WTF with Marc Maron Podcast - Episode 1504 - Jonah Ray Rodrigues / Ed Begley Jr.

Episode Date: January 18, 2024

It’s the return of two past WTF guests who have lots of stories and common experiences to share with Marc. First, Hollywood’s everyman Ed Begley Jr. is back for the first time in a decade, fresh off writing his new memoir, To the Temple of Tranquility… And Step On It! Then Marc talks with Jonah Ray Rodrigues, who spent years crossing paths with Marc in the standup and podcasting worlds. Jonah explains why he gave up standup, started bartending, and dove into collaborative projects like the new movie, Destroy All Neighbors.Click here to submit your question for the next Ask Marc Anything bonus episode. 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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To show your true heart is to risk your life. When I die here, you'll never leave Japan alive. FX's Shogun, a new original series streaming February 27th, exclusively on Disney+. 18-plus subscription required. T's and C's apply. Lock the gates! all right let's do this how are you what the fuckers what the fuck buddies what the fuck nicks what the fuckadelics how is it how is it with you how is it with you? How is it with you? What is happening? So look, two guests today. I'm going to talk to first Ed Begley Jr. He's back on the show after 10 years since the first time he's been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, but that didn't keep him from working or from writing his memoir. He had, he had it long before he,

he knew he had it too. Then we have a Jonah Ray Rodriguez. He's back. He used to be Jonah Ray. Now he's the whole name. Uh, he was around a lot during the early years of, uh,

of WTF because he was part of that early comedy podcast community. He was one of the, uh, side men on the nerdist. Uh, also you have time. You still have time to submit a question for our next ask Mark anything episode,

go click on the link in the episode description and submit your question on the Google form. I'll give my answers next week on the full Marin. My 2024 tour kicks off this month in San Diego at the Observatory North Park on Saturday, January 27th. Two shows. Then I'm in San Francisco at the Castro Theater on February 3rd. Sold out. Portland, Maine.

I'm at the State Theater on Thursday, March 7th. If it's functional, I saw pictures of a massive bit of flooding there. Medford, Massachusetts, outside of Boston at the Chevalier Theater on Friday, March 8th. Providence, Rhode Island at the Strand Theater on Saturday, March 9th. Tarrytown, New York at the Tarrytown Music Hall on Sunday, March 10th. Atlanta, Georgia, I'm at the Buckhead Theater again on Friday, March 22nd. Madison, Wisconsin at the Barrymore Theater again on Wednesday, April 3rd.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin at the Turner Hall Ballroom again on Thursday, April 4th. Chicago at the Vic Theater on Friday, April 5th, many times at the Vic. Minneapolis, I'm at the Pantages on Saturday, April 6th. I shot a special there and at the Vic. I'll be in Austin, Texas at the Paramount Theater on Thursday, April 18th as part of the Moon Tower Comedy Festival. Go to WTFpod.com slash tour for tickets.

Do it. Do it. I don't know if you got this, but they put out this box set of the Replacements album, Tim, newly mastered. I don't know what the story is on it, but it's the Ed Stasia masters. I guess it was, this is the mastered properly vinyl. I can't stop listening to it. What a great fucking band.

What a great fucking record. And what else have I been watching? That's what I'll do right now. I'll tell you what I've been watching. Well, oddly, and I don't know if I owe anybody apologies. I don't know if I need to explain myself too much because James Gray and I, the director, we had a pretty good, pretty great talk. and he was here for his movie Armageddon Time, which was a good movie. Now, I had seen some of his other movies.

I think I watched that. I watched Armageddon Time. I watched Ad Astra. I think I watched The Yards. But the truth of the matter is, is I have now watched all his movies. I watched The Lost City of Z. That was it. To prep, I think I watched Armageddon Time, Ad I watched The Lost City of Z. That was it.

To prep, I think I watched Armageddon Time, Ad Astra, The Lost City of Z, and The Yards. But on the Criterion channel, they've got all the New York movies. They've got Little Odessa. They've got The Yard. They've got We Own the Night. They've got Two Lovers. And they've got Immigrant. I've watched all of them.

I've watched all of the James Gray movies and they're fucking amazing. Now, part of me is like, yes, stupid. I mean, you knew he's a great director, but why didn't I watch those movies? All of them before I talked to him. Cause now I probably got to talk to him again. I mean, I can't. You know, he's such a fan of movies. And he's so meticulous about, you know, his eye and how he wants things to be seen. And his DP must be amazing. But all these movies are like quintessential Outer Boroughs movies. They all take place in Queens. You know, around there.

Except for The Immigrant, which is a period piece. Takes place right there in the city with a touch of Brooklyn. But Jesus, man, Little Odessa is a gnarly movie. And We Own the Night is fucking spectacular. Two Lovers, which seems like a very personal story, which I'd like to ask him about. I don't know. Maybe it's not, but it seems like there's a bit of him in all of these, at least of him watching some shit go down. A lot of Russian immigrants and stuff and Brighton Beach.

But they're all great movies and you should watch them because I don't know. Is he an underappreciated director? I would think he thinks so. But I've been enjoying watching all those movies. Yeah. And listening to The Replacements and some jazz and some other stuff. And watching comedy specials like Jacqueline Novak's. I've been engaging in the arts.

I just got to go see some paintings and maybe some dance. Maybe I need to see some dance. Maybe I need to dance. I did a little bit of dancing the other day. I put on a fellow record and I danced a little bit in the way that I dance when I'm by myself. I wouldn't say I was, you know,

really expressing myself through dance, but I would say I was sort of like compressing movements. I, I, I would say it's more like crumping. Is that what it's called? I wouldn't call it break dancing. I wouldn't call it like freestyle, but I would say maybe crumping, you know, it was kind of, well, I don't know. I think it's a little more, that seems very expressive to me. I think I was just kind of, like, kind of old man grooving, sadly. You know where you see, you know, wedding videos and, you know, when, you know, guys my age don't want to look stupid, but they also, you know, don't want to really fucking do what they, you know, know they can do. So they just kind of groove a little. You know?

A little bit of movement. Make a little bit of the hands with the elbows kind of close to the body. Move a little bit of the hips and the feet. Get a little kind of a circular groove going with both arms. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, cool daddy dance without going crazy. But I feel like I could cut loose. I feel like I could really jump around.

I feel like I could really, you know, kind of get the arms going all over them. I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it. Not going to do it right now. But that's next on the list. Watch movies and do expressive modern dance. Folks, there were a lot of top 10 lists

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in just minutes. That's simplisafe.com slash WTF. There's no safe like SimpliSafe. Ed Begley Jr. is like a zealot type of character here in Hollywood in the 70s, all the way through. Knows everybody. In the book, the new book, To the Temple of Tranquility and Step on It, that's the name of the book, pictures of him and everybody for weird reasons. He's just woven into the fabric of Hollywood. It was great to see him.

And this is me and Ed Begley, catching up. Be honest. When was the last time you thought about your current business insurance policy? If your existing business insurance policy is renewing on autopilot each year without checking out Zensurance, you're probably spending more than you need. That's why you need to switch to low-cost coverage from Zensurance before your policy renews this year. Zensurance does all the heavy lifting to find a policy, covering only what you need.

And policies start at only $19 per month. So if your policy is renewing soon, go to Zensurance and fill out a quote. Zensurance. Mind your business. 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. FX's Shogun, a new original series streaming February 27th exclusively on Disney+. 18 plus subscription required. T's and C's apply. So we talked a lot about some of the stuff that's in the book, the new book, to the temple of tranquility and step on it. It wasn't that quick a journey, though, was it? No, it wasn't.

I thought I could rush things by finding serenity in a bottle of Stoli and a couple of lines. It doesn't work that way, as it turns out. Yeah, but when you really sort of, it seems through the stories, that when you really did get sober, you understood that whatever it was you were looking for was not the thing. Exactly. I had it all along. All I had to do was just stay sober and enjoy the moments, have some semblance of gratitude, and you'd be just fine.

Yeah, kind of, right? Yeah. Yeah. But in this book, because, like, look, I don't want you to tell the story so much because you want people to buy the book. But in the book, it says you smoked a joint with Charlie Manson. I did. We smoked a joint with Charlie. And my friend James and I drove up to see his friend David Kurland.

Yeah. When I did the show the last time, I didn't know, couldn't remember his name. But my friend James reminded me. We went to college together, James Jeremias and I. Yeah. And this guy lived in a tree house next door to a saloon. Yeah. And it turned out that saloon was the Spahn Ranch movie set.

Oh, okay. So that's how you got up there. Yeah. Now, did you see Once Upon a Time in Hollywood? I did. How was the depiction of that? I don't know where they shot it, but they certainly made it look like the Spahn Ranch, look like the way I remember it.

It felt like that? Yeah, it did. Like just with dirty hippies everywhere? Yeah, and run-down old movie sets, you know, Western town kind of stuff. Yeah. Well, you came up in Hollywood. You grew up here.

Your dad obviously was a character actor, but how did that movie feel to you in terms of the way it looked? Did it look like your past? Very much so, and all the stuff that they did where they put in CGI, you know, all kinds of Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood Boulevard stuff. Yeah. Musso and Franks is still the same.

They didn't have to do anything to that. Right. But the vibe was correct? 100% correct. It was a good time, wasn't it? It was very much a good time. Alcohol and drugs were a great time until suddenly it wasn't. In 76, when I had the DTs for the first time.

Before that, it was great. Oh, that story in here about you driving and getting in that car accident? Yeah. That's crazy. Totally crazy. The sound that you heard in the car after? Bang, bang, bang. I'm wondering, what the fuck's wrong with my car?

Anybody know what that sound is? The poor guy with the crutches whose car he destroyed said, yeah, you're knocking the mirrors off the parked cars. Can you let me out? I said, yeah, you're knocking the mirrors off the parked cars. Can you let me out? He said, no, no, I'm going to take you home. Let me out of the car. No, I'll take you home. He starts hitting me in the head with his crutch.

Yeah. Let me out of the car, you fucking maniac. Yeah. And that was like, when was that? That was 75, Christmas 75. Oh, so you were close. You were close to getting sober. Yeah. But here it says, like, just to read this, because in the sense that, like, the book is constructed of, you know, they're basically memoir essays.

They're stories from your life that you've chosen are the ones. Right. Were there others? Oh, yeah. Lots of other crazy nights. That didn't make the book? Or is this pretty much a tight, like did you write a bunch more

and your editor said we don't need this one? I didn't write any more than that. It's pretty much the way I wrote it. I was a little short at first, so I added some more that I hadn't thought of. Yeah. And yeah, but I think it's all pretty much in there that I can remember now.

