WTF with Marc Maron Podcast - Episode 1683 - Mark Flanagan

Episode Date: October 2, 2025

Despite having close relationships with innumerable people in the entertainment industry, Mark Flanagan is aware that a lot of people don’t know much about him, even his first name. They just know him as Flanagan, owner and programmer of the LA nightclub Largo. Flanny talks with Marc about his family’s escape from Northern Ireland during The Troubles and his obsession with music that brought him to Largo in the early ‘90s, eventually owning the club where he could showcase the people he most admired in music and comedy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lock the gate! All right, let's do this a few more times. How are you? What the fuckers? What the fuck buddies? What the fuck, Knicks? What's happening? I'm Mark Maren. This is my podcast.

Welcome to it. How's everybody doing? I am actually a little under the weather. Of course, after the stress of everything converging on a point here, and that layered with the cat chaos I deal with daily, and that layered with, trying to do some new material and that layered with, I don't know, my recent doctor's visit. It's a lot.

It's just life, I know. I'm not special in the stress, but it has been ongoing. And I think I just blew a gasket here. Got a little under the weather. No vid, though. No vid. No COVID. What are you going to do?

I guess the weather changed. the big shift in summer to fall in L.A., it's like a four-degree shift, but it's chilly in the morning. And maybe it doesn't get into the 90s. And we're like, ooh, put on your sweaters. Come on, it's fall. It's 78. What are you doing? Get out your long johns.

So listen, folks, today I'm going to talk to Mark Flanagan, better known as Flanagan. He is the owner and proprietor of Largo. at the coronet right now here in Los Angeles. You hear a lot of people mention Largo. You hear a lot of people here mentioned Flanagan at times. He's like the hub. He's like the center of the wheel in some ways. It's got a lot of stories,

got an interesting background. He's an Irish dude. But he is integral to a certain part of the comedy scene in this city. And I would say internationally. and also music. And I figured here we're on our way out. This guy is a guy I talk to a lot. I work at his club a lot.

And I go way back with the world of Largo to some degree. Certainly now I play there a lot. Early on, I found it very intimidating. It was sort of at the beginning of, in terms of comedy, it was kind of really one of the mainstays at the beginning of alternative comedy. And also a mainstay of music. singer, songwriter type of music. So he's here. I am back at Dynasty Typewriter here in Los Angeles for two shows in October. That's Saturday, October 11th and Friday, October 17th. Nice place. Seats under 200.

Intimate situation. These are going to be more along the lines of riffing through stuff to see what I've, see what's on my mind, what I'm coming up with. So it's definitely a workshop situation. But people enjoy that. They like seeing it at the beginning and then seeing how it comes together. You can go to WTFPod.com slash tour for tickets. There's also a couple of Largo dates there. There are special screenings around the country of the documentary, Are We Good? It opens tomorrow, October 3rd, New York and Los Angeles. I'll be at screenings here in L.A. on Friday at the Alamo Draft House and the AMC Americana.

Down the street, my local theater. then at the Vancouver Film Festival on Sunday, back in LA at the Arrow Theater next Friday, October 10th for the American Cinemattec presentation of Are We Good? And me and Steve Fine Arts are doing a moderated conversation with Larry Charles has stepped up to handle that. This is also the last chance to be part of the Kickstarter pre-order for the graphic novel. WTF is a podcast, and we're all still trying to get everyone who order. orders a framed set of four WTF trading cards if we pass 250 grand. Go to Z2Comics.com slash WTF. And yeah, that's the business.

That is the business. So let's layer it up here a little bit. First of all, I didn't mean to drop that I, you know, I went to the, the doctor's office and get a physical. I didn't mean to sort of suggest anything other than that being plant-based for two and a half years has not significantly changed my LDL cholesterol. And that's, you know, that's kind of a, you know, that's kind of a punch in the gut because you don't, you don't want to take medicine and you don't want to believe that you can't just

fix it. It's a weird thing with, with medicine. I think it's at the core of people's, one of the reasons that people are so tripped out about vaccines in general is that you don't want to take medicine. but I got to be honest with you. If you live long enough, everyone's going to be taking medicine. And medicine is good. It is life sustaining.

It is life saving. But as a human being, you want to believe like, I can kick it. I can do it. I don't know what that is. I don't know if it's ego or pride or just not wanting to feel like you're compromised physically somehow. So now the big question is, do I just start eating fucking meat? again. Do I start, do I get on that statin and just, you know, load up on ribs, roast chicken,

you know, salmon? The answer is, that is not the plan. Because through being plant-based, I have gotten a sensitivity to the sort of realities of consuming animals. And some of it is to the realities of consuming mistreated, over-medicated, you know, sad animals. You're eating a lot of sadness. You're eating a lot of fear. You're eating a lot of just brutal killing. It goes in, man. It goes, you know, it's all in there. The poetry is in the DNA of the frightened animal. So that's not the plan. And when I do think about eating something that might be good for me in terms of meat. It's always canned fish. I don't know what that is. I think that's some deep juice shit. Always canned fish. Okay. So Flanagan, who I'm going to talk to, has been the guy

at Largo. And early on, before I lived here, you know, I would fly out and Largo was the hip fucking place to do comedy. It was sort of the beginning of the alt scene. You got your Dana Goulds, you got your proofs, you've got your Patton, that guy, you've got your Paul F. Tom Cones, you've got your Marias, Bamfords, you got your Garofs. And, you know, it was the scene. And I would come in from my, from New York with my attitude and my club chops and, you know, also being a defender of the New York alt scene at Luna. And I found it all very intimidating over there. And I never really had a great attitude. I'm still. a little weird around sort of altie audiences, though all comedy doesn't really exist anymore.

I am still like, you know, I'm like, come on, I'm, you know, at heart, I'm just a dirty club guy. But, you know, obviously that's not true. It's just part of my training and part of me lives there. But, you know, I'm as much in the nerd NPR world as I am the filthy club world. I try to keep active in all the different worlds that represent all the, the spec. of me, from dirty to thoughtful to dirty thoughtful. I seem to have helped disrupt the comedy world mildly with my joke about Riyadh. The weird thing about setting something on fire in that way is that it was a joke.

And it is kind of exciting on some level when a joke, you know, has resonance. and actually has a bit of an edge to it and does provoke, you know, something either, you know, political or just hypocrisy or what have you. I mean, that seems to be the power of a joke because I told a joke and started the whole world crying. What did, like, Patton, I was texting with Patton about

these jokes and he had a thing that um let me see if i can find it on my telephone he quoted uh liz fair the finest kind of joke is quote obnoxious funny true and mean thank you liz uh via patten yeah i mean look you know i'm just i'm just doing my funnies can i just do my funnies okay so look This talk with Flanagan is a first conversation with me. I'll be honest with you. I wasn't even sure what his first name was. And it's the same as mine. He's just Flanagan to all of us.

And he's got quite a story. So you can get tickets and info about all the shows coming up at Largo by going to Largo-Dash-L-A.com. And this is me talking to Mark Flanagan. So what's going on? What's in the bag? Oh, this is your presence. This is your birthday present.

First of all, look at that one. Oh, great. You'll say you're not a medium, but you're a fucking medium. I'm a medium, yeah. Yeah. Oh, that's beautiful. Isn't it? Yeah.

It's your fucking, that's your exile stones. I love it. Okay, so the second one is a really, really inspiring book that I read. Your brother will know who Roger Federer is. You probably don't. One of the greatest tennis players of all time. Oh, yeah. It's not about him.

Oh, really? It's about knowing. It's about endings, about career endings. Oh. Nietzsche's in there. Jack Kerouack's in. You're going to love this. Those are great career endings,

oh, well, no, I know, but some of them are tragic. One in an institution. But he talks about Dylan about the ever, non-ending tour, you know? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

All right. So, and then the third thing. That's very nice. Do you know what that is? A blood pressure monitor? Yeah, what's it called? I know, fuck it. I don't,

a hagiya, a hagi-a. Swigmoanometer. Did you know that? Yeah, you should have fucking called me. I should, I didn't. I studied medicine. That was so embarrassing, dude. But you know why you want this?

Because of your birthday. Yeah. is you go to the doctor, right? There's a thing called white coat hypertension, which you go there and your... I just got a check-up. I know, but your blood pressure is... When you go to the doctor,

generally, it's 30 up, like your systolic is... No, my blood pressure is sweet. It's the only good thing that's sweet. Keep this, and at the most calm part of your day, put that on your arm. It's like 125 over 70-something. That's excellent. Yeah.

Because it should be 140. Yeah, no, I got good blood pressure. It's just the cholesterol, and then the testosterone. I got to get that. But you and Sarah on that program. and I watched it live. It was funny, right? It was great.

It was great. I wish we could have gone longer. I felt like I let her down. I felt like she was like Mark smart. She was very nervous. I mean, you were very, you were quiet because you were like, oh, what the fuck. Yeah, I don't like losing. Yeah, I know.

And also, you don't want to look stupid either. Yeah, and you get to do both on that show. Yeah. Yeah, I just went to the doctor. It's okay. I did too. What did you get? So I have an abnormal thyroid, so low thyroid.

And so it's really hard to lose weight and stuff. And the great thing is finding out that that's what it was. Yeah. And apparently one and four men in America go with low, undiagnosed, low thyroid. What are the symptoms of that? Freezing extremities. Your hands are cold all the fucking time. You can't lose weight.

