The Commercial Break - TCB Infomercial: Tim Baltz

Episode Date: April 1, 2025

TCB Infomercial - Episode #722: Bryan & Krissy welcome actor and comedian Tim Baltz. Tim comes to TCB on a hot run of network TV premiers and streamers. Righteous Gemstones, Deli Boys and Shrink are a...ll receiving critical acclaim and plenty of views. Tim discusses his long and winding road from Joliet Illinois to HBO! Bryan and Tim commiserate about the Cubs and Tim assures us all nice guys don't always finish last. TIM BALTZ' LINKS: Follow Tim on Instagram Watch The Righteous Gemstones on MAX Watch Deli Boys on HULU Watch EP #722 on YouTube! Text us or leave us a voicemail: +1 (212) 433-3TCB 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 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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Starting point is 00:00:57 Dogs have a good sense of people, personalities. I like to, when I see a dog, I like to try to communicate telepathically with it and let it know that I'm okay. How do you do that? Well, in my head I just say like, you know, you're a good boy and I'm a good boy. What? You say I'm a good boy? Yeah, well I am. I'm a good boy. Yeah, but why do you need to tell the dog that? Because I want the dog to believe that I'm a good boy too. We'm a good boy. Yeah, but why do you need to tell the dog that?
Starting point is 00:01:25 Because I want the dog to believe that I'm a good boy too. We're both good boys. We're going to get along. You know? On this episode of the Commercial Break. It fit really quickly. And I think that was another interesting thing because, you know, Eastbound was really centered around Danny's character and Vice Principals was a two-hander with him and Walton Goggins. And then this all of a sudden is their take on an ensemble show. And they did kind of prove that they could move up. I don't know if you would call that an evolution, but it's just different style.
Starting point is 00:02:00 And they took on that ensemble style and they gave everyone, was key they gave everyone ownership over their parts yeah and they trusted everyone like I'm not gonna come in and change everything but if the syntax feels weird in my mouth they're like change it say it how you think the character would say it you know 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 and the co-host of this show, Chris and Joy Hoadley. Best of you, Chris and...
Starting point is 00:02:36 Best of you, Brian. Best of you out there in the podcast universe. Thanks for joining us on a TCB Infomercial Tuesday. Coming at you with our new best friend, who I'm sure we just become buddy buddy with everybody, Chrissy. I know, I love it. Tim Bultz is here. And if you don't know that name, you know that face.
Starting point is 00:02:52 You know that guy. He's been in some rather prestigious television shows. The Righteous Genstones. Yes, and it's fourth season. And it's fourth season and it's final season. Better Call Saul. He made a guest appearance that was great. I just rewatched it last night. It's a little appearance, but a big impact.
Starting point is 00:03:11 Little appearance, big impact. Better Call Saul, he now has Shrink, which is available, I believe, on Peacock, and Deli Boys, which is getting really good reviews on Hulu. I haven't seen it, but I look forward to watching it. Yeah, I've started watching it. It's good. He plays a great character. Oh, he does? What's his character in the show? He's like the investigator, but he also stormed the Capitol or something. It's funny, I guess I'm just in the first, I've watched the first two.
Starting point is 00:03:42 Oh, really? Okay. I'm interested to see the show. Isn't this about a group of gas station guys who turn into a gang or something like that? No, well it's- Or they own a deli? It's two sons who have, their father kept them shielded, but he had a big conglom- Or a big, you know- Organized crime.
Starting point is 00:04:00 He did. They didn't know that. They just thought he owned delis. Ah, okay, there's the deli boys. Yeah, I read a summary of it. And then he dies and then now they're kind of brought into the fold. Very fascinating. With that auntie. Very good. All right, well, Tim is in that, he plays a, what is the name of his character on Righteous Gemstones? It is... BJ. Oh yeah, that's right. BJ. He is the husband of, what's her name?
Starting point is 00:04:25 Ellie Patterson is her actress name and I can't remember. BJ Barnes. He's BJ Barnes on the show. He is so good in this show. Everybody is great in this show. They are all just scene stealers. It's hard. Chrissy and I were talking beforehand and we made the, we came to the conclusion that Righteous Gemstones and that whole line of Danny McBride, you know, ensemble cast stuff is similar to the 80s and 90s when Christopher Guest was knocking it out of the park on every single improv movie that he did.
Starting point is 00:04:57 And you know, Christopher Guest, all those movies I think are like 95% improv. They have a bullet point and they're trying to get there, but the rest is improv. And I know Danny has scripts, but it's so funny and so good and so well done that it reminds me of the gut busting movies. Oh yeah, the parodies.
Starting point is 00:05:17 The parodies, yes. It's so good. And Righteous Gemstones is so on point. It's so prescient. We've done so many of those, you know. Preachers. The preacher features, yeah. It's hard to preach on a full dick.
Starting point is 00:05:33 That's right, Carl. Good old Carl. I was watching the videos of Carl the other day. Oh, wow. Oh, yeah, Carl's back on the scene. He is? Yeah, but he's like a reformed man now. He believes in Jesus, but not without all the pomp and circumstance. And I don't believe any of it. This is another way for him to try and make money. I'm sure there's a money grab somewhere here. It's the year of our
Starting point is 00:05:54 Lord, the money grab. That's what it is. Everyone's trying to fuck everybody else over so we can all make an extra buck because the end of the world is right around the corner and we all want to live a little bit of luxury before we die. That's how I feel. That's how I feel. You know, so anyway, so Tim's here. He's also from Jolietch, Illinois, which is near Chicago and very close to my hometown.
Starting point is 00:06:16 So I feel like we're already friends in some way. Chicago is this weird place. There's a line in West Wing where the president is talking to his chief of staff and he says something about Chicago. And the chief of staff goes, or the president goes, Chicago is one of those weird places that everybody who has ever been there is from Chicago and they love Chicago, but they don't live there currently. Right.
Starting point is 00:06:42 It's so true. It's so true. Well, you would spend a winter in Chicago and see how it goes down with you. It's a bonding thing. It's a bonding thing. When you're a Chicago kid, you're a Chicago kid, you'll always be a Chicago kid. I have friends who lived there for college years
Starting point is 00:06:59 or right after college, they took a job or whatever. And it's like, they claim they're from Chicago, even though they got there when they were 20 and left when they were 22, they claim they're from Chicago for the rest of your life. Because if you've ever been to Chicago, it's just one of the coolest fucking places on earth. It is. I have been quite a few times. I love it. It is like New York without the sharp elbows. It is in a lot of ways.
Starting point is 00:07:19 It's got the whole water part of it. Yeah. It's on the water. It's a big city. It's got a lot of personality. There are a lot of flavors of human beings that live there, Irish, Polish, everything. It's all there. It's a big melting pot. And it's got almost a little bit of Southern hospitality.
Starting point is 00:07:38 People aren't gonna say hi to you when you're walking down the street, but if you get into a conversation with them, they're gonna be very nice. Because that's just how Chicago is. Chicago, we're nice people. Well, it's Midwest, right? That's right.
