The Comedy Cellar: Live from the Table - Gulman & Little

Episode Date: April 21, 2016

Gulman & Little

You're listening to The Comedy Cellar, live from the table, on the Riotcast Network, riotcast.com. Good evening, everybody. Welcome to The Comedy Cellar Show here on Sirius XM, the comedy channel. We're here with Dan Natterman. We're at the newly located Comedy Cellar table during our renovations at the Olive Tree. And we have one of the greatest of the greats and not always readily available to join us on these talks. But the phenomenal Mr. Gary Goleman is here. Thanks for that hyperbole. I appreciate that. It's not hyperbole. And Dan and Gary, do you guys still have your weekly lunch?

Well, it was never a weekly lunch. It was a lunch. That's fine, though. Just get everybody. Don't mind us. She waits until we actually start. Why is Valerie paying me now? Because.

Well, yeah, but I'm in the middle. Can't you see I'm busy? I made a thing of that. I said, where's my money? Okay. I wanted to ask Gary a question, and I don't know if it's appropriate to ask you. I was going to ask you off the air but since we're first on the speech he was on the air

so just glare at me if it's something I should drop but hi how are you Sade posted a vicious attack on the comedy seller and Dave Chappelle do you know about this I wouldn't call it a vicious attack I wouldn't call it a vicious attack. I wouldn't call it vicious.

No, it wasn't vicious, really. But I do think that she was hoping that you wouldn't see it. Why would she think I wouldn't see it? I was walking from a deep sleep with everybody texting me. Oh, really? Why did she think I wouldn't see it? I think she had addressed it so that it would... I mean, it was foolish to think that nobody was going to forward it to you.

But I think she tried to exclude you from the post. Ah, well, that's even less kind. That even speaks... That's even more poor. In other words, if you think it's the right thing to do, then... Why don't we enlighten the listeners as to what exactly you think. I'm actually trying to find it. Last week or two weeks ago, whenever it was, Dave Chappelle came here.

Apparently, I wasn't here. And he came here at about midnight or 1 a.m. and did about five hours of comedy until about five in the morning or something like that. Seven in the morning. Seven in the morning. I don't know what he was saying on stage for seven hours. But in any case, Sade, who is Gary's girlfriend, made the point on Facebook

that the waitstaff was held hostage. The waitstaff normally leaves... Shall I read it out loud? I have it here. If you want to read the whole thing or give us the clip notes, it's a fairly long post. And let me preface this by saying

that I love, I'm not just saying this, I love the fact that these things happen at the Comedy Cellar. There's a long tradition here. I didn't even think about that. Why wouldn't you love it? Yeah, of course.

And I want to say there's a long tradition here, going back to when we used to have music, even before my time with Middle Eastern music, of late night impromptu jam sessions and continuation of art and music and what the village is really about. It was one time, I remember, my father's band, they usually ended at four in the morning,

and the jam session got so intense, it actually went and continued until the next night's show. Like a 24-hour thing. Wow. You think the waitresses are pissed when Chappelle is here. And this is the... I know it's a pain in the ass if you're a waitress, probably, but you cannot

view anything in life or in your job within two hours of a bad part. You have to view it on the overall that this is a fantastic place. They make good money. You see the greatest comedians in the world. I mean, there's all sorts of wonderful things about the place, about working here. And one night you may, you know, whose job doesn't have a, I mean, a shitty thing.

A bus driver gets stuck in traffic. I mean, so anyways, she wrote, so wait, Dave Chappelle last night at the Comedy Cellar walked in to perform near closing time, run 30, and took hostages till 7 a.m.? Hostages being the staff forced to stay on until he felt his balls were light enough to wrap up the... You know, she's quite good. She's funny. Balls were light enough

to wrap up the raping of their time. I hope they had an option to leave, one that wouldn't have ended in their termination. Now, see, that disturbed me. Because does she think I'm like wishy-washy? Of course it would have ended in their termination. Like, what does she think I'm like wishy-washy? Of course it would have ended in determination. Like, what did she think of me? I want to be feared.

And those who stayed... Dan hates to laugh at anything I say. No, that's not true. I laugh at things you say. That wasn't funny to you? Anyway, okay. I thought it was really funny. Those who stayed volunteered to do so.

I'm a tough nut to crack in terms of laughter. I just want to address that. Okay. Is there no authority that's brave enough to even politely suggest he not pull that shit? Do we need to sue? It goes on and on. And if I'm at work and a manager fucks around and waits to cut me 10 minutes past the time, I know they're legally allowed to keep me there.

I'm ready to have... First of all, this is where she goes off the deep end. What legally allowed to keep someone there? Yeah, I was wondering. I was wondering what that was called. It's called overtime. I mean, I don't know unless she has a

detailed employment contract wherever she works which specifies that it's still not... Wherever she worked. She was fired last night. Oh, well, wherever she had worked.

But there's no law about that kind of thing. I mean, I suppose there probably is some law but I doubt that being asked to stay 10 minutes over, nobody's doing time 11 worth for keeping somebody 10 minutes over. So, I don't know, but it's worth it.

So, I don't understand that anger. And she's a comedian, right? Yeah. So, you'd think that she would have a little more sympathy for that kind of thing happening. I do think it's excessive and different from the jam session. And I do understand how she would have some empathy for the people who are working because she hates waitressing. I have empathy for them.

I understand there's a pain in the butt. They could be out drinking. At the same time, I didn't look at it from your perspective and from Art in general's perspective. It's funny because there are probably hundreds of stories of jazz musicians, famous jazz musicians or comedians over the years jamming into the wee hours of the morning, and nobody ever thinks about the waitstaff

and the people who have to stay there with them. So I guess we got two new perspectives there. And don't take this the wrong way, nor should they think about the wait staff. This is the job. Go ahead. Sorry, Dan. Well, is it the job? I mean, the job is defined by you.

But if you look at the schedule and it says a show is going to end at such and such a time and you're trying to schedule your life, it might be nice to have some idea when you're going to get the hell out of here. They do, but everybody who works here

knows that these kind of things sometimes happen. And by the way, if a waitress had some, a bar mitzvah to go to or something, she could have gone

to the manager. What about a bot mitzvah? Or a bot mitzvah. Those are, no, I know. It's a character I'm working on where the guy uh... make sure that every single case would be covered off that test that's great

that is a funny character you know that's a great chance to get that that could be that that's called their that's really funny uh... what we're not we're not horrible here. How are you doing? Rob Little. Rob, could you just sit down? You can sit down, but normally we like to bring the guests in sort of a...

