The Comedy Cellar: Live from the Table - Comedy Cures!

Episode Date: April 10, 2021

Glenn Miller is a one time manager the Dworman Conglomerate including: Cafe Wha, The Olive Tree Cafe and The Comedy & VU and FBP.  Saranne Rothberg started The ComedyCures Foundation from her chemo chair in 1999.   

This is Live from the Table, the official podcast of New York's world-famous comedy seller comedy club, coming at you on Sirius XM 99, Raw Dog, and the Laugh Button Podcast Network. Dan Natterman here, as I am every week, freshly back from Aruba with a killer tan. If you can't see me, you're really missing out. Noam Dorman, of course, is here. He is not tan, not by a long shot, but in any case, he still looks good. He is the owner of the World Famous Comedy Club, the newly reopened World Famous Comedy Cellar Comedy Club. And of course, Periel Ashenbrand, the producer, is here with us, coming to us from her home

in Westchester County. We have Glenn Miller with us, an old friend of Dom's, a one-time manager of the Dwarven conglomerate, if you will, including the Cafe Wild, the Olive Tree Cafe, and the Comedy and Village Underground, and Fat Black Pussycat. He was vice president of publicity and artist development at Double Exposure, a New York based PR firm. Welcome Glenn Miller to Live from the Table. Thank you, Thank you. Thank you. Hi, Glenn. Hi, Noam. All right. I'm really annoyed, Glenn,

that your camera's not working. And I'm going to give you a break because you're blind. Thank you. But so Glenn, I met Glenn when, in the early 90s, I guess, Glenn, when my band was trying to get signed and Glenn was our manager

and he took us to Italy. We went to Italy in 89, though. So that was in the late 80s. It was 89. My God. Anyway, that's, oh my God, Glenn. So I can't believe that. So we all went to Italy and then Glenn later on became the manager of the

cafe and we managed the Olive Tree as well, right? Yes. And Comedy Cellar. And the Comedy Cellar. Then Glenn, I mean, are there any secrets here? Can I tell the whole biography? Yes. So, uh, I mean the whole, the whole, really the whole biography. Yes.

Okay. Well, I mean, I can, if I can cut it out, if you don't want to say, so this is, this isn't it, this isn't an amazing story. So, so Glenn started out, it was, uh, from Guyana and he was, he got the highest score in the history of that nation on some sort of standardized test there. Correct, Glenn? Correct. Yeah. So Glenn is a prodigious intellect and I don't know, he came to America, he was in the closet, sexual, his sexuality was in the closet.

And this is interesting to me because just to show how things have changed. I mean, the people who knew Glenn's sexuality at the time, they were quite mean to him. You remember that Glenn? Yes, I do. And that was always something that, that really bugged me but anyway we can talk about later so then so then glenn went on he um he became the manager of the place then glenn unfortunately got involved with uh drugs he was uh addicted to drugs and um also tragically, he became HIV positive. He got meningitis and lost his sight. But amazingly, he has kept working.

He can remember every phone number, basically, of every person he's ever met. He still writes PR releases. Are you still working with Double Exposure with Angelo? Yeah, consulting. Consulting. And he manages to keep himself busy. He manages to keep himself, as far as I can tell, with a positive mental outlook. We remained dear friends. He wrote me a beautiful poem. I wish I had it here. He wrote me a beautiful poem as a wedding present. This is a blind man. He wrote me a long poem.

I don't know how he did that. It's a prized possession. And so having said all that, so Glenn has a really interesting take on a lot of things, including the comedy seller history and modern politics. But let's start at the end, Glenn, because this is interesting to people. So can you tell us about what and how difficult it was

for a person in your situation, blind, oh, he's about 60 years old, he's black, to try to get the vaccine? Tell us about what you were up against trying to get vaccinated. Oh my God, I gave up sometime along the way. I have always bemused the fact that the bureaucracy and they just stumble over each other. I have five social workers working on my behalf. I'm a member of SAGE. I'm a member of Sydney's CIDNY Center

for the Disabled of New York. I have a hospital. I'm a member of the Actors Fund. I have five social workers working for me. And not one of them... And I have all of these underlying circumstances. And not one of them was able to get me an appointment for a vaccine.

And how long did they try? I don't know if they did, but I know for forever I've been telling them because I go to dialysis three times a week. I forgot the dialysis. Go ahead. Yeah, from a guy coming from a very reclusive situation and never going out. I have spent six months at a time never leaving my apartment to having to go out into the world. And when the COVID started, of course,

it was social distancing. I don't know how you do that when you're blind because everything for me is touch. It's real. So I don't know how I stay six feet away from the person that's leading me to my chair. So it really was a scary situation for me. So, yes, I wanted to be on the top of that list and I was ignored.

Yeah. And, you know, really, this should be a journalistic story. But I mean, I don't know. I don't know how to put it into words. It's just, we hear all this blah, blah, blah on the news and people claim to be concerned and the governor and the mayor, whatever it is. And then you just, you see firsthand that blind people with high-risk diseases like HIV are simply simply nobody cares, right? Like there's no provision made for them. And it can't be, like, what would be so hard? And we talked about, you know, that there was this office in charge.

What was it? In charge of telling people how to masturbate, right, during COVID. Remember we saw that? But they don't have anybody worrying about the blind. And I just... It wasn't immunocompromised at the very top of the list of underlying conditions that gave people a priority for the vaccine. He was eligible.

He just couldn't get an appointment. Right? Is that correct, Glenn? That's correct. And, you know, the whole thing is online. They gave you a number and tell you to keep calling the number. And, of course, you can't get through. That's correct And you know the whole thing is online They gave you a number And tell you to keep calling the number And of course you can't get through That's it

That's the extent of their You know That's the extent of their effort Yeah so finally Finally we got him vaccinated And that was a whole ordeal Finally my knight in shining armor swooped in as the swashbuckling hero

and no one got me in a fight. I know. But even... Yeah, sorry. Go ahead, you go, Dan. I should have known you were... I was trying to ascertain the origin of that accent and I had guessed the Caribbean.

I should have known it... Well, I guess Guyana is the Caribbean, but I should have known it was Guyana because I had a friend freshman year of college named Akani Odle from Guyana. And he talked very much like you. Okay. Very pleasant memories that one of, you know, I didn't have a lot of friends back then, but he was one of them. And so your accent reminds me of him anyway.

So Perrielle, you know, you got some people on the newspapers, right? They'd like a story like this, wouldn't they? Like the Godfather. Somebody ought to write about the plight of the... I agree. I mean, I think it's criminal. I can't even imagine how difficult it must have been for you. I mean, think about what we had to do to even get on Zoom, Glenn.

How many times have you and I chatted? I don't know if Zoom can be compared to getting a vaccination, but... Which vaccination did you end up getting, Glenn? The best one, Moderna. Is that the best one?

