WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.779 Welcome to the deep dive. Today, we're diving 00:00:02.779 --> 00:00:04.900 deep, using our sources to look at the career 00:00:04.900 --> 00:00:07.580 of really a true veteran of American comedy. 00:00:08.240 --> 00:00:11.560 This is a guy whose journey is, well, it's fascinatingly 00:00:11.560 --> 00:00:14.000 contradictory. He spent decades honing this sort 00:00:14.000 --> 00:00:17.039 of chaotic observational style, you know, fueled 00:00:17.039 --> 00:00:20.280 by pure rant energy. Right. Yet at the same time, 00:00:20.480 --> 00:00:24.780 he built this. a quiet, consistently successful 00:00:24.780 --> 00:00:27.820 acting career in Hollywood. We're talking about 00:00:27.820 --> 00:00:30.719 Jimmy Schubert. Yeah, and when you dig into Schubert's 00:00:30.719 --> 00:00:33.000 career, you're looking at more than just a stand 00:00:33.000 --> 00:00:35.560 -up. You're really tracing the path of a performer 00:00:35.560 --> 00:00:38.340 who figured out pretty early, I think, that stage 00:00:38.340 --> 00:00:40.820 discipline, you know, the kind he got from drama 00:00:40.820 --> 00:00:43.799 and even magic, could be channeled into comedy's 00:00:43.799 --> 00:00:47.100 most, let's say, aggressive formats. So our mission 00:00:47.100 --> 00:00:49.039 here isn't just listing credits. It's about showing 00:00:49.039 --> 00:00:51.539 you how that foundational training helped make 00:00:51.539 --> 00:00:55.409 him this recognized outlaw of comedy while also 00:00:55.409 --> 00:00:57.969 making him reliable enough for network TV. And 00:00:57.969 --> 00:00:59.609 those initial highlights, that's exactly where 00:00:59.609 --> 00:01:01.390 the contradiction pops up, isn't it? I mean, 00:01:01.469 --> 00:01:04.170 the big aha moment about Schubert has to be that 00:01:04.170 --> 00:01:06.930 defining professional relationship. He's really 00:01:06.930 --> 00:01:09.209 known for being a key part of Sam Kinnison's 00:01:09.209 --> 00:01:11.189 touring group, the Outlaws of Comedy. Absolutely. 00:01:11.189 --> 00:01:13.849 That connection alone tells you he operates at 00:01:13.849 --> 00:01:16.890 a pretty high level of intensity. It definitely 00:01:16.890 --> 00:01:20.500 does. But the really surprising bit. the foundational 00:01:20.500 --> 00:01:23.319 detail that kind of shaped his early comedic 00:01:23.319 --> 00:01:26.620 DNA. It was his living situation. Oh, right. 00:01:27.000 --> 00:01:29.819 Schubert was part of that legendary high pressure 00:01:29.819 --> 00:01:32.980 comedy house, you know, the property owned by 00:01:32.980 --> 00:01:35.340 the comedy stores, Mitzi Shore. The comedy frat 00:01:35.340 --> 00:01:38.459 house. Exactly. An environment of just intense, 00:01:38.939 --> 00:01:41.120 constant competition. And the roommates, I mean, 00:01:41.159 --> 00:01:42.780 the people he lived with in that house weren't 00:01:42.780 --> 00:01:44.780 just going to be stars. They were like changing 00:01:44.780 --> 00:01:47.599 the game. Yeah. We're talking Sam Kinison, Andrew 00:01:47.599 --> 00:01:50.859 Dice Clay, and interestingly, the very introspective 00:01:50.859 --> 00:01:53.939 Mark Maron. That house must have been a pressure 00:01:53.939 --> 00:01:57.000 cooker, just designed to force out genius or 00:01:57.000 --> 00:01:59.400 maybe madness. Oh, it absolutely was. And yet 00:01:59.400 --> 00:02:02.359 this veteran comic, he isn't just some relic 00:02:02.359 --> 00:02:05.400 of that aggressive 80s thing. His relevance is 00:02:05.400 --> 00:02:07.939 actually remarkably current. Yeah, that's the 00:02:07.939 --> 00:02:11.460 thing. His 2020 album, Zero Tolerance, it hit 00:02:11.460 --> 00:02:14.379 number one on the iTunes comedy chart. Incredible. 00:02:14.520 --> 00:02:17.520 decades into his career. That sort of caustic 00:02:17.520 --> 00:02:19.400 humor is still hitting hard enough to top the 00:02:19.400 --> 00:02:21.639 charts. It really is a spectacular achievement. 00:02:21.919 --> 00:02:24.319 It proves his brand of, you know, rage against 00:02:24.319 --> 00:02:27.080 the evergame machine is still evergreen. But 00:02:27.080 --> 00:02:30.020 to really get the controlled chaos of The Rant 00:02:30.020 --> 00:02:33.120 King, we have to go back. Back to where the control 00:02:33.120 --> 00:02:36.539 started. Back east. Back east, exactly. Philadelphia, 00:02:36.780 --> 00:02:39.180 where performance meant precision, maybe not 00:02:39.180 --> 00:02:42.469 just volume. So our journey starts in Philadelphia, 00:02:42.710 --> 00:02:44.810 James Francis Schubert, that's where he was born. 00:02:45.370 --> 00:02:48.050 And his early life, right away, it's defined 00:02:48.050 --> 00:02:51.449 by this really powerful family contrast. It probably 00:02:51.449 --> 00:02:53.789 instilled both a sense of maybe cynical awareness 00:02:53.789 --> 00:02:57.449 and necessary patience. Yeah, the sources show 00:02:57.449 --> 00:03:00.189 this fascinating duality in how he grew up. His 00:03:00.189 --> 00:03:02.289 father, he was a city homicide detective. Right. 