The Comedy Cellar: Live from the Table - Gary Gulman, Nick Griffin, and Ryan Hamilton

Episode Date: November 15, 2018

With Noam away, Dan Danturman takes the helm with guests Nick Griffin, Gary Gulman, Ryan Hamilton, and Mike Finioia!

You're listening to The Comedy Cellar, live from the table, on the Riotcast Network, riotcast.com. It's The Comedy Cellar Show, live. No, it's not live. It's live from the table, the official podcast of The Comedy Cellar, coming to you on SiriusXM 99, Roddug. And this, of course, is Dan Natterman filling in for Noam, the normal host. Noam decided to take the week off for reasons that are unknown, but to him.

But I think he's just kind of exhausted with everything that's going on, so it's just me tonight, which means there'll probably be, well, there will be less of a political angle to the show, which some of you probably will be disappointed, and I invite you to turn it off if you don't like it.

But I tend to talk more about comedy and the comedy cellar and the lives of the comedians and we might do some politics, too. I have today a wonderful group that I have assembled, handpicked. Mr. Nick Griffin is here with us. Thank you. Good to be here, Dan. Comedy podcast rarity,

Gary Goleman. I convinced to stop by. Hi, Dan. Comedy podcast rarity, Gary Goleman. I convinced to stop by. Hi, Dan. Nice to see you. And even more rare on comedy podcasts, and we're lucky to have him, is Mr. Ryan Hamilton, who had to be drag kicking and screaming, but here he is. Hi. You know, when I found out my friends were here, I came along.

Well, Ryan rightly points out that there's really nothing in it for him. That's exactly how he put it. He said, what's in it for me, he asked. What's in it for me, financially, career-wise? I was stumped. I had no good answer for him. It's not just this podcast. I don't want to send that message.

Podcasts in general, all of them. Let me send that message. I hear you. Now, maybe if a podcast had millions and millions and millions of listeners Even then Ryan's not interested Tell him what I always say My favorite theory At some point I said, why do we have to go on all these podcasts and share all our secrets?

And that stuck with Gary It's so true, it's right on the money Because I sometimes will go on these podcasts and I will share these very deep meaningful things and sort of personal things and then I'll see the person at a comedy festival

and I'll think, I wonder if they remember me. Even though I opened up and shared things I only share with my therapist. Like, well this person, I wonder if this person will remember me. Yeah, I get it. It makes for interesting listening, I guess. Oh, absolutely.

I do want to hit on something. I was going to hit on it last week, but Noam got so deep, so deep, deep, deep into Trump, as he always does. And once he's off and running on Trump, there's no coming back. Donald? That's the one, yes. Okay. Not the on Trump. There's no coming back. Donald? That's the one, yes. Not the other Trump. But I do want to discuss the Comedy Cellar TV show.

This week at the Comedy Cellar on Comedy Central. It debuted three weeks ago. We have discussed it on a previous podcast, but I'd like to get further into it. Nick, has anybody done it yet? I've done it. I'm scheduled for this week. You're scheduled for when? Tomorrow?

Yes. Now, just for the listeners, if you don't know, it's a show on Comedy Central that what it does is we talk about the news of the week, and they record a bunch of comics talking about, doing jokes about the week's headlines and related topics, and then they choose the ones that they want to put on the air. Right. But the Comedy Central also chooses the topics, right? Yeah, but they choose the topics, but you can do, if there's another topic you want to do, you can do it, and they might put it in.

Oh, I see. But there's less of a chance. Right. Because they tend to do the topics in chunks. So they'll say, so this week they'll say, okay, Thanksgiving is a topic. Right. So they'll do a whole chunk of Thanksgiving jokes. Then they'll do a whole chunk, say, of

fire in California jokes. Maybe. Funny stuff. Well, you know, it could be made funny. Yeah. I think I hit a funny angle on it, but I won't divulge because it might get on the show. Right. We'll wait and see. But if it doesn't, I'll divulge

it another time, but... You'll forget. No, I won't forget. I think you should divulge it. might get on the show. We'll wait and see. But if it doesn't, I'll divulge it another time. You'll forget. No, I won't forget. I think you should divulge it. Well, maybe. Why are the people listening if they're not going to get some sort of inside scoop? Well, it's to do with Wesley Snipes fleeing, not from the fire, but they were bill collectors. Nice.

It's terrific. I'm glad you... I didn't get nearly as big a laugh as you gave it. Because I don't think people necessarily know that Wesley Snipes is having financial difficulty. I was going to do Lindsay Lohan, but I don't want to pick on her because I felt she's too fragile. It's not nice. You're piling on. Whereas Wesley has had a free run for a while. Wesley can handle it.

Wesley's not... I can't imagine what his bills must be with that career to be in debt. Well, that's nothing. I mean, people say that Johnny Depp is... Oh, yeah, I read that Vanity Fair, I think it was. I didn't read it. A couple of divorces

will do it to you. But anyway, the point is... It ain't cheap. If you do a topic that's not part of... It's less likely to get in because they prefer to group. But anyway, Nick, how do you feel? You're taping it tomorrow? I am. No, I'm sorry, Wednesday.

And tonight is Monday. This will be airing on Thursday, but we're recording Monday, so you're taping Wednesday. How are you feeling about it? Well, I think that it's harder for me to get a handle on some of the political stuff because it's just not my forte. But I have a couple things that I'm okay with, and I hope they get on. But it took me a while.

You write for yourself, and it's kind of easy after all these years. Not to write great jokes, but just to get into a writing motion. And here it was a little stilted jokes but just to get into a writing motion and here was a little stilted but I think I got it well because normally you wouldn't some of the topics

you might theoretically talk about but when they say for example a topic that you just you would never talk about so it's not natural for you to talk about

for example hey did you hear about I'm trying to think of an example Harley Davidson has an electric car, electric motorcycle. It's just not something I would ever talk about. So it's just not going to be natural for me to talk about it.

But anyway, I find the process, and I don't know if I'm alone or not, I find the whole thing horrifying. Oh, yeah? Really? For a number of reasons. It provokes anxiety in me. First of all, any time I do a new joke, I have anxiety. Sure. And this show is you're doing a bunch of reasons. It provokes anxiety in me. First of all, anytime I do a new joke, I have anxiety. Sure. And this show is,

you're doing a bunch of new jokes. Add to that the aspect of, you don't know that they're going to use these jokes. So now you're like, okay, are they going to use it?

And if they don't use it, in the last two weeks they didn't use any of my jokes, I felt horrible about myself. Sure. And it doesn't take much to convince me that I'm unworthy.

And also, there's only a handful of topics, so a lot of people are going to be writing jokes on those specific topics, and maybe there's only four or five jokes you can really get out of them, and maybe a bunch of people have the same one. But the point is the network or whomever, the producer, is picking

the jokes, and you feel like, wait, why did they pick that joke and not my joke? And then you feel like, oh, shit. I'm trying to... You're talking me out of it, quite frankly. Well, you might have more self-esteem than I do, but it doesn't take much to convince me, again, that maybe it's me. Right. So you guys, Ryan and Gary...

