Soder - 122: Son of a Gun with Anthony DeVito | Soder Podcast | EP 120

Episode Date: February 24, 2026

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Thanks for watching my episode with Anthony DeVito. How great is he? He's very funny, and this story is incredible. Buffalo, New York, February 28th. Tickets are almost sold out. Go buy them right now if you're in the Buffalo area. Dan Soder.com. It's going to be a great show.

March 6th, I believe, it is. March 6th, Boston, we added a 9 o'clock show. So the 7 o'clock show sold out at the Schubert, so we added a 9 o'clock. Dan Soder.com. And then Philadelphia, next night, March 7th, almost sold out. I would buy tickets to that show. The lineup is fantastic.

There might be a special guest. I'm just saying, Philly, there's some people I know that are from Philadelphia that might want to come and do some time on the show. You might want to buy a ticket to see a great show with some little extras. Little extras on the side. DanSoter.com, go get your tickets.

And then Dallas, Houston, Oklahoma City, Columbus, Ohio, near Cleveland, It's not Cleveland, but it's near Cleveland. All available now, Dan Soder.com for the final leg of the Golden Retriever of Comedy Tour, which has been so awesome. Thank you guys for showing up, and we'll see you on these upcoming dates. What's interesting is, and this is a good way to start the podcast, we had Greg Stone, your best friend since middle school?

High school? High school, yeah. You and Greg, freaking frack. I love, hanging out. out with you guys. Yeah. Goes back to our time when we would work the, um,

we'd work comics up at Mohegan's son. And pepper tour. The salt and pepper tour. Dude, I forgot about the salt and pepper tour. All three of us were salt and pepper. It's just like 10 years ago. Yeah.

We were all starting to get salty. We were all starting to get gray on the temples, gray on top. And we did what we jokingly called the salt and pepper tour. Yeah. But hard are one weekend in comics. Yeah. That's all it was. It was two weekends.

We did it twice. The annual tour was one stop. It was one stop. It was comics and Mohicans on. Yeah. And one time you and I, you, Greg, and I went out and I went out and saw The Rock in Hercules. Oh, my God, man. And then we were leaving so upset because of how bad it was that we were like,

he might as well fought Undertaker. You might as well giving wrestling fans what they wanted. All three of us were so mad, leaving the Rock starring as Hercules. And we drove through this tiny town in Connecticut where they had a gaming store. And we were like, fuck it, let's walk around. And then we walked in and I think I was, I just gotten billions or I was like on billions. It was around that time. Yeah.

I started having a little extra money. Yeah. And I bought a Nintendo 64, four controllers and WWF no mercy, Mario, tennis, and like perfect dark. and we sat in that hotel the whole weekend. It was like a Wednesday to Saturday, I think. And we played so much Nintendo 64. We made all creator wrestlers on No Mercy. Oh, man, yeah.

You were, um, you were a hunk, hunk fin. Hunk fin. That's right. Instead of huck Finn. You were a hunk fin and you made a sexy guy in jean shorts that would be thrust. Greg made Dr. Danger. Yeah. Yeah, man.

We had like a Jason mask and was jacked. And then I made the Gator. Dude. Gator, Gator, gaita, gaito, gaito, and we would just, and we would cut promos on each other. But, dude, we would go in between shows at, this is at a casino where the comedy club is, but our rooms were upstairs. We, in between shows, we'd go upstairs and smoke weed and play on 64. It was the best. It was one of my favorite weekends.

Well, it really was the best, man. The reason I say all that, though, is Greg Stone was on the podcast and told a story. about your dad. Yes. And then the episode came out. And then I got a call from Greg and he went, I fucked up. I fucked up. And I told the story I shouldn't have told.

A lot of the times when that happens, because we banked these episodes and so they like come out later, it's usually not a problem at all. We just pop in and edit it. But this one was out. This one was like out in the world. And Greg was like, I fucked up telling a story about Anthony's dad. and people that are dangerous are upset. And we were like, no, no, no, no, no, no.

So immediately cut it down. But we cut the story out, which we'll talk about because you said it's cool to talk about. But I think it's interesting that you know people that wouldn't edit that out. Yeah, well, I think people don't think twice about it. They don't, they don't, I think someone like yourself or just anyone who I guess is like, has, you know,

how many comics do we know that just have an inherent lack of humanity? Oh, a lot. Yeah, most, right? I think this business attracts that. It's mainly that. Because this business attracts people that can pretend to be human. In reality, you go, that was a fake out. That was a total fake out.

There's people that have done stuff like years into the business where I go, are they a piece of shit. Oh, man. That's why there's so, I would say like, musicians are the least surprising when they're dickheads? Comics, it's like, oh, you tricked me. Yes. Because some guys are immediately like, are you. You're a climber.

You don't give a shit. But then you see people where they like do the entertainment business equivalent of shooting their friend in the leg so the zombie can eat them. That's what that feels like. Where they go like, we're both running from these zombies and they go, I'm running from these zombies. You son of a bitch. You shot me.

And then as they're eating, they're like, yeah. There are, and I've seen it. You just stop associating with those people. Yeah, it's weird when they let that out of the box like a decade in. Yeah. That's something that I've always really, really, really admired in Tim Dillon. Oh, sure. From the beginning, he goes, I don't give a shit about anything they're saying.

We're friends. I'll shoot you if zombies are coming. And you go, and I know that. And that's why I like having you on my squad. Yeah. But once you get through that with Tim, you realize he's more honest than a lot of people in his business. That's the best part about Tim. Yeah.

He comes forward with that honesty and you go, I know what I'm dealing with. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's the people that go, are you doing it? and then they fucking stab you in the back. Are you okay? Well, then, good. Once they find out the information, they turn around and tell the next person, guess who's not doing okay?

Yeah. You know who I found out who's close to suicide? I told you that. What the fuck are you doing? Who are at my wedding? Yeah. Why would you do that? And they go, I know, no, I was on a podcast.

I had nothing to say at a bar. I've had it where, like, people who aren't, I've told stories about people and, and probably, like, tried to hide their names, but, like, people in my personal life that are like, dude, you can't tell that story. Yeah. And you go, shit. It's a good story. Yeah, yeah.

But Greg felt was, like, it was obvious that Greg was like, dude, I told the story about Anthony DeVito, can you please cut it? And we, I don't even think we batted an eye. We're like, yeah, we'll pull it down and cut it. No. The story was, yes. Your father was a professional killer for a very large. Wafia family. Yeah, well, he was a made guy.

He was a made man. Part of, I mean, you know, I think you would know this. And like, you know, I guess people that weren't as well versed might not. But like, to become that means you do have to kill someone in order to obtain that rank. So he wasn't made guy. You're not a made guy because you're super fun. Right. They're like, his spreadsheets were incredible.

I'm going to tell you right now, he's punctual. He stays late. He's a maid man. He's got the coolest hats. Yeah. There's a book, the Iceman. by Philip Carlo about Richard Kiklinski. Right.

