Episode 185: Sam Morril – Stand-Up Comedian, Actor, Writer, and Producer
Sam Morril is a Stand-Up Comedian, Actor, Writer, and Producer. Coming off of his new Netflix special, “Same Time Tomorrow”, Sam graces us with his low, gruff New York voice and dark sense of humor. A real comedians comedian they say. His style is jokes. Limited long-winded anecdotes, no hour-long thesis statements, but jokes, and he’s absolutely as funny as his 20 some years of doing stand-up would lead you to believe. Discussing his disdain for the “tortured comedian” trope, his interview with David Letterman, his appreciation for coming up before TikTok, cancel culture, and more Sam is a dynamic voice in the comedy scene who’s taken his time honing his craft, and he’s just getting started. If you love comedy or just love hearing the story of a grounded hard-working person making success for himself in an impossible industry, this one is for you! It’s a riot! Don’t miss it!
Youtube Link to This Episode
Sam’s Website – https://www.sammorril.com/
Sam’s Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/sammorril/
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Transcript
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Hi guys, it's Tony Robbins.
You're listening to Habits and Hustle.
On today's episode of Habits and Hustle, I have one of my favorite comedians on the planet.
His name is Sam Morrell, who I saw on David Letterman's special on Netflix recently.
And I tracked him down on Instagram and practically begged him to be on the podcast.
He is so funny.
He is so witty.
He is so quick.
I am obsessed with his sense of humor.
And you guys, he has a new Netflix special out too right now that's crushing it.
He also released his own special on YouTube about a year and a half ago, and it already has over 11 million views.
Everywhere I go, people are now saying his name to me, which is really funny.
I feel like he's just like bursting now.
And by next year, everyone will know this guy's name.
Please listen to this podcast.
You guys are going to love it.
Enjoy.
Today, we have Sam Morrell on the podcast, who is an amazing comic.
Who I'm amazing.
Now, I'm extra happy to be here.
Yeah, right?
You got the basketball hoop outside.
You got the pool.
You got the, you have a treadmill in like every room of your apartment.
No, it's like the, it's the decrease.
You exercise a lot.
This is crazy.
I do exercise a lot.
That's kind of what my, that's my whole shtick.
My background is exercise.
But, um, and it is like the decor.
People, some people collect jewelry.
I just collect treadmills.
That's kind of like what I do.
It's a nice treadmill.
Thank you.
It's a woodway.
They're all woodways, by the way, which are the best kind of treadmills.
Do you work out at all?
I mean, I do it for a different reason than you do it.
Why do you do it?
To sweat out, to mental health.
Yeah, but like just to be, just to not get gross like well why would you be gross unless you're just drinking all the time you mean mental mentally gross thing maintenance you know like and also i've like had injuries and stuff so you just try to like maintenance to make sure you don't get injured yeah well i mean it's not like i'm working out these days to be uh to win any competitions i'm just doing it for my mental health do competitions no i never did competitions but i i it's really funny because i know you don't know anything about my background like that but um i wrote a bunch of books in the health and fitness space i would do like i've been on a few different covers of different magazines in the fitness space, stuff like that.
I was a trainer for a long time.
So that was like kind of my beginning a little bit.
And then, so yeah, so fitness is a major like foundation of mine.
So that's why, but now I do it for more of my mental health and more just because I really just.
I'm the guy burping up gin on a Marriott treadmill on the road.
That's my fitness.
But you're trying to flesh out the toxins of your body.
You feel good.
Working out really is like, that's like the best hangover cure other than like maybe an iv drip or something the iv drips don't always work number one but i don't i feel like you can pee out a lot of the vitamins and my friend who who i'm very close dr abe he's gonna kill me because he's a very close friend of mine he he'll actually give you a drip if you want one really absolutely whenever you want When do you want one?
I'll arrange it for you.
Like, Dr.
Abe, I'm going to call you right after this podcast.
What?
I'm going to abuse it.
You should abuse it.
You should.
All right.
Give me Abe's info.
I'm going to give it to you.
We'll call him after the show.
He'll He'll be more than happy to go to your, he's a concierge doctor and he like takes care of everybody.
I'm telling you, all the big, all the big ones that you know.
You name them, that's probably his client.
Palms.
Okay.
So, but my point, what I was going to say is the fitness part is great because of the, you can't sweat out all your, of course, your toxins, whatever, but it's just great for your overall mental health and just to kind of keep you
sharp and focused.
I do feel like sometimes I go to the gym and I just like, I come up with material because my mind is awake again.
So, you know, absolutely.
Well, first of all, it's also the, it's a feeding ground for like great material, watching all those people doing all sorts of kooky things.
And, you know, it's like a pickup trip.
I mean, not so much in the last couple of years with COVID, but like before and now coming back, it's very much a great feeding, a breeding ground, I should say, for that.
Yeah, no, it's, it's, there's a gym in my, I'm like in an old person building in Upper West Side.
And like, there's all these old people.
And I'm in the type of building where they're like, even pre-COVID, they're like, you're not allowed to have a trainer.
And And I'm like, I'm not gonna go if I don't have someone pushing me.
Really?
They won't let you.
Why?
Some old school bullshit.
I don't know.
Then they were like, You can only, uh, the guy.
So the old people in there were like passive-aggressively, like, you know, there's a rule here.
Like, I don't care, but like, you know,
and then they're like, Did you talk to the building?
And I'm just like, Yeah, yeah, of course.
But then eventually, I was like, I'll just talk to the building.
The building's like, Yeah, it's fine.
Are you in a fancy, like, like, shishi building?
It's not, it's like, it's for like a gym doorman building, it's like as low-end end as you could get, really.
Really?
Yeah, yeah.
All right.
Well, how big is your space at your apartment?
Small, I'm gonna move.
Well, they're like 300 square feet.
It's like $10,000.
Well, how big is it?
$575.
Okay, no, you're like, you're like, you're like scorning me for the 300 square feet.
Meanwhile, 500 is not that much large.
All right, I'm sorry, backyard pool, basketball hoop.
This is typical for well, no, it's not that typical.
No, this is a nice place.
I've seen LA place.
This is solid.
Thank you.
No, I'm going to move soon.
I'm looking at places.
It's a process, but.
Have you always been like you're so let me just say this because I just kind of jumped right in.
Sure.
But like, so Sam, I saw him on, I saw him on this special with David Letterman.
I knew within 10 seconds that you are like,
you're just hilarious, but you're going to be,
he's very much like.
as we as we speak, he's like really gaining momentum and you're going to be massive.
I feel you're going to be the next like Sebastian.
Oh, we're so different.
I mean, yeah, he's doesn't matter.
you're great thank you yeah he's uh
yeah i gotta get in like the next courses movie that's the plan well try i mean i think i think it's you're in the joker movie for like a sec i'm very briefly in it yeah okay but you still were well how did you get into that movie uh todd phillips called me the director he's a really cool guy and todd's background is in comedy so he really likes comedians yeah i mean todd was discovered by ivan rightman who just passed away so he was yeah ivan rightman discovered him and then i think helped him with his first movie and i I believe
helped produce Road Trip, which was like his first big comedy.
Oh.
And then, you know, Todd made like old school the hangover.
He made huge comedies.
Amazing mainstream comedies.
And
yeah, and he just like called me and was like, I thought, you know, when someone like that calls you, you're like, all right, dude, I'm sure it's Todd Phillips.
And then my age was like, no, it's really him.
I was like, oh, shit.
All right.
And then, yeah, he was just like, I really like your comedy and I'd love for you to be in this.
And I was like, and then I see the role and it's like open micer comedian.
I'm like, God damn it.
I'm an open micer yeah yeah so i i had to ask him like hey do you want me to like suck because i'm playing an open micer and he goes well you're gonna be sam so do whatever you want like well i'm not gonna suck with my material i'm going up with like good jokes so i'll be the funny guy at the open mic and he was like that's fine and i was like all right so i was just did like 15 different takes and uh
maybe more and it was like i was like i'm gonna do it's an audience i'm doing a different joke every take i don't want to repeat material so he's like just make sure it would work in the 80s because the movie's in the 80s So he's like, no cell phone jokes or anything.
And only one joke was he's like, don't do that again.
What joke was it?
I like the joke.
The joke is like,
it's a weird one to tell here because it's a, I got like, it's one of my few jokes where I can, I have an act out, but I'd say, you know, my ex would always say, like, you made me come.
Like, she'd give me credit for the orgasm.
So she'd be like, I'm about to come.
And I'd be like, cool.
And then she'd be like, stay completely still.
And I'd be like, all right.
And then she'd be like, you just made me come.
And I'd be like, are you sure?
Because it feels like I played dead with an erection.
You know, like, made you.
So the joke would be like, that's like if you went to the barber shop and I'm like, can you hold the buzzer like right here?
And then you just like move your head around.
And I'm like, you're the best I've ever.
Not a great joke for an audio podcast, but you get the gist.
This is not an audio podcast.
I said that YouTube is growing.
It's new.
Yeah, it's growing.
We do a lot of teasers.
A lot of video comes from it from TikTok.
A lot of stuff on TikTok.
Yeah, well, so that's how that came about.
And then, you know, we did like a bunch of takes.
And
yeah, he was like, Todd todd was so nice and then uh and joaquin phoenix i'm like the guy who goes on before him so he's like creeping in the room and then there's one point where he's just as like you know i'm not gonna like but i don't know what his process is he seems like an intense very you know actor and i don't want to
know i'm like i'm fucking i don't belong here this is so stupid and uh and we're in this club danger fields which is no longer there anymore but when we shot it you know where is it anyway it was on like 59th and
i don't know like 1st or something it was far east It was, I mean, they used to shoot great specials there.
That's where like, you know, the old Rodney Dangerfield.
I love Rodney Dangerfield.
He's like one of my favorite comedians of all time, but they would shoot the old specials where it's like,
you know, Jerry Seinfeld, Sam Kinnison, Bill Hicks, like all the legendary sets.
And I remember he would give funny intros.
So he'd be like Bill Hicks.
He'd be like, this next comic, he's so far ahead of his time.
His parents haven't even met yet.
Give it up for Bill Hicks, everybody.
Like funny in the intros of comics.
I mean, I loved Rodney.
So, but I never worked that club.
They were always, it was always kind of a shitty club.
Wow, really?
Yeah, they never took, apparently Rodney was like, he would do drugs at other clubs.
He's like, I'm not doing drugs at my club.
I'll do drugs at the comic strip or something.
But I remember going there and be like, this club sucks.
Really?
And that's why it closed, I guess.
They just didn't really respect comics.
They would do weird shit where you like, you'd go on stage and there'd be like six people in the crowd and they do like, do 25 minutes.
I'm like, for six people?
And I'd be like, all right.
So I remember i'm on stage once just bombing there for six people and i watched them walk three more people into the room and i'm like all right we got nine and then they sit down and they gave me like one joke and they were like nah and they just walked out really yeah it was brutal isn't that hard though for a comic that can like when you get heckled or booed or when people don't like when you feel the energy off of a a crowd and it's not going well like how do you kind of maintain that like how do you keep on going it's like so like isn't it demoralizing and like difficult you just get numb i i mean like doesn't like none of it matters really when you're young and it's like six people and you're bombing it's pretty painful because you're like you just don't see a light at the end of the tunnel but when now when it goes badly i'm more just like either upset with myself or like why did i how why did i fail to connect uh but
um
I mean, now when like they're bad or you're heckled or something, like the audience is usually on my side already.
