The Comedy Cellar: Live from the Table - Rich Aronovitch

Episode Date: January 20, 2023

Rich Aronovitch is a comic and actor, well known as a viral dancing and TikTok sensation. He can be seen on the Worst Cooks in America on the Food Network, Season 25. He is a regular at The Comedy Cellar. 

All right. One, two. All right, you're good. This is Live from the Table, a Comedy Cellar-affiliated podcast. This is Dan Natterman. We're coming at you on SiriusXM 99. Raw Dog and the Laugh Button Podcast Network. This is Dan Natterman.

Noam is playing. Noam is... Noam got a new mandolin. Noam Dorman, owner of the Comedy Cellar. He's also a musician. Plays guitar, mandolin, some banjo. I guess he can do okay on the keyboards, but that's not his main thing. And we have Perrielle Ashenbrand.

As far as I know, she does not play any instruments does not but she has other skills she's a writer she is a cartoon producer and of course we have Nick

Nicky Lyons Nicole behind the scenes doing our audio and video work Noam that's a new mandolin you got

you told me your friend is going to sell you that mandolin my friend Daniel. Noam, that's a new mandolin you got. You told me your friend is going to sell you that mandolin. My friend Daniel Kirshheimer, this was his grandmother's mandolin. It's like a 1923 or 4 Gibson F4 mandolin. This is a very important mandolin, Dan. It's very rare. This is from the Lloyd Loreohr era of Gibson. Well, I don't know anything about that.

It's not quite as popular as the ones that have F-holes. This has a round hole, but I kind of like the ones with a round hole. Well, that means nothing to me. Okay. Noam, if you had to give up music, the cellar, or sex? What would it be?

I'm sorry, you had to choose one. No, what am I saying? How do I phrase this? You had to give up music, the comedy cellar, or sex. Which of the three would you give up? In what order? Could I make the same money having sex as I make... Yeah, let's just assume we'll hold income constant.

And I'm still married. You're married, yes. Everything is the same, but you're giving up... But you can either give up the cellar, give up music, or give up sex with, I presume, your wife, unless you're having it with other people, too. Whatever I'm still having, I can continue to have? Yes. This is not that complicated. For you.

I'm kidding. I would give up the cellar. Obviously. That was so obvious that he would give up the cellar. Okay, what if it's... Well, I guess that answers the question, yeah. Noam's music is obviously... All right, Noam, I think that's enough. I mean...

Music is obviously Noam's number one passion, other than sex, apparently. Wait, what about if you had to give up the podcast or music? The podcast or root canal. Anyway, we have Richard Ronovich who will be joining us in a bit.

He's not here. Now, by the way, Noam, I gave up a lucrative corporate gig because I'm booked at the Comedy Cellar Vegas in February

and I got a call for a gig for one night that pays twice as much. But this is not out of any loyalty. I just don't want to piss off Esty, because she scares me. So I said I can't do the corporate gig.

But you couldn't resist telling us. Yeah, well, why not tell you? Why not try to get some credit if I can? You probably wouldn't have mind. Credit? I think you're an idiot. You probably... She probably... All right, no.

Shut that bloody bouzouki. You know that Monty Python sketch? No. Everybody at home, Google the Monty Python Shut That Bloody Bouzouki. There's a scene in a pet store or something and there's just dialogue is dialogue

and there's bouzouki music in the background. I don't even know what bouzouki means. It's a Greek... Oh, okay. It just keeps getting louder and louder. You think it's just background music and then he goes, shut that bloody bazooka!

It's hilarious. Anyway. You have to hear it to understand it. Maybe you can find that, Nicole. He's been on that mandolin for, I mean, since Saturday or Sunday. You know, during the pandemic, I was going hard. Maybe I'll get back

to it. I always say that. I never do. There's something about, some people just, they don't give up with music. I guess they're born with this desire to be musicians, and that's, I think, 90% of what separates the musicians from the non-musicians is the non-musicians

just give up. I was not, I don't think, terribly untalented at it. I just don't have what it takes to stick to it for, you know, 10, 15 years, however long it takes. Would you say that there's validity to that? No? There's so much that you said there. Basically, I just said it's the desire to put in the hours that really... There's the talent, of course. Okay, you want the truth, right?

Yeah, well, what do I care? I have no dog in this fight. I was pretty accomplished on the guitar, I have to say, by the... I don't remember. We had that book with Phil Lopate. He was my sixth grade teacher. He already written his book that I was Phil Lopate he was my sixth grade teacher he already written his book

that I was he says younger than sixth grade fourth, fifth, and sixth I'm going to presume I guess he wrote that when I was in fifth grade

so I've been playing like a year and a half and I was already playing I was already like really playing I think also Noam's quite modest when it comes to

that sounded very modest that didn't sound very modest so you're't sound very modest. So you're saying that those with talent are more likely to stick with it because they see the progress. Exceptional talent. No, I don't know about exceptional talent. But I'm just saying, first of all, when you're a kid, it's much easier to learn. I don't think I could have learned that that quickly if I'd started now.

And second of all, but it's not a matter of discipline. You just do it because it's fun. Right, but not everybody finds it fun. Right, but when you talk about having to stick to it, for you it was like, I need the discipline to do it. But for me, it was always just like, oh, I'm playing guitar, it's awesome. There was no discipline necessary because you enjoy it.

Right, he's been obsessed with that thing since it showed up a few days ago. He hasn't put it down for days. That's not obsessed with that thing since it showed up a few days ago. He hasn't put it down for a day. That's not true. I just took it for repair. I saw you on Sunday and you were attached to it. I haven't had it since Sunday.

On Monday, I took it to the... I asked Tony to drop it off at the Mandolin Repairman and I just got it back a few minutes ago. Okay. Well, in the two times that I've seen you in the past four days, that thing has been attached to you.

It's deceptive. Noam, can we talk briefly about the situation with Clips, that you were going to hire somebody? Yeah, that's still in play. But I do, but I will tell you this, in lieu of that, we have a new policy now that in the underground, every comedian will get their set by email after their set without asking. Oh, okay. With no timestamp, I assume? No timestamp if they don't want one. Okay.

So how do we let it be known that we don't want one? You have to tell the engineer. So whoever's standing by the... Liz is going to make fun. Everybody's going to have to sign their signature that they don't want it. Okay. Okay. But as far as the show goes, can we implement

a system moving forward of clips of how we should proceed? Just to be clear, I'm talking about clips of us on stage doing our stand-up. Now, Perrielle's talking about the clips of the podcast. We can talk about that later. I thought you were talking about clips of the podcast. No, no. I was talking about clips of comedians

because now, and we're going to be talking about this of the podcast. No, no, I was talking about clips of comedians because now, and we're going to be talking about this with Richard Ranovich because he has an interesting story about how he became a, well, I wouldn't say TikTok sensation necessarily. I don't know. Oh, I mean, kind of. He's done well on TikTok, but there's a little bit of a story behind that.

Because that's how it's done now. You put your shit on TikTok and Instagram. Right. We're going to start having clips for the show regularly. Is that right? I'm quitting the show. No, you're not. You have no authority to make that decision.

It won't change whether we have clips or not. Anyway. It won't change whether we have clips or not. Anyway, I thought Rich was going to come right away, so I really had no talking points. 5.45. I had no pre-Rich talking points. Well, do you want to talk about... Well, I would like to talk about putting that mandolin down. You said you want to talk about the San Francisco reparations?

Yeah, but I thought we'd talk about that with Rich. What does he know about that? Well, he doesn't know anything, but I'm sure once we explain it to him, he'll have a perspective on it. All right, so what else is happening in the world of comedy? In the world of comedy?

Well, you know, in the world of comedy. I'm not sure. What's happening in the world of comedy. Well, you know, in the world of comedy. I'm not sure. What's happening in the world of the comedy cellar? I'm trying to open a new room. Well, how's that? Okay, so now we're getting somewhere. The new room. So you're ready to talk about it because you weren't.

I'm trying, Dan. I'm trying to get my hands on this new room. Where? It's very close. Okay, close physically or close... Mentally. Very close physically to the Comedy Cellar. And it's a big amount of money.

It's more money than I've ever spent on anything in my life. And I'm 60 years old, so it's really for my kids. I mean, they can do it. So you're planning to buy real estate, is it? Yeah, I'm trying, I'm trying. You're trying to buy real estate in which to put a new comedy club. Yeah, and I think I'm paying more than it's worth, if it sounds to me. But, you know, it's worth more to me than it is to other people like us.

