What's up, everybody? I'm Matt Major from Growth
Mode Content. I'm Mike Brindisi. We're here with
Good News Yark. We're back with some really fun
adventures. Yeah. Live from the great Empire
State. Yeah, it's Wednesday. We got a guest coming
in today. Yeah. Brian Anke, maybe. Brian Anke,
I think I'm saying it correctly. I should know
this. He's a comedian shooting a special in Syracuse.
So we're going to talk to him about that. I did
a couple shows with him in the past through Homebrewed
Comedy. Circuit that's Mike Peters gig. He runs
a hell of a show. Yeah, Mike's a funny guy. Mike's
a funny guy. He's man. He's a hustler Yeah, he
started homebrewed comedy with I don't know 10
15 of us and now he's got a hundred guys on the
roster and he just is he Pop up comedy shows
and you've been to a couple doesn't make breweries.
He doesn't Bars. Yeah, I came to one at a VF
W's where they held the show in the actual room
around the tank I was on that show with Phil
Probably the hottest and most uncomfortable room
you could ever hold in a venue. It was so humid
and smelled like yeasty beer. Whose idea was
that? I know. It was so humid and it smelled
like a rugby team had just got done celebrating
in there. It was just a yeasty fucking hell.
I don't know. Whatever. Anyway. But that's in
the past. Let's talk about today. You want to
hear something wild? Yeah. Yeah. I got this letter
in the mail. Oh, okay. In the mail. Oh, that's
what that is. Not handwritten. Typed, I guess.
Printed. Sure. This is wild. Jesus. Now you got
me. This is not typically the thing that we'd
go into on this show, but I found it so amusing
that I just talked about it. We just have to
address it? The fact that anyone sends you a
letter in the mail should be concerning. Sure.
I feel like the postal service... If they see
someone other than Christmas time, mailing a
large number of letters to local residents, some
sort of alarm should go off. Look into this dude.
So there's a local guy mailing letters to local
residents. Red flag one. A fella who I don't
know and I've never met, never heard of. And
the return address is his apartment in Syracuse.
And he sent me this three page... Fun little
letter and it's wild Okay, you've talked this
up. I'm you've got me hooked apparently Parts
of our government. Oh boy are embarking on a
global revolution That's intended to the result
in a planetary dictatorship known as the New
World Order order The NWOs coming back are yes,
Hogan Xbox all the guys Bro, what if this was
just a huge wrestling work? Is this real? What
if that... but... I think this gentleman is concerned
about the other NWO. Dude, wait a minute. What
if it was? Let's just make it a work. Fuck it.
Bring back the whole... Bring back the whole...
to Syracuse. Unfortunately, it's not. That would
be way too much fun. I'm not gonna read you this
whole letter. It's bat shit. This is crazy, dude.
I don't like to make fun of folks that clearly
have issues, but I'm gonna today. That's great.
Through influence mapping, the CIA identifies
intellectuals, teachers, artists, social workers.
I guess we're safe. Other members of society
capable of mobilizing public opinion in ways
that might threaten their evil system. Oh my
God. Why are we here? We gotta hunker down, bruh.
Is this what Infowars has been reduced to? Infowars.
They had a powerful network, and they went out
of business, and now we got people sending letters.
This is what happens when you legalize marijuana.
This is the downside. I tried to find downsides
to legalizing drugs. This is what happens when
you don't use marijuana. That's true. This fella
goes on... I can't even read all this nonsense.
But the best part, in my opinion, is page two.
Okay. We have more than one page. Oh my God.
Page two is a survey. Oh my goodness. Yeah. And
we'll take the survey together here, Mike. Yes.
But I got to give you the background. Okay. He
defines two terms that are important to understanding
this survey. The first one is called psychic
harassment. This is wild. Psychic harassment
occurs when someone uses psychic processes to
experience, observe, control, or punish. someone
by trespassing on that person's body, brain,
or aura. Aura. Isn't that called? There's more.
The R word? There's a second term called gang
stalking. Whoa. That sounds dangerous. Sexy too.
Gang stalking occurs when a group of two or more
persons invade another person's life relentlessly
24 -7. Using electronic or psychic means to including
voice to skull transmissions. Oh, we're skipping
earpieces. We're going right to the skull. Directed
energy weapons. Oh. And lies, rumors, or slander,
with the goal of destroying a person's quality
of life over time. For the purpose of this survey,
I'll label psychic harassment and gang stalking
both as psychic harassment. So all those times
you and Danny interrupted me taking a dump with
a remote control car and a super soaker That
was gang stalking my friend. No, that was just
typical hazing. Oh, all right. This requires
a directed energy so now Hold on, you got to
hit the, you know what? I will read you the survey
mic. I was going to say. You answer the survey.
I love surveys. By the way, I have this thing,
my family thinks I'm weird. I love taking surveys.
Like when someone's in, if you could stay on
the line after the call and take a survey, I
don't know why. I love surveys. This is a great
one because it's all yes or no questions with
no option for comment or any nuance whatsoever.
Question one. Do you think America has a problem
with psychic harassment? Yes or no? Sure. Yeah,
of course. Do you think Syracuse, apparently
not part of America, has a problem with psychic
harassment? Syracuse is in America, so just stay
consistent. I'm gonna go with, yeah, yeah. Do
you have a problem with psychic harassment? I
don't. I don't mind it. I feel like it's harmless.
Fair. Yeah. Do you know anyone who has a problem
with psychic harassment? I gotta call a few friends.
I would say probably the author of this letter,
Michael. The author of the letter would be...
Clearly someone who is a strong candidate unless
he's for it. Maybe I didn't maybe I haven't understood
the letter I don't know didn't actually read
at all. Would you like the mayor to be made aware
of this problem? Absolutely Not unless it's gonna
be televised if it's gonna be like in a board
meeting. They're like, all right We're gonna
fix the potholes on Salina Street. But first
we got a letter from John F crazy. All right.
Here's the final question now this one They did
give us a third option. Okay for this question
Your option is yes, no, or undecided. Okay. You
can think about this one. They really don't want
you to hard no on this one. Okay. I'm very excited.
If a group of citizens dedicated to ending this
evil system were formed, would you join it? I
would. Oh, wow. I'm in. Sign me up. If yes, put
your first name and telephone number on this
page. Easy there, pal. I'm not writing any of
that. So how do I get the results? Hold on. There's
one more, a couple more notes on this survey.
The next sentence, which seems misplaced in this
whole document, but it says, I've sent 7 ,000
of these letters to random addresses. I will
not be contacting you again. Now, if this was
me, that would be the opening line, but - Wow.
End of page two. And then the last line on this
survey page here, please slip this page into
an envelope and mail it to this guy at his apartment
in Syracuse. No. The results of this survey will
be forwarded to the mayor. I'm sure he's gonna
love this. Should we book the mayor and see if
he believes that psychic harassment and directed
energy weapons are hurting his aura? Let's book
the mayor and blindside him with it. Don't give
him anywhere. He sits down, he thinks we're gonna
talk about all the things, and we're gonna be
like, we're here to talk about, he must know.
I bet he's actually probably got a secret commission
directed at protecting your aura. I'm assuming
he's going... I don't know if there's a secret
office under City Hall. Uh -huh. Where they're
protected from directed energy weapons. Yeah.
And they can meet in safety. It's amazing. And
discover... You know, I'm more amazed that this
guy... Weapons. ...was able to talk to people
in the CIA to confirm that this was going on.
Because I'm sure the CIA, they're very open to
talking about this stuff. You better be looking
for him. I bet this is a fake name. It's actually
a... What is going on? I don't know. Who knows?
There's another page that I'm not even getting
into. Okay. Because it goes on to a completely
different topic. What's the topic? Witchcraft.
Yes! Let's hit it all. Alright, fuck it. Page
three. Witchcraft is as native to America as
Americans are. This guy must be from Salem. I
was gonna say... Ever since America has been
a nation, the military, the government, the police,
and private citizens have used witchcraft. That's
true. To punish or control their peers. Yep.
How come I didn't? Nobody taught me that. I do
have a Tom Brady voodoo doll. I still have. This
is what I think of this guy. This is, come on.
To be fair, I did use witchcraft to incant Danny
to come work for us. It worked. We love you.
I've got a question. Are you still? Go ahead.
Go ahead. It's just sheer math. So if he sent
seven thousand letters out. OK. And you said
these weren't hand delivered. These were mail.
How much do stamps go for these days? That means
he invested in this. And it is postmarked from
Syracuse. So this is those things where it's
like somebody in Arizona sent a scam out to.
This person's address is legitimately the address
that this shit came from, which makes it more
crazy. Yeah. And honestly, I almost respect the
guy that he believes in this so much that he
was willing to spend that kind of money to mail
out $7 ,000. It's really putting your money where
you're... So how much is a stamp? Danny, do you
know how much is a stamp these days? Or, Matt,
do you? No idea. What did he use? I don't even
know. He used one of these Forever stamps, so
technically you can say they were cheaper, but...
