The Three Questions with Andy Richter - Adam Pally

Episode Date: January 9, 2024

Adam Pally joins Andy Richter to discuss why his comedy travel show, “101 Places to Party Before You Die,” feels like improv camp, how to get out of indoor skydiving, the toughest member of the ��Happy Endings” cast, the story behind his hilarious “CONAN” appearances, and much more.

Hi, everybody. Welcome back to The Three Questions. I'm your host, Andy Richter, and today I'm talking to Adam Pally. Adam is a comedian, a writer, and an actor, and I really, really love him. He's such a great guy. Adam currently hosts the very funny comedy travel show 101 Places to Party Before You Die, which you can watch on Max. He will also reprise his role from Sonic the Hedgehog films in the new Paramount Plus animated series, Knuckles. Adam joined me via Zoom in New York City. Here's my conversation with the great Adam Pally. You've got a show tonight right yeah you uh you're doing a live version of uh before you die with gaberson pally yes which is it that it was a that's a really funny show are you guys still doing it do you get to do more of them um we i think we're gonna get to do

more you know like it was it was one of those things where like every network that it was supposed to be on folded yeah in the midst of producing it and so it was like it was gonna be on hbo max and then that wasn't a thing anymore and then you're like yeah now it's on this channel that channel so it's taken a long time but i think we are gonna get to do it again but But with like a different, we're going to like go to some different places that are not necessarily about partying. But I think we're going to get to do it again,

knock on wood, hopefully. Oh, good. That's cool. Yeah. And then we started doing this live show just because it was out of sheer, like we have to do something. We can't like just not.

I felt a real sense, the thing we both did of like what what what if this is it you know like what if there's nothing else and we have to do something you know yeah well now but i mean your show that that your show is a travel show yeah so are you showing are you showing clips are you no we we we've been um are are we've been shooting content in the cities that we get to beforehand and editing it. Oh, I see. And so it's like kind of doing a live version of the actual show.

And then we have local vendors come and we like try the food and give it out to the audience. Oh, that's fun. It's really a fun time. Wow. It's really fun. It's chaotic and that's fun it's really a fun time it's it's it's really fun it's it's chaotic and it's it's it's fun it has that the feeling of like one of those like late night uh ucb shows where you're like you're just throwing it together and giving it everything committing to it but it's

chaotic well that's great i because when i because when you guys's show came out i was like because when you guys's show came out i was like fucking so envious like god damn it it was the travel and party with a friend you know and i and i'm too old to do like now well so were we we found that i mean we we again like we pitched that show uh like five years ago and it took it took all that hollywood machination of like yeah getting it going so we were like in our mid-30s when we pitched the show and we were in our early 40s when we shot the first season and it was like that's a that's a mile those those ages are miles away from each huge difference yeah and you add in like being on blood pressure medicine and then it's for real like things change the shooting schedules everything is like different

now you know um and so it we found that we were too old too but we were like again we were just like when we pitched the show we were like we want to do a version of of the trip for dumb americans pretty much for like basic americans and uh and then we got to do it and we realized that that what americans would do in that situation is what we did which is like overeat and over over drink oh you would have loved it andy first of all you would have been great you season two knock on wood we will i promise we will have you on but you oh i would i would have loved it in a minute you would have loved it too because it's like improv camp. Yeah.

You know, it's like, and so you, like our producer, we only had one writer and producer because the crew's so small, who's Justin Tyler, who worked on Desus and Mero and was on John and I's first improv team. And like, it was truly,

it truly felt like those times where you're like, you would roll into a city, you'd have a day to like, walk around, then you'd all convene back that afternoon and write. Yeah. And be like, okay, what is funny about Richmond, Virginia? What, you know, what did you find? What did you find? And you do like little writing bits.

And then the next day you were shooting those bits, you know, and it was like, so it was the most fun comedic onscreen work I've gotten to do. Cause you're just, there's no, there's nothing between you and what you're putting out. Right. Right. And it was, it was great. I mean, and it's like improvising on a high wire when you're like, you know, touring the Edgar Allen Poe museum and you're trying to get kicked out, but you're also, like, playing a character.

It's so fun. I was just talking, because, you know, on the Conan show, early on, you know, and we're, you know, back in 1993, I was the first one who was going out and doing remote pieces. Right. Go to Miss America pageant or the super bowl or mardi gras or whatever

yeah because early on the thought around there was that going out into the field with a camera crew and interacting with people was such a david letterman thing and we did there was a lot of that's too letterman-y like there was a lot like we would too letter many, like there was a lot of, like we would come up with bits that were, that we thought were funny. And then we'd be like, yeah, but it's really letter many.

So we either have to change it. So it's not so letter many or do something else. So they had me do these things until it just, I think mainly Conan thought, saw how fun it was. And yeah, Conan was probably like, well,

I'd rather be eating food outside of the studio. Yes, exactly. And we did a bunch together too. But I do, my mom was, I was on the phone with my mom the other day. And she was like, I wish you'd do more of those. And I was like, I was like, first of all, mom, I'm really old. And second of all, I'm like, those are so hard. Like it's, it's a lot of work and it

is like that i i don't know that i've ever felt as much performing stress yes going to the arkansas state fair and having to come home with eight to ten minutes of television comedy you're completely you're're completely on it. That, that is one of the stressors. I think again, it's like improv camp. Like the fact that the people that I was making it with,

I've known for 25 years and we're like, you know, when we were 19, we're, we're put on a, a Herald team for Besser to like rip us a new one. Yeah. Yeah.

You know, like you've been through it. Yeah. No, for Besser to rip us a new one. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, like, you've been through it. Yeah. No, not Besser. I'm older than Besser. Yeah, I know you're older than Besser, so you got it from the person that gave it to you and Besser, but I got it from Besser.

Well, Besser's is Matt Besser, who is one of the original UCB members and a really hilarious guy. One of my dearest friends, too. Yeah, but he sometimes uh he doesn't have a good bedside manner when you're young yeah when you're young and you're learning comp truly when you're young and you're learning comedy i i do think that like it would benefit like it benefit me a great deal to be told in stark terms yeah you know what i mean like yeah like who has time for all this niceness don't take

it personally we're all learning how to do this yeah yeah and that was the first time that i was ever like uh on a stage would come off and literally be like told like what you're doing is not good it's bad what you're doing is bad and maybe give it a minute you know like no but that's what you'd come around you'd come around for notes circle around and if best was in the house because he was like in from la or something everyone would be like oh my god and he'd be like i want to talk to you and you'd be like oh god yeah and then you know you'd be told like not bad like this is not good it was never like this is bad you should quit it's like i'm just gonna be in very plain terms this is what. You should quit. It's like, I'm just going to be in very plain terms. This is what you're doing that why people don't like it.

Like, yeah. And you could, and for me who, who like, I was never good in school or anything like it's very simple for someone to say, you know why the audience didn't laugh is because you did this.