You get really tired in the afternoon, which, look, with two kids, everyone's tired of them. Reising extremities. Yeah, just really cold extremities. Do you have hands? Do your hands tingle? You never get warm. No matter what. Oh.

Backstage at Largo, it's fucking freezing. But you don't get tingly hands, do you? Not tingly, but definitely. you can feel the extremities like, why? I love it when he gets to a certain age. This is the conversation. Yeah, yeah. I got a friend in New Mexico.

He's like, who I've known since I was a kid. He's like, 10 minutes on health. That's it. Just 10. Stop. And then we move on. Have you heard Judd's bit about it? No.

Being a comedian of 57 is just unbearable. Because how do you relate to people? You talk them about your diverticulitis? No. Does he have that? No, but he says he probably does. Oh, my God. He's only 57?

How am I older than everybody? How old is... I'm a year younger than you. So you're 61? Yeah. 62 yesterday. I know. I know.

Happy birthday. So I thought the reason that I thought this would be good for us. Yeah. Is because, you know, Largo looms large over comedy, over show business and over the world that I live in. And there's questions, but I also know you listen to the show all the time. Yeah. And you referred to a lot. But there's this whole other...

It's like the history of alt show business. Yeah. You are. Right. And my memories, like, I don't even think I know your whole name. Right. What is? No, it's the funniest thing.

So can I tell you something really funny? Michael, my manager, said to me, you love this fucking guy. Yeah. I've gone through everything with this fucking guy. And he doesn't know I have kids. Yeah. Is that true? Yeah.

So my full name is Mark Flanagan. No, no middle? No. Oh, well, there's Brian is my middle name. But, I mean, you know, that was a religious thing. So anyway, when I was a kid, everyone called me, Flanagan. Yeah.

Everybody. Yeah. And in fact, with the old phones, they would call my house and say, is Flanagan there? My mother would hang up. Yeah. She should say there's a house full of them. Click. And they'd have to call back, is Mark there.

Yeah. So, but then I came here. But wait, where'd you grow up? Belfast. So that's Northern Ireland. Yeah. Oh. Listen, the reason I came on your podcast is to get the Brits out of Ireland and then to talk about

Saudi Arabia. There's an agenda. Yeah. We're going to fix it. Because I told you I was going to move to Ireland And when you got here, you're like, you're not going to find this in Ireland. Right. And, you know, I hate to be one of these people that is like, you know, don't do this.

Yeah. But you would not be happy in Ireland. No, of course now. I'm not going to be happy anywhere. Because it's the Catholic government preaching down your fucking throat. They say that they don't, but they do. Yeah, but I would be like, my fantasy of it was like, I'll have a house out in the wherever. But I knew it was.

Even Albuquerque, you see your fucking life going by you and you're like, I need to get back. Here? Yeah. But isn't everyone leaving? Hopefully. Right?

I fucking love it here. All the young actors don't live here. Well, good. Yeah. And we don't need them. Give us less fucking traffic.

But no, honestly, I feel, I honestly joke and say, but I mean it like, I'm looking for a good quake to lose a few thousand people. Yeah, yeah. Well, you might lose the whole coastline.

The fires didn't seem to chase anybody out. No. But, but no, I grew up in Belfast. So that's where I'm from. But so, like, And you were growing up, but it was rough.

Horrible. That's why we left. But I can't even imagine, like, I have no sense of it other than a few movies of just how fucking awful it was. Do you know how often I explain to people what it? Because people here are just like, they don't know where it is. They go, Northern Ireland? Is that near Iceland?

Is it cold? I mean, really, I'm not kidding. But I explain to people that basically, and this is not just my perspective, the British invaded and never left. They left Southern Ireland. There's 32 counties, and six of them are Northern Ireland. Yeah. And so I was born in 64 and they were supposed to be out of Northern Ireland.

There was an agreement that, you know, after the... So is that post-troubles? No, this is Troubles. Yeah. So this is Troubles. Okay, so in 1917, the IRA kicked the fucking Brits out of Ireland. Yeah. Michael Conlon.

You know, all the... I saw that movie. Yeah. Liam Neeson, he did a pretty good job. He did a really good job. Yeah. But the best movie about the Troubles is in the name of the father with Danny DeLewis. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's so accurate that it's uncanny.

Yeah. It's from the corner, you know. Yeah. Kenneth Bran is Belfast, I call it clean streets. It's horrible. It's nothing close to the truth. It's fucking. I've never seen streets so clean in Belfast, right?

But anyway, you grow up in Belfast and it was, when I was eight years of age, it was 1972. It was 1972 bombs detonated in Belfast. And Belfast is smaller than Anaheim. By the Irish? Well, mostly by the Irish. Yeah. But then there would be retaliatory ones by the Protestants, which is British.

Yeah. And it just went on, and it would feel like it would never end. And so when my kids and people ask me about like, oh, Trump and this fucking shit, you know, it'll end. Yeah. Maybe it'll end. No, you think it's not going to end and it ends. It always ends. And it doesn't end well.

Maybe not well. But it doesn't, well, it doesn't end well for people like Trump. Yeah. I was sort of encouraged that it's fortunate that we don't have to get too much into politics that, you know, he's surrounded himself with, you know, real buffoons. But he is a buffoon. I know. And he's a bully. But he's in, but all these people he put in.

charge are incapable of the job. Like the thing with Kimmel worked out pretty fucking good. That was a pretty big deal. And he deserves it. Of course, he deserves it. But the idea that even the dumbest guy who's addicted to conspiracy theories can make two clicks to realize that he was strong armed. And it was so lazy and fucked up.

And then the affiliates take him back because that's the way business works. Yeah, that's it. And it's all business. Yeah. And it makes you wonder about all those other times where people threaten to take people off the air, is that they're going to put them back on because of the way cable and agreements work. Yeah, that's it.

And then it's money. It's money. It's business. But it was, I'm glad everybody stepped up. Yeah. But so you're saying when you're growing up, that it was terrifying all the time in a way that we don't even really understand. Yeah.

Because I'll tell you that just to give you an idea of it, like it was every single night there be bombs. And any time my parents. In Ireland. In Belfast. Yeah. Specifically. There was another great town in Northern Ireland called Derry.

And I say towns because they're not cities. And listen, the population is, it's small. It's not like, it's very, it's a small area. Yeah. But Belfast, the reason Belfast was targeted is because that's where the Titanic was built. Yeah. We built a good ship. Yeah.

You know. But the thing is, that was the shipbuilding capital of the world for the Second World War, for the First World War. And that's why the British wanted it? That's wanted. And then Northern Ireland in general was the linen business. That's where the sheep, that was, you know, way before New Zealand and everything. This was the linen capital. So they moved in there and they were like,

we're not leaving here. We would take it. It's our money. Yeah. So, yeah, I grew up with that. And then every night there'd be bombs and you'd just be like terrified. If you had a babysitter and your parents were right, you were like, oh. Are they going to come back?

Yeah. And we went on with that for fucking years. And how many kids in your family? Four kids in my family. Yeah. Small. That's small. It was a small.

It really was a small, two boys, two girls. But my mom was the greatest person ever. But she was a nurse at the city hospital in Belfast in the 60s. Yeah. Like, I mean, the shit. that she wouldn't talk about it. Yeah. And when did you,

what were you doing like that made you leave? The whole family leave? Yeah. So there was a series of events that happened that my father worked for the government. He worked for the health department

and he was like a business management guy. He would go in to hospitals and go, we're going to do this with your body. Not cuts, but he would say this is how you manage, you know, this is how you get a budget. And he was kidnapped.

We don't know if it was the Protestants or the Catholics to use his car. as a getaway. So he was driving in the rain coming home and a hitchhiker was on the side of the road and it was pouring rain. He's like, fuck, he stopped and give this guy a ride. Guy held a gun to him, got him out of the car, put him in the trunk of the car and literally like the, you know, good fellas or what it is, shot a hole so he could breathe.

And then they used the car to do whatever they did. Was him in the trunk? Yeah, for two days. Holy shit. And my mother was like, okay, well, this is it. We're out. We're going to go. I mean, but then her uncle, we have bars on. My family, her side of the family have a bar called Lavries in Belfast and it's the most famous bar in Belfast and her uncle died carrying a device out to save people. He, you know, there was a, they called and said, there's a bomb in your back store. So he carried out and he blew up. Oh my God. And my mom loved this guy. Yeah. And she was like, fuck. This is it. So the body count was big. Big.

Oh, nonstop. Like just nonstop. And you know, I'm sure I, if family members listen to this, they'd be like, oh, you know, because I'm not making any of this up. Yeah. But they're just don't, they just repressed it. Sure. And in order to live there, they're just like, no, it's gotten better. Well, that's what people do. I don't forget. No.

No, I don't forget. But I mean that, I mean, like, I guess the spirit of the Irish people is pretty beaten sometimes and they seem to kind of keep moving on. I don't want to generalize. Yeah, no, but there is generalizing. But like, say, the artist community in Ireland, they all went to Paris. Like, we all leave. Yeah.

You know. Yeah. But I do think people adapt and they try to make it okay. That's right. And that's what's happening here, too. Yeah. But the reason I bring this, I'm not trying to be, you know, be hopeful for everybody. But the thing is, we thought this fucking shit would never leave.

