Stop Podcasting Yourself - Episode 556 - Paul Myers

Episode Date: November 13, 2018

Author Paul Myers joins us to talk the Kids in the Hall, mime, and coat checks.

Hi, he's Dave Shumka. And he's Graham Clark. And together we host Stop Podcasting Yourself. Woo! Hello everybody and welcome to episode number 556 of Stop Podcasting Yourself. My name's Graham Clark and with me as always is a man who don't need another hero. He don't need to find a way home? Is that the next line of that? Don't ask me. Is this, this is from Thunderdome?

Thunderdome, that's correct. I wanted to say it was a Rocky movie, but it's, uh, no, it's a... It's a Gibson. A Mad Max. Yeah. And a Tina Turner. How many Mad Maxes, Mel Gibson Mad Maxes were there, two? Three.

Okay. Yeah. Go through them. Road Warrior. Road Warrior, Mad Max, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, I think are the three. Return to Thunderdome? Beyond Thunderdome. Beyond Thunderdome.

Well, like, why would I have any input? I've never seen any of these. It was It was the It was on TV And just that That was the closing song Was Beyond Thunderdome

So it's been stuck Now what is her role In this movie She's She's like The queen of Thunderdome Is she a bad guy No she's a good guy

Okay Yeah But she Ixnay on the new hero Yeah yeah Doesn't need Doesn't need another hero Ixnay on the new hero, eh? Yeah, yeah. Doesn't need another hero. Ixnay on the new hero, eh?

On the uneh hero, eh? Yeah. And our guest today, author, comedy nerd, very funny guy in his own right, has just has a brand new book out called one dumb guy. It's the, uh, authorized autobiography of the kids in the hall.

It's not an autobiography. Oh, sorry. Biography. Yeah. Just because there are, there are book nerds out here. Yeah,

that's true. That's true. Well, not for our podcast. A lot of, a lot of, uh, magazine readers.

Yeah. This is the iPad crowd. This is like a magazine only like a lot longer. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like 20 articles. And no pictures. There's pictures. There's pictures, yeah.

There's pictures. 16 pages of colored pictures that I paid for myself. It's Paul Myers. Hi, I'm Paul Myers. Hello. I am so happy to be here. I've listened to your podcast. I live in Berkeley, California now, although I am a good Canadian boy.

I'm from Toronto. I've lived in Vancouver. For how long? I lived in Vancouver from 2001 to 2006, just barely waiting out the George W. Bush years. Yeah, those were some hot years here in Vancouver. Hot, heavy years. Yeah. Wait, let's get to know us.

Get to know us. What was going on in those years? Was it in Vancouver? I think maybe we had won the Olympic bid. Oh, for 2001 to 2006? Yeah. Were you here? I was here.

He was here. I was here from, I graduated college in 2002. Brag. Thanks. So I was here in 2002, 2006. But I remember you because I would be flipping through the channels and I paused at one point and there was this guy was one of the movie guys. Oh, geez. Along with Patrick Malija.

Patrick Malija, yeah. Patrick Patty or Fatty. Fatty. That's what he called himself. Which is funny because he wasn't fat and I realized it was about a joint. It was about Fatty's thick spliff joints. I never knew that. I thought you're not. Thick spliff joints.

And radio DJs say that to get their mouth thick spliff joints. Thick spliff joints. Anyway, so yeah, Patrick, the great Patrick Malija who was always on and I was sometimes on. What do you mean, like?

He was like bang, bang, bang. He was like always at 10, and I was always at sort of 7.5. Sometimes I'd match him, but most of the time I let him do his thing. And you would review movies. Yeah, the idea was I was a musician who liked movies, and he a comedian a comic a stand-up and he and so we both were neither of us were technically qualified to be film critics so we call ourselves anybody exactly right yeah like what did what did roger ebert do that's so special they made him he made a very bad movie didn't he make like he wrote uh yes beyond the valley of the dolls yeah beyond

the valley of the dolls yeah but but it's not that's not good is it the writing is not no it's crazy except except that he came up with a great line uh that was used in another movie it's my happening and it freaks me out which is that was from the guy who's dressed as hitler or something is walking around there's a party scene and beyond the valley of the dolls and it's and he says that line yeah the guy's at the party and then I think later on in Austin Powers. Yeah, yeah. The gentleman who plays

Austin Powers says it. So we reviewed movies. Yeah, exactly. We're going to be oblique. We're just going to go oblique. His name escapes me. So as a comedy nerd, I knew that.

But yeah, so we reviewed movies and I also ended up hosting my own radio show on i i i can say this because they know it was horrible it was on this channel called mojo radio which was oh for men yeah talk radio for guys i don't remember this at all you guys people listening at home can't see me but i am like not what you think of when you think of guys yeah so i would try and do things like almost to mess with it i was only there a year but i produced 10 hours of radio a week two so it's like a podcast only it was on a commercial station and the same amount of listeners

yeah and except we had ads for strip clubs yeah well so yeah which was sort of we by the way we need to take a break now it's a time uh for our landings. Jumblers. Rubblestons. Is it? Rubblestoke's best rub and tug. Oh, God. Rubblestoke. Oh, yikes.

Big time. Yeah, the big time. Okay, New Westminster's best rub and tug. What was, was it, like, sports? Well, it became sports,

I think, eventually. Okay, can I tell you? Yeah, yeah. It's a podcast, you can tell stories, right? So I'm there for, I think, eventually. Okay, can I tell you? Yeah, yeah. It's a podcast, you can tell stories, right? So I'm there for a year. This is that, you can tell stories anywhere you want. That's true. That's true.

I was going to the police station later. But no, so I was on there from one to three in the afternoon, which got rebroadcast at one to three at night. So all my friends who are musicians in the area would listen to it on whatever the upper Decker Highway or whatever they call it there, the upper levels highway or on the sea to sky or wherever the musicians drive. And they would be listening to it.

Like they'd be coming home from bleary eyed from their gig and they'd be listening to me. So I would like get musicians on my show. Cause that's what I wanted to do. And I had like, I also had like reviews of Rufus Wainwright records on a talk radio for guys. Someone's trying to get fired,

right? Yeah. Like, yeah, like, I didn't know it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Hoses before broses. So the irony of ironies is that I started to become,

as you do in the Vancouver media, you start to get invited to things and the Vancouver Canucks want you to come. You do? Yeah. Oh, when you guys,

when you guys, when you guys go pro, when you guys go pro, you're going to discover a whole bunch of, you're going to be invited to restaurants. We've won the Georgia Straight Best Podcast in Vancouver two or three times. And in every issue of it, they have pictures of the Georgia Straight Best of Breakfast

where all the winners are invited. Never invited. Never invited. I'm so sorry. But anyway, so you get invited to certain things. And the Vancouver Canucks invited me. So again, I'm not the usual guy, but maybe because I'm the mojo. I don't sorry. But anyway, so you get invited to certain things and the Vancouver Canucks invited me. So again, I'm like not the usual guy, but maybe because I'm the mojo. I don't know.

Sure. And so they gave me a jersey and I'm from Toronto. So it was always weird that I'd have to wear this Vancouver jersey. I didn't have to, but I was given it. And the day they gave me the actual jersey, I come in and that's the day I got fired. I wore my jersey to work. But the way I got fired was great. They said, Paul, I got some

news for you. I just finished. I had Michael Moore or something on the radio show on the phone. It was like that kind of show. And then they said, we got some Monday we're changing formats. We're going to be all sports. And I said, oh great, what do I do?

You want me to talk more about sports? It was like a kids in the hall sketch oh, great. What do I do? Like, am I going to be, you want me to talk more about sports? You're the guy who doesn't get the hint. It was like a kids in the hall sketch. Oh, great. It's like, we don't want chicken ladies anymore. Oh, great. What do I do? You know, like, it was like, it was just really, it was comic.

And then, but then that feeling of like, oh, like sad trombone. And, you know, no severance, nothing. You know, you're gone. And I never worked in radio again because I moved away shortly after. And, like, it's really hard to walk into NPR San Francisco and say, you know, I used to work on talk radio for guys. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I was on Mojo. You've heard of Mojo Radio.

You must have. You must have. Now, when you, a couple of weeks ago, we were talking about people getting fired and having to leave with everything in a banker's box. Right. Did you have a banker's box? No, I didn't. Okay. That's how bad it was.

This is the kind of radio where they don't even give you a banker's box. Yeah. In my day, they would have given you a banker's box. Yeah, that's the least they can do. I feel like when the economy is in the toilet, the banker's box industry is through the roof. Yeah. We can't make these things fast enough. In my day, you built your own banker's box.

Yeah. With sweat and gumption. So you left Vancouver to Berkeley. Yeah, because my wife is the greatest musician reason in the world. My wife got a good job, eh? Oh, nice. And she got a good job. Oh, nice. She,

she got a job as marketing director for a big book company down there. Cool. And they sponsored us for green cards. And then actually eventually we got citizenship because I was, you know, getting interested in politics and frustrated that I couldn't vote. So we, we went,

we know now we have a house and it's like, but I keep my Canadian passport, especially now. Yeah. We just renewed our like, but I keep my Canadian passport, especially now. Yeah. We just renewed our passport for 10 years, our Canadian passport. So it's, you know, believe me, there are days when I look at it, like, you know, you know, it's the escape hatch. Yeah. Except Ontario where they have Doug Ford now.

