The Comedy Cellar: Live from the Table - Todd Barry

Episode Date: July 28, 2023

Todd Barry is an actor and comic whose numerous television and film appearances include HBO’s Flight of the Conchords and Mickey Rourke’s deli boss in 2009 Oscar winner The Wrestler. His stand up appearances include The Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Kimmel Live! and two Comedy Central Presents specials. He has a stand up special on Netflix called Spicy Honey and he is the author of Welcome to Hattiesburg. He is a regular at The Comedy Cellar.

This is Live from the Table, the official podcast of the world-famous comedy seller coming at you on SiriusXM 99 Raw Dog and wherever you get your podcasts. This is Dan Natterman. Noam Dorman is not here, alas. He is in Montreal. There's a comedy festival going on and he decided to go last minute. I would have preferred him here because I would have liked to discuss certain things with him

that I think would be interesting. But in any case, he is not here. But who is here is Miss Perry L. Ashenbrand, our producer. Hello. And we also have Todd Barry with us. What's up? How do you do, Todd?

Yeah, you can. Did you start already? We started, yeah. We usually do, you know. I don't want people to know that I pee. Go around. Go pee. Go pee.

I have something to discuss just very briefly that doesn't concern you. So, although you're welcome to, you know, listen in. But I have diagnosed myself on the internet. Yeah. With benign paroxysmal positional vertigo. Okay. I woke up this morning, and I got out of bed, and the room started spinning.

Okay. And it's very, very disconcerting. Because first of all, you're thinking, I can't function like this. Okay. And second of all, you're thinking, is this a brain tumor? You're thinking.

Well, I think, I'm not the only one that would have those thoughts. I don't know. I'm not the only one that would have those thoughts. I don't know. A brain tumor is the first place that everybody else is going to go. Right. So you're saying I'm not the only one. No. You're saying a brain tumor is not.

What are you saying? I'm saying that I think that you are a little bit of a hypocrite. I am, but I'm hardly the only one. And it's a very disconcerting sensation. And it happened, and I figured, well, maybe it's a one-off thing. And then it happened again

when I laid back down to bed after peeing. And then I went on the internet and I Googled around. And thankfully, I'm fairly confident that this diagnosis is accurate. It is a benign condition and a self-limiting one, i.e. it doesn't last indefinitely, but it can take time.

Do you think that it's possible that you're dehydrated? It mentioned that, and I don't think so. Because there's nothing that I'm doing any differently than I normally do. So what it is, is these crystals apparently get like somehow get into your inner ear or whatever and they fuck up your whole thing. So it's like

when you lie down and get up in particular. And how many times does this happen? Every time I lie down and get up but if I do it slowly without making too many

you might notice during this podcast my head might not be moving you know I might be paying more attention to head movements for example. But anyway Wait. paying more attention to head movements, for example. But anyway. Wait.

How long has this been going on for? Just today. I woke up today. The room's like spinning like a fucking rotor at the amusement park. You know that ride where it spins around? Okay. So it happened. And it's like very disabling.

Yeah. I have no doubt that it is. And it's also. And if that's not bad enough, it makes you nauseous. which is one of the things that I really don't enjoy in life. Nobody does, but I have a particular fear of it. You do have a particular. Anyway, it goes away after a few weeks. Well, why have you.

And there's also some exercises you can do. Wait, wait, wait, wait. Why are you just committed to living with this for a few weeks? Why don't you just go to the doctor? Well, they can't do much for you. They can give you these exercises. If this is what it is. It might not be.

99.9% chance it is what it is. This is what it is. I can't get in to see my doctor. I fucking try to make an appointment. And it's like, you know, you're lucky if you can get in within the month. I can get in to see my doctor. Well, you have a good situation. I'm talking about, you ever get vertigo, Todd?

You know, that's weird. The other day, I was dizzy. Yeah. Well, Dan can diagnose it. Well, I was saying I got up out of bed this morning, and the room started spinning. Yeah, that exact thing happened to me like three days ago. Oh, that's odd. Maybe it's contagious.

No, it's something called, it may or may not be the case with you, benign paroxysmal positional vertigo. I like benign. Benign is an important word. It is benign, but it's unpleasant. But it tends to happen when you lie down, sit up, make abrupt head movements. Oh, yeah, I think that sounds like you got it. Yeah.

And I'm glad you told me that, because that makes me feel better about... Yeah, it's not going to kill you, but it is annoying and disabling. I mean, if it happens on stage, you're going down. You're fucking... Or you might be dehydrated. But it sounds like a thing you'd have to... It happens when you're lying down, so... It's when you change positions.

Lying down to get up, get up to lie down. I've seen you on stage. You're not doing any drastic. I'm not humping the stool. Well, yeah. But I'm not doing any drastic movements. The night's young, right? Yeah, you don't want to rule that out, do you?

But, yeah, I don't know what they can do for you. I know there's some exercises with your head, and I tried them at home, but it was, like, really maybe nauseous. So maybe there's something they can do for you. But I'm just saying I can't get in to see my doctor., but it was, like, really maybe nauseous, and so maybe there's something they can do for you, but I'm just saying I can't get in to see my doctor. Like, it takes, like, a month. What kind of doctor do you go to? I go to Langone, NYU.

Do you have the same doctor every time, or? Well, it's, yeah, well, I have the, like, it's the same place, and depending what's wrong with me, like, I have the same dermatologist when I have to get a skin test. Yeah. But what about, like, your GP? Yeah, he's Dr. Lam, which is the same guy noam uses oh so what if you call and you're like i want to make

an appointment it's going to be like a month i mean what if it's like pressing there you go to er that's ridiculous i don't even have a uh primary care physician because mine became a concierge doctor and i didn't feel like oh that's a lot of money twenty three hundred dollars i do a bit about it which i'm not going to do for you guys but it was 2300 on top of and this was right when the pandemic started and that means you get to see him like anytime you want yeah this allegedly but i mean twenty three hundred dollars a year that's the annual a month No a year Oh yeah that's good though Is that? Yeah

For a whole year? Will you listen to me though? I thought Okay Sorry I snapped But that You still have to pay For the appointments

Okay Does he take insurance? I don't think she takes I don't think she takes My current shitty insurance That I have Because I lost My SAG insurance

A list of conversation Starters on this website W ways to break the ice with your doctor to ask for some Viagra. I thought of a great ice-breaking question. Hey, doctor, are you still a doctor? You are. So prescriptions, still on board with that? Cool, get your pen out.

I would like a thousand of them. I know I'm going away for Labor Day weekend and I'm feeling really confident. Yeah, one thousand. One zero zero zero. A thousand. Fucking milk that joke, huh? Palms are all sweaty from milking that joke I didn't even realize that made sense

until after I said it A magical moment we all had together. Yeah, I lost my SAG insurance. Yeah. So SAG, the Screen Actors Guild, you know, for, I guess everybody knows what SAG is,

especially now. I lost mine, but I just bought it on the open market. I pay 700. What did? It blew cross. Do doctors take it?

Yeah, everybody takes it, but it's expensive. It's like 700 a month. Because they will... Didn't you have to buy Obamacare? I can't believe I'm talking about insurance, but why not? Well, you know, to lead us into SAG anyway. No, I don't know what the rules are, but I just paid.

