The Comedy Cellar: Live from the Table - Aparna Nancherla, Rebecca Trent, and Danny Lobell

Episode Date: December 1, 2017

Aparna Nancherla is a prominent New York City-based standup comedian. Her new standup album, 'Just Putting it Out There,' is available for download on iTunes and Amazon. Rebecca Trent is the owner of the New York City comedy club Creek & the Cave. Danny Lobell is a Los Angeles-based standup comedian. Before he moved to Los Angeles, he hosted a podcast in New York City with Dan Naturman.

You're listening to The Comedy Cellar, live from the table, on the Riotcast Network, riotcast.com. You're listening to Live from the Table, The Comedy Cellar podcast, on Raw Dog, Sirius 99. This is Dan Natterman, and our regular listeners know that if it's me that is introducing the podcast, rather the radio show, slash podcast, that can mean only one thing. That Gnome is out of town. Gnome is on a cruise. He's on a cruise right now. He goes on a lot of vacations, as some of you might have noticed.

I'm not sure he needs to even be here at the Comedy Cellar. I've never seen him actually do anything that I would describe as work. Unless you would describe... Well, I haven't have... I mean, you're not here every night. I see him drinking Frangelicos, yelling at Stephen Calabria. But nothing that I would qualify as work. I'd say it's probably a part-time job yelling at Stephen, at least.

I think it's his pleasure. I think it's his avocation, not his vocation. You can do what you love. You never work a day in your life. That's what they say. Anyway, normally we record downstairs in the Olive Tree Cafe. Tonight we are upstairs in the studio, so you won't hear any background noise.

You won't hear any clanking of plates. You won't feel the disdain of the other comics as they look at us. And that's what I feel anyway when i'm doing the podcast because i feel they think and it's corny is that what it is and um you know and plus we're using up the comedy table that they normally sit at and i think they feel displaced anyhow we're here tonight with three guests uh rebecca trent how do you do hello uh of the creek in the cave owner of the creek in the Cave Comedy Club in Queens. And she has done this show several times.

Danny Lobel making his second appearance on this show. Yes, sir. Danny is a comic that is based in... Is that my... I guess. I think so. Thank you, Stephen. Stephen just found a pullover that I left downstairs.

So I thank him for that. You let that detail not slide. Danny Lobel is a comedian with whom I used to do a podcast, and we were always yelling at each other. Much like me and Noam, we didn't get along. I'm not really mad at you. Wait, what?

That's not how I remember it at all. On air, on air, there was a lot of yelling. I accused you once of being a dangerous person. I thought that was a compliment. Well, be that as it may, there was a lot of, I think, tension. Fascinating. I never felt that.

You didn't feel tension? No. Well, that's how I remember it. But in any case, he moved to L.A. to seek his fame and fortune, and God bless him. He's still seeking, and we wish him luck with that. Aparna Nancherla, I believe it's pronounced. Yes. You got it.

Aparna is a comedian, and New York-based?. You got it. Is a comedian and New York-based? New York-based. I don't see her a lot. You don't work at the Comedy Cellar? No. Have you auditioned for the Comedy Cellar? Also, Steve Calabria, our producer, is here. If he has anything to say, he can certainly do so.

Thank you very much. I have not. Aparna, you have not auditioned here. Okay. Stephen, do you know anything? Have you spoken to Noam about Aparna? Because I saw her video. I believe I have mentioned Aparna before. I saw auditioned here. Okay. Stephen, do you know anything? Have you spoken to Noam about Aparna? Because I saw her video. I believe I have mentioned Aparna before.

I saw her video on The Conan Show. I thought it was very good. Oh, I'm a huge fan of Aparna. Yeah, everybody's a huge fan of Aparna. Oh, thanks, guys. And her Twitter account's amazing, too. I don't follow her on Twitter. And even if I did, I wouldn't pay attention because it's all about me on Twitter.

I just go on Twitter and I look at who, you know, that button that you press to see who mentioned you. That's all I do. Anyhow, I do want to, last week we talked a lot about Louis. And I do want to continue that discussion because, hell, it's interesting as fuck. Is it not? Well, I don't find it to getting, I find it always interesting. Out of respect for the other guests, I don't want to harp on this. You find it always interesting. Out of respect for the other guests, I don't want to harp on this.

You go ahead, Daniel. I never felt like there was any tension. I'm really surprised to hear you... Well, between the two of you... Go listen to the old... I don't want to get bogged down. I don't want to get bogged down either, but it's strange for me.

Listen to the old... And I've been friends with you for years. You've never brought it up before. I've been on this show before. Because it doesn't matter. It's interesting. Because you know when I... With with me and noam there's tension as well but we're best of not best of friends but we're friendly we're friends off the air but when we get on the air we are always at cross purposes because he wants to talk about politics and i want to talk about louis cock and i thought any tension we had was uh was theater but anyway let's get it's partially

theater partially theater but i'm a get... It's partially theater. Partially theater. But I'm a method actor. So within the theater, I had to draw on my own. Dan hates you, Danny. Just get over it. Just so you know, I'm not offended. I'm fascinated.

Listen to the old... He's fascinated and frowning and sweating a little. Listen to the old tapes. I have listened to them. Well, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm misimagining. Maybe I'm misremembering. I don't know.

No, I mean, if that's how you felt. Whatever. Let's not get bogged down. Sorry. Anyway, on to the show. On with the show. Also, I'd just like to add, last week, everybody was kind of of a similar opinion with regard to Louis, but in terms of the general consensus among those that we were speaking with last week,

is that Louis' behavior, albeit hard, gentlemanly, was not deserving of what he's been receiving. What has he received so far? Well, he's been dropped from H. His movie was pulled. Right, that was supposed to open this week, I think. Netflix dropped his special. And his show, I believe. Wait, Netflix had a show with Louis, too? No, no, no.

He lost his show. FX. Yeah. Oh, so FX. There's another show that he's doing. Can I ask, did Better Things get affected by this as well? I don't think anything his name is on got affected. Just his own project.

Just his personal project. Aparna, where are you from originally? Because you have an interesting accent. People think I'm from the Midwest, but I'm not. I'm from the Mid-Atlantic. You're from D.C., right? Yeah. All right.

Well, it's an interesting type of an accent of sorts that you have. But in any case, so I would ask... Moving on. Well, I don't want to get bogged down in the accent. We can have attention, too. She smiles when she talks. It's throwing you off, Dan. Aparna is, I believe, Indian extraction?

Yes. And so that could be a factor. You grew up, your parents were first from India. They have accents. It's true. I don't think... And I do hear a little bit of that. Okay. I think growing up with your... And I do hear a little bit of that. Okay.

I think growing up with your father yelling at you with his accent, you might have picked that up. So you feel she absorbed it through family abuse.

I do feel that she probably... With me, you feel no heritage has been absorbed. I don't hear... The reason Danny

brings this up is because his mother's from Scotland. I don't hear a Scottish accent of any kind. And he ate nachos today, not haggis. And when he hears the strains of Loch Lomond, he doesn't tear up.

