The Comedy Cellar: Live from the Table - Daniel-Ryan Spaulding on Being a Jewish Ally

Episode Date: November 25, 2023

Daniel-Ryan Spaulding is a world-traveling comedian, TV writer and social media influencer. He has been described by Huffington Post as “brilliantly subversive,” and has a one-man show called 'Power Gay.' His special, 'So Berlin,' is available on YouTube.

This is Live from the Table, the official podcast of the world-famous comedy seller coming at you on SiriusXM 99, Raw Dog, and wherever you get your podcasts. This is Dan Natterman, comedian and regular at the comedy cellar. Noam's not here. He is not able to join us for this episode. But we do have Periel with us. Periel, of course, is our producer, although some might dispute that title for various reasons.

We also have with us Daniel Ryan Spaulding, a world-traveling comedian, seen in over 50 countries, has established himself in the forefront of the global comedy circuit, described by Huffington Post as brilliantly subversive. His comedy explores culture, identity, sexuality, stereotypes, and personal confession. I'm not sure what that means, but in any case. And Perriel uses... Yeah, he has his show right now in New York. He just got to New York. and personal confession. I'm not sure what that means, but in any case, and Perry, I'll use...

Yeah, he has his show right now in New York. He just got to New York. Yeah, I'm running my show off-Broadway in Manhattan at this awesome gay bar called Red Eye NY, just near Times Square and at the bottom of Hell's Kitchen. I have three shows. They're sold out,

but then I'm running it all throughout November. And what's it called? Power Gay. And you are moving to New York. You had previously resided where? I've been living in Berlin the past five years. I've lived in Europe for 12 years. Most of my career has been in Europe.

But yeah, I travel quite a bit with work. So you did your show in German in Berlin? No, always in English. I perform in English, yeah. Okay, because there are some comics that do shows in other languages. That is true. But German is particularly nasty.

I mean, it's got three genders, for goodness sakes. I'm not talking about genders like trans and bi. I mean, three grammatical genders. Anyway. So Daniel first came on our radar because our mutual friend, Weemore, the photographer, Weemore Garfinkel,

who's much beloved amongst all comedians. I guess I haven't talked to all comedians, but I haven't heard any negative words about her. Okay. Said, oh, my friend's coming. He's great. You guys should have him on the show and then in the midst of all of this um daniel made a video which went like berserk i mean how five million ten million how many how many views i don't even really know probably definitely over

three or four million yeah well so that qualifies as viral? Oh, yeah. I think viral starts at, what, half a million? I don't know what the definition is. So you're usually fascinated by this, which I thought you're always interested in. Well, fascinated insofar as, like, how do I go viral? Because I've never figured it out. Nothing I've done has gone viral. But I was talking to some younger comics last night, and they said, no, no, your editing is bad. You know? Okay. I don't know if that's the case, but he said, let me do your editing.

Will you pay somebody to do that? I'll pay for one month and we'll try it out. And if it works. Then you'll keep paying? Then I'll keep paying. Okay. Nick, can we pull up the video, Daniel's video? I think it's a little ironic that the people who seem to be defending Hamas online are also the ones they'd be most likely to kill. Daniel's video. I'm fighting for my right to purple hair. What the fuck? It's like a girl in a really toxic relationship.

I know you don't like him because he kidnaps and murders people. But trust me, when I'm alone with him, he is such a sweetheart. I'm sorry if your reaction to people being slaughtered, beheaded, raped, and burned alive isn't complete and utter disgust and horror. If your reaction is, yeah, but I mean, why? See it from their perspective. You need to get your fucking head checked, OK? I'm sure Jeffrey Dahmer had a rough childhood.

That doesn't mean I empathize with him. If you want a free Palestine, free Palestine from Hamas. Of the comments that you got, I can't read them. My eyesight's not quite that good. But how many of them were in favor of what you're saying and how many of them were attacking you? Well, the vast majority were very positive. I think that it had come at a time. I think I did this about three or four days after the terrorist attack on october

7th and i had just come back to berlin and i started to see people i knew posting about it and they were posting things like how would you how else would you expect palestine to defend itself and this one friend i messaged him and i was like hey do you actually know what's happened and he was like yeah and i was like they killedaged him and I was like, hey, do you actually know what's happened? And he was like, yeah. And I was like, they killed innocent civilians. And he was like, well, how do you expect, what do you expect them to do? This is their only option. And I was, and I had just come from Tel Aviv.

Like I had done my show there a week before. I have a very big like gay following in Tel Aviv. I go there quite often. I have lots very big gay following in Tel Aviv. I go there quite often. I have lots of fans there. And I asked him, I was like, if I had been there when this happened and I was kidnapped and murdered, would you think that was morally justified?

And he said, well, maybe you shouldn't be going to an apartheid country. And at that point, I realized, wow, people are really, really desensitized to the idea of Israelis dying to Jewish people being killed. Like there is some really, really deep hatred towards Israel. And so this was sort of my response to that. Because it's one thing to like care about the plight of the palestinian people but of course actually like root and cheer for hamas terrorism that is messed up well the lesson here is um if you want to go viral pick a hot button issue right that's a lesson because i'm

i've got funny jokes but they're just not cutting it. Right. You know, I have jokes about my sex ed teacher in ninth grade. Yeah. But there's nothing controversial there. Well, it's a little. No, there's nothing controversial. I mean, it's just a made-up story about my sex ed teacher using his own penis instead of a banana to demonstrate condom use. It's a great joke. Oh, you know the joke.

