WTF with Marc Maron Podcast - Remembering Louie Anderson

Episode Date: January 21, 2022

Hear Marc's two conversations with comedian and actor Louie Anderson from June 2016 and April 2018. Louie died on January 21, 2022 at age 68. 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.

Hi people, another one of these. The great Louis Anderson has passed away, and I just wanted to say a few words about my first experience with him when I was a doorman at the comedy store in the late 80s. I obviously knew who Louis was, but he was already pretty big by then uh he had he was he was definitely a very well-established comic a very authentic voice uh and uh and very funny guy uh for sure but i'd never seen him before and i was working the door but when i watched him it was one of those lessons in stand-up where you realize it's not just about the joke. Louis Anderson was this amazing joke craftsman, but he was also this, he was a guy that had his whole physicality sort of timed out and it was almost lyrical.

I mean, he was able to, you know, not just deliver a joke, but then physically accentuate the punchline. He had a way of phrasing things. He had a way of moving. He had a way of pacing his act that didn't change. And it was amazing to see as a young comic, because I certainly, I don't work that way. Yeah, I guess, you know, I'm sloppy. But to see somebody as meticulous and articulate in his style, in his structure, and in his physicality was really mind-blowing. He really was the whole package, and it was tight, and it was unlike anything else. It was old school in a way. He was an amazing, amazing performer.

He was an amazing, amazing performer. To be that funny and to have that much pace and build without really, you know, appearing like you're trying, it was just so laid back and his own groove. It's very sad. And I'm very happy that he had such a great kind of second act. And he was a very sweet guy. And these are two talks that I had with him. The first one,

you know, it was before he won the Emmy for baskets. And the second one was when he was here for his book. And he was always so nice to me. And it's just sad, you know, him and Bob, you know,

it just, it was always fun to see him, know just to say hello rest in peace louis anderson so you're eating healthy you're just yes'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 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. Right. 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 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, you know, nothing good. Could I just say that? Yeah. Yeah. Like, hey, here's an apple. Oh, God. Ooh, 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. This is four weeks, but this is the rest of my life. That's the change. Because on baskets, I had so much fun doing that. But at that point, there was a point recently where I went, oh, when you see yourself and you go, 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, 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. Oh. Isn't that like the most weird? So there's a part of your stomach... Yeah. ...that has gremlins in it.

Yeah. I think they're a hormone. Okay. Oh, right, right. And so at night... Yeah. ...those are the things that go, Hey, Mark.

Yeah. Starving. We just ate. Oh, we didn Mark, starving. We just ate. Oh, we didn't really eat. We're starving. And they cut those out. Really? Yeah, they remove them.

And 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 with OA, because I know 12-step 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 like I could eat 12 pieces of toast buttered 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 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 is there a moment where you're like, I'm not going to. You know what?

I'll just have four more. Yeah. I think you're not even. Yeah. There's always a moment. Right. But, you know, this is a whole switch. You know, 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 relief. Yeah. It's such a relief. Yeah. Like yesterday I was in a meeting and they had a cake stand of pastries. At OA? 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 going to be like, come on, you guys. Yeah, never a booth. Never a booth.

So there's a bunch of pastries? On a cake thing. And I just, you know, I looked at them. I looked at them. You know, because I wanted to have what everybody does. You know, a piece of the donut or a slice of the muffin or all that stuff. And I just, I didn't have it. I had a cup of cappuccino.

Oh, thank God. I mean, I'm shooting my show now and I'm a compulsive eater too. Yeah. But, you know, I'm just so fucking hard on myself. And the craft services, I mean, it's just so. Isn't it amazing why we're so hard on ourselves? I just wanted to stop that because I'm so hard on myself. And I go, Louie, 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 dad inside you. Yeah. Well, you're the dad. Yeah, it's the dad inside you. That's the part. Yes, that's a really good point. And that guy, how do you get that guy to die? I think what you have to do with him is... 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 going to revisit that. Yeah. Because isn't self-pity one of the most beautiful things comics love? 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. Like, you know, if you give self-pity the angry voice. Yeah. Fuck those guys. Yeah. Fuck that. Hey, I'll kill every fucker around.

Hey. Hey. That guy doesn't deserve it. You know, I always, i did a joke a long time 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 can you even get it. You know what I mean? They just don't get it. They just...

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,. 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 she told that you're trying to feed. But I love, you know, like I always say to them, I'm good.

I'm good with God. Yeah. He's not, you know, I'm not. We have an understanding. Yeah. He's obviously bestowed a nice gift on me and a lot of luck. Yeah, yeah. So wait, I would on me and a lot of luck. Yeah, yeah. So 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 that we hung out together or anything, but you and I, I'm not putting you that we hung out together or anything, but we both, I think, occupied a spot at the comedy store that was, oh, and those guys. Yeah, 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.

Yeah. But, like, I was a doorman, you know, when I first got out there, I was a doorman, and you were, that was 1987, 88. Uh-huh. So you were pretty, you know. I was in it then. You were in it and you were, you know, you really were at the top of the, you know, you were the big comic.

Yeah. You know what I mean? I got, yeah. And like you were popular. And I remember the first time I met you like it got like i made a mistake and and like i still it sort of still sits with me like you i was working the door in the main room and you're like who's on and you know and i and i said who's you said who's going on next i said so and so and you're like no i don't want to wait and i'm like and then i said well why don't 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 were sort of putting 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, who's that? Who's that? But after that, we got along. No, 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 don't even know if I'm at that level yet. But it's always seemed rude to me. I guess if you're 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, yeah get out of here we ate butter keep it going for sam kennison 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. He'd just crush it. But even if he didn't kill, people would be like, what the fuck just happened? Yeah.

