The Comedy Cellar: Live from the Table - Shailee Basnet, Sean Donnelly, and Jon Laster

Episode Date: February 10, 2018

Shailee Basnet is a Nepalese mountaineer turned standup comic. Sean Donnelly and Jon Laster are both New York City-based standup comedians. They may be seen performing regularly at the Comedy Cellar.

You're listening to The Comedy Cellar, live from the table, on the Riotcast Network, riotcast.com. Good evening, everybody. Welcome to The Comedy Cellar show here on Sirius XM Channel 99, The Comedy Channel. We're here at the back table of The Comedy Cellar. My name is Noam Dwarman. I'm the owner of The Comedy Cellar. Next to me, as always, is the funniest man alive, Mr. Dan Natterman. What's gotten into you? You never give me a nice intro. And two of our regular comedians here, Mr. Sean Donnelly.

Hello! And John Laster. What it do? Not the funniest man alive, I guess. You can only be one, but close to it. Second and third. Actually, you could tie for second. And then Shaili.

Shaili? Shaili. Shaili. There's an I. Shaili. Shaili. Shaili. Shaili Basnet is a mountaineer turned stand-up comic from Nepal.

Yes. Hello. Yes. Hello. Hello. The most interesting woman in the world. Norm, I just had a couple of upfront questions, as I often do. Number one, were you interested in doing a live from Vegas podcast opening week of The Vegas Room?

That's not a bad idea, Daniel. Well, yeah. So just to let you know that I am available if you decide to go that way. Just putting it out there. And secondly, you know, I was wondering, when you hire a new waitress or waiter or bartender, do you show them pictures of us? Because they all seem to, like, know me already.

Like, if I go to the bar and there's a new bartender, he knows not to charge me for a drink. Is that because you show him a picture of me and say, this guy doesn't pay? Or is it because the bartender's been there for years and I don't pay attention? Or he knows you from comedy, from stand-up comedy. You don't think so? No, I doubt that. That doesn't make any sense at all. We do get some people

who come to work here that are like comedy groupies and stuff. Or worked at other comedies, like Alana. I know she worked at Eastville or something. I don't know. I don't work at Eastville, but anyway. I don't really know the answer to that, Dan, but I'm happy

that they're on it. It seems like when I walk in the dough, they're automatically new people automatically are friendly. But maybe, again, maybe they've already been working here for a while and I just don't, to me,

I think they're new because I don't pay attention. I don't know. Okay, what else you got? But no, those are my two upfront preliminary questions. Good to see John Laster.

Were you out of town? I haven't seen you. No, I was on Punishment. Punishment. I'm back. Let's talk about that. Why were you on Punishment? Because you opened the door to that one.

Now we got something interesting to talk about. You're a journalist. You want to write on it. What kind of punishment? Who punished you? Esty? Yeah. Oh, that Esty.

I was on punishment. Okay. All right. You want to elaborate? Vodka. Listen, Esty has no idea how to listen to this show, okay? She's not tech savvy. You can say whatever you want.

Awesometastic. Well, I'm not mad. It was a good thing in the end. But you were mad when it happened. No, I wasn't mad. I was actually disappointed because it's not a good thing for me either. Yeah. Yeah.

But it kind of helped you get back on track. Oh, without question. Oh, good. Without question. Yeah. So, yeah, it was vodka. Vodka got me on punishment. You were saying you were drinking.

Yes. Okay, and you had been on the wagon, I guess. Yeah. Because I remember we discussed that. For some time, yeah. And then I had a slip-up, and Esty was like, eh, how about you go and pull it together and then come back? So you're back on the wagon?

Yes. Okay, glad to have you back. Good to be back, back in the saddle. Did you just slip because of a particular reason in your life something happened? You don't have to answer. This became Oprah really quick.

You know what? I'm not a, I'm a celebratory drinker. Okay. So if I slip it, it's probably because of a good reason. Yeah, ego and women.. Yeah, ego and women. Open bar, ego and women. I'm a celebratory.

I'm a happy drunk. If I put you in a headlock, that means I'm drunk. But it's like a fun headlock. Do you have a drinking issue? No, I drink, but not a drinking issue. I drink a good amount, but I have it under control. So what he means is like, so you don't turn to the bottle when you're depressed.

No. You turn when you're happy. Yeah. Or you want to win. Okay, can we talk to our mountaineer? Okay. From Nepal. Nothing to add, Noam, about your own drinking.

Noam loves a Frangelico, which is typically not the sign of an alcoholic. You know what? I can tell you about my drinking, and drinking is serious. How many people are Frangelico drinkers that are big drinkers? I... Are what? Frangel and drinking is serious. How many people are Frangelico drinkers that are big drinkers? Are what?

Frangelico. That's his drink of choice. Frangelico. Drunks like you would make fun of a—you'd call me the F-word if you saw me drinking Frangelico. Very true. I believe it's a hazelnut— Only if you didn't own this place. It's a hazelnut liqueur, is it?

It's hazelnut. Hazelnut. Oh, yeah. It smells good. I feel like frangelica should be the new F word. I'm pretty sure. That's a very good... What are you, a frangelica?

Frangelica? What are you, frangelica? It's like a fennel. So this is the thing about drinking. I have none of the genetic or psychological dispositions of someone who drinks. You're looking at me when you say that, so my name is Sean Patrick Donald. Because I don't want to look at John. So, but when I was a musician and I was playing every night and I had to be in charge of the band, in charge of the club,

I found that I began to drink every single night and I couldn't get through the night. I would have this anxiety. I wouldn't be able to go on stage and play without having drinks. And for a while, I was having like four or five Jameson a night. Oh, wow.

And that was not good. And then that was really one of the reasons I stopped playing music because then I had kids. And I did not want to go home drinking. Or hungover the next morning. It wasn't even loaded. It was just like, well, what if they're sick? What if I have to go?

There's times when you have a baby, I take them to the emergency room, whatever it is. I just didn't want that. Yeah. But it was really hard for me not to do it. But even at the times in my life when I was drinking five nights a week, if we'd go on vacation, I would literally, I would never want

to drink. I had no desire to drink. It was only in certain places. Some people are like, oh, I'm going on vacation. There's nothing about alcohol that appealed to me. That's funny. Except for to get through the night playing with the band, or if I wanted to loosen up to talk to girls. Comedy's funny. Except for to get through the night playing with the band or if I wanted to loosen up to talk to girls.

Comedy does the same thing. When you start doing comedy you get paid in drink tickets. So you literally I think I went five years, five, six years, but I don't think I didn't go one night without having at least two or three beers. Sometimes the endorphin high after a set a drink is necessary to kind of calm the nerves.

Not calm the nerves, but sometimes calm the excitement, the adrenaline. It's funny because I've always been the opposite. So I was one to not drink before I went on stage. Not before, after I'm talking about. No, but I'm saying to what Norm was talking about. I didn't drink before I went on stage because I was scared it would affect my performance. Then I would drink all night. Right.

You know, until whatever. Yeah, I'm a year and a half. Or until the morning. Music may be different than comedy in that. You know, when you have a couple drinks when you play music, you do get into a certain vibe, a certain groove, that is hard to get, depending on the genre. Like, not for classical music so much, but like when you're playing certain styles of music

where you kind of just want to get into it and lose yourself a little bit. Yeah, yeah. A drink or two does help. Isn't there something you could not be drinking but still be doing music? It's sad to hear that you have to give up alcohol and music together.

It is sad. Life's not sad. Is there nothing you could do? Well, I mean, you could say, if you look at certain genres of music, and it's hard to deny that they all like their drink or their weed. But also part of it was the stress of being in charge.

And that's also another thing. Yeah, yeah. But the two things together. And I have to say, if I'm recording, sometimes I do some sessions or whatever, I don't feel the need to drink then. So it's not, I don't know. It's only when you're in bar.

