The Digression Sessions - Ep. 131 - Mikael Johnson! (@Mikaelljohn)

Episode Date: September 8, 2014

Follow Us On Twitter! @mikaelljohn – Mikael Johnson @BetterRobotJosh – Josh Kuderna @MichaelMoran10 – Mike Moran @DigSeshPod – For Podcast Updates! Hola DigHeads! On this week’s episode, Josh sits down on a stoop in the Hampden streets for a one on one with the hilarious improviser, story-teller, actor, &sometimes stand up – Mikael Johnson! Mikael is a part of the award winning improv duo-troupe ShawnMikael(s) with his partner Shawn Westfall (who’s also hilarious). He’s done some acting, and he’s cohosting  the Frederick 72 Film Fest with past guest Doug Powell on October 10th and 11th. Submit to that shit! Now, listen to Mikael & Josh discuss improv and stand up, anger issues, and drunk ladies. Thanks for listening! If you can swing it please drop our asses a few bones via the “Donate” button on DigressionSessions.com! Also please subscribe to Digression Sessions on Stitcher and iTunes. And check out our podcast network, Thunder Grunt! Thanks everyone! We love you!

hey everybody i'm josh kaderna and i'm mike moran and you're listening to the digression sessions podcast a baltimore-based comedy talk show hosted by two young, handsome stand-up comedians slash improvisers. Join us every week as we journey through the world of comedy and the bizarreness of existence as we interview local and non-local comedians, writers, musicians, and anyone else we find creative and interesting. Yes. Who's the guest this week michael johnson is the guest on this week's program hilarious improviser storyteller actor sometimes stand-up mr michael johnson is the guest and uh michael and i did a improv show this weekend in Baltimore and we were supposed to record before the podcast but his car broke down on I-95 on his way up to the show. Got his car towed and then he took a cab from Jessup, Maryland into Baltimore and we still did the show like a trooper. And then his lovely

fiance came and picked him up afterwards and uh while we waited for her we did a podcast outside in uh hamden baltimore where i live and uh it was a lot of fun i know i've become kind of obsessed with the mobile podcasting as i'm actually recording this intro in my car while i wait for a pizza to be made so then i can go eat some pizza and watch football with my dad. Bom, bom, bom, bom. Football Sunday, right? Yeah. So yeah, last night we recorded this podcast just kind of sitting on the stoop of a storefront and we run into a few drunk people here and there. You can hear them on the podcast, but it's just, you know, it's part of the show, part of the charm, I think, ambient nature of, uh, drunk girls, uh, walking by and, uh, yeah, I can't say enough about, uh, Michael and how talented he is. Seriously. One of the funniest

guys I've ever seen perform and, uh, hilarious dude. He gets on himself about, um, about, uh, performing standup and how he doesn't do it enough and how he wants to be really good at it. So we talk about that for a bit, but I don't think I give him enough praise. I don't wash his balls enough about improv because he's such a funny guy. Yeah, with the show that we did, he's just so supportive. Stillborn Babies came up in our show,

and he just totally ran with it, actually presenting Stillborn Baby in came up in our show and he just totally ran with it, actually presenting a stillborn baby in a life drawing class. And it was amazing. Yeah. So yeah, I just can't say enough good things about Michael. Very funny guy. And I'll actually be doing a show with him and his partner that he normally performs with in the improv duo, Shawn Michaels, that is Michael Johnson and Shawn Westfall. And if you get a chance to see those guys, please, please go see them because they're amazing. They're based on the East Coast mostly, but they get around, so go see them. But this Friday, no, not this Friday, let's see, next Friday, September 19th,

I'll be hosting a show for them. I'll be doing some stand-up up front in between a few other improv acts at 830 at Studio 1469 in D.C. in Columbia Heights. So come on out to that. It's going to be a lot of fun. And, yeah, yeah, this is a good episode. I'm excited for this one, for you guys to hear it. So, yeah, please check Michael and Sean out when you can. And speaking of other shows coming up, if I could plug a couple things here.

We have our first ever live podcast. It's going to be September 26th at the Wind Up Space in Baltimore. We're going to have a bunch of really good guests on. We're going to have Ben O'Brien from Wham City Chris LaMartina, really good director We're going to have Tommy Simbazzo Of Thunder Grunt And a couple more, we're working out a few more So it's going to be action packed night

Because it's going to be a whole Thunder Grunt night Representing the network So we're going to have live stand up And some bands are going to play There'll be some trivia It's going to be a good thing It's going to be some, uh, it's going to be a good thing. It's going to be a good show. So come to that. And then this Saturday, come check me out at the auto bar. I'll be upstairs featuring at the, uh, second Saturday shit show and, uh, doing some stand up there. And it's,

it's cool. Some motorcycles passing by. That's some nice ambient noise. Not sure if you're picking that up on this, uh, rambling intro from my car where it looks like I'm doing a crazy manifesto. And yeah, so come to that. It's going to be really good. And let's see. Other stuff to plug. Oh, our podcast is currently nominated for best podcast in Baltimore. If you go to citypaper.com and you can vote in their annual Best Of contest through September 12th. Keep voting for us. You can vote every day, basically. So go there.

Vote early and often for us. We would love to be the best podcast in Baltimore. And then the world. Right? So yeah. Do that, please. Check us out at digressionsessions.com that has all of our past and future episodes and digressionsessions.com slash calendar has all of our live upcoming improv and stand-up dates for me and mr mike moran and um yeah follow me on twitter i am

at better robot josh also on instagram michael moran the co-host of this podcast. He's at Michael Moran 10. We have a Facebook page for the podcast. Like that. Rate and review us on iTunes. So many things to plug and request of you guys. But we appreciate it. I'm just excited that anybody's even listening. So thank you so much to all those that are listening.

Thank you to Michael again for doing the show. And thank you to Michael's fiancee, Amy. She was sweet enough to ride back to Virginia with the tow truck driver and then go get her car and then pick Michael up later and drive all the way to Baltimore. And, uh, so he could do the show. So she definitely gets a MVP of the night. So shout out to them. Very good people. Uh, done rambling. I love everybody, especially love you, the listener. Yeah, you. I see you. I love you. Okay, let's get into the show.

Bye-bye. Bye-bye. We're on the corner of what? We are on the corner of 36th and roland i believe next to uh a hip bar uh yeah we're next to me and uh me and michael johnson here just chilling out in the open with people looking at us while we're on microphones next to a a juice bar and then a belgian beer bar now people are staring at us i think we're talking about them we're not we're not we're not no michael johnson improvised we look like very relaxed

on location reporters we're the chillest reporters ever just the most passive dudes with no cameras cut to us on the corner just sitting on a stoop. We're the laziest reporters for NPR. You know, they always have ambient noise and all that stuff. Yeah, we're just on a corner. It's pretty humid out. We probably should be inside. But, you know, we're working it.

But, Michael, you and I just got done doing a show. Yes, lots of fun. That was a really fun show. Our suggestion was penis. Penis and uh we rolled with it normally improv death where they're like ain't dildo or i'm a purist i will uh yeah i i want to use anything that's given i do too because i feel like the crowd's on your side right away too when they're like oh that's kind of a bad especially if it's like an improv savvy crowd right and i think that kind of happened with this one they're like penis because yeah you said all right give me all right give me any letter from the alphabet from one

chick and she's like p and then you pointed to somebody else an older lady too by the way probably in her 60s you said oh anywhere the besides pineapple yeah she was ready to say penis i think i think any letter you would have given her, she'd be like, penis, please. She looked like, you know, one of my mom's friends that, you know, worked at a library. Yeah. But it seemed like she was ready to go as soon as I asked her. No, she was way into it. It was probably just on her mind.

