WEBVTT

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go to episode 323 of the BehindTheShield podcast

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with Joel Totoro and Wes Barnett. Welcome to

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the Behind the Shield podcast. As always, my

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name is James Gearing, and this week it is my

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absolute honor to welcome on the show one of

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the founding members of the Broken Lizard Troop,

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star of Super Troopers, Beer Fest, Tacoma FD,

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and so many more firehouse favorites, Kevin Heffernan.

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So in this conversation, we discuss a host of

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topics from his early life, his journey into

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the world of law, the story how he met Steve

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Lemme, the formation of Broken Lizard, Super

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Troopers, Beer Fest, how they brought Quasi to

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the streaming services, how his cousin was a

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big influence on the creation of Tacoma FD, overcoming

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censorship, and so much more. Now, before we

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get to this incredible conversation, as I say

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every week, please just take a moment, go to

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whichever app you listen to this on, subscribe

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to the show. Leave feedback and leave a rating.

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Every single five -star rating truly does elevate

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this podcast, therefore making it easier for

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others to find. And this is a free library of

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almost 900 episodes now. So all I ask in return

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is that you help share these incredible men and

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women's stories so I can get them to every single

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person on planet Earth who needs to hear them.

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Have fun. Enjoy. Well, Kevin, I want to start

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by saying firstly, thank you to Eric Skolhans.

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Stolhansky, I'll just start on his name then,

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for connecting us and to welcome you onto the

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Behind the Shield podcast today. Yeah, he's a

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fellow Floridian to you, isn't he? He is, yes.

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And yeah, no, he put us together, which is great,

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which is great. Absolutely. Thanks for having

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me. Yeah, well, thank you. I mean, obviously,

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the timing is perfect. You know, we were going

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to be connected a little while ago, but now with

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Tacoma FD just being on Netflix as well, there

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couldn't be a better time, I think, for this

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conversation. So I always tell people it's not

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if, it's when. And, you know, when the time is

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right, it will happen. So here we are. Yeah.

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No, I know. It's been a good couple of weeks.

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The show's been on Netflix for a couple of weeks

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now, and a lot of people are finding it. So this

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is a good time to talk, man. 100%. All right.

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Well, very first question, where on planet Earth

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are we finding you today? I'm in Los Angeles.

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I live in Los Angeles. So I was just on the East

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Coast for the holidays and I got out of there

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right ahead of the blizzards. So I made it back

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to sunny Los Angeles. Thank goodness. So where

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about in LA are you living? I live out in the

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valley. I live kind of, I don't know, about half

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an hour out of town. And it's nice because we.

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We shot our show out here. So it ended up being

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a good place for me to live near the location

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of our show. Beautiful. I lived in Burbank for

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a while and then Huntington Beach when I worked

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for Anaheim Fire. Okay. Yeah. I'm on the other

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side in the Thousand Oaks area. Okay. Gotcha.

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Yeah. Beautiful. Well, I would love to start

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at the very beginning of your timeline so we

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can learn a little bit about your backstory.

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So tell me where you were born and tell me a

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little bit about your family dynamic, what your

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parents did, how many siblings. Okay. I grew

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up in Connecticut, West Haven, Connecticut, which

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is just west of New Haven, Connecticut. I have

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two brothers and a sister. My dad was a local

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lawyer. He was a lawyer for many years and a

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judge, actually. He was a judge for about 30

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years in my hometown, 28 years. and so yeah so

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i just grew up in connecticut pretty normal you

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know childhood and um i ended up going to colgate

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university in upstate new york and um and that's

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where i met um all the other fellas that you

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know we made these broken lizard movies with

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super troopers and beer fest and we started you

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know doing comedy there and um and from there

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you know uh we moved to new york city and just

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started making comedy and uh At the time, I wasn't

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sure if it was all going to work out. So I ended

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up going to law school at the same time. And

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I became a lawyer in New York City for a while.

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And then luckily was able to shift gears into

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the comedy world. So I don't know. That's the

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grand scheme of covering about 40 years right

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there for you. Well, I'm going to go back. So

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let's talk about growing up with a dad -in -law.

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Firstly, what area of law was he practicing?

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He was kind of a general practice guy. He was

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the kind of small -town lawyer that people would

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hire if they had some sort of injury or workplace

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problem or whatever. And he also kind of specialized

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in estates, very dry stuff. And it led him to

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be a judge for 28 years in that. uh, in that

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area of the States and that kind of thing. And,

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um, so yeah, I mean, you know, we had grown about,

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and I grew up, um, you know, and I think that's

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probably what I aspired to was to follow my dad's

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footsteps, you know? And, um, and so I kind of

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was on that track for a long time. Did having

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someone in law as a parent factor into you being

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more careful when you were a teenager and not

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getting into too much trouble? It's funny. We

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would hear stories and I'll talk about my my

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older cousin, this guy named Cousin Bill, who's

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a firefighter, was a firefighter for 30 years

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in my hometown. And he was much more of a troublemaker.

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And we'd hear stories about my dad going down

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and bailing him out of jail. And it made me think

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that maybe I should keep myself in order. So,

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yeah, I mean, we tried to let that be a thing

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that kept us in line. And sometimes it didn't

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work out. But, you know. uh we try to stay on

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the stage straight and narrow now what about

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sports what were you playing when you were school

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age um i don't know we kind of did it all you

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know we i played hockey and baseball i played

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football played basketball and um you know kind

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of the the big four or whatever and so uh you

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know i we played in those leagues as kids and

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little league and pop warner football and you

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know all that kind of stuff and we did that all

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the way up through high school so it was kind

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of very um you know, straightforward. I was never

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that great at any of them, you know, I was, uh,

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you know, moderately okay. And, uh, but you know,

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it was, that was the kind of way that you engage

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with other people and had fun with your friends

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and that kind of thing. When I was little, I

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was very small, had a blonde Afro, buck teeth,

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dry skin, and spoke differently than a lot of

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the kids. Cause I went to a private junior school

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and then, uh, like a state school you know the

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public senior school and so was constantly having

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to be a bit of a chameleon and definitely became

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a bit of a sniper when it came to saying funny

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shit i wasn't the class clown or anything but

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comedy became kind of an armor for me i think

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when i look back and a lot of the people that

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i've had on the show that ended up in comedy

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there was You know, more often than not, an element

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of bullying or low self -esteem when they were

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younger and that comedy kind of came out of that.

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When you look back now, is there any of that

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genesis on your story? I don't know. I think

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there probably was a little bit. I was always

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a heavy kid, you know, so I was always a little

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fat kid who's the, you know, the kid who's always

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tends to be the jokester. But yeah, I don't think

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like you, I don't think I was necessarily the

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class clown. You know, it was. But, you know,

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I definitely gravitated towards like the funny

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stuff and the wisecracking. And, you know, I

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always enjoyed, you know, watching comedy and

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that kind of stuff as a kid. I don't think that

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I fill the role of like tortured artist or bullied

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kid that turned to comedy. I don't really fit

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that role. I don't think I think I was just,

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you know. You know, Steve Lemme, my partner in

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crime in Tacoma, you know, we always talked about

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the traditional funny fat guy. And I was like

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the little funny fat kid probably is what it

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came down to. Well, what about career aspirations?

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I know you ended up in law. Was that what you

00:10:11.529 --> 00:10:12.970
were dreaming of becoming when you were in school

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or was that something else? I think so. I think

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I was always on that track, you know. I worked

00:10:18.450 --> 00:10:20.730
in a few different law firms and things like

00:10:20.730 --> 00:10:23.289
that. It sounds very unsexy, but I, you know,

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I think I was definitely on track for that. And

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but in the back of my mind, you know, I always

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enjoyed, you know, performing and, you know,

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I'd done plays and stuff like that. And, you

00:10:35.289 --> 00:10:37.269
know, and when I got to college, you know, we

00:10:37.269 --> 00:10:39.009
started doing some comedy shows and that that

00:10:39.009 --> 00:10:42.409
really kind of clicked for me. And so I think

00:10:42.409 --> 00:10:44.409
by the time we got to college, I don't know that

00:10:44.409 --> 00:10:47.750
we ever realized it would go where it did. But

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by the time we got to college, I think, you know,

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you're hoping that that's the direction you go

00:10:52.450 --> 00:10:54.590
in, you know. And, you know, so I did dual paths,

00:10:54.789 --> 00:10:57.450
you know, I. When we were in New York City as

00:10:57.450 --> 00:11:00.289
a young comedy group and doing shows, you know,

00:11:00.289 --> 00:11:01.970
by day I would go to law school and by night

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we would do comedy shows, you know, and just,

00:11:05.210 --> 00:11:08.769
you know, see which track won, you know. I was

00:11:08.769 --> 00:11:11.389
watching an interview. I think it was ABC or

00:11:11.389 --> 00:11:14.950
one of the TV stations anyway. And you were on

00:11:14.950 --> 00:11:17.590
with Steve. I think it was promoting Tacoma,

00:11:17.610 --> 00:11:20.529
if I'm not mistaken. But the origin story of

00:11:20.529 --> 00:11:23.029
how you met that involved a party and an overcoat.

00:11:23.190 --> 00:11:25.690
So I think I'd love to hear that story if you're

00:11:25.690 --> 00:11:29.730
able to recall it. Well, Steve Lemme is kind

00:11:29.730 --> 00:11:32.970
of a rake. You know, he's always kind of an impish

00:11:32.970 --> 00:11:37.350
kind of guy. And he was a year younger than I

00:11:37.350 --> 00:11:42.169
was at school. And so, you know, I was a member

00:11:42.169 --> 00:11:44.570
of this fraternity house and he was a freshman

00:11:44.570 --> 00:11:47.110
below us who was trying to get into the fraternity

00:11:47.110 --> 00:11:49.970
house. You know, we would have this and I had

00:11:49.970 --> 00:11:52.149
never met the kid before. And we would have these

00:11:52.149 --> 00:11:54.250
parties at this fraternity house. And it was

00:11:54.250 --> 00:11:56.190
an upstate New York. It was very cold. Everyone

00:11:56.190 --> 00:11:57.370
would show up in their winter coat. Everyone

00:11:57.370 --> 00:11:58.789
take their winter coat off. They throw it in

00:11:58.789 --> 00:12:00.809
the middle of the floor and then they go party

00:12:00.809 --> 00:12:02.809
or whatever, you know. And so one night there's

00:12:02.809 --> 00:12:05.889
a party and I went to the pile to grab my coat

00:12:05.889 --> 00:12:08.929
to go. And my coat was gone. It was missing.

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Somebody stole it, you know, which happened occasionally.

00:12:10.909 --> 00:12:12.429
But I was pissed off because it was freezing

00:12:12.429 --> 00:12:15.950
out. And, you know, I lost it. And so I went

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a couple of weeks. without my coat. And then

00:12:18.360 --> 00:12:21.000
there was another party and I saw my coat in

00:12:21.000 --> 00:12:23.019
that pile, you know, and I was like, holy shit,

00:12:23.039 --> 00:12:27.039
there's my coat. And, uh, I went, I, I grabbed

00:12:27.039 --> 00:12:29.919
it and I reached inside of it. And the guy apparently

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who was the thief who stole my coat had left

00:12:31.700 --> 00:12:36.139
his college ID in the pocket of the coat. And

00:12:36.139 --> 00:12:38.240
I pulled it out and it says, Steven Carlos Lemmy.

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And I was like, who is this guy? And somebody

00:12:41.679 --> 00:12:43.080
said, oh, he's a freshman. He's trying to get

00:12:43.080 --> 00:12:45.120
into the fraternity and whatever. And he's in

00:12:45.120 --> 00:12:47.480
the other room dancing. And I was like, oh, boy.

00:12:47.759 --> 00:12:52.200
So I went up to him and I said, hey, buddy, you

00:12:52.200 --> 00:12:53.960
stole my coat. He said, no, I didn't. I said,

00:12:53.980 --> 00:12:57.379
yeah, I found your ID inside the coat. And he

00:12:57.379 --> 00:13:00.019
went, oh, my God, the same guy that stole your

00:13:00.019 --> 00:13:01.580
coat must have been the guy who stole my ID.

00:13:02.519 --> 00:13:08.719
And I thought that was a great response. And

00:13:08.719 --> 00:13:10.500
from then, from that point, that was the first

00:13:10.500 --> 00:13:12.980
time we kind of met. And then ultimately we were

00:13:12.980 --> 00:13:15.559
thrown into this comedy group together. And we

00:13:15.559 --> 00:13:17.080
just kind of hit it off and started writing stuff

00:13:17.080 --> 00:13:20.279
together. But it was not an auspicious beginning

00:13:20.279 --> 00:13:22.940
to our career because I hated him. I didn't like

00:13:22.940 --> 00:13:26.620
the guy, you know. And, you know, I've come to

00:13:26.620 --> 00:13:28.879
like him a little bit over the years. So how

00:13:28.879 --> 00:13:30.220
did you get over that, though? Because, I mean,

00:13:30.240 --> 00:13:32.360
at one point, you know, the only thing you know

00:13:32.360 --> 00:13:34.519
about this guy is that he's a thief. And now

00:13:34.519 --> 00:13:37.399
you put in this group together. It's funny because

00:13:37.399 --> 00:13:39.539
we had started this comedy group in college.

00:13:39.700 --> 00:13:43.899
Jay Chandrasekhar was the guy I started with,

00:13:43.940 --> 00:13:45.779
and ultimately he went on to direct Super Troopers,

00:13:45.799 --> 00:13:47.879
and we did our group together. We still have

00:13:47.879 --> 00:13:50.259
our group. So Jay and I kind of started that

00:13:50.259 --> 00:13:53.960
group, that comedy group at school, and Jay really

00:13:53.960 --> 00:13:57.289
wanted to have Steve be a part of it. And I was

00:13:57.289 --> 00:13:58.570
like, I'm not putting that guy in this thing.

00:13:58.649 --> 00:14:01.309
You know, the guy's a thief. You know, I don't

00:14:01.309 --> 00:14:04.110
like him. You know, he's got long hair and earrings.

00:14:04.389 --> 00:14:06.389
I don't like that. You know, all that kind of

00:14:06.389 --> 00:14:09.669
stuff. And he's like, oh, well, you know what?

00:14:09.710 --> 00:14:11.789
We'll we'll get him in there. He can play like

00:14:11.789 --> 00:14:13.750
the scumbag roles. You know, he can play like

00:14:13.750 --> 00:14:17.250
the the you know, the the guys who were, you

00:14:17.250 --> 00:14:18.929
know, you don't really like that much. And I

00:14:18.929 --> 00:14:21.529
was like, OK. And so I let him, you know, I said,

00:14:21.590 --> 00:14:23.490
that's OK. He can come in. And so he joined.

00:14:23.509 --> 00:14:26.100
And then from there, though, you know. We actually

00:14:26.100 --> 00:14:29.639
have a very similar sense of humor and things

00:14:29.639 --> 00:14:31.879
that we like. We became great friends at that

00:14:31.879 --> 00:14:33.840
point because we were kind of thrown in this

00:14:33.840 --> 00:14:37.440
thing together. From then on, we just kind of

00:14:37.440 --> 00:14:39.940
had a great time writing things together. We

00:14:39.940 --> 00:14:41.399
would write sketches together for the two of

00:14:41.399 --> 00:14:44.960
us to star in or to act in or whatever. It kind

00:14:44.960 --> 00:14:47.259
of just ended up growing from there. What about

00:14:47.259 --> 00:14:50.500
Eric? When did he first come on your radar? Eric

00:14:50.500 --> 00:14:56.450
was also a year. uh below us and um and i didn't

00:14:56.450 --> 00:14:58.009
even know him that way he came into our comedy

00:14:58.009 --> 00:15:00.870
group the second year and uh but he was also

00:15:00.870 --> 00:15:05.350
a member of our fraternity and um uh and he he

00:15:05.350 --> 00:15:07.669
i knew him as a member of the attorney before

00:15:07.669 --> 00:15:09.490
i knew him as like a performer but he was kind

00:15:09.490 --> 00:15:13.210
of a theater guy and um you know he came into

00:15:13.210 --> 00:15:16.329
the group and he used to do this like funny like

00:15:16.329 --> 00:15:18.330
ridiculous, like lizard character or something.

00:15:18.470 --> 00:15:20.370
And, you know, we, we would, we made like, we

00:15:20.370 --> 00:15:22.929
would shoot videos of it and stuff. And, and

00:15:22.929 --> 00:15:26.610
so, you know, he joined us the second year. And

00:15:26.610 --> 00:15:30.610
then when we moved to New York city, he has another

00:15:30.610 --> 00:15:32.190
year of school. And after that, he came and joined

00:15:32.190 --> 00:15:34.870
us in New York city and, and lived with, lived

00:15:34.870 --> 00:15:38.990
on a couch or whatever. So, but yeah, I mean,

00:15:39.009 --> 00:15:42.230
that was, you know, that was in the, in the early

00:15:42.230 --> 00:15:44.830
nineties. So, you know, we've been together for

00:15:44.830 --> 00:15:47.330
a long time. Do you get angry again now that

00:15:47.330 --> 00:15:49.950
long hair and earrings are back in fashion? No,

00:15:49.950 --> 00:15:55.230
no. I love, you know, my kids got long hair and

00:15:55.230 --> 00:15:57.990
I, you know, I don't, I love that. I like Lemmy's

00:15:57.990 --> 00:15:59.429
long hair. I just like to give him shit about

00:15:59.429 --> 00:16:03.769
it. Cause he had a very New Yorkie look, you

00:16:03.769 --> 00:16:06.409
know, he had a, he had, you know, long hair and

00:16:06.409 --> 00:16:08.450
like multiple earrings and he would wear like

00:16:08.450 --> 00:16:12.379
this suede coat with tassels on it. that he would

00:16:12.379 --> 00:16:14.059
walk around town on. And you're like, are you

00:16:14.059 --> 00:16:17.720
kidding me, pal? But on the inside, I actually

00:16:17.720 --> 00:16:21.860
really liked his look. So what about the kind

00:16:21.860 --> 00:16:25.139
of genesis of the style of comedy that you guys

00:16:25.139 --> 00:16:27.940
ended up creating? Because, I mean, I'm obviously

00:16:27.940 --> 00:16:30.000
grown up with Monty Python and some of these

00:16:30.000 --> 00:16:33.299
other more obscure comedians, and that's embedded

00:16:33.299 --> 00:16:36.259
in British culture. when it comes to the fire

00:16:36.259 --> 00:16:38.419
service, super troopers, beer fest, some of these

00:16:38.419 --> 00:16:40.720
films that you ended up making were absolute

00:16:40.720 --> 00:16:42.600
firehouse favorites. And I'm sure you heard that

00:16:42.600 --> 00:16:45.600
many, many times. So when you're surrounded by,

00:16:45.600 --> 00:16:49.440
you know, the spectrum of comedy from the super

00:16:49.440 --> 00:16:52.600
cheesy sex is like baseball standup comedian

00:16:52.600 --> 00:16:55.440
all the way through to the obscure, how did you

00:16:55.440 --> 00:16:59.120
guys find the area that you created? You know,

00:16:59.139 --> 00:17:02.220
I think part of it was just this group dynamic

00:17:02.220 --> 00:17:05.829
that we had in that, like, you know, A lot of

00:17:05.829 --> 00:17:07.630
the goals at the time was to make each other

00:17:07.630 --> 00:17:09.609
laugh and what it was to make each other laugh.