00:03:02.430 --> 00:03:04.789 Now that's a job that demands, you know, extreme 00:03:04.789 --> 00:03:07.669 observation skills, a sharp, often pretty cynical 00:03:07.669 --> 00:03:10.080 view of people and incredible discipline. But 00:03:10.080 --> 00:03:12.759 then his mother worked in special education, 00:03:13.379 --> 00:03:16.240 a job needing immense patience, adaptability, 00:03:16.460 --> 00:03:18.460 empathy. Total opposites in some ways. Pretty 00:03:18.460 --> 00:03:21.419 much. And growing up with five brothers in that 00:03:21.419 --> 00:03:23.620 kind of environment, he was just immersed in 00:03:23.620 --> 00:03:27.800 this robust, competitive, and, I imagine, highly 00:03:27.800 --> 00:03:30.400 observed world. And yet, he didn't go down the 00:03:30.400 --> 00:03:32.599 path of law enforcement or education. He leaned 00:03:32.599 --> 00:03:35.500 hard into performing arts. He attended Archbishop 00:03:35.500 --> 00:03:38.240 Ryan High School and then the Philadelphia High 00:03:38.240 --> 00:03:41.219 School for Creative and Performing Arts. He focused 00:03:41.219 --> 00:03:44.400 intensely on drama. And that drama training... 00:03:44.349 --> 00:03:47.009 It's not just a side note. It feels central, 00:03:47.150 --> 00:03:49.870 like a pillar for his whole career later on. 00:03:50.129 --> 00:03:52.349 Absolutely. It taught him voice projection, stage 00:03:52.349 --> 00:03:54.789 command, character work, all that stuff. And 00:03:54.789 --> 00:03:57.509 it wasn't just the drama, right? Before the jokes, 00:03:57.830 --> 00:04:00.590 there were illusions. Yeah. By 15, he was already 00:04:00.590 --> 00:04:03.189 working professionally as a magician. Think about 00:04:03.189 --> 00:04:05.330 that for a second. What does that actually entail? 00:04:05.490 --> 00:04:08.439 Well, magic is... You know, it's a highly disciplined 00:04:08.439 --> 00:04:10.639 art. It demands a meticulous timing, absolute 00:04:10.639 --> 00:04:13.120 control on stage, and the ability to command 00:04:13.120 --> 00:04:16.300 an audience's attention and misdirect it. These 00:04:16.300 --> 00:04:18.360 are the building blocks for stand -up, especially 00:04:18.360 --> 00:04:21.439 the kind of high stakes aggressive style he ended 00:04:21.439 --> 00:04:24.879 up adopting. That link between magic and aggressive 00:04:24.879 --> 00:04:27.439 comedy is really interesting to me. He had to 00:04:27.439 --> 00:04:30.019 make sure his delivery was lucid, confident. 00:04:30.199 --> 00:04:32.680 Otherwise, the trick or the joke later just falls 00:04:32.680 --> 00:04:35.259 flat. Exactly. And that professional grounding 00:04:35.259 --> 00:04:37.060 seems to have pushed him forward pretty quickly. 00:04:37.600 --> 00:04:41.459 By 18, he pivots, moves from Philly stages straight 00:04:41.459 --> 00:04:43.600 out to California. And this is where the real, 00:04:43.600 --> 00:04:46.519 you know, the hustle starts. He gets to LA, needs 00:04:46.519 --> 00:04:50.240 to dive in. So he lands that classic entry level 00:04:50.240 --> 00:04:53.730 job for any ambitious comic. work in the door 00:04:53.730 --> 00:04:55.930 at the Comedy Store. The iconic Comedy Store. 00:04:56.050 --> 00:04:57.810 Yeah, it's not just a gig, right? It's like essential 00:04:57.810 --> 00:05:00.050 education. Yeah. She's watching hundreds of sets, 00:05:00.389 --> 00:05:02.910 seeing what bombs, what kills, absorbing that 00:05:02.910 --> 00:05:06.029 unique, often pretty cutthroat LA vibe. But the 00:05:06.029 --> 00:05:08.170 real education maybe wasn't at the door. It was 00:05:08.170 --> 00:05:11.089 at home. Yeah. We absolutely have to dig into 00:05:11.089 --> 00:05:13.730 the Mitzi Shore House connection. Mitzi Shore, 00:05:13.889 --> 00:05:15.610 owner of the Comedy Store, she had this house 00:05:15.610 --> 00:05:19.269 where she let young, often volatile, but promising 00:05:19.269 --> 00:05:21.709 comics live. Basically created a comedy lab. 00:05:22.009 --> 00:05:24.550 Yeah. It was known as the ultimate comedy frat 00:05:24.550 --> 00:05:26.930 house. Yeah. It was a crucible, really a place 00:05:26.930 --> 