We want to give you a fanfare, so just give us a second. So, listen, I have something to do in the morning. Can I go home? I'm sure we would let them off. Yeah, there was one woman who had to go home to get her son ready for school. So that was allowed for. And they let her off? Yeah.

Amazing, amazing. But, you know, if it doesn't happen here, it's going to happen somewhere else. And that would be, I mean, I'm sure anybody would understand that's unacceptable for it to happen to somebody else. It's good for the club, obviously somebody else it's good for the club obviously and what's good for the club is good for the waitresses who make tips at the club is my point I think it would be appreciated if you said to the wait staff

hey we thank you for we know last night was difficult but we thank you for putting up with it no I think there should be some reward that would be nice Liz if I had the kind of money that Dave Chappelle walks around with, just his walk-around money,

I would throw at least $100 at each of the waitress and see if they picked it up. This is the question. But also the club should, you know, I think it would be nice if Noam just expressed his appreciation, whether he did it financially or just with a smile.

Although financially is always preferable. Company man. What does the company man think? Well, how is that being a company man when I just, are you accusing me of being a company man? No, I'm the company man, Adam. You are not the company man. The two normal rays over here are

disturbed that we didn't actually issue a formal apology to the waitresses. Not even necessarily an apology. They all left. Not every single server had to stay here. They were all released throughout the night, as was Sean Donnelly, the host of the show. The only two people stayed, and they volunteered. They said, all right, we'll be the ones.

We'll stay. Steve King's security was released, and he also stayed because he wanted to make sure that everything was okay in the room. And they didn't mind the hourly wage. In Sade's post, she did say I hope this was voluntary. And that really is the crux of the situation. So you're telling me that it was voluntary?

It was voluntary up to the point where we had enough staff to cover it. But if everybody wanted to go, no. Two people would have had to stay. You need at least one or two people to close the room. Has everybody lost their mind in the 21st century? This is a business. We're in the business of comedy. It is the end of the world, but it has nothing to do with this. One of the biggest stars in the history

of show business is in here, is doing a couple extra hours. Okay, well. And it's also the reason. Sorry, Mr. Chappelle, but you know, she's got a drink on the bar waiting for her around the corner. The way staff has a life and they deserve to be taken into consideration. It's the reason that they make as much money as they do.

It's the reason that aura that people are like, oh, you never know what's going to happen when you go to the comedy cellar. You never know who's going to show up. That every single show is sold out. That they're making tons and tons of money because people want to come here because you never know. Okay, fair enough. You know what we should do? Make Dan happy.

We're going to tell all the waitresses that anybody who does not want to stay late in the eventuality that we need people to stay late should tell us now, and they can have two weeks' notice, and they do not need to work here anymore because we cannot set ourselves up that we cannot manage

to accommodate going late when big stars walk in. Whether one big star wants to go or maybe Dave Chappelle did an hour and then Chris walked in and then Louis walked in and they all felt like going on. I say, sorry fellas, the waitress, you know, she wants to go. She's binge watching House of Cards and she needs to go home.

Or she's binge watching Your Special. Fair enough. The last time this happened... Or she's binge-watching... Your special. Fair enough. The last time this happened was about five years ago. And we knew it was happening. And we ordered some pizza and we just sort of hung out. It's not really terrible

to sit there once every five years and watch Chappelle wax poetic for five hours. It's pretty fun. And you know you're part of something. Or waxes. Or waxes. Or waxes, whatever. Fair enough.

I'm just saying that... Dan has an argumentative streak a mile wide. I'm just saying that if there was a waitress that needed to leave... They left. Then they left. But you've answered my question. It was more or less a voluntary thing. I didn't read the whole Sade, but it ended with hashtag waitresses lives matter.

At least she kept it funny. No, I made that up. At least her screed was funny. And Liz, I think this is the perfect moment to ask home for a raise. It's about time. I'm good. You know, I banter with Sade from time to time

and I'm thoroughly offended by, you know, the majority of her opinions. But I do, when I talk about her, I said, but you know, you gotta hand it to this girl.

First of all, she's clever and she could take a hit. Like, I've come at her pretty hard. Yeah. No, no, really. I believe it. And she never,

I mean, I don't cross the line, but I'm saying, I hit her, you know, I don't really hold back. I'm civil, but I don't. And she answers in a spirit of a joust, you know, which I like. She doesn't answer nasty or indignant or whatever it is. So she kind of wins my respect that way. I appreciate her because she's sharp and she's informed. She's always informed.

Yeah, except for what she said about John Lennon. Gary, where are you at if I could just move things along? Is Liz dismissed? Well, you can sit here and listen and comment. I'll listen tomorrow. Or not.

I was wondering, last Gary and I were speaking, and I don't recall precisely the date, but you were working on a new set for late-night television, as am I, by the way. Yeah. I'm sort of looking for that last piece of the puzzle, but I know that you're, I think you've gotten, you have your five minutes that you have honed and shaped and sanded

and varnished it and applied lacquer, and now it's ready to be presented to late night television bookers. So where are you with that? Two of the bookers have it, have video of it, and a third has made an offer on it. But are you at liberty to say who that third is? Oh, yeah, Conan. Oh, Conan. Team Coco.

Team Coco, yeah. Nice. Yeah, it's just a matter of finding out what the other two want to do because I'd rather stay in New York and do it. Colbert. And do Fallon. Fallon or Colbert. Well, do you also think that Fallon is more, is just a better move because more people will be watching?

Maybe, maybe. But I think that the Conan fans, when they put the stand-up set on YouTube, they get an enormous amount of hits. My last one got 150,000 hits, which is more than I usually get for a stand-up show. Now, I'm also working on a set, as I just mentioned, but I want it to be the best set I've ever done on late-night TV.

Now, you know my position on late night TV. I make no secret of it. I don't think it does a whole lot. Right. However, if I'm going to do another one. Yeah. Since having a good set hasn't done anything for me. Right.

Maybe having a great set will do something for me. You've gotten off the take a dump thing, though, right? That used to be your theory. My theory was, is that if I took a dump on a late night talk show, that would get me and somebody was able to film it in the, they would never air it,

but if somebody could film it and put it on YouTube, I'd be instantly famous. If you knew that you were going to take the dump, you could make sure somebody filmed it. Exactly.

