WTF with Marc Maron Podcast - Episode 908 - Sam Tripoli

Episode Date: April 18, 2018

Sam Tripoli never doubted he would become a comic, so his decision to study psychology was not an attempt to craft a backup plan. Instead he used his psych background to wage mental warfare with his demanding family, temperamental comedy club owners, paying audiences, and his own demons. Sam and Marc also talk about the danger, the intrigue, and the excitement of engaging in conspiracy theories, something Sam loves to do and can trace his interest back to a pivotal moment in his life. Sign up here for WTF+ to get the full show archives and weekly bonus material! https://plus.acast.com/s/wtf-with-marc-maron-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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at a special 5 p.m. start time on Saturday, March 9th at First Ontario Centre in Hamilton. The first 5,000 fans in attendance will get a Dan Dawson bobblehead courtesy of Backley construction. Punch your ticket to kids night on Saturday, March 9th at 5 PM in rock city at Toronto rock.com. Lock the gate. All right, let's do this. How are you the fuckers what the fuck buddies what the fucking ears what the fucksters what the fuckadelics how many of those do i have to do

i'm on i'm on the road i'm not in the country not that that has any bearing on how many of those silly names for wtf listeners that i come up with, but I'm out of the country. I'm out of country. I'm out in the world. I was just in London. The last time I talked to you was when I was slightly nervous, maybe, maybe a bit full of anxiety and perhaps a little bit of dread about my London show at Royal Festival Hall, a large room down at the South Bank Center that seats about 2,500 or something. But I'm here to report because I know a lot of you are like, I wonder how it went for Mark over there. I wonder how Mark's doing in that other country. It went great. Had a great show. Josie Long opened for me she was spectacular then I went out there I I sat

down and then I had them you know what the deal was not only was I good and I you know I don't toot my own horn often I it wasn't look I I did what I do but I was happy it went well it was a great show everyone enjoyed it people came came from many different places around the countries here. But I think the trick was, and this is a rare bit of experience. Let me say before I go on much longer that a couple of things. Sam Tripoli is on the show today, and that's a handful. That's a lot to deal with. That was a lot for both of us, I think.

Sam Tripoli is, you just gotta sort of strap in and hold on to the sides of the chair a little bit. But it was good. It was a long time coming. You know, I see Sam a lot. He's one of those cats who I know from the comedy store. I've known him for many years now, actually. We don't hang out, but I know him.

You know, I remember when he was going through some trouble with the drinkie. And I've just seen him around. It was one of those things where I'm like, yeah, man, I got to have you on. I got to have you on. And then it just finally happened years after the day I first said, you got to do the show. So Sam's on today. It was a good conversation.

We travel some distances. He's a manic cat with some big ideas uh some of them sort of twisted and gnarled that uh that traversed the conspiracy arc yeah we discussed that you know i i try to keep that out of my head by choice but what if it's true man you know okay maybe that it's the what if that bothers me i mean you think about it makes sense i don't know it think about it what if i got too much imagination for that shit do you understand what i'm saying maybe it's vague to you now perhaps it'll become clearer in a few minutes so london little lesson i learned and this is for anybody who's going to be playing a a a space this is for anybody who

might be performing in a room that has a a a wall-sized uh pipe organ on it i mean like the entire wall i i'm gonna say probably 50 feet across 20 30 feet high of just a pipe organ, just the pipes for a pipe organ. Now I, and this is the rare thing, and it's a wisdom that, look, I'm not complaining. I'm just throwing this out there. If you happen to play, say, Symphony Hall in San Francisco, you're going to be standing in front of a tremendous pipe organ.

And I thought that show was good a couple of years ago, but I didn't love it. I didn't feel like I felt dwarfed by the organ. I felt dwarfed by the expectations of the space, which I was projecting, obviously. A space is a space, but I believe that that space was accustomed to you know woodwinds and whatnot which is going to be the name of my of some musicians memoir but here and well when i was

in london i'm now in uh i'm in sweden i'm in stockholm coming into the city i i didn't i was i wasn't like wow this is something but now i'm like, yeah, it is. It's its own thing. It's charming. Architecture is interesting. The words are very funny. And I don't mean that in an insensitive way or condescending way or a stupid American way. But I do like, I saw a word on a billboard and maybe I'm immature. But if I see the word F-A-R-T-E-N, I'm going to laugh a little.

Because that says farting. How can you not laugh a little? Are you laughing a little in your car? It just said fartin' and it had the umlaut somewhere. But I like it and I see boats. So pipe organs. My advice to you is that if you have the option to have them drop a curtain in front of the wall of pipe organ, I would do that.

I did that in London, and I think it made a big difference. Maybe not, but I did make the decision. I had the decision to make, and from my experience at Symphony Hall, my innate gut feeling that I'm being dwarfed by the possibility of that making noise that people would want to hear, I chose against it and I feel like it helped my mind and I think it helped the comedy and I was able to pull the people in, make it an intimate space. So that show went great. And last night we went to Sarah Kane, the painter, Sarah Kane, painter, Sarah, the painter's opening at Timothy Taylor Gallery in London in the Mayfair area, swanky.

And that show was great. A lot of people came, a few weirdos, but that's to be expected. Art can be of any kind, can be sort of like one of those, like a light to a light, like moths, like weirdo moths art brings people. But the show was great. Great response. Went out to an amazing dinner. I think it was a 27-course meal at a Peruvian restaurant.

Didn't eat today, and I felt like I wanted to die last night because I really felt like this was it. I just have to stop doing that. Eating. But the art was great. The response was great. If you are in London, you can go see the show for a couple months, I think, at Timothy Taylor Gallery. There's a nice hearty plug for my, what do we say now?

I say girlfriend. Who says partner? Anybody? Partner? Don't like it. I don't like it. So I'm in sweden and if you're listening to this on thursday and you're in stockholm or nearby in one of the um um lauded suburbs

thursday that's today night i'm performing here in stockholm i'll tell you this is like probably the fourth or fifth time oh did i mention that glow back on the air June 29th, man? Women, people. So that's happening. What was I talking about? Oh, I was saying that I'm enjoying being out of the country. It's relaxing to be out of America and the sort of chaotic pace of what you put in your head on that continent. I know things aren't great in London, but it was great to be there because their problems weren't exactly my problems or our problems or the national problems that we experience in the States. It's a relief.

It's really a relief to be way up here in Sweden because I feel like I'm way far away and I can feel that. I can feel the ease of my mind in the back of my neck. I'm not being strangled by the day's news and the constant chaos and possibility of a systemic breakdown, both me personally and the country. So it is relaxing. I realized the other day when I was in London, and also before I left, I don't know if I had time, but I know some people were expecting me

to talk about the death of Mitzi Shore, the owner and really the life source and overseer and creator of the comedy store. She passed away last week, and I didn't mention it. Yeah, I mentioned it on Twitter in one of my rare tweets, but she had a profound impact on my life. I can't say that I knew her. I don't know who did in recent years.

I am going to be running an episode shortly with Eleanor Kerrigan, who's a comedian and was a waitress at the store and was sort of Mitzi's assistant for a while. We've talked a lot about Mitzi on this show. She definitely, as I said, that place and her. A lot of people talk to me. They ask me questions about the comedy store or about mitzi like you know you must be sad or you probably you know are gonna miss her whatever i i didn't know her i worked at the comedy store i was there years ago and she was around but i

didn't know her then she they talk about the place and and her like you know like you like it's a normal situation like this was a normal person or that comedians of that era and some now are are living normal lives i mean that place was this very magical dark mystical castle for me and i was out of my mind and she was the queen of like a mythological universe that had complete power over my head and the head of many comics it was outside of hollywood it was outside the realms of show business it was its own planet the comedy store and she was the reigning deity some of the older guys knew her better some people had relationships with her but i was there shortly when she was cognizant i was there for a little under a year and any exchange I had with her was

deeply meaningful. You just ran around being afraid of running into her. And if you did, just hoping that she liked you and hoping she didn't take away your spots or tell you you couldn't work there anymore or won't let you work the door. You used to worry about not being able to do your door shift because you pissed her off but you always thought she had the answers the comedic answers she and she would give notes sometimes and i've told this story many times before before i got all fucked up on drugs and i was just a hungry wide-eyed slightly drugged up uh uh aggravated jewish kid who had come in from new mexico she did see me do do comedy and you just really want her to say something to you. And as some of you know, you've heard this story. She said, you're a poet.

You should wear a scarf on stage. Barely doing a good Mitzi impression. You're a poet. You should wear a scarf on stage. And I was like, thank you. mitzi and i did i did i wore i found a scarf i wore it a bit i think i have pictures of me on it i promise you if i find the pictures of me wearing a scarf at the comedy store uh on mitzi's uh recommendation i will share them them on my social media platforms. So rest in peace, Mitzi Shore. You changed a lot of lives. For better or for worse, I will throw that in. I will.