I know it. Yeah, yeah. It went viral. Well, it didn't. I I know it. Yeah, yeah. It went viral. Well, it didn't, I don't know if it went viral. It went viral. If Louis C.K. is repeating your joke, I think...

Well, when I posted it, it didn't go viral. All right. So in other words, it didn't go viral on the strength of the joke. It went viral on the strength of Louis. Okay, so we'll take Louis. We'll take what we can get.

There's a million ideas that you'll think of. You're a brilliant man. Oh, don't worry. You'll go viral. I know, but I gotta think of, I'll think of. You're a brilliant man. Don't worry. You'll go viral. But I got to think of, I got to think of, I think, I think you got to think of stuff that people will take issue with. But I don't think that anybody who goes viral with anything knows before they post it that this is the thing. This is what I keep trying to tell you.

It's also consistency like you you have to keep posting and that's part of the formula right like you didn't know that this was going to be the thing i didn't know what exactly would happen but i knew that i had to articulate it in a way that i was like i think my one of the things about my comedy that can when it's at its best it's when i can take an idea that a lot of people um are thinking and be able to articulate it in a way that's funny and subversive and name it yeah you know like uh it. And it was like a lot of people said wow, you're really taking a risk

to put something out there about this. But what I'm saying is terrorism is wrong. That's really all I'm saying. This is not a controversial idea. Right. It shouldn't be. One would think. You know what happened to me. So I posted some stuff of a pro-Israel.

And if Judy Gould were here, she would say, me, me, me, me, me, me, me. But it's related. I posted some pro-Israel stuff. And so this Lebanese woman came at me on my DMs and said, Israel just blew up the hospital, which of course now it's coming out that maybe they didn't. Probably they didn't. And it's just genocide. Or they didn't. They didn't, as far as

me know. Well, I'm 99% sure, but I leave room for the possibility. Anyway, yeah, so, you know, just genocide and whatever. I said, well, I don't think we're going to agree on this, but as I said during our previous episode, I said, Jews and Arabs are cousins and I'm hoping for peace in the family.

That's all I can say because we're not going to have any, you know. So then a few hours later, she sends me another message, you know, well, you know, there's no way that Hamas rocket

could cause this kind of damage and everybody needs to be held responsible, even the chosen people. At which point I said, okay, this conversation is over. Yeah. And then she hit me up

on Facebook. Which maybe she likes you. To continue on Facebook. Maybe she likes you. To continue the conversation. Maybe she thinks you're cute. Yeah. Well, I don't know about that, but the point being is that, what's the point?

The point is that that's kind of a nasty comment, right? To say even the chosen people? It's a bizarre thing that people would feel the need to contact a stranger. Well, no, we aren't strangers. I met her here at the comedy.

Oh, someone you knew. Yeah, somebody I know. Listen, I think that if we're not having conversations in good faith, that there's no point in talking to me. I actually had a conversation that I thought was starting in good faith. And then I quickly realized that this actually was not an exchange of ideas. Like when people start to get nasty and like personal, it's like, OK, goodbye. Like I'm not wasting my time with this. And also, like if we're going to have a conversation, let's talk about what I am specifically saying or what you are specifically

saying don't uh say well you said this and that implies or the implication of this or that means no like you're putting that on what i'm saying talk about what i'm directly literally talking i think there is a place for saying we're we probably shouldn't be having this conversation i mean it's not there's no point in having this conversation if, you know, you just want to, like, bombard me with, like, I don't know, pictures of, like, charred bodies. Like, I can do the same thing. I can send you pictures of dead babies also. Like, to what end?

And it's definitely destroying some friendships and business relationships. Absolutely. Also, a lot of people aren't saying shit. Like when Charlie Hebdo, you know, the shooting of Charlie Hebdo in Paris. Which, by the way, I was in Paris for the Charlie Hebdo shoot. Just by coincidence. Such a humble brag. Well, I don't know.

Is that a humble brag? Anybody can go to Paris. Well brag? Anybody can go to Paris. Well, not anybody can go to Paris. A couple hundred bucks on... But not Charlie Hebdo. But I happen to be there for Charlie Hebdo. Yeah. But that was a coincidence.

But everybody was just sweet charling up a storm. And a lot of those people that said just sweet Charlie had nothing to say about this. Now, I understand that this is a lot of those people that said, just sweet Charlie, had nothing to say about this. Now, I understand that this is a lot more controversial. There's nothing you can say. If you say, I pray for all the innocent lives, that will get some hostile. You just post, I just, I, you know, weep and pray and that no more innocent life is lost. That will get you a harsh reaction.

Somebody will say, innocent life, the Israelis aren't innocent, they're settlers, or the Palestinians aren't innocent, they voted for Hamas. So even a statement that kind of benign will get a hostile reaction. So it's no wonder people aren't saying anything. People are treating this like it's a football match

with one side versus the other. It's sick, it's really sick. It's very sick. And also, I don't think people realize, like the vast majority of people that want to take sides or like especially like young people with the Free Palestine movement, I don't think they're realizing like a lot of the rhetoric

is so incredibly damaging and scary for Jewish people. And like for- I think that's the point. Well. And like for a lot of... I think that's the point. Well, I think for a lot of these kids, it's maybe in the same way you have these big, you know, world politic sort of things come up like the war in the Ukraine or, you know, the resistance in Iran or these big things,

these big global issues that are really popular and everyone's talking about and everyone's fighting for for like a couple weeks. And then it's, it's sort of, it fades away. But the way that Jewish people are being treated right now and the amount of shit they're getting and the things that are floating out there and the things that are being said, those are things that I think a lot of Jewish people are going to remember for a long time. What, for example, would you say would fall into that category? I think a lot of people don't understand why Israel even exists. Well, they think it shouldn't be there.

