WTF with Marc Maron Podcast - Episode 1595 - Steve Furey

Episode Date: November 28, 2024

Steve Furey’s path to comedy started with youth football. Once he realized he wasn’t great at football, he started selling drugs. Once he realized he wasn’t good at selling drugs, he started comedy. In between there were stories of border crossings, smuggling in Tijuana, gunpoint robberies in Stockton, Kansas overdoses and more. And then there were early standup gigs that, as both Steve and Marc confirm, could wind up being scarier than dealing drugs. 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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Stuck trying to get to where I really need to be. But then I discovered lifelong learning. Learning that gave me the skills to move up, move beyond, gain that edge, drive my curiosity, prepare me for what is inevitably next. The University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies. Lifelong Learning to stay forever unstuck. Alright, let's do this. How are you? What the fuckers?

What the fuck buddies? What the fucking ears? What's happening? What is happening? Happy Thanksgiving. Are you listening on Thanksgiving Day? Is this your Thanksgiving pep talk? Is this your way out? Have you pulled yourself away from the chaos in the kitchen or the chaos of the

family drama? Whatever that may be. Are you looking for respite? Well,, maybe I can help you. I don't know, you know, I'm not doing my regular Thanksgiving thing because the situation is different, but I just didn't get it together. I'm going to be home for Thanksgiving, and I think it seems that I will be watching several different screens because Kit wants to watch the dog show,

the parade, and a game of some kind thinking about making some chili laying low. I've been busy and I just didn't get it together to go to Florida because my mom's not at her house anymore and well there's no reason for it I just I just didn't get it together they're all gonna be eating at my cousin's but I'm not I'm not gonna be there but that doesn't mean I'm not there in spirit or I can't empathize for your particular situation But I have some thoughts. I don't know if you if you want my thoughts or or maybe you do maybe maybe that's why you're listening I'll get to them Let me just say this if you want to get your holiday shopping started with a Brian Jones cap mug

There's a new batch on sale tomorrow Black Friday at noon Eastern. These are the mugs that I give my guests. They're handmade by Brian Jones. He's made some more of the black and gold ones, so get yours starting tomorrow at WTFmugs.co. They're nice things and they're nice gifts and if somebody you know likes this show or you like it for yourself go ahead They're unique. They're all every one of them is unique like a cat Steve Fury is on the show He's a regular at the Comedy Store and he's toured with the Burke Kreischer But he's one of these guys that you know, I used to see all the time. I I've appeared on his shows

But he's one of these guys that you know, I used to see all the time. I I've appeared on his shows Sometimes and it was one of these things were like, you know I finally at some point sat down and watched him and I'm like, holy shit. This guy's a funny fuck He's the real deal. I wonder what his story is So I asked him to be on the show turns out his mom's a big fan I get that a lot I get that a lot now. Yeah, my mom loves you. I'm like, ugh, how old are you? But I just wanted to get to know him, so I had him on, because I think he's a funny fucker.

So look, you guys, I've been thinking, I've spent a few days here in New Mexico, my hometown, I spent a lot of time with my dad this time, and I don't know. You know, it's difficult, man. It's difficult when they're old and they're kind of losing it. But I found some interesting things about me and my father at this stage of where he's at.

Is that I feel like I have the same approach to him that he had to me in my life. Like you know there were times where I was hobbled or I thought I was sick or I broke my bones. He was an orthopedic surgeon. He set my leg twice and it's still I don't walk right. And that's an indicator of the type of attention that one might get from a father as opposed to a doctor. I have no memory of doing physical therapy when I had a spiral fracture of my tibia because he set my ski bindings too tight and I fell and twisted it up. I have no recollection of physical therapy after he ran over my foot while I was trying to get out of a car.

But I was fortunate in those moments that he did know how to set a leg and set an ankle. But there wasn't much follow through, and it was always sort of a, not necessarily tough love, slightly detached. And I found myself today when I was helping him out of the car, because he's not totally disoriented, but walking seems to be a challenge,

and memories are fading. And I don't know, I have a certain amount of humor because he's not totally disoriented, but walking seems to be a challenge, and memories are fading. And I don't know, I have a certain amount of humor about it, but I do find myself going, come on, you good? You out, can you get out? You need help? What do you want? It's not that I don't care,

but it's a very practical approach. It's not very emotionally loaded. I'm not necessarily being caring. I'm just sort of like, what do you need? Are we getting out of the car? Are we walking? Are we going? Are you good?

And I realized today that that's exactly sort of the way he handled me. But he was responsible for both times. I broke my fucking leg. I am not responsible for his fucking, you know, his dementia or whatever the fuck is going on, but it doesn't matter. I, I was both, uh, amazed that I was sort of approaching him with the same kind of a caring, aggravated detachment that he did me, but also, you know, happy to be there,

happy to help out, happy to spend time with them. And I don't know, I've had some sort of weird shift about this thing, about the predicament of being a reasonable person in the face of an unreasonable election outcome and this sort of divisiveness that exists all the way down to the familial playing field or the familial relationships that are strained by this thing, you know? And I know we're in it again and you're in it again and I don't know, maybe I could share a story that happened

that I don't know if it's enlightening or what. My father and I don't think we're on different sides politically, but he's not a very political person. He just, and he's also like, he's not all there. So he just reacts emotionally. And he's like, I think that Trump's a good guy. And I'm like all right you know what am I getting to yell at my dad with dementia I know his his wife doesn't you know think the same way I do

politically for religious reasons and other reasons but it was funny because I was driving over there I was like all right just you know nothing has changed other than everything and on some level, you know, nothing has changed other than everything on some level, but these are people, they're your family, you go in. So I walk into their house, and my dad's wife is listening to, Rosie's listening to something on her computer, and it sounded like talk radio to me,

which is that broadcasting voice sound of people going at it, or engaged in that patter that is talk radio, and I'm just walking down the hallway, my dad's, I don't know, polishing his shoes or something, and she's walking around with her computer listening to this, and I'm like, oh, here we go, what the fuck is she listening to? And I couldn't really make out the voices,

it just sounded like radio to me. But eventually, within 40 seconds, 30 seconds, I said, what are you listening to? With a slight, I was ready to kind of get into this judgmental zone of like, oh, yeah, Hewitt, whatever, Hannity, what is it? Which one of those idiots are we listening to today? And I go, what are you listening to?

She goes, you. I'm like, what? I'm like, which one? She's like, the one that came out yesterday. And I'm like, oh, she's like, we always listen. And I'm like, oh my God. Just, you know, it was a humbling moment that I couldn't even identify my own voice

because I don't ever listen to the playback. It just sounded like talk radio to me, which is sort of what this is. But it just kind of diffused something in my brain. And I don't know, what is my point as we enter this zone and as I deal with my aging and fragile father, I deal with my aging and fragile father, is that I think there was a time where these political sides

and division wasn't as defined and horrible and toxic and everybody is sort of informed with their own version of what they think justifies their ideology or their anger or whatever. It was obviously different. There was, I believe, a time where people just voted and you may know that they are different politically than you are, but they are still your family. And I think in the past, I've had this idea

that it's gonna be tough. And I hope you get through your meal. I hope it doesn't get too heated. But on the side of where I come from, I can get heated or whatever and I don't like it. I don't like engaging in those arguments because all of a sudden you enter this tenor, this tone even if you think you're being rational and reasonable and you just want to talk this

out, you can actually get beside yourself into this tone that has no real empathy to it. It's just sort of anger and disbelief and this desire to speak your mind even though it's not going to go anywhere. And I guess the moment I had with my dad in general is that political affiliation or thought, it's just one component of a person. Even if they're all caught up, I mean,

even if they're frothing at the mouth, even if they are gloating, you know, and families are fraught with other issues. And oddly, I think the discourse politically, especially if you're on a different side than certain family members that you have to spend time with, a lot of the posturing and anger and kind of arrogance to it, it may be masking a lot of other stuff.

I think that seems to be what we do sometimes in relationship and families, is that if you can lock into something that is decisive and you believe it in a moment, but has nothing to do with the general disposition or your emotional experience with your family, you lean into it. And I guess what I would say,

only because I just experienced it for myself, is try to see what the other components are. I mean if you have love for these people, you know, try and get to that place because, you know, they're not gonna be around forever and you might go to your grave disagreeing with them and they might not ever see your way of thinking but, you know, if there is love there and there is history there, find that place and try to sit in that a little bit and rise above it.

These people aren't around forever. And some of the stuff that lies beneath whatever political views they may have, may be traumatizing or difficult as well. But I don't know, just to save your own sanity, I would try to engage with what you come from and the good parts of that and perhaps the times which you were connected to these people

in a way that defines you and some of the good things about yourself and the good things about them. I think that you should try to do that. Doesn't mean you can't take a break. But try not to lose your shit. And it's not your job to stop other people from losing their shit, but again, this kind of goes along with the theme of, keep hold of yourself, stay in you,

kind of hold on to who you are in the face of all this stuff. But, and that I think is important on a family level. Because the one thing I did notice about me and my father is that I'm not like him there are things I have of him that You know are you know somewhat liabilities, and I'm not thrilled about it But for the most part some of the stuff that you know you know he's one of these guys where you know everything's bullshit You know what's the point who gives a shit?

But but even that's posturing. These are all, everybody's fragile. They can't hide their humanness. I'm not even gonna say humanity because I'm not disregarding the idea that there are monsters out there. But I don't know, for your own sanity and maybe for something that could be somewhat cathartic,

and you know, maybe enriching on some level in terms of where you are with your family in these holidays, you know, I would try to find that because whatever happens at your dinner table is not gonna change the world. And whatever's happening in the world is out of our control on some level, at least on this day and in that room that you're in

or you're gonna be in. And whatever goes on there is, it's not gonna make anything necessarily better in the world or provide you with solace or it could make you more angry. But the bottom line is is that if you're with family and it's strained, you do have a little bit of control over that and you do have an ability to act differently

or think differently or take contrary actions to what your emotions are telling you to do. You know, find the love, folks. Find the love. Because everyone's gonna die and we're all in this shit show together. Some people are more responsible for it than others. Look at how you're different.

