Whiskey Ginger with Andrew Santino - Steve Byrne

Episode Date: June 7, 2019

Santino sits down with Steve Byrne to talk about his new documentary Always Amazing featuring the fucked up incredible life of comic and magician Amazing Jonathan. We also drink Jameson and chat about life on the road and days spent with Vince Vaughn in Chicago. Watch Steve’s documentary here https://youtu.be/x6sxwjRGSWs SEE ME LIVE!!! BRIDGEPORT, CT JUN 13-15 SAN DIEGO JUNE 21-23 LEXINGTON, KY JUL 11-13 SACRAMENTO, CA JUL 18-20 MONTREAL JUST FOR LAUGHS JUL 24-27 ST. LOUIS, MO AUG 1-3 TICKETS AT http://www.andrewsantino.com Go to http://www.andrewsantino.com for all things Cheeto Follow me on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cheetosantino/ Follow me on twitter: http://twitter.com/cheetosantino/ For more info on the WHISKEY GINGER SIGN please check out the dope art of https://www.instagram.com/starlingear/?hl=en Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode of Whiskey Ginger is brought to you by Blue Chew. That's B-L-U-E, blue like the color, chew.com. Go to bluechew.com. If you're having a little bit of trouble downstairs, listen, as we get older, testosterone drops. The manliness goes away a little bit. Or if you just want to go round two, you want some more bulk, you want some more chunk in your junk, you know what I mean? Get it thick real quick.

Go to bluechew.com. your junk. You know what I mean? Get it thick real quick. Go to bluechew.com. Enter the promo code whiskey, W-H-I-S-K-E-Y, and get yourself a free trial. You don't have to go to a doctor. You don't have to go to a pharmacist. It delivers it to your house in a discreet box. No one will know, even your nosy neighbor, even those package stealers. It'll come on your front porch. You can grab it. Do your thing. I tried it, and I got to tell you something. The Red Rocket got round one, round two, and round three. And by that time, it was a knockout. I knocked out.

I passed out because I had fluid loss. So go to bluechew.com. Enter the promo code whiskey. Try it out. I promise you're going to like it. What's up, Whiskey Ginger fans? Do you want to see the Red Rocket live? Come support live comedy and check me out at these dates this weekend from June 13th

14th 15th I'm at the Stress Factory in Bridgeport Connecticut June 21 22 23

I'm at the La Jolla Comedy Store then July 11th 12th and 13th Comedy Off-Broadway in Lexington, Kentucky 18th 19th

20th Sacramento Punchline I'm in Montreal, Canada the last week of July the first week of August I'm in Montreal, Canada the last week of July. The first week of August, I'm in the St. Louis Helium. Come out and see your boy. In here, we pour whiskey,

whiskey, whiskey, whiskey, whiskey. You're that creature in the ginger beer. Sturdy and ginger. Like vampires, the ginger gene is a curse. Gingers are pugilist. You owe me five dollars for the whiskey seventy-five dollars for the horse gingers oh hell no this whiskey is excellent ginger i like gingers ladies and gentlemen welcome back to whiskey ginger my guest today

is one of my favorite people on earth i say that for all my guests but i mean it once again today mr steve burns steve burns cheers. Cheers. Look at this. Steve brought me liquor, but we're going to have some Jamo. Old school, huh? Good old-fashioned Jameson. On the podcast, usually I switch out what I'm drinking.

I rarely drink Jamo because it gave me a lot of issues in college. Yeah, like a lot of issues. I was a beer guy all my life. And then I did this Jameson whiskey tour for, for I think two or three years with like Billy Gardell, Danny Bevins, Nick Griffin and Kreischer. And I made it through two years of doing the Jameson tour. I never had a drink of, of Jameson. They'd send me a case. And you just didn't want it. I never drank it. And then I'm in, they flew us all out to the, to Dublin, to the distillery. They'd send me a case. And you just didn't want it. I never drank it. And then I'm in, they flew us all out to Dublin to the distillery.

They're like, you gotta have one Jameson drink. I was like, all right, what's the easiest one you have? He goes, the president goes,

Jameson and ginger. I go, all right, I'll try that. I had 13 that night. I remember counting because I was like, this is my 12th.

This is my 13th. And I woke up the next day, I didn't have a hangover. And ever since then, I've been a Jamo guy. So whiskey and ginger. Literally. That's my 13th. And I woke up the next day. I didn't have a hangover. And ever since then, I've been a JMO guy. So whiskey and ginger. Literally. That's, yeah.

That is my. I am your drink. You are my drink. So, but other whiskey you can't really do? Do you not like other whiskeys? It's like getting a Jack and Pepsi. It doesn't taste the same. You know what I mean?

Yeah. It's like, I got to have. You like JMO. JMO and ginger ale. Wow, that's wild. And if they don't have the ginger ale, I go, give me a Sprite with a squirt of like, sure. Do you like ginger beer? You ever had ginger beer? I've had Jameson and ginger beer. People like that too. People have mistaken the name for, for that, for Jameson and or whiskey and ginger beer. I don't really love ginger beer. I'd rather have a ginger ale. So much better to me. So much better to me, but I do get, I get the appeal. I

know why people like it. It's just not for me. I had so much trouble with me but I do get I get the appeal I know why people like it it's just not for me I had so much trouble with JMO in college this was like fight syrup you know like fight syrup

it is cause it's like Jameson's like rich and it's it's um it's pretty sweet to me to the taste like Jack

Jack is sweeter right Jack is way too sweet for me I know people at home fucking love like a lot of the fans like love Jack people that comment like what we're drinking week to week i like jack but it's very sweet i can have it in very small doses but this is like it's it's rich and sweet and clean so you

can have a thousand of them yeah so that's why i like i like different whiskeys that make me slow down like i could i could finish this this this afternoon yeah then go, you know, drive to shows tonight. I shouldn't, but I easily could. There's a thing called Uber. It's so bad. But for some reason, JMO is just so easily consumable that it got me in a lot of trouble in college. I would drink a ton of it.

It was so easy. It's also affordable. Like it sounds like it's sponsored by fucking JMO, but it's, it JMO. But it's just too, it was too simple for me. And I just, I stay away from it. Because I can have too, you know, it's kind of like how light beers. Like my family back home in Chicago, they could drink 19 Miller Lights, you know? Right, right. And then you gain five pounds.

Yeah. And you don't really get drunk. You know what I mean? Chicago's the worst city to drink in though. Best city, you mean? Is that what you're saying? and you don't really get drunk. You know what I mean? Chicago's the worst city to drink in though. Best city you mean? Is that what you're saying? Yeah, but like in terms of like your waist expanding. Oh, yeah.

Italian beef. You got your wiener circle. You got your Portillo's. Yeah, Portillo's is the best. Well, you're from Pittsburgh. From Pittsburgh, but I lived in Bucktown for two years. Oh, you did in Chicago? Yeah.

But Pitt's a very hardcore blue-collar industry drinking city, too. That's not like a healthy town by any means. No, but Chicago, I think, takes it up a notch. Yeah, we're at the top. With the deep dish. Like, Pittsburgh, we're known for the Primanti Brothers sandwich, which is essentially— Primanti's, right? Primanti Brothers, yeah.

Somebody took me there, yeah. Phenomenal. It's so good. Post-law French fries, whatever deli meat you want coming hot off the grill pressed in the bread and i i have two of those and i'm like i'm done that's it yeah it's that is that your go-to when you go back to pit i let me tell you this i was just in pittsburgh for two and a half days that's two four six uh seven eight meals right yeah i had i had five of my meals at permermanente Brothers. It was crazy. I was there for New Year's Eve

like for five days because you know, New Year's was like on a Tuesday. Yeah. So you had to do Thursday, Friday, Saturday. Oh yeah,

right, right, right. And then you had Monday off and then Tuesday. I ate there six days straight. I was at Permanente Brothers. Do they know you?

Are they like Steve? Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. So you're, yeah, you're a local legend over there. But it's,

it's fucking phenomenal. It is, huh? And after like a night of this, that just soaks it all up. It's like, night, night. My favorite, well, when I go home, my favorite go-to, you're right,

we do take it up a notch in Chicago. My favorite is Portillo's. I've talked about it a million times. It's my fucking absolute favorite meal. I like hot dogs that snap when you bite. Yes, dude, they have to be crisp. That's the whole point. The outside snap of

a hot dog really tells you how quality the meat is and how well done it was made yeah it's it's so small and stupid but it's it's very on the nose and specific you don't get that at sheets no you don't no like like out here they have pinks hot dogs in la that's like a big thing no thanks exactly exactly dude big thumbs down fuck that place people wait in line for like uh for like hours and hours just to get a fucking shitty pinks hot dog. So go into Times Square and go to Red Lobster. It's like, why the fuck would you do that? Why?

There's a Red Lobster right here. Go right there. I'm not going to Times Square. But in Chicago, my favorite thing at Portillo is to get, I get hot dogs over the years. When I was a kid, that was like the go-to. But Italian beef, wet with pepper, sweet and hot. And if you really want to fat the fuck out

if you go to Chicago go to Portillo's and go get yourself a combo Italian beef Italian sausage they put a fucking Italian sausage

inside the Italian beef oh shit I never got that it's a lot dude it's one of those things when you're like you're done eating and on the in the car ride home

you're like nodding off like a fucking heroin addict you know the meat naps oh dude it's so bad I would get the meat sweats and i would get home to my parents house and just feel like it was worth it but also your body is like come on dude we can't this is we're gonna die this is a bad idea yeah when you lived in bucktown you were there for how many years i was there for two were you what were you doing school or life or what were you doing? No life.