00:05:29.610 of intense competition. Right. To understand 00:05:29.610 --> 00:05:32.290 Schubert, you really have to understand the dynamic 00:05:32.290 --> 00:05:34.170 created by his roommates. OK, let's list them 00:05:34.170 --> 00:05:37.430 again. Andrew Dice Clay, you know, the pioneer 00:05:37.430 --> 00:05:41.129 of aggressive leather jacket shop comedy. Sam 00:05:41.129 --> 00:05:44.790 Kinison, the screaming, charismatic preacher 00:05:44.790 --> 00:05:47.649 of pain. Yeah. And then Mark Maron, who was already 00:05:47.649 --> 00:05:50.370 kind of developing that moronic, self -aware 00:05:50.370 --> 00:05:53.939 introspective voice. What strikes you about that 00:05:53.939 --> 00:05:55.620 specific group? I mean, they're all extremes 00:05:55.620 --> 00:05:59.620 in their own way. How did like the quiet observationalist 00:05:59.620 --> 00:06:02.639 find his voice in that chaos? Well, it forced 00:06:02.639 --> 00:06:04.899 him to carve out a very specific niche. It had 00:06:04.899 --> 00:06:07.100 to. That house dynamic meant just being funny 00:06:07.100 --> 00:06:10.259 wasn't enough. He had to be unique and loud enough, 00:06:10.300 --> 00:06:12.839 frankly, to be heard over these giants. Dice 00:06:12.839 --> 00:06:15.720 Clay had his persona and material. Kinnison had 00:06:15.720 --> 00:06:18.779 the volume, the theatrical outrage. Marin had 00:06:18.779 --> 00:06:20.959 the intellectual struggle. Schubert, it seems, 00:06:21.420 --> 00:06:23.699 was forced to kind of synthesize the stage confidence 00:06:23.699 --> 00:06:26.970 he learned from drama and magic. with the aggressive 00:06:26.970 --> 00:06:29.930 attitude he needed just to survive Kinnison's 00:06:29.930 --> 00:06:33.370 orbit, let alone compete. So he didn't try to 00:06:33.370 --> 00:06:38.329 out shock Dice or out scream Sam. He chose this 00:06:38.329 --> 00:06:42.329 path of the modern day Archie Bunker, using that 00:06:42.329 --> 00:06:45.649 aggression, but aiming it at really mundane everyday 00:06:45.649 --> 00:06:48.189 frustrations. Exactly. That seems like a direct 00:06:48.189 --> 00:06:50.709 result of finding his own lane in that pressure 00:06:50.709 --> 00:06:53.670 cooker. Precisely. He figured out he could use 00:06:53.670 --> 00:06:55.949 that high -energy, confident stage presence, 00:06:56.470 --> 00:06:59.470 the magic in drama training, to sell an ordinary 00:06:59.470 --> 00:07:02.250 complaint. Make the rage relatable, not just 00:07:02.250 --> 00:07:04.829 purely provocative. Okay. But before he nailed 00:07:04.829 --> 00:07:06.610 down that signature voice, he was working on 00:07:06.610 --> 00:07:08.970 the architecture, the joke structure itself. 00:07:09.290 --> 00:07:11.310 Which brings us to his time ghostwriting early 00:07:11.310 --> 00:07:14.089 on, selling jokes to established comics. Yeah. 00:07:14.170 --> 00:07:16.029 That shows he was mastering the sort of business 00:07:16.029 --> 00:07:18.389 side of joke construction too. Oh, it's a crucial 00:07:18.389 --> 00:07:20.529 step for almost any comedian who gets that kind 00:07:20.529 --> 00:07:23.519 of longevity. As he understood commercial joke 00:07:23.519 --> 00:07:26.019 delivery, how to tailor material to specific 00:07:26.019 --> 00:07:28.420 personas. And the names are significant. Very. 00:07:28.740 --> 00:07:31.399 We know he wrote for Yakov Smirnoff, who was 00:07:31.399 --> 00:07:34.019 all about clean cultural observation. Right. 00:07:34.220 --> 00:07:37.819 What a country guy. Yeah. And Jimmy Walker, you 00:07:37.819 --> 00:07:41.680 know, good times. Dynamite. OK. And Louis Anderson. 00:07:42.220 --> 00:07:44.399 Universally loved family friendly material. So 00:07:44.399 --> 00:07:47.199 here's the maybe the intellectual fiction point 00:07:47.199 --> 00:07:50.339 for me. If he was good enough to write clean, 00:07:50.699 --> 00:07:54.480 observational stuff for Louis Anderson, how genuine 00:07:54.480 --> 00:07:57.980 was the raw, archy, bunker aggression he developed 00:07:57.980 --> 00:08:02.240 later? Was the rage just an act? Or did the ghostwriting 00:08:02.240 --> 00:08:05.500 teach him the sheer flexibility needed for professional 00:08:05.500 --> 00:08:08.079 comedy? That's a great question. I think that 00:08:08.079 --> 00:08:10.040 ghost writing taught him sex ability, definitely. 00:08:10.600 --> 00:08:13.540 But it also confirmed the financial viability 00:08:13.540 --> 00:08:16.100 of structure. It proved he could build a joke 00:08:16.100 --> 00:08:19.300 start to finish for any voice. So when he chose 00:08:19.300 --> 00:08:21.879 the Kinnison path, he wasn't choosing chaos randomly. 