Starting point is 00:07:51 We all suffered the same winter, so let us be nice to each other now that we can actually go outdoors. And if you don't think Chicago's cold in the winter, go to Chicago in the winter. It's fucking cold, man. It's fucking cold. Anyway, so Tim from Chicago, then he moved to LA,
Starting point is 00:08:07 and he's, uh, what else has he done? He's been in so many episodes of comedy, Bang Bang, which is a... He's got, uh, we talked about Shrink, yeah. He's been in, he, he, he wrote, produced, and I think directed some of the episodes of Shrink. He, uh, when he was in Chicago, he wrote that, and then he moved off to LA. Um, Better Call Salt Veep, he was in Chicago, he wrote that and then he moved off to LA.
Starting point is 00:08:25 Better Call Saul, Veep, he was in Veep, he was in Parks and Recreation, he's in Drunk History. He's in a web comedy series that's called Bagillion Dollar Properties, which I watched an episode of. It's really funny. It's kind of mocking those million dollar mansion, whatever those shows are. Those ridiculous shows. You know those real estate agents mansion, whatever those shows are. The most, those ridiculous shows.
Starting point is 00:08:45 You know those real estate agents that are on those shows? They are like certified millionaire. Those people are celebrities, number one. Number two, they're certified millionaires. Number three, they get a lot of press coverage. Those people who are in those television shows, especially that one that's on Bravo. The million dollar listing.
Starting point is 00:09:02 Yeah, the million dollar listing. They're like certified celebrities in their own right Bravo. The million dollar listing. Yeah, the million dollar listing. They're like certified celebrities in their own right now. Oh yeah, I would guess so. Yeah, and that's, it seems to be like, it's too much for one person. Like you can be, have a job where you make a couple million dollars a year,
Starting point is 00:09:16 or you can be a D-list celebrity, but you can't have both. In fact, if the Real Housewives of Atlanta has taught us anything, is that you can't have both. You can't have both. You can't be rich and somewhat famous. You have to be one or the other because all of those women in the Real Housewives of Atlanta are one or the other.
Starting point is 00:09:32 I'm telling you that right now, they're not both. So I- Except Candy. Except Candy. What is, is Candy both rich and famous? Oh yeah. She's rich? Oh yeah.
Starting point is 00:09:42 What does she do? Oh God, well she was in, you know, all the girl, she's done a lot with music. She's huge in the music industry. Oh, she is? For one. Yeah. And then for two, she's got a lot of businesses.
Starting point is 00:09:54 Oh, Candy. Candy what? Candy, what's it? Burris? Yeah, Candy Burris. Candy Burris. Yeah, she used to come up to the studio. She's got like a sex toy line.
Starting point is 00:10:01 She's got a lot of different, she does like movie stuff. Oh. So yeah, she's big. Okay, so Candy's out there. Candy used to come up to the studio. Yeah. And remember there was a studio next to the studio? There was like an actual music studio next to the studio
Starting point is 00:10:15 called 12 Music or something like that. She would always be in there. There'd be a lot of celebrities would go in and out of that, the real studio. And then there was the fake studio where we were doing an internet radio show to no one. To no one. You were ahead of your time.
Starting point is 00:10:27 Yes, I remember the first day, the first day we like actually broadcast, we had like 1300 people on the stream and I was so excited. I'm like, this is gonna go straight to the moon. And every day we lost 100 people. Every day, we lost 100 people. For 13 days in a row till we had no one. Every day. We lost 100 people.
Starting point is 00:10:45 For 13 days in a row until we had no one. I mean, sometimes I would look on that stream and it would say two. And I'd realize that there were two people downstairs watching the stream to make sure that it was on. And I was like, well, I guess tomorrow I can come in late. My friend Kimmy did the show with you sometimes. She did, Kimmy and Allie did it for a while. I mean, like on occasion you'd have a couple hundred people
Starting point is 00:11:05 that would be watching, but it wasn't very often that that would happen, and most of the time, it was in the tens or maybe a hundred people. But then there was sometimes, like on a Monday, where it would just be nobody. Nobody. I'm talking about Scam Call FM. You have to listen to every episode of the commercial break to know what I'm talking about, so get started right now.
Starting point is 00:11:24 Please, go ahead. There's a lady on the telephone that's saying she's going through the entire catalog of the commercial break. Wow. And I'm like, that's gonna take you five years. And that's if you listen to them back to back. I don't know how you're gonna do that.
Starting point is 00:11:37 Do you have kids or a job? Because that's not gonna work. It's just not gonna work. Okay, anyway, Tim Balz is here with us. Why don't we do this? Let's take a short break. And when we get back, through the magic of tele-podcasting, Chrissy, we are gonna have Tim right here
Starting point is 00:11:51 on this big screen in front of us so that we can talk to him and interrupt him every five seconds, according to most people on the internet. How's that? Sounds good. All right, we'll take a break. We'll be back with Tim.
Starting point is 00:12:03 Let me do something Brian has never done. Be brief. Follow us on Instagram at The Commercial Break. Text or call us 212-433-3TCB. That's 212-433-3822. Visit our website, tcbpodcast.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.
Starting point is 00:12:28 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. Hey all you cats and kittens out there in the podcast universe. I want to tell you about Rule Breakers with Serea. It's a new podcast from our partners at Odyssey that celebrates the rebels, the risk takers, From kittens out there in the podcast universe, I want to tell you about Rule Breakers with Serea. It's a new podcast from our partners at Odyssey that celebrates the rebels, the risk-takers,
Starting point is 00:12:49 and the ones who make their own way. It's these people who often change the lives of the people around them and the world at large. And while in the moment it may be hard to see the fours through the trees, those Rule Breakers often define what it means to be a success. Each week, former wrestling superstar Surya sits down with the boldest voices in sports, entertainment, and beyond to talk about breaking barriers, defying expectations, and rewriting the rules. They're talking about it all, the fights, the failures, and the moments that changed
Starting point is 00:13:19 everything. You can follow and listen to Rule Breakers with Surya on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. And hear, hear to the Rule Breakers with Serea on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. And hear, hear to the Rule Breakers for keeping life interesting. Tim's here with us now. Tim, thanks so much for joining us today. You are in the middle of a whirlwind of you. There's an embarrassment of television with Tim Bolts in it, because you've got Deliboyz, you've got Righteous Gemstones,
Starting point is 00:13:47 Deliboyz getting great reviews, Righteous Gemstones, you have to have your head in a hole not to know what a funny, fantastic show that is. Oh my God, my favorite. Chrissy and I were making comparisons as how human beings sometimes get through life, and we were saying that we feel like Righteous Gemstones is like the Christopher guest of our time. Like Righteous Gemstones and that crew doing such great comedic
Starting point is 00:14:13 work is like the Christopher guest of our time. You guys are just a group of human beings that are so fucking funny. Are you sad? I don't see why you don't laugh. Yeah. How do you not laugh? Every time you get on set. I mean, just looking at everybody. You know, the days are like, you know, 14, 15 hours long. So you get the laughs out like pretty early with your first
Starting point is 00:14:35 second cup of coffee. And then like when the work starts, you know that if you laugh, it adds time to the day. So yeah. Right. Something can be funny, but it's eventually like your brain gets hardwired to be like, yeah, that's good. But if you ruin that take, that's 10 more minutes. You know? Yeah, good point. But yeah, that's, I mean, that's very nice to you.