I think she came out tonight just to say penis. Penis in public. That was probably just on her mind. I think she came out tonight just to say penis. Penis in public. That's her Saturday night in Baltimore. I agree, though, that if you shut down one of the first offers. I've been in shows before where somebody's getting the suggestion. Right. And then especially if you have to kind of work for people to even volunteer. And then they're like, okay, like even volunteer and then they're like,

uh, okay, a dildo. And they're like, no, not good enough. Right. Yeah.

And, uh, so, but I, I think, you know, as far as improv goes, you go with the first thing that that's that you're given.

That's part of like the, the game of it. Right. Right. You're like, all right, so let's make it work. And then,

yeah, please do. I think game of it. Right, right. You're like, all right, so let's make it work. I'm going to smoke. Yeah, please do. Please do. Please do. Right in my face. Blow it into my electronic instruments and my face. Please. Hello.

People are pointing at us. We're just doing a podcast. We got guests. Yeah, we have guests. What's your name? No. Fran. We got guests. Yeah, we have guests. What's your name? Fran. Hi, guys. I'm Fran. Fran and friends.

I'm sure you guys have names. You can tell us if you want. I feel like the buyers are actually just connected to each other yeah and there's nothing really this is just what we do this is how we try to meet chicks this is the new version of the puppy is the podcast yeah

no oh no I should have thought of this a long time ago and we were gonna we were going to beatbox. What if Fran's friends thinks concrete is cardboard? But it's all right. We're doing okay. I'm just kidding. I know, Fran.

I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I was joking. There you go. All right. There we go. That was like a hip hop... Doing like a hip hop river dance kind of thing.

Kind of thing. Yeah. I don't know. They're on the podcast. Yeah. I picked a prime location for the podcast. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We could move.

We got an audience. Bye, Fran. Nice meeting you. See you guys. Right on. Karaoke? What's the podcast called? The Degression Sessions.

The Degression Sessions? Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's on iTunes, Stitcher. Yeah, you can remember that, right? Degression Sessions. It rhymes. All right, awesome. Bye, everybody.

See you. Yeah. yeah well i don't i have a yeah yes a good one yes that was uh holding that in that guy just yelled that was a good digression and i don't know i have a feeling that that's not going to be the first time that i know yeah i'd look for just a spot to sit but let let's just go with it now. I think we can just roll with it. I don't know if the mics will pick up all that, but anyway. Same thing we were just talking about. Improv, you roll with what you got. You get a bunch of drunk

broads in front of you and then you just go with it. That's what improv shows are and just drunk women. Yelling penis. Right. Like the woman tonight. Yeah. I'm with you though whatever word you get just go with it and uh you did a really good job justifying penis you ate a seat it as we call in the business we were at a urology office in the first one right well done no it was a fun show i

thought it was like uh the first group i guess that went on. I don't know who they are, and I'm not going to comment anymore. Shit. In a public forum. Yeah. I don't know. Well, you showed up late, and we were kind of hanging out in the back. Right. My car broke down.

Yeah. Okay. So let's get to that. So we were going to do the podcast before the show and not necessarily out in front of a bar late night on a Saturday night. But you were going to come over beforehand, knock out a podcast, go do the show. Right. And then your car decided to die on I-95.

This is the second time my Volkswagen Jetta has died on I-95. Jettas are expensive to fix too, right? Yeah. They're supposed to be good. Germans can build a good engine. All right. They, uh, yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Uh, Germans can build a good engine, but they, uh, all the little things like lights, uh, to your plastic sort of vents, knobs, anything in the car that can go wrong is going to go wrong right um this is the last volkswagen that i'm buying but yeah the first uh the first one uh broke down on 95 south on the way to the south carolina and now we've broken down on 95 north on the way to baltimore yeah you and your fiance and uh she uh had to drive back with the tow truck driver and i had adventures in exxon trying to get a cab and let's talk about that because you said you freaked out on the uh the cab driver yeah yeah i lost it was the first time

that i'd lost it on a like on a stranger right that i i can't remember the last time i really yelled at somebody uh that you know for whatever whether it be like a service or something but i had been waiting 45 minutes trying to get to the show you were told okay yeah so first of all i'd be frustrated as hell just that my car broke down on 95. I was doing pretty well. You were, because I said, I was like, hey, man, just take the tow truck home. You're good. The show tonight's whatever. We'll figure it out.

You're like, no, no, no, I'm coming. I wanted to do the show. Yeah, I wanted to, too. But if I were you and knew that my car was possibly dead and all that stuff, I'd be like, that's it. Well, I guess my lovely fiance was critical when i said when she asked like what do you want to do and i was like well looks like if you rode back with the tow truck driver and came and picked me up right uh and she was all for that that's

very supportive yeah she's great um but yeah going into the exxon, the guy was 45 minutes late. It's pouring down rain. I got about a half hour from Jessup to here. Jessup, Maryland, over to Baltimore. Yeah, it's famous for the prison. I don't think it's still there, though. It might be, actually. And yeah, he didn't want to pick me up, and I snapped.

What did you say to him? You know what i said i was just like he's like i you know i don't think i can take you and i'm like well then find someone that can and that is your job you work for a service that takes people to destinations and he was actually there to pick up his sister who worked there and uh right he didn't want the i don't think he wanted to go the entire time and the guy behind the counter felt really bad because he was trying to knock out two birds with one stone right because he and it just so happened that i needed a cab right as his cab brother well

that was the confusion too because you got to the gas station and they were like you're like all right well i'm waiting for a cab it's coming right And he looks right at me and goes, yes, I just called one. And I was like. But not for you. He's just looking at me straight in the eye. And his sister that worked with him is looking at him. And I was like, you just called it? He's like, she did.

And I was like, none of them had moved. No one had reached for a phone. Right. He just thought you were a psychic. Yeah, I just called one. He's like, I thought of the cab in Chalabier. If you just will it to be, it will, my friend. He was rolling the dice thinking, yeah, I'll take care of this.

My brother-in-law cab driver is coming to pick up his sister. Yep, and it's all good. We'll take this guy to his destination. Then we're golden. He felt bad. He stood up for me because that guy was looked at them after i'd done yelling at him he's like i don't understand why he's so emotional he's like you he waited here 45 minutes and then then i lost track of the language and right right but uh not so not too bad he didn't like assault his character or anything no i was uh very direct

right i was you know what i'm trying to remember what i said and i think i might have blacked out it was just a blind rage i just told i just was like if you can't pick me up then find someone that had that can and he's like he kept trying to explain his side of it like why he didn't want to go in because it was raining and it was dark. And I was like, I don't care. I was like Tommy Lee Jones in The Fugitive. I don't care. Yeah, you were in a big sewer pipe.

Right. Yeah. Which is what Jessup looked like at the time. That's how it is. It's like torrential rain. Yes, it's a big exposed sewer. We all know that. We all know that about Jessup. So, yeah, you made it to the show, and then we had a fun show.