00:08:22.300 --> 00:08:24.339 He was choosing to apply his discipline structure. 00:08:24.480 --> 00:08:26.360 Learned from magic and ghost writing. Exactly. 00:08:26.500 --> 00:08:28.500 Applying that structure to the delivery of aggression. 00:08:28.639 --> 00:08:31.120 Learned from his roommates. Right. It let him 00:08:31.120 --> 00:08:33.639 choose precisely where and how he wanted to be 00:08:33.639 --> 00:08:36.389 abrasive. The fact that he could write clean 00:08:36.389 --> 00:08:39.610 shows that his caustic take on the world later 00:08:39.610 --> 00:08:43.090 on. It's a conscious, very effective character 00:08:43.090 --> 00:08:45.289 choice delivered with the control of someone 00:08:45.289 --> 00:08:47.830 who totally gets the mechanics of humor. Okay, 00:08:47.870 --> 00:08:49.889 so that ghost writing period sort of sets him 00:08:49.889 --> 00:08:52.210 up for the leap. And that leap came directly 00:08:52.210 --> 00:08:55.110 through Sam Kinison. This partnership, starting 00:08:55.110 --> 00:08:59.159 around 84... It feels like the single most defining 00:08:59.159 --> 00:09:02.460 element in shaping his stage persona. And the 00:09:02.460 --> 00:09:05.080 origin story is just pure rock and roll chaos, 00:09:05.559 --> 00:09:07.620 which is exactly the vibe Kinnison was cultivating, 00:09:07.700 --> 00:09:09.799 right? Totally. The friendship kicked off, the 00:09:09.799 --> 00:09:12.659 sources say, when Schubert took a dare. a dare 00:09:12.659 --> 00:09:15.299 to drive his motorcycle directly onto the stage 00:09:15.299 --> 00:09:17.759 during one of Kinnison's sets. Wow. And this 00:09:17.759 --> 00:09:21.200 wasn't like a planned bit. It was pure, spontaneous, 00:09:21.620 --> 00:09:24.139 comedic initiation. It showed Schubert was willing 00:09:24.139 --> 00:09:27.100 to embrace the spectacle, the recklessness that 00:09:27.100 --> 00:09:29.440 defined the Kinnison brand. That one moment, 00:09:29.519 --> 00:09:32.730 driving a motorcycle on stage. It instantly cemented 00:09:32.730 --> 00:09:34.570 him in Kinnison's inner circle. Seems like it. 00:09:34.789 --> 00:09:38.129 And the consequence of that dare was huge. Yeah. 00:09:38.250 --> 00:09:40.850 Schubert becomes a core part of Kinnison's touring 00:09:40.850 --> 00:09:43.769 group, the Outlaws of Comedy. Yeah. And he opens 00:09:43.769 --> 00:09:47.529 for Kinnison for five solid years, right up until 00:09:47.529 --> 00:09:49.769 Kinnison's tragic death in 92. Five years on 00:09:49.769 --> 00:09:52.009 the road with Kinnison. That's basically a PhD 00:09:52.009 --> 00:09:54.840 in comedy stage survival. Right. Kinesen's audiences 00:09:54.840 --> 00:09:58.159 were notoriously loud, volatile, demanding. To 00:09:58.159 --> 00:10:00.480 open for him, Schubert needed material that grabbed 00:10:00.480 --> 00:10:02.980 a rowdy crowd instantly and kept that aggressive 00:10:02.980 --> 00:10:06.019 energy up. But without just copying Kinesen's 00:10:06.019 --> 00:10:08.080 screaming style. He had to find his own flavor 00:10:08.080 --> 00:10:11.299 of intense. Exactly. This was the forge. This 00:10:11.299 --> 00:10:13.740 is where Schubert defined his own distinct aggressive 00:10:13.740 --> 00:10:16.179 persona. He learned how to command huge rooms 00:10:16.179 --> 00:10:19.139 in chaos, using that drama training for maximum 00:10:19.139 --> 00:10:21.960 impact. So let's break down that persona. How 00:10:21.960 --> 00:10:24.120 do the critics and sources describe the style 00:10:24.120 --> 00:10:26.820 that came out of those years of, you know, road 00:10:26.820 --> 00:10:29.299 tested high octane comedy? They often define 00:10:29.299 --> 00:10:32.340 it as old school observational comedy, but delivered 00:10:32.340 --> 00:10:34.539 with the outlook of a modern day Archie Bunker. 00:10:34.899 --> 00:10:37.580 That phrase is key, I think, for you listening. 00:10:38.080 --> 00:10:39.879 It means he's not really doing political stuff 00:10:39.879 --> 00:10:42.620 with surrealism. He's focused on the small things 00:10:42.620 --> 00:10:45.440 that genuinely tick people off. Yeah. The everyday 00:10:45.440 --> 00:10:47.940 annoyances that make you want to scream. And 00:10:47.940 --> 00:10:50.259 the examples cited in the sources are perfect 00:10:50.259 --> 00:10:53.899 illustrations of this brand of rage. The frustrating, 00:10:54.440 --> 00:10:57.399 overly complex experience of ordering at Starbucks. 00:10:57.519 --> 00:11:01.480 Oh yeah, been there. And the dehumanizing hassles 00:11:01.480 --> 00:11:04.759 of airport security. Universally relatable annoyance. 