I'm going to try it in a couple of weeks, I think. I just haven't had an opening in my schedule that I had enough time to do it. But I did the pilot, and I kind of enjoyed doing it, the pilot. I mean, I liked going through the exercise. It's not something that I would normally do, and if the show was every week, I don't know how often I would do it. But I don't mind going through the exercise. And, you know, my fear was that I'm doing a 10 to 15 minute set

and I didn't want to give them 10 to 15 minutes because I knew I'd only have a few minutes that I was okay with them. Well, you can tell them, oh, just use this joke, this joke, or this joke. Yeah, so when I found that out, it made me go, okay, I'll give it a try. So I'm going to try it.

Well, you have a good attitude, but he has the Lord in his life, which I think helps. Well, you know what? I feel but he has the Lord in his life. Which I think... Well, you know what? I feel like I have the Lord in my life as well, but I'm much more ambivalent about my relationship with the Lord. What, do you believe in the Lord? Oh, certainly.

Oh, you do? Yeah. For some reason, I thought you were agnostic. No, no. I'm on board with the Lord. Is that a sticker? It's a new T-shirt. Yeah, on board with the Lord. It's a new t-shirt. Yeah, on board with the Lord. No, I believe in the Lord, but I mean, part of it is there's a percentage of Pascal's wager to it

that you've got nothing to lose by believing in God. But there's also a certain amount of faith that I have, and I can't shake. So, yeah. So given that, when are you going to do the Comedy Cellar show? I have ambivalence about doing the Comedy Central show as well. Now why is that, if I may ask? It's a daunting idea to write brand new jokes for a show, and I don't think it's the proper compensation for writing and performing on a television show.

Okay, fair enough. So, yeah. Fair enough, everybody has their own idea of what proper compensation would be. Yeah, something I hate doing, I would want more money to do. Yeah, Fair enough. For me, the money is... Well, you're probably... You're a big act, as Rich Voss would say. I mean, it all depends what other shit you got cooking.

I don't know about that. Well, not only that, but you don't mind going on the road. Right. In fact, you enjoy it. Yeah, I do like the road. If I can make a paycheck and stay... Right. You actually enjoy it. Yes. I love it. Yeah. Oh, my good road. Right. In fact, you enjoy it. Yeah, I do like the road. If I can make a paycheck and stay... You actually enjoy it.

Yes. I love it. Yeah. Oh, my good heavens. Yeah. Yeah. No, I don't. I mean, I wish I was that way.

Yeah. But if I can make a check and keep my bony ass right here in Manhattan... No, I understand that. I will do that. Yeah. Now, you know,

I'm going away tomorrow to Florida. I have a gig on Wednesday. Uh-huh. I will do that. Yeah. Now, you know, I'm going away tomorrow to Florida. I have a gig on Wednesday. I'm going tomorrow. Tomorrow is Tuesday as we record this show. Why, you ask? Why would I go to Florida on Tuesday for a Wednesday show? The answer is I have to separate the twin anxieties of travel and show. No, that's a great point.

I like going in the day early all the time. Yeah, going in the day early makes a big difference. Yeah. I mean, the other thing is it's all based on my mood. So I'm in, you know, I've been feeling well for a while now, so I don't mind traveling. But when I'm, yeah, when I'm anxious and depressed, I don't want to travel.

So I'm just sort of, what is that, making hay while the sun shines? Well, that's also because I'm going to someplace that's reasonably okay. I'm going to Orlando. Right. If I was going to Cincinnati, I may not get in a day early. You have to weigh out. If you're going to be in a nice place, at a nice hotel, I happen to be going to a nice hotel. And the weather will be good.

Yeah. So for that reason, but I'll go a day early. And this way I don't have to be anxious about the show and anxious about traveling at the same time. Yeah. Rest assured, I will be anyway. Right, but less anxious. But less anxious about the show. You'll be less anxious on Tuesday than you are on Wednesday.

Wednesday it'll hit. Wednesday it will hit. Yeah. Is that a corporate event? It is a corporate event, yeah. Do you get relief after the show is done or as you're doing the show? Or is it just... Yeah, after the show is done, it's nice.

I have a drink or whatever. A big check. Yeah, the check is on its way. It's a good feeling. It's a wonderful feeling. Well, that feeling when you kind of glance at your watch. I don't know if you time yourself normally, but I have a watch. And I have a joke about that includes a watch watch so I get to look at my watch.

You need one of those. I look at that watch and I see five minutes left to go. It's kind of like on a Friday at school. Friday afternoon, yes. You're looking at that clock and you know that bell's going to ring. We used to get out at 2.11

and I would always say I close shop at 2.11, and I would always say, I close shop at 2. So even if the teacher was giving notes, looking back on it, it was a pretty funny thing for a kid to do. I would close my book, stop taking notes, and the people would say, what are you doing? And I would say, I close shop at 2 on a Friday. That is funny. It's adorable. I really like that kid.

I would start packing a couple, like when it's a couple minutes, I would start putting the pencils in my pencil case and closing the, you know, get ready, but I wouldn't officially close shop. You do turn off.

I don't know what I would do if there was a test. I can't imagine that they would give a test last period on a Friday, but. Well, look, even the teacher wants to get the hell out of it. Oh, my gosh. You think they want to be there? Totally. You didn't think about that back then.

No, you didn't know. Now you realize that they hate these kids. Yeah, they didn't like it any more than we did. They were like the prison guards. They're in there, too. Yeah. Yeah. Speaking of the road, Mr. Ryan Hamilton is doing something that I'd very much like to do.

He's opening for Jerry Seinfeld. Nice. I mean, I don't mean that I'd like to open for Jerry Seinfeld. I'd like to open for any big act. Yeah? Because I think that's the cushiest gig in all of Stanley. Hey, guys. Well, you can have a seat if you want.

Every time I had Marina to do this podcast, you give me the high hat. The only people who want to do it are white guys. Well, I'm here. If I don't say anything, they'll think you're lying that I was here. Okay. White guys.

Hey, white guys. Hi, Marina. Hi, Marina. Good to see you. I'm all for diversity, but we're supposed to have Carmen Lynch, who's a white girl. Are you going to join us?

No. Oh, okay. I'm trying to change it up for the new year. All right. Well, if you ever want to, you're always welcome, but I don't ask you because you typically say not interested, and so I respect that, and I don't want to make you feel ill at ease. We did have Carmen Lynch scheduled for the show. She's coming.

Carmen Lynch is? From around the corner. Oh, good. Well, she told me she couldn't make it. But in any case, we're happy to have her. I just like,

opening for a big act to me is a nice gig. You do 20, what do you do, 20 minutes? Yeah, 15, a little more, maybe like 17.

17 minutes. No less than 15. I mean, that's easy. Well, it's easy and it isn't. And you're getting a decent paycheck. You've got to do well. There's a lot of pressure on that 15-minute set. I want it to be perfect.