00:17:09.869 --> 00:17:12.269
And I think everyone drew on whatever they came

00:17:12.269 --> 00:17:14.069
from. You know, I mean, I think, you know, at

00:17:14.069 --> 00:17:17.309
the time, you know, you know, certainly, you

00:17:17.309 --> 00:17:19.569
know, we grew up on, you know, early SNL and

00:17:19.569 --> 00:17:22.890
we grew up on, you know, the John Landis movies,

00:17:23.049 --> 00:17:25.849
you know, like the Blues Brothers or, you know,

00:17:25.849 --> 00:17:30.369
or those Lampoon movies or, you know, you know,

00:17:30.369 --> 00:17:32.900
Animal House and stuff like that. I think. Those

00:17:32.900 --> 00:17:35.140
were kind of the things that informed us. And

00:17:35.140 --> 00:17:37.839
a lot of it was like a group of people, a group

00:17:37.839 --> 00:17:41.240
of usually guys together, you know, having a

00:17:41.240 --> 00:17:43.599
good time, making each other laugh. And that

00:17:43.599 --> 00:17:46.759
was always something that we kind of focused

00:17:46.759 --> 00:17:48.740
on, I feel like. I mean, another kind of thing

00:17:48.740 --> 00:17:51.400
I think that we always kind of focused on in

00:17:51.400 --> 00:17:55.619
that vein was. was that idea of creating worlds

00:17:55.619 --> 00:17:59.380
where, or situations where the people who are

00:17:59.380 --> 00:18:01.319
watching the audience felt like they were a part

00:18:01.319 --> 00:18:03.220
of something or that they wanted to belong to

00:18:03.220 --> 00:18:07.519
something. And, you know, it was never, we were

00:18:07.519 --> 00:18:10.380
never a mean spirited group. We were never, you

00:18:10.380 --> 00:18:12.700
know, targeting people or whatever it was. It

00:18:12.700 --> 00:18:14.319
was more of like, let's create this environment.

00:18:15.079 --> 00:18:16.579
where we're all going to have some laughs together

00:18:16.579 --> 00:18:18.819
because that's what we're doing anyway. Right.

00:18:18.900 --> 00:18:20.759
We're that group of college guys who are like,

00:18:20.779 --> 00:18:22.119
you guys are funny. You should make a movie.

00:18:22.180 --> 00:18:23.900
And then we actually did make a movie, you know?

00:18:24.920 --> 00:18:26.940
And so, I don't know. I think it was that kind

00:18:26.940 --> 00:18:30.559
of like good natured camaraderie. And, and those

00:18:30.559 --> 00:18:33.119
are the kinds of comedies we liked. And that's

00:18:33.119 --> 00:18:34.839
the common comedy we decided to make, you know?

00:18:35.439 --> 00:18:37.740
What about naysayers? There's a lot of people

00:18:37.740 --> 00:18:39.839
that are very successful now and they had to

00:18:39.839 --> 00:18:42.660
navigate so many people saying, ah, you'll never

00:18:42.660 --> 00:18:45.299
because, you know, what was the resistance that

00:18:45.299 --> 00:18:46.680
you were getting from some of the other people

00:18:46.680 --> 00:18:49.720
in your arena? Well, I mean, I think you certainly

00:18:49.720 --> 00:18:52.000
get that from, you know, to a certain extent

00:18:52.000 --> 00:18:53.720
from parents and things like that who think,

00:18:53.819 --> 00:18:57.180
you know, maybe it's a little bit of folly, you

00:18:57.180 --> 00:18:59.069
know, that you're heading down this. this road.

00:18:59.170 --> 00:19:01.349
And, and also it's just, you know, it's a hard

00:19:01.349 --> 00:19:03.390
nut to crack, you know, it's a hard business

00:19:03.390 --> 00:19:06.369
to get into. And once you get into it, it's a

00:19:06.369 --> 00:19:08.289
hard business to sustain and make a living at.

00:19:08.410 --> 00:19:12.329
So I think those were the big, the kind of big

00:19:12.329 --> 00:19:14.049
naysayers were like, ah, you guys will never

00:19:14.049 --> 00:19:17.509
get anywhere, you know? And, and you know, I

00:19:17.509 --> 00:19:19.869
think it was weird. Cause like, even from our

00:19:19.869 --> 00:19:22.049
younger days, we had just enough success each

00:19:22.049 --> 00:19:26.079
time to keep us going to the next step. and to

00:19:26.079 --> 00:19:29.619
keep us kind of persevering. And, you know, I

00:19:29.619 --> 00:19:32.339
think that helped us overcome the naysayers and

00:19:32.339 --> 00:19:35.079
that we, we had, you know, a certain level of

00:19:35.079 --> 00:19:37.160
success, whether it was, Hey, we got into this

00:19:37.160 --> 00:19:39.619
film festival or, Hey, we sold this movie or

00:19:39.619 --> 00:19:42.200
we sold this TV idea and we just kept rolling,

00:19:42.299 --> 00:19:46.000
you know? So I think, you know, we, we ran into

00:19:46.000 --> 00:19:48.200
the normal obstacles that everyone had, but,

00:19:48.259 --> 00:19:51.119
you know, I think, I don't know if it was dumb

00:19:51.119 --> 00:19:53.380
or just persevering. We just kind of pushed our

00:19:53.380 --> 00:19:55.559
way through it all, you know? I got a feeling

00:19:55.559 --> 00:19:57.339
that when you're told, oh, you'll never do that,

00:19:57.380 --> 00:19:58.980
you're probably on the right track. That means

00:19:58.980 --> 00:20:01.339
you're further out of the comfort zone to challenge

00:20:01.339 --> 00:20:04.500
the way people think. Absolutely. Oh, yeah. OK,

00:20:04.619 --> 00:20:08.039
fine. You know, and again, you know, it's also,

00:20:08.140 --> 00:20:10.720
you know, we were so lucky to have a support

00:20:10.720 --> 00:20:12.640
group. You know what I mean? It's like so many

00:20:12.640 --> 00:20:14.400
people try to jump into this business and they're

00:20:14.400 --> 00:20:16.440
alone or whatever it is. We walked into this

00:20:16.440 --> 00:20:18.880
business with, you know, four of our best friends

00:20:18.880 --> 00:20:21.200
that we've known for many, many years. And you

00:20:21.200 --> 00:20:24.980
always had that support group. um and and you

00:20:24.980 --> 00:20:27.380
know if you couldn't get into someone's movie

00:20:27.380 --> 00:20:29.059
or you couldn't get into someone's whatever you

00:20:29.059 --> 00:20:31.220
just made your own with with the guys that you

00:20:31.220 --> 00:20:34.940
had and and that was always the mentality so

00:20:34.940 --> 00:20:37.839
what about the origin story for your first film

00:20:37.839 --> 00:20:41.779
being about troopers Yeah. Well, I mean, that

00:20:41.779 --> 00:20:43.740
was kind of weird. We had made a film before

00:20:43.740 --> 00:20:46.460
that. It was called Puddle Cruiser. And we had

00:20:46.460 --> 00:20:48.960
sold it. We brought it to the Sundance Film Festival.

00:20:49.039 --> 00:20:51.460
It was a movie we made for about $200 ,000. And

00:20:51.460 --> 00:20:53.400
we shot it at our old college. And it was just

00:20:53.400 --> 00:20:56.559
kind of a college romantic comedy. And that was

00:20:56.559 --> 00:20:59.140
a little bit of the calling card. So we brought

00:20:59.140 --> 00:21:01.279
that to a few festivals, went to the Sundance

00:21:01.279 --> 00:21:08.079
Film Festival back in 97 or 98. And it ended

00:21:08.079 --> 00:21:11.309
up, you know. giving us a foothold. You know,

00:21:11.349 --> 00:21:14.049
we met a lot of people and so it made us feel

00:21:14.049 --> 00:21:15.990
like, hey, we could do this. And so let's let's

00:21:15.990 --> 00:21:18.410
make a let's make a big movie or not a big movie,

00:21:18.450 --> 00:21:21.569
but like a real movie, you know. And so we had

00:21:21.569 --> 00:21:25.000
been batting around a couple of ideas and. At

00:21:25.000 --> 00:21:28.619
the same time, we were at that age where you're

00:21:28.619 --> 00:21:32.000
in your 30s or your late 20s and all your buddies

00:21:32.000 --> 00:21:33.339
are getting married and you're going to all these

00:21:33.339 --> 00:21:35.519
weddings and stuff like that. I haven't been

00:21:35.519 --> 00:21:36.900
to a wedding in a long time, but there was a

00:21:36.900 --> 00:21:40.380
time where you'd hit five in the summer. I remember

00:21:40.380 --> 00:21:43.000
we would jump into Jay's car and we would drive

00:21:43.000 --> 00:21:45.519
around, five or six of us, and go to these weddings.

00:21:46.960 --> 00:21:48.440
Occasionally, we would get pulled over by the

00:21:48.440 --> 00:21:53.079
cops. We always thought it was hysterical. these

00:21:53.079 --> 00:21:55.619
five kind of false bravado guys riding around

00:21:55.619 --> 00:21:58.579
in a car, you know, cracking jokes and whatever.

00:21:58.759 --> 00:22:00.539
And then the moment that cop walks up to the

00:22:00.539 --> 00:22:03.460
car, it's yes, sir, no, sir. Your tail is between

00:22:03.460 --> 00:22:05.019
your legs, you know. And we always thought that

00:22:05.019 --> 00:22:07.900
dynamic was really funny. And so we just started

00:22:07.900 --> 00:22:11.359
riffing and riffing on scenarios where that would

00:22:11.359 --> 00:22:14.099
be the case, where, you know, if you're on the

00:22:14.099 --> 00:22:16.880
cop side of it, what power did you have? What

00:22:16.880 --> 00:22:18.500
ability did you have to fuck around with the

00:22:18.500 --> 00:22:21.519
guys on the other side? And, you know, I think.

00:22:22.039 --> 00:22:23.900
And we just started writing almost like sketches,

00:22:24.000 --> 00:22:25.900
you know, like, what if they did this? What if

00:22:25.900 --> 00:22:27.759
they did this repeater game? And what if, you

00:22:27.759 --> 00:22:29.920
know, the cops were trying to say meow all the

00:22:29.920 --> 00:22:31.319
time? You know, whatever. We had all these ideas

00:22:31.319 --> 00:22:33.480
and we just kind of started writing these scenes.

00:22:34.319 --> 00:22:36.220
And then we started stringing them together,

00:22:36.339 --> 00:22:39.220
you know, with a plot. And, you know, I don't

00:22:39.220 --> 00:22:42.900
think any of us ever expected the success that

00:22:42.900 --> 00:22:44.559
would have or how it would resonate with people.

00:22:44.619 --> 00:22:47.900
But, you know, it was basically a series of.

00:22:48.430 --> 00:22:50.309
of cop sketches. And I think that kind of the

00:22:50.309 --> 00:22:52.650
unique thing was we were on the side of the cops,

00:22:52.750 --> 00:22:57.789
you know, and that, and cops loved that. I mean,

00:22:57.789 --> 00:22:59.150
the whole kind of law enforcement community,

00:22:59.150 --> 00:23:01.569
guys in uniform loved that, you know, the military

00:23:01.569 --> 00:23:05.069
guys, everybody, that you were showing that these

00:23:05.069 --> 00:23:07.289
guys were human and that they had, you know,

00:23:07.289 --> 00:23:09.509
they liked to have fun and they were good natured

00:23:09.509 --> 00:23:11.410
people and that kind of stuff. And I think, you

00:23:11.410 --> 00:23:13.450
know, that was probably the thing that resonated.

00:23:13.690 --> 00:23:16.730
And then It just kind of slowly took off. You

00:23:16.730 --> 00:23:18.910
know, we made that movie. We didn't necessarily

00:23:18.910 --> 00:23:21.869
know what we were doing. We brought that to the

00:23:21.869 --> 00:23:23.950
Sundance Film Festival and then we sold that

00:23:23.950 --> 00:23:26.670
there and it was put in theaters, which to us

00:23:26.670 --> 00:23:31.089
was like, holy crap. And it just kind of took

00:23:31.089 --> 00:23:33.430
off from there. It was a little of a slow burn

00:23:33.430 --> 00:23:34.630
in the sense that, you know, a lot of people.

00:23:35.880 --> 00:23:37.519
didn't go to the theater and watch that movie

00:23:37.519 --> 00:23:40.140
you know you watch that in your on dvd and you

00:23:40.140 --> 00:23:41.779
watch that in your dorm room and you watch that

00:23:41.779 --> 00:23:43.500
with your buddies or you watch the guy you know

00:23:43.500 --> 00:23:45.799
the barracks or you watch it in the you know

00:23:45.799 --> 00:23:48.500
in the fire station or whatever it was and um

00:23:48.500 --> 00:23:51.900
and then it just kind of grew from there you

00:23:51.900 --> 00:23:55.619
know what about technical advisors i had um Dale

00:23:55.619 --> 00:23:57.160
Dion is actually coming back on again because

00:23:57.160 --> 00:23:59.180
they've just made a sequel to Band of Brothers.

00:23:59.420 --> 00:24:02.140
Amazing. I worked with him. I did stunts for

00:24:02.140 --> 00:24:04.740
a long time, so I worked with him doing a little

00:24:04.740 --> 00:24:07.160
prep boot camp for a stunt show that I did years

00:24:07.160 --> 00:24:11.259
ago in Japan. He obviously prepares these actors

00:24:11.259 --> 00:24:14.660
for serious drama roles, dramatic roles, and

00:24:14.660 --> 00:24:19.220
playing the soldier properly. how much technical

00:24:19.220 --> 00:24:21.299
advising did you have for super troopers? Did

00:24:21.299 --> 00:24:24.319
you, did you kind of inquire in that community

00:24:24.319 --> 00:24:27.700
or did you do it more blind? No, I mean, like

00:24:27.700 --> 00:24:30.799
I remember like a funny moment. It's like, we,

00:24:30.819 --> 00:24:32.240
you know, like I said, we just kind of wrote

00:24:32.240 --> 00:24:35.799
these sketches and, and we didn't have a whole

00:24:35.799 --> 00:24:39.019
lot of technical, like Tacoma. We, we really

00:24:39.019 --> 00:24:41.400
kind of like, you know, crossed our T's and dot

00:24:41.400 --> 00:24:43.839
our I's with technical stuff. But I think. Then

00:24:43.839 --> 00:24:46.500
we didn't know. And I remember one like funny

00:24:46.500 --> 00:24:49.920
incident where I think it was like the first

00:24:49.920 --> 00:24:52.660
or second day we were shooting and we were on

00:24:52.660 --> 00:24:55.440
this highway and we shut down the highway and

00:24:55.440 --> 00:24:57.799
to shoot and to do that, you had to have, you

00:24:57.799 --> 00:24:59.359
know, local police officers come and do that

00:24:59.359 --> 00:25:04.779
for you. And so we had, you know, some state

00:25:04.779 --> 00:25:06.960
troopers there and some local police officers

00:25:06.960 --> 00:25:09.900
and they started kind of arguing over who. you

00:25:09.900 --> 00:25:11.619
know, was going to be in charge of this, you

00:25:11.619 --> 00:25:13.200
know, the highway and closing it down and opening

00:25:13.200 --> 00:25:15.980
it up and whatever. And we thought that was great.

00:25:16.099 --> 00:25:18.839
And we started talking to those guys and we started

00:25:18.839 --> 00:25:21.319
asking them questions. And, you know, really

00:25:21.319 --> 00:25:24.259
we started filling stuff in on the fly, you know,

00:25:24.259 --> 00:25:27.619
from the guys who were on our set just to shut

00:25:27.619 --> 00:25:29.480
down traffic. And we're like, what about this?

00:25:29.480 --> 00:25:30.779
And how does this happen? What do you do with

00:25:30.779 --> 00:25:33.460
the, and then, you know, once it's the same way

00:25:33.460 --> 00:25:35.420
with the firefighters, once you start them talking.

00:25:36.460 --> 00:25:38.180
you know, they have a hundred stories, you know,

00:25:38.180 --> 00:25:39.759
they have a story about the rookie and what they

00:25:39.759 --> 00:25:41.440
did to this guy and the prank they pull on that

00:25:41.440 --> 00:25:45.220
guy. And, and so that was a really kind of on

00:25:45.220 --> 00:25:47.599
the fly technical advisor stuff where we were

00:25:47.599 --> 00:25:49.920
talking to the cops who were on the set. Cause

00:25:49.920 --> 00:25:51.240
we didn't, I mean, I don't, we didn't know any

00:25:51.240 --> 00:25:52.740
better at that point. You know, we put together

00:25:52.740 --> 00:25:55.640
a certain, you know, shoestring budget and just

00:25:55.640 --> 00:25:57.259
went there with some cameras and started shooting

00:25:57.259 --> 00:26:00.160
that movie. But I mean, luckily I think, you

00:26:00.160 --> 00:26:01.920
know, I mean, there's plenty of stuff in there

00:26:01.920 --> 00:26:03.700
that doesn't fly, but I think, you know, luckily

00:26:03.700 --> 00:26:06.200
the cops. didn't actually call bullshit on us

00:26:06.200 --> 00:26:08.160
because they, they enjoy the movie so much. Yeah.

00:26:08.660 --> 00:26:12.619
It wasn't a documentary. Oh, we try very hard

00:26:12.619 --> 00:26:16.559
to not let people call bullshit on us or to avoid

00:26:16.559 --> 00:26:19.920
that at least. Absolutely. Well, what about beer

00:26:19.920 --> 00:26:22.740
fest? Your last name is Heffernan. Do you have

00:26:22.740 --> 00:26:25.400
German ancestry? Was that somewhat of an inspiration

00:26:25.400 --> 00:26:28.539
for it? Or was it completely detached? No, it's

00:26:28.539 --> 00:26:32.299
all, it's all Irish for me, you know? Yeah, no,

00:26:32.400 --> 00:26:37.150
I, beer fest was, it was, We made a movie called

00:26:37.150 --> 00:26:39.509
Club Dread after Super Troopers, and it was a

00:26:39.509 --> 00:26:43.509
bomb. And I loved that movie, but it flopped.

00:26:44.829 --> 00:26:47.250
And we were criticized. We were criticized for

00:26:47.250 --> 00:26:51.049
being sophomoric and liking fart jokes and whatever

00:26:51.049 --> 00:26:53.609
it is, that kind of stuff where you get knocked

00:26:53.609 --> 00:26:56.670
for maybe a little lowbrow humor or whatever

00:26:56.670 --> 00:27:01.730
it was. And so Beer Fest was a reaction to that.

00:27:01.789 --> 00:27:03.369
It was kind of like, oh, you think that we're

00:27:03.369 --> 00:27:06.279
sophomoric? You think we're, you know, whatever,

00:27:06.400 --> 00:27:08.700
frat boys or whatever. Let's make a movie called

00:27:08.700 --> 00:27:12.160
Beer Fest, you know. And we had gone on a tour

00:27:12.160 --> 00:27:15.900
to Australia for Super Troopers, the original

00:27:15.900 --> 00:27:21.640
Super Troopers. And, you know, a tour in Australia

00:27:21.640 --> 00:27:24.279
is very different than a tour in here. You know,

00:27:24.339 --> 00:27:28.619
it's a much, you know, kind of more raw and,

00:27:28.680 --> 00:27:33.279
you know, raucous movie tour, you know. So we

00:27:33.279 --> 00:27:35.480
would go to a lot of beer gardens and we would

00:27:35.480 --> 00:27:38.579
go to a lot of bars and, you know, whatever,

00:27:38.740 --> 00:27:41.319
show up there in uniform, whatever it was. And

00:27:41.319 --> 00:27:46.349
I remember we were at a beer garden. And what

00:27:46.349 --> 00:27:48.150
they decided the promotion would be is that we

00:27:48.150 --> 00:27:50.930
would get up on stage, the five of us, and we'd

00:27:50.930 --> 00:27:54.009
chug beers against five local Australian guys.