And then, or never end. And then when we left, it was worse because we're like, every time we heard something, we're like, is our family okay? Because we're there, you can kind of like check with each other. Oh, yeah, they're all there. Yeah. Yeah. My two sisters live on the East Coast. So you have to, how old were you when everyone left?

We left. I was 12 when we left Belfast, but we went to a place called Sligo, which is William Butler-Yates country. That's where he's from. That's where he's, you know. I mean, that's where he was buried and everything else. It's pretty? Yeah. And we were told, there you go.

And we had an aunt there. So it was like, we have somebody to go to. But it was, it's another country. Yeah. So we go there and we think, this is going to be safe. And we get this rental house. Yeah. And it's, I mean, couldn't be more beautiful.

And we look out the back window. And where Yates is buried is, there's a mountain called Ben Bulbin. And he's. Yeah. And he wrote a poem about it. Yeah. I mean, of course. I mean, look, and Glenn Carr, all these, they're all there.

Yeah. We look out the back window. And in 25 feet lettering, it says Brits out. And we're like, what the fuck? Can't get out. And then so half the people were suspicious that we were going to start shit. And the other half were convinced we're on the run.

And we were on the run. But we didn't do anything. Right. So trying to assimilate with these fucking people was, and it was like the 50s. This is the 80s, but it was like the 50s. Actually, it was the 70s. In terms of the feeling of segregation?

Yeah, just isolated. You know, I mean, way before cell phones and internet. But it's tricky when, when, you all look the same. Right, but that's, you see, that's the other thing. Yeah. My mother could tell a Protestant from a Catholic looking at them. Really?

And when we go to Northern Irish people are better looking than Irish people. Yeah. You know? Why didn't it? Better dental care? Yeah. Yeah. You know?

Yeah. And we took what we could from the Brits, the good stuff. Yeah. And we're like, okay, you get good hospitals. Right. But my mom was a nurse. So we were taking care of, you know. Right.

But then you go to Sligo and you see people like, no teeth? And you're like, oh, are you going to get new teeth? Yeah. Why? Very rural. I mean, like, beyond rural Albuquerque, this is like, what the fuck? People with carts and donkeys on the road. But so you move there when you're 12?

When do you end up in the States? So, oh, no, until after college. So went to Dublin to study medicine and psychology. Now, what happened there? Did you go all through four years, medicine, psychology? I did five years. I did an extra year. And I was waiting my time to get an opportunity in America.

And then I got this scholarship to come over to Boston to study. And it was through Harvard. It was advancements in the study of autism, and I loved it. But I really just wanted to come here. I wanted to come here because I'm obsessed with music. And I was like, that's where it is. Always? That's always.

What were you seeing in Ireland coming up? I mean, you know, all the stuff, it was when you played at Largo the Night, you did jump in the shadows. Yeah. Sitting there watching you, I was like, oh, fuck, I saw Peter Green in 1984, and he had a band called Colors with a K. Yeah. And he did jumping in the shadows.

He did? And the first six songs, I was like, I think I need to leave. This is horrifying. Well, he was in bad shape. He had a big robe on, like a big... Yeah, well, that was... I think that's right when they pulled him out of the hole. Yeah, but listen, halfway through it,

they're doing, you know, these new songs. And womanizer is one of the songs. And it just sounds like the same old stuff that he was doing. And then he did Man of the World. Yeah. And, I mean, one of the greatest songs of all time. But it was like, we were all like, oh, we can't even, I, we're in it with him.

And then suddenly he does jump in in the shadows. And it was like... Jumping in the shadows, yeah. Yeah. And he was great. Yeah. You know. But then the next night I saw Stevie Ray Vaughn and I was like, oh.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, but not just the flashiness, but like, I mean, a guy in his height. And I didn't see. Pull the mic in a little. I didn't see Peter Green at his height, you know, 60.

No, no. Yeah. No. You know. But anyway, like you two. You two were hated in Ireland until they made it in America. Look at those fucking jackasses. Yeah.

And I hated the name, you two. And I saw the posters for war and boy. and all these things, like, you too, couldn't they do better than that? Yeah. Because there was UB40, there was all these bands then, you know. But I was a huge jazz fan. What about Roy Gallagher? The greatest.

Did you see him? I mean, I hate to say the greatest. Yeah, many, many times. Yeah. Many times. And, I mean, just an anomaly. He was like, he was like Peter Green, but he's the most entertaining person you could ever see.

Really? And the thing about Rory Gallagher and Van Morrison is they're both from Ireland, but they're the only people that played there. Like, when we grew up, nobody would play Belfast. Right. It would either get cancelled or bombed. Yeah. So, but Van would make an effort, but Rory would just, didn't give a fuck.

He'd play at the college. He'd play Queen's University. Yeah. And you'd go to see him, and it was always very cheap. You'd make sure the tickets were cheap. Right. Because he never made any money. Yeah.

He just wanted to play. It's taken me so long to come around to him. His band Tasterworth going back to, that was what he started with. Yeah. And it was around the time of cream, so it's similar, but like, the guitar tones are just insane. Well, also, he just, he puts all that sort of, he definitely puts an Irish twist on shit. Yeah. But, you know, about, I was.

Round the time of you too, I was listening to a band called Planckstey, which you've never heard of, but they're the greatest Irish band ever, and it's instrumental mostly. Yeah. So it's Christy Moore. Have you ever heard of him? He's like the Dylan of Ireland. He's a songwriter. He's a protest singer.

He's an incredible guy. Yeah. He started this band with three other guys. And one of them was a mandolin bazooki player. The other guy's a mandolin player. It's all acoustic instruments. And then an Ilyan pipes, which is the Irish version of the bagpacks. Yeah.

And you'd go to see these people. Yeah. It would be mayhem. Yeah. Because like Fuck the Brits Fuck the Brits Get them out

It wasn't all that But it was like The Dubliners and other bands Did that But it was the most beautiful music And I still listen to it It's just And they never left Ireland

Never left Ireland Never made it anywhere else And then ultimately Just broke up Yeah And now they're just gone But there was bands like that But it was really difficult

Back then Because You could get Neil Diamond's Greatest hits And Simon Garfunkel's greatest hits But trying to find Cool Train Right

Was tough When you were like What 15 or something? when I was really into it. Yeah, yeah. But like you, there was always, the reason I was drawn to your podcast, not just because I love you and know you,

but it was like, there was a DJ called Dave Fanning, who was huge in Ireland, but there was another guy that would play jazz at nighttime. Yeah. And it was just be like, it would be Coltrane,

Herbie Hancock, Ferro Sanders. Yeah. And I was like, this is it. And that's honestly, that listening to Ferro Sanders, Alice Coltrane, Freddie Hubbard, I'm like, I got to be in America.

It was because of that. Yeah. And it was because of that. 20 years too late. Yeah. You know? Yeah, but I mean, everyone was too late on jazz. Yeah.

People are still too late. You're always too late on jazz. Right. Because, like, when you start to, like, get into it, you're like, it's a very deep rabbit hole. But there's still a few souls out there. There's a guy called, do you know Brad Melda? Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, yeah, someone turned me on to him. He's great. No, there's guys out there that, like I got him to. Christian McBride, you know, and Julian Lage, the guitar player. I mean, they're doing really great stuff.

Yeah. Yeah, yeah, I mean, well, Dalm was is over there at Blue Note, and they were sending me stuff. I can't remember who turned me on to that Meldaugh guy, but it was recently. Well, the great thing about him is he's kind of known as, you know, like the Bill Evans of our time, but he does like a radiohead song and you just be like, I don't necessarily, I'm not saying I do, but you may not be into radiohead and you hear him doing it, and you're like, oh. Yeah. You know. He finds it. And he just did a record of Elliot Smith songs.

Yeah. They played back in the old Largo together. And so it took them this long to kind of get over it and go, really? I want to pay tribute to this guy, 20 years later. So, okay, so you come here. Yeah. You're looking for the jazz life. Yeah.

You're studying autism. No. I'm studying psychology. So the idea was I was going to do either a master's or a PhD in psychology. Do you feel that that helped you in your life? Of course, dealing with you? Yeah. All of us.

I was thinking about Paul's movie, one battle after another. I know. And I was thinking I'm Benicio and you're Leo. Oh, that's funny. Ocean waves, Bob. Ocean waves. And you're, what fucking time is it? What time is it?

Yeah. It's too late. It's going to go on for. Is this the fuck? Am I still here? Yeah. I wish I wasn't still crazy. I think if you weren't, it wouldn't be on the stage.

Yeah. I guess so, yeah. Yeah. But. So anyway, long story short, I go to Boston, didn't like Boston. I mean, just knew that. You know what it was? It was the thyroid, going back to the thyroid.

Why am I so fucking cold all the time? It was either too cold or too hot in Boston. It's freezing, yeah. So I came out here. on a whim, three years into, I was in Boston for three years, came out here. Where are you living in Boston?

In Park Drive. First, right by the regatta, the battle, or the, what was it called the, what was the theater, the little cinema in Cambridge? Brattle. The braddle. In Cambridge, yeah, right around the corner from that.

I saw Spalding Gray there. Yeah, and this was a student's, a Harvard students thing. I did that. And then I still did all this, but I worked Monday nights at, it was called Metro at the time, and it's right beside.

The club? Yeah. Yeah, I remember that place. And it's over, it's near Lansdowne. Yeah, Lansdown Street. Yep, yeah. They had the, what were the other ones there? There was Axis.