It's almost like a built-in unfair advantage, which before it was like an unfair in the other way, because I remember having to build material.
you know now people pay decent money for the tickets but i remember when i was starting out you're doing these clubs where they're like free they're giving away tickets just to make sure that they're moving drinks yeah right and uh and these people don't give a shit about you and they're and they're kind of like prove it prove you're funny right now and when you go on with that attitude it can be tough sometimes to take risks and build an act so you have to keep turning over i'm like i don't know how i built an act that way it's very hard you know so wait so let's go back for two seconds so did you ever meet jokeem fil like did you ever get to meet him?
Yeah, we chatted.
And was he weird?
Like, was he intense?
He was so nice.
He was so
normal and warm and friendly.
Like a regular person.
I've heard he's like so like intense.
Yeah, but I think he just takes what he does seriously.
He was so warm.
I mean, I kept doing bits and he was like, I really like your comedy.
And I was like, and I was like, I was like, oh, you're pretty good at what you do.
No, no.
And then he was like,
he was like, you know, a lot of comics, there's like a desperation, you know, and you're just trying to be funny.
You're just like not trying to be like weird.
You're just trying to, and I'm like, literally like, you're playing the Joker.
Yeah.
No more weird character ever.
There's nothing weird.
But I was like, yeah, yeah, yeah.
No, he was, he was awesome.
Did you get like from that experience, did it kind of help propel your career?
Like, what did it do for you?
Did it do anything?
It was like just a cool thing.
I don't know if it like, I don't know if it propelled anything.
Yeah, I think it was like a thing where people were like, holy shit, you're in the Joker.
But like, no, I think what like gets people out in the road is like stand-up clips.
And they're like, I've seen you be funny before.
But it was so cool that Todd used a joke of mine that hits like it's a joke that people like so uh he used that joke where you're like I mean I see people it's like man the internet's brutal because you just see people stealing your joke like some British kid playing a video game and he's like he's like you know just he's dealing more with J in his voice like you know the joke would be like you know women
I look at sex like
men look at sex like
Parking.
No, women look at sex like buying a car.
You're like, is it safe?
Can I see myself in it long term?
You know, will it kill me?
And I say men look at sex like parking a car.
We're like, there's a spot.
There's another spot.
Do I have to pay?
Never mind.
Handicapped.
We'll see.
I say, hope no one sees this after handicapped.
So that joke he used, and I just see British kids like on TikTok playing video games, like women look at sex like, you know, and they call it cool.
And they're just, you know, they're just like, and then people are like, this joke's hilarious.
But then you get your like diehard fans who are like, fuck you, you piece of shit.
That shit must happen a lot, but you can't control that, right?
Like it happens in any area or anything.
I just got a text from a friend and she was like, this is your joke.
You posted that.
Yeah.
My friend texted to me and I was like, she's like, you should post.
I was like, all right.
No.
It's true.
But so, okay, I want to ask, I've got so many questions for you.
So my first.
No one cares about intellectual property theft.
It's not a thing that anyone cares about because most people, when you like a thing on social media, you're like, like, move on, never think about it.
And they never think about it again.
But someone put work into that.
thought it was a joke and we and we you know we hone jokes in clubs trying to get jokes to work and those people who just do that will never know the satisfaction of cracking a joke.
And it is satisfying.
I'm sure.
You know?
So then how do you like, what is your, okay, so you're 35, right?
How long have you been a comedian for or doing stand-up for?
I mean, like, my whole life, honestly.
I started like 18.
So were you always funny?
I was funny in a way, like, not like, look at this, look at this fucking guy.
Like, I wasn't funny like that.
I was funny in a way, like.
I was trying to, I thought it was like cool to be like, you know, clever or witty.
So I was trying to, you know, in class, I try to make a funny joke.
Like, that was my sense of humor Was like, you know, you go from like trying to make your classmates laugh to then maybe like 11th grade, you're like, can I make the teachers laugh?
I want to make the adults laugh, you know.
So,
um, I think at first the teachers were like, fuck this guy.
And then by the end, they were like, he's kind of fun.
Like, I remember we did a thing, we do community service for
senior year.
What kind of school did you go to?
It was like an all-boys school on the Upper East Side.
Okay.
Yeah.
And it was,
and we had to do community service and then do a presentation, small school.
And uh,
you know, uh,
I turned that community service into a stand-up routine.
I was like, I really want to be a comic.
I love stand-up.
And it killed, like, it really killed.
But to the point, like,
it was a false sense of
security because I, they already liked me.
They wanted me to be fun.
They thought I was funny as a person.
So they like were rooting for me to succeed.
Whereas like, then you start doing open mics and these people are like, you fucking suck.
Well, that's well, also, I feel like
you're like,
I don't know yet, but like the evolution of you.
Normally, when I have, like, most comics I know, they come from a very dark background or dark place, and that's how they get.
No, we all have our stuff.
Like, you remind me of a guy I went to call, like, when I went to high school, like at some Jewish camp, I went to high school.
You know what I mean?
Like, some like guy that I knew from camp Ramah or from my mind.
I don't think that's necessarily true.
I, you know, I think.
Not because you do Jewish jokes, but because you just seem like just like a nice guy who just like is like you said, sarcastic, funny.
Well, it's a cliche that like every comic has to be this morbid fucking mess.
Is it a cliche?
Yeah, I think so.
I think like, why does every comic, like there can, there are different, I think you need to just be who you are.
You're either funny or you're not.
Like I don't like the idea that I have to be some like brooding dude in a leather jacket on stage like society's fucked.
That's not who I am.
I'm a guy who's like, I think it's cool to be like the funny guy in the room.
Like I got into into comedy because like Rodney Dangerfield, you know, Adam Sandler movies when I was a kid, I was like, he's so silly, you know, like you, I got it more like
comics were like the tension breakers and the disruptors to me where, you know, Rodney's the guy who walks into like the country club and is like, look at these fucking jerk-offs.
Like that was that character.
And I was like, hell yeah, that's the guy.
Everyone's like snooty and he's mocking them.
You're right.
You know, and Sandler was the same way.
I'd watch those movies as a kid.
And then I really got into stand-up.
And, you know,
David Tale in New York was so influential for me because he was so witty and like brilliant.
And, but he had this quality where you could connect to any audience.
And I was like, this is like what comedy is, you know?
And like, you know, Greg Giraldo was so big for me when I was, you know, a young stand-up.
I loved, you know, I love that they seemed like smart, but they were also humble and never.
never condescending to a crap.
Like I like, my goal was like, I'm an entertainer.
I'm not, that's all I am.
I'm here to make you laugh.
And I like the road for me is like the truth.
Like, if you don't do the road as a comic, you're not going to be that good a comic.
Right.
If you, if you can't take this shit to Columbus, Ohio, and Dallas, Texas, and Raleigh, and Florida, if you've not taken it all over the country, like you're missing out.
That's how you kind of hone and perfect the new hour of material.
Well, how else do people do it if they didn't do that?
They get a deal, like a darling deal with the network, and they're just like, yeah, I'll figure it out.
But how?
Like, I mean, do you remember, have you ever done, I'm Canadian, and there's a thing
from Winnipeg originally, then Toronto.
Big Jew population in Winnipeg.
How do you know?
Because I've been.
I'm a touring comedian.
So you've been to Winnipeg, maybe?
Really?
Rumors Comedy Club.
Yeah.
Oh, my God.
What do you think?
This is a fucking game I put in my work.
You know, Tyler.
First of all, wait, is that is rumor still?
I haven't been to Winnipeg in like 20 years, but
I moved to Toronto
really young.
Yeah.
Great city.
And then Montreal.
My family's in Montreal.
Good bagels.
Great bagels.
We live in New York.
We don't have to compete.
Yeah, no, no, no.
It's like F.
Scott's Fitzgerald and Hemingway.
You can appreciate both.
We don't have to.
You know, why?
Because they're sweeter and because they're like chewier.
There's thinner and chewier, I think.
I think they're better.
See, I'm a New York bagel guy, but I love a Montreal bagel.
They can be both good, fine, but I'm used to Montreal bagels.
I like them better.
But I don't.
I love a Montreal bagel.
The Montreal food is on its next level.
It's great because it's very, it's eclectic.
There's a lot of like diversity, culture.
But Toronto, too, is really good.
I prefer Toronto.
It's just overall.
But
what I was going to say to you is rumors.
I can't believe.
Is that even still around?
You still go there?
I haven't been there forever, but I played there.
Yeah.
Where do you play in Toronto?
I just did a small theater.
I forgot the name, Bluma Pell Theater.
I don't know.
It was great.
We did a couple of shows.
It was awesome.
Oh, we got delayed like six hours on the way back.
I was a part of the Just for Laughs festival.
That's what I was going to ask you.
Have you done the Just for Laughs?
Of course, many times.
Yeah.
and they were like they do this thing where they're like we're going to set up the car service uh it's the car will get you three hours before i was like yeah we got like
tsa pre and all that global entry we don't need a three hour they're like well we can't move the car so we're like all right fine three hours early then the flight gets to like six hours so we're there like eight hours.
Oh, I know.
I just got back from Montreal five days ago.
And it was like, what's going on there?
The travel is insane over there.
But the just for laughs thing.
So did you, I was going to say earlier that people would go there, they would perform in front of all the managers and agents, and then they would hopefully get like a, this was back like 10 years ago, even more.
You get a deal in like the 90s, yeah, 15 years ago or 20, no, like early 2000s.
Yeah, I used to work at 3R.
By the time I went there, they were like, you might get a manager.
Maybe.
Yeah, you might get a manager.
Well, okay, so that's how I, okay.
So I were at 3R.
I worked at Michael Rotenberg, who's Canadian.
Okay.
He sponsored my visa.
That was my first real job in the U.S.
Wow.
And
yeah, and I worked for a guy.
His name is not Dave Becky, because that's he's also at Three Arts.
Yeah, he works with Michael.
But it was,
he had red hair, and he would rep Jane.
You're the Canadian, by the way, now.
Oh, now you can hear it.
Red hair.
And about
Janine Garofilo.
If you say his name, Rath, Dave Rath.
I know Dave well.
Is he still around?
Great guy.
He's such a nice guy.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Oh my gosh.
So that was like, I was like a real kid, like a baby baby.
And I lasted like eight days at that job.
Yeah.
It was an awful job, like rolling calls.
And I was like an assistant to the manager because I was going to, the idea was I was going to be a comedy manager.
I guess it's a whole other story of my life.
Couldn't stand that world, but that's, but I love the comic part.
But my point is.
I just picture you taking calls like on the treadmill.
Like, uh-huh.
Uh-huh.
That's like the most show-biz thing I can picture.
Someone with like a towel around their neck or a treadmill.
That was basically like, yeah.
I didn't, but that's a, that was a shitty job.
It was like the worst job i lasted seven days and i went to dave and i was like this is not for me i'm not gonna be doing this he's like i thought you were gonna i've known dave a long time he's a really nice guy who all who are his clients now i don't know oh
so clearly you're not with three arts i haven't had a manager in many years i don't really think they do much I mean, they were taking a lot of money and they weren't really doing anything.
So I was like, I did, my agents are great, but I don't really, I don't really feel the need for a manager.
So why are people paying like the manager 20?
Like they're paying them and the agent.
Like you're left with nothing then if you have both.
It's a good question for them.
But I don't know.
