The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk - 095: Sal Vulcano – Creating A Hit TV Show: Impractical Jokers

Starting point is 00:00:00 Being maybe, I don't know if you want to call it neurotic or obsessive or just disciplined, but like to know that there are just tons of men and women behind me that didn't get their opportunity yet or we killed to have my opportunity and they are hungry. I can't not, that fuels me. I can't not be hungry and I can't not be, I can never lose what it was that helped me get to this point and is still helping me succeed. And if you rest on those things, there's someone waiting to take your place. Are leaders born or are they made? Our host, Ryan Hawk, believes that leaders can be made through determined, focused work on learning the art and science behind the makeup of other successful leaders.

Starting point is 00:00:47 Now it's time to inhale knowledge and exhale success. You're listening to The Learning Leader Show with Ryan Hawk. Hey, guys, before we get to this great conversation, I want to let you know that this episode was brought to you by Misen and Maine. You'll probably remember from episode 64, I spoke with a CEO of Mizna Maine, Kevin Lavelle, and we promised to continue that dialogue as we both progressed on our journeys. And we certainly have, and we formed a partnership. And Kevin and his great companies and support and people that he works with have agreed to sponsor my podcast. But for me, I'm very picky

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Starting point is 00:02:28 And so after I bought that first shirt, I ended up buying six more shirts and two Henleys. And so we've set up a deal for you guys to go to Ryan. com. So that's Ryan. com. Pick your favorite shirts. I love the button downs. You'll see on that site my favorite shirts.

Starting point is 00:02:48 And when you're checking out, use the code Ryan Hawk to get free shipping if you're only buying one shirt. If you happen to want to buy three button downs like I've done a couple times, use the code Ryan Hawk 3 and you'll get $50. off. Again, I love Mizna and Maine. I love everything they stand for, and I promise when you try the search, you will too. Hey, and welcome to the Learning Leader Show. I am Ryan Hawk, so excited for tonight's featured leader. It's with the incredibly funny and super intelligent Sal Volcano. Sal is a member of the comedy trope known as the Tenderloins, who are the creators, executive

Starting point is 00:03:32 producers, writers, and stars of the hit TV show and Practical Jokers found on True. TV. They have over 100 episodes and are currently in their fifth season. They also take their show on the road and they tour doing live shows worldwide. I love this conversation once again with Sal. I came away being inspired by the fact that it's so evident that he absolutely loves what he does on a daily basis. He is obsessed with comedy. He fully understands the history, the people that have come before him, the others that he respects, and that type of behavior and that attitude is inspiring to me. A couple of other things we got into.

Starting point is 00:04:16 Idea generation. How they come up with ideas for their sketches, for the bits, as well as their writing process. What does it look like? I wanted Sal to take me inside the planning, the process. Who's writing? Who does the bulk of it? Do they have a bigger team? Everything that went there and Sal literally laid it all out for me.

Starting point is 00:04:33 And then the growth of the show over the course. course of five seasons. They had a much leaner startup initially when they started this program years ago to where they are today and how much it's grown and everyone that's currently involved. I was blown away by this part of our conversation. There's so much here in this episode. We want pretty long on this one. That's only because it was so good. I know you guys are going to love it. It's Sal Volcano. Sal, so excited to have you here, man. I've been wanting to do this one for quite some time, so it's really cool for us to be able to reconnect. But I got a quick question to get us rolling. And that's around people who have sustained excellence. And specifically in your

Starting point is 00:05:24 line of work, comedians. And I'm curious from your point of view and just your opinion, you've spent a time around other comedians. You're obviously a very successful one yourself and you talk to others. What are some of the common characteristics you would find in world-class or extremely successful comedians? Well, first, I would say a world-class and extremely successful comedian is, I don't necessarily identify, I mean, I'm a comedian, but like when you say that, I feel like, you know, like super famous, like comedians that have stood the test of time and all that stuff. I appreciate you asking me in that way, but I can identify with what I think it took

Starting point is 00:06:13 for me to get to where I am and probably like, you know, other comedians. I mean, I know that first and foremost has got to be a passion for it, almost like you, you want to be a student of it. And since I'm a little kid, and I really, I mean, I could really recall, like, since I'm, like, probably like six, seven, I loved comedy. I loved to make people laugh. I would put on shows for my families on the holidays. I would do characters, I would do bits, and I would love to listen to comedy.

Starting point is 00:06:47 It's just something that clicked with me right away. And, you know, as you get older, you start to understand more of why you appreciate it. And I approach comedy in a way, like, almost like school. And that doesn't sound like fun, but it is to me. Like, I'm completely obsessed with it. And I could listen or watch stand, like, like stand-up comedy. I mean, literally nonstop. You know people like, oh, if I'm on a deserted island,

Starting point is 00:07:17 and you had to bring one food, it's pizza, whatever it is. Like, I can listen without getting tired. I can listen to Santa Comedy 24-7, 365 every single day. Good and bad. I can learn from both of it. And I always am fascinated with why something's funny and what can make it funnier. And that's another thing when you start performing

Starting point is 00:07:38 and you start to grow as a comedian, you're learning how to edit your jokes down and whittle them down to the funniest moments, funniest parts and trim all the fat. And you start to understand why something works and how. And you can deconstruct it. And like some, not everyone's approach is the same. Like that's mine. I mean, I hope I'm also naturally funny.

Starting point is 00:08:00 Like there's things that you can't teach. But you can't teach someone to be naturally funny. You can't teach them to have a passion or an interest in that respect for it. And, you know, if you commit to. something that you feel that way about for a long enough time, you know, things happen, things change, you know, your understanding and your ability changes. And if you're practicing it as well, you know, you're just getting better and better and creating opportunity. You have to immerse yourself in it. And I think just like anything else, if you're going to be completely

Starting point is 00:08:30 successful or you, that's your goal to be completely successful in a certain area of field, you have to completely immerse yourself in it. You have to live it and breathe it and And it's not a job. I mean, a lot of these things are a little bit cliche, but that's just because they're true. You know, it's not a job to me at all. It's like what I want to do. Like I did it for like 20 years before I earned $1. You know, so I would say like that's really important.

Starting point is 00:08:56 And then to just have discipline is another thing because there are probably, you know, you know, tens of thousands of comedians. And you probably only know. You know, the public probably only knows of, you know, a couple of hundred. You know what I mean? Like, it's just like, and there's no difference necessarily between someone you do and don't know. There's probably amazing comedians out there that you and I haven't heard of. And they're doing their thing and they're getting themselves right.

Starting point is 00:09:27 And when their opportunity comes, we'll be introduced to them. But for me, like also success in comedy, yes, it's defined as, are you making your living from it? that's how you just to find something as a professional comedian. But for me, success in comedy is, are you enjoying yourself? Are you getting better? Are you making people laugh? You know what I mean? And if you're achieving those things, you're a comedian. I don't care if you're getting a check for it or not. I give credit to anyone who is getting up on stage all the time or writing and performing and achieving those things. If you can achieve all of those things and not money, I still think there's success there. Because if the money went away from me and the actual monetary opportunities went away.