Yeah, Axis was the hit the kind of alt place. And then they changed the name 100 fucking times. Yeah, yeah. But Metro was the place. And I saw Sheenade played there. Leonard Cohen played there. They would do small things like at the beginning of a tour. Yeah.

Which was what Ireland always was. I saw the first Smith show in Dublin because they would start their tours. They were going, fuck these people. Work it out. Yeah, it's just, they'll take anything. Yeah. But it would be great. You can just rehearse.

Yeah. Yeah. Metro, listen, my favorite club, while I was in Boston, every weekend I went to the village vanguard. Oh, down in New York? Yeah. And that's... You would drive down and take the train? I would take the train, the whole way down.

It was the fucking best. And whatever homework I had to do, I would do it on the train. Yeah. And I would take Friday afternoons off and try to go in as late as possible on Monday. Yeah. And I would go down and it's a cheap fucking place. I go there. And there's another place called Sweet Basil, were you around for that?

Yeah, yeah. McCoy Tyner would play there. Gil Evans's big band on Mondays. So you're picking these guys up in their doodage. Not really, I mean, some of them, yes, but Gil Evans was like fucking ferocious in the 70s, you know. Yeah. And but it wasn't big people like Miles and Dizzy Gillespie and people, you know, who were definitely on their doughty to that point. But I was seeing Freddie Hubbard, Lester Bowie.

Blasting it out. I mean, fucking unbelievable. And all these guys that were one part of Miles Band or one part of Coldplay's band, like Sunny Fortune. Yeah. McCoy Tyne, Elvin Jones. Yeah. You saw him? Oh, many times, you know.

But anyway, the thing is I go back and I'm like, I'm going to, I'm going to, that is why I'm going to America. Yeah. I came back and they turned it into a fucking comedy club. To catch a rising start? Yeah. Yeah. And I'm not kidding you. Because I honestly have a photographic memory.

I can remember when we first met, I can remember certain things. I think there was that guy, Kevin Meanie. Kevin Meaney was headlining. Yeah. And there was a ginger guy on the thing. I think it was Louis. It's probably too early. No, 88.

Oh, maybe. But was he a kid? Yeah, but he had a full head of hair and I was thinking, this guy's fucking funny. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, 88? Yeah. I was there 88? I was there 88 and then I came out here late 91

and then moved here in 92. Huh. So I drove across the country thinking I might go to New Orleans and I can still finish my education from there. I got there and it was the most humided to be never and I was like, okay, this is not it. It's rough there.

Then I came here and I'm not kidding, I arrived in the middle of January. Yeah. And it was 75 degrees and I was like, I can't go back to Boston. What year is this? This is 19, late 91. Yeah.

92, a friend of mine says, a friend of mine's opening this place, it's called Cafe Largo. Yeah. And he needs somebody to fucking book the music. He didn't realize it was a venue. Right. And you used, you're so indie music. I said, I don't know anyone here. What are you talking about?

And he goes, just meet with him. So we went and. Who is that guy? His name was Fergus. He's now an undertaker in the Palm Desert area somewhere. He was a disaster. He ran it for, do you remember La Dome? Wait, there's the original Largo on Fairfax.

On Fairfax. Were you performed? The supper club. Yeah. And it was called Cafe Largo, and we changed the name just to Largo. But so he brings you and you meet with him about booking? About, he was about to take it over. There was an Italian and a French guy. The French guy started Luna Park.

Yeah. Anyway, they were fighting. It was a restaurant. The restaurant, yeah. They were fighting. Was that in the Bay Area first? Or no, it was here? I'm not sure.

Yeah. But anyway, they're gone too. But anyway, he started this place and he invited me to come see one of the music things. And it was pouring rain. I'll never forget it. And I went in and Grant Lee Buffalo. Do you remember that back? Yeah, yeah.

I mean, it was like seeing you two in a fucking in a post office. He's a good guitar player that guy. Incredible. Yeah. A great songwriter. But anyway, I saw them and I was like, well, the place is kind of shitty, but if the music is this good, I'm in. So I told him, I'm in. But I'll give you a year.

I'll give you a year in my time. And it took about maybe about four months to get the license changed and everything else. I put some money into it because he needed money for the license. And I ran it for a year and it was really, really successful. Like it started, I mean, I had doctor. John play there. Huge acts play this tiny fucking place. It's like $2.50 maybe? 130. Wow. But it was prestigious because

you know, you'd go and people would listen. Well, it was always like you had the food and people were sitting at tables. It's like a little dinner club. Yeah, but it was kind of like what I thought maybe the vanguard and some of these jazz clubs in the 60s. Sure. Yeah. Late 50s. But anyway, so I ran it for a year and on the last night we did a benefit

for the Musicians Assistance Program. Yeah. Which is a great organization. And there's a sax player called Buddy Arnold, who I was friends with, and he ran it. And he booked Dr. John, and it was one of the most incredible gigs ever. I can't imagine. Really? Yeah.

I'm sitting there going, this is it. I've done it. We had a meeting to celebrate the one-year anniversary of doing this. And he goes, I want to turn it into a sports bar. And I was like, what are you talking? Big television screens and no musicians that are a pain in the ass. And I said, well, I'm out. I'm gone.

And so for three years, I thought about maybe finishing. off my, the studies and he was out? Gone. Did he make it into a sports bar? He made it into a disaster that fucking he got so much debt that the, and here's the crazy thing. When you asked me to do the pod, yeah, I was talking to my business manager that day and he goes, do you realize that it was 30 years ago today, when you asked me, 30 years ago today that you got Largo yourself? Yeah. And I was like, huh. So wait, so you're out for three years? Three years. And I'm booking, I'm booking gigs at the Trubidor with John Bryan, Amy Mann. People that I built a relationship. Are you managing? I managed John Brown for a while. There's a band called Love Joe.

Do you remember Love Jones? No. Oh, they're fucking great kind of lounge, but like kind of lounge rock. The drummer was in the Lemonheads and he was the lead singer. Anyway, so Ben. But I worked with these people and all the time I was going to court because my name was on the license of this fucking place that this guy was running into the toilet. Yeah, yeah.

And so, and you know, you can get deported if you, like, if there's a violation on a liquor license and you're not, they can either put you in jail or send you home. Yeah. You know, so it was like, that was looming over my head. So it was three years. So you're booking gigs elsewhere. Alligator Lounge in Santa Monica was one of my spots. Yeah.

And but E from the Eels, like great acts. Yeah, and I would book great nights. And then one day I went into the court and it was 30 years ago last Friday. Oh, really? Yeah. And the judge says, listen, this guy, he should leave the country. He owes so much in taxes and blah, blah, blah, blah. The only thing I can do is give you the key of this place.

And I went, well, I don't have enough money to take this fucking place over. So it took me a while and then so in 96, I opened it by myself. So when the judge said that, you took it, though? Yeah, what else can you do? And then what did you get backers? Yeah, I got backers. I got money from some friends and opened as fast as I could. And immediately.

And since then, yeah. Yeah. It's been doing great. I was out of debt within seven months. Really? Yeah, yeah. And that was 90? 96.

Yeah. Yeah. And who were, like, so how did it? So John Bryan, every Friday night. And was the kitchen always working? Always fucking going. Nightmare. Like running a kitchen is not, I mean, these shows like the bear.

I mean, I don't even think they show the fucking, like where the chef is drunk and doesn't show up. And you're like, oh, we've got 65 reservations, you know. And who were you booking at the beginning? Well, so I got really, really lucky. In 1996 was kind of another boom in singer-songwriters. So Michael Penn, any man. And then Elliot Smith started showing up. But John Bryan was the anchor.

He was the guy that everyone wanted to work with. He played on Friday nights. Yeah. People like Ian Hunter from Out the Hoopal would come see him, get up on stage. Bowie came. Like, you know. Bowie came to Largo? Oh, yeah.

Everybody heard about this guy. Like, they were just like, oof. The wizard. Yeah. And he still is. But anyway. Did Bowie get on stage and sing? No.

But Tim, but the best was in Hunter from Maut the Hoopoeba. And I said, this guy does your songs. I mean, it's not just all the young dudes. He does your songs. He goes, oh, yeah, great, great. And I said, would you want to sing? And he goes, what with this guy? And I went, yeah.

And he goes, all right. And he gets up. and John knew every harmony of like his first fucking single. And the guy was just singing and then looking at him like, what is how? You know, I can't get my band to rehearse and this guy knows every fucking melody.

Oh, it's like when John Lee Hooker played with Can't Heat on that record. Yeah, yeah. He's going like, you must have listened to everything I ever played because I can't lose you. Yeah, it's incredible. Yeah.

I think people forget how bluesy those can't heat records are. It's just nothing about straight. Oh, it's the best, yeah. And the production is incredible on it. Because they were purists. Yeah. But they amped it up, right? And they did it differently than, like, Clapton or any of those guys because they were, like,

fucking full blues nerves. Yeah, yeah. So the way they rocked out the blues was, like, a little more honest than the Brits. But they also, I think a lot of their production choices really helped them, like, off the mic a bit. Yeah. Oh, no. They were just so, they were deep in it in a way where they weren't trying to reinvent it, but they rock so hard.

I listen to them. I still listen. I think they don't get enough appreciation. But 96, so, I mean, it was incredible singer-song writers. And then people like Colin Hay. Did you ever see Colin Hay? I've seen him yet. He's still there.