Yeah, because I don't drink at home at all. I only drink out. I don't have beer in my house. When it's a packed house and the music is good and life's going and you have a future, that is a nice headspace to be in. Yeah, it's relaxing. Yeah, no, it's just, you know, it's a packed house and the music is good and life's going, you have a future. That is a nice headspace to be in. It's relaxing. Yeah.

No, it's just, you know, it's awesome. Actually, I'm shocked that it puts you in a good space because if you're playing guitar, I guess you know guitar so well, it doesn't mess up you playing the songs. If you drink too much, it does. Yeah, yeah. But I never got like... That's anything. I've had to deal with guys in my bands over the years.

Getting loaded. Well, you know, everybody's different. I had this one bass player, and I think he might have been the best bass player in the world. I don't want to say his name. He's around here. But he's known by Larry Graham. He's known by Jocko Newman.

He's known by everybody. And he's played with me. If he had one drink, one drink, I could tell in his playing. Wow. One drink, he'd be a little bit less sensitive, a little bit. You know, part of being in a band is like kind of wrapping yourself around each other musically, where you're reacting to each other. If he'd have one drink, you could see all of a sudden it's a little bit more just about him now.

Yeah. One drink. Wow. But I didn't suffer from that. So everybody's different. But then I'd have other musicians who... You get some 20-minute bass solos. Absolutely.

That's exactly right. But then other musicians I've had would get so drunk, they would just drop beats. They just can't play anymore. And try to explain it to them. So I would literally have to call them in the next day and force them to watch a video. That's where I was at the end of my drinking.

That's where I was at the end of my drinking. Look at you right here. When you get the text messages in the morning, like, hey, we're praying for you, John. Like, what? No, I swear to God. Is it my communion? What is it? I actually had an intervention on Sirius.

Really? A friend of mine brought me on Sirius. Really? A friend of mine brought me to Sirius. Yeah, she used to host on Shade 405, brought me in the morning show. And comedians started calling from around the country. Hey, man, we're praying for you. Hey, you were supposed to be out here Sunday. I know you missed a flight, but, you know, John, hang in there. Yeah, I had to.

At the end of my run. You know what precipitated that? I found out that I was on stage crying. Apparently, I went to the set, started crying. So you had no memory. Totally blacked out. Still don't remember. Still don't remember.

I've never blacked out. I once used that as a defense for my wife, but I never actually remember. I don't remember. I totally don't remember. Honey, I don't remember. I totally don't remember. That's funny. I don't remember. No, I've never blacked out. The only time I blacked out was the time I drove drunk once. And I drove back in the Bronx, back to Long Island when I was living at my parents' house.

And I didn't remember the whole trip. And that freaked me out enough to go, I'm never drunk. That's scary. It's scary. You know what I did? This is how much of an alcoholic I am. I let my license expire, right? Let me tell you why.

If you're out with friends and everybody's buzzing and everyone asks the same question, do you have a license? No matter how drunk I was, as long as I had a license, people would say, hey, man, all right, then you go ahead and drive, right? If you answer no, I don't have a license, no one's letting you drive their car. So I was afraid that I would hurt someone else, not myself. I didn't care if I hurt myself. I was afraid that I would hurt someone else and not be able to live with it.

So I just let my license expire. I didn't have a license for 10, 12 years. Oh, wow. Well, I'm lucky. I'm in a metaphor, for those of you who don't know, fear of nausea and vomiting. It's a real phobia. And I'm so horrified of it that I don't want to do anything that might lead in that direction.

And I tend to start to get nauseous after two drinks, so that's keeping me from... Wait, so what happens when the fear kicks in when you just get nauseous and vomit? How do you get scared of it? When you start feeling nauseous, you panic that you're going to feel more nauseous and start vomiting because it's such a horrible thing.

That's exactly how I feel. Shai Lee is an emetophobe. She didn't know the word. Metaphobe. I learned a new thing. How about that? From emet... You know, like an anti-emetic

is a medication you take for nausea. Anyway, Shai Lee is Nepalese. The Nepalese, I don't know. Can I ask one more question? Oh, you want to ask one more drink-related question? You say you're a happy drunk? Happy drunk. You're a happy drunk?

Not in the end. Well, I'm a happy drunk, but I'll drink when things are going wrong. I've done that before without realizing it. If I talk to you when you're, like, I know some people get nasty when they drink. No, no. I'll never get nasty. Friendly drunk. Friendly drunk. Dan? I'm never drunk. Whenever I see you drunk when you're, like, I know some people get nasty when they drink. No, no. I never get nasty. Friendly drunk. Friendly drunk.

Dan? I'm never drunk. Whenever I see you drunk, you're so nervous. I'm buzzed. I'm never drunk. I got once drunk in college. Dan, how you doing? Dan, what are you so uptight about?

I'm drunk. I'm drunk. I'm going to puke. You've never seen me. Don't make me all the time. I feel like I'm going to vomit. You've never seen me drunk. I feel a vomit coming on.

That's exactly me. I'm scared when I me drunk. I feel a vomit coming on. That's exactly me. I'm scared when I'm drunk. I had drunk once in college because I didn't know. So I believe I'm a very warm and friendly drunk, but I did discover one thing about myself. I know the same thing, and I learned to assiduously avoid it. If I lose my temper when I've been drinking,

if I find that it can be worse than not drinking, I'm not quick to lose my temper or anything like that, but when I was a boss or whatever it is, and if something really bad would happen, I'm not now. You were like David Banner. You wouldn't like me when I'm drunk and mad. Exactly right. You wouldn't like me when I'm drunk and mad. Exactly right.

You wouldn't like me when I'm drunk and mad. You don't want to see the green guy. Right. You don't want my clothes to start ripping here. So I did learn that about myself, that my emotion would explode. But it wouldn't happen more often. It might even happen less when I was drunk. But I learned to avoid that.

You know what does that to me? Cocaine. We might as well go on out there, right? Let's see, what kind of phobia should I have? Coke phobia. Coke phobia. You ever done cocaine, Dan? At one time.

It used to offset the nausea. No, because a girl said, said Hey you want to do some cocaine And I thought Oh this could lead to sex Yeah What I didn't realize is that It only leads to sex When it's your cocaine

Because I can't How am I going to That's a joke You just wrote a joke How am I going to leverage Her cocaine into sex Hey you want to do that next line You got to suck my dick

But it's my coke So that's not going to happen But anyhow It didn't do anything to me I went to bed after into sex. Hey, you want to do that next line, you got to suck my dick, but it's my coke. So that's not going to happen. But anyhow, it didn't do anything to me. I went to bed after. Hashtag her too. I went to bed after. It literally felt nothing. Maybe it was talcum powder for all I know, but

it didn't affect me. I've never done cocaine. No real cocaine. I have a weird thought. Speaking of cocaine, Shai Lee... She did it on top of Mount Everest. You climbed Mount Everest? That's the same thing as coke. Let's get an intro going.

You're from Nepal, which if you don't know Nepal, if you've seen The Golden Child, that was where that took place, I believe. Did it not? It's funny that's your reference for Nepal. Is that the one that's right above India?

Where is it? It's in between India and China. Just a quick question about Nepal before we get to you. What the hell's going on with your flag? You've got the only flag that's not a rectangle. Am I right? Isn't it lovely? It's beautiful. Do you know what the Nepalese flag is?

No. It looks like fangs almost. It's like two, I don't know how to describe it. It's not fangs. It's like two triangles. Like two triangles. One with the sun and one with the moon. And then the idea is that we're going to be strong and together, united as a nation, as long as there is a sun and a moon.