00:27:54.930 --> 00:27:58.410
And so we're like, all right, let's do it, whatever.

00:27:58.529 --> 00:28:01.369
So they call us up on stage. And there were these

00:28:01.369 --> 00:28:03.269
five guys who were like at a bachelor party at

00:28:03.269 --> 00:28:06.190
this beer garden in this big crowd outside this

00:28:06.190 --> 00:28:08.089
outside garden. And they pull these five guys

00:28:08.089 --> 00:28:10.789
up on stage. And they said, all right, you know,

00:28:10.829 --> 00:28:12.430
we're going to do a line chug against these guys.

00:28:12.509 --> 00:28:13.630
And it's going to be a boat race. It's going

00:28:13.630 --> 00:28:16.569
to be a race, you know. and so we started the

00:28:16.569 --> 00:28:22.130
the race and the crowd went crazy like it was

00:28:22.130 --> 00:28:28.009
like yelling anti -american you know whatever

00:28:28.009 --> 00:28:30.529
it was like this fervent like people were rooting

00:28:30.529 --> 00:28:35.910
for their guys so hard that uh ultimately they

00:28:35.910 --> 00:28:38.210
had to take us off after the thing and we lost

00:28:38.210 --> 00:28:40.089
and they took us off the stage and they put us

00:28:40.089 --> 00:28:41.869
in a van and had to you know get us out of there

00:28:41.869 --> 00:28:43.910
because it was it was this raucous thing and

00:28:44.490 --> 00:28:45.930
We thought that was one of the funniest things

00:28:45.930 --> 00:28:47.289
we'd seen and one of the coolest things we'd

00:28:47.289 --> 00:28:49.329
seen. And that was the genesis for that beer

00:28:49.329 --> 00:28:50.950
fest idea. It was like, oh my God, what if we

00:28:50.950 --> 00:28:55.589
made this nationalistic Olympic competition of

00:28:55.589 --> 00:28:57.869
beer drinking and the fans are drunk and everyone's

00:28:57.869 --> 00:29:00.309
crazy and whatever. So that was the kind of this

00:29:00.309 --> 00:29:02.509
Australian trip was the genesis for that idea.

00:29:03.809 --> 00:29:08.849
And then in response to us being criticized for

00:29:08.849 --> 00:29:11.009
being sophomoric, we decided let's make this

00:29:11.009 --> 00:29:15.359
movie. It had kicked around a little bit. We

00:29:15.359 --> 00:29:17.180
tried a couple of different places. And then

00:29:17.180 --> 00:29:24.000
ultimately, Jay Chandrasekhar had directed the

00:29:24.000 --> 00:29:27.839
remake of the Dukes of Hazzard. And he did that

00:29:27.839 --> 00:29:29.819
for Warner Brothers. And it was a success for

00:29:29.819 --> 00:29:33.500
them. And in response, they said, well, you guys

00:29:33.500 --> 00:29:36.480
can go make Beer Fest. And so we made that on

00:29:36.480 --> 00:29:38.839
a shoestring budget. And that was one of the

00:29:38.839 --> 00:29:41.940
most fun. movies that we ever made you know it's

00:29:41.940 --> 00:29:45.380
uh you know we had those german bad guys and

00:29:45.380 --> 00:29:47.519
we got you know some real kind of bodybuilder

00:29:47.519 --> 00:29:50.240
guys and we got some great comic guys like will

00:29:50.240 --> 00:29:52.380
forte nat fax and eric christian olsen and they

00:29:52.380 --> 00:29:55.220
played the bad guys and we got you know guys

00:29:55.220 --> 00:29:57.980
like donald sutherland in there and you know

00:29:57.980 --> 00:30:00.500
it was just it was just a really fun fun movie

00:30:00.500 --> 00:30:03.119
to make and you know i think that resonated with

00:30:03.119 --> 00:30:05.039
a whole nother group of people You know, it's

00:30:05.039 --> 00:30:07.039
like you meet people and it depends on what their

00:30:07.039 --> 00:30:09.339
age is. But, you know, some people are super

00:30:09.339 --> 00:30:13.539
fans. Some people are beer fest fans. But that

00:30:13.539 --> 00:30:15.799
was a great it was a great experience to make

00:30:15.799 --> 00:30:17.779
that movie. Again, that was a movie that did

00:30:17.779 --> 00:30:20.880
not succeed at the time in the box office, but

00:30:20.880 --> 00:30:24.200
since has had this huge life kind of afterwards

00:30:24.200 --> 00:30:27.680
that people connect with. I wrote a book three

00:30:27.680 --> 00:30:30.299
years ago. And when you release the book, you're

00:30:30.299 --> 00:30:32.880
like, oh, it needs to be a success now. And then

00:30:32.880 --> 00:30:35.779
you have a realization that you made it. It doesn't

00:30:35.779 --> 00:30:38.420
matter when it takes off as long as it's out

00:30:38.420 --> 00:30:40.940
there. And listen to the story about Band of

00:30:40.940 --> 00:30:45.019
Brothers again. They released it in 2001 and

00:30:45.019 --> 00:30:47.740
then 9 -11 happened. So it didn't really have

00:30:47.740 --> 00:30:49.960
that, you know, the all eyes on it at that point.

00:30:50.259 --> 00:30:52.660
And it was actually the 10 year anniversary where

00:30:52.660 --> 00:30:54.859
most of us really learned about Band of Brothers

00:30:54.859 --> 00:30:56.380
and it really took off. And that was 10 years

00:30:56.380 --> 00:30:59.559
later. Yeah. yeah it just takes you know the

00:30:59.559 --> 00:31:01.960
time and the problem is there's so much fervor

00:31:01.960 --> 00:31:05.579
and so much weight placed on the release time

00:31:05.579 --> 00:31:07.940
of things whether it's a tv show or a book or

00:31:07.940 --> 00:31:09.700
a movie or a song or whatever it is and then

00:31:09.700 --> 00:31:11.940
you forget that you're still putting that thing

00:31:11.940 --> 00:31:13.880
out into the world and people are you know people

00:31:13.880 --> 00:31:15.799
are going to discover it and that's been the

00:31:15.799 --> 00:31:18.079
case with every one of our projects every one

00:31:18.079 --> 00:31:20.779
of them and you know super troopers was like

00:31:20.779 --> 00:31:23.799
you know three years after the movie came out

00:31:23.799 --> 00:31:25.799
we're walking down the street in new york city

00:31:26.759 --> 00:31:29.200
and some guy comes running out of a bar and he's

00:31:29.200 --> 00:31:30.759
like, you're the super troopers guys. And we're

00:31:30.759 --> 00:31:33.799
like, uh, yeah, come on, let me buy you some

00:31:33.799 --> 00:31:37.059
beers. You know? And that was, that kind of stuff

00:31:37.059 --> 00:31:38.839
didn't happen until years after super troopers

00:31:38.839 --> 00:31:41.380
came out, you know? And, um, and it's the same

00:31:41.380 --> 00:31:43.319
thing with beer fest, the same thing with, um,

00:31:43.339 --> 00:31:46.259
we just made a movie called quasi, which came

00:31:46.259 --> 00:31:49.279
out on Hulu last year. And we wrote that movie

00:31:49.279 --> 00:31:53.740
20 years ago. And, uh, it just takes a while.

00:31:55.450 --> 00:31:57.609
But ultimately, if it's good or if you have a

00:31:57.609 --> 00:32:00.230
fan base or whatever, they'll discover it. So

00:32:00.230 --> 00:32:02.990
what was your experience going from the regular

00:32:02.990 --> 00:32:05.809
movies to the streaming service? when Eric came

00:32:05.809 --> 00:32:07.710
on, it was literally right before quasi. And

00:32:07.710 --> 00:32:09.650
it was funny. I was literally talking, walking

00:32:09.650 --> 00:32:11.390
with my wife a few days ago and we were laughing

00:32:11.390 --> 00:32:14.509
about the rack scene. However, every scene he

00:32:14.509 --> 00:32:16.230
gets taller and taller and taller. And, you know,

00:32:16.250 --> 00:32:18.329
there's that, that sense that, you know, people

00:32:18.329 --> 00:32:20.769
on the rack before they get ripped apart, they

00:32:20.769 --> 00:32:23.029
probably feel really fucking good. Right. You

00:32:23.029 --> 00:32:26.369
know, they'll decompression before I die. So,

00:32:26.490 --> 00:32:29.349
so what was that experience like? Because some

00:32:29.349 --> 00:32:31.430
people have had on the show, obviously there's,

00:32:31.430 --> 00:32:34.059
there's a. a negative side to the streaming and

00:32:34.059 --> 00:32:35.700
the royalties and that kind of thing but what

00:32:35.700 --> 00:32:37.619
made you guys make the leap to that and what

00:32:37.619 --> 00:32:40.720
has been your experience so far well i i think

00:32:40.720 --> 00:32:44.420
it was a it was really a function it was a result

00:32:44.420 --> 00:32:46.640
of the circumstances you know it's like obviously

00:32:46.640 --> 00:32:50.119
that that was coming down the line you know it's

00:32:50.119 --> 00:32:53.900
like it it's so expensive uh to put movies in

00:32:53.900 --> 00:32:57.609
movie theaters now um and to kind of crack into

00:32:57.609 --> 00:32:59.529
that market. And, and I think that, you know,

00:32:59.529 --> 00:33:01.609
the companies are realizing that it was the pandemic.

00:33:02.369 --> 00:33:04.269
I think that really brought that to fruition,

00:33:04.329 --> 00:33:07.210
you know, where nobody was going to the movies

00:33:07.210 --> 00:33:09.069
and they, you know, they realized that, God,

00:33:09.089 --> 00:33:12.009
we better get these services farther along. And

00:33:12.009 --> 00:33:14.609
you know, that they realized that maybe there

00:33:14.609 --> 00:33:17.369
was more of a life when people sitting on their

00:33:17.369 --> 00:33:20.609
couch, you know, and and I get it, you know,

00:33:20.609 --> 00:33:22.509
maybe, you know, there are certain elements of

00:33:22.509 --> 00:33:25.259
in the film world where it's not, it's. consider

00:33:25.259 --> 00:33:27.859
it's prestigious or it's more of an event to

00:33:27.859 --> 00:33:29.319
go out to the movie theater. And I understand

00:33:29.319 --> 00:33:32.019
that. I mean, from our circumstances was we made

00:33:32.019 --> 00:33:35.160
that quasi deal to be in the movie theaters.

00:33:35.859 --> 00:33:38.599
And then when the pandemic hit, there were no

00:33:38.599 --> 00:33:40.220
movie theaters, you know, they were closing them

00:33:40.220 --> 00:33:41.799
down and they didn't know what the future of

00:33:41.799 --> 00:33:43.359
it was either. You know, they never knew if they

00:33:43.359 --> 00:33:45.700
were going to come back. And so you didn't really

00:33:45.700 --> 00:33:47.460
have a choice at that point, you know, and the

00:33:47.460 --> 00:33:49.240
company said that came to a searchlight and they

00:33:49.240 --> 00:33:51.839
said, you know, look, we have this deal with

00:33:51.839 --> 00:33:54.279
Hulu. there are no movies in movie theaters right

00:33:54.279 --> 00:33:56.700
now. Do you guys want to convert your deal and

00:33:56.700 --> 00:33:58.559
we'll make it a streaming deal and you guys can

00:33:58.559 --> 00:34:00.039
make the movie. And at the time we were kind

00:34:00.039 --> 00:34:02.779
of like, Hey, look, however it works, you know,

00:34:02.779 --> 00:34:04.759
however we can get the scene by people were great

00:34:04.759 --> 00:34:10.059
with it. And so, you know, I think we were, you

00:34:10.059 --> 00:34:11.840
know, we had to make that decision at that point

00:34:11.840 --> 00:34:15.260
in time. And, you know, it's the, it's the Tacoma

00:34:15.260 --> 00:34:17.579
stuff to me that's made me realize that, you

00:34:17.579 --> 00:34:21.079
know, the most important thing for me. We tell

00:34:21.079 --> 00:34:23.159
funny stories. And the most important thing is

00:34:23.159 --> 00:34:26.360
for as many people to laugh at that as you can

00:34:26.360 --> 00:34:29.159
or just spread it. And the streaming has become

00:34:29.159 --> 00:34:31.159
the way to do that. And we're finding that with

00:34:31.159 --> 00:34:34.139
Tacoma is that it's a way to reach more people.

00:34:34.360 --> 00:34:38.260
And we don't make superhero movies and we don't

00:34:38.260 --> 00:34:43.500
make huge blockbuster movies. And so that seems

00:34:43.500 --> 00:34:45.840
to be the way to reach the people these days.

00:34:46.989 --> 00:34:48.889
I'm totally fine with it. You know, however they

00:34:48.889 --> 00:34:50.829
watch it. I love that people are watching Tacoma

00:34:50.829 --> 00:34:53.469
on Netflix right now. I think it's great. And,

00:34:53.469 --> 00:34:56.250
you know, you hear from people and fans, people

00:34:56.250 --> 00:34:59.010
discovering it. So, yeah, I mean, it was a weird

00:34:59.010 --> 00:35:01.889
experience for Quasi because you were used to

00:35:01.889 --> 00:35:07.110
the buildup to opening weekend, right? Everything's

00:35:07.110 --> 00:35:09.230
about opening weekend. And then Monday morning,

00:35:09.510 --> 00:35:13.889
whether it's, you know, a failure or a success,

00:35:14.210 --> 00:35:17.880
the... The balloon, the air is out of the balloon

00:35:17.880 --> 00:35:19.380
on Monday morning. You know what I mean? It's

00:35:19.380 --> 00:35:20.639
like there's two to three days and then you're

00:35:20.639 --> 00:35:23.480
done. The streaming stuff's not like that. You

00:35:23.480 --> 00:35:26.820
know, it's it's, you know, it has a life. And

00:35:26.820 --> 00:35:29.340
I really like that about Tacoma. I liked it about

00:35:29.340 --> 00:35:32.280
Quasi, too. I mean, Quasi had a nice run for

00:35:32.280 --> 00:35:35.800
like three, four months on Hulu. And it did quite

00:35:35.800 --> 00:35:38.880
well, you know. I think that's the better side

00:35:38.880 --> 00:35:43.210
of the streaming thing. But, you know. it's also

00:35:43.210 --> 00:35:46.030
just, just the future, you know, streaming. I

00:35:46.030 --> 00:35:47.829
don't know that it's going to go away, you know,

00:35:47.829 --> 00:35:49.489
and I don't think that theatrical movies are

00:35:49.489 --> 00:35:50.730
going to go away. You just have to figure out

00:35:50.730 --> 00:35:53.989
how to make them cost effective, you know? Yeah,

00:35:54.070 --> 00:35:56.230
absolutely. Yeah. It's funny when you, when you

00:35:56.230 --> 00:35:58.389
publish a book on Amazon, which is what I did,

00:35:58.469 --> 00:36:01.909
I think everyone is the number one bestseller

00:36:01.909 --> 00:36:03.909
for like a day. It doesn't matter what you've

00:36:03.909 --> 00:36:05.789
written and how many people buy it. You're a

00:36:05.789 --> 00:36:07.590
number one seller. And then all of a sudden you're

00:36:07.590 --> 00:36:11.730
actually book number 27 ,000, whatever. And it

00:36:11.730 --> 00:36:13.690
is. But then you just kind of reframe it and

00:36:13.690 --> 00:36:16.170
go, it's out there now. And I think that's what's

00:36:16.170 --> 00:36:18.170
good about streaming is I can watch it today

00:36:18.170 --> 00:36:20.449
or I can watch it a year or five years from now.

00:36:20.869 --> 00:36:24.329
But there's two points in life. You haven't seen

00:36:24.329 --> 00:36:26.349
it and then you've seen it. So does it have to

00:36:26.349 --> 00:36:29.190
be the day it came out or is it 10 years from

00:36:29.190 --> 00:36:32.559
now? As an artist. As long as that person hopefully

00:36:32.559 --> 00:36:35.500
sees your work or reads your book or whatever

00:36:35.500 --> 00:36:39.820
it is, when is kind of irrelevant. Yeah, I mean,

00:36:39.820 --> 00:36:40.980
two years from now, someone's going to read your

00:36:40.980 --> 00:36:43.719
book for the first time. They're going to love

00:36:43.719 --> 00:36:47.639
it. It's not going to matter that it came out

00:36:47.639 --> 00:36:50.719
on April 13th or whatever. Yeah, when it was

00:36:50.719 --> 00:36:53.340
the number one bestseller, by the way. Yeah,

00:36:53.360 --> 00:36:57.599
and I think that's what TV has taught me. Because,

00:36:57.679 --> 00:36:59.719
you know, movies become so precious about building

00:36:59.719 --> 00:37:02.139
to a date and all that kind of business. And

00:37:02.139 --> 00:37:03.679
if you don't build that date, it's like somebody

00:37:03.679 --> 00:37:06.860
died. You know, I remember getting calls, you

00:37:06.860 --> 00:37:08.780
know, Monday morning after like Club Dread came

00:37:08.780 --> 00:37:11.139
out or whatever. And they're like, we're so,

00:37:11.139 --> 00:37:13.599
so sorry. You know, like, what, what? Because

00:37:13.599 --> 00:37:16.000
we made this or whatever. And it's like, oh.

00:37:16.480 --> 00:37:20.260
And it was like, you know, it was like, you know,

00:37:20.260 --> 00:37:22.460
somebody in your family had died. You know, like,

00:37:22.559 --> 00:37:26.489
well, now. They're going to be able to discover

00:37:26.489 --> 00:37:28.489
that thing, you know, and then we'll watch it.

00:37:28.530 --> 00:37:30.670
And, you know, the movie begets movies, you know,

00:37:30.670 --> 00:37:33.150
so people who are Broken Lizard fans watch Tacoma

00:37:33.150 --> 00:37:35.150
and people who are Tacoma fans go back and watch

00:37:35.150 --> 00:37:36.829
the Broken Lizard movies now. And, you know,

00:37:36.869 --> 00:37:40.909
I think it all works out for the best for us.

00:37:40.949 --> 00:37:43.429
I mean, I don't know. Well, you made some very

00:37:43.429 --> 00:37:46.289
unique films. I think we're about the same age,

00:37:46.309 --> 00:37:49.849
roughly. I'm at a point now where I yearn for

00:37:49.849 --> 00:37:52.989
new stories. They've rehashed so many stories.

00:37:53.070 --> 00:37:55.739
They remade. you know, the films from our childhood,

00:37:55.800 --> 00:37:57.519
the karate kids and all these things over and

00:37:57.519 --> 00:38:01.860
over and over again. What is your kind of perspective

00:38:01.860 --> 00:38:04.199
on the audience these days? I can't help but

00:38:04.199 --> 00:38:07.139
feel like people are yearning either for more,

00:38:07.219 --> 00:38:09.360
you know, true stories or, I mean, obviously

00:38:09.360 --> 00:38:12.159
the reflection of real people like Tacoma, you

00:38:12.159 --> 00:38:14.539
know, in the real profession or, you know, brand,

00:38:14.619 --> 00:38:19.679
brand new stories or, you know. more raw stories

00:38:19.679 --> 00:38:21.280
i think that's another thing i think that as

00:38:21.280 --> 00:38:23.480
you said the superhero has just been milked to

00:38:23.480 --> 00:38:26.219
death now marvel and dc have squeezed every single

00:38:26.219 --> 00:38:28.360
penny out of those stories star wars franchise

00:38:28.360 --> 00:38:33.820
so to me a film has to be worthy of someone taking

00:38:33.820 --> 00:38:38.039
their children spending 80 100 you know on sitting

00:38:38.039 --> 00:38:41.400
in a movie theater so um i don't know i don't

00:38:41.400 --> 00:38:42.820
even know there's any question in there but what

00:38:42.820 --> 00:38:44.940
is your perception now on what the audience wants

00:38:44.940 --> 00:38:48.409
in 2023 That's why the world is so, you know,

00:38:48.449 --> 00:38:52.269
the industry is so weird now, you know, because

00:38:52.269 --> 00:38:55.449
it's like you do have to justify and you have

00:38:55.449 --> 00:38:57.949
to justify up your corporate ladder. You know

00:38:57.949 --> 00:38:59.409
why someone's going to go to that movie theater

00:38:59.409 --> 00:39:00.809
or why someone's going to watch your material.