It was good. It was basically, it was just like, what do you want to do? And it's like, you know, we'll just maybe, you know, cut it if we need to cut it, keep it going if we need to keep it going. And then I liked it. It started off patient. I was a little hesitant because the crowd seemed, as I was going to say, like earlier. They seemed like a little tight

kind of like it was uh like it was gonna be tough to get the laughs going but i think once we cracked it open it was good and i didn't realize too when i walked down and saw the crowd that it was an older crowd they skew older yeah a lot of people that go to those shows are like friends and family so i think that was a lot of a family. That's actually a true improv crowd. Friends and family versus just pools of drunken women. Which I think there was

some overlap in that Venn diagram of friends and family and drunk older chicks. There's definitely some overlap in that one. But yeah, it was good. We were at the urology office. Then we went to a garden. Yeah, we were trimming some hedges for an older

married couple. You wanted an Oscar? I was going to try. I was going to try. And then Pinochle Bar and then Life Drawing where we flashed back to your characters. Oh yeah, we were on the submarine.

I had a penchant for baby dicks, right? Right. Yeah, your guy had photos of other people's babies in his wallet. Yeah, yeah. And then strung up. I picture them strung up in my bunk, too, like sailors with their wife or their kids. Right, you had like had the Admiral's son. Who couldn't come up with the word.

I know there's... I know. I think it was surface, maybe, but there's probably a word. Submerge is when you take the submarine down. Yeah, I was... But what is it when you... Is it just surface?

Is it ascent? Ascent? No. I'm sure there's a real term. Yeah. That happens. I've learned that like, I think in the past when I first started, I would have maybe panicked there and tried to think of a word

or a term that fit for when a sub rises from underneath the water, whatever it is, to the surface. And yeah, I feel like in those instances, if you're just honest, you're just like, I don't know the word. Just have them fumble through. And it's funnier if a guy that's supposed to know the terminology admittedly doesn't. Yeah.

Versus trying to be like, I know what it is. Just give me a second. And then the crowd just automatically turned off. You don't know, I know what it is. Just give me a second. And then the crowd just like automatically turned off. You don't know, dude. It's okay. I don't know what it is either. It's fine. I learned a long time ago not to pretend that I'm smart.

Well, I think that's like a part of when you initially do improv, you have to like fake it. Like, oh, I know what I'm doing all the time. Right. Like even if your character is like a bumbling person like you still want to be the perfect bumbling character and you know know the words for everything and be the smartest bumbling guy possible right there's some whip smart improvisers yeah i think it attracts that you know sort of witty folks yeah especially uh and dc where i started uh you got people that are you know have these high level professional day jobs and a lot of ivy league folks and then

they like i do improv just kind of for shits and giggles in the evening. And yeah, and I am not one of those people. How did you start? I actually wanted to be a stand-up comedian. Oh, yeah? And my efforts in stand-up have never gone well for the most part. But I came up here to Baltimore one night. There was a place called Winchester's and um it's down near closer to the harbor okay it was this open mic and i remember uh i don't know if you know the comedian

uh eric myers yeah yeah he's out in la right now yeah he i remember he was there that night he was really funny just really natural this was like this is over 10 years ago right and i went one night to check it out because that's what judy carter said in the comedy bible that i bought to go to open mics or to that one winchester yeah go to winchester's and bottom all the greats go to winchester's you'll see eric my. He'll know you're in the right spot. No, you're just supposed to go check it out. And then I, this is another part why I suck at stand-up, is I'm a lazy writer.

Right. And I remember I had no idea what I was getting into. Did you have an idea? Like, did you have bits written out or anything? Like, loose ideas? I had loose ideas. I remember my best friend from home who's, you know, he's into film now. But he was like, he came with me and another friend of mine.

Which is always kind of a mistake. Yeah. Hey, come see me fail. Right. Do you want to have an awkward ride home? Come on up. Oh, it got awkward. I... What happened? Right. Do you want to have an awkward ride home? Right. Come on up. Oh, it got awkward. Yeah.

I, what happened? So I, yeah, I remember him being at my house and he's like, all right, go through your stuff. And I think the only thing I can remember is I had a very loose Dave Attell impression, which is so fucking horrible to go do comedy and impress another, do an impersonation. Who's like really big at the time. Yeah.

When he had like Insomniac out and all that stuff. Yeah. And all I do though, so I went, I was double fisting beers. I got really drunk. Uh-huh. I mean,

I was really drunk. Because you were nervous, right? Yeah. And also, I think at that time. You were in like a party phase? I was just in me phase. I was in a deep Michael Johnson phase.

Yeah, no. Yeah, drinking and me have a long storied past. Yeah. But you're like, yeah. I kind of know. I mean, I've known that you've been like off and on drinking. Yeah. But you're like, yeah. I kind of know. I mean, I've known that you've been like off and on drinking. I went off and then for a while, then went back on and then I was like, oh, I enjoyed being off more.

And right. And then I was like, but I can't stop. My life's better this other way, but I just can't. Yeah. Let me just have one more margarita beer margarita beer um where's love i can't stop drinking horrible drinks god why did i ever learn to drink i would quit limeritas if they weren't so delicious how am i not supposed to drink a clamato or? Whatever it is But yeah, so I got hammered And I remember that they passed me over They skipped me on the list Oh, you got bumped?

Why don't I? I was just forgotten Right I don't know Yeah, I mean, that happens Sometimes people running mics don't care at all They're just like, oh, the next guy is The guy that was running it

I can't remember his name I feel like his name was Mike, too And I almost want to say his last name was o'brien but i can't remember he was really nice about it okay and he because he had this drunk guy that was like hey man you when do i go i was supposed to go up and uh he's like okay yeah i'll put you on next and okay i remember even as drunk as I was, them calling my name and I was walking towards the stage and I had the thought run through my mind like, none of this is going to work. Perfect pep talk.

Perfect inner monologue as you go. And I got on stage and I just was like, nope. And someone yelled like, say something. And I was like nope and some someone yelled like say something and i was like no and i just walked off so you did like the larry david for the other reason like he says no to the crowd because he doesn't think they're gonna get your material you're like no it's not good enough it's not good enough for human consumption a bad idea and um yeah i mean and since i've done stand-up off and on and yeah it's it's like i totally and my instincts were correct because i still do that to myself like i'm like all right i'm gonna get back and do an open mic

and and try to get back into it it's tough to it's tough to jump in and out like it is one of those things where you can't really play around. Like, if you're doing it, like, three or four times a week, you're doing pretty good. Like, you definitely have to keep your reps up. It can't be like, oh, I'll try, like, every other month. Unless you know you're going to, like, a mic that's, like, really friendly. Right.

Versus, like, just going, like, yeah, let me just go to this random thing. You know what I mean? If you kind of know some of the people there, I think some people get away with that of being like ah give him a pass right no i've i've tried recently at ryan shut i don't know if you know oh yeah at labamba yeah on monday nights yeah it's a really uh good room he's great yeah i know him from improv and he's like come come on out. And I, uh, I went out two Mondays recently. It was a couple of months ago. And, uh, I just, I thought, and I had done, I've done standup a handful of times before

that, but, uh, I, uh, I thought I'd be more comfortable since I, I like, I've had a lot of stage time doing other stuff. Yeah. And I thought, thought okay you know I I'll be and it it fucking was awful I was like yeah it's just funny because like yeah everything speeds up and all these great ideas that I have in my head possibly couldn't be might not just not be great ideas like yeah but uh I bet there's something i mean you're a hilarious guy so i'm sure there's a kernel of something going on there versus like what's the deal with the

tomatoes you know yeah no i i love your tomato humor by the way right yeah i uh i put that bit on the shelf i uh i was just getting things were too easy for me. Right, right. It wasn't fair to the other guys. No, you know what? If I haven't done it in a while and I start going up again, I have no sort of like patience for how bad it hurts. Oh, yeah. You know what I mean? The sting of bombing. Yeah.

