The Comedy Cellar: Live from the Table - Jim Breuer and Todd Barry

Episode Date: April 6, 2019

Jim Breuer and Todd Barry

You're listening to The Comedy Cellar, here on Sirius XM Channel 99. My name is Noam Dorman. I'm the owner of the Comedy Cellar. I'm here, as always, with my pal, Mr. Dan Natterman. Hello, Daniel. How do you do, Noam? We have a jam-packed show today. I hope you're excited, as I am. We have Mr. Todd Barry with us now. How do you do, Noam? We have a jam-packed show today. I hope you're excited, as I am. We have Mr. Todd Barry with us now. How do you do, Todd?

I'm all right. How are you? And also, Jim Brewer will be joining us a little bit later in the program. So you talk about a one-two punch. Yeah, that's... By the way, Jim is, I believe, a Christian. So if you have anything dirty you want to talk about... Get it out of the way now. Get it out of your system.

I don't know that you do, but now's the time. Okay. Are you going to introduce Todd? Oh, I thought you were going to introduce Todd. But he needs no introduction. Yeah, I don't know. Everyone knows him. But his most recent one-hour special, Spicy Honey, is available on Netflix.

And he's, of course, been on numerous shows like The Late Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Flight of the Concord, Chappelle's Show. I would add to that Dr. Katz for those fans from the early years. And The Wrestler. Is he in The Wrestler? Yeah, that's my big one right now. And he can be seen regularly here at the Comedy Cellar. He's also got a book out called Thank You for Coming to Hattiesburg. What's Hattiesburg?

It's a city in Mississippi. So what... go ahead. It's a book about, I did a tour of smaller market cities, and I titled it that because when you go to those cities, they thank you for coming there because not everyone goes there. So, how was that? It was good. I mean, I got my little fan base all over the world.

They loved you in Hattiesburg of all places? They did, yeah. It's not what you might think it is. Well, if you write a whole memoir about it. Oh, this was a whole tour. It wasn't all about Mississippi. Right, but you did a memoir about doing small towns. Small-ish towns.

Small-ish towns. So you must have some insight into small-ish town people. I'm reading Hillbilly Elegy now. That's why I'm... Uh-huh. You know that book? I've heard of it. Yeah, you know, Doug Davidoff likes to carry

it around, but... He's read the first and the last pages. But it's about small town, like Hillbilly America from Kentucky, and apparently they traveled up to Ohio, and I'm talking about that culture. And I'm wondering if you have any insight. Well, these aren't...

I mean, the people I play for are not hillbillies. They're just, they're just like probably mainly progressive people who happen to live in Mississippi

or Alabama. Are they miserable there? No, I mean, they're not when I come to town. Do they have comedy clubs in small towns in Mississippi and stuff?

Not necessarily in Hattiesburg. I kind of do like music venues. Are there really progressive people in Alabama? Oh, we didn't introduce Perrielle, our producer. I'm sorry. Perrielle Asher. Yeah, and that's kind of what, sort of,

if there's any seriousness to my book, it was to prove that point. I don't even do political material, and I'm sure I make right-wingers laugh all the time. You make me laugh. I must confess, I didn't read the book material, and I'm sure I make right-wingers laugh all the time. You make me laugh. Yeah, exactly. I must confess, I didn't read the book because I just found out it existed whilst doing research for you as a guest.

I would have brought a comp copy for you. Is it mostly, what can I look forward to when I do read the book? Is it a lot of, say, salacious stories about groupies? No. Some people really like it. Some people probably think it's repetitive, because it is. But it's a lot of just what I did when I got to town. It's not as profound as I may have set it up.

It's a bad book. How are the sales? How are the sales? A lot of comics have books these days. How are the sales? That's three questions in is how are the sales? I don't know. It's not...

I mean, publishing a book's a pretty big deal. I mean, it was Simon & Schuster or an imprint of them. How many pages is it? It's over about 200. But it's short little chapters

for even. But like sitting down and writing a book is no joke. I know. I wish I had, yeah, I wish I had a chance

to do it over again. Did they come to you and say, we want to hear about Todd Barry's experiences, or did you pitch them? I'll tell you what happened. There's a guy at Three Arts,

which is my management company, who's a book guy. He does like Tina Fey and a lot of comedy books, and he wanted to meet with me because he liked my comedy. Is that Dave Becky? No, no. It's a guy named Richard Abate.

He's a book agent. And then I met with him, and he's like, have you ever thought of writing a book? And I said, I'd love to, but I don't have any ideas. And he said, well, I'm good at helping people come up with an idea. And then we talked for about 45 minutes, and then he said, write up a few pages, and I did. And then like three weeks later, I had a shockingly lucrative book deal. So you got the money. I'm not going to tell you how much because I know that's your next question.

No, it certainly would not. I'm certainly more discreet than that, but you had the money before embarking on this, what had to be a fairly rigorous endeavor, that is to say, writing a book. Yeah. You had the cash in hand. No, you get part of it up front, and then you get the other part.

But he had the contract. He knew he was going into... Yeah, yeah, yeah. Look, nobody gets into writing books for the cash. Except for comedians, actually. Well... Unless you're like Kim Kardashian. I'm not sure that that's the case,

because would Todd have written the book without a contract in hand? I mean, that's a great... Probably not. I don case because would Todd have written the book without a contract in hand? I mean, that's a great question. Probably not. I don't think I would have written the whole book on spec. No, you don't. But it's not like you're like, I'm going to write a book and become extraordinarily wealthy from writing this book. Well, not extraordinarily wealthy, but whatever income it was.

But it's a lot of work is what I'm saying, right? It is a lot of work. But you have like a year and a half to write a book. Well, there's this horrible story about the guy who wrote Confederacy of Dunces. I forget his name. Is it Kennedy? John Kennedy Toole. That's right.

John Kennedy Toole. And he submitted this book. He wrote it because it welled up inside him, I guess, like some people, some real artists. It has to come out. And he submitted it all over, all over, all over. And it was rejected everywhere. And then he killed himself. And then it was published.

And it was the biggest hit of its time. So Todd had exactly the opposite experience. I got it published. Now I'm going to tell my story. Memoirs, I think, are often you get deals up front for a memoir sometimes, but a novel, unless you're a big star.

No, I'm saying, but a novel, like a Confederacy of Dunces, you would never get up. I actually have a novel in my head and I'm writing it up. I'm thinking of going forward and writing a novel. Is that sequel to Gone with the Wind you keep talking about?

No, there have been enough sequels to Gone with the Wind, although perhaps that would be interesting. But I do have a novel that I just kind of crafted an idea. Recently, over the past month, I've been toying with an idea for a novel, and I think I've got it fairly well crafted in my head. Write it up. Well, I just might. I just might. You should. That's a lot of work. It is a lot of work.