So I can't go there. Oh, I don't know about that. He's like a bad guy. He's like a, well, you remember Rob? Yes, I know. Imagine Rob Ford without the, without the crack i can't i can't as much as the same amount of asshole did uh tom ford used to sell a hash is that what he sold probably yeah i don't know in his younger years oh yeah yeah not as a politician no but for me you'll get a 50 off

much like trump he's the kind of guy who could probably still sell hash and those the people No, but for me, you'll get a 15% off hash. Much like Trump. He's the kind of guy who could probably still sell hash, and the people from the suburbs of Toronto would still elect him. It's the buck a beer. So what is that? This is, by the way, for our listeners not from Canada, or specifically Ontario, this is a thing that I didn't even catch.

I just heard the headline. So the premier of Ontario ran on a platform of... Of Bucca beer. Which is... So usually there was a minimum... I can't remember. Like, you have to sell beer at a minimum price. And I think the minimum price was like $2.50 or something.

And he said he was going to lower it so that you could... But then it's still on the beer manufacturers to decide they want to make a buck a beer thing. But he made it so that it's legal to sell beer for a dollar. But it's like classic pandering, right? Oh, yeah. It's like kissing babies in cheap beer. And bankers boxes for everybody. But it's such a weird

like i guess yeah no it makes sense but like it's you gotta get elected first because you cannot have everyone drunk on election day that's right i don't know is it maybe someone guides them to the polls anyway so i live there and uh end of story no no beginning of story sorry beginning of story yeah because then you uh you started writing books about, you wrote a couple about bands. Well, I got into writing, I'm a musician first. And one of the bands I used to play with in Toronto all the time, I saw them come up. The Bare Naked Ladies opened for me. Really?

And within six months. Are you quirky in the juice pick? I'm quirky in the juice pick. I was just talking to Sean Cullen. Actually, I just did his podcast in Toronto. Do you know Sean? He the Juice Pick? I'm Corky and the Juice Pick I was just talking to Sean Cullen Actually I just did his podcast in Toronto Do you know Sean? He's Sean Pod I think Yeah we had a

We should have told you We have a podcast exclusive If you can't go on I thought it was a Radius Band It's that too Yeah yeah yeah It's very big I just did Revelstoke's best

I don't know Oh no I keep hitting that Revelstoke His local reference Who's the mayor in this town? I just did Revelstoke's best. I don't know. Oh, no. I keep hitting that Revelstoke. His local reverend. Who's the mayor in this town? So, but the reason I got into writing was that I'd been writing articles for people. And so I just, you know, Ron Sexsmith was a friend of mine and he was making it in England.

People were talking about him in England. So I wrote for the Globe and Mail. So I suddenly had this thing where, and the Barenaked Ladies who had played with me early on had just making it in America. Right. I was living in San Francisco and they called me, Tyler from the Barenaked Ladies called me and said, we're trying to write an autobiography, but we decided we'd rather have a friend of ours sort of be the point person and write it. And so I did that.

Nice. And it was like, so that's the only reason I wrote a Barenaked Ladies book. And then that got published. I learned how to make a biography. My next book was, I was living in Vancouver and the musician Long John Baldry was living in Vancouver up to the, he died like a block away from here at Vancouver General Hospital. I just gave away your location. Yeah.

Well, people know I'm in the intensive care unit. Yeah, exactly. Someone said, do you want to write a story about him? And I realized, you know, I knew more about John Baldry's background discovering Rod Stewart and Elton John. So I said, ah, I can make this book into something. Slow down, slow down. Yeah, I'm going very slow.

I've heard the name Long John Baldry before. I did not know it. I've just heard the name. Oh, it's an incredible story. It's a real zealot story. You know what I mean by that? Yeah, yeah. We say Forrest Gump. It's a real,alot sir you know what i mean by that like yeah yeah he we we say forrest gump

it's a real oh yeah that's right after after the after the bad thing yeah yeah yeah yeah it's a real louis ck story i'm sorry i'm sorry my references are all anyway so so just to go into that for a second long john baldry go take your time get this he was here's how i would pitch it in an elevator he was a six foot seven white gay Englishman at a time when you couldn't be out. Right. And he also was the unofficial father of the British blues. And I can explain. So he was a young, in the 50s, he was a young art student who was really into American blues, what England would call black blues.

Right. And he loved like Lightnin' Hopkins and Lead Belly and all that stuff. Love, I love that stuff myself. Yeah, yeah. And he would play it. No. Oh, I don't know you, Dave.

I know Lead Belly, I know of. You got Lead Belly right over there. I see him. No, but anyway, no, I'm just bluffing. So he would. I looked. Exactly. It's the power. Yeah, yeah. I pointed, you see, I'm just bluffing. So he, so he looked exactly.

It's the power. Yeah. Yeah. I pointed, he said, I pointed. So, so he, anyway, long story short, he was kind of like, you know, busking with this stuff. And then he got to know promoters who would bring those guys over from those old black guys from America where they were treated kind of crappy. They'd come to Europe and England and they would be treated nice.

And he kind of got involved in promoting them. So all these shows with Muddy Waters were happening in London. He kind of was part of that scene. And he starts playing with some of the other white blues guys who were playing that music as well. And the Rolling Stones would come around and he would lend them records.

And they weren't the Rolling Stones yet. They were actually something else. And he kind of said, why don't you name yourself after Rolling Stones? That kind of guy. Oh, wow. And then he's playing and he's got the hottest band in town and their harmonica player dies.

And he, here's this young, young man, Rod Stewart playing harmonica on a train platform and says, dear boy, do you want to play in my band? And it, and it starts Rod Stewart's career.

Whoa. And then a little bit later he's playing and playing and playing and he gets a hit record, but he has no band. So he needs to grab a band. He grabs this band that features Elton John, who is Reginald Dwight. Wow. And he, and he, and Elton, but he has no band. So he needs to grab a band. He grabs this band that features Elton John, who is Reginald Dwight. Wow.

And he, and he, and Elton John ends up naming himself John for John Baldry because he was Reg Dwight. And there's another guy named Elton Dean. And so he names himself after John Baldry, who basically started his career. Wow. Yeah. And then that that's, and then it gets,

it gets weird because he starts, John Baldry being a gay man in a time when you couldn't be open, he was kind of frustrated. So he drank a lot. Right. And he was kind of like, you know, not showing up for certain gigs. And there's a lot more that happens. He was in Britain's first super group, which was called Steam Packet, which was Rod Stewart, Brian Auger, Julie Driscoll, and John Baldry. And they were like, they couldn't get a record deal because they had four managers who couldn't agree.

So that was a bad move. So there's all these little things that happened to them. Huh? Anyway, this book is an incredible story for me. And I ended up getting out Eric Clapton and Elton John and, uh, Mick Fleetwood and Rod Stewart and Paul McCartney. And I got all these people like to make comments because they all knew this story and we couldn't wait to tell someone. And of course, especially Rod and Elton, who were really beholden to him. And so I learned how to get interviews.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So then the next book I did was a passion project of mine about Todd Rundgren. Right. And he was like a producer and an artist. And between all the records he made for himself and Rod, not Rod Stern, it just comes out of my mouth. I mean, every. Sure, Rod Stern. Yeah, not Rod Stern, it just comes out of my mouth. I mean, every,

every. Sure, Rod Stern. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And Tina Turner and Thunderdome. Yeah.

He produced Thunderdome. Yeah, sure. And, and. No one's checking your work. The first, the first Bankers Box album was him.

That was him. That was him, man. Just the first one though. He didn't do the second. They, they wouldn't let him near it. And then,

but no, but he produced like, you know, Patti Smith and the New York Dolls and Meatloaf. So already you've got this. Oh, right, right, right. And XTC Skylarking, which is one of my favorite records. And as well as his own records that are innovative.

So, but for that, I got all those people to talk to me. Oh, very good. Because I now kind of figured out, you know, I don't have secrets, you know. So you talked to Meatloaf? I talked to Meatloaf and Jim Steinman. Wow. Separately. Is he, yeah, yeah.

Is he intense? Meatlo he intense meatloaf is very intense yeah and and for a guy named meatloaf he seems overly intense oh you know he's what do you expect from a guy named meatloaf i only know the one i expect him to like really like drinking beer and i was nervous so i said it's like mr loaf i said mr he's a please mr loaf is my father's name call me meat call me meat well his name is meatloaf a day which is also the worst calendar it's like an advent calorie that makes you fat yeah yeah yeah the meatloaf a day keeps the doctor where close by close by i hope anyway so then so what that i'm really i'm going somewhere with i know why we yeah which is so now i've done like these and that book did really well with like a niche

audience you know like musicians and producers and people who are fans of 70s music and 80s music and and and that sort of thing each one of those bands that he produced their people read it like sparks like it's like the velvet underground, not like everyone who read the book. Yeah. Yeah. Not a lot of people read the book, but everyone who did wrote a book.

