The Joe Rogan Experience - #2557 - Yakov Smirnoff

Episode Date: September 23, 2026

Yakov Smirnoff, PhD, is a comedian, actor, visual artist, host of the "Comedy Couch" podcast, and owner of the Yakov Theatre in Branson, Missouri. He is currently touring the United States.www.youtube.com/@YakovSmirnoffwww.yakov.com Perplexity: Download the app or ask Perplexity anything at https://pplx.ai/rogan. Visit https://squarespace.com/ROGAN to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. Try ZipRecruiter FOR FREE at https://ziprecruiter.com/rogan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Get almost, almost anything with Uber Eats. Order now. Order minimum of $30 required, valid on grocery, convenience, retail, specialty foods or flour delivery orders only. Terms and conditions apply. The Joe Rogan Podcast, check it out. The Joe Rogan Experience. Train by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night, all day. Let's go, Yaakov.

What's happening, baby? How are you? Good to see you. Nice to see you. I know, Jamie snucking up on us. Bam, just turn on. Bam. That way you don't have a chance to freak out.

Thank you. What's in the bag? We got in there. Okay, so there are a couple of things. Oh, a couple things. One, yeah. One is a mural, a piece of the mural that I painted at the ground zero. And I thought it would be interesting for you to have.

You painted a mural at Ground Zero? Yeah. Oh, wow. So that was something. And I actually sent them, Paul Harvey did the rest of the story about that. and I send them a video if they wanted to. Yeah, I don't know if we can play that, unfortunately. I think it's got like a copyright to it.

Actually, I was... We were told... Jamie, isn't that what they said? Yeah. Right. So there's the mural. There's a photo of the mural. Right, right.

And it was... I was in touch with Paul Harvey Jr. asking if that would be okay, and they said it's fine, and they'll send... Yeah, but I don't think they own it, you know what I'm saying? they own his voice. Right, but it's probably, if it's on Paul Harvey's television show, right?

No, no, no. A radio show. Right, if it's on Paul Harvey's radio show, it's probably copywritten. Did we have a problem when we played the Taylor Sheridan one? Remember, we played that whole thing? It's just an issue? It's an issue.

It's an issue. It's an issue. So anyway, you had a mural. Yeah, that's, and there was a couple of other little paraphernalia. You got to talk into the microphone. Sorry. That's all right. Yeah.

You wear headphones if you want. I will. You don't have to. This is real. This is real. What do you mean? No, like I watch you and I'm in such an awe of what you were able to, your career, your trajectory, how you were able to sustain that longevity and then transition to this amazing voice. it's just it's been an honor to know you and be here so I'm a little nervous well don't be nervous

because listen it's all just dumb luck there's a giant percentage of it that's dumb luck that's a fact I mean I'm very persistent that helps but this thing this the podcast is a lot of it is luck you know how people like talk about like having a vision board I had a vision board I imagined and people say that to me all the time like I'm sure you did that with this show I'm like I didn't do anything of the sort. I just kept doing it and it got big. But it's just people talking. Simple.

Just like you and I talk in the green room. Yes. We're talking here. It's no big deal. It's just a bunch of people get to listen to it. Yes. Yes. It's nothing that spectacular.

The spectacular thing is my guests. That's the fortunate thing. I'm the fortunate one because I get to talk to so many cool people. Look at you with your fucking American flag on your phone cover. Look at that. Yeah. Don't get fooled by the accent, ladies and gentlemen. You know, we were talking about your story in the green room, and I was like, we have to do a podcast because your story is so crazy how when the wall fell, so did your career.

Yes. Like, you had this massive career. I remember you from the Tonight Show. Yes. I remember you all the time, you know, in Russia. You always have these jokes about in Russia. Yes. And it was great because, like, you were a Russian comedian doing stand-up in the United States.

Yes. And then once the Soviet Union fell. Yes. The Letterman, David Letterman, had the top ten list of things that will now change. The Soviet Union is no longer there. And I made number one on the list. Jakob Smirnovel will be out of work. And I thought it was humorous because I was living in Pacific Palisades next to Tom Hanks and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

I mean, I thought American dream will never end. And all of a sudden, six months later, none of my contracts in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Reno, Tah, none of them were renewed. And I could not find work, literally. I mean, I tried back to clubs, and they wouldn't have me either. What? Yeah. It was the comparison, there was a van meter that was, if it was. impersonator of John F. Kennedy, he was an impersonator. It was very popular at that time.

And then after the assassination, his career went nowhere right away. And so somewhat, in some ways, it was similar to that, that I was associated with the Soviet Union. And my humor was associated with that and it was helping I was helping President Reagan write jokes for his speeches for when he would go to Moscow you have a picture somewhere Jamie of I mean it was amazing all of the sudden I was like a joke supplier for the White House and it was my career was just growing higher and higher and all of the sudden, it was gone. It doesn't make any sense.

I mean, you still had great jokes. Yeah. And I'm sure people still wanted to see you. That's what didn't make any sense. It wasn't, I guess I wasn't relevant because they associated me so much with that. And so I started after not having work and not be able to pay mortgage, I start looking for a place where they did not know that the Soviet Union collapsed. And I ended up in Branson, Missouri.

I joke about this in my show, but it was a blessing in disguise because I was all of a sudden my humor was family friendly, and this town is very much like that. And they embraced me. And I, I mean, it wasn't right away, but. It grew and grew and grew. Wow. And what is Branson like?

Because I would always hear about it. Like it was always, like, we would hear about it in L.A. That it was just like freaky Bible town. That it's like creationist museums and stuff like that. Like, here's a reconstruction of the ark. Like, that's the kind of stuff that you would hear. Obviously, I never went, so I don't know. Yeah.

I didn't want to go to Branson, okay? I was living in L.A. I didn't. I mean, I... Did you move to Missouri? Eventually I had to, yeah, because I had to sell my house. I mean, the whole thing went, yeah. So what happened is I didn't have, I didn't know where to go.

I mean, it literally was scary. I have two little kids at that time and I can't find work. So my agent calls me and he said, Will Nelson is doing this farm aid concert. And would you like to co-host with him? And I didn't have it, you know, I said, sure, but I don't think farmers would know who I am. And I got there 50,000 people. I did my set. And they gave me a standing ovation.

And I went like, wow, this is, I didn't expect that. So I go to say goodbye and say thank you to Willie. And I opened the door and the smoke comes out. And I was proud to say that I, you know, I, I. didn't do drugs, but after I opened that door, I couldn't say that anymore. So I, through the smoke, he goes, Yaakov, you should go to Branson. They'll love you there. And I was like, okay, I heard about it, but I was not sure. So I go to Branson just to check it out. And it's March of It's 1993.

And I've been struggling now for two years after the Soviet Union collapsed. And I go in and I walk into one of the shows and it was Soji Tabucci show. It was a Japanese fiddle player that was just playing country music. I didn't know about him. And I walk in and it's a matinee and there are 2000. people in that room. Whoa. And I'm going, what is going on?

Right? This is crazy. I was in Vegas. I didn't see. Right. So then I go Andy Williams show, and it's the same thing, 2,000 people, full. And I'm going, well, if they can do this, I can do it as well. And so in May, I rented the small theater, and I just set my shop there, put my name

on the wall and I got, for show, 17 people came in. And I'm going, oh boy, I don't have a place to go, but this is not going to work. But then I started doing, I was pretty creative. I started, I said, I'm going to serve breakfast in the showroom. I'll call it yuck in the box. and I'm just going to make my mother recipe at breakfast, and people will pass it, eat, and hopefully more people will come.

Wow. So I would do two shows a day in the morning and in the evening, dinner and breakfast. And little by little, it grew, it grew, it grew, and then a year later, my average was like 400 people a show, and then the buses, that's the big business there, is the people come by bus in those days, a lot of them. And they just discovered me, and I started to become more and more popular,

and then I bought 2,000 seat theater, and now I entertained over 6 million people there, and it became, yeah, this is, this is kind of It's That's your theater Yeah Look at you

Yeah Yeah yeah So it's been A very successful Journey overall I'm You know I'm kind of

The only Celebrer or national known person there now Wow And so How often you do shows there Now I got down

To like 30 shows A year Towards fall but I used to do 400 a year just to make more money and people were coming and it worked out for me. Well, good for you for adapting. I'm sure that much has been very nerve-wracking, though, especially with young children. Big time. And you're from another country, you come to America, you're killing it.

You think, oh, my God, I'm the American dream. This is incredible. And then it's nightmare all of a sudden, and you don't know what to do. That's the problem with the world before social media, right? Because before social media, like, you couldn't just put some clips out there and show that you're still performing and still going places. Yeah, yeah. Because back then there was like a narrative, and if that narrative got out, you were done. You know, so the narrative was so.

I was canceled. Yeah, I was counsel. And I didn't have anything to do with it. It's not like I had a scandal or something. It just, I was helping Reagan to chisel the wall down, but there was a writing in the wall that I didn't see it. Right. Just get a day job, you know, and I didn't see it. Right.

So that's how it happened. It's amazing that you found Branson. And it's what would happen if you didn't? That's what's really crazy. Like, what do you think you would have been able to figure out a way to tour? Was it that clubs wouldn't book you or people wouldn't come? Both. Both.

Because people were not buying tickets, the clubs didn't book me, and the whole fact is just, you know. So it was just the fall of the Soviet Union that people got in their mind, oh, Yaakov is done. Yeah. It was that quick. That's what's fucked up about it. It's because, like, you have very funny jokes. I did. Like, you're a good comic.

It's like the idea that you can't be a great comic and talk about other stuff is so stupid. But what happened, it was an evolution for me. I think that I look back and I'm going, thank you for this, because it was kind of a one-note tune. And then it forced me to go, okay, that topic is not necessarily the right thing right now. It's not, nobody cares because Soviet Union. not there and nobody's scared of it because I was kind of like a, you know, it was a headache from, you know, or the pain in the butt, Soviet Union and I'm Preparation H.

And I, they used me. And then after swelling and itching went away, you don't need it anymore, right? So that's how it happened. So I went into it. That also coincided with my divorce. And I was struggling trying to figure out what direction do I go. And I realized that I was helping the Cold War to end in some ways by being involved with Reagan and helping with that. And when that happened, I figured, you know, my divorce is happening. I know laughter helped the world become a better place. Why is there laughter in the beginning of the relationship with men and women? And then when there's divorce, the only people laughing are attorneys.

And I put that question to my audience. So it became kind of like my laboratory of laughter. I just start asking people. I said, how many of you remember laughter being? part of that honeymoon stage of your relationship, and they all applaud. And I go, how many of you go on the second date if you didn't have laughter on the first date?

And no one applauded. So I became like, this is kind of a universal thing that my dad was an engineer and inventor. So my brain is kind of constantly, I'm looking for reverse engineering. Why is it that laughter goes away in the relationship? relationship. So as comedians, we gauge our relationship with the audience with laughter every time. Did the relationship fall apart because you had to move to Missouri?

Well, it challenges. Yeah, it added to this. But I think I was looking for the root of this, more like what is that, that I am missing, that I didn't do because, you know, I was. You had a gimmick. I had a gimmick, yeah. But that was with my audience. What was happening with my wife? Why was that falling apart? So I start seeing the parallel,

and the kids were little at that time, and I was trying to explain to them what was going on, and I can show you what I did. I brought this with me. I showed this to, I know, show and tell. I brought it for my, I started, I took magnets and I was showing my kids. I said, look, mommy and daddy, and we attracted one another, and we had you, and we had love and laughter and what was happening. And then something happened, and I don't know if you can show it, Jamie.