Yeah. It's incredible to me how much I can remember about the distant past like that, and then, you know, walking in the garage this morning, I have no fucking idea what I went in there for. Not a clue. Today? Yeah. Did it come to you? It came to me. Oh, yeah, Mark Maron, 11.

So it was me. I was the thing that got lost. No, no. No, it was long before 8 a.m. I went in for some tool, and I couldn't remember what it was. Yeah. Have you been in hundreds of movies and TV shows? I have hundreds. It's crazy, right?

Yeah, that's crazy. To still be working after, what is that, 57 years? Yeah. That's kind of nuts. Yeah, and you were great in Better Call Saul. Was that the last one? Thank you, yeah. And I do Young Sheldon.

I did that a little more recently. Mm-hmm. But Saul was a great show. Sheldon's a great show. I'm very lucky to still be doing it. And you go back to sort of a bit about your dad, Ed Begley Sr., who I just watched in 12 Angry Men. God, do I love that movie.

It's some movie, right? What a cast. What a movie. Sidney Lumet. Yeah. Everybody. Now, did you know any of those other guys? I met them one by one over the years.

Not all of them. I never met George Voskovic. I never met John Fiedler. I knew Ed Fonda. I knew Henry Fonda for sure. Was he a buddy? I met him around... I did a play for a while. I didn't make it to

opening night. I was understudy in K-Mutiny Court Martial at the Center Theater Group. So he was a star of that. I got to meet him there. Okay. But was he like friends with your dad? He very much was friends. I've got a lovely little gift he gave my dad, a little silver, like ashtray or something, sterling silver, nice thing. I have it on my mantle. You got a bunch of memorabilia from the old days. Yeah, my dad's Oscar, my dad's Tony Award. What did he win the Oscar for? Sweet Bird of Youth, 1962, Paul Newman, Geraldine Page.

Best Supporting? Best Supporting is right. Yeah. Rip Torrance in that. He should have gotten an Oscar too. He's sure good. Wow. So it's like, I think this is what was interesting to me too

about the last time is that because of your childhood you sort of span these generations Right. of actors. I met one of the Keystone Cops

from Silent Films. I literally met the guy. So I have a bridge in my life of experiences from Silent Films to Sean, the guy that made

the film on his iPhone. Mm-hmm. That incredible filmmaker. T film on his iPhone, that incredible filmmaker. Tangerine? Yeah, Tangerine. Sean Baker, Sean Baker, right? Yeah, Sean Baker, I think so, yeah. Yeah, really good.

He's a good filmmaker. He sure is. Made it on his iPhone. Yeah. The size of a cigarette pack. Well, the first one, I think he opted for cameras. I think he might have.

After that. Yeah. He had something to prove and he proved it and then someone said, here's a little money, go get a camera. Yeah, get a camera. Life's going to be a little easier on you. Yeah. But I mean, what was the backstory? Was there a strange backstory between you and your mom and your dad and like a mystery? A big mystery that I discovered when I got my driver's license. I went to get my learner's permit, you know, to get my driver's

license. And to do that, you have to have your birth certificate to prove, you know, to the DMV you are who you are and you're the age that you say. Yeah. So I had never held it before. I'm in the backseat of the car. My dad's driving over Coldwater to get back the valley from his business manager in Bev Hills. And I opened the thing and I go, dad, why is there no mother's name on my birth certificate?

Long silence finally goes because amanda wasn't your mother the woman i knew to be my mother died when i was seven yeah suddenly she's not my mother okay yeah who is who was my mother yeah sandy's your mother double explosion because this woman i knew and loved this woman sandy gave me a gift on my birthday gave me a christmas gift i'd see her at grand Central Station. You know, something about this woman, I just loved her. It turned out to be mom. Yeah? And what did Sandy do? She was a page in NBC that my father took up with and had two children with,

though he was quite actively married to another woman, Amanda. Yeah. And so he has a child with Amanda as well? He has no children with Amanda. He was purported to have had a child with Amanda. I grew up and knew to be my brother, Tom, but it turned out Amanda was not his mom. Either? No. My father's sister, my Aunt Helene, was the mother of Tom, as it turns out. And we never learned who the father was, but we recently learned from 23andMe that he's an Ashkenazi Jew. We're quite Irish people, and we have a wonderful Ashkenazi Jewish person in our life. A hundred percent? A hundred percent Ashkenaz?

I think so. Wow. So that's interesting. Well, he would have been half, you know, because your aunt's still Irish, right? Yeah. She's pretty Irish. Yeah. Yeah. So he's half Ashkenazi, half Irish or whatever that is. That kind of thing always amazes me because of the sort of jarring reconfiguring of your life you have to do in a moment. Yeah. Yeah. Jack Nicholson had it too.

The woman he thought to be his sister was his mother. Was his mother. Yeah. He was raised as this woman's brother. Yeah. Turned out that was mom. The sister was his mom. What was the reason for that?

The scandal, same as it was in my case. Oh. Trying to keep the scandal in check. The Catholic scandal. Sure, sure. The sin and the Pope and the bishops and all of that bullshit. Right. And the community.

Exactly. The pressure. Exactly. Are you still friends with Jack? Yeah. Is he all right? He's great. Okay, good. He's in great shape. He's mentally he all right? He's great. Okay, good.

He's in great shape. He's mentally in every way. He's really cool still. Enjoying his life? He is. He's got great kids, great grandkids. And they're all out there around, hanging out? They're all around, hanging out?

Oh, yeah. They love him. Oh, that's great. Because there's a whole piece in here about your relationship with Harry Dean, who I had an experience with that wasn't great because I don't know what I was thinking. You know, I chose to interview him after, you know, that woman, what's her name, Sophie Huber? Is that her name, the one who did the doc? Oh, yes, yes, Sophie, yes.

But I saw that doc, and I'm like, I'm going to go out there and talk to him. Like, she couldn't get him to talk in the doc. And I think, like, I'll get it. And then you go out there, and he's like, nah, you're not going to. out there and talk to him. She couldn't get him to talk in the dock. And I think, like, I'll get it. And then you go out there, and he's like, nah. You're not going to. No, not really. One-word answers, yes. One-word answers.

I think I made him angry out of the gate, you know, about. That doesn't sound like Harry Dean Stanton. I'm totally kidding. He got pissed out of the gate with a lot of people. That was his default setting. I mentioned something about smoking at his age, and that was it. Yeah, you're done. Yeah, I was done. But you knew that guy forever, huh?

I met him in 72. He was the one that introduced me to Alan Watts, whatever measure of serenity I have in my life. I got it through him. Oh, yeah, that's the essay you wrote in the Yeah. But the contradiction is in the life you guys led. Yeah. And then still kind of finding this Buddhist thought. Yeah. But he was one of the most impatient guys in traffic in every way I've ever met. Harry Dean was.

Yeah. But always was a proponent of serenity and being in the now. Right. And occasionally he achieved it on his couch there up on Mulholland a good deal of serenity and being in the now. Right. Occasionally, he achieved it on his couch there up on Mulholland a good deal at the time, but not so much outside of the home. Yeah, and you guys were regulars at Dantanas forever? Every night.

Yeah. When I say every night, I mean every single night. Finally, we were not there for like a week because we had both gotten a job in the same movie, so we were both missing for a full week. So I said, we should call up Guido and tell him we're okay. We'll call up, talk to Guido, the maitre d' at times. They had sent somebody by Harry Dean's house

to see if we'd fallen asleep with a gas on or something. They thought we had literally perished. How could we both not be there for a full week? We used to go after Tana to go back to his place and watch the Z Channel or something like that. Yeah, yeah, right. And so they literally felt we were dead. But you weren't.

We were alive and— And doing that cockfight with Warren Oates. Yep. What's the director? Monty Hellman. Monty Hellman. I remember that movie being a little difficult to understand. It was for me to understand, and I was in it.

Same with Tulane Blocktop. I'm not sure what that's about. Yeah, I'm not either. That was Dennis Wilson, right? It was for me to understand, and I was in it. Same with Tulane Blocktop. I'm not sure what that's about. Yeah, I'm not either. That was Dennis Wilson, right? It was James Taylor. Oh, James Taylor. Maybe Dennis Wilson's in it with him, but James Taylor's a star of it, I think. Wow.

Laurie Bird is a co-star. I talked to James Taylor. He's sober, too. Boy, he was out there. Was he ever? Yeah. And he didn't quit after the fourth time with heroin. He

stayed a little longer at the party. Yeah, and his dad had to come get him. I didn't realize that guy was so in the mire of it. Yeah. But I guess a lot of people were. A good many of my friends. Yeah. Very few of them are alive.

So, the other thing, like I just want to like read this list because in the book, you know, I don't know if people put you into context, but you said there's like,

you would regularly spend time with Groucho Marx in his home and occasionally enjoy a sweep over. You played Trivial Pursuit with the Clintons. You would get to know and work with Kurt Douglas,

Meryl Streep, Peter Falk, Alan Arkin, Michael Caine, Billy Wilder, Richard Pryor, David Mamet, who I just saw, Jeff Goldblum, Eric Idle, Denzel Washington, Buck Henry, Don Henley, Jane Fonda, Gina Davis, Dabney Coleman, Lily Tomlin, Leonardo DiCaprio, Vince Gilligan, John Cleese, Danny Glover, Harvey Keitel, William Hurt, Larry Kasdan, Larry David, Angelica Houston, Pam Greer, Penny Marshall, Alfre Woodward, Taylor Swift, Jeff Bridges, Yafet Kodo. I just watched Midnight Run again. He was so good. It's one of the best movies ever.

Rob Reiner and Christopher Guest. Now, like— Partial list. Huh? Partial list. Of course, partial list. But, well, I mean, there's a picture in here that I didn't get to the essay, but I need you to explain to me, where you're just sitting, you're making dinner for the Best Actor Oscar nominees for Hugh Jackman, Robert De Niro, Alan Arkin, Tommy Lee Jones, Joaquin Phoenix, and Daniel Day-Lewis. How does that happen?

I was the governor of the Academy that year, and the president of the academy was Haw Kotch, Howard Kotch Jr., a junior like me, and he said, here's what I want to do this year. Annette Bening's going to take the ladies, you take the men, Ed, and at your house just host a little lunch, and we're going to have all the nominees in jeans and cutoffs, whatever they want, no cameras, no nothing. Yeah. No photographers.