See, that's proof. Proof he's not a real Scotsman. It's something Dan's been hung up on for years. Also, he's Jewish, and I don't consider that. You think that wipes out any mess now? I think 90% ofish uh bona fides are wiped out by that yes oh that's how i feel and i'm sorry i stand by that anyway let's get to louis we have a lot to talk about folks so let's not get diverted but um uh parna um what are your

thoughts about the let's i want to focus on the the uh the uh the hotel room masturbation there were a few other accusations. Jesus Christ. And then we can go through them one by one. No, no, no. There's a few episodes. Let's talk about one-eyed Louie. Come on, guys.

I mean, what's your response supposed to be to that, though? What are your thoughts on Louie? My thoughts are, are you outraged? Do you feel that the punishment is appropriate to the crime, far in excess, or not enough, or lock him away and throw away the key. I think part of the severity of, I think, the reaction to it coming out is part of the moment we're in. And the fact that it is like just another, he was kind of the one, like it feels like every field has been having their perps outed. And I feel like he represented comedy so then all the you know suits and people in charge had to make a statement which he ended

up being sort of the scapegoat yeah you couldn't be more correct by the way and nobody would nobody nobody would argue this was a correct or incorrect question. Nobody would argue. It's not, but she didn't answer. What are your thoughts? Wrong. Next. She didn't answer the question, though. The question wasn't what are people thinking. The question is what does Aparna Nancherla think?

I hesitate to say the reaction was too severe because I feel like I can't speak as someone who those experiences didn't happen to. You're saying they did happen to you? They did not happen to me. experiences didn't happen to you what you're saying they did happen to you they did not they did not happen to you so you're saying you're not in a position to to be like oh well what he did was not that bad because i i haven't been in that position so i can't speak to what the effects of that i think the effects are probably more severe than the action yeah what he did well you we have to i think look at two aspects of it. The effects, first of all, you never know what the effects are. Theoretically, I could say to a partner,

didn't love your Conan set. Right. I wouldn't say that, but if I did say that, theoretically, that could send you off a cliff emotionally. That's true. So the effects don't necessarily mean

that the action was so horrible. Sometimes people react in a way that you don't expect and you didn't mean. Well, this also comes down to where it's coming from. If you tell her your Conan set, she might not be as distressed because it's not coming from somebody

who necessarily holds power. And your dick's probably in your pants at the time, too. But the point is, is not that. The point is, is we can't judge the severity of a crime necessarily by the effects of a crime necessarily by the effects of the crime. Not necessarily. The distinction is you telling her you didn't care

for her Conan set is purely emotional. She could walk away and be like, what a shame. I really like Dan and he hurt me. But it's not going to have an effect on her career. In this case, we're talking about the effect also having actual ramifications on a person's career. We'll case, we're talking about the effect also having actual ramifications on a person's career. We'll get to that. Right now

we have to... No, it wasn't him doing it that was the problem. It was the girls having a problem with what he did that affected their career. Right. Exactly. We'll get to that, but I want to just... I just want to mention that we have to look at the effects that it would have on the women. We also have to look at Ray...

I got a text from Ray Allen. I almost said Ray. We also have to look at Ray... I got a text from Ray Allen. I almost said Ray. We also have to look at Louie's... what was going on in his mind. In other words, as I brought this up last week, did he reasonably think that they were consenting? Is that a reasonable... That's not a reasonable question.

That's not a thing. We're past that. Louie already said that wasn't a thing. No, no. Louie said in his letter of apology, he said, I asked permission. He did. And he also said that he realizes now that asking permission and getting a yes from somebody when he's in a position of power and they're not isn't necessarily a yes.

Okay, but he might have thought at the time. But if he legitimately thought at the time that there was consent, and I wasn't there and I can't read Louis' mind, that mitigates the severity of the crime. You have to look at intention. You have to look at intention. But the intention could defy logic if somebody's not in their right state of mind. Well, that's why we have an insanity defense. And Louis was insane. So you're pleading insanity for him.

I'm not pleading insanity. But insanity is we have to always look when we're assessing moral transgressions what the intention was. But you're talking about something that a logical, rational person would know not to do. And you're saying he didn't know that because he wasn't a logical, rational person at the time. That's insanity. Well, it's not being logical and rational. And I would take that into consideration as a mitigating circumstance if that were the time. That's insanity. Well, it's not being logical and rational, and I would take that into consideration as a mitigating circumstance if that were the case. But the question here really should be,

was he insane at the time? No. Well, I don't believe he was insane. No, he wasn't insane, but we still have to look at what his thought process was to make a moral judgment. How could we know that? We can't read his mind.

We can't know that, but we can't know that was certitude. But if this were a court of law, we would ask him what he was thinking. We would assess in a court of law, we would assess by his answers, whether we felt it was a credible response. He said that they giggled or something when he said, can I take it out? And that they stayed in the room. Now, that could maybe be interpreted as some form of consent. I'd have to ask Louis, you know, if he were here, this were a court of law, I would ask him that. I'm just saying those are questions that need to be asked. How would you interpret that? I would not. First of all, I would not. I'm very shy. I need very clear. More of a grower, I think is what he's saying.

I need a very clear green light to do anything. Well, I think that the point is that most people should need a very clear green light to do anything. That's the idea. Once our junk is involved, you're supposed to have a clear goddamn green light in whatever the fuck you're doing with whoever the fuck you're doing it with. That's it. That's it. There shouldn't be any gray area. There isn't.

And I've been in plenty of gray area situations, and I've created gray area situations. And I'm not saying that I'm as pure as the driven snow, but we're really overanalyzing a guy who pulled his dick out in front of a couple of broads, right? Okay, but where would you... Well, I like to overanalyze. That's what I dick out in front of a couple of broads, right? Okay, but so where would you... Well, I like to overanalyze. That's what I do. It would have been smart if this story...

I overanalyze like Louis Masturbates. Okay, let me ask this question of the table. How many of you here knew the story prior to the story breaking? How many of you had heard about this... Everybody's hand is up. ...for years, right? If we needed to analyze years, right? If we needed to analyze it, why didn't we analyze it

six years ago when we started giggling about it? You know what I mean? This was a problem six years ago. Because there wasn't any names attached to it, so it was considered a rumor. We knew a couple of names. I was told the name of the girl duo. I was told who

they were. By the way, Garfunkel and Oates was- It wasn't Garfunkel and Oates. It wasn't, but I'm saying a lot, though there was huge rumors that it was actually them. That's what I heard. And that they were covering up, but it wasn't them. Yeah. But the point is that it was a problem six years ago.

Six years ago, we knew about this. Six years ago, we were talking about this. But six years ago, we- But now we're analyzing it and we're saying like saying we have to look at how sad it is. Why are we analyzing it now? I'll tell you why. Six years ago, I couldn't come on the air and talk about this simply because Louis would get mad.

A, Louis would get mad. And Dave Becky would get mad. B, people were less interested. The audience would not. Oh no, everyone's always interested when someone pulls a dick out in front of a girl. I wasn't going to go on the air. I wasn't going to go on the air. Did I believe the rumors were true? Yes. But I was not going to go on the air. Did I believe the rumors were true? Yes.