I want it to be great. And I want to set the table appropriately. Yeah, but you see, that's you. Yeah. You're too perfectionist-y. Well... Because the truth is, Seinfeld... But that's the gig.

That's the job, really. I think the job is to... Is the job of an opening act, I put it to you three, the job of an opening act. I put it to you three. The job of an opening act, whether your opening be it for Tracy Morgan, for Jerry Seinfeld, for whomever, is your job to kill or is your job to do a nice job? I'm not saying you have to kill, but I'm just saying part of opening for someone is setting the table properly. Well, my query to you is, someone is setting the table properly. Well, my query to you

is, what constitutes setting the table properly? It's different for different shows. You know how it is. How does the audience feel? Are they ready? How much time have I done? Which joke should I do that sets them up properly? Is the energy good? All those considerations. Do you finish and then somebody

off mic introduces Jerry or is there like a minute or two? Do you bring and then somebody off mic introduces Jerry? Or is there like a minute or two? Or do you bring up Jerry? Someone, the tour manager, Kevin, who's great, comes on stage actually, which is huge. Usually you don't get somebody to come on stage. So the tour manager comes on stage and he says, ladies and gentlemen, Jerry has a special guest tonight. And he gives a credit and then he brings me up and then I go out

and I do, like, I usually end up doing 16 or 17 minutes and then I come off and then Jerry just goes out after a beat. And the audience is happy to see you. The bad thing about opening for a Ujack

sometimes is you feel like they're thinking, why do we got to sit through this guy when we're here for the other guy? Yeah. That was always the experience I had when I opened for Dane Cook many years ago. But that's the Dane Cook audience, you see. Yeah. Their audience was a bit rambunctious. It was a different, it depends on the act and the audience here.

But I mean, they were actually pretty good for the most part. But, yeah, Jerry Seinfeld's audience is ideal. They're all fans of that show, Seinfeld. Yeah. They're also, you know, they're going to behave. They're not going to be rambunctious. Right. At a minimum, they're going to be polite.

Yeah. But they'll probably. They're great crowds. We just did L.A., and they were fantastic shows from the beginning. It doesn't always feel like this, but I told Jerry, I was like, right,

I never experienced that as an opening act where you walk on stage and it feels like you, something like, yeah, you're halfway into a show. The only thing,

some people aren't as show business savvy as we are. L.A. stands for Los Angeles. I'm sorry. He's gotten so, well, he's gone Hollywood. Since it's been opening for Jerry Seinfeld, he's gone a little bit Hollywood.

He's gone Los Angeles, LA. Do you pick your... I wonder if there was a time when that was considered... Right? Like, people are so sick of you calling San Francisco Frisco. I wonder if there were people who were like, ooh, LA. Well, maybe when it first got that...

I assume that Los Angeles had that nickname. It's a great nickname. I don't know if the Spaniards called it LA.A. Well, maybe when it first got that... I assume that Los Angeles had that nickname. It's a great nickname. I don't know if the Spaniards called it L.A. No. When it was Our Lady. Because it started off as like a mission, like Our Lady of Los Angeles. You know.

Yes. Nuestros temos de Los Angeles. Yeah. Ooh, L.A. I don't know. Maybe it happened so quick yeah and even the

even the airport LAX yeah there's really no X in Los Angeles airport but they threw that in there those I think are the

maybe that stands for international no but every airport has a three letter identifier yeah so that's the Kennedy airport

little trivia was KIA Kennedy International Airport oh no it was changed after Vietnam or during Vietnam or that era

because KIA the connotation was so hard killed in action oh my gosh wow that's a really interesting piece of trivia it may be completely

made up I don't know I think I read that somewhere wow but sometimes I say shit that's not true but I think it is true

that's so believable I think it is true though I think it isvable. I think it is true, though. I think it is true. But do you ever pick your own openers? Yeah. Yeah, I have over the past several years. Well, actually, I opened for you once down in Florida many years ago at a corporate event. Yeah, it was a corporate gig.

But what are your criteria? They have to be clean. And lately I've tried to get, ideally, a woman or a woman of color or a person of color or a gay person or somebody just for some... Variety. Variety, yeah. Instead of a... I usually would have another man open for me, and I feel like that might...

After all this Me Too stuff came out, it became clear that women were having a really hard time getting work, especially road work, so I thought I might try and help out there. That's good. I try to do that, too. It's hard sometimes. When you go to a city, you're just limited to... I use the local people mostly. Yeah. How important is that they kill

in front of you? Or do you want somebody that doesn't kill too hard? As I'm waiting in the wings and they're killing really hard, I'm like, how am I going to follow this? Usually, it's just an indication of a really good audience. That's just anxiety. It would be nice if they were mediocre.

That's what you shoot for. I prefer them to do okay. I mean, there's got to be a time where somebody gets so good that it's like, I don't want to follow this person. Well, this is what I'm talking about setting the table. Like, it's a job. You know what I mean? You have to be aware of what the set is. And I don't want anybody doing crowd work or asking where people are from or anything like that. I want jokes about the people who are used to jokes.

I think a good criteria is, I just thought of it, but now that I think of it, is a good criteria is they're not talking about the same shit you're talking about. Yes. I don't want to have to go up there. Because when I do The Road, which is seldom when I do clubs, I watch the opening act because I don't want, if I have to say which is seldom when I do clubs I watch the opening act because I don't want

if I have to say the same topic that they say I want to be able to say oh so and so was talking so it doesn't sound ridiculous but it sounds ridiculous if you're like

hey do you guys hear Pod is legal just to take an example Pod is legal in Colorado the guy might have done 20 minutes on that right totally so I got to watch him

and then I can say hey so and so was talking about pot being legal in Colorado, and then it doesn't seem as ridiculous. I think it's so important to watch the people who go on before you, and I like doing that here at the Cellar, because you also find out what else. You think, oh, I have this new joke on this,

and then somebody else has a joke on it, and it's like, well, if there's one person on your show that's doing the same topic, there's probably a dozen others somewhere else. So maybe you need to come from a different topic. Go for a different topic, maybe. I don't know. Something to do before you go on stage besides eat.

Well, I'd rather not watch the people before me. Oh, yeah. It makes me anxious, but it's sort of due diligence. But I do feel it is due diligence. Which is, by the way, one reason having a woman open for you might be better because they're less likely. There's certain topics they won't discuss. But the other thing that I've

noticed over the years is that the audience almost resets with every comedian. Although, I guess that was another thing I was concerned with the Comedy Central show is that if a lot of the comedians are talking about the same topic, maybe the audience gets burnt out on that topic by the end of the night. So it's better to go on early. What are these guys all living in the same house?

Is there a writing table where they're all at? Well, we all live similar lives. So we're going to pick up on stuff. Whenever I see something on the subway that strikes me as funny, I'm like, oh, somebody else has noticed this. But, Gary, your style is so unique. Schmendricky? No, I know.

