WTF with Marc Maron Podcast - Episode 715 - Louie Anderson

Episode Date: June 13, 2016

Louie Anderson's standup career is unquestionably legendary. But his astounding performance as Christine Baskets has put Louie in an entirely new dimension. Marc and Louie go through it all, from the Midwestern upbringing in a household of 11 kids to getting called over by Johnny Carson to his current TV success. 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.

Lock the gate! Alright, let's do this. How are you, what the fuckers? What the fuck buddies? What the fuckineers? What the fucksters? What the fucksikins? What's happening? I'm Mark Maron. This is my podcast, WTF. Welcome to the show. Today, um, on the show, I talked to Louie Anderson. We recorded this conversation a little bit of time ago. It's nice to talk to him. I mean, he's had an amazing career resurgence with baskets. And he's one of the great comedians. He really is. I mean, I don't know if you've been watching baskets on uh on fx he plays

zach's uh he plays zach galifianakis his mom and sort of a brilliant star turn if that's what you call it for louis we'll talk about that a couple other things uh that i need to talk about i'm a little i'm a little fucked up today to be honest with you obviously uh i think everybody is i'm recording this on sunday day after the news broke about the horrendous orlando massacre and i'm fucked up i'm fucked up about this country for a lot of reasons and it's an event like this where you just you know i i don't even know exactly how to react to it there's so many facets to it i can react with horror and sadness and anger and all of the above but then what do you do with that you how do you how do

you compartmentalize how do you find your moral center where does it go i mean how do you how do you even break it down what's the order of horror homophobia guns domestic terrorism the reaction to homophobia, guns, domestic terrorism, the politicization of homophobia, guns, domestic terrorism, the lack of empathy on certain people's behalves, you know, what they represent. it's very hard for me to know where the hell to put the anger, except at a lunatic, a fucking mentally ill, fucked up person, who justifies his troubled mind by doing something so heinous and so fucking evil. I mean, how do you stop evil within a person? Whether it's ideologically based or just based on some personal hierarchy of things, based in sickness in one's mind. How do we move forward as a country how do you disable the ability to get fucking weapons that

can just do this yet allow quote-unquote responsible gun owners to have the weapons they need to uh to feel protected if that's even possible. At what point does this shit stop? I mean, you can call it terrorism, but the fact remains, this guy was an American, and we're all Americans, so how do we grow together

without alienating every other fucking American of a particular faith or a particular ethnicity? How do we honor the ultimate vision of what this country could be in all its good ways without regressing or becoming worse than it's ever been? This can be an amazing period of growth for America or just an amazing end to a noble experiment. I really want to believe most people are good. I really do.

I mean, I just, I don't know. I don't know what happens. What are we supposed to just accept as a country that these mass killings are just part of doing business that's just part of being an American now that this just happens that you know another one of those things happen again nothing we can do about it this is just the price of having the freedom to have guns. There's absolutely nothing that can be done to sort of slow this process of getting a gun, of making specific types of guns

that are clearly not recreational or even for practical defense, at the very least, very difficult to to get this is part of the freedom that that 50 people in a gay nightclub get massacred it's part of it's a it's the price of freedom it's the price of a constitutional freedom and it doesn't seem that the conversation can even be had i mean if it wasn't had after a bunch of six-year-olds got massacred if that wasn't enough it's certainly not going to be enough if 50 people in a gay nightclub get massacred and now the fact that this guy's muslim gives even more of an excuse not to do anything because he's one of them

it's fucking insanity it's amazing that you know you get you just sort of get consumed in your own life you just sort of kind of get insulated in your own life you know I do it we all do it it's what we want to do we want to have the freedom to have our lives and then you know like I just you know told Dennis that we if he asked him if he could stop building something next door there so I could get on the mic here I got a little problem with my fucking cat again he's got a fucked up thing on his face trying to write comedy trying to earn an honest living here trying to be a good guy trying to deal with my relationship issues and then and then just something something just goes down that makes you realize that like shit is not good.

Action needs to be taken. Politicians need to be contacted. People need to be held responsible for a lot of things. Some of them are legislatable. Others are just basic moral decency. But God damn it, man. Shouldn't be able to get a gun like that. Shouldn't be so much fucking hatred.

But it just is, right? Evil just is. It's part of being human, I guess. That's the big challenge for anybody. being human i guess that's the big challenge for anybody so look louis anderson uh baskets you can watch the first season of baskets on fx now go get the app and check it check out that show it's pretty wild it's it's pretty it's dark and it's fun he's he's and louis pretty fucking amazing and if you're a television academy member i want to remind you that emmy voting starts today maybe i'm telling you those things for a reason maybe i'm not all i'm saying is watch louis and baskets and watch

my show marin on ifc if you want all right so this is uh is me talking to the wonderful veteran comic, Louis Anderson. So you're eating healthy? Yes, I'm eating healthy. But what is that? I'm eating abstinent. Do you know what that means? Abstinent, is that a drink?

Yeah. I set up a program of food that I wasn't going to eat. Right. You know, fast food. You decide. I decide, yeah. It's up to me. Okay.

But, you know, I go to OA. You know what that is? Sure. Yeah. So I go there, and that's where I learned about abstinence, where you pick a meal plan and stick to the meal plan. Do you do grayscale? You mean the gray sheet?

Yeah. Oh, that's so funny. Not very many people know about the gray sheet. I know. It's like the secret OA thing. Yeah. I've done the gray sheet. And that's It's like the secret OA thing. Yeah. I've done the gray sheet. And that's just like managing everything that goes in your face, right?

Yes. That's a strict. That was invented by a priest in the 60s. Really? In OA. Yeah. I've done it. I'm basically doing that a little different because I built into snacks.

And what are those oh like uh you know nothing good could I just say that yeah yeah like uh hey here's an apple oh god oh apple so it's a state of mind is really what it is it's an honest to god state of mind you got to get in it and stay in it yeah you have to this is four weeks but yeah this is the rest of my life right that's the change because on baskets i had so much fun doing it yeah but at that point there was a point recently where i went oh when you see yourself and you go oh god oh god you know like that scene where i'm going up the stairs that was difficult for me to go up the stairs yeah and i said i shouldn't be it shouldn't be difficult for me to go up the stairs right and so i was going to have the sleeve operation you know what that is where they cut your they

just cut your they just take a piece of your intestine out no they cut your stomach in half basically and they just throw it away they just throw it away? They just throw it away. Isn't that like the most weird? So there's a part of your stomach that has gremlins in it. I think they're a hormone. Oh, right, right. And so at night, those are the things that go, hey, Mark, starving. We just ate.

Oh, we didn't really eat. We starving and then you get up and they cut those out really yeah they remove them and then people have had tremendous success everybody i've met who's had that has lost 100 to 150 pounds in a short amount of time but like when with oa like because you know i you know i know 12 step stuff i mean what what does it look like for you when you're out of control with the food well let's see not like yeah right you know what i mean yeah yeah mine is just like it's um like i could eat 12 pieces of toast buttered right with coffee and you know if you do that slowly yeah that doesn't seem like a yeah a big deal but it is a day it's like it's a it's in the morning it's an hour right if you're taking your time yeah but i mean you know you know what i'm

talking about right yeah you make four i have a four slicer you make four slices yeah and then you butter them and then you put four more pieces of bread in so you can cut out that time but is there but is there a moment where you're like i'm not gonna you know what i'll just have four more yeah uh i think you're not even yeah yeah there's always a moment right but you know this is a whole switch you know yeah there's a switch in your brain yeah whether you're either in your addiction or you're not am i right that's absolutely right and i'm out i'm not in my addiction it's a really yeah it's such a relief yeah like yesterday i was uh in a meeting and they had a cake stand of pastries and away no no no no that's really funny i used to say i used to go to this oa meeting where everybody went to eat afterwards and i go this isn't good

we can't we shouldn't be going to eat afterwards not together yes and together because you know someone's gonna be like come come on, you guys. Never a booth. Never a booth. So there's a bunch of pastries? On a cake thing. And I looked at them. I looked at them.

