The Nateland Podcast - 258: #258 From Russia with Love, Psychology & America ft. Yakov Smirnoff

Episode Date: June 25, 2025

This week, Aaron has a horrific travel day, Brian does more celebrity impressions, and Dusty shares big news about his next comedy special, Then the guys are joined by legendary comedian Yakov Smirnoff to talk about his incredible story of coming to America, his rise and fall as a comedian in the 1980s and his expertise on psychology. Chime: Chime.com/Nate Work on your financial goals through Chime today. Open an account in 2 minutes at chime.com/Nate. Chime. Feels like progress. iRestore: iRestore.com/Nate Reverse hair loss with @iRestorelaser and unlock HUGE savings on the iRestore Elite with the code NATE at irestore.com/nate! #sponsor Chubbies: Chubbiesshorts.com/nate Your new wardrobe awaits! Get 20% off @chubbies with the code Nate at Chubbiesshorts.com/nate #chubbiespod #ad Factor Meals: factormeals.com/nate50off Get started at factormeals.com/nate50off and use code nate50off to get 50 percent off plus FREE shipping on your first box.

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That's the same active ingredients in Wigovie or Ozempic but for 80 to 90 percent less. That's Pound250 keyword care. Hello folks and hey bear. Good to see everybody. I'm Brian Bates. I guess you're running things today huh? Well Well, he asked me while you guys were talking we usually have a conversation about that before we get started We did I think I'll just take the reins today. That's all right. No, I'm happy. I'm happy to happy to be here as always I shouldn't say always I'm the only one that's truly always but as often dusty sleigh, okay most of the time, Aaron Weber. And coming in a little bit later, very special guest.

Yeah, I'm excited. Yakov Smirnoff. All right. Big deal. In a little bit, so excited to see him. So we're back in the studio, back in our location after a little road trip last week. Back in the real world.

But this sign is new, this sign is new to me. It is new. That's a good sign. We got our little bobble heads up there on the top. Funko pops. Yeah. That's the new Nate Land branding right there. The new logo.

Yeah. I like it. Looks good. Looks good. Speaking of Nate Land, our buddy Mike Vecchione special comes out this Friday. All right. Okay.

Low income white. Even the title's funny. Yeah. It is. It's a good title. I. Okay. Low income white. Even the title's funny. Yeah. It is. It's a good title. I was here for the taping. He's so funny. It was great. Everybody's gonna love it. It's gonna be. This is his second special with Nate Land. The first one did really well. Very exciting. People loved it. So this is. Mike Vecchione's very funny. Yep. Yep. And Dusty, I think you might have some news. Well, I do. As of now, it's not been announced. It's supposed to be announced today, meaning Monday.

And so far it hasn't been, but it is gonna be announced soon. My new special coming out to Netflix, July 29th called Wet Heat. All right. I love it. Yeah, wet heat. You've been soft launching the title for a while now. Yes, I have.

I see all over Twitter, you're like, yeah, it's a real wet heat outside. Yeah. Let's get that phrase going. Really putting it out into the ether, as they say. Yeah. And yeah, wet heat coming. Very exciting. July 29th.

So, you know, as long as things in the world don't fall apart between now and then, it's going to be great. I think we'll be good. It's going to be Netflix's first two-hour special. Yeah. That's gonna be great. I think we'll be good. I mean, that's like his first two hour special. Yeah. That's well, I mean, you know, we should have that. We should have that. But yeah, as the last like the last one, it is above an hour.

Yeah. Are they going to put it all out at once or are they going to do it in series? A mini series each week? No. Yeah. That's, that would be a good one. Yeah.

But, uh, I could do that. Yeah. But, uh, yeah. Wet would be a good one. Yeah, but the anger I could do that Yeah, but yeah wet heat coming. That's July 29th Netflix mark your calendars It's just a month from now. Just a month from now. Yeah, exciting They do it quick go ahead add it to the queue. Have you seen the have you watched the whole the whole thing? You feel good? Yeah, I'm not you know, I it's my special that I you know, I you know funded myself and I have been involved in the editing process all along the way So I've been watching it been very involved very excited about it, but you're not physically going in there anything No, no, I'm not doing anything. Thank God, but I you know, actually there's a guy Guy who lives here that works with the editor

named David Shamband. Yeah, sure. He is doing the editing. Oh, that's awesome. Yeah. And the same director as last time, Jordan. Jordan. Jordan Peele. Jordan. Is it Jordan Peele? No. Is it a horror movie? I don't know why I can't think of his last name right now. That's embarrassing. Jordan Levy. Jordan Levy, yes, Jordan Levy. That would have been a guess of mine, but I'm glad. Yeah, it's embarrassing that I couldn't come up with that. That's what I do. I forget names.

I feel like we're on his podcast because he'll always start every week with, had a great weekend, worked with a very funny comic. Ah, geez, what is his name? I don't know, but he was funny. I wanted to give a shout out to, can't remember his name, but shout out. But. That's exciting. Yeah, very exciting. I wanted to give a shout out to, can't remember his name, but shout out. But that's exciting.

Yeah, very exciting. Uh, and so I'm pumped about it. It's going to be awesome. I can't wait for people to see it. I think it's better than working, man. I think it's better than the last one. That's impossible. Well, thank you, Brian.

For me, it is. That's no way. But I think it's better. Is this your first special where there's not an apostrophized word in the title? I guess so. Well, because I remember you had son of a, uh, making that fudge making that fun. And then you wanted it to be a series.

I wanted it to be. Yeah. I had an whole idea because making that fudge and it had a picture of me holding a can thing, and then I wanted to do drinking that gas because I had a joke about drinking gas and I wanted to, I had a picture made with me in the gas can and I wanted to keep that going, but I chose son of a ditch with a D. So, yeah. So, uh, but then working man, he came back working man. Yeah. Yeah. So that's so awesome. Yeah. Wet heat, wet heat.

The title was debated amongst my team for a while, but ultimately, we'll throw out some other titles. Well, we were going to go hot show because I like to call things a hot show. Yeah, it's a hot show. So that was that was the only one other really considered one. OK. But wet heat, I think it's got to pop to it. Wet, hot American Joe. Yeah, because it feels people are like, oh, feels dirty.

But it's not it's about humidity. Yeah, I didn feels people are like, oh, feels dirty, but it's not. It's about humidity. Yeah, I didn't think it was dirty at all. I said the only thing I thought it was humidity. It's hot out here, guys. It's hot. Summer's in full swing. Summer's in full swing, and man, it's hot out there. And it's going to be hot July 29th when the special comes out. So good branding for it. Yeah. Get out of the wet heat, turn on the wet heat. Wow. Yeah. Oh, that's good branding for it. Yeah, get out of the wet heat turn on the wet heat. Wow. Yeah Yeah, use that use that. Yeah. Yeah. Well, that's awesome. Congratulations. That's thank you. Thank you Brian We didn't really talk about last week sure we didn't talk about what we've done and I Want to share I went and did a corporate in my hometown of Lebanon, Tennessee

for many of the same people that was at my all time classic bomb at the Wilson County Livestock Association. Whoa. My favorite story of all time. Yeah. Yeah. My mom was there, her friends were there, the guy who hired me for the Wilson County Livestock Association.

Your mom's friends were like, oh, here we go. This again? Here we go. They keep hiring this guy? Helen, why do you keep dragging us to this? So there was a lot of pressure on me. And thankfully it went well. Great. I feel like I redeemed myself a little bit.

Yeah, all right. So, whew, that was it. I was more nervous about that than. I like that you say, I redeemed myself a little bit. Well, I'm not saying it was a standing ovation. Our corporate is a corporate. So it's never going to be the greatest show ever. And it's going to be tough to take the same people and put them in a different

room and go, now, now this guy's funny, right? Because they watch. It's like, when people see you do bad they always think you're bad tough to forget that yeah mm-hmm but there may be some of them were old enough they don't even remember the first time around well some of them are dead so okay yeah he killed well who is the corporate for it was for the Cracker Barrel Kilm Alverson Foundation. It's Kilm Alverson had cancer. She passed away, but her family created this foundation

to help people with cancer. Great organization. Yeah, that's awesome. Glad to be part of it. It was at the Capitol Theater in Lebanon. That's a big theater there. Yeah. Yeah. I used to go see movies there as a kid.

Okay. That'd be a fun idea. I don't know if it's a TV show or what, but you track down your worst bombs. You reassemble the audience years later and you get a shot at redemption. I can do a lot of episodes. It could be a long season. Yeah, I mean that's hard. That's hard to do. It's hard to go like, I felt like

people in my hometown, I felt like I had, I don't know, I had some, some good shows, but I felt like I, a lot of the venues around my hometown, same kind of, they were all, it was all not good. And I was always just doing okay. And I just wanted, well, the story you tell about your dad coming to see you and I think Columbus, Columbus, Georgia, it really hits with me because I feel it. I think Columbus, it really hits with me because I feel it. You know, it was hard. Was that his first time to see you? No, but what it was, was I was doing some jokes that were a little dirtier for me, at least at the time.

And the first time he came, the show was sold out. It was still, it was me and Chris Killian doing these shows. I was opening for Chris Killian and, you know, the first one were packed. My dad couldn't even get into the room. He showed up, he couldn't get in. So they let him just kind of walk off, come into the side and just peep in.

And he came in about the time I was doing these dirty jokes, which involve him sort of. Yeah, yeah. And, but it crushed and he loved the jokes. He was like, oh yeah, cause it crushed. And then the next year, by the time he comes back the next year, I've perfected these jokes, now these jokes are really good. And he brought, my dad came with his wife and then his cousin and his cousin's wife.

And then people from their church. his cousin and his cousin's wife, and then people from their church. And then like so much so that this lady, little bit, they used to host probably still does if it's still going. Oh yeah, she hosted for me. She would always do this thing where she goes, I want to do a toast. She's real country. I want to do a toast.

Do you want to hear a clean toast or a dirty toast? And every time people yelled dirty. Of course. But this night, I think there was enough of my family in there that they go clean and she didn't know what to do. I think she had never heard people yell clean. Yeah. And, uh, so then I come out and I'm like, the dirtiest I've ever been, which

is still not even that dirty, but it was the dirtiest I've ever been, which is still not even that dirty, but it was the dirtiest I've ever been. And I was doing these jokes and man, they were bombing so hard. It's same jokes, but they're actually better now. I perfected them, but they bombed. And then my dad hated them. My dad yelled at me on the phone. And I think my dad was ready for me to quit comedy. Yeah.

Yeah. And there's still time. Yeah. And I did not bring him back until to see me until I did the Opry. That was probably 2015. And then I did the Opry in 2018. So it was three years before I would bring him back to the show. Well, you redeemed yourself. Yes, too. Yeah. So I did that last weekend. This past Sunday, I did. I hosted Nate Land presents the showcase season three. Nice. It was great. Great show. Great comics.

Great audience. Aaron came down, closed it out. I think they were just tired. Oh, come on. But overall, the show was good. It was just a long show, Aaron. That's all. Now Aaron, Aaron killed at the end. So it was just a great night. All right.

It's hot. You know, it's hot. Yeah. It's a real wedding outside. Yeah. Yeah. So that's what I did. What about you, Aaron?

