The Checkup with Doctor Mike - Dane Cook Is Above It All

Episode Date: December 15, 2022

Watch the full video interview here: https://go.doctormikemedia.com/youtube/DaneCookVOD Dane Cook's new stand up comedy special, "Above It All", is available now at: http://www.danecook.com Dane Cook is one of the most prolific stand up comedians of all time. At one point in 2005 he performed a tour in 80 arenas for audiences of over 20,000 every single night. He's a household name in the world of comedy, and despite some dramatic turns in his life, he hasn't slowed down. He's so committed to his craft of stand up comedy that he just shot his most recently special from the front yard of his house in the Hollywood Hills. Today we talk about his health, how he's never touched an alcoholic beverage in his life yet attended many AA meetings, his exercise routine, and the countless ways in which he's overcome adversity to continue speaking his truth. Executive Producer and Host: Dr. Mike Varshavski Produced by Dan Owens and Sam Bowers Art by Caroline Weigum CONTACT: [e-mail]

It's, I get emotional about it because even when something's broken, even when it's destroyed in front of you and you know like, man, I wanted so much for this, there's a real beauty in knowing, hey, that thing that didn't work, I gave it everything I had. Dane Cook is one of the most prolific stand-up comedians of all times, selling out some of the biggest venues on earth, setting Guinness World Records for doing so. He was actually the first physical album and only physical album. I've ever purchased from a stand-up comedian. He has a new stand-up special above it all that's for sale on his website right now that he produced with his own money. In this conversation, we get into some really interesting stuff.

Physical health, mental health, his one true love. We even talk about doom scrolling late at night. I think you're gonna find this very valuable. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Let's get started. Be-woop! I wanna share something with you because you've inspired me in ways that you probably inspired so many millions of lives

to fall in love with stand-up comedy. Coming to the United States from Russia, I was an immigrant, knew nothing about stand-up comedy, six years old, growing up with my Soviet father. Jokes were not something that he shared a lot. But I remember the only disc I ever bought comedy-wise was harmful of swallow. Is that right? The only one ever, and I treasured this thing. It was, like, amazing to me.

And then watching your series on HBO with my friends, you brought me into the world of stand-up comedy. So I owe you a huge debt of gratitude. Well, man, you were, well, first of all, thank you for that. That's an incredible, you know, start too to, to be able to reflect on that. Just recently, I found my first physical version that I took. Wow. You know, having edited it, having designed all that cover art, and then sitting there recently with the very first one, right? You know, it's like, where is this going to travel in the world? Is it? Is it ever going to leave the trunk of my car where I sell a couple of after shows. And I was sitting holding the very, now, the one that was even before

my record deal. This is the one that I just made that like, I may never get a record deal. This is just, you burned yourself. I burned myself. You know, and I, the whole track listing on the back, that's my handwritten. Wow. Because I was just editing and writing down ideas for what I think could have been the track listing. And so I found it recently. I had it. And I was staring at it thinking like, wow, there's so many moments that people, have written me about how this has impacted their life, not even realizing how much this impacted my own life and allowed me to feel like I could have a conversation like this all these years later with people that had kind of a turning point comedy moment with me

at the same exact time. So look at us. How are you so hands on? I mean, it's awesome, but new for that generation to be so hands on with the business to be able to be thinking about promoting yourself selling burning CDs because nowadays that kind of makes sense with social media. Yeah, it's definitely a more par for the course to be your own fulfillment center and have to think outside of the box. As a matter of fact, it's it's the best possible thing for creatives to realize you never really were in the box. The industry for a long time made us feel like there's a protocol and a rigamarole. But the truth is if you can think outside of the box and and live outside of it, they're ultimately looking for you to show them how do we bring

more people to our viewership. I wish I could tell you. I wish I could say, oh, it was all, you know, because I thought I was ahead of the pack. I thought I was so behind the pack and I felt so fundamentally, I guess in some ways fundamentally dismissed by the industry. I was arrogant and cocky and cock short enough to think I've arrived and I'm new and I'm excited and that I guess that means they punch your ticket and say you're in. Yeah.

And that, no, no, no. It was such a, it was such a thud in some ways when I felt like I arrived that after about two years of doing gigs, feeling like I wasn't hitting the bull's eye. and then finally realizing, wow, the only way I think I'm ever going to get any attention to what I love doing is to try to make an album myself. And then I just hit the library and started trying to realize how do you do this alone without the resources. And you didn't have YouTube back in the day to go on and say, how do sell an album or make an album? What did I have? I think it was like an early version of like, this is what I would do.

I would go on AOL Instant Messenger. Oh my God. What was your screen name? G-Dain 19. Mine was Mr. Funny Mike. I'd go on there and believe it or not, wow, you just like jarred this back into my mind. I would get on there and I would start conversations with random people that were maybe had picked up my screen name through the website, from my website.

And I would just start asking people like, what do you do? And if I met somebody really smart who was like, oh, I'm a business man. I'd be like, I have business questions. And I'd start asking, I'd say, I'm trying to figure out. And I really felt like I was learning legalese and learning business and getting my, what do they say, like the street level college education. I felt like I was, believe it or not, my fans, beyond just like being fans were helping me in another way, which was educating me sometimes as to, I would ask them.

Hey, do you know how I do this? I was growing up with them. Yeah, I mean, our generation is so unaware of this because we lack, we're the most connected, disconnected generation. A lot. Yeah, yeah, yeah, very much so. And I applaud your mental toughness during times of rejection from the industry because I see it with some of my friends that are in the business or even for me just trying to go on media

as a medical expert, but being young and being prejudged. So I'm curious what strategies you used for yourself mentally when you were getting rejected left but still motivated yourself to get on the hot dog stand it was a get on the hot dog thing yeah it was well it really started with um having a better i need there was a lot this is a lot to unpack because i had to start i felt like i was so far ahead in terms of confidence in in my comedy but i felt like i was so far behind in confidence in me and and and i lacked a lot of things that I lacked like real self-love. Not that I didn't feel loved, but I would get it from my mom or I could get it from a comedy show or I could, it seemed like

there were certain things to fill the void. But I struggled with being able to really look in the mirror and have a, it was like I was almost building up the career of this other person. Okay. So you're dissociating almost. Yeah, yeah. It was and it was like I could at times really feel like pat on the back moment but but i was um most often guilty of allowing my my dejected feeling to become my value like the times when i was dismissed or felt like i for whatever reason that i wasn't being embraced um i let that become the litmus of like i guess i'm not worth it and i would it was almost like every single day i'd have to really get up and build myself up and sometimes that's so exhausting that you're like ah not today today i'll just sit in it so did you

have days like that where you're like i did nope not doing this today i did i did just because i was like so disheartened that man i started to feel really good this week and now it was like i just didn't have the right nutrition of affirmation and meditation and uh in the right probably people are surrounding me to where great love and friendship is when we we can acknowledge, like, what do you want to talk about? Like, really what's, and those simple little conversations sometimes just, you know, kind of bring you right back to the non-ruminating and back to the realities of what you've accomplished.

