The Three Questions with Andy Richter - Katie Nolan

Episode Date: January 21, 2025

If you’re not a sports fan, this IS the podcast episode for you. Katie Nolan is a hilarious television personality and podcaster, creating comedy for both sports fans and non-sports fans alike -- and she’s here to explain to Andy why her new podcast is perfect for “non-sports people!”Katie talks to Andy Richter about staying authentic in both your personal and professional life, what it means to be a “galsy guy” or a “guysy gal,” her experience hosting her own late-night television show, and much more. Don’t miss Katie’s new podcast, Casuals, available wherever you find your podcasts!If you're able to, please consider giving to the Pasadena Community Foundation (https://pasadenacf.org). Do you want to talk to Andy live on SiriusXM’s Conan O’Brien Radio? Leave a voicemail at 855-266-2604 or fill out our Google Form at BIT.LY/CALLANDYRICHTER. Listen to "The Andy Richter Call-In Show" every Wednesday at 1pm Pacific on SiriusXM's Conan O'Brien Channel.

Hi everybody, welcome back to The Three Questions. I'm your host Andy Richter and today I'm talking to Katie Nolan. Katie is a television personality and podcaster. Her work is kind of a blend of comedy and sports. It's for sports fans and non-sports fans alike. She hosted the TV shows Always Late with Katie Nolan and Garbage Time with Katie Nolan and has worked as a sports commentator on Apple TV plus and ESPN. Her new podcast Casuals premieres January 21st. Here's my conversation with Katie Nolan. First of all, don't judge me because I dress like a fucking toddler all the time and I don't think that it's good, but I just am, you know. Men can get away with it, not to bring up gender immediately, but men can get away with it a lot longer.

No, you're absolutely right. Men, if I was a woman, I don't even know if I'd be in show business. It's just an extra layer of work that you have to know how to do, like this. And I never did this. So I never had to like think about that. And now I'm at an age where I'm like, grow up and think about that. But it's exhausting. I've already been working for an hour. You know what I'm saying? This was work. Well, thank you. I do appreciate it. I appreciate the work. But I always feel like, and I've been the, it's taken years and years and years, learning how women communicate and how women operate to where it's like, you don't have to do that for me. It's like, hey dummy, it's not about you.

Shut up. It's like with my wife, you know, my wife is always, you know, she's dieting and all, you know, cause she, she's 48 and she, she's 48. It's a, it sucks. When all of a sudden you're like, the things I know about myself that have always been true are no longer true. And now I have to learn a whole new body just to then do it again in 10 years. Because it happens in your 30s and then it hits you again in your

40s. And then our bodies are like, well, now you're going to be hot all the time. And that sucks. I'm not looking forward to that. Truthfully, I wish that I never had to deal with that whole process in general, because I'm not having kids. So, truthfully. Like, I wish that I never had to deal with that whole process in general, because I'm not having kids, so I wish. As a child, I could have said, like, I'm opting out of that, so I don't want any of the associated ups and downs of it. Right, right. But here we are.

I don't want to pay a price for what Eve did. Yeah, I mean, and I'm sorry about that, okay? But maybe Adam didn't communicate clearly enough to Eve that she wasn't supposed to do that. Right, right. Well, that's all fucking fairy tale anyway. I mean, sorry, folks. Sorry to break it to you, folks.

Um, no, but are you feeling outside pressure now? Because now, I mean, because you work so much in a sports vein for a long time that, you know, you could kind of, and on the podcast that you're on, it is kind of like, you know, you're the guysie gal. So you're sort of, you know, you're sort of in with the guys. But now that you're kind of going out, I mean, you've done stuff on your own before, but I mean, is there outside pressure now?

Like, cause you're on SiriusXM, you know, as opposed to like a purely sports area. I feel like there's so many questions in that question. I feel like... Well, good, cause I'm tired. I'm gonna sit back. Let you go for a while. So you're right, I am on my own.

I've mostly in my career hosted my own show, but it's it's been with a company So first I was you know first I was with FS one and they pay you a salary and you make a show Or like a per episode then I went to ESPN and did it there now I don't I'm partnering with serious So now it's like this is my podcast and they are helping me so much to like launch it. But after a year they might be like we don't want it and I might be like well I don't want you. Like anything could happen. This is like on me. So there is a little bit of pressure that way. But what it feels more like to me is like a freedom because before

it really felt like I had to stick to a certain way of doing it. And now I feel like I don't as much now. And it feels like I can do it my way and no one can really tell me that they, I mean, other than like listeners not listening, which is data, but it's more direct me to the people who I'm trying to make stuff for without this middle man of like a boss

who controls how things go. It's just like, I get to give it straight to the people. As far as like getting myself to look nicer and if I'm feeling pressure outside, I just feel like in the last couple years when I took a little bit of a step away from working, but also because of that, like, interacting with the sports world the way that I did. I just kind of feel like I, you know, have neglected a side of me that I've kind of gotten back in touch with now as I'm 38 in a week.

And it's just like I, my female side, like the side of me that's like not really worried about being accepted by anybody but me who isn't like trying to be anything except myself. And I feel like I've consumed a lot of content from women and I've like gotten to work on my female friendships. And I just feel like it's a side of me that I didn't like wear and I don't have, I don't feel comfortable wearing publicly, but I'm trying to figure out now cause I'm running out of time. You said figuring out now went,

like before you run out of time. Cause I'm running out of time. Yeah. You know, it's like, I'm trying to be, I want it, my whole goal in life, I thought it was everybody's, but I'm learning that it's not, is like to make sure I'm being exactly me of like figuring out who I am, knowing who I am, and then figuring out how to use that to be a part of the world. I don't know if that makes sense.