But I was not going to go on the air and talk about it if I didn't know for sure. Now we know for sure. I don't think it would have been Dan's obligation to break the story without much information. That's true. I did believe, personally, I believed it was probably true. Somebody said, Louis jerked off in front of two girls. I said, yeah. But also, don't you think

it makes a difference that none of us knew what was true and what wasn't? The rumor was for years that he had stood in front of the door

and he wouldn't let them leave. And that changes the story completely. Totally changes it. If that had been the truth, Louis would probably have been arrested

for that. No? No way. But don't you think that that still changes the story? What we thought this entire time

was wrong. It changes the story, but there's no way they would have made that actionable. That wasn't you think that that still changes the story? What we thought this entire time was wrong. 100% it changes the story, but there's no way they would have made that actionable. That wasn't even what they were trying to do. And also the rumors. Some of the comics were talking about how some of the rumors said that these girls were laughing about it afterwards. They went up on stage and talked about it.

So you don't know what's true and what's not. And to talk about that on the radio without any evidence, without any names to the story and with just repeating an incorrect rumor. Don't you think that that's reason enough to not actually talk about it? Yes, I certainly would not have talked about it on the radio. Quite frankly, when I heard the news, A, I believed it. B, I didn't much care. I don't I didn't have many dealings with Louie. I talked to louis only once in a while and so i just like well i yeah it probably happened but uh you know there's nothing for me to do about it one way or the

other i think had dan brought it up earlier it would have been very much to his detriment and it would have done nothing to help anyone i'm not making a point that he needed to do this on a podcast six years ago i'm saying that we as a community didn't make it a conversation like, oh, this is a problem. This is something we should analyze. Why is he doing this? Why would he do this to girls? Blah, blah, blah.

Until now. That's what I'm saying. I'm not saying that it's Dan's job to be the truth teller and whistleblower of every person in comedy that's done something like that. The most recent one, the most recent occurrence, didn't it happen 10 years ago? Yeah, way past statute of limitations, without question.

So to say that it was happening is different from saying that it happened. And that's always been my thing, is that if a person isn't proving to be a current threat in the comedy community, I do my dead level best to identify who those people may or may not be. Do you know what I mean? In order to, like, I don't know, keep the creep level down. Let's, let's, let me ask you that question.

Because Noam, generally speaking, we've talked about this numerous times. We talked about it with regard to Bill Cosby. We talked about it with regard to Woody Allen. And we talk about it with regards to if Noam. Wait, what did Woody do?

Oh God. I don't want to know. Whether or not it's Noam's responsibility to police the stage, whether or not it's his responsibility to look into, you know, accusations against comedians. Now, you're a club owner.

The cellar is a very different animal from the creek, though. I'm a club owner, but I'm also doing about 21 open mics a week. I am dealing with comics in their first performances for the most part. I have a lot of first timers. You're an incubator. I'm an incubator.

So it's a different level of creativity that's happening in that room. It's a different level of vulnerability. And it's also a different level of people who come in that are kind of like marks. The Creek is open to everybody so everybody comes and i do have to have a little bit of a heavier hand i think than gnome wood in a club like this to um not necessarily police but try and ensure that everybody gets to have a good creative experience while they're at the creek that's what's called artist forward. Right. And Rebecca has mentioned that her club is artist forward.

Yes, I make up phrases and dances for it. But now say that Louis had come to your club. He has. A few years. And so you did. I didn't think he posed a current threat to the comedy community. Okay. Do I think that I would ever let, okay, let me be really clear.

If Bill Cosby and Louis C.K. and Al Franken wanted to come do a triple header at the Creek, I would invite them in a minute. I would get in my car right now and I would leave and I would meet them at the club and we would have a great night. Would I let any of my friends

have a drink with them alone afterwards? No. Well, Al Franken I would. Al Franken, yeah. But not Cosby, really. Okay, so you're saying- Louis probably even too, to be honest with you. You're saying that your threshold, your standard-

I think that my standard has to be current threat. Current threat. So in other words, the fact that we all knew about Louis, since he didn't seem to be a current threat- The story was five years old already by the time we started hearing about it, really. So you're saying it's appropriate that nobody did anything because he wasn't a current threat. What could you do? Well, here's the thing. I don't think that appropriate that nobody did anything because he wasn't a current threat. What could you do? Well, here's the thing.

I don't think that anything that he did was actionable. I don't think that what he did constituted kidnapping or like, I mean, he maybe would have gotten written a citation for a lewd and lascivious acts maybe or something. Okay. So your standard is, but before you seemed to be pretty vocal that Louis did something very, very bad. Sure.

Or maybe I misinterpreted you. No, I mean, like, there is no gray, I mean, like, I don't feel like we need to make excuses for it. There's no gray area. What he did was gross. There's, and I'm not advocating for that kind of behavior. But you don't see. But I also don't see him running around with his dick out, jizzing on everybody.

You don't see him as a sexual predator. Like, he's not, I don't think, I don't think he is. But I don't think most people who are sexual predators are openly running around with their dick out you don't see him as a sexual predator i don't think i don't think but i don't think most people who are sexual predators are openly running around with their dick out he'd be surprised and also i mean i also have never met anybody who self-identifies as a sexual predator so i don't know i don't know what like you said you'd have to know what was in his head to know like how really bad and monstrous the act really was. But there isn't a gray area.

You don't get to masturbate in front of your coworkers, even if you want to and even if you get permission. Well, you do if you think you've gotten permission. Yeah, I mean, I don't know. What were they supposed to do in that situation? They just laughed at a comic who said, can I pull my dick out? Which, honestly, I have never not laughed At a comic who said, can I pull my dick out? Which, honestly,

I have never not laughed when a guy is asked if they can pull their dick out. It's hilarious. Well, they probably thought he was kidding around. Well, probably, right? And then when it really happened,

what were they supposed to do? Like, this guy's... It's Louie. Well, it happened to me in a steam room once at the Equinox Fitness Club. And was it somebody who worked above you?

Like a... Was it Gnome? It wasn't Gnome. It was a random member of the Equinox. Did it make you feel wildly uncomfortable? He was part of the Equinox community. And are you still an Equinox community member, Dan? I still am a member of the community.

I just simply walked out of the steam room and I was pissed. Not because I felt humiliated, because I wanted to use the steam room. The fact is he kept me away from my one love in life, which is the steam room. Right. So it had repercussions. So there's a woman,

Louis Dick kept one woman away from her one love in life, which was comedy. Didn't somebody quit comedy as a result of that? They quit comedy, but it's hard to—did they really quit comedy because Louis did that? It's a tough business. And who knows what other sick shit happened to her, too. It doesn't have to just be that. We all have more than one story.

I want to talk about something that we didn't get to last week, and I wanted to get to it last week. I tried to, but Noam, in his way, just kind of didn't hear it. You know, because he gets fixated on it. I do that, too. We all do that. But when I do it, it's okay. But I want to talk about this issue of that Louis, what Louis mentioned in his apology was that they admired him.

He used the word admire. He was higher up in the business. And a lot of people are saying, well, because he was higher up in the business, even though it was 2002, he wasn't as high as he is now. That, and you alluded to this, that the consent, therefore, was not legitimate, even if they did consent, because he was powerful. It makes it a gray area, right? To me. And once it goes gray, you gotta go, no. To me, if you're not working with them in an office, you're just in the same industry,

you have a right to try to get laid. But I feel like our industry doesn't have as clear lines of... I don't think Louis was trying to get laid. Or trying to get a load out. That wasn't about him trying to have sex. And that wasn't about him trying to bust a nut either. Bust a nut he did. That was about doing it in front of someone

and making them watch. And if he really had a fetish about just somebody being a voyeur or whatever, he could pay somebody to do that. Look, I don't want to get into the psychology. You do kind of want to, don't you, Dan?

