The Three Questions with Andy Richter - Isaac Mizrahi

Episode Date: November 7, 2023

Fashion designer, actor, and podcast host Isaac Mizrahi joins Andy Richter to discuss Isaac's new collaboration with Selma Blair, starting a fashion label as a teenager, Meryl Streep’s airplane disappearing act, and his podcast, “Hello Isaac.”Check out Isaac's podcast, "Hello Isaac."

Hello everybody, welcome back to The Three Questions. I am your host, Andy Richter, and today I am talking to Isaac Mizrahi. Isaac is a fashion designer, actor, singer, television presenter, writer, and chief designer of the, well, it's fitting, the Isaac Mizrahi brand. He started his own fashion label as a teenager, and he has performed in the Broadway revival of Chicago. He has truly done it all. I talked to Isaac via Zoom from New York. I was in LA, and we had a great conversation. I had a lot of fun. Here's my conversation with Isaac Mizrahi. But I'm very happy to see you.

We met before, ages ago, on the Conan Show. That's right. And also, too, you and I have a connection because you did Celebrity Jeopardy in my place years ago. A hundred years ago, Andy, such a hundred years ago. And I did it a few times. You know, I did it a few times. I did it a long time ago with Sandra Bernhard and Melissa Sue Gilbert, and I won. And it was so fabulous.

Yeah, I won too. It's really fun. It's really fun. I did it again. i don't remember well then i did it at radio city music hall when they did this whole radio so i did it like and then i did it again for like you know the million dollar thing and i got down to the last and it was me and jane curtain and michael mckeon and michael mckeon just has like a way with the that damn buzzer you know yeah i was because i was supposed to i can tell you it was 2009 because i had won again i had been on once before then this was the second time and this was like a tournament of champions so if you

won you came right but when it was time for me to come back conan and i had been the tonight show and then we were no longer the tonight show and we couldn't he was contractually disallowed from being uh i guess you know prohibited is better uh from being on television so we went on tour and that was when you were succumbing to michael mckean i was in eugene oregon doing the the first night the premiere the the soft premiere of our of our road show and uh and it was i did it once and then I did it once again, just recently. And I can, and it was it like 10 years. Well, I mean, I said it was 2009 and now, you know, whatever it is, 12, 13 years later. And, uh, or is it 14? It's 14 years later.

But the other people that I was playing against were probably 15 to 20 years younger than me. Nice. And the buzzer i right the 12 years ago when i played i i could choose them at will right bam bam bam if i wanted to answer the question i could do it this time no no no no no it's not fun the um the thing is like you know 85 to 90 percent of the answers right and so you think just get it under the buzzer and then you'll know the answer and The thing is, you know 85% to 90% of the answers. Right. And so you think, just get it under the buzzer, and then you'll know the answer. And sometimes you get in, and it's like, oh, wait, I don't know the answer.

Yeah, yeah. You see that happen all the time, too. Yeah, yeah. Anyway, Alex Trebek, we love you. Well, but anyway, we have that. We have such a rich, shared history. Such a rich history. Where are you coming from today?

You're at home? I'm in Long Island, yeah. I'm in Bridgehampton, Long Island, yes. And that's where you live year-round? I live mostly here, yeah. I'm in the city, of course. I'm a New Yorker. So, I mean, I've lived in New York City since I'm born in Brooklyn, and I went to high school

on 46th Street, you know, a performing arts high school, so, you know, between Broadway and 6th Avenue. Yeah, the fame school, as they say. Can I tell you something? I started performing arts high school so yeah you know between broadway and sixth avenue yeah the fame school i start can i tell you something i started performing arts high school literally the year that they first erected the tkts thing you know that tkts sure on 47 it's a booth that you buy last minute broadway tickets for people It was a booth. And now it's literally like a fucking, you know, like Taj Mahal booth. It's like such a huge booth,

you know? Yeah. Yeah. And that was, and I also know, cause that, uh, I had a friend that went to that school.

And so I always, and I was always aware that I also used to eat. There was a really good Dominican restaurant, two doors down. Is that right? That I used to eat it all the time. Well, it was a really good dominican restaurant two doors down is that right to eat it all the time well it was a fantastic school and it was originally made as a sort of like an elementary school for like very little kids and so like you have to like bend down to get all the water fountain you know the water fountain and like you know the urinal they didn't even have

urinals and they had like these really shallow steps like there were a thousand steps to walk up one flight right right really shallow for like little feet yeah exactly wow really funny i know wow and have you i mean did you have you ever considered living somewhere else like did you ever have a paris moment or something or is it you know i mean i used to spend some time in Paris. I never really liked Paris that much. I had to be there a lot, you know. I didn't like it that much. It was a creepy, crazy, and very beautiful. And also, like, you know what?

You've been to Paris 15 or 20 times. You kind of did it, you know. I mean it. It's like, and it never changes. It never, they don't build things in Paris. You know, it's like this kind of 19th century, beautiful 19th century town, but it's kind of like a museum

in that they just preserve and preserve and preserve. And after a while, you feel a little insane, especially if you're, you know, if you're from New York and every five minutes, something is getting torn down and put up, you know? Oh yeah, yeah. And the thing is, I was talking about this on my podcast a little bit earlier. It's not like I'm not like throwing shade.

You know, remember like, are you obsessed with the Golden Girls? I'm obsessed with the Golden Girls. I believe I've seen every episode. Me too. Every single episode, at least 25 times. And there's an episode where Rose and Dorothy go to New York, and it's Rose's first time in New York. And Dorothy says, oh, what do you think?

