The Commercial Break - TCB Infomercial: Joe List

Episode Date: June 17, 2025

EP#778 with Joe List: Comedian Joe List joins Bryan and Krissy for a candid and hilarious conversation that dives into everything from bombing in Boston, surviving yearly mouse arrivals to and touring with Louis C.K. Joe opens up about his decade-long sobriety journey, the inner chaos that fuels his comedy, and why anxiety is the least funny thing to experience—but maybe the funniest to talk about. From Tuesdays with Stories to Fourth of July, Joe shares behind-the-scenes stories, the secret to surviving the road, and how not drinking makes everything (including bombing) a little more vivid. It’s awkward, honest, and absurd—in other words, classic TCB! JOE'S LINKS: ⁠Joe's Website with ALL the info you need! Joe's Insta Joe's New Special Watch EP #778 with Joe List on 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: 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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Nice. On behalf of Air Canada, nice travels. Wifi available to Airplane members on Equip Flight, sponsored by Bell Conditions Supply, sieracanada.com. I think I'm a good dad. I kept having a... I felt like the universe was testing me leading up to being a father. I kept having run-ins with other people's children, which is always awkward. Last year I was in a hotel, like a really nice hotel, like a high-rise hotel, and I

got on an elevator and it was me and a dad and his little boy, who was probably two or three, and then the doors closed. We were going down. We stopped at a floor. The doors opened. Nobody got off or on. Then the doors closed. And so I said, hey, must have been a ghost. Classic elevator humor. That's not my joke. I didn't write that. That's just an old elevator gag. You guys didn't really laugh. They did not laugh at all.

They...the kids started crying immediately. Just...I was like, hey, it must have been a ghost. The kid was like, what? Ah! And I felt bad for the kid, but then the dad goes, hey, come on. And I was like, pal, your kid is a little bitch. I'm sorry, this is not my fault. You're raising a dork who's afraid of ghosts.

It was a joke. On this episode of the Commercial Break. So I've, my wife and I in our old apartment, we live in a nicer place now. We haven't had a mouse yet, but our old apartment, we would get like an annual mouse visit. We'd have a single mouse once every 18 months or something. And the way we got it, the first time, I caught one in a humane trap, which is like the tube with the holes.

And then you go and let it out. But I did not realize you have to go a mile from your house. Yes. So I just went outside and let him go and he just shot directly back into my house. Like he was home before I was. And it was raining out that night so it felt like Shawshank Redemption. Like I just gave him a shower. I basically just rinsed him off.

And so then it took me a while to find him again and I took him, I finally went a mile and released him really close to a friend of mine's apartment. And they were like, maybe he'll live there. Yeah. The next episode of The Commercial Break starts now. Yeah, boy! Oh, yeah, cats and kittens, welcome back to The Commercial Break. I'm Brian Green. This is my dear friend, Chris and Joy Hoadley.

Best to you, Chris. Best to you, Brian. Dear friend and co-host, and best to you out there on the Podcast Universe. Forgot that part. Best to you out there on the Podcast Universe. I forgot that part. Best of you out there on the Podcast Universe. Thanks for joining us on a TCB InfoMail show Tuesday with podcaster and comedian Joe List. Joe List is here. Joe List.

Ah, we love ourselves a little Joe List, don't we, Chrissy? Yes, we do. Joe List is on his fourth hour long special in five years. Congratulations to him. That's a, that's prolific. Honestly, that's a lot of, that's a lot of comedy to write in just a short amount of time. That special is out on YouTube now. So I'm going to put links in the show notes. Please go watch it. Also he does the, uh, Tuesdays with stories. I keep on forgetting the name of this podcast, even though I've seen that. So instead of like Tuesdays with Moris.

Yeah, that's right. Tuesdays with Stories instead of Tuesdays with Mori. And every time I want to call it something completely different. Anyway, with Mark Norman, also a very popular and funny comedian. They have been doing this podcast since 2013, Chrissy. What? Say what? Almost as long as, you know, Marc Maron, the other guy that's leaving podcasting. Let's hope this one keeps up. You can find that podcast, links in the show notes also.

And I had to write a list down because he's on so many podcasts. Ready? Mindful Metal Jacket Podcast, and the Joe and Renan Talk Movies Podcast with Renan Hirschbergs. He's also a regular on Robert Kelly's podcast, You Know What, Dude. So this guy is on five different podcasts. And I think I saw him on Howie. He was on Howie Mandel. I watched that part of that episode.

And wow, Howie is out there, man. Howie is a wacky motherfucker. I know. I want to ask him about that. I want to, Howie is out there, man. Howie is a wacky motherfucker. I want to ask him about that. I want to ask Howie to be on his podcast. I think I'd have fun. I couldn't touch him or be near him, but you know, he's like, you know, he's like a, he's OCD germaphobe. That's right.

And when he touches people, he gets all upset about it. Apparently that's what, that's the thing that he says. That's his whole, That's his whole thing. Anyway, he was also a touring comic with Louis CK when Louis was doing his thing before he was doing his thing. You know what I'm saying? Before Louis CK became kind of persona non grata for certain indiscretions, let's put it that way. But whatever happened to Louis CKK. and all that jazz,

he's back, he's touring. I think I saw he's doing a special. So anyway, also another prolific comic of our time at the height of his fame, and Joe was part of that whole... Now, let me be clear about this. Let me separate those two in your mind. Joe List went on tour with Louis CK during Louis' heyday. Louis' heyday.