I was in LA for a long time. Yeah. And then I was just like, I'm just a road guy at the time. I was never auditioning. And my friend Vince Vaughn lived in Chicago at the time. Vince Vaughn. If anybody, look him up. He's a phenomenal, he is a puppeteer.

What is that called? He's like a- Yeah, he's into craft work and crafts and yeah. Yeah, one day he'll make it. That guy, one day he'll pop... Yeah, he's into craft work and crafts. Yeah. One day he'll make it. That guy, one day he'll pop. Yeah. He's a nice guy. Good local kid, right?

Vince Vaughn, hero of Chicago. So I was going to visit him all the time, like Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. I'd just fly into Chicago. I'm like, why go back to LA when I'm in Cleveland? I'll just go hang in Chicago for three days. Smart. So he lived at the Palm Olive, which is the old Playboy mansion, the first two top floors. So he used to go and just crash with them.

And I was... My wife and I were... I think we, no, we were dating at the time. He's like, why don't you guys just move here? And I was talking to my wife. I was like, maybe we should just move here. And she's like, yeah. He's like, just stay with me until you find a place. So my wife and I lived with him and his wife for like two months. And then we found a place in Bucktown.

It was, to this day, one of the best places I ever lived in. It was so fun. It was really cool. It was like everything you wanted in a place at that time when I was younger, didn't have any kids. And, and I lived by, so my,

my building was here. There's a McDonald's right there. It was off the blue line. Yeah. The Western. Oh yeah. That took me right to the airport. So it's perfect.

And there's a McDonald's right there. And when the real estate agent was showing us the place, he's like, now, you know, some people consider this, Oh, yeah. So I'd get ripped and get shredded, right? And then I would go to McDonald's and knock on the door because they didn't have a car at two in the morning. Yeah. You need a car, right? Right for the drive-thru, right. So then I'd just knock on the window and go, Steve, okay, what do you want?

I'm like, nuggets. This is the fucking greatest. Steve, what do you fucking want? You know exactly what I want. You know what I want. By the way, that's in college we used to, because we would skateboard to like Jack in the Box and all that stuff that was nearby.

And because you don't have a car, we would offer to buy somebody's food in a car. And it worked almost every time. But once in a while you get someone that's like, I'm not, no, I'm not ordering for you. You're like, I'm paying for your fucking meal. Hey, fuck face. I'm showing them cash.

It's not like we're trying to rob you. It's like, I'll buy your meal, please. Just, they won't let us inside because we're drunk, blacked out college kids. And people once in a while would be like no no thank you and roll up the window and you're like

I just I was gonna give you a free meal you're drinking and driving I'm trying to sober you the fuck up like no one is getting jack of the box

at 3.30 sober ever ever ever so I was like well you're gonna get a DUI and you're missing out on a free fucking meal so fuck you

I'm gonna call the cops and you fucker yeah I'm on the phone I'm just like yeah you wanna you don't wanna okay let's do this. Let's play a game. Yeah, she's right.

It's a Honda Civic. Just light her the fuck up. No, but I... So you know Whirlyball? Yes. The greatest... I would explain it to my friends. What the fuck? And then you get a group of ten and we go and literally it was the fucking funnest.

Tell these kids what it is. Tell people what Whirlyball is. Whirlyball, I've never seen it anywhere else but it was the fucking funnest. Tell these kids what it is. Tell people what Whirlyball is. Whirlyball, I've never seen it anywhere else but it's only in Chicago and it's basically a basketball court with a metal floor

with bumper cars on it. Then you get like the old trackball rackets which is lacrosse technically but when you were younger It's essentially lacrosse. Yeah, you had these trackball things. Very few people know that.

So you have basketball hoops but the people know that so you have basketball uh hoops but the hoop is vertical so you have to scoop your ball up and zing it you have to hit the netting and then it releases sound so it's five a side you're in bumper cars the best part you're in bumper cars by the way people that's the most important part people kind of think it's like a uh no it's not just a i'm standing up with a lacrosse racket trying to throw it through a hoop you're in fucking bumper cars and it's so aggressive too there's a bar before you go in yep and you and your buddies get fucking of course yeah and then it's no holds barred right and these refs they're like oh fuck they're like because it's but you're like literally drilling your friends i used to so my buddy dave

bolin who played on the blackhawks for a long time, he'd bring some of the guys from the Hawks and then Vince would, we'd all play. I mean, there were guys taking their rack. If you had a breakaway, you put your hand, I mean, chucking the rackets. I got so many scratches. Just throwing the racket. Fucking chucking them. And totally, by the way, there is no rules.

There's no rules. There are fucking no rules. There's only one rule. You got to drink more. Yeah, you have to keep drinking. You have to keep drinking. If you stop drinking, you're probably disqualified

from the whole game. Is that in lacrosse? Are they allowed to throw their racket? No. No, they can't? Because I've seen when they go to block a shot,

it's okay to hit the stick and let go of the racket at the same time. Totally legal to do. So if you're hucking to stop, you can't just throw it across the field. Hucking. Hucking. If you're hucking to stop you can't just throw it across the field. Hucking.

If you're hucking to fucking I just watched they had like a boys lacrosse on you know college lacrosse on ESPN. It was like six or seven. It was so hot. But they have tops on but no bottoms. They just run around. It's so hot. They're little butts dude. Well I can't wait till I get backlash from

this. Catholic church. The Catholic church. The Catholic church. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. We're both Catholic. Yeah you were raised Catholic weren't you? I see this from this Catholic church the Catholic church the Catholic church I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry we're both Catholic yeah you were raised Catholic weren't you I see this colada on your ring finger by the way do you think people

know what that is the old Irish wedding band yeah if it's towards you you're taken if it's away from you that's right that way you know

the other way the other way fuck it's the other way you're single your way and the opposite way it's just a hand with

friendship love and loyalty those are the that's what it means three things does your wife wear that my wife does not but she's like you know I was like fuck

I got I got married I never wanted to wear a ring or whatever but I was like if I ever wear a ring I'm wearing the Irish wedding band she's like okay yeah so I went to Ireland

and got the biggest one I could find and that's it that's really fucking cool plus I saw Noel Gallagher and Liam Gallagher from Waste is my favorite band wearing that when they got married I'm like that's what that's it. That's really fucking cool. Plus I saw Noel Gallagher and Liam Gallagher from Waste is my favorite band

wearing that when they got married. I'm like, that's what I want. That's what you want to do. Yeah. Did you see that documentary about,

yeah. Supersonic. It's crazy how much, it's crazy, I think the public knows to a degree how much tension they've had over the years

but then you really get in the depths and the throes of like why they have issues and it's super sad because I think they were extremely talented as a group and still talented peoplees of like why they have issues and and it's super sad because i think they were extremely talented as a group and still talented people individually one another but man what a

fucking bummer that they couldn't just work out their issues yeah but i also think it's great that we got what we got right because it probably wouldn't be that good right now exactly yeah yeah you we probably it would probably be trash i say that all the time and what would last what can what can last yeah i think I think especially with bands, it's so tough to stay relevant. Yeah. Because it's like you have your sound. Like, I love the Killers, right?

But their sound does, it's there, but it does shift and change to a degree. It has changed a lot. And I like all their solo stuff, all those guys. Yeah. And you could see the nuances of each one of them and how they combine, become the Killers. But like Noel and Liam, once they split, Liam did BDI and that kind of wasn't great.

And then his last solo album was fucking like a ripper. And I was like, that should have been like the new Oasis album. That would have been great. Right. But then Noel, you listen to his stuff and it's really like incredibly well produced. But it's just not the same. Yeah. It's different and I still love them, but it's not.

It's not the same thing. Yeah. No, yeah. But I feel like that's any great band, any group that I really fell in love with. Yeah. There was always one, maybe two albums that I was like, wow, fuck. Who's your band? Is there one or?

No, that's hard. I mean, I will say this. I loved Kings of Leon for a very short period of time and then there was this weird Sex on Fire time when they got popular I don't want to sound like that guy but also that really just

I don't know some of their stuff is so fucking amazing some of his songwriting is so good there's a song I've talked about it before there's a song called Cold Desert. Unequivocally one of the best songs I've ever heard in my entire life.

He has a line in there that says, he says, fuck, Jesus don't love me. Jesus don't love me. No one ever carried my load. I'm too young to feel this old and i was like wow that's a fucking super pop i mean just that line says so much because jesus don't love me as a reference to

that his father's a preacher right an alcoholic who undeniably whether it was physical and sexual abuse or there's all this vague gray area of how fucked up that family was right and then no one really carried his load you know in the sense of like i didn't have a fucking savior to come save me sure when the guy who was preaching the word of the lord was fucking me up yeah and he said i'm far too young to feel this old a layer of depth of that lyric of like one simple line i'm far too young to feel this old is like wow because he's abused his body from drugs and alcohol yeah he's also lived about a million years in one short lifetime because of what he's been through the band was in turmoil and Long story short the beauty of this song was when they asked him about that song to put it on the album

apparently he He didn't remember recording it because he was so on the sauce He was so deep on the sauce that he was like what song and they're like that desert song Yeah, and he was like, what song? And they're like, that desert song. Yeah. And he was like, I, what desert song? Dude, they played him the fucking track and they played him. He had no fucking clue.

