The Commercial Break - TCB Infomercial : Joanna Hausmann

Episode Date: November 18, 2025

EP#866 Joanna Hausmann Is Back! Comedian, writer, and Venezuelan-American superstar Joanna Hausmann joins Bryan and Krissy for a fast, funny deep-dive into culture clashes, bilingual chaos, growing up Latina, and making comedy that actually says something. Joanna talks about her rise from viral sketches to TV writing, her love of absurd humor, and why being “ni de aquí ni de allá” is basically a full-time job. It’s a breezy, high-energy hang with one of the sharpest voices in modern comedy. Joanna's Links Instagram Phineas & Ferb Watch EP #866 with Joanna ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! Text us or leave us a voicemail: [phone]TCB FOLLOW US: Instagram:  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@thecommercialbreak⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Youtube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠youtube.com/thecommercialbreak⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ TikTok: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@tcbpodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.tcbpodcast.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ CREDITS: Hosts: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bryan Green⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ &⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Krissy Hoadley⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Executive Producer: Bryan Green Producer: Astrid B. Green Voice Over: Rachel McGrath TCBits | TCB Tunes: Written, Performed and Edited by Bryan Green To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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My baby cries like at 6 p.m. every day, but we have to wait a little bit before we feed her. So, like, inevitably, we have to, like, you know, soothe her, but she cried. And my mom's like, you're torturing the baby. We're not the baby. I didn't sleep at me. I didn't sleep at you at all.

I just gave you what you needed. You know, and it's like a lot more intense. So it's, you know, we also have so much more research at the palm of our hand when it comes to so much of this. The next episode of the commercial break starts now. Yeah, boy. Oh, yeah, Cass and Kittens, welcome back to the commercial break. I'm Brian Graham.

This is my dear friend and the co-hosts of this show, Kristen Joy Holtley. Best to you, Chris. Best to you, Brian. Best to you out there in the podcast universe. How the hell are you? Thanks for joining us on a TCB infomercial Tuesday. As yet another repeat customer comes to the commercial break, and I could not be more excited to invite our friend Joanna Houseman.

I love her. I'm so happy she's back. She's one of her first interviews. Do you remember this? Yeah, I do, because Astrid was very excited about it. Astrid turned us on to Joanna and her comedy online, and then we quickly devolved into a love affair about ticanos and Cachapas and Venezuelan parties and birthday songs that last too long. In Disney, that's right. And Disney.

Joanna had a show on Disney. It's still available on Disney Plus, I think. But now the big news is that Joanna has been writing and part of the creative team behind the return of Phineas and Furb. That is the big news around Joanna. I think she's got other things in the work she may or may not be able to talk about. But my oldest just became infatuated with Phineas and Furb over the last six months. And I can't tell you how many of those episodes I've watched. And I got to be honest, I missed the Phineas and Fub boat the first time around because I was too old.

But now I'm on it. And I'm like, Phineas and Furb is pretty entertaining, actually. My favorite episode is. My nephews have watched. Oh, they do? Yeah, they like it. Yeah, they love it. My favorite episode is this one where they build a roller coaster through the entire city.

And it's just like, it's the kind of imagination that adults and kids can get together and go, yeah, that would be fucking cool, man. Good for you, Phineas and Furb. do it. And now my kid wants to wonder, he wonders how we can build a roller coaster in the backyard. And I say, no, nope, I already have that pool. And that's enough, that's enough

money spent on one yard for a lifetime. He's good at building things. He is. He's always building something. He's going to be something. He's going to be a Disney Imagineer, an architect, something. He's got that bug. He's, you know.

He likes to create. Yeah. He's not into Any of the, I mean, he likes, we play baseball. The kids like when I throw the, like, a wiffle ball or a soft ball to him, a soft ball here to them in the house and they hit it with a little plastic bat. We like to play soccer in the hallways. Sometimes we throw the football. But when it comes to building or puzzles or, you know, writing scripts for little YouTube videos that he thinks we're making, really not making. I'm not letting him on YouTube. No, not yet.

No, but I'll tell you what, that children's programming is where it is at. Yeah. There are many children whose parents started YouTube channels around the kids. They make a ton of money. They're making millions and millions of dollars. I know. It's crazy. On Roku, there's whole channels dedicated to some of these people.

And there are YouTube videos. And they're presented like television shows. Wow. And there's thousands of these videos from multiple different creators. And I think to myself, I know I have that rule about not wanting my children to be a face on the Internet or part of the internet for a long time. But could I break it and ruin their lives forever? It's tempting.

To make a million or a couple, you know, too, just doing this. So I don't know. It is tempting. That is for sure. Also, speaking of children, Joanna is a new mom. Yes. So we'll talk to her all about that. This is yet another step in the direction of this podcast,

just becoming one where I talk about Venezuela the entire time. So just sit back. relax, enjoy the show, learn a little something. It's only taking me 30 years to learn about Venezuela. I'll get you up to speed quicker than that. Good, a little tutorial. Yeah, the reality is, like when we had nacho on, when we talk about Venezuela, when we cut those clips up,

sometimes on my own personal Instagram, I'll talk about the observations that I have about the Venezuelan culture. Right. Shit goes haywire. It goes, haywire. The Venezuelans are loyal to a fault. They love to hear about their culture. It makes them so happy.

And I'm happy to bring the happiness. I really am. I'm a gringo. Absolutely. I was born this way. Nothing I can do about it. I'm just a gringo. Nothing I can do about it.

But Joanna is one of the more popular Venezuelan Americans. And so we're happy to have her back for a second time. It's our second or a third time with Joanna. It's the second. I feel like we had a second time scheduled with her once. And it got rescheduled. Something happened. She had to go Phineas and Furb it up or something.

Yeah. Yeah, you know, she's important. We're not. So sometimes you just got to take the good with the bad. All right. So Joanna Hausman, all the links in the show notes below to her social media. Of course, Phineas and Ferb, available on Disney Plus. I think there is a new season coming out soon.