I got the Johnson & Johnson one and done. You're barely covered. I'm 80% covered, but apparently it's 100% that you don't die, but only 80% that you don't get some nasty symptoms.

No, even if you get sick, you probably won't get very sick is the idea. But you might still get some nasty symptoms, I'm saying. No, I don't think so. Well, anyway, so let's zoom back. From what I understand, you won't likely go to the hospital and you won't die,

but you still could be in a bad way for a period of time, you know, potentially. No, I don't think so. But you should check with your doctor. In any case. I don't think that that's the case. I think that the symptoms are likely to be very mild. It's 80% chance that you might still contract COVID. But even if you contract it, it'll probably be incredibly mild.

80% chance of still contracting it. Excuse me, you're 80% protected, excuse me. But back to what you said, yes, I think that it is absolutely a profound ethical and moral failure that somebody like Glenn, it's virtually impossible to navigate the system, even for someone, you know, even for us. I think it's really criminal that... The only thing I would say to counter that is that this all was very hastily thrown together. It was a situation, it was the fog of war, you know.

I mean, things aren't going to necessarily go smoothly when you're confronted with something that we've never been confronted before and everything has to be set up very, very quickly. Well, let's ask Glenn. Glenn, how does this, is this an odd, is this an odd occurrence in a generally good system that provides you with everything you need

or is this par for the course? That's a toughie. I think it's par for the course, though. I think it's par for the course. I think there's a whole demographic of people that suffer in silence at the lower end of this all. And I think it creates a kind of ambivalence that we just don't care because whoever's in power, it really doesn't affect us in an intimate and tangible way. So it creates a kind of feeling of like,

I just don't give a F, you know, because I'm not seen, I'm not heard. And, you know, there a F, you know, because I'm not seen, I'm not heard. And, you know, there's sometimes, you know, I write my letters and I say, listen, I'm blind, but I'm not invisible. I'm here. Take notice. Take notice of what I'm saying. Listen to my situation. But, you know, I feel it's far for the course. However, as it relates to the whole COVID situation, because I am blind, I did not see it coming incrementally.

Like people started seeing people wearing masks and this and that. None of that. There's no visual here. So for somebody that was accustomed to staying in their homes all the time and not going out, and all of a sudden I'm just hearing these bodies piling up on the news. And I live one block from Mount Sinai West. So to find out about all these refrigerators and trucks and these dead bodies and body bags just piling up all around me. And right here in Midtown Manhattan, it became a haven for the homeless because they had turned a couple of hotels here into the homeless.

And people that would come visit me would freak out at what Midtown became because it became very dangerous to just walk down the streets. So that whole COVID experience for a blind person in Midtown was, was quite harrowing. Yeah. And this, and this is the kind of thing which informs my skepticism of so much public, you know, public displays of empathy and blah, blah, blah. It's like, you know, people, people are all over Twitter, you know,

showing how much they care about the cause of the day, whether it's race or transgender people people are all over twitter you know showing how much they care about the cause of the day whether it's race or transgender or whatever all worthy causes but um there's a baseline thing that's always with us people who are disabled people who are old people who are sick these are the people who actually can't help themselves and um it says something about our sincerity i believe uh. It's not like this is a surprise to us. Everybody knows these people are out there. And Glenn's right. We don't really care because you don't get credit for that. It's not a cause celebre. Maybe in six months, someone's going to discover the blind and all of a sudden people are going to be out there showing how much

they care about the blind. But right now, they don't care. And I agree with Dan, there's a fog of war. On the other hand, you'd think that there's somebody in charge of the agency that's in charge of this, who could pick up the phone and call the governor and say, listen, we need 15 more people to answer the phones here because the blind people can't get back. You know, this is actually the kind of thing you'd think they would be able to do. It's not millions of people. It's probably tens of thousands of people. There are people supposedly in charge of it. It just seems doable.

What's the missing piece in that puzzle is someone who really cares. You know, Governor... what's the missing piece in that puzzle is someone who really cares like you know governor and bear in mind and bear in mind there is an organization called the commission for the blind yeah why can't you deal with them independently why weren't they contacted and say listen all of they have a record of all of all of the people that have registered to them. This is set up a date and a time and you take care of all your people. End of story. I agree. I mean, I really think that especially given the fact that there was so much fanfare for

the most vulnerable and those people should be getting vaccinated first. But I mean, it's easy to say that, like, if you can't get through or make an appointment, what fucking good is it? Like, somebody should have gone to every person's house and vaccinated them in the city, like, full stop. Yeah, actually, you're actually right, Perrielle, that you think they would have a list of people saying, listen, these are the, they have a list of all the blind people in the city and say, listen, we need to make, let's contact all these people, make sure they can get vaccinated. Maybe we don't even have to wait

for them to contact us, right? All right, so that's just the way government is. And people who think government should do more and more and more and more really ought to stop and think about whether or not government's able to do what's already on its plate before it takes home with us.

So let's rewind, Glenn. How did you, tell us some good stories that come to mind about the early days of the Comedy Cellar. You must have some stories that I can't even, haven't thought of in 30 years. The Comedy Cellar. Yeah, who were the people just starting out?

I know, I know, I'm trying to think, like, when I tell my friends that I've entered, because remember, during the week, all of those top comedians used to also come down to the comedy cellar and try new material. So when I tell my friends that I used to sit at the barn, the olive tree with people like Ray Romano, Mario Cantone, John Manfredi, Dave Attell, Greer Barnes. William Stevenson, Dave Chappelle. I mean, Carolyn Rea, Susie Esmond. Wasn't there a Judy Gold?

Yeah, there still is. I mean, all of those people. All of those people I know and I hung out with. Now, Noah makes a lot of noise about how he was able to spot certain people who were undeniably talented and that he guesses right. Did you predict anybody's success at that time? No, and I'm going to tell you, I feel very chagrined about it. Did you predict anybody's success at that time that ended up... No, and I'm going to tell you, I feel very chagrined about it.

Because it was always on the weekend, getting those lineups together, right? For Saturday nights, we had three shows. And Fridays, we had three shows. And getting the lineup just right. And Esty and Manny would just go back and forward and blah, blah, blah. And there was this young comic that just came from nowhere, this Dave Chappelle. And I don't know if it's because I'm Black and there was some hate in me. I don't know what it was. But I did not particularly think that he was really funny. Nor did some of the others. And I could remember

Manny saying, put him on. He is funny. He's going to be a superstar. Put him on. I remember that clear as day. And right before my eyes, Dave Chappelle became the big superstar. My black comic was Mario Joyner. He did all right for himself. What happened? He did all right for himself. No Dave Chappelle, but he's... Right, a level of a Dave Chappelle. Well, you know, you may not have been...