Sam Tripoli is a unique person, a funny person, very funny. Live wire. Happy to have him here. I talked to him in, it's actually one of the, another one of the old garage interviews. You can check out his podcasts, Punch Drunk Sports and Tinfoil Hat with Sam Tripoli. Also, get his stand-up dates at samtripoli.com.

This is me and the Sam Tripoli back in the old garage. Sam Tripoli.com. This is me and the Sam Tripoli, uh, back in the old garage. You can get anything you need with Uber Eats. Well, almost, almost anything.

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by James Clavel. To show your true heart is to risk your life. When I die here, you'll never leave Japan alive. FX's Shogun, a new original series, streaming February 27th, exclusively on Disney+. 18 plus subscription required. T's and C's apply. How long have you lived here? In Los Angeles, I've been here? In Los Angeles.

I've been here since, I think, 2000. Really? Yeah. So it's a long time already, huh? It flies, though, dude. It seems like yesterday. Does it? It seems like a year, five years equals one year to me.

I don't know why, but it just seems, maybe it's not three or four years, but it's just- I guess it's true. Yeah, the last 10 have gone by kind of- And it goes really well, and you're expecting these things to happen, and it just blends, and it just goes, and next thing you know, you are where you are. Yeah, yeah. The thing doesn't happen. It does happen.

It does happen. Or a different thing, like what you wanted to happen. All of a sudden, 10 years down the line, you're like, I did a lot of shit. Yeah. It means something. I mean, just think about when you started this that we're doing right now how like this really didn't exist like this medium of the podcasting wasn't really there right i always had this theory like what if you were the greatest at something that's never been invented yeah like you are the greatest at before time travel hiding go seek you can hide better than

any other time you know you right. Yeah, I'm great. But it hasn't been invented yet. I'm great at disappearing into Nazi Germany when the game started in caveman times. Yeah, so it doesn't exist, but here's this medium that showed up and now you've mastered it. Yeah, well, I guess it's the ahead of your time thing.

If you're ahead of your time and they don't have the resources, you're just a weirdo. By the way, you never want to be the first guy in the trailblazer. That guy usually dies a horrible death in obscurity. It's the third dude who comes in and collects all the glory, right? Exactly. There's always the genius behind the guy that makes it.

The sad genius. It's like Friendster. That dude's got to be on suicide patrol all the time. I have no idea what happened to that dude. Where is that guy? I remember everybody was worked up about Friendster. That dude's got to be on Suicide Patrol all the time. I have no idea what happened to that dude. Where is that guy? I remember everybody was worked up about Friendster. That was really the first one. Yeah.

And I remember when I got here in 2002, I had to get on there. Yeah. And I got on there, and I didn't understand the point of it. And then someone started imitating me. I had a fake account. Oh, that's how you know you made it. Pretending to be me. But that was 2002.

I hadn't made it. And I freaked out, and I got a friend who's a lawyer. And I got her involved in it. And shut the guy. It was that like. I was like, what the fuck is happening? Now it happens. You're like, this guy, another annoying asshole.

Good for him. Yeah. Hope he doesn't get more popular than me. I've always wanted to start a fake profile account called Alternative Sam. And just see who could get bigger. Why haven't you done it? Because I do a conspiracy podcast. You do? I love it, dude.

I have such a great time doing it. What's that called? Tinfoil Hat with Sam Tripoli. When did you start that? The version of it now started last March. Yeah. And how's it going? I mean, for me, it's doing great numbers. For you,

you'd probably be like, what's wrong with my life? What's the angle? Yeah, what happened? What did I go wrong yeah why are we down to 50 000 uh but it's great i just enjoy i've always been into it do you know when i started believing in conspiracies dude i i was sort of engaged with conspiracies back in the day and i've pulled out so yeah i want to know when did you start when they discovered the iron Sheik and Hacksaw Jim Duggan drunk in a car together. And I was a huge wrestling fan. And I'm like, that's bullshit. Why are they hanging out together?

They're supposed to be... He's a hero. He's a terrorist. And they're shit-faced. And I swear to God, that's why I go, oh, man. It's all true. The Jews run the world. The Jews don't run the world.

Luciferians run the world. Luciferians. Yeah, but they, listen. There's no Jewish Luciferians. I fight anti-Semitism all the time. My girlfriend's Jewish. Her family's all Hebrews. Love them all.

Hebrews. The Hebrews. What do we call it? Sure. If I call them Jews? I don't care what you call them. You know? I prefer fucking Jews.

Yeah, I love fucking. I do love Jews. I watch Israeli fucking twerk videos all day, dog. Of Israeli troops twerking. They're fucking Jews. Yeah, I love fucking Jews. I do love Jews. I watch Israeli fucking twerk videos all day, dog. Of Israeli troops twerking, they're fucking wonderful. But wait, who are the Luciferians? Well, it's my opinion that there is a group of people out there that use religion as kind of masks that walk amongst us. Yeah.

So they'll be like, oh, I'm a Jewish, I'm Muslims, I'm all that, when really they're not and they're into these whatever you want to call them dark art shit yeah and uh they and that's really who runs everything it's like there's these dark arts people who use this fucking really dark shit to do stuff do we know any of them are there have you named any of the dark arts there's there's you know are they just nebulous they're just around no there's like the the the rothschilds and i hear that but then the house of sod they're in on it then i found out about this like really old ancient banking group from italy that are now muslims

so there's like muslims there's he then the vatican's really dark into the whole shit so you've you've really done your homework on this i love it i can read it and watch it and look at it all day but do you do you do you ever study legitimate history like such as well i mean do you put this stuff into context or is it do you just i think that's the only way you could study this stuff cherry pick this stuff and connect the dots like like what would be your real history that you think i should look into no what i'm saying is that yeah the secret societies and the banking families yes and that was a real thing right right you know you know whether or not the the the torch has been passed in the exact same way through uh through uh like weird uh coded uh sacrifices or rituals i don't i know that's where it gets a little dicey that you know over generations and

centuries that you're saying it's a long game they play it's not necessarily and it sounds crazy but it's a long game it's a long game you don't what i'm saying is that hasn't the the the control of large chunks of money and property always been by the few in small rooms right with or without hats right right right probably so like me like what i'm saying is like does it have they have hats so like me like what i'm saying is like does it have they have hats for sure okay so what i'm saying is like is it always necessarily shrouded in mystery and and and ritual as opposed to just people you know uh doing what is necessary to hold on to massive wealth which is usually owning politicians owning armies owning whatever okay that's a great point

you're like aren't there isn't this just human nature no it's like we know who they are right they're not but hiding but i think some people are hiding though and that's that big g8 or whatever it is yeah yeah i mean the you know i mean i know about the builder burgers and the freemasons and the illuminati and because and the trilateral commission and the Illuminati and the Trilateral Commission and the Kissinger and the Rothschilds and the Rockefellers and, you know, whatever. Sure. Sure. I mean, I know about it as much as I know about it.

Right. Do you know what I mean? Like, I know about 33 degree masonry. I get it. You know, but like, yeah, you know, like sometimes you got to be careful in this day and age we live in, you know, conspiracy theories are a way for stupid people to, to seem smart and for uninformed people to get all worked up about stuff that might be bullshit.

And then they kind of sacrifice their mental disposition to, to negative forces who may be working at behest of the conspiracy. Okay. I get what you're saying. I'm not calling you stupid. No, for a moment. I was like,

Ooh, what's he talking about? I did flunk first grade, uh, but that's fine. It doesn't count. conspiracy okay i get what you're saying i'm not calling you stupid no for a moment i was like who is he talking about i did flunk first grade uh but that's fine it doesn't count you know here here's the thing i i you're totally right you're you're totally in on you're totally correct it's like maybe this is human nature maybe this has all existed but for me it's like what what is the truth though it's like right is it this weird shit that you go on a Reddit, you do this information? Well, that's what I'm saying. I don't think it's human nature. I think it's how people, how power works.

Right. So it's not essentially human nature. It's, you know, however civilization was put together and who put that together and however far you want to go back. Right, right. And whatever the legacy of those original Masons were or whatever. Did you ever see The Man Who Would Be King? Yeah. Right. So, you know, that's one of those like trippy that's a great conspiracy i totally agree with what you're saying let's take this i i the the the iraq war of early in 2000s right this is all

i'm talking about and this is will sum up exactly what i'm talking about so we have this iraq war we are told of these weapons of mass destruction which later on we find out is not true. And then Wesley Clark has that video where he talks about, you know, sometimes if you're a hammer, everything's a nail, stuff like that. And he lists all these countries, right? And then you kind of do a little more research and go, oh, all those countries also don't have centralized banks. And now after those groups, there's down to three of them that no longer have centralized banks. To me, that's what I find interesting. Is there a darker motive to what we're being told is going on?

