Europe w/ Ronny Chieng | You Be Trippin' with Ari Shaffir

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In fact, with this hour, my goal at the start was I just want to put out 45 minutes.

You know?

Do me too.

I want to keep it shorter.

And then it just grows.

It grows.

You're like, no, this is really part of it.

Yeah, it grows.

And

I took out

almost 20 minutes to keep it to an hour.

You know what I mean?

Because at the end, it grew to something else.

If they're like unrelated bits, you can just do them later.

Yeah.

Yes, yes.

Yes.

Unfortunately, I had to cut some.

You know, and sometimes it takes your friend back to back to what we were saying earlier.

It just takes a friend to watch it and go, this is great in the room, but for video, if you're trying to keep it tight, you can cut all this thing and just be brutal with it and cut something.

Yeah, Wolf told me that once.

She was like, can you watch my hour?

I forget which one.

Yeah.

HBO.

And I was like, yeah.

I was like, what's this?

Damn, I knew it.

Right.

Like, something about, like, I don't know, lacros.

And I was like, it's kind of cute.

Right.

It's like below your average.

Sure.

Like, B-material that works live and, you know, but no need to put it on a special.

Yeah.

Especially if you're trying to find time.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Like musicians have B-sides, right?

Yeah.

Where they're like, this isn't good enough for the album.

Like, we're going to put it on something.

Yeah, yeah.

I mean, you know, Bill Burr told me never to release the double album.

So even your B-sides, use it to grow the next album.

You know what I mean?

They're unrelated.

Like, if Allie, remember Ali's, like, pregnancy special?

Yeah.

So, like, if she had a bit about, like,

finding out she got pregnant, like, that's got to go in here.

Right, right, right, yes.

You know, but if she had a bit about, you know, somebody cutting off in traffic, like, I could hold this.

Yes.

I can hold this.

Evergreen.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Evergreen.

So I'm at that place where I've actually held stuff from two specials ago.

Really?

That I still really love, and I want to put on a special.

And I want to put on this one, but then

the same thing happened again where you're like, oh, this doesn't have to belong here.

It just keeps moving.

Yeah, then it's hard too because you go back to a city and you're like, oh, you guys have seen this.

Yeah, that's what's weird.

Like, I got to really put it away.

That's what's tough.

Yeah.

Yeah.

But, you know, there's also an argument of if you're.

They want to see some stuff again.

Well, yeah, see stuff again, but also if you're truly building it again, then like it's okay to like do

as long as it's a material, but it's just stuff they heard before.

You're just, you know, and you're rebuilding.

Where you been and where you going?

This is our Reese Travel Show.

Yeah, we're going to talk about travel today.

It's Ubi Trippin.

Yeah.

And thanks for having me on, even though I don't really have a disgusting tour story for you.

No, disagree.

You won.

Hi, welcome to the Yubi Tripping.

It's a travel podcast.

We do it another different place every time.

You won COVID.

I i thought i won covet until i found out how you did it i i won covet yeah but i wasn't disgusting no you don't have to be disgusting no but that was the brief to me i want to get what did they say they said that he wants a disgusting story uh about a trip you took something really gross and messed up that everything got fucked up and i was like dude i don't know i've got to be able to get through to these people to explain this better

it's like i'm like can i especially when it's comics like can i just talk to them can i get their number yeah but chris red wants to come on i'm like just give me his new number I had his old number.

Let me just explain it to him.

And they're like, fine, I'll find it myself.

Then you have to ask fucking boy, get through it.

Yeah, yeah.

Tim Minchin came and he was like, oh, it's a travel podcast.

He goes, I haven't been anywhere.

I'm like, oh.

But he's also not American.

How can he not?

He, of all people, has traveled many ways.

He came from there.

Now he's here.

And then he used to be there.

London.

And then he probably did all of Europe.

He was like, I don't know.

Yeah, he's back in town?

Minchin?

He was.

Oh, damn.

Okay.

I think he.

Because he moved to Australia.

Back to Australia?

Yeah.

I mean, last I heard, he was back for a few years, and so he's back in New York.

I used to love his old stuff.

I've not kept track of certain people, but man, that fucking anti-God stuff was so good.

No, he was great.

Everything he did was great.

Yeah.

He was on California occasion.

Isn't it weird when somebody's like,

when you start going like, damn, everything they touch is fucking amazing.

Like, they never have a miss.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, it's fun to see those people.

Yeah, yeah, no.

Great acts, great.

No, but it's not disgusting stories.

It's either fun stories, fell in love stories.

That was not made clear to me.

Oh, they're clearly not.

I got to get through it about it.

Yeah, please tell me.

Because I came on because I still love you anyways.

I'm like, I would try my best, but I got no.

I was like either amazing or even, even nightmarish.

They just, they only put in the even.

Yeah, they led with the.

There was nothing.

I'm not even joking.

It was like, I really wants to hear your messed up travel stories.

It's such a fucking publicist way of saying it.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

No, it's just like, you just got back from a vacation.

Tell me about it.

Okay, that's way better.

That's way better.

Yeah, I mean, you were talking about COVID.

I mean, I think I did win COVID because I was in Sydney, Australia filming a movie at the time when COVID hit because Tom Hanks brought it to Australia.

For that reason?

Well,

he was like almost patient zero.

He was the first like.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

That's when it got real.

Yeah, yeah.

Wait, what do you mean, Tom Hanks?

I've heard of him.

He got it?

Yeah.

Yeah.

and then because he was filming in Australia as well.

And so his production shut down.

He was filming Elvis at the time.

So his production shut down.

And so rumors on set was like, hey,

you know, we could get shut down.

We could get shut down.

And nobody knows what's going on at that time.

You know, this is, you know, March 2020.

And then one day I'm in the trailer, full makeup, full costume, five minutes from being called to set.

And they, the word came, our director went for a COVID test.

So we're shutting down production.

And I was like, oh man, I came so close to being in this Marvel movie.

I literally thought it was over.

Like, I was literally five minutes.

Oh, that was that one?

Yeah, yeah.

And then, um,

it sucks.

You're like, come on.

I know.

But I was, I had perspective.

I was like, man, there's bigger problems in the world right now.

But it was funny.

Literally

in costume, in makeup, five minutes from being on set.

And then they're like, they kind of.

Dude, I remember

when I was starting this, I don't want to say his name, but like he was like, had a meeting with Brillstein Gray to get representation.

It was like big.

I was like, hey, what happened at the meeting?

He goes, it got canceled because of 9-11.

And I'm like, bro,

you're so sorry.

Oh, man.

Don't make that the worst thing about 9-11.

Oh, man.

I'm just

like, just say it got canceled.

Any follow-up?

There was never any follow-up.

No, they eventually got it.

But don't make it like, woe is me, 9-11 happened.

I had to delay my meeting at Brill Star.

Oh, man.

That's such a comic.

That's such a comic thing.

And then because they, so I was in Australia.

And Australia,

to your point, Australia handled it great at the start.

And, you know, so we were in Sydney, and you could get all your creature comforts.

You could get coffee, you could go for walks, you could get food, you just couldn't eat in the restaurant.

Yeah.

But all the restaurants were open.

Not bad?

Yeah, it was great.

And, you know, I lived in Australia.

My wife is from Australia.

She was with me.

So we were like, it was like being at home.

Vacation.

Yeah, we were just going for walks.

And then the second part of my pandemic was after the Australia thing, I got cast in a TV show in Hawaii, Do Kamaloha.

So then I spent Hawaii.

And Hawaii, again, perfect.

I can't think of a better place for a pandemic because,

first of all, in Hawaii, everyone there culturally knows how to be considerate and put other people before themselves.

Yeah.

Like for real, it's palpable.

It's not just a, you know, everyone here is a friendly thing.

They know how to put community before themselves.

And secondly, everything there is open air anyway.

Yeah, it's all the outdoors up to what you want to do.

Exactly.

God damn.

Even the malls are open air.

The mall, if you go to the

mall in Honolulu, it's open air.

It's an open-air mall.

Oh, yeah, all they have.

Ala Moana.

Yeah, Ala Moana.

So it was a perfect place for a pandemic, and we were lucky to be there as well.

So I spent the whole pandemic in

Australia or Hawaii.

God, like dream, like vacation spots.

I envy those people.

The guy, like Paul Morris, he told me about a guy who was in Vietnam and like, you know, all those stories about the last flight out.

Yeah.

He missed it.

Oh.

And he goes, fuck, I'm stuck in.

But then everyone realized, like, home is no better.

Right.

You're stuck in Vietnam?

Yeah, but he's like, like, oh, I'm in a place that costs seven bucks a day to live.

Yes.

Yes.

This is sick.

Yeah.

No, my agents, when I was stuck in Australia, they said, Ronnie, like the production has organized a flight for the crew back to America.

If you don't get on this flight, I can't guarantee that you'll come back to America.

And my wife was like, yeah.

That's fine.

Let's try it out.

Yeah, cool.

I've ever talked to you.

We were walking by maybe the old stand.

I don't know.

And it was like, I think I won COVID.

And you're like, I had fun.

Like, what'd you do?

Yeah.

You told me, Australia to Hawaii.

Oh, fuck.

Maybe I came in second.

Yeah, but you did have a great pandemic.

Yours was very healing.

I felt you were very healed.

Oh my gosh.

Not that I know you that well, but like that you were like in Peru, right?

Or something?

Ecuador.

Ecuador, sorry, yeah.

And you were like just yoga and you're like, you didn't have your shirt on.

So fun.

Yeah, yeah.

So fun.

What a great pandemic.

What a great pandemic.

I mean, I really like, yeah.

That's my new special is all about like positives.

and like

I can't think of a better I would never have been able to do that.

Yeah yeah yeah.

Spend six months in Ecuador just chilling.

Yeah yeah yeah.

It was great.

All right.

Where do you want to tell him about today?

Where do you want to go?

Um you know I wanted to talk to you about Singapore because I don't know anyone who's been there.

Yeah, and you're the only one who I know who well, not the only one, but but you're the comic who travels so much and you know, you've been to Singapore, but then I also just did Europe.

So I don't know.

You know what I mean?

What was you did Europe for the first time?

First time, yeah.

First time doing Europe.

That's kind of wild.

It was great.

It was great.

So

I booked a show in

Paris,

Belgium,

Stockholm, Sweden, Finland, Helsinki, Belgium.

And then I ended up in...

Damn, where did I end up?

Man, my memory is so short.

Oh, Germany.

Where'd you go in Germany?

Berlin, yeah.

I'm so glad you have this map here.

I'm guaranteed you didn't do Germany the way I do.

I did not do Germany.

I heard your bid on it.

I heard your bid on the sex party.

Yeah.

I'm so square.

I couldn't find a sex party even if I was looking.

If someone told me where it was, I couldn't find it.

You'd be like, I don't know.

Oh, man.

I didn't know Finland was that big.

Wow.

Some of this is like, is like map is different than globe.

Shit, I don't understand.

This is the most surprising one.

How big that is?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

It's like as big as China almost.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Oh, and then I sorry, I also did Denmark.

Yeah, I did.

Yeah, Copenhagen.

Yeah.

So

we go to Paris, and, you know, my wife really wanted to do the show and visit Paris.

And I was completely

ambivalent about it.

I actually thought Paris would be lame because of my...

British colonial, you know, upbringing, I guess.

Paris would be lame?

I thought Paris would be lame.

With a girl?

Yes.

I thought, I was like, you know, I've seen a city before, whatever.

Who cares about Paris?

Dude, I went five days, days, loved it.

It was amazing.

Five days in Paris.

Five, six days in Paris, yeah.

And it was just before the Olympics, so they cleaned the city up.

So the city, the river smelled great.

The city was super clean.

I had nothing to compare it to.

So on stage, I kept saying, like, how awesome Paris, how clean it is.

And people were like laughing at me.

Because they were like, yeah, what are you talking about?

But yeah, but it was truly, they cleaned it up.

So I was, I came at, I went at such a great time.

And lots of Asian people in France, you know?

That's how different I am.

Africans too, West Africans.

Yeah, yeah.

And, you know, Asian people showed up for me.

And, you know, France and Europe, I don't know if you felt this way when you were there.

Like,

everything feels very classy and quaint in

a World War II.

Like, you know, they have cigarettes, vending machines in the back of a restaurant.

You can push a button and you can smoke.

Do you smoke there?

I don't.

I started there.

Oh, yeah, yeah, because it's.

It's so cool.

And Roland.

Yeah, yeah.

There was some like super hot chick at a restaurant.

I was like watching her technique roll.

And I was like, like I was by myself too, and I was like this.

She was like, ugh.

And I wanted to, oh, no, no.

No, no, just your rolling.

Right, right.

I wasn't looking.

I'm looking in front of your boobs.

Right, right, right, right, right, right.

And you said that?

No, I was just like, I just felt like that.

Yeah, and the other thing about France is the produce, so good.

The produce was like, because one of the iconic French things, I think, is having those fruit stalls on the street.

You know, not like we do in New York, but they have proper shops.

And so the fruit there, they all grow it in, I don't know, locally and in Europe.

And it just, you know, it just tastes better.

Do you think European FDA standards are just way higher than ours?

Yeah, I mean,

I think they grow fruit.

They treat food with more respect there, I think, than America.

They grow it.

They don't grow it the way we grow it in America where it's like quantity, just get it out.

So they're doing something right there.

It tastes better.

Oh.

Hi, guys.

Sorry.

I was just eating some of this bread that was made for me by Tom Papa.

Specifically made for me.

Yeah.

I don't want to brag, but I've got friends in

dope places.

Guys, let me tell you something real quick about Ronnie Chang.

He's got a new special out called Love to Hate It.

It's on Netflix right now.

I think it's his third Netflix special.

Ronnie Chang is one of the best comics working today.

He is aggressive in his self-deprecation.

He's got this weird power on stage while still maintaining a levity.

And above all, he's just very funny.

Yeah, he has this great.

He had this great bit about all the people weighing in on COVID where you were like, you guys were losing.

You were like the back of the classroom.

You can't just suddenly be smart now.

That's not the way it works.

Anyway, it was really funny.

But

right now, it's a brand new special called Love to Hate It on Netflix.

Check it out.

He's also on a TV show called Interior Chinatown that is airing right now as well.

You should know that I have a Ronnie has no tour, so I'll just get to my stuff.

By the the way, guys, we're so close to 100,000 subscribers.

What are we at right now?

99,379.

Bro, 621 more subscribers.

Come on, get me there before New Year's.

Do what you can.

Just hit subscribe right now on YouTube.

And also, if you're on Spotify or anywhere else, are those the only two places to take in podcasts?

Spotify and

YouTube?

Could be.

My special, America's Sweetheart.