Because I wanted to have what everybody does, a piece of the donut or a slice of the muffin or all that stuff. And I just didn't have it. I had a cup of capp or all that stuff and i just uh i didn't have it i had a uh a cup of cappuccino oh thank god i i mean i'm shooting my show now and i have i'm compulsive eater too yeah but uh you know i'm just so fucking hard on myself and i the craft services i mean it's just isn't it amazing why we're so hard on i just wanted to stop that because we're i'm so hard on myself and i go louis you, don't be so hard on yourself. Yeah. Your dad's dead.

You don't have to worry about him kicking the door of your bedroom in and going, hey, let's get some pushups going. You bastard. But what I learned, it's the dad inside you. Yeah. Well, you're the dad. Yeah, it's the dad inside you. That's the part.

That's a really good point. And that guy, how do you get that that's the part that's a really good point and like that guy like how do you get how do you get that guy in to die i think what you have to do with him is um just tell him he doesn't live here yeah no i mean basically isn't that it yeah i mean it's the switch again yeah it's the door that you lock that you're not gonna revisit that yeah this isn't self-pity like one of the most beautiful things comics love but But it's so appalling. It can kill you. That's the really sad part.

People have to be careful with self-pity. And then when it escalates, it's just bitterness. If you give self-pity the angry voice, fuck those guys. Fuck them. Hey, I'll kill every fucker around. Hey, that guy doesn't deserve it. I did a joke for a long time yeah uh uh people say you know people say a guy was raised by wolves i go and i was raised by bakers

and never got a laugh once and i always thought is that because that's a good joke to me but only if you're a fat person can you even you know what i mean they just don't get it they just we take yeah they're missing the piece. They don't go to... And you can't do jokes about addiction too seriously. Oh, yeah, because people feel sorry for you. Yeah, then they get sad. Yeah, they're like, oh, you're okay.

Yeah, that's not... You're okay. Shut up. I wanted to laugh. Yeah. I don't need support. Yeah. You know, it's amazing, isn't it?

Yeah. Like, I get letters from people all the time. Like, I get letters like, hey, I'm reaching out to you because I noticed, you know, that you're obviously unhappy and awfully big. Oh, my God. And if there's any way I can be of any help. Really sweet. Lovely letter.

Do you get the Jesus letters? Like, maybe you have a god yes i do yeah yeah but i i love you know like i always say to them i'm good i'm good with god yeah yeah it's not you know i'm not we have an understanding yeah he's he's obviously bestowed a nice gift on me and so and a lot of luck yeah yeah so wait i i would like i have memories of you. I'm surprised you remember me from the comedy store. Oh, man. Yeah, my little long-haired, sweaty Mark. Yeah.

A little coked up Mark. You were always nice, though. Yeah. There weren't a lot of nice comics. No. But you and I, I'm not putting you out that we hung out together or anything, but we both, I think, occupied a spot at the comedy store yeah that was oh and those guys yeah yeah you know like no matter what no matter what we were like

oh yeah we could put you on at some point yeah yeah yeah but like i was a doorman right you know when when uh when i first got out there i was a do doorman, and that was 1987, 88. So you were pretty, you know. I was in it then. You were in it, and you really were at the top of the, you know, you were the big comic. Yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah.

Like, you were popular, and I remember the first time I met you, like, I made a mistake, and it sort of still sits with me. I was working the door in the main room, and you're like, who's on? And you said, who's going on next? And I said, so-and-so. And you're like, no, I don't want to wait. And then I said, well, can't you just bump them? And I was making sort of a fat joke, right?

And you were like, don't you ever. Did I? Oh, yeah. But just for fun? No, no, no. I was mad. You sort of put me in my place, and I'm like, he's right. like don't you ever did i oh yeah but just for fun no no no you were mad you were sort of put me in my place and i'm like he's right that was a little you know i don't know that guy i like that you did that impression of me hey but i hated bumping people i hated bumping people i don't like doing it i don't know if i can do it i didn't even if i'm at that level yet

but i it's always seemed rude to me i guess if you going to do like seven minutes because you got to do a thing. Yeah, that would be the reason. That's one thing. I just didn't want to go late, and I didn't want to go after when somebody was really filthy. Well, then that way you didn't work at the store for after a while. Well, sometimes, you know, because I'd go, you know, somebody comes up and they go, and then I come up and go, butter. Yeah.

Get out of here. We ate butter. Keep it going for sam kinnison next up louis anderson hey do you want to hear my thing i used to do with sam yeah so sam would kill it nobody wanted to follow sam yeah because you know yeah you wanted to have some fun yourself oh he'd make a mess of the place yeah yeah he'd just crush it yeah but even if but even if he didn't kill, people would be like, what the fuck just happened? Yeah. Exactly.

Yeah. It was a different... Oh, yeah. Changed the whole energy. And then he'd get off and I'd go, Sam, bring him back.

Sam. Oh, my God. Everybody. Sam. Let's hear it. I'd keep it going. Yeah. I'd go,

can you guys see if Sam will come back and just take another bow? Folks, you'd like that, right? Yes, we'd like it. And I'd keep doing it until people were going, okay, we're done with him. Then I had... Then you had their attention.

Because otherwise, you know, but I would just do it, and I was doing it for fun myself. Right, yeah, yeah. Can you believe it? I'd go to the front row. Can you believe that? Yeah. to the front row. Can you believe that? Yeah. Come on, bring him.

Sam. And he's already in the back doing blow, running around. He was a piece of work. Yeah. But when did you sort of, where did you start? In Minneapolis? Yeah. Yeah?

A little club in Minneapolis. Which one? Mickey Finn's. Yeah? 1978. That while ago? Yeah yeah and you grew up in minneapolis i grew up in saint paul but people will still introduce you from minneapolis yeah because no one knows saint paul they don't that's nothing to people but like in how was um you like huge family right yeah 11 kids how does that happen? I know people say, were you a Catholic? I go, no, my dad was a musician.

Was he? Yeah, he was a pretty famous musician early in the 1900s, believe it or not. Wow. See, I'm the second to the youngest. Yeah. And so my dad was born 1901. So you were like the 10th kid? I was the 10th kid out of 11.

And my mom was obviously very fertile. She had 16 children. Five died. Two sets of twins. And the first baby died. You know, because babies dying back then was probably more common than... So you didn't know any of them. They died at childbirth.

I never experienced any of that. Right. That was all along before me. I was the second to the last child. Yeah. How old was your mom when she had you? 41, I think. God, she must have.

So she had like one every couple of years. Yeah. She used to say, because back then you would, they keep you in a hospital for a week. Yeah. If you had a baby. Yeah. And she'd say, that's the only vacation I ever a week if you had a baby? Yeah. And she'd say, that's the only vacation I ever get is when I have a baby. And I always thought, poor mom.

She was the sweetest person in the world. Yeah? Yeah, she's the model for that character I'm doing. Oh, it's such a great character. Because Zach was like, I hear a voice for my mother, and it sounds like Louis Anderson. And apparently Louis, so you get just like, well, let's call Louis Anderson. Is that what happened?

Isn't that a funny thing? I got a call from Steve Levine, agent at ICM. And he says, Louis C.K. wants your number. And I go, give it to him. And he called me. He goes, Louis, I'm with Zach and Galifianakis. We're doing a sitcom, and we want you to play a part. And I go, yeah.

Those two people call you, you go, yeah. He goes, we want you to play Zach's mom. I go, yes. I've been doing my mom's voice in my act since the beginning. Yeah. So you're just doing your mom, basically. I'm just doing my mom. yeah yeah so you're just doing your mom basically i'm just doing my mom and uh and but you had no problem with the it seems to me that you really are enjoying it i'm loving it that like i grew

up with five sisters yeah and a really sweet mom was this the first time you sort of theoretically this is the first time that i did anything except for dom irera and one of his specials yeah i played the maid who came in while he was sleeping. Right. And he goes, was that Louis Anderson? Yeah, yeah. That was just that little tiny. It's the only time I ever.