He, Louis. I like to say it that way. I know, I gotta love Louis. It's so much fun, Louis CK. Louis CK's heyday. Joe, by all accounts, was no part of Louis' heyday, if you know what I mean. Yeah, I think he was maybe along for the ride, but not...

Not actually riding along. He was along for the ride, but not actually riding along, if you know what we're saying without saying it. I like Joe and I don't want him to get pissed at us. So therefore, I will not ask him anything about that because that has nothing to do with him. And he probably hates that fucking question. I bet. Or maybe, I don't know, maybe he's addressed it,

but not on this show. That's 10 years ago at this point. Who fucking cares anyway. All right, so let's do this, Chrissy. Let's take a break. And when we get back through the magic of tele-podcasting, we're going to make this a quick, quick hit today. We'll have Joe List all of the information in the show notes.

In case you want wanna follow up, please do watch his brand new special available on YouTube now. Just go down, just open your phone, scroll down. There's a blue little link and directly after you listen to this show, click on that and listen to his new special. We'll be back.

Okay, you're probably wondering why I, Rachel, have taken over the voice duties at TCB. It's pretty simple. Astrid asked me to shut Brian up, even for a minute. Well, lovely Astrid, your wish is my command. Do you want to help Astrid, too? You know you do. Leave a message for her, or me, or Chrissy, at 212-433-3TCB. That's 212-433-3822. You can be on the show too. Just call and say something. Anything. Or text us and we'll text you right back. Promise. Then head over to tcbpodcast.com and get your free sticker. It's your constitutional right to a sticker, and we must abide. You get the point. Follow us on Instagram at The Commercial Break and watch all the episodes on video at youtube.com slash The Commercial Break.

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so we put our heart into making sure it's protected. Get insurance that's really big on care. Find an agent today at Desjardins.com slash business coverage. Find an agent today at Desjardins.com slash business coverage. And Joe's here with us now. Hey, Joe, thank you so much for joining us today, Mr. List. Yeah, thanks so much for having me. You guys look great. You look very tan, both of you. Well, I look tan because I go to the tanning bed. Chrissy looks tan because that's the lighting we set up for. I've been at sports events for my nephews. Yeah, we get a lot of sun down here in Atlanta

all the time. Yeah. Oh, beautiful. I have small children and we just happen to have a pool, also known as a death trap in the back of our house. And so every day I get to spend an hour and a half out there desperately trying to save them from dying in my death trap in the back of the house.

Joe, I saw on your Instagram, were you on the Howie Mandel podcast? I was, I just was there a couple of weeks ago, yeah, had a great time. I'm so fascinated by Howie Mandel and his podcast and his thing. He's like, you know, a germaphobe, but then he like loves to play pranks and get dirty and get involved. What was your experience on the Howie Mandel podcast? It's a big podcast too. Yeah, I had a great time.

I mean, he has like, he's like a big business entrepreneur guy. Like he has a huge space. It's massive. It's similar to like Joe Rogan's thing. And he's got, he's invested in these, I don't even know what you call them. I should know because he told me but it's like what do you call that Tupac when they did? You know what I mean the hologram hologram things. Yeah, he's got like 20 of those I like you can just talk to people like celebrities and stuff. It's really insane. It's like an AI

It felt like I went into the future. Yeah celebrities and stuff. It's really insane. It's like an AI. It felt like I went into the future. Yeah. That's wild. Howie Mandel has a hologram museum, essentially, where you walk in, you're talking to different celebrities

in their 3D version. Yes, it's crazy. Holy shit. And he had somebody, oh my God, I can't think of who, like roasted me. Oh, God damn it, I should remember. It was like some celebrity person. Oh, it was Adam Ray, that's who it was. It was, oh, god damn it, I should remember. It was like some celebrity person. Oh, it was Adam Ray, that's who it was.

It was Adam Ray, the comedian, as Dr. Phil. And he was like, hey, Joe List is here. And then Adam, as Dr. Phil, was like, hey, nice shirt, you idiot, you little stupid. It was crazy. And he's got a full band and like all kinds of toys and stuff, yeah, it was awesome. Yeah, he's taken his podcast.

And I've only seen a number of episodes, but he's taken his podcast kind of like a new zany level. I saw the one where he had Billy Corgan and Bill Burr where there has been a rumor that the two of them are related, they're brothers. And they like confronted each other. And it was the most uncomfortable thing I've ever seen them.

I don't know if they were mugging for the camera or whatever, And it was the most uncomfortable thing I've ever seen him. I don't know if they were mugging for the camera or whatever, but it was the most uncomfortable thing that I have seen on podcasting. And how he's there for it, he really is. Joe, how long have you been doing comedy for those who may not know Joe List yet? Yeah, a lot of people don't know me. Same here. Same here, Joe.