And I probably wouldn't do any jail time. And if I did, I would be quite a respected man in prison. I would imagine that everybody would be like, hey, that's the motherfucker.

Take a dump for us here. No, please don't. But I don't know that I have it in me either. I don't think I could do it, you know, physiologically, you have to get that dump out on cue. And I'm not even sure that that would get you fame, there's no question about it.

I'm not sure it would help your career. Would it be the right type of fame? It would not be the right type of fame. I've just never heard anybody saying, I'm going out there to do this, and it's going to make me famous, and it's working. Now, Gary, I think... Lightning in a bottle.

Theoretically. I'm trying to make this the best set I can, obviously. Yeah. And I've got one more piece of the puzzle. I need one more joke that really pops, set I can, obviously. Yeah. And I've got one more piece of the puzzle. I need one more joke that really pops, and I'll have it. But theoretically, there is some level of killing on a late-night talk

show that would guarantee you fame and fortune. Absolutely. It may just exist on some sort of ethereal, platonic world of ideas. But theoretically, there is some level. If everybody, if there were ten heart attacks in the audience, if they passed you around on their shoulders, some theoretical, that may not be achievable. Right.

But it exists somewhere in some sort of theoretical space. Hey, Greg. That if I caused mayhem because I was killing so hard. Right. If people were throwing up and just pandemonium, then yes, that would. caused mayhem because I was killing so hard. Right. If people were throwing up and just pandemonium, then yes, that would... But I just know

complete unknowns or barely knowns who have gotten standing ovations on these shows and have put together great sets. Yes.

And you don't know them, so... Anything could happen, right? Right. I said it's a theoretical level. Apparently standing ovation is not sufficient. Right. In my theoretical plat right? Right. I said it's a theoretical level. Apparently standing ovation is not sufficient. Right. In my theoretical platonic.

Right. It would have to be a situation where you killed so well that they said, this guy, we should have him guest host the show. Yeah. Or that you're on the news the next day. It would have to be some sort of TMZ. There's so much competition for eyes out there. For people's eyes. It needs to go viral.

Yeah. And there are a number of things that go viral. But my thing about doing Fallon is I've done Conan probably five times over the course

of the past 15 years. And I know for sure it's like the devil you know versus the devil you know. I know for sure what it does. And what it does is not a whole lot. Right.

Fallon probably doesn't do a whole lot either. But I haven't done it. Right. And it could be that fallon will fall in love with me it's not likely well and he could and you should tell him and i'm not just kidding that you're good at lip syncing like you're good at that whole karaoke thing and you never know maybe he would use you when you're in because he likes to do that well i don't know If you're saying that do I have a voice of an angel, guilty as charged. With regard to lip syncing, I've never done lip syncing.

I would almost like a doer. You could do a musical thing with him and he likes that. Well, that may be interesting. Yeah. So you never know. Conan, I know I have a good set at come over.

He says, hey, thanks for coming. It's been a while. How you been? And then I go home. Yeah, he's a superman. It could be that Fallon is like, I doubt it again Yeah, he's a superman. It could be that Fallon is like,

I doubt it again. But he did that for, what's his name again? Southern fella from Tennessee. Nate Bargatze. He seems to love Nate Bargatze. Can't get enough Bargatze. Very talented man, Nate Bargatze. It was great. It was so funny.

Did he become famous from the appearance? No, but, I don't think so. But nobody becomes famous. As I said, it's only a theoretical possibility. It's never actually happened. But it used to happen all the time with Johnny Carson. But yes, it was a different world. We're talking about a whole different world.

It's a different world from where you come from. There's nothing else on it. It was basically one show on at that hour. Gary, you seem to have implied that you actually don't do these shows with any expectation that they're going to make you famous or anything like that. You have some other motivation for doing them.

I get a t-shirt. It's like you get treated for one day you get an extra birthday. Everybody you know calls you. There's more traffic on your website and on your Twitter and your Facebook. And they pick you up in a limousine, and they're nice to you. And it's fun, and you get to share this video with a bunch of people.

And it's really part of the reason why you get into this business is to have these fun days where you get to play star for a day. They do your hair. They do your makeup. And it's fun. I would also add, by the way, that sometimes— There's a little bit of a day. They do your hair, they do your makeup, and it's fun. I would also add, by the way, that sometimes... There's a little bit of a plug. You plug something and maybe a few more people show up at the show. Sometimes a young lady that you've been striking

out with egregiously over the course of years will come back around and say, hey, that was a hell of a job you did there. Let's get a drink. What about, isn't it some sort of, as objective as there can be, objective affirmation of your skill? Yeah, I think it's a validation.

Also, it's nice to be able to tell your friends that aren't in the business that, oh, hey, watch me on this. It's an extra birthday. That's how I always look at it. It gives me about three or four days where I don't have thoughts of self-harm. I don't know how many days Gary gets out of it, but that's three or four days. In three or four days, I wouldn't have had otherwise.

Right, right. You know, this is kind of what Neil... Did you see Neil Brennan's show? No. Did you see it? No, I have not seen it. You guys should see it if you get a chance.

This is the last week, I think. But he kind of talks about this, that like hanging out with celebrities. He talks about the fact that he... Can I say it on the air? Yeah. That he considers himself a star fucker and people look down their nose at him or he knows that people don't like that about him.

He says, but he's depressed all the time and when he spends some time with celebrities, it kind of gives him like an adrenaline rush and that gives him a little time where he's not miserable. Like these little- Doesn't that sound a lot like an addiction? How an addiction works? Yeah, I mean, he sort of says that. Yeah, he kind of describes it. little time where he's not miserable. Doesn't that sound a lot like an addiction? How an addiction works? He sort of says that.

That's his high in a lot of ways. And that's what sort of got him through. I think that's something that could be worked out with a therapist. I'm sure he tried. It should be worked out with a therapist. He goes to therapy. The show he talks about his clinical depression. Oh, wow.

But Gary, isn't that what we're doing? I mean, oftentimes we get a boost out of, say, a new joke that works. Yeah, that's true. Oh, wow. But Gary, isn't that what we're doing? I mean, oftentimes we get a boost out of, say, a new joke that works. Yeah, that's true. That's true. I'm addicted to a new joke that works. And Neil actually says that, too. I mean, in the end, that's what he says.