I, uh, I was in New York city this past weekend, last minute gig. I got hired to film some content at Fanatics Fest in New York City, which is the world's largest sports and trading card convention. Kind of up my alley. Oh yeah. If you watched any sports media from this past weekend, chances are you saw something about Fanatics Fest. It was the headline generator. I saw Tom Brady ripping up the Eli Manning jersey.

Yeah. We saw, I mean, anybody you can name, I was within 10 feet of him. Tom, I got, I got Tom Brady, 10 feet to my left, Mark Wahlberg, 10 feet to my right. James Harden walked right by me. I saw wrestlers and, uh, just like. What wrestlers? Um, I wish I could remember the name. They're like the defending American champion. Oh, new stuff. Yeah.

Some newer stuff. Now, some of the older guys were there, but they're a little more, they're not walking through the crowd. Yeah. Yeah. Crowd like the newer guys. Wemby. I saw Victor Wiminyama up close. That guy,

he cannot hide from a mob because he's a foot and a half taller than everybody else. He's seven foot five. Wow. Oh, Wemby. I'm thinking about Giannis. Yeah. Wemby is like seven. Yeah. And he, I saw him hug LeBron. He made LeBron look like a little kid. Wow. So, uh, it was pretty great. I talked to Gary V. I got to talk to that guy. I don't know if you've seen him on Instagram. He's pretty intense, but it was just a fun time. I had maybe the worst travel day of my life getting out there. I traveled in the night before I had a 5 a.m.

flight. I woke up at 5 30 in my bed. Oh no. I was like, Oh no, I've never overstepped a flight in my life. So I'm traveling with a buddy and I wake up and I have like 10 missed calls from him. He's just at the airport. So I call him. I go, look, just get on the plane.

I'll see you in New York. I had Yankees tickets that I bought on SeatGeek. He went to the game alone. Just to do, I just go have fun in New York for a day, dude. I can't get there till later. So I booked a Southwest flight at like 11. It's supposed to be supposed to get there at 2 30 in the afternoon. Yeah.

I'm on the plane. It's like three o'clock. I go, what's happening? I pull up the flight map, you know, where you can see the plane and the plane is just doing little circles. So I'm like, something's going on. Pilot comes on and goes, well, we're going to land in Baltimore. Everyone's like, oh God. So we land in Baltimore at like 315, 330 and they go, LaGuardia is closed.

There's bad weather up there. We're probably not going to get going until about 830 tonight. So they just walk around. So I walk all the way, I go, I might So they just walk around. So I walk all the way. I go, I might as well just walk around. I walked to the other end of the Baltimore airport and there's an announcement over loudspeaker scratch that we're taking off from Baltimore. Get here now. So I sprint through the airport.

I've never run through the airport before I sprint all the way to across the airport. I get there. I get to the gate. They go false alarm. We're not going anywhere. So I'm just furious. I'm drenched in sweat. I'm mad for you right now. It's so embarrassing.

So then nobody will give me a straight answer on when the plane's taking off. We don't have a gate. So I'm just sitting around waiting to find out. We finally get on the plane and then we sit on the runway, I guess. I don't know where we're sitting, but we're waiting for a spot to take off. We sit there for three hours before we're allowed to take off. So I got into New York around the hour around, I was supposed to leave at 5am.

I didn't get into New York till about midnight that night. So it was just a long day at the airport. Now I posted this video, but we're on the plane for three hours, just sitting there. Yeah. You know, nothing to do. The pilot keeps coming on and going, you know, we're just waiting.

They go, we're waiting on a little more information and then the, the Southwest flight attendants, they played a game I'd never seen before I'm sitting well, you'll just see we got a relay race going If you're listening yeah, they are passing toilet paper roll one behind the other We did a toilet paper relay race each side of the plane had a roll of toilet paper

the other. We did a toilet paper relay race. Each side of the plane had a roll of toilet paper and we had to pass it over our heads from the front of the plane to the back and the back of the plane back to the front. I had never seen this kind of stuff happen. Yeah I'm furious on this plane. Were they mad at you for filming it while you were trying to win? No, I think everybody reckoned it. Well I mean I was I probably had the best performance in this. Oh, you helped your win. I got a little competitive. Our side did win. If it means anything to you.

It does. Well, I could tell from the video you did. You're in a huge lead there. Look, everybody's filming. Everybody knows this is absurd. And I'll admit there's been plenty of times in my life where I would be so mad that this is happening. So annoyed.

But I heard a flight attendant say her day started at 2 AM. So I had a moment where I was like, you know what, dude, they're not enjoying this either. This probably stinks worse for them. It's out of their control. It's as it's not a Southwest issue. It's a LaGuardia issue. So we're just sitting around waiting.

So, and also the people around me were being so annoying, complaining out loud that I chose to enjoy it. I chose to just go, let's just, we'll just have fun and just recognize the absurdity of it. The guy about when they started doing this relay race, the guy behind me goes, you can't force us to do this. You're like dusty. Yeah. And this guy, this dude behind me, so annoying, dude,

he kept going, at least bring us some shots. And that got a laugh the first time. And then he kept saying it. And I wanted to be like, dude, shut up. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Like we're not getting shots, you know? Yeah. It's like, um, there's something about other people complaining that make you go,

you know what, this is, take it. Dude, if everybody else on the plane were like, this is awesome. I would have been that guy. I would've been like, Oh, you just take it. Oh, everything's okay. Uh, it's just, you got nothing to do. Huh? Yeah.

Uh, but the people around me stuck that, that whole flight, but, um, it was just a crazy long day, dude. And then, anyway, then the whole weekend in New York was fun. I got to do some spots around New York City. Chappelle did, I was at the stand, Chappelle did a pop up show. Oh, wow. Dave Chappelle. It's a secret smoking headliner.

OK. And it was like clearly him in the silhouette on the website. So I saw him walk through the hallway. It's kind of cool. Yeah. I saw him in a hallway at the comedy store one time, but, uh, yeah, it didn't seem approachable. Yeah.

I get that. Yeah. But fun weekend in New York and, uh, shout out to Southwest airlines for getting us through, getting us through a long day. What about you, Dusty? Uh, I was off. I got really the month of June off for the most part. Just trying to not travel.

But I went to McMinnville, went out to the cabin and cut grass on a zero turn. Took my kids walking in the creek. Yeah. Went to the Chattanooga aquarium. That's a good aquarium. Yeah. It's only an hour from McMinnville. So we went down there to that.

That was fun. Just a relaxing, relaxing week. I mean, I, I cut a lot of grass, but riding a zero turn is very relaxing. It is. I could just do it all day. Yeah. I listen to music while you do it. No, I just.

Just soak up the sounds of the. Yeah. Yeah. I love it. I could do it all day. I love. Just soak up the sounds of. Yeah. I love it. I could do it all day. I love riding a lawnmower. That's great. I'm jealous.

All right. You want to get into these comments? Let's do it. I say that, but if my job was to cut grass, I would hate it. That's true. I was actually thinking that. There's a baseball stadium. I think I could.

I got it. That's cause you're doing it when you want to do it. Yeah. Yeah. Making progress with your finances can be such a headache Whether it's overdraft fees missing a payment or just wishing you saved more. You know what I mean chime Understands that every dollar counts. That's why when you set up direct deposit through chime You get access to fee free features like free overdraft coverage

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Chime is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services and debit card provided by the Bancorp Bank NA or Stride Bank NA. Members FDIC, spot me eligibility requirements and overdraft limits apply. Timing depends on submission of payment file. Fees apply at out-of-network ATMs. Bank ranking and number of ATMs according to U.S. News and World Report 2023. Chime checking account required. All right, comments come from Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Apple podcast reviews and naiteland at naitbargatzee.com. Melissa Lewis, this is the best episode ever. Dusty story is unbelievable. That's insane. I would have never

taken Christian Bale as a Dusty fan. Love it. I'm glad Brian was there too. Definitely makes the story even better. I'm going to say, Melissa, I agree with you that I couldn't see him as a Dusty fan, but also why couldn't you see him as a Dusty fan? You know what I mean? I can agree with you. And also question why you don't think he'd be a fan of just great comedy. I'll answer for Melissa. Okay. I mean, where do I start?

He's British, first of all. Yeah, I see he was Australian, but he's British and he just doesn't seem like the kind of guy that would follow any standup comedy, much less a Southern. Yeah, he just seems so serious in everything he does. He's a very serious actor. Intense.

It does, I do have a hard time picturing Christian Bale just at home kicking back. In his mansion watching Working Man. Yeah. Making that fudge. Yeah. Now he's been watching when he. But I was already a fan of his

and now a much bigger fan, so. Yeah. Who do you think would have been a better story if you went up and talked to him and then he spotted Brian and was a huge fan of his and now a much bigger fan. So yeah. Who do you think would have been a better story if he, if you went up and talked to him and then he spotted Brian and was a huge fan of Brian. Yeah. I mean, not for me, but it would be, I would be happy for Brian. Yeah. It would be a better story even for everyone. Did you ever consider once saying, Hey,

can you take a picture of my buddy Brian? Honestly, I'm surprised I even got any words out. I was really like, this is amazing. He forgot you were there though. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It changed the whole course of my day and yeah, I was... Oh, I know, I was with you. Yeah.

Christian Bale, he looked at me when I said, can we get a picture like, dude, we're two celebrities here talking. Yeah. Just back off, back off. Yeah. Pretty awesome though. Uh, Doug Bruelette, I think that's how you said it. Bruyea maybe?

I'm thinking Bruyea. Bruyea. That's a fancy, fancy last name for a Doug. Yeah, that's crazy. Yeah. It's like the, he's probably Douglas. Douglas Bruyea. Yeah.

He's like, I gotta go by Doug. He probably went by Dougie as a kid just to balance it out. If Christian Bale recognizes and speaks to you in an airport, you are certified public figure. All right, I'll give it to you. Well, that is true. I said public figure long ago and it got such a big reaction from the room,

but I knew it was true then. Okay. Christian Bale proved it. Yeah. Brett Pardin, think you got that right. Yeah. Brett Pardon. Think I got that right? Yeah. Imagine my shock and surprise to be filling in

at my sister's business and see two of my favorite podcasters walking across the street. I completely fangirled and ran outside to make sure it was them. Thank you both for chatting and taking the time for a selfie. I smiled the rest of the day. I'll say this, you know what?

We didn't talk about this last week. No, I meant to. We were walking across the street and Brit- Right after Christian Bale. Brit yelled, breakfast! Yeah. Wow. Yeah. And she come running over.

Y'all were walking into the skin society? Yeah. I was getting a facial. I think that's where she works. I think that's on her. Y'all are her Christian Bale. Yeah. Well, I thought because she did yell breakfast and I thought, oh, if she knows me, then we're tied one, one for the day. Yeah, that's right.

Even though this is Christian Bale, mine's better looking. Well, Christian Bale's British, her name's Brit. There you go. You know what I mean? But then I should have known if she's going to yell breakfast, she knows me from the podcast. So of course she's going to know Dusty. And she was excited.

So Dusty beat me two to one, but it was pretty cool. She still yelled your name from across the street though. She did. Yep. Well, she yelled breakfast. Yeah. Yeah. So she was very nice. It was nice to meet her.