Starting point is 00:10:10 I'd still do it and still be fulfilled from it because I'm not doing it for the money. Just happened to be so very fortunate that after a long enough time, something clicked for me, and I was able to seize an opportunity and basically just got lucky, and now I can make a living off of it. But I always feel like if you don't use it, you lose it, too. So, like, and I, and, you know, I mean, being maybe, I don't know if you want to call it erotic or obsessive or just disciplined but like to know that there are just tons of men and women behind me that didn't get their opportunity yet or we killed to have my opportunity and they are

Starting point is 00:10:48 hungry i can't not that fuels me i can't not be hungry and i can't not be i can't never lose what it was that helped me get to this point and is still helping me succeed and if you rest on those things, there's someone waiting to take your place. And I just think that, I don't normally say these things out loud, but, you know, if you, you know, a little bit of retrospection, you kind of, it's just, I think that's common now that I'm saying, I'm probably in any single field in any, in any job or any hobby or, I mean, not hobby or passion. And I guess that's what got to see. For us, it's a little bit even tougher because we were doing it by committee, I think. And everyone has their own lives and, and, you know, you're, you're, you're,

Starting point is 00:11:34 your priorities change and your your discipline wanes you know there's four people so you can't always all be on the same page at the same time i do we all do our own solo stuff too but um it's for me i honestly i i give i do give it i will say i will give us credit too because you know it's four minds coming together a lot of times it's comedy by democracy or committee or whatever it is or there's a lot of you have to sometimes fight for a joke or explain to someone why all of our contributed efforts should go toward something. And then, you know, you've got to, you know, if I have a fight, you know, with Murr or like someone has, you know, an attitude because he's got things on his mind from his own home

Starting point is 00:12:19 life or family. You know, we're not just dealing with yourself. Yeah. So to take that road with these guys through all of that, too, was another challenge. And I think that we've done okay with it. And we were always learning and trying. But yeah, I kind of rammed. It's all good, man.

Starting point is 00:12:35 I hope that kind of like hit off. Well, I love it because it, you mentioned it a little bit ago, but it has so much applicability to a lot of other really impressive leaders that I've spoken to on this podcast over, you know, almost a hundred of them now. And the talk of being passionate about what you do, and you, I can tell, have a borderline or you maybe are just obsessed with it and you want to be great at it. And I love that aspect of you. And it shows.

Starting point is 00:13:04 and the work that you put into because a lot of people say, oh, there's these overnight successes. And usually an overnight success, it's been in the works for 15, 20 years, like it is in your case. And I wanted to tell a quick story, Sal, about how we met in person. So, I don't know, it was about a year ago or maybe, yeah, around a year ago. And sometimes I am fortunate enough to need to play the sidekick role wingman to my brother, AJ, if he gets to go to these cool events. and we happened to get invited or he got invited to this golf event in Las Vegas. A very fun event, really nice.

Starting point is 00:13:39 And the last day of this golf tournament, this charity golf tournament, the organizers of it say, hey, your group is going to be Sal and Joe from Impractical Jokers and Norm McDonald. And AJ's like, wow, what a group. And so we show up to the first tee. And for some, probably not that surprising for people to hear, Norm does not show up. So Norm's clubs are on the cart, and I ended up taking his place and playing with you, Sal, and Joe, and AJ. And it was one of the most enjoyable, funniest rounds of golf of my life. And so throughout that time, you know, I had, you know, and I think I'd mentioned this to you when we were in person, I had not been a guy who watched every single episode.

Starting point is 00:14:28 I had seen it. I'd heard of it, but I didn't know a ton about you guys. But it was so cool to be able to see and meet you guys and hear about, I could just tell, and AJ and I talk about this on the flight home. I remember just how grateful you guys were for the opportunity that you had, that you got to do what you love and get paid for it. And almost you have like this, you're truly humble in the fact that you say you're surprised almost that people love it so much.

Starting point is 00:14:56 And that shows like what it really means to be humble. and like you're so appreciative of the fact that people love what you guys do. And I love that fact, that quality in somebody when they've achieved levels of fame and success because unfortunately it's rare at times to find that from people where they've achieved these big levels, but they still, when you meet them, they're so down to earth, so grateful for the fans. And I found that it was just striking in both of you guys throughout that whole round of golf that we were fortunate enough to play together. Thank you. Yeah. I mean, you know, I still feel that way. You know, we still feel that way. I always just say, I'm just happy to be here. I can't even believe the way people respond. You can never anticipate anything like that. And it has been, I guess, an experience that is even hard to describe in words for us. But the golf tournament, just go. I'll go back to that. We got invited to that and we like couldn't believe it. Like, see, we work, it was like a charity golf event, and they asked us to come, and they said it was, like, a celebrity charity golf event.

Starting point is 00:16:04 And what it was, like, people would be paired up with, you know, athletes and celebrities and this not to golf and stuff. And, like, they kind of were asking us to go and, I guess, be celebrities that people golfed with. But we don't really golf. And, I mean, I have in my life maybe a dozen times in my life, but not to be, not to, not to feel comfortable going. to this thing. Right. So they said, oh, don't worry, just come and hang out. You didn't even have to golf.

Starting point is 00:16:31 And then when we got there, they were like, oh, you guys are golfing with blah, blah, blah, blah. And we were like, what? But they teamed us up with like. High rollers, the first couple days, right? Yeah, they team. Well, they team us up with like athletes and celebrities. And we're like, holy crap. Like, this is great.

Starting point is 00:16:48 Like, we're not the celebrities. Like, we get to. Oh, the first couple days you were? I don't remember that, really? Yeah, it was like, we got. team of like Marcus Allen. Oh, okay. And then we were supposed to be teamed up, like I said, with Norm

Starting point is 00:17:02 McDonald and then your bro and stuff. And we were like, this is so amazing because it's like, they just threw us on. So we got to feel like we were, like, we weren't the people that anyone cared about, which is great. Like, we got to experience it the way that, like, you know, I got to meet your brother and hang out with you guys.

Starting point is 00:17:22 It was like just so, so much, so much fun. Yeah. And we couldn't believe we get invited. the stuff like that you know what i mean like the other opportunities that the show has afforded us have been so cool like you know like you like you mentioned we it was such a fun day i still talked to your brother um like like you know it was just really really neat man it was like and you know it's again in april we're trying to get there again hope you guys can make it uh yeah we just talked about i saw the invite and he's like what do you think uh i was like i you know the scheduling might be a

Starting point is 00:17:55 little tougher this year, but it would be a fun thing to be able to go to and see you guys again. But I want to get back now to your story, Sal, and how you guys got going. So for the, I haven't mentioned yet, it's, you know, 13, 14 minutes in, to say for the people who maybe haven't seen your show called Impractical Jokers on True TV, you know, millions of people watch it. You guys have well over 100 episodes now. Where do you, what are you guys at now as far as the show? Yeah, well, the new season, which is season five, starts in about two weeks. It starts on February 11th. Okay.