But it's not rectangular. It's not. It's two triangles. It's two triangles together. One on top of the other. It's the only flag, as far as I know, that does that. Sorry? I believe it's the only flag that is not of the standard rectangular flag shape.

Yeah. So take of that what you will. Shaili is a mountain climber. Are you a Sherpa? No, I'm not. A what? Sherpa is an ethnicity. Oh, it's also a job title. I thought it was a job. Oh, I didn't know that. It's an ethnicity and it's also a

job title when you're working in the mountains. Right. So I'm not a Sherpa. It's an ethnicity and a job title. That's kind of funny. You're like, well, you're working in a kitchen here. You're an Italian. I don't think there's any. You could say, oh, he's my... I don't know. But it's also a word in English now. Oxford externally added the word Sherpa.

It's basically a team of people who make any kind of summit or conference work to make it successful. So you could be a Sherpa if you're working for a conference. But I would never be accepted by the Sherpa at the ethnic Sherpas. Sherpa people. I mean, you have to be born a Sherpa to be an ethnic Sherpa. So I'm not a Sherpa.

So do most of the Sherpa people, is that their job? Or some of them don't want to do it? So a little bit of history is that Sherpas are Highlanders in the Himalayas. So when the Western people started coming in, trying to climb these mountains, they needed to hire local people for all sorts of work. So the easiest, the common sense thing was to hire the local people. Wow. And over the years, when people learned that when you're a Sherpa, the Westerns are going

to hire you and pay you good money, then people of other ethnicity would also go and say that I'm a Sherpa. So over the years, it became a job title as well. Oh, wow. I dig it. That's interesting. If I'm working in the mountain, I could be a Sherpa. They used to say that like when the Jew used to open up the dry goods store in the south, they might say, you were going to the Jew store.

They did that. No, it was called the Jew store. Really? Yeah, that's a bit of history for you. So you've climbed Mount Everest. Yes, They did that. No, it was called the Jew store. Really? Yeah, that's a bit of history for you. So you've climbed Mount Everest. Yes, I did that. To the top. To the top.

Yes, that's a very common question I get asked all the time. No, I'm just saying I know that a lot of people have climbed it, but they said that climbing to the top is a different thing. Another level. Yeah, it's like 29,000 feet. Holy cow. How long does it take? It took us 45 days.

How many days? 45 days? Yeah. No, but that's because you took your time. You were partying on base camp for three of those weeks. Yeah, like partying is like hiking maybe eight hours every single day. It takes 10 days of hikes to get to the base camp once you're off the aircraft. 10 days. And then you go to the first camp once you're off the aircraft. 10 days.

And then you go to the first camp. You spend two nights there. You come back to base camp. And then you spend a couple of days again. Then you go to the second camp, spend a night or two there, come back to base camp. Well, why do you do that? To adjust to the altitude? Yeah.

It's just too high. Our bodies just cannot function normally. So we need to acclimate. So we're giving our body that time. So in all of that process, it takes an awfully long time. So you're training your body to get used to the healthy. You have to do that in Denver a little bit. If you go there the first day, it's a little

dangerous to be running full throttle. That's why Obama lost the debate. That's why he lost the debate in Denver. Oh, I've heard that before. That's right. I actually thought that was when he did that first debate against Mitt Romney where he was off his game. It was in Colorado. They say likely he wasn't acclimated to the climate. I mean, he wasn't the Barack Obama we all knew.

Right. So that seemed like a perfectly good explanation to me. Fatigue, yeah. I've heard that. I've been home when I played ball and tried to play ball, and I almost fainted. My buddy tried to help me home, but that was nowhere near that altitude. Is there a ball court on top of Everest? Basketball court on top of Everest?

Oh, no. But the top is like, is it like, the top is it like flat or is it like, I think of it as a point. It's just a gradual slope. It's not a pinnacle. It's not a tower. It's just a gradual slope. Well, how do you know you're at the tippy top? Because there's nothing else above that. That would make sense.

But is it a flat place you can stand on the top? Yeah, it's just like this. It's a gradual slope and then you realize there is nowhere higher to go. Everything on the planet is now below you. What's the temperature when you're up there? I don't know what the temperature

was when I was there because the idea of climbing is you want to be at the summit when it's really crisp, clear, no snow, no wind. So it was a good day when I was there. It was a good is you want to be at the summit when it's really crisp, clear, no snow, no wind. So it was a good day when I was there. It was a good view. I could see all of Tibet, Nepal, the mountains. Were you cold? Layers and layers of mountain gear.

So let me ask you this because I always wanted to know this. Like for the few people that have been up there. When you get there, do you get up there and you're like, all right, let's get a picture? Okay, let's head back down. Or do you hang out there for a minute? Do you take a selfie? It depends on weather. Weather is the most important thing. But you go there,

you hug your friends, you take a few pictures. Just the view. The view is amazing. So you have pictures up there? Yeah, you take pictures. And if you have sponsors, you have to make sure you take pictures to make your sponsors happy. Who's your sponsor? We had the government of Nepal.

Grape nuts, cereal? United Nations. Unfortunately, at the time, the private sector, you know, our economy is very different from the economy in the United States. So let's just say we have the government and the nonprofits there for a women's team more than the private sector. Well, next time you go, you take a Comedy Cellar shirt with you, Nate. Take a selfie. Next time.

That's how you stop by. Is Comedy Cellar sponsoring my next climb? Because I want to go tomorrow. How much does it cost to sponsor? For Everest? Oh, for your next climb. How much are you looking for? Depends what mountain

I want to climb. Tell me how much. Anywhere between 60K to 100K. Oh, no, that's much too much. I did not think it was that much.

Jew is a profession too. Wait, so when you're on your way up there, do you see, are you seeing stuff people left? And an ethnicity. Are you seeing stuff

people left on the way up there? Yes. So you're like, people leave flags, people leave little trinkets, or people leave all sorts of stuff? Not so much. People used to do that on the top. So in the top, there is Buddhist prayer flags. So it's kind of beautiful, but it's probably not good for the environment. On the lower slopes, there are tents from previous expeditions.

There's also dead people on that. That's what I was thinking. There are dead people. The tradition is if you die on the mountain, they don't take you back. They leave you there. It's not necessarily a tradition. It's what your family or you had made a wish for. As a climber, I said, if I die on the mountain, leave me on the mountain.

That's what my family would do. You didn't see any of those people. I did. You saw frozen people there? Yes, I did. You saw some, you saw frozen people there? Yes, I did. I saw three dead bodies from previous expeditions. There was also a flyer.

It'd be a great place to murder someone. It's like, no. Murder on you. I mean, you don't have to murder. You're probably

going to die yourself. But what kind of forensic team are you going to be able to get up there to investigate a murder? Murder. I mean, there's no sheriff of murder.

You're dead. I have heard mountain climbers, mountain instructors saying that we have the license to kill. That's the new law and order. Law and order. That would be a great try.

Mount Compton. Murder on Mount Compton. And what if you get sick on a mountain? I mean, how can anybody get up there to help you? If you're lucky,

at the base camp, there's a medical team and everything. So at the base camp, it's fine. So up there, that's why you have to, that's why it takes 45 days. You have to stay super healthy, strong. Idea is not to get sick. If things go wrong, then you quickly descend. And if things get worse, there have been instances where people have been left to die on the mountain. And then the Sherpas, the other climbers have rescued them down. Some of them made it, some of them didn't.

There's no airborne vehicle that can come up there with like a rope ladder and get you? Up to the second camp, which is maybe 20,000 feet. I'm not good with feet. It's like 6,300 meters. There has been helicopter rescue up to the second camp. And what percentage of the mountain is that? Half, three quarters? Probably just a bit less than half.

