WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.520 Welcome to the Deep Dive. This is where we dig 00:00:02.520 --> 00:00:05.139 into stacks of source material, all the facts, 00:00:05.360 --> 00:00:08.640 the interviews, the history, and really try to 00:00:08.640 --> 00:00:11.240 pull out the insights, you know, go deeper than 00:00:11.240 --> 00:00:15.339 just the surface stuff. And today we are diving 00:00:15.339 --> 00:00:18.160 deep into the career and, well, the pretty personal 00:00:18.160 --> 00:00:21.739 journey of a comedian who really walks this line 00:00:21.739 --> 00:00:25.399 between, like, incredible talent and just profound 00:00:25.399 --> 00:00:27.399 vulnerability. We're talking about Todd Glass. 00:00:27.679 --> 00:00:29.460 Yeah. And the source material we have here, it's 00:00:29.460 --> 00:00:32.240 really rich. We're looking at a career that goes 00:00:32.240 --> 00:00:34.539 back decades. I mean, starting way back in 1982. 00:00:34.799 --> 00:00:37.000 And he's still going strong today. 40 years, 00:00:37.140 --> 00:00:39.340 basically. Exactly. And what's really interesting, 00:00:39.420 --> 00:00:42.100 I think, is how the sources track not just, you 00:00:42.100 --> 00:00:44.520 know, the career ups and downs across stand up 00:00:44.520 --> 00:00:47.340 TV podcasting, but how it's all tangled up with 00:00:47.340 --> 00:00:50.399 these two huge, very public moments in his life. 00:00:50.460 --> 00:00:52.399 Right. The health crisis and coming out. Yeah. 00:00:52.420 --> 00:00:54.100 The heart attack, which was incredibly serious. 00:00:54.140 --> 00:00:56.320 And then later coming out publicly. And the sources 00:00:56.320 --> 00:00:58.640 really suggest these weren't just side notes. 00:00:58.679 --> 00:01:01.920 They actually became like central fuel for his 00:01:01.920 --> 00:01:04.980 comedy, for that specific kind of chaotic, absurd 00:01:04.980 --> 00:01:07.459 voice he developed. That's the real core of it, 00:01:07.519 --> 00:01:10.180 isn't it? How the personal stuff feeds the professional. 00:01:11.319 --> 00:01:14.359 So, OK, our mission for you listening in is to 00:01:14.359 --> 00:01:16.579 really follow this evolution. We're going to 00:01:16.579 --> 00:01:19.640 track Glass from, you know, being this young 00:01:19.640 --> 00:01:22.319 guy starting out in Philly to where he is now, 00:01:22.439 --> 00:01:25.120 this veteran comic with this super unique podcast 00:01:25.120 --> 00:01:28.140 known for being incredibly honest. And we're 00:01:28.140 --> 00:01:30.739 going to stick to the facts, the dates, the names, 00:01:30.819 --> 00:01:33.319 everything the sources give us to really paint 00:01:33.319 --> 00:01:36.219 the full picture of how being transparent kind 00:01:36.219 --> 00:01:38.540 of transformed his comedy. Definitely. Okay, 00:01:38.579 --> 00:01:40.659 so let's start at the beginning. The origin story. 00:01:41.200 --> 00:01:43.540 Because like we said, 40 plus years doing stand 00:01:43.540 --> 00:01:45.959 -up. That's just, that's incredible endurance. 00:01:46.379 --> 00:01:48.420 It really is. Todd Stephen Glass, born December 00:01:48.420 --> 00:01:52.599 16th, 1964, Philadelphia suburbs. And the key 00:01:52.599 --> 00:01:54.819 thing here is how early he started. It wasn't 00:01:54.819 --> 00:01:57.299 like a post -college thing. The material shows 00:01:57.299 --> 00:01:59.400 he was doing stand -up professionally in Philadelphia 00:01:59.400 --> 00:02:02.730 back in 1982. He was still in high school. Conestoga 00:02:02.730 --> 00:02:04.650 High School. Wow, okay, stand -up in high school, 00:02:04.689 --> 00:02:06.849 that's intense. Think about it, right? Stand 00:02:06.849 --> 00:02:09.490 -up demands so much confidence, quick thinking. 