Hey folks, welcome to Good News York. I'm your
host, Matt Major, from Growth Mode Content. Sitting
next to me is my smiley, as always, sidekick,
Mikey B. I am smiley. I'm in a very good mood.
So we have Brian Ink coming in today. Yes. And
I love Brian. And we've got Tuesday Newsday.
Tuesday Newsday. We're getting a pizza party
you just told me two weeks ago. We are. We are.
So we're going to have a little celebration a
little later, and we'll break right into this.
So very excited to celebrate our growth mode
content team recently. If you've been perusing
the TikTok, you will notice there's a clip featuring
this friendly guy and our man Dan Garcia from
the Garage at 3100. That clip has 120 ,000. I
forgot to ask you, is that our, that's our most
view. Oh, yeah, yeah. Okay. So what's cool is
if you look at our aggregate numbers, you know,
from all the different clips, since we put out
so many every day, that's a consistent organic
content strategy that we do for all our clients.
You will see that we got great combined numbers,
but for a single video, yeah, this is the, this
is one of the best ones that we've put out. Yep,
but tell them what we're talking about in the
video. We're talking about oil changes. This
is wild. We're getting expert advice from Dan,
the proprietor of these local auto businesses.
But I love it, because everybody sort of has
an opinion. Even folks that don't necessarily
disagree. Like, we get incredible interaction
from folks that are like, yep, that's what I
do. Yeah. It's like, nope, 3 ,000. Cool. Fight
I own one thing. I owned a Chevy. I ran that
thing in the ground 350 ,000 miles. I only changed
the oil three three twice and then someone's
like you're an idiot You should do it every 2
,000. It's a very wild It is wild and you know,
it got me thinking you you always push this organic
content organic content organic content I mean
that is as organic as it gets. Yeah, we we I
just asked the question, you know, hey, just
wondering, you know, is it 3 ,000 miles, 5 ,000,
what is it? Who knew that that would, and I guess
I chalk it up to this, because every time we
think we figure out the algorithms, something
like this happens, right? Yeah, well, I mean,
and it's one of those things where we're getting
continually better because we're figuring out
these things, right? So you will see a... continual
growth and what's very exciting, you know, you'll
still have people in, and we're talking about
120 ,000 views, which is a huge number, but in
internet terms, you know, there's people like,
oh, well, you know, these guys get a million
views on every video and all the time, and that's
cool. What's exciting to me is we are going to
do that. What we should keep in mind is this
is a brand new account that we started. only
a couple of months ago. It's only got 2 ,000
followers on it, but they've been growing rapidly.
And from scratch, this kind of shows our entire
point of why we're doing this growth mode content
thing. It's why we have more businesses every
day signing up to make podcasts and have us create
this organic, consistent content. It works. And
you see that we got this one great video. But
also, if you look back, you'll see all of our
other videos. The numbers on them are continuing
to grow. The audience is growing, the algorithm...
Our client's numbers. ...is seeing what we're
doing, and it's just, yeah, it's across the board.
Consistency is the key in content, and that is
also the hardest thing you do. It really is.
And that's why our service exists. I think, you
know, I was talking to you about it off the air
a lot, and the only thing I can think of is,
you know... I'm like, how did we get 100 ,000
views on talking about oil changes? And then
I remembered talking about that llama video and
how much we got like 20 ,000 views off of that.
And I just got to thinking that, you know what
it is? Everybody has to deal with oil changes
in some capacity, right? It's an everyday, every
month, a couple month thing. It's it's not something
and it's something that a lot of people have
a lot of different opinions on and I think that
was the recipe that worked Well, and it's that
and then all the tried -and -true set strategies
that we deploy on every video right where we
use What they call a hook that's the first couple
of seconds that grabs you and keeps you in It's
got the right graphics that keeps your attention.
It's got even the text that helps the search.
And on TikTok, they call it the for you page,
the algorithm that feeds it to people, which,
by the way, is almost all of the views from that.
It is people that the algorithm has fed it to,
which is the whole name of the game. You know
what always trips me out? And I'm just very excited.
And to celebrate that, we're going to get some
pizza for us. Fuck yes. I could eat pizza for
lunch, breakfast and dinner. It's the only food.
I'll be honest, it sounds cheesy. Oh, you pepperoni,
you. I just want to celebrate something. And
that was the quickest thing I could think of
is today, let's have lunch and let's order some
food for everybody. But in all honesty, when
we hit a million view video, we might throw a
ticker tape parade or something. Oh, parade?
Let's do it. Down the hallway. I got to say,
you're talking about how people. in the social
media world, they're like, oh, 100 ,000 views.
I mean, that's not really that much. Think about
it in this term. This is what always blows my
mind open. Imagine back in the day when we were
growing up, television ratings. Imagine 100 ,000
people seeing something you created. That's like
a stadium full of people. When you look at it
that way, it's just like, how is this happening?
But this is the world we live in. The average,
you know, you think a big name like cable news
shows, like the... You know, all of the names
that you can think of. ABC News. Fox and CNN
and MSNBC, all those people. They don't average
that many views per episode. They don't have
that many viewers watching their TV show and
they get millions of dollars. Well, maybe they
should be talking about oil changes and then
they'll get their views. Maybe they should just
come to growth mode content. But, you know, like
I said, it's just it's cool. It's it's nice to
see the strategy work. And the other part about
that is, you know, one of the reasons that we
do Good News York is not just to share the good
news of everything cool that's happening, but
also be able to highlight our friends and colleagues
in business. And that's what happened here. Our
buddy Dan, his business with The Garage at 3100
got, and this is the stat that I like, so we
talk about those views, you know, that hundred
and... 21 ,000 views. Let me tell you exactly
how that works out, though, in amount of time,
because I think this is a cool stat that they
track. Total play time, 878 hours. Oh, yeah.
In 31 minutes. I divided that by 24 hours. That's
over a month of continuous watch. So Dan at the
Garage at 3100 got a month. of continuous view
time of people with eyes on him and his business
and talking about his expertise. In hours. In
days, I guess. That's crazy. What would you pay
to get that from a billboard? What would you
pay to get that from a radio ad? I don't know.
What would you pay to even get that many eyeballs
on a promoted Facebook ad? You would spend more
than our clients spend in a month with us to
do this every day. Yes. I didn't mean to turn
this into a commercial. No! It blows my mind
because this is literally like, this is why you
fellas are here. This is how we're able to pay
you, and we're watching the formula work. Awesome.
Well, you're leading the charge, man. We're going
to eat some chicken wings. We're going to eat
some chicken wings today. That's the best part.
You ready for some news? Yes. Tuesday Newsday.
All right, Tuesday Newsday. I'm kicking it off
here with a story that's going to hit very close
to home for you and I. We've discussed this at
length. New York is considering four -day workweek
pilot programs. I fucking love this. And when
we say New York, we're talking about the state?
We're talking about employees? Yeah. So two bills
are being introduced for four -day workweek pilot
programs in New York State. The bills were introduced
by Assemblymember Farah Soufrant -Forest. If
passed, New York would be one step closer to
a 32 -hour workweek. Now... Let me pause for
groans from the bootstrap crowd. Nobody wants
to work anymore. Okay. What we know is that Farah
Forrest, representative of the 57th Assembly
District in Brooklyn, has introduced two pilot
programs at reducing the five -day work week.
One pilot program would establish a four -day
work week for state employees, and the other
will offer tax incentives to private employees
to run the pilot. Both bills... That's what I
was going to say. Do you get pro -rated? They
were introduced in February, and they are currently
in the committee stage of the legislative process.
