That Gaby Roslin Podcast: Reasons To Be Joyful - Josh Groban

Episode Date: November 16, 2020

In this episode Gaby chats to the global superstar singer-songwriter Josh Groban. They kick off by co-creating a brand-new theme park called ‘Grobanland’! He talks about being an introvert, working with Robin Williams, meeting Annie Lennox, his friendship with Oprah Winfrey and his foundation called ‘Find Your Light’ which provides all children with arts education. UK listeners will be delighted and surprised to hear that makes him laugh is UK comedy and BBC news bloopers! Plus, he reveals what to expect from his new album ‘Harmony’, a new collection of timeless songs and two originals. Tracks like, The Impossible Dream, Angels, I Can't Make You Love Me, Celebrate Me Home, She and many more. There’s a performance from Tony Award winner Leslie Odom Jr (Hamilton), singing Shape Of My Heart; and Grammy Award winner Sara Bareilles, singing the classic Joni Mitchell song, Both Sides Now.From Reprise Records. Available everywhere from November 20th 2020.               Produced by Cameo Productions, music by Beth Macari.  Join the conversation on Instagram and Twitter @gabyroslin #thatgabyroslinpodcast  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

and welcome to that Gabby Roslyn podcast with me, Gabby Roslin. In this episode, I am unbelievably thrilled and rather over-excited to chat to the wonderful superstar. This is Josh Groban. We chat about creating a brand new theme park called Groban Land. Yes, we took it very seriously. Also, being an introvert and shyness, working with Robin Williams, meeting Annie Lennox, his friendship with Oprah Winfrey, and his foundation called Finders. Your Light, which provides all children with arts education. He is an amazing guy. He really,

really is. Plus, his stunning new album, Harmony, performing a new collection of timeless songs and two originals. Songs like The Impossible Dream. Angels, yes, Robbie Williams's Angels, I can't make you love me. Celebrate Me Home, which in fact, he sings a little bit of it just for you guys. He really is incredible. I am now a Josh Groban superfan. Oh Josh, can I tell you, I have spent today in Grobanland. Thank you. Now, listen, I've decided, because Dolly has Dolly World, you need Grobanland. Do I need Groban land?

Would it be in the park? Would there be treats and rides? Yeah, let's design it together. Okay. All right, so I've got it. In the middle, you've got Olga, the accordion. Oh, my dear sweet Olga. Yeah, I have it.

played Olga in in a very long time. I picked up I picked up the accordion for my Broadway production. And you know, I there's something about having to lug it around for a year and a half straight that when you're finally able to undo the back issues that you, you did when you were in the show, you know, she stayed in the case. She stayed in the case. I still have my piano. I can sit down at that. I don't have to pick it up, which is a really nice thing about the piano. Always helpful. Yeah, always helpful. Yeah, yeah. But, you know, I think, I think it might be time to bring out the old squeeze box. It's, it's time. She's got a lot to say, I bet. I bet she has. I think she needs to be in the center, so everybody can go up and have a squeeze. And that's how you, that's how we can have a squeeze.

Yeah, we can all enter Groban land with a squeeze. Oh, man. I think that that is the oddest and most wonderful way to open a park that I've ever heard of. And I'm all in. I'm all in. I love nothing more than to confuse people. Perfect. That'll do it. That'll do it. I've worked out the snacks that are going to be available because, as I said, I've been in Grop and land all day, so I know everything about you.

Apparently, endemami is your thing in your writer. Yeah, I love it. So endemami snacks everywhere, the squeeze of Olga, and they meet a virtual you and Oprah Winfrey and Robin Williams and Barbara Streisand. altogether. Oh my goodness. We're all just holograms. They just, we all meet them just, how wonderful. This is like an episode of Black Mirror. The Muppets are there as well. Oh, of course they are. I mean, this is, and I'd like to think that between the Edamame, the accordion and the holograms of myself, Oprah, Robin Williams, Barbara Streisand, and the Muppets,

that otherwise it's just an open parking lot. That otherwise it's just, There's no rides, no restaurants. No, but also because you're a pilot, you could fly over and you can do the video footage of your own land. Oh my goodness. That's so, I feel like that's making such an effort and yet also so detached. Everybody goes, look everyone. Look everyone. He's actually here. And I'm just, and I've just got my camera out the window. I'm just taking drone. footage. Don't mind me. Thanks for coming to my park. Enjoy the soybeans.