Yeah. Even just like getting comfortable at first and like not, you know, the first thing you say or the bit you try doesn't, maybe doesn't go over as well as you'd hope or even at all. And not like hitting the panic button. And then, well, they hate me. So. They see right through this facade. I suck. I suck.

It's not working. was like okay so let me just rush through the rest of this and which hurts the rest of the set because you're not delivering it right and then it just becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy of like oh yeah i suck but meanwhile you're speeding through everything and like rushing and not right being in the moment yeah and i it's so funny because it frustrates me because like there'll be, I'll see folks, you know, there's a wide variety of people that do stand up. Yeah. And a lot of them, you know, I am surprised that they are, they continue to do so.

There's a lot of self delusion. Even, I mean, even people that eventually get good, like everybody, when they start, they pretty much suck. But then there's like enough of a kernel to like hold on to you know what i mean we're like all right i'll keep going i'll get past this pain but some people yeah there is just a ton of self-delusion a ton of it we know that helps because yeah you have to you have to it's always rough at first hopefully not hopefully but hopefully, but like, you know. Yeah, I know what you mean. You mean it doesn't, like, stay rough.

Right, right. But you have to get past that. And if you're delusional, because I've been to people's shows, and I've seen people perform and, like, eat it and come off stage, and they're like, oh, it's pretty good. I can't do that. That's pretty good. I can't, I can't do that. I cannot do that.

I immediately know, notice like when I get off stage after sucking, like the part that hurts most is like people are just like the look. Yeah. And they don't want to talk to you. Yeah. You still have that heat on you. You got that stink of the bomb.

You're like radioactive. You're like, love me. They're're like nah dude no i don't i don't think so wasn't that better we were talking before the show yeah we're pretty cool man right karen we're friends yeah and yeah so i have a i have like all these people in my head that I'm like, I could know I can do as good, if not better than they can. Maybe I need to just have a higher bar for yourself. All the people I'm aiming for are people that don't want to be like, right, right, right. No, I mean, it's, uh, I really think it's just something through repetition that you would get.

Cause I mean, yeah, you yeah, you're a hilarious dude. So it makes sense that you would be able to put that together after a while. And I haven't. Well, I've never seen you do stand-up. Actually, I think you did like a little bit. You kind of messed around in the show. I mean, that show that I did for you, I... When you say it like that, it sounds like it was in my living room.

Yeah, I know. That personal show I did for you. your mom would not stop heckling me yeah she just wanted to say penis she really did she had a couple wine coolers yeah that one i hadn't i hadn't done stand-up in a while and i just take i i gosh this is so embarrassing to say but i tried uh i took a the dcrov Comedy class. Why is that embarrassing? Well, I don't know. For like stand-up, you mean? Yeah.

I think it's good. I mean, it gives you a shot to perform. Like you have people, you're workshopping your stuff. It really is. It was like an eight-week open mic of other comics just in the room. Some laughing here and there yeah which like i feel like a lot of open mics can be yeah well that's the thing too it sucks when you're doing an open mic and it's just pretty much other comedians and then maybe like two or three

girlfriends of comedians and you know if you get like a little bit of a chuckle you're like okay that could be something right like it's like running with a parachute on you know i mean you're like all right once i get like this uh albatross of a spite-filled comedian into a crowd that actually wants to laugh there might be something there right yeah i mean and uh the material i developed there i did it for a while and for some reason i hated it though too i don't know why do you have a thing about repeating i like an improviser that for me at for a while was tough now i get it because you have to refine it yeah and then the more you do it there's more stuff you can find but when i first started yeah doing i would get in my head about, just the comics in the other room.

Yeah, like, oh, Christ, they saw me do this last week. Right. And, like, they think I'm a hack that I don't have anything, I don't have a new killer 10 minutes in three days. Right. And then I get off stage and watch them do the same material that they did last week and kill. Yeah, yeah. And then not judge them. You're like, oh, yeah, that's how you do it.

Right. Yeah, I'm the worst with that, like, where I will judge myself to a different standard, you know, and then see somebody else like, yeah, yeah, of course, you got to refine it. You know, you got to. Right. But there are people that are like, I hate. I mean, I'm guilty of it, too. But when you're at an open mic and it just bombs, just whatever you say, just nothing. You're like, oh, well, it's new.

But it is funny to see people that have been doing the same jokes for like a year and they're like oh that's a new one like no it's not no that's that's right that's not new but uh yeah i i was on a good kind of stretch for a while back like five years ago where i was doing it regularly enough where i was starting to get comfortable but i was improvising a lot on stage and then i made the mistake and i knew i wasn't ready for going to a showcase at the dc improv that i got in the lounge that i got through the guy that worked there at the time wow hooked me up okay so for those listening to the lounge is like the side room of the dcrov, which is like a pretty big national club. Yeah.

And then to get a show in the side room, it's usually every show there's like an unspoken thing of you're auditioning kind of for the managers there to get in the main room. Right. Right. So it's a pretty big deal. They don't just have shows there all the time. They're usually for something. And there was, I can't remember who was on the show. I know Sonny Fuller was on the show.

Yeah, Baltimore Comedian. And I knew I wasn't ready for the show because I didn't have any material. I had like one bit. Right. One bit in front of the show. Hey, what's up, Kevin? But I was actually, I actually doing new bits that night. Which is insane.

You're just working without a net. You're juggling chainsaws on a tripwire without a net. It was awful. How long were you talking, five, seven minutes? Yeah, I was the first to go on. Oh. And I knew I wasn't ready, And I walked off stage just hating myself. And again, all the comics in the back just kind of parted.

Don't get that on me. Yeah. Just get away. I don't want your mojo to get on me and um i remember uh i saw i saw hampton yount and uh uh parna nancherla do you know those two they're dc comics yeah like what's on yeah once i started kind of getting into improv i saw hampton once around in like towson or something but yeah he's since moved to california yeah they've both done conan and yeah yeah they're really funny they were at the time hampton's on the show actually but he wouldn't retweet the link when i posted it oh really yeah he did this show this yeah he did it over the phone

but i was like hey man can you uh share this episode nothing nothing nothing nothing yeah i just remember i saw them to uh right walking maybe to the street or in the street like yeah maybe to the club and uh and he was like hey how'd it go and i was like just not even a word and um i decided that night i was like all right i'm just gonna focus on improv theater and and what i do best right and i I totally just, I don't know, I shot myself in the foot. Yeah, I mean, but it's unfair to grade yourself because like you're saying, you just weren't ready for it. So it's like, what did you expect?

Right. What did you expect? Like, I mean, it's one in a million that you could have a good set by just the see to your pants with like hardly any experience you know what i mean right like somebody that's been doing stand up for a while you're like you know what fuck it i think i got this versus like i'm just starting i think i got this well when i took that class at the improv uh allison jaffe who's the uh manager there yeah one like the main bookers yeah the owner uh i talked to her after my showcase

set there and she was really complimentary and i was like i really hope she does not remember me from the showcase and i'm like right after i thought that she was like yeah because i saw you at the showcase and i was like oh you remember Yeah, I shouldn't have been on that show. Was she like, yeah, oh, yeah. She was just like, yeah. When they trail off, that's a good time. I had since done improv shows there, and I had gotten to know her that way. Right, right.