Starting point is 00:14:56 Those guys, I was a huge fan of McBride and Jody Hill and David Gordon Green and the whole Ruff House production team going into this and had obviously like a lot of people devoured, he's bounding down and I'd actually audition for Vice Principals and hadn't gotten. Another great show by Danny McBride. Fantastic show and like I mean, I think when I first got an iPad, the first thing that I, the first movie that I bought was Foot Fist Way.
Starting point is 00:15:20 Yeah. And I was like, oh, this is great. Like I haven't seen this like the one thing of theirs that I haven't seen and it was the start of all of it, you know. Yeah. And I'm watching it on the plane. You know, I'm like halfway back in economy watching it on the plane and like huge tits are on the screen.
Starting point is 00:15:32 I'm like, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute. So, I felt very honored because I think as a huge fan of comedy too, and this is, I think, one of the biggest things that I've ever seen, is a comedy that I've ever seen in my life. Wait a minute. So, I felt very honored because I think as a huge fan of comedy too, and this is not something where I'm like, hey, compliment me for being part of this, but I really felt like I love, I've watched a ton of comedy, I've devoured British comedy, my mom's from France, I've watched a ton of French and European comedies and things like that, anything that I could get my hands on. And I think that, you know, a lot of mainstream stuff that relies on casting stars and that's
Starting point is 00:16:14 always been the case. But I think what makes McBrides and their team's comedy so enduring and funny and why it stands out is that they cast in a way where the ensembles just always feel perfect, you know? There's no one sticking out where you're like, well, that person's really good and I really know them and I've been following their career, but what are they doing in this thing? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. They never do that. And even when they do cast names, they're perfectly cast. And so just
Starting point is 00:16:46 getting cast in it, I thought like, wow, it's an honor that they think that I would fit into a world like that. And, you know, I got, I mean, from the second that I auditioned, I got to test, when I did the HBO test, I got to test with Edie Patterson. And the way that we were improvising, I'm like, this is going to be'm like, this is gonna be a great job. This is great. That's hilarious. You know, I think you're right about something
Starting point is 00:17:08 in these shows, specifically this line, this lineage of shows with Danny McBride. Obviously Danny is a showstopper, he's a scene stealer, but there are no scene stealers in the ensemble. They're all scene stealers. You guys are all doing these nuggets where it's like, that is so fucking funny. And you're right about this.
Starting point is 00:17:31 Sometimes in the comedic ensemble, there's one standout, like, oh, Steve Carell's really good in that movie, you know, in 40 year old Virgin. Then there's a couple other throwaway lines. But in this ensemble specifically, so many seasons, so good, everybody is comedically on point. And I think that's what makes the show so brilliant, much like a Christopher Guest movie, is that everybody is stealing the scenes. And I think that's a testament to the writers and a
Starting point is 00:17:57 testament to you and the team who are gelling so well. And yeah, again, I don't know how you, I know that it takes an extra, it'll get an extra 10 minutes on, again, I don't know how you, I know that it takes an extra, it'll get an extra sad mess on your face. I don't know how you don't just giggle your way through it. I mean, there are a lot of days where we do. I'm not gonna lie. Like, did you guys film in Charleston? We filmed in Charleston, South Carolina.
Starting point is 00:18:19 Yeah. Nice. Yeah, not far from us. No, not far at all. I mean, it's a gorgeous town and you know, it's the food and hospitality seen down there is unparalleled. It really is kind of shocking how high the bar is for restaurants. It's a great city. Oh man, it's yeah, it's one of the first I think foodie towns.
Starting point is 00:18:40 It really puts the southeast on the map. And if you, I mean, Charleston is one of my favorite cities in the country for so many reasons. It's quaint, but it's large enough that you've got everything. The food scene is there. It's one of the most beautifully visually appealing cities in the country. The history. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:18:56 And the history. Does HBO give you a nice mansion on the island over there? Yeah, or downtown. What's the scene for, how do they, do they hook you up with a nice condo on Rainbow Road? You know, it was fascinating because we filmed the pilot there in 2018 and then we came back in 2019 to start season one. And so we saw so much growth while we were there. I remember in 2018 being like, this is kind of a sleepy town.
Starting point is 00:19:23 Like you can get, if you're in Mount Pleasant, you know, you're zooming off to Sullivan's Island or IOP or whatever. Um, and it doesn't take long, you know, it's like eight minutes. And then by the time we were finishing last year, there's massive traffic jams. You know, you're like, you get on Ben Coleman. I mean, this is all for the locals, but you get on Ben Coleman. You're like, where the fuck are all these people going? Where did they come from? And the locals, but you get on Ben Coleman, you're like, where the fuck are all these people going? Where do they come from?
Starting point is 00:19:46 And the locals have two attitudes about it. They're like, ah, it's terrible. It's changed. It's gotten so busy. And then the others are like, this is a sign of a thriving city and we love it and it helps prop up so many businesses. The first season though, I actually lived with Edie Patterson and Cassidy Freeman on Sullivan's Island in kind of a beach
Starting point is 00:20:06 mansion. How fun. And it was like summer camp the whole season. We were riding our bikes to dinner. I mean, it was really like the type of experience. Like I'm on location right now in Wilmington. I'm in an Airbnb and, you know, no offense to this Airbnb, but it ain't what we were used to in Charleston. Right.
Starting point is 00:20:26 Yeah, it's not the same vibe. Wilmington and Charleston, not the same vibe. Wilmington, beautiful in its own way. Yeah, yeah, I love it. Yeah, yeah. You, I love that idea. I love the idea that you're like at Sullivan's Island, filming what will become one of the best comedy television
Starting point is 00:20:41 series of a generation. That's just that. And I think probably I got to imagine. And we have so many comedians on this show. And obviously you're a comedian, a comedic actor, but we don't talk to many actors, like proper, right? People who are doing these big shows that must lend to the vibe on set when it feels like we're in a nice place, we're having
Starting point is 00:21:06 fun, we're riding our bikes to work, we're going out to dinner with each other. There must be something magical that's happening in on and off set. And that must lend to what you see on the screen, that vibe, I would imagine. Yeah, absolutely. There was synergy from day one too. From the first time we did the table read, you're looking around and it was like a rogues gallery, you know? John Goodman's here, you know? And like Adam Devine's here and Edie's here and Cassidy has been working since she was like 19, you know? And Skylar Giussando has been working since he was like
Starting point is 00:21:37 seven. It was really Greg Allen Martin. He was I mean, he was on Baywatch. Like, that's true. Yeah. And the amount of like small world connections that we had between us, it fit really quickly. And I think that was another interesting thing because, you know, Eastbound was really centered around Danny's character. And then Vice Principals was a two-hander with him and Walton Goggins.
Starting point is 00:22:01 And then this all of a sudden is their take on an ensemble show. And they did all of a sudden is their take on an ensemble show. And they did kind of prove that they could move up. I don't know if you would call that an evolution, but it's just different style. And they took on that ensemble style and they gave everyone, this was key, they gave everyone ownership over their parts. Yeah. And they trusted everyone. Like, I'm not going to come in and change everything. But if the syntax feels weird in my mouth, they're like change it. Say it how you think the character would say it, you know, or if you know, we got the script then do this take for you guys, you know, you know, say whatever you want on this one or you can go off feel free to go off page or whatever. So we would always kind of find new things through that process.