Exactly. 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 keep it going. I 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. Yeah, 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. 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'd you start? In Minneapolis? Yeah. Yeah? A little club in Minneapolis. Which one? Mickey Finn's.

Yeah? 1978. That while ago? Yeah. And you grew up in Minneapolis? I grew up in St. Paul. But people will still introduce you from Minneapolis. Yeah, because no one knows what St. Paul is.

Because St. Paul, that's nothing to people. But how was, 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 in 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. 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. How old was your mom when she had you? 41, I think.

God, so she had like one every couple of years? Yeah, she used to say, because back then you would, they'd 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 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 so it's such a great uh because Zach was like I hear a voice for my mother and it sounds like Louie Anderson and apparently Louie CK just like what's called Louie Anderson is that what happened isn't that a funny thing like I got a call from uh Steve Levine uh agent yeah ICM yeah and he says uh Louie CK wants your number and I go give it to him yeah you know yeah

and he called me he goes Louie I'm with Zach and Galifianakis we're doing a sitcom and we want you to play a part and I go yeah you know those two people call you go yeah yeah he goes we want you to play Zach's mom I go yes you know yeah I've been doing my mom's voice in my act you know since yeah you know the beginning yeah yeah so you're just doing your mom basically i'm just doing my mom and uh and what 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 in 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 time. 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. You know what I just

tried to do with the character is, like, be real. Right. That's how it's trained. And trying to change the voice people are loving it people love it yeah yeah and it's good jonathan chrysal yeah you know who he is i do know who he is portlandia oh 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. But he would say, what'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. 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 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 want paprika on it? 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 you'd have a fryer later.

I know, but not that you'd ever use it. But you'd have it. You could just take it out of the drawer. That's a Midwestern thing. Here, let me show you something. What? Look do you know what it is no it's a curly fry cutter yeah and then put it back 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 you know uh emotional um uh monotone that is very passive aggressive and very sort of sturdy kind of emotional monotone

that is very passive-aggressive and very sort of polite, but a little jabby. I used to do a bit in my act, but nobody really liked me doing it. I'd 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, cause 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 it's cold. From the winter. Right. You're in the house too long and you start thinking, I'm going to kill somebody. Yeah. I'm going to lose my mind. Yeah, I'm going to lose my mind.

Cabin fever. Cabin fever. So what kind of musician was your dad? You never had a cabin. No? You never did? My dad, believe it or not, played with Hoagie Carmichael. Big band guy?

Yeah, big band and 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. And I had an agent, Frank Rio, who handled Bob Hope, Marlena Dietrich, and lots of big artists. 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 like in a year well let's track it let me let's go back and and write it out to your dad so you're 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 uh 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 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 you knew him, yeah. I knew 27. Oh, so you knew him, yeah. I knew him. 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. But he brought me a poster, ablock 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 the stuff right right but it was real my dad toured he was probably in these kind of places so it was a big thing to me so by the time you did you kind of have a memory or relationship with him he was he was not working as a musician anymore he was 50 when i was born right so he had 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 uh play the ukulele when he my mom was mad at him oh he'd go into the room love song oh really to

make it up to her to try and make it up to her so your relationship with him was he was hard on you he was an alcoholic sure he was a mean uh mean violent alcoholic to all 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 uh awake he was tired he was tired you know i hear that about parents all the time you know yeah that they get exhausted they get exhausted and then uh but you grew up in that chaos of like you know like what's that kind of like a nuclear bomb i always tell people growing up in a alcoholic family yeah is one of the weirdest things because there's a it's like being around nuclear fallout yeah yeah because later in your life it starts

it comes up like you you go you know it really affects your whole life well yeah but i 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 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 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, comics don't talk about it that much, but I can sit backstage at the main room,

you know, whoever's on before me and hear just the vibration. I'm like, all right, I know what that's. Or if you walk into a room and you're like, nah, there's a little badness here.

That table, that's going to 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 know you um

your your presentation uh you know why why would you want to engage with that i mean some dudes will fucking you know do that thing i won't do it no why not why i don't want anything to do with that i'm a sensitive child yeah on stage i know i am i'm not the guy who yeah 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, right.

It would change comedy. People, they wouldn't fuck around anymore. Oh, that's funny because 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 people go, oh, I don't trust Louie anymore now. I 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 it's the worst i don't 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 there were like two or three stages. The worst. The worst. And it was daytime. Yeah. And people were like walking through. You can't focus. What is he? Hey, fatty. He's all right.

You're all right, doll. Shut up. So I'm coming out of... People think they're funny. But it's always kind of like 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 my, this is like my

life with my dad. As a passenger? Yeah. I was in the backseat, you know, getting a ride back to the, you know, 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 then I get back and I write a letter to my dad.

I just, I don't know why. I just had a journal and I wrote in it. Yeah. And I wrote a letter. Yeah. 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. And I gave them 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 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. Sure, of course. I completely take the journey to find out who my dad really was. Right. Like I went, my dad was a fascinating guy that I didn't know.

He was raised, his father was a great inventor. He invented like 50 things. Curly fries. Well, deep fryer. Oh, yeah. 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.

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. Okay. His parents were gone. Yeah. And there was a murder. 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. Right. But the daughter who was in charge of them killed herself out of. Shame? Yeah, out of shame.

And then my dad got adopted out. You know what? They 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 it was like a service so like they 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.

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. So indentured servants. Yeah, and he never. Oh, my gosh. And then at 15, he went and made them sign a thing. He goes, I want to join the Army. He says, 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. Yeah. And he was a better person than his parents were in some grotesque way, right? Well, there's a journey to it as an adult child. The book is a complete journey. You're right.