They tell this story about how he got, he wasn't a maid man, but how he started working with the families in the 80s. Yes. And again, you don't know if these stories are 100% true. Got killed a lot of people, so why would he lie about this story?

But he said the first time that he got in with the mob, this was the 70s, early 70s, and they're driving around the West Village, and a guy was walking his dog, and they park and the guy goes, kill him. And they hand him the gun, and they said the reason they worked with him was Kiklinski didn't even bat an eye.

He just went out, shot the dude, got back in the car, and I was like, what else? And they were like, oh, okay. I mean, it turned out Richard Kukinsky was a straight up serial killer. But that is the kind of shit you have to do. Yeah. They're like, hey, if we need you in this tough situation, how old were you when your dad died? I was seven months old. So, okay, so it was.

Yeah. So this all happens after, or happens well before I'm born. Yeah. But there is, and it's not that book, so I'm not even trying to allude there it is. but there is a book that is written about my father's family, which in that book, that's when things got, and this only happened like a couple of summers ago because I started doing the show about him some years ago. Yeah, my dad, my dad is not Danny DeVito.

Yeah. Anthony DeVito in the show, my dad is not Danny DeVito. I apparently was, because Sam's now producing it. Oh, I love that. Yeah, which is awesome. I love that. But, yes, I think that was such a lighthearted title for what the show was. was going to be. I mean, they go, they lose your dad. And they go, holy shit. Your father was involved

with horrible people. So we had to change the name to Jersey boy. Just to give a like just to, it's subtle but still gives like, okay, there's there's something going on here other than the fact that like, oh, we're just going to see a lighthearted show about a guy who shares the same last name as a famous actor. Yeah. As Frank. From all his son. As Frank Reynolds. As Frank Reynolds. But that's much different than Frank. Instead of drinking, it was murder. Well, that's, I mean, is someone, you know, one of the notes I always get is that I always talk about my dead dad.

I always talk about sobriety. But then I also get a lot of people that go, like, I have a dead dad, and it's fun to hear people talk about it because it's a way to, and finance and I did a whole episode that I really didn't think much of. And then people were like, dude, the way you talked about that shit, I helped me, and it made me feel really good. Right.

Because they were like, I didn't realize I had the same feeling. Kind of that feeling of when you grow up, you learn who your dad is as a human being. Yes. And you go, not the best. Yeah. Whether he's a deadbeat, whether he's an organized crime, whether he's that. I think a lot of it is like if you're abandoned or your dad dies, you kind of do a thing. You get a situation that I wished for when I was young, which is, oh, he had a secret badass life.

Sure. My dad just was a drunk. Right. He was just a selfish drunk. Right. But like the movie wanted with Angelina Jolie, which was based on a comic book, is about this kid who's, he's like in high school and these strange people come to him and they're like, your dad was like the world's best assassin. Right. And he's like, I don't know if I want to be.

It's about him like, I don't know if I want to be that. Yes. Obviously it's a comic book so it gets like crazy. Right. That's the Curvy Bullet movie, right? Yeah. Okay. Curved the bullet. That's what I know about it.

Yeah. It's this great. Usually coming out of the bath. Yeah. Back. And then her, the bending the bullet. Yeah. Did you have that moment? What was the moment where you find out, oh shit, my dad was like, because what were you told? So I was told and I think this was kind of like the luxury that I had where it's like you, you, you, I didn't know who my dad, like. my mom had good reason to keep exactly who he was from me.

Sure. So she had this luxury of like he could be whoever she wanted him to be to sort of suit my wants. Who did, who was he originally in your life? Who was he originally was like all I knew when I was a kid that he died in a car accident at seven months old. That's what I was told. Okay.

Um, and any sort of any question, I think the only thing she ever told me real about him was whenever she felt like maybe she needed to. Like, I hadn't grown since first grade. So by the time I hit third grade, this dyslexic kid, Kenny, was picking on me. Sure. And she was like, she made it a point to be like, your dad didn't take shit from anyone.

So. What a crazy preview to find out who your dad is. What crazy thing to say to your kid to find out later what you found out. Or you go, let's just put it this way. Your father wouldn't have put up with that. And you go, Okay. I don't understand your reference.

You go, I just want to get you to know. Let's just say that kid would have a lot of hard time reading numbers and letters. Your dad could beat up his dad. So she would say that. She would be like your dad wouldn't. Yes. And so what happened to Kenny? So what happened to Kenny?

Let's just say you didn't come back to school. You go for it. So what happened to Kenny? And a couple moving parts of the story. So he, he, He, for one day, he decides to, we had a classroom suggestion box. So he drops a note in the box.

He wrote down Missing Gianni as a bitch. And then he signed my name. But I knew it was him, his learning disability. He did call her a batch. Great. Great. God, if you're going to get picked on, get picked on by a dumb person. It was awesome.

Because it just, the rebuttals. I love it. So she doesn't, she's like, doesn't realize. So to make an example out of me, she makes me spell the word in front of the whole class. Bitch. Yes. So I do it in the spelling B, Kedens, like, bitch, T-C-H, bitch, you know, she sends me in the principal's office. He sends me back to class.

Kenny comes up to me and he goes, I'm going to fight you today. And what he like didn't realize, like when you're tiny and you make up for stature with psychosis. It is the reason Napoleon dominated Western Europe. Yes. They're not saying that because it's. It's like a cool thing to go, Napoleonic complex. It's straight up, that's a tiny container filled with pure diesel fuel. Yeah, and you have to make up for just reach.

Yeah. With just intensity, just I will, I'll, I'll go, I'll die before you win. I had a friend. I won't, his last name, my buddy Kerry, already a dude with a, with a lady name, gets picked on. Yeah, sure. Tough as hell. Short King. there was a older scary motherfucker and like a senior when we were sophomores and he was like

threatening carry and carry was and he hit this level where everyone in our group was like you know fuck I care yeah because he was like if he said this in the wait room in front of like we're sophomores or a freshman or sophomores this guy's older and he goes if you hit me you better fucking knock me out right because I'll keep coming after you and everyone was like You. Everyone said that. And the guy he was talking to was legitimately terrifying. Yeah.

So you were like, oh, don't, he'll fucking kick the shit out of you. Yeah. Because that's all you have. Yeah. Yeah. It's the reason that giant guys have to be gentle giants. Right. You just have to adjust for it.

It's like when you meet a guy who's six, eight, 500 pounds and he's just like, hello. And like pets you. And you go, this is great. Short guys will fuck your shit up. Yeah. So, yeah, that makes. sense. Yes. It's like a survival

techniques. And what grade is this? Third grade. Oh, buddy. That's biting territory. Oh, biting. That's biting and scratching. Bighton. Klon. I'm all wet. It hadn't rained. Stuff like that. So he says he's going to fight you. So he says he's going to fight me. I

turn around to him based on size and then empowered by what my mom said. And I said, I'm not going to fight you today. I'm going to fight you for a full calendar year. You gave him a year? I gave him a full year, man. You go, I'll fight you every day for a year. That's what it was. If you're like me, you probably regret the fact that you're a one language idiot.