A bit less than half. Yeah. So after you get to the top, then how long, because usually it's way shorter coming down. How fast can you get down? So from the base camp, you stop at other camps in between. So you probably need four days to get up to the summit once you've made

your final summit move from the base camp. And then once you've made it to the summit, it's three days to come back down. So the final, final thing is four days up

and three days down. But the entire expedition is 45 days because of the reasons I said. Up, down, up, down, up, down. So that's Mount Everest. And now you're climbing another mountain.

You want to be a stand-up comic. Yes. Why? I hope I am one already. Well, given that you're a mountain climber, I assume you have to be in top mental shape. You know, they don't take... Your average mountain climber is not on Prozac, for example.

Your average comedian is. Your average comedian is. Nozak to Prozac. Or some sort of substance is. No Zach to prove Zach. Or some sort of substance problem. No, not at all. You have to be in tip-top mental shape to do what you're doing, which means that you may be ill-fitted for the stand-up comedy world, but I don't want to count you out yet.

You know, stand-up might have room for a well-adjusted person and we've never been tried that. Here's what happened was that even before I started climbing, when I would be

in situations, I would find a part of my brain thinking of funny thoughts and it'd always be there and I had no idea there was a thing called stand-up.

This is still 2007. Because your Nepal has no stand-up. There's no stand-up in Nepal at all. They only have Russell Peters, that's it.

And then I was like, shut up, Shaili, you're being crazy, and I just have this struggle. And then I found out about stand-up, and I was like, oh, it's an art form, you could do something with it. So I started writing down things, I started working on my script. And then I started climbing, and I realized on my darkest days, my darkest hours, when I should be crying and depressed and praying to the Lord, there would be a part of my brain that would be

thinking of something very, very silly. And then I was like, okay, I have to do this. How did you find out that stand-up existed in your part of the world? Stand-up completely unknown. YouTube. YouTube. Gotta get that page going, Danny.

What an amazing invention YouTube is. And then also Seinfeld. You accidentally stumbled on a YouTube video of stand-up? Of Dan Natterman. Around 2007, 2008, YouTube was just coming up. And then we started. Internet used to be very, very expensive. So watching videos was like.

Yeah, it was a super luxury. But then there'd be these videos, like two minute videos, and you had to watch it. So then I'm like, oh, people do this. And then Seinfeld also started airing. And he'd always started the show. Seinfeld only started in Nepal in 2008 or 20? I mean, I started watching then. I'm sure it started before probably, but I became aware of it around then. Now, does it

translate? Like, will the humor translate? Yes, that's a very good question. When I thought I wanted to do stand-up in the U.S., my first thing was like, I'm not from here, not born, not educated, nothing. Like, I won't be, I don't understand most of the comics when I go to a regular comedy show, and I was like, I have no chance in the U.S. I'm not going to be able to make it at all. And then I was like, when I watch Seinfeld, when to make it at all and then I was like when I watch Seinfeld when I watch Ellen DeGeneres when I watch Chris Rock

any of these top comics I understand 100% so I was like if you're really that good then maybe they'll understand me

when you would watch Seinfeld were you aware how dewy he was like did that did that come through and they not at all

as kids as kids growing up in Nepal and they're tourists right Jewy he was? Like, did that come through? Not at all. As kids, as kids, growing up in Nepal, and there are tourists, right? So when we see tourists, I bet there was a time when I was a kid, when a black man walked, and I would say, look at that white man. So to me, all foreigners were white. That's awesome. I need to go to Nepal. Nepal. All I had to do was go to Nepal all of a sudden to be white?

And I had no idea I was brown. I had no idea. I was called, my nickname at home is black. My uncles still call me black. Really? Yes. Why do they call you black? Because as a kid, I used to be oiled and put in the sun,

which is the normal thing they do for kids. So I was sunburned. I was sunburned completely, and they started calling me black. My uncle still called me black. So when we're looking at the United States or the Western world from this very small window of Hollywood and maybe CNN. Then you knew you weren't black. That's funny. There is no Jews. It's funny you said Hollywood and CNN. You can't CNN. Then you knew you weren't black. There is no Jews.

You can't tell. You can't tell Jew. Your English, Nepalese I assume is the native tongue of Nepal. Nepali, yeah. But your English, as I hear it, very, very good indeed. Very good. Better than ****, I'll say that.

Her English, I would say, is that may. I'm saying her English is at I would say is that... He doesn't have your opening form anymore. You don't have to worry about it. I would say it's at more or less native level. I'm going to give you .95% native level. From what I hear. Now that only

may be because there's stuff you're not saying because you can't say it. But the stuff I'm hearing you say, you're saying it with perfect fluidity and native level fluency to my ears. Now, how the hell did that happen? You said you didn't even know what a black man was. How the hell are you speaking English like this? I knew black and I knew a bit of

black history, but just the words we use for foreigners in Nepal. But the point is you come from a society that seems to be cut off in many ways and yet your English is very, very good. In school, we're taught the alphabets, the language, grammar, everything from a really young age. You're taught English at a young age. Yeah.

Okay, they teach you at a young age. Yeah. See, there you go, Noam. That's the answer. The question is, they teach them in school. They teach them English. They taught me Spanish. I can't speak a word.

They teach it intensively. There's a film crew here. I got to start writing things down because I agree to stuff all week long. And I don't ever remember what it is I agreed to. I know it's just such an easy thing to keep a calendar. But anyway. What's the film crew here for? I don't know.

I don't know. I know that Hustler Magazine is coming here to do something. Really? Yeah. But I don't think it's them. I don't know. I know that Hustler Magazine is coming here to do something. Really? Yeah. But I don't think it's them. I don't know who it is. We're going to find out in a second. Well, that could be interesting to integrate into our show here.

So, like, you're a stand-up comic. Where do you perform? Mostly in Nepal, but I started performing in the U.S. as well. So, doing a few shows here. And are you a professional comic? Or you hope to be? I make money in Nepal doing comedy. So that makes you a professional comic?

Yeah. In Nepalese or in English? Both. In Nepal, I perform in different shows both, but mostly English. My four-year-old said to me, Dad, I'm going to be a... This is... I mean, I... You were there. He says, I'm going to be a professional football player. This is Manny.

Yeah, he's four. And I said, Oh, that's great. I said, do you know what professional means? He goes, yeah, someone will hire me. He already knows what it means. And he said to me, like, I'm a jackass. Like, don't you know what professional means?

No, I always... I could not believe... I was like, I don a jackass. Like, don't you know? I couldn't not believe it. I was like, I don't know where or where he got this. Well, I didn't know you could make money doing stand-up until very recently. It's not easy to make money stand-up. Yeah. No. So why is there a big English-speaking, you say you do comedy mostly in English, in Nepal?

Who's in the audience? Nepalese mostly. Goats. I think we have... I'm kidding, I'm kidding. She climbed Mount Everest, okay? I know, I know, I know. I'm kidding. I'm joking around. Oh, the French thing. Okay. Can you wait 10 minutes?

Yeah, the Nepalese. Like I said, we go to school with the English. Why is Ted Alexander doing something with a French thing? Oh, you're the only one? That's right. No, I'm not the only one. But it just seems that there's French people here. Actually, maybe you want to be introduced.

There's apparently a French comedian who was accused of stealing material. Oh, from Ted. Oh, okay. Oh, he was accused of stealing from Ted. Yes, and it's true. Yeah. Is he here, too? The comedian?

Yeah. No, I don't believe he is. I doubt it. I doubt it So they wanted to talk about it Not that I know anything about anything They're probably going to ask me What do I think about people stealing material

Maybe you guys give me some answers What do I think about people stealing material Nobody knows about this And it's funny I'm okay with it I was recently interviewed on a French show Called Stupifiant. Yeah.

What does that mean? It means stupefying. Oh, okay. And it was a segment on French comedians stealing jokes in America. Yeah. Wow. And so I don't know if this is the same show or related, but they asked me if that happens in America. And I explained, and I think I'm correct when I say...