So you're saying they accepted your offer? Not yet, no. Okay. But I think I offered more than it's worth. I'm sure I offered more than it's worth. But, you know— Why'd you offer more than it's worth? Well, he offered what he—I mean, it was a bidding process,

and you offered what you thought would win the, he has to beat the other offers or he doesn't get the property. Well, how do you know there are other offers? I know. So, can I play the mandolin? So, this is the thing. Well, you can, but after the show. We turn away a lot of business.

And so, I've analogized that to oil and shale, you know, shale rock that we frack to get the oil out. So in the 70s, it was well known that we had more oil in shale in America than in the oil fields of Saudi Arabia. And at that time, we didn't know how to get it out. We didn't have the technology to get it out. And then once we developed the technology to get it out, as we have now, we became energy independent. So this is my dilemma with this business that we're turning away. That's all this oil and shale.

It's worth a lot of money, but it's expensive to get it out. And so I might have to pay more than this building is worth objectively because that's the only way I can get it out. And it costs more to leave. Well, there's other potential venues. Not nearby.

Okay. And I think it has to be nearby, don't you? Yeah, I think the whole idea is that if they come here and then they can't get into the main room, you send them around the corner. Well, it's not just the people. It's the comedians themselves. The comedians, yeah.

The comedians don't want... Like, it's nice. They can hang out in the aisle tree. They can do spots in all the rooms. Right, exactly. It would be quite different if the other room was on, you know, even as close as 8th Street. That would be a totally different thing. It wouldn't be the same thing.

It wouldn't be the same thing. You can't run over there, do a quick spot, run back, eat something, get something to eat. Leave my food here. I'll be right back for it. So there's only so much real estate in the vicinity that's appropriate for a comedy club. Yeah, and I think it's a pleasant part of the culture here

that all the rooms are right near each other. It enhances the culture when the room's right near each other. We know this now in retrospect. We weren't sure when I first opened the additional room. But now that it's a status quo thing, I think everybody likes the fact that there's spots all over. You come back to the Olive Tree, hang out, have a drink at the bar. It's kind of like you go to work at the cellar and you spend your evening there and then you go home. Traveling around wouldn't be the same.

And then, of course, the drop-ins, the celebrity drop-ins, I don't know if they're going to want to go up to 8th Street, but they'll walk, you know. They'll walk down the block. Well, they already do the underground, so they'll go right next door to the whatever other place there is or right around the corner, wherever it is. Okay, so if they accept your offer, then you're doing it.

Is that what you're getting at? If they accept my offer and, I mean, there's a certain amount of, I have to make sure it's not like on an Indian burial ground or something like that. I have to check a few things out, but yes, I think it is, yeah. I did all the diligence already, basically. But you're a little nervous because it's a ton of money. Now, how quickly would it be up and running if, say, tomorrow the offer was accepted and you took possession and ownership of the property? How quickly would we...

And how many rooms in this new venue? Would it be one more? One room, and I think it'd be at least a year. One room and how many seats approximately? I'm hoping 180 to 200. And you've got a year to do the build-out. Yeah. It's going to be a significant renovation.

Even for something that doesn't, wouldn't seem to require much like a comedy club. Somebody's phone is ringing. Well, and you'd want to, you know, I assume you'd want to do it right, obviously. Ah, maybe, yeah. All right, well, that's great. I mean, again, and we've alluded to this before,

but I think anything worth discussing is worth beating to death. I'm not convinced of how much benefit I'll derive from this. I'm certainly happy for you, and I guess anything that helps a comedy seller brand is helpful to me. I'm not sure that I'll benefit greatly from it. You might not. Yeah, okay. I thought that was the whole reason why Noam was doing it,

for it to benefit you. Well, obviously not, but I have to think about my, you know, when I think about it, before I get too excited. It's definitely going to be good for Zarnagark. Well, no doubt it'll be good for Zarna Gark. Well, no doubt it'll be good for Zarna. You know, if I can, if I can squeeze out one extra set a week, I think that would be optimistic, but, but that would certainly not be, that would not be nothing. That sounds realistic. Because you know, the thing is they keep bringing in new people here. Right. And

Noam actively the other night, Noam gives me a list of people and says, what do you think of this person, this person? Well, I want to be honest with them and say, and give my honest opinion. But, of course, I also want to say they're all horrible. Because, you know, what do I want? Why do I want more competition? But, you know, Rich Aronovich, how do you do? Hi, hello.

Wearing a vintage Kodak film t-shirt. ASA 400. They don't, I guess they don't make it anymore. If they make it, nobody uses it. But anyway, Rich Aronovich is here. Hello, Rich. Hello. Hi.

Perio usually sends me an intro, but I don't need one because I know you for a long time. You're a comedian. You're a TikToker. I think now is calling you a TikToker is a big part of who you are showbiz wise. Yeah, a lot has happened from TikTok. And you are

a Canadian. I lived there for 10 months. You were born in Canada. I was born there. And you moved to New Orleans. Yes. Are you quizzing me or are you telling me things? I'm telling you, but not with 100% certitude, so I'm saying it with a slight interrogatory whatever. Certitude, integrity.

Okay, keep going. But you have a green card. No, I am a U.S. citizen. You don't have a green? Oh, you don't have a green card. I had a green card. You had a green card. In fact, I lost that green card. No, I am a U.S. citizen. You don't have a green? Oh, you don't have a green card. I had a green card. You had a green card. In fact, I lost that green card and it was a big problem because I was

in Israel at the time. And there was like embassy and calling and consul and then I was in the beach with a young girl. I was a young guy, so don't get it twisted. And I just dropped all my stuff

and someone found it and returned it a few days later. Crisis averted. Crisis averted. And, well, an honest Israeli, that's nice to hear. She wasn't Israeli. Okay. I told Peril we need more Gentiles on this show,

but, you know, that's something to think about in a few days. More Gentiles always sounds good in theory dan so i i want to talk about tiktok if i could sure tell me i'm doing these crazy dances on tiktok yeah so you you were just doing stand-up clips like i'm doing right now currently stand-up clips so yeah so during the pandemic i started doing i did a lot of impressions sketches skits and uh and I was seeing what was going to stick. Cause I was doing, I had to do something. So one day, uh, a friend of mine said, you got to go on Tik TOK. And I was like, what's that? I'm an adult. And I went on there and I was, all it was, was like, to me, all I saw was like girls with like bikinis dancing,

doing like the same dance. That's your algorithm. All I saw was political debates. Correct. So the algorithm went, you're a creep, and sent me this. So I put on a bikini and made fun of it, and it went nuts. So I continued doing it for a while, and then I put on a bikini, and it was crazy and uh and then this woman

uh who i won't break her anonymity she said don't talk about me publicly but i'll just say she gave birth to me she said stop doing this it's mortifying like really you look like a melted candle it's embarrassing for our family and like my friends are calling me and it's like like i'm not kidding i think i saw you yeah now that you, this is a couple years ago. My daughter was watching The Renegade, you know, The Renegade dance? Go ahead.

Yeah, yeah. So anyway, so I was going to quit and then, I'm not making this up, my sister's dying and instead of, she were in hospice

and instead of being scared and crying, we're laughing at your videos. And I was, I said, okay, then I'm going to do this because it helps people.

And I just, that's what I just started doing and then a lot of stuff has happened because of it. Who did it help? It helped the dying, the people that were grieving, that were about to experience death. I get that all the time.

My mom is sick and we're not worried. We're just laughing at your stupid videos kind of thing. Yeah. Well, first of all, sorry about that. How is that perceived from the point of view of the mom? In other words... All the people who were really worried about her are now watching your dumb videos.

Those 15 minutes, they're escaping. And then they watch the next 15 seconds. You're right. I should have argued with them. I should have said, excuse me, how is this helping? When I'm dying, please don't post any fucking videos to help anybody not think about it. They have all the time

after I die not to think about it. You're saying your mother realized that you were helping people. No, no, it took... No, he didn't say that. No, he did not say that. That's right, that's what I heard. You need more listening to it. No, my mom never got on board until I got on two TV shows,

and then I started making money. Once I started making money, she was like... I was like, say it, Mom. Go ahead. Because I kept saying, like... I was like, look, John Stamos is commenting and liking my videos. Your mother loves Stamos. She has no idea who he is.

Okay. She went, who's John Stamos? I'm like, okay. And then I was like, Mom, I just danced at Madison Square Garden. What did they pay you? Okay, Mom. And then finally, once I got, like, I was like, look, I'm going to make this money working for this company. She's like, okay.