Yeah, exactly. It's the velvet underground books for sure. And, but what, again, I'm learning the whole time now I'm getting like, you know,

you get sort of like the machinery of how to do it. Right. Yeah. I guess it's like the 10,000 hours theory, right? Yeah. Meanwhile, I've known the kids in the hall since the beginning of how to do it, right? Yeah. I guess it's like the 10,000 hours theory, right? Yeah. Meanwhile, I've known the kids in the hall

since the beginning of their career and throughout various moments in their career. I was around that world and I'm a huge comedy nerd and all these things were happening. And then they were at the sort of that era in their career where they finally are getting along with each other. And it's almost the 30th anniversary this year, I think. Right.

And a few years ago, they were doing the 2015 tour. And I saw that the Warfield in San Francisco, and I thought you guys are getting along. You're doing original material as well as classic material. Uh, it's time that I use these skills I have to tell your story.

Like, you know, like it, you know, you have to sell that to them. But I, I basically said, I will be the one I will tell the story.

And were they on board right away? They were. They only were reticent at first because they didn't know. They thought it might mean they're over. Like, they're kind of career that wakes up every five years. Give them a lifetime achievement award. Exactly. And secondly, I think they're also, some of them are very reticent to open up.

And they were afraid what kind of book you want to write. And they have five managers who wouldn't agree. Exactly. It's the old steam packet effect. So, so I wrote them a letter, which was frankly a kiss ass letter, but it was all true. But I said, I want to tell what, you know, cause all these young comedians and people of like their contemporaries, like Fred Armisen and Judd Apatow, they all love the kids in the hall. Yeah. And they all wanted to tell the story. So I thought, well, why don't we try and do a thing that kind of

talks about your legacy as a living thing, but also talks about like how the diverse characters came together to make this thing happen at this one moment in time. Yeah. And since I was there for some of it, I can, I know where the bodies are buried.

I can ask some people questions. Right. And I can get other stories in there and I can use the skill of finding Judd Apatow, finding Seth Meyers to write the foreword. Right. And it, get other stories in there and I can use the skill of finding Judd Apatow, finding Seth Meyers to write the foreword. Right. And they liked the idea. Seth Meyers is his brother.

I picked up on that. Now he's my brother. That's right. And so the only thing I remember Dave Foley saying is, once you get to know us, you're going to hate us. And that's true. You found him to be very honest. I know what he meant now though. I mean,

there's definitely to be inside the belly of the beast. You realize why, you know, what the tension of five guys who now consider themselves brothers, but brothers fight. Yeah. Well, that's in there.

You mentioned that a lot in the book is that throughout their career that they fought, like that they, they would have a lot of fighting and you weren't like specific about what, uh, throughout their career that they fought, like that they, they would have a lot of fighting and you weren't like specific about what, like I assumed when they were deciding what sketches to do or what direction to go with the group or whatever. But, uh, you, you saw some of that firsthand. Yeah. Uh, well, even this, this week we did a thing in Toronto where Bruce and Scott were doing

a, a special show for the thing. And Scott was doing Buddy Cole. Yep. And he brought that. And Paul Bellini came out in a towel. Oh, man. I know. It's kind of a special night.

It's like, I dream of seeing that live. Did you make a wish? You know, that's what it was like. You dream of Bellini? I dream of Bellini. That's my third album. But then I was also, I'm on the panel with them, right? So it's my book release, but Bruce was directing the show,

and I saw that energy. And, you know, at first I was intimidated by it, and then I was really intimidated by it. And then you kind of see how it comes together. He's like telling, he's like, hold on, Paul. Do you have the light spot on this guy? Because we're going to need to dial it down a little bit and the music has to come in right at that thing.

What were you saying, Paul? We did an interview and he said at one point after the first break he said, Paul, you should stop talking less. There's three of us here. And don't try to be funny. Don't try to be funny. You've got two comedians in the room. And he's right.

That's the thing. That's what we were going to say. Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I am excited and loquacious. No, no. This is all fascinating stuff. I'm the mean one.

No way, Graham. I'm cool. I'm nice. I forgot I'm nice now. Because it's amazing to me that they uh have managed to stay together like even though all they all went and had separate careers yeah but did they keep because monty python never did that i guess i guess they kind of did they would they a little bit but they wouldn't go back together and on tour together well now you read the book right did you both read the book you didn't read the book right no yeah sure you did and uh and one of the things i

could give you do you want me to have a bad book report yeah i just made up the the kids in the hall history is important because because these are the kids and there's the hall. Oh boy, what a hall. What a hall. Seriously. Yeah. And the guy who's dumb. Oh boy. Just one of them. Just one of them.

It only takes one. It's amazing. And you know what I love is that, I love that it's 312 pages. I love. 16 color photographs, right? And that forward, they really like, I mean, they put it at the front, which was bold. They could have put the forward at the back. They didn't.

No, it's true. Anyone could have done the opposite. I tweeted this a couple weeks ago. The worst thing about being famous must be constantly being asked to write forwards for your friend's book. Yeah, and you know what? yeah yeah and you know what uh sarah silverman wrote a tweet specifically about that that she was she was done with people that she had not really had any association with asking her to write a quote or something for their book to blurb them yeah to blurb them yeah which i was like uh i was like that is a very i don't know who else is liking this tweet.

I got to say, I got to say, I got, I tried to get sort of like people to read my book. Like, it's a lot of people were like, great, send it to me. I'm excited about that. But Patton, who I love, Patton Oswalt, who I love and I know. Yeah. I don't know him super well, but I, we're like, we're friendly. We've talked a few times and he just says, hey, I got to say, in all honesty, I'm super busy. I won't get a chance to read it. So don waste a book on me and i love that i thought that was super honest

because what usually happens you send it to them and they're not really into it but they didn't want to be weird so right but you know i guess a guy like him's got a stack of these things that he's taken before now he's like probably prioritizing his life better and he's like thinking you know i don't have to take this guy's book, you know, he'll buy it if he wants it. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. And that's good too. Cause he's supporting it. Cause why, why waste a freebie on him? Yeah. So that's good. Um,

the, uh, that was the other thing too, is I didn't, I only recently figured out that Paul Bellini wasn't just a guy that wore a towel. Like I didn't, I knew he was somehow associated with Scott, but the,

the, their friendship was fascinating. Well, Scott was on the show and told us about it too. Cause they were in bands together. They were in bands together. Yeah. Congress.

They have a band called mouth Congress. Yeah. And they have a record deal. They just got a record deal for their old recordings. That's amazing. Like, cause like, cause everything cult finds a place,

you know, in this economy. Sure. But yeah, no, Paul was at York university with, place, you know, in this economy. Sure. But yeah, no, Paul was at York University with Scott and Paul was in the film department and Scott was in the drama department. He wanted to be a serious actor. Yeah. He didn't want to be a comedian. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

He didn't think he wanted to be a comedian. And then they would film Thompson for the film projects. And of course he's a ham. Right, yeah, yeah. I said this with love, but he's a ham. And he was like, throw me in front of the camera. And he course he's a ham, like I said, this would love, but he's a ham. And he was like,

throw me in front of the camera and he'd do a million things. He was fearless. Right. And then, uh, at a certain point when, when, when Scott was starting to write comedy,

he would sort of ask Bellini, is that funny? Or what do you think I should do here? What should I do here? And then it kind of became clear that he was his comic co-writer who wasn't a performer himself as much although the towel thing came out of that i love that the towel thing has an origin story yes and it's not just some obtuse obscure thing what was okay people who don't know paul bellini was a guy who

would come out occasionally in a towel yeah and And I remember there was a contest where you could meet him. You could meet him at the airport and have a sandwich with him. Poke him with a stick. That's right. And it was basically, and he'll admit he was a fat man in a towel. Yeah. That was how he self-described. Yeah.

And self-identified man. And so that came about because he was was always around he was the scott wrangler like that's the other thing he knew how to get scott to show up for writing uh sessions and for band team meetings and stuff and you know he knew where to find him also if scott was you know hadn't eaten yet he would say have a cheese sandwich have a snickers you're not yourself or whatever right yeah yeah you're aretha franklin right now i don't know why you're aretha franklin but you're Tina Turner. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Just to bring it back. Cause I like, I like that cohesiveness. Uh, but, and so,

but they're talking and I guess Mark was, did he tell the story on the show? No. No. Okay. So, and it's in the book, so I don't know if I want to ruin it for anyone,

but just, I love this, that so Scott's the openly gay guy in the troupe. And so, oh my goodness, I'm the wet guy. Yeah. And I'm the guy with ice in my lap,

but that's fine. How full was it? It was actually only a little bit left. Oh yeah. It's mostly ice. I, I just get so excited when I tell the story. This guy's got the,

the big gesticulator over here. I, I think I'm jet lagged. But I'm actually spinning right now. It's kind of good. You're going to actually see something amazing in a minute. Right now, you look like a lizard to me. And you're like a Gila monster.