Seven thousand times let me do the math not let's
say let's say they're five cent stamps aren't
they way more than that now They're they're like
50 cents. Okay, all right As of January 2025
the cost of a forever stamp is 73 cents. Oh,
yeah. Hold on big money here Why can't I find
the clear button? Okay, here we go. So seven
thousand times point seven three There's no fuck
how much five thousand five thousand dollars
plus printing costs because he had to buy his
ink and toner I Mean if it's true, then again,
I feel like the chances of me randomly getting
one Lead us to believe that it could be true
this guy send that many should we call this?
No, no the closing paragraph of this letter here
after you've read this letter you might say to
yourself I believe what this guy is saying. What
can I do about it? That's exactly what we said.
He nailed it. Yeah, absolutely what we're saying.
This has a watchdog committee to overwatch the
people who invent people control. You can write
two brief letters, one to Jack Reed, chairman
of the U .S. Senate Armed Services Committee.
He's doing the work. Gives his address in D .C.
Write him a brief note appraising him of your
fears. Oh, man, I bet. Yeah. The staffers in
some of those congressional offices. Oh, those
poor bastards. They have to do this every day.
This is their regular job, what we're doing.
Ask somebody else, who else are we supposed to
write to here? The guy's done the work. Keep
an eye on these organizations while they're developing
people control technology. I'm sending 10 ,000
of these letters to the Syracuse community. The
other page, you said 7 ,000. There's another,
no, that's on top of the 7th. So now he's going
to invest another... He's in, he's in for over
10 grand at this point. This guy's dedicated.
Ten thousand letters to these folks might persuade
them to do the Overwatch on these research and
development organizations. Thank you for your
time. Okul Nutjab. Buddy, I don't know where
to f - Part of me really wants to give him credit
for having the conviction. Yeah, dude. In doing
the work. Yes, like I said. This is beyond Wacko
who just posts on Facebook all day long. That's
true. At the same time, the fact that you're
willing to put that much effort into this is
concerning. It is concerning. Because you're
sending thousands of people in your community
letters about witchcraft. Yeah, you're also putting
yourself on the map as a fucking sicko. I'm gonna
go out on a limb and say that anybody who knows
him probably had a good idea before this letter.
Yeah. I wanna know what his apartment looks like.
I don't. Dude... My favorite part of that letter
is... I know. You're probably sitting there thinking,
oh, God, what are we going to do? Right. Nailed
it. The sad part is there's probably an elderly
man or woman that's reading that and going through
unnecessary strife over this, you know, that
maybe believe this. But then again, who's to
say this guy isn't wrong? And we look like assholes
right now. Right. You know what I mean? I think
it's all up to the mayor to save us now. Listen.
I really hope that he acts on the results. This
guy better get with it, Mr. Mayor. We're talking
to you. Hold up. Do you have a problem? I love
it. I know. So what happens if you say no? Like,
I don't have a... I'm fine. Cool, man. Yeah,
all the surveys come back and nobody gives a
shit. Yeah. That's the key. Well, hey, democratically,
I guess we shouldn't care. So he's, oh, this
is unbelievable. All 7 ,000 letters are coming...
They don't care. They don't care. Nobody cares.
Good news, folks. We're all on board. Good news.
There it is. There's the tie -in. Good news,
everybody. No one cares. I think we're going
to be all right. Let's get our skulls. Favorite
part of the survey is the fact that if you do
intend to return it, that's on your own dime.
That's right. There's no self -addressed state
envelope. No website that you could easily submit
your results to. No text me with your answers.
You literally also have to be psychotic enough
to put this person's address on a letter and
walk it down to the post office. How did he get
your address in public? That's a great fucking
question. Was it your name? My name. Oh, cool.
I don't know if I like that. Not my wife. It
does have the plus four, which leads me to believe
there's a million databases you can buy. Any
marketing company, if you want to do mailers,
you could buy that. This guy's got cash. The
fact that he has all that also alludes to the
fact that he may have bought one of those marketing
lists for additional money. This guy's got capital.
It's Jeff. Or it is all just witchcraft. Maybe
the witches made the letters appear at the post
office. Dude, I don't know. This is how we've
gotten to where we are, right? Just lots of conspiracies.
And look. It would be ignorant or reckless for
me to sit here and say all conspiracies are fake.
Because just like a conspiracy, how can I prove
that all conspiracies are fake? This one's deep.
It's on paper. It's detailed. It is on paper.
In writings. I just like to know what he's doing
with the cert. What are the two choices based
on the survey? Like, alright if I get 70 % that...
that they all say this. He's gonna share the
results with the mayor. Oh, that's gonna be a
riveting meeting. The mayor must save our auras.
Yeah, my aura has been fucked for weeks. And
you know what? I know he doesn't have much time
left in office. Ben Walsh, if there was ever
a man for the job to save our auras, he could
do it. Save our auras. Let's get t -shirts made.
Yeah. Unbelievable. Dude, I'll be honest. When
you were like, I got this crazy letter. We're
on the air. I'm like, okay, he's talking it up.
That is legit crazy. Sorry. I wonder if there's
any sort of protective headgear we could wear
to protect us from these skull weapons or the
directed energy weapons. Do you think they have
oral blockers on Amazon? I bet something with
foil might work. Foil. Tin foil, like a hat.
Yeah. That might work. That might be the way
to go. Tin foil hat. Directed energy weapons.
Some other hats. Friggin' laser beams. Friggin'
laser beams. Oh, man. That's amazing. Good times.
Is your wife scared? You never know what you're
going to find on Good News York. Was Kristen
like, ah? No, all she said is, do you want me
to throw that in the trash? No, I have to bring
this to the office, honey. Yeah. This is breaking
news. This is actually material. That everyone
needs to hear. That guy's great. He is. Look.
Pure entertainment. You want to talk about an
industrious New York entrepreneur? This fella
is doing it, man. And? You always say, what's
the key of entrepreneurship? One of the keys
is stop saying, yes, but stop saying and do it
instead of sitting there and talking about it,
do something. This guy took action. It's an entrepreneurial
mindset. Maybe he's actually a fan. Maybe I should
be worried. Oh, maybe you have a stalker, a psycholot
or a gang stalker. Luckily we got - If there's
more than one of them, if it's him and another
person, it's a gang stalker. I'm gonna have to
get security like Glenn Beck, aren't I? Oh, nice.
That'd be cool, man, if you walked around with
security. I was thinking about that. That'd be
sick. Well, we have Abel, who works for us. He's
built like a brick shithouse. He really could
do some damage. He's a big boy. Every time we
have a guy, Abel, that works here, and anytime
we have a guest on and he walks in, they're always
like, whoa, who called the bouncer? So we have
a kind of an in -house. It's true. But we don't
know how good he is at aura blocking. Yeah, that's...
He's from Cuba. I wonder if there's an aura meter.
Is there some sort of device? Like Egon Spangler
used to have on the EKG meter? He's got these
directed energy. You gotta be able to detect
that, right? Can we put some sort of energy weapon
alarm system? You bring up a good point. Because
if someone's gonna hack your aura or whatever
he claimed they could, right? You have to be
able to find the aura and have a meter, so there
must be something. They gotta find the meter.
You gotta find the aura to attack it, yeah. We
need to get Senator Schumer on this and direct
the military immediately. Let's go. Put together.
Mobilize. Or he actually might be in on it, though.
I think that might be what this fella claims.
I'm not gonna say the guy's name on the air.
Maybe we shouldn't reach out to the senator.
I wish I could say his name on the air, because
he just sounds like a psycho. Right? That's a
name I haven't heard in a movie. It's like a
shady figure from history sort of name. It is,
and it would be so funny, but we're not gonna
share it, because we're good people, and let's
not. open that can of worms. We're into promoting
things, but maybe not that. We gotta draw the
line. Good news, York. What are we doing? It
is, man. In other good news, our good friend,
a number of our good friends have been coming
into the studio recording more of the episodes
of their podcast. Yeah. Here at Growth Mode Content,
incredible local businesses. Yeah. One of the
things that... I feel like we continue. I mean,
we've said it from the beginning is the second
we started working with these people, but the
more that we record with these people, the more
that we do, we keep saying it over and over again
is so many of these folks are without insulting
them, surprisingly interesting, surprising. And
I don't, and that's not a reflection on the person.
It's really more of their industry. They're in
these very kind of common everyday industries
that you see and you go about and you're like,
Oh, why would anybody sit around and hear about
that? And then they start talking about their
expertise and their industry and their business
and everything that's happening. And we're all
just enthralled. It's crazy. And it's such a
cool thing. And they're seeing it work. That's
the best part. That is the best part. From a
business standpoint, in business, return on investment,
sometimes it takes months, years, depending on
what you're involved in. We all knew the potential
that this had and we knew, okay, we'll see results
at some point. We were like a week or two in
and one of our clients wrote us an email showing
us a message from someone who she did business
with a pretty big deal. And it was because this
person saw her podcast and we're like, this is
what we wanted. And it's just, it's amazing.