Look at how you saved your own fucking life in the midst of growing up in a certain way. Kind of fortify yourself with that and then try to see the good things. Because if you're showing up for dinner, you don't have to do that, but you're doing it. Why? There's gotta be something in that bag

that defines who you are and who you are emotionally. And those might come from the good parts of whatever shit show you might have found yourself growing up in. If you've been listening to me for a while, you know I'm fairly preoccupied with my health. I exercise, I try to eat right, and I have a regular vitamin routine, which is why AG1 seemed like a great sponsor for this show. And right now AG1 is running a special Black Friday offer for all of November. AG1 is a daily health drink packed with nutrients to help alleviate

bloating, support sustained energy, and whole body health. But another great thing about AG1, especially at this time of year, is you can give it as a gift and start someone in your life on the path to a healthier routine every day. I gave some AG-1 to Kit and then Brendan got in on it too and now they're getting the benefits of AG-1 to have more energy and better gut health. Brendan was telling me it's the first thing he does in the morning now just mixes that AG-1 with cold water and a little ice and that kick starts his day. So this holiday season try AG-1 for yourself or even gift it to someone special. It's the perfect time to focus on supporting your body with an easy and surprisingly delicious daily health drink.

And that's why it's great to be partnering with them. Every week of November AG1 will be running a special Black Friday offer for a free gift with your first subscription. In addition to the welcome kit with vitamin D3 and K2. So make sure to check out drinkag1.com slash WTF to see what gift you can get this week. That's drinkag1.com slash WTF to start your holiday season off on a healthier note while supplies So again, you know, try to hold onto yourself and don't get triggered by someone fucking with you in your fucking family event if it's just about politics. Because it's probably about something else.

And if you can let it go by you and just have a little fucking empathy Because you know these people save yourself the aggravation impossible fucking spiral You know, you know what to do. All right Open your heart, come on! I can only do it for a few minutes at a time, but maybe you have a better success rate with it.

So look, Steve Fury is here. He'll be at the Punchline in San Francisco next month. To see everything he's doing, check out SteveFury.com or his social media pages. Very funny guy, love talking to him. So this is, now you can hear me talking to him. Look folks, we're in the midst of a global mental health crisis and mental health needs have never been greater.

Awareness about mental health is growing, but significant public needs for care are still going unmet. CAMH is the Center for Addiction and Mental Health. And with your help, CAMH can remain a leader in improving mental health care. Donate to CAMH from November 28th to December 3rd for Giving Tuesday, and your gift will be doubled to make twice the impact in mental health care. CAMH is building better mental health care for everyone to ensure no one is left behind. Visit camh.ca-wtf to hear stories of hope and recovery. I used to say, I just feel stuck.

But then I discovered lifelong learning. It gave me the skills to move up, gain an edge, and prepare for what's next. The University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies, lifelong learning to stay forever unstuck. ["Dreams of a New World"] Are you on drugs? Not right now. No.

How's that going? About about three months off of what well you know the alcohol goes into the cocaine so so I'm off a lot of things you can't you can't have one without the other no it's something happens you know what you start doing it right when you hit your fourth beer yeah you start thinking yeah I could I'm gonna stay up a little while. Yeah, I could keep having fun. Keep having beers? Yeah.

Oh my God, dude. It's been so long since I thought about that shit. I mean, I think about it, cause like I've been sober, what, like real sober, 25 years, change, but I remember just sitting there, and there's nothing going on. You're just drinking, nothing going on. It's just to help you drink longer by yourself too at the end.

Yeah, I think that's what it comes down to. But initially, if you're at the store or something or out at a bar and you're drinking, and it's like 1130 and you start thinking like, it's going to turn around. I'm going to call the guy get this party started then the guy doesn't come for an hour now It's 1230 everyone else left and now you're at home till 6 a.m. By yourself Like I don't think this was what I wanted to do, but I guess I could watch more YouTube videos sure I still got some left and you just know your day is gonna be fucked up Yeah, and now it stopped being like a day fucked up. It started being like three days. Yeah, and how oldy 35? Oh, yeah, I guess it starts wearing you down. Yeah there. I feel 35 was the first time I've ever felt old

Yeah, but you just never quite get right. Yes Oh my god now. I'm just like I'm tasting it. I'm thinking about it. I'm thinking about Not missing much when you lay in bed, and you're like I can do it. I think I'm sleeping I'm damn sleeping. We're totally sleeping. Yeah sleeping right now. Everything's gonna be okay, and then you hear though Oh, it's the worst man. You hear a guy going to work. Yeah. Yeah, yeah door slamming outside. You know car doors I love you. Yeah, yeah Oh outside car doors. I love you. Yeah. Yeah. No one loves me Look at me fuck not gonna figure out and then you get up and you just sort of I'm just gonna write it out as long As I can until you totally pass out

Yeah, but I get that thing where you think you're sleeping, but you're not like, you know Like I wouldn't be thinking this if I was awake. This is not an awakening. I like tricking yourself in it. We're sleeping Yeah, it's fine. We're happy. It's great. Yeah like tricking yourself into it. We're sleeping right now. Everything's fine, dude. We're happy. This is great. Yeah, yeah. It's amazing we were able to pull it off. They thought we couldn't do it. I didn't think we could do it. We did it.

We did it, brother. We're sleeping totally. So here's what, I don't know when I first met you. Do you? Probably when I was a door guy. Okay, so it was a door guy close to ten years ago. Really? Yeah It's like I'm embarrassed like, you know, cuz I have always seen you around and I kind of knew you Like I don't know what the hell I'm thinking, you know, it's not it's not out of arrogance or anything else But there always comes this moment where guys I've seen for years Yeah, and then I'm just sitting in the OR one night. and I'm like, holy fuck, this guy's got something. He's a funny guy.

Nine years later. Well, it's, you know, there's so many people pass through the Comedy Store. Yeah. You know, I'm now getting to the point too where like in the beginning I'm like, I gotta be friends with this guy, this guy, and then I'm like, you'll kind of sift out like gold

to the time that I need to meet you. You know, it'll be like a couple years. It's not gonna be me meeting every guy, hoping and then he leaves. No, no, no, you'll sift through, there's layers. Yeah. Well, when did you start there? I moved there when I was 20, I started there,

I was 27, so eight years ago, and I started going two years before that. A door guy. Yeah. And how long were you a door guy? Two and a half years Adam? He get past me which was pretty quick back in the day. It was a lot harder to get that Adam Egan Yeah, it was it was harder to get past. Yeah, and I feel like it was harder with Adam

Yes, Adam was very hard. But where did you come from? Where'd you start? I started in Sacramento, California, so you're like a California guy? Through and through, yeah. I went to Sacramento, I got passed by those clubs in like two years, I started featuring, then I went to San Francisco, went through the punchline. You grew up in Sac? Yeah. What the fuck was that like?

I talked to like nine people in my life, four people. They had five, I don't know. Sacramento, I've always had a weird vibe about Sacramento. You know what, man, I mean, obviously I'm pretty gung-ho, but I love it because one, it's one of the most diverse cities in America. Yeah but like but you knew that growing up you're like I'm so happy to be here there's such a sense of diversity. I mean I did I always felt that because I looked around my I

looked around my group of friends and I never noticed it yeah you know like when you grow up with something like that I don't notice and I'm hanging out with a Hmong guy, a Vietnamese guy, a black guy, a Russian, sure you know these are just my friends, but that seems like you hired him. Yeah. No, they were they're ready, too That's a great thing rushing bad the rushing guy and the Hmong guy. Yeah I bought a faulty car or two from a Russian. Oh, yeah, how'd that go? No, he's no justice. That was your house. Yeah I thought I went to your house That guy's like no, he doesn't live here. What do you mean? He's just bought a car from this is the address

This is the dress look at the thing did the people even know no No, he was just standing out front of their house, and I think they were gone And he parked it in their driveway, so I go to this house like it's a nice house Yeah, ten cars in the driveway. I'm like oh he kind of like fixes them up Yeah, you bought the car two days later, transmission went up, went to the house. They're like, no, I was out of town for three days. What do you mean you bought a car from here? Never saw that Russian again?

Never, no. He's in the wind. But there was a big Russian community there inside? Yeah. But where'd you like, so you just went to, you didn't go to college or nothing? Yeah, I went to college. I graduated college. I mean, it took me a long time.

I was like the guy who did like four years at a community college and then three years at actual college. So it took me like seven, like a little Van Wilder. I went to Sac State and I just did that just so my dad, you know, they'd get off my back. What did you, like, what was your dad doing? My dad is a, he's like a, he's very smart, but he's like a, like a handyman wouldn't be the nice thing to say about him. He's incredibly talented, can make anything, can anything for your yeah to your house to build rooms

You can do like that. So he would do that stuff like that. He had a like contracting Yeah, like a contractor kind of he was a definitely he's a he's a master plumber Yeah, and so so he can do anything he just do anything So I would a lot of times I was gonna to probably be a plumber if this didn't work out. Really? Yeah, the plumber? I just didn't want to go in their houses.

Yeah. Go under them? Yeah, that's the worst part. Yeah. Because all your plumbing is down there. Yeah. And you're in there, dude, and it's like... You would go out with your dad?

Yeah. And I would either have to go in there. I wouldn't last long because I don't like spiders. Yeah, yeah. You'd be... It's terrifying down there. It's like the bottom of the ocean. There's creatures that haven't been discovered yet there's dead animals there's a carcass I'm like what's eating this yeah yeah and then and you're just crawling and I'm

crawling and the light goes away yeah there's like a light and you just got a flashlight yeah you got and you're just waiting for corpses of some kind yeah my dad to huck yeah all right the pipe's gonna go on the right side of the house I'm'm like, I have no idea where I am. I don't know where, it's north. I don't know where north is, dad. I'm, there's a dead rat next to me. You're just terrified. Yeah, so that made me go, I'm not doing this job.