Yeah. Adrienne Mathenia Adrian Mathenia. Mathenia? I think that's right. Mathenia? Mathenia? Yeah. Anybody else feel secondhand nerves for the guys hanging out with these celebrities?

Like watching your friend sit down with Mandy Moore and thinking, don't say anything weird. Well, I'll say this. People commented like, Oh, they seem nervous talking to Mandy Moore. I don't think that was the case. What they don't know is we shot these out of order. Many more was the very first thing we did all day. Yeah. We sat down, hadn't seen Nate in six months or however long. And then that

was the first thing we, Mandy Moore was just there. So that's how we started. It's like the beginning of the episode awkwardness plus Mandy Moore was just there. So that's how we started. It's like the beginning of the episode, awkwardness plus Mandy Moore sitting right between us. I'll be honest. I know the name Mandy Moore, but I don't, I never watched entourage. Yeah. And I just don't know Mandy Moore stuff. So I know the name and obviously she was very nice, but I didn't feel any kind

of like, you know, celebrity shock with her. She's just like a pop icon of my, of my generation at least. Yeah. Like Hillary, Hillary Duffer, somebody like that. Yeah. That's how I thought of her. Yeah. Throw Christina Aguilera in there and you know, that's more my era.

Yeah. It was just a few more, if you came a few more years later, that would have been Mandy Moore. Yeah. Yeah. Madonna. That's more your, your speed. been Mandy Moore. Yeah, yeah. Madonna. That's more your speed. Cher, she said Cher.

Although you like young Cher. Judy Garland. Yeah. Trying to get someone alive. Shirley Temple. Mandy Moore was very nice though. They were all very nice. She was.

Yeah, they were super nice. We had breakfast. I don't know if you, me and breakfast had breakfast with Martin. Martin. Oh, really? The next morning makes more with Atlanta Airport and I'm in a TGI. Friday. I'm telling I'm like, I'm like to Brian. I'm like, I never sit, come in one of these restaurants in the airport. I'd never go to a chain restaurant in the airport and sit down. And then we're there. Here comes Martin. Yeah. He joined us. We yelled at him from across the restaurant and forced him to sit with us. Yeah. I don't

think he wanted to, but he had no choice. Martin! And then we left him. Yeah. Oh, he's a nice guy. He was very nice. I'll say this about the movie too. We get to do this podcast together, but we never get to travel together. We're always different parts of the country doing shows. So I got to go down, shoot the scene with Aaron, hang out with him a couple of days, fly down with you to do the podcast. So it was just fun hanging out with you guys on the road. Yeah. Yeah, it was fun. Yeah, it was awesome. Yeah. Dirk Gluckke. These are some tough names. Oh yeah.

I've been watching this podcast regularly and really enjoy the bond you all share. Oh boy. You all seem to appreciate each other and are very supportive of the successes you all enjoy. On camera. Yeah. These guys are so jealous of me off camera. I love the dusty Aaron exchange regarding seeking employment in the dessert industry and Aaron comes back with it's not too late for a pivot. It's clear how much you all

enjoy each other's company and it's fun to go along for the ride. Well, thank you, Dirk. Appreciate that, Dirk. Yeah, look, we're all riding the wave, but it could all come crashing down at any moment. So you never, you never know. We're all well aware, you know. Yeah, yeah. I could, I could be working at a gelato spot next week. And enjoying yourself. And yeah, and really enjoying it. But I have always been curious about the samples thing when I asked Martin, because I get so annoyed

when I'm in line and people keep asking for samples. I'm like, it's ice cream, okay? It's all gonna be good. You get two samples, that's it. Hot take, I don't think you should get any samples. Okay. No other restaurant works like that. That's true.

You don't go to McDonald's and go, let me try a chicken nugget before I order. Yeah. It's like part of ordering food. Part of a restaurant is you order it. It's a little roll of the dice. Also, can you not look at the name of these things and just guess how it's going to taste? You got an idea. You're like, what is cookies and cream going to taste like?

Well, salt and caramel. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. I think no samples. I think you get it. All sales are final. Leave the store. Don't say anything.

Well, I'm with you, but I'm going to get, I'm saying, never seen you so fired up. I asked, I give you two samples. That's it. You don't get, but what are you sampling? I would have thought you went the opposite direction. Okay, here we go. Endless samples for everything.

Two samples and only for kids. But why adults don't get us. Why only ice cream places do we do this? I think it's just a different thing. All the flavors. It's already. It's already one flavors at a restaurant. Even if you get like a flight of beer at a, you know, or like at a nice brewery or something,

that costs money. I like that. Who's giving out free samples? We'll give you a flight of ice cream. I never heard that term, but I'll give you a flight of samples, but that costs money. That would be great. A little, a little spoonful of everything. Yeah. I'd much rather be great. A little, a little spoonful of everything. Yeah. I'd much rather do that, but yeah, it's not free. Like, I don't know why we expect these ice cream places to do that.

Every, you get one sample for every scoop that you buy. You go, I want two scoops and I'll give you two samples just to see what scoops you want to get. That's it though. Yeah. Well, you got to pay for it. Yeah. Yeah.

I'm gonna skip ahead to last it. That's it though. There you go. Well, you got to pay for it. Yeah. Yeah. I'm gonna skip ahead to last coming. All right, sorry. Well, I'm trying to be respectful to Yakov. Uh-huh. It's Yakov by the way. Well, as I'm not being very respectful, am I? Yes, that's what I'm saying.

Let's go ahead and iron that out before we bring them in here. Now I'm confused. Emily Wells, Brian's impressions are my new favorite segment on the podcast. Though I don't know if it's the impression itself or Aaron's laugh and Dusty's response that makes it so great.

I was laughing so hard, I was crying in his impression of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Well, I nailed it, so what's funny about it? Yeah, you're good. You got great impressions. Did you see the one of him doing, like, well, who was it? Who'd you do? Lawrence Fishburne, Denzel Washington. Yeah. No, I'd love to see a quick sample. If you don't mind, just two samples. You can watch the podcast. He's not watching the guys. He's barely here for the ones he's on. I don't know why I got

a lidless cup by the way. Yeah. You got water on your mustache there. I got the one open air cup out here. Let's do, let's just see Denzel. Hold on, let's give him a new one. Let's do, can you do Morgan Freeman? We've already done that, hadn't we? I mean, I did a Morgan Freeman. I think you, I think you danced around it. I tried, no, I tried it because I said- We're just looking for a black guy. Will Smith. 100%. 100%. Okay. All right. Will Smith. All right. You be Chris Rock. Okay. It's two types. Will Smith. Yep. This is going to be a punch. Until I got his punched alien. Okay. Welcome to Earth. That's what I call a close encounter.

That's not bad. Boom. That's not bad. I did it again. Dang. That's Independence Day call a close encounter. That's not bad. Boom. That's not bad. I did it again Dang, that's Independence Day. If anybody was one. Yeah, that is good. Yeah, that is really good. See everybody's impressed Yeah, should we get Yakov Yakov in here? Let's get mr. Smirnoff in here We're gonna get ladies and gentlemen after a quick commercial break. You won't feel a thing. We'll be talking very soon comedic legend Yakov Smirnoff. Let's talk about something we all deal with, some more than others. Bad hair days. But what if those bad hair days could become a thing of the past? With the iRestore Elite, I'm holding it in my hand, you can

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Head over to iRestore.com and use code Nate for our shows exclusive discounts on the iristore elite. Please support our show. Tell them we sent you. Look, hair loss is frustrating. You don't have to fight it alone with iristore. Welcome. Thank you so much. Thanks for having me. I've been watching you guys for afar and enjoying the podcast very much. So I'm happy to be a part of it. And when you say afar, you mean Branson, Missouri? Yeah. Well, it's another world.

It's a different world. Yes. Yeah. We have internet by the way. We just got it. And Branson, you just got it? Yeah, just got it. You're getting to Walmart soon, I think.

No, it's there. That's where it started. Yeah. Branson. Yeah. Branson, that Walmart's got to be good in Branson. Yeah, it's there. That's where it started. Yeah, Branson. Yeah, Branson. That Walmart's got to be good in Branson. Yeah, it's good. Yeah, it's a good Walmart. Yeah. You and I talked on the phone because I tried to do your podcast, but first time I met you in person was for the Nashville Comedy Festival a couple months ago. I was on Dusty's show at Zany's. You came by, watched the show. Then he went over to the Ryman and did a set on that Nate Land show.

And I came over later and Aaron said, Yacoff killed. Standing ovation at the Ryman Auditorium. I mean, it was a very cool moment in the show. And I was thinking, I was so, I don't know if jealous is the word, but it got to me as like to get to a level where you show up at any show and they're like, obviously put him on the show. Like Yaakov's backstage. Yeah. See if he wants to do a spot. Yeah. It wasn't that. I mean, uh, it just Brian Dorfman, who you well known, he just saw me and

he goes, you want to go up? And I didn't even know where I am. I had no idea. And so I go, okay, what do I do? I just do 15. I go, okay, and that's how it was. But it was a very important moment for me because I've been in Branson bubble kind of for the last 32 years. Entertain over 6 million people. So I had a really, I have 2006 theater,

so I'm in a good spot. Yeah. But lately, and I think the person who is responsible for this chair or wherever he sits, That's normally Brian's chair. Oh, yeah. So you're talking about that chair. That chair is responsible for me kind of coming out of semi-retirement or whatever.

I was just phoning it in basically. The show has been going on for years and people coming and it's wonderful. However, he kind of woke me up saying this is what I used to do in the 80s and at that time it just there was no arenas for clean comedy and he kind of paved the way and it was like I couldn't believe I, I was blown away. So when I saw that he was coming to Springfield, Missouri, and he sold out this arena, and I wanted to be in the proximity. So I bought two tickets, $500 each to sit right in the front. And he told you the story that it happened to be at the right place at the right time that they lit up the whole thing.

You're the only person he could see in the audience. Yeah. He's spinning around in the round going, is that Yacou? Yeah. Exactly. Exactly. So what an honor, you know, I mean, I believe in that power of proximity when you're close to something.

And I was just doing a part of my podcast next door to you guys here. I'm like going, this feels so good. So the Ryman experience was kind of awakening for me because as I was flying to Nashville, I called my wife from Dallas or wherever I was connecting and I said, you know, I'm really nervous. And she goes, why? I go, I feel like I'm an ugly duckling who kind of been hiding in Branson for years and doesn't really know where I belong.

And I don't know, I've been to LA, I've been to New York, I did a Broadway show. I didn't feel like I was, I, it was not part of where I supposed to be. And I'm going to a next place, which is Nashville. And I have no idea what's going to happen there. And then, well, I think it was next day that Ryman experience happened and Dorfman said, come on, go up and say, and getting a standing ovation that all of a sudden I literally felt like that ugly duckling found the swans, which you guys are.

And I didn't realize that that's where they hang out. And I didn't even realize that I belonged there or not. But once I heard that laughter that's where they hang out. And I didn't even know, realize that I belonged there or not. But once I heard that laughter and I saw these people stand up and going, I, I, I'm here. I'm, I, I gotta be here. And you're- These guys have been hoping for that laughter for a while. Yeah.