Right. We're going to take pictures of each other. That's fine. Yeah. And it'll be just a casual, casual kind of a thing. Yeah. And so I cooked. be just a casual, casual kind of a thing. Yeah. And so I cooked, they had a caterer for me. They said, do you mind if I cook?

And they, nobody seemed to mind at all. So I made them a nice vegan meal and they all liked it. Yeah. And what was the point of that? Just for everyone to hang out? So they could hang out without any pressure, without any press people coming up and asking them questions or eavesdropping on a conversation between the two of them. And they might not have, like, I imagine that's the first time some of them hang out together.

Exactly. Yeah. They're kind of in the press line together. Say, I loved you in such and such. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I loved you in such and such. So it was just a kind of casual pre-Oscar thing. Yeah, for those who wanted to come, they were invited.

Those who didn't want to do yet another event that didn't, weren't obliged to come. Right. And it was a brand new thing, so there's no history. Every actor comes and does this. How could you not do this? Anybody who obliged to come. Right. And it was a brand new thing, so there's no history. Every actor comes and does this. How could you not do this? Anybody who wants to come, come. They only did it a few years,

as it turns out, but it was a great honor. Must have been a good lunch. It was a good lunch. People seemed to like it. Who won that year? Who won? I think Alan Arkin won

for Little Miss Sunshine, didn't he? Oh, yeah. And I think. God damn it, he was so good. I think about that character all the time. Yeah. The character he played in Little Miss Sunshine all the time.

Wonderful. It's wonderful, but as a drug addict, you're like, that guy had it figured out. Yeah, totally. You know, until he didn't, but just sort of like... And I guess that's not a good indication of where I'm at mentally. Right. That this 60, 70-year-old man is quietly chipping away at heroin on a trip with his family seems completely to understand himself. Yeah. I would have done that if I could have pulled it off, but it turns out I couldn't. No, I can't do anything. Like right now, I'm on these nicotine lozenges, and it's driving me nuts. I was off all the nicotine for three years, and then like, you know, but it's anything, dude.

You know, you get to a point, you know what the score is. I think you talk a little bit about compulsive sexual behavior in here. All of it. Yeah. What's that chapter about you sleeping with your ex? Oh, yeah. Well, there's a payoff to that I won't give away, but I became very close to my ex-wife and my current wife fully approved. Wow.

Yeah. It's not as salacious as it sounds, but it's pretty funny. But there's so many great pictures in here. You and Waits as kids. Oh, me and Tom. Yeah. We're still pals. I talked to him just the other day.

Yeah. What a great guy he is. What an artist. What a career. Sure, man him just the other day. Yeah? What a great guy he is. What an artist. What a career. Sure, man. Isn't he amazing? Yeah. Why did you decide to write this book now?

Was it COVID or what happened? It started innocently enough. It was really my daughter's idea. My daughter Hayden, 24 now. She was 22 at the time. It was just two years ago. She said, I'm going to get my smartphone and just start telling me some of the stories about you and Marlon Brando and the Electric Eels and tell me about your father and your grandfather and coming over on the boat from Ireland and all that stuff. Yeah.

So I started just for my family, for my grandkids and my kids to get some of the stories down. And I did. I started to write some of the stories, not write them down, but dictate them to my daughter but she's has a life she couldn't do that forever so in her absence I thought before I forget some of this shit I gotta type it up and get on my computer and write it up to hand her to you know transpose it all yeah and then it happened the computer keyboard became like a Ouija board that actually worked yeah and suddenly I'm taken up to the attic of my mind and the basement of my mind to these things I hadn't thought of, you know, like smoking a joint with Charlie Manson.

Yeah. You know, charging my car at O.J. Simpson's house. Yeah. All that stuff, just like things I haven't thought of in many years. It kind of brought it all together. Just the practice of typing one thing would lead you to another and another. That's the best part of writing. Outside of that, it's a miserable undertaking.

Yeah. I have found. Exactly. But I literally couldn't wait to get back to the computer every day. I'd had some TV show or movie to work on. I'd go, come on, what time do I get released? I just wanted to get back to the dressing room

with the home and start writing more. Because it's like an excavation. Exactly. Yeah. The best Exactly. Yeah. The best kind. Yeah. And were you able to experience the emotions? Very much so.

I'm even feeling some of it right now. Yeah? Like what about in particular? Just about my daughter wanting to do that and how much my kids mean to me and how much my grandkids mean to me. Yeah. The fact that they all really love the book. I did it for them and they love it, which was this, that was a stated goal. Well, that's like, that's an amazing thing too, because so many times, you know, no matter who your kids are, who you are, your kids have,

they're their own people. So they don't really know the depth of you. Right. So, you know, and you had a fairly colorful life. I did. And I'm not going to remember it forever. So get it down now and hand it to them in printed form so they can remember. And what were their reactions to it, the ones that could grasp it? They flipped out. They thought it was really good. But they made me believe they think it's good. Well, I mean, did they know most of the stories or some they didn't know?

They knew most of them. My grandkids didn't know maybe a quarter of them. How old are your grandkids? I've got a 20-year-old grandson, a 15-year-old granddaughter, and a two-year-old grandson. Wow. I'm blessed. I could have great grandkids. This is possible. Yeah, it might happen. It might happen. Good talking to you, Ed. Always great talking to you, Mark. Thank you. And the book is great. It's good stories and they're all separate. So it's not like one. It's one narrative, but each one really is sort of a raconteur's book. Bless you, pal.

All right, buddy. There you go. To the Temple of Tranquility and Step On It is available now wherever you get your books. And Step On It is available now wherever you get your books. Now, okay, so Jonah, Jonah Ray, Jonah Ray Rodriguez. Like, I would have pronounced it Rodriguez, but, you know, he can do what he wants. You know what I mean? It's his fucking name, right?

It's spelled kind of like Rodriguez, but it's Rodriguez. It's okay. It's all right. I knew him as Jonah Ray back in the day, but he's in this new movie. It's kind of a horror movie, a horror comedy, a satire of a horror movie, but kind of a horror movie because many horror movies are kind of satires. It's called Destroy All Neighbors, and it's now playing in theaters and streaming on Shudder. He did it with Alex Winter. It's a lot of that over-the-top gory stuff.

A lot of blood and guts and funny. You know, that great mixture of funny and blood and guts. Got some funny people in it. Alex is in it. He's got Tom Lennon's in there. But it was good to see Jonah. It was funny because sometimes I get overwhelmed and I forget to check my schedule. And I was doing a Zoom notes meeting with my good friend,

Sam Lipsight, about the script we're working on. And the doorbell rings. I wasn't expecting anybody. And it's Jonah. I'm like, what's up? I'm like, oh, fuck, is that today? He goes, isn't it? And I'm like, yeah, I guess. I don't know. Yeah, I believe you. He's like, you want me to come back? I'm like, no, dude, let's do it. I know you. I don't know.

I don't need to go crazy with the prep. I watched a movie and we're friends. So this is me talking to Jonah Ray Rodriguez. You know, just like, boom, just happened. talking to Jonah Ray Rodriguez, you know, just like, boom. Just happened. Just happened. I guess I can leave that heater on for a minute.

I don't mind it. Maybe if I turn the turbo off. That made a difference. Yeah, maybe this conversation will get so heated that we won't need. We won't need the heat? Yeah. I just need a little bit. I just need a taste. I just need a taste of heat.

It's a little chilly in here. It's so cold. I don't understand what's happening. I don't mind it. It's not too cold. It's too cold for me. I'm going to keep the jacket on. Well, you're a Hawaii guy.

Yeah. I've never acclimated to the cold weather. You never went anywhere where you could, did you? No. I just went from Hawaii straight to here. So what am I? I hate it. The coldest I ever felt was I was leaving a show at the end of a Mystery Science Theater

tour in Minneapolis in November. And they're like, oh, just to let you know, the walkways, those little habit trails they have, they're like, oh, those are closing. I'm like, oh, it's fine. The hotel is only like two blocks away. One block in, I literally said out loud to my friends, They're like, oh, those are closing. I'm like, that's fine. The hotel's only like two blocks away. One block in, I literally said out loud

to my friends, I was like, go on without me, I'm not going to make it. Like my body just started seizing up. With the windshield, but that's real cold

in Minnesota. That's real cold, yeah. I shot a movie last January in Iowa, like outside of Des Moines in January, nighttime, sub-zero temperatures.

It was gnarly. It was me and Kirk Fox, and we were really, really upset the whole time. And did they give any of those dumb hand warmer packets? Yeah, I was like loading up with those. You got the thermal underwear on? And I had an electric jacket on underneath my wardrobe, and then we just run into the RV. Was that worth it? How'd that film come out?

I haven't seen it yet. I also got shingles during it. Oh my God. Run into like the RV. Was that worth it? How'd that film come out? I haven't seen it yet. I also got shingles during it. So. Oh my God. Yeah. I got, I was like the, uh, the, the first day we were shooting, I was like, I do not feel good. I feel like I was, I, I, my brain was feeling like, like it was cramping.

And so I looked up what an aneurysm feels like and it turns out it just happens all of a sudden. But then I went to a doctor and they're like. No time to think. No time to think. Yeah. They just, it's just, you're gone. And what a great way to go. Yeah. Quick. Yeah, you're gone. And what a great way to go.

Yeah, quick. Yeah. Just sort of like, Ouch! Yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah. It's like, Huh?

Hopefully mid-word or mid-joke or like after a setup. I don't think I feel... You know what would be funny? Hey, wait. One more thing. Am I blowing out or is that just my cans?

Or is that just my ears? No, you're not blowing out too bad. Just checking. I mean, I don't know which cans are. Hold on. Let me see. I sound messed up. You sound fine.

Oh, really? Yeah. I don't know what. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. No one's going to listen to this one. I've been doing this a long time. and i should have the equipment that works right i don't think it's an issue with blowing out on the levels it's something to do with the cans yeah but uh did you notice how

quickly i put it on myself as it being something wrong with me yeah yeah i thought you're over that what's the matter with you yeah i thought you're all better i thought i i thought i thought skinny jonah had his shit together I remember we were on the phone and you're like, I would say, yeah, I'm feeling pretty good. You're like, we were all waiting for it. We were all hoping you would come around. I don't know. It's peaks and valleys, waves. I feel generally better, I guess. Yeah. Well, I mean, you look well. I think the big weight loss over the years was good. Yeah. And I've gained some back. You know, because, you know, during the strikes. I didn't want to say anything.

