The Downside with Gianmarco Soresi - #101 Rating Auschwitz with Shahak Shapira

Episode Date: September 13, 2022

Shahak Shapira joins us to discuss why Auschwitz has a 4.5 star rating on Yelp, having a grandfather who died in the Munich massacre, a Florida gun show, a wedding derailed by bees and ways we can use my co-host’s resemblance to Tim Dillon to get more listeners.  You can watch full video of this episode HERE! Join the Patreon for ad-free episodes, exclusive content, and MORE. Listen to our live weekly show on AMP, every Tuesday at 4 PM ET. Follow Shahak on Instagram and TikTok Get tickets to see Shahak in a city near you! Follow Gianmarco Soresi on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, & YouTube Subscribe to Gianmarco Soresi's email & texting lists Check out Gianmarco Soresi's monthly show in NYC (first Sunday of every month) Get tickets to see Gianmarco Soresi in a city near you Watch Gianmarco Soresi's special "Shelf Life" on Amazon Follow Russell Daniels on Twitter & Instagram E-mail the show at [e-mail] Produced by Paige Asachika & Gianmarco Soresi Video edited by Spencer Sileo Special Thanks Tovah Silbermann Part of the Authentic Podcast Network Original music by Douglas Goodhart Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Do you know how to pronounce my name? Shahak? It's not bad. Wait, what was the last word? Sahar. Shahar. Shapira. Shapira?

Like Shapiro, but with an A. Like Shakira, but with a P. Shapira. Yeah. I like how you have to change Shakira or Shapiro depending on who you're talking to. More Republican. You're like Shapira, but with an A. Welcome to...

Did you already break it? Oh no. Did you already break it? Oh no. Did you already break it? Jesus Christ. Would you go to therapy already and stop taking it out on my mic holder? I barely touched it. It just came right off. Okay. I am so mad about that thing you told me right before we started recording that we can't talk about right now.

Yes, yes. Which you told me after we recorded. I couldn't hold it any longer. I'm just stewing over here about it. You're pissed. I am annoyed. Pissed mostly for yourself? No.

I'm mad that no one, like, you know, it seems like an injustice. Should have been me. Now, I want you, is your camera on? Are you framed okay? Your hat's not cut off. No. Okay, I'm so paranoid about these. Welcome to The Downside with Jamarcus Oresi and Douglas Goodhart.

I'm here with my guest co-host, Russell Daniels. Fuck you. This is airing after our 100th episode. It was last week. It was our live episode with Lucas Connolly. Great. We knew it was 100th retroactively, but it was very exciting. Yes.

And we are here with a guest, flew all the way from Germany just for this. Just for this, yeah. Shahak Shapira. Yeah. Say it slower. Nice. Shahak.

I appreciate the effort. I know Americans, I don't know why it's so tough on you guys, but like- Not for me. Your language is a mouthful. First of all, this is also your language. This is the language of our people.

Which one? The German or the Jewish? Oh, that's right. You thought it was Germany? No, I know you just came from Germany. I don't know. That's Israeli-German. Say something negative about Israel or about Germany. Something to kick us off this music.

Oh, I hate both of them. Great. This is the downside. They don't like me either. Good one. Fucking hate you. Okay, play it, everyone. Oh, God, did you change that?

I knew you were going to do it. That was Russell's favorite band. This is The Downside. What's happening? We'll tell you later. You're listening to The Downside. The Downside. With Gianmarco Ceresi.

There's no shame in saying you were a fan. I am a fan. You are a fan. Yeah. Arcade Fire. Do you know the band Arcade Fire? I shame in saying you were a fan. I am a fan. You are a fan. Yeah. Yeah. Arcade Fire. Do you know the band Arcade Fire? I do.

So Russell became a fan like two days ago out of the blue. Fuck you! No, so it's a band, a very good band. Nice music videos. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah.

Just something happened with the lead singer recently. Misconduct. Misconduct allegations. Sexual misconduct allegations. Oh, it happens to the best. I specifically said, poor Russell Rich. I said,

he said all my favorite artists, everything gets taken from, from everything. And I, I just, I'm having a hard time in figuring out how to like deal with that. Cause I feel, I feel,

I honestly feel disingenuous pretending anymore that i'm i'm gonna go through the whole rigmarole no i'm not listening i am listening i'm like i feel like i just feel like it's one of those things where i just it's exhausting to have to like pretend that we're gonna do that and you can still be legitimately upset and be like that's wrong blah blah blah like not blah blah but it is wrong uh but also be like i that's wrong. Blah, blah, blah. Like not blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But like it is wrong. Uh, but also be like, I, it doesn't,

there's so things that bring you joy in life. It's so rare. So to take any of those small things from you is, seems crazy to me. I think it's a great justification to stealing their music. Oh, I agree. You're fighting.

There's like things like you're like, well, you know, there's concerts, there's things, you know, like, am I going to be like,. There's like things like you're like, well, you know, there's concerts, there's things, you know, like, am I going to be like,

no, I'm not going to, you know, like, so, uh, so Russell came in today and he said it could get worse. Like we could record this and then there could be way more stuff.

So then I'm going to, then you're really, that's why I'm not going to say when we're recording this, you're going to have to go to the editing board on that one. It gets worse. I love that the guy, what was he accused of? I really don't even want to. It's like it was basically, you know.

I love that you're the victim of this story. It was, yeah. Russell is the true victim of Arcade Fire. I love it. It's been taken from me. It has been taken from. No, I've been a fan for 20 years. 20 years, really?

They were the first thing that I was like, you know when you're figuring out in later high school, you're like, what am I? So few of those things stay. Some of the music you listen to then doesn't stay. So they're the one thing that traveled with me from then

to now. So I feel like, anyways, to answer your question, it sounds like three allegations of like, of like, hooking up with groupies, but there was a dynamic between ages.

They're all of age. There's a little like, there was some pushy, overly pushy, and then aggressive, and then full-on accusations. I mean, you gotta read the article, ultimately. Yes, it's a long some pushy. It was being overly pushy. And then aggressive and then full-on accusations. I mean, you got to read the article ultimately. Yes, it's a long, long article. It would be a poor choice of us to recount the exact. Is it more a Chris D'Elia thing or more an Aziz Ansari thing?

Well, it's somewhere in between. It's one of those things where everyone is of age, but there's, you know, it's like you've got to read the whole thing. It's like it's legal, but he's still a dick. Yes. No, no, no. But there was some stuff that was categorically assault by their account. Oh, that's not good. And there's one defense that he said that is a very poor defense where he's sending like it sounded like allegedly allegedly multiple dick

pics uh without any response so the person was saying i did not want these and he claimed in his apology uh based on them not responding i thought maybe it didn't go through so he just kept sending you know different 20 20 dick pics in a row just like why won't it go through but he didn't send the same one 20 times it doesn't say it doesn't say

I don't think it was like I'm sure it was the same I mean that's it's important yeah listen I don't think people want three straight men to figure this one out

yeah that's why I didn't want to talk about it well Russell gave me he said I don't want to talk about it I'm so sad about it it's very sad I said I didn't want to talk about it well Russell came in and said I don't want to talk about Arcade Fire I'm so sad about it I said I didn't want to talk about it and now you did this didn't you well I had already changed the button I didn't change it after you came in to say

we're not going to talk about it I'm just saying like you know you came in you had horrible information to share with me you shared that I didn't want to know that and then I told you I don't want to talk about that one thing because I just don't and and now what are we going to do? We're seven minutes in.

I'm so angry. Well, we're very – listen. What are we? We're very what? This is a good day. The podcast is going great. Our producer, Paige Asachika, reached out, Rose. Very sweet email to me and Russell saying that we – this big kind of exciting news, we have a listener.

Yeah. We have a listener. And so for you listening there, thank you. We have listeners. Things are going well. Big growth. I haven't said enough, but we have this new show on AMPp, Amazon's Amp. It's a new app you can download.

You can listen to Russell and me live with guests, 4 to 5 p.m. EST, every Tuesday. Tuesday. And if you can't listen to it, you can then join the Patreon, which we've reactivated. And for $5 a month, you get all our old episodes, all our bonus episodes, some of which are really great. We really do some mad shit talking on those things. Yeah, we didn't think it was. Well, no one was listening. No one was listening.

And you will then also be able to get these episodes ad-free and the AMP episodes. You can listen to them only on the Patreon. The AMP episodes, we're interviewing Dan Savage technically last week when you hear this. But it's very cool. Russell, you did have something that you wanted to share. Oh, yeah. So I officiated my cousin's wedding in upstate New York. And so it was a smaller wedding.

It was at a golf course. And they basically, at one point doing they were doing the wedding photos and it was kind of like the person in charge of the wedding photos wasn't like great at communicating like how long this was going to take. And so it was taking them like a really long time to do wedding photos. And it was kind of like the reception was happening and none of the wedding party was there for a long period of time because they were taking photos still. So I Nicole and I went over to kind of like look from the reception to like see like what is going on where is this wedding party and they were out on the golf course taking these photos and you know they're they're in their positions they're all it's the all the bride group uh bride groom and then their people you know the the what are they called bridesmaids you know groomsmen

uh anyways so they're they're taking the photos You didn't have to learn these to get your priest test? No, you don't say bridesmaids. Anyways, so... Wait, are you a priest? No, God, no, no, no, no. What do you mean? In America, you can just go online and you can sign up in like 10 minutes to officiate people. Was there any information other than name, address?

No, no, no, no. It's called the Universal Life Church Online. But legally. You have to pay some money. How much money? I think $75. Not much. But you then officiating it makes it a legally binding?

Yes, except in New York City, you have to, New York City and I think Las Vegas, you have to do two, you have to get more paperwork at the city level. Do they do paperwork at the wedding? Do they sign a contract? Yeah, you have to sign a thing and send it. Really? And you have to send it into the courthouse or the thing. Interesting. So anyways, so I'm watching, because I'm

like, where are they? So I go and I'm watching and we're watching them. They're all in their position getting photos. And then all of a sudden there's like an explosion within the group And then all of a sudden, there's like an explosion within the group. Like all of a sudden, they're running everywhere and in all different directions.