There's people listening as well. Okay, oh, okay. The magnets are going to repel. they attract, but then when things don't go well, they repel. So I was going, what is it that attracting us and what is it that's repelling us? And then after doing this, and I went to University of Pennsylvania, got my master's degree in psychology, got my doctor degree at Pepperdine. I mean, I was digging in.

You did all this while you were doing Branson? While I was performing Branson, yeah. How were you doing that? I would travel. I would just go do a weekend. Just I would take my schedule and make it the way I wanted. And whatever I had to do, I would just travel to Pennsylvania and do that. And you were taking in-person classes?

Yeah, yeah. But how were you doing that if you were doing four? You were on the weekends. On the weekends. You can do that? They were classes, yes. Wow. So you would work all week and then fly.

on the weekends to go, why are you doing that? Well, it sounds exhausting. It's interesting. I was searching for a purpose. I think that was, I noticed something that was universal. And I wanted to prove that scientifically to myself and to, and I did because it was important to me. And what I figured out, and as a comedian, you'll understand that every time.

time we tell a joke where this setup is we're meeting their needs. They're interested in that topic. You and I talked in the green room like you need more topics, for example, for your one hour more to add. And so the topics that you're looking for are the, you're meeting the needs of people. They won't, they're curious. And then your humor is the punchline. and that creates laughter. If you don't meet their needs, if they're not interested, then your humor doesn't matter much. So in the relationship, the same thing happens. So if I put this, and I know people are listening, but they can maybe picture that.

If you put needs in the middle, then you... You're talking about magnets. You've got to remember a lot of these people are not watching. Okay, so I'm going to abandon that. Yeah, it's bad. This episode is brought to you by Squarespace. There's no excuse for a bad website anymore. Squarespace makes sure of that.

Squarespace's AI website builder gets you something that looks genuinely professional in just a few clicks. No design skills required. You can lock down your domain, build something that actually looks like you, and keep it all protected in one place. Head to Squarespace.com slash Rogan for a free trial. And when you are ready to launch, use the offer code Rogan to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. So I get what you're saying. Yeah. Yeah.

The needs is the flexible thing in our humor stays the same. But the needs or the setup is different. So if every business is successful when they figure out what is the need, of people, like Apple, for example, they say, we develop product that you don't know you need, but then you can't live without it. That's their model. So the same thing, a restaurant, if they figured out what need is that community has, they're successful. You figured out what is the need that people have and they're listening to you and they love it. Is it a need? Like we're talking, The word need is a weird one, because for me, need is like food and shelter and community.

That's the real needs. Everything else is desires. Well, in the... Or interests. In the hierarchy of needs with Moslow, they just go higher and higher. I see what you're saying. So when you find, he called them needs, I couldn't find a better... No, that makes more sense now.

Yeah, I get it. Yeah. It's, I feel like the most important thing. about comedy is you have to be actually, excuse me, you have to actually be interested in what you're talking about. Obviously, it has to be funny. That's the most important thing. But other than that, the second most important thing or the thing that really resonates with people is when someone's on stage and they're talking about something that means something to them, I get invested. Exactly. I'm invested in people that are fascinated with stuff. I'm invested with people that are,

that have like hobbies that they love. Even if I have no interest in it at all, I want to hear them talk about it. Exactly. Exactly. And I totally, that's, you found that whatever you want to call it, desire, need, whatever you want to call it. But whoever zooms in on that and understands it, they're successful in what they do. So in marriage, my focus switched from the Cold War between countries to Cold War between couples. And understanding that men and women are different is very, very, important because they have different needs. And so part of my dissertation was to give that

understanding. So then the person is not like searching, it doesn't know what he's looking for. I'm married and I'm happily married now. And my main goal is to figure out what does my wife need? And if I can anticipate it, then we have love and laughter and it's living there. But if I don't, or if she doesn't, then we start arguing, and that happens in every family. So I'm easier. So there's a book by Dr. Willard Harley called His Needs Her Needs. And what he did, he was dealing with a lot of couples that was getting the voice.

and he was trying to help them in marriage counseling. And he asked, he identified like 10 emotional needs. And he asked this people to prioritize men and women. And it was interesting that he said, I was shocked that five top needs for men were totally different from five top needs for women. So if we don't know that, so the needs for women were affection, conversation, openness and honesty, family commitment, and financial support. Not for every woman, but that was majority. And then for men, it was sexual fulfillment.

It was admiration. Sexual fulfillment again. But it was admiration. Attractive spouse, recreational companions. and domestic support. Makes men seem really base. They are.

Base and stupid. We are. That sexual attraction is number uno. Yeah. And then it's in there. How's it in there twice? That doesn't make any sense. I just fucked it up.

No, I was joking around. Yeah, I was joking around. Yeah, that's funny. Like, admiration's a funny one. That's fun. That's fun. That's huge. That's hilarious.

I ask. You need admiration from your wife. That's hilarious. Well, but it's not. Because if you think, If you think that I ask the audience, so here is what I do in my show. And they're laughing, but they're also learning something. I say, how many of you gentlemen here at least once in a while would like to hear your wife said,

you're such a good man. Thanks for doing things for us. Applawed. And few people applaud. And I go, well, not every man is applauding because they're scared. And they laugh. And then I go, so let me ask you the same question from an opposite point of view. Any of you gentlemen disagree with that.

Silence. Then I go, you see, ladies, you used to do it. You don't do it now, but you used to do it in the beginning. That's what that attraction was. Is the man needed that. And women don't. They don't want to be acknowledged or admired for what they do. they want to be loved for who they are,

kind, beautiful, smart, selfless. And I ask women, is that true? And they applaud. So it's subconscious, but I know for me, that's a very important thing, that if I'm doing something, all I need is like, thank you. And sometimes it's overlooked.

And that doesn't feel right. That's interesting. It definitely resonates that men don't necessarily. care if a woman does a thing like if she's really good at a thing right like men I mean I mean this is obviously a great generalization because there are probably some men of course that one of the things that they love is the talent that a woman possesses of course but for the most part what men want is someone to be nice be nice to be pretty like my friends have joked around about this before my single friends about like I don't give a fuck if a girl works at McDonald's is she nice

Is she pretty and is she nice You know and is she not like completely annoying to talk to Is she fun to talk to? Like you don't care what her job is If she's cool and she's fun But a woman meeting a cool, good looking guy That's nice that works at McDonald's like you fucking loser You know unfortunate

No shame to the people working McDonald's I worked fast food when I was younger too I did uh I worked at a couple The first place I worked that was a burger place called Newport Creamery I worked at a place called Papa Gino's. It was an Italian fast food place. Nothing wrong with working at McDonald's.

Point is, women don't respect it for whatever reason. Especially the women that want to have a family and settle down and all that jazz, they look at a guy working at McDonald's like, you don't have any ambition. And that's the thing that women want from men that men don't seem to really care that much from women. Women want a guy that has ambition and men do not care generally. although I got to say Phil Hartman when he obviously did not have a good marriage

because his wife killed him and then killed herself obviously didn't have a good marriage right when he had almost got divorced a few times and I remember one time he and I were having a conversation about it and he said he goes if I fucking get divorced he goes my next wife she has to like something he goes I don't give a fuck

what it is I don't care it's a rock client you have to be into something So that was his thing. It was like that he was really into things. Like he got his pilots license. Like the place that I actually bought in California, I found out about that part of California because of him because he took me up on a plane.

And he was explaining to me like there's other counties that you could live in. And these counties, like they have land. It's like, yeah, it's a drive, but it's like more peaceful and relaxed. You don't have to be like in the heart of everything. So he was, He was into being a pilot.

He played music. He always had a bunch of different interests that he was pursuing on top of being an actor and being a comedic actor. And so he was really frustrated. One of the things he was frustrated is that his wife didn't have any ambition. She didn't have any interests. Well, but she also probably didn't admire him for what his accomplishments were. I think she wanted to be famous as well. I mean she probably shouldn't talk about this too much.

But, and I think there was probably some resentment in his success. I think she was trying to be famous as well. Well, that's like those magnets repel. Yeah. Well, it's like sometimes when a couple, I've seen it the opposite. Like a friend of mine, she was dating this guy who was a comedian. And when she started doing well, he started getting really shitty with her. He started getting very resentful and he would be insulting.

And she could tell that there was, she was not happy that she was doing well. Yeah. Because she started to take off. He wasn't. Yeah. And it was like he was very frustrated and they broke up. And she was like that always really hurt because I really felt like if I was doing well, if he loved me, he was going to be happy too. And he wasn't happy.

It's nice if this was discussed in the beginning of the relationship. Well, sometimes the man doesn't know and the woman doesn't know how they're going to behave. You don't know what your character flaws are until you're presented by something that tests you. Absolutely. Absolutely. So my goal was to understand it better. and there's a painting I sent Jamie if you, I painted this painting that kind of helped me, if you can find it.

It's a tree of love and it helped me to understand better what my role is because of my first marriage, I did not know what my role was. I was, I met a woman, American girl, beautiful, everything was great. when I shook her hand or she shook my hand, she almost broke my hand. And my subconscious was like my mother was very strong in my parents' relationship. Mom was the leader and dad was creative, wonderful man, but he would follow her. And I subconsciously went with that script, the manuscript of my life. So this helped me to see something that I wanted, who do I want to be?

I wanted to be that strong man who is able to give life to a woman that she can be free, creative, bring our, you know, fruit children. So she doesn't have to worry about that. In my previous marriage, I didn't understand that. So on stage, I came across like I was this, you know, strong guy who was invited to the White House to perform. I was, you know, I was commanding a big group of 2,000, 3,000 people. And she saw that. And then in a relationship, I became like, now she knows what to do.

I don't have to do anything. So I said, I do, and I didn't do it. I didn't know what it was, what my role was. So it took me 20 years and all of that education to get to that place that who do I want to become to attract a woman that wants to be in that role. Damn, dude, you thought about this shit deep. I did. You were going through it, man. You were going through it because you're going through that, which is always a bummer for people, especially with children when you're getting divorced.

but then on top of that, your career goes away because the Soviet Union collapsed. Yes. And then you said, fuck it. That's very admirable. You said, fuck it. I'm going to get educated and figure out what's wrong with me. Exactly.

You know. Yes. Yeah, and I don't know if you have a picture of my wife and the kids and the kid. Now I'm 75 and I have a one-year-old. What? Yes. I know. When did you get married?

How long did you? Seven years ago. So this- So you spent like 20 years single. Yeah. Just trying to figure. yourself out yeah yeah yeah you went on the walk to the wilderness uh what yeah all of his trainings i mean i needed to become i wasn't that strong person i was more like my dad and i needed to become

who i wanted to be i wanted a woman to trust me that i can sustain no matter what uh and i have a feeling there's my wife and did you meet your wife in missouri no it's She is from Ukraine. That's an interesting... You have a one-year-old, dude, it's time to get you on some peptides. That's crazy. You're 75. You have a one-year-old?

I do. We've got to go to work on you. We've got to keep you alive. That's nuts. It's wonderful. You're almost 20 years older than me, and you have a one-year-old. That's crazy. Well, I'm excited.

I'm excited because I figured that I figured out something. So the way, so I was, you'll get a kick out of it. So I was married to an American woman. Then I was dating other women. It wasn't happening. So I took my kids, grown kids to Ukraine. And I wanted them to show, I'm from Odessa, all right? So when they're with them, they were like probably in their 20s.