What's it like? Was it like, well- Well, you're going to be making your grand old Opry debut later this month. Yeah. What's it like? Was it like, well, well you're going to be making your grand old Opry debut later this month. Yeah. And now the day this comes out. Yeah. Oh wow. After tomorrow. Yeah. Wednesday. Yes. So that's, I, that's another experience that I don't have a clue where I'm walking into.

I don't have a clue. I just so nice at the Opry. You're going to love the Opry. They're the nicest people. Gary Milder just texted me saying, we're very excited having you here. So I'm going into another place where I'm hoping that they'll like me. Oh, you're going to do so great there. They're going to love you. Yeah.

So I'm excited. I love that your jacket, Class Reunion, 1988. That was 1988. Yeah, that's the one that I was doing with Robin Williams and Richard Pryor and all of these big guys that I'm like- Who else was it? Howie Mandel? Howie Mandel, Paul Rodriguez, David Leatherman.

Yeah. Yeah, I forgot that. Yeah. You think about the group of comics we started with, like your little class. That one's pretty crazy. Yeah, that was crazy. Being on the same show with them was amazing too. So you started when you when you moved to America was it Los Angeles first? No, New York first first. I didn't speak English so that but I wanted to do comedy because I was a comedian in the Soviet Union. Yeah, so I got a taste of laughter, but I didn't know if I'll ever be able to actually get on stage because I didn't speak English. And so that was beginning of my routine started with misunderstandings and all of those things. And I got a job as a bar boy in Catskill Mountains and there are a lot of vaudeville comedians were there. And so I kind of was watching them and learning English from them.

And then I would, became bartender and I would start telling jokes in a bar to the customers. And I knew if I'm funny, then I get tips. Yeah, sure. So that was my gauge. I didn't, you know, and so that's how it started. And then when did you move to New York? What year?

New York is 77. Okay. 77. I read on your Wikipedia page that you almost got sent back because you registered as comedian, which they translated to party organizer. It was, it was exactly what happened. Walking through the immigration office and get an interpreter who's kind of like speaks some of both languages, whatever. And so they're asking me what do you want to do? And I said, I want to be a

comedian and he didn't know how to translate it. So he said, party organizer and I see officers there in the walkie talkies now they surrounding me. We got one, we got a coming here or whatever. And so I, I'm like, what did you say? And he said, um, so he started back patting. I said, no, it's like birthday party and, uh, and they go, okay. Okay. Yeah.

Yeah. Birthday. And they started laughing. So it was, yeah, it was a good thing because otherwise you're, yeah, you're not in a good place. Yeah. And then when did you move to LA? LA was 78, pretty soon, 78. Um, when I moved to LA and I didn't know again where I'm going. I just, some of

our friends said that they know a person who, he was an executive, three's company, executive producer. Oh yeah. And so I watched- Massive show at the time, right? Huge, huge. And I watched that show and I was like, if he can make me a star. I mean, so I took a 10-day apparel, I just, I bought a ticket for 10 days. So I had a plan that in 10 days I become a star and then I go to...

I know some guys with plans like this. I still have that ticket. I still have it. And so I go there and I'm thinking 10 days, then I come back to New York and I'll buy my parents Fifth Avenue apartment. That was part of the plan. Okay. So I go there and Ted Bergman is the guy's name and he says, well, you know, I need to see you perform. And I, so I go, where do I, you know, he said, well, there's comedy store, there's improv. So I went to a comedy store and got a spot.

I think it was a Sunday open mic. And then I get a message that he can't make it. And I go, I'm bombed. I'm like day four. I'm nowhere. I'm like, I'm six days left to be a star. I know, I know.

I, and I'm, I'm dead serious. I'm like, how am I going to tell my parents that there will be no Fifth Avenue apartment four days in and you got a spot at the comedy. So that's, that's very unbelievable trajectory already. So there are guys that live there years, they can't get a spot. So I, but I don't know. I mean, I literally don't know if it's good, bad, and whatever. So I go there and, and I did my set and I did about five minutes and got laughs, uh,

was, you know, pretty good. And, and then, but I'm leaving and I'm going, man, I need to figure something else. I need to, you know, I'm walking on Sunset and I'm bombed and Mitzi had the secretary, Chrissy, and she was a British girl and she runs after me and she goes, Yagov, Yagov, congratulations. And I go, for what? And she goes, because she knew that I'm expecting this guy and he didn't make it. And I go, he didn't come. And he said, no, no, no, Mitzi liked you. And I go, who is Mitzi? And she goes, she's the owner of the comedy store, go talk to her. She's sitting there. So I go sit down and Mitzi and her, she goes, she goes, you were, you were good.

You know, you should stick around because there's always place for good and different. Good and different. Yeah. And, and I don't know who I'm talking to. Right. And she goes, I go Mitzi, you know, I got to go back. My parents are in New York and she goes, what does your dad do?

And I said, he is a building construction engineer. And she goes, well, can he be a carpenter? I go, yeah, I think he's really good at that. She goes, bring him here. I'll give him a job. Wow. Wow. Right.

And then she goes, where do you live? And I go, I'm staying with some friends. And she goes, I have a house about the comedy store and you can rent a room for $120 a month. And there are other comedians who live there. And I go, okay. So all of a sudden I got my dad a job and then the last thing she goes, and come back tomorrow and see a regular show. So I come back tomorrow at day five and I'm sitting on the back of the original room and

first person on stage is Robin Williams, second followed by Billy Crystal, followed by David Letterman, followed by Richard Pryor. And I'm sitting there and I'm going, I'm ahead of schedule. She likes me and she likes those guys. I'm sticking around. Did you know who those guys were? Yeah. Okay. I watched them on TV. I mean, Yeah. Okay. I watched them on TV. I mean, I was, I was so wanted to do comedy, but I didn't know if I can because of my English. And so, but I was glued to TV and watching Johnny Carson, whatever I could watch and learn. That was my whole thing. And, and so then the rest, this history, I, you know, Mitzi, just by being there, she gave me, basically she gave a job to my dad. She did not put me on stage for like two years. I was just

helping my dad do carpentry, but I was in the best school of comedy. I could watch And, um, and that's how I got the movie was Robin Williams, Moscow on the Hudson. And then I got, uh, movies, Tom Hanks. Those are, those are things were happening before I even became a regular. Yeah. Uh, but I was just hanging around the right place, right time. What did your dad say when you called home and said, I don't have you a place on fifth Avenue, but you have to quit your job and move to LA?

He, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, hanging around the right place, right time. What did your dad say when you called home and said, I don't have you a place on fifth Avenue, but you have to quit your job and move to LA. He didn't have a job. He was an engineer, but he, he was an engineer in the Soviet union. I said, he came here, he didn't speak English. They're older, you know? And so they were not employed. So sunset let's go to LA.

So they will, they came and, and he was able to do a couple of years at least of work there. I was helping him, but that was, you know, it was good. And we did a lot of good things in the Comedy Store. So a lot of legends are going around that, you know, Jakob built this and Jakob built that. I go, I don't remember that. Yeah.

You know, so, but it's been, you know, it's been a blessing in disguise there. Not in disguise for real. Yeah. So that's how my, my career took off. I also read on Wikipedia that there's a style of joke that kind of developed from you, the whole in this country and then in Russia. Yeah, yeah. They call it the reversal jokes and they attribute it to me. I don't know. I'd say I'll take the credit, but it was the commercial that I did, Miller Lite commercial was in America, you can always find a party in Russia,

party always finds you. And that was very successful. And then after that, Jay Leno picked it up and going, in Russia, car drives you, et cetera. So it was, uh, uh, it was significant actually, uh, having a, uh, commercial probably was the most impactful in my career, uh, out of all the things that I've done, uh, people would just start recognizing me because it wasn't during Superbowl and I was in everybody's living room and so that was a big break. And a Miller Lite one too. I mean, that's a And so that was a big break. And a Miller Lite one too.

I mean, that's a big, that's a big, that's a good beer. Well, I'm a little bit older than these guys, so I remember you on Night Court. Yes. That was a big deal. I remember a little Night Court. Okay. I don't, I couldn't tell you any characters, but I do remember.

Yeah. Yakov. I was one of them. Yeah. I did seven episodes. Yeah, I was one of them. I did seven episodes. It was very great show and Harry Anderson and I worked in a club together with Jerry Seinfeld one time and I was opener. Harry was middle and I was I Jerry was the headliner and after when he got the show, Harry Anderson, then he brought me up to producers and they brought me in and they liked it and they kept bringing me back,

which was wonderful. This is really the dream that every comic has, that they just go to LA and people go, you know what, I like you, I'm gonna put you in some stuff. I mean, what a country. What a country, but you know, to be honest, I was so in, I mean, I was in it and I only until it kind of ended, the career kind of went down.

I didn't realize I was so busy doing it that I thought every immigrant gets that opportunity. Yeah. Which is kind of a myth, but I just happened to be at the right place with the right set of skills. Yeah. I mean, it's your story is what everybody thinks can happen to them. Everybody thinks I'm going to go to LA and they're going to see me and I'm going to be a star. Yeah. And it does happen. Obviously it happened to you. It happens to other people, but it's a, it's an amazing story. Yeah. And, but, but I got to tell you what I learned, uh, later on as I was getting into my education later in life, getting my masters and a doctor degree, all of those things, I was trying to understand

what's the secret, what was happening because my talent was obviously part of it, but there was something bigger than that way bigger than that. And I didn't know what it was. but there was something bigger than that, way bigger than that. And I didn't know what it was. And it was that the Soviet Union was a major threat to America to the point that people had to get on their desks in school and wait for a nuclear attack.

I mean, that's, so I met the needs of America. They saw a human. That's, so I met the needs of America. They saw a human, they saw the Russian person that is not threatening. It's not banging shoe on the United Nations, say we will bury you, you know, whatever. And I was like, I came in this innocent guy and then they're going like, we're afraid of this. Are you kidding me? And that's what America needed. And when you meet, if you can, if you can figure out what, what is the need that whether it's a country,

whether it's a group of people had and you can meet that need, you can do well. And I think it worked for you, obviously, because you sincerely, you weren't playing a character you did love this country and still love this country. I still do. It was a fake thing. It would have eventually came through. Eventually there was, well, Robin Williams used to do a lot of Soviet impressions. I think he was calling them Soviet suppressions. And then, and that was right before I came on the scene. Yeah. So people who thought, they thought I was playing a character. Right. And then there was a guy, his name was Morris Moskovitz. And at the time when I was still bartending in the Catskills, my lead bartender said,

oh, you know, I know you're a comedian, but that place is already taken because this guy. And there was a huge New York Times article about this guy, how he immigrated from the Soviet Union and how he started doing comedy. And I'm going, yeah, I guess I'm too late, you know? And then about two months later passed, 60 minutes did an expose on this guy and expose him right in front of like the whole country that he was just a guy from New Jersey that took this. He knew probably some people who immigrated and decided I'm going to do that gig. And I honestly, I went to see him in Greenwich Village in New York and I thought he was for real.

Really? I had no idea. Yeah. Wow. So the accent, everything was perfect. It was perfect. Stories he was telling was similar to my story. So it was like, we need more exposés like that.