You have your, no, exactly. But you have your notions of like, oh, yeah, the guy from men at work. And he has a song called, I just don't think I'll ever get over you. That song, and he'll laugh, but it's true. He would do that and I'd have to leave the building. It was so sad. And I was like, I need to get comedy in here. And this is fucking ridiculous.

It was Colin. That's right. And he's very funny, by the way. He's like a Billy Connolly guy. He's like, tell stories that you're just crying laughing. He's doing. He's down in Florida And we're talking about Billy Connolly

And he's, you know, he's got Parkinson's But it's later life Parkinson's Yeah And a friend of mine who used to book him Is still really good in contact We talk all the time And I mean, that guy is absolutely If there's a comic hero to me

That's the guy Yeah He would show up in Belfast And fucking just make people Die laughing It's crazy to see him in his element Oh Because it's just the best

Yeah And nothing like him right I mean you know There's people have tried to copy him And stuff You know But there was nothing And also he was

But the thing was He started as a musician. So he was in the band called The Humble Bums. Yeah. With Jerry Rafferty. Oh, yeah. Right? Yeah.

So, I mean, you know, and then. Before Steelers wheel? Yes. And Jerry would tune nonstop. And Billy would be there with a banjo. And people were like, tell us a fucking story. And Billy would do bits in between. Yeah.

And then the bookers were like, can you lose that guy? Yeah. And then he went on to fucking, you know, stuck in the middle with you. But anyway. So, and that's why I encourage you when, like, when we first talk about you doing music and stuff, is like, people have precon, who gives a fuck about, Nepo Baby's preconceived notions. Yeah.

If you're passionate about something, do it. Billy was like, oh, I'll do this, but he's a fucking music nut. He loved Rory Gallowhert. Oh, yeah. He would follow him, you know. And so you find this, Christopher Gales is a fucking music nut. Totally. And a great musician, too.

Yeah, yeah. But anyway, so, you know, I nearly pulled the car over the day, listening to Jimmy Pardo talking about the band Chicago. And you're like, any original members? One. And then I saw him 112 times. That might be it. Yeah.

I love all these guys that you've had on, by the way. Like, you know, I mean, it's just like, and it's incredible. Like, you know, Greg Prups, him, Al Madrigal, the guys that we started with, they're all fucking vital and still doing great shit, you know? Yeah, well, Al's finally back in. Yeah, he's back. But I mean, funnier than ever. What's inspiring is that these lifers, you know, despite whatever career shortcomings they have or if they're where they want to be or not, they still got to do the shit. Right.

Because they're driven to do it. That's right. I think when we saw Greg at your place the other night, I think he hadn't done it in a while. No, he hadn't, because he's been on the road with his improv stuff, you know. Yeah, the song and dance. But, you know, my daughter's in Dublin right now, and it's funny because Jeslinik did a show the other night, you know,

and I said to him, he's going to Berlin. And I said, oh, to work. And he goes, not, I'm just going to go for two weeks. Yeah. He said, I ended my tour there, and I went to. Where do he play in Dublin, Vic? No, no, he's big. I mean, he plays like the Olympia Theater or where the bigger rooms are.

But he went to, he's just gone on a holiday. And I said, are you going to do any? And he goes, you know, Europe, it's the fucking worst than stand up. They're no good. I was like, oh, there's good guys. And he goes, so my daughter's in Dublin, right? And she's studying at Trinity College.

And she just started. And I said, I don't know what's good comedy. So I look, I just decided to look at the listings. And there's a place called the Sugar Club. That's great. And Roy Scovel's there on Wednesday. Yeah. So I said, go to see Rory.

Yeah. And so excited that she's there. But anyway, but there's, you know, we're so spoiled. Yeah. For comedy here. Really? Yeah. Because they're all here.

Yeah. Yeah, but so, you know, like last night, do you know, Cape Burland? Yeah, of course. It's one of the greatest. Like, I mean, and she's so fucking funny. Yeah. You know, and Megan Stalter, there's people that are just like other level, but then our love Sarah Silverman, like, still vital, still great, still reluctant like you, like,

ah, fucking nothing goes up and kills. Yeah. You know. Well, I think it's just, like, and one of the reasons why I've spoken out about the state of comedy is just that there is the world of what comedy was is all still here. Right. There's interesting people. Yeah.

There's unique people. There's people that deserve more attention, but because everything is so, you know, fragmented in bubbles, and then you have the cultural language around comedy being dictated by meatheads that the really interesting and creative people are all still here. Right. But they don't get the attention. But maybe I'm wrong. No.

See, that's the funny thing is I think about you and sometimes when I'm walking out to the car and I'm just like, he has no idea. Because people don't know what Largo really is. I mean, most people don't know. I'd be bump into people my dentist. and what's Largo, you know? And I love that, but the thing is, because it's busy, I don't, you know, what do I care? But, you know, you'll be on one night and then the next night there'll be like the improvised Shakespeare thing. Yeah.

And it's fucking unbelievable. Like, I mean, I hate Shakespeare. I have an aversion to it. And they pack it out? Oh. I mean, crazy. Like, you know, they're doing this Sunday and it's sold out, you know. So, yeah, so it's all probably much more vital than I think it is.

But what is the vital part of it to me, and it comes full circle, is it's the jazz of the 50s me. I get to see people encourage people to do new stuff, try and use, try whatever it is. You've got the best audience. I mean, I think, you know, because their phones are off, they're engaged, they want to hear new shit. And I'm looking at, and no night is repeating. So to me, it's like, it's like jazz improv. Yeah. Well, that's sort of the way, like, guest was talking about it. And the people that you have on, they're, when they get comfortable at Largo, they, you know, they'll do that. Yeah. But from the biggest, like, from Sandler to anyone's starting off, they'll go in there. But the thing that they know is, it's not going to end up

on YouTube. Right. I mean, I'll aggressively take something. And also they can take chances because they have a good audience.

Yeah, that's it. So Colin Hayes, he gets you into doing comedy. No, but I mean, it was just like all these sad songs. Amy Mann Save Me,

John Bryan, like maybe you're a different girl. Yeah. And I was like, oh. So I went to this place called Pedro's Bar and Grill that you did.

And there was a guy, Josh De De De De De De De Donato. Yeah. Remember that fucking guy? Dude. Look like the Mona Lisa. I remember him. Yeah, he would,

but he was the first booker of all shows in a way. Yeah. La Parade it was called. Yeah, and it was a big room. Yeah. And he would, you know, get all of us in there. But the alt people, this is, but that's the thing that's really interesting is that most of these people weren't comedy store acts.

Right. That somehow or another, there was this world of comedy in L.A. and a bit in New York where I started with Largo. Right. Or Luna Lounge. Yeah. That, you know, a lot of us had done club work, but there was this whole other world of comedy starting out here with Beth Lepidus's place and a couple other places. I think she might have been, she could have been before me, but I think she did Luna Park, which is after I, you know, after I started.

That's right. That's Luna Park. But I went over to Pedro's Bar and Grill and he did a set and it was fucking atrocious. Every time. But then right up next, John Stewart, then Laura Kightlinger. Yeah. Then Karen Kilgariff. Then fucking proofs.

I mean, it was a, and I went two weeks in a row and I just, I said to me, okay, do Monday nights. Start Monday nights. I need comedy. And Larga. Yeah. And I'm not kidding. The first one was David Cross and Bob Oden Kirk were hosting.

Yeah. Mitch Hedberg was on the show. Yeah. And so one by one I started picking them off going, you should do a night. Yeah. And Sarah was the first one. Patton was the second one.

Yeah. Like, would you want to do a monthly show? You can have friends. Any of these, let's bypass this guy. Yeah. And then eventually I found out that he wasn't paying comedians. And all the money at the door went to the, you know, and I was trying to make it like, the food was like, you know,

it wasn't expensive. So anyway, I found out he wasn't paying the musicians and I fired him. The comedians, yeah. Oh, sorry, the comedians. And then I started booking Sarah Silverman and Friends, Pat and Oswald and Friends. Was Lisa Langangang involved? So I was going to say to you, she's the greatest. I went, she used to come and I said, Lisa, would you do this?

And she was really busy. She was doing stuff with MTV and all comedy stuff. I met her when she was booking the San Francisco Improv. That's right. And so this is right after that. Yeah. So she said, look, I'll do it. I don't want to get paid, but I'll send people your way.

So Monday nights became her thing. But then separate to that, I would have, you know, the Sclars, proofs, all the people that we love do nights, and then you would pop up, you know, different people. From New York. Everyone, they were all out here. Zach started,

Zach moved out here. Yeah, I was always very intimidated by it all. A lot of people, you know, people have preconceptive. I try to, you know, you're going to do your best. I always tell people, just be funny.

Like, people just want to fucking laugh. My whole thing was like, I, despite the fact that I came up in, in New York, and I was at the beginning of Luna Lounge, like, I always saw myself as a mainstream club act. Like that, for me, because I'm a dinosaur, I was like, that's where we do it. Right.

This other thing is precious. Yeah. And you have to do weird shit. But that's you in general. I mean, I have to tell you, like, Janine just came back and did it. She hasn't been around years. How is she? Fucking fantastic.

Really? Really, really funny. Is she all right? She couldn't be better. Oh, good. And I haven't seen her since before COVID, you know. But the thing, I was saying to, okay, about people's ideas. You know, I've never been to the laugh factory.