So like, what's the exact opposite of this? Let's go and see. I had that happen here a couple weeks ago. Oh, I hadn't been home for, you know, cause I was shooting that show and I just haven't been in the basement. And I went down there and dude, there was more rat shit than I ever seen in my life.

Ever seen in my life. And there was, cause I smelled, I was about to leave and I smelled like that as a dead animal. And there was one rat down there dead and I figured there's a lot more, but there wasn't. I put two traps out. I don't know how he died. He just crapped out.

But apparently one rat, you know, if they, if they get comfortable and you don't fuck with them, they can shit 50 times a day. I mean, I would say, what are your cats doing? I would say that's kind of their thing. Yeah, I know, but I don't let them down there. Oh yeah. You know what I mean?

They don't go down there. I got it. It's almost a basement. It's a large crawl space. So when you're coming up in high school, you got brothers and sisters? No. You're it?

Mm-hmm. Fuck, man. That's a lot of pressure. I always think it's a lot of pressure, but I've never talked to an only child that feels that way. No one really ever expected much from me. I don't think it was the thing. No, there was never like, you gotta do this.

You gotta marry into a nice family. You gotta, no, it was just like, we got through it. We did it, you did it, because they divorced real early, so it was kind of a more of a- When? How old were you? Like I was in the second or third grade. Yeah. And then they're both, they live like two miles away from each other.

Oh, so you just kind of went back and forth? Week on, week off. So it was more like the relationship between them was both, we're just trying to, we're both just trying to get through this. Yeah, yeah. You know what I mean? So we have a very good relationship. And they're friends? I wouldn't say friends They're both still around though. Yeah. Yeah, I wouldn't say friends, but they're they're good to be around each other Yeah, because of you yeah, they thought I never talked to each other again with me right okay, so you held them together in that way

But was it like one of those things were so like fuck you. I'm gonna live with dad It'd be a little bit like that Sometimes yeah, but like you, fuck you, I'm going to live with dad? It'd be a little bit like that sometimes. Yeah. Like, you know, fuck you, I'm going to live with my dad. And it's just like a block down the street that they'd see me. I was like, don't look at me. Don't look at me, I'm mad at you still.

I can see you from the other room. But yeah, so they were good. Yeah. And so when you're in high school, what are you doing, just to fuck up? I was- What kind of cars you have? I had a 72 Chevy truck, Shorebed. That was your first car?

Yeah. Your dad got it? My dad hooked me up, it was pretty beater, we put a paint job on it, Edelbrock intake, some mufflers and stuff. Can you do car work? I mean I could do minimal. I'm not taking out, I'm not doing a transmission, or I'm not doing your thing, Mean I could do minimal. I'm not taking out I'm not doing a transmission or I'm not doing your thing, but I can do brakes or yeah some stuff But you know newer cars are a lot harder to do cuz it's all computerized fucking crazy

Well, they did it cuz they don't want you to be able to work on it I think well, yeah, and then you have to you know, you have to go to them. Mm-hmm Yeah, all those dudes like your dad they're fucking out of the street unless you pull up in a like an old fucking car Yeah, he's like I need an electronic key for this like what? What does that mean So yeah, so I was like a football guy and then I started selling drugs pretty early football Yeah, what position that I was defensive end and fullback. I was a lot bigger and meaner in high school And so you were a jock?

How's a jock? I was a jock. Bad guy. Oh, you're like, you were on the cusp. Yeah. You were the jock that could hang out with the freaks. Yeah. I was definitely. So the real jocks were sort of like, I don't know about furies.

Well, our football team was absolutely dog shit. So like playing on it was almost like, like I said, the, my area I grew up was so diverse, but you, a good football team doesn't have three mom kids on it. You know what I mean? Like I'm just, there's nothing wrong with, they deserve to play, but they're little people. So they're not like, so our team would get smashed. So like the jocks wasn't really a thing. So it was more of a, a kind of like, uh, like of like, like, you know, just some guys with something to do. Yeah, it was definitely like,

like we just need to do something and we need some friends. So we did that one and then I started selling drugs for like the next while. And in high school? Yeah, so I pretty much like did football from like fifth grade till the end of high school And then towards the end of high school. I realized I wasn't very good at this and then I was like, well, let's try Selling drugs for a while. We'd and perk perk weed Norcos really Norcos

Yeah, what are those there in between a Vicodin and a perc set? Where'd you get those? Russians so in the beginning I would go I had this guy I would buy him from. It all went small. You know, when I was a kid I would just like, when I was 14 or 15 I just wanted to smoke weed. I had no money. But I knew one guy that I could buy like two bags for 10. I'd sell one bag for 10. I'd get my own bag.

Just to keep your own supply. Yeah, keep my own supply. Yeah. And then that went bigger and bigger until like, dude, I used to take drugs over the border all the time. To Mexico? Yeah. Well, not to Mexico. That'd be crazy from from Mexico Yeah, so you go down to the pharmacy. Yep, buy him buy him. Yeah. Holy shit. I don't think you can manage that anymore

No, it's a lot scarier now back then. It was like a party, you know, yeah, you go there and with a couple guys Yeah, you go there the couple guys you hit a strip club Yeah, and then I remember the day it was not a party anymore But like so you could go where'd you go to a Mexican doctor? And get a script so like when I first started going down I Would go down I'd get like a thousand pills, and then I would sell those for like Norcos Norcos Yeah, so I'd sell those for like um you know two months during the summer, and that's how I'd be living right So you go down and you know going into Mexico is not hard

No, just like a rotating thing. It's like a fair you just go in yeah, and then you'll see the first round You know there's like people like selling. You know there's the guy with a donkey painting like a zebra. Yeah There's the there's the guys just painting pictures of Bob Marley on the ground They sound like there's a chick let's guy that a chick let's kids You know you throw them a couple quarters. Yeah, get away from you. Yeah You know it'll look like fucking Mother Mary. But you drive in or you walk over? I would walk.

You park and walk? I would always walk. So do Juarez? No, I walk Tijuana. Tijuana, oh, yes. TJ. Juarez is down by Texas. That's Texas.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So you would go down, then the front layer of places, because the pharmacies back then, you could just go in and ask for anything you wanted. Yeah, yeah. And it was still real. Now they'll still sell you fake pills and shit down there. Everything's fentanyl.

Everything's fentanyl down there. I got out right when that stuff started happening. So you just walk in and just be like, 1,000, take that. Yep, and there's a doctor on one end, and he'd write your prescription. Then you'd go to the other end of the pharmacy, the guy. You'd fill it up for you, and you'd have this thing. That's it.

And then you'd walk across, and there was nothing. And you're 18? I was 17, 18, until I was this thing. That's it. And then you'd walk across and there was nothing. And you're 18? I was 17, 18, until I was like 22. I did that. Holy shit. I knew a guy, old comic, he's dead now. He used to have to go down there to get his,

he liked those Tylenols with codeine. Oh yeah, those are fun. Those are actually legal in Canada still. Oh really? You can just get them? Tylenol threes, yeah. Yeah, I stay away from it all. Yeah, I don't do it anymore. No, but so you go down there and then you just come back up.

And then when did you know it was going bad? Oh man, the last time I went everything was different. Cause like the colleges used to like San Diego State, University of San Diego would have buses on the weekends that you could take into Tijuana, go get drunk, and you get back on the bus and you go back to normal. Was that to, cause they knew you were gonna do it anyways? And they just were trying to help the kids go get drunk, and you get back on the bus, and you go back to the dorm. Was that to, cause they knew you were gonna do it anyways? And they just were trying to help the kids not get drunk?

Yeah, I think it was more of a fun place at the time. Tijuana. Tijuana was. Yeah, I know, but it was never like, good, it was never clean fun. No, it was like, there was definitely, you were in the wilderness, you could do whatever you want there,

but it was like more acceptable to where, I haven't been in a while, but when I, the last time I went yeah Was that's when the cartel had really taken over and really was you know the pharmacies they're taking over everything So the whole vibe really fucked up the last time I ever went up there, dude Yeah, so I go in there I go over the bridge and come down and I swear to God I was the only white dude in t1 that place is empty Yeah, so everyone's looking at me right? Yeah, it's like I'm not supposed to be there Right, I got the guy painting the Bob Marley pictures on the little felt black thing. He's looking at me weird

What are you doing? The chick-lick lids are like what the fuck's going on? Yeah, and I don't really know what's happening. So I My head I'm scared but I'm like, okay, I got kind of the guy I always go to I go to my guy Yeah, he's gone. He's gone. And so now I'm there, and this is the most money I ever had when I went down there. I had like 3,500 bucks in cash in my pocket. And I used to dress like, try to be inconspicuous so I'd have like seven jeans with like rainbow flip flops and a pink polo to try and look like

a frat kid, you know? Just down there, partying. So I'm walking around, then this dude comes up to me, he goes, hey, you looking for pussy? I was like, no, no, no, I'm looking for drugs. And he goes, okay, they're partying. Yeah, so I'm walking around then this dude comes up to me He goes hey you want you looking for pussy. I was like no no no I'm looking for drugs He goes okay. I got one and then he says follow me and this dude has LA tattooed across his face. Oh, yeah gang Yeah, yeah, but I'm like I'm here Might as well dance okay, where we going bro? Yeah, you seem cool. You're from least LA. I'm guessing Okay, where are we going, bro? You seem cool.

You're from at least LA, I'm guessing. We're kind of like California thing. Don't kill me. Yeah. So he goes, follow me, man. Oh, god damn it. And he followed and he goes and he takes a turn down this little alley.

Yeah. And this alley's pretty scary. Yeah. And I'm walking down, I see. In your pink shirt. I'm in a pink shirt, like the bell bottom seven jeans. Like just a mark. Like someone who needed to get robbed. Yeah. So I go down there, I'm walking a pink shirt, like the bell bottom seven jeans, like just a mark, like someone who needed to get robbed. So I go down there, I'm walking by this place and there's like these weird gambling dens and then we get to this door. It's blacked out.

Oh my God, it's like deer hunter. Yeah, it's like deer, it's like a Mexican deer hunter. Yeah. We get to this door and it's blacked out and he goes, it's upstairs. Yeah. All right. And he stands right behind me. Yeah, that's never good.