And she's like, oh, I've had people live here. Are they crazy? It's so big and so noisy. And there's so much. And everything is so exaggerated. And I'm exhausted. And I'm thinking, she's not wrong. And it's not for and I'm thinking like, you know, she's not wrong and it's not for everybody. But if you're born there, it's really hard.

Like they go, oh, look at that view. And you go, a view of what? We're talking about a view of what? You know, like what view, darling? Hills and trees? I mean, no, not even hills and trees. You know, like in L.A., there's apparently like this gorgeous view from certain perspectives. And I don't know.

I don't, you know, or like even, I don't know, whatever it is. But you see what I mean. I'm not like, it's not to throw shade or anything to LA because I love LA. I really do. But it's a whole other thing that you get used to the speed and the kind of the change and the season changes and everything changes and it's constantly moving. And you go to the theater every night and you hate it. And that becomes like the best thing in the world to go to the theater and hate it.

It's so fun. It becomes the most fun thing in the world. You know what I mean? I know exactly what you mean because I'm from a relatively small town in Illinois. And I came to New York to live and do a show we a a group of us that had done a live show in Chicago took it to New York and so I got there I would think I was like I want to say 23 maybe and sharing a studio apartment with a friend of mine sleeping on like I had to go buy like some like a futon that my feet hung over about a foot and a half

and it was very scary to me at first and I lived in hell's kitchen and hell's kitchen was still hell's kitchen at this point it hadn't been really gentrified and my mother when my mother and my aunt came to visit me my mother apparently my aunt told to visit me, my mother, apparently, my aunt told me, cried all the way to the airport. Wow, that is so funny. I was in this terrible place. And then I got used to it. And I lived there for nine years and moved to L.A. And it took me about probably 10 years for LA to feel like home. Every time I'd

fly back to New York, I'd feel, ah, I'm home again. But I did notice the difference. You step out onto the street in New York and the cortisol levels, like whatever it is in your body that produces stress, it goes up. And you either learn to deal with that or you get sickened by it, I think. And the thing is like, you know, when you're from there and you just are, you pre, you know, you started learning how to do that in utero. You know what I mean? Yeah. Like I'm serious.

And so for me, it wasn't an issue. And now, and yes, the stress is great. And I tell you what, the other thing, it's, and I think it's closer to Europe in this way. It's like, you know, the kind of the introspection, you know, the loathing, the fear, it's just at a bigger, at a greater pace in New York City. You know, it in the three o'clock in the morning is scarier like in your bed in new york city than it is like in new mexico or something yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah it's a it definitely is a challenging place it's a very um but yeah

but like i say when i go back it takes me because gone back, you know, for a week for work things or two weeks, within three days, I'm back in it. Whereas can I tell you something like I've had to be in LA for a long, you know, for a month here and there, two months. Yeah. And, and I like it. And by the way, I'm not going to drive myself. I can't, I can drive in Bridgehampton in my little mini, but I, in New York City, I don't drive. I get driven around because I can't. It's just I'm too frantic and too hysterical. And so, you know, but when I'm in LA,

you know, after three or four days, I'm like, okay, so where is it? Like, what are we doing? You know, and you end up like not, you do much less in LA. And, you know, I think you do more kind of, I don't know, like moisturizer. You do more moisturizer in LA than you do. And can I say one thing? Cause you said you were from Illinois and you, you asked the question, you know, I swear to you, like,

I think one other place I could live besides London is Chicago. Yeah. Because Chicago is such a great city. I just adore it. I love it too. I really do. I would move back, but I don't. I think the only way I could move back there is if I could be somewhere else in the winter. And that's not for me. That's for my wife.

Well, you're crazy. She loathes winter. I love winter. I do too. I can't stand summer. I can't stand the heat. I can't stand summer. I can't stand the heat. I can't stand,

like my mother went to Florida all those years before she stopped because now she's like just too old to go anywhere. But she went to Florida for 30 years and I should go like, when are you coming to visit me? And I was like, you know, how does never sound? I just don't like,

I don't like the heat and humidity. I just don't like it. Yeah. It's too hot out here for me. Suffer through summers in New York city are just, that's just.'t like it. Yeah, it's too hot out here for me. Suffer through summers in New York City. That's just... Yeah, yeah. Yeah, because you don't get the smell of urine

in other hot places like you do. Well, excuse me, have you been to Paris? Have you been to London? That's true, that's true. I mean, excuse me. Wow, those places smell terrible. And by the way, you know, when you go to Europe in the summer, they say,

oh yeah, we have air conditioning. And then you go and you're like, and they they say, oh yeah, we have air conditioning. And then you go and you're like, what? And they're like, oh yeah, this is air conditioned. And you're like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. This is not air conditioned. Put me in an air conditioned room. And they go, okay. And then they put you in another room and it's just as bad. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. They're used to being sweaty. I guess they are. Yeah, well, they're used to being sweaty. I guess they are. You said it earlier.

You were raised in Brooklyn. You were born there. And your father was in the schmata trade. He was in the children's schmata trade. The children's schmata trade. He made little boys coats and suits. And how did, had he always been like, had his family been in the garment industry? And then, you know.