I saw the video. It's word for word. Do you guys have a little bit of time? Did we set up a time? Oh, we didn't set a time. I explained to them that in America, if you steal, you'll be ostracized by the other comedians. We're not going to sue you,

but you're going to be looked down upon and ostracized by the other comedians. And there is a grace period. You do get a chance to fix the situation. You can defend yourself. You can defend yourself and say, I didn't steal it, and here's why. But if you stole it, you stole it. Oh, if you stole it, you stole it.

But if you stole it and you go with parallel thinking, you can turn around and people will forgive you for that. You can defend yourself and say you didn't steal it. Yeah, but I mean, people who do that, most of what they're doing is not original anyway. So that's a very tough defense for joke thieves. Not the thing that they're filming for. I saw the video. It's like word for word. No, no, that's what I'm saying.

I'm saying the people that do steal. These are not very original comedians. So it's very tough to defend yourself. If you're a hack type of guy anyway and you're saying, I didn't steal this, you probably stole it. Yeah. You probably did. It's very general. My struggle is original versus unique.

There are thoughts that are original. Trust me, when I thought, wow, why is Kim Kardashian famous? That was a very original thought. But it's not unique. So that's something I struggle with all the time, original versus unique. Original and unique are kind of the same thing.

Is it? Yes, yes. I may have to downgrade your English level. Hi, just to let you know that we are from the French 60 Minutes. And from the main French public TV channel, we are preparing this TV report about you know that we are from the French 60 Minutes. And from the main French public TV channel, we are preparing this TV report about the fact that we are discovering that there's plagiarism in French comedy.

And a lot of our most famous French comics are copying. Copying Ted Alexandro, copying Jody Gold, and many, many others. So I just would like to have your reaction about this. That's not so noisy in France. That's not a huge scandal. I would like to know what's your point of view here to discover that your main humorist, your main comics are copied like this.

Okay, and you know what? We'll give you this audio if you want further, if it'll help you delay. Who's the host of this show? So wait, wait, just so you get it. Just call that. Hold on, hold on. Will you be able to hear it on the microphone?

We can hear you. Listen, there is a problem with joke thievery everywhere there's comedy. Everywhere. Everywhere there's comedy. And as a matter of fact, there have been, in the old days, there were some famous comedians

who would come in here. I guess we can say it now. Robin Williams was reputed to be a joke thief. Be a joke thief. I'm not saying he was, but that was some comedians would get off the stage

when he would come in. But then there's this extra layer here that some people will, same thing in music, some people will take something, but somehow then they'll make it their own in some way. And it may still not be okay,

but at least they're talented. But some people will take it word for word. Right, well, speaking to that, what you're talking about, about people trying to make stuff their own, I remember the first time I had that happen to me, somebody's still a joke, and a buddy of mine named JB Smooth, who's on Curb Your Enthusiasm right now.

We know JB. Yeah, JB turned it on me, and he said, hey, John, joke thieves will always have to wait, number one. Number two, make the joke so yours that if someone steals it, the whole room will turn and be like, don't do that. That's John's joke. And I had that happen to me at a television show. Someone was about to do my joke on a television show.

Will Silvento will tell you. In L.A., and comedians were like, don't even think about doing that. It's John's joke. So I've always taken the approach, if I'm doing a joke and it's similar to someone else's, either someone says, hey, someone's got a joke like that, either throw it out, you know what I mean? Or find a way to make it so your own that if someone even tries it, they'll feel uncomfortable. Two things I want to say. I'm sorry, Dan.

First of all, on the road, they will really steal your jokes. Because before I went to Vegas, I went around to see Vegas clubs. And, like, you guys don't know this, but Greg Rogel used to have a bit. It was a letter from Santa Claus. He would take out the letter and it was written. It was like a real, very unique bit. I saw a guy do Rogel's bit word for word

with the letter. I'm like, no. No shame. That's how good the joke should be. It should be so detailed. It should be so detailed that as soon as you see it, you're like, no, that's Greg Rogel's joke. But here's the question. When you find somebody really stealing your joke, you're going to kick the shit out of them? What do you do? You know what? If I do, people will

say, you know, John was drunk and coked up last night. So, you know, I can't. I don't have the ability to do that. But the business will weed them out. You'll be stuck in some bunker in Vegas. But not always, though. I don't think... Carlos Mencia still sells out comedy clubs and theaters.

I think that... You know what? I'll say this. He did Bill Cosby joke on TV. Anytime you can name names, there aren't that many. No, it's true, but I'm saying it still doesn't mean

every joke thief. I'm just saying they can get by. But I'm just saying, if that's the name, the one name we can think of, then I think that the business is working pretty good. I will say this, is I don't think the

public cares. I think the comedians care, and if you steal a joke, you will be ostracized, and you will become a pariah, and that will be your main punishment. I don't think, if you can get it in front of the public, I don't think the average member of the public cares. No. I don't think it's a thing. I don't think the average member of the public cares. No. They don't think it's a thing.

I don't think in today's time you can get by. It's changed. There's all this internet and everything and as a fan, if I know, if I'm not in comedy,

even other actors, other whatever, painters, if I know, because now I can know. Maybe 20 years ago I couldn't know. So today,

I think as a follower, as a fan, I care and it might take time, but it's not cool, and public will get to that. I think we're going towards that time, not a time where public doesn't care. But when Carlos Mencia's scandal

broke, and I went online, and I looked at the YouTube video of comparing Carlos Mencia's joke, I'm not going to say whether Carlos stole it or not. What I am going to say is a lot of the YouTube comments were, he made it his own, he did it better, who cares. They justified the stealing.

These were his fans, though. I don't think, these were the public. Right. And I don't think they gave a shit that he stole. No, they don't care.

I agree. I'm just, because they want to like him and they already do like him. But I'm just saying, I think the business, though, weeds those people out. I don't think that it's easy

for you to work in the circles that we want to work in. If you do that, I think that we will get rid of you. What if you go to a foreign country and pick up some jokes in a foreign country? Yes, sir.

In the mic. You may indeed. Maybe you have been talking about this before I arrived. A little bit more in the mic. May I ask you just to talk for two minutes about the French aspect. The French aspect.

You know very well these French comedians. You see, I'm very well known in France. You've heard of me, apparently. Of course. Did you see me on Stupéfion? Exactly. With Lea Salomé? Yes, in France 2.

Because I work for France 2. This is the same channel. Same channel. The short reports, we are doing the long reports. Okay, they did the shorter reports. So that was just the training for you. Yeah. Now you're on the...

The big thing. Now you're on the big thing. Okay, so if you have questions... And just about the French aspect of this, this French culture of stalling, I would appreciate, please. Go ahead. You wanted me to talk about the French aspect?

Yes, I need to speak together. You know a lot about that. I know that you know Go ahead. You wanted me to talk about the French aspect? You think it's like an epidemic? You know a lot about that. I know that you know a lot. You have been working with *** and I'm pretty sure that you get some trouble with him about being paid, about... Well, I'm not going there. Well, I do not force you to... You know the expression

don't go there? It's an English expression. I'll let you talk about this, please. Well, there is accusations. What's the accusations? As Dan stutters. Certain French comedians that they take... You know that

fear you have of vomiting? There are French comedians that have been accused of taking English jokes from Americans, translating them into French, and using them. But, you know, I have to say of the French comedians that I've worked with, I had not seen this, but I did see the video. I haven't seen it among the French comedians that I work with.

I have not witnessed stealing any jokes. I did see the video of, I guess, Tomer Sisley. That's the one I saw. A couple of others. And yeah, those videos are quite convincing in that I think those jokes were stolen. But what do you want me to talk about exactly? Your opinion. My opinion is you shouldn't steal. Ask him any question you want.