00:11:05.039 --> 00:11:07.539 Exactly, combined with that aggressive caustic 00:11:07.539 --> 00:11:09.419 delivery. And critics definitely notice this 00:11:09.419 --> 00:11:12.629 mastery. Richard Linoy, a reviewer, called Schubert 00:11:12.629 --> 00:11:16.009 an aggressive, not overly blue comic who has 00:11:16.009 --> 00:11:18.509 a caustic take on the world. That not overly 00:11:18.509 --> 00:11:20.690 blue part is important, I think. Yeah. Because 00:11:20.690 --> 00:11:22.909 Kinnison was famously shocking, often very blue. 00:11:23.009 --> 00:11:25.350 Right. Schubert, while still aggressive, managed 00:11:25.350 --> 00:11:27.710 to carve out a slightly cleaner path, focusing 00:11:27.710 --> 00:11:30.169 the aggression more on the topic than just pure 00:11:30.169 --> 00:11:33.169 vulgarity. And Linoy went even further. He specifically 00:11:33.169 --> 00:11:35.649 called Schubert the very best at rant comedy. 00:11:35.889 --> 00:11:39.090 That title, Rant King, that's hard earned. It 00:11:39.090 --> 00:11:41.620 confirms that his style, developed in the chaos 00:11:41.620 --> 00:11:44.919 of the Outlaws Tour, became this specialized 00:11:44.919 --> 00:11:48.700 celebrated art form. And this dedication to his 00:11:48.700 --> 00:11:51.639 stage material, it translated directly into success 00:11:51.639 --> 00:11:54.919 with comedy albums. He found an early supportive 00:11:54.919 --> 00:11:58.399 home with Stand Up. Records. Yeah, his relationship 00:11:58.399 --> 00:12:00.980 with that label feels really strategic. He was 00:12:00.980 --> 00:12:03.200 one of their foundational artists right alongside 00:12:03.200 --> 00:12:06.360 other powerhouses who specialized in smart, aggressive 00:12:06.360 --> 00:12:08.820 humor. Like Lewis Black. Lewis Black, Doug Stanhope. 00:12:09.240 --> 00:12:11.419 Right. Being one of the first comics signed to 00:12:11.419 --> 00:12:14.120 stand up, Records meant aligning himself with 00:12:14.120 --> 00:12:16.759 a brand that prioritized the album format and 00:12:16.759 --> 00:12:19.159 focused on intelligent, often critical humor. 00:12:19.279 --> 00:12:21.399 Which is significant, because back in the early 00:12:21.399 --> 00:12:23.720 2000s, a lot of comics were maybe focusing just 00:12:23.720 --> 00:12:26.580 on TV spots or short clips. Exactly. Stand up. 00:12:26.679 --> 00:12:28.899 Records focused on the long form album. That's 00:12:28.899 --> 00:12:31.159 where Schubert's consistent, sustained Archie 00:12:31.159 --> 00:12:33.039 Bunker character could really breathe over an 00:12:33.039 --> 00:12:35.879 hour. OK. And over his career, they put out four 00:12:35.879 --> 00:12:38.659 of his big albums. Animal Instincts in 2001, 00:12:39.340 --> 00:12:42.580 Pandemonium in 2005, Alive and Kicking in 2009, 00:12:42.899 --> 00:12:46.419 and then The Capstone, Zero Tolerance in 2020. 00:12:46.620 --> 00:12:49.879 Let's definitely talk about that 2026. Zero Tolerance 00:12:49.879 --> 00:12:52.240 hitting number one on the iTunes comedy chart. 00:12:52.860 --> 00:12:56.059 That's a massive validation. Huge. In today's, 00:12:56.059 --> 00:12:58.940 you know, highly fragmented, often viral driven 00:12:58.940 --> 00:13:03.759 media world, it proves that his old school, consistent, 00:13:04.039 --> 00:13:07.240 aggressive voice still cuts through. It's proof 00:13:07.240 --> 00:13:09.399 there's still a huge appetite for observational 00:13:09.399 --> 00:13:12.320 rage, especially when it's delivered by a reliable, 00:13:12.700 --> 00:13:14.399 controlled professional. Right. And that brings 00:13:14.399 --> 00:13:16.919 us back to the critics. Jason Birchmeyer from 00:13:16.919 --> 00:13:19.860 AllMusic reviewed his work and he said that Schubert's 00:13:19.860 --> 00:13:22.360 confidence and lucid delivery enhances his humor, 00:13:22.759 --> 00:13:25.080 making even his most perverse moments hilarious. 00:13:25.320 --> 00:13:27.240 That's the essential link right there. Yeah. 00:13:27.320 --> 00:13:29.059 Confidence and lucid delivery. That's the direct 00:13:29.059 --> 00:13:31.100 evidence of the drama and magic training we talked 00:13:31.100 --> 00:13:33.059 about. Exactly. You need lucid delivery for a 00:13:33.059 --> 00:13:35.200 magic trick. You need confidence for drama. So 00:13:35.200 --> 00:13:37.440 when you apply those discipline skills to aggressive 00:13:37.440 --> 00:13:40.600 comedy, you get controlled chaos. He's not just 00:13:40.600 --> 00:13:43.759 some angry guy shouting randomly. He is performing 00:13:43.759 --> 00:13:46.659 an aggressive character, a highly polished