I'm going to think of more. Also, I know there's a whole thing with lots of pets dressed in human clothes. Oh my God. You know, I did an episode of what's the show you have over there, Room 101. That's it. Yeah. And I, I, you really have done your research, Gabby. I told Frank that that that was going to be my thing I was going to put in there was pets dressed in human clothes. I will say, though, that I've evolved since then. I feel like the costumes, the costumes for, you don't think so? Should I not go back on? Okay.

I hate them. Okay, all right. I'm so glad. But there are some, some comfy ones. There are, like, I feel like there are some that, I saw an adorable viral video yesterday of a little, a little Westy Terrier dressed as a panda bear. And the, you know, it looked comfortable to the dog. It was like wearing a onesie. No, all right.

You've gone to the other side. What has happened? I just, well, I, I, you know. You know, I just Halloween has happened here in America. And, you know, you see enough Instagram videos of people's dogs and adorable outfits. And they look happier. I don't know whether the drugs for dogs are better now. But maybe, I don't know.

It's just they seemed happier. But I'm, okay, I'm with you, Gabby. Thank you for keeping me. This is why people ask me how I've been able to maintain course this whole, this whole career. And it's because of friends like you for pulling me back when I stray when I stray too far. also the other thing, which is possibly in everything that I've read about you, one of my favorite things is your sleep talking and your sleep singing. And you've talked about it here with Michael McIntyre.

You've talked about it. That's right. That's right. Well, it was going to be you, really. It should be you doing that show. On Kelly and Ryan, I took my own phone out of my pocket. Michael McIntyre stole it. He took it right from me.

And he starts flipping through. And I'm quite used to just, you know, singing for a few minutes maybe on a show. That's a first having my sleep talks broadcast to an entire nation. Okay, so in the amusement park, there should be a sleep talk. A sleep zone. Sleep talk emporium or a sleep zone where they would just listen to my creepy sleep talking or they would be able, we would knock them out somehow. And we'd allow them to REM sleep.

Yeah. And they all sing. We'd record them. You record them. And then that's the next album. Right. Yeah, we don't even play it back for them. Thanks for coming.

I hope you enjoyed your nap. They won't know. But they won't know. This is a weird, this is such a, I don't think we're, I don't think we're thinking of our, of the audience at all. I think really this is just an experiment for us, the owners. Oh, can I own it with you? Oh, thank you.

Oh, this is, Gabby, this is your idea. Yeah. You get at least 70%. I just, I just want to be able to fly over a couple times every day with my, with my camera. Yeah. And then you're singing as well, but you're singing from the airplane on a big, loud halo. Oh, okay.

Well, then there's a little, then there's a little. then there's a little bit of something in it for them, maybe. If they're fans, they might be, they might be, you know, the, the husband dragged to the, to the concert, all of them. And, and they're thinking of themselves, well, I did, here's the, here's the hologram of Oprah. I didn't know I needed in my life. What is that noise? What on earth is that noise? No.

It's like, it's like an airplane combined with a, with a circus seal that's been trained to sing the alphabet. I'd go through a megaphone, I imagine. I don't know. Yeah. But here's the thing. Surely there are male Grobonites as well, aren't there? There are. Yes, there are.

Well, that's the goal. That's always the goal in my concerts is that the female Grobinites that bring their plus ones, then transition over to having female and male Grobinites by the end of the night. That's always a plus when I get the dudes to say, oh, it was pretty cool. He's a pretty fun guy. Oh, that's how perfect is that? And I know you win the motor. You completely win the moment.