There's a lot of that going on. Is that guy still around? I don't know. I think it was the end of his comedy career. I don't know what happened to him after that. It's tough when the whole media comes after your character. You're like, I'm just doing a joke thing here, guys. Right. And they took it. Well, I worked out for you though. Yeah. Well, but then he didn't. Then he didn't because once the Soviet Union collapsed, I realized that, you know, you know, Leatherman had a top 10 list of things that will now change.

And I made number one on the list, Jakov Smirnov will be out of work. Oh, wow. And I thought it was kind of funny. I'm going, I'm still, you know, I have contracts in Vegas, Atlantic city, Reno, Tahoe. I got, I'm, I got this, no problem. Six months later, none of those contracts were renewed. None.

And we live in Pacific Palisades next to Tom Hanks, next to Goldie Han, next to like Arnold Schwarzenegger and, and we're like, we can't afford the mortgage. There's no money coming in anymore. So it was scary. And so I started looking for a place where they did not know that the Soviet Union collapsed. You got it. I ended up in Branson, Missouri and I got 32 years out of that. They still don't know, and I'm not about to tell them. So this gig is working.

Yeah, it doesn't broadcast in Branson. No, no, they don't. But to your point, that it works for you or it can work against you. If you canceled, and that was original version of that, in 1991, I was canceled basically, because we don't need, you know, the Soviet Union wasn't like a pain in the butt, and I was like, my jokes were like preparation H. So all of a sudden, we don't need that anymore. And I'm like, what do I do? So thank God for Branson.

It turned out to be- That's so shocking to me that it would just end like that. Me too. I would think the jokes are still funny. It feels like David Letterman ruined your career. But I wish I could blame him personally, but I think it was the industry that kind of pigeonholed me as a Soviet comedian. And then when, when there was no need for that, you know, burning and itching went away, so we don't need that anymore.

Happiest guy during that time, that guy in New Jersey. anymore. Happiest guy during that time, that guy in New Jersey. Yes, probably, probably, finally, finally. Yeah. I am so excited, this is Aaron Weber talking by the way, I am so excited to tell you about our new sponsor, our next sponsor, we've had him for a while, we love him for a while, Chubbies. I've been wearing the original stretch shorts and love how comfortable the elastic waistband is and they come in three different lengths. 5.5 inch is where it's at. You think, you think it's going to be short, but the shorts, the move,

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He did. That was a very, uh, interesting relationship, very, very special relationship because he, I mean, the way I met him, he was very much into like Soviet humor and he was, you know, I didn't know that at that point, but, uh, he, um, so he, uh, uh, I was performing in Washington DC. Now I see why you don't take the cap off because there's ice in there. Oh yeah. Yeah.

Let me have a cap. Uh-huh. They don't even let me. Oh, we had to give ours. Oh yeah. Yeah. Let me have a cap. They don't even let me have a cap. Oh, no. We had to give ours to Jaco. So I was at the comedy cafe, it was called, in Washington, DC. And after the show, this guy comes over and he said, you know, I'm hosting, I'll have President Reagan and Nancy Reagan in my house for dinner. Would you like to join us? I'm not exaggerating.

And I'm thinking this guy is off the rocker. It's like, who are you talking? But he was a chief editor of Washington times. And I didn't know. And so he calls me a couple of weeks later, says, here's the ticket for you to come to join us. And so, so I'm flying there and we're in the car and we're pulling into this there and we're in the car and we're pulling into this neighborhood and then, and there is like two helicopters are hovering over the neighborhood.

And then there is like barricades and the guys and bulletproof vests and with machine guns and, and I'm going, I'm, I'm there. There's no way they're going to let me in. So they get the, uh, uh, uh, Arnaud, the bargeograph, his name, and he gave him out of the car and they frisk him and they asked for a one ID. He said, I'm hosting, I'm the owner of the house that the president is coming to and said, we don't care. And so finally, and then now it's I'm sitting next of the house that the president is coming to and said, we don't care. And so finally, and then now it's, I'm sitting next to him and the guy's putting flashlight on

me and I'm going, I'm dead meat. So I'm, they're going, we got the party organized. We got him. So I'm sliding into this chair and he goes Miller light commercial, right? I go, yes. And he goes, go in. Oh, that's awesome. Wow. So it's open that, I mean, look at that, you know, so I go there and there was only like 18 people dinner party. And this is the night when president Reagan sent a military helicopters to Libya to scare Gaddafi.

And so behind him, so this was a big deal to have like a hospital set up in the guest bedroom with all the operation, if there's a need to be, all the windows are blocked with like, you know, some special plywood, whatever. And so I'm sitting there, oh my God, this is not, this is, I don't know where it's going. And the president walks in and he just, he just, they said, this is Yakov Smirnov, he's a Russian comedian. He just smiled and he said, have you heard this joke?

And he proceeds to tell me a joke and people now they're looking at me and I'm now telling him a joke. So 18 people like this and him and I are sitting across from each other and just telling jokes. Yeah. That was a me and what a moment. And behind him, there's a guy with the football, which is a briefcase with all the nuclear boats. And he's a Marine and he's not supposed to smile. And I have a goal to just crack

him up. So a couple of times I did, but I was nervous. You put our country at risk. I did. Pretty crazy to move to America knowing no English and within a few years you're going joke for joke with Ronald Reagan at a dinner party. I mean, that's crazy. It is. It is. And it continued. I mean, I felt like after that, he just, you know, when he was going to the Soviet Union to meet with Gorbachev for the first time, I get a call from Dana Orbacher, who was his head speechwriter. And he said, this confidential President Reagan is going to go to Russia to meet with Gorbachev for the first time.

It's a big deal. So he, not only he wants to do a meet with him, but he wants to do a speech in the Kremlin in front of all the Russian politicians. So president Reagan asked if you would to write jokes for his speech. And I'm thinking, if this doesn't work, I don't have any countries to go. Where am I going after this, right? But I was honored, I wrote some jokes,

they put them in the speech, but then they go, do you mind reading the speech and seeing if we have a right tone? And I'm going, am I the most qualified person to do this? Yakov, you're the most important person in the world right now. It sounds like it. So, so I go, uh, okay. I, and I wrote, uh, I read it and, and I didn't care for it that much because I

think I thought they were talking down to, uh, the Soviet government, which not, not a good idea. And so I said, you know, I think you should probably change the tone a little bit. And they go, why don't you rewrite it? And I go, this is not getting any better. And so I did and they liked it and it wasn't a lot of changes, but just a little bit to make them look more important. And it worked, you know, and they had a great summit and you know, after that, the Berlin

wall came down and I was- Responsible. I was, no, but I was chiseling it literally. Yeah. Chiseling it. And with Bob Hope on the, on the USO tour, we went to Germany and we, we chiseled that wall, but there was a writing on the wall that I just didn't think of reading. And it says, Jakob get, get a day job, but I didn't, I didn't even, I didn't think of reading and it says, Jacob, get, get a day job.

But I didn't, I didn't even, I didn't even suspect that anything like that could happen. Yeah. And then, um, well, how did the jokes go in the speech? Did the jokes hit? Yeah. Yeah. Well, yes. And it was nerve wracking because I was watching it at my home in Hollywood and it

was satellite broadcast. And first joke that he opened with, the joke was that I know you have been having some challenges with all politicians because they've been sitting in one place for so many years, they don't want to leave. But I heard this tale that in Russia when a child is born, an angel comes down from the skies and kiss that child. If the child is kissed on his forehead, he's going to be ingenious. If he is kissed on his lips, he's going to be incredible speaker.

If he is kissed on his hand, he's going to be amazing artist. I don't know what place this angel kiss those politicians that they will not give up their seat. No one laughed. Oh, that's a good joke. We should have air. No one laughed. Well, but the reason. And then he goes, Yakov wrote that joke. I was stunned. He was stunned, I'm sure. But I forgot those days, none of the Russian politicians spoke English. So they were waiting for the translation for this little headset. It was the longest 30 seconds of my life.

And then the crowd went crazy. And I went and changed my pants, basically. That's what happened. Yeah. So, but it was an honor to be there. And then I kind of became a supplier of jokes to Reagan. You know, I was like official dealer, joke dealer, you know, for the white house. You know, that's amazing.

Yeah. So when did you pivot into getting the masters and doctorate in psychology? That was way later. That was, um, I need to do something with this chord because it's kind of, yeah, it happened later in life. I went, so I moved to Branson and then I went for a divorce. And the divorce was pretty painful because my parents were married 52 years. I didn't know people that so all of a sudden I'm getting divorced and I didn't understand

it and then I started trying to figure out you know why it happened and then it was what I noticed and I started asking my audience, I said, you know, there was laughter in the beginning of the relationship and in the end, the only people who are laughing are attorneys. What happened to laughter? So as a comedian and my dad was an engineer and very much into inventing things and reverse engineering stuff. So my brain was like going something happening in the beginning and something happening in the end and I didn't know what it was. And so I started asking audiences, I said, do you, how many of you remember laughter

being part of this honeymoon stage of the relationship? And everybody's just so much into it. And then I would say, how many of you would go on a second date if you didn't have laughter and no one applies? Right? So I was like, oh, there is something here that I want to research. So that's kind of where I went. At first I was trying to do kind of my own, trying to understand it and make sense out of this.

My kids were little, my son was five and my daughter was seven. I was trying to explain to them, so I actually brought this little thing that I put here earlier. I actually brought this little thing that I put here earlier, that this is how I explain my children divorce, okay? So I got magnets, I got magnets from the store that sells like equipment for teachers. And I figured, well, maybe they'll understand this, okay? So I took two magnets and I, and I'm like going, okay. So in the beginning of the relationship, uh, it's work somehow, something works.

And because we attract each other and then love and laughter live in this space. So that's how I was explaining it to my kids. And I'm going, okay. And then, you know, something happens and I didn't know what it was. And then they start repelling each other. I'm telling my kids, this is what's happening. And then not to repel each other, they don't want to fight. So they meet their own needs somehow and they no longer repel, which was kind of mesmerizing

for the kids. So I said, so if I can figure out what that was, then maybe I can have a good relationship somehow that I can predict something. So I worked on it and I would do that as part of my show. I was so into it and I wanted to understand it so then I start playing with those magnets and this is what would happen So when you understand what to give and later on it happened that I realized one is giving one is receiving both of us can do that But if both people give the same things then it then it's going to repel. But if they do the right things for each other, then love and laughter lives in this space. Yeah.

So that was the beginning of that educational kind of process. I'm going, there is a law of nature here. Here it's, you know, magnetism and in relationship, there's something else, but I didn't know what it was. So that's when it was, I got my masters at UPenn and that wasn't enough. I didn't feel like my dissertation wasn't as good as I wanted it to be. So I went to Pepperdine and got a doctorate degree there. And that was the dissertation was called law of laughter,

LOL. That was the only joke. The original LOL. Yes, yes. Yeah, they let me keep that joke. The rest 190 pages of no jokes. Wow. Nothing, just straight research.

And so I was able to prove that it's basically, uh, meeting each other's needs is, uh, that's a, that's a setup. If you look at that, there's a laughter, like when you're telling a joke, you have a setup, you have a punchline, and then you have a laugh meeting the needs is the setup. Her, your humor is the punchline. Laughter is a result of that. That's what this helped me figure out. And this is a very Branson thing.