So you're saying the global banking cabal through the Cheney cult was making their move. No, I'm not. I mean, I'm just saying. Right, right. That to me i find interesting is what i like to interview like is there another motive is there a dark other than money other than money power and everything but the cell of patriotism oh right and propaganda right yeah and us having to be like oh man we gotta do this because it's a threat to us and you have this

these hillbillies it goes america you're gonna fuck with america you hit us and all this right and they've just been sold out they've been taken advantage of they yeah well that happens that interests me well yeah well that's that's just dirty politics that's fine then that's what i'm into i love knowing the truth and i'm not gonna sit there like we're gonna change it or follow the money i just like to know about it yeah yeah well yeah i mean that but that's not so much conspiracy as it is that, you know, that it was a massive propaganda push to do a cash grab and just gut Iraq. But all a conspiracy is two people conspiring to do something.

And that to me is like if 9-11 is an inside job and that's a whole different conversation, if it is an inside job, there's a conspiracy there. And I enjoy looking into that and unboxing independent speculative investigators yeah that's what i used to call them i love it sure all right well as long as it's a fun hobby for you my problem is is that is that you know you have two you know information realities and you know if the propaganda is strong enough which you know and has the right outlets and now that everything is bubble land and people can live in bubbles is that, you know, what you have. The real problem becomes right now is that the truth becomes unstable.

And and in people who maybe think along your lines go like, well, who's to say what the truth is? It's like, well, there is truth and it can be assessed. OK, but, you know, but, you you know like if you'd rather believe that hillary clinton is part of a satanic child molesting cult and you're pretty goddamn sure it's centered at a pizza place in dc and has to do with their chief of staff then like maybe we should investigate a little further before you just buy that shit hook line and sinker and maybe think that maybe someone might be fucking with your head with an agenda okay i get what you're saying about that but so is it the pizza parlor that drives you crazy in that story because that's always what it is they're like okay something's going down the

pizza parlor if you mark if you took a little time because it's only speculative and just jumping in and mouthing off yeah because from your perspective yeah you haven't been investigating it. It's not because you're a busy man. You had your show going. But where is the information coming from that you're investigating? I'm telling you. You know that there are shit mills churning out garbage all day long

for vulnerable people who think they're onto something to drag them into a certain way of thinking. I can completely understand what you're saying about that, Mark. But if let's say, let's take that part away, right? Right.

Let's take the Hillary, that part. Now, listen, man. Mark, you've known me. Granted, we don't hang out all the time. We're passing ships in the night. Sure, sure. But for the most part, I would say that our interaction is pleasant. And I've always been, treat you well, never been an asshole, all that shit. Yeah, and I feel like we get along. You and I are. Yeah've always been treat you well never been an asshole all that yeah I feel like

we get along yeah yeah yeah no doubt say you're like hey is Sam a good guy I would say for the most part you'd be like oh he's a good guy I don't know him you know really super close but my interactions with him it's been really well you know he seems to like being a little off in his head he's a little crazy people talk to himself a lot in the bathroom don't know why doing a lot of research yeah Doing a lot of research. Yeah, doing a lot of research. But it's very interesting that, you know, like, and maybe it's not you. Let's say somebody else at the comedy store who is a good friend of mine thinks, I'm a crazy person.

Yet these people that they see on television that they don't even know at all. Yeah. They would take their word over that over myself. Whereas I'm doing all this research independently on my own yeah a lot you know extensively i'm just happy that you're not doing it on meth uh yeah and that you know you haven't ruined your relationship yet i my whole thing is that i just love studying it i study history up to this point and use that history to project what I think. And at the end of the day, it is what it is.

And if there is any sort of thought that maybe this is real, I just don't know why people don't investigate it. And just do a real investigation on it. Right. But real investigating in the age we live in now, in where you get that information you know what the outlets are how is it sourced you know like you know it do documents way they looked real and you know this is an arrest record from wherever but you know to actually do reporting and get out into the dirt and go look at public records and that stuff on your own that's impressive yeah but you know just to sort of like you know collect things from different sites that are purveying information why do why is that what's going on why why and this is totally fine you know it's like why is the notion that someone like a

wolf blitzer is giving out real information he's not a reporter i mean you know it's like you know they you know they you just have to believe that you know most of the time they're sourcing their their work yeah i mean we are talking propaganda right isn't that kind of what i've been talking about sure sure whether you're talking about it's politics or music or whatever i'm all about do you play ball that's to me it's the it's the initiation whoever we're talking about whether it's in politics or or or in the music but who's who's the player are you saying the consumer, me, or you? No, no, no.

The artist or the politician. Do they play ball? Do they play ball with the powers that be and what they want put out? Well, yeah, I mean, but are you hip to the sort of L. Ron Hubbard? L. Ron Hubbard. The rocket scientist guy? Yes. You got that one going. And then, you know, the Laurel Canyon studio, which was a very, you know, like Jim Morrison's

dad was involved very high up. Oh, the general? The general. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Golf of Tartan. All right, so you're going full out. Yeah, good. Have a good time.

And listen, man. It's not that like, I'm like, we've got to do it, you know, and I'm throwing a tin. No, no. I just love knowing about it. Yeah, no, I have the books. You know, I was, you know, I've read the stuff. You know, and I'm throwing a tin. No, no. I just love knowing about it. Yeah, no, I have the books. You know, I've read the stuff. I was in the hole. You know, I mean, if you can manage it and you can.

Well, good. You know, I got to a point where it's sort of like I need to ground myself in something tangible in my own life and something true and not indulgent. You know, not true in the way that, you know, that stuff's all very compelling. I love it. I just love talking about it. Right. But what I start to fear in talking about it is like, are we diminishing or detracting from a clearer narrative about what's really happening? Okay.

I understand what you're saying. I think that our ability to keep the eye on the ball affects the rest of the world. Who's me and you? No, me, you, all your listeners, everybody who lives in this. The eye on the ball. The eye on the ball. And who's playing ball. Well, okay. So how many wars are we in right now?

Five, six? How many of them are approved by Congress? Two? And now we're thinking about going North Korea, Venezuela. Like, our number is getting up to eight. Eight people. Yeah, it's a whole business unto itself. We're just being distracted by bullshit. We're getting into Hitler numbers, okay, of people we've invaded.

To me, all under the pretense that we're bringing freedom, democracy to people, when I think we bring a lot of chaos and destruction. That's not even the pretense anymore with this guy. For me? They've outwardly said that is not our agenda anymore. We're going to close down the State Department. Who are we to impose democracy on these nice men who kill their own people? I think if you think at that highest level, if you think one side is good, one side's bad, I think- I'm not saying good or bad.

I'm saying there's a policy change that spreading democracy is no longer- There is an outward policy change, an open policy change. I think the problems between the Ds and the Rs is that one group can be more honest with what they're doing and the other one has to do it behind the thing because they're playing to a base that's about inclusion, love, equality, everybody getting to love. There's enough for everybody. Let's all work together.

And behind closed doors, they can't do that because that is not what is going on. stuff to me they have to have that because what they would call them out on real shit which is war spying all that stuff is what you could say about any president before him and the people above him i just personally think we went from two wars to five wars under obama we're going to go to five wars to seven wars probably under trump and i just think that we're doing bad shit to the rest of the world because we are too busy on our phones or we don't want to investigate this. And we're spread thin. And we're so busy that we just want to know what's going on. So we turn on the tube and somebody like Rachel Maddow or somebody like Wolf Blitzer or Sean Hannity tells us something.

And we want to believe it's true because, one, a lot of people have children. Two, we're too busy and we don't want to believe that we're part of this fucking of people have children two we're too busy and we don't want to live believe that we're we're part of this fucking empire shit and that's just my kind of opinion so i love well yeah no i think that part of that is true uh and i think that yeah i think that people are distracted and finding the real information is is difficult and people a lot of people aren't interested as if it doesn't affect their life directly yeah i think that you know this this country usually functions by enough people being okay to not question.

And, you know, I agree with that. But I do believe that, you know, you can, like you, and I think you're basically saying this, that if you find your sources and you believe your sources and you think that they are justified and doing real work, then, you you know those are the sources you're going to choose i i love well for me it's like study history to see human behavior how people react and how people act what they're looking for whether they want whether their goals yeah and then as you move forward apply to what you've learned does this fit human nature does this fit how people have acted in the past they have been in the same position

their goals and what they want does this make sense and that's all i kind of do is like follow use the past to prove the future and that's kind of what i do okay so that's your job you're a prophet it's it's not profit it's just like i just i just i can't get this i just enjoy studying it i have no pre-test like where'd you, like, let's go back. So what did you study in college? Mark, for me, man, I've wanted to be a stand-up comic from the moment I knew I existed. I didn't know it was a job.