I certainly makes, it makes a lot of sense and it's a, it's a pretty, it's a pretty good goal. You know, I mean, it's like you're, it's a wise goal because there's lots of stuff that if you didn't, if you were like, well, I'll be whatever they want me to be. And even if you're like, I'll be whatever they want me to be publicly. And then I'll be myself privately. That's one thing if you're a character actor, but if you're going out as yourself and you, this is as yourself and this is you and

this is the face that you show the public, but that's not you, holy shit is that causing a lot of ticking time bomb psychological damage. Yeah. I feel that. I can't sit in that. It's a hard thing to sit in. Whatever that is psychologically, I'm very sensitive to. So if I'm being one thing somewhere and then coming home and taking that off like a coat and then I'm me, it feels

like unrest for me. I feel uncomfortable doing that. I have not yet figured out monetarily how to make this make a lot. It's not like a very profitable way to live. I feel like it's a lot easier if you go out there and sort of put on a shell, sell the shell to people so that when they don't buy it, it doesn't hurt as much. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, absolutely. Because if the product is you, like it's one thing if you're selling copiers and they're like, no, we don't really want a Minolta copier. You're like, well, they don't want a Minolta copier, no big deal.

But if it's like, you know, especially like as an actor going in, you see it on their face. Like when you come in the room, it's like, no, you see the no right away and it's just like, God damn, you gotta, you know, you need to learn how to compartmentalize that shit because otherwise you just feel bad all the time. My ultimate goal is to,

my fiance always says it's my engine. My ultimate goal is to have my engine so that when something like that comes in, it processes it cleanly and it goes right out. Like it isn't, it doesn't fester. I don't want things to like, you know, become burdens on me. The goal is to be able to feel it, you know, you don't ignore it because that's where the problems usually come in. Something hurts and you go, no, it doesn't. It's like, no, it does. So let it hurt and then let it move through you so that you move to the next,

you know, burn clean so you go to the next thing. That's the ultimate goal. Yeah. It's hard to do. And it's actually impossible. Because, you know, it's like, you can't, you can't, you know, when you're processing negative input, it's like, there is going to be some sticky residue. And if there wasn't, there'd be something wrong with you. In that yeah, exactly. In that way, you know? Yeah. I do wonder, like, do you know why, like, you know, you talked about, you know, taking,

you know, bringing, putting the feminine part of yourself or the female part of yourself more upfront and present? And is there a reason that it wasn't upfront and present for so long? Or is it just kind of that was what was comfortable? I think, you know, I grew up a tomboy. I grew up playing sports, but that wasn't why I was a tomboy. I might, I have an older brother. He's three years older than me.

He, growing up, was popular and funny and smart and good at sports. He was a hockey player. He went to private high school for sport. My whole life was like this, he was the star. And I like look at him and see, you know, stars in my eyes. So I think my like path I kind of tried to follow was almost his in a way. And then I think like the things I picked up from that,

I'm grateful for and are literally a part of me. It's not that it's phony in that way. It's that I, now that I'm like, now that I've been formed, you know, now that I've lived my lived experiences, I'm sort of being like, okay, and now let's, like me, let's put me back. You know what I'm saying? Like I feel like I wanted to, my parents, you know, my brother was the favorite. We can just call it what it is. Growing up, my brother was the favorite. Just the two of you? Yes, the two of us.

Okay. Great childhood, lovely, no complaints. I know my mom will listen to this and I want her to know she's wonderful. And I want you to know she's wonderful, Andy. That will matter to her. I understand, but she didn't do enough I want you to know she's wonderful Andy that will matter to her. I understand but she didn't do enough. No not enough. She did not do enough. She didn't love me enough.

What's her name? Tammy. Tammy? Tammy with a C. She'll kill me if I let you say Tammy. All right sorry. Tammy. What's that short for? Camille.

Camille. Ooh la la. Why did she call it Camille? I don't I love that name. She said she didn't like it. Camille is so classy. Very classy. I agree. I've made this argument, but maybe she'll listen to you.

Right, right. No, but Cammie, no, but seriously, Cammie, you need to let her bitch. That's, my mother doesn't, my mother's told me, I'm not gonna listen to your show anymore, because when you talk about family stuff, I just don't like to hear it. And I'm like... Fair enough. Okay, sure.

Fair enough. You know, it's like I hear you bitch about me. Yeah. You just don't do it on a podcast. I spent my whole life you bitching about me. You've told me exactly what you think of me since I was born. Right, right. So at least I do you the favor of not having you in the room for it.

Right. And Cammie, you have to believe that you did a good job. And she did. And she did. She did. But then, you know, my brother was, not his fault, good at everything. He's the kind of person who's good at everything right away. Like, you'll show him a new game you learned. And he's like, oh, so it works like this. And then he's better than you at it. And you're like, okay, cool, yeah. So now it's your thing. And so like, I love my brother and I grew up, I think, sort of identifying as like, well, that's the greatest person I know.

I should wanna be like the greatest person I know. And my brain didn't have enough awareness yet to realize that the thing we didn't have in common was like, I'm a girl. And that's like a kind of a key part of me. And I sort of ignored it. I didn't also didn't help. I grew up with a very short haircut from first grade until high school.

Like very, very short, like a like a like a pixie, a cut for an older woman. Yeah, small child. And so by no fault of anybody else's, I would go for, again, first grade through high school. So this was like middle school, those years when you get bullied, I had a little boy's haircut and I would go, if I went to things with my family, they'd go,

is this your son? And it was like, it's not my son, it's my daughter. And so my whole childhood, gender and I didn't have a relationship. It didn't behoove me to be super attached to what a girl I was because everybody thought I was a boy. So it was sort of just something I was like, well, that part doesn't matter. I'll focus on all these other parts. But now, now I'm older. I've like lived as a woman. I've working in sports made me very aware of the ways in which I had failed as a woman and in ways in which I had, you know, you used a phrase earlier we were like you're a

guy's girl and it makes me cringe now because now I'm like, oh it's such a bummer. Like I, I've really neglected this side of me which has done a disservice to my community which which are my sisters, which are women. So it's something that now I'm like very focused on now that I've come into awareness of it to be like, all right, who's she? Like, what is the what's the parts of you that are that and how can you live them out loud now at this point in your life. See, when I say you're a guysie gal, I don't, well, first of all, I said guysie, which is even more- Yeah, you're right.

It's even more- It is much different. It's better that way. Is it? Because you're being cutesy. It's more silly. Yeah, because being cutesy. Oh, is it?