Tony Bennett told me. Tony Bennett said, you know, if the whole family's coming, then you got a long career ahead of you. So that's what I, I always, I always love it when I look out and I see, I see the whole group there. Of course, we missed that now. I can't wait for that again. Yeah, that's what I was going to say is because all the interviews and everything that I've read about you, say how much you love the audience and you want to get the audience involved on stage. Oh, yeah.

Pull them out. There's some story about, was it a vicar that you pulled out and he sung with you? That's right, yes. And he wound up becoming like a YouTube sensation. And people ask me, surely that was staged. And it absolutely isn't. We don't have the time. Like we, these moments in the show, you know, are fun for me because you don't know what you're going to get. Now the YouTube sensations like, I think it was Paul, his name was, you know, those become the high click, you know, songs. You get a lot of nights where somebody is just doing their best and it's okay. And, you know, the audience loves it because it's, you know, they're from the hometown. But every so often you get somebody who really has a talent and came into the show, you know, not expecting to do anything except, you know, buy a tote bag and sit back and relax for a couple hours. And then all of a sudden they've got 15,000 people screaming for them. And that's always fun.

It doesn't happen every night. But if I'm feeling it in the audience and I want to go out there and I kind of want to test the waters, David Foster used to do that a lot. And I kind of learned that from him because every time he would do it, we would do a charity event. And for those who don't know, David Foster is a brilliant, brilliant producer. And he discovered me and discovered, you know, Celine and worked with Whitney Houston, Barbara Streis. And it's just one of the great producers of all time. And we'd do a lot of charity events together when I was starting out.

And that was something he used to always do. He used to always say, hey, who, hey, I'm a record producer. Who wants to sing? And I used to think, and I said, oh, David, David, don't do this. please David, don't do this. And sure enough, every time, even if the person wasn't good, it was always fun. And I try to, I try to, you know, find those moments whenever I can. Am I right that he put you on stage when you were 16 and you were absolutely terrified? Oh, I was. You know, I look at the TikTokers and the YouTubers now. I look at like, you know,

some of these performers are way younger than I was when I started. And the, the poise and the confidence and the like stars in their eyes to be successful are just so well honed for a for a 14 or 15 year old and I was 16 17 you know going on 12 and I absolutely didn't know what I was doing and I knew I had an ability David Foster had heard me sing from a tape but I I didn't think to myself well this is my moment I have to go out I have to do it I was thinking about class. I was thinking about doing theater at some point in my life. So, so yeah, having someone like David to kind of, you know, shoot me out of a cannon into the big leagues was something I would not have done for myself necessarily. So he saw something in me that I didn't

necessarily see. And yeah, I owe, I owe everything in my career to him. But that fear of a 16-year-old, I mean, I was at 16, the shyest, shyest person on the planet. And yet I'll do live-tel You were too. Oh my word. Yeah. Couldn't speak. That's so interesting. Couldn't speak.

Yeah. Yeah. But still that shyness comes back. Do you still have shyness ever? Oh, absolutely. I'm an introvert when I'm not on stage. I, you know, something flips in me into kind of fight or flight performance mode. It's not fighter flight.

I love it. I mean, it's like I think you probably feel the same way if you grew up that way, which is that to be able to express yourself through a great song, a great story, a great character, especially if you're acting. and you don't have to be yourself anymore. There's a freedom. There's such an amazing freedom in that that is kind of pent up. And so, you know, some of my favorite performers that I've ever been able to meet

who just seem like absolutely brilliant wild animals on stage come off stage and they're actually very shy, very soft-spoken, spend a lot of time by themselves. And, you know, part of it is a little bit of my circumstance that, you know, you start touring when you're very young and you get used to if you're a solo artist you get used to just kind of being a solo person too you're just always going from a vocal booth to a tour bus to a hotel room and it's lonely and so you just kind of start to you do you have a lot of time to turn inward but but no i've i've always been i have never been a life of the party person if somebody pulls me up to sing at a dinner party or something i just i want to crawl yes and and and and i've always been

