Whiskey Ginger with Andrew Santino - Yakov Smirnoff

Episode Date: May 2, 2025

In Soviet Russia, podcast listens to YOU! Yakov Smirnoff—comedian, actor, and professor of laughter—joins Andrew Santino to reflect on Soviet roots, finding the American dream through comedy, and why laughter really is the best medicine. Yakov’s journey is unreal — from acting alongside legends like Robin Williams, Meryl Streep, Jack Nicholson, Richard Pryor, and Tom Hanks… to buying the house where Lenny Bruce died. What a country!This episode is a blast of nostalgia, insight, and Cold War absurdity, with a heart as big as Yakov's smile. 🎟️ Check out more from Yakov: https://caseyrocket.com 📺 Subscribe to Whiskey Ginger: YouTube.com/@AndrewSantino 🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your pods. #YakovSmirnoff #WhiskeyGinger #AndrewSantino #ComedyPodcast #ColdWarComedy #WhatACountry #LaughterIsMedicine #StandUpLegends #SovietComedian =========================================================== Sponsor Whiskey Ginger: https://public.liveread.io/media-kit/whiskeyginger SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS SQUARESPACEGET 10% OFF YOUR ORDERhttps://squarespace.com/whiskey ETHOSCOVERAGE FOR AS LOW AS $10 A MONTHhttps://ethoslife.com/whiskey 1800FLOWERS.COMTAKE CARE OF MOM THIS MOTHER'S DAY CLAIM YOUR DOUBLE YOUR ROSES OFFER! https://1800flowers.com/whiskey HELIXSPECIAL OFFER: GET 27% OFF STATEWIDE!https://helixsleep.com/whiskey SAILY GET A 15% DISCOUNT ON SAILY DATA PLANS! https://saily.com/whiskey ======================================= Follow Andrew Santino: https://www.instagram.com/cheetosantino/ https://twitter.com/CheetoSantino Follow Whiskey Ginger: https://www.instagram.com/whiskeygingerpodcast https://twitter.com/whiskeygingerpodcast Produced and edited by Joe Faria https://www.instagram.com/itsjoefaria Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What up, Whiskey Ginger fans? Welcome back to the show. It's your first time joining the show. Welcome to the show. We got a good one for you today, like my man, Steve Harvey, done say. And ladies and germs, thank you for coming along for the Whiskey Ginger ride.

Those of you that are new to the channel, maybe you're in from No Bad Lies, whatever the case may be. Grazie, grazie, yeah? I am doing a couple of dates, May 22 and 23. I'm in Edmonton and Winnipeg. Edmonton, Winnipeg, boom, boom, little Canadia dates. Couple, just to work it out, get my feelers back.

I've been off the tour for a little while. On tour shooting my new show, No Bad Lies, but it's been amazing, man. I do those two, go to andresantino.com, and then me and Bobby Lee, me and my sweet noodle prince, the dumpling king. We are gonna be July 18th and 19th, London and Dublin. London and Dublin, that's all we're gonna do for 2025.

So go to badfriendspod.com for those tickets. Enough rambling for me. Let's go to the episode. In here, we pour Whisk. Whisk, Whisk, Whisk, Whisk. You are that creature in the ginger beard. Sturdy and ginger. Like them hairs, the ginger gene is a curse.

Gingers are beautiful. You owe me $5 for the whisky and $75 for the horse. Gingers are hell no. This whisky 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 once again today, it's Yakov Smirnov! Thank you, thank you so much. Let me tell you something, for people that don't know or are not familiar with the history of you and the Comedy Store, we should put some links in the description so people understand the weight of Yakov Smirnov in the community.

You are, for us, you've got legendary status. First of all, you're a Comedy Store guy, that was my home club, it is, it's where I started in LA. When you came to the States, you moved here when? I moved in 1977 to New York, and then... People don't know you're from Tanzania, right? That's where it is? It's close, it's in the same neighborhood.

Yeah, you're from France. This accent is French, right? You're getting, actually, now you're in Europe, which is good. Great. Keep going east. Madagascar. Keep going, keep going east.

Keep going, keep going. Mongolia. That's pretty far east. That's fine. Yeah, somewhere in between those. Is that good enough?olia, that's pretty far east. That's fine. Somewhere in between those. Yeah, that's close enough. You came to New York in 77. 77.

77. 77. Wow. And didn't speak English. And I was a comedian in the Soviet Union. How impossible was that to be a comic in Soviet Union? Well, I didn't know it was impossible, I just did it. And you have Department of Jokes, that part of the Ministry of Culture, that censor your

material, so it was just a procedure. You just write up your jokes and then they approve it, and some they don't approve, and then you stay with the script for a year and That's how it was. So I didn't know any better. I didn't know any American comedians. I did there was few Russian comedians and I Watched Charlie Chaplin on the little tiny TV said that was this big box with the little screen that we had to put

the magnifying glass to see the images on there. Wow. Yeah. That was my beginning of my life and that's how it was and everybody lived like that. And all of a sudden, you know, I'muring, and I wanted to do comedy. So Chaplin was the influence for you as a kid? Because look, in the late 70s, comedy didn't even really pick up heavy steam here in the States even until the true late 70s, early 80s.