Yeah, you noticed it? Yeah, don't worry. No, I didn't. I didn't. So, like, you know, the strikes really, like, that's, during the strikes I picked up a bartending gig. Yeah. Because, like, you know, it was.

Where at? I was working at a block party on York Boulevard. Oh, yeah, yeah. Yeah, between 15 and 51. Is that where your girlfriend worked or your wife? No, no, no. She works at another place now. She doesn't bartend anymore.

But like, yeah, I started, like I ran into like one of the owners and they're like, how are the strikes going? And I was like, I'm fucking scared and broke. And they're like,

do you want to bartend on the weekends? And I was like, sure. And I thought it was just like a beer place. So it would just be, you know, slurring beers. So you had to really learn

the cocktail business? I was like, which one's shaken and which one's stirred? Oh, no. This one comes with the big ice cube. It's sort of like baptism and fire of mixology. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And it's like I'm super very fortunate that I was able to get any kind of job. Did you pull it off? Yeah, I'm still there, man. You're still bartending on weekends? Yeah, yeah. And also like the Vidiot's, the theater, they've asked me to do a couple nights. I don't know what's happening. I might be becoming more bartender

than artist. They got a bar at Vidiot's? Yeah, in the lobby. A full bar? No, just beer and wine. How's that place? I haven't been over there. The screen and the sound are great. Really? Yeah, the programming is really excellent. Big screen? Big screen. It's a whole huge, nice theater. No shit. Yeah, You should present something there.

It's a lot of fun. You got me hooked up with American cinema tech and now I had to join. Yeah. I had to join. I couldn't pull the, like, Hey, I'm going to friend of the, you know, friend and family kind of thing. Yeah. But I wanted to get it.

Yeah. It's a good organization. So I joined so I could go, uh, so I could get hip to the tickets. Yeah. Well then also Paris, Texas tomorrow at the Egyptian. Yeah. I, then also- I'm going to go see Paris, Texas tomorrow. At the Egyptian? Yeah. I haven't been there since they renovated it.

Me neither. I heard it's amazing. What a great movie to see. Yes, I love that movie. I just watched it recently. I love it. You know, you ever try to explain that movie to somebody and it's a little difficult?

Well, it was difficult for me because I didn't know what it was about. I saw it when I was in my 20s and I don't think I ever knew what it was about because the entire movie, it's all explained in the peep show. Yeah. You don't find out what's going on until then pretty much. Right. And it's

pretty heavy. It's super heavy. But that's the movie. It's like a guy was wandering around for years. You don't really know why. It's because he was a monster and his wife set him on fire. Yes. Yes. I think about so many movies I want to revisit

that I watched when I was a kid. I've been doing that. You know, because like when you're younger, it's like, and like you want to, you know, you put on the personality

of like, I'm a movie guy or I like this stuff and then you watch it and then, but you have no, you know, you're watching like

some kind of like drama and you're like, I don't get it. Why don't they just stay together? Like, what's so hard about that? Or even if you study film when you're in your 20s,

you're in your 20s. You have no idea. Even if you're trying to backload stuff into, not backload it, but load it up with things you read and think you, there's a depth you're not going to have. And you see all the movies then, but you're in your 20s. I was thinking about this the other day about, and it's not like this is cinema, but high fidelity, where when I was younger, I was thinking John Cusack was so cool. Then you watch it as a dog, you're like, what an asshole, the whole time.

And he doesn't ever really learn his lesson. It's just that his ex-girlfriend comes back. Well, yeah, we all aspire to be assholes of one kind or another. I try my best not to be, but then that also entails becoming a monster. But I mean, when you're younger, but then like that also entails like becoming a monster, you know? But I mean, like when you're younger, you know, the bad guys kind of like you have different relationships with people in movies.

Sure. And you may not see their faults in the same way because you're not a complete person. Yeah. You know, and so then you have to, but like watching grownup movies again, when you're a real grownup, I've been, I've been doing it a lot. I mean, I did it with a dog day afternoon too too, and that's why I produced it. I just re-watched that. Because when I was a kid, I think I was like, this seems a little sillier than it's supposed to be. Maybe they didn't, you know, like, I thought it was, you know, they were missing the mark. And then you watch it, and it's just such a great movie, overall movie. It's one of those old movies, too, where it's like,

it is intense, and it is is dramatic and it is funny. It just has all the stuff. Yeah, yeah. It doesn't have to be one thing. It's amazing. And I'm not even sure I ever saw it. Because if I saw it, I saw it when I was a kid. Yeah.

Because my parents brought me. And when you know things culturally, you just think, like, I'm pretty sure I saw Casablanca. Exactly. Yeah. And you have to do it on purpose. Like I remember you having, there's movies I have to do on purpose still that I haven't done yet. Well, because sometimes you're looking at a movie,

you're like, I know I should watch it, but it's probably going to bum me out. Or just sort of like, I don't know, man. I don't even understand why I don't watch some movies. Yeah. Like there's some amazing foreign movies from back in the day that I don't watch because I'm just like, I don't know.

Yeah. But then I watch this Anatomy of a Fall and I'm like, I like French movies. Yes. Yeah, yeah, exactly. It's like, you know, I always think it's like, I should probably eventually see Seven Samurai because I've seen all the other versions of the movie. Well, that's good.

That's a good movie. Yeah. Yeah. Seven Samurai is great. Raushaman is great. Yeah. Yeah. The High and Low.

It's great. But I don't know, you know, I don't think I've seen those since I was in college. It's been a long time. And those theoretically, if a movie is like a masterpiece masterpiece why not check in with it every year or two yeah well i think that because we have so much uh so many options to watch so many things yeah that we uh rarely re-watch things as much as we've been doing it more i've been trying to do it more like re-watching stuff i think it's such a it's such a nice thing to do because you pick up on stuff you yeah i think i just i think i re-watched midnight run three times in the last six months. Really?

Like as like, is it because it's comforting or because you're just finding more and more stuff about it? It's just funny. Yeah. I mean, it is such a great movie. It's like, it's, it's very funny. I like, it's like there's, you know, when they do buddy movies like that or stuff, it's like everything's a little too silly, you know, these days when they make that kind of movie. I'd rather they make like a movie like that where it's just like, you know, Charles Grodin is just like maybe one of the best. Totally. And De Niro was pretty available too.

Like the moment where De Niro finally gives in, it's kind of great. I mean, it's touching. Yeah. You know, I don't know why I, like there was another movie I just did that too, where I'm just, I'm just going to watch the beginning of this. Yeah. Just get a little, and I just watched the whole fucking thing. That's why I've been loving Pluto, you know, that like, that streaming service.

Because it's like, I'm so tired of looking for something and feeling I should, you know, I have my list of all these important movies. The Red Shoes, you know, they say The Red Shoes is one of the best movies ever made. You know, like, and then I pull up to, you know, Pluto, and there's some movie that like I've been meaning to watch or that I haven't seen in a long time. It's like five minutes in. And like old TV. And I go, oh. And then I watch the whole thing. It's great.

I miss that. Yeah, I miss coming in the middle. Yeah. Where you're just finishing. You don't feel pressure. Yeah, exactly. Oh, good. This is a good part.

What I just watched. I've been watching some old ones too. I watched They Live by Night. Okay. A Nick Ray movie. Oh, yeah, yeah. With Charlie Granger. That's right, yeah. It watched They Live by Night. Okay. Nicholas, a Nick Ray movie. Oh, yeah, yeah. With Barley Granger. That's right, yeah.

It's pretty good. Yeah, another one that I'm like, you see it. Well, there's a million of those noir things that like, how are you ever

going to catch up with that shit? Yeah, exactly. But they're all, and sometimes you think like it's old, but like they're pretty compelling.

Yes. Yeah, exactly. I mean like I was, you know, only a few years ago that I finally watched Night of the Hunter. With Charles Lawton?

Yeah. Bob Mitchum? Yeah, it's so, so great. And, like, you know, we even, like, threw a reference of it into that new movie I did. It's like, it was just, you know, it's such a fun, weirdly stylized movie, you know? What's going on with the Mystery Science Theater? Oh, you know, like, we did another, after it left Netflix, or left Netflix, after they didn't, like, want anymore,

you know, Joel ended up doing another Kickstarter, which I ended up making more money than the first Kickstarter we did. Yeah. And then we used that to fund a 13th season of about 12 episodes, I think, and then also, like i created a platform to premiere them on a proprietary platform and you know it was good we had some of the new cast on there and

you know i directed a few of the episodes and you know they were fun we did a union gig union gig yeah um and you know and then that went and you know then they tried to do crowd fundraise another season of it, which I was not too, I was like, it feels like going to the well of the fans a third time felt a little, and especially after the year of like after COVID and after the strikes, it's like everyone was kind of, you know. So they didn't make their mark on that fundraiser. And I feel like I put in a good amount of time on that show.

I mean, if they have me back, I'll go back. But, like, I feel three seasons is pretty good. It was a dream come true to do it at all, you know? It was a nerd dream come true. Yeah, I mean, just comedy. Nerd punk comedy dream come true. It's like, you know, the things I was watching on Comedy Central when I was growing up was, like, you know, like you and Short Attention Span Theater. The worst.

But, like, you know, like. I was such a common central when I was growing up was like, you know, like you and short attention span theater. Um, but like, you know, like I was such a square. Yes, was, um, but like the, you know, like watching that, watching kids in the hall, watching like, that's like, that was the kind of the, the

thing I was thinking about recently about like the things you, you know, do in a career and like you kind of, you, you, you know, scratch off these little things that like, you know, maybe everything

I do for the most part has been stuff that would make me feel a little less lonely if I was like a 12 year old kid. Yeah. And I take this like metaphysical ball of inspiration that have stuff I'm doing and throw it back. Sure. To the past. And hopefully I catch it and continue to do it. But also I realized that's just me trying to impress my inner child, but not actually hang out with them. Well, yeah.

Well, I mean, you got to get them up to speed. And sometimes you lose touch with them. And then when you actually manifest things that he once liked, perhaps there's closure there. But I don't know if it is that. It's like, I'll go back to my inner child and be like, hey, you liked Mystery Science Theory. Look, I'm on that now. They're like, oh, that's really cool.