And what had happened was the bride stepped on a beehive and there were bees everywhere. There were like bridesmaids, like legs up in the air, shaking their dresses because there were bees up their dresses. Because they got it, yeah. There were bees. There were people runningidesmaids, like legs up in the air, shaking their dresses because there were bees up their dresses. Because they got it, yeah.

There were bees. There were people running for golf carts, like little kids screaming and running everywhere. My cousin, the bride, got stung 17 times on her legs during these photos. Anyways, it was an insane thing. It was an insane thing to witness. That's a go to the hospital. I mean, I don't know. She's not allergic, but that's a lot of st hospital I mean I don't know she's not allergic but like

that's a lot of stings you're not enjoying the rest of your day well they were nervous that the wedding coordinator person that it was allergic and she got stung

once but she ended up being fine she took a Benadryl and was fine so people are screaming and you're off you're just eating

a little like I'm safe from very far away yeah and so I watched my nephew he carried the rings down And you're off. You're just eating a little, like, weenie. I'm safe from very far away. Just, like, seeing this pass. Yeah. And so, I mean, I watched my nephew was, like, he carried the rings down, the ring bear. And I watched him run all the way from the thing, not looking back. Like, he was just sprinting, screaming, crying. There were people picking up little kids on golf carts, like, trying to get away from it.

I mean, it was, it was, and I was, I felt, I was laughing so hard because it looked insane. Like it looked, people rolling on the golf course, like trying to get away from bees. But anyways, it was a, it was a nice wedding. Beautiful, beautiful. I miss that. I miss that. You know, thankful that I wasn't there for that. Do you feel proud of how you did as, as the you did? Do you feel you brought gravitas to it?

I think I did well. Because you're the performer, you know? Yeah, I think I did well. I think I did well. Wait, did they still marry? Oh, it was after. They got married and then that happened afterwards. So everyone was fine.

Ultimately a very nice affair. I think I did well. I got some good remarks on it. It went smoothly. And it poured, so we had to move locations last minute. think I did well. I got some good remarks on it. You know, went smoothly and it poured. So we had to move locations last minute and everything, everything went well. And the couple was probably,

I've done like seven or eight weddings now. I would say they were the most like emotional, like, like in terms of, I was like, Oh, this is very intimate. Like in the vows or just like the moment you know,

the whole, like the whole like wedding, they were really like, you know, like he, he did the classic, like the moment you just saw it? No, the whole like wedding. They were really like, you know, like he did the classic like, you know, when you turn around, you're like, turn around, look at your bride. And he did that thing where he like started crying like loudly, you know? That's a lot of pressure. I know. Because for that moment, like I'd be in my head the whole time. I know, you know.

Not to float this out there, but especially if Tova and I were getting married and tova like had a dress hunt and it was going to be i have to react to this moment yeah she'd be looking like a hawk yeah for exactly how i'm reacting especially if they set it up where they want to like do the turn like thing you know because if you're just like yeah and you're like it's not there's weddings where you go and they don't build it in like it's gonna be a big moment but this was built in and he's not, there's weddings where you go and they don't build it in like it's going to be a big moment. But this was built in and he's not an actor. Let me tell you, this man, he genuinely felt that. And he like loudly gasped.

I don't know who would have a worse reaction, me or Tova's dad. Like Tova's dad would be, I just think would be kind of blank. And I would try to make it funny. I'd be like, And everyone would be like Not funny, Gianmarco Not the time for the jokes That's exactly It would derail the wedding

Every time I get emotional like that I have to get away I have to like ironically Break it off, you know? Yeah Well, so you Thank you for sitting through all that Sorry

Sure How are you? By the way, speaking of your girlfriend, I think that was the tightest five minutes I've ever seen someone do for her first set. Very, very impressive. She had dabbled way, way back. Wait, did she write it herself?

She worked with a friend of mine named Ariel Elias, but Tove also wrote a great deal. That was great. And did a very, she helped me when I did, for my friend's wedding, Kevin's wedding in Hawaii,

I did like a set and Tova's been really witness to like how I build, especially a unique kind of set. It's like I figure out all the different jokes, reorder, reorder, test with friends

and she like did the whole thing and it was crazy. Yeah. Crazy. I love the Rabbi Menachem. Yeah. Do you know that Rabbi? It's the real Rabbi. And it was crazy. Yeah. Crazy. I love the rabbi. Yeah. Do you know that rabbi? It's the real rabbi.

Is that the guy on the tanks? On the tanks? The mitzvah tanks. Have you seen those? Oh, the mitzvah tanks. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The least threatening tank there is out there. I saw it.

I went insane. I was like, because I was like, yo, you could never, you could never put that thing in Germany. So I do want to, yes, I'm very curious about being Jewish. So, okay, you were born in Israel. Yes. When did you move to Germany? When I was 14. When you were 14.

And why? My mom's boyfriend is German. And she met him in Israel? Yeah, they would do. It's kind of like the wrong way to go from Israel to Germany. It's kind of like the reverse. to go from israel to germany it's kind of like the reverse i i mean i guess yeah we didn't look at it like that but sure now in retrospective of course yeah i i mean the place we went to was the the most wrong place like like you can go to sure

we went to this like uh so um my mom's boyfriend he's german right and and she's israeli and they met uh they were both into uh i don't know youth exchange programs they were working in that area like sports because my mom used to be a choreographer she did what kind of choreographer she did uh oh she did all kinds of choreography i think she uh she even studied in dallas she did all kinds of choreography. I think she even studied in Dallas. She did a bunch of cheerleading stuff. And then she went into mass choreography. So she did like the Jewish Olympic Games, which is a thing. The Jewish Olympic Games? We got the Olympic Games, yeah.

It's called Maccabiah. It's big. A bunch of Jews come from all over the world. I feel like I could compete in that one. Yeah, everyone could. It's like, yeah, you're like how, you're over six feet. Yeah, you can compete. Wouldn't it be amazing if I could just be in the Jewish Olympics Yeah, everyone could. It's like, yeah, you're like, you're over six feet. Yeah, you can compete. Wouldn't it be amazing

if I could just be in the Jewish Olympics for basketball? Yeah. Not having done it. That's all. Okay. Well, I forgot to say,

you are a comedian. We've worked together. Yeah. Just so people have context of this. But so your family, is it European originally? Where's your family like,

how did they get to Israel? I'm half Arab. You're half Arab? I have a weird family story. So my grandma's from Iraq, right? Okay. Yeah. My grandfather, technically Palestinian.

He grew up, he was born in Tel Aviv before it was Israel. Okay. And he died in the Olympic Games in Germany in 72. In the Olympic Games? Yeah. Have you guys heard of this? No. No. But maybe if you talk a little more. The the Olympic Games in Germany in 72. In the Olympic Games. Yeah. Have you guys heard of this? No. No.

But maybe if you talk a little more. The Munich Olympic Games. Oh, yeah. Munich. Oh, the movie. Yes. Oh, my God. Yes.

Based on a real... Yes. Did you know? Oh, the movie. I love that movie. It wasn't the other way around. It sounded like they did a movie and then terrorists were like, we should do that in real life.

That would be funny. Well, how bad did it get me? Because I don't know much about it what year was this this was 72 how many people died 11 and your grandfather was one of them yes he was a track and field uh athlete coach head coach um he used to be uh an athlete and then he became coach. What country was he representing? Israel. Israel, okay. He was one of 11 Israelis that got taken hostage and then murdered by Arabic terrorists in the Olympic Games. People don't know about this in America, right? I mean, it was just before I was born.

I know my mom had mentioned it once when I was a kid. It was big. Other than the movie, no. When did that movie come out? Early 2000s, I think. Who directed it? Was this a Clint Eastwood?

Steven Spielberg. But this was more about like how the Mossad dealt with the terrorists afterwards. Yes. So, sorry, what year you said, 72? 72. 72. And it's a big, right now it's a big thing because in Germany, it's 50 years now, right?

And right now, to give it a current spin, they're doing a big ceremony in Germany of remembrance. And all the families are saying we're not going to come to the ceremony. Because, first of all they don't get they want money from germany which they deserve why forgive me what okay munich so it was in germany yeah yeah germany did they not provide adequate security i'm sorry i'm not telling you the whole thing so you got to realize like this was the first olympic games in in germany since 36 where they were a whole different country. Yeah.

Right? Really? Wait, that was the one where, who was the guy who won, who did the Black Power Fist? Like he won and Hitler was really mad? Yeah, yeah, I remember that. What was his name? I remember that part of it. We're like, that was Hitler being like, oh oh fuck, we're not the master race at all.

In his face. Yeah. It was great. But then, you know, not great for us. Yeah. You could have played basketball there.

That would have helped. Sure. That's back, that's back when they were wearing, what are those shoes that everyone wears? It's like no padding. Oh fuck.

You know, the shoes, the, the like punk kids wear them now. Fuck Russell. Come on. Why am I in charge? Crocs? No, fuck. You know, the shoes the punk kids wear them now. Fuck, Russell. Come on. Why am I in charge? Crocs? No, no. The shoes. Converse?

Converse. That's where the basketball players are wearing. Converse. Just like, yeah, Chucks. And they just like it looked like no athleticism was going into it. Yeah, that's right. Letters, Chucks. Okay, so it hadn't been in Germany since then. And after. And they were like, we're going to present ourselves as a new

country to the world, you know? Yeah, the motto of the games were the happy, the joyful games. It sounds better in German. No, it doesn't. But that was the motto, basically. And then those terrorists, right, they got into Munich.

They got some help from German neo-Nazis. And the German government, they have no fucking clue how to deal with this, right? Because they don't know how to deal with terrorism. So they're clueless. And they reject any help from Israel. And they mess it up completely. So what happened exactly? It was during the games?