So you bought it on the marketplace? I had to wait until... I spent two months uninsured because I was waiting for open enrollment. Yeah. Which is November, I guess. I thought I couldn't get Blue Cross for some reason. Yeah. You just have to either buy it during open enrollment or show that your insurance, because you had a change of occupant.

I don't know. I just decided to wait and be uninsured for two months. Anyway, this brings us to the SAG strike. Okay. Let's talk insurance more. A little more insurance. No, no. I'm joking.

I'm joking. Well, we're on strike, Todd. You and our union. Yeah, we're on strike. I picketed today. Did you really? Yeah. It's my third time.

Okay. Now, are you picketing? Where did you picket? On the Netflix offices. I think it's Netflix Warner Brothers, on 19th and Broadway. Now, did you go because of the cause or you just thought it would be some cool people, hang out, something to do? Well, I mean, the cause and it's also walking distance from my apartment. And who was there? Any interesting notables?

Who have I seen there so far? I saw, today I saw someone from Law & Order. The last time I saw, what's her name from, Cynthia Nixon. I think, I missed AOC who was there a couple of days ago. I love Law & Order so much. This is the woman, I forgot her name, but it's kind of a... She's like a regular? Yeah, you would know her if you... SVU?

I don't know. Like Mariska Hargitay? Yes, that's it. Oh my God, stop it. She was there, yeah. And then the first day I saw, I don't know if you know David Krumholtz, I've seen him and that guy, Anthony Rapp. Oh, I know him.

I mean, I've met him. I think his name's Anthony Rapp. Yeah. The guy from what? Rent, right? Yes. And he was in, I mean, he was in School Tide, but that's Anthony Rapp. Yeah. The guy from what? Rent, right? Yes. And he was in School Tide, but that's going back like 25 years. And I saw Susan Sarandon the first time.

Okay. She was probably the biggest star I saw. What exactly are we fighting for, Todd? Oh, God. I assume you're abreast of these things. I mean, I'm dreading, like, because sometimes they shove microphones in people's faces. Yeah. And I know I'm just ready to go, I'm not the one to talk about this.

I just kind of know I'm doing the right thing. And I think it's a lot of it is about streaming. Right. Residuals and streams. Yeah, because, you know, you're on a show for Netflix. Netflix, like, if you have a special on Netflix, they don't tell you if it's doing well or not. I mean, they don't go, here's what the numbers are, even though if it's your own special. So, you know, if it were a residual kind of model, I guess, if you want a show that was getting streamed billions of times as opposed to 100,000 times, you should get more money.

I think that's what it's about. I don't know why. I just know it's cool to strike and then post an Instagram picture. Look, everybody, our union is striking, so we're part of the union. Yeah, I just feel like it feels right. It probably, yeah. I mean, it's, you know, one might, if Noam were here, and Noam's not here, he would argue that it's not a matter of right or wrong.

It's a matter of people negotiating for what they want. And, you know, if they need us enough, then they'll give us more. Did you vote for the strike? I don't think I voted. No. Ouch. They send me shit and I, you know, and I don't usually, I throw it away. Unless

it's a bill for dues, then I don't throw it away, but I don't, I ignore it for a while, for three months or four months. But, um... Mike Massa? while, for three months or four months. Mike Massa? Does anybody know who that is? Well, he set himself on fire during the SAG... He's a stunt guy, though.

It's not like a Tibetan monk. Yeah, he was not dying, that guy. Hilarious. Now, as comedians, our one advantage, obviously... Yeah, live gigs. If we had a Netflix special or a Netflix series, and it did very, very well,

then we could make the money on live gigs, as you pointed out. Yeah, yeah. Because we could... The nice thing about stand-up comedy is that we can... They can't stop us from doing live shows, and if we become well-known, then we will attract a crowd there. But obviously, that doesn't apply to actors

who might get fucked because they have no other income stream. Too bad we're not unionized because we'd... Comedians? Yeah, we'd get insurance. Why aren't we unionized? I think they've tried.

They tried to. Yeah, they tried to. And then they didn't. But, you know, 15 years or so ago... I feel like SAG has... I guess it's not screen actors. And then they didn't. But, you know, 15 years or so ago. I feel like SAG has performed. I guess it's not screen actors. All right, never mind.

We could do a SEP. Yeah. I just wish they would factor in our live gigs when figuring out insurance for us. Figuring out whether we qualify. But I guess it's not there. It's screen is the first letter. You could start another union and maybe that would work. Like, the Broadway has equity.

Yeah. You know, maybe you could do that, but... How come nobody started a stand-up? Well, again, 15 years or so ago, they kind of tried, and it didn't kind of... It was a comedian's coalition, I think it's hard to get everyone together. Get people together.

It just didn't work. You mostly work, I believe, music clubs, right? I mean, you don't do like the improvs and the funny bones. I will sometimes. I haven't done the funny bone in a while, and I haven't done an improv in a while. I've done the L.A. improv very recently, which is really good. I try to do like opera houses. No, I try to do like little theaters, little music venues, little performance spaces.

So it's like you rent the theater? No, I get booked and a promoter brings me there. Yeah, I don't say I'm going to rent out your theater and see what happens. But as far as a promotion, you take on that responsibility i mean ideally they do every there's a promoter who like you know brings your you know when you see a band there's a promoter who brings it into town and you know they book whatever markets are in the area or maybe the whole nation but and then they and then yeah they promote it i promote it some are very bad about promoting it and then others are really good about it do you have a favorite place favorite place to perform oh gosh like a favorite city or venue i think more specifically

oh you mean like on the road not yeah not the comedy cell not the comedy cell That's obvious, right? Yeah, that's obvious. Oh, gosh. I could do it more by city. Okay. Oh, I mean, I like LA. I like the improv. I like Largo, Dynasty, Pipewriter. I never played Largo. I don't know a lot about that.

I like, I mean, there's a lot of places. I like cities. I'll do cities. I'm going to change your question. Okay. That's fine. I mean, I like Toronto. I'll do cities. I'm going to change your question. Okay. That's fine. I mean, I like Toronto. Todd, are there any cities that you particularly like?

I mean, I love Toronto, and I love Chicago. I mean, you can have a good show anywhere, and you can have a bad show anywhere, but there are places where you're less likely to have a bad show. Yeah, I think that's true. I think in any city, there's going to be a group of people that are going to dig you. Yeah, you've got to find your people, yeah. They've got to know about it. And I guess you have a pretty good following from your online presence.

Yeah, I mean, not... I guess. Yeah, among... Yeah, I mean, yeah, it's not the only reason people know. But that's how it is now. It's like the online... Like, nobody cares if you did The Tonight Show anymore. No.

It's how many... You know, it's what online press. Like, nobody cares if you did The Tonight Show anymore. No. It's how many, you know, it's what you got going on Instagram and TikTok and all that shit. Are you posting regularly? I am. I'm not doing the... I mean, I will. I have a special coming out soon. Oh, okay. Well, then we'll certainly delve into that a bit.

Yeah. I'm not going to reveal the name of it yet because I want it to be a surprise. Okay. When is it coming out? I can't tell you. No, August 28th, I think, is when it's coming out.