So on an international scale. Yeah. I would the the true late 70s early 80s. So on an international scale. Yeah, but vaudeville vaudeville Was yeah vaudeville was there for a long time and the comedy in the Soviet Union was kind of vaudeville It's old jokes. Okay warmed up for each comedian would just take them and Turn them around for something and that's what I was so we would have in each apartment we would have in each apartment, we would have a little speaker that was part of... It would just... It would not turn off. It would just always on. And it would be in the corner of each apartment. You listen to news.

You listen to propaganda. They brainwash you. But on Sunday's morning, yeah, it was normal. It's so funny for it to be normal. Yeah, they're propagating, they're brainwashing you. But anyway, there was some good stuff in there. We didn't know. Of course not. No. It was just the way it is.

What would it say? Like Soviet Unionists, we're the greatest. We're the best. Did it talk bad about America? Of course. What would it say? It just said that Americans are evil and they will sell their mother for money.

True, and my father. If it's available, I mean, are you buying both? Or I feel like I can get more out of both. Yeah, in bulk. But they would show us movies. Like, I don't know if you remember, there was a movie, Jane Fonda was there, they shoot horses, don't they? It was about dance competition.

So in the end, it's like everybody got screwed by this rich people, they didn't get any money. That was our way of looking at America. That's who we are. Well. That's no mistake. That's actually who we are. Not all of it. A lot, though.

I would say 350 million out of the 356. That's it. That's it you got. I'd say for the most part, no. But I do get that this machine was like fed to you as a kid. That's all you hear. We have that too in America. It's maybe not as deliberate, but it's when I, when we were kids, we had this stand up in class and to the Pledge of Allegiance. Pledge of Allegiance, yeah. When we were kids, we had this stand up in class and to the pledge of allegiance. Pledge of allegiance, yeah. Which, you know, as a kid,

you don't even understand the weight of the phrase, a pledge of allegiance, right? Giving yourself up for the allegiance of something greater than you, which is your government. It's not even for like, it's not saying a pledge to a higher power or God or a being that may be, no, no, this is about pledging to a system

Of control. It's basically so it's the same thing same thing. It's just it's just not on steroids Yes, you so it was on yeah Soviets were on the arrow It's a little bit different and I will say a hammer and a sickle pretty intimidating symbols That's what you grew up to violent symbols violent symbols, you know what I mean? Exactly. A hammer and a sickle. If we don't beat you with the hammer, we'll cut your head off with the sickle.

But here is the beauty about America that you might not see because you grew up here and you were born here. I couldn't have this conversation there. They'd come get you. I could, yeah, I could get it. I could do it once, but then sooner or later, you're put away.

That is very different from what I learned. I remember being in the comedy club, like my English was really bad, but somebody said that Jimmy Carter just got a hemorrhoid operation and he'll be a perfect asshole again. I literally, I docked behind the table because I thought somebody's gonna shoot him.

In fear. Yeah, it was totally ingrained in me. And so with that, I came to America and I said I wanna do comedy and everybody was kind of laughing because it's a Russian comedian and sounds like Amish electrician. They don't put it together.

And I go, okay, that's, and so I went up against that, and luckily started a couple of like shows in New York, but then shortly after moved to California, I didn't plan to move, I was planning to just visit, and I had a plan. move, I was planning to just visit and I had a plan. Somebody introduced me to a producer of Threes Company and I thought, oh now I'll meet him and he'll make me a star.

So I bought a ticket to LA from New York for 10 days. So that's the amount of time I kind of gave myself. To become famous. Famous, not just that. I had a bigger, I said I'm gonna make enough money to buy an apartment for my parents in New York on Fifth Avenue. So I was shooting high.

Lofty goals. Yeah, 10 days, 10 days. So I go. It's taking me 20 years and I still, high goals, lofty goals. Yeah, 10 days, 10 days. So I go- It's taken me 20 years and I'm still working on it. I know, but I was naive and I thought, you know. But you needed that kind of- Drive.

Yeah, you kinda needed that, I wouldn't say it's arrogance, it's more- Stupidity. Confident delusion, yeah, confident delusion to be like I have to, otherwise what else is there? That's true.

So that was my plan and I got to Hollywood. I had to find a place to perform and I didn't know where, but somebody said the Comedy Store, so I went and I got, you know, pot like the Monday night, or no, it was Sunday night, potluck, or what do you call it?

Like open, open mic. Yeah. Right. So, and I, but the guy who was the producer of Therese Company didn't, couldn't make it. So I was bombed. I was, that was day four. And I was nowhere.