Starting point is 00:18:26 And I think right now we probably have somewhere around 106 or seven episodes in the can. Wow. And now this season will be doing, including specials, will be doing at least another 30, I think, episodes. It's just incredible, the success and the longevity of it. And I know the 100 is a magic number for you guys, too, that could lead to other lucrative things. but I want to hear about first of all how you guys, if, like I said,

Starting point is 00:18:53 for the ones who haven't, can you describe what the show is to you guys, if you were going to define what impractical jokers is, how would you do that? Okay, so yeah, so I guess in the broadest sense of the word, it's a hidden camera show.

Starting point is 00:19:09 And the way, it's basically our take on a hidden camera show. It's me and three of my friends who I've, we met as freshman in high school, which for us is 1990. So we've been friends 26 years now. Wow. And we've been performing together since high school and then like official official since right after college.

Starting point is 00:19:29 So like 16 years on the stage. And what we did was we took a hidden camera show and we each compete against each other in awkward social situations. Tough situations. We try to like embarrass each other and throw each other under the bus and stuff in varying degrees of social situations. And we see who does the best in the world. And whoever does the worst at the end of the episode, they get punished. And that fate is even worse than you can imagine. So, like, for me, it's a, it's basically a comedy show about, about friends at its core. But I guess it's a hidden camera show. And I, I mean, we get lumped

Starting point is 00:20:05 into reality and, and, and the prank word. But really, like, we're not really pranking, per se people in a traditional sense or a prank show. It's kind of like really going at and competing with each other. And the public that are in the show, that don't know they're on the show, they're there to react. And it's like collateral, like collateral embarrassment. So it's a little bit of a tweak or a twist on a traditional show like that. And I think really, though, the secret sauce to the show is our friendship.

Starting point is 00:20:37 Because, like I said, we've known each other 26 years. So from what I gather, and that was our intention, it really comes across. Like, you know, like we, we know each other's entire lives and families. And you can't fake a knowledge of people like that. So I think people identify with us because everybody has their tight-knit group of friends that they've been with since high school or college that they really know well. And they know how to push each other's buttons and, you know, they enjoy each other's company. And we also keep it relatable. So a lot of times we get compared to, like, Jackass, because those guys are really friends too.

Starting point is 00:21:13 but I think that's where that similarity ends because I think those guys are in the best possible way, crazy. And they do crazy like stunts. But we tried to keep our show more relatable and just make it about little moments, you know, with people. And so what we wanted was for people to be able to be like, oh, I did that with my friends, or let's try that. Or, you know, like, we'll do this with our family.

Starting point is 00:21:37 And that's what happened. Like, we can't believe it, but that is what happens. So a lot of times the feedback we'll get is we identify, with you specifically or we identify with your friendship or we identify with the time that you ate off someone's plate you know what to be like because of it is but yeah i think that's why it kind of struck a chord with people because it's kind of real and honest and stuff how many groups of friends though do something to where there's a potential to get a picture of jaden smith tattooed on their leg i hope a lot so when we were in Vegas i i had not seen an episode and

Starting point is 00:22:13 And I know, but we are, I forget, we went up to one of those holes and they're all, they're all sponsored by some type of liquor or whatever. And the one of the girls says, is that real? Did you really do that? And you're like, yeah, you pull up your pant leg, I remember, and show. And I, I'm like, wait, are you kidding me? And that led to a whole other conversation. So talk to me about why you got Jaden Smith's face tattooed on your leg. Yeah, I didn't want it.

Starting point is 00:22:46 Obviously. You know, on the show, like I said, we compete. And then if you lose, you, so during the show, if there's something that, like, the guys want to make you do that you don't feel comfortable enough doing or you don't think you can pull off. You would say, I'm not doing that. And we find humor in that, too, because it's funny when someone can't bring themselves to do something. The only bad part about that is if you do that enough times in the show, So, if you do it the most, you're the one getting punished. Now, the rule is that for the punishment, you don't know what the punishment is going to be,

Starting point is 00:23:19 and you cannot back out of it no matter what. So that gives us a little motivation during the show to try and go as, you know, as much as we can with it. But in this particular instance, there's four of us, Joe, James and Brian and myself. And in this episode, James, who goes by Mur and Brian, who goes by Q, Mur and Q, and I, and I all lost actually. We all said no the same amount of times and Joe was the only winner and he

Starting point is 00:23:48 decided for this episode's punishment he was going to take us to a tattoo parlor and he was going to get to pick what was tattooed on us and we weren't allowed to look at the tattoo until it was done. And Q loves cats, he has

Starting point is 00:24:04 three of him and so Joe gave him a tattoo of a cat and around it said I'm 38, I live alone and I have three cat. He was like going to turn 39 and a couple months later. Yeah. Yeah. You know what's funny is like all three of those things will eventually be incorrect.

Starting point is 00:24:19 Right. Right. But Q loves it, you know, because he loves, he kind of celebrates it a little, even though it's kind of tacky. Murray, he looks like a ferret. He does look like a ferret. So, and in one of the episodes when he got punished, we threw him out of a plane and he cried the whole way, he screamed and cried the whole way down. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:24:39 Which is terrifying, but it was funny. And so Joe on him put a ferret skydiving and crying, which I guess is bad, but at least it has something to do with Murray. He looks like a ferret. It's the exact same picture from the show of freeze frame of him skydiving. So it is contextual. Yeah, there's a story there. Yeah. And then.

Starting point is 00:25:00 Well, I guess there's a story for you too, but it's a little bit different. Well, the story for me is absolutely nothing. Like I was in the chair the longest because mine had the most detail. and I was in that chair for three and a half hours. I have other tattoos. None of them hurt this bad. Like, once you pass a certain, like, amount of time, the nerves in your body really, like, start to tense out.

Starting point is 00:25:19 Like, it was very painful. I was, like, sweating. My back was, like, tightened up. Three and a half hours, the whole time I'm wondering what is going to be on my leg. Because I watched the other guys finish. And, you know, I didn't, I had a lot of ideas of what it could be, but none of them were what it was, which was a very very,

Starting point is 00:25:38 very real, accurate portrait of Will Smith's son, Jaden Smith, on my thigh about like, the size of my friggin' hand. Yeah. It has nothing to do with me at all. It has absolutely no connection to me at all. Like, I tell this joke on stage, but I had never even said the words Jaden Smith out of my mouth in 39 years before I looked down, look back up and said, is that Jaden Smith? And I guess that was the genius of it or the, you know, what was funny about it, other than the fact that I'm a 39-year-old man with a 15-year-old boy tattooed on my life.

Starting point is 00:26:18 And, you know, some people think he went too far. I do. I'm one of them. But I understand, you know, we're also, we also deal in comedy and we're trying to make the funniest show possible. And we sacrifice for the show. And so when I, on camera, when it was revealed to me, I had like an overwhelming mix of emotions. One being, I was super angry because it was so, I thought it was so messed up because he, that's another, I guess that's one of the reasons why it was funny too. It was like he didn't go that hard on the other guys.