I think they're both lizards. Yeah, they're both lizards. Okay, well, we can do that again in post, right? Yeah. And you're a horse. Well, we can do that again in post, right? Yeah. And you're a horse.

But so, so, so, so Paul's describing bathhouse sex to Mark McKinney. It's like, no, no, wait a minute. So they sit around in a towel and they wait for someone to give them a blow job. And he goes, yeah, you know, a hand job or whatever. It's not always a blow job. There's some sort of job, some sort of short term employment. The gig economy. The quarter jobs report looks good. Vote for Trump for the job.

But so then he describes it. And then I guess it's a little cruel, but Mark said, oh, I can't even imagine Paul Bellini sitting there in a towel. And then they had a contest. You know how you get punchy like I am now. And you're, they're sitting around and they go, we have a, you need a contest.

What could be the contest? And then somebody said, how about Bellini in a towel? And then because it had been a funny thing before. And then Bellini, to his credit, said sure. He said sure.

And then like did it and, and owned it and became kind of like their mascot, you know? Yeah. I think, I think mascots the right word. Yeah. And actually to the point where,

yeah, he's the last guy in the TV series. That's right. So the series ends with them in a grave and Paul Bellini stamping on their grave, throwing flowers down and saying, glad that's all over. And that was like the first time he ever spoke.

Right. The only time. Yeah. It's, uh, but I just, I was just so, uh,

like, I love that there was a Genesis to that, that it wasn't just, Oh, we thought it'd be, it was some weird thing and we thought it would be weird. He had fans. I mean,

so I, what I mentioned that Paul is now chewing the ice that he had previously spilled on his lap just for, just to keep everyone up to date. Amen. Yeah. I know where it's date. Hey, man. Yeah. I know where it's been. No, I guess I'm thirsty, guys. Yeah.

Anyway, I'm humiliated, so let's continue. No, no, no. No, I've got... We're all friends here. I'm not going to lie. My lap is soaking wet right now. Is it really? Yeah, yeah.

And it's not because I'm a trade pants. And it's not because I dig you. We could have our own Paul in a towel. Well, very likely. But anyway, so that's... Do we need to stop down and get you a towel? We can do it. No, I'm good.

Are you sure? I'm going to push on through, dude. It's actually only on the surface. It's like the top of my jeans are wet. If you're just listening now, the top of my jeans are soaking wet. Call now. Why aren't you calling? And why did you start just listening now. The top of my jeans are soaking wet. Call now. Why aren't you calling? And why did you start just listening now?

You're just joining us. So then, I always wonder this when I read any kind of history of a group or whatever. How many interviews? You don't pull all of that stuff just from one interview. I know. It's like many, many interviews. It took about a year and a half.

I'd say a year, a year of solidly trying to schedule interviews. And then, you know, you get a week where you might go to LA and get, uh, three or four. I got, I got Norm Hiscock. Who's one of the writers in the show who later went on to do King of the Hill and Parks and Rec. Uh, and his wife, Cindy Park was the associate producer of the show. Oh, yeah. And then the namesake of Parks and Rec.

They named it after her. Oh, that's really nice. And Norm's nickname is Rec. Yeah, that's right. And so they were living in LA. Actually, this one day, there was this one day in LA about a year and a half ago where I went to, it doesn't matter where, but it's, uh, in the valley and that's, I met Norm at Jerry's Deli.

And then I went, which is a, you'll know it if you look it up, it's great. It's a cool thing. Uh, and then I drove over to, to where Bruce was then living, a house in some Canyon. I don't remember the Canyon. And then I had to go. Yeah.

Call it the Grand. He lived in the Grand Canyon. It's just, it's just. Just look, you look for the house in the grand canyon it's quirky it's quirky it's really quirky

take a donkey down to get to his house yeah that's Bruce take three days some people don't make it there's buzzards you know it's like

skeletons of people who tried classic Snoopy desert Snoopy's weird cousin with the mustache and that sound effects eagle that you all was here and then the hang them high theme i don't know why uh but so then so then i go to his house but then i had like the that was like the one o'clock interview and my three o'clock with mark mckinney was in venice beach and i guess he was about to do something there. Lift weights. He was pumping iron. That's what he was doing.

He was working on his, just the lats that day. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, see, I pointed to some muscle in my arm, by the way. And you're like, I think this is lats. It must be lats. Yeah, this is from Mojo Radio. This is lats. He was working on his pecs.

Anyway, so I went there. But here's the thing about L.A. Everything's about 20 minutes away and a three-hour drive. You know, because what's 20 minutes away in that traffic is like, you know, so that's your whole day shot right there. But that was one day where I got four interviews though. And I felt like a hero. Yeah, no kidding. And then the next day I went to Dave Foley's house and then, um, and that, so that was kind of the LA trip. And then I went to see a screening of brain candy with Norm, Bruce and Dave.

Right. So it was kind of, it was kind of a culmination. It was like a little festival for me. And I got a screening of Brain Candy with Norm, Bruce and Dave. Right. So it was kind of a culmination. It was like a little festival for me and I got a lot of interviews in like two days, three days. That's cool. Yeah, yeah. So and then another time I'd have to call, I did a really bad Skype session with Foley where he was trying to set up one of those

TV things that you have that goes through your TV. So he's in his living room going, oh hi Paul. And he's like, and it's like chopping. So it's freeze framing every second frame. And I said, Dave, we're going to have to do this another way. I'm sorry, man. Like we just got rolling.

It was like, and it was so, and you know, and then Scott, I went to Scott's apartment in Toronto at the time. And, uh, we spent about two and a half hours just, you know, him pacing around and I'm on the couch with the recorder aiming at him as he walks around. And Bellini, I went to Bellini's house and I saw his the couch with the recorder aiming at him as he walks around. And Bellini, I went to Bellini's house and I saw his like treasure of, he's got archives of stuff cause he was the archivist. Right. And so. Who's our archivist?

Uh, you know, it's the, um, the general public. Yeah. I was going to say, everybody has one job to do.

Yeah. Uh, and, uh, I can't wait to see the finished product. Whose aunt was it that was on this show? Oh, my wife's. Your wife's aunt to do. Yeah. And I can't wait to see the finished product. Whose aunt was it that was on this show? Oh, my wife's. Your wife's aunt?

Yeah. Yeah. She's got the greatest radio voice. And she is? Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I was just listening to it when I was going through the stuff just a while ago, actually. When I first heard your podcast, I actually listened to two or three of them.

This is before I even talked about coming here. And I was like, this woman sounds like she's been on the radio for like, you know, a long time. Has she been on the radio before? No know long though she's been on the radio before like no no she's never spoken before but she was so good she was so good the kind of voice that you just want to like you know like Barbara Frum you just want to keep coming back that's a reference for old people by the way but that's a real that's that's some high praise no no no it's good just tell her from tell her it was a very if you don't know who Barbara Frum is um she's like Peter Zosky. She's like,

she's like Dave. She's like David from his mother is what she is. But, uh, eh, where were we? Where were we? That was all the interviews and going around and going.

And, and so, you know, you, you pick up things there and then, and then a gap goes along. I know Kevin, I was trying to get,

I got a few phoners with him and then he was coming to Sacramento, which is quite near where I live, except it's only, it's like about two hours, but it's quite near comparatively. So I drove to Sacramento where he was teaching improv for the weekend. So he had a couple of days where it was like, this class didn't start till later.

So I went and stayed in a hotel near the state capital of California. Actually, we walked around the grounds and found a park bench and I recorded him on my iPhone. It's a very romantic interview. I know, I know. And the shadow of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Yeah, actually. And we walked around the grounds and found a park bench and I recorded him on my iPhone. That's a very romantic interview. I know, I know. Yeah, in the shadow of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Yeah, exactly.

That's the thing. Oh, and Jerry Brown too. But that's the thing, you know, I actually, I don't know if it's interesting to you guys, so I'm going to take a chance here, but you remember when you do books like this, where you're interviewing a lot of people, you remember all the weird circumstances in the times that they

had to cancel. Like Lorne Michaels says he, Lorne Michaels, I hear hear from his people he's going to give you uh he's only going to give you 30 minutes right i'm thinking this is i want to ask him a lot of things 30 minutes but you know he's lauren michaels sure so he gets on the phone and it's like the desk phone sound oh hi paul how's it going well you know i think this i think that anyway so i have to go and i literally got 12 and a half to 15 minutes. I think, I think it was 15 minutes, including the hellos and goodbyes. Wow.

And, uh, and he said, we're gonna have to pick this up. Uh, Marty's Marty's calling me and, um, like I'm getting paged on the studio floor and, uh, we'll pick this up. Just talk to any name, the name of the person. I don't remember her name, but, uh, you know, talk to Margie. She's going to get, she'll set you up again. Never, never heard from her again. But I got enough. I got enough in that.