These mountains. Easy to understand. Yes. Uh, we sell them in the gift shop. It's all good. It's all great margins on it. Absolutely. Made in China.

It's all good. Yeah. Summer is in full swing. Yeah, it is. More sun. Dusty, do you like summer? I love summer. You love the sun?

The wet heat. That's what I'm into. Yeah. Well, there's more things to do outside and we get a lot busier. So summer has so many activities you don't want to miss out on. Number one thing you should do for the summer is cook. Oh yeah. Spending hours cooking inside is what you don't want to do.

That's where Factor comes in. Factor's chef crafted dietitian approved meals are ready in just two minutes taking the hassle out of eating well. They do all the hard work so you can enjoy every bit of summer. Factor meals arrive fresh and ready to eat, perfect for any activity, active lifestyle over summer and beyond. With 45 weekly menu options, you can pick gourmet meals

that fit your summer gains and goals. Choose from options like Calorie Smart, Protein Plus, Keto and more. Enjoy more this summer. Get Factor if you want all the flavor and none of the fuss. Aaron uses Factor and has for years. Yeah, I haven't been that diligent about it, but when I do it, I see results. Factor is good.

It is. Great endorsements from both of you. I started trying it out and I love it and you will too. And that is true. My family loves it. Okay. Well, I like the breakfast option, obviously. It's our breakfast. But on the go, obviously, because it's on breakfast.

But on the go lunches, they're super helpful too. My wife's out of town. She's in California this week. So I'm a stay at home dad and factor is going to be a big factor in my life this week. So get started at factormills.com slash Nate 50 off and use code Nate 50 off to get 50% off plus free shipping on your first box. That's code nate50off at factormills.com slash nate50off for 50% off your off plus free shipping. factormills.com slash nate50off. Well, I did a little research on psychology when I found out

we had an expert coming on. You're the most educated person we've ever had on podcast. Do you ever go by Dr. Smirnoff? Yeah, sometimes I sign my psychology when I found out we had an expert. Yeah. You're the most educated person we've ever had on all guests. Do you ever go by doctors? Smirnoff? You ever want to? I'm assigned my, my emails. Dr. Smirnoff.

Otherwise Dr. Yakov. Dr. Yakov. That's it. Yeah. I don't, nobody calls me. Not on stage or anything.

I tried it for a little while. It didn't, it didn't mean a rebrand rebrand. I tried it, but I actually walked out after my graduation in the world, in a robe. Uh, and, uh, and it went well, but it wasn't like something. Yeah. We want to see more of that. Yeah. Sure.

So that didn't go. You know, Aaron, we did this about four years ago. One of the live tapings is Aimee's. We talked a little bit about psychology. Yeah. But it was a little bit over Nate's head. So we thought, since he's not here, Nate, I had nothing to do with this. It's their setup.

Okay. I'm walking into something. Okay. Well, you'll find this interesting. I think I want to hear your opinion on this. So psychology is the scientific study of the human mind, especially those affecting behavior. And I read an article that said comedians are the closest thing to psychologists because we do experiments.

We give a scenario that we think will have a certain reaction and we get immediate feedback. That's correct. And that's what psychologists do. Would you say that? I would say That's correct. And that's what psychologists do. Would you say that? I would say it's close. That's why my podcast is called, it's called Comedy Couch. And the reason I called it that because it's kind of a mixture. We're having good time. However, the more and I don't- Well, that's his catchphrase. We're having good time. So- Yeah. Oh, sorry. Sorry. Oh.

I trademarked it. What a country. There you go. You get it. You get it. I got it. Yeah, I got it. So yeah, I agree with you on that. I think that it has to do, the comedians have that sense. I don't think we will ever think about this except like some weirdos like me who kind of goes, I want to understand this, why people laughing and why they're not laughing. Um, so we also, every laugh we're tested, every laugh that tells you tells me I met

their need that I talked about what they wanted to hear from me, and then my humor triggered the laughter, every joke, every joke. So I called the podcast, the Comedy Couch, because, and I'm talking to comedians who obviously have some issues. All of us have some issues. All of us have some issues and so it's a wonderful opportunity to actually talk to younger comedians who are like you know might have questions about their relationship or their or their you know children or whatever and it gives me a chance to kind of play around with this and their insurance doesn't cover it unfortunately, but it's still fun for me to shine some light on that.

Yeah. Here's an interesting tidbit I found. TV executives did studies on test audiences and found that canned laughter got more laughs than shows with no laugh track. People are 30 times more likely to laugh in the presence of others than alone. A hundred percent. Well, you, you know, this, uh, you watch a show on TV and you just kind of go, that's funny. Yeah. But you, you see the same show, right?

With a bunch of people and you just, I think it's a communication between people saying, I'm having a good time. Are you? Again, that's his phrase. You don't, you don't, you don't ask it. You tell them. Yeah. We're having a good time.

You walk out and you're having a good time. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You don't ask, you tell them. Yeah. Yeah. No, but that's exactly what's happening. When we're laughing together, it's like a tribal thing that we're, you know, we're communicating to one another.

We're really like this. We like that we bought the ticket to come here. We like where we are. We like that person. And this is our way to approve that. Or so the problem when I'm watching's specials is that I keep watching them alone. That's the problem.

That's the only problem. I need more people in the room. But the magic, the magic about your podcast also that you have four or five people here and that's great. That's a great audience, you know, to, to be able to know if it's working or it's not. And you make fun of each other, which is great. Yeah. We were talking, so we just all acted a small part in Nate's movie that he's

filming right now. So he gave us all a little part, but none of us have had that much experience filming something on that scale. Definitely not. And, you know, we're doing the scene and I don't know how y'all felt, but I was like, I have no idea. Is this going well? Like there's no, you know, it's just quiet.

That's right. And then they cut and they go, let's do it again. And you're like, I don't know. Was that good? And I go, it's great. And they go, well, give me something here. It's only technical. Yeah.

This is, it's not you. Just keep doing it. Yeah. Yeah. But I want a crowd there to let me know if I It's only technical. Yeah. It's not you. Just keep doing it. Yeah. Yeah. But I want a crowd there to let me know if I'm bombing or not. Yeah. I, that's why stand up, I think for all of us, uh, is probably the best form of, uh, that we can offer and it gives us feedback immediately.

So we need that as well. Cause I've, I've made movies and sometimes it takes like six months to a year to go see it. And then you go see it and you hope that they're laughing. But it's done. Obviously culture has changed since you started standup, like in America, people's references are different. Do you think people are basically the same

and laugh at the same things or do you think things have changed at all? I think that if, like let's use Nate as an example, his comedy comes across, a lot of other comedians have to kind of adjust because the world became a lot more sensitive to some topics or things that so from that perspective definitely the audience is like, oh you can't say that. I used to be able to say some things about Russian women for example, now no, you can't do it. They'll kick your butt, you know, no. And so you have to be more cautious

and more careful about that. And social media, I'm kind of there on Instagram and stuff, but I was afraid of it. I was afraid of Instagram because people follow you. And in the Soviet Union, if you get followed, that's not a good thing, right? So I was- It's not a good thing in certain areas of America.

Probably. Yeah. But I don't read comments. I just kind of oblivious to this. I go, I just going to do what I got to do and somebody will let me know if it's not right. I have a real comment reading problem. Do you?

Yeah, I love reading the comments. He gets in there and fights with people. I love to do it. I don't fight with them, I joke fight with them, but I think they get pretty hard. Now analyze that as a psychologist and tell us what's wrong with them. Oh boy, okay. If we open that can of worms. Now I'm having a good time.

I don't know if we have the time. If we open that can of worms, man. So I guess it's a dependency for you, right? And you want the feedback, good or bad, and you want to win them over. Yeah. Sometimes if it's all good feedback, it's a little boring. Yeah. I want, I want a guy in there going, you know, some guy, yeah, this guy sucks here. And then I like to go, yeah, I like to get in there. It's the thing when you're on stage and you know, 500 people are laughing, but

there's one guy with his arms crossed. You focus on that. Absolutely. Absolutely. But, but some people like it and some people like me just don't read it. I don't care. But it's in your hands. What a blessing. What a blessing to be in that country. What a country. You can turn off that phone. You know that. I don't think so. But mine doesn't turn off. Actually, you know what? I tried

to turn mine off the other day. I was like, I'm done with it, but mine doesn't turn off. Actually, you know what? I tried to turn mine off the other day. I was like, I'm done with it, but it needs to charge. So I plugged it in, turned back on. I'm like, I can't. It's good to be. Took 20 seconds and you're back. Yeah. You're back.

Yeah. Well, they need you. They need you. But it's also, you know, you were sold out in Springfield, Missouri. It was a hot show, but 1200 people, really a beautiful theater. It is happening. Yeah, yeah. I was impressed.

Yeah, thank you. So I guess you keep fighting with those comments. Springfield's great. I go to Springfield a lot. I love Springfield. It's great. It is. It's folks very down to earth and they give you, they like you, they like you, they just,

but Nashville audience is pretty great too. Nashville's great too. Nashville's the best. Yeah. So yeah, I'm happy that I'm here. Right. You know, Dusty was in a Cracker Barrel commercial So that's kind of his Miller life. It's not now, you know, I don't know that it's gonna get me out of it

presidential But I am in a Cracker Barrel commercial that's for you. Is it still running? I think so. All right. It's too much, honestly. I can't get away from it. Actually, my neighbor told me that, that she goes, people are going to hate you. That thing runs all the time. Yeah.

I'm going to watch TV. So I'm like, I got to start doing that at some point, but last 32 years, I, I'm just trying to watch sports and then the commercial break is dusty. And then I go to the airport and Nate's doing the announcement over the thing. I can't get away from these people. That's why I keep a low profile. I do it for these guys. You don't want to bug people.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't want to overexpose myself. That's very nice. Here's another psychological term though, based on what we were just talking about, negative bias. Our brains have something called negative bias that makes us remember bad news more than good news, which is why you quickly forget someone's compliment, but remember if someone says something insulting, to fill a balance, we need at least five to one good to bad. to one, good to bad. 100%, right? And that's what the media is built on.

The media people, they understand our psychology. They understand that we're wired for survival, so we see danger first and they feed on that. That's why you don't, the Hallmark channel is tiny, uh, and, and you know, all the other channels are, because it's all negative. It's all something that people crave, even though, you know, it's not healthy for them. I really believe that, you know, I feel so, so much healthier when I don't pay attention to any of that stuff. Just enough to know where I live, what year is this? And that's all. That's enough for me.

And who even knows if that's real? That's what I always say. The year, who knows? Yeah. As long as we know we're having a good time. Exactly. What a country. The two most positive catchphrases of the time. Yeah, yeah, probably. Probably. All right, Dusty, here's another one right up your alley, I think. Reactants. This phenomenon called reactants. When people perceive certain freedoms being taken away, they not only break that rule, but they break even more than they otherwise would have. So if they tell you like, you gotta wear a mask on a plane,

not only are you not gonna wear the mask, you're gonna smoke a cigarette. Yeah. Exactly. If people don't wanna breathe, I'll help them not breathe. That's what I always say. Yeah.