On YouTube? On All Things Comedy YouTube. Okay. So you produced it yourself? They produced it. They paid for it. Who are they? All Things Comedy is

a production company that Bill Burr and Al Madrigal and a bunch of other people started. Okay. Where'd you tape it? Chicago a production company that Bill Burr and Al Madrigal and a bunch of other people started. Oh, okay, okay. And, uh... Where'd you tape it?

Chicago, at the Den Theater. It's going to be an hour special? That's sort of the... About 50-ish. Yeah, that's kind of the standard. Yeah, now I think there's less pressure to do, like, it's got to be an hour. Is it thematic?

I guess not. I mean, your style is not, like, where you do long stories necessarily. No, no. It's just I bounce around. You know, because like some specials are thematic. Like John Mulaney's recent special was all about his drug and rehab. Mm-hmm.

And Chappelle's, I mean, he does a lot about trans and, you know. I don't know if that's the theme of his. But Chris Rock's recent special was called... What was it called? It was... Selective Outrage. Selective Outrage. So it was not entirely, but largely about selective outrage, I guess.

You and I are comics that kind of do shorter jokes. Yeah, yeah. I wish I didn't, though. Maybe you could just surprise everybody in your next special. I mean, I have some epic long jokes, but they're not like... I don't tell like 10-minute stories

or anything. Also, you don't... You talk about your life, but you talk about the... You don't talk about... I don't think, I mean, from watching you, you talk about

sort of the minutiae, the everyday... Yeah, I don't get too personal for the most part. Yeah. So you and I are alike in that everyday. Yeah, I don't get too personal for the most part. Yeah. So you and I are alike in that way. Yeah, we're closed books, man.

But perhaps, you know, I don't know. If I got famous and had to come up with another hour, I would just make the other hour just a book. When are you going to do a special? I just did one. You did? Yeah, I did. But I also got somebody to produce it for me and paid me up front.

Who's that? Crossroads. They're like a music thing. There's a musical club in Jersey, Crossroads. And they decide to get into the special business. And they gave specials out to several of us, all of us, you know, long-time veterans of comedy. Tony Viveros, Wendy Liebman, Tom Cotter,

like, not young people. Right, right. How did they find you? Eddie Brill was booking it. Oh. So Eddie Brill, who,

for those who don't know, he's been, it's a long time, he used to book Letterman. Anyway, so, yeah, so I taped it. When's that coming out?

Well, I don't know. They're trying to find, like, a place to put it, you know, whether it be Hulu. It may end up, and likely will end up on YouTube. YouTube is where they're going to put it. You know. That's fine don't know. They're trying to find a place to put it, whether it be Hulu. It may end up and likely will end up on YouTube.

YouTube is where they're going to put it. That's fine. If maybe Amazon. I don't know. Amazon, can't you just put literally anything on Amazon? You can post it, but you can also get a deal from Amazon. Yeah, right. I mean, I didn't get a deal from them.

I wasn't able to get a deal from people. But in any case, so yeah. So it's called A Little Bit Bananas. It is? I like that. But that's, Periel was the one who suggested that. Because I have a joke about my teacher showing us how to use a condom with a banana. Yeah, yeah, I heard you do it the other night. Okay, so Periel thought A Little Bit Bananas, it's a reference to that joke, but also a reference to the fact that I am. You're a little out of your mind. Some folks say a little bit

bananas. You're not. I know some folks include the psychiatrist at Payne Whitney mental institution. No, I'm kidding about that. But I am a little bit bananas, yes. Yeah, well, we all are. You know, if you're in this business. Join the club. You know.

That's great, though. They should just dump it on YouTube, man. They might, and and likely will end up going in that direction sure and who knows I mean if it gets but the point is if it gets

I mean the best case scenario is a million people see it two million people whatever I mean maybe maybe not but in that case then you have to go on the road with new shit

I know it's hard and that's hard and so maybe I'll then change my style to just telling stories about my life well that leads me to my new my latest tour that I'm doing.

Please do. Please do. I don't know if you've seen it advertised. I haven't done it. Have you seen it, Perrielle? I have. I'm doing a tour called the Half Joking Tour, where it's half crowd work, half jokes. Okay.

But you've done a crowd work special. I did, yeah. I can't say I really wanted to keep doing it, because now that everyone's doing it. Everyone's doing it. You were sort of a pioneer. I am a pioneer. Well, you were like the first one to do a crowd work special. I think maybe one other person did one, but I'm definitely not the first person to do crowd work.

No, but special. There wasn't like people. It wasn't a thing the way it is now. It wasn't a big deal, yeah. And now it's everyone is, I mean, I could talk about how I feel about that. Well, go ahead. Well, you certainly can, but if you don't want to. Yeah, I don't want to.

Well, obviously you feel negatively about it. I don't want to insult anyone. I mean, I just, I don't, I feel like now's the time, if you're a comic, you should be posting jokes. But they don't want people to see the jokes, and then they go on the road and they have to do new jokes. So, I mean, what, are you going to not do a joke because you released it on Instagram? Like, everyone's going to get up and leave or something? Well, I mean, let me ask. I can understand if you do a whole special and then you go out on the road and they see the whole special.

Like, what do you, I feel ripped off. But like isolated clips? What do you think is the, like, say you had a clip that went viral and a million people saw it, ten million people saw it. I mean, would you do it at a live show? Sure. At what number do you say everybody's seen this joke? Fuck it, I'm not doing it.

I mean, I could. Like, I'm gonna try to not do anything. Once my special comes out. Or drops as we say now. Drops. I'm not gonna do anything from the special, but I know that I could. I feel like sometimes people want to see

your greatest hits as the case may be. Sometimes they do. Like, Dan, do that banana joke. I mean, they do, but there's also, you can't lose if you're doing new stuff.

Unless, I mean, good new stuff. Louis, as you know or may know, Louis was on a podcast where he referenced that banana joke. Right. And he did the banana joke. Yeah. He did the banana joke. And look, I'm grateful to him because a lot of people found out about me.

But I get people coming to me after the show saying, hey, that banana joke, you know, from Louis. I heard Louis. Right. And I don't know whether they, I guess they were happy to hear it. It's only one joke, but people do remember this shit. I mean, I know like Brian Regan, who's very prolific, at the end of his show, I think he comes out

and does an encore and people yell out great hits of his. Yeah. But I don't, you know, he's not going to go on stage and do the U2 joke in the middle of his set or whatever. Right. It does seem to be a thing that, like the idea of coming up with a new hour every year or two seems to be something that I didn't see 20 years ago. I mean, Carlin used to do it.

Yeah, I guess so. And I will say I do understand the releasing clips that aren't material because it is more disposable. And if you look good in it, then you didn't burn that joke. But I don't know that... I think burning material is kind of an extreme way of phrasing posting a YouTube clip. I mean, if it's a YouTube clip and 80 million people watched it, then maybe, all right. My feeling about crowd work is this. For it to be good, I think, it often will take time because, you know, you talk to somebody and where they're from.