I could go on to more details, but you get the
gist, and I want to talk about that. Yeah, that
sounds like exactly something that should have
been included in the budget, rather than banning
cell phones. Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Well,
nobody knows that this is happening, because
the kids don't know, because they can't use their
phones. But let's talk about this real quick,
because... You have adopted this four -day work
as always you're ahead of the career and in full
disclosure not a hundred percent, right? There's
a number of our employees that do work five days.
Yes. I'm sorry schedules, but it's sort of position
Dependent sure But we try to do that as much
as possible There are some there are some industries
in some jobs where you cannot afford literally
to to to only work four days That's understand.
Yeah, there's certain things that it can't be
done. But there are many positions where it can
be done. Well, and let me give you a breakdown
of how it happens and kind of why we have that
difference, just so folks understand. So a primary
business at Growth Mode Technologies is IT support.
That means when somebody needs something, we
need to be there like the fire department. Absolutely.
So we have to have people around the clock five
days a week. But what we're able to do, because
we have enough people on our team, is our IT
teams working in alternating four -day schedules.
So some people have Monday off, some people have
Friday off, but the company and our clients always
have a full week of coverage in both situations.
You guys here at Growth Mode Content, what we
were able to do with that, because we were able
to launch it from the jump, we don't have support,
we don't have to be on call for clients, so that
was very easy to make these positions immediately
four days. And eventually, as the company grows,
really, only a couple people don't have that
schedule, one of which is our new executive assistant
that just stepped out. But as we grow, we'll
get more of that type of position and allow them
to go to that alternating four -day. But it's
just a better thing. And as a business, we have
a client. One of our largest clients actually
shifted their whole business schedule, so they're
closed on Fridays. And if companies can do that,
it's great. Let me tell you something. The reason
I'm so excited about this, and we've talked about
this, first of all, the amount of moans and groans
I get from friends and family that are like,
oh, it's Thursday. That's your Friday. Must be
nice. And I said, hold on. I've worked my entire
life in shitty jobs, five, six, seven days a
week. But I'm not going to go down that road.
But the point is, when I - Can I just say, and
I'm sorry, I'm mean to interrupt you. No. My
most favorite thing in the world that does not
happen to me enough is people saying, must be
nice. I love that. Because I fucking embrace
it. Okay, maybe I should. Oh, it must be nice
to have Fridays off. Yes, it is. Oh, it is. Oh,
man, it is incredible. Yeah. It's great. I get
long weekends. I get to spend time with the kids.
Like, fucking lean into it. Okay. Thank you.
People are trying to shame you with positive
things. It works. I feel guilty after. Yeah,
you shouldn't. Well, I love you. It's great.
It is great. It must be nice to have a dollar
to buy pizza. It is. Pizza's so fucking good.
It must be nice to have it riding more. I fucking
love it. Absolutely. It goes deeper for me, though,
because in my last semester at college, I had
to find three more credits. And so my advisor
goes, well, just think I couldn't find anything.
What was a class or professor you liked and I
particularly loved my sociology professor from
the first man she goes Well, he's got like a
300 level sociology course called work and family.
So I took it and and the whole Thing was where
we studied the workforce in other countries Oh
Wow compared to ours and so in Italy and other
Europe in European countries They have four -day
work weeks and they're interviewing these people
from these factories and from all these different
industries and they're saying so you pay your
employees for way more than minimum wage, you
give them three weeks vacation or four weeks
vacation a year, and they only work four days
a week. Doesn't that hurt your production? Don't
you find that they're slacking? And they all
looked at them and immediately shut it right
down and said, no, it's the opposite. And this
is why I truly believe here in the United States
we do have to adopt this eventually, because
the whole idea is if you're paying people enough
to where they can afford to live, if they can
afford to take care of them, when they are sick.
And if they have time to spend with their families,
they're going to be happier, healthier, they
will be more loyal, and stay longer. And therefore,
overall, everybody wins. You're getting the best
out of your employees, which increases production.
And I don't know why we can't wrap our fucking
heads around this. It's that old school mantra.
What you need to understand is the United States
is a corporation that masquerades as a country.
Everything in our existence is programmed to
be workers. You know that George Carlin bit?
Yes. To be obedient workers. Yes. That is our
purpose. That is why, unfortunately, we have
a societal thing where you were defined by your
job. Correct. They go, hey, how are you? What's
your name? What do you do? That's right. Right?
That doesn't happen in these other places because
they get that. And what's wild is when you have
that mindset, you think that if... You're not
putting in 60 hours a week. You're lazy and you're
a bum and you're no good, right? It's ridiculous.
We have to break that mindset. Coming out of
that, let's look at some facts, right? You studied
this in school. You can probably tell me this
a little better. Facts. What does the data say
about productivity in a four -day work week,
Mike? You actually can look it up through Google
and find that out. Off the top of my head, I
don't know how, but just figure it out. The productivity,
I don't remember the number, but it is... I don't
want to say skyrockets, but the productivity
is way more than what we have. So you don't lose
productivity? Not even close. So you work 20
% less and the company doesn't get less done,
Mike? That's correct, Matthew. And here's the
other part of it. And I'm being serious. Think
back to like my grandfather. Okay, I never met
him. He died before I was alive. Why did he die?
Because he worked too fucking much. Yeah. But
the other part of that is, you know, there's
a lot of... baby boomers who are a little rough,
a little angry, a little bitter with that mindset
because when they were growing up, dad was never
around because he worked all the time. The point
is, it's more than just having an extra day off.
And ironically, they still feel like that's the
way it's supposed to be. That's my biggest frustration
with those folks. The irony is that it's the
opposite of what they're thinking. Nobody likes
to work anymore. No, because guess what? Not
only are you going to feel better because, you
know, you're refreshed, you're making enough
money, right? you're going to have a better home
life because you're going to be with your family
more. You're going to be less angry. It's just
there's so much to it. I'll tell you one of the
reasons that that I did it to begin with with
my IT company and did it with our very first
IT employee was because the burnout rate in IT
is incredibly hard. It's a stressful job where
people only come to you when there's something
wrong and they're mad at you. It's your fault.
Even if you had never been there before, it's
your fault. It's very stressful and people get
burned out easy. And by having one less day a
week of that, the career lifespan just becomes
exponentially longer. And as a company, we get
better people who aren't burned out and miserable
and ready to leave a year before they actually
do leave. You nailed it. And I dare say we reframe
it as, it's not one day less work. It's one day
more, one day more of a quality of life. One
extra day with your family. One extra day to
refresh. And here's what's interesting. The other
thing that we do here that's a little unique
is you guys will technically have a paid lunch.
What? So, yeah. What the fuck, man? You get paid,
Mike doesn't even look at his paycheck. I don't
know. I don't. I love this job. You get paid
four nine hour days. Which makes up 36 hours.
So it's a hair under 40. Okay, but that's the
thing to keep in mind slacker in four days You
get 36 hours So even the most, you know Arden
Full -time 40 -hour work with you're technically
working four hours less than the average worker,
but that gets you an entire day Exactly, you
know exactly and again one of the reasons that
it comes out to that number a lot of companies
will pay you for 32 hours And that's your full
week because you don't get a paid lunch, we include
that lunch. So that's the big difference, that's
how we get to 36. But again, the point is, even
when you think about it, you look at the math
and it's technically a four hour difference,
you know? Do people really imagine that that
much additional productivity would occur in four
hours? You would know more than me, but I mean,
it's... How many hours do you stand around the...