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The only way to get 20% off is to go to join delete me.com slash soda. Enter the code soda at checkout. That's join delete me.com slash soda code soda. Go get some of that privacy back in your life. So the back of our classroom, we had a coat room that in the before school would just be a fight club. Kids would lock the doors, shut the lights, and I would just go at him. also I was raised and not to be too bane about it, but I was raised in a basement.

Jeez, you were built for that. Yes. Kenny had no fucking clue when he was walking in it. And I am an unorthodox fighter. Yeah. This is in the Queensberry rules. This guy's getting trapped in a closet. This is like

how you make Spartans. Yeah, yeah. This is like Spartan training. I am like Prince Nassim. Yeah. Then you go, just put him in there. And that man comes out. And also, New Jersey public schools.

do you do it yeah you guys are just built in little fight fight closets so every how long did it last with you fighting it probably we didn't make the year obviously what was your record i mean i think i was pretty much undefeated i don't know that it got one on me man was there a moment where he broke uh no i think it just kind of naturally drifted apart but i think i mean like the there wasn't a lot the rounds weren't long sure because it wasn't the teacher's going to come in here to get in trouble There wasn't a lot of time. But, and this is further, like, what you're saying about, like, Jersey public schools is, like, I never got in trouble because the principal, because I was so much smaller than him. And then the principal was like, hey, this isn't good, but he is twice your size and he didn't back down.

And that he literally said to me, I bet your dad is proud. And you go, well, funny thing about my dad. I think I'm finding out. I think he would have been proud. I think he might have been disappointed. Yeah. I didn't use a weapon? Yeah, yeah.

What kid am I? You break off the coat rack and now you got a fucking whoop and stuff. You firebom his lunchbox. I don't want you to attack him. I want his whole family fucking dead. Does your mom find out that you're fighting at school? She was and she was proud because same thing. Like it's this like Jersey like sort of mindset of like she and I think one of her worries is that and like you know I am a soft guy.

But one of her worries was along the way without a father. It was all women in my household. So it's like my mom, my grandma, my great grandma, my aunt. So she was worried that I would be kind of like a little built, like a flower. Yeah, a pussy. So she was happy in that moment that I wasn't and I stuck up for myself. These child, people don't realize when you don't have a dad, you need childhood trauma in order for you to be tough. Yeah.

because you see guys that don't have it and you go, you probably could have been picked on a little bit when you were a kid. And I think with me, it was one of those things where she was like, my mom way different, but was like, stand up for yourself. Yeah.

Don't let that happen. Because when you're around women, you have like emotional response. Yeah, yeah. A kid goes like, I'm going to bully you and you go, with those shoes? I don't understand.

Sorry, I'm sorry. Yeah, but you're right. But you also go like, why are you being like this? Yeah. You like want to emotionally rationalize.

And you can't do that with a bully. A bully, you got to just go punch him in the mouth. Did Kenny, as you got older, change at all? Was like out of your life? Or was he like, hey, sorry, I fucked with you? Well, we actually, yeah, we ended up like middle school. We would rollerblade together. And then, you know, high school, we drifted ways.

And he, as an adult, went to jail for stabbing someone. So I know, it's like pretty good. Damn, you got that in at the right time before he learned about weapons. Turns out, Kenny might have been a problem if he got a weapon. And there's a folder in my phone called Sunset. So, I need to go a bit different ways. So you, so when you find that out, when does your mom start filling in the information about like, hey, listen, your, your dad was in. Like, when does your mom reveal that your dad was a criminal?

That, it, she, I, um, sort of a moment forced her hand. Because I, and like you're saying about being raised by all women or without that, you do develop an emotion. emotional intelligence and a sensitivity. I think you become very empathetic. Yeah. So with my mom, it felt like, and she was always very cheerful as a person, but whenever my dad would come up, there seemed to be a sadness that would come over her. And she was a great mom, so I never asked about him.

I just didn't want her to be sad. It was very simple kids sort of logic. Yeah. Well, you just saw your mom being sad and you're like, were you an only child? Yeah. Okay. So that's even, this is something that Katie is always like, I don't think impressed, but like curious by,

she's like, that relationship, I go, well, it's one to one. So everything she says is just to you and everything you say is just to her. You don't have a third person to go. Exactly.

The fuck is, like you don't have a sibling to go. As mom seems sad when you talk about that. Yeah, you just have to bring it up to her. Exactly. And so is that what you did? So I,

no, I was playing 18 and it was a long stretch of time that goes by, but like, I had a good childhood. I had a lot of friends. I was a busy kid. So it just didn't seem like something

that I, like, It seemed like something she became sad about and something that, like, I was fine without. Also, too, you got to keep in mind this is like North Jersey in the 90s. All the dads I'm seeing, they're not soft. Like these are hostile, repressed Italian-American guys. Yeah. These are the giants lose.

I'm going to hit you. Exactly. This is like Derek Jeter, you know, is the only man that can save you from a beating. Yeah. If he comes in. So you're around all these dads. Was there ever anyone else in? your world that maybe gave a clue or a tip off that your dad was involved with some nefarious shit?

Not really. I think my family was all in on it just for the sake of keeping me protected from it. Just because, like, I think they knew given how I was as a kid too, like, you know, I was a soft kid. I played sports, but I also, like, I love to draw. I was like a little bit of like, they could tell like I was a little bit of a weirdo, you know what I mean? I think they knew like the road ahead might be a little difficult as it is. Sure. So why not, let's not burden him with this as well. Man, it's so funny how organized crime and alcoholics have the same. Everyone goes, we don't let him know about this.

Right. Because my, you know what I mean? Maybe we don't let him know his dad's a fall down drunk. Maybe we just say he likes his juice. But you're like, yeah, your dad was in the money business. So when you're 18, what makes her? So I'm 18, I'm playing pickup in the park. And there was a guy there who I'd never seen before.

And this wasn't, this completely coincidental. After the game, everyone's calling me my last name. After the game, he comes up to me. He's like, your last name is Tevito. I was like, yeah, he goes, I'm your cousin from your father's side. So I was excited. Did you know any of your dad's family? When I was really little, my grandmother on my dad's side, which, you know,

His mom. Yeah, his mom. And I think like what would be a cousin, I guess, like, One of my uncle's kids, we would meet for breakfast, like, every couple months. But it was nothing more than that. There was no tip-ops. How you doing? Yeah.

Kid shit. How excited are you for Christmas? Exactly. That kind of stuff. Never like, hey, you're not being disrespectful, are you? I think everyone thinks of meeting with a market. The way you ordered your milk at friendlies was a bit disrespectful. I'm going to tell you right now, we don't do chocolate milk.