He said, he said, I mean, you know, who knows what the real depth of the truth is, but he said, it didn't ring a bell.

Like, he was just like, it didn't ring a bell. I didn't, I just, nothing clicked. But the song is fucking, I mean,

you listen to it and you're like, oh my God, this says a million things. Sure, yeah. So I think Kings for a short amount of time was one of those bands where they were so powerful. It was just, it was incredible. They were incredible to me.

They're not my favorite of all time, but they had a moment in time. And then after that, I, I, I'm not, I, I kind of, I kind of was like sand. I was like, I don't know. Do you know what I mean? Well, yeah. Well, you're like, this is amazing. This feels so cool. And then it fell through my hands and I was like, I don't know. You know what I mean? Yeah, well you're like, this is amazing, this feels so cool, and then it fell through my hands and I was like, I don't really,

this isn't that good anymore. Like something was missing at some point. Every time I go out, like after my show, like Jake's Saloon in New York City, I'll do my show at Gotham. You lived in New York too? My first seven years were in Manhattan, doing standup. And so now when I go back to Gotham,

like you know, you call a few friends, they meet up with you after your shows, and I go in, I plug in, they always let me plug in my phone. I love that. I love that bars do that in places like New York. Go ahead, man, fuck it. Oasis and Jameson all night.

All night long? That's it, yeah. That's cool. So they're your pinnacle. Don't look back in anger, and we're like, this is the fucking best. They're your peak band.

That's the one? My peak band, but The Killersers I'd say is a very close if not tying number two Vegas born I love the Killers yeah

love them love them they're I mean they're phenomenal musicians they've had a lot of they've had a lot of like um pockets where I was like wow dude

they can't miss you know what I mean they're the pick me up songs you know like yeah you know obviously being out here the ebbs and flows everything but you know

there's got a lot of tunes in there that are just like, you know, you hear some resonant issues that he says that it's just like, oh, there's somebody else going through this. Totally. Yeah, totally. Well, I think they're just great songwriters. That's my thing. I've said it before. I don't care. I don't care about the pop song that the band got leaked on.

You know what I mean? Like, The Killer's biggest song was probably that song. Mr. Brightside? Yeah, Mr. Brightside. Yeah. And I don't really like that song at all.

Really? No, there's something about it that maybe it's I've heard it too much. It's played a lot. But it's just like at some point

there's so many better songs that obviously weren't going to be the pop version of them. Sure. But that was so easily palatable that I get why it became fucking huge. So catchy. that was so easily palatable that I get why it

became fucking huge it was so fucking there's very few bands like I remember being in Florida in a cab from the airport and I heard mr. bright side and I was just remember sitting in back I was like what the fuck is this yeah it was one of those words as soon as the DJ was done it's like who did that like what is that well I got to hear that again did that? Like, what is that? I gotta hear that again. Who did that? Who created this? Who makes sound? Who makes the sound? Who makes the sounds?

And then I heard it again later on. I was like, it was just when it had come out. I was like, fucking A. And I remember reading this article when they had just come out that I guess Brandon Flowers and I think it was Dave Kooning, the guitarist,

were at the Oasis concert at the Hard Rock when Oasis played in Vegas. And I was at that concert. And it was kind of like 1,200 people. And to just know that the killers kind of formed at that concert. And I was there seeing my favorite band. My favorite band was being formed there. I was like, fuck, that was cool. That's insane.

And I met Liam and Noel at the airport going to that concert. And I remember I was so nervous. But I went up to Noel. And I'm like, Noel, can I get a, I'm sorry, man. I flew in from New York to see you guys tonight. Can I get a picture? He doesn't even look at me. He just goes, let's get it over with.

And he stands up, took the picture. And then I'm at baggage claim and Liam was there. And I went up, I was like, Liam, can I get a picture? I flew in from New York for me. He's like, oh yeah, what do you do, man? I go, I'm a standup. And he talked to me for 10 minutes about stand-up as he's waiting for his bags.

Wow. And it was like one of those surreal moments, just like I read every article in Q Magazine about this guy. Right. I can't believe I'm actually talking to Liam. It was just one of those cool things. And then I thought it would be the opposite. I thought Noel would be the cunty.

Sure. Or Liam would be the cunty one. Noel would be the cool one. Yeah. Complete opposite. What do you think it was? One of them had a real bad day. I noel's just you know he's always kind of grumpy but i think yeah whenever whenever um whenever uh he's on howard it's you know like

it's just very telling that there's a lot of deep shit there that like we'll never really know you can hear some of the stories but you'll never really know sure i think there's childhood stuff that they'll never divulge you know what i mean probably there's there's secrets that i think people will never really get to hear the real truth of what really happened yeah and why they really kind of have these grudges for each other because to this day they still hate each other right yeah they don't talk um yeah and they haven't reconciled at all after all these fucking years you're kind of like come on dude, dude. Yeah, and all the millions. You're going to die. Yeah.

I feel that way about the very seldom people that I've had qualms with over the years. You start to let them go, whether it's family members or friends, and you're like, we're going to die. Do I want to die with that thing in the back of my head? Like, what a waste of my fucking time. But I guess that's what I mean. Their shit must run fucking deep. Deep. That that's what I mean. Their shit must run fucking deep. That's got to go deep. If you're still not. Yeah, I agree.

With all the success each of them had together but then separately you think, you know, I'm pretty happy. I live in a fucking mansion. Yep. I got a gorgeous wife. I got great kids. I've had a great career. What do I have to be upset? Plus it's such a symbiotic thing. It's like you wouldn't have been

Oasis without him and he wouldn't have been Oasis without him it's like what the fuck but we get lost in that do you ever sit back and realize

if you want more by the way pour some more no no no I like how fast you knock that I usually just slam them you do you're a slammer I was like

look at it what do we do what I'll do is I'll order a Jamo ginger and then I'll be sitting at the bar whoever's next to me hey you want to do a shot with next to me hey you wanna do a shot

with me it's like yeah just do a shot of JMO along with the Jamison Ginger look at I'm setting this fucking I'm setting my timer to see if you can

polish another one well look if I have another one if I didn't have to drive you know what do you do you're not driving that far we're not telling people

how far you live but you know it's close enough I just don't wanna go home no I know daddy your breath smells funny yeah you smell like but you know, it's close enough. I just don't want to go home. No, I know, I know, I know. Daddy, your breath smells funny.

Yeah. You smell like mommy does when you leave. What did you say? It's always in the afternoon too. Never at night. That always, I'm not a big, I'm not a day drinker. I don't like having a lot of drinks during the day. When the sun goes down is my cue.

Same. That's when I'm allowed to. I go on spring break with my buddies, they get schlitzed at three, I'm like, it's amateur hour, I wait until nine o'clock. Yeah, I don't mind having a drink during the day, like a drink or a Thera, something relaxed and loose and slow,

but I have friends that just get fucking bombed. And I think it's a Midwest thing. I think Midwest East Coast people, there's something about day drinking that because their days aren't that often like our days that they're like right if i can day drink i'm gonna day drink yeah for us it's like you could hypothetically day drink every day of the fucking year yeah it's almost never not a six months of the year you have shit weather it's like i just gotta go to bed right just do this shit again i gotta show my driveway and shit

well that's why in la, I've talked about this, LA, happy hour isn't a fucking, it doesn't exist here. Back home, when I go back home, friends so badly wanna meet up and have happy hour because it's like this great communal, hey we'll meet at Sullivan's or whatever and then we'll hang out and then we'll go here and then my buddy lives right up there

I miss that sense of community because we don't do that here it just doesn't exist you don't no one meets at a bar afterwards I think the closest thing like we have to that is that comics bar at the store

which I love yeah that's just for us but I mean but like regular people that work regular jobs I just don't think happy hour is that big of a thing in LA

I just don't see it as much you know like friends that have owned bars or worked, like a buddy of mine owns a bar here not too far and it doesn't pick up until the sun is down every day.

I mean, there's regulars but for some reason in other parts of the country other than California, people love happy hour. And I do too. I can't get tanked

but it's nice to have a beer at the end of the day like that. Sure, yeah. But for some reason here, it's just, I can't get tanked, but it's nice to have a beer at the end of the day like that. Sure, yeah. But for some reason here, it's just, I don't know. Culturally, we just don't do that shit. Here, it's probably sushi, right? Yeah.

Oh, my God. We got to eat at six for some sushi. Let's just talk about our day. You guys want to go to Happy Hour and get fucking and hang out with some old friends? I'd rather have salmon sashimi at 440. It's so fucking annoying. By the way, California's done that to me. When I travel and I see sushi in like, you know, anywhere USA.

Yeah. And I'm like, I would never. I'm such a fucking snot because I'm like, there's no way it's going to be as good as what we get out here. But of course, it's probably just as good anywhere. Just as good. Yeah. I mean, you know, as long as there's like, you know, the Japanese guy doing it. Yeah.

But it's like here, there's like- As long as there's the Japanese guy doing it. It's so true. I hate when you go to like Benihana in LA and it's like all these Mexican guys, it's like, this is not Benihana. I want the fucking, you know, because there's like one Japanese guy

that probably trained them all. It's like, I want that guy. He'll get the shrimp in the top of the hat. Right. He knows how to flick it. By the way, that's called El Benihana now. Los Benihana. Welcome to Los Benihana. What do you want? You want to see the fucking onion fucking thing? Smoke and shit?