So you're doing drag, kind of. Yeah, kind of. But I never looked at it as drag. I have to be honest with you, Mark. No, all right. You know what I just tried to do with the character is be real. Right. That's how it's trained.

And try to change the voice. People are loving it. People love it. Yeah. Yeah. And it's good for you. Jonathan jonathan kreisel yeah you know who he is i do know who he is portlandia oh yeah yeah yeah yeah who directed it he directed all the episodes and what did he what what was the direction did you just they just let you do what you wanted to do no he had a very specific thing in mind jonathan. Really? What was that? He said to me at the beginning of the project, he said, think of this as a three and a half hour movie. And I thought that's a really good way of looking at something.

The whole series. Yeah, the whole series. And then he would never say it wasn't good. Never. Yeah. Never. But he would say, what if, what if we try it right or just some little it was always minute you know it was minimal words and then i would say oftentimes hey can i just say it how

my mom would say it yeah and that's where a lot of those words have come from oh yeah yeah like uh um you know that whole Arby's. Yeah. You know, we had an Arby's. Sure. That was our first fast food by our house. Sure. And the curly fries.

Oh, that stuff. I think it's paprika. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I always think paprika is the funniest. Yeah. Of words of all the spices. You want paprika on it?

Yeah. No, I don't want paprika on it. But then you're like, if you find one of those curly fries makers, I'd like to have one. I would like to have one. Wouldn't you like to have one? I mean, not that you'd use it ever. But then that'd be a friolator. I know, but not that you'd ever use it.

But just to have it? You could just take it out of the drawer. That's a Midwestern thing. Sure. Here, let me show you something. What? Look at this. Do you know what it is?

No. It's a curly fry cutter. Yeah. And then put and that's it do you have one no i didn't think so that's that's the essence of my mom i didn't think so but there is something about the midwest there's this sort of sturdy kind of uh you know uh emotional um uh monotone that is very passive aggressive and very sort of like polite, but a little jabby. I used to do a bit in my act, but nobody really liked me doing it. I do a bit where Midwesterners will cut you with a razor and then go,

oh my God, let me run up and get my first aid kit. And then they will bandage you up. I don't know what got into me. I just was nervous. And then when they get it all bandaged up they will rip the bandage off again oh i don't know why i did that and it's just a constant you know what i mean they're so because i have a theory that they're in the house too long and it's cold in the winter you're in the house too long and you start thinking i'm gonna kill somebody i'm gonna lose my mind cabin fever cabin fever so your dad what kind

of musician never had cabin no you never did my dad believe it or not played with hoagie carmichael big band guy yeah big band and uh jazz he was a jazz trumpet and cornet player really yeah and he toured he was a touring musician? He toured. You know, one time in the 80s, I was opening for Crosby, Stills, and Nash for a benefit. Yeah. I never played the clubs. I got really lucky.

I went from the Tonight Show to the Comedy Store at the Dunes. And I got to remember this writer's name, but he was a Vegas writer. He has a street named after him there. And he reviewed me. And it was such a great review that the next week I got a job opening for the Commodores at Bally's. Right, yeah, in Vegas. And I had an agent, Frank Rio, who handled Bob Hope, Marlena Dietrich, and lots of big artists. Yeah.

You know, what's his name? Johnny Mathis and all these people. And so he started getting me gigs. I went from the Commodores to the Pointer Sisters to Smokey Robinson to Natalie Cole. All in Vegas or touring? All in Vegas. Yeah. Well, it's a few touring, like the Westbury Music Fair.

So I started getting those jobs. Yeah. And they were real lucrative. Yeah. That was more money than I ever made in a year. Well, let's track it. Let's go back and write it out. So you were in Vegas and someone knew your dad or what?

There's a guy comes, the security comes to me after the show. There's a guy who your dad taught him trumpet lessons. I go, good, bring him back because we have no memorabilia of my dad. Did you know him? I didn't know the guy. Your dad? Yeah, yeah, I knew my dad, yeah. I wrote a book about my dad, Dear Dad. I'll't know the guy your dad yeah yeah i knew my dad yeah i wrote a book about my dad dear dad and i'll send it over to you oh good yeah yeah so

letters i wrote to my dad 10 years after he died oh how old were you when he died i was 27 oh so yeah yeah i knew him how um and this guy came back and he said, your dad, I took trumpet lessons from your dad. He was a great trumpet lesson. I go, what was he like? He was hard. He was tough. I go, I know he was a prick, right? And you know what I mean?

I go, oh, good. He wasn't just mean to me. Yeah, right. But he brought me a poster, a woodblock print. Sure, yeah. Louis Anderson and his orchestra. Wow. And it looked, you know, like I was named after him.

It looked like one of my posters from the 80s. Uh-huh. And it was just so, it was like, oh, my dad, because I had heard about all this stuff. Right, right. But it was real. My dad toured. He was probably in these kind of places.

Sure. So it was a big thing to me. So by the time you kind of have a memory or relationship with him, he was not working as a musician anymore? He was 50 when I was born. Right. So he had false teeth and he pretty much lost his lip for playing the trumpet. Really? Yeah.

But he would play the harmonica and he would play the ukulele when my mom was mad at him. Oh, he'd go into the room. He'd do love songs. Oh, really? To make it up to her? Yeah, to try and make it up to her. So your relationship with him, he was hard on you? He was an alcoholic.

Sure. He was a mean, violent alcoholic. He never hit me. Yeah. But he was very mean to my mom and hit my older brothers and sisters before I was really even in the family. So by the time you were awake, he was exhausted? He was tired. I hear that about parents all the time.

That they get exhausted. They get exhausted. But you grew up in that chaos. I grew up in that. Like, what's that going to be? It's like a nuclear bomb. I always tell people, growing up in an alcoholic family is one of the weirdest things because it's like being around nuclear fallout. Yeah, yeah.

Because later in your life, it comes up. You go, you know, it really affects your whole life. Well, yeah, but what someone brought up to me that I didn't really think about, which makes good sense, is that when you have a parent like that you just don't know what the hell is going to happen ever right like yes is no no is yes and you're right and when they're coming home you're like what's it is what's it going to be like yeah you had that kind of parent well he was a bipolar guy so like he was erratic wasn't alcohol based but it was still like same behavior though right is he going to blow up is it you know because he wasn't alcohol based but it was still like same behavior though right is he gonna blow up is it you know because he wasn't home that much you know he's a doctor so when he was home you're like all

right everyone's gotta play this game now you know i hope i hope he can find everything he's looking for towing around right right god forbid he decides like where's that hat yeah oh no oh god where and you know they do it on purpose it seemed like i know you know you just want to go your hat's right here yeah but you don't know where it is but you don't know it and there isn't even a hat there might not be and then after he's made everyone cry he's like oh i think i got rid of that and then and then no no no conscience about it or anything but did you ever have this happen where you walked in the house and you knew you've picked up on it immediately without seeing anyone you just feel it you just felt it yeah like and i don't know if that was something you imagined and it turned out

that way or if it's something you develop i think you i think you must develop because i have the same thing now with um with audiences a lot of times so like and you must have it i mean yeah comics don't talk about it that much but i can sit backstage in the main room you know whoever's on before me and hear just the vibration like all right i know i know what that's or if you walk into a room and you're like no there's a little badness here that that table that's gonna be a problem you can feel the vibe of it sometimes i'm wrong and i'm projecting but you know most times you're not though because i do it all the time i go i'll hear somebody go say the wrong way they're saying it scream out or drunk right right right go and make sure they're out by the time i get on there because i'm all about removing people oh yeah yeah yeah i don't have any qualms well because you're you're you're

you know you um your your presentation uh you know why why would you want to engage with that? I mean, some dudes will fucking do that thing. I won't do it. No, why not? I don't want anything to do with that. I'm a sensitive child on stage. I know. I am.