And when you say surprisingly interesting to
piggyback off that, you know, as the producer,
As one of the producers, you know, my job is
to, if I feel like the ship is sinking or maybe
they're like, the content's not there, I've got
to help provide... As they're recording. Yeah,
as they're recording and get them... I haven't
had to do that. Yeah. Because, as you said...
You haven't had to jump in and save anybody.
No, I haven't had to jump in and save anybody
because... And this is what we sold in the beginning,
which was, okay, you own a pest business, you
own a soda business. And a lot of their questions,
well, how are we going to make that interesting?
And then during the meeting, as we're talking
about their podcast, they're telling these stories.
And we're like, that, just talk about that. And
it's been great, man. Yeah. Kudos to you for
this. You thought of this. It's really cool.
Growth mode content has become an incredible
resource. It's growing rapidly. Yeah. We're investing
in new equipment and more studios. Every day.
And constantly honing our craft. For sure. Adding
more people to the team. We've got some incredible.
videographer talent joining us and we'll bring
her in person. I don't want to... Yeah, yeah.
She's awesome. I want you to meet her in person
rather than just me talk about her. And she writes
really great letters. Great letter writer, I
will say. But long story short, we've got so
many cool things happening and we're literally
only getting started. The long -term plans are
huge and it's so much fun because we get to help.
these incredible local businesses and great people
tell their story and just grow what they're already
doing, which is awesome. What's crazy about it
is I knew them succeeding would make us feel
good, but I guess I just didn't know how good.
After that first email we got, and then you come
in every day and you're like, holy cow, so -and
-so has 10 ,000 views on this social media. I
find myself like genuinely feeling like it happened
to me because we're all well people don't understand
It's like you're not coming in and we're like,
how you doing sit down and we hit record This
is a pre -production meeting and it's a team
effort. So it's hard to make this stuff Yeah,
and so when they get results we get results and
no, I agree It's like Vidal Sassoon if you don't
look good. We don't look good. I do remember
that But yeah, I'm super pumped about that man.
And that the only other thing is too you got
We have some of these people who they come in
there. We've never done a podcast. I'm a little
nervous We started recording. They're actually
very natural We had a client come back for us
in a second And then we had a that same person
come back for a second episode that they shot
yesterday They were even better. Yeah, and I
was like what? How did you I thought you this
wasn't something you were good at? It's been
great. It's so much fun and I come from a long
history in the technology field and our customers
are always appreciative of what we do and how
we help them. But it's a necessity, right? You
saved them out of trouble they wish they didn't
have to begin with, or sometimes you prevented
them from that trouble to begin with and they're
appreciative for that. But it's a whole different
feeling and it's a whole different. type of appreciation.
That's a good point. When these folks come to
us and talk about how we're actually making them
more money and how we're helping them genuinely
grow their business in these different ways,
which is something I've never experienced. Yeah.
And I'll tell you what, it's cool and it's fun.
Like I said, we've always been able to demonstrate
our benefit. But it's always been operational.
We keep you running with this content business.
We're helping people genuinely make more money
and get more clients and get more exposure and
they're understandably more excited about it.
And it's just such a cool thing. You just hit
on something that I never thought of from your
lens. Like you said, you've always dealt with
people are calling you unhappy. They have problems
and you're going to fix that, which is obviously
rewarding. This is a rare service and a rare
occurrence for you. Where these people are coming
to you, they don't have a problem. They just
want to expand on what's good. They got something
good and they want to throw some gas on the fire.
That is cool angle. It's a fun thing as an entrepreneur
and I've been involved in different businesses.
I will no doubt be involved in many other businesses.
OnlyFans. Link in the comments. But it's just
fun to experience these different things and
learn these different things about these different
types of businesses because it certainly hasn't
been easy. Yeah. We've been working like crazy
to iron out the kinks and effectively launch
what has really become a startup. Yeah. And even
though it's a division of a well -established
company. Growthmodecontent .com by the way. That's
it. Yeah, that is another part of it that I thought
of yesterday. We were recording a client and
I remember sitting there thinking, I'm getting
paid for this, but I'm also getting an education.
Yeah. And I'm not even kidding you. I've learned
so much about pest control, the housing market,
in the commercial sector. You should write to
them and tell them they owe you a refund. Yeah,
right? That's the part of the job I never thought
of. Yeah. That I was like, I'm gonna learn shit
that I would never learn or think to learn. So
like now, hell, I could be a realtor who can
kill cockroaches and make good soda. I feel like
those would all be great skills to combine. Exactly.
See? It's like a Voltron. A Voltron of skills.
Anyway, we have a guest coming on. Brian is here.
Let's take a quick break and we will bring in
the guest. I was like, I've done shows with him.
He's a great guy. I think his name is Brian Anke.
We'll be right back with Brian Anke coming up
next. Okay, welcome back to Good News York. Mike
Bernisi here with a friend of mine, Brian Anke,
comedian extraordinaire. We've done shows together.
Matt had the dip out, he had a doctor's appointment.
I could've told him, you got rashy thighs, bro.
That's what it is, you don't need a doctor. But
anyway, Brian is here, who is obviously a stand
-up comedian, but also recording your first special?
Second. Second special in Syracuse, April 12th,
at the, make sure I'm saying this right, the
McCarthy Mercantile. McCarthy Mercantile. McCarthy
Mercantile, April 12th, Brian Ankt shooting.
I'm so glad you're here, buddy. Thanks for having
me. I'm so glad you made it here. I know. I got
the schedule wrong and rushed over here, got
here when you messaged me. I was in bed and then
got here 25 minutes later. Dude, let me tell
you something. You picked the right show to be
late for because I have ADHD, so I have terrible
time management. I'm also a comedian, so I get
it. Look, it... You're here, and that's all that
matters. What's funny, because I have three,
and my wife makes fun of me all the time, I have
three planners, because I try to organize, and
I just put you in wrong. I know. And I would
have had it right. But recently, ADHD, I just
got back on, are you a medicated ADHD? Yes, I
am. Ritalin. I recently got back on medication
when I was younger, because we're about the same
age. They were like, he's crazy, just give him
a pile of pills. That's right. And we were just
zombies through high school. And so I was so
turned off from it and I was like, I shouldn't
do this again. And then they were like, we can
control the dosage and make it smaller. Oh, the
control thing. Yeah. So we have been back on
that, but in the past like month, my meds have
been like, I get it. So I booked a client yesterday.
You'll get this. So I don't, for some reason,
when March and April come around the three and
four really get me. So I was booking our clients,
they were supposed to be booked in March, and
I was booking them in April on the calendar.
And I had to sheepishly write them back and be
like, so I screwed up and booked you in April.
It's super embarrassing. Oh, it's super, and
the other hard thing too is I think there is
a, everything lives on a spectrum now, so there
are people who have organizational issues and
all that stuff, but they also become the people
who are like, I was a jerk to you because of
my ADHD. Like, no, some of us are really... And
so that's why, like, the name of the special
is called Letters Are Hard, because I'm so wildly
dyslexic that it, like, to the point where I
was doing a show with a buddy of mine, I'm a
New York, from Rochester originally, but they
got my chops in New York City. I was hanging
out with a buddy of mine, Mikey Mays. We were
doing a show and we were starving. And i was
like oh let's go get something to eat and i look
up and there's a neon light and i go oh they
got burgers there sure and he goes. What and
then I look back and it says drugs No, I know
the wires cross and it's it's very funny. Yeah,
it definitely affects scheduling it affects Everything
it's so much and it's to the point task paralysis
task paralysis But as well as like when you're
having a conversation This is gonna be a wonderful
episode because it's two two men who really just
want to get out what they said Yes, so bad so
they don't forget it. We're so nervous. We're
gonna forget it I know literally write stuff
down and like Look at us! I'll even be talking
with my wife and she's like, what are you doing?
And I'm like, I got something I gotta mention
to you in a second. Dude, if I lose my phone,
it has nothing to do with phone numbers. Like,
I follow this calendar every day, and my wife
makes fun of me because it's like, clip toenails,
breathe. Like, I have to see it, and I even have
another calendar, we call the ADHD calendar,
on the side of the fridge, and that's because,
and see if you understand this, oh, I feel like
I have a brother in here. I know. So when I get
to the... So let's say you book a show on, I
don't know, we'll just say April 12th. Look at
that. So you get to the end of March, right?
And you're like, I've got three weeks till my
show. And then you realize when the calendar
turns, oh my god, I have one week. So I have
to have the calendar to see like you're getting
near the end of the month. And look, April's
right there. And I feel so embarrassed. No, this
was a very good, the show itself was a very good
experiment. And actually, we were going to do
it at the end of March. And I remember saying,
Hey, can we do April? Because I know that I need
an extra two weeks. I know that this is, it's
going to take me two weeks to really get in the
gears here and all this stuff. And that's a big
part of it. If you at home have mental struggles,
it's okay to ask for the worst comes to worst.