We don't do chocolate anything. And you go, all right. So that racism is, that racism is taught. learned okay it's not out of here first think first don't ever fucking order chocolate milk around me again because those fucking people you're like whoa Jesus so you're at this basketball game and this guy just goes I'm your cousin yeah because I'm your cousin I go home and tell my mom kind of excited just because it is all women in my household this is like a guy and I'm an only child like what did he look like he looked like he looked like me but he was so much he looked he had all the features that

I have but all more handsome oh Oh, wow. He was like six inches taller. His hair was like perfectly quaffed. Oh. His eyebrows were plucked. You go, Mom,

what did you do to me? You gave me ass jeans. Look at this family. God damn dad came from a bunch of hunks. It was like a dee. And as like someone obsessed with basketball at the time, he's like a decent player. Oh,

you played with him? Yeah. Oh, I didn't know you guys were playing basketball at the park. We were playing basketball at the park. He was like a good rebounder, good fade away, solid job.

Like all these things. Keeps a secret. Keeps it. Guy that's a lockbox from secrets. So you go home and you tell your mom

I met this cousin. Yeah. Do you see that sadness? Yeah. She, you could see, because this is the moment she had been running

from ever since I was born. So you could see it all come to the surface on her face and she got like stark white. And I had never seen her, I'd never seen that face before. And you know,

like, scared. Yes. And when you're an only child, like you see, you see, like there's no, were to run. Well, you're, you're in the foxhole with that person. So every reaction. You've seen

all of them. Yeah, man. Like, I remember when my mom would like have money troubles, I immediately knew even without her saying. She'd be like super stressed out. And I'd be like, yeah, when you're just little, you're kind of like, you're all right? Yep. You don't go like, lean in and go, what's going on, mom? But you do a little, you're their kid and you go like, is everything okay? And sometimes they tell you the truth and sometimes they know the truth is probably a little too heavy for you to handle. So she probably knew this is too heavy to handle, but now you're 18. Now I'm 18, exactly. And now it becomes like a bit of a safety issue because now it's like she goes, they're in communication with whatever that communication is. They're in communication

with you. They got to you. They got to me. So this has to be said in case they want to befriend you, you should know exactly who he is. So it's really that. Everything she ever did was out of protection of me. In that moment, what does it feel like where she starts peeling back the layers? Are you like excited and scared? Um, I think I'm more confused just because also too, I was purposely, like I wasn't allowed to watch the godfather as a kid. Like I was, yeah, I was kept. That's so like good fellas. Yeah, no man. I couldn't watch any Scorsese. Really? Yeah. She was like, you can see silence. Yeah, that's so fucking funny. Maybe the one where Leo's crazy. I don't know, yeah.

The aviators fine. She vets them all. Yeah, she goes, Howard Hughes. Worst case, you're wearing clean-edge boxes on your feet. But none of that ginsos shit. That is crazy. Yeah, man. That you're like, damn, my mom should have stopped me from watching Roadhouse and Cocktail.

I blame you, Trish. Why didn't you ban these alcoholic movies? Why didn't you keep the program from me? Why was I allowed to watch bar movies? I shouldn't have been allowed to watch any bar movie. Did you ever ask? were you ever like, why can't I watch the Godfather? Well, this was, I mean, it is a joke in the show, but it is, she told me, and this is true.

She said, you just tell people that movie maintains harmful stereotypes about Italian-Americans. I know. Mrs. DeVito, beautiful job using something for a different purpose. Because if I had a kid whose dad was in the mafia, I would, that's a perfect excuse. Right. You go, it's an unfair stereotype to Italians. You're an Italian-American. I want you to be proud.

of being an Italian-American and it's not all this mob shit. What a cool thing to find out that your mom's not a nerd. That she's just protecting you. Because there's a lot of Italian kids that would wish that they would find out their dad is in the mob and not that their mom's just a dork. Yeah. Just that their mom doesn't know good movies. Yeah.

Shut up. So when this conversation happens, is it all at once? Does she rip the band-aid after your cousin? No, no, no, no. No, no. She withheld a lot of stuff. She basically told me what I needed to hear in her head at the time. So that's when she told me he, she was like, she didn't tell me how he died, but she said he wasn't a regular guy. He was a maid man in a crime family.

Yeah. But I kept from that. I really didn't know what that meant, but I only knew, I also only knew like how heavy that was for my mom to say. Did she seem relieved? She seemed relieved, but then she also seemed very panicked because, like, before that, there was no chance of me letting out the secret because I didn't know about it. And now there was, so she was very adamant that I never tell anyone. Like that was her, she was, that was her big thing.

And it seems so serious. Like a gay dad. Yeah. You, I'm okay with it, but don't tell other people. Your dad's gay as hell. Dad, that's what I would do. If I was your mom, I'd have been like, his dad was such a queen. Like, I don't know.

He's out there. getting boofed somewhere. He didn't die in a car accident. He's on fire island, sucking and fucking. Yeah. My movie is searching for the boofing. The boofing, dude. That's what my mom should have told my dad. He's in the tenderloin right now, just covered and come. And you go, oh, no, I had to go to the Castro district and pull my dad out of a bathhouse. There's so much glitter on his eyelashes. Oh, my God. The amount of assless chaps, that's where all your child support went. Was booty glitter and assless chaps? But it's like, also, when you're finding that out,

did it feel cool to know your dad was in one of the good, like the big families? It kind of did. Yeah. All right. Because you don't want your dad being in the double triple A. You go, your dad was in the fucking majors. Yeah. She never told me the exact family.

I would find this out later. But like, because, and they weren't, he, they were an affiliate of one of the family. Sure, sure, sure. Listen, I understand all that. I ain't fucking digging around. We're not going near. Let's try. I'm not poking to sleep and fucking bear.

That's what we're going. I'm just saying where your placement is. Kind of nice. Kind of nice. You ain't any fucking one that can get easily knocked over. I'm just saying if they went after your dad's family, there would be a war. They're the Yankees. Let's just say they're doing pretty good.

People are checking in with them. Does that, once that moment happens, were you watching? God, were you secretly watching it? No, I never, it was because of the amount of fear that was in her voice about never tell this to anyone. I didn't want to pry for, I didn't want to become more interested in it. Sure. And then on the off chance, I would tell somebody this just because it seems so serious.

So it is. Yeah, and it is. Like, you know, I think we're in the era now where like crime is, you know, our politicians do crime. It's not really, sure. It's not fucking moff. but when the mob was big, especially on the East Coast, people were fucking very real about it.

It wasn't like, oh, my God, this fun, what are you living good? It was like, you know, these people can do something to you. Yes. They can reach out and touch you. My dad worked at a liquor store or whatever. But the mob in San Francisco used to control the trash. That was like very well known. He had this friend that worked for the trash company that would get us 49ers tickets.

that were so good that you were like, even at eight years old, I'm like, this is crazy. We're 20 up at the 40-yard line for Steve Young's first start against the Rams. Like after Montana gets traded. My dad lives with his mom on a pull-out couch.