I'm not the guy who, because I get too mean. And people go, God, he can be mean. You don't want to show them that. But I get, like, I go, hey. Yeah. Hey, I think we should be able to kill hecklers i'll say yeah it would change comedy people right they wouldn't fuck around oh that's funny because your your tone is so sweet and you're so wide open that the moment

there's a problem it's like hey you're a bad you know you should go to hell and then they go and then people go oh i don't trust louis anymore no don't like him. There's a lot going on in there we don't know about. Oh, he's bad inside, that guy. Don't give him the pie afterwards. He doesn't deserve it. That's so weird, though. So wait, so when you wrote the book to your father, you were sort of reckoning with your feelings? I was on tour.

Yeah. I was at the Summerfest. You know what that is in Milwaukee? It's an outdoor thing, which is the worst forever. Oh, it's the worst for comedy. It's the worst. Yeah, the worst. And I was in excess was in the stall next to me.

So they were playing while I was talking. Oh, boy. You know, which was. So there were two stages? There were like two or three stages. The worst. The worst. And it was daytime.

Yeah. And people were like walking through. What is he? Hey, fatty! He's alright. You're alright, though! Shut up. I'm coming out of...

People think they're funny. But it's always that weird, drunky lady just walking by and wants a little attention. Hey! Ugh, God. Hey, I know you! Yeah.

Shut up. So I'm driving out of there, and drunks were avoiding hitting drunks. I'm getting a car ride out to the hotel. Yeah. And I get back at the hotel. And while I'm doing that, I go, oh, this is like my life with my dad. As a passenger? Yeah, I was in the backseat getting a ride back to where they have the volunteers that take you back.

And that guy's going, look at all these drunks. And I go, yeah, yeah, yeah. And I get back and I write a letter to my dad. I don't know why. I just had a journal and I wrote in it. And I wrote a letter. And I said, hey, I just finished this, and blah, blah, blah. Just spilled it out.

And then I wrote like... And he's already passed. He's already dead, 10 years. Yeah, right. And I just kept writing these letters on the tour, filling up these journals. Yeah. And People Magazine, Todd gold was going to do an

article on adult children of alcoholics oh yeah so i said they said do you want to do a do you have anything i go i have these letters yeah and i gave him a few of the letters and i got such a response from people writing in that i was in the process of doing an autobiography for Simon & Schuster. Yeah. And I said, I don't want to do that. I want to do this book. And they said, well, we don't want to do that book. And so I said, well, I'm not doing the book you want.

So I went to my agent, found me Penguin. Yeah. And they did the book, and it turned out to be a bestseller it's on amazon now it's finally on kindle did you do a book on tape i did do a book on tape it was very emotional lots of crying in it really yeah because this book is very emotional you know of course i completely take the journey to find out who my dad really was. Like I went, my dad was a fascinating guy that I didn't know. Sure. He was raised, his father was a great inventor.

He invented like 50 things. Curly fries. Well, deep fryer. Deep fryer. Some sort of deep fryer thing way back. And he was an alcoholic and he sold them all to lawyers, all the patents. And then him and his wife would go on these cross-country train drunks and leave the kids. Right.

And on one of the trips, there was a murder in the house by a Swedish gang. On the train? No. In your house? No, in my dad's house growing up. Oh, okay. His parents were gone. Yeah. And there was a murder.

Uh-huh. And it was a Swedish gang in Minnesota, which was a weird thing. Yeah. And they took all the kids away, including my dad. Huh. Because they weren't there. Right. And there was a murder.

Right. Who got murdered? Somebody at the house. It wasn't one of them that got murdered but the daughter who was in charge of them killed herself out of because yeah out of shame and then my dad got adopted oh you know what they've got put up for adoption you know how that works they put people where that term comes from put you up in front of the congregation at the church. Really? And people would pick who they wanted.

Wow. And then so. And it was like a service. Well, I mean, it was like, it was good and, well, no, but it was a good, yeah. But it was good and bad, you know what I mean? Like the kids didn't have a place, so the community was trying to be helpful, but. Lutherans?

Lutherans, yeah. And so, I think they were Lutherans. I'm not sure. But my dad and his sister got split up. He had a sister who was very close in his age. He went one place and she went another. And it destroyed him. And he got adopted by a German family who worked him as a farmhand.

And he stayed in a different part of the house and he ate different food and he never served yeah he and he never oh my and then at 15 he went and made them sign a thing he goes i'm gonna i'm gonna i want to join the army he says you have i want you to sign this and say i'm old enough to join the army did they and they did. And he became a bugle player. For World War II? Yeah, World War I.

Wow. Yeah. It was like 1916 or 1917. That's a crazy story. It is, isn't it? It's a good story, though. And so I figured that out. I go, oh, my God, my dad had a most miserable thing.

And he was a better person than his parents were in some, you know, grotesque way, right? Well, there's a journey to it, like, as an adult child. It's a complete journey, you're right. Of an alcoholic. You know, you've got all this resentment, you know, and you've got all this shame, and, you know, all this stuff that you hold them responsible for, and they're monsters in your eyes. And it sounds to me that the process of working through this and finding more out about him

allowed you to see him as a person and maybe forgive him. I did forgive him. The book is all about forgiveness. And I got 10,000 letters from that book. I have all the letters still in storage. Of people that were like, you really helped me? I had much worse. Yeah, but I had much worse lives than I.

I'd read those letters and go oh my god this guy one guy sent me when he was beat by his father with by a two by four oh my god as a child and he still he still loved his father well that's what you that's because you you they're your father they're your father it's so fucked up you know like my dad it is but this is what i always say to people even i, I mean, this is how damage, people get damaged. Like when husbands and wives divorce. Yeah. Even though my dad was a monster, the fact that he stayed together was better than had he left. Right.

On some weird deal. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And so isn't that the weirdest thing? Like the sunshine you need to get from your father's being there is so necessary, even if he's a monster. Well, here's what I, I don't know if you've heard this, but this was, like, I just read about this recently,

is that the thing is, though, about loving the monster when you're a kid is what happens when you're a little kid. You know that there's something wrong. Right. Right. But they're your dad. Right. So you love them.

Right. Right. So you think like, well, then who is, then if you love your dad and that's your dad and you have to love him because it's your nature and he's a monster, who gets to blame for feeling shitty you do right right that's so crazy yeah because you are the reason they drink when you grow up you're the reason your dad was bipolar right if he wouldn't have had you if he would have just had the other kids i mean that's how people do it though or just or just the fact like maybe maybe

i i feel weird i feel emotionally abused or alienated so it must be my problem when it's really because they're emotionally incapable so you blame yourself and then you make this weird parent inside of you that can barely handle you right it's i don't know it gets a little crazy but but the good thing is yeah for both of us yeah is how many jobs could we have done? Do you know what I'm saying? Look at you. You have the number one podcast in the world because of that miserable father.

I hate to say that. And I have the same thing because of my crazy mother and my miserable father. Right. But you know what? The gift that just keeps giving. Yeah. And taking. And giving. And taking. But do you ever think about that?

Like, I don't know. When I see people who have regular jobs and stuff, you know, God bless them. Yeah, I'm glad they're doing okay. But, like, I would not fit into that environment. I don't know how to behave like a person. But I'll ask you a question that I was asked when the book came out. Yeah. What would you trade it, that childhood, for a normal upbringing?

And I always said, yeah. Yeah, I would. I would. I think I would, too. Because I think that's the right thing to say. Because I already had this, and this wasn't easy. It's not easy. So, yes.

So, like, other people also don't know how to deal with you because they go, are you crazy? Right. And you go, yes. So, like, other people also don't know how to deal with you because they go, are you crazy? Right. And you go, yes. Yeah, I am. And they go, because there's, you know, like, the whole thing is, for our family, did you have this? What? Where secrets were currency.