I can personally attest to that. Let me ask you guys a question. You guys have both been doing this for a long time. That's correct. You get up, you do your spots, whatever. How do you keep going? Is it hard to keep going? I remember when I was playing in a band all the time,

I was like, oh, fuck, I got to go do it again. It's like, Todd, you still enjoy it as much as you ever did? Yeah, I mean, there's times where you're like, you feel like, do I ever get to do anything other than this? But you do have all day to do that. But, yeah, I mean, I still like it a lot. But sometimes it gets, if you just get bored with yourself, like if I get bored with, if I don't write fast enough,

then I might be a little bit. You get bored doing the same material. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, it's fun, but it's not. And how much of it is at the same time you love performing, but you also love the lifestyle where you don't have to get up, you don't have to punch a clock, you don't have to answer to anybody. Yeah, I love that. I mean, I to answer to anybody. Yeah, I love that.

I mean, I try to remind myself. Yeah, I love that also. No, no. Whenever I think about, you know, whatever, I'm like, well, what's the alternative? Like, having to be, where were you? Dorming? You're five minutes late. I'm like, oh, shoot me in the head, you know? Yeah, whenever I'm like on a train during rush hour and I'm like, wow, people do this every day.

Well, regular listeners to the show know. They're miserable. Regular listeners to the show know that the real secret is I never really loved stand-up. I always was hoping. This I found out recently. I was hoping to lead to something more, be it film, TV, other things, and it never did. And so here I am. But to answer your question, yes,

as much as I didn't love it 10 years ago, I love it less now, which is why I'm toying with this novel idea, because I want to do something, I want to express myself creatively in other ways. You can't really write a book, Dan, can you? A novel, a plot, a protagonist. Noam has made sort of a cottage industry

of underestimating me. He does it quite well, and he does it quite often. And the answer is I don't know. But the notion that you think it's an utter joke, that I would even consider it... You should remember this conversation

and then fucking show up here one day and slam that book down. Here you are. But I think No one might believe that. But you see, because comedy to me, I don't feel like I'm getting enough creative muscle being exercised. Is your book like a comic take on something? Is it dramatic?

Are there sex scenes? There are elements of all of those things that you've mentioned. Have you read The Godfather? It's a good sex scene in The Godfather. Both dramatic and comic. But my point is that there comes a time, I think, in every comic's life, Todd, correct me if I'm wrong, where you feel like, all right, I've done comedy.

I'm not going to say I've mastered it, but I'm pretty good at it. Well, there is that thing. Todd's mastered it. I am, yeah. And you want to flex your muscle. You guys. You want to flex your muscle in some other way.

No, I definitely couldn't. I like to take breaks from it. Not like breaks, but just find something, another project to do. You guys, it's the exact opposite for me because I've written two books. Oh, you have? Yeah, I have.

I apologize for not knowing that. That's okay. I'll bring you copies next time. And comedy and stand-up for me was always the thing that was so interesting and exciting. You wrote novels? No, I've written two memoirs. Oh, you don't...

What the fuck is that? No one does not... I've got to tell you what. Memoirs on the same level as a novel. You know what? I don't want to hear a word until you read the books. It's just absurd. You're not even allowed to say anything until you read the books.

But this is what I want to say. This is actually quite an interesting conversation. I never tire of it, which is that certain talents do seem to be higher order than other talents. For instance, we're surrounded here by these beautiful drawings that Abba did. Now, you can't fake that. Right. And you probably can't learn it. You could probably put a gun to my head and give me 10 years,

and I would never be able to get close to that. I could probably come up with five minutes. Really? Of stand-up. Oh. I don't think. I don't buy that. I've often said, and I've said this in therapy when I question my life choices.

Can you hold on? Let me finish my last sentence. Well, I would prefer to finish my sentence. Go ahead, go ahead. Good. If it's okay. Because I wasn't finished with my point. Go ahead, go ahead.

I asked myself, how hard is it to become at least a reasonable stand-up? And can anybody with, you know, a reasonable IQ do it with enough time and enough effort? I don't think so. I'm almost there. And the reason I say I could come up with five minutes is because we all know. I'm sure he could. We all know comics who work here. Stupid.

They're stupid. Who are, eh. You talk to them and they muscle it out. They've come up with their bits. Let's get rid of them. Why are they working? No, because they've managed to put together five or ten or fifteen minutes of funny stuff. But you can't...

See, you couldn't do the equivalent in a beautiful drawing. You can't fake that. But maybe if you went to art school and took drawing lessons, maybe you would come close. I'm not saying you would be as good as he is. I agree with Todd what if he took years of art but a novel

this is a high level talent you have a plot you have subplots you have characters each character is written from its own psychology they interact

like that's when like Woody Allen like you realize oh shit yeah he was a great stand up but who knew he could do that like that's

a screenplay he wasn't a novelist but he was a screenwriter. Screenplay, I think, is similar. When you read a good novel, and I'm not a voracious reader of novels, but I'm a regular reader of novels. When you read a good novel, it's almost like a miracle. Like, how the hell did this person manage to craft three, four hundred pages,

five hundred pages? It's like when they're on page 200, they have to remember what happened on page 30. That's true. I mean, writing a book, as I'm sure you well know, even a memoir, dare I say, Noam, you have to really be on top of a lot of moving pieces because it's true. By the

time you're on page 200, you have to remember what the fuck you were talking about on page 40, right? Now, if it's a memoir... You're not really comparing a memoir to Gone with the Wind or Anna Karenina. I'm not comparing anything. I assume that you have something to say about that.

No, I'm just saying, writing any book or anything that's hundreds of pages long is serious business. And I do think you could learn to draw if you took 10 years of art classes. I do think you could learn to draw if you took 10 years of art classes. Do you think you could learn to play a classical instrument

long enough to do a concert? No, I couldn't. No, nobody could unless they have the talent. But you can muscle it. But I don't think you can learn to be a great writer either. But I don't want to misunderstand me. There are geniuses around us in stand-up comedy.

We all know them. Sitting with at least one of them. but I don't want to misunderstand me. There are geniuses around us in stand-up comedy. Agreed. We all know that. Sitting with at least one of them. Sitting with at least one of them. Ah, God, yes! So I'm not saying that there is no such thing as the expression

of great talent in stand-up comedy. Right. But I think, and like, you know, like Chappelle, let's say, I mean, you know, the ability to come up

with these things or Gary Goleman, no one else has thought of and do it and, and, and repeat it, be able to do it over and over. Do you think it's like some movies are cast with non-actors and it,

they're still good movies? Oh, acting is acting is the lowest level talent and, and they're great actors. I mean, uh, what's his name? Johnny Depp is clearly a gifted actor,

but the fact is that we've seen it over and over that you can take almost any famous charismatic person Lawrence O'Donnell or Lady Gaga or whatever it is and you put them in a way and they're like, hey, you can act pretty good. Especially in movies where you can do repeated takes. Honestly, as somebody who started doing stand-up not that long

ago, I have found few things that challenging. I do not think you can fake getting up there. But you're doing stand-up comedy! No, but I really think it's like, and it's not just about being able to come up with five minutes of funny

stuff or ten minutes of funny stuff. That's not where the art of stand-up is. Yeah, and you're only going to go so far with that five minutes. You're only going to go so far with it, but this is it, Todd. This is the comedy seller. We're like the NBA here. This is the top 1% of

stand-up comedians in the world, whatever they perform here. You cannot get anywhere near a basketball court, like an NBA basketball court, if you are not supremely gifted. But you can muscle out 10 minutes. Well, I think sports is the ultimate,

well, not the ultimate, but it's a true meritocracy in that if you're good and you're in high school or whatever, someone's going to find out about you. It's not going to be like,

I think. No, but coming up with 10 good minutes isn't being a brilliant comedian either, right? Like, there's a huge difference. It is if it's 10 brilliant minutes.