Of an alcoholic. You've got all this resentment, and you've got all this shame, and 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.

Like, I'd read those letters and go, oh my God, this guy. One guy sent me when he was beat by his father by a two by four

as a child. And he still loved his father. Well, that's, because you, they're your father. They're your father. It's so fucked up,

Lou. You know, like my dad, it is, but this is what I always say to people. Even... I mean, this is how damage... People get damaged.

Like when people... 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

yeah and so isn't that the weirdest thing like this the sunshine you need to get from your father's you know being there yeah is so necessary even if he's a monster well here's what i here's i don't know i don't know if you've heard this, but 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, but they're your dad. So you love them. So you think, well, 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. 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 the fact like maybe I feel weird that's how people do it, though. Or just the fact, like, maybe 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. I don't know.

It gets a little crazy. But the good thing is, 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 no no and i have yeah the same thing because of my crazy mother and my miserable father. Right. But you know what? The gift that just keeps giving. 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 because i think you want 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. 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 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. But secrets, it turns out what's weird about secrets is that with your father, 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, ugh.

You know, and there's such a, was your mom, like my mom was a lovely person, but she enabled a lot of this behavior. Like my dad quit drinking at 69, and my mom turned to me and said, I told you he'd quit. And I go, oh my God. 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, and just went,, 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, 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. fair they all suffered yeah there was drinking people who were a lot like my dad and physio the physiology became uh some became alcoholics um the people who were like my mom which is me more codependent oh yeah codependent uh-huh those kind of things. Yeah. Enabled people. But- How many of them are around? I only have, there's only five of us left. Close?

Are you close? Yeah, super close now. That's good. Yeah, because we're all like, oh, man. Are they up in Minnesota? 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. 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 100 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. Yeah.

How they have escaped. Yeah. I think the DNA spreads a little. Yeah. So that it's not so... Breaks down a little? Yeah. But that it's not so. Breaks down a little. 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 severinson yeah trumpet player and um then he let me stay up and watch the comedian i always wanted to watch the comedian oh yeah and johnny and and jack benny was a big i was a big big Jack Benny fan. Loved him? Yeah. His timing, I just, it was just so beautiful.

Yeah, 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? I mean, I think so. You know, he's a fat guy. 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. I'm 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. 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 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.

Yeah, in the 60s, 70s, where in all the poor areas, I grew up very poor. Really? Yeah. They grew up, they had these communiversities. Yeah. 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, oh. Radical. Very radical. And I learned a lot. It was just like I go, oh. And it was 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. And I don't want to read all this. I want to just hang around.

I just want to hang. Comics just want to hang around. And I think I had a little learning disability reading. Because later when I found audio books, I was voracious in my yeah my reading but to read and comprehend i had a problem with it so i went there 25 did it on a dare yeah where at at mickey finn's on third and central in this little 50 seatseat bar. Yeah. 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. Did you ever work with him? No, no. and uh alex cole i think i recognize that alex cole scott hansen 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 mc because i said i'll be an mc 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 yeah just because i had all my friends there my dad was there and my mom was there so it was just gonna be a one-time thing i 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 yeah and some weird and my legs were shaking and

the guy said and i was way too uh on the mic like that my friends 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 started off, the first jokes you wrote were all weight related? I think the first one was, I can't stay long. 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.

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 you know those kind of jokes that you just look back and go wow complete self-deprecating 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, if you ever remember Bill Bauer. I remember him, 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 goes, is he nice? He goes, yeah, he's a nice guy. I go, my dad, he wasn't nice. He never hit us, is that your dad? Yeah. He goes, is he nice? He goes, yeah, he's a nice guy.

I go, my dad, he wasn't nice. He never hit us. He'd just carry a gun. Yeah, yeah. And then I did. He never shot it. He'd go. And then I hit on that vein.

Yeah. I mean, I started. The family vein. I hit on the family thing. Yeah. And a guy who we were working with, Norman, Roman Decare, a little guy who played a tiny harmonica. Yeah.

Yeah. working with Norman, Roman Decare, a little guy who played a tiny harmonica. Yeah. Said, Louis, 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, well, he must know something. Yeah. He's a Shriner. Yeah.

And then that was a really wonderful thing to stumble on um the family stuff yeah you know my mom and then i just told things about my the real things about my mom and dad yeah and people loved it and people liked it because i do that voice and i made my dad a real mean guy and 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 he if he if you met him he would be very nice to you sure they always are yeah the monsters are yeah then the door closes all right everybody all right 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. Yeah, and you'd hear the sounds of things. Where's that? Here we go. It was like out of a cartoon. Yeah.

It was like a, what is it? The Tasmanian Devil. Right, right. Just throwing, 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 LA? 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.

Yeah. And it was a really, it was a good scene, like because Minneapolis has more theater seats than anywhere outside of New York. And it's a good 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, luxury of having painfully polite people. Yeah. Well, they give you a shot. Yeah. Right, right. But if they didn't like it, they didn't laugh. Yeah, right.

They just sit there. And I met some really important people in my comedy life. Oh, yeah. I know this guy. They're in Minneapolis. I met Leonard Barr barr who was very nice to us we brought him in jeff tribino was really smart he goes let's bring leonard barr in because people know who he is and we'll pay him and then you know right we'll be all able to

perform then we brought hanny youngman in yeah 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 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. You know, congratulate, hello, Rodney. You know, it's so silly. 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? 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 us. 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. And I don't know why.