Where'd you grow up? Upstate New York. Upstate? Like what part? Outside Syracuse, a place called Cortland, New York, to 607. Really? And I wasn't good at anything. Big family?

Me, my brother, my mother, my father. My brother was the number one high school bowler in New York State. Bowler? Yeah, he could bowl 300s with both hands, which where I'm from, that's water walking shit. Like, that's some rock and bowl Jesus stuff. Yeah, does he still bowl? No, he gave it up. I don't know what it was.

I think my brother got everything so quickly that he kind of was over it yeah you know so he just quit bowling he's not even for fun the best i've ever seen dude i mean could take his hand either hand throw a ball out get a strike he was the i mean he was a 15 year old man who was idolized by 40 year olds just because he was that good at bowling he was just great at it and and at some point he just just turned his back on it. He got a full ride at Wichita State. Never took it. Yeah. Never took it. I didn't even know that was an option at college where you get a bowling scholarship.

Yeah. Bowling is a big deal, dude. It is? It is, man. Think about it, dude. I'm thinking about it. If you think about the NBA, the NFL, all that stuff, there is a small group of people that can actually get those jobs.

Right. If you're a bowler, if you work hard- If they're willing to play ball. Yeah, if they're willing to play ball. There you go, dude. If you're a bowler, you're up against the population. Everybody can bowl, and everybody can go for it. Sure.

Just didn't want to do it, man. Huh. But for me- What'd he end up doing? Running strip bars. Really? Yeah, my mom hooked up with my dad, who was what they would call a slicker back in the day.

You remember the Outsiders? Yeah. All those slickers, that was my dad growing up, and my mom was a police officer's daughter, like the bad boy, put out two knucklehead kids, man. And, you know, it's ever, that's ever- What'd your dad do? My dad gave me two things man

my sense of humor and work ethic he worked really hard my dad had a bunch of jobs he owned property was a teacher was a real estate agent like i just always watched him work hard yeah work hard man and i kind of gleaned that from your mom And your mom? Teacher. Yeah. They were both teachers, man, you know. So I grew up, and from the moment I knew I existed, I wanted to be a comic, and I remember getting funniest guy in sixth grade, and I'm the only person who ever went into high school. Maybe I wasn't, but I only cared about being class confident.

What kind of name is Tripoli? It's Italian, but I'm half Armenian, half Italian. Armenian on which side? On my mother's side, Bedoreans. Bedoreans? Yeah. Did you have a lot of Armenian family? armenian half italian armenian on who's on which side on my mother's side pedorians pedorians yeah what do you do i did you like did you have a lot of armenian family i had a lot of armenian family they lived in the neighborhood they lived in niagara falls there's a big armenian community for some reason my grandmother never passed on armenian language to my mother or she did but

they never passed on to me they were from a different generation yeah where they basically it was about assimilation instead of now where it's kind of like knit you know carve your niche and stay yeah do you want everyone wanted to pass yeah everybody wanted to be an yeah be american you know and a lot of people who had the triply last name changed their name to like triple or something like that where's my family trippy yeah trippy or something like that and my family say with tripoli yeah but i the armenians what's the religion of the armenians christian we were the first country to ever adopt christianity as its national religion armenia armenia and it's very interesting because uh for about 16 years i've

been doing a giant event at the comedy store in the main room. A cousin of mine, Alik, got bone marrow cancer, and they couldn't find a match for her. Was it an Armenian guy? Yeah, Armenian woman. Yeah, woman. Armenian lady. She's going to be a doctor. Right.

And then she couldn't find a match because Armenians have a very unique genetic makeup. And it's basically because Armenia is surrounded by muslim countries and there was no interaction so armenians which is this very tiny area yeah just hooked up with other armenians yeah so basically we're the hillbillies yeah you know a lot of like so you're saying there was a lot of cross-pollination a lot of or not cross-pollination just hooking up with our own but that i mean that happens but did they pace it out right at least or were there someone in charge of like not your cousin you know i what i mean are there genetic problems yeah that's why it's it's hard to find but that's just a specific genetic type are you saying that there's a genetic weakness across the board yeah with within armenians which is why they have to do these. They started this, Dr. Frida Jordan and my cousin started, my cousin Michelle Topalian

started the Armenian bone marrow registry. And like I got picked up at the comedy store, I think about 2000. And then three or four years later, I found out my cousin had bone marrow cancer and I go, how can I help? And they're like, well well could you help us raise money so i put this huge event on in the main room it's like probably the oldest running show there even though it's only once a year it's the oldest running show and we sell it out every year and they raise money and it's like with this weird charity where you can actually see the fruits of

your labor meaning like you know sometimes i'll do charity events i'm like hope that money gets to whoever needs it right but they build a giant facility in Armenia. They've had a bunch of like connects where these people, you know, connected with someone with their blood type and bone marrow type. And so it's been pretty cool, man. That's great. Yeah. Doing good in the world.

I try. It's my, I call it my karma show. Good. And for a while, everybody who did it, I could see who was going to blow up. They do it. And all of a sudden, boom, they became is that true yeah when he cummings did it blew up l magical did it got picked up as a regular comedy store you think it's the magic of your show i think it's just my vision doc no i know i just i just look we're all gonna find out yeah by the end of this

podcast that that sam tripoli is secretly running everything. Yes! He's running... The pyramid scheme. It's like me and Queen Elizabeth. He's at the top. He's right up there with the Bilderbergers. He's the one above the 1%. Sam Tripoli. Dude, there's snipers everywhere around here. Sure, buddy.

The blocks are locked up. Yeah, but you don't see them. That's how fucking deep state you are. Yeah, they're shapeshifters, dude. Yeah, shapeshifters are protecting Sam as he moves through. My podcast is loved by the reptilians, dude. Sure, the reptilians.

That's, you know, pull up those masks, fellas. We want to see what's underneath. I'm super excited to be on. Are you? Yeah, man. I feel like you've had everybody but me. I feel like you just had the dishwasher from the comedy store on. I can get him on.

Can you text him? Yeah, he's it. Juan, get down here. I mean, I just, you just, I don't know. You fell through the cracks. I don't know what happened. I guess I'm a crazy person. No.

You know, there's other people. I get it. Yeah. But I mean, I think the, all right, so let's go back, though. So you grew up in upstate. Yeah. Your brother gives up bowling. The family's like, can't understand it.

Yeah, nobody can. He just went out, and then for years he was just in Siberia, or just didn't know what the hell he was going to do. He is a rolling stone. He just loves to move around and do his own thing. Neither of us had kids, so I feel bad for my mom, and sometimes I get frustrated, like, have a kid for her! Is he married?

No, he just likes to roam. And he manages strip clubs. He manages strip clubs. He manages strip clubs. He kind of flips them. His job is to go into ones that aren't doing well and flip them. Oh, so he's a strip club wizard. Yeah, strip club wizard. Yeah, dude, for sure.

And when you graduated high school, you didn't have a plan? What did you do? I wanted to be a stand-up. I get it, but did you go to college or anything? I went to UNLV. I thought, well, basically, it's very funny. My father, over time, worked me in convincing me I should move to Vegas because he's like, yeah, you should go to school.

Go to Vegas. Because you wanted to be a comic? Because I wanted to be a comic. I thought it would be a great place to start. I don't know why, but you'd always hear people like, oh, he's playing Vegas. All the greats play. I'm like, oh, I'll go to Vegas. My father was pushing me.

Little did I know they wanted to go out there and buy a house that I would rent out, and they could use it as a business expense to go gamble all the time. That was his plan? He had a long game, dog. A long game, right? And that's all he does now. He lives in Prescott, Arizona. He gambles all day.

He calls me from the office. This is the Indian casino he's at. And he lives a life. Where's your mom? My mom still lives in Cortland. My dad lives in upstate New York. So he split. Yeah, they split up.

And me, like the day after my brother graduated high school and left for Arizona to go to ASU, my mom was like, boom, get out, dude. And my poor father just wandered and then what did why was he like a pain in the ass the whole way through was he a gambling sick gambler i think my father you know my father is like 75 i think right now you know he's he's from that generation where you just get married have kids and you know and it's just like he's not that he didn't want to do that you know i think he just wanted to be like a like my brother a rolling stone just like go live his life have fun yeah bang chicks and you know party and all that stuff but that wasn't what you did back then you know

like then it was like get married have kids and there were always people that did that i think they were and i think my dad did that on the side right i don't think he was perfect. Right. And when my parents got divorced, my dad jumped all right into it. I mean, my brother jumped in the middle of it with trying to sell things. And I'm like, nah, dude. I don't want to know any of it. I love you both. Get it over with. Get divorced.