Should I give you a sneak

peek?

Should I?

Is this even the color corrected version?

I'll give you a sneak peek.

Quick, quick, quick, sneak peek if you're watching.

But like, quick.

It's pretty fucking ballsy.

I went pretty fucking ballsy on the set design.

That's your sneak peek.

In lieu of jokes, I have set designs.

No, for real, though, I'm excited about it.

I'm excited to see it.

I've been doing press.

I'm here in LA at this place.

I'm doing press for it.

And set your calendars.

January 14th, America's sweetheart.

And then Jewel will be airing on Netflix as well sometime in April or May.

My tour, the farewell tour.

I guess you already missed the Tahoe date, but let's start with next year, January.

Pittsburgh, Providence, both with Adrian Appalucci.

Salt Lake City.

Brea is with Adrian Appalucci.

Nashville is with Adrian.

And then San Antonio with Ari Matty.

Ari Matty.

The two Aries finally together in San Antonio in February.

Tampa, Denver.

I don't know how I'm bringing it to Denver yet.

And then in March, we got Schaumburg, Atlanta.

Oh, Adrian will be with me in Schaumburg, Atlanta, Portland.

Then San Jose, Orlando, Fort Lauderdale.

Some of these are sold out.

And April, we got Seattle.

Vancouver, I think, is sold out or close.

Calgary and Edmonton.

I think both of those are almost sold out and then June Anchorage and that's it you guys and then I'm done till 2027 no more road gigs for Ari

for a while that's it subscribe do whatever you want

enjoy your lives I got merch on the website AriShafir.com enjoy guys let's get back to Ronnie Chang oh forgot to say I'm doing a screening in Austin Texas of my new special, America Sweetheart, at the Creek in the Cave.

Get tickets right now at AriShafir.com.

That's the add-on.

Tickets for screening, a pre-screening of america sweetheart by irish fair at the creek in the cave in austin texas january 12th no more details than that i have right now i'll be doing a little stand-up before or after and a q a

and i don't know what else but come it's gonna be a party let's enjoy let's get some drinks austin texas january 12th the creek in the cave i went to um i went to cuba with bobby kelly yeah for the election to get away what a trip oh my god It was so Bobby Kelly in Cuba?

We were just smoking cigars and we had a hurricane, but it was still fun.

Oh, you know, what?

Yeah.

Power went out of the whole island for fucking.

Oh, damn.

Yeah.

But it didn't matter because you were just living it like that.

But it was like sundown.

Our guy was like, oh, don't be walking.

Oh.

Don't be walking with a power outage.

Oh, really?

Yeah.

He goes, eh.

Okay.

Okay.

But daytime, though, we just set our clocks earlier and we just woke up in the sun.

How was the food?

Okay.

Everyone says it's so shitty.

It wasn't so shitty.

It was just fine.

But some was good.

But anyway, I ate like shit for five days and I lost weight.

Oh.

Because there's no like chemicals and that shit.

Yeah, they can't afford it.

I feel like Europe's kind of like that.

Yeah, I definitely.

So that brings me to my next point.

So I went to Berlin.

I don't want to skip over France, which was great.

I went to a French Open as well.

And also great Vietnamese food in France.

Wait, wait, wait, wait.

You went to the French Open?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

I went to the French Open.

Yeah.

Very classy.

Very classy.

French Open, very classy.

Way classier than the U.S.

Open.

Really?

Yeah, yeah.

Way classier than.

I talked to Michael Costa, who used to be a pro tennis player, and he said.

Top 1400.

Yeah, yeah.

And he was like, the US Open is known as this like the most disrespectful crowd people dress like shit it's like in a weird part of town that nobody goes to oh yeah you know whereas like the French open is like in Paris or you know the Australian Open in Melbourne which I also went to is like they make it like a music festival so outside the stadium is a whole event that you could you know it food and then there's there's bands playing and everything the US Open is the only one where it's like oh where are we

And it's also New York.

It's like a classy city.

Yeah, well, the San Francisco Open could have been better.

Sure, yeah.

And so, and every, you know, so this is how classy the French Open is, is my wife bought some merch from the French Open, and it's stuff she wears every day.

Because it's like classy sweater, like the fashion there, truly in Paris, was amazing.

So it's classy merch that you would wear like day to day.

And

wait,

did you get those,

is that where the

strawberries and whipped cream is?

Yeah, yeah, they had that, but I know, yeah, they had they had a special.

No, you're right, I didn't have that though for some reason.

I didn't get any of that, but I know they have a special French open thingamajig that they the U.S.

Open has that thing as well, like a special drink.

Oh, really?

Yeah, there's something every open has like a special uh gimmick drink, yeah.

It's like a gimmick drink,

yeah, which I appreciate.

Um, and uh, yeah, France, the subway is clean, um, it's easy to get get around Paris.

I got to see like

also in Paris, the buildings are like legislated to be lower.

You know what I mean?

So it's not like skyscrapers blocking out the sun.

They have that, you know, that inception scene where the buildings, like, yeah, so it's all that, that level of.

Did you stay in the old part of Paris?

I think so, yeah.

Yeah, old party.

Because I think if you go like out far enough,

it's just modern.

Oh, okay.

But like, there's like 12.

I think I was was in Southwoods.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I think I was just in classical Paris.

With your wife.

Yeah, with my wife.

It was perfect.

Yeah, it was awesome.

And we went to the bottom.

You just walk around and look at the architecture.

Totally.

Totally.

Totally.

And like just looking around and went to

one of the palaces and the old French palaces and how beautiful it was.

And yeah.

So they, they, they definitely,

the colonial rule definitely they reaped the benefits.

It showed in the capital.

They did a good job, you know, with it.

You know what I was thinking when I was there, like what it would have been like to be a german soldier during the occupation yeah yeah and like you get free baguettes pretty much anywhere

with respect you know sure maybe yeah forget about the negatives yeah yeah yeah but like

forget about

you're just a soldier you're not like planning

you're just there you're just there and you're just like man what a time it would have been to be there like yoshi told me about kabul And that's like a city that's gone now.

That doesn't exist anymore.

It's like it's, it was an occupation Kabul with like foreign workers and shit.

Right, right.

And like that in Paris must have been like...

Yeah, you wonder if you're a German in Paris and you're occupying it and

your whole mission statement is that you guys are the best.

Yeah.

And you're in Paris and you're like, man, I mean, maybe we're not the best.

You know, these guys.

These guys kind of, you know, pretty fucking cool.

Yeah,

they have great...

taste in France.

They have great tastes in Paris.

And you know what?

Also, the other thing, everyone was like, you know, another reason why I was dreading going to France was I kept hearing how snobbish people in Paris were.

Not true at all.

They were super friendly, you you know, like way friendlier than New York City, that's for sure.

You know, yeah, where does that

I love?

I love when people go, like, uh, oh, this city's expensive, like, won't be for me, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, compared to what we're doing here, yeah, and uh, yeah, they were very, yeah, what is that when people tell you about a place and you're like, uh, I didn't see that at all.

Yeah, I don't know, I didn't find them snobbish, yeah, I did not find them snobbish, quite the opposite.

Everyone's very friendly to me.

I mean, the

Paris Asian community really showed up for me, and they were obviously very gracious hosts and

very supportive.

They spoke English enough?

Everyone can palette Angla.

That's the other thing.

So we went to,

in France, we went to a champagne house, independent champagne house.

What does that mean?

Champagne house.

It's a place where it's like a winery, but they do champagne.

And so it's independent as well.

So

this was in Remis, which I'm not pronouncing correctly, but it's R-E-M-I-S, I think.

Reims,

France.

It's like a little

village

just outside of Paris.

So you take a train there.

And very, very beautiful.

R-E-I-M-S.

Yeah.

And

anyway, you would think that this could not be a more snobbier place because it's French champagne house, independent, outside of Paris in the countryside.

And I go there, and the people who showed me around, the people who owned the champagne house, had no idea who I was, could not be friendlier and more generous.

And they showed me around, they explained every little part of the champagne process to me as though you know they've never done it before.

You know, they weren't jaded at all.

They're like, this is where we do this.

This is the history of this house.

We took it over.

Here's some champagne.

And

at the end, they said, like, the most striking thing to me was, like, they said, like, because I was telling them how, like, man, in France, it's like everyone can speak English.

And they're like, oh, you know, I think our English in France is not very good.

We're a bit lazy with it here.

And I was like,

that was the attitude was that our English should be better.

It's not because we are lazy.

That's the least snobbish, you know, from this is from a champagne house guy.

And he, and I don't think he was just being modest.

He generally felt that way.

And he was saying that the EU has made it so that English is the language of business now.

So that's why everyone in France kind of speaks English.

Yeah, that's kind of lucky and unlucky that like when you meet people, like everyone meets up in English, like in hostels and stuff, anywhere pretty much.

Or sometimes German.

If like Danish people are there, they'll like speak German.

But generally English, so like it doesn't behoove you to learn another language.

Sure, yeah, yeah, yeah.

It's like it makes it easier, and then like you don't grow.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And also, it's crazy.

My language is lazy.

Yeah, that I mean, look, it's one guy.

So, what my point is that he was a super French guy who makes champagne.

You would think Kennobi Snobia, but the nicest dude on the planet.

And then

the other thing about traveling in Europe in 2024 was, damn, Uber was everywhere.

You know what I mean?

So you can just, and not just Uber, but but credit, everyone takes Apple Pay or whatever credit card.

So like you could go the whole trip without exchanging a single dollar or getting lost and

trying to navigate.

If you want to go somewhere, you can go there.

How good is just tap and go?

Tap and go.

They just come over.

You don't even stop your conversation.

And no tips.

No tips at all.

Nothing to figure out.

Nothing to figure out in Europe.

Yeah.

And the maps all work.

And, you know, if you want to take public transport, you can tap on the public transport to do the whole thing.

So you don't get lost.

You just take a look at where you're going.

You get it right there.

Yes.

And it's way different.

Yeah.

Oh, you haven't been there.

No, I have, but it was way different than like when you started going places.

You're like, where does this bus go?

It might be going the wrong way.

It might be going the wrong way, and then there's a language barrier.

But now you're totally fine.

Because worst case, you pull out your phone and then there's the translator app on it.

But anyway, I want to get to the point you were saying earlier, which was that

the food is.

So I went to Berlin.

I was in Berlin, Germany, and I was eating a steak in Berlin, and it came out, and it was like, it came out, I was like, man, this is, this looks so small, and it looks like it genuinely felt like we were having World War II rationing because of how small it was.

You're not even fat.

And I ate it.

Yeah.

And I was like, this is what it should be.

That was the right serving size.

You know what I mean?

That is all you needed.

So the serving size in America as well, I think they kind of took this old European style of food and then they were like,

What do people want?

They want more.

And then you just, you know, in America, they would just double, double, triple the cheat.

And that's something in America I don't think we do waste a lot.

Yeah.

It's almost like give them more than they'll need and then they can chuck it if they want to, but then we don't chuck it.

We just get obese.

Yeah.

Or we do chuck.

You're screwing it away.

Either you're wasting a ton of food or you get, you know, obese.

So, but they, yeah, in America, they never figured out like the way to enjoy something is to have less of it.

You know, that's something, you know, that's kind of the antithesis, right?

Yeah.

You know what I mean?

Just like, just have enough.

Yeah.

And having less is more because you either appreciate it more or if you have too much of a good thing, it fucks up the flavor.

What are you?

What's your ethnicity?

I'm Chinese.

Chinese.

Yeah, yeah.

Okay.

Well, I mean, yeah, I'm from Malaysia, but I'm Chinese.

In some of those places, in like Cambodia and Vietnam, they do these like slow meals where it's just like a little grill on the thing and they bring out like five pieces of meat and then you grill it and then you like kind of give it to each other.

But it's like and then you're like another another one.

But that's like 40 minutes has gone by.

And then you have another two pieces of meat.

And it's just like, until you're like, I think I'm good.

Yeah.

But it's not like, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, fuck, my stomach hurts now.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, which is very American.

Yeah.

And I went, so, and then I went to, so I was in Berlin, Germany.

What the, what did you do in Berlin?

Also, did you go to any cafes in Paris?

I did.

That was my favorite thing.

Yes, yes.

I get why, you know, when in New York City, when we have all these, during the pandemic, we had all these shacks.

Did you just get rid of them?

yeah.

I didn't get rid of it, and people were like, European style, European style.

And I never fully understood what that meant until I got to Paris.

I was like, oh, you guys are trying to do this.

They do it way back.

This is not what, this is not European style.

This is definitely New York City style, where it's like rats.

Rats, homeless people coming right up to you.

Yeah, like cows will run into the shack and kill people.

There's a couple videos of that.

Yeah, I know.

It's you know pretty fucking wild.

Yeah, I put a video in there of one of those fine one.

Yeah.

Yeah.

But in Paris, they would have these like

historic cafes, like what you're saying, right?

All these super old cafes.

I look them up.

I will walk to go to them and just sit outside and have

a coffee in one of the places that I guess invented it.

Oh, you're pulling up the video now.

Yeah.

They just got rid of these things, eh?

No, no, I want to see it.

I hate when they do reports of a thing.

No, no, no.

I want to see just the fucking video.

Two and a half minutes.

Okay, this has got to be it.

Oh!

Yeah, this is.

Damn!

Is he gonna run?

He's running.

He just keeps running.

Oh, no, he's not gonna.

Oh, he kept running.

Look at that guy running after him.

Yeah.

Oof.

What was he filming?

What was he hoping to film there?

Maybe he's just the quickest draw in New York City.

Yeah,

he heard someone screeching in the tire screeching.

Did you know that theory that when you're smuggling drugs into China, if you get caught, you have to shoot your way out because they're going to hang you?

Oh, I never heard of this theory.

Sorry.

I don't know this theory.

I genuinely have not.

It's punished by death, the traffic.

Right, right.

Getting caught, they'll just put you in jail, kick you out.

But like, if you try, so they're like, you may as well, your only chance at living is shooting your way out.

Okay.

Yeah.

um

if you do this you're like yeah go yeah just try to get out of here for a penny in this pound it's too late you can't help those people yeah yeah yeah just save your freedom i know i know but also like but anyway yeah that's all i do in paris imagine you're just eating and you're just like what's it

It's horrible.

It's horrible.

Also, Paris, very bike-friendly city.

Lots of bikes.

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Lots of bicycles.

Lots of bicycles.

Lots of bicycles.

Old bikes too, like OneSpeeds.

Yeah, and they don't have, as far as I can tell, they don't have the

city bike kind of culture where you dock it.

So everyone has it, and then they have to park it, and then you know, the bicycles.

No, they had them, but there was like areas where you park them.

So it's not into a dock.