Exactly. They think it's an apartheid state that shouldn't be there. Exactly. There shouldn't be a state that calls itself a Jewish state. Right. Because the United States— I don't even think they know that much, Dan, to be honest with you. From what I've been able to discern on the internet in the past week and a half,

I don't even think that their knowledge goes that far. I just think that it's one side or the other side, and there's no understanding of any of the history or the conflict or any of it. I mean, I hear people talking, and none of these people have ever been to Israel. They just have no idea. And they also conflate the Palestinian people with Hamas. Like there's no like distinction between you can be pro-Israel and also be pro-Palestinian, but be against terrorist organization like Hamas, right? But to be honest, on the flip side, I have several very close Arab and Muslim friends

who are absolutely appalled by Hamas's attack on Israel. That doesn't mean we're not equally upset when Palestinian children are killed. Like, God forbid, it's horrible. So I think, why is that fucking complicated for people to understand? Like, are you that seriously dense that you can't make that distinction?

It's a radicalization through social media. I think you end up living in an echo chamber and you end up seeing the most extreme versions of each side of the story. I try to look at some of the videos and things that some of my friends who are into the free Palestine side of the argument. And it's all like the depiction of Israel is always these like the craziest, most radical settlers who like are, you know, you know, inactive, like that small, really radical fringe part of Israel. And on the other side, what we're seeing, or what Israelis are seeing is these like the most the craziest college protests with like girls screaming glory to the murders. You know, like, like, we're seeing the most radicalized side of each side of the situation. And the vast majority of people just want these two groups of people and these people just want to live in peace. Yeah, I mean, I think that's the thing that as you both have spent time in Israel that you know that, as you have said,

I mean, we're cousins, right? Like, we really are. And the people who were massacred on the kibbutz were the most left-wing sort of peacenik. We used to shop at each other's markets, right? Like, one of the elderly couples that was taken, kidnapped, used to sit at the border and drive people in and out for medical treatment. So Hamas doesn't distinguish. I think part of what your video resonated with so much was that like Hamas hates you too. Right. Like Hamas doesn't care if you're left wing or pro-Palestinian.

They're not a secular movement. And that's the part of it that's funny. That's the part of it that's ironic. Okay. Well, the part of the funniest part was when you said that it's like my boyfriend. Yeah, but you don't understand him.

He's, you know, he can be nice too. Oh my God, Dan, I can't believe you think I'm funny. What an honor. I didn't know you had such a high opinion of my opinion. Oh, absolutely. We all have a high, high, uh.

Okay, so. Can we talk about Power Gay? Yes. Yeah. So Daniel's history is very interesting, his story. Oh, okay. I didn't know this. Okay. Well, I. Oh, okay. I didn't know this. Okay.

Well, I've been... So he's been documenting his personal story. Well, all right. Well, I was just about to. Oh, okay. You want me to... He can do it. Yeah, sure.

No, better from him than you. Go ahead. Okay. Well, my show is about the past year and a half of my life. I've been living in Europe and, you know, living my life. And I had a drinking problem for quite a little while. And I also was very overweight. I've lost 230 pounds in the past 16 months.

I used to be over 400 pounds. Wow. Yeah. And you look good, by the way, because a lot of people lose that kind of weight and they look fat bastard from when Fat Bastard lost weight in the Austin Powers movie. I've had

plastic surgery. Okay. Which he also documented. Well, in any case, you look good. Thank you. And I'm young still. I'm healthy. How did you lose 230 pounds? I had gastric sleeve. Okay.

And yeah, so I talk all about this process. You still can't get rid of the Canadian accent. Awaking my inner power gay the past year and a half. Yeah. And it's also about my travels and dating and sex and sobriety and also living in Berlin. You know, Berlin's a really crazy city. You can really easily slip into some bad, unhealthy habits there.

So I talk all about that. It resonates a lot with people. Like a lot of people from AA come to my show as well. How did you get sober? Sorry. I just sort of snapped out of it. Wow. Well, you have a rock bottom.

Well, I was 420 pounds and i was kind of a rock you know i was really unhappy and you know the thing is i was really it's amazing how you can sort of compartmentalize problems in your life and not really think about them and sort of be in denial like for me i because you have to because like certain things can be so painful and so difficult that you just sort of you just sort of ignore them because you have to because certain things can be so painful and so difficult that you just sort of ignore them because you have to keep living. You have to pay your rent. You have to work.

And so I was really suffering and I didn't really realize it. And I think that's one of the reasons I drank so much was because I was in so much physical pain. I had to sort of disconnect from my body. May I recommend, do you drink a lot of coffee? I found caffeine is very helpful for my mood.

Oh, I love coffee. You know, something I've just started doing in the past several months is drinking coffee, which I never drank. And I find it's a mood enhancer. It's fabulous. Yeah, that's coffee. I do drink caffeine. And every now and then I'll take a sleeping pill.

Otherwise, I's coffee. I do drink caffeine. And every now and then I'll take a sleeping pill. Otherwise, I'm sober. Well, I'm going to give you a pass on the caffeine and the sleeping pill. Now, I don't know if your AA counts. I would do so. I'm not in AA. Okay. But, you know, people talk a lot about, I mean, fat people. That's the last prejudice, right?