We'll talk to her all about it when we get her on. So let's take a short break, Chrissy. And when we get back through the Magicotella podcasting, Joanna Hausman right here in studio on that TV with us. What do you think? I think we should do it. We'll be back. Hey, it's Rachel, your new voice of God here on TCB. And just like you, I'm wondering just how much longer this podcast can continue.

Let's all rejoice that another episode has made it to your ears, and I'll rejoice that my check is in the mail. Speaking of mail, get your free TCB sticker in the mail by going to TCB Podcast.com and visiting the contact us page. You can also find the entire commercial break library, audio and video, just in case you want to look at Chrissy, at TCB Podcast.com. Want your voice to be on an episode of the show? Leave us a message at 212-433, 5.000.

3 TCB. That's 212-433-3822. Tell us how much you love us and we'll be sure to let the world know on a future episode. Or you could make fun of us. That'd be fine too. We might not air that, but maybe. Oh, and if you're shy, that's okay. Just send a text. We'll respond. Now I'm going to go check the mailbox for payment while you check out our sponsors. And then we'll return to this episode of the commercial break. And Joanna Hausman, after a long time of denying our request, to come back to the show understandably. She finally relented. She said, no.

I will not say no on one more email. I have decided I'm going to return to the commercial break. Joanna, it is so good to see you again. Yes, welcome back. Oh, my God. Thank you guys for relentlessly, you know, emailing me, pursuing me. I feel so wanted.

And I feel like that's what I wanted at the end. I just wanted to see how much you wanted me. Well, if it isn't clear, than, you know, listen, you're married. So this is the most wanted you're ever going to feel again outside of your children. So true. Well, you know, I do got to say, you know, I wanted to come here earlier, but there was something called the birth of my child that I'm in there.

I know so. Little thing. Yeah. Of all the excuses we have heard, birth of child, please. People do this at home in, you know, like pools, inflatable pools that they blow. It can't be that big of a deal. Both podcast and giving birth. Yes.

True story. First of all, how are you feeling? You're months away from, how old is the baby now? Two months? Oh, three months? Four months. Four months. Four months.

Yeah, she's old now. She's wise beyond her months. No, it's been good. I mean, I think that the media, and I don't know why I'm saying the media is this abstract concept, but like every time I log on to the internet, all I hear is how bad and hard motherhood is. And to be honest with you, when I was pregnant, I was like, I don't know if this is going to go well. I hope I love her. And I've been so pleasantly surprised at how, like, how much joy there is and how I've enjoyed it.

I just, she is so cute. I mean, I also think she's a remarkable baby. I mean, I know I'm her mother or whatever, but I am being, you know, just very logical in saying, I do think she's the cutest thing to have ever existed. And being a mom has been sort of like a new, a new part to play. And a project? It's like I thought I just, I'm not the most stereotypically motherly person. And it just came so naturally.

I was like, what the hell is happening? Wow, biology is strong. It is. Yeah. You don't, would you not have considered yourself maternal before giving, before, before having a baby? Not at all. You don't like take care of your husband when he gets the flu.

You don't like, doad on people. I'm like, why are you so sick? It's like, this is convenient for me. You're such a bitch. Like, I love taking care of people and,

but not in a motherly way. I'm like, I'm your equal type of way. Yeah, yeah. I'm like, I'm your mommy. You know? But with my daily,

I'm like, oh my goodness. Like, I, it's, it's, it's, how your brain gets rewired.

In seconds. It's seconds. It's like, it's, you know, this is why there's, what, eight billion of us? How many are there? Yeah, there's eight billion. Probably three too many. Three billions too many. But there's eight of us hanging around.

Yeah, around here. I felt the same way. I mean, fatherhood, motherhood, two totally different things, but there are some comparables, right? Some comparables. You're legally and financially responsible for their well-being. But I feel the same thing. I think I've always been good with children, and I felt like it was in me somewhere,

but I never had any desire to be a parent until I met Astrid. And then the second that that child came out of the womb, my brain was rewired. And there's nothing else. There's nothing else in the heavens. It's like, that's it. It's her and him and my first child, and then we're going to go forward. By the, like, 16th child, you know, it's almost, it's just second. in nature. You just become used to it. And you're four months in. I'm dealing with four years in,

and that's a whole different animal. But I love how you're describing this. It's just pure joy. It really is. And there is a lot of difficulties in parenting. But I think overall, the pluses outweigh the minuses. And I wouldn't take it back. And that's good for my children. Wait until their teenagers. Yeah, wait until their teenagers. Let's talk again. You don't resent your children. What a blessing. yet. Yeah. And it's interesting because like when I, I, I, when I found out I was pregnant, I was like, oh, I'm that, I'm in. Like, you don't have, like, my husband was like, I guess I got nine months to think about this. And I'm like, oh, no, the next day I feel like trash. And I feel like

I can barely exist. And I, you know, I feel like being a mom is like being, um, hazed into parent. For years, no cuteness, there's no baby. Your body's just going through a full body demolition. Yeah. And it's like, you think you want to be a parent, bitch, you know? But I'm glad that you felt rewired immediately because I think as a mom I was rewired immediately because it was like, it was like going through the most difficult hike of

your life and then you finally get to the top. Yeah. And you're like, and like, you're like, okay, maybe it was worth it. This is a beautiful view. You know. So it's been, it's been a crazy experience for sure. It's kind of bizarre that the dumbest people in my high school are also parents. Yes.

So we've been saying this for years. Yeah. That's sort of like been a relief in this process. Yeah. I'm like, if they can do it? Can I do this? And I'm like, Brittany is doing it. So relax.