You're not saying like you're a pick-me. You're saying like you're a guysie girl. And I think guysie is a little bit of a, it's an adjective I certainly would have used to describe me and maybe still would. But it's, yeah, but you're being cute about it. So it's different. So it's fine. Well, I try to be cute all the time.

24-7. Nailing it. Doing a great job. But no, I say that because also like, I'm not saying it from a sense of like, yeah, that's the way all chicks should be. They should all like, you know, get, stop being so fucking weird and get with the guys. That's not what I'm saying at all. I'm saying it as like, I feel like, and people love to shit on me for this.

Like I've called myself a feminist and people love to shit on me for saying I'm a feminist. But I'm like, I don't know what else you call it when you say, it's not fair. Like I don't know how else to say it's not fair. It's never been fair. The word's been ruined because there's a lot of people who used it as some sort of a status symbol or used it as a way to say something about themselves that was not true and then we found out that it wasn't true and then it sort of became typecast as the thing you say when you're an asshole and you don't want anybody to know that you're an asshole you go out and say I'm a feminist so

we're just not buying it anymore yeah but I don't think that you should feel discouraged to use it to identify yourself I don't think that you should feel discouraged to use it to identify yourself. I don't. If it truly is something you feel you identify with. I don't. Just don't fucking lie to us. We're sick of that. You know what I mean? Stop telling us you're one and then we find out that you were a dick and then when we

go, wow, he's actually a dick, everyone goes, cancel culture. You're like, it's not cancel culture. No, I know. You said I'm not a dick. I know, I know. You were a dick and now we're rightfully mad. Yes, yes, absolutely. That's why I'm yelling about that.

No, listen, I don't blame you and I agree with you. And that's another thing, you know, like back in the old days of Twitter, when I would say stuff about racist white people and there would be people who would call me like a race traitor. Like there's men that consider me like a gender traitor because, you know, like a lot of the Me Too movement, I was like, yeah, that's fucked up. And hey, that guy's apology, he didn't say I'm sorry in his apology.

He did a real long apology, but never- A lot of words. Yeah, never accepted responsibility or said, I'm sorry, or I apologize. So, but what I was getting to is like, I actually, I'm a galsy guy. I like, you know. You're absolutely right.

You know, I mean, I, if there's a room like, and I've always been this way. And I think it's because I was raised by women Is that you know, like, you know Thanksgiving all the men are in watching a football game and the women are all in the kitchen I'm like I'm gonna go to the kitchen and I'm watching the football game. I Really? Yeah, and I feel guilty because I'm like, ooh, I'm absolutely supposed to be doing that. And so sometimes if I think of it, I try to help, but I'm just like not, I'm watching the football game. Right, right.

No, and I always feel, you know, like, well, and now true that I'm older, now I'm the head cook at the holiday gatherings, you know? That's a big deal. Oh, it's a fucking, it's too much. It's too much. You do all of it or you have people bring stuff? Bring some stuff, but I do most of it.

You do the bird. Yeah, and I live in a house that was built in 1907 that is half renovated, and the kitchen is one of the parts that's not renovated. Oh no. It's not from 1907. It that's not renovated. Oh no. It's not from 1907. It's from about like 1974. Oh no.

And there's no dishwasher. I mean, the appliances are new, but there's hardly any counter space. And it's just, it's a constant source of, cause I'm the cook in the family, which my wife is like more than happy to let me do and I'm more than happy to do. You know, I'm like, as long as I don't have to fold clothes, that's... Yeah.

What a nightmare. Oh, folding clothes is the fucking worst. Laundry sucks. And it never... I've heard this before, but truly at this age now, I'm like, every time we finish and we're waiting to fold, the hamper's full again. I'm like, I haven't even we're waiting to fold the the the the hampers full again I'm like I haven't even finished the socks. Yeah, yeah hampers full. Yeah, who's wearing all this? I do you guys are I know I know it's and we have a kid. Oh, I can't imagine

I cannot imagine will not be imagining that would not and also they poop in it like for a number of years They just straight up poop in it. Yeah, but that's honestly the pooping is they usually in it. Like for a number of years they just straight up poop in it. Yeah, but that's honestly the pooping is they usually do it in something disposable. So it's not, you know. I guess I was just a poopy baby because I feel like I pooped and it came up the back of my onesie a couple times. Right, right. Explosive.

That does happen. It does happen. But yeah, so anyway, I don't, you know, I relate to you, but just in sort of like a flip side of the coin in that I would say even to, like I have male friends, but especially, but this is a very common thing. And I mean, there's fucking psychological papers built around men don't have friends. You don't connect the same way. They get into their 40s and 50s and then they just don't have friends.

And I have friends and we make an effort now and then to like meet up for lunch and stuff. But not the way, and there's no like constant connection on Facebook in my world. There's like Instagram, so it's like, hey, I saw you went to Vermont or whatever, but it's not the same. And the people that I do have contact with in like a real emotional way are women, are like my sister and a couple of female friends and my wife and my daughter, my older daughter. And that's just, I don't know.

There's like- There's something there, but we don't really know what it is. I don't know just I don't know. There's like there's something there, but we don't really know what it is I don't know. I don't know. Well, I like for me like going through and looking at a like a lot of you know, you've been you've been Working in media for a long time. It's like I had no idea that you were there because I'm not in this sports media. Yeah, you know, yeah, I'm aware of sports But specifically baseball. I don't really care about much of anything else.

I will watch, you know, like, it's like I'm into the playoffs of things. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, that's truly for a newer or a casual sports fan, which is perfect. This is exactly what my new show is about, is like, playoffs are perfect. It's a tiny season that you can just pay attention to. It's like, here's the good ones, watch what they do. As opposed to, especially baseball, the length of the season is like, that's all the time. Watching every game is a chore now, not just because they're all on different streaming services, etc., etc. But like, it's a chore because it's just every day. It's like a constant.