I don't know if you can come up with 10 brilliant minutes if you're not actually an artist. I don't know if you can come up with 10 Brilliant Minutes if you're not actually an artist. I think true stand-up is an art. You're not going to come up with Gary Goldman's state abbreviations bit unless you have a serious special talent. But you can say that about a lot of brilliant comics,

I would say the two of you included. I mean, I really do think that that's true. Because it's also, and you guys should be able to speak to this. I think it's about being able to weave your way, right? It's not just about getting up there and telling a joke, right?

What do you mean? Like showing your voice or your POV or something like that? POV. I thought he was talking about the carpool lane. I don't like that. I never use POV. That's the first time I've ever used it. I don't like that P.O. I never use P.O. That's the first time I've ever used it. I don't like that.

That made me very uncomfortable. It sounded unsure. It sounded tentative. I don't know. Go ahead. We have Jim Brewer joining us. He's right... Jim, would you like to...

He's sitting right up there at the bar. I'd like to invite him to join us at this time. I don't know him well. But you know him. I know him. I've done his radio show a series years ago. I used to watch him on SNL.

I used to crash SNL parties back in the day when a friend of mine was working the door and I would see him there. I've done that as well. Did you ever see him when he was opening

the Cafe Wah for the Wah band? No, I never did that. Hello, Jim Brewer. What's going on, gang? You're making your debut at our humble podcast, Comedy Cellar Live from the Table. Glad you could make it. Glad to be here.

Will you read his introduction? And of course, you know our friend, Mr. Todd. I know Todd. Long time. No one likes to do these formal introductions. I'm not sold on them. That's stupid. What did they give you to read?

What is this? Well, you can read it. No, we're not. Oh, new comedy album. He's known as a comic storyteller who came to national attention. It's what? No, it's not.

It's rec. Shit. We can curse, right? Yeah, yes, we can. I didn't know you were the cursing kind. I don't curse on stage doing my shows anymore, but yeah, I curse like a truck driver off the stage. Because I told everybody to get their curses out of their system before you got here. But apparently I was incorrect.

You do, of course, know Mr. Todd Barry. I do. We go way back. Yes, a long time. Way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way. We both, I think, started in Florida. Did we? Did you start in Florida?

I did start in Florida at Ron Bennington's comedy scene. That's one of the first places I've done. I did. Larry the Cable Guy drove me to do a guest spot there. Before he was Larry the Cable Guy. That's when he was Dan Whitney, the freight train comedy. Right. I forgot about that part.

And he drove me either in a Firebird or Camaro, one of those. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But, yeah. I know that guy. And he was a great guy. Still is a great guy. Yeah, he's a nice guy. I haven't talked to him in forever. Yeah. Jim, I want to talk about your new album, if we could. Sure. But yeah, I know that. And he was a great guy. Still is a great guy. Yeah, he's a nice guy. I haven't talked to him in forever.

Yeah. Jim, I want to talk about your new album, if we could. Sure. Oh, you haven't aged, but go ahead. It's amazing. I've aged. Well, the new album is called... Nuts are lower.

The new album is called Jim Brewer Live from Portland. Yes. This was unplanned. I'd love to say... Portland, Oregon. Yes. Just to be clear so what do you mean unplanned?

what do you mean it was unplanned? I didn't, this was this just happened I would love to say, oh wow, yeah I was working on I had this, we said we need to put out an album or a DVD and all that jazz

this just kind of happened I know it sounds crazy, but at the end of the day put out an album or a DVD and all that jazz. This just kind of happened. I know it sounds crazy, but at the end of the day, I was touring with Metallica, and we had three days off on one of the legs, and someone in the Metallica crew was like, hey, I want to start feeding homeless people. I went, all right. And then they said, I don't want to start in Portland.

Do you want to help me? Yeah, sure. I said, but you got to figure this out. You just got to tell me where to show up. And then from that, she goes, you know, a lot of the crew, we don't get to see you because we're working. We've got three days out can you book a room in Portland? I was like, well, it's three weeks it shouldn't be a problem

I'll look Tuesday night and I booked helium and she said, can we do a food drive? She was all about feeding people and she said, how about they bring cans of food and you do a meet and greet I said, I don't want to do a meet and greet after the show, but how about

I just give them my merchandise? I said, my wife wants to get rid of all this shit anyway. I sent out boxes of merch and so if you brought a can of food, you just pick whatever you want. I said, just take whatever you want. That night, I didn't do stand

up for three weeks or so, maybe a month. I was a little concerned, but there were some things I wanted to work on. I did the set. It was a really good set. It was a great set. And I talked about some things. Some things were a little heavy.

Should I talk about this? My dad dying in my arms. Are they going to be bummed out? How am I going to make this funny? And then when the set was over, this kid who's been filming me all over Metallica goes, hey, you know, I recorded your set tonight.

I said, yeah, well, I record every night on my phone. And he went, no, no, no. I professionally recorded it for you. I went, alright., well, we'll look at the tracks and we'll see if we can play them some places. And then about a month later, I really wasn't thinking much of it. And then about a month later, the manager was like, oh, this is a really good comedy album.

And I went, album? An album? He goes, yeah, I really like this. We should release this as an album. I went, if you think it's an album, let's knock it out. I'll put that in your camp. And he said, you got to listen to it. And I suck at that. It's the worst.

I listened for three minutes and went, yeah, it sounds great. And that's it. And the next thing you know, people are, I don't know, I'm talking to a guy, Buster Goyer, I got to tell you, you've grown so much as a comedian. No one's talking about people dying in New York. I don't know if it was the part of the, I don't know. I haven't listened to it.

But I know Jim Serpico and some other people are pretty high up and excited about it. Serpico's a smart guy. I know him a little bit. He's a smart guy. He's really smart, and I've got to say, this is the best time I've ever had in my entire life. Doing stand-up, just living life. We were just talking about that. After doing stand-up for literally decades, which we all have, is it still as fun as it used to be? Todd, for me, I said it was never that fun. Todd

said more or less, and you're saying this is the greatest time ever. Greatest time I've ever had in my life. Well, because I'm just at a different time in my life. The first 10 years, I wanted leather pants, I wanted to be Eddie Murphy, I wanted fucking kang pants. I wanted to be Eddie Murphy. I wanted fucking kangaroo.

I wanted to be a star. And I came up here ready to be a star. I got TV pretty quick. And I hated, I'm not going to lie, I hated Hollywood. I hated the scene of comics. Where I starred in Florida, it was awful. We were all, it was a group. I loved some of the guys I hung out with,

but after a while, I'm like, this guy's a dick, and this guy's an asshole, and they're all kind of mean. Fuck this scene. And I really didn't enjoy it. After SNL, I hated some of the things I saw there, and it wasn't me. It really wasn't me. You hated some of the things you saw in. And it wasn't me. It really wasn't me.