Yeah, I had, it's just awful even to think about some of the bits i was trying i can't even i'm trying to remember like slash not remember it never happened yeah it um but i've like since got into like storytelling and like all the other kind of hats that come along with all of this like live performance yeah stuff like that yeah but um stand-up by far is the hardest right without a doubt do you think you beat yourself up about it because you're like okay i can do improv i can do the storytelling like yeah i mean i think when you get i mean i've gotten good enough and some of the other things that um yeah there's actually this weird ego part where you're like, well, I don't want to suck at that.

And everyone, you know what I mean? It's like, well, too late. Well, it's not even sucky. It's just like, oh, I do this other thing and then I dabble with this. like i i'm the worst with um not sportsmanship but like my my dad was like a natural athlete like his whole life like all-american lacrosse football basketball all that stuff and me i'm me so like i'm horrible at sports like uh just really bad so we'll uh when we hang out we'll go like play horse or something like that of course it always gets competitive it's it's gotten better but like i'm just the worst and then i'm always like why do i suck at this thing i do like three

times a year you know like i get really mad at myself and like yeah that's not fair like of course you're gonna suck right against this guy who's been playing his whole life yes he's 55 and still better than you right when you're 27 but it's like you know i'll do that too like we'll go bowling with some friends like in new york and so maybe like two or three times a year we'll bowl and i'm wasted i'm like what the fuck's going on why a gutter ball of course you suck what do you think you're gonna bowl like a perfect game i always thought and this is this is probably really like we'll piss off a lot of bowlers but i always thought that was like one thing that if you really wanted to yeah if you just like decided i'm gonna quit my day job and practice every day i like in a year you could be on the professional bowling and you

don't have to really be fit at all either so you can just drink and eat bowling alley pizza all day and you're gonna be great you put your hand over that warmer thing get your thumb loose and you're good you probably just lost your one professional bowler listener i wish that i could name one but uh like that guy gluff mcguffin whatever his name is and then uh stop listening well i think i have that in the back of my my mind too i'm like fucking bowling's easy why don't i do that it's throwing it in the gutter um but yeah so you are yeah you're such a good improviser it's funny to hear you be like yeah i can do improv but stand up it's hard well you know and meanwhile like the inverse like like i'll meet stand-ups too like really that want to do improv or they like make fun of it like they all hate it oh they do they're like

how's the makeup the makeup up's going like that's it's pretty good well you know uh pretend you said the phrase uh what just a few minutes ago comedy without a net and actually people uh have described improv as comedy without a net. Yeah. And actually a very close friend of mine does. And I could not disagree with that more. Right, right. Well, I meant like.

No, not you. Yeah, yeah. Going up without a net is funny. Yeah, yeah. But I meant improv itself. Yeah. Because I feel like with stand-up, I mean, you're improvising up there a little bit but like

you're also trying to connect with people and your ideas and you have to craft these jokes and the writing and everything like that and just then you're overall just being able to perform but like with improv i felt i feel like the net is like the benefit of the doubt of you're making this up yeah as you go yeah and then there's other people too to literally like come in and help you in a scene or something right or start a new one but yeah that's the difference too like most improv crowds are like you're gonna make us laugh and then stand up audience are like make us laugh right go ahead good luck all right it shouldn't be a contest here we could all have fun if we're on the same team but that's why i love doing stand-up and improv shows because they're like yeah right great it's uh yeah the uh improv crowds yeah

especially if you're just all there to see improv groups uh yeah for the most part you're kind of rooting everybody on yeah uh i think yeah it's interesting with the the make us laugh kind of attitude yeah i don't understand how someone could go out to a show and sit there with that sort of attitude it's like entertain me crack this code good luck okay if that's what you want right who wants to go out? Who enjoys an evening out like that? Right. Yeah, I don't know if it's an ego thing.

Like, I'm funnier than that. Right. I can do that. I think sometimes it can be. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Especially like with a heckler or something. Yeah.

I have not. Luckily, improv heckling actually happens every once in a while, and it's fun. Mm-hmm. actually happens every once in a while and it's fun um i remember i got a heckled a few times in stand-up and just like not knowing what to do like it just like it might as well yeah it's like deer in the headlights right you know and you have all those improv tools in your belt you're just like i am a faggot. Anyway, tomatoes. I mean, I've gotten better here and there, like rolling with it.

Yeah. I remember this. This is like the second time I was ever doing stand-up. I mentioned spilling a beer, and a guy just yelled out, party foul. And I remember it just fucking derailed me, which isn't even a heckle. It's more of a... It's just a stupid thing to say.

I think you're just like, what are you talking about? Why would you say that? Yeah, some people, when they think they're helping, they're just like, party foul. Where are we? We're not in your 17-year-old garage. Yeah, I never yelled that out as a kid. Not like a kid, you know, like 17.

No, you're like playing beer pong in the garage. Somebody tips a beer. Party foul, bro. Yellow card. All right. So let's talk. Michael, if we could go back. Let's go to the beginning.

Unless your lady's almost here. No, she's not here yet. She would have texted. Yeah, so how did you get started in improv? Do tell. I mean, it was after that awful experience in Baltimore. Oh, really? You're like, nah.

You're like, yeah, I'll just make it up. Because the guy, when I came off stage, actually the next guy that went up was just like, he was like, I don't know what all that was about. And I got up and was ready to fight him. And my two friends that came with me were like, all right, time to go. That was the awkward part I was talking about earlier. Okay. Yeah, that does suck too.

Especially when you're first starting and then the person after you, which is kind of all. I don't know what else he was supposed to say. It's not, you gotta, you gotta comment on it, but yeah, it is kind of all in the game, but it definitely hurts. Like the first time real quick, the first time I've done standup, I've said this on the podcast a bunch, but the first time I did it, it was at this pizza place called Joe squared in Baltimore. And it was an open mic night. And this guy, Mike Stork, who's really, really funny, he was hosting it. And me and my buddy at work, we were taking improv classes. And I was like, I want to try stand-up.

So we were going to do it together. And we had like a pack that we were both going to try. And I was so into it, but like really nervous. And when we went to sign up mike stork was like okay i think you could tell like that we were nervous is it your first time and i was like yeah yeah he's like okay well what you're gonna you know just take it easy you know i'm gonna give you four minutes and you know and like he couldn't have been nicer but when he said four minutes like four minutes are you high i'll be lucky if i'm up there for like two are you crazy

so he went up and then while he's up there doing the intro he's like yeah we got some uh some comics that have been been around for a while we also have some new people and you know be nice to them and he did this whole metaphor about when you start doing stand-up it's like eating a shit sandwich so like you're like all right that sandwich had a lot of shit on it but hopefully as you get going when you go up you get a sandwich there's a little less shit on it a little less shit on the sandwich, blah, blah. And I was like, wow, that's really nice of him to kind of like set the table with this shit sandwich metaphor. And then so then finally I go up.