You know, I think so. I have to tell you, like, I come from a very, very straight line of Sephardic Jews that came here from Syria, I would say, like at the start of the 20th century. But before that, it's all these Sephardic Jewish people in Aleppo, you know, Aleppo, Syria, for centuries, generations. And so it's, I don't, no one in my family ever really bothered to do the kind of Louis Gates thing where you do like, oh, you know, your grandfather was this, and did you know, blah, blah, blah, because, you know, it was, it was all just boring, you know, your grandfather was this, and did you know, blah, blah, blah, because, you know, it was all just boring. You know, your grandfather was another person called Isaac Mizrahi,

and, you know, he was in the shmata business. Yeah, yeah. So it's all the same story. And, you know, apparently my grandfather was a cutter. He cut things, you know, cut clothes. Sure. Yeah, and that's what I knew about him. We don't know a lot about

our ancestors, us Mizrahis. We just don't. Do you have an idea as to why that is? No. No, I don't. How does laziness, like laziness on the part of my ancestors, like no one bothered to

accumulate any kind of information or put it down or hand it down. Maybe it's just generation upon generation of self-involved people. They don't have time to worry about those that went before. Or such kind of like, you know, peasant deep stock that it didn't occur to them to, you know, to like care about such things.

They were too busy putting dinner on the table or something to think about what was coming or what their ancestors would want from them. Yeah. I've said before, I feel like I just come from a long line of apron wearers, like some butchers, bakers. That's what I just come from a long line of apron wearers, like some butchers, bakers, you know, I just, that's what I just feel like there wasn't, I just don't see there being a lot of royalty in my background and, you know, and I'm, and, and my brother's kind of into all that stuff, but I just

don't, I don't know. I mean, I'm, I like to know, you know, the geographic of where you're from is kind of interesting to me. But it's in the exact same way that, like, what breed my mixed breed dog is. It's just a curiosity, you know. It's not a big deal. I guess coming from, you know, this part of the world, coming from, you know, that part of Syria, it does kind of, it does kind of shape the way I see the world, you know, in the same way that, you know, it's like, I have, I always have like, you know, since I started adopting dogs, there's always like a collie mix in my life. I like collies, you know, I have a girl now called Kitty and she my life. I like collies, you know, I have a

girl now called Kitty and she's like black and white. And, you know, if you get up off the sofa, she tries to herd you back on this, you know, she doesn't like it. She likes to, like that's in her DNA and she doesn't know why. Right. And so in my DNA, you know, I'm not exactly sure how I got to dislike hot weather because where I'm from is a very warm climate, you know? So I feel like I came from some other gene pool that somebody doesn't know about, you know? Because my people, I'm serious, like if you met my sisters, you just wouldn't believe we were from the same parents. They are such incredibly good people. They are just so simple, such simple, good people that have, you know, such values, like just kind of like traditional values where I am just this complete, I don't know what, like evil, evil, evil person, you know?

It's like transgressive, evil person. Maybe a little bitchy, but I mean, being a little bitchy is being alive. You know, I mean, it's, you know, it's like when you're saying you don't, you don't want to speak badly about LA and that's, you know, I like living here, but there are things and I've dealt with this my whole life. There are just things that are not for me and, and I'm bitchy too. And if you want to know why they're not for me i can tell you for 10 fucking minutes in a granular in granular detail why i don't like

something so i just keep that to myself now you know i mean most of the time i and and i don't think there's you know being critical isn't i don't know i kind of feel like it's being a lot but i mean you're assuming that i mean that I'm critical and evil because I'm critical. No, darling. I mean, you know, I. You're mean? Just, I can be very mean. I can be very, I don't know what, like judgmental.

I can be, you know, I had a period of my life where I just slept with everybody. I mean, like, you know, like I'm serious. I had a big old life where I did stuff, you know. I mean, I never broke the law and I've never with everybody. I mean, like, you know, like, I'm serious. I had a big old life where I did stuff, you know? I mean, I never broke the law and I've never been cruel, but I have, you know, I've come across, I've come across a long way. Whereas my sisters are the most sheltered, like, you know, sort of, well, also Hasidic Jewish. I was going to ask, are they religious?

They're very, very religious. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Was that a problem in your family that you weren't? Yeah. Or that you weren't? Well, I mean, the thing is my parents, it's funny because Sephardic Jews are different than Ashkenazic Jews in that the laws that they, the traditions that they keep are slightly different. It looks a little bit different than the Hasidic Jews that we know with the side curls and the hats and all those beautiful, beautiful people. But like our Sephardic Jews, our Hasidic Jews look different. Like I'm not sure they have the side curls.

I think some of them do, but that's a whole new kind of thing. When I was growing up, it was quite anomalous. And we were not exactly Hasidic Jews. We were not Hasidic Jews. We were not in the house, not at all. But the school I went to was extremely, extremely Orthodox, right? Yeshiva Flatbush. And so that's where we learned. And my sisters have since become extremely, extremely religious, to the point where I think some of their kids wear wigs. I mean, it's really something, you know. And your sisters wear wigs then, I would imagine. No, no, no.

But they're just bordering on that. I see. Yeah. And I forgot what the question was, but I'm sort of in a jag talking about like. Oh, oh, it was just. Oh, the problems. I was saying. but I'm sort of in a jag talking about like- Oh, oh, it was just- Oh, the problems. Yeah, I mean, you know, the problems, which, you know, and I keep wondering

how I knew that I was right through the whole thing. You know, they were telling me that homosexuality, no, you know, you can't be a homosexual. I mean, that was part of, I'm not kidding. There was a story in the Bible about like homosexuals being stoned. And it was a terrifying day in that class that day. And of course I kept it to myself until I couldn't any longer. I always knew I was gay. That was always a problem because I felt like a real

outsider. I did not feel like I belonged in that family because of that. And also, you know, being an artist, you know, in certain very religious Hebrew teachings, art is a graven image. It's an idol you're creating to worship. Iconography that is, yeah. Iconography that is not, they don't, they don't, they really don't frown, they frown on it. And then there were other people telling me, oh, darling, you're gifted. You know,

I had a therapist when I was in first grade. They wouldn't let me back into school unless I went, because I was a crazy kid. I was like, you know, doing sketches on the margins of the Bible and, you know, sort of imitate. I was doing female impersonations of like Dionne Warwick, which let me tell you, Andy Richter was not a source of pride for the Mizrahi family in 1970, you know? Yeah, but she was really in her prime there. The cigarettes hadn't gotten to her voice yet. I'm serious. No, I mean, really.