During the games, the terrorists, they just went into the Olympic Village because there was no security. Sure. Germany didn't want to have too much security in there because, you know,

they wanted to make a good impression on the world, right? And they just go in there and some... It was a very unique situation because they were trying to to kidnap athletes so they got pushback from the some of them managed to free themselves um some of them managed some of them even had to sacrifice themselves so others could flee how long were they hold how long were they been holding it was like so it was a breaking news like someone's being held not only was the breaking news the press also shares the guilt uh

because uh one of the most insane things that happened that shows that they don't know how to deal with terrorism is um the police the german police was trying to get into the building where the terrorists were held up with the hostages right and you see the police officers on the roof and the german press they're standing outside the building and they're holding the camera and they're streaming it live on tv so the terrorists they just opened the tv and they're like uh muhammad close the window and that's it uh-huh and that's and close the window just close the window and the. And Germany was neutralized. Jesus.

So there were so many mistakes made. The people that they sent, the snipers, all of their experience was that they went to... Schützenfeind, it's called. I don't know how to translate that. So there's no... Like, we have... Like, they went shooting on the weekend. They went hunting on the weekend.

That was their qualification. I see. Those were the people sent, the police officers sent to free the hostages. So it was, like, so much incompetence. How long did this whole thing last? I guess, so they took them hostage. And I think they were held up a couple of hours in the Olympic quarters, maybe give it half a day, maybe a day almost.

And then they went, they took the hostages and the terrorists, they went to an airport at a place called Fürstenfeldbrück. It's like a village close to Munich. And there the police tried to get the hostages, and all of them died there. The terrorists, they wanted to fly away, but they saw it wasn't happening, so they threw grenades into the helicopters that they were given,

and all the hostages died, some of them by the bullets of the German police. Oh, my God. god yeah um well here's my funny take on this oh there we go so there's a lot no so okay so this was your mom's dad and this was my dad's dad your dad's dad yeah so your dad is how old at this point he's uh 12 wow and he's just home just like he's so the fucked up thing was the german police they went to the they did a press conference and they said all the hostages are alive and well after they died yes and the world thought that for a whole night because

there was no internet there wasn't twitter oh my god you know so everyone thought all the hostages hostages are saved and then in the morning they were like nope what was the thinking there okay now that's a little bit funny to go out there and like someone's really pressured like how do i say this how do i say this it's like a michael scott saying i'm gonna pay for everyone's college the thing about the whole thing is that it's something really sad, but also funny about the Germany's thing was like, like we won't have that many guards. Look at us. We're chill now. We're not going to have too many guards.

We're like, we don't have a big presence of, of people with guns. Like, you know, and then, then just spiraling and being like, like making up a lot that making up that lie is crazy.

Cause there's what, what happens? What do you say that? No, we actually saved them. And then what? Like a boulder fell on them. Like the all like, like what? crazy because there's what what happens what do you say that no we actually saved them and then what like a boulder fell on them like they're all like like what to be fair dead jews are also germany's thing so you know it's well for germany this must have been quite the nightmare i mean

this could not have been this could not have gotten things have happened there but so but i mean like this is this is no it was you're have gotten over. Worst things have happened there. But I mean, like, this is. No, it was. You're not wrong. With the Olympic Committee, like, two strikes, you're out. They're a big, big comeback. Russell, it's basically what happened to you with Arc at Fire. It's basically the same thing.

Basically the same level of. No, but you know what's even more fucked up? Listen, so why are the. I mentioned the families don't want to come to the ceremony, right? Yeah. First of all, they want damages, right? They want reparations from Germany. What kind of reparations are we talking about here? Like millions.

Like they want to be paid by international standards and they deserve it. They fucking deserve... I'm not getting any of it because my dad is... He didn't even pay like child support. So I'm not getting shit. I don't have a horse in the race.

Your dad's still alive though? Yeah. He wouldn't give you a little bit bit i haven't talked to the guy in 20 years wow sure he won't give me shit because you didn't know this money was coming nah god damn we could have called a little more yeah um but um but so the fucked up thing is uh two months after the whole incident, right? So three terrorists survived and they were in German prison and the Germans hated it. They were, yeah, they were,

just like you said, they were like, we want to get rid of those guys. They wanted to have them killed? No, not have them killed, just fucking send them back to Lebanon or whatever. This is how Germans, they didn't want

it to pretend like it never happened, which they do a lot. Sure. Let me just say as a side note, the one thing that at least from an American point of view of seeing Germany, compared to America, the way that we have hid crimes historically, it feels like Germany does a little

bit more owning up to it. You have a different perspective. But compared to America, it's shocking the way that we've – the fact that we have more Holocaust museums than slavery-like things that talk about the way slaves were treated. Comparatively, it's insane. Absolutely. So, yeah.

Absolutely. America and Germany are similar on this front. I mean, Germans bitch about it a lot too. But they – no, they have a remembrance culture. I can't, I give Germans a lot of shit. Please. Yeah. I mean, they deserve it.

They love it too. They like it too. They love it. Sure. They love self-care. Just a little bit of, you know. Is that where that originated? BDSM?

Flagellate certainly sounds like a, sounds like a German word. Flagellate. It seems, it seems like, like German kind of. Flagellate! It seems like German, kind of. It does. So what did you say, two months later? Two months later, right, there's Luft... So they had the terrorists. Germany, they have the three terrorists, right?

They don't like that. They want to forget about any of this ever happening. You know, they don't want to prosecute them. They just want to send them way back to wherever they came from and be done with it. Two months after the whole massacre in the Olympic Games, a Lufthansa flight is being hijacked by terrorists of the same organization. The organization is called black september right and those terrorists demand the release of the other terrorists but the german government turns out already prepared all the papers 10 days before that right for the release of those of

those terrorists in case they would have to get rid of them for who knows what reason, right? And they are already offering to release. As soon as the plane is hijacked, they're like, yeah, we're going to release the terrorists. Even before the people who hijacked the airplane asked for it, which is fucking weird, right? And release them, like send them back somewhere or just like open the door and say they send them so so they give they hand them over to the other terrorists with the airplane uh-huh and they take those people and the hostages and they fly to libya so there's no hostage exchange or anything they keep their they keep the hostages and they get the terrorists and they fly up to Libya. And then a few days later, they release the hostages.

And it all goes over so smoothly compared to two months before where 11 Israelis just got murdered with horrific incompetence. So it turns out now there's an article about this at the New York Times, right? There's new records that have been released. Because Germany kept records closed for this up until a few months back. And some of them are still closed until 2047. Isn't it crazy? We have stuff like that here too, where it's like there's some kind of time period.

It's just crazy to be like, we're going to let you see this. Just not right now. Priv privacy reasons and bullshit like yeah everyone involved with this needs to be dead before we let you see yeah exactly exactly so what i just told you right none of this is like 100 proof but it looks like germany had some kind of, how do you say, a cooperation with the people who hijacked the airplane to get rid of those terrorists, to a degree. None of this, there's no 100% proof. You know, you got to be very careful when you say things like that. But, you know, it looks very rotten.

Yeah. And, I mean, even if a quarter of it is true, just the comparison of how they dealt with the situation when you have German hostages and when you have Israeli hostages is terrible. Yeah. So when you were a little kid, how did your dad, how did they tell you about this? Did you think of your grandpa with reverence?

Everybody knew about this. It's a big deal in Israel. Uh-huh. Those 11 athletes. They were kind of honored there. Yeah. And those families, so they're having this event

in Germany to commemorate it. Yeah. And all the families, were they ever paid anything? They were paid something, yes. Do you know if it was like a lot? It was like 4 millions in total.

Four million divided by 11 families. Yeah. Okay. To 200K persons, something in the end after taxes or something. I don't know. So the families now, they demand more reparations. They also demand Germany apologizing for the incident and owning up to it, which they never done. They never acknowledged their guilt in the matter.

And they demanded all the documents to be released. And they want all three. Who runs, like, do lawyers? Like, I wonder if it's like a lawyer talking to a government official. You get the apology and 100,000 each and a couple of the documents. So there's two women. One of them, her name is Anki Spitzer. She's the

wife of Andrei Spitzer, which was the fencing, he was a fencing athlete. And Ilana Romano, who is I think she was the wife of, I want to say Joseph Romano. He was a weightlifter.

And this was like their life's mission. Their whole life they've been fighting for this. But yeah, now they're in a position of power because Germany, it seems strange that Germany announced they wanted to do a big 50th anniversary without checking that all the families were on board soon no they've been fighting like they've been fighting for this for 50 years those two women like but now it's getting more attention i mean now it's getting more attention something going on yes and how do germans feel are there like is jer is like they're a

liberal part of germany it's like you should pay them and a conservative being like no this wasn't our fault the thing is uh most of the german media is only focusing on the reparations thing and they kind of presenting it low-key it's like it's a bunch of you know jews wanting to get money from germany oh boy low-key very low-key yeah yeah yeah but like like you know like come on it's the it's more it's about more than just the money yeah to me To me, at least. To me, it is. So, okay, so you're in Israel. You have this history. You moved to Germany because your mom met someone.

And that's like my, that's only the one part. Like, my other grandfather, he's like the only Holocaust survivor of his family. There's a lot of shit with Germany, like, in my... So, I guess what i'm curious about is like with all this weight with germany it just seems like the even your mom dating a german you're going back to germany like is there in israel is there is there like i guess you don't call it racism but what we call anti-german people sentiment in israel i mean first of all there's a bunch of racism in israel of course not to germans but But how do they feel about Germans? Is it kind of like,

well, this all, none of you... Turns out Israelis have a better opinion of Germans than the other way around. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. I will always... I did a commercial

with a German film crew. And there was a German guy that we were out to dinner. Oh, yeah, you got a bit about that, right right i ended up changing it for the bit but originally we were out to dinner and he was like what i would describe as a woke german where he felt it necessary to apologize to me for the holocaust that's not even woke there. Yeah, but just like it was uncomfortable. It was weird.