Go ahead. All around this table. Because, in fact, many, many comics told me, copying from time to time, the same inspiration from time to time, things that happen. But copying just like this, an exact verbatim, we never

saw that before. It's not copying inspiration, it's about plagiarism. Obviously, we're very much against it. I just would like to know your point of view here around the table. You are all professionals of standard. Well, Noam is not of standard, but he is a restaurant owner, and if you steal his recipe for roasted chicken,

there's going to be consequences. But I will say that we're, of course, 100% dead set against it. You know, this notion of stealing it and making your own, no that doesn't wash we, for me you know, I don't even accept jokes if somebody says, here's a joke, I wrote a joke I think you'd be, I think you'd

tell it well, I say to them, no I don't want it because I won't feel pride of ownership, now some people might take it. A lot of people do. But if somebody says to me, Dan, I saw your joke about, you know, that joke you did about whatever it is. French people. French people can't.

The Canadian prime minister. Here's something you could add to that joke to make it funny. I'll say, I don't want it. Don't even tell it to me because if I hear it, it might have been something I had thought of anyway. And to me, the fun is knowing that I wrote it. If I stole jokes and became a millionaire stealing jokes, I would hate myself. Right. So I don't know how people do it.

I don't know about a millionaire. And feel good about themselves. Look, I think among comedians, it's considered despicable. Oh, totally. It's like the lowest form of life. Totally. And if you think about it, there's no genre where by stealing something from somebody, you really suck everything out of it. Like,

like if you, if you take riffs or something in music, whatever it is, you know, it still gets buried in you as an artist and, and no one, a musician is not going to freak out. It's almost, except like if you, if you, if you go to France and write yesterday and say, well, I wrote yesterday. That's kind of what it's like. It's an outrage. And there's anxiety around worried that you're going to do it. I know with my friends, I'll text my friends,

does somebody do this? Does somebody do this? All day because you're so nervous you're going to do it because you don't want to have that stigma on top of you. You don't want to have the thing, he steals jokes. So you'll be like, hey, I have this idea. And everybody has one friend that has an encyclopedic knowledge of everybody's jokes. So for me, that's Mark Norman.

Mark Norman knows everybody's jokes. So you'll write to him and say, does someone? Mark Normans, yes. And he'll go and he'll say yes or yay or nay or somebody does it if he knows or whatever. But it's true. So it is a very touchy subject. I mean, I think the other thing too, though, I think unfortunately people have no idea how tough it is to come up with a good joke.

I mean, a really, really good joke that works across the board. Because everyone's made someone laugh before. And we make it look easy until you walk up there. And then that's why people are like, oh, this is the toughest art form. People have no idea how difficult it is. So when it's stolen, it feels like, wow, you stole a jewel. Dan makes it look hard, but that's his shtick. He makes it look like he's about to throw up the whole time.

But then he doesn't. Jaylee, by the way, for our French audience, is from Nepal. And she climbed Mount Everest. She climbed Everest. Which has been done before, by the way, for our French audience, is from Nepal. And she climbed Mount Everest. She climbed Everest. Which has been done before, by the way, but it's all right. Where I come from, I have seen very professional comics, that part of the world, very famous, very rich, big following and everything, do internet jokes.

Internet jokes. Yeah. And so it's still, if we turn something on today there could be a very famous comic and I'm not talking about just one country like that reason

I have seen that and it goes and but now like I said before the audiences are growing like

what's the word more sophisticated sophisticated and they're like no heard this and you know this is from somewhere else

I've had three jokes Of mine stolen I'm telling you the truth I have seen Three times Something that I said Something you said In a conversation

End up downstairs Swap up on stage Downstairs Yeah absolutely And two out of the three times I couldn't The eye contact Between

And it was like These weren't jokes Noam These were ideas that you had discussed Yes that's true They were very

They were not jokes It wasn't set up punchline but they were very discreet premises and I believe the premises are the really hard thing to come up with

Not necessarily Well Not necessarily Well a premise that hasn't been done before When I look at like Chris Rock What makes him so remarkable to me is the originality of his premises.

It's like that seems to me to meet the greater talent. Well, you're wrong. It depends. Maybe you should try to get some better premises. You may be wrong. Well, my premises are— Oh, Dan. You may be right with regard to Chris Rock, but everybody's different.

My jokes, you know, the punchline, I worked almost a year on that Cousin Sheila joke. The idea that, you know, sending a text message to the wrong person. Yeah. That, you know, I couldn't get the right punchline. It took me about a year to come up with a Cousin Sheila punchline. That's what I mean about. You should ask me. You ever send a dirty text, and then like a second later you realize you sent it to the wrong person?

That happened to me the other day, and I was about to send another text to apologize when my aunt actually did send me a picture of her boobs. The worst time for me that I ever texted the wrong person, I texted by mistake, come over, I'm horny, to my cousin Sheila. I apologized, I was like, sorry, cousin Sheila, that was actually meant for somebody else. So sorry, it came all the way over here. But that's what I mean about how difficult it is to get a good joke. It's not the way it looks on stage. It's a lot of being in the kitchen, cooking and trying different things. It's not the way it looks on stage. It's a lot of being in the kitchen, cooking, and trying different things.

It's not as simple as it looks. And that's where the atrocity is. You took something that took this guy a year to make. Do you know what I mean? You can't just churn these things out the way we make it look. It doesn't work that way. It's a long, grueling process. And then you snatch it.

I don't know. It's like watching a baby seal killed. Now, I have not had a problem with peopleueling process, and then you snatch it. I don't know. It's like watching a baby seal killed. Now, I have not had a problem with people stealing my jokes, at least as far as I know they might do it on the road. It could be because my jokes are buried in my character

to some extent, and it would be hard to steal my jokes for the average comedian that doesn't have my point of view and my persona. Also, your cadence of your voice. Can I say something else?

We need to remember that intellectual property is property and stealing it is stealing it and we all bend this rule in our own mind. We download from the internet. We all when it's easy. Yeah, but we don't go sing it on stage 20 minutes later.

No, I'm just saying. And charge people to get in. I'm just saying stealing really is stealing. And we need to remember that. I watched Louie's movie. It's not out. I got a hold of it and watched it. I immediately sent him an email. I owe you $15.

This is true. It's all your movie Because even though I knew he wouldn't care In your gut It bothered me I'm like you know what It just

Not Lisa Now I don't have to Now I don't have to Worry about it All clear All clear I've heard of guys On the road

That go up on stage And go hey Who likes Jerry Seinfeld And everybody cheers And they go Want to hear some of his jokes And they just say his jokes But I I know.

That's a whole lot better. That's a whole lot better. Because there was credit given? Yeah, that makes a huge difference. It's different. It's better, but not by much. It's not stealing. But to me.

It's not stealing. You're stealing laughs in a way. You're still performing the cover band. I just don't see how you can charge money for that, though. How do you walk out of there with the money? That's up to the customer if they want to pay for it. But that's my, you're making money off of my song. Well, yeah, I can go out and play a Beatles song.

That's quite different than saying, hey, listen to this song I wrote. Right. It is different. No, it is different. Maybe it's not okay or it is okay. No, you're right. Morally, it's a huge thing. Right.

I'm not original. I can't come up with a joke. But you're not pretending it's yours. That's an interesting question, though, Noam. If there's a cover band, does that cover band have to pay royalties to the original artist? Yes. The club pays ASCAP and BMI and stuff like that. Oh, is that true?

Yeah, like for jukebox or whatever it is. Yeah. Oh, I didn't know that. So now when you play on Friday nights, you play cover songs, but since there's no- Shut up, dude. Oh, I'm sorry. No, but you're not charging... Thank you guys for listening.