With an eye. Yeah. Britney with an eye. Yeah. Former dancer. Former shoe. model, Brittany can do it, then I can do it. I agree with you. I've been saying it for years. I will always probably believe this to some degree that you need a license to get on a fucking canoe and catch a

fish in your local pond, but you need zero training to be a parent. There are zero qualifications to having a child. And there are... It shows. It shows. It shows. There are some people where you're like, holy shit, I can't believe you're a parent. I know some people. I have friends that I'm questioning whether or not they should be parents, but they're already, once they're there, they're there. What are you going to do? Put them back in. I mean, so it's, it's kind of like, you can't do anything about it. How have, how has work been going? Because I have been dying to talk to you about Phineas and Ferb, which has quickly run up the charts in my household over the last couple of months. And I don't know how or why. I mean, Finis and Furb, how long has Finiys and Furb been

off? So, so, if Finnis and Ferb was off for like a decade. Yeah. And it just recently came back this year. Yeah. And Finiast and Ferb, you know, when it came out, I was like in, in college. So I, I was in that weird age that I wasn't a parent and I wasn't a kid, so I had no idea what it was about. Right. until later on in life, when I started learning that Phineas and Furb did sort of the impossible, which was it was technically a kid show, but 50% of its viewership was adult. Yes. Because the writer's room treats it as a true co-viewing show, meaning, yeah, there's going to be crazy fun action sequences and this, that, and the other.

But the humor on the page is for intelligent audiences. Yes. And treating your audience as the most intelligent person in the room. room. And because of that, it's, it's been like a multi-generational hit, which is unique. Yeah. Especially unique now with streaming where I think, I think now shows are so specific to a particular audience that you see a fragmented viewership in the same household. You have just watching one thing, your wife watching another thing, the dad watching another

thing, you know, and this show, it sort of feels like everyone in the family actually enjoys watching it. I love that. Working on it has been crazy. It's been such an honor, honestly. There are two shows in my house when the kids put them on. I don't mind watching an episode. I also was way, at least I thought, aged out of Phineas and Furb. So it wasn't something that I ever, it ever took hold in root in my mind. I knew of it. I knew about it. Probably seen a couple minutes of an episode. But when my oldest started watching Phineas and Ferb, the other two quickly jumped on board. And then I was like, oh, I can watch this cartoon. too just as I can, Bluey. So Bluey and Phineas and Furb, those two shows, I don't mind watching an episode because I get it and it's funny. And to some degree, those jokes are for me, right?

The comedy is for me. And my kids think it's funny for one reason, but I think it's funny for another big city greens for me. Big City Greens is another one too. Oh, I love Big City. Yeah, it is good. It is good. It is good. So how did you get involved with Phineas and Furb? I mean, we knew you were in the Disney family, so to speak, still waiting on that free trip to Disney World. But I knew you were in it. You promise. Hey, listen, I know you have Bob's phone number. And so when you get a chance.

I love Mr. Iger, my buddy. Have you ever met Mr. Iger? I think, like, in passing very briefly. In passing? It was like, oh, that's Bob. And I'm like, hold on. And then he was just gone. Like a ghost.

Yeah, he didn't have time for you. So how did you get involved? with Phineas and Ferb. Dude, it's kind of wild how being Venezuelan is the reason. I love this. It's the reason on this podcast. Yes. Isn't it funny being part of a like collapsed Petro state actually helps you in the entertainment industry?

The co-creator of Phineas and Ferb, Dan Pauvinmeier, was married to a Venezuelan for many, many years. She's the mother of his children. They're still very close, even though they are divorced. But she, you know, as a Venezuelan, would show him my videos as a way to connect. Like, remember when we went to this party and you asked me about this Venezuelan tradition and he'd watch it? And about, I don't know how many years ago. I think it was like, yeah, I think it was actually 10 years ago. 10 years ago, I get a message.

I think it was on YouTube. And it was like, hey, my name is Dan. And I created this show called Phineas and Furr. My wife is Venezuela. And we'd love to have you over for a right puzzle one day when you're in L.A. And I'm like, and I was like, this is so weird. So I like reached out and we talked. And then I had a trip to L.A. the next week.

And I texted him. And I was like, you know, I'm going to go to Pasadena to meet you and your family. And I'm in the Uber. And I'm telling the Uber driver this story. And the Uber driver is like, I'm sorry, you're going to. to a random man's mouth who claims he's this famous showrunner

who you have absolutely no proof and I'm dropping you off there and I'm like, yeah, that's that's happening. And he was like, I am not letting you go in there by yourself. So he like waited for me actually. Oh, wow.

Open the door. And I saw the two girls running around. Yeah. And I gave him five stars and a pretty good tip. So that's how this started. And that sort of began a friendship between me and Dan and Dan also. has been sort of like a guiding like for me in my career where anytime I had questions or

or, you know, concerns or I had a new pilot or I had this. I always like felt like I could ask him for advice. And then, you know, years later, I was able to join this writer's room. And it's been one of my favorite, I think, professional experiences ever. That is amazing. It is part of the reason why you're here. So it's, it's part of the reason why we connected, right? Because my wife showed me your videos, right? And I was like, oh, that's interesting. She's funny. She should come on. And I was just, we just talked to, I just had a chance to sit down and have some time with Nacho Red from Squila de Nata. And we had a very long conversation. And the reason why he's on the show is because my brother-in-law introduced me to EDN. Right. So, and there is no,

There's a whole network. There's a whole network. There's no interactions, there's no level of engagement that we get like when we talk about Venezuela. It is crazy how the Venezuelans are so loyal and willing to cheer anybody on who's willing to cheer them on. Oh, 100%. Yes. It gives me the warm and fuzzies in a way that it's hard to describe because I feel like an honorary Venezuelan, first of all, even if you don't want me, I'm here.

And I'm the gringo, Venezuelan. And it is kind of crazy how these, this is like disparate people, this displaced people all around the world have embedded themselves in these industries and these communities and these places. And they've, now they're all connected by some tissue. And look at you. Phineas and Ferb. Not maybe because you're Venezuelan, probably also because you're funny and, you know, all the other stuff. but originally started because you're making content about Venezuela that's relatable to some people across the pond. That's insane.

Well, it's interesting because I remember a while ago I was going through this existential crisis where, you know, I... Once again, it was like we lost another election in Venezuela. And by loss, I mean, like, obviously it was stolen from us. And it was just like feeling of deep sadness. And I remember my dad telling me, like, you know, yes, of course there's so much. tragedy, but within all this tragedy, there's this diaspora and there's positive externalities to diaspora's. And I'm like, I don't know what the fuck you just said.