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, Yeah. We don't measure all the other things about Sam. We don't measure all the other things about sam we don't measure all the other things about rodney right we just measure i mean i don't know rodney was the last great character comic to live yeah i mean when rodney came to our club that was it yeah and then he

called me after that when i came to la and said I want you to do the young comedian special right and Sam was on that yeah 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 yeah and I said okay but I didn't want to go on last I wanted to to go third. Yeah, third'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. So you were on the Sam. So Sam went on fifth. Well, go ahead.

So it was you, Sam, Dom. Yeah. Harry Basil. Yeah. Bob Saget. Yeah. Rita Rudner. Yeah.

Howie Gold. Wow. Bob Nelson. Yeah. Not Dom? i don't think dom was on not on that one and he might have been though yeah but bob saga was on it yeah i think i got everybody on there but i might 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 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, I'm on last. How the fuck am I going to follow that? Right.

But luckily, I lucked out because after four more people, they 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 happen 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. You're like, this is going to be. Or Andy Kaufman. Yeah. Right. You know what I mean? Yeah. Or Elvis.

Right. It was that kind of a thing he was like an Elvis I think among comics Sam was considered like one of the last groundbreaking people don't you I wonder because I see a lot of young comics and everything else

their heroes are a little different and I think that Sam I don't think Sam was us to I don't think he could be our hero because I don't think Sam was us to... I don't think he could be our hero because I don't think we could emulate him. Right, because he was a little wrong-minded, but stylistically... 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 but you know hicks went highbrowing away but sam was like this was a satirist yes lately sam was a performer yeah he's a clown am i right yeah i think so yeah i think he was a preacher but but he had a stick yeah he had a stick he had a definite stick and he was a rock star comic right but when, 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? Jimmy Walker finally made Mitzi watch me.

Oh really? Yeah. In what year? 82? It was, I think it was 82, yeah. Yeah.

And then, what did she say? He's a sweater comic. I go, what? 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, man. You're from the Midwest? And then she'd pinch my cheek. Yeah. I'm from the Midwest. Yeah. I love Mitzi.

She was always nice to me. Yeah, yeah. Did you wear a sweater? I had it in the car. And she'd go, where's your sweater? I'd 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 she told me to wear a scarf. She did, honestly? Yeah. See?

You'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, it was good. It was good for me. Yeah. Because 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, let's 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, Let's 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 what I do. I don't give me, give me the third or fourth spot. So I, I don't even know what that place looks like after 10 30. Yeah.

Right. You know, sometimes it's like, it still gets weird. It's always going to be weird. You know, the OR is still like you, you know how good this set is.

Yeah. If you go to the OR, I don't care what the crowd is. Yeah. It's, it's it's a really true oh yeah uh barometer you can eat it in there yeah you can eat it easily with just a piano player you could just eat it 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 this is 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 uh 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, we want you on. 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 while, 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 when I ran into her once. She goes, 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 you got to the store, though, right? Yeah, 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 Dunes O'Tail 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. Did it change your life? Yeah, the next day I got a holding deal from NBC. Did it change the audience coming? Did people show up? Not quite yet. Right. You know, because, I mean, it did 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 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 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? Yeah. 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 Letterman,

that was one of the things you were working for. That was the touchstone. That's the thing. That was our American Idol. But as a comic, it was validation. A rite of passage. A rite of passage. And it was a validation. You know, when I... My first Letterman, I dressed up,

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

Right. Exactly. And then back, I walked walk to the yeah to the clean theater right exactly and then back i walked back to the dirty right exactly and you did the thing but like what 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 i was i couldn't even believe it was happening and it wasn't that long did you just keep looking at him when you're looking right in the face you just go and they know you're looking like that yeah 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 and the producer was happy they're like he's

great guest and i'm like just in time for for because i always wanted to be a panel comic and i did that with conan yeah yeah yeah but like for me watching letterman and richard lewis or jay 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're like oh here he here comes, what's going on with this guy? I always wanted to be that guy. And, you know, those guys were naturals at it. Yeah, yeah. You know what I mean? Like the Steinberg and that was the early guy, 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 yeah i did i did my panel was good but it was joke oriented right sure i wanted to do jokes sure i didn't know how to really interact with johnny i was terrified yeah that i would upset him did you ever sit there for a minute yeah yeah oh yeah 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, I can't trust that situation. It's true though it is. Then you try it later and nothing. Nothing. Hey, what about that? I got a big laugh on that pause. Nope, not here. No, not here. I don't know, there's something magic about that room. Well, I think it was

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 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 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 yeah. Well, I get tired of it. You know, like you got 120 shows you're competing with.

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 did you fly back and forth? No, I live there. I live there. Yeah. I've lived there for 10 years. You still live there or did you fly back and forth? No, I live there. I live there. I've lived there for 10 years. You still live there?

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 of 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'm happy, but I know what it's like. I mean, you know, like I've always.

I would talk to you anytime. Yeah, well, that's sweet. Even 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 story?

So I'm at Bally's. Bob never played the stage in Vegas. He thought it was beneath him or his agent did or someone. We do corporates though. I said to my Frank, I go, I got to meet Bob Hope. I'm working in Bally's at the same time.

He goes, all right. I go, what's he getting for this? Because that's what comics want to know. He's getting $250, that's what comics want to go he's getting 250 000 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 side. How old was he then? Oh, man. 80.

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, yeah, yeah. And he goes, 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 you know how a makeshift stage in a banquet room. Right.