I'm so nervous. I'm up there for seven minutes and I never stop talking because I'm like, oh, if I stop talking. Did he give you a light or anything? He didn't light me either. So like I had no idea. Like you were saying, like everything speeds up, like time time slash but slows down at the same time as well like you notice everything so i was just talking and talking and talking because my my thought process at the time was like if i stopped talking that's when they should laugh and if they don't laugh

then it's horrible but if i keep going they'll never know they weren't supposed to laugh so it was like seven minutes they're like okay josh could turn it later i watched the tape i was like jeez oh you watched it you taped it oh yeah yeah yeah yeah and i was i was so excited that i just did it and so like that night i was like i made it through it all right and then i watched it i was like oh my god how are my friends still friends with me so like kathy carson mike Moran was there and they were like, it was, you were up there. You did it. Yeah.

No, I, do you record your sets? No. You gotta do that. Gotta do that. I think at this last time out, trying to get back into it. Yeah. With, uh, I recorded one. Not necessarily with video, but just get the audio on your phone.

Right, audio. And I couldn't listen to it yeah it was because i had bombed the first time i went and then i was like i was kind of confident that i would do better and i just felt like yeah i don't know i have no i know it wasn't i still bombed but i right i was gonna listen to it and then uh i couldn't bring myself to do it i can't i i like to try to get better like sometimes if i do two sets like i'll be like all right i should listen to this set on my way to the other set do you pick up stuff by listening yeah definitely because especially when i'm starting out like i realized like in the moment i was i was just so

like scared of what was going on that i don't realize what i'm saying so when i listen back to it i'm like oh i forgot three words there that would have changed a whole bit you know but i've talked to comics like sean joyce who doesn't he doesn't record any of his sets and i'm like why not he's like well if something doesn't go well i remember it like yeah but not me right he's like it hurts so bad that it's like in my brain but me i'm just like just forge ahead go go go right so listening back and you're like oh okay if i cut this piece out like it really it helps a lot but it sucks to listen to especially if you take a hot one the next day you're in the cubicle hating life you're like let me go over the wreckage

from last night ah yeah but it's uh it's a part of it it'll make you better in the long run. With storytelling, I look at the tape. I have a storytelling gig coming up. I've had a hard time just listening to my own voice. Thanks for doing the podcast. Oh, yeah, thanks. I hope I can listen to this. Right. And looking at myself.

And all of this is stuff that is like like in the mirror you mean yeah pretty much well like i got on video and stuff michael i yelled at a cab driver today right what are you doing michael oh i i can look at myself for that that was totally justified um but uh yeah that that kind of stuff where you just have to do it it's a part of like how you get better yeah like yeah i have to be able i'm like i just kind of plow through now and you know it gets it's actually not as bad as i have it out yeah i think that then you get used to it too like you're like it's so daunting at first like oh listen back to it are you crazy and then you're like all right it's just part of it i'm gonna suck i'm gonna have bad ones but then yeah you try to learn from it but i don't listen to all mine like if i know

that it's just bad i'm like fuck it the whole thing is a loss right delete that file it's out of here um yeah so let's talk about improv let's talk about something you are good at yeah exactly uh yeah you got so are you from dcC.? No, I'm from Frederick, Maryland. Oh, okay. And so, yeah, after that horrendous first time, I was like, I'm going to take... Because, like, my grand plan was that I'd, you know, be a stand-up, and then I'd get a call from Hollywood

and start acting. So I was like, well... Hello, Michael, it's Hollywood. Right, right, right. Heard about you out there in Frederick. Right, right. This is the way it happens. So I was like, I'm going to take an acting class,

and then I'll take an improv class at this local theater, the Maryland Ensemble Theater in Frederick. Yeah. And as soon as I started doing that, I felt more at home, and I really enjoyed acting and improv. And then I just kind of went from there. Right. Like with the sketch comedy and stuff, you know,

I've always been like a big Kids in the Hall fan. Mm-hmm. And, you know, you could write character sketches. And that's sort of better for where, you know, I guess I'm more suited towards towards doing characters and acting and stuff. So, yeah, just kind of. And then I heard about Washington Improv Theater, started coming down to D.C. And I just kind of felt a groove in the theater community and yeah writing and then doing short films and

all that sort of good stuff in the back of my mind i was just like yeah you know i'm i'm really supposed to be a stand-up comedian yeah i'm doing this in the interim until uh till it happens yeah well then too also like the the uh improv and sketch and then like storyteller communities like everybody's so intermingled like between stand-up and all that stuff so you run into those people and like like yeah i should do that too right right and they're like yeah but there's well there's other like improv people i've run into are uh stand-ups that are like improv they'll like make fun of it but then some people will take a class and like it's hard right yeah Right. Yeah, it is. I ate a whole ton of shit too with improv.

I mean, I know for a good, this is why like, I don't know, maybe it's easier to fail with other people on stage and then get back up with them. Right. Rather than like doing it by yourself. But yeah, I had some horrible shows i remember doing shows uh you know again that delusion we'd get in the back and i was like man that was awful i'm like why can i not be good at any of this and like other why can i have something right yeah and other uh other people in my like cast would be like

that's a great show we should go we should go like say hi and thank the people for coming I'm like are you kidding I feel like if I go out there you know if I don't offer them any sort of like their money back you know some type of compensation right let them punch you in the face

yeah go for it I don't know i guess i'm very i can very much um see the negative as far as when it comes to myself it's like you know if it's a bad show i live in it but if it's a good show i quickly forget it oh yeah and then yeah and then you don't want to see people you don't yeah right yeah but at some point with improv it was like i don't know i don't even remember when it was or why it's like, eh. But at some point with improv, it was like, I don't know. I don't even remember when it was or why. It was just like, oh, this is kind of clicking now.

I feel like I can do a good, decent show, even if it's not a great show. Did you have just kind of like a fuck it kind of moment? Like a few shows where you're like, all right, I'm doing this for a while. Whatever. I'm going to be doing these shows. I might as well just take the pressure off.

I think I still tell Liz that. It was something where I just remember kind of being like, during a show or after one, I was just like, I can do this. I don't know. It was just weird. But it was after a while. Yeah. Things just kind of started you kind of uh just are able

to see where where to move or what to respond to right right what to build on what what to go after like okay there's there's the funny thing there yeah versus like oh it's all chaos i don't know i hope it ends up somewhere yeah and then when i saw there's that group in Chicago, TJ and Dave. Oh, my God. So good. Yeah. So good. I saw them this past time at the Chicago Improv Festival.

They just killed. They were great. And they played like six or seven different characters. Just two guys just killing it. And when I saw, I was like, ah, that's what I want to do. I want to do. That's what I felt like in i want to do that's what i felt like in our show tonight that i really liked that first scene it felt patient and you kind of

you just discover it and um yeah that uh that really appealed to me so i think i i aim to kind of like i want to be able to do that well i think yeah with improv too you learn same with even stand-up but improv you learn that there's different flavors there's different types i think at first you're like oh i just need to be the witty guy kind of like what we were talking about you're like oh i just need to be saying funny stuff all the time but then you see just two guys for an hour taking their time right you're like oh okay you can actually build something and it can actually be a true performance versus like a freeze tag situation or like you have to say the funniest thing all the time. Right.

Yeah, and they do like, yeah, they do storytelling. And I think that is, I mean, even with the actual storytelling, just being up on stage telling a story, which is like something that I'm still learning to do and how to craft a story. Like if you can tell a story in improv with like you know doing a two-person show or whatever um that's a lot it's really satisfying uh i think for the performers and the audience yeah um because they get invested too

like it like as you're slowly kind of just building it up versus like being like oh i'm funny funny funny funny like it's hard to maintain that momentum and then it's actually something you can get engaged in right kind of fill in the lines yeah and i i yeah i just feel really at home there and uh yeah we're doing like a a narrative longer set yeah uh two person show right at show at times the audience I've even heard them go aww like if a character that means they're invested

to these people yeah we got a couple of those today that old couple yeah I mean that to me is really cool but still it doesn't mean anything if I can't be a stand-up comic. If I could say anything tonight, it's that I just can't do it on my own, all right?