Cause I, one time I do shut up is when I'm getting Lorne Michaels to tell me something. I just let him talk. So it's 12 minutes of solid content, you know, chop it up and you put it in. Yeah. So everything in that book came from that 15 minutes, 12 minutes. Everything from Lorne in that. Yeah. That's amazing. Cause there's a lot, there's, 12 minutes. Everything from Lauren in that. Yeah. That's amazing.

Cause there's a lot, there's quite a bit. No, he, he, I think he knew what he wanted to tell me. And that's probably why he split. He probably was like, here's what I'm going to tell Paul and I'll tell it to him in two minutes. Thank you. And he, uh, and he just did it. And then I was like, but, but, but you have to go. Yeah.

Yeah. Ah, I do it. I do the worst. Lauren, Mark McKinney does the best. Lauren. Yeah. Cause he, and he like. Brain candy. Brain go. Yeah. Yeah. Ah. I do the worst Lorne. Mark McKinney does the best Lorne. Yeah, because he, and he like. In Brain Candy. In Brain Candy.

Yeah. It's crazy how good his is. It's like nuanced. You know? Yeah. I remember watching Brain Candy when I was a teenager and being like, this is going to be the most famous movie. And then you saw the wrong guy and you're like, well, this is going to be the most famous movie. And then you saw The Wrong Guy and you're like, well, this is going to be the most famous

movie. Well, The Wrong Guy was also the film that kind of made Dave fight with them about brain candy because he wanted to make The Wrong Guy and then wait to make Brain Candy or some other film. And they've kind of forced him. So he's doing that film against his will. And he's kind of contractually obligated to do Brain Candy. Meanwhile, he wants to go make The Wrong Guy.

He made it right away after. And The Wrong Guy was a labor of love for him. And this other one was a labor of obligation. Although you never know it on the performances. No. Like when they get together, they, they, they had the chemistry. Yeah. They respect each other's craft enough.

And they still like, cause you saw them perform last time they were on tour. They still have it? Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, they, it's kind of amazing. And they do new material that they sort of pride themselves on. I don't know what the percentage of new material is, but there's definitely always. One percent.

There's like a one percent new material. And, yeah. It's another sketch of our new album. And pure apple juice as well. I'm just like, you know, those juices that say it contains one percent juice uh but no but they do they do they they do have a chemistry and they know each other really well now and they're actually better performers now like they're they yeah they've all been acting a lot longer and they sort of know their roles in the troupe and their limitations and you know it's it's fun when you see them. Yeah. It's a, I really, I thoroughly enjoyed the book.

Thank you so much. Thank you very much for. I wrote it for comedy nerds like me. Yeah. And that's the best way to do anything. So thank you. Yeah, man. This is great.

No, I'm having a good time. Dave, what's going on with you? I'm having a good time too. Yeah. What's going on with me? Well, guys, we're recording this November 2nd. Uh-huh. Woo.

Woo. Ow. And that means we just had Halloween. Yeah. What's going on with me? Well, guys, we're recording this November 2nd. Uh-huh. Woo! Woo! Ow! And that means we just had Halloween. Yeah. So spooky. It was such a spooky night. Yeah. Did you have a spooky time?

My neighborhood is very big into the fireworks scene. Because it's not just Halloween. It's also Diwali is happening in the same stretch of time so uh it's been fireworks every night and like a lot of them uh until all hours weird we didn't get so many fire we've got one night of fireworks but it's been so rainy yeah these people would not be deterred by the rain. Whoa, whoa, whoa. These people? Fireworks face. Okay.

Yeah, so this is our first Halloween in our new neighborhood. And so we did not know what to expect trick-or-treater wise. Right. And I've been to your place. You don't have a front door. No, yeah. Nobody was coming to my door. But upstairs, tons of trickery we had i've heard of like i heard some of my friends said that this neighborhood get

you know you'll get like 1200 kids i believe we're sort of on the outskirts i think of that we had like 150 that's a lot that's a lot yeah like we would get a group of 10 kids well i got an I got a legit Trick or treat Smell my feet Give me something Good to eat

Classic If you don't I don't care I'll pull down Your underwear Geez that seems Aggressive I mean they left out

Also elaborate Yeah They left out The not too big Not too small Just the size of Montreal Montreal yeah

Good old Bilingual reference Yeah Montreal I love it Patrol Grand Montreal. Montreal, yeah. Good old bilingual reference. Montreal, I love you, Dave. Patro Grand. Yeah. But they, yeah, so I think like at about, so Abby took Margo out.

Margo was a witch. Took her out trick-or-treating. I stayed home and handed out candy and uh at about like 7 7 30 i was like we are going to run out of candy i sent abby to the store yeah and she came back with candy and by that point uh we had no more trick-or-treaters so i was like oh we were fine yeah now we have way too much candy that's the thing right yeah yeah the uh uh the upstairs like my landlord uh she was getting just all night all night trick-or-treaters i didn't think my neighborhood was a big kind of kid uh spot but then because nobody had jack-o'-lanterns out or whatever but then they

all put them out the night of which is i've never seen that i think that might have been a rain thing too because we had two of them right and they filled up like we would just keep them out and they filled up with rain every day and they got so rotten it was we had one that had collapsed by halloween that's the scariest yeah a collapsed witch did you you get a lot of kids in your neighborhood? I live on a really busy street in, it's actually called Kensington, California, which is just above Berkeley, but I don't really expect anyone to know that. Well, they know now. They know now.

And we found out a couple of years ago, we've only lived there three years, but we found out that the kids, what they do is they go to this big sort of shopping street called Solano Avenue, and all the store owners stay open on Halloween and a lot of the kids just do the Solano strip. And their parents, of course, everyone has to walk. You can't have kids going alone door to door anymore. And so there's this kind of parties of contingents of kids like somebody will organize, a parent will organize, and then 15 kids will go from store to store getting the free samples. It's a bizarre, it's more like a trade show than Halloween. Yeah, yeah. It sounds like an observational comic joke, but what is, who

decided what fun size is? That's a good question. That's probably a trope in stand-up, right? No, but like, well, I mean, like fun size candy, I mean, I could show you how to have fun with candy, right? No, but like, well, I mean like, like fun size candy. I mean, I could show you how to have fun with candy, but I mean like it's some guy at Snickers decided this is the fun size and I'm pinching. Yeah. Like they actually come,

uh, the packages tell you how many calories. So it's either 50 or 60 calories per bar. So that's, I think how they determine it. So 60 calories is, is the fun out of it. Yeah.

60 calories is fun. A hundred calories is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is

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is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is is fun every day. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Fun is for special. You just got your test back, Jim, and you've been having too much fun. That would be a fun way for your doctor to tell you that you were doing well. Yeah. Doctor looks at a chart, fun life. Just written on your tombstone, you know, cause of death too much.

Yeah. Fun. That sounds like something on Vince Neal's tombstone. Do they, do they put cause of death on tombstonesal's tombstone. Do they put cause of death on tombstones? Loving mother.

Tuberculous. I love how punchy I am that I thought that that was a reasonable thing to say. It would make a lot of sense.

In the future, maybe they have like a button on the grave that you can press here to find out. Civil war. We had a lot yeah, in the future, maybe they have like a button on the grave that you can press here to find out. Civil War. He had a lot of fun in the Civil War, too, apparently.

Fun-sized melon ball hit him. And so, yeah, so that was Halloween. And that was fun. That was fun. The day before Halloween, I went to a rock and roll concert. Oh, yeah. Which I never get to do these days and i also choose not to who were the rock yeah who were the rockers the rockers uh it was a

a singer by the name of mitski oh mitski yeah big big everyone talks about me yeah we're big heads over here i don't i i'm unfamiliar with the mitski mitski's a singer songwriter and in the the uh i've i've like watched videos of her live okay and uh she plays guitar or she plays bass and she sings but this tour for this album she has a band yeah and so the whole time it's like very theatrical like there's hand movements but it's like slow like she's miming she's got a box she's playing she's object work she's talking to an invisible guy in a chair she's walking against the wind yeah there was a little bit of that a little marceau marceau action here and then she she wouldn't always talk between songs but then when she did it would be about pretty weird that I'm doing this. Oh, she was like, yeah, I know that it's real performing.

That's like when I used to be a rock performer, I was like a very insecure. So I would do a song and if I'd sang a bad note, I'd go, sorry. Like the most Canadian performer ever. It's like, I don't know why. Sorry. It's all right. Or forget my own lyrics. I forget my own lyrics and tell the audience, oh, I'm sorry.

Like they would know. Yeah. Yeah. Like you could fake that. We're big Paul heads. Yeah, exactly. Paul heads.

Woo. And that night, but the weirdest thing about this concert had nothing to do with the concert itself, but at the, so it was pouring rain that night. And we, so I went with my friend Chris and we went in and we were like,

man, do we want to check our coats? Okay. We'll check our coats. Uh, you know, $2, $4 maybe for the coat check.