The support system is crucial because we always talk about it in medicine, like one of the biggest factors and whether or not someone does well with a condition mentally is based on their support system. And support system doesn't always mean mental health specialists or doctors. It's about loved ones, friends, maybe religious counsel. Were you surrounded by people that were not adequately giving you that? Or did you have some of on both sides of that? Yeah, I think I had the right balance of, well, starting with my mother,

she was so incredibly compassionate, sensitive because of she'd gone through her own or had continued to go through just a multitude of hardships. You know, things that, that from, from phobia to anxiety, we would, we would, we would go to Al-Anon meetings together sometimes because we dealt with things in our home that were capsizing. And it just seemed like my mom more than anybody was the example to me of like, when you're really feeling stuck, you have to reach out. There are resources somewhere. So she was that for me. Okay. Because she was the liaison to a lot of, you know, she was a wealth of information even though sometimes she could be spinning herself um she could remind you feet on the

ground you know you start you know you rub your thighs you put your tongue on the roof your mouth eight second breath in and we like she could in those little reminders of it starts with just be good to yourself right now your health and wellness uh she would always say you know you get up take that walk um devil mind is uh devil an idle mind is a devil's workshop kind of the thing. And she taught me to find those people in my life who could help facilitate, you know, conversations like this. And so she was the first. And then over the years, a lot of people that, you know, to this day I rely on for those moments. Who is like your person right now? My person right now is, I think that my fiance and I are that for each other.

We have really prolific conversations about everything. But when it's, comes to just behaviors and being able to be really transparent about when you're feeling that, that, when you're feeling that high in life of like, I'm doing something exceptional and being able to have that embraced as opposed to sometimes, I don't know if it's just the way the industry has become or society. Sometimes people are afraid to like step out and say, look at me. I've done something that I think is really special. Yeah. Because there's more access for unfortunately people to make you feel diminished because for whatever reason, that's just like the way society sometimes it wants to keep everything in that same mediocrity type of place.

And Kelsey and I just, it's a, it's a powerful conversation to have with her because we've never not been absolute truth for one another. So she's probably the person that I'm most excited to start the day and end the day because we talk like this all the time. Wow. So she's helping you celebrate your wins in a way that's not judgmental. Yes. And also helping me and helping each other when there's a loss to really fully recognize no placating. What happened? What was, where was I less than where did I maybe rush things didn't rivet in something that should have bit or is it just that's the way the universe works sometimes and like we get to scrap this one is like gave it a shot there's probably data in there but not for now for years from now wow so

you're calling each other on your on your bullshit to all you have that transparency in the funniest best possible way that what's a good example of that oh man I didn't even know if I could say it's like yeah no we just we we can We can, you're not going to, first of all, you're not going to be with a comedian without some, you know, banter, of course. Some, some hardcore banter. And even though she's a comedian, sometimes I say she could be,

because she's pretty good at like, I'll just say this. We'll point, counterpoint the crap out of each other. And it's always, it's always, it's always festive. Let's say that for this time of year. But it's great because it's so humbling to have your roots set. Because that's what essentially a good relationship is, right? It's finding your roots in another where, you can be in a safe place to be yourself and meaning safe place to make a mistake.

Oh yeah. And there's more of that than anything, right? It's really like if you're a person that gets up and meets challenges, then what are challenges? Normally it's, you know, hitting the wall or you find more obstacles when you're going for the challenge, right? And yeah, with Kelsey and I, it's funny. Many years ago, I was in a great, great two-year therapy situation. And, you know, I was learning so much about boundaries and really what that word meant and, like, you know, where I had it, where I completely just, you know, abandoned the idea of it, you know, there was a time of my life, it's like, no, if people want to be close, I can let them in. It's okay.

I can pop them out if they're not like, and with Kelsey and I, it's, I think it's the, and I know that she could say the same thing as we've talked about it. It's the, it's the first time for both of us that we really feel like those boundaries are so solidly in place and we love that we both know where they are for each other you know to be able to share that and identify the things that you know you you you go this is where I can i can journey to with people but the fact that we know each other enough to go so far beyond that and it's still like holding each other's power in the most loving safe funny respectful way and i have a few friendships like that as well but it's great to be able to have it with the the woman i love yeah for

Sure. It's especially in this day and age when social media, when you're at the top of whatever industry you're in, whether it's sports, Hollywood, medicine, there's always something that you're going to do wrong and social media will tear you down. Do you ever doomscroll, do any of this Reddit reading? No, not like I used to. Is it a boundary that you said? Yeah. Yeah, yeah. It absolutely was. Because it was superfluous. None of it ever led to anything constructive okay it was always uh destructive always there there was it was um like when you're kidding you're doing one of those maze puzzles and it could be so furious and like you didn't want to over mark it up because you're like i don't want to have to keep it would be like if you were doing

one of those and then suddenly realized oh this is a mistake and they never actually had an ending to this one you would just be marking it up forever it's a great analogy um and it's funny because when you when you brought, you know, kind of like dovetailed into this part of the conversation, I didn't realize when like, when you say like you're on top, but that doesn't really, being on top, I think is a, is a, a precious, congratulatory, more intimate gift given amongst peers. And I don't think that you should seek it out or even deserve to feel like it's going to come from the valley of the internet.

Okay. I feel like nobody's on top on the internet. I don't really believe that that's a place that you have a victory lap. I think that I think if nothing else, if there is something that's being written up, that's also clickbait. And it's probably only for the organization that thinks they could capitalize off of your moment. I don't think they truly care whether that moment goes beyond what they've written or not. And so the validation in life should never go digital.

So you're almost nihilistic about the digital media space. Yeah, I love it for so many, you know, I'm a, I love tech. I love it. I mean, I'm, I was, you're the original pioneer. Well, some people have said that and I, you know, sometimes I look and I go, I know in comedy, for sure. I don't think there was anybody else that probably was so enthralled as I was, I was truly fascinated, curious, enthralled, and then realizing, oh, this is also like my ticket. But, but no, I think that.

more and more, I appreciate a visit to the internet for something, you know? It's like, you know, it's like going to the grocery store, you know, pop in, get a few things I need, and then back to reality. But your discipline must be through the roof because I hear everything you're saying. And the May's example could not be a better visualization of the world that is the internet. And yet at night, I'm still tempted. I'm like, oh, I got some free time. Yeah.