I mean, like, you can make fun of fat people. And generally speaking, it's okay. People consider it okay. I don't think so. Just play along. Anyway. Well, the people say, well, if you're fat, lose weight. I mean, what can we understand about how difficult that is for people?

Yeah. I got to tell you, going through the world as someone who's over 400 pounds to someone who's under 200 pounds within the course of like a year, it is a completely different reality. Wow. Completely different. by bartenders, waiters, any sort of customer service person, the way you're treated on planes or buses or, you know, in public spaces where people are sitting next to you. I didn't realize how badly I was treated by people. It was especially realized like the past couple months, I've really seen it. I've really, really noticed the difference. You know, even if you have a couple really bad experiences, once like once a month or something, these experiences compound over years

and years and you end up going through life just thinking that the world is this horribly cruel place and it and it can be you know you know i i sometimes wonder how life would be if i woke up tomorrow looking like brad pitt from uh what's that movie where he he gets hit by a car and then he comes back i have no idea you know he gets hit by a car just invented a broad no no it's with anthony hop Oh, Meet Joe Black. Which I think was, I'm not gay, I want to underline, not that there's anything wrong with it, but I think he's the hottest that he's ever been in that movie.

That to me is his hottest movie. Nicole, do you concur? No, I think Seven was his hottest movie. Oh, yeah. But that was roughly, I don't think that was too many years distance, so we're about mid-thirties I think, which I think is the hottest. I think for guys is the... I'm in my mid-30s.

Well, Nicole, what do you think age-wise is the hottest age for a man? I feel like your opinion is stronger here than mine. You have a lot of ideas about this. Yeah, maybe I do. But certainly you would have an opinion, I would imagine. Would I? I don't know. I guess it really depends. I feel like some guys look better older than other guys.

It's really a mixed bag. Well, in the case of Brad Pitt, it's meet Joe Black. So anyway. That answer didn't work out quite how you were hoping it would, huh? I thought you would say like 35-40. That's what I thought. Too old. That's really, yeah, that's a lot of weight in a very short period of time.

And also the gays, as we know, are very superficial. Right. I don't know. What was dating? I mean. Well, yeah, it was interesting because I think that. Well, men are superficial. Are gays any more superficial than men in general?

Yes. It says that gays are all, gay men are all men. Gay men are more superficial. So this is my theory, okay? I think that men are very visual in terms of what they're into sexually. The difference between gay men and straight men is that straight men don't usually have that many male friendships. And so their girlfriend or their wife usually is like their best friend. So they're a little more open in terms of wanting to be with a woman who is also kind and caring and supportive. And so they're a little broader in terms of what they're into physically,

because who that person is in their heart really matters to them. It matters to straight men. It matters to straight men. But gay men are like women in the sense that they have all these different friendships and social groups where they get a lot of love and support and validation. So the guy that they're into he's gonna be hot he's got to be hot or at the very least fulfill some sort of social status role in his life do you feel that's the case with you and your taste well uh okay so but that's sort of why this is my idea for why gay guys are come across as more shallow but i didn't say shallow well uh official super no focus on

visual and looks okay well here's the thing i when i was heavier i i did have guys that were into me but they were into me because i was bigger yeah so they had right the bear you were bear i guess i was a cub because i was a young bear oh yeah. Yeah. But I think, but it's funny, like now I saw, I've seen some of these guys that I used to hook up with. And I remember thinking, oh, they're going to like me more because I've lost weight and I'm healthier. No, it had nothing to do with what was in my heart. It was completely, you know, the look that I had.

Yeah. So this is something that you have to navigate but overall i think that you know there's gonna be i i think that that this is unfortunately how the world works you know and how men are if you know if you if you don't look the way someone is you know sexually attracted to there there's pretty much no chance. It's not going to happen. You're not going to win them over. So maybe now there'll be more opportunities out there.

Now, would I be a daddy at this point in the gay world? I think you would be in the... What would you be? Are you hairy? Because that also determines things. Yeah, but I... Would you be like an otter? I use, you know, what's the word?

The decapital, whatever, you know, hair removal thing. Ah, okay. So then you're not an otter. But I, yeah. You would be, well, since you're, like, I'm sure when you were. But in my natural state, I'm hairy enough. When you were younger, you were probably a twink because you're skinny and cute. So you're a rat.

You're a rapidly aging twink. Okay. But if you grew out like your beard, then you would be more a daddy. Yeah, you could be a daddy. Well, but it's nice to know there's a place for everybody in the gay tent. It's a big tent, right? It's a bigger tent than the straight male tent. We love labels. We love animal labels. It's a zoo. The straight men have no real equivalent. I mean, we talk about chubby chasers, and they exist, certainly, but I don't know if... They might just be a very tiny minority.

I don't know. Is the straight man as... Is there as much variety? No, the gay man is much more evolved than the straight man. Yeah, we are more defined. Well, I... Defined height. I think they're also much more sophisticated

in many ways than the straight man. But I'm saying, are their tastes more varied? If you have bears and twinks and... Yes. There's more variety, but then also people are really hung up on what type they like. Is this discussed in Power Gay?

I have routines about this a little bit yeah but um uh yeah there's all sorts of things i talk about dating and sex and everything yeah yeah so i'm sorry i was going to say is it so exciting to be doing your shows in new york it's been my dream i've been working towards this for a year. Yeah, really, the whole everything. It doesn't sound like that long to be working towards something. Uh-huh.