jealous of actors in that way. Actors, I feel like if you're if you're a star of a big movie, nobody's going to say oh oh please, please Morgan Freeman, please just do that monologue from Shasha Shadha Shadh Redemption. You know, nobody's going to dare, you know, but if you're a singer, there's this thing of like, oh, give us a tune. Come on. And it's just part on on talk shows too. You're always asked to sing as well as talk, whereas the actors just talk and let's show a clip. but yes they're so right so you have to you have to get used to you have to get used to always being on because you never know when you're going to have to do it and for somebody like me who's actually very shy when I'm not on stage and always like assume nobody wants to hear it unless I'm forced

you know it's it's hard I had to psych myself out for a good part of my career to kind of have more of that energy to turn on the light, you know, than I did naturally. It's really interesting. And for these podcasts, nearly, I'd say, 99% of the guests all who are all actors or performers or musicians. And because I'm very open now. I talk very openly. I've been hosting TV now for over 30 years.

But I say, I'm the shyest person around. And everybody, and everybody that listens just says, but how can this be that, I mean, you're Josh Groben. So the world knows you. People see you singing in front of all sorts of people. But everything that I've learned about you and now talking to you, I can see that everyone sort of forgets that the real person underneath there is saying, please don't make me stand up now and do this in your own home.

Please don't ask me those questions? Because actually put me out there on stage and I'm okay because that's a different, you put a different hat on, don't you? Yeah. You know, you mentioned Robin Williams earlier in the podcast, and I got to work with him. How lucky. A couple times. The luckiest.

the luckiest. We worked together a lot in charity things. We would do, Andre Agassi had a big event. We would do together. And we did a lot of things for a children's cancer group and a lot of children's programs, very much like children in need, but in the U.S. And, you know, I think a lot of people would say this about Robin, which is that when he wasn't being the Robin that everybody was just, their jaws were on the floor, you know, in awe, the most soft-spoken, sweetest. Oftentimes, you'd just catch him across the studio or across the room, and he'd just kind of just be sitting by himself. Not in a sad way, just kind of just kind of almost recharging a little bit. And I, I, another example is Annie Lennox. I got to have dinner with Annie Lennox,

who's who I've, I've worshipped since I was very little and just admire her so, so very much. And I was lucky enough at one of these big music dinner parties to be seated next to her. You know, when you look at your idols, when you look at people like Robin and Annie Lennox and other, so many others that I've been fortunate enough to meet. You just, you know, the fan in you thinks that there's going to be this, you know, you really have to, you're going to have to step up the conversation because there's going to be this crazy energy, this wild performance energy that you're so used to seeing on television. And it's gratifying to know that even in those most brilliant of performers, that we are multitudes, that there is quiet, there is shy, there is not

feeling like being on there is you know in annie's case she was talking to me about taking her kiss to soccer practice and i or football you know uh footy and um i just found that to be so wonderful because um it it shows that we all can you know wherever you're from no matter how shy you feel you are whether or not you feel like you're given the platform to have your voice shared even the grates feel that way even the greats feel shy and they feel off and um The amazing thing about performing is that you can play the part. You can go out and you can express yourself in that way. It's why arts education is so important because especially in my country right now,

we've got so many kids that are feeling just down about themselves, questioning everything, anxious about the future. A lot of them come from bad home lives that we work with in my foundation. And having a chance to do comedy and acting and singing and dance, Oh, it opens up a whole world. So I'm glad it did that for you too. Absolutely. No, I absolutely agree with you.

And a wonderful quote of yours is that you say that music is a healer and how right you are. And I think at the moment we need. So we need, there are two things we need. We need music and we need comedy. And you do, you deliver both of those in barrel. I appreciate that so much. You know, the most amazing thing about visiting the UK after, after. really everything happened very fast for me in America.