They're like the power in the family. Like, you don't talk about your family being, you know. Right, right, right. You know, you couldn't have friends over because you didn't know how your dad was you know right right you know you couldn't have friends over because you didn't know how your dad was gonna act right you know people were terrified of my dad because he would yell at him in the yard if they walked on his lawn right when also it's a little embarrassing oh completely embarrassing yeah and you don't want your dad to be drunk in a chair yeah my mom was a little more embarrassing than my dad it's because my but

but like but secrets it turns out what's weird about secrets is that like you know with your father like you get to a certain age and if they live long enough then they'll be like now you want to know something i'm like i don't think so because they'll start telling you shit yeah yeah yeah yeah and it's like oh what do you you know and and there's such a was your mom like my mom was a lovely person but she enabled a lot of this sure behavior like my dad quit drinking at 69 and he turned and my mom turned to me and said i told you he'd quit and i go oh my god i i mean oh my god i couldn't even like i just wasn't i didn't even say anything to her i just walked in my room i think think, and just went, oh, my God. This is what you come from.

This is. The denial. She thinks that she got him to quit. At 69. At 69. How did your other siblings fare? They all suffered. Yeah.

There was drinking. People who were a lot like my dad in the physiology, some became alcoholics. The people who were like my mom, which is me, became fat and codependent, those kind of things. Enabled people. How many of them are around? There's only five of us left close

11 are you close yeah super close that's good yeah because we're all like oh man are they up in we made it

yeah don't you think we made it we made it are they in Minnesota they're in Minnesota or Wisconsin or South Dakota

that's where my mom grew up in South Dakota and my dad grew up in Minnesota. Really kind of Midwest. Yeah, very Midwest. Full on. Full on. And you got a bunch of nephews and nieces. 27 nephews and nieces. Oh my God. And 22 great nephews and nieces. Some big family stuff. Big family. Oh, that's nice. Yeah.

We just had a hundred people, a hundred and some people show up for a summer little reunion. It was really nice. And it's really fun to see how they're doing better. How they have escaped. Yeah. You know, like some, I think the DNA spreads a little.

Yeah. So that it's not so. Breaks down a little. Yeah. But, you know, a lot of people went through drug use or drug addiction. And those addictions are sneaky. Yeah, and they do run in families. They do run in families.

So let's go to, like, let's track the comedy life. When did you decide to be an entertainer? I just, you know, I used to watch The Tonight Show with my dad. Oh, you bonded with that? Yeah, because he was a musician. He loved Doc Severinsen, the trumpet player. And then he'd let me stay up and watch The Comedian. I always wanted to watch The Comedian.

Oh, yeah? And Johnny and Jack Benny was a big, I was a big Jack Benny fan. Loved him? Yeah, his timing. It was just so beautiful. No one does that like you. Well, it's sweet of you to say, but it really-

It's a rare thing, dude. Yeah, nowadays I don't think very many people do it. And Jonathan Winters, I was infatuated with his crazy. Bob Hope, Johnny Carson, Richard Pryor, and Jackie Vernon. Did you ever know Jackie? Oh, I loved him. He was one of my favorites. He was one of my favorites.

Yeah, sing-songy. Yeah, he's so sweet, too. Yeah. There was some great, he was a sad sack. He was a sad sack. Which is exactly what my character has been often. Yeah, you think so? I think so.

You know, he's a fat guy. He's doing this stuff. Yeah, I guess so. Kind of a sad sack character. Yeah. If I just did my, I used to just do one-liners. He's doing this stuff. Yeah, I guess so. Kind of a sad, sad character. Yeah. If I just did my, I used to just do one-liners. I can't stay long in between meals. Yeah.

I used to do that. I go, I went to a fat camp, broad jump, I killed her. You know? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just fat jokes. Yeah, yeah. And it was a, so it was a fat character. So that's what you started doing?

So that's what I, and I was a very deliberate, like, hope in the delivery. Well, that's efficient. It was very efficient. And I paced, and I did that. And then I was kind of a Rickles comic. Where does this start? So you're watching that when you're a kid. Yeah.

Did you go to college? I did a dare. I wasn't going to be a comic, but somebody dared me to do it because they thought it, because people would always laugh at me. When? How old were you? I was 25. Did you go to college?

I did go to a place called Antioch Communiversity. Communiversity? I've never heard that word. In the 60s, 70s, you know, where in all the poor areas. I grew up very poor. Really? Yeah. They had these

communities yeah where and it was all I think me and my brother were the only white kids in it yeah and they had like an Angela Davis Dean who married a white lawyer it was just like I go and it was very radical and I learned a lot I was a political science major and then I just said oh I'mical. Very radical. And I learned a lot. I was a political science major. And then I just said, oh, I'm just such a bad student. Yeah. And I don't want to read all this. Yeah.

I want to just hang around. I just want to hang. Comics just want to hang around. They do just want to hang. And I think I had a little learning disability reading. Yeah. Because later when I found audio books, I was voracious in my reading. But to read and comprehend, I had a problem with it.

So you're 25. So I went there, 25, did it on a dare. Yeah. Where? At Mickey Finn's on 3rd and Central in this little 50-seat bar with Jeff Gerbino, Scott Hanson, Gary Johnson. These are all Alex Cole. I don't know if Cesario was there yet or not. He's a Minneapolis guy?

Yeah. Well, he's Kenosha, but he came to Minneapolis. Alex Cole, I think I recognize that. Alex Cole. Scott Hanson, the Great Big Guy. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Did you ever work with him? No, no.

Hanson the great big guy oh yeah did you ever work with him no no um and we we only had Jeff Gerbino and we only had like we just had like six or seven people yeah so that's when the show was over so we'd all do you know our 15 and then I became the emcee because I said I'll be an emcee so you started the comedy scene no I was one no they started but I came very shortly after and on the dare the first time you did it, how'd it go? I killed it. Just because I had all my friends there. My dad was there, and my mom was there. So it was just going to be a one-time thing.

So it was like an open mic kind of thing? It was an open mic. I did like three minutes. And you loved it? And I just, I said, this is fun. And my legs were shaking, and the guy said, and I was way too on the mic like that my friend said hold back louis hold back and i go i'm doing the best i can these are the best

jokes i have you know trying to be funny and that and then it just it felt so comfortable and so you started off the first jokes you wrote were all weight i think the first one was i can't stay long i'll be oh let me move this so you can see me. Oh, right, right. Fat jokes like that. I was a kid voted most likely to become a group. Uh-huh. You know?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. When I was born, I weighed 60 pounds. Real rudimentary. The doctor had to bring a crane in to slap my ass. Uh-huh, uh-huh. You know, those kind of jokes that you just look back and go wow complete self-deprecation yeah complete self-deprecating and then one day you know we i love to work and so we work seven days a week we had a very vibrant

comedy scene in minneapolis because it was just a little club and it was packed and charged a dollar and we were so happy to split it up bill bauer too uh-huh if you ever remember bill bauer man bill bauer was a great god rest his soul he was a great comic so one day a guy was with i go is that your dad to the kid he goes oh is that your dad yeah he was a nice he goes yeah he's a nice guy i go my dad he wasn't nice he never hit us he just carry a gun yeah yeah and then I did he never shot it he go and then I hit on that vein yeah I mean I started and we've I hit on the family thing yeah and a guy who were working with Norman Roman de care a little guy who played a tiny

harmonica yeah said Louie if you do that family stuff and you have a clean act you'll become famous and for some reason that stuck when he said it i mean you know he was an older person and i thought he must know something he's yeah he's a shriner yeah and then um that was a really wonderful thing to stumble on the family stuff. Yeah. You know, my mom. And then I just told the real things about my mom and dad. Yeah.

And people loved it. And people liked it because I do the voice. And I made my dad a real mean guy. Yeah. And was he all the time? He didn't want to be bothered. Yeah. Do you know that thing with a dad like that?