Starting point is 00:26:52 And it was no reason for me to get the worst of it. We all lost. But so I was angry because of that. And then I was also angry because for the rest of my life, I'll have this on me. But I was also like, I had to tip my cap because it was like so genius that he did that to me. You know what I mean? So, you know, I get it. I get it.

Starting point is 00:27:11 Have you talked to Jane Norwell Smith? I actually, we do a whole bit on stage about this. I actually, two weeks after we got the tattoos, and I even tell people mine was not even fully healed yet. I still had a scab over it. We were performing at the San Diego comic book convention. and I ran into Jadam Smith by chance. Really? Just two weeks after I got this thing

Starting point is 00:27:35 and I showed it to him and he freaked out. It was risky to show it to him. The reason was is that the episode didn't air yet and if he had some type of adverse reaction to it being on my leg and was like, that's not funny, blah, blah, blah. He might have been like,

Starting point is 00:27:50 if you put that on TV, like I'll sue you or something. I don't know. I mean, I don't know how it works. Maybe he couldn't because he's a public figure. I don't know. But we took a risk showing them because if he didn't like it and then for some reason True got scared and didn't air it, then I got a tattoo of James Smith for no reason. Or even worse.

Starting point is 00:28:09 But he was really cool about it actually. He laughed and liked it and took pictures with it and stuff. Is he a fan of the show? He had no idea what the show was. Okay. Wow. So he just saw like a middle-aged man come up to him and just be like, I have a tattoo. I mean, there's more to the story.

Starting point is 00:28:27 Like I tell it on stage But it was surreal I have pictures of him like With his face up to it like giving the thumbs up But you know like So the dust settles from that right Ryan Like everything goes away But then now like like for instance

Starting point is 00:28:42 I'm home in my house right now And I'm sitting here and I have a Jaden Smith test Like this state I forget every day And then like I go to get in the shower And I like see it in the mirror I'm like oh my God You know what I mean

Starting point is 00:28:54 And I have to like My future wife doesn't know I have this. You know what I mean? Like I have to like, I also have to choose like, there's going to be a time where I have to tell someone, I hope you don't mind, but I have a tattoo of Wilson's son on my body that's going to be there for life. I love it. I love the dedication to doing a great show and the fact that you guys will permanently ink something that you have, that one of your buddies is allowed to pick and to try to make it as embarrassing as possible and it's there for life.

Starting point is 00:29:23 I think it's, yeah, people say do you still have it? Was it real? Are you getting a covered up now. And I tell them no, I'm going to keep it. I mean, that was the deal. So I'm not getting it covered up. So it is what it is. You mentioned that you tell some of these on stage. So in addition to doing the TV show, you guys do comedy as I think both a group and on your own, correct? You go, you tour on the, I was looking at your tour dates and you go all over the world, really, from what I've seen at least overseas, too. Talk to me about the difference between what you do on stage versus what you guys do on TV. Yeah, I mean, it's, it's, um, there's some connective tissue, but for the most part,

Starting point is 00:30:05 the live performance is a totally different beast than, you know, taping the show. It's different prep work. It's different execution. Like I mentioned, the guys and I, uh, we met in high school and we did improv together in high school. And then when we all got back from college, we formed an improv troupe called the tenderloins. The tenderloins is the name of the four of us, basically outside of Impractal Jokers. it's been our identities for 16 years.

Starting point is 00:30:27 And people know us as the jokers, but our identity otherwise is the tenderloins that we even have in the beginning of the show. If you watch it, it's kind of quick. It says starring the tendons. So we still do a lot of legwork in getting that out there, that that is who we are. Because, you know, ultimately, you know, that's a day when the show does come to, you know, the end of its run,

Starting point is 00:30:50 we're not going to stop being comedians and we're not going to stop being the tenderloins. So we do, you know, try and integrate that and we do a lot of work to brand ourselves in that way so we can be an entity above the show and one of those things that we do is we tour and we tour live and we we do basically our version of stand-up comedy i guess you call it and that's what we were doing for 16 years before that we started off doing improv comedy then we moved to sketch comedy which i guess i can liken to saturday night live if people don't know what that is uh sketch so yeah so it's it's like our version of stand-up comedy. The four of us are on stage at the same time with mics,

Starting point is 00:31:28 and we tell stories and jokes and do stuff with the audience. We show videos, and it's like a mixed multimedia, like, experience. And, you know, we, there's something in it for everyone. So basically, the idea there is, like, the people who are fans of Jokers come to see us. And we give them, we know what they want to see and hear and something. We give them that. And then we also give them the tenderloin stuff. So they come in as Joker's fans and then they leave as fans of the tenderloins.

Starting point is 00:31:59 You know what I mean? Yeah. And it's fun. I mean, the show is, we've, we'll do like 60 to 90 minutes, basically, and we tour that all over the country to every market that we can. And that's kind of how comedy works.

Starting point is 00:32:13 When that's kind of run its course and you've done it for about a year and a half or so, I mean, if you can, if you have the means, you'll record an album and you'll put that, hour, hour and a half on, you know, on an album, and that'll live as that material. And then you write a new 60 to 90 minutes and you tour that. And we're at the point now.

Starting point is 00:32:34 We're about three to four years into touring. We're coming to the end of our second show. We're going to be taping that in the next couple of months. Actually, this weekend, which is January, I don't know when this will go up, but this weekend coming out of January 29 to the 31st, we're playing three nights at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. If people are listening that don't necessarily know what that is, it's

Starting point is 00:32:57 one of the most storied and respected and oldest like venues in New York City. And it's basically where the Rockettes do the Christmas show and whatnot. And it's an absolute absolute like dream come true

Starting point is 00:33:14 like lottery type of situation where you get to play something like this. So it will be the biggest shows of our entire career and we're So we're basically running out this second iteration of our live show. And starting, I think, in two weeks, we start writing what will be next year's show. And so, yeah, so that's kind of how that works. So we work on the live stuff nearly as much as we work on the show.

Starting point is 00:33:40 What is your process like? So I think a lot of people listening are probably fans of the TV show or they've seen that rather than seeing you in person. and I'm curious because people, I think I ask the question a lot, like, how do they come up with this stuff? Or how do they think up of all these ideas that become so funny when you see them on the show? So I love digging into the process of how things get created. So do you guys, the four of you sit in a room together, are there more people involved now that it's a bigger show? And probably you have, I'm guessing when you started it was more of a leaner type of a startup. And now it's probably grown a little bit in size as far as.

Starting point is 00:34:19 as production and people involved. How does that work? I'd love to hear about that. Yeah, what you said was spot on. As the show grew, so did our staff and the people who helped us make the show and people's responsibilities and everything. And where we are now is completely different from when we started. When we started, you know, we didn't know.

Starting point is 00:34:40 The show got picked up for eight episodes. And then after they, before they ever been aired, and after they were done watching the rough cut of the first four episodes, they were. They ordered another eight. So we knew they liked it. In the beginning, though, our entire staff was maybe 15 people, which is we've learned now is completely understaffed. But when we started, we were learning, and we didn't know that. And we had, like, a director, and we had, like, a couple of PAs, and we had a couple of editors and just us.