And if you try something else next time, you'll get that left. And then you can like in real time. Yeah. Do that. It takes that. I i think i mean yeah but anyway so those three people were like there with me and so you felt like as hard as it is you know like everything was a bit so there were times where we'd be like they'd be like we're gonna go indoor skydiving and i'd be like the fuck we are i am not no yeah they'd be like yes and then and then all of a sudden like you know john would be like put the cameras up you know what i mean and then everyone

in the van cameras up it's like i'm not going skydiving and then you're just improvising and then it's literally like a scene right you're like yeah sure i'm a heightened version of myself and he's john and he wants me to go indoor skydiving and i'm like you know no i'm like no absolutely not i have a separated shoulder and he's like you're lying you know and were you no of course i was lying i don't know i just didn't want to go that fucking thing but it's like and like i love that that's the first one you came up with well yeah i'm like desperately separated shoulder i'm like i want to go on that fucking thing I love that that's the first one you came up with Well yeah I have a separated shoulder

I can't go in that He's like I've known you for 25 years You never once mentioned a fucking separated shoulder It happened yesterday And then that's the scene And so it's almost like the show Because it exists In the moments in between The big moments is a lot easier and a lot more fun.

Because you don't have to, like, there was maybe one time where I felt the pressure of being like, oh, I have to do this. But the rest of it was like, how do I turn this, like, weird moment into the scene? You know? Yeah. like weird moment into the scene you know yeah and then you just and it was like i've never again like it's the closest thing to being to doing an ass cat or something it was like yeah yeah in real time right but and but it is true it is like you know you said you're a heightened version of yourself but you are like really being you yeah it's all coming from a place of reality and honesty and you're being you know you really don't want to do it and it's like no the the fact that it that it makes for good content for the

show is secondary to you know what is really happening a hundred percent and those and those guidelines like you mentioned are built in from knowing from being really sure about like why john works versus me you know what i mean so like those guardrails are already there yeah based on on just getting on the plane you know what i mean it's like it's gonna be so so that's what was what what made it feel like so easy i mean we had we had um some guests on and uh like i remember we were in hawaii and we had zach knighton on from happy endings and he was like after we shot the first scene he was like is that it he was like that's it that's all we do is we just like eat tacos he's like there's a lot of silence we just like sometimes we didn't say anything we're like yeah

it's fine yeah yeah don't right and he didn't realize and then the're like, yeah, it's fine. Yeah, yeah. Don't. Right. And he didn't realize. And then the way we caught it was that we're just eating. Right. It became the bit. And it was kind of freeing in that way. You don't have to worry about. Yeah.

It's going to be funny no matter what. And it also kind of makes you feel like you're a magician and you know the trick. And someone else is like, wait a minute. Oh, yeah. The only thing i'm good at and i'm not even there i'm like in the middle of the pack like i i but it's the only thing i've ever been able to do yeah that impresses people yeah you know is somebody like oh you didn't write that like nope they're like wow i know yeah i know yeah and it's always been weird time in your life it's always been weird

when people they come to the improv show and then after the improv show they go wait a minute that was improvised yeah that's why it's called a fucking improv show what do you mean there's a certain level of like everybody that goes to a stage show is waiting to be lied to yes like that's true that's true and also there's a lot of bullshit improv that's not really fucking improv well yeah i mean people that fall back into sketches that they already have prepared and you know they're cheaters yeah and that goes all the way back into just having like you're like i've improvised with people who are just so good at being their version like they're like we said heightened version of themselves it doesn't matter what you're doing in the scene or

whatever it's like they're just going to be that wacky person yeah who's now like driving a car and you're like all right this is the way it's going okay yeah that's the way it's going now how do you feel because it is you know you're somebody and and and i mean and i i am too somebody i can do that kind of stuff and then I also can get hired as an actor. Yeah. You're a great actor, Andy. I learned so much from working with you on happy endings.

Just about like, thank you. Thank you. Even just about, I mean, that was one of my, I was, I was such a baby,

but like, just even about like how to turn a phrase to like, you read it off the page. You're like, and then you, you know, like just stuff like that. I learned a lot from working with you.

Oh gosh, great. That's nice. You're so funny. I was half assing it. I was you, you know, like just stuff like that. I learned a lot from working with you. Oh gosh, great. That's nice. You're so funny. I was half assing it. I was really, I know you told us, but you were so,

but that's too, that too, that kind of like openness to be, you know, uh, you know, it was, um,

I, I, it was a fun set. It was a fun show. You know? Yeah. That was good. Yeah.

Yeah. That's why I, I've only worked with those those producers and writers because i'm like oh i don't know what else is out there i'm scared of anything else they're not gonna like me the things that i remember from that were because i played casey's long lost gay dad i think if i remember correctly but so most of my scenes were with casey and alicia and eliza yeah and they kept wanting to take selfies and i was always struck because eliza and casey would be like no let me see it let me see it no delete delete and alicia who's like the one that's like

been the model and everything yeah yeah she was like fuck it i don't care like whichever one you want to use you know like i don't care cuthbert is like legit a cannot like she's from the canadian wilderness yes and right she she doesn't know she looks like that you know what i mean yeah she'll say she was like oh yeah i've hunted bear like you've hunted bear yes you've gone out looking for them yeah sure she's like yeah sure my dad used to take us me my little sister like your little sister yeah how else are you gonna teach a girl how to catch bear you know get bear meat you don't buy bear meat at the grocery store yeah and she walks she even walks like so she's

like four foot nothing and walks into her rooms like excuse me yeah she she walks she even walks like so she's like four foot nothing and walks into her rooms like excuse me yeah she's got that kind of like she's been through she's a child also child actors i find i don't know if you found this most i like working with child actors quite a bit if i could make a movie i would cast all previous child actors because what do you think it is they're just they have a sort of froze they're just like not even the blase the blase is like that's for anybody lately because cameras don't mean anything anymore so everybody's blase but like a child actor is like they'll come don't don't they'll come over to you and be like hey know your lines especially on your coverage i gotta

get out of here you know and you And you're like, thank you. All right. I will. Thank you very much, Jason Bateman. Like, I just like that kind of like, you know,

like, yeah, I like the kind of like, look, this is a job. Yeah. I've been doing it since I'm nine. Yeah. Because I think sometimes for people like me who broke like almost in their third,

like really late, you know, you've romanticized everything in a way. So you're like, oh my God, like this is happening like this is happening and i gotta be big in this moment i gotta be big here i gotta be big there and like a child actor will be like you know you're bothering me yeah stop pinching yourself you're not dreaming yeah we're working and this is my job yeah yeah and like you need that you need that to balance it otherwise you end up like with your head in the clouds you know yeah i did a movie i did the i played a uh i guess a villain a heavy in the olsen twins first cool studio movie called

new york minute awesome i know that yeah i've seen that in every walmart i'm still waiting to be canceled for it because the park called for me to be the adopted son of the ruler of you know like the the crime boss of a chinese tong you know like a chinese crime family so So it, well, it, it, it required me to supposedly have Mandarin be my first language and to speak with a Chinese accent. So I basically am doing like a Charlie Chan accent through the whole movie, which it was like, you know, I could look back and say, you know, I should have known better, but there's so much that you didn't know.

