the room.
I sprinted to the kitchen,
and then of course everyone's laughing at me,
and that was the first time I had hung out with Jesse.
So Jesse, if you're watching, please don't think less of me.
It was humiliating.
It was humiliating.
Trust, I can tell you stories
that would humiliate the fuck out of Jesse. Oh, tell can tell you stories that would humiliate
the fuck out of Jesse.
Oh, tell one.
Come on, tell one.
What's it going to hurt?
This is a real, this is a reader's digest.
I, again, used to live with Jesse.
When I had my place in England, before I got my apartment
here, I was in England a lot of the time.
So whenever I had to come to New York to do a play,
to do a reading, to shoot a television show,
whatever it was, I stayed with Jessie.
So it was Jessie, me and Montego Glover,
who's a pretty well-known Broadway actress.
We all lived together and that was a time.
So I was coming to town because I was doing a reading
of a new musical called Drowzee's Chaperone
and Jesse met me for lunch.
He was in Spelling Bee at the time.
So, was it Spelling Bee, Jesse?
Yeah, he was in Spelling Bee.
So he,
sorry, he meets me for lunch,
we're sitting there, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, and he's like,
okay, I've got to go, and I was like, I've got to go to rehearsal, and I stand up and
immediately fall to the ground.
I had wrenched my back picking up my suitcase.
What happened was I was very, I'm always very careful about that because my back isn't great,
but it was one of those moments where somebody went, oh my God, you're lethally area. As I was picking up my suitcase, it distracted me and I went, oh, that
hurt. But it was fine. I sat in the car, I went there, blah, blah, blah. Stood up from lunch,
fell to my knees. Jesse had to take me to the emergency room because I mean, I could not move.
He goes, okay, I don't have to be at the theater for a couple hours, so let's get you to the
emergency room. He gets me to the emergency room and they're like, we need you to pee in a bottle.
Pee in a cup, and I was like, I can't bend over.
Jesse Tyler Ferguson.
Bless his heart.
My gay, gay, gay, gay boyfriend.
Held a fucking cup.
While I peed in it. While you pissed in it?
No!
While I pissed in it.
Jesse was like,
if you piss on my hand.
Did you?
No, of course not!
And while it was happening
it was Jesse, please don't make me laugh.
It hurts so bad to laugh.
So we're like, and we're laughing.
So then we come back and we come back, we're waiting.
I'm like in this room waiting.
And the doctor comes in and goes, I'm really sorry.
You're gonna have to do that again.
Something happened and I had to do it again.
So poor Jesse had to do it twice.
No.
Wait.
Oh my God.
So he comes back, he comes back after doing Spelling Bee,
at this point I'd done all the things
that I was supposed to do, and they told me
that I strained my back and basically gave me Tylenol.
They just gave me Tylenol.
Well, it's like no shit, that's why I'm here.
I know I strained it.
I strained my back.
Yeah, of course.
I'm like, I'm having muscle spasms.
Just take this tile and I'll go to sleep and you'll be fine.
So I'm in...
So I'm in Jesse's bedroom, in his bed.
Jesse is on a futon that when I stay there,
I would stay in his bed.
He would stay on the futon and I have to pee.
By the way, I sleep naked.
So, oh, this is important. I sleep naked. I always sleep naked. Oh, I have to pee. By the way, I sleep naked. So, oh, this is important.
I sleep naked.
I always sleep naked.
Oh, I have to pee.
I kind of pull that and I can't get up.
No, I can't get up.
It's bad.
So I went, Jesse.
And he goes, what?
And I was like, I really have to pee
and I honest to God cannot get up.
And he goes, okay.
So he comes over
and Jesse weighed 30 pounds soaking wet at that time when he was a zygote little
guy he was really skinny little guy may never so he's trying to pull me up it's
not working and I'm naked and I'm and I'm like screaming and he goes,
what should I do?
And I said, I think we have to call 911.
So yes, we have to call 911.
So he calls 911 and I'm laying there in bed
and he's like running around.