You hated some of the things you saw on SNL? Yeah, just about Hollywood and just how... Like backstabbing things? Backstabbing and just people going after each other. And they'll steal and they'll do anything they can just to get ahead. And, you know, this star is a moron. This star is a sad... I'm like, oh, my God.

This is... You know, I'm not going to lie. The Farley thing really. Chris Farley. Yeah, Chris Farley came in and he was dying. And they were just like, yeah, Chris Rock was walking around. Like, what are you doing here? He's like, just in case. Just in case?

What do you mean just in case? You know, just in case. Like, what does that mean, just in case? You know, just in case. What does that mean, just in case? And a 24-hour nurse. So no one's going to acknowledge this guy is going to die any second? Do we really need him hosting? Do you need the ratings? Do you need money this bad?

I don't know the backstory. How did you know he was going to die? He was a serious drug addict. He had hookers and heroin. And he was in my room doing heroin with Tracy. Tracy wasn't doing it, but it's just, I realized, I watched Mitch Hedberg, and it's like, these guys have serious human problems, and no one gives a shit. They'd rather collect their money and keep pushing them out

rather than go, you know what? We've got a serious problem here. And there's no humanity in vanity. There's no humanity in ego and vanity. And it's not the way I grew up. And I hated the scene. And I started a family. And then that's why I took the radio, so I can be home and watch my kids.

And then around 2008, I went, you know, I really want to go back out, but I want to do it my way now. And that's pretty much the rebirth of me started in 2008. And I said, I'm not going to, hey, you want to do this? No, I don't want to do TV. Hey, we got to do it. I don't want to do that. I just want to enjoy life, make people laugh, do it the way I want to do it.

For the first 10 years, I was trying to be, what kind of guy are you? I don't know. I'm just fucking funny. What are you trying to say? I don't know what I'm trying to say. I'm just trying to be funny. And then so from 2008 on, there was a moment that changed for me. I was in my town, and we would have Dad's Night Out.

And it was the woman next to me, and she's going, you know, you're the guy. You're the famous guy. I said, I'm not famous. She goes, no, you're the guy. She goes, but I can't see you because you're blue and you're dirty. And I said, what are you talking about, dirty? She goes, everyone knows you're like the frat guy.

And I was so mad. I said, did you ever see my standup? She goes, no, but everyone knows. And I just realized, God, if she thinks that, what is everyone else, what is my perception to everyone? Am I the SNL guy? Am I the, look, what am I? Am I the half-baked guy?

I went, I got to... I got to start all over. And I started all over, 2008. And since then, I have to honestly say, my life's been like the forest gump of entertainment. I've never been so happier in my whole life. And everything that happens has just been... It just happened.

It's organic. It's weird. An opening for Metallica is, I guess, a dream of yours. It was the craziest thing in the world to get a text from James Hetfield. Who's that? And he goes. No, seriously, I don't know who he is. The lead singer of Metallica.

Oh, he's good. He's good. And he goes, hey, would you be interested in touring with us? Well, what are you thinking? He said, not so much stand-up, but just kind of creating an opening atmosphere. He threw out some crazy ideas, like me roaming the audience in a character. I went, that's not going to work. I'm going to get pelted with food.

And then I sat with another band member, and he said, listen, we always have bands open up for us. Nobody sees them, but nobody comes to see the band. It sucks for them. It sucks for us. You know the band. You're a Metallica fan. You know all of us very well for a long time.

Create a fan experience, and you don't have to be funny. Just bring a DJ. Dude, just, all right, I can figure that out. And that's basically what I did. So what I did for Metallica was, Dan, I would, from the minute you walked in. That is a heavy metal band. Dan is 90 years old. He's googling.

I actually don't know any of their music, but I know they're a big act. You know Sandman. I think I know that one. Go ahead. So he you know, I made old video. So if you came in the arena,

I set up pictures on a big Jumbotron. So you walk in and go, oh, I never saw that picture of Metallica. Or I never saw them 17 years old. And then I had a DJ go up at 7 to take, and I programmed the music for him and take requests. And then I went up, and it was like doing TV warm-up. I would go, hey, I'm your host. We're all stuck here seeing Metallica, so let's have the best of it. I saw him in 1986 opening for Ozzy Osbourne.

You ever hear of that guy? He's kind of... Yeah, I know Ozzy. He does rock and roll. And you do a nice impression of him. Yeah, so... And then I go, let's find the oldest guy in the crowd. And then I do game shows, and then we do a sing-along.

Now, why does a musical act need an opener of any kind, be it comedian or a band? That's a very easy answer. Okay. Ka-ching, ka-ching. They want everyone in there to buy food and beverage and to buy merchandise. Is there a break between you and when they go on, or do you introduce them? No, I bring them on. Oh, cool.

And so the merchandise, so their real key was, we don't want anyone in the parking lot. We want everyone in the arena. And by show three, it was like 10,000, 15,000 people in the arena. By the time we were done, the place was packed when I'd get up there. And all I can say, I know they were happy because the numbers I heard that they were making just on merch probably was more money than any of us would ever see in our lifetime. It was pretty intense, the money of making just on merch before the show started.

You're talking about a different kind of experience, but I know comics open for musicians a fair amount. I always thought that was weird. It is. they're there for rock and roll man i think engine for like someone like me who's open for bands like like indie bands not like metallica but hey everybody i think they engine sound engineers love it because just they set up a mic yes and then there's like that's they don't have to put earplugs in but when when an audience is geared up for rock yes and I mean rock and roll. Heavy metal. And heavy metal in particular.

But even the bands that you've opened up before, whatever they would, I don't know what those bands would be, but they're there for music, and then you're hitting them with jokes. I'm wondering if that's like, if they're ready for that, if they want to see that. I mean, at times I've done it, I've had the band introduce me, so they don't think you're just some shithead who's been thrown up there. Right. And they're like, oh, this guy just got this gig separately. Right.

So they're like, here's my friend. And they were attentive. Yeah. I mean, these are also, you know. Were you hanging out with Metallica during the time that they had that debacle on the Grammys with Lady Gaga? I was not hanging out, but I was texting James, the singer at that time. I saw him lose his mind. He must have been furious.

I knew his wife. He was. I don't even know what happened. I'm sorry. I don't either. So they're on the Grammys, and Lady Gaga is going to do a song with them. And it's probably their best album in 30 years, easily. The new music's phenomenal.

And I thought it was ironic that the song is about being addicted to vanity and pop culture. And he's doing it with Lady Gaga and then the music starts and here comes James Hetfield

to the microphone and there's no sound. On TV! And the whole song, his microphone was never, and when his song was over, he took his guitar, he launched it,

threw down his thing, and he took off, and it was, I was texting him, I was like, hey, James, the good news is, you know,

the deaf people loved it. The mimes thought it was the greatest thing. You mimed the shit out of that song. But he was pretty pissed. It's a huge fuck-up. It's the Grammys. What's wrong with you?

It's the worst fuck-up you can do, like shooting the guy or something. Right. What is wrong with you? It's live television. On Grammys, you should be A-game everyone in that building. So they never got it working in the middle of the song? No. The entire song, you couldn't hear his focus.