There's it's hard to follow narratives and sports media is all narrative based. And so they're trying to tell a story like every and it's just a lot. So I totally get that. I don't judge anybody who just watches the playoffs. And I also feel like I don't judge anybody who has no idea who I am, because I was doing this for a very long time, but sports media, and this is the whole reason for the show that I'm trying to make now, I feel like sports media does a really good job of talking to

itself. I don't know that it does a good job of being like, hey, if you're not nuts about this, you can still know a little bit about it. You can still stay up to date on what's going on in it. It just needs to be talked about differently. Like I keep feeling like sports needs a gateway drug. Like it needs a gateway podcast. It needs something that's like, yeah, that's a lot. Here's the stuff that matters. And also we're going to be entertaining while we talk about it. So that if you don't really care about the ins

and outs of the sport, you just wanna know about it kind of culturally or like as entertainment or like for small talk. Sports is great for small talk with strangers because you can just talk about a thing that doesn't really matter, but does kind of matter. And I just feel like those people need to be entertained while they're listening to talking about sports.

And a lot of sports entertainment stuff is very bro-heavy, of course. It makes perfect sense to me. I think it should exist. I'm not mad that it exists. I'm not coming for anybody's anything. But I do think there's room for like this other thing. That's like not that. That isn't bro-y.

That like watches, you know, is active on social media and like watches TV and likes comedy and like watches TV and likes comedy and likes movies. Like that's sort of not... It's like sports eats just sports and so the stuff it puts out is just sports and it gets sportsier and sportsier and sportsier and bro-ier and bro-ier and bro-ier and I don't think sports are for boys. I think sports have been sort of marketed to boys and have usually catered to boys, but I think sports are for everybody. I think like anybody can find this stuff entertaining. It's like live theater that's like very physically intense.

It's like there's so much to talk about about it. And I find it so fascinating and so interesting and it bums me out when like People feel like it's just for their husband or it's you know where they're like, oh he gets to watch the game I don't have anything like that. It was a tick-tock trend I was watching the other day that I was like that's you can have sports sports are for everybody Wait, tell me that what I don't know. This is so silly. I got sidetracked, but it was basically this woman was talking to her phone and

being like men have some football gets to be an excuse for men when they don't want to go to something like I can't go to that family function on a Sunday because the Steelers game is that day. Yeah. She was like, I think it's crazy that we let men get away with that. Women don't have anything we can say we're doing that day, which is why we can't go. And my argument was like, sport, the football game. You have the same excuse. It's also for you. But I know, I understand why people don't feel that because it hasn't been like, see how this is for you. It's sort of just like,

you have to either be okay with the way it's being taught. You just have to sort of, you know, be okay with that and deal with it and power through because you like the sport so much or that I think you just ignore it. And so now I'm like, let me help women know that it's, and then it's not a podcast for women. It's not, but I just am like, look, this is, I've been hanging out over here for a while. I like it over here. I think you would like it over here too. Yeah.

Come hang out and talk about it. So that's the goal for this new podcast. Well it's, I mean it is, it's a great idea. And I just am like, don't you think that there's like so many bros that are gonna, that just don't want anything to do with anything but like pure crack sports. Yeah. Like I don't want any. And they tell me every day on the internet, any way they can, that they don't want the thing I have.

And that's, that's fine. Like the last few years for me have been getting okay with that. I've just been like, okay. and who says you get to decide? Why do you care what I make? If it's not for you, lucky you, we live in a time where you could not know me. You can go know everything else. Let me make this for not you. You're not everybody.

So that's the sort of, that's kind of where I'm trying. Is that, was that, did I sell that? Is that convincing? No, absolutely. But it's it's it's it's incredibly frustrating area. And it's incredibly frustrating phenomena that isn't just about sports and people enjoying sports casually and not having to be a real fan. You know, like that that I've dealt with that my whole life. It's like, hey, I like the Cubs.

Oh really? Oh really? Who was pitching when they were the Cubs? Why'd you go to White Sox game then? You know, like, because who gives a shit? That's the worst stadium also, just while we're there. The White Sox stadium is horrendous. I've only been to Comiskey Park.

I haven't been to the new one. So, you know. Horrendous. Oh, is it? Yeah. Yes. Some of them are really, the worst is, have you ever been to that fucking LA Coliseum?

The, you know, or the Olympic one? Oh, have I. You know, like the old one, it's like the 84 Olympics. No. Cause the Rams, like I think the Rams started playing there. Yeah. And now, and they played there before SoFi was built. And a friend of mine got tickets and we went,

and it is like, it might as well be like the Roman Coliseum. Because you have to walk up, and this is just lazy me, like literally five, like five straight shots, a straight shot of like five flights of stairs. And then the seats, you know, like, it just made me appreciate modern stadium design. Because modern stadium design, you don't ever have to walk past more than six or seven

people to get to the aisle to take a leak. Here it's like 40. If you're in the middle, you gotta walk past 20 people, 30 people in order to get to the aisle. And then there was, that's a sidetrack, but yeah, I hope they do something before the actual Olympics come. Oh my God, I still can't believe.

I just think that's not a great idea, but hopefully it works out. I, you know, I'm 50% oh, that'll be fun. And 50% like, how fucking dare they? You know, like, the inconvenience that that will be. And now to somebody online, somebody online just, and it was a snarky comment, but they were like, you just like, can't wait for the Olympics to come and there to be a gigantic fire. I know. And it's a possibility. It's really fucking scary.

I mean, I don't know, you know. I mean, that's going to keep happening to the Olympics no matter what, everywhere it goes as climate change gets worse. I mean, sports is really going to be impacted by it. It could be an earthquake. Yeah, it could be an earthquake for that matter. Yeah. Yeah, whatever. Yeah, it could be an earthquake for that matter.

I want to get a little sense of like what your path was to being kind of doing this for a living, for being, I mean first of all what do you call yourself? I said this is, I mean everybody says, we'll start with an easy question, what do you do yourself? I mean, everybody says, we'll start with an easy question. What do you do? And I'm like, that's actually the hardest question. Because I started out doing comedy. I started out doing comedy videos on YouTube. I started out writing. I started out blogging.