You're talking about why... Eat this a little bit, by the way. Oh, eat it a bit more? I'm sorry. About Chicago being great. I'll tell you how great Chicago is and why cities like la and new york are not they can't compare because because i got married at the lincoln park zoo you got married at the zoo yeah at the really yeah that's like that was my whole childhood i wrote down the street from there fucking great yeah it was beautiful free zoo by the way for people that don't know free zoo i've never seen the wedding

wasn't fucking free but but the zoo was free. No shit. But we go there, and then two of my buddies I met through Vince were cops. Sounds about right. So our wedding ends, and you know the Viagra Triangle? There's that Irish pub that's on the opposite end of... I grew up on Dearborn. What's that Irish pub called again?

Well, you're talking about... It's by the Barnes & Noble. It's in from the Barnes & Noble. Yeah, you're talking about... It'll come to you. No, no, hold on. I feel like I would see my mom go drink there, and I'd watch from the 20-story window.

I'd look down, and my parents going, Mom, I miss Mommy. Well, we had those old pull-in windows, those old apartment building windows. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. So you could look in and down, but you couldn't really. But I remember seeing my delinquent parents going.

Is it like Molly Malone's or something like that? No, it's not Molly Malone's, but there's something like that. God, it's really going to bother me to no end. But I lived at Dearborn. That's literally where I grew up, right behind the Viagra Triangle. Because when I used to live there,

I used to go to Tavern on Rush all the time. Yes. My buddy Scotty runs it. Yes. And then down the street was that Irish pub. Why can't I fucking... I don't know why it's escaping me either. By the way, it was really funny.

You were like, hey, your dog is nice and quiet, and now she's losing it for some reason because it's probably the other dog that's out next. Well, while you're looking it up, I'll tell you that. Yep, tell me. We get married. We're like, let's go dog that's out next. Well, while you're looking it up, I'll tell you that. Yep, tell me. We get married. We're like, let's go to that pub.

Right. Everybody, like the DJ's done. It's like, where do we go? Let's go to the pub. So my buddy goes, who's a cop, he goes, watch this. Makes a phone call. Within two minutes, this paddy wagon pulls up. My wife and I get in it.

Vince and his wife get into it. Colin Jost was with me at the time and he was dating Nassim Pedrod from SNL at the time and then Peter Billingsley is there

and like one or two other buddies we all cram into this paddy wagon and get dropped off so this paddy wagon pulls up and the lights are on

and everything you know it's like those roller coaster things they secure you in there and they gun it and we get there and this thing pulls up the the lights are blaring,

and people are like, what the fuck's going on? Is there a bust? Is there a drive? And then my wife, the doors burst open, my wife comes down, I come down, we all roll out in this thing. It's just like, you could never do that in any other city. No, no way.

No city would ever let that happen. And it's just like, it's one of those kind of like old school cities. Like even when I read that book on Farley passing away, the cops went in and hid everything before the real team kind of came in. So they were hiding the drugs to like protect his legacy, which it's just like- Yeah, why not? I get it.

But it's like they would get flack for that. But it's kind of like there's an old school charm to that. There's a little bit of a, come on, I don't know how to say it. There's an old school charm to that that I respect. There's a little bit of a, come on, I don't know how to say it, but it's like there's some semblance of like guy's guy nobility. Like, oh, you don't want to fucking, nobody wants to know that, nobody wants to see the gruesome set. It's why Whitney Houston's estate sued Kanye and Pusha T

because Pusha T's album had a picture of Whitney Houston's bathroom. Right, right, yeah. It was just, it was. No class. It was fucked up. It was fucked up. It was fucked up in a weird, like I understand the purpose of art. I'm not fucking numb to understanding

why people do certain things. But I don't, she was such a brilliant artist. It was like, I don't know the tragedies of her addictions. Like that's really fucking sad. Yeah. It was like I had fucking needles and shit and spoons and ropes. And you're like, yeah, man,

she had a fucking problem to to kind of like put that on the map is hurtful so with the farley stuff yeah like i've heard the rumors that you know he was holding on to a um a crucifix uh and i heard that that it was put there because to make it seem like he did his last prayer yeah a rosary bead sorry he was holding it he had rosary beads in his hand and And I heard that that was, you know, whether or not that's true, I think people just, people in that city of Chicago do- Take care of their own. Yeah, they try to protect their own.

Yeah, they're a protective city. It's also a city filled with scam and murder and fucking like some of the worst criminals on earth. Yeah, but it's like, it's again like that old school charm. Like very few casinos in Vegas operate the way that the old school. Probably none at all anymore. None of them exist anymore. But you heard about how great they were to the entertainers.

Whereas now it's like, okay, you got a $20 stipend. You can use the employee buffet. It's like that shit didn't exist 20, 30 years ago. I guarantee they really took care of entertainers. Well, you know, the movie Casino is unequivocally one of my favorite movies on earth. I've said it a million times. I fucking love that movie. And the line that he says when he's like, Vegas died, it's fucking Disneyland now.

Yeah. You know? And it really is. I never was able to experience Vegas at that time, but I am fascinated with it. And now when you go, I was just there. And it's true. It's people with their fucking babies. Babies.

Babies. Yeah. On the strip at two in the morning. Yeah. And I talk about it sometimes. I talked about it on stage there. I was like, oh, it's good to see all these future criminals in strollers. Like who the fuck would bring a child? Like you have to be such a turd to bring a baby on the strip.

And I'm not talking about like, I'm not making fun of someone's socioeconomic status. But you don't want a seven-year-old knowing you got to split aces. You know, it's like, who's doing this? But it's also the smoking, the prostitution, the drugs. The party element lifestyle that kids don't need to be privy to at that young of an age is such an obvious. Even the dumbest human would go, that's probably not a good idea to have my kid for that fucking. Yeah, exactly, to expose it to that. Right.

And it's not a money thing. That bothers me when someone's like, oh, you're making fun of someone because of their income level. It's like, no, no. You saved money to go to Vegas and you you brought your family yeah bad idea if you want to save your money and go to fucking vegas which i also think is a bad fucking idea because vegas will take your fucking money like if you if you don't make a lot of money don't go to vegas yeah don't go to fuck go to somewhere more culturally beneficial than the desert that steals your money you know what i mean like take your fucking kids to like Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Take them somewhere with like history and a beach and cool things to see and sites and museums. It's like, I don't understand the culture of Vegas. I never will. And I lived there for two months shooting a television show. And from now on, if it's a friend wants me to go to Vegas, I'm there for literally, no joke, a day. A day.

Right. It's 24 less. I usually fly in at 7 or 8 p.m. Right. Let's party, party, party. And I'm out the next afternoon. Right. Goodbye.

I can't stay there. Yeah. I love the history of Vegas. Sure. It's beautiful. I love understanding like Keely Smith and Louie Prima doing those after-hour cocktail lounge shows and all the entertainers would come down um I love hanging out on Fremont Street everybody goes to Strip I go down to Fremont old Vegas I love old Vegas I love going to the Nugget

I love Binion's I love uh El Coyote which is the oldest casino in Vegas which is still there um but I was just there and I every night I went to the Griffin which is down on Fremont and it's a rock bar and it's all the locals down there and I've spent many you know the last few years I've spent so much time

in Vegas so that's where I love going and Evil Pie Evil Knievel's I think it's his son that owns this pizza joint that's an homage to Evil Knievel

and it's all this memorabilia in there and it's New York style pizza it's fucking great but that is not the Vegas that people go to. The Vegas that I'm talking about

is the fucking, you know, the Bellagio. And they stand outside and they see a fountain. Yeah, like the six foot margaritas and, you know, EDM music.

Sucking a huge plastic dick. Yeah. That Vegas is unique. My dad would go to Vegas every year and... And you looked at him from a window off a deer barn.

Yeah, once again, still staring. There's a plane there.. Once again, still staring. Dad, you've always, you're always leaving. He would go for this thing for business and he always wanted to go eat at a place called Piero's. Piero's is an old famous steakhouse. Do you know that? It's an old mob steakhouse.

It's still around. It's still there. Okay. But I'll go there when I go just because of my dad. Oh, that's nice. And I'll also go to, there is a Thai food restaurant way off the strip in a shitty strip mall that's like award winning.

Right. Called, fuck, fuck. And I didn't get to go this last time. It's one of my favorite places. But I'll think about it and I'll say what it is. But those are the two spots

that I love to go because they're not associated with Vegas. Right. But I just, living in the, I lived in Caesars. So it was just hard. It was just hard to like. Yeah, it's tough to up yeah I fucked me up cuz all I saw every day was you know the same kind of culture coming

and going every single week the coolest days are Tuesdays Tuesdays on the strip are the best because people are gone but people are just leaving yes it's only locals people are just leaving or just coming on Wednesday yeah so there's this weird dead day like completely dead day it's beautiful it's such like an eye-opening like window to the world of actual vegas and you really do get to like see vegas culture especially when you get off the strip but nobody is there really tuesday is like the one day where i'm like holy shit this is just for them yeah like it's just literally like their little town for like one or two days. And then Wednesday night rolls around.

You ever been to Pepperville? No, no, but I've heard about it a hundred times. You gotta go there. Yeah, yeah, I've heard about it. I wish if you love casinos. I do. Listen, there's things about the world of Vegas that I love, but those specifics set me off.