They make you come back to the office now. How
many hours at the office do you stand around
the... the water cooler. Yeah, right. And check
your Facebook. How many how many of those four
hours are quality hours? Right. You know, and
look, it you're right. I'm going to embrace it
because it's like, oh, yeah, we can go on. Yeah,
I do. And you should too. Yeah. And sorry, you
don't. Like I said, we can go on and on about
it. But the reality is don't take our word for
it. Just look at the data. Just look at the data.
Well, you know, facts don't matter about my feelings.
Anyway, here's one for you. Speaking of which,
a change. to a certain law is going to be going
into effect. For decades, New York's child labor
laws allowed kids as young as 11 to legally partake
in the time -honored tradition of a paper route,
but they are now going to change the minimum
age to 14. The move was first reported by Politico,
and the change comes even though paper boys and
girls have mostly gone the way of phone booths.
I'm so glad for this. I am too. I wish they would
also lower the age of Milkman. Because, you know,
this is a problem that just, you know, needs
to be addressed. It really does. I think... Look,
I think... I'm sorry. Who the fuck even proposed
this? I don't. Seriously, like, who is some sort
of legislator who's sitting around and is like,
you know what we should spend half a second on?
Writing legislation about paperboys. I know.
It was my first job. You can read about that
in the paper. Oh, wait, they don't exist. Right.
What the fuck? Why are we changing it now? Why
don't we write laws about horses and buggies?
Yeah, right. Yeah. Are we like, is this Bizarro
land? I don't know. I just thought it was wild
that we're changing the labor law for an outdated
position. Why? I don't know. But here's what
I do now. Did Big Paper lobby for this? I don't
know. Kids are... I don't know. Your first job
was McDonald's, right? Yeah. See, when I was
growing up, it was like your first job was either
McDonald's or Paperboy in the Mohawk Valley.
I was a Paperboy. And it was exciting because
of the video game Paperboy. Yeah, but did you
actually ride and throw it? No! That was the
best game. That was the thing that really upset
me. I got all excited. I got my first job. I'm
gonna be a paperboy. I loved the video game Paperboy.
I'm thinking, this is gonna be awesome. It's
gonna be like the movies. I'm gonna pedal. I'm
gonna throw it, and the sprinkler's gonna go
off, and you know, the whole thing. Yeah. The
first day I'm loading up my papers, they're like,
you gotta load up all your papers, fold them,
rubber band them, put them in your bag, and don't
throw them. You gotta walk up to the mailbox.
I'm like, well, this... This sucks. The whole
allure to me was chucking it. This is not what
I was sold. This is not what I signed up for.
And I was also, I think, 11. Yeah. But I'd have
to be 14. I have a serious question. Can you
still get a paper newspaper in Syracuse? I know
they cut the daily. Do they still do the Sunday
paper? OK, you still can get one. OK. All right.
I mean, you can get the New York Times, the Washington...
Like, they can send it to your cost of arm and
a leg. And why would you do this? Some people
just like the feel of holding a paper, you know,
I don't know. I mean, my kids have pet guinea
pigs, but we just buy the bedding now. Okay.
You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah, right, right,
right. We don't need somebody to deliver their
trash to us. I mean, look, strange times, man.
People read the news. Like, literally the second...
It pops up on your fucking arm. I mean... You're
going to wait until they print it on a sheet
of paper? The only reason I like to read the
news is so that - And have a 10 -year -old walk
it to your door? It's like, what are we? What?
I'm sorry. I like to read the newspapers just
so I can lower it and give a look to my son with
my glasses on my nose like, son, you know better.
Hey, David Muir and Bob Iger were at the Ithaca
College commencement ceremony this past weekend.
Not sure if you know, but they're both Ithaca
College grads. David Muir is from ABC News. He
famously lives in a mansion in Skinny Atlas.
Yes, he does. And Eiger, who earned his degree
in 73, is the chairman and chief executive officer
of the Walt Disney Company, which owns ABC and
ESPN. Yeah. You all grew up with Disney as part
of the culture, and your parents did, and your
grandparents did, Muir said. They spoke at the
graduation? They spoke at the graduation. Both
of them? Yeah, well, Iger... Did they get two
speakers? Well, Iger was the scheduled guest,
and then David Muir made an exception. Oh, he
had a cameo? Yeah. He, like, crashed the graduation.
He crashed the graduation, and I will say...
Breaking news. Breaking news. I'm a celebrity
and should be allowed to speak as well. Well,
yes. Move over, Iger. I think they kind of step
aside richest man on the planet. Yeah. Yeah.
Well also you got to remember David Muir is Eiger's
employee because you know Disney owns ABC Oh
shit and ESPN now, so I think it was it like
a type man I think so was Eiger worried that
like he wasn't gonna do well and yeah to bring
a ringer Yeah, and David Muir wore a big clock
like Flava Flav really. Yeah. No, I'm kidding,
but you said he was hype man But you know what
I love about that Other than those are two humongous
names at my alma mater. I want to see David Muir
do the news with a favor Dude, someone said this
to me the other day and it's so true. What else
could David Muir do? He is your quintessential
news guy. No, I know but I mean like There's
nothing else he's meant for like everything the
way he looks molded for 100 % his jawline The
way he talks. Yeah a couple action. He is perfect
and he donated a lot of money We had a great
television studio Probably the best studio at
Ithaca College thanks to him. It was fashioned
after the ABC World News studio. But yeah, that
was pretty cool. I just thought I'd bring that
up. Couple couple quick two more news. We got
a guest. Yeah. All right. Well this one I'll
just can if not that great But I do want to I
don't want to hear this one in music news Jane's
addiction guitarist Dave Navarro told guitar
player in a new interview that he will never
Play again with singer Perry Farrell after Dave
Navarro. He's still around. Oh, yeah Well, he
was hosting memory was like a host in a fucking
yeah tattoo reality show. Oh, yeah, but anyway
Perry Farrell He was punched him on stage in
in Boston last year. I had the most peripheral
thing you could do he was on drugs again I think
here. Let's watch it. So the music is getting
better. So after this incident you guys see this
thing man Check this out. Here we go. Yeah. Yeah,
you can tell he's on something So is his veins
yeah, you remember James a bitch, you know feeling
boy Ben Claude stealing So so here. He's like
he's just like getting into it. He goes over
all right now. He now he bumps into Dave fucking
shoulder Okay, bumps him now watch. Oh, he's
like Dave's like wait. What the fuck. He's like
you're serious like coked up angry guy. Yeah,
yeah And you look at him. He's like wait. What's
happening? Yeah? Yeah, the crews getting involved
and Dave Navarro you'd see it tackle at him Yeah,
dude. This is a big deal. This is old news technically,
but I'm just updating the so No, as much as Dave
Navarro's kind of a douchebag, I gotta give it
to him. He was just, like, doing his thing, and
bro, like... Well, you saw him go, like... Like,
he thought he was joking at first, then you see
his face go, like, oh, wait, this is... this
is real. All right, this is... I'll tell you
a quick story. This happened... Something similar
like this happened to me at Brownies and Herkimer.
Brownies? Shout out, my home... Dude, and this
was towards the end. I was there, uh, with, like,
my girlfriend and my buddy at, like... like happy
hour time, not late at night or something. We're
standing there having a drink, and there's not
many people in the bar, and I order a LeBat's
Blue. And this dude who I don't know in the bar
who was hammer drunk walks over and takes my
beer. Why don't you order an American beer? Oh,
wow. And we're all like, the fuck? And it was
very similar, just this random weirdo out of
nowhere. Going off on me. He thought he was joking.