He says, you know, telling jokes or writing jokes, it's like being, you know, an air bubble. Well, we could have Neil on the show and discuss this. He's coming in. Maybe he'll sit in. All right. I don't generally like to discuss people in absentia. I recommend the show.

It is interesting, though, how many comedians have clinical depression. I have it. Dan seems to suffer from these down times. And Neil Brennan. Well, you know, there's a book, Touched with Fire. Right. About artists. Right.

By Kay Redfield Jameson. Was that what it's about? Are you going to talk about some author that's not here said? Yeah. Now, I'm in. We can probably invite him on the show. Let's not talk about him in absentia.

In any case. Yeah. No, go ahead. I'm kidding. Talk about the book. That talks about, well, I'm not going to talk in detail, but it talks about

that very close relationship, kissing cousins, if you will, that exist between the artistic mind and the depressed mind, or the psychotic mind in some cases. My jury is out on that. I need to see some proof of that because I know so many talentless people who are depressed and who are not in show business. I mean, you know, there's a lot of depression out there, a lot. Well, you may be right. I mean, I don't know.

I'm not rejecting it. It's hard to imagine there's not some correlation between being in show business or at least being a comic and being mentally ill. I mean, I don't... I would imagine there's a statistically significant correlation. Do you remember the last time

you were really happy? I believe I... It was 87, right? I believe it was 87. Brian Steinberg's house. We had KFC that night. I'll never forget. We were watching wrestling.

Is this true? It's reasonably true. Okay. And what was it that made you happy? No, this was before it all fell apart. Before, like, there was a big downturn in late. As college started to approach, I guess I got spooked by the whole notion of it. And my mood just tanked.

It's somewhere about March. I'll never forget because I was in Montreal all the time for Pesach and that's when it all, you know, fell apart. You're not constantly depressed like he is, right? No, I am. You are? Yeah. Yeah. Oh, I'm an amateur compared to Gary.

Yeah, maybe not. I mean, I've got some nerve even sitting at the same table. No, can I tell you what my take on it is? You're going to tell me I'm wrong, but I'll just say how I perceive it. I see Dan at a steady, let's say if zero is ultimate depression, I see Dan at a steady 4.5, and I see you going between a 2 and an 8. Yeah, which would point to bipolarity, but I'm not. No, bipolarity usually has a mental, like crazy.

Right, but I don't have... Bipolarity is like a psychotic. I wouldn't say I get manic, but I've been able to have sustained times of feeling very good and feeling very productive. And unfortunately, a lot of the times it's tied to my creativity. So if I'm feeling creative and putting new stuff out there, I get less depressed, but writer's block can affect me frequently. The DSM-IV categorization to what I have is meh. It's what?

I'm just kidding. It's meh. No, M-E-H. You know the word meh. Oh, God. Should we invite Mr. Little to? Yes, please do. And I'll tell Lisa. You introduce him. Lisa, can I say? Rob Little. Should we invite Mr. Little? Yes, please do.

And I'll tell Lisa. You introduce him. Rob Little. I met him years ago when I was working at Comedy Cafe in Milwaukee. But anyway, he's a nice guy. And last week he Facebook messaged me and said, can I come on the show? And I said to myself, you know what? I think it might be interesting to have Rob on the show because Rob, I think, took a hiatus

from... Well, we'll get to that. But anyway, Rob Little is new at the Comedy Cellar. It's always nice to see, to talk to newer people that just started working at the Comedy Cellar, I think. I didn't realize that Rob was living in New York full time. So welcome. I just moved here.

Okay. March 1st. Okay. Oh, so it's pretty new. Pretty new, yeah. You can't fault me for not knowing that you were here full time. No, I was out here in August checking it out, seeing if I liked it enough. And then we read that Brian Regan thing.

Yep. And after that, I was like, yeah, I love it. I'm going to try it. Oh, that's really cool. Remember Esty was saying to me, I love this guy. He sent me a tape like 10 years ago, and I thought the guy was great. And then he vanished without a trace for like 10 years or something like that. That was a crazy story. I never

had somebody say something like, she said she got my press kit from my manager. It was like 15 years ago and she said she'd never been more impressed with somebody's press kit and she's kept it to this day. That's amazing because she doesn't throw around that kind of praise so easily.

So you should be very proud of that. Yeah, but then I was super nervous to go on after that. Oh, that made you nervous? Yeah, way nervous. The greatest audition tape that she'd ever seen in the history of the comedy cellar? Why would that make him nervous? I don't know. It just made me nervous.

And then I came off and she goes, oh, you're pretty high energy. And I was like, oh, no. What does that mean? You know, because we're always judging what we're doing. Yeah, of course. So she wasn't as keen on you when she saw you in person? I don't know. She's been giving me sets every

week since I've been here, so that's, I mean, I guess it's a positive sign. Esty is not shy about showing you the door if needs be. Yeah. It was exciting. Other clubs, once you're in, you're kind of in. It's kind of like tenure. This club, you're in, and you might be out. As it should be. Yeah. Well, it was exciting. Other clubs, once you're in, you're kind of in. It's kind of like tenure. Yeah. This club, you're in, and you might be out.

Yeah. As it should be. Well, I think that there's logic. Yeah, from a business point of view, sure. Absolutely. What other point of view should we be looking at this from? Well, there is... I agree essentially with what you're saying.

However, there should be at least a little bit of grace so that people don't feel constantly under the gun, because that does not bring out the best in people. When people feel constantly like they're auditioning, the best is not brought out. I agree with that. Diplomacy and all that, but in the end... I don't feel like the atmosphere is

overly competitive or hostile, so I think there is a balance that's been reached. Well, that's all I ask for is a balance. Dan was shown the door I think twice. Over the course of time. I was shown the door two or three times over the

course of my tenure here. But now I'm in pretty solid. It'd be hard to get rid of me now. I suppose it could be done. But I'm in pretty solid. Oh, it could be done. I mean, like, you know, if you just,

because this has happened, if you just started, it wouldn't happen overnight, but if you just started doing bad sets on a predictable basis, that would be it. I mean, what are we supposed to do?

Put someone on who we have no expectation is going to do well? We would take Dan aside, right? Well, you would at least give me the benefit of a, hey, you know, you better get with it. I don't know if I would because,

maybe with you because we're, I was going to say close, but I don't know if that word applies to Dan. But because I feel, because I love you, Dan, I might take you aside. But I'm always afraid to do that because I think that, first of all, comedians know very well when they're not going over.