I know. And I told him. Oh, wait, did it come up? Or did he just like right off the bat before dinner? Not right off the bat, but like it was very strange because it was this German shoot. It was in German. They couldn't find the actors anywhere, and they picked me and Jeff Solomon,

two Jews from New York City, that was like the right tone for this commercial. And I said, and I felt uncomfortable, so I was like, oh, I'm half Jewish. And he was like, no, don't ever say half Jewish. The Nazis used the term half Jewish to mean half as bad. Yeah. And it was very strange for a German to be telling me once again

what I should do as a Jew. And I didn't know, now I tell people I'm half not Jewish. That was my solution. But it was such a strange, it was one of those things where I'm like, this is for you and not for me. Yeah.

I don't know what it is that you feel about this. You're absolutely right. They're neurotic. They're fucking neurotic about it. Well, that's ironic. Yeah. So, is that like just a certain kind of German? Like, in America, there's very much a, like,

there's like a Republican side being like, stop apologizing for our past. We have a great past. Don't think about it. But in Germany, is there like a strain of people who are like we need to make it right. We need to apologize to every Jew we see. Like what is it like? No, no.

I mean in Germany, it's more like let's talk less about the past. We're done now. We talked about it. Which i think is the wrong way to look at it i think it's a i think it's a good thing to have this moral compass you can find in your past because you know i fucked up let's not do it again you know yeah i mean i i certainly think that's the the better way to. It's a good, I think it's a healthier way of looking at it. But people look at it as like a, how do you say, like a bad thing. It's not, I mean, it was a bad thing. But I think you can learn, you can make the best out of it instead of whining about it all the time. What do you think about how we should remember the Holocaust?

It's funny, we have the two Jews here and you're like, I'll let them tell me how we should remember the Holocaust. No, I'm... I'm just saying it's a big... It's certainly... It seems like Germany has a lot. I know there was, though. There's that beautiful monument. Where's the one with all the different levels of stones?

In Berlin. In Berlin. That's the one I did the project about. What's the project that you did? Yolocaustolo cost what was yolo cost that was like my biggest that's my biggest art project that's where all the followers are from basically uh it's not a little bit it's comedy but like before i like i had a very weird way of becoming a stand-up comedian uh unhealthy way you could even say because i became famous with art projects that gave me an audience that was way bigger than the level of a comedian that i was sure i was playing rooms i wasn't ready for and some would say didn't deserve

which i think is a different thing yeah um but yeah the holocaust was there's this holocaust memorial in berlin it's very famous uh all the tourists go there they and i noticed a lot of them do selfies there which is i guess it's fine to a degree but some people would barbecue there they would be a max there juggle like balls and stuff so i took those selfies uh i found them online everywhere tinder of instagram grinder facebook whatever and i photoshopped them into actual holocaust footage oh i remember this yeah it was like it was seen by a hundred million people wow it's ridiculous like i became like overnight famous like it was insane just the aj plus video is like 80 million views.

So, and I use 12 people's pictures and I said, you can write an email to undo me at Yolo cost.de and I'll remove you. And those were people from all over the world. And within a week they all wrote me and I just removed them. Sure. But they've, they must exist.

People made copies. Yeah. But I felt like for my side, I just took it down because I like having the project ending, concluding. Sure. Yeah. I think it's a tough thing where your point is 100% accurate. It's just those people, those pictures probably haunt them to this day yeah but they're not really recognizable in those pictures that's nice was that selective or is that just a happy yeah a little bit yeah i mean you can only like most of they wear sunglasses and the angles and stuff so

like they probably only recognize themselves and like maybe two three people i think it's very it's very powerful i think very often about like we're very careful in terms of media they don't show a lot of gore on kind of national news or whatever and i was just in florida and i went to a gun show and uh because i was just you know looking for material not guns yeah but but i was like you know it was it's and you see all these people and this gun culture and uh there's this very funny woman where she, she said, she said she was selling bullet jewelry and it was, she was like,

you know, they don't even teach. She was, she was selling little pocket constitutions. And she said, you know, they don't even teach the second amendment in schools anymore. And I,

what would they, and I said, so they just go from one to three. And she was like, and, and, and, and I was like,

well, you know, that's too bad. But at least most of the kids are getting hands-on experience. I really want to meet those people. But I want to do what you, like, the thing with those guns, it's like the whole thing, all the pictures and paintings of this, like, they had, like, superheroes, like a patriot man or something. There's no blood. There's no bodies they guns exist in

their mind in like a video game a magical movie place where there's not guts where there's not intestines where and i'm like when you see these people holding guns you're like someone said about sandy hook which you know about sandy hook here that if people had seen the autopsy photos, the gun debate would have changed immediately because they're so fucking they'll throttle your brain. Do you think that's true? I don't know if that's true and I do think people get used to imagery. There's historical

examples too. Think of Emmett Till. Remember the mom demanded that his body be shown and it had a huge impact on that fight. And i i do think there's historical things i don't think any of this is going to be a good difference i mean a cynical part of me think agrees with you but another part of me thinks that you know they're they're it is i can't imagine how horrifying it is so part of me is just like if you were an activist going to a

gun show if i was not a comedian actually trying to make a good positive change in the world, going to these shows with, in my mind, it's like papers of pictures of victims

of gun violence. As I see the little kids holding a rainbow gun that their parent is going to get them and you just throw in the air these horrifying pictures, that feels like...

It's like Hamas. Yeah. It's very... It's like... it's like hamas yeah it's very it's like it's like like america it's like those people are so anti-islamic terrorism but they have so much in common you know yeah yeah yeah it's like oh yeah oh no yeah yeah yeah i see you're saying gun shows that's like sure islamic terror bullshit that's but holding the bible holding the thing and you're like this is the yeah it's the same thing but i think it's not because i don't think i i think public opinion has no impact on gun laws i think and look everything i say is like outsider bullshitting i'm not sure i don't know how it is but i feel like this whole

country is being taken hostage by a gun lobby sure but you go to these places i mean one of the reasons i think it's good like now that I've been touring the South more and going to places like the gun show is I really – it does eradicate the thought in my head of like, oh, you're not going to stop these people from getting into guns. These people will die before – this is not just they want guns. This is their whole culture. This is their whole identity. This is their t-shirts. This is their pants. This is their truck. This is their whole culture. This is their whole identity. This is their t-shirts. This is their pants. This is their truck.

This is their weekends. And it more just teaches you like, I don't know. I don't know what the solution is. But it really, it makes it, it does make it seem like it's childish to be like, oh, we're really going to take this away from them. I mean, not from them, but from the future, from their kids, you know? I think this is, they just got into it

and it was so easy to get into. So maybe they would have gotten into plants or something, into bonsais, and they would have been the same person, but with a different, but with a bonsai instead of a gun. Well, that's why I think you got to come with a distraction.

I think get people into, like, kung fu. I think, like, get men back into, like, martial arts. That's so much more work because you know i do think i see a lot of people at the gun show where they're either they're overweight but sometimes they're missing limbs but sometimes they're missing they're and i mean overweight in the sense of like wait sometimes they're missing weight what are you saying like this is in the sense of like these are people who in terms of like being like this might be the way they feel powerful. This is the only way they feel strength. This is the only way they feel safe.

Again, I'm not defending this. And there's a community. It's a huge identity in huge pockets of communities. I'm not saying to go up to someone with no legs and say, give me your gun. Because I'm like, I see how this is a way to be like, well, now they might feel safer, powerful. And it's seeing a bunch. It's just noticing at this group, there's a bunch of people who couldn't get away from a fight really easily who are getting into guns. Yeah.

But legless people are not the problem here right you don't hear a lot of school shootings by legless kids you know it's not yeah they're gonna shoot up a school but there's no like wheelchair ramp for them to get in but no like that's the only argument that i think from what i heard that is like that makes sense oh i i see that's a reasoning I can at least understand. But I never meet those people. We're all like, because is it true you guys sell

guns at Walmart? I think they do in some of these places. They used to. With this kind of place like, this is another one where it's like you're going to pass more gun restrictions or more background checks. And I'm like going to this festival, anyone can get into this thing and they can go buy the gun. They could go steal a gun at this thing like that.

It would be easy. I stole three. You did? No. No, my God. Oh, my God. No, I'm not touching these fucking guns. I'm trying to figure it.

I'm like, even if I was trying to stop a mass shooter, my aim is so bad they think I was an accomplice. You know what's insane? Like, every child can get a gun here. You know that... I think the law is 18, 21? 18, I think. Yeah. But, like, it's so easy to get a gun.

But you know that they're not... I don't know. You know how many toddlers shoot their parents? Yeah. Or themselves. Or a lot. A good amount. Lots of murdering babies out here.

Yeah. But, like, you know that the kinder surprise egg is illegal in in america the what the kinder surprise egg you know what it is the chocolate egg with a surprise inside oh yeah yes because it's too dangerous for kids isn't that insane doesn't make any sense you know what's so funny we've been talking like this probably one of our more serious episodes we We talked about history and not gun laws. I'm sorry, let's talk about comedy. No, no, no, it's great.

I just think it's interesting where I think about people like Joe Rogan gets in trouble all the time and it's like part of it's just because he doesn't know a lot of things. And so as we talk about history,

you could say anything about history. Almost anything. And Russell and I, I don't know who's smarter about history, you or me but i think we're both like i saw munich in theaters i feel like we both know that you know britney spears released an audio track last night on youtube but we don't know anything about oh you didn't know that wait she did what's going on with britney she just just every she like released like

a long audio track on youtube and then it was taken down and it was just about her. Oh. Conservatorship and all that stuff. But I'm saying like, I know that. Yeah. And I don't know fucking anything else.

Yeah. I mean, yeah, I don't know any, I don't know a lot about America. I mean, I know, I think I know.

You probably know more about America than I know about Germany. Yeah. Who's, who, who replaced Angela Merkel? Oh God. I mean, Angela Merkel? Oh, God. Me neither.