So Lady Gaga helped him. How do you think, what do you think would happen if, say, a lower energy comic like a Metallica, they were like, are you ready for Metallica? But first, Rita Rodgers! Well. Two of them were, or Dan Natterman for that matter. I mean, you should have used him for that example. It would not go well.

Jim Norton, I reached out to, before I knew what I was doing, I reached out to a couple of comics and said, hey, you want to do something in front of Metallica? And Norton goes, oh, my God. He's doing, what's the character? Chip Chipperson? Yeah? Chip Chipperson? Yeah, Chip Chipperson. He goes, I want to do Chip Chipperson and get booed off the stage. I went,

ooh. He goes, and I want to do it in Philadelphia. I'm like, all right, let's be ready for that. You know, Philadelphia's a bunch of animals down there. They don't play around, but long story short, even the Metallica cant was like, uh, there's a bunch of animals down there. They don't play around, but long story short, even the Metallica camp was like, uh, that's

not a good idea. Not a good idea. We know... No. Do not do that. I think Metallica has it right. They didn't ask you to do traditional stand-up. They asked you to do a whole show. They asked for me to MC host the opening ceremony, and that's what

I would tell the DJ. Don't say please welcome Mr. Jim Brewer and community. I said, listen, introduce me as ears as diehard Metallica fan and your host MC of the night. And I'd always say, hey, listen, we're all

stuck here waiting for Metallica to come out. So until they do, let's have some fun with one another until they come out. How long are you up there for? The least was 20 minutes. The most was about 40, 45. But then I would every 10, when I'd get off, I had

something going on every 10 minutes. I had a live camera. I would go backstage, find one of the band members. You know, Foo Fighters were there one night. I'd go, oh, the Foo Fighters are here. And I'd banter with Dave Grohl. And then what other band would be there? And we'd banter.

And then I had sing-alongs. I'd go up and we'd do five minutes of the best metal rock sing-alongs. And the place would go apeshit. That's cool. There does seem to be a link. Now, I'm not part of this, but there is a link between heavy metal and comedy, at least certain comics, that seem to be crazy about heavy metal. I've always been.

Jim Norton is crazy. Jim Florentine is crazy about heavy metal. Sam Kinison basically was heavy metal. Yes. He was hard rock. I don't know. Do you have an explanation for that? No, I grew up.

I grew up, and for some reason, I was really drawn to the sound of thick, crunchy guitars. That was much more appealing. And, you know, I grew up in the 80s where it was new wave. I hated new wave. Disco was coming along. It was hair bands. And Metallica was more of a thinking hard rock metal. They weren't in pop culture.

I've always hated pop culture. I've always hated that atmosphere. So they were a thinking thing for me. They made me think about religion where they would make me think about war. My father was a World War II vet and they wrote some pretty heavy songs about war. And they weren't like, hey, I'm in love and Jane and we're going to

bang chicks tonight. They were just, yeah, you look to the sky before you die. And like, holy shit, these fuckers. These fuckers are scary.

You didn't see Dirt, I gather. You're not a Motley Crue fan. I liked Motley Crue a little bit, but you know, it was a little too much for me. Because I did see the movie Dirt. I'm not a fan of Motley Crue fan. I liked Motley Crue a little bit, but it was a little too much for me.

Because I did see the movie Dirt. I'm not a fan of Motley Crue. Is that a good movie? It was on Netflix. I enjoyed it because their lifestyles were interesting. Their music, I could take it or leave it. Smoking in the Boys Room, does anybody consider that a good song? Is that considered...

Smoking in the Boys Room? That's terrible. That's not Motley Crue. That's Motley Crue. It's a cover. Oh, that's a cover? Thin Lizzy. No. That's not Motley Crue. That's a cover. Thin Lizzy. No, that's not Thin Lizzy. That's Poison Back in Town.

I love how Dan has no clue. Is it a cover? Yeah, it's a cover. That's a 70s song. Isn't there one in the 50s? It was 70s? I don't remember. Don't fill me up with your rules.

Right one? Everybody knows that smoking ain't allowed in school. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I remember being in... It's not my kind of music, but I did enjoy the movie because, like, you know, it opened, the first scene is like a girl squirting, you know, so I was like, oh, this is interesting. Jesus, Dan. Spoiler.

I'm sorry. By the way, Metallica, it's interesting to me that you focus it on so much the lyric stuff because Metallica is quite respected musically you know you ever seen those cello ensembles

that do these Metallica covers and people respond to them lyrically the singer really writes about

very deep in depth stuff and it's not hokey it's not like here. It's not like, here comes the metal. All his lyrics are every song. And it helped me in this career.

There was times where I couldn't stand people. And I knew karma would always come around. And they had songs that would just tap into it. Like King Nothing and more recently Moth Into the Flame. They were more to me than just a band. I was always a big fan.

Jim, you're a real... I was going to tell you I did a show. It's in my book. Outside of San Francisco in like a weird town and then afterwards I'm meeting people and Lars walks up with his wife. He's a big comedy fan.

He was rattling off jokes of mine like I had forgotten. Like I don't even remember like he's like and then you do this joke and you used to do this joke and I was freaking out.

Dude, you used to Todd Berry's fucking That's a great feel. fucking brilliant. Yeah, yeah, he was nice. He's been around for so long. Yeah, yeah.

He's a huge comedy fan. Huge stand-up comedy fan. Yeah, I was- Huge stand-up comedy fan. It was funny because it was just a dumpy venue and this whole- But you thought it was cool. Yeah, like this fucking massive- and I talked to him for a while and he was really nice. He's really cool. He's very smart too.

He took pictures and then he asked- He's from Denmark, I believe. I do know that. Yes. His father's tennis player. No, I didn't Google. I did know that he was from Denmark. So you don't know what kind of music they do?

I know they do heavy metal. I do Denmark. So you don't know what kind of music they do? I know they do heavy metal. I do. But I just don't know their song. You're 40 and over going to see Metallica on a Wednesday. You're recovering maybe Sunday. Maybe. Maybe. You'll see. People run right to the railing. That's how they get on the floor.

And the 40 and over people are like, yeah, man, I haven't seen him in 20 years. It's going to be amazing. And they're drinking. They already got permission, or they're bickering with their wife. Are you sure you're cool with this? Because you're acting weird now. You said...

You said three weeks ago, as long as you go on that female retreat with your two friends... You know what? I'm not... I'm sorry. I'm not yelling. I'm not yelling. I'm not yelling. I've had two beers in four hours. How do I sound like I'm drunk if I had two beers in four hours?

It's Metallica, sweetheart, okay? Sorry. How many, I missed one big event. One big event. You're a person of faith. You're a pretty religious guy. I'm not religious. You're not religious? I couldn't tell you anything in the Bible. I don't know the Ten Commandments. I don't, I believe

religion is the ultimate brainwashing distraction of what natural man was meant to be, which was more spiritual and a connection with a deeper meaning of life. I really feel all religions came and they were created by man to divert you from what your natural abilities are mind and spiritually wise. How did I get that wrong? I think I told you before the show, let's talk about Jim, he's a Christian. I am not a Christian. But that's what I thought, I read that somewhere.