What is it? And it was like, no, because, you know, when a big migration of people leave a country, they affect the world. You see their food around the world. You see their humor around the world. You see them acting in movies in different countries. Their culture starts permeating outside of the country. And you see it in like culture.

from the past, you know, the Irish after the potato famine and the Italians in the 20th century. So, you know, all of these big cultural movements that sort of globalized certain cultures came with a lot of sadness and tragedy attached to it. And, you know, that's like the bit of the positive I see in seeing so many Venezuelans away from their home country is we are, we've created an identity outside of the geographical constraints and we're affecting culture outside of our country and that's kind of cool it's very cool it's very beautifully stated and I agree with you and as someone who's married to a Venezuelan and you know my best friend is just being in the community it is cool to see because emigrating has got to be the like one of the most besides

parenthood has got to be the second most difficult thing that human being can do, and I've seen it firsthand. Well, kind of forced. Yeah. You leave everything that you know, right? You leave everything that you know, and you have to start off from scratch in a new place where you don't know people, you don't have connections, you know, you're lonely, you're tired, maybe don't speak the language.

Maybe don't speak the language, that's right. And so it's got to be one of the most difficult things that you can do to sort of rise up, to meet the challenge, and then to rise above that and affect the people around you, the communities around you, is a beautiful thing. In Venezuela, as I will attest to, to the day that I die, is a beautiful, they're such beautiful people in general.

Company not excluded here, because you are definitely one of my favorites. And so let me ask you this. So you, you did lose another election or stole another election or whatever. And then this lady wins the Nobel Peace Prize. And then hands it to Trump. And I don't know, I think I know,

I think I understand she's playing the game here. I think I understand she's playing a game a little bit. I get it. I understand. I understand that this is probably not all is on the surface as it seems. But did you feel a sense of pride that they gave her the Nobel Peace Prize? I mean, of course, we have not received any good news in so long. And that felt like, wow, our struggle that usually feels separate from general conversation.

Venezuela almost feels like a niche country. Like, wait, what? Venezuela, that sounds beautiful. Like, you know, they don't understandably so. It's, you know, it's not on the front of everyone's mind. But it felt like we were a global topic. Yeah. And it felt like our struggle and our pain was a global topic.

And I was so happy to see Maria Kordina Macha. And she's the one person peacefully trying to enact change in a dictatorship. And, you know, I got a lot of messages. from my American friends, being like, what the fuck? Like, this woman shouldn't have done this. Like, this is ridiculous. And I'm like, listen, I don't have the privilege of getting picky here. Right.

I agree with you. I love to have the privilege. Yeah. I love that. I'd love to be like, I don't like that. She said this one thing one time. I don't have that privilege. She's our one and only hope.

And I know she's strategic and she's playing. She's being strategic. A long game. Yeah. And what, and I know that she's, like I'm going to do whatever I need to do to make sure that this dictatorship topples and they're able to to have democracy and freedom in this country. And I don't care what she does in order to make that happen.

Yeah. And so, you know, anytime a friend would be like, wow, isn't it? Just so, you must be so upset. I'm like, girl. There are so many other things to be upset about. I think I'm upset with the fact that my family lost their country and basically. you know, scattered across the world. So many of my cousins and aunts and uncles have to start from scratch and are still

struggling. And that's what I, that's what I'm thinking of when these things. Yeah. It's real life for me. It's not ideology and it's, it's not, you know, parsing through, uh, what is morally right and morally wrong in every aspect. I don't, I don't have the time and, and I don't have the bandwidth. I am like, I, this is our one hope.

Yeah. And that's it. Yeah. So let's see, let's see what happens. I agree. with you. And I think this is like, if I may, I think it's right-headed thinking that you have because there are so many other things to be concerned about. And I think she is, there's a reason why she got the Nobel Peace Prize. There's a reason why she probably won an election. There's a

reason why so many people are looking to her. She has a head on her shoulders and she understands globally that she needs to play whatever game she needs to play to make sure that things at home get fixed. And she's still living in the fucking country too. So, You know, that's like the most insane thing. She's not like, you know, living a high on the hog in Aruba or something. She's still living in Venezuela. She's in hiding. She's hiding because if they find her, she's in prison.

She's in prison. And she's doing all of this with no calls for bloodshund. Do you know what I'm saying? This woman has perfectly crafted a peaceful revolution. She was able to build with her team. the technological necessities to be able to count the votes in the last election and prove that democratically the opposition won, she did everything right. She's doing everything for our country.

She's doing everything right. Yeah. And if she doesn't fit in your global politics for X, Y, and Z reason, great. But it doesn't matter. Yeah. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter to Venezuela. It doesn't matter to the, it doesn't matter to Venezuela.

islands. Venezuela just want their country back. They want to be able to go back home. They want to be able to live in peace and freedom and not have, you know, a dictatorship censoring them and imprisoning them and killing them. So that's the priority for us, baby. And, you know, if you don't get it, step back, is what I'm saying. Yeah. That's a many friends, actually. I was like, girl, let her do her thing. Let her do her thing. There's a lot of people's lives that state. Yeah. You are, uh, Venezuela. So has your larger community now rushed in to co-parent your child with you? That's hilarious, absolutely. Yeah.

My mom is arriving on Friday. Are you excited? I'm excited. It's interesting because there's a lot of, like, cultural differences I note from Venezuelans to, to, honestly, where I've lived most of my life, which is in the United States. and in the states, it's like you study, you know, you grow up in one city, maybe you go to college, another city, and then you move to another city for work. That's sort of like a natural progression, right? And Venezuela, you like live at home with your parents until you get married,

you know? Or until your children get married. Yeah. And so they have grandchildren. Yeah. And so there's this like multi-generational raising of children, right? And it's like the grandparents aren't involved, the cousin that's not really your cousin is. Like everyone, it's just a big while here, you know, I moved to LA for a career. I'm following the American path of the American dream, which is like, I'm in a city. I started from scratch on the city. I don't know anything about this city. I actually, low-key, don't love it.