Starting point is 00:22:49 And also, it just empowers you to own the character. And then you're seeing everyone else do it. And you think, OK, well, everybody really knows who they are. And the truth is, like in most seasons of a show, you're halfway through and you're like, is it good? Are we doing it? Because you're figuring it out, especially in the first season.
Starting point is 00:23:10 And that one was just razor sharp from the beginning. Everyone knew who they were, what their role was, and you had a sense that something special was happening from the pilot. Have you worked with directors or on shows or in whatever it is, where the directors, the writers, the producers really have an iron grip over their vision? And it's like, I hear it in my head this way, you need to play it this way.
Starting point is 00:23:36 And then you get to Righteous Gemstones and they say, you own the character. And if it doesn't feel right to you, then I want to hear what you have to say or I want to hear how you would interpret what's on the page. Does it feel better one way or the other? Just depend on the situation. Do you like that as an actor for someone to tell you this is how it is and I envision it this way and this is my vision, I want you to follow it? And then now you're having the opposite experience.
Starting point is 00:24:02 What feels better to you or it just depends on the situation. Um, I mean, that's a great question because you really do. That's a, that's a spectrum. Those two things are on either side. You know, uh, I've had, I've come in as the toughest thing to do is come in as a guest star during the filming of a season, whether it's the first one or later. Well, yeah. Well, that one, that's like the best, that's the best audition I ever got.
Starting point is 00:24:29 I literally got an audition that said, please prepare a voice for a talking toilet. And I was like, what? And then when I did the audition, they literally like, I did the audition as the character and then they're like, can you please step off camera and do the toilet? And I was like, okay. So I like step off camera and I'm like, gosh, you're so big. Give it to me Chandler.
Starting point is 00:24:49 They're all laughing. It's just a blank wall that they're recording and laughing. But that one was, I think when casting is doing its job and you feel like they have, and you're walking into a situation where they all think you're the right person for the job, then you don't really have those. When you walk into a situation and you feel like two of the executive producers want me there and the director and another executive producer don't want me there, that's the tricky
Starting point is 00:25:17 part. That's the part where you're like, I can feel that they're fighting and their visions are not aligned and I'm going to get squeezed by this disagreement. Yeah. You're going by this disagree. Yeah. You know, you're gonna get pulled. Yeah. And, and I, in those situations, like if I can feel the director, I'm not giving a director something.
Starting point is 00:25:33 I'll just be like, give me a line read. Like, I don't, I'm not precious about that. It's gonna make everyone's job easier. Just tell me how you want it to say, because I came in with a vision, I got cast and it now it's not working. So let's problem solve and figure it out. So it's probably, I do like it when I do like the other side a little bit more. I think anybody would where you show up and they're like, what do you got?
Starting point is 00:26:00 Whatever you do, it's going to be great. And then we'll tweak it and we'll get it there. Because then you feel like your decision making is part of the process. And, uh, and I've seen that on the, you know, cause the, the show shrink, which is on Peacock. It, I was one of the co-creators and I wrote on the season. It was one of the EPs and was the lead actor. And when someone would come in, um, making a strong choice, you,
Starting point is 00:26:24 you have this relief. You're like, oh, thank God. Thank God. I don't have to. We don't have to mold them in the moment because time is time is money. You know? Yeah. So when they would make a choice, be like, OK, great. They're like 95 percent there.
Starting point is 00:26:36 This is going to be fine. And that that feels that feels good. It makes everyone feel safe. So if you're casting and you know that this person already made the choice, then they're showing up and you know, way less to worry about. Yeah, it's like they're moving in a direction so I don't have to babysit them. And they're giving color to this character that I created.
Starting point is 00:26:59 And maybe, you know, I don't know because I've never been on a set, but you know, I know you hear the stories that there are people like James Cameron, who it's my way or it's the highway and I don't give a shit and he's not tactful about it. Then there's very collaborative directors and writers who say, I see it this way, but I hired you for the part.
Starting point is 00:27:19 So you tell me how you see it. I love that. I want to be in the next Avatar, so I love that. I want to be on Avatar. You just want those points on the backend. That's what you want. Or whatever. Absolutely. Are you kidding?
Starting point is 00:27:33 Avatar backend? Yes. Yeah. That's amazing that that guy has just had a string. I mean, just a run. Everything he does turns to a billion dollar goal. I saw this on Instagram the other day. There was this post that was like, his wife watched Avatar, Air and Fire or whatever it's
Starting point is 00:27:51 called and cried for four hours afterwards. And you're like, come on, she needs medication. What are you talking about? Yeah. You're crying about something else. Yeah. You're crying about, you're not crying about something else. A billion dollar opportunity. Well, she hasn't done too bad
Starting point is 00:28:08 herself either. So, so tell me about the deli boys because so shrink critically acclaimed, righteous gemstones critically acclaimed, very funny. And then our deli boys is getting great reviews also. So tell us about deli boys because this just, this just dropped along with the righteous gemstones also. So tell us about Deli Boys, because this just dropped along with the Righteous Gemstones also. Yeah, what, like two, less than two weeks ago or something?
Starting point is 00:28:29 Yeah, they dropped three days apart, which is rare. Like those things line up so rarely. I think the last time it happened for me, this episode of Chicago PD and Veep came out. Like, yeah, this is amazing. Yeah. The Deli Boys was shot in Chicago and cheated for Philadelphia.
Starting point is 00:28:49 So for me, it was like a homecoming. I got to come back. There was a lot of crew that had worked on Shrink that was working on Deli Boys. And I hadn't seen them in like eight or nine years. Oh, nice. That was really lovely. Some people from the camera department and art department and wardrobe. And it was really special because Shrink was the thing that moved me out to LA back in 2014.
Starting point is 00:29:16 And I never thought I'd live in LA, but we sold a show from Chicago, which is super rare, and then just had to go. So Deli Boys got to come back and like spend time with family and friends. And the cast was amazing. It was just it was another one of those things. You walk in and you don't know what the vibe is and you're a little hesitant. You know, you're like, I don't know what it is. I'm coming as a guest star for six episodes.
Starting point is 00:29:42 That's that's a long time if the vibe is bad. And the vibe was immaculate. It was incredible. Asfali, Saigar Shahid, Ikpona Jogunathan, Brian George, like the whole cast. They were just phenomenal. Allie Reddy was my scene partner and she crushed it and we had a great time and it flew by. That's the other thing.
Starting point is 00:30:00 That was like season one of Gemstones. It just flew by and the next thing, you know, you're like, yeah I gave our audience give our audience a flavor of what deli boys is about for those who haven't seen it So I saw this in one of the reviews which I thought was a great way to describe it They said it was guy richie meets succession Uh, i'm about that all day long Yeah And people there were so many people I think it dropped on like succession. Yeah. And people, there were so many people, I think it dropped on like a Thursday or Friday, and there were so many people that by that first weekend, they had binged the whole thing.
Starting point is 00:30:31 Oh, yeah. Or they said, I watched everything in two days. So it's very bingeable. I watched personally, I watched the whole thing in two days. And I have a lot of friends that are like, oh, it kind of feels like Coen Brothers. But when they came to me with it, they said Gemstones was a comp for them because it lives in this world of, you know, it's a family drama. Like that's the conflict that's driving the story.