But you should just probably talk to me and hang out with me. No, no, no, no, no. Hold on. You liked stand-up, right? You did a Comedy Central stand-up show. I just really need to grow up. Yeah, yeah. I mean, that's kind of like no, hold on. You liked stand-up, right? You did a Comedy Central stand-up show. I just really need to grow up. Yeah, yeah. I mean, that's kind of like,

that's why I stopped doing stand-up. Really? Yeah. I don't know if we ever talked about that or early 2020, I... I don't know. Was there stand-up to stop?

I was... The last time I saw you do stand-up was at the Masonic Hall in Detroit. Yes, that's right. You opened for me. Yeah, I did three shows with you

and I had to bail in the middle of our... Yeah, what happened? Because I had to I was doing, I did three shows with you and I had to like bail in the middle of like our, yeah, what happened? Cause I had to go, well, I did all the shows, but I had to fly to Cleveland to go to my like friends, my childhood friend's dad's funeral. And then like, that's right. Yeah. Right. I remember. Yeah. It was sad. Yeah. Super sad. And it was like, it was a little, cause like, you know, my dad had just died a few years before that. Yeah. Yeah. Um, but it was, uh, you know, it was early 2020 and I booked a bunch of my own shows. Um, you know, one nighters in the Pacific Northwest. So I did was, you know, it was early 2020, and I booked a bunch of my own shows. Yeah. You know, one-nighters in the Pacific Northwest.

So I did, like, you know, Seattle, Portland. Right before COVID? Yeah, like in January, February. And I filled up the shows, and the shows went great. Yeah. But I just didn't, wasn't feeling it. Like, I just didn't feel it. And I started to kind of go, like, you know, there was this feeling I had after my dad died

where I wasn't sure if I wanted to do stand-up anymore and the joke I had about it was like uh I think it's because I don't know who to try and prove wrong anymore yeah I get that and and then I kind of started to worry who am I yelling at yeah yeah what am I like what am I doing this this thing that kind of why am I still mad it brings me a bunch of anxiety every single time and And it's, you know, worked out really well. But it was, you know, I started to kind of feel, you know, 2020, I was, you know, almost towards 40. And I realized I started to feel like an incomplete person. You know, I feel like I, it's like, you know, I started at 20 years old and like I got attention kind of early on.

Yeah. Like I met all of you guys and started like being on the M bar shows and I got on TV kind of fast and, you know, it's not like I was like, I like blew up, but like I got attention, but I was like 21, you know, 20 years old, 21 years old. And I kind of like, was this like, you know, floppy hipster kid. And I was like, well, this is what my material is about. This is what's getting me attention and jobs and money. And I was like, I better stay like this, like mentally and emotionally. Oh, yeah.

So I can continue to have this output that people are coming to me for. And it started to go away on you. Yeah, I just kind of encased my, you know, and then I started like getting towards 40 and go, why do I feel like an incomplete adult? Why do I feel like. Right. But also you can't feed it either because like all your peers are growing up and you're like you're all your generation is all growing up and whatever was going on when you know 20 years ago uh and and 10 years after that i came to that late but there is a generation of that that kind of comedy ultimately just faded away yeah yeah i really did and so

you know it seems like a natural course of things yeah that as your generation got older you were like i don't think this is what we talk about anymore yeah yeah like it's like you know not getting girls or you know jerk it off or nerdy stuff like it's like i kind of was just like i was like what do i what am i doing right i don't feel like an adult and i'm like you know like i'm i my late thirties. I'm like almost 40. Like I should not be like, you know, you know, I started having a, to hate having an opinion on things or a take on things. You know, I started like really resenting everything. And, you know, like going into comedy, like I started doing standup because I didn't know how else to get into show business. Right. Like I always loved it it, but, like, you know, you come to L.A. and, you know, like, it always felt like doing comedy was almost like this unattended back door

into show business and entertainment. It wasn't so much a back door. It was kind of a front door. It was just left open. Yeah, for sure. Yeah, because you think you had the wherewithal. You put your name on a list

at an open mic, and you get on stage, and you're in, like, L.A. or New York. It's like you're in show business, maybe. It's interesting, though, the whole idea of that, your generation of alt comedy, everyone kind of grew up

and that whole world is kind of gone. Yeah. And a few people surfaced out of that, but not many. Most of the comics that really made good on it were kind of club comics a bit before. Yeah, yeah, definitely. And then the whole nerd-ness thing.

You were there in Chris's. And that was the other part of that whole thing of like, you know, being a part of that scene and then the whole nerd, you know, takeover of culture. And I, you know, really benefited from that and always felt a little out of place with it, you know, because it's like I wasn't necessarily, you know, I like the things I like, but some of them were nerdy. Some of them were not. Right. So like the nerds didn't really, you know, think I things i like but some of them were nerdy some of them were not right like the nerds didn't really you know think i was nerdy enough and then like you know is that true or is that your inner nerd saying that you're like did you actually have confrontations with nerds who were like we don't think you have the credentials yeah sometimes that would happen at live shows

you know they would just feel like it's like you don't even like star trek i go it just is a little boring for me i get it now as an adult a little more sure but it's like i don't even like star trek i go it just is a little boring for me i get it now as an adult a little more sure but it's like i don't like you know and then so like everyone's you know little little tiny little gatekeepers and so you know i i didn't like any of it i just needed a place to work yeah but like also at the same time you know it's like that was the thing when me and kumail were doing the meltdown show sure was in the back of a comic book store but like it was just a good comedy show, you know,

no one, and you know, the comics that tried to come in, like, you know, I remember, so David Tell has like always been one of my favorites. He came and he started kind of be like,

oh my God, make jokes about comic book. Like, and everyone, the audience there was just like, no, just, just do jokes.

Yeah, just do jokes. And anyone who came would always be funny. In the age of my generation, we're just sort of like, what's the context? You've made me come to this place. You know what I mean?

Like he, you know, he's just. Yeah. I've been told I got to do this show. Yeah. This hip show. What is the angle here? Yeah. Well, that was always the thing about those nerd audiences is that sometimes the biggest

hacks got the biggest laughs because they didn't know the difference. There was no big judgment based on the integrity of comedy. Yeah. There's just a bunch of fucking kids. Exactly. no big judgment based on the integrity of comedy. Yeah. It was just a bunch of fucking kids. Exactly. And it's like a lot of people there, it's like, you know, they didn't, you know, like if someone was saying something they like knew about, fine. But that's not what they were there for. In fact, they probably judged those comics more harshly.

I resented every minute of it. Sure. But any time, you know, any kind. No. I mean, I resented that. Like, I just resented that there was this sort of, they were aware that they were taking over culture and it bothered me. Yeah, I mean, it's hard for me to defend or anything like that, just because I benefited from it. No, but everybody was good. It all worked out. There were some funny people and there were still, you know, some funny people came out of that and they're still plugging along.

There's a lot of people. I don't know where they are, but you, but you just, but you, you drew a line though. You said no more standup. Yeah. I just did. I burnt out. I really, really burnt out. I didn't feel good about it.

Um, but also that wasn't the thing that was carrying you, you know, you want, it was all the other jobs I got from it. Like, you know, but you know, I had the, we had the show on Comedy Central and I got, you know, those Comedy Central special and put out records. Like, you know, I did all this stuff, you know, like you know but you know i had the we had the show on comic central and i got you know those comic central special and put out records like that's right yeah i did all the stuff you know like um you really did it and i just didn't but it didn't you know feel like but every time i got to do something else like when i did that there was that ceaser show i did like hidden america uh the bourdain parody show yeah yeah um like when i did that it was like it was just another reminder Like every time I did like film sketches or like music videos or some of that, where it's

like a collaborative effort of people making something. And it's like, I realized that was such a better way for me to convey my comedic ideas. Yeah. But you also had chops and confidence from doing standup for all those years. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, even now, like, it's like, you know, even though I don't do standup, like, um, I've been directing specials for other people. Like, I directed Kyle Kinane's special, Shocks and Struts, and I did Kurt Braunohr's special, Perfectly Stupid, before that. And, you know, that's like with Kurt's special, like, I worked on the set with him and I said, you know, like, it's stuff I could never tell myself really with my own material, but I was able to go like, I was like, Hey, you don't need this. You know, you don't need this preamble.

Like just get to it. Right. Or, you know, like this should be over here. You don't realize, like I had the bird's eye view and all the skills and knowledge of how standup worked. Yeah. I saw the Kyle one. That was good.

And the Kyle was great. Cause it's like, you know, he wanted to do it specifically at there. And like, I mainly worked on like, you know, I tried to, I was like, I was like, Hey, you should kind of move these things around because you double back. But like, it's like at the same time, he's like, Hey, just don't like all handle the material. You don't have to do kind of what you did with Kurt. With Kurt, like I tagged stuff and like hey, you should kind of move these things around because you need to double back. But at the same time, he's like, hey, just don't all handle the material. You don't have to do kind of what you did with Kurt. With Kurt, I tagged stuff and added it and had fun with it. It was collaborative.

But with Kyle, I was like, I'm just going to capture your show, and I want it to be energetic. Where was that shot of Cameron? I had Wise Guys in Utah. Yeah, Salt Lake. Yeah, Salt Lake. And so going in there with Sean. It's going to be enough space to shoot that place. But that's what I liked about it,

because I was used to that with the way Lance shot the Meltdown show. So I was like, let's not make- He had less space. Yeah, we had even less space there. Wiseguys is bigger, and I was just like, well, let's not make it look like we're just doing a special at some theater. Let's not try to make it look like anything it's not. Let's just utilize the space.