But I'm here because it's the right place for me for my career. And but I am, I'm alone here. I don't have any family. So it's like weird because, you know, my family is proud of me. But my family, you know, my mom will be like, oh, yeah, you must be so alone there with the baby. And you don't have me next to you, you'll take care of or whatever, whatever you want. I'm just so hard for you. And I'm like, yeah, I know, it's hard, mom.

I, for sure. And she's like, I, but, you know what I would love? Per okay. Just call me and be like, take care of the baby. And I'm a friend, I'm a friend, Annie. And I'm like, Mom, I don't know what to tell you. I live in L.A. So, you know, it's been interesting.

And it's been, it's like very much. She's in Boston. Okay. Okay. Which is funny that that woman lives in Boston. Right. I don't know. Like, and she spends a lot of time in the Berkshires, which is like, the, it's like the most preppy, kind of slightly uptight, east coast.

Oh, it's Aeriodic. Yeah, it's area. Yeah. And everyone in the Berkshires loves my, my mom, like, goes into the library and they're like, oh, my God, Anna, you're here. And she's like, I'm back in there, I'm back in there, baby. I love this picturing her in the Berkshers. She knows everyone. She knows everyone in every market.

But, you know, the point is that it's like a, there's community, sort of like Latin culture is very much about community. And we've, my mom has built community everywhere she's gone as a way to like sort of mimic what she has back home. And, you know, here I would love to have a bigger community to raise my kid and I'm building it through friendships and all this stuff. But man, what I, do you know how much I love to have like, like, like my 75 family members, like, dividing distance for me.

Yes. Yes. I have 17 kids. I'd be like, yeah, that's fine. You take this one. Right. I, there is nothing I love more than when Astrid's parents. Astrid's parents come to the house because they are so good with my children.

I believe they are the second parents of my children. Like, God forbid, you know, fiery plane crashed the whole nine yards. I want them not my parents. parents because, first of all, my parents are a little bit older, but they're Irish Catholic, and it's like, check in, check out. Punch in, punch in, punch out. My brothers live within a 20-mile radius of here. It's really, honestly, it's like a magic trick to get them to show up for more than 15 minutes to my house because it's just the Irish Catholic way. It's not because they're bad people. It's because they have no fucking, they don't, what? We're supposed to do what, be

uncle? You know, it's like, it's just something that doesn't come natural to them. Is it because Irish Catholics have like 17 kids each and they're like, I don't have time for cousins? Yeah, I honestly. But I don't know. The Catholic thing is I grew up in an Italian family. Italian Catholics are different than Irish Catholics. Yeah. Yeah, maybe it's just my family.

Maybe my family just are child haters. They just ate children. I don't know. None of them have kids either. So that's another thing is when you don't have children, you don't know how to parent. you don't know how to parent default. Like, I walk into a household and there's other children in the room. I am now another parent in the room.

So I know how I will. I know how to and I'm not afraid to also be the another parent in the room. Hey, don't do that, Billy. Who are you? Fuck you, Billy. Sit down. Stop setting shit on fire. Yeah.

Stop biting the cat, right? Because I'm a parent and you, and I ever will be. My brothers, they don't know that. And I think like in a Venezuelan community, everyone's parenting everybody, so it kind of comes natural. But in my family, we're all very isolated. And so when they come into a room, they don't know. They're not parenting my kids. They're like, maybe they'll throw them across the room or, you know, give them a sip of whiskey.

But besides that, it's not, you know, it's a little weird. When my in-laws come, I fucking love it. Oh, yeah. And Gustavo. And Gustavo, my brother-in-law, he also, he's another parent. He just walks in. He doesn't have kids, but he knows it. Also, he's seven foot tall.

Yeah, he's seven foot tall, so he's scary. Wow. So I love it when they come, and it's just like such a good, they have a good time. The kids are always laughing and joking. I have another set of eyeballs in the room. And besides hearing, from my father-in-law, a lot, and he mumbles under his breath about me, besides that, I think everything's good. So you need your mom to come. Is she staying for a long period of time?

Are you going to allow her to be here? for many, many months. Yeah. I mean, I did tell her she can't stay in my house because we just don't have the space. So, you know, when she has her space, I think it's the perfect mix. And, and yeah, I mean, I mean, it's, it's, I'm like curious to see because there's, I don't know what happens with grandparents. I think grandparents have the privilege of perspective of knowing that what you stress over

isn't necessary. And like, truthfully, the most probable thing is that your kids. going to be fine. Yeah. But, but when you're in it, you don't know that. Yes. You know, my baby cries like at 6 p.m. every day, but we have to wait a little bit before we feed her.

So like, inevitably, we have to like, you know, soothe her, but she cried. And my mom's like, you're torturing the baby. Give her the food. I'm like, no, we're not sleep training here. She's like, I didn't sleep training you. I just gave you what you needed. You know, and it's like a lot more intense. So it's, you know, we, we also have.

so much more research at the palm of our hand when it comes to so much of this. And I think, I don't know, my, my parents like winged it. My mom was like, what are you reading? Like, what's all this reading you're doing, these books? You know, she was like, you were born and I just figured it out. Yeah. So I feel like there's this like generational divide with information. Yes.

Which is interesting. And like, I think that will probably battle it out, you know, who knows if there'll be survivors, but we'll try. Yeah. You'll do that. Okay. You guys will figure it out. There is this need, I think. I have always said that one of the great joys of my life is watching my father, grandparent, my children, because I think he has the benefit of hindsight. And he understands, maybe I always didn't get it right with my own kids. So I'm not going to miss. And he's retired. He's less stressed. And he's not financially responsible for them. And I'm not, you know, smoking weed in the backyard. You know, the grandkids haven't gotten. to smoking weed yet. So it's like, but I feel like it's one of the great joys of my life is getting to watch my dad be a grandparent to my children. It's a beautiful thing to me, especially when I see

them connecting. And, you know, yeah, my dad's not spending days on end at my house taking care of the kids. But when it does happen, when they do get to connect, I think it's really beautiful. But I also understand he raised children in a totally different universe than I'm raising children. You're right. We have too much information on our... How many times have you called your P.D. the attrition. You know, I, a lot. Yeah, me too. I decided to do something during my pregnancy, which was like, I was like, I don't want

to know. I don't want to know. I don't want to know. Like, people would be like, are you, are you like doing the birthing classes? And I was like, I did one birthing class. And I was like, I don't want to know more. Yeah. Yeah.