I've never been to the improv. And I went to the... No, and I understand it all. No, no, as I get older, I'd rather not. But I'm so happy that they're there because there's so many comedians that are never going to play Largo. Yeah. Because it's my taste. Yeah.

You know. Yeah. And there's other people that won't play Largo because of my politics. Yeah. You know, but I'm so happy that the comedy store is there because it's four rooms. People are working. It's fucking vital. Yeah, I think it'll taper off.

I brought you a couple acts. Yeah. For sure. Yeah. Great acts. You know, Fahim, like Larabites, all the people that you've brought. But I get to handpick this. You see, this is the thing.

I get the hunt pick. It's great. Sometimes I just try to think about what the hell was I thinking. And it was probably just the fact that, you know, I can only do what I do. And I don't categorize it. Right. So I just remember one time I came out to Largo. I was in New York and I'm hanging out.

And it always made me crazy to go on there because I just, I didn't feel like interesting enough or something. And I was always kind of angry. But I just remember being out in the doorway because there's no place to really hang out. The street. Yeah. Yeah. And Zach's there in a like in a George Washington. get up.

Right. And I'm looking at him. I'm like, this is what we're doing? Yeah. Yeah. And, you know, I hear this from,

so, you know, Stephen Colbert, you remember there's pilot season? People come out from New York. Yeah. And he came out and he was like, Lisa said to me, there's a guy called Stephen Colbert.

He was on the, he's on the daily show. Yeah. I didn't, I didn't watch TV. Yeah. I was like at Largo and the night off was go to the beach. I was not a TV person.

So, and Stephen couldn't have been nicer. And him and his friend were doing some sort of improvy thing. I think his friend wrote it. And Stephen got up, and he was up after Eddie Azard. Yeah. And he fucking bombed. Like, I mean, to the point where people didn't even clap when he finished.

Oh, my God. But they were polite. They weren't booing him. Yeah, yeah. And he says that he still has fucking nightmares about that. About that. Yeah. And I can see why.

Yeah. I mean, the funniest guy, truly one of the funniest guys, but he just, he misunderstood the room. He was like, oh, I'll do this thing. Odencirk can do that thing and make you fucking cry. Well, a sketch thing? Yeah. Yeah. But it wasn't stand-up, and it was a stand-up show.

Yeah. I'm not kidding you. like it was like, I think Proops and Paul of Tompkins were hosting together and Greg Berrant was on fire, Swartson was on fire, Laura Kightlinger and then the closer was Eddie Isard but then Eddie said, can I go on

can I go on just before because I need to and I'm like sure sure. So we said Lisa, let's put Stephen on last and he was like that's great I see this fucking guy sweating pacing up and down the carpet who Colbert? Yeah and he goes on I felt so fucking bad for him. Oh my God but anyway but it's a misunderstanding and that's the thing

I tried to tell people when they come to Largo was just like, hey, just be you. You know, just be yourself and you'll be fine, you know. And I do think, I think honestly, that the Largo audiences sort of opened their mind up, too, as time went on. You know the Largo audiences, I don't know a lot of people, but it's a lot of people in the entertainment business.

They can afford a $40 ticket, and they're there to see the fucking best. So we didn't talk about Elliot Smith, because, and the other thing about me and, like, singer-songwriters and stuff, like, it's not really my bad. Right. To me, like, because I have this whole other half of me that's kind of, you know, almost townish. Right, right, yeah.

There was always an elitism to it all in my brain, but it was all insecurity. No, it's your New Jersey blood before you got to Albuquerque. I think Albuquerque really put it in place. Well, here's the thing for me, from coming from Ireland, right, is Yates, Seamus Heaney, Patrick Kavana. That's what we, that's what I learned in school. Yeah. That's what I was passionate about. Right.

And so Bono can't sing anything. He has to sing fucking good lyrics or, you know, in Ireland. Yeah. And he does. But that's what was drawn. When I heard Amy Mann, it's like poetry. It's like Leonard Cohen. It's like an Elliot Smith.

Elliot Smith like just fucking unbelievable. There's something so painful about him to me. There is. And then again, like, I mean, there was a Nick Drake thing came out recently and they were trying to give a fuller picture of who he was, you know. And there was an interview. God love me. He just passed away.

Danny Thompson, the bass player, one of the greatest bass player's ever. He just died this week. and he played on Nick Drake's records on John Martin's records, Richard Thompson records. And he was like, he was a bloke. He was funny. He wasn't funny. And he died.

Yeah. You know. That's what you said about Elliot? No, he said about Nick Drake. And that's the thing about Elliot Smith. People think he was a doom guy, like, you know. And before I saw Leonard Cohen in concert, I thought, oh my God, this guy has problems.

He couldn't have been the funny or fucking guy on stage. And when I met him, I was like, oh, you know. Did he ever play Largo? No, but his kid, Adam, his kid did, but I'll tell you a funny story. So we talk about the guy that started Largo with me. Yeah. His name is Fergus. And he wanted to change the name to like, I don't, honestly like O'Reilly's.

Yeah, yeah. Oh, no, no, no. I said, I'm out. I mean, you know, I can't. I know it's your place. Yeah. But he was like, well, you know. And so luckily the license you couldn't change the name Largo or it would take two years.

You would have to start again. So I wanted to call it O'Reilly. And he wanted to call it O'Reilly, whatever the fuck. He wanted to call it. Oh, Flins. That was his last name. Yeah. But anyway, before we opened, he got an awning, you know, outside the building.

So we're opposite canters and the sun's coming down over in the middle of the day. This is actually happen. And I'm standing there and I said, so what do you want to do with this awning? And he goes, I'm ticking green, like really like a light green that won't fade in the sun. I'm like, could we do brown? Can we do burgundy? Yeah. No, I'm thinking green.

And he says, in fact, the guy's coming now. And I see this pickup truck coming from fucking two blocks away. Yeah. With this, the most green thing you've ever seen in your life. Yeah. And he fucking pulls up. and thank God he spelled Largo wrong. He put Largo on it, but it was spelled wrong.

Yeah. How did you spell Largo? He spelled it with L-A-N-G-O, like it was way off. He barely spoke English. But anyway, he's putting it, well, let's just put it up there to see what it looks like. That's what this fellow says. So he puts it up and I'm standing there, the sun beating on my fucking back, looking at this thing going, this is a bad idea. I should get out now.

I should get the fuck out now. Yeah. And this old guy just started, and it wasn't old. This guy walks down the street. He's wearing a fedora and he walks up at this thing. I can see he's kind of giggling, and I look at him on it's Leonardcom. Yeah. And I said, hey Leonard, how are you doing?

And he was, oh. And he's kind of a little taken back. Yeah. Let me ask you a question. I said, you think this green is too much? And I'll never forget what he said. He says, are you going for Kitch? And I said, we're not going for Kitch, Leonard.

And he goes, I would strongly decline. And just kept walking. And then I got to know him. He had a little office around there. And Adam, his son is great. But anyway, which is unbelievable. You know, you talk about Lorg. Like, I mean, I get to work with Randy Newman.

I get to fucking all these people, Gary Shandling, like fucking true people that I was like You know Shanneling would come Oh yeah I mean I had many many meetings with Shandling Like lunches Talking about his comeback

That never happened You know and he would tell me the bits he's going to do Well hey what if he got a coffin And I come out of a coffin I'm like why you just tell jokes He did Sarah's show And he did a couple other things But like he did a Judd night

But what was the plan Because like It's your only thing right So far But I mean like Was there like coming up. I've done other things. So, you know, I've done, I put a book out about Marty Felman. Oh yeah. Yeah. But, but also I did a Largo film to document. It's available online. It's just

called Largo. Yeah. And it's got Fiona Apple. It's got, you know, it was just a three-month period of before I left there. But Largo is my thing. But my goal was to mix comedy, music, but new stuff. Yeah. So people would come to a place and see stuff for, you know, and have an audience that would go, we know this is new stuff. So there's a patience, but there's also an applaud because they're like, you're fucking trying. Well, that's the thing about, like, doing it for me, too, because it's not like if I do dynasty and it's like less at stake, but you want to put on a show at Largo. But they do get to know you. Right. And it does force you to do that new shit.

Yeah, somebody said to me when I first, Zach actually said it to me, said, you should charge a lot more because this place is nicer. Yeah. And I said, no, I should charge a lot more so people are put off by going to it. Right. You know? Yeah. So that we get the cream of the crop. But you never got into TV development.

I've been offered a lot of stuff. I was offered John Bryan and I were offered a show to do and I've been offered like open Largo New York. Yeah. You know. That'd be Twin Towers. It'd be a fucking disaster. Yeah. Yeah. And also I'm a very family person so like I mean that's more important to me. So but Largo is that is my family. Like you, like it or not, you

Sarah Silverman, you know, all Chris Fleming, everyone, I just I live for it. It's the best. Yeah, yeah. You know, and I get to see every month. Yeah. I don't need to see you for fucking coffee or lunch, but if you do, great. Yeah, yeah. And I have friends that, you know, Colin Hay's been a lifelong friend, John Bryan, you know, John's coming back next month. But, I mean, it's like, the great thing about it is people get really,

like Sarah's leaving Wednesday to do a film. Yeah. You know, she's been doing a monthly show for over 20 years at Largo. Sarah's over me? Yeah. She's going to do a movie. She'll be gone for a month. She'll come back.