But do you... No, my wife is. My wife went there. Because I remember on the radio show you were talking about your church youth group or the softball or something. Yeah, my wife got... I was supporting my wife., you know, I was supporting my wife. I didn't want anything to do with that.

I was, you know, my wife, we had a really tough time in life and you know, how that whole thing came about was I was ready to leave her and I'm really

anti breaking the marriage up because I watched some of my family have divorces and I watched what happened to my nieces and nephews and the, and the, the really bad effects of it. And it was devastating. It was extremely hurtful to watch and all my nieces and nephews are my age because all my siblings are a lot older so I vowed I would never break my family up or do that to my children because it was so devastating and hurtful I don't want them

ever go through that and so my wife had really, we had a love going on. I said, look, man, I know you don't like me. Whatever happened, you don't like me. You don't want to be with me.

You're, um, figure it out. You want to be with me, be with me. If you don't, you need to go somewhere, figure things out,

go figure things out. But I, I can't live like this anymore. And, uh, I know this sounds crazy, but I pulled over. I don't know what the fuck is out there. No one knows.

And I think we're all connected somewhere or another. I don't know. I have a hard time to believe. I have a hard time believing, you know, a worm was created to do this. A frog was created. Why was man created? I don't fucking know. To do this shit? I doubt it. To rock and roll. To rock and roll, this. A frog was created. Why was man created? I don't fucking know. To do this shit?

I doubt it. To rock and roll. To rock and roll, baby. To podcast, baby. To podcast and do metal. Who knows? And I had it out. I was like, you know, if you exist, you better fucking step up now. Because I'm not a drug addict.

I never cheated. I'm trying a drug addict. I never cheated. I, I'm trying to do the best thing in life. If you fucking exist, God damn it. Step in for Christ's sake. And what I didn't expect was a couple of days later, I come home and my wife,

she has got big, our eyes are all fucked. I said, what's the matter? Oh man, something weird happened. I said, what happened? Oh, something fucking weird.

I said, what the fuck happened? Where are the kids? They're upstairs, sleeping. And long story short, she goes, lady in a coffee shop and asked her to come to the house. She wanted to do something for her. What? And she goes, I didn't want to go there and wanted to do something for her. What? And she goes, I didn't want to go there, and I ended up going there. And the next thing you know, I went in the house.

And then what happened? A husband came down, and for a split second, I went, oh, this is going to go bad. This is the husband and the wife. And for a split second, I went, this is my out. Holy shit, you got freaky? I'm going freaky and then some. And I said, what'd they do?

They started praying for me. And I tried not to giggle because that's the last thing I expected to hear. I said, what are you talking about? She said, I don't know. They prayed for me. And I said, and what are you doing while they're praying? I don't know. I felt? I don't know. They prayed for me. And what are you doing while they're praying? I don't know. I felt.

I don't know. I just started. I want to start going to church. I said, start going to church. And during that time, I was doing a radio show and all that. She started going to church. And she's like, you should go. They're not freaks.

And I was sitting in the back of the room. And that guy would go back and forth and I swear to God every time because he knew I was just there more to watch what's going on with my wife I was very concerned because she became born again and it was all about Jesus and she was constantly like have you thanked Jesus have you thanked Jesus I'm like listen hon

take it easy I'm glad you're finding a place, but don't start cornering me, because then we're going to have problems. You work on you, and I'll work on me. And this guy would walk back and forth, and every time he'd say Jesus, he'd look right at me. And I'd look at him like, dude, you're not getting me. You're not getting me.

I'm here for her. You can try it. It's all you want, but I I'm not buying. Even if the guy existed, I ain't buying he walked on water and all that. I'm not buying it. If he said treat everyone great, I get it. I get it.

I do that now, but and then that's how it all started, and I would support her, and then the pendulum kind of evened out. She still enjoys church. I do not. I enjoy the people. You know, when she would get cancer,

she's on her third round of cancer. The first round of cancer, those people from church would show up. I didn't know half these people, and they'd bring food and give support, and da-da-da, and the the second go around, she got cancer. And they would come and do everything they can. And so that part I really respected.

But no, I would never label myself as anything. I couldn't name the Ten Commandments. I couldn't name three people from the Bible. And that's just me. So I always, not that I get in a tiff, but I don't know where that came from as far as people going, oh, he's Christian. I'm not Christian. I was sort of hoping you were Christian because, you know, I could ask you a Christian question. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I mean, maybe I could try to answer. And I don't have anything against Christian. And I feel the people that try to, it's all just people trying to be better in life, no matter what they are. You see Norton there? What's up, Jaime? Oh, shit. Don't fucking come near me if you're sick, you fuck. I'll see you tomorrow.

I don't need to see you right now. I'm breathing all over me. I won't be here tomorrow. Which are you? I'm traveling to San Francisco, so I'll be out. So who am I talking to? Sam tomorrow? Yeah, Sam and whoever else he is.

Oh, you suck. You're turning into me. I know. I'm traveling. I used to do this at Sirius. Got to do a gig. I'm like, hey. But Corey Alley, right?

Jim, you sound horrible. Yeah. Thank you. Well, I'm just saying, you better take care of yourself. Do you have an infection? Nah, just a sore throat or whatever. It's okay. It's better now.

But it's been bad for like four days. You got to get antibiotics. I don't know about that. Do you for a chest cold? Depends if it's viral or bacterial. Oh, yeah, man. You don't want that getting worse. I just got over one.

It was bad. It took me to get... Listen, everyone's a doctor, Jimbo. I know. Oh, take this. Eat that. Take this, eat that, drink this. No. You need to go and get it. I haven't put on a condom since 1990.

I'm in good shape. My immune system's ready to go. Jim, we're talking about spirituality. Do you have any spiritual side? I try, man. Being sober, I've given up on prayer, though. You know what I mean? Like, I really, I kind of doubt that there's a God, and it really bothers me.

And if there is, I feel like he's not interested. It's been difficult. I struggle a lot. I don't mean to laugh, but that's kind of funny. I struggle with that. Like, I want there to be a God, but I don't know if there's a God. I don't know. I feel like there's energies.

I hope so. I hope so. I hope so too. Sometimes I feel like it's almost like Star Wars, the force where you push out an energy and eventually it comes back. And I only say that on experience.

I've had some weird shit by doing that. And I don't know, praying or whatever. I was just going through them. You know, he asked me if I was Christian. I'm like, doing that. And I don't know what, praying or whatever. I was just going through them. He asked me if I was Christian. I'm like, God, no. I can't name the commandments. I've never read the Bible.

I don't know anything about that stuff. I learned by walking in the woods, talking to people. I listened to Indian flute music. I envy people with conviction. People who really Believe in God And they mean it Yeah

Like all they do Is a big Hasidic funeral Like today Or yesterday And all those people Who Like I envy

Their 100% belief In whatever it is It's a comfort for them Yeah But I envy it I respect it As long as they're not Assholes

As long as they're not Like you need to You need to But You need to. But I don't know what the fuck is out there. I'd love to say something. I hope something happens. And all I can say is I've had weird shit happen. And again, I don't know if it's bizarre coincidence.

I don't know. But I don't want to define it. Oh, that's what it is. I've had people go, oh, that's what this is, and that's what that is. I'm like, I don't know. We don't know. All I know is this happened, that happened, that happened. That's all.

