WTF with Marc Maron Podcast - Episode 1099 - Adam Pally

Episode Date: February 20, 2020

Adam Pally watched his dad put his own show business ambitions aside while he personally washed out of a high school band and quit the basketball team. So Adam was used to the idea of things not going the way they were planned. But it was when he joined the school AV club that he found his comedy voice and got in on the early wave of the UCB in New York. Adam tells Marc how taking acting classes prepared him to be comfortable with embarrassment, which helped on shows like Happy Endings. He also explains what he learned from working with Mindy Kaling on The Mindy Project, what he loves about his new show Indebted, and how the sudden loss of his mom still hangs over everything he does. This episode is sponsored by Zoro.com. Sign up here for WTF+ to get the full show archives and weekly bonus material! https://plus.acast.com/s/wtf-with-marc-maron-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Along with your favorite restaurant food, alcohol, and other everyday essentials. Order Uber Eats now. For alcohol, you must be legal drinking age. Please enjoy responsibly. Product availability varies by region. See app for details. Lock the gates! all right let's do this how are you what the fuckers what the fuck buddies and what the fuck nicks how are you what the fucksters what the fuck wads what the fuckadelics i'm gonna go full lisp today

so this is wptf welcome to the podcast i can't do a character with a lisp because i have a slight lisp let's get into the tour dates because they're coming up it's coming to a close and i'm in portland maine at the state tonight, Thursday. I know it's a good show. I've been doing like an hour 45. I've been doing the special plus a bunch. I'll be in Providence, Rhode Island tomorrow on Friday at the Columbus Theater. But I think that's sold out. New Haven has been tricky.

I'm at the College Street Music Hall on Saturday. And I guess I'm eating pizza. street music hall on Saturday and I guess I'm eating pizza because I've heard that New Haven has some of the best pizza in the whole United States and I'm in Huntington, New York at the Paramount on Sunday. Then Tuesday, March 10th, everyone around the world can see my special Mark Maron end times fun. That does not mean end multiplied by fun. It's not end times fun. It's end times these end times fun. Let's have some fun in the midst of it.

Right? It's all we can do. No, it's not. We can vote our hearts make the right decision so look you guys some things have happened and don't freak out i'm okay but some things have happened i I got a grill. I'd been talking about getting a grill. And I didn't know which grill to get. And I got some input about a lot of different things.

And I got to be honest with you. I was sort of swayed a bit. After reading dozens of emails from dozens of people about different grills, different brands of grills. Coal versus gas. grills different brands of grills coal versus um gas it was really the one that really turned me oddly was a one about the traeger grill and what i think really sealed the deal for me in the research i was doing is that it was from a guy at traeger Grills. And what really made me really close the deal was they were going to give me a grill. So it was tough. Read a lot of stuff about a lot of different grills. But Traeger just sounded the best to me.

just sounded the best to me and but in all honesty i i would have like it was it was really between a green egg and a traeger and i got the traeger the guy brought it over traeger guy graham the rep brought over in a traeger truck with a Traeger trailer on it. Rolled it out. Showed me how to work it with the pellets. And I cooked my first meal in it the other night. Halbot and grilled vegetables on my new Traeger. And I got to get the hang of it. I'm an impatient guy. And I think the idea is we're going to slow cook this shit, man. Going to get a little smoke convection going.

But it definitely tastes different. I'm not being paid to plug i'm telling you what happened i was swayed it was a good argument you know i had questions about gas i had questions about charcoal some guy said we'll give you a free grill and i'm like all right that makes sense to me that makes a lot of sense but i also know people love him rogan's got one out at the compound i think he might have two or three of them because he's preparing for the end times out there it's gonna all you guys you know you rogan guys when the shit goes down before you arm yourselves you go out to the compound guys grill some bison there'll be supplements for everybody kettlebells edibles uh cage matches that's how it's going to go down

and everybody gets suited up you know to get out into the fucking world like road warrior and then everyone dies of a virus yeah that ends it's stephen king stuff doesn't matter how well armed you are when the shit goes down you could be all locked in in your body armor with your gun and your flamethrower and just be like i don't feel what is that oh oh here damn it the one thing I didn't arm myself against was this. Because vaccines are bullshit, man. Don't fuck with the vaccines. What's the matter with you?

Didn't you get your flu vaccine? Dude. Dude, are you all right? Oh, man. Fuck, man. I'm glad I got my vaccine. Look, I'm being goofy. Look, you guys, here's what happened.

Adam Pauly is on the show today. And Adam Pauly, I did not know. I'd seen him in a movie. I thought, he's kind of a dicky Jewish guy. He seems kind of like a dick. And I'm like, is he acting? But I'm not saying that he acting or is he? Look, but I'm not saying that as a positive thing.

I'm not saying that as a negative thing. I'm kind of dicky. You could ask, I would say, four to five out of 10 people, if you said, is Marc Maron a dick? They'd be like, I think he is a little bit of a dick. I don't think he's a full dick, but he's kind of dicky sometimes, dickish.

Where's that TV show? Is that the next one of that franchise? Have you seen this new show? What one? Dick-ish? It's just about these people, a family of people that are just kind of assholes. But is it ethnically based? No.

I'm not even sure if they're a family. They all live in same house and they're just fucking dicks but not totally they're just dick ish just just enough to make you say do i like these people and then they do something like oh that guy's all right dickish 9 p.m 10 10 central on abc dickish adam paul he's gonna i think he's on dickish why am i saying this about my guest he's on the new um dan levy show indebted and but what i was saying is i saw him in a film and i liked him i i thought like this guy's good he's got i could i felt like we were kindred spirits somehow turns out he's a jersey guy i believe and we are kind of i had a nice talk with him he's not a dick he was acting okay all right so that's happening do you want me to read an email do i even know you is uh the subject line hey Hey, Mark, me again.

I don't recall getting the first one. My son and his fiance are planning their wedding and the talk got to buying an expensive suit. I told the story of your Tom Ford suit. Since Joaquin Phoenix won't be at the wedding, it's probably okay to get a nice suit. As some of you know, I believe that Joaquin burnt a hole in my suit with his cigarette at the premiere of the joker oh anyhow the fiance said you didn't actually go buy your own suit it was brought to you by a stylist i said no mark went out like a regular human and purchased the suit which is it oh god please don't have a stylist i'll continue to listen either way because that's what friends do gail hey listen to me

i do not have a fucking stylist i would like one uh maybe this will work the same way the grill works i'm very open to being clothed you can clothe me i'm open to that the tom ford suit how that went down because i don't have a tux so i asked my old manager who's rich as fuck i said what should i do he goes hey man just go he says just go to tom ford buy yourself the black suit the three-piece suit and the white shirt and some shoes you'll be all set you'll be set for life i had no idea what tom ford was like or how much it cost. Yes, I went over there myself and they saw me coming, as they say in the business. They're like, this guy is clearly only going to buy one thing here.

This is it for this guy. And we got to get everything we can out of him. I'm like, I'm looking for a black suit. And they're like, they read me correctly. This guy's no billionaire. He's not going to be back when all the new shit comes in this guy needs a suit that he's going to wear in his fucking coffin this he's buying the one suit it's gonna he's gonna ride it all the way to the end they were correct but now it's got a hole in it so i got to bring it back no i went there i tried

on the suit they're, you want the shirt? I'm like, sure. I'll take a shirt. Can I try on the shoes? Yeah, let's have the shoes. Do I need a belt? Oh, this suit doesn't need a belt. The vest too.

You want the full three? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Then we got to brought the tailor in, had a coffee, talked to the fellas. You want cufflinks? No, I don't need, you know, what am I? Yeah. How much? $9,000.

I don't need that. But the suit was a lot. I could have bought a pretty good used car. Maybe that's what I'll do with the next chunk of money. They can bury me in my Tom Ford suit in my car. Buy a fancy car. So that's your answer. I went in there like a regular schlub and was treated like a schlub.

No, I'm kidding. They treated me great. That's part of the whole thing. You go there, you get the tailor, you stand. And the suit is the best thing I fucking own. You put it on. Look, I got an Imperial Armani suit that I bought at Bloomingdale's like a fucking idiot. And I like it.

But you put the Tom Ford suit on and you're like, whoa. You can feel the weight of it, the fabric. It's fucking stunning. Fortune, but stunning. And again, I didn't mind spending the money because I'm making a good living and I have no children and no debt. And I'm not saying that to rub you in your face. It's just the way I've designed my life. So great not having kids. Have I mentioned that? Nothing against kids. Good luck with them. But I can go out and buy a suit and do whatever I want and just wake up, spend money however I want to.

But you look, your life is probably great. You love them. Sorry, sorry. I'm not trying to be a dick, just dickish. Here's what happened. I was, man, do I even want to talk about this? I'm not going to mention names, but there's a lesson to be learned in this. okay i got a friend in show business we're not really friends i know

him we've hung out a couple times i like the guy like his work not mentioning names you know we got in touch recently and he said let's have lunch so i said great so we set up a lunch date and um he canceled no problem happens done it myself then we we but at that time we set up a lunch date and he canceled. No problem happens. Done it myself. Then we, we, but at that time we set up a date for the following Monday and you know, same time. So I go over there and I go to the restaurant and I get online to eat. Cause it's like one of those kinds of restaurants popular. And I text him from the line. I'm like, you over, you almost here. I'm online. And then it's like, Oh fuck, I forgot. I'm not going to be there.