one, 00:13:47.019 --> 00:13:50.620 with total confidence. That stage work he learned 00:13:50.620 --> 00:13:53.779 back in Philly ensures that even when the material 00:13:53.779 --> 00:13:56.360 gets caustic or perverse, like Birchmeyer said, 00:13:57.299 --> 00:13:59.820 the audience trusts him. They trust the comedian 00:13:59.820 --> 00:14:02.700 is completely in control. And that lets them 00:14:02.700 --> 00:14:05.500 lean into the outrage and laugh. The training 00:14:05.500 --> 00:14:07.840 paid off long after he swapped his drama books 00:14:07.840 --> 00:14:10.340 for a microphone. Okay, so what often gets a 00:14:10.340 --> 00:14:12.340 bit overlooked, I think, in the discussion about 00:14:12.340 --> 00:14:14.000 Schubert's career, because, you know, the outlaw 00:14:14.000 --> 00:14:16.500 of comedy story and the motorcycle dare are just 00:14:16.500 --> 00:14:19.120 so dramatic. Right, they're great stories. Is 00:14:19.120 --> 00:14:22.120 the incredibly consistent, decades -long acting 00:14:22.120 --> 00:14:24.480 resume he maintained at the same time. He really 00:14:24.480 --> 00:14:26.419 strategically leveraged that stage confidence 00:14:26.419 --> 00:14:28.779 into a reliable career as a character actor. 00:14:28.919 --> 00:14:31.299 It's a fascinating strategic play. He didn't 00:14:31.299 --> 00:14:33.919 let himself get stuck in just one box. His visibility 00:14:33.919 --> 00:14:36.820 definitely spiked in the mid 2010s, particularly 00:14:36.820 --> 00:14:39.519 on reality TV, which kind of introduced his voice 00:14:39.519 --> 00:14:42.899 to a newer, broader audience. Yeah, he was a 00:14:42.899 --> 00:14:46.019 finalist on NBC's Last Comic Standing in 2014. 00:14:46.460 --> 00:14:48.840 That put his signature style right out there 00:14:48.840 --> 00:14:51.799 for network audiences. Big platform. And he also 00:14:51.799 --> 00:14:55.600 kept his modern comedy cred sharp on cable. He 00:14:55.600 --> 00:14:58.120 was a regular face on Comedy Central, did Comedy 00:14:58.120 --> 00:15:00.639 Central Presents, appeared on Comedy Underground 00:15:00.639 --> 00:15:03.299 with Dave Attell. Right. Those appearances made 00:15:03.299 --> 00:15:06.779 sure his specific high energy rant style was 00:15:06.779 --> 00:15:09.639 widely seen, kept his touring base strong while 00:15:09.639 --> 00:15:12.000 he was also pursuing these characters. And his 00:15:12.000 --> 00:15:15.019 acting resume, it really proves he never treated 00:15:15.019 --> 00:15:18.259 acting like just a side hustle. No. He's consistently 00:15:18.259 --> 00:15:20.559 credited as both a stand -up comedian and an 00:15:20.559 --> 00:15:22.940 actor. That shows a genuine dual commitment. 00:15:23.200 --> 00:15:25.519 Let's look at the TV roles first. Especially 00:15:25.519 --> 00:15:27.440 the recurring ones, where he actually had time 00:15:27.440 --> 00:15:30.700 to develop a character a bit. OK. The major recurring 00:15:30.700 --> 00:15:33.000 ones are notable for how long they ran and the 00:15:33.000 --> 00:15:35.539 audience size. He was on that huge syndicated 00:15:35.539 --> 00:15:38.159 hit, The King of Queens, for 10 episodes between 00:15:38.159 --> 00:15:40.679 2001 and 2006. And think about the character 00:15:40.679 --> 00:15:42.899 he played there. Usually the cynical neighbor, 00:15:43.019 --> 00:15:46.379 the sarcastic working class guy. It's the direct 00:15:46.379 --> 00:15:48.840 kind of sanitized version of his stage persona, 00:15:48.940 --> 00:15:51.580 right? Exactly. Hollywood often hires comics 00:15:51.580 --> 00:15:54.850 to play versions of their stage act. modern day 00:15:54.850 --> 00:15:57.169 Archie Bunker fit perfectly into that sitcom 00:15:57.169 --> 00:16:01.009 world. He also had a significant run, four episodes, 00:16:01.370 --> 00:16:05.190 on Entourage between 2007 and 2009. Oh, right. 00:16:05.210 --> 00:16:07.330 Which is a show known for using edgy established 00:16:07.330 --> 00:16:10.070 comics and supporting roles to add that cynical 00:16:10.070 --> 00:16:12.529 realism to its Hollywood satire. Yeah, that makes 00:16:12.529 --> 00:16:15.620 sense. And even earlier. He popped up on the 00:16:15.620 --> 00:16:18.399 super disciplined medical drama ER for two episodes 00:16:18.399 --> 00:16:22.899 way back in 98, 99. That range right there, from 00:16:22.899 --> 00:16:25.879 blue collar queens to glossy entourage to the 00:16:25.879 --> 00:16:29.220 intense pressure of ER, it shows his adaptability. 00:16:30.039 --> 00:16:32.100 That early drama training in Philly really gave 00:16:32.100 --> 00:16:33.820 him the chops to step into different worlds, 00:16:33.919 --> 00:16:35.500 not just play slightly different characters. 