00:39:01.510 --> 00:39:04.489
And, you know, that's why, you know, we're in

00:39:04.489 --> 00:39:06.090
this stage right now. It'll shift, I think, but

00:39:06.090 --> 00:39:07.949
they're in the stage now. It's that there has

00:39:07.949 --> 00:39:10.010
to be. And they told us this when we put, you

00:39:10.010 --> 00:39:11.889
know, Super Troopers 2 out in the movie theaters.

00:39:11.989 --> 00:39:14.949
It was like going to the movie theater has to

00:39:14.949 --> 00:39:17.480
be an event now. It has to be an event. Right.

00:39:17.599 --> 00:39:19.579
It has to be. Hey, it's not just, you know, hey,

00:39:19.659 --> 00:39:21.340
let's go catch this little film. It's like we

00:39:21.340 --> 00:39:23.320
got to go see the new this and we got to go see

00:39:23.320 --> 00:39:25.239
the movie that this person's in. And that's and

00:39:25.239 --> 00:39:28.460
whether that's what America or the viewing public

00:39:28.460 --> 00:39:30.280
wants or whatever it is, that's just the way

00:39:30.280 --> 00:39:32.800
the corporate mentality of it is. Right. So you

00:39:32.800 --> 00:39:36.260
have to overcome that. And sometimes you can,

00:39:36.340 --> 00:39:37.920
sometimes you can't. You know, when we made Quasi.

00:39:38.750 --> 00:39:40.590
Our feeling was, you know, this is a kind of

00:39:40.590 --> 00:39:42.969
a different weird movie for us. You know, it's

00:39:42.969 --> 00:39:44.929
not something that people have seen us in or

00:39:44.929 --> 00:39:48.590
whatever. And we're not going to get anyone to

00:39:48.590 --> 00:39:50.489
bite on putting this, taking a chance to put

00:39:50.489 --> 00:39:53.230
this in the movie theaters. Right. Probably our

00:39:53.230 --> 00:39:56.510
best chance is to get some streamer to put some

00:39:56.510 --> 00:39:59.469
money up on it and do it, you know. And, you

00:39:59.469 --> 00:40:05.829
know, I guess my feeling is that I still go back

00:40:05.829 --> 00:40:09.159
to that thing that I said that I think. I think

00:40:09.159 --> 00:40:12.000
people want to be a part of something. You know,

00:40:12.019 --> 00:40:17.380
I think people want to watch something and connect

00:40:17.380 --> 00:40:21.219
with it and be like, hey, that's like me or that's,

00:40:21.219 --> 00:40:23.659
you know, that character is like, I've been through

00:40:23.659 --> 00:40:26.480
that, you know. To me, I still think that's the

00:40:26.480 --> 00:40:29.440
best driver of entertainment. And I think, you

00:40:29.440 --> 00:40:30.920
know, when we make Tacoma, we keep that in our

00:40:30.920 --> 00:40:34.260
mind where it's like. We pull real life stories

00:40:34.260 --> 00:40:36.199
of, hey, that happened to me. And, you know,

00:40:36.239 --> 00:40:38.760
I hate moisturizer or whatever it is. I like

00:40:38.760 --> 00:40:41.519
mayonnaise. Get in there and people, you know,

00:40:41.519 --> 00:40:44.119
connect with that. I think that's what, you know,

00:40:44.119 --> 00:40:46.099
make people want to watch it. I still believe

00:40:46.099 --> 00:40:48.360
that that's the driver. And so that's kind of

00:40:48.360 --> 00:40:49.920
where we go. But I don't know if the industry

00:40:49.920 --> 00:40:53.000
believes that. And I, you know, yes, it's easier

00:40:53.000 --> 00:40:56.000
to put Aquaman on a poster and, you know, get

00:40:56.000 --> 00:40:58.679
people to come out to watch it than to put, you

00:40:58.679 --> 00:41:01.420
know, when we made Super Troopers. The poster

00:41:01.420 --> 00:41:03.860
for Super Troopers, they put us upside down on

00:41:03.860 --> 00:41:07.360
the poster because nobody knew who we were. And

00:41:07.360 --> 00:41:09.179
they didn't want you to think that they were

00:41:09.179 --> 00:41:11.139
nobodies in a movie. So they put us upside down

00:41:11.139 --> 00:41:13.019
so you couldn't recognize who was on the poster.

00:41:13.760 --> 00:41:16.440
And I think that still exists kind of today.

00:41:16.619 --> 00:41:23.380
But I don't know. It's cyclical, I think. It'll

00:41:23.380 --> 00:41:25.829
come back. to people are liking this kind of

00:41:25.829 --> 00:41:27.590
a movie and then you know there'll be another

00:41:27.590 --> 00:41:29.409
surge of superhero movies and then there'll be

00:41:29.409 --> 00:41:31.369
another surge of whatever and you know zombie

00:41:31.369 --> 00:41:35.449
movies or whatever it is um but at its heart

00:41:35.449 --> 00:41:37.170
you know i just kind of stick with the fact that

00:41:37.170 --> 00:41:39.690
i think i think people want to connect personally

00:41:39.690 --> 00:41:42.449
with things so however that happens you know

00:41:42.449 --> 00:41:46.230
absolutely we do it through 100 yeah which is

00:41:46.230 --> 00:41:48.110
how you connect in the fire service too you know

00:41:48.110 --> 00:41:49.829
i mean we see horrible stuff and laughter is

00:41:49.829 --> 00:41:52.489
the way that we connect and decompress absolutely

00:41:52.989 --> 00:41:54.750
Absolutely. And, you know, we've talked to a

00:41:54.750 --> 00:41:56.750
lot of guys about that. And they're like, hey,

00:41:56.789 --> 00:41:58.409
you should do a story about this. We can't do

00:41:58.409 --> 00:42:01.010
a story about that in this show. It's a little

00:42:01.010 --> 00:42:05.449
dark. You know, whatever. But, you know, we can

00:42:05.449 --> 00:42:07.170
take this and make a spin on it and have fun

00:42:07.170 --> 00:42:09.309
with it. Well, speaking of that, then, so you

00:42:09.309 --> 00:42:12.230
mentioned Cousin Bill. Walk me through, you know,

00:42:12.250 --> 00:42:14.329
your experience with him when you were young

00:42:14.329 --> 00:42:16.789
and your perception of the fire service, however

00:42:16.789 --> 00:42:19.829
that was, and then how that factored into the

00:42:19.829 --> 00:42:23.340
creation of Tacoma FD. Yeah, I mean, you know,

00:42:23.340 --> 00:42:25.460
in my hometown, it was always kind of like a

00:42:25.460 --> 00:42:28.340
family business, you know. And my cousin was

00:42:28.340 --> 00:42:30.760
there and there were always like families, you

00:42:30.760 --> 00:42:32.780
know, that had people in the fire. And it was

00:42:32.780 --> 00:42:35.179
fathers and brothers and cousins. And they were

00:42:35.179 --> 00:42:37.739
on the local fire department. And if your, you

00:42:37.739 --> 00:42:40.139
know, kid had something stuck in their throat,

00:42:40.219 --> 00:42:41.840
you'd walk them down to the fire department in

00:42:41.840 --> 00:42:43.320
the corner and they'd get the thing out of his

00:42:43.320 --> 00:42:44.639
throat or whatever it was. You know, it was a

00:42:44.639 --> 00:42:47.800
very kind of like community oriented, you know.

00:42:49.710 --> 00:42:51.849
And that was something that we always loved.

00:42:52.269 --> 00:42:54.309
And as we were trying to make the show, it goes

00:42:54.309 --> 00:42:55.429
back to kind of what I was saying about what

00:42:55.429 --> 00:42:57.789
you connect with is that we pitched this show

00:42:57.789 --> 00:43:00.750
as a family show because a firehouse is a family.

00:43:00.789 --> 00:43:02.829
You're there 24 hours a day with the guys on

00:43:02.829 --> 00:43:05.130
your shift. You sleep with them. You eat with

00:43:05.130 --> 00:43:08.130
them. And then at the same time, there are families

00:43:08.130 --> 00:43:09.969
within where there's cousins and brothers and

00:43:09.969 --> 00:43:12.369
fathers and daughters and whatever in the service

00:43:12.369 --> 00:43:17.489
together. And that was a big. attraction to the

00:43:17.489 --> 00:43:19.809
idea for us, because that's, I think that, again,

00:43:19.889 --> 00:43:21.309
like I said, that's how people connect with it,

00:43:21.389 --> 00:43:24.550
you know? And so, you know, we, we were batting

00:43:24.550 --> 00:43:27.889
around these ideas, Lemmy and I, and you know,

00:43:27.929 --> 00:43:30.369
my cousin Bill always been a fan of our stuff.

00:43:31.250 --> 00:43:33.130
And he would always say to us, Hey, you think

00:43:33.130 --> 00:43:35.869
cops are funny. Come talk to me when you want

00:43:35.869 --> 00:43:37.909
to do a firefighter thing, because firefighters

00:43:37.909 --> 00:43:44.010
are way more funny than cops. Okay. And so, you

00:43:44.010 --> 00:43:45.849
know, Lemmy and I were kicking around this idea.

00:43:46.569 --> 00:43:48.550
And part of it was self -serving in the sense

00:43:48.550 --> 00:43:52.690
that, you know, we wanted to, we'd spent many

00:43:52.690 --> 00:43:54.570
years, you know, writing different TV shows and

00:43:54.570 --> 00:43:55.789
trying to get TV shows in the air. And it's a

00:43:55.789 --> 00:43:57.550
tough nut to crack. And we've tried to do it

00:43:57.550 --> 00:44:01.349
for a long time. And we've constantly come up

00:44:01.349 --> 00:44:03.309
with ideas about, you know, what we can capitalize

00:44:03.309 --> 00:44:05.409
and what people like of us and whatever. And

00:44:05.409 --> 00:44:07.090
it's like, hey, people like our mustaches and

00:44:07.090 --> 00:44:09.989
people like us being in uniforms. And let's talk

00:44:09.989 --> 00:44:13.449
about a firefighter show. And we were actually,

00:44:13.530 --> 00:44:17.289
we were in Tacoma. at the comedy club doing a

00:44:17.289 --> 00:44:19.530
comedy show one weekend, just Lemmy and I, and

00:44:19.530 --> 00:44:23.449
it was raining out and whatever. And we're like,

00:44:23.510 --> 00:44:26.030
you know, we pretty funny firefighter show premise

00:44:26.030 --> 00:44:29.369
is that you put the show in the rainiest city

00:44:29.369 --> 00:44:32.309
in the country. And then you can create the idea

00:44:32.309 --> 00:44:34.050
that like super troopers where there's not a

00:44:34.050 --> 00:44:36.369
lot of traffic, so you can have some fun. There's

00:44:36.369 --> 00:44:38.010
not a lot of fires in the rainiest city, so you

00:44:38.010 --> 00:44:40.710
can probably have a lot of fun. And so we were

00:44:40.710 --> 00:44:42.650
kind of batting that idea around and we went

00:44:42.650 --> 00:44:45.000
to cousin Bill. And we were like, hey, we're

00:44:45.000 --> 00:44:46.239
thinking about it. He goes, that's a great idea.

00:44:46.539 --> 00:44:49.539
You know, I got, you know, these stories. And

00:44:49.539 --> 00:44:52.239
we just started kind of talking to him and kind

00:44:52.239 --> 00:44:54.639
of building the world out a little bit and trying

00:44:54.639 --> 00:44:57.699
to make this family feel, you know, of the show

00:44:57.699 --> 00:44:59.739
and guys who like to have fun. And, you know,

00:44:59.780 --> 00:45:06.599
it was funny because it was an inauspicious beginning

00:45:06.599 --> 00:45:11.019
with the real Tacoma Fire Department. You know,

00:45:11.039 --> 00:45:14.250
we had announced at the show. we were going to

00:45:14.250 --> 00:45:18.010
make the show and we were, we were in Seattle

00:45:18.010 --> 00:45:20.570
and we were doing, Lemmy and I were doing comedy

00:45:20.570 --> 00:45:25.670
shows in Seattle. And the owner of the club came

00:45:25.670 --> 00:45:30.909
back. The owner of the club came to the backstage

00:45:30.909 --> 00:45:34.929
and he said, Hey, there are a bunch of Tacoma

00:45:34.929 --> 00:45:37.269
firefighters out there and they want to talk

00:45:37.269 --> 00:45:43.199
to you. And we're like, Oh shit. And so after

00:45:43.199 --> 00:45:45.559
the show, we went out and we met with these guys.

00:45:45.579 --> 00:45:47.000
There's like, you know, seven or eight guys.

00:45:47.659 --> 00:45:50.679
And and they're like, hey, we heard you. We hear

00:45:50.679 --> 00:45:52.179
you want to make a show about the Tacoma Fire

00:45:52.179 --> 00:45:53.940
Department. And we're like, yeah, yeah, yeah,

00:45:54.019 --> 00:45:56.000
yeah. We we're going to make that show. Like

00:45:56.000 --> 00:45:58.719
and what the joke is that it's always rainy.

00:45:58.760 --> 00:46:02.840
So we don't work. We were like, no, no, no. I

00:46:02.840 --> 00:46:05.159
was like, listen, we work very hard, as hard

00:46:05.159 --> 00:46:07.760
as any fire department. Like we I know we know.

00:46:08.280 --> 00:46:12.170
And. And so we talked to them. We said, we're

00:46:12.170 --> 00:46:14.349
not going to make you look bad. We're going to

00:46:14.349 --> 00:46:16.650
make you look good. And look at super troopers.

00:46:16.690 --> 00:46:19.309
That's what we're going for. And finally at the

00:46:19.309 --> 00:46:22.050
end, one guy said, okay, all right, fine. And

00:46:22.050 --> 00:46:23.409
then the guy reached into his pocket and he pulled

00:46:23.409 --> 00:46:26.150
out a business card. And he said, if you need

00:46:26.150 --> 00:46:28.150
a technical consultant, I'm willing to help you

00:46:28.150 --> 00:46:33.849
out. Thank you very much. And we ultimately.

00:46:34.780 --> 00:46:36.460
You know, ended up making, you know, obviously

00:46:36.460 --> 00:46:38.659
making the show and ended up having a very good

00:46:38.659 --> 00:46:41.679
relationship with those guys. But, you know,

00:46:41.679 --> 00:46:43.679
in the beginning, I think, you know, the firefighters

00:46:43.679 --> 00:46:46.199
were a little nervous that we were going to make

00:46:46.199 --> 00:46:48.500
them bumbling idiots, you know, and that was

00:46:48.500 --> 00:46:50.139
never our intention. It was always like, hey,

00:46:50.199 --> 00:46:53.699
let's make a world, you know, very similar to

00:46:53.699 --> 00:46:55.460
Super Troopers where you want to hang out with

00:46:55.460 --> 00:46:58.099
those guys. They're good at their jobs, but when

00:46:58.099 --> 00:47:01.679
they have downtime, as firefighters have, you

00:47:01.679 --> 00:47:03.849
know. They're having fun and having a good time

00:47:03.849 --> 00:47:07.530
and giving each other shit. So Cousin Bill was

00:47:07.530 --> 00:47:09.690
also a fire historian. Have I got that right?

00:47:10.730 --> 00:47:13.710
Yeah, he was kind of like the local fire historian.

00:47:13.750 --> 00:47:15.869
He retired last year, and so he's kind of taken

00:47:15.869 --> 00:47:18.670
that on. That's one of his jobs he's taking on

00:47:18.670 --> 00:47:22.809
now, where he's kind of the official historian

00:47:22.809 --> 00:47:26.650
of the local fire department. He's got all kinds

00:47:26.650 --> 00:47:30.940
of great stuff. He's the kind of guy who... He

00:47:30.940 --> 00:47:33.300
amasses funny stories in his head, you know,

00:47:33.300 --> 00:47:34.780
firefighter stories, which is what makes him

00:47:34.780 --> 00:47:38.480
a wealth of information for us. And he also is

00:47:38.480 --> 00:47:41.679
a guy who was very much a stickler for, you know,

00:47:41.679 --> 00:47:46.900
authenticity. You know, like he was always kind

00:47:46.900 --> 00:47:49.119
of like, if I'm going to be on the show, my name's

00:47:49.119 --> 00:47:52.099
on the show as a technical consultant. This stuff's

00:47:52.099 --> 00:47:53.360
going to, you know, the guys who are sitting

00:47:53.360 --> 00:47:54.940
in the fire department on Thursday night watching

00:47:54.940 --> 00:47:56.679
this thing together are not going to call bullshit

00:47:56.679 --> 00:47:58.690
on us. You know, we're going to make it. And

00:47:58.690 --> 00:48:01.269
whatever, you have to do that sometimes. You

00:48:01.269 --> 00:48:04.030
have to shade things sometimes. But for the most

00:48:04.030 --> 00:48:06.230
part, he was very aggressive about making sure

00:48:06.230 --> 00:48:10.710
that we wore our equipment properly and we had

00:48:10.710 --> 00:48:15.130
the proper equipment. And he'd make fun of us,

00:48:15.170 --> 00:48:18.050
but we'd figure out how to get the SEBAs on.

00:48:20.510 --> 00:48:22.610
So what did your technical training look like?

00:48:22.650 --> 00:48:24.429
And did you use that guy who gave you the business

00:48:24.429 --> 00:48:26.670
card in the end? No, we didn't use that guy.

00:48:27.359 --> 00:48:29.420
We became friends with a lot of those guys, and

00:48:29.420 --> 00:48:35.079
I think they were very happy. We actually had

00:48:35.079 --> 00:48:37.559
a couple episodes where they came down, a bunch

00:48:37.559 --> 00:48:39.139
of the guys from the Real Tacoma Firemen came

00:48:39.139 --> 00:48:41.380
down. We had like a firefighter ball episode,

00:48:41.500 --> 00:48:43.920
and they were at the ball, and they were extras,

00:48:44.059 --> 00:48:46.320
and we hung out with them for a few days there,

00:48:46.400 --> 00:48:50.380
and that was fun. Earlier in the seasons, we

00:48:50.380 --> 00:48:53.340
would do some promotional stuff up there. got

00:48:53.340 --> 00:48:55.380
a great they would send us stuff to put on the

00:48:55.380 --> 00:48:57.239
walls and things like that like real to call

00:48:57.239 --> 00:48:59.960
here's a an axe and here's a whatever you know

00:48:59.960 --> 00:49:02.480
and so we would we would do that so our relationship

00:49:02.480 --> 00:49:04.519
ended up being you know really really great with

00:49:04.519 --> 00:49:09.039
them um but the you know the the technical consultant

00:49:09.039 --> 00:49:10.880
stuff that we do with bill you know bill ended

00:49:10.880 --> 00:49:12.460
up being a guy who was always on the set with

00:49:12.460 --> 00:49:17.360
us and um you know our show partly because it

00:49:17.360 --> 00:49:18.739
was low budget and partly because that was the

00:49:18.739 --> 00:49:21.369
premise it was like we don't really fight fires.