Yeah, and he was like, posting up like he wanted
to take a swing on us. And luckily, he wasn't
that drunk. And I think when me and my buddy
looked down at him, we finally realized maybe
he should fucking chill out. But no, it was a
wild time. But it was one of those, like I said,
just out of the blue, here's a guy. Just look
at his face. Nine -year -old business. And he's
just fucking, you did something. Don't order
that Canadian shit. Literally. I was like, what?
I remember looking at the barmaid and going,
is this guy kidding? Good times. Good times.
Anyway. But anyway, so there's a little bit of
news for you. We've got Brian Ink coming up.
Let's take a break, get the man a chair, and
come back with one of the funniest guys in Syracuse.
Let's do it. Who's done our show? And we're back.
We are. Welcome back to Good News York. We've
brought in. a returning champion. Is this three?
I think this is, he's now, we've had a couple
of two visit, but it is the third time. He's
our most, should we do like a five timers club
like the SNL does at some point? No, it just
sounds like I have nothing else to do for going
on. He keeps coming around. Which by the way,
and I'm so glad, I'm gonna just throw this on
you right now. We found out that you came here
on the wrong day. Don't say my name through this
entire clip. Paul. Yeah. You came here the other
day. Like, we got done shooting and Amanda goes,
oh, hey, Brian, stop by. He thought he was on
today. And we're like, what? Why didn't you could
have stayed? You could have came on. I know.
I had that. I had the day. I had the day wrong.
And go figure. The first time I was here, I was
an hour late. Second time. Yeah. You made up
for it. made up for it by coming a week early.
Yes, and you're wearing a Yankee hat. Comedian
Brian Ink, he is the man. Last time we were here,
we were talking about him shooting a comedy special
here in Syracuse, which still to me is just an
awesome concept. You know, I'm somebody who grew
up watching these HBO specials with the biggest
names and... And to see it, we were there. I
went to one of the tapings, I guess you would
say. You went to the drunk taping. Great comedy
show, first of all. And just also just to see
the whole thing, how it worked. You had a professional.
This wasn't like my buddy in the back with his
handy cam. You had a legit production crew. Tell
us a little bit about how it went and how you're
feeling about it. It was great. Thanks for coming.
And thank you guys for helping me promote it.
We got a lot of butts in seats because of your
viewership. So thanks, everybody who came out.
Which one's my camera? Thank you guys so much.
We'll get you on all of them. It's the top cam.
But yeah, it went really well. We did two tapings.
and I'll hit the highlights. First one, pretty
standard, went through pretty good, good audience.
I'd say if I had to describe them, they might
have been a little bit tighter, which was fine.
But also, there was just a lot of funny stuff
that happened. Like one was, and it was not their
fault at all, Katie and Abdul, who were the host
and the feature. there was this weird sound thing
where they were over in a corner talking, but
the sound carried, and it like went right to
me. And I could hear their conversation weirdly,
and I couldn't be like, hey guys, shut up, because
people would think I'm crazy. So I had to kind
of just keep going with hearing it. And I told
them in the second show, they were very apologetic,
they had no reason to be. But then there was
like weird stuff like, there was a swing dance
class above. because we're in this basement space,
and so I can hear the... swinging, and it just,
that was really funny. But again, I didn't address
it because I'm like, maybe it's just me that
can only hear this. People do that? Yeah. Oh,
yeah. No, there's swingers everywhere. There
sure is. Go on. Just got to watch which one of
those websites you go to. If they have a pineapple
in their house, that means that they are swingers
and they want to dance with you. Yeah, if you
see a pineapple symbol. They want to dance. They
want to dance. That's it. Also, side note, when
I was managing a music venue a few years back,
they had swing dance nights. And I'm telling
you, these people would show up and show out,
and they would take it very slow. I didn't mean
to go off on this tangent, but that actually
makes me happy. I think it's a cool genre, and
I feel like it deserved more love than it got
in the 90s when it was trying to tape a comedy
show. Yeah, it's not great for one year. At least
they weren't Irish stompers. That would have
been... That would have been Riverdance. Yeah,
exactly. So that was fun. First taping goes well.
We had some video tech issues, as you do, but
that's why you have two tapings. And then the
second one was everybody leaves. I kind of say
thank you quickly, but it's a quick turnover,
so we're getting ready. And I met my lovely wife
upstairs, Jamaica Cuse, who's going to plug right
now. They were kind of our restaurant lobby area.
They were great. And so I go up and see my wife
up there. Her cousins had come to visit for the
special. And it's like, I think the show starts
at nine. It was like 850, and there was no one
downstairs. And so in my head, I was like, oh,
it's just gonna be my wife and her cousins. And
that's gonna be really kind of embarrassing.
I'm gonna feel bad about this. And I was like,
hey, I think it's just gonna be you guys. And
she goes, oh no, everyone's trying to find parking.
I was like, who? Who are these people that are
just? And she goes, well, you know, because Cher.
And I was like, what does Cher have to do with
anything about what's going on right now? You
know, because if you could turn back time. If
I could, yeah. I don't know. And so the Cher
musical was in town on that night. Across the
street. Literally. And so every parking spot
had a retirement card on it and was just all
these blue -haired old ladies are trying to find
parking. They're taking up three spaces with
their giant Buicks. And we just, so everyone
was, and then sure enough, like a little bit
late, just a group of 10, a group of 12, and
we filled up the same size that, I think we had
60 people at each show, which was great. And
it was super fun. It was definitely the drunker
audience, which was also very funny. In particular,
I have some friends who I played disc golf with,
and I love them. And they came in, and they were
like, hey, man, we just came from the bar. And
he did a Manhattan, like, a shot, because we
didn't want to be late. And I was like, oh, no.
And they were so great. But there's also this
very sweet moment where. There's a couple, and
I play disc golf with them, and they're an interracial
couple. I do an interracial bit. And usually
I go, anyone doing interracial relationships?
And they'll be like, woo, or something like that.
Kind of just like a flight woo. I go, anyone
doing interracial? And in the back, they just
go, woo! So you remember, I was like, oh, we
can't use this take. But yeah, so it was very
fun. It was nice to see a bit of a tighter and
a very loose audience. And yeah. And then finish
it up. What no one saw was after everything was
said and done, it was like a Bruce Springsteen
music video. I had to just put all the chairs
back and all the, you know what I mean? It's
this thing. I was like, I did it. And I was like.
I got to clean up. Yeah. And so, yeah, it was
a very fun experience right now. We're just going
to start editing and put it together. But even
the half hour that I have of just the wide, I
was like, I really like this. This is good. Good.
Yeah. I mean, in general, it was a great set,
I just want to say. Like, the material and everything,
as much as we're talking about the production
and all that, just the comedy. The most important
part. Thanks. Well, we talked about it on the
pod. We were like, when are you ready? When you
know when it's time to do this material and do
it. And it was just at that point, I think I'd
done some of those jokes like two or three years.