He's like putting on clothes.
He's fixing his hair.
I'm like, what are you fucking doing?
He goes, Leah, firemen are going.
The whole thing, yes, two big firemen come in
and they're like, I'm naked.
Jesse's in a French maid costume.
Yeah, basically.
He's like, she's in there, boys.
I mean, so funny.
So they're like, they, firemen are able to get me up.
But I really, again, I really have to pee.
So Jesse has to help me into the bathroom to help me pee
because I can't get myself down.
And then he has to dress me.
And then they put me on a gurney and they take me to the next hospital
where once again, I'm asked to pee in a car.
Stop it. So now this is the fourth asked to pee in a cup. Stop it.
So now this is the fourth time that Jesse has had to deal
with urination for me.
Do they not have nurses in these fucking hospitals?
Well, that was what I'm like, somebody, I can't do this.
Somebody has to do it.
And they looked at him and said, can you do it?
It's like they didn't have a nurse or something.
Do we have a fucking LPN in this hospital?
Good Lord.
Fucking crazy, right?
So we go through the whole thing
and the doctor says, you were horribly misdiagnosed.
You have sprained your back.
It is bad.
You'll have to sleep sitting up.
These are the pills you're gonna have to take.
I had to leave.
I couldn't do drowsy chaperone.
I didn't even make it to the first fucking rehearsal.
I had to like, I'm out of drowsy chaperone. I didn't even make it to the first fucking rehearsal. I had to like, I'm out of drowsy chaperone.
I can't move.
Jesse's now sleeping in his bed.
I'm in the chair, the futon that he was in
because I have to sleep like sitting up and everything.
Like all this is happening.
And just before we leave the hospital,
I say, why did I have to pee in a cup so many times?
And they said,
because you were getting X-rays
and we need to make sure that you weren't pregnant.
I could have solved that problem for you.
Well, what I said was, honey, honey,
if I'm pregnant, I'm changing my name to Mary
and taking to riding donkeys is what I said.
Jesse almost peed his pants. He was so pissed about the at first. Then when I said that,
Jesse almost peed his pants. Meanwhile, this is the this was the day he went in that very
fucking day. He was going in for the class. He was auditioning for the class that day.
And like he, instead of he being,
getting his sleep or whatever,
he stayed up with me all night.
He went and he got just did the audition
and got the part as we all know.
But the best part is we get home,
we're going like Jesse's, we've got the medication.
He gets me in the chair he
puts up the Montego wakes up with a little eye mask on walks in her little
baby doll pajamas which is another reason why I love staying at that
apartment. Montego walks in with her little baby doll pajamas on her little eye mask and
she's like this, oh how are you guys? What did you sleep well?
There was a fucking ambulance out front there were firemen in here I was screaming like I was being murdered by an axe murderer and you slept
She goes there were not firemen in here
She slept through the whole fucking thing nuts right that is completely insane crazy story
And you know what?
Jesse doesn't come out looking so bad and all that.
He looks like a really good friend.
Oh, he's one of the best friends I ever had in my life.
But knowing that he held your piss cup
is a little embarrassing for sure.
Oh, absolutely.
More than once.
Yeah, multiple of your piss cups.
And got me dressed.
Yeah.
And put me on his toilet, I mean,
while he was fixing his hair
because the firemen were coming.
I love that so much.
Oh, so funny.
But that was, it was like when we went,
Leah, firemen are coming.
It was like, please wait.
It hurts so bad.
It hurts so bad.
Oh, that is so funny.
I can picture the two of you.