And then maybe you talk to somebody else and where they're from. And then maybe you mix the two together you make a you kind of you get information to get information out of people takes time and then to kind of weave it together you know might might these clips can only be a minute or two yeah so i think you know to get a really good crowd work quickly is difficult because i think good good crowd work requires a lot of information that you extract from the audience, other than just where you're from. You might want to know,

what do you do? How did you guys meet? It takes time, don't you think? To get enough information to really come up with a killer piece of crowd work. Well, I mean, that's what's good about crowd work is it eats a lot of time also. But it doesn't work in a clip

that has to be a minute or two. Yeah, if it's like a boom, boom, boom, if you just nail something, like I always do when I do crowd work. But again, you might talk to somebody that's from England, and then a couple of minutes later, you talk to somebody from Ireland,

and then you make some sort of joke about English-Irish relations, but you'd have to get both clips that are maybe separated by two or three minutes. In that example. But I think that happens a lot. No, but I feel like something usually pops.

Like something ridiculous. If you talk to enough people, like somebody usually does something fucking idiotic or says something ridiculous. Yeah, but then they're funny, not you. But I...

You know, a lot of times people are laughing because the audience is like, you know, where'd you guys meet? We met in church. And then the audience just finds that funny. Right and they're they're laughing you know or or or i i used to date his best friend and then they're laughing at just the absurdity of that situation

but it's not you didn't do anything they're just laughing at the upset and you'll be like and then like you know you might give like a look like you roll your eyes and then the audience laughs because you're rolling your eyes. I will say when I... But you didn't say anything interesting. I get sad when I see a comic doing crowd work. And why is that? Especially a newer comic, because it's a waste of their time.

Well, it's not a waste of their time if they get a million hits on YouTube and then go on the road and can fill a crowd. Yeah, you could just as likely do that with a joke. No. I just feel, because I see these, especially these MCs

and they're just like, they get on stage and it's like, oh, what about you? Oh, what about you? And they're only just sitting there waiting for anything to happen that you decide

and you're deciding that you're just going to go, what about you? Oh, what about you? But what's your ideal MC? My ideal MC is something that I fight with people all the time, which is not a second of crowd work.

Okay. So Mike Yard fits that description. Yeah? He doesn't do a second of crowd work. Oh, good. Okay. Because there's this myth that warms them up. If you go to a show at a theater, it's very unlikely.

Right. And like, why don't they need to be warmed up? And also, yeah, your first joke might not work. Your second joke might not work. But that's just, it's the beginning of the show. I mean, I just don't. I just get, because I see people, you know, I've seen them like, they're emceeing a whole weekend at a club and they're just shitting on people.

And if you like doing it, then you should do that. But that's like an hour of stage time that you could be working on stuff. No one's going to, very few people, except like exceptions like this guy, Matt Reif, I think his name is. Yeah, Matt Reif. I mean, who's exploded with crowd work. Right. But I don't think, I think people are going to be more likely to notice you if you do something that you've written.

Well, as a guy that has to go on after these people, do you see a difference? Have you noticed a difference? Well, that's another thing is that why I don't like the MCs doing it. And I mean, I wish they would. Some people do it in a way that doesn't, some people do it in a way that who't some people do it in a way that

whoops up the crowd in a shitty way like I don't like that but I can also I'm skilled enough where I can deal with it and be fine but yeah I mean there's times where MC does all the crowd work and then you're like

and the first act is the first actual jokes they're hearing of the night you know? but do you think it makes a difference in terms of how they MC does all the crowd work, and then you're like, and the first act is the first actual jokes they're hearing of the night. You know? But do you think it makes a difference in terms of how they perceive, how they receive a joke if they haven't heard 10 minutes of jokes prior to that? I don't know. I don't necessarily know that I've noticed a big difference. I mean, everything is possible.

You can go up in front of those. There's acts where you're like, oh, I could never follow up that guy, and then you follow them and you fucking kill and you think it's the type of act that you could never follow and then there's acts you think you can follow and then you're like oh what's going on now it's not going well and then but i think it uh i think it sort of sends a message that it hey we're all in this together you guys are instead of just like you're the audience and we're the comedian i don't know i don't mean in like some shitty boundary but there should be a boundary yeah like the show is starting now as like a proper

yeah show well i was i i feel i have to watch the mc here when i go on because i don't want to repeat it because i will involve the audience not crowd work per se but just as a jumping off like I have a joke about Canada so I might say any Canadians here

to get into that joke and if the emcee has already spent 10 minutes talking to Canadians I'll look like an idiot if I say any Canadians I generally

if I'm doing a headlining show I watch the opener if it's someone I don't know but do you ever tell an opener, hey, look, I talk about this,

so maybe... Oh, yeah, yeah. If I'm paying someone, I don't, like, put some straitjacket on them, but it's just, like, no crowd work. And if there's, like,

a big chunk, like, I do a big chunk of cat jokes, I'll be like, don't do any cat jokes, please. And that's it. I'm not, like,

I don't sift through the transcript of their act. Just very briefly, I was at a barbecue with your cat sitter, Tom. Oh, yeah. Well, he's a comedian. But he's also your cat sitter.

Yeah, he is my cat sitter. Tom Ryan. Yeah, very funny guy. He's really a nice guy. He's a super nice guy. Anyway... I just want to say that as a much newer comic,

it's interesting to hear you guys say that. Well, we have a lot of wisdom to dispense. I know. What do you think I'm doing sitting here for half my life trying to glean something? Well, if you have any particular questions about what we've discussed and you want our wisdom, you're certainly welcome to do it.

No, but it's interesting because I host a lot of shows and I've been told other things that like get on stage and say hello and talk to the audience a little bit. That's just something that's just being repeated to you. There's no evidence of that. I mean, if you go to the punchline San Francisco or a lot of clubs on the road, they just go right into the,

comics just start to do comedy. I mean, I don't think it's a bad thing to say, hey, welcome. Yeah, you can say, hi, welcome to whatever club you're at. And then I don't think it's a bad thing to do your jokes. If your goal is to just, to get great at writing and telling jokes,

then you want to use that time wisely. And so I agree with Bob. But also, I- In that sense, you want to use that time productively and tell jokes. A hundred percent. I think there's real value to that.

But I also think that sometimes it's harder, and maybe that's your job, is that it's harder to just go straight into jokes. Well, I mean, the way I think, am I cutting you off? No, no, no, no. I think some people, what they're doing by doing that is they're going, hey, my first joke might not work. So why even try? Right. When I could go, where are you from? Right.

There's no pressure. No one's going to start cracking up when I say, where are you from? I just feel like if you were in the audience and you're sitting there, because often it's, I understand maybe if they're just getting settled and they're just getting seated while you're... I mean, sometimes some rooms have more chaos in them than others. But because I've seen shows where, like, I'm sitting there, I'm looking at the audience, and they're just sitting there waiting for something to happen. Yeah, waiting. So they're not waiting for you to ask where they're from.

And, like, which would you rather hear as an audience member? A joke that's really good or a discussion? Well, the discussion is done comedically. You know, that could be good. Yeah, I know. I mean, clearly I've done a crowd work special and I'm doing a current tour. But no one's going on after me also. That's a big difference.

I do want to talk about... I have to follow myself in this upcoming tour. I do want to talk about another entertainer of note that just died, I guess, just today, Sinead O'Connor. Yeah. 56 years old. They're not saying how she died, so I'm assuming it was something bad, like drugs or just a suicide.