Let's see what folks are saying. Right. And then suddenly, I wish I didn't see what folks are. Yeah, I'll do like some TikTok stuff. Okay. You know, I'll scroll through there. I think that, you know, I like that with something like TikTok, it's mostly curated off the things that I tend to like to look at, to search for.

But yeah, no, I don't, I don't usually go beyond there. You want like, I guess it's the difference of do you want to be entertained by something where people are using their creative flair on TikTok or are you going to like suddenly roll into like a buzzfeed I don't, I don't even even, yeah, exactly. I don't care who they think is or is not canceled or whatever it's. I think that's a very, empty calories.

It's a very valuable way to, again, you're looking at something that's quite addicting and looking at it for its value and seeing none and saying I'm going to abstain. Well, I'm seeing and we're seeing what it's doing to young people. And it's, there's no other way to pocket it. It's disgusting. And so many kids are being just like warped by, you know, what, what is, what they're consuming through the internet. Well, the number one job that kids say they want to have these days is to be an influencer or

YouTuber, not astronaut, not Supreme Court justice, not president, YouTuber. Right. This would probably be a good time for me to go for those things in, right? I'm sure there's less people in that lane. I might actually be able to fulfill some of those side items. What was your dream job as a kid? Dream job? Oh, let me think. Like, dream job.

Well, I had a couple, like, probably the little boy ones were like, I thought I was going to be a stunt man because I watched too many like Bert rental movies. And then I, so I was like, okay, I'm going to, you know,

I was jumping out of trees into, you know, piles of leaves. And, uh, I mean, I did want to be a comedian very early on. I think 13 or 14 is when I,

I had the eureka moment. but prior to that but I did also love working with animals so I think that there was like another side of me that was like I could probably be a vet or do something with horses or something do you have pets I do I have two dogs okay awesome what kind of dogs

yeah we've got a ridge back she's two and I've saved a shepherd poodle about seven years ago oh okay yeah dogs are I mean you want to talk about like healing energy I would recommend to anybody you know where do you think that healing energy from dogs comes from?

I think that I guess I've always felt like I grew up with so many different dogs. I think I always felt like dogs sense loving you. And I feel like they know when you're feeling the least of it in yourself and they will, they will like, you know, almost like come to you as a reminder of this is the love you have inside of yourself. Dare I venture to say dogs are the opposite of social media? Dogs are the opposite of social media. I think that they would agree if they could have a voice in this.

Right? Because social media is there just for the highs and lows, and the dogs are there constant. Yeah. And it's not judgmental, right? But the thing about that I remember the most, one of the lowest, I had a minpin. Okay.

And his name was Beast, Beastie boy. God rest his soul. He, and I remember one of the worst moments of my life, that dog, when I would wake up in the morning, was right there. in the bed, super happy to just play and get out. And it was like, just putting that leash on him in getting me up and out was like, that was the gift right there. That was like, wow, you know, just, you know, seeing my dog happy instead of laying there in bed for however long, you know,

letting the wheels spin was like, I couldn't thank him enough to, you know, want to, you know, get me up and out and into the world. Because that cycle is real, you know, where you just stay in bed, don't want to get up, are searching for motivation. But motivation really comes after taking action or taking that first step. And if you can hack it in a way by getting your dog to encourage you to do it, that's an amazing way. I'm telling you, if you keep a dog around, if nothing else, it'll, they keep you moving, right? Well, we also see that they help you live longer.

Like that's a proven medical statistic. Dog owners live longer. And we've tried to hypothesize. Is it because of the exercise? Is it the friendship? And we don't know, but it's probably all the factors. I think it's when you have something or someone to live for. I'm sure that something in the immune system, something in a part of the brain that I know

nothing about is probably just driving you further and towards something. You know, it is, it is an incredible, I worked in a nursing home. I was a dietary aid for a few years. And what made you take that job? I was 16. I was just looking to make some scratch. And it was again, like I had to get through high school so I could do stand up after I graduated. How did I get that job? Actually, I think there was a girl that I liked. I think it was a girl I liked and so I applied. I got the job. But what I loved about it was I spent a lot of time with the elderly people that were, you know, living. It was called MediPlexen nursing home in Lexington, Massachusetts. And I would see the sparkle in their eyes and the excitement when their family was visiting or even sometimes when myself or the, we'd go around and, you know, just try to entertain them or whatever we could do. And I don't know. It just impacted me, you know, in a way back. of just like joy really keeps you vibrant you know and then i'd see the you know the unfortunately the opposite some people that maybe weren't getting visitors or or interestingly enough some of the

people that i got to know and you could tell that they'd live hard lives and maybe they were the hard part yeah and what that and what that did to their health and wellness and so it was a beautiful early example of like just try to keep as much joy and happiness around me as possible those social connections are so key. Even when we're giving things like life, modifiable lifestyle factors, we call them in medicine for the risk of developing Alzheimer's. MLFs, we call them. Yes. We talk about social connections and how that reduces the risk of early dementia. And the joy is the prime aspect of that. Because even when you're sitting there talking shit with your friends arguing, that's joy, right? Like, when you're always,

arguing with your partner, that's joy. Yeah. Because you're challenging each other. You're reaching certain goals with one another. Right. Do you get that same joy when you're with your friends, with your family? Yeah, I do. In fact, one of the things that always brings me an incredible amount of enthusiasm

with any and all of my relationships is, you know, catching up and saying, like, let's check in after or I've got friends that are movie geeks and we just want to talk about certain. we can't wait to talk about the trailer or you know just knowing those things it's almost like having those things on your agenda um with family friends you know even even with my fans whether that agenda is i don't know tour dates or something i want to talk about having things to look forward to you know when i when i mentor people i always start with like you know get you know the one dollar method i have a pencil paper and start writing down a few of the things that you're really looking forward to this year. Tell me a few things that you're looking forward to this year. And it's

like at first, it's like, I don't even know, but you do. There's got to be something. Even if it's a movie that's open, maybe there's a new piece of tech or literally let's start with there. And if you start with that, you can go, okay, that's seven months away. Let's talk about like now, what are you going to do preparing for those seven months? It's fascinating. Once you kind of go into that, you start to realize, oh, man, like all, you know, all the, you know, all the, you know, all the possibility is what is what when you finally meet whatever that moment is sometimes it's a letdown right it's it's the hype and enthusiasm the process yeah so I try to always get people locked into a process even if they say to me later man you got me excited for nothing I was like

but you're excited yeah well that's a true coping mechanism that we study in psychology where I theorize that the anxiety and depression spikes that have happened as a result of the pandemic obviously they happen as a result of less social connections and all those things But because there was less things to look forward to, there was less gatherings, less vacations, less trips. When I remember when I was working in ICU, you're working for two months, six days a week, you know, 18 hour days. I could work through that two month period, no problem.