Starting point is 00:30:57 It has a lot of heart along with the comedy and the violence and the gore. And there's a lot of kind of like suspense and intrigue and I was just really really impressed. It was the executive producers were Jenny Connor, Nora Silver, Michelle Nader and they were incredible. I mean Nora Silver is legendary. Yeah and Jenny Connor did Girls on HBO and a ton of other things. And they're, I mean, really, like all of them are kind of like, it was again, like a rogues gallery. And the cool thing about the cast is, you know, a lot of these people you've seen work for a long time, but they've never had a cast that's all the leads are South Asian, you
Starting point is 00:31:40 know? They're Indian, Pakistani, and they all now are like the leads of the show as opposed to the side characters. And so the vibe on set was just everyone was so grateful and we would go film and you'd see the South Asian community come out like extras or whatever. And they're like everyone. I mean, my heart was just bursting seeing how appreciative and excited everybody was. And it was cool to be part of something really special. And then I got to meet Chris Elliott and work with him for a day. Oh, really?
Starting point is 00:32:12 That blew my fucking mind. He's in the last episode or the second to last episode. Really? Yeah. And he, this was crazy. How did, how did, how is he getting involved? So the bear films in Chicago. Yeah, yeah he, this was crazy. How did, how did, how is he getting involved? So, the Bear films in Chicago? Yeah, yeah, yeah, his daughter, Abby Elliot is on the Bear.
Starting point is 00:32:31 Wow. She plays the sister. And he was there, he and his wife were there babysitting and Jenny Connor had reached out to me, she was like, hey, you know everybody in Chicago, so like, can you recommend some people that would be good for, you know, this part or that part or like, who do you know? So I'm sending her like, you know, reams of paper with like,
Starting point is 00:32:48 different things. I love everybody there. And I'm like, this person would be great. That person would be great. And then she said, Okay, well, for this one part, hold off, I think we got someone. I was like, Oh, okay. All right. And then she comes back. She's like, it was Chris Elliott. Oh, my God. He's here babysitting. And he really had been like, since COVID, he had kind of like just taken a break and and then like on grandpa duty and chilling in Maine. And he is one of my all time heroes. So I spent an entire day just kind of like teetering behind him and then like, um, so,
Starting point is 00:33:23 so on Letterman. He is brilliant. He's a genius. And you haven't seen much of him lately. And so that's crazy that he just pops out of the woodwork. Hey, I'm babysitting. I don't mind coming in and doing a day worth of work. And I'm sure you've had this too. Like you ever meet someone and you're like, you've been a fan for so long. They're like ubiquitous in your brain. Yes. Yes. And then you meet them and you're like it's them and they're
Starting point is 00:33:50 doing their thing like right here right in front of me. Yes. He was doing he was doing like Chris Elliott stuff right in front of me and we had a take and they I think Jenny Connor was directing that episode and she's like you know you guys say whatever you want. Like you guys just go wild. Okay. I know I trust that you'll get the scene. And then I like really kind of stuck to the script and came back and she's like, you okay? You didn't really improvise. I was like, I'm just stunned.
Starting point is 00:34:15 It's Chris Elliott. I'm Chris Elliott. I just, sorry, I'll shake it off. But like I had one paper. Starstruck. Yeah. Yeah. Jaw on the floor.
Starting point is 00:34:26 We have those moments all the time here because, and you know, it can be a little bit surreal. You know, they say there's like an old saying that never meet your heroes, right? Because they may not be what you, they're never going to be what you see on TV or whatever. That's the character that they're playing or that's the jokey part of them on stage. But so many times I've found that when the person is sitting in front of us and we're kind of fanboying or fangirling or we really like their work, that they end up being so much cooler than we ever thought they would be. I know. It's so nice.
Starting point is 00:34:57 We've met so many of our heroes already here, but 90 percent of the time I have to say, I find myself engaged in just like a normal man's conversation, normal person's conversation with them. And I'm like, wow, they really are cool on the outside of their character or outside of whatever they're doing, they're doing on stage. You, I want to talk to you about Shrink a little bit because this show critically acclaimed.
Starting point is 00:35:21 How did you come up with the idea? And it's streaming on Peacock right now, is that right? It just came out on Peacock, right? Yeah, yeah. I think it was, I mean, it bounced around. It was on Hulu for a little while. It was on the NBC app. It was originally on CSO. But we originally made it, a friend and I, as an improvised web series in like 2011. And then there was this thing that used to happen called the New York Television Festival. This is right when like kind of indie TV is exploding, you
Starting point is 00:35:50 know, end of the 2000s, early 2010s, kind of tech behind, you know, the production of stuff had been so democratized that you could get footage, you could get the gear together and you could film your own stuff. And it could look pretty good, you know? And I didn't really have any experience in that. And the co-creator, Ted, he had a friend who was, who had gone through medical school and then he hadn't matched with a university hospital. So, like, when you graduate medical school, you have to match with a university hospital
Starting point is 00:36:18 and that's where you go do your residency. Yeah. Yeah. And he didn't. So, he was half a million dollars in debt and he was living in his parents' basement. And so, the genesis of the show is that a character like that is he decides to defer his student loans by starting to do clinical therapy. But for clinical therapy, you have to register 2,000 hours of free therapy.
Starting point is 00:36:44 Like you have to administer those sessions. 2000 hours. 2000 hours. And then you can start getting paid. But while you're doing that, you defer the half a million dollars in debt. So this character that happens to him and his basically like, you know, his parents co-signed on his loan, so they need it to happen. And he's doing these sessions out of his parents' garage.
Starting point is 00:37:10 Yeah. And he finds a therapist to supervise his loan. So they need it to happen. And he's doing these sessions out of his parents' garage. And he finds a therapist to supervise his hours. And it's the story of like him kind of trying to get better. And he's doing all these unconventional things. And he's trying to do therapy outside of the garage, which is with his patients, which is unethical. Right. But it was great. And it was this thing that organically developed and we turned it into a pilot in 2012 and we took it to New York Television Festival and we ended up winning Best Comedy and Critics Award and then Gene Damanian Productions picked it up and helped us develop it and we pitched it in 2013 and we sold it to this place called Pivot, which doesn't exist anymore. And then it sat in development for two and a half years there, which was very frustrating.
Starting point is 00:37:43 And then they gave it back. And then I was working on this other show, the Jillion Dollar Properties on CISO. And oh yeah, yeah, yeah. So then they knew who I was. And so we went in there and we're like, well, look, we have this thing and we had made a pilot and the pilot was really good. And so it was this calling card that kept kind of like people would pass it around in these indie circles and
Starting point is 00:38:09 Because we were like a Vimeo staff pick I mean it picked up like all the awards that you could on that little circuit Yeah, sure and we sold it to them and then the next thing we know we were we were writing it We wrote eight episode season and came out Chicago we filmed it and then it came out. And then like two months after it came out, we found out that all of CISO was going away. So we're like, what the? And they had just ordered a season two.