You only had six days left. Right. And I was devastating. Right, and I was devastating. How do I tell my parents that they shouldn't stop, they should stop packing to move to. Unload those suitcases. That's right. Settle in.

Sorry, it ain't gonna happen right away. So then I, so I did my five minutes that I translated from Russian to English. Can you give me some of it by the way? In Russian or in English? Give me, give me just one joke in Russian and let me hear it in English. Okay. Okay, right. I got it. You don't even need to say it in English. I already understood. You do? I speak Russian, yeah. Tell me, what was the first time you were in the Russian army?

I was in the Russian army. I was in the Russian army. You were in the Russian army? I was in the Russian army. You were in the Russian army? I was in the Russian army. You were in the Russian army? I was in the Russian army. You were in the Russian army?

I was in the Russian army. You were in the Russian army? I was in the Russian army. You were in the Russian army? I was in the Russian army. You were in the Russian army? I was in the punchline. Yeah, okay, right. I got it. You don't even need to say it in English. I already understood. You do?

I speak Russian, yeah. Tell me. You were saying that a man comes home, he sees his wife with another man. Isn't that the beginning? Not even close. Okay, what is it? Yes, yeah.

But good try though. Yeah, that's right. I could have used that joke, I forgot about it. Yeah, yeah. No, the joke was that there was an international exhibit of women's lingerie. And there was a French woman, an American woman, and a Russian woman.

And the French woman said, I need seven pair of lingerie and said what for? And she said Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Sunday. And the American woman said I want five pair. Why? Because Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, but Saturday and Sunday my husband is home,

I don't need it, right? And the Russian woman said, I want 12 pair of underwear. And she said, why? She says, January, February, March. So that was the beginning of my comedy in America. And that was the five minutes at the store? Yeah. In front of Mitzi, yeah?

Well, I didn't know who Mitzi was. So I came to audition for Ted Bergman, who was the executive producer of Tree's Company. And so I'm leaving because he wasn't there and I'm bombed and I'm walking down Sunset and Mitzi had an assistant, Chrissy, and she runs after me and she goes, Jakov, congratulations and I go what war? The guy didn't show up. He said no no no Mitzi saw you and I go who's Mitzi? And and she goes she's the owner of the Comedy Store, go sit down talk to her. So I go back sit next to Mitzi and Mitzi goes, you are pretty funny. Yeah, you should stay in Los Angeles.

There is always place for good and different. And I go, thank you, but I need to go back. My parents are in New York and she goes, what does your dad do? And I go, he is a building construction engineer. She goes, can he be a carpenter? And I go, probably. Says, bring him here, I'll give him a job.

And where do you live? And I go, well, I'm with friends. And she goes, I have a house near the comedy store. You can rent a room for $120 a month. So all of a sudden I had a room and I had my parents coming. And so that's how my, and then she got, I wasn't certain yet.

And then she goes, come back tomorrow and see a regular show. So I came back and I sat down in the back of the original room and the first person on stage was Robin Williams followed by Billy Crystal, followed by Richard Pryor, followed by David Letterman. I'm sitting there and I'm pinching myself. I'm going, day five, I'm ahead of schedule.

Yeah, you are. Yeah, if she likes them, then I can someday buy an apartment for my parents. Yeah. That's how it changed my life. Wow. Yeah. Giving your dad a job is pretty cool. That's amazing.

Now, did he work construction or carpentry for the store, or was it just other job jobs? He was very good. Yeah, he was an engineer in building construction, but when I was a kid or my whole life, he was always fixing things and so it was perfect. And then I was at the carpentry store yesterday. Still there is a cabinet that my dad and I built together for employees to put in their clothes. Where is that? It's in the kitchen, in the bar, in the bar. So it's right in the corner. You'll see it once you, it's all black as

you know. Oh yeah, it's all black. So it's black. But if you're facing the main room, it will be, and standing by the bar, it will be on your left. Oh, I know where I see it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. Yes. Yes. Yeah. Those are the, that's, that's what my dad and I built. And then dad kind of got older and he wasn't really doing as much. So I, but I started, I took over. So I did a lot of building of the Bell Room. I did San Diego. La Jolla. La Jolla. Wow. I built a lot there.

So yeah, so the legend has it that I built everything. You built the comedy store. There is a sign that says built by Yakov. It does say upstairs and we kiss it as we go downstairs. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Somehow it made it, the world believes that.

But there was other claims to fame, but the Carpentries. How many years until you got a TV spot? Like until you did stand up on TV when you were in LA? Well, I got... Robin was doing Moscow on a Hudson, and he brought Paul Mazursky, and I was not even a regular yet. And Mitzi put me out because they were casting Russian-speaking, so I fell into that.