And so on the way back, I forgot my passport on the plane from Odessa to Kiev, and I had to stay behind for a day to get a temporary passport. So I went to a park, and I was waiting for this, and I see this lunchtime and this gorgeous women are going to lunch and back. and they're like, I feel like I'm in Paris watching a runway show. I mean, it's like beautiful women, and I'm going, I can relate to that. I would like one of those women. Wait a minute, but how old are you at this time? That was 10 years ago, so 65. And how old are these ladies?

Well, my wife is 42, so. But in their 20 studies. 42 and 75 doesn't seem offensive for whatever reason. You know what I mean? Like 20 and what would be the equivalent? Well, I wasn't looking. I wasn't looking. I wasn't a playboy.

I was looking for a wife. I believe you. But women don't care about that. If they find out that a man is like that much older than a woman, they kind of get upset. Well, probably in that culture is a little bit different. in American culture. And so what I did, I said, okay, how do I do that? So I went to Ukraine and I tried to meet women through like agencies that introduced people.

It wasn't working a couple of times. Then I decided I'm going to just hire three different agencies at the same time. And I'm just going to go for two weeks. And I had 51 dates. So you went to Ukraine just to meet a woman? I went to look for a wife. It wasn't a woman. Right, but I mean it has to be a woman.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And so, yeah, so that's what happened. And I would just have breakfast, lunch, and dinner with different ladies. And it didn't take me very long because I had all that training and education. I was new. And I was looking for a woman who has a father. that is really good for her. I mean, I knew that if the father,

if they're afraid of masculine energy, if they're being with the abuse of dad or something is not right, they will not trust my energy. And that was for the handshake, I could tell pretty much if that woman and all 51 dates were, it didn't work.

I mean, I just knew in a couple of seconds, that it wasn't right, but then I have to eat, you know, so I gained weight just because I had to eat all this time, three meals a day. You were going out with three different girls a day to try to find a wife? Yeah. That sounds kind of crazy. Well, so then, so then I go, it didn't work, right? So what do I do?

So now I decide I'm going to do a seminar in key. on relationships because I was teaching at Missouri State University at that time. So a professor from America is going to teach this course on the relationships and laughter, right? That was my hook. But you did this all just to meet women. Yeah, yeah. I did. Well, I'm not, I'm not ashamed of it because I was very focused.

It's pragmatic. Very focused. You have a good strategy. Very focused. It seems like the same strategy that led you to serve breakfast in Branson. You're an industrious guy. And get out of the Soviet Union. You find solutions.

Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. So then I need somebody to promote this and to find the venue and bring women. But the logic was that the women who will come to a seminar are different kinds of. the women that go to those agencies. Those agencies, they're hunting for somebody from outside the country. They're looking for somebody. These women were just wanted to know more about the relationship. So what do you mean they're hunting for someone outside the country? So they're trying to escape

Ukraine? Yeah. Yeah. So they're trying to find a husband that's going to take them out of it. Exactly. Exactly. So they're more in a masculine energy, they're more like, I'm going to get somebody. And I wasn't into that. I wasn't. interesting. So someone recommended this lady who can do this, promote this, and that was my future

wife. It was my Olivia, who I now married to. And when I met her and she promoted this, I already knew that I didn't need the seminar, I just, I met somebody that I really

wanted to be with. And It didn't, it wasn't immediate because we're age difference. So at first, I was like, what? What are you talking about? And I was just professional and doing this professionally, but little by little we start learning about each other. And then I invited her to America, proposed to her on her birthday on a hotter balloon ride.

I mean, I was, you know. Very romantic. Yeah, yeah. That way she could not get out that way. I could give her that. Wow. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. That is a creepy place to propose. To propose. Well, like you're already scared. You're going to take care of me, please. Oh, get this thing down on the ground. I put a big, big banner on the ground. Will you marry me?

Aw. And she didn't know how to read English. So she did. That's hilarious. She did not say yes. And then I opened the ring and, you know, and then she said, yes. Did she speak Russian? Is that what they speak in Ukraine? Yeah.

Primarily. Is there a Ukrainian language? Yeah, there is. There is. That's the tension between two sides of Ukraine. One is very Western, very Ukrainian. The other one is Russian speaking. And they, Russian speaking, don't mind the other side.

The other side does much. So, yeah. Got it. Got it. Got it. Well, it's like, what was it like starting out doing stand-up in the Soviet Union? That's where you started, right? Yeah, I did.

How old were you? I was 15. And what is it like over there when you're 15? Is there like a version of the Tonight Show in Russia? Well, no, it's a lot. At those days, you know, it was very structured, very communist. Party controlled. So there was only like two comedians in the whole country that were government approved. So they would be on the radio and television and nobody else was really doing

comedy. So what were the comedians like? Do it for the ones? More like Voddivil. What are their names? Arcadia Rikin. You could probably Google him. Arcadia Rikin. He was the main guy that I would listen to and in each apartment there would be a little speaker that would be on all the time so they could brainwash you you. Whoa! You had a speaker in your apartment all the time. Yeah. Wow. Wow. So, but then on Sunday mornings... This is what,

66? Yeah, yeah, I'm 51, so yeah. I'm 51, so yeah. Yeah, that's about that time. Yeah, that was the guy. Wow. That was the guy. Very famous. The only people from America that we saw were Charlie Chaplin, and that's it. Just Charlie Chaplin?

So he thought America was just silent movies? Well, they portrayed it. Oh, he did a Charlie Chapman impersonation. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. So I would listen to his, so every other Sunday or every once a month, he would have a different monologue that was written and approved by the Communist Party. Yeah.

So I was really into it. So I would record it and we had a big tape recorder like this. And I would record it and I would memorize it. And because there was nothing to be approved because it's already been approved, then I would go to like a club in my school and I would tell jokes, his jokes. And people knew that it was his jokes, but they would laugh. And that's how I got my understanding that I really wanted to do that. Wow. Yeah.

And little by little, then I went to the military. military and I did that there kind of as an amateur and then you just stand up for the military yeah yeah but it would be just like holidays like if it was May Day or event yeah October Revolution they would look to me to to entertain so I would do that and then I went to came out of the military went to college for our degree my parents didn't think that I could do anything. Comedy would not be like nobody even thought that that's even a possibility. And so I kept doing it and then start working on the Soviet cruise ships.

And they had in the Black Sea Soviet cruise ships. So I went, they asked me to go and perform there on a cruise ship. Yeah, you're like really, they have, yeah, yeah, yeah. How old do you at the time? I was 20, 21. Okay. Yeah. Now I'm getting paid and I'm getting a cabin.

And now prior to that, I lived in a communal apartment with my parents in the same room until I was 26 years old. Whoa. So, yeah. So no phone, nine families. What if your parents wanted to get frisky? They tell you to go for a walk. They would go look out the window.

Go look out the window. Well, I joke about this. Oh, okay, okay. Yeah. And then they say, what do you see? What do you see in the window? I might jump out that fucking window. Yeah.

Yeah, and they say, what do you see in the window? I said, our neighbors being frisky. And they say, how can you tell us? Because their son is looking at me. So that's the joke I tell. But that was my life. And here all of the sudden, I'm introduced to this. So tourists from other countries would take those cruises around Black Sea.

And all of a sudden I'm introduced to this group of people that I was not allowed to talk to, foreigners. We were not allowed to even communicate. What countries were they from? Germany, Britain, some Americans. some Australians, Yugoslavians, whatever, from Soviet bloc. And who was the president of or the Brezhnev? Brezhnev was the president at that time. Yeah.

And so I started, so I did one week of performances. And then they said, would you like to stay on board? and I said, can I bring my parents with me? Can we give another cabin for them? And they said, no, you don't get any special privileges. We have hundreds of people like you get out. And I was like, okay, so I left. And a couple of hours later, a messenger comes.

We have no phone, so it's like messenger comes comes and brings two sets of tickets for me and my parents. And I never heard that it's even possible, like, that they would go back on their word. So I go on the cruise, and I go to a cruise director. I said, what happened? And he said, well, here's what happened. The ships normally are rented to European companies for like nine months out of the year. And we learned from them that if somebody is valuable, we give them more perks.

The captain liked your performance, and he told them the company, that even if you have to give him my own cabin, I want him on the ship. And the light bulb went in my head. I said, wait a minute, wait a minute. Are you saying that in capitalistic world, if you're not, if you're not, if you're a light bulb went in my head, I said, wait a minute, wait a minute, are you saying? if you're more talented, you get more things? And they go, yeah. That was, it's hard to imagine. It was like, changed my life.

Well, it's hard to imagine for people that didn't grow up in the environment that you grew up with a speaker in your apartment. Yeah. Like, just you saying that to me, my mind is rattled. It was like, oh, my God. Like, they could just broadcast in your apartment anytime they want it. Yeah. And what a great way to brainwash people. and they would jam like because we had a big radio and they would jam Voice of America.

But my dad would wake up like in the middle of the night. He was wanting to know what's happening out there. And he would sit there and listen to that quietly. And I remember as a kid, I asked dad, what are you listening to in the middle of the night? And he goes, shh, don't let neighbors hear us. This is the Voice of America. We're not allowed to listen to it. Wow.

So you had to keep it secret? Yeah. But at night time... How did he listen to it? Just quiet. It just sat there. Right, but if they jammed it, how did he listen to? No, they would jam it during the day.

Oh. But at nighttime, they didn't think anybody would wake up at three o'clock in the morning and sit there and listen to it. How do they jam it? It's just... I don't know. How does I say that again? Yeah. I don't know.

So they had some... way to jam that signal. Yeah, oh yeah. Whatever signal was on. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. It's shortwave, so it goes in and out of listening to Voice of America. Like what was he, does he, did he talk about it? Yeah, yeah. I would then start also waking up and listening and, and it would be just standard American thing. Give me you're tired, you're hungry, you're poor. Something like that and, you know, and that there's a Statue of Liberty waiting to greet you if you come to the United States. And he would always say, you know, this would be something that I would love you to experience. And my mom was, she hated that because she was afraid that will get in trouble.

And so she didn't want to even talk about this. So if I drew a picture as a kid, I would draw a picture. picture of Statue of Liberty and she would like don't do that don't let anybody see this we'll get in trouble and when after I experienced the cruises and got to know this different environment I came home and I go mom dad I think we should consider try to get out of and mom was like mad of my dad And my dad stood up, which was good for him at that time. Normally he would just be quiet. But he said to my mom, Clara, don't you, would you like your son when he is my age, sit there by the radio and listen to a voice of America hoping, wishing that he would be doing something like that?

Or would you like him to be in America doing this? and my mom kind of went you know what's going to happen when we apply for a visa people who consider your friends they will cross the street and they will not want to talk to you and be seen with you

and you're going to go through hell and and my dad said yeah we will and she said well if you're willing to do it, so am I. And that's all you had to do is apply for a visa?

Well, what was happening at that time, Jimmy Carter was the president here and he wanted to see some human rights in the Soviet Union and the Soviet leadership

was they were starving. They didn't have food, so they needed food from America. So Jimmy Carter made a deal that we're we're going to give you grain and you allow people to get out and that's how we were kind of exchanged for some wheat you know that's how we got out wow holy shit man yeah yeah just you um sometimes need to be reminded how fortunate you are you know Americans in particular we're

very, you know, it's not our fault. People become accustomed to where they live. And they think this is normal, which is one of the reasons why this push towards communism amongst young people is so infuriating to me. It's like, I understand that it comes from this desire for empathy and kindness. I get that. The idea of socialism comes from an idea of empathy and kindness that you want, you think the world would be better if we all shared and that why are there's people that are

so rich and people that are so poor. And you're right. But the solution is not to make the government decide who gets what. Because they never decide the right way. They do what people do. What people do when they have power is they enact total control over the population so that they can maintain power. And then they live in luxury and then you wait in line for bread. And that's how it is all over the fucking world. And if you step out of line, they shoot you. That's where communism goes. So what we need is, a more moral and ethical version of capitalism. So we need capitalism but with empathy. Capitalism but with philanthropy, like real philanthropy, not like scams, where you find out

that 90% of the money is actually going to all the people that work there and is a small person. We need to figure out a way to be more empathetic as a culture, but recognize that the pursuit of freedom and the ability to have freedom is so huge and it's such a great gift. We're so lucky that we have this experiment in self-government that is the United States of America. 100%. And at least I was born here. Yeah.