I was going to say unique. Oh, thanks. That it's hard to imagine any. Even if they covered the same topic, it wouldn't be. Chances are they wouldn't cover the same topic. And if they did, it wouldn't be in the same way. Nobody else is talking about the state abbreviations. That you have that whole bit about that.

Oh, yeah. You have a bit about a woman having sex with her professor. To be sure, that's a topic that somebody else might have covered. They will not have covered it as you do in that way that you cover it. Perhaps. Wherein she talks about... Where you say,

well, why is she taking a survey course and she's a senior? Or how did the credits transfer? Those ridiculous, absurd points that you make. Yeah, but I don't even think that premise is original. I think the premise of taking a role play very seriously, that has to have been done. It might have been, I haven't seen it.

If it has been done. I might have been. I haven't seen it. If it has been done. I don't worry about that so much. I think if it comes out of you in an original way, you know? Yeah. There used to be sort of a comedy police type situation over the years that sort of died down as people realized that it's nearly impossible to be completely original in your topics. But you constantly get a, not constantly,

but a lot of times you get a Twitter, hey, you're doing the thing about this. It's like, yeah, I didn't even use the same words. Oh, it ruins your day. I've had that happen two or three times. And they say, they're always snarky about it. They always say, like, it's happened twice now to me and somebody said, I really liked it when

XYZ did that. That was a funny joke. I really liked it when XYZ did it 10 years ago. That was David Spade's formula on his weekend update spot. What was that called? The Hollywood Minute or something?

He had this one where when Mrs. Doubtfire came out, he said, I think I like this movie better when it was called Tootsie. I like how you pronounce Tootsie. I think that's how he pronounced it. Is it Tootsie? I think so. Tootsie. Either way, I like it. Nick, are you in town this weekend? No, I'm so. Maybe I have it back.

Either way, I like it. Nick, are you in town this weekend? No, I'm not. I'm in Montreal at the old Comedy Nest. Oh, I've been to the Nest. Yes, I go up there Thursday. Great room. Great green room. Yeah, nice green room.

Very nice owners. And the city, you know, Montreal's a cool city. Yeah, everything's good about it. There's not a bad thing about Montreal or the comedy that I can come up with. It's overall pretty good. My mother has a friend

that always comes to see me because she lives in Montreal. I always feel under pressure to have new jokes. That I would not. I know Gary has 80 hours of material, but I do not. I have a relatively

lean and mean in terms of my... Yeah, but I know that feeling where somebody comes to see you again and you're like, ugh, please don't.

Don't come. I love that material when you did it two years ago. Same guy. I turned down a gig recently that I did last year because they wanted all new. I mean, I could have said, yeah, I'll take the... I could have lied and maybe somebody else would have done this and said,

okay, yeah, I got 40 minutes of new materials to get that, because it was a good check. Right. And I could have said, oh, sure, I can do another four, and then get down and then just bomb for 40 minutes and take the check. Right. But I couldn't do it. I mean, I don't have the stomach to do that. Now, maybe there's somebody out there that does. You have integrity.

Integrity. I suppose if I was desperate enough, maybe I would have. Right, right, yeah. But I didn't have to, so I just don't want to be in that situation. Didn't one feel a small amount of resentment on that policy where every time somebody new sees you, it has to be a whole new act? Because I feel like every time I go see bands that I, especially ones I really love,

I like hearing a couple hits. Oh, yeah, totally. I do resent it. I mean, music is different than comedy. Music, you can hear the same song over and over again. At least, I mean, there's a limit to that, too. You know, after 100, look, I don't need to hear Blackbird anymore. You know, the Beatles.

But it took 40 years. Right. I've never heard Blackbird. You never have? No. Isn't that incredible? Kind of. At least not by the Beatles.

Maybe a cover version of it, but I don't know how it goes. Well, I just did. Go ahead, Dan. Black birds singing in the dead of night. Take these broken wings and learn to fly. All right, I think I heard it on the I Am Sam soundtrack. Maybe. Yeah.

I don't know if I did it justice, but the point is... What a beautiful voice. It's songs eventually you get sick of, but a joke you get sick of, generally, I mean, that loses its flavor very quickly. Oh, yeah. You know, it's like rain blow. Yeah, because they... Is anybody familiar with rain blow? Rain blow is big gum balls.

Fruit stripe gum. Fruit stripe is fast, too. Rain blow is... I mean, it's an intense, intense high. But it's two chews, and it's the most, it's these balls of like green and red, cherry and green apple and grape. And those first two chews, you're in, you're transported.

Wow. But then by the third chew, it's like, I'm over this. That's hilarious. Yeah, Fruit Stripe gum is like six. Yeah, yeah. Is that a six-chewer? Now, there's some gums that last, but they're not that good to begin with. this. That's hilarious. Yes, fruit striped gum is like six bites. Now, there's some gums that last, but they're not that good to begin with. So do you want... I mean, I guess it's like a relationship. Do you want intense

and short or long and routine? Like a dentine. Which the flavor will last a while, but it's... What relationship do you want in terms of gum? Well, I think relationships like gum or whatever. Yeah, I get it.

I want the dentine relationship. You want the dentine rather than the fruit stripe of the rainbow. Yeah. This is a good segue, by the way. I want to congratulate Gary for making the move to vegetarianism. Oh, look at you. Which he did recently. How recent?

January 1, 2018. Oh. You've been dabbling a long time. I've been dabbling for quite some time. I mean, I think it's the moral choice. I think, you know, it's obviously good for the environment because raising cattle takes a lot of energy and contributes to global warming. Sure. It's certainly good for the animal.

Yep. Yeah. And it's good for your health, I imagine, although you've got to be careful to make sure you get all the right nutrients. Yeah, I do take some supplements. Now, of the reasons for going veg, morality, environment, health, what one of the reasons?

I read this article by Michael Pollan last year, and he had quoted a philosopher who had said that we had made this agreement years ago, and I forget what the... It was something about equality. We had made this agreement years ago about not treating people who were less smart than us any different than we treat people who are less smart than us any different than we treat people who are as smart as us and by extension animals are just less intelligent versions of us so we should we should treat them equally and and i said well that makes sense and now i can't i can't eat them anymore

yeah well i don't think i don't think there's anything in that argument that I can debate. You know, I think that's, I mean, you could argue that, you know, we don't know whether certain animals have consciousness or feel pain. Right, yeah. You know, they can't tell us that they do. But we don't know that they don't. Yeah. And I think, I can't argue that it's better to err on the side of caution. On the other hand, I would find it very difficult to go vegetarian.

Yeah, it hasn't been that hard, but we're living in sort of a golden age of veganism and vegetarianism so that there are a lot of restaurants that offer that option. And also, it's not for somebody who's broke. Like, you have to have some money to afford the groceries to eat vegan and to eat out vegan. So it's something that coincided with me doing better financially. Well, it's also, like, technologically, I mean, you know, being a vegan 150 years ago probably wasn't an option.