It's just like it has, and so you try to park it there, and the thing goes, no, it's half a block from here.

Oh.

Or if you're just outside the area.

So it's just a bunch just kind of piled.

Not piled up, but.

Okay.

I didn't see as many.

city bike equivalents.

I just saw the people with their own bicycles.

Yeah.

And they'll be piled, you know, because bicycles take up space too.

And so you see, like, you know, yeah, this was less docks.

It was just like, just put it in this little area.

Right.

It'll be between like me and you.

I see.

And there's like eight bikes there.

Yeah.

And then

the other thing that's in Europe right now in 2024 is e-scooters.

So every country now has Uber and e-scooters, like Lime.

So like everywhere you go, it's like, oh, it's the same app.

And you just, yeah.

Just go on.

Yeah, yeah.

So it's become very, in that way, navigating cities, even extremely foreign cities, has become very universal.

You know what I liked about that ones in Paris?

I've just remembered, they had little rubber clamps.

To put your phone?

Yeah, so you could use directions.

Yeah, they had that in America.

Really?

Yeah, sometimes.

In these?

Sometimes, yes.

Well, New York City doesn't have e-scooters, but the city's like...

But I mean the bikes, too.

They had them in the bikes, so you could add your bike and it says, turn here.

The bikes here, we don't have that.

You don't have to be like this.

Yeah, the bikes here, we don't have that, yeah.

I'll show you something I bought for New York City if you want one.

It's like a rubber thing from Copenhagen.

You can put it to put your phone.

It like retrofits onto.

Oh, great.

It's super light.

It's like a rubber band for your phone, and it sticks it onto your bike.

Fucking Denmark, dude.

They're fucking

cutting edge of everything.

Yeah, and I got to go there too.

So, yeah.

So Berlin was...

Where did I go in Berlin?

Yeah, what'd you do?

So this is your first time in Europe?

First time in Europe.

I've never gone

crazy.

London is like...

Yeah.

You grew up in Melbourne?

You grew up in Singapore?

No, I grew up in Malaysia and Singapore.

And then I was in Melbourne, Australia for 10 years.

And I've done shows in London and Scotland and Canada and America.

That doesn't count.

Can't count that this country.

Never been east of.

I mean, sorry, I've been to Japan too, but I've been to China.

I've done shows in China and Hong Kong.

But all this, nothing.

Yeah, never.

So

it was really a trip to

see the world a bit, which is what's so great about stand-up comedy.

How, how, yeah, we were talking a little about that.

It's kind of nuts.

I went to Iceland for the, it was one of my first trips.

Yeah.

And I just remember going, like, I'm not, I can't afford this.

But, like, they fly you out.

And, like,

and it was just like, like ah, this is what a cool like benefit of this job, right?

Yeah, yeah, like take you to these places where you can't go, you can't make time for it and you can't afford it.

Yeah, and then you can afford it, but you still can't make time for it.

Yeah, it's the best.

It's the best.

Were you like wide-eyed when you were when you were going there?

When you were like walking around in Berlin or just in Europe in general.

I was.

I went, you know, you know, my personality type is pretty cynical, and I try to keep it even key.

And I don't, I don't get it.

You do cynical well.

Yeah, and I don't, I don't do, I try not to.

Let me tell tell you why everything sucks.

Yeah, basically.

So, but even me, I went there like, oh, this is cool.

I get it.

I might not, you know, not necessarily any place I want to live in, but I love and respected the cities.

Berlin, I think what was the most striking about Berlin

was everyone was telling me what an arts center Berlin is.

And I saw it.

But

what was like, you know, you know the Berlin Wall and then they paint on it?

You know, so a very ardy city, which was cool.

And everything was in English.

Well, I mean, everyone can understand English.

It's such a worldly town.

Yeah.

And

they had a lot of Jewish monuments, I think, in Berlin, I think.

Or at least not, I don't know what the term is, but like they were a lot of acknowledgements of the past.

They got to go one of two ways.

I guess they could stay in it.

But like, it's either like, it didn't happen, we don't want to talk about it.

Or like, that's why when they're like, refugees welcome.

Yeah.

It's almost like they're hard on that, right?

Yes, yes.

And it's like, guys, we went so wrong once.

We're going to err on the side of it.

Sure.

Sure, yeah.

Being open-minded.

And very, very, um, very efficient.

So in that sense, it reminded me of Singapore and how efficient and clean it was.

You know, everything was orderly.

Their systems worked great.

Traveling in the EU, what a dream.

No, just walk right through.

Just walk through.

It's like a state-to-state.

Yeah, it's to state.

I couldn't believe how

easy it was.

And you're in a totally different country and culture.

Different language?

Different language.

Yes.

Yeah.

Wow.

Yeah.

And then you're just like, oh, just hi.

Hi, yeah.

You come on in.

Yeah.

And you go in.

And

one thing that struck me about Berlin was how empty it was.

That's what I was like, in terms of crowds, no people.

I was walking around.

Yeah, I was taking for, I was making fun of it, like, because everyone told me how popping Berlin would be.

And so I was taking photos of how deserted the

city was, how empty the nightlife was.

Like, I was at a bar.

Someone was on his computer doing an Excel spreadsheet.

That's how quiet the bar was.

Yeah.

At night, and the bar was like empty.

And then the street outside the bar was empty.

And I don't like crowds, so I love that Berlin.

But it was still funny how many people were telling me how that you were with your sex parties and then this guy with the drinking.

And I was there.

Like, there was no one there.

It was empty.

Wait, you don't like crowds?

I don't appreciate crowds.

I mean, that's so against your racial.

That's why I came down to Malaysia.

That's why you got out.

Yeah, that's why I went down to Malaysia.

Yeah, Malaysia, less crowded.

And

the shows went well, you know.

Not to pat myself on the back.

Do Berlin is.

I mean, the shows, too, are like, they're down.

Yeah, down.

They're savvy.

They're so smart.

They get it.

And they're like, yeah.

I literally played a venue.

I think Trevor played the same venue a week before me, Trevor Noah.

And so the booker was telling me, like, hey, Trevor would do Berlin, then he'd do the other cities in Germany.

Like, would you do those other cities?

And I'm like, yeah, I guess.

I just, you know, I'm really,

I genuinely was shocked that anyone would want to come and see me in Europe.

So I was, you know, I just like,

I didn't try to maximize the tour.

I was just grateful to be able to go with you.

Oh, dude.

So you'll see this next time you go too.

Everyone will be like, hey, do you want to come here?

I'm like, I'm already coming.

I can't, I can't just add, I have my flights.

You need to hit me up four months ago.

Oh, right, right, right, right, right.

In terms of like suggesting cities.

Yeah, or like you're going to be playing in Thailand.

and I'm like, oh, come to fucking Cambodia while you're here.

I'm like, bro, I'm not, like, yeah, it's all covered.

Yeah, yeah.

It's all, it's all planned.

I'm from America.

I can't, I can't.

I'm not winging this.

I'm not a backpacker.

Yeah, I didn't just add it yesterday.

But you know what it is in Germany is in Berlin anyway.

I went out first night, like looking to find trouble.

And then like 8 p.m., I get out there, and I'm like, fucking, same thing.

Couldn't find anything.

It starts at 11.

Oh, the vice.

It starts at 11 or 12.

The vice starts late.

Okay.

Yeah.

I didn't see the vice.

All I saw was clean streets, very cute rest german restaurants i had a beer there because you know you have to and um uh i saw the berlin wall which was cool what'd you think of it it was cool to see this thing that i've only read about and i kept hearing about over the last 30 years and then you see it in person and you're like oh okay this thing was it because we were in the we went to uh checkpoint charlie you did and you went to it there was no one there and everyone's like oh you gotta line up you gotta line up for four hours at checkpoint charlie there was no one at checkpoint charlie it was completely empty yeah yeah and i was surprised because i was in a cool part of town and it turned out just east to west yeah yeah wow and i was in a cool part of town and only later did i found out i was actually in the the east part of berlin which was supposed to be the not cool part back in the day right east was not cool yeah because that east was the non-american side the the west berlin was where it was popping right because it was like um american oh right but east was more soviet so east was like people trying to escape from east so so no yeah yeah

East is now the spot.

Yeah, East was cool.

Yeah.

Berlin was like,

I think it was.

It's so funny.

There's a McDonald's there, too.

Isn't that cool?

At Jumppoint, Charlie.

Yeah.

Like, imagine, you know, you're a soldier there, and then you get transported to 2024.

You're like, whoa, this really became different.

I mean, same thing.

You're an occupying force there.

We're like, ah, Berlin's great.

I'm here.

I actually think that McDonald's is actually on the east side of it.

I could be wrong.

Oh, that's the line right there that doubles.

No, no, that's a street line.

But don't quote me on any.

I can't remember what was

which side, which side.

This was it.

You would go through this checkpoint to get to like east or west?

Yes, yes, yes, yeah.

Yeah, then.

Oh, you didn't know about this?

Like, a little bit.

Okay.

Okay, yeah, yeah.

Oh, here's the picture.

Yeah.

East and West Berlin.

Damn, the city fucking split in half.

Yeah.

Do you ever go to these, like, okay, so Paris and then the Berlin Wall?

Sometimes I do these things where I'm like, Jerusalem's like this, or the Great Wall of China, where I'm like, since this structure is the same,

I can just mentally put myself back to what it was like.

Yeah, a little bit.

You know, something's bringing me directly back.

Yes, yes.

Definitely more history in these places than America.

Yeah.

You know, like, so yes, you can put yourself back.

Um, you know, America is very young, it's like less than 300 years old.

Yeah, and these places, you know, they got stuff stretching back at least 500.

But even the Berlin Wall, like you see it, and you're like, oh, I can see how someone would want to get over this.

Yes.

Want to get to freedom.

And then, like, it's, yes, it's not that tall.

Yes.

Well, yeah, there's a lot of guns around, but yes.

But no, you're absolutely right.

I think that's why it's so good that they left it there.

Because you can put yourself in that situation.

And then you can, you know, it gives you appreciation of it.

And, you know,

I definitely appreciated it, even though I obviously have not much of a connection to that.

But

yeah, Berlin was awesome.

And again, this, you know, Germans, too serious, don't know how to laugh.

Totally bullshit.

They're great.

I love these stereotypes.

London, too.

Food is shit in London.

You're like, no, it's not.

Some of the most like Michelin restaurants.

What are you talking about?

You're saying what they mean is British food sucks.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

But even that is not really that true.

Right, right, right.

I will say that I do think British food does suck, but I think...

Yeah, but they have Indian food in Britain.

Yes, that part is great.

That's great.

That's the part that's great.

And then after Berlin, I went to,

let me see.

Oh, sorry, I'm not sure how you do this podcast.

Do you edit it?

Am I supposed to talk over the top so that...

Am I supposed to pad while you're away, or do we just edit this out?

Okay.

Okay.

What'd you go after?

After that, I'm pretty sure I went to Belgium.

What'd you think of that?

And because that's the one thing that I'm always like, skip it, just go for one day and move on.

Really?

Yeah, I like Belgium.

Okay, great.

What did you like about it?

Brussels.

Yeah, I went to Brussels.

It sounds insulting, and I'm not trying to be condescending, but it was very quaint in a cool way.

It was quaint, and it was...

You talk about putting yourself in a situation where of historical significance.

Dude, Belgium was like castles, you know?

So you can't get more historic than that.

Stone-built castles everywhere.

What was Belgium in the olden days?

Was that like a center of anything?

I think it was a weird part of France.

And then they became their own country.

Oh, really?

Yeah,

they were like a place that France would keep on annexing or something.

And then they would, you know, split off.

And so Belgium is weirdly...

i didn't know this about belgium that it's actually half half of them are like dutch speaking and half of them are french speaking yeah and obviously there's overlap but their country is very much made of these two um uh language bases and so it's it's and it what's funny about them is um i would

uh

well what beautiful city first of all and and not like not like um a metropolis so brussels is a cool city but it's not like a uh it's not like Paris or Germany.

Yeah, and so it's a little smaller.

People, they're very friendly, but for me.

Do you mean they're friendly to you because they knew you or just?

Yeah.

And they...

One thing about Belgium that's kind of shitty is that because they were terrible to Congo, and they would chop people's hands off in Congo.

Yeah, Congo was like a colony.

Of the Belgians.

Yeah, and King

was a real dick in Congo.

Basically, they would get cocoa and other resources from Congo, and they basically enslaved the Congo people in Congo.

And if you didn't pick enough cocoa beans, they would chop your hand off.

So they would chop the hands off of kids.

Like, they would chop the hands off of...

If you didn't pick enough cocoa, they would chop your kids' hand off.

It was chopping hands off was like a thing.

It's really awful.

It's not a one-off.

It's like, that was a very common thing the Belgian people did to Congo.

So when you're in Belgium it looks beautiful and they have Belgium chocolate which they're famous for you're like oh this the dark history here is very

because like they don't grow yeah the cocoa base the the the cultural

presence of chocolate in Belgium is from is from Congo you know whoa but but you know look that I mean old days whatever people move on yeah and the shows were good and

what was funny for me was I started filming this I hope I think you appreciate this like Like,

before my first show in Paris, I got this sense that

before I went to Europe, I was just, I treated these shows as I'm willing to fall on my sword.

I don't think anyone's going to like me.

Whatever happens, happens.

But before my first show in Paris, I got this sense, like, hey, I'm working up material, local material here.

I think I should film every city and put it together as a Euro album, you know, the local material stuff.

So I started doing that.

I hired locally and I found people to video me in every city.

And so it was just like the shit you like observed, yeah, yeah.

And so I would do some observational stuff in the city, but then I would do this hacky thing of

eventually I would start asking them who they hate because Europe,

yeah, which they hate.

And so, and so I asked, I would ask Belgium who they hate, and I would, and then I would, the fun thing was because I was doing a tour, after they told me who they hate, I would be in that country

the next day, and I'll be like, hey, what do you guys think of Belgium?

And they'd be like, oh, we don't care about Belgium.

And I'll be like, oh, you know what?

They hate you guys.

So I think that would be a fun special to put together.

Wait, who does Belgium hate?

So that's what's interesting about Belgium is that

according to them anyway,

they're half French and half Dutch.

The Dutch side hates the Dutch.

I guess it's that same thing with Montreal and France.

Which is Dutch?

Netherlands?

Yeah, Netherlands, yeah, Holland.

So I guess Belgium, Dutch, you know, they think that the Dutch, Dutch look down on them or something.

You know, the way like Montreal, French, and Paris, French, you know, they're like, oh, yeah, these aren't real French.

You know, I guess there's that.

So basically, because Belgium's down the middle, they're half French, half Dutch.

The French side of Belgium hates France, and then the Dutch side of Belgium hates Holland.