I want to know one. We used to do this in a cave. Yeah. And I think that there was some, there was some wisdom to that. Yeah. where you're just like blindly going into something because it's like it's like it's like um you're about to jump from a from a bungee jump whatever core thing and they're like over explaining gravity to you right and it's like i know generally what's going to happen and i'd rather just not

overthink it yeah and so i which is very unlike my character and i'm very neurotic and very anxious and with this whole process i've been sort of like my husband my husband's the one that's reading all the books about, sleep training on and stuff. And I'm just sort of like, I'm going to, I'm going to listen to him, but I'm also just sort of like, I don't know. It'll work out.

It'll work out. As I've said before, there's so many of us on this earth. So, you know, I think we're more resilient. Our parents. Then we get, yeah. Through us in a crib and said, figure it the fuck out. They didn't say figure it the fuck out to any other adults in the room. They said, figure it out to the nine-month-old.

They said, figure it the fuck out. And keep it quiet in here so I can get some sleep. And look how I turned out. Just fine. I can't sleep for shit. And I have a bad anxiety problem. But besides that, I'm okay. But I mean, it's-

Oh, my God, yes. I do think our anxiety problem, you know, I, my dad told me, he had the audacity of being like, you know, I think I know where your anxiety comes from. And I'm like, yeah, what, like, what do you think, Dad, maybe growing up in Venezuela. Where we were moving all the time where the coup de Tau was coming, where there was instability everywhere

where you and mom were fighting over politics all the time. What do you, what do you think? He's like, no, I think it's because you had colleagues of the first of the month of your life. And it rewired your brain in a crazy way like that. And I'm pretty sure that's not the case. But maybe. Yeah, maybe.

Yeah, you never know. It could be, dad. That's the thing is you never do know. Well, you don't. You never do know what's going to manifest further down the line. And, you know, listen, I always, I've always thought about parenting this way is, and I don't always, I wish that I could listen to my own words sometimes, but I try, is that they're already cooked, they're already fully baked. The personalities are in there, their destinies in there, their abilities or not abilities, you know, the things they could do well or not well, is already in there. All I have to do is just make sure that they don't, you know, set themselves on fire or drive the car through the front door. And if I can do that and generally get them through okay, then that, that, then everything, you know, I have done my job. I read, love and support.

Love and support. Love, if you just shower them with love, I mean, I know that you have to like be a bit. Yeah, you got to be. Yeah. But the love element is so important. It's very. They just have to feel special. Yeah.

You know. That's how you cook them. And that you're the biggest fan. That's how you cook. That's how you cook them. That's how you cook them. That's how you cook them. It's like the tecaneo. You put it in the fry. You know, it's like you put it in the air friar. Your love is the air friar. You just put...

Your love is the air friar. It's the air friar. What a beautiful metaphor. Okay, if you clip this, Venezuelans are going to share it like crazy. It's like, oh my God, he compared the love of parents with a tecaneo. That is perfect. I feel seen. Clip it. Kevin, clip it. I just, I just, I just, I'm excited for you. Because also four months old, four to one and a half, the golden time. Now having some perspective, the golden time. Because they need everything. And that may seem, that's good and bad some days, but they need everything from you.

You're the only thing they care about. You're the entire world. They cannot yet get into cabinets or your alcohol by themselves. So you don't have to worry too much. And it's just a lovely time to bond with a shout. How is your husband doing? Let's talk about him. How is he doing?

I think he was born as a dad. That's good. Have you seen those memes of like how I see my dad as a baby? And it's like a full grown man's face on a baby, like a baby body. I feel like when my daughter says that, she's going to be right. This man was like programmed for parenthood and fatherhood. And so he's doing, he's doing great. He is, you know, he's like a little.

little bit OCD and he likes, you know, the ounces and the schedule and the timing and he has like his little spreadsheets of information. So I feel like he's like built for it. And I do think that we subvert the stereotype when it comes to like when women talk about mental load and how they carry so much mental load in the house, how they have to be responsible for so many other things, not just taking care of the baby. Like the expectation is that a lot of this stuff is on them. And I feel bad when I hear these like podcasts and clips because I'm like, oh my God, I'm the problem. I'm like, I'm sort of, I mean, of course, when it comes to taking care of the baby, I'm pretty good at it. But when it comes to like all the other like little minutiae, like

reordering the formula and like restocking the this, I'm so ADD. I'm like, I don't know. It happens magically. Yeah. I did all of that. That's great. You have that. Astrid's currently listening going, why can't you be anything like Joanna's husband? But you know what I was thinking, if my husband was married to someone like him, they would die. There would be fights. Yeah, right. You didn't order the right color.

You didn't do that right. Yeah, yeah. But I told you I wanted this and some of that. And I'm just like, whatever you know, man, I'm good. Yeah. That's me. That's me with Astrid. Yeah.

Perfect. Thank you. Yeah, I play that role in the family, too. I'm like, I don't worry because I know Astrid's worrying and two of us worrying isn't going to help this situation. So like, you know, Halloween's coming around, the baskets and the kids and the dresses and the Halloween costumes. What are we going to do and how are we going to do it? It's already handled. It shows up by Amazon and it's already handled and the kids are walking around with their costumes. And I'm like, oh, you're going to be R2D2 this year. Cool. Dude. Yeah. And meanwhile, Astrid's like, we've been talking about this for six weeks. And I was like, we were. We did? Well, thanks. Thanks for that. It's just the way that I am. I don't want to die on a bunch of hills. So I let, I let. And she is great at that stuff. That is her strong suit. She is fantastic. Left up to my own devices. Those children would be loved and they would have so much fun, but they would be naked and hungry and probably not, not know how to read, dreadlocks. Lord of the Flies. We'd be growing up in a commune. Let me ask you this. You said you're not loving L.A. Well, listen.