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Okay. We are back and better than ever with our friends at Alma. Today's episode is brought
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The you high. It makes sense. You hang out with gay guys because you have one of my favorite
jokes of all time. I don't know the lot of lesbians listen to the show and I don't know
how many of them are familiar with this fact, but you have one of my favorite jokes of all time. I don't know, a lot of lesbians listen to this show and I don't know how many of them are familiar with this fact, but you have one of my favorite jokes of all time, which is
what does a lesbian bring to a second date? A U-Haul. And then the follow-up, what does a gay guy bring
to a second date? What second date? Yeah. I mean, that is so fucking funny. And you originated the
fucking U-Haul joke. That is, yeah, I wrote the U-Haul joke and we keep trying to get U-Haul to hire me to
be the face of U-Haul. Just you like this on the side of every U-Haul
truck. They will, you know, just let me do a U-Haul
commercial. Let's do it. I can do it on my Instagram. I've got like well over a million
followers. Let's do a U-Haul commercial. Come on, you all. Let's do it. Just for gay pride. Let's do it you all commercial. Come on you all, let's do it.
Just for gay pride, let's do it for gay pride.
Just pop up in the back, a bunch of lesbians run out.
It'll be fun.
Oh my God, so funny.
But yeah, that's a joke.
It's like, fuck me, I wish when you wrote a joke
you got residuals, that's all I'm gonna say.
I wish they sent you a check in the mail
every once in a while.
Well the oranges knew black residuals
have to be pretty good, no?
Are they not?
You know we went on strike over this, right?
They're not sending you good residuals for that show?
They never did.
Shut up.
Oh my god, this was so famously a part of the strike.
I'm so surprised you don't know this, Kayla.
I know the residuals, but I just assumed a show as big as y'all's
that y'all were getting something.
No, no, no.
When Orange is the New Black started, we started filming in 2012. Nobody knew what this was going to be. We all knew it was the future,
but we didn't know how it was going to look. So basically, Netflix used us, and all the other
streaming services, then handed it over to all the other streaming services as a template on how to fucking screw the actors so that so that the streaming service and the company that
they and the men who are the presidents and blah blah blah got all the money
from these shows we got doodly squad we were told that we weren't eligible for
residuals that they weren't necessary under a side contract.
Because like the new media shit.
Because it was a new media.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So- I mean, I knew we were all getting fucked.
I just thought that maybe y'all got in before that or something.
No, and then- No, you were the original getting fucked.
We were the original getting fucked.
Geez. We literally, that was-
Because I assure you that Robin Wright and those guys were getting paid.
Yeah.
And they were getting their residuals, but we weren't.
It was like a show that was women, and that's also part of it.
And a lot of non-white women.
Yeah.
Also part of it.
So, yeah, they used that, and then they shared it.
And a lot of other, that's why we struck.
And it was over the residuals of streaming services.
That's one of the major reasons why we struck.
Yeah, and I knew that, but I guess I just thought,
I mean, I thought maybe that that was something
that had changed, because I think about like, you know.
$24.27 was my last residual check from Orange.
Jesus Christ, that is nuts.
And it's still watched by over 200 million people in 190 countries.
Yeah that's fucking nuts. And some people who don't who are not actors or don't
work in the business might understand how might not understand how crazy that
is but if that had been a network show in 2010 or 2009 or whatever you'd be
buying fucking multiple properties off just the residual checks. Absolutely. Yeah.
As Jesse can attest. Yeah, no shit.
Because his show was a network show and mine was streaming.
Yeah.
And it's just that we talk about it all the time.
They really fucked us over.
And you know, you have a thing is if you're in this business,
you get it.
I just got to hit show.
Yeah.
I'm never going to have to worry about money again.
I never have to worry about work again.
I'm never going to have to... A lot of people who were on
Orange now have day jobs. Lots.
Yeah. I mean this this is why so many of us do this now. It's like I was in
writers rooms. Writers rooms don't really pay anymore. This is the shit that pays
now. It's like we have to go make our own thing.
Yeah. I always feel that the writers and the actors get screwed more than anybody else in our industry. Yeah, it's horrible.
That's why when the writers went on strike, I walked the picket line with
the writers. We hadn't gone out on strike yet. Yeah, but I was very vocal about we
need to join the writers on this strike. Yeah, and I was out there with the
writers. I have a ton of, yeah, tons of friends who are television writers, so
out there walking with them. Yeah. Yeah. And then are ton of, yeah, tons of friends who are television writers, so out there walking with them.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And then are you spending more time, I mean you're doing Titanic right now.