And they're like, we don't give a shit about France.

Yeah.

Holland's our bitch.

Yeah.

And then the Holland side of Belgium doesn't care about France.

So that was really funny.

Yeah.

That's so great.

Yeah.

And I went to another city in Belgium.

Oh, sorry to interrupt.

No, it's just reminding me.

Somewhere I was like, it was like, oh, I went to a play in Florida, like right after COVID.

And I was like, hey, you know, everybody hates you.

Just so you know, like, literally, I travel a lot.

Everybody fucking hates you guys.

But it is it.

They just kind of laughed, but I was like, I know it's not you individually, but you guys got a bad rap.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I went to another city in Belgium.

What's like another famous city?

Not Brussels.

It's Belgium.

I'll find it before.

Yeah.

Let's see.

It's like the second big city in Belgium.

I did not do a show there.

I just went there to visit.

So how

Antwerp?

Antwerp, yes.

Yes.

Antwerp was beautiful.

So

the comedy thing they told me was that you either do Brussels or you do like Antwerp.

Oh, I've never been to Antwerp.

I've been to Brussels a couple of times.

Yeah, Brussels is the capital.

So I thought it made sense, but apparently it's not necessarily the only choice in Belgium to perform in.

Well, it's like Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Yeah, somebody's like.

Closwegians are way more fun, is it on?

Yes.

Because Edinburgh is like, you know, smart people.

Yeah, academics.

Yeah.

So I don't know if that's the case for Belgium because I didn't get to perform in Antwerp.

Brussels was great to me.

I really liked it.

I think it's a

capital city, so a lot of English there too, you know?

But Belgian people are naturally very cosmopolitan in that way because they live in a country that has two main languages already.

And they all speak English.

So they're all very, you know, language in Europe is not a thing.

Everyone there can speak multiple languages.

They're very smart.

Like,

and I didn't know I was wearing a Tintin t-shirt because I love Tintin.

And Tintin comes from Belgium.

Oh, wow.

So, when I was in Belgium, people kept going, like, oh, you like Tintin?

I'm like, yeah, yeah,

Tintin's my guy.

And he's a.

Yeah, and he's a Belgian creation.

So good.

Shout out, Belgian, McCrean Pop Culture.

Wait, how is the food in these different places like that?

Belgian, what's okay.

I got.

you know, I think in Europe and, well, France and Germany and Belgium, they're very,

in my mind, if you think of a storybook bakery, that's what they do there.

They have that old school, old world baking sensibilities.

And, you know, so everything that to us is like a gimmick in New York, where it's like you have a, it's almost like we do it hipster style bakery with whatever.

They do it unironically.

So the food that we make like ironically in America to hawk into an older age, that's how they legitimately eat.

So that's

like, oh, I see what they did here.

Like, no, they didn't do this here.

That's where you guys got it from.

You ski at all?

No, I don't see it.

Okay, so like Vale, Vale Village and stuff like that is built to be like Alpine?

Yes, yes.

And then you go ski in Zermatt and you're like, oh, you guys are trying the same thing.

Like, what do you mean?

Yeah, yeah.

This building's been here for like 500 years.

They have the OG.

Oh, right.

They're the OG.

Yeah.

So that, that, you know, that being said, like, I just, this is me personally.

There's only so much white food I can eat white white people food before I hit a ceiling So I have to go eat like I have to go find the Asian food in the city.

Oh, really?

Yeah, yeah, I just I physically can't eat dude.

I finally figured out Chinatown when I was in Shanghai and Beijing.

Oh, yeah.

And

it was like, you know, you get there and you're like, I want to try all these crazy foods and stuff.

But then the

expats who live there, they're like, oh, we'll take you to this place.

And eventually like, let's go to this burger place.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And you're like, oh, that's Chinatown.

And then eventually like, I want my version of burgers.

Yes.

That's what it is.

Yeah, that's what it is.

You want something authentic that tastes good.

So, we, yeah, so that's what I found in.

How was the

Chinese food in these places?

Was

okay.

Maybe I didn't get to hit up the best places, but it was okay.

Melbourne, I was just there and Sydney.

God damn, like, oh,

I got a lot of food.

And everything.

Yeah, they got Burmese, they got everything.

They got everything there, and they have great produce.

So you have great cuisines plus great Australian produce.

The meat there, the vegetables in Australia.

Everything is tip-tock.

So, you know, I didn't get to get a great sense of it, but I was only in two days in every city.

So, how'd you do it?

You split up shows every two days?

Or how'd you do it?

Yeah, every two days.

And in hindsight, I probably should have given myself more.

But you know, when you're planning the tour versus when you're on it, when you're planning, you're like, yeah, I'll do two days, whatever.

When you're on it, you're like, fuck, I wish I had more time in this.

How'd your Jews feel about that?

My

agents and managers.

Oh.

About you taking days off.

Oh, my God.

Mine aren't either.

That's how you call them.

The Jewish arts.

No,

they actually were okay with me doing it.

Because my agent actually had a great perspective on this.

He said, Ronnie, you should do Europe because you're going to love it.

And they can't offer you...

life-changing money.

So you should do it before you personally feel like it's not worth your time, which was a great way to phrase it to me.

Because not to be snobbish, but I did make decent money on this trip, but my mindset there wasn't I'm here to make money.

My mindset was I'm just having a paid vacation.

You'll make more money in Kansas City.

Exactly.

Exactly.

But that's not the point.

Kansas City is not Paris.

So, yeah, yeah.

So he had good perspective on that.

That's why I like my agents and managers because

they're not like, they're never squeezing me for cash.

Mine started to be like, dude, if you're there, you got to work every day.

It's not worth it.

And I go Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, I'll work.

Other three days is off.

And then I'll either stay in a town or go early to another town.

Yes, yes.

If anything, my agent actually told me to do less so I go enjoy myself.

Yeah.

He was like, hey, don't do, like, spread it out a bit.

And so, and then.

Did you take trains anywhere

from country to country or city to city?

No, we flew country to country, but we took trains in the, in the, you know, I took a train from Brussels to Antwerp.

So, you know, stuff like that within the city.

How was that?

Great.

You know how they do trains?

It's not like America.

It's so nice.

It's way nicer.

Sometimes...

Did you do the first-class train?

Yeah.

It's like $20 more.

Yes.

It's really so much.

And then they come by with nice coffee and like an actual

cup than this.

And they come by, like, hey, what can I get you?

Yeah.

It's just so great.

Like, Japan trains are awesome.

Really?

Yeah.

Oh, you've never been to Japan?

You will love Japan.

You will love it.

But not, but my point to bring up Japan is just that I feel like America is the only country that does trains the world.

Yeah, we're like cattle.

You know how like UK like stand-up is like an offshoot of theater?

Yes, yes.

And ours is an offshoot of like campfire storytelling.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, our trains are an offshoot of cattle transport.

Wow, that's a very interesting thing.

Maybe, right?

No, but even that point about we are campfire storytelling.

Oh, yeah.

I didn't think about that.

I didn't think about that as stand-up.

That's where it came from.

Yeah, I saw some guy, I've quoted for Ragnar Jarlson, whatever.

He's my favorite art piece in the world.

It's in the San Fran, maybe Momo right now.

The visitors.

It's so fucking...

Me and Adrian saw it in...

Phoenix, I think, randomly.

We were looking for some Yayoi thing, and we came across this.

And it was just like, I mean, bawling, crying.

What?

It was just overpowering oh yeah you were going to San Francisco anytime

I'm not anytime soon but I just did it but please send it he's got a residency there so like yeah please send me what you're talking about okay yeah but he came to speak he's Icelandic and the Icelandic art scene is so like together because they're all funded by the government sure and so all the comedians know the actors the comedians know the the visual artists

so I told my friend Ariel Jar and he was like oh yeah you know he can um and then his buddy was like he's going to speak at the MoMA here in New York like if you you want to go see him, he's got a new installation.

Yeah.

Sure.

So me and Adrian went and he was speaking.

And he goes, and I'll apply, he's talking about the arts, but like visual arts, but I'll apply it to stand-up where he goes, he goes in, because he does music and video and all this weird stuff.

He goes, in Europe, the rock stars come from art school.

Like the Rolling Stones went to art school.

Yes, that's right.

And they come out of that.

You act like rock stars.

And that's just because they have money and

they act like brats.

But like they come out of art school.

And he goes, in the United States, music is,

he goes, how do you say this?

And he leaned in and asked somebody, like, is something that Acelandic?

He goes, okay, music is of the soil.

Whoa.

Yeah.

Wow.

Right?

That is very cool.

And that's how our stand-up is.

It's of the soil.

Yeah.

It just grew naturally as his own thing.

Yeah.

So when we see like UK comedy, a lot of people are like, what are you talking about?

It's kind of a different thing.

You shouldn't be judging.

Oh, totally.

You're right.

You are so right.

We don't have the, and that's what I learned.

We don't have that here.

Yes, yes.

You know, and they look at us as oops.

Like, what's the message?

Like, no message.

We just had a good time and forgot our woes.

And, you know, some of that comes from, I guess, the mission statement of America was that freedom of speech as part of it.

So that, like,

talk about the government.

Talk shit about the government.

Talk shit about, you know.

So there is that kind of thing.

But you can't deny that I think London was definitely, sorry, British comedy, as much as it came from theater.

I think they were also looking over here

and being like, oh, they're doing that.

Well, we'll do.

And then they did that, you know, because they're connected to theater, they did their version of it.

Right.

They're like to put it under their microscope.

That's such a good point.

That's a great point.

Yeah.

I never realized that.

Yeah, I think the only thing that's unchanged no matter where is

Irish bars.

Irish bars pubs are the same kind of anywhere.

It doesn't matter what your influence is.

Yes.

They just do it the same.

Totally.

That's totally true.

Everywhere you go, everywhere in Europe, the Irish pub was the Irish public.

So it's like, you know what you're getting?

It would be the same name as as well.

It wouldn't be like a Cambodian version of it.

Yeah, and that point also, you reminded me that all these countries also had their own comedy scenes, you know, burgeoning comedy scenes.

Yeah, it was exciting.

In their own language.

It was exciting.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

I mean, the Berlin scene was people from all over the world.

The Amsterdam scene is so fucking big.

The local shows are packed every night.

Yes, yes.

I think also, right, they started on their own, but then also the internet's here.

Yes.

So they're now being influenced by you and me and and and Chris Rock and everybody.

They're just influenced by them all.

You get them now.

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.

And there's definitely, you know, France, I think they have their own style of comedy already, you know, the French

that's you know, whatever that style is.

And then, uh, but the other guys, I feel like they're more maybe more American focus.

You know,

Australia, totally American style.

Yeah.

Well, actually, Australia was British when I started.

You know, American style was just seeping in because I guess we were kind of pre u you know, uh, I was pre-social media in in in Australia doing comedy.

Like, so you saw just coming into like the vibe, yeah.

It was just when YouTube was around, but no one knew how to harness it.

And so, in Australia, people who use YouTube were YouTube comics, which were they were essentially doing sketches or they weren't doing stand-up on YouTube.

Now, you know how like stand-up is now on TikTok, on Instagram, on you know, it's like everything should be pre-Russell Peters or post-Russell Peterson,

you know.

He really did like P

PRP or PRP.

PP.

But yeah, but yeah, so that Australia, I would argue Australia was traditionally more UK style and still is, you know.

But yes, I think the Americans are influencing, sometimes in a bad way.

I think sometimes the, you know, I think some, some, if you're, if you're unintelligent and untalented, if you look at America, you might think that everyone here is just trying to be edgelords.

Yeah.

Without the skill set of comedy, you know?

As in, you might think that comedy in America is just saying the most controversial thing with no jokes.

It's like, it's like a

cursory glance at it.

It's like that's not really what it is.

I can see why you might think that, but there's actually people doing very interesting, unique stuff and trying to touch on hot button issues.

And you're like going for laughs from dark places.

Yes.

And people go, you're just trying to be shocking to all these people.

No.

No, it's more than that.

It's more than that.

And we appreciate that, obviously.

But unfortunately, there's people in Australia.

I'm talking comics who

they market themselves on being too dangerous for Australian TV, but they do it unironically.

Like it's one thing to market yourself as that, but they truly believe that they are saying something that's horrible.

You know, and dorks, that's dorks.

I know that it's so dorky, and I'm already like, your mindset is already wrong, you know, because I guarantee you the comics that you love who are controversial, that's not what they're trying to do.

They want to get on TV.

They want, they're trying to tell John.

I'm like, guys, I wish, come on, I wish it wasn't like this.

I'm just trying, like, why don't you like this?

Yeah, yeah.

And like, there's plenty of audiences that really like it.

Yes.

Can't you just be be like them?

Yes, yes, yes, yeah.

So, anyway, but that's Australia.

You know, and then, yeah, after Belgium, I went to Amsterdam, which was great.

And everyone's,

I guess, everyone in America has been to Amsterdam.

Very cosmopolitan.

So, that's the one rule I tell people over this podcast.

Don't talk about Amsterdam.

I got that rule.

Yeah.

It was just like, oh, it's the same story.

Okay.

So, like, your Paris with your wife and the French Open is going to be different than my Paris.

Took a writing class there.

And Tim Dillon's is like all restaurants.

Wait, you took a writing class in Paris?

Uh-huh.

Great.

Like, memoir writing by this guy.

He teaches one there every year.

Really?

Yeah, he's this great travel writer who wrote like the book on, like, well, this isn't it, but

she would love that.

Really?

Yeah, right.

How long was the class?

Uh,

either one week or two weeks.

Wow.

And then, like, obviously in English.

In English, yeah.

Um, memoir writing,

and like, um, but also, like, there's a beginning one and then more advanced.

Right.

I couldn't line up with the advanced.

He's like, you should probably take that just because of stand-up.

Oh, okay.

But it was so fun.

It's so interesting.

This is just like a new.

He wrote like the Bible on backpacking.

Okay.

And then

25 years later, he goes, Let me write another one.

Tim Ferriss credits him with like, you got me going.

Oh, all right.

And you, this influenced you.

No, how to travel.

This influenced you.

That's why you're such a traveler because of this?

No, I read this.

This, his original book.

I can't find it.

I'm not sure if I'm in Cambodia.

And then on a beach in Cambodia, my friend Justin Edbrook sent me

my Jew

sent me the book.

He's like, hey, you're about to go to Southeast Asia.

I heard about this.

Take it.

Oh, that's really cool.

Went through me and Martha.

I'm reading it.

And then.

That's one thing I always really liked about you was that you always traveled more than any American comic.

Right.

You were always the guy.

And when you traveled, you traveled, I think, the right way.

You always travel with a very open mind and you are never like, where's the Burger King?