Pricey coat check. Yeah. No kidding. And, uh, $4 coat check. You're tipping that extra dollar. Yeah.

Yeah. They know what they're doing. Yeah. You, you better believe it. They know. Do they? The Diwali folk. Uh, but the, uh, at the end of the concert, yeah they know what they're doing yeah you you better believe it they know who do they the

dewali folk uh but the uh at the end of the concert i was like let's go right to the goat check yeah let's make a beeline for the goat check that's what you do and uh so and they had already set up like uh what are they stanchions stanchions so you could you know so the line didn't go too long but not enough stanchions and then when by the time i got my coat i looked around and i was like is there another concert starting after this because there's a huge lineup out the door it was the lineup for the coat check oh man people that's great in the rain no coats lined up to get their coats that just that's it's coat check is like it's it's you know before the show super busy then you've got some recovery time drink your gatorade do whatever you

have to do to get in the zone for the post-show rush yeah it's not even that busy before the show no not really people come in and trickle yeah you get, you know, bring on an apprentice coat check person. Yeah. Yeah. It's, there's precious little time at the end of a show. Like you,

as soon as you hear that encore starting, you get ready. You go to setlist.fm and see how many songs they do. Absolutely. Two things I got to say.

So I went to a concert. My wife doesn't like to go to concerts. So every so often she'll go with me. Most of the time I go alone. And we went to, I got to say. So I went to a concert. My wife doesn't like to go to concerts. So every so often she'll go with me. Most of the time I go alone. And we went to, I got freebies to see The Who's 50th anniversary. And I thought, you know, bucket list.

I want to see The Who. But I knew that they, I didn't do the set list of them on that occasion. But what happened was. What does it say on Keith Moon's tombstone? Not, it says, I forget what it, what did he die of? Alcohol poisoning. I guess. Yeah.

But. Drove a car into a pool. Yeah, that wasn wasn't that didn't kill him too much too much fun fun size speedball oh boy that's what that's what he but uh no so we're at this concert and it was one of those things where i said to my wife lisa and i said like okay we can go home early uh but i gotta hear like Won't Get Fooled Again and and CSI and Bob O'Reilly and Bob O'Reilly the other CSI yeah yeah yeah

and so so they of course waited to the very end and of course and I actually compromised I said okay

so they just finished Won't Get Fooled Again and we're walking out and I hear them dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee like it's Bob O'Reilly and like you know Teenage Wasteland for you

who don't know. But so it was one of the things we stood in the aisle and watched them do that song. And then I don't know what they played after that because it might've been You Better You Bet. And I didn't mind, you know, but whatever. The other one was Set List FM. I'm going to see Paul Weller.

I got in Berkeley and I read on Set List FM that he was doing some jam songs for The Jam. His first, you guys know The Jam, right? I know I'm an oldie, but you know, so. No, we only know solo Paul Weller. We're young. So all the young kids. Anything after Stanley Road, anything after Wildwood, that's all we know.

But so, and he's great by the way. But so again, Lisa's starting to look at the, let's get home. Yeah. And I, so I opened set list of him and said, look, he plays going underground and start in the encore sets. We have to stay. Right. So we stayed, but that was again, set list of him gave me the clout that I need.

Thank you. Set list of him. And it really just like, as a, some people don't like to know what songs are going to be played. Don't tell me. Don't tell me. Yeah. Yeah.

I mean, I give it to like, I, first first of all i want to know how like stayed and repetitive this this performer's life must be doing the same songs over and over yeah right yeah but it's uh i've never i've never used it uh the setlist fm but um because i don't know i don't know enough songs to know yeah you know exactly which one's that yeah exactly they should have uh in conjunction enough songs to know. Yeah. You know what I mean? Exactly. Which one's that? Yeah, exactly. They should have in conjunction with Shazam so that you can know what you're actually listening to. Because I'm like, okay, well, obviously the two, the three songs I know are going to be at the end. Yeah. Yeah.

And then there's going to be a bunch. I'm going to show up late to this Ray Parker Jr. concert. I ain't afraid of no ghosts. Yeah. Bustin' makes me feel good. Oh, man. So, yeah. Halloween and rock music.

Rock and roll. What's up with you? Well, to keep it on theme, I also went to a concert. I went to a singing clown called Puddles the Clown, who I'd seen previously in Edinburgh. He, because we were part of the same company in Edinburgh, so I could get into his show for free. Yeah, Puddles, yeah. Yeah, and so I saw his show six or seven times. He's a lot like Long John Baldry, in that sense.

Yeah. Very tall. Very tall. Yeah, he's very tall it sings very uh melancholy songs yes he's like kind of he's got like an opera you should say his full name is puddles pity party puddles puddles pity party step away from the mic for that that's actually a vocal test right puddles pity party say it off mic but and yeah and he's definitely very he's got he's yeah pagliacci kind of yeah it's have you seen him i have i saw him at a david bowie uh some of the original members of david bowie's touring band toured a couple years they've been doing it since but they did

the first time and they went out with a bunch of different people like the guy from fishbone like as on choices fronting the band so because they needed front people sure and puddles gets up and sings uh i think he's saying, uh, Ziggy Stardust. Yeah. And it was the weirdest thing, you know, I mean,

just the clown thing alone. It's like someone describing the guy. He's a clown, blah, blah, blah, blah. But here's where it gets weird.

Yeah. And he doesn't talk. He only sings. So the rest of it is, clown doesn't talk. Kind of my me stuff. Yeah, yeah,

exactly. And he did this great, where was the show? This was at the Commodore. Ooh. And, uh, he did this great where was the show this was at the commodore and he did this great thing that i don't know why i've never seen another performer do it during a song he went out into the audience and everybody that was filming the show on their phone he would grab their phone film himself and then he would hand the phone off to somebody else and so by the end of the song he had switched about 30 people's phones to other

people so at the end of the song everybody got up and exchanged back their phones that's beautiful man that's like woodstock yeah for the phone generation it really was it was my woodstock peace love and phone exchange yeah it was uh it was so funny he was so good and uh but speaking of coat check like as soon as soon as he was done i made a beeline to that coat check and i was out of there i have like i used to the commodore is great because the coat check is sort of still in the room yes like we used to like when the encore happened we would get our coats and come back. You didn't have to leave. Yeah, yeah. I just had a sense. I was like, as soon, the second that this show is done,

I am running to the coat check. I wish I'd known to check my coat at so many shows now. I just realized that I've had that thing where I died of heat exhaustion. Well, you're deep in the mosh pit. I'm deep in the mosh pit, man. Yeah, for sure. In a polar fleece. In a polar fleece, absolutely. But no, it's pit. I'm deep in the mosh pit, man. Yeah, for sure. In a polar fleece. In a polar fleece, absolutely.

But no, it's true. I guess I should be checking, but then it sounds like it's more the hassle than it's worth. It's more, it gets, it's on your mind. Well, we live in a very, you know, a Gore-Tex heavy community. Yes. Microclimate. That in your body becomes a microclimate holding it in. Yes.

My body is a wonderland, actually. Oh, is that about you? It was probably about me. You should write a book about that. John Mayer, Paul Myers, it's very close. Oh, sure, yeah. That's me. We're like that.

Do we want to move on to some business? I think so. is this i think so you know it's not smart i don't know there graham i'm zipper crooner zipper crooner i'm zipper crooner little swoon i didn't know it was in the front row at such a heart-throbby concert. Yabba-baba-wow-wow-zip. And after a long day of having to hire people the old-fashioned way, I'm exhausted, so ZipRecruiter is exactly what I need. Well, I sure am.

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Now, on to overheards. Since the dawn of time, screenwriters have taken months to craft their stories. But now, three Hollywood professionals shall attempt the impossible. Since the dawn of time, screenwriters have taken months to craft their stories. But now, three Hollywood professionals shall attempt the impossible. Break a story in one hour. That's right. Here on Story Break, I, Freddie Wong, Matt Arnold, and Will Campos, the creators behind award-winning shows like Video Game High School,

have one hour to turn a humble idea into an awesome movie. Now, an awesome movie starts with an awesome title i chose the billionaire's marriage valley mine was christmas pregnant paradise okay next we need a protagonist so i've heard wario best described as libertarian and of course every great movie needs a stellar pitch in order to get to heaven sometimes you got to raise a little hell check out story break every week on MaximumFun.org or wherever you get your podcasts. How does this sound? A weekend on a beautiful mountaintop in

California. You wake up, eat a tasty meal with some new friends, some old friends, maybe the host of your favorite podcasts. After that, it's a couple of inspiring classes, spectacular podcast tapings, a hilarious stand-up showcase, a dance party, and more. And s'mores! All of this can be yours at MaxFunCon, returning to Lake Arrowhead next June. Tickets go on sale Friday, November 23rd. Put that on

your calendar because MaxFunCon tickets always sell out. Get a head start planning your next summer vacation and go to MaxFuncon.com to learn more. Overheard. Overheard. It's a segment in which we hear them things out there and then we share them things in here. And we always like to start with the guest. Paul, would you lead the charge? Well, yeah, this one's kind of weird.