I could get there in 45 minutes. And I got like an interview to do. I have things to do. So I'm like, don't worry about it. Happens. He's like, you know, like, no, I can come. And I'm like, no, that's all right. You know, another time.

But to be honest with you, I was a little pissed because I was at the restaurant and i could have actually hadn't that lunch date happened i could have went to tom ford to bring my suit in to figure out how i get the hole that joaquin phoenix burnt into my fucking jacket out where do i got to go with that but no i want to meet my buddy for lunch and talk about his work and other things but we're not that close but i respect him run into him here and there so he blows me off and his wife's also in show business not mentioning names

and on that ride home like i was i was upset because the times that i've actually made plans twice with somebody and then you know blown them off the second time, it really wasn't a priority for me. Like it wasn't, but whatever. This guy's been busy, all right? So in my flurry of anger driving home, I texted Lynn, who I am seeing. I don't know how you put it. I don't, we're older and the girlfriend thing is stupid

and I don't like partner i'm i'm with lynn that's i'm with her doing what people you're with you you do with people you're with but she's at home i'm driving home she knows i went to meet this guy i text her i tell her what's going on like he you know he blew me off he forgot and then in the car i text uh so and so and so and so his wife are shitty and i sent that off to the guy yeah i sent that to the guy that blew me off not to lynn to the guy basically said you and your wife are shitty i did that and not a great moment you know as when you realize what happens and you realize like no no putting that back no nothing there's you just sort of like well there goes that not friends with those. That's going to be uncomfortable now for the rest of time.

For the rest of time. But I immediately texted, sorry, now you know how I felt. Yeah. What am I going to do? And then he texted back, Jesus. And I'm like, I know. Look, wasn't supposed to go to you. I got nothing against you.

I was mad in the moment. I was texting it to Lynn so I could be mad. And, you know, I like both of you guys, basically. He's like, well, you could have told me how you really felt I can handle it. And I'm like, all right, well, I was upset, clearly. But I like your work and I like your wife's work. And it was backpedaling to a degree, but it was really one of those things. It's not like it was backpedaling to a degree but it was really one of those things it's not like there it was bad but we navigated it and he said look let's reschedule because i like you and i'm

like i like you too man i like her and you know i was just mad in the moment and you know i'm shitty i'm the shitty one i'm fucking shitty and then i just texted that like 90 times i am shitty mark is shitty mark is shitty me shitty and however it affected him whether he was upset initially now he just feels bad for me because i have this clearly have a problem i'm going to text him right now i am shitty shitty mark send I've been doing it for three days. We navigated it, but that happened. So I imagine this has happened to everybody and it could have been worse.

It could always be worse, but that was a pretty bad one. But hey, let's do this. I never do this. If you've got a story about texting something to the wrong person, please send it along. That would be entertaining for me. So listen, you guys, it's time to bring out our first guest.

This guy, you might know from movies. He's on the NBC sitcom Indebted, which airs Thursday nights. You can also see him in the Sonic the Hedgehog movie, which is now in theaters. And here he is. Please welcome Adam Pauly. That's how you say it, right?

Really? Please welcome Adam Pauly. Hi, it's Terry O'Reilly, host of Under the Influence. Recently, we created an episode on cannabis marketing. With cannabis legalization, it's a brand new challenging marketing category. And I want to let you know we've produced a special bonus podcast episode where I talk to an actual cannabis producer. I wanted to know how a producer becomes licensed, how a cannabis company competes with big corporations, how a cannabis company markets its products in such a highly regulated category, and what the term dignified consumption actually means. I think you'll find the answers

interesting and surprising. Hear it now on Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly. This bonus episode is brought to you by the Ontario Cannabis Store and ACAS Creative. Death is in our air. This year's most anticipated series, FX's Shogun, only on Disney+. We live and we die. We control nothing beyond that. An epic saga based on the global best-selling novel by James Clavel. To show your true heart is to risk your life.

When I die here, you'll never leave Japan alive. F-X's Shogun, a new original series, streaming February 27th, exclusively on Disney+. 18 plus subscription required. T's and C's apply. I moved recently from back to New York. You did? Yeah.

Come on. Three years ago. Really? Yeah. You're not here anymore? No. Like where in New York? Like Westchester? No, Three years ago. Really? Yeah. You're not here anymore? No. Like where in New York? Like Westchester?

No, like West Chelsea. Really? You bought an apartment in New York? I bought an apartment in New York. I sold my house here and I bought an apartment in New York. A floor through? No. Duplex?

No. Just a- Brownstone? You're saying things that are sounding so great to me. Classic five? No. Just an old building in West Chelsea that we kind of renovated and was able to make it for our family.

You bought the whole building? Yeah, sure. It's honestly not... It's modest, but it's so nice to not worry. I don't ever see anybody. Yeah. And I used to see everybody. It, I don't ever see anybody. Yeah. And I used to see everybody.

It's New York. How are you not seeing people? So you have three kids, and you crammed them into that place. Yeah, well, they have space. I mean, I've been on TV for a decade. I know. I'm not saying you're broke. I got space.

Yeah, yeah. They can run around and stuff? No, no, absolutely not. No, they can't run around, but they have rooms. They have their own rooms. They have their own rooms? Yes, yes. Oh, good. So, wait, so you don't see around, but they have rooms. They have their own rooms. They have their own rooms? Yes.

Oh, good. So, wait, so you don't see anybody. Like, who were you seeing that was the problem? I lived in Studio City, which is, like, a great place to have a family and stuff. But, like, you know, you'd go to the gas station and you'd see Eddie Murphy. Yeah. You know? Some people would think that's amazing. It was.

In the beginning, it was. And then it started to, like, make me a little insane because I would. It was. In the beginning, it was. And then it started to make me a little insane. Because I would just like- In what way? Because it's like, if it's not a hero of yours, it's like an awkward thing. And it's like, you're in Studio City. You are literally in the city of the studios. That's wild.

Because most people's complaint about this city is that they never see anybody. Oh, I can't. Like, you go to that Walgreens in Studio City. Forget the fact that it's like a fate worse than hell You know that one like where the I say I stay over here man Like I was in Highland Park before I got a Walgreens five minutes from here There is one CVS in studio city the S now did the river sticks? it's like it is hell on earth and

You in your worst condition will walk in and like bump into exactly like you know i can't like david wayne oh yeah you know and you're like shit yeah and you're not and you're like not together not together and then if you are then you're you're flummoxed with that whole thing it's like does he know me i don't think he knows me like then you don't say hello you do say hello it's like it is a nightmare i like that you picked david wayne well because it's like i did have a thing with david wayne where like i walked in you see at this diner all the time and which diner is that good neighbor oh yeah is that good yeah it's like a really great like is it on ventura boulevard yeah yeah yeah all right um it's fine it's been there forever yeah and uh i saw david wayne when i

walked in one day and i just like my hubris was just like to walk over and say hello and he looked at me like he's like i do not know who the fuck you are and seriously and i am eating really yes he's by himself yeah well fuck him then writing writing and i was like and i went over and i was like hey just want to say you know i love would love to work with you and he was was like, yeah, so would everybody. But he's kind of got that vibe, dude. No, he was in the right. It was me.

It's like, why would I? And that kind of neurotic thought I found was healthier for me to just eliminate from my life. I can see how that particular, the weird thing about being in show business and being in a show business town and running into, you know, people that are at different levels and how do you see yourself

and how do they, do they know you, what's appropriate? It just makes, it really can. Fucking nightmare. It's a nightmare. One time I was eating at a diner, a burger shop, the counter, you know, where you like make your own. Where's that? Ventura? It was like a million of them. It was like an off hour of lunch. a burger shop the the counter you know where you like make your own where's that ventura it's like

a million of them it was like a it was like an off hour of lunch and no joke conan is sitting right here right yeah and i knows you right yeah i've done it like 10 times oh no and i didn't say hello uh-huh because i was panicked that he wouldn't he sees in my head i was like he sees a million jews a day yeah you know i mean there's five five thousand people think i was on a show i wasn't on you know like how did you say a million jews a day yeah i think of the amount of people that have come through that couch that look exactly like me i know you know like and so can you name those guys sure i can name them all but half of them have the name adam like i don't know who they are i mean like i

so i was like panicked and nervous and like midway through the lunch he was like Adam yeah and I was like hi Conan and he was like why didn't you say hello to me and I was like I just didn't I just didn't know if you'd recognize me I didn't want to bother you and he's like you did my show like a week ago i was like i know i just i was paralyzed i was paralyzed and like he never let me live it down he still always talks about it like you know which is yeah embarrassing yeah because now i have like low status with conan which i would have had anyway well you just you just have ball busting status yeah it's like and so and i have to be like yeah yeah it's like damn it Why didn't I say anything?

It made you look like the asshole and you were just nervous. Yes. You were trying to do the right thing. Well. You came off David Wayne. Yes, I did. And that's my fault. That's my fault.