Happy birthday, Todd. Is it your birthday, Todd? It was recently. About a week ago. I was not invited to the party, but I'm talking about Todd. Oh, God, let's not shift to my birthday. Todd, you look the same exact way since we started. Really?

Yeah, you look the same as well. Norton's looks a little bit different. Now, but if to each other we do, to anybody else we're fucking old and finished. Sometimes I think I have an age until I see a picture of myself from the 90s. And, yeah, I mean, the difference is rather startling. You think you look great, and then you see a photo, you're like, oh, my God, I'm garbage. You look good, Dan. You think you look great and then you see a photo and you're like, oh my God, I'm garbage. You look good, Dan. You look more of a man.

When I first saw you, you looked younger. You have an age, my kid. He was boyish. You were very boyish when now you look more...

A little salt and pepper. Yeah. I got to go on. See you later, Jim. Thanks for joining us. Hi, how are we doing? Todd, happy belated. I think I saw on Facebook that it was your birthday.

I didn't say happy birthday because I... I don't know. I think you're sort of a cynical guy, and I didn't want you to say, well, happy birthday just because, you know, whatever. You think I would read all that until you were saying happy birthday? I don't know. Hey, here's why he just said happy birthday.

It's my fucking birthday. I'm going to guess that Todd's not a spiritual guy. But maybe I'm wrong. Here, you want to hear a story? You want to hear a fucking story? Sure. This is weird. And this is, I tried to make this funny,

and it's on the album towards the end, which I didn't realize. Long story short, father dies. Everyone here lost someone they love, right? This is on the album. Part of it is, but no, this is just a story. Everyone's lost someone they love to death. I've lost a brother, a sister, both parents, friends.

The toughest one for me was my dad. I was very close to my dad. I had really hard times. Fucking primal crying all the time. So this is, he died in August. This is October. And I'm in my living room and

again, there's all different ways to see this. I'm in my living room and I'm having a, and I said, man, if there's, God, if you fucking, is there anything out there? What do we become? Are we energy? If I can just feel and know that he still exists, can I, is there anything out

there, man? Just, God, show me anything. While I'm fucking doing this, something starts slamming into my window, right? In the next room. I'm like, what the fuck is that? I go in there, and this freaking cardinal is just flying into the window.

And when I get there, it goes back in the tree, and it's, you know, it chirps like a bird, and I'm staring at it. That's fucking weird. Why is this dopey bird running into the window? I walked away and started slamming into it again. I come back, like, what the fuck is going on? I'm more weirded out because of what I was just doing than this thing. Now, again, could be anything.

The next morning, this thing starts hitting the house where my dad was living with us. And then all day long, this fucking bird will go around our house, hit in the window, all the way up until the first place I saw him, and he'd start all over again the next day. To the point now, it's kind of a thing. Our kids, it's a joke. Like, listen, if it's grandpa, we need to kill it, because it starts at 6.30 in the fucking morning,

and this thing wakes us up. I've had friends come over and whatever it is. The weirder part was this happened every day for a year and a half all the way through March a year and a half later. We're on vacation and I still have a really hard time. I would cry really bad thinking of my day. If I saw old people, I'd cry. If I saw someone wheeling someone, I'd get emotional.

And we're on vacation. I have a bad breakdown. And then I went, you know what? Whatever I did. Meditate. I'm done with this. I'm done with this. And I said, I'm sorry that I held on to this. If you're an energy, whatever the fuck you are, I'm letting Meditate. I'm done with this. I'm done with this. And I said, I'm sorry that I held on to this.

If you're an energy, whatever the fuck you are, I'm letting you go. I am so sorry I held on to this. This is what happens in life. You die. Move on. This is what life is. And I just let it go. Every time I think of my dad,

I want to laugh. I want to have a good time. I want to think of the great things. I swear on my life, I know every time I think of my dad, I want to laugh. I want to have a good time. I want to think of the great things. I swear on my life, I go home, and my father-in-law is hilarious because when the first thing started hitting a window, he'd go, it's a male cardinal and he sees his reflection

and he's territorial and that's what he's doing. There's no fucking spirit. There's none of that. That's the dumbest shit I've ever heard. I said, well, you know, I wouldn't have... Maybe. I just think it's weird that I was in the moment and this happened while

I was going through that. And I asked if that makes sense. And for all I know, I don't know. It could have been a fucking Missouri. But here's the wacky part. I asked to let it go and I said, I'm done with this, and I'm sorry I held on to you. I swear,

I hope my fucking kids die if I'm lying, man. I come home, and the kids, I'm like, take this back, take this back. My father-in-law,

the first thing he says to me, he's like, the birds stopped coming around. I said, what are you talking about, dad? He was a cardinal. I don't know. He's been gone for like three days. I just started laughing. I'm like, all right. Is this fucking, like what? He goes, yeah. And I started,

I'm like, get the fuck. He goes, why? What's going on? I went, you don't understand. I was asking to never go through this again. I was asking to let the spirit go. And he goes, oh, for Christ's sake. It's a bird. They migrate. They fucking migrate. He left. And maybe that's all true.

But because of what I did there, I don't... That's weird, man. What is that? What the fuck is that? And what if it... I don't know. I could be crazy. That's weird shit. And it's happened to me throughout my whole life.

I got a million stories like that. And I always thought it was weird or whatever. And to me, that's deeper than any sitting in a church and reading this. And sometimes those things help to make you positive. But I don't know. I'd love to hear whatever. I'm nuts or whatever. I don't know. Nobody knows. It's weird.

What is that? It's weird. I don't have anything to sell. He sent me Dan. He sent you Dan. There you go. People come to you live. You're like, why is this person coming live at this particular time? You just, I don't know. We're basically out of time. Go ahead.

I would like to add that I'm like Jim. I mean, I wish I could believe because I don't want to, especially as you get older, you're like, oh, shit, man, this is going to end. It's ending. And I would rather it not end. Me too. Me too. You know, and so I prefer to believe in something, but I just, and stories like that and weird shit that happens. Yeah, okay, maybe, but, you know, I'm like, I don't know.

I just too much, I mean, Noam, I know he thinks duty is the reason God doesn't exist. It's an odd theory. Duty like shit? Duty like poopy? Did I say that? You said something to that effect. God has it all on the drawing board. The whole universe... It doesn't add up with all the numbers. It doesn't add up without shit. We gotta have shit or the whole universe doesn't work.

Why would an intelligent creator invent duty? That's the flaw of the whole system, isn't it? You think you can just snap it into existence, you don't need that stuff. Right, you could have crossed that off the list. I will say this

about religion, it makes for fertile ground for comedy because the Bible is so crazy. They're all crazy. I wouldn't even pinpoint just the Bible.