You served. You served. You're here to serve. Exactly. That's sweet. Very nice. Beautiful. The Pygmalion effect.

Ooh, I didn't know. I don't know what that. It basically says, if you tell people they're gonna do well and tell other people they're not gonna do well, it'll often come true. And they told a group of teachers, these students have really high IQ, and they told them, other teachers, these students don't.

And the ones that they told that about did do better because the teachers treated them differently. Makes a lot of sense. Yeah, yeah. I feel like I fell into the other side, you know, when I was in school, it's like I was not getting a lot of positive feedback. I would never take an IQ test.

And this is why, if I did well and scored really high, then for the rest of my life, I would think that I'm smarter and better than everyone. And if I scored bad, I would not even, I wouldn't even talk anymore. I don't even think I could do a podcast. You just say it's rigged. But deep down inside, I would go, I took that test and I have a low IQ and I just, I can't even face myself. It's like, I think Forrest Gump's IQ was 58 or something.

Wasn't it 58? I don't know. 68 or something. And he did great. Yeah. But he was a fake person. Don't listen to those guys. Don't listen to them.

No. Yeah. But I got to tell you one thing. I got to tell you one thing that people, comedians, or people who are funny, not just comedians, it's researched over and over and over again. CEOs of the companies, Fortune 500, whatever, they have a good sense of humor.

And that's a sign of the higher intelligence that any average person has. That's all the AccuTest I need. Isn't there also a disproportionate amount of sociopaths and stuff on that level? Probably. Yeah, probably. So it's tough to see the... I didn't read that one.

I didn't want to know. But the point is that once you understand that you are already, just because you can make people laugh, just because you have a good sense of humor, you already score way higher than majority of people. Yeah. So that's enough for me. Yeah. Yeah.

That's good. Yeah. The ultimate goal is to be happy, successful, and you're those things. Yeah. So I'd like to see the number though. Yeah, I know. If it's good, I want to see it. If you want to take the test and just let me look at the results.

You're the last person I would tell. He wants you to feel like Forest Gump. Yeah. Unless it were high, I would not. You would never know. They did a conformity study to show how we can conform to certain beliefs. Students were told they were taking a vision test and were asked to identify which of these three lines was the same length as a target line.

When asked alone, students were highly accurate in getting it right. But then they put in fake participants who intentionally picked the incorrect line and the real participants started answering that way as well. Even though they knew it probably wasn't right. Yeah. But the bias, you know, group think. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I just did a couple of shows. One was here in in lab. The story wars. Yeah that was great by the way it was fun yeah but I don't I don't really it's it's basically a liar's club right it's it's just on steroids but I don't like to lie I mean I don't I don't want to so, so, but that bias, because there's two other people, actually it's, it's four other people are convincing you that this

is what you're supposed to do. And this is probably the correct answer. You go with it and then you realize I didn't even have time to really analyze it. I just went with the crowd. All right. Yeah. Right.

Yeah. So I agree with that. Hmm. Um, there is a psychologist did a study on how we, a social experiment, how we view beauty and they took a, a claim violinist named Josh Bell and who had just sold out a concert hall, $100 tickets each. And they put him on the street as a street musician in Washington, DC.

And no one stopped to hear. He was playing with a three and a half million dollar violin and no one stopped to care about him. Well, so. Good thing. Good thing he doesn't have to do that. Three and a half million dollar violin. Right.

Somebody take it. Yeah. Yeah, it's not a... It's a good thing for him that he can... He has something to fall back on. Yeah. On his real career, right? Well, that's true.

Like, too, it's like comedy works like that, right? It's like you can go up, you do the rhyming. If no one knows who you are, you're at the rhyming and they go, well, this guy must be good because he's playing the rhyming. But if you're in the, you know, coffee shop, they go, well, this guy's no good. He's in a coffee shop. You might still get some laughs, but I think about that sometimes if you're in a bad open mic or a bad show, you're like the best comedians in the world could be in here right now. And I don't know if they would destroy. Yeah. Right. Especially if you didn't know who they were. Yeah. If they're just a random guy nobody heard of them. It's like, you know, they figure it out on some level, but like sometimes the environment just doesn't lead itself. I was doing ACME downtown years ago and these people

kept talking the entire time I was on stage. I was the headliner. They kept talking the entire time. And then Ron White was in the bar. And then he comes up after me and starts doing jokes. And they're still talking. They, he goes, if y'all shut up a minute, I'll do some time. And they never stopped talking. That make you feel better on some level.

Yeah. It wasn't personal. Yes. I had this situation like that. Uh, Minneapolis big club, like 500 people. I was probably in the eighties and packed and there are two people up front sitting, uh, talking to each other and would not shut up. Nobody else hears them, but you do.

and would not shut up. Nobody else hears them, but you do. And so you can't really do the heckle line because nobody understands why. What are you picking on people for? So I said to the guy, I said, you know, why don't you guys seem to like you're enjoying each other? So let me give you a hundred dollars so you can go home have a bottle of wine and enjoy yourself. They would not shut up. Oh yeah. And then and then the security start like coming to them and going can you, no didn't

show up. They had to call the police. Wow. Yeah. The police came they would not shut up. I said, you know what? I'm going to take a break because this is like during the show. Yeah. The police are in the room. Yeah. Yeah. I go take a break when they're, when they're gone, then I'll continue. And that was dangerous kind of thing because the audience like could turn on you because they could go, Oh, you're sissy. you couldn't, you couldn't handle this. Right. And so I walked out in the hallway.

They had to handcuff those people. They would not leave. They did not want to leave. Hancocked them, took them, was taking them out. And the guy turns to me and says, can I still get that hundred dollars? And I go timing, timing, timing. Yeah. So, you know, it's, it made a great story, but I walked back on stage and people gave me a standing ovation.

Wow. I was going to say by the time the police are there, I bet the rest of the crowd hated those people too. Yeah. Yeah. You've seen some crazy stuff in your career. I mean, stand-up comedy is, we think of, it's only been around for like 60 years or something. You've been here for almost all of it.

Oh, yeah. Yeah. Well, vaudeville been here a long time. Yeah. I'm thinking more like modern stand-up. Right, right. Yeah. No, I was part of a lot of it from the early 80s

to still doing it. So thank God for Branson to give me that place where I can continue to perform and not lose my shape of an interest in it. Right. And now you're hitting the road a bunch, right? You're doing a bunch of dates all over. I'm excited about this. My wife is supportive, which is great.

Uh-huh. We're expecting a baby. Yeah, that's amazing. Congrats. Thank you. Thank you so much. August 10th. Big time. It's like seven weeks from now. Yeah.

Wow. And she's still supportive of me being here and doing stuff with them doing. And so it will be interesting. She wants to do in-house birth. Oh, I support it. I support it. Did you do it for you? I didn't do it, but I support it.

In the bathtub. Oh, I love it. That's what people are doing. So it's like scuba lessons instead of what Ma's. I mean, it boggles my mind that, but she's like, okay, yeah, that's what I want to do. I go, okay, I'll, I'll hang in there. You know, whatever. Yeah.

So is it, is it her first kid? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. That's awesome. Yeah. Congratulations. It's very exciting.

She's excited. I'm excited. Uh, we, my kids, I have 32 year old and 34 year old, so they don't have kids yet. So we decide to get our own grandchild. We're just skipping a generation. Yeah. You know, they're slacking off. Fine. We'll do it ourselves. Yeah. Yeah. So you got to. It's been, it's, it's wonderful. I'm really, I'm psyched. I'm doing a grand opera for the first time. It's just. When are you doing the opera for the first time? Wednesday. Oh, Wednesday. Yeah. Tonight. Oh, tonight. Tonight. Tonight. All right. Tonight is the night. I love that. Yeah. Yeah. That's amazing. So I think we looked up Charlie McCoy's on there.

Yeah. It's a good one. Charlie McCoy's great. It's a good one. Harmonica guy. Yeah. Plays the Orange Blossom special. Yeah. It's going to be good. Yeah. Did you know a lot about country music? Yeah. Which country? I know that it's sad, you know, a lot of things are sad. It's sad what's happened to it these days also. Is it really? No, it's more popular than ever. Is it? Yeah, yeah, no, Branson is the country music,

after you guys, this is like a lot of country music people. You probably can't get away from it out there in a lot of places, yeah. Yeah, I don't, I mean, I actually country music was my favorite out of all the, all the other music because it's slow Rhonda, Vincent, yeah. Del McCrory band, Randall King, Maggie Barnett. It's a good line.

Right. Yeah. Good line up. Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, I could understand the lyrics of of, because it was slow. Sure. I could, I could understand it. Yeah. Other songs I couldn't understand. I still don't. I still, I would listen to, you know, old Kenny Rogers songs. Oh yeah. Just because they make sense. Yeah.

They're, they're, there's like storytelling, right? Yeah. The gambler. The gambler or Lucille. I mean, it just, it's great songs. They're great songs. They have meanings. They have, they touch you. Coward of the County. You ever hear that one? Yeah. Love it. A little tough scene mid, mid second verse, but it sounds good. Somebody had to do it. But yeah, I actually, uh, just my, my son was going for something and I sent him that song, uh, because I said, you know, promise me son not to do the things I've done. And so he said, it's perfect timing that thank you. So something cool about the Opry that I'm sure they'll, I'm sure they'll tell

you about when you're there, but you know, the original home of the Grand Old Opry was the Ryman, where you performed on the Nate Lance show. Yeah. So when they moved to what is now the Grand Old Opry, they cut a circle from the original stage. And now when you go to the Opry stage tonight, you'll see there's a circle from the original stage. And then when you perform there, you get to step into the circle. So you stand where all the great legends Johnny Cash, Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, dusty sleigh, all the legends. So yeah, that'll be, that'll be awesome. And how did it feel to be back on The Tonight Show after what, 40 years? Oh yeah, you were just on it.

I was. It happened here again. I got this because of Brian Dorfman kind of squeezing me into that showcase, because there was not- I've known Brian Dorfman a long time. He's never once put me on a show. Yeah. Sounds like you should move to Nashville.

Yeah. Sounds like Nashville's the spot for you. That's what he said. You were just talking about this a couple of days ago and he was, he said, move to Nashville. This is a good day. I go, well, could I get 2000 seat theater in Nashville? I don't think so. And I kind of feel like a big fish in a small pond.

I'm in Branson 32 years. It's like, I feel like remember that movie. It's a Wonderful Life. Yeah. Where he was trying to get out of there every year and then he couldn't. And then so the same way for me, I thought I'll be just for a year, just for a year, just for a year, 32 years. Yeah. Let's at least advocate for direct flights. I would year, just for a year, 32 years. Yeah. Let's at least advocate for direct flights. I would like that very much.

So I, or I was actually, as I was, as I was flying here, took like 10 hours to get here. And then I would have, if I drove, I would be here at seven. Yeah. So the Springfield airport Branson. Yeah. It's a, yeah, it's a tough connect. Right. Look how cool this is.

This picture Yakov put up from 1985, Yakov with Johnny Carson. And then 40 years later, that's a night show you sitting down with Jimmy Fallon. How cool is that? You look the same. You do. Thank you.