Starting point is 00:38:36 That was the tough part. Oh my God. Yeah. But that also is like that's, that was kind of like a, the canary in the coal mine. So to speak of the streaming age, you know, yes, that now people are seeing that happen all the time, you'll see an entire series just get disappeared, even though it was a fan favorite, you'll see entire movies never get released, even though they're, you know, $50 million for some tax rate-off.
Starting point is 00:39:05 Yeah. And you don't own the licensing. So, right now, we're just thrilled that it's on Peacock and people can see it. And it was, I mean, people were like, you know, when it was orphaned, when it wasn't on any platforms, people would reach out and be like, hey, just so you know, like, people pirated it and it's over here now. Yeah. Wow, that must be an amazing feeling and an amazingly frustrating feeling, right?
Starting point is 00:39:31 It's like, wow, this, I know I have a good product and it just can't find a home that will run with it in the way that it needs to be run with. And Chrissy and I have talked about this all the time. We've talked about this just with so many people who have come on the show. I have this feeling, this like, I know this is kind of contrarian,
Starting point is 00:39:49 but my feeling is that in some ways, the streamers and OTT broke something that wasn't, broke something that necessarily didn't need to be broken. Right? And that these, some of these television shows that are fantastic fan favorites, no doubt they're getting, you can't find them or three and done, they're three and out
Starting point is 00:40:10 because the streamers, that's not where the new subscribers lie. They don't lie in season number four. They lie in the brand new season of the brand new television show that gets all the PR and that brings people in the door. By season number four, it's an established audience that's already here paying us a subscribers fee.
Starting point is 00:40:25 Why are we going to spend money on it? And that's terrible for us as the viewers. And sometimes, I forgot who was saying this to us, but somebody who was just here said, sometimes I feel like the networks or the television show or the writers and producers owe it to people to wrap up some of these storylines and they never get a chance to do that. They just go away. Yeah. I mean, it's, that's disruption,
Starting point is 00:40:52 right? Disruptions just the shell game and they sold it to us as if it was this thing that was going to improve upon a product and it didn't. It actually made the product, the access to the product worse. Right? Yes. And what's funny is that the success of a lot of these streaming platforms is like the bedrock of a lot of these things are, where can I find the long running show that I want as a comfort watch? Where is Cheers streaming? Where is Seinfeld streaming? Where is Friends streaming? Where is Parks and Rec streaming? Right? Where is Abbinfeld streaming? Where is Friends streaming? Where is Parks and Rec streaming? Where is Abbott Elementary streaming?
Starting point is 00:41:25 These are the things that we keep coming back to as foundational, which previous networks used to have in syndication. And now they're just moving it around trying to keep everyone from subscribing over here or keep everyone subscribing here and then like canceling this one, but then resubscribing because of other stuff. So it's built in this way that forces you to kind of spend way more than you did when you had a cable package. And a few simple add-ons. And the future is most likely a bundling of a few different services together. Yeah, conglomerates that are going to come together.
Starting point is 00:42:03 And then instead of buying one cable package you'll have to buy three because it'll be Disney, ESPN, blah blah blah. It'll be NBC Universal and like, you know, Warner or something like that. Yeah, they're going to start merging out of necessity. They're already doing it. They're already doing it. So the model that they took and disrupted and broken a million pieces is now coming back to the model that we always had. There are ads running again in the streamers. Now we don't have a whole season's dropping at the same time. They're dropping week after week.
Starting point is 00:42:33 The streamers figured out that doesn't work. So let's now go back to every week, every Thursday at nine o'clock, we'll drop this new episode. And now it's so funny because I have cable, but on my cable, I watch Netflix through my cable. It's just another television channel. It's just another television channel and one that has a ton of money to pour into content. But there's so much content that the discovery is really difficult. And unless somebody tells me about it or I have time to, you know, bounce around,
Starting point is 00:43:00 we found this for you, which I never do, then I don't get to see the new things that are deep in that platform. So it's an embarrassment of riches in one way, and in one way it's just so thin. It's so hard to find that I can understand the incredible frustration when you have such a great television show like Trink, and you're like, oh my gosh, this could be four, five,
Starting point is 00:43:23 10 seasons long in syndication, and we could make such a great product over and over again. And then it just gets stuck bouncing around everywhere. That's where it must be kind of a blessing to be with a company or a studio like HBO because it's, you know, you know, you're the, in the right to stem stones is obviously a breakout hit for them, but you know that there that you're going to get the proper promotion and the proper platforming and the proper discovery, at least in that universe, that it's got a chance, right? It's got a chance to go the distance. Yeah. And after, after shrink, like that happened and see, so went under, I was like, I need a job. And do you know who Jordan
Starting point is 00:44:05 Klepper is? He's on the day. I do. Yeah, of course. So Jordan, Jordan had the show called The Opposition, which was on right after The Daily Show for like a year. Yeah. Oh, yeah. It was kind of like Colbert report but updated for like the Infowars era, you know? Yeah. And, and he was he was like, he's looking for correspondence and they reached out to me and I had, that's called field work when the correspondence go out into the field and a man on the street stuff and yeah. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:44:32 And those, that's notoriously like really difficult, but I needed a job. So I auditioned and I wrote a character that was kind of like his little brother kind of antagonizing him because he was my first improv coach in Chicago. Oh, Jordan Sloper was? Yeah, he was. I always kind of had that rapport with him, you know, where I'm kind of annoying him and he's like, all right, all right. And so I wrote that into the character and it worked.
Starting point is 00:44:59 They flew me out and I tested and it went great. So they're like, okay, you're hired. So then I had to do field work and it was in 2017, 18. So I'm going to like CPAC and Roy Moore rallies and see Bannon speeches and wearing a bulletproof vest. I mean, almost I was wearing, well, I was wearing like a American flag t-shirt that I got from the store, which was better than a bulletproof vest. And, and that was, that was a really, bulletproof vest. That's true. That's true. That was a really, really tough job. I loved everyone that worked there, but it was really kind of soul-sucking because you're
Starting point is 00:45:30 seeing these people that are so, they're sucked into this cult. Brainwashed. Yeah, they're brainwashed. It's right when QAnon is coming out. We were on the ground when it first came out being like, so what do you think? When people were like, yeah, it's real. It was really dark. And then you noticed QAnon went away. Did anybody notice that QAnon just went away?
Starting point is 00:45:51 QAnon was gonna save the world and the big reveal and the whole world is gonna change. And then it just went away. It just went away. And that experience too, where it was hard to draw an audience from that because everyone was kind of in denial at the time. So I went from shrink to that. And then I landed on Gemstones and HBO and
Starting point is 00:46:09 you know, my reps had been like, you know, are you going to pitch something else? You want to get another show out there? And I was so heartbroken from the Shrink stuff that to be honest, I was like, no, this is good. Like, I feel really blessed and lucky to be in this company of people. They're all top notch in what they do. Literally, some of the best in the business and whatever roles they fill and how they're perceived by the industry. And with Ruff House, it's just, I mean, they're visionaries. They really are some of the most underrated people, at least of the 21st century. And it was such a gift to just come in and be like, what do you need me to do? I mean, and that character, BJ runs through brick walls with those guys.
Starting point is 00:46:56 I don't know. We were jokingly, when we were doing press, someone had asked about that. You're pulling the ad. You're pulling the ad. Season one, I get hit in the face with a stick. I get tased. I think I get beat up. I fall off like a fence.