They don't need to be told. And I think we've done well by almost never, you know, giving anybody advice or telling them what they're doing right or doing wrong. You know, it's like you're not going over and it's a state of the art. You know it. We know it. And when somebody gets fewer spots, they know. You know, they know the reason why um i don't know there's no easy way to do it you know no i'm accused me of never agreeing with them always being argumentative but uh yeah i i think uh that that's well said and i agree with you on that policy i would like to point out i do give noam uh props when deserved but i i'm not going to give it away. It has no

meaning. I would like to point out I didn't disappear. You mentioned that later, earlier, that I actually had to go on the road pretty much full time to take care of my disabled mother, so that's kind of where I was. Well, you disappeared from my view. Well, yeah, because you weren't doing the road as much.

You were doing more corporate, I think, right? Or something like that? Yes, that's correct. Yeah. You needed to earn money for your mother's medical care? Yes. That's what I've been doing for the last four or five years. Oh, my God.

That must be horrible. It was really tough, really tough. She's had like 10 major surgeries, and we finally just put her down. She kept pissing on the comforter and we just couldn't take it no she she's doing much better now and and then it kind of freed me up so that i was like so but you couldn't be raising money to pay for the surgeries you pay for her insurance or paying insurance paying all she was in a ton of debt that i didn't she wasn't telling me she was in and debt for her medical? For all kinds of things, her house, every bill she had. Every bill.

It was super stressful, and I had no other family members to do anything. I'm the only one. And, you know, it was not easy. It was tough, man. It's tough because I'm super positive and happy-go-lucky guy on stage, but in the back, this is just killing me, you know, because it's your mom. What are you going to do, you know?

Well, I have great admiration for you. You sound like a wonderful son. Thanks. Yeah. Yeah. Well, we don't want to talk. I would have likely cracked under that kind of strain. It was simply doing, I mean.

He cracked from the ambivalence. Well, one thing to have a sick mother, which is, I'm not sure I follow you on that. Like resent your mother. I'm kidding. It's like a Jewish mother joke. But I just don't like doing clubs, you know. Yeah. How many weeks a year were you on the road?

Every single week. Every single week. Wow. There was days I wasn't home for like four or five months because I would do like a club and then I'd go to a cruise and then, you know, and I was trying to book as much as I could. And then the weeks I was home, I'm doing everything around the house to keep it up. Yeah.

So, yeah. Good for you. It's enough to make you vote for Bernie Sanders. God bless you. Yeah. Did it improve your comedy, though? It must have gotten really sharp while you were doing it 50 weeks a year. I started out in improv.

I was in improv first, so I was main stage second city in Detroit. Wow. So I was an improv guy first, so it made all that really sharp. It felt like, because sometimes you get a little bored with your material on the road, and so that part was more fun for me. So I would write bits that would go into improv with people. Oh, that's great. Not like, what's your name, where you're from, that kind of crap.

It would be more like, this is what I'm talking about. I'm talking about nurses. And then you get nurses involved. And then the next thing you know, we're talking. So if I can bring this together. And during this period, would you describe yourself as depressed? There was a few dark moments, yeah. Generally depressed?

No, not generally. Normally, I mean, now I'm super giddy to be here and be around awesome talents like these two guys. Because what it kind of makes me think is that here's a guy who has real reason to be depressed, going on the road every week, taking care of his sick mom, no end in sight, whatever it is, and is basically able to, you know... Stay positive.

To stay positive. And here's guys who have done none of these things and basically can't say that, but does that... Well, because you're looking at it, it's like saying, well, somebody, you have cancer, you have no reason to have cancer. That's my next question, was the fact that you realize

that you don't suffer from the depression of these guys. Does that make you less secure about your talent? I feel very – that's the one part I'm strong about. I think I'm strong is my talent. I think I'm a good performer. Because they believe you have to have depression to be – No, I didn't say that. No.

I said there's a correlation that's statistically significant. If you look at the dots on a graph, you'll find that they're doing a regression analysis. I think you're right, Dan. Chi-square, yeah. You know, and I didn't say you had to. I didn't say it was a conditioned precedent. I know. I understand.

Paul McCartney, by all accounts, is cheerful, sickeningly cheerful. Yeah. And who's more talented than Paul McCartney? Yeah. I did just book a club. Do you ever do this, Gary? I booked a club in December. I'm going to be

at the Comedy Works. Oh, that's an excellent club. Yes. You'll have fun. That's like not even being on the road. If, well, no, it is for me,

but if... You're never happy, man. I've been listening to all these podcasts and I'm like, the things you're bitching about, I'm like, most comics would kill for that.

And you're like, oh, Letterman again. Yeah, right? The comedy works. You know how many guys are begging to get into that club? And you're like, I'm going. It's a great club.

It's a fun city. I don't like clubs. That's all. But you're good in them. That's what I don't get why you think. That week we worked together, I was so impressed with you. I think I was middling. And when I was middling, I was super impressed with you.

Yeah, when I'm middling, there's less pressure. When I'm headlining, the pressure so impressed with you. I think I was middling. You were, and I was super impressed with you. When I'm middling, there's less pressure. When I'm headlining, the pressure is on. I booked it because it's in December. In my head, I'm thinking, oh, it's December. It's a long way off. Maybe between now and December, I'll either win the lottery or something great will happen. But it'll be good to have the gig

if those things don't come together. Well, I wouldn't go that far, but I'll have the gig. Yeah. But in my head, because it's far enough away, I was able to mentally put it in the book

without too much. If my manager called me up and said, oh, they want you to do the Comedy Works next week, I would have said no. Dan, it's unbelievable because I just recently

came to this conclusion that when somebody asks me to do something months away, because I always say, yeah, and then it comes, I say, I've decided, if it were this week, would I agree to it? And if the answer is no, I'm not agreeing to it because it's going to come.