Starting point is 00:35:16 And literally, that was it. And so the four of us wrote the entire first season alone, like every single idea, joke. We would even, like, get on the phone and try to get locations. We were doing, like, things that we didn't realize we weren't supposed to do. Well, I mean, we're executive producers as well, so we oversee the show as a whole. So I would say, like, for me, I would say really, no matter what I have to do for the show, I feel that's my responsibility. But if we're just drilling down, like, you know, we were definitely understaffed. But it was cool.

Starting point is 00:35:48 I mean, it was like, you know, trial by fire. It went well, knock on wood. You know, we were learning, you know, like, it's weird because we get put in a situation where that we've not only never been in before, but we're the writers, we're the producers, you know, within the compartmentalized, within the show itself, we're the bosses of it. We have bosses, you know, at the network. and, you know, we work, you know, in line with the people that own the production company. But it's just as far as, like, you know, if we're drilling down, like, we control the show.

Starting point is 00:36:25 So we're just thrust into this thing. And, you know, there's a lot of money at stake. It costs a lot of money to make a show like that. And so we just were like, all right, let's just do it the only way we know how. And we didn't know if we were doing it right or not, you know, like, we would just, we didn't even have an office. We just would sit on a couch in a room, in its big room. And it was like the worst setup in the world. Like I literally didn't have a desk and I didn't have, I just had my laptop on my knees.

Starting point is 00:36:53 And we just sit around in a circle and talk and write stuff. Like it was just, it was so crazy compared to what it is now. The following year we expanded by, you know, I don't even know, maybe 10 or so people. We added two writers to write in tandem with us. The following year, we added another two writers and even more people. And then by last year, we, you know, we. we actually moved into all new offices and everyone has their own office

Starting point is 00:37:19 there's a writer's room now there's editors have their own room all the teams have their own room we have our office and we have dedicated time and space and now our writing staff is like five other people besides us and now the overall staff is probably like geez if I'm just guessing I want to say like

Starting point is 00:37:36 40 plus people or more and it's like you know two or three people in the art department two or three sound people, four or five locations people, a bunch of executive producers, line producers. It's just so many. Like, I had to learn like what these jobs were, what they're responsible. Like who these people are.

Starting point is 00:37:56 Like, we would start a new season and be like, oh, hey, who are you? And they'd be like, I'm so-and-so. I'm like, what do you do? And like, I do this. I'm like, what does that mean? I was going to say, some of the things you're saying, I don't know what that means. Yeah. Now we're at a point where, you know, every year you get to meet new people and the ones that

Starting point is 00:38:13 really click and are really wonderful at their job and good people like they stay and and also tv is a very cyclical kind of like business where like people are jumping from job to job and they want to move up and they want to move on and so you don't always like in the tv world you don't necessarily always have the same core group and we felt that sometimes it's for the better sometimes it's a growing pain because you get you know you really lose a good person but i think now heading into season five we've called every year we've called just the best of the best at their

Starting point is 00:38:48 at their job and we have such a tight-knit good group that everyone like loves each other loves the show loves what they do respects each other everyone helps each other it is such an insanely satisfying and wonderful experience to go to work

Starting point is 00:39:05 which I know is a blessing that in the beginning it was like also we were new and so like we didn't have as much creative freedoms because the network is taking a chance on us and they're putting money on us. So they want to make sure they mold the show in a way that they can help chart its course. But of course, in success comes a little more freedom. And so now, you know, like we mentioned, 100 episodes in and heading into season five, we're more of a well-willed machine.

Starting point is 00:39:31 We have, you know, we've turned over all the stones, so to speak. So we kind of know how this thing works and we're kind of piloting, we're a little bit more autonomous in the fact that we they know that we know how to make the show and they let us do it and that comes through creatively it comes through in the way our job functions are so yeah so right now in the beginning it was

Starting point is 00:39:51 very exciting and very stripped down now it's much more elaborate there's a way bigger production behind it but I wouldn't have it any other way like you know it takes so many people to make our show that's another thing that people may not realize you know you watch the show

Starting point is 00:40:07 and it's very like the show itself by nature is stripped down. You know, there's all these hidden cameras and us. And, you know, we're on the sidewalk or we're just walking, like, whatever it is. And it doesn't necessarily, if you don't have a knowledge of our TV works, you would think the show is much more simple than it is to make. But we have so many people working at any given moment. And, you know, the way that an episode works is we have to think of an idea.

Starting point is 00:40:33 And, you know, usually now our writing team will go to work. They'll lock themselves in a room and we'll pop in every couple of days. or whatever it is, and we'll mix it up with them and try to put them on the right course, and then they'll pitch us ideas, and we'll work with them on ideas. And if we like it, then we tell True about it. And then True has to like it, or if they don't, we have to convince them to like it. And then after that, they say it's okay to go. And then we have to find the right location for it and the right space for it and the right people for it.

Starting point is 00:41:04 And then we have a team of people go and do that. And then when they find the right location, we send a bunch of people to that location. They have to check it out technically and see if we can film there. Is there enough foot traffic? Is there places to hide everything? And then when they see that that's okay, they sign off on it. We actually put it in the books. Once it's put in the books, we all write jokes for it and get ideas for it

Starting point is 00:41:25 and start trading secrets on what we'll do to the guys. And that's just for that one thing. And then that day, our crew gets there maybe four or five hours before us. They literally like sometimes open on walls and put it in cameras and set everything up and hide everything. And then we get there and we do a run through of the space to see what it's like. And then we film for four or five, six hours. And then we leave and they take the same amount of time, two, three, four hours to break everything down.

Starting point is 00:41:52 And then that gets sent to our editors who do a cut of it and then they send it to us. And then we watch the whole thing and give notes on how we want to change and the beats and how we want to look. And we send it back to them and they do it again. They send it back to us again. that we do like three or four passes of that and then we send it to true and then they give their notes and then that one bit is done. That's one bit.

Starting point is 00:42:16 Wow. We have to do that for every single bit. So an episode is probably about four bits and a season is probably about 30 episodes. So we do that process for 120 bits in it like basically in like nine months. And yeah

Starting point is 00:42:32 and that's kind of like how the show gets pieced together. It's a lot of people working and doing a lot of stuff. that what you just laid out is just blows me away it really does and I'm I was thinking though as things get more popular and the show expands and more people get involved is there do you ever worry about the potential for it to lose what it potentially is at its core and its essence when there was 15 people and you and your buddies are basically doing everything and now you know everyone kind of has boundaries in doing their own thing you're in your own offices

Starting point is 00:43:06 You've got a writer's room. You have professional writers that throw ideas like that. Do you ever have that concern that it could lose some of that? Well, the concern is a valid one, but I don't have it because it's the way that we chose to basically set up. I mean, yeah, we have our own offices, but that's not, that's kind of like misleading. You know, like, because everyone, we're very collaborative. And even though the staff has grown, we, set a tone in a way that we are a very tight-knit group concentrating on the same goals.