Yes.
Which is so fun.
And then I'm also working on my, I'm working on my tour for the Outrage Tour, I'm calling it.
So Titanic's done and we're starting to book that so the rest of this year is gonna be me
Doing that and then I had a hysterectomy last summer a full hysterectomy, and I'm writing
I'm kind of Writing a show about it. Yeah, is that is that the outrage tour?
Is that no outrage is about what the fuck is going on in our country right now?
That's going on, but while I'm doing the outrage tour
I'm putting together this special that I in my mind is gonna be probably an
off-broadway musical called Leia de la Ria is hysterical.
Yeah. So Outrage, is it gonna be an hour of stand-up? Is that the...
It's an hour? Yeah, but you know, I do music too. So that when I do a show, it's
always everything I do combined. So
yeah it's gonna be it's music and it's comedy and it's yeah fun. Great. So when is
that gonna start? I think well I just I actually did it in San Francisco in
January like that was the first one and I then went, okay, so I fix this, I fix this, I fix this. You know, that's what I do.
And then I did it in Florida.
When was that?
March, I guess March.
Sorry, I had COVID, just in case anybody wants to know.
I had COVID really fucking badly.
So I'm still dealing with COVID brain.
I've actually got long COVID now.
I can't believe it or not. I can't taste a goddamn thing
No way you're looking at me. It's going Leah's lost a lot of weight. Leah has lost a lot of weight because I'm not eating
I have no appetite. I can't remember things. Yeah, so I'm being sent to a long COVID specialist
Luckily, it hasn't affected me in the show much
Yeah, and it hasn't affected me as a stand-up on stage at all. Yeah, but as a human talking to you
I can't put two fucking sentences together.
You're like, March, was it March?
What was it?
Yeah, and I did it there in March.
And I'm booked in Provincetown in August.
And yeah, that's like the first major booking.
And then we're gonna shoot from there
and go to a bunch of other places.
Yeah, you brought up weight loss,
and I wanted to ask you,
and we can absolutely cut this if you
don't want to talk about it.
I don't give a fuck.
I figured you didn't.
But you were fat for a very long time in the industry.
And it is a nightmare to be fat in the industry presently.
But I'm wondering if you've seen a
I'm still fat in the industry.
Yeah, well, most thin people are fat in the industry.
I mean, everyone's fat in the industry.
No one's allowed to be really, truly thin but what have you seen any shift in that or what was it?
Like when you were starting out or just like yeah, what's that been like? Well, you know, I the thing
Yeah, there hasn't I'm gonna just say there's not a lot of shift, you know what I mean?
Yeah, I think exactly what we just said points points to it
That I'm always gonna be the, I'm a fat chick.
Even though I would say that I'm more chubby than fat now,
but you know what I mean?
There doesn't seem to be any about it.
Like my fiance is stunning.
And she went to LA, I would have,
see if we had known each other then,
I would have said, no, no, no, no, no, no,
stay in New York, get some credits, then go to LA.
But she went to LA, she's absolutely fucking stunning,
and she had a meet with the agent,
and the agent was like, you need to lose 20 pounds.
I think she weighed, at that time, 121 pounds.
Jesus.
You know, and she's about a half an inch taller than me.
Why would she have to lose?
And she's womanly, you know, she has,
yeah, Dahlia, I'm talking about you.
She's got tits and ass, you know what I mean?
Because I love women and I don't want,
if she lost 20 pounds, I'd be with a fucking teenage boy.
I don't know, what the fuck?
You know, let's have the tits and ass please.
And so yeah, the industry I don't think has changed at all.
There was a minute there where Lizzo kind of did some stuff.
You know what I mean?
But now especially with the weight loss drugs
and all that shit.
And you know, FYI, I take Ozempic because I'm a diabetic.
You bitches that are taking it to lose weight
are making it impossible for me to get Ozempic
without which I will die.
Yeah.