You were always like, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Which, you know, the American guys are like, they're like, Do you guys have this over here?

You were always very curious and very respectful.

I had to yell at people in Chiang Mai.

They're like, Oh, let's go to Burger King.

I'm like, guys, no, no.

And they're like, Why?

I'm like, Guys, we're in here.

No, but you know how it is with the American dudes.

You sometimes you travel with them and they're like, they just can't get out of their way.

And they can't.

Yeah, but you were always really cool with it, and you're always very respectful, even though you know,

the act that you did would make it seem like you wouldn't be respectful at that time or whatever.

My memories of your comedy, because I saw a comedy before I met you.

It wasn't that you're a bad person, but

how open-minded you are.

Yeah, you're doing a stylized version of yourself on stage.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So if it was you, I'd be like, oh, just he's mad.

Yeah, yeah.

He looks good.

Like, he's not really mad.

Yeah, yeah.

He's made a version of himself in a moment.

Yeah, yeah.

But so I was always like very,

because you would go to like Southeast Asia, you go to Australia, you go to all these places, and you would really go.

You go deep in.

You wouldn't just.

I had so many flat whites in Melbourne.

Yeah, yeah.

I was like flat whites.

Yeah.

And I know that's you hate the surface.

You want to go deeper than the surface.

You never want to do the surface thing.

You always wanted to.

Yeah, it's like your first day, you're like, let me see some statues.

Yes.

And then you go deeper.

Yeah.

No, totally.

So, no, that's great.

I got to tell my wife about this because I.

Yeah, it's a fun class.

But then also, he's like, okay, so now those literary people, Hemingway was there, and all these people were in Paris.

And you're like,

go walk the streets, do these exercises, describe stuff without using adjectives.

Do this.

And you're like, okay.

Great.

Like real writing exercises.

I love it.

Only once a year.

It's in August, yeah.

And then like...

Where is he from?

Kansas,

outside, like two hours from Kansas City.

Oh, can we do his class in America?

Maybe.

No, I think.

Well, at first he did it through the University of Paris.

Yeah.

And then eventually he was like, what am I?

You guys aren't giving me any.

I can just do this.

I can just organize it.

That's so cool.

That's very.

Oh, it rules.

It was so fun.

I wish I could do it all.

And creatively.

God, it would just be like, brah.

And And then he taught me how to, like, I don't want to make it about me, but he taught me how to, like, so I'd write my stories, and a couple of them I, like, worked out on stage.

So, like, you just have a submission.

It's either an essay or whatever.

Yeah.

And obviously, it's going to be the funniest one.

Yes.

It's not bragging.

It's just like they're not comics.

But then he's like, hey, so you do these like asides and come back.

It doesn't work on the page.

You got to stay in the geographical place where you are.

Right.

On stage, you want people to forget what you're talking about and come back.

Yeah.

Because it's just confusing.

The shaggy dog story doesn't work on paper.

that that kind of like yeah

what's the shaggy dog story oh it's a it's a concept of like um like you you you tell this super long story that goes somewhere and then you you bring it back to like oh yeah and it was all about this all along yeah yeah yeah yeah it doesn't quite work yeah yeah yeah um

okay and just like shortening and tightening and getting right into it and and he and also it was like oh you can't use your face or your like hands on the page yeah so like i'll accentuate jokes like

that's not on the page just like a an aghast look.

Right, right.

You know?

Yeah, yeah.

Oh, that's so fun.

Yeah, that's so cool.

That's super cool.

And then we'd all like,

class is over, like, all right, let's go get some wine.

Let's all go to like

a cafe and drink wine and be out in Paris.

I love how social and positive you are.

Only when I'm gone.

Yeah.

I'm so much more open when I'm gone.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

How were you different out here in Europe?

In Europe, I think, I guess I was calmer and I also had no expectations of Europe.

I genuinely was expecting the worst and so

low expectations.

Yeah, I had very low expectations, not not just of my own how my comedy would go, but of the cities themselves.

Like I I didn't hype it up, you know.

I this wasn't like my lifetime trip.

Like I say for, you know, uh like five years just to go on this trip.

Like this was me very lucky getting a paid holiday and so um I was prepared to hate the whole thing and I didn't.

I loved every I loved I loved

being able to walk and have nothing on my agenda.

Isn't that the best?

The best.

And you're not home.

So there's really nothing you can be doing.

Yes.

That's why Montreal was always fun.

We were all like, let's go to lunch.

Yes.

We're actually not, we don't have to do anything.

There's no podcast to do.

There's no fucking meetings.

Yeah.

There's nothing.

Yeah.

But I heard, I wish I remember who told me this.

This

bit, this comic was like, I, you know, you never want to see your agent in shorts

in in Montreal because you see the agents also do that.

Dude, Justin came to Bonnaroo one year.

My agent, and he wore like slacks and a button-down shirt.

I was like, Justin, no.

And he was like, what do you mean?

You can't, dude, you can't be an Asian here.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

And so we put on like...

I think he like rolled up his slacks and put my merch shirt on.

And it was like, not close enough.

That's the way.

And then I was like, do some drugs.

Like, I'm not doing drugs, but I will put on shorts.

Yeah, you don't want to see them in slacking.

So, where else do you get into that?

So, I want to skip over Amsterdam because

I don't want to break the rules, but I will say it was a very cosmopolitan city.

I had this guy give me a boat ride down Amsterdam, and he gave me a history of

it.

He was great.

He gave me a whole history of the whole city in like an hour.

And he was like a Dutch man who had lived in Ohio.

So, he sounded American, but he was like super like, he would be mega Dutch.

Basically, he was mega.

Yeah, he was like, he was, yeah, he would, he would be very proud of Dutch, not in an obnoxious way, but in a rightfully like, we developed this and this city, the dam system, we were the first to develop this dam system that made Amsterdam what it is.

That's why it's called Amsterdam, because of these dams.

I know, he was like blowing my mind with all this stuff.

What?

Yeah, yeah, I know.

I know.

What?

I know.

And then he would show point out stuff in the city, like there'll be crowns on the lampposts.

And he's like, that's the crown that was given to us by the king,

which was a license to

open the city of Amsterdam.

And I was like, which king?

And he was like, oh, the Roman.

The Roman king was the one who gave us our license to become.

Dude, they got all the way up there.

Yeah, yeah.

And so he was very proud of that.

And then he would give me history.

And then we would pass by the zoo.

I recommend this boat ride, by the way, because on the canals, because you can see the whole city.

This is a tour tour.

It's a.

Or just some guy who it's a it's it's a guy who who was connected to the hotel.

So the hotel organized this thing for me.

And

we passed by the zoo and then he goes like that's the zoo.

It's a historical zoo.

It's obviously a lot when we first started it, it was obviously much worse for the animals.

Now it's a lot better.

And he was like, the so-called woke generation now wants to close the zoo.

He's mad about it.

Yeah, but he was like professional enough to like not like, you know, he said it like that.

That's where he left it.

He didn't go like fuck these guys over there you know this stupid he just said and uh the so-called uh woke generation now wants to close the zoo and and um and uh you know that's uh something that's up for debate right now and and then and then I I because for me you know I guess I don't know whether he expected me to be

left or right or whatever because of my face and my eye shape but I was just like yeah I I I said I yeah I get it man I mean zoos these animals it's important for people to see animals in a zoo like so we respect nature and and some of these animals will have died in nature anyway.

So, you know, you know, anyway, so I was like, I was like making an argument for the zoo.

It's, you know, dude, do you do this?

We just like...

whatever your feelings are about an issue you're like i'll just take your side i don't want to fight yeah so no matter what like oh yeah totally yes yes i i'll do that sometimes to not fight and also just to explore the person's psyche you know just to be like oh yeah tell me more about your fucked up thoughts but you know i not i don't judge them i'm just i want to know your thoughts i tried having a bit about it like challenging people is not the way to find out how deep the crazy well goes that's a good thing you want to find out you got to like yes.

Like, I was in Egypt.

They told me that the Jews planned 9-11.

I was like, come on.

Yeah, what's going on?

Okay, I heard that.

What else?

Yeah.

Also, I'm also not like, I don't think I'm left or right.

I don't identify.

I think I'm pretty center down the road.

So I don't know.

So he was, so he was.

But that's a great insight into.

That's going.

It's not your mom.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Don't challenge anybody.

Yeah, yeah.

Don't challenge.

Yeah, yeah.

And he.

We had a guy driving us back from Dixie or the chicks in like um Jacob Reese Park or something like that some band and he was like we're all talking you guys can drink back there I was like okay cool.

We stopped at 7-Eleven got beers Yeah, cool cab driver

and uh like just like a five-car fleet, you know, yeah, and um and he goes so where do you guys get your news from and we're like oh shit.

Oh, you see

That's such a funny

dude.

That's such a funny line because as soon as they say it tells you so much about fucking husband who brings that up

and it's on his mind.

Oh my god.

I'm not gonna tell you step by step, but it ended with Madonna's actually a man.

Are you gonna tell the story?

That's this first time I've ever told it.

That's the first time I challenged him.

He hit me with Michelle Obama as a man.

I'm like, okay, sure, sure, sure.

Yeah, for whatever.

It was the most basic, like,

you know, like...

when you're face swap things it was like four face swaps to get to madonna here

and i'm like but that was the one i'm like come on man so you no way so you did I allowed Michelle Obama as a man.

I allowed Nancy Pelosi to be a man.

No pushback.

No pushback.

Yeah.

I was a little bit like, what?

Yeah, like questioning, like, why'd you say that?

Why would they be a man?

Yeah, yeah.

How does that help them?

Yeah.

And then.

But at Madonna, I was like, come on, dude.

I mean, I'm jerked off to her when I was 15.

No way.

No way.

And he's like, I'm telling you.

When are you going to do this bit?

I don't know.

I'm just like, you know,

how ridiculous it is.

Yeah, yeah.

It's in the

cartridge, ready to go.

I guess so.

Oh, my God.

So, anyway, what were you you saying?

No, no.

Yeah, anyway, so this guy, he was a, yeah, he gave us a good time, and then he showed us around.

He gave a really good abbreviated history of Amsterdam, which I really appreciate.

Do a tour like that.

Yeah, on the canals as well.

And anyway,

I won't break the rules, so I'll just skip.

And that was the Amsterdam rules.

Oh, oh, oh.

No, it's just because everyone's stories I got too high, and the town had to find my way back.

I know.

I did not get high.

Yeah.

So there you go.

That's how square I am.

We end up performing.

I performed in a.

Yeah, no resorts, no Amsterdam.

You're going to tell the same fucking story.

Unless you got taken hostage by terrorists in Amsterdam, then bring it.

Yeah.

I got to see Anne Frank's house.

And then I ended up performing in this theater.

It was quite large.

I did two shows.

And Anne Frank came?

To the show?

No, we...

I only read the first half of the book.

Only after I did the shows did I realize that

the theater I was doing in was like where they did the Anne Frank musical for the longest time.

Oh, really?

And I, they didn't tell me beforehand, but it.

What in Amsterdam?

They did an Anne Frank musical?

Yeah, a play, maybe.

Maybe it was a play.

Maybe musical is the wrong term.

It was probably a play, but it was definitely an Anne Frank play, live theater thing.

And backstage, I thought it was weird that the green room was like in this apartment building, a building, like a fake building, like a prop building, right?

So there's like a kitchen, there's like bedrooms in it.

So I was like, my green room was like in the pen.

And

afterwards, I was like, oh, that was the set.

That was the N Frank set that the green room, but it was a massive theater.

I'm talking like, how was the green room?

Oh, it was good.

Pretty nice, right?

Pretty nice, right?

Actually, like, pretty.

I didn't think about what it was.

It was, yeah.

You're like, it's kind of complainer.

Yeah.

So I guess they built this theater for the N-Frank play, but very few acts, like, they didn't have any other musicals that could command that attendance.

So it became a little bit of a like a, you know, one of those theaters with no acts that.

it's like after the Olympics.

Like, what are you going to do with a 5,000-seat swimming place?

Exactly.

I mean, where would you ever use this again?

Exactly.

It's kind of like that.

I think, I might be ignorant, but that's, that's, I think that's, to the best of my knowledge, that's what happened.

That's interesting.

And then, yeah, I don't know.

The canals are so beautiful.

The canals are beautiful.

They're clean.

Oh, he said that they designed the

canals in Amsterdam so that the water is always flowing.

That's why the water, you can just drink it.

Because it's always flowing.

You can drink the canal water?

Yeah, he scooped up he didn't drink it he just scooped it he said it looks dirty but he scooped it in a cup for us and he's like it's clear it's just optical illusion and and the reason it's clear is because it's always flowing and they designed the dam so that it would continually flow and so he said like you could pee in it and which people did but it would be flowing away so you is it river water yeah i don't know it was fresh water it was fresh water coming from somewhere he he said the place and then maybe the rhine or something yeah something, but it went out into the ocean.

And so he said, like, it was just a.

Basically, he just said it's like a perfectly designed city.

There's no, first of all, there's no rules for the podcast.

Oh, no.

I know how you're talking about it.

I got to talk to these fucking agents.

You got to tell them to explain this better.

No, no.

The way it was explained was funny.

It was like, no answer to that.

And I was like, yeah, I get it.

No, I get it.

You don't want to

like, how many times do you want to hear that story?

It's the same story.

The third time, I was like, at first, I just said no resorts because it's like, I had one who was like, oh, I just hung at the beach.

It it was so relaxing i'm like god that's boring yeah yeah

yeah and then like yeah now

i think your problem of this podcast is going to be getting americans who travel because they don't travel well internationally they don't they don't travel broadly and they don't travel a lot of guys have done one trip that's what i mean but like sam murill's like dude i've been nowhere i'm like okay well that's not for you but other guys have been to like

Like a lot of places

back a bunch.

Norman's just starting to really travel.

Yeah, yeah, but Santino goes places you know like todd berry like won't get like dan natterman won't fly longer than three hours so he can't like they just can't

yeah

uh although you should get todd berry he did uh thailand i think last year oh really he travels yeah you know todd berry gets out there so if it too is like you don't have to get your hands way dirty for me to be interested in it yeah not even for this pod just in general but it's just like Like H.

Foley went to Greece and he's like, I've never been anywhere.

Went to Greece.

I was like, I didn't want to get hustled or anything, but he goes, you know what?

Let me just rent

a small car.

It was like an open-air car.

And he goes, I felt so free.

And so, like, whatever.

And I was like, yeah, that's the vibe.

Yeah.

He went to like a tourist island.

Yeah.

But still, like.

To be fair, you know, traveling is such a privilege too.

So, you know, it's, it's a thing that people, yeah, not, you know, it's, yeah.

So, yes, I agree.