And it's always, fuck, I say, what the fuck did I agree to? Yeah, I'll agree to almost anything if you ask me far enough ahead of time. So that's a good way to approach it. But I also think part of the problem with being on the road, and Robbie, I'm sure you can attest to this, is you're alone a lot. It's very isolated, and that's not healthy, especially for somebody like myself

who really craves this time at the comedy salon. I would have come at 6.30 whether I had to do radio or not. I agree. Just to hang out and be with the guys. Well, I don't like to commiserate. I don't think it's that either. I think it's the camaraderie and getting to hang out. Because the question I've been asking every comedian I run into for weeks now is,

what do you do with a joke that only works in front of a good crowd? Do you keep pushing it out there and maybe think you can make it applicable to the crowds that are less enthusiastic? It's like a theater joke. They're kind of giving it to you just because of who you are. Is that what you feel like? No, it's not so much that as... For instance, I do a lot of shows

where the people are there solely to see me. And there are jokes that I can do in front of them that I wouldn't put downstairs where they're just here to see comedians of a certain level or something like that. Not that my jokes are inside jokes or anything, but that they work for a certain audience better than maybe an audience

that's all from the United States of America rather than a mixture. But I don't know. It's just something that I wouldn't call commiserating, that is more shop talk that I like to do with the comedians that are here. Yeah, I like that. What's your answer to his question? I don't know, man.

I would have to hear the joke, to be honest, because otherwise I think out here you're getting a lot of people from out of the States. So at every club, it doesn't matter which one you're at. Yeah, New York, yeah. I think you asked me that question, and I think my answer was if it only works if I look at it. You took it outside and you said, well, we've got to let you go. We've got to let you go, yeah. I don't want to joke

that it only works when everything is right. Yeah. But maybe because I'm seldom in a situation where everything is right. So I can't, you know, I mean, those jokes only work relatively infrequently. If I had something like that, I would reword it to kind of bring everybody into it, I would think. Right.

However, however. But sometimes the wording is the beauty of the bit. That being said. I know you're super good at that. Oh, stop. I love you, man. But continue. You're awesome.

That being said, the jokes that only work more rarely, those might be the most beautiful jokes of all. Because the jokes that, and Noam and I have this discussion and this argument all the time, is Noam seems to think that the public knows best. But, you know, there's something we call hacks, some jokes that we call hack jokes, that will work in front of everybody. But those jokes, anybody can do, and anybody can write them,

and anybody can come up with them. The jokes that are more nuanced probably won't work in front of everybody. But those are the jokes that make Gary Goleman Gary Goleman. I told Gary that I didn't like the way he phrased the question because the notion that this was a bad crowd because they didn't respond to this particular joke. Yeah, yeah, yeah, That's a good point.

I don't actually buy that. Bad for that joke, I guess. I mean, you know, just... Some crowds don't want to think, and I would think you're a very smart material. Some smart material, I guess. I don't know. It doesn't seem that smart. Gary is very unique.

His rhythm is unique. Gary's also doing a kind of comedy that's very seldom done. Now, here are the kinds of comedy. We got your jokes, your short jokes, your short form comedy. It's what I do.

Short jokes that obviously never happen. All right, I obviously, you know, well, I'm not going to do an example, but most of my jokes it's quite obvious

to the audience that never happened. That you made them up. That I made them up. That I made them up. Like when I have the joke about how my father beating my mother. You never really were a nerd in high school. No.

Sorry. There's reality-based jokes, but clearly my father didn't beat my mother because the potatoes were undercooked. Go ahead. But then there are those who do jokes that are clearly they did happen, or you think that they

happened. They sound like they happened. I try to write all mine to make them sound like they happened. Now, Gary does jokes that clearly never happen, but they're very long form. Gary does long form, clearly never happened shit, which nobody does. Woody Allen did it with that moose joke that took a half an hour

and clearly never happened. But nobody, almost nobody's doing that. Dave Chappelle did that when he talked about going to the Indian, you know, and he had a whole joke about the Indians and he went there. Yeah, or the baby that told crack on the corner. That famous joke. I don't know that one. Oh, it's good.

Yeah, so that's like long form never happened shit. Which I think is probably the rarest format. Yeah, I don't know. Probably the most challenging. I don't know that all my jokes are like that, but the ones that are I didn't like the idea about

good crowds and bad crowds. No, I think I was phrasing it wrong. You're right. You're right about that. It's the ideal crowd versus a more less savvy. No, not even less savvy, because I wouldn't say that, because I think the comedy audience is really savvy. That does exist.

But shit crowds do exist. The other night, I was watching, I think it was Lynn Coplitz, and I walked in, and she was doing, you know. And because it's a thing that comedians do all the time. They walk in, how are they? How are they? You know, and I always hate that when I hear that.

How are they? So Lynn was doing that. You mean when they start their set or something? No, they'll come up and the comedian will say, how are they? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like it's all about, not how did you do? Right. Were you on? It's a great point. It's because comics already know

other comics are not going to go, oh my god. So wait, so Lynn was doing very, you know, a 6.5. And then, and she got the light, but she didn't get off, and she did her rape routine. Oh yeah, very funny. And the audience went crazy, you know?

And I turned to Lenny Marcus. I said, you see, if she'd come off before that and you asked her, how are they? She said, Oh, terrible.

Right. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. But then she did, she was funny all of a sudden, all of a sudden, Oh,

they're great. And so, and that's what I see all the time. So, you know, how were you, you know? Well,

I always wonder what the audience remembers from each comedian. And I, and I think it's usually only one piece. Sometimes it's the last, and it can really leave a nice mark for you when you put it on last. The first and the last. Yeah. There is a huge difference between audiences, however.

There are audiences that are explosive. There's audiences that it's like pulling teeth. There is a difference. And the fact is, I don't think it had that much to do with our performance. Except, explain, riddle me this, Batman. I'm watching the comedian at the same time the audience is. And most of the time, I find myself responding exactly at the same time, the same way the audience is responding.

I can't explain why. Contagious. Laughter is contagious. No, but same way the audience is responding. I can't explain why. Contagious. Laughter is contagious. No, but I'm saying it's instantaneous. I can't explain why this day it was funny and the next day it wasn't, but there is something magical in a delivery. And often when it didn't go over so well, if you talk to them,

they weren't really feeling it. They weren't in a good mood. They're tired of that routine. You know, I... But I bet you, Rob, doing so many different crowds at so many levels and energies, you must know that there's an adjustment that you can make. And I feel like I could do that almost every night, that I could make an adjustment, adjust the material or adjust my approach and make it either more personal or make it more broad. And I could win this crowd over. But I think some nights, and not so much here, but at other clubs,

it's like, no, I really need to work out this new stuff, and I don't know it that well, and I've got to put it out there. But I really feel like at this point, and I've been doing it for almost 23 years, that I can make an adjustment and win over just about every crowd as long as there's not some sort of violence going on. Ridiculous circumstances. But the fact that you have to make an adjustment means that crowds are different.