But your agent, you like.
I think some people look at it like taxes, like it's a necessary thing that you just have to do.
But I, yeah, I was like, you're not moving the needle for me.
They'd bring up, they'd be like, you should try TikTok.
I'm like, yeah, I'm on fucking TikTok.
You don't know.
They'd be like, stuff like, you should try this.
And I'd be like, you, you don't know anything.
Like, if there was a manager who could have some social media influence, I'd be like, all right, if you provide value, if you're bringing in opportunity, yeah.
But it's a lot of like, we guide your career.
And I'm like, I know older comics.
They can like guide me.
They can tell me what to do.
And then the agents are great.
They get me a ton of shit and they keep me working and they,
you know.
But it's hard to get like, this is what I was getting at.
So like you, you said you, you, you work out your reps, obviously, by going around the country constantly.
Yeah.
Right.
So, and that's how you, a, know what works, what doesn't work.
But even to like, like to get a manager in this, in your business, isn't it really hard?
There's so many people.
Like, how do you stand out?
Like, how do you like?
You do it like what you said, the just for laughs festivals.
You get seen at festivals.
You, you try to wow them at a festival.
The thing is, whenever you bring up someone to your reps, you're like, you got to see this person.
They're like, I'm good.
Because they want to discover them.
Of course.
They don't want to be told, like, you got to see this person.
They want to be like, they want to be like, I just fucking discovered this dude.
Right.
But who discovered, who takes credit for you?
Oh, geez.
I mean,
some, I have no idea.
Who takes credit for me?
I don't know.
I've had many, I've had many managers and agents in my in my life how long has this agent been around for a couple years okay yeah and so have they done a lot of good like they've helped you a lot yeah they're great but you but it's a kind of like a weird like kind of like chicken or the like you need to be at a certain level successful enough to even get the agent right i always tell younger comics like just focus on being good and the other stuff will come if like you you can't think about outside stuff i understand it's like very uh it can be overwhelming and you could look at other people getting stuff and you could get, you could panic, like, why not me?
But the truth is, like, are you in this for life?
Well, then that person who does this might come right back down and you might do that slow climb and you might have a longer, more interesting career.
Right.
Actually, that's true.
So then, how did, what was your thing?
So you said you were in school, blah, blah, blah.
You learned you wanted to be a stand-up.
So what did you do?
So what was your first thing?
So first like gig that really changed my life was I won a festival in Atlanta called the Laughing Skull Festival and the prize was a year worth of road work.
And I think, so they kind of had to book me at clubs for a year.
That was the prize.
Like all these bookers were at the festival.
So they were like, okay, you're either the opening actor, the headliner at every one of these clubs for a year.
So I was just like working.
I was like, wow, I'm just like a working comic with, you know, a lot of these gigs suck, but they put hair in your chest.
Problem is when you're doing bad gigs is you get like a temper because you're being disrespected so much.
Like you're doing so many gigs where people are just like talking through your set or ignoring you, and you're just like, so now you're like a like a dog that like an owner used to beat, and you're just like biting people for no reason.
So I was just like, you know, I'd be in like an okay crowd and someone, like, you'd hear a glass segment, and I'd be like, fuck you.
And they'd be like, Winnipeg, sorry.
I just, right, right, right.
Like, I was just in Reno all weekend.
Sorry.
That's, I was going to say, was there an audience that's better than others?
And what, like, is there a city or yeah, certain cities are great.
Yeah.
Winnipeg crowds were good.
Although, uh,
damn, I do remember, like, you know, Madison, Wisconsin is like one of the best clubs in the country.
completely really state.
Why?
There's a weird combination of like my friend always says this like blue blue city red state.
That's what you want.
You get a nice mix of everybody.
That's true.
Yeah.
I yeah, Madison, the club is well run.
It's great.
Geez, there's so many good clubs.
I'm trying to think what else.
I mean, certain cities.
Well, how many days a year are you traveling?
So many.
Like, how many?
How many a month?
Almost every weekend.
I'm, I'm pretty much gone.
And then like sometimes in between, you got to do stuff.
So like I'm out for like right now it's been like I've been out for like
about eight days or so so how many days a month would you say you're traveling then at least 15 14 probably so how do you have makes you appreciate New York
any place you live wouldn't it yeah it makes you appreciate home like you're like you know you do a weekend in like Wilmington Delaware and then you're like New York's a good fucking city right right right you're seeing all the like armpits of everywhere yeah a lot of armpits a lot of armpits right so then like, so what is it?
But anywhere is cool for like three nights, honestly, or two nights.
Anything's cool.
But it's not two nights, right?
Because you're doing two nights all the time.
Like
you can find stuff to do.
Like I try to, I try to live like the way Bourdain did, minus the very end, obviously.
Obviously.
But like the way he would do the road, right?
Where he would just kind of appreciate where he is.
She would really find the good in every city, and I found that inspiring, you know?
You seem like such a, I can't get over how like peppy you seem to be for a comedian.
Really?
Yeah.
I mean, I've got my shit.
Everyone's got their shit.
I mean, like,
I've never been called peppy in my life, by the way.
Maybe, maybe to like a fitness person, I'm peppy, where you're like, oh, I thought you'd be horrible.
But amongst comics, no one's ever been like, you're a peppy guy.
Well, not, like, I'm not going to say, like, you're not like Mr.
Congeniality necessarily, but you, but like, I feel like you're someone I would have like.
gone to school with and grown up with or hang out with.
Like you seem like you had like a pretty solid normal life.
And like you went to, like I said, like you had one day you were like okay i think i want to do stand-up and you seem pretty confident like you don't seem like you've had to work out a lot of insecurity or i've been feeling
many years i've i've got issues i i just you know i'm like do you talk about your issues a lot in your in your in your comedy yeah a little bit i mean i'm definitely regressed a little bit as a human in the last year or so i mean like you know you go through a breakup and you just kind of regress a little bit.
You got to heal and deal with shit.
And I think
I didn't bring it up because you told me not to bring it up.
Yeah, but I mean, I brought it up.
It's all right.
I mean,
we're fine.
It's just, you know, you do that.
And then you're kind of like,
it's hard to heal on the road.
Like, no one's ever been like, oh, you're in pain.
Go to Buffalo.
Yeah.
You know, go away from home.
So it's like, yeah, that's, you got to work on stuff.
You got to have a good foundation.
I bring my friend Gary is on the road with me a lot.
That was
Viter, really funny comic.
You love him.
One of my best friends, since we started, I mean, we started an open mics together.
So, I mean, he's one of my oldest friends.
So there's like, he's very, he's a good influence.
But no, I've got my shit.
My parents are supportive, though.
I'm, I'm on good terms with my parents, you know, and like, I have a,
I'm, I'm very fortunate.
I'm very, I try to remember when things are bad, like, it's okay to have gratitude.
It's okay to, you know, a lot of comics like think there's nothing funny about them.
Like, no, you'll find funny shit.
You don't have to be miserable.
There's other stuff there.
And I think positivity,
if I don't have that, I will sink.
So I need to force a little bit of it.
Was this the first, you went out with Taylor Tomlinson to the girlfriend he's referring to?
Was this, was that the first comic you ever dated?
No, I've done it before.
Oh, you have?
Funny women are cool.
I mean, it's like, I'm attracted to smart, funny women for sure.
And so like, so then you're not like, you're not disenchanted.
You'll date another comic if you meet them.
Probably not, honestly.
Because it's painful when it's like you're in the industry yeah because you just you have to see them for the rest of your life like you know right and but that being said like i
i care about it very much i want her to do great you know it's uh she is doing great right she is yeah but it must be strange right because it's like you see them all the time you hear about them all the time it's not like she's an
she's an accountant and you're uh you know like it's always a paths cross that's the next one an accountant yeah i mean maybe not
i don't know about that one but you know i yeah it's, it's strange.
It's a strange, uh,
strange life.
It's, you're just like, all right.
I mean, you get to connect on this deep level, but you, you run a risk, you know,
of it ending.
Well, like, even if it's like, not even talking about her specifically in general, like you have a lot in common.
You can, like, you can practice each other's like bits on each other, I guess, right?
And whatever else.
Do you guys help it?
Do you guys help each other write stuff?
I mean,
every once in a while, yeah.
We run a bit here and there.
Sure.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
I mean, you kind of, the thing is, like, you kind of have a friend you already do that with.
So, you know, but we, yeah, we would do that sometimes.
Do you have other writing partners that help you?
I wouldn't say like partners, but yeah, like people have friends who I text, like, hey, has this bit been done?
Or like, hey, do you want to hop on a Zoom?
And just, you're almost doing it more to just talk it out to a friend.
Yeah.
I want, I need to talk this bit out.
So you just kind of say the joke to your friend.
You see how they react.
And you're like, oh, this guy's got a bit kind of similar.
And you're like, what if I did this?
Is that different?
Like, that's a different bit, you know?
Or like, you just kind of of do uh
yeah you you have those it's also surrounding yourself like you say like i'm positive like i surround myself with like friends who are pretty driven yeah and funny and that pushes you in a great way like you're oh my god so many of my friends like you know joe list or mark normand or like those guys who like uh you know really write a lot and who's the first guy you said joe list Joe Liss.
He's got a new movie out called 4th of July.
It's great.
Oh, really?
Okay.
Yeah.
Name me some other ones that you think are really, really good.
That are like close.
I mean, Phil Hanley's one of my best friends.
Rachel Feinstein's one of my best friends.
Oh, yeah.
She's funny.
Yeah, she's like a sister to me.
I mean, we're very close.
Do you like, do you know Eliza?
What's her last name?
Schlesinger.
Yes.
I don't know her really, but I've met her.
I don't know her, really.
She seems really funny, too.
She is funny.
I mean, you're a Jewish woman, so that's funny.
That's why I find her really funny.
But my favorite, I think, is Bill Burr by.
I love him.
He just did it.
He just did our podcast.
I saw that.
Bill is like the coolest, man.
I opened from a college when I was at Tulane.
My husband went to Tulane.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Julane.
Yeah, exactly.
Jews.
All the Jews go there.
Did you go for your undergrad or did you go for your...
Yeah, I went for like a year and a half.
Oh, you didn't finish?
I didn't finish at Tulane.
I finished in New York.
Where in New York did you finish?
NYU.
NYJU.
Yeah, all the Jews.
You can do that with almost any school.
Yeah, you really do.
It's not that hard.
But then.
Isn't it hilarious?
That wasn't that good.
I think you're giving me too much credit.
That was nothing.
Isn't he hilarious?
I'm like, that was pretty standard.
No, no, no, no, no, no, it was not.
But I will say, you are very good at this state.
Yeah, Bill came to school when I was like 19.
I stole the picture of us, and I was such a big fan of his.
I was like, oh, man.
Like, even back then, I thought he was so funny.
And I looked up to him a lot.
And
he came.
I remember it was like the day that, God, I forgot the guy's name.
He's a Yankees pitcher who like crashed a helicopter into a building in Midtown.
And Bill was like, did you hear about that?
And I said, like, yeah, I thought you were a Red Sox fan.
He goes, not that big a Red Sox fan.
It's like classic Burr voice.
I'm not that big a fucking Red Sox fan.
But he was so nice to me.
It meant so much to me.
He was so, uh,
when you're a young comic and you look up to someone, it's like, that goes such a long way.
And we were on Conan together like 10 years later.
And.
I hadn't seen him since.