Yeah, that's... I feel like, Todd, I feel like you've met Sinead O'Connor. I've never met Sinead O'Connor. It seems like somebody you would have met. No. I've never met her, but I mean, seemed like she had a rough, rough... Like, she seemed like she's been in rough shape for a while. Yes, and...

I know that Noam probably would not appreciate my phrasing on this, but I do think she died by suicide. No, well, I mean, when they don't say, usually it's either that or a drug overdose. Her son died last year, and I think she

tried to... Oh, that's enough to put you over the edge. How did her son die? By suicide. Oh, that's brutal. Yeah, and she said that it just absolutely ravaged her. Oh, yeah. Of course. Yeah. And she said that it just like absolutely ravaged her. Oh, yeah. Of course.

It's very sad. Let's go back to talking about crowd work. I know. And insurance was even better. Well, she's been famous for about 30 years. I think she only had one big hit. I don't want to disparage her, but I'm just thinking it's interesting. Nothing compares to you, right?

Wasn't that a Prince song? That is a Prince song. But she covered it, yeah. So her entire career was based on the fact that she did a great cover of a Prince song? Is that what you're suggesting? I'm suggesting that she's been famous for a very long time. She did that song, Mandica. Do you know Mandica?

Was it not her? I can't say. But I'm saying it's just interesting to me that she's been... I think part of it was she was provocative. She ripped a picture of the Pope or something. She took a stand against the Catholic Church. So she was provocative. She also, you know,

her hair was shaved, so she had a look. They made fun of her on SNL, I remember, going back. She was a real, quote-unquote, troublemaker. I read that she took real pride in that, as an artist

and as a person that she really went against the grain if you will. Yeah, I guess. All I know is that she ripped up a picture of the Pope. That's the only thing I know that she did. She also didn't want the National Anthem played when she did a venue

in New Jersey. The U.S. National Anthem, I guess? Yeah, it was just a thing. Every Jersey. Oh, wow. The U.S. national anthem, I guess? Yeah, yeah. It was just the thing. Every event there, they played the national anthem. Yeah, she was fucking cool. She was a badass. So, you know, that's my point, is that her fame was in large measure from these ancillary

sort of things, other than just the nothing compares to you, which was a big hit. But it was a big hit a long time ago. Well, there's probably people who are more into her music than you are. That's probably true. I don't know much about her. But the fact that she's a household name for anybody. Yeah, you don't get that being that famous

just from ripping up a picture of the Pope. Although Lisa Loeb, people still know who she is. She's also ripped up a picture. She's going to say that. I know Lisa Loeb a little bit know who she is. She's also ripped up a picture. She's going to say that. I know Lisa Loeb a little bit. Now, her you do know. Yeah. She's very nice.

She is very nice. She was on our podcast. She talked about Camp Lisa. Oh, really? She was on this podcast? Yeah, years ago. Oh, okay. What's Camp Lisa?

It's a camp like, it's a camp that she did like for kids that maybe they can't afford. I don't know. It's a camp. Okay. For kids to go to, obviously. I want to hear more about Todd's cat sitter. Oh. You mean about him as a person?

No, just, like, how often that's... Well, when I go on the road, I either have... I have two people, generally, who either... My friend Tom Ryan will stay there. I don't think he cares who I talk to. Nah, probably not, no. How many cats do you have? I have one little goof.

You love that cat, right? I do love her, yeah. She's exhausting, but I do love her. Do you have one? I don't have one. You seem like you would have one. She has a son. How old's your son?

He's about to turn 10. Oh, okay. You've got a little handful. That's also a lot of work. It's probably more work than it can. Hey! That's not a contest. Why is she

exhausting? It's just if you're not in the same place energy-wise, like if you're just waking up and she's like Is she a kitten she's five years old okay

but I got her when she was a kitten okay but so yeah so he comes and he'll you know

or I'll have someone come visit come twice a day to the apartment wow that's a cat's a lot less work than a dog

a dog yeah you know they don't have to be walked but they do they should be played with and get that scoop that litter twice a day if you can.

Fed twice a day. Does your apartment smell and you just don't know it because you're there all the time? And you're used to it? Am I nose blind? Is that what you're asking? Yeah, I mean, that can happen. That can happen. Yeah, I mean, I don't think so.

It's possible, I should say. Not if you're scooping litter twice a day. You've got to be careful because I've been to houses where people have... And it just smells awful, but they don't know it. Yeah, well, then it doesn't smell awful if I don't know it. Well, but you might have visitors. Well. Somebody would...

You might have... Did you tell them? Did you tell them it smells like... No, I didn't tell them. I'm surprised, knowing you, that you didn't tell them. I probably told Louis Schaefer, because he's a good friend of mine, and he's the kind of person I could tell.

Yeah. How would you But I don't remember but I may not have. How could you do that tactfully? I think I just retched like

And also what's to be gained by like Well if there's something you can do I'll make sure her shit doesn't smell Well if there's

something that can be done about it I mean if you can stay on top of it. Yeah, you can't let it. Some people let their litter stack up and not this guy. Yeah, well, you seem like a very...

Oh, look at that. That's Todd and his cat. What's the cat's name? Her name is Michaelene. It's the name she had at the ASPCA and I kept it because I thought it was kind of sweet and I'd never heard it before. It is sweet. She looks like she's enormous.

Is she, or is that just the... It could be the angle. No, she weighs like 11 pounds. You know, the woman on my floor in my building where I live committed suicide, and prior to doing so, she had her dog put down. Oh. Okay. That is a lot.

It's a lot to unpack. But, which, and then I went online, I Googled, like, can you just put a dog down for any reason?

And like, some vets, you can. Okay. Really? You can just say, kill my dog? Yeah.

Some vets, like, I don't. That's fucking, that should be illegal. Okay. One second. First of all,

when did this happen? A couple years ago. And how did you find out? The neighbors. It's just another person in the building said, did you hear about so-and-so? Did she commit suicide in the building? And I haven't... I think so, yeah, because there was like, on the

door of the building, there was like this tape. Like this police tape. Like, for some reason, I didn't know this. How'd she do it? That I don't know. But, I don't know. But for some reason, I guess when, I don't know why, but there was like an NYPD-like sticker on it. Well, that's going to happen if someone's, they don't know if it's murder, they don't know,

you know, the cops are going to be involved in something. Well, the cops are always involved when somebody dies, not always, but I think that cops, right, if somebody dies, you call the cops, don't you call the cops normally? Even if they die of natural causes, who do you call? I think you call the... Call Ghostbuster. Who do you call the cops normally? Even if they die of natural causes? Who do you call? I think you call the...

Call Ghostbuster. No. Who do you call if somebody's dead in the apartment? Right there. What's the first call that you make if somebody, say your roommate is dead? It's kind of sad that... I mean, it's the whole thing's sad,

but why didn't she just find a place for... put it up for adoption and then... I love that that's what Todd's upset about. Well, I don't... No, no, like why... I mean, yeah, it's sad she killed herself... I love that that's what Todd's upset about. Well, I don't... No, no, like, why? I mean, yeah, it's sad she killed herself, obviously, but it's just... But she had the presence of mind to go to the vet.