00:02:10.189 --> 00:02:12.610 doing that while you're navigating you know high 00:02:12.610 --> 00:02:14.349 school yeah it's got to shape you differently 00:02:14.349 --> 00:02:17.729 you're immersed in that world so young it builds 00:02:17.729 --> 00:02:20.909 technique sure but also just a unique perspective 00:02:20.909 --> 00:02:23.669 compared to someone starting later yeah you can 00:02:23.669 --> 00:02:25.830 see how that might lead to a style that's hard 00:02:25.830 --> 00:02:28.770 to pin down the sources list his genres okay 00:02:28.770 --> 00:02:31.469 observational yeah lots of comics do that but 00:02:31.469 --> 00:02:34.370 then it jumps straight into surreal humor alternative 00:02:34.370 --> 00:02:41.009 comedy and uh Exactly. It's not just set a punchline. 00:02:41.050 --> 00:02:43.110 No. And what's interesting is how he uses that 00:02:43.110 --> 00:02:45.569 absurdity. He's talking about stuff we all recognize, 00:02:45.750 --> 00:02:48.750 American culture, pop culture, weird human behavior, 00:02:48.889 --> 00:02:51.569 everyday life. But it's all filtered through 00:02:51.569 --> 00:02:54.569 this like really nonlinear, strange lens. Lots 00:02:54.569 --> 00:02:56.590 of self -deprecation in there, too. High energy 00:02:56.590 --> 00:02:59.090 tangents. Impersonations. Oh, the impersonations. 00:02:59.090 --> 00:03:01.830 Yeah. It's totally bizarre. It's like it starts 00:03:01.830 --> 00:03:04.189 grounded, but then it just goes way off the rails. 00:03:04.330 --> 00:03:06.550 You know, he messes with your expectations of 00:03:06.550 --> 00:03:08.449 where a joke is going. That controlled chaos, 00:03:08.550 --> 00:03:10.770 that pure alternate comedy. And you see that 00:03:10.770 --> 00:03:14.830 mix early on in his career visibility. Late 80s. 00:03:14.830 --> 00:03:18.150 He's on A &E's. an evening at the Improv. Right, 00:03:18.229 --> 00:03:21.189 which was huge back then. A very mainstream, 00:03:21.370 --> 00:03:24.169 traditional stand -up show, big exposure. Clearly, 00:03:24.169 --> 00:03:26.750 he can work that room, play by those rules. But 00:03:26.750 --> 00:03:29.330 then pretty much right after early 90s, he starts 00:03:29.330 --> 00:03:31.430 showing up on Comedy Central. Mm -hmm, which 00:03:31.430 --> 00:03:34.110 was just starting to become the place for edgier, 00:03:34.150 --> 00:03:37.229 less network -y comedy. So he's succeeding in 00:03:37.229 --> 00:03:39.990 both the old -school club system, like the Improv, 00:03:39.990 --> 00:03:41.990 and on this new cable frontier almost at the 00:03:41.990 --> 00:03:44.639 same time. That's just serious adaptability. 00:03:44.659 --> 00:03:46.620 He could make his unique voice work in different 00:03:46.620 --> 00:03:49.879 formats. Speaking of that unique voice, the sources 00:03:49.879 --> 00:03:51.900 mentioned two personal things that might feed 00:03:51.900 --> 00:03:54.379 into it, especially the surreal nonlinear stuff. 00:03:54.620 --> 00:03:57.159 He's Jewish and he's dyslexic. Okay, let's unpack 00:03:57.159 --> 00:03:59.960 that. The dyslexia connection first, maybe. Dyslexia 00:03:59.960 --> 00:04:01.979 often involves processing information, language, 00:04:02.300 --> 00:04:04.800 sequences in a different way, right? Not always 00:04:04.800 --> 00:04:07.120 linear. So if you apply that kind of thinking 00:04:07.120 --> 00:04:10.770 to stand -up comedy. It could come out as deliberately 00:04:10.770 --> 00:04:13.189 messing with traditional timing restructure. 00:04:13.469 --> 00:04:16.670 Instead of A leads to B leads to C. Maybe he 00:04:16.670 --> 00:04:19.389 uses repetition or flies off on a tangent or 00:04:19.389 --> 00:04:22.029 does these sharp character shifts that don't 00:04:22.029 --> 00:04:24.600 follow normal logic. So the way his brain works 00:04:24.600 --> 00:04:26.680 might actually be the engine for the absurdity? 