There's no way he's like saving money. Yeah, you're like, he must have run a radio contest or something. That's crazy. When we got tickets to WWF, it was like at Cal Palace, really good seats.

And it was his friend Ted, Teddy, who, you know, God knows if that was his name. Sure. It was just a good-look Italian dude that did the trash pickup in the neighborhood for the liquor store. And I remember not even thinking about it, but then when my mom's boyfriend started a vendor business,

like a vending machine business, it was my dad's old friend who's my mom's boyfriend. And he went, he's getting into that? And I go, yeah, he goes, that's the fucking mob, dude. And I remember him saying that to me on the phone when I was like 12 and I was like, I don't think the mob's in Colorado. And my dad was like, it's just weird.

The vending machine business is fucked up. I'd watch out. And then I found out in San Francisco, it was like, that was one of their things too. So I think the mob was very real in the 80s and 90s in a way where it could like reach out and touch you in a terrifying way. Yeah. I mean, they ran the country. Yeah. You know, it wasn't until, I mean, at least for the five families.

And I'm saying this, this is an anecdote, obviously, but like, you know, Giuliani and like the Rico case. But before that, I mean, like, they controlled all the labor unions. if you did that at the time, they controlled the country. They controlled the, yeah, like everything. That's why Hoffa disappeared.

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She was just kind of like, you know, if you see him again, you can be friendly, but like that's it. You know, be very aware that if they want to take this further, there, like no second locations, you know what I mean, that kind of thing. Don't ever go to a second location with an Italian cousin. I've always heard that. Not hippies. That's the 30 Rock joke.

Everyone knows that, Levin. Never go to a second location with a hippie. But you, uh, did you see him again? Uh, maybe once or twice. And then it was just, it was cordial, but I felt a little strange. And he never, I think on their end, and it was like his family also, they were like getting out from under it. You know what I mean?

So they're trying to clean up. So they're trying to clean up as well, but they've always been very respectful of like each, you know, my own privacy and whatever that is. And I think the same one on their end. So it never really went further than that. At what point in your life do you go, I need to learn more. I want to learn more. When does the where, where does the understanding of your mom's fear and not wanting to push fade? I think in my 30s.

I think there just been at enough time. where I'm where I mean you're you know like you're 18 you're technically an adult but like I don't you're a teenage exactly but I think when you hit and even your 20s I would say so but I think when you hit you're like early 30s mid 30s and when your friends start having kids like sure they're really starting to do adult things outside of just like your one on paper I think and you're self-actualized in a way that you haven't been that you go okay I'm ready to take this on now I think that's really what it was where I was like I think I'm emotionally mature to hand handle whatever is on the other side of the door that comes with this.

And I think doing stand-up, too, where it's like, and especially the way you do stand-up as well, where it's like, it's super personal. You're super purging everything inside of you, not just as a means of just like being vulnerable to an audience, but also as a means to like process these difficult feelings. I think that's what, like, for people that do personal comedy, I think a lot of people would agree that it's like the most fun thing is taking someone that really, something that really hurt you and making fun of it. There's like this feeling of power over it.

Yep. Where you go like, I used to be so fucking scared about talking about this that I can make fun of it. And that's why like I felt bad for people that liked my stand-up because you're like, I trust me, I'm getting the dead dad stuff out. I'm working through it. I know I do a lot of jokes about it. I'm almost like.

Yes. Because I'm at the point now in my career where I don't want to talk about it anymore on stage. I've done enough dead dad stuff. I've done enough dead dad jokes that you go, I'm kind of cool with it now. And I'm also personally in my life done a lot of work where I'm, yeah, I'm at peace with it. Yep.

And I think that is part of the creative process of like trying to find peace. But when you're finding peace, what I found out was just that my dad didn't want to be my dad. That sucks. When do you find out like, oh shit, my dad was legit in, because your mom's saying he's a made man. Mm-hmm. To me in my mind, and I don't know if you reacted like this, I would react away when they would go like your dad was a fighter pilot and he got shot that. Yes. Rigo, is that just the story you're telling me to make him seem cooler?

Yeah, a bit of me was that. And my mom was, my mom is a liar in so many ways. Sure. There was a part of me that was like, what is real, what isn't real here. I think there was always a part, maybe a little part of me that was afraid to look because it was kind of fun to have this unique secret, you know? And, you know, so I, so I think there was a part of me that was like, oh, am I going to be crestfallen when I find out it's not exactly how it seemed.

And so at around 30, I Googled him. You know, for, and the first thing that popped up was a daily news headline. And it was like listed, he was in prison for however many years, the charges that he was in on. And then how he died. Yeah. And that was the one, I think that combo. So my mom said it was a car accident. Sure.

He was found in a trunk. Got it. So. And I don't know if you know this when you're dying. you don't put yourself in a trunk. Yeah. For those of you who are at home. It is a...

If you don't go, I'm having a heart attack. Click open your trunk. And you go, ah, this is where I'm gonna lay. A nice little sarcophagus. I believe it's a car on purpose. At that point. Yeah.

It's not an accident. It's a very on purpose. So when you read that, do you remember, like, was that a traumatic moment for you? Yeah, it was. It was because it's still, I could still find good in him because,

and I didn't know anything about it. And my mom and my family were always telling me the good things about it, which did exist and it continues to, you know. Well, that's the complicated thing about humans. People aren't all good and all bad. And it's very like, especially with your father or with a family member, you want, you need the good.

You need the sweetness in order to take the sour. Yes. Of like what it is. Like, you know, I did a very unhealthy thing because my dad, died when I was 14, so I still thought he was like this cool dude, because he was. Very funny, very charming. Would get a lot of pussy.

That's what killed him. But it's like he was a charming, fun guy. And the hard part was going, he's a piece of shit. Right. Like, he didn't give a shit about me. And that's really hard when you're, I think by the way, this is for people with living parents too. Yeah.

You're seeing as they get older, like it's easier to do. But when they die when you're young, they're kind of stuck in this place. Yeah, they're fixed. Yeah. They're fixed. Yeah. Exactly. Where you go, no, I want him to be these cool things.

So when you read those headlines, is it immediately like a drop? Or are you like kind of holding on to some of the good stuff too going, yeah, this is bad, but also maybe like, I don't know. I guess what I'm asking is were you immediately firing out excuses for him in your head as you're reading this article? No, I think there was, I mean, there's really no room to finesse's character in print. It's just kind of what it is. Sure.

So I think for me it was more like, okay, now you have to reconcile. You know all these things. You know, my aunts, my uncle being like he was this great guy. He did, you know, these things read bedtime stories to your aunt. Like all of those things are in this box. But now what's also in this box is that like he did take people off of this earth. And as someone who... What a cool.

have saying your dad was an assassin. My father, let's just say, plucked people from this realm. And you go, yeah, absa fucking lool. I love that. So that now exists there too. And then. Did it change? Did that change the way?