They go, Hey, we can't do that. But in my situation
and so many other situations, They go, yeah,
that works. Yes. Meanwhile, you were like, if
I ask for it, they're going to hate me. Set my
house on fire. They're going to kill me. And
yeah, and just give you myself. But this has
definitely been a structure. OK, we have the
podcast on not Thursday, Wednesday, and we will
have I have the next promo thing that we're doing
next week and just really structuring it all
out, putting it all in front of me. And then
at my desk, there's a whiteboard and it has clip
your toenails talking about And then there's
the weekly one, and then the daily one. And so
I just walk around with, and people are like,
are you getting your doctorate? Are you studying?
I'm like, me just getting through the day. No,
this is me living, trying to make it to 5 PM.
The fact that I'm here right now all made it
happen. That's right. Dude, I went back to college,
and the only hit me, my first class started,
and I went, oh, I have to write papers? I literally,
I can't. I can. But how do I talk texted all
of my papers and then what I would do is email
it to myself, put it into Microsoft Word, fix
all the things and then submit it. And I remember
it was like a couple of weeks in and I had this
tremendous guilt like I was cheating. And I told
my professor, I was like, listen, I've been talk
texting and she's, that's brilliant. So you're
managing your ADHD. Are those your thoughts?
I'm like, yeah, a lot of them. Let's just talk
to tech Stephen Hawking. You're fine. If it's
working. If it's working. So it was unnecessary
pressure. Have you ever, I put a piece of pizza
in the junk drawer once. So I was eating a piece
of pizza and I had to get a screwdriver and I
went out and I handed the screw, and when I came
back, something happened to where I put the pizza
in the drawer and then walked away with the screwdriver
and when I was about to bite the screwdriver,
and that is not a joke. That's it when people
are like oh, sorry. I didn't reply to your email
ADHD, and I'm like that's fucking not ADHD That's
the thing that I hate it, but I'm it's I think
you know I'm sure people who have depression
there, and they feel similar like yes, I'm in
such a bad mood depression Everything's going
great for me, and I still have a sadness blanket
on me. That's it That's it! Sorry, I was being
crazy. Bipolar? No. There are people who are
bipolar like, I was holding my baby and thought
maybe it's the seed of the devil. Exactly. You
got upset on a Tuesday and things went wrong.
People do that. I can't stand it. But you get
it too. I don't want to downplay your misery.
I'm sure it is tough, but let's call it what
it is. You ever been on a roller coaster and
just not... felt anything. Oh, yeah. You know
what I mean? That's what depression and anxiety
is, like you said. I think people can co -op
the mental stuff because you can't see it as
clearly. Yeah. And so it wouldn't be like, like
for me late today, I would be like, sorry, I'm
late today. Missing legs. Your physical thing
that's so weird if that's what I just haired
my slowness to. That's insane. But I think because
the mental thing, it's such a blurb of things.
You just understand you can pull pieces from
it and say hey, that's what's caused my my issue
today or whatever Yeah, yeah, no, this is this
has been therapeutic. I was about to say this
is nice I've been we'll start recording soon.
Yeah, sure I the one thing I've been working
on which I may have actually been doing horribly
So far is the thing I've really now that I'm
aware of it is I really work on not interrupting
and listening That's the hardest People are always
like, oh, yes, you get distracted easy. I'm like,
yes, yeah, I get distracted easy. I'm like, there's
so much more to it. I take things harder. I interrupt
all the time and expect you to like, like the
other night I was talking to my wife, like out
of nowhere in the kitchen, I was like, oh, yeah,
it turned out he was seven feet tall. And she
said, what, who? We just had, we had that conversation
four days ago and I was like, all right, you
can't just jump in on it. It's, and the admiration
that the people that are really... I've always
been drawn to, in film or in real life, the very
stoic, slow -talking person, because there's
such an envy to that of like, how are you doing
this without having to shoot it out like a shotgun?
How are these monks that, when they ask, they'll
come and ask them basic questions, and they really
take their time, think about it, and go, there's
that great scene in Man on the Moon, which I
just watched. Love that movie. So good. And when
he goes, what's the secret to comedy? And the
guy pauses and he goes, silence. And then it
was just a beautiful moment of a really well
thought out question. And I do try to do it more
and more, but you have to, while trying to process
what the question was, you also have to tell
yourself, hey, really take time with this. You
don't need to shoot out your first answer. Or
again, it's okay to say, you know what, let me
think about that. I can get back to you. Yes.
All that good stuff. You are the real deal. Brian,
I know. See, again, ADHD, I saw your eye go to
it, because mine did, too. No, honestly, dude,
I love this because you're the first person that
I've actually talked to that genuinely has the
same exact symptoms as I do. Which does bring
people to comedy, because other people would
go, there's an appropriate thing to say here.
There's a well -timed -out, slower thing to say.
Again, comics I really admire. I really like
the... Alternative, obviously I like the greats
like Richard Pryor. Of course. But I always liked
Can't Do It, but I love Maria Bamford, Patton
Oswalt. Love Patton Oswalt. The things that they
build are these beautiful, and then I remember
for a while I was trying to do that comedy. It's
not your style. It's not. I did the same thing.
I, as a comedian myself, I appreciate comedians
that are more long form. Or all of a sudden they'll
tell... Like, the way that you can start a joke
and it's hilarious, and they go off on this side
thing, and it's hilarious, and then they come
back to it, and they're in the middle of that
story again, and I'm like, oh, and I, too, was
like, I need to start doing that more, and I
realized I just, that's not, I'm - If our acts
were walls, the people we admire are bricklayers
and we're drywall. God damn. We gotta get it
up quick, we gotta get it, ah, just like that,
and you can do a lot with drywall, you can hang
paintings on it, you can do fun stuff. Can you
hang paintings on bricks? I'm sure you can. Yeah,
there's brick screws, I'm sure. We are going
to talk about comedy, but just to wrap this ADHD
thing up, you were talking about people that
are stoic. And not only do I envy those people,
but I hate those people because I don't understand.
I have friends, too, that are just like, oh,
yeah, I just got divorced because I cheated and
gambled too much. Oh, my God. It is what it is.
And it's like, how are you? It is what it is.
You know what I mean? Like, they just handle
it so, and they're like, oh, there's nothing
I can do about it. And I'm like, I want to feel
that. No, I think you and I are people who are
people like us are very good in a crisis. Very
good. Very good in a crisis. The day to day is
more of a challenge. So when my wife and I, my
wife's family's from South India. So we go to
India once a year. And traveling is such a crazy
thing. Oh, packing. Especially that far. And
so things will go wrong throughout the thing.
Or my wife, beautiful, wonderful woman, she sometimes
can get anxious. She's, what if it goes wrong?
And we don't have as much anxiety. Ours is, well,
you know what? My whole life it's been going
not wrong. But you know what? No, no, no, no.
Today was wrong. Challenge. I came on the wrong
day. I didn't know what was going on. And I'm
here. Yes. So there's a bit of, hey, if it goes
wrong, we'll deal with that. I love that Bill
Burr line. And Bill Burr. My favorite. he would,
if he ever heard, not like I know him, but I'm
sure it's gonna start coming, there's gonna be
a Bilbo Renaissance, and he was gonna be like,
yeah, that's what it is, Renaissance, I can't,
I look so bad. No, it was good, I got it, I got
it, he went for it, it's fine, we'll edit it
out. But he is someone who his act was so angry
for a while, and it was very, and then you clearly
saw. marriage and therapy be something that he...
And so now you see him in these interviews, and
he's the one that I really love, is he goes,
why... And it's easy to say to someone with anxiety,
they're like, yeah, I'll just flip that switch.
I won't do it. I'm not saying that. But I like
the way he phrased it of, why be anxious about
something that could go wrong? If it goes wrong,
you'll deal with it then. But all the time beforehand,
you're ruining what could have been a nice moment.
And when it does go wrong, you'll handle it.
You'll have it. And again, that's like someone
saying to us, why can't you just focus? I know
it's not switches in our brain that we can flip,
but sometimes those mantras are good. So I think
we do well in a crisis because there is a little
bit of, if it goes wrong, we'll handle it. Yeah.
Figure it out. You're so right for two reasons.
One, you're right. I remember being on a flight
with my two kids and my wife and she's a mess
and she needs a Xanax and she doesn't take that
kind of stuff regularly but flying scares her
and I'm always very, hey it's okay we're gonna
be but then like we get off the plane and the
place is closed that I wanted my coffee from
and I'm freaking out over that and it's it's
a hard balance but the Bill Berline reminds me
of one of my favorite quotes from I think I guess
it's not a quote if I don't remember how it went
but I think it was like the Dalai Lama where
it was the same thing where it was like If there's
a problem and there's no solution, there's no
sense in worrying about it. And if there's a
problem but there's a solution, why worry about
it? You're gonna figure it out at some point.
And it's the same mantra. But enough about that.
I am so sorry. People are like, this guy's a
comedian. What the fuck are we talking about
here? This is a show for doctors. Brian Anke.
You're shooting a special at the McCarthy Mercantile
here in Syracuse. Beautiful building. It used
to be a legal building on South Salinas there.