And I got that part and after that I got, that was before I did The Tonight Show, Johnny Carson took me for a long time to get on that. But I did movie with Meryl Streep and Jack Nicholson, Heartburn, movie with Tom Hanks, Money Pit, movie with Richard Pryor. I love The Money Pit. Yeah.

That's one of my favorite movies. Yeah, it's a great movie. My mom and I love that movie. Yeah, I'm in the beginning. I'm the one kicking them out. Oh, yeah. And then I did Brewster's Millions with Richard Pryor. But in my brain, I kind of assume that every immigrant gets to do a movie with Robin

Williams. They do. Yes, that was how it went at a short period of time. At least in my brain I was going, look, and I was just a fresh kind of meat, I guess, in Hollywood. Fresh meat. Fresh meat. So now you're aged beef. Yeah. Now you age it. No, no, that's a good thing. Is it? Aged meat's probably the best. When they say it cured for a long time, you're cured. Cause here's the deal, the outside may be a little rough. I don't buy it. But the inside, real juicy, baby.

I'm not buying it. Not like a fine wine, older, better. Okay, okay, I'll take it. Anything in cuisine, the older the better. Okay. Unless it's right off the farm and fresh. Fish, fish is the only thing probably that's better right now.

You're not a fish, are you? You're a man, man. I am. How many times did you do Carson? Seven. God, that's unbelievable. Seven times. And one time I did a skit with him.

He played Reagan. He loved doing impersonate Reagan. And I wrote him at that time a letter, right, saying why don't we do a sketch where you're the, playing Reagan, I'll be an interpreter and we'll have a lookalike of Gorbachev. And they loved it and then, so this kid was very funny. Do you remember who played Gorbachev. Oh, that's great. And they loved it. And then, so this kid was very funny. Do you remember who played Gorbachev?

No. No, it was just an actor. No, it was just a guy. So out of all the guys that you saw when you came up in the store, who was the closest relationship you had? Like what comics were the guys that kind of embraced you? Cause I gotta think that back then,

just like now, it's just changed a little bit, but the competitive nature of comedy and comics, we're all friends, it's just changed a little bit, but the competitive nature of comedy and comics, we're all friends, it's a circle, but you kinda, it gets competitive. And here's this outside foreign guy who does very well, that gets well received. Like who supported you and who was kind of a, not an enemy, but who was a little bit against you?

I honestly, I think everybody, I can't think of anybody who was against, well, Andrew Dice Clay was my roommate for three years. What a wild person to live with. He was teaching me English. Can you? Hickory dickory dick, Yakov! Oh, that's so good. So here's it. So he actually, him and I became great friends

and it was interesting how it all started because we met each other in New York at the Dangerfields. Yeah. And him and I got paid first time professionally in America, $40 each on that night when we were both performed there. What is that, in what, the 80s? When was this?

Yeah, no, that would be earlier. That was 78. $40 in 1978? Yeah. You know, they were still paying that for the rooms here. Do you know that? Yeah. 40 years later, they're still paying the same money.

Well, like- Because $40 back then, that's a good amount of, that's a substantial amount of money. For us, it was huge. That's a ton of money. Yeah. Yeah. So we were both proud of that,

but I was scared of Andrew because he is big guy. Big personality. Big personality in a leather jacket, in, you know, with the cigarette I mean To me those are the people my mom told me avoid them stay away Stay go to another side of the street right you see them right and here He is like yeah You and I are gonna be friends and I'm going holy cow and I was planning at that time to go to LA

so I'm thinking I'll never see him again. And how wrong you were. How wrong I was. Knock on the door at the Crestdale house for Mitzi. I had a little room there, knock on the door. Yeah, come back, I'm gonna be living here with you in this house. And at first I was in shock,

but then he taught me how to date girls, you know? I mean, that's a unique experience just there. He's a life coach. Oh, God. Andrew Dice Clay was your life coach. We have influencers now. Andrew Dice Clay was the life coach. And the Cresthill House Dice Clay was the life coach. And the Krestle House, there's a bunch of people that lived up there. There's a lot of comics. Argus.

Argus Hamilton, Tom Wilson. Yeah, Tom Wilson, that's right. Yeah, and Tom and Andrew were like the opposite. They didn't like each other. Well, they got along, but it was, Tom would be this big American, blonde guy, you know, it's like beef from...

Yeah, people don't know. You know who that is, right, Tom Wilson, the actor? Yeah. Yeah, he sees Biff from Back to the Future. Back to the Future, yeah. Incredible. Yeah, yeah. So, and then it was a party house.