David Wayne, he's tricky because he's a pretty nice guy. But he always seems like he's a little condescending, but he's not. He's just got this, he's got a thing about him. It took me years to realize it i saw him at a hanukkah party recently and uh and it's so pleasant yeah but he's always kind of like that you project on him of course yeah well i think that i come across i know i i am let's talk about the other uh adam pally's well i mean there's a million like you give me one Pally's well I mean there's a million like you give me one today I was at the TCA's right for NBC over at that big hotel Langham at the Langham and someone

asked me if I was on a show called stump town which is a drama on ABC right that has Jake Johnson in a similar similar okay well I guess that I would play right and to me I felt that this to be anti-Semitic. Uh-huh. Well, you know, but you're a new Jew. You're kind of, I guess, in the... In a decade. No, but you're a new Jew in format.

Yes. Like, for years, it was the Schwimmer Jew. Yes. Which is... I'm more of, like, a different kind of Jew. You're a Seth Rogen Jew. Yeah, I'm a Seth Rogen Jew. Yeah.

Although, I've been working hard to get more to paul rudge you oh yeah paul rudge you're close but paul rudd he can pass i know and i god knows i can't but i think you can you don't think you know i got hair coming on my like ears my nose like i guess but it's not black hair it's red which is even like worse it's like you're a rare red-haired jew i'm svardics like i'm like half Sephardic. Who's not? Oh, really? Half Sephardic? So shouldn't it be dark?

Well, it's like Mediterranean almost. So there's that Italian kind of like- Where does red come in? I don't know. There's like a redness to that. When I think of that like swarthy pirate, like red beard type deal- I guess so. But I think more of a dark sort of Sicilian thing.

Well, that is why my arab thing that's why my skin color my skin color i always look like i'm like nauseous because it's it's that spartic like yellowy jaundice i just red hair jews confound me me too i don't get their genetic flukes it is and it only comes out of my my facial hair and stuff so so yeah, so you're of the new Ilka, the new kind of Jew, the Jew that can almost pass. Like there was a period there in the 80s and 90s where it was like these guys are Jews. Yeah, like Jerry and like.

Yeah, yeah, and Schwimmer. But I always thought you could pass. I mean, I have a very vivid image of you in my childhood comedy because like, you know you when you're a comedian a kid yeah like i'm gonna be a comedian you uh you stay home from school and watch like every premium blend and every minute you know thing so i was the angry guy but you could pass i like yeah you were jewish and it was very obvious but i feel like you you similarly pass well i didn't i i There was a period there where I

chose not to talk about it because I didn't know how to talk about it without doing this sort of like, well I'm a Jew and Jews do this and Jews do that. Jackie Mason, Jews like to sit down. There was a period in my life where I was furious about it. I understand that completely and I do it, I feel like

it's ingrained in us to do it because we're like apologizing for our existence in some way. Well, also, though, depending what generation you are, I mean, you know that it's familiar. I mean, it's like there's a tone of like, you know, first or second generation immigrant New Jersey, New York Jews. Yeah. That they're in our family. Yeah, that's what we are. So like after a point, though, like my family left, you know, New Jersey know new jersey and you know i didn't grow up

i grew up visiting that but i just it bothered me that that uh the stereotype held it's and still it's like one of the weird stereotypes that still has held and is actually like still perpetrated like it's still cool to say or assume you know i'm better with it now and i think it's it's honest too i think you as a jew now you either have to you know i'm better with it now and i think it's it's on us to i think you as a jew now you either have to you know announce it or be a coward yeah no i i mean because they're they're after us again of course you know like how no one gets to live through that no we're all you know it's like the ones that live through it ran so you know yeah well that's why i never wear sandals. Ever.

And I don't think any Jew should. It's choosing time. We're coming down to the wire here. When I'm on vacation and there are other Jewish families and I see them and their kids in flip-flops, I just have to say- You don't know what's going to happen. At any time. I don't care that we're in Puerto Vallarta at a sandals. Do you think they don't know?

The only place you can wear sandals is in Israel. Yes. And even then, we might be chased out or up. Yeah. There's other problems in Israel. But you grew up Jewy Jew? Yes, fairly Jewy Jew. Where?

All over. I grew up, started in Manhattan. My parents were trying to make it as actors and musicians. Yeah. My parents were trying to make it as actors and musicians. Really? Yeah. They were in a Catskill rock band called Pally and Pal that like toured around. Come on.

Yeah. That's what your parents did? Well, until I was around six and then my dad had a bad year in auditioning, I think is how he phrases it. Yeah. When you were six. Yeah. And they had me young. Yeah.

And he quit and finished his degree and went back to medical school and moved us to Illinois. So I was in Skokie. Illinois? Yeah. In Skokie? Uh-huh. He really hates himself. Yeah, he really was punishing himself.

He had a bad year. So I got to go to med school and move to Skokie, where Nazis march. Yep, and he did it. You remember it? I remember all of it, yeah. Six isn't old enough to like, I remember them playing music,

and I remember... Really? Yeah, Six is like, you know, those big sentimental things where you'd go to Kutcher's and see them play a set. Oh, you went to Kutcher's so they were like in the lounge yeah they'd be in the lounge and they'd be singing and doing their their bit and your dad would play guitar piano my mom would sing and lie on the piano oh it's like a burlesque not a burlesque no it was more like cabaret thing cabaret yeah it would be like you know it'd be and it was like really wholesome because it'd be like the family was she funny she funny though? Yeah, they were hilarious.

They were hilarious. And they would do it in this like winky way where they would like kind of tear the fourth wall down. And they'd do this bit where they'd be like, my mom would be like, Stephen, do you know what the most important thing in life is? And my dad would be like vamping on the piano. He'd be like, actually, I don't care. And she'd be like, it's friends, Stephen. And he'd be like, oh, well, you got to have friends. And then they'd like sing into it.

And it was like really, I was just like, I remember sitting there like. With a bunch of old Jews? Yeah, blue hairs just as my eyes wide being like, whoa, this is so cool. It's amazing. Yeah. And then it was over. But they did it for a while. A while before us. did they ever have a break

did they ever go on television no they never got i mean my dad had like several close calls he was like with success and success in show business he was like the first face of levi's jeans which like button fly which at the time was like a huge style in the 70s they're like these you know pale blue button fly, like where the button was like very prominent. And he was like the campaign face for that. On the print ads?

And in, and the actual ad. There was like a, and so like that, that, there wasn't a lot of stuff going on. Like that was a big break.

So he, right. And then he made some commercial money. Yeah. So he thought he was on his way. Yeah. And he played piano

at the Empire Diner. On the west side? On 10th Avenue. Yeah. uh that's how he made a little place yeah it was but it back but it was like right when it got renovated and it was no it was groovy yeah before yeah this was like when it they had a piano in the corner it was like the heyday right because i remember because like uh my folks my people are from jersey and there was a new york connection i remember when the empire like it was a like back it was in the 70s where I think they renovated into this amazing thing. Well, now it's like, yeah.

And now it had another resurgence again. But then anyway, after he finished medical school at University of Chicago, he moved us back to Livingston, New Jersey. Livingston. And so I went to high school in Livingston, New Jersey. And then- Wow. So he had a bad year.

It must have been awful. But the thing is, it's like the wiring was in place enough for him that his default was to go back to medical school. So that must have been on the table. I think when I talked to him about it, and we've talked about it a little bit more recently, actually, for the first time, he very plainly plainly just will say like i just didn't love it show business yeah he's like i just didn't love it and you have to love it because every time you get told no if you don't love it you have a thought in the back of your head that goes well

well fuck it she's not gonna do it anymore well i mean mean, but the thing is, it's like, you know, you can love it, whatever, but when you have a little bit of success, he's better off that he had a bad year. Yeah. I mean, well, his life was very... Because if he didn't love it and he had an okay year,

he might not have ever gotten out. I think the way he thinks of it is that inevitably he equates the love to talent and success in his way. It's like he didn't love it enough to stick it out that far, and it's all about just sticking it out. What I'm saying is that his plan B was just to go to medical school. Yeah.

Well, he's a Jew from Long Island. I think I'm sure that there was some kind of agreement that he's not telling me with his mother that was like, I'll fund you. If it doesn't work. And then it didn't work, and he like all right i'm ready yeah did you know your grandparents um i knew uh i have two grandmas still alive who are really supremely old and then i have two grandfathers who died really young oh so i i got it's a it's roulette

yeah i'm like could be tomorrow what are they like, like 80, 90? 92, each of them. That's great. Yeah. And they're cognizant? Totally. Yeah. Unfortunately. And they call you?

God, yeah. Are you all right? Yes. You haven't called. And you're like, I have called. You don't remember? Very much. But you don't consider yourself Jersey.

I didn't spend enough time in any place, really, to- But you're a New York person. I live in New York. Yeah, I love New York. No, you were born there. Born there and grew up there. Like the Illinois thing, that didn't define you. No, my accent a little bit.

I mean like- How long were you there? From six to 11. So formative years of speaking. Yeah, so you got a little of that? I got a little of it. Yeah. And I can turn it up and down.

Yeah. But my accent is like the only thing really. And family and, you know, I have some family out there. But Jersey, was that defining? You went from all high school, junior high? Eighth grade through. So that's where you learned how to smoke cigarettes? Mm-hmm.