You do. You're asking what's in his head. Well, all right. That's right. I don't know what's in his head. You're right. You're absolutely right. Maybe he just wanted,

he's into them being frightened and upset. Maybe he, or maybe he... And he likes knowing he can put people in a weird position I don't know that well the reason he did that I mean He might just like to masturbate in front of women The other girl in one of the girls in the New York Times story He asked her and she said yes, and then she just felt weird about it after unless I He has no problem

Maybe you know it might have been look we all would as far as he could pay for it or not unless I... Yeah, that happened. So in other words, he has no problem masturbating. Quite literally, maybe. You know, it might have been... Look, we all would... As far as he could pay for it or not, it's always better when you're not paying for it. Is it? I don't know.

There's some people who enjoy the transaction. Well, and there's others of us who want the women to be into it. Well, he didn't get either. No. Maybe he wanted them

not to be into it. But the point is, does a man that's powerful in the comedy industry have a right to hit on a less powerful individual? Do you feel like that was how you hit on a girl? Is that how you hit on a girl? No, that's not the point. Mr. Natterman? No, indeed.

I'm calling your mother. No, indeed. Dan's trying to use his lawyer skills to rope you in. I'm trying to say as follows. It's true. I'm trying to say as follows. Okay. I'm trying to say as follows. I'm trying to say as follows. Okay, that he didn't get consent seems to me fairly evident, although I'm willing to hear his side of the story.

But there are those that say that even if he got consent, do you understand? That it still would be wrong. It still would be wrong. And I want to discuss that point. If the comedy world had a human resources department, what do you think the HR department would say about that? The HR department would say, we're not a company.

We're an industry. I understand that. But I'm saying, we're talking in a lot of theoreticals. So theoretically, if there was an HR department for comedy, for the industry of comedy, what would they say? I'll tell you what they would say. What would they say? I'll tell you what they would say. What would they say? I'll tell you what they would say. They'd say as follows.

They would say, did you consent? That's the only thing I care about. Because that, to me, is the issue. The issue is not, did he have a higher position in the industry? He lacks department. I don't know that that's a real take on what an HR department would say. If this was PricewaterhouseCoopers, his ass would have been fired. Because we're not a company.

I get it. We're not a company. But he did get fired by companies as a result of this. Because it wouldn't fly in their HR department. That's right. But we're talking about the incident in the hotel room, which involved women with whom he did not work. Maybe we don't lose our jobs if we hold ourselves to higher standards. Okay. So maybe, maybe. I. Maybe we don't lose our jobs if we hold ourselves to higher standards. Okay.

So maybe, maybe. I mean, I don't know. I'm just saying, do you feel that a comic has a right to hit on a far lower comic? But that's the same. I know that, but... And it is a gray area. It does make it...

I see many an established comic with many a lower-level comic. Usually the established comic is a man and the lower-level comic is a woman. Sometimes not. And I say that if the woman says... I don't care if she thinks you're God and has a shrine to you in her apartment. If you are entitled to... You're entitled to get consent if she consents. You're entitled to get consent

if she consents. You're entitled to give it a shot. To give it a shot. Yeah. And I think that you can ask two, maybe three times tops and then after that

you're harassing people. That's harassment. Does one time count as harassment? No, you have to ask more than once. So when he's described as a sexual harasser because he asked this other girl once

and she said no and he never talked to her again, does that count as harassment or is that mislabeling him as a sexual predator? Well, the interesting conversations that I feel like have been piling up as a result of this article breaking has been around the idea of should we be lumping in sexual harassment with... Rape? With rape or with sexual misconduct or with with actual actual attacks those are the interesting conversations dan what have you posed but oh shut up but i mean i just i find it really interesting because i wonder if it is doing a

disservice because like you know every once in a while i'll walk past and somebody will mention some nonsense and i'll hear someone say oh oh well you know louis louis is a rapist and it's like that's not what happened please stop repeating this conversation as though like it's it's a game of it's a telephone game after we haven't heard from a porn in a while i want to hear i'm just i'm listening but let rebecca finish what she was saying at least i thought i just let it i just i just think that it i i think that it's a shame that people are kind of trying to scandalize it a little harder than it needs to be like it's a it's it's being overstated to to a point but yeah but again i think that is part of the moment we're in where it's like i think because all these things are coming out at the same time and there is

such a spectrum of like how grotesque the offenses are. People are sort of like, okay, well this is your industries, you know, bad guy. So even though, you know,

maybe in another moment or another year, what he did would not have been construed as severely. Like I think right now that's not the lens he's under. another moment or another year what he did would not have been construed as severely like i think right now that's not the lens he's under i think the the bigger problem still is not what he did but how it left those women and the lack of consideration for them following it in the years that followed and what they were going through and how they were being well i was essentially calling them a liar when it was brought up i don't and what they were going through and how they were being... He was essentially calling them a liar when it was brought up.

I don't know what they were going through because I didn't know who they were until very recently. I don't know what they were going through. But if you have any empathy, you have to... Well, I have empathy, but I don't know what they were going through. I have to speak with them.

I don't think you have empathy, first of all, knowing you for many years. I want to point that out. I have a lot of through. I have to speak with them. I don't think you have empathy, first of all, knowing you for many years. I want to point that out. I have a lot of empathy. I have a lot of empathy. I've never seen it displayed. And you asked the question about 20 minutes ago, really, there was tension between us?

It's theatrical tension. He's being very theatrical right now. I mean, when we did a show together, we had theatrical tension. But this is not an indictment. I just don't think you display empathy knowing you and being your friend, which I do consider myself. I wouldn't say you're an empathetic person. Well, you couldn't be more wrong.

Does not displaying empathy, is that different from not having empathy? Well, if he secretly has empathy, I have no way of knowing it. But I've never seen. I put up with you, don't I? I don't think that's any um yeah i yeah that's a good i feel like there is an element of empathy that is performative but it is hard to be like well he is very empathetic he just keeps it all in like it doesn't read it's not a good emotion to read that way yeah well um i think this is what they call the pod calling the kettle black because it's it's it's low Bell that I haven't noticed I think particularly empathetic. I don't want to get bogged down into into that but

You know, I don't know what these women suffered I would have to talk to them All we know about is they said they were shocked at the time Whether or not they quit the business because of this is hard to say. A lot of people quit this business. It's a rotten business. I threatened to quit many times. I had nowhere to go. You have a law degree, though. I have a law degree. That law degree is worthless right now. He was seriously considering pharmaceutical sales for a long time. I certainly was. I certainly was.

So, out of curiosity, it seems like you've vocalized that you think that the reaction was a bit severe to Louis' career. Well, now, I vocalized that that's what the consensus last week was. What I've carefully been avoiding

giving my personal opinion. Well, what is your personal opinion? Well, what is your personal opinion? My personal opinion is that I don't think Louie's a monster. I think he's a sick man in certain ways. As far as the punishment, well, is it that severe a punishment? He'll be back, I think. I'm not really worried about him. I'm not worried worried about him. Yeah, I'm not worried about him. Is that weird?