We're lucky as shit, you know, and you don't throw that away because it's not good enough. Right. Don't throw that away because it's not, it's not perfect. You're not going to get perfect with human beings. But this is the best system. Is it corrupt? A hundred percent. Yeah.

That should be fixed. The corruption should be fixed. And guardrails should be put in place and maybe more regular. regulations in regard to some things should be put in place, but the purpose of this whole thing is to allow people to have freedom to do whatever they want. And that's not ubiquitous in the world. That's not everywhere. This episode is brought to you by ZipRecruiter. People can get pretty creative when it comes to job hunting, like creating interactive portfolios online, or have you ever heard about the person who handed in a resume on a custom candy wrapper?

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Meet your match on ZipRecruiter. No, no. And I've been kind of a poster boy child for American Dream in a way. Look at your phone. Look at the phone case. If I had that on people, it's call me a fascist. We have an American flag. In Branson, yeah, in Branson, that's not.

That flag to me doesn't represent whoever is. It didn't represent Biden when he was in office. It didn't represent Obama. It didn't represent Trump. That represents all of us, right and left, independent, black, white, Asian, Russian, fill in the blanks, Filipino, everybody from everywhere. Who cares? It's America. This is America.

This is the Great Melting Pot. And that's how we really should be. And that flag shouldn't represent. Some people think the flag represents racism or colonialism. Like, come on, stop. That flag represents hope. And if you were a kid like Yaakov Smirnoff, is that your real name? No.

What's the real name? Pocis. Say that again? That's why. Pokis, P-O-K-H-I-S is my real name. But I was a bar. bartender bar boy at first when I came here and my first job was a bar boy in the Grosinger's Hotel in the Catskills. Oh, wow.

Yeah. What year was this? 77. Who did you get to see perform there? Oh, Freddy Roman. Wow. Eddie Fisher. Yeah.

Yeah. Freddie Roman. Old school, baby. Red Skelton. Did you see those guys? Uh-huh. I did. Later.

Later in Atlantic. City but yeah yeah I was learning English I was learning about chop aquatic or stuff like that I was like what is that you know so I was I was definitely learning English there have you ever seen the television show on Amazon the marvelous Mrs. Maisel it's really good man yeah the first scene the first season rather is incredible it's about a young one woman who's married and decides to become a stand-up comedian. Like, she's married with kids, the whole deal, and she decides to do stand-up. And part of what she does, she does some stand-up, like, in the Catskills.

Interesting. And they're like, that is, for people that don't know stand-up, there's, like, stand-up comedy as an art form is a very new art form. Yeah. Very new in terms of human history. Yes. It's only existed, like, in this form that we call stand-up, where you have comedy clubs and stuff like that. It's only existed like that since the 60s. It's true.

It's Vodaville pretty much started that, right? Yeah. It's a different form. But that was I was learning from those jokes. But a big part of it was the Catskills. Yes. A big part of it because people from New York and Pennsylvania, they would go into the Poconos and the Catskills. And they would do that on summer vacation.

And people would get jobs there. And comedians would go and book themselves at these places. Exactly. It was a big deal. It was. It was. And I didn't know about that. So you just got a job there.

Well, how it happened? I decided I need to learn English. I didn't speak English, right? So to start with. So how do I learn English? And I thought maybe if I can be a bartender, because in the cruise ships, bar was in the same proximity as the stage was. So I figure it's the same people coming to enjoy evening and I can talk to them individually and learn English.

That was my clever idea, right? And so I went and got a bartending, it's called degree of mixology. In New York, there was a makeshift school on Fifth Avenue, two weeks, $200, and you get a degree of being a mixologist. And I don't speak English, but I collected that's $200 got the degree. And they promised you to get a job, right?

So first job, they got me, there was a restaurant in Lincoln Center called Monks Inn. And it was, you dress as a monk and it's a French restaurant and you don't have to speak. You're a waiter, but you don't have to speak. It was perfect. And then the same school said they're requesting some bar boy in the Catskills at the Grosinger's Hotel. And I didn't know anything about it. And on my day off, I went upstate New York and went, walked into this place. And it was gorgeous.

It was a beautiful bar, like an 18 bartenders or whatever. It's huge. And then 2000 seed theater. And when I saw it in my brain, I said, I don't care what they pay me. I want to work here. And so I took that job. And actually, I was nervous because I didn't know that I can quit the other job

because they just gave it to me like a week ago. And right. And so I go back and I'm. so nervous. I go to the manager, I go, I know this is, you gave me a break, but there's an opportunity here. And he said, Yacov, it's America, you should take the opportunity. And if you ever need the job, you get it here. And I was like Rocky. I was like, tant, da, d'an.

Was he calling you, Yacov? Or was he calling you, you'd already use that name? Yaakov is my real name. Yaakov is my real name. But you said it wasn't your real name. Pokis is my last name. Oh. Yeah, yeah.

Yacob is my real name. So I took... Yaakov Pocus would have made it? Jacob. Pocis was there. You have to do Smyranov? And I, people could not pronounce my name. So in the bar, they would, I would see that they can say, I'll have some Svernov.

And I'm going, hmm, maybe that's a good name. and it stuck. That makes sense. That makes sense. Yeah. But when you think about how many different people in show business changed their names back then, that was a super common thing. Like, you didn't keep the name that you were, if you had a goofy name. Like Arnold Schwarzenegger was a groundbreaker because he was like one of the first guys to say, regardless of whether or not you could spell my name or even say, that's my name, I'm going to keep that name.

Right. So many people changed their names and made them their name sound more appeased. Well, mine kind of worked because yaks is like jokes, yaks, and Smyranov kind of makes people happy. Right. So it kind of worked. Oh, it works great. Yeah. It's a great idea.

Yeah. So you're a young kid and you're at these Catskill shows. How long did you work there? Not very long, but maybe seven, eight months. And did you slowly learn English when you were working? I was learning English. and I was translating jokes, and I would try them on the audience or my customers,

and I would just tell a joke, and if they laughed, then I knew that I'm understood, and if they didn't laugh or I didn't get a tip, then it wasn't working. So that was my, that was my gauge. And you were a bus boy when you were doing this? I was a bar boy.

Bar boy. So Bram boys bringing ice and mixing piniacaladas, whatever. And then became. then became a bartender. And then I would ask the guy, I asked the guy who was the manager of the main room, Barry Wise, his name. And he, I asked him if I could try my comedy. And he said, no, you can't do it in this room.

But in the lobby, in afternoons, they had. have a game with older people, Simon says. And the guy who, Master of Ceremony is there, will probably let you do a couple of minutes of stand-up. So I did. I walked on stage and I, it's a little stage in the lobby and I'm telling a couple of jokes. And some woman on the back started, I thought she was laughing. like, ha, ha, ha. She had seizures. And I didn't know. And I'm thinking I'm doing well. And they're

getting her on the her knee out of there and people coming over and saying, you were killing, you were killing. I'm going, no, no, I wasn't killing. The whole thing was, but at least I told a couple of jokes and that gave me some confidence. And then I did a couple of. of shows in Catch a Rising Star, which wasn't very good for me. In New York? In New York, yeah. And then I was working as a shipping manager in a company called Greeting Bells, and just to make some money.

And the lady said, I know somebody in Hollywood, his name is Ted Bergman. He is the executive producer of Thrice Company, which was a huge show at that time. Sure. He said, if you go to Hollywood, I can arrange a meeting. And I said, okay, I'll go. So I had a plan. I bought a ticket for 10 days to go to Hollywood, become a star, and then come back to New York and buy Fifth Avenue apartment for my parents.

That was my desire, which is crazy, right? But I go, okay, he's an executive producer of Trees company. He'll put me in the show. I'll become a star right away. I know, it's crazy, right? But I really was that naive, right? So I go there and Ted Bergman says, I would like to see you perform. So I need to find a spot.

And I go to the comedy store and I get on the, open mic list and and then the message comes that he is not going to make it. But I'm already committed, so I'm doing my five minutes and I'm bombed because now it's day four and I'm not even close to getting a television show. So I'm walking away and I'm on on sunset and this girl, Chrissie, her name was Mitzie's secretary at that time. And she runs after me and she goes, Yaakov, Yaakov, congratulations.

And I go, why? I mean, the guy didn't show up. And she goes, no, no, no, no, no. Mitzie liked you. And I go, who is Mitzie? No, I know, it's really to see in front of her portrait. And she goes, she goes, She owns the comedy store, go talk to her.

So I go sit down next to her in that booth that is next to it. Yeah, sure. Original room. And I have no idea who I'm talking to. And she says, you're very funny. Stay in Los Angeles. There's always place for good and different. And I'm again, I'm like, okay, I said,

I'm sorry, but I have parents in L.A., in New York, and I need to go back because they rely on me. And she goes, so what does your dad do? And I go, he's a building construction engineer. And she goes, can he be a carpenter? And I go, I think so. She goes, okay, why don't you bring him here? I'll give him a job. I like your Mitzie impression.

It's pretty close. And she goes, and where do you live? I go, I'm staying with some friends. She goes, I have a house up the hill, and you can rent a room for $120 a month. if you want to. That was a Crest Hill? Crest Hill. Yeah. So I still don't know, again, who I'm talking to.

And she goes, and come back tomorrow and watch a regular show. So I come back. How old are you at this time? I'm 26, 27 now. Yeah. So I go in next day and I sit in the back. and first person that Harris Pete, you probably remember.

Sure. Harris Pete introduces Robin Williams first on stage. And he just hit number one show on. Morgan Mindy? Yeah. And after him is Billy Crystal. After him is David Letterman.

After him is Richard Pryor. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. It's lined up like, and I'm sitting back there. and I'm going, this is day five, I'm ahead of schedule. If she likes them and she likes me, I'm staying. I don't care.

And that's how it started. And she gave me a job. So basically I was helping my dad as a carpenter because she wasn't, I wasn't ready to perform there, really. But she believed in you. Yeah. And she gave me a break. And little by little, once a month, she would say, why don't you go up and do what you, you know.

And I was practicing. I would do other clubs meantime just to get better and better and better. And then, you know, she had been an amazing supporter, you know. And I continue. I built a lot in the bedroom. I built a lot of things in, and she, my main job was to go to her house. And Polly was a young kid who was smoking pot. And to prevent Mitsit from walking into on him, he would take off the doorknobs of the door

and he would throw them away. And my job was to go and buy new doorknobs and push. and put them in. It was like a full-time job, you know. And so, yeah, she'd been a blessing, a blessing for me. Paul, he's at the club this weekend. Oh, is that right? Oh, cool.