And so let's bring a TV taping to the club the club right and so shove cameras in there and have them all handheld and have it like you know and also you don't have any boom uh room for a boom we did i didn't want one yeah i didn't i didn't i didn't want to have that shot yeah um i i wanted it to feel like a little docu style almost kind of like the uh the shots of stand-up in lenny yeah um yeah it didn't look like Wise Guys. Yeah, yeah, and like lighting it a specific way, but then also wanting to, because Kyle can be so

animated, so he does a lot of good stuff with his face, but then also he does a lot of turning around kind of bits, and so between the two shows, moving cameras around to be able to capture that stuff and work between the two sets and cut back and forth. That's what you've got to do, yeah. To make it seem like you have, like, you know,

20 cameras in that place. Well, yeah, you just need to be able to pick up, you know, what you need. Yeah, and that's the thing. I don't know. No one's gonna reinvent the fucking comedy special,

and I've seen every goddamn attempt to do that. Sure. Because it's never gonna be as exciting as being there. So you can't, like, you know, you can't just let it play. Well, yeah, I don't think

anyone expects that. No, but you have to kind of... I mean, I think everyone knows how to watch a comedy special now. Sure. But you also, like, you know, you can't just let it play. Well, yeah, I don't think anyone expects that. I mean, I think everyone knows how to watch a comedy special now. Sure. But you also, like, you know, you need to re-engage. The way people's perception of time and, like, you know, brain stimulation happens now. You need to have, like, in my opinion, you need to have, like, a roaming camera to get,

like, little weird shots of the show throughout because, like, you need to re-engage the person's eyes and so they'll see something new that they hadn't seen before and they will re-engage i wonder it's kind of how like you know their prefrontal cortex goes bing oh that's new you have to give them a little something new i guess i don't know i i don't know i have to pay attention to how i watch things because i can really kind of watch things yeah i don't find like if you know if something's not moving in 30 seconds i'm like what's happening yeah but you're you know like it's like but i'm old you're old like it it's like you know there's there's little tricks and it's not like

you know like that old mtv 90s thing where it's like every three seconds i think was their rule you know and there's always that like a side low angle camera that was in black and white that they would go to and go back um but there's like little tricks you can do to make it a little extra so you're doing a lot of the directing a lot of the acting so you just like you know that's what so you accomplished exactly what you wanted to out of stand lot of the acting. So you just like, you know, so you accomplished exactly what you wanted to out of stand-up. Yeah. You fuck.

You were never real. See, that's why I never wanted to bring it up. Because when I started doing stand-up, there was like guys like David Taylor and Ari Shaffir. They're like, I was like, oh, I just really want to like act and make movies.

And they're like, don't tell anybody that. You should only be doing stand-up for the pure art of it. And I was like, but I still like, I still like it, you know? It's like, I like playing music but i'm not like it's like i just do it as a hobby you know but we all wanted to do those things and maybe you get the opportunity to do them maybe you don't but you got to there's a lot of people we know that didn't get to yeah and i don't know if they tried or who the fuck knows i can't you know show business is random

it's yeah it's that's a nice word for something. Yeah. I mean, it's like. It's horrendous. It is. It's, but I don't know what else I'd want to do. It's, you know, like. I mean, if you're doing things that you want to do and you can do what you want to do, then that's good.

Sure. But if you're doing things because you have to do them or you're desperate. Oh, yeah. It's not about doing other things. I mean, you get to a certain, you get to a certain point in your career where you're like, you want to where you want to do things, but you can't do what you want to do, but you want to do anything. Yeah. And that's a bad place to be. Yeah.

I mean, I worked as a producer and writer in a lot of e-shows and magazine TV and countdown shows. And I would always tell myself, oh, this is a little bit of a, like, you know, it's close to what I want to do. So you're learning. You can do that. But I'm also like, who am I to ask for more than this? No, but I mean, it's just a matter of, you know, you're kind of getting the hours in and then you can do, you know, you're directing comedy specials.

Yeah. Some. And acting. Yeah. I am. What is it? But I'm also bartending, you know, it's like, I also. That's your choice.

That's, it wasn't really a choice, you know, it was like, I like, you know it's like that's your choice that's it wasn't really a choice you know it's like i like you know i took out by not like doing podcasts anymore like you know my own podcast by not doing stand-up anymore i took out a bunch of revenue and kind of you know uh placed bets and like what i wasn't really expecting was a pandemic and a strike sure to kind of i mean i've made i've gotten to be in a lot of movies i i you know i think are a lot of fun lately and like i you know got to you know be a producer i want. And like, I, you know, got to be a producer. I want to get like direct to some stuff, but like, it's like at the same time, it's, uh, I'm, I'm, you know, not enough money. It's not enough money. Um, and that's okay. You know, it's like whatever it takes to kind of keep on making the things I want to make. That's all

that really matters to me. You know? Um, uh, it's, it's, you gotta set aside ego. And also this idea that we should be acting like we're, uh, you know, successful is I think another problem is very pervasive social media. It's like, you know, you just kind of go like, it's like, Hey, I'm doing this thing. Hey, I'm on this thing. And people just think that's like, you know, you must be making money, but there's a lot of people that are just struggling to get by because there's not a lot of money in showbiz anymore. That's true. That's a good point. And it's something people need to hear the thing about acting

successful i don't know i don't know if everybody does it but you know even if you just say you're doing things people assume you're doing okay i always ask myself like how the fuck is that guy making money i i you know if i were to like take a step back and look at my career i'd be like i got here's a here's a good example um when i like i like you know i posted a thing on instagram about the strikes and you know like the discrepancy in money and pay and stuff like that. And this is what the strikes are for. I said, and also people just assume. It's like if you look up my net worth on the internet, it says I'm a millionaire.

And I say anyway, so I'm bartending. Yeah. It says I have over a million dollars. And so I don't i don't i don't yeah that's the thing i don't know if just because i'm like not that good or i'm bad with money or you know whatever or they don't mean it's a combination of all the things i never look at any of that shit but like you know like so i i posted that i was like a bartender um and um judd apto uh he like messaged me and was like he's like is this like an andy kaufman bit and uh i wasn't sure if he was joking or not and like uh i was like i was like oh uh yeah man um

yeah it's like every time someone says are you jonah ray i go how dare you insult me yeah i'm nothing like that guy um but then and then i wasn't sure if he's joking then like he mentions it to uh kumail and he's like uh you know he's like oh is jonah really bartending and i was like yeah there's a strike going on like it's like you know there's no work for anybody and he's like, you know, he's like, oh, is Jonah really bartending? And Kumail's like, yeah, there's a strike going on. Like, it's like, you know, there's no work for anybody. And he was, it's like,

and Judd's like perception was like, he's like, but he's so funny. I just figured he was a millionaire. And then like my reaction to that is like, Judd, I'm like a straight white tall dude. If you didn't make me a millionaire, then no one would have.

What do you say to that? I, he was just like, he just laughed, you know, I was supposed to meet with him next week. I don't know. Uh, like it's like, uh,

it worked. Your whole ploy worked. Yeah. My little violin. You've got your meeting with Judd. You pulled it off. I, you know,

it's like, but it's at the same time. It's like, I'm not, I'm done assuming one thing's going to lead to another thing. Um, because it's like, you know,

it rarely ever does i don't know i just know that uh i do the stand-up yeah and i do i go do the stand-up yeah and i come in here and i do this yeah and then you're tired the other stuff well i i'm just tired because like my brain's on fire all the time for one reason or another. Yeah. But I do a lot of, I enjoy doing this still and I enjoy doing standup as well. But there comes to a point where it's sort of like, do I know how to stop? Am I doing it because I like it? Am I doing it because I'm still excited about what I'm doing? Or am I just doing it because I've always just done it?

Well, that's the thing. It's like, you know, I started when I was 20. You were, I think, 1920, 21, something like that? Something like that, yeah. Yeah. It's like, that's the thing it's like you know i started when i was 20 you were i think we 1920 and 21 some of them something like that yeah yeah it's like that's their entire adult lives it's like you know like yours you know three or four more decades than me but like uh when did i officially start i think i did my first stand-up when i was like 21 or 22 and then i started and then like a couple of years, 88, I started working. So I was 25. Yeah.

And then you just kind of, that's the thing. I felt like, you know, that burnout I had when I stopped, it was like, I felt like I'd, since I was 20, sprinting. Yeah. And like just running to try and just like get to the next thing, get to the next thing. And I was just. Whatever. Just a desperate, spiteful, angry for me. Yeah. Yeah.

I mean, I don't think I like, you know, angry for me. Yeah. Yeah. And for me, I don't think I, like, you know, I never, like, wanted to admit it. Like, it's like, you know, how, like, jealous. I never wanted to admit how jealous I was of, like, Harris Whittles. And so that was such a wild thing when he died. Like, when he died, like, I was like. You won that one. I mean. When he died, like, it's like people, like, it's like people who knew me, like, were like,

it was like, how does that make you feel? I said, I don't know. How did fucking Salieri feel when Mozart died? Wow. You know, because he was a brilliant brilliant guy and you know it's like there's nothing you know like a little death i can kind of throw a wrench and things that's the thing like with my dad like when i was just like i was like i don't like and why my motivation was just gone to do any of the stuff because it's like you know i wasn't there to try and be like it's like see it works dad

you know yeah well i i find that with me it's quite the same. It's just a matter of me coming, you know, circling the same topics, same conversations, just different ways. You know, the same sort of whatever my existential struggles are or whatever my observations are. They seem to be me rephrasing themes that I've done over and over again. That's you just trying to figure it out, though. Yeah, I know, but, like, it also implies that I'm kind of on a slow circling back. Yeah. You know what I mean? Well, yeah.

Cause you've been doing nothing. It's like, that was another thing. I was like, I feel like I exploited every aspect of my life, like over the years. And I was like, did I even experience anything in an honest way? Or was I just like experiencing things and going, you know, that'd be funny. Or did I really recover from any kind of traumatic moment in my childhood or in my early, you know, life it's like, or did I just like joke around about it so much that I felt okay about it? Well, where do you, how do you answer those questions now?

I don't know. It's like, I guess like through art we process. But I mean, like now that you've stopped though, are you processing? Now it's kind of starting to come to a head. I'm like, you know, like through art we process but i mean like now that you've stopped though are you processing yeah now it's kind of starting to come to a head i'm like you know like through like therapy i'm going to like i'm going to aca meetings now okay um you know adult from alcoholics trying to address a lot of that stuff because it's like it's you know it's you when you said like it's like when i was feeling good in that time you know it was also like i think you said that when it was the pandemic so it's like no one was like feeling anything you know it like, and then I think I can't remember who it was. It was just like, he saw me once.

He was like, he was like, Hey, Joe's here as, uh, as anxious as ever. And I was like, Oh,

I didn't realize I was revealing that as much as I did. And so like trying to kind of figure out that stuff. And especially, especially after like, you know, like my friend Neil died, which is like, that's right.

You know, like it's, that was weird because it's like how much I felt that was a three years ago. This past Monday is when I found him. Yeah. Was it during COVID? Yeah, it was during COVID.

It was a 20, uh, uh, January 8th, uh, 20 and everybody. What a nice guy. Yeah.

Yeah. And it's weird. The death during COVID. Cause you know, Lynn died during COVID. It's like, it's like it happened in this weird zone of time. And no one could just come together easily.

That's right. That's why. Yeah. And it was real tricky. It was like, you know, even like finding him, it was. Did they figure out how he died? It was, you know, it's pretty much some complications from drinking. I mean, like the isolation, you know, the isolation kind of, I think, really messed him up because he's a very social guy.