I was like, say it. She's like, I was wrong. So you're making money to make this money working for this company. She's like, okay. I was like, say it. She's like, I was wrong. So you're making money dancing. I'm not exactly making money. I do make a little bit of money from TikTok. But what I do make money for was people that I'm very strategic because I don't want to whore out for everybody. But if I believe in whatever they're doing or they have enough money, I'll whore out

for a certain amount of money. You know what I mean? So then they'll pay me a bunch of money and it's an easy sell, right? How much for a lap dance? Right here. For you? Yeah, for Dan.

Yeah, well you own the club. So I'll do it for you. Dan? Two grand. Two grand? Two grand. I'm almost tempted. Are you going to buy me a lap dance?

But I don't want one. That wasn't in the equation. You have to sit there and take it for the show, Dan. Didn't you get hired to do some crazy stadium? Yeah, I was at Madison Square Garden with Fred Durst found me. And he was sharing my videos. And I was like, hey. Is he the murderer?

No, he's the lead singer of Limp Bizkit. Isn't there a Durst who was a? Willie Durst? Yeah, yeah, hey. Is he the murderer? No, he's the lead singer of Limp Bizkit. Isn't there a Durst who was a... That's... Willie Durst? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, you know, there's... I know who you're talking about. Yeah.

Come on, Google. Well, so you... This is something, of course, you didn't anticipate, which is very often... Well, that's the whole thing, right? I wasn't doing it to further my career. I was doing it to help the people that were sad. And also a lot of people during the pandemic on both sides were scared.

So they hadn't like, you know what I mean? So it didn't help. No, on both sides. I'm saying economically people were, because everything was shut down. And on the other people were, you know, the other people were scared. Is it helping your stand-up career at all? Yes, because what it does is it gets them into my world. world oh i didn't know you were stand-up oh get on my email list and people showing up to shows now because what i have noticed with tiktok and as

i always keep you in mind because i i the stand-up shit for me at least for now is not really working i i there there are jokes that i have that kill on stage. I have one particular joke about picking up a chick at the gym. Not only does it kill every time, it kills in front of all different types of audiences. So, I mean, it's like I figured this joke has to go viral on TikTok. It works every single time I do it.

It works well. It works in front of different audiences. And it gets nothing on TikTok. Even the joke that Louie went on a podcast and said, oh, one of my favorite jokes, Dan Aderman's joke about the sex education. So I posted that joke with Louie's, the one you sent me, on my Instagram feed and on TikTok. And it didn't get really much of a response. It got a response on the Comedy Cellar Instagram page because the Comedy Cellar has 100,000

plus. Yeah, but you got like 1,000 new followers. Yeah, from you. From you posting it on the Comedy Cellar. But a hundred thousand plus. Yeah. But you got like a thousand new followers. Yeah. From you, from you posting it on the comedy. It doesn't matter. But then they followed you. Yes.

But just posting it on my shit didn't really get any. So, so, so in other words, even jokes that I, that are tested, battle tested are not getting response on TikTok. So there's,

there's a number of issues with, with TikTok and that. First of all, it is all dependent on what they decide to put on in the For You page. It has nothing to do with anything else. So they'll turn on the faucet. I'll have one video that will get $8.5 million, $5.5 million. There's not a lot.

It has to be good, but it has to be a perfect storm. So they'll throw it out. They'll test it out to X amount of people. If they engage from beginning to end, how long are these videos? Usually a minute or less. That's a lifetime for these. Have you ever seen, have you ever looked over the shoulder of someone who's scrolling on Instagram or TikTok? It's like this.

So they don't engage. You have to, like, it's nuts. Because you're up against, you know, everything. Maybe you should start a video. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Yeah. Like that. Like they try to do know everything so maybe she's sort of wait wait wait wait wait wait yeah like that like they try to do that they're like wait wait wait for it or they do yeah wait for it wait for it's a big thing on right so it's not so you know you have to detach from results you also go like what makes sense like why does it do better on facebook versus instagram versus tiktok it doesn't make any sense so So if you can mentally say, I'm doing this for fun

and because I like doing it and detach from results, that's the only way you can win. The other stuff is all about- Dan can't say that about anything. Say what? Dan can't say that about anything. No, well- Dan can't masturbate for fun.

I wonder how this is going to affect my sex. No, it is, I do enjoy creating and I enjoy, yeah, I enjoy, you know, artistically progressing, but one likes to see results as well. Right. So you already know that the joke is funny. So here's my question. What are you doing it for? What's the point? To grow an audience. And why? Because you want to pack audiences? Well, yeah, to advance, you know, to perhaps. Okay, so that's reasonable. Fill a small theater, I don't know.

How often are you posting? Say three or four posts a week. That's good. Okay, so I would say the person to look at is like Jeff Acuri. Because he's doing stand-up clips. He's doing, I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 11 a.m. on Instagram. That's what I'm doing.

He has flashy titles. You have to have titles, because a lot of people do not listen. They will only read it, and you have to post consistently for stand-up. When you say titles, you mean captioning. I mean captioning. Yeah, I do that.

Captioning. Just for people listening. Yeah, yeah. I mean, that's the thing. It and the you know it's it's a mental because what happens is when your brain starts getting that dopamine from oh my gosh every time i open the app it was over 99 it did people liking it there's a dopamine thing but it hits a certain level like a heroin addict so you have to get to that certain number so for me to get dopamine it has to hit at least six figures mine are all over 10 000 each post and it's So for me to get dopamine, it has to hit at least six figures. Mine are all over 10,000 each post

and it's nothing for me. It doesn't even move the needle. That's how I feel about money. Yeah. But that's true. When I was really broke and then all of a sudden you're like, you want me to go for how much? Which 20 years ago, 15 years ago, we were like, oh my gosh. I'm retiring.

Now I'm like, are you kidding? I got a kid. Well, it's like everything in the world. It's human nature. It's, it's, uh, human nature is to get, look, the fact that we all have running water to somebody that doesn't, they must think we wake up every day singing, you know, happy days or whatever. I mean, we have more, we have better lives than the Roman emperor had probably, you know, when we have the fact that we have air conditioning

and... Roman Emperor had running water. He invented running water. But you know what I'm saying. Whatever level you're at, that's the level that becomes the norm. You're used to it. And it's not exciting anymore. It's not interesting. It's not fun. It's not fulfilling. So you need something that's human nature. That's why we're a miserable species.

But here's where I'll say the difference. I used to do all these videos to try to further my career, and then I did them because I liked doing them. I had fun with them. And that ebbs and flows. But if that's really at the bottom, I have to remember that, then that helps because everything else is bonus.

You have to almost trick your mind to do that because it's not in human nature, especially as a comedian. Right? Oh, yeah, I guess so. Oh, definitely. All right. Well, um...

This business has no business calling itself a business. Oh, well, that's an old Natterman quote. That's an old Natterman quote. That must have made you feel a little good. What's that? That he remembers an old... Yeah, you know. But again, you know, I'm...

You know how it is. Did that help? Did I move the needle at all? Well, I'm used to being respected by my peers. That's the base level for me. Right. Isn't that the most important thing? Isn't it like, don't you look at a TikToker who, let's say someone comes in the club and

they're a TikToker, right? And their jokes are garbage. What do you think? I mean, like how many, like FlashPant, you know what I mean? Do we have any TikTokers that come in here that? If we did, I wouldn't name them. Name names. Name names.

Rich Aronovich. We were talking about Noam before you got here, I think, or maybe you were just coming in, that Noam is scouring the planet to try to get new comedians in here. And the other day, he gave me a list of names of people. He said, what do you think? What was the name of that impressionist you said? Oh, Matt Friend. Matt Friend. You know him? Yeah. Is he good? What do you think? I have job security. You think I want to threaten that? He can't host. No, I'm kidding. Does he host? Do I think he's good? I think he's a great impression. Listen, first of all,

I would never suggest or not suggest somebody who isn't close. I think he's a great impression. Listen, first of all, I would never suggest or not suggest somebody who isn't close. I think he's an amazing impressionist. I told him, he opened for me, and I told him, I said, you have to get on the internet right now and do your impressions and don't stop. And it will take you a

minute, but you're going to catch fire. And he did. He's just on Stern doing Stern. So this sounds like you don't think he'd be good at the cellar. I didn't say that. Well, you didn't say it, but you had every opportunity to say otherwise, and you declined. Because I haven't seen a stand-up for years.