It turns out. So I've been doing comedy for 25 years. Yeah, a lot of people don't know me. Same here, same here, Joe. So I've been doing comedy for 25 years. Holy shit. Which is weird to say. Yeah, I started right out of high school and yeah, it's been a long, long time. And you traveled around. You were doing quite a bit with Louis C.K., is that correct? I did, yeah.

Back in 2016, 2017, I did his whole world tour. It was crazy. That was when he was still doing like massive arenas, which he still does sometimes, but yeah, it's crazy. What is that experience for you? Like this massive comedian says, hey, let's do this together. Let's go around the world and you warm me up. It was insane.

I mean, first of all, at that time, I had... Before I met Louis, he was like my favorite comedian. He was the biggest thing. He's on the cover of Rolling Stone, and appearing at the Oscars and the TV show and all that stuff. So he was like some guy I idolized, and then we became friendly and then close friends. And at that time, he was flying around on a private jet,

like a private jet with a waitress on it. And we were staying at like the Four Seasons and the Ritz. It was nuts. You are kidding me. No, it was crazy. It was the craziest experience of my life. We went all over Europe. We went to like Israel, Paris, Vienna.

I can't even remember. Dublin, London. And had like a lady with a little rectangle hat on the flight bringing us drinks and steaks. It was wild. It was like the most unbelievable experience of my life. That is insane to be like a young comic. You know, I'm sure this is the dream of every comic is to literally land, you know, in the lap of luxury with the world's biggest comic. I don't think there's too many comics that fly around on, none that have been

here at the commercial break, that fly around on private jets and have a waitress inside of the airplane and get to do the world tour. Do you, when you have that experience, when you're like, oh my God, we're staying to the Four Seasons, we're flying around the world, we're doing all these experiences, and then you have to like kind of fall back to then going and doing the, you know, on your own journeyman type thing. I bet that's kind of a kick in the balls. Pete It's definitely weird. I mean, one time I opened for him at Madison Square Garden, three times I did actually, and then you just get on the subway and you're on like the sea train And nobody has any idea that you've just you know Performed at Madison Square Garden

So it was weird and I do remember doing Madison Square Garden and then doing a bar show Like in a basement bar like two blocks from Madison Square Garden the next night. It's called Mustang Sally's. It was like a crappy bar gig and just in the middle of it being like, I was at MSG a couple days ago. So it's, but it's fun. It like adds to the romanticism of comedy, I guess. Yeah. It's, it's kind of put some lure to the history of, of what you're doing, but that does have to be a strange sensation to be in front of what is it? 20,000, 25,000 people. And then 15 minutes later, no one knows who you're like, I just played Meredith's Consecret Garden and I'm sitting next to the homeless guy that smells like booze.

Yeah, literally. It's definitely a weird thing, but it was an awesome experience. I loved it. Where'd you grow up? I grew up in Whitman, Massachusetts, which is about 40 minutes south of Boston, and is where the chocolate chip cookie was invented. Oh, really? Yeah, good, good, true story.

Yeah, do tell about the chocolate chip cookie. I'm interested. I mean, I had nothing to do with it. Supposing the story is it was a mistake, a woman was making something and spilled. It's like the classic, like, you know. Loopsie. Yeah, and pulled out chocolate chips and a cookie,

but I am obsessed with chocolate chip cookies. That's where it's from. And I don't know, I pulled out chocolate chips and a cookie, but I am obsessed with chocolate chip cookies. That's where it's from. And I don't know, I think I might be the most famous person from Whitman. I'm not a hundred percent sure, but. I've never heard of another person from Whitman, but the chocolate chip cookie is, you know, takes the cake as far as fame is concerned, but it's not a person. So you might be the most famous person from Whitman in Massachusetts and then spent your entire life up there. Are you still living up in that region? No, I've been in New York. I've lived in New York City for 18 years.

So I lived in Whitman for, till I was like, I think, I don't know, 22. And then I moved into Boston for a couple of years. And then I've been living in New York for 18 years now. Are you always on the road? Is that something that's just part of your life? Yeah, I mean, I'm not as on... I have a baby myself now, 18 months. Congratulations. Thank you. 19 months old. So I'm trying to be on a little less, but I try to do like every other week. So now I'm on the road, I don't know, 30 weeks a year where I used to be more like 45 weeks a year or something like that.

But it's like Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and I come home for four days. But with the baby, it's tougher because he's the best and I want to be with him. Yeah, you know, I think to myself sometimes, and like our agent has said, you know, oh, go out there and, you know, do some shows and do some stand-up. First of all, I'm not a stand-up. I sit behind a microphone. This is way easier than anything a stand-up ever does. But the other thing that I always think about is my children. And I've often said this on the show is I'm afraid one of two things is going

to happen. Either I'm going to be terribly depressed because I'm not around the kids who, while they're a pain in the ass, really do make me happy. Or number two, I'm gonna start to like it. I'm gonna be like, I really like being away from the kids. It's, and it makes me a little bit nervous. But at 18 months old, that's a precious age. It's hard to leave an 18 month old. Yeah, no, he's the sweetest and he's very attached. He's very into me.