I don't want to know. And I love my dad to death. I knew he was a shady motherfucker you know what i'm saying i just didn't need to know about it because i didn't want my dad not to be in my life so i'm like he's not perfect as you grow older as a man because you know you see you love your mom you grow up that's your mom yeah you do anything for your mother i don't know i did both of them were draining to me really but you at no point when you were a really young kid did you just not love your mom with all your heart no i i don't think we had the same situation and that's definitely true but i feel like for me i love my mom yeah sure

and my dad was like oh this my dad be nice to mom you know right and then you grow older and you start interacting with women your own life and you're oh, now I get what dad was talking about. These chicks are fucking crazy. And they're not perfect. And I'm not perfect. But so you think your mom was fucking crazy? No. My mom's one of the most loving people.

But I know interacting with a woman, no matter how nice they are, there's one guy that's just like tired of hearing about it. Do you know what I'm saying? Yeah. No, no. Everyone's got their trouble. So you're saying to me, you know not all women are crazy but the relationships are crazy all everybody's crazy that's right so but the but and i'm not just trying to correct it for

the for the sake of being correct is this that like i tend to do that you know i tend to be like that was she was crazy and you know she's got problems i got problems and the problems not yeah you know they work for a while hey isn't this fun we're both fucked up and then somebody's gotta pull out somebody gotta pull out right because we're going down yeah the train the plane's going down someone's gotta eject now my girlfriend who i love with all my heart is a ride or die bitch you know what i'm saying like she's been through you know it's like my partying and all that shit you know she's been through all that she's like my partying and all that shit you know she's been through all that she's a great person she drives me fucking nuts but she's a great person you know

you've been with her that long 15 years wow yeah but you're but i think the point is that's interesting is that you know whoever you demonize growing up or whatever you know that you're choosing to draw a line with how much you really wanted to know about your old man just so you know that you're choosing to draw a line with how much you really wanted to know about your old man just so you know you didn't you know take sides or or or you know not have a relationship with him that you're realizing as you get older it's like all right i understand a little bit more not just because not as some outside observer but you've got him in you yeah oh dude 100 percent there was a point in my life yeah where i go oh man i'm turning into my old man yeah and i and what were you doing like were you the stripper were you gambling were you no it was this notion that everybody was jealous of me and holding me back from success and there you know that weird

moment you have where it's like paranoia yeah this paranoia that that was instilled in me as a child you know from my dad all the time what do you think he's like oh these guys hate me because i'm doing this so well i'm killing it and everybody hates me and and like i remember hearing that over and over i'm like man you got to get along with people i remember thinking as a kid because some of our neighbors wanted to work with my dad on real estate project and he was like i don't know i'm of our neighbors wanted to work with my dad on a real estate project. And he was like, I don't know. I'm like, dad, you have to work with people. Yeah. So then, you know.

He thought everyone was out to fuck him? Yeah. And they were all jealous of his fucking, of how he's doing. Of what? Of his success and his ability to do shit. Was he successful? He was a great real estate agent. My dad was, like I said, a super hustler.

So it's hyper competitive. Super competitive. And I talked to him later about that, and he goes, well, that was my father. My father was like that too. Sure, he keeps going. And it's just this weird cycle of life. Well, through me, my life,

I've gone through stints where I had to look at myself and be like, why is this happening? What's going on in my life? You know, I write down what my resentments are in life, I had to look at myself and be like, why is this happening? What's going on in my life? I write down what my resentments are in life, and I find the common theme is me. And I start realizing the most freeing thing I've ever learned through recovery is that nobody's thinking of me. And it sounds like you're alone, but it's the most freeing shit in the world where you've come.

Yeah, because you know what they're thinking about? Themselves. 100%. freeing shit in the world where you've come yeah because you know what they're thinking about themselves 100 and they're you know you're saying it's freeing to to realize that you're making up most of what you think other people are thinking and there's just like oh dude fuck sam tripley and there's these meetings the fuck sam tripley meetings you know are they part of the conspiracy no the fuck sam tripley no no i wish i wish i could research on this yeah i've done research nobody gives a fuck nobody gives a fuck do you want to hear a great story dude about how mentally crazy i was i remember i i when i moved to va moved la i came from vegas and vegas at that time was like its own little island of comedy like it had no interaction i had no desire to be part of

it but but as a coming up you had no clue about the rest of the world so you were just doing your own thing and we couldn't get hired at any of the local comedy clubs because they would just fly locals in from la it was nothing back then so we couldn't even get up so we had to do our own thing so like when i started doing comedy in la yeah i'm in vegas there was one open mic every other week right and so i started making my shows, and I got all these different shows. So I had a show every night doing my own thing, hosting my own thing. I come to LA, and I showcase for the Montreal Comedy Festival. I don't even know what it is.

I just, people are like, you got to showcase. I'm like, okay, I'll showcase. And I tap into something that I have now that I didn't have then. And I blow it up. I get, you're going to the Montreal Comedy Festival. I'm like, oh, that's cool. I don't have then. And I, and I blow it up. I get, you're going to the Montreal comedy. I'm like, Oh,

that's cool. I don't even know what the fuck it is, but I'm going. So I go there and I'm following Corey Holcomb on stage who at that time I think was a 20 year vet. I don't even know how old Corey Holcomb is. He could be a thousand years old at this point, but he was like,

he's been doing forever. Crush. I bomb. I'm in front of this comic this uh this this lady at fox named ann manny who's a wonderful person i i bombed in front of her and i am consumed now with getting in front of her and showing her that wasn't me i'm a better comic than that and i want to fucking show you how great i am right yeah so for two years i am consumed with getting in front of ann manny show that montreal is who i am right yeah so for two years i am consumed with getting in

front of am man you show that montreal isn't who i am i work my ass off i come back from montreal dead in the water nobody wants to do anything with me the only person who cared for me was mitzi shore she was the only one that would give me spots and i was able to work through my shit this was what year this is like 2001 so she's still mentally there for the holding on yeah but the comedy store isn't what it is then. It is its own way, its own island. Where what happened at the Comedy Store stays at the Comedy Store. Sure, sure.

And nobody gave a fuck. Back in the day. Yeah. The Tommy time? Was that? No, it was time for Duncan. No, it was before Tommy time. Was Duncan booking?

It was at the end of Duncan. Yeah, yeah. And then we got into, Tommy was after that. But nobody was there and I was just able to work through this thing. She saw you? I saw her. She hadn't seen me yet. Two years later, I get a call from Maz Jobrani,

because I was in this Arabian Nights show after 9-11. It was before 9-11. Mitzi's like, Arab's going to need a fucking voice of comedy. And we put it together. That's how I got into comedy. You were doing that pre-911 yeah 2000 it was so 2000 yeah you're with maz and aaron and i met him i met him and the only reason i got in that happened before 9-11 yeah wow trippy right she's like you guys she goes you guys are going to

need a voice soon to fucking right what the fuck right crazy like see now like in terms of conspiracy thinking like because most of where my conspiracy meltdown happened i wrote about it in my book was at the store when i was psychotic on cocaine yeah so i when trippy things trippy stories about the store they always kind of send me back like oh no yeah that's that's witchcraft central over there yeah oh dude yeah 100 chaos so i get it's so, I showcase at the comedy store. After Maz, what, Maz called you and said? Maz and Duncan go, listen, there's a chance for us to get you in at the store.

Yeah. We're putting together an Arab show, you're Armenian. I'm like, yeah. She's like, I'm like, but that's not Arab. They're like, close enough. So I remember going up, and it was very interesting because Paul Mooney got me in at the store. I'd done a show at a place called the Hustler Cafe down the street.

And I did a joke about how hard it is to be a white guy. And I got off stage. He's like, oh, you ain't white. You's Armenian. And he dropped an N-bomb on me. And I was like, damn, I just got called the N-word by Paul Mooney, dude. It's like a badge of honor, right? So I'm showcasing.

People might not know this about the store but when you showcase at the store it was so hard because people would hijack your showcase because they were trying to get spots so they would they knew mitzi would be there and they would sit down and they would try to talk to her convince her to give him spots and you do your set and she wouldn't even listen yeah so you think that was because they were trying to hijack it they were trying to get spot they knew i know but why would they do that when you're on stage? Because when you're trying to get spots, you don't give a fuck. You're like, that's a one-time. So you're just saying when she was in the room, people would distract her.