I'm busting your balls. I heard that he's very good. I'm going to try to contact him. I have his number. It's got six digits. I have his number. It's very digits i have his number it's very strange it's a it's a french number he's very very young as well so that i'm sure his future is bright whatever the near term what i don't get is why a guy like that who he had at the time that he does have good i think he has

some sort of agent or management. How is he not on SNL? He can do so many really good impressions. Yeah, there's a lot of, look, there's a lot of good impressionists out there. And Kyle Dunnigan has, as you know, and he's somebody that works here a lot, is a great impressionist.

He's been a great impressionist for 20 years. But he's also done like original character. He never got on SNL. But so I don't know. I don't understand. Did he get, I mean. I think he had auditions. I'm pretty sure back in the day. Like the point is, is SNL can only hire a few people a year or every, and they're not always

looking for impressionists. So like Tracy Morgan, I don't think is an impressionist, but they hired him. Pete Davidson's not an impressionist, and they hired him. No, very few people in SNL are impressionists but Daryl Hammond was. Yeah, so they got like a couple impressionists and a couple...

Godfrey should have been in SNL. Godfrey may be the greatest impressionist I've ever seen. Yeah. Wow. And he does it without even trying. Elon Gold is a great impressionist. No one touches...

I agree with you. Godfrey is... You know, he is unbelievable. Because you can ask Godfrey, do this person, something he's never done before. Yeah. He'll picture it in his mind, and he will do a top 5% impression of it. Right.

Where, like, Daryl Hammond, who's a great impressionist, he would talk about working on a character for weeks and weeks in front of a mirror, recording. Like, Godfrey does that. Frank Caliendo was never on SNL. I mean, he was on MADtv, but he was never on snl that's another example i mean so the point is is that you know there's a lot of impressionists they only hire however many they hire uh a year there are people that aren't going to get on but there's also now other factors that have

dictated their hiring for example they are now trying to satisfy the need for casting in that we need an Asian person. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. This is a non-political episode. Non-political, it's just fact. They had some pushback and then the next hires were all like, you know, this was the gay Asian guy, I forgot his name because I'm

I have no brain cells left. Owen Yang or something like that? Yeah, yeah. And they did it sort of like, all of a sudden it was a very multicultural casting. That's just the way casting is done right now. I thought, no. I thought they just hired the best people. No, they didn't. Well, in my opinion,

in my opinion, they reacted to an article that came out, and that next round of hiring was specific to that. Are you telling me that they would be casting for a show and would not hire the best people

for the show? I feel like you're being sarcastic. I think Noam is being sarcastic. I think. It doesn't make any sense. I think he's being sarcastic. That can't be good for business. Noam, and their ratings stay the same? Noam, you tell me. It's an institution. And their ratings are good this season? I haven't watched it for a long time. Let's look up their ratings this season. Go ahead. Noam, you tell me. It's an institution. And their ratings are good this season? I haven't watched it for a long time. Let's look up their ratings this season.

Go ahead. Noam, now you're in a similar position. You hire comedians. And don't you hire some comedians? We need a female. We need this. We don't need any more Jews. But we need... Is Matt Friend a Jew? Get him out.

We need an impression. You know what I'm saying? No, we don't do that. You don't? Well, but no. I know you say you don't, and I believe in a way that you don't, but I also believe that if everybody was a white guy working here, you would make a little bit of an extra effort to try to diversify a little bit because you know that the audience wants to see diversity.

And you want to please the audience. I think there's something fair to saying there's, you know, you want to have different perspectives and different things. Right. Right. Yes. And it's fun. Zarna is not only is she good on her own right, but it's fun to hear from a Indian woman perspective. Not just because it's funny, but because I haven't heard that

before. So when I hear... Right, it's a different sort of... In and of itself... That's something else. But that... Yes, but that means that diversity can be, in certain situations, an advantage in and of itself.

If Zarna's going on and she's killing, which she does, killing, then there's nothing else to talk about. There is something to talk about. Because the audience is not only laughing, but they're enjoying the different point of view. But how could you suspect that I hired her because she's Indian? I don't suspect that.

I suspect that when she's killing... I don't think that's what he's saying. I think what he's saying is it's a bonus that she has a different perspective. She's female. She's Indian. She is a bonus. And Jim Norton, even though he's a white male, but he's a trans...

The fact that Jim Norton's up there talking about trans women... I don't mean lover. Girlfriend. A trans lover-lover. A transophile. The fact that he's doing that. The fact that Keith Robinson is talking about I don't mean lover. Girlfriend. A trans, like a lover lover. A transophile. Mr. Lover Lover. Yeah.

The fact that he's doing that, the fact that Keith Robinson is talking about having a, I mean, all these different points of view. So I don't have to hear yet another joke about my kids or the airlines, whatever. I'm going to tell you, Dan. It's a bonus. I'm going to answer you. Okay. answer you okay diversity is a beautiful thing very american thing and very uh um sentimentally satisfying when it happens naturally it's it's uh you know it makes you very patriotic to to look out on a situation and see people of all different stripes of life, all in the same undertaking together, all there because they naturally congregated based on their talent and ability.

That kind of diversity is very, very beautiful. And I like to think that's the diversity is a pretense for corporate hiring in order to preempt and inoculate themselves to certain criticisms or whatever it is. And once you know that that's the story behind it, in my opinion, it's no longer beautiful. In other words, if there's two people who are equally talented and you pick the one that's quote unquote diverse, fine.

Well, there's never two people who are equally. You always have a think one person is better than the other. But I'm saying, you know, it's like I play music. I have my bands of black, white, blah, blah. It's never in music. Nobody ever hires anybody for their race. That's different, that's different. And musicians are, music is very diverse.

But that's different from comedy, where the very fact that Zarna is Indian, that Jocelyn is Asian, plays a role in the kind of comedy that they're doing so that I, as an audience member, okay, I've heard- It's the same thing in music.

I've heard Comic A talking about whatever they're doing so that I, as an audience member, Okay, I've heard... It's the same thing in music. I've heard, I've heard comic, I've heard comic A talking about whatever they're talking about, but it's fun to hear somebody talk about something different, so there's a little something... But I don't think it's fun unless that person is amazing. Yeah, the person's gotta be good. Right.

The card's gotta be good, but the... So that's number one. It's not like... I'm just making a point. If you come to a playground and see beautiful children, you say, wow, there's a lot of beautiful children. Look how beautiful this is. No one loves to go to playgrounds with beautiful children. If you come to a playground and you know that the Nazis have filled the playground with beautiful children,

you say, oh my God, this is something... This is a little... I'm not comparing anything to Nazis, but if you know that it didn't happen naturally, then if you start to think about it, to me it's kind of a turnoff because it's almost the opposite. It's like you haven't accomplished anything actually. You haven't fixed society. But the audience – You've just manipulated a cosmetic picture of something.

And actually over the long term, you're actually turning people against because yes we all know that people made snide remarks about this the most liberal people i know made make snide remarks about this stuff all the time i think listen i think the market the market for like i have you know the market for a long time for if you were black your auditions were homeless man number two prisoner number three and eventually they went wait a minute there's more representation that needs to happen. I think the market overcorrected. And now we're going, oh, we have to put in someone who's black and Asian

and Filipino and Scandinavian. What if the TikTok algorithm gave special pushes to videos of color? Hold on, I'll answer that, because I was doing, well, I was doing a great thing, and I was doing impressions, and I would look it up, and I fooled the algorithm to think that I was like super, I don't really, I'm not really political,

but I was looking for speeches and stuff. So all of a sudden I was getting a mass amount of conservative emails, and, you know, about my guns. I don't have guns, what is this? And white lives matter, what is this and white lives matter what is this so what the algorithm did is it went oh this is this is a mark and they started sending me stuff so the algorithm absolutely does try to do uh bias based on what they think you're in well that's not that's on uh a subject matter but i'm saying like but but no but but

but looking up trump does not mean i have guns but the algorithm assumed i did you see i'm saying like— But looking up Trump does not mean I have guns. But the algorithm assumed I did. You see what I'm saying? Yeah, but I'm just saying like if they amplify certain things not based on what they— Like you said, they sample test it, and if it shows engagement, then they amplify it, right? Well, no, I uncorrected it because I started looking up the other so I would completely mix it up. So I was like—you know, I scrambled it. I'm not sure Noam gets what I'm saying. I'm not sure you get what I'm saying. I get what mix it up. So I was like, you know, I scrambled it. I'm not sure Noam gets what I'm saying. I'm not sure you get what I'm saying.