You didn't know like, oh yeah, don't do that. You know, don't, don't, don't do that. That's not right to do that. You want to talk, you want to talk cancelable film roles. I mean, first of all, happy endings right off the bat. Right. That's like my first role yeah and i i'm like yeah i'll take it it's brave meanwhile now people are like let's take a look like there's like full

articles or like let's take a look back at max from happy endings let's not let's not i have children let's move more gas it's kind of just a thing uh i had uh cornrows in a movie called dirty grandpa wow yeah that's which is now like just that image is enough like a jewish man with cornrows in this climate uh i did i did this is i don't even know if this made the light of day do you remember the show that natasha leggero had on Comedy Central that was like about, it was like old. Like women in history kind of?

Yes. Yeah, yeah. Yes, but it was like, and Michael Ian Black was in it. It was like a great cast. Yeah. I had a guest spot on that show

called The Rapist who misspelled therapist yeah to get like wenches into his chair and on the day i remember like being all dressed up for doing like a bill the butcher accent and i remember like rehearsing it and being like come sit sit in the rapist's chair and like dead silence you know and i remember being like are we gonna do this like and we did it we filmed it for like eight hours and like that's out that that's out there yeah the jokes are like you know i didn't write it yeah no i know but i said it i said joke. It was like, you know, and it was just like that feeling of like, ooh, brother, but I did it.

Well, and it's like you tell yourself, you know, this is, you're like, there's a woman in charge of this show. Like, the women signed off on this. You know, you want to, you know. It was a rough feeling. I mean, Natasha was like, I remember Natasha came over and was like, what do you think? Like, in the silence of it, you know, like after the read.

And I was like, I am, you know, I'm here for you. Yeah, I like to work. Don't fire me, but I also, you know, I'm concerned. There's so much of that. I look in my, my i mean even i had dinner with uh groff our mutual friend groff uh-huh the other night he said he was he was a head writer on conan on conan yes and the head writer of happy endings yeah and uh and has run numerous shows since then yes and uh we were having dinner the other night and uh he was like he was like have you won like have you watched it ever you know and i was like i not really like it's like you know especially now like syndication is over you're never gonna like catch your old

you know how like you catch conan at like seven on yes commu central like i would see myself be like oh cool like you know that's gone you don't so i'm like i would see myself be like oh cool like you know that's gone you don't so i'm like i don't really watch it i was like do you watch it and he's like my son asked me to go through season two and um there's some stuff i i do believe is questionable why are you why are you bringing this to the table now? I just thought you'd want to know. There's career-ending tape out there. You were in charge of the whole thing.

Yeah, but they won't lay a hand on me. It won't be me that'll do it. There have been people... I'm in scary movie too oh and we do uh a mystical like there you know it's like it's a air exorcist parody i play uh the jason miller i think that's his name that the young priest and there's a part where they're all sitting around you know it's like the scene where they're all sitting around playing music and then she there's an airline pilot she come you know reagan comes to the door and says you're gonna die up there and pees on the

floor so it's that but what we're singing is uh it's but watch yourself shake yourself yeah shake your ass yeah show me what you're working with yeah yeah but sure and i and i love mystical too and it was that song's great because the the rap pattern is like all over the place. Like one verse is like. Yes. And I came in through the door. But the whole point was that it was like all these old corny white people doing it. And like one of the corny white people who says like, yeah, this is the real shit was a producer on the movie.

But and people have like I've seen people on the Internet like be like, yeah, this is the real shit, was a producer on the movie. And people have like, I've seen people on the internet be like, whoa, he says the N-word. And it's like, yeah, because Keenan Ivory Wayans hired me too. There's a running gag in Happy Endings where I beg Damon to say the word. Yeah, yeah. Why would I do that? Why?

Why would I want to? Why would I want to say the word yeah yeah why would i do that why why would i want to why would i want to say why why would that be a thing i'm requesting why yeah yeah i don't know but it was in multiple episodes a runner if you will a runner thanks guys thanks writers Thanks, writers. Can't you tell my love's a crow? I just noticed this, Andy. Hold on one second. I want to show you something that I just realized because we're in my office. I don't know if I ever showed this to you.

Hold on. All right. He's getting a photo off the wall. Yeah, this is like the one time a fan contacted me and was like, I have a drawing that I did in school and I'd love to send it to you. And usually you're like, meh. Right, right. Yeah. Okay, sure. But they did.

And it's like one of my favorite things. And I have it hanging in my office. Oh, it's you as Fat Batman on Conan. And now that's a clip that I do go back and watch sometimes. Right. Because you and I sitting next to Jeff Garlin are... That was one of the funniest moments of my life. Do you remember that?

Because beforehand, you were in my dressing room, and they were like, Jeff wants to know if you're going to wear the costume while he's out there. And I remember I was like, yeah. Well, yeah, sure. Yeah, I'm not going to change. And they were like, okay. And then they walked back.

And like, that's one of the best comedic moments of my life is when you're out there well and that's like and that's also you know jeff jeff tends to pull focus let's just say that you know yeah and i like we all knew each other like jeff jeff was directing me at the time oh it was yeah we were and so i felt like i could like you know like you know rib him a little in the way a lot of people can't yeah and it was just like the perfect storm of people who knew jeff and him going and it was it was one of the best maybe i don't remember did he get was he kind of like touchy about it or something or he started no he started being like like he started in on it and then you and i started it started back and then and it was just like a i don't want to maybe i shouldn't talk about some of the stuff that i said but i was

like you know i did say that i was working on a biopic of him and that's why i looked like that oh dear but it was like such a good moment no no but it was a good moment yeah yeah yeah yeah jeff did have a tendency on the show there was a pattern of whatever guest was coming on after jeff yeah would also would be doing an interview with jeff like you know yeah yeah yeah that was the warning in on it yeah yeah and i was like i'm fine with it yeah yeah come on in the water's warm right and truly of all those wacky thing times I did that that was my favorite yeah no I was and it was always appreciated because when people came on the show and brought like and you know you just just to bring a big costume i mean sometimes sometimes you know you take a big swing like that and it might be a whiff you know and and coming

out in a big costume is a big swing but then it also is like it's just a talk show it's just you know six minutes on a talk i feel like after the first or second time I did it, I talked with Connor about it for a little. It was like, you know, I, I, I mean, you know,

I, I was such a, I'm a super fan. Like I, I, I watched every episode of every show. And like when I was at the UCB, I would,

I never made it on screen, but I would like get paid $400 to come in and sit in the lobby in a, in like a American flag speedo and hope that I would get like put on, you know? Yeah, I mean, but we told you to put on the Speedo. It's not like you just showed up and... No, no. Yeah, you said put on that Speedo. You said, do you have an American flag Speedo?