So it was actually one of those ones where. I
was kind of done doing them. And so I just kind
of got excited about them, did them with the
most energy I could do them with. And now it's
very funny going onto shows now and being like,
I got nothing. Yeah, starting from scratch. A
lot of crowd work. I'm glad that 9 o 'clock went
well for you, because I remember that was the
one you were real worried about. Yeah. Because
ticket sales -wise, it wasn't showing. Thanks,
Cher. Stupid Cher. I got to thank the Funny Bone
also, and Rob, the manager over there, he let
me drop off, because I was doing shows the weekend
before with Dan Porter, and they both let me
drop off QR codes, and I mentioned them after
my set, like, hey, if you enjoyed any of this,
I'm taping. So that was a huge part. Chris Porter,
I'm so sorry, Chris. I love you. Chris, we love
you. You won't see this. Yeah, no one sees this,
it's fine. So let me ask you this, and it sounds
like a hack question, but it's not, because we're
in a unique world now, where at the level that
you are at, you can pretty much design and do
your own special, which is amazing. What is like,
is there one or two things that you're like,
you know what, next time I do it, I am not doing
this. Oh, that's a great question. I... For those
other comedians listening. So if I were to do
it again, and actually there's a couple comics
who are great, who kind of had great questions
to ask. Bill Lake is one of them. He should definitely
come on your pod sometime. Love Bill. He's working
on his half hour, and he was kind of asking me,
and I think if anyone was to do any taping, whether
it be music or... stand up or anything like that,
I would say an usher slash somebody to make sure
that the show people are sitting and other stuff
is getting done. Just overseeing the audience.
An usher slash gopher. Not in a disrespectful
way of like, but like I had run over to Funk
and Waffles, thank you Funk and Waffles, because
we had to get like four sound cords to connect
and we just didn't have enough with where we
had things set up. So. That would have been great
to be able to do that. So I would definitely
say an usher gopher. And then I would have done
on our first visit, I would have done more testing
of look and sound and stuff like that, because
we kind of went into that. We knew what we wanted,
but we went into it pretty blind. And that was
pretty hard to kind of have them be like, OK,
this is the first time we're looking at this
set, and let's try to find spots to shoot. Definitely
would have that, a clear shot list. But yeah,
I think just the biggest one was to have somebody
who could have run around to take care of things
that I had to take care of. That you shouldn't
have to. A production assistant or something.
Yeah. And the other part of it, too, is there
is a little bit of a. The professionalism gets
taken down a little bit of being the headliner,
the reason why people are there when you're moving
seats and running up to grab their drinks and
stuff like that. Just because I wanted to do
that stuff so everyone was comfortable. But it
definitely changes people subconsciously if the
first time they see me is me coming onto stage
versus me being like, OK, so it's two beers,
and then I'll give you one more seat. Because
when they're like, you're headlining, like, he
just sat us. Why would I care about what he did?
Right. Yeah. This is, I mean, it's, I went through
the same stuff, well, in comedy, but in music
as well, where, you know, you do this big show
and then you're like, thank you, good night.
And then you come back out and you slowly roll
up your guitar cord. And, you know, but this,
but even that's the trade -off for not needing,
like I said, we can create our own specials now.
You know, this is the trade -off of not having
a production company like Netflix involved in
taking a cut. So, you know, it's a little bit
of give and take, but that's good. Well, it's
interesting. I just kind of heard that a lot
of people are, maybe Netflix will shift this,
but Netflix, I think the best deal out there
right now is Hulu, because Hulu lets you put
the special up on your YouTube. Yeah. And then
I think there, every two or three years, you
can re -sign your contract and let it go other
places. So that's a good deal. That's cool. But
right now, as I understand it, Netflix writes
you a check, and then you can do whatever you
want with it. But if you want Netflix quality,
that means that there's comics who have spent
all that money or more, because they understand
that the opportunity is to get eyeballs on them,
and then your tours hopefully get busier and
stuff like that. Yeah, a Netflix special really
is more of a serviceable investment than it is
a victory lap of the material that you've been
working on. Gotcha. So, yeah, it is pretty interesting.
I mean, I'm not saying that people shouldn't
do it or there isn't obvious pros to it. Like,
Mark Norman's a great example. He'd... Just saw
him in Ithaca a few weeks ago. Yeah, he's great.
And Sam Rowe did this on Amazon. And so they
both... I think had a YouTube special and then
got the offer to do something on a platform and
they knew Well, if I do this then the first one's
gonna get a lot more eyeballs and then sure enough
that's what ended up happening and so The platforms
definitely can help you build an audience. Whereas
YouTube you get more Both financial and creative
control and from the audience you already have.
Yeah, so it's like the old record labels same
same kind of You know, same kind of concept.
And speaking of which, I'd like to thank the
seven audience members that I have on a regular
basis. You guys are great. You guys are awesome.
We love you. The Magnificent Seven, we call them.
Brian, we got a few other things we want to jump
into. But I just want to, if you could just take
a minute, tell folks what happens next, right?
So obviously, we know you edit the thing and
you create a finished special. What happens with
it next? You put it on YouTube kind of like we're
talking about here, or what do you do? So Mike
Abbott, who is my director, producer extraordinaire,
he and I are gonna sit down with the material
and write down what we want it to look like and
what shots we have available to kind of put this
together. And then from there, it's shopping
it around to production companies. There's one
in particular that I've already reached out to
who kind of started this whole thing and I'd
love to work with them. And so we'll go from
there. And then that's kind of where that is.
There'll be a lot of promotion of, hey, I'll
come back on and say, hey, it's going to air.
Go check it out. Get to do my digital panhandling,
is what I call it, for a month there. I was just
on Facebook with a cup going, please come to
my show. Please give me a change. Yeah. And so
that's the next stage for it, is just cutting
it together, putting it up. and being happy with
however it turns out. So when you say working
with production companies, is that for the distribution
portion of it? Yeah. I mean, because again, the
seven people who follow me on YouTube, my channel
isn't something. And the first half hour, that
was the same issue was I felt good about it,
but there wasn't anywhere for people to see it.
And so production companies definitely have a
great value of having that audience and being
able to push it. They also know how to. cut up
the material and promote like, you know, you
guys have with your team here. And so it's one
of those things where, yeah, just want to finish
it. Let them or whoever wants it want it. And
then hopefully can put some tour dates around
it because people like it. Awesome. And that's
that's kind of the goal, right? Kind of to what
you were speaking to earlier is not necessarily
that this thing is going to make you rich, but
it'll get the eyeballs that drive ticket sales
and in other social media channels and kind of
build your community. Is that it? Yeah. Yeah,
I remember I had this conversation with a comic
in Albany, and he's a great comic and a legend,
but we kind of disagreed. He was like, I think
stand -up is the platform to do other things
like movies and da -da -da -da. And I said, actually,
in my experience, stand -ups only really want
to do stand -up. We don't want to do movies.
We don't want to do the TV show. They're fun
and all that stuff. But there's so much more
work than just showing up 15 minutes before the
show. We're very lazy people. We really want
to work about two hours max a day. That's most.
Yeah. If a Frenchman and a Greek mother were
raised by Italian grandparents, we're napping
a lot. We love the Spanish mentality. We're taking
it very easy. We eat meals before lunch. Between
lunch and dinner. Complaining about things. So
that's kind of the thing. And I think that with
the, you know, people talk about the 80s and
90s stand up boom. There wasn't, I think there's
like, and this is Mark Norman and Sam Rell, they
were saying they know like eight comics who are
doing stadium tours right now. That's never happened
before. And so podcasts are a huge reason why
that's possible. Just the straight to connecting
to your audience right away is a huge part of
it. So yeah, I think that for me right now, the
goal is to get up there and then hopefully build
some tour dates around that because I just like
doing stand up. Yeah. That's awesome. You know,
it's wild because. We've kind of talked about
this before too, where those same comics that
are, you know, selling out stadiums, could probably
walk around in that city before and after the
show, and maybe one out of five people would
recognize them, because it's such a niche, like
you have your locked -in social media audience,
like they're your hardcore fan base. Not everybody's
watching and consuming the same content. It's
pretty cool. I went to a Matt Rife show, and
it's like they put up a bat signal for 23 -year
-old girls named Becky. It was incredible. A
lot of Becky. They just flocked there. There's
a great Dan Soder who's an amazing stand -up
comic. Love him so much. I think he was in Pittsburgh?