Some crowds might like you to do more of an inside game where you get in there and you start making fun of the dude in the front row. But Gary, you should always, I think, because if you don't make the adjustment, in all due respect, in my opinion, if you don't make the adjustment With all due respect, in my opinion If you don't make the adjustment And then you do the new material

You're not even going to really Get the best feedback on that material Better to win them over And then give them the new material When they like you So at least it's not like That's usually my approach Is to put some testers out there first, and then

go into the new stuff, which is just a little bit more raw than the other stuff, because I've worked on it when I was writing it, and at home, before I go over it, before I go on stage. Sometimes you're just too excited. You just start it right away. You're like, I can't wait to try this. How often do you guys

write something, and it's basically perfect? Never. The same feeling when you take a shit and one wipe and it's clean. And that wipe was just a double check. And that wipe wasn't even necessary. As my friend Don Fabricant always said.

Go ahead. It happens, but it doesn't happen often. Most recently it happened. I've been wrestling with this notion of sending text to the wrong person for months. But when I got it, I got it right immediately. So I was wrestling with the premise, but when I finally got it, it worked out. Do you know that joke where I say that I texted, come over, I'm horny to my cousin Sheila, by mistake? Then I apologized, like, sorry, cousin Sheila,

that was actually meant for somebody else. Sorry you came all the way over here. I love that joke. That joke worked right out of the box, right out of the gate. But I was fiddling with that premise about sending texts to the wrong person for probably a year. Yeah, it is rare. And that joke you like about the state abbreviations, I originally did in 1997,

and I didn't really know how to do it, and I didn't have the... The important thing was that documentaries had to become about minutia, and once they did, the world changed, and it allowed your joke to flourish. Yeah, and then the joke worked. There are audiences back in Boston where I started, and certain sections of the state and I would do much better with the audience if I did my jokes for my first

four or five years of comedy. They were shorter, they were faster, and they were broader. And the stuff I do now requires a little bit of an attention span and so I wouldn't do as well if I did them. I think that's a difference in crowds is just what you would use to win them over. I think that's a difference in crowds is just

what you would use to win them over. I have a question for you, Gary. Since moving out here, I mean, I lived in LA for 10 years. We would get longer sets out there. Now here it's, wait, everything's real quick. Five minutes, you're lucky to get. Five, seven, eight, whatever. Your long

form, I feel like I'm in longer form and I'm trying to find all my shortest jokes to really relate out here but do you struggle with that at all? Trying to narrow it down to the first five to seven? A little bit. A lot of times I have to do abridged versions of these things but a lot of them

I worked on in pieces over the years so there are shorter versions of them. It's painful for me when you abridge them. No, because really, they do lose something when you abridge them. I agree. Because they're delicious when they're the full length. Because part of the funny is the length.

So what else? Well, we are in the middle of construction right now, and we did talk about this last week. Noam wasn't here last week. He had some family issues that are none of my business. They're putting in a new kitchen, and there will be new food items on the menu. And I think that's glorious news to those of us who have been under the boot, under the tyranny of kebabs for lo these 20 years. And now it's time the people have been pushed far,

as far as they will be pushed. And the time is nigh to say no more. We are expanding. Can I say one more thing about the previous thing? I want to ask you guys all a question. What does this have to do with kebabs? Well, it has to do with selling kebabs. All right. You know, have you ever been to a concert where you were excited to see the concert

and the guy just did a half-assed job and you were annoyed, right? Kid rock. I hated it. Yeah. I seldom see comedians, and I wonder how you really feel about it, acknowledge their obligation to give the audience a good time. Acknowledge their obligation? I live and die by that obligation. Yeah, I was going to say, that's my number one priority. Why the fuck do you think I'm, if you watch me every night, you see me tinkering with jokes, trying to get it right.

No, I think that's about you. No, it's about me trying to kill. Whether it's for my personal pleasure or the audience, it doesn't matter because the result is the same. I want to kill. So whether it's because I want to kill for me or whether it's because I want to kill for them, the end result is killing. But some comedians, most comedians

at some point or another, I see them go up there if the crowd doesn't respond, and they get visibly kind of annoyed, and they just kind of chuck the rest of the set. I saw a couple guys do that the other night. And I see that, and it makes me furious. Me too. But at the core, it makes me feel like, have some respect for the, because you could have.

You know you were talented. You know you were talented. You know you're a pro. You could have given them something, you know? And you didn't feel it was necessary. These people look forward. Sometimes they make reservations three weeks in advance. They're not rich.

They spend their money. You know, all right. Just make them laugh. I'm not seeing what you're describing here. I have seen it. I feel like you should respect the stage and the history of the club, too. Because, I mean, it's exciting for me to even be here. And then seeing some guys that I know have been playing here for years.

And I watched a couple guys go up the other night. And they did not give two shits that they were bombing. That was here? Yeah. And I was just like. Who was that? I don't know. Yes, you know. I don't remember who it was.

But I was just like, what are you doing? And it really bummed me out because I know they're funny. It's very disturbing. I'm not seeing that, but Rob says he's seeing it. I'm seeing, I don't see people. How often do you go down and watch them? Every time I've been here, I just watch every, because I like to. Not as much as you.

I enjoy watching the guys. I'm just not seeing it when I do watch. The audience are usually good enough that it doesn't come to that because the audience are usually good enough that it doesn't come to that because the audience are usually good enough that you wouldn't have that reaction and some people don't have the psychology for that like

you remember Elon the musician you could take any video clip I worked for him like 20 years you could take any video clip of any song ever in those 20 years and you could not catch him not being 100%. Amazing, amazing. Literally, you could not catch him.

And other people, it's very clear. They're into it. They're not into it. They're in a good mood. And even if they know they should, they just suffer. Not everybody can be Artie Fuqua. Artie's that guy. You could not find three minutes of video of Artie in the entire 20 years we've known him

where he's not like 100%, right? You can't find that. Yeah, it's true. That's a mental illness too, in a way, I guess. No, I admire that so much. I feel like I'm like that. I get migraines on stage a lot, and I still am like, happy-go-lucky, hyper guy up there.

I will say that no matter how rough a day I've had as far as my mood goes, the 15, 20 hour or whenever I'm on stage, I'm present and I feel like I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be, which is a great feeling to know what you should be doing. I shouldn't be doing my taxes. I shouldn't be exercising. I shouldn't be walking my dogs. I should be doing this.