And I'm like- And do you knew you were gonna get robbed? Well, I didn't know what was gonna happen. I knew something wasn't good. When I'm looking up this thing, I'm like, I'm in Tijuana, we got LA face behind me, and no one knows I'm here because I'm dealing drugs I don't want to even know here. This might be it. I'm gonna die here and I go fuck it. That was when it sunk in. But like I imagine in the process of like once he's like we just got to go down here. You're like I was excited cuz I was like, oh my guys not there We got my guy then he's taking me down this alley and then right where I look up I look around and no one's like everyone's like verting their eyes. Yeah, I'm like, oh this is it. Because of that guy

Yeah, I'm like, this is it. So I go up there and it turns out to be a very small shady strip club Yeah, but like you ever been to like a Texas Roadhouse where they eat peanuts and they throw them on the ground Well, yeah, I've been into peanut places. Yeah. Yeah with the shells are every shells are so this is a strip club That was like barn themed or something. Oh, okay. So there was like Mexican barn thing like a Mexican barn So there's peanuts on the ground there's a woman dancing in a Pin yeah, she's a pen like that's part of the barn thing like she's an animal I Don't know if they wanted it to be that way or they were just that was the only way to keep these creeps off

Of her yeah, yeah, right like a honky-tonk and like a Texas You know yeah, so then he goes sit down right here And he puts these two dudes next to me. No And they're like they sit right next to me and he goes give me your money Uh-huh, and then he brings me a six pack of tiny cronies Yeah, he puts them at feet and he goes to this girl this girl gets on this pool table in front of me This chick is Haggard man. Yeah, and she's like dancing naked in front of me Yeah, two Mexican dudes on a tiny couch right next to me.

Little coronas. Little mini coronas. Yeah. And the guy goes, give me the money. And I give him the money. $3,500. $3,500. Back in like, oh, nine.

Yeah, yeah. A lot more than even now. He leaves, and then I'm there. And then it's like 10 minutes. 20 minutes 35 minutes. Yeah, I don't have this one's dancing. I have no money I just gave them all my money the six mini Cronus did not last, you know, that's like three beers and a half Yeah, I'm sweating these dudes are sitting next to me. They're still sitting there They're sitting there and then the dude comes back get out of here. He comes back with a bag of pills this big. Yeah

And so he goes, here you go. And he kicks me out. And I'm in Tijuana with a bag of pills the size of a basketball. And so I'm like, what do I do with this? Yeah. I can't like put this in my pockets. Right.

So what I do is I sit on it, try to make it flat. Yeah. And I put it on my back. You can make a belt out of hash. I'm gonna try and see what we can do here and get across. Yeah. So I got the thing on my back. You're going to make a belt out of hash. I'm going to try and see what we can do here and get across. So I got the thing on my back. I'm walking across and I go, I'm like, this is, it's a little too suspicious. So then I see that little dude painting the Bob Marley pictures.

I go, okay, I'm going to get two Bob Marley pictures and I'll hold them on both of my sides so you can't really see the back. And then I'll go across the thing Yeah, so I buy two of them and if you've ever walked across Mexico back then You kind of take this loop and then you get around. There's a line of like 250 people All Mexican waiting to get across waiting across so I'm like a foot and a half taller than everybody in a pink polo with two Bob Marley things. Everyone is like five two straight from Mexico. They're probably working a day labor job over there

or vacationing, whatever. So I'm going, right when I'm out, I'm out 50 people out, I'm seeing the border agents and they're pointing at me and they're whispering. So you're sweating? Oh my God, well, cause it was like, do I sprint into Tijuana with flip flops on or do I, am I going to prison in Mexico?

Yeah. Then the guy pointed at me and goes, come up here. I'm walking up. Yeah. And he goes, why are you here? I was like, I was partying. I wanted to party. He goes, by yourself?

And I go, well, I also just moved and I wanted some art. And he goes, so you bought the same Bob Marley picture twice? I go, well, I also just moved, and I wanted some art. And he goes, so you bought the same Bob Marley picture twice? I go, I have two bathrooms. That's where I got this dream. And he goes, OK. And he looked me up and down, and he let me through.

Oh my god. And that was the last time I ever did that. But what were the pills? Norcos. They really were? Mm-hm. They were all real. The guy actually hooked me up pretty good.

Nobody dropped dead No, and well this was before that before fentanyl. Yeah, I got out before that yeah um That's crazy. Yeah, that was crazy, and I never did that again And then slowly once like once I realized I wasn't great at football I sold drugs and then once I realized I wasn't great at selling drugs. I was better at stand-up I stopped doing well was that the scariest drug situation? No. I did a bunch. I got robbed at gunpoint one time. I had this one dude. I had this one thing that set off a thing of events in my life.

So, my buddy works at La Cordon Bleu. Okay? What's that? It's like how you learn to be in a restaurant. Oh, it's not even a cooking school? It's a cooking school. Okay, and that's in SAC? One of them, yeah, they're all over. That's a good one, right?

Yeah, it's, well, you know, you get into that, then you get like a small job and you can move your way up. Yeah, and then you manage the restaurant and the hotel. Yeah, or you just fucking do blow and flip pancakes and try and bang the hostess. You kinda got two ways on that one. I'm not sure which way you went. It's all on, it's up to you and your ambition.

After you get out. How far you want to take this, buddy? Yeah. You want the easy path? Man, when I worked in restaurants, restaurant managers, oh my God, it's like comedy club owners. You're just up against this, God, the guys who did blow at the restaurant, oh my God. It was always the cooks when I would... Oh, cooks are nuts.

Yeah, they're the craziest. Yeah, I had one manager when I worked at it, when I was a grill cook at a place, you know, I don't know, it's after college or like, I don't know, in college for five fucking years. But it was just like, you know, just that too. And you know, like when you work at a restaurant and you got to do a breakfast shift and you fucking do blow the night before and you get there and you know, you're just hoping that the fucking manager is going to Do blow the night before and you get there and you know, you're just hoping that the fucking manager is gonna Give you something to get through the water the

It's not water back here. It's hot the rush the rush of eggs Did you ever do that? No, I never worked in a restaurant. So what happened? So this guy from La Cordon Bleu Oh, yeah, my buddy was like my best friend at the time He goes hey, I got a buddy of mine who wants to buy three pounds of weed okay? I go okay because I had the guy You had a real guy. I had a real guy three pound guy. That's a that's bordering on dangerous Now he was dangerous. It wasn't a border. He was a dangerous guy, but he was my friend the guy with the weed with the weed Yeah, and so I go okay. I'm gonna need this fronted to me though Yeah, which means someone gives you it and you pay them money back later. Sure, I know what that means. No, I wasn't born last night.

Well, I don't know if people listening to you. Oh, yeah. There's a couple people listening to that. Fronting means they give it to you and you owe them the money. Yeah, and it gets, yeah. So I go, okay, yeah, no problem. At this time I was doing a lot of stuff like that.

So I go, yeah, so we get it. And then we go, we're gonna have to go to Stockton, First Red Flag, Stockton, California. That's like cowboy town, right? What is Stockton? I remember there was a gig there when I lived in San Francisco. Yeah, there's a couple of gigs there.

I mean, Stockton, the city went bankrupt, the mayor got caught selling guns to gangs. So it's kind of a rough place, but I like, you know, you don't want to tell drugs there for sure. So we go down and my buddy's talking to the guy, the guy's saying, you know, I'll be right out I'm babysitting right now. Which party the quarter on blue is you're going to I'm going down to Stockton with La Cordon bleu You've got the weed. I've got the weed La Cordon bleu has the guy we're gonna sell it to right?

We're pretty good friend. We're pretty friends for like 10 years. I wasn't he wasn't gonna rob me. Yeah So it was okay. We're going to stockton the guys seems good. He's Texas hand Bart babysitting I'm gonna run out real quick by and get it we go okay So we pull up to this dead end yeah two bushes on each side And there's kind of a hill and the guys on top of the hill so we go okay There we go okay, we didn't think why is he on top of a hill it's like a western yeah Yeah, so we unlock it and the second we unlock it I get a gun to the side of my head. And my buddy does too.

The car. Unlock the car. Yeah. We unlocked the car. We opened the doors. The two bushes, guys were hanging out in the bushes. So we had two pistols to the side of our head. Yeah. And the guy, all they, all they, all they say is, you know what time it is.

I was like, I know exactly what time it is, sir. You can have anything you would like. It's a free for all, sir. It's whatever you want. Yeah. Yeah. Take the car. Take the car. Yeah. You can have anything you would like. It's a free-for-all, sir. It's whatever you want. Yeah, yeah. Take the car. Take the car. Yeah, you can have my buddy if you want. La Cordon Bleu, he cooks pretty well.

You want some eggs? Yeah. Let him work after 10. It'll be fun. So then we had to give him the weed. Yeah. And with that situation, there's no recourse. It's not like you're not going to go back and get them.

The guy got rid of his phone. The phone was a burner There's nothing I could have done. So so they take the weed and we're driving back and we're like, this is a bummer Yeah, yeah, and then I get the call from the guy I fronted. Oh, all right the guy that fronted Yeah, where's this? So you guys come back to my house? How much is it? Um, it was like At this time he was selling pretty big. So yeah, fifteen of pounds was like 4,500 bucks really? Yeah, so you're fucking behind the eight ball. Yeah, a few a drug money Yeah for 4,500 on this guy. Mm-hmm, and then he goes, okay

He goes he told my heaven. Yeah, he goes. Okay, he hangs up on me. No, all you know, he said, okay I don't believe you and he hung up. Yeah, and this guy knows everything about me knows where my parents live and everything so like starting to freak out That's what happened. Yeah, this is the one thing I was like, oh at least we got out of that Yeah, and then it was like I should have got shot It would have been better to get shot in the head at that time because I don't know how this is I don't know how many get $4,500. Yeah

And so we go back, I got to meet him and it's pretty scary. He was a pretty scary. His name was Box. He passed away. He was, he wasn't, he was cool if you knew him. Yeah. He was pretty terrifying. He was like six, eight dude.