And then there was this huge open, I don't want
to say basement space, but it's the lower ground
floor. And the team that's worked around this
has just done an amazing job of, and I know you
work with a lot of businesses. They just took
this huge space and go, Hey, you're a tattoo
artist. You don't need a full structure building
to do what you're doing. Why don't you rent one
of our smaller spaces? So there's like businesses
that sometimes rotate or are there for the year
while their building is getting renovated or
whatever. And it's very cool. And I had been
there for a festival once. And I remember when
we were looking at thinking of spaces, I was
like, man, that place was really cool. I wonder
if they would do event spaces or would they do
events and they do, and they on the ad. or on
the dock for it, the guy Michael runs the place,
he's amazing. It says, no weddings, no seriously,
no wedding. And then I love, he's got his email
thing. I just sent him an email about how much
time we need. And it says, if the subject heading
is, can I pick your brain? I will ignore it.
Which is such a great way to say, hey, we're
either talking or we're not talking. Because
this whole, hey, do you mind if I take up your
time and your focus and your energy for. no payback
on my end, you're like, I don't know, he can't
do that. So it's this amazing space and I'm so
excited to shoot there. Mike Abbott, who I think
you know. Mike Abbott, I'm bad with names. No,
but he's worked in the space before, he's worked
through you guys. Okay. When I mentioned I was
going to be on, he's, oh yeah, I know those guys.
He's directing and producing it. I met him through
the comedy world. He's a big comedy fan. We got
three cameras we're shooting with. I'd say if
you, even if you're not a... April 12th, cameras
mine, April 12th, if you got nothing going on.
No, but if you've never been to a recording,
it's very fun. The show, it's going to be a standup
show. It's not that different, but it is fun
to every once in a while see these cameras zipping
around. And then, um, it's really set up to be
a performance and a big time show. So I'm really
excited about this. And yeah, this will be my
second one. We're doing two shows at a 7pm show.
and a 9 p .m. show and that is happening because
Inside Baseball for Everyone, my first one I
recorded I did in one show and we lost two jokes
that were really good because an audience interaction
that ruined the flow of it, not even that person's
fault. I was talking about something, they agreed.
That happens. And you know the worst heckler.
is the nice, agreeing heckler. They're the...
You got nothing to go off of. Can't yell at them.
Yes. They are nice like everyone's grandma. And
you're like, okay. Like... Give me something.
My boyfriend also likes soup. And you're like...
Like great. Not even talking. So we're doing
two takes just in case someone's boyfriend likes
soup. Yep. And we can... It just helps. That's
how all specials are shot and that kind of stuff.
Famously, Richard Pryor had a special, his last
really good one, I forget the live, the one where
he's in the red suit. Yes, that's the famous
one. Wow. But that's such a great special. The
people who were working on it were like, yeah,
we cut between three shows of that because he
was just coming back from being set on fire.
Everyone was so excited to see him. And so they
lost a lot of takes because he'd be in the middle
of a joke and they'd be like, I love you, Richard.
And he's OK. That one's not going to work. So
we're doing, and it just gives the opportunity
for more shows. So it's two shows, 7 p .m., 9
p .m., Adul Hadi is the feature. Ah, yes, I love
him. Fantastic. He's done shows with him, yeah.
He's one of my favorites. And then Katie Arroyo,
I'm always gonna name her. Katie, I'm sorry,
I love you. You are fantastic, but I always get
your last name wrong. You can introduce my name,
and actually you're hosting, you have to say
my name right. She's awesome, and she's gonna
be our host for the evening. I'm so glad we were
able to get her. And yeah, so it'll be a great
show. I'm so excited. We're going to be there.
April 12th, Brian Ink, McCarthy Mercantile. And
we're going to give away tickets to that, by
the way. We are going to give away tickets right
here on Good News York. Look for that. And especially
because we're giving away tickets, especially
if you are someone who wins those tickets, go
to the Eventbrite anyway because you can also
donate. The other fun thing that we're doing
is the show itself. is a fundraiser for a foundation
that would literally just started. One of my
best friends who's no longer with us, his boyfriend
and I put together this idea called the Patty
Foundation, and it's to help take care of LGBTQ
kids who are displaced because they're gay, trans,
and so all the money is gonna go towards that.
So it's our first fundraiser for this foundation,
and it was something my buddy Pat really believed
very firmly in, and he always wanted to take
care of. We're going to raise money in his name.
We started this foundation. And yeah, if you
get a free ticket, you can send $5 to the event.
Your name goes on the credits. If you want to
buy one of the dumb t -shirts that comes with
it, that money goes to it also. All the money,
all the proceeds go to the foundation. Yeah.
That's fantastic. If you get free tickets, buy
some credits. I absolutely love that. When you're
trying to plan a special, right? I have not shot
a special. I'm not special enough for that yet.
No, we were talking. You're plenty special. Oh,
yeah. I'm special, all right. There's a certain
way that comedians, all comedians have a process.
There's some things that we all do that are the
same. There's a lot of things that everybody
has their own way of doing things. What's the
difference in preparation other than the obvious
of, OK, I got to write a longer set? What's different
in your preparation for a special than just like
a normal show? I'm going to show you right now.
Oh, we're getting a demonstration. Yeah, if you
get the cut to me. And this would be good for
the brains that we have and stuff like that.
In my office at home, I have a whiteboard to
web chart all the jokes. Okay. And then, so it'll
have the title of the joke and then we'll have
all the offshoots of places it can go. And then
when it's done, it gets a name on it. I have
the joke that letters are hard that comes from
my wife's is, like I said, her family's from
South India. And I was not what they had in mind
when they were thinking about marrying her. My
wife's family preferred if she married an Indian
doctor. who was like a spelling bee winner. And
they got a white college dropout who's severely
dyslexic. Holy college I've gone to. His dyslexia
or novicity where letters are hard. So if the
letters are hard joke is there, just the way
you structure it, because it's a longer set.
It's gonna be a 45 minute set. So what you do
is you take the jokes and then move it around
here. But then you realize, oh, I got to talk
about marriage before I can get into the letters
as hard joke. But. I also got to do in a racial
marriage so you guys can sympathize with that
joke. There you go. So you literally nice you
structure what it can be. And then so for the
past couple months, it has been playing around
with what if I save that for the end? What if
I put it there? So besides all the promo stuff
you got to do and getting the camera crew together
and then realizing, Oh, we got to run sound on
this and all that other stuff. It's definitely
just bigger. Whereas stand up, you just show
up. Like I was doing a show in North Pennsylvania
and I literally, I didn't have pants. I didn't
have a pant. Like, I swear, I was driving and...
Sorry I'm late. I've got no pants. Well, now
I'm starting to see a pattern. Yeah. I think
people at home are gonna be like, I think this
guy's just... Yeah, I just don't think he knows
how to live. No, I'm not the only one that does
this. If you have an hour and a half drive, you're
not gonna wear... I get it. You wear your sweatpants.
You bring the pants with you that you're gonna
wear. 100%. Been there. So I didn't bring the
pants. And so I'm talking to my wife and I was
like, hey, I don't have my pants. She's like,
what's on your leg? And I was like, my sweatpants.
She's like, you're fine. Get in there. And it
was fine, but literally didn't have the pants,
got there 10, 15 minutes late. Cause I was outside
looking for pants. And you just go up and do
time. I didn't even know where I was in the lineup.
As soon as I got there, they needed time. So
there's just a lot more work that goes into,
it's very much like your first day at your job.
You get there early and you're figuring stuff
out versus anyone else. You're like, it's Wednesday.
I can zip right in, drop at my desk. Yeah, when
I I bounced back and forth between stand up and
I had a band for 10 years Stupidly, I should
just I was in a but anyway, so I remember putting
shows together and what went into that So I do
first of all, I appreciate you actually showing
us your process that that's fascinating to me
But from a production standpoint, did you did
you go as far as to be like? Alright, I want
I want three cameras and I want to do this How
involved with you? Are you with the are you gonna
let them do their thing or do you have a certain
direction for that? What about the set? I'm going
to let Mike do what stand -up so much. You shouldn't
have done a band because stand -up is just easier.
Getting four people together to do anything is
insane. That's a hundred percent. That's so crazy.
You just said that. Stand -up is so much easier.
Stand -up is low budget. It is beloved. It is,
it's also fun because it's always evolving. Like
right now it's mostly crowd work stuff because
people like, I did a show in Utica and at Utica
college. And I remember thinking before I go
on stage, I shouldn't do any jokes. I should
just do crowd work, because these are TikTok
kids. And TikTok stand -up right now is just
crowd work. And I did it. It went well. And I
remember after the show, there's a kid who goes
there who I know through life. And I go, you
guys think stand -up is crowd work, right? And
he goes, yeah, I guess it's true. And not in
a bad way. There was a time where people thought
stand -up was take my wife, please. So it's always
evolving, which is fun as well. Stand Up is simple,
it is always evolving, and it is also immediate
reward for your work. That's correct. So like,
we're working on this right now, is it gonna
get views? Is it gonna get comments? Is it gonna
get liked? April 12th, 7 p .m., 9 p .m. show.