Not, not many people experience travel like that.

Yeah.

They think travel is going to Orlando, Florida, and, you know, it's going to Disney World and eating a turkey on it.

Yeah.

But sorry, I probably should clarify.

I shouldn't malign Todd Berry.

I love Todd.

He's great.

And he has, he actually

travels more than most Americans.

He's going to do shows everywhere.

And he does shows in Australia.

So he'd be a good guy for this podcast.

He had a bit that I never forget.

That it's just like, he goes, I don't like sushi.

People are like, yeah.

I don't like sushi.

Yeah, I've tried it one time, 1983 at the Cincinnati airport.

He goes, you had your chance, sushi.

Very Todd Berry.

I love Todd.

I love you, Todd.

I'm sorry.

I should have said you don't travel.

You do travel.

It is fun when you go to these places and you see like a comedian's poster from two months ago.

You're like, oh, they were here.

Yeah, they were here.

Yeah.

And then you message them.

You're like, hey, look, I take a photo of it.

I'll be like, hey, I'm in here now.

And they're like, oh, yeah, that place is great.

Thailand was a real, like, brought people out early on.

Oh, yeah.

You know, I've been to Thailand as a kid, but I've never been there as an adult.

Never performed there.

When I was there, Genie Yashere had been there like a month before.

You know, Tom Agner?

Do you remember this guy?

Okay, he lives there now.

But anyway, he was like an OG New York comic.

All right, let's get back here.

So where'd you go after Amsterdam?

after amsterdam i went to germany amsterdam

yeah i went to copenhagen copenhagen yes copenhagen um god you hit some fucking great spots yeah you know what i wanted

i've never got them to give me one sorry finland i did i did helsinki you will love it i'm like get me helsinki no you will love it you will love it you love helsinki because it's very you it's very no it it's it's far it's far away it's um

uh it's very finnish so meaning you're engrossed in Finnish culture.

Which is what?

Finnish.

It's just Finn.

It's the Finnish.

So what's Finnish culture, I mean?

Like it's...

Hot Springs, that's all I can say.

So I didn't know this until I got there that they are the leader, worldwide leaders in

what do you call those

saunas.

Saunas?

Yes.

Wow.

Saunas.

So their whole thing is...

saunas.

So everyone's apartment building, they have a sauna in their own apartment.

Everyone's house has, they have their own personal saunas.

It's like a cultural thing.

What?

Even the immigrants who come, it becomes like a cultural thing.

Like, oh, yeah, you own a car, you own your own sauna.

So I love that.

Oh, maybe that's why Estonia is too, because it's right there.

Yeah.

And so it's sauna.

God, I love that.

That's a Jewish thing, too.

Oh, yeah, yeah.

We went to the, you brought me there to the New York one, the Ukrainian sauna under the house.

Yeah.

Anyway, so they love sauna, so you'll love that.

God, I love that place.

And they love food.

And I only learned the difference between like

the Scandinavians and the whatever.

Oh man, I already forgot it.

But there's like a

there's Scandinavians and then there's something else that they're not Scandinavian.

So I don't think Finland is Scandinavia.

It's not.

I could be wrong.

But I know like Denmark, Norway, Sweden, definitely.

But then Finland is like just outside it.

So there's this difference.

I went for the first time, I went to Romania and Slovenia.

Yeah.

Wherever that is.

And for the first, I've never been to Eastern Europe.

Okay.

And I'm like, oh, different vibe.

Okay.

Scandinavia and this regular Europe.

Yeah.

Did you see a difference in vibe and culture and people?

Yes.

Totally.

So it's like three Europs.

Totally.

Yeah.

That's what that's what I really loved about my trip was that France was its own entity unto itself, obviously.

Germany was its own entity unto itself.

Belgium felt like an offshoot of France culturally.

And Holland was its own entity unto itself.

So Belgium's in between, which makes sense because it is in between.

And I mean, they have their own thing going, Belgium.

I'm just saying vibe-wise.

We're talking about vibes, right?

So all those countries were its own thing.

And then I could tell like it was very different.

Like Denmark and Sweden had more in common.

I didn't get to Norway, unfortunately, but Denmark and Sweden had more in common.

And I would say Finland to me was very common.

Yeah.

Denmark and Sweden's up there.

Oh, we're there.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Those two felt, it felt that started to feel more like

you guys have more in common, which they do.

Yeah, because like you talk about, you're talking about like sauna culture up here yeah they're not gonna have that no they don't have that they don't have to escape the the frost

the freezing cold and even the cuisine the most obvious thing was the cuisine you know so those places the scandinavian countries they they uh eat a lot of uh fish yeah but i love fish so it was great for me you know i i love the way they do fish whale anywhere no i didn't eat whale i don't know i don't know i feel bad eating whales

in norway they just served it and i was like really they're like it's not endangered here but as that's out of my mouth i'm like what do you mean it's not endangered here yeah

What does that mean?

It's endangered.

What the hell was it?

Fine.

Oh, nothing special.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Okay.

It's kind of like I had to do it.

But it wasn't like.

Right.

It wasn't this, try this crazy food.

It was like, yeah, we have to do it.

Sometimes they trick you into eating like whale sperm.

You know, they don't call it whale sperm.

They just call it something else and then you eat it.

What?

Yeah.

Sometimes

suddenly, before you know it, you're eating like sperm, and you're like, oh, fuck.

What?

Yeah, I heard about this.

I've never done it myself.

Yeah.

Can't know which country does that.

that's it.

Something, yeah.

Japan?

Yeah, maybe Japan, yeah.

Ugh.

Anyway.

Anyway,

so

they.

Oh, the other thing culturally that's similar about them that separates them from that part of Europe is design, design aesthetics.

You know, they got this

like...

IKEA.

Yeah.

Very sensible, and very practical, and very stylish.

They have this sense of minimalist style Denmark and Sweden that I really

me and Bobby went to, when we met that guy from Iceland, Ariel, we went to a Copenhagen comedy festival.

Yeah, yeah.

And we went to Noma, this restaurant, I think it just closed.

Yes, it's just a super fine restaurant.

And they took us on a little tour in the daytime because we were like, you can't get reservations.

And then the guy was like, you're cool.

I'm going to bump you to the top of the wait list.

Oh.

Yeah.

He just called.

I was like, can you get down here right now?

I was like, yes.

Great, great, great, great.

Yeah, very small.

And he goes, and he was like, we could probably put in close to twice as many tables in here, but we'd rather your experience be like, Yeah, have space, be able to move your chair back without having to be able to do it.

Yeah, yeah, comfortable.

They got

great design aesthetics in Sweden, and

they also

very

have a very chill culture there.

So it's less, you know, in Denmark and Sweden, it was more like you could, I could feel like you could, it's almost like Australia, like you could enjoy your life.

Like you could go have a coffee, you could go like hang out, and it it didn't feel like this oppression of a rat race you know

when i was i met my um my cousin's husband and and i was the first one to the restaurant in france and i was like hi you know whatever it's like so um what do you do he goes fucking americans with your with your what do you do

Like right out the bag.

You guys all ask about jobs.

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, it's like, what a weird thing to focus on.

Yeah, that is interesting.

Instead of like, what are your hobbies?

That's a great perspective, isn't it?

Yeah.

I was like, oh.

People get embarrassed to be American.

Yeah, yeah.

He got pissed.

He got pissed at you.

Yeah, I was like, all right.

To be honest, it also does sound a little French snobbish.

But yes, he has a point.

He has a point.

But like, they chill.

They really go chill.

They chill.

They chill.

I should be clear, though.

Denmark and Sweden did feel different.

But if you're asking me about how, you know, that pot.

Not sure each one, but there's a vibe of different.

Their vibe, you know?

There was a vibe there.

And I mean, like, this area has, I'm sure there's differences in teachings, but like, they're right.

For people listening, Ari is now pointing to Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Iran.

Middle East,

all of it.

He's like, this part is going to have a different vibe.

So yes, the vibe was different.

Also, the other thing that's interesting was that the languages, again, you know, because Denmark, they speak Danish, Sweden, they speak Swedish, and Finland they speak Finnish.

But I think they all, like,

man, I can't remember now, but like, there was a thing where everyone could understand Swedish, but not everyone could understand Finnish.

Something like that.

You know?

It's like an old Mac trying to understand, Chinese understand a new one.

It can't.

Yeah.

But then the new ones can understand the the old ones.

So, like they said, Icelandic people can understand Norway.

Yeah.

But not vice versa.

Something like that.

Yeah.

They had something like that going on.

And I got to say, Denmark and Sweden.

Sweden, man,

I'd say it's a must-visit because it was so beautiful.

Where'd you go in Sweden?

Stockholm.

Only Stockholm.

Which, you know,

whenever you see like fashion things, and it's always like New York, Paris, Stockholm.

Yeah, good point.

I never understood that until now.

I'm like, oh, yes.

Stockholm.

Yes.

It's legit.

It's fashionable, great design.

It's a cool city, very hip city.

I think Jackie Onesis Kennedy

popularized a Swedish designer that is still around today, a brand.

And so she will wear like these Swedish things.

Maybe it's Finnish.

She'll wear it in America.

And that is what blew up.

Sweden as a fashion thing.

But anyway, so the other thing cool about Sweden is that they have castles.

You know, they have all the olden shit, the castle stuff.

We really don't have that here, this connection to to feudal times yeah medieval times i was at edinburgh i was trying to get my um and my uh flatmates to to go to see the castle yeah and they're like nah i'm like really you're not interested and they go ari we have castles where we're from and i was like oh yeah that's right all right that's right yeah yeah that makes sense like it's not that cool yeah and that food is you know the scandinavian style cooking is very clean yeah didn't they kind of make the the farm to table idea probably yeah probably probably i wouldn't be surprised i mean the way they eat is like locally sourced Yeah.

It has to be from here.

Yeah, and what's so funny in Stockholm, I go to a random-ass produce market, like a fish market, which is one of the messiest produces you can buy.

And in this Swedish fish market, everyone is super good looking.

They're wearing like stylish aprons and the fish is beautifully laid out.

And I made fun of it on stage, and I took a photo and posted it.

And I was like, look at how stylish the fishmongers are in Sweden.

And everyone in Sweden were like, this is just a normal.

dude.

How hot are people in Sweden?

Look, that stereotype was true.

They were truly beautiful.

Like, everyone, men and women, everyone was like, Man, you guys are, you guys got something going on here.

You see, like, a 7-Eleven employee.

I'm like, why aren't you?

What are you doing?

You should be a model.

Yeah, they are very good looking there.

So, and the city is beautiful.

And you know what?

They want like, I don't know.

They want like

they didn't seem stuck up to me about it.

Although everyone else will argue they are the most stuck up.

What?

Stuck on?

Swedish people are the most stuck up.

That was what everyone else was saying.

But when I was there, I didn't feel it.

But that's the funny country rivalry, you know.

It's also like stuck up compared to you guys.

Yes.

It's like, yeah.

New New York City, you know.

You ever see a Hollywood person try to act not Hollywood?

And you're like, I get that you think you're less Hollywood than those people, but you're still

more Hollywood than anyone else.

They always say things that belie their truth.

They're like, I hang out with normal people all the time.

Like, what do you mean, normal people?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

What the fuck are you talking about?

You mean people?

Yeah, people, yeah, yeah.

Totally.

So, yeah, that's so funny.

Yeah.

Sweden was great.

And they have a, and you know what?

I sell it to the commoner.

Yeah.

I buy, I shop by myself when I go.

I always, I do my own shopping.

Yeah, you should.

What?

Yeah, yeah, you should do your own shopping.

What's the alternative?

Yeah, yeah.

The Swedish, the Sweden

Stockholm crowd.

Yeah.

One of the best comedy crowds I did on the tour.

The loudest, most responsive.

They got everything the best.

Did they clap a lot?

I can't remember.

They probably did, but they gave the loud responses when appropriate with the jokes.

They got it.

I had to tell the first time they were, the last time, not as much.

The first time I went,

after every punch, I'd do this late night talk to you.

And I was like, 20 minutes in, I was like, guys, what are you...

That's so funny.

What are you doing?

That's so funny.

Laugh.

What are you clapping for?

Wait, when was this?

This was probably 10 years ago.

Okay, because I think you fixed that.

Maybe.

Maybe.

They stopped doing that.

Yeah, yeah.

And then, like, the next joke, they were like, yeah, yeah.

You're overthinking it.

Yeah, yeah.

Just let yourself laugh.

That's funny.

That's funny.

Yeah.

No, they were a great.

I fixed them.

Yeah, yeah.

You fixed Star College for comedy because they were a great comedy crowd, man.

I can't recommend that place enough.

I'm sure they hate a bunch of people, but they didn't hate me.

So I don't know.

I mean, also, they're pretty...

All of Europe, I I found I don't know if you found this and Australia too they're thankful that a legit comic is there or an American comic we're the you know we're jazzed that's totally you I've I've been saying this I say so much I I forgot I said it on this I haven't said it on this podcast because I've been saying this the whole time.

One of my big takeaways with comedy in Europe was the gratitude that they feel when you're there.

And it's not just me, like, who cares about me?

I don't think they cared about me or they knew who I was.

It was more just that you came.

They know it's a long trip.

Yeah, they appreciate that you came.

And especially when you bring a material, they're like, yes, thank you.

But they already are grateful before you do the material.

But the fact that you can do both, they're like, yes, oh my God, you know, thank you so much.

There was a comment in Romania that somebody was like, hey, thanks for like actually bringing your real stuff and not.

And Melbourne too, they were like, a lot of people use this like a workout.

Yeah, yeah.

And I'm like, what do you mean?

It's one of the top 20 biggest cities in the world.

That's crazy.

But they're like, it's so far away.

Yeah, yeah.

And then there they go, thanks for not pandering to us or something like that.

Thanks for trusting us to get it.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And I was like, it was just my act.

Like, not everybody, we've seen a few people and they're kind of like, yes.

Dumb it down or something.

Everyone in Europe gets everything.

Do not dumb anything down.

They get politics.

They get everything.

They do like it when you talk about their country, but they're not like.

just talk about us.

You know, they like it when you when you bring you know your thoughts.

They appreciate the they appreciate the craft.

You know, I think I think they appreciate the art form of it.

Did you do this thing where, as you're in a bit, you realize, oh, this is a different, this bit means a different thing.

Yes.

Like, I was in Salt Lake City, I was talking about the Jewish temple.

Yeah.

And I was like, we had like one main, like, oh.

Yeah.

All right.

You guys get those.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

That's so funny.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I did have one bit.

I can't remember what it was, where I said it, and I was like, oh, yeah, you guys, yeah, this is not a thing here.

But Sweden was great.

And then Denmark was like

kind of like a greedier version of Sweden in a good way.