00:49:21.530 --> 00:49:23.789
You know, we don't, we do like one fire a season

00:49:23.789 --> 00:49:26.469
because that's all we can afford really. And

00:49:26.469 --> 00:49:28.969
so it's more about hanging out in the station,

00:49:29.050 --> 00:49:32.090
you know? So when we did have those big, you

00:49:32.090 --> 00:49:36.110
know, shoots where we'd gear up and, and, and

00:49:36.110 --> 00:49:38.550
you know, we'd fight a fire or whatever it was,

00:49:38.550 --> 00:49:40.190
you know, Bill was very admirable being there.

00:49:40.250 --> 00:49:41.769
Here's how you do it. Here's how you enter the

00:49:41.769 --> 00:49:44.090
building. You know, here's how you do this. And

00:49:44.090 --> 00:49:47.210
you know, we would spend a lot of time on that,

00:49:47.250 --> 00:49:49.730
but a lot of it was just like, You know, for

00:49:49.730 --> 00:49:52.829
Bill, it'd be like, hey, you know, we're on the

00:49:52.829 --> 00:49:55.590
apparatus floor. You know, what's on the wall?

00:49:56.010 --> 00:49:59.429
You know, or, you know, we're driving the engine.

00:49:59.809 --> 00:50:02.969
What's inside the engine? Or, you know, it was

00:50:02.969 --> 00:50:05.349
kind of like, you know, how is the hose packed?

00:50:05.650 --> 00:50:09.349
And, you know, a lot of stuff like that. And

00:50:09.349 --> 00:50:11.909
then it was terminology, you know, like he would

00:50:11.909 --> 00:50:13.989
get very angry with us when we would say garage.

00:50:14.269 --> 00:50:16.349
You know, it had to be the app floor or the apparatus

00:50:16.349 --> 00:50:21.210
floor. He'd get angry at us when we would call

00:50:21.210 --> 00:50:23.289
superiors by their first names, you know, as

00:50:23.289 --> 00:50:25.210
opposed to captain and chief and whatever. And

00:50:25.210 --> 00:50:28.130
so that was always kind of a fun, you know, and

00:50:28.130 --> 00:50:32.070
he was, you know, not afraid to jump in and say

00:50:32.070 --> 00:50:33.969
that, you know, and he'd get in a fight with

00:50:33.969 --> 00:50:35.710
the prop guy. And it's like, that's not the proper

00:50:35.710 --> 00:50:37.449
ladder that you would have in this situation,

00:50:37.610 --> 00:50:40.150
you know, that kind of stuff. And we always got

00:50:40.150 --> 00:50:42.369
like a lot of enjoyment out of that. But at the

00:50:42.369 --> 00:50:43.750
same time, you know, we meet a lot of firefighters

00:50:43.750 --> 00:50:46.070
now and say, hey, you know what? You know, I

00:50:46.070 --> 00:50:48.320
think that is. you know, a very authentic feeling

00:50:48.320 --> 00:50:50.880
show to us. And, um, and I think it's a credit

00:50:50.880 --> 00:50:53.119
to cousin bill, uh, for all the years that he

00:50:53.119 --> 00:50:55.300
spent in the, in the department and helping us

00:50:55.300 --> 00:50:58.900
create that sense. You know, it is really jarring

00:50:58.900 --> 00:51:00.659
when you work and I can't imagine being a cop,

00:51:00.760 --> 00:51:03.079
how many times people get it wrong or the FBI

00:51:03.079 --> 00:51:05.760
or something like that. But I worked on, um,

00:51:05.800 --> 00:51:07.679
the world trade center film with Nicholas cage

00:51:07.679 --> 00:51:10.739
and, um, God, I forget who directed it now. Um,

00:51:10.900 --> 00:51:13.519
Oliver stone, but I was just simply a glorified

00:51:13.519 --> 00:51:16.690
extra. It's all I was, but. I'd been in acting.

00:51:16.909 --> 00:51:19.030
I became a stuntman in the end, but we got this

00:51:19.030 --> 00:51:21.670
gig and I got a whole bunch of my Anaheim firefighters

00:51:21.670 --> 00:51:24.690
onto the film. But it was the other side. We

00:51:24.690 --> 00:51:29.349
had FDNY gear down to the point, but... When

00:51:29.349 --> 00:51:31.269
it was the final cut, we were just like shadows

00:51:31.269 --> 00:51:33.889
in the background. So the attention to detail

00:51:33.889 --> 00:51:36.070
on that point was obviously wasted on a lot of

00:51:36.070 --> 00:51:39.409
these shots. But when you see your average firefighters

00:51:39.409 --> 00:51:42.750
in the scene, oh, my God, it's just awful because

00:51:42.750 --> 00:51:45.150
they've got everything is wrong. Everything is

00:51:45.150 --> 00:51:48.789
wrong. I hate to call this film out because one

00:51:48.789 --> 00:51:51.269
of the guys from the film is on the show, but

00:51:51.269 --> 00:51:53.050
there's a film, Paramedic, came out recently.

00:51:53.530 --> 00:51:55.949
And this woman is doing compressions on a guy

00:51:55.949 --> 00:51:59.300
with a Kevlar vest still on. You know, and it's

00:51:59.300 --> 00:52:01.380
like, did you not ask anyone? Didn't you even

00:52:01.380 --> 00:52:04.780
just watch a CPR video? American Heart Association

00:52:04.780 --> 00:52:07.980
was something. But yeah, so even though it's,

00:52:07.980 --> 00:52:10.199
you know, it's a comedy show, by making sure

00:52:10.199 --> 00:52:12.219
all those things are right, it keeps us, which

00:52:12.219 --> 00:52:13.860
is I'm sure is a lot of firefighters watch the

00:52:13.860 --> 00:52:16.059
show. It keeps us engaged with the jokes rather

00:52:16.059 --> 00:52:19.579
than what the fuck is that on his back? Yeah,

00:52:19.659 --> 00:52:22.780
no, you know, we had a bunch of that kind of

00:52:22.780 --> 00:52:24.800
stuff. And who's the guy that does like the green

00:52:24.800 --> 00:52:30.659
screen? Who does the green screen gags where

00:52:30.659 --> 00:52:33.619
they take the scenes from Fire Department Chronicles?

00:52:33.940 --> 00:52:38.480
Jason. Yeah. We use his coffee. We have his coffee

00:52:38.480 --> 00:52:43.099
as a thing. But Jason Patton. Yeah. So but Bill

00:52:43.099 --> 00:52:44.820
was always cousin Bill was always like, I don't

00:52:44.820 --> 00:52:47.139
want to be in that green screen thing. OK, so

00:52:47.139 --> 00:52:49.019
we're going to make sure. And then we would start

00:52:49.019 --> 00:52:50.719
making jokes about it because, you know, there

00:52:50.719 --> 00:52:52.579
would be there was one firefighter show where

00:52:52.579 --> 00:52:55.780
I can't remember what it was, but like, you know,

00:52:55.780 --> 00:53:00.380
a guy gets hit by a meteor. And they're trying

00:53:00.380 --> 00:53:03.320
to revive him. And, you know, the joke, you get

00:53:03.320 --> 00:53:06.079
hit by a meteor, you're dead. You know, the thing's

00:53:06.079 --> 00:53:07.679
going to go through you or whatever it is, you

00:53:07.679 --> 00:53:15.559
know. And so, you know, we opened our last season

00:53:15.559 --> 00:53:19.039
scene with a guy getting hit by a meteor, but

00:53:19.039 --> 00:53:20.980
you find out it's a fake. you know, a fake TV

00:53:20.980 --> 00:53:23.699
show, a firefighter TV show. But we, we started

00:53:23.699 --> 00:53:26.179
to joke about what, you know, the firefighter

00:53:26.179 --> 00:53:29.699
shows would do and, and, and then try to kind

00:53:29.699 --> 00:53:31.199
of capture that in the thing. But, you know,

00:53:31.199 --> 00:53:34.099
luckily we don't, like I said, we don't have

00:53:34.099 --> 00:53:37.000
to get super technical cause we don't do a lot

00:53:37.000 --> 00:53:39.179
of, you know. calls and fires and that kind of

00:53:39.179 --> 00:53:41.639
stuff you know it's just you know what what feels

00:53:41.639 --> 00:53:43.920
authentic around the station you know the way

00:53:43.920 --> 00:53:46.460
we talk to each other and the and you know uh

00:53:46.460 --> 00:53:49.079
what you know populates our world kind of a thing

00:53:49.079 --> 00:53:52.420
you know and um but but the firefighters i talk

00:53:52.420 --> 00:53:56.119
to they're like that is you know they they love

00:53:56.119 --> 00:53:57.920
it because that is how they feel their station

00:53:57.920 --> 00:53:59.460
is you know what i mean they're like you know

00:53:59.460 --> 00:54:01.800
whatever it's a heightened sense of comic you

00:54:01.800 --> 00:54:03.340
know whatever and you know there are some episodes

00:54:03.340 --> 00:54:05.480
of ours that are just get you know very silly

00:54:06.609 --> 00:54:08.849
But but for the most part, it's that sitting

00:54:08.849 --> 00:54:10.969
around, you know, having your coffee and bragging

00:54:10.969 --> 00:54:12.630
on another guy, you know, which is what a lot

00:54:12.630 --> 00:54:14.610
of it is, you know. Absolutely. Well, it shows,

00:54:14.670 --> 00:54:17.469
you know, the probie jokes. The calendar episode

00:54:17.469 --> 00:54:20.070
was brilliant. The testicle popping episode was

00:54:20.070 --> 00:54:23.670
hilarious. So, yeah, but it is all the things

00:54:23.670 --> 00:54:26.210
that we do. And again, the real dark side of

00:54:26.210 --> 00:54:28.230
what we do. And there's there's a huge amount

00:54:28.230 --> 00:54:31.500
of that. firehouse yeah you know dark humor um

00:54:31.500 --> 00:54:34.880
so gallows humor yeah that is how we offload

00:54:34.880 --> 00:54:37.360
and i think that's why films like yours are so

00:54:37.360 --> 00:54:39.400
popular in the fire service is just because it

00:54:39.400 --> 00:54:42.320
allows us to just you know laugh and not think

00:54:42.320 --> 00:54:44.059
about anything because if you look at the psychology

00:54:44.059 --> 00:54:46.780
of laughter it down regulates the nervous system

00:54:46.780 --> 00:54:49.360
that's why we laugh even if it's a dark joke

00:54:49.360 --> 00:54:53.000
yeah and it's it's funny because we you know

00:54:53.000 --> 00:54:55.000
we would try to every once in a while you know

00:54:55.000 --> 00:54:56.519
like like bill or somebody will come up with

00:54:56.519 --> 00:54:58.420
an idea where we were like, it's a little dark,

00:54:58.440 --> 00:55:00.980
you know, like, but you try to find what the

00:55:00.980 --> 00:55:03.320
funny part of is, or at least what the, you know,

00:55:03.320 --> 00:55:05.400
the important part of it, you know, like we did

00:55:05.400 --> 00:55:08.840
an episode on kind of the PS, the PTSD kind of

00:55:08.840 --> 00:55:12.960
thing where, you know, you know you know, bill

00:55:12.960 --> 00:55:14.980
would always talk about how, when he started

00:55:14.980 --> 00:55:16.780
on the fire department, it was like, suck it

00:55:16.780 --> 00:55:19.820
up. You know, you're a pussy. Don't, you know,

00:55:19.820 --> 00:55:22.769
whatever. And then. realizing that you that the

00:55:22.769 --> 00:55:24.530
firefighters see so much shit that you have to

00:55:24.530 --> 00:55:27.329
release you know and that um you know talking

00:55:27.329 --> 00:55:29.570
to people or whether it's you know therapy sessions

00:55:29.570 --> 00:55:32.110
or whatever it is becomes an important part in

00:55:32.110 --> 00:55:34.070
keeping you know mental health for the firefighters

00:55:34.070 --> 00:55:37.840
and he said that's As I became higher up the

00:55:37.840 --> 00:55:40.539
ranks, that became a very important part of our

00:55:40.539 --> 00:55:43.400
lives and dealing with that issue. And we were

00:55:43.400 --> 00:55:45.079
like, well, it's hard for us to deal with that

00:55:45.079 --> 00:55:46.739
issue because then you have to deal with what

00:55:46.739 --> 00:55:49.980
inspires that issue. And then you don't want

00:55:49.980 --> 00:55:51.099
to get into a situation where you're making fun

00:55:51.099 --> 00:55:55.000
of it. And so the trick is, hey, how do you do

00:55:55.000 --> 00:56:00.119
the group therapy session episode without, well.

00:56:00.650 --> 00:56:04.170
delivering a positive message um and not getting

00:56:04.170 --> 00:56:06.769
too dark you know and because because firefighters

00:56:06.769 --> 00:56:11.110
see so much dark stuff you know and and um the

00:56:11.110 --> 00:56:13.010
other kind of great thing about this is as the

00:56:13.010 --> 00:56:16.110
show has become more successful or more people

00:56:16.110 --> 00:56:19.570
see it firefighters reach out to us with stories

00:56:19.570 --> 00:56:23.239
you know and um you know some of them are like

00:56:23.239 --> 00:56:25.019
well we found this dead guy behind a dumpster

00:56:25.019 --> 00:56:26.500
and you're like well we can't do that we can't

00:56:26.500 --> 00:56:28.719
do that i'm still waiting to find the the joke

00:56:28.719 --> 00:56:31.860
where's the joke to us it's hilarious it's traveled

00:56:31.860 --> 00:56:34.820
around his ankles yeah and so you know there

00:56:34.820 --> 00:56:36.860
are all those things and you're like um and he

00:56:36.860 --> 00:56:39.000
you know this we found this guy he was covered

00:56:39.000 --> 00:56:40.780
in and we had to do this and you're like okay

00:56:40.780 --> 00:56:43.559
we can't necessarily do that you know and the

00:56:43.559 --> 00:56:45.659
funny thing is trying to figure out how to do

00:56:45.659 --> 00:56:48.329
something like that but not you know So, you

00:56:48.329 --> 00:56:50.989
know, there's so many dark things that firefighters

00:56:50.989 --> 00:56:54.889
see. We just can't really tackle that world because

00:56:54.889 --> 00:56:56.730
we're trying to keep it light and fun for people.

00:56:57.250 --> 00:56:59.329
Well, speaking of that, just as a tangent for

00:56:59.329 --> 00:57:04.369
a moment, it's been bizarre the last few years

00:57:04.369 --> 00:57:07.610
seeing the politically correct element start

00:57:07.610 --> 00:57:10.050
to put into the point where it almost squashes

00:57:10.050 --> 00:57:12.880
out. everything it's like the person who develops

00:57:12.880 --> 00:57:14.960
allergies and all they can end up drinking is

00:57:14.960 --> 00:57:17.099
water you know what i mean it's like that so

00:57:17.099 --> 00:57:19.900
in the world of comedy obviously that the parameters

00:57:19.900 --> 00:57:22.099
are exactly where you're exploring you know the

00:57:22.099 --> 00:57:24.380
south parks and daniel tosh and some of these

00:57:24.380 --> 00:57:26.840
you know which i think south park is hilarious

00:57:26.840 --> 00:57:28.860
because the fact that they haven't been cancelled

00:57:28.860 --> 00:57:32.300
when they are you know literally putting pushing

00:57:32.300 --> 00:57:34.179
the balls from all areas i think maybe that's

00:57:34.179 --> 00:57:37.760
the key they push all the walls Yeah, amazing.

00:57:38.099 --> 00:57:41.179
But so what about that? I mean, between the shows

00:57:41.179 --> 00:57:45.139
and the films and also your live comedy, has

00:57:45.139 --> 00:57:48.219
there been a resistance? Have you found the environment

00:57:48.219 --> 00:57:50.480
changing or have you just stayed doing what you've

00:57:50.480 --> 00:57:53.659
done and it just keeps working? Yeah, I think

00:57:53.659 --> 00:57:56.760
mostly we stay where we are. I get it. I get

00:57:56.760 --> 00:58:01.500
it that people maybe feel that the room is shrinking

00:58:01.500 --> 00:58:04.519
a little bit or whatever. I don't know. I've

00:58:04.519 --> 00:58:07.679
always. And the guys that we work with here in

00:58:07.679 --> 00:58:11.920
Tacoma, it's always interesting to find how to

00:58:11.920 --> 00:58:13.780
get around those problems. I always find that

00:58:13.780 --> 00:58:15.519
to be the fun challenge. You know, it's like,

00:58:15.559 --> 00:58:20.079
I think, you know, there's definitely this feeling

00:58:20.079 --> 00:58:24.099
that, you know, that maybe people maybe are oversensitive

00:58:24.099 --> 00:58:26.019
or whatever. But I feel like we've been able

00:58:26.019 --> 00:58:27.920
to navigate that and still find all the funny

00:58:27.920 --> 00:58:30.639
things. I think there's still plenty of funny

00:58:30.639 --> 00:58:32.440
out there. And I think there's still plenty of

00:58:32.440 --> 00:58:36.730
things that you can do. And so, you know, I know

00:58:36.730 --> 00:58:39.210
there are a lot of writers and comics and whatever

00:58:39.210 --> 00:58:41.449
kind of wring their hands about, you know, you

00:58:41.449 --> 00:58:43.409
know, I'm being kind of restrained from doing

00:58:43.409 --> 00:58:45.570
what I want to do. And I guess I just never felt

00:58:45.570 --> 00:58:49.670
that necessarily. And, you know, maybe it is.

00:58:52.070 --> 00:58:54.630
Another thing I think about it is that if you

00:58:54.630 --> 00:58:57.130
are generally a good natured person, you can

00:58:57.130 --> 00:58:59.610
get away with more. You know what I mean? Like

00:58:59.610 --> 00:59:03.449
if you are a firebrand or and you are. known

00:59:03.449 --> 00:59:05.570
for, you know, throwing those bombs and whatever,

00:59:05.750 --> 00:59:07.750
people are going to focus on you. And when you

00:59:07.750 --> 00:59:10.789
do it, they're going to attack you. But like

00:59:10.789 --> 00:59:13.670
I said, our angle has always been, hey, we're

00:59:13.670 --> 00:59:16.550
nice guys and we're good guys. And if every once

00:59:16.550 --> 00:59:18.670
in a while you throw something out there that

00:59:18.670 --> 00:59:23.309
maybe is questionable in, you know, whether,

00:59:23.429 --> 00:59:26.369
you know, whatever it is, I think people give

00:59:26.369 --> 00:59:29.349
you some leeway or at least that's what I found

00:59:29.349 --> 00:59:32.059
for us. You know, I mean. there are definitely

00:59:32.059 --> 00:59:36.019
some jokes that we have made, you know, in standup

00:59:36.019 --> 00:59:37.800
or whatever, like, Oh boy, there's the, there's,

00:59:37.820 --> 00:59:40.019
we're getting canceled. You know, it doesn't

00:59:40.019 --> 00:59:43.400
happen. And I think part of it is because, you

00:59:43.400 --> 00:59:45.139
know, we're not mean spirited guys, you know?

00:59:45.139 --> 00:59:47.039
So maybe that's, maybe that's a good thing. I

00:59:47.039 --> 00:59:50.000
don't know. Maybe that's a lesson. Absolutely.

00:59:51.139 --> 00:59:54.039
I did the, the film, like I said, I did a TV

00:59:54.039 --> 00:59:57.159
show as well. Two TV shows on the history channel,

00:59:57.260 --> 00:59:59.059
portraying a pirate that looked like Brian May

00:59:59.059 --> 01:00:04.280
from queen. And it was such a bizarre experience

01:00:04.280 --> 01:00:09.940
because, you know, it's so steep. Yeah. And terrible.