And I very much steered clear of guys I respect because I just was like, let me just get good in the shadows.
Right.
And they'll see me when I'm good.
I don't want to, I don't want them to see me when I'm, I know I'm not good yet.
I know this takes time.
That's why I love the road because I could fail.
Bill Burr actually calls it, I've told him this, like how I quote him on this all the time, but I'm like, he calls it a killing in obscurity.
You get good killing in like Des Moines, Iowa or something.
So no one sees you except the people in Des Moines, Iowa.
You know, now everyone is like posting every clip on social media, even brand new comics, but they didn't have that when I was a new comic.
Thank God for me, because I wasn't good.
Right.
So, I mean, I understood joke structure, but you know, you kind of just start killing in these weird cities, and you're like, I'm figuring this out.
So, yeah, I remember doing Conan with Bill Burr, and he was so fucking funny.
I remember, it was like the craziest lineup.
I've done late night sets before, but the lineup was like, it was like Bill Hayter, Bill Burr, and then me.
I was like, this is like insane.
There's like two of my favorite comedians.
That's incredible.
And they're both so freaking cool.
I mean,
but I remember talking to me.
He's like, where do I know you from?
I was was like, I just have one of those faces.
You know, it's like what you said.
You're like, you remind me of a guy I went to college with.
I'm like, no, you don't remember.
It's like 10 years ago.
And he's like, all right.
But now I know him.
And he's, so is he like the, I feel like he's the comedian's comedian.
Like, I think all the comics love him, too.
He's prolific.
He's prolific.
He's clever.
He's.
He's like everything you want, a comedian.
He's like, yeah, he's one of the best ever.
Yeah, I think so.
Who else would you say?
Well, what's your take on Dave Chappelle?
Everyone finds him to be hilarious.
Yeah, I mean, not everyone.
There's a lot of controversy.
No, no, no.
But I'm saying, like, but I feel like people put him on this pedestal.
Like, he's so great.
Well, I think that's, it gets hard when that happens because I think there's an expectation.
And it's like, I think Dave is obviously an amazing comedian.
And I do.
get annoyed though with all the like oh they're gonna cancel dave i was like dude netflix literally publishes him taking a shit yeah like what are you talking about he's not getting canceled no he is one that will never get canceled he did that speech and they published it it i'm like he's fine calm down well how come nothing ever happens to him though like how come i mean well first off i hope nothing does because that you know no it's an incredible i think free speech is important
i totally agree but i also don't i think this like fear of it like being like you know dave is a great comedian like i i don't like when comedians get turned into martyrs i think our job is to be funny it is your job so when it when it turns into like this larger thing, I'm like, hey, he's doing great.
He's fine.
Everyone settled down.
It's all buzz.
I find it's like, you know,
it's almost like a shock jock tactic from back in the day where they're like, they're trying to cancel us.
And then you rile up their fans and those guys are making a shitload of millions.
I'm like, well, your fans aren't.
Right.
So it's kind of like, it's almost like you're duping people.
So I'm kind of like, eh, you know what?
My life's going great.
No need for that.
But you're not nervous about yourself being canceled or what you say or like.
If it happens, it happens.
I'm not going to lose sleep about it.
I don't, I mean, like, I've gotten a taste of it very young where I got in trouble for a joke in like 2013.
And you know what?
It was annoying.
I was pretty anonymous in the business.
So it was, it sucks when you're known for just like a joke that people don't like.
But I've also, you know,
I think you live your life and you try to be a decent person.
And hopefully that's your reputation.
And if it happens, I think people will be like, hey, man, he makes jokes.
He'll miss sometimes.
He's a nice guy.
And that's that, you know?
It just got sucked.
I don't think the can are comics really getting canceled over shit they say.
I think, like, when it's like, you know, Bill Cosby, you're like, yeah, that wasn't over a joke.
You know, I hope you're right.
Like, I think it's that your job is to be funny and to say things you laugh and you make fun of everybody.
It's not like you're picking one person, not you personally, like one general.
But I feel like it's gotten out of hand.
Like, everybody is now like has it having to be, I feel, are very like watching what they're saying and trying to be very like
skittish because they don't want to get canceled.
Yeah.
The problem is there's the content has outweighed quality.
Like the need for the quantity has really outweighed, you know, quality.
So everyone's just speaking, like people are riffing on topics that are dangerous to riff on.
So when you write a joke on one of those, you can kind of stand behind it.
You're like, well, that was written.
That was prepared.
I put thought into it.
But when you're just like freestyling on like trans people, you're like, oh, shit, this could be dangerous.
And then,
you know, and then
I don't think,
I think everyone's done too many podcasts now to really be canceled for that shit.
I think everyone's like, you know, Colin Quinn will say, like, all you need to cancel us is Wi-Fi.
You know, it's like, it's true.
I mean, but at the same time, I think people are just like over it.
I think
the way it swung one way, it'll swing back the other way almost like too hard where you're like, all right, well, that's like,
you know.
Johnny Depp's trial was at the perfect time.
Let's put it that way.
I'm so glad that actually did happen because I think that that helped the pendulum go back a bit.
Maybe.
What happened?
So where is that Assized guy?
He was so funny.
He got canceled.
Aziz?
He didn't get canceled.
I mean,
he like kind of got canceled.
Well, Aziz was like a,
and does anyone want to hear a white guy talk cancel culture, by the way, is the most fucking played out shit.
No, it's not.
I want to know.
No, I think Aziz, you know, Aziz
was a really un that was really unfair.
I think it was really unfair.
And I think he felt really bad about it.
And I don't think he really, I mean, like.
He deserved it?
He didn't deserve it.
No, not at all.
I mean, so, you know,
it was a bad date.
You know what I mean?
Like, it was a bad date.
That's basically, but that's saying, like, it could be this person's word against somebody else's word, and it can, like, destroy your life.
He was a victim of like that.
We're turning that pendulum.
He was a victim of like that moment in time.
Is he coming back, though, you think?
He is back.
He put out a Netflix special right after it.
He's doing great.
I think he's put out two.
Oh, he has?
And he has another movie that just actually had suspension because Bill Murray got in trouble for some onset behavior.
So, so worry about Bill Murray, not Aziz.
Okay, good.
Aziz is doing fine.
He's doing fine then?
Okay, good.
Okay, then gets quick.
Go back to then how.
Oh, Babel, you have a podcast too, another one that you started.
I have two podcasts.
I have We Might Be Drunk with Mark Normand, and I have Games with Names, which has just come out with Julian Edelman from the Patriots.
And what I was going to say to you is, ironically, today, I got like a newsletter that like talked all about your podcast with Adelman.
Yeah.
It was so strange that I got it the same.
Yeah, he's like,
he's a super handsome
Jew.
He's ripped.
We're like, if we're the Inglorious Bastards, he's Brad Pitt and I'm one of the weak Jews.
I'm like the BJ Novak, Sam Levine.
We've changed next to each other because we're banking episodes.
And I'm like, oh my God, you want to feel bad about your physique?
Change next to a former
badass wide receiver who's still shredded.
And he'll complain about his body too, which is so annoying.
He does?
He'll be like, he'll be like, I'm like, he'll be like, I'm like, you know,
I'm like, this is like PG-13.
I need pay-per-view abs.
I'm like, fuck you.
You're shredded.
Is he funny?
Yeah, he's funny.
And he's cool.
I mean, he's like, he's the best.
He's like, yeah, he's.
How did that even come about?
Like, you and this?
I think they wanted a New York guy, a New York comedian who knew sports.
Well, how did you guys become, were you guys friends?
Did someone connect to two?
Yeah, we were connected through, I think, our agency.
Yeah.
And his company was looking for a New York comedian who could talk sports.
I think they like, first off, Julian's from the Bay Area, and then he's, but he's a Boston sports legend.
So we have that Boston-New York rivalry.
Yeah.
And I can trash the Boston teams and you could trash New York.
And I think that's a fun rivalry.
So, you know, we, we take like classic games and we relive them with the people from the games.
It's a really fun show.
We've had like Eli Manning was the first episode.
We have Payton.
We have, you know, Paul Pierce, all these great athletes come on and it's a good show.
Wow.
And so like, so basically, did you audition for this?
Like if he's, we're looking for like a comedian, we're like.
I wouldn't say audition, but like I went to his apartment with all his friends and we had burgers and we watched football and we I think they want to make sure that we vibe.
Right.
But
and I, you know, I want to make sure.
I don't want to sign up for something where it's like, I'm like, this dude's a freaking dulch.
No, he's cool.
He's he's cool and funny and really good.
And so how many, so how many episodes did you guys bank already?
We've got like 12 bank.
There's 24 in the first season.
So we'll finish it out.
Wow.
So who was it?
So you got Eli Payton?
Who else did you have on there?
A lot of football guests are the ones banked because when we were doing it, that was
who was available.
But we're going to get a lot of like basketball and like hockey and baseball too.
But we had, yeah, Calvin Johnson, Megatron, you know, Ricky Williams, Michael Irvin, Michael Vick, like a lot of big guests.
Wow.
Yeah.
And so how often are you going to be taping that?
That in New York that you're doing it?
We were taping in New York.
Yeah, I don't know what we're going to do for the rest of the episodes.
I mean, we can kind of set up shop anywhere, but
we got a cool studio in New York.
And
yeah, he's the man.
I think people are like, if you like sports and you like reliving great games with the people playing them, and we're just silly on it, it's a fun time.
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What are you waiting for?
When I saw you, like, do you feel like there's momentum on you?
Or is it just me myself thinking this?
I just found you?
Friends will text me nice stuff, but I'm too in it.
Like I'm not home enough.
I'm working on the next thing.
I panic.
Like, you know, I put out a lot of comedy specials.
So, you know,
I think I'm always kind of panicking for new material and like trying to be like, when can I get the new thing out?
So that's a big thing.
And there's no, yeah, do you have anxiety for like
kind of like figuring out more?
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, you know, the special that really helped me.
was called I got this and that's on YouTube and that's I got 11 million views on YouTube, you know, and that really changed things for me.
Every network passed on that, and I was like, this is a good hour.
This is pretty painful.
Every network passed on it.
Yeah.
It was a hard time to sell a special.
It was like, you know, unless you were famous, they wouldn't really buy it unless you were famous, you know, and,
you know,
you just, I was just like, all right, you know, I was pretty hurt at the time, but, you know, I was still determined.
I was like, well, I'm done with these jokes.
I'd like to tape this.
And I remember I, yeah, I did it in New York for like the HBO people.
And this one guy at HBO, like really
loved it and was trying to bring everyone in.
And
the higher ups were like, yeah, they want something artsy.
They want something like, I'm like a pure like kind of joke guy.
They want some like, you know, and then I got molested and I'm wearing a turtleneck or something.
That's what they want, you know?
And I don't have that.
So,
and then,
you know, so that hurt.
And of course, like, you know, at the time, I was like, fuck HBO.
But like looking back, it's like no one watches HBO specials anymore so it's like the best thing that happened to me yeah Netflix passed Amazon I didn't want I don't think I mean I probably would have then and then I saw my agent was like go to LA let's run for Netflix you know I was like all right so I came here you know my crowd killed uh
you know no no dice uh and then I just told my agent I'm just gonna film it fuck them and then uh I did and then Comedy Center was like we'll put on our YouTube and we'll pay you to put on our YouTube and I was like well they got a huge YouTube following and my whole thing was like, you don't, you need a link to like all your friends are going to share your special.