So, you know, the point is that that was always like a little bit of an issue or a lot of an issue. And it made me feel like I was the worst person in the world, you know, compared to them because they got great marks. They were always on time for shul. They were, you know, it's like, these were people that my sister Marilyn was the valedictorian of Yeshiva Flatbush,

which is, let me tell you, that is, you have to be really smart to be the valedictorian of Yeshiva Flatbush. Talking about a lot of smart people in that school, you know? Yeah. And also scholars like really an emphasis on scholarliness too. Oh,

darling, you know, they all sit around in rooms and that's all they do is like ask questions. It is very, very beautiful. You know, it was a very, very beautiful life.

And I don't, it's just not for me. And it never was. And, you know, here was a very, very beautiful life. And I don't, it's just not for me and it never was. And, you know, here and there, like you get a little bit sort of, I don't know, like, you know, my husband, they love my husband, but they don't really relate to him in the way that, you know what I mean? They see us as like these three headed monsters or something. Yeah, Yeah. Can't you tell my loves are growing? You're their,

you're their weird, weird, weird, spicy relatives that, you know, exactly. Exactly. And also famous, which is like,

Oh, you know, that doesn't help. Oh, they don't like that. No, they like it. They like it. And they like, they're freaked out by it. They're like revere it, you know, in doesn't help. Oh, they don't like that? No, they like it. They like it.

And they're freaked out by it. They're like, revere it in this crazy way. Yeah, yeah. And that doesn't feel good. No, it doesn't feel good. I had my- It cracks the intimacy. She passed now, but my aunt one time asked, it was very shortly after I got on television,

she asked me for my autograph. And I refused. I said, no. Of course you did. I said said you're my aunt you don't make my heart just break i know it was just and she was really like she was kind of hurt by it and but i didn't fold because i was like no i can't you know no darling there's a principle here you know exactly this is all because especially when you're inside of fame you know even to any varying degree you do realize it's all bullshit i mean if you're not in if

you're not insane or you're not you know in possession of a very weak character you realize it's all nonsense you know you know i gotta tell you know, I got to tell you, like, it's nonsense. And yet there are precautions. There are things you have to understand about going through the world in this way. You know that when you go through an airport, you can't look up. You have to wear it. You know, like, I'm serious. And I remember this. I used to, like, when Meryl Streep used to fly commercial, okay?

I don't know how long ago this was 30 years ago. You know, I've known her for a really long time. She's a doll. Do you know Meryl Streep? I don't, but my friend, do you know the writer,

David Rakoff? Did you ever meet him? Oh, I love David Rakoff. Yeah. Yeah. Um, he was a friend of mine and he did this whole story with her and just could not stop raving about her.

Well, we used to know each other a little and she she lived on my block, and she's hilarious. She's one of the funniest people. And I remember once or twice, I promise, like not just once, it maybe was twice, that I was on the same flight to LA with her, you know, in first class. Remember the giant planes they used to fly? Sure, sure. It was so chic and so fabulous.

And she was just there in first class, and we would chat and chat and chat. And then she was gone. She would, she'd disappear. And I'm standing waiting to get off the plane. And somehow Meryl Streep is no longer in the building. Yeah. And somebody came and got her and whisked her off. And there I am sort of, you know, struggling behind, you know, sort of like E, you know,

whatever it is, TMZ is sort of asking me questions about how I feel about something. You know, whatever it is, right? Or, you know, it's a little bit disconcerting. And I'm not, by the way, I'm not Meryl Streep. I'm not as famous as that. But, you know, it doesn't matter. Like, it's random. It's random.

Yeah. Yeah, it is. Yeah, it is. It's a. It's random. Yeah. Yeah, it is. Yeah, it's, it is. It's a weird thing. And it, and it's, it's hard to explain to people that it's a mixed bag. I mean, they sort of can grasp the idea of it, but then they don't really fully understand, you know, like, like be like the, and I mean, and I'm not in this cat in this category really, but you know, I, but there are people that I know and people who are friends of mine that can't go to the grocery store. Right. Because that means they'll have at least 10 or 15 minutes of the same conversation with people, which is a lovely conversation.

And it's all based in fandom and enjoyment and people being excited of seeing this person. I have a really good story for you, okay? All right, tell me. This is really a good story and this is a lesson for us all, okay? And I mean this in the highest form of respect. I was at an event with the fabulous Iman. You know Iman, right?

Yes, yes. And we were separated for a minute. We did the red carpet and then someone said to me, oh, can I take a picture with you? And I said, you know what? I would love to, but I feel really weird. If I do this with you, then I have to do it with 100.

I hope you understand. You're so nice. I love you, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And I finished. And that was it. And they're looking at me like, really? Right? And then I was standing with Iman.

And someone said, oh, can I do a selfie? And she goes, no. And I thought, you see? You just say no, no. One syllable it takes, you know, and she knows that it's like less kind of perverted, less sort of egomaniacal, less manipulative to just tell no, you know, as opposed to, I love you, but I really can't. And then if I do it with you, I'll be here for 10 minutes. You know, it's like. My manager was once at a Las Vegas prize fight, a big boxing match, standing, talking to Larry David and, you know, and the place is star studded because it was some big boxing match and people kept coming up to Larry and saying, can I get a selfie? Can I get an autograph?