Yes. Well, they would try to get her ear to get spots. Whatever you want to call that, we'll label that. But it wasn't like, I'm going to fuck Tripoli. No, it wasn't like, I'll hijack. No, none of that shit. No, no. I mean, but they weren't doing it out of spite.

They weren't like, oh, Sam's on stage. I'm going to, it's time to talk to her. The shadow people are going to love this. We're going to fuck him right now. So, so I'm doing my set. Now, Duncan calls me and he goes, okay, this is what you, this is what you talk about. You do one joke about one of your parents, one joke about your ethnic group, and one joke about your favorite joke joke and at a time

it was my bit about uh asians on ecstasy yeah and the only reason i liked it is because joey diaz goes dog that's a great bit so i'm like okay i'm gonna do that so i did it i start doing my act i see paul mooney sitting down i'm like fuck but i'm just like screw it let's just do the best set so i do it i get off stage and um i walk up to her and she's like great set i'm like oh my god she listens she goes are you syrian and like i'm gonna be honest i didn't know what syrian was but i'm like yeah i'm fucking syrian dude she's like great i want you to showcase one more time for jay davis's show so that's how i got picked out and turned out that paul mooney was like oh missy he's really funny you have to pick him up he'd be great for the show so i got picked up at the comedy store because of

paul mooney right so for two years i'm just gigging there right maz calls me about manning and manny and maz maz calls me up hey i'm doing a showcase for ann manny do you want to do it i'm like it's time it's it's time yeah i'm strong okay yes so i take i go there and i destroy and i here comes ann manny and i've been waiting for this moment two years two years yeah she walks up to me she goes hey man great set i'm like oh my god thank you she goes have you ever been to the montreal comedy festival i go what she goes have you ever been to montreal you do great there she didn't even remember me and that is my mind like resentments and holding on to resentment yeah and that's when i realized over time that i was become my dad holding on to all these resentments for so fucking long well

yeah and also the the idea that you know that that you had failed and that you know they were you were being judged yeah and that they were that she at least once a day was going like that triply sucks yeah yeah every day just throwing a fucking darts into a dark part with my face casually just like you're just sitting there percolating boy what i wonder what happened that guy that tanked with her coffee after holcomb yeah yeah that triply guy sure is terrible yeah fuck him that's funny a lot of mental space i was the same way it took a lot of time a lot of a lot of sobriety for that shit to to ease up for me to really realize it you know that that they're not thinking about you but i'm the same way you got we got a lot to prove it's a crazy gig right but

okay so like so you went you finished college and yeah i got a degree in psychology and i always knew i wanted to be a stand-up but i had to go to college for my parents so and your dad bought the house out there he never bought the house because i knew i just had then i like i don't want to get in business with my dad right i love him to death i just don't want because this is not going to end well so you know you didn't want to know about his fucking shitty past and you don't want to get into business with him. Listen, man. I don't call it a shitty past.

I call it he's just a fucking human being. No, I get it. But you didn't want to know too much. Yeah, I didn't want to get in the mix with him. And then you don't want to get in business with him. Yeah, I don't want to find out how the hot dogs are made. You know what I'm saying? You're one of the hot dogs.

I am one of the hot dogs. So I go to college. i have to get a degree at that time basic instinct and science the lambs are big and i see that these got they're they're they're in psychology and they're they can play with people's heads and i go i'm gonna get a degree in that i wanted to get a degree in psychology and that's what i got i ended up getting a degree in psychology because of silence of what I got. I ended up getting a degree in psychology. Because of Silence of the Lambs and Basic Instincts. I had to pick something. But you didn't really want to do it, but you're like, maybe I'll get enough information, so

just moving through life, I'll have a jump on these idiots. Yeah, maybe. Because I'll know how their brains work, and I'll be able to fuck with it. Yeah, yeah. And then I found out how much education you have to do to become a psychologist. I'm like, I'm out. Yeah, but you wanted to get some basic info. yeah yeah but you don't remember mind games but you didn't but you they don't teach you that i don't remember doing one fucking ounce of homework i

know i did yeah i just but it's funny to me that you like that that the you wanted to be a comic your whole life but your incentive for studying psychology is like i'm gonna get ahead of the curve on this shit yeah like i it was self-protecting yeah to to to avoid the the treachery of of your father's persecution i don't think at that point it's trying to involve i i was avoiding that i didn't want to get in business with him but i don't think no no but i just mean the state of mind yeah it was like you know because you didn't know you had it then. Yeah. But you were still sort of like, you know, if my dad's right, everyone's out to fuck me. Yeah, right.

So if I can get a jump on that shit. Yes. Yes, completely. Right. I want to be able to see signs. I'm reading books on body language and shit like that. They're all coming at you, Sam. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. 100%, dude. 100. It's been mental warfare from the jump yeah just this thought of like what is this guy doing what is that what is he working were they talking about me over there why is he laughing 100 what are you guys talking about me you know assuming everybody's thinking about me and you know at the end of the fuck yeah nobody gives a fuck maybe two people my mom that's about it well you know you what you the thing is is that you know that because like if you're you know you're working a program so so you know that like you you there are people thinking about you because you probably did some stupid shit so like and

then you got to make it right you got to own your side of it and you have the tools to do that now so you know the one and you know when you you know like that well that person is thinking about me because i was a fucking dick yeah and i gotta fucking you know make that right i you know the cool thing is like as you go through recovery you learn about making amendments and to people amends amends to people and uh i think amendments is sort of that might be some of the that goes back to conspiracy yeah yeah yeah and i do enjoy doing that now. I tend to, at the end of the day, self-reflect on some stuff. Do it as quick as possible.

And I enjoy it. Yeah, it's a relief. Because I'm Armenian, dude. I'm Armenian-Italian. I go zero to felony very quickly. And I react. And I'm like, oh, that was the wrong reaction. Yeah.

Well, it's a natural. So you apologize to your girlfriend a lot? I mean, we both go crazy on each other but i think we're at a point where it's we don't take it personal you know like we both have these weird flare right so it's sort of like oh he's doing that thing now yeah he's yeah she's doing that she's yelling at me she's a crazy person and we all move on yeah so when he started doing stand-up in las vegas you had to make your own way there were no clubs i can't remember the you couldn't get in the hotels well the clubs that were there right there were a catch a rising star the comedy stop the improv and uh steve sharippa's uh comedy club

at the riviera and none of them are there anymore they're all gone right and i think only one two of them are named different clubs now one's the laugh factory one is brad garrett's yeah comedy club which is but there was no way to do open mics or nothing no they didn't have open mics they never had open mics and this was really when being edgy and dirty wasn't in you know i i'd like to say you had to be a more cleaner more mainstream well as as a nobody but i mean there were definitely edgier, dirty people doing vagueness. Yeah, well, I just didn't want to do any of that. Yeah.

And to this day, it's the same way. I just want to be me. Yeah. And I just want to be on. And I've gained the benefits of that. And it's, you know, financially probably hurt me along the lines, too. What, just being a dirty fuck? Just being me, dude.

Yeah. You know, just talking about my shit on stage. You know, I got this bit now. I say dirty fuck nicely. me dude you know just talking about my shit on stage you know i got this i say dirty fuck nicely i mean i respect that yeah i got a bit about the time i smoked crack with this guy and he tried to suck my dick and i had to punch him with all my crack strength and run off and yeah some people don't want to hear about that you know just but it's just my sounds like a good story it is a great story it's fucking funny as fuck but some people like well that but you know but

that's true because like you know and i i was thinking about this the other day about you know just even living the life we live with or without drugs is that you we we are not part of the workforce so and that's putting it lightly right so in a lot of times like a lot of things that we think people relate to they don't there's no way they can relate to it. Right. So, you know, you've just got to sell it in a way that they're like, holy shit, that's fucked up. Yeah. But, you know, you're not going to get, you know, unless you're at a meeting, no one's going to be like, dude, I know exactly.

100%, dude. 100%. There's nothing like doing a good NA meeting, dude. You can tell a great story and people just explode. Oh, yeah. And it's like, story and people just explode. Oh, yeah. And it's like, I got one for you. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I was the guy that tried to suck you.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Hey, that's you. Yeah, dude, you shouldn't have punched me, bro. We're all in our disease. And you make an event. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I do. I just find there's so many rules to comedy now.