You know, but a Bob Hope makeshift stage. Right, right, right right a little different yeah you know and he comes he's finished he's done it and he comes and you know how you 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. You want me to break my neck out there? And I just go, go, Bob. go ball yeah yeah who's in charge of that you know i want to get and then frank rio goes this is a young comedian louis ederson wanted to meet you oh hi kid anyway anyway if anybody knows make sure those cards are never out there hi kid and that was it that was it hi kid but i really appreciated it sometimes it's

funny with comics where yeah because i love comedy you love comedy and you have your heroes and stuff and and like there was like i couldn't meet prior i just couldn't like when i was at the i met him at the comedy sure well and i was there he was he just wasn't very friendly no he's aloof you know yes i think he was in his head doing his thing or he didn't want to talk but i just remember like he came it was after he burned himself up and he was starting to rebuild oh and he went to the or it was when i was a dorm 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's 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's unbelievable how vulnerable he is. It was. It was really a lot, and I watched him. One of my heroes just sort of like, have a hard time, and then he got off stage, and he's smoking a cigarette, and I just watched him walk down the hall with Mitzi, and it was like, it was enough. What am I going to do? Yeah, that's a beautiful image right there.

I saw that, too. I didn't want to say anything, either. I just said hi. Yeah, that's a beautiful image right there. I saw that, too. I didn't want to say anything, either. I just said hi. Yeah, yeah. There were guys who were, 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. When Rodney was older and Sam had been up for a few days. I can't remember exactly the story but you know yeah he and sam no it was uh 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 was 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 had

later in life he had gotten on medicine and he felt better, right? He was great. They did a surgery and he didn't come out of it. Oh, really? They were going to fix, I think, a vein or an aneurysm or something. Oh, no shit. And he never regained consciousness. Oh. 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 cranky. He was right before social media, really. But with other comics, it seemed that he only- Oh, he loved them. Yeah, he had a crew, though, just his guys.

Yeah. And he was heavy, man. 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'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 i'm gonna hug you i'm gonna kiss you too hey you know who reminds me of him i think like my generation's equivalent is uh a tell yeah it's very very similar i agree with you yeah yeah i love a tell i love him great chance that's just 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. I rarely talk more than three minutes. He's like, what? I'm like, nothing. How you doing?

Good, and you? Yeah. But I like people that are really real like that. Oh, yeah, he's the best. You know what? 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 on the road.

I don't think they have a choice. Yeah, I think, well. In their mind. Yeah, maybe in their mind, but, you know, they're just, they're really kind of heroes. They're heroes in their thing, you know? Like, they don't care. I don't care if you like me or not.

I like those people. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't care if anyone likes me. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think Rodney, I think he liked being liked. Yeah, well, I think we all do deep down. It's just hard to get to it. Yeah, yeah.

So Rodney loved comics, you know, when they would hang around. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They would, you know. He was always surprised that he was so famous. Yeah. Do youney loved comics, you know, when they would hang around. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They would, you know. He was always surprised 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 all right?

Yeah. What happened to that other guy? Yeah. No good. That's sad. It's true, isn't it? That's weird. But I love you, and you're one of the great comics,

and I love talking to comics, and it was great talking to you. You feel like we did it? Thank you. Yeah, we did it. Okay, good. Yeah, and we'll do it again. Sure. We'll come back.

I'd love to talk about more stuff. Okay. Thanks, Louie. Thank you. First of all, congratulations on the, what is it, the third season now? Yeah, third season of Baskets. Or as some people say, I love you on buckets. On buckets.

And last year you won an Emmy, right? First year. Yeah, first year I won the Emmy. Last year Trump won the Emmy. Trump won. I mean, Baldwin. That's right, Baldwin, that's right. Yeah.

But so you did the third season, people love it. And then on the cover you're in drag on the cover of the book. Yeah, yeah. That's right. Baldwin. That's right. Yeah. But so you did the third season. People love it. And then on the cover, you're in drag on the cover of the book. Yeah. Hey, Mom. It's good, isn't it? Yeah. That's the episode I won the Emmy for, the Easter brunch episode. Oh, yeah.

That's great. It was a lot of fun. So how did the book, how did it come to be? I was overwhelmed one day after playing a part playing the part basically uh-huh or feeling it you know i started feeling like different about my mom and you know because i'm playing a mom yeah and i went home and i in my phone wrote i just started writing a letter to her hey mom how are you yeah I'm sorry I haven't written for so long. You know, she's been gone for a long time.

But I hadn't... I talk to her all the time. You do? Yeah, I talk to people, you know, my dad and my mom. Really? My brothers and sisters. When you're just at home? You know, when I'm out somewhere, I might go,

look at this setup, huh? Right? My dad, look at this setup, huh my dad look at this setup huh you need 10 minutes in here dad you could get this all straightened out he's got a mishmash i don't know what he's doing with these things trying to reach these it looks scientology to me i'll just try i got obsessed with the sound but that's your dad that's my dad look at this setup what is this uh is this a a craftsman house? They're so dingy and dark, for God's sake.

You got to open up at least part of the roof to get some damn light in. And my mom would go, hey, would you ever consider selling that rug? Wow, kid, that's a beauty. What is that, a 9x12? Is it an 8x6? I have a perfect spot for that. If you're ever going to get rid of it, I wish you would just let me know. So your parents exist in you all the time?

All the time. I'd never thought about the practical therapeutic benefits of that. It's good because I have actually thought, I just was mean to that person, Dad, because of you, because you were mean. That's how I got that voice. i just was mean to that person dad because of you because you were mean yeah that's how i got that voice yeah i never was mean yeah you were mean then i learned how to be mean and now i'm mean but it's really you yelling at the person at the airline oh that's interesting you know it's hard to explain that to the person at the airline but but yeah i always have to go back yeah as my mother and go, listen, I'm so sorry.