Yeah, he's on 25th. That's cool. That's crazy, man. And so how good was your English back then? It was getting better, you know. Were you taking courses or reading books? I was relentless. I would do whatever it takes to,

learn. I was, I mean, I isolated myself totally from Russian speaking, except my parents. I was speaking to them in Russian, but everybody else I spoke in English. So it got, was getting better and better. And then little by little I got, you know, kind of Robin got me apart at Moscow on a Hudson movie. That was the first. This is all in the 70s, right? So this is probably Like you got arrived there like what? 78. Yeah. And then the movie was 80.

Start in 82. Came out in 84. So at that point I was doing night court a lot. Did like seven episodes. I could not get on the tonight show. There was a producer, Jim McCauley, who didn't think that Carson is going to like me. Right? And so I became, and he would come every day.

Mitzie was very supportive of this. She would have like a showcase once a year of people for him to look at. And he would come and he would say Carson is not going to like, he's not going to like, he's not going to like. And on year six, he came and he said, Yaakov, let's save time for one another. You'll get on that show when the hell freezes over. I swear. And I, so I started watching Weather Channel. Well, I didn't have a shot.

I mean, and I just kind of moved on. And then I got Miller Light commercial, which became very popular. I don't know if you can show that, Jamie, you could probably see it. It became really big. All of a sudden, I was during Super Bowl shown, and all of a sudden, people kind of got to know me. And I, and then Carson saw this commercial, and he told McCauley, he said,

this guy is funny. How come we don't have him on? And McCullough said, oh, yeah, we were just about to get him. And so Mitzie calls me, I'm in Raleigh, North Carolina in the club. and she calls me and I remember on the pay phone I call her back and I go

what's going on she goes guess who haul I go who McCauley he's such an ass he now wants you on the show right away and my God's reaction was like I want to tell him to go

shove it and then I go no no I got a So I did the Tonight Show and Carson liked me and called me over to the couch, which was, yeah, which was kind of a big deal at that time. And I sat down and I said, Johnny, you know, in America, you have things we never had in Russia. Like policemen have warning shots. And he almost fell off the chair. And we went to a commercial and McCaulay comes over, it gets between me and Carson goes,

can you do another shot like this, like a couple of months from now? I go, when the hell freezes over, he goes, tushie, tush. And I did six, seven, seven episodes of Carson. And people today, young people, especially listening, don't understand what a big deal it was. to be on Carson.

And I think the only thing that's close today is Kill Tony. Yes. Kill Tony is a place where people's careers are actually really legitimately launched. And there's a bunch of people. Like Cam Patterson's on SNL now. You know, there's guys like, when I did a show, a podcast with the Black Keys, they were asking for William Montgomery to perform. Like, can we go see William Montgomery?

Like, there's people that are stars from that show now. Amazing. That's pretty cool. I'm here with you because I did that show. And here I saw you and you invited me. So I'm very grateful to Tony that kind of got us. Well, Tony has done that for a lot of people. I mean, he's blown up Adam Ray.

He's blown some of these guys. Yeah. Kyle Dunnigan. So many of these guys have taken off because of Tony. Yeah. I mean, it's a really amazing platform because it's just comedy. Yeah. You know?

Yeah. Totally. Totally. Love it. It's like a more important platform for comedians than a regular podcast like this one because this podcast is not always comedy like sometimes I'm talking to scientists sometimes I talk you know talk to a lot of weird different people yeah absolutely but that show is just funny and there was nothing like that back then so the closest thing to it was

the tonight show and if you got on the tonight show and you did stand up I mean that was the first time I remember watching richard jenny was on the tonight show and there's a bunch of other people that are saw on the tonight show too but everybody would stay up late at night And when there was a comedian in the tonight show, you'd get excited. Like, oh, I was a comedian. Yeah. Let's see if they're funny. And if you were good and you were on the tonight show, then you could perform at clubs all over the country.

Right. And they would say, as seen on the tonight show, like, oh, the tonight show. It was a huge deal. And if you had that credit and people had seen you. Yeah. Also back then, like, what were the numbers? The numbers were crazy. 30 million.

Yeah, because there was only four channels, three at the time, not even four. Fox didn't even exist yet. So there was three channels, and a huge percentage of the country was watching this one thing. Yes. Yeah. I was very blessed. Isn't that crazy? Yeah.

And I, one time I offered them, he loved to do impressions of Reagan, Carson. He was, and I offered them to do a skit of me as an interpreter. He is Reagan. and then had a Gorbachev look-alike. And it was a huge hit. It was really very, very well-received. So, and that's another interesting thing that, you know, like when I met Reagan, I was still fairly unknown. And I was playing a club in Washington, D.C.

And it was called Comedy Cafe. and somebody came over to me after the show, and a guy I didn't know who he was, and he said, I'm having President Reagan and Nancy Reagan as my guests, dinner guests at my home in two weeks. I would like to invite you to be one of the guests. And I'm thinking, this guy's nuts, who is this? And he was chief editor of Washington.

Times newspaper. And he, the reason I brought this up, because so he sent me tickets, I come back, and then this is like a scene from like a diehard or something, we're pulling into his house,

towards his house. There's helicopter, two helicopters are hanging over the neighborhood. There's FBI everywhere, and I'm going, there's going to be a mess, you know, they won't let me in. I just didn't think it's possible. So they get him out of the car, they frisk him, they ask for his IDs, and he said, I'm the owner of the place where the president is going to dinner, and they said, we don't care.

So they get him, and then they shine the light. I'm sitting in the passenger seat, and they shine the light on me. and the guy goes, Miller light commercial, right? Go in. That's how I met. That's how I met the president. And then it was,

the moment we met each other, it's locked in like the same wavelength. And all of a sudden he was like, have you heard this joke? And he starts telling me Russian jokes. And then it was back and forth. And certainly 18 people. in the room and everybody's laughing and that's how we started that relationship.

Wow. That's crazy. Yeah. And then I get a call from his Dana Orbacher, who was his head speech writer. And he calls me a couple of weeks later and he said Reagan is going to go to Russia to meet with Gorbachev. He is going to do a speech in front of all the Russian politicians in the University of Moscow. he would like you to write some jokes for his speech. And this is like insane for me to hear this. I'm going, if something doesn't go right, I don't have any countries to go to.

This is like, where am I going, right? So I write some jokes. They put them in the speech. And then Dana goes, do you mind looking over the speech? because we want to make sure that the tone of the speech is right. I'm going, this is too much, this is too much responsibility. But I was honored, I read it, and I said, I personally don't think that the tone is correct.

I think you're kind of talking down to them and they're not going to like it. And he goes, he goes, then rewrite the speech. I'm going, okay. So I just changed. I didn't rewrite the speech. I just changed some tone of kind of putting them on the equal level as opposed to being talking down to the Soviet leaders.

They didn't appreciate them. Did you explain how he was talking down? Just teaching them that capitalism is so much better than what they got and they should switch to that form of politics as opposed to kind of appreciate what they, and their empire at that time that is still very big. So I didn't, I just felt that I would be just nicer. And they liked it. They changed some of these things that, and they kept it that way.

So I don't know how Mitsy used to tell me, you and Reagan changed the world. I go, yeah, Mitzie, you're right. I'm just telling jokes. He goes, no, it was his secret weapon that he used to get to Gorbachev. Maybe there's some truth to that. Well, certainly truth in that you kind of understood how they would receive what he was saying. that he was saying something that would, they would become defensive and they would be offended by it.

Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. That was my concern that, but, you know, well, you know that culture, way better than anybody else. And that's what he was, he was asking me. I mean, at some point, he goes, how would you deal with Gorbachev? He was literally, it's like, and I'm like going, am I the most qualified person to answer this question? And he goes, you are, because you, you live, They're 26 years. None of us politicians have. So he was really very receptive to my suggestions, whatever they, you know.

Wow. That had to be weird. I mean, you're talking to Ronald Reagan in the 1980s. Yeah. Well, Mr. Gorbachev tear down that wall. I didn't write that joke. I did not. No, it wasn't a joke.

It wasn't a joke. Yeah. But crazy. It actually happened. Yeah. Change the world. Literally changed the world. Change my world for sure.

Unfortunately. That's what's crazy. What's crazy. Yeah. It's like, but that was the problem with the world back then with only a few channels. Yeah. They could just decide you were done and you were done. Yeah.

Yeah. I mean, that happened to a lot of like if actors ran a foul of certain people. Right. You got cast out. You got blackballed. And that was it. You never worked again. Yeah.

Yeah. And that happened to a lot of people. Yeah. Well, I'm happy that I found Branson. I'm happy that I was able to adjust, you know. And it's just like when you look at trajectory of my life. I realize that that's one of my strong skills to be able to adjust. coming, just having the idea that I will be able to do comedy in America was insane for most people.

Well, just adjusting from the culture of living in Russia to living in America is insane too. You made a lot of adjustments. A lot. And when we were came, because we were coming through Italy to come to America. And they would, in Italy, they kept us three months to check all the. documents and make sure that we are not like Communist Party or don't have a record. Yeah, right, right, right.

And we had to survive. That was another interesting moment of our life because we're going and they wanted, they didn't want people to leave because that looked bad for the Soviet Union. So they would do all the, they would only like change. you $100 per person and you're supposed to survive like three months of living in a foreign country. And so, but they would give you a list of things that you could take with you. So like a photo camera had something you could sell there to live on.

And, yeah, and two suitcases for each person and very strict list of things. what was an interesting kind of loophole, we found out through the grapevine that condoms was a very expensive item in Italy for some reason. In the Soviet Union, you could buy them for a penny and in Italy you could sell them for a dollar. And so my quest was,

like when I've learned that, and there was no restriction, how many you can take with you. So I would go to each pharmacy, whatever I could get, and just, I was, you know, we got like half of the suitcase of condoms and we put it in my mother's suitcase, so that way, hopefully nobody's gonna ask her

what, why, you know, they would be embarrassed or whatever. So they didn't ask. And we got through. And so my job and my parents' job was to go on the open market every Saturday and Sunday and try to sell those condoms so we can pay rent and food and whatever else. So my parents, it was so funny how they transitioned. They were these two very conservative people and they're embarrassed, but then they realized we need money.

to eat. So they would, mom became pretty smart. She translated from Russian into Italian. If you don't want to have a kid

like this and would point at me and would hold that card and said then buy a condom. And people would laugh. They would laugh and they would And they would buy two or three, it was just more of a joke.

But we were, you know, surviving on that for a long time. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. So it was kind of bang for the buck kind of a, you know, it was not expected, but we survived. So a lot of those moments in life when you, I look at my life and I go, that was a survival.

then coming to America and getting a job and getting to a goddess that helped you and me to become who we are, that's just God's hand on that. That's amazing. Yeah, you adapted, man. You adapted multiple times. That's so crazy. God. Yeah.

Trying to survive in Italy. You didn't speak Italian. No. Did you guys speak anything other than Russian? No, no, we just, but there was immigration, there was other Russian people that you could kind of communicate with. And I would go, even in Italy, I would go to a movie theater. And I was so determined there was one movie theater in Rome that would, for a dollar, you can sit and watch English-speaking movies, and you can sit there all day for a dollar. And so I would go, it was like my, I was learning English, listening to listening.

And then one time I remember a couple, I needed to practice. And there was a couple, I asked them speak English and they said yes. And the guy, the girl was from Belgium, the guy was from Washington, D.C., and they said, we'll help you. and we'll just come every week, like on Monday or some, whatever it was, and we'll just go to a coffee shop and we'll talk to you so you can practice English. And I remember they asked me, like, what did you do in Russia? I said I was a comedian somehow through dictionary,

whatever I could to make that. And they said, what do you want to accomplish when you're in America? And again, I don't know anything about America. And I have this, I ask them, I said, where is the most successful people, comedians perform? And they said, Las Vegas. And I said, in five years, somehow I'll be in Las Vegas.

and it's exactly what happened. Five years later, I was at the Tropicana Hotel with Murray Lansden, the unknown comic, doing a show in Las Vegas. I remember that guy with the paper bag over his head. Yeah. From the gong show. Yep. Yeah. Which was a great show.