So you're saying, so why not have the presence of mind to... Why is nobody taking this vet to task for killing a fucking dog? I already did a media issue on that. I don't... I mean, you can Google that. I did, and I... Like I said, like, I think some vets, like, if you just, you know, you don't have to.

They're like, sure, yeah, give me like $800. You don't have to give a reason. I mean, maybe Nicole can verify that. She's not obligated to do so. I want Nicole to verify that one. You know, maybe, the dog was about 15, so he was not a young dog. Oh, well, Dan, that changes. But I saw him in the hallway.

I mean, this dog had energy. This dog was going to help with all of it. I mean, is there a chance her dog was, if you ask, you put a vet down, it's called owner request euthanasia. Convenience euthanasia. Your vet has the legal right to euthanize a healthy animal if it is beyond behavioral rehabilitation, it is dangerous, or has behavioral issues. Oh, see, that's not just like... Okay, that's different. That's not just like, hey, I don't...

But is that every state, or is... Well, what is convenience euthanasia? Euthanasia sounds very vague. It sounds horrifying. Also, it sounds just selfish. Also... Look at that question on the bottom. Can you kill your terminally ill pet yourself?

Well, I think that's a yes, but it's not really legal. But behavioral rehabilitation is, of course, a matter of subjectivity. Wait, but that's also in Florida. Please note. Oh. Well, can you look up the New York law, Nicole? Can you kill your terminally ill? Okay, so first of all, don't they euthanize like thousands and thousands of animals?

Yes, at the ASPCA. Maybe not at the ASPCA. I don't know about the ASPCA. But in shelters, there are shelters where they can't get rid of the animals. Yeah, yeah. Like every single day in this country, they kill thousands of animals. I mean, there are also no-kill shelters. Yes, there are no-kill shelters.

Those are sad because it's like this cat Sparky's been here two years. Yeah. So buy Sparky. Buy? Well, you don't buy. No, buy. I mean like buy Sparky. Sad buy.

So I don't, you know. You don't what? I don't really know what's worse. Oh, okay. Like that it's worse that like a vet's doing it when they do it just as par for the course in shelters. I mean, I think it's horrible regardless. I mean, if you can't find... Nobody's going to adopt a 15-year-old dog either.

So she did have the foresight in her defense to not give this dog to a shelter. It might have been more humane to actually euthanize. If she didn't have anybody that was willing to take it, perhaps. Well, who's going to take a 15-year-old dog? I'll tell you, this dog, like I said, he had spunk. He would run all around the hallway. I would see him, and he ran into my apartment. How do we start talking about this?

I think it's interesting. No, I said, how did we start talking about this? Oh, how do we? Because, um... Oh, NATO coming? No, your cat. Oh, okay do we? Because. Oh, NATO coming? No, your cat. Oh, okay. Your cat.

We talk to the cat, and then we move from the cat talk to my neighbor. Is there a song? Mickalene? Mickalene. Mickalene. Sounds like a Stevie Nicks song. I think that's Angelina Jolie's mother's name. Really?

Doesn't that sound like a Stevie Nicks song? It could be. I mean, not. Okay, no, it doesn mean, it doesn't hit me over the head. No, it does sound like Angelina Jolie's mother was Marshalline. Marshalline. That's wrong. Okay, what else is going on? Well, the Comedy Cellar is doing something,

and I don't know if it'll work, but the Comedy Cellar is simulcasting a show. They're taping a show. They're not taping. They're simulcasting a show to 48, I think, 47, 48, whatever the number is. I saw Bill Grunfest just last night. He's involved with it. You know Bill.

Yeah. So Regal Movie Theater is partnering with the Comedy Cellar, and they will be showing on their screens a simulcast Comedy Cellar show at 48 or so theaters around the country. You come to the theater, you get your popcorn, you get your tub of soda, and

you watch a Comedy Cellar show in real time, simulcast from the world-famous Comedy Cellar. Neither Todd nor I were invited to do this show, but that's okay. I don't know what criteria they used to pick the... I would have asked Noam if he were here.

Well, think about how old you are and how old I am and then take it from there. Well, but if Louis C.K. wanted to do it, I don't think they would say no. They would transcend. That's a more famous person. But maybe also you just weren't here that night. Were you immediately?

No, no, I don't think they've taped it yet. It's simulcast, so they haven't done it. Well, I don't know what simulcast is. I mean, it's like they tape it at the same time. So it's short for simultaneous? Yeah. At the time. You never heard the word simulcast?

No. Oh, my God. I'm so smart. Yeah, At the time. You never heard the word simulcast? No. Oh my God. I'm so smart. Yeah, but you couldn't guess what. Well, I obviously did guess since I guessed and I was right.

But you didn't guess with any confidence. Give her a break. I had plenty. I have plenty. It's August 5th. August 5th. New York Comedy Cellar

Uncentered Livestream. How much are your tickets? Tickets are... More details. August... Uncensored... 2023. Sowing in 2D.

I'm not seeing how much it costs, though. Okay. But anyway, let's assume it's a $20 ticket. Todd Barry, is this going to be a hit or a miss? I don't know. I mean,

it's an interesting idea but I wonder if it's something that's done before a movie. No, it's the main event. It's the main event

so people can just make a trip to the movie theater to watch the comedy. Comedy cell, yeah. I mean, you know,

your spatial expression doesn't appear. I mean, I know, your spatial expression doesn't appear. I mean, I wish everyone good luck, but I do wonder, like, whether it's just going to be like, I have Netflix at home. Why am I? Well, speaking to Bill Grunfest last night, he told me that the selling point, you're quite right, of course. It's the live aspect of it? It's that. It's the live aspect.

It's that you're going out. Some people just like an evening out. Yeah. And you're with people. So, you know, comedy is better in a crowd, generally. You know, there's a contagious factor in terms of the laughter. So those factors, plus the fact, yeah, basically that's it. It's live.

And it's, you know, you're out and about and you get your nachos or whatever. I mean, if people, if it works, then I got no problem with it. I'm assuming that this is in places other than New York City. Yes, obviously. Like in Kansas. Places that are, you know,

you can't go to the comedy cellar. So, you know, this is from the Interrobang. Go to a live comedy show at your local movie theater. I'm just trying to see if they have the cities. It's 48, I was right, across the United States. Live, uncensored, and bigger than life. I mean, it would be kind of fun to watch that, I think. Yeah, I think

so, too. With a big tub of buttery popcorn. I'm not seeing the lineup, though. I really would like to know the lineup. I don't know why they're not... They're being cagey on the lineup here. Well, maybe that's intentional. Yeah, it's like...

You gotta see for yourself, man. So your special's coming out August 28th. When will you be releasing the name? Before. I just haven't gone public with the name. I don't mean to oversell the name. No, not at all. It's like a baby. A lot of people, you know, they don't want to hear the name of the name. Before, I just haven't gone public with the name. I don't mean to make, oversell the name. No, not at all. It's like a baby. A lot of people, you know, they don't want to give you the name of the baby.

It's my little baby. They don't want to give you the name of the baby. I don't know. My niece is having a baby, and I don't know what it's going to be called, but I'll know in August, which is coming up. Is it also... And also Rosebud Baker. She wouldn't tell me her name. Yeah, well, you don't really...