00:16:35.700 --> 00:16:37.279 Now let's pivot to the feature films because 00:16:37.279 --> 00:16:39.659 this list is incredibly varied too. What does 00:16:39.659 --> 00:16:41.820 it tell us that the industry hired the rant king 00:16:41.820 --> 00:16:44.629 for major blockbusters and psychological thrillers. 00:16:44.909 --> 00:16:48.450 It tells us they saw reliability and a strong 00:16:48.450 --> 00:16:50.909 recognizable presence. Think about the variety. 00:16:51.429 --> 00:16:54.429 He was in the 2005 blockbuster Mr. and Mrs. Smith. 00:16:54.629 --> 00:16:57.440 Big movie. The cool heist film The Italian Job 00:16:57.440 --> 00:17:02.299 in 2003. The classic Indie Go Back in 99. The 00:17:02.299 --> 00:17:05.259 really chilling psychological thriller One Hour 00:17:05.259 --> 00:17:08.299 Photo with Robin Williams in 2002. Oh yeah, creepy 00:17:08.299 --> 00:17:11.759 one. And even the early 2000s Staple Coyote Ugly 00:17:11.759 --> 00:17:15.079 in 2000. This depth of work. It confirms that 00:17:15.079 --> 00:17:18.519 the guy who spent five years riding motorcycles 00:17:18.519 --> 00:17:21.700 onto stages for Sam Kinison was disciplined enough 00:17:21.700 --> 00:17:24.940 to hit his marks on multi -million dollar studio 00:17:24.940 --> 00:17:28.180 sets. That takes structure. punctuality, the 00:17:28.180 --> 00:17:29.839 ability to turn the stage aggression off when 00:17:29.839 --> 00:17:31.940 the director yells, action. It's the ultimate 00:17:31.940 --> 00:17:34.299 contrast, really. Raw club energy versus the 00:17:34.299 --> 00:17:36.299 organized machine of Hollywood. Totally. And 00:17:36.299 --> 00:17:38.059 he didn't stop when those recurring roles ended. 00:17:38.200 --> 00:17:39.720 He kept getting consistent guest spots, showing 00:17:39.720 --> 00:17:41.700 he still had value as a character actor. Yeah, 00:17:41.779 --> 00:17:44.799 shows like Angel in 99, Reno 911 in 2005. I love 00:17:44.799 --> 00:17:48.359 Reno 911. 0 .2 broke girls in 2011. And here's 00:17:48.359 --> 00:17:51.519 a great full circle moment. He even showed up 00:17:51.519 --> 00:17:53.559 back in his old housemate's world, appearing 00:17:53.559 --> 00:17:57.500 on Marin in 2016. Oh, right. The ability to work 00:17:57.500 --> 00:18:00.779 seamlessly across genres, across decades. It 00:18:00.779 --> 00:18:02.960 showcases that his strength isn't just the stand 00:18:02.960 --> 00:18:05.519 -up. It's that foundational commitment to being 00:18:05.519 --> 00:18:08.400 a skilled, professional actor. Most recently, 00:18:08.460 --> 00:18:11.480 he was in American Nightmares in 2018. That consistent 00:18:11.480 --> 00:18:13.900 success in character roles, it really loops back 00:18:13.900 --> 00:18:16.339 to what we said early on. He might be known for 00:18:16.339 --> 00:18:19.200 the caustic stage presence, but Hollywood saw 00:18:19.200 --> 00:18:21.859 an actor who could be flexible and grounded in 00:18:21.859 --> 00:18:24.380 supporting parts. He successfully took the high 00:18:24.380 --> 00:18:26.460 energy and confidence from the standup stage 00:18:26.460 --> 00:18:29.579 and translated it into the reliability needed 00:18:29.579 --> 00:18:32.740 on a TV or film set. It's really the ultimate 00:18:32.740 --> 00:18:35.039 example of a performer strategically diversifying, 00:18:35.519 --> 00:18:38.480 not just relying on one artistic stream. And 00:18:38.480 --> 00:18:40.640 finally, we should definitely mention his adaptability 00:18:40.640 --> 00:18:43.440 to the more modern media landscape, too. On top 00:18:43.440 --> 00:18:45.759 of all the stage and screen stuff, Schubert found 00:18:45.759 --> 00:18:48.160 time to host his own audio project. Yeah, he 00:18:48.160 --> 00:18:50.380 jumped into the podcast space relatively early, 00:18:50.640 --> 00:18:52.759 actually. Hosted the Jimmy Schubert Show. The 00:18:52.759 --> 00:18:54.859 Sources Show, he was active with that for about 00:18:54.859 --> 00:18:58.319 two years. Put out 51 half -hour episodes between 00:18:58.319 --> 00:19:01.769 2013 and 2015. That shows a clear willingness 00:19:01.769 --> 00:19:04.490 to keep talking directly to his audience, adapt 00:19:04.490 --> 00:19:06.950 to new platforms, making sure his voice stayed 00:19:06.950 --> 00:19:09.670 accessible and current, even while juggling the 00:19:09.670 --> 00:19:12.450 acting career. It's just another layer of that 00:19:12.450 --> 00:19:15.690 continuous decades -long hustle. The man really 00:19:15.690 --> 00:19:17.690 did build a career on these parallel tracks, 00:19:17.829 --> 00:19:19.950 didn't he? Yeah. Feeding the controlled aggression 00:19:19.950 --> 00:19:22.630 from the stage back into his cinematic discipline. 