No one's ever loved me as much. I always joke, I'm like, I wish my wife loved me as much as the baby that I leave. He's like sobbing, you know, he has to be consoled. So it is tough. But you know, it is nice to sleep in and not carry a baby around for a couple days. So it's hard to balance, but I love being home. Yeah, for sure.

When you talked about recently on your, I don't know if this is recent or if you pinned it or whatever, you talked about having a mouse in your house. And I really relate to that because I also had a mouse in my house. Yeah, you did. Did you get a cat or did you get an electric trap is the question. Which one did you get? No, I mean, that clip, that's the first time I ever heard of electric trap. Me too. Yeah. So I've,

my wife and I in our old apartment, we live in a nicer place now, we haven't had a mouse yet, but our old apartment, we would get like an annual mouse visit. We'd have a single mouse once every 18 months or something. And the way we got it, the first time, I caught one in a humane trap, which is like the tube with the holes. And then you go and let it out. But I did not realize, you have to go a mile from your house.

So I just went outside and let him go, and he just shot directly back into my house. Like he was home before I was. And it was raining out that night, so it felt like Shawshank Redemption. I just gave him a shower. I basically just rinsed him off. So then it took me a while to find him again, and I took him, I finally went a mile and

released him really close to a friend of mine's apartment. And they were like, maybe he can live there. Yeah, go try this place. It reminds me of my pet rat when I was a kid, and I had to go release it down the street. I got an idea when I was a kid that, I mean, a teenager, there was a lot of people in my, like this hippie circle of friends that I had, they all started getting pet rats,

like the kind you buy at a store that would save them from the snake or whatever, and the rat would sit on my shoulder. And I had him for like, I don't know, three months, but my dad abhorred everything about it. He was like, you're not bringing a rat into the house. There's no way they carry diseases. And he said, if that rat gets into the house just once, if I see that rat in the house, that rat is no more. I'm going to kill it myself. And so one night the rat got into the house. I let it into the house. That's how it got in the house, but it got away

from me. And so my dad says, you have to do something with that rat. It cannot be anywhere around this house anymore. And in the middle of the night, I had to walk it down the street and I released it into the sewer. And I'm pretty sure that it didn't last 10 minutes because it was a domesticated rat. It was used to being fed. What did it know? He's probably got eaten by the other more mean rats. I always thought about that, Joe. I've heard that rats are actually nicer than mice. This thing was've heard. This thing was very sweet.

I mean, I hate to say, like I don't want to disnify my relationship with the rat and give it a personality, but it felt to me like we had a connection. Because when I would come around, it would run to me and then it would jump up on my shoulder. It would just sit there and I'd feed it. You know, I think it was just used to being fed, quite frankly, but it never bit anybody, never attacked,

it never did anything like that. We had a mouse attacks the rat. It didn't turn into a teenage mutant, Ninja Turtles or anything like that. But we had a rat one time, a mouse here at our house. And here's how I, I know is because my wife kept waking up and there'd be fruit on the floor of our kitchen, like it'd take from the fruit bowl and then throw it on the ground, I guess, trying to get it or whatever. And at the time we had two dogs that were not

playing nice with each other. So I put one of the dogs in the kitchen, like gated it in the kitchen at night to sleep. And I put a camera in there to see if I could catch the mouse. And what I caught was the most unbelievable scene I had ever witnessed with my own two eyes. And that was the rat, the mouse, was literally taunting the dog.

It was like coming up to the dog, sniffing the dog. The dog would wake up, would raise its head. The dog never once barked, never tried to get it, never tried, never moved. Wow. A mouse just owned, it was like, listen here little doggy, I'm gonna take your fruit. Wow, well mice are smart, right?

I mean, they've got bendy bones and they're smart or something. I don't know anything about animals. Yeah, I don't know anything about animals either. Another time I had a mouse and I killed it by just, this is bad, earmuffs if you're very sensitive, but he was running up my hall. I lived at the end of like a long hallway

in an apartment building and he was running directly towards me and I just reacted and kicked it and it like skidded across the thing. It was just dead. I just punted him to death. Oh God. But he was trying to get in my house. My wife is in there. He was gonna try to make love to my wife. I can punted him to death. But he was trying to get in my house. My wife was in

there. He was going to try to make love to my wife. I can't have that. So I just, I kicked him like, you know, Ray Finkel and he just went flying. Oh my God, that's too funny. I read that you met your wife through a roast battle. Is that right? No, we didn't meet through a roast battle, but we met through, but we did roast each other and it was pretty, yeah, it was pretty spicy. It was great. I mean, people see it and they're like,

oh my God, you guys are gonna get divorced, did you guys have a huge fight? But we wrote the jokes together with a friend of ours. Like we both knew what the other was gonna say. Because you don't, the thing about a roast that's nerve wracking, you don't wanna learn something about yourself at a roast. Yeah.

You don't want your wife to say, yeah, because this guy, you know, snores, whatever the hell it is, and then you're like, wait, what? I didn't know you felt that way. So, we worked on the jokes together, and so it ended up being really, really fun. She won, you know, I let her win. Maybe that's how we can do our roast. I told you. You know Brian, do you know Brian Moses? The roast battle? Yeah, I know Brian Moses. So Brian came on and then he says, he comes up with an idea during the interview.