And to hang around? Yeah. Weed? Everything. Comedy. Because you're younger than me. You're fucking 20 years younger than me almost. Yeah. Weed. Everything. Comedy. Because you're younger than me. You're fucking 20 years younger than me almost. That's fucking stupid.

I don't know, man. I was worried that this was a turn that was going to take. You fuck. You fucking punk. I was really worried that my age. Yeah. No, it makes you feel any better. I don't have a lot of money.

No, you're doing all right. You've been on TV 10 years. Yeah, but it's gone. It is gone. And you look old. I know. You're beat up. You're miserable inside.

I'm weathered, man. I've seen it all. I mean, when I saw you, because you got pitched, and I'm like, I know that guy. He's a dark Jew. He's a dark Jew. He's a dark Jew. I saw him in a couple of things, and he can't hide the slight edge. Something's not right in that guy. A lot.

A lot. I'm hanging on by a thread, Mr. Marin. Are you? Yes. So we were talking about guitars. Yes. That's a Fender. Yeah, I love that.

I played something like that. That's a Strat. But I have a Tele. You said you're a Tele guy, and I have a Fender. Yeah, I love that. I played something like that. That's a Strat. But I have a Tele. You said you're a Tele guy, and I have a yellow Tele. Really? Actually, I had an all black one with the humbuckers. So not a Bruce Springsteen Tele? No.

Well, he did play it on the River Tour. But this is, no, this was an Eddie Vedder. When he first started playing guitar with the band, he had this like black on black Teley with two big humbuckers that sounded like a Les Paul, so thick. With those Fender humbuckers. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I still have it.

But I was in a movie where I was in a band and I played that Fender, a Strat similar to that, but it was like a 77 that they rented. Uh-huh. Was it good? Oh my God, it was like heaven, heaven. It's just 77 that they rented. Uh-huh. Was it good? Oh, my God. It was like heaven, heaven. It's just like that similar neck.

This is an American, like, 87. Like, I bought it new when I was younger, obviously, and now it's like an old guitar, actually. Oh, yeah. So, like, it definitely has a feel to it, a weight to it, and, like, I've gotten reacquainted with it. I just had to relearn how to play that style on a Strat. Like a Strat, it just requires a different kind of vibe in your hands.

I think that's true. It's like tinier. You can't beat it up the way that you would a Les Paul. You put on a Les Paul, you just want to like. You just make mud. Yeah. Yeah. But like I love even like how Jack White yeah switch to that telly

with the on that lap the last couple albums he's playing that light blue telly yeah and it was so heavy yeah yeah yeah that's my favorite kind of sound yeah he can but he makes he's got a lot of weird pedals and shit man you know I like to fucking play relatively clean you know know what I mean? It's like, I like it to sound kind of like a guitar. Yeah, I know. I like it to sound like the screams of a demon. He definitely does that. So did you play in bands?

I played in bands in high school. You did? Yeah. You were that good? No, no. And I got kicked out of a few bands. For what? For not being good.

For being bad at being in a band. Did you sing? I did, and that's one of the first things that got me kicked out. The singing? Well, I was just not very good at it at the time. So what year is it? This is like sophomore year? Freshman year.

Freshman year. So you're making new friends? I'm making new friends. Smoking cigarettes, smoking weed. No, weed came to me quick because of my family, because Jews, I feel like Jews just like- Gravitate to weed? Yeah, I had a cousin who was giving me weed like very early on like it's weird because my jew relatives were cokie oh jesus christ but that was because it's 20 year difference right yeah

that's i guess so yeah then mine had calmed down exactly by the time you got it there like this well there was weed around too but i i remember like you know my aunt my uncle and that whole trip and of course my mom's cousin was in the fashion industry so there were grown people just thinking it was okay to do blow at the dinner table oh my god yeah man that's insane yeah mine is similar it's just toned down it's like passover there's like this unspoken thing where it's like the adults go that way and the kind of kids go that way and then everybody comes back to the table and everyone's just kind of like, all right. Yeah, a little easier now.

It's easier. Yeah. We don't need to do the questions. No, it was a nice tint on the night. Yeah, we're not going to get through the questions. We'll do two. Yeah, we'll do two if we can read it. We'll do two.

So the band, so like were they cover bands? Yeah, mostly. I don't think I ever really wrote a song. I think it was mostly just covering. And you're a Bruce guy? I was a Bruce guy, but at that point I was covering because it was early, early, mid-90s, like Nirvana, a lot of Nirvana. Oh, yeah?

Yeah, I mean, I was like, when Nevermind hit, I think I was 14, 13. Wow. So like that's, you know, that's it. It was over. Yeah. That's a lucky time to to get that stuff oh yeah i i feel very lucky for my music because i was 34 when that happened wow yeah what did you you must have been like these motherfuckers are insane i understand it no come on dude i was around like for me well because like i look at like when i was in high school

when i was like a like a senior maybe in high school or a sophomore, it was when Van Halen 1 came out. So it had that weird effect of like, what the fuck is that? Yeah. I've never seen guitar played like that. Right. But everybody,

like it was everywhere. Yeah. And when I was in the Lower East Side, I lived on the Lower East Side and I was already doing comedy and shit, obviously, when Nevermind came out and it was everywhere.

Yeah. And it was undeniable. And I got totally into it. I got all the sub pop shit. I got into everything that that label put out. I was a music guy. Yeah, I mean that was huge for me. Like Soundgarden, that whole Seattle thing changed.

Soundgarden, Kies. Yes, I think I still, Mudhoney. Mudhoney, love him. I think I still dress like that to a certain extent. You're wearing a suit today. I appreciate it. It was for you. Yeah.

And another thing. You went to the thing. I went to the thing before. It's fun. You wore a suit with sneakers and no tie, and his shirt's on top. I'm trying to pass. You're doing a thing. I'm trying to pass. It's like, oh, there's the schwubby.

Thank you. You're not passing. Thank you. You're like, oh, that guy's unkempt on purpose. Yeah, exactly. You don't think that's coming across? I work very hard at this. This wig costs $2,000. Thank you. You're like, you know, oh, that guy's unkempt on purpose. Yeah, exactly. You don't think that's coming across? I work very hard at this. This wig costs $2,000.

Come on. No, this is real. So, okay. I know. No, I have to classify that. We know. You're rocking. My insecurity.

You're rocking out? Playing cover bands. Playing cover bands and like trying to get the band into a talent show and all that stuff when you're you know it's like that's where you're gonna play did you think you were gonna do a musician thing i did for a little um but i right very early on i got kicked out of this band because i just like was not a good singer and at the time and and i uh uh it was became very clear to me that like maybe i'm not that good good at this not that good at this as the other kids. But sometimes what I realized later, which was sort of problematic,

was that it's more important to be who you are than to be good, but you can't realize that when you're younger. Do you know what I mean? No, yes. Because if you listen to most music, a lot of the people that play it, it's pretty simple and everyone's kind of limited, and the people that are not limited and are amazing are kind of of boring but the people that find the one or two things that they do well and they just commit to it they they get through well yeah it's like it's like meg white

on the drums yeah you know it's like it's a thing it's a thing because there is no judging of how it is it's just this is the drums that we play this and rock and roll is built for that but when you're in high school you can think like i'm not as good as that roll is built for that. But when you're in high school, you can think, like, I'm not as good as that guy. Yeah, and I think that when you're not making the calls, you know, like, I wasn't necessarily, like, a popular kid or whatever. I was just kind of, like, in the middle of the pack. Were you? Yeah, I was just kind of, like, sitting there floating, like, hadn't found what I liked. But you didn't have, like, you couldn't play the whole room? I...

You weren't that funny yet? Uh-uh. I was painfully shy. Mm-hmm. And, but with, but with but like also being like I think I could

so like I would take like little baby steps and it wouldn't work you know what I mean so you weren't funny in high school I was I became funny

after that the stone guy was just trying to well I found comedy after that because I went my parents I had quit basketball

they stayed together yes they stayed together until one died which is the goal, I think. That's what we were talking about. Who passed? My mom. Oh, sorry. Oh, it's okay.

And I was not on a team anymore, and they were worried about me. Yeah. You know, because I was like. So you played basketball like freshman year? Yeah, like every Jew. Not me. Really? You have no athletic? No, I am, but I don't like year? Yeah, like every Jew, like I was like, I'm, really? You have no athletic?

No, I can, I am, but I don't like competing. Yeah, similarly, it's like, I mean,

I can do shit. Even that stressed me out. Yeah, so I was like, fuck this. I'm not doing this in high school and then I,

they put me in like this AV study with the guidance counselor because there was like a meeting about my productivity. An AV study? Yeah,

we had like a room in Jersey that had av equipment like a camera and a right thing and i was pretty i was pretty depressed in this and in a pretty just after the the basketball thing fell through and the band was just like yeah i was pretty depressed and i was getting high a lot and like you know cutting school and going home in the middle of the day and watching premium yeah yeah like i cut out of school uh yeah like you know um you can only watch so many kids in the hall episodes and like kevin meanie sets and like so you're watching comedy central yeah and uh at that time it was like that too yeah that's all it was it was like so was i on short attention to that theater yeah and then you did have a blend too with like a red shirt yeah

right i had a yeah i remember the shirt i had like uh i had a half hour was that premium one yeah i had a red shirt and a suit and there was a freak show banner behind me not a great set i i mean i remember just being like oh well i yeah you know i could do it i could do it you could do it he's a dark yeah i could do it but um and then it. Jew could do it. He's a dark Jew. Yeah, I could do it. And then, yeah, and so then I went to this TV studio and kind of started, like, getting high in the air and was like, oh, wait, this is fun. And I started doing sketches and I had a – You were recording them?