Nobody knows that in Germany, dude. That guy is so random. Merkel was a big deal because she was hanging out with Obama and we were all like, oh, you're cool. The fun world leaders. The good world leaders. The good empire people. Yeah. No, I mean, Merkel, she was just there.

There were some good pictures of her next to Trump being like there was an s&l impression she was the king of like passive aggressive our history is based off s&l yeah that's what it is there's an s&l impression we kind of know we have the most liberal education of all time what the miracle one yeah well i was saying like because yeah there an impression, you're like oh, we have more of a knowledge. I mean, our new chancellor, he's kind of like a Joe Biden type of guy, like no profile.

Just, uh. Is he that old? No, no, he's like a teenager in comparison. He's like in his 65. He's a teenager in comparison. Man, you guys give Biden a lot of shit. Yeah.

Poor man. But that's our... We need to. Huh? Yeah. We need to. I know. I know.

But I feel like Biden has done good to you guys. You guys need to relax. Sure. You hear that, everyone listening? You hear that? People are having their votes suppressed. Relax. Vote suppressed? What are you doing? I'm just saying, are having their votes suppressed. Relax. What?

Votes suppressed? What are you talking about? I'm just saying, no world leader should have it easy. I think we should be tough on all these people relentlessly.

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Dyson on Track. Headphones remaster colors and finishes. Dyson OnTrack. Headphones remastered. Buy from DysonCanada.ca. With ANC on, performance may vary based on environmental conditions and usage. Accessories sold separately. So how do you feel as a Jew in Germany? I mean, you clearly deal,

the art that you had in the past was very engaged in this. The other, you clearly deal, you, the art that you had in the past was very engaged in this. The other thing that you're interesting was you, if I'll just break it down at the time if I'm summarizing correctly.

Of course. You found on Twitter there's just, it was a lot of hate speech on Twitter. Horrible, horrible stuff. Yeah, I'm not talking about, we're not talking about jokes here.

Yeah, we're not talking about jokes. We're not talking about jokes. Yeah. And so, and you would report some of these to Twitter and they wouldn't get back to many of them and once in a while they would get back and say this didn't violate our rules and they were brutal so you went to twitter's headquarters they got back

to me with zero times never yeah so you went to twitter's headquarters and you i mean thinking about you probably are familiar with some of russell's work on twitter you you throw me, I, I, you know, I don't tweet. It's just my retreat. He could be. Yeah. Uh, you look a little bit like, you could be like the Tim Dillon of this podcast.

Did I tell you? I got, I get, I get, you say it. I think I just posted on Instagram. I get, um, yeah,

I, I, I've, I've gotten multiple times. People have thought in, in, in, in ways where you're like, okay, I'm at a comedy show and they think it's Tim Dillon.

Like, I one time went to see John Marco and they thought Tim Dillon was popping in. The funniest, though, is if you were a badass, you would have been like, yes, I'm Tim Dillon. I'd like to go on. And you would have bumped me. You would have bumped me. They would come to me and say, you got to feature Tim's here. That is funny. Come to me and say, you got a feature.

You know, that is funny. And then just the other night we were I went to John Marco's birthday party and we were out for drinks afterwards. And I get on the subway and someone comes up to me and they're like, I'm so sorry to bother you. And I'm like, this is weird. And they're like, but are you Tim Dill? I was like, no. And they're like, you're dressed like him. And I was like no and they're like you're dressed like him and I was like okay. That is so funny.

I was like okay just keep it moving keep it moving and then one time on Instagram I got tagged in this weird account that was like that was like is there a difference between Russell Daniels and Tim Dillon? Also I'm not a famous person so I was like it must have been someone listening to this podcast who knew who I am.

Get ready. And then put pictures of me and Tim Dillon next to each other being like, are they the same person? I'm not Tim Dillon. You should go do mics here. I know. We should. If we lean into this, let me tell you, if we just posted a picture of you and we said

we had Tim Dillon on the podcast, we'd have more listeners than we've had combined previously I'll study up on him and we'll do it I'll do one in character as Tim Dillon I would kill to look like Jim Gaffigan

oh why just to get some spots you look like a younger Jim Gaffigan yeah if I get fed and old I will finally finally someone will put me up in this

fucking city sure yeah okay so so okay so you did this thing I did this thing. You know what was the funny thing?

I was on CNN, right? And they were like, don't you think this is anti-freedom of speech? And I'm like, I can't even say shit on your show. What are you talking about? Yeah. Yeah. It's, I mean, this is, again, very, very, it's like these social media companies, they're too big.

Part of it's like they're too big. I'm not saying it should be removed. I mean, deal with it a little bit. But all I know is that dealing with TikTok on the other end of things, which is like much more censorious, has been the experience of like not good here either. Because like they'll either remove stuff that's insane. And then there's just different degrees. I fucking hate it. Yeah.

Because TikTok is the only fair algorithm. Like it gets as fair as it gets, you know, when it comes to videos. Whichever one I'm doing well on is the fairest in my opinion. Well, you're doing the best on TikTok, right? Used to be way back in the day, but not anymore. These days, it's YouTube Shorts. Oh, yes. Yeah, I'm getting in there, yeah.

But, so, it's terrible. I hate it that a fucking algorithm tells me i'm being i'm behaving hateful sure but isn't isn't this isn't it uh isn't that the thing that in a way you when i put if i say hitler in in a in a joke or like describing how much when i did it that's that's what i want that's not what i But, I mean, it's an issue that needs to be dealt with. I'm not saying, I didn't say, like, delete everything. Every time someone writes Hitler, because I'm the, like, if that was. That's your whole career.

Yeah, that's my thing, you know. I get my shit gets taken down constantly on TikTok. And I hate it. It's terrible. Yeah, I have to, I have to, I have too many Hitler jokes. What can be tough,

just like Hitler, 9-11, sometimes he'll be on a show, like a showcase show, and all of a sudden, I'm the fourth comic bringing up Hitler. Yeah. And you're like,

jeez, I did one show where I was the fourth comic bringing up 9-11. And it's, it's the same way where like, all these,

all these like, cis guys like, want to make some kind of trans joke. Sometimes it's not necessarily a transphobic joke, but at a certain point, it's the same way where like all these all these like cis guys like want to make some kind of trans joke sometimes it's not necessarily a transphobic joke but at a certain point it's like why are you all

talking about this? I don't have a lot of this thing that has nothing to do with like your I don't talk a lot about Judaism on stage sure I talk about being an Israeli

which is a whole different thing and sometimes I will talk about things where I don't think the essence of it is Judaism or being a Jew or necessarily the Holocaust. Like I have this bit about like how I did it in your show, but how Auschwitz has four and a half stars on TripAdvisor, which is true and hilarious. And I let even people read the reviews, right? What do they say?

Like what are they? Horrible customer service. This one guy was like, he couldn't find a way he said like his gps didn't work so he was like he wrote and i swear this is true he was like you have to be lucky to get to the camp and i'm like that's not accurate or like shit like like stuff that is right but just the context like someone wrote not handicapped friendly and i like, that's not wrong. Oh, my God. It's hilarious, right? Oh, man.

Yes. Oh, man. But the funny in this is not the Holocaust necessarily. No. It's a part of the premise. It's a part of the setup. But the funny thing is how people behave on the internet. It's a bit about the internet and how abstract the internet turns things into and how

they lose context so yeah so but i try especially when i i mean when when i do it in english i'm more free but i told you before the we started i don't like i'm very everything that has to do with jews in germany i strictly avoid. Because I can't. There's only four of us left in there. And it's like... It really is like, though. Like, there's not a lot of Jews in Germany. Well, no.

Of course. But I mean, like, you know... So, like, we don't have mitzvah tanks. We don't have... Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's no Hasidic communities. It's insane here. Do you like it?

Do you feel, oh, my people? A little bit. I mean, I know those are not, because there's a huge difference between Jews and Israelis. Like, we're, Israelis are different. We're Middle Easterns, and you guys are whiny. No offense. No, no, sure.

No, but, like, it's different. No, I like Jews, but it's a whole different culture. But still, it's amazing to see here. Do you guys have jokes about American Jews being whiny? Is that a thing? Oh, yeah. What do you say about us? Shit.

I mean, I can imagine that there are. I'm sure that there are, but I don't know because i we don't have them in in germany but i'm sure israelis make fun of you guys all the time sure um like my girlfriend and i we both fit kind of the profile of like hypochondria she's got allergies i didn't see i didn't feel any jewish what do you think, Russell? Be honest. I think you fit some of the big ones. What are they? You were naming them and I'm saying, yes, you have hypochondria.

I'm neurotic. I do this. I'm just neurotic. There's just a neurosis and over-questioning and stress, all that stuff. Yeah, that's when I saw you were Jewish, like this little hand gesture, which is almost Italian. I think it's a mix, but I think like, and I wasn't raised very religiously, but I think like my mom's. I wouldn't even say cliches. Cliches sounds negative, but all of this culture, none of it is in Germany.

Like if I did jokes about Jews being neurotic in Germany or like pastrami, nobody would get it. We had this when I had a TV show on German public TV, right? And we had this sketch. It was about I got this manager and his name was Ari Schlumberg. And he was like this Jewish Hollywood agent. And he would send me like I did like a gig in a kindergarten and i did one in an elderly home that was a lot of fun but before that he we would he would always call me in and it was a friend of mine one of my co-writers and she did an incredible like jewish hollywood

agent impression uh-huh but nobody appreciated it in germany because they didn't get it and it's real it's fucking hilarious but nobody got it there. That's very funny. Yeah, it was tragic too. But yeah. The worst things the Germans have ever done to the Jews. So, okay. So I'm sorry to get so deep in that.