Yeah, but you know, it's... But he's young enough that a year is actually a long time for him. Step by step by step. A year to me is nothing. Yeah. A decade to me is like a year used to be. When I was in my 20s...

What are you in your 30s? I'm 38. Yeah, when I was in my 20s and 30s, the time just was slow. And then, about 35, the afterburners kicked in. I feel like a lot of my... The 90s took forever. I felt like I was in the

90s for like, for decades, essentially. Really? Yeah, the 90s took forever. Was it a good time? It was good and bad, but overall, it was good. What was the best? I'll tell you what was good about the 90s. I was young and all possibilities were open.

But did you feel that way then? I felt like I was convinced I was going to be a star. Convinced. You couldn't talk me out of it. Oh, that's good. I like that. I would like that version of you because what I always tell you is that you never seem to be able to appreciate the success that you currently have. You're so poo-poo-er, like your famous line, that it's like being the best basketball player at the Yeshiva.

But what was that line in response to? When I said there are so many comics that would kill for like half of what you've achieved. Oh, I see. Yes. And then you don't. Well, all right. I mean, you know, that's valid. But I'm saying in the 90s.

Let's get back to the 90s. Well, just because we were on the 90s, you know. I loved the 90s. The 90s, I had that. Everything was possible. And I liked the music. So that combined with Jewel made the 90s for me. And others.

I like Jewel. I've been asking her to try to get Jewel. Did you ever read Jewel's poetry book? No. Hilarious. That might make you less so. Well, I would read it if we could get her on the show. Okay, I'm going to try.

I've been a little bit distracted with the war, to be honest. It took everything I had to get Professor... Professor Khalid. Yeah, we just had on Professor Rashid Khalid. Khalidi. Rashid Khalidi. No, he's not from The Cosby Show. That's Felicia Rashad.

Felicia Rashad. That is exactly who I thought of when that came up. Yeah, and he is Palestinian-American, although he had a Canadian accent, I thought. No, he had a New York accent. Whatever. And it was very stress-inducing because Noam challenges people. Noam, you know, the owner of the comedy club, he doesn't let anything slide.

He was like, no, no, you didn't say that. Like, he said, oh, he's been doing interviews all week, this guy, on various, you know, because he's like an expert. Right. So Noam's like, well, you said that, you know, the Israelis target hospitals. He said, I didn't say that. He said, he's been doing interviews all week, this guy, on various because he's like an expert. Noam's like, well, you said that the Israelis target hospitals. I didn't say that. Noam said, Nicole, play the clip. Then he plays the clip. Is that what happened just before I came here? I was like really

on edge the whole time. I said, I can't wait until the Daniel episode where we can all relax. You have a hard time when people get confrontational? Yes, I do. Oh, I love it. Yeah. I love it.

You would have enjoyed it. I watch The Real Housewives. I love a good fight. I love a good argument. It's so much fun. No, I back the fuck down. Oh, yeah. But again, and even watching other people.

Were you anxious, Nicole? I know Perrielle was. Yeah, this show has single-handedly put me in therapy from the anxiety I experienced listening to you guys fight. Wow. Are you serious? No, not really. It does make me mad anxious.

It reminds me of my dad and fighting about politics. I don't know. This thing is so close to me, too, that I think I'm particularly on edge in general. And I also it makes me so upset because I, you know, I have this real like deep yearning for peace. And I have so many Arab and Muslim friends that I love so much. And my family was killed in the Holocaust and, you know, did, you know, Israel was built on their backs also. So it is, I, I very close to home and it's really upsetting. Um, but I thought he was extremely interesting and Rashid, uh, yes,

professor Khalidi. And I also, as as I said I gave him a lot of credit for coming on our show which you know he didn't have to do and also I think is part of what what makes it possible to get past all of this is like if you can't have those conversations um by the way I did want to tell you that I got such obnoxious messages on Instagram that made me laugh so hard. From your pro-Israel posts? Yeah. Well, I would imagine, you know. Would you have?

Of course. As I said, you can't. There's nothing you can say. I've gotten the craziest messages. There's nothing you can say about this conflict. I turned off my messaging, but people would come, people would leave me messages on posts that were unrelated because I turned off messaging on the

posts about Israel. How little support is Israel and are you just Jewish people? I think you're, but I think the noise of the internet makes you think that more than the reality. I think that's true too. I've also gotten some really beautiful and supportive messages from my friends of all walks of life. I want to read you what this was.

So I posted something that said, I can tell you from years of personal experience that there are a few things more fun than fucking an Israeli soldier. Well, I could have told you that was going to get a lot of responses because you're invoking a soldier, the people that they hate the most. And you're giving them, you know, you're fucking. Sexualizing or fetishizing. But you know what? It's true. Those Israeli guys are just the best. Well, she didn't say an Israeli male soldier.

Oh, that is true. She didn't say that. And somebody wrote, I'm sure this post resonates with all the families of dead children. Yeah, I could have told you we're going to get

that kind of response. And I wrote back, do you really think all the families are following me? In their mind... Oh, I love that. In their mind,

if you had posted, if somebody posted, you know, oh, it's so great to fuck a hamas operative that is that is how they interpret what you said now you you can argue that and i would not make that comparison but they think that well then don't make that comparison but that is i'm saying that's the same thing they think it is and that i'm just saying i would have expected a lot of harsh responses to that to that post when you. Because to them, it's like saying,

oh, I fucked a Hamas operative. That to them... Stop saying Hamas operative. Well, what else? What other word is there? Operative. Hamas operative. Getting back to Power Gay

is really why we're here. Okay. Well, we're here for Power Gay and for, you know... Hamas operative. For Hamas operative. For fucking Hamas operatives. For Hamas operatives. So what other subjects? You discussed your weight and your sobriety.