And I was like wearing it. Who doesn't? Yeah. Yeah, let me just drop off my kid and I'll be right there. But I, yeah, like it was like i was a super fan and i and so when i first got booked and groff was my head writer and i you know i was like i felt connected to the show even though i wasn't i felt like a delusion of grandeur in a way and i was you know all all those times that Paul would come on and Will and like Conan, he had like a twinkle in his eye when they would do that, you know? And I was like, I want to be one of those guys. I never quite got the same twinkle, but I definitely was there.

There were some moments where Conan would come into my dressing room and I'd be in costume. He'd be like, oh, God, it's Tuesday. It's Tuesday. moments where conan would come into my dressing room not being costumed he'd be like oh god it's tuesday it's tuesday yeah well it's always i mean when i saw your name on the schedule i always knew like i always knew there'd be something where there's lots of other people you see their name on the schedule it's like okay yeah and that's what i i loved i loved i loved that i was like it's truly if i could make myself like a a greatest hits of my career like those appearances would be like the top i think like funny thing i did yeah well you know that was a special thing oh god it was the great show there's nothing like it anymore either like uh late night is so the landscape is so wild it's not gonna be there's not gonna be they're just it's over that it's over it's over it just

doesn't it's a different world there's different yeah content there's everything has its virtue like you know i love the daily show model of news like i think seth does it great right now where you're like getting the news i love that yeah there's nothing like danger i know that sounded weird but like conan was like dangerous masturbating bear yeah you know like there's a bear that would masturbate yeah it was just 12 o'clock at night on channel four yeah i don't know there's nothing like that no yeah i know we were aggressively dumb and silly you know and that was my god and that was even when even when things started to be

super topical you know i remember having a conversation with conan once about it and him saying that a he didn't care to make that kind of comedy b he didn't know how to make that kind of comedy. And C, he felt like silly was probably more important, like just to the culture and to like make in terms of the good that you're doing for society by making people laugh. Being silly is a lot more than going like, you know, Donald Trump's an asshole, you know? Oh, I completely agree. I mean, I look at those like asshole you know like oh i completely agree i mean i look at those like you know especially like the sketches like to me the desk sketches or like the moment in between uh the monologue and the first guest like those moments that's like that's like where i learned how that things weren't that important you know like that's when you do like

the channels or you know what i mean like that was the the funniest thing ever tv yes like yeah any glazer bit or no the saddle like satellite tv was a bit when people say like what's your favorite bit i mean i always say satellite tv which i didn't even have any part of really you know but it was just we said you know the and for those that don't know the the premise was we have a big satellite dish with lots of channels which was true like there were there was in rockfeller center yeah there's like all these channels that are just basically held open for, you know, Dan rather to report back from Tel Aviv or what, whatever. And sitting in my dressing room, sometimes I could just flip through them, you know, and see like, you know, see like Maria Shriver doing the tops and bottoms of her show,

which was, I think, I mean, I don't, she wasn't reporting. She just was like, and then like between each take like really licking her lips to make sure there was no lipstick on the nbc the rock of 30 rock open feed is a wild it's amazing wild channel my my my one of my proudest moments and contribution to that was when i did a remote i I went down to Mardi Gras and I taped some pre-tape stuff and then went back the next weekend and then went back to New York and then came back for actual fat Tuesday. And we were on a balcony on urban street and, you know, and there's like the whole exchange of beads for nudity. Right. And it's, and it's, it's, you know and there's like the whole exchange of beads for nudity right and it's and

it's it's you know and these days it's it's both male and female it's right it's really egalitarian in that sense but we had a local cameraman with a long lens who just basically was shooting titty all day long just everybody on the street or or dick you know like there were people pulling their dicks out too but he was like genital guy he was like i'm getting it if it's like and we're like and and i remember at the time being like you know we're taking a break he's like i'm all right and he just would keep shooting all day it's coming back to rockefeller center to Rockefeller Center and apparently every channel in the building was tuned to our titty feed and somebody saw Tom Brokaw on a treadmill watching the titty feed in the gym.

Like Tom Brokaw, well, I better check in and see what's going on in the world. Oh, some titty. That's good. Maybe I'll just downshift from 6 to 3.5. I could walk a little. Yeah. Less incline here so I can really absorb the titty. Look at those areolas.

Areolas? Those are some big pancake areolas. Oh, I wonder if he ever had to say areolas on TV. or to some big pancake at Areola's. I wonder if he ever had to say Areola's on TV. I doubt it. I mean, the only thing would be like, Saddam Hussein founded a hole in the ground. Areola's exposed.

So anyway, this show, you know, on this show, I get research on people. This, you know, because this is like a, you know, you're supposed to, you know, look into your past and sort of, you know,

do some, some, what do you got for me? You know, introsrospection his father is an internist who owns his own medical office and his mother managed it his parents were also lounge singers who performed at resorts in the catskills and manhattan nightclubs when he was growing up that's what yeah what lounge singing yeah I'll prove it to you again. Hold on. All right.

He's stepping away. He's taking off all his clothes. No, he's not really. Here he comes back. It's a shot. That's my parents' head shot. It's a very 70s shot of a man who looks kind of like Gary Collins. Yeah, I say he does yeah he has he i always thought my dad looked like um harrison ford with no lips it looks like gary collins holding suzanne

plachette on his lap yes and suzanne plachette's like legs are like extended like yes you know it's very jazzy they just did a reading of Pippin yes yeah yeah no that's yeah my parents were were act when I was born and and their whole life my parents were actors and um comedians and uh but also a doctor well no he he had he was pre-med and quit to pursue uh entertainment and for 10 years uh from like 19 to 29 i guess he was living in new york and with my mother they were married and they were they were a group called pally and pal that would uh they would play like um uh yonkers and the tamament and um kutcher's and like all the catskill like the resorts yeah yeah and then on the weekdays my dad would play piano at like the empire diner or elaine's or um uh bemelman's and that's how he and then and like people would you know like the song like they would put tips in his jar and uh and and i would my grandma would pick me up from school and take

me to like wherever he was playing and wait for the day shift to be done because he wasn't good enough to play the night shift and then and they would go on auditions and stuff and then when i was like eight or nine, he quit. He just like came home one day and was like, I want to go back to medical school. And my mom was like, okay. And so he finished out. He took the last like two years of him acting and playing piano while he finished undergrad. And then got into the university of chicago

and we moved to skokie illinois which is why my accent is so i have the worst hot garbage accent i grew up in on the lower east side skokie illinois and livingston new jersey the worst oh musical musical places. You could not raise a child with a more like ear scratching fucking accent. The Chicago one is really, I do love hearing it. Like I, Matt Walsh, who's from Chicago, has a charity golf tournament that I played in. And I played in before. And like, he usually pairs me with a relative and like I played,

I played with his uncle. So I got to hear his uncle all day talking about like, yeah, I think I went up there in those bushes, you know? And I do love hearing it all day, but it is like, yeah.

You know, it's, it's a rough one. Yeah. It's rough. I know. I sound like my accent sounds like a mix between the announcer from the Yankees, like Phil Rizzuto, James Gandolfini, and Dennis Farina.