I mean, I don't remember a Chappelle from those early, early... People always, once you become successful, very often they say, well, it was obvious from the start. I don't necessarily know that was obvious from the start. There were a few years where Chappelle, you know, he always got stuff. He had some deals, but I don't think it was obvious to everybody. The reason that his Comedy Central show didn't initially give him a lot of money is because nobody would, is because he wasn't a big commodity and he wasn't a big commodity because it wasn't obvious to everybody.

Dan, that's the point. It was obvious to everybody. It wouldn't take talent to recognize it. He said, my father said, put him on. He's going to be a superstar. The other schlubs like you were like, eh, you know, he's just another. I wasn't around at that time, or at least I wasn't around enough to have your father here. I mean, I might've been there, but I didn't, nobody cared what I had to say.

But, you know, but your father might've guessed some other people incorrectly. I don't know. Nope. Not with all the... No, I gotta tell you, I gotta tell you, the Dwarven thing is that they have a knack for picking talent.

I gotta tell you that. And itven thing is that they have a knack for picking talent. I got to tell you that. And it's without bias. It's without bias. It even transferred to the cafe boi, you know, when Noam came back from his University of Pennsylvania, that sort of stuff. When everybody else's dad is giving them probably a car for graduation, he got a nightclub. And what it was, it was the fiends on. And it was, it's Middle Eastern music. And what Noam did with that place was just pure visionary,

pure genius, pure genius. The further, there was a combination of, we had a reverend that had the fingernails painted red and would be on stage with long, long hair and shorts. And it was just wild and crazy. And it was an eclectic band. I still feel that the Café Bois should have been one of the top recording bands.

But hey, it didn't happen. Yeah, it didn't happen. That was hard to hold. It was hard to hold those guys together. It was bands. But hey, it didn't happen. Yeah, it didn't happen. It was hard to hold those guys together. It was hard. So Glenn, now what's your take on the politics of the day? Again, you're a black guy, and I should say your milieu,

is how you put it, has always been the common folk. You're not like a uh uh hanging out with with doctors and lawyers although one of our friends did become a judge but she started out as a common folk too um with guys who were you know kind of like even we knew some guys were almost kind of hustlers right correct and these were our friends in a certain way but also you were an immigrant and um so you have just a unique experience. So where are you politically on race, which has become the most important issue in the country, maybe in the world?

With no particular focus, what are your impressions of all that? I'm totally struggling with it. I'm totally struggling with it. I'm totally struggling with it. In particular, the immigration situation, because as you said, I'm an immigrant. I don't know my jury is so out of this. I understand that send me your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. I understand all of that. But I also understand that if you have a bank account and you keep making a withdrawal from it, there's going to come a time when there's going to be no money in it. You're going to be in the red. And I remember in the 80s, when I wanted

to come to the United States of America, I had to go into an embassy and prove to them that my coming to this country would be an asset to this country in some way. What I wanted to study in school, who was going to take care of me. It was this long process. And to see that, and I understand refugee, I understand people, you know, trying to escape situations in their homelands and that sort of stuff. But it's really, really, really tough for me as an immigrant who had to go through the ringer to get a visa to come to this country to understand what's going on right now. I also come from a country that is completely polarized. They're Blacks and they're Indians. The Indians came to my country as indentured labor, right?

And that's exactly how they vote along those lines. So all the Black people would vote for one party. All the Indians would vote for the other party. And it's the saddest thing. And the only turnaround the country has had is when they were able to forge some coalition between the two. And I don't understand.

I am terribly concerned with this whole partisan, like if you're Republican, you're Republican and you have to think this way and you have to vote this way. And if you're Democrat, you're Democrat

and you have to think and you have to vote this way. I think to vote this way. And if you're Democrat, you're Democrat and you have to think and you have to vote this way. I think there is need for a really big shakeup. And I don't know how and when and where it should come from, but I know it's due. Yeah, I think we all agree with you, Glenn. What's your take on, so, boy, I wish I could speak freely, but, you know, Glenn and I, Glenn will know. Ugh, we knew a lot of people, but you know, Glenn and I, Glenn will know.

We knew a lot of people, Glenn. We know a lot of people. Some of the, some of the people we knew died. Some people, some people were gay and they died of AIDS, but some people we knew were just young black guys who, who died people, people I gave opportunities to. We had one guy who was, he was a manager for me, you know, and then he, you know, he, he got into drugs or whatever it was and ended up dying young. A lot of people that we know, it's amazing how many people we know that have died. But so putting that all together, what's your take on systemic racism,

personal responsibility? How does that all mix together in your, your mind of seeing the real world? So let me go back to the 80s. To get to America, to get into a university in America, you had to do the SATs. So it amazes me when they talk about the cultural bias

and they don't do essays anymore. Here in a third world country, on a dirt road studying by candlelight, we had to ship the SAT. Now listen to this. One American dollar is 200 Guyanese dollars. So for your parent to pay $50 for you to sit the SATs, they have to save up $10,000. And nobody's parents saving up $10,000 for them to bring home less than a thousand score. And nobody's parents sitting up saving up $10,000 for a Medgar Evers. Who knows about a Medgar Evers. In the 80s, the only universities I knew of were Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Oxford, Cambridge, London School of Economics, University of London, period. End of story. It was amazing. So you studied by candlelight. You said the SATs, this culturally biased exam. You bring home your $1,400, $1,500.

The government now sends you on a scholarship to America or to London and that sort of stuff. And when I came to this country to realize there's something like the United Negro College Fund and that every black boy in this country could go to university for free, I fucking freaked. Is that true?

Just in case anybody thinks, Glenn and I have never spoken about this. Just, you know, it's not like I knew what, I wasn't feeding. He could have come out, he could have said something exactly the opposite. It would have been no less surprising to me. But so what you're saying, Glenn, if I'm reading you right, is that you don't buy that it's culturally biased.

You're saying that people are just not taking it seriously enough, correct? Well, I'm saying that I don't know if it's culturally biased or not. But what I'm saying is that you cannot ascribe to a standard of excellence by always moving the bar down. You're ascribing to mediocrity that way. If you're going to be on par, if this is what it's going to be, then this is what it's going to be. You know, I'm not saying that everybody should not have the opportunity. I'm just saying that I know that if you didn't make $1,400 or $1,500 in SAT, you weren't getting the government scholarship,

and you were going to stay in Guyana, and you were going to be a civil servant, and you were not going to see America. And what that did, it created a certain peer competition. And I cannot, you know, know when you said, the type of people that I hang out with, do you know everybody in my graduation class went to Yale, Harvard, or MIT?

I'm not surprised. But you know, Glenn, I will say this. I've thought of this in other contexts. There is a risk that people who are very gifted, who obviously you're very gifted, are able to accomplish things, and then they think, well, if I did it, everybody can do it, but maybe the obstacles out there in the world are, your perception of it, just because you were able to do it, you were born smart, right?