I'm just so fascinated. No, feel free. Because I remember, I just feel like I don't know. There's a degree of, I haven't had to deal with much anti-semitism in my life and it's like trying to appreciate I went on a date with someone from Brussels once and she was Jewish and she

told me that at least in Brussels she said oh I don't bring up I'm Jewish on the first date because then it will be the last date and I was like Jesus Christ really and I've just it's just the bubble I live in I live on the east coast I live in but recently Christ, really? And I've just, it's just the bubble I live in. I live on the East Coast. I live in, but recently I've talked about this, I think, where I've done three shows in the South where I, on stage, I go, I'm Jewish. And someone goes, ugh, from the audience.

And they do it in a joking way, but you shouldn't say that just to me saying I'm Jewish. That's not good. Yeah. All right. So in a nutshell, the place, I moved Germany to, the East German countryside, right? And this little village where we were at, it had like the Nazi party, which is a thing. They had 13% there, which is a lot. And the mayor of this, like not the mayor the local nazi uh i need

to show you guys that guy do you have uh uh i could put up on my phone but tell me tell me understand because we have we have neo-nazis but it's like i got chased by neo-nazis every week when i came to what are your neo-nazis like because our neo-nazis it feels like it's not connected to germany it's kind of terrible they can't even get the hitler salute with the right hand they're terrible yeah that's a very funny critique but it's you're doing this all wrong you're doing it all wrong nine yeah yeah no but german you know it's like one of my biggest videos on tiktok which they keep taking down is i did the bob ross impression i saw this i did a tutorial of how, I explained neo-Nazis

how to paint a swastika correctly. And I got the whole, were they doing the wrong swastika? Like the good swastika? Where it's like it means peace or whatever? They can't get it right. No, they can't just, they just can't get the swastika right.

They're doing the angles all wrong and making them acute. I'm serious. There's countless examples of this. Just Google swastika fail or something. Unfortunately, it is like a kind of design, like sometimes I'll see some kind of circular designs and you're like i've been like doodling once in a while and i'm just doodling lines and then i'm like ah yeah curve this one

really quick yeah no it's easy it's like an s and then another s like ss yeah exactly it all makes sense now right notice i did like a Bob Ross, like, Zieghal, everybody, welcome back. And like, it's like... How do Germans think about... I used to have a bit way back where I said, like, when we had the Nazis here, what a great rebranding opportunity for Germany. But now when you think, no,

when you think Nazis, you're going to think America first. And that was like, that was because Trump was saying America first at the time. How did Germany view view this like reappropriation in a way of like nazi culture i guess wait what do you mean i'm just saying like the neo-nazis here don't give a fuck about germany it's kind of weird it's just such a weird weird thing where like it's it's been around so long in america now there's almost like a version of nazis that has nothing to do with germany yeah yeah it's interesting because it reminds i wasn't like in the east of germany and i i did a show the other day and i went past a trailer and they had like a confederate flag yeah and it was obviously a naz in there. And I was like, wow, they're really like worldly considering they're Nazis.

Right? There's like, there's some kind of an alliance. But they don't. I see a Nazi coming over seeing the Confederate flag. I didn't know you were so cultured. Yeah. Yeah. Because most Germans will probably not know what that is.

But in Germany, it's illegal to write a swastika what that is but in Germany it's illegal to write a swastika what's illegal in Germany it's illegal to have a swastika flag which should be here too sure

but that's the difference with us I mean we've have lots of debates about confederate flags you will never see America make confederate flags illegal

that's never gonna happen no not a confederate but a swastika sure a Nazi flag not a a Nazi flag a swastika. Sure. A Nazi flag. Not a swastika. A Nazi flag should not be legal. It's illegal to say shit.

That was the context in the CNN thing. It's illegal to say shit on TV. Not illegal. It's like, it's not allowed. You get sued. They cut you off immediately. Yeah, but you can wave a swastika, like a Nazi flag. That's insane.

Yeah. It's an insane priority, in my opinion. I don't know. Sure. Oh, I think there should be cursing on the news all the time. I'm a big advocate.

I hate, Trump said, grab them by the P word. And you're like, what are we doing? Who is this for? Tell your kids to stop watching the fucking TV.

I don't know what to tell you. Yeah, grab them by the pussy and then wave the swastika flag. You know, it's just a good... What's the thing you want me to look up that you said there's these? Let me put it in. Let me show you. This is the guy.

This was the neo-Nazi in the village that I grew up in. And just the fact that you can Google him. Check out this guy. Oh, my God. Can you imagine having this mustache and. Oh, that hair. It's like he did the combo of the of the Confederate and the Hitler. Yeah.

He's like, I will do the Confederacy. And oh, man. Yeah. You have to put that photo in. You have to edit that. This will be the. We'll have him on the podcast. It's. You have to put that photo in. You have to edit that in. This will be the – we'll have him on the podcast next.

It's – So this guy was like – he was a football coach. He was teaching little kids when we got there. And then – and he was also a – how do you say? A chimney cleaner? The guy who cleans the chimney? Sure. That's a – he works works for that position is for you're working for the government

in Germany okay there's enough chimneys huh I don't know if we have enough chimneys in America we definitely don't have government

we're not been around as long no they got a bunch of government funded chimneys no no they got a bunch in Germany because they had to do a lot of burning back then but oh my god

but it's yeah but it's and that guy cleans them now and we had to let a lot of burning back then. Oh, my God. But it's, yeah. And that guy cleans them now. And we had to let him into our house, you know. You had to let him? Yeah, weren't even allowed to put the fire on while he was in there. Oh, my God. But, yeah.

And then my mom. But now he's, I mean, he's dead now. He got COVID. Yeah, he didn't believe in COVID, but COVID believed in him. Yeah. It's pretty incredible just the things that go together yeah oh you're a nazi and you're a covid denier how interesting yeah that these two wildly different beliefs don't have anything to do with each other but adolf would have been vaccinated the same way trump was vaccinated but like i just don't see the the degree of just being like hmm we we we don't believe in these two things maybe

oh it's so i think like the covid deniers are skeptic are skeptic of the government skeptical skeptical sure but it's a mix of like they're skeptical of the government but they have absurd patriotism they they also like like when trump in it, they want him to take away. They don't believe, at least in Germany, they don't believe in the democratic state the way it is. They're like, there's an underground, what do you call it, dark state or whatever? Deep state. A deep state. And in Germany,

it's like the German, they believe that you guys are still running shit. America. And Germany never became a real country. Oh, wow. Until they realized that we're so fucked up,

no one's running. There's no, that's the thing of these secret organizations. I'm like, we can barely do anything functionally. This idea that there's a secret organization.

To believe the Jews run the media, like we'd have better PR if we did. To believe the Jews around the media, like, like, we'd have better PR if, if we did. We're terrible at it. So,

but yeah, so like, to get back to your date, like, I, I had to, like, I got chased.

I never got back to her, so let's get back to her. You do it. But I, I, like, I got chased around by neo-Nazis,

like, the first five years in Germany, like on a weekly basis. Did you carry stuff with you to defend yourself? No. Oh, to defend myself. Leah, were you scared? I mean, it sounds scary. Were these neo-Nazis the same age as you or older?

Yeah, all kinds of ages. Oh, wow. And multiple. And shapes and sizes. Yeah. And man, I remember I got in so much trouble for like being a public person like you're just joking about nazis just making fun of nazis like my mom was she had to have a police car and parked in front of her house for three weeks just because i made fun of nazis yeah so

it's different and it's weird especially to me because i look at me. I'm a white man now, but I didn't feel like I was when I grew up. So now I'm like a white privilege, and I am. And you have blonde hair, too. Yeah, but I'm like – You could have passed. Yeah, I'm half Arab. It's so weird to me. Yeah.

But I get it, too. I get white people. I don't have like the same – I don't experience the same racism as other people do. Sure. People I grew up with, they experience a whole different kind of racism and discrimination than I do, just because they're, but we grew up in the same culture

and we're from the same place and we speak the same language. And it's, yeah, it's very weird. Like I'm very confused about my identity. And do you think, because Germany is going through, it seems like from afar, a similar thing with America,

like these hate movements are becoming bigger and more infiltrated into the government. And like, is it a scarier time? Do you feel nervous? Do you feel things are going? Because I think it's a both example of you guys had more, I think, censorship in terms of like we didn't ban flags or anything or any symbols but it seems just as bad for both of us i wouldn't call it censorship i mean there's there's um but it's not going it's not working it's my my bigger point is like it it's amazing how even if you teach it in history class even if you do all these things like both. Everyone's unhappy.

Everyone's unhappy with the government and it seems to somehow fester itself into some of these movements. I think to a degree, it's a part of our society that we have to accept, right? There's always racism. There's always, I mean, we never should accept it, right?

Of course. But it will always be there. But I mean, I wouldn't call it censorship. There's stricter hate laws uh some stuff like i i don't i don't know i don't know how i feel about them like it's it's uh forbidden to deny the holocaust in germany yeah right i don't know how i feel about that even as a concept that like laws don't get passed like that in in america to my knowledge that like it's forbidden to say like in germany if you stood in stood in the center of a town and said,

I don't think the Holocaust happened, would you be arrested on the spot? Would you be fined? You will be fined, yeah. You won't be arrested. What kind of fine are you talking about, though? I don't know. Never did it.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, I pulled off a lot of... I did so many Hitler salutes on German TV. All of them jokingly. Of course. It's not like they're going after comedians. It's not like they're TikTok. Sure, sure, sure.

I got it. But it's, but yeah, some things, I mean, America's very freedom, you know, like freedom. Yes. Yeah. Yes. And it has, it's like, sometimes it's too much. Yeah. And sometimes it's just the right amount well i just think i just think with the internet people like go like freedom of speech from a speech and like the internet has just complicated things in a way

that you're foolish to just be like no it's the exact same the the way we have to treat the internet has to be slightly different because the ability for it to hurt people is immense and it's even like i I mean, we have freedom. Do we have freedom of speech on the internet or is it decided by algorithms? Of course. Right. Right. And there's also freedom of speech.