Well, but if they don't lose 20 pounds for swimsuit season,
they might die.
Exactly.
You have to be considerate of that.
You know what?
If I don't get my Ozempic,
I will fucking kill them before Swim Season even fucking
starts.
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Oh my God, I killed that.
It's not getting any better.
Yeah, that's what I suspected,
but I was like maybe I don't know something, but yeah, it's not a lot of fun. No, no, no, no, it's not it's not getting any better. It's yeah, it's that's what I suspected, but I was like, maybe I don't know something but yeah
No, no, no, it's not it's it's when I started to lose weight when I was I was shooting orange and
So this is the opposite I started to lose weight because I was diagnosed as a diabetic
Because the medication that they put me on did help you. It just was a side effect.
At the time, nobody knew it
because I was actually a part of the study that came up.
I was one of the 1,000 people that was in the study
that gave us Wigovia and Ozempic and those things, right?
So I was taking Victoza at the time,
which was another, you know, that same thing.
I changed my eating habits. My mother was a diabetic and I didn't want, you know,
I was like, I'd like to stick around.
Life is really good right now.
So I'll change my eating habits.
And then the last piece of the puzzle is the Metformin
that diabetics take, Metformin,
which has what I call the Willy Wonka effect,
so named after the chocolate waterfall.
So, so the three, those medications and me changing my eating habits,
I was dropping weight really quickly.
And for that season, they actually had to put me
in kind of a fat suit for one particular episode.
But they called me at the producers and they went,
you know, you're playing a character called Big Boo.
I was like, well, you know, there's nothing we could do about this guys. You know, well,
I'll just still be Big Boo. And that's why they added the first episode of the next season
where my character said that she got a parasite in the lake. And that's how they explained
that I had lost all that weight. Because, because I got a parasite in the lake
Also fun to imagine Hollywood producers asking you to stay fat. I'd love to have that
I was they were like is there any way we can slow it down?
It was like I I don't know I don't know what to tell you
This is I mean they were very sympathetic about it, but it was like it was a becoming incredibly apparent on camera
Yeah, what season was that?
Well, let's see season two is when we were in the lake. So yeah, so season two season three
Yeah, season three is when I just kind of went holy shit. Yeah
Yeah, I was one of my better ad-libs on this show cuz that Nick who wrote the episode
I said something about the parasite and had y'all who was my roommate and, and also my really good friend just as a human,
said, oh, I wish maybe I can get one of those,
and I turned ad libbed.
Why are you tired of sticking your toothbrush down your throat?
Oh!
And Nick came out, and he goes,
okay, we're gonna shoot that again.
Leah say that every time.
And I was just like...
I love that. We asked people on this show,
I don't know if they told you,
but we always ask people what's so true to you.
That pineapple does not fucking belong on pizza.
You really are so strong on that.
I'm really fucking strong on that.
You're gonna tell me you haven't had
pineapple on a pizza and ever enjoyed it.
I'm gonna tell you that if I saw a pineapple pizza,
I would pick it up and throw it out a window
before I'd let anyone eat it.
Leah.
I fucking hate it.
It's disgusting, pineapple does not belong on fucking,
okay, pizza's Italian, pineapple is Hawaiian.
There aren't pineapples in Italy.
It's frankenfucking food.
There's frankenfood, frankenfood, frankenfood.
People that do this fucking duck breast and pesto on pizza.
Are you fucking kidding me?
You don't like a fusion?
No, it's frankenfood.
I think I'm making that clear.
You're being very clear.
I'm being very clear and I love food.
I fucking love food, but I am very strict
about the way food works.
I don't drink iced coffee.
Coffee is meant to be drunk hot.
You have lost the goddamn plot, Leah.
You've come into the wrong room.
I have not lost the goddamn plot.
You have come into the wrong room.
I'll tell you what, you bring a pizza with pineapple on it
and you sit it right here and see what happens.
You don't drink an ice latte ever?
No, I don't drink a fucking ice latte.
I will have a Coke Zero.