They're all fucking crazy. That, it's natural to have, you know, many comedians have jokes about the nonsensical nature of

organized religion. So it does help us out in that regard. You're saying that's the upside? I'm saying that, well... It helps you, Dan. It helps your career. It helps the vanity. That's an upside. There you go. Because I got a good joke about God coming down and

saying, I'd like to say I got nothing against gay people. I used to, but that was before Neil Patrick Harris. Anyway. I didn't know we could do our act. You could slip a joke in if you'd like. I'm joking. I wouldn't have that joke

without organized religion. I don't believe. Anyway. I don't know if Anyway, there you go. So I don't know if you heard what we were talking about at the beginning, but I was talking about how a lot of comedians I've seen can tough out like five, ten minutes. And we know them with no apparent natural talent like someone who can draw a picture. I just want to say that I remember you the first time you walked in. And it was clear to everybody immediately that you were going to be a star.

I can still picture the first time I saw you. He would say that he's not a star. He's very humble in that regard. And you were one of these guys who, at least the way I remember it, who didn't develop. You hit the ground running as the full Jim Brewer the first time I saw you. Chappelle was like that. It's very unusual. Dave, to me, was I saw him at Boston Comedy Club.

And the minute he walked up, I went, holy shit. I don't know what it is about this kid. He's going to be a huge star. And I went out of my way to walk up to him. I said, hey, man, my name's Jim Brewer. And you're going to be a star. He's like, ah, thanks, man. Thanks, man.

And I've never seen that any other time in my life. Is there any point in your career where you felt, I've made it? You know, that's a term that's very... No. Even on SNL, you didn't feel you made it? No. Because that was a struggle from day one. It was a struggle to get on.

Once I was on, I couldn't get on. There was a lot of people that didn't want me there. And they made it very clear. Why? I don't know. Lorne made that clear. He's like, well, there's people here that really want you. And there's people that don't want you.

So I'll have to make a decision. That's a nice thing to share with you, right? And, you know, he was so honest and brutally honest. So when I got on, the network was pushing for me, where the SNL crew was not. And it was a guy named Fred Wolf, comedian Fred Wolf. He was my guy that tried to help me get on, and he was my big support.

And when I was on, it took forever to get on. And then, you know, half-baked, the movie didn't do good until it went on VHS tape. And by then, I kind of left the world. And I don't think I'll ever quite make it. I wanted to at one time. I don't think I'll ever quite make it. I wanted to at one time. I don't want to anymore. I haven't wanted to in a long time. I'd rather just...

I love crushing a crowd and doing it my way. That's always been my style since at least the early 2000s, mid-2000s. Did Lorne concede? Like when you were doing Pesci, when you hit... Oh, that was a biggie. Did he come to say, I was wrong about you? No, he didn't say he was wrong.

He's like, Jim, people really like Joe Pesci. And that's his way of going, dude, I see t-shirts. Or, people really like the goat boy and I can honestly say Howard Stern and and Lorne Michaels to make those two guys

laugh have been those moments in my life are so huge just forget any sketch or show, watching those people, watching Howard Stern belly laugh, because I know the people that are sitting there, watching Lorne laugh.

Well, that's making it. For me, that's making, I guess it's making it. In the beginning, making it was, I wanted to be Eddie Murphy. I want to let the pants, I want a fucking kangaroo. I want to walk through the mall like a hot shot. I think if I were in my 20s, and you were in your

20s on SNL, I believe. Yes. I think if I were on SNL in my 20s, I would have been very satisfied. I'm not saying I'd have been happy, because I don't think I have happiness in me. Oh, shit. That's for part two of this podcast. But I do think I would have said, fuck yeah, I've made it

to be on SNL well it definitely felt good I'm not going to lie to you it definitely felt good I'm not going to lie to you and once you knew you had a character

people loved but SNL's a nightmare from what I I mean before knowing anything about SNL I just thought it was okay Lauren or whomever

gets up and says okay we'll do one sketch with Jim and we'll do one and everybody work together but it's a battle royal to get on. It's a battle royal. You're battling with each other.

You're battling with 20, 30 writers. These writers don't like it, and then you're battling with, well, who's in the room fighting tooth and nail to get certain sketches on? Because if those two, three guys are not fans of yours, you're in bad trouble. And that's what happened to me after 97.

Do you think that's the—because SNL, the proof is in the pudding. It's been around for a long time, and I think when it's good, it's the best sketch show by far that's ever been on television. Yeah. Do you think that's the best way to get the best results? I mean, you know, it's a horrible, awful, constant struggle to get on the air, but is that the best way to get the best sketches at the end of the day?

Or is there a better, more cooperative way that might work just as well? I don't think there's an answer to that question, but I think it's a question that's an interesting one. Who the hell knows? All I know is that show's been working for almost 40 years. And whether you love it or hate it, it goes up and down and up and down, and it just keeps surviving.

It keeps spewing out talent like we've never seen. Well, I think when it's at its best, which it isn't always, but when it's at its best, I don't think any other sketch show in the history of sketch shows is even remotely in the same universe. Nobody ever, yeah. The only one that I think gave it a run for a while was In Living Color. Yeah, for like two years. And that was a long time ago.

But again, I don't think at its best, when SNL is at its best. Sprocket, I mean I'm just, you know, Sprockets with Dieter, I mean, I'm just Farley when he was, I mean, you know. You can't touch SNL. You just can't. It's a monster. Did you ever audition for them, Dan?

No, I'm not in SNL, I don't do impressions I got through two rounds Oh, did you? Well, I did a stand-up set and then they had me do stand-up for Lorne Not one-on-one, I'd get the comic strip And then I was done I never saw myself on that show anyway Sometimes they will hire somebody

Sometimes they will hire somebody that's not a straight-up impressionist I mean, Pete Davids is not really an impressionist per se. No, he's young. But he does have the ability to go into characters and do voices. He's comfortable with that. Right, right. Which I didn't realize until he got us to know. But Todd might well be good at that, too.

He does a good Lorne Michaels. I got to say, Pete opened up for me years ago. He was really young and raw. And there was something about him. I was like, this kid is, I don't know, what is it about this kid? There's something about this kid. So I was. When I saw Pete, I was like, okay, another one.

So, no, I, you know. Here we go again. I can't predict who is going to, but no one claims that he knows. I don't claim that I know. I claim that there are certain people that were more obvious than others, like Chappelle. That's for sure. There's people that you can put a percentage on, but I can never pick them. Jon Stewart was, you know, at the time.

No, I don't know. There's people who made it huge that I never saw coming. Anyway, Jim, thank you very, very time. No, I don't know. There's people who made it huge that I never saw coming. Anyway. All right, Jim. Thanks for having me. Thank you very, very much. Thanks, man. By the way, we got to give out the...

What's our email again? PodcastatComedyCellar.com PodcastatComedyCellar.com. We want your feedback. For God's sakes. Why would you want that? Well, if you want more Jim Brewer, I don't know if he's available, but let us know and we'll try to get him.

Feedback. It's hard to get me in the city, man. I live in the woods. It's a good place to be. Todd Barry doesn't need us. You and Pete Correale don't do that show anymore, right? No. Oh, I love that.

Pete Correale is one of my absolute favorites. He's a funny dude. He's very funny. Very funny. He's up in the woods, too. He's up in Buffalo. Todd, you've got your podcast. I'm sure you'd like to mention that. The Todd Barry Podcast.

That's all I can say about it. Okay. Good night, everybody. I gave you enough information to look it up. Hey, thanks for having me. I appreciate it. Thanks for having me as well. Thank you, Todd.