00:04:26.819 --> 00:04:28.800 It seems plausible, yeah. It could turn what 00:04:28.800 --> 00:04:31.300 some might see as a challenge into like a unique 00:04:31.300 --> 00:04:33.439 artistic strength. Yeah. It's a different wiring 00:04:33.439 --> 00:04:35.639 that fits perfectly with surreal comedy. That's 00:04:35.639 --> 00:04:38.339 fascinating. The thinking is the style. Sort 00:04:38.339 --> 00:04:40.339 of, yeah. Yeah. And then you layer the Jewish 00:04:40.339 --> 00:04:42.560 cultural background on top. There are strong 00:04:42.560 --> 00:04:44.639 traditions in Jewish humor around storytelling, 00:04:45.000 --> 00:04:48.920 wordplay, fast timing, deep observation. often 00:04:48.920 --> 00:04:51.360 with self -deprecation and commentary on fitting 00:04:51.360 --> 00:04:53.459 in or not fitting in. So that adds another layer 00:04:53.459 --> 00:04:55.480 of influence. Definitely. It gives him another 00:04:55.480 --> 00:04:58.500 whole tradition to draw from. So you've got maybe 00:04:58.500 --> 00:05:01.139 dyslexia influencing the form, the chaos, the 00:05:01.139 --> 00:05:04.259 structure, and his heritage influencing the content, 00:05:04.339 --> 00:05:07.420 the pacing, the specific kind of self -deprecation 00:05:07.420 --> 00:05:09.839 he uses when talking about, say, pop culture. 00:05:09.959 --> 00:05:12.699 It makes his absurdism feel very specific to 00:05:12.699 --> 00:05:15.279 him. It's not just random noise. It's structured, 00:05:15.459 --> 00:05:18.449 personal chaos. OK, so he's honing this style, 00:05:18.569 --> 00:05:21.110 this kind of structured chaos. And then segment 00:05:21.110 --> 00:05:23.449 two, this is where he really breaks into wider 00:05:23.449 --> 00:05:27.410 consciousness through TV, mapping out that mainstream 00:05:27.410 --> 00:05:29.769 footprint. And ironically, the biggest splash 00:05:29.769 --> 00:05:32.180 maybe comes from reality TV. Yeah, it's a funny 00:05:32.180 --> 00:05:34.120 contrast, right? Yeah. His broadest exposure 00:05:34.120 --> 00:05:36.920 probably came from being a contestant on NBC's 00:05:36.920 --> 00:05:39.199 Last Comic Standing. He was on two seasons, actually 00:05:39.199 --> 00:05:41.139 seasons two and three. Right, alongside some 00:05:41.139 --> 00:05:42.800 big names came out of those seasons. Absolutely. 00:05:42.860 --> 00:05:45.100 People like Amy Schumer, Gabriel Iglesias were 00:05:45.100 --> 00:05:47.759 on those seasons too. Being on a highly rated 00:05:47.759 --> 00:05:51.019 network show like that. put his, let's say, unconventional 00:05:51.019 --> 00:05:53.120 style in front of millions who maybe weren't 00:05:53.120 --> 00:05:55.500 hanging out in old comedy clubs. But he wasn't 00:05:55.500 --> 00:05:57.660 just a reality contestant. He was also a fixture 00:05:57.660 --> 00:06:00.620 on Late Night, a reliable guest. You see him 00:06:00.620 --> 00:06:03.300 frequently on Jimmy Kimmel Live. Late night with 00:06:03.300 --> 00:06:06.079 Conan O 'Brien. Yeah. Being a regular, trusted 00:06:06.079 --> 00:06:08.720 face on those big network shows. Yeah. That's 00:06:08.720 --> 00:06:11.060 a sign of a real working pro. Someone who can 00:06:11.060 --> 00:06:14.079 deliver consistently. It separates the club comics 00:06:14.079 --> 00:06:16.279 from the established veterans. And it's important 00:06:16.279 --> 00:06:18.139 what kind of shows he was doing, too. It wasn't 00:06:18.139 --> 00:06:21.579 just light chat. Exactly. While he's doing Kimmel 00:06:21.579 --> 00:06:25.350 and Conan, he's also deep in the more... critical 00:06:25.350 --> 00:06:27.790 and political comedy shows. He was a regular 00:06:27.790 --> 00:06:30.069 on Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn. Which was a 00:06:30.069 --> 00:06:32.649 very specific format, that roundtable debate 00:06:32.649 --> 00:06:35.470 style. Very specific. And he popped up on The 00:06:35.470 --> 00:06:37.889 Dennis Miller Show, Politically Incorrect. These 00:06:37.889 --> 00:06:40.629 shows needed sharp, fast, often political points. 