Right, yes. Totally. It would certainly have been very difficult. They didn't have some of the, well, we had the veggie burgers or whatever. They're perfecting. Yeah, and also living in New York, it's the easiest place to be vegan, vegetarian. Yeah, that's what I was going to ask you. On the road, do you find it more difficult?

Yeah, a little bit difficult. But usually I can find one or two restaurants. And I bring a lot of vegan bars that this company called Nugo makes. And then there's one called No Cow. It's a pretty good vegan bar. But I did read, and the literature is pretty clear on this from what I've read, that there is a correlation between vegetarianism and mental illness. There is a higher rate of anxiety and depression amongst vegetarians.

That's so interesting. And they don't know whether it's because vegetarianism causes mental illness or the mentally ill become vegetarian. That's really interesting. So they don't know that. So you being a vegetarian and somebody who has had your issues with mental illness, do you have any insight to offer on what might be the connection? The only thing I know is that I wasn't able to commit to this lifestyle until I was feeling well.

And I know that it's actually, I think, improved my mental health in that I'm eating a lot less sugar and processed foods. And I know that that sometimes contributes to moods and anxiety and things like that. So I don't know. I'd have to look at the studies. The one hypothesis was that people who are depressed or anxious are more likely to be hypochondriacs. Oh, wow.

And hypochondriacs are more likely to be concerned about eating healthy. Right. So that's the one hypothesis as to why there's... But also there's a lot of guilt involved in being anxious and depressed. So you'd feel bad. Oh, I feel bad for these animals. And there's maybe more empathy and, yeah. Well, those are all possibilities.

Although I agree with you when you said you have to feel good to be a vegetarian because you're sacrificing pleasure to a certain extent. But like I said, there are a lot of meals that are so delicious and are vegetarian. And maybe overall your well-being, you just feel better. Yeah.

You're healthier. Yeah, my digestion has never been better, and I can exercise more frequently because a lot of times I would have eaten a big meal, and I'm like, I can't exercise. I've got to digest this. I can't. John Laster, do you want to? I feel sick.

John Laster, if you want to sit, you're welcome to. All right, that's John Laster. I'm just, now I'm feeling, because now I'm feeling self-conscious that we don't have sufficient diversity here at the table. Yeah, yeah. Not that I, I don't think we need to have diversity every single time. There are times when everybody at the table is diverse, if you will. Yeah.

I.e. of color, gay, woman. Yeah, yeah. This time it so happens that everybody is a you will. Yeah. I.E. of color, gay, woman. Yeah. This time it so happens that everybody is a white man. Yeah. And white, I use that term in its broadest possible sense. Certainly. Given that Gary and I might not be considered white by certain people. Racists.

Being that we're of the Jewish, but now Nick Griffin. Yes. Nick Griffin is a white man, bona fide. As far as Ryan Hamilton's concerned, I think he's part of Pache India. We've had this conversation before. Pache. My grandfather, I think,

had like a 16th or a 32nd or something like that. My grandfather. Have you 23'd in Meade? No. I should do that. Well, you should if you're interested. Did you? Wait a minute. Have you 23'd and me'd? No. I should do that. Well, you should if you're interested. Did you?

Wait a minute. Did you? Did you? Did you do the 23? Did you? Did you? Did you? I did say it wrong.

Did you eat? I haven't done it. I'm pretty sure I know what it would say. Probably roughly the same thing that Noam says. What did Noam say? Like 98% Ashkenazi Jewish. Really? They can be that specific Ashkenazi Jewish?

Yeah, they get that. Really? Specific, I think. And then, you know, a couple of percentage points he had other shit in him. You know, it also said 100% annoying. No, I'm kidding. Oh, that's funny.

All right. I have a friend, this is interesting, who grew up in Southern California and he didn't, I don't know the this is interesting, who, he grew up in Southern California, and he didn't, I don't know the whole story with his parents, but he didn't know their background very well. I don't know all the reasons why, but he had a darker complexion, and all of his friends were Latino, Mexican, a lot of them in Southern California. And he grew up, and that's what he was told he was.

And he took one of those tests. He's a family friend. And my dad took one. And so my dad got him this for a gift, and he took it. And it came back that he was Native American. And he went and talked to some family and said, yeah, that sounds right. Oh, my gosh. He thought he was Latino.

Yeah, his whole life. Wow, that's fun. Isn't that interesting? Yeah. Did his family know otherwise? I can't remember all the details, but he said, I don't think he knew his father very well. Oh, I see. But yeah, it was fascinating to talk to because he's in his 60s, I think.

Yeah. Wow. Pretty interesting. How would that be? Well, Nick, I'm pretty sure, is just Northern European. There might be other things in there lurking. My mom is from the Dutch, and then my dad is Irish. Griffin's an Irish name?

Yeah. Pretty Irish. All right. I wasn't necessarily aware of that. Interesting. More entertaining. Well, you know, we do often talk about politics on this show. Usually Noam likes to do all politics, and I like to do more comedy.

But we could talk about the midterm elections that were recently. I like it when the show is reflective of what the comedy table is like. And if Noam is there, we talk a lot of politics. And if Noam's not there, we talk a lot of bitching about stand-up. So why don't we do that? But the midterms, I was

a little bit disappointed. But the outcome was not... I had expected the Senate to stay Republican and was hopeful about the House going Democrat. So I wasn't surprised by anything. I'm an ultra-liberal. Well, I normally never vote on the midterm. I've never voted in the midterm, ever.

But everybody had those damn stickers. And I made fun of the stickers. Oh, what did you say? Well, I just had a joke about, you know, I had a joke that they didn't use for the Comedy Central show, which was, you know, people say, I voted, as if that were necessarily a good thing. And I think if you're uninformed, you shouldn't vote and be proud of that. And then people go up to you

and say, what was that sticker say? Kept my ignorant ass at home. I love that. That's a great joke, and that didn't make the... It didn't make it. Give me some of the jokes and the comedian who said them that did make it on the show, and then we can really tell people

what we think. Let's pretend that we're not on the radio, and how a real lunch would go. No, you know Vecchione. Who? Vecchione? He had a decent one on stickers that I don't want to repeat it, because, you know, in case you don't like it, or you like it

better, either way, there could be hard feelings. I love Vecchione. But it didn't get on. But the point is, is those stickers do have You know, in case you don't like it or you like it better. Either way, there could be hard feelings. I love Vecchio. I love Vecchio. But it didn't get on. But the point is, is those stickers do have, if they have any value. Got my ignorant ass at home. It's funny. It's got everything.

It's got everything. A middle-aged Jewish man talking slang like that? It's funny. Well, I don't want to just be the slang-talking middle-aged Jew. I also want to say something. Yeah, but I'm saying it was a multi-layered... Yeah, smart. Well, I think what the good thing about that joke is is that it does say a truth.

And the truth is that voting, if you're an ignoramus, is probably... You shouldn't do it. Right, yeah. But what the stickers did do is they made me vote. Because I felt like if I don't vote,

I'm doing something wrong. So I went and voted. I never voted in the midterms. Yeah. And I sent a text to know him. I felt like if I don't vote, I'm doing something wrong. So I went and voted. I never voted in the midterms. Yeah. And I sent a text to Noam. I said, oftentimes, over the years, I've just voted the Democratic ticket. I don't want to do that. I want to have reasoned choices.