But what about just the average person? What are they capable of doing? It's just an interesting thought. It can be just a perception if you're very, very talented and very, very smart, I think. There's some tough situations that I think I can't run away from. I was reading that people that served in the war and the GI Bill, when they came back home from the war, they were given land and they were given help to start them on their way. But it was denied to all black soldiers. That bothers me. That is tough. For me, it's like, really? Come on, guys. That bothers me. That is tough, you know, for me. It's like, really, come on, guys. That's kind of tough, right?

And there's some other situations like that. You know this whole George Floyd thing that we're going through? I don't know if anybody remembers. The very same night that this video was aired, it was the same night that the Amy Cooper video was aired. The girl in Central Park who was walking her dog. I can't tell the cops in African-American man.

And for me, of course, this story is much more sensational. We have a martyr here. You know, we could do things. Black lives matter. Wow, wow, wow, wow. But for me, her attitude is much more pervasive. Her attitude is much more, there are many more Amy Coopers running around for me

than there are this police officer. So do I feel, because I felt it in this building. Yes, you know, it exists. There's that slight, there's that stereotype, there's that already making a decision about who and what you are. That's kind of tough to overcome. But, you know, it's not only for Black people,

it's for gay people, you know, and now for minorities, for the disabled. So I've experienced kind of discrimination from three angles because you get it as a gay person, you get it as a black person, you get it as a disabled person. So I don't know how systemic it is

and how much it just has to do with color rather than individual character. Well, and listen, I can remember, I don't know if you remember, I used to have to get a cab for you. Remember, you couldn't get a cab and i used to have to yeah you would hide yep yeah so you know this was a real thing and i don't you know i never was clear on whether to call that i'm always reluctant to call things racism when there are other possible explanations

which may not be honorable but are not based on because peril is making a face because this was in a time when and glenn can certainly ready to disagree in the time in the 90s it was quite quite dangerous on the streets and and cab drivers were were profiling of what neighborhoods they were trying to stay out of including uh famously black cab drivers right so that but that doesn't but that doesn't change in any way the fact that, you know, don't take that job if you're not ready to do it properly. And it doesn't change in any way

the humiliation of being black and not being able to get a cab. So, you know, I would try to see it for whatever the essence of truth is. Maybe you think you can conclude that the guy behind the wheel of the cab hates black people, but maybe it is, maybe it's just, he's scared at that time in the nineties. And I don't know what, what Glenn's told him, but, but anyway, whatever it was, whatever the reason is, this was an unacceptable way for Glenn to have to live. He couldn't get a fucking cab. Can you

imagine? You need, you need your white friend, you have to hide behind the bushes or something. I mean, this is just outrageous. But then the question is, how did you process that in terms of your prospects of being successful? Did you see this as evidence that you couldn't be successful in America? Or did you see this as just an unpleasant fact of life in America that after it was over, it did not have a profound effect on your hopeful future? What's your feeling about that? Listen, I have one simple philosophy and it probably is a cop out.

But for me, it works and it allows me to sleep at night. He who starts last in the race of life must run faster than the person ahead of him or remain continuously behind. There is only one way I can catch up to the people that are ahead of me. I have to run faster than they can. And if I can't, then I have to accept the fact I'm always going to lag behind. So, all right. It is interesting. This is an immigrant mentality. And there's this woman, Amy Chua, I think that's her name she's a professor at yale she's on i heard her on colman hughes's podcast i want to try to get on this podcast he's a lot of research into this and apparently almost every immigrant group black whiter or other does very very well

when they get here nigerians earn more money than white people and i think west indians do um and that would probably explain it. There's just a drive there. But what they find is that after three generations, they regress to the mean of mediocrity. No matter what the immigrant group is, three generations in, they've lost their advantage. And that would go along with what you're saying, you know?

I know. I mean, do you feel in your family, your father's an immigrant, started a business, succeeded. You've done well with it. Does this bode poorly for your children? They're the third generation. It absolutely does bode poorly for them. And I see it already. You know, I grew up, and by osmosis, I took in a dad who was constantly driven.

This fucking guy was sweating every single detail to the day that he died from the hospital with cancer. He's calling in the olive tree to worry about the hummus. Who's testing the hummus? I'm like, you know, you're going to die in a few weeks and up with this already, literally, you know, and he could not, he could not shake it. And I spent a lot of years like that, but then I actually, it's interesting because I didn't want my kids. I mean, I lost out on a lot of attention and it was hard for me because my father was so busy all the time.

So when I had kids, I kind of made a pledge to myself that I wasn't going to do that to my kids. So I spent a lot of time with my kids. But you did it to your staff. No. Back then, Glenn. Back then yes yes oh my listen guys do you guys understand that we had an in for the olive tree the comedy cellar and the cafe walk there was this big thick

inventory that had to be done every sunday and for the cafe walk do you understand we had to count how many screws? We had to count screws and gels. You left nothing to chance. And like Bob said, we were never going to run out of any equipment or any piece of gel or screw in the cafe walk. And every Sunday it had to be counted. I have learned that attention from the details from Manny and you. I'm like, wow. Well, Glenn will tell you, I worked basically, you know,

from the minute I woke up to the minute I went to sleep, for years and years and years and years and years. But as I said, I didn't want my kids to live through that. So my kids haven't seen that. So if they ever get in a position where they're going to have to be in charge of a business or something, they're going to have to learn it for themselves yeah they're going to have to learn it for themselves maybe they'll have it maybe they'll have some of that dormant gene that'll carry through or maybe they won't and they won't be able to do that you know and and it also they're

less familiar with uh with struggle uh on a personal level because they're growing up in a fair degree of luxury. I don't think that's the operative variable, actually. I think you could just easily say that people who are used to having stuff are deathly afraid of going without in a way that people who, like I'm way more scared of being broke than Juanita is. One of the famous stories is that when Juanita,

when this whole thing with Louie happened and I was really nervous and I was nervous that we could, if not lose the comedy seller, but just have to live with a new status quo of life and money. And I said to her, I said, Juanita, what happens if the business fails? What happens if we have to move back into the city?

What happens if we have to sell the house? And she said to me, I've had less before. Like she didn't even think twice about it. She understood exactly how we would make do without money. I was the one who was, was ready to buckle first when it came to that. So that was a long winded way of saying, I'm not sure which way that, that cuts, but I do think that being the, the seeing it firsthand is really,

really important. And by third generation, i could totally see how it's just gone anyway so let me say one other story about you want to say something perry i'll go ahead i just want to say that you know that you said about you know it was crazy and insane that you know glenn's white friend had to sort of swoop in and get him a taxi. I didn't say white. Oh, white friend. Yeah, taxi. Yeah, taxi. Sorry. And it's true.