00:06:40.750 --> 00:06:43.750 It shows he could switch from like physical absurdity 00:06:43.750 --> 00:06:45.970 to quick -witted commentary. Wait, hold on. Being 00:06:45.970 --> 00:06:48.689 a regular on Politically Incorrect and also being 00:06:48.689 --> 00:06:51.709 a key part of the all -comedy scene. How does 00:06:51.709 --> 00:06:53.110 that work? Those feel like different worlds. 00:06:53.149 --> 00:06:56.750 How did his surreal stuff fit into like a political 00:06:56.750 --> 00:06:58.829 debate? I think it points to the intelligence 00:06:58.829 --> 00:07:02.910 behind the chaos. Yeah. On those panels, maybe 00:07:02.910 --> 00:07:05.370 the delivery was more contained, but the content 00:07:05.370 --> 00:07:08.589 still had that absurd edge, like taking a political 00:07:08.589 --> 00:07:11.290 idea and pushing it to some ridiculous extreme. 00:07:11.350 --> 00:07:14.209 OK. And crucially, even while getting that mainstream 00:07:14.209 --> 00:07:16.730 and political exposure, he stayed connected to 00:07:16.730 --> 00:07:19.980 the real alternative scene. He did spots on shows 00:07:19.980 --> 00:07:22.540 that were defining that whole movement. We're 00:07:22.540 --> 00:07:25.339 talking Louis, Tosh Pointazzo, and the absolute 00:07:25.339 --> 00:07:27.939 cornerstone, Mr. Show with Bob and David. Okay, 00:07:28.000 --> 00:07:30.180 Mr. Show. Yeah. We need to pause on that. For 00:07:30.180 --> 00:07:32.490 anyone listening who doesn't know. Why is appearing 00:07:32.490 --> 00:07:35.250 on Mr. Show such a big deal for alt -comedy cred? 00:07:35.470 --> 00:07:37.990 Mr. Show was. Yeah. It was basically the ground 00:07:37.990 --> 00:07:41.670 zero for that late 90s, early 2000s wave of smart, 00:07:41.709 --> 00:07:44.310 postmodern, anti -establishment sketch comedy. 00:07:44.449 --> 00:07:46.350 It threw out traditional structures, bunch lines. 00:07:46.629 --> 00:07:49.110 It was all link sketches, super surreal, really 00:07:49.110 --> 00:07:52.009 fast -paced. So for a comedian like Glass, whose 00:07:52.009 --> 00:07:54.790 own stand -up is built on absurdity and surrealism, 00:07:55.100 --> 00:07:58.019 Being on that show means you were accepted, respected 00:07:58.019 --> 00:08:01.019 by the guys, Bob Odenkirk and David Cross, who 00:08:01.019 --> 00:08:02.660 were basically defining that whole sensibility. 00:08:02.980 --> 00:08:05.360 Being able to navigate between politically incorrect 00:08:05.360 --> 00:08:08.540 panels, Conan's couch, and a show like Mr. Show, 00:08:08.699 --> 00:08:11.740 that's incredibly rare. It shows his range and 00:08:11.740 --> 00:08:14.569 credibility across the whole spectrum. And solidifying 00:08:14.569 --> 00:08:16.949 that early career, he gets his own Comedy Central 00:08:16.949 --> 00:08:19.670 present special pretty early on back in 2001. 00:08:19.870 --> 00:08:21.870 That's the network saying, OK, we get this guy, 00:08:21.949 --> 00:08:24.069 this unique voice. Yeah. And that same year, 00:08:24.110 --> 00:08:27.670 2001, he drops his first standup album, Vintage 00:08:27.670 --> 00:08:29.970 Todd Glass and Other Craps. Love that title. 