And it was a nice slow burn for me in the UK. And I think that the amazing thing for me in the UK is that I was allowed to make people laugh and cry, which was I was only allowed to make people cry in America. And in the UK, I was given a platform to be a real person. And that's something I always try to bring into my concerts as well. As I feel like if the songs are all generally, people know my music they're they're pretty serious uh and you know if you can't have a laugh between

between you know then i feel like you're not balancing correctly i think we're all i mean some of the most serious singers that i know i've i've hung out with heavy metal like you know because when you're on a record label you go to grammy parties and things like that and you become friends with the guys from like disturbed you know or wherever and you wind up you wind up hanging out with these guys that just are you know painting their bodies and drinking blood and doing all these crazy screams on stage. And off stage, they're just teddy bears. I mean, it's just the sweetest people you ever meet.

And, you know, we are all lots of different things. And so I feel very grateful in the UK that I've gotten to be a serious singer guy as well as a right weirdo. No, but they love you because you make a real laugh. And I also read that you love to make your band laugh, which I just think, I love the idea of you out there. You know, you're singing. We're going to talk about your new album, which is. is fantastic and celebrate me home. Oh, it made me cry.

But you're there with your band and you're doing, as you say, you're making people cry in the audience for good reasons. And then you turn to your band and you want to see them losing it. Absolutely losing it. That's the best feeling. Because the band knows your schick, right? The audience is seeing your stick for the first time.

But your band knows when you've got a line that just stays in for 50 shows. They know how you're going to generally get into each song. And, you know, a lot of times, a real tell for an audience is if somebody on stage makes the audience crack up, but the band is stone-faced. It means they've heard the joke 150,000 times. So whenever you can say, my challenge every night is to say something that makes the audience laugh and my band laugh, because that means it's fresh. That means it's new and was spontaneous. And so I actually, for me, my biggest goal is to make my band laugh. And I know if they're going to laugh, the audience is going to laugh.

So what happens to you now in this crazy time? As I said, the album's called Harmony, and I was listening to Celebrate Me Home, and the whole album is beautiful. But what's happening with going out and performing it? So we're all going to buy it, and it will be another multi-platinum album. Of course it will. Thank you so much. No, no, no.

It will. I mean, it's that good. But with this, you can't go out and perform it. And I know that you're Radio City. You've been rescheduled until 2020, which I know it seems like a very very, very, very long time, and it is. We are, you know, we're in a place right now with live performance where we, you know, we can't in good conscience make false promises right now. Is it, is it entirely possible that some form of live performance indoors will start to be okay again before

then? It's, of course, it's possible. We all hope it will be and maybe in the UK it will be different than here. I hope for your sake that that's true because we certainly haven't been able to contain it here. I, you know, but but the biggest responsibility for those of us that have the platform to be up there and to bring an audience into our world is that you want to bring people into a place that feels safe, it feels relaxed, it feels like the way that it should be. When we we return from all this, there needs to be a renaissance of good vibes and excitement and relief. And we're going to need to let all that out as therapy for our very, very tired minds right now. And for me, the worst nightmare would be to put shows out too soon for it to kind of be gone, but not quite.

And God forbid to have to be responsible for some kind of infection or something, that would cause tension. And so two things. One, we're just trying to be very conservative and responsible for my fans because they are owed that. Our country is owed that from our leaders. But two, we're also following the lead of the New York unions and Broadway and everything else.

And so if they're not coming back, we're not coming back. And so it's both. But in the meantime, we're going virtual, which has been interesting and fun in its own right. It's not the same. course, but at least it gives us a chance to get out and reach people and connect because we're all just so hungry to connect right now in any way we can. So just talk to me about Celebrate Me Home because I actually am not going to sing it to you,

but it was that embarrassing thing just before you came on. Oh, come on now. I'm not going to do it now. Celebrate me home. So tell me about that one. Tell me about it. It's just beautiful. I love the song.