Because it's really true, because I will always go and apologize and go, listen, that wasn't me. That was just, I'm really sorry. I don't know what got into me. I'm fat. Yeah. I'm hungry. And so I'm hangry. I'm hangry, which I hate that expression.

Hangry. But so that's interesting though so you you're in constant conversation with these uh with these parents that have been gone a long time but your brothers and sisters too yeah like i'll say to my brother you know i have yeah we've lost seven believe it or not at 11. wow so so i'll say i wish i would have done more to help you i wish i could have helped you be healthier i wish i could have saved you you know because i have a you know when you grow up in a big family like that it's kind of like growing up in a commune you know yeah yeah you know these everybody has their place and and you're part of all them like i'm part of you know my sister mary who loved to eat and my mom who

loved to eat you know and i'm i'm part of my dad who loved to indulge in alcohol i you know that addiction i have but i don't compulsively eat anymore so i feel like i'm i just feel so grateful for that it feels better right yeah because i used to like i still size up all the food i come across uh-huh like know, like I'm at a hotel and they have free, a cauldron of pretzels. Yeah. That you can take. Yeah.

And then they have a cauldron of cookies next to the cauldron of pretzels. Yeah. I guess for a healthy or a not healthy choice. Yeah. And then they have all the free sodas, juices.

Yeah. In a little refrigerator that you can just take. Yeah. Like you can just take it, I say. Yeah, take all you want. Could I empty it? Because I'm a poor kid.

You know, like I'm never going to have anything again. You're going to have it all. And so, but I have to, I talk to myself about that. But what about when it's in the room, man? They have it in the room, too. But I don't, the mini bar thing, because it's a ripoff in my mind oh so that so i just go i'm not gonna and also if you don't have anything in the mini bar then that's the the key are you telling them to empty it i always empty no but i always take everything out and put my water and stuff in

their little fridge but like after a show you don't go back and eat the candy bar? No, no. Do you? Yeah. Oh. I don't know what else to do. I'm trying to reward myself. Well, I always have the protein bars with me. Oh yeah, which ones?

Quest usually, because they're the least good tasting. Yeah. Not, I mean in a bad way, but they're the least sugary. Right, right, right. There's one gram of sugar in them. Oh, that's not bad.

Yes, and like 28 grams of protein. Oh, great. So I need it because when you're stopped compulsively eating, you forget to eat. Really? Yeah, because you're either all in or all out. So I have to have a schedule and that but the hard part is when you're on the road or when you're doing a book tour you know this yeah

you're going everywhere in one day you're going to over 100 places yeah and doing like three bookstores it's like doing drugs it's like kind of a drug type of thing oh with the junket thing so you do a radio show then you go to the store and then you're going to do a dinner or whatever and then you know yes but no i mean you go to the radio like you go do a radio you go do a tv yeah you go do a podcast yeah then you go then you so you got to plan lunch in there because you know uh the agents and managers will fill up all the time right they don't care about you yeah yeah they care about getting the book on. Selling that thing out. Yeah. Yeah. So this book. Yeah.

What did you learn about yourself doing this? What a, how ungrateful I was to my mom at times. But I also understood that I was good to her too. But I learned mostly, man, you better, you should ask your parents what you want to ask them. Yeah. Because when they go, you don't get a chance. Like, I would like to know in my mom. I was like, what was it with dad? Why would you stick with this monster that long?

Was it just a time thing where when you have 11 children in the 60s or 50s, you don't – where are you going to go with 10 kids? Yeah, right. What are you going to do? Nobody's going to take you in. There's no shelters back then. Sure. And what are you going to do with your life, I think, was a big question.

And my mom – this is one thing about my mom. When my dad quit drinking when he was 69, my mom turned to me and said, I told you he'd quit. And I said, even then I knew that was really the pathology of our family. As long as it works out at some point. Yeah, you're validated. Yeah, you're validated. Yeah, you're validated. She won, I guess, right?

I guess. She never gave up. Did he become a better person after he quit drinking? No, he was meaner. No one's worse than he went to one AA meeting and went, I don't need that fucking AA. And then we had to quit going to Al-Anon because he quit going to, because we didn't have any strength with that.

You know, we drove, with alcoholism, everything works off the alcoholic and the alcoholism. Yeah. It all fuels. Right. You know, you're, like, when you get home, you say, you think he's drinking? Yeah. When you walk in. Yeah.

That's your big question. Right. That's an unfortunate thing to grow up with. Oh, sure. I always say it's like fallout. Yeah. You know? Of course. Like shrapnel. Yeah, it is. It's like shrapnel. What is that? Yeah. That's me unfortunate thing to grow up with. I always say it's like fallout. Yeah. You know? Of course.

Like shrapnel. Yeah, it is. It's like shrapnel. What is that? That's me. That's me, Louie. Louie, you're the laziest human being in the world. Right?

Yeah. And I go, well, thank you, Father. He goes, it's not a compliment. That's why he's made it go bad. And then my mom would chime in well you did say world andy and if he was wouldn't that be something she had it all worked out my mom was the loveliest you would have loved my mom honestly yeah you would have loved her yeah so you every good part of me oh yeah every good part of me is my mom that's sweet but you but right so you what do you mean

you quit going down on the after he went to 1AA? Yeah, and so he kind of threw a bucket of water on all that. Yeah, but you could have kept. We didn't know. We didn't have any self-worth. He owned all of us. He owned all of us. Right.

You know? But I wish my mom would have kept going. I think it could have changed her, and maybe she could have left. Or at least had a little more boundaries for herself. But what are you going to do? And then people who quit drinking find ways to be meaner in some other kind of side.