Yeah. But he was independent. He wasn't a gang guy. He had his own group of guys that did a lot of robbing drug dealers. Yeah. So I go, okay, he gets there. He goes, I don't, I go, we talked for long enough. And he goes, I believe.

He goes, well, you owe me a lot of money, so you're going to have to work a lot for me. Oh, shit. So then I had to start doing these crazy fucking jobs, dude. Do you make, what, you kill a couple guys? No. And we had a, I shocked a dude with a fucking thing. It didn't pass out. So what, he brought you in as a dude with a fucking thing. It passed out.

So he brought you in as a heavy? He brought me, I had to do two big ass, well I had to find some drug dealers for him to rob. And then I had, keep in mind, this is statute of limitations long ago, it was a very long time ago. I haven't done any of this stuff for 10 plus years. Yeah. So I had to find some drug dealers for him to rob.

I had to drive him to those places. And then I had to do two jobs for him. And one of them was, he goes, this guy's going to walk past. It was an outdoor. I can't remember. I can't remember. I did all this shit. Such a different human being. I'm sorry to bring it up.

No, it's cool. I haven't really thought about it in a long time. So, so he goes, he goes, you owe me this money. You got to do this one job. He goes, this guy, it's a bring it up. No, it's cool. I haven't really thought about a long time So so he goes he goes you owe me this money. Yeah, there's one job. He goes this guy It's a set show, you know like an outdoor apartment. You know, there's no roofs and stuff and kind of got it's like a park almost A little bit. Oh, yeah. Yeah, like yeah, there's a balcony balconies and stuff like that. And there's like a stairs that go down like So I'm at this stairs that go down. He'll sit on these stairs. It'll be a tee of a sidewalk He goes there's a guy who's gonna walk past you with a duffel bag, it'll look like a Louis Vuitton duffel bag.

He goes, take this thing and he gives me a police crate stun gun. Yeah. It's like, gah, gah, gah, gah, gah, gah. Yeah. He's doing that right next to me, right? Yeah. Gah, gah, gah, gah, gah, gah.

And he goes, when the guy walks past you, just tag him and run straight. That's all he got to do. With the bag. You don't have to get the bag. When he goes back, tag him in the back and beeline, because it's a T, straight, and we'll pick you up. Yeah. And he goes, we'll knock $1,000 off.

Was it just teaching a guy a lesson? So this is what happens. So the guy's walking by with the bag. Yeah. He walks by. I get him. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, and I freeze.

He falls to the ground. then he had another guy running Yeah, I go this guy's gonna kill me his was his bodyguard Yeah, my buddy had another guy working for him who picked up the bag and ran that way Okay, and then I ran first straight so the other guy was your guys. Yeah, I guess he was on our guy Yeah, no idea. Yeah, so then he did that one and then I had to do one more job where I had to take this weed to Kansas University drove to Kansas. He was gonna drive he was gonna sell send it cuz you can mail it kind of easily Yeah, and then I would sell it to a guy. This was the craziest one this one was wait

So you got to go to Kansas? I went to Kansas. I knew a girl out there went to University of Kansas Yeah, so I was like, you know, it's like okay. This kind of works. I'll go out there try to bang that girl from high school So I was like, you know, I was like, okay, this kind of works. I'll go out there, try to bang that girl from high school, sell some weed in Kansas. This is going to be pretty fun. You had the adventurous spirit. Yeah. I was like, this is like teens, like late teens, early 20s. Yeah. So I'm like, okay, let's do this. So I go out there. And the guy goes, okay, the weed's

coming. And he goes, meet the drug dealer. So I I go he goes meet the drug dealer So I go meet this one was crazy So that meet the drug deal he's like this real crunchy hippie kind of guy Yeah, and he shows me this pad of paper goes come over tomorrow. He's talking real slow. Yeah, let's come over tomorrow And I got you put this pad of paper and says like stinky. Oh 750 Chuck Eos this you know I'm a good old money tonight. He's like going real slow and like 150 Chuck Eos this you know, I'm a good old money tonight. He's like going real slow and then And then tomorrow I'll buy it all from you and I'm like, okay, it's cool. You know, there's no this guy's not scary He's probably not gonna have a gun on me. I'm gonna be able to do this thing. He goes, okay I'm gonna go to sleep. I'm like, okay

He's like you hang out party if you want like no, you're at his house. I'm at his house. Yeah shitty little apartment So I see him he gets up he walks to the bed and he falls face fat on his bed. He goes to sleep on the bed. I'm like, okay. I'm like, I don't wanna be here with these weird people. Yeah, there was more than one? Yeah, there was like a party of like, girls hippies, like the type of druggie hippie guy. Yeah.

Criminal hippies. So I'm like, okay, I'm gonna go home. I try, I go to that girl's house. That night's fun. I wake up and I have all these missing texts. That dude OD'd on Oxycontin that night and he died. So now the weed comes. I'm stuck in Kansas.

So wait, how'd you find out he died? Because I was supposed to meet him that day and I was a friend of a friend to get me him and I had all these missing texts and calls from her, this girl was bringing this up. She goes, hey, OD'd on O to our school last night, he's dead. So when he fell on the bed, that was it? I was like the last one to see him. And then now I was stuck in Kansas. With the weed.

With the weed. And you drove out there? No, he sent it in a box. So then now I'm behind the eight ball again. That one was gnarly because being in a little town like that, there's not that many drug dealers. What town? Lawrence.

Oh, okay. The college. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know that college. Yeah. But I was able to get out of it. But so what'd you do with the weed? The problem was all the drug dealers all knew each other

and they knew I couldn't, I'm not gonna fly home with three pounds of weed. Yeah. So the amount of money I was getting before got cut by like three quarters. So you just had to divvy it up? I had to fire sale it. But then I'm already fire selling stuff

that I'm fire selling because I owed the scary guy stuff. So what happened? How did it resolve itself ultimately? Did you work off the 45? I worked off the 45. I had to leave Kansas and then he went out there to go deal with it all. The guy?

Yeah, the box. Box, yeah. Then he went out there and dealt with it all. Then I got out of it and then I was like, I don't think this is for me anymore. But isn't there that moment, like even, I never dealt drugs, but there is a moment where, you clearly had a couple of them,

where you're living that life and you realize like It's not it doesn't have to be drugs that kill you. Yeah, somebody else you're gonna be in a situation Where you're gonna go down? Well, it's also just like at the end of that one. I had started doing stand-up Where I and I was like, yeah in Sacramento. What made you do that? That's all I ever wanted to do since I was young But like what made you do that? That's all I ever wanted to do since I was a child. But like, what made you realize you could? 21 was the open mic, you had to be 21 to get into the club. At SAC, at the punchline?

The punchline one was really hard to get on at the time. I remember when I first started, I was like, if I could just do the open mic at punchline SAC, it's all I ever want. And it was up next to the mattress store in the mall. So I did that once and I started to get okay enough to where I'm hosting the local clubs Yeah, California and then I go It's you know drug one. I don't want to be known as drug deal anymore

Do people know in comedy that you were judging a little bit. It definitely faded out Yeah, but you know, I was never like a guy selling drugs on the street, right? I had like clientele, but were you hooking up comics? Yeah, in the beginning. Yeah, yeah. Because my weed, I bought so much, I could get it for so cheap. Yeah. And then the pills started getting fake,

and I was just like, I don't wanna do this anymore, and then kinda just did stand-up nonstop for the next. In SAC. SAC for like. So who were the, are there guys I know that were part of that scene? Well, I mean, there's some pretty good guys. There's a guy named Anthony Deguzman Jr.

or JR Deguzman. He does theaters. He's like a Filipino comic, music comedy. We have a guy named Kyrie Shabazz. Well, actually, NBC's stand up for diversity. It's like a thing they do across the country for diverse comics. We had four winners in a year.

In sec. From Sacramento. We had Mikey Winfield, JR Deguzman, Kyrie Shabazz, and one more guy, I forgot his name. So none of them made it down here. Were you doing road gigs yet? Yeah, I did these things called triple runs. Triple runs, yeah.

See, I missed the triple runs. Oh, yeah, that was the real sad end, real sad road dog shit. So when you got, like, what, 40 minutes? Yeah, 40 minutes, you're going like, OK, we're going to do it. You got to do an hour. Yeah, oh, dude, I got 20 minutes- You got to do an hour. Yeah. Oh, dude, I got 20 minutes I'm supposed to do an hour. Where were the Tribble runs?

Oh, that was the worst part. He was like, you'll go to like Eugene, Oregon, then you're going to go to Idaho, then you're going to go to Nebraska, you're going to come down to Nevada, and then you'll go back. So by the time you went through the rental car, the gas, you're coming home with like 300 bucks. Yeah. The most insane thing you ever know And it's triple still around I

Don't know yeah, I know his gigs. I don't know if his gigs are I I did it like twice And I was like this is not for me like so what's he'd fly into where like you drive dog the money wasn't flyable Right there's no flying so you drive from SAC To Oregon, to Idaho. And what were the rooms? Like a shit biker bar. Yeah, so he was making like $1,500 and he'd give you like $300. Oh, my God. I mean, I used to do that shit in Boston.

Well, yeah, it's exactly like that stuff. You know, just like the, you know, you just don't know where you're going. And then you show up and you're like, where's the, where do I stand? Yeah, like in the corner. Well, in the corner. Oh, and it's just you? No light, yeah, you're like, where's the, where do I stand? Yeah, like in the corner. Well, in the corner. Oh, and it's just you?

No light. Yeah, you got the, and then sometimes he would send you with the equipment. So you, so there's no stage, you're in the corner. You got a guitar amp? You got a guitar, you got like the, just the one thing with the microphone to it, bombing, because you're terrible. Yeah.