I love Kenny Loggins is just such a soulful writer. Just wonderful. But how do you choose the songs? How do you say that's the one? That's the one. You know, it's hard because, you know, when you're writing almost everything, you, you don't, you obviously want to let the best songs rise to the top. And there's obviously a process of listening and figuring out and you can always be too close to it. But, but when you're choosing classic songs and the theme of an album is, is songs that you've wanted to sing for a long time. And songs fans have requested. And, you know, it's, it's almost more daunting because of course, there are, there are more incredible songs out there than could ever be sung in one go of it, let alone 10. So it's hard. You just sing a lot. You sit at a piano and you sing and you sing and you sing and you meet with arrangers and orchestrators who, as you know, are the unsung heroes of our business because, you know, you might get a great orchestration that changes your mind about how you can interpret a song that you might have been afraid to tackle. And so, you know, the environment

that we're in also changes things. So I recorded half of this. half of this album before quarantine and half afterwards. And a song like Celebrate Me Home was an afterwards song because all of a sudden the idea of, oh, we're going to have some holidays here. We're going to have some really special moments where we all look forward during our crazy lives to just being together.

That it's not about stuff. It's not about the treadmill. It's not about anything else. It's just about the love and warmth of being with our friends and families. It's the thing I look forward to, especially when you travel a lot. And Celebrate Me Home just resonated so much as I re-listened to that song that at some point, the celebration of coming home is going to be so big. And this year is going to be so sad for a lot of people, including me.

I'm going to be, you know, probably doing a virtual Thanksgiving, a virtual face time with my brother for Christmas when he's still in New York. You know, it's devastating. And songs like these remind us of, you know, what's worth waiting for, you know. Oh, completely. There was a wonderful, I saw some wonderful footage and pictures of your parents in the San Juan Islands. Yeah, they live in Washington State after the year.

Yeah. I went there 25 years ago to film, but with the Orcas. And it has never, ever left me. And if I say the San Juan Islands to people, they look at me and they don't know what I'm talking about. So I have to tell you, this is honestly true. Hand on my heart. I know I'm the other side of the world. But honestly, this is true.

When I saw that, I started crying because nobody knows what I'm talking about when I talk about the killer whales in the San Juan Islands. I went on a whale watching boat trip a few years ago. After all those years going up to visit, I hadn't actually done the proper boat trip. And I did. And they come up next to the boat. And it's to see them in the wild because, you know, we, I am, you know, we have sea world and things like that. You know, as a kid, as a kid, as a kid, you don't know how horrible. it is. You know, you just go and you go Shamoo. You know, now, of course, you know, we know so much more and

there's so much info about just how devastatingly brutal and unfair and terrible those places are. So when you see them in the wild and you see them come up next to your boat and there was a mama and a baby, it just, I mean, you know, I'm as a city kid, I just, I, you know, I have been so drawn to the natural world and especially now when so many, so many things involving the natural world are at risk and on the ballot, you know, when you get to go to a place like that and you get to actually see, see it. It does. It takes your breath away. I'm glad you got to experience that. It's wonderful. It was suddenly it was the first time that I think I was so moved by the experience when they came next to the boat and I burst into tears. You suddenly get mother nature,

whatever you want to call it, God or whatever. Everybody has their different interpretation. But it's the most extraordinary experience. Yes, it is. And it's, it's perspective. You know, it's, it's whatever, like you said, whatever religion or spirituality, it's just anything that like that, that gives you, even for just a moment, a glimpse of the wider picture, the wider world. And it's, it can take your breath away.

You know, when I just watched, you know, Sir David Attenborough's new Netflix special that he calls his witness statement about all that he's, which is extraordinary, which is just, it should be a must watch for every student in the world. Yeah, I agree. Especially during times where so many of these issues are up for a vote. You know, and you can see how, well, first of all, what a, I mean, what an extraordinary life he's had and experiences he got to have early on in his life. I can think of, I mean, one of the luckiest people. I mean, to talk about somebody who took the good fortune of being able to have these experiences early on

and continued to pay it back and pay it forward his entire life. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely. And you look at that old footage and you can see how anybody who has those experiences, who gets to really find themselves face to face with the natural world in a very beautiful and simple way, how precious it is, you know. Do you feel like that? So you've been doing it nearly 20 years. And I know you started when you were much younger and you were 12 and you were in, you were tevi-y-old.