00:08:30.069 --> 00:08:33.190 It's perfect, right? So self -deprecating, totally 00:08:33.190 --> 00:08:35.110 leans into his humor, admits maybe not every 00:08:35.110 --> 00:08:37.669 bit's a diamond. But there's another key thing 00:08:37.669 --> 00:08:39.509 from around that time, too, placing him right 00:08:39.509 --> 00:08:41.740 in the heart of the L .A. alt scene. You mean 00:08:41.740 --> 00:08:44.480 the Comedy Death Ray compilation? Exactly. The 00:08:44.480 --> 00:08:46.360 sources mentioned he was featured on the Comedy 00:08:46.360 --> 00:08:48.899 Death Ray 2 CD set. And this wasn't just some 00:08:48.899 --> 00:08:51.480 random mixtape. This is a curated album featuring 00:08:51.480 --> 00:08:53.460 comics performing in the Comedy Death Ray showcase. 00:08:53.840 --> 00:08:56.759 At the UCB Theater. At the Upright Citizens Brigade 00:08:56.759 --> 00:08:59.659 Theater in L .A. Which, as you know, wasn't just 00:08:59.659 --> 00:09:03.299 a venue. It was the absolute incubator for modern 00:09:03.299 --> 00:09:05.679 alternative comedy on the West Coast. Yeah, UCB 00:09:05.679 --> 00:09:09.230 was ground zero. Totally. That specific night, 00:09:09.330 --> 00:09:11.649 Comedy Death Ray, run by Scott Aukerman and B 00:09:11.649 --> 00:09:14.070 .J. Porter, it basically shaped the aesthetic 00:09:14.070 --> 00:09:16.529 and launched the careers of a whole generation 00:09:16.529 --> 00:09:18.889 of comics who broke away from the mainstream. 00:09:19.269 --> 00:09:22.389 Think comedy, bang, bang, and all that followed. 00:09:22.590 --> 00:09:25.710 Being on that compilation, CD puts Glass right 00:09:25.710 --> 00:09:28.690 in the middle of that hugely influential UCB 00:09:28.690 --> 00:09:31.750 scene in the mid -2000s. He was a bridge figure. 00:09:32.110 --> 00:09:34.149 Comfortable in traditional clubs, but also right 00:09:34.149 --> 00:09:36.529 there at the start of this new chaotic long form 00:09:36.529 --> 00:09:38.730 thing. He was there. And then a bit later, 2009, 00:09:38.889 --> 00:09:41.830 he releases another album, Thin Pig, July 7th, 00:09:41.830 --> 00:09:43.990 2009, on Comedy Central Records. So you see this 00:09:43.990 --> 00:09:45.730 progression, the specials, the albums in 01, 00:09:45.909 --> 00:09:48.990 09, the TV work. He's building steadily, clearly 00:09:48.990 --> 00:09:51.210 wanting more creative room, more time. Which 00:09:51.210 --> 00:09:52.809 leads perfectly into the next phase, segment 00:09:52.809 --> 00:09:54.649 three, the format that could finally contain 00:09:54.649 --> 00:09:57.299 him. Yeah, the move into audio. This is where 00:09:57.299 --> 00:09:59.539 he really carves out his own unique space, right? 00:09:59.759 --> 00:10:02.620 Absolutely. The podcast format just seems tailor 00:10:02.620 --> 00:10:05.539 -made for a comic mind that works in tangents, 00:10:05.539 --> 00:10:09.059 that thrives on collaboration and, well, chaos. 00:10:10.000 --> 00:10:12.899 It lets him be nonlinear in a way a tight five 00:10:12.899 --> 00:10:15.639 on TV never could. But he didn't jump straight 00:10:15.639 --> 00:10:17.559 into his own show. There was an earlier podcast 00:10:17.559 --> 00:10:19.899 first. Right. He dipped his toe in the water 00:10:19.899 --> 00:10:22.480 with comedy. Yeah. And everything else. He co 00:10:22.480 --> 00:10:24.600 -hosted that one with Jimmy Dore and Stefani 00:10:24.600 --> 00:10:27.500 Zamorano. You can see that as like his lab, a 00:10:27.500 --> 00:10:29.559 place to figure out how sustained conversation, 00:10:29.860 --> 00:10:32.159 how tangents work in audio without the pressure 00:10:32.159 --> 00:10:34.860 of TV time limits or a live club audience expecting 00:10:34.860 --> 00:10:37.360 punchlines every few seconds. But he didn't stick 00:10:37.360 --> 00:10:39.820 with it for too long. No, he left that show in 00:10:39.820 --> 00:10:42.970 September 2009. They officially announced his 00:10:42.970 --> 00:10:45.110 departure on the November 20th episode that year. 00:10:45.529 --> 00:10:47.889 But importantly, the