Uh-huh, and I had a morning show where I did, like, the morning announcements. For the school? For the school. Oh. And it, like, kind of took off in the school for the school and I like kind of took off really in the school so that's when you like found and that's I was like oh he found his voice yeah I was like this is what I'm doing yeah and a lot of it was like um you know yeah that's

important somewhere yeah I mean you know yeah it's somewhere I would some of it is funny like I did this one thing called teacher hunting where I would um follow a teacher after school yeah basically stalk them and then like run up to them with a camera while they were doing an errand in real life in real life yeah and it was always funny because the teacher would be like stop it stop it this is my life and then you'd play that clip until they're like hand got up and i i like still to this day i'm like that is a good bit uh and there was like a bunch of trouble yeah something like in the in the most charming way yeah you know my parents loved it yeah anytime a call came they thought it was the greatest they're just starting a fun type of

shit yeah starting i think they felt confident that there was something going on. Did you have a diner in New Jersey? The Ritz Diner. Okay. What was yours? My grandparents used to go to the Pompton Queen. Okay. Because I always think about diners only really exist in Jersey in the proper way.

Well, Jersey is kind of frozen in time. But it's like people go to the fucking diners. And there's diners all over the place. But the whole state is like that. It really is. I still go there. My family,

they're in a lot. My sisters live in Jersey City. Yeah. They didn't always though, right? No, they moved there

when it got nice, right? Yeah, yeah. They gentrified it themselves. Yeah. The two of them. How many? The two of them. Yeah, the Pally sisters.

The Pally sisters, but they're famous for gentrifying. How many? The two of them. Yeah. The Pally sisters. The Pally sisters, but they're famous for gentrifying.

Once you go outside of Jersey City and that buffer from New York. Yeah. Past Newark. You're finding delis. You're finding, and not delis like you think, like a real deli. Right. And then just like an Italian restaurant that's amazing. That just has Italian food. Yeah.

It's like just. And it's like, how does That just has Italian food. Yeah. It's like just... And it's like, how does no one know about this? Yeah, because... And it is frozen in time. And when those people that are running it and like sitting in there waiting for you to come, when they die, it's gone. Yeah, I think a lot of it's starting to go.

Yeah. It feels that way. Yeah. Anyway, so getting back to it. So you're making the videos, you're chasing your teachers. You're getting into minor trouble that your parents find endearing. Yes.

What are your sisters? Are they older? They're younger. Oh. They turn out all right? Yeah, they turn out great. Both are great. My sister was a nurse of pediatrics at the hospital special surgery,

and she's on leave now. She just had her first child. And my other sister was the head of display at christian louboutin uh which is a cool job because she would like design how the stores look yeah and then she branched out on her own now she's like kind of starting her own freelance design for windows and stores um she's doing more like interior actually so like she comes into a space yeah she'll come into a space in new New York and kind of yeah it's super they're both

yeah if you get hip with that that's probably a pretty good gig yeah and she's good at it so you gotta remind me to show you that book downstairs of

these photographs of I'm just I remember this from before because you were at Kutcher's like there I have a book a photography book of a woman who shot

all those hotels in the condition they're in now really and they're all abandoned and dead Yeah, and it's kind of like kind of devastating just waiting for mrs. Maisel productions They're like move up there rebuild the whole thing don't do it on the set come help us rebuild the Kevin Pollack's here Kevin Pollack is the Jew And he'll admit that who's gonna play him who's gonna play the Jew Kevin Pollack's not available

well we'll have to can it I have a fear that I'm gonna be that guy that's a good gig the Jew the middle aged Jew hell yeah

we need the middle aged Jew cause if you notice like Judd Hirsch has to be the old Jew and if there's ever an old Jew necessary Judd Hirsch or George Segal

he was great in Uncut Gems man he's great in everything he's Gems man he's great in everything he's a great actor he's great in everything he was in my show he played my father and then he played

he played a father I think on the Goldbergs and he played a father he's always you know crotchety Jew yeah and he's like

he's almost 90 I think he's old as shit he's got a little baby he's got like a 5 year old 6 year old god that scares me it never meant that to happen to me

I think the woman who had the kid is younger yeah oh yeah so don't worry about the kid the kid will be taking no i'm not worried about the kid i'm worried about her you're worried that you're gonna have kids when you're i'm worried that i would be the type of like old guy that that would happen to and you have three and how old are you i I'm 37. Yeah, it's already happening. How the fuck did that happen? I'm never going to make it. How did that happen?

I don't know. I grew up quickly. I don't know what that means. You have a choice. You wanted three? Yeah, I wanted... Because you grew up with three. I grew up with three,

and I have a really romantic story with my wife, and so once we got engaged and we started dating... You have a romantic story with your wife? Yeah, it we started once we got engaged and we like started a romantic story with your wife yeah it's this nice story what is it you can't he looked at me with such disdain he said that i want to hear you we met in high school well i see nothing but darkness oh my god really i don't most people tell me i'm a light in their lives no no no no i'm saying that when you say romantic, I'm like, good luck. That's where my 20 years gets me. No, I mean, I'm not happy.

Does that make you? I don't have a lot of money, and I'm not happy. No, I don't want you to be happy. No, I'm kidding. I'm very happy. But we met in high school, and then kind of went away. She's a Jersey person? Yeah, and we went away and kind of found ourselves for a long time

and then found each other and then got married and had kids. So you were out and about and you dated in high school? Yeah, her last year. Huh. Yeah, for a little bit. She's older than me.

You went and lived your life? Kind of, yeah. She's older than you? Yeah. What, like two years? One year. One year, huh. And then what you felt,

how did it regroup? We moved back to New York at the same time and reconnected. Where was she? She was in Rhode Island, and I was in Tucson, Arizona. What? College. I started there. You were in Tucson?

Yeah, I went to U of A. Oh, we didn't get there yet? No, I'm going slow. Oh, yeah, we're in high school. For something so uninteresting, I'm really taking my time. Whatever, I got to do that with you guys. Yeah, so, and then, anyway. You're not uninteresting because I'm enjoying myself.

Oh, okay. See, it's only uninteresting if I'm trying to get through it. I'm not really trying to get through it. You did use the words, I've got to do this with you guys. I'm talking about you charming Jews. I do your buddy Ben on here. Schwartzy? Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. You know, and I don't even, I didn't even know what he did. Me either. I just know he's great. You know, but I was like, you know, I don't know. I'm not sure exactly what this guy does. And my producer's like, he's one of those guys.

He's like a professional talker and you'll get a kick out of him. And I'm like, all right. And I looked at some stuff he did and he was funny and he's a good actor and he's very chipper and you know he moves it very rapid clip I didn't see I couldn't I couldn't I couldn't find the darkness in there really though I don't know if there is he seems to be very busy in his head and in real life ambition ambition ambition can sometimes fight darkness? Interesting.

I'm just wondering if that's a nice thing to say. I don't know if it is. Maybe we should cut this out. No, maybe ambition's not the word. Drive. I think that's true. Focus. No, I think that's true.

Focus. Yeah, well, that's actually an interesting idea that what is the difference between drive and ambition? I like that because ambition, in some respects, when people say that about people, especially me, it's not a compliment. Right. It means that you're cutthroat. It means that you will sacrifice a relationship. Or you might not be talented. Right.

And you're sneaking your way in. Right. Sometimes ambition will fill in for talent. It can get you the job and you'll be okay, but you're not going to be amazing. Yeah. I never thought of ambition as a dirty word like that. No, no, it's not dirty. To me, I said it because I don't think of it as a negative on that level.

I do see the negative in ambition, especially when it's blind. To me, ambition implies planning, which I do not not right no i don't i don't either obviously like ambition is like i know where i'm going yeah no i don't have that no i definitely don't have that i wish i did i do too why don't we have it because you quit basketball uh well I think it's because I'm better looking. Hmm. In general? Yeah. Then, then.

Shorts? Yeah. Just if you want to stack it up. Yeah, yeah. No, no, no. I think, I think it's, um, I don't know why. I just like wish I did it. I think I have a decent business mind.

So you mean you can get away with stuff yeah I feel like maybe I found that early on right I was thinking about this the other day my bar mitzvah yeah was a very formative moment in my comedy did you have a theme party no this is the actual reading of the haftorah really yes it was like huge for me when I was like so I'm others in therapy was like trying to get at the root of why why i need so much affirmation and and uh i remember at my bar mitzvah yeah half-assing it legit like faking it making up words and melodies oh really essentially faking the melodies oh really essentially faking the how did you get away with that no one said shit they just the old guys that are old and they're sitting on the thing were you conservative yeah oh so you

had to really had to do it so it's saturday morning it's saturday morning i'm just you just me doing it but like i did not do a good job but I kind of enthusiastically sold it. And everyone fucking was really happy about it. And like, I remember that feeling of being like, you motherfuckers don't even know. Think about you now going to a bar mitzvah. Are you really like following along? No, exactly. And I knew that. I had like a bird's eye view.