I have to ask because you mentioned just kind of being shy and being in theatre. Were you also kind of like a theatre kid? Were you somebody who kind of felt like arts in your school brought you out of your shell too? Yeah. But I only wanted to be a TV presenter from the age of three. That's all I ever wanted to do. You said a moment ago that it's been very fast. Do you still feel that?

Do you mean the beginning was very fast for you in the States? Do you still feel or do you feel that you've settled into it? I definitely feel like I've settled into it, for sure. It's just that it was such an unexpected explosion here early on. I got a lot of amazing stars lined up, which isn't common. I mean, anybody who's in the business who had a big break, we all owe it to, you know, a David Foster in our lives or a Clive Davis or you know, an Oprah Winfrey or, you know. Oh, don't, don't mention Oprah because I'm obsessed with Oprah.

I want to interview Oprah. I want to interview her. You should. Oh, you would be a dream together. That would be incredible. Oh, my God, but I can't, I can't get any contact. I'm not just six degrees of separation. It's 20 degrees of separation.

It's like, how do I, you know, operator get me the Pope? I mean, it's hard. I mean, you got to go through 15 channels and pray on it, you know. No, it's easier to get the Pope. I could probably get the Pope. I've got a number for Desmond Tutu, but I can't get it for Oprah Winfrey. Well, listen, put that on a T-shirt. I'd buy that T-shirt at Grobin Land.

I would buy that T-shirt. Well, listen, if I was going to say, if you get me a ticket to Groban Land, maybe I can get you a contact for Oprah. But even I, who I'm friends with Oprah. I couldn't tell you how to get in touch with her. You don't call Oprah. You don't call Oprah. You wait for Oprah to call you.

I'll put it that way. Really? So you don't contact her? You know, we mentioned my shyness. I never want to bother anybody. I don't. I, for somebody of that stature, especially someone like Oprah, who's just been such an amazing, you know,

support in my life and friend, I feel like, you know, my relationship with Oprah is like, you know, if Oprah wants to call me for anything, anytime, anywhere, 24-7, I am there. But I would be afraid to, to bother her about anything. That's so cute. I'll get a Christmas call or a message and it always makes my day.

But no, you guys, you would be, you both would be great together. She's, don't, don't. She's also, she's also, you know, a really, a really good interviewer as well. So on this podcast, we always ask everybody what makes them laugh that properly laugh out loud. Yeah, that wonderful belly laugh. What makes you properly? This is going to sound so cheesy.

You know, because I do like, you know, I love weird comedy and I love, you know, sophisticated comedy. I'll watch, I'll go back and watch Blackadder and I'll watch, you know, I mean, the UK has the best, I have to say pound for pound, the best comedy in the world. Well, you know, and I love Monty Python, of course. I love all of those faulty towers and all that. The classic, you know, 70s, you know, British comedy is fantastic. And I love, you know, the quiz shows too in Britain are just absolutely have me.

People like Phil Jupiter's and Noel Fielding, and they just have me in stitches. But I got to say my guilty pleasure to make my very, very tired and frayed mind just go absolutely like teary-eyed with laughter is news bloopers. I love when local news goes wrong. There is something to me so funny about when, because they all start, they all start reading something with every intention. You know, you wanted to be in TV since you were very little. I imagine most of these newscasters just they were combing their hair to the side and putting on their suits and makeup and, you know, looking in the mirror and going, I'm, I'm Susie So-and-so and this is Channel 9. You know, they've wanted to do it for, so there's this, there's this, a kind of mask that news anchors wear that's this kind of. I've got my stuff together, so you don't have to have it together, and we're going to tell you what's what.