01:00:10.059 --> 01:00:12.260
And add to the fact that I'm the world's worst

01:00:12.260 --> 01:00:14.039
actor as well, which is why I got in the stunts.

01:00:14.960 --> 01:00:17.280
But then you do the live show. That's what I

01:00:17.280 --> 01:00:19.420
did most of the stunts with was live shows in

01:00:19.420 --> 01:00:21.840
Orlando and L .A., you know, Buena Park and all

01:00:21.840 --> 01:00:24.500
these areas. We had a bunch of guys that we knew

01:00:24.500 --> 01:00:27.000
who did that stuff. Yeah, I mean, it's a great

01:00:27.000 --> 01:00:30.619
on -ramp for a lot of things. But there was no

01:00:30.619 --> 01:00:33.539
comparison. When you do a live stunt show, a

01:00:33.539 --> 01:00:35.920
pirate show, you know, a show in Universal, whatever

01:00:35.920 --> 01:00:38.559
it is, you immediately get that audience reaction.

01:00:39.039 --> 01:00:41.019
But then when you're on a set, you know, especially

01:00:41.019 --> 01:00:44.300
a huge production, you know, you... do it and

01:00:44.300 --> 01:00:45.960
then it takes an hour to reset and you do it

01:00:45.960 --> 01:00:48.619
again and there's no real feedback and i've heard

01:00:48.619 --> 01:00:51.380
a lot of people you know high level actors say

01:00:51.380 --> 01:00:53.139
they have no idea how the film's going to turn

01:00:53.139 --> 01:00:54.539
out because they're not in charge of editing

01:00:54.539 --> 01:00:56.920
or anything so you know it could be amazing it

01:00:56.920 --> 01:00:59.000
could be terrible and they put the exact same

01:00:59.000 --> 01:01:02.480
performance on um what is it that you love about

01:01:02.480 --> 01:01:05.619
the live stand -up compared to you know what

01:01:05.619 --> 01:01:08.179
you're putting on screen well i think that's

01:01:08.179 --> 01:01:10.460
the truth is that you know the immediate reaction

01:01:10.460 --> 01:01:13.239
you know i mean the there's nothing like that

01:01:13.480 --> 01:01:18.739
And it's like also the experimental kind of atmosphere

01:01:18.739 --> 01:01:23.179
to fix things. So like if I have five shows in

01:01:23.179 --> 01:01:25.400
a weekend, I'll try a joke out the first night.

01:01:25.920 --> 01:01:29.519
Doesn't quite work. I can change it, see if it

01:01:29.519 --> 01:01:33.260
works eight hours later, 12 hours later. If it

01:01:33.260 --> 01:01:36.139
doesn't work, I can change it. There are great

01:01:36.139 --> 01:01:37.559
things about being able to work that. You can't

01:01:37.559 --> 01:01:40.800
do that in the TV show. You have to do that through

01:01:40.800 --> 01:01:43.139
editing or in the movie. You do it through editing.

01:01:43.469 --> 01:01:46.369
But the ability to do that live and to know,

01:01:46.570 --> 01:01:49.570
you know, there are jokes that people laugh at.

01:01:49.570 --> 01:01:50.869
You have no reason why they're laughing. You

01:01:50.869 --> 01:01:52.650
have no understanding as to why they're laughing.

01:01:52.750 --> 01:01:55.590
It's like, did they laugh at that joke? OK. And

01:01:55.590 --> 01:01:57.530
then you find those jokes that always work like

01:01:57.530 --> 01:01:59.730
that. And those are the great things about stand

01:01:59.730 --> 01:02:02.230
up is like when you hit those moments and you

01:02:02.230 --> 01:02:05.429
know that you have automatic reaction that you're

01:02:05.429 --> 01:02:07.989
going to get. You know, it's much more of a much

01:02:07.989 --> 01:02:10.869
more of a crapshoot in TVs and worse in movies

01:02:10.869 --> 01:02:14.840
like TV. At least you can. you can throw a shitload

01:02:14.840 --> 01:02:17.260
of jokes at the wall. You know, it's like, we've

01:02:17.260 --> 01:02:18.440
done this all the time. It's like, well, you

01:02:18.440 --> 01:02:19.500
know what? If that one doesn't hit, the next

01:02:19.500 --> 01:02:21.860
one will, you know? And, you know, if that doesn't

01:02:21.860 --> 01:02:24.019
hit, then episode two, three, four, five, whatever.

01:02:24.639 --> 01:02:27.039
For a movie, it becomes very precious. And that's

01:02:27.039 --> 01:02:28.980
why you end up, you know, test screening things

01:02:28.980 --> 01:02:31.119
and re -editing them and stuff like that. But

01:02:31.119 --> 01:02:33.780
that's the beauty of live comedy is that you

01:02:33.780 --> 01:02:35.559
don't have to have that, you know? And that's

01:02:35.559 --> 01:02:38.219
all you can be much more topical or much more,

01:02:38.360 --> 01:02:42.530
you know, You can make fun of something that

01:02:42.530 --> 01:02:45.809
happened yesterday. You know, you know, a show

01:02:45.809 --> 01:02:48.730
like Tacoma will put like a topical joke in it

01:02:48.730 --> 01:02:51.269
and then the world will not see it for a year.

01:02:52.269 --> 01:02:54.750
And then that joke's bullshit. You know, it doesn't,

01:02:54.750 --> 01:02:59.289
it doesn't mean anything. And you can't, you

01:02:59.289 --> 01:03:01.110
know, live comedy is so much better than that.

01:03:02.289 --> 01:03:04.769
And so, you know, I love live comedy, but I do

01:03:04.769 --> 01:03:07.170
definitely, I love making. Part of why I love

01:03:07.170 --> 01:03:09.090
making the TV shows and the movies is because

01:03:09.090 --> 01:03:13.010
I'm in all the steps. You know, it's like you

01:03:13.010 --> 01:03:15.469
make a TV show, an actor, you shoot it a year

01:03:15.469 --> 01:03:18.130
ago and then you never see it. But for me, it's

01:03:18.130 --> 01:03:20.670
my life every day, right? So I'm in the edit

01:03:20.670 --> 01:03:22.630
room every day and I'm doing this, this and this.

01:03:23.050 --> 01:03:26.429
And yeah, as the actor, you haven't thought about

01:03:26.429 --> 01:03:29.110
it in a year, but I have been with it the whole

01:03:29.110 --> 01:03:30.889
time and I'm crafting it and figuring out how

01:03:30.889 --> 01:03:34.030
to make it work. And so that's still very satisfying

01:03:34.030 --> 01:03:37.369
to me, you know. But I get it why, you know,

01:03:37.369 --> 01:03:40.929
actors and comics and stuff love the live comedy.

01:03:41.070 --> 01:03:42.329
And I like it too. I just didn't like traveling

01:03:42.329 --> 01:03:47.010
around. Like traveling around was the biggest

01:03:47.010 --> 01:03:49.250
pain in the ass to me of doing live comedy. And

01:03:49.250 --> 01:03:51.949
Lemmy and I did it for 10 years, you know. But,

01:03:52.030 --> 01:03:56.889
you know, I guess if I had my druthers, I would

01:03:56.889 --> 01:04:02.139
stick with making TV shows, you know. I love

01:04:02.139 --> 01:04:04.960
that part of it. You mentioned about a lot of

01:04:04.960 --> 01:04:07.400
the stories you just couldn't make into an episode

01:04:07.400 --> 01:04:09.139
just because of the darkness or whatever. Is

01:04:09.139 --> 01:04:11.780
there one story that you've heard either from

01:04:11.780 --> 01:04:13.739
your cousin or some other firefighter that you

01:04:13.739 --> 01:04:15.420
wish you could, but you couldn't, but you can

01:04:15.420 --> 01:04:19.480
tell it here. You know, I don't know all the

01:04:19.480 --> 01:04:21.699
ins and outs of this, but cousin Bill had a,

01:04:21.739 --> 01:04:26.440
he always had, he wanted us to make a, an episode

01:04:26.440 --> 01:04:30.539
about, I guess an incident. I can't remember

01:04:30.539 --> 01:04:32.280
what parade it was. It might've been the St.

01:04:32.360 --> 01:04:35.159
Patrick's day parade in Boston about guys going

01:04:35.159 --> 01:04:37.039
there and getting, you know, just wasted and

01:04:37.039 --> 01:04:39.659
ended up in the back of a, of a, of a police

01:04:39.659 --> 01:04:43.420
van, you know? And, and he always wanted us to

01:04:43.420 --> 01:04:45.539
make like a parade episode where guys get drunk.

01:04:45.579 --> 01:04:47.900
And part of it was like, dude, we can't make

01:04:47.900 --> 01:04:49.239
a parade episode because we can't pay for it.

01:04:49.260 --> 01:04:51.940
Like we can't, you know, we don't, we don't,

01:04:51.940 --> 01:04:56.199
it's too big, you know? But, you know, there

01:04:56.199 --> 01:04:58.079
was that thing. There were those kind of things,

01:04:58.179 --> 01:05:00.380
those kind of debaucherous kind of things, which

01:05:00.380 --> 01:05:04.780
we tried to kind of keep a little of a lid on.

01:05:06.039 --> 01:05:10.079
And then, yeah, I think the other stories were

01:05:10.079 --> 01:05:12.280
just the kind of much more traumatic stories,

01:05:12.400 --> 01:05:15.280
you know. And it was like, you know, the people

01:05:15.280 --> 01:05:17.340
that you found or the people you deal with or,

01:05:17.420 --> 01:05:22.219
you know. A lot of their stories were about drug

01:05:22.219 --> 01:05:24.480
dependency or people, you know, that kind of

01:05:24.480 --> 01:05:26.900
stuff or people were strung out on this or whatever.

01:05:27.019 --> 01:05:31.579
And it just, you know, it just didn't fit in

01:05:31.579 --> 01:05:33.920
the in the world that we were trying to create,

01:05:34.039 --> 01:05:37.980
you know. So, you know, it was more of that kind

01:05:37.980 --> 01:05:39.920
of stuff. But then there were just, you know,

01:05:39.920 --> 01:05:42.159
there were, you know, great stories that we heard

01:05:42.159 --> 01:05:44.360
that we would put in. You know, it's like I remember

01:05:44.360 --> 01:05:47.190
we were at a firefighter event in Austin. And

01:05:47.190 --> 01:05:49.590
we were meeting with a bunch of guys, having

01:05:49.590 --> 01:05:51.650
a great time talking to guys and hearing stories.

01:05:52.489 --> 01:05:56.210
And one guy told us a story about when he was

01:05:56.210 --> 01:05:58.329
a rookie. And we've talked about this story before,

01:05:58.369 --> 01:06:01.889
so you may have heard it. And he was a probie,

01:06:01.929 --> 01:06:06.309
and he joined the shift. And all the guys had

01:06:06.309 --> 01:06:09.610
these tattoos. And this is the guy telling us

01:06:09.610 --> 01:06:11.630
his true story. All these guys had these tattoos.

01:06:11.690 --> 01:06:13.630
These goofy tattoos that were representative

01:06:13.630 --> 01:06:15.309
of their shift. I don't know, like a unicorn

01:06:15.309 --> 01:06:17.679
or whatever that was. I don't know. And they

01:06:17.679 --> 01:06:19.380
told the guy, hey, these are our shift tattoos.

01:06:19.460 --> 01:06:22.800
You have to go get this tattoo. And he was like,

01:06:22.860 --> 01:06:24.420
okay. And so he goes and he gets the tattoo.

01:06:24.860 --> 01:06:26.760
And he comes back and shows them the tattoo.

01:06:26.860 --> 01:06:30.059
And all the other guys wiped theirs off because

01:06:30.059 --> 01:06:33.280
they were temp tattoos. And they made him go

01:06:33.280 --> 01:06:36.019
get this real stupid -ass tattoo on his arm.

01:06:36.699 --> 01:06:39.639
And we were like, oh, my God, that's a hell of

01:06:39.639 --> 01:06:41.739
a prank. You know, that's a thing. And so, boom,

01:06:41.880 --> 01:06:46.900
we wrote that episode. and had a great kind of

01:06:46.900 --> 01:06:49.659
little runner thing about that. But those were

01:06:49.659 --> 01:06:51.460
kind of those real stories which you get from

01:06:51.460 --> 01:06:55.900
these guys that are perfect, that fit so well.

01:06:56.659 --> 01:06:58.780
And Cousin Bill would tell us these stories.

01:06:58.900 --> 01:07:02.280
It's like, I think we put it in either the first

01:07:02.280 --> 01:07:03.760
or maybe the third. I can't remember which episode

01:07:03.760 --> 01:07:07.900
we put it in. Maybe the third episode. The story

01:07:07.900 --> 01:07:12.920
about how a guy had to give mouth -to -mouth

01:07:12.920 --> 01:07:17.269
to a cat. It's like they rescued a cat from a,

01:07:17.269 --> 01:07:18.969
they rescued a bunch of people and the cat from

01:07:18.969 --> 01:07:21.150
a burning building and the firefighters walk

01:07:21.150 --> 01:07:23.809
out and they're doing CPR on someone and they

01:07:23.809 --> 01:07:25.230
get a little closer and they realize the guy's

01:07:25.230 --> 01:07:29.769
trying to revive a cat. And we thought that was

01:07:29.769 --> 01:07:31.070
the greatest thing in the world. We put that

01:07:31.070 --> 01:07:33.750
in that episode. And, you know, the more you

01:07:33.750 --> 01:07:36.250
talk to the firefighters, every one of them has

01:07:36.250 --> 01:07:37.630
got a hundred stories, you know, that are just

01:07:37.630 --> 01:07:40.380
hysterical. I'm sure you have a million funny

01:07:40.380 --> 01:07:42.840
stories. I'm a terrible storyteller, but they're

01:07:42.840 --> 01:07:44.739
in there. I just need someone else to tell them

01:07:44.739 --> 01:07:49.199
for me. That's what you need. And so what we

01:07:49.199 --> 01:07:50.739
were finding is like, hey, can you make a TV

01:07:50.739 --> 01:07:52.719
show out of this? Yeah, yeah. We got millions.

01:07:52.840 --> 01:07:55.519
We got a wealth of stories. And we still have

01:07:55.519 --> 01:07:59.260
a document that's like 40 pages long of stories

01:07:59.260 --> 01:08:03.300
that are just so funny to us. And every episode

01:08:03.300 --> 01:08:07.050
has one in them. Well, you talked about... discovering

01:08:07.050 --> 01:08:09.050
this other side of our profession you know the

01:08:09.050 --> 01:08:12.710
the the uh i guess you could say the the price

01:08:12.710 --> 01:08:16.890
of service um were you aware of that through

01:08:16.890 --> 01:08:19.529
having your cousin being in that world or was

01:08:19.529 --> 01:08:21.090
that something that started to kind of unfold

01:08:21.090 --> 01:08:22.949
as you started talking to more and more of our

01:08:22.949 --> 01:08:25.710
profession oh it's definitely after the fact

01:08:25.710 --> 01:08:28.430
after they unfold you know i mean i think um

01:08:29.800 --> 01:08:33.659
I didn't realize, you know, how prevalent and

01:08:33.659 --> 01:08:36.439
important it was to the community now in terms

01:08:36.439 --> 01:08:41.199
of, you know, people's mental health and making

01:08:41.199 --> 01:08:43.899
sure that people are OK on the job and that kind

01:08:43.899 --> 01:08:47.199
of stuff. You know, it's like, you know, my cousin

01:08:47.199 --> 01:08:49.000
will tell stories about guys who committed suicide

01:08:49.000 --> 01:08:52.500
or guys who, you know, just end up couldn't deal

01:08:52.500 --> 01:08:55.579
with it anymore. you know i don't think growing

01:08:55.579 --> 01:08:57.199
up you heard those stories you know i think you

01:08:57.199 --> 01:08:58.880
heard that that was the case but i think now

01:08:58.880 --> 01:09:02.520
uh in a good way i think that those stories are

01:09:02.520 --> 01:09:05.500
out there now so that people can you know i mean

01:09:05.500 --> 01:09:09.800
we're just actors you know i i it's it's amazing

01:09:09.800 --> 01:09:12.079
to think that you know day in and day out these

01:09:12.079 --> 01:09:13.939
guys see these things and they see kind of the

01:09:13.939 --> 01:09:16.840
worst things and whether it's you know, mangled

01:09:16.840 --> 01:09:19.819
bodies in a car accident or whatever it is, you

01:09:19.819 --> 01:09:21.979
know, it's like, they see the worst underbelly

01:09:21.979 --> 01:09:27.000
of, of our world. And, um, and it's gonna, it's

01:09:27.000 --> 01:09:29.220
gonna mess with your head, you know? And I think,

01:09:29.279 --> 01:09:32.699
you know, uh, I didn't definitely, definitely

01:09:32.699 --> 01:09:34.920
did not appreciate that until, you know, cousin

01:09:34.920 --> 01:09:36.819
Bill kind of bringing things to light for us

01:09:36.819 --> 01:09:38.420
and say, Oh, here's what we do. And, you know,

01:09:38.420 --> 01:09:40.039
here's how we deal with that. And we're trying

01:09:40.039 --> 01:09:43.979
to deal with that. And we're trying to. uh, counter

01:09:43.979 --> 01:09:47.579
the old school, uh, idea or suck it up and, you

01:09:47.579 --> 01:09:51.300
know, and, uh, you know, uh, deal with it, you

01:09:51.300 --> 01:09:53.140
know, uh, that they're trying to counter that

01:09:53.140 --> 01:09:54.720
kind of mentality now, which I think is a great

01:09:54.720 --> 01:09:56.779
thing. I think, I think that's, it seems to me

01:09:56.779 --> 01:09:58.659
what's important. So I, you know, to us, it was

01:09:58.659 --> 01:10:00.079
like, let's not make fun of that. Let's not,

01:10:00.119 --> 01:10:04.020
you know, let's support that and, and, and, um,

01:10:04.140 --> 01:10:07.760
you know, maybe put like a, a kind of a fun or

01:10:07.760 --> 01:10:10.359
if you can put a fun spin on something like that,

01:10:10.380 --> 01:10:11.819
then that's what you try to do, I guess. Yeah.