I was like, these people don't care. They don't give a shit. They just want to see view. I was like, these people don't care. They're here for me. They just want to see me do a little song. His voice hasn't changed. Yeah. And I remember having such like power in that. Sure. Being like, I now control the situation.

I now. They're like saying their Wednesday food. Where we go after this. Exactly. And I was giving it to them by like fucking cutting it off. You know what I mean? And so I remember that feeling very intrinsically. I think it still equates to today.

Well, I think that's why I connect with you. Because I'm trying to figure it out. Like, my dad's a doctor, too. But that didn't hold once he told me that he started in show business. So I'm not standard. But my dad's self-involved. Mine is as well. Right.

You know, like, whatever it is. Narcissism. I don't know. I think you know whatever it is narcissism i don't know if i think mine might be pathological but i don't know about yours but self-centered it's there yeah right there for sure but um but no it's the thing about like you know you you can do you can sort of focus enough to do something really well once yeah yes That's why I started doing improv. Because I was like, I saw... You might get through, you might do one amazing game of pool, but if you've got to do two,

it's not going to happen. They'll find out, so you'd walk away. So you put the thing down confidently and be like... Ball one good game, and that's the end of it? Yeah, that's kind of my whole MO. For friends, too. You've got about one year with me. We'll be the best friends. What were you got about one year with me yeah yeah we'll be the best friend what were you saying about improv well so improv was very much like that i remember seeing

the ucb yeah like 19 yeah and being like oof yeah that looks fun yeah it doesn't look like anyone's working too hard yeah i can do that i can do that so when you you did you finish college you went to college I didn't finish Tucson school I dropped out state I dropped at U of A I dropped out of U of A my dad no my brother went to U of A that's it's what user is a lot of Jews yeah yeah a lot of everything yeah it was a school big school big party so I like to the Sun Tucson is fun I you know spent all my is really bond money on drugs and stuff. Did you really have that much? About 2K.

Really? Yeah. You were able to cash out with that much? Well, my parents made sure that I didn't have any cash after my bar mitzvahs. They put it in Israeli bonds, and then I waited until I was- I got some bonds that I had given me on my bar mitzvah, and they've long since matured, but I think they kind of stopped. I put everything out at $2,000 and for one year,

not even a year. What's that get you? That was just weed, I guess? No, I was able to get like Molly and cocaine and stuff like that. Over the course of the... Yeah, yeah. Spread it out?

I spread it out. And then I tried to sell weed one time and I bought a... I think I... I don't remember. I was a blow guy later in college. You just burned through bread. No, I didn't get...

I didn't really get into it, but I didn't like that really until I was older yeah yeah yeah yeah when you have to kind of act like you like people yeah and then it's like that's the easiest way to do it yeah and it's going to happen if people could read behind my eyes and that it's like I want to be gone. You're right. Really? I want out. I want out of this.

I do not want to be here. I actually genuinely got excited when I was on Blow. You know, I was like, you know, and then you realize like, how does that look? You know, when you're just sort of like, hey, man. I have the actual like opposite effect, oddly. Shut down? Yeah. Ritalin effect?

Yeah. I get really quiet and shut down, but calm. Oh, just drinking. Yeah, it's been 20 years for me, man. Yeah, I mean, it's good. That's good. Yeah. That is good. So you spent all your Israel bonds.

And then I was just doing nothing. I just hated it. Two years? Two years. It was hot. Dry hot, though. Yeah, it was hot and like dry hot yeah not lemon dude I know

there's no dude I liked it but it was not for me and also I remember seeing

like you have these moments in your life where you see what the like salmon in the stream are doing and I was very much

like I don't think I want to do that like in a communications degree yeah what does that mean it's gonna end I'm gonna end up working like an equinox like I could see that equinox you know shame and high I always say it equinox and it feels like it's a gym for

horses like why would it be equinox you know you're a gym guy I'm not but I could see like I see my life. That was Equinox? Or whatever. Working in a gym? Where else are you going to work? There's only two jobs you can have now. What? Working in a gym or driving Uber.

Anything I can drive in Uber. Yeah, but that didn't exist then. No. So just Equinox. Equinox is my only option. And I made a tape, an audition tape for the actor's studio and got in. In New York? Mm-hmm.

Oh, that's good. Yeah. So real acting. Real acting. And what were your audition pieces? What did you have to do, a classical and a modern? I made a film. They were expanding their film program.

I got in through the back door again. They were expanding their film program. You figured out an angle. Pretty much. They were expanding their film program he worked he figured out an angle pretty much they were they were expanding their film program and opening it up to filmmakers yeah so i made a short sketch um and i borrowed some cash and i shot it on 16 millimeter because i had a uh connection at the new york film academy who would let me edit on the those old steinbecks and i I made this cool sketch about me racing the stairs versus the elevators.

It's a very artsy, fun thing, but I acted in it and everything. And I gave it to them and they were like, yeah, you got in. This is great. Is it a two-year program? It was a four-year program, but I had to make it up over the summers,

the two years that I missed. Really? Yeah. So it's a full four years. Yeah, I have a bachelor's from the actor studio wow yeah now that's a that's a good history uh it means nothing i know i i would have i didn't even care about the i was going to ucb the day i landed like back in new york back in new york and so what drew you there well I mean how'd you do that what led me to that was the show uh was on tv right as I was leaving right Tucson and the show very clearly said like you know we have a theater yeah in New York City well they were starting a

whole industry yeah and so I was and they changed the entire industry of comedy for sure yeah and i was lucky enough to be like considered an early wave and so i was i got like hands-on experience with so you get into actor studio and then you go over there you you see the improv like you said you're like i can do this and i like it better and i it's more what i wanted to do yeah i lived there and i was an intern and i was a bartender and i was uh taught classes eventually and i you know did everything who were you who were your teachers initially um what matt walsh uh manzukas um uh owen burke uh um peter gwynn uh taught me for a little bit. Funny guys.

Yeah, really funny. Seth Morris. I love Seth. He's the best. He's the best. The guy who was the most, the guy who was the most like bring me in, who like saw me at 19 and was in his class.

And he was like, no, you're actually funny, was Paul Scheer. And so I feel like you didn't know you were funny quite yet I knew I was he didn't know

no I knew but you know you're in those classes and those classes you're trying so hard like I was sweating blood in those classes

like just wanting to be good and wanting you know what I mean it was in like these dingy spaces and like Besser was sleeping

in the back of one of them and like and Walsh lived the back in the back and like uh Walsh lived on top of one yeah with a dog with that dog and then um yeah and then just like it it clicked a couple years in so Seth Morris was a important he was important to me yeah very I love him and I you know I think he's one of the unsung heroes of the improv game and just in funny people in general i just think yeah he's a genius and and uh i love everything he does i think bob is the funniest character and i remember his like he did a one-man show i'm i'm so from northern california i think it

was called it was like it's just great like we used to use him on radio bits back when i was doing radio oh my god i don't remember who turned us on to him. One of the guys who was running UCB out here, and he introduced us, and he did several characters, phoner bits that were just so funny. Well, yeah, I mean, I was... He was on my show. He was on Marin.

He played yoga instructor. Well, that's, like like right up his alley. Yeah, I mean, I really lived there. And I'm proud of that, the work I did there. I mean, I did the lights for The Swarm, which was like the big, you know, that was Andy Daly. That was like, you know, I did the lights for them for two years. What is that? That's his show?

That was his improv show. What was the structure? Why is it The Swarm? That was just the name of the group. It was like him. But it's all Harold kind of stuff? No, that was just like them improvising for like an hour. Oh.

And it was like watching Andy Daly every Friday night was like, this changed my life. Yeah? You know, legit. Well, yeah. I mean, as a doorman at the comedy store, that's how you fucking dig in. Yeah. And you need that. Yeah, for sure.

To me. To learn, yeah. that's how you fucking dig in. Yeah, and you need that. Yeah, for sure. To me. To learn, yeah. And then, I would say like three to five years in, it clicked and I was like, oh, I'm good. Oh, I see, so it clicked in that way that you'd done your time. Kind of, and I just, it's just you started,

I don't know if standup is like this, but you're just kind of like seeing the the thing a little where you're like oh okay right right this goes there and that goes there and this is how we do it's ingrained yeah you know and you have a you can actually you have those moments where you're like i know what's going to happen in one second it's going to be amazing yeah and it does and then you're like yeah wow that is amazing yeah and then you have terrible ones too. But yeah, I remember that feeling so vividly of being like, well, now I have this power. Yeah.