Or is it like a double-edged short? It's a double-edged short. Like, maybe one of the reasons I don't love L.A. is how much I love New York. Like, it's like trying to date someone wonderful, new, but you're still in love with your ex. Yeah. Yeah. My heart's somewhere else, and that's not L.A.'s fault necessarily.

L.A. is very different. from New York, I always say that, like, New York is like someone who was born ugly and had to build a personality and that sense of style. And L.A. was born hot. Beautiful. L.A. is so hot. It's beautiful. But then, like, the architecture's not great. It's not well thought out as a city. It's sort of a mess. But, like, you know, the nature is spectacular. Yeah. So it's just getting used to something that's, like, vastly different while my heart's somewhere else. And it's, It's just a quirky interest. It's also a city that's difficult to get to know.

It's like an introvert. Yeah, it is. It's an introverted city. New York is an extrovert. New York's like, hey, I'd be a big show. Hey! Trump Tower, Central Park. Come on down.

Eat some food. LA's like, hey, welcome. I don't know where I even am. Yeah, just drive around aimlessly. Maybe you should call San Fernando Valley. Maybe they'll know. Yeah.

But there's a lot of magical parts of L.A. And it is a very interesting city. It just takes a lot of effort to get to know. That's true. So, you know, I'm starting to have feelings for a little bit. It's growing on me. Okay. So Phineas and Ferb, you are now in the writer's room.

Do you also have producer credits on Phineas and Ferb? Not on Phineas and Ferb. I'm working on other. stuff that I... You'll tell us the day before, right? But let me tell you, being a staff writer, oh my God, how fun. I bet.

I can imagine. It's so fun. It is so fun to show up and just be like, my job is to write and to make a joke funnier. I love producing and I love that side of things, of course, but there's something really liberating of being like, oh, my job is actually limiting it.

It makes me be a little bit more creative. Yeah. So that's been, that's been fun. And, you know, producing other stuff on the side is like, oh, right. There's, like, things, other things have to happen for things to be on a screen that aren't just like, what if the goat is wearing a tooth? Right. There's a freedom in that. Like, we got to get a distribution deal and I got to get the color artist paid.

Oh, God, this actor we cast isn't the right boys. Yeah. We cast. Oh, my God. We already have the footage back from overseas, which means we have ADR. Everything. Like, there's so many elements and, you know, cartoons in particular, like live action, of course, but cartoons in particular, every millisecond takes so much effort. Yeah.

It takes so many people, so many cooks in the kitchen. There's even people called timers. I don't even know what they do. But I think the time, okay? And the timers, like, time something. Like, there's someone for every element. Like, there's no background without someone painting it. There's no, you know, a spoon without someone ideating what a spoon looks like in this world.

So it's so much creative input in such a short period of time. Are you seeing anything to do with AI? Like, how has, is that a thing? Do you see it being a thing down the road? Yeah. It's like a, it's like a, it's like a, it's like a fear that's booming at all time. Right. Unknown.

It's the unknown. I mean, I'm also of the opinion that, you know, when, when every technological advances happen, there's been fear. And there's had to been, there has to be adjustment in society. For sure. We talked about that. Yeah. And so I just, and ultimately, you become more efficient. I'm hoping and I'm hopeful that AI is going to help us make more things quicker.

But I don't foresee the human element being something that we can take away from art. Yeah. And take away from podcasts like these. If someone's like, you know that there's a podcast that can be perfectly crafted for you with fake people, I'd be like, I don't want to listen to how. Yeah, exactly. What is the human experience if it's just crack it around me? Right.

Well, I also, I agree with you. And I think human creativity is the one thing. And if even if you listen to people who are in the world of AI, human creativity and some of our logic just may be a generation two, three, four, away from being something you can replicate with any degree of, like, accuracy. It's just our, it's our X factor. It's our umami. It's the thing that we have that makes us human that, unfortunately, for people who want to think...

Humans are flawed. Humans are flawed. And that's also what makes us interesting. Well, that's what... Yeah. And we have the ability to make certain types of thinking that we have is really hard to replicate because we don't even understand how it works. So, therefore, AI can't understand, not yet at least, can't understand how it works. Also, when you see something and you know someone made it, it... inherently affects a way that you perceive it. Agreed. You connect. If I am told that you connect. If I am, if I know that this is not made by a person, my brain automatically disengages. I'm not interested. Right. Yeah. I see AI on social media and it's guess it's getting better at looking real. But at least for right now,

a lot of it is flag tagged or people identify it as AI. I just don't have a lot of respect for it. Right? And so, you know, we use AI here at the show. It makes little songs for us. But I write all the lyrics. I just get it to play an instrument. Right. Right. And that's because I don't have a full band. I'm not Jimmy Kimmel. I can't just put a full band in the back of my thing. Yeah, it's a tool. It's a tool. It helps, right. It helps me be more creative. And if I look at it that way, I don't have any problem with it. But is it going to replace me? I'm sure that you could make a show funnier than ours, better than ours for you with my voice through AI. Yeah, you're right. It would be weird. It would be weird. Why would you want to listen to that? Why would you want to listen to it? It's like, oh, actually, I want to be in a simulation. Yes. I'm already in a simulation. I don't want to be in another one. That's double secret probation and that doesn't exist. Okay, Joanna, I love you so much. I know, I know it's taking us a long time to get to number two, but I hope it doesn't take us a long time to get to number three because I really enjoy talking to you. I know. It's so fun. You are one of our fair.

favorites the first time. You haven't ruined that by coming on the second time. So, you know, sometimes, you've held your place. I mean, I was like, did he really want me? Wow. You need them work for it. Now I've got to prove. I'm not a waste of time. I'm like, well, will she be better than Nacho? We'll have to see. But I have to say, I still hold you close to my heart. So you never forget your first. Well, me and Nacho can, yeah, I mean, I was first. And Nacho and I, we can fight about it. Yeah, you guys get in the comment section and fight about it. Do you know Nacho? Do you listen to EDN? I do. I do know Nacho.