sources note he came back 00:10:47.889 --> 00:10:50.950 later as a guest multiple times. Oh, OK. So it 00:10:50.950 --> 00:10:52.970 wasn't like a bad breakup. Doesn't sound like 00:10:52.970 --> 00:10:55.710 it. More like he realized he needed his own vehicle, 00:10:55.870 --> 00:10:58.490 full creative control to do what he really wanted 00:10:58.490 --> 00:11:01.450 to do. Which brings us to The Todd Glass Show. 00:11:02.049 --> 00:11:05.509 Debuts August 2011 on the Nerdist Network. And 00:11:05.509 --> 00:11:08.909 this show. This is where things get really different, 00:11:08.990 --> 00:11:11.570 really specific to him. Yeah, this is his definitive 00:11:11.570 --> 00:11:14.610 statement in the format. Because it wasn't just 00:11:14.610 --> 00:11:17.370 him chatting with a guest. It embraced the chaos, 00:11:17.570 --> 00:11:20.470 the surrealism of his stand -up, but used the 00:11:20.470 --> 00:11:23.169 technology, the format itself, to make it even 00:11:23.169 --> 00:11:25.279 more pronounced. And the key is the structure, 00:11:25.360 --> 00:11:27.419 right? It's not just Todd. It's this ensemble, 00:11:27.679 --> 00:11:30.480 a regular crew, guests who are in on the joke, 00:11:30.600 --> 00:11:32.740 technical people who are part of the comedy itself. 00:11:33.059 --> 00:11:35.019 We have to break down this crew and structure 00:11:35.019 --> 00:11:37.039 because it's what makes the show unique. It's 00:11:37.039 --> 00:11:39.320 not like any other comedy podcast, really. It's 00:11:39.320 --> 00:11:42.240 like structured, produced absurdity. And the 00:11:42.240 --> 00:11:44.039 production team are essentially co -performers. 00:11:44.100 --> 00:11:47.909 So who are the key players in this? Okay, so 00:11:47.909 --> 00:11:49.590 you have the regular comedian collaborators who 00:11:49.590 --> 00:11:51.149 would often be there, people like Rory Scovel, 00:11:51.250 --> 00:11:53.570 Rory's wife Jordan, Blake Wexler. They're jumping 00:11:53.570 --> 00:11:55.389 in on the bits, the tangents, the characters. 00:11:55.549 --> 00:11:57.970 But the real genius, the structural innovation, 00:11:58.029 --> 00:12:00.929 is bringing the technical crew into the comedy 00:12:00.929 --> 00:12:03.610 in real time. Making the engineers and musicians 00:12:03.610 --> 00:12:06.429 part of the act. Exactly. So you've got the audio 00:12:06.429 --> 00:12:09.370 engineers Katie Levine and Aristotle Acevedo, 00:12:09.389 --> 00:12:12.350 who everyone calls Jetski. Their job isn't just 00:12:12.350 --> 00:12:14.750 to make it sound good. It's to react comedically. 00:12:14.850 --> 00:12:17.149 They're dropping in sound effects, music cues, 00:12:17.330 --> 00:12:20.409 weird noises, often totally unexpectedly, to 00:12:20.409 --> 00:12:23.009 heighten a moment or just derail things completely. 00:12:23.190 --> 00:12:26.090 It's integral to the show's feel. And the musicians, 00:12:26.129 --> 00:12:28.570 too, Lynn Shore and Joe McKenzie, the sources 00:12:28.570 --> 00:12:30.950 specifically say they write and perform the show's 00:12:30.950 --> 00:12:34.009 jingles and audio cues. Why is that detail so 00:12:34.009 --> 00:12:36.700 defining? Because it makes the podcast feel live, 00:12:36.799 --> 00:12:38.899 almost like interactive theater. Someone mentions 00:12:38.899 --> 00:12:41.220 a funny concept or Todd has an outburst and boom, 00:12:41.440 --> 00:12:43.639 the musicians might create and perform a little 00:12:43.639 --> 00:12:46.039 song or jingle about it right there on the spot. 00:12:46.120 --> 00:12:48.659 Sometimes satirical, sometimes just perfectly 00:12:48.659 --> 00:12:50.919 capturing the weirdness of the moment. Instant 00:12:50.919 --> 00:12:54.419 musical commentary. Yeah. That kind of immediate 00:12:54.419 --> 00:12:57.350 required musical integration. You just don't 00:12:57.350 --> 00:12:59.450 hear that on other comedy podcasts. It's the 00:12:59.450 --> 00:13:02.309 audio version of his chaotic standup style blown 00:13:02.309 --> 00:13:05.269 up into this long form, constantly shifting self 00:13:05.269 --> 00:13:07.549 -referential soundscape. It's using production 00:13:07.549 --> 00:13:10.129 itself as a comedic tool, takes real commitment, 00:13:10.370 --> 00:13:12.570 real spontaneity, but also high technical skill 00:13:12.570 --> 00:13:15.529 to pull off. So this show, starting in 2011, 00:13:15.789 --> 00:13:18.129 becomes this anchor for him. He's still touring, 00:13:18.230 --> 00:13:21.049 still recording, but he has this continuous outlet 00:13:21.049 --> 00:13:23.769 that perfectly fits his voice built around this 00:13:23.769 --> 00:13:26.440 specific community. Exactly. And having that 00:13:26.440 --> 00:13:28.840 platform, that community, that connection with 00:13:28.840 --> 00:13:31.139 the audience. Yeah. It gives him the space for 00:13:31.139 --> 00:13:34.059 what comes next. Yeah. Segment four, moving from 00:13:34.059 --> 00:13:36.899 just being a funny guy to being this incredibly 00:13:36.899 --> 00:13:39.220 public truth teller. Things he could never really 00:13:39.220 --> 00:13:42.080 explore in a five minute spot on. Kimmel found 00:13:42.080 --> 00:13:44.399 a home here. Okay. Segment four. This is where 00:13:44.399 --> 00:13:47.399 we shift focus to these two huge life -changing 00:13:47.399 --> 00:13:49.340 things that Todd Glass shared very publicly. 00:13:49.600 --> 00:13:51.379 And these moments really changed the perception, 00:13:51.559 --> 00:13:53.559 right? From just a comedian to someone showing 00:13:53.559 --> 00:13:56.039 incredible bravery, connecting his stage life 00:13:56.039 --> 00:13:58.919 to his real vulnerable self, often for a reason 00:13:58.919 --> 00:14:00.899 beyond himself. And the first one, the health 00:14:00.899 --> 00:14:02.299 scare. It happened right in the middle of things 00:14:02.299 --> 00:14:05.320 while he was working, which is just terrifying. 00:14:05.519 --> 00:14:08.580 April 16th, 2010, he collapses backstage at Largo. 00:14:08.720 --> 00:14:11.500 The club in L .A. Yeah, the famous Largo in L 00:14:11.500 --> 00:14:14.480 .A. Right after performing, apparently. Suffered 00:14:14.480 --> 00:14:16.840 a heart attack. Not at home. Not quietly. Literally 00:14:16.840 --> 00:14:19.539 at his workplace. Moments after being on stage. 00:14:19.779 --> 00:14:22.360 And the sources are clear. It was serious. 100 00:14:22.360 --> 00:14:25.679 % blockage in his arteries. Had to have an angioplasty 00:14:25.679 --> 00:14:28.460 right away. Yeah. And what's just astounding 00:14:28.460 --> 00:14:31.080 is how quickly and how openly he talked about 00:14:31.080 --> 00:14:33.779 it. Just nine days later, he's on the Bonnie 00:14:33.779 --> 00:14:35.960 Hunt show talking about this brush with death. 00:14:36.640 --> 00:14:39.960 Nine days. That's incredibly fast and incredibly 00:14:39.960 --> 00:14:42.519 candid. It really is, especially given how severe 00:14:42.519 --> 00:14:45.639 it was. 100 % blockage is no joke. And he didn't 00:14:45.639 --> 00:14:48.299 just share the event. He shared the why. He was 00:14:48.299 --> 00:14:51.379 very upfront, attributing it to, quote, bad genetics. 