Then I started doing comedy videos on YouTube for an online company Just comedy it mentioned sports. I grew up in sports. So it touches everything I do, but it wasn't like sports based. It was comedy Was it funny? I don't think so now but then it was fun. Like I I wrote it all myself So I was learning how to write jokes Yeah on like online that I was trying to do weekend update by myself every day. Which at the time I was like... What's your critique about it? Of my old stuff when I first started?

It's just not... It's hacky. It was like if I had to do eight jokes in one video, two of them would get the attention they deserved and the others would just be obvious punch lines. Watching myself on camera from that time now, I'm like, ew, who is she? I'm clearly trying to be somebody else and I have no idea. The early days of Conan, I'm like, shut the fuck up. I can't even handle it.

Shut up and what's the dead look in your eyes? Like, wake up. Where are you right now? It took like three years to just learn how to be on TV and even then, I am not a fan of watching myself. It's tough. And so imagine if what you were watching was an everyday, you writing eight, nine jokes,

delivering them with awful edits, because you're also editing the videos and learning how to do that by watching YouTube videos. It's funny to watch the production quality in them go up, but I don't even want to talk about them anymore because I don't want anybody to try to find them and watch them and enjoy them. They're bad. I think they're mostly gone, but they're just, they're bad. But I was learning. It was me becoming who I am. So whenever you look back at yourself, it should make you cringe a little. Otherwise that means you're not growing at all.

You're exactly who you were then. Anyway. And you've sort of, you've said, because was this, bitches can't hang? That was my blog that I first started. It was just basically a Tumblr I wrote. And then Guyism is the website that found me. Right.

And they were like, we want you to do videos. And I was like, I don't do on camera. Like you just got a quiz right. Yes, you did. That is correct. That's correct. It's what it says here. Yeah. So yeah, so I went to this company, Guyism. They wanted me to be on camera. I didn't want to. It was a struggle. And then they were like, do it.

We'll pay you. I don't remember now, but it was whatever my rent was I think was like seven hundred and fifty dollars a month Sigh so at least you had that covered I was like I was bartending at the time so I was like well if I do that my rent will be covered in all The money I make bartending will just be cash that I spend that I have for myself Yeah, so I did it without realizing that five videos a week is a lot to film, edit, and write yourself. Fuck yes.

But it got me, listen, I think that once anything becomes a job that you go like, well, I just have to do it. It's my job. That's when you can get good at it. Because I did it so much that it wasn't like sitting down to write all those jokes, wasn't like a thing I could stress about anymore because I had to do it because I had to be at my shift and I had to go bartend. It had to just be a job.

And so for two years, I did that every day. And then Fox Sports was launching an answer to ESPN. They were launching their 24-hour sports network. And someone who had happened to be involved in that, because I wasn't like YouTube famous at all. I wasn't getting a lot of views. Somebody who happened to be involved in FS1 had seen my videos and liked me for some reason. He was like, I think she's got it or whatever. So he called me and he was like, we want you to be on our 24 hour sports network. And I was like, Oh, I don't, I'm not a sports expert. I don't know enough to be on ESPN. That's not what I do. And he was like, well, good, because that's not what we want you to do. He was like, I want you

to come in and audition. His name was Pete Flustellica. He's the best. And I auditioned, I kind of bombed it. I had never been in the room on camera with other people in the room with me. I know that sounds insane. But at the time I had been like drilling down. It's like me and a camera. I didn't even like doing it if my roommate was home. I would be like, can you go do something so I can do my YouTube videos? Because it's so embarrassing. It's the worst. Hey guys. It's the worst. It's like now when Dan, my fiance,

will have to do like a voice audition for something, he's like, can you take a walk? I have to send in a voice audition. Yeah, yeah. I totally get it. Right, right, right. About new crystal blue crest. Yeah.

Or whatever. But like at that time, it hadn't even crossed my mind I was gonna go to this audition and there was gonna be people looking at me while I was, and I saw a teleprompter for the first time and I was like, uh, and I think if I think if I could see my audition tape I would have looked like a deer in headlights that was like, hello and welcome to Fox Sports. And I was panicked. Luckily Pete recognized that he called me that night and he was like,

look, you bombed that. But he's like, I think I set you up to fail. Let's get you on a panel where you don't have to worry about reading and you're just reacting, you're being yourself and having fun with a topic. And I was like, totally. We did that. It was great. I ended up, they were launching one New York show and the the rest of it was all gonna be out of LA. And the New York show was built around Regis Philbin, which if you're gonna build a show around somebody, what a guy to build a show around. Yeah, yeah.

And so they made a- Were you in New York at the time, or were you in Boston? Yes, I had actually just moved, that job that was paying me $750 to do the daily videos had gotten bought out by some other bro blog, like bro Bible or right boy world or something, right? They bought them and made them move to like a corporate office I relocated to New York and then like I want to say in my memory It's a week, but maybe it was like two or three months after I got to New York

I got that phone call and I'm gonna go do this. So I was to New York, I got that phone call and I'm gonna go do this So I was in New York So I did the I was the social media correspondent of this Regis Philbin sports show called crowd goes wild It was like five of six people on a panel. It was a lot. It was like trying to be a fun silly sports show Right away the network was like this is too fun and too silly. You guys need to be, um, you need to know more about sports. And so that was like the immediate pressure of me learning. It was like my wake up call of like, all right, you can't just not, um, no, you have to like, really make an effort to know you, I don't need you to be an

expert, but you do have to know enough to talk about it. And so like, I learned that lesson there. Then that show got canceled. And then I was like, well, this part of my life, by the way, at this chapter of my story, then I was so, I think to my benefit, I was so blind to like, how crazy it was that this was happening. Like I got my own TV show, granted, it was at like 1230am. It's like a late night show. I wanted to do a late night show for sports. It was at like 1230 a.m. It's like a late night show. I wanted to do a late night show for sports yeah, which it doesn't work because

When NASCAR gets rained out and pushed back and then your show comes on that I have to get pushed back So then I would air it like four in the morning Oh, which was pretty crazy But the fact that that happened and I they let me do that for as long as they did the show was called garbage time It's my favorite thing I've ever done. It was the most fun I've ever had. Was crazy. I look back at that now and I'm like, who did I think I was when they canceled Crowd Goes Wild

being like, well, I have a contract with you. What will I be working on? And they were like, you gotta move to LA. And I was like, I don't wanna move to LA. You said I could work in New York. And they were like, okay, go do this thing. Like the fact that it happened, I don't know where I got the stones to ask for any of it, but it happened. We made an awesome thing. I loved it. Went to ESPN because that felt like the logical next step for somebody

who works in sports. It was not the correct next step, which I learned over time. The pandemic helped me learn it. And then sort of like... Not the correct next step because they weren't open. There were more hard sports over there, and they kind of expected that more. Yes. Rather than the hybrid that you were interested in living in. They didn't seem as interested in my experience in trying something new in a way that was supported by their resources.