No, he was in Salt Lake City, I think. And this
has never happened before, and he's such a great
guy, and he had no shame in it. He goes, I wasn't
selling tickets. So, and Matt Rife had just been
starting to blow up a little bit. What they did
was, if you bought tickets to Dan Soder's show,
you entered in a raffle to be able to get tickets
to Matt Rife's show. And so all the shows sold
out, because all these backies showed up. They
wanted to see Matt Rife instead? That's genius.
Matt Rife. Every Kylie, Kendall, and Kendra showed
up. I mean, that's going to happen to me. I'm
sure I'm going to have ticket sales that aren't
going, and they're just going to. put a raffle
together so that they can go see. That's so funny.
Some influence. I actually love that idea. I
think that's a brilliant idea. It's not a terrible
idea to do that. Come see me and you could get
a free $10 car wash. We could do a lot with that.
We're so happy for you, but do you have any shows
coming up that you can plug? Anything going on
yet? I'm in North Carolina in two weekends with
Steve Byrne. So if you're in the North Carolina
area in Charlotte, go check that out. Huge North
Carolina fan base. We do. And then I'm at the
Utica Theater. Actually, let's vamp. Vamp for
a bit. Tell me about the game. Hello, my baby.
Hello, my darling. Hello, my ragtime gal. What
is this game, anyways? Oh, the game? I want to
play. And I don't even necessarily understand
the full. I saw this on, I don't know where I
saw it, one of the shows I watch. There's like
this new thing. where they're putting up, Danny,
if you want to queue it up here, it's a chart.
Now, I designed this chart, okay? This took a
lot of work, all right? He's literally been on
this for four days. If you were sitting on a
plane... Oh, I've seen this. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So, if you were sitting on a plane... Okay. Okay,
and these seats were open, where would you sit
and why? And we're ignoring the fact that some
are dead. Some are dead. We're pretending like
they're alive. Mostly because I wanted to segue
into something I had to say about Princess Di
and Pee Wee Herman. So I purposely threw them
in. So he came up with this for one random bit
that he wants to bring up. He's a super producer
right here. Should we, let me ask you this. So,
and maybe this is part of the game, forgive me
if I'm skipping ahead, but. Should we go over
who each of these folks are first? So first,
in the number two spot, top left, you've got
Haq Tua. And then just so we're clear. Once we
start, the whole point is each of us will go
around and pick which seat we're going to sit
in and just why. Why are you choosing that seat?
And I will admit, Brian, I made this before I
knew you were going to be a part of this. I included
people that I know Matt likes, because he's weird.
So not all of them, but some of them. So we've
got in the back row, seats two and three, you've
got Hock Tua and Peewee Herman. Good old Hayley
Welch. Yep. And then you've got an aisle seat
open. to Bob Ross and Lin -Manuel Miranda, who's
got the window seat. Now, you can get crazy.
You can hit seat number eight, and that is you're
sitting between Mr. Beast and then that social
influencer you love. What's his name? Hassan
Piker. Yeah, yeah, Hassan Piker. This one I love.
So the reason I chose this one is you could get
the middle seat between O .J. and Lee Harvey
Oswald. You could find out some shit. I'm saving
my thoughts. Because there's a lot of conspiracy.
between those two. You could sit in aisle seat
15 where you're next to Howard Stern and he,
John Stewart's got the window seat. Now, if you
really wanna celebrate some douchebaggery, seat
17, you're between Dave Portnoy of Barstool and
Jill Rogan. Love them both. Window seat, your
boy Gary Vee. You could sit next to him and Ken
Jeong. diversity. And then we've got some animated
characters. You could sit next to Cartman, who
is also next to the Dragon Ball Z guy. Then last
two, you could sit next to Oprah, who's next
to Princess Di. Or you could sit between Obi
-Wan Kenobi and Princess Leia. So that's the
layout, and obviously we'll show it on the screen
when we... All right, am I going first? Sure.
All right, first I gotta give you some thoughts
on this layout. So like a couple of these, so
like Lin -Manuel Moran, that's the dude next
to Bob Ross there, right? That's the Hamilton
guy? Yeah, yeah, yeah. See, he's kind of a loss
because, you know, you're going to sit in that
empty seat. You're nowhere near him anyway. So
it's, do you want to sit next to Bob Ross? Interesting.
I like that. And, you know, that's probably the
safest seat in the whole airplane is next to
Bob Ross. If you had a piece of loose leaf paper
and you sat there, would you ask him to draw
you something? Happy Little Trees? Happy Little
Trees. He needs a paintbrush. He's not a pencil
artist. All right. You know, the influencer seat,
seat eight there, you know, that's an interesting
one. My money's on that. Mr. Beast and Hassan,
you know, that's, man, that might be some fun
conversations. Especially with your, you know,
this gig. You know, here's the thing. Now I also
say, you want to talk about safest. I sort of
feel like sitting between O .J. and Lee Harvey.
Oh, interesting. You feel safe. Ain't nobody
gonna fuck with you there. That's interesting,
because most people look at that and go, oh,
my God, that's insane. You're trapped. Two murderers.
And on the other side of that, we're on a plane,
so there's a reasonable expectation that they've
been stripped of any weapons, you know? So...
Knives. I'm not too concerned about that. Again,
we got Howard and... And John Stewart, what a
great couple. But you're going to be on the end.
So really, you're only going to talk to Howard.
There you go. Which, you know, the king of all
media. If there's anybody you could talk to on
a long flight, that would be the guy. I love
where you're at. The pod bro seat, right? 17.
Looking at this. We're in the back. Looking at
this. Here's the thing. I'm not like. I'm not
one of these bros who loves either one of those
dudes. I'm also not one of these people who hates
either one of those dudes. OK. Me too. I'm in
the middle, yeah. And I'm just going to tell
you that I would avoid that seat because I think
those two dudes would spend the whole flight
talking over you to each other. Excellent. I
love that. That's the first one I'm actually
eliminating. It's seven. OK. All right. Kim Jong,
Gary V. Again, you don't get both of them. Don't.
I love Gary V. Kim Jong is the funnier ones,
which almost makes me think he might monopolize
Gary V's time. So I'm just going to sit next
to the window. Let me tell you, man, these things
are going to do, man. You're just going to make
them every day, man, consistently. That's the
best Gary V impression I've ever done. Cartman
and so who's the fella next to Cartman? It's
some guy from Dragon Ball Z. Goku. Goku, thank
you. I don't watch animation. Go, Cart. Is that?
You know, I'm trying to... Yes, that's Gokart
from... What is he... Is he like a... It's Gokart.
Actually, the two of them, kart menu, they would
be Gokart. And in Goku, characters can come together
in Dragon Ball Z to become one superpower. So
if they were to do that, they would become Gokart.
And I planned it that way. Honestly, the most
I know about anime is the South Park Chimpokomon
episode. So... So I guess, I gotta ask this dude,
so he's got this orange, is he like a prisoner?
Did he break out of jail? Is that why he's wearing
the orange? Sounds like Brian would know more.
No, he's just a fighter. Okay. But he's, in the
anime world, he's like the Hulk Hogan. Is he
a good guy? He's the, yeah. Yeah, okay. He's
like the, well. I would say he's like Superman,
that he's also the most recognizable. There you
go. There you go. Does he, he plays the, the
polka balls? Mm -hmm. Okay. He'll poke your balls.