And then when you're, I've had specials on Comedy Central where they're like, watch it at 11 p.m.
And everyone's like, what is this, 1992?
No, no one does that.
You know, you, when you, how many, it takes you like four times for someone like, you got to watch this show.
And you're like, all right.
And then another friend's like, have you seen this show?
That's like the, it takes like six years.
It's true.
I think there's like research on that.
It takes, I think, four times.
But if there's a link?
If there's a link, whatever.
It helps.
But people watch it in segments.
If if it's good like they'll you know they won't watch the whole thing maybe or they'll like but that's look at it they'll stare at it a few times but on Twitter people would be like watch this and I'd be like but if they watch this and they have the link there it's like it's not they'll tap it for exactly or they'll click it yeah and if the first few jokes wrote people in I opened with like all me too jokes and they were all like I think an angle that comics weren't hitting which was kind of like a little more down the middle.
I think a lot of, I heard a lot of like comics like, you can't say nothing to women anymore.
And I'm like, that's not the problem.
I think it's the rapes.
But
but whatever but I did like uh
you know so I did a lot of jokes about that and I think that like that was kind of a like I came out of the gate hard and I do that with this new special too I come out of the gate hard I'm like I'm aware of the attention span so I'm like let's come with some hard jokes quick I'm like I want that first five minutes to be like bam bam bam jokes so
I think that helped and then
A lot of comics I think liked that I did it that way, that I was kind of like, you know, middle fingers to the industry.
But really, it was like my only option.
People were like, this is punk rock.
I'm like, no, it's literally my only choice.
Right.
Everyone charged it down.
Yeah.
But then it got so many views so quickly that I think people were like, holy shit.
And you think it's because the first five minutes was so good?
No, I think it's a tight special.
I think it's my best special probably.
It's like, it was a lot of work.
I put a lot of work into it.
And how long?
You said it was an hour, right?
It was like 48 minutes or 49 minutes, probably.
That was a lot of material.
Yeah, it was a lot of jokes.
And
I think a lot of comics just like,
they related to it.
So they were pushing it.
A lot of comics were mad that they saw a good thing that got passed on because then they were probably, well, like, I can make a good thing that will get passed on.
I relate to this.
So I think a lot of comics like took, you know,
pushed me for that reason.
And
then, you know, the pandemic hit.
It was funny.
I put that out to tour.
I was like, this will help my, you know, I'm not getting a lot of money on this.
I'm putting this out to sell tickets on the road.
And it really helped.
I got a lot of fans out of it, but I can't tour because COVID just fucking hit it.
It came out February of 2020.
So oh my gosh, a month prior.
But, but the reason it got so many views was probably also because of that because people are home and they're like, we can watch this.
So long run, it did help me.
But yeah, I really want to tour it.
And this really hurt.
So
during COVID, what I did was I
I really was like, well, I need to really work on a new act.
I need to figure out how to perform.
I can't perform.
There's no clubs open in New York so I shot a rooftop special where I just go to I just put on Instagram like do you have a rooftop I'll come to your roof get your friends together get some white claw get some beer uh I'm bringing a camera crew with a fucking drone let's do this and I hit up like so many rooftops for so long I just kept doing roofs and we just kept filming it and how many rooftops did you actually end up doing so many I mean I did it for like months so I just kept doing roofs and then we probably filmed like 10 of them but I just kept doing I mean I had to do them to get in shape too because I was like man I'm so out of comedy shape right it's not my best work because it's like I'm out of comedy shape, but it was a really cool thing that I'm glad we did.
My friend Matt Salicuse directed that and he was so passionate about it.
Like literally shows up on a roof in Murray Hill with his, with a drone.
He's like, we can't go too far this way because there's a no-fly thing here.
Oh, my God.
So we're like, we're literally dealing with these weird,
you know, rules.
But
I think I heard you talk about that on Mark Maron's
podcast.
I don't know if we had done it yet, actually, when I did it.
Oh, I thought that's what you guys are.
Oh, no, you were talking about doing a lot of Instagram lives you were doing a lot of those i don't know yeah is that not the one i was the i don't know i that was like after a while i you know that was a that was a a lot of work that that rooftop one because something would go wrong on every roof like things go wrong in venues so if you're on a roof we're like there's not an outlet here we need to charge a battery or like there's not you know yeah the mic just didn't work we were down by like the world trade center and the mic just didn't work we're in bushwick it's like a shitty ass roof you know and like people are hanging off or like are they gonna be okay we're climbing ladders to get on these weird roofs.
It was such a weird, it's a, it was a great thing.
I hope I never have to do again.
Right.
We had to do something to like work, kind of just like work the muscle, right?
Oh my God.
I remember the idea, where I got the idea was that, uh, where I got the idea was I was doing these, like, they were like, you can do 10 minutes on my show at the, uh, you know, down by the water, you know?
So we, I'd be like traveling far during COVID to get 10 minutes of it.
And I'm like, I'm back.
I can't do, I need an hour.
I need to go long.
I need to experiment.
I'm very experimental with my stand-up.
I fall ass backwards in the punchlines.
I'm not the type of guy that's like, this is perfect.
I need to figure it out.
So,
yeah, I was like, I need long sets.
And I started bringing friends with me.
And it was like, turned into like, we're hanging out.
This is great.
Yeah, it was a great experience.
You call, I think
you call on the audience a lot too.
Yeah.
That's kind of like your, I feel like you do that.
Maybe I just do that on Instagram.
I do that to promote gigs.
I do that because I'm like, it's not my favorite thing, but it's like, it's fun, it's spontaneous, it makes the show special.
I do, if I do an hour, I'll do a little of that anyway, just to make the show feel unique.
Or I'll make fun of the city, I'll have fun with them.
But I do that really to promote gigs because I can post without burning material.
Right.
Oh, okay.
What do you what, like, what would you say that you're known for?
Like, if there's like, okay, he's really good.
That his thing is, he's really known for great writing, joke writing.
I don't know what I'm known for.
I think just like a, you know, just like a joke guy.
I'm a good
old school, old school jokes, like kind of like a short form jokes a lot probably not like a great i mean i don't know but like i feel like you're a good you're a very good writer thank you i mean not like i i don't i mean even the thing on david how did you even get the david letterman thing he picked a few comics or whatever i don't even think he picked them i think like one of his people picked them and he probably approved them he's probably i'm fine with this but uh yeah my agent was like do you want to do this and i was like Nah, I don't want to talk to Letterman.
Psych.
Yeah, let's fucking do it.
It's David Letterman.
So I mean, I would have like daydreams as a kid.
Like, you know, I'd be be in like you know the shower like so dave like you're an idiot kid pretending to like be interviewed by letterman you know and you were interviewed by him yeah he was he was really really cool it was a really great experience he was really really warm and and friendly and like of course i've heard i've seen the clips of him like burying guests sometimes where like i guess he had felt he had to save the interview so you're like man what would be worse than bombing for dave like let me bring the fucking heat you know yeah he didn't seem like he knew what was going on like he didn't he kind of felt like he didn't really know the comedians very well when he was interviewing a lot of people.
He said he watched my rooftop stuff.
He said,
he said, he's like, and we talked in the green room before for a while, and he was like, I've watched a lot of your stuff.
And he was, he was really, he said, I like how resourceful you are.
And, like, you know, oh, but yours up with the other comedians more.
I didn't, because I saw yours and a couple other ones.
Okay.
He seemed like he wasn't on yours, he asked you questions that are more personal.
The other ones, he didn't.
That's what I noticed.
Um,
I don't know.
I think he did watch everyone who came on.
He
I'll watch it again.
Yeah,
you don't have to.
You know what I mean?
I don't want to be homework.
Yeah, no, he was, he was, that was a great experience.
That was really cool.
No, I'm sure.
Like, that was like, because he's David Letterman, right?
Yeah, it was crazy.
I mean, he felt, he was very warm after the interview and before.
And like, you know, at one point I came out.
Because you do stand-up before, and I had a phone, I guess, bulging out of my pocket.
And the first joke hits.
And then someone in the top yells out, Sam.
And I'm like, what?
And they're like, Sam,
is that a phone in your pocket?
And I'm just like, is someone fucking with me?
So they say, is there a phone in your pocket?
And I just said, no, it's my cock.
And it's like, I'm just trying to like volley.
I'm trying to save it.
And they said, you got to restart the set.
So there's no phone in your pocket.
And I'm like, ugh.
And Dave like jokingly runs over, like, get the fuck off stage.
And like, he's, he's hamming it up, being silly.
And then he grabs me, he goes, I'm so, so sorry.
This is so awful.
I'm so sorry.
And I said, it's okay.
It's all right.
So I go back and I go back out.
I tell the same joke again.
It crushes because they really want me to do well.
Now they feel bad for me, the crowd.
And
even after the interview, he goes, I'm so, so sorry.
I was like, hey, man, like, I've been, I've done this before and half.
It's all right.
You know, he, he was, and, you know, he was really like,
it felt sincere when he like really was like, it was really great talking to you.
And I was like, dude, this is like, it was a big deal for me.
You know, huge deal.
There was one point where he was like, like, well, how do you know you've made it?
I was like, I'm talking to David Letterman.
Yeah.
What do you mean?
How do I know I've made it?
This is pretty good.
Well, that's funny.
I was like, that would be my next question.
Like, when do you know?
Like, that's a pretty big moment, you know?
I think my goals are not, I wouldn't say that I'm not ambitious, but I, you know, I, I'm doing what I want to do.
So that's the thing where I'm making money at it.
Yeah, it's going very well.
So it's like, it'll be
how I know I made it.
I feel like I've made it.
I feel like I, uh,
I have goals to be in like bigger venues and, and I have other things.
The problem is now, like, so much of what we do is like podcast-based, and I love it.
It's a great way to reach new people and to promote your, your stuff.
But I really
hundred and forty-eight podcasts.
Yes.
Uh, but the thing is, I feel special.
Are people going to get that reference?
I posted, Jonah Hill had a thing.
He tweeted,
I don't, I have too much anxiety to do press anymore.
And I think I wrote back like, cool, I'm doing 447 podcasts to promote my special, but, but good for you.
Yeah, and I wrote, I'm for, I'm 448.
But, you know, he, you know, he, he,
if you're an actor, it almost is cool to not do press.
You almost have mystique.
If you're a comic, you can't really do that, I feel like.
But I didn't sign up to this to be like a radio guy.
That's the thing.
So many, I got into this because I was like, I want to be like, you know, a sitcom guy.
I was like, I grew up with that era.
So I was like, I want to be like Gary Shanlin or Jerry Seinfeld or something.
And then, and then it's like, oh, shit, I have to be Don Imus.
That's not what I want to do.
I love,
people don't know who that is.
That was like the, wasn't that like the, he was the opposing person for, I always, I think of him as the enemy of Howard Stern.
Have you been on Howard Stern yet?
No, I haven't.
Do you want to be?
I, you know, it's funny.
I didn't really grow up listening to him.
I know it's like almost a sin to say.
I grew up in the city.
So I wasn't like, I didn't really have like a commute.
So I wasn't like, I don't, I can't drive.
That's true.
Oh, I heard you say that on like on Whitney Cummings podcast that you can't drive.
You heard me get a word in on Whitney Cummings.
I was going to say, can I tell you, I'm really happy you said that?
that because that was what I was going to tell you when he walked in.
I'm like, I try to like do some like research on you, right?