I can tell a story, but who gives a fuck? Old Drunks tells stories all the time. I've always been fascinated with anyone that can tell a good story like even like just now when you told me to retell the part about me trying to get the cab I started getting flustered with that

like thinking like I'm trying to like you know can I make this entertaining for these people what's the climax is it worth it to like go up this mountain like watching some people just be able to recount you know the same experience of their car breaking down yeah and trying to get a cab and they can just you know just it seems like effortless and right

right right just the most mundane stories hilarious right the details and all that stuff and sometimes you know people just have that natural charisma. Yeah, they got that gift to gab. I guess that's why, yeah. That first night I was doing stand-up. We're killing with the people next to us, by the way. Killing. They're laughing at us for those listening at home.

Can we tell them to quiet down? Just like, hey, we're doing a podcast over here. Hey, we're doing a podcast in the middle of the sidewalk. Two guys on a microphone sitting little respect a little respect okay we've all seen this before we know what's happening two random guys sitting in a storefront talking shit uh yeah i i haven't seen you do storytelling but i i imagine it's good because yeah thanks you've got you've got that uh you have a really great stage presence you're a really funny guy you know what you're doing up there and i think you're gonna figure this stand-up thing out oh yeah i mean maybe i don't know

stranger things have happened well that's like it it takes um i mean it takes like doing it all the time that's what uh sean westwall who i perform with yeah i was gonna get that yeah so like so did he do stand up well he did he has a story that he said he was doing it for a while in fact i first knew him as a stand-up way back when did you meet him in dc i just saw i'd see him at open mics that i was either stalking or uh you know performing at but i had no idea who like we never had met and i even remember some of his bits but he said like he had like one foot in one foot out and uh i'm like telling his story but um he uh he said that uh one night he went to an open mic and there was this guy and he performed and he was so so he was

actually pretty bad and then six months later he saw the guy when he decided to go back to another open mic and he just like blossomed really and that happens yeah yeah it blossomed and he's just like you have to be doing this all the time and i'm wasting other people's time oh interesting you know right uh getting up here and just kind of fucking around right getting in the way yeah i'm just i'm just i'm just you know i'll figure it out meanwhile people are like trying to hone their craft i'm having fun okay yeah i heard that about hannibal burris like other comedians oh yeah i heard that story yeah they've said too that he was just awful and like uh pete holmes and kamel nanjiani like they all started

in chicago and i think it was like a year maybe the same thing like six months like you know who's good hannibal right like what right like they couldn't believe that he was good like right some people just start out really shitty and that's where that delusion comes in right like i'll just keep going they tell that story and now it just feeds the delusion yeah i'm gonna blossom one of these nights yeah well there's two like rodney dangerfield lewis black and like lewis black was like 57 before he made it well he might have been like 41 you know like it gets older and older as that person gets uh supposedly like dangerfield was writing jokes for Lenny Bruce. And I forget what his name was, but it was his birth name. Yeah.

And then he had to quit and sell aluminum siding and raise a family for like 10 years and came back. But like if you were, so it wasn't like he came out of the blue. You know what I mean? He was already writing jokes for people. And I'm sure he was probably writing stuff for 10 years. Right. Like in between. Yeah, he wasn't just on a hiatus.

Maybe not performing, but had ideas and that type of thing. If you're selling aluminum siding, you've got to be able to sell jokes. Yeah. That's another part of this whole thing I just realized is the salesman part of it all. Yeah. Somebody told me that early on too like you got to sell your jokes which felt weird to me it's like why like if it's funny it's funny but it is true if the person's like i'm enjoying it okay that makes sense because the audience picks up on that like

if this person hates themselves i hate them too i'm not gonna I'm not gonna enjoy it especially because they don't know you like this guy thinks he's a piece of shit he's probably a piece of shit I don't know right

yeah I mean like the that and the the part that too with just selling yourself like like I don't know

whether it's trying to promote a show or trying to you know have all your stuff ready to sell yourself for like a acting opportunity, a headshot and all that. We're like telling people, Hey, I do this.

Rather than what I used to do. Like, Hey, don't yell at cab drivers. Meanwhile, it's your main focus. I mean, I, you know, yeah. Aren't you really into it? Nah. Because I have this opportunity. Nah. Nah.

You don't. Don't worry about it. Don't burden yourself. Don't come to a show. Don't ask me about it. Yeah. There is a pressure there. People are like, I want to come see you.

And you're like, eh. You won't get it. Yeah. Well, then it's like, I got to be good. And I want to be good. That's like the tow truck driver tonight was like hey man i want to come to one of your shows your girl was telling me like you're on your way to a show i gotta come to see your show and i just immediately thought yeah you

wouldn't like this but he's like being so supportive he's like the show must go on i gotta get you there the tow truck driver was the mvp tonight yeah it was amazing shout out to him yeah we started off with a negative like tell me about how you yelled at that guy right right right and i totally overlooked the positive yeah well so did i and that's that's just how comedians do right right like same with the thing like yeah i can do improv story time with stand-up i just gotta that. The thing that I suck at is what's killing me. Oh, I got a text from the fiance. Real quick. Oh, she's almost here.

Okay. Well, we can wrap this thing up real quick. So, yeah, you play with Shawn Westfall. Shawn Michaels, pretty big improv duo around these parts. Right? Right? Yeah, I guess we're the small little club that we're in. So, yeah, you met him doing

stand-up and then how'd you meet him to do improv like how that actually we did uh pete bergen's chinese menu shows oh i'm dropping a lot of names but i feel like i'm not because none of them are really celebrities so it'll be on the show at some point Pete Bergen, very funny Improviser, doing stand up too In DC Quick plug for Pete, he's doing a show tonight In New York But yeah

Sean got off the stage one night He was like, hey I like playing with you, you want to do a show? Or something And we did one And I remember he was like I think this is Got something And I remember he was like, I think this has got something. And I remember thinking to myself, really? I really, I had fun playing with him.

And this will probably break his heart. No, but I just was not. You didn't feel it was a home run? I just didn't know oh okay yeah you know and then even then when we did our two-man show our first two-man shows they were fun i just didn't like i don't know maybe i just had no initiative i was like i we have to promote this now same thing we're talking about like you do stand-up right yeah but that's a fun show we should do it again no but um i i would say after the first few shows actually like it was like it was it was a lot of

fun and um we have a really good chemistry um we're a lot alike, but we're a lot not alike. You compliment each other. Yeah. Yeah. He's really cerebral and smart and funny. And I think, like, there are, like, moments on stage where I just know I can bring something up. And I'm almost more, I'm curious, like, the kind of take he's going to have on it. Right. Like, what's his spin going to be on this?

Yeah. His angle from what you're saying. Right. Yeah, because he is so smart that, yeah, you can just throw anything at him. Right. Like, all right. Or what it's fun to do sometimes is like, hello, how are you?

Hello. Good. Good. Podcasting is the new puppy. I know, it is. That's how you get the attention from the ladies. You can, I'm going to come up here one night and you're just going to be on the corner with me by yourself. Just a cord in your pocket.