Why can't I think of the fucking name of that Thai place? Say it, it's called, say it, say it. It's called, what is the Thai place? Say it. Say it, Steve. You know it. Me?

Come on, you know it. I don't know it. Just tell me the fucking Thai place in Las Vegas. It's off the fucking strip. Watch. Bang Bang Pao. Bang Bang Pao?

No. I just made it up. Thai, it's called, whatever. Tofu Yu. No. Whatever. I'm really mad and I'll find it

and I'll be like I can't believe I didn't fucking think of that the minute I walk out of your house today I'm gonna yell Steve Steve

you crash cop I wanna make I wanna make a very very quick jump transition into something else because I wanna talk to you about this

now that we're in the heat of the moment of our passionate podcasting oh yeah this is very you have a documentary that is and i'm and i honestly like i don't want to placate i hate doing that it's one of the best documentaries i've seen in a long time i watch a mil i'm on netflix on my fucking ipad every flight every weekend i'm watching something and so many of them don't hold up but they just don't have something to grab onto. You have a documentary about the amazing Jonathan.

And the documentary is called? Always Amazing. Always Amazing. Amazing Jonathan, for people that don't know, is an incredible magician, comedian, performer. He's not really boxable. He kind of did everything, right? He wasn't, he was a magician,

but he was very much a comedian for sure and i remember watching his comedy central special uh i got it which what year was it you know i'd be probably know better than i do uh yeah i'd have to say i probably probably 2000 somewhere in there very beginning of 2000 right i was i thought 99 but could have been 2000 and i remember thinking this is a guy that I'm not jealous of. Because I pined as a kid to be a comedian. I was just blown away by. I was like, I'm not like, fuck, I wish I was that funny.

It was more like, wow, I can't believe someone is that funny at that very specific thing. Because he was so funny with magic, but it wasn't like anything I'd ever seen. It wasn't cheesy. No, it was actually very meta. It mocked cheesy magic. But he was also making fun of himself. But yeah, like the tricks didn't work,

but then they did. They did work. That's why they didn't work. And it's so fucking. He would hit his assistant in the face with stuff. I thought that was always so funny. It's like, it's always this beautiful beautiful woman and it's so kind of diminutive towards female culture to you know like the the assistant like the dumb bimbo that's like i'm just here to help and so his

assistant would play that up right she would go hello and she'd be in huge heels and be kind of the hyperbolized version of an assistant and he would make a bigger fool of her yeah for the joke but it was so funny to watch to watch him work out these inside baseball kind of jokes but they were broad enough for some reason like it was almost like meta but literally anybody who watched it could laugh yes you didn't have to understand comedy or magic to laugh that's how good it was yeah Yeah, and he, look, he was very successful at what he did.

And I think because of everything you're saying is why he was a national headliner. He was like, he had like Russell Peters' calendar. You know, he was global.

He was going all over the place. Yeah. And then he got tired of the road after 20 plus years and decided to be a Vegas headliner and bunked up at the Nugget and actually broke

Sinatra's record for most sold out shows. What? At the Nugget and actually broke Sinatra's record for most sold out shows. What? At the Nugget, yeah. Does he still hold the record? I believe he still holds the record, yeah. Because he's probably one of the last ones to, right? What's that?

He's probably one of the last ones to perform that many times at the Nugget. I think so, yeah. I don't know. I don't even know. I couldn't even tell you he's there right now. Yeah, I don't know. See, that's the other thing

is I don't know anymore. I mean, there's got to, I mean, you know. But he was also instrumental in bringing people downtown again because downtown was a ghost town. Right. And his Comedy Central special blew up, and then he went to the Nugget,

and he drew a much younger demographic downtown. Right. And then started, he's not the reason, but he's a part of the reason of this resurgence in downtown Vegas. Sure. Because it really took a hit. Vegas was dying, dying in that part. The strip was so profitable.

And I think just unless you really loved that other version of Vegas, you would not go. Tourists would never go. But then he gave them a reason to come down. And again, it was selling out and occupancy rates were going up through the roof. And it's kind of funny because when in the film, Jonathan talks about having a suite at the Nugget. Yeah. My buddy Carlos, Big Daddy Carlos,

who owns the Velvet Margarita down here. Big Daddy Carlos. Big Daddy Carlos who owns the Velvet Margarita. He's 5'4", 140 pounds. On Coanga. But he's part, well, he owns Fremont Country Club and Backstage Bar and Billiards down in Fremont. He's staying in the exact same room Jonathan stayed in.

Wow. So when I interviewed Joel, Joel was like, oh my God, I'm in Jonathan's suite. And Jonathan, I did the interview and I was like, oh, this is kind of meant to be. This is kind of cool. Wow, that's beautiful. What are the chances of all that? Because we were going to film it at the Nugget and then Carlos goes, just use my room. And I was like okay

I don't know what room it was and then when Joel walked in he's like this is Jonathan's room oh wow it's crazy so it's nuts and we have pictures

of Jonathan's room in the dock in it's exact same space wow that's fucking insane nuts I never did that

so how did you what is your relation to Jonathan and why was the why was the documentary so like important for you to do? Why were you like, I've got to fucking make this? So when I first was in New York City, I was a New York comic. And then I got offered to do The Road with my agent at the time, Roger Paul, who was great to me.

He said, hey, take two weeks down at Charlie Good Nights. I was like, why two? He's like, because you can make money that way. If it's just one, you'll lose all your money going down there and coming back. So the first week was Brian Regan, which every night I was like, holy shit. It's like a young comic. You're like, this guy's fucking amazing. Then Jonathan comes in and I was like, what the fuck is this? I mean, just blown away at the creativity and the makeshift of it all. And then his, his, his road manager was Joel Osborne, who was around my age. Yeah. And Joel is a huge Oasis fan.

So we started talking Oasis. We're trading bootlegs and hanging out all night, all three of us. And I got BET's Comic View a few months later, and I crashed Jonathan's place in Marina Del Rey. Got it again a few months later, crashed Jonathan's place in LA. And that's how we all kind of got to know each other and hang out. That was the beginning of the relationship. So when Jonathan was given the terminal, he was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy,

which is a degradation of your heart. So you think he's at 40% capacity. His heart is operating. So that's 60% of his heart is dead. Mine's totally dead, by the way. Mine's been dead for years. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So he basically retired from standup,

retired from performing, and gave everybody a nice send-off saying i'll see you on the other side you know i got my affairs in order good night everybody and was prepared to die he outlived expectations and three years later he said i'm going to see if i still have it can i still do it and he announced these three shows i thought what a great uh conduit into telling his story but then also there's a finish line to this and that's a doc i'd like to see being a documentary fan like yourself i was like i'd like to see that and then i thought well fuck it i'll just make it and so i called my buddy who had who's really good with cameras i said can you come and be a dp and let's just do this and so we scrapped it all together went out filmed it and um jonathan's the face of it but

the heart of it is Joel Osborne. And every year he went back to Australia, this 12-year-old kid would be outside getting, can I have your autograph and teach me this magic? And year after year, he'd come back and this kid was there and he's just enamored with him. And he eventually took him under his wing. And when Joel turned 18, he said,

will you be my road manager? And as you saw in the film, Joel, I mean, you take an 18 year old kid and you put him on tour with a drug addict he saw him through a nasty divorce a suicide attempt all the crazy shit and joel got jonathan's life in order went to australia became a comedian on his own and then when jonathan made the return to stage joel come back to open for him so it kind of all came full circle yes it did a lot of story beats that kind of worked out really well. But does Joel live in the States now?

Joel is in Australia. And it's funny because the girl that's interviewed in it, Erica Van Lee, who is Jonathan's road manager after Joel left, Joel came back to the States to hang out and feature for me. And I would do some interviews with him. So he's here for a month. I set up a goddamn comedy jam down in Las Vegas. I was like, Joel, you got to do this because he's a big music guy as well.

So I brought the show down there, put Joel on it. Erica and Penny, Jonathan's former assistant came and Erica and Jonathan or Erica and Joel hooked up that night and now they're engaged. Oh my God. Is that crazy? That's wild, dude. That's fucking wild.

Previous road manager and new road manager yeah now in love still dealing with the uh the after effects of john so they bond over that i'm sure and because when you when you watch the documentary i highly suggest you do it i genuinely i wouldn't promote it if i didn't believe in it like i would just be like thank you it it's i would have lied to you somehow and been like yeah yeah, man, you can come on the podcast, but I don't want to promote some bullshit. But it was so good because it was just, even if you hated comedy, right? I say this all the time to comedy fans that are sometimes that are like,

well, it's very much a thing for comics. This is a thing that you will just enjoy from a perspective of watching an entertainer kind of go through, and very honestly, by the way, very candidly say some things. He's very blunt. Yes, he is very honest

about the ups and downs of his whole life. He doesn't really hide anything. He's very truthful about his mistakes, which I think is super relieving as a viewer to be like, oh, that's cool

that he's not like, you know, sometimes you watch these documentaries about famous people or people that had a huge rise and or a huge fall and they always make them seem like they're fucking flawless.

Oh yeah, this is not that. This is no shit on Quincy Jones but Rashida made a documentary about Quincy, her father.

Right. It's great, okay, because Quincy Jones is one of the greatest music producers in the history of our fucking world.

I don't think, period. They made him kind of seem like this forever perfect guy. Well, you read all this other stuff that's a little bit more honest. I know it's his daughter.