So I don't know Rosebud Baker from a hole in the wall. Well, that might be why she didn't want to tell you. I do know her from a hole in the wall, but I don't know her very well. So, you know, I certainly wouldn't be... If she were going to reveal it, it wouldn't be to me. But a lot of people don't reveal the name of her. Yeah, but I think also people don't like telling the name of things before they come out because everybody has a fucking opinion about it.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. like telling the name of things before they come out because everybody has a fucking opinion about it. Yeah. Yeah, you don't want to hear like, but also anyone who would say that's a good way to find out who's a good friend. Anyone who would say like question your baby's name is not a good person. Maybe. Would you do that? Well, you would.

But if you care about your friend and you say, look, I don't think... That's would. But if you care about your friend and you say, look, I don't think... That's so insulting. If you care about your friend. They're not beating up their kid. They're just, like, giving a name that you don't like. It's not like... Well, but it might be a name that is associated with something horrible.

Okay, but, like, that's... Well, if they name their kid... Like Katrina. Now, what's the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear Katrina? You think of the hurricane. That's a pretty name, too. Okay, that's ridiculous, though. I mean, just because you have a different opinion than, like, this person obviously has decided what they're going to name their child.

Like, why do I care if it's a name that I don't like? The only thing is I think it's a hard thing to hide. Like if you don't like... You can hide it. What if your name means something awful in another language? Like Adolf? Well, Adolf is an obvious one.

But what if like... What is crap in Hebrew? Chara. What do you say? I'm going to name my kid Chara. And you say, you know, I don't know if you knew this, but that means crap in Hebrew.

I think if someone came up with Chara, they probably knew it. They didn't just put those sounds together. Some people do just put sounds together. You ever been to Aruba? Those people have the names in Aruba. They just come up with anything. Like Ray Allen?

No, Ray Allen wasn't born and raised in Aruba. But some of these Arubans, you go down to Aruba, they have names. I think a lot of them, they just piece together different names. Some people do that. They piece together names. Like, oh, well, my grandmother's name was Hana. It was Hana. But then my, you know.

And my other grandmother was Shiara, so I'm going to put together a Chara. And then I... Before you know it, it's named Crap. As a friend, I would have to say, you know, I, as your friend, I have to say that that means duty in Hebrew. Now, Hebrew is not a language that's widely spoken, so you might get away with it, especially if you live like in the Midwest. Okay, I'm going to guess that there aren't that many people naming their child that... Well, this is just an example of a situation, unlikely, though it might be,

where one could argue that telling your friend that the name is not good is helpful. Well, you're... This is a very odd situation. It's extreme. It's not even worth talking about. Okay, well, I thought it was worth it.

I'm shutting it down. I'm shutting this down. Okay. Unless you want to keep talking. No, that's extreme. It's not even worth talking about. Okay, well, I thought it was worth it. I'm shutting it down. I'm shutting this down. Okay. Unless you want to keep talking. No, that's okay. Now I feel guilty. That's all right.

We've discussed the strike. We've discussed, you know. Is there other big news going on? Well... Nome is at the Comedy Festival in Montreal. Yes, that's... So that is a... We can discuss that briefly.

We're almost done. But I think Howie Mandel's part owner, isn't he, of the Montreal Comedy Festival? Is he? I think he is. Oh. I don't know. But I haven't done it.

When was the last time you were up there? A few years ago. I've done it a bunch of times, but it's been a few years. I did what's called the Ethnic Show. Really? Yeah, about seven years ago. I've done it a bunch of times, but it's been a few years. I did what's called The Ethnic Show. Really? Yeah, about seven years ago. On what ground? It's astounding how long ago it was. Jewish.

I mean, that's considered an ethnicity for purposes of the Montreal Comedy Festival. And then I had this really white guy from Toronto who looked like very, very Northern European, but I guess he was Italian. So anyone with any heritage yeah basically but like basically italian jewish and then rashid badouri who is moroccan muslim did it

ronnie chang was on the show this was before he was he was he wasn't quite as big then so he could do you know he he wouldn't do it today but uh he's obviously Asian. And was Jeannie Yash right there? I'm not sure. But so it was the ethnic show. So they call it the ethnic show. And, you know, I don't have it. I didn't do any really jokes about being Jewish. Was it fun?

I guess I just am. Yeah, well, you know, the thing about the ethnic show is it started, like, before everybody else got there. So I was there for, like, a week before, like, all the other people started to come for the other shows. So it was kind of like, it was just us. Oh, it was in the first week.

Yeah, it was in the first, but before most people even got there. Isn't that when they do the French language? It might have been. It might have been. French version. Yeah, they do the French. It might have been. But very few people I knew were there.

The Montreal Comedy Festival is kind of fun because everybody stays at the same hotel. It's like summer camp. Everybody's hanging out at the hotel, and all your friends from the comedy world you haven't seen in a while. It's like a comedy reunion. It's the blessing and the curse of that festival.

So, you know, Mae Martin was there when I was... You know Mae. I know who she is. I don't know her. What is Noam doing there? I don't know, but if I had to guess, he wanted to go. If I had to guess why he wants to go, first of all, Montreal is a cool town. He probably just wanted to go to Montreal. My guess would be he just wanted to see, Noam does not want to be,

Noam does not want to miss out on any comedians that are great and going to be potentially famous, and they don't work here. So in a couple, he's brought this up a couple of times, where he's like, is there anybody I'm missing? Who should work here that I haven't seen that I don't know? Did you say my name when you said that? Well, you already do work here.

Maybe not as often as you should. Thank you. As you'd prefer. But one name he mentioned of somebody that they say they missed out on, was Nate Bargatze, they said. They didn't take to him when he, you know, was, I don't know, whatever. And so he's afraid of missing out on somebody that's going to be big, and they have no connection to the comics.

So my guess is, what is he doing there? He's trying to find out who he should be using, that he should be the comics. So my guess is what is he doing there? He's trying to find out who he should be using. That's my guess. I mean, it seems pretty reasonable that he would want to go and check out the Montreal comics. It's not crazy. Also, they need comics for Vegas.

They see who's out. I don't know how you could in Noam's position, you could not go You just go online and you can see pretty much anybody you want but it's different it's fun I think

look it's fun and he gets to see like he combines yeah it's a fun it's a trip it's a trip it's a trip he writes it off

and he goes to another restaurant I don't know if they'll put him up but you know and he'll go hang out and you know he'll hang out

at the what's the hotel was it Hyatt on John Mance that I was, I don't know if they still, if that's right. Do you remember the street that I am? Any serial killers out there listening? Yeah, man, if you want to kill some funny folks. John Mance was, I guess, a leading figure in Quebec history.

I do want to, I don't know, are we out of time? We're getting out of time, but we're not out of time. There is one other subject that's been weighing on my mind, and since this show has been veering a little bit dark, has anybody been following this Gilko killer in Long Island? A little bit, a little bit, yeah. I saw an interview with a woman who went out with him. No.

Yeah. Dan? I don't know the story. He asked her if she was into true crime and she's like, I'm a true crime. She said she was

a serial killer buff. You're kidding, Todd. No, I'm not kidding. This was... Oh, you know what? Coleman, is it Coleman? Are you here? Is the band rehearsing now?