So it sort of felt like you could try it. They were like, yeah, sure, you can have a late night show on ESPN+, but you can't show any clips of it on the internet. You can't share any clips because ESPN Plus is a paid service. So if people are watching ESPN Plus, they need to know that it's exclusive and they're getting their money's worth. So you can't share anything you do outside.

And I was like, well, how are we gonna, you have to share clips of the show. The internet needs to know the show's happening. Otherwise, why would they tune in? And they're like, well, you should bring your audience. And I was like, and I'm trying, but to be fair to them, you're not offering that much on ESPN Plus right now. It's not really worth it.

I'm not asking them to pay all that for me. That shit just drives me crazy. But it's also like, I get it. You should bring your audience. Well, what are you doing? Yeah, that's truly, that's where I'm at now. You executive guy. Where I'm like, if it is all coming down

to what audience do I have, then let me just go do it myself. Yeah. Yeah, because it doesn't make sense, but it is also a big company and they have a lot of different priorities as they should. And because of the nature of sports, one of their main priorities

is gonna always be the rights. It's like a thing you've got to pay for, a thing you've got to budget for, a thing you have to like basically sort of cater to in your programming. And... You mean the clips that you show? Yeah, the clips and also just like ESPN wants to have Monday night football. And that's going to cost them a lot of money to get Monday night football.

And they're going to have to put on the best talent and give all the money to the best talent that do Monday Night Football. And so in that way, logically, the stuff around it, they're like, okay, I want it to kind of run like a smooth engine. I want it to be, I know what it is. So a lot of sports TV programming,

and again, this is just my opinion and my experience. I don't want people to scream at me. But sports TV feels like, you know, the games, the marquee events, the programming around that. And then the rest is like, what's easy and cheap to produce. And we know the beats of it. And it's like a topic. And then two people argue topic. Three people argue on this show. Like, it's not like, they're not, you're not like, oh, this is that show that's really different. They're all kind of the same.

It's based off of who the talent is that you like or don't like that, you know, for me, but it's all kind of the same. Yeah. And it just didn't feel like they, my whole thing has always been like, I've never lied about what it is I do. So if you're hiring me to do a job, I'm assuming you know who I am, what I do.

Because why else would you have asked me to come work here? You must have seen stuff I've done and you know that that's what I do. So whenever, you know, this kind of bit me in the butt too for Apple TV, but when they asked me to be in the booth for a baseball game, and I was like, did you call the wrong person? Because that's not what I do. I do like the wrong person? Because that's not what I do. I do like late night sports comedy. That's not what I do.

And I don't want to Dennis Miller this, but this is, remember when Dennis Miller was in the- Oh, of course. Absolutely. And so I'm like, you must have gotten the wrong person. It just confuses me when they bring you in to do something and then they're like, do this. And it's like, but I don't do that. So that's kind of what it felt like with ESPN. And again, that's not saying that they are

bad. It's just saying it wasn't a fit and I probably should have known better. But I also, to my detriment, call me crazy. But if you're going to pay me a lot of money, money that I'm like, that's a lot of money. I would assume that means you know what you want me to do and you want to tell me to do it and help me do it. But this was sort of like a, when I signed my contract, I was like, they're kind of being vague ESPN about what I'm going to be doing. But I'm looking at that number and I'm going, they wouldn't possibly not give me anything to do. They wouldn't possibly just ask me to slot into things they have. They wouldn't possibly just say, host sports center on Snapchat. That's not possible because they're paying me all that money.

And then kids, it turns out that they will sometimes just pay you a lot of money and then not have anything really for you to do. Yeah, I was going to say, you know now that they often they don't. Well, they don't. Also, and I'm just listening to it, it sounds like to there's one person that kind of gets you probably who says we should hire her and then that person has nothing else to do with you, and you're just handed off to people that don't understand you

and that think that you're something else. You know, you get to this wall of men, and they just are like, mm. It's perfect. It's the perfect summit. You just get to this wall of men. They say it's a glass ceiling. It's actually just a bunch of dudes holding hands, being like, you can't. No.

No, no. Why not do the thing that we saw? Do it this way. We've always done it this way. And you're like, okay, I just, what if a couple people don't like it that way? Right, right. And run it over this way? What if we tried?

Yeah. How about use your imagination, wall of men, and imagine this other thing, something slightly different. What? What's imagination? You're difficult. Fuck you. Get out. Go to SiriusXM, why don't you? That's exactly what they say. So, yeah, that's me shitting on everywhere I've ever worked.

No, no, no. Can I also say this? Let me say this. I'm so lucky. I have like stumbled into this life that I think once I sort of the pandemic hit and I got to step back and look at it, I was like, oh, let me make sure I am doing it right. That I'm not just trying to keep going for the sake of continuing to go. Let me fix me. Let me work on me.

Let me see what I've learned from this life before I move on and before I take consciously my next step and see what that's going to be. It's working through the discomfort of like, I don't know what's coming next, which is a thing I've got to work on. But like, I'm so grateful for everything I've done and anywhere that's paid me any amount of money to do anything. And also the fact that he has paid me all that money, I could afford, it's very difficult right now for anybody to afford to not work for a little bit. And I've been able to do that.