Oh. That was scarier than the drug shit, to be honest. But there was not two guys on the show? Yeah, you would bring your own host or feature. And that was the kind of level of comedy where you would just screw over your host and feature. Yeah, right. Like, yeah, we'll get you 50 bucks a show,

but we'll have to drive your car, and we'll split gas. So the guy would come home with nothing, and he quits comedy a week later because he realizes a fucking racket And then but that's where you cut your teeth. Yeah, yeah two triple runs. Now is it I was done I was like off. I've been a guy who's always kind of like okay. I'll do my own thing I'll find a way to do my own thing. Yeah, and so I was just I was like, okay I'll just run my own shows and I'll just be able to club guy. So then I worked on getting in the SF punchline. How far, I can't remember, what's that drive?

Hour and a half? Hour and a half? Hour and a half? Yeah. Cause yeah, I remember like, so you were going up to San Fran to do that shit. What was left there? Was it Molly at the punchline?

Molly, yep. Yeah. Molly was there. She passed me the couple times. Oh, that's good, man. I mean, that room, like, it's so weird in San Francisco. Like, the vibe in San Francisco is so weird. But I guess it was still a community then.

What's that, 10 years ago? Yeah, this closing in to 13, 14 years ago. It was still OK. It was still OK. Like Moshe Kasher was around? Moshe had just left. Ali Wong wasn't there. That generation of guys had left

She yeah, she featured for me at the punchline. I thought she was hilarious. Yeah, she was great She's like like even back then man. She had this fucking edge. Yeah, she's like go fuck yourself Yeah, you know good stories. Yeah, she was always good. Who else was up there? It kind of was like a drought when I got there. There was an opening for like the next people I know that's what happened when I got there. I don't know. It kind of was like a drought when I got there. There was an opening for like the next people. I know that's what happened when I got there. Yeah What year it was me like me Patton Blaine We all showed up after that whole generation and left for LA like that the originals Mm-hmm, maybe the ones that what year was that dude like 90 in them 93

Yeah, they were long gone but there was another generation of like proofs and Dana Gould and like people who had kind of were the second round, but it was just everyone had gone. And we showed up and they're like, oh my God, new blood. Did you do that competition? No, I did not because at that time, the people who are winning it, I didn't really need to be associated with. You know, like it went to a place where it was like Stan Hope and Dane and Ellen DeGeneres and Sinbad.

Yeah, I came in second in 90, fuck, two? Yeah. Something like that, 93. Yeah. Carlos Salzaraki came in first. I did it twice because I was out there for a couple of years and then I was going back and forth in New York, but it still felt like a thing like it There was like 40 dudes. Yes, and there was all these venues Yeah, would you have to drive around all of Northern California?

Yeah, because like, you know, you were working up to this, you know The finals or whatever and you never understood the scoring but you know, there was you did all the punchlines you did roosters Yeah, there was a winery gig. then there was some, it was crazy. Yeah, the gigs were not that good. They went down. So you would do like a bar in Sunnyvale. Yeah, I remember that. Then you go to Chico and an old people's home.

Something saloon in Sunnyvale? Yeah, one of them. I don't know. I don't think that was... Oh, no, no. Roosters was in Sunnyvale, yeah. Oh yeah, Roosters, I like Roosters. Roosters is good. Yeah.

Good sound system, I think. Yeah. I think they got a good one. They set up well. Yeah. They got the back patio. Just the name. Yeah, Rooster Teeth colors.

And that guy who owned it, I don't think he owns it anymore. No, a woman named Heather. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, I haven't been up there in a long time. But obviously. Well if you work Punch, I don't know if you can work that one. Well I don't know, like I haven't done the Punch in forever either. But it was so yeah, yeah. I haven't been up there a long time. But I was like... Well, if you work punch, I don't know if you can work that one. Well, I don't know. Like, I haven't done the punch in forever either. But it was so important, man.

And the original Cobbs, or the second... It was so important. The second Cobbs, down the cannery. That was great. I never did the first one. That was before me. I'm the one, the one it's still in now has been the one I've been in. The big one? The big ass one.

It's not great if there's not 300 people there. Yeah. But the original one was a sweet great if there's not 300 people there. Yeah. But the original one was a sweet little room right down the cannery. It was sweet, and then it burned down. And Tom Sawyer, the guy who ran it, he was kinda nuts. Yeah, I heard stories about that, it was dope. But I was...

Yeah, but that was the second one. Oh, the first one was even better? Well, I don't know, who the fuck knows? It was already gone. I was there to see the Holy City Zoo go away You saw you got to see that place. I worked there. Yeah, I'm it was still around it seemed like four people Oh really? Yeah, just got romanticized to be something a little I think it was like a great little place But it was tiny as fuck and yeah, I by the time I got there was just everything was on fumes man

And the first year I did the festival Johnny Steele one I don't know what that guy does. They're still up there. Yeah, you ever do the Throckmorton? Yeah, when I was at the Throckmorton it was like, you know, Mort Sall Yep was hanging out in the dressing room who he never liked me. I don't even know why he just knew he didn't like me Robin was around Williams would come Dana Carvey would come it was pretty cool I remember one night I was working there and I got up there and I had the wrong weekend. I thought I was headlining, but they had booked some other guy and now that guy's mad at me. And I'm headlining up there and Robin's there one night.

And I'm doing all right, but every time a joke, he's up in the balcony, no one knows he's there. And every time a joke bombed, I just hear him go, ooh. Yeah, you could do it, because they'd be right up at the top, because that normally wouldn't sell out that much. And I just knew that if I addressed him, he would be on stage within 40 seconds.

And then I'd be in some sort of improv spiral with Robin, and my whole set would be garbage. But- They always paid good though. No, it was a nice gig. Yeah, it was a good gig. Yeah, it was good It's still a good gig. It is still yeah, you can go up there still. Oh, yeah I think they do Tuesday nights at the Throckmore. So when do you move down here? I moved um, I

Had a crazy story to move down here. I was dating a girl, but you move you got an hour, right? I did I have an hour when I moved here. Yeah, no, I was like a feature Oh, so you moved before you, you moved down here and you were still going back up there to work. Yes, all the time. That's right. Which was a nice thing here because I could never imagine starting comedy in Los Angeles.

Well, that's what I did when I moved to New York. Every weekend I'd have to go do the one-nighters to make the living. Yeah. Or get a spot that wasn't some terrible open mic. Yeah. So when I came down, I came down, I was dating a girl down here and she was kind of in at the comedy show. Yeah. So when I came down, I came down, I was dating a girl down here and she was kind of in at the Comedy Store.

So then I came down. She's still around? Yeah, she's doing some stuff. I'm not gonna see her anymore. Kind of doing our own ways, wish her the best. Went to the Comedy Store and I'd never been there, so I was freaking out and I was able to get on Potluck. It's kind of a wild thing to come upon that place

the first time. You know what's amazing about it now from when I got there? Like when I got there in the eighties, it was crazy. It was crazy. Cause it was like, it was the time of Dice and Sam. So both of those guys broke around, you know, within a year of each other.

So when I was a doorman at the store, you know, it was Sam was rising, Kenison was rising and rising he owned that place that place is very susceptible to big egos Yes, but it was still like this comics. It's almost like a pyramid scheme the biggest comics personality will Feeder down the whole level and that's what's so good about it now there aren't any anybody Yeah, this and it's it's definitely nicest, most welcoming the place has ever been. Emily's fucking great. Yeah, I think so too. And like all of a sudden you got acts

that aren't like, you know, weirdos. Like you get, like the diversity of acts now is better than I've ever seen it since Mitzi fucking ran the place. For sure, for sure. And it's like, and it's all sort of, what's the word I want, egalitarian. Like, you know, all these people that were sort of,

had the goods, but were just marginalized, are all now the guys. And they can do the job. Anyway, but when I got there, it was crazy, because Monday night was like no cover night, I think it was. That was the same, until the pandemic, it was still free. It was nuts. Because, Kenison, that was his night. So all the the fucking the entire

World of Hollywood rock and roll drugs and porn would just converge on the play I heard I like midnight to you like the like people come everyone would leave Kenison would do that late night spot and then it fill up with this crazy crazy and I was living up in Crest Hill Crazy, I told those stories before so you those stories are the Are large reason I came to the Comedy Store. When your podcast first started going, you and Joe... Yeah. And you both romanticized the Comedy Store...

Yeah. ...to an end of where I was like, this is all I want to do. Yeah. And being a door guy. You both loved being a door guy. You were a door guy. Was Joe a door guy? He was never a door guy. No, he was a door guy.

But he definitely treated door guys really well. No, like, yeah, a lot of people say good things about Joe, and you know, and I, the most recent manifestation of Joe is harder for me to deal with, but as a guy who loved the place and certainly built it up, he's definitely a part of it, of mythologizing it. Because everyone thought that when all those guys fucking left to Austin to build their own Hollywood,

they thought it would suck the juice out of the place, but the place in and of itself now is a destination. Yes. Because people, they don't know who they're gonna see, welcome to, and it's still pretty exciting. Because Burl will come by, Spade will come by, you don't know who the fuck's gonna show up, Rock, it's back on top.

Yeah, I mean, it's definitely the best club in LA by far, and I still love the improv and stuff like that too. I hardly ever worked there, but it's the best. I think it's really the most, it's the only one that's, it's an original place and it's still like it was. All they did was fix things that really needed to be fixed. Yeah, like plumbing and having the bathroom. Having the bathroom, like those two single occupancy

With the payphone in the middle like when you did blow those were the fuck Yep, that was the best but the problem is the guy would you'd see a guy go in there with a girl and then the door Be locked for an hour five minutes. Yeah. Yeah, that was the only place to go bathroom. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, there's no other point Well, you go upstairs stairs. Yeah, they're by the office. Yeah, but that's all locked up now The one by the office you can still get through through the belly room And that's the only one if I have to poop that's the one I'll poop in wait the one but the one in the belly room Because I don't think that one's terrible right, but you can't get into the office now because there's a door there Is that you go up the stairs over the back stairs? Oh, okay? It's a mirror the managers play go to bathroom Yeah, that's where they can poop. Yeah, and you can kind of go up there

Yeah, it's the pooping one if I go, I'll fucking poop in the hallway one. The ho, oh, that one's crazy. I'll do the one in the main room, the handicap one in the main room. Yeah. That one's all right. Or back in the day when it was those two little ones, just go to the on-dos.