Absolutely. Gotcha. He will poke your balls.
Uh, let's see who else we got on this plane.
Oprah and Princess Di, I fuck would never in
a million years sit in that seat. Oh, I thought
you were gonna say you would have sex with Oprah,
but anyway. Oh, God. Uh, well, yeah, but think,
here's something to think about with the Oprah.
Listen, Oprah's brilliant. I just don't wanna,
I don't wanna do, I feel like if I sat there,
I would end up. doing Oprah. And then I'm going
to jump on the seat and they're going to throw
me out. That's fair. Here was my way of thinking.
Imagine just listening. Wait, when you say doing
Oprah, you mean do her impression? No, no. I
mean, I'm on her show. Oh, sorry. I thought you
were saying you were going to hook up with Oprah.
No. Risky and gross. I 100 % would. She's a treasure.
But my way of thinking - You get an orgasm. You
get an orgasm. I mean - My way of thinking was
imagine the conversation you could listen in
on between her and Princess Di, though. You know
what I mean? Yeah. That's kind of my sales pitch
for that. I feel like they just talk about fancy
shit or tea that I don't care about. My sales
pitch for Hoctua is you're in the back corner,
imagine what she could do to you, and imagine
what Peewee would be doing while he's watching.
Oh, that's the bad. I see what you did there.
I thought that was the front. Well, maybe it
is. Yeah, I think it is. No, but you face it
towards the back. Yeah. OK, then keep going,
and then I'll do mine. I was just going to say,
this last row, so we got the Star Wars folks.
That's because I know you love Star Wars. I do
love Star Wars. And that would be a great seat.
So I guess I got to pick. Let me give me my final
answer here. My vote was seat eight, if I had
to pick. I'm leaning strongly towards seat eight.
Yeah, I'm going to go with seat eight. A, because
of the robe, but also because you got Bob Ross
in front of you. I feel like he would be the
most courteous, not jamming the seat in your
back sort of type of fella. He's just painting
a happy tree behind you. That's right, just happy
little trees. And also, I feel like most people
would not have my level of security with the
two killers behind me, which means there's probably
nobody in seat 11, and I can recline my seat.
I'm really proud of you, because you thought
outside the box. That was my thinking with seat
21 next to Gary Vee, is if you wanted to double
dip, you could also probably listen in and talk
to Portnoy and Rogan if you leaned over your
seat. And then you could laugh your ass off with
Cartman and, you know, Gokart, who's in front
of you. God damn it. Yeah. What do you think?
I can wrap it around this. OK, so one, if one's
in the back, yeah, you do the hock to a girl,
but I don't find white women attractive. So I'm
not going to do that anymore. Also, we could
talk about Peewee. He got in trouble for what?
Masturbating in an adult movie theater? That's
where you're supposed to do it. I don't know
why he ever got bashed for that. I agree. Porn
did not exist. He had to, or video, you know,
we don't have Pornhub. He did what he had to
do. Number six would be fun, because I could
pitch the Bob Ross musical done by Lin -Man Miranda.
Number eight does nothing for me, because Mr.
Beast would be like, we've got this crazy idea,
we're going to treat everyone like a slave. And
you're like, OK, no, I'm OK. And the guy on the
right, I know he's an influencer, but he's got
so much jewelry, he just would jingle the whole
time. And that would be bad, because the young
people wear grandma's pearls now for some reason.
11, I'm going to leave that open so they can
murder each other. That'd be funny. Solid. But
15, I'm good. If I was sitting next to Jon Stewart,
I could do it. I'm not a huge Howard Stern fan,
because I didn't grow up with it. I didn't grow
up with it. And when I see him now, he reminds
me of a lot of 17, of not particularly, just
not anything that I think the interviewees like
Oprah is a fantastic interviewer. I think, you
know, I'm trying to look at the rest of the list.
I think that, and this is a controversial opinion,
Howard Stern and Joe Rogan, the talent that is
in that show and their empire. is with their
producers, not them individually. Because they're
able to get great guests on, but I don't think
that they bring anything specifically interesting
to an interview or a conversation. I know how,
and I know it's sacrilegious to say that about
Howard Stern. But he's, he'll just have porn
stars on, he's like, so you have sex, that's
wild, what's that like? You know, terrible Howard
Stern impression. Seventeen I wouldn't go, because
fuck Boston sports. Again, Joe Rogan, you know
he's not wearing a mask and he's shooting elk
blood into his neck. I just don't need that in
my life. 21 could be fun. Yeah, they have the
same, you know what it is? Their voice has the
same frequency that if you ever try to get a
glass, it's just gonna shatter. So that's not
gonna work. 22, I'm okay, because again, these
two are just gonna become one person, the go
-kart, and then Mario shows up to drive away
on them. 25 could be fun. Again, it's the reverse
of Hoctua. Oprah's a beautiful woman and we'll
be fine with that. And then 29, I love Star Wars.
So I would go there. I would go 29 because go
Star Wars. It's the best. Excellent. Real quick,
what do you think your... No, no, you're fine.
I wonder what the topic of conversation would
be. For who? The Star Wars people. Oh, I wouldn't.
I don't know. I don't watch Star Wars. I'm not
a Star Wars guy. What do you got, buddy? I'm
going to just keep it brief. I mean, look, bottom
line, I'm picking seat 11. Because I want to
feel like no one's gonna mess with me. Okay,
I also I mean I have so many questions about
the killings I feel like oh you want to dig in
I want to dig in okay? I want to find out what
really happened, and then I'm gonna go on a book
tour or speaking tour I'm gonna make a ton of
money off that and by the way one of my heroes
Howard Stern will be right in front of me Which
reach over so let me ask you which one are you
more interested in the details from OJ or Lee
Harvey? Honestly, probably Lee Harvey. Because
there's way more conspiracy surrounding him.
Like, did you actually even shoot him? Right.
What's this second gunman, third gunman? Let's
brass tacks here. And if you were going to do
it today, how would you do it? I mean, there's
so many ways. How did the magic bullet come to
be? Well, actually, it really was magic. I'm
a wizard. That's why I'm actually in black and
white on the airplane. I will say two quick things.
One is, I think Pee -wee Herman is one of the
most underrated characters to ever exist in pop
culture. I think it is a genius character. And
Princess Di... Have you ever seen his comedy?
Like... Stand -up? Yeah. No. It's phenomenal.
Paul Reubens? Yes. I've never seen his stand
-up. And you're right. The character Pee -wee
that he created is absolutely phenomenal. But
if you see the stuff, he's one of these guys
who plays like a goofy, very juvenile character.
and was actually incredibly an intelligent guy.
And in a lot of his other stand -up, you'll hear
a lot of other comics that knew him well. You
know, he got branded for that horrible indecent
thing that he did. But, you know, a lot of, like
I said, the real comics will talk about the respect
that they gave that guy for genuine comedy chops.
I mean, he launched, arguably launched Phil Hartman's
career, but just the movies were part of my childhood.
Lawrence Fishburne? Lawrence Fishburne, yep,
yep. Uh, you know, they had Cheri and Mekka Lekka
Hi, Mekka Hiney Ho. The bike, I loved the bike.
The rubber band ball. With all the gadgets. Pee
-wees Playhouse I used to watch. So I was a big
fan, but I just think, looking back now, I mean,
my God, even with SNL characters, I just think
because of the incident where he bopped his bologna
in the theater, where you're supposed to do it,
I guess, he, you know, he didn't get the credit.