And so I'm eternally grateful to that place that was a hell hole to work out. Well, you know, no, that's, I mean, it is true. Any, the fact that we're here and yes, you know, and it's like, it's a podcast, that we're here, and yes, you know, and it's like, it's a podcast, but we're lucky to be here because there are people that are gonna listen to this for some reason, you know?

And I also think too, it's really hard. You know, sports is, I've always, and I mean, I'm not the first person to think it, but it does seem like, oh, this is sort of like, this is what male energy that used to be devoted to war is now devoted to sports. Because there's games that are about ground acquisition and there's about pummeling the other guy

and there's crushing them and making it so that they're dead, but you go on. And so it's all based on competition. It's all based on winners and losers. And so it's like, yeah, at the core of it, there's gonna be a lot of bro aggro kind of energy because it's like it's not, you know, you know, with a lot of mockery about participation, you know, like, you get an award just for participating. But yes, it is kind of like, okay, all right. But you know, we can't all,

you know, we can't all be winners, you know, there's, And also like at work, I don't want to always be, I'm not a competitive environment person. Yeah, me neither. I like games and I like competing sometimes, but I'm not like, I don't want my constant state of being to be like in competition with somebody and watching my back. I wanna be able to like go to work and be like,

these are my friends. Like this is, I work here, we make silly things. We make people laugh. We pitch dumb ideas and we go, yeah, there's fights and stuff and people disagree sometimes. But I don't want to go into work and be like, you come in for my job. Are you coming for my job? How can I crush you? I want to go in and be like, do you need anything for me today? Because I get this. Do you have something I can, can we work together? Or I wanna be alone. It's either, it's those two.

I don't have the constant wanting to fight. And I think because of the nature of sports, a lot of people gravitating towards sports, anything, sports hyphen anything, sports TV, sports, comedy, sports, whatever. They have that. And that comes through in the way the office is run. And you're like, well, this isn't, I'm not going to win because I put my energy into

making the thing, not into moving up the rank. I want to make the thing. I don't want to manage up. I don't want to do, I don't care about, you know, I got to make sure I have a meeting with this guy once a week so that he doesn't like that person who laughs at his jokes more than he likes me. I'm just not going for that. I don't want to compete.

I just want to make stuff and then go to sleep. It is kind of like there's no... In terms of competition in the thing you're trying to do, which is entertainment, it's not news, it's entertainment. And it, it's, the, the enemy is dead air. You know, the enemy is, is the 30 minutes that you have to fill. It's not even, if you start looking at it as the other shows that you're quote unquote up against, which number one is like, nowadays that doesn't even fucking matter.

Everything's on demand. So it's like, the competition. I mean, that was like in the early days of talk show world, that doesn't even fucking matter. Everything's on demand. So it's like the competition. I mean, that was like in the early days of talk show world, now everybody's their pals, because everything's in clips anyway. But in the early days, it was like, I just saw Conan talking to Jimmy Carr about it, a clip where it's like we were in our fortresses

kind of peeking over at each other, like, what are you doing over there? And now literally it's like, you know, Colbert and Fallon are out to dinner together, yucking it up. And it's just- They did a podcast during the- Yeah.

Yeah, yeah. Yeah. It's, but yeah, you gotta look at it and it's just so much more healthy. And especially if what you're doing is supposed to be fun and funny to come from the space of like, okay, we need to make this fear-based. We need to be thinking about competition.

We need to be thinking about somebody's out to get me. Now, let's go be funny. You know, it's just- That's why I've always like, I'm happy to have an agent that like you worry about that I'm gonna just do this. I'm Call me when you need to but you do the strategy I don't want to have to constantly be worried about that now whether that you know works or doesn't depends on who you got

But I just feel like my it would not behoove me. I'm not a business woman. I would forget to do my taxes if my dad wasn't an accountant who calls me every day up until tax day being like, did you do them? And I just want him to leave me alone about it. But like, I don't wanna do any of the paperwork. I'm a goof ball. I just wanna goof off. Yeah.

I can like do grown up things like remember to do an oil change and make sure that my children don't die. Yeah, that's good. But all of this sort of paperwork stuff, I don't even, no, I can't. Don't approach me with an insurance policy. I don't know what folder I put it in. I know I saved it out of fear. I don't know where I saved it or what it means.

It all sounds like Charlie Brown's teacher to me. Like whenever anybody's like, yeah, let's talk about this, you know, about your 401K. Mwah, mwah, mwah, mwah. I'm sorry, I didn't get any of that. You got to start again. And that's why I play this back when we're both broke and old and we're like, oh, I should have probably learned

what that was. That could be now. Well, beyond the show, do you have other stuff? I mean, obviously you're getting married at some point. You keep saying fiance. At some point. Can I tell you, I've not planned. We've been engaged for a while.

Don't ask me how long. I don't remember. It's probably two or three years. I haven't even started. I'm like, let me get a job first. Let me make sure I have something to do. And so now the downside of launching the podcast is like, okay, now you have to figure out how to plan a wedding. Where you even start in that process. You could throw any party. What party do you want to throw? I don't know. I want it to be fun.

So we'll see. Eventually I'll get married. Other than that, I mean, look, I want to launch this podcast. We're doing it two times a week, which I think I'm going to be overwhelmed by. I stopped working for long enough that I got a little used to waking up when I wanted to and like doing stuff when I wanted to. And I have to get back my discipline, which is going to be a painful process. So two times a week was to help me go like, let's go, you work now, let's go.

Time to play is over because working is play. So it's like, you can't just have ice cream all the time. So two times a week, we're going to get that launched. Hopefully people like it. Hopefully proof of concept is like people enjoying it and interacting with it I have a sweet wonderful Little group of fans that I've had for a while that I hope are still around and they come back and I can see them and then

Look media is so weird right now Yeah, like the kids are watching podcasts on YouTube. That's not a thing I would have ever saw coming. Like a low production quality talk show is getting like TV show energy from the younger generation. So I don't understand what's next. And I feel like hopefully that gets figured out soon. It just feels like dust has to settle.