Sure. She does try to paint him a little bit in a light that's truthful sometimes, but you're like, come on, man. I've heard some of the fucking stories, and I'm not even in the business. I'm not even in the music business. So I like that he was very blunt about his shortcomings about his missteps like about his addiction about his divorce about his drug use about his continued struggle with yeah not wanting to fucking get his life together or trying to barely do enough to get by it was just relieving

to watch honesty it was just honesty of a man's life i mean it just said a lot no i appreciate and that's that was something I said to Jonathan up front from the beginning. I was like, look, let's just have this warts and all. He's like, yeah, I don't have anything to hide. And so he's very of the mindset of like, I lived the life I wanted. I don't give a shit.

He still does drugs. He still- Right, I didn't want to ruin it, but he does, right. He still openly does drugs. And to be honest with you, the doctor said, if you stop, your body will go into shock. Right. But it's interesting because Jonathan and Joel are both emotionally a little more introvert and recluse.

And so there's a moment in the film where I was like, I got to get something where I get these guys to divulge some aspect of their relationship with each other. Because I'd asked them questions separately, and they were never really forthcoming about how wonderful each guy was to each other. They're, they're, they're kind of stoic, like proud guys, like 50 guys, fifties guys or something, you know? Yes. They do in the kitchen. One minute, you know, I went with snake medium, but there's that old school mentality that these guys had. Not that they're like that, but, but, um, so I was flying to Vegas and I'd read this thing about this exercise people did where they wrote a letter. But instead of sending it to them, they'd knock on somebody's door and read them the letter. And it was very cathartic for a lot of people that had, you know, a real emotional bond with somebody that meant something to them.

So it's the last day we were filming. And I said, look, you guys got to write a letter to each other, but we're going to read it on camera. And Joel was like, Joel's game. He he's like all right look I'll do it and Jonathan kept putting it off put it off put it off I go John sounds like a comedian by the way one fucking you've got to do this and I said we're doing it at five you gotta fucking show up at five he's like all right all right and they showed up at five and he did it and and I remember the first time when we were cutting it when you're putting it all together um i got emotional because i know them also too yeah and i i saw them actually like opening as a friend i was like this finally you fuckers are doing this right it just so happens we're doing on a camera too but for so long they had never really expressed those things to each other and

i thought that they needed to as a friend and also for the film, which was great. It's great for the fucking film. Thank God it worked out. But that's one of those things that you kind of, you know, people don't understand what a producer or a director does. Oftentimes they just kind of think, there's a lot of ignorance, I think.

And honestly, so it's not like it's a negative thing, but people don't really know what a producer does or director does. But to produce a documentary and or direct it, you really have to tell the, you really have to tell the story. You really have to mold the story. You're not manipulating the truth, but you need to really dig it the fuck out. And so that's just digging it the fuck out.

You guys really need to tell the truth of your life. Yeah. Even in the case of storytelling, one of the things that was difficult about this film when we were putting it together and assembling assembling it was when do we let the audience know there's trouble in paradise when do we reveal that jonathan because there's a lot of there's a lot of people that don't know who jonathan is that may like docs that stumble across us so when do we reveal the terminal diagnosis and my thought was always put it right at the beginning get it out and then you get to know him and then you build to it right and what we found was in all these test screenings we did was the best way to do it was teasing some impetus of something happening

and then revealing it at our midpoint. And our editor, Brian Goetz, who's phenomenal, he did the Steve Bannon documentary that just came out at Sundance. He did the Roger Stone one that's on Netflix. Jesus. He edited ours. I just watched that. He put this together, he did the Roger Stone one that's on Netflix he edited ours and he put this together and when he formatted it that way and then we went

did some test screenings was like fuck that's he did a great job so I owe him a huge set of gratitude. He did do a great job. It was just too bad he couldn't cut out your voice out of the whole thing I hate hearing my voice. No it's so funny it was interesting to watch it because knowing you you know what I mean?

When you hear your buddy on a thing, you're like, that's my buddy. You know what I mean? It's hard to take, it's almost like one of those things

where it's almost impossible to not see you when I hear you. But when I watch other documentaries, the voice almost, they almost always sound the same.

It's almost like it's the same woman or the same guy. It's like the DJ at the strip club. Unless you know who it is. Yes, yes, yes. Come on guys. Yeah, come to destiny all they're all josh adam meyers

you know you're coming to the stage but it but it's just one of those things when you know someone that's in it you're like oh my god like the other night i saw a preview for a movie and uh what was it fucking for i don't whatever it was but the oh men in black and um you know the small creature was kumail nanjiani and kumail's, you know, recognizable most likely now to the whole country. But, you know, I've known him for a long time. Sure. And when you hear it, you're like, that's so funny. Because I just.

You don't see the thing. You see Kumail that you know instead of the Kumail that. Sure, yeah. Whatever. But that's just a part of the trope of the business. But I just think. I think it was cool because there was a lot of moments. First of all, you're very.

I'm not going to suck your dick about it, but pull your dick out. But you were very removed. I fucking loathe when a documentary filmmaker makes themselves a big highlight of the film. I fucking hate them too. It bothers me so fucking much that I'm like, it's not about you.

Why are you making it about you? You wanted to make this piece about this thing, this story. Exactly. And when you interject your life so heavily into it, you can sprinkle your relationship, which you didn't do, by the way, you didn't even tell your story that, which by the way, you, you definitely could have, it would have been great. For sure. I could have, but people do such an injustice to a move, to a documentary when they do that, i'm like nope i get so mad i see it all the time because it's just such like jerking jerking yourself off when you're just like and you know and then i went to the it's like it's not about you dude why did then just make

it a fucking biopic about you yeah but i'm glad you didn't do that i hate when they interject themselves into these things right there was one I just saw, I think it was like Jack of all trades, about the baseball card industry. It was about Topps trading cards. Yes, Topps cards,

yeah. I saw the trailers like, oh, this is about the baseball card industry. This is phenomenal. I'll get to learn about the Ken Griffey and all that.

This is great. And I watched it and then, boom, they flip the cameras on them. It becomes a film about him and his dad and I'm like,

motherfucker, I got duped again and I fucking turned it off. I got duped again. Yeah. And I fucking turned it off. I just watched this thing on Frontline. I fucking love Frontline. It's a great docu-series. They are good.

On PBS. And it was the one about Charlottesville, about hate. And they do the typical voiceover, all the news footage. It's like, I'm going to learn something here. Ken Bernsie. Yeah. Flips it around. Nope, gone. And he's this bald Latino. It's like, let me guess to learn something here. Ken Bernsie. Yeah. Flips it around. Nope, gone.

And, you know, he's this bald Latino. It's like, let me guess what side you're on here. So I was just like, get the fuck. I just, I hate that shit. I hate it. By the way, it'd be great if some Latino dude was like, I'm basically an alt-right fucking leader. He's like, down with Brown, those fucking pieces of shit. But the flipping is, that's also part of the reason why, and this is not even from a political standpoint,

but I hated Michael Moore's documentaries because they were so fucking self-promoting. It was all about him. It was always about him. I understand his messages. Like I got why he, I got why he became popular. But it was always,

he always put himself in it. He's the best version of doing that though, I think. Sure, sure. That's why he did so well. And he does parlay the information in a doing that though, I think. Yeah, sure, sure. That's why he did so well. And he does parlay the information in a really humorous, informative way. And there's other people that are just so self-righteous.

Yes, yes, yes, yes. Get the fuck out of my life. Right, at least have some sense of fucking humor if you're gonna do it. It's also why like, you know, it's why that Morgan Spurlock guy, kind of same thing. When he started doing documentaries,

the supersize me and all that stuff, he was very self-deprecatory. And I think that helped his case all the time that's why people loved him because it was like oh this guy's gonna shit on himself on and then give us facts too yeah i think people just it's endearing it's endearing to watch someone do that if you're gonna be a part of the thing right but then like alex gibney yeah i think somebody like that it's just like dude will you get off the fucking soapbox stop beating your chest thank God for you it's just like a mirror it's such an obvious

like mirror of them being like and this and I'm the reason that this you're like we know we fucking get it so tell

where can people see the documentary info so they can see it right now for free on YouTube go to YouTube

type in always amazing it's free it's on the all things comedy channel I had a decision to make where you know Amazing it's free it's on the All Things Comedy channel I had a decision to make where you know

when it's a passion project you're sinking money into it and then the money starts to spiral out of control it's like alright well you want

that HBO special with a John Candy host we gotta go convert that into a higher resolution it's like fuck okay we gotta do that then it's like

oh you gotta bake it to get the best it's like okay how much is fucking that and then you gotta go to Detroit and to get the best. It's like, okay, how much is fucking that? And then you got to go to Detroit and get all the archival footage. Detroit, fuck. Uploading that and all this shit, right?

So basically I could get a nominal return and people could rent it on iTunes or Amazon. But I thought instead of getting back like a third of what I put into this, for me, it's my first film. I'm passionate about it. I love the story. I want people to see it.