I don't want to say that it's like cool to be like, oh, dude, my dad was a fucking bat. What it is. No, it is. Man, it is. Like, listen, I'm sorry. is something about it where you're like fucking badass no man of course like that i think that sort of like the yin yang of that has always been like the conflict within me of being like i do think it is cool and but then but you can also say it's bad exactly so it's like you know i mean i

think it's like the way like the reason why scorsesey wanted to make good fellas and mean streets is like he did want to show the glamour of what that is but then he also wanted to show here's the end game of what that is. So to on a much lesser extent, it's like finding old pictures of your parents smoking inside. Where you go. That's cool as fuck. And then you go, I was a baby.

I was a baby in the room, you selfish bitch. You could go outside and smoke your cigarette. I don't know you were a Russian teenager. Yeah. Like, what the fuck is wrong with you? Like, I find pictures from my mom in the 70s and she's got a cigarette in her hand. And I'm like, that's so cool. And then there was one where me and my dad, he's like holding me, but there's a

a pack of Marlboro Reds in an ashtray right there. And you're like, you fucking dickheads. Smoking inside when I was a baby. It's really funny. But yeah, I mean, there is like a thing where you want to go like, it is fucking cool. It is. So it was a weird thing because now that I knew more and I had like concrete like, oh, this was real. And I do think it is cool.

But then. Did you bring that to your mom? Yeah. How did you tell her that you Googled him? I think I just called her immediately. I think it was so, it was, it was so jarring,

um, that I called her immediately. What was her reaction? She cried. Immediately. Yeah. She cried because it's like, like I let you down.

Yeah. Like I lied to like that. And, and for me, honestly, I was like very grateful that she didn't, you know, I never,

I was never in the can, this is what I mean like, we were talking earlier about some people's reactions being different. I remember doing a podcast one. Like somebody was like, did you, were you mad that your mom lied to you? And it's like,

it's such a crazy like of course not like this was all done out of protection of me i never counted them as lies as much as it was like man she did the right things with sort of letting this out the way she let it out there's a difference between lying and there's a difference between lying to shield you from exactly and she was just shielding you from the fact that as a little boy it's good you found out in your 30s yeah because as a little boy if you find out your father people. It might change your... 100%.

Yeah, I mean, that makes sense. It might change the way you look at, view the world. You view the world. It also changes like, you're malleable enough as a little boy to go like, that's who I am too. Because you want to be like that. Because you want to be like that.

So it was like, so that was kept, you know, that kept me from that. And then she cried in the way of like you said, like I let you down. And then it was me crying too being like, you didn't. I now understand all of the things, you know. Did that bring you two closer together?

Um, it did. Yes, it did. Like her finally being able to share everything. Yeah. And did she? No, she still didn't. Um, but some of it is just due to like it's, you know, she'll say things like, to this day she'll say things like very offhandedly that like, because the memory is sort of

just like spark and go away kind of stuff. But like, no, I remember we driving once and offhandedly she was like, you know, John Gotti was it. And I was like, what? The Tesla on Don is watching you get water splashed on your head. That's fucking crazy, which I would guess, and I don't know, but that would mean Sammy the Bull might have been in tow. Like, these guys hang out together.

So if you know one, you know a couple of the other players. Very possible, man. Like I thought. That's a cool ass snapple fact. That was the one, that was the first thing. Because I never, the deal we made when I found out about it, because I had been doing stand-up for a couple of years. The deal we made is she was like, you know, you now know these things.

You do, you cannot talk about this on stage. She was like, that was her big thing. And that when she told me that, I tried it at a creek open mic under the guise of like, you know what I mean? Like, that's kind of weird. Oh, man, I was probably drunk in the audience. I was like, what's the Vito fucking talking about? And this is so sad. I tried it because I thought I had a premise that merited.

I was too excited. I just thought it was so funny. that the other side of the coin of that would be like, well, maybe in my head, like, what if all Italian, like, what if all crime bosses went to all christenings? Like college scouts show up to high schools for prospects. That's really funny. So, yeah, I was like, oh, I got to try that. Yeah.

They go, what do you got to do? What do you got to do? He goes, I got to go to seven christening's. I got to drive spotted orange down here. There's so much water getting poured on these fucking kids. But, hey, we got to build our ranks. The percentile of pins or grip on this baby. I'm telling you right now,

if I see one more baby penis, I'm gonna fucking vomit. That is so, but like, that's cool. Yeah. Because sometimes your mom tells a story where you go,

that made you a lot cooler. Yeah. One time my mom, when I was in high school, she was like, we were talking about something and they were talking about living in San Francisco in the 70s. And she just offhandedly,

one of those. She goes, man one time me and your dad did coke that was so clean he wanted to go dancing and I went what a cool ass sentence oh my god that's like a lyric yeah I was like oh what do you mean clean coke because it was 70s so this shit was like clean and you're like damn Trish that's unbelievable y'all are doing rails and my dad's like let's go down to broadway there's some clubs I wouldn't my getting into I think that's fucking wild so with the cool stuff kind of filtering in Does that help or hurt the, like you trying to figure out your dad?

Because sometimes the cool stuff can take away from you realizing who he was is the complicated bits of humanity. I think it kind of just rounds them out the way most people feel like you were saying about your own father. I think there's not a person I've ever met, especially in comedy who doesn't have a complicated relationship with their father. Yeah, because if they didn't, they would just be at an office being funny. Exactly.

They wouldn't be doing this. find this fucking need to fill this hole that we all fucking need to fill. All of us. Yes. Yeah. So there isn't one comic that I know that's worth their soul. Who would risk? Who would risk being this vulnerable in front of strangers?

Getting embarrassed. When it goes bad, it's embarrassing. And you know when it's bad. You've seen some true psychos get off and go, that was great. You go, you fucking bomb. Dude, especially the way that, you know, for the most part, we're doing. doing it too where it's just it's confessional so when they don't laugh you've just you've just told a sad thing for no reason i've told that's this story on this podcast about bombing on nick at night's

mom's night out where i called my mom a slut and it just went so bad and i didn't call her a slut i just said she dated right but they took it as that and these moms didn't like it and it was so bad that i went to a bar and got drunk and called my mom still with stage makeup on and i went Am I wrong for doing these jokes? And my mom went, no. If I put you through them and you can make it funny, then it's green light. Which is some real shit, Trish.

I know she listens. Some real shit. And it was like, for real, like, helped me. Yeah. Because you go, okay, then. Because it's embarrassing. Yeah. And you're talking about your life and it bombs.

You're so alone. So when you start after you Google, after you talk to your mom about it, at what point in your life are you go, I'm going to dig in further and I really want to find out. Well, I think it was late 30s when I didn't like that, I just didn't like that I had this part of me that I had to withhold from like, you know, with, especially in comedy. Is this after you're engaged or before you're engaged?

This is before I'm engaged. Okay. So, but especially in comedy where it's like, man, everybody is just being so open and vulnerable, like about who they are often. stage and on stage and I felt I didn't like having this one part of me that I couldn't share.