And he said, yeah, yeah. And then one person came up and said, could I get a picture with you? And Larry went, you know what? It's enough. It's enough. Right. You just get pushed. This guy didn't know.

You're like, it's just like, sorry. You just, you're his quota. You got to end up. Exactly. Oh, that is funny. that occurred to me and and i because this is something i've thought about uh a lot uh is people achievers which you are definitely an achiever i mean good gosh you you know you're in everything heavens um was that do you think that that the repression that you felt, the otherness that you felt from the people that were supposed to be raising you, is that a component?

Like, is that an engine in that? I'm going to show you people. Absolutely. He's nodding. Yes. I think the answer to that question is an unqualified, like it's a qualified. Yes. Right. Like, yes. And I was talking

about this also a little bit earlier today, which is, I think fear and loathing is also an engine. You know, you wake up every day so afraid of everything. I don't know about you, but I wake up every day, like, I am so scared of like getting at just getting out of bed effort. And I feel like that is also a motivation. And I don't think it's I don't know. I don't I mean, I know that there are different ways of raising people today, different, more gentle ways of sort of like kind of coaxing them into the person they're going to be, right? And it's much gentler and it's much better. And I think probably there is progress in that, but I don't know how you get all, how you clean a person of fear, loathing and repression. I don't know how, I don't think it's possible.

I don't know that there is a parent alive who can actually sort of raise a person properly with, and sort of shield them from this, from themselves. You know, I don't see how that's possible, you know? Well, I have a- Are you a father? Do you have kids? I am. I'm a father three times over. What were you thinking? One, but yeah, go on. I have a 22-year-old son and an 18-year-old daughter, and I am remarried, and I have a three-and-a-half-year-old. So there's a big, there's a big span there. But I very much like being a father. And I will tell you that now having adult children who are, they're still, they're still children.

I mean, they're not, you know, when you, you don't know what you're doing until you're 27. You know, you're still, you know what I mean? You're still kind of living with your kid brain and it is absolutely it is just like letting them out the back door and saying good luck no matter what you've done right it is absolutely terrifying you know there used to be a fear when my kids first started going out on their own, you know, and, um, and I would think what's going to happen to them. And, you know, and there's all these horrible scenarios, you know, gruesome scenarios that play out in your head. That is nothing compared to, oh shit, they're just going to go out there and start paying rent and getting jobs and falling in love and, you know, and then, and, or maybe not doing any of those things, you know, like horrible part. That's the

horrible part. Yeah. I know what you mean. It's like, okay, well, God forbid drugs and God forbid, whatever it is like that. You really don't want to see, but that's the, that's the extra shit. That's the, that's the extra bad stuff. You know, the real bad stuff is what you're talking about. You know, like facing life, I think, right? Yeah. Facing life and figuring out how to be a good person. You know, the more people I talk to and the older I get, I think I'm slightly older than you.

I don't know. How old are you? Do you mind asking? You're five years older than me. Okay. Yeah. All right. Let's not you. I don't know. How old are you? Do you mind? You're five years older than me. Okay. Yeah. All right. Let's not say,

but as I get older, like I feel like my end, my end and, and kind of desire in life is to just be a good person, you know, like, and, and,

and, and, you know, like forget about accomplishing and forget about money and forget about position and forget about what my obit says in the end. I think like to just be a good person. And that means like trying to do as many good things as you can. It's as simple as that.

And trying not to hate yourself if you don't have 3 million Instagram followers. You know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, you know what I mean. It's like, I don't have ice water in my veins. I have blood in my veins, darling, you know? It's hard for me to like, you know, sort of do what I think I'm supposed to do sometimes,

right? Because I'm human and I err, you know? Yeah. So this is becoming very religious. Are you religious? I am not religious. Me either. I'm not religious, but I am,

I have been to lots and lots of therapy and I believe that therapy takes the place of religion in my life because it does all the things that religion does for other people, which is make me feel hopeful and make me feel there's a sense of progress and that I'm here for a reason. I don't, I don't think anything's going to happen after I go into the ground or, you know, get cremated and dumped into the ocean or kept in a box somewhere. But I do definitely think that what just the work of doing the work of therapy the

work of making yourself better of making yourself happier of making others around you happier um is is i mean i don't even believe in god but like that's god's work that's god's work you know being kind to people and and making making progress in your life where you're not smacking your face into the same brick wall over and over and over and going like, oh, maybe I should go through the doorway instead. You know, those are. Yeah, that would work. Yeah, that's to me. That's, you know, I hold on to those things. And, you know, and it's constant learning too.

It's like, like I'm going through it with the, with, like I said, my adult kids. There's part, I'm finding out ways like, cause I was cocky. I thought, man, I'm a good dad. And now that they're adults and they're going off and I feel like, oh, maybe I'm not. Maybe there were some lessons I should have taught him. And no, well, it's too bad. The cake is baked. But, you know, to go back to your original theory or your original question about, you know, having a little repression in your life.