He's like, you guys should roast each other. Come on out. You know, we'll put you up, we'll give you a couple minutes and we'll help you write the roast battle jokes together. And so I was all about it. Chrissy said, no, I don't want to do that. I don't want to be mean. You know, I don't, I don't want us to get into like some kind of discourse

because of the Rose battle. And I said, but we get to write them and choose them. Like, it's not like, it's not like we're just going to blind sight each other with a bunch of insults. You're, we're going to talk this out before we go on. So I think, I don't think that happens in every Rose battle. I think it happens when two people know each other real well. And like you said, you don't want to be known as the two pump.

Like you don't want your wife to come up and say, you're a two pump chump. And then you're like, did you have to say that in front of everyone? Exactly. Yeah, so we went over them together. And because I went one time, I was on a roast years and years ago, and there was like eight comics on the day. It wasn't a roast battle, just a regular roast.

And there was one guy and everybody did a joke about how his breath smelled horrible. And he was like, we did it individually. It's not like we got together like, let's all talk about this. We all just, that's what we came up with. And he was like, I had no idea. I had a breath problem. So that's like the worst thing that can happen on a roast to me. Yeah. Roasts are, it's a certain flavor of comedy. I find some of it funny, but then sometimes I watch some of those roasts are, it's a certain flavor of comedy. I find some of it funny, but then I, sometimes I watch some of those roasts and I wonder just how emotionally stable that person is after the roast,

because you know, you take it like a tough guy, but everybody, something's, there's some soft in everybody, right? There's a soft middle in everybody. And I bet sometimes people get off and they're like, wow, I didn't know you off and they're like, wow, I didn't know you felt that way about me. Oh, for sure.

Yeah, no, it can be a little dicey. I do think it is best to roast people you're close with, which is the way roasts used to be. And then like the Comedy Central roasts have kind of got to a weird place where we just had comedians come on and roast people they don't really know. And that can be weird. Yeah, there were a few of those

that looked rather uncomfortable. Yeah, but interesting, we're talking about that kind of like roasting people and emotional stability. You have been kind of outspoken about mental health. I actually just saw the trailer a couple days ago on your Instagram trailer for this movie that you were in about anxiety, can you share more about that? Yeah, so my friend, Wendy Lobel,

she made this film about comedians with anxiety that's been in the works for a long, long time. It's actually painful to see the footage because... Yeah, it's from like 2020, right? Yeah, yeah, I look insane. To me, I look insane. But, yeah, so she made this movie, and it follows me and Mark Normand and Baron Von and then another woman who I don't know

and I forget her name, who's actually in it the most, and I feel like an idiot for not remembering her name. So she filmed it over years and got like tons and tons of footage of these comedians, and I went and meditated with Tara Brock, who's a famous meditation teacher who I love. And it's been a long project, and she got it together, I went and meditated with Tara Brock, who's a famous meditation teacher who I love. And it's been a long project and she got it together

and now it's like going, it's doing great. It's on the festival circuit and stuff. And it's a really great movie. Like I said, it's painful to watch myself, but you guys probably don't carry the same pain watching me that I do. I think you're a pleasant looking guy, Joe. I know. Thank you.

But I also understand the struggle of looking guy, Joe. I know. Thank you. But I also understand the struggle of looking in the mirror and not always feeling. I think that piggybacks nicely off the conversation about anxiety is that we all have anxieties and like is mentioned in the trailer of the film and is, you know, most people, if they think about it for a second, will probably understand that anxiety is really your brain making up fear of something that may or may not happen, right? Anxiety is fear of the future and stress is, you know,

the pain of the past or trauma is pain of the past. And that can be really debilitating to people. And I think we all have it to some degree. I know I have it to some degree, I know I have it to some degree. I guess meditation is one of the ways that you deal with us, with your own anxieties? Yeah, so I've come a long, long way, especially since then and before then, but I'm a big meditator and therapy, I love therapy. I'd go to therapy every day if I could. I just think it's the best. I agree.

But I go, um, I go, yeah, once a week and then I'm a big meditation and then I'm always reading like some kind of psychology book or philosophy book or listening to them and all that stuff. What kind of meditation are you into? I listen to the waking up app, which is Sam Harris' meditation app, and it's kind of, I always forget the name, Theravada or some other Vada, some other country. Aravada, yeah. Oh, the Aravada. Yeah, it's like body scanning, is that what it is?

It's some of that, but a lot of, yeah, like seeing through the ego and that there's nothing there, nothingness, emptiness, all that kind of stuff. Mm-hmm. Yeah, I'm with you. So meditation and therapy are two of the ways that I deal with my own anxieties. And I think it's a really important subject, and I applaud you for being open and transparent about it. And I do think that comedy is one of the ways that we comedians oftentimes will share their own neuroses or their own struggles with mental health or their own questions about their own existence or whatever it is, right?