So I'm like, okay, I'll listen.
I'm like, okay, he was on Whitney Company's podcast.
I don't listen to her.
So I'm like, oh, I'll listen to it to see.
It was all about, she talked the entire time.
I couldn't, there was not one piece of information that I could get from you.
I couldn't glean one thing.
It was all about her being on Prozac or anxiety.
And then that was a problem.
I couldn't get anything.
Yeah, I don't know.
I mean, what were we talking about?
And by by the way that's why i went to the mark marin podcast to see if i can get some information and that's when i thought you were he it was like he you guys you were on like i thought during covet or yeah i was during covet but it was before i shot the thing so i was still out here i was in la we shot that in person that was like a big deal that we met in person at the time oh it was okay because they were he wasn't i mean a lot of people weren't meeting and he was like are you good and i was like yeah i'm fine you're fine right i'm I was pretty paranoid at first for sure.
Because of Michael, by the way, I know Michael Yo very well, too.
And I said you guys were friends, too.
That was crazy what happened to him.
I know.
Because he was super healthy.
Like, it was like, it's random.
It's always scary when a healthy person, something horrible happens to them because you're like, well, I'm not the picture of health.
Right.
And so if it could happen to someone who's super healthy,
that was the thing.
But anyway, so the Whitney Cummings thing.
So I couldn't, I didn't get anything for you, unfortunately.
What would be like the idea?
Like when in your, you know, getting
success?
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, I guess, yeah.
Is it getting a sick cup?
Because people do, do people care?
I don't.
Netflix specials.
Is that the big deal now?
I guess I didn't.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
What you have coming up?
Yeah.
I mean, it's out.
Yeah.
September 1st.
It's out same time tomorrow on Netflix.
I'm doing the things I want to be doing right now.
And that's, I really can't, I think sometimes you're like, when do you know you made it?
I don't think that big, big picture.
I try to look day to day.
Like, obviously, I have ambitions, you know, but
I have my own whiskey out right now that's really cool called Bodega Cat.
How did you even start that?
I have a drinking podcast and my friend and I were like, we should have our own whiskey.
And then we're like, we probably have people listening who have a distillery so many emails about like we'll make your whiskey so we went with a guy who seemed pretty legit it's called bodega cat whiskey you can get it bodegacat whiskey.com it's it's it'll be your favorite rye it's really good it's such good whiskey i'm sorry i don't have a bottle but i'll i'll i'll next time i'm here i'll bring you a bottle you promise or is that just like lip service I don't drink whiskey, but my husband would take it.
Well, now I got to rush it over.
I don't drink it, but we can send it or something.
No, we'll definitely, it's really good whiskey.
I promise you'll like it.
How long has it been out for?
It It just came out.
We've been working on this forever to get it out.
And so I'm doing that.
I got the podcast.
I wrote an animated show that I'd love to make.
We couldn't sell it.
It was my friend Dana Gould and we made it.
And Dana's brilliant.
I've learned a lot from working with him.
But
that's a thing I'd love to make.
Right now, touring is great.
I'm happy touring.
I'm going to go a real
hardcore tour next year.
I'm hitting like smaller cities right now to kind of build up the new hour.
So I have an act.
So like, you know, that's why I'm going to Fort Wayne, Indiana on Thanksgiving.
My parents are thrilled.
Oh, wow, really?
Oh, yeah.
I'm sure they are just thrilled to.
Fucking build it up.
Geez, you just constantly are on the road.
Okay, so wait, get back to the special that's out right now.
Yeah.
Okay, so because you didn't sell the other one that got 11 million views, is that how you got this one?
I think that helped.
Yeah, so I think they were like, people will watch.
Yeah.
So then how did that like how did so after that, did you go to them and say, hey, I want to do a special?
Did you make a special?
What was the process?
Give us a story.
I think my agent
is very crafty.
And he
basically was like, you know, I think you're missing out being in business with Sam.
Like, maybe we could do a deal.
So it's like a licensing deal where I still own the special, but I get it for two years.
So it was a creative way to get on there while still having ownership.
I think ownership is like really good to have your specials.
And it's a good way to
reach a new audience.
Like, would I get more views on YouTube than Netflix?
Probably, honestly.
Especially now.
For sure.
But at the same time, you know, I was like, hell yeah.
I mean, look, the Netflix ship is sinking.
Let's grab a lifeboat.
Exactly.
Fucking have some fun.
Did they give you like a licensing?
Like, do you get like a, obviously they're paying you.
They're paying me.
Yeah.
You're not getting like the $25 million fee that like $24.
You know, it's like,
it's all right.
It's okay.
Let's get it.
Yeah.
But yeah, it's a new thing.
It's good.
It's like, you know, good to diversify always.
Like you get fans from different places and you reach people that you wouldn't have reached.
And
but are people like not that Andrew Schultz thing that came out where he had to buy it back?
Yeah, is that just the way that people are doing it more?
Because do they edit it?
Do they do you have to be very
careful of what you what you do say when you're on like a Netflix or an Amazon?
I think it's all bullshit.
I don't think we really have to be that careful.
I don't know what happened in his situation, but I know he like felt the need to buy it back, but he probably made way more money that way.
So at the same time, it's like, well, maybe that's why he did it.
You know, for me, I've never felt like there's a couple of times they've like been like, we don't know about this bit.
And I'm like, well, it's in there.
So
you know, I'm kind of like, yeah, I don't think,
you know,
they don't say cut it out or that is hilarious if Amazon's like, we have a problem with this joke.
We'll let people die in our warehouses, but this joke is upsetting us.
Well, they're scared also for the same reason, like cancel culture messed up.
I don't think, I think it's all overblown in general.
I think like, you know,
I remember Comedy Central central had like an eight minute dead baby joke and they were like this can't be in i was like well it is so uh don't know what to tell you and they were like all right so i had to open the joke by being like comedy central wanted me to say that they don't think this is funny uh me on the other hand that's how you open the joke yeah it's on you it's yeah it's uh it was a dicey one i'm gonna go look at that did you get any kind of hate from oh yeah Tons of death threats.
Really?
Let's fucking go.
That also just
gives the controversy must be really helpful for you, right?
So more people watching.
Oh, I thought the joke was pretty funny.
I was kind of more mocking the person who got offended by the joke than the actual baby.
But, you know, like, you know,
I think it's always good.
I, you know,
and I think it's good for comedy when people have control.
So I think like Andrew buying it back is great that he just now owns it and has control and like he makes that money and then he could do whatever he wants with it in a couple years.
So like, you know, with Comedy Central, like
the problem with them was just having people see it.
Like, that was the thing.
It's like they're, they won't adapt.
But why?
I don't get that.
Why is it behind the times?
It's an old model and this is what they're married to.
And everyone, a lot of good people got laid off there.
And it's, it's upsetting.
You know, it's an upsetting thing that like they just couldn't adapt.
And, you know, who knows?
Maybe Netflix is next.
Maybe I got in right as the ship.
You probably exactly.
Maybe it already sank.
It could have.
It's over.
Maybe by the time.
Yes, you're right.
How about, how about the roasting on this on Comedy Central?
that's like their big thing were you ever you never you never i wanted to do it no i never really did it um how come you never got the chance i don't think that was a big enough name uh i think they were going with like big names they had some not so big names but they usually had like a connection to the
person getting roasted yeah maybe yeah you're right that was i love that part though that's it that's the only thing they had that's really like really great now yeah roasts are fun they're really good it's old it's like old it's like the oldest form of comedy it's like old the oldest
but it works and it's super funny It is weird when it's like, man, the jokes have gotten so mean.
It's like they used to just be like surface jokes where it's like, this person looks like this.
And then after a certain point, they're like, this guy got molested in seventh grade.
And you're just like, Jesus Christ.
They're like so, like, they're like so cringeworthy some of the jokes.
Like terrible, terrible.
But Nikki Glazer, who I love, are you front?
Yeah.
She was like, she was on all the time.
Like, she was like a main.
She crushed it on.
She was so good.
Well, she's good at those.
Like, she has short jokes.
She's good at those.
She's very good at that.
She's doing really, really well, actually, now, too.
With her F-Boy special and like all these other big specials.
Then, how did you do, like, you did, like, America's Got Talent?
Is that the one you did?
Yeah.
Last comic Sanding.
Did you do that one too?
Yeah, both terrible experiences.
Both?
Of course.
Reality TV with a fucking gun in my mouth.
Well, why did you do it?
Because I was desperate to get fans and desperate to sell tickets on the road and stop playing the papered rooms of people that didn't care who the hell I was.
And it was hard to work on jokes when they just don't give a shit about the show.
Right.
What you do.
They're there because there's nothing to do in Syracuse, not because I'm funny.
Well, yeah, you know, unfortunately.
So,
yeah, I did all those.
I mean, I remember America's Got Talent.
It was like,
I mean, God bless Howie Mandel.
He's a sweet guy.
And I do feel like
Melby was kind of flirting with me a little bit, but
probably.
Probably not, but I thought she was.
Maybe.
We'll see if she was.
Yeah, but I remember like, they fuck with you.
It's like 5,000 seater in 5,000 seater in the Palisades.
You know, you fly out here, you carefully go over this set.
I saw them tear to shreds two Jewish rappers before me.
And by they, I mean Simon.
And I was like, oh my God, this is, he's being so mean.
I thought they were kind of interesting, you know?
So it was pretty rough.
And then,
so I'm like, how do I endear myself to the crowd?
So Simon's like, I don't know what they're going to ask me.
He's like, tell me about your worst gig.
And I'm like, all right, maybe I'll create a little underdog scenario where they want to like me.
And I told a story, a true story.
A guy just walked up to me and spit on me on stage.
And he's like, well, I hope you do better than that tonight.
And I was like, me too.
And I killed.
I had a great, it's hilarious in the edit.
I do a fart joke and it crushes.
It just crushes.
And for some reason in the edit, the way they packaged it for the show,
it's me doing this fart joke, cut to all four judges give me a standing ovation.
So it looked like that's the joke that did it.
But really, I did like four minutes or so of like just bang, bang, bang, hard jokes.
Standing oh, I get off and they're like, we don't know if you made the cut.
And I'm like, well, they all just said I did.
Are you serious?
It's a terrible experience.
And then everyone says that.
Yeah.
And then, yeah, and then they're like, Simon's in a bad mood.
I'm like, cool, me too.
I've been here 11 hours.
One of us is leaving in a private jet.
So who do you think's in a worse mood?
And then, yeah, and then I go back and it's like, you get the hotel they put us up and had construction, so I got no sleep.
And I was like, I feel like this is on purpose.
They want you irritable.
And
yeah, and they try to get you to shit talk other guests.
I'm like, I'm not doing that.
You know, I gave them nothing.
I was like, I don't want to give them any.
So they can cut and be me being like, ugh, like, this is someone's life, you know?
And you also feel bad for these dance troops there who are like
literally like they're stretching, they're warming up.
I can go on stage drunk.
Like these people, this is like a real thing they have to do.
They have to like stay ready.
I'm just like, yeah, whatever, whenever you need me.
Exactly.
But I remember going on cold times like 10 a.m.
I go go on stage at like midnight.
And they're like, man, yeah, your material made me like kind of tired.
And I was like, yeah, I wonder if it's because it's midnight.
I wonder if that played a role in it.
I did well in the second round, but they didn't move me.
I remember George Lopez was like a guest judge.
In my head, I'm like, he's a comic.