Like, do you think that kind of makes you into something not always terrible? You know, the answer I would say is yes. You know, it's like to be raised in a very, very religious household when you're going to yourself. Well, I mean, how can I believe in this stuff if everything they say is what I'm not and everything I am is what they say they shouldn't? You know what I mean? It's like you're gay and you're an artist and you're like, you know, whatever it is, all the things you like are not permitted by law of the religion. And, you know, I have to tell you, as a gay person who dates other gay people, you know, and sometimes, like, I remember I had a boyfriend in Chicago who was very religious. And I would

say to him, like, darling, how is this possible that you can accept a religion that doesn't accept you? And he's like, well, the people that I, they do accept me in my particular, right? And I'm like, but in the actual DNA of the makeup of that religion. In the instruction book. In the instruction book, it says don't, it says you're supposed to take a stone

and throw it at your head. You know what I mean? So like, yeah. But he likes it and it's what makes him feel good about his life. And you know, obviously we broke up. He's still in Chicago. Yeah. It's too, yeah, it gets too cold there to not have some kind of faith in some other. I suppose so. Can't you tell my love's a girl? when you started you had your own label at 15

i mean so it didn't take you long it didn't take you long to to pop out of of you know the shackles and say look i'm gonna you know fuck you people i'm getting out into the world it's so funny you know um because you know i i keep forgetting that that was true, that I did. I had this collection at 15 years old with my friend Sarah. It was called I.S. New York, Is New York, because I was Isaac and she was Sarah. And I, you know, designed the clothes and I made the clothes and she sold the clothes and she marketed the clothes and whatever it was. And we had. Was she 15?

No, she was like 30. Oh, wow. Just hilarious. I know, I know, I know. And I loved her. She was a great, great, great friend. Then she eventually became my first like real business partner. You know, she was the first person who I actually had a business with. But, you know, and I may have mentioned this, like the reason I went so heavily into fashion was because I needed to get out of that house, you know? And I love my family. Well, love with air quotes. Actually, Conan said maybe the funniest thing anyone ever said to me in my life.

He was on my show a thousand years ago on the Oxygen Network. Yeah. And we were in the backseat of a car and he said, oh, you know, my mother always said when she said she loved me, she said, I love you with air quotes like that. I love you, Conan. I still laugh when I think of that is maybe the funniest thing anyone has ever

said. So, you know, I love my family, you know? Yeah. Yeah. But I had to get out of there.

And I thought smartly that it would be easier, especially in New York, which I couldn't consider leaving, it would be easier for me to make some money to get out of there in the fashion business, you know, get a job as an assistant. And I was right. But, you know, what I was born to do was show business. I mean, I went to performing arts high school. I went to class. Every day I took dance classes and sword fighting classes and I learned to memorize Shakespeare.

I mean, I did all that, you know, and I learned how to tell jokes and I learned how to dance and I learned how to sing. And, you know, that's what I want to do. And now that I'm however old I am, I am on that path. That's what I am doing mostly in my life. And it's crazy. I have to tell you, it's like, you know, other people who I know, like, this is so exciting for me.

It's like I'm 20 again or something, you know, it's a crazy thing. Yeah. I mean that. I was, I, you know, because I got some research for you, you know, there's a very, there's a top-notch operation here. And I can imagine but the one that the one that jumped out at me and it's the only mention of it in all of this information you know it says band-aid released a series of bandages with isaac mizrahi theme there's like that kind of stuff and then there's at the very bottom performing live shows with his

band in skokie, Illinois. I know, exactly. In two weeks. That's happening in two weeks. I'm really excited. Oh, that's actually my birthday. That's my birthday. So, you know.

Is it? Are you in Scorpio? Scorpio. Yeah, yeah. Okay. Because I'm a Libra. My birthday is in like, you know, the end of the week. But I will, darling.

And by the way, it's not just Skokie. It's also grace lake oh grace like oh no yeah yeah right the next night yes well now tell me about that band when did that i mean oh my god well you know i mean i start like you know performing arts high school we everybody like was always kind of on we were always on and occasionally we were on in front of people and clubs yes you know i mean we were like i. Yes. I can say that the notion of a performing arts school to me seems so exhausting. Oh, it was exhausting. It was so exhausting.

Oh my God. It's an entire school of look at me kids. Yeah. Unless you're 15 and then you can't do it enough and you can't get enough. But anyway, so I was always doing clubs and I was always kind of like doing stuff and songs and performing with people in clubs. And then I started making clothes and a lot of that stuff. And I remember like right away, like in the first year, right after my first show, there was this director who had like a little theater group and he said, oh, you know, you'd be perfect. We're doing an all male version of the women.

And we want you to be the Countess de Lave, which is the best part in the world. That's l'amour, l'amour, toujours l'amour. You know, it's the fabulous part, right? And I was made to play that. And I remember like having to turn that down and thinking like, shit, you know, like, and by the way, a dollar they're paying you to do that.

Yeah. Whereas like you're making some money. So, so it was a real tragedy for me, that part of it. And, you know, and then like, I, I slowly but surely kind of got back into it. I'm not kidding you. Like Liza Minnelli was a really good friend of mine. I made clothes for her. I made her some clothes. We got friendly. And, you know, I would go with her to clubs and she would do a number. Like, I'm not kidding. They'd be like, oh, Liza Minnelli. She's like, oh, no, no, I couldn't.

I couldn't. G flat, you know, whatever. And like, you know, she would do a number, right? And it was like, hmm, right? Like she's doing it. Like I got to do this. So I started doing it a little bit, right? And then I had, and then I closed my couturier in 1998.