I get what you're saying. Look, if we're hiring lawyers and race doesn't enter into the equation, but we're talking about show business where different points of view are a variety of perspectives in comedy is a good, intrinsic, positive thing. I think, yeah.

I think what you know of... They have to be good first. He was saying that SNL is hiring people based on... I didn't say they're hiring based on... I said that the next round of hires definitely reacted to criticism. I'm not saying it was based on... But you also applied that they weren't that good. But then we were talking about... I didn't say they weren't that good.

I said I never watched it, so how could I know? Then we were talking about your hiring or your comedian hiring practices, and you said you don't look at race, color, or creed. And I think you might want to because I think the audience wants variety. But hold on. It's naturally already there. They have diverse shows.

They have it, I know. But I'm saying the audience benefits from that because the audience wants to see different points of view. If the audience likes it, they like it. That's how we audition people. If the audience likes them, they like them. If they don't like them, they don't like them. I'm not going to say they don't like them, but they're Chinese, so they'll put them on anyway. It's not in a vacuum that they like or don't. They might love

comedians, but they don't want them all on the same show if they're all going to be talking about similar things, even if they're all great comedians. You have to look at the show as a whole and to see not just if each comedian is great, but if each comedian is great. So are you saying I can say to Estee,

you know, Estee, I think there's too many black people on this show. Oh, you can't say that. That's what you're saying. Can you say there's too many white people on the show? Well, he's saying that, but I'm thinking, well, it's like, okay, where do we draw the line here?

I mean, look, there's another club that does... All I can say about the comedy show I'll let you finish is that it all seems to be working out fine. Our shows are very, very diverse. We have gay people, trans people, black, white. We have everything on these shows. You don't have enough Filipinos. Not enough Filipinos. And, you know, although from time to time we do get a complaint, there's not enough women.

Sometimes there's just not enough women around. Sometimes there's plenty. But, you know, the people who saw the show that had, like, only one woman, they don't know that the previous show might have had three women, whatever. We get that complaint from time to time. But what can we do about it? We put on, you know. I think that's, I mean, that's the other thing is, like,

people that want to be upset will be upset. Well, what's interesting is that there's a lot of people out there like Perrielle and they really think like, this dude must hate women. Like, I didn't see enough women on that show. I only think that because I know you. I didn't see enough women on that show. And it's just clear to me that these misogynistic club owners, they have some woman that she would kill, but they're not putting her on because they hate women. It's so, like, do they really think that that happens?

Who says that? No, I'm saying that's the— And what the fuck is that like Perrielle? Because that's the implied... Because you would believe that about... Because you're a woman. So you got to be thinking that. Because if you heard that women are underrepresented in, I don't know,

flipping burgers or whatever it is, you would be very easily convinced, oh, there must be some misogyny going on there. But like anybody else, but when you actually are in the industry and you realize, oh, you know, I can't really explain what's going on, but there's just not the same number of women around. Can I say something?

Okay, so when Jessica Kirsten did her documentary, it was eye opening for me in that about 100% of them had been sexually assaulted. Right? Which I never would have thought of that. 100% of women. Of women comedians. At some point, some creepy comedian. Unbelievable.

Unbelievable. They must be asking for it. No, no, I'm not saying that. I'm saying as a perspective from someone who's not well-versed in the art of sexual harassment and assault, it was completely shocking to me. So I couldn't have that perspective because I am not a female comedian. But then it sort of shined a light on it, which I'm going, oh wow, that must really suck.

Or like, I don't know what it's like to be totally petrified to take the subway past 10, you know, at a certain time. Hold up, hold up, hold up. I'm not saying that there's not issues about the way females are treated in the industry. Far be it from that, I'm sure there are. I'm just saying that when people think that

I or we as booking the Comedy Teller show are somehow implicated in all that, saying we are choosing the best show from the people we have, that what's happening to women... Your booker's a woman. It's crazy. My wife's a woman.

You can say that now. She identifies as a woman. Hey, women, my wife's a woman. Okay. But sometimes people weaponize. What do you mean by, wait a second. Some people will weaponize these things. Like what happened to Aziz, I thought someone weaponized it and used it against him.

When there's legitimate Me Too issues, this person went, he didn't and it seemed like it was weaponized against him. That's the problem. I do suspect. I do suspect. We talked about this before. I suspect that stand-up comedy is a little different than other aspects of

show business that women getting involved in. And I suspect it for this very, very, very, very simplistic reason, which might actually be legit, which is that growing up, how often was the class clown a woman? Correct. I think there was something about stand-up comedy, which at a very early age, it may change as you get older,

it is the kind of thing which the boys just do. That's different than being funny. It's different than writing funny. It's different than all sorts of other things that because people, I think, wrongly think that the

key factor of stand-up comedy is the sense of humor. It is not. It's this urge to be the clown on stage. That really is, I know so many funny people, funnier than most of the comics I know. They have no interest in being stand-up comics. And they might not

even be good at it. But you hear over and over that these stand-up comedians, they were the class clowns in school. But I would argue that that actually is rooted in patriarchy because girls are not supposed to act like that. It is really frowned upon, or it was. I mean, perhaps that's changing.

I think there's a component of that. There might also be a component of just the male desire to be front and center. No, I don't. I mean, listen. No, we're supposed to be front and center. No, I don't. To, um... I mean, listen. No, we're supposed to be... Cariel is only willing to believe bad things about men. She will never believe anything about... My husband is a man.

If you say that, you know, little boys, toxic guys, little boys are difficult... Bullshit. Stop. Really, it's ridiculous what you're saying. That's not true, and you know it's not true. What's not true? That I only want to believe bad things about men. It's just easier for you to make your point.

We have little boys and little girls we've hung out with together. Yeah. Isn't it painfully obvious the little boys are just different than the little girls? Most of the time, yes. Well, most of the time is enough to create a disparity. Not 100% of the time. But like, you know, you're- If it's only 60-40, then all of a sudden you'd see a disparity.

Okay, but what about women in tech, for example? I think that your argument doesn't hold for something like that because we've- I'm not talking about tech. I'm just using that as an example. I don't know about tech. What is that tech? Well, that women have been historically extremely underrepresented and it's not for lack of intelligence or ability. I don't know what the reason is, but maybe it's for lack of interest. I don't know.

Here's a question. Nobody's refusing to let them major in whatever they want to major in. So like if you look at, let's say, desirability, right? The number one thing. A lot of women say, I want a funny guy. How many guys say, I want a funny girl? Very few. Very few, right? With big tits. Right. Yeah.

A great ass and a sense of humor. Yeah. Very few. David Tell has a joke on that. Yeah. So there's something to the idea that, listen, it was, for years, the conditioning was, hide behind the fan, be meek, do the thing.

Now, have things changed? Tremendously. I'm doing stuff as a father. My father never did. Never. Like what? Changing diapers, feeding my kid. My dad was working. Hello, son. Kiss. I wouldn't blame society. You just had a shitty dad.

My father changed my diapers. Come on, Noam. You know that parental roles have changed. It used to be the men didn't even go into the delivery room. Delivery room. That should come back. Going into the delivery room is nothing. What I'm saying is that

I was celebrated as the class clown and my sister who who was, I think, as funny, was shunned and was told, no, that's bad. And people didn't react to her. They didn't celebrate her in the same way. So Perry also – And that's saying that that is not necessarily a genetic component. I think that's a – Look, all this –

I'm sure there is components from a societal point of view, but I don't rule out just the intrinsic male desire to be the class. We're way ahead because we've had years of that celebrating

and only until recently have we seen okay, now all of a sudden there's an uptick in female... But as a kid, some of the great female sketch artists like cal burnett and lucille ball you can name them on one hand but these were no titanic dominating yeah yeah sure lucille ball uh-huh well lucille phyllis diller keep going lucille ball at that time was there was there anybody else in in the sitcom world at her level? In other words, she was like number one. So it wasn't just that she was a token.

She was number one. Some of the great comic actresses have been women, for sure. Absolutely. Many of them. For sure. All I'm saying, all this stuff is interesting. Some of it is not yet known. As Dan said, it could be partially a disposition.

It could also be partially societal holding people back i don't think i think it's ridiculous to think that that that you know men and women are exactly the same i think clearly they're not but having said all that all i'm trying to say is that from the point of view of the guy who owns the comedy cellar everything we're discussing now has happened 25 years ago to the people who are now of age to be comedians at the comedy seller. And I can't change that now.