And it's a profound point. I would like to point out, I'm sure this isn't lost on anybody, but things haven't changed that much given the fact that you just did the exact same thing with the vaccine. No, the vaccine thing wasn't a racial thing. Well, I don't know. Noam, is it? I mean racial thing. Well, I don't know, Noam. Is it? I mean, it seems like... They don't know what color he is. Correct me if I'm wrong, Glenn,

when he calls up the number for the blind. It's a busy signal for whatever color you are. It's a busy signal if you're black or if you're blind. It's a busy signal

if you're black. We have Saran, by the way, waiting in the wings. I don't know if you... I said one other thing. But what is true is that Uber has been a, has been a godsend. Well, two things have changed. First of all, crime is just not what it was. So a lot of these problems did take care of themselves, but Uber has changed.

I would imagine everything for, for, for black Americans, urban, urban blacks. So, you know, whenever they try to fuck with Uber, I'm sure, I don't know this, but I could just imagine the black community is like they try to fuck with uber i'm sure i don't know this but i could just imagine the black community is like do not fuck with uber we don't want to go back to the time of having to catch cabs on the street uh is that correct glenn i think so yes the other thing is i want to i want to say something to glenn so we had i never forget this and i'm not going to cry but we had a fire in the building one time and there was the police came i'm sorry the fire fire uh firemen came and they they hosed down the upstairs and it was the top floor and if

you you might this is logical but you may not have thought of it when the fire is on the top floor and they fill it with water the water then comes down and ruins every apartment below it. And my apartment was filled with about how many feet, Glenn? Two feet, two or three feet of water? God, yes. Yeah. And I mean, everything I had was just, just, just ruined, you know? And I came back one day and Glenn had cleaned the entire apartment.

I don't know how he did it. He went up there. I know I was getting emotional about it. He went and cleaned that whole apartment. You're such a wuss. You are such a wuss. Well, the truth is, i mean i i'll tell you also recently tony well you know tony glenn right yeah tony went out there and built this whole

outdoor thing in front of the olive tree wow thing for seating for the artery i told him to call a contractor he does this whole thing without even speaking to me wow and it occurred to me and this is immigrants by the way this is immigrants or maybe just people of good character and i'll even take some credit for it in terms of my relationship with people i'm not gonna pretend that with anybody but whatever it is it is it is very much immigrants and i've noticed that people i've had people working for me. They became friends, but they're still working for me. They worked harder for me than I would work for myself.

It's the goddamn truth. I would not have cleaned that apartment like that. I don't know if I would have had the inner strength to do that, to do that fucking shitty job. I could not have done what Tony did and went out there and built that thing as he did. And I know he gets a sense of accomplishment from that. Tony, I just want to...

And I could list other stories like this that I've been so fortunate through my career, just unbelievable stories that linger with me of people who've done over and above without it's not about money it was not a dime involved in any of these stories um and you know people people have tremendous good in them anyway go ahead you want me to go to mexico uh no i'm just to uh what's that tony's from mexico is that correct? Tony's from Mexico. Yeah. Anyway, can we bring Saren on? Yes.

Yes. Introduce her. Okay. Saren, are you there? Oh, yeah. All right. And Glenn, one more thing. Glenn, I still have the tie that you made me, the black tie with the gold.

Yes, sir. I still have it. It chipped a little away a little bit, but maybe you can fix it now. Even if you're blind just you know Glenn back on to discuss the time for the detail but good but now we move on to an old friend of mine who I met probably I'm goes by so disgustingly fast these days that it could have been five years it could have been 22 decades it's probably have been 20. Two decades. It's probably been roughly two decades. We were five. We were in kindergarten.

We were young. We were young. We were young. I think Jason Steinberg introduced us. Anyway, just to give her a proper introduction, as we like to do on this show, that's what we're known for, Saren Rothberg started the Comedy Cures Foundation from her chemotherapy chair in 1999. You had, I guess, stage three, was it?

Breast cancer at that time? Two, but it was really stage four. They misdiagnosed me. Well, she beat cancer and produced the first comedy events at the United Nations and World Health Organization, plus gave the first closing TED talk at the UN, transforming the world one laugh at a time. She's been featured. This is not on your official bio that Perriel sent me,

but I know that Oprah magazine featured you, I believe. Is that the case? This sounds so obnoxious when you say it, but I'm the first hero in her first bestselling book. What was that book? Living Your Best Life. Well, anyway, just to summarize everything, Saren's whole thing is bringing comedy to people that are sick and believing that comedy,

you believe, Saren, saved your life or contributed to it. How would you characterize that? Well, I mean, it was a pretty dismal time. I was going through a pretty bad divorce and I was a single mom and they basically misdiagnosed me for six years. I'd always loved comedy. I booked comics and scouted comics for Dick Clark out in California. have really nasty cancer, but can you just come back on Monday? Cause the cancer team went home for the night. Uh, my reaction was just to go to blockbuster, which tells you how many decades ago that was and get every standup comedy tape I could. And I just did a marathon, a comedy that night. It was, you know, whoopie and Eddie Murphy and Bill Cosby and Jackie Mason. I mean, I just grabbed everyone they had on the shelf. And in the middle of the night, I just realized, you know, that guy, Norman Cousins was right.

The man who they said laughed himself well. When I was laughing, I was not thinking about dying. And when I was laughing, it just felt like me like I was out in California scouting comics for Dick Clark. So I decided my first chemo treatment just to throw a chemo comedy party. And it was just six hours. And when I looked around the room, I saw that we had really transformed that chemo room.

And it could have been downstairs at the cellar. I mean, it was funny. And, you know, people were just having the time. No alcohol. I only brought in like sparkling color it was really uh it was that wasn't me it was really transformative and you know that that's how it all started so um i remember i was at bananas in in New Jersey, bald 98 pounds, and Joey Colo was headlining. And they had this little green room, which was actually like a closet right off the ballroom.

And I just walked in, 98 pounds and bald. And I said, hey, I'm a cancer patient, and I'm bringing comedy into my chemo room. And we just ended up talking. And he started opening the doors for me to other comedians. And then it just, comedians are just so generous of heart. You know, you know, Dan, I mean, the minute we were introduced through Jason, you were like, what can I do? And you started doing shows for us and that's the way it went. I mean, I met Patrice O'Neill through you, actually. You did?

Yeah. How do you feel like this? Patrice and I were never close. Yeah, no, you introduced me, actually. And you just said, hey, do you know her? And what was pretty interesting about Patrice was that he wanted to do a comedy cure show. And I just thought that was the funniest thing in the world. Because, you know, I used to watch Patrice. I'm like, you know, Patrice, like we're family friendly. Like, I don't know what to tell you. And he was like, no, I want to do it. And I was like, you're going to like lose every sponsor I ever have. Like, I can't, I can't. And he just said, no, I promise you I'll do it. And I said, you know, okay, one minute, like one minute you'll have just one minute.

And it was just this big, funny joke between us about, you know, how much time he could do before the brilliance of Patrice kicked in. And, you know, I got closed down at a, at a family friendly show, but. So he didn't, he didn't live up to it. No, you know, actually he stopped me to do it. And unfortunately he passed away before he live up to it. No, you know, actually, he stopped me to do it. And unfortunately, he passed away before he got to do it. And similar with Greg Giraldo, you know, they actually talked about it in his book.