Okay, you're real as fuck for that.
But an ice latte, you're friends with so many gay guys and you're telling me you're
out here being anti-ice latte?
I also don't suck dick.
Come on.
I'm friends with so many gay guys that I suck dick. What? Come on.
Don't be fucking ridiculous. And iced latte is a delicious treat on a hot day. You're
mad at me. Come on. Computer says no. We finally got Leah to go on the record that you don't
suck dick. People were wondering. I know they that was a hardcore wonder there for people. That was a big question mark for people.
Yeah, yeah.
Wow, that's so funny.
About Leah's bisexuality.
The bisexuality allegations,
you've been up against them for years
and today, Hanso True, we're beating them right now.
Wait, what was I gonna ask you?
Oh, I was gonna do, we have a segment for you.
We do this game, it's a true-false game.
It's, basically I'm gonna read you 15 statements. We do this game, it's a true false game. Okay.
It's, basically I'm gonna read you 15 statements.
Okay.
You're gonna tell me as quickly as you can
if you think what I said is true or false.
Okay.
If you get 10 or more correct,
we're gonna give you 50 US dollars.
This is the game.
50 bucks, that's a big cab ride to nowhere.
I feel like these are impossible questions, but go ahead.
No, no, no, we'll see.
Okay. Oh, I'm no, we'll see. Okay.
Oh, I'm looking at the wrong page.
I was like, that's just a fact about Leah.
Okay. Okay.
Here we go.
Pink Floyd only won one Grammy Award.
True. That is true.
Sharks do not have bones.
That is true. That is true.
Tums, you're killing it.
Tums were invented in 1989.
What? Tums the shoe? T? Tums. Oh, Tums.
Tummy medicine, yeah.
True. False. 1930.
Whitney Houston was an avid Dungeons and Dragons player.
That's false. That is false.
That is the stupidest question I've ever been asked.
The letter Z does not appear in any U.S. state name.
True. False. Arizona. The letter Z does not appear in any US state name true false, Arizona
People do and for good reason I can believe it an ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain
False it's true. I went back and forth so long Belleville Illinois sister city is in France true
false it's Paterborn Germany well oh that's right German settlers I forgot
yeah it would take 19 minutes to fall to the center of the earth
what apparently this is calculable
it would take 19 minutes to fall from where we are now to the center of the
earth What apparently this is calculable it would take 19 minutes to fall from where we are now to the center of the earth
Falls true. That's so crazy. That doesn't feel right to me. That doesn't feel but I believe it
Sunday in the park was doing so good you were doing and honestly this one feels Sunday in the park with George's original broad
Broadway run was 604 performances true. That is true. The letter a is the most popular letter in the English language
False false. It's e E. I know. Let's go!
Okay. Vietnam is the world's second biggest coffee producer.
I don't know why you would ask if it wasn't true. It's true.
True. 40% of the population is left-handed.
Yeah, it's the same.
False. False.
It's 10%.
10%.
Same as us.
I was like, wait, it's the same as queer people.
We're 10.
The origins of the word jazz are unknown.
That's false.
That's true.
Ooh.
Netflix still offers their DVD delivery service.
Why? False. False. They stopped in 2023. San Francisco's
official motto is golden peace, iron and war. Isn't it city of brotherly love?
Sorry.
Um.
Ha ha ha ha!
Gold, say it again.
Gold in peace, iron in war.
I'm gonna say true.
It is true.
How'd she do?
Nine.
Oh, shit!
No!
You were so close.
I'm still hung up on your coffee take.
That really hit home with me.
That was personal for me.
Fuck, I'm hung up that I didn't get 10.
I'm so mad.
I know, you were so close.
You were so close.
And it's really not the Belleville one.
It was that goddamn fall to the center of the earth is what.
Well, also the Belleville one.
France and Germany, that's pretty close.
I think we ought to count it.
I think we ought to give it 10.
To fall to the center of the earth, now how do we know that?
No one's done that.
You can calculate just like, we know the distance from the crust to the core.