Starting point is 00:43:45 And, you know, everybody collaborates with everyone else. Like, people need to help each other. So, like, location might get a lead on a place and run into the guys in the writer's room be like, oh, my God, I got this place. Can you guys do something with that? And then, like, so everyone's kind of working together. And at its core, also, every last decision for the most part has to pass through the four of us.

Starting point is 00:44:04 So everything gets streamlined down and it passes throughout filter And we're still controlling almost every single aspect of the show Like from do you like this costume to do you like this location? Do you like this joke? And so The fact that we still get the say over every little thing on top of the fact that everyone is like just works together and we We know the goal everyone is focused on the same goal It still keeps it very much like a tightness process. I gotcha. Do you, so what is, do you have a specific process for idea generation? I think this

Starting point is 00:44:42 can apply to potentially any field of work, and that's why I asked that question. I mean, what, what does it look like? Are you on your own? Are you with others? Where, what time of day is it? What type of computer to use? All those things I think are, for me at least, they're interesting to know what you, Sal are thinking about and how, as far as processing ideas and thinking of new things. So as for this, and I guess any really show where you're writing, you'll see shows. Like if you watch any each television show, take Seinfeld, for example. If you went back and watched it now, you know, you see the show kind of get more cohesive as it goes along.

Starting point is 00:45:21 And you see it hit its stride and kind of peak and maybe even fall off. If you watch the first few episodes of Seinfeld and then you watch a few episodes in season four, and then you watch a few episodes in the last season, you'll see differences there. And that is all indicative of what's going on behind the scenes. Like you begin to learn the show and learn what works, and then you get really good at that. And then you get to a point where you're like banging on all cylinders, and the creativity is just kind of like seamless and really flowing. And then you hit a point where you've exhausted the initial thousand ideas. And now it's time to dig and push and try to uncover new ideas.

Starting point is 00:45:59 And I think that's true with any show as it runs its course. And the same with us. In the beginning, it was like, all right. Like, the show was originally called Mission Uncomfortable. And it got changed to your impractal jokers. But that name kind of can give you insight as to what, like, the goal was. He wanted to put ourselves in uncomfortable, social, relatable situation to see how we fared. And in our succeeding or failing at it, we wanted it to be funny.

Starting point is 00:46:26 So there's basically, like, two rules, you know, like, well, really, this one major, major rule is, Is it funny? Is it funny to me? And then beyond that, does it fit the tone of the show? And so you can imagine when we sat down, you could think of a billion things. Oh, my God, say this to that person, do this to that person. You know, walk away with someone's shopping card, fall asleep on this person, read over their shoulder. Like, all of them, they just come fast and furious.

Starting point is 00:46:54 And, you know, and then it's like, all right, how do we mold that into a game or how can we compete? And, like, you know, you kind of crack these codes on what will be the action. because we're really creating all these little mini games against each other. Then you'll bring on writers and some of them know the show, some of them don't at first, and you have to teach them the tone and make sure they get it, you know, and then blah, blah, blah. And I will say this, another thing that just to go back to what you ask you for is now that it's getting bigger, do I worry the show is losing its essence of what it was, which was a small little thing. A lot of people know this, but a lot don't.

Starting point is 00:47:31 many people on our staff on our show are other friends. Like we have a lot of, you said professional writers. We have a lot of writers that have never written before. They're just our friends. Okay. We have professional writers too. But we,

Starting point is 00:47:47 like a lot of people like, it's a dream job. He's the four best friends. What they don't know is there's actually like another 10 or more people on our staff. Everyone from a couple of our cameramen to three or four of our writers to our locations people that are my friends from home that I knew are just funny and great and could do a good job and they've succeeded.

Starting point is 00:48:11 And so, like, behind the scenes, I'm working with people I've known for 10 to 20 years that weren't even comedians or, you know what I mean? So it's pretty amazing. That also helps because they, it's two different skill sets, you know, like someone could be an amazingly natural, funny, professional writer. but then he works in tandem with the guy that's normally for 15 years and the result of the two of them working together is something that neither of them could achieve on their own. And, you know, and that's what happens now basically, you know, we lock ourselves in a room. Really, for writing, it's actually anything goes, right?

Starting point is 00:48:52 So for me and the guys, if an idea strikes you, the same as a comedian, you're constantly just observing. you're observing and you're trying to see how you can make your observations funny that's really all it is and for the show if something happens to me in the moment i'm like oh my god that that should be on the show if something clicks while i'm riding the subway i'm like that should be on the show or even if it's just a premise or the seed of an idea i'll walk into the red room or i'll text the guys and say what do you think guys think about this like talk it out you know what i mean and then the other thing and so so basically inspiration strikes at any given moment a lot of of my inspiration strikes when I am laying down to sleep.

Starting point is 00:49:33 Like all night long I write, like I wake up and write ideas down as I'm sleeping. But in a more formal way, our writers, before the season even starts, for about six weeks, they lock themselves in that room. And they come up with, you know, a few hundred ideas. Yeah. Now that you guys are, you know, each and I mean, I guess almost every day, you become more and more well-known, famous, recognizable. you know, based on your show, it's helpful or almost mandatory, I would say, for people not to recognize you.

Starting point is 00:50:07 So as you get more and more recognized, how has that affected you guys filming, whether you're in New York or anywhere, really, by trying to do a show with hidden cameras and you're trying to be just regular guys, but, you know, people are going to recognize this show. So how does that affect the show? Well, we didn't have that issue the first season. Right. I've showed in an air yet. And then we were well aware of, with success, that potentially being something that could be to the detriment of the show.

Starting point is 00:50:37 But what we learn, thankfully, is that filming in New York, while nowadays our shoot days could be a little longer because we do get a little bit prohibited by people who recognize us and we have to kind of move them out of the way or make sure they don't blow our cover, that happens. But New York is so densely populated with so many different types of people that it's really the ideal place to shoot the show.

Starting point is 00:51:03 Because if someone recognizes me, I guarantee you the next 10 people won't. So it impedes the show a little bit and sometimes it stinks because we'll be in the middle of something great and someone will recognize us and that kind of gas to all get thrown away. But it's pretty clear, I think, I think knock on what hopefully that it will not stop. the show as a whole in the way it gets made. And we run the risk of maybe losing a day to being recognized if we go to a place that's a little more remote with not a lot of people there and, you know, and not a lot of opportunity. But that's one of the things we look for when we're booking a location is, is there a lot of turnover in people?

Starting point is 00:51:50 We have a lot of little tricks, too. Sometimes we'll give presentations on the show. It's not just outdoors or in public spaces or supermarkets. A lot of times we're in office buildings or at conferences and stuff like that. And we have to have, you know, we stand on a stage and give lectures or presentations to people pretending that we know what we're doing, but we don't. And sometimes there's three people. We'll do like a focus group or a taste test. And sometimes there's 30 people where I'm giving a business lecture.