You know, Greg, the minute he met me just said, I want to do your show. And I find it so amazing that some of the comics that, you know, are considered super brilliant, but more raw, just want to figure out how to come and perform, you know, in our arena. And we've done over a million people worldwide on multiple continents. And it's just been this crazy ride that you've been part of Dan. So thank you so much. Yeah, sure. Why not? But we do have a great project coming up, which you're in, we're doing the five day laughter summit.

And what's really fun about the laughter summit is that it is it's the 22nd anniversary of my first chemo comedy party. And instead of just throwing like a little celebration, I decided to gather like the leaders in psychonaur immunology, which is like the whole mind body connection. It's the science of why laughter actually does these amazing things to your mind, body, and spirit. So I have the leading researcher on laughter who's Dr. Lee Burke, decades of research. And he's coming out with some amazing brain research on laughter and Alzheimer's, actually. And he's coming out with some other research on laughter and the immune system.

And so- Did you want to say something or are you- Glenn. Yes, sir. We can hear you. Did you want to say something or are you having your own personal chat over there? No, no, no, no, no, no. I'm sorry. Oh, Glenn's on. I thought Glenn left. Hi, sir. We can hear you. Did you want to say something? Are you having your own personal chat over there? No, no, no, no, no. I'm sorry.

Oh, Glenn's on. I thought Glenn left. Hi, Glenn. Hi, how are you? I'm enjoying everything you're saying. Thank you. You just sound like an amazing person. I listened to your whole interview and I was like, wow, that's like somebody I would love

to know. You seem to have the same spirit, you in the same drive you should know him and he's very and he's great with prose and copy and and uh pr stuff for these things by the way oh i was just gonna please help us um you know we have it's um 29 thought leaders um 17 comedians, 16, 17 comedians. And it's everybody from the founder of the Big Apple Circus to these leading researchers, Dr. Burke and Henslin. Then we have people who are experts in comedy and play in a corporate environment for team building. We have people who are really about healing and humor. It's a totally diverse lineup, but it is unprecedented in the people that I've amassed to not only perform comedy,

but the people who actually can show you through the scientific research of what this is actually doing in your mind, body, and spirit to help you heal, which is what happened to me. I mean, I had three surgeries, 44 radiation treatments, two and a half years of chemotherapy, seven different drugs. And they basically said, you know, you need to go home and get your affairs in order. And yet I'm producing shows with Dan and, you know, the whole New York crew and then, you know, LA and wherever I traveled, Montreal for Just for Laughs. I mean, you know LA and wherever I traveled Montreal for just for laughs I mean you know we're doing these shows for anywhere up to 10,000 people and you know they're telling me that I'm gonna die and you know thank God you know yeah I was bald for two and a half years but

you know who cares about that it's just that you 1993, I was misdiagnosed. 1993. Can I ask you a question? Yeah. Wait, no, I can't believe I got you quiet. I got you quiet on your podcast. Like I should, I should be invited back all the time. I don't, I don't interrupt cancer stories. So this is my question.

Cause I, you know, I'm getting older and I'm, there's been cancer in my family. And I just want to ask this question. How, how much pain, like actual, like excruciating pain did you have to endure through all these, through the chemo, the therapies and all that? That's a really good question. Someone said to me so early on that, because when you wake up in the morning and you've had cancer, you have cancer and you feel a pain in your back, your first thought can be, oh my God, the cancer spread. I mean, that is a universal fear. And someone told me early on something so liberating. They said, if you're feeling pain, like terrible pain, your cancer is so far gone. And in a weird way, I loved that because I was

like, oh, a little pain, like that just means like I'm a normal person waking up with normal cramp or backache or a stiff neck. So that I found that super liberating in terms of pain. Look, um, you know, I did seven kinds of drugs, right? It's chemo three times a day. Okay. That it's not fun. Right. So what does it do? You know, you feel burning, you have diarrhea, you whatever. But for me, I was a single mom who had soul custody. Dan knows my daughter. I mean, he knows her since she's a little girl. Now she's a writer in Hollywood on, um, for Fox. And, you know, my vision always was stay alive till the next big thing comes out either holistically or, or Western medicine, because I want to be at this kid's elementary

school graduation, you know, her, her middle school graduation, her. So I always just set this target and I would go into the doctor and just go, that's all you have. Like, that's it. Like you didn't take me down. That's all you have. And when they told me about my cancer and they said, you know, 99% of the people, there's a very aggressive cancer. We haven't studied it. It really impacts young women. There's a 99% chance that you're going to die. You, you know, you need to get your affairs in order. My first reaction, like I, I tell you what came right out of my mouth was somebody has to be the 1%. Somebody has to be the 1%. So when Glenn was talking and you were talking about the immigrant mentality, I'm sitting here going, what are you kidding me? That's like the beat stage four cancer

mentality. I mean, why should I be able to produce a massive five-day summit? I picked up the phone and I went, this world needs joy. You know, at the time, the comedy clubs hadn't opened yet. A few weeks ago, I know, congratulations on opening. But I went, the world needs joy. And I have a responsibility knowing all of these comedians and all of these thought leaders in this field to amass them. And in 48 hours, I had booked this massive five day summit, you know, and now I need

help with the PR Glenn. So that wouldn't really be helpful. So, so, so I know this is just my personal thing. So I can't believe you did all that while being a single mom so it all right i don't want to do it but i i am i am just always curious like i always wonder what do people go through when they go through these things i've never i've never had like major knock on wood major surgery i've never had and i meet people who've done this stuff like well what can they compare it to is it excruciatingating? Is it just, you know, like, is it like a low level but constant? Is it, like, what would you compare it to? So, first of all, the moment of diagnosis, it's like Charlie Brown,

where the adults are going, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, right? It's just like- And by the way, Glenn has experience with this too because he was diagnosed with HIV and meningitis. They thought he was going to die. So he probably relating to what you're saying, but go ahead, I'm sorry. It's that fire.

You know what, Noam? I can look in somebody's eyes because I've been doing this for so long, helping people through acute and chronic illness, depression, trauma, disability. I can look in someone's eyes who has cancer and I don't care if they tell me they're stage one or stage four. And I can see in the eyes, whether that person's going to make it or not. There is a, there's a fire and a determination that you can, you can, it's like a smell. It's like a dog, like a scent. You can actually like perceive the fight and the spirit

of a person if they're going to go down fast or they're going to fight. But when you first hear it, it's like, as I said, it's like the, it's like the whole world starts going in a different motion than you. And then you go through the stages, the five stages, or some people say six, seven, whatever. You go through all those stages, denial, fear, anger, all the stages. And then some people never get out of those stages, right? Some people just decide, I am not strong enough to do this. And I am going in a weird way. They kind of will themselves dead because they don't want to go through the process or put their family through the process. And then, and then once you start in the process,

it's completely overwhelming. And I tell everyone that when they get brought to me, people come to me, please help, please help. I say, this is the worst moment. Like when you found out and before you have the plan is the absolute worst moment, but we are going to get you through this and we're going to laugh about this one day. And, and I'm, we're going to look back and you're going to go, remember the total stranger who said, we're going to laugh about this one day. And anyway, what happens is you start your treatment plan. And, you know, the truth is, you know, do you have a high tolerance for pain or don't you have a high tolerance for pain? Some, I happen to have a very high tolerance for pain and it's scientifically proven that redheads have a very high tolerance for pain.