It was a crazy show. Yeah, it was kind of an early version of Kiltone. In a lot of ways. Yeah, in a lot of ways. Yeah, in a lot of ways. untalented. And then you would hit the gong. Exactly.

That show was great. Yeah. Yeah. Didn't they try to bring that back? Didn't they try to bring the gong show back at one point in time with someone else? I think they did. Who did they bring it back with? Do you remember?

Jamie? But do you remember? You don't remember? I don't. I don't. I'm on top of my head now. It was someone that you're like, huh? I wonder why they chose that person.

Actually, yeah, 2000. Oh, David Tell. Oh, that's right. Who was it? It was David Tell. Oh. That's right. It was 2012?

Well, it says briefly in 2008, and then again in 2017, and then I don't think he was involved in that one. Oh. 2008, that what you said? Yeah. Wow. Yeah, he's perfect for that. The problem is once a show's been done, you try to redo it. It's like, it's always going to be, eh.

He'll have been the three different versions of Fear Factor now. You know, it's like now they're doing it with Johnny Knoxville. It's kind of crazy, like the amount of different things that have happened in your life, you know, and then now to find yourself with another revival because of Kill Tony. Yes. Yes. And going back on tour, I have a poster. I don't know if people on the radio can't see it, but I have a poster of my tour.

Well, we'll send them to the website. Yeah, so I am excited. And where are you going to comedy clubs? Yeah. All over the place. Yeah. Atlanta is the next one. No one can read that.

Oh, okay. Put that down. They'll go to the website. Jamie will pull up the website. Yeah. And it's on yacob.com. Yeah, go brought a sign. That's hilarious, man.

So what was the Kill Tony experience like? It was great. I mean, I am, obviously, my show is kind of G-rated. and so Kill Tony is not and so but yet it was It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter.

It doesn't matter. He was so respectful of this Tony and set me up you know I mean I felt like my head was this big and he was seeing me as a super legend

and I am very grateful it's hard for me sometimes to accept that, that people see me, because I've been doing this for 60 years, 60 years comedy. That's crazy. Yeah. Well, I remember the first time we met. We met at the comedy store. I want to say, was that, like 15 years ago or something like that?

Probably, yeah. You dropped in, and I had never seen, and I was like, oh, like, what is he doing in town? Yeah. And you just decided you wanted to come by the store and see what was going on with the young guys and do some stand-up. But we hung out for a little bit in the green room. And I remember telling anybody, Yacobos Mernov's really funny, man. He's fucking cool. Thank you.

Thank you. It was fun. It was fun to hang out with you, you know? It was like it was fun to see you hanging out with all these weirdo, young pot smoking. Fucking from Branson, right? Yeah. You were coming from Branson. You're hanging out with Joey Diaz.

We were laughing, though. We had a good time, man. It was a really good time. It was fun. It's fun. back to clubs and I my goal was really to last year I would go to small clubs and develop an hour of material that is totally current I talk about relationships I talk about having a one-year-old in my life I talk and it's an interesting I was doing it at your club and it's great to watch

the reaction of the audience, how they have a lot of respect, but they're also laughing, and they're seeing it. It's fun because I talk about relationships. So they might come in disconnected, but then all of a sudden you see how they put their hands next to each other and then they put, yeah, yeah, but I like it. Look at you, you're a uniter. You're bringing couples closer together with your comedy. That's really my goal. I like that you like that. I enjoy seeing families.

Like Nate Bergetzi is really the one who kind of got me out of Branson because he shown that there's a need for that humor. Yes. And families come. And when you go to his show, it's like looking around. Yep. Grandma and grandchildren and parents. But everyone's laughing.

Exactly. about Nate that's so unique is Nate is hilarious to me. Nate is hilarious to a 20-year-old kid in college. Nate is hilarious to their grandmother. Nate is hilarious to your children. You can bring your 10-year-old kids to see Nate. Nate is a genius. And that is who he is all the time.

He's like a really funny, very smart guy who's got a perfect style. It's like, I mean, he's, didn't he make like the most money ever? or something like that last year doing stand-up. It sold the most tickets ever. 80 million dollars. Something crazy. But it's like he's doing this, like selling out stadiums two times in a night. Exactly.

Yeah. And he does like 3 p.m. shows. It's nuts. Right. It's incredible. But it shows that there's a need for that. Well, it shows that it doesn't matter. It's just funny.

Like, Brian Regan's another great example. Brian Regan squeaky clean. Unfucking believably funny. So talented. It's so funny. Yeah. And it's just funny. It doesn't have to be clean or dirty.

And we have that at the club, too. I mean, this is like the club gets labeled as some like kind of extreme anti-woke thing. It's nonsense. I played, I performed there at your club a couple of weeks ago. They totally loved it. Nobody expected anything and they just enjoyed. They laughed all the way through.

I love doing that. So to me, I see young people who don't know me. and they're totally relating and I'm relating to them which is great that's what I want to do we're human beings telling jokes that's it right that's all it is

and if comedy done correctly is done from your perspective whether your perspective is Nate Bargazzi or your perspective is fucking you know fill in the blank David Talley whoever it is Joey Diaz Brian Holtsman like whatever it is it doesn't matter

it's like what's funny is funny and it might not be your thing like that's the thing too one of the problems with comedy is that there's only one, there's like one label. And you might go see like Brian Holtsman's like death metal comedy. Or you might see Nate Braggazzi. It was like, you know, I don't know what's the, you know, what's equivalent?

Well, Leanne Morgan is another one that was kind of out of nowhere became very successful because she has that clean southern humor. and the Netflix embraced her, and all of a sudden she is touring and doing concerts. Yeah, all you have to do is be funny. It's like funny from whatever perspective you're coming from. And again, it's not going to be for everybody. That's just how it is.

Right. There's a lot of people that aren't going to like A or B. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. But the thing about comedy is like when you go to a comedy club, you don't know what you're going to get. You might get run DMC or you might get ACDC. You have no idea.

Right, right. It's all just comedy. But I think that's one of the cool things about it. Right. And I totally agree with you. And I want to be able to do that one hour straight comedy. No. There was an interesting thing that happened about a year ago or so.

A young comedian, he, he said, you know, I was writing some jokes. And he was helping me. And he said, Yaakov, you know that you're not a stand-up comedian. You're a one-man show. And I go, at first I was like kind of, what? What are you talking about? And because I tell, in France, it's like more storytelling

and not just punchline, punchline, punchline, punchline. And he was correct. So at first I got kind of like, what do you mean? Who are you to tell me I'm not a stand-up comedian? And then I go, Chad GPP, is Yaakov a stand-up comedian or is he one-man show? And Chad Jop-GPt said, Yaakov Smir-Nov used to be a stand-up comedian, and now he is a one-man show. And now coming from Chad GPT, I'm going, dang, that's, that's now official.

Wait a minute. So it took me a whole year to rewrite everything that I needed to rewrite to say it's punchline, punchline, it's just straight comedy. So I became a stand-up comedian again. Well, there's nothing wrong with one-man show stand-up comedy either, because some people do their comedy like a one-man show. and some of the best comics like Colin Quinn. Colin Quinn does a series of one-man shows, but if you ask Chat Chitty, who is Colin Quinn? It'll say he's a stand-up comedian.

Right, but Chad GPD got me wrong, whatever it was. It doesn't know. It's not even a person. Right. Fuck Chad Chy-PT. But it's actually helped me to tune in my comedy because I was maybe a little bit more relaxed. being in my own theater with all people coming to see me.

So it's not like you're in a club when you're like with other comedians when you have to be really, really sharp. And that's what I think it did for me. So I spent a year doing that. Now I have that hour and I'm ready to go and that's why I went on the tour. That's awesome. Yeah. I love when comics are still interested in it and still right.

writing and still love it after all these years. Absolutely. You know who I draw some inspiration from as well as Argus Hamilton? Yeah. Argus is still killing. Yes. Still killing it in L.A. Keeps going.

And every time there's something new in the news, he's got a great fucking line about it, he's a funny dude. He is. And he's still getting after. He still loves it. And, you know, Argus used to, like, famously be into the substances. And now all he does is run. And I remember one time we were at the comic

store and we were in the parking lot. And it was after the show. And Argus showed up with fucking running shoes on. It just ran in. And I'm like, what are you doing, man? And he's like, I have to run every day. And do a set because to him, that's his motivation. Yeah.

And he does like, I think he runs like 10 miles a day. Yeah. He's in his 70s. And interesting that, you know, when I was so naive because Argus was very friendly with Mitzi. And I would go to their house. And I would see Argus there in the morning. And I was like, why is, you know, and I couldn't connect those two things.

I mean, I could not. I mean, honestly, it was, it was, I'll tell you how naive I was. So Mitzie gives me that work, right? And I live in that house. And Andrew Dysclay moves into that house, right? And Andrew teaches me English, okay? Can you imagine that the robodab. So, but that was a party house.

I mean, this was a house where... Was Knessin living there then? Knessen would just hang out there all the time. And they would scream at each other, Andrew and Kennyson. And that was just kind of a joke between those two. And they go, ah, ah. and I would have to go to bed because I got to get up early in the morning to go work

and those guys are screaming at each other just for fun and I go downstairs and I go, hey guys, your friends, stop. So we're playing this joke and they're, yeah, screaming and I go, you know what, why don't you, you're close to the comedy store, why don't you go downstairs and scream there? And they look at each other and go, okay, let's go.

So it's midnight, and we're all going, whoever lived there, going to the comedy store. And Sam gets on stage and starts screaming. This is the first time that he ever got on stage and he went to the, and very few people in the audience. And he went into their face and, ah, you. No way. That's where it came from? That's where it came from.

And then after that, it just became like his thing and the rest is history. That's crazy. Yeah. That was happening there. A lot of stuff was happening there. They would come and do drugs, you know, like Robin and Richard, Richard Pryor. They would do, and I tells you this is silly, but I would wake up in the morning. and I would see a mirror on the table, right?

Okay, so bear with me. And there's like white powder on the table. So you'd clean it up. I was thinking they're eating donuts off the mirror. So I would clean whatever it was, hang it up. And next morning I go, Argus, why don't you guys use plates? You have a dishwasher. And they would laugh at me.

and they wouldn't tell me what's going on. But weren't they mad that you threw away their cook? No, no, there was not much. I mean, it was just, yeah, they were residue. I had no idea. I wasn't testing it. That's how much coke they had, that they left some of it on the mirror. Yeah.

Isn't that crazy? That's crazy. It was, but I didn't know. So I kind of lived in that wholesome kind of world in that crazy. So you were there while Kinnison was developing. Yeah, yeah. Wow. Did he arrive at the store around the same time that you did?

A little bit later. A little later. Yeah, a little later. Well, like, what year did he arrive? Probably 79, I would say. And he really hit around like, what, 85, 86? Yes, yes. I think 85 he did Letterman.

Yes, yes. And then 86, he had that HBO special that blew him up. Probably, probably. You know, I found out about it. about Kinnison, it's a funny story. I've told it before I apologize if the audience has heard it. I was working at a health club at a gym called the Boston Athletic Club in South Boston.