Is there, though, really? Yeah, there is. I think there is. What do you mean? Are they hard rules? Are they? I think that, you know, I think there's some rules. Just cultural expectations. comedy now and is there though really yeah there is i really what do you mean are they are they are they hard rules are they i think that you know i think there's some just cultural expectations i think there's also like what people are comfortable with on stage and you know for me i think that buttons are being i think there's always a couple of guys that are out there pushing

the envelope and i think that you know that there'll be a pushback. I'm for it. I mean, I want people to love each other and treat everybody with respect. But I think that we should also be allowed to talk about all the funny things everybody does. Yeah, and also, yeah, you know, there's always guys that are going to, you know, be there to be the steam valve, to blow off the steam and take the hit. But usually there's one or two guys. Everyone can't do it. I'm just like, I love punk rock. Yeah. Like, I love going in and fucking just lighting shit up. there's one or two guys everyone can't do it i'm just like i love punk rock yeah like i love

going in and fucking just lighting shit up and yeah burning places down and i don't know man i just enjoy it dude i like playing weird fucking gigs like can i tell you about the weirdest gig i one of the weirdest gigs i ever did yeah i got asked to open up for a cat named fat mike from no effects yeah i know yeah i know that guy yeah i know of him he asked me did his wife is this woman her name is soma snake oil and she's a very famous uh bdsm mistress and i got called to uh do his 50th birthday party and i talk about this to my act about how like it like 50 years for a punk rocker is like a thousand years old you know it's like it's like gandalf the white wizard ship so i get called and i go to this uh b it's at a bdsm bar by lax because that's all the weird shit goes down is by the airports where business guys can fly in get weird get back on a plane and get the

fuck out nobody knows who they are and so i show up and it's like all like cross dressers and leather daddies they're everybody's in leather cross dressers and i've been asked to host you know you know and i'm like the guy who did the naughty show and all that shit and you know so i'm kind of like known as a crazy person but in this room i'm the most vanilla human being out there like just like i met i met a girl who was like you're so vanilla i go what i'm like what are you into like what's crazy she had sex with a knife to her throat like this is like legit people yeah like she's like a lawyer by day like yeah you know a hostage by night and so i show up dude and i do my act and dude i mean nothing is relatable and i am bombing but my saving grace is i get heckled by this guy who looks like a cross-dressing minotaur okay i look out and

there's this guy with this giant afro he's got these these weird devil horn implants all black all black eyes in there with contact full beard in a wedding dress yeah and every time one of my jokes bombs yeah he yells i want to fuck you in the ass and the plate and then would explode and then i'd rip him a new asshole yeah so at some point i stopped doing my act and just waited for him and i just start ripping in this guy talking about how i felt like i was in narnia and i was about to get fucking prison raped by the lion the witch and the wardrobe and it ends up saving my fucking act yeah but that's hands on hands oh dude it's like bill burr said until you're famous every show is an away game yeah and then you become famous and every show is a home

game right and like that is like i'm just, I'm just doing shows. Yeah, just survival shows. Yeah. But what a weird, what a weird environment. I just love it though. Did you host a porn awards? I did something on Showtime called the Sex Awards. Yeah. It was the first and only time they did it.

It was literally the worst gig I ever did in my life. It was just chaos. And I walked out and I did my shit and they everybody's like dude yeah i walked out to a tv gig where everybody on their phones these are all porn stars yeah all coked out of their skulls yeah texting people yeah i'm like who are you texting you're where it's at it's where everybody you're all here you're all here the only joke that did well was like the biggest winner tonight are the coke dealers and the place exploded yeah after that After that, fucking nothing but flatlining. So you're at the store all these years.

Because I remember when I first met you, you were kind of amped up and sweaty. Your hair was swicker. You were thinner. Who was it? No, I know. But no, but at some point you hit a wall because I think I was there in your early sobriety, right? Yes. Like what happened? when was that uh you know man i've talked about this before it's just like you

know it became at the comedy store where the coke and the and the sex was more important than the actual performing and i just realized i can't do that anymore and it's just like you know it's like i said it's like doing coke is like going to a restaurant, eating and eating and eating. Yeah. Like eventually you have to pay your bill. Yeah. You have to pay a bill.

It's more like, you know, nodding and not eating and not eating. Yeah. Just ordering food and just sitting there. That's exactly what Coke is. Ordering food, ordering food, and just sitting there and they're like, you can eat it? I'm like, I'm okay. I'll eat it eventually. And you just never eat it.

But now you got to pay a bill. You got to pay pay a bill that's exactly what it is you know and how bill but you didn't eat i know i didn't do anything i just sat there grinding trying to get creepy with this young chick who's also not eating you know i don't know man i have a sex addiction a really bad one and coke and sex addictions go hand in hand. How does that play? How does the sex addiction play out? Just like... Girls like the...

I mean, like, they like coke. Hookers though and stuff? No, not hookers, dude. You know, just anybody who is gay. I once was... You know, I'd get sober and then I'd relapse and then I would be like, get rid of all the drug dealers in my phone.

Yeah. And then I'd be like, oh, man, I got no drug. phone. And then I'd be like, oh man, I got no drugs. I got to find drugs. And I would drive around and this is true story. One time I got robbed by the same hooker twice in one day, dude. Because I was looking for drugs. I was like, fuck.

So I'm like, hey, you know where to get drugs? She's like, oh yeah, I know where to get drugs. So I give her the money. She never came back. I'm like, fuck, I got robbed. So I drive around, dude, right? And like two hours later, I still haven't found drugs, but never came back. I'm like, fuck, I got robbed. So I drive around, dude, right? And like two hours later, I still haven't found drugs. But I see her.

I'm like, no one would do it twice in one day. Nobody's got that lack of humanity, dude. So I picture, like, baby, I'm sorry. It just got weird. I couldn't find it. I'm like, okay, just don't do it again. Give her the money. Didn't come back.

I'm like, fuck. You know? So another thing that got me off coke is it was just getting so bad. It was so. It's been almost 20 years for me so i like it's so away from me it's so stepped on it's so bad so i'm just like why am i even doing this it's the worst business model ever like coke dealers always fucking over their clients like how do you get repeat business yeah why are you fucking people over it's like short dollar game because you gave a hooker twice You got robbed by the same hooker twice. That's why.

Live and learn, dude. That's why. That answers your question. It's like, they'll come back. Yeah, you keep going. And once in a while, you throw in a good batch. So crazy, dude. How long has it been?

It's been a long... I mean, I had five... I'm up 200 days now because I smoked weed. But I'm... You know, but I had five years at one point. And now I smoked weed a little while ago. 220.

Oh, so you're back? Back in the mix. How long were you out? Oh, dude. I was, I mean, like I get like, what I do is I get like a year, go out and weed and then get some time and I go back and forth over the last like. Yeah. Weed would be the thing that would take me out because it's so easy and it's so yeah yeah i like shrooms too but i can't do shrooms i miss shrooms yeah i like

shrooms i like to talk to god once in a while yeah sure and what does god have to say do you say uh rocking dude you're doing the lord's work oh yeah yeah that's what he says when you're on shrooms yeah yeah yeah now i got a question yeah dad do you think that maybe because we sort of established something here and i'm not a psychiatrist or a psychologist but i think it's interesting that uh it seems that that there is sort of a theme in you know your relationship with your old man in terms of what he's like and then you realize and what he's like and then you realizing what he's like and then you studying psychology it just seems to be a straight line to this researching uh conspiracy that there's still this sort of preemptive kind of like i want to be on top of

it because they ain't gonna fuck me probably this probably isn't it probably is i'm not gonna be fucked by any of this bullshit 100 dude without a doubt i was thinking as that as i was talking i'm like oh man that's probably where that all comes from you know and how like there is that but i just enjoy it sure but what's your dad what's he up to he's just hanging out he gambles he's his girlfriend he's dating a a beautiful black woman who used to dance on a used to dance on soul train yeah uh and they just live in Prescott, Arizona. And he just loves his life. He's always telling me about how he's always working out,

yet he loses no weight, which is fine. That's his thing. And he just does his thing. He goes to Gamble. He loves Golden Corral, and he eats that all day. And he's just living the life I think he always wanted to do. Oh, that's nice. Which is not any responsibilities,

which is kind of always where I am right now. When I look at my career versus my friends, that's when I get depressed. But when I just look at what I'm doing, I love it. I have no boss. I make good money doing my own thing, and I fucking love it. I have no masters. I just do my own shit.

But when I look at the other people, I go, oh, man, I should be doing all that. But when I take that out, I'm just like, man, I'm a dude who flunked first grade. My brother was the number one high school bowler. I didn't do jack shit. My only claim to fame in high school was that I was in a breakdancing called the break the hdi breakers and we were sponsored by the holiday inn and i was most improved on the high school bowling team that was it after that nothing dog nothing and here i am just making good money do my own shit you know i always got told if i was dirty i wasn't gonna make any money so what well what well that's not

true i mean like you know there's a whole world of, like, you know, guys I came up with. You know, and I think I was dirtier when I was younger, but, you know, like. That's where I am, too. It's like a tell, and, you know, there's definitely a model for it. The best. I love him. He's the best, yeah. I love him. Yeah, I could tell that, you know, you're, like, of the a tell school.