Yeah.
And like the weight of like, you know, of the human and the...
But what about the magnetic core?
Wouldn't that make a difference?
I mean we're not just calculating, that has to be part of the equation
Don't you think yeah, I'm also I'm thinking I'm kind of dumb because I was thinking 19 minutes is too short
But I'm like 19 minutes is a long time to fall. It's a long time. I mean, I was actually thinking it might be shorter
I said false. Yeah, I was thinking it was and I was also going to make net a core
Yeah, it has to do something. Yeah, I mean thinking it was too short. And I was also going to make Nettacore. It has to do something. You know what I mean? So there you go. Damn. But almost 10. Almost
10. Okay, I wanted to ask you. You have had, you've been in so many fucking cool productions
and shows. Is there a moment in your career that you look at and go, oh, that was like
a real pinch me like holy shit moment. Wow.
I've had a, I've had.
You've had a lot I feel like.
I've had a lot of those pinch me holy shit moment.
I think the real pinch me holy shit moment was
when I met Meryl Streep.
I think that was probably the big one.
Where'd you meet Meryl Streep?
I was doing As You Like It,
and Gwyneth Paltrow was the lead, and she had just won the Academy Award. So, it was a big production in, oh fuck me, where's the theater festival? Is
it Williamsburg?
Williamstown?
Williamstown, yeah. And they always have a big festival there every summer.
And so this was a production that they were thinking would come to New York, and there
was a lot of great people in it.
And Mark Lynn Baker was my touchstone, and I was Audra the Shepherd.
It was great.
And every day, they would be, this is who's coming.
Because you know, because she'd just won the Academy Award.
It's like Steven Spielberg, blah blah one day one day this stage
ran okay and I said who's coming today all the living presidents I mean it was
just like it was insane but it was Meryl Streep and it was that was just
amazing and with Blythe Danner and they were they just kind of With Blythe Danner, and they were, they just kind of got Blythe there to see her daughter,
of course, Meryl came to see the whole thing.
And I was, she introduced, so I got introduced
through Blythe to Meryl, and I started to kind of
shake her hand, and it was such a pleasure,
I'm such a huge fan.
And then I just became me, and I got down on my hands
and knees, and I was like, oh my God!
I'm so, I'm so unworthy! Blworthy, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
And then I went, and then I just kind of switched and went,
you know, as long as I'm on my knees,
Meryl, is there anything I can do for you?
You know, that's why I like you, Leo,
you always make the small choices.
It's subtle and understated.
Right?
And then I saw her again.
And then we, that's what, like, we came on a first name basis
through that.
And then we did this event together for the Public Theater.
And it was like, it was me, Meryl Streep,ep and Natalie Portman who I've had a crush on for a minute. You know I love Natalie Portman.
So they're both standing there and I brought the fucking house down. I did what I did and
I kind of stopped the show and I came off stage and I said something to them and they
both like Meryl kissed me.
Natalie took me by the hand and was kissing me on the hand and Meryl was kissing me on the cheek and I did not wash my cheek or my hand for a year. I can tell you it was amazing. And then
the next time I saw Meryl was Jill Clayberg was doing a Broadway show. We went to,
Next time I saw Meryl was Jill Kleberg was doing a Broadway show. We went to.
We went to Barcentral.
I went to Barcentral.
I was doing a different Shakespeare play, right?
So I was doing Midsummer Night's Dream.
And afterwards I went to Barcentral and Meryl and Jill Kleberg were there.
I was shitting myself because I already met Meryl and
I knew that I could get an intro to Jill Kleber because she was sitting right there.
I walk up to them.
They were so drunk.
They were so drunk.
And I met Jill, which was my thing.
And then they were like, you know, we're going to go now, Lee.
And I went, I'm going to walk you out to the cab.
And Meryl said, are we that drunk?
And I went, yes.
So they both started laughing.
So I put them in a cab.
I gave the cab driver $20.
And I said, this is royalty.
You take good care of these women.
Right?