Just meaning you're allowed to say something is different than being heard. Yeah. Yeah. Right? Because those algorithms decide who gets hurt. Facebook, it's all like the stuff that does the best is like things that get you mad. Yeah. I just sometimes put up a joke that I know will piss off people.

And I'm like, this is going to get a lot of engagement. Yeah. I stopped uploading stuff because I have like hundreds of thousands of views on my comedy there. But it just shows it to people that hate me. Sure. It's terrible. I got a bunch of, I got a few couple thousand angry Tunisians that have been shit-storing me for months now. What did you say about that? I did i did a crowd work thing right in berlin i was talking to a guy he was

from tunisia and um and i'm like what do you do here and he was trying to be smart like i work here i'm like you better be right so sure yeah but they know he knew like the room knows i'm from israel like i'm a migrant too yeah and so everybody's laughing right and i'm like what do you do he's like i'm a data scientist i'm like that's perfect the germans are gonna love that whatever makes them happy right uh and i keep and i keep going and uh whatever makes hans happy i say uh-huh and um and then at some point we go back to that and he's like i I want to, I say something. He's like, I want to make Hans happy.

Like he calls back my thing and I'm like, oh, don't worry about it. You're upsetting him just by being here. Right. And it gets laughs and everything. But I upload it on the internet and people are like, you Nazi. How dare you? He's a Tunisian scientist. They're so proud of their sure sure he's a data scientist

how dare you you white you german white nazi right and i'm like and this was the mistake i'm like guys it's fine i'm not german too and they're like where are you from i'm from israel and they're like that's not better they did not like that at all they're, that's not a country. That's very funny. Guys, it's okay. I'm from Israel. The country we all feel unequivocally good about right at this moment. I don't know what I was thinking. Let's move on to

our segment. This has got to stop. This has got to stop. Do you have a this has got to stop for us? I got a bunch of them. I mean, how many do you want? Whichever feels juiciest at the moment. Okay, when can I whine about the New York comedy scene? Ooh. Are we going to get to that soon?

Okay, we can get to that one. I got a small one, this has got to stop. What's your overall about the New York comedy scene? Oh, it's very hard. But no, I need more than that but this has got to stop the way you write emails in America

and I mean all Americans for a second when you said the way you write emails I was like watch it watch it

but what do we do all Americans all every single one okay what do we do you will I will write an email

with like let's say three four no matter how many questions and americans will only answer one i agree with you that's an american thing though yes you treat emails like it's facebook messenger and it's not it's fucking horrific you can't communicate to people you have to work you have to work with people and you ask them it doesn't matter how long the email is there will you get one sentence one sentence why it's killing me i i'm

i'm see i i see you guys are on board with this but it's it's terrible well russ i brussels all right russell i'll say hey how you doing are you available for a podcast next week could you also get back to me about the dates for the rehearsal and he'll reply good and I'll say doesn't it make you angry no no

no that's not what happens no I will thumbs up individual things and then I'll do it in the email you've got a way better at email

you're not a bad emailer but I do know what you mean where I have learned recently you cannot ask chris our friend from the sketch team would agree with this wholeheartedly but he hasn't changed it you can't ask more than one question in an email sometimes yes i'll always answer the back i'll

do bullet points or like you know with like my agents or manager they'll sometimes they'll highlight things which would feel condescending like interpersonally to highlight yeah to you being like remember this shine a light over here I do think the bullet points thing is good though yeah you know

but but I in Germany it's not a problem is what you're saying no it's just Americans Germans will write

detailed emails what do they say about Germany the trains always run on time yeah is that from the holocaust that's not true but is that like

is that where it comes from they run on time when it came to killing Jews sure now? But is that like, is that where it comes from? They were on time when it came to killing Jews. Sure. Now, not anymore. Now, not anymore.

No. Better than our trains. Yeah. What? Japan is the one that has the subway. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Japan is the one where they're like, like if the train's late, they print out a note so you can show the employer and they go on TV and they say,

we're so sorry. Have you been to Japan? No, I just see it. I mean, they look very crowded. Oh, you been to japan no i just see it i i mean they look very crowded you know at least you see the worst no it's not true the long distance trains no they're great they're called i love trains i would love to be on trains instead of planes any day of the week oh i mean look when i traveled when i toured through germany i only

take the train yeah when i toured europe i did the trains it was fucking insane yeah i barely flew in europe after i graduated college and i did uh oh you mean for comedy no no no no just like three months i did uh hamburg berlin and then munich hamburg is the one when we had daphne springs very good episode i talked about the i heard of the the lesbian show that i went to yes yes yes yes and then you went to a lesbian show in ham i was in hamburg two days ago oh yeah did you see michelle michelle i'm just saying yeah i saw the lesbian show it was uh no it was they were sex workers but then i i was too scared of std so i had like a red light this way wait but what what's your this guy stop to Stop About New York comedy scene? Huh?

Yeah. This Has Got to Stop About the New York comedy scene. Oh, Jesus. I mean, paid open mics, I think. I mean,

no, come on. No, it's not. Yeah, I think it has to stop. Okay, let me try to count it. Okay. I hear what you're saying. I think the problem with New York,

there's too much, there's too many comedians here. There's way too many shows. It's oversaturated, yes. No one comes to open mics anyway. And the bars say, you know, the people who run them. I used to pay for mics, and I didn't mind paying for them if they were decent enough. Because that's how hard it is to get stage time. It's just a matter of the economy.

All right. But what do you? All right. because that's how hard it is to get stage time. It's just a matter of the economy. All right. So, Jean-Marc, I think whatever I'm going to say now is like it's very – there's a lot of frustration in it. So it's not like completely objective.

I don't care about anything in the comedy scene. So everybody knows like I'm – and our scene is different in Berlin. It's different. A lot less juice. Less juice, which is great. Yeah, I'm special. Sure.

No, but, uh, we have, we have a lot of audience. We have way more audience than comedians where you guys have the opposite, which I'm not familiar with. Um,

but man, it's just getting on stage here. And, and, um, the things you have to do, because when I'm on stage here and the things you have to do. Because when I'm on stage here, I feel great. I think, I mean, I had fun in your show.

I think it went great. I don't know what you think. I don't know how you think I did, but I think I did great. And I think I did great in a lot of shows here. And some I didn't, but I... That's not what matters, though. If you're thinking, like,

oh, is New York not being more friendly because I'm not good enough? That's not... That's a fraction. The problem is nobody watches. No one watches. Nobody watches, and then I'm in my head like, why are they not looking at me again?

Like, am I... Like, is it... it you know and i had like clubs that i reached out that i did the last time and and they didn't come they didn't get back to me first and i was like why are you not and then i i had i followed up and i had some friends talking to them and then they reached out and it turns out they haven't even watched the tape they weren't there yeah but it gets in my head. Sure. But if you knew the clubs that you thought were being rude to you, don't respond to me. And I've been living here and working and doing shows there for free.

Oh, that would make me feel great. Sure. But I'm saying it's a bad, it's brutal. It's brutal. And for a visitor, that first visit can be really nice. But the moment you've come here too soon after the first time, the club's like, oh, we're not giving you that special spot. Yeah.

I never got the special spot in the first house. Sure. So it was a special spot to be had? No, it just depends. I mean, also it's like I think there's a degree of if you were from America, they would go, if you were from Los Angeles or Atlanta or Houston or Austin, they go, oh, let me give him a spot because one day I'm going to be in austin and he'll give me a spot yeah not a lot of people are going to germany yeah i know so there's a degree of like and also i think they're like

what yeah yeah and also they're like this guy's he's like here for a week who gives a shit like we can't build a lasting relationship sure on the other hand honestly i can't afford being here longer than that i have to work because i make money with german comedy mostly and english comedy in germany but i can't make money here i mean it's illegal to pay me literally yeah and but it's don't worry we're not going to give you anything for this oh yeah yeah i'm sure i'm relaxed now um but it's a it's a ego check because, like, look, I'm not a German superstar, but I have a good career there. I play rooms of, like, 300, 400, 500 people. I had a TV show.

Like, I have credits there. I've been doing this for a while, and I'm pretty decent at it. And here I have to beg people to play in a show with 20 people. And I appreciate it. It's not like that. Yeah, no, no, you don't come off as, you're not being ungrateful. I know. It's brutal.

But I feel like, come on, man. I need a, some places I would love to have a shot at, like at least a shot. Sure. I just think New York, you got to fucking like be here for a long. I know. I know. But it's it's like impossible i can't i know i can't i i'm not illegal you know how hard it is to get a visa here it's it's it's even that like and i'm looking into it but it's like even that process is like

six months and it's a couple thousand dollars and um so i'm just basically I'm performing in Germany to pay to be able to afford this yeah and and at the same time it's a big risk like I can't just if I come here I throw away my livelihood on the off chance that I have a chance here but I don't know because I can't perform here to see to get a feeling for it it's yeah yeah i don't know i feel like just standing on stage should not be that that hard and i get the reasons like the more longer i'm here the more i understand like i'm like oh those guys actually actually get 100 emails a day those bookers yeah because it sounds like bullshit when they tell it to you right no no no oh no no no i mean no no i just understand the frustration i'm just

like your frustration is not different from my frustration and i live here and i it's like it's like it's just oversaturated yeah but you don't realize that at first you like and you write people here and they're like they don't get back to you like we can't do anything for you and you're like oh come on you could but it turns out they can't probably sure and and i feel i feel like i don't know i i think the first time i i came here and did an open mic it was um was this uh laughing buddha um laughing buddha famously hated mike in new york yeah and i get i get why i mean the guy who runs it i'm not gonna say his name i don't want to start i don't want to talk shit here. What?

No, no, no. Feel free. I don't give a fuck. His name is, yeah, whatever. His name is Jeff Lawrence. All right? That is his name? Yeah.