As long as I knew I had something to look forward to at the end of it. Right. But the pandemic just stole that from us. And there was nothing to look forward to. And there was a moment where we didn't know if we would ever have truly things to look forward to beyond, which was. so ominous. Yeah, what was the pandemic experience for you? Really, really tough. Tough. And yet in hindsight, it also kind of, I did like the ultimate clean out. You know what I mean?

Like the ultimate kind of spring cleaning and really going inward and doing a lot of journaling and realizing while there were some things that I've kind of held on to that have a petrified, that I needed to just relinquish power to or get rid of or again, just clean house. And so midway through the pandemic, I was like, okay, I need to create something, first of all. That's what can I do to make people happy right now? This is like my, this is my, this is going to make me feel purpose and to have that. And so I put together a charity event. I did like a live read online with, I like Brad Pitt.

and Julie Roberts. What was the charity? It was for Corps, which was Sean Penn's organization that was helping out getting people tested for COVID. And it was a table read, virtual table read. And I didn't think that I would get some of the people that I ended up getting. But it was like, wow, a month ago, I was so in a rut.

And then, you know, six weeks later, I had all these tremendous, you know, A-list celebrities coming in, taking time, reading this script. And I was like, I'm really able to provide some a little bit of joy in this time that we all felt so encumbered. So doing that, cleaning house, and then kind of coming out of the other side being like, oh, now I have like more of a prime directive of what it is that I want to do in success over, you know, getting through the pandemic.

Did you always have this love for the process through all your years of work in comedy? I think I did. I remember coming home from school. I watched Oprah with my mom. I was such a mama's boy. I'd come home and I'd lay on the bed with her and we'd watch Oprah. She'd eat her Hershey's kisses. That was one of the things that would,

chocolate, I guess, is some kind of calming, right? And we would, we would watch and discuss the stories or the, the segments. And I think I just,

I had a real strong, um, love, I guess, for why do people do what they do? And it led me to continue to go, why, why do why am i doing what i'm doing why am i so hard i was

i was i had to learn what i'm an introvert i had self-loathing i had um uh you know i couldn't speak in public i wanted to do stand-up comedy and yet i couldn't even get to school i was so afraid of my own voice um and yet those shows or you know those early discussions i guess helped me to figure out there is a way for me to to feel like I can have this occupation and live this life, but I got to really know who I am. And your path to discovery of who you were came through challenges, failures, all of the above? Yeah, every single one of them you can imagine kind of goes hand-and-ham with the stand-up comedy career. It's an unforgiving industry.

And especially in that era, before there was any kind of, you know, you could not become an overnight sensation on like a YouTube or something then. which no virality right which which by the way is its own treasure trove of of you know overnight sensation is not is sometimes the worst possible gift that you think you're earning but back then no it was like you were only going to make it through every trial and tribulation that that one could have as a live performer and it was set by arbitrary rule with the gatekeepers. It was, but it was also like, it was such a finicky, tricky job, livelihood

because like an amoeba, there was, it wasn't like it was like one factory that you could go to that necessarily. There might have been a couple of comedy clubs that were fixtures, but it was, I'd get to gigs that they'd be like, oh, it's gone. I'd be like, I just booked this three nights ago. Yeah, nobody showed up night.

to there's nobody in here. And you'd just be driving home three hours, like, nobody even called. There was nobody there working there to even say, this place doesn't exist anymore. And it was a constant, constant, constant with my graduating class of comics of all we had was the idea, maybe this could lead to something,

but we had each other. And at least we had each other to entertain when sometimes even the crowd, maybe it wasn't so entertained. So I could see how those challenges got you to that place. I'm curious how the successes potentially have affected you negatively because when you're, okay, I know at the top is not the lingo you prefer to use in the social media space, but when you're crushing it, you're setting records, you're selling out Madison Square

guarded, you're on top of the world, and you're trying to be insightful, you're trying to challenge yourself, you're trying to see what you're doing wrong. Do you ever lose sight of that? Oh, yeah, because then it tilts completely in a, there's a time when it's like, you know, just being a young man, an ego and, you know, no playbook for success, you know, you go from being a reasonably like, you know, lower middle class kid, you know, to suddenly you're the bell of the ball. You've got all these, you know, access to everything.

Every dream is coming to fruition. And even though at the center of it, you're like, okay, it's not. me and my fans. The one thing I never lost sight of, thankfully, was none of this is possible without a group of people. I'm not in this arena because I did something alone, right? And so always had that, you know, the, the audience is always right in front of you. And if you lose sight and that one thing that's right in front of you, reminding you, we're here because you provide and entertain us to make us want to put you in this arena or wherever. But, Because there's no playbook for it.

And then because of my, now I'm just speaking for myself and not the other comedians that you may chat with or have had experiences, I go from being such an insignificant feeling human being to now feeling like the most significant person on the planet with no real tools outside of what, some Oprah episodes and maybe like, you know, cutting it up with mentors or my mom.

mom or no real professional, you know, help or no real one mentor, maybe at that time, who could sit down and be like, here's what's happening to you right now. You're believing everything. You're believing the hype. And so, yeah, it was capsizing moments simply because you think, I'm in, I got it, I'm here. And for whatever reason, I think you'd just start believe at a young age, like, this will always be.

Yeah. No. Well, you treated your audience. almost as a religion. You saw the value in community building when that wasn't a thing. Now everyone on social media is like build a community, target your community,

advertise your community. But you were doing that before community building was a thing. And because you gave your community this religious power, you respected them and you kind of felt like they were the greater source of power.

You know how people think that there's something greater than them so it takes some pressure off? Did you feel the same way? I don't know if I'm, put it in maybe such a faith-based way. Sure. And I'm not even religious, by the way.

I think I put it in more of like, well, I knew that at that time, unlike today, that feels very corporate algorithm. It does feel like there's always like an ad spend or a boost or, you know, finagled numbers. It's a little hinky. Then it felt really organic. It just kind of felt like the internet for a good chunk of time. was like it was still such almost like an experiment or a place that some people were but a lot of people were like what's that fad um i think i pretty much my whole philosophy was um i had such a

one-on-one connection with a group of people i had i had one-on-one understanding and access through this this portal that happened to build up so much over time that it turned into masses because the one-on-one conversations, those thousands and thousands, then millions of people that I let have access to my daily and vice versa, they invited other people into the thing. Or they shared, you know, comedy that they loved. And of course, if you make their friends laugh, then they're all going to come to the show. But it really felt grassroots, even at its largest, even in like 2005, the biggest, you know, arena year.