There are anxieties out there in a funny way that it's hard to not be open when you're laughing and then that message kind of gets through. Oh, he recognizes what I'm feeling or he has the same thing. I think comedy in a way can be therapeutic like that or at least opens the mind sometimes. I don't wanna say it's some grand exploration, but I do believe that comedians sometimes

can be on the forefront of opening our minds to conversations that maybe we otherwise didn't have. Did I read this correctly, Joe, that you've been sober for 10 years, 12 years? Yeah, about 12 and a half years, yeah, which is another thing that has really helped my stress and anxiety. Yeah, congratulations. Thank you. Yeah, I have not been drinking now for almost a decade, drinking, you know, free from the drinking and most drugs except for prescription medications.

But how has that changed your life? Oh, immeasurably. I mean, I can't even imagine, right? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, immeasurably. I mean, like, I mean, I drank a lot, obviously. And comedy, it's free drinks, open bar everywhere,

and all that stuff. So just, I spent so much time. I would get off stage. I would drink before the show, during the show, after the show. And having a baby, it's been so helpful to not be drinking. My wife and I always talk about, she's sober too. Having to do this hungover, I cannot imagine,

and then just not being present for your kid's life and all that stuff. And basically, I mean, when I hit 30, that's when I quit drinking, my hangovers were insane. Like when I was 22, I would get blackout drunk, throw up in a shoe, shit on the floor, wake up and play basketball the next day. Like I would be like, oh, 10 a.m. basketball game,

here we go, and then at 30, I would just wanna die. So it definitely made me much more prolific in comedy, much a happier person, a much more physically fit person, and not that I'm not exactly the fittest, but I'm not throwing up or shitting my pants. So just every aspect of my life improved in every way, countless ways. I share some of the same revelations about sobriety. I didn't get sober because I went to jail or I ended up on the street or there was some big financial collapse I got sober because

Well, first of all, I was smoking cigarettes at the time and I could not for the life of me stop smoking cigarettes The second I put alcohol to my lips, I needed to smoke a cigarette And I hated the fact that I was smoking cigarettes at my age. I'm like fuck this you're gonna die Like clearly this is terrible for your health. You gotta stop. So I said, why don't you stop drinking for three months? That'll get you over the hump. And within a couple of weeks of not drinking,

life started to change in ways that were very unexpected. Nothing I was looking for, but all of a sudden started to happening. Some clarity, some perspective, some understanding. And like you said, my hangovers were getting worse. My drunks were getting more kind of sloppy, right? And I just felt like after a couple of months, after I stopped smoking cigarettes, and then after a couple of months, I was like, wow, I don't want to be the old

guy at the bar sitting at the corner, drunk like an idiot, sloppy as I can be. because that's just not a good look. But then that guy doesn't have, I mean, I'm sure there are some people who drink alcohol well into their existence and are very smart and self-aware and all that. But, you know, I haven't met too many of them, right? They're always just kind of, they can be a little sloppy sometimes. So I said to myself, wow. And then years into it, I had children. And I cannot imagine for the life of me being hung over with small children. Can't even imagine it. No, it's crazy. And it's hard enough being tired all the time and all that stuff and running around chasing them dead sober healthy. So I just, I just can't imagine. And yeah.

And that's the other thing is like in comedy, at least I think most fields, there's not a lot of people that are like really, really successful who are blacking out at night. There's a couple. That's true. A couple. We know them. We don't have the name, you know,

we don't need to say names. We know them. They're just alcohol and comedy go hand in hand for them. And some of them are really funny, by the way. Some of them are really funny, by the way. Some of them are really funny, some of them we've had on the show. They're really funny.

Was that a crutch for you when you would go on stage? Did that help you? Was that like bravery juice? I would have to do it. I mean, I was never uncomfortable doing comedy sober, but I definitely, it was fun. It was funner to be a little bit loose and have a little uninhibited, but you definitely,

there was a lot more getting off stage and being like, what did I say? Why did I flip out? Did I say the F word 700 times? Whatever it is, you know? So there was definitely a lot more, that was the other thing too when I was drinking, I was a big drunk texter and caller. I would wake up and send 40 texts to people and be like,

I love you, you love me, whatever it was. And I'm like, oh my God. Or Facebook Messenger. And I'm like, I messaged that person. Jesus. Oh, Joe. It sounds like we live the same life. I was the same way. Yeah. It was terrible. I was one of those guys. I was always either telling people that they loved me or that they hated me. That was my big thing. I'd be like, you hate me. Why do you hate me? Or I would be like, you fucking love me. What do you do? You know you love me. You know you love me. Send me a tid-pack. Come on, let's do it. Yeah, there was a lot of that too. Tell us about your new special coming out. Or actually by the time this airs it will have been out.

So tell us about your new special. Oh great. Yeah, it's out. It's doing great. It's called... It's hitting the charts. It's hitting the YouTube charts. It's called Small Ball.

It's my fourth hour special that I've done the last, I think, five and a half years, six years. Jeez, Joe. In the last five years you put out four separate hours? Yeah, yeah. Wow. It's been going well, so I don't know how I've done it.