You know, now I can do this. And then, so, but the actor studio, you're not, is that doing anything? It didn't really do anything. I mean, I met- But you stayed there for four years? I had to. My parents were like the only way that,

they didn't have much money because they were paying off all this student debt for my dad so we live very modestly yeah so we look at the doctor an osteopathic internist so we lived very modestly um and they were like we we understand that you're studying at some theater underground yeah but if you want to not get a real day job for the next until you're 21 yeah and act like this is still university then you're gonna go and you're gonna go over the summer and you're gonna finish and you're gonna get you know whatever it is whatever it is and i did i got it and i walked and they were so proud

and it means nothing but wait no but i mean, really, what means nothing is one thing, but were you doing serious scene work? Yeah, but not well, and like that, to me, acting classes, and I've taken

all of them, are really a way to shake, like the whole goal of all of these things is to get comfortable with being embarrassed.

Yeah. That's like what. That's my whole life. That's like what. That's why I got into comedy. It's 100% of what the acting. When they put a mask on you. Yeah.

And it's a lion. And there's 45 students staring at you. And you're in a onesie. Yeah. With a lion mask on. Yeah. On 18th Street on a Tuesday at 11 and it's freezing fucking cold. Yeah.

And they're like, go lion. Yeah. There is no good or bad. You're not going to be good or bad. You're, you know what I mean? Like the baptism of fire.

Yes. It's just to be embarrassed. It's just to like literally get comfortable with being embarrassed. And I think the one thing I took from all those acting classes was just like as soon as I got a real job they were like

gain 30 pounds and get in this woman's bathing suit and you're like okay. One thing twice. You did that? Yeah.

For like three years. Yeah. On national television. Which show was that? Happy Endings. Oh. You had to gain 30 pounds to do that?

Well I was like already heavy and then they were like why don't you keep going? Really? Yeah I was a heavier guy when I started. Why the woman's bathing suit? Just the character was like, no, it's okay.

The character was just kind of crazy and would always be in drag a lot. So that's interesting. Because I still, I think for me, the comedy thing was all about transcending embarrassment, but also about having control in those moments. Yeah, it's the ultimate. I mean, I still look at it. Like, I don't know if I could put on 30 pounds and wear a woman's bathing suit. So maybe the lion mask was important. It was.

You're right. It's not that it's not worth anything. I just think, and it is worth something. And that it's not worth anything i just think and it is worth something and all those and scene work is important and learning how to do it is important and all that stuff but but i look at the the stage time i got at at nights yeah those places like that tuesday night i would go to ucb and wait around until like midnight yeah and get on stage and like that was way more you know like i pull on those moments way more day to day in my job than i do that line but yeah i get it but i get i think that there's something about those moments and i was thinking about this about

other shit you know like about you know these things that you do once to that seem you know daunting or terrifying but once you do them it changes your neural pathway thing yeah that's a beautiful way to say you know what i mean like yeah because i had to put a cat down and i never did that but i've had cats die and i grew up with a lot of animals my mom would take them in but and but i knew that i had to go and be there with this cat to do that, you know? And I'd never done it before, and I'm fucking 56. And I did it, and it was emotional and beautiful and terrible. But now I'm like, okay, that is something I can handle. Well, yeah, I mean, death especially.

My mother dying is a formative moment in my life. How old were you? I was 30, and she was 52 and it was 20 days before my son with my first child oh my god what happened just didn't wake up really mm-hmm this is like a brain aneurysm really mm-hmm I guess out of ways to go yeah probably very probably very pleasant. And how did, how was it, obviously it was terrible, but I mean, what do you take from it? It's hard to take much from it when it's, when it's like a healthy person. You know, it's like hard to, I think the thing that I took from it and I'm still like working through is that lack of control.

Like it's, to me it's all connected to what i do every day it's like i found at a young age i could control a room and that became what what i got off on was like the power of of of performing and like you know kind of manipulating people with my you know whatever skill and and when someone dies it's fine it's so final and there's no especially out of the blue like that there's no control over it that you you have to like relearn almost what you wanted out of comedy what you wanted out of being funny in the first place right and also just the fact that it's so fragile yeah that life is so fucking fragile and it's like everybody's

just one step away from possibly something horrible happening of course yeah i mean like you can't let your brain do that you know too much but i imagine the grief of that so it just you know it kind of hung over your experience with the birth of your first yes yes i think it's still it's hung over a lot of my life still because uh not fair it's not that it's not, I'm, I'm comfortable with all those emotions. It's more just like, you know, when you lose someone, you,

it's, it's always there, you know, like, you know, the void, like even today, like I,

I'm at the stupid TCA's today and I'm talking about my new show, which is about my parents moving in with me. Yeah. And like this one reporter was like, are your parents funny? And I was like, my, my dad is kind of funny. Yeah. And I did a like this one reporter was like is are your parents funny and i was like my my dad is kind of funny yeah and i did a little thing and i was like trying to make it clear like that's the end of the parent thing she's like and your mom yeah and like even that small moment now seven years later you're like oh she's dead she's gone And I didn't get to say goodbye

Any other questions You assholes And I worry if I'm gonna die At the same age every night That would have been great Yeah Like it's just You know but

The fact that you even Like that The pang of that Sure Is like Always there Every day Every second You know you're like You that you even like that, the pang of that is like always there every day, every second, you know, you're like, you have to deal with that. So it puts life in perspective in a different way. Like you're talking about neurologically. It's like now I've done that.

Right. Yeah. It's, it's, it's a powerful thing, you know, and there is like, there's certain things I regret that I didn't do in my life that could have programmed me a little differently. Because it is that, obviously that was, you know, a terrible, you didn't expect it. Yeah. But you deal with it. But like there are things that I could have done on purpose that would have, you know, done me a lot of good. Yes, of course.

That I did not do. Yeah, of course course and that's probably out of just fear and yeah fear insecurity like why do it i'm full of dread all the fucking time oh yeah yeah it's like what i go through just to even talk to you it's like this is unnecessary how difficult is this going to be do you know how nervous i was i uh was up all night no you were not yes i was and i listened to the brad pitt um that was easy you know dicaprio right and uh what put me at ease is like halfway through when the buzzing starts and you start freaking out and you can tell like as a performer you can tell that it's not fun and games anymore like at one point like you're obviously playing it up because brad's yeah

right right and then there's like a it's like a small muttering where you're like where the fuck does this go and it's like this frustration of like embarrassing you're like in front of leonardo i like that you picked up that i played it up a little bit but there was still the undercurrent of course yeah yeah you're you're you have to because he's a fan he's admitted that he's a fan yeah yeah put on a little show, right? Yeah. It was really happening, but I embellished it. But then you can tell that there is the moment you're like,

I gotta hope. What if it doesn't work? Yeah, it's getting away from me. That's great, that's great. Well, good. So that puts you at ease. It put me at ease. But I was very, yeah, I mean, Obama.

You talk about Obama. I know, but I've talked to a million of your friends, too. I've talked to all your friends. And sometimes it can be, you know. No, I get it Obama. You talk about Obama. I know, but like, you know, I've talked to a million of your friends, too. I've talked to like all your friends. And sometimes it can be, you know. No, I get it. I don't know what people go through, but I don't like, because so much of it hinges on, like, look, it's like, it just really depends.

Like, I have these pieces of paper here, and if there's a guest coming in, like, I'll do a thing. And you, I did nothing, and while we were talking, I put diner down. Interesting. So I obviously felt like, i think i can talk to this guy it's not gonna be oh that's nice it's not gonna be a problem you know you're not the first person to have that happen while they're talking what put diner down or have nothing down subconsciously diner it's like memento everywhere i go so okay so you that was your first big role and then like I know you've done a lot

of movies I think the first time I really noticed or saw you was in Joshi oh yeah yeah you know because uh you know I'm sure if I looked at these some of these other movies that I saw I like taking Woodstock I I can't remember that movie I have the distinction of being in a lot of great directors worst films oh Ang Lee's worst movie. Yeah. But I'd have to go back and look at you. But Josh, I thought you were funny and kind of dark and a little menacing.

Oh, thanks. Yeah, it's a dark role. It is, man. It's kind of a dark movie. And I know that you worked on the Mindy Project for a long time. Yes. And that was a big thing, right?

Yeah, that was a really good job. I got to learn a lot from her. Yeah? Yeah, a lot. I mean, she's powerhouse. She's like... Like what'd you learn? How to tell people what you want and not apologize for it.

Like how to creatively be like, no, you're wrong. Right. A lot of my early career, it's similar to the Jew thing. You got really pushed over? You're a pushover? I wasn't a pushover. I was just like, okay okay that's how this goes like and then i learned from her that like if you're here there's a reason you're here so let's hash it out like right you know she's very direct and good like

that and it's right and it's like you know you should have that at least that fundamental confidence that they want you yeah for whatever reason never ever doesn't think that they want you yeah for whatever fucking reason never ever doesn't think that they want her and it's awesome and like i learned that it was it's it's really a lesson i i think i even the way that i produce now it's like yeah a lot of it is just from watching well i mean what well what is um what's your primary struggle in terms of you know your sense of self with this stuff is it insecurity are you down on yourself or well i mean you say you're not happy i know you're relatively happy but no i'm happy uh i what is the what's the anxiety generator the oh god i it's it's it's changed throughout my

life but i would say throughout the last decade yeah it's death. And people in my family, some of them die young. Not your grandparents, not your grandmother. Two of them, but my mother's father died at 42. Heart thing? Heart attack. Yeah. So it's like either my grandpa on the other side died at 54 of a heart attack. So like, you know, it's either or.