I'm more worried about Andy Dick, and I also kind of wish that the story had broken with him first, to be really honest with you. What happened with Andy Dick? Andy Dick? Oh, I don't know.

What doesn't happen with Andy Dick? Just Andy Dick. Dumb question. I was at Bridgetown the year that he did Bridgetown, and I don't know anyone who doesn't. What is Bridgetown

for the uninitiated? Bridgetown is a comedy festival that's like a FUBU comedy festival in Portland, Oregon. Okay, because most of our listeners probably don't know what that is. Andy Wood started it seven or eight years ago.

I'm sorry. And furthermore, I don't know what that is. It's a great festival, but Andy Dick headlined it one year, and I mean, just the stories went everywhere from him jumping into bathroom stalls,

him grabbing boys and trying to dry hump them, him- Completely sober. Reaching up women's skirts. Oh, yeah. He's always, he's the image of sobriety.

He disappeared for a couple weeks after it. They found him in Seattle or something. It was insane. Oh, yeah. But he's the one that I've always felt like was the out of control example of really what we let just i mean just get away with fucking anything and still book him and still well but charlie sheen's not a comic do you know

what i mean andy dick's a comic you know i think and i just like i feel like he really should have been the one that was identified but i mean i guess louis probably like a bigger get in a way i think because andy dick's behavior was so but what andy does is worse way worse it was first of all anybody who who had an encounter it's like you were everybody believed them you know everybody believed them and everybody could be like oh yeah that's and he certainly didn't have any effect on anyone's career right and there's gonna be no bombshell story about andy dick acting in a lewd way because everybody's like, yeah, of course. Right. This is news. Yeah, but I don't

know. He's the current threat and actual problem. Blah, blah, blah. And his whole response is, what? I lick people. Like, are you seriously? That's your comeback? Oh, my God. It's like, yeah, it licks Princess Leia. It's okay. I think people see Andy Dick and they see a psychologically troubled man and they go, okay, well, look, this guy is a mess and there's some kind of

not that it validates the behavior in any way but it's sort of like people there's an expectation so it's okay well do you think that that explains then the backlash to louis because so many people had invested so many feelings in him like he's one of us he's a feminist he's one of the good guys and then it comes out and then everybody's super disappointed. And, you know, he was selling authenticity, which is why I think which is a real tough thing to sell when you're a human being. Yeah. But just that he's open. He's honest.

He's authentic. He's putting it all out there. That's what people loved about him. And then when they felt, you know, this happened, there was a sense of betrayal. But can't both be true? Can't Louis act in a perverted way 15 years ago? If he had addressed it, sure, but he had to wait until an article came out.

So you think it wouldn't have nearly been as bad if he did an Oprah interview? If he had done some shit three years, like Aparna's saying, it literally was the moment. You know what I mean? This whole production was brought to you by Donald Trump. It has nothing to do with anything other than this grab- by the pussy bullshit

that we're living through right now. I think he had plenty of opportunity to rectify it with the girls who were uncomfortable and say, listen- Well, he did. He messaged one of them, didn't he? And apologized.

But I think it was well, well, well after. Like, it was sort of- Well, it was well after. And he also apologized to her for something that he didn't actually do to her. Oh, yeah. The whole pushing thing. Which was so disturbing.

Right. Well, you know- He's like, oops, wrong apology draft. All right. Any other? I think we can move maybe to another topic. Unless somebody has. I just really don't want anything to happen to Better Things. I haven't seen Better Things.

It's so goddamn good. I just don't want anything to happen to that show. What do we need? Who does he need to jack off in front of to do that? Let's do it. Let's make it happen. All right. Well, I don't care about Better Things. I've never seen it, but for your sake...

Check it out. I think you'd love it. Do you think he'll be back? Yes. I don't think he ever left. Where did he go? He's fine. Unless there's more shit coming out. There isn't.

If there was, we would have heard it by now. Most likely. Most likely. He will be back. He will be forever, you know, that guy. But he'll be back with his new special, Live and Unconsensual. It's got to be a weird moment. Instead of live and uncensored.

Nobody thought that was funny. Last week I said, Louis special coming at you. And that got more laughs. That seems a little predatory. I like that one. And unconsensual. He's got to have a weird moment every time he goes to jerk off now though, right?

You have to take a second, right? I don't think he would. I don't think he'd have a weird moment. I bet he would. I would every time. If I got caught jilling off in front of a bunch of dudes and nobody liked it. Jilling off, everybody. Don't let that go.

You're letting it go as if she didn't say anything completely world changing. Jilling off. I've never heard that. Did you make that up? No, no. I did not. She's comedy forward and she jills off. Because jacking off.

I've heard women talk about whacking off, jacking off, jerking off, and I have to say, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. No, you don't do that. You don't jack off. It's a different action. Because jacking, it connotes a motion that men make. Dan is demonstrating for us right now. It's not the same motion.

I mean, it could be if there's an apparatus involved. It could be, but typically it's not. Okay? Jacking off is a male thing. And women masturbating... What did you call it? What do you call a lady? Call women masturbating.

Really? You don't give it a nice term? What do you give it? A bean flick? Well, jilling off is what I do, but some people say flicking the bean. I feel like there's like a... Bean flicking.

Aparna? Well, that's from Opie and Anthony. That's from back in the day. I don't think I have an expression for it. It's just lady talk. You know, Aparna, I did want to... No, that's a period. Just change the subject a wee bit.

And I took the opportunity to watch your Conan special. Conan set. And I did think it was quite interesting and quite good. Now, you're Indian, as we mentioned before, and you didn't breathe a word of it on your latest Conan set. I did not. No, well, I say that because a large part of many Indian comedians act is being Indian. I don't know if that's a large part of many Indian comedians act is being Indian.

I don't know if that's a large part of your act generally. I didn't see it on the Conan show. I don't know if that's true anymore, though. Who does that, then? Based on all the Indian comedians. Who does that? Who talks about being Indian in their act? Nimesh?

I haven't. I'm not sure. You're just naming guys you know are Indian. Well, no. That's the last time we saw Nimesh perform. I was asking because I know the comics That Dan knows There are like

Three or four Indian comics There's Namesh Hassan Minaj I think they mention Their heritage They don't So are you Saying it's a preference

For you It's not I'm just saying A lot of people You know Mo Amir Certainly talks about His heritage

People that have Heritages is That are Less common in the comedy world often talk about it. Do you mention being Jewish in your act ever? I certainly do not. I do when I'm playing for a Jewish gig. Makes sense. But I don't typically discuss it. Although my humor is steeped in Jewish themes and in self-deprecation, which is often considered to be a Jewish thing. But do you, in your act, if I were to go see your headlining show, would you discuss your Indian heritage?