It's a real symphony of dog shit. Yeah, yeah. I know. So anyway, so then he went back to medical school, and he got into the University of Chicago, which is really renowned. So we moved to Chicago and he like flourished and became an internist and then did so well that he was offered a practice in New Jersey out of college, out of medical school. So he we moved to New Jersey where I went to high school and he while I was in high school was like an internist.

Wow. And my mom worked in his office was now cool. Okay. Two things. One was that like, was there a feeling in your house of struggle? Because that sounds, all of that sounds so stressful and so tenuous. And first of all, I got kids. Yeah.

I got kids and I'm, and I'm playing daytime team, you know, blade daytime piano. And then I'm going to, all right, I got to give that up, but it'll be like six years before I do get to do this sensible thing. Yeah. That isn't like bleeding money. No, no, no, no. We grew up, I grew up with not a lot of money. no no no no we grew up i grew up with not a lot of money yeah i mean i wasn't like poor but i you know uh skokie illinois at the time was not the like hipster vibe last stop on the l that it is

today it oh is it i don't even know i you know oh yeah now skokie's like williamsburg now oh it is wow i didn't know that at the time when i lived there it was like nazis were walking through right right it was like and that was what i mean for someone because i grew up you know 50 miles west of chicago and chicago was might as well have been 200 miles away for as you know scared and white as we all were out in york yeah but skokie was just that was the very jewish suburb where the nazis wanted to you know march because it was the most Jewish, the most offensive place they could go. Yeah, my parents moved there because similarly, Chicago at the time, like they didn't know any Jews and they they had read that Skokie had the largest population of Holocaust survivors. So my mother was like, well, we'll be safe there uh which is like ridiculous ridiculous thought at the time but well i mean you know i i you know it's i see the logic

behind it you know that means it's very jewish and so like you you know i always just i can't i i i wasn't old enough to know the ins and outs of the conversation, but I can only imagine my father being like, it's far away from the hospital, and my mother being like, no, but we'll be safe there. It's the only place in Chicago where Jews will be safe. I'm like, all right. And then they pack up and move, and the next day it's like, the Nazis are marching through Skokie.

My mother must have been like, whoops. But as they say in Blues Brothers, fucking Illinois Nazis. You know. There is a large contingent of Illinois Nazis. There's a lot of, there's in the Midwest, you know, it's worse like up in Michigan. Michigan's got. Oh, yeah. Michigan's like where you got militias.

Yeah. Michigan's like Tennessee. Yeah. Yeah. It's a Tennessee of the north. Yes. Congratulations, Michigan. The Gray Hills. Yeah was it was a struggle a lot of the my childhood was a struggle but the weird thing is

like my sisters who are younger than me they don't they didn't have they don't know from that they're like yeah my dad's a doctor yeah you know like it's just a different thing. But I, I think looking back on it now, it's like, I think it's really amazing that, and it showed me especially that you can, you're never too old. Like you can change, you can do whatever you want. Right. Doesn't matter. You know, as long as you want to do what you're doing. because the when i said there's two things like there was there a sense of struggle was there an air of regret or you know like no there wasn't it was he was happy to change courses and yes it was an informed decision that he happily made he he knew i mean i don't want to speak speak for him but he why not he's not here yeah i know hey he won't listen to this he will yes he will oh my dad is a super fan my dad well that's good it's it's a little creepy too he would show up i did a broadway show and he would show up for rehearsals oh like he's picking me up with a juice i'm yeah i'm his dad yes i can come in he would and he would walk out and be like

did you feel like you got better today i was like dad go the fuck home oh that's great uh see my mom my mom won't listen to podcasts that i'm on anymore because she says she doesn't like because when you talk about the family i don don't like it. Oh, yeah. Well, that's hard. I mean, everybody has to be so honest now. Everybody has. You cannot not be on it. You have to. Like people smell it if you're not. Yeah.

Yeah. Family, you know. I mean, I, I, I try and place myself like, how will I feel if in 10 years, Mike or, you know, less, my kids are on podcasts talking about like ways where i drop the ball parenting and i kind of feel like you know i can handle it i mean yeah i'm you know i'm yeah i'm a fallible human being but also i did pretty fucking good god damn it you're good you have good great kids you've like you know you're good you're okay uh they're better than mine but like you know i i feel the same way i i like i i also feel like it's a necessity now like the game things have changed you can't if you want to be in entertainment you have to like there's

a baseline of honesty and truth that you have to give to the audience or else people are like i'm not interested right right or else don't give interviews i mean there's a lot of people i can understand somebody doing this and not wanting to let you know not wanting to let anybody know their personal life i can understand sure you're like yeah you're like whatever yeah yeah but but we're comedians also like you know there's a certain level of like to be cynical about something you need context and so like i feel like people now especially they need you to say well i believe this because this is my situation and if you're not you're just kind of like giving half of a joke or half of an opinion right you know i i don't know that that is also i just blacked out i don't know what i just said but i uh But yeah, no, it was an interesting upbringing.

And the show that I was touring was a lot about that this year. I did a one hour that was a lot about my parents and it was kind of nice to do. Yeah. I also have here that you did that because you started to develop stage fright can't you tell my loves it grow i did i developed tell me about that how did that happen and and how did it manifest and i mean i i i don't have stage fright but i definitely don't have the fire to get on stage that i used to or to be in things, you know? Yes. Yeah. Well, I think that that that is natural as well.

I, I, I can't like pinpoint a moment when it happened, but I can pinpoint the feeling of like sliding into anxiety over doing what I like to do. Was it self-doubt? Were you afraid you were going to not be good? No, I think I was afraid. And like, I don't think stage fright is the term. It's almost like stage apathy. Like I was, I didn't care so much that I couldn't even care to get on stage i couldn't even like

and so when i got on stage i would then have that feeling of like when you took you know when you're sitting when you were a kid you sat on a test and you you didn't study and you're like there's no way out you know you're just like looking at these questions and you don't even know what that means like you're like i don't know what that means and i know that i could have yeah if i just did the thing but i didn't i still have dream i still have dreams about yeah and that feeling is so being unprepared yeah that i hate that for school not for you, not for, you know, performing so much. No, yeah. And it was interesting because as someone who spent their whole life learning how to go on stage unprepared. Yeah. The fact that doing that now would make me like cold sweat and like walk off was, I had to like relearn how to like care in a way.