Yeah. I grew up in Chernobyl, so that's why I was, um, but that's what it was. But it's interesting. Yeah, it was amazing too. Jimmy was so sweet and respectful. I did not expect that kind of welcome. Because I did not have, Jay didn't have me on and

Letterman didn't have me on, so I didn't really do any of that. Well, Letterman kind of had you on. Yeah. Yeah, thank you. And there's my wife right there. Go back. There we are. And Jimmy stood there for like three minutes talking to a baby in her womb.

You know, he was like saying, Uncle Jimmy is going to cheer you up when you are not feeling good. Just let me know. I mean, it was adorable. It was adorable. He's very nice. Yeah. Yeah.

Lucky, lucky to be able to do this, you know. Yeah. Yeah. So cool, man. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So I, I mean, I'm blessed that I am still feeling, I feel like I'm 35. I feel like that when I was on that tonight show and now with the new baby, I'll probably have to feel. Yeah.

What a country. What a country. Yes. Yes. Yeah. What a country. What a country, yes. This is pretty awesome because next week's Independence Day, so we have the most American guy we have. Yeah, completely. Yeah.

I was sworn in as an American citizen at the Statue of Liberty ceremonies. Oh, really? Yeah, on July 4th, 1986. When you initially brought it over. No, no, no. No, I'm not that though. Come on. Chernobyl didn't even happen before that. No, but I...

July 4th, what year? 1986. Oh, so you weren't American citizen when you were on Johnny Carson. Yeah, that was 1985. In the beginning I wasn't, but then I did seven times. Wow. Yeah. So then I... He's not even an American citizen. He got on seven times. What

have I got to do? You just leave the country and try to come back in. We've been trying to get into I got to go to another country. Yeah. I've been very blessed. So, and I had this vision. I mean, I literally fell in love with Statue of Liberty when I was a little boy. And my dad, we lived in a communal apartment, so a whole family, like three of us lived in one room until I was 26. But my dad would get up in the middle of the night and quietly listen to Voice of America. And one time I woke up and I saw him sitting there with his ear to the radio and I go, what are you listening to? And he goes, shh, don't let neighbors hear us because it was forbidden to, to listen to. And so I sat next to him and I heard like in, they were

obviously in Russian, uh, saying, give me your tired, you're hungry and you're poor. And I'm like going, I'm, I'm qualified, you know, and, um, and my dad, you know, I'm tired for sure. And so I'm like, then the whole thing fades into the night because shortwave radio. And so I go, who was that? And he goes, it's a statue, it's a lady Liberty said she's like this tall woman standing in the harbor, holding a torch, waiting for people like you and me and your mother who might someday go to America. Wow. And so I literally, I had this vision and then he told me about her and I liked everything except she was green. I didn't know how to deal with that.

But as a child, I kept drawing pictures of her and that was very, very important to do that as a kid. Yeah. That was something I did at, that was a tough moment. Um, at, uh, Oh, that was a tough moment. That was when I, um, when, when the nine 11 happened. And this is, uh, Paul Harvey did the story about this. Yoko stared disbelieving at the television screen, knowing he'd be held forever after in the grip of that awesome scene.

But Yoko's impressions were more personal than most. For the trend towers of lower Manhattan, now tumbling like sandy castles, were themselves newly arrived when Jacque and his parents, near broke and speaking no English, first came to America, specifically to New York City, where icons like the Statue of Liberty and those shining towers held forth such exciting promise. And Yakov was an artist, an art professor. In his native Russia, in the days of Soviet repression, he knew the power of his craft to herald and to heal.

And so immediately, standing otherwise helpless in the shadow of his adopted homelands, the darkest day at first, mainly hoping to heal himself. Yonko began to paint his vision was lower Manhattan ominously smoldering after the tower spell as seen from behind the statue of Liberty, symbolic of the indestructibility of American ideals. Yeah. I mean, you mentioned you're an incredible painter. Yeah.

So right now, I mean, this looks unbelievable. Yeah. And it's worth probably finishing the story because your audience is gonna go, wait, wait. So what's the rest of the story? Oh, sure, sure, sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because he was pretty good about.

Uncle signed the painting simply with these words. The human spirit is not measured by the size of the act, but by the size of the heart. Oh yes, you know that painting. It was displayed as a huge mural, one as big as the building on which it was recreated, 135 feet wide and 200 feet tall, looming triumphantly over the ground zero site.

His love letter to a city and a nation, his message of hope to the watching world. Its display had been financed with $100,000 out of the artist's own pocket. Wow. But there had been no press conference, not even an announcement.

For Yonkhoff's solitary stipulation was that he, as the muros benefactor, remain utterly anonymous. For since he is world-wide recognized not for his art, but for his humor, Yankov Shmirnov had worried that somebody might laugh, might mentally picture the Russian-born comedian, and recall his catchphrase, what a country! But now you know how deeply he feels that exclamation now that you know the rest of the story. Wow.

That's awesome. So that last picture was taking this swearing in ceremony at the Statue of Liberty, yeah. And the reason I think I wanted to do this mural is because I, this is when the 9-11 happened, all the footage that we saw was coming from the same place where I was sworn in. So here's this, the most exciting moment of my life and this is the worst moment of my life. And so I stayed up all night painting

because this was my way of like, maybe I can fix it somehow. And that's, and I had a vision that it needs to be a mural at the ground zero. And so I started going to, from Branson to New York to just kind of see if I can find a spot for it, if I was willing to pay for it. But at that time security was so tough, nobody would allow you anywhere. And so I went several times and then, uh, finally I, I decided to reach out to, uh, people who do big billboards. And I thought maybe they will help me.

And it was a steel workers union and, uh, they agreed to meet me and I found a building where they would allow me to put it up for like 10 days and so I went there to meet with those guys and they're like you know guys from other like Polish, Italians, Cussing you know know, they're like, we hate this place. We were taking the dead bodies out of here. We don't want to be here. What do you want? I said, well, I would like to put up this mural and I want to do it for first anniversary memorial.

And, and they're like going, there's no way. I said, I'll pay for it. And they said, Donald Trump doesn't have enough money to pay for something like that. And they're leaving. And I'm like going, just, I came to New York and they're gone. They're leaving. And then I, they see, I had a mockup of this and they said, what is that? And I said, well, this is exactly what I'm trying to put up there.

And they, uh, uh, and they start, stop causing, and they looked at each other and the leader said, I sell pay and he said, don't worry about that. He said, I said, I have permits, you know, I have a scaffolding permit. He said, you don't have enough permits and you'll never get it, but we'll put it up anyway. And I said, why? Why did you change your mind? And the leader of this, he said, because I want to drive with my son and I want to show him this and I want to tell him that I helped to put this up in the sky. And they were as good as they were. I mean, they, 50 people came three days before the anniversary memorial and And they worked for 12 hours, did not charge me a penny to do this. And they put it up and then it was a little bit crooked

or something, they went back up and they fixed it. So it was just that moment in life when you go, God wanted it up there and I just helped that happen. Yeah, it's wonderful. That's incredible, man. What a great story. Well, thank you for sharing that. Yeah, absolutely.

Yeah, that's awesome. You're welcome. Well, yeah, you're just, you're incredible, incredible story. Yeah, this is a great story. This is very fun. Yeah. Good, I'm glad.

Yeah, thanks for sharing the story. Sure, sure. I'm happy to. So we end with promoting shows we got coming up? Yes. Tonight at the Operating Lab. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then it's just seeing everything I'm doing on Yaakov.com, y-a-k-o-v.com, social media, all of this com, social media, all of this that I'm scared of. Yeah. Uh, it's Yakov underscore Smirnov and then come to Branson. There's, I do shows every Wednesday.

So, uh, this Wednesday I took off because I needed to be at the Grand Ole Opry. So. Yeah. Yeah. You should take off the week of August 10th. I already, my schedule is clear. Absolutely.

And make sure you check out Comedy Couch too. A lot of great interviews on there. I got to sit down and talk with the Opcoc for a while. That was great. There's a lot of comedians who are friends of this podcast and comedians that we know you'd like, so be sure to check that out. Yeah, thank you. Yeah. Yeah. I have fun doing it. who are friends of this podcast and comedians that we know you'd like, so be sure to check that out.

Yeah, thank you. Yeah, yeah. I have fun doing it. July 6th, I will be at the Comedy Catch in Chattanooga. No, I'm sorry, July 6th, I will be at Good Night's Comedy Club in Raleigh, North Carolina. July 9th, I'll be at the Comedy Catch in Chattanooga. So that's a Sunday night and a Wednesday night. And I have a lot of church people that are fans of mine They're like, oh, it's church night. Bring your church group It's a clean show from Top to Bottom Out. I know the openers they're all clean. So yeah, bring them all bring your pastor And then July 18th and 19th, I'm at the Looney Bend in Tulsa, Oklahoma and July 25th. I'm in Hattiesburg, Mississippi

I'm in Hunieman in Tulsa, Oklahoma. And July 25th, I'm in Hattiesburg, Mississippi with Derek Stroop and Andrew Stanley doing a laugh for life. It's an annual event they do every year to raise money for cancer research and other things. What are the other things? Well, I guess maybe. You called me out.

I don't know. I don't know. But I'll get back to you. But July 25th, Hattiesburg, Mississippi. I got a bunch of dates coming up. Second half of the year, Chattanooga, Lowell, Arkansas, Phoenix, Denver, Atlanta, Huntsville, San Diego, Buffalo, Albany, Syracuse.

I'm going all over. AaronWeberComedy.com. You wanna come see me? The shows are hot and wet. Wet heat. Okay, yes. I have, I'm taking a little time off in the summer, but July 29th, new Netflix special coming out

called Wet Heat. And then 22nd of July, I'm here at Zany's and the 25th of July, I'm in Las Vegas. So come check those out. Where in Las Vegas? Uh, I don't know if it's in. Thank you for calling him out too. Yeah.

Well, I don't know right off hand. It's they'll find you. But I can tell you, uh, but since you asked though, I don't know right off hand. It's they'll find you. I can tell you. But since you asked though, I should know. So I'll pull it up. And you can pull up my website. Oh, July 20th. Also, I'll be in Winnipeg, Canada.

That's cool. July 22nd, Zany's and July 25th at the Palazzo Theatre in Las Vegas. That's cool. Yeah. Yeah. I don't... And I don't know, and my, I have probably a couple of, I think I'm in Lowell, Arkansas. Have you played that club?

Yeah, The Grove. Yeah. Yeah, I love that place. We're all friends of The Grove for sure. Yeah. I'm there on September 6th and 7th. So... Have you been there before? Yeah, one time. I did one night there. I loved it because he sold it out like two weeks before. That's great. It was like, yeah, cool. I still can come out and do something out there.

Yeah, big time. Not just be in Branson. Then I got a gig in Philadelphia. I don't think it's on my website yet because it just happened yesterday. So that's in October sometime, 17 and 18 of October. I'm in Philadelphia. Awesome. Good deal. Yacov, thank you so much for coming on, man. Thanks for having me.

Appreciate it, buddy. I had a great time. Yeah, you're the man. What a country. What a country. We're having a good time. Thank you. Yes, we are. Did you know using your browser in incognito mode doesn't actually protect your privacy?

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