She'll be full of fucking beans ready to go. Yeah. You know. And that's what I get. And I also, I also get people going, hey, can I just do my set before I tape? And we get to see that. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Like you did it. Like, Chris Fleming just did it the other night. He's going to do it right before he tapes as HBO thing. And so it's very excited. But I made an executive decision 10 years into it when I turned 40. I'm only going to book people that I like. Yeah. And I don't mean musically.

Yeah. Can I hang with this person? And by the way, I'm very conscious, too, about backstage of being in people's faces. I think one of the best things I'm good at is reading people in general, but just what do you need? get out of the way. Yeah. Because I know that all day

it's in your head of like what you're going to talk about. You know, Sarah Silverman goes still goes to a coffee shop with a yellow pad all day, doesn't eat. Yeah. And comes to,

so I have to, is she going to pass out? I mean, you know, she hasn't eaten all day. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I mean, I know what it goes into coming on stage, you know. And I play guitar

and I play trumpet and I do all this stuff, but I don't want to be on stage. It's not because I'm nervous. Yeah. Just because I don't, I don't want to do it. Yeah. And,

But I know what it takes to get on stage. Yeah. You know, and so what I tried to do at Largo was like, keep the backstage less frilly. Like, no people, business people coming by. Right. And they do that afterwards. But like, it takes a lot for you to get on stage. And also, you know, your Albuquerque story, which, you know, one of my favorite things.

The new one. Yeah. I haven't worked. I know, but you're chipping away at it. And so I see you sitting. I'm not going to go over and talk to you about fucking Peter Green. I'm like, we can do this afterwards. Yes.

But I also stop other people from fucking rabbiting in your ear. Oh, really? Yeah. And I'll even say to people, go into the second dressing room, just close the door. You know, and that happens a lot. So, I mean, so I'm very protective of, you know,

you think of somebody like Pete Holmes is the fucking craziest thing happened the other night. And in light of all these assassinations and crazy people, Pete Holmes is there and he had Judd Apatow and a couple other people, this really funny new comedian, Devontry, Coleman. And they were, Pete got there early, he drives in from Ohio,

and he's there with the wife. And we're just sitting talking. And he's had people film his, his sets so, you know, the thing. And this white guy just walks into the dressing and he goes, Pete, can I talk to you? And I said, hey, who are you? And he goes, I just want to talk to Pete. And I said, you have to talk to me first. Yeah. And I just fucking dragged him out into the alleyway.

I said, grow up kid. He fucking slammed the door. Like, I didn't know. And then Pete says, his wife said, he was standing by your car when we went for a food and came back and, you know. No, he could have been looking for an autograph or pitching something. But like, I couldn't fucking, I couldn't believe it. Yeah. Well, that happens. People just wander. Yeah. But I think more than ever, like, I mean, you know, I think about like Jimmy, Jimmy Kimmel right now.

I heard that there was a little fire, an electrical fire outside his house. And he freaked out. Well, I freaked out. Why wouldn't you? I'm like, you know, fuck, are they, are they going? And it was just an electrical fire. So do you just keep in touch with all these people? Yeah, always.

I mean, they keep in touch with me. Like, Sandler's on the road. We text each other and, you know. But, yeah, I'm really good to keep in touch with people. Check in with Sarah. Like, where are you going now? What are you doing on? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I mean, honestly, she's the closest sister as I've ever had in my life, you know. Zach? Zach, you know, we are so fucking close. It's so funny. I will just be thinking about Zach and he'll call me. Yeah. And I'm like, you know that.

And he's like, yeah. And he's coming down, he lives up and off of Vancouver Island. He's coming down for three weeks. And that's what I love. Like, I mean, I don't need to see all the time, but we'll have dinner. We'll catch up, you know, but I've known him for fucking 26 years, you know. What was your relationship with Marty Felton? So Marty Feldman's widow, on the first day that I opened Largo, this older, beautiful lady comes in with another older beautiful lady.

And they said, well, you had to see the show, darling. And I went, okay, great. And so I just loved the two. Ironically, do you know what absolutely fabulous is? Yeah, yeah. It was based on these two. Oh, really? So it's Peter Sellers' widow, Marty Feldman's widow, best friends, Anne and Loretta.

And Kit's just getting in absolutely fabulous. Oh, yeah. I mean, they're funny as fuck. But anyway, Loretta became my best friend. She passed away 12 years ago, but I met her the 10-year anniversary of Marty's death. He died tragically young in New Mexico, or no, in Mexico City,

doing the movie Yellowbeard with the Python guys, Bill Chapman and Bowie, everybody was on it. But anyway, so I live in her house. And we have the piano from putting on the ritz from Young Frankenstein in the house. And Buster Keaton's wife, Eleanor, give him Buster's actual hat. It's on the wall.

It's crazy. You just took the house. furnished? No, so I took care of her when she was dying and then she had always told me this house is yours. It was, you know, I've been gone there for 36 years. Yeah. And I didn't, after she died, she wanted to die at home. I was thinking this the other day because Zach is coming into town to do Mel Brooks project about Young Frankenstein and it's younger Frankenstein and it's a really good story. But when she passed away, she died of cancer, she wanted to die at home, which, same thing with my mother. And I had a 24-hour care for her at the thing. And people would come by to say goodbye to her.

And one day, the housekeeper goes, he goes, she's like, I call Jean wants to say goodbye to Loretta. And I'm like, no, she's in a coma. She's like, this is the end. And I look on, that's Gene Wilder. Yeah. And he just came to our house and he just sapsider, held her hand. He says, would you stay with me? And I went, yeah. And he goes, you know, my wife passed away from cancer. I'm like, yeah, I know. Yeah. And so like this house, but anyway, I kind of, she left it to me. And it from the, from the 70s. She didn't do any, like there's no air conditioning, you know, everything else. We live there and I love it. We did it all up, but I kept

her stuff through and our stuff. Yeah, yeah. That's wild. And his, he was working on his autobiography and it was in the attic and she didn't want to read it because she was just like so devastated. He died so suddenly. 48. Wow. Major smoker. Five packs of cigarettes a day. Shockingly, he died

of a heart attack. Yeah. But anyway, Eric Eidl lived up the street and Eric's been coming to a lager for years and I gave him the the manuscript of this thing. And I said, hey, read this and see if it's any good. And he goes, this has to be published. So we publish and give all the money to a children's chart, the Children's Tumor Foundation.

Yeah. So there's things like that. When you ask me about Largo's my only thing. When you're talking about ending the podcast, I jokingly said, okay, I'll end Largo. You know, and it's 30 years. I don't, I move forward in a way that if it's not working for me, I would be the first to pull out of it.

Yeah. But I would leave an infrastructure for somebody else. And I hope that you would do the same where, you know, Largo, that kind of community would always be there for somebody. Because Largo's me. Like wherever, I could put that fucking piano in that rug anywhere and make Largo happen. Right. You know, and I could do it even on a night of Largo and still satiate the need for it.

But I think the community is really important, you know? Yeah, totally. Yeah, I do too, and I'm like barely part of it. Yeah, but I think also with you, with this thing, I mean, all sorts of people told me, oh, he's fucking, he should just do once a week, do once a month, and I'm, no, he's done. When you told me there, I said, congratulations. You've done the fucking greatest thing. It's been a great escape.

you know, between Lynn, between all the stuff that you've gone through, you've pulled all us through. And, you know, I've never done a drug in my life, but I get really into you talk and recovery with people and going, you know. And I see you kind of like, you know, you and Brendan will figure something out. It's not a done deal, you know. Oh, really? You need a break. You need a break. No, I get it. But I mean, I could take, people don't know this about me, but I could stop Largo in the morning. Like when COVID happened, I was like, okay, well, and you said the same thing by stand up. I was like, well, maybe that was it. I think we say those things

to make ourselves feel better. No, I was a little bit like my kids were at an age where I was like, I could spend a lot more. I spent every day with them, they were homeschooled so it wasn't like I was an absentee dad, but when COVID happened,

I knew it wasn't going to be six weeks. Yeah. I'm like, this is going to be a year and it's going to take years to, and I still think people are getting over it, you know. But just as I thought, maybe I'm done.

I get a call from Conan saying, hey, are you going out of your mind? Yeah. And his producer Jeff Ross is like, could we do it at the empty Largo? Yeah. And so the whole way through COVID, Conan came and did his show live. When was the big switch over from 2008 to the cornet?

Yeah. Yeah. There was a little downtime in between now? No, not much. But maybe two months. And you lease that place? Yeah. $45,000 a month.

That's crazy. To a guy that wants to tear it down and make a parking lot. Really? Yeah, and I keep fucking with him. Like, I keep extending the lease and, you know. You don't want to sell it to you? No, Jud and I both approached him. By the way, you talk about other projects.

Shandling really wanted to, and then his family when he passed away, wanted to do a performance center where we could shoot specials, have two rooms, have a third room for comedians only. Full bar, full food, you know, and start a health care system, like, for comedians. Yeah. You know, he was fucking brilliant the guy, you know. Yeah. And I feel like Judd has taken a lot of that on because Judd is a pure fan of comedians,

of performers, and gets people, you know. But he learned a lot of from Gary. Gary was like he would read your script, give you tips, encourage you, you know. Yeah. And anyway, so I kind of like, I'm not trying to be Gary Shandling, but there was an idea right before COVID of trying to buy a place. And the idea would be Sandler, Conan, everyone chips in.