And then we saw each other at the Emmys and the SAG Awards.
And when all that happened for Orange, it was just, you know,
hey Meryl, hey Leah, how's it going?
Blah, blah.
It's insane.
That's so cool.
But when I first met her,
it was like, I'm gonna shit myself.
Yeah. Yeah.
Two legends, you and Merrill, hanging out.
I'm serious.
People feel that way about meeting you too.
That's crazy.
Oh, it's nuts.
That's nuts.
What, is there a role or a thing you haven't gotten
to do yet that you are like dying to do?
I'm dying for somebody to write me an original musical.
A part, you know, for me, something for me.
Yeah.
Just original that doesn't exist right now.
That I'm dying for.
And I have played every type of thing.
I mean, I just played a fucking elf on Norah from Queens.
You know what I mean?
I've done all of that shit.
I have never played a gay man.
I played tons of straight men.
I have never, and tons of straight women,
tons of lesbians, fantastic creatures,
stuff like that.
I have never been cast as a gay man.
I would love at some point
for somebody to cast me as a gay man.
Okay, interesting.
I would like that.
Oh, I don't mind, again, I played so many men.
I don't mind playing men.
It's fun to create a character,
but to play a gay man, so much fun.
Yeah, I think your take on a gay man would be,
I actually need to see that.
I need someone to step up.
Maybe the musical.
Maybe somebody needs to write you an original musical
where you play a gay man.
Where I literally play a gay man.
Yeah, that'd be good.
That'd be good, That'd be good.
That's Tony Bates.
Take that, Cola Scola.
Sorry, Cola.
You're over, honey.
It's Leah's turn.
I would love that.
I would love that so much.
So original musical for you, and you'd like to play a gay man.
Yeah.
OK.
That's it.
Hollywood needs to get to work.
Let's go, kids.
Let's go.
We're going to make it happen.
Is there anything you want to, obviously,
Titanic, your upcoming tour? I'm'm sorry and a Hallmark Christmas movie. Yeah, what do you want to play?
Play the play the evil the evil businessman who comes and shuts down the Christmas fair or whatever
Is there anything you want to plug tell the people about tell where to find you
Titanic but I'm only in that until the 25th of May, so I don't know when this is gonna air.
I do the second Sunday of every month at 54 Below,
Brunch is Gay, which is, the whole concept is
I do a different show every month,
I have a different guest every month,
and there's a different theme.
So we're always, especially the guests,
we're doing things we don't normally do.
So there's lyric sheets in front of us and mistakes are made and
lots of jokes flying and people have, it's so loose and it's so much fun.
So brunch is gay.
I'm doing, let's see, the Carlisle, I forgot about that,
that's part of the outrage.
The Carlisle, the Friday of Gay Pride Weekend, they they're doing a bunch that whole gay pride week they're doing a
bunch of different you know queer performers and I'm one of them.
Nice. And let's see movies God have made a bunch of movies so Holy Irresistible is currently on Amazon. And shit. Outerland, filmed in San Francisco, just hit
the festival circuit, getting much, much heat. So look for Outerland. It's a really interesting
story. And my friend Asia Dillon is lead and Asia's doing some of the best work they've
ever done in this
particular movie. Really good. I mean there's a lot to plug. I keep I just
can't keep it all straight. Yeah. Yeah. But follow me on Instagram. That'll help.
That will help. And go keep up with everything and we come to the brunch
shows. Just come. They're so much fun. And then go to the outrage tour. Yeah.
Hell yeah. Rock on. Well thank you for doing that.. Where you get to sing Donald Trump is a bitch with me.
Of course.
And we've always wanted to do that.
Oh.
Easy.
That's one of my dreams.
It's so cathartic.
Yeah.
It's so cathartic.
And the audience really loves it.
You know, bitch, bitch, bitch, bitch, bitch, bitch, bitch,
he's a fucking bitch.
Yeah.
Thanks for doing it, Leah.
Oh.
Thanks for being on.
Hey, my pleasure, Caleb.
Have me back.
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