Right, but do you feel like how long has the comedy seller been around? 83. 82. Okay, so do you feel like there's more female comics now than in the beginning? You know, there were a lot of female comics now than in the beginning? You know, there were a lot of female comics back then. I don't know.

Or black comedians? Or Asian comedians? We have two Asian comedians now, so it's doubled. The one thing that's for sure is that comedians are older. Comedians are older. There's more Asian comedians.

There really was only one Asian comedians. There's more. There really was only one Asian comedian back then, Phil Nee. I don't know if you've heard of him. There's Margaret Cho. No, this is before even Margaret Cho. There was Phil Nee, Henry Cho. There were no, I don't think, East Indian comedians. No East Indian comedians.

But obviously it's changed. It's America's change. America used to be 90% white, and now it's much less white. So, of course, that's changed. So, in other words, that's not— That was the representation in 90% white. But the people will make the very bad comparison of saying, well, back in the 80s, it was this percentage white, and now— Yeah, it's not really fair because there wasn't that many comedians. No, but that's not necessarily progress because it might be just as representative of the demographics now as it was then.

Has the American. You understand my point? Has the population shifted that greatly since the 80s? Enormously. Yeah, enormously. So, and especially in New York. But anyway, well, that's about it. I mean, I just think that.

The point is Matt Friend's not getting in. That's the point. Well, take a look at Matt. He's a good guy and he's a great impressionist. On a somewhat related note, I don't know if you want to talk about San Francisco and reparations. Sure. Well, apparently San Francisco, you might know more about this than me, but apparently San Francisco is considering, I can't imagine it would ever happen in a trillion years,

but they set up a committee to investigate the possibility of reparations for San Francisco residents. And to the tune of $5 million per person if they qualify. They have to live for 13 years. But it's also to give them a certain amount of income for 250 years. I mean, first of all, it's the first draft by some committee. Yeah, I don't know who's on the committee and to what extent. I don't know, but I'm sure there's a lot of Jews.

For blacks. For blacks. In San Francisco. Yeah. And the number they came up with was 5 million a person. Which obviously is not going to happen, but for anybody, they've got to be like a resident of San Francisco, a descendant of slaves,

whatever the criteria are. San Francisco? Does California have slaves? No, but they have descendants of slaves. But why would California pay that? Well, there's a list of criteria. No, I'm saying that the guilty party pays the reparations. The United States of America is a guilty party here in this story, and various state governments that had Jim Crow are guilty parties.

The state of California is paying reparations. The very word means that they're making amends for something they've done. What did California do that they're paying reparations for? They didn't have slaves. They didn't have slaves. But they did have, apparently, certain policies in effect, I guess. So the Y would have to be descendants of slaves. Well, that's one of the criteria that they're using in the draft resolution.

It doesn't really make sense. I think part of it is they have to hire a certain amount of people to SNL. That's pretty good. I think I'm bitter. I never got my audition. But yeah, so a lot of things are never going to happen. There was another thing what did we just see in the news?

But on principle, I mean, five million is a pretty high number. Sheila Jackson Lee just proposed a bill in Congress that would create a new crime and you happen to read something that somebody tweeted which can be construed as supporting of a replacement theory or some kind of thing,

the person who wrote the tweet will now be guilty of a crime if someone else read it and committed a hate crime and said that somehow they were inspired by what you wrote. I mean, this is as old as pornography causes rape. Well, it may well.

Or video games cause violence. It's a free country. And one of the bedrock principles has been that you can think and write whatever you want. As a matter of fact, it wasn't that long ago, it's related, when the state of the art of liberal thought was like the Nazis have rights, they should be able to march, the Nazis can do whatever they want, right? Well, you can't yell fire in a, so it's free speech to an extent. You can't incite violence. You can't incite violence.

So maybe that's what it speaks to. Now, the Nazis do have absolutely a right to march. I don't like it, but they do have a right to march. And people have a right to... It's a ridiculously anti-constitutional law. And black people have a right to February. Anyway.

It violates constitutional... But just this... And by the way, what's interesting is that on top of the ridiculousness of it, and on top of the ridiculousness of trying to, you know, how many conservatives or Republicans are accused every day of being, you know, white supremacy adjacent or or Tucker Carlson is spouting out replacement theory. And quite often they are. But this is not a crime. But on top of that, she didn't even have the the. I don't know what the word is. Sophistication to write a bill which would make this a crime, no matter which group was targeted. In other words, anybody who commits a hate crime and can then point to somebody who wrote something hateful. No, it's only if somebody commits an anti-person of color or black crime and can be pointed to white supremacy.

So presumably if a black person read some black Israelite spouting off about how the Nazis are great or whatever it is, and that black person then killed a Jew. That would not be a crime that the law wouldn't apply to that. Is there is this this is a bill somebody proposed. Sheila Jackson Lee proposed it in Congress. I mean, how likely is it that this zero zero. But the reparations thing, it looks like some variation of it could happen.

I don't think it's going to be $5 million a pop, but it does look like they're very serious about reparations in San Francisco. You know, on the subject of reparations, which, you know, you can make... I think you can make the case for certain living people who lived during Jim Crow that they're entitled to reparations.

Having said that, you could just imagine it like if the United States wrote a check for five hundred thousand dollars. To everybody black. And I think we could maybe afford that. We didn't do probably much less than that during COVID in terms of writing a check to everybody for, you know, to 300 million people. I don't know. I don't know the math, but let's just say, wouldn't you expect things to get much worse?

People would just be like, you got your money. I don't want to hear any more out of you. You got reparations, right? It's even, Stephen, leave us alone with your I think it would really be bad for race relations and close tremendous resentment.

That's not to say they don't deserve it or they do deserve it. That's a whole other debate. I'm just saying the consequence of writing of making one segment of the population rich would has not been sufficiently thought through. There is a psychological reaction

that's going to happen to something like that. And it's not going to be pretty. That's just my opinion. It's not enough to say it should be or shouldn't be. I'm just saying it is. I mean, a lot of people are already saying we don't want to hear any more from you. So I don't know if that

would, you know, what impact that would have. Oh, big. Very big. In my opinion. Look, I can't speak for another perspective like I was saying before about being a female comedian. I can't speak for the perspective of what it's like.

You know, all I can see, the little micro doses of, oh, I was hanging out with Dean Edwards, and we saw this guy muttering the N-word under his breath like it was 1940 or 50, and it was insane to me. And then Dean and I talked about... Was he a homeless guy? No, no.

It was just a normal... We were on a cruise together, because God hates me, and we were on a cruise together, because God hates me, and we were having, and if you don't know, Dean is one of the most lovely human beings on the planet. Absolutely just a gorgeous human being in every way. And we're just talking. He doesn't mean Denzel impression. But even if he wasn't a decent human being, he's still. Even still.

Yeah. I mean, just, you know, it wasn't like. I kind of didn't like that disclaimer, but go ahead. No, no, in other words, it wasn't like there was a there there. It was simply the color of his skin. There was not a... There wasn't a he's being... He's acting in a way that could be construed as anything other than we're sitting there

and he's just having a nice meal and this guy's muttering the N-word. He wasn't yelling and screaming. He wasn't playing loud. This was a... Whatever the complaints are. This was a passenger? Passenger. It must have been Carnival Crew. No, I won't say it, but it rhymes with four region. Anyway, so we started talking about it because I grew up where David

Duke got elected, the former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. And I knew if I heard a thick New Orleans accent, at some point I would hear the N-word. I would count the seconds before I'd hear it. Like real, real racism. Like, like, like I, you know, real racism. And he told me he gets pulled over. He has to have his keys outside and his hands on there. And he has a sit down with his daughters on how to behave and how to act. I have no perspective on that. And then never crossed my mind. All I'm trying to do is get out of a ticket. He is literally afraid for his life. And I'm not saying that's all cops, and I'm not saying that's all,

but that is a reality of our, so I can't speak to what it's like, how there has been, you know, there has been systematic, but it's not, my issue is it goes to black people. There's also been, the Italian immigrants have a story, the Irish immigrants have a story, Native Americans have a's also been the Italian immigrants have a story. The Irish immigrants have a story. Native Americans have a story.

Chinese people. Everybody has a story. So to your point of what does this do? Because they were giving them 500. Well, what about the Native Americans? Casinos aren't enough. We got to give them some. What about my grandparents?

No, no, no, no. You know what I mean? Your grandparents don't get anything. Yeah, nothing. No. You can't. Native Americans, maybe you can compare. I mean, obviously, no, no, no. You know what I mean? Your grandparents don't get anything. Yeah, nothing. No. You know, you can't, Native Americans, maybe you can compare. I mean, obviously Native Americans have their own, of course you can compare, it's just different, but other immigrants don't have.