He's a fucking, he's going to love me.
He's a comic.
He'll support.
He'll get it.
And then he had like one golden ticket and he gave it to like a Latino dance troop.
I'm like, he's more Latin than a comic.
Damn it.
George.
So he didn't support you after all that.
No, I mean, he was nice.
He was very nice.
And Howie Mandel, I saw, like,
I saw him at Montreal like a few months later.
And he was like, dude, you got to roll a deal.
You're really fun.
He was really nice to me.
And I was like, thanks, Howie.
I was like, dude, I watched Bobby's World as a kid.
Come on.
That's really, I love it.
Howie's a nice guy.
He's nice.
And he's also funny.
He's so quick.
He's quick.
Yeah.
He's like a very neurotic.
Very neurotic.
And he's super quick, though.
He's got great one-liners that he could just think of so fast.
Yeah, yeah.
So then that was in what year did you do that?
I don't remember.
It was years ago.
It was not a good experience.
It was a very desperate move on my part.
And I remember a lot of friends are like, ugh, you're doing that.
I'm like, hey, man, it was not good.
I still got fans out of it, weirdly.
I mean, it's like you did.
Well, I mean, that has like 10, at the time, it's like 10 million viewers.
So like, you have one five-minute segment on there.
You get a shitload of messages.
And like, hey, I just need to keep the momentum going.
I just need to keep getting people so I can sell tickets on the road so that I can keep writing material.
You know, it's very hard to write when it's not your people because they don't listen and they don't really.
So, so that was the goal is like, like get enough people that I can just keep doing what I like and churning out hours of material.
Also, that's how, also, though, isn't that how you'd get material?
Like that experience.
You could probably have like a million jokes within that like
experience.
Yeah, yeah, I think you could probably get something out of it.
But how many, like, how else do you get your material?
Yeah, you got to live life.
You got to do stuff.
You got to.
Because you can't get it from just sitting at home all day.
Well, can you?
Yeah, you can.
If you're in your head enough, but then you have a lot of like, a lot of those jokes where I'll just like read an article and I'm like, read something stupid and then I have to make it.
Yeah, my friend said this to me the other day.
I'm like, no, that was an article I read.
Right, right, right.
So you have to go up there.
So just do stuff.
And you can write jokes with friends sometimes.
You just are like talking.
You kind of say something.
You're like, oh, that's a bit.
That's something.
I could play with that.
A lot of it's like taking notes.
And then you don't really like just come up with material at a computer.
It's a lot of like taking notes throughout the day.
And then you sit in front of a computer.
I'm like i should go this way with that or i should go this way with it you know no give me an example give me the day in the life of what you would do that's what i want to know like an example of a joke let me look at my i don't even know my phone yeah where is your phone
yeah i want to know how you go about the like what's your what's your process let me see not to sound like that but my process let me see what i got um
or like the day in the life of you besides a day in the life let me see my jokes here i'm working on i was working on like a
um
here we go from yesterday um
let me see
yeah like something will happen and I'm uh
let me see what these I had one the other night where I was like I just read it's like you just keep adding lines it was like saw one like how uh
someone was telling me it was like after the Trump raid and they were like Trump's a malignant narcissist and I was like what do you mean he goes well only likes people that like him and I was like well that sounds a lot like me you know that sounds a lot like most people I know.
I was like, most of my friends are like, is he a good guy?
I'm like, well, he likes me.
I don't know.
I was like, kind of like, you know, if Putin tweeted, you guys got to watch the new Sam Murrell comedy special, part of me would be like, yeah, you know, Leaden's complicated.
He's a complicated guy.
You know what I mean?
It's like, so that was like an idea.
I'm like, let me just add one line.
Let's add another line.
You just keep adding lines.
You're like, what would I go?
So it's like, that's not like a great joke or anything, but that's like a, that's like a.
observation that you have during the day.
You just keep adding a line.
A lot of it's just living in my head.
Like, can I come up with another line?
Can I come up with another?
Is there anything else I'm looking at?
Like, uh, let's see what else I got here.
Um,
hmm,
let's see.
Sometimes it will be like a dating thing, or like, uh,
um,
oh, this was just a thought I had.
Like, when a woman likes me, I'm turned off.
That's what I wrote down.
It was like, I just noticed that a woman was nice to me, and I was turned off.
So, it was like, oh, this beautiful message, this woman messaged me, you have a wonderful smile.
And I was like, this chick is corny.
Really?
Yeah, that was my gut reaction.
Isn't that sad?
Why is that?
I don't know.
That's like a deeper psychological stuff.
I don't know.
Probably because I'm just like, I mean, it probably goes to like the old grouch on Marcus.
I'm just a grouch,
right?
Where it's like, you're only,
you want to be a member of a club that won't have you.
I mean, that's really,
it goes probably to that point, I would guess.
That's interesting that you actually, that was your first gut reaction.
So if like, I would, I was going to say, like, you're on tour, you must get tons of girls constantly hitting on you.
Not really, not really, no.
It's like, I get a lot of dudes who are like, I want to be a comedian.
Really?
That's more what I get than you.
You don't get girls, like you're young guys.
Sometimes.
But you get that, do you have that same type of like?
There's a lot of young guys.
I think sometimes it'll happen, but not like, you know, sometimes.
But you're turned off because if they like you, you're not like really turned off.
Sometimes, you know, but I think it's like that, you have to fight through some instincts that are unhealthy.
I mean, that's what I deal with in therapy is you try to break patterns that are not necessarily good for you so are you in therapy right now i'm in therapy see i feel like all comedians are like work is that like where you also work out your was it you or i think was it this is what i heard on your yeah no that was me and the letterman thing i said that he said yeah the joke i think i said to letterman was like he's like you saw you see a therapist at a lot of comics see and i was like yeah and you know sometimes you're in the waiting room and you hear you hear a big laugh and you're like fuck i gotta bring it again this week that's like i have a lot of therapy jokes a lot yeah but a lot of comics I feel have a lot of therapy jokes.
Well, yeah, I mean, it's funny.
It's like, it's almost like the toxic comic was a big thing for a while, as you say, but now there's like that self-betterment type comedian who's like working on themselves.
So it's like, you don't have to be.
I mean, look, there's still toxic, you know, messes, you know, of people out there, but it's different than it was for sure.
So who would you say are the other up-and-coming people that you think are like really, really good?
My friends are so funny.
The people I said before, like my friends are so good.
I mean,
Joe Lis special is so good.
Right.
He has two on YouTube that are like just killer.
I think one's called This Year's Material and the other one's called I Hate Myself.
Any of my good friends, you see, I post about them all the time.
You know, I love Stavros.
My good friend Stavros is a new special.
You saw that's really funny, right?
Stavros Hulki is.
That's blown up on YouTube.
I mean,
I'm very fortunate when I'm surrounded by like really funny people who work hard.
So it just makes you like, you feel lazy if you take any time off right and then is there anyone like you think like besides bill burr who else and rodney dangerfield who else do you think is really good davidel was like such a big influence on me and he was so helpful to me when i was a young comic and he's still like such a good i just love him like he's just the funniest so uh
i think i still think skanksha the memories is the best comedy album of all time i think nothing will ever touch that one.
Really?
It's too funny.
I mean, he's such an amazing comedian.
He's got one of my favorite jokes of all time where he's like, you remember when you're young and you think your dad is Superman, and then you grow up and you realize he's just a drunk who wears a cape?
That was him who did that joke?
Yeah.
Well, that is a good joke, actually.
Classic.
Yeah, he's the best.
So, what is your new case?
What is your new special?
Tell people what the special is on Netflix.
It's called Same Time Tomorrow.
It's on Netflix right now.
And it's, I hope you like it.
I, you know, it's, it's a lot of road sets.
It's a lot of editing.
A lot of, I mean, I cut a lot of stuff out to make it just very tight
because I just want it to be a tight special.
But
yeah, I think you'll like it.
If you like, if you like jokes and, you know,
do you like to laugh?
Do you guys like joke?
I hate when people are like, I like to laugh.
I'm like, everyone likes to laugh.
Yeah, who doesn't like to laugh?
I feel like Hitler liked to laugh.
Everybody liked to laugh.
He just laughed at probably fucked up shit.
Really fucked up shit.
You don't do a lot of Jewish jokes, I do.
I do.
Not really.
I got some fucking Holocaust jokes in this one that are bangers.
You did.
Well, I told you I did it.
I said a joke about a, I don't know, you're, I don't know.
I got a lot.
I used to do a joke.
I'm like, I'm a, I'm a Jew.
I'm a New York Jew.
I'm like, I'm the type of Jew that if you, yeah, I'm in therapy, I complain a lot.
I'm the type of Jew that if you don't like Jewish people, I'm not the one that's going to turn things around for you.
That's a good one.
That's a quick one.
I had a lot of like, I did a, I did it with a Letterman when I did a Jew joke.
You did?
I don't remember.
I have encomnesia.
What was it again?
I was like, you want to join my hate group?
And this guy asked me to join his hate group and I was like, who do you hate?
He goes, blacks, Jews, everyone.
I was like, I am Jewish.
He's not even doing background checks.
Oh, yeah i did hear i remember that's a good one yeah it bothered me more than the recruiting like you know maybe when i joined the hate group i'm walking around i'm holding a torch i'm like dude you know what this flame reminds me of hanukkah i do remember that that's totally true i do remember that i forgot about that that's actually why i liked you so much oh thanks because i heard that joke see and your and your grandfather was a ceo of like lowman's which i wrote that's what i wrote self self-made orphan uh never graduated high school uh amazing guy he was he was the coolest he was really funny he was funny too very funny guy and very
uh i mean that's probably why i liked rodney so much is because he had some of those rodney like one-liner tendencies like he was like very quick but uh
yeah he was the coolest i wish he was alive he was he was great did anyone else in your family funny
my brother's dry he's very funny in like a dry way he's like he's uh
he's good at like a you know and my sister is like a good like bullshit meter kind of like they're all funny in like different different ways kind of you know right they're not like super serious and
yeah and my mom has a great sense of humor you know i can like von bits by her you know oh you can that's great i can like be like hey is this funny mom and she'll tell me really yeah yeah did your family live in new york still they're yeah they are and do they come see you all the time when you perform there never since coven not really ever but like they they i did a show at the beacon theater in new york and they came to that one uh because that was like a big milestone in new york i think they wanted to be there but uh my my therapist sat right behind them really yeah was that is there any is there anything more therapy in new york than like literally like my therapist sitting behind my mother that is really you cannot get more on the nose than that yeah what female comic do you like what's your favorite so many i mean so many good ones just amazing a couple rachel feinsteins like she makes me laugh so hard oh right because you're a good friend you said too yeah yeah anyone else that's like really funny taylor's great you know i mean i wasn't gonna bring that up again well you've kind of set me up for it i did not set you up for it.
I was like not thinking about her, actually, when I said that.
I didn't even think about it.
Dina Hasham opens me on the road a lot.
She's killer.
I'm actually only asking because I want to, I'm looking for like a new person.
You're the one who hates women.
I mean, I don't, that's not what I don't find a lot of women hilarious.
I feel, I felt, I thought, like, Ellen DeGeneres was really funny.
Yeah, unless you worked for her.
Yeah, well, I didn't think.
So that's why I think she's funny.
That's why I think she's funny.
I think Taylor is funny.
I like Eliza.
I like Nikki.
I don't know who else is there.