Yeah. But he was a lovely person. If you met him, he would be very nice be bothered. Yeah. Do you know that thing with a dad like that? Yeah. But he was a lovely person. If you met him, he would be very nice to you. Sure, they always are. Yeah. The monsters are. Then the door closes. All right, everybody.

All right. Party's over. Yeah, party's over. Where's my wrench? It was always that. When you said that hat thing. Oh, fuck. It was like living with the terrorists. Yeah. You're right. ranch it was always that when you said that hat thing oh it was we used to you know yeah yeah it

was it was like living with the terrorists yeah you're right yeah and you just you'd hear the sounds of things here we go it's like out of a cartoon yeah yeah it was like a what is it the tasmanian devil right that's what we started yeah oh i know they did it. My family did it. I'm going to get that. And then he'd yell and, you know, he'd terrorize everyone. And then we'd eat. Yeah. And my mom would feed us. It's frightening.

Just have some food. Yeah. So when did you go to L.A.? When did you decide? Now, who else was there? So you named some of the guys. Jeff Turbino. Right.

Who's still working, doing comedy. Scott Hansen's still doing comedy. I think I know Scott Hansen. I just can't picture him. Alex Cole. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Jeff Cesario, of course. Cesario, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, Joel Hodgson came onto the scene. He did it. I'm sure I'm missing. Liz Winstead eventually joined that whole group. And it was a good scene like because minneapolis has more theater seats yeah and anywhere outside of new york audience great audiences they're not mean no they're lovely people that's why they taught me how to really do the stand-up really well you're afforded uh you know that luxury of having polite painfully polite people yeah well they give you a

shot uh-huh yeah right right but they did if they didn't like it they didn't laugh right yeah right they just sit there and you know i met all i met some really important people in my comedy life oh yeah i know sky there in minneapolis i met uh leonard bar who was very nice to us we brought him in Jeff Trubino was really smart he goes let's bring Leonard Barr in because people know who he is and we'll pay him

and then we'll be able to perform then we brought Henny Youngman in and then Henny Youngman really liked me and I wrote for him for a while you did? yeah I was a terrible writer but he liked me he had a heavy grandson Larry Kelly who became a good friend of mine And I wrote for him for a while. You did? Yeah, I was a terrible writer, but he liked me.

He had a heavy grandson, Larry Kelly, who became a good friend of mine. And I wrote jokes for his grandson. He goes, write some of those fat jokes for my grandson. All right? Now get out of here. No, he was really sweet. And then Rodney came to town at the Celebrity Carlton room, the Carlton Celebrity Room. Yeah.

And we all went down to see him. I go, let's go see him. Got to see Rodney. Yeah, and I read about that he likes scotch. So I bought a bottle of Glen Levitt scotch. Oh, yeah. And we brought it to him with some, and we were so Minnesota,

and we brought balloons. Mm-hmm. You know, congratulate, hello, Rodney. Yeah, yeah. You know, it's so silly. Yeah. And so he was so moved by that. And he never forgot that I brought him that scotch. Oh, yeah?

Because you see him over the years? Yes. And then he came and performed at our little club and put us on the map. I called the press and I said, you know, Rodney's going to be there or Jeff did. Somebody called the press. How great was it to watch that guy? Yeah, because we all went on first and he watched going to be there, or Jeff did. Somebody called the press. How great was it to watch that guy? Yeah, because we all went on first, and he watched us. Yeah.

And then he got up and went, boy, you play this club, means you got no act. Yeah. You know, you really let us know. I think he's one of the, like, he does not, he literally does not get the respect that he deserves. It's true. And I don't know why.

You know, the same with Sam. You know, given that Sam was a monster. I think among comics, they get the respect. I guess so. Because people, you know, comics know exactly if somebody's good or not. Yeah. And comics don't deny that. Yeah.

But the public, we don't measure all the other things about Sam. We don't measure all the other things about Rodney. We just measure, I mean, I don't know, Rodney was the last great character comic to live. I mean, when Rodney came to our club, that was it. And then he called me after that when I came to L.A. and said, I want you to do the Young Comedian special. And Sam was on that.

And that, and when, oh, that was a, that was an unbelievable experience because he said, I want you to go on last kind of as a, as a compliment to me. This was shot at Dangerfield, right?

And I said, okay, but I didn't want to go on last. I wanted to go third. Yeah. Third. That's always the best. Hey,

let me just go on third so that you guys can, they'll be warmed up and then i can leave um so you're wrong so sam went on fifth was well go ahead so it was you i'll tell you sam dom yeah uh harry basil yeah uh bob saget yeah uh rita rudner yeah howie gold wow uh bob nelson yeah um not dom i don't think Dom was on that one. Not on that one? And Sam. He might have been, though.

Yeah. But Bob Saget was on it. Yeah. I think I got everybody on there, but I probably missed somebody. And Sam. And Sam. So, or it could just be the one Sam was on. Yeah.

You know? Yeah. Because what happened was Sam went on fifth. Yeah. And nobody had ever seen Sam in New York City. Yeah. And I went, oh. But you knew him from L.A. at that fifth. Yeah. And nobody had ever seen Sam in New York City. Yeah. And I went, oh. But you knew him from LA at that point.

Yeah, but I mean, he completely killed the room. Yeah. Did he do well, though? No, he killed, yeah. Oh, yeah. People saw somebody brand new. Yeah. And they went crazy.

Right. They went crazy. And all you thought about is, oh, on last how the fuck am i gonna right but luckily i lucked out because after four more people yeah they had it had regrouped yeah regrouped and so i had a good set but i still never forgot that was the first time i saw a phenomena happened in front of me. Sam. Yes. Yeah. That was the first time I saw like

when people must have saw Robin for the first time. Right. You're like, this is going to be... Or Andy Kaufman. You know what I mean? Yeah. Or Elvis. Right. It was that kind of a thing. Yeah. He was like an Elvis. Yeah. I think among comics, Sam was considered

like one of the last groundbreaking people, don't you? Well, I wonder because like I see a lot of young comics and everything else and their heroes

are a little different. Well, yeah. And I think that Sam... I don't think Sam was us to... I don't think you could be... He could be our hero because I don't think we could emulate him.

Right, because he was a little wrong-minded, but stylistically. Yeah, he was a little wrong-minded is exactly right. That's a really great way to put it. But stylistically, you listen to that first record, Hotter Than Hell, and you're like, holy shit, no one has done that. And Hicks was his own thing, and they knew each other, but Hicks went highbrow in a way. Hicks was a satirist completely. Sam was a performer., and they knew each other. But Hicks went highbrow in a way. But Sam was like-

Hicks was a satirist completely. Sam was a performer. Yeah, he was a clown. Am I right? Yeah, I think so. He was a preacher. But he had a shtick. Yeah, he had a shtick.

He had a definite shtick. He was a rock star comic. Right. But when did you- Okay, so you come to LA in what year? 81. Oh my God, really? Yeah.

Yeah. And then when did you get in at the store uh jimmy walker finally made mitzi watch me oh really yeah in what year 82 it was a i think it was 82 yeah yeah and then what did she say uh he's good he's a sweater comic i go what you're a sweater comic wear a sweater yeah don't wear a jacket yeah all right you're from the midwest and then she pinched my cheek yeah i'm from the midwest yeah i love mitzi she was always nice to me yeah yeah and did you wear a sweater i had it in the car and she go where's your sweater i go it's in the car you want me to get it no but wear it next time you know because i didn't want to wear a sweater i didn't want to wear this sweater yeah

and uh she she told me to wear a scarf she did honestly see see we're a poet you should wear a scarf that's kind of a nice thing though it is when that happened when i started doing more work yeah it was good it was good for me yeah because i wasn't i was never caught up luckily i was never caught up in all the bullshit of varying kinds yeah i just didn't get it you know i just said just get my time i'd always say to debbie who was upstairs and everything give me an earlier time if you can i want to get in and get out yeah that's that's what I do. Give me the third or fourth spot. I don't even know what that place looks like after 10.30. Yeah.