Starting point is 00:47:13 That's right. Season two, I have like the baptism. I get shot. Season three, I get a ninja star in my head. I have to fight a naked guy. This season I had to learn how to pole dance. And you took this seriously. I read an article where you went to class
Starting point is 00:47:34 for two and a half hours a day. I mean, that's the core strength. I've tried those classes before. They're hard. No joke, Chrissy, testify to this. Testify to this. Yes, they are so hard, seriously. I don't doubt it.
Starting point is 00:47:46 It takes a lot of strength, core strength, arm strength, like, I mean, all of it. I was really lucky that the person that they just coincidentally picked happened to be, like, it was the closest poll studio to production headquarters. And they're like, oh, okay, this one. The woman running it, Tanya Christopher, bless her heart, she is the president of the US
Starting point is 00:48:06 aerial federation. So basically if aerial sports gotten into the Olympics, she would be the Olympic coach. Wow. And she was training me and I came in and I'm like, look, I'm not very flexible. You know, I'm like, I don't know about my- I'm a fish out of water. Yeah, I'm a fish out of water. And the first routine, which is in episode two, which is out now, I was supposed to get
Starting point is 00:48:29 upside down and I was like, there's no fucking way. And she's like, with all due respect, I think you're going to do this entire routine by yourself. I designed it so that you could do it. And I'm like, there's no way. She's like, don't take this the wrong way. Your body is built for pull. And she was, she was right by the fourth session. I got upside down by the fifth session.
Starting point is 00:48:54 I did the entire routine and we're there high-fiving each other of being like, wow, you made it go back to these classes. Cause I quit after like two. It's hard. Well, you got to pace yourself. I went too hard on the pole and I hurt my shoulder and my elbow. Too hard on the pole?
Starting point is 00:49:12 I went too hard on the dam pole. It's so fantastic. You are the kind of the punching bag of that, but it's so goofy and lovable and absurd in some ways. I love the character. I think it's great. There aren't too many characters that I don't love. And you're working with some of the best. I mean, you got Danny McBride. And Edie Patterson. Edie Patterson. The two of you just, I mean, just the back and forth and what she says, what did she say the other
Starting point is 00:49:42 time? I mean, I wanted to just, you know, it makes me slick. And then like all that, it's just learning the writing. Yeah, the writing is so quick and like witty. But I have to ask, who is, like, John, working with John Goodman, we were just talking about before you came on, we were like, wow, just sitting in the same room with John Goodman. I mean, ever since Roseanne, I think we've all thought of him as our best friend. There's like, he played that character.
Starting point is 00:50:08 So welcoming to inviting to the audience. It felt like that's your dad, your uncle, your best friend, your bud, however you saw it at the time. And he parlayed that into a career of epic proportions. And he's like, in my mind, he's 10 feet tall. He's a legend. Oh, yeah. Yeah, he really is. And, you know, being from Illinois, like that was Roseanne, you know,
Starting point is 00:50:30 Roseanne was... Roseanne was our home girl. Yeah. That house, like I knew, I did an episode of the Conners a few years ago and being in that on the studio lot and in that set and seeing the living room, like this is, it was surreal because that house was so many of my friend's houses. Yes, mine too. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:50:51 And yeah, I think very blessed with that set. Like Adam Devine felt like someone that I had gone to high school with pretty instantly. Tony Cavallaro I knew since 2012 when we did Montreal Just for Laughs together. Edie, like it was super easy from the get-go with Edie, and that made the job so fun and fulfilling. And with John, you're... I always said it's like watching a marble statue starting to move, where, like, everything is perfect.
Starting point is 00:51:20 Like, every take, I would be like, huh, it was flawless. But it was interesting in its own way. And you would learn I would learn so much from watching him that very quickly season one, I was like, OK, Jody Hill would say this. He after a good take, he'd be like, I was just watching the movie. Yeah, like he had no notes. That was his his way of saying, like, no, no. He was like, I was just watching the movie guys. Right.
Starting point is 00:51:45 And with John, quickly I had to be like, I can't watch the movie from inside the scene. Yeah. Yeah. You gotta get over the fact that it's John and I gotta appreciate the fact that he is an incredible professional. We had a scene together in season two and off camera. He's trying to get better. That, I think, was the thing that I was most impressed by. Yeah, he's still working at it.
Starting point is 00:52:13 Yeah. Like he's, we did his coverage first and then turned around and did mine. And he's still working the scene from his side of the camera. And like, he had to, you know, sometimes you have to cheat where like, you're in a space and so, you know, the camera's on you and then it turns around on the other person and you have to be like
Starting point is 00:52:34 this close to the camera. And so, yeah, you're feeling your scene. And I remember John had to be like right here and he's still emoting and giving the scene his all and like, you know, contemplating and giving me what I need for the scene. Yeah. Like you've been doing this that long
Starting point is 00:52:51 and you're still that generous with your scene partner, which is professionalism, but still, there are a lot of people that don't do that. Yeah, they phone it in because, you know, it's not the attention is not on me, you know, you do your thing and I'll say the line. So at least you have some background. Endless respect for him.
Starting point is 00:53:07 You know, I think you're on a run here, kid. I think you're on a run here. And I gotta say, I mean, there's, you know, this is 45 minutes that we're talking to you. We could go on and on. Oh yeah. Comedy bang bang. That is my flavor of hot sauce. What was it? Maurice Flatbottom.
Starting point is 00:53:28 All these characters you play, I just love it because the commercial break is a lot that way. You know, we do these sketches at the beginning of the show and Comedy Bang Bang has some similar ilk doing it a lot longer than we have and much better. But you know, some of these characters that you play, I just love it. And your roots are in improv. I think that's probably served you well inside of some of these television shows. Yeah, because you have the ability to be really flexible and versatile. It shows you're really good. There you're all scene stealers. But there are some scenes
Starting point is 00:53:59 where it's just clear that, you know, your character has taken taking the cake. You've got the Deli Boys. I'm excited, so excited. Deli Boys is on Hulu, right? Yep. It is on Hulu, yes. On Hulu. And you've got Righteous Gemstones on Max.
Starting point is 00:54:12 And then you've got Peacock. You have Shrink. Yeah, with Shrink. Comedy Bang Bang lives forever on the RSS feed, so you can go listen to that podcast. It's I think one of the first places we did some advertising for our show to grow the show early on when we weren't, when no one was going to listen to the show anyway, even if they heard it. But Comedy Bang Bang was one of those first places.