Holocaust survivors, we got Israel, let's move on. No, America took black people as slaves. Correct. Ripped them out of tribes. But, well, no, I shouldn't say that, because actually America took some of it. Mostly America didn't take the slaves. America kept the slaves, but the slaves were here before America's founding. But whatever it is, America had slavery.

But even more, maybe culpably, America maintained Jim Crow into the modern era. There was segregation in the 60s. Our grandparents' age has segregation in the 60s. But what I'm saying is that when America hads, because this was the way the world works. But by 1950, and America's having black people ride on the back of the bus and shitty schools and different water fountains and all that, at that point, and all the laws are enforcing it, and we've already fought a civil war. I think that, I'm not saying it hurt more than slavery, but I'm saying there's it's a little it's in a way more outrageous.

It's in a way you would say, you know what? I don't know if George Washington should be paying reparations, but you motherfuckers in 1950, you probably should be paying reparations. It's much closer in time. Most a lot of you are still alive. The people you did it to are still alive or, you know, one generation removed. We're not going back hundreds of years. And you knew better.

You can't hide behind the things that people were hiding behind in the 1700s and the early 1800s. So anyway, so America's history vis-a-vis Jim Crow in a certain way is even worse to me than slavery. Without saying that Jim Crow was worse than being a slave. I'm just saying in terms of what they did and what the excuses would be. Anyway, so yeah, I think it's a strong argument for a 70-year-old

person or 80-year-old person who was... What about an 80-year-old person's legal heirs? So now you're getting into people that are much younger. Yeah, that's more complex. I don't know. I mean, it's hard. I never thought the arguments about reparations were ridiculous.

Even when I was a young kid. They're challenging. They're challenging arguments. I mean, it's very hard because we're three white dudes talking about reparations. No, it's not a matter of that. It's a matter of that.

It's a matter of logical arguments. I agree with you. I'm just saying perspective-wise. I grew up with certain privilege that black people did not grow up with. That's not an argument for reparations. Well, yes, but there is something to be said that, you know, there is a system that is tilted in my favor. For sure. Well, is it tilted in my favor. For sure. Well, is it tilted in your favor now?

You started out by saying that it's tilted against you because SNLs. I didn't say it's tilted against me. I think you're reading. I said they reacted. I said they reacted to. I said the market corrected itself. Do you think it's tilted against white male comedians right now? I don't think it's.

Why are you blinking? Because it's a complicated subject. You think it's tilted or not? Do I think it's good to be a white... Every comedian I speak to tells me it's tilted against them now. Every white comedian. I don't think it's great to be a white comedian.

We had a comedian on two weeks ago as a lawsuit because his agent... I don't want to say them. But he said it on the show. Who? He said it on the show. Tyler Fisher. His agent, or somebody't want to say them. But he said it on the show. Who? He said it on the show. Tyler Fisher. His agent, or somebody he was speaking to, he said it to him.

It was his agent. They're not hiring any white communities now. Yeah, we hear it all the time. And then he says, would you repeat? He recorded. Would you repeat that? And he recorded him saying it. Now there's a lawsuit going on.

So, you know, and you said you hear it all the time. Remind me not to talk to Tyler. So now you say we hear it all the time. So now is it tilted against you? I like I said, I think the market corrected it, overcorrected itself. And I think it will balance out. I think right now it's it's not great to be. It's not great to be.

Yeah, I don't you know, I don't know. It doesn't listen. I've been I've been I was here certain things that are going, hey, listen, we need we're looking for diversity. Yeah. And I'm going, well, wait a minute. I'm being lumped into something I'm not. I'm technically an immigrant who grew up in the South. I'm Jewish with Holocaust survivors. Is that not diverse?

That's not diverse. Well, now we're making it a broad. Yeah, I'm looked at as white. But you are white. You're not white. Like I said, I'm not January 6th white. If he came in here and instead of Rich Aronovich, his name were Mohammed El Shabazz,

and he looked exactly like Mohammed whatever, if he was Lebanese, would you still say he was white? And he looked the same. To his face? Look, I could play Greek, Italian, Arabic, Israeli, etc., etc. I have enough melanin and darkness. You're right. You're right.

You're right. You're right. You're right. Anyway. But the thing is, you know, the bigger the thing that I find difficult is I go it. It does create resentment when you're told you something I can't help, which is my skin color or my age. You know, I can't that I cannot help. And I feel resentful when I'm told we can't hire you based on your skin color age.

Now, I said, again, I understand the correction of the market because it was under representation for so many years. But I think it'll balance out. I think eventually people will get kind of like, no, we want a meritocracy. And it will naturally become… Meritocracy. Meritocracy, thank you. It will naturally become diverse. I like meritocracy.

I like meritocracy. Rich merit. Rich merit. Right? I think it'll, like you said, just like your shows have become naturally diverse based on the way that... Our shows are actually always diverse.

That's what I'm saying. It wasn't... You weren't hiring based on we need... Where some clubs literally have casting. We need to have a female. We need to have

a person of color. And we need to have, you know, that sort of thing. I would say that there's a tremendous amount of laughter in shale to go back to would say that there's a tremendous amount of laughter in shale, to go back to our earlier thing, there's a tremendous amount of laughter for somebody who writes the first comedy routine

just skewering, maybe it's been done already, this diversity that we see in commercials now. Like, we've all seen it, right? Like, the way they cast commercials for industries that look actually nothing like the way they present the commercial. It's astonishing, right? And like this is not lost on anybody. I'll tell you a funny story just sort of related. My daughter – you know what?

I shouldn't even tell the story. Never mind. Go ahead. Never mind. Please. My daughter says something very sophisticated. Well, now we'd like to hear it. Why are we censoring ourselves?

Don't whet our appetites. She said her teacher, for some reason, keeps vetoing various books she wants to read. She's been reading the novels that her au pair reads. I suppose they're like romance novels. I don't know. Maybe I should care

more about what she reads, but I know nobody cared what I read when I was in sixth grade. So, I mean, she... I didn't read when I was in... I mean, who... Like what kind of books? Like those... I don't know. Maybe there's sex in them.

I don't know. I mean, she's in sixth grade. There's for sure sex in them. Yeah, but I mean, she's going to be 12. Is it too young to read about sex? I don't know. I mean, I don't know if she is or she isn't, but there's... The Diary of Anne Frank, I think, has some sexual stuff.

I don't... They cut that back in. But anyway, so she's complaining about the teacher, like, just not letting her read this book. And she's like, well, maybe I should suggest a trans book. Because, like, then she's like... She intuits that, like, if she implies in any way that she's having questions about trans or sexuality or whatever it is, that the teacher would be like caught like in endearing headlines, would be afraid to tell her that she can't read it.

I said, well, this is a wonderful example of the backlash that's already beginning to happen. These little kids, they see what's going on. They see how everybody's catering to a certain thing. They see what happens when they mention a certain subject. Everybody kind of gets scared about it. So she's like, maybe I should just read a trans book. Then she'll have no choice but let me read it. It's hilarious.

That is interesting. To go back to something you were saying before, what bothers me about this whole trend is that I am not allowed to do certain characters because I'm not. Jessica and I were doing this funny character, but the person who called me about unemployment insurance, and they happen to be Indian, and there's not one joke about their race, so they just have an accent. And I had the guys – I laughed, but then I realized that I shouldn't be laughing. And I go, you can't get buyer's remorse. You laughed.

That's it. There's no more discussion. And the fact that I'm not – Why shouldn't't be laughing. And I go, you can't get buyer's remorse. You laughed. That's it. There's no more discussion. And the fact that I'm not, like, where I... Why shouldn't you be laughing? Oh, he was funny. He said it was funny, but then he later thought about it. He went, well, actually, that's kind of racist.

I'm like, why is it racist? Because I have the ability to do an accent? What's racist about it? I don't understand. Well, you made... I said, they're the head of the department. They're the highest status. There's not one ethnic joke in there.

They're just impatient. You sure you're not January 6th white? You know, when I... You meant like 1159, January 5th white? No, but then the idea, and then I was talking to a guy, he said, gay people have to play gay. And I said, well, does that mean gay people can't play straight?

Does that mean non-Jews play... And then that whole idea of like, well, only people who are... You know, Bryan Cranston played someone who was in a wheelchair. And, you know, it was wrong. And I was like, this has gotten out of hand. It's nuts.