Sometimes. It still gets weird. It's always going to be weird. You know, the OR is still like you know how good the set is. Yeah. If you go to the OR, I don't care what the crowd is. Yeah. It's a really true barometer.

You can eat it in there. Yeah. You can eat it easily. With just a yeah uh barometer you can eat it in there yeah you can eat it easily with just a piano player you could just you know he can just go oh no good no good so i went there yeah um and worked i was always first second or third on yeah you know i was always early mitzi just put me on early yeah and how'd you get the tonight show uh you know that was a bitter pill for me i did i auditioned for two years jim mccauley said you're not you're not johnny wouldn't like you you're not for two years material for two years and then the letterman people booked me and then the tonight show called the next day and said uh we want John. And I thought, oh. So I did it because I wanted to do Johnny Carson's show.

Not anything against Dave, but that cost me dearly with Dave. It did? For a couple years. Really? The producer wouldn't have me. Bob? No, it was a woman. I can't think of her name.

Oh, yeah, yeah. She apologized to me later in life you know when i ran into her once because i'm sorry i did that but we were so mad at you and i go i wrote dave a note i think once and said hey dave even you would have picked it and did he get back to you then i was on shortly after that so dave kind of changed it and i did dave he was already gone by the time he got to the store though right yeah yeah he was, yeah. He was gone. He was gone. He wasn't there. So what was it like doing Johnny for the first time, being on that stage?

Was your dad still around? No, he was gone. But my mom was, so that was a good thing. Was it great? You know what was so great about the Tonight Show was I was so prepared. I had nine Tonight Shows prepared when I got the first Tonight Show. I had nine already. That's smart.

That's what they used to do. That's what I always said. I'm going to have. Yeah. I'm going to get on the Tonight Show more than once, hopefully. Yeah. So I finally got on, and here's what I noticed. How little everything was back there.

That little stage, and I was behind that curtain, that curtain that I watched honestly for my whole life, how cheaply made it look. Up close, and then that band come back, and I could hear the pencil hitting it,

and hear Johnny say, this next young man making his national television debut will be opening at the Comedy Store at the June's Hotel tomorrow night please welcome Louis Anderson

and then really I don't know what really happened I mean I do but it was almost like an out of body experience yeah

and I had a killer set shook Johnny's hand and did it change did it change your life yeah the next day I got a holding deal from nbc and um did it change the audience coming like do people show up not quite yet right you know because i mean it did it did in at a club or something it did at a club and then i did like

nine tonight shows in six months wow so that you were lucky you were really like me johnny really liked me uh-huh and i didn't realize how much you liked me i wish i would have been more conscious of that you know i was so full of myself so egotistical yeah because you're like i'm doing no tonight show you know what i mean but you actually take yourself seriously which is a huge mistake you You know, you should really. That's why this second wave of success I'm having in the show is so I have it really. You're humble. Yeah, I'm not reading the reviews.

Right. You know that stuff. Well, everyone loves you. Yeah. They've been very nice to me about it. Yeah. But that Tonight Show, that was the pivotal point in our lives. Yeah.

That era, don't you feel? Like that was the thing to do. And then Letterman, of course, a lot of people picked Letterman. They wanted to be Letterman comics. They didn't really want to. But I don't know. I wanted to be a Carson comic. I was too late for Carson.

Yeah, you were too late for Carson. And I didn't get my first Letterman until long after a lot of my friends did. And it was so thrilling. It doesn't matter. It's such a personal journey. It really is. The first Tonight Show, the first Letterman. It's so amazing.

It's such a personal. Now, a lot of that stuff doesn't really matter. But to you, to do Letter letterman that was one of the things you were working with the touchstone that's the thing yeah that was our american idol yeah well it was but as a comic it was right it was valid right to pass it right passage right and it was a validation you know when i my first letter it was a it was dressed up and you did and i love that part of show business like even when i do a theater or a club where you're backstage and you're like, look at this garbage.

Like, this place is falling apart. There's, like, sad food there. And who's this guy holding the thing? You know? But I love being backstage because there's that moment where, like, this is really the dirty part of show business. Is that? There's the walk to the clean part. It's theater.

Right. Exactly. And then walk back to the dirty part. Exactly. And you did the thing. But, like, I was so ec And then back, I walked back to the dirty part. Right. Exactly. And you did the thing. But like, I was so ecstatic. Every time I did Letterman, I was ecstatic. And the one time that I was able to sit and talk to him, I couldn't even believe it was

happening. And it wasn't that long ago. Did you just keep looking at him when you were doing it? Yeah, I was looking at him right in the face. You just go. And they know you're looking like that. They go, oh, he's gone. He's out of his tree.

Do you know what I mean? It was so thrilling. Like, it was the only time I did panel, and it was only a few years ago. I told this story about Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner because they'd both been on my podcast. And it got some real laughs, and, you know, and the producer was happy. They're like, he's a great guest. And I'm like, just in time for it. Because I always wanted to be a panel comic.

And I did that with Conan for yeah yeah but like for me watching Letterman and Richard Lewis or J or even George Miller you know the panel guys right I love George yeah I just love the panel guys the guys who had that dynamic with the host and you like oh here he comes what what's going on with this guy yeah I always want to wanted to be that guy. And, you know, those guys were naturals at it. Yeah, yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah. Like the Steinberg, and that was the early guy.

Yeah. You know, who'd sit with Johnny and go do his thing. But you're right. George Miller was a genius at it. Yeah, yeah. And some people were really good at it. I was more of like a joke guy. Stand-up guy, yeah.

My panel was good, but it was joke oriented. Right, sure. I wanted to do jokes. I didn't know how to really interact with Johnny. I was terrified that I would upset him. Did you ever sit there for a minute? Yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah.

No, I had nice talks with him. How are things going? He goes, good, good, good. I go, they're good. Thanks to you, Johnny. Yeah. Ah, don't thank me. He'd never take any credit for anything.

When you said you didn't do a lot of clubs because you were opening for musical acts and bigger venues. I did find certain clubs I did all the time. Sure. Like the Comedy Works because I knew the people. The Denver? Yeah, that one with the cave. It's almost too good.

The cave. It's like you kill him there and you're like, that wasn't even a whole joke. Yeah. Yeah, it's so true. It's so good. You're like, it almost feels like cheating. It's like, can't i can't trust that it's true so it is then you try it later and nothing nothing hey what about that i got a big laugh on that pause nope not that no not here i know there's something magic about that room well i think it was uh just the the ceilings are real

low and downstairs and it was like this It was like an amphitheater. Yeah, a little teeny amphitheater. A little teeny amphitheater. And you just, the laughs rolled right down to you. Yeah, it was amazing. And it got loud in there. You could kill it. It's still amazing.

It's still amazing. You could kill it. So do you, how many dates do you do now? Do you do Vegas? Do you do a run or not? A hundred and something probably. Really? I still do.

I don't do the, I quit the regular show in Vegas. Yeah. I just got tired of it. Oh, vegas yeah i just got tired of oh yeah well i get tired of it you know like you got 120 shows you're competing with yeah you know and i just i just said and then i got this show and then i just said i don't want to do this i don't want to and you have to live there or do you fly back and i live there i live there yeah i've lived there for 10 years you still live? I've had the show there for 10 years. In Vegas? Yeah. So you live there now? Yeah, I live there now. Oh, you're just in town for a couple

days? I'm in here. Yeah, I just came in to do some press and people want to talk to me because they think I'm funny. You are funny. I know, but you know, I was there for 10 years. Nobody called. I got to put a dress on and everybody wants to talk to me

it's true i don't i'm happy but i know what it's like i mean you know like i've always i would talk to you anytime yeah before the dress thank you very much now you had the same agent as bob hope did you ever spend time with bob hope i did should i tell you my bob hope yeah so uh i'm at bally's bob never played the stage in Vegas. He thought it was beneath him or his agent did or someone. So we do corporates, though. And I said to my Frank, I go, I've got to meet Bob Hope. I'm working in Bally's at the same time.