No. Okay. Okay, then why are you here? Just to use the bathroom? Does this need to be done live? Of course, this is interesting. Just give me my trombone case up here. Okay, sorry.

I don't think your audience is interested in trombone cases, are they? You never know. The great Coleman using a trombonist of renown. I thought you were coming up here to use the bathroom. There's a bathroom up here. Were I famous? And if I had to go the bathroom. There's a bathroom up here. And were I famous? And if I had to go number two? Yeah.

I would do it up here. Say I were Dave Chappelle. Is that where the celebs go? Like, bigger celebs than me? I don't know. Like, I go around the corner. If I have to do that, I go around the corner to the Village Underground

because it's got a floor-to-ceiling door in the bathroom. Why don't you come up here? Because I'd have to ask Liz for the key, or know him, and I would just have to ask, and then they would know why you're going upstairs. Well, I mean, you just told the entire world. That's true.

We got off topic now. Serial killers. Well, hold on a second. This is an interesting discussion. So the question is, if Dave Ch Chappelle had to go to the bathroom would he come up here or would he just make extra sure that that didn't happen like you're famous you got a plan that you can't just go to the bathroom

you can control when you have to take a shit you can control some you can control some aspect of it if I know I'm going to the comedy cellar I may not be so fast and loose with the hummus before the show. I may decide, you know, to forego my meal till later. Whereas now I'm like, I'll take the chance. This is disgusting.

It is disgusting. Let's talk about serial killers. Something. All right. We'll end with serial killers because we are running out of time. So we'll get to the serial killer story. I don't know anything about it. Rex Hoyerman.

Yeah. Herman. Yeah. Rex Hoyerman? Yeah. Herman? Yeah, architect. Yes. 59 years old, architect, lives in Massapequa, Long Island. That's a sketchy place to begin with. It is?

I guess. They call it Matza Pizza. Anyway, go ahead. That's where the Baldwin brothers are from. And he was actually classmates with Billy Baldwin, which is maybe or maybe not interesting. But at any event, he had an architecture firm in the city. He was married.

He had two kids. He lived with his wife in this fucking house in Massapequa. And apparently he was responsible for killing at least four women. And, I mean, I don't know. It's 2023. It takes 25 years to figure out. Well, for some reason, these serial killers take a long time to catch. I don't even know how they do it.

I mean, Dahmer was doing it for, what, 10 years? Yeah, but that was a long time ago. I mean, the technology now is such that... How did he do it? First of all, this is genius. He did it in his own house while his wife and kids were away. No, how did he... Not how did he kill.

How did they catch him? Oh, I got a little bit too excited for that. I know. You got too excited about it. They tied through DNA. His wife's hair was on one of the bodies and then apparently there was like

a pizza box somewhere that had Where did they find the body? The bodies were on Gilco Beach. Oh, I'm going to... These killers, they always fuck up. They often do. I think sometimes they want to fuck. I mean, it's good that they fuck.

But ultimately, I think some of them want the credit. Yeah, yeah. You know, like the psychology is like, wait, I've done all this great serial killing, and I want some credit here. I think that's part of it. But you have to be... But eventually, yeah.

I mean, you know. Well, there are two types of serial killers. There's organized and disorganized. And the people like this guy are organized and methodical. And they've got everybody fooled. And everybody thinks that they're just like a normal person. Yeah, because they're very charming. The reason it takes a long time to catch these people is because there's nothing necessarily, there's no motive.

You know, if somebody dies and their husband killed them, like, okay, we'll go check out the husband. But if it's somebody dies and the person that killed them had no connection to them and no reason to kill them, it's going to be harder to catch them. But they're also really charming. And

people, like, they're just... Yeah, you do hear that over and over again. But Ted Bundy, you know, and... John Wayne Gacy was like the... Was he a clown? Yeah, he was a clown for his church. There were 17 fucking bodies under the floorboards in his house. I mean, what Todd just said, that he went out with this woman and asked, are you into true crime?

No, no, I didn't ask her. He went out. The serial killer went out with him. Yeah, I know. I thought you just said I went out with him. No, that you said that this guy went... Yeah, this serial killer, yeah. He went out and he asked women...

He asked this woman if she was into true crime. Oh, wow. And she said, I'm a serial killer buff. I don't know if that's how she answered him, but that's how she answered the reporter. That is so crazy. Yeah. That is interesting.

Now, I would like to point out, and no offense to the two of you, but I think that almost... We're serial killers. No, you're probably not. But I think it's like 99.9% of serial killers are straight white men. So I don't know if the two of you have anything you'd like to say about that. You're probably right about that. I have nothing to say about that. I don't know if the two of you have anything you'd like to say about that. You're probably right about that. I have nothing to say about that.

I wonder if that's true in countries that are not. In Japan, I would imagine the serial killers are Japanese now. Or maybe they don't have serial killers. They probably don't have serial killers. Maybe it's a white male thing. It could be. I think that

there are serial killers in other countries. Stamp collecting and serial killing. And sometimes both in person. But white people do have their particularities. Men. There are no women that are... Now you might say that other crimes, without getting into detail,

might be more prominent with other groups. Well, serial killers are, my understanding from not in extensive reading, it's a sexual urge. Yeah. Often it is. I don't know if that's

universally the case, but maybe it is. Maybe it is universal. I don't know. It was certainly the case with Bundy and with Dahmer. Did you ever see, you know, remember the BTK killer? Of course. The interviews with him, he's just like, he just talks about his

crimes like you would tell someone about your trip to Costco or something. And then I met her, and then I killed her. It's weirdly... But you know how he got caught. He was a truck driver, right? No, no.

He worked at a church. He was in a church. That's how they called him. BTK, that was the Bind Torture Kill. No, I thought that he was... Was he a truck driver? I thought that's how he didn't get caught was because he was doing it along his route.

The way they did catch him was he had been communicating through, I think I'm right about this, through classified ads with the authorities, and he had a floppy disk, and he said, I have a floppy disk. You can't trace it, right? No, we can't trace it. They fucking traced it, and they got him.

What was BDK stand for? B, we can't trace it. They fucking traced it and they got him. What was BTK stand for? Bind, torture, kill. Because the fuck Mary killed, he took the game a little too seriously. Alright, sir. Dennis Rader, also known as BTK's American... Is he still alive? Is Bundy

they executed, Dahmer they killed in prison. Wait a second BTK BTK killer on Gilgo Sorry I said it wrong It's Gilgo Beach murders Quote unquote

He's a clone of me Oh my god Well you know People say John Mulaney And me He He is still alive Ten people between Wichita

and Park City, Kansas I thought he was northeast, northwest but maybe I'm wrong I'm trying to figure out what he did anyway let's wrap this up let's wrap it up thank you Todd your special as yet

not unnamed but we don't know the name, but it's coming up. My half-joking tour will begin August 24th in Ashland, Virginia, which is outside of Richmond. Then goes on to Annapolis, Philadelphia, and a bunch of other cities. Hopefully they'll put it on the Comedy Cellar Instagram. ToddBarry.com for the show dates and tickets. Thank you, Todd. Thanks for having me.

Thanks for having me. Thank you, Todd. We thank you for being here. Did I do a good job? I think it was an excellent show. All right. It was a good show, everybody. Thank you.

Bye-bye. Thanks.