If they don't do the other work. If they're dry drunks. I'm a little dry myself. Are you? These days, yeah. You haven't been going to meetings? No. I'm going to a meeting tonight because I said, damn it, get to the meeting. Then I looked at where it was and I went, you're still going. Because, you know, the traffic here is almost unbearable.

I don't know how people even go out of their house. If I had a job, I'd just quit it. I wouldn't drive every day like that. It's the worst. I wouldn't be able to do it. It's just fucking horrible. There's no rhyme or reason to it. It's every day, all day long.

Let's go back to when they were odd and even days. You're right. I like to go out late at night. I like when I drive home from the comedy store at midnight on a Tuesday. I'm like, this is how it's supposed to be. This is how it was when you moved here. Yeah, you can just drive. You remember in the 80s when it was really not too bad.

Not too bad. Now, when I come here, I just go, how did they do remember in the 80s when it was really not too bad. Not too bad. Now, when I come here, I just go, how did they do it? I don't know what the hell is going on because it's not going to get any better. And you can't get mad at anyone really about it because you're all in the same boat. Yeah, it's despair. Because how does it change? It doesn't change. And that's when you might yell at your mother if you had to be in the car with her.

I tell you. While she was going on those times, my mom would go, well, look at look at this now what kind of car is that louis oh god why aren't you angry yeah yeah my mom was just here i i gotta read how you handled it oh i i don't get i don't get along with her as good as i want to why don't you become friends with her and stop uh thinking of her as your mother that was always the problem yes we don't know you never thinking of her as your mother that was always the problem yes you never thought of her as your mother who are you just some lady i grew up with listen can i tell you how valuable it would be you got us to start hanging out with you you got to bite the bullet listen she put up with you all those years kind of what is a young boy though didn't she yeah yeah when she i think

she yeah i mean i well why don't you have those conversations because you know but you got to put Is a young boy, though, didn't she? Yeah. I think she. Yeah, I mean. Well, why don't you have those conversations? Because, you know, but you've got to put out and take, go to the dinner and sit through it. And you've got to, like, God, she knows everything about you. And she knows everything. You need to know everything about her. I'm trying. So you can get. I'm not telling you what to do.

No, but she came over because I got the new house and it's got a guest room. I thought this will be good. It's grown up someplace for you what to do. No, but she came over because I got the new house, and it's got a guest room. I thought, this will be good. It's grown up someplace for my mother to stay. I can't wait for the complaint she made. No, she didn't. No, she's so scared of me that she just walks on eggshells. But she came out, and I'm like, there's the room. It's nice.

I immediately got physically ill when she got here. I was like, oh, I'm sick. And then after two days like i was just sort of like why now i'm never gonna get her to stay at a hotel again yeah but where does she live florida oh well yeah she probably doesn't even want to she must have had fun though no it was fun yeah i just like it's i guess it's just hard because uh it's not that we weren't, but I don't quite know how to be around her for more than a day. Because you are selfish. And what does she like to do? You find out what she likes to do and go do it with her.

I bought her a purse. That's nice. Yeah. We went shopping. We went to see art. There you go. Yeah, we did stuff. You did stuff.

What is her hang around thing in Florida? I don't know. Does she play cards at all does she do any kind of thing she likes to uh walk her dogs and you know she does her exercises she goes to the pilates and they go sit at the pool sometimes maybe they play cards i don't maybe that sounds like you were nice to her and you were just hard on yourself well that's a yeah i i was i was I was sad that I got ill. And I don't think it was her fault, but she got here the day after. Oh, you got sick? Yeah.

Oh, physically sick? Yeah, physically sick. And I felt bad. Oh. Did she take care of you? Oh, no, that's her thing. She's like, I'm not, that Florence Nightingale thing's not for me.

Did she say that? She said it all my life. Oh, you have to talk to her about that. Oh, yeah? Why not? Like, what isn't the right thing to say? Go, Mom, what does that mean? That means I never took care of you.

You should say, that really screwed me up. She does. I've done it from the stage. I've done it on the podcast. All she says now is, I'm sorry. I know, but wait. She's gotten better. Oh, good.

Because maybe she was trying to make you stronger. I think she just didn't know how to do it. Maybe no. You know, did you ever ask her how it was for her? Yeah. Yeah. I talk about it. And so that must have been hard.

Yeah. I think with my parents generation, they didn't know how to be parents. What didn't come natural? Listen, because it was, I don't think they knew because they were raised by people who just kind of pushed them out in the yard and said, get the lawn done. Right? Right.

You know, back in those days, you had a bunch of chores. My dad talked about it like he had built the house himself. You know, I don't know if you know this, Louie, but not everybody has wooden floors. And I go, what? I didn't know where he was going. Dirt. That's what I'm talking about, dirt.

And for a floor. You're complaining. Dirt. Dirt. We had a dirt floor. And I just thought he was so funny. I didn't know he was so funny i thought he was kidding because now it was dirt louis a friend of mine had a sod roof i just laugh at that stuff but he was serious

this has been such a good thing for me this book this book and i wrote all the stuff i wrote all the stuff and the fine did you get emotional i just you should hear the audio i cry through the whole thing i cry a lot in it yeah because i said what am i going to do not cry i mean you can still hear it but you can understand it but i i i cry more yeah me i cry more too yeah it's good for us you know if we don't cry, well, I'll eat. Yeah. And I'll be mean. Yeah.

It's better for me to get that, you know, it's loss that we're dealing with. Yeah. You know, we're really. What did we lose? What are we grieving? The lack of a good childhood? Yeah. You know, your mom didn't take care of you.

How about that? Yeah, yeah, yeah. My dad didn't ever. I don't remember him saying, I really love you, Louie. I'm really proud of you. My mom said. You're all right, kid. You're all right, kid. Ah, you know. I really love you, Louie. I'm really proud of you. You're all right, kid. You're all right, kid.