Is it because you didn't, weren't you not getting anything from doing it anymore? Nothing. I was getting nothing. I was getting nothing. In fact, I was getting negative. I was angry at the audience. I was like,

it was a net loss to perform. And that felt bad too because then I started to feel this immense like guilt of like you know i don't even want to be doing this and i'm i'm up here why like filling some sort of hole like that i need them to laugh at me and i don't know when you when you sit down and go through it what we do is is fairly sweaty and thirsty oh yeah and like you know desperate yeah and i think that it takes everybody everybody sit in a dark room and look at me yeah it takes everybody focus on me you know it takes a lot of joy and and and fortitude to make

that feel communal and not masturbatory yeah and i think i was maybe in my head about it but i had just resigned i had resigned that i had nothing to give nothing to say nothing to offer and i wasn't as good as people thought i was or as the other people that had brought me there and so i was just kind of i would go on stage and say nothing. Wow. You know, and it was like, and that was really painful. And so I just had to stop. Was this, was it just isolated to this area of your life or was it, was there kind of an anhedonia kind of a, you know, were you at a rough patch in your life? Yeah, I think I was dealing with, I think I was dealing with i think i was dealing with uh some stuff you know

my mother had passed away i had had my first child i was like lonely i think i was working and not i was working that i wasn't working which is like really tough and i i think that I started to look at it as the enemy or something. It was like, I hated it. I hated the whole thing. And so I really, I guess I freaked out. But I'm getting better. I'm getting a lot. i've had a good year that's good well and good for you honestly i you know and i know how you know for for how good for

you sounds but but seriously then it's great that you that you forced yourself through that because i completely relate there's times when i can be you know there's a person in me that just feels like all of show business is horseshit whenever i hear somebody talking earnestly about their passion project i kind of feel like take it easy jesus christ you're just talking about a fucking tv show or movie or what you know like it's all it all gets forgotten it all gets swept you know just which is just that's just you know for me a it's you know it's it's all it the beginning of it is it's depression it's like just this depression this sort of lump of shit that i have that in me that i carry around all the time and that i manage and that you know there's all kinds of different things that i've done in order to manage it but it's still there there's still like and i a lump

of shit at somewhere in there and and as a you know and as i sort of like travel around within my own psyche in my own personality there's times where i i walk right through it you know like oh yeah that's right i'm going going right through that part of me that thinks like nothing means anything life is transitory and short and pointless you know and then i'm like no it isn't it's you know I got I got to make people laugh for a living like that you know like that that's pretty great but it's really truly good for you because I still I still struggle with it and I don't like quite frankly like I don't work enough now you know like it since the Conan show ended and I mean and granted too like the end of the Conan show was during COVID and, and, you know, I didn't, none of us worked that much.

We'd show up to Largo and do like, you know, be there for like an hour and a half and then I'll go home, you know? Yeah, no, it's, um, it's, it's an interesting, it's an interesting thing. I mean, I think for me me it was also necessity i felt like it's funny i i started writing the show uh and getting back on stage during the post-production of 101 because while hbo was dissolving uh i started to get like really worried that i would have nothing that i would have done nothing. If I would have told you, oh yeah, I sold my next show to HBO three years ago, you'd be like, that's awesome.

When does it come out? Now you're like, I don't even know. HBO doesn't exist. So it was really weird to be like, well, what if nothing exists? What if the streaming services just all go down? No one has a dvd of anything i've done like i feel i felt almost like worthless yeah in that time and i was like i gotta

do something that is i so i have to i have to do some something yeah you know and and so and the only thing that i could do was the thing that i was definitely afraid of yeah getting it so i did it oh good for you for heading straight at it i mean that's it's you know i'm sitting here thinking like yeah i should do more of that i should more i should head more straight at those things because yeah but then you know what it's it's all the same feeling like uh i had my last show the tour in chicago last week and as soon as like i landed i was you know happy and then as soon as i got to the theater i was like i why am i doing this like this is so i don't want to do this i want to go home yeah and it's cold and i have to lug a guitar now i'm now i'm a music music comedian i'm traveling with a

guitar and an amp and like a pedal board i look like a youth pastor i'm like what am i doing and then you're like no one's gonna show up no one's gonna show up and you're looking up the thing and and you're like oh my god there's eight people there's 10 people like and then it's all those feelings are crippling enough for me that it almost stops me from doing it so it's like i it's the heart i think it's one of the hardest things ever like when i look at a stand-up who's like i'm going on a 50 city world tour i'm like those guys are good for you yeah like that's you gotta every night go out there and rev it up like that is hard yeah because i i don't have that in me i yeah get lost in the worlds on we like when someone jingles keys i'm like what we're

all gonna die like you know like i just like don't have that yeah yeah i you know i you know and that's also too as time goes on too i i never set out to be a live performer like that was never you know i went to film school and i wanted to make movies or television and that's still what i enjoy doing the most is being part of like a weird little crew of people who are putting something on film that will eventually get seen but that's not you know why you know it's like a barn raising and it's like okay yeah there's gonna be happy hogs and chickens living in this barn but that's not why i'm here i'm here to put up this barn and then look at it for a minute go like okay that's not well we did a good job come Come on, everybody. Let's go have a big Amish dinner.

Yeah, and then you go make another barn somewhere. Yeah. I mean, that's always how I looked at it. And unfortunately, I don't know, like, maybe this is now I am showing my, like, fatalistic. But, like, I'm still at the stage now where, like, I don't know even how to make a barn anymore. Yeah. You know, like, i wouldn't know where i'm i make comedy like i don't even know if that goes on television like what do what do you do yeah no i understand it's weird it's weird i'm still in that kind of

like figuring out where what i where i where the stuff i want to make belongs yeah yeah you know and that's weird i think it's also it's getting older like when you're young you know comedy is such a young person's game for sure and it is and it just and it and good hooray that's the way it should be but you do get kind of older and it's you know i mean i i remember having a conversation with conan towards the end of the conan show where i was like we're grown men in our 50s with children and we're doing bits like there was just something about it sometimes when i would think about it like like, like, yeah, we're doing bits. Like it just like what this we've been doing the same shit we've been doing since we were 23 or whatever,

you know, little bits, just little sort of like, Hey, this funny thing happened and let's giggle about it and then move on. And if you want to look at it, you know, with a jaundiced eye, it is like, yeah, that's, yeah, that that's not that's not a thing grown-ups do but then on the other hand there's tons of grown-ups that are that are so grateful for us for bits for you know that's what there are it's a collection of offices full offices that got on for 20 years doing your bits yeah you know like like that that's the thing that i also i i appreciate that you say that i feel that sometimes too and i'm like what what's it all for like you know you're like stressing out so much i can can i can i get this picked up can i is this funny because

people gonna laugh at this like what's it all what's it truly all for and then like i think of like even you saying that you think of how many offices would do conan bits you know what i mean or like it's like that was the the character of michael scott doesn't exist without your bits you know yeah kind of like well it's true i mean i can't say that but you know. I think so. I mean, my bits too. I mean, you know, think of how many people like, people come up to me all the time and quote a line, you know, and you're like, cool. But in your head, you're like, wow, that was a line to me

that I read off a small piece of paper. But to them, that's what they say to their friends when they see their friends, like, well, here we go. Yeah, it's a touchstone. Yeah, that's a touchstone in their lives that you did did and that's where like you can overvalue comedy as well that's when like people are like no i'm i'm the joy in people's lives yeah yeah but but i think there is something to that you know i think i'd and i'd much rather be in that pool of comedian than the modern day philosopher pool of comedian. Yes.

Yes. I agree. I don't want to be there. Right. I don't. Yeah. I look at that and I'm like, that is no thank you. Yeah.