Yeah. And, you know, I was with him a couple of days before in the mountains and then, you know, I just swung by his place and just, you know, like, uh, I was like, Oh, it looks like he's like sleeping on the couch, you know? And like, I'm like knocking on his window on his porch, trying to wake him up. And like, uh, and then, and I, and then I like, you know, started like, cause I was on his wifi. So I was able to start like playing dumb stuff on his TV.

Right. And I started like, you know, I was like, I was like, I got to get this guy awake. Yeah. And it's like, it's funny. Cause it's like, I didn't even see, I didn't, couldn't even like, I was like looking in it. I was like, I was like, it looks like he's breathing. Like, why wouldn't he be breathing?

Right. Cause he was just like, it looks like he was sleeping on his couch. And then, um, I like played like, you know, uh, a dumb song. I played like jingle farts, like through his TV. Yeah. And then, um, I was like, I was like, I know how I'm going to get him awake. I'm going to play a standup clip of his ex wife. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. And then like, it did it work. And that's when I kind of like, that might have killed him. Yeah. He was holding on until that moment.

But yeah, it wasn't until like, I kind of like noticed that the, the, uh, the, the color of his skin on his arm was weird. And then I had to break into the house and,

uh, yeah, yeah. It was, it's real brutal. And you know, the thing is I had to, and of course,

like, you know, you know, in those kinds of times, like a bunch of funny stuff. I mean, you did such a great job of the, uh,

you know, the Lynn stuff and your life special, like, and like, it was really, really cool to see that. Cause it's like, you know, like I kind of, you know, all lens stuff and you're like special, like, and like, it was really, really cool to see that. Cause it's like, you know,

like I kind of, you know, all the things that happened that day, like he died the same day as Tommy Lasorda, you know, the baseball coach and his, his, uh,

place was right across the street from a little league field called Tommy Lasorda field of dreams. So, you know, I'm sitting on the curb, like sobbing, waiting for the, like,

you know, like police or someone to show up and this like, you know, nice Audi pulls up and it's like this couple in their Dodger gear. And they're going, are you doing all right? And I was like, yeah,

yeah, I'm fine. I'm like, why are these people talking to me? And they're like, he was a great man. I was like, what?

I didn't tell anyone. They're like, such a good coach. And I was like, all right. And they're like, it's like, we're here with you.

And then they drove. And I was like, and I mentioned it to my friend. He's like, oh yeah, Tommy will sort of die. And I was like, Jesus Christ. And they're like, it's like, we're here with you. And then they drove. And I was like, and I mentioned it to my friend. He says like, oh yeah, Tommy will sort of die. And I was like, Jesus Christ.

And like, it's like a bunch of funny stuff like that happened. Like, you know, it's like, you know, when I was, when I busted open the window,

but I couldn't get through because of the bars at first. Uh, I was like everything on his porch, I was throwing at him. Yeah. And like, it's like, you know,

he had little like whittling things and like a little like, like glue and stain for like all these things he was working on his porch. And I was like throwing it at him. And so when the cops came, they asked me, they're like, it's like, you know, he had little like whittling things and like a little like, like glue and stain for like all these things he was working on his porch. And I was like throwing it at him. And so when the cops came, they asked me, they're like, did he like huff glue or paint or like, I was like, no, you fucking whittled these dumb horses, you know? Yeah. Yeah. Um, and then the coroner, uh, when he got out of his van, tripped and hit his head on

the side of his van, denting it like a bunch of funny stuff happened. Wow. And these are the things I'm telling you. Fun short film. it sounds like. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly.

But that's how like, you know, I just would joke around about these moments instead of like processing this kind of traumatic thing. Yeah, I know. But like, yeah, but that's not terrible. I mean, because ultimately what is processing look like? You're only going to do it at the pace you can do it at. And by joking about it, you're not not to do it at the pace you can do it at and by joking about it you're not not processing that's true you know it's like i think um it's you're not not processing it but

you're maybe not giving it the weight um that it deserves yeah but i mean but how much crying you're gonna do i don't know dad god damn that's a good thing good thing you never had. I was trying to get a do. Fucking cry baby. Walk it off. Come on. I just know that when I was initially in grief that I could not control the crying. I could have. Yeah.

And it would happen everywhere. And, you know, like even though I wasn't seeing that many people and, you know, and it was unavoidable. So I was experiencing those feelings and, and going in, if I go back to those feelings, I can still, you know, access the feelings and the, the, the, this sort of horrible, um, like the, the, I had to deal with the whole day of dying thing, you know, cause she was, you know, she's in the hospital and, you know, and we were all dealing with it, but like you were there. Yeah. I,, cause she was, you know, she's in the hospital. Yeah. And you know, and we were all dealing with it, but like.

You were there. Yeah. I, I wasn't at the hospital. I couldn't go to the hospital. Oh, that's right. Cause it was fucking,

yeah, that's another weird. Dude, you know, but you know, but, but what the, I guess the point I'm trying to make is like in terms of trauma processing and

stuff, cause I've done some of it around other things. Yeah. And you know, I know that that being funny is a way to deflect emotion. I get that. But I don't know that it is suppressing emotion. No, yeah.

I do think, you know, there's something to it. Like, you know, and it just really depends. Like, you know, that's the funny thing is, like, Neil and I, you know, like like we probably talked to each other every day for 20 years um you know uh like uh and after his dad died of cancer um you know we would always have this conversation after my yeah his dad died of cancer my dad died of a stroke like suddenly um and we would always have this conversation it's like what's worse like you know just them going right away or like the slow papal death look my dad's got dementia now i guarantee you this the the quickness is what you want yeah yeah it's funny it's like but you know like the slow, painful death. Look, my dad's got dementia now. I guarantee you this. The quickness is what you want.

Yeah, yeah, it's funny. It's like, but, you know, like the joke I've been making is, it's like, you know, after Neil dying suddenly and after my dad died suddenly, it's like, can't someone in my life please die a slow, painful death

just so I can have some closure? Yeah, I want to be able to be there for them. Yes, yeah. Just for me to have that moment. But like, yeah, it's, and now we got some gardeners. You're doing pretty good these days. You got gardeners. What day is today?

It's a Friday. Yeah, it is a garden. Nice. Not so bad. Well, what am I going to do? Do you see the size of that fucking? I don't know. I can't do it.

Well, maybe if you were tired, you'd have time to snip it. I'm not that tired. Like, I'm physically not tired. My brain, like, I get a little overwhelmed. It's anxiety tired. Like I'm physically not tired. My brain, like I get a little overwhelmed. It's anxiety tired. Yeah. Yeah. You know what I mean?

Oh, totally. Yeah. It's just sort of, I'm still trying to figure that stuff out. Yeah. I just can't, I can't get peace of mind. Cause my, you're the one that gives me no hope. Sometimes when you look at like one of your like friends that have like, you know, kind of maybe mentally similar.

And then like, I see you still struggle with it. I was like, oh, so it's just here forever? Yeah, but I'm okay. But it's just part of you. I mean, it's a difference between being sort of paralyzed by it and just sort of saying like, yeah, that's happened sometimes. Yeah. Yeah, that's true.

Do you know what I mean? What are you going to do? You can't reprogram the whole fucking thing. Yeah, can't hold on to the wind. Yeah, that's true. And that's exhausting. Yeah the whole fucking thing. Yeah, can't hold on to the wind. Yeah, that's true. And that's exhausting. Yeah. One day science will figure it out.

You try and you try. You cannot hold on to the wind. But, no, I mean, I have an inability to compartmentalize that well. So everything sort of comes in hot. Yeah. You know, like there's no difference between like, fuck, I've got to take that thing out of the fridge. Yeah. And I'm waiting for a test from the doctor.

I got to talk to you. These are of the utmost importance. Yeah. They just all have the same vibration. And then I have to sort of go, that one couldn't. You could put that out of sight. Slow that down. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. That one couldn't. You could put that one aside. Slow that down. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And then how much of that do you think is like from, you know, weird traits of like alcoholism or, you know.

I think it's a parenting thing. It's just a panic of. Because you said your parents were pretty emotionally detached, right? A little selfish. And that's huge. They were emotionally charismatic, but just not in a nurturing way. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So you kind of, yeah, there was never like, I don't know.

It has to do with that, the alcoholism and that kind of stuff. I don't know. I also quit nicotine again. Like I got back involved with that and I was off everything for a few years. I got a nicotine. I just, I'm pulling off of that again. And this is like day 12. Nice.

Exciting withdrawal. But I mean, look, I mean, there are certain things that are just part of me, but I tend, my brain just sort of like doesn't know how to relax. And instead I just get suicidal. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, there's, you know, it's always about trying to find that healthy version of dissociation, you know, and that could be a plain music for me. That's it. You know, like it's like just getting loud and just like, you know, loud guitars, loud drums. Like I also realize what you have control over and what you don't. What can you do in any moment for what you're feeling? Yeah.

What is that? You know, what's a funny thing is like with bartending, it really started to challenge my people pleasing. Oh, yeah. Where it's like, you know, I would get stressed if there was more than a couple people waiting for drinks. I was like, oh, I'm ruining their good time. Yeah. Oh. And like.

A codependent bartender. Yeah. Where's that bit? Yeah. I mean, maybe SN, I'm ruining their good time. Yeah. Oh. And like, uh. A codependent bartender. Yeah. Where's that bit? Yeah. I mean, maybe SNL did it in the nineties. It's the codependent. It would have a little jingle for it. But all bartenders are codependent.

That's the job. It really, it's like, you know, it's, uh, I, sometimes I call them, like, there's like some people that come in and sit down and they're just like, you are there to give them a drink and to listen and talk to them. I call them punishers. Sometimes they're great, but sometimes they'll just slowly reveal themselves to you, and it's not good. It gets worse and worse the more you give them. Here comes a regular.

Exactly. Call out my name. And it's funny because it's like, you know, it's funny you say that, too, because I I think a lot about like, you know, one of my favorite bands is Dillinger Four out of Minneapolis. I really do think like they are the successors to the style of the replacement. It's not musically, but stylistically and, you know, idea wise. But but they're like, you know, those guys are all bartenders. And like it's like I think that, you know, that's the kind of stuff that makes me feel good. It's you know, they they have amazing lyrics are very poetic poetic and you know they're uh provided with this uh slice of

humanity uh i like that how you you're slowly framing your shift from comedy to bartending as the correct move creatively for you very good well these you know we can always try i can only try and justify uh my descent into obscurity. I don't know. So tell me, let's talk about this movie because I almost didn't watch it all. Yeah, it's not for you. I don't know if it's not for me. I mean, I think, but I say that like, well, that's, I just, I was working on this joke.