Is it, like, that's the worst, I'm waiting to
see if tickets are gonna get sold. The waiting,
yeah. Whereas... I do a joke, I know right then
and there if it works or not. I know why it works
or doesn't work, which is great. And especially
if you've been doing this long enough, like I've
been doing this, I think 12 years now, I've been
doing standup. And so yeah, you start realizing
why things are working, why it's not working.
And so when it comes to the, definitely second
one is easier, just like anything else, whether
it's a kid or an orgy, doing it the second time.
Or kids at an orgy. Yeah, that's how the kids
come to be. Everyone's a little forgetful about
things when there's an orgy involved. And then
that's where they, oh God, can you imagine being
a kid? Oh boy. How did, how did, where was I
conceived? Funny story. The factory had been
closed for two months and we thought that was
a good place to put a bunch of couches. That's
right. And so. Your mother and I were bored.
We hadn't met yet, actually. I like her Zorro
mask. And so we, you know, I'm going to let Mike
do everything with the shots. We've got three
cameras, but we learn a lot from the first one.
And it's going to be just framing shots. Mike's
going to come with me to a show that I'm doing
in Binghamton. If you're in the Binghamton area,
oh God, I'll, I'll, I'll plug in a second, but,
and we're going to, I'm going to run the special.
And so he'll be able, he's going to have a notepad
for shots that he thinks would be good. And stand
-up's also not hard to shoot. It's just a person.
But some jokes are better close up. Some are
a little bit better further. Some are better
on a dolly. And so he's gonna do stuff like that.
So I'm gonna put it in his hands. All I gotta
do is show up and do the act. Are you gonna have
a hand in the editing process, post -production?
Yes and no. It's gonna be mostly just... Like
so many things, I think it'd be great to go,
hey, can we try this six different ways and let's
find out which one we like best? But again, I
trust Mike, I trust, and again, it's not super
hard to do when it's standup, because it's just
one thing. Really, it's the words and maybe some
of the facial mannerisms. But for the most part,
it's let's just shoot this and have it look half
decent. Absolutely. Yeah. It's funny, you're
talking about the difference between music and
comedy and it's, you can't, when you hear about
the way to get better at stand -up, you hear
a lot of comedians say you just gotta go do it.
And it's so true, because more than music, you
can practice at home, right? And you can get
better as a band, but once, and then you get
out there and you know ahead of time, this sounds
good. In comedy, yeah, you can practice at home
to your stuffed animals or to family. The only
way to really know, is do I kill this joke? Do
I have to change the delivery or the setup? It's
to just do it, right? Yeah, I was just talking
about this with the owner at Legacy Lounge in
Waverly, which is another great comedy room.
I don't know how they made it. It's like a perfect
little comedy club. And we were talking about
it, and he's got kids. Because we were talking
about some comics who are working it out for
the first time, working on material, working
out stand -up as a whole. He's like, sometimes
it's tough to watch. I go, I know. Only way you
can practice standup is in front of people and
he's got kids and I go to have any kids learning
an instrument. And he said, yeah, I go, it's
painful to listen to at first, isn't it? And
he goes, yeah. He goes, but you get to do that
at home and get stronger and get better. Standup
has to be done in front of people. And so it
really is a painful process to go through. Some
people, hopefully it'll click in early. You have
your jokes that you start realizing work really
well. and then you sandwich again, you got a
joke that works really well, you got your intro
joke that does really well, risky joke, and then
we are going to sandwich it with a better joke.
And that's how most comics, in my experience,
work out new material. Absolutely. Put it in
between stuff that we know works. We want it
to enter at a good wavelength, and we want to
do a good job for you. If you're paid to talk
in front of people, you better do it well. Should
talk and do it well. Yeah. I was talking about
this. At some point, I think on Good News York,
and I feel like you'll understand this, one of
my biggest pet peeves with stand -up is there
was a time I was managing a music venue, and
the owner did the age -old, we should do like
a comedy night. Yeah, okay. For Rodney Danger.
Yeah, well, I get no respect. I gotta do some
fucking comedy. That's hilarious. No, I honestly
think we'll do it during happy hour. We always
have a crowd here. We'll just throw a mic up
there. I was like, I was like, Comedy is a mindset.
I was like, you can't just have people drinking
and then the secondary is a guy gets up there
and starts talking. It doesn't work for the comic
or the crowd. You have to have seats. Because
people don't realize that when you're on your
way to a comedy show, whether you know it or
not, you're already ready to laugh. If you're
at a happy hour with friends, even if the comedian
up there just says something fucking hilarious.
You're not going to have an immediate reaction.
You know what I'm saying? There's so much more
to it. Then I should have waited until you were
done sipping. I shouldn't have sipped while you
were finishing what you were saying. Damn it.
Our timing. What's comedy about? What's one rule
of comedy? Timing. Timing. Sorry. I was also
sipping. That's why you're messing it up. You
need focus for comedy. That's the hard thing
when people, if you have a room and you want
to put comedy in there, that's great. The rules
are, let's put it out there, because there's
- Do it, lay the rules out. The rules for standup
comedy, if you want to put standup in your venue.
One, promote it as a comedy show, not a variety
show, though I do think variety open mics are
super fun. If you do an open mic, you could definitely
do that. But make it just be standup, not because
standup is the most important thing in the world,
but because you're changing the gears of what
the audience is doing. It'd be like putting -
an action movie with a romantic comedy with a
horror movie. Perfectly put. And every single
thing because you're changing gears in the audiences.
I've done shows where it's an improv team and
then a standup and an improv team. And even that
doesn't work because... Two different... Building
a fourth wall, you're tearing it down. That's
right. Building a fourth wall and the audience
is getting fatigued. Do the show. You just gotta
have seats. You gotta have focus. And you gotta
know that at some point... You really want to
dedicate a room. Take notes. You want to dedicate
a room to be able to just do it. Whereas music
is, you can have active listeners and passive
listeners stand up. It has to be active listeners
only. So that's, I think that's the only con
we're talking about how easy it is to do stand
up. Music and bands are really great to run a
three hour set because God bless you. I don't
know how you guys do that. Three hour set because
some people can be. actively listening. I love
this track. And they go, anyway, so yes, Steve
left me. And then you come back and then whatever
it is. And so you just make sure that the people
have focused. Focus and then. I'm sorry, Steve
left you by the way. Thank you. I do apologize.
I'm glad you laid out the ground rules. I do
want to talk about, you mentioned Mike earlier.
The reason Brian and I know each other is, and
I've talked about Mike before, I want to give
him a proper, that's how he actually got on here.
If you want to do a show, ask Mike Peters how
to do it, because he does the best shows. Mike
Peters, I don't know how I got in touch with
him years ago, but he runs a circuit called Homebrewed
Comedy. And I would say technically it's out
of the Binghamton area, but he goes up to Syracuse,
Utica, all over New York State. He started with
a small roster of comedians. He's built it to
a roster of a hundred of us, which is how I met
Brian and vice versa. And he'll just do these
pop -up homebrewed comedy shows in bars, restaurants,
VFWs. But what we were just talking about, he
knows how to set it up properly. He doesn't pull
any punches with the owners. Everybody wins.
And he puts on incredible shows. And I've met
some of the best people, including yourself,
through that. Shout out to Mike Peters in Homebrewed
Comedy. You have a show coming up with him, too?
Yeah, I think it's after the special. That's
good. Yeah, I'm trying to remember, which is
April 12th. April 12th at McCarthy, Mercantile,
Brian Inc. Or if you go on any of my social media,
there'll be links for that as well. But Mike
Peters does these amazing Homebrewed shows. That's
definitely a channel to follow as well. He'll
do these shows out in the sticks, and respectfully,
in some places, you're like, I'm like, this is
the Hills Have I. If you have racist jokes, do
a Mike Peters show. That's my whole act. Yeah,
they won't. You're good. But then you get there,
and there's 50 people in the room. I'm like,
how did you do this? So he brings people. It's
great. The comics are great. Everybody has a
good time. And yeah, I don't know. When I moved
up here from New York City, my biggest fear was
I'm not going to be able to get on stage. I'm
not going to be able to get on stage as much
as I'd like to. And it was the complete opposite.
It was a lot of times, instead of fighting for
these 15 -minute spots for comedy clubs over
in New York City, Mike's been letting me feature
and headline and really... There's no way I could
have done this special as quickly as I was able
to do it without having regular 45 -minute spots
to work out material. And it just honestly ties
right back into what we were talking about, the
unwritten rules of comedy. He also does it right.
He knows without having to say anything... He
knows when someone's ready to feature. He knows
when someone's ready to headline. And he also
knows that just because you've headlined here
doesn't mean you're gonna headline here. He knows
your style and where it's gonna work and who
it's gonna work with. Mike Peters, Homebrewed
Comedy, shout out to that. You have a show coming
up with him. I have a show coming up March 22nd
in Dryden, New York with him. Which, what a dick
I am, I'm plugging my show during your interview.