It kind of requires you guys knowing I overheard something and it was this guy who's kind of like kind of like you guys or like a kind of a guy who'd be like listening to people talk and like you know comedians like that and and there's an old childhood thing that I recognize that's why it caught my ear so you know the

there's an old thing where somebody would like you're supposed to say Johnny fucker faster or something I don't even know what the setup for that joke it was like some dumb joke the kids and the punchline was johnny fucker faster yeah and then there's his last name fucker fast yeah but then this guy yeah that's right and but this guy was like he was suddenly like like almost a george carlin moment he was like uh wait a minute what's what's this guy? Why is he watching Johnny do this? And so he's, wait a minute.

So he's watching Johnny having sex and he's thinking that Johnny's not going fast enough. And Johnny's going to take that. Like, and I thought this guy says he's doing comedy gold. He's doing, he's doing the best Carlin material, George Carlin.

So he's saying Johnny fucker fast. And Johnny's like, Oh, okay. You know, I'll get on that. Skippy. Like,ippy like like no he didn't say skippy but i mean that's what i was thinking i actually wanted to turn to him and like you could tighten this up it would be a great bit yeah yeah and then and then like i couldn't help it this is maybe it's not an overheard because i joined in i said well you should try talking about rubber balls and liquor which is another kid's thing right what you're supposed to say rubber balls and liquor, which is another kid's thing. Right. Where you're supposed to say rubber balls and liquor at the end of it.

But if you realize what the joke is, it's kind of messed up. It's because her balls, rubber her balls. No, but the she does not. Definition, half testicles generally. Oh, well, maybe it's oppression. Maybe it's out of its time. Yeah.

But then it wouldn't be necessarily, it could be a they, rub they balls and liquor. We're not going to get gender specific in our pronouns. No, we are not rub they balls and lick her. And also, this idea that even if it was like her, you're going to rub her balls and lick her, hopefully there's consent. Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

I mean, it goes without saying. These kids jokes never make, they don't make provisions for i for those type of so anyway that he really did this 10 minutes on johnny fucker faster which made my day and and they didn't take to me joining in by the way that's the thing i always want to go hey you know what like and another man get away old man i um i always uh or like a i think we had an idea for like a live show where it would be comedians just basically bringing street jokes. Yeah.

That they, that they heard through their childhood pretty much. And then just going through the logic of them and like, so this door to door salesman. Okay. So this farmer's daughter's dad. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. It's like, we only have one rule in this house? And the poor daughter has to like, dad put you this strange man in the room with me because, let's face it, we knew that. We knew the rules. Yeah, it's...

Yeah, joke logic's bad. Joke logic is, it's poor at best. Dave, do you have an overheard? Barely. Okay. So, this is beyond not good. I was in traffic and I saw this truck turning a corner. And it was a work truck and it had a business name on the side.

And it was something, something roofing and guitars. And I was like, what a strange company. And I got a close and I was roofing in gutters. That's not nothing. But I was like, well, I guess if you're framing a roof, you use wood. Maybe you also make a guitar with wood. Also, maybe he couldn't secure a loan for his luthier business yeah guitars and he thought well if i put another practical job

ask me about my guitars but mostly roofing you're calling about the roofing damn i was really hoping it was about the guitar yeah that's right all the calls are about roofing i'm having second thoughts about this business card. I mean, Eddie Van Halen needed a new roof, but didn't ask me about the guitar. Yeah, it's weird that he would hire me out of all the roofing places and then not bring up anyway. My over. Yeah, please. Comes courtesy of being in an airport a bar i mostly just go to the

bars at the airports you buy a ticket for a plane yeah good go through security have i get wasted you don't you don't want to go anywhere you get the cheapest ticket you can get but yeah you love i love sitting at the bar seeing the airplanes land. Yeah. I love all of them. You want to meet people with accents. Yes. And there was a group of guys. They were all hunters. They were all wearing camo. They were all from the deep south.

This was here? This was in Saskatchewan. Ah, okay. So what would be directly below Saskaskatchewan the deep south well they had very southern accents but i also oh directly below would be minnesota yeah because like people have southern accents in montana and it's not oh sure anyways might be in north dakota yeah these guys all had very very nice to listen to twangy accents and they were gonna uh the one guy was gonna order uh he wanted to order a bloody mary and the bartender said we we don't have

bloody marys but we have caesars and then all the other guys were like yeah we're all drinking caesars and they were all excited about it and uh the guy didn't know what a caesar was but he said all right hail caesar pretty good i thought that was really nice what is the difference it's just clamato clamato juice yeah instead of just tomato but i think it's like it's a very canadian oh yeah no you ask for clamato juice in the states or clamato depending yeah and they don't say clamato and if you say bloody caesar they're bloody mary no bloody caesar now there are places now Clamato depending on, and they don't Clamato. And if you say bloody Caesar, they bloody Mary, no bloody Caesar. Now there are places now it, cause it's sort of

like world, you know, people, the internet, thanks to the internet, thanks to just for laughs. So many more comedians might know it now. Like they might know the Canadian drinks because they're much real every so often or here. I would have a Caesar. Yeah, yeah, exactly. And then, or they think they're exotic for knowing about it, right?

Like showing off, like, hey, they have a thing in Canada. Are you sitting down? Yeah. It's called a bloody Caesar. Yeah. Well, yeah, the first thing most Canadians know when they move to the States is that you have to explain a bloody Caesar to them.

But they wouldn't, like a bar wouldn't necessarily have Clamato. They would not, no, no, you would really, yeah. And it's tomato juice with clam juice in it yeah it's a i've never had a caesar maybe i have but i thought it was gross but i was in my early well when i was a serious alcoholic it was it was considered a soup or a it was like a salad like you'd have the bloody caesar because it's got clamato juice tomato juice and a stock of celery in it and uh salt on the rim so it's So it's like, it's like, that was dinner.

Yeah. That was dinner. What's the alcohol in it? Vodka. Okay. Is it always vodka? Yeah. I think.

They probably have variations on it that are like rum or something. And it was, I mean, there's like, it's called a dirty Caesar. Yeah. An island Caesar. But like, it sounds gross even without the alcohol. Like no matter what alcohol you put in it. It's weird that Clamato is a product. Yeah.

Like that's a weird thing that it is. And Canada was so invested in Clamato that in the, I guess it was the 90s, they used to have these ads where they had the spicy Clamato, which was like, they call it the hot Clamato. And they had this whole. Check it and see. This whole, exactly. They had a foreigner doing ads for it. Lou Graham would in the, and no,

but so, but they do this thing where there's like, they were trying to sell the whole hot and cold Clamato thing. So they had this thing where the guys put in taps in his house. I'm not making that up. It was like, look at, I put in new pipes.

I got hot and cold Clamato. It was like, George, you're crazy. That, you know, like somebody greenlit, somebody greenlit this ad campaign. That's, that's why I was like, George, you're crazy. Yeah. You know, like. I don't think I want a clue. Somebody greenlit this ad campaign.

That's why I was thinking. Whenever you see ads, it's like. They had that a couple of years ago for mini-wheats. Like, try them with hot milk. They're doing it again. I've saw it. It's back. Maybe it's not going away.

Yeah. It's perennial. Hot. So, what would it be? A hot Clamato drink. I guess. Just heat it up. Then it's just soup.

Is it? Then it's just hell. Then it's just soup. Is it? Then it's just hell. Then it's just soup. Then it's just hell. So they make this clam juice. And in the stores, it's just room temperature? Yeah, it's in a can. Yeah, you can chill it.

It was put there by a man. You usually have to shake the can before you use it because things separate. Yeah. Because even they know. Yeah. Even tomato and clam juice know that they shouldn't be together. But like a union shall not work. It's like maybe the only seafood product where it's not like, keep it cold and serve it today.

Well, I guess because it's in a sealed container, like canned goods often last a little longer because there's no oxygen in there. Yeah, you get, what do you get? Like sardines. That's true. Sardines. Or tins of beans. Tuna. Tuna. Beans aren't seafood technically though that's the thing yeah well navy beans even i hate myself for that

now they're judging me we also have uh overheards sent in from people around the world. If you want to send one in, send it in to spy at maximumfun.org. And this first is an overseen. This is from Doug from Harrisonburg, Virginia. Today, my wife and I took our daughter to a Paw Patrol-themed trick-or-treat event at Target. We wandered down a toy aisle and found this Norm Peterson action figure, picture attached. So, Norm Peterson from Cheers. Oh, wow.

Norm Peterson from Cheers action figure. Oh, my God. And that's for real. That's for real. That's in a Target in Virginia. What's the action? That's a good question. Pull a string and he orders another drink.

Or he says a quip that was his thing right he was very quippy and everybody knows his name what did he do for a living Frank he was an accountant and he was like very

yeah he was like always hiding from his wife Vera that's why he was at the bar. Vera was the Maris of Cheers. That's true. And has there been a- Wasn't Maris the Maris of Cheers?