80 arenas, 20,000 people every single night, it always felt like family. It always felt like I'm not an overnight sensation at all. This is like a very slow trajectory towards something that workwise, I was very comfortable with. All the other stuff I had to learn, you know, how to live years to come after that. Well, whenever your trailblazer, you're going to face those types of challenges, do you, did you have difficult moments in between the years when you were touring and having major success where it's the attention and the success isn't there not because you're not

successful but because you're taking a break from that or you're not to or yeah or even just sometimes it's just like lights out you're you know you've you've had a moment or something didn't work or that movie's not going to be received um and stand up it just prepares you for all that because you do start to not even start but like you realize that a career is not a is not a promised anything, you know? All of those things that, you know, zeitgeisting and lady luck and those are all real things as well. You have to love what you do regardless of, I guess, how it's. Externally validated. Yeah, yeah, exactly. But it isn't to say that there weren't moments where it was like of extreme disappointment because you think you're hitting an ab and

it's a flow or vice versa. I'm not sure. Which one's the bad part? Is the ab the fucking bad part of the, we want to be abing, right? They're both good. Okay. So, So, yeah, it was like, you know, I think where I, I remember, like, having a crash and burn year at one point for whatever, whatever was going on. And it felt like I was disappointing my fans because, because I knew that the core group was like, man, we, we were ready for something new and electric. And it was almost like I had to tell them and tell myself, like, I'm not the new thing anymore. You know what I mean? I had my moment as the new thing. I'm going to make this career go as long as I can. And the people I love have a lot of different incarnations and in their careers. And I remember just like having to almost learn myself and educate my fans that it's okay that we can move on from that moment. That moment was a great moment. Let's recalibrate and do something else exciting together.

And I continue to just live my life and career that way. I think the example you gave about Aerosmith on another podcast, I heard you, I think applies here so well. Yeah. Share it. Yeah. Yeah, no, I was saying like Aerosmith at one point, like they were experimenting with different sounds. And it was like sometimes they, they're, even their fans were like, man, we wanted that sound again.

We missed that 1978 album for. And it was like they, they would be out of vogue. But it was almost like the media had written them off like they were done. And when I would see those things or Aerosmith and read those, I would, it prepared me. I was like, if I, this before I make. I'm like, if I make it, then there's probably going to be a point where I'm like that, which is like you're kind of back at seemingly square one. But, and I try to again, like if I have the opportunity to mentor young people artists,

I always say like, that's why you keep your integrity every step of the way. That means if something works and it, that IP is from you owned and operated, you know, dreamed up and then first pen to paper is how you want to see that come through, then the level of applause and even of monetization will not matter as much as you knowing you dreamed something up and made it come into the world. And when it doesn't work, and trust me, it won't. And when it's in fragments on the ground in front of you, you will, in your sadness, look at those broken pieces and say,

those are mine yeah and it really it's i get emotional about it because even when something's broken even when it's destroyed in front of you and you know like man i wanted so much for this there's a real beauty in knowing hey that that thing that didn't work i gave it everything i had but if you don't complete those things truly from your own heart and if you're just like maybe one little piece of you won't it won't mean that much to you. And what does that mean? That means that maybe you don't really know how to strive for the next plateau, but it also means when something's in those fragments, it might not take the wind out of your sails the way it needs to in order for you to really hit

and learn from it distances that you've never traveled. Yeah. You're pointing out so many psychological principles that we study in medicine of the differences between intrinsic and extrinsic happiness where long term a lot of people will think status money subscriber accounts all these things tour sales are what gives them happiness they think when i win the super bowl i'm going to be so happy and the more studies we do we realize that happiness doesn't last it doesn't bring you the level of happiness that you thought it did and if it did it was for a day or two and you're just back to where you were before right versus the the process that you talked about earlier the connection you had with your mom watching Oprah,

the process of having something crash and burn in front of your very eyes. That's intrinsic happiness of things that no money can take away because it's yours. It's owned and operated and created by you, even if it's a failure. Yeah, yeah.

And when you invest into somebody just emotional, right? Emotional currency, those, that possibility, with watching somebody else who's at the start of maybe something I've had the privilege of doing

maybe a bunch of times in my life I've hit that target a lot but when I'm seeing somebody set out that first time and I can be a little tiny fleck of hopefully the right positive reinforcement that has been more gratifying than any four-year project

that worked or didn't work. Just seeing somebody get on their way. Why is that? I don't know. medically I don't have a great answer. I think there's a little part of all of us that that maybe as we get older, you know, that there's something so unabashedly glamorous about the first dream in effect. It's just something that like you want, you want that back, even though you're able to maybe be a person who constantly can go, like,

let's try this or throw this on the, the very first thing that you make that works, right, that you wind up and goes to-to-c-c-cross the table. I think that we're always looking for that first wow i did it and so you can have that through your children you can have that i think through again incredible collaborative love with a person you can you can vicariously have that but to be able to mentor somebody and see them have that first go is nothing beats it it's it's something that lives on past you maybe because we all want to live forever but the human condition is that we absolutely can't right when you do something nice or someone and you start off a career that's something that might outlive you

and maybe gives us some kind of reassurance. I'd like to believe that energy is forever and whatever that energy that you're, that becomes your, you know, your makeup, you'd like to think, all right, well, maybe if I morph into whatever, or level up, that that piece of you is part of it. Like just, okay, I'm gonna, I'm on the next great adventure.

Yeah. When you talk about the pieces and still celebrating when things break, it touches me specifically because, This is something you definitely don't know, and it pales in comparison to the successes you've had. I became a professional boxer this year. This year? This year.

Oh, wow. And I had, my second fight was on Showtime Pay-per-View. And I got my ass kicked. Okay. This is a month ago. Roll the footage. Roll the footage of me getting my ass kick. And I fought a UFC fighter, an MMA fighter who has a lot of experience.

And I got my ass kicked. And looking back at it, I'm not as a lot of. upset as I thought I would be like obviously initially there was a huge sadness and grief component to it but I'm not as sad as I thought I would be because it's you feel like you did something you did it on your own you did it against what other people said and you're like it's my mistake to own right so it's like that ownership component of even owning the mistakes and fuckups is so powerful it's like you feel almost like neo in the matrix and you can see all the all the numbers you know great failure great success

like I think that when I when you're talking about something like that I go um I just look at I've said this a couple of times recently on podcast too I live my life realizing that things are only ever falling together only I don't I've had uh I've had things you know trauma in my life I've I've gone through great trauma and I've sat and I've dissected that trauma and I can't find one piece of it that hasn't led to a greater sense of self. To me, that's like, oh, wow, do you know, do you choose to look at something as you, you know, it's a loss, I guess, on the card, right? But what does it mean for when you finally win?