So for me, I did, I took one Tylenol, I think after massive, you know, breast surgery. In terms of radiation, it's a game. And the game with radiation is staying ahead of the burn, right? Because they're, they're like burning you, right? So the game is to stay ahead of keeping your skin cool, right? So that you don't blister and whatever. So that's not painful. It's just inconvenient because you have to go every day. So I went every day for 44 days and got nuked, right? So then chemotherapy, what happens in chemotherapy? Well, they're all different levels of chemotherapy. And I happen to have the one that singes your hair off. Like this is my hair, but this is new, you know, grown back hair after being bald for

two and a half years. Now, chemo is kind of tricky because it's, again, you have to stay ahead of this stuff, right? If you let it get ahead of you, like anything in life. And it's, it's, I swear, Glenn, I feel like you're my soul brother, like from, from wherever. Right on, right on. I mean, I get you so completely. I was like, okay, I don't even have to go on because he's going, he's saying this, but it's, you run faster. You run faster than that chemo. And what does that mean? You stay hydrated, right? You do moderate exercise. You laugh because the studies about what happens to the body, I mean, is why I had the strength to fight all this. And I think you'll find this interesting. I've given day-long lectures at the

National Institutes of Health, at the World Health Organization in Geneva, at the United Nations, at Stanford, Harvard. I mean, you name it. And I've been brought there to speak because I showed through my application, how, what happens to the body when you saturate it with joy and laughter and positivity. Now, doctors like Lee Burke and, and, and Earl Hensland, they do the research that proves why I'm here and why I've been able to be so healthy, thank God, and help so many people. And it doesn't mean that negative people don't beat cancer, right? Because there's a fight in being negative too, right? So it's really the strategy is harnessing what it is about you that can give you that faster run as Glenn was saying. So it, it, it, look, would I wish it on anybody? No, right. What I wish the diarrhea, the constipation, you know, whatever it is. But when I got COVID a year ago, January, and, and nobody even knew what that was. You know,

to me, COVID, like for me, I did it like I did cancer. So why was COVID going to stop me? It gives you beating stage four cancer gives you this unbelievable feeling of having superpower. So listen, we're about to wrap it up. This is silly, but I mean, it's just happening this way. Can Glenn help you out in your organization in some way? I would love it. I mean, I beg everyone for favors and for cheaper rates all the time. So if Glenn is willing to have pity on our charity, I love the expertise. I was just trying to figure out what the best way was to put a Twitter handle on our press release that's going out tomorrow that Dan Natterman is in about the Laughter Summit.

That would be really awesome if somehow this led to a connection where Glenn could help you. It's both, you know, disabled and all that. At a minimum, they can establish a friendship. Absolutely. Thank you. I already feel very connected to you just from this amazing podcast interview that you did. What about Perrielle?

Perrielle hasn't said much, but you've dealt with her by email and text. I'm wondering if you feel a connection with Perrielle as well or less so. She was so nice. You know, it's, it's so interesting, like coming on here for me, I mean, not to be too sappy, but you know, the seller is the seller, right? So for you to even feel that what I have done is worthy and that, you know, I could be on this show and, you know, it makes me emotional and sentimental because literally I was a single mom in New Jersey trying to get divorced and, you know,

working, you know, as in multimedia edutainment, right? And that I could do something that could catapult me to be here and talk to you. I've always wanted to meet you, Noam. So thank you. Yeah, I've heard so many stories. Not all good. Not all good, though. Not all good, I'm sure.

If you heard a good one, I'd like to hear it. Glenn. Yes, sir. So that's interesting. And then we'll wrap it up. So I remember, I'm'm not gonna get the details right But I remember you were in the hospital And you wanted no visitors

You remember that? No visitors None whatsoever And I And I And people followed me And I said no no no He doesn't mean it

And I And I went to the hospital anyway You remember that? Yes I was with my other My old girlfriend Yes And of course Glenn was Anyway, you remember that? Yes. I was with my other, my old girlfriend. Yes.

And, of course, Glenn was, no, I'm high. Like, it was all bullshit. You were happy to have visitors. And I just took the chance. But you were close to death. Yes, I was. Close to death. Definitely.

And I feared that you were close to death. That's why I didn't, I wasn't going to respect your wishes. And by the way, that should be less of a people. No, honestly, you know, sometimes you have to do what you have to do. You have to discount the depressed, you know, expressions from a person who's in a very, very difficult situation, they're probably going to be happy to see you, even if they tell you they don't want to see you. But anyway, you have to mourn. You have to realize that, you know, people that are in shock from whatever their diagnosis is or their trauma, people are like, oh, aren't you just always happy,

Saren? You know, you run the Comedy Pierce Foundation. And I'm like, no, you have to go through that internal mourning period because on the other side of that can be the joy and the liberation. So a lot of people try not to let their friends or family member feel sorry for themselves, cry, be angry, whatever. And it's a really big part of the healing process. So I understand. So Glenn, what went through your head in that period? I've never asked you this. What were you thinking about? I honestly thought I was going to die. And

our friend that became the judge told me that the doctors literally pulled her to the side. When they contacted my mom that was in Maryland, I knew. Because I made this pact with Andrew, my best friend, never to contact my mom until it really is the end. And when they came in and they told me that my mom was traveling from Maryland to come see me, I knew it was the end. I knew. I just felt it was going to be the end.

But it wasn't. And you came. I remember that visit. I remember who you were with. And I remember us having a good time. And do you know that Elon came as well? I don't know if I knew, but i didn't remember that he's a musician friend of ours he has a very big heart he always did and so the jason murder they both came and

just sat at the foot of my bed for like hours and then left yep well that's very very touching would never forget that i i've just been, by the way, I've just been Googling around while Saren was talking. And I mean, you know, there's a lot of research about laughter and NK cells, whatever those are. Killer white blood cells for AIDS and cancer. I can't say unambiguously that laughter can cure, but there's a lot of research in that direction. In my experience, laughter has made it harder for me to keep an erection, but there's a lot of research in that direction in my in my experience in my experience laughter has made it harder for me to keep an erection but that's probably probably unique to my personal anatomy so all right sorry dan i had a little joke i just wanted to thank you for all your kind assistance.