I want it to be visible. I want it to to be accessible and so when I talked to the guys at all things comedy it was one of those things I was just pitching them would you guys be interested and they said absolutely don't even yeah burr and magical yeah and it was just like off to the races and you know I'm just so excited I think it's a great home for it I think it's great branding for it and I think that it's just a great opportunity to tell the stories a great experience as a first-time filmmaker to do it too so i just and i appreciate well i think i think it's support from the community from guys like you to have me on these podcasts to help get the word out because it means everything to me well dude i i listen again it's like when things are not good i think everyone kind of quietly you've always been blunt

so a little trepidatious when things are like i'm like when things are not good no well when things are not good i just i kind of just i'm actually honest when i don't when a buddy sends me something yeah um i try my best to be very honest with you uh you know if i like you as a human it's like i want to be like you know it didn't really click for me but but it is more helpful i'll tell tell you this. Yeah. Because I'm in the editing process right now, the opening act, that feature I wrote about in my earlier system.

And someone like you is extremely helpful in those situations because the things that are working, you kind of know what's working from the test screenings. Yeah. The things that aren't working are the things you got to solve

and figure out and crack. Right. And it's people like you, I think, that come in with a real blunt. And it's people like you, I think, that come in with a real blunt opinion. It's like, oh, fuck, thank you. I need to know that because you don't want to be told it's great and then you release a piece of shit.

Yeah, and that's a habit of our culture, of our comedy community and the entertainment world is like, it's brilliant, it's great. The people throw those fucking words around so much it's nauseating. Like, no, you need a check down. And honestly, your closest, I was talking to a buddy of mine today the people throw those fucking words around so much it's nauseating like yeah no like something you need a check down and honestly you're your closest i was talking to a buddy of mine today and we were kicking around ideas for this new project we're working on and um it's just so

nice to have a real he happens to be a chicago guy too but it's just you know like it's so nice to have a real person who just goes uh i don't know but not mean about it just goes i don't know and even just a slight like maybe yeah makes you go oh fuck maybe okay let's rethink it because there's people at the top that hear yes all the time and that's a big reason why i just think there's a lot of dog shit yes there's so much shit and also very talented people inherently end up making a lot of bad shit because no one's telling them no everyone's like oh yeah yeah yeah i mean like it happens in comedy specials it happens in film it happens in everything when you're like nobody fucking said don't do that like you don't have you don't have one good friend that goes bro that was garbage like i need i want someone to go you know i don't

i don't want everyone i don't want all my friends to be like that's that was you you suck fuck you because that's of course yeah that is every friend from chicago back home is like you suck you're not funny fuck you and you're like okay guys it'd be nice to hear like one person say a nice thing you know what i mean but that's why you have to have some sort of balance to that so i i honestly think people go to youtube go watch uh go watch it um it's it's again it's it's uh it's solid i don't want i don't want to push it too much and I honestly think people go to YouTube, go watch it. Again, it's solid. I don't want to push it too much.

And again, The Amazing Jonathan, but it's called Always Amazing. I'm sure you can find both. If you say The Amazing Jonathan, it'll come up. It'll come up, yeah. The reason it's called Always Amazing is because Letterman, he told the story, it was a deleted scene. We couldn't end up using it because you know

there's always so much you can use but Letterman had him on and then I think Jonathan like made a bet with a DJ

like he'll give somebody the finger at home so he did one of these and Letterman saw it after they filmed it and banned him from the thing

so for years Jonathan never went back to Letterman and then years later, Letterman let up the embargo, invited Jonathan back. It was like the last two years Letterman's on the air. And as Jonathan was walking out

to do his set, he looks over at Dave to wave and Dave gives him the finger. Which I thought was kind of cool. But David introduced him as this guy is always amazing. And it's the amazing Jonathan. And I thought knowing Jonathan's diagnosis and who knows how much Wick has left with him

and his career and him being with us, I just thought that's such a fitting title. Oh my God. Is it ever? That's a great fucking story. I'm glad that, I'm sad that didn't make it. Letterman's known for that kind of shit though. You know, like he banned,

what's his name from from kids carmen harmony oh yeah yeah he could he banned the out of him because he was like he was on drugs the first time or whatever same thing crispin glover have you ever watched those i did watch the harmony yeah somebody put all three of them together right watch watch crispin glover do you ever watch him i saw when he didn't he kick almost kick him yeah he almost kicked him in the head yeah it was it's phenomenal and I saw when he, didn't he kick, almost kick him or something? Yeah, he almost kicked him in the head. Yeah. It's phenomenal. And the second time he comes back

and he's doing another character study, it's amazing. Crispin Glover is wildly talented at disappearing into character. And I think people didn't give him credit back then. I think they kind of thought he was just like being a fucking weirdo. He was really like being the character

of the show he was promoting. Yeah. That was his whole goal, which I think was how fucking cool. And over the years, people did it less and less because now late night talk shows have become so fucking bleached down to like this cleanest version of like be the robotic guy that you're supposed to be now what are you promoting you know galifianakis was on um kimmel and uh he played his twin brother yeah i'm dude I love watching him

because he he does it in a way that's not condescending he just does it it's like I'm just this is all fake right like we know this is fake

I mean I it's not breaking the fourth wall it's just like it's pointing at it being like isn't this fucking ridiculous well I think he's he's like a comics comic

in the way that I think most comedians go into something going how do I deconstruct the reality of this and make it break it into layman's terms for the audience to go fuck this. Right. And I think that's what he's,

he's great at that. Yeah. I think he has such a good talent at mocking himself. Yeah. Uh, like, like something simple. He had a hole under his armpit.

There was a hole in the armpit of a sweater and Kimmel made a comment about it. And he's like, I did that just because I wanted to come out and do a wave and I wanted you to know that I'm a guy's guy like I'm a regular man but it was it was something so like simple throw away like that just he just you know spit out because Jimmy made just like a little joke but he has that thing in spades sure that that that I think is what exists in our community that still keeps comics earnest in those worlds yeah because otherwise you know again you become the reason i think what you just said about the jonathan thing about the otherwise you become a part of the industry and you never

really you never really get to be yourself at some point sometimes you become and this is no attack on kevin hart but kevin hart made his career being an industry machine and good for him. That's fucking amazing. Yeah. I don't really know who Kevin Hart is. Right. Do you know what I mean? I have no fucking idea who he is.

I know in just that documentary. Yeah. I know who Jonathan is. I know who he is a lot. You know what I mean? I know who Zach is. I mean, as far as I know from the public eye or what I've known from him on a comedy level, mean as far as i know from the from the public eye or what i've known from them on a comedy level but like you really get to know comics in these forums because they're able to just fucking vomit it all

out and be like i don't care you know that i'm sorry that this is me but this is who i am yeah versus actors oftentimes you go on these shows and you're like i have no fucking idea who that guy is yeah i have i have no idea what he's into unless he's nick offerman from the off from parks and rec and he's like i build boats and you're like okay i know the guy builds wood shit you know what i mean like otherwise you're just another dude that i have no i have no idea about so i think that it's highlighted that you highlighted that in the documentary too about the comedic lifestyle of like guys like that can't hide at some point you know what i mean well i think you know i i think it's

funny you bring that up i'm not trying to parlay this into it but when i was writing the opening act and like when it comes out i think the people are going to be really exposed to to the three tiers of what it means to be a stand-up you're either an mc a feature or a headliner right and there's archetypes of each one of them and i think that when we've exposed it to a handful of comedians at the end of these test screenings towards the end of the run of the test screenings and they're like man it's really authentic it's what it's really like on the road

but they're very complimentary in terms of of what each one represents which to me was an immense compliment so again when this thing comes out everybody will be able to judge for themselves but I think I did a good job in terms of to me was an immense compliment. So again, when this thing comes out, everybody will be able to judge for themselves. But I think I did a good job in terms of really expressing. I've never seen a standup film where I watched it going,

that's what it's like. Yeah. I've never seen that. Yeah, it's too hard. That was always the goal for me. And I may hit the mark, I may miss the mark. It's up to the audience. And once it's released, it's up to everybody else to decide. But what I got so far from comedians,

I think, I think we're close on that. And I think that. It's a really hard thing, man. Yeah. That's such, I mean,

you know, I lived it day in and day out. When we did, I'm dying up here over like, it was tough to like, not, you know, to be like,

is this, this is, I'm a comedian. I, this isn't kind of what it's like. And it's really hard to encapsulate it. I think it's really hard. I think in 90 minutes,

it's really difficult. Oh my God. That's why I did, I did it over the course of four days. Yeah. It's one weekend. That's it. Yeah.

So it's all the ups and downs. It's partying. It's repercussions. It's all that. Sitting in a hotel by yourself, being sad and jerking off into a towel for the eighth time. Over and over.

I just drape a towel over my torso and my head and I just sit there and come quietly. I mean, honestly, until the show starts. I love, do you know Ted Alexandro? Yeah. One of the best lines I've heard from a comedian about being a comedian, he's like, I forced myself on myself.

That's such a great line. That is so good. It's like, oh, we don't want to do this. Oh, fuck do this oh we're gonna do it yeah the amount of stuff that we do because we think we're supposed to yeah or because it's the right thing to do or it's a part of the game it is crazy to think people just think there is no sacrifice and there really fucking is there really is and sometimes it gets the best of us that's why people succumb to drugs and alcohol. A lot of comics get deep in it. And it's like, you've got to have some kind of anchor.