And so rarely, other than when we eat, we're not convinced that this is what we should be doing. And I feel very lucky that I have that every day if I choose. And you are lucky. Yeah. I mean, I don't know. For some reason, I always thought the word is fortunate, not lucky. And then I looked it up.

They're supposed to mean the same thing. But I think that lucky kind of could imply that it could happen to anybody. But no, you have this terrific talent. Well, thank you. And the luck, as it were, is just that you live in a time and place where there's a job for that talent. But it's not lucky in the sense that...

Right, but we're very... Well, he's lucky to have the talent. Fortunate also to have the outlet and the place to do it. And who else is very lucky and fortunate and has no idea that they're lucky and fortunate? Dan. Dan Aderman. No, I think Dan Aderman recognizes that.

He doesn't have it. I recognize that there are many. Well, I'm fortunate in certain ways and unfortunate in other ways. But, you know, I recognize where I'm fortunate. With this illness that. But, you know, I recognize where I'm fortunate. He's stricken with this illness that... Now, can we get... You just want to be much higher than where you're at. That's what...

Which I think all of us feel that way about our own careers. You don't think you'd still be happy? No, it's a cliche of the people who have all kinds of success and are still unhappy. So I can't imagine that that's the answer. We think it would be. Well, I have some very specific issues with regard to, you know, my parents being proud of me. And that's getting, you know, a little deep and Freudian.

Well, I did want to hear Gary's thoughts on the new menu. Okay, Gary's thoughts on the new menu, and then we'll wrap it up. And whether or not you see this as a deliverance from tyranny. It is partially, but it's also adjusting our routine and our location

is off. What's going to be the new comics table? The table's coming back right there. There's just a temporary wall they're building behind it. Right, there's going to be a temporary perturbation. Ah.

But I think the long term, this will be great for everybody. Not only will it be great for the comics, because we get new food items. I suspect that Noam, he doesn't need it, but I do think this will be exceedingly good for his bottom line because this is the,

all these drunk motherfuckers, this is McDougal Street, who roll out of these bars at four in the morning, these drunk dudes. And we'll still get 50% off these new menu items, right? Not so fast, Goldman.

That's actually a good question because, you know, forget about it. There's this one group of old comedians that don't pay anything, right? And that's fine when it's hummus and, you know. But what happens when it's steak? Steak and salmon.

What am I going to do, Dan? Well, that's for you to figure out. I got to go do a set, so thank you very much for having me on. It's always a pleasure, and you guys really made me forget about myself for an hour. Oh, thank you, Gary. Thank you very much. You're awesome, man. Yeah, so, no, I'm kidding.

I don't know what to do about the— Well, are these going to be really high-end items? I mean, a steak is not necessarily a high-end item. You go to a diner, you get a steak and eggs for $15. No, no, no. We're not going to have— First of all, we don't have anything low-end now, but, you know, high-end hummus is high-end hummus. I say low-end, but these are, you know.

If we have steak, it's going to be steakhouse quality steak. The food here is for every budget. You know, this is not. But nobody wants a budget steak. Nobody wants a budget steak. I won't even order a steak if it's like less than $30. I just assume it can't be any better. So your steaks here are going to be $30 steaks?

Or more. I had a wonderful steak't be any good. So your steaks here are going to be $30 steaks? Or more. I had a wonderful steak at Applebee's in Denver recently. Now maybe I just have, maybe I'm just a Neanderthal with no taste and no class. But I damn well enjoyed that Applebee's $20 steak. You could probably judge the crowd's reaction to Gary

Goldman's steak abbreviation material by how they like a steak at Applebee's. I think that you should not be liking a steak at Applebee's. I think that you should not be liking a steak at Applebee's. I'm a man of simple taste. That's why the people love me, because I can relate to them. I like on the road, I do like Applebee's and all these

shitty places that you're not supposed to like, but yet somehow I do really maybe it's a guilty pleasure. Look, a Big Mac sometimes is just what you need. A Big Mac is a I agree, a Big Mac sometimes is just what you need. A Big Mac is good, but a second-rate steak to me is never good. I worked at McDonald's for four years in high school and never once had a Big Mac. Really? Never once.

I don't like that sauce they put on it. In the Midwest, you're from the Midwest. This is what you get when you go to McDonald's in the Midwest. You get white people. Yeah. I won three national awards when I worked at McDonald's. I won Mr. McSmile, Mr. McOpener, and I won Mr. McService, and I got to do a real commercial.

That is amazing. Do you talk about that on stage? I did when I started, yeah. Do you believe, just as a businessman, I wonder, do you? You didn't win Mr. McSpit in the food. No. I love that job. There's this, is it a trope?

Is that what you call it? Of that, you know, that employers are supposed to motivate employees. Oh, they need to pay them or whatever it is. And it's been my experience that employees come with their motivation. You cannot take a dour, sour employee and pay them more, give them a treat, and make them into a good employee. You can take a really good employee

and treat them so badly that they say, fuck this, and they lose it. But in general, if you want Mr. McSmile, that's just you, right? They didn't treat you a particular way to make you that way. No, I don't think so. It wasn't like you're part of the team.

Oh, really? Okay, I'll smile. That's just who you are. You smile. Yeah. Yeah, I agree with that. I feel I was very motivated in every job except for my last one. I have a computer science degree, and my last job was with IBM,

and I wanted to do comedy full-time at that point. So I sent out a company- wide email telling people they should quit their jobs and follow their dreams and I'm going off to be a comedian here's my website and I just sent it off and it literally went to like Africa, Europe, North yeah it was awesome we really want everyone to follow their dreams

and nothing will get done you fucking know it counts what do I know I'm leaving a job I hated I'm thankful for people that are sticking with their shitty jobs because we need those people. Alright, well thank you very much. Thanks for having me. Do you want to give your Twitter? Yeah, roblittle.com, roblittlecomic

all that. Roblittle just on all of them. Social medias. And at Dan Natterman. Yeah, whatever. No one's following. They're going to be airing the True TV documentary about the Comedy Cellar soon. I've seen it. Dan has a big part in it.

So as soon as that's up, we can talk about that. I'm sure that's got to be good for three or four Twitter followers. Yeah. I got a few weeks coming up in Richmond, Denver, and Omaha. Okay. Make sure to see the Confederate White House and Museum. It's a must stop over in Richmond, Virginia. I probably will.

Thanks. Good night, everybody. Thank you.