It's just not in an Indian accent. You didn't know that? I do. Well, she has a Mid- Midlantic slash Indian accent. Midlantic. Is there a reason you don't? Not really. I think it's just, I figure most comedians just write about what is interesting to them,

and it's just, I don't lead with that. You don't lead with it? You don't include it at all? I don't really, I guess I haven't really come up with material on that, but it's not like, oh, I'm never going to talk about that. It's just not where my material has landed. I mean, you've done a lot with depression, right? Yeah. Because I feel like I'm a more in to out, inner world to outer world person. So outside in is less, like the way other people see

me is less likely what I'm going to talk about is what's going on in my own head. That's true. To talk about depression, which is gaining some traction now in the comedy world because you hear Gary Goleman talking about it quite a bit. And I believe our friend Jeff Alexander or Jeff Leach, Jeff Leach rather, discusses it. And then there's that guy, Chris Gethard, whose whole shtick is that he tried to kill himself or wanted to kill himself. It's funny to call it a shtick. That's not a shtick. Gethard whose whole shtick is that he tried to kill himself or wanted to kill himself. It's funny to call it a shtick. That's not a shtick. That's his whole shtick.

Chris is an amazing storyteller who does talk about mental illness a lot in his work. Well, I mean, I use shtick in a large sense of the term. Yeah, like the offensive sense of the term. No, shtick is anything that you're a hook. How about a hook? A hook. All right. You want to call it his life story. My shtick is anything that you're a hook. How about a hook? His hook. All right. You want to call it his life story.

My shtick is I'm suicidal. Yeah. But I am seeing more mental illness-based comedy. Andy Richter is on this whole campaign right now about how mental illness or depression is not a choice. And he's making a real splash with it, too. I mean, I guess, are there some people so ignorant they think it's a choice? I guess there might be. I think that there is a tremendous amount

of people who will be like, why don't you just stop being sad? Just be fun. Why don't you just stop being sad? I wish you were more fun to be around.

Depression may not be a choice. I've suffered for many years with depression, but I think dealing, or choosing not to deal with depression is a choice

that should be talked about. I don't believe anything's a choice. I believe we have no free will. That Louis, from the moment the universe was created... Dick was always going to come out. It was inevitable that Louis was going to masturbate in front of a comedy duo, which I must say is an odd move. Or Stucky and Murray really missed out, didn't they?

The idea of masturbating in front of a comedy duo, it's never been done before, I would imagine. That was the first time anybody masturbated in front of a comedy duo. See, he's a pioneer in every field. What's that? He's a pioneer in every field. Now, maybe somebody once masturbated in front of Lucille Ball and Vivian Vance.

That was Ethel. Those are the trailblazers that led the way for comedy duo masturbation but I think it's a very very rare I won't call it a skill but a rare thing

anyway I don't believe in free will can I ask you I don't believe that we are really have free will go ahead

how often do I masturbate no no no no no no please how many I'll take that please as a yes. See how that works, guys? And everyone's uncomfortable.

How many comedy festivals have you been to? I've been to the following comedy festivals. In no particular order. The Montreal Comedy Festival. Just for laughs. Just for laughs. The Moon Tower Comedy Festival. Austin, Texas.

And, once again, it all comes back to Louis. The Moon Tower Comedy Festival. Austin, Texas. And, and once again, it all comes back to Louis, the Aspen Comedy Festival and Comedy Arts Festival. How about New York? The New York, they don't want anything to do with me. That's currently going on now. It was happening last week. It just happened last week. Why is that?

They don't want me to darken their doorstep. I don't know why. But I've been disrespected in this business by better than them. The fact is I'm an underrated That's my cross to bear. I'm underrated. Unappreciated. I'm getting used to it after

20 plus years. Finally. I've been to those three. I've never been to it after 20 plus years. Finally. But yeah, I've been to those three. You're internationally- I've never been to South by Southwest. Ooh. And the JFL, the Just for Laughs, has comedy festivals in Australia and Toronto, and they haven't invited me there either.

I don't think that was part of the question. The question was, is what comedy festivals I've been to. But it's becoming the ones that you haven't been to. Now, your attitude is not... Just lacking in empathy. Well, here's the problem with Lobel.

He's a podcaster himself. And oftentimes when you invite a podcaster on the show, they forget that this is not their podcast. Well, Aparna's a podcaster too. Oh, I didn't know

that about Aparna. No, I'm not. I mean, I had a short-term one, but I'm not like... I don't have a regular one. You had a short-term one which was a podcast about Indian culture?

It was about depression, fittingly. Dan, I assume that you started off the podcast with that awkward introduction for me because you wanted to kind of ruffle my feathers, so to speak, and create the old dynamic. No, I thought that, I was just being truthful, I thought that there was some, not tension,

it just, there was... You have to stick to what you originally said. Yeah, there's tension. Like, if you listen to the show, you know that me and Noam have tension because I'm impossible to work with. But that's what makes the show good. And I have my vision of things. First of all, yes, I do think that Noam is fucking with my vision. Nobody would be able to smoothly work with you.

And I don't think that's a bad thing. I think that's why I enjoy doing a show with you, is because what you call tension was entertainment. That's the bottom line. As long as the people are entertained, the tension is okay. But that's the point of the show, isn't it? But the tension was real. That the tension had the side benefit of being interesting didn't make it any less real.

The fact is, it was exasperating at times i thought that that tension was perfect was real but created only for the show not in a way that translated outside it did not translate up because i can separate you understand but dan you wouldn't have kept doing the show had it not been i didn't keep doing the show eventually i said lobel that's not true i thought i ended the show But prior to that I stopped doing And then you moved to LA to seek your fame and fortune Wait a minute You never stopped doing the show

Eventually what happened was You said our friendship is too important And there's too much tension And yes I don't want to get into it That's what happened That never happened Listen to the tapes They're all out there

Alright Rebecca you wanted to know how many That's three So now why do you ask that. All right, Rebecca, you wanted to know how many... That's three. So now why do you ask that question? I was just curious because I wanted to know how much of the party scene that you had been involved with in like Just for Laughs, South by Southwest, Moon Tower, I mean, High Plains, Bridgetown. I don't know anything about Bridgetown.

LA Riot Fest. I mean, there's a ton of them. I've done three. So have you experienced, like when you go to these festivals, do you stay up? Do you go to the open bars? Do you stay up until 5, 6 in the morning?

I get the early bird special. And I'm tucked in by 9.30. But first I drink some warm milk. Warm milk. And you read Gideon's Bible until you fall asleep In your rocking chair You know Do I stay up

For goodness sakes Well I mean I'm saying Like it's a crazy party atmosphere Right And that's like our What about seven more minutes Until the podcast is over Yeah

We can do it as long as we please We typically do it now Our guests have Oh what they have to I don't want to hijack this For my dumb point Keep talking Dan Your point is

Is that you know That I do my crossword puzzles in my room. No, no, no. My point is that we have- And that I don't know how to shake it up. Most industries have one conference a year they go to, right? Like Dennis, Cement Mixers, whoever the fuck else. They have one conference they go to a year. Jewelers, I'm just giving you a theory.

Sure, great. Comedy people, we like one a month we have like 12 to 24 and forget it the international comics there's you know 40 50 you know what I mean that you have access potentially that you could go to and I just I think that

I think that a point needs to be made that we this industry puts us in a higher level of temptation way more often than an accountant world or the dental world or the jeweler's world would are you saying that as a result and we need to have more empathy for someone like louis well it's a numbers game we're gonna have more you know it's gonna be more public it's gonna be more, you know, jackers in public than, you know, PC water. Well, Aparna, you've been to your share of comedy festivals. Whether it be Montreal, whether it be,

what else have you done? Moontower. Moontower. And do you, have you been inappropriately encountered? But I'm in your category. I drink milk and I go to bed. Well, I was only kidding about me. Oh, well, then I'm your joke version of yourself.