Oh, yeah. So there was, I would go, I was carpenter, so I would go to bed normal hours like 11, 12, whatever, to get up and go at eight o'clock in the morning to fix tables and chairs and whatever is, whatever I needed to do and they would just start partying about, you know, one and they would go, I mean, hard. I mean, I would put earplugs in, but they would be downstairs, and it would be Sam Kenison,

and Pryor sometimes, Robin would be there, Argus lived there, so I tell that story that I would wake up in the morning, and I would go downstairs, and there's a mirror on the table and I was disgusted because I thought they were eating donuts because there was like white powder and I'm like, Argus, why can't you just use plates? It's America, you have a dishwasher and you would laugh

and nobody would tell me for a long time what was going on. What was going on, what were they doing? I'm not sure, I still don't know. To this day I eat off of mirrors. Yeah. I still eat off of mirrors. In here, we pour whiskey. This episode of Whiskey Ginger is brought to you

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Yeah, you had to be there. How long did you live in the house? Three years. Three years. Three years, yeah. At that point, you got to go. Well, yeah, I kind of outgrew it. So this was a big house, five bedrooms and a garage, and there was no cars in the garage. We had no cars. Did someone live in the garage at one point?

No, no, no, no, just empty. And I was like going, I need to buy a car. And somebody suggested that I can go to Germany and buy a Mercedes, buy two Mercedeses, sell one and one will be for free. Essentially you make enough money on the one that you'd back your other one. So I did that. You back your right so I did

that you went to Germany I got two Mercedes sold one and so I had a garage for two cars right so then once I sold one I was like going okay I won because I learned quickly that Americans really like to see what you drive. And so I didn't have any money. I live in a $120 room, but I can present that I'm successful. So I'm driving Mercedes 450 SL convertible.

That's a great car. Yeah, a lime color that's like weird color for America, but in Europe it was normal. And so then I come up with another idea. I'm gonna go buy a Rolls-Royce in England because they hired me to do a Bob Monkhouse show, was a successful English, kind of like the tonight show in yeah, and so so I They paid me like ten thousand dollars in the brown bag. That was like this is your pay

Ten thousand and that was about eighty one maybe 1981 So you can ask on that for fun ten thousand and eighty one has got to be what? Like, do money then and now. And they paid you in cash. But then how were you able to afford these cars? These cars are still very expensive back then. Did you finance them or something? I had somebody loan me the money. Smart.

And I had to pay a big interest, but I was able to. God, that's incredible. So $10,000, but Rolls-s Royce, used Rolls Royce. It wasn't new, but I was able to get one and shipped it to America. So here I am with my wonderful friends, Andrew and Tom and, you know, and Argus and stuff.

And I have two cars in the garage. Two fancy cars in a $120 rent apartment. That sounds like LA today. What is it? It's $35,180. $35,000 is what you got paid in today's money in a brown paper bag. It's a pretty good gig, man.

Particularly for someone at the time, like you weren't famous then. No, you were just a working comedian. Working comedian, they spotted me somehow, I don't know how. God, that's amazing. Yeah. 35 G's in a brown paper bag.

Yeah. That's who you are, you're the brown paper bag boy. That's right, baby, in the streets. The brown paper bag boy, get that yak bag. That's amazing. So then after you went, you bought the Rolls Royce, shipped it here. Shipped it here.

Did you sell it or did you end up? No, no, I kept it. I was, so at that point, I decided, you know, I need to buy a house. This is like ridiculous to live in. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so, but I, again, I didn't have a lot of money, and, but I had a good example of what I liked,

because the Crest Hill, I don't know if you ever been there, it's a beautiful view of the whole Hollywood and stuff. you've ever been there. It's a beautiful view of whole Hollywood and stuff. So I'm standing there, I haven't told this story. I am standing polishing my Rolls Royce, right? All the guys are sleeping and I'm polishing my Rolls Royce. And this realtor drives by and she goes, do you have a hammer? And I go, yeah, I have a sickle, no. But she said I need to nail a sign

into some other house for it to be sold. And I go, listen, I have an idea. I would like to buy a house, but I don't have a lot of money but I don't have any money, really. I have nice cars, but I don't have money. But I know what I want. I want a 5,000 square feet house, which I was describing the Crest Hill house,

with the overlooking Hollywood, with an acre of land. overlooking Hollywood with an acre of land. And- Five thousand square feet acre of land. Yeah. Today, by the way, in Los Angeles, what you just described is like $12 million. Right, right, but I didn't, again, it's ignorance is a bliss, right?

It's beautiful, man. It's beautiful. I love it. So, but I was more like being funny with her. I was with the realtor. You're being cute, yeah. I'm like going, you know, what is she gonna say? You're crazy and that's it, right? She goes, and I said I want it for under $150,000

because I figured somehow I can get that much. I didn't have it. But I, so she goes, you know what? I might have something for you. I'm going, yeah, right. She goes, give me your number, I'll call you. So she calls me and she says, go look at this house. It's what you described.

And the house that I described, that eventually I bought, was literally like I could throw a rock and hit that house, but there was, it was, we were on Queen Street and this was on Kings Road. Kings, yeah, one block, yeah, one block. One block east, yeah. So then I call her and she goes, go during the day because there might be no lights because the guy who lives there, they cut off, no. They cut off the electricity.