Oh, yeah. I don't have a career I can ruin here. Sure. So, whatever. Man, I don't want to. Fuck it. So, no. I went there, and I did a paid spot that was uh i think four years ago

just to be clear you weren't paid you paid for the spot i paid for the spot and i had to buy that coke and um and i woke up to i'm being introduced to by a friend of mine his name is jeff greenspan i don't know if you heard of jeff greenspan yeah jeff he's a long you're a friend of mine we both started we both known each other from advertising i used to do advertising before comedy and he kind of helped me like you know go to new york and talk to all the people here and so he introduces me to jeff lawrence and jeff lawrence is like uh oh you're a comedian from germany huh i heard your you work there as a comedian i'm like yeah sure he's like nobody gives a shit about that here and i'm like all right fun fun did you do like a full

misdirected like oh i heard you work in germany no one gives a shit about that here yeah kind of like like he set up like he said like it's a trap or something for me it's not like i came and i was like i'm a professional german comedian he asked me like he was trying to get to get me you're gonna just say oh you you run laughing buddha no one gives a shit about that here i didn't know that back then and i was like what the fuck is up with this guy and then he started telling me how how kindly he was treated in berlin when he was there which is true because we're very welcoming in Berlin. Like even if you're a fucking hack.

Listen, I want to go to Berlin. You come. I put up great shows in Berlin. I know. We'll talk. We'll do a live podcast there too. Yeah. You should come.

You know Jocelyn Chia? Uh-huh. Jocelyn Chia. You helped set that up? Huh? You helped set up her thing? No, she's there often because she has family there but she's always on my shows there and stuff

I think she's very funny and so there's some New York comics that come like yeah but there's it's a great scene you can play like

our open mics are different open mic sure you can play for 100 people at an open mic sure in Berlin we'll triple that

and I'm there what no no no i'm just that'd be great listen i'd love to but i have a friend he lives in berlin now my good friend kevin who got married in hawaii moved to berlin now so i'm i'm looking to go there you should go i got a place huh you could crash on my couch too i will stay at kevin's house he's very rich um um let's move on to our are you okay on time yeah every time you look

when you look at your phone I go oh fuck Russell has to go no I had like way more messages at a phone call it's I will have to get off to call someone after right after this

when you're at work do you check your phone like for messages for me absolutely you're always somewhere else I'm ready present for you let's go on to our final segment for messages from me. Absolutely. You're always somewhere else. I'm ready, present for you. Let's go on to our final segment.

You better count your blessing. You better count your blessing. This is the part of the show we say one thing we're thankful for. Russell, do you have a blessing? Yes, so I went on, I was on vacations last week went to cape cod with my family and nicole and uh something i'm thankful for is um nicole was like hey we should um we should rent bikes while we're here and i initially was like i don't want to do that and then i was like you know what maybe i'm open to it and what

was the last time you rode a bike oh god uh well i mean like moving wise i mean like i've ridden bikes at the gym but like what are you moving like yeah what are you talking about um like it doesn't count as bike riding if you're not like um uh it'd been a long time probably yeah and it was it was like it was a you know the first two minutes i was like um uh it'd been a long time probably yeah and it was it was like it was a you know the first two minutes i was like this is it's been a long time i can't ride a bike so no judgment from me wait what so yeah you never learned so i but it was a nice thing outside i think i've moved past that era it it it was like it had a real impact on my whole week it felt like all of a sudden I was a biker.

I was going biking to the beach. We biked to get a drink. We would bike and we had our little baskets. We'd take things in. And it was a little stressful because, you know, there's traffic and there's people and things. But it was nice. It was like a nice thing that I never thought I would like doing. And I would never do here because it's way too busy.

It's too busy here. Like you're going to bike around the streets of New York. Of course. No, but like in a nice. I think we've had two guests on who talked about a biking accident in New York City. Like a nice beach town where there's like, you know, it was like a lovely little thing that I was very thankful for and I was really not going to do it. I was like, no, you get a bike for yourself.

I will be in a car and meet you there. And I was like, no, no, no, that's really rude. I cycle everywhere in Berlin. I loved it. I was like, no, you get a bike for yourself. I will be in a car and meet you there. And I was like, no, no, no. That's really rude. I cycle everywhere in Berlin. I loved it. I was like, it was like a thing where it felt so much quicker. It would be like, rather than pack all my shit into a car. Would you get sweaty? I always think like I'd like.

Yeah, but I was going to a beach. I was going to like home. I was, we were going for drinks on a beach. You know, it was like a lot of like. Were you biking drunk? Probably a buzz, but not like drunk drunk. You know, I was was like and i wasn't biking at night helmet you know uh yeah helmet helmet yeah i love when you're like for you it's like an action it's like a motorcycle yeah yeah nicole almost did run into someone and fell off her bike though uh and it was very stressful for a moment because it was like there was traffic coming and the woman had

headphones on and she didn't see. She stepped out like the last minute right in front of us. And Nicole was ahead of me. She was fine. Well, that's good. I mean, I am hanging out with you and Nicole tomorrow tomorrow and we'll see if that makes the blessing. Yeah, it was good enough to make next week's blessing. I think I want to use my blessing to shout out.

I was in Tampa at Sidesplitters Comedy Club. Great club. Had a fantastic time. Good condo. And my opener, Katie Hughes. She lives in Atlanta. I want to have her on. She runs social media for Vitamin Water and Diet Coke.

Oh, okay. And I think that's just an interesting thing, but great comedian. Um, and just one of those folks that doesn't seem to want to come to New York per se, but is killing it in Atlanta. It's fantastic. She has an album out called queen of the castle.

I believe on iTunes, Katie Hughes, check her out. And, uh, always thankful to have an opener. She went to the gun show with me. Always thankful to have an opener. Who to the gun show with me always thankful

to have an opener who's like I want to try to make some kind of adventure I want to do something cool and the opener was like oh yes let's go let's go and get some material

do you go to where in the cities you are you go you walk around he loves doing things yeah yeah

I mean yeah you're there so briefly like I do wish I think in my dream world it's like i would be somewhere for like a week but but like i always try to do like some kind of activity and sometimes you try to do the touristy stuff and it doesn't live up but like going to this gun show felt like oh i'm like now i'm in a foreign world now i'm really traveling

and i'm seeing something that's weird and unusual to me. I love doing this kind of comedy. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I love like going to a place and like going into their culture. Yeah. And just talking about that on stage. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And do you have a blessing?

I have two. One of them is 99 cent pizza. Mm-hmm. It's the greatest thing in New York. Mm-hmm. Yeah. It's $1.50 now because of Putin. Mm-hmm.

But it's so great i mean most americans are blaming biden but i'm glad we put it for sure and uh i i get you yeah and all the a lot of people have been helping me out you know you're one of them good um it's uh it's great to have you, like Hugh and Jeff Greenspan and Andy Engel and Tracy Carnazzo. You know her? Yeah. There's a bunch of people. Sarah Harvard.

Lots of people that are putting me on. Matt Pavich. People that are helping me out. Jocelyn Chia. Shit, I'm going to forget some's they're nobody's listening anyway yeah that's fine Jeff Lawrence yes uh but no it's it's uh you know it's very and all the people that let me stay in their places you know yeah like Leo who's hosting me here and i got people hosting me like my friend eddie uh in la and george and in san francisco it's like uh will also not listen but

uh like a lot of people when you go to other places which i do a lot like this is not the only country i travel to do comedy and like people help you out and it's great it's um it's yeah i appreciate that a lot. Good. Great. And is there anything you want to plug? This episode is coming out on August, September 13th. September 13th.

Shit. You think Russell anything to plug? Yes, I do. Tonight, if you're in New York City, come to Asylum NYC for Uncle Function. Still got to memorize my lines. I hope I get it in time. Uncle Function's show is tonight, Asylum NYC at 9.30 p.m. And then in L.A., if you're in L.A., one week from today on Tuesday, September 20th, Uncle Function will be at Dynasty Typewriter.

So get those tickets online. Go to Uncle Function will be at Dynasty Typewriter. So get those tickets online. Go to Uncle Function Instagram. And then also follow me on Instagram at Russell J. Daniels. I'll be in L.A. too by that time. I mean. Okay. Yeah. Tell us.

Yeah. I'm doing whatever I can get. If you're a comedian, put me on your show. That's what I want. That's good. That's good. But I'm like, I'll be in L.A. I arrived there on the 14th, which is like tomorrow.

Tomorrow. In podcast time. Yeah. So I'm doing the, I'm at the Laugh Factory. And I'm doing, we'll see what else. But there's, if people go on my Instagram, for which they'll need to spell my name, S-H-A-H-A-K, that's my Instagram. Or on my TikTok or on my website, which which is linked in my instagram it'll be linked in the show yeah and they can sign up to the to the america thing and then i'll send them an email

with all the dates great well go to laugh factory maybe maybe chris dalio will even pop in yeah who knows uh if you want to see me i'm headlining in richmond virginia september 15th 16th 17th then uh i will be at that uncle function show and the one in la september 20th and me i'm headlining in richmond virginia september 15th 16th 17th then uh i will be at that uncle function show and the one in la september 20th and then i'm headlining the hollywood improv in los angeles september 21st uh really some industry coming so please tell your friends to go even if you're not in la that's hollywood improv industry september 21st industry like like people who can make my dreams come true who can help me

find real happiness I need to get me a spot at the improv yeah yeah and then I'll come watch you please I'll try

if I don't have a show I'll come I'd love to sure even if you don't have a show you should and then September 29th headlining

Vermont Comedy Club real quick post show notes just remember Russell and I don't know anything about history if anything was inaccurate in this Russell and I certainly don't know it.

Wait, I don't know either. None of us do. It's okay. We'll fix it. If you're interested, go see Steven Spielberg's Munich for more details. I don't think people with missing legs buy guns. It was just a note about it's hard to take guns away from people who have other disabilities. A word that's still...

Fuck me. Marco, just play the credits. And more importantly, I have never, and I still do not, like Arcade Fire. You. Downside. This is the downside. Downside.

Downside. Downside. Downside.