So you're saying you're the real version? Yeah. You're the real version. So you do what I was accused of doing, which is being a party pooper. To be clear, nobody accused you. You're going to have to listen to the case. You said I was a party pooper. I asked you if you stayed out late and partied.

That's all. You wouldn't have asked me that. I wasn't implying that you don't. If you had any respect for me, you would have assumed it to be true that I stayed up late and partied. In all truthfulness, my dear, you could be sober. I wouldn't, no, I don't know.

And not that you have to drink. By sober you mean that I'm on the wagon, that I used to have a problem. Why is that a respect thing in your head? Oh, God. I'm just, I'm just. Did I just out you? I don't know.

I didn't mean to. No, I'm not sober. I mean, I am. I've just never seen you drink, so I didn't know if you hung out. I, unlike certain people in this business, can have a cocktail, can put it the fuck down. That's good. That's good. A lot of people, they drink and drink and drink.

I can have two cocktails. And you know what I can do after that? I can stop drinking. Unlike some of the people in this business that can't stop and have to be on the wagon. No, I can control it. That's a great skill set to have. Well, I'm thankful for it. You should be.

Because a lot of people can't do that. But me, I can put the plug in the jug. Can we call this episode the plug in the jug, please? The plug in the jug. I do want to bring up one more thing. Speaking of excess and speaking of lack of self-control, I did something that is very uncharacteristic for me this weekend. I don't know what came over me.

I bought a Bitcoin. I spent $7,500 for it. It's now up to $8,300. It could be zero by tomorrow. Could be. But I don't know what the hell came over me. It wasn't me that bought that Bitcoin. It was somebody else and stuck me with the bill.

But I got carried... I'm being figurative. I got carried away with Bitcoin fever. Bitcoin. It happens. I got carried away... What was the motivation? James Altucher, who has been on this show.

Yes. You know, he was telling me that he made all this money in Bitcoin and... That's a bold move he didn't tell me to buy bitcoin but um but he was telling me that he made money in bitcoin and that you know whatever and he got me interested in it i mean he also invested in a comedy club yes are you going to do that too look i'll touch her every time he shows up he's invested in a comedy club what are you talking about but i'll touch it invest he's part owner of stand-up new york just to let people know.

But he didn't do that for the money. He did that because he wants to perform comedy. Is anybody else in Bitcoin? The only other comic I know that's in Bitcoin is James Adomian. He's doing well for himself. Weird that somebody would just presume that. I don't know. That's such a funny

thing to say. I didn't say very, but he's a well-known name. I'm not saying that he's got a mountain of Bitcoins that he's swimming through like Scrooge McDuck. If you're talking to somebody who makes minimum wage, chances are they aren't investing in Bitcoin. You have to be above a certain bracket.

No, because Bitcoin, the people that bought early on, it was like $100 for a Bitcoin. Or $0.05 at the beginning. And a lot of people that I see online that got into Bitcoin were crazy people. It's like a cult almost. It's people that hate the government, that don't trust, that think that this federal government's going to, I don't know, just go communist. People believe in the black web.

You also spend a lot of time on alt-right websites. It's got nothing to do with my Bitcoin. Boy, is that where you're at. They wouldn't have let him have it if they didn't know. I'd like to get to the core of why you brought up the fact that you bought a Bitcoin. I think he's bragging about having money to buy Bitcoin. He spent $7,000 on a Bitcoin. I thought that it was interesting because right now it's-

On an idea. Right now, everybody is talking about Bitcoin, which probably means it's too late. And I cut in too late because as Warren Buff buffett once said once your doorman is telling you or the guy pumping your gas to to buy something that's when you you got to pull out would you feel better if collectively we reassured you that this was a good investment or if we all because confirmed what you're fearing there's no fear there is just uncertainty there's some fear but mostly it's just like i'm this is just something i would not have done in my normal state. In my normal go-to-bed-early-drink-warm-milk self.

But I was up until it was 11 at night. I had had a cup of caffeinated coffee. And I said, well, this is a party. Have you set yourself like a benchmark? Like once it gets to a certain amount of money, I'm going to sell it? Or do you think that you're only going to ever have? Because there's a finite number of Bitcoins, right? They're not making new ones.

The amount of Bitcoins exist and they're always going to go up in value. They might always go up in value. They might go down to zero. No one can really say. I submit that you brought this up. I'm sorry. Go ahead. Submit.

Submit. You have something to submit. Submit. I submit that you brought this up I'm sorry Go ahead submit Submit You have something to submit Submit I submit that you brought this up For three reasons Go ahead One To show off that you had enough

To buy a bitcoin That could have been my life savings Two Because you were hoping That we'd all make you feel bad About the bitcoin Yeah Which would in turn

Make you feel good Right Because if we all confirmed it You'd feel right Yeah And Okay 0 for 2 so far Okay 0 for 2 What's the third one Actually I think there you'd feel right. 0 for 2 so far.

Okay. 0 for 2. What's the third one? Actually, I think there's only two. 0 for 2. I brought it up because I thought that Bitcoin is something people are talking about right now. It's interesting. I thought some of you might have opinions about it.

What got you so excited about it? Just the hubbub in general? Or was it a specific thing you read? What I got excited about? Well, a lot of times when people are not succeeding in their chosen field, they get desperate to make money in other ways. And the porn has to go. Sorry, I got to go, but you guys keep going. That was the third one.

Sympathy. We won't go on much longer without you, but we do appreciate you stopping by. Thank you for having me. No, no. Bye, everyone. Bye, everyone. You know. Bye, everyone. You should probably audition for the club,

but... I agree. You know, maybe you can talk to Noam, Stephen. Stop making her uncomfortable. All right, Aparna. That's Aparna.

I don't know exactly... Nancherla. Nancherla. Oh, I could be saying it wrong. I believe that's from the north of India. That's a northern Indian name. It's not.

Well, then it's probably from the south or the central part of the nation. That's just guessing north of India. That's a northern Indian name. It's not. Well, then it's probably from the south or the central part of the name. That's just guessing all the parts. You gave away the magic trick. I really did. Sorry about that.

All right. This Bitcoin conversation is run its course unless you have another question about it. Well, I was just curious how do I get that excited? What got you so hard for it?

Weird. It's not like you in any capacity. Yeah, it's just, you know, people? Weird. It's not like you in any capacity. Yeah, just, you know, people were talking about these numbers that they were talking about. Like it could go up to $100,000 in a couple of years. You know, it could go up. I mean, it's true. It absolutely could.

And the truth is that it's a sound investment. Well, it's an investment anyway. If I had the money, I would have a Bitcoin. And also, it's exciting. It is something that is, I think, going to be historical, whether it's historical because it becomes an expat thing or because it becomes the biggest scam ever perpetrated.

A scam at B, it's the most brilliant scam of all time. It would be an honor to be scammed by it. I like it. I just think it is historical and I wanted to participate. I feel like it's a real sign of growth on your part, too, that you had this sort of impulsive outside of yourself experience. I think that's a good thing. Yeah, I agree with that. You feel like it's a real sign of growth on your part, too, that you had this sort of impulsive outside-of-yourself experience. I think that's a good thing.