And how you win next is predicated on what you took from that loss. Is that because you're optimistic that you're looking at it that way or your upbringing? I mean, you're looking at it in a very positive post-traumatic growth mindset. I have to. I have to. Otherwise, you go to a dark place. Yeah, because my fantastical imagination, here's the fun side of it. In comedy, I can tell a story 10 different ways.

I used to say, like, in the movie Minority Report, the way he would do that with the screens, I see that when I'm editing and I'm performing. I have a voice in my head that's basically like, remember that don't do like and it's exciting but it's the opposite when I start like investigating negativity and so it's real easy for me to build a case of um just upside down thinking and so I have to I have to choose to my mechanics are waking up every day I do positive affirmations every day I do the silly thing where sometimes even if you don't want to smile. I make myself smile, even if it's fake, because I've learned that that fires off the

jargon that I don't know, you're going to tell me that the, right? Okay, okay, something in the cerebellum, where the lyrtonic system is. I just learned words of the brain one day, just so I could sound smarter on people like you. But, but, you know, I have to. I have to, my mechanics, you know, it's like my dad was an athlete. The one thing that I really took from him is like, you don't get great at batting or pitching or without the mechanics. putting in the 10,000 hours, and I've put in the mechanics to look for the positive in things, because if I allow myself to go the other way, like, I might linger in that way too long.

Where did you learn all these strategies? I'd just always been, you know, a curious person, and I was, I would go to AA meetings when I was younger. I'm 50, but I've never had a drink in my life. I've never had a drink or a drug or pills or anything. Anything, nothing. I did take some Tylenol, though, while I had the flu. I'm being very honest.

Well, that's okay. But I would go to AA meetings. In fact, I would go, 1991, two, three. I would go with friends that would sometimes do comedy gigs and say, I need a meeting. I feel like I want to drink. And I would say, can I go? I'll take you or can I go? And I would sit in these rooms and it was harrowing a lot.

And it was like, you know, it was. It was sometimes negative and smoky and, and yet there was a truth happening in here that I just craved, craving it. Because I wanted to be able to speak that truthfully about, man, about hating myself. You know, I was like, man, I don't want to drink, but I feel all that, like I'm like a dry drunk or that term I heard. You were going for a support group, not having the issue that, on the outside half, but maybe on the inside half.

Exactly. And also, like, I was, you know, being transparent. I was dealing with alcoholism in my family. You know, my dad drank and it just made for a, for convoluted youth, okay? It was just, you never quite knew what we were going to get with my dad who was both a brilliant and fascinating and loving person as well as a person who just didn't always like himself and then didn't know how to communicate that.

But I'd sit in these rooms and I was so, so proud of these people and I was so moved emotionally sometimes moved and I would always leave there feeling better about myself jokingly be like I'll leave I feel better because I don't drink and I don't have to but but in those conversations with my friends leaving thereafter you know thanking them and then saying like I really I really hope that I can be that honest I think I was looking for that level of honesty so I could understand myself better. I was years away from it, but that was the start of probably wanting to have a better understanding sense of self. Yeah, because I feel like superficially, it's easy to say that you

were looking at their problems and saying, well, mine aren't that big. But I think it was, it sounds like it's way deeper than that, where instead you're actually grateful for them showing you this way. Oh, sure. And then through the years, you know, becoming friends with people in that organization and it became so much more, so much more value. And it was like taking that and then applying that to stand-up and what I was doing in stand-up was like now I'm going well if I use this platform as a way to be truthful about first what I think is funny and I'm going to entertain people in all of the ways that I think that I think I'd like to entertain myself and entertain a few people but then taking the element of Oprah or A.A. or comics that I love that we're talking about

you know, real stark, caustic, you know, topics and going, maybe I could become the person that I want to be through this, through performance, you know. So I really was learning how to be the version of myself that can sit here and, like, talk about the whole thing because I wouldn't run away from it on stage the way sometimes in life I felt like I was not ready to face myself. Which is fair. Yeah. That's all of us.

That's all of us. I think that it's okay to feel that way, you know, it's it's for whatever our journeys are it's it's a constant state of seasons you know things are you know going to be suddenly in disarray and maybe that's to you know somebody once said like there's clarity in the chaos you know and in chaos sometimes it's real easy to in a frantic moment you're look you're searching and i try to tell people to hold on to something and just look for what's even in that chaotic moment because there are there is some truth in it that you might be like, I just needed this chaos to actually see very clearly. This one thing

is solid. That's the important piece for me that I need to hold on. Grab it. Yeah. Yeah. I'm curious what you think about the current state of, let's say the younger generation. Yeah. Even in comedy. Where do you think that their biggest struggle is going to be? Well, right now it seems like everybody feels like, you know, talk about like, you know, my journey and what it meant in those days to come out of like you know just being on the circuit and we knew it was going to take like eight or nine years to find your comedy voice and to make it that was just kind of built in all right i'm starting in 1990 most people like you're not going to know who you are for five years on stage and we're like okay i guess i'll start um like a true apprenticeship yeah yeah it was just the

the the whole process of stand-up comedy through those first 10 years before you even get to learning the business side of it is just how do I how do I really entertain people and like bring something real to the stage um but I think that that right now a lot of young people are so they think that everything has to be that one video that gets all the likes in that one moment and if they put all that effort and energy into it and then there's no likes or nobody seems to want to share it or care about it then that's their entire value and I feel like it's almost like a harder thud because if you're if you're doing that with everybody in a community like comedy on the road

you kind of all can look at each other and be like man this is this is a bad winter for all of us but it's real in a world that seems so populated with the masses of the internet it's real easy to feel alone on there and I think that a lot of artists feel like man that didn't connect and I think that that like feel It feels like it puts them back even further.

Because the competition now is more about who's going to have that one piece of viral content that's going to get more views than the other person, as opposed to did it do well for me. And you're up against not just being a comedian right now. It's like, man, it's a... And attention. It's also like so many people are doing a version of comedy and there's people that are just at home saying like being funny on a social media app. and so there is so much more competition

and then you're looking at other people going like wow this person's willing to be doing it for several months and why they're getting millions of looks and likes and I don't know and suddenly you're just like putting so many of the eggs in one basket of like I need to make it in the next three months doing this thing online or what? What is that going to mean for you? I have a funny question for you. It's not funny at all

but it's a cool question. let's delay your life 30 years okay you're in this tic-tok generation you're starting up your comedy tour you're starting up your comedy career how do you think you fare i think i'd fear pretty well because my philosophy is so drastically different from a time when a very small group of people were you know in the digital realm or whatever that might be and i and i saw that and I knew what to do. I felt like I was ahead of the pack and then suddenly I was in there like,

ha ha, this is like my claim to fame. So what would you be using? What app? What kind of content would you do? Yeah, you know what I'd be doing? I'd be in the business of brick and mortar. Really? Yeah.