Starting point is 00:54:32 Yeah, I remember that. Wow, that's great. We also have, my wife and I and a few friends have a podcast on the Comedy Bang Bang Patreon. Oh, really? That's called Hey Randy. It's based on Randy Snuts, who's one of the long running characters that I've done on Comedy Bang Bang. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. And it's a call and advice show and we have like our small but mighty fan base calls in with anything duplicitous and scandalous
Starting point is 00:54:55 happening in their lives. And the it's just a hometown crew of friends and the little drama that's part of their lives. And it's kind of based on like the people that I grew up with and Joliet and that's great. I want to grew up with in Joliet. Oh, that's great. I want to talk to you about Joliet. I want to talk about of course, I want to talk to you about the cubs and the bears and the blackhawks and all the, you know,
Starting point is 00:55:13 if you like the white socks, you're from Indiana, but hey, that's a different time. That's what my dad used to say to me. My grandpa used to say it to us. And then my dad carried on the tradition. He says, you're from Chicago son So you like the Bulls the Bears the Blackhawks and the Cubs and if you ever like the White Sox moved to Indiana But we'll give the White Sox fans will forgive the way they have a long storied history themselves, it's just
Starting point is 00:55:40 You know Kamisky and Wrigley two different places So Tim Balz I'm gonna put the links in all the show notes I'll put a link to the patreon where you can go listen to it's on patreon you said yeah the CBB world the comedy bang bang patreon. Okay, I'll make sure I find a link. I'll put it on there I'm gonna put a link to all three of the network television shows that Tim has now got out there in the universe Congratulations on all your success. We wish that you come back so we can dig deeper in the universe. Congratulations. And congratulations on all your success. We wish that you come back so we can dig deeper into the universe of Tim.
Starting point is 00:56:09 I feel like 45 minutes, we're just scratching the surface. Absolutely, I'd love to be back. Okay, well, I know your people. So your people are my people, so we'll call them and we'll get this all hooked up. Awesome. Tim Balz, thank you very much, my friend. We really appreciate it.
Starting point is 00:56:24 Thank you. All the best, thank you very much, my friend. We really appreciate it. Thank you. We need all the best. Thank you. 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 TCBpodcast.com and
Starting point is 00:56:47 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 TCBpodcast.com. Want your voice to be on an episode of the show? Leave us a message at 212-433-3TCB. That's 212-433-3TCB. That's 212-433-3822. Tell us how much you love us and we'll be sure to let the world know
Starting point is 00:57:09 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 gonna go check the mailbox for payment
Starting point is 00:57:20 while you check out our sponsors. And then we'll return to this episode of the commercial break. while you check out our sponsors. And then we'll return to this episode of the Commercial Break. I'm gonna tell a story that Tim didn't tell recorded, but I'm gonna tell the story. I'm gonna relay the story.
Starting point is 00:57:33 So Tim and I were commiserating about being long suffering Cubs fans before we got onto the actual recording. And he was like, oh, well, at least we have 2016 when the Cubs won the World Series. And I said, yeah, you know we have 2016 when the Cubs won the World Series. And I said, yeah, you know, and every time someone says Cubs won the World Series, I have to tell them that I almost went if I had $10,000 in my pocket. And he was explaining that he was going to go, he was there in Chicago around that time,
Starting point is 00:57:59 but he got flown out to LA or for whatever reason, he goes to a bar on game seven when they won. he get flown out to LA or for whatever reason, he goes to a bar on game seven when they won and he's standing by himself at a table and someone hits a home run in the first inning, which really is an indication things are going well for the Cubs essentially. And because Cubs fans are so fucking superstitious, there were other Cubs fans in that same bar
Starting point is 00:58:20 who were like, you cannot move from that table because you're that it's it's so superstitious that if anything changes then maybe the Cubs are going to lose and that's how it goes when you're a Cubs fan. So they made him stand there the entire night watching the game and they would bring him food and water and drinks and stuff like that and he had friends at tables in the corner and they were like come on man and he's like I can't can't move. I got to stand right here at this bar table for four and a half hours while the Cubs win the World Series.
Starting point is 00:58:50 And they did. And they won. And we all cried. And Tim Balz is awesome. What a good guy. Thanks to Tim. Yeah, I enjoyed it. I liked him.
Starting point is 00:58:59 Oh God, I loved him. I wish there was gonna be another season of Righteous Gym Zones, but you know, we got four. That's better than most. I'm going to go back and start rewatching them, which I think is the mark of a great show. Yes, I agree.
Starting point is 00:59:12 If you go back and rewatch what you've already watched. I totally agree with you. There are shows that I rewatch over and over and over again. Kath and Kim, The West Wing, Benny Dorm. Benny Dorm is the most terrible show you've ever seen in your entire life, by the way. I re-watch it at night. It's like comfort food. It's like, this is so bad, I know I'll fall asleep to it. Why not? Sometimes I'll go to sleep on like episode one, and then I'll wake up. And it's on 12.
Starting point is 00:59:39 And the next day it's on 13. Yeah. I was like, wow, that played for 13 hours. And I wonder where my phone's always dead in the morning all right Tim Balz I'm gonna put all of the pertinent details links to the righteous gemstones links to his Hulu show deli boys and links to the peacock a critically acclaimed show shrink go watch it who knows maybe they'll right you know raise that from the dead and give him another season or something like that. They should.
Starting point is 01:00:06 Yeah, they should. And Comedy Bang Bang, he's got his own podcast behind the paywall, I'll give you a link. Comedy Bang Bang is great, by the way. If you like the commercial break, it's like a much better version of the commercial break. They do mostly all improv and it's like really funny. And Reggie Watts is often on Comedy Bang Bang, so go listen to some of our friends over at Comedy Bang Bang. Okay, for us, as far as we're concerned, you can go to our website, tcbpodcast.com, all the audio, all the video, right there at one location
Starting point is 01:00:35 in case you need to catch up on, you know, 713 episodes of the commercial break, feel free to go to the website. It's all there. You can also get your free TCB swag by going to the Contact Us button. Hit the drop down menu. I want my free sticker. Give us your address and we'll send you one. Add the commercial break on Instagram. Please follow us. TCB podcast on TikTok. I don't even know what to say about TikTok.
Starting point is 01:00:57 Just don't even bother. YouTube.com slash the commercial break. For all you Dr. Phil fans out there, you can catch all of our episodes the same day usually that they air here on the audio feed, they will be dropped on the YouTube feed. Also, 212-433-3TCB, 212-433-3822, questions, comments, concerns, content, ideas,
Starting point is 01:01:20 leave us a voicemail. We might put you on the next show. All right, Chrissy, that's all I can do for now. I think so. I'll tell you that I love you I love you best to you best you out there in the podcast universe thanks to Tim for showing up today until next time we will say we do say and we must say goodbye with the Fizz loyalty program you get rewarded just for having a mobile plan you know for texting and stuff and if you're not getting rewards like extra
Starting point is 01:01:44 data and dollars off with your mobile plan, you're not with Fizz. Switch today. Conditions apply. Details at fizz.ca. Are you crushing your bills? Defeating your monthly payments. Sounds like you're at the top of your financial game. Rise to it with the BMO Eclipse Rise Visa Card. The credit card that rewards your good financial habits. Earn points for paying your credit card bill in full and on time every month. Level up from bill payer to reward slayer.
Starting point is 01:02:14 Terms and conditions apply. You know that feeling when you find the perfect song? Imagine that, but for your next meal at Tim's. Whether you're craving something meaty, cheesy, or just straight up satisfying, make a meal of it with Tim's new three-meat hat-trick flatbread pizza loaded with pepperoni, bacon, and sausage crumble.
Starting point is 01:02:34 Pair it with our new garlic bread and a refreshing peach lemonade quencher for a meal that just hits. Order on the Tim's app today at participating restaurants in Canada for a limited time. It's time for Tim's app today at participating restaurants in Canada for a limited time. It's time for Tim's. Yeah.

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