But also his plastic surgery, which is insane. Okay, all right. Let's talk about that a little bit. Yeah, I've had a lot done. And the videos are unbelievable. I mean, you flew to Turkey? Yes, for my facelift. I had my hair transplants in Turkey and my facelift in Turkey.

So the hair has nothing to do with the weight loss, obviously. Yeah, I had a receding hairline. And so I decided, I think I ended up on some sort of like spammer list or something, or like a lead generated list they were looking for influencers and i had gotten contacted by all these different turkish hair transplant places like there was like five of them contacting me in a week so i got there they you know some lead generator found me but one of them was really great and i had a meeting with them digitally and i decided to just go for it. And so I had that done.

Was that painful? It was. That was the most painful of all the procedures I had. Because they basically take 5,000 hairs from the back of your head. They like scoop them out. Does that kill? Does that kill?

Yeah. Does it hurt? Oh, no. How does it kill like a comedian? They put local anesthesia in so you don't feel it. The only part that hurts is when they put the needle in for the anesthesia. You feel that.

So they scoop out like 5,000 hairs and then they inject them into the front of your head. But are you done now? Once you get a hair transplant, it's like you don't need to go back for touch-ups? I think they put in enough that I won't need to go back for touch-ups or how does that i think they put in enough that i won't need to but you also have to get um you have to take medicine there's a you

know like a pill uh that you have to take and then um you have to you know make sure you use a special shampoo and then you also have to get prp once a month or so like for the first year prp it's uh this thing where they take your blood and they spin it to make plasma. It's like protein rich plasma and then they inject that into your head to help the hair follicles strengthen.

So I get that done. Would you have done the hair transplant if you weren't in show business? Do you think that being on stage is the major reason why? I wanted to look better. I realized that, you know, I just feel like I lost a lot of time, like being wrapped up with this drinking problem

and just being in a negative headspace for so long. And so I kind of wanted, I honestly kind of wanted to just sort of go back in time a little and restart my 30s. Well, you're not that, you know, you're not that far away from. Exactly. You know. Yeah. So I just want the, I just want to go, go forward with my life being the best possible version of me. And the facelift is because when you lose weight, the face, you get a lot of like that skin. Oh, it was awful. I looked sick. I had like real lots of skin on my neck and my face i looked like an old man like by the time i had lost about 150 pounds it was very it was very um i couldn't live with it i thought to myself maybe i can accept this but i i really couldn't i couldn't

live the rest of my life looking like a 60 year old like it was not i couldn't do it so the guy who owned the hair transplant clinic he's a famous plastic surgeon in istanbul that's like sort of a business he owns but he has his own plastic surgery clinic so i had already done this uh like uh this transplant with him documenting that oh wow and so I got it for 50% off. Wow. Yeah. Do you, do you think there's any way you could have lost the weight without the gastric surgery?

No, it was too hard. When you get that big, it's really, it's impossible. And I, and I needed to hear the doctor tell me you need this surgery. Like I could have probably lost 150 pounds on my own or maybe

like 100 pounds on my own but to actually maintain a normal weight uh like you you need and like it would have like it would have taken everything in me i would have to dedicate my life to it for like a solid year for years and years to get to where I am now. What, did you have the gastric sleeve in Turkey also? No, I had that in Germany. It was covered by my health care. By the way, that's not like an easy thing either. I have a very close relative who had that.

Like that shit is no joke. It's not like, oh, I'll just go get gastric sleeve surgery. Yeah, you have to prepare months for it how do you prepare for that well you have to go to nutrition courses um you have to to go through a lot of different tests you have they have to check your pancreas and your liver you have lots of blood work you have to do um they have to check your heart and your lungs and make sure that you can handle being under anesthesia um so it's a lot of uh lots of testing and then you also have to go for counseling too um and you have to fill out uh like you know they have to show that you're exercising and that's really all good i wonder if they do that in America. Probably not. I think this was because it was covered

by my health insurance. A lot of these things were a part of that. So if you were just self-paid, maybe you wouldn't have had to do it. Yeah, or they might have been able to do it sooner. And the effect of this surgery is that you eat less. Your appetite is less. They cut out

80% of my stomach and threw it away. So you're not as hungry. I have a 20% stomach. 20% of a normal person's stomach. So you just don't eat much. I don't eat very much. But I honestly, the reason the surgery worked so well is because I didn't really have a problem with food. I was drinking.

Like all my calories, all my extra calories were alcohol. What were you drinking? How much were you drinking? I was drinking a lot. Yeah. Wait, but how does this affect your drinking? How. What were you drinking? How much were you drinking? I was drinking a lot. Yeah. Wait, but how does this affect your drinking? Huh? How does this affect your drinking? You can't drink.

Calories. So you have less craving for alcohol? No, I stopped. No, you got sober first. Are you paying attention? I'm paying attention. But you're saying you're drinking. You meant alcoholic drinking.