00:19:22.880 --> 00:19:25.539 and maybe vice versa. Hashtag tag outro. So let's 00:19:25.539 --> 00:19:27.420 try and wrap this up. Synthesize this decades 00:19:27.420 --> 00:19:29.559 -long path. You start with James Francis Schubert 00:19:29.559 --> 00:19:32.839 back in Philly, studying drama, doing professional, 00:19:32.900 --> 00:19:35.220 highly disciplined magic. Right. He moved to 00:19:35.220 --> 00:19:38.470 LA. Dives into the deep end, living with giants 00:19:38.470 --> 00:19:41.450 like Kinnison and Dice Clay. Learns the architecture 00:19:41.450 --> 00:19:43.910 of humor, ghostwriting jokes. Then comes that 00:19:43.910 --> 00:19:46.910 seismic chaotic moment. Yeah. Befriending Kinnison 00:19:46.910 --> 00:19:49.690 with the motorcycle dare. Spends five intense 00:19:49.690 --> 00:19:51.890 years on the road with the outlaws of comedy, 00:19:52.410 --> 00:19:54.829 really forging that aggressive, rant comedy style. 00:19:55.130 --> 00:19:57.829 This is where he becomes the modern day Archie 00:19:57.829 --> 00:20:00.250 Bunker targeting everyday annoyances with total 00:20:00.250 --> 00:20:02.630 theatrical command. And he leverages that caustic, 00:20:02.650 --> 00:20:05.309 confident stage presence into four major comedy 00:20:05.309 --> 00:20:07.970 albums with stand -up. Records, culminating in 00:20:07.970 --> 00:20:10.869 that 2020 release, zero tolerance. Which hits 00:20:10.869 --> 00:20:13.089 number one. Hits number one on the iTunes comedy 00:20:13.089 --> 00:20:16.230 charts, validating his sustained relevance, proving 00:20:16.230 --> 00:20:19.269 controlled rage, maybe, never goes out of style. 00:20:19.410 --> 00:20:21.630 And at the same time, he uses that early drama 00:20:21.630 --> 00:20:24.109 training, that stage confidence, to lock down 00:20:24.109 --> 00:20:26.930 a remarkably consistent acting career, appearing 00:20:26.930 --> 00:20:29.109 in huge network shows like The King of Queens, 00:20:29.430 --> 00:20:32.210 Entourage, and big feature films like Mr. and 00:20:32.210 --> 00:20:34.890 Mrs. Smith, The Italian Job. So the core lesson 00:20:34.890 --> 00:20:37.099 here for you, the listener. seems to be about 00:20:37.099 --> 00:20:39.859 how that early intense networking, that time 00:20:39.859 --> 00:20:42.339 in the Mitzi shore house on the road with Kinnison. 00:20:43.150 --> 00:20:45.890 It didn't just launch a career. It defined a 00:20:45.890 --> 00:20:48.089 method, really, a methodology that enabled sustained 00:20:48.089 --> 00:20:51.289 success across comedy, acting, even podcasting. 00:20:51.569 --> 00:20:53.910 It's kind of proof that who you surround yourself 00:20:53.910 --> 00:20:56.089 with when you're starting out really can determine 00:20:56.089 --> 00:20:58.329 the direction, maybe even the ultimate ceiling 00:20:58.329 --> 00:21:00.589 of your professional journey. Right. You learn 00:21:00.589 --> 00:21:02.650 the boundaries by watching people who just smash 00:21:02.650 --> 00:21:04.869 right through them. And that leads us perfectly 00:21:04.869 --> 00:21:06.970 into our final provocative thought for you to 00:21:06.970 --> 00:21:10.250 chew on. Connecting back to his very earliest 00:21:10.250 --> 00:21:13.890 days. OK. Think really deeply about that contrast 00:21:13.890 --> 00:21:16.390 between the highly disciplined art of a professional 00:21:16.390 --> 00:21:20.509 magician needing planning, structure, lucid delivery, 00:21:21.029 --> 00:21:24.549 and the raw, aggressive nature of his rant comedy. 00:21:25.029 --> 00:21:27.390 How much of that stage persona is genuinely felt 00:21:27.390 --> 00:21:30.049 outrage? And how much is just the incredibly 00:21:30.049 --> 00:21:32.910 successful application of stagecraft he learned 00:21:32.910 --> 00:21:36.049 as a 15 -year -old doing illusions? That control, 00:21:36.250 --> 00:21:38.250 maybe that's precisely what makes him the master 00:21:38.250 --> 00:21:41.450 of caustic humor. He delivers the explosive material, 00:21:41.890 --> 00:21:44.390 but he never seems to lose his footing. The magician 00:21:44.390 --> 00:21:46.710 always knows the trick. And Schubert, the Rant 00:21:46.710 --> 00:21:49.609 King, always knows the joke. Exactly. That's 00:21:49.609 --> 00:21:52.029 a wrap on this deep dive into the uncompromising 00:21:52.029 --> 00:21:54.150 career of Jimmy Schubert. We'll see you next 00:21:54.150 --> 00:21:54.329 time.