Everything's moving around. Yeah. Don't I feel like they're about to reinvent cable in some way. And once they do that, like I w I don't know. And then I deal world. I want to make whatever that time periods version of like a late night show is. Whatever that ends up being is my ultimate goal. It's all I ever wanted to do was like talk to people, but also be funny in certain parts

and then also get out and interact with like regular people and just like give people a very entertaining thing to watch for an hour and then go away and then do it again and like share the perspective that I have and the sense of humor that I have with the people that want it and then go away. Um, but as you know, I don't have to tell you late night's not really a thing the way it was. Oh, it certainly isn't. It's not a thing you can be like, that's what I want to do. Cause everyone's like, well, that's like saying

you want to work in typewriters. It's not really a thing. It is a thing, but not a thing, you know, not the thing it was. Well, the final question of this three questions, what have you learned? Like, do you, and I don't know what form it takes, you know, it's, you know, it can be advice.

It can be just like something that like, you know, you know, like, cause you know, there's a number of them that I have and I've mentioned this before, but like I did a live version of this and somebody said, what would you tell your younger self? And I just said, learn to love cardio. And I still to this day hit that runner's high. They talk about, I've never once gone like, oh bliss. It's the whole time going, please, please can we go back to bed? Um, what have I learned? I, uh, there's so many ways to go with it. I've learned a lot.

I think the one I've, I've recently sort of come to terms with is like jot down stuff when you're thinking of it. And then most importantly, go back and read it. Like, I feel like I have filled up my notes app with like, there's a germ of an idea that's probably nothing. And yeah, most of the time, 80% of the time, I'm high on marijuana. And so I think it's a good idea. And it's when I read it back, it's not. But I always forget to like go back and read it. For whatever reason, I'm always like, I don't want to read a paragraph I wrote. And it's like, yeah, but you wrote it for a reason. So go back and read it. For whatever reason, I'm always like, I don't want to read a paragraph I wrote.

And it's like, yeah, but you wrote it for a reason. So go back and read it. And it might kick something loose for you. And I did that recently, read a lot, a bunch of my old notes that I wrote myself. And like, yes, again, most of them garbage. Like what if aliens came down here and didn't care about us at all, just ignored us?

That was one of the notes I wrote. And I'm like, what is this? It's nothing. But some of them I was like, oh, that seems like a theme in what I'm talking about. And it sort of helped give me clarity to what I'm trying to do. So I would say jot down stuff in a notes app

and then read it. Like don't forget to read it. Excellent advice, because it's like advice that I could use. Because I'm the same thing. I have years and years and years of shit scribbled down in different places. And yeah, a lot of it, like I look,

when I do go back and look at it, which I do not do often enough, to your point, when I, a lot of times I look at it and I'm like, I have no idea what, you know, like what prosciutto dog means. No idea. And again, too, it's probably being high. And it's the same thing like whenever anybody would say,

because I tried this for a while, keep a, you know, a notepad by your bed so if you wake up, you know, if you have an idea. I've done that maybe five or six times in my life. Absolute shit. Every single... Because you're not awake. Every single dream idea. You're jotting it down. You're like, why did I think these six words in my life. Absolute shit. Every single- Cause you're not awake. You're jotting it down.

You're like, why did I think these six words in this order would remind me of what I'm thinking of? And it's just like, oh, that's hacky and shitty. And even my dreams are boring. Wow. Good job. Well, everybody, thank you, Katie Nolan for talking to me. Your show is launching on January 21st. It's a podcast available everywhere.

But especially on that SiriusXM app. That's right. Especially on the app. Especially on that app. Which you really want to get because- You do. Andy Cohen's on it. I think Dr. Laura is still there. She's good for a laugh.

Are you doing anything else? Are you part of any other podcasts anymore? No. Sometimes I go on this show called Pablo Torre Finds Out. It's a sports podcast too though. So if you're not super into sports, maybe it's not on your radar, but Pablo's the greatest. So you can also find that where you get podcasts.

My fiance is always on tour so if you like stand-up comedy go to dansoder.com get tickets. Oh how nice. He's the funniest and the greatest so I would stamp of approval from me. Dan did stand-up on Conan in 2014. He did he actually told me this morning because he knew I was coming here to do this coming here him in my own house. He said you watched him use a Keurig for the very first time. He was doing Conan and he had never seen a Keurig and he was like trying to figure this out and he turned around and he was like, oh, hi Andy. And I was like, surely he'll remember that. I'll let him know.

Nah. No, yeah. No, no. I can see- Wow, you do remember. That's pretty cool. I can see myself in like elaborate costume in a video and have absolutely no recollection of it. You've done so much.

I don't know how you could possibly remember it. There's too much content and the medication does not allow for a lot of memory. Casuals with Katie Nolan, I'm gonna tune in because it does sound like it's for me. I do. I think it is. I enjoy some sports conversation where I don't feel like

I'm gonna get a wedgie, you know, where someone's gonna yank up my underwear and call me a fairy. And then quiz you on anyone who's ever played for a team you said you liked. Or when they mention a player, you know, like somebody that, I don't know, plays for the Minnesota Twins and they see the blank look in my eyes and go like, you don't know who that is? Oh, God, the worst sentence ever uttered.

Where you go like, you can tell that I don't. So what if we move past this moment? I don't. I'm sorry. You know, how many rosters do I have to memorize? All of them. If I can answer that for you, the answer is all of them. But not on Casuals. You don't have to know nothing. All right.

Thank you so much for having me. This was very cool to meet you. It was a joy. You're such a legend in there. Just, this was very cool. I feel like I blabbed a lot. And I'm just honored to meet you. You did. That's the idea.

That's the idea. Cool. All right, everybody. Thank you for tuning in. Check out Katie's show, Casuals with Katie Nolan, podcast anywhere, SiriusXM, I love SiriusXM. I luxuriate in their presence. And tune in next week,

I'll be back with more Three Questions, goodbye. The Three Questions, Goodbye. Paula Davis, Gina Battista with assistance from Maddy Ogden, researched 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. Ain't you feelin', ain't it showin' Oh, you must be a knowin' I've got a big, big love