It was just an amazing character. And then Princess
Di, I took one of those... Did you take a college
class on her, too? No. I got a... What do you
call them? DNA test done. And I paid $10 extra
to see if I was related to any celebrities. No
bullshit. Can you pull up the picture of Princess
Di real quick? It should be a... $10 extra to
see if I was related to a celebrity. I paid $10
extra on my genetic test. You know the answers,
yes. Hold on. Do I look like her? For $10. I
need a crown, but... Mean all white people look
the same. Well, that's got you there. Yeah. Yeah,
are you all you missed? Are you and was that
I heard ascending a princess die? I guess I paid
when I took the Canadian test They said if you
want to pay $10 extra will check in which technically
she was cheap family So I guess it doesn't mean
anything. No, I don't have royal blood technically,
but apparently I'm I am Yeah, I'm related the
only thing you miss. I'd love to hear your opinion
is no. It's fine You're so cool. Now that you
shot your special you're taking calls I said
20 million per movie I said that I think Pee
Wee Herman is one of the most underrated characters
of all time. I think it's genius Um, this is
another one that's tricky because I didn't and
not that he wasn't in my time No, no, no, I get
it. I if you know if you don't grow up with something
I did It's the same thing of like when I go to
India to visit with my wife, Lakshmi's family,
it's hard talking about cultural stuff, because
if you didn't grow up with it and it's not ingrained,
try to explain Fight Club to someone who grew
up in South India. I was like, we should watch
American movies when you come and visit. And
I was like, oh, fight clubs are classic. And
he was like, oh, is that where they fight each
other to make money so they can feed their family?
And I was like, no. Edward Norton thinks IKEA
has too many choices. And that's the downfall
of society. When you're something wired. So Pee
Wee is my fight club as a South Indian. Now that
it doesn't make sense, I just didn't grow up
with it. But I love anything that's going to
be. I mean, let's be honest, Pixar did what Pee
Wee was doing beforehand, which is kids and adults
are laughing at something together. Yeah. And
that had never really been done before. So it's
one of those things where even though I didn't
grow up with it, I can see the amazing, yeah,
I can appreciate it. Yeah, for sure. So I just
want to say real quick, now that you're back,
I got to give you a little shit. Please. I'm
excited. Howard Stern is probably one of the
best interviewers you could find. I could not
agree more. Ever in the history of the world.
And here's the thing, though. Um, if you don't
watch and listen to his show and to do so, to
really understand it is like, you got to win
fast. You know, you got to be one of these fucking
listeners who's hours and hours and hours. But
if you're not, you get exactly kind of what,
what Brian said. It's the interview and the strippers.
Those are the clips you hear the most and in
the shit that he's most famous for the dirty
stuff, but he'll get a list. you know, Billy
Joel and like these big name people to open up
in a way that you will never find in any other
interview. And I'm very open to the idea of being
wrong. I've been married two and a half years.
I'm getting very used to it. I don't even want
to give you much shit because it's one of those
things like, you know, there's one of these,
oh, this guy on the podcast is phenomenal. And
you'd only know that if you were a fan and listened
to 40 hours of podcast, you know, I certainly
can't blame you. But I got to throw Howard's
little defense. He's the Goku of morning talk
show radio. And if you're not watching the 40
hours of it, you don't realize how important
he is. Yeah. I haven't missed an episode of Howard
Stern since 1997. And I'm not joking. I listen
every single day. And I respect your opinion.
Because like Matt said, unless you're in that
world, you're not going to just tune in for an
interview. But you have to remember, too, he
wasn't always a great interview. This was an
evolution over time. And his interviews, especially
the one with Steven Tyler is one of my favorites.
It is unlike any other interviews you listen
to, because he talks, it's like this, but just
with so much depth and so much shit. The shitty
gets out of people. Sort of because he can be
raunchy, right? He has sort of that license to
get personal. And sometimes, like I said, the
stuff he gets out of people is not something
you'll find. No. OK, then I will give him a revisit.
You're not wrong. You can have a different opinion.
I mean, from that photo, it looks like he's got
six months left. So we'll see how much I can
watch. You want to hear something crazy real
quick, because I know we got to go? You said
Fight Club. I will never experience Fight Club
because someone told me the fucking ending before
I watched it. That's like the one movie. You
cannot do that. There was one Rosie O'Donnell,
I remember Rosie O'Donnell saw it and she spoiled
it for like thousands of people who were watching
it because she was like, I didn't like it. I
didn't like it. It was very... And he's got an
imaginary friend and you're like, no. I'll be
honest. I feel like you could still... That's
one of those... No, I did. And I liked it the
whole time. I'm like, oh, look. No, I'm with
you though. Don't fucking ruin it for me. I mean,
mind you, it was years later, but still. But
what's also fun, too, is watching it again, because
it is a great movie. Watching it again, you also
get to see the nuances and the specific things
where you realize, oh, he really... When they're
in the kitchen and they're talking, I'm like,
oh my god. There's like small details when they
crash the car, Edward Norton gets out on the
side that would have been the driver's side because
he was actually driving or whatever it was. What
a positive. You're right. And that's the way
I consumed it because I had no choice. I knew
the ending. And you're right. It was kind of
a fun angle because you're like, right, like
you said, that's why he's not doing that. That's
why he's sitting there. That reminds me of, oh
god, I think it's... John Mulaney or, no, it's,
um, it's, uh, um, um, God, uh, Tennessee kid,
Nate Bargatze. He does a great joke about, uh,
um, the six cents. and how that movie, he clearly
is shot at the beginning, he clearly has died,
and he's having meetings, he's getting dinner
with his wife, but it made more sense to us,
the audience, married people, that they would
just sit in silence and eat. The idea that maybe
something's wrong or something happened. No one
is like, why aren't they talking? They're like,
huh, been there. Yeah, it checks out. So goddamn
funny. He's not wrong. What a chock full episode.
Yeah. My god. I think it's time to wrap. But
before we do, thanks for having me. Brian Ink,
give us your plug. Let's help you. Yeah, man.
Brian Ink. Oh, I was able to pull this up. So
Charlotte, North Carolina in two weeks. It's
going to be a super fun one. And then I am closer
at the Utica Theater, the 21st family. I think
the show's at seven. I don't really know. The
goal of the special is to get a manager who can
tell me where to go and what to do. That is the
dream. I have no idea. But that'll be a fun one
at the Utica Theater. Stanley? It's the Stanley
Theater. Which theater? In Utica? I don't know.
It's gotta be Stanley. Or the Stanley. Maybe
it is the Uptown. Yeah, it's the Uptown one.
Is that the one that they're doing renovations
at? Yes. Yep, it's that one. OK. So, yeah, I
work exclusively with theaters that aren't done
being built yet. Brian Ink, we love you. What's
the name of your special? Oh, letters are hard.
And it's coming out sometime. Sometime. When
he's done with it. Editing, well, we're done.
Editing starts this week, and we go from there.
We love you. Do you block out time? Like, do
you have a kind of a schedule for editing and
you know... Yeah, I don't have it. Not sort of
when we get to it sort of deal? Yeah, I don't
know. It's scheduled, but then it turns into
I'll just get to it. Well, I do timers. Timers
are big for me. And so I'll do an hour of editing
and then see how I feel about it and see if we
can give it another hour or if something else
has to come up. So we'll go from there. Yeah,
definitely. Timers are huge. All right. Brian
Ink will no doubt be back again. He's one of
our favorite guests to have. And he's not even.
Too far away. I got nothing else going on. For
Mikey B, our man Danny behind the board, I'm
Matt. Peace out.