00:14:51.659 --> 00:14:53.299 Right. He talked about his family history. Yeah. 00:14:53.340 --> 00:14:54.840 So his dad had his first heart attack at only 00:14:54.840 --> 00:14:57.809 30 and died from another one at 46. Yeah. So 00:14:57.809 --> 00:15:00.169 by giving that context, he framed his own crisis 00:15:00.169 --> 00:15:03.230 not as like a personal failing, but almost as 00:15:03.230 --> 00:15:06.129 this genetic destiny he had to confront. And 00:15:06.129 --> 00:15:08.029 it wasn't just a one off mention. He kept talking 00:15:08.029 --> 00:15:10.889 about it, updating people on his recovery, showing 00:15:10.889 --> 00:15:14.149 the ongoing effort involved. Like when he was 00:15:14.149 --> 00:15:16.269 on the Adam Carolla show, it was a December 2012, 00:15:16.529 --> 00:15:19.090 a couple of years after the attack. He gave specifics. 00:15:19.289 --> 00:15:21.470 Yeah. This is where we get the real details of 00:15:21.470 --> 00:15:23.409 the lifestyle change. Yeah. He said he'd lost 00:15:23.409 --> 00:15:26.179 30 pounds by then. which takes sustained effort. 00:15:26.440 --> 00:15:28.940 He talked about quitting smoking, clarifying 00:15:28.940 --> 00:15:31.340 he'd been a pack -a -month smoker before, which 00:15:31.340 --> 00:15:33.340 adds a bit of color, right? Yeah. And because 00:15:33.340 --> 00:15:35.379 of the genetics, he started taking Liptivore 00:15:35.379 --> 00:15:38.279 to manage the risk. Giving those details, it 00:15:38.279 --> 00:15:41.500 paints a picture of responsible, long -term management, 00:15:41.620 --> 00:15:44.039 not just the initial drama. It's about the daily 00:15:44.039 --> 00:15:45.799 work of staying healthy after something like 00:15:45.799 --> 00:15:47.899 that. So this theme of public vulnerability, 00:15:48.220 --> 00:15:50.360 starting with this really serious physical crisis 00:15:50.360 --> 00:15:53.179 linked to genetics, it kind of sets the stage 00:15:53.179 --> 00:15:55.759 for the second big disclosure, one that was maybe 00:15:55.759 --> 00:15:57.840 less about fate and more about personal choice 00:15:57.840 --> 00:16:01.539 and social conscience coming out publicly. Right. 00:16:01.620 --> 00:16:03.399 And the timing and the platform for that are 00:16:03.399 --> 00:16:06.740 really key. He chose WTF with Marc Maron, episode 00:16:06.740 --> 00:16:11.250 245, January 16th, 2012. Which by then, WTF was 00:16:11.250 --> 00:16:13.350 the place for comedians to get really honest, 00:16:13.509 --> 00:16:16.529 right? Absolutely. It was known for these deep, 00:16:16.549 --> 00:16:19.750 often raw conversations about careers, struggles, 00:16:20.070 --> 00:16:23.649 trauma. It offered this sort of safe space, but 00:16:23.649 --> 00:16:26.590 with a massive engaged audience, perfect for 00:16:26.590 --> 00:16:28.669 something this significant. And the sources say, 00:16:28.690 --> 00:16:30.970 look, his friends, his family, they knew he was 00:16:30.970 --> 00:16:33.789 gay. But telling the world publicly was a big 00:16:33.789 --> 00:16:36.220 step professionally and personally. But it's 00:16:36.220 --> 00:16:38.659 the reason he gave that's so powerful. Yeah, 00:16:38.700 --> 00:16:40.559 it wasn't just about him. He explicitly said 00:16:40.559 --> 00:16:42.039 he'd been worried about coming out publicly. 00:16:42.299 --> 00:16:46.039 But the recent wave of suicides among LGBT youth. 00:16:46.159 --> 00:16:48.580 Yeah. That's what pushed him to do it. That was 00:16:48.580 --> 00:16:51.549 his motivation. Wow. That detail is just crucial. 00:16:51.710 --> 00:16:54.470 He's linking his personal truth directly to a 00:16:54.470 --> 00:16:56.889 social cause to potentially helping kids who 00:16:56.889 --> 00:16:58.929 are struggling. He saw his platform not just 00:16:58.929 --> 00:17:00.950 for jokes, but for visibility, for responsibility, 00:17:01.309 --> 00:17:04.130 maybe even saving lives. So you have these two 00:17:04.130 --> 00:17:06.470 huge moments of vulnerability presented very 00:17:06.470 --> 00:17:08.529 differently. First, the heart attack in 2010, 00:17:08.769 --> 00:17:11.369 physical, life threatening, attributed to bad 00:17:