Interesting.

You know, because Sweden almost felt not real.

It felt like a movie set or something.

Because it was castles and cobblestones and everything was clean and beautiful, and the food was like perfect.

And, you know,

right next to the ocean.

And guess what?

Stockholm still have lime scooters.

Still have e-scooters right in Stockholm that use the same app.

And so you can,

because they cycle everywhere in Stockholm, a big, big cycling culture.

So you can get an e-scooter and and go on the same bike lanes.

You know what I mean?

Yeah, you can transverse.

Yeah, you can transverse the city with e-scooters.

Denmark was the biggest bike like bike culture thing, yeah.

And they have two lanes, a fast lane and a stop lane, and you have to know when to like go off if you're going to turn.

No, yeah, I didn't know that.

They'll yell at you.

I stockholm, I think we went to a spa in Stockholm, maybe, but

it's kind of a blur, a bit of a blur.

So Rolf talks about psychogeography.

Yeah.

And it's like something that gets you moving around a town.

Yes.

So like for Henry Rollins, he tries to to find record stores.

He's in Moscow.

He's like, I'm going to find this record store I heard of.

And

what were you just saying?

Something like...

Scooters.

Yeah.

But like something that like gets you like either, let me see the castles or let me see whatever.

And it's different for different people.

Yes.

So for me, it's coffee shops.

And sometimes it's jiu-jitsu gyms.

You jiu-jitsu?

Yeah, yeah.

I knew you used to.

What do you got?

Blue belt.

I'm not good at it, but I just love.

Blue Belt's proficient enough to be like,

well, I mean,

mental health for me is mental health.

Did you keep doing it?

No, I started getting injuries in ringworm and staff.

What?

And I was like, you know what?

Where the hell are you training?

10th Planet.

Oh, okay.

Yeah.

Maybe you should go to Geek.

Oh.

Yeah.

Well, so I got back into it.

I trained here with, I think, Jean-Jacques' place.

And day one, it was a flip.

And I like...

Like, ah, fuck.

And I was like, I'm done.

Really?

Yeah, you stayed with it.

No, but here's, I don't want, you've been doing it longer than I have, but I will say that

it sounds like you need to find the gym that's dad jiu-jitsu.

Yeah, you're right.

The ones that are like, hey, we need to work tomorrow.

That's the gyms I, you know, that's my, you know, like Eddie at 10th Planet, he kind of didn't train too many heel hooks and stuff because it's like, we're not trying to not walk.

Yeah.

And he's like, I'll show you how to do it.

But like, we're not doing this when we roll.

Yes.

We're having a good time here.

And you're going to be out for six months and somebody like fucking cinches this in.

Yeah, we're not here to win championships.

We're here for mental health and physical health.

Worst case, you get choked unconscious, but that's fine.

You'll wake up.

You're not any worse off.

Yes.

Yes.

Where you train here?

Don't tell me, actually.

Oh, okay.

I'll tell you.

Tell me afterwards.

I'll tell you after.

Yeah.

I don't want anybody showing up.

But you can go.

I think you can find a place to culture.

And I don't know.

I only do geezer.

So

you go jits places overseas?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

I love it.

That's fun.

Yeah, it's super fun.

Is it different?

Other places?

I know teachers do it.

It's surprisingly universal.

It's surprisingly universal.

I mean, mean, language barrier, a little bit, but usually everyone, you know, speaks English a little bit, you know.

But do you even have to know English to roll?

Roll, no.

But, you know, when you're doing the class, it will help.

Yeah.

But when you're rolling, no.

If you do open manage, no.

But man, Japan, I always roll in Japan.

I always roll in Singapore, always roll in Australia.

I feel like Japanese Jits is the only one different than Brazilian Jitsu.

Like they have their own style.

You know what's funny about that is that they, so Judo came from Japan, which,

and then it went to Brazil, right?

Okay.

Judo became Brazilian jiu-jitsu and then brazil jiu-jitsu went back to japan so they learned brazilian jiu-jitsu there it's brazilian jiu-jitsu yeah i mean to be fair judo also had a ground game uh they call it kosen uh um

it was a type of judo called kosan judo that they still do so there's if you there's there's this debate that like they kind of a lot of the moves in brazilian jiu-jitsu they already invented in judo kosen judo but they never taught it and and so it came back to japan and they're like oh, we already had.

So, you know, wrestlers do that.

Like, we have that.

We just call it an arm lock.

Yeah, but if you if you don't care about the politics of it, then it's just like

it's fun to train in Japan.

They, they, uh, it, they're very stylish there, too.

Damn, that's a cool way to get around the town, too.

And you know, it'll make you see a different part of the part of town.

You get out, like, where it's called.

I wouldn't have been in this neighborhood if not for that.

Yeah, to your point, that the thing that what do you call it, the transversity?

Yeah, he called it psychogeography.

Psychogeography, yeah.

Makes you go around.

Yeah, bookstores, music.

In Southeast Asia, someone's like, I'm going to go find some live music.

Yeah, yeah.

And then it just the trip getting places.

And they go, no, we only have it on Monday.

It's like, fuck.

But now I'm like, what town am I?

I guess I'll get something to eat and street food here.

Totally.

So, yeah.

So, and Sweden, Finland,

and then the

Denver.

Where did you finish?

I finished in Finland, I think.

Yes.

I finished in Finland.

Finished Helsinki?

Yeah, I finished in Helsinki.

And

it felt like a small town.

And so Finland is like one of the

five years in a row or 20 years in a row, happiest countries in the world.

So when you go there, you're like,

okay, what's the deal here?

And I see it.

Everyone's

not that they're smiling all the time, but it's a very

safe, calm city.

They have huge sauna culture.

So the whole thing when you're there is you have to go find saunas.

So that's the trend.

That's the psychogeography thing, is finding a sauna.

So they'll have saunas in the city, and then they'll have saunas where you have to drive to the woods.

Is it sauna natural.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Oh, no, not natural.

Some guy will build one, like

a wooden.

Yeah, so you have to go there and you have to book it and it's like an honor system.

People book it and then the towel.

And yeah, it's like, yeah, it's self-governing.

Yeah, Iceland had like, obviously like the natural ones because it's volcanic.

And then they had just in the city, there's like three or four that just the locals go to with like nine different hot tubs.

Yes, yes, yes, yeah.

So they just love saunas in Finland.

And food was cool and very...

Yeah, cool book is to see the difference in saunas what yeah yeah yeah see the difference because there's way more hot tub based yeah and like one steam room or sauna and then these sounds like all steam rooms it's maybe one hot tub yeah they're very sauna like wooden sauna Finland is very wooden saunaish and the the thing about Finland that struck me was at least Helsinki was it was a very hip kind of hipster city but it was honestly it was like Australia it felt like Australia because they had trams just like Melbourne yeah and even the trams were like yellow and green, which is Australian colors.

So when I was in Helsinki, the way it looked with the parks and the trams and then like the building that's like

made of sandstone, I was like, this looks like Australia.

And the coffee culture, you know, Australia is very like latte.

So the whole thing for me when I was in Finland was, yes, this is Finland because all the names are like super long.

And then there's like a

circle above the A.

Like, what?

Yeah, yeah.

What is this?

Yeah, the names are so long, but like, but at the same time, it felt very familiar.

It felt like Australia and in a good way.

You know, it felt like that kind of like, you know, no, uh, more relaxed lifestyle, coffee and food, and, you know, very hipster, very hipster.

Like, I went to a bar in Finland that was like behind a laundromat, you know, every that, the most hipster thing.

Wow.

Yeah, you know, so, um, uh, and very clean, aesthetics as well, very safe.

And did you stay there after you finished?

Uh, like I didn't have time.

I had Paris because you pre you preloaded pre-loaded everything.

Yeah, I pre-loaded Paris, but I didn't have time for everyone else.

So I just went three days, two days in each one.

Look how close it is to St.

Petersburg.

Oh, yes.

It was very near to Russia.

And so the whole time I was asking them, like, hey, are you guys worried about this?

And they're like, no, no, we're not that worried.

Really?

I was like, really?

They were worried.

When I was in Romania, they were real worried.

Yeah.

And I'm like, I don't think it's about that, but they're like...

Yeah, we don't know if it's about that until it's about that.

Yes, exactly.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So Finland's surprisingly not worried, you know?

Wow.

Yeah.

Maybe they're like, we have our, we're not like trying to figure out our borders.

Maybe, but they're the happiest place in the world.

So you figure, you know, they either either they have good perspectives.

Do we want to talk about that?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Or they,

you know,

yeah, I don't know.

I can't explain why they were.

But they were very.

I could see that they were more.

When you're there, it felt like it was Russians who picked capitalism in in a way.

The city was.

Interesting.

It was like if the Soviets never,

if the Soviets were happier,

they'd be Finnish, you know, because the Finnish, I could, I could see the Russian influence, is what I'm saying.

And I think that's also why they technically want Scandinavian.

I might be totally getting this wrong, so I'm sorry to anyone who's getting angry at me right now, listening to this, but

I could tell, like, when I was there, it looked like certain parts looked like Russia if they had chosen capitalism instead of communism.

You know what I mean?

Yeah, I'm interested in also the overlap areas.

Yes.

Where it's like definitely overlap.

Obviously, Norway is going to be different than this, right?

But that close.

Mongolia is a great example.

Yes.

You hear them talking.

Yes.

And they're like, is there a Russian-Chinese hybrid?

Yes.

You can hear either accent when you listen.

Totally.

Totally.

Totally.

So Finland's a bit like that.

Yeah.

They definitely lean away from Russia, obviously, but yes.

When I was there, I could tell.

And, you know,

driver, my driver there was like this Finnish guy who used to play professional ice hockey, but he was the nicest dude.

And he told me he used to play in Russia, and he's from Finland, he's like a Finnish boy, and he was like,

It took me going to Russia to realize how good Finland was.

And I, because I was telling her, you know, Finland, like, why would you ever leave?

20, you know, you're the happiest place in the world.

And they were like, we don't know that.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

You have to tell me that.

We don't know how good it is.

We don't know how good until I left.

And I was like, oh, shit, Finland is amazing.

There is something about getting away that makes you sort of see, like, good or bad, your own place in a new light.

Yes, yes, yes, totally.

Totally.

So

he was showing me around Helsinki a little bit.

And Helsinki is a very cool city.

It's very hipster.

What did you get into there?

What'd you do?

I just did what I always do.

I just go walk around, have coffee, look at the sites.

I just went to look at the clothing,

what they wear there.

Obviously, bookstores was tough because it's Finnish.

But the music store, I went to like old music record stores to look at vinyls.

You collect records?

I do.

I do now.

Yeah, yeah.

Vinyls, yeah.

That's a real good thing.

This is my new thing now.

It's at concerts.

I'm like, I don't need another t-shirt.

Yeah.

It has to be so cool for me to get it.

But a vinyl at a place is like, but when I'm traveling, it's tough to carry around though.

But yeah, it's good.

It's tough to carry it back with you.

So you have to take it in your life.

You figure it out in your carry-on bag.

But

especially if it's a print from like a Spanish language print or something like that.

I just got a couple from Cuba.

It's like it reminds me of the trip.

Yes.

So I wanted this one cure album, but we found it in

somewhere, Mexico City.

Yes.

I'm like, great.

I'm now associating the cure with this trip to Mexico City.

Not to mention, sometimes you might find stuff that you actually can't get on the internet.

Yeah.

You know, and those are the most interesting ones, you know?

Oh, I don't like finding them on the internet.

Yeah, no, but that's not finding them in a store.

No, no, no.

What I mean is that the vinyl you got, you actually

like they never digitalized it.

Right.

It's just

on the internet that way.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

It's not, it's not on Spotify that way, it's a it's a special version of it, or it's not even on, it never got digitalized.

You know, that's that's always very interesting when you have those, you know.

But, um, yeah,

uh, oh, I started collecting comedy albums too, just for you know, just for kicks, yeah.

I just saw one of my albums in um, in um, Indianapolis for four dollars, and I was like, okay, and I sold it for 200.

Oh, shit, at the show, really, yeah, it was like out of print, damn, you want it?

I was like, I was like, let me just shut up and fucking get it.

That's so cool, the only one available at the show.

That's also how long you've been doing it, eh?

Yeah.

Your stuff is out there in the culture and it comes back to you.

Just like at the bargain bed.

Wow, no, but it's still cool.

Yeah.

I found a Howie Mandel one in Charleston.

I bought it and gave it to him.

Yeah, yeah.

I got a Lily Tomlin one and I wanted her to sign it, you know.

But yeah, but that was covers of those are pretty fucking interesting.

Yes, yes.

The artwork has come a long way.

Yeah, and then like you see, the old black ones are so fun.

Like, I eat ass is like titles and like

yeah, it's very intense.

It's very intense.

Sometimes the covers, the images are intense as well in it, you know.

Yeah.

But yeah, I think that was all the whole trip.

I mean, I kind of skipped over Copenhagen a bit, but it was great.

You know, they, um, it, it, um, cycling culture, uh,

um,

great food in Copenhagen.

Great food.

Great food.

Uh, and, um, not crowded.

Copenhagen, not crowded at all.

Not did you have any touristy problems where it's like, where I mean, like, like, it's just too touristy here?

No, no, I didn't.

Because I don't seek that out.

So I was seeking out the non-touristy stuff.

Everyone that speaks English,

the way I connected to most of Europe was when I was a kid, I played this video game called Football Manager, which is an English soccer management sim.

There's a management sim?

Yeah, so you're managing the players.

In America, you call it like general manager, whatever.

Because of that, super dork game.

Yeah, super dorky.

No murders.

No murders.

You're playing like a, you're like buying and selling players, and then you're like building a team and you have to set the tactics so anyway because of that all my knowledge of europe and england comes from this game that i played for 10 years and so when i go to these cities i'd be like denmark i know your soccer players from the 90s like this guy

michael henrik glass and all these guys so that was a bit that i did in the shows but be naming the legends get people going like what how do you know that yeah some people didn't even know they forgot about these legends because they're like play players from the 90s but and then some people are like yeah that's him And then they didn't care.

And you're like pulling out this crazy thing.

Like, what?

Yeah.

They don't care.

I shouldn't know.

Yeah, but some people were like, every time, you know, some cities you would start reciting the national team and they'd be like, yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

They start like cheering in rhythm with your reciting.

Dude, I was in Iceland.

I did that thing where they were doing this for a while at the Olympics.

And they go faster and faster.

I'm like, I'm going to do it.

Because we had intermissions there.

And so I was doing it and everyone started doing it with me.

It was so fucking cool.

And I was like talking to Ariel Jarn afterwards.

And he goes, I mean, that's hacky here.