You know. You got a point, Louie. It's too bad it's at the top of your head. That's what he used to say. My mom actually has gotten, she does it now. I'm proud of you. I love you. Yeah, she should be.

I did all right. Yeah, you did all right. I heard you on a Bill Simmons podcast. You were just so good good and it was so interesting to hear the two of us what you did well how you did it and what you did i love i love listening to him i think he's an innovator like you are it was interesting as nice as i think he is he's very nice a guy and he's a little snide right he's snide i like his real like you know he's a real uh you know boston guy yeah he's snide he's got a little sign i like all of that group

i like all that group. Jimmy and all those guys who you know would shave your head. Sure. While you're sleeping. While you're sleeping. Sure, yeah. If you got drunk, they'd write on your face. Yeah, they'd write on your face.

And I, which I would never do, but would think it would be funny, but I would feel terrible forever. No, you'd be the guy going like, don't do it. Don't, don't. Oh, you're doing it. All let me let me put the exclamation point i'm just gonna do a little yeah i put the exclamation point how is it changed like the you know the the the show how are you doing dates yeah and then how's the is it changed the uh the uh more people coming out or what? You can't tell. You know, I can't tell. I got my crowd. Yeah.

But then I hear every show, we love you, Christine. Oh, really? We love you, Christine. From Baskets? Yeah, they really love that character. Oh, yeah? They are in love with her. You know, they'll come.

And people will just hug me sometimes in an airport and go, I just love Christine. And I go, oh. I'll tell her you said that's but there's a lot of you in that yeah yeah yeah yeah but i'm a but you're we're both yeah a lot of our parents sure yeah yeah what book did we have to to choose from right we became them yeah we became them i'm fighting it though you seem to have like allowed it to happen yeah i just i put the dress on and everything like i didn't know this character was going to turn into my mother i'll be honest with I'm fighting it, though. You seem to have allowed it to happen. Yeah, I put the dress on and everything. I didn't know this character was going to turn into my mother,

I'll be honest with you. Yeah. That just happened. Yeah. Because I started saying to Jonathan Kreisel, a great director and a great friend, and really knows how to make stuff. You know, Portlandia, what a genius idea.

Yeah. I'd say to him, hey, do you mind if i try it like my mom uh-huh and he'd always go yeah yeah and that was the right thing because i was just trying to find out who it was yeah and kind of make myself disappear and it was so much fun first of all i were i really appreciate what women must go through because you know men we do not we don't get all that get up and all that stuff. You need to smell your clothes to make sure that they're, you'll ask other people, does this look all right? I do anyway.

I don't know. I have pictures from me in the 80s that look like I'm in a clown outfit because I thought, yeah, that's a pretty color shirt. I have pictures of me on TV in a lot of different cloud outfits. Yeah, it's crazy, isn't it? Why the fuck? What was I thinking? Can't someone mention anything? I had striped bell bottoms on once. I looked like a Ferris wheel.

You know? A carousel. That's what it looked like. A carousel going around. Just pictures and pictures. You know how lucky are we, though, Mark? 80s, 90s, 2000s. Yeah. You know, 2010s. Yeah.

Come on. We're all right. We did. That's 40 years, right? Yeah. We're 40 years. We must be very close. Yeah.

I think so. This is my 40th year. Of standup? Yeah. I think since the first job, I started working in 88, 98, 2008. So almost 30 years. 30 years stand up. Yeah, yeah.

Unbelievable. Wow. Unbelievable. It's crazy. Yeah. Do you remember how hard it was? Well, yeah. I mean, I was kind of driven though.

And I had a little pocket full of fat jokes. And boy, everybody loves everybody loves yeah funny or something so I always got them with sure sure sure yeah you know and then evolved I always asked to be the MC because I knew I'd have I could use that time yeah to develop myself and no one wanted it no one wants to be in Minneapolis. No one wants to be the MC. In Minneapolis? In Minneapolis. Nobody wants to be the MC. I want to because I have that, I could try out stupid ideas

or they'd come into my head. Do you remember Tom Arnold from a movie? Oh, yeah. I just worked with him a couple weeks ago. I did some benefit or something at the store and he was on before me just bringing his head. Yeah, he's so great. He's such a study in everything, isn't he?

I don't know what's going on, but he's trying. He basically did, you know, like he truncated his one-man show that basically ends with, I think, his dad dying of cancer or something. So he's doing a 12-minute set, and he's got cancer in it at the end. And then I go up next, and I'm like, Jesus Christ. Did you say something? Yeah, of course I did. Of course I did. I said, I'm going to start with cancer.

And end with, I'm going to be a baby. Yeah, exactly. I'm not Florence Nightingale. I don't buy that crap. Huh, Mark? Yeah. Well, look, I'm excited for you. I'm excited about the book. I'm excited about the book.

I'm glad you came by. You make me laugh. And this looks great. You know, it's always great to see you. And thank you for, I wanted to mention. Yes. When I did your podcast last, I had so many comments and people coming up to me about us talking. Oh, that's great.

About our dads. Yeah. And our experiences. Oh, yeah. So thank About our dads. Yeah. And our experiences. Oh, yeah. So thank you so much. It helps people. It helps, and it helps us. Yeah, I think so.

Yeah. Yeah, I always love it. And I can't, can I. What? Can I, can you give me your mom's address and I'll send her the book? I got, they sent me five. Well, let me sign one for her.

Okay. Is that okay? Yeah, I'll let you sign this one. Okay. All right, thanks, Louie. All right, thank you, Mark.