Oh shit, well, he's close to dead then. They want him out. Well, no, it wasn't, so I go during the daytime and it was, and I told her I want to fix her upper because my parents need something to do and my dad is a carpenter or he can do it So I look at that house and it was there it was it was just destroyed because the eucalyptus tree fell down and destroyed like the staircase in the garage and There was no lights and then I went up the stairs and the garage. And there was no lights.

And then I went up the stairs and there's a basement. There's a swimming pool in the basement, but it's just flooded with poop. Yeah, crap. Yeah. And so I'm going, that's exactly what I wanted. This is what I want. This pool filled with poop is precisely what I'm looking for. Yeah, it's exactly what I wanted. This is what I want. This pool filled with poop is precisely

what I'm looking for. Yeah, it's like Chernobyl. Right, it's close to home. It reminds you of home. Yeah. Right. A little bit of radiation. So I go, are you sure?

And he said, yes. I said, what's the story? How is it possible? And they're willing to sell it for $150,000. Wow. Right? So I'm like, okay, I'm onto something here. Why, what's the catch?

And they go, well, the guy who lives there now, his name, and I probably can say, I mean, it was Seymour Cassell, who is an actor and a character actor. He did a lot of different movies. He long since passed away. I don't think so. Really?

Yeah, do you want to check? I need to see Seymour, look up Seymour Cassell. I don't think, he might be still around. Seymour Cassell. Yeah. He died 2019, rest in peace Mr. Cassell. So now we can talk about it, it's fine. Okay, okay. Anyway, so, and I said, but what's the deal? And he said, well, he was doing

drugs and his attorney doesn't, he didn't pay his attorney, so the attorney really selling that house for $150,000. That's what he owes him. I don't go, okay, cool. So I'm like, now where do I get the money? So I went to a bank and I go, I know I don't have anything too, but I have a nice car. At that time I only had Mercedes. I go, I have a nice car and I'm ambitious

and I know I'm gonna pay, you know, and some very sweet African-American lady was so kind of, she was touched that I was living the American dream and I'm willing to work hard and they gave me the loan. Oh wow. They gave me the loan. Impossible today. Literally impossible. It's crazy. And then so I go, I have to now go to tell the attorney that I am, that I am, I got the money and so I am, but I didn't, I didn't want him to see what I'm driving. At this case, I was like, so I parked like two blocks away

because I'm going, he's gonna hike up the price. So I walked there and he goes, well, you deserve to deal with this. So now history of that house, that was Lenny Bruce's old house. That's where he died in that house. In here we pour whiskey. Moms deserve the best, you know that, especially on Mother's Day.

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can go to SAILY dot com slash WISKY. Either way, do yourself a favor, S-A-I-L-Y dot com, code is WISKY, go to SA-Y dot com. Code is whiskey. Go to salee.com slash whiskey. Ginger. I like gingers. Here's an interesting piece of this puzzle. So once they start doing title reports, they found that a foot doesn't match. So there's some encroachment on another property. So I had to go and get, what do you call it?

It's called easement. Easement, yeah, from the guy. And I go, how do I, And I never met Seymour before, right? And so I go to his attorney or I called his attorney, I said, where can I find Seymour? He said, I know exactly where he find, he's in prison. Right, yeah. So I go, oh, okay, so I need to go to prison to get him to sign off on that one foot easement.

And so I go there and I brought $500 with me thinking I'll offer him for that, you know, and he comes out, you know, through the glass window and he goes, I thought you were my kid, you know, I go, I just need you to sign this paper. And I said, I'm willing to pay for it. And I said, how much would you want? And he goes, 50. $50,000? That's what I thought.

And he go, I said, 50,000? He said, no, no, no, $50. OK, OK, dude, take it. Because we're not allowed to have any more money. Oh, that's probably the maximum. That's $50. Right, that makes sense. So here I am, a crazy man with $100 bills, and I'm asking in prison.

Someone can break it. Yeah. Can you break a 100? Which makes everybody kind of look at that money. So one of the guards had the money to break it. So I got it and he signed it. And that was the last time I ever saw him. How long did you live in that house?

Oh, until my daughter was born. So it was 1990 when somebody got shot next, like near the driveway, near our driveway. Somebody was coming from the comedy store and someone asked them for money and they said, I don't have any and they just killed the guy. And my wife at that time was pregnant with our daughter and we just said we got to get out of here. We got to move. That's when it was a little shady still.

I was looking to see, because I want to know what that house would go for today, because you paid 150 grand for it. Yeah, but I put a lot of money. I had the swimming pool eventually. I remodeled the whole thing. I wanted to playboy mansion kind of a. Sure. So I had. Well, you're a playboy, baby. Well, I had peacocks walking on that one acre land. I mean, I was trying to be Hugh Hefner, because I was hoping that it will bring me as much.