He goes, all right, all right. I go, what's he getting for this? Because that's what comics want to know. He's getting $250,000, Louie. I go, God, really? For just doing this? He's getting $250 louis yeah i go god really for just doing this he's getting 250 just a corporate kid i go can you get me one of those what i'll do i'll do a series of things for 250 000 and uh so i go up there i've finished my show i'm up there in the back watching him from a table off to the how old was he then like then? Oh, man. He's got to be, yeah.

Yeah. He looks terrific. Hey, I want to tell you, you know. Yeah. I said, great time. Anyway, do the joke. Was he killing? Killed it.

They were crazy. Yeah, yeah. Right? Yeah. And then, and I'm just mad, and he's doing, it's going on 90 minutes that he's up there. Really? And I'm super impressed. Oh, yeah.

I go, 90? Beautiful. Then he starts with, hey, let me bring my wife up here, Dolores. And then they do the songs. You know what I mean? It's amazing. It's, you know that one? Yeah, one yeah yeah yeah and he does uh thanks for the memory and everybody goes crazy so then frank signals me he's about ready to get off and i come

back and um you know how a makeshift stage in a banquet room right you know but a bob hope makes right right a little different yeah you know and know? And he comes. He's finished. He's done it. And he comes. And you know how you're coming to a rail, you know, like a staircase? Right down from the platform. Yeah, down from the platform. And he comes and they go, how was it, Bob?

God damn it. I tripped on a fucking cord going out there. And I could have been fucking killed and so the whole time he was out there for 90 minutes he had been waiting to yell at somebody about a cord yeah and he was so hot yeah you want me to break my neck out there and i just go go ba yeah yeah who's in charge of that you know i want to. And then Frank Rio goes, this is a young comedian, Louis Edison, wanting to meet you.

Oh, hi, kid. Anyway, if anybody knows, make sure those cords are never out there. Hi, kid. And that was it. That was it. That was it. Hi, kid. But I really appreciated it. Sometimes it's funny with comics where,

because I love comedy, you love comedy, and you have your heroes and stuff. I couldn't meet Pryor. I just couldn't. I met him at the comics. Sure. When I was there, he was- But he wasn't very friendly. No, he was aloof.

I think he was in his head doing his thing or he didn't want to talk. But I just remember he came, it was after he burned himself up and he was starting to rebuild and he went into the OR it was when I was a dormitory yeah yeah yeah

and he bombed you know and he had a hard time with some audience members there were these girls there they were all excited because there was some rock band who were just watching

and they you know they were distracted and Rich did everything he could and he's very vulnerable up there it was like really it's unbelievable how vulnerable he is it was

it was really a lot and I watched him you know one of my heroes just sort of like have a hard time very vulnerable up there it's like really it's unbelievable it was it was really a lot and i watched him you know one of my heroes just sort of like have a hard time and then he got off stage and you know he's smoking a cigarette and i just watched him like walk down the hall with mitzi and it was like it was enough you know what am i gonna do yeah that was a beautiful that's a beautiful image right there yeah you know i saw that too i didn't want to say anything either yeah i just said hi yeah yeah There were guys who were like, like even Rodney,

who I met once. Hey, Mark. How are you doing? LeBeau told me the funniest story about Rodney and Sam because him and Sam had a relationship later, you know,

when Rodney was, you know, older and Sam had been up for a few days. Carl, I can't remember exactly the story, but you know, yeah,

he and Sam. No, it was, Sam had been up and he was calling Rod Carl. I can't remember exactly the story. But, you know, yeah. He and Sam? No, it was... Sam had been up. Sam had been up and he was calling Rodney and he was in trouble of some kind. And, you know, it looked like it looked after two days of that shit. Yeah. You know, just straight partying. And I guess it was Carl was there and Sam was there.

And Rodney walked in and goes, oh, look at little Nero. Rodney was the best. I was good friends with rodney you were yeah i was with him when he died you were in the hospital yeah oh my god really yeah i was there for 30 days with joan and he later in life he had gotten on medicine and he felt better right he had like he was great they did a surgery and he didn't come out of it oh Oh, really? They were going to fix, I think, a vein or an aneurysm or something. Oh, no shit. And he never regained consciousness. You know, he was up there, you know, and he had a life.

But I was happy that it seemed that he had found, because I think one of the reasons he gets a little overlooked is that he wasn't a social guy. No, he was. Yeah, he was a crank guy. You know, like he, you know. No, he was. Yeah, he was a cranky. He was right before social media, really. But like with other comics, it seemed that he. Oh, he loved them. Yeah, he had a crew, though.

Yeah. Just his guys. Yeah. And he was heavy, man. You know, Richard Lewis used to say, he used to call depression the heaviness. Yeah. Right? Yeah, it's heavy, man.

Yeah, yeah. He said to me one time, you know, you're all right because, you know, you're a goy. Yeah, yeah. You got a goy head, you know. Yeah. Rising. Yeah, it's heavy, man. Yeah, yeah. He said to me one time, you know, you're all right because, you know, you're a goy. Yeah, yeah. You got a goy head, you know. He goes, I'm a Jew. I got a Jew head. I'm fucked. I'm fucked because I got a Jew head.

I love him. And I just said, I love you, Rodney. He goes, do you, kid? Thanks a lot, man. Oh, that's beautiful. And I'd hug him. He hated being hugged. He goes, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. I go, I'm going to hug you. I'm going to kiss you, too. Yeah, man. Oh, that's beautiful. And I'd hug him. He hated being hugged. He goes, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.

I go, I'm going to hug you. I'm going to kiss you, too. Hey. You know who reminds me of him? I think my generation's equivalent is Attell. Yeah. Very, very similar. I agree with you.

Yeah. Yeah, I love Attell. I love him. Great joke. Yeah, he's such a great joke writer. Oh, my God. It's astounding. He's one of

those guys where you just watch i've known him forever you know i rarely talk more than three minutes he's like what i'm like nothing how you doing good you you know yeah but i like that about i like people that are really real like that oh yeah he's the best you know what i i always admired all the comics who chose a course that they could live with even though it wouldn't be the most lucrative course and it would probably be a harder road. I don't think they have a choice. Yeah, I think, well... In their mind.

Yeah, maybe in their mind, but they're really kind of heroes. They're heroes in their thing. They don't care. I don't care if you like me or not. I like those people. I don't care if anyone likes me. I think Rodney, I think he

liked being liked. I think we all do deep down. It's just hard to get to it. Rodney loved comics when they would hang around. He was always surprised that he was so famous. Do you know that? He was that he was so famous. Yeah. Do you know that? No.

He was surprised he was so famous. Oh, really? You know me? Yeah. Hey, geez. Hey, you like that, huh? Hey, you're a pretty girl, aren't you? But he was always really, he's really sweet. He was really sweet.

That's good to hear. Yeah, you know, the greatest thing about our business is that we're all pretty connected we are it's a secret club and even if we don't like each other for whatever reason you see each other you're like hey you're still alive still alive you're right yeah what happened to that other guy yeah no good uh oh that's so that's sad it's true isn't it that's weird but i love you and you know you're you're one of the great comics and i love talking to comics and it was great talking you feel like we did it thank you yeah we did it okay good yeah and um we'll do it again we'll come back i'd love to i'd love to uh talk about um more stuff okay thanks louis thank

you you know i i'm a big fan of great comics and comedy history. I like talking to Louie. And folks, go to WTFpod.com. Check my tour dates for my upcoming shows in Spokane, Bloomington, Rochester, Salt Lake City, Phoenix. One Night in Albuquerque. More coming. So you can do that. And again, my sympathies go out and My heart goes out to this country in general.

And all its fucking torment. And specifically the people that lost people over the weekend. I guess I'll commence here with some rare for me, but minor chord noodling. The sad kind. guitar solo Boomer lives!