Yeah. So I texted Noam. Noam, can you help a brother out here? Now the Jew talking slang again. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Can you help me out? I know you're well- and you're, you know, can you give me some guidance as to

who I should vote for? I won't necessarily follow you slavishly, but I'll listen to what you have to say. He just wrote back, I have no idea. Wow. That's what Noam said. And he's up on things. And he's up. I guess he's not up on you know, like the you know, because some of the stuff is so specific. Right. Like, you know,

it was like Carolyn Maloney versus this, versus like, I forgot, like for the House of Representatives. Ross Bennett. It wasn't Ross,

it was like Nate Borgazzi. It was Nate Borgazzi and he's a good comic, but I just don't know that I want him in the House. Nate Borgazzi was up against Jordan Rubin.

But what do you make a good comic? Yeah, there's like Comptroller and State AG or shit like that. It's like, just don't know that I want him in the house. He was up against Jordan Rubin. Yeah, there's like Comptroller and State AG or shit like that. I'm completely uninformed. I'm completely uninformed, so I just democrated those and

I voted against Cuomo. Something got into me and I'm not sure why. I don't like dynasties. Okay. The truth is I don't know much about the other guy. Did you enjoy Dynasty? I never watched Dynasty.

The 80s hit show Dynasty, which was a phenomenon in 1980s. It was bad, but before Netflix. Must see. It must be unwatchable now. It had a great theme song. I think there's a big staircase. The theme song was tremendous to Dynasty. That was back in the golden age of theme songs.

It was the golden age of theme songs. I mean, the theme song in those days was like almost a top 40 song that you could enjoy. Best record I ever bought was the song to Rockford Files. I bought it as a 45. It's a great song. There was the theme song to Greatest American Hero

which was a top 40 song. Oh, yeah. Welcome Back, Carter I think was a top 40 theme song. Is that Michael? Who is that? That was John Sebastian that was the loving spoonful that sang the Welcome Back Cotter. That's a good song, too.

Cheers. Let's listen to Dynasty. Beautiful. Takes me back. Putty pajamas. Putty pajamas. Putty pajamas. I mean, you know, it's like a classical song. I mean, it sounds like Bach or something, right?

Yeah, it's a beautiful theme song. Was Christopher Cross Greatest American Hero? Yeah. No, I don't think so. No? No? Am I wrong? I think you are wrong. I can look it up.

But the Moonlighting theme song by Al Jarreau, that was a beautiful song. Some fly by day. I don't really remember it, but. Some fly by night. There was Chars and Chars. Did I ever do my impression of the man singing the Cheers theme song in the studio? No. Making your way in the world today takes everything you've got.

Ah, Jesus. Did you do that on stage back in Boston, Karen? No, no. It's just a fun thing I like to do for my friends. Because you used to do some impressions, you told me, early in the day. Yes, I started off as an impressionist. Did you really? Yes.

That's fun, right? Yeah. Well, I thought when I started comedy, we all kind of have our own notion of what it is to be a comic, and I thought you needed some impressions. Certainly helped. Certainly helped. The audiences love impressions. Yeah, but I thought you needed some impressions. Certainly helped. Certainly helped. The audiences

love impressions. Yeah, but I was no good at it. But comedians think less of impressionists sometimes but the great ones really stand out.

I did have Louis Shafer who you may remember. A real nutcase. Oh, a funny guy though. What a character. He told me when I first started

doing comedy he says, Dan Adman, you write a nice joke but nobody remembers who you are. I'm the not gay guy. Because his whole act was about how he's not gay. He had a catchphrase.

Yeah, he had a catchphrase. He goes, I'm not gay. Everybody says, Louis Schaefer, not gay. Yes. But nobody knows who you are. You need a catchphrase. So I came up with a catchphrase. I never learn.

And that was a catchphrase. Oh, I love it. And I tried to shoehorn every joke into I never learned it, but I just it was very hard to you know, I mean, it was so limiting. That is funny. I guess I could have just done it once in a while. I never learn. But I just

couldn't think of that many jokes with the I never learn you know, thing. I love it. I'll tell you, I never learn. It could have been like a Rodney thing. That makes me happy. Well, geez, I never learn, you know, thing. I love it. I'll tell you, I never learned. It could have been like a Rodney thing. That makes me happy.

Oh, jeez, I never learned, you know? I'll tell you, that hooker, jeez, and she had a penis,

I tell you, I never learned. You know? The woman gave you a fake phone number. by the Adam's apple. I called her up. It was a Chinese restaurant.

That's one of my jokes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So that, when I call the girl up and I go, Hunan Garden? Yeah. And I say, I don't suppose That's one of my jokes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So that was when I called the girl up and, Hunan Garden? Yeah. And I say, I don't suppose Amber's there by any chance. So I never learned. I could have said, well, I tell you, I never learned.

I never learned. I'll tell you. I love that. I'll tell you. I never learned. What were your... The number had 1-800. I'll tell you, you know.

What was your early act like? I should have known. Nick. My early act was generally family stuff like, I mean, it's just horrible, but just my brother beating me up. And I remember one of my first jokes was, I'm not good in bars. I saw two businessmen, and one of them started bragging about his Audi. I'm like, why would you be talking about your belly button?

That was like my third joke ever. Yeah. 19. Wow. Well, there's not a lot going on at 19. What are you going to do? I know. Oh, man.

Do you remember your first joke? I actually feel bad that I let that joke out. I remember my very, very first joke. 31 years later. Do you want me to make you feel better? Yes, go ahead. Someone actually just sent me a clip of one of my first maybe two times on stage. And there are jokes in there that are like really bad.

But there was a joke about Goofy and Pluto and why Goofy can talk but Pluto can't. And I don't know why. Yeah. I love that joke. I've never heard anybody do that. Oh, really? Yeah, that's funny. I don't remember the joke exactly.

But then there were really bad stuff like you can't get walls at Walmart and you can't get posts at the post office. That's great. I like that. I love that. That's not good. I love it. What if you added my joke into that chunk? chunk, that would be a nice little TV set.

My first joke, October 8th, 1993. This is TV. Your first TV set? No, no, no. My first open mic set. My first open mic set, October 8th, 1993. And how did it go? I said, Facebook memories, huh?

I was very confused for a moment. I was too, yeah. No, it was about Michael Jordan had just retired, and I said that he had retired because he had done everything there was to do in basketball, and the death of his father had left him despondent, and also he couldn't concentrate knowing that Joey Buttafuoco was behind bars. It was like a topical monologue. It bombed so

hard. I can still feel the... Because you had built up your entire life I'm going to be a comedian and it's going to be great from the get-go. And immediately it was like a slap in the face. That's exactly right. You do think, well, I'm a comic, so I'll just ease into it and I'm going to be fine. And then there's just that horrible crash and burn.