See, that's it. That's the thing, too, is that like I. I wanted, you know, I want things to be spontaneous and fun and honest and real. And I want to be optimistic and have an open mind and heart to things. And then I'll watch a clip of like some fucking guy's crowd work. And I'm just like, oh, my God. Oh, my God. Yeah.

I started making a because people start uh, cause people start doing like, I don't, I'm not, the thing I'm doing is like a written show, you know? And when people start yelling crowd work to me, it's like, I have to make a disclaimer.

That's that's like, I know you've seen crowd work and all your favorite standup comics shows, Instagram feeds in their Instagram feeds. And there's a reason for that. That's so that they can show you that they're humorous without burning their material yes problem the problem with it is that it makes you the audience feel like you're an integral part of the show yeah and then i walk away so do with that what you will yeah and then i go pick up a guitar and play another song

yeah it's like that is and you need to do that otherwise people will be like i'm from spokane yeah yeah yeah like well that's i think that that's that's from having a remote control in your hand yeah and being able to seeing the repetition of crowd work yes yes you know i bet there are people that send around mutual friends of ours comics clips that are like you hear that voice that's me you know yeah you don't want to be that's just that feels low yeah it does well to me it feels so like and it's just because i'm not a standup and I don't fully understand what it is to be a standup and what the appeal to it. Cause there's so much of it that does not appeal to me, which is working so hard to say the same thing over and over and over, which just from my upbringing comedically, that was like, that was verboten. You're like, no, you, if if you say it once you can't say it

again you know it was very macho my love my career i'm so fortunate in my career because when i i got cast in a play and it was and and i and i did it and it was like changed everything for me because i was the same thing i was like i won't do anything twice i won't even like you know i wouldn't even do the same bits if they work you can't be fat batman twice yeah no i would never do that but then when i did this play and i and literally they they were like real playwrights and they were the writer would like leave me leave me when i would come off stage even on a show with a great with like a standing ovation there would be envelopes on my dressing room of the lines that i shortened or

truncated or you know didn't do or change just changed a little bit changed a little and that really was like and it was six months and i was like they changed everything because you're like you realize that you are improvising even when you're doing other people's words you just have or the same words over and over again you just have to like find you find your improvising in there yeah i know that's a weird way to know i know i know exactly what you mean because i do it uh when somebody hires me to be in a tv show or a movie i paraphrase yes often And I, and I have worked on places where I, and I don't, it's not like something I do consciously. It just kind of happens. And then I realized that I did it. And then there's some places where they're like,

okay, just, yeah, let him, let him do that. And there've been a couple of times where it's like other people try to do it and they're like, no, no, you do the words for Andy. Just for Andy. Which, you know, it's embarrassing and feels like cheating. Yeah. But but then I've been I've also worked on other things where people are like, no, say the fucking words, the ones that are written down, you know? Yeah. And I and I don't like one more or less than the other but what i learned from the one is

that you're still doing and that's what i tried to do with this this show because i was i was running into the same ruts where i was like i don't i just got the laugh now i gotta change it and there were some times where i would do a show and then change it and it would be horrible on the second time and i would be like why did i do that like that's how you practice it's called practice like you know and i think you might do it again and it might be great yeah and i so i had to learn how to like calm down in a way and go like there's value in all of it even if it's not showing them how genius you are yeah which i think is also something i do i mean i i know i do it i i don't know if it comes from insecurity or or or or imposter syndrome or whatever but i i do i am driven a lot to show that i'm i'm smart i'm witty i'm you know what i mean and that is dangerous yeah stage that's

a you're going up there with a loaded gun you know like you can't you have to curb that and i think that's the thing i'm work been working on the most yeah and also the fact that you're getting up there and an audience is sitting there they already think that like you need to prove that to them they that's sort of a foregone conclusion you know yeah but how many times have you seen an improv show where you're like there's one person you're like back off yeah like yeah yeah i i don't want to be that person anymore yeah yeah i understand but from doing the play it changed your perspective on yes saying and how did you how did you deal with saying the same thing every night i would again i would start to improvise

within it yeah because you like i'm not good at memorizing lines but the way you do a play is you literally just sit in a room and read it over and over and over again until it's tattooed in the front of your brain yeah and so once i had that i would start to like be like oh you know what if i if i do this line with a with a bit of a question on the end it affects the next line and she's gonna because there's only two people like she's gonna say it back to me in a way and then now we're in uncharted territory because now what used to mean this means this yeah and so you're you know you have to do the next line in it and it became like exciting to me yeah you know to

everyone like the playwright yeah who would leave me notes every day be like don't do that and then you're like oh wow this is really nuts but it was it was it was definitely what i needed to to keep my career to to learn how to be an actor i mean at that point i had just done like happy endings and mindy project and was basically like a hired gun to come in and like punch up your c story yeah set you know yeah which is a great job an unbelievable which i would kill for now but yeah you know yeah there's like four of those now yeah and i had two of them yeah i. I want the A. Yeah. And they're like, uh, buddy,

can you look at your nose in the mirror? You're a C story guy. Oh, well, we've been talking for a while here. I don't want to keep you much longer. So no, this is,

I'm so happy to, to, yeah, no, it's great. I mean, honestly, it makes me feel like,

uh, you know, we got to do this, uh, when there's nothing, no recording doing so we can, yeah, I would love, let's get, let's great. I mean, honestly, it makes me feel like, you know, we got to do this when there's nothing, no recording doing. Yeah, let's get a dinner sometime, Andy. Absolutely. But then the next, so the next step of this podcast is the what have you learned part. Ooh. Well, I guess, well, I sort of skipped over the where are you going, but I kind of, I get a sense of what you're doing is you're trying to like get yourself back on track and you did are you still going to do your it's called an intimate

evening with adam pally are you still going to tour that or i i just finished i did 12 shows in six cities and it was so fun i wouldn't call it a tour i would call it like a place where a Jew and a guitar are safe in America. There's fewer and fewer now. Yeah, it was pretty much I was I was relegated to New York, Chicago, L.A., Miami, Boston, and give or take the shows in Austin. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right. shows in austin yeah yeah yeah right but but um i filmed the last one the last two in new york and chicago and so i'm editing them now and i think i'm gonna make it a movie i don't think i'm gonna like make it like a like a concert movie yeah and then just from that because i've been like

playing songs i started writing original songs so I have a bunch of original songs. I think I might make like a little comedy album. Oh, wow. You know, is the next step. That's great. Yeah. I just don't know how to do that. So I'm like trying to figure, you know, like it does feel, I told my dad, I do feel a little bit like a 40 year old going back to medical school.

I'm like asking, asking people like, how do you record something? Right. Oh, I know. I mean, just with podcasts, I, you know, like there's other side podcast stuff that I'm trying to do that. Like I, you know, like I'm not a dummy, but it, so it's like, you know, take 40 minutes of podcast and make it 20 minutes. And then it's like, well, that means I have to learn how to edit.