Sure. How far up was it up? Was it far up north? Not very far. No, probably just after the Hyatt Sure. How far up was it up? Was it far up north? Not very far. No, probably just after the Hyatt House. Right, right behind it? Hyatt Hotel.

Yeah. Right after Antas, Antas Hotel. And as? No? That's 1432, because 11's not on that block. No. We'll figure it out. I'm sorry.

That's all right. I'm going to drive by. I'm going to the comedy store. Then you text me later so we know. I will. Because I want to know how much it, because this is a five bed, six bath, 5,000 square feet at 1432. Almost exactly what you described. And it was, this was sold during the pandemic for $4 million in the middle of the pandemic. Yeah. Can you believe that? Yeah. God, $5 million. It's nuts. And you bought it for $100,000?

$120,000. Shame on you. Yeah. Well, I've been lucky. That's awesome. I've been lucky because I didn't really know we can't do it. Sometimes if you're conditioned, like I was conditioned, you can't say anything against the government. You can't say, so I was conditioned, I would accept that. Here I was conditioned the other way around. American dream, you can dream whatever you want, baby. You can do it. That's right.

Whatever you want. I used to walk around Beverly Hills, had no cars, and I would go, I want something like that. I want, and in my mind, that's what I created. And you could. Now you're living the ultimate American dream. And I called you yesterday, or you called me.

I was outside and you said, you're living the more secret life, the more private life. I live in Branson, Missouri. Branson, Missouri. Yeah, and I said, nobody knows where I am. That's like witness protection. Yeah, you said, I'm basically in the witness protection program.

And you were like going, what did you do? I thought, Yakov, what trouble did you get into that I don't know about? I'll tell you what it was. It was that I was no longer relevant to Americans because Soviet Union collapsed. And that was my crime. I was helping Reagan to tear down that wall.

That's right. And there was a writing on the wall that I didn't read and it says, Yakov, get a day job. That's what it was. Get a job. Yeah. Tear down that wall. I couldn't find a job.

I mean, my contracts in Vegas, Atlantic City, Reno, Tahoe were canceled six months after the Soviet Union collapsed. It was that, it was like, truly like that. That was that, Letterman had a top 10 list on the night of the collapse saying, I made number one on the list, Yakov Smirnov will be out of work. No.

And I thought it was funny, six months later I was not laughing. And this is where we moved to Pacific Palisades. So maybe that's 1132, that's maybe Napoli Drive. And we, right next to Tom Hanks and Arnold Schwarzenegger, Goldie Ha. I mean, I was living American dream. That's a good life.

You were living the American dream. I was living the American dream. And we spent, we paid $2 million for that house. Yeah, and now before it burned down. Yeah, it's gotta be gone now. Probably, yeah, I didn't go there, but it was like eight million something. So anyway, but I had no money to pay my mortgage

because no income, and I couldn't get even club dates. Wow. Yeah. All because of that. All because of that. Thanks a lot, Reagan. That's the crime. Thanks a lot, Reagan.

I don't think they... No, no. I'm kidding. Yeah. But I think it just happened because I was... Soviet Union was a pain in the butt to America, and I was preparation H, and so I was the one kind of softening the swelling. Yeah. Yeah. And then once the swelling and the burning is gone, what do you put in the medicine cabinet?

So Branson, bless their hearts, they didn't know the Soviet Union collapsed. So I got 32 years out of that. So you moved there and you were working out of there for that, and touring the Midwest though too, right? Like all over? Not this much because I have a 2,000 seat theater that, my theater, and I would do 400 shows a year

and people would come and so that community embraced me because my comedy is clean and that's family friendly. And so to them, I met their need and I was very successful and still am. But now I feel like I need to go out there because I believe that there is a boom of comedy happening again. My role model is Nate Bargazzi. You're like, yeah, you're like Nate.

I love Nate, but I also do what he does, in a way. I tell stories about my life, my family, and obviously, you know, his career is just amazing. So that kind of got me out of hibernation of being in Branson. So now you're back. I'm not 100% back, you know, but I'm kind of putting my toe in the water.

You want to feel it again. You missed that feeling. I do. Yeah, because it did something for years. It does something for people. It's hard to explain, but it does something to you. It makes you, the lows feel really heavy and the highs are really empowering and they make the whole thing worth it.

So it's kind of cool to see you kind of coming back. I mean, we've known you in the zeitgeist of our world, you know, as someone that was a fixture of the beginning of the comedy store. Truly for us, it's kind of wild that you're one of these pillars. And it's a pleasure to sit down and talk to you because it is, it's such a cool world that, you know, for lack of a better term, it's long gone now. You know, like the store has changed so much and the culture of comedy is different now, and that's all fine, but what I think you guys had built,

the community and the way that you grew comedy into this thing in LA that became where I am now, it was important for us. I moved here in 2005 and the Comedy Store was the first club that I started doing mics at, the first place I found people that I could hang with and relate to and goof off with. And it was a community that was kind of created by you guys in the late 70s and then through the 80s.