And we call it the Largo at this performing center. Maybe a tribute to Gary or something, you know. But then when COVID happened and you realize, you know, I mean, I was closed for a full year and Conan gave me what he could because he wasn't getting a lot of money, you know. That landlord still wanted his $200,000 at the end of two years. years. Yeah.

You know. I mean, it's fucking cutthroat. Like, I mean, I'm the only, um, sole owner operator of a venue in Los Angeles.

Right. Like Christine at the troubadour, her dad and somebody else owns it, but like she doesn't book it. I do it all. Yeah. You know, and I,

if I can't do it all, I mean, I have a great staff. Yeah. They've been with me forever. Michael, the manager. But if,

if I don't do that, then I'm gone. And that's why I never opened a place in New York because it wouldn't be there. And you can only put your ass in one saddle. Like so, you know. Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

All right, so before we end, let's talk about the night I got attacked. Oh, fucking fantastic. What do you remember about it? Here's exactly what I remember. Yeah. I have a recording of it. Did I tell you that?

Yeah, yeah, I think, yeah. It's on cassette. Paul F. Tompkins hosting. Yeah, that's right. Right. Do you remember what the night was called? Uh-uh. For only the lonely.

It was Valentine's night. Really? And the idea was, if you don't have a date, come to Largo. Right. Well, I remember Mick Jones, from foreigner. Yeah.

That's his name, right? Yeah, and I thought it was Mick Jones from the clash and I was so excited. I was like, oh, fuck. It's a foreigner guy. But I knew foreigner. Yes.

He was there. Vincent DiNofrio was in. And then regular Largo people. I remember I was doing that joke about the sportscaster covering miniature golf. Yeah. That he wanted bigger things. And it ends with a suicide.

And I do the line about suicide. And some guy like maybe two rows in goes, stop talking about suicide. Yeah. And I, because I'm a dick, I'm like, oh, did you just lose somebody? Yeah. You know, like, and then he lunged out of the audience. Oh, yeah.

And tackle me. All I remember thinking is like, I'm not really a fighter, but I can't run. Yeah. Yeah. So I'm going to have to see what. He stands me off, which I knew in that moment that he wasn't really a fighter either. Right. But he tackled me.

Yeah. And it was a tussle. And there was no hitting. Right. And I just, I knew I had to stay in it. And then I think Wrath and you were the first two

to come pull him off and like pretty quickly everyone ran out. Yeah. Yeah, it was, it was so what I remember about it was you were talking about suicide

and then this guy said, stop talking about suicide. Yeah. And he was closer to the front. And he was with his sister and he said, we just buried our mother, she had cancer.

And then you made some sort of a quip and then out of the thing, he tried to thump you. I remember you had a little bit of a mark on your face because I mentioned, we ripped my shirt. And he talked him, there was a drum kit behind you, and you went fucking flying.

And then Tompkins walks on stage and said some quip, like, I've always wanted to do that. Or some, you know. But we went out onto the street, and I had this guy, and I, Dave Rath, one of the greats. Well, he drove back around. He ran him out, and then I came out. And I just remember seeing Donofrio there. Yeah. It was all weird.

It was crazy. But by the way, that's always Largo. Like, something will happen. Anyway, to end the story was, I sat the guy down. He goes, like, you know, this is our first time out of the house. My mom was in hospice. We brought her home. She died of cancer. We came to a comedy show.

And I was like, I'm so sorry. But then he talked to you and I apologize. Well, his, my recollection is like, you know, he pulls back around. Yeah. And you freak out and wrath freaks out. And he goes, I just want to talk to him. Right. And I say, okay, you know.

And then we walked down the street and he says, look, I'm sorry. I'm not really that guy. But he, I thought he told me that his brother had tried to kill himself or something. There was others, but definitely his mother. Yeah. And then he was like, we've just had enough. Yeah, yeah. for a laugh.

Yeah, yeah. And we didn't want any Valentine's bullshit when we saw your show and we came. And I said, hey man, you know,

and he goes, how are you related to this guy? He said, I remember him saying this and I said, he's the guy that starts fights and the guy that ends fights.

Yeah, you know, and I calmed him down and then he spoke to you for a while and you were great with him. Yeah. And I remember St. Arath,

Mark has a mark and it's, I hope he's all right because he connected with you somehow. Yeah, yeah. But it became this thing of myth where people were like,

oh my God, I heard the fact that somebody tried to shoot Mark at Largo. But, you know, I remember the first week that I was there in 96, one thing I learned from the ex-partner was any artwork that you have, nail it to the wall. Yeah. Because they're going to steal it. Yeah.

Right? So I was like, ah, that's a bit much. So we had this poster. It was an old poster of a vaudible thing, but there was another thing with Miles Davis. And it was in the men's bathroom. And this, I'm standing watching the show. And it was Loudon Wainwright was playing.

Yeah. And he's fucking great, right? And he's singing and a guy comes up to me and goes, hey, there's a guy in the bathroom trying to steal some of your shit and I'm like, what? The toilet? Yeah. He's got a screwdriver and he's taking your painting off the wall.

And I went, huh. So I went down, I went into the men's bathroom. Remember that long corridor? It was very narrow and I walk in and there's a guy with a fucking ponytail on the toilet trying to take this really expensive mirror that's not expensive.

He thinks it is. And I said, hey, what are you doing? He goes, oh, the guy just asked me to fix this. And I went, that's fucking good. And by the way, I am not a fighter. You know, I grabbed him by the ponytails and I dragged him out of there. And he kept trying to stab me

with the fucking screwdriver. And as I'm dragging him up the aisleway out to the front door, David Lynch is sitting there and gone, good for you. And I was like, fuck, what is happening? How did I get to the, you know? And I threw him out the door

and I locked the door and off he went. But Loudon never missed the beat. Yeah. How, did Lynch go there often? Yeah, you know, everybody goes there often. Yeah. You know, like Paul Thomas Anderson, that's where he, Magnolia, that's Amy Mann, all those people.

he found him there? Yeah, because John did the music on his very first movie. So I've known Paul since his first movie and he's always called me up and going hey, what about this guy for this or that guy for that? Yeah. So yeah, so, but there's a lot of like, you know,

I don't know how often, but I'll hear like, oh, Tarantino was here and he cast me in a such and such. Yeah. That's the thing about Largo. You know, you go out there and you better have a plan. Yeah, I don't know who the fuck is sitting there. Yeah. You're beyond that.

I'm talking about somebody in their 20s who comes out here and they're not like like Jimmy Kim or Jimmy Pardo said they don't have the sticks the fucking billboards the HBO and you know and it could be Christopher guest

it could be anybody sitting in that audience might be like oh that's I could use that person yeah yeah well I appreciate all your support of this show and me thank you Brandon yeah

I know your regular listener and yeah I don't know where I'll end up but I do feel okay about what's happening yeah and we've got a long way to go you know you and I yeah

I was I thought was dying last night. Do you know, there's a great Jeff Tweedy has a new triple album out. I know you've had a man, I know. And he to me is like the Leonard, the poet, you know, and he has a song called Ain't it a shame that you can't die on a beach with a cloudless sky because you're too young. And on the way here on NPR, they were talking about

this woman, Ruby, I think her name is Ruby Prosner, Holocaust survivor. Yeah. 95 years of age. Her and the husband, Michael, went to Swiss clinic, sent everyone in email saying, we're shuffling off this mortal coil. Sorry, we couldn't let you know in person. And they just did it together?

They did it together. And I was like, there it is. Yeah. You know. So. I'm not taking that drastic in action. No, but you are in a way ending the way you want to end. You know, you've revisited friends. You've had people on there that meant something to your life.

Yeah. And, you know, I always think it's a fucking launching pad for what's next. Yeah, it's okay. You want to do this movie? It frees up. You can't do all of this at the same time. Yeah. That's why I can't do other things.

I need, you know. Yeah. I mean, there's things I'm going to miss. and like I worry about it. I'd like to be freed up. I have to deal with my cat situation, but the newest kid came up with a good idea. After I end the podcast,

make this into like another kind of man cavey thing. Maybe put the desk out here and a big TV screen and a couch and what Charlie live in here. But also Margaret Cho has a really great friend, comedian called Ian Harvey, and he makes these things for cats where you can keep them,

they can go outside without hawks attack, not cages, but like... Well, I have a catio. I know, but this is, I know you do it, but this is like, you know, keep them separated kind of thing. No, really. I can go outside and nobody's got to, you know. There's ways of doing it. It's just so weird when your life revolves around to fucking.

But I also think you should take a note out of Malini's book and just kind of like, do lunches, do a dinner. Yeah. Oh, have people over? Yeah, no, pick your favorite restaurant, the back room. Yeah. You just say, hey, you want to get together? Let's hang out. Sarah does it with her rooftop party.

I mean, you should do it. It doesn't have to be all the time, but you will have a withdrawal thing where you'll be like, I do want to talk to my friends. Yeah, yeah. I'll work it out. Yeah, you'll figure it. I'll keep coming over to Largo and doing it. Yeah. So we're going to do another band show.

We're going to do another band show on October 28th. Yeah. When's my stand-up show? The 14th. Okay. Thanks for doing this. Yeah, yeah. There you go.

Quite a tale. Good stories. His story was great. You can go to Largo-Dash-L.A.com for tickets to all the shows there and info about everything coming up at Largo. Yeah. Here's some Here's some stones

I got the acoustic out I'm practicing for the next band gig Yeah Boomer lives Monkey and LaFonda Cat Angels Everywhere