It's also like 85 minutes, dude. As I get older, I say this, I'm like, is this terrible or am I just not getting it? Yeah. I could be both. Two things could be true, as they say. No, but I am capable of watching things that are not for me. Sure, yeah. And I know that the movie Destroy All Neighbors, it is a take on a type of horror movie or several.

Is a take on a type of horror movie or several? Yeah. It's, you know, hearkening back to that practical effects stuff from like the 80s, like Basket Case or Brain Damage or some of that early, you know, Peter Jackson stuff. Oh, yeah. You know, it's like, and we only had two million to make it. But it's sourced. Like, you know, you know what you're trying to do. Well, we're not. This is the genre you're fucking with.

This is, and like, you know, it's like, it's not a parody as much as it's like, we just tried to make one of those movies. No, no, I know. It didn't feel like a parody. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And like, you know, Alex Winner, who also made those types of movies, he made a movie called Freaked in the early 90s. Yeah, I remember Freaked. And, you know, it's like, you know, that kind of stuff. And he directed it?

No, he was a co-producer with me on it. Who directed it? This guy, Josh Forbes, does a lot of commercials and music videos. But Alex is the main weirdo. He's the main villain. And he shows up later as like a lawyer. Yeah, yeah, I saw that. Yeah's the main villain, and he shows up later as a lawyer. Yeah, yeah, I saw that. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Gotta get his face in there somewhere. Sure, sure. But the guy who did his effects is the same guy who did Leprechaun and Basket Case. So it's like, you know, we have-

With the costume, you mean? Yeah, his design. It's crazy. Yeah, all this stuff. A lot of guts. A lot of guts and gloop. Yeah. It's, you know, like, again,

like I was saying, it's like that kind of like, these are movies I loved so much as a kid. Like, you know, Street Trash and Basket Case, of course course like return of the living dead like i love gore and i love comedy um and i just like uh you know it's like now i i did one of those i love like evil dead too so it's like you know yeah yeah and then we also but like we also like there's

like you know and some of the horror kids might not notice it but like you know we also pulled from like delicatessen and like you know barton fink and stuff like that yeah yeah you know the hallway and sure the hallways yeah yeah it's like you know it's just it was it was fun it's like you We also pulled from Delicatessen and Barton Fink and stuff like that. Oh, yeah, yeah. In the hallway. Sure, the hallways. Yeah, yeah. It was fun. It's a low-budget little splatter comedy. But it seems like now with the cameras available, a low-budget doesn't have to look bad.

No, it's like— Your low-budget does not look like those old fucking gritty movies. You know what's's funny though. It's like, but materials are more expensive, uh, and, and time,

uh, everything, everything just costs more. Plus like with those old cameras, like old, they could get away with so much more because you couldn't see everything exactly. Sure.

So like, you know, the, the grittiness of the 60 millimeter being blown up to 32, right. You know, for its release in theaters, it's like,

it's going to hide a lot of strings. It's going to hide a lot of seams. Yeah. You can't hide anything. Wow. Yeah. But I, you theaters. It's like, it's going to hide a lot of strings. It's going to hide a lot of like the seams. Yeah, you can't hide anything. Wow. Yeah. But I, you know, I'd say I, I was very fun. We had a lot of friends involved and the music is like really fun.

We had Ryan Kattner from Man Man and Brett Morris like do all the soundtrack for it. Oh yeah. Wait, who is it? Tom Lennon. Tom Lennon shows up in it. He's super fun. Kumail shows up in it.

Oh yeah, Kumail was funny. That was funny. Yeah, Phil Hendry. Oh yeah, Phil the cop. Yeah. Played the cop. So you basically watched the whole thing. up in it. Oh, yeah. Kumail was funny. That was funny. Yeah. Phil Hendry. Oh, yeah. Phil, the cop. Yeah. Played the cop. So you basically watched the whole thing? I watched it.

Oh, okay. Oh, you almost didn't finish it. Yeah. Yeah. And it's just like, you know, it's a fun movie. No, I thought it was fun. And I thought like, you know, I thought that while watching it, though not necessarily sourced to what I know, I would think that people would enjoy it that like that shit I know. Yeah. I would think that people

would enjoy it that like that shit. Yeah, yeah, definitely. It's, you know, like I said before, it's just like the kind of, like make the kind of stuff that would, you know,

make the younger version of you feel a little less lonely. It's like, oh, there's guys like making weirdo stuff like this. Sure. That makes me feel a little safer,

a little less alone, you know? Yeah, yeah. And yeah, but also like, it looked fun. Yeah. And you did a good job acting. Thanks, thanks. Yeah. I mean, that's like, you know, like, you know yeah yeah and yeah but also like um it looked fun yeah and you did a good job acting thanks thanks yeah i mean that's like you know uh like you know that's what i was hoping for it's

like you know i never i've been a lead in like you know like tv shows yeah and like uh and and but like you know for as far as movies to be able to you know hopefully not mess up carrying a movie it was very important to me oh but you also had all those crazy puppet people. Yeah. There's a lot of public people, which is something I'm used to for Mr. Science theater. You know,

like it's like, everyone's like, what was that like? I was like, I've been already doing it. Also. I've always enjoyed like, you know,

even in sketch when I did that kind of stuff, like being the straight man, uh, like, you know, and help facilitating, um, like the zaniness of the idea or the characters within it.

Yeah. Uh, it's always been something I've like, you know, been really good at, like, you know, like working on Nerdist, working on Mr. Science theater, working with Kumail. Like the zaniness of the idea or the characters within it. Yeah. It's always been something I've like, you know, been really good at. Like, you know, like working on Nerdist, working on Mr. Science Theater, working with Kumail, like it's like I've always liked facilitating. Even like my show Hidden America, like, you know. Codependency. Yeah, exactly.

It's all coming around. It's all in the wheelhouse. Yeah. And you're a drummer, right? Yeah. Yeah. That's the same. Yeah.

But here's the weird thing. My drumming though, I like, it's like, I'm rarely a four on the floor guy. Like, I like getting busy on it. Like, you know, when I was a kid, I was listening to, like, you know, this hardcore stuff and this punk stuff, but I was also listening to a lot of jazz. Yeah. And so I was like, oh, I should, in, like, Stuart Copeland and stuff like that, where I was like, oh, what if I did these weird, like, kind of, like, fills that were the beat? Yeah, yeah. Strange, uh, syncopated yeah exactly yeah a lot of

clacking on the rim of the you know like but also like love and then because when you do that and then you slam into like the rhythm it makes it that much more like uh chunky and powerful relieved you got out at least the fucking blues guitarist, hey, what if for this one you just keep the rhythm and then I wank off? Come on. I listen to a lot of jazz. Hey, man, you talking jazz? I listen to a lot of jazz.

Ooh, baby, that jazz. Well, it was good seeing you, man. Good seeing you, too. And congrats on the movie. I think it's fun. I'm glad you're doing okay. Thanks, yeah.

You seem good. Yeah, yeah. Don't be too hard on yourself. You know, I think I'm, if anything, I'm not as good as that last time you said I was doing better, but I'm better than I used to be. No, you seem good. Yeah. I mean, you know, I, it's good to, to, to confront all this stuff and to, you know, do the work. Yeah. But, uh, sometimes like, you know, there was that time I tried to like hang out. It's like, I did want to talk about like, not that you have done ACA, but like, it's like, yeah, I'm pretty sure,

you know, about that kind of stuff. I hear it's like the best one. Yeah. It's, it's like i did want to talk about like not that you have done aca but like it's like i'm pretty sure you know about that kind of i hear it's like the best one yeah it's it's been really really incredible but it's like i just wanted to talk to you more about that stuff like not in this context but just like you know it's i think it's specific and it applies to people that grow up in insanity of one kind or another yeah and like because you know i you know i'm sure i qualify for having you know mentally ill dad and all that stuff. Yeah. But I know that the conversation around issues that come from that, that are beyond just codependency stuff. Yes. It's all kinds of stuff. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Well, I should go. I should go with you. Yeah. All right, buddy. All right, man. Here you go.

No more comedy for Jonah. No more comedy for Jonah. No more stand-up anyways. That's a courageous decision. I think he feels all right about it. The movie, Destroy All Neighbors, which I think is worth watching if you like that kind of horror. It's streaming on Shudder and playing in select theaters. Hang out for a second, people.

playing in select theaters. Hang out for a second, people. Every veteran has a story. Whatever your next chapter, get support with health, education, finance, and more at veterans.gc.ca slash services. A message from the Government of Canada. It's a night for the whole family. Be a part of Kids Night when the Toronto rock take on the Colorado mammoth at

a special 5. PM start time on Saturday, March 9th at first Ontario center in Hamilton. The first 5,000 fans in attendance. We'll get a Dan Dawson bobblehead courtesy of backley construction. Punch your ticket to kids night on Saturday, March 9th at 5. PM in rock city at 5 p.m. in Rock City at torontorock.com.

So I talked with Ed Begley Jr. for even longer when he was here, but we couldn't fit it all into this episode. So it's posted now for full Marin subscribers. You can hear me and Ed talk about his Parkinson's diagnosis, his environmentalism, and Marlon Brando. What was your experience with Marlon? It was great. He had heard of my environmental work, and he liked that, and he liked that I was handy too, that I made my dining room table and the chest of drawers. He loved anybody who was handy.

He didn't want to talk about show business at all, no talking about acting, writing, directing, puppetry, claymation, trained seals, anything that was show business at all. No talking about acting, writing, directing, puppetry, claymation, train seals, anything that was show business. He didn't want to talk about galvanized pipe versus copper. Loved to talk about that. Wind turbine, solar panels, loved it. Drywall, you name it. Subscribe to The Full Maron by clicking the link in the episode description or by going to WTFpod.com and clicking on WTF Plus. Next week, comedian Jacqueline Novak is on Monday, and Moshe Kasher returns on Thursday.

This guitar took me a long time. I put it through the echo box, and I screwed it up at the end. It took me a long time, though. Damn. Thank you. © transcript Emily Beynon Boomer lives. Monkey and La Fonda. Cat angels everywhere. That was much harder than it sounded. Jesus Christ.