You're a lovely, lovely person. I had a really good time communicating with you, and I'm looking forward to meeting you in person. I'm looking forward to meeting you, too. And I feel really lucky that I got to talk to you so often. And really, given how much Noam seems to adore you, I'm just shocked at how lovely you are. She's always a lovely person,

and so much so that despite some of her ridiculous notions, ideas, and political opinions, I still find myself fond of her. Ariel, yeah. I do want to say this this that you should tell Tony this no I was at the cellar yesterday and I was sitting outside and I mean everyone except for Dan I was sad you weren't there but I was on a plane coming back from a room that's what I figured but everyone was there and I can't tell you how many people were complimenting um myself included what Tony

built yeah he's amazing um and also I would like to just I did share and by the way to be fair he has his crew that he oversees so we should don't take an ounce of credit away from you know all of them but you know heaw it. It really is beautiful. And I just do want to say one other thing is that I made sure that the sharing screen was- I know, I checked it. I was disappointed. But I do want to just show you guys this.

And I'd like for you to please read that, Noam, if you can. Well, Perry, I'm surprised you want to dwell on this because this is the thing. And just see what time I sent it. Yes, but this is very interesting if you want to get into this. But read it. Perry L. Ash, I didn't book anyone with him. I assumed you wanted him solo, but I just wanted to confirm that.

Now, this is interesting. Wait, finish, finish. And if not, is there anyone in particular you want with him? What time did I send that? 11.52 a.m. this morning. Did you write me back? is interesting finish finish and if not is there anyone in particular you want with them okay what time did i send that 11 52 a.m this morning you write me back no so this is interesting thing so today i was quite busy homeschooling my kids and i went on a bike ride and blah blah blah and i didn't and i didn't see the email today because i don't have the email attached to my hip now i'll tell you a few things and listeners at home you you might want to know this. Don't send anything time sensitive in an email because not everybody checks their email

all the time. If you really need to get in touch with somebody, you text them. Number one. Number two. Wait, wait, wait. Let me get on to point by point though. No, no, no. No, no, no. Be fair. Be fair. I'm being fair to the listeners. Dan, Dan, what happens when we text Noam about the podcast? Typically goes unanswered. Second of all, True or false, Noam? Sometimes it goes unanswered, sometimes it doesn't. But if there's an urgent question,

but I was going to get to that. If there's an urgent question, I usually answer it because I can get 100 texts in a day but um and so and sometimes it's just a conversation going on and there's no there's no answer that's particularly wanted from me but having said that when you send an email do you want this or not i assume that you to assume one or the other is very dangerous because it's, it's not, you don't know if I've seen the email and the, the standard operating procedure here is that we have a comedian in every

show. Now out of left field, you thought, I thought you wouldn't want to be in this show. Fine. Maybe I would, maybe I wouldn't. I didn't see the email.

So dial the fucking phone and say, no, I'm, I sent you an email. Maybe you didn't see it. I need to know. Do you want somebody or not? Okay. You know what? Fair enough. Um, I will take that. I, I, I accept that. Um, I wish that you would accept your part of it. And I will also say that I didn't see the email, but I don't feel that I'm responsible to anybody to check my email all afternoon. No, you're not responsible to check all afternoon. Like if Liz needs to get in touch with me on something, if the health department shows up in the olive tree, Liz is going to call me if she needs to know what to do. She's not going to email me. Well, perhaps I also made, and I would argue correctly so, I made a judgment call because I thought Glenn was a very special

and unique guest. I would have wanted some comedian from the old days on with him if we could have, but it doesn't matter. It worked out great because Glenn is very- By the way, Noam, the Comedy Cellar Vegas, I noticed, is opening on the 17th of April. I also noticed that you're using mostly acts from Las Vegas,

I assume, because since the crowds are smaller, you want to save money, you don't want to fly people out or put people up, which makes financial sense. How long do you plan on continuing that policy, and when can I look forward to returning? The first,

the first couple of weeks I did that because I want to test the waters and I don't want to commit myself to a big, a big payroll. Cause I don't know if anybody's going to come. I, we have no idea, but as soon as we, and also we're waiting for help from the government, but as soon, as soon as we're able to, we will start getting back to our regular booking policies, hopefully within a month. As a matter of fact, I'd like to go out there in May.

Maybe we should go out there together, Dan. Oh, that'd be fun. Can I come? We won't get into too much trouble. Now, Glenn used to be able to keep a secret. Let me tell you something, Glenn. That was another thing about Glenn. I mean, I used to run around like a

crazy person. I had a secret apartment. Remember, Glenn, on Minetta Lane? Guess so. And Glenn was like a steel trap. I could, but you know, not that I need anybody to keep my secrets anymore, but

Perrielle would not be somebody I would have trusted. She's a yapper. That's it. I don't know if that's accurate at all. This was a heavy show, but light in spots. I think it will be.

We dealt with cancer, racism, HIV Meningitis, COVID And impotence So what else There was a couple of lighter moments in there Sarah and I'll see you tomorrow We have a thing that we're doing together tomorrow I'll log on a little bit early for the tech

And Thank you Glenn Miller Thank you sir It was a pleasure You should tweet Glenn and thank you, Glenn Miller. Thank you, sir. It was a pleasure. Glenn, you should tweet, Glenn. You should tweet. No, I'm coming down to the olive tree for my hamburger.

Okay. The emphasis is on the first syllable. It's a hamburger, not a hamburger. Hamburger. Glenn's accent is hilarious. So Perry Ellis should come down too. Rightful accent, nonetheless. down too I'll see I guess Next week we're doing the show

We're going to go do the show at the actual Club Noam again we're going back No we're doing it on Zoom But next week we have Candidate for Mayor Andrew Yang Oh Big stuff Noam do you want another comedian?

No, not with him, no. With him, no. I don't think Noam even wants me on with him. I definitely want you on. He definitely doesn't want me on with him. We don't want you on, no. But does Noam, please, as I mentioned, it's possible Andrew does want to talk a little bit about comedy.

Absolutely. Many of our guests do. So let's verify that that with his people so i guess that's it uh comments questions suggestions podcast at comedyseller.com uh sarin final uh word twitter account that you want to plug or yeah just come to comedycures.org and click on the laughter summit and join us from april 19th to the 23rd the hours are 3 to 5 30 so we don't collide with any of your comedy shows people are going to be so motivated to come to the cellar after they spend five days with me learning all about and laughing with us at comedy cures comedycures.org all right all right glenn yes sir i love you thank you for finally doing it i've been trying to get glenn to do this for a year before since before coven wow yeah yeah

but we did it we did i'm happy we was after we had a good vaccination story to tell but i've been trying to get you on even before there was coven so okay and the comedy seller is open limited capacity but get your reservations at Comedy Cellar. I like to call it diminished capacity. Okay, bye, everybody.