I'm asking you to give me some, give me some, some like you want like a Netflix thing?
I'm trying to think.
No, just in general, to go with it.
Jalen Palufo is really funny.
Jessica Kerson.
There's so many funny kind of people.
Marina Franklin.
You know, so I mean, look them up, folks.
Come on.
I know.
I'm going to look them up now.
I watched some of these people on Netflix.
Aaron Jackson's really funny.
Okay.
Look them up.
If they don't get you in the first five, 10 minutes, then you're like, to your point, I just turn it off and I never look at them again.
The first five, 10 minutes.
Well, I like women.
Let the record state that i think women are cool yeah uh i just wish other people did too
you know you're funny uh is there anything else that i can ask you what kind of food do you like i don't know what else i'm so easy with food i'm like i'll eat
i'll eat anything i'm like i i mean like my i like i love like death row shit like we're talking about bagels locks cream cheese capers a whole shebang i love that
i love you know i love a good steak i love a good sushi's great mexican i was just joking about that actually i want to know what you do every day what your daily routine is I know that you drink a ton at night that's why you like chugged about a hundred of those BLKs but um I want to know what time do you wake up if you're working at night constantly are you like sleeping very hard I get wired I you know I sometimes like it really depends what I'm doing like if I read I'll fall asleep earlier do you read a lot I try to yeah but when you read
I'm just I'm reading a book now called American Tabloid by James Elroy that my friend Dana told me to read and it's really good okay
And then,
but last night I was watching
a Netflix show and I was up to it.
It's one of those addictive shows.
Which ones?
It's called Untold, the Manti Teo story.
Have you heard of that?
No.
Oh, it's heartbreaking.
It's a catfish.
He was a huge
college phenomen and it was the story of the guy who had like the made-up dead girlfriend from years ago.
You remember that was like 10 years ago?
Yeah, I do remember that.
And he really, I mean, it really opens your eyes to how dirty he was done by the media the media is just so evil to young people i mean uh heartbreaking an incredible talent and like i i got a i this person catfished him and it's like
it's really a disgusting thing to do i mean i'm not like breaking news here but like holy shit that's a really horrible thing to to with someone like that And
I really feel like there was a ton of remorse on that person's end.
I'm like, man.
And Manthe Tio forgave this person who really caused him hell.
I mean, in many ways, ruined his professional.
I mean, to break the odds and make it to the NFL and then have someone really fuck your life up and cost you millions of dollars.
That's terrible.
I never remember it that well.
I kind of do, but not really.
So that's what you watched last night.
Yeah.
And I watched the first one.
I was like, all right, I guess I got to watch the second.
I can't wait.
And then that's a problem with those things.
That's why you kind of start watching those things at night.
Yeah, well, that's how they, every episode ends with like, actually, the murderer was his his mom.
Like, all right, fine, I'll watch it.
Actually, the murderer was a piece of cake.
Is it cake?
A new Netflix show.
Is it a murderer or is it a, is it a big woman who's just a cake?
What else are you watching?
Give me another.
What do I watch?
I'm so basic.
I, you know, I'll like re-watch Mad Men a million times.
I love Mad Men so much.
I love Sopranos.
I watch old shit.
But then if I'm watching something new, what I like?
I was watching Only Murders in the Building because I just Martin Short just makes me laugh so hard.
Like that guy is just.
Oh, so you like Martin?
That's a good one.
Okay, so you like him.
Martin Short is like.
Oh my God, he's funny.
I love him.
What else have I watched?
Shows.
I'm trying to think.
I don't know.
What's a new show?
What's a new show?
I've no ad.
Oh, I watched The Bear on Hulu.
That was.
Which one?
The Bear about the
show in in Chicago.
That was really good.
Yeah.
Okay, I'm going to write that one.
Really good.
What?
The rehearsal?
I've heard it's amazing.
I got to watch it.
See, this is what happens.
You're like the fifth, so now I'll watch it.
You need to hit five people.
You think it's five, not four?
I don't know.
What's it called?
The rehearsal.
It's Nathan Fielder.
I haven't seen it.
I heard it's great.
And what's the one that you said?
The bear?
Yeah, I liked it a lot.
Have you seen that?
Yeah, the bear.
Yeah.
It's really good.
It's like the animal, the bear.
Oh, the bear.
You have an accent that's very, very thick.
So so I can't
okay yeah part of it like his voice don't don't you think with comedians that like it's a lot of it's how like their their tonation like their intonation like the way you speak was is kind of what makes it makes you memorable like it's very like delivery yeah it's your delivery exactly sure you got a very good delivery thank you yeah that's what it is delivery your jokes your your your stage presence basically the whole thing yeah you gotta you gotta work on everything.
No, I'm telling you, you're gonna, I'm so glad that you came on today because
I feel like in a year, I'm not joking, you're gonna be huge.
You're gonna be just huge.
Or, you know, because I feel like it's bubbling around you.
I'm telling you.
Now, look, I got that letter about you today.
How strange.
Yeah.
You don't think that's so weird?
Just fucking, man.
Just fucking.
No, I just find it interesting.
I think you're going to, I think that this is like you're, although did they say in 2011, I did read this on your wiki page, that you're going to be the comedy comedian to watch in 2013 or 2011.
Keep watching.
Yeah, I was going to say, how long do we have to watch it?
I mean, it's so humiliating when they were like, oh, rising star, and they're like, in 2011, you're like, well, I guess I didn't rise quite yet.
I don't know.
Like an unleavened bread, like a matzah, basically.
Yeah.
I mean, it's, it's, it takes a while, you know, but it's also like, I've had fun for the last like many years.
And you're actually like, you have a good career, which is amazing.
That's great.
I'm very fortunate like you actually make money which is i know it's crazy you're not sleeping on people's couches
which is a little insulting i'm like i can pay for a hotel oh do you come sleep on my couch i'm like you think i want to sleep on your couch right i was gonna actually stay you want to hear you fuck your wife while i'm on your couch i'm gonna book a hotel don't they pay for it though the people you stay like if you're here doing a show don't they kind of don't they kind of pay for your hotel uh
sometimes yeah sometimes oh well do you want to stay in my spare room because i it's not
listening you you fuck your husband?
Yeah, maybe.
It's not on the couch.
It's going to be in your own room, so you have a place to go.
Okay.
Maybe I'll take it up when you see it.
You could play basketball.
I do like the basketball thing here.
Swim on the laps.
I like swimming.
Oh, we have this thing in the pool that's like a resistant thing.
I saw that.
It looks awesome.
It's really good for like, for working out.
So you can do the treadmill.
You'll get me healthy.
I definitely can.
You can do the treadmill, then you can do that swim.
Then you can go in the sauna.
You have a sauna?
Yeah.
Red light swim.
This is good living.
No, this is like,
it's kind of known to have, this is like a wellness facility.
If you haven't seen the red light,
it is like a red lac.
Are you going to kidnap me and try to turn my life around?
It's like sober living, basically.
Basically, it's a rehab or a sober living.
Well, I think I'm done with you.
I think that I've kind of asked you.
You sound like my ex.
Sorry.
You can stay as long as you want.
You can play more basketball.
You might take a couple of jump shows.
You can stay as long as you want.
You can have dinner with my family.
I got to go.
I got to do a show.
I know.
What time is your show at?
It's 4.50.
I know, but I want to get a jog in because I need to sweat this out.
Do you want to go in the treadmill?
Do you have sweatpants?
No, I don't.
Do you have a pair of shorts?
And I'm in pumas.
I can't run in these.
You really can't?
Although I have shoes that fit you.
Really?
Not mine, but I have a ton.
Well, people send me stuff all the time.
What size are you?
13.
You're a size 13?
Yeah.
Jesus.
And how tall are you?
6'3.
Really?
Do you have a girlfriend now?
I don't.
Do you want one?
No.
Are you sure?
I hate being set up.
Well, why?
Because I don't, it's like.
Again, it's not them saying you have a nice smile.
It's me saying that you have a nice smile.
So therefore, you don't have to hate them just yet.
The setup is always,
it's a lot of pressure.
What's the pressure?
You know, we don't like them.
You just move on.
Are you on Tinder?
Are you on Raya?
What are you doing?
I don't want to talk about it.
I want to know.
These are the things I actually want to know.
Well, I'll tell you off camera.
Okay, well,
that means, okay, fine.
I'm on Grinder.
You're in Grinder?
Yeah.
No, you're not.
I'm not, but.
Maybe you will be after this podcast.
Because if a girl tells you he has a nice smile it's like if you do tell me of a nice smile i'm like ew and if a and if a girl does you don't like it either girl or guy no yeah so you don't want me to set you up with anybody i'm good all right to each of his own okay well um i appreciate you coming all this way i know it was very nice of you i know you had another show god knows in a very different direction and we had fun it was a good talk i thought you were i hope the good people at entrepreneur magazine uh are are happy with it i'm well if it's They will be, why wouldn't they be?
I don't know.
You're very, you were, you know, maybe a couple of the words here and there may have to be.
Are they going to upset them?
Well, it's really, this is my podcast.
They're a partner of mine and they'll be fine.
They're totally cool.
Yeah, with this.
Sorry for the potty language.
Don't worry.
And people, please, okay, this is now me saying this.
If you don't know who Sam is or you haven't heard his bits, first of all, check out his Netflix special.
It is,
I'm sure I haven't watched that one.
You were about to say it's amazing.
You almost lied.
I know.
I was going to say, I haven't watched that one yet because it's brand, brand new.
But I have seen him do tons of bits, even on his social media, on his Instagram.
He is so funny.
Thank you.
People, when I told them that I was, you know, harassing you, they even knew who you were.
Oh, cool.
They think you're hilarious.
And
yeah, because you are.
That's why.
So there you go.
Thank you.
He's my favorite newest comedian.
Just letting you know.
It's been a long time.
It's been, well, for me, my, because I
new to me.
Like, I loved Sebastian for a very long time.
And then I kind of, you know, you kind of like, you kind of move through people after you see all.
I love Jim Gaffigan, too.
I love him.
I think he's amazing.
If you know him.
I do, yeah.
Can you get him on my podcast?
Probably not.
How well do you know him?
Well, but like, you know,
it's a big ask.
Okay.
What do you mean, a big ask?
He's a big ask.
What do you mean?
Can you ask Bill Burr?
No.
I have favors I have to ask these people.
Oh, fine.
I'll find them myself.
It's a headache to get them on my podcast.
They won't even go on your podcast.
No, I've got them both.
They've both been on, but it's a big ass.
It is?
How long did it take you to get Jim Gaffigan?
I don't remember.
It was like he was promoting a special.
You want to get these people in their promotion.
Of course.
It's always.
I got you even because of that, right?
But I'm like, you just got me.
You're not going to get Jim or Burt.
Maybe you'll get them.
What do you mean?
First of all, honey, did you see the list of people I've done?
It's very impressive, but they're tough to get.
I'm just saying.
I'm going to try.
I think you're going to try.
And I'm going to prove you wrong.
I hope you do.
I'm rooting for you.
I just can't pull that ass.
I'm just kidding.
Okay, check out Sam Morrell.
Go on his Instagram.
What is your handle, Sam Morrell.
At Sam Morrell.
It's sammorell.com on Instagram.
It's my name, Sam Morrell.
M-O-R-R-I-L.
He's amazing.
You will not be sorry.
Watch the Netflix special.
You won't be sorry.
Sorry.
Habits and hustle.
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