01:10:13.110 --> 01:10:14.829
Um, but I don't know, do you, do you find me

01:10:14.829 --> 01:10:16.550
like, do you find that that's changed in your

01:10:16.550 --> 01:10:18.890
career? Like over the, you know, over the course

01:10:18.890 --> 01:10:21.210
of your career that the, the perception of that

01:10:21.210 --> 01:10:23.649
kind of stuff has changed? Yeah, no, it's, it's

01:10:23.649 --> 01:10:28.250
literally, I would say only, I don't know if

01:10:28.250 --> 01:10:30.090
it's even nine years ago that we really started

01:10:30.090 --> 01:10:32.189
talking about it. Um, this is one of the reasons

01:10:32.189 --> 01:10:34.090
why I started the podcast, you know, after seeing

01:10:34.090 --> 01:10:36.710
a lot of the dark side going to the funerals,

01:10:36.729 --> 01:10:39.810
you know, um, and realizing that we were just

01:10:39.810 --> 01:10:42.909
doing the same thing over and over again. strange

01:10:42.909 --> 01:10:45.369
about the american fire services we're so siloed

01:10:45.369 --> 01:10:47.729
you know you've got a city and they won't talk

01:10:47.729 --> 01:10:49.470
which you you know you're going to illustrate

01:10:49.470 --> 01:10:51.310
in the show you know police and fire don't like

01:10:51.310 --> 01:10:53.270
each other city and county don't like each other

01:10:53.270 --> 01:10:55.210
and so therefore there's no knowledge exchange

01:10:55.210 --> 01:10:57.710
so everyone's kind of keeping themselves themselves

01:10:57.710 --> 01:11:01.289
everyone's reinventing the wheel um but what

01:11:01.289 --> 01:11:04.369
i had it was unusual is i had a very gypsy view

01:11:04.369 --> 01:11:06.909
to the fire service i started in the miami area

01:11:06.909 --> 01:11:10.470
i trained in orlando worked in miami then california

01:11:10.470 --> 01:11:13.289
for a few years then orange county which is the

01:11:13.289 --> 01:11:15.710
county that orlando's in and then reedy creek

01:11:15.710 --> 01:11:17.909
which protects disney world the last five so

01:11:17.909 --> 01:11:21.529
it's a very you know 10 000 foot view on everything

01:11:21.529 --> 01:11:25.369
but so you know when my generation went in and

01:11:25.369 --> 01:11:28.529
generations before it was all about service and

01:11:28.529 --> 01:11:31.090
sacrifice courage and fitness and all the things

01:11:31.090 --> 01:11:34.670
but then as you get into this point and they're

01:11:34.670 --> 01:11:36.909
like wow you know people aren't doing well you

01:11:36.909 --> 01:11:39.539
know we're so We're so beat down and tired that

01:11:39.539 --> 01:11:41.020
a lot of times it's hard for us to even have

01:11:41.020 --> 01:11:42.880
that realization because all we're thinking about

01:11:42.880 --> 01:11:45.079
is the next call, the next shift, you know, my

01:11:45.079 --> 01:11:48.319
kid's birthday party, whatever it is. So really,

01:11:48.500 --> 01:11:50.920
when I transitioned out five years ago, just

01:11:50.920 --> 01:11:53.300
to do this, to really try and be the voice for

01:11:53.300 --> 01:11:56.520
this profession and networking with people from

01:11:56.520 --> 01:11:58.819
all over the world, you realize this is a global

01:11:58.819 --> 01:12:00.920
issue. You know, the Australian firefighters,

01:12:01.100 --> 01:12:02.979
the British firefighters, they're all going through

01:12:02.979 --> 01:12:05.880
a lot of these. And so now it's like, now that

01:12:05.880 --> 01:12:07.560
we're talking about it, now we actually have

01:12:07.560 --> 01:12:10.170
to act and not trying to be doom and gloom on

01:12:10.170 --> 01:12:11.970
this conversation but at the moment there's a

01:12:11.970 --> 01:12:14.109
hiring crisis too and i think it's because of

01:12:14.109 --> 01:12:17.149
of this people are now understanding the whole

01:12:17.149 --> 01:12:20.590
picture and unless we change it we aren't going

01:12:20.590 --> 01:12:22.909
to have people lining up to do this job anymore

01:12:22.909 --> 01:12:24.770
because even though it's the most incredible

01:12:24.770 --> 01:12:27.649
profession which is why i advocate years after

01:12:27.649 --> 01:12:30.649
taking the uniform off there are some things

01:12:30.649 --> 01:12:33.680
that are really detrimental to the The human

01:12:33.680 --> 01:12:36.100
and that person's family as well that we have

01:12:36.100 --> 01:12:38.600
to address to put it back to this incredible

01:12:38.600 --> 01:12:42.880
profession that we all adore. Yeah. And, you

01:12:42.880 --> 01:12:46.800
know, it feels like it's also, you know, yeah,

01:12:46.880 --> 01:12:51.140
trying to overcome the the mindset of the old

01:12:51.140 --> 01:12:54.960
school, you know, is a big, huge part of it,

01:12:55.000 --> 01:12:59.220
you know. And, you know, I think. You know, just

01:12:59.220 --> 01:13:01.899
in talking to Bill and, you know, when he was

01:13:01.899 --> 01:13:04.239
a rookie. Yeah, like you said, it's in the last

01:13:04.239 --> 01:13:07.159
10 years, you know. And then in his thing, like

01:13:07.159 --> 01:13:11.579
from an administrative point of view, it's those

01:13:11.579 --> 01:13:16.720
issues that dominated his last few years because

01:13:16.720 --> 01:13:20.079
the perceptions were changing and things were

01:13:20.079 --> 01:13:22.260
coming out much more about, you know, how to

01:13:22.260 --> 01:13:25.760
deal with this stuff, you know. And I found it

01:13:25.760 --> 01:13:28.409
fascinating. And that's kind of why we want to

01:13:28.409 --> 01:13:29.930
make an episode about it, but realize that it

01:13:29.930 --> 01:13:31.869
was difficult to navigate for us in terms of,

01:13:31.869 --> 01:13:34.390
you know, trying to keep it light and fun and

01:13:34.390 --> 01:13:37.329
that kind of thing, you know. But I don't know.

01:13:37.369 --> 01:13:39.989
Hopefully we can just provide some sort of enjoyment

01:13:39.989 --> 01:13:42.350
for the firefighters anyway. Just kind of a light

01:13:42.350 --> 01:13:47.449
release, you know, for the guys. Well, question

01:13:47.449 --> 01:13:49.270
for you. I want to round off, but just one last

01:13:49.270 --> 01:13:52.510
kind of lens from you because you do sit in a

01:13:52.510 --> 01:13:55.840
unique place at the moment. We have done a terrible

01:13:55.840 --> 01:13:58.600
job of storytelling what we do in this profession.

01:13:58.840 --> 01:14:01.760
I would say only the brave, obviously Backdraft,

01:14:01.819 --> 01:14:03.880
Ladder 49, are probably about the only ones out

01:14:03.880 --> 01:14:06.180
there that really reflect what we do. And even

01:14:06.180 --> 01:14:07.819
someone pointed out recently, which was a very

01:14:07.819 --> 01:14:10.600
good point, even the reality television shows

01:14:10.600 --> 01:14:13.680
that feature fire, the cardiac arrest always

01:14:13.680 --> 01:14:16.180
survives. They always get the person out the

01:14:16.180 --> 01:14:19.399
car. So again, it's kind of showing our successes

01:14:19.399 --> 01:14:25.439
only. How do we as a profession do a better job

01:14:25.439 --> 01:14:28.479
of branding ourselves, of educating the public

01:14:28.479 --> 01:14:32.060
on what we actually do? Well, yeah, I mean, I

01:14:32.060 --> 01:14:34.319
think, you know, and I can only speak from this

01:14:34.319 --> 01:14:39.539
kind of like, I guess, lighter perspective of

01:14:39.539 --> 01:14:41.840
it. But it kind of goes back to what I was saying

01:14:41.840 --> 01:14:44.880
earlier. It's like part of the nice thing about

01:14:44.880 --> 01:14:48.239
Tacoma, the TV show, is showing these firefighters

01:14:48.239 --> 01:14:50.619
as real people. You know, it's showing them.

01:14:51.630 --> 01:14:55.489
Not doing the call or fighting the fire. It's

01:14:55.489 --> 01:14:59.229
them in their lives and how they're real people

01:14:59.229 --> 01:15:03.010
who have fun and have friends and family and

01:15:03.010 --> 01:15:10.050
that kind of stuff. I feel like that helps the

01:15:10.050 --> 01:15:13.189
perception of firefighters in general. The more

01:15:13.189 --> 01:15:16.170
we puncture the sense of these guys are invincible

01:15:16.170 --> 01:15:19.380
heroes and more that they are real people. I

01:15:19.380 --> 01:15:22.699
think it helps everybody. And I think, you know,

01:15:22.699 --> 01:15:25.279
we try to do that in our very kind of light,

01:15:25.439 --> 01:15:28.600
you know, non -message -y kind of way, you know,

01:15:28.600 --> 01:15:33.380
but I think that helps the greater message in

01:15:33.380 --> 01:15:36.300
the sense that, you know, if people can connect

01:15:36.300 --> 01:15:40.460
with firefighters as humans, you know, I think

01:15:40.460 --> 01:15:43.079
that helps everyone's perceptions more. It helps

01:15:43.079 --> 01:15:45.739
push the world forward, you know. Absolutely.

01:15:45.739 --> 01:15:48.600
I don't know. I don't know. That's just kind

01:15:48.600 --> 01:15:50.319
of my perspective, I guess. Yeah, well, I mean,

01:15:50.340 --> 01:15:51.939
I appreciate everyone's perspective. I have people

01:15:51.939 --> 01:15:53.899
that are in literally branding and business and

01:15:53.899 --> 01:15:55.880
people in entertainment. It doesn't matter. Just

01:15:55.880 --> 01:15:58.199
obviously the way we've been doing it isn't working

01:15:58.199 --> 01:16:01.020
very well. So I'm open to all suggestions, people

01:16:01.020 --> 01:16:03.619
that might - Don't you think it's changing? Don't

01:16:03.619 --> 01:16:06.399
you think it's like, it is progressing, don't

01:16:06.399 --> 01:16:08.140
you think? I mean, it's getting, it's better

01:16:08.140 --> 01:16:10.460
than it was, don't you think? Yeah, we're starting

01:16:10.460 --> 01:16:12.720
to. I think as I live in an echo chamber, so

01:16:12.720 --> 01:16:14.319
I look around and go, oh, everyone gets it. And

01:16:14.319 --> 01:16:16.659
I forget that's because - in the show everyone's

01:16:16.659 --> 01:16:18.680
coming on because they've they've brought solutions

01:16:18.680 --> 01:16:22.000
so um but i think as long as you start it's the

01:16:22.000 --> 01:16:24.680
same as to parallel it's the same with the division

01:16:24.680 --> 01:16:28.020
that we've seen forced upon the us from both

01:16:28.020 --> 01:16:32.760
sides the last eight years um it's the the more

01:16:32.760 --> 01:16:36.100
that we can pull people back into you know the

01:16:36.100 --> 01:16:38.920
middle you know, the more of a paradigm shift

01:16:38.920 --> 01:16:40.619
that you can create. So you're not trying to

01:16:40.619 --> 01:16:43.119
fix everyone straight away, but if you can just

01:16:43.119 --> 01:16:45.260
grab one more department, one more firefighter

01:16:45.260 --> 01:16:49.100
and keep, you know, pushing the, the improvements,

01:16:49.239 --> 01:16:51.859
then eventually there will be a tidal wave and

01:16:51.859 --> 01:16:53.399
it will sweep over the whole country and everyone

01:16:53.399 --> 01:16:56.380
will benefit. Yeah. No, I think that's totally

01:16:56.380 --> 01:17:01.140
true is that the more you bring people who disagree

01:17:01.140 --> 01:17:04.279
or have opposing opinions or whatever together

01:17:04.279 --> 01:17:09.449
for, you know, the communal good. And, and, you

01:17:09.449 --> 01:17:10.689
know, I think that's a good thing. It's like,

01:17:10.710 --> 01:17:13.050
you know, we've always joked about for us, even

01:17:13.050 --> 01:17:15.449
our comedy is very purple in the sense that,

01:17:15.470 --> 01:17:19.850
you know, we have, you know, our red state fans

01:17:19.850 --> 01:17:21.890
and we have our blue state fans, you know, and

01:17:21.890 --> 01:17:23.949
it's, you know, we have guys in uniform and we

01:17:23.949 --> 01:17:26.050
have stoners and we put them in the same room

01:17:26.050 --> 01:17:29.289
together and everyone has a big laugh. And I

01:17:29.289 --> 01:17:31.829
think that's a helpful thing, you know? And I

01:17:31.829 --> 01:17:34.489
think it's probably the same thing for Tacoma.

01:17:34.529 --> 01:17:37.939
We have, you know, Fans on all spectrum of the

01:17:37.939 --> 01:17:40.260
political view, but they all can watch the show

01:17:40.260 --> 01:17:43.819
and have a good laugh at it. And to me, it's

01:17:43.819 --> 01:17:47.239
that those things that remind us that we can

01:17:47.239 --> 01:17:51.079
get past the divisiveness and enjoy each other

01:17:51.079 --> 01:17:53.819
despite our differences. 100 percent. We got

01:17:53.819 --> 01:17:55.560
way more in common than we have difference. And

01:17:55.560 --> 01:17:57.340
most of the differences you can celebrate anyway

01:17:57.340 --> 01:18:00.439
because they're unique. Yeah. Everyone can laugh

01:18:00.439 --> 01:18:03.789
at a fart joke. 100 percent. 100 percent. Yeah,

01:18:03.829 --> 01:18:05.789
and even a laughing baby. How can you not smile

01:18:05.789 --> 01:18:07.250
when a baby starts laughing? You know what I

01:18:07.250 --> 01:18:12.050
mean? That's contagious. So you've got four seasons

01:18:12.050 --> 01:18:15.250
on Netflix now. What's True TV now? All streaming

01:18:15.250 --> 01:18:17.890
on Netflix. I'm assuming you're probably going

01:18:17.890 --> 01:18:20.590
to be creating more seasons of that. Talk to

01:18:20.590 --> 01:18:23.050
me about what's coming as far as Tacoma and if

01:18:23.050 --> 01:18:25.029
you have anything else in the pipeline for Broken

01:18:25.029 --> 01:18:28.909
Lizard. I hope so. I mean, I hope we get to make

01:18:28.909 --> 01:18:33.020
more. We've made these four seasons, and I think,

01:18:33.020 --> 01:18:34.600
you know, whatever, not to get in the weeds of

01:18:34.600 --> 01:18:37.720
the industry, the company that we work for has

01:18:37.720 --> 01:18:40.619
been taken over four times, and we've had four

01:18:40.619 --> 01:18:45.060
hierarchy shifts. And each time, I think, I don't

01:18:45.060 --> 01:18:46.500
know, the new person cares a little bit less

01:18:46.500 --> 01:18:49.760
about us. So, you know, we've been kind of overcoming

01:18:49.760 --> 01:18:51.220
that, but luckily we've been doing the seasons.

01:18:51.319 --> 01:18:53.880
And then this Netflix thing gives us a lot of

01:18:53.880 --> 01:18:56.239
good exposure. So hopefully all that will lead

01:18:56.239 --> 01:18:58.619
to us making more Tacomas because, like I said,

01:18:58.659 --> 01:19:00.500
we've got to stack them. more of firefighter

01:19:00.500 --> 01:19:05.000
stories, um, that we want to tell. And, um, hopefully

01:19:05.000 --> 01:19:07.680
we'll get that opportunity. Um, uh, we'll see

01:19:07.680 --> 01:19:09.380
how this Netflix thing shakes out. And then,

01:19:09.399 --> 01:19:13.140
um, at the same time right now, we're, um, we're

01:19:13.140 --> 01:19:18.579
writing super troopers three. Um, and, um, we,

01:19:18.720 --> 01:19:23.479
uh, uh, uh, hopefully I would imagine maybe later

01:19:23.479 --> 01:19:25.659
this year, we'll try to shoot that. It's weird.

01:19:25.699 --> 01:19:27.550
Cause you know, For those who don't know, we're

01:19:27.550 --> 01:19:29.529
coming out of these strikes. You know, the industry

01:19:29.529 --> 01:19:33.850
has been kind of had legs chopped out of it by

01:19:33.850 --> 01:19:35.989
the strikes that happened last year. And we're

01:19:35.989 --> 01:19:37.949
just coming out of in a few months. So it's a

01:19:37.949 --> 01:19:39.710
weird landscape where people are trying to figure

01:19:39.710 --> 01:19:42.090
out what's still alive, what's dead, what's what

01:19:42.090 --> 01:19:43.970
can happen, how we can move forward, how the

01:19:43.970 --> 01:19:47.850
world has changed. But Super Trooper 3 seems

01:19:47.850 --> 01:19:49.029
to be on track for us to be able to do that.

01:19:49.090 --> 01:19:50.510
That's kind of the next big broken lizard project.

01:19:52.279 --> 01:19:54.899
And then, yeah, Steve and I are selling some

01:19:54.899 --> 01:19:58.220
other shows. We've been working on a couple of

01:19:58.220 --> 01:19:59.659
things. We've been working on a military show,

01:19:59.760 --> 01:20:02.460
actually, Steve and I, based on a lot of stories

01:20:02.460 --> 01:20:04.079
and a lot of friends we've made in the military,

01:20:04.239 --> 01:20:07.619
based on guys who like our stuff. And so we've

01:20:07.619 --> 01:20:12.359
been working on that. And we've been doing this

01:20:12.359 --> 01:20:14.220
podcast. We've been doing this companion podcast,

01:20:14.500 --> 01:20:17.399
Talk Coma. It's a video podcast we've been doing,

01:20:17.460 --> 01:20:21.590
which is on YouTube. I don't know. We're trying

01:20:21.590 --> 01:20:23.170
to stay, we're trying to stay busy. You know,

01:20:23.170 --> 01:20:25.109
I'd love to make more Tacomas. That's, that's

01:20:25.109 --> 01:20:28.630
kind of the big thing. Now the podcast talk coma,

01:20:28.710 --> 01:20:31.350
you advise people watch an episode, then listen

01:20:31.350 --> 01:20:34.369
to the podcast. Yeah, I think so. Yeah. It's

01:20:34.369 --> 01:20:36.930
funny. Like what happened was a couple of years

01:20:36.930 --> 01:20:39.569
ago after we did season two, it was, it was COVID.

01:20:39.670 --> 01:20:40.810
It was, you know, the pandemic and everything

01:20:40.810 --> 01:20:45.689
shut down and, and our network, true TV and T

01:20:45.689 --> 01:20:48.770
and TBS. They had a lot of sports that they lost.

01:20:48.850 --> 01:20:51.229
They had basketball and, you know, they had March

01:20:51.229 --> 01:20:52.789
Madness. They had baseball and all these things

01:20:52.789 --> 01:20:57.229
got lost. And so, you know, we were in some meeting

01:20:57.229 --> 01:20:59.109
with some executives and they were kind of lamenting

01:20:59.109 --> 01:21:00.369
the fact they had nothing to put on the air.

01:21:00.470 --> 01:21:02.710
And we said, well, you know, we've been thinking

01:21:02.710 --> 01:21:05.590
about this companion show called Talkoma where

01:21:05.590 --> 01:21:08.010
we talk about the episode, you know, and they

01:21:08.010 --> 01:21:09.569
kind of laughed at us like it was the dumbest

01:21:09.569 --> 01:21:11.760
thing in the world. And then. About half an hour

01:21:11.760 --> 01:21:13.220
later, they called us up and said, were you guys

01:21:13.220 --> 01:21:15.640
serious about that? And we said, yeah, we were

01:21:15.640 --> 01:21:17.140
very serious. And they said, OK, let's do it.

01:21:17.739 --> 01:21:23.020
And so after season two, we did a companion piece,

01:21:23.140 --> 01:21:24.399
you know, like they do for like Walking Dead

01:21:24.399 --> 01:21:27.079
or whatever. And we put it right on after the

01:21:27.079 --> 01:21:28.979
episodes. And people loved it because it was

01:21:28.979 --> 01:21:31.699
like we would tell real stories. We would have,

01:21:31.699 --> 01:21:34.300
you know, a cousin Bill on. We would have, you

01:21:34.300 --> 01:21:36.100
know, guests on and they would talk about the

01:21:36.100 --> 01:21:41.119
firefighter stuff. We had. we found out one of

01:21:41.119 --> 01:21:44.600
our fans was Stipe Miosic, the UFC champion,

01:21:44.800 --> 01:21:48.300
who's a firefighter in Ohio. We had him on and

01:21:48.300 --> 01:21:51.100
it was a fun thing. And so we decided we would

01:21:51.100 --> 01:21:52.539
do it again at the end of the season. And then

01:21:52.539 --> 01:21:55.340
it got a little bit derailed by the strike. And

01:21:55.340 --> 01:21:58.340
so now we've got it back up and running again.