Yes. So once you got sober, that was not sufficient to help you lose weight? I did lose a lot of weight. The first three months, from the time I stopped drinking to my surgery, I think I lost 65 pounds. And then after that, I lost another 160. From after the... Yeah, yeah. But it doesn't affect your craving for alcohol

one way or the other you have to get sober yeah they don't on your own yeah but usually when you get this surgery you shouldn't be drinking at least for a year because your stomach is so small the alcohol like you would get so hammered like right away and there's also a risk of um becoming like a lot of people do end up with drinking problems after this you have to really i had to do a lot of spiritual work and work on myself developmentally because it's massive changes in your life it's really like a new i feel like a different person i'm like in a parallel dimension yeah you might i was thinking you must feel sometimes like you're living in like some surrealist absolutely like a new, I feel like I'm like in a parallel dimension. Yeah. You might, I was thinking you must feel sometimes like you're living in like some surrealist.

Absolutely. Like a twilight zone. It is exactly like that. It's, it's fascinating. I want to write a book about it or maybe like, I think it would be a great idea for a TV show too. Yeah,

it is. There's certainly a book deal in it for you. Yeah. Do you sometimes look like in the mirror and don't recognize yourself in the beginning? Um, no, and don't recognize yourself in the beginning um no i don't have that problem i feel like i look like myself now like this is actually how i always thought i looked like oh that's so it's actually like it's um you have no idea what it's like to go through your entire life not liking the way you look and not feeling like what's on the outside matches what's on the

inside and then for people to really see you and know what you how you how you look and to see you for you it's it's I I'm so happy I get sad sometimes seeing old photos of myself because I I didn't realize how unhappy I was. Were you a heavy kid? Yeah, I was. Yeah. Well, you know how kids are, you know, they're not exactly compassionate or understanding.

On a related note, tomorrow I'm getting my hair colored. Oh, yeah, can we talk about that? Are you? No, I like it. Aruba Ray Allen said, you know, you should get your hair colored. You look younger. What color? I don't know, but he said I'll pay for it for one session. I said, okay, you'll pay for should get your hair colored. You look younger. What color? I don't know.

But he said, I'll pay for it for one session. I said, okay, you pay for it. Fine, I'll do one session. We'll see how it goes. Yeah, maybe. Give it a try. Now, wait a second. Yeah.

Where are you going? He has a good place. I mean, I have the address on my phone, but it doesn't matter. No, no, no. But you're not just going to walk into a place. No, he has the place that he recommended. And he felt I look younger and better, and especially in show business, it would be helpful. I just want to say that there is, just so that you know,

some cachet for your salt and pepper. Oh, I love it. It's a good look. I love salt and pepper. We'll see. It won't last forever. No, I'm excited. We'll see the difference

yeah totally you know the only thing I'm slightly concerned about is that people will say what the fuck did you do because I'm gray enough that it might be obvious

well it is going to be obvious well is there a way to do it where it's like it's like there's still a little salt and pepper but it's you know no not really

maybe you could just try to keep the sides no that's going to look crazy no it'll look weird no and then the roots will start to come in correct but maybe you could just try to keep the sides. That's going to look crazy. No, it'll look weird. And then the roots will start to come in. Maybe you could just do a temporary wash. Because then that just affects the gray.

You could just go to CVS and do that. Yeah, now I'm a little concerned that the roots are going to come in and look stupid. Well, I don't know if they're going to look stupid, but they're definitely going to come in. With a temporary wash, it'll just highlight the gray so it'll look very natural. Well, hopefully he's taking you to a place where they know what they're doing. Well, I hope so. Yeah, now I'm a little bit nervous about it.

Well, I think that you should definitely take pictures and put them on Instagram. Well, you know what? Life is for the living. Sometimes you have to take risks. Yeah, we'll see if maybe it'll be like you said. You know, of course, unlike you said that all of a sudden people started treating you better. I mean, I didn't always have gray hair, so I've noticed no difference in how I'm being treated. And how you're being treated.

So I don't think it'll make a difference there, but who knows? We'll see if maybe more women come up to me after the show. I don't know. Do you think that you would ever get plastic surgery? No. I mean, well, I mean, if I had, you know, an accident, you know. No, but like. No, I mean, no.

I don't know. I mean, for years I thought about a nose job. But the problem with that is I see people with nose jobs. They look generally, they look like nose jobs. And, you know, you can tell them a mile away. Yeah. I'm very glad that you didn't get a nose job. You know, if I could get the nose that I wanted, that I could pick it out of a catalog and it would be perfect. Yeah, I'm very glad that you didn't get a nose job. If I could get the nose that I wanted,

that I could pick it out of a catalog and it would be perfect, that's one thing. But they can't do that. They're going to give you a nose that's going to look like Seth Green. Right. Here's the thing. Anybody know who I'm talking about? We're treading in dangerously anti-Semitic territory right now. Oh. Wait a second. Are you

done with plastic surgery or is there anything else? I have to get more skin removed. Yeah. On my inner thighs. And another, I had it on my chest and my stomach, but I need more as well on my stomach again. And that must be like a very painful process. Yeah. But you know, it was really gory.

Yeah. It was really gory. I dedicate, I did it this June. I dedicated a month for the healing and everything. And it was like, oh my God. I don't even want to get into it. But it was gory. It was a lot of blood.

Get into it. It was a lot of blood. By the way, if you just interject, Seth Green has the same nose as Eric Carman. That's the kind of nose that, you know. Eric Carman, all by myself. Don't want to be. Is it a nice nose?