Maris was on Frasier. Oh, she never existed in the Cheers universe. I mean, she exists. She's not canon. Well, she's probably canon, but was David Hyde Pierce ever on Cheers? No. Oh, that's true. Also, Frasier's dad in Cheers was dead.

Oh, really? Yeah. And then they undeadified him. I did not know that. Yeah. So there's a supernatural element to Frazier then. That's mostly why I watch it. Why isn't that show like a Halloween show?

Night of the Walking Dad. Well, on my Halloween playlist, I have Ghostbusters, Monster Mash, Toss Allows and Scrambled Eggs. Well, we don't talk about Toss Allows, can we? I mean, come on. This theme song is like a prison song, you know. What? Do you know what Toss Allows is? Yes.

Well, oh my God. But you know what the meaning of the song is? No. Because he says Toss salads and scrambled eggs. They're calling again because he's a radio therapist. And toss salads and scrambled eggs are things that are mixed up. Yeah. Oh, my God.

That's the meaning behind that song. You've had a much more, you know more about this show than I've ever thought. Yeah, I guess so. Well, you know Clamato. And you know Clamato. Yes. But the bottom line is, that's a couple of things. I think we can all agree on that.

This next one comes from Kim O in Vancouver. These are two friends talking about a watch. Friend one, I think I need a new watch. Friend two, you probably just need a new battery. Friend one, yeah, like a battery will fit in here. Oh, the next moment in that story is going to be so good. So delicious. When they see the little battery.

I thought that was a dime. It's a battery, believe it or not. Yeah. Oh, Kim, or not. How this person thinks a watch works. Or they can't imagine a battery smaller than a AAA. Well, that's what it is, yeah. Yeah, a battery's not going to fit in here.

You fool. That is surprisingly delightful. Yeah, I thought so. And then this is the last one is from Alex A. Parts unknown. This is two guys at the park going on a rant about how kids are too sheltered these days. It's true. Guy 1.

They've done studies that show children don't develop critical thinking skills because they're watched too closely. Guy 2. And the wood chips they put down don't let kids get hurt, so they don't know how to protect themselves. Gaiwan backs up and steps on his own child. These kids.

These helicopter parents crashing into their children. Helicopter sound effects are cute. Pretty good. Pretty good foley. Do you do any aviation sounds? Just fighter planes from World War II? Yeah. I actually do a better helicopter.

So what you do is you also want to have it going away. So it's like. Pretty good. Close your eyes. And kiss me. And it is no errors that are written in. Here comes eyes. And kiss me. And it is no-overs that are written in. Here comes the chopper, Captain. We also accept your phone calls.

If you want to call us, our phone number is 1-844-779-7631. When I pointed to it, the frame moved. That's one. Ugh. SpyPod 1. Like these people have. Hi, Dave, Graham, and guests. This is Richard calling from St. John's, Newfoundland, with an overheard.

I was just at the shopper's, my local shopper's drug mart, buying day after Halloween candy. Right. And while I was at the counter, this little old lady who came up to, like, my elbow, and I'm, like, an average an average sized guy she asked the cashier do you have any of those kinder eggs left and the cashier said

if it's not on the shelf ma'am then no we don't have it and she said oh that's fine dear and she was walking out the exit and I heard her say to herself as she was walking out, fuck. Anyway, I thought that was pretty great. All right, bye. Come on, I'm going to get a little Kinder Egg.

Kinder Egg's not Halloween. No, and not ever going to be a post-Halloween discount. Yeah, but do you think they might be special themed? He just didn't, he left that out. Like it might have been orange colored candy. Yeah, or the spooky toy. Picture some horrible thing that scares the hell out of people. Yeah.

I mean, it makes sense. Of all the candies out there, it should have. It's bad. Can I, I feel like I have to share something at this moment there's something that that thing like that that the lady she was leaving the fuck i find myself doing this thing especially because today was i was a long travel day for me today and a couple of times things were happening and i just went and like people look like it's almost a tourette's thing like they look at you what did you why is something wrong? They think you're, excuse me, but I'm just letting out a sigh,

but I realize I'm actually doing the external guttural sound of like, ugh. I do that because I clear my throat a lot and people go, because they look back like, well, pardon me. I'm trying to not do it now because I get embarrassed easily. Apparently people are, yeah. Yeah. They're taking it personally.

I mean, I guess when I go, excuse me, over here, eyes on me, and you turn off the lights. Service, please. I need some service. In the airport. Hi, Dave, Graham, and guests. This is Erin calling from Vancouver on Halloween night. I just had

some kids knock on my door, and when I gave them candy, they took the candy into their bag and then said to me, by the way, we're going to be reselling candy later, so you should come to our house if you need to buy some. Anyway, happy Halloween. Yeah. That's interesting. That's not a bad business.

Would have helped you out. Yeah. Yeah. Come on, kids. Where are you reselling? Where's your house? We're Vancouver's leading reseller of candy. I mean, the problem with buying it at the store is you only get like four kinds in a box.

Oh, yeah. And you go to a kid's house, you get smorgasbords. Yeah. They'll mix gummy and chocolate. Yeah, I only had of the gummy variety this year. No chocolates. Interesting. I guess I could go to the drugstore.

They probably still have them. Did you get some day afters? No, I didn't. Too busy. I'm buying adult chocolate bars these days. Adult themed chocolate bars? Yeah. Penis shaped chocolate bars.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You understand, right guys? adult themed yeah penis shaped chocolate bar yeah yeah you understand right guys here is your final overheard hey Dave Graham

and probable guest this is Brent calling hail Caesar hail Caesar I was at the grocery store

one mid-morning recently and was getting a few things. Decided to get some pork chops to cook that night. And while I was at the meat counter, the lady asked me if I was off for the day. And I said, no, I work from home. And she said, are you a computer nerd?

And I said, no, I'm a landscape architect. And I said, uh-huh, you're a computer nerd. So I got my pork chops and went home to my job as a computer nerd. I think you'll find. Yeah. Do you have a computer within 20 miles of your house? Yeah, any story that ends with got my pork chops. Yeah.

Got my pork chops. My first book had got my pork chops at the end of every story. And that's just how. It's just, yeah. In fact, that was the working title. That's how every bare naked ladies anecdote ends. Actually, that's probably true. So much about that, what they, they were always about their next meal.

So that's probably true. But anyway, I digress. Well, that brings us to the end of the show here. Oh my God. It's so soon. Thank you so much for being our guest. I thank you for having me. It's a safe haven in an otherwise weird world for me.

It's been a very nice arrival. And the book, it's out now. It's called Kids in the Hall, One Dumb Guy. And it's so good. If you're a fan, if you're a comedy nerd, this is the book for you. Is it out in America and Canada? It is actually out in America too, yeah. In fact, even more so now than it was three days ago,

because apparently it's kind of been like slow release in America. It came out October 23rd here, Canada. That's where we are. Yeah. But I see people showing me pictures of it now in Los Angeles and Berkeley and places like that, possibly Des Moines, Iowa.

I don't know. Can't speak for that. No, nobody can. Yeah. It's the Iowans themselves. Yeah.

But, uh, they're, they're mute on the subject, but no, but I mean, uh,

you know, we're doing an LA event for it in November, uh, which is now November, uh,

November. What? Well, we, I don't, these things are not time sensitive, these podcasts, but, uh, November 16th, for it in November, which is now November. November what? Well, I don't know. These things are not time sensitive, these podcasts, but November 16th, if this airs in time. This will come out

before that. Yeah. We're doing it at UCB Sunset, nine o'clock at UCB Sunset with Dave Foley of the Kids in the Hall

and Scott Thompson of the Kids in the Hall and me, who's not in the Kids in the Hall. And I go, meh, goes down.

But I'm just there because it's, you know, the book. And we're going to sell the book there too and sign the book, which' novel. And I, it goes down. But I'm just there because it's, you know, the book. And we're going to sell the book there too and sign the book, which is neat.

And maybe some other comedy folks want to come out to that too. Yeah. So UCB, it's a nice environment for comedy. Yeah. And yeah,

there might be some other events, you know, I'll, you know, pull my ears on Twitter if you want to find it. P-U-L. P-U-L-M-Y-E-A-R-S.

It's an anagram of Paul Myers with one L. So there you go. I love it. You canU-L-M-Y-E-A-R-S. It's an anagram with Paul Myers. With one L. So there you go. I love it. You can't see the hand gestures I just did. Dave, do you have anything? No.

You know what? We had so many weeks of playing our shows, our live shows. Those live shows are over. Those were great. Thanks. Thanks to everyone who came out to those. I don't know if I thanked. I'm sure I did. I'm sure you did. You know what? I'm just so thankful. Thanks. Thanks to everyone who came out to those. I don't know if I thanked. I'm sure I did.

I'm sure you did. You know what? I'm just so thankful. Yeah, me too. And it's almost American Thanksgiving, or maybe it's already passed. So, you know, give thanks for what you got. And if you like the show, please tell your friends. And come on back next week for another episode of Stop Podcasting Yourself.

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