I try not to think about it, but they're all good, I think. But I think this one's better than the last one. I'm really happy about it. I shot it in Chicago back in October at Zany's Comedy Club. I actually shot it in two different clubs. This is Zany's downtown,

this one in Rosemont, which is kind of the suburbs. And we shot them and we kind of cut them together, but not in a, you know, weird way, jarring way. It's like just a few cuts, so there's a lot of footage from both. And I'm really happy with it, I'm excited about it. And we tried to sell it to Netflix and they said,

lose our number, rip up my number, don't ever call me again, this is terrible. No they're backed up or whatever. But so we're putting it on YouTube and I actually love YouTube. It gives you the freedom, I own it and it's all the specials are in one place. You can collect all four, they're all right there. We've talked to a few people that have done the YouTube and said how much they loved it. We've talked to a lot of people. 800 P YouTube and said how much they loved it. We've talked to a lot of people.

800-pound gorilla has been supportive of a lot of people. They of course have the YouTube channel. I think they also sell on streaming too. But there's a lot of comedians that come on here, noted comedians, people who have been on Netflix, and then they go, you know what, I'm doing this one on YouTube, for whatever reason. I'm sure there's a myriad of them. And to Netflix credit, I think they have been pretty supportive of the-

They've been doing a lot of comedy. Yeah, a lot of comedy. But if you put out a special, you want people to see it and you don't want them to wait five years or till you've finished negotiating with Netflix or whatever, is that difficult to navigate that? I mean, my personal opinion, and this is why I like podcasting, it's multi-platform.

I'm not stuck to just Apple or Spotify, Castbox, whatever. If one goes down or one changes the way they do things, we still have others that are out there. I don't rely on them. It's disparate in nature and I control what I put out there and what I don't put out there, and I can do it instantly. I don't have to wait for somebody else to distribute it. So I understand the allure of just putting it out there on YouTube on your own and

self-distribution, but is it difficult sometimes trying to navigate the world of streaming and streamers and OTT and all that other shit? Yeah, it's weird and none of this was around when I started. I didn't know this was gonna be part of my career. It's so crazy, I always laugh about like, when I started now 25 years ago, I used to always say for years, I'm like, if you put in an hour of work a day, you're ahead of most comedians,

because comedians are lazy by nature. And now it's like we all have nine to fives. You gotta cut clips, you gotta post, you gotta tweet, you gotta have a podcast and a web series and all this shit. So it is tricky kind of managing all of it, but at the same time it's awesome because there's less gatekeepers and you can make something with your phone. We all have television studios in our pocket and then you can just upload it to YouTube.

Even I know how to do that and I'm an idiot. So it is great and it's like we all have our own TV channel, which has its plus and minuses obviously, but it's definitely been challenging having to learn these things because a lot of this stuff is stuff I didn't wanna do. That's why I wanted to be a comedian. I didn't wanna have a job or work or think about stuff other than, you know, dick jokes,

but ultimately it's great. It's like the best thing that ever happened in my career. When, at what point in your evolution, did you like jump on board with that kind of, I need to be a most-eyed faceted content creator and not just a standup comedian? Are you, were you late to the game or? Because you said, I didn't want to do it.

I hear you, Joe. That's exactly how we feel. It's time consuming. Yeah, we hate it. It is. I like to podcast. That's exactly how we feel. It's time consuming. Yeah, we hate it. It is. I like to podcast. That's what I like to do. I was definitely late.

Twitter and Instagram and stuff, I was just like, I'm not doing that crap. I mean, it's crazy how late I got into social media stuff and YouTube. I just didn't build a channel or really try to do any of that. I just always thought like, I'll just do standup on the road

and they'll give me a movie or something. I don't know why I was stupid. And Instagram, when people started doing clips and crowd work stuff, I was still posting because I'm like an amateur photographer. So I was still posting sunsets and buildings. Like guys were doing like bus tours, like theater tours because of their clips,

and I was like, get out of here, Instagram's for photos. And so I actually had to start a new Instagram account. I have a JoLis photography Instagram, in addition to JoLis comedy. I did see that. I take some great photos. But I just, I've been so resistant and reluctant to all this stuff,

but now I'm coming around, I'm doing better. Yeah, I think it is, I'm doing better. Yeah, I think it is a double edged sword. It keeps you busy. I mean, we are so late to the game too. I think like two months ago we said, okay, we should pay attention to this Instagram thing five years into the podcast. You know, hey, we should put out some videos since everything is now video.

But it is tough because it adds so much more work. And if it's not your sweet spot, if it's not your lane, then you either have to find somebody who can help you with that, or you have to learn a whole new way of looking at and thinking about your own content. And like you said, there's comedians who are out there who are just putting clips of crowd work

and they're doing entire tours. They're making millions of dollars because they did these clips with crowd work. Well, some of them, I would argue, not all of them, but some of them, that's what they, that's all they do. It's just crowd work. Like they just do clips of crowd work, right? It's not standup comedy in the classic sense.

It's just, let's go out there and talk to the crowd. And I guess that's a form of art too, but it's very interesting if you go like you for 25 years, have been honing your craft as a standup comedian, set up punchline, set up punchline, storytell punchline, and then you have to learn this whole new way of being. It's hard.

It's like teaching an old dog new tricks. Yeah, no, it's weird. And then I started doing these sort of ironic crowd work videos where I would just ask people where they were from and then be like, cool, and then name some things. So I thought that would be funny. And then I posted so many of those people were like, this guy sucks at crowd work. I'm like, no, I know that's the bit.