On-dos is fancy. Oh, that's nice. Yeah, I've done that before. Sure, if you really gotta go. Yeah, if you really, you got some time on your hands, you're like, Argus is gonna do 45 minutes, I got time. Go to the hotel. He's opening with 45 on OJ.

I don't know how this shit's gonna go so I don't want to be stuck in that. I need to stretch out I need a high quality toilet paper. I'm an idiot on this. And the main room bathroom you don't even want to go in there. You can piss in there but you're not gonna. That one gets turfed by like. I don't know how that happens. People start pissing everywhere. It's just like the wildest thing. I don't know why people behave the way they do. I mean you you know, maybe a couple of drops, but Jesus Christ. Towards the end, I'm like, are you even in the bathroom when you're pissing?

I get that thing on planes too. It's like, why do fucking people become animals on planes? It's like, what the fuck is happening? Who's doing this? Well, it just shows you that one person will, no matter what happens and how much we want to be you know, we're all here for each other. Yeah, I will fuck it up for everybody. Oh, yeah always so, okay So what happens so you get down there the first night you see it like this first night I'm there and then I go I get up at the Potluck but I'm like, you know the potluck one if you're like the first two or three guys Just I just remember when I was working there like, you know that line dude

There'd be a guy like, you know, that line dude, there'd be a guy, like, you know, dressed in a garbage bag. Yes. Their chef hat. You know, guys with, you know, juggling balls. You're like, what the fuck is that? What is this, like, a wrestling thing? Yeah. Well, look, a lot of those guys went with the Kill Tony

people into Austin, for sure, because the line's a little less weird now. But so I get up, I'm first to second. Thank god they're working. You know, they deserve it. Yeah, those guys. Yeah, yeah. now they sell tickets and they can't, so that's great. So I get there, I do that spot, no one watched me,

and then the girl I was dating, I think I put my name in the bucket for Kill Tony when it was still small. And I went up there, and the second I walk in the room, they call my name. In the Belly Room. In the Belly Room, I had no idea what the Bell the belly room. I had no idea what the belly room was. I had no idea what killed Tony. This is the punching bag spot.

Yeah, this is, I'm going up to kill Tony for a minute. So, theory from people just to rip me apart. Yeah. I go up, it was Dom Meraire and Greg Fitzsimmons. And I did one joke. On the panel. On the panel. And Tony. Yeah, and Tony. So at this time too, I'm like, holy shit,

Greg fucking Simmons and Dom Meraire are gonna watch me? But they're nice guys. Yeah, they're actually pretty cool dudes. Still at this time too, I'm like, holy shit, Greg fucking Simmons, I don't know if I ever gonna watch me. But they're nice guys. Yeah, they're actually pretty cool dudes, still to this day. Greg's fucking tight. Yeah. So I go up there, I do one joke. It did well.

It did great. I come downstairs, Adam was there, and the girl I was dating introduced me, and he goes, hey, I heard you were the guy who did good on Kill Tony. I go, yeah. He goes, do you live in LA? At this point I didn't. I go, yeah. He goes, do you live in LA?

At this point I didn't. I go, yes. He goes, come back every week. So then for like the next three months, I would drive down every week from Monday potluck and. You would drive down from SAC? What's SAC for? Eight to five, five to eight.

Depends how bad it is. Yeah. So I do it every, and then after a while he goes, then he goes, okay, you're gonna get kind of in development. And I was like, okay, I'm moving. Yeah. And that was it? And that was it.

It's, you know, it's so fucking wild that when, and the difference is it's weird, you know, cause even the experience I've had, cause I've done your shows, you've booked me on all of your shows, which is always fun, and I've watched you, but there was something about, there's something about, you know, just seeing somebody, you know, sitting in the back of the OR.

Yeah, the OR is different. In that, like, you know, you can really see somebody who's the real guy, you know, who's got chops, and there's nothing else that guy's gonna be doing. There's no other thing. That's why I'm like, the business is dying, but I'm gonna die with the business. I think my own demise is happening.

But it's just such a weird thing. And I don't like, and that's why, you know, when I noticed, because the OR, in a moment in the OR, there's an honesty available that only can happen in that room. Yes, where you can't do that in the main room. No, because like, you just, you feel the weight of it for some reason.

I mean, you can do it occasionally in the main room, but in the OR, when all the fucks go away, all of a sudden you're like, you're in this zone where it's just you, pure, right? And not everybody can do that. Some people are freaked out by that room and some people just can't get past their acts. But there are guys-

Yes, can't get past your act is the biggest thing. Because if you're going up past 1130 and you're like, well, today I went to the supermarket, bam, that's not really what's going to happen. That must have been why I was hanging out late and I was just watching people because I need someone who laughs. And I'm watching you and I'm like, oh, this guy is like, you know, this is the real deal. This guy's not doing anything else.

No. This is all, it's all I ever wanted to do and that's it. But it's crazy if you think about it, man. You know, like doing a triple run, I'm just, these are just moments I have with myself because I can't, I don't know who that guy was that did what I did when I started comedy Yeah, but I didn't think of anything else. Yeah, and I would do that thing. It's like we all drive to Maine for eight hours

75 hours. Yeah, and I got to drive who the hypnotist. That's okay. That's okay. I can open for it I'll sell your merch too. You want me to go up after you're done for ten more minutes so you can set up your merch booth No one had merch back then, really. It was pre-merch. Dude, I opened for some guys that were like, you know, Road Hacks, but you know, Road Hacks fucking murder. So this guy, I would open for him.

Who? I'm not gonna. Now that you've said Hacks, you can't say his name. Yeah, if I wouldn't have said their name, I would have been like, one of my favorite comics of all time, this guy, Punky Spee Bottom. So he would go up, murder, and then he goes,

can you go up and do 10 minutes after me while I set up my booth? So I'm going up, host, bombing my dick off. At the show, it was already great. After his big close-up. After his big close-up, dirty thing, call back, so I'm getting buried. Yeah. And then I have to stand next to him and sell the...

The booth. Oh. And they barely look at you. Yeah. It's like they say to him, like, wow,... Ugh. And they barely look at you. Yeah. It's like they say to him like, wow, that was really fun. They look at you and they're like, hey. Hey, you there.

You had fun up there, didn't you, bud? To be honest, no, I did not. It was fun until the last 10 minutes. So what do you like, so what do you do? You go out as a headliner? Yeah, I'm doing like punchlines. Luckily came up through the punchlines, La Jolla, House of Comedies. You know, I'm doing like punchlines, luckily came up through the punchlines, La Jolla, House of Comedies.

You know, I'm doing the one where the clubs liked me because I featured for years for all these big guys and stuff. And so- And you kept a nice rapport with them. But the problem is I just don't sell tickets. Yeah. So it's like- I know, I was like that for years.

It's a fucking nightmare. And I was doing like TV and everything and I couldn't fucking sell tickets. I hated it. When I started the podcast, I was like, I had no anticipation of anything, but I knew that looking down the barrel at being like a unknown headliner, it's rough, dude. I remember when you started the podcast,

you were, it was so funny, the beginning you were just so depressed. The first year and a half of the podcast, another fucking day, they're doing this, take that cat, the cat! And I'm not selling it, and then it took off again. And it was just cool to see. But then I got all these people that come to the podcast

and they're like, we should go support him doing comedy. I'm like, that's what I do. That's who I am, you know? I don't know, I'm still kind of like that with that. You know what I mean? It's like, I feel like I got a bunch of very nice people that come to see me, you know? But like, you know, when I see my audience,

I'm like, do you know who I am? Do you like, I'm a monster. And they're like, no, you're not. No, you're not. Well, I've always said, you know, working there, I was just like, there's definitely a few sides of you, but the two marks that I've grown to know is kind of the normal Mark Leuker-Mudgyny, and then there's cigar Mark. You're the guy who came up with that.

If you see Mark with the cigar, you just met one of the nicest people you'll ever meet in your life. And he's going to tell you about Kinnison. He will tell you about Kinnison. Let me tell him. That's right. You said like, cigar Mark, like, tell stories. Stories, yeah. You want to sit down and listen to the story? I used to That's right. You said, like, cigar mark guys tell stories. Stories. Yeah, you want to sit down and listen to the story?

I used to love it. I'm like, oh, he's got a cigar. Guys, get around the back door. Get around the bar. He's got cigars. Get around the back door. He's going to spin some yarns. He's going to tell you some cool stuff.

Oh, that's hilarious. So yeah, it was always cool. You're always pretty nice, man. I mean, the biggest thing for me, I mean, I haven't been a door guy there since before the pandemic. Being a lock guy, the people that don't tip, you always tipped. I could just never understand that.

Yeah, I know. You can't go like, I got two dollars? Not only do I always tip, but I assume like, how much is Whitney giving you? Yeah. You know, I always think like, am I tipping enough? Oh, there's some guys who gave nothing that were number one on Forbes.

And you'd be like. Really? Yeah, I can't give a dollar. I never even think to not tip. If I don't, I feel terrible. Yeah, well, it's two bucks. Yeah, well, I'm generally a fiver. Yeah.

Five guy. And if I forget to go to the back bar to break a 10, some guys get a 10. Yeah, that's a big day for a guy. I got a 10 from work. It is. What? Fuck.

So how often are you out on the road? I just did my summer tour which was okay. I mean it was great. I did all the House of Comedies, it was cool. Starting to go to Canada a lot. Where are you working up there? Doing the House of Comedy, so Vancouver, Edmonton.

What's that guy's name? Bronson? Yeah, I deal with his wife a little more than him. But the one in Edmonton? Yeah, Edmonton one's good. It's in a mall, right? The Vancouver one. You were up in Vancouver, right? Is there a house comedy there? Oh, that's right. It's a little outside of Vancouver. Yeah, I didn't know. Vancouver's a weird place

because you're like, it's outside of Vancouver. I'm like, but what out? There's like six downtowns. I don't even understand that. Well, Vancouver, like I was just there for months and there's no club in town anymore. So, you know, I was doing the better, the comic produce rooms, some of them were, one of them was good, two of them.