What does that mean, started doing it a little bit? Just like sitting at a piano bar singing? Oh, you know, I would go to 88's. Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There was a bar in the village called 88's, right? And sometimes it was with Liza. Liza would be singing, and I'll sing with Liza a little bit,

you know, because when Liza's in the room, darling, nobody's looking at anybody else. Right. And anyway, the point is that somehow I would find my way back to that room and I would do something, write a number. And then I met, and then in like 19, let's see, when did I meet? Well, I was working with this fellow called Peter Jones a long, long, long time ago, who was such a darling. He's really better at writing music than he is at accompaniment, right? He was supposed to be my accompanist, right? And we like each other a lot, and he's a great writer. Then I met Ben Waltzer, right? This

incredible jazz musician. And it was a better fit in terms of like, and we just have this, you know, we had a three-piece band and I had this show off-Broadway from about, we started working on that in like 1998 and I was finished by 2001. So I think maybe we had a year of shows in this little theater called, at the time it was called the Greenwich House and now it's called the Barrow Street Theater, right? So that's where I did my one-man show for like a year. And then I started working at Joe's Pub with my band. And then I started working at the Carlisle with my band about seven or eight years ago. Yeah. And now it's a six-piece band. And now we tour, and I have like a manager, and he sets up gigs for me, and it's really great.

That's wonderful. We do really well. And that's wonderful. You do really well. They're small venues. It's like either a club or a small kind of concert hall, like, you know, 500 seats, 700 seats, something like that. Is it songs and stories or is it most? Yeah. Yeah.

It's songs and stories. Lovely. That's wonderful. It is. I'm telling you. What's your big, what's your big closer? Well, you know, I know, I do two things. Every single show I do, I do that number called You're the Top, that Cole Porter tune.

But I re-lyricize it. You know, it's like a really funny kind of contemporary version of You're the Top. And that just, that always gets them crazy because it's a lot of words and it's very funny. And then the other thing, I mean, I do a really good version of Borderline, you know, the Madonna song Borderline. And I also do a really good version of that Billie Eilish tune called Everything I Wanted. That always gets them also.

Billie Eilish is a genius. She's fantastic. I love Billie Eilish. And, you know, my band has a kind of like a jazz kind of a slant to it. So it's always a little jazzy and it's really good. You know, your fashion career, you had your own line. Then you don't have your own line. Then you do have your own line.

Do those kind of ups and downs, does your versatility kind of help? and downs does your versatility kind of help you know yeah boy you in those turbulent times when you know disappointment crashes in i mean i will say that like i never thought of those times as crashing kind of failure moments i thought like oh god thank God I don't have to do that anymore. I mean, I was so relieved and so happy. I remember being so happy and people did not. And one psychic, I go to psychics a lot. Not only do I go to therapists, I go to psychics. And this one psychic said to me, darling, how will you deal with this kind of public humiliation? And I was like, oh, have I just been humiliated publicly? Oh, good to know. Thank you. And then I sort of said, okay, darling, you were publicly humiliated.

But for months I was just so happy and everybody didn't understand. And they were like, oh, darling, are you okay? And I was like, I've never been better. I have been so, I'm sleeping like a baby and I'm so happy and I can't wait. I have this deal and that deal and I'm going to have a talk show and I'm going to have a one man show.

All this stuff was so much more kind of natural for me. Right. And more fun, I bet. And more fun. And then you, by the way, then you reinvent yourself. Then I went on to do that line for Target. And at the moment, I'm doing a line for QVC. And it's all great.

I feel like it's where it should be. It's where it should be in my life one of the things that I I saw in in the research was that you were a costume designer for three Broadway revivals and a Meta for production and oh boy that's now I mean I'm not a clothing designer but boy I bet that would be fun you know oh my god so much fun and I gotta tell you like usually it's i work with great people that i adore i'm so lucky to work with people that i adore you know and i and by the way what's great about it is i don't have to take every job that i'm offered i only take the jobs that i need to in the fact and that and the capacity of a of a um of a costume designer because really it can be you know

if it's like a sweatshirt and a pair of jeans you want to kill yourself you're sitting there like ah could some could could we get the lighting person because the sweatshirt i have to re-dye it because it's such a bore you know yeah yeah but when you're doing like some 18th century kind of fantasy about you know amphibians like had this, I did this opera at Covent Garden. I don't know how many years ago that was about a frog queen, right? It was a Baroque opera about a frog queen. And it was maybe the funniest, greatest job I ever had in my life, you know? And also to be working at Covent Garden and all those shops, the wig makers and the shops, they were just, it was so fascinating, you know?

Oh yeah, oh, to me, yeah, that's, and to me, like the microphones are in the wigs. Like that's just, I love that shit. Well, I remember there was one tenor that had to make a very fast change, right? Yeah. And they were making his costumes. He had to go from being this kind of

bum character in a bar to being Jupiter. He was the god Jupiter. And I thought of him as, I designed him as this kind of like, you know, this silent movie sort of, like he played a ukulele and he had, he was sort of like

based on, I don't know, Rudy Valley or something. Sure. And he had a wig change and a thing and a thing. And I said, well, how about a zipper in the fly instead of buttons? And the guy looked at me, you know, England, he was like, darling, we'll change this.

He will change. Don't you worry. It would take him longer to zipper a zipper than it would for him to just do up the buttons. Yeah. The fly buttons. Yeah. It was really funny.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. My wife and I, we went to Europe this summer and we were in Zurich and we got last minute tickets to, is it Turundo? Turundo. Yeah. Turundo. Toronto. Yeah. Turned off.

Yeah. Yeah. Um, and there, there was a production, very well received production. I like Googled it and read about it. Cause we just showed up in Zurich and like,

Hey, let's go to the opera. But it was modernized costumes, you know, and it's all supposed to be Imperial China. And I was all excited, you know? And then it's like-

I'm sorry. Oh, it's like Mao outfits. You know, it was like Maoist kind of outfits. Well, you know, I'll tell you something, darling. A lot of people go to the opera just to hear the singing. Okay, I'm afraid. I'm sorry to break that to you. I know, but come on.