It was kind of like what you guys grew is what we got to walk into. So we appreciate it. You're welcome. And now honestly it's good to see you back back and I'd love to see you kind of touring and putting out a special. It would be great. I would love that and I'm going to La Jolla Comedy Store this weekend. Right, this will air after you've already gone, sadly, but he was just at the La Jolla Comedy Store. Well, but I'll be eventually, I'm doing two more clubs. One is in St. Louis, Funnybone in May, and then Tulsa, Oklahoma, the Looney Bins in May. So, yeah. So go see him if you're in Tulsa, Oklahoma, or St. Louis. Please go see our buddy.

That would mean a lot. Are you websiteing it now? Are you part of the new generation? You got tickets on your website? I was a little nervous, well not a lot. For years I didn't use Instagram because they follow you. They do. In the Soviet Union.

Yeah, you feel like you're back to the old days, huh? I didn't like that. Especially when thousands of people follow you, right? And now I'm in LA and they're saying, you need to be viral. And I'm like going, I've stayed away from disease all of my life. You've done such a good job.

Yeah. Until now. And now I need to be viral. You must be a disease. You must be sick. And now you are, now welcome. How do you feel? You like it? We gotta get them on TikTok, going viral on TikTok.

That would be the next move. I appreciate you coming on the show. Also, we wanna plug your show now. You're doing a new podcast yourself, right? Yes, called Yaakov's Comedy Couch. Yaakov's Comedy Couch. And it's something that I really enjoy talking to comedians because I got my master's degree at the University of Pennsylvania in psychology.

UPenn. U Penn. U Penn. That's a really good school. Yes. And then I got my doctorate degree at Pepperdine, graduated 2017. So my whole purpose was, my whole dissertation was on laughter. And it's called Law of Laughter, LOL. Perfect. Perfect.

Yeah, and it was 190 pages, but no jokes in there. No jokes, it's all total research. It's all research-based. All research-based, yes. And so when I sit down with comedians, I really explore what makes them funny. When did they start being funny? When did they learn to?

All of those things, just a great fun conversation, and I just like, and that's why I call it Comedy Couch, because sometimes it feels like they're on the couch, you know, or I'm on the couch, depending which way it goes. But I've done only 35 episodes so far, but I'm I'm really excited to keep doing it is the couch in reference to Carson No more like psychology. Okay. Yeah, cuz that could be a double. I don't know. You know, that's that's

Yeah, yeah because getting the couch or getting the seat, you know, that was kind of a big call didn't think about well We got just gave you another piece to the president. See that? I'm doing psychology as well right now. I'm dissecting you as I go. I have no education whatsoever, so I have to do it just based on feel. It's just feel for me. Some people will say, you know, some people will say they'll go, oh, you seem like you're

not that dumb to me. Like you're not that dumb. Nice. And it's not that I'm not that dumb. I just pick up on certain things throughout the day and I piece them together. And then that's the great masquerade. You just pretend like you know what you're talking about.

And sometimes it's better not to be too smart either because- Thank you. That's my life goal, not get too smart. You're more relatable that way. Yeah, I'm an idiot. Actually, when I, first couple of times times when I walked out at the Comedy Store, I walked out in my robe, graduation robe from Pepperdine, right? And it was okay, but then I realized, no, a lot of people can't relate to that.

Most of the patrons that go to the Comedy Store didn't go to college. Most of us, most of the patrons, high school masks. That's who we like, man. High school top. You don't need it anymore. Higher education is a little too snooty for us. No, that is great. The relatability is hard, but you have a way about you that makes you easy to talk to and

so lovable, so I'm sure the Comedy Couch is going to continue for a long time. Please watch Yakov's Comedy C comedy couch it's on his YouTube channel available now he's also on Instagram make this guy go viral get him viral. I'm in tic-tac-toe. He's in a tic-tac-toe as well. Tic-tac-toe. Tic-tac-toe go see you tic-tac-toe. Yakov thank you we end the show the same way you look at it that camera right there you say one word. Which one? Yep this one you're single. You say one word or one phrase to end the episode. So it used to be a word years ago, and now I said it's a phrase.

If you want to impart a phrase of wisdom upon people to take with them, or sometimes it's one word. If one word strikes you, whenever you're ready, into that camera, you end the episode. So the model that I live by is three words. Intention, attention, and no tension. In here, we pour whiskey. Whiskey, whiskey, whiskey, whiskey.

You are that creature in the ginger beard. Sturdy and ginger. Like vampires, the ginger gene is a curse. Ginges are beautiful. You owe me $5 for the whiskey, and seventy-five dollars for the horse. Gingers are hell no. This whiskey is excellent. Ginger.

I like gingers.