Starting point is 00:52:18 And we have to make sure like if we're doing a group with like 15, 20 people, If one of those people in that room knows us and goes, oh, I know you guys, this is that show, that that whole thing is ruined. Oh, yeah, I was going to say. I wonder about that. Yeah, we have little tricks in place where, like, if they're in a waiting room, a holding area,

Starting point is 00:52:37 one of us will go wait in that room. And we'll see, we'll have other plants in there that work with us, and we'll see if someone recognizes us, usually before they yell something out, you see it in their eyes, or they'll say, excuse me, And then we'll get that person and we'll quarantine them and take them out of the room. You know what I mean? Yeah, exactly.

Starting point is 00:52:58 So we have all these little like kind of tricks in place to make sure that that doesn't happen. It still does slip through the crack sometimes, but we're pretty efficient that way. You know, one of the things that's, I guess the word could be endearing and enjoyable as a viewer about you, specifically, Sal. I guess all the guys too, but I was, you know, watching a few episodes last night. And there's just this genuine feeling, to me at least, as of your nervousness or how freaked out you get during some of these things, that there's no possible way that it's not your real emotion. And I think that seems to be the essence of why this show works for so many people. It's almost, it's hard to turn it off. It gets addictive.

Starting point is 00:53:44 And before you know, you've watched like four episodes back to back to back. And you just, for some reason, you just, you're just drawn to it. And even people, like, my wife was walking through the family room last night and just stopped. And she's not a big TV watcher and just stopped like deadener tracks standing up watching for a whole bit or two or three or even and then extended on to the next episode. And I think that's part of it is seeing you and how genuine like you get kind of just, you can just feel it as the viewer to say, this is legit. This is real. And especially in the day and age when people see certain reality shows. I know you don't want to be classified as that, but certain reality shows where it's obviously

Starting point is 00:54:23 not exactly. It's scripted. It's not real. And yours just seems legitimately like, oh my gosh, especially you mentioned the Jaden Smith tattoo. I mean, I watched that video this morning as well. It was like, this is as real as it gets and it's crazy. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:54:38 Well, thank you. That's such a nice compliment. I mean, yeah, I mean, that's something that we thought early on. Like, you know, when we started on True TV, there are other programming. that surrounded us was very different than ours. It's not my favorite type of television, their old programming, and it was skewing toward what you just

Starting point is 00:54:56 said. It was called reality TV, but then lately reality TV is all scripted anyway, and it's you know, you could see that coming from a mile away. It's just phony TV. You know, it's kind of like a little bit mindless, and sometimes that's what people like and what you want to watch, but it's all manufactured.

Starting point is 00:55:12 And, you know, as a comedian, the most important thing, the funniest thing really are things that are true. So we come from that school That's how we learned and everything And so we made it abundantly clear You know, to them that You know, our show will be 100% real

Starting point is 00:55:31 You know, with real people and real moments And we don't ever want to predict them And that is going to be what makes the show work And you know, they got that And that's how we made it And even, you know, well nowadays too Like we film now And obviously I have a

Starting point is 00:55:45 I'd like to think I have somewhat of a tougher skin than when I first started the show, when we first started, everything was mortifying. Because you're never really in those types of social situations. You just not. And so even the littlest thing is like, oh, my God, I really don't want to do this. You know, but I know that me not wanting to do it's funny, but I still don't want to do it. Nowadays, I've done it so much, I can read people a little bit more.

Starting point is 00:56:10 I've been in the trenches a little more. So I think nowadays, you know, we've evolved on how we handle stuff. And it's a little bit harder and more challenging in a good way to find something that'll freak us out like it did in the beginning. But we still receive and interpret those moments the same at their core, which is if these cameras weren't on us right now, we wouldn't really want to do this. And how would we react? You know what I mean? And before we go out, we just make sure that we just like play it as real as possible. And you're right.

Starting point is 00:56:43 That is what people have responded to. What about when people, you've done just a phenomenal bit and the response is perfect from the people around you. And then the person says they will not agree to being on the show. And in order for the bit to work, you've got to be able to see the facial expression. So you can't just blur them out. So what happens at that moment? Because I know you can blur people out if they don't sign the release form. But let's say it's necessary to see the person's face and the way they react.

Starting point is 00:57:13 How do you handle those situations? Do you ever have to compensate them or what happens? Yeah, so, yeah, I mean, like a lot of the comedy is driven from reaction. And so there are certain instances where the person didn't even react well, but what was going on around them was funny and we'll use a blur. But I'd say for the lion's share of that, you want no blurs. And, you know, every once in a while, like, you know, every maybe couple, like two out of ten people, they don't. want to sign for any number of reasons. They appreciate it, but they just don't want to be on TV, what have you, from the most

Starting point is 00:57:51 normal reasons to sometimes the most salacious reasons where it's like, this is not my wife. Like, we've seen everything. Yeah, I bet. You know, like, sometimes people are just like, oh, if you guys, I don't know what I do, but not a lot. But if we need it, we'll first go out and we will appeal to them and their kindness and explain how the show works and why we need it. If they still say no, we'll offer to bring them in the back and show them what we recorded

Starting point is 00:58:20 of them and how it looks and what it's going to look like. If they still say no, we offer to take their information and send them the final product that would air so they know exactly what's going to happen and then they can sign off on that. If they still say no, then we'll like even offer them money. We don't have tons of money for that type of budget. But, you know, sometimes a little goes along. way it's just a gesture if we're like a supermarket we'll say like we'll buy all your groceries

Starting point is 00:58:46 you know something like that and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't and when it doesn't work and they don't sign and it was something that was like tear-inducing hysterical it is the most crushing defeated because you are like oh my god that would have been like that would have sometimes you know in a moment we know that when this airs people are going to lose literally attach onto it. And this is going to become a catchphrase or this is going to become a game everyone plays and you just kind of know. And there are times when we have those moments and then the people don't sign and you

Starting point is 00:59:24 know that no one will ever see it. And you don't know when you're going to get a magical moment like that again. And it is rough. Like we all take a deep breath and shake it off and you got to just continue with the day. But it's like it's rough. Because if I get that moment, let's say, for example, and you are on cloud nine because really the variable in our show is the public. And you never know what type of person, physical, mental, you know, personality-wise you're going to get and how they're going to react.

Starting point is 00:59:54 And the way they react can elevate something a hundred times funnier than what it was. And it's really just a lottery. It's a jackpot of who you get. So sometimes you hit on that person that magic happens and we're all crying. And they say no, and you exhausts all your options. And they walk away forever. and like, oh my God. And then you literally have to go again

Starting point is 01:00:16 right after that and like you get someone that is like, you know, it just sucks after that. It's tough. You have to stay funny. You know, you have to like stay in it. So it is, it is rough.