Hey, Dan, you still watching now? On next week's episode of... Dan can find the angle on any subject. One of these separations, you won't do something I did. Well, no, but people... I'm saying, because you're not charging a cover to get in here, I thought that that meant it was okay. No, no, but people, I'm saying, because you're not charging a cover to get in here,

I thought that that meant it was okay. No, it's not okay. Oh, it's not okay. What I know on YouTube is that if you do a cover, the money actually is supposed to go

to the original creators, and it does. I know at least of a few Nepali channels that I could do a cover, but the money won't come to me. The money will go

to the rightful owners. There's all kinds of rules. There's compulsory licenses. I don't know the rules, but one thing is for sure, music for. There's all kinds of rules. There's compulsory licenses. I don't know the rules, but one thing is for sure, music artists are protected way more than comedians. Oh, absolutely. Well, that's because

it's obvious when you say, here, I'm going to play Hey Jude, it's obvious that you're singing Hey Jude. But music is not music. Stand-up is like a fingerprint, too. But you saw that video. That video is as obvious as it is. Yes, that is, but you can manipulate a joke and say, oh saw that video. That video is as obvious as that is. But you can manipulate

a joke and say, oh, that's not the same joke. I don't think you can do really that well. It's not like music. Stand-up is very unique. A lot of jokes are...

The question though, Dan, they were asking, is it okay to do what this guy did? And they were saying it's flagrant, it's verbatim. Yes, in that case,

if it's flagrant and verbatim, even if it's not verbatim, it's not okay to do what this guy did? And they were saying it's flagrant, it's verbatim. Yes, in that case, if it's flagrant and verbatim, even if it's not verbatim, it's not okay to do. The question is, can we prove that he stole it? If it's not verbatim, you have the out of I didn't know you did it. If it's verbatim, you can always say I didn't know.

I have had... That it was a similar idea, but if it's verbatim, then you know they stole it. I've had a comedian come to me and complain about another comedian who he claims is stealing his material. But it was, you know, like three steps removed. He changed the country and he changed the joke and the accent wasn't the same. But you could see it was like... It was a derivative.

You could see it was in and out. Like, you could totally see, like, let me replace this and this and this with three analogous things and create... And I didn't know what to do. Like, I don't know. Like, what am I supposed to do? It's not obvious,

because it's not completely 100%. It hadn't occurred to me until he... A lot of times... You know, you got a point. A lot of times, too, people do come up with very, very similar jokes without it being stealing. Oh, yeah. I had a joke about masturbating to a Calvin Klein ad, but it was hard because I had to keep up with the buzz. I don't love the joke, but it was a joke I wrote years ago.

I love it. Jim Norton had a joke almost the exact same. I don't for a second think he stole it because I know Jim Norton and I don't think he stole it. I think it's not that hard a concept. Writing Hey Jude is hard. That joke is not. And I think anybody could

come up with that joke and the Cousin Sheila joke, if somebody came up with something similar, I might say, okay that's fishy. But this particular joke wasn't that hard. And my solution to that problem was not to confront Jim because I don't think he stole it. My solution was stop doing the joke. Right. Stop doing the joke.

Yes. Come up with something better. Come up with something that nobody else is going to come up with. I thought Blurred Lines was not stealing of Marvin Gaye, by the way. I thought that was ridiculous. And Stevie Wonder agreed with me. Well, that's when it gets down to the legal nitty-gritty of it. Where, like, even the, um, what was that, Verve?

The Verve? When they had that, they had a string part of the Rolling Stones song. Yeah, yeah. And that was, like, it was very light. It was very light in the background. The Stones won, though, I think. They won? Yeah, yeah.

They made no money off that song, those guys. In music, though, I don't think being inspired is as big of a sin. Because I heard Billy Joel talking once about Anthony's song, you know, moving out to and he told me, he didn't tell me he told me and the other people that were watching the

interview that he thought of an idea for a song and he went to show his band and the song was Anthony works in a grocery store, saving his pennies and the band said, you imbe the song was Anthony works in a grocery store saving his pennies and the band said you imbecile

that's Laughter in the Rain by Neil Sedaka so then Billy Joel said oh okay well let me change it around a little bit Anthony works in a grocery store and it was similar rhythmically

but it was a different song and basically and he also said that Say Goodbye to Hollywood was very much based on a Ronnie Spector song. It does sound like a Ronnie Spector song. I forgot the Spectors. Do you know it?

That was an homage. Yeah. Say goodbye to Hollywood. It sounds exactly like one of those songs. My friends were always putting me down. Right, right. There you go. Down, down. That's a real shit.

Right. Okay, so Billy admitted that, that that song was based on that. But that's music. But that's saying that music may not be the same. But that's what music can be. There's a science that it's based on. You can have the same harmony or the same track as somebody else. That's like when Vanilla Ice was out,

and he tried to pretend that it wasn't under pressure. His song wasn't under pressure. And he goes, no, my song, the interview, have you watched the interview where he goes, no, ours is dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun. Their song is ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding. Theirs is doom-doom-doom-doom-doom-doom. It's like, you, ding, ding. There's this doom, doom, doom, doom, doom, doom. So that's why it's harder with comedy because it's like you can be like,

oh, the more personal something is in comedy, the harder it is to steal. The more general, like that bus joke, that's fairly general. It's a one-liner that's easier to steal. There's more of a rhythm there. It's easier to steal, but it's also easier to come up with independently. So therefore, I didn't think for a second Jim had stolen. Right. But also, it didn't get to a YouTube video either.

Do you know what I'm saying? The things that do get to that point are the ones that you're like, holy shit, that's so similar. There's a problem here. I will say this. Plagiarism is tremendous. We know this. It will say this. Plagiarism is tremendously, we know this, is tremendously tempting, even for

people who ought to know they're going to get caught. Like Doris Kearns, Goodwin's, the famous I mean, like people, when they run out of inspiration, I guess, or whatever it is, they just can't resist. They just think they're, and it's very tempting, I guess, like being alone in a room with a lot of cash. It's like,

or being a bartender, you know, it's hard to resist. Starts off small and goes big room with a lot of cash. Or being a bartender. It's hard to resist. Starts off small and goes big. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Or seeing vodka. But a lot of people steal. A lot of people... But then the fact is, these guys are making all these programs, and they found out that their French comics were

stealing from the American comics. I go back to the same thing. Obviously, I agree with you. The comics will, you know, the industry will sort of weed them out, but even the audiences, I think we are definitely, today they might not care. A lot of things are changing towards I think the good. So

here, I mean, France has found out they're making a program. They're here in the United States. We're talking about it. The audience will look down, I don't think you can get very far with that we'll see about that but it may be that in some countries you said in Nepal they are using internet jokes

maybe in some countries the joke writing is not as respected and so it's the performance that's not respected first of all I'll say I didn't say specific country It's the performance. Well, Dan, first of all, I'll say I say the reason. I didn't say specific country.

I've seen artists across borders do that. Even today, like I said, famous comics doing big programs, making a lot of money. I've seen them using Internet jokes even today. That part of the world, South Asia, that's what I'm saying. It's not cool. But as the art form is around longer in those places, they'll start to weed it out too. No one was just saying that. Back in the day, you used to see comedians, big-time comedians do that.

You just can't do that anymore. Exactly. You can't put out a damn Netflix special and 60% of it is internet. People would be like, you're crazy. They wouldn't even shoot it. Netflix wouldn't, no. Right. That's what I mean.

So I'm saying that I think that in time, those places that you're talking, it'll be weeded out too. And if we're sitting here around this table and there's a lot of comedic history in these brains and all we came up with was Carlos Mencia. So that means most people have been weeded out. No, it's absolutely true, most people. But now it's different also the way it's done. Look at the guy, Fat Jew, for a while. The guy who's the mean guy. The shop with the Jew stuff?