It could be either or. Sometimes the good genes win dude i know that would be great but i um yeah i i think i want i have a real hunger and not ambition a hunger to do a lot of stuff yeah i like to do things and like that's a good thing and I get anxious about the void of not like what happens if you don't work and it's like a black hole to me

yeah I do know that feeling but like now I'm dealing with another feeling it's like when I go like what happens if I don't that'd be amazing god I mean it's true I mean I feel such relief when someone says you know what they're moving it no matter what it is oh it could be like I can need the money so bad I think but you know we're pushing it till June I go fucking are they sure June do they want to go to december we could do a whole year i could wait man i could wait uh work on it yeah but but but at the same time if i don't have that

lined up i feel no i know you know it's nice to have work i don't know my dad just i guess my dad like that is probably too like failure like not probably living a lot for him in that way. How's he doing? He's doing okay. He's doing okay. It's hard, you know. Since your mom? Yeah.

Especially like big things have happened. My mom passed away and then I had kids and my sisters had kids and my career kind of took off. Right. It's a lot of big things have happened that I think he's like wishes my mom was here. Oh, right. You know, so there's a lot of big things have happened that i think he's like wishes my mom was here oh right you know so there's a lot of that like but he appreciates it oh yeah i think so he's

definitely living vicariously is he out here uh half the time oh when he comes out his new girlfriend uh oh i met in new york is he in new york York he's in New York half the time but his girlfriend is out here yeah how do you meet her she's the mother of a filmmaker hmm

okay she met like through me oh yeah oh really yeah so you kind of set your dad up

kind of yeah I guess so that's nice yeah and he's happy he's happy yeah I mean it's yeah

it's good I mean I's happy he's happy yeah i mean it's yeah it's good i mean i i i pray for ease for him yeah yeah yeah yeah it was like he was such a baby boomer were you was there a point there where you were not uh where you had a problem with him or yeah well i think all all yeah you know uh, the father-son dynamic is challenging. Then when you lose a parent, I think it gets accelerated. The void of, like, who's going to decide now what we do. Well, yeah. Well, there's got to be some empathy switch has to be thrown.

I mean, just as they get older even, you know, you're sort of like, how long are you going to be mad at the guy that's having a hard time walking? Yeah, that has certainly, you know. Yeah. And he's so helpful with the kids and, like, you know, it's hard to be mad with him. Yeah. It's hard to be mad with him. Well, good.

Well, that's nice. But I, yeah. So this new show, I'm probably going to talk to Dan, who I've known a long time. I guess he's really found, you know, he's creating a TV show. And it's on NBC. It's a big deal. Well, I mean, I think the thing, the cool thing about what Dan is doing is he's kind of not trying to do anything. He's not, he doesn't push very hard.

kind of not trying to do anything he's not he doesn't push very hard yeah he's just kind of like okay with being this clean he's like a clean comic yeah who kind of is not on purpose clean it's just this is his life is kind of you know married married with kids and like it was there's a comfort in that yeah i just remember when he was sort of like you know he'd wear you know nice tinted sunglasses and uh or glasses and he had kind of a Beatles haircut he was kind of a hair was a mess the hair was a mess I tell him often is it still that way no thank god I tell him often the coolest thing about him is his son's haircut oh yeah because he is just like the son's hair he's got good haircut well I mean he's a kid so I don't whatever else is gonna be better than what Dan had so he created this show. Yes.

And it's got NBC commitment to it. A season is happening. We did a season. Is it 13? 13. It starts in February. And it's you and Fran Drescher plays your mother. Yes.

And who plays your father? Steven Weber. Wow. Yeah. Huh. And Abby Elliott plays my wife. Oh, that's nice. Yeah.

I like her. And Jessie Hodges plays my sister. She's great, too. And then, like, you know, we got Richard Kind coming around. Oh, yeah's nice. Yeah. I like her. Jessie Hodges plays my sister. She's great, too. And then, like, you know, we got Richard Kind coming around. Oh, yeah, he's great. Yeah, awesome. It's the best. And what's the pitch?

It's so simple. I'm living a very happy life in Connecticut. Doing what? What's your job? Contractor. I'm making a good living beautiful kids beautiful wife and my parents go broke and have been broke for a long time and lying to us and they lose the house and they move in with us now are they like histrionic people are they dramatic like is it

over the top kind of like what'd your dad do he uh how'd he go broke well he just didn't plan oh like they had no retirement so it's not like he's not like, I blew it all on it. No, it's very real. It's just like he had no retirement plan, and then my mom busted her hip at SoulCycle, and they had no insurance. So it's not too broad. No, I mean, they were broad.

It's Fran Drescher. I mean, they were broad parts. But it's very, you know, it even looks vintage in that way where it's like the couch is there. Well, it seems like a classic NBC show. It is. In the most comforting way. And that's kind of what I wanted to do. I wanted to tone it down a little.

From the. I had done a couple things in a row that were a little insane. Like big shot, big swings that didn't quite work out. Which ones are those? I did a time traveling show with lord and miller on fox yeah a couple years ago that just didn't work out yeah um and then i did a show last year on youtube that i'm i really loved about um uh a hip-hop entourage where yeah where the main rapper dies and the entourage just like fend for themselves. And that was like a big crazy swing

and that didn't work out. And so I had like kind of, you know, I kind of like went for it and now it was time to. So this like, you see this as something that if it works could be kind of a stable.

It would be nice for a couple years yeah i haven't had that in a long time yeah not since mindy yeah yeah probably and i would like i'm you know i don't i'm kind of not ambition is is waving constantly with me but like what's what's your in terms of your creative drive i mean i mean this is like the one plight of the actor that i like i never set out to do that because it was i couldn't handle it but like now you're i do all right so much yeah it's no it's nice i mean i always wanted to but i i was not going to live that life you know comedy was my life which was not an easier life but it was a life i had control over yeah you don't no one's going to tell you at the club you didn't get it.

Yeah, and also, right, no one's going to tell me what the fuck to do either. Right, yeah. So, you know, but like, you know, waiting for somebody to come up with something that you fit for. Yeah, I never did that. I created most of it, besides Happy Endings and Mindy, like I've created most of the stuff that I've done. Yeah. Even Joshie, I did that story. Oh, yeah.

I've created most of the stuff that I've done. Even Joshie, I did that story. Oh, yeah. And I never, the UCB, you always wrote for yourself. Right, right, right. Oh, that's good. So maybe that part of your brain needed a break, right? I think so. That's what it was like.

I had just kind of, I'd put everything I had in these last two big swings, and it was like, I got to recharge a little. And I also wanted to play a dad like my kids watch multicams sure do they? yeah they love them

from the old days? but like good ones like my kids love Friends they love Fresh Prince of Bel-Air oh yeah is like really good like if you haven't watched that show

it's interesting that the simplicity of those when you uncomplicate them that kids couldn't watch them of course like it's so simple. Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is about a fish out of water. Yeah.

And my kids just sit there and they laugh. I wanted that a little because I had been for a long time not showing them my work. Oh, really? Too heavy? Too weird? Joshie's a suicide comedy. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, but also, they the the what the hell is they're doing a lot of them now the three camera thing is like never really went away i like it i mean got a live audience you're putting on a show yeah makes me miss brody oh yeah doing the warm we were just saying that we were saying that the other day like warming up is such an art it's such a who's warming up over there we've been through no not a lot of comedians like we had a hypnotist we really ran through it really yeah it's hard a lot of shows yeah brody was good at it he where are you from the best at it he was the best at it yeah like created a party yeah even and there's a long hours and long days but it was like

you know she's checking in with you how you doing mickey you days, but it was like, you know, she needs checking in with you. How you doing? Nikki, you got like, it was like just felt. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. It's like a coach. We were reminiscing that like, God, we've a year earlier, two years earlier.

Sad, sad fucking thing. Yeah. But, um, on that note, this has been great. I think, uh, I've definitely cheered everybody up. No, but like the, but the but are people excited about the show? Yeah. You feeling that? Yes.

Yeah. Again, there's not a lot of places where you get to go to work and be funny, so it's really nice. Well, good, man. I wish you the best of luck. It was a pleasure talking to you. Oh, you too. This was a real thrill. I'm a huge fan, and thank you.

Adam Pally, ladies and gentlemen. He's in the new Sonic the Hedgehog movie, and he's on Indebted, the Dan Levy show. Not Daniel Levy. Okay? Dan Levy, who is here. Also, I wanted to give you a heads up next week there's going to be special new merchandise to mark the first decade of WTF yeah so look forward to that

and maybe I'll play the harmonica again how would that be for everybody okay and then back to the guitar all right great thank you thanks for coming nice to see you good terrific ¶¶ Boomer lives. Boomer lives. And I want to let you know we've produced a special bonus podcast episode where I talk to an actual cannabis producer. I wanted to know how a producer becomes licensed, how a cannabis company competes with big corporations, how a cannabis company markets its products in such a highly regulated category, and what the term dignified consumption actually means. I think you'll find the answers interesting and surprising. Hear it now on Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly.

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