Starting point is 01:00:28 I can imagine that that could be some of the tough moments. I got one more questions, Sal. I know we're up against it, but I'm curious, we mentioned earlier in our conversation about, you know,

Starting point is 01:00:40 or at the beginning about common characteristics of great comics of what you've been able to do of being passionate, of almost being obsessive about what your craft and what you do and studying it and being immersed in it. Who are some of the comedians currently or maybe in the past that you look up to that you admire the most? Oh man, whenever I get asked that one, this is, because it's so, it's so much deeper for me. but I would say I mean growing up uh

Starting point is 01:01:12 Steve Martin John Candy Andy Kaufman Eddie Murphy I mean notwithstanding the horrible shit now Bill Cosby you know

Starting point is 01:01:24 Leslie Nielsen and the Zucker brothers the guy who she made like airplane and naked gun yeah Letterman Bill Murray Don Rickles they listened to

Starting point is 01:01:33 Howard Stern growing up you know I don't know Martin Short. These are guys I watched their movies over and over and over and I watched a stand up over and over and I memorized it. You know one of my biggest comedic influences

Starting point is 01:01:47 was that people are usually surprised to hear. Is Sherman Hemsley? He played George Jefferson. Oh. I'm the Jeffersons. I don't know if you know that sitcom. It says a black sitcom from the 70s. And I grew up watching it and

Starting point is 01:02:03 I thought that he was the funniest thing in the world. So I used to memorize like I used to watch TV this is before DVR and even before VCR I used to watch TV and I used to write down his lines and then I used to I had an impression of him

Starting point is 01:02:19 and then I would like recite his lines for like my family and my and in class and stuff like that he was a huge influence Jefferson's like my favorite show of all time. Wow. You know and then so I just you know you build off those guys and they're in a different people I named

Starting point is 01:02:35 like Seinfeld too they were just in a different class. They're just like old world funny to me. Like you know what I mean? They just and that's kind of like where it came from. And then like nowadays you have, you know, everyone from like Sasha Baron Cohen is, and of course he was probably influenced by Andy Kaufman himself, you know. But this comedian's working today that like everyone from stand up to not like Sunny in Philadelphia is like one of my favorite shows. Nathan for you is a show on Comedy Central that is, Probably the most brilliant job I've ever seen. And then, like, there's comedians today I love.

Starting point is 01:03:14 Gary Goldman. I mean, I could just name names, but Tom Segura, Gary Goldman, Sebastian Manascoco, Bill Burr, of course. I like John Malaney, Tommy Johnigan. On Joe Rogan's podcast, Doug Stanhope was talking about you guys recently. Yes. So the guys I named just now are not, like, my dear friends. So I try to keep a separation because really, like, my dear friends in comedy, I can name them all.

Starting point is 01:03:39 Like, and it would seem like I'm naming them because they're my friends, but honest, Doug Stanhope, Big Jay Ocason, yeah. Dom Herrera, Steve Byrne, Owen Benjamin, Roy Wood. These guys are like the friggin. Stanhope's in a class of his own, too. He just does it his way. His approach to comedy is so different.

Starting point is 01:04:01 Like, he doesn't really even play comedy clubs. He just tours on his own, his own venues. He's cultivated his own. following. He has such a distinct voice. It's so not like anyone else is. He's a genius. Well, the thing about Stanhope is

Starting point is 01:04:16 he's he's just so honest and so brutal, I think, for some people that any, but he's, but you mentioned it, he's, I admire him because even though some of the things he say, you know, people, just, just a behind the scenes,

Starting point is 01:04:32 he did AJ's podcast and it was so rough that AJ could not release it. And he may, he might not want me telling people that. But he will someday, but not while he's a current NFL player. But Stanhope was so, I listened to some of it.

Starting point is 01:04:46 And I was like, oh my God. But that's him, right? And he's not going to, he's going to do what he does. But I think he is brilliantly smart. Almost like you mentioned, genius level intelligence, but so funny and just so, I

Starting point is 01:05:02 think we all can admire people who do it their way. And just they, he's built up a massive tribe that loves him. Dude, he's the real deal. Like, the way I met him was I saw he started following me on Twitter, which I couldn't believe. And he tweeted that he just loved the show. He said he normally hates him, or he loves it in camera,

Starting point is 01:05:22 but it always sucks, and this show he loves. And we were like, oh, my God. And it was when we first started, and we were having, we were so new to stuff, and we were wondering how to approach some situations professionally with the network and stuff. and I message him and I said, would you mind if I called you for advice?

Starting point is 01:05:39 And he was like, no, of course not. And I was nervous at first, too, because I know of him the persona that everyone knows. And I didn't know,

Starting point is 01:05:47 like, you know how to, I didn't know him. So I just didn't know how the conversation would go. I quickly learned that he's like the sweetest, most genuine dude in the world.

Starting point is 01:06:00 And he just, Q and I were in a car. We pulled over on the side of the road and called him, talk to him like an hour because he used to have the man show with Joe Rogan he had experience dealing with the network he gave us advice and talk to us and from there we established our friendship and relationship and he has been and I agree I don't agree with everything that he says and a lot of it I do and I just sit back and totally appreciate how candid and just up front he can be about anything he believes in whether I agree with it or not you know what I mean and he is so supportive of us like the dude has like flown across the country just to come hang out with us when we when we tour like three or four times he was there when we taped our first hour special he was on our cruise that we had last week and he's the nicest sweetest dude I've stayed at his home for a while and and it just it just goes to show you like you know what I mean like it's like it's so true like AJ you know like had him on and he's so blunt and you can appreciate that that but AJ has to like protect themselves a little. And they're like that's like almost like the how it's turned thing too.

Starting point is 01:07:10 It's like you know like people only know they don't they don't like perceive past the first layer or they just or they're just not they're just not well rounded enough to know that you can disagree with someone or basically, you know, just because someone's saying their mind and being blunt doesn't mean it has to offend. You know what I mean? Exactly. No, I'm exactly right. Yeah.

Starting point is 01:07:32 It's cool to talk about. I can talk to you all day. So, I mean, I really appreciative of your time, Sal, and I love what you're doing, and I can't say it enough that I admire, I respect it. You are absolutely a leader and certainly a learner in your own right, and that's why I think you're a great fit for the show, even though you're in a different arena that I usually get to talk to, and that's why I love to having the opportunity to do this one with you. So thank you so much for being here.

Starting point is 01:07:57 Is there anywhere you want to send people to look more up online about you? Well, I mean, the tenderlings.com is our website. That has like all of our tour dates and stuff on there. And I guess that's pretty much, yeah. I mean, I'm constantly touring. The show starts again February 11th, and my Twitter is at Sal Volcano. And that pretty much covers all the bases. But I am really thankful that you asked me.

Starting point is 01:08:20 It was really, really a great conversation. I enjoyed it so much, man. Thanks, man. We'll definitely continue this dialogue, man. I'm excited to see what you guys as you continue to progress. And we'll be talking, man. great thank you so much Ryan thanks then bye

Starting point is 01:08:33 this episode of the learning leader show is over but we have plenty more to keep you locked in until next time head over to learning leader show.com for more information and to request your favorite entrepreneur CEO world class athlete or anyone else that inspires you you can also talk to Ryan directly by reaching out to him on Twitter at Ryan Hawk 12 thanks again and we'll see you next time on the Learning Leader Show

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk - 095: Sal Vulcano – Creating A Hit TV Show: Impractical Jokers

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