Yep, absolutely. Wow. Yeah, I would. And I would use the example of somebody like, I've been friends with Amanda Cernie for a lot of years. Amanda was somebody who was building up a vine audience. And then whatever, she probably hit the wall of like, this is how many viewers I have, but she took those viewers, and she just started going places

and saying, this is where I'm at. I'm going to be at this mall. I'm going to be in this airport. I'm going to be. And then because people were showing up to meet this person that not very, very many people knew, but her fans knew. Then the local news was like, who is Amanda Cernie? And then they were covering, why is this girl of 300, 500 people at an airport? And I watched her build her fan base out by being there, being out there. So, keeping that just in the comedy lane, I would say, I would say, get off your computer. I wouldn't be posting any more clips. I wouldn't be trying to outdo anybody. And I'd be out there on the road. And I'd be back at what was the traditional people are always going to want to laugh

and people are always going to want to laugh live in person. I think that as much as we like watching a comedy special, seeing somebody perform live stand-up comedy, it's like live music. It's just a whole different, you know, it's a whole different feeling. that goes through your body experiencing that. And so that's the first place that I would be looking is like where could I get on the road and bring people physically to me? Let the numbers be built up through the response from that

by saying I have an email list or I have a website, but I wouldn't be starting with the internet. Wow, I would never guess you would say that. I'd get off that. In fact, I would want to be a mystery to the internet. Wow. You know, look at Dave Chappelle. Dave Chappelle in a lot of ways is a mystery to the internet.

Chris Rock. But the generationally... Well, now he's clipped up, and they're, like, especially when he, you know... But he's the perfect example for a lot of years, even though his stuff would go viral, like Dave Chappelle's show. It was really fascinating because he wasn't online. Yeah. You know, in any way, shape, or form. And I think that that just harkens back to the original allure, I think, of show business, which a lot of people forget, which is mystique, mystery.

you know, really like wanting to know more about, if somebody knows everything about you all the time, 24-7. No Scarcity, no FOMO, no, none of these principles. Yeah, yeah, you better be pretty damn interesting every day. Dynamic, you know, like in real time, one of the most fascinating people in the world to think you're going to keep an attention span of everybody all at once on this digital window.

That's a lesson we need. pull back, you know, try to, you know, and also, too, live a lot of life because if you're populating your routine with, with things that are happening, you know, outside in the real world, then that's what people are responding to. Nobody's just responding to like the same jokes that everybody's thinking of and making on the internet in real time 24-7. That's not going to set you apart. Yeah, because like the idea of all these young kids, their number one job is they want to be the YouTuber, get a career first. You become an expert in something, whether it's education, being an astronaut,

being a doctor, a comedian, and then bring that value to the internet. Absolutely. Yeah, yeah, because if you're great at your craft and then that's exploited through whatever, then more people are going to be like, damn, how did this person get so good at this, you know? And I think that everybody is in real time

saying, like, watch me get better at guitar. And that's like coming to L.A. as a new comment, when a new comment comes to L.A. and says, I'm new to L.A., what's your advice? And by the way, I'm not a, I don't believe in giving, especially comedians advice other than like ways to protect your integrity or legal. Yeah. But it's, it's so specific like comedy. Like nobody could tell you how to really be, you know what's funny for you.

I'm not going to tell you how to be funny. But I will always tell somebody like, all right, here's the first thing you want to do. You don't want to grow here because you're going to, in the eyes of the industry, somebody's going to see you and you're always going to be that worst moment or you're always going to be that misstep. And it's real hard to create the next version of yourself in front of the very people that are like, ah, we've already, we saw you last year. And by the way, I'm 31 years in. And sometimes people will still say, oh, yeah, no, no, we're fans of Dane. We've seen it. You know, do you want them to audition? No, no, we've seen it. Like, I look different. I've got a different vibe. I might have a take on this character, but it's real easy for this industry to typecast like that.

So I would say to that person, like, get out of here. Go to anywhere else that you can grow, stink, get good. And then once you know you're dominant in your field and what does that mean for comedy, you're getting, everything's getting a laugh. Not good night's bad, like you're crushing it. Then you come back here and you're not here to make friends. And you're not here to get into some drama with the staff and that you're here to do one thing. Kill it and show everybody.

I'm here to, I've arrived. I'm ready. Too many people, I feel like they think that if they're showing you their progress in real time, that that is for some reason the value. I just, it's, I think it's a, I think it's a mistake to be showing people. Because you lose their allure. Yeah. Yeah.

And I just think that, yeah, I think it's also just like people, when somebody comes out of nowhere with the next big idea, that's the clap that suddenly everybody goes, what's happening right now? What is happening? As opposed to like if we see you Truman Show style every single day, then I don't know if you get that like, you know, head snap turn where everybody all at once goes, what's this?

Yeah. And that's your moment to like come to life. What's your relationship with medicine like with health care? As far as. Do you have a primary care doctor that you trust? Do you do any kind of special regimens? What's your sort of... I don't.

No, I do have a primary care for many, many years, but I've been one of those people that, like I said, not only never any drugs in my life, but I just don't like to, yeah, I don't, I keep my, you know, it's like, this is about as heavy as I go. Okay. Right? And so, you know, health, to me,

it's more than just the stuff we've been talking about in terms of like what creativity, and how that keeps me, you know, well adjusted and, but it's really, I work out every day. I just think it's about being active. For me, it's always about, like, being active and taking care of my body, my health and wellness and what I've learned about my body over the years is like when I'm, when I'm, when I had movement into my world, I just, I'm at my most fit, my, my, my healthiest. most focused. So that's really like, yeah, it's all about nutrition. A body in motion stays in motion.

So that, that old mantra is very true. You recently talked about, I think last night, about your colonoscopy experience. What was that like? I was a little nervous. Both my parents had succumbed to cancer. Oh, wow. And so it was, I talked to my sister Courtney about it. I was like, man, this is, you know, this is a big one because, and probably another reason that, you know, I've always wanted to stay as healthy as I could because I was like, God forbid I have to ever fight that fight. I, you know, I'd want to be, I'd want somebody to say to me, man, you are, you are ready to go. You're like, this is your prime candidate for like, you know, early detection, super important in taking this on. So it was really, really imperative and important for me to get

the colonoscopy. It was a funny experience because I was talking about like, you know, going in And the first thing the doctor says to me is, you know, like, I'm a big fan. Yeah. And then the anesthesiologist. What's that like one? Like you're coming in for a call. You feel good. You're like, all right.