Sure. And I think I just, I think in my head, I was like, there's enough history in the rear view here. And I think too, I was like, I think I'll be able to talk about it from a place of respect and ability. I think earlier on in comedy, I was very aware that it was like, this is probably the most unique thing about me. And you want to talk about those things because that's going to garner. the most interest and be the most compelling.

But I think I knew I wouldn't know how to. And I think... Yeah, that's a very important tool, I think for... You know, I'm only speaking about comedy. It's like when you see guys, especially like open mic level or lower level where you go, that premise is... That's out of your pay grade.

Yeah. You can't handle that. You know, I came up at the time where Stanhope was real big. And he's one of the greatest of all time. And you'd go to open mics and you'd see a lot of guys trying to be Stanhope. And it's like, brother, I don't think you can break down the Iraq war in three minutes. I don't think your blood for oil bit's going to go over well

in three minutes. Stanhope is a 25 year vet at this time. Exactly. He's hand and he's also one of the best that ever did it. You kind of see that. You'd see people try to be Bill Hicks or Doug Stanhope and you go, you can't do it. Yeah. So that's smart that you were like, let me find out more about this before I. Yeah, I think that was it. Let me find out more so I can round out everything. Sure. And then I tried to do it as just like a chunk and it was just too i could feel audiences being like this is too complicated to just unpack it's just like a chunk um so then that's when i developed it as a one man show when you do the one man show at the time titled my dad is is not danie de veto um was there did the people from that world find out about yeah so so they did so yeah and i and i

I was saying this to sort of be like, that's when the digging deeper, it was for the sake of myself, but it coincided with doing the show. And that's when like the digging deeper came. And that's when I read the book that is about my family. So a couple of years into it, I was doing a show at St. Mark's, I don't know, a couple of years ago, did the show. It was fine. I think it was in your comedy festival show. A couple weeks later, I'm driving with my mom. And she was like, oh, they sent a guy to check out the show. And that was terrifying. What did that feel like when you I mean, I was freaked, man. That, and she always, she always, and it was like a sentence, a phrase,

and then it was kind of stuck with me where she was like, you know, it's this life of glamour. It is all these things. We sat at the best table. It is like very much like she would describe their first date. It was just like the scene in Goodfellas with Henry Hill. Exactly, man. It's exactly that. It's, I mean, it's not funny, but it kind of is that, like, you go from that.

And then it's just like, you're just in the burbs of New Jersey. But you have like Ray Leota Goodfellow voice where you go. and that's us rollerblading. There were guys that were afraid to grind. I was never really afraid to go goofy foot on a pole, like 90 shit. And this is when the X-Games are going on. What you have to understand about the X-Games is,

nothing's more extreme than an assassin for a family. You like doing that really? It's like Ray Leota, but suburbs? Because you're the end of Goodfellas, he goes they call ketchup pasta sauce out here and everything's fucked yeah that's like your mom's life once your dad's killed yeah it's the Karen monologue yeah yeah yeah exactly or the voice of it yeah um so uh so yeah they sent someone um that's so so yeah it's so you also wonder you go what parts do you laugh at well that's this yeah so so you know the whole like week after

because i was looking over my shoulder i was doing all the things that she would talk about he did because when you're you know what i mean when you're where you're where you're about your own well-being. Did you catch yourself doing that? Yeah, man. And you went, holy shit, it is. I was, and I was petrified and it got a glimpse of like, it takes a certain amount of constitution to live like that.

And I was like, I can't live like that. I live six days of this. You're calling in your spot for covering your mouth. You go, I ain't doing STM available Thursday, Friday, Saturday, smoking a cigarette. You go, what's going on? You guys got a show of the creek. Scanning the crowd for gold chains. Yeah, man.

Did they ever introduce themselves after seeing the show? They never introduced themselves. So they only had contact with your mom? They had contact with my mom. And then that's why I asked. I was like, well, what did they think? And she goes, well, not bad. Hey, yeah, I was kind of, yeah.

He's like a New York Times critic. Yeah, yeah. It's like when I find out Jason Zineman watched one of my sets and I go, Aiden, hey, ain't, hey, it? Yeah. All right. Okay. That is how it felt because the stakes.

I could kill me. Yeah, the stakes of doing it. doing this are so drastically different that I was like, Cali will take it. Yeah, you don't mind bad reviews. Awesome. You go,

I got a guy that gave me a good review that'll break your fucking thumbs. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't mind three stars on the Guardian. Yeah. It needs of a lot. Yeah. The British have no idea

when their fucking rating system is. You go to fringe and you go, fuck you. Yeah. So I think on their end, and, you know, obviously, I think there was concern that I would be angry, that it would be like...

You would besmirch them. I would besmirch them. I would be naming names. I would be handling this differently. I think they, you know, they were happy with the lens through which this was being told. So the way you made it... Yeah. Like, at least like...

It wasn't disrespectful. It wasn't disrespectful. If I've learned anything from mob movies, it's the disrespect that gets you in trouble. Yeah. So they felt it was respectful. Yes. And, but that was also my mom's doing it. Because that was my, my feeling.

was never the intention, the intention of this was to like process these difficult feelings and honestly tell my mom's story just because like the story of me finding out is in there as well but like more so it's my mom's story and what that looks like from the perspective of a wife of one. Like what if the Sopranos was just Carmelo Sopranos. After the scene in the restaurant goes black. Exactly. If it picks up with Carmelo and Tony was killed. Exactly.

Then you're going from the thing of like how does, how does, you know, how do these people all react? What's the aftermath of that? So that's what I thought was interesting as like a movie, you know what I mean? Was like, hey, we don't ever see when that camera fades to black. These people's lives carry on

and what that looks like. So that was the idea of it. I love that. Yeah. Because I always feel like they should especially do that with rom-coms. I don't give a fuck that they kissed at the airport. What happens eight months in

when she doesn't like the fact that he's so into the packers? You know, like, let's show real relationship shit. I don't want to see them kiss because they realize they're both cute. He's wearing a Jordan Love jersey to meet my parents. I can't take it. I can't take it. We're a lion's family.

Yeah, so that was the intention of the show was always that. Sure. So I think, but I knew how serious it was and is. So it was all written with my mom. So like anything like she checked. She's looked over the Google dot, you know what I mean? Like she's had her hands in it just, even to be like, don't use that word. use this word.

Really? Don't say that. That hands on. That hands on. Yeah. And like her being like, hey, I know you need a detail here,

but like use a different year. Like there are things in the show. To take you off the trail. So, I bet they like, they go, it's just like he's dead. Guy you ain't gonna fucking rat on nobody.

I give it three meat bowls and a half a bottle of wine. I give it a. I give it two tables at Rios. There we go, whoa, you can't even fucking get a seat there. I got three guys in the Hudson River could use more of the lackouts. That's fucking insane. Do you ever worry about them contacting you?