And I was a trainer, teach people how to lift weights. And there was this girl who was a volleyball player. She was hilarious. She was this big girl, big athletic girl. She was very funny. She was just like boisterous, like a really loud, funny lady. And she was like my age. And she told me about Kinnison

and that she told me about his, She's like, oh my god, I saw this guy on HBO. She had a heavy Boston accent. This guy on HBO, he was so fucking hilarious. And he did this bit about people having sex with corpses. So she does this bit. She laid down in the parking lot of the Boston Athletic Club and did that bit. So Kinison had a very famous bit about homosexual necrophiliacs who were paying money

to spend moments alone with the freshest male corpses. So she is lying down on the parking lot, on the ground in the parking lot. She's like, and she's like, oh, I'm going to lie down. She's the whole thing, I'm going to be with Jesus. And now I'm dead. Oh, what is this? Feels like someone's fucking me in the ass. You mean life keeps fucking you in the ass even after you're dead?

It never ends. So she was doing his bit. And I was laughing at her doing his bit. I'm like, I got to see this guy. Wow. So that was my introduction to Sam Kinnisson. My friend lying on her stomach doing an impression. I'll never forget that, man.

Because I was 19 years old. I remember that. And I remember thinking, so it was 86. So I remember thinking, this is crazy. Unbelievable. That's, that's. I had no desire to do comedy back then. I wasn't even thinking about it.

It wasn't even on my radar. It was never even a thought. I loved comedy. I loved watching it, but I never thought about doing it. So what made you, what was the transition when you started? Well, I was. heavily invested in martial arts. That's all I wanted to do.

All I wanted was my goal was to compete. And that's all I was doing. That's the reason why I got the job at the gym so that I could have a place that I could work out and also I could make money there. And my friends that I used to train with, they're the ones who told me to do comedy. But I was like, listen, you laugh at me

because you're also psychos. Like the things I'm saying are fucking crazy. Like you're all fighters We're all traveling around the country fighting Like this is not a normal activity This is not normal humor But my good friend Steve Graham Who I'm still friends with to this day

He's the one who talked me to doing it And then I went to an open mic night And I realized oh everybody sucks in the beginning Like it's just like martial arts You start off I suck and then you get better at it But my introduction to comedy Was that lady really my introduction to Kinnison rather The idea

Because when I saw Kinnison I was like oh comedy is a lot of different things. It's different, there's a lot of different forms to it. Yeah. Because I always saw guys like Jerry Seinfeld who were very funny and they tell these jokes, but I never thought that was me. I couldn't do that.

But I saw Kinnison, I was like, oh, this is a bunch of different kinds of comedy. Right, right. This is very interesting. And then when I started out in 88, boy, the guys in Boston used to talk about the comedy store like it was Mecca. Like you had to go there. You had to go to the store. The store was where Richard Pryor started

and Sam Kinnison and all these comics and David Letterman, they all came out of the store, Bill Hicks, he was a doorman at the store. And everybody talked about the store. It was one of those things where it was like, you know, you had to go there. And then when I first got on a television show, I flew out to L.A. to do a pilot.

And that was the first time I ever went to the store and I remember being so weirded out, just being in the building. Like, wow, I can't believe I'm out. at the comedy store. When did you meet Mitzie? I met Mitzie in 94. So I did the pilot.

The pilot wound up getting picked up. And then I came out and I was on a TV show that it only lasted like six episodes. It was called Hardball. It was a sitcom about a baseball team. And I played the star player. I played this crazy dude who was always crashing his Lamborghini and that kind of shit, you know. And so I would spend my nights every night at the store. I didn't have any friends and I didn't know anybody there.

So I just would just go to the set. And then after the set, I'd go hang out at the store. And then I eventually Mitzie showcased me. I got, became a non-paid regular. So I got to go on after the comedians performed. So the way it worked at the comedy store, they'd have a show that was scheduled from like 8 p.m. to like 1 a.m. or close to it. And then after it was probably like really midnight, but it always was like one eight by the time I got up.

And then I would go on after everybody else. And I did that for a few months. And then she passed me. And I remember thinking like when she passed me like I was like, oh no, I think I can be a comedian now. Like this is, I actually can make a living doing this. Because before then I wasn't sure. Right. Even though I was getting paid and I would do comedy, I'd get paid to do comedy, it was still like very iffy.

I'd bomb a lot. It was like, it wasn't, right. Also, it was like in the middle of this sitcom, so I was working all day. I didn't want to do that anymore. I liked it because it paid a lot of money, but it wasn't really my thing. It wasn't into acting that much. To me, it was like comedy was more exciting. It was live, live audiences.

The sitcom thing was fun because you got to use, like, your skills in telling jokes as a comedian. But it wasn't the same thing. And then I got news radio, which we, was a much more, much better show. And then I was like, well, this is different. This is, there's other levels to this. And that's how I meant Hartman and all those other people. But it was, to me, the most important thing was getting passed at the store.

I was like, wow. That was more important to me than getting a sitcom or anything. I was like, I can't believe it. I got past. My name's on the wall of the fucking comedy store. I'm like, wow. It was so exciting. In lights too now, right?

Do you have it? Is it neon inside? Yeah. I'm on the wall inside. Yeah. It's just like this lady, Mitzi Shore, like people don't understand. She was the most important figure outside of all the comedians,

the most important figure of in comedy. Yeah. By far, there was no one like her. She was, and she was a mentor. Yes. She was like,

she was a, she was a curator of a mental health asylum. Like, and she would joke around about it. She's like, the inmates are running the asylum. And that was, was originally when we came to Texas, I was going to call it the asylum. Really?

Yeah, because I thought, as a nod. As a nod to Mitzie. Yeah, yeah, it turned out better. But as a nod to Mitzie, the idea was that, like, because she was always saying, the inmates are running the asylum. She would say that all the time when we were there. Like, she encouraged it. She liked when comedians were out of their fucking minds.

She loved it. She loved that environment. And so as a nod to her, we were going to call it the asylum. But then I was like one of the things that someone said, because, you know, Ron White was the first guy to move here. He was really like patient zero in the Austin comedy experience and the new version of the Austin comedy experience. And he was like, it's the center of the country. I love it because I could fly to New York. I go to Florida.

I go everywhere. It's in the middle. You know, it's like the flats aren't as long. People are nice. I love it here. And I was like, oh, well, it's like the mothership. and then all the other places like Lynch launch out. Yeah.

And also I'm obsessed with UFOs. Obviously. I can see. Yeah, obviously. A bit of a UFO problem. Yeah. So that's what we call it the mothership. But I mean, the bars named Mitzies.

Yes. Yes. And it was, you know, losing her that early. I still think she went too early, you know. Well, for me, it was like she suffered for so long. Yeah, that's true. really hard to see her, you know, she had a neurological condition later in her life. It was very hard to see her.

She would come around a store. Yeah. But, you know, she nurtured so many comedians and helped us all. And not always, like sometimes she had terrible advice. She would change your whole act, make you have a fake name. She tried to turn Joey Diaz into fat baby. Is that right? That was his nickname or his name.

So on the lineup, instead of Joey Diaz, it would say, Fat Baby. She did that for like a couple years. Wow. Yeah, it was nuts. Yeah, you can find some of the old lineups. Jamie's found them before online. It'll line up from like 2001 or something like that.

It says Fat Baby. That's what she was calling them. Yeah. She was a special person. Such a special person. And just that lady loved having that place. She was, she knew that there was something going on. there and there had been something going on there that was very unique in the world of comedy and it was necessary you know to have a place like that where the comics all felt at home yeah like we would perform in other places like we would do sets at the improv we would do sets at the I remember one time I did New Year's at the improv and I came back to the club and Harris Pete says I love it you go over there you do your shows but you come back home I was like yeah we're all this is our home this is our weird

a fucking home. Yeah. You know, the home for lost children. Like, Missy we call it the home for the island of broken toys. Yeah. Just a bunch of weirdos, you know, but all like feeding off of each other. But to be able to see somebody who is barely speaks English and does five minutes and spot him somehow.

Well, she loves developing. She loved developing comic. She loved finding a comic and getting them. Which is one of the problems with like she didn't, it's really interesting. Like Jerry Seinfeld went and she didn't pass him because he was already developed. Right. Isn't that crazy? Yeah.

Like she didn't like that. He's done. He's done. She liked taking people when they were really raw. That's true. And shaping them. Roseanne was her big project. Sure.

Yeah. She came from Denver. Yeah. And so as Jim Carrey and many, many others. She also had like very specific like techniques she would use to test you. Like she would always take comics and put them on like especially the young new ones after all the really good comics like she did with you. When you're talking about like doing that set, Richard Pryor's going up and Robin Williams and that's what she would do. Yeah.

She would take young comics that she thought had potential and she would shove them after the biggest. names and people that were killing. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. She was a, such a unique person and such an important person in comedy. And Peter, that was a big moment of my life. I went to her funeral, and Peter, her son asked me to be one of the pole bears in her funeral.

And I felt like full circle, you know, she gave me my life, you know, in a totally different way. If I didn't meet her, God knows what I would be doing. No, I mean, she helped all of us. And I think it's one of the reasons why we talk about her so much. And it's the reason why we named the bar after her. Yeah. And the spirit of what she was trying to do at the store, we try to do at the mothership. All the weirdos.

Welcome weirdos. Welcome weirdos. Amen. Let's have fun. Amen, yeah. Let's go. Yeah. How many times have you performed at the club now?

Twice. Twice. Yeah, yeah. It feels like the original room, the little room, the little boy's room. Well, you know what I say? It's like the little room is like if the original room and the belly room had a baby. And then the big room is like the original room and the main room had a baby. Right, right.

It's very close. It's true. It's true. Basically copied everything that I learned from her and added more stuff that the comedians requested. And it's interesting that I was helping to build that belly room and then Kill Tony started in the bell room. Yeah. You might have been the last person to work on that belly room too because that fucking room scares a shit out of me. I've been in the bottom, like in the bar area, ordering a drink and like roast battle be on stage. and you see the ceiling move.

You're like, Jesus, Yacoff, get back up there with a fucking hammer and add some support. I'm not taking the responsibility. I was just doing booths and... Oh, okay, okay. So I wasn't doing structure. Okay, that's good.

Somebody was. Yeah. I just think something, like, especially... There's no code. There is no code. When you had roast battle up there, like they would get so wild and rowdy and it would be pah.

It would be packed and it's only supposed to see like what 70 people or 80 people Right, right it would be a lot more than that That fucking ceiling would move a little When you were in the bar you're like bro I hope this doesn't cave in that would suck Yeah, yep yep yeah a place is a magic place and it's also a magic place because it was like a A magnet for crazy people You'd have the weirdest nuttiest people that would just come there like that one guy there's one guy that we used to come there and He was a really nice guy.

And he would always dress as Jesus. Yes, I remember that. Yeah. Do you remember his name, Jamie? That's right. And he wound up dying and everybody was so sad. They were really sad because this guy was, it seems like a gimmick, but we got used to it. And he was really nice.

And he was just like this nice guy that dressed like Jesus all the time. There he is. But it was part of the fucking cool, crazy weirdness. of the comedy store is that we had a guy that dressed as Jesus that was there all the time you know and like I don't know if he ever did stand up did he ever do stand up I never saw him on stage but he would be in the room sometimes and he definitely had timing

to you know to give a joke but like I don't remember ever seen him like with a mic in his hand isn't that crazy though like he was just always there hanging out and he was like but that was the part of how nutty that place was. The place was just strange. Yeah. We ran into so many

completely schizophrenic people in the parking lot. They would, they would just wander their way back there and start talking to us and explain to us about the voices in their head. He's on Brody's show, Zach. Oh, wow. Ah.