This is for the internet. What were we talking about? You and Sean and your chemistry. He's been the force behind it, I feel like. He seems like a motivated dude. Yeah, but even the way he hosts and he can promote and he's a much better ambassador than I am. I think I may have hosted the show.

I've gotten much better since. Yeah. But, like, even hosting a show back in the day for me was, like, it could kill an entire show. Yeah. No, hosting is a whole different set of muscles of trying to, like, keep things afloat and fun. Oh, I have much respect for it. I think people might not understand. Yeah, especially because normally with hosting, it goes to the person with the least experience.

Like, let this person fly the plane. You know what I mean? Right, right, right. It's like stand-up shows. Like, how you been doing it nine months? Why don't you host this thing? Like, oh, okay. It does, though.

I hosted an open mic for a while. Yeah, at the Pinch, right? Well, this was at Chief Ike's in D.C. Oh, okay. Back when I was actually, like, doing stand-up a little bit and um yeah you open cold in that room and it just like it builds thick skin yeah like people haven't really had a drink yet and you're like okay we're starting i'm just gonna start into being funny you're getting in the middle of their conversations like show starting right right anybody no okay

yeah that's another thing another sort of skill that like some some nights i can feel very comfortable at it and other nights it's like you know i get up there i'm like all right maybe i'll do a little something get the you know break the ice for the other performers and i'll you know and it's like you get up there and it's like, hey everybody, you know, thanks for coming out tonight and you know, you say like one little line that doesn't go over,

you're like, all right, I'm going to bring up our first guy and the person's like, I thought you were going to do five minutes. No,

you're coming up now. I'm dying. They hate me. I have to come back up here again. Meanwhile, that person's fucked. You're like, oh,

great. Thank you. Let me just get a shovel and dig out of this hole Okay thank you Michael But yeah no we've been Performing together like five years now Wow And I yeah I think I'd like to keep Doing the show as long as I can

Yeah Yeah And then doing the show as long as I can. Yeah. Yeah. And then doing the show with Johnson and Johnson. Yeah. What did he say tonight? I think he got it reversed. Josh and Johnson?

Maybe, yeah. Well, I was like, it's funny to be Josh-son and Johnson. I don't know. I'm fine with Johnson and Josh, then Josh, then Johnson. Either or. I think we had the Deuce Duo at one point. Deuce Duo. I like that.

That's good. I think we could do both. It'd be Johnson and Josh, then Colin, the Deuce Duo. Right? We should just keep adding to it. Yeah. And just make it more awkward for every host to read a whole thing. Now you got to say that whole thing. Uh-huh.

And kill the momentum and then bring us up. All right, man. Well, your lady's almost here. Yeah. Your fiance, who was nice enough to drive all the way back from Virginia to pick you up. Tonight was an important show. Yeah. Lots of industry there.

Yeah. That old lady, the penis lady. Oh, yeah, yeah. She works at HBO.bo right do you know that yeah that's i gave that to you guys because i wanted to see what you do with it yeah yep that's how game of thrones got started she's like show with dicks in it he's like i got it and then he drew some dragons filled in the edges and yeah all right Well, thank you for talking to me. Thank you. I'm sorry that Mike couldn't join us. Oh, yeah, yeah.

He had bigger things to do tonight. He was focused on things. But yeah, yeah. I'm sorry your car broke down. Oh, yeah. Is there anything you want to plug? Here, we've got the show on the 19th. The 19th that you're hosting.

Yeah, that'll be fun. Speaking of hosting. Yeah, that's at Studio 1469 in Columbia Heights. Yeah. DC. Tickets are like, they're almost like half gone. I think we've sold 40. We can probably sell another 30.

Oh, hell yeah. We'll sell them. Doing a speakeasy show, Atonement for the speakeasy DC, the storytelling group down there. That's on the 20th. And then the District Improv Comedy Festival. Yeah, that's happening. Performing with Shawn Michaels.

And then I'm also performing with two other guys, Reeves McElvain and Paul Laudiero. Oh, nice. I like Paul, yeah. I don't know Reeves, but Paul's a really funny dude. Yeah, we're doing our show called Thunderball. Oh, nice. I like Paul, yeah. I don't know Reeves, but Paul, he's a really funny dude. Yeah, we're doing our show called Thunderball. Oh, that's a strong name. Yeah, yeah.

It's good. We did that at Washington Improv's Theater's three-on-three tournament called The Fist. Oh, yeah. And we won that back in 2013, so we're riding that as long as we can. You got to do that. And then, yeah, the 72 Film Fest. Yeah, you and Doug are doing that.

Yeah, there's a lot of stuff we could have covered, but we didn't. We just talked about my angst with stand-up. Yeah. You put a mic in your face. Yeah, at least I got a hold of a mic tonight. I know. Killing it on the street corner. Yeah. Just put a mic in your face. Yeah, at least I got a hold of a mic tonight. I know. Killing it on the street corner. Yeah.

And this was kind of interesting. This was fun. Yeah, I've been doing this a lot more, just kind of podcast out in the open. I've been literally on the street. Yeah. This was fun. I had fun. Yeah.

Okay. So a lot of stuff to check out so the show on the 19th I'll plug all this stuff at the beginning of the show Twitter yeah

Twitter Instagram there's another thing I haven't figured out Instagram Twitter and Instagram I think are both M-I-K-L-L-J-O-H-N

perfect easy to remember at Twitter and then at what instagram probably the same thing whatever just search your name they'll find it michael johnson twitter I like will tweet a whole bunch and then get frustrated and then

lay off of it for a little while goes in spurts so you're going to want to be there for the spurts follow michael for when they happen because they will they'll happen right every once in a while something good will come up yeah I'll put in I'll get a favorite

give him some face it's usually the same god damn person oh really you got that one that's always like give me the pity fave you're like alright you made it worse you made it worse just don't give me the pity fave you're like all right don't even you made it worse you made it worse just don't don't give me anything all right how am i gonna grow as a person if you keep coddling right if i get a retweet on something that i like a joke i i'll like get the notice and i'll just

kind of stare at it did somebody's finger slip? What happened? Why? What? Hmm. All right. Stranger things have happened. No. Okay, good, man. Is there like a close to this show?

No. Lately, I've just been kind of rolling across to the finish line. We got a good spurt, and then we just kind of... I think plugging stuff at the end is an awkward end. But you got to promote shit. So digressionsessions.com. Everybody should go there. digressionsessions.com slash calendar has all of our

live upcoming dates. Go to iTunes. Go to Stitcher. Rate us. Review us. Give us all that. I'm on Twitter at BetterRobotJosh. And yeah, thank you for listening, everybody. Thanks for doing the show. Thank you. And we'll continue to wait on this corner until your fiancé shows up.

All right, cool. And we'll put the microphones away because people are staring. Well, unless you want to pick up more women. I do. I really do. We got a nice – all the women we spoke to tonight are just hanging at our feet for those listening. They're just waiting. This is – it's the new puppy. puppy yeah podcasting is the new puppy i'm glad we have a title for the show that'll be good because i give each show a little title and i think that

the new puppy yeah podcasting is the new puppy yeah i think it's good all right michael someone's just waiting to like turn this off right now that person that favorites all your shit i want to support and just make them keep listening all right oh here she is all right oh she's upstairs in zissimus oh god all right thanks everybody bye-bye