And when things go wrong or they read something, you know, unintentionally dirty, or, you know, something, oh, don't even get me started about when they put on costumes for Halloween. I mean, it's, there is just something about when the facade of the togetherness of the news starts to break apart. And especially if somebody starts to crack up, like if one of the anchors makes another anchor absolutely lose it and they, can't pull it together, I'm gone. It's just to me, that's Prozac for me. Oh, well, I mean, I love that sort of thing. I love it when things go wrong. I love it when people fall over. It makes me sound very warped, but it's just, it's the same. All those blooper tapes, I could spend hours watching. Absolutely. And, and, and, and, and, and, and, and British news has it even more, uh, together. There is, there is, uh, you know, so, so when somebody on, on the BBC, uh,

messes up, it's, it's even funnier because, you know, in America, if, if somebody messes up, they're going to, they're just going to indulge themselves in a laugh for 15 minutes on air. In, you know, in England, if somebody on BBC messes up, you have, they have to move on. Like, there, there is no, there's no stopping. There, there is, I mean, stiff upper lip, you're right. You know, you know us so well. And, and so when, when, when, when somebody, when somebody on the goes haywire read something knows it was wrong knows they said you know you know penis instead of Peoria you know whatever it is and they just can't contain themselves it's like this dry smile that once it when they want to laugh so bad

but they can't moving on and that I love I love when that happens I love it because it's human it shows humanness I'm sorry I'm so I'm so sorry if I said the P word on your on your on your on your on your pod no no it's a podcast You can say whatever you want. You can say anything at all. No, you really can. But I love the fact that you love comedy and that because people, you know, there's different people will say, you know, when I said I'm talking to Josh Grobin, he was, oh my God, he's an amazing singer. Oh, he's so funny.

Oh, man, he's a fantastic actor. So they have all of those different hats, but I keep reading everywhere that what you love is comedy. I do. You know, that was my shield growing up, you know, as a kind of a, you know, kind of a shy and, and, and you know, and you know, and you know, you know, and you know, you know, and. And, you know, when you're shy as a student, you also get picked on because, you know, lions can, lions know when there's a weak gazelle. And so I was kind of weird, kind of shy. And so I was a magnet for a little bit of bullying. And for me, you know, before I, you know, because singing was always so vulnerable.

I feel like singing is very vulnerable and comedy is a shield. And, you know, singing for me was always a thing of like, I don't want to open up that part of my soul. I feel uncomfortable. The comedy was a mask I could wear. Comedy, if I could find the rhythm of making that jerk crack up or crack a smile, that was a weapon. That was something I could use to diffuse a situation. And so there's, and there is rhythm to comedy. And so for me, before I knew that I wanted to improvise in music, I knew I wanted to improvise in comedy. And then you put notes to it and find you got you tap into the same instincts, you know, in comedy. comedy and in music. So I do. I grew up watching that stuff and loving it. And that's why to me, it was like when I, when my first album came out and I was just looking at billboards of myself, you know, staring, just having a seriousness contest, you know, on Sunset Boulevard on these billboards. And I'm going, okay, well, that's that's part of me. Sure. Yeah. But you can't help it feel like, oh, the whole picture is not out there. My friends, you know, would just razz me and say, oh, oh, super serious guy. You're such a serious guy now. You know. So I feel grateful now. You talk about the explosion early on. I feel like there's a much more well-rounded kind of I've been able to tap into a lot of those other things year to year. They have to be slow because you can't give everybody, everything all at once. Well, I think everybody keeps neat.

They have to have all of your everything because I think you're a complete and utter joy. And I can't wait to open Groban Land with you. Takes one to no one, Gabby. I can't wait for us to open Groban Land. Bless you. I feel like as the interview has gone on, I've given. you I've given you more and more control and and and percentage of Groban Land. So I think we should end this interview with you you basically have a hundred percent of Groban land and and I will I'll just show up and I'll do that I'll fly over but you know

I'll do that thing they do on talk show sometimes where somebody's shaking the hand of the hologram and oh surprise I'm actually here for a moment. I'll I'll do that for 10 hours straight. Perfect. I'll keep you to it. You are such a joy. Josh, thank you very much for joining me. It's an honor to talk to you.

Thank you. Thank you so much for listening. And the next episode is, I feel this needs a drum roll. Richard E. Grant. That Gabby Rawlsman podcast is proudly produced by Cameo Productions, music by Beth McCari. Please press the subscribe button,

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