That's crazy. He was like public enemy number one for a while, but he really, he was being sneaky about it. What he was doing was he was literally writing straight up, verbatim, stand-up jokes and just not giving them the credit on it. Just saying it like it was part of his thing.

Putting a GIF or a picture on it and making it like it was his own joke. And people, you go to a comedy club, you know Fat Jewish more than you might know somebody who's on a random comedy show. You're like, oh, they stole that from the internet. When they didn't, it was the reverse. What about this? What about every now and again you'll see a comic augment his act with maybe a so-called street joke. They'll say, oh, here's one you can take home with you. Two guys walk into a bar or a Polish guy, a Jewish guy, an Italian.

One of those kinds of jokes. Yeah, but they're identifying it as a street joke. Okay, they're identifying it as a street joke, but somebody wrote that joke. And I assume it didn't come out of the ether, and they're augmenting their act with it. It's kind of like, what do you think? A shopper's boy. That's a profession and an ethnicity. Go ahead.

I think most people don't do that. I don't know. Most comics I know don't put street jokes in their act, but besides that, I think to go far enough back to find out who wrote the street joke, nobody tells their friends a street joke by going like, hey, my friend Phil wrote this. Here's the street joke.

We've got to wrap it up. Somebody wrote it. Yeah, you're right, but if you're identifying it as a street joke, you're trying to give as much credit as you can. You're saying the words, this isn't mine. It sounds like it comes from the 40s. It comes from back in the day, but they still have them. They don't have as many street jokes as they used to,

but they still have them. I don't know where that's going to get you. Ladies and gentlemen. Wait, what? We have to wrap it up. I feel we didn't give necessarily shyly, was it again? Yeah. Shyly, yes.

I feel like because we got distracted with the comedy, with the joke stealing, which was very interesting, and we thank our French friends. Dan never worries about the male guests. Any pretty girl sits down here. Right? Am I right? interesting and we thank our French friends. Dan never worries about the male guests. The reason for that, Noam, is a good reason for it is female guests are often overpowered by the male guests. Well it is true. It is true their voices tend to be softer, they tend to be less assertive because of the rape culture. I will say this.

I will say this. Coming from Nepal, and this is my first radio interview here, whatever podcast, I was like, what am I going to talk about? You know, there's all of you are Americans, grew up here, everything, and I am like a total alien here. So I was like, well, we'll see how it goes. And then I come here, and you guys start talking about vodka. And I'm like, oh, shit. see how it goes. And then I come here and you guys start talking about vodka. And I'm like, oh, shit, I have nothing.

I hate drinking. Sorry about that. I've never been drunk. Well, what do they drink? You climbed Everest. What do they drink? Of course you hate drinking. Vodka doesn't sound like something they would drink in Nepal.

Anyway, what's the drink of choice amongst the Nepalese? Nepal is as cosmopolitan as Kathmandu, at least, is as cosmopolitan as New York. When I said that we thought of this black and white in the same way, Nepal is as cosmopolitan as Kathmandu, at least, is as cosmopolitan as New York. When I said that we thought of this black and white the same way, it was when I was maybe three. I was aware of it. I don't want to make it sound like we don't like Nepal. We don't know the difference between black and white. She's like, by the time I was 10, I knew what a nigga was.

I knew he was a nigga by the time I was 10. Yeah, but here, this was very interesting. Well, we learned one thing about Nepal is that the accent, the Nepalese accent is very close to the India accent.

You think so? I believe so. And even though there's a mountain range in between, somehow the accent filtered across. We actually don't have

mountain range in between. We have mountain range in between China and Nepal. Oh, so what's in between Nepal and India? Open border. Flatlands. Maybe that's why it's so similar. So what's in between Nepal and India? Open border. Flatlands. Maybe that's why it's so similar.

You don't have a wall or anything? Mount Everest is the biggest wall in the world between two countries, Nepal and China, and people still climb. See, that makes no sense. There's nothing stopping them. That's like Connecticut River supposedly breaks up Park the Car with Park the Car. Isn't that interesting? Ladies and gentlemen. Oh, and Noam wants to wrap this thing up.

We have to end because, you know, Sirius has a particular amount of time they're going to watch us, and then we go over. But sometimes it's good to have a little extra, a little extra. We already have a little extra. So that it can be cut, tightened, and massaged. Every moment was gold, except for the part about you and France. Very good.

No. Well, you know, yeah. Did the French guys, you get everything you need? You have everything you need? Yes. Yes. Can I repeat what my answer was? I think I really, it crystallized in my mind.

Okay. that the desire to be famous to get the adulation of the crowd is a tremendous motivating factor. And for some people, it's overpowering. And when you know that there's some joke in a foreign

country that you think, and you're going to tell it in your country and no one's ever going to know, that temptation is almost impossible for some people to resist in the same way that if you're a bank teller and there's no system to protect the money, eventually you're going to end up stealing. So if money is your thing or, or, or any situation like that, when you, when you like it, when you know that if you could press a button and no one would ever know, but all the best jokes from around the world would pop into your brain and you'll be able to tell them and no one would ever know. Most people, that button, you press it. I agree.

And I think that's what they think they're doing when they steal these jokes, but they're wrong because the world is too small today. I think first of all, though, you have to have lack of a moral compass, right? So it's a certain type... Wait, wait, stay with me a moment. It's a certain type of person that would do that. The other thing is, once you start doing it, the pressure is huge. You have to keep doing it. You can't come on stage. What are you going to do? Go write another hour?

You're stuck. You've got to. I can see the pressure to keep doing it. You're absolutely right, and I condemn these people. I really should pity them because they don't have the genius that I have. And I don't have to rely on stealing jokes. They don't have a Cousin Sheila, Dan. I don't have a Cousin Sheila either.

That joke was completely fabricated. When you say adulation of crowd, it is so desirable and you'd do anything for it. But then again, the question is Adulation of Crowd, the audience now versus when they find out, which is going to be shorter and shorter over the period of time. They didn't know YouTube was going to come out and they thought they were going to get away scot-free. They had no idea. You know how much you love women? Yes.

You love women. Yes. Let's say you didn't have the rap to get a woman on your own. Which I don't. And you could steal some joke, and it would get you that woman. That's what I'm saying. If that's a temptation, that woman, for some people, is the roar of the crowd, the famous, the name up in lights. By the way, if you get the roar of the crowd.

It'll wear you down, even with a moral compass. If you get the roar of the crowd, the famous, the name up in lights. By the way, if you get the roar of the crowd. It'll wear you down even with a moral compass. If you get the roar of the crowd, you also get the woman. Well, I think it'll wear you down once you do it. That's what I'm saying. You have to have the, I'm saying the lack of moral compass to do it in the first place. And once you do it once. Because once you've done it, you've got to keep having it. I can tell you, you know what my father used to say about, my father used to say, stealing is like masturbating.

It's very tough to do it once. I think that wraps it up. That's a very good insight. He said, don't steal. Because that first time you do it, it's very difficult. And you can back it up. You kind of steal a joke.

And then you see the huge applause that you never got. You never got that on your own joke. Ever. And I'm that on your own joke. Ever. And, you know, I'm not forgiving this at all. I'm just describing, I think, how it happens. I don't think anybody sets out to, I'm going to steal a bunch of jokes and become a comedian. But once you do it, it's got to be held back out of that.

Exactly. What do you do after that? I would advise people, if you can't write your own jokes, there are plenty of other professions. Now more than ever, you know, we need computer people. I would advise you to find some other line of work. Don't we need Sherpas? We need Sherpas.

Why not? I would caution you about people getting involved in transportation because I think they're going to be self-driving cars soon. Okay, we got it. Good night, everybody. Good night.