Oh, good. Yeah. And then, so i have to learn how to edit oh good yeah and then so i have to learn how to edit the thing yeah and that's a whole other i mean just i i i don't even know how to get the sound of my guitar into my computer you know like i am so behind on all that stuff right right but that's also, I think that's also like interesting. Yeah. And I think that's good. That is good. That is good. You know, and I, you know, I, like I say, I sit here listening to you say this and I think there's, you know, like when somebody, when somebody says something that you kind of need to hear yourself personally, because you could learn from it and maybe copy it a little bit.

That's, you know, which always feels like a little twinge and that's what i'm feeling right now because i you know i have a i'm newly married i got a new kid you know thank you thank you so i have a lot of stuff going on you know yeah your personal life is yeah which which it's easy to it's easy to just let chores and child raising keep you from, well, you know, you got these issues about yourself as a, dare I say, artist that you kind of need to resolve. And the fact that you're doing it is really admirable and, you low-key brave i guess you know i don't know i mean i mean you're not you're not a jew in hollywood yeah but you're not rushing into a burning building but you're also you're also taking fear and turning it into uh progress well i mean personal growth you know it feels like something amy told me when i was like 19 was like follow i think we may she may have even maybe even been her phrase like follow the fear does that sound it sounds like something she told me yeah but like i feel like you i was told

at a young age like when you're doing something and you get that feeling where you're like i'm scared that's like then you should be doing that every day. Yeah. Till you're not scared. And then you got to find something that scares you again. Right. Which is, like, I don't think I'm going to do that. Yeah.

I think this is it. Like, you will not see me, like, thrill-seeking. No, I know. Well, all right. What have you learned, you know? Do you come away from all of this with, you know? I mean, the idea i learned that i've learned that i um i was saying this to gabrus yesterday i've learned this is what

i've learned um there are certain people in my life that i wish i talked to more not just in like showbiz uh sentiments and i've learned that you are one of those people. Oh, thank you. Thank you. Yeah. I wish that that's what I've learned that you don't have to like, wait to get on a podcast to be like, maybe I'll run this by Andy, you know, like I think that that's, and I look,

I value those a lot. Like, you know, I have a lot of those people and I don't talk to them enough. I, I know. And I feel like I, I'm, my, I guess there's a new year's resolution as we're starting, but I'm going to start to, I really want to start to like cultivate those relationships. Yeah. I've been, I, I, I started

that a couple of years ago. Cause I really sort of got into, you know, a dad of older kids and, you know, and, and, you know, and I also too, I, I got divorced. So that was where I, you know, a dad of older kids and, you know, and, you know, and I also too, I got divorced. So that was where I, you know, I had to make a lot of changes. You know, when you're married with kids, your life is, you know, your, your agenda is set, you know, like your day is fairly set. You don't have to really think about it that much, but then you get out on your own after years of decades of kind of having someone else set the agenda and it's like i gotta figure out what the fuck to do with myself because there's you know there's like 16 hours of waking time every day that i gotta fill up with something you know yeah and i and i did that same thing where i'm like there are

people in my life who whose time and attention and brains and hearts that i really value and i don't and i sit here alone you know yeah doing crosswords or watching fucking netflix or whatever and i got it that's not gonna that's not going to comfort me. Yeah. You said something interesting too about being a dad with it. And I don't know why being a dad drives that, but I do, I feel it the most when I'm doing from like three to five on the West side

highway every day. Yeah. That's when I feel it the most when i'm like my kids are on their phone i'm driving them to basketball and then i drop them at basketball they don't want me to watch them anymore yeah so then i just like you gotta sit in the car yeah and i i find myself like i used to have this huge community of comedic geniuses that would like you had an hour you could be like call someone with a voice there'd be a bit and like that is it's such a part of my life that is that is gone yeah that i want that i that i think that i'm going to try to get back i hope i can

i mean i might have i might have let it go too far, but there are some, I know I have people in my life that I can still call and like do bits with. It's not the same. I mean, you know, when you think about it, like you're a, you don't want to be like that old guy in Silver Lake hanging around, you know, where all the young people are like, I don't want to be that guy no and and all the people that i value too are kind of in the same boat most of them are parents most of them have a full life so it is it does get more difficult as you get older but but not like you know like just to make it a point to go have coffee with people you know just like yeah let's call someone. Take it out. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's this goddamn zoom technology. Great. Yeah. I saw a friend in Texas who was on my improv team when I was there,

who had moved to Texas for, for his wife's job and is now a stay at home dad. And I hadn't seen him about three years and he came to my show and I was like, you want to do a bit? And he was like, no, no,

no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,? And he was like, no, no, no, I just want to see you. And I was like, that's, no one just wants to see me. You know what I mean? It was like so, I was like, I forgot that. I forgot that this guy is like a deep friend of mine

and doesn't care about getting a laugh. He's moved on from that. He just wants to like spend time with me and i was like i gotta i was like i gotta check myself there i gotta find that again yeah i agree well adam thank you so much for uh taking all this time it's great to talk to you and uh i love you i owe you so much and i'm so appreciative and. And let's see. You're starring in the upcoming movie, O Horizon, with Maria Bakalova.

Yeah, Borat's daughter. Oh, Borat. Oh, okay. I knew I knew the name, but I wasn't sure where. It's a fun one. It's funny. And you're also going to be doing something with a mockumentary series with Steph Curry. Yeah.

Me and the happy endings team. That's awesome. Yeah. The team's getting back together, but, uh, with, with Steph Curry, it's called Mr. Throwback, right? Yeah. It's really fun. It's based on, um, it's based on a true, true story about Steph that when his father played for the Charlotte Hornets,

his last year he was traded to the Toronto Raptors and it was mid-season and they couldn't find a school to take Seth and Steph to play basketball except for the Solomon Schechter Day School of Toronto. Really? Yeah. So I'm going to play his long lost, the guy who was the point guard when he got there at jewish day school nice love it are you gonna be orthodox no no no no no no you find out you come to find out a lot of things aren't what they seem from my character but um but it's a blast i mean steph is like you know he's one of those guys that it says things

that should be on a poster in an airbnb yeah yeah and but they like sound right coming out right it was like right i'll be like i'm never gonna get this part he's like if not you then who yeah and you're like I'm never going to get this part. He's like, if not you, then who? Yeah. And you're like, oh, shit, I am going to get this part. Yeah. He knows. He knows. He's Steph Curry. Yeah, he can make three-pointers from anywhere.

That's how he thinks every time he shoots. Yeah. Not me who. Yeah. I know what's going in. Who else would have? I don't see anyone else here that shot it. Yeah, yeah.

I got the ball. It's going in. It's a great, it's a crazy thing, but it's great. Yeah. I can't wait to see it. That sounds great. It'll be fun. All right.

Well, I'm going to let you go, and I'm going to let all of you go too, all of you listeners out there. Thank you so much for tuning in, and Adam, thanks for being here and being you. And I'll see you soon. Bye. The three questions with Andy Richter is a team Coco production. It is produced by Sean Doherty and engineered by Rich Garcia. Additional engineering support by Eduardo Perez and Joanna Samuel. Executive produced by Nick Liao,

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