You have to be so delusional, I think, at first, because very few comedians are actually any good their first 50 times. Yeah. Oh, man. Yeah, I guess we all were. But I did well my first time because it was one of those bringer shows where everybody in the audience was my friend. Where was that? At Stand Up New York.

So I actually did really, really well. I did well, but I had to do the impressions to really get them. The Michael Jordan joke didn't go over at all. But I thought when I got off stage at Stand Up New York my first time in 93, I figured, all right, you know, now here we go, and they're going to start offering me paid spots. I'm going to start making money. But obviously it was a little bit slower than anticipated.

But I had an early joke wherein I did an impression, well, not really an impression, but a basic southern dialect impression of Governor George Wallace of Alabama doing the weather. Oh, that's great. And here's the impression. Precipitation now, precipitation tomorrow. Wow. Wow.

That's heady. That's like Mort Sahl. Mr. Mort Sahl, Mr. I mean, if you don't know the reference, George Wallace famously said, segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever. But even for a person who's pretty up on history, that's a deep cut. Yeah, you know.

Governor Wallace, I do think at the end of his life, I think he embraced integration. Wow. I think. How big of him? Well, I just don't want to leave on a disparaging note toward Governor Wallace. In fact, he did change his mind on the whole thing. Too little, too late. George.

Stephen Calabria has a question. This is our producer, Stephen Calabria. Yeah, I have a question for all the comics at the table. Is it preferable to do clubs or corporate gigs? Well, we've touched on that, but we can certainly readdress it. I prefer corporates. The audiences are usually not as good, but it's one show and done. Whereas a club is generally the whole weekend.

But he asked about colleges, right? Did you say colleges? No, he said clubs or corporate gigs. Oh, I thought you said colleges. Or I guess colleges, too. I thought you said colleges. As far as colleges are concerned, I couldn't relate to them when I was in college. I'm not about to start now.

That's a great point. Yeah. But that's my take. I know Gary loves clubs, I think. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, my meat and potatoes is clubs. Yeah. And it's hard take. I know Gary loves clubs, I think. Yeah. Yeah, my meat and potatoes is clubs, and it's hard, but I like it. I find corporate events, I mean, I know we're, whatever, stating the obvious, but incredibly anxiety-induced.

Well, it's obvious. It's not obvious to the listeners. I remember Andy Kindler saying something like, yeah, it's like $10,000 or something, and by the end of it, it's never enough. It's not enough, right? Yeah. Exactly right. Well, that's where I disagree with Andy. First of all, I don't get paid $10,000 to do a corporate.

But if I did, I would find it to be sufficient. Yeah. Especially afterwards when you're done. Right. You go back to the hotel, you got 10 Gs. You're 10 Gs richer. Yeah. You order up room service.

Right. And if I was so inclined, although I don't typically do this, maybe you get a hooker. I wouldn't. But one might. It's fun to be a hooker and then get a hooker. One might do that. But Nick, why is it so anxiety inducing? Because there's, you know,

they generally give you rules on what you can and can't say, which is fine. But sometimes they're vague in how they articulate them. And then so you're worried, oh my gosh, it's going to be, I'm going to say the wrong thing on accident and ruin these people's you know,

2018 sales convention. Well, they'll tell you, here's the thing when it becomes complicated, they tell you, be clean, but you're clean and they're clean may not be the same clean. That's what I mean, it's terrible. To them, they'll say like, no F, no F bombs. Oh tell you, be clean, but you're clean and they're clean may not be the same clean. That's what I mean. It's terrible. You know, to them,

they'll say like, no F, no F-bombs. Oh, you can say anything, just no F-bombs. Well, okay,

you know what? My guess is, if I say, I came on her face, you wouldn't like that either. Yeah. But they wouldn't say that to me. And shit might make you uncomfortable.

Shit would probably be okay, but people, if they say no. But it might make them uncomfortable. Yeah. You never know. But the thing is, they might not even, in their minds, they're not even thinking about being cummed on. That didn't even you never know. But the thing is, they might not even,

in their minds, they're not even thinking about being cummed on. That didn't even cross their mind. They're just like, oh, just don't say the F-bomb. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because they don't even

have the thought of just squirting. Continue with that line right there, that cumming on. That's a good topic. Do you have more to add? No, no, I was just saying,

no, I'm kidding. I'm just saying like, you've got to interpret what they mean by clean. It's horrible, yeah. And oftentimes when they say clean, they also mean politically correct. Like, if they say clean, you probably can't

joke about drugs either. Even though that's not clean, it's not dirty, but it's probably also verboten. I think what they're really saying, and you're absolutely right, is when they say be clean, they're saying don't offend anyone. And of course, you don't, there's a thousand people there or 500 people, and of course, you don't know all their

tastes and all their things, and it's a nightmare. Well, Ryan, it's like you with the balloon joke. Yeah. There's going to be somebody who gets offended about it. Well, that's a very extreme case, but Ryan, why don't you briefly discuss what he's talking about? I have a

long joke about hot air balloons and at the end I tell a story about sometimes about how someone came up to me after a show and complained to the club manager and the club manager asked me to go talk to them and he thought it was hilarious and I went out and they were hot air balloonists and they were

truly personally offended. And the joke is I don't remember what I said to them, but I remember the first thought I had, which is I've finally become the edgy boundary-pushing comedian that I always wanted to be. Hilarious. Perfect.

But I like doing those corporate events, and in the vein of that, you can push them in some ways. You can be edgy for that environment. It's kind of fun because you can make fun of what they do or where we are or the whole thing that's happening. But I've lately found that I really enjoy... I mean, I definitely agree that the corporates are more anxiety, but I kind of am becoming like enjoying the challenge of it. And I'm thinking of each show as like a show and just, I like to create stuff that works anywhere.

And I like that challenge and it's kind of fun. That's true. One great thing about it is I do not worry at all that they've seen any of this. Yes. You don't have to worry about the old stuff. I can do my greatest hits. Yeah.

You do the greatest hits. Yeah. I have to run to Tom Papa's show around the corner. Okay, great having you, Gary. Thanks again for having me. Sure. See you, Gary. See you, Gary.

Thank you, Gary. Mike Fanoia? Yeah, Mike Fanoia. All right, we've got a few more minutes, Mike, if you want to sit down. It's Mike Fanoia. Again, another white male. We were chastised, reprimanded, if you will, earlier by Marina because it's all white guys on today's episode.

But what can I do, Mike? You know. I invite people of all creeds, but they don't come sometimes. What is a creed, by the way, besides it being kind of a motto? That's an interesting point. It's a belief system.

Is it? I think so. Good for you. I had no idea. Mike, we were talking earlier about the Comedy Central show. Yeah, I'm doing it tomorrow. Is this your first time?

Yeah, I can't wait. And how do you feel? I'm very excited about it. And I would never ask you to reveal the jokes, but what topics are you working on for tomorrow night's... I'm working on a couple of Michelle Obama's books. Michelle Obama has a new book out. That's one of the topics.