Yeah, for sure. The best writer. The best. I like you, too. I mean, I love what you do. Well, thank you. I love a tell, too. I mean, I love what you do. Well, thank you. I love Attell, too. I wonder how he's doing.

Have you talked to him? I haven't. I mean, when I see him a couple times in New York, any time the fact that he knows my name is a giant win in my life. You know, he's like one of those guys where you're like, I love that dude so fucking much. And he's like, hey, what's up, Triple A? I'm like, oh, fuck, he knows my name.

Every time. Every fucking time. uh yeah i love watching you know him rogan you guys burr i love watching what you guys have done you know it's fun to watch you know i heard you say one time and i wanted to know what that meant to you was that you said you know things are going good for you when and maybe i'm messing up the quote but yeah when you started doing what everybody else was doing in terms of like do you know what i'm saying we're like maybe you were doing it one way and then the successful people were doing it another way yeah and then you kind of like well maybe i'll try doing it in your own way not that you did them right you did you but in their way yeah and i often think maybe if i maybe i should do that

and then like start playing the game a little better well i think what it was was really like um i don't know if that like what what i would do was it was more about how i was looser in the sense that like i would go out of my way to to sort of like make sure that i was not planned like that like you know i knew where i wanted to go most of the time like if i'm doing an hour an hour and half set, but I would kind of wing it and I would wing it on important things. And I just, I thought that was like, that was ballsy. And that, you know, then like, and then you're really taking risks. And then after a certain point, I'm like, yeah, but you've been doing this a long time and maybe you should structure your shit.

Yes. Yes. Yes. So it was really like, like when I uh the epic special that special the epic special i'm like i'm gonna have callbacks i'm gonna work this fucking hour and a half and i'm gonna bring it in you know right on the money and it and i kind of got off on it i was like i did the work and i did all the loose work and there's still i'm i'm working right up until that day i shoot like the last special i did which is the best thing I've ever done, that two reel. Isn't that cool? For Netflix.

It's like, I didn't have the ending of that set until the day before. Like I was doing, I was on the road doing about an hour and a half and they needed 70 minutes. So I had to cut 20 that last two days before I taped.

Wow. I waited that long and I just fucking knocked it out and made a list, got rid of unessential shit figured out where the callback was changed the ending made it stronger and nailed another callback and so i just started getting off on that yes as opposed to just fucking being punk rock details yeah i'm with you dude that was the change it wasn't so much like do it the way other

people do it was just sort of like i should be a responsible comedian and do my fucking job properly yeah i'm with you on that too i'm with you on that i battle between my punk rockiness and the understanding that these people are here to be entertained you know yeah i mean you know punk rock can be pretty entertaining but like you know once you get people who are coming to see you and you realize like you know like you know i should do new stuff yeah and you can get loose with them you know and they they dig it but you do you know it's weird it's really it's not even i'm not always thinking about them or the entertainment thing i'm really thinking about like fuck it i can do that yeah i can you know like you know you know you know if your callback gonna make you look like a genius i can do fucking callbacks yeah yeah you ever have a callback you're like whoa that got

big reaction they love them every time yeah yeah and i'm like i'm like like the one i did for epics like both of the last two specials like two or three callbacks and i'm like they just fucking love it because you know it's you know all of them sort of have a theme, but when you have a callback, it makes it this this unified thing. Like, you know, if you call back all the way through an hour, one or two callbacks, it feels like a whole

prepare, like it's like a show. It's a bow. It's not just a package. Well, no, it's like there's continuity. It's not just a guy telling jokes, you know, like you do a callback at the end. All of a sudden, that whole hour and 10 minutes, it's like, oh, it all fit together. It's just perfect. Yeah, exactly.

I'm with you. I got a couple calls. It's all connected if you want to play ball. I love that you say that this is your best, that this is the best thing to do. Because that's how I feel as a comedian I am right now, is the best I've ever been yeah and i think that's really cool that you know i'm about to shoot my special i'm shooting it i'm at the viper room i just want to do a small venue yeah i've done that it's great yeah i did i did like a 200 seater for thinky pain i love it dude i'm gonna put like 150 in each show dude too and like i'm kind of putting it all together right now.

And I just feel like I'm the best I've ever been. And I think that's kind of amazing being 20 something years into a career and just being able to feel like you're still getting better. Yeah. Or just for me, it was finally settling into myself, like to know myself well enough to where I'm not going to drag them through my goddamn problems. Like I can, you know, I have enough distance from my bullshit to where,'m not going to drag them through my goddamn problems like i can you know i have enough distance from my bullshit to where you know i can make it funny as opposed to just going in

front of audiences and making them pay for whatever fucking you know problems i have or however i was brought up yeah i get that totally i mean that's entertaining but you know it's a little exhausting yep and it's hard to repeat and it may not be something people want to see again i completely get that i just been i work really hard on trying to do simple relatable shit too because i have such a weird skull yeah and i like to go in the weirdness i did i've been doing a little of that and i can feel that what the weird the thing about going in the weirdness and especially if you're if you're good at it which you are is that you know you get way out into the weirdness and you're like ah fuck I left me on an island yeah like there I'm

I left Sam sitting on stage where the fuck am I yep and it's just like but it's fun to come back is that but that's the thing you can always come back back, land again, you know? I do love that, dude. I love the whole just psychology of it all. I call my comedy Gator Roll. That's my style, which is like start really simple at the top and then kind of bring them deep into the waters of chaos, you know? And just psychologically bring them, get them ready for the next level of creepiness so that they're not like, whoa, what the fuck? You know, just like, hey, slowly bring them get them ready for the next level of creepiness so that they're not like whoa what the fuck you know just like hey slowly bring it but do you do you leave them in the swamp or do you

pull them out at the end i think i need to pull them out at the end you gotta work on that part like i'm trying because i want to tell the crack smoking story on this special yeah but i don't think it could be the end yeah i had that issue with my last special that there was a beat where it was just dark and it wasn't a story but it was a joke that was pretty existentially dark even though it was funny and i'm like is that do i really want to at the end of the day i just my whole thing is like everybody's a little weird we need to get over like sure being creeped out by that. That's my point. Well, I know, but being weird and getting over something is still like, you know, you're still talking to regular people who may not have had a crackhead try to suck their dick on crack.

Right, right, right. They can get over it. It's your life. They have nothing invested in it. But it doesn't need to be everyone's experience. What do you mean you never experienced this never smoked crack with a robot i get that is the weird thing because i don't want people coming here to my shows hearing stuff that they've heard before yeah or that they can come up with

yeah i want to be completely unique but it needs to be relatable because when it gets too unique it it just becomes what the fuck are you talking about no but i think that like you know a lot of times just you're phrasing the you know like you you know like i think that i i like when people if you blow their minds because they never thought of something like that yeah like i you know i know what you're talking about but i never thought of something like that. Yeah. Like, you know, I know what you're talking about, but I never thought about it like that. Yeah. That's the best you can do. Yep.

Really. And you can doll that up however you want. I mean, you can paint or elaborate a picture as you want, but ultimately you're sort of like, I know where you started, but I had no idea where you were going there, and I never thought about that like that. That's where the comedy comes from, the surprise. Sure.

Surprise and just the execution of it. Yeah. All right, buddy. Well, I'm glad we did this finally. Thank you for having me on, dude. How'd it go for you? Dude, I had a great time. I don't know how you thought it went.

No, it was great. But I had a wonderful time. It was good. I'm so happy for all your success. Thanks. I always have been. Oh, thanks. I remember when you just started doing this, we were both working out the why together.

And I'm like, hey, dude, your podcast is blowing up. I'm super happy for you. And you were like, yeah, dude, I'll have you on. When was that? Which why? 30 years later, I finally was on it. Yeah. It was at the Hollywood Y.

You used to run on the treadmill. Yeah. We used to talk all the time. That's right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I could have just put you on then. No, it's fine. It's at the beginning.

I think people think I'm a crazy person sometimes. I don't know. That was never the case. It was really just sort of like, you'd be in my head for a while, and then I'd just forget. I don't think you're crazy. It was no personal judgment at all. It's like you were a store guy, and I wanted to have you on at the beginning. Yeah.

But now, look, more people listen. It's better. No, I'm totally thankful for it, and I'm super happy for you, too. You too, man. it's better no i'm totally thankful for it and i'm super happy for you dude you too man that was lively wasn't it that was sam tripoli go to sam tripoli.com for all sam tripoli info okay i'll see you in stockholm tonight right right boomer lives Right? Boomer lives! But it's going to be hard for him to figure out where he comes back. Oh, don't add that. No, go ahead.

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