Oh,

I want to go because they do it at car dealerships.

I'm like, fuck.

Yeah.

So, where would you, we can wrap this up, but like, where would you want to go back to?

Where would you not?

Not,

you know,

I had a great time everywhere.

I don't know if I need to go back to any of those places.

Just because I'm just a weirdo who I prefer going to Asia.

I prefer going to Japan, yeah.

I prefer going home.

I prefer traveling around America as shitty as America is compared to Scandinavia.

There's so many different countries in one, though.

Yeah.

It really is.

Texas is so much different than Maine.

Yeah, yeah.

If you ask me where I would have to go, man, I would.

Forget that.

Okay.

Here's something I ask everybody.

Two things.

If you have any travel tips, either in general or when you're in a place.

Like, so Cuba, bring American dollars and don't change them.

Yeah.

But, like, some people go pack light.

People bring acid in between your credit cards yeah any just general travel tips or specific ones general travel tips and then also what country that you've never been to is like calling you okay so uh general travel tips um

damn um

i think we had a couple in this episode already did i use yeah where it was just like I always try to do this.

Yeah, that I mean, that's your tip, which is a great tip, which is what I was doing.

I didn't even realize it was a way to spark creativity.

but like, yeah, just find something that seems very ubiquitous to do, even just getting coffee, and then just go find like a local coffee shop, and that will spark so much shit.

You know, I use Google Maps a lot to see stuff.

I like looking at Atlas Obscura sometimes,

and they'll tell me something interesting that's happening in that place, you know.

So, a lot of my psychogeography comes from Atlas Obscura.

Where the fuck is this?

It's like this guide.

Yeah, it's a global guide to

like very obscure little things.

Like, you know, maybe there'll be a gargoyle in the alleyway that, you know, Hemingway put up.

You know, it'll be stuff like that, like little, little things.

Yeah, this, like, if you, if you're calling yeah, you, you can,

it'll be something like kind of quirky and off the beaten trail that you can go and see.

A witchboard museum in Baltimore.

Stuff like that.

Witchboards.

Yeah, yeah, stuff like that.

Sometimes sometimes it'll be a shop, sometimes it'll just be like a rock, you know.

Someone will be like, hey, this rock was put here by this king.

Whoa, really?

Yeah, yeah.

And so it's just a way to like have to.

I love this word, psychogeography, off the beaten trail a little bit, you know.

So it'll be a little thing.

So Atlas Obscura is a great way to have that, you know, that like you don't want to see something touristy, but you want to see something interesting or historical or weird, you know, and you learn a little bit about the city.

There's a couple museums like that where it's not on the list, but but I guess this is the Museum of Torture in Amsterdam.

Yeah, yeah.

It's so fucking cool.

I saw that.

I didn't go in there, but I saw that.

And then in Mexico City, this might be traveling, but it was a Museum of Broken Relationships.

What was that?

It was like two bucks to get in.

It wasn't anything crazy.

It was like a remnant of either a past love

or a dead relative or something like that.

One of them was like a vial of tears.

I carry these around.

I meant to throw them in your face, but I never saw you.

So I just figured I'd donate to this museum.

One was like

a woman who found out a man had another family.

And he was like, you gave me this ring and said, like, you're mine forever.

And I didn't realize you had just come from your other family and you were heading back to them.

And like, this whole long thing.

It's cancer for dad, cancer for child, a toy.

It's like, it makes you cry.

Oh, shit.

Yeah, like a stuffed animal from.

a child that died at like 10.

Yeah.

And then it's like, I see this and I couldn't.

It's kind of, you're kind of seeing people's secrets.

Yeah, it was just so cool, but not a tourist stop.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, stuff like that.

Yeah, that's very cool.

Oh, yeah, it's obscure.

I got to use this more.

Yeah, it's kind of cool.

Obviously, it's it's all over the world.

Like places you wouldn't think would have it have and so you look it up by place?

Yeah, so you can search by

like you can search by location.

So if you if you yeah, you can type like your city, you know I mean like whatever it is, Athens, Greece, yeah, they'll show.

But when you use it on your when you use it on your phone, it will show you what's near you.

You know what I mean?

Oh, really?

Yeah, it's like Apple, it's like Google Maps, it'll show you what's near you.

So, you don't, so you, you can, you can literally just open it up on your phone and you know,

where you'll show you what's nearby, so you don't have to plan it.

You know what I mean?

You can just be in a place, look at a map, oh, this is nearby, walk there.

You don't have to, like, it's very that gets you moving.

Yes, it's close enough, it's like hey, it's about 15 minutes from here.

It's like, all right, let's walk, it's a nice day, exactly.

Yeah, so that's that's probably my travel tip.

And also, uh, like I said, uh, not so much a tip, but just a heads up that Europe is becoming a lot easier to navigate.

I think I have nothing to compare it to, but what we were saying earlier, now it's Apple Pay and

Uber

and e-scooters.

And it's the same app everywhere in the world.

So you're just.

Right, Uber.

It's already there.

Yeah, yeah.

There might not be Uber in Finland, I think, or Copenhagen, but everywhere else.

Word of warning for Uber, if you're in the Dominican Republic,

you get one, and then they call you back, like, you hear, you're on the corner.

He goes, hey, that's not the price.

Let's pay off the books because they take too much and it's going to be a little more.

Oh, shit.

And you're like, no.

And they're like, okay, cancel them and get another one.

And it's them again.

They just keep saying, it's like, hey, buddy, I can do this all day.

Do you want it this day?

Yeah.

It's awful.

Just like, you know, culturally.

And then in Ecuador, Airbnb, they're like, hey, I want another day.

Like,

let's talk.

Let's not do it on the site.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Very crooked.

Okay, well, that is is actually better than the Uber thing.

Yeah, better because then, like, let's not pay Airbnb.

Yeah, that's the extras.

And where is calling you?

Where have you not seen it?

So, I haven't been to

Korea or Taiwan, and I'm going there this December.

Both?

Yeah, I'm going Japan, Korea, Taiwan.

I go to Japan almost every year.

And never Taiwan.

Never been to Taiwan.

I've been to Korea.

Yeah, so I'm going to go there.

Can you come back?

If this wasn't too painful, think it over.

Don't tell me now.

But

after that, and then tell me about it.

You can do anything.

I gotta tell you, everyone asked me to do podcasts is a straight no.

Anything Ari asked me to do, I'm always in.

Really?

Yeah, because

I don't know.

You were just always, you know, you're always super cool to me.

And I always loved you as a comment before I met you.

And I just, I just

really appreciate, you know, when I, when I first came to America, you were always very encouraging and supportive and like just open, you know, for this new guy in town.

And I really appreciate it.

And I love it.

I'm new here.

Yeah, and I love and respect everything you do.

And you've always uh um uh

you know uh been cool to me and I really appreciate it.

Well thanks thanks for doing this.

I know it's not your thing.

I was trying to be like listen if you don't want it fine.

No, no

you're one of the the people who have been places.

Yeah.

And you know what I I never got a chance to debrief Europe with anybody so this is good.

It's fun kind of right?

It is fun yeah.

You just kind of like relive the times.

Yeah yeah it is fun.

Yeah.

Sorry it wasn't uh

I unfortunately I'm not you know I I don't have any crazy crazy drug stories or I don't I'm a very boring dude, but I got to see a few places.

It was nice.

I got to write a one-sheet for agents to give to people.

I got to like

not translate.

I just got to be like, here's the PDF, send it to them.

Yeah, yeah.

Something small.

Yeah, Taiwan would be cool.

And to see how like...

Where are you trying to go?

Morocco hosts a lot.

Where is it?

Yeah.

I was in France and I saw all these ads for like $80 direct to like four different cities in Morocco.

And I'm like, I didn't, I had to get back here, but I'm like, fuck.

Yeah, Morocco seems cool.

Tajikistan.

Okay.

Less now, actually.

When I was in Myanmar, the campaign got in my head, but less now.

You want to go like Costa Rica?

Been.

Great.

Great.

How's Jamaica?

Never been.

Okay.

Jamaica's on my list.

Punky's been there, and Louis Goma has been there a bunch, but Lewis does like

villas.

Okay.

Doesn't get out.

Yeah.

Jamaica is.

Jamaica might be my next thing.

Really?

After Asia, yeah.

I'll jerk chicken.

It's got to be something.

Yeah, because I got friends there now.

I'm trying to write a script.

Friends in there?

Yeah, I got friends in Jamaica now, and I got, like, I'm trying to write a script about it.

So I think I need to go and research it, you know.

I heard

what's the Mike Judge show after Babies of Butthood?

King of the Hill.

I heard he took his writing staff to

really central Texas or Western Texas for like two weeks every year.

Yeah.

To be like, I want you guys

to go go into the supermarket, talking to these people, hearing their accents.

That's great.

Now let's go back to LA and write this.

That's great.

I'm in the new season.

No.

Yeah, of Canada Hill.

Yeah.

Dude.

I'm the.

Oh, thanks.

Yeah.

There's like Hawaii 5-0, suck a dick.

Who cares?

Like, congrats for the money, but who cares?

But this is like, wow.

Oh, okay.

Oh, thank you.

Yeah.

Canada Hill is great.

Yeah.

Yeah.

What a new thing to be part of.

I'm the new voice of Khan.

Yeah.

What happened to old Khan?

Uh,

he was a, he wasn't.

What's his opinion on Twitter?

He wasn't an Asian guy oh he wasn't asian at all yeah yeah yeah yeah dude that's so cool that's cool yeah it is cool it's one of the shows i watched as a kid so yeah i didn't know it was still on uh it hasn't been on so there's a new season like that like it's like it's pretty funny i don't want to spoil it but it is it's a continuation it's not a reboot it's a continuation yeah

cool and mike judge is doing it yes oh hell yeah it's in brand new season continuation there's certain things in this business where it's like it's it's cooler than it's like value sure yes yes, yes.

And it's one of the, like I said, I used to watch it when I was a kid.

So it's one of those cartoons that got me into like, oh, cartoons don't have to be like dumb.

You know what I mean?

Oh, yeah, it was an adult cartoon.

It was on at night.

But also, like, the cool thing about Jamaica now, your friends there is like, I call it boots on the ground.

So, like, when I was in Hong Kong and Shanghai and Beijing, it was like, there's local comics here.

They'll tell me, like,

not the sites to go to, but like, let's all, there's a cool club on Tuesdays at school.

And it's like, you have people actually, they'll have that in Jamaica.

Yeah.

Like, take me to the

let's have some fun yeah let's take me to the real spots oh yeah definitely go

buddy I'll put in all your plugs when I put this out thank you but uh maybe call it that todd berry thing so he doesn't get mad I don't know I think you came around pretty hard on him I did but I didn't anyway I don't want him because I don't know why I said that I think it's because I know he doesn't like long flights but he freaking went there so I shouldn't be talking shit about him I mean I could cut it but also like you you should have said all you said was he doesn't go anywhere like a todd berry actually that's wrong todd berry went to to Thailand.

Like, you immediately

just gave it up for him.

But whatever.

All right, brother.

Okay, you're the best, man.

Yeah, thanks very much.

Thank you.

Well, that was the episode of Bye.

My time in LA has come to a close.

Thank you very much, Ronnie Chang, for sharing your first time in Europe.

That surprised me because he's a great traveler.

So that was surprising.

But he hadn't been there yet.

But he's been a lot through Asia.

How come how come i've been to israel and he's been to asia hmm

that's a ponder one

don't forget to watch a special uh love to hate it on netflix right now the place where my netflix special will be january 14th but his is there right now one month ahead of me paving pave setting this setting the table bringing up the pillows to the to the table so to speak Cutting the his inside out and dishonor the table.

Nah, that's it's too far.

Plus, he's not he's not Japanese, so it doesn't really work.

So, also, check him out on Interior Chinatown.

Guys, today's episode was produced by your Mom's House Network, edited by Alan Caffey.

Alan, I'm sorry, this took so long to get you this footage, but I was working on deadlines for my special, and now that is done.

And it should be right now, you should be able to put it on Netflix and say, Set a reminder.

So, can you guys go do that in addition to subscribing and getting me to 100,000 subscribers on YouTube?

YouTube.com/slash slash at UBTrivenPod.

Get me to 100,000.

I'm so close.

99,379.

Inside the first year, we started in like March.

It's pretty great.

I did want to get to 100,000.

Next week, there's no podcast.

So what I'm going to do is I'm going to do a year in review.

I'm either going to, and there's an off chance it won't happen, but I'm either going to,

And if it doesn't, week one will be me and Paul Morrissey in the trip.

Look forward to this.

January 6th, the trip that started me traveling.

Me and Paul Morrissey going to Switzerland for some festival, making this deal that we got to keep traveling.

And everything

that, everything about this podcast, you'll be tripping, stems from the January 6th episode of this show.

So that's an interesting one, for sure, for me.

It's a trip I was on too.

But come see me on tour.

I'm in the following cities.

All tickets are available at riskrey.com.

Pittsburgh, Providence, Salt Lake City, Brea, Nashville, San Antonio, Tampa, Denver, Schaumburg, Atlanta, Portland, San Jose, Orlando, Fort Lauderdale,

Seattle, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton.

These are sold out.

Providence is already all sold out.

San Antonio is now with Ari Mati.

Anyway, Schaumburg, Atlanta, Portland, all with Adrian.

Pittsburgh with Adrian.

Brea with Adrian now at the very end of January.

Guys, that's it.

As always, thank you for your support, guys.

As we come to a close in the new year, if I don't do a year in review, which will just be a solo pod next week,

I just want to wrap this up and say,

what a great year.

It's so fun.

I was worried going into this podcast.

I was like, is this going to not only take off, but am I going to continue to have fun with it?

And I really have.

Ronnie Chang doesn't do podcasts.

He was willing to do it.

He likes the idea.

And he he likes me.

I think he missed out.

I think he feels bad that he missed out on the planning of 9-11 with me.

And so he's like, we got to do something.

And I think he thought I was going to help him plan another one, but I wasn't.

Because I wasn't involved in that.

You guys are racist.

Enjoying the weather, though?

You're enjoying the weather, though, aren't you?

You enjoy that weather.

Guys, that's it.

Until next week, when I do my year in review or the week after, if I don't do it,

Sayonara.

No, what's the I mean, it's all of Europe.

Weird trip, though.

God, I can't wait for next year.

So, here's the schedule as I see it:

January 6th, me and Paul, me and Paul Morris a dual trip to Switzerland and a little bit of Amsterdam.

January 14th, my special comes out.

Burt Kreischer

on the podcast.

January 20th,

Tucker Carlson.

January 27th,

possibly now we're up in the air.

Maybe Jim Gaffigan.

Who knows what else?

Bye, guys.