And, you know, I started to work on a couple jokes about the fires, and then I'm like, you know what? It's just not funny to me. So why am I going to try to fit a square peg into a... You know, the fires are tricky. It's not... The fires are tragic, absolutely, but I think there's still humor there. I don't think it's so devastatingly

horrible, even though people have died. Oh yeah, of course. But I still think there's humor to be gotten. There's definitely jokes to be made, just I'm not going to be the one to make them. Not for any reason other than... Whereas the Pittsburgh shooting, for example, or any of these mass shootings, or the more recent

shooting, because there's one every day now, the more recent shooting at that country... Was it a country music place or whatever? That you couldn't make anything funny of. I don't think. I mean, maybe you could. Well, Ted Alexander had a funny tweet that was like he made a shooting joke

and somebody said too soon and he goes, do you mean too soon after this one or too soon until the next one? Yeah. Because it's kind of like they really are literally every day. I was having a conversation with someone and they were like, oh, that shooting was sad. And I'm like, you mean the one in the yoga studio? And they're like, there was a shooting in a yoga studio?

Oh, yeah. You can't even necessarily keep track. Guns are terrible. Keep track. But I think it's social media. I think that people are just, it's copycat shit. Yeah. I think, you know, it's becoming like in style to do these shootings.

I mean, What else could explain the sudden increase? Most of them don't seem to be politically, some are politically motivated, but most seem to be just nutty people. Wasn't that one guy living in a Trump van? Well, that was the bomber guy.

He didn't kill anybody. He tried. It was a terrible try, but he did try. The TV show has been fantastic. Let's get on a higher level. Have you? I watched them, and I thought they were really incredible. I just wanted to see the...

It's neat because we're always here. You know what I mean? And it's interesting to see it on TV. Right. You know what I mean? Yeah. With the outside. I know.

I saw the episode here. It was cool. But what do normal people think? Your wife, for example. Well, you're using normal a little liberally there. You can catch me hopefully. Well, not non-industry related. No, no.

She loved it. You know, the reason why I started doing stand-up, and I think, Ryan, maybe you and I talked about this, was Jerry Seinfeld's comedian documentary. Was that you and I? Oh, yeah, yeah. Probably. I watched that documentary in the movie theater, and it was like the colors inside the olive tree.

Yeah. This place seemed like it was like, you know, the inside of a Christmas ornament or something. And I was like, God, it's so, like, interestingly lit and all that. And to see that on TV again. Oh, that's cool. From, like, the table talking and all that. That's a full circle thing.

Yeah, it's really full circle. That is cool. How might you improve the TV show if you were asked how it might be improved? More of me on it. Oh.

Otherwise, really. And then more Nick. Okay, but more in terms of formatting. I wish it was longer. Oh, okay. Really? It's an hour, isn't it?

No, it's a half hour. Oh, it's half hour. Oh, I thought it was an hour. Somebody told me it was an hour. No, I think there's some bits that's a half hour. Oh, I thought it was an hour. Somebody told me it was an hour. No, I think there's some bits that could definitely be, you know, I'd like to see more. A lot of the bits are very short. Yeah, that's one thing.

But in writing for it, too, you have to kind of think about that. Yeah, but, you know, I mean, short bits are fine, but so are longer bits. You know, I mean, you don't want to... No, you're right. I just, I think if it was an hour show it would still be interesting the problem is because it's a half an hour of which there's eight minutes of commercials or whatever it is

of which there's say ten minutes of people talking at the table you know they do that table talk stuff so there's only whatever fifteen minutes for this actual stand up or whatever it is and so you know it's limited in that way I like that there are tweets included in it.

You know, there were some tweets by Adrian and some tweets by, I think there was a tweet of yours. Was there? I thought so. Oh, boy, that'd be nice to know. They just take tweets out of your... Well, you have to give them permission to do it. Yeah. Like, there was a tweet from Adrian and then there was a bit by Adrian.

Oh, I see. And I thought that was really cool. That's cool. You know, I thought it was kind of nice that it shares to expand the social media. Dan was on it. I thought you did a fantastic job. I was on the first episode. Thank you.

Quite good. Thank you so much. That was the masturbation joke. But you'll have to go watch it to find out what it was. It's been getting rave reviews though, right? People love it? That joke or the show?

No, definitely the joke. No, I haven't heard anything, to be honest. I don't know if the show's been getting rave reviews. I go online, I look for it, and I don't see a whole lot, to be honest. So, you know, it's not Stranger Things. I mean, it's not on everybody's lips. So, you know, for now, maybe it will be, maybe it won't be. Hopefully it will last.

I see some good promo around the city for it. There's billboards and things. Yeah, it's everywhere. Well, Comedy Central's, yeah, spending the money to promo it. But what I'm not hearing necessarily right now is buzz amongst people that are talking about it. It's interesting for us to know

because usually we're so into it that we don't really have anyone else to talk to. Like, everybody we know is doing the show. Yeah, that's true. So it's hard for us to know what's going on. It seems like an incredibly daunting task for the post-production to have to flip a show in, like, what, 48 hours?

Because it's, like, filmed that week, and then it airs Friday. Right, they've got to chop it up, find all the jokes, put them together. I mean, that's a brutal, that's a process, you know? I mean, most TV shows, they film it, and then a month later, six weeks later, it comes out, you know? This is, like, 24 hours. Yeah, well, the editing is a little simpler because there's, you know, I don't think there's a lot of camera angles, and there's only one take. You know, normally a show you'd have ten takes of the same scene from different angles and you'd have to put it all together. This show is just one take

and they just have to decide which jokes they're going to use. So in that sense, I don't know that the editing is all that rigorous. But it's not just one angle. I mean, there are quite a bit of different angles. I guess there's different angles, but there's only one take. So they don't have to decide which take they're going to use. And they don't have to cut in, like, audience shots because I don't think there's only one take. So they don't have to decide which take they're going to use. And they don't have to cut in audience shots because I don't think there's any audience shots. There's a couple. There's a couple audience shots. Steven, do you have anything to...

Any questions, comments, or suggestions? I don't think so. What's our email for feedback? I don't know. Nome is the one who usually gives us that. I don't know what it is. Just email the Comedy Cellar. It's... It's... Yeah, I know. It's podcast. I don't know what it is.

Just email the comedy seller. Just go on the website and find the email. You can do that, too. Okay. Well, you know, if you were hoping for a deep dive into politics, you're not going to get it from me. So don't come bitching at me that you didn't get

your fix of Noam-style just... Dan, if you want, we can also give out your phone number. No, we don't have to do that. Okay. But what you do get with me is an inside look into all

things comedy, sir. That's right. We talked some good comedy today. I thought we gave some insights. I do think we accomplished that. So I thank Nick Griffin, Gary Goleman, Ryan Hamilton, Mike Fennoyer for joining us last minute, but better late than not at all. Good to be here.

And we thank you. See you next time. Thank you.