But we're here to talk about April 12th, your
special in Syracuse. Yep, once again, all the
proceeds go to the Patty Foundation, taking care
of LGBT youths, and yeah, definitely get tickets.
And I know we've been going on, I could talk
to you forever. They're like $8 tickets. Yeah,
seriously. It's not a lot. Think about what you
could do. You can't even go to McDonald's for
that now. You can't even go to McDonald's. You
can't even go to McDonald's. What is with all
these sites? It's so old. I know. So real quick
though, I want to do a little background. We'll
edit this down because two ADHD people, we could
do a four hour interview. I know, and I was with
two ADHD people and I go, oh, when you show up
to the show and there'll be plenty of stuff to
do that. But the entrance that everyone's going
to do is because it's this beautiful space. But
because we have two shows, we need to keep people
before they come down. Jamaica Queues, which
is a great restaurant right there. Yes. They
are going to be our entrance. They're going to
be our little... Oh, sick. Uh, rooms. So they
are, that's where you're going to go grab drinks.
That's where you're going to hang out before
the show happens. The address is South Salina
for Mercantile, but you're entering through Jamaica
queues. So do you want to hear my Jamaica joke?
Of course I do. I was, I worked for a public
access television show in Brooklyn and we got
a new president and she, her family's from Jamaica.
a proud Jamaican woman and we're there and I
am a nobody. I think I just left being a PA.
So there is very important people and investors
and stuff like that. She comes and she goes,
I understand you do comedy. And I go, yes. Tell
me a joke. And I go, I have a great Jamaica joke
if you want to hear it. And the room's like,
we got to fill this position. And she goes, sure,
I'd love to hear it. And I go, I love Jamaican
food. It's so good. I love those beef patties.
But if I have too many, I might get a blood clot.
And it goes silent, and then she starts an acclimate.
Thank God. I was like, what did you guys think
I was? Yeah. Hey, put on dreads and be like,
hold on. Yeah, hold up. And that's my Jamaica
joke. I love that joke. And I love it. I'm so
happy. I eat at Jamaica Q's a lot. So I'm glad
that they're going to be our front door before
the show. Hey, I used to, at that same music
venue, we used to have reggae nights. And the
guy that booked the bands would book these reggae
bands. And they were awesome. And a lot of times
they'd get up there and they're like. You know,
the whole thing. And they're good. And they're
white, which is fine. But they're, you know,
they're doing the thing. And then, like, they
would get off the stage and come up to the bar.
And the same guy that was like, and he'd be like,
hey, man, can I get an Ithaca Green Trail IPA?
And I'm like, what? What happened to your? I
used to have a joke in my set that was like,
that's like me coming up here and being like,
what's up everybody? I'm from Liverpool, New
York. You know what I mean? I can't do the put
on accent. I don't know if you can sing reggae
music without the accent. That's the thing, right?
It's like country with twang, right? Oh, very
good. You know what I mean? So there's the...
Are they wrong? Because it's not really, it doesn't
sound like reggae without it. That would be a
funny genre of doing country music and all the
lyrics, but doing it with a Rasta accent. That's
fucking brilliant. She a good boy, or I don't
know what it is. Listen to country music. I was
trying to do the whole thing. It's always about
a girl in a dirt road. Yeah. Not in this town.
I can't do a Jamaican accent, so I would have
to do reggae music with a twang. Yeah, that'd
be funny. In my house, there's a picture on the
wall, Rastafari, I don't know. We're all here
for good vibration. Good vibration. But anyway.
Let's come up with a country band that covers
Bob Marley music. That would be the best thing.
Dude, there's, this is, fuck, this is. Hank Marley.
Google it. Junior, Hank Marley Jr. Hank Marley
Jr. You're taking the three little birds by my
window. Yeah, three little birds right next to
my bourbon, three little bourbons. There is a
band, you can Google if you don't believe me,
called Dread Zeppelin, okay? First off, that's
your, okay, just keep going, but that's your
joke to do on stage. I don't have the music background.
Doug. We're getting laughs. Okay, I hear him.
Country Bob Marley covers a very funny joke.
That is a funny - That's 100 % yours. Thank you.
You heard it, he gave it to me. No, this is how,
and I work with new comics all the time, and
we'll talk notes, and we'll talk jokes, and punch
jokes. Yeah. They're like, I can't do it, you
wrote it. I go, no, no, no. The room wrote it,
we're part of that process. I love you. When
you get into a writer's room, you realize it's
an echo chamber. That's right. And however it
got there, it's gotta go - That's 100 % true.
It doesn't matter. You built, literally, an electrician,
they built a house together. An electrician's
house, it's not the guy who did the drywall,
it's not the guy who did the floor, it's not
the girl who did the windows, see how I - I did,
I did, yeah, yeah. It's not, but it's the house
that got built by everybody, so this is the comic.
I'm so glad you know that, not everybody knows
that, they think it's either your joke or your
joke, no. And if you're really a good comic,
you just want the best joke to be out there.
100%. I've never, no, well I'm talking about
Dread Zeppelin is a band that plays Led Zeppelin
covers, but the singer, it's done in reggae style,
and the singer sings it like Elvis. Try to rap,
I know, try to do the mental gymnastics. So it's
Led Zeppelin songs, okay, in the style of reggae,
with a... What is it Elvis Presley? He sings
it like it's too much Zeppelin always said They
were a byproduct of the southern blues World
so it makes sense that Elvis who and I will go
to the grave with this already stole black music
That movie wasn't even that good. Dude. His career
is not... I don't ca... April 12th? Come talk
to me. April 12th. You want to talk about Elvis?
9pm show. After the show, I'll talk to you that
Elvis is not that good. Anything that was good
about him, he stole from Chuck Berry. Dude. And
you need to stop putting this man on a pedestal.
He was hooking up with a 14 -year -old. Stop
it! Dude, I love you. So was Chuck Berry. So
he even took that from him. Yeah, the only thing
he didn't take from Chuck Berry is Chuck Berry
peed on women. Elvis didn't. Towards the end,
he was probably very... He controls better. Prostate.
But, dude, that's a whole other episode. I like
the idea of arriving right now, cutting in between
listening to Elvis, listening to this episode
and be like, where is this recorded? I need to
find it. Yeah, these sons of bitches. You'll
never find us. No, I've been on that. soapbox
for decades and I keep it quiet because I'm afraid.
And finally, I'm going to piggyback off of what
you said. I've thought the exact same thing about
Elvis, completely overrated, but it's fine. Real
quick, before we go, I just give me just let's
talk about how you started out. What got you
into comedy? What got you into comedy? Where
did you start? How did you start? I think it's
important. I talk about. I've answered this question
before, but I also realized that there's a part
of this that I haven't talked about, and so I
can tell you about it here. So I got into stand
-up, like a lot of people do, where you see,
like I saw Martin Lawrence in movies, and then
they were like, you know, he does stand -up,
right? And then I'm like, oh, that guy that I
liked in the movie, I didn't know. And then you
start discovering stand -up, and then you realize,
like, people, again, it's movies. It wasn't stand
-up into movies. I saw movies, and then... saw,
hear no evil, see no evil. I'm like, I like that
kind of like Richard Pryor is a comedian or I
would see Annie Hall and they go Woody Allen
originally a comedian. And so it was movies that
then brought me into standup. And then I, I was,
I graduated what high school in oh eight. So
at whatever that age is. So I was catching comics
that there was the blue collar thing. I knew
that they were funny. Same way I feel about like
Metallica. Like I saw the talent, but it wasn't
for me. It just not, it wasn't something that
connected on my wavelength. And so I'm more of
a dreads up one kind of guy. And, and then Dane
Cook was a popular one. And then vicious circles.
One of my favorites. But then this one guy comes
in named Dave Chappelle and I go, Oh, that's,
and at the time my parents had gotten divorced.
And so I was living in Rochester and so I was
a suburb kid with my mom. I was a project kid
with my dad. And technically the neighborhood
wasn't, I don't think it's classified as a project,
but every park or playground was named after
someone who died in that location. So it had
all the. accent of a project. And so we were...
Gene Wilson Park. Yeah, exactly. He got stabbed
here by the merry -go -round. Now there's a monkey
bar. And so the other joke was the pool, the
public pool that was there was used as a dog
fighting ring in the winter. So in the summer,
instead of diving for rings, we go for collars.
And that joke never works. It's so dark and I'm
so... How? I don't... I wish it worked. It's
such a... It works here! Thank you. I loved it.
But so I got a stand -up and what I realized
was between the Chappelle show and his stand
-up, I was able to bridge a gap. The suburb kids
wanted to understand the black jokes and they
hadn't understand them and I had just learned
them from my friends in my new neighborhood.
And then my friends in the new neighborhood loved
that I would do the white voice for them with
the, which is normally just my voice. Right.
Add a little like they do. Hello. Hey, they're
all guys. Want to go play baseball? Jimny Crickets.
You guys really like basketball? Golly gee whiz.