And I just needed to work out a little bit, but it's not the same. I just didn't go out to the House of Comedy. I didn't know, I don't know why. They said, come on out, and I'm like, I don't know, I don't know. It's good, I like it. It's in the middle of nowhere.

Vancouver's so weird, because you're like, it seems like a Chinese realtor pyramid scheme. Totally. It's all just like monuments to money laundering. Yeah, yeah, exactly. These giant buildings, no one lives there. Yeah, it's crazy. It happens in Florida too, and in New York. They're just planting their money there and they don't give a fuck. It's crazy. I don't understand the projection of that. So if you're gonna build this thing and you put all this money into it,

but you're not gonna rent it and you can't sell it, what the fuck is the point? I guess making money off laundering, maybe. I guess. So things cost more than they do. I don't understand it either. I have no idea. What happens to those buildings? If no one's gonna manage them and rent them,

how is that even a good investment? Well, you can look in Vancouver. There's like four downtowns. I know. Each one's like slowly degrading as they build a new downtown. Yeah, these high rises. But I like, I just don't know what the end game is because you can't sell them.

I think it's a get in, get out kind of thing. Oh, so they're making money on the money somehow. Yeah. I don't understand. But anyway, so how do you put yourself out in the world? How do people like know you? How do people know me? I don't understand. But anyway, so how do you put yourself out in the world? How do people like know you? How do people know me?

I don't know. How do they do know me? What's the big plan on building the draw? I don't know how to plan. I'm not putting you on the spot here, but what's the social media presence like? Mid? Yeah.

You know, I don't think, I have a look that people wanna stare at for more than five to 10 seconds, so the videos don't really work that great and I Got I'm like working out being like maybe a kid watches. Didn't you break something? Yeah, I have terrible knees I've torn up my ACL am still my meniscus from football Football basketball I got no it they're super fucked up. Yeah, so right now. I'm just I just run my shows I got this new show. I'm trying to

Do call show always seems popular cronies the one yeah, yeah, that one's sick That one's well, I booked sick-ass comics every month and it works out. How do you promote that? Just by paying good comics good money and putting them on a flower. Oh, that's it. Yeah Well, you're funny dude. Well, I appreciate it man. You seem like you're relatively healthy right now. Yeah, I'm great man My life is fantastic. I'm engaged, the work's coming. Yeah. I'm putting out clips, I'm doing all the shit you're supposed to do.

I'm just kind of, I can tell, well, the sad part is I can tell that this is going to be a highlight of my life. You know, I'm going to go back in 10 years and be like, I did when I was 35, I think that was the best I got. Come on. Do you open for guys? Yeah, I opened, I used to open for, I've opened for Burr Chrysler for three years. Oh, you did?

I did the pandemic run with them. He's a nice guy. Yeah, I love the guy. I don't do it anymore. How come? I think at some point we both were like, it's time for you to do your own thing now. Yeah, it's a weird decision, but like I learned that, you know, I got lucky. You don't want to be part of someone else's thing. No.

After a while, and I'm so grateful for Bert. He's one of the nicest people I've ever met. He taught me on, I did stadiums, I went on private jets. But after, when I'm almost getting into close to 40, I don't want my only credit to be, I open for another guy. Well, the weird thing is, is you would think, and I've just noticed this from other people, like I don't, like, even if I have friends who get huge,

I pull back. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like, cause I saw it happen, like with Candace, and when I was a door guy, you just see these guys, they all have these crews, and for the most part, they don't go anywhere. Yes.

And the idea would be that, well, you're being exposed to this huge audience, so they'll come see you the next time, but they don't remember. No. They don't give a fuck. Yeah, I mean, I got a small thing from it, but you're, I mean, like, shit,

I'll get a couple hundred people from a stadium or something. Yeah. And I still open for Bobby, Santino, anybody I can, but I kinda decide to focus on myself and try and build myself because if that fails, I at least can blame myself, which is a lot easier to sleep with.

Yeah, sure, I do it all the time. I can tell you, a post-traumatic really helps that way. Yeah, yeah, even if I got a spare Yeah, I'm just and even if I just if I got a free spare time Yeah, I just blame myself for something. Why the fuck am I not that guy? It's all bullshit. It's all just the way my brain works. Yeah, like at some point It's sort of like, you know, like you better accept it. You're okay soon. Mm-hmm. You did. All right, you won Yeah, I definitely say you won. Yeah. Yeah, but there's part of me that's really You won. Yeah, I'd definitely say you won.

Yeah, yeah, but there's part of me that's sort of like, yeah, but I didn't win the big one. You know what, by going with, I would consider Burt one of the winning the big ones, the guys doing the arena. I don't wanna, it doesn't look that fun. He's working. He's always working.

Yeah. Always, and not even like just, he's on his phone, like taking videos. I don't want that. Me neither. That's too hard. Dude, that's why you're so impressive to me. Well, all those guys have to feed the monster.

Like, all the fucking time. That's a big fucking monster, dude. Yeah, and like, I don't know what I would do with, if I had that many people that liked me, I'd be like, there's something wrong with them, me. I don't know what happened. You know what I mean? You must not know actually me

if there's so much you like me. Well, yeah, but it's also the fact that the responsibility of it and also the level of work or whatever, I don't understand it all. But I do, like in my quieter moments, like I do realize I don't want that. But there's another part of me, the ego part of me,

that's sort of like, why the fuck? Should be given to me or something. Yeah, yeah, but like I don't want it. I put the work in to be exactly who I am. And I wouldn't even know how to construct an act that those people would want. Or those people, whatever, or the huge audience. I don't know.

What do I? Well, Bert was like, I always picture, Bert's like Jimmy Buffett. Right. You know? Yes, exactly. It's like a lifestyle thing. When you go to a show, they're out four hours before the show

in the parking lot. With their shirts off? With their shirts off, drinking beers. They like fill up the back of their trucks with water. So it's like a pool. It's like a Jimmy Buffett parrot headed. It is, right? It was just fucking awesome.

But it's just a, to just, it takes so much work to be that guy. Yeah. And it looks fun because he's built to do it, but I'm not built to do that. Well, I mean, it's also like, you know, I mean, it's a whole new thing of comedy now. Like, you know, we just wanted to kind of, you know,

make a living. Yeah, I wanna sell out, let me sell out club dates. Yeah, yeah, exactly. That's what I wanna do. I make a good living, I get to meet some fans. I'm not, I can walk out and people don't stop me. Yeah, yeah. Bert, we'd be at dinner with, and he would be,

I'm talking fine dining. Yeah. And someone would come up to him and ask him to take off his shirt and take a picture. I mean, I'm talking these steaks are 200 bucks. Hold on a minute, he'd do it. Yeah, he's the best. Yeah, yeah.

He's the nicest fucking guy in the world. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And he'd take off his shirt and he'd take a picture with this person. He enjoys it, but that's how I know, I would have been like, get the fuck out of my face. I'm eating steak right now, what are you doing? But he would do it every time.

Come on man. Come on, that's so cool. I'm like, you're in a suit and I have to take my shirt off? Yeah. What are you doing? He is a good guy, but it was good talking to you. Yeah, thank you very much. Can I say one thing?

Yeah. This was always a thing, my mom when I moved here, she was like, you gotta do it, so I wanna give a shout out to my mom, what up mom? He did it. I did it, dog. He did it, she listens. Oh, she's a huge fan of yours. This was a big thing for her.

So thank you. See, your mom's my audience. Yeah, I would say so. Yeah, yeah. Slightly older, good looking woman. Oh, good. All right. Well, that's good to know.

All right. Well, what's her name? Sandra. Sandra, he did great. Thank you, bud. Well, there you go, that's Steve Fury. You can go see what he's up to at SteveFury.com and at his social pages and a special hello to Steve Fury's mom.

My fan. Hang out for a minute. Look folks, we're in the midst of a global mental health crisis and mental health needs have never been greater. Awareness about mental health is growing, but significant public needs for care are still going unmet. CAMH is the Center for Addiction and Mental Health and with your help CAMH can remain a leader in improving mental health care.

Donate to CAMH from November 28th to December 3rd for Giving Tuesday, and your gift will be doubled to make twice the impact in mental health care. CAMH is building better mental health care for everyone to ensure no one is left behind. Visit camh.ca-wtf to hear stories of hope and recovery. Folks, I'm gonna be in a lot of places around the holidays, New Mexico, New York City, New Jersey, and I'm sure a lot of you are traveling too.

While you're away, it's easier than ever to host on Airbnb because a co-host can do all the hosting for you. Get a high quality local co-host to take care of your home and your guests. They'll create the listing for you, manage your reservations, and take care of sending messages. So someone else takes care of everything and you'll still make some cash while you're away. Find a co-host at airbnb.ca. Hey folks, you can get the latest Ask Mark Anything bonus episode with your full Merin subscription. I took some time here in Albuquerque to answer the latest round of your questions.

How often do you get recognized in public? I would imagine it happens almost any time you go out shopping at Whole Foods and other routine outings. Is this something you have to mentally think about before you go out or is it just routine at this point? I'm fortunate in that most of my fans are very decent people. They're good people. Many of them see me and they don't feel the need to talk to me and others come up and just They're nice. It's not all the time. I'm still a very kind of I'm not a huge star I'm still sort of an acquired taste and there are people that know me But most of the time I don't I'm not mobbed or anything,

and as I said, most of my fans are polite people. But they say hi and I'm okay with it, I like it. I'll have a conversation, they ask me personal things because if you listen to my podcast, you know me pretty personal. I don't mind it at all, it's pretty routine, but it's not unmanageable. Subscribe to the Full Marin to get bonus episodes

twice a week, even during the holidays. Just go to the link in the episode description or go to WTF pod.com and click on WTF plus. And a reminder before we go, this podcast is hosted by a cast. Here's some old riffs from back in the day. So So So So So Boomer lives! Monkey and La Fonda, cat angels everywhere.