No, and I've had contact. If anything, like I think, because like I said, I don't know, and I don't want to speak at a turn in terms of like, these are people that have tried to come out from under this, you know? So like I've had contact with them, but just from the sense of like them being like, I think maybe years ago they might have heard me talk about an Ari's podcast years ago. So I think they were like, no, we've seen baby pictures of you. We know about you. Like this was, we also had to deal with this. You know what I mean? Well, they lost the guy that they loved.

This is their uncle. You know what I mean? That they loved, that they knew and that he's dead. Yeah. So the contact I've had with them has been like super like, hey, we're cousins who don't know each other. And maybe this is a way in the future that we'll be able to connect. And like everyone's older now. You know what I mean?

Everyone's older now. They have their own lives. I have my own life. No one's trying to, you know, infiltrate each other's business in that way. And then if there are people involved, it's like I think I've been pretty candid about like this is going nowhere near you. And there have been opportunities that have a real. which could have. And I've reached out to them to be like, hey, so-and-so, this could be happening. What's your say on this? Oh, that's? Yeah. So you've done that. I've done that.

You've reached out and gone, so-and-so's interested in this. Is that okay? Yes. Have they gone? No. Yes, they have. They've said absolutely not. They said absolutely not. No one. What a way to turn down something where you go, you know that idea we had? Ain't going to happen. And they go, people that'll make you, how can I put this politely, take you off the earth. I think the best way I could say this is you won't be around because that's what's funny about the world that you're describing

is filled with respect and danger in a very real way respect isn't tossed around it's not this idea of and then you're going with the fakesest fucking business on the planet where you have people that are just trying to prove that they're valuable

in any way, shape or form in some ways a lot more cutthroat than that business. Yeah. Where they just go like, I need this. I'll kick you under the bus. Right. To have those people to go,

because when I don't want to do something, they go, why don't you want to do something? And you go, because I just don't think it's, I don't like it. I don't think it's going to be this, but they go, well, because I don't, I'll get killed. Yeah.

And they go, okay. It's like having kids and canceling plans. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like you have this like built in thing that just trumps everything. That there's no argument. So, yeah. So that,

uh, yeah, I just, yeah, it's always like they have to be informed. You check in. I check in if it's something. That's fucking cool. I know it's scary and dangerous, but can I just say as someone that doesn't have to live through it?

Yeah. Very cool. Yeah. Very cool that that's who you check in with. Yeah. I had to check in with the family of alcoholics that all got wiped off the plate. My mom's family's fine. My dad's family's all dead.

There's two of us. And I go, hey, Lisa, can I talk about this? And she goes, I don't give a shit. And you go, yeah, they're all day. I guess one of my last questions is, is did it, how much did it change the way you look at your mom? Like as far as like, damn mom, just a hot lady dating a mobster.

Fucking cool ass mom. Yeah, certain things it reinforced certain things like because, you know, much like, you know, Henry Hill, good fellow, like where it's like, yeah, he gave her gifts, coats looked the other way, you know, and she looked the other way. So it's like, it gave me a real, like, deep sense of her vanity in that way. You know what I mean?

Where it's like... Did it make you think she was a hot girl where you go, oh, you were like kind of like a hot girl? No. Like a Jersey hot. No. Which are some of the hottest. Yes. That's crazy.

Come on. Destroy your life. Destroy your life. What? Wouldn't stand a chance. Oh, my God. Wake up with a gun in your face just like gun, good fellas. Get out of here.

Growing up as a kid and jerse, surrounded by them knowing they will have nothing to do with you, but no wanting. wanting them. It was the worst. But also, what's crazy is knowing that you have the pedigree, most of those women,

if they would have known that at the time, they would have kicked their lug-head boyfriends. So they go, do you know who that is? Right. And they would have been like,

what's it like to date one of those guys would be like, we watch a lot of Frasier? He says the writing is tired? I don't get it. Now, if your mom's watching this, please turn this off

because I have a question that would probably hear of feeling, did you ever find out about a gumah or like a fucking, Yeah, I mean, she said, like, she said, you know, she said it without saying that that existed. She was just like, he had his life. And he had his life.

She respected that. She knew the score. She knew the score in that way. But it has like, in another way, it makes everything, like all the faults that my mom had. Like, it gives me so much more patience with them. Any of her paranoia, any of her fear. Like, whenever I was out with friends, like she, you know, you know, I mean, during this podcast, my phone's buzzed like four times. Like, did you think it's her?

undoubtedly is her. It's her, Greg. Every time. Greg's the man. And also Greg texts like that. He texts like a mom that's worried about you. Greg is one of my favorite human beings on the planet. What I like about it is, and I've just known you for years.

We've came up together at the creek. I've just known, you know, this isn't your personality. And I mean that in a compliment. It's like a lot of people would have taken something like this and made it their entire personality, everything they talk about. In fact, we've done a whole podcast. episode and I feel bad that people don't see another flavor of you because you're such a fantastic comic.

Your special still balling out on YouTube right now. Go watch it. Straight hooping. Straight hooping. Fuck, I thought I was still ball. Straight hooping. You're going to go watch. We're going to put the link in the YouTube video if you're watching it.

Anthony is a phenomenal stand-up comic. So what I think about this situation is you're so funny and then you have this added thing where I go, well, now I want to see how he breaks down this thing being funny. Yeah. And I'm excited to see Jersey Boy with Samaril producing it as I think fucking fantastic. Yeah. Are you going to be doing a live run of it? So I've been doing, because it's just hard to do a one-man show all the time.

Sure. So like I'm trying to get it ready to tape by the end of the year. So I've taken all the jokes out. And it's less compelling, but like the jokes are like a 25 minute chunk basically. So I've been doing those as just like a chunk on the road. So there is at least like surface level I am talking about it just to get. get the jokes tight. Sure.

There's no, I don't have any dates in the works of like doing the show as a whole, but I will hopefully be taping it by the end of the year. Well, very excited. When you tape it, let me know. We'll come back on and we will talk everything that isn't about the mob.

We'll have you on to promote that and we won't talk any organized crime. We'll talk straight up Nick's love, basketball, Taco, shout out Taco. Hope you're still good. Is he still around? Taco's good. Taco's the man.

Oh, man. Scientist. Yeah, I love a scientist named Taco. Nick Dave, named Taco. Anthony Davido, Anthony DeVito,

follow him on Instagram, whatever you do. He's so fucking funny. And also just like a great dude. And I appreciate you coming by. Because I've had all these questions. No. And after Greg was like edited that and then you went,

dude, I'll come on and talk about it. Yeah. I was like, oh, that's fantastic. Because I would have just edited it and never brought it up. And I would have, so for those people watching,

they know. I would have been respectful. I'm always about respect. Pim's going to call me and go, I got a call from a guy, we got to pull that whole episode, and I'm going to go, don't do it.

It's burning out that chance. Anthony DeVito, he's the fucking man. Thanks for coming by, dude. Thank you.