I met him many, many years ago. And yeah, I've just followed his career. It's like one of those, it's like when you go to college or high school with someone. Yeah. And then you see them parallel succeed. And it's like, oh my God, I know that guy. I don't know him that well, but almost like living similar experiences exiting the country and sort of finding your footing has been really wonderful to see. Yeah.

Yeah, he's done great. Yeah. There's a few podcasters that I know, like, I know them from 20, 25 years ago. And I don't speak to them on a regular basis at all. But I watch their career and I go, I know them. And they did it. They did something very similar. I cheer them on unless they make more money than us.

Then I don't cheer them on. Then I say, you're like, get out of me. You owe me money. Yeah. Joanna Hausman is currently writing for Phineas and Furb. I'm sorry, because I'm old in my brain farts. The name of the other show that you have on Disney Plus. Oh, yeah, Hamster and Greta.

Hamster and Greta. Yeah, yeah. I wanted to call it like John and Apple or something. I don't know what I was thinking. Squirrel and Apple. Maybe if it was renamed, they wouldn't be canceled. But it's still on Disney Plus, right? It's still on Disney Plus.

Yeah, no. It lives on. Go watch it. Do you get royalties from Hamster and Gretel if I watch it? Fun fact, I don't. Unless my voice is in it. Unless my voice is in it. In which case, we watch all of them.

Yes. Let's go ahead and watch them all. We'll put it on in the background. Watch episode 13 minute 4 through 6 so that Joanna can get a check. And then fuck the rest of it. Who cares about those other people? No, I'm kidding. Of course.

Bob, settle down. Settle down. The Polynesian for a week, parkhopper tickets. That's all I want, Bob. So talk to Joanna. Set it up. Say, Joanna, you just say, Bob, I know a needy family. I know a needy podcaster who wants to go.

come out to Disney. I'm sure he'll listen. I'm going to email him. I'm going to slack him. Yeah. I wonder to you. Yeah. I wonder, but here's the thing.

You working for Disney is going to end up being the best thing in the world to your children. Yeah. I mean, if you continue to work for Disney. Yeah. We'll see. We'll see what happens. But I love that I'm going to be able to share with her soon my content. Because a lot of my other comedy, I'm like, you've got to wait until you're right.

But those shows. Hey, it's gone through, it's gone through a copious amounts of checking from the Disney legal. Yes. So to make sure you can see it. Yeah. Safe. Well, congratulations, too. Yeah.

Thank you, God. Congratulations on the baby. Let's do this again. And another couple of months. And give us the exclusive. And give us the exclusive. Yes. Oh, yeah.

I got something coming out and I think it's going to be very fun to talk about once that. Okay. We're excited. Okay. If we're not, if you're not here to allow us to, put that out a day before him, we are going to put you in the Nikki Jam category, which is, I don't know.

I know. We love Nikki. I'll text you, I promise. Okay. Joanna Hausman, all of her links are in the show notes. Finneas and Ferb, available on Disney Plus. Thanks, Joanna. We appreciate it.

Thank you, Joanna. Thank you, guys. Love you. Let me do something Brian has never done. Be brief. Follow us on Instagram at the commercial break. Text or call us. 4333-3-3-3-Tcb. That's 212 433-3822. Visit our website, TCB Podcast.com, for all the audio,

video, and your free sticker. Then watch all the videos at YouTube.com slash the commercial break. And finally, share the show. It's the best gift you could give a few aging podcasters. See, Brian? That really wasn't that difficult, now, was it? You're welcome. All right, Joanna Hausman. Yes. I do love her. I know. She's just got a ball of energy. I just love talking to her. Yeah. She's sweet. She's kind. She's funny. She's sharp.

She's now a mama. So she's got mama brain. And there's nothing like a mama brain. Mama brains get smarter. Daddy brains get dumber. We can't handle all the minutia. Well, I was going to say, there's so many things to remember. It just happens. Thank God for mama brains. Thank God for Mama Brains. Joanna Hausman is a writer and I think voices some things on the new episodes of Phineas and Furb.

They are available on Disney Plus. I think they also run on Disney Channel. I think they do. I'll put it in the show notes. I want to double check. Make sure that's correct. And then, of course, follow Joanna on her own social media for more commentary on Venezuela and Venezuela. You love it.

That stuff is really funny. Yes, it is. She took an idea that I She didn't take my idea She presented an idea that I also had Which was the differences Between the two birthday songs If you've ever heard of Venezuelan birthday song

You'll know it because you'll have to have Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner While they're doing the Venezuelan Birthday song It's six hours long It's the craziest thing you've ever heard And that's... I like their celebration of birthdays

I do They get very excited Me too Very excited Yeah, you do too. I'm Irish. We just, you know, we bang ourselves with a pot. Stop growing old. We're born with original sin. There's got to be an Irish jig for birthdays. I'm sure there is. But since I'm not really Irish, since I just say that, but my family's been here for a hundred years, you know.

All right, 212-4333-TCB. 212, 433-38-22. Questions. comments, concerns, content ideas. We do take them all right there. Make sure to follow us on Instagram at The Commercial Break so that you can get informed about when Chrissy and I go live on Twitch, YouTube, maybe TikTok and Instagram. We'll see if we can figure it out. YouTube.com slash the commercial break is the place where you can find all of the video, the same day at air is here on the audio, including this episode and TCB Podcast.

Dot com for more information about the show and your free sticker. Okay, Chrissy, that's all I can do for now. I think so. that I love you. And I love you. Best to you. Best to you. Best to you. It best to you out there in the podcast universe. Until next time, Chrissy and I will say. We do say and we must say. Goodbye. On game day, pain can hit hard and fast, like the headache you get when your favorite team and your fantasy team both lose. When pain comes to play, call an audible with Advil

plus acetaminophen and get long-lasting dual-action pain relief for up to eight hours. Tackle your tough pain two ways with Advil plus acetaminopin. AdVille. the official pain relief partner of the NFL. Ask your pharmacist at this product's rate for you. Always read and follow the label.