Yeah, I agree with that. You should be excited about it. Well, uh... Do they give you a certificate or, like, a shiny little coin that can represent it or something? No, they don't give you a shiny coin. I think it's great to see you make a bold move, Dan. I think that's...

You're stopping to make a bold move with you after the show. Oh, boy. Dan, I did... Well, i guess we're almost out of time but dan wanted to talk about briefly i might add okay a comic that he's working comic strip i believe comic book comic book i have a comic book coming out and uh it'll be out for the holidays and it's called fair enough and this is this is my latest uh thing dan that i'm working on i'm going to be putting out comic books a few times a year and these are uh but you know what i don't i don't i don't feel like the stage is set for this you seem to be showing no interest

huh well yeah yeah so so you're talking about your next game your eyes glazed over yes right um well um i'm sure it's wonderful. I think you're getting a kick out of not caring. So again, I do think that this video series you're working on, what was it? I do think it could be good, and I urge everybody to download it. The comic book called Free and easy what was it no was I take it easy fair enough fair enough and it's about it's a chronicle of what stories

from my life stories from your life and are you familiar with the late great Harvey Pekar not into me as American but I know that he's a famous guy. So Harvey P. Carr, after seeing that movie, kind of kicked off my career. Portrayed by Paul Giamatti. Yes, I became friendly with Paul, also with Paul Giamatti. Not friendly, I had him on the show, but I became friendly with Harvey P. Carr after seeing that movie. And he kind of inspired me and encouraged me to go forward you remember i did a comedy magazine at one point dan

the comical the comical that was uh that was from harvey picar uh pushing me and uh and he was a very big force in my life and so the first one is about uh this friendship i had with harvey picar but they're all going to be kind of in the vein of what he did, which was just writing about slice-of-life shit, and that's what I'm doing here. Okay, so can anybody see this anywhere right now? Or it's something, it's to be... It will be out and available at fairenoughcomic.com for the holidays.

But meantime, if you can't wait to hear Lobel's stories and anecdotes, I assume that they can follow you on Twitter or Facebook. Yes. To keep abreast of all that's going on in the life of Danny Lobel. Yes, at Daniel Lobel on Twitter. And I have a podcast called Modern Day Philosophers. And you and I, we did that podcast that we've referred to a bunch of times called Too Much Information with Dan and Dan.

I'm going to put those back out again. I think- Some of them were great. Some of them were great. It sounded like there was a lot of tension between them. Some of them were excellent. Some of them were excellent. We did a lot of great work together, which is why I was surprised by the intro.

Noam and I do some great work together. It doesn't mean there's not tension. The two are not mutually exclusive, as you pointed out, and rightly so. And tension doesn't have to be a bad thing. And Dan and I are in touch on a regular basis certainly online if not more through the social media for years so i consider you a good friend and i was surprised by the intro anyway i think you hurt his feelings well um he also seems a little sad he doesn't have he doesn't have empathy i didn't mean to hurt your feelings i was just saying that you know sometimes when friends work

together that's why my grandfather always said, never take a partner. He was in the dry goods business with a partner. It didn't work out. Very smart. I had two. It didn't work out. There you go. And they say never loan money to a friend or go into business with a friend,

and they say that for a reason. Rebecca Trent, owner of the Creek and the, not just the Creek, and the Cave. Yeah, there's two of them. This is a comedy club, a incubator of young talent in Queens, New York. Yeah. And tomorrow she'll be having, by the way,

as we record this, not as you listen to it, but as we record this, it's the eve of Thanksgiving. And so Rebecca is so artist forward that she's doing a comedy Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow at the Creek and the cave.

It'll be our 12th one. We do it every year. And last year, year before last we cooked for 80 was the most last year we had, I think 65, 70. And this year we're expecting about the same amount. Rebecca truly cares about comedians.

It will be her undoing. It will. Because you know, in this business, you can't care too much about people. Why, where does it, where does it come from?

Why do you have such a deep love for comedians? Oh, I would like to say it's because I met the right ones first. I mean, that's the right answer. Which of those right ones are you talking about? Sean Patton and the whole crew from New Orleans. Had you met me first? Had you met Dan? I would have adored you.

Absolutely. Okay, good. We would have gotten along immediately. Well, I think we do get along. Do you have any social media presence that you'd like to discuss? Sure. I'm at Rebel Cave personally

and Creek and Cave, or Creek and Cave LIC, professionally. You can find me on my phone. All right. Producer Stephen Cal, professionally. You can find me on my phone. And our producer, Stephen Calabria. You can follow me on Twitter and Instagram at Chinabria, China, Bria, B-R-I-A. Also, if you have questions or comments

about the show, you should write in. Yes, we do enjoy compliments. Really? Compliments, obviously, are more fun to read. If I send in a question, are you contractually obligated to answer it? We appreciate any feedback.

Anonymous person writing in, I was just a guest on your show. I think it absolutely sucked. What's the email that we use? I don't know. I don't even know. Please send us your questions to some fucked upup email I don't even know about. All right, we'll check in a minute.

We run a very easygoing ship here, so I don't know. Email Noam. Probably he doesn't want that. Just go to Noam's house. Just give us his address. Dan, do you- No, yeah, go ahead, Dan. Do you give out your personal email?

Not personal email, no. Do you have a business email? You can, if you have questions or comments, you add me on Facebook or you can direct message me on Twitter. You can tweet at me. Or email just the comedy seller. Email, go on to the website.

What's that email, Steve? Well, the manager's email. I don't know if there's actually one kind of- Just call Liz. It's 917-423. Yeah. I think that this was a fake offer to get in touch with the show. I submit.

You can tweet at us, too. I mean, tweet at the Comedy Cellar, at NYC Comedy Cellar. At NYC Comedy Cellar. Does the podcast have its own Twitter handle and IG account and all that stuff? What are you taking all these pictures for, Steve? This is for me. Nobel had a quick question to send us on. Well, I just wondered how many people write in to you

and how often you're replying to an email. We've been getting some compliments lately. I don't know how they've been writing or what email they've been writing to. I want to know how many emails Dan has personally written to fans. Written to fans? On the average, even. Zero, because I usually do tweeting and retweeting

and tweet adding, and that's how I do business. Nobody snail mails anymore. We thank you, Daniel Lobel. Happy Thanksgiving to you and a happy holiday season. Thank you, Daniel. To you also, Rebecca Trent. If you're a comic with nothing to eat and no savings. It's free.

It's too late anyway. This isn't going to air. Oh, you're right. It might. Another fake offer from Dan. If you're a comic and next year you feel like going, because I'm sure you do it every year. We do ask for donations to cover the groceries. And we usually put a couple boxes of wine and a bunch of all the samples and stuff on the bar.

Well, this will be too late for this year, but 2018 Thanksgiving. And there's always Christmas. Christmas. Do you do that too? And just every other night of the week. It doesn't have to be a holiday. I mean, I don't feed people. We'll be back next time.

Noam should be back from his Disney cruise. And imagine the stories that he'll have after a week on a Disney cruise. We will see you then. Thank you so much.