And so I loved that moment in time was such a
great point because I was like, oh, and you talk
about different audiences. I loved the idea of
I saw someone be funny for different audiences.
And I was like, I like that. I want to chase
that. And so I remember being like in sixth grade
maybe or something like that. I was having a
sleepover at my house. This is at my house, my
sleepover. I had a yellow legal pad, a big one,
and I had jokes written out on it. And I was
about, it was like I was coming out of the closet.
I was gonna tell my friends, hey guys, I'm a
comedian. And so we're watching standup. I go,
hey. I wanna be a comedian. And they were all
like, you're not funny. And like a slow motion
made for lifetime movie, I just tucked the legal
pad under my sleeping bag. I guess I just don't
do this. Until I got to college and thank God,
actually this is where I met my best friend who
passed away. He was working in the theater program.
I got to jump into the theater world and that's
how we became friends. And then that theater
thing brought me into, I can do standup now.
I started doing stand -up. God bless my dad drove
from Rochester to the college to pick me up to
have me do a crappy five minutes at an open mic
to then drive me back. And then got good enough
at the theater thing and the stand -up thing
that my director there said, hey, you could go
to film school. Why don't you go to film school
and then do the stand -up and do that. So I went
to New York Film Academy. They let anybody in
if you're interested in applying. And they weren't
going to ask me back as an alumni. and then just
started doing stand -up in New York City. And
then the other kind of fun thing, and I know
we got to go, but the other fun thing too was,
especially for any new comics, something that's
been coming up recently a lot is they're not
sure what advice to take. And I think this could
go with any type of art. I think you should listen
to everything, but not take anything too seriously
or... So I started in the clubs and I rose pretty
quick and I knew how to do the jokes. I knew
how to host. I knew how to get a crowd back.
I knew how to do all these things. And then at
the time, again, I really liked the alt comedy
scene and the alt comedy scene is a little bit
more. Yeah. It's building the brick. Sometimes
they talk about things like depression, or they
talk about things like anxiety, or they're a
little bit more obscure references. And I love
that world. And so I would go to those shows
to try to, and I didn't, it didn't, my act didn't
work there. And I remember there was a couple
of comics that I got shit from because I was
doing what would be considered like club jokes.
And instead of thinking these guys, every time
they get on stage, it's silence. I get laughs.
So they're pissed. I'm going to take their advice.
And I remember there's so many things I changed
about my act for a while. And then God bless
him. My buddy, Nico White, who's an amazing comic,
looked him up also. He was like, hey, why don't
we go up to Harlem? Why don't we go and do, why
don't you start doing black rooms? And I go,
okay. That's a ballsy move back then. And that's
what I did, and I started working black rooms,
and I stand by... If you can make it in a black
room, dude, no matter what race you are, you
can pretty much make it anywhere. And here's
the thing about the black rooms is, A, they don't
care genuinely. They don't care who you are.
That's why, like, the Apollo, they'll boo people
up. Oh, yeah. They don't care who you are. You
gotta be good. And if there is any bad part of
you, they'll let you know. And you have, and
you have a, what, like a 30 second window. I
feel like more than any other, God, I hope this
doesn't come across racist, but I feel like it's
almost a, like in a, in a, in a black room, right?
In a room full of black people watching you do
stand up, you have about 30 seconds. We don't
have time for your maybe bullshit act. Yeah.
And so you're on strike two. We're pitching the
third pitch right now. And so I would go up and
I would go, I'm actually not a comic. I'm just
the landlord. I want you guys to keep it down.
And boom. And then they were cool with me. And
so I realized, and God bless those rooms, I realized
I fell in love with comedy again. Because the
alt thing, they were like, talk about your depression.
I'm like, I don't have depression. They were
like hipsters. They were the hipsters. Yeah,
yeah, yeah. Too mainstream, bro. Yeah. And so
I just fell back in love with standup. I loved
talking about I was always in a interracial relationship.
So I was talking about interracial relationships.
I was talking about those things. And honestly,
I think those rooms were the easiest ones to
talk about race in because everything was understood
and there wasn't a disclaimer I had to do beforehand.
And so those are fun. That was a challenge coming
up here was if I wanted to do a weave joke, I
had to explain what weaves are, which also could
be funny. And that's how I got here sitting with
you guys now. I've been very fortunate. All the
people that I've worked with have been so supportive
and so great. From Mike Peters to the old Brick
TV that I used to work for, they were great.
And all the clubs that have me, the Funny Bones
here are great, and they give me so much time
to work. And the audiences that come out, yeah,
I'm very fortunate to be at this place in my
career. You're an amazing comedian. Like I said,
I met you through the Homebrewed comedy shows.
And it's funny, we were talking about doing those
rooms, and I commend you for that, because that
is a... It's a big jump. It's a tough crowd and
there's a lot of cultural differences and they
can eat you alive. I've always said that when
it comes to, I don't want to say racist jokes.
When it comes to telling jokes about race, I
think what people miss is that it's okay to celebrate
our differences. There are clear differences
between cultures and races and ethnicities and
religions, and it's okay to make light of those
differences. But when you just get up there or
when you're just spewing hate speech or just
pointing out things that are racist, that's not
funny. There's a tact to it. And you gotta figure
out that line. It's tough. I always liken it
to, it's like the analogy with the guy from Legacy
Lounge of your kids are learning an instrument,
it's painful to hear it at first. That's right.
Everybody has a trumpet. I would say if your
voice is your trumpet, everybody has a trumpet.
And so I have comics, sometimes who go, because
I talk about lots of stuff, and it works. And
they go, why are you able to get away with this?
Why are you able to do it? And without being...
cocky or whatever, or what I say is I, I worked,
I practiced my trumpet for 12 years. So when
someone in the office does a, you know, has a
black coworker and goes, happy Kwanzaa. It doesn't
really work because you're bad at your trumpet.
But if there's a joke where I literally have
a, I used to do a thing where I was talking about
the different holidays over the stuff. And anytime
I saw a black audience member, I would talk about
Hanukkah. I would talk about Christmas and I
would go, I'm going to get to Kwanzaa. And that
worked, and it was just because I've been practicing
this trumpet for a while. There's a tact, yeah.
So yeah, I think you're definitely right. I think
that there's all topics can, I've heard this
before, all topics can be joked about, but not
all people can joke about all topics. Nailed
it. And if there's something that, I've never
had someone from the community come and argue
with me about the joke. That's good. Whether
it be a trans, gay, conservative. or racial joke,
it's always someone else on behalf. It doesn't
happen often, but it happened. Like my favorite
one was I was talking about interracial relationships.
I was dating a black woman at the time and I
was talking about, was it like being in a racial
relationship? My sneakers have gotten better,
but that's about it. And stuff like that. And
so I would have jokes like that. And I had this
white girl come up to me and she was like, you
think because you have a black girlfriend, you
can say whatever you want. And then at that moment,
like God sent them. A black man, white woman,
interracial couple came in and said, sorry to
interrupt, we loved those interracial jokes.
Bam. Nobody ever talks about that. It was so
funny. Anyway, I'll leave you to it. I was like,
no, let me come with you. Yeah. And then mean,
and then the craziest part is that conversation
continues. That's their opinion. I was like,
this is your opinion. And I remember she goes,
and out of nowhere she goes, what you don't understand
is subconsciously you want to own her. Oh. Because
she's black and you're white. And I loved that
I got to. Black woman. You know what she just
said is wild bullshit because there is no part
of a man who owns you at any point in your life.
And I was like, you've obviously never met a
black or brown woman because it is our apartment,
but it's her place. You know what I mean? Like,
there's no part of me that owns this woman. Wild,
uninformed person. God bless you. Yeah, you're
trying to do this. Listen, what we do in the
bedroom is none of your business. That's right.
No, our relationship is not anyone. No, same
thing with my marriage. It is... It's our house,
her name is on the mortgage. Dude, I could talk
to you. We've gone so long, and I apologize.
Will you have me back sometime? Absolutely. I
apologize it's been so long, but it's been so
fun to talk to you. I apologize I was a half
hour late. You should be. Listen, all I ask for,
let me do this. Brian Anke, April 12th, 7 p .m.,
9 p .m., two shows at the McCarthy Mercantile
in Salina Street, right here in Syracuse. It's
his special, Brian Anke. April 12th. And tune
back in. I'll give you guys like 10 tickets.
And we will give away tickets. Proceeds, you're
going to build a park for Patty, right? Because
he died. Don't you think that's what you should
do? We're going to build a park. We're going
to build a park for Patty in your old neighborhood.
Yeah. Right where he died. We'll put a little
jungle. Just a little jungle, Jim. So goddamn
funny. Thank you. So we're going to build a park
for Patty with this. No, Ryan Anke, I absolutely
love you. I could talk to you for another hour.
Brian Enk, April 12th, Mercantile in Syracuse.
Go there, two shows. I love you. I love you.
Go through Jamaica Cuse, Reggae Zeppelin will
be there. Yes, Dred Zeppelin will be there. Thank
you for tuning in to Good News York. It's been
one hell of an episode, and we'll see you tomorrow.