Wow. Yeah, I mean, Brody had him on his show. It was just, that's how weird that place was. Which is such a fucking And just an unusual spot. Yeah. And so we've done our best to make our own version of that here.

And that Cresthill house was also a crazy place, you know. Yeah, I'm not doing that. I think that was a terrible idea. I'm not going to buy a house and have a bunch of ingredients living it. That sounds like a recipe for a fucking disaster. I just can't manage all that. You know, I almost bought Cresthill at one point in time. Really?

Yeah, they were selling it. and I was really thinking about buying it. But I had a dog at the time. His name was Frank Sinatra, and Frank Sinatra was an escape artist. That was not a big enough. I'm a firm believer that if you have a dog, you really have to have a big yard. I think otherwise it's cruel. I think dogs need exercise.

They need something. If you don't have a big yard, you've got to be able to be able to take that dog out every day and exercise them and bring them around. Otherwise, it's rude. And Crestale had that little tiny backyard, remember? And it was on the hill. I'm like, he's getting over this fence. Like, he was a pit bull.

I'm like, he's getting over that fence like that. That dog could get out of anything. I was like, that poor guy. I'm not doing that to him. So I never bought it because of my dog. Like, literally, I was thinking about buying that house, and she was selling it. But it was, I went to look at it.

I went to look at it to see if I could buy it. I think some comics might have been even living there at the time. So this was like. They sold it several times since then. I was just there not too long ago, and it's all kind of destroyed because the guy is kind of wacky and he's remodeling it. But it was a big part of my life. It was a museum. I was living there in a little room.

Andrew Dice Clay downstairs. And he's teaching me how to date women. I know, I know. It's crazy. But I was so naive. and he was clean at that time, you know, his act was very clean. He would tell, you know, he would do impressions of Elvis and John Tarvolta and Sylvester Stallone. So he's, and he would be very funny.

We were pretty good friends. He would just, but he would play with me. He would say he would play that, you know, I would have a girl. friend come and he would say, so now you want me to go downstairs. Can you imagine Andrew being this crazy guy? He said, now I got to go downstairs and I'll be all by myself and you're going to be with this girl and you're my best friend and how is that going to? I go, get the hell out of here. She's going to be here and then she would come and he would do it in front of her. Well, you guys are going to have fun now and I'm going to have to go downstairs. There's nothing there and you just play and

play a lot, you know, and then Tom Wilson was living there too. Tom is the guy who did Biff in Back to the Future. He was the bad guy, right? And so Tom was kind of a clean cut guy. And Andrew was, you know, not. So one time I was supposed to break up with this girl. I wanted to break up with her. And he goes, Andrew goes, I have an idea for you. We're going to go to a jewelry store. We're going to get a gift for her.

So it will be easy to break up. So we go, we buy a ring. And I'll bring it, I brought it back. and I go, Tom, Andrew told me to buy this ring to give it to this girl, so it would be an easy breakup. And he looks and he goes, it's an engagement ring, you know that. And I go, but Andrew told me to buy it. He goes, Tom goes, Andrew is not a representative of a human race. So don't listen to what he's.

saying. So that's how it was kind of a fun relationship, but it was interesting because I was very enterprising and I'm working for me at sea. You know, she's paying me whatever minimum wage. But I'm saving money and we live with those guys and we have a two car garage but no cars in it. So a friend of mine says to me, why don't we go to Germany? need together. We borrow some money. We buy two Mercedes and we'll sell one and we'll get one

for free. It was kind of an interesting idea. So we went with some complications. I was able to bring two cars and sold. So here's, these guys are sleeping till like noon and they don't have a car and they don't, they're just bombing around. And I have two Mercedes in the garage. I sell one. And then I go to Europe. They hired me to do a Bob Monkhow show, which was kind of a Johnny Carson show for England.

And I fly there and they gave me a bag of money, 10,000 euros, not euros, pounds, in a bag to do this show. So I buy a Rolls-Royce and ship it to America. So now I have a Mercedes 450SL and a Rolls-Royce, but I live in a room for $120 a month, right? And so this is how weird it is. And I want to buy a house, but I don't have enough money.

So this realtor passes by one day, and I'm polishing the Rolls-Royce, and she goes, can I borrow like a hammer to put a sign in? I go, you know what, your realtor, maybe you can help me. I'm looking for a house. And I liked when Mitzi had that big house, 5,000 square feet overlooking L.A. I'm like, I want something like that. And I said, I tell her, I want a 5,000 square foot house with an acre of land. And I wanted to buy it for, with the view of LA, and I want to buy it for $150,000. And I'm thinking she's going to hit me with a hammer.

She goes, I may have something for you. and I go, really? And she goes, yeah. And there was a house literally like a block away from where Mitzis was, similar structure. Only it was destroyed. It was a house that Leni Bruce used to live in years ago. There was Seymour Cassell, who is a character actor. I don't know if he's still around.

maybe Jamie can find it of him. He was a character actor, and he got into drugs and lost that house to his attorney. And so I go look at the house. It's totally destroyed, but my parents needed a project. They were, and I needed them to have a project. So I said, how much would he done? And he said, he'll take $150,000 because it's totally destroyed. There's stuff swimming, but there is stuff in the basement like flooded.

The windows are broken, destroyed. So I buy that house, but I want to buy it. But I have to get all the paperwork. and I go, I need this, there is some kind of discrepancy that a sliver of the land belongs to a neighbor or something like that. So I need to sign that guy, Seymour Cassell, supposed to sign something off. And I go, where am I going to find him? I go, the attorney goes, I know where he is. He's in jail.

So I go to jail and I figure I'm going to offer him money. to sign this paper. And I go in, I have like $500 in my pocket, and I go, I need you to sign this paper. And he goes, I said, how much? And he goes, 50. I go, 50,000? He said, no, $50.

I go, why $50? He said, they won't allow us more than $50. in jail. So now I'm in jail with a $100 bill trying to get change, which is not a good place to do it. I got it, and now I own that beautiful home. You still have it? No, I sold it and moved to Pacific Palisades that time. And when my kids were, my daughter was born and then had to sell that house. and lose a lot of money to move to Branson. And are you in Branson still? I do.

You live in Branson? Yeah, I own theater there. So how did you start coming out here? It was a desire to kind of do what I felt compelled that I can still offer something valuable to the audience out there, watching Nate Bargatsi doing that and he had me actually

I was in Florida and I wanted to go see his show and he's in this Hertz Arena 12,000 something people and I

asked if I could just go come see the show and he said why don't you go on stage and do a set? And that was like I walked out there and I felt like I was back in the 80s, you know, the audience just the moment they said my name, they knew who I was. That audience knows who I am. So they just went crazy. And I felt like Rocky standing there bowing and then I did like eight minutes. and so he's very respectful and very he feels like I one of the people that kind of paved the way for comedy to be what it is today. That's awesome. So I've been very blessed that, you know.

And so how did you wind up in Austin? I came here for the festival that was that Moon Tower. Moon Tower. And then I had Adam your, Adam got me a spot. And that's when I met Tony. And Tony said, why don't you be a guest judge on my show? And I was going with my family to Europe. because my family's from Ukraine, so my wife's family from Ukraine, so they moved to Europe. And so we went there for two months,

and I said, Tony, I can't do it right now, but the end of August I would love to do it. And that's how it all kind of came together. Wow. Yeah, that's awesome. Small world. What are you doing tonight? I don't have any plans.

I was just hoping to get through this. fun because you never know I'm hoping that you know I'll be happy to do whatever is out there you know you were hoping to get through the show well you have to know I mean your show I don't think

you can phantom how big your show I mean I know you know the numbers and you know but to to get to to have the conversation for three hours

and not really knowing where it's gonna go, what's gonna happen, how it's gonna be. You get nervous, you know, and I feel like I was going to Nashville, and it was Nashville Comedy Festival a year and a half ago. And I went there and I walked into Ryman's auditorium and Brian, Dorfman, you probably know he's a promoter. He remembered me from the years in the past,

and there was a show that all the Nate Berguzzi's protégés were doing. And I walked in, I didn't know what was going on. And he said, you want to go up? And I go, okay, I'll go up. and I went in the middle of the show and I did 15 minutes and the crowd gave me a standing ovation in the middle of the show. And I know it's, I get emotional because I feel like an ugly duckling that goes in and doesn't know if there's young people going to accept you or not. And can you still do it? I'm in Branson for 33 years. I'm very comfortable in that environment. But going into with the young comedians,

it's like a boxer who hasn't been out there. And there is respect, but also respect only last 30 seconds after they introduce you. But then you have to prove that you got what it takes. And that's what I feel. feel like I want to continue to do this because I believe I can still offer something valuable to the audience that family audience that could learn something from me, could laugh with me, whatever it is.

That's very wholesome, Yaakov. You're a wholesome guy. Well, thank you. I mean that with all sincerity. Well, I'll tell you, it's interesting. I was, when I graduated from my, from Pepperdine, and I came to Comedy and Magic Club in my. Morosa Beach.

I love that place. Yeah, me too. Shout out to Mike Lacey. Yes, yes. He's the best. And I showed up in my cap and gown kind of proud. And Jay Lena is there all the time every Sunday. And Jay goes, so what's up?

What's up? What's up with that? What's up with that? And I go, well, I decide to get a doctorate degree because I really think that there is a research on laughter that you could really help people understand it better. And he goes, Yaakov, you're a comedian. You write a joke. You tell a joke. You pick up a check and you go and you go. And And that's it. And I go, but what about like humanity and no, no, he goes, no, no, you don't get it. You write a joke, you tell a joke, and you pick up a check, and that's it. I feel like there is more that I can do. Well, you know, that's Jay's perspective. Right.

My perspective is much more aligned with yours. I think there's a lot more going on. And I think comedy is very valuable to people, including me. If I don't feel good, then I can go watch people tell great jokes and laugh. I feel better. I like it. I like it. People like it.

People keep coming to see it. There's a reason why people come. It's medicine. It really is. I know that's like very cliche. No. Say laughter is medicine. But it is.

There's something to it. It's a lubricant. It's like engine without, if you don't have oil in an engine, it will not go. And I think laughter in the relationship, is that lubricant. And with friends. It's just a fun thing to do. Absolutely.

That's one of the reasons why I like going there. Yes. We get to hang out together and laugh. Yes. Speaking of which, do you want to do a set tonight? Sure. You know anybody who can get me in? It'd be my show.

I'd love it. So you'd do a set on my short short tonight. Yeah. Okay. I'd love it. All right. Oh, my goodness. Wow.

I'll have some fun. What a gift. Thank you. And if people want to see you other than that, you're on tour. What is the website? Is it Yaakov.com? Yeah, my next show is in Atlanta this weekend. Well, people can go to it.

It's up on the screen. There it is. Yeah. Stand-up, podcast, host, legend. You have your own podcast? I did for about a year. What happened? A baby was born.

Oh, you're doing a lot of good spots. You're doing the punchline. You're doing the punchline in Sacramento. You're doing Cobbs in San Francisco. Comedy Works. in Greenville, Greenwood, rather, that's the other comedy works. There's two comedy works. Nice. Side splitters, great spots. Beautiful.

Yeah. Yeah. People who come see you, man. I hope so. And you're very funny. Thank you. It's good. It's good to see you out there. Thanks for having me. I really appreciate it. I really enjoyed talking to you in the Green Run. I'm glad we did this because that's a crazy-ass story. Thank you. Thank you. My pleasure. You're a good dude, Yagoff. I love you.

Thank you. I love you, too. Bye, everybody.