I know, I know. Sometimes you want the lavish thing, you know? Yeah. The Turandot at the Met, I still think they have that beautiful Franco Zeffirelli production. So if you're looking for a massive lush production, but check it before, cause everything changes. I think they still have that Zeffirelli production at the Met. Well, we're getting near the end here. This has been a lovely talk that has just sped by. I want to get through these things that you and Selma Blair have launched an accessible,

inclusive fashion line with QVC called Isaac Mizrahi Live with Selma Blair. That's right. And that sounds, that's pretty cool. What does that mean when you say accessible and inclusive? Well, it just means, you know, that it's a larger community of people that can now, like, you know, people that have disabilities, right. People that are in wheelchairs for any number of reasons, or, you know, they have difficult time getting dressed because they have to bend down and these pants have straps that they

can pull up very easily or magnetic snaps because the dexterity of their, of our fingers have somehow, you know, right. And so those little tiny things, like, you know, some things have, you know, zippers on the side so they can put ports in for people who are in chemotherapy, you know, just all kinds of considerations like that. And, you know, Selma herself is just one of the great American heroes to me, you know, because she does suffer from MS and it, it does kind of. Yeah. And she did not go away. She said, no, she did not go away. This is what's real.

That's right. And what's great about her is there's still a kind of vanity about her. She wants to look chic. She wants to look good. So this is our answer to that. You know, people who go, wait a minute, first it has to be very cute. And then it would be great if it had a pocket on the side that I could put my phone in so that I didn't have to reach to the back and a million different little things. Sure, sure. It's got to be, I mean, there's so many different things to accommodate that it's probably difficult. Yes, yes. It's difficult and yet it's such a pleasure for me because I, you know, I don't have a ton of money.

I don't, you know? And it's like, I want to help as much as I can, you know? And so like, it starts with the opportunity. If I did not have a friend called Selma Blair and she did not say, oh, you know, it's so hard to get dressed for God's sake, you know? Like that was the beginning of something. And so I was able to, oh, you know, it's so hard to get dressed for God's sake. You know, like that was the beginning of something. And so I was able to do that.

Yeah. And problem solving is so much fun. Oh, it really is. Yeah. It really is. And I'm sure that it's profoundly meaningful for people for Christ's sake. I mean, come on. 100%.

Absolutely. I hope it is. You know, I hope it is. I should think. I bet you're going to. How long has it been out? Oh, just a well then hell yeah yeah i mean i'm sure you're gonna you're gonna have you're gonna have so many wonderful experiences with people people telling you how meaningful that this is i can only imagine you know right well you're also in this podcast business

i am hello isaac how how long have you been doing that you know I started I'm only about 25 interviews in so what does that make me a real novice and you know I agreed to do it and then I started doing it and I was like

Jesus this is hard and you know I used to have a talk show so I kind of understand I have to structure something to talk to somebody. And it's not, it's not a little work, like it requires a good deal of focus. And, and the thing is that I thought, Oh, my God, and then we started doing it. I was like, What have I done? But then I got into it, you know, and then it was really successful. Like the first week it was, you know, number six overall or something. I was very, very, very proud of that. And so that gave it a kind of a kick, you know? I'm so shallow, darling. I'm so shallow. I like recognition. I do

like a little recognition. Yeah. And then let's see here. I mean, and then there's your band. You're going to be in Skokie on October 28th in Grayslake, Illinois on October 29th. And then after that, I'm going to be in December. I have a date somewhere. Stony Brook, New York, December 1st. I have that right here. So check out, go see Isaac play with his band. Are there things ahead of you that you like things left undone or you just.

Oh my God. Hundreds of things left undone. Yeah. No, I wrote a novel. I'm trying to work on that. I'm going to try to get that published. I really want to write something for television or something. I really have writing in me as a big part of my life, you know?

Yeah. Great. Yeah. That's great. That's ahead. Andy Richter. The final, you know, this is the three questions and the final one is what, you know? Yeah. Great. Yeah. That's great. That's ahead. Andy Richter. The final, you know, this is the three questions and the final one is what have you learned? I mean, do you have kind of a guiding principle or, you know, something that travels?

I have to say, like, I don't learn anything. I learn a million little things that are interesting to me, but I never learn lessons. I learn, I don't learn anything from failure except that it sucks and that you have to not be afraid to fail. And hopefully, you know, you keep failing or something. I mean that. That's a crazy thing. But I don't learn shit from failure. I don't learn a thing.

Luckily, because if you did, then you would stop. You'd go, okay, here's what I learned. Don't do that again. Yeah. But if you don't do it again, you'll never get anywhere. So I mean it. How's that for an answer? That's good.

Nice. Well, Isaac, thank you so much for taking the time. Pleasure. Thank you. And it's been wonderful talking to you again. It's been great. And I hope your shows go great. And I hope you sell a lot of clothes that are accessible and inclusive.

Thank you. And I'll be back next week with more of the three questions. So, bye. The Three Questions with Andy Richter is a Team Coco production. It is produced by Sean Dougherty and engineered by Rich Garcia. Additional engineering support by Eduardo Perez and Joanna Samuel. Executive produced by Nick Liao, Adam Sachs, and Jeff Ross. Talent booking by Paula Davis, Gina Batista, with assistance from Maddy Ogden. Research by Alyssa Grahl. Don't forget to rate and review and subscribe to The Three

Questions with Andy Richter wherever you get your podcasts. And do you have a favorite question you always like to ask people? Let us know in the review section. Can't you tell my love's a-growing? Can't you feel it ain't a-showing? Oh, you must be a-knowing. I've got a big, big love. This has been a Team Coco production.