I see these clips from Family Guy. I don't really watch Family Guy. It's a great show. I just never watched it. But I'm shocked. And I don't know how old these clips are and whether they could get away with it or they would do it today these family guy clips it's astounding

there's this one where this chinese guy comes over to the griffin's house and the dog you know brian the dog and he's like brian's scared because the chinese people eat dogs according to the stereotype so the chinese stereotype i think that's a true fact. It may well be in China, not in America. So the Chinese guy comes up, he goes, when we eat dog!

And Brian's like, he goes, no, I'm kidding. You know, Asians are known for our senses of humor and our huge genitalia and our love of,

and our respect for white people. And I'm like, wow, that's unbelievable. I shouldn't have laughed at that. That's really unbelievable. Can't believe yourself. I don't know how old that clip is. Patrice did this whole bit about seeing a documentary about them eating dog in China.

Well, be that as it may, it's astounding what they, like if I did. And by the way, what are they ashamed of? We eat pigs. If I did that on stage, that same character, I don't know if I could get away with it. You can't get away with it. So I don't know if it's because Family Guy is a cartoon. Well, South Park does it too. Yeah.

They're grandfathered in. I guess they're grandfathered in. I don't know if it's because family guy is a cartoon well south park does it too yeah or their grandfather in i guess their grandfathered in i don't know but it just it's just unbelievable the shit the shit that i see uh the racial shit that i see you know that that the racial humor that they do on family guy i mean it has to be nuanced but i i think it's um like it's just it can get really uh it's a minefield it's a minefield and that's what i get i get like hey i agree with certain things but i'm like leave your politics out of our art you know what i mean that's that's my biggest gripe it's like you know if you're gonna come to a comedy show you know you can you can not like something, change a channel, not like it without trying to ruin someone's employment. That's an option too.

You know, I can change channels. You still have to deal with the audience as you find them. So you might just, you may be outraged that the audience is horrified by your impression of an Indian person. I don't do it anymore. You still have to deal with the fact that the market has spoken. No, no, I don't do it anymore because I went, the juice is not worth the squeeze.

Right? It's not worth the squeeze. The juice is not worth the squeeze. So I went, I'm going to shelf this. There's certain jokes that I put away that I brought back that are fine now. But during for those two years that everyone wasn't working and people were nuts, you had to really take things and go, all right. I'm going to give you the answer. Then let's wrap it up because

we try to keep it concise. We have the answer. Hold on. Aha, that's the answer. Dramatic pause. I think we're dealing with a mass pornography, you know it when you see it type situation in the world right now. Mm-hmm. Yes, technically know it when you see it type situation in the world right now.

Yes, technically it doesn't seem fair that a straight person can't play a gay person, but the gay person can play a straight person. But yet, there is an emotional reality to why many people feel that way. Well, because seeing a gay person, you know, playing a flamboyant person, it feels... A straight person playing a flamboyant person. A straight person.

It could feel like mocking, and there's a history of seeing people be mocked. Sure, and there's bullying. Yeah, got it. And you can't insulate your mind from making the associations with the mocking as you're watching that character, as you're watching George Clooney, who you know is straight, playing a gay person, you know, these things are all real. Like Robin Williams in the birdcage. Right, Robin Williams in the birdcage.

For some reason, that was deemed acceptable, but again, you know, that's the kind of thing. Again, you know when you see it. But Nathan Lane was far, like, Robin Williams wasn't really that gay in the birdcage. Right, but this is all making my point. Was he? Yeah, he was. Compared to Nathan Lane, though. No, I think Robin Williams played the—

He played the relatively masculine gay guy. Did he? Yeah, you're right, you're right, you're right. So anyway, it doesn't matter. The point is that the emotional content, all these reactions are not bullshit. They are real, and they have real associations. And there really is a you know it when you see it type thing. And the point of that argument that Powell made about pornography is that there's just no way to write down a standard which can define this. It just doesn't exist.

It defines human reason. We cannot write down some set of rules that is perfectly consistent that would say, okay, well, let's just consult these rules. Oh, yes, you can do this. Say, wait a second. You said you can do that, but that's not okay. But you said you can't do that, but that is okay. Right.

So we're grappling with this as a society, and we're going to continue to grapple with it, and it's easy to score cheap points in any direction on this. So I guess what I'm saying is that it was much easier when America was basically 90% white. No, I think to your point point, I'm being nuanced. Let me just correct that. I'm actually being provocative

but facetious that this is the complexity of having a very, very multi-ethnic, accepting society that we're going to have to grapple with these issues. These issues were not difficult when the minorities were a tiny percentage

and everybody was straight, as it were, right? So this is not necessarily a sign that we're bad, that we're grappling. We're trying to do the right thing. Right, and I think what your point is when you're saying pornography, I think it's nuanced. I see the difference between hacky Long Island racist guy doing racial material going, that feels ugh, because you can tell they're coming from a,

versus like, let's say- Let's not besmirch Nassau and Suffolk, the great people of Nassau and Suffolk counties. Okay, I'm doing the hypocritical, you know, I'm just making sweeping stereotypes based on geographical locations. I get it. The point being is that when I would see,

let's say jessica curson for example does something i can tell there's a loving celebration in it and it's not quote unquote this sort of yeah uh thing you can tell the difference you know when you see it but someone else thinks it's pornography this right and but it's also like it's a button so they're going and they're it's like ready fire aim where you don Where you don't go, wait a minute. Let me go. Because it happens. It happens to people where they get thrown through this sort of thing where the pitchforks are in their lawn. And everyone comes out and the truth comes out.

This is not the person. Wrong person. January 1st, white. Not January 6th. January 5th. 5th. 11.59 p.m. January 5th. That's what you are.

That's the white you are. Dan, any last thoughts? No, I think that Noam put a decent bow on the whole conversation. I think we can wrap things up. Thank you, Richard. TikTok sensation Richard Aronovich. You just find me by Rich is Funny because no one can spell my last name. Rich is Funny.

One word. It's just Rich is Funny. Yeah, that's all. Rich is Funny. That's all I got to say. Rich is Funny. Perry Alashian brand. Her book's On My Knees and The Only Bush I Trust is my own, available on Amazon.

Wait, say that a little faster. The Only Bush I Trust is my own and available on Amazon. Wait, say that a little faster. The only Bush I trust is my own and on my knees. Okay. Both are memoirs, I guess. They are. It's funny, her husband trusted George W. Bush much more than his wife's Bush.

They are available where books are sold. Noam Dorman, every Monday, come see Noam and his merry band of musicians 9pm till midnight every Monday at the Olive Tree Cafe maybe the best thing at the Comedy Cellar sometimes

I don't mean to say that on a very high level the comedians are fantastic but some of those guys that play and sing on Monday nights they're fucking amazing they are but it's very different it's apples and oranges but some of those guys that play and sing on Monday nights, they're fucking amazing. They are, but it's very different. It's apples and oranges.

You're comedy to music. It's very different. I like the music. You're saying the level of music is, and you may be right, is higher than the level of comedy. I'm saying that the level, like Nick and Colin and Sasha Allen, who sings with the Stones,

these people are at the same level, if not even squeaking above, comparatively to their peers, as the comedians of the Comedy Cellar are to the comedy. I thought you were comparing the musicians to the comedians, and I went, that's a whole different thing. No, I'm saying that's how good. They're phenomenal.

I will say that. And I will be playing with you guys Monday night. You're playing harmonica? In the key of F. In the key of F, yeah. You're playing harmonica? In the key of F. In the key of F, yeah. You're playing harmonica? Yes. Wow.

Rich as an accomplished harmonicist. Yes. I used to do this. I've been doing this for years, and I'm more excited about this. Every week, somebody that comes on Monday night comes to us. Sometimes one of them says, this is the best live music I've ever heard in my life. And more than once, just last week, I got this text message from somebody

just saying how I was watching, and I looked over at my wife, and she was just full-on weeping, just full of tears at what was going on. It's amazing the response that we got. That's beautiful. And they do play some original music. It's mostly covers.

And the mandolin. And, of course's mostly covers. And the mandolin. And, of course, Noam on guitar, mandolin. And he does some vocals. And he does vocals on I Have Seen a Face. I sing harmony all the time. Do you take requests? Yes. Baby Got Back?

No, I can't. So, anyway, thank you, everybody. Podcast at ComedyCellar.com for comments, suggestions, and so on. Constructive or destructive criticism. Thank you very much. We'll see you next time. Bye-bye. Bye.