So that, you know, you just, it's hard to control what people are going to hope people can perceive things. You do a podcast? I do. Yeah, I do a podcast called Tuesdays with Stories with Mark Norman, which we've been doing for, I guess I was early in podcast because we've been doing it for 12 years now. 12? Yeah. Yeah. It's a great show. I've seen it. I like Mark. I think he's really funny. I think you guys are funny together. Oh, thank you. You're welcome. So his new special is

out now. We're going to put links in the show notes, Chrissy, if you don't mind. And we'll remind you all week to go watch Joe's special on YouTube. There's four of them available. You can listen to his podcast with Mark Normand, who is also a very funny comedian himself. And he's a booze aficionado. Am I right? He's got a booze company with, doesn't he have a?

Sam Rill. Sam Rill, who was just on the show a couple months ago. Bodega Cat, yeah, it's a whiskey. Do you get a lot of Bodega Cat Sam Rill. Sam Rill, who was just on the show a couple months ago. Yeah. Bodega Cat. Yeah, it's a whiskey. Do you get a lot of Bodega Cat when you're doing a podcast with Mark? No, I mean, I know- Oh, you don't because you don't drink.

Yeah, I don't drink and I always want to be like, it's awesome guys, you gotta get it. But I'm like, I have no idea. It might suck. I don't really know. I assume it's good. But yeah, I know. So they have a whiskey company together and now I'm seeing it more and more. So I think it's doing well.

I see ads all over social media and I don't know, they were at Madison Square Garden doing something. It was so congratulations to both of them. Okay, so Joe, you can find all his information down in the show notes. Please follow him on social media for clips and all that good jazz. Joe, it was very nice to meet you.

You are welcome back anytime. Thanks so much. Yeah, thank you very nice to meet you. You are welcome back anytime. Yeah, thank you. Next time you're here in Atlanta, please contact us because we will, this is not our only studio, we have another studio we would love to have you in and you can sit with us and we'll have a conversation and drink some tea. I would love that. Yeah, that's my favorite thing to do. We'll drink the tea and we'll spill the tea. Yeah, so make sure you contact us next time you're in Atlanta.

Appreciate it guys. Yeah, so make sure you contact us next time you're in Atlanta. Appreciate it, guys. Okay. Bye. Thanks, Joe. You make this rather snappy, won't you? I have some very heavy thinking to do before 10 o'clock. Hi, cats and kittens. Rachel here. Do you ever get the urge to speak endlessly into the void, like Brian? Well, I've got just the place for you to do that. 212-433-3TCB. That's 212-433-3822. Feel free to call and yell all you want. Tell Brian I need a race. Compliment Chrissy's innate ability

to put up with all his shenanigans. Or tell us a little story. The juicier, the better, by the way. We'd love to hear your voice because Lord knows we're done listening to ourselves. Also, give us a follow on your favorite socials at the commercial break on Insta, TCB podcast on TikTok.

And for those of you who like to watch, oh, that came out wrong. We put all the episodes out on video, youtube.com slash the commercial break and tcbpodcast.com for all the info on the show, your free sticker or just to see how pretty we look. Okay, I gotta go now. I've got a date.

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Visit your local GMC dealer for details. All right, thank you very much to Mr. Joe List Visit your local GMC dealer for details. Go watch his special on YouTube. We plead with you. We beg with you, Chrissy. Beg the audience to go do these things. Because when you do these things, then it lets all the people out there know that going on the commercial break really is worth those three extra clicks. Yes. And then bigger and better guests come! And we've got a shitload of them coming up in June, July, and August. It's a packed summer full of wonderful guests. Wait, do you see what we have in store for you? You are going to be just as underwhelmed as ever. All right. Now I've seen the schedule. We've got some really good ones.

It's kind of crazy actually. Yeah. I just want to drop this. have Gary V coming in you know who Gary V is Do your homework kids Gary V Gary V E I'm sure a lot of you just perched your ears up and went Gary V's coming on the commercial break He is well at least that's what the plan is yeah We'll see if he actually shows up because we've had a few of those. No yeah, I'm looking at you countess Yeah, I'm looking at you countess Fuck you and your Bravo. All right. Here we go Add the commercial break on Instagram TCB podcast on tik tok Those are the two socials that sometimes we post to on occasion

You might catch a glimpse of us on those two places So go ahead and follow us be one of the 90 that are doing that currently on tik tok Or one of the less than 10,000 that's doing that, us on Instagram. Whatever, whatever's clever, you know, go for it. TCBpodcast, tcbpodcast.com is the URL, the web address. That's where you find us on the internet, kids. And if you want to, you can watch the audio,

you can watch the video, you can listen to the audio, or you can get your free TCB sticker right from that URL address, tcbpodcast.com. Give us your address, we'll send you a free sticker, no muss, no fuss, unless you're from one of those coupon sites and then a quiz will be given. A quiz will be given. 212-433-3TCB, 212-433-3822. Questions, comments, concerns, content, ideas, we take them all right there on YouTube.com

slash they commercial break for all the episodes on video as soon as they are here on. All right, Chrissy, that's all I can do for today. I think so. I'll tell you that I love you. And I love you. Best to you. Best to you.

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