He's going to look out for me. He might take another look with the camera, you know, what if this dang cook? Come on. One more go around. And then anesthesiologist was like, you know, quoting my stuff. And by the time I got into the, into the room for the procedure, there was like three people. And so I'm choking back. And that helped me to feel a little, you know, less concerned about it because I'm

saying things like, well, you're about to see a side of me. You're like, suck my back literally. There's a whole, you know, litany of good bad one-liners, I said. But getting that clean bill of health and being told like, no, you're absolutely in great shape inside and out was like, and more than anything, I called Courtney, my sister. And I was like, mom and dad would be really proud that I'm going to do this and take care of myself. My mom never got a colonoscopy.

my mom was 62 years old and she had no clue and it was uh three stage three by the time she figured it all out my dad was 72 and he he lifelong drinking smoking um but also colon uh uh pancreatic pancreatic yeah um but um it was just it was a brutal you know um it was a I say it's impossible because any time I start talking about my parents and what that year, they both passed in one year. Impossible to really describe like what that was in real time with them. But what I took from that and what I will always take from that is just taking care of my body and never putting those things off and taking, you know,

taking the time to really make sure that you're the healthiest that you can be. So you're not taking life for granted. And, you know, I relate very strongly to your situation. In 2010, I lost both of my grandparents and my mom. So it's a similar situation of losing a lot of family members. I'm sorry. Also, it's also to cancer. So it's like extra motivation to stay healthy, to encourage people to live a healthy life.

So I got to thank you for putting their message out there. Yeah, yeah. No, especially young men, I think that really need to be able to like voice that to each other. That like, no, that is a, you know, there's no way to say, it's a cool thing to do. It is, though. it is when when you get that call and it's either like you're you're good or hey there's something that like I'm glad we caught it you know we can we can get in there and take care of you you know sooner than later it's like that man that just you feel great you truly feel in that

moment of like okay I'm I'm ready to take on the next challenge because I know that physically I'm ready to do it yeah I'm not a huge fan of hyperbole but you know by talking about colonoscopy on the show last night you're saving lives and that's not an exaggeration because I see the reality of men who look up to other men like yourself, Star is doing this, say, you know what, I'm going to do the same for my family. So I think it's a very powerful message when you share stories like that. So thank you. I was going to make a joke about Ernest Glenn.

Ernest Glenn. I don't know. Where are you, Ernest Glenn? I wish I knew where Ernest Glenn was. So we have to give a shout out, Ernest Glenn. Ernest Glenn, for anybody who doesn't know is. If they're here, comment down below. first comic that I ever, I went up on stage as Ernest Glenn, and he was a comic that didn't

show up. And so I pretended I was him. And that's how I got on stage. So I don't know where he is. Ernest Glenn. Because probably the age, right? Get online. Yes. Dane, thank you so much for sharing. Really appreciate it, man. Open book and sharing all of your trials and tribulations. Because it means the world to people to see success stories, but also share their vulnerabilities. So thank you for that. Oh, man. Well, thanks for inviting me and allowing me to have such a, just an incredibly prolific conversation. Well, it was so cool to sit down with Dane Cook, someone I'd idolized from childhood yelling, suck my back to all my friends, which is one of his jokes.

It was cool because we got to do it in L.A. in our hotel where we were staying for the streamies. We won our second ever streamie, back to back, health and wellness. That was really exciting. I would say thank you for voting, but it wasn't a voting competition. So thank you for supporting, which makes the channel perform so well. But as you know, it's podcast question answer time. Remember, if you want your questions answered, leave a five-star review if you enjoyed it. And then in the body of the review, give me a question, and I answer them at the end of all the podcasts.

Question numero uno. Aria, my family's always urging me to make my baby dress super warmly so they don't get cold and sick. But will that really happen? Does being cold make a baby sick? This is that classic conversation that we have as doctors. does going out, like let's say if you were to go out naked into the winter, make you sick? The answer to that is really no, because cold itself doesn't make you sick. But being cold can potentially negatively adversely, you see how I put all those words in there,

affect your immune system where you may have a higher likelihood of getting sick. Because when you're cold, a few things happen. Your body starts shifting the blood away from the external parts of your body. your body that are not super important for you to live and survive to your inner organs. You lose less heat this way. But as a result, your nose starts getting less circulation, your lips start getting less circulation, your mucous membranes dry up, especially during the dry winter months where germs tend to hang around for a little bit longer period of time.

And then as a result, a lot of your protection that's in your nose, your immune protection goes away. You create crack lips, which creates a breeding ground for bacteria and potential infections that way as well. So yes. And your question initially, Ari, was about babies. Babies have even a higher likelihood because their immune systems are still developing and they don't control their body temperature as well as we do because when like a grown person like myself is cold, we shiver, we can warm up because we have big muscles. But babies don't have big muscles. So they're a little bit more susceptible to the cold. So you want to make sure they are warm. Also make sure that they're

not sweating either because if they're too hot and just constantly wet all the time, that's not comfortable. Tony, if negative thoughts can create negative feelings, can positive thoughts create positive feelings? Absolutely. You know, you frequently hear the statement that just by smiling, you create some positive emotions, even if you're unhappy. There's some truth in that. I think any doctor that will tell you to just smile when you're anxious or upset is not necessarily giving you the full picture of that research. Because what we see is if someone, if someone someone smiles, we see certain areas of the brain light up as if you're truly happy, whether or not that's just patterning in your brain occurring or something truly making you happy.

We don't know that exactly. So I wouldn't say just smile when you're unhappy, but I will say thinking of positive thoughts and forcing yourself to think of positive thoughts, whether that be gratitude, compassion, excitement and looking towards the future can absolutely create warmth and positive feelings and not just positive feelings, but positive changes in the neurochemistry in your brain. That's like the cool part about the brain, whereas we used to say, oh, this mental health condition is a chemical disturbance and you could only correct it with medications. Untrue.

You can change that chemical imbalance that's going on in the brain with things that are under your control, like your thoughts. So pretty cool stuff. medium sauce pan what would happen if you receive the wrong type of blood during a blood transfusion transfusion reaction very dangerous very big problem fever if enough goes in can lead to death so that's why we're very careful about making sure that folks get the correct blood type the time that we do this most thoroughly is in pregnant patients before they deliver to make sure that we know if there is any RH cross-compatibility.

And there's a lot to look into and talk about with RH compatibility. But yes, do not receive the wrong blood type. That's why in the military, it's written right there on the dog tags. So they know exactly what to transfuse. Or you could use a universal donor blood and skip that process altogether. But that is a rare type of blood and expensive. And we want to save that for emergent uses only. All right.

Well, thanks for listening. Keep the good questions coming. Keep the five-star reviews coming. And by the way, go on Instagram and leave. suggestions on who you want on the podcast. It's The Checkup Podcast on IG. As always, stay happy and healthy.