I don't care what it is. I used to tell this to a younger comedy friend of mine. We first were kind of on the rise together. I was like, we've got to have some kind of anchor or else we're going to lose our fucking minds. Because I saw older guys that were just off into the deep end where I was like, oh my God, he got a little money and he lost his fucking brain sure and and that's what happens you do get a little bit of money and you if there's nothing to give you any kind of weight at the bottom you float and you kind of lose it and you become you can kind of become a fucking either a piece of shit or you can blow it all yeah the way i always looked at it was like imagine working like in the ford motor plant in

the 60s and your job is to just do that every day of your fucking life you're gonna lose your fucking mind for 30 years you're just doing this yeah but i think eventually you gotta expand your horizons you gotta do that for a year or two then it's like you know i want to learn something over there i want to i want to learn this thing you know and then yeah year by year you're learning it all and now you know exactly how that car is built and you leave that plant you're like fuck i did everything and i know every aspect of it. And I think with stand-up... And you still can't afford that car. You still can't afford... That's the saddest part.

That's so fucking funny. Why can't I have these cars? But you're right. You need to continue to change. If you were going to jump away from stand-up, if you're going to jump out of this business, what would you do? Which I've contemplated many times,

especially the last few years. Well, name a comic that hasn't. I would say that, you know, what I discovered in doing the doc and then writing this film is I wrote the film as an exercise to see if I could just even do it. Yeah.

And then it came to fruition. So now when I'm on the road, I just try to be as productive and creative as possible and think of like, what would I like to tell now? What story would I like to do now? So I don't know.

The directing thing's pretty fun. It's ambitious. It's extremely, it's the most work I've ever done in my life. And unfortunately for me, the timing was that they both kind of happened

at the same time. Yeah. So, you know, I'm fucking zapped, but I thoroughly enjoy both forms, both mediums of film but I would definitely

do it again in a heartbeat it would be the best well I mean it's dope and it goes without saying that I support you because I do

I think you're wonderful and mutual respect here by the way well doesn't need to be I'm not there's no need for me I'm gonna be out of here soon you know what I mean

yeah yeah yeah just say something nice at the comedy store funeral for me okay yeah I think about that's how fucking disgustingly

egomaniacal I can become as I'm I'm always like I wonder what they're gonna say about me at the second store I wonder who's gonna get the best laugh

at my funeral like I wonder who's gonna tell the best fucking you know what Santino did joke like I think about that of all the

because as a comic you can't die no comic will ever die with like complete humility and peace like you're going

to get this shit jokes talked about I guess just a part of our world which is so nice thank God yeah

you know but it's also I think about that as much as we talk about each other you're like what are these cunts gonna say about me

when I'm dead please say something fucking nice. Are you on the road right now? Yeah. Okay, you wanna plug some dates that you're touring? Brea, Nashville, Raleigh. Brea, Nashville, Raleigh. Where people go to what?

Just go to? Steve Byrne Live. Everything I have is. Steve Byrne Live. At Steve Byrne Live, Twitter, at Steve Byrne Live, Instagram, at Steve Byrne Live, Facebook. Steve Byrne Live is the website. And literally just go to YouTube type in

Always Amazing and you watch the film for free and if you share it with your friends I'd greatly appreciate it please do we'll put it where in the description below

I'm gonna link Always Amazing I'll link all of Steve's stuff go see him live he is fucking incredible I appreciate you coming and bringing me booze by the way

thank you for this you brought me liquor I should have shown it to the audience but you brought me a bottle of, it's Gentleman Jack? Is that what it is? I just know it's Jack. I don't know if it's Gentleman Jack. I think it looked like a Gentleman bottle but it's engraved with the Blackhawks. 2010

That's so nice man. That's really really sweet. I know you're a hardcore hockey fan. Huge hockey fan. And I love hockey too although I haven't been watching. I mean I have been watching but begr have been watching but the greatest national anthem i've ever heard in my life is before blackhawks game oh yeah hands down i'll never forget that i'm a pretty patriotic guy i've done like a bunch of uso tours my father my brother served all my uncles have served i've never served but i you know i'm just somebody that respects the flag i respect the

anthem i was in new y York on 9-11. I know what it, I just, everybody's got an interpretation. You flew one of the planes in 9-11. You, yeah. You were the one that missed. I got out, United 93, I just tucked and rolled. In Shanksville, Pennsylvania. I just, yeah, I walked back to Pittsburgh.

But you were in fucking New York during 9-11? I was in New York on 9-11, yes. Yikes. Oh my God. So it just, it was pretty, but again, it's like, that's the great thing about standup comedy is when you're involved in that environment,

you realize, look, I think 9-11 was what rebooted standup comedy. Standup was kind of dying at the time, okay? Yeah, it was definitely a lull. 9-11 happens, and I remember like myself, Dove Davidoff, Bill Burr, Bobby Kelly, Godfreyfrey arty like this younger group of comics that were all in the city at the time it's like

well that was fun i guess i got to get a real fucking job who's who the fuck's gonna come to right to gotham tonight or after that after that when you can smell everything burning drifting uptown and so i remember it was three days. Everybody's glued to the TV, right? And I think it was three or four days after that, the comedy cellar was the first one to say, let's just see. And it opens up. And ever since that day at the comedy cellar, the clubs have been packed ever since. Because I forgot, I was like, oh oh shit people want an escape people want an excuse to laugh and you got comics I'll never forget I think it was Pete Correale did this great joke about you know relatives wanting to come in and pay their respects to ground zero so uh he had relatives

drive over and he just took him to a construction site on 72nd and 3rd he's like there it is and they're like oh my god like when you had all these new yorkers that was like it's so relatable because you had people that want to come down and pay respects kind of crash with you i want to see it and it was just like that was to me it was like all right people always find a need to want to laugh no matter how dire it has to well dude you see that when i travel the country you're like oh my god these people need some release they need to fucking release that's why i don't really blame i don't love it when someone gets too fucked up at a show yeah there was a guy that was yelling so loud that was like in love i mean dude shout out to this dude in north carolina he was a big

fan he loved me but like he was having too much fun yeah he was having way too much fun because you're ruining the fun of other people that's true yeah he was like you could tell he's like i fucking love you cheeto i love you too man but you know like you can't fucking you know you can't let our love supersede everybody else that paid to be here yeah uh and sometimes i just don't blame that guy i don't want to kick him out i just want to be like shut the fuck up please because you know i get it he probably is like i've had people tell me i've had fans tell me my job sucks ass yeah ass. I'm single or I'm just out of a relationship or I'm divorced. Or I have a tough time seeing my kids.

Or I have all these things in my life. And then listening to the podcast or going to shows and fucking off feels like a huge fucking weight off their shoulders. It's like, ah, a release. And they'll always need some kind of comedic release. So we'll keep comedy jizzing all over you guys if you just open your legs up you know what i mean just keep opening up your let me get sex fucking keep opening up baby no i but i but i think it's a i think it's a good thing that i think people are always going to need that that but there's also been these waves of why comedy has continued to rise sure i think i think 9-11 but i also think

fucking trump was a huge like a propeller i think it just propelled people to have a better sense of humor about nonsense again because it invoked a lot of progress progress but it also invoked a lot of mocking of culture right like naturally when you have movements you're going to have someone go all right we have to talk shit about that yeah because you have to joke about these fucking he's been great for our industry yeah i've said it before i i think secretly somewhere lauren michaels is writing thank you letters to donald trump over and over because it i mean it's just so much rich material for that show saturday night live has well the minute he leaves office whether it's via impeachment or if he gets re-elected whatever it might be who knows what's going to happen but the minute he leaves those ratings

are going to tank on daily show colbert because what do you have what do you have what do you have if not but but that that's that's to be you know to be truthful whoever is next even if it is this fucking dude again let's just say it's somebody else there's always going to be room like there'll always be room but not as not as not as big it's a pretty he's a doozy yeah he's a doozy. You think Trump's gonna have the kind of post-presidency love that Bush got? It's interesting to think how much people hated Bush.

Not everybody, obviously. I just mean, it's funny how much people ragged on Bush in the pop culture comedy world. Same thing, right? SNL did a million bits, you know? And he became this like chuckling dummy. But now it's like, he paints. We love him. He's funny again. It's so funny he's had this like... Well, I think Trump helped like chuckling dummy. Yeah. But now it's like, he paints, we love him,

he's funny again. It's so funny he's had this like. Well, I think Trump helped Bush. Totally, totally, yes. But look, history, that's up to history to judge. But according to everything I'm seeing,

like even on Vice, we're not gonna be here in 50 years, so who knows. No, we're dead. Yeah, we're totally dead. Where do you wanna die? Do you wanna die in LA? Fuck no.

Yeah, it would have been tough. Fuck no. Yeah. One of have been tough. Fuck no. One of my biggest regrets is that my daughter's birth certificate says Los Angeles and not Chicago. Yeah, it's tough. I was so pissed because I was like, I want to time it out. Just fly back, have them, and come back. Yeah. You can't fly with a kid then, though, right?

It's kind of dangerous. Is it bad? Well, knowing you, you fly private. Rich Bones over here. This guy's got three private jets. Yeah. Three or four, right? Yeah, of course. I drive a Dodge. It's right outside. I drive a jets. Yeah. Three or four, right? Yeah, of course.

I drive a Dodge. That's right, I'm sorry. I drive a Dodge. The Dodge flies too now. Yeah, of course. All right, go see the documentary, please. I'll link it again. I can't say it enough.

It is so fucking cool. Thank you for coming. Thank you for the boost. Thank you. I appreciate you. Absolutely. Appreciate you. Whisk, whisk, whisk, whisk.

You're that creature in the ginger beard. Sturdy and ginger. Like vampires, the ginger gene is a curse. you.