01:21:58.439 --> 01:22:00.359
So it's a thing that people kind of liked in

01:22:00.359 --> 01:22:03.100
the past and we brought it back. So it's a video

01:22:03.100 --> 01:22:05.340
podcast that people can find on YouTube. And

01:22:05.340 --> 01:22:09.229
it's a lot of fun. We have guests. It's a lot

01:22:09.229 --> 01:22:10.890
of me and Lemmy making fun of each other is what

01:22:10.890 --> 01:22:14.750
it comes down to. But, yeah, so we got that.

01:22:14.890 --> 01:22:17.289
And then, yeah, we got our movie Quasi, which

01:22:17.289 --> 01:22:19.510
is still on Hulu, too. That's still kicking around

01:22:19.510 --> 01:22:21.930
on Hulu. If people haven't seen that, check that

01:22:21.930 --> 01:22:24.229
out. That's a little bit of a departure. It's

01:22:24.229 --> 01:22:28.590
a medieval period piece. With a chiropractic

01:22:28.590 --> 01:22:33.409
twist to it. That's right. So, yeah, I mean,

01:22:33.430 --> 01:22:34.930
we got a lot of stuff in the hopper. We're trying

01:22:34.930 --> 01:22:37.470
to stay busy. Brilliant. Well, I want to throw

01:22:37.470 --> 01:22:39.229
some quick closing questions at you before I

01:22:39.229 --> 01:22:42.390
let you go. That's OK. Yeah. OK. All right. First

01:22:42.390 --> 01:22:44.590
one. Is there a book or other books that you

01:22:44.590 --> 01:22:46.909
love to recommend? It can be related to our discussion

01:22:46.909 --> 01:22:50.750
today or completely unrelated. Books that I love

01:22:50.750 --> 01:22:56.350
to recommend. Oh, my gosh. I'm terrible. I'm

01:22:56.350 --> 01:22:58.550
terrible reading. My daughters keep giving me

01:22:58.550 --> 01:23:00.670
books to read and I've been trying to do a good

01:23:00.670 --> 01:23:03.229
job at that. They read all the fantasy books

01:23:03.229 --> 01:23:06.630
now. But I try to get them to read the Stephen

01:23:06.630 --> 01:23:08.829
King books. I was always a big fan of those when

01:23:08.829 --> 01:23:12.250
I was a kid. And then we compare notes. They

01:23:12.250 --> 01:23:14.590
think all the books that I have read were outdated.

01:23:15.550 --> 01:23:19.949
There's better stuff these days. But I don't

01:23:19.949 --> 01:23:24.329
know. I used to read a lot of scripts, man. Have

01:23:24.329 --> 01:23:26.390
you read his book On Writing? Because I read

01:23:26.390 --> 01:23:29.149
that right before I started my second one. I

01:23:29.149 --> 01:23:31.869
read it long ago, yeah. I read it long ago, yeah.

01:23:32.029 --> 01:23:34.949
But like that guy. wakes up at like 5 a .m and

01:23:34.949 --> 01:23:37.569
he writes like for six or seven hours or whatever

01:23:37.569 --> 01:23:40.529
every single day and i'm like oh my god god if

01:23:40.529 --> 01:23:43.029
i could do that yeah i can't i have a hundred

01:23:43.029 --> 01:23:46.729
books published you know yeah it took me i don't

01:23:46.729 --> 01:23:48.430
know a long like two years to write my first

01:23:48.430 --> 01:23:50.989
one and i'm think about the year and a half mark

01:23:50.989 --> 01:23:53.710
of writing my second so clearly not even king

01:23:53.710 --> 01:23:57.069
i end up reading just little biographies my kids

01:23:57.069 --> 01:23:59.189
can't understand it like i just read biographies

01:23:59.189 --> 01:24:02.539
of people like I just finished a biography of

01:24:02.539 --> 01:24:05.380
John Bonham, the drummer for Led Zeppelin, called

01:24:05.380 --> 01:24:09.800
Beast, which was awesome. That's an amazing story.

01:24:10.760 --> 01:24:12.979
Yeah. And my kids are like, what do you read

01:24:12.979 --> 01:24:15.720
biographies for? I don't know. Maybe because

01:24:15.720 --> 01:24:18.979
I'm old. I don't know. They say truth is stranger

01:24:18.979 --> 01:24:20.880
than friction a lot of times. That's why I love

01:24:20.880 --> 01:24:23.460
this format. People's real lives are incredible.

01:24:24.159 --> 01:24:27.000
Oh, I know. That's what we say. It's like the

01:24:27.000 --> 01:24:28.819
stories that we get from firefighters, we couldn't

01:24:28.819 --> 01:24:30.810
possibly make them up. You know what I mean?

01:24:30.829 --> 01:24:32.949
The real things are just, you couldn't possibly

01:24:32.949 --> 01:24:35.590
make them up. Absolutely. Well, we've talked

01:24:35.590 --> 01:24:37.550
about obviously all, all the films that you guys

01:24:37.550 --> 01:24:40.210
have made. Are there films or documentaries that

01:24:40.210 --> 01:24:44.949
you'd love to recommend? Yeah. I mean, I, you

01:24:44.949 --> 01:24:49.390
know, I, I love, I love a good comedy movie.

01:24:49.430 --> 01:24:51.689
I love a good action movie though. I'm always

01:24:51.689 --> 01:24:54.050
a good action movie guy. Like let me, I will

01:24:54.050 --> 01:24:58.239
joke about that. You know, And you run through

01:24:58.239 --> 01:25:04.600
the Schwarzenegger resume. We like to have a

01:25:04.600 --> 01:25:07.380
good laugh about that. But I went to see, look,

01:25:07.460 --> 01:25:09.539
I don't claim to be very sophisticated, but I

01:25:09.539 --> 01:25:11.800
went and saw Die Hard in the movie theater two

01:25:11.800 --> 01:25:15.300
weeks ago again. And God damn, I love that movie.

01:25:17.359 --> 01:25:20.859
So I'm a simple pleasure guy. I like a good action

01:25:20.859 --> 01:25:24.609
movie. Brilliant. What about guests? Is there

01:25:24.609 --> 01:25:26.710
a person that you recommend to come on this show

01:25:26.710 --> 01:25:29.529
to speak to the first responders, military and

01:25:29.529 --> 01:25:33.310
associate professions of the world? Yeah, I mean,

01:25:33.310 --> 01:25:35.270
well, whatever. I know I've been talking about

01:25:35.270 --> 01:25:37.970
a lot, but Cousin Bill is a guy who is a great

01:25:37.970 --> 01:25:41.949
guy to chat with. I mean, he has a zillion stories.

01:25:42.649 --> 01:25:47.250
He's got a wealth of background in this world.

01:25:48.090 --> 01:25:52.539
I think, you know. He's well versed in the issues

01:25:52.539 --> 01:25:57.560
that firefighters face these days. He's also

01:25:57.560 --> 01:25:59.300
running for office right now. He's running for

01:25:59.300 --> 01:26:02.579
state representative in my town. Really? Yeah.

01:26:02.859 --> 01:26:06.199
Yeah. So he's going to get a bigger voice. But

01:26:06.199 --> 01:26:09.119
he's a great guy to chat with about these things,

01:26:09.180 --> 01:26:11.819
I think. And then, you know, we had Stipe on.

01:26:11.899 --> 01:26:13.359
I don't know if you've ever met Stipe before.

01:26:14.510 --> 01:26:17.869
but he's such an amazing story you know i'm uh

01:26:17.869 --> 01:26:22.130
we had him on our podcast and here's a guy who's

01:26:22.130 --> 01:26:25.689
the ufc heavyweight champion of the world and

01:26:25.689 --> 01:26:29.989
yet he's you know scrubbing toilets as a probie

01:26:29.989 --> 01:26:35.289
uh you know and in the fire department um and

01:26:35.289 --> 01:26:37.569
you know he has great stories about you know

01:26:37.569 --> 01:26:40.550
they made him wear his heavyweight belt while

01:26:40.550 --> 01:26:45.819
he scrubbed toilets And I don't know, I just

01:26:45.819 --> 01:26:49.119
the marrying of those two worlds was just great

01:26:49.119 --> 01:26:52.720
and inspired us to write an episode where Stipe

01:26:52.720 --> 01:26:56.260
comes to visit our station. And we shot that

01:26:56.260 --> 01:27:00.000
in the second season and or the third season.

01:27:00.220 --> 01:27:04.220
And that was a blast. He's a he's a great. He's

01:27:04.220 --> 01:27:06.579
a great guy to have on as a guest. Yeah, I've

01:27:06.579 --> 01:27:09.920
tried, sadly. Yeah, there's a lot of these people.

01:27:10.119 --> 01:27:13.699
There's the person between you and them. I haven't

01:27:13.699 --> 01:27:14.859
had very much. I'm just going to leave it there.

01:27:14.920 --> 01:27:16.479
I haven't had very much. And it was like over

01:27:16.479 --> 01:27:20.720
a three -year period this happened. So, Stipe,

01:27:20.720 --> 01:27:22.479
if you're listening, if you yourself want to

01:27:22.479 --> 01:27:25.560
come on, the invitation is there. But, you know,

01:27:25.579 --> 01:27:30.270
sadly, I tried and tried and tried. I'm a martial

01:27:30.270 --> 01:27:33.210
artist myself, so I watched him go all the way

01:27:33.210 --> 01:27:37.630
up the ladder. He's amazing. I can see the video

01:27:37.630 --> 01:27:39.729
of him scrubbing the toilets and the humility

01:27:39.729 --> 01:27:42.550
it takes to be at an absolute pinnacle in one

01:27:42.550 --> 01:27:44.850
thing and have the humility to be a probie in

01:27:44.850 --> 01:27:48.289
another area where you're actually service. I

01:27:48.289 --> 01:27:53.270
think he's phenomenal. He was just a charming,

01:27:53.329 --> 01:27:56.500
nice fellow. We had one incident where... We

01:27:56.500 --> 01:28:01.979
were shooting a scene where he punches Gabe Hogan,

01:28:02.020 --> 01:28:04.260
who plays the firefighter, Ike Crystal, and he

01:28:04.260 --> 01:28:06.939
punches him. And whatever, we had set it up so

01:28:06.939 --> 01:28:08.579
he wouldn't really punch him, you know, the fake

01:28:08.579 --> 01:28:11.340
punch and whatever. And we're shooting the scene

01:28:11.340 --> 01:28:17.779
and he goes to swing at Gabe and he caught him.

01:28:18.539 --> 01:28:21.939
And Gabe goes down, you know, because Stipe's

01:28:21.939 --> 01:28:24.039
hands are like the size of my head, like when

01:28:24.039 --> 01:28:26.569
you see them, you know. And he just caught him

01:28:26.569 --> 01:28:28.430
with a finger, like across the face or whatever.

01:28:28.529 --> 01:28:30.850
And Gabe went down like a ton of bricks. And

01:28:30.850 --> 01:28:32.630
Steve was like, oh, my God. And we have it on

01:28:32.630 --> 01:28:34.569
camera. He's like, oh, my God. I hit him. I'm

01:28:34.569 --> 01:28:36.630
so sorry. I hit him. And he felt so terrible.

01:28:37.770 --> 01:28:39.970
And Gabe was fine. But it was like this moment

01:28:39.970 --> 01:28:43.189
of like, oh, my God. His life flashed in front

01:28:43.189 --> 01:28:46.810
of his eyes as Stipe's fist is coming at him

01:28:46.810 --> 01:28:51.090
and grazes his face. That was great. That was

01:28:51.090 --> 01:28:52.930
a great moment. And it was fun. It was fun to

01:28:52.930 --> 01:28:55.789
have Stipe on. I'll see. I mean, I got, you know,

01:28:55.829 --> 01:28:57.829
I don't know. I don't know what kind of ends

01:28:57.829 --> 01:28:59.430
I have with steep anymore. I'll put in a good

01:28:59.430 --> 01:29:01.529
word for you, man. That'd be great. Like I said,

01:29:01.529 --> 01:29:03.390
the invitation has been there for a long time,

01:29:03.390 --> 01:29:06.869
but yeah, I know, I know the first, the initial

01:29:06.869 --> 01:29:09.329
time he was working with someone doing who they

01:29:09.329 --> 01:29:10.930
were doing all this professional stuff. And I

01:29:10.930 --> 01:29:12.529
know they parted ways and there was an issue

01:29:12.529 --> 01:29:15.770
with lack of communication. So it, he may never

01:29:15.770 --> 01:29:18.409
have heard the invitation himself. So yes, that

01:29:18.409 --> 01:29:20.069
would be phenomenal if you were able to help.

01:29:20.109 --> 01:29:23.000
Thank you. Okay. Okay. See what I can do. Brilliant.

01:29:23.060 --> 01:29:25.079
All right. Well, then the last question before

01:29:25.079 --> 01:29:28.800
we make sure everyone knows where to find you,

01:29:28.840 --> 01:29:30.659
what do you do to decompress when you're not,

01:29:30.659 --> 01:29:32.899
you know, on stage and doing all these films

01:29:32.899 --> 01:29:36.520
and shows? It's funny. I've just had this argument

01:29:36.520 --> 01:29:41.479
with my kids. My kids are, they age, they range

01:29:41.479 --> 01:29:45.819
from like age 15 to 20 right now. And they've

01:29:45.819 --> 01:29:49.140
asked me that question because they, Because,

01:29:49.180 --> 01:29:51.760
I don't know, I just work, you know, like over

01:29:51.760 --> 01:29:54.359
the last few days. Like we went to the East Coast

01:29:54.359 --> 01:29:57.060
for the holidays and they went skiing and stuff.

01:29:57.119 --> 01:29:59.340
And while they went skiing, I would sit in the

01:29:59.340 --> 01:30:02.319
lounge or whatever or at home and I would just

01:30:02.319 --> 01:30:05.939
be working and editing and whatever. But, I don't

01:30:05.939 --> 01:30:08.500
know, I just like to hang out with my family.

01:30:08.579 --> 01:30:10.340
You know, that's probably the biggest thing.

01:30:10.520 --> 01:30:12.819
You know, we watch movies or we go, you know,

01:30:12.840 --> 01:30:15.100
whatever, hiking and that kind of stuff. You

01:30:15.100 --> 01:30:17.729
know, it's like. Whatever time I could spend

01:30:17.729 --> 01:30:20.810
with the family, that's really my decompression

01:30:20.810 --> 01:30:24.989
time. I love to watch movies and TV, but then

01:30:24.989 --> 01:30:26.850
sometimes I feel like I'm doing it because of

01:30:26.850 --> 01:30:29.890
work. I feel like I'm researching or whatever

01:30:29.890 --> 01:30:32.810
it is. Sometimes it doesn't quite work out, but

01:30:32.810 --> 01:30:35.829
just hanging out with the family is really my

01:30:35.829 --> 01:30:40.140
decompression time. Beautiful. The entire four

01:30:40.140 --> 01:30:44.100
series now are in Netflix. So that's where they

01:30:44.100 --> 01:30:46.319
can find Tacoma FD. Where are the best places

01:30:46.319 --> 01:30:48.960
for people to find all your other work and reach

01:30:48.960 --> 01:30:50.880
out to you, whether it's social media or any

01:30:50.880 --> 01:30:54.880
other area? Yeah, I mean, yeah, Netflix, you

01:30:54.880 --> 01:30:56.699
can just stream like crazy if you want to. That's

01:30:56.699 --> 01:30:58.739
great. And then, yeah, our latest movie is on

01:30:58.739 --> 01:31:02.000
Hulu, Quasi. That's a broken lizard movie about

01:31:02.000 --> 01:31:07.479
Quasimodo. And then I think all the other ones

01:31:07.479 --> 01:31:09.479
are, you know, on the basic streamers and stuff,

01:31:09.560 --> 01:31:11.500
Super Troopers and Beer Fest and Club Dread.

01:31:11.539 --> 01:31:13.840
And people can check that stuff out. Slammin'

01:31:13.840 --> 01:31:17.960
Salmon, another movie we made. And then for me,

01:31:18.100 --> 01:31:21.340
I'm at Heffernan Rules. I think on pretty much

01:31:21.340 --> 01:31:23.880
everything. Heffernan Rules on Twitter, Heffernan

01:31:23.880 --> 01:31:27.539
Rules on Instagram. You know, we have Lemmy Heffernan

01:31:27.539 --> 01:31:32.260
as our YouTube page. But I think those are, you

01:31:32.260 --> 01:31:34.300
know, those are the handles that people. People

01:31:34.300 --> 01:31:36.239
can hit me on it. I'm not a great social media

01:31:36.239 --> 01:31:39.140
guy. Are you a good social media guy? I repost

01:31:39.140 --> 01:31:41.699
a lot of videos of either first responder stuff

01:31:41.699 --> 01:31:44.420
or kindness and compassion. I try and put a lot

01:31:44.420 --> 01:31:46.819
of the good stuff out there. Me personally, I

01:31:46.819 --> 01:31:49.579
don't look at social media apart from to find

01:31:49.579 --> 01:31:52.600
those videos. So I would say, you know, outwardly,

01:31:52.600 --> 01:31:55.319
yes, but inwardly, no, because I'm fully aware

01:31:55.319 --> 01:31:57.479
of how those things could just suck you in. So

01:31:57.479 --> 01:31:59.640
I try and leave my phone as far away from me

01:31:59.640 --> 01:32:02.920
as I can. I feel like I could be better at whatever.

01:32:03.900 --> 01:32:05.760
but sometimes we get some people to help us out

01:32:05.760 --> 01:32:09.720
with that shit. Some young kid who knows what

01:32:09.720 --> 01:32:11.939
he's doing. Yeah, exactly. Understands the algorithms

01:32:11.939 --> 01:32:13.859
and content and all those other words that I

01:32:13.859 --> 01:32:16.479
have no idea what they mean. Well, Kevin, I want

01:32:16.479 --> 01:32:18.039
to thank you so much. Firstly, for, you know,

01:32:18.060 --> 01:32:20.180
just, just coming on full stop. But secondly,

01:32:20.180 --> 01:32:23.520
again, for this unique perspective that you have,

01:32:23.579 --> 01:32:26.819
I mean, to do the comedy, you know, film when

01:32:26.819 --> 01:32:28.560
it came to law enforcement, and now you're doing

01:32:28.560 --> 01:32:31.439
the show coming from the firefighter perspective.

01:32:32.600 --> 01:32:34.800
These are all, as I said, firehouse favorites,

01:32:34.899 --> 01:32:36.739
hands down. I'm sure it's the same with law enforcement.

01:32:36.819 --> 01:32:41.279
But they are, as you said, also humanizing the

01:32:41.279 --> 01:32:43.220
men and women in uniform because we do become

01:32:43.220 --> 01:32:45.939
a little two -dimensional, not only to the public,

01:32:46.060 --> 01:32:48.399
but to ourselves as well. So I want to thank

01:32:48.399 --> 01:32:50.180
you so much, not only for your work and what

01:32:50.180 --> 01:32:52.020
you've done for our professions, but also for

01:32:52.020 --> 01:32:53.659
coming on the Behind the Shield podcast today.

01:32:54.819 --> 01:32:58.520
Thanks, Ben. I mean, that's great. And congratulations.

01:32:59.319 --> 01:33:01.260
you know, getting that message out, you know,

01:33:01.279 --> 01:33:02.739
I think that's an important message that you're

01:33:02.739 --> 01:33:04.779
doing there. So, but thank you. I mean, I, you

01:33:04.779 --> 01:33:06.260
know, we like to think of ourselves as court

01:33:06.260 --> 01:33:08.859
jesters. So, you know, you know, we just kind

01:33:08.859 --> 01:33:12.239
of try to make people laugh, you know? So thanks

01:33:12.239 --> 01:33:12.840
for having me on.