It's okay, but it looks like a nose job. I like a nose. Me too. I like a person's nose. Absolutely. I don't care about it anymore, but I used to. But again, I was like, eh, they're not going to give me a good one. What if a Rupert Ray offered to pay for you? No, no, no. I wouldn't care about it anymore but I used to but again I was like eh they're not going to give me a good one what if a Rupert Ray offered to pay for you

no no no I wouldn't do it I wouldn't do any other plastic surgery I love plastic surgery I think it's so ridiculous when people are judgy of people getting plastic surgery it's like we live in this society where everyone's supposed to look young and hot forever

do you think that's just going to happen magically like We live in this society where everyone's supposed to look young and hot forever. Right, right, right. Do you think that's just going to happen magically? We're just supposed to take some little cream at night and we're just going to look 30 forever. Well, what I do object to in 99% of cases are breast implants. Really? Because I think that small breasts have a charm of their own that should be celebrated. What about? I mean, in the case of a mastectomy or whatever.

You'll make an exception? Well, it's not my call to make. People can do what they want. But I'm saying as a general matter, women should not get breast implants. Okay. Because I think small breasts are great too. I mean, I couldn't agree, you know, because I think small breasts are great too. I mean, I couldn't agree with you more, but I think that. And oftentimes they're ridiculously large and stupid looking.

But the thing is, we only see the plastic surgery that's bad. So many people get plastic surgery and they just keep it as a secret. You don't know. And you would never know because it's done well. Well, you know, with the breasts, they got to keep it reasonable. You can't be like flat and then they give you a D cup

and then it just looks, it looks like there's two water balloons in there. Well, yeah, I mean, those people are not, I mean, those doctors are,

that's insane. Okay, I agree with you, but I think the thing for me and why I haven't gotten any work done and I'm naturally as good. Gorgeous. Thank you.

Is because I feel like I. Because you're married. No, no, no, no. I feel like I am never going to look as good as I looked when I was in my twenties and thirties. And I like, I'm you, you, it's like, you're trying to look like you were then like,

I'm not going to look like that. I'm going to look like somebody who, I don't know. It's, um, and I don't begrudge any, but like most of my girlfriends have had, who are my age have had work done.

And some of them look great and you can't tell to your point. And some of them, it's like you're going to start looking like Michael Jackson. Because you start to not realize. You start to lose kind of – you get a little bit of – Dysmorphia. Yeah. Well, you can fight aging to some extent, but eventually, you know, I mean, there's only so much you can do to look younger.

Yeah. I mean, you are young, Daniel, so, you know... But maybe youth shouldn't be the goal. Well, but unfortunately, youth, we're hardwired because youth is fertility. So we're hardwired to be attracted to that, but unfortunately, youth, we're hardwired because youth is fertility. So we're hardwired to be attracted to that, I think, especially more so with women than with men, I think, because, you know, men are fertile. Right. Older.

Yeah, I think, you know, as long as you're happy with yourself, that's all that matters. It's your body. People can do whatever they want with their body. Well, that may be more a question of psychiatry than surgery in a lot of cases definitely but sometimes you can be at whole with yourself and at peace with yourself

but there's something physical that's just not working in your case you've said it's made a great deal of impact on your psyche which is wonderful I think your story is very inspiring thank you i give you a lot of credit for being so open and sharing it you're probably helping a lot of people that's the that's how you help yourself heal is by helping others it's very important i think i agree with you know sometimes you go through things and you think oh

my god like this is so freaking awful like why the hell do I have to deal with this it's because eventually you'll be able to tell people how you got through it and help them and help them right I do feel like with what's going on right now um with this war one of the things that is really helping me get through it is to try and be helpful. I think that's great. Where in Kansas are you from, by the way? I was raised in Vancouver. Oh, West Coaster, huh? Yeah.

I've been doing comedy for 15 years since I was in my... Right after university I started. Yeah. But most of it, my career, has been in Europe. I just got an O-1 visa to be able to work in the United States this year. O-1 means you're extraordinarily talented.

We can't live without you. Yeah, that one. Yeah, so I have that for three years. Oh, I love that. So yeah, I launched my show this week, and then I'm going to be doing club work and stuff and building up my career in the U.S. Okay, well, welcome to the USA.

You're hardly the only Canadian around in this business. There's quite a few. There's Henry Sir, who works here, Nathan McIntosh, Ophira Eisenberg. Yeah, I know them. Graham Kay. You know Graham? Yeah, you guys are funny. I'd be lying if i said i appreciated the competition

but the canadians are nice people at least if you were assholes i would have a real problem can i tell you one more thing i just want to say yeah you know it's really important i think one of the best things like anyone who knows israel or israeli israeli people and has been there, people really are happy and living good lives there. And I think that that's also something to remember when you go through really hard times. And that's why it's so important to be happy in your life, because those happy memories are really what gets you through the bad times. And my friends in Israel, they're the most wonderful, beautiful people. And they have such great relationships with their family and community is so important.

And people being together and having meals together and celebrating life. And all of those happy, good memories, that's going to be what gets people through this really hard time. But I also think that like actually helping and like doing something to yeah be kind and rebuild and be a little bit of light yeah um is to to be a little bit of light and that is what people are doing like the outpouring of supports and it's

it's amazing so people we're gonna get through it so where can people find you on what's your instagram daniel ryan spalding uh on instagram tiktok facebook youtube and my show is at red eye ny uh starting october 20th and running all throughout november uh and uh you can find all the information on my social media. Okay, Daniel Ryan Spaulding, thank you for coming. Thanks for having me.

Oh, yeah, sure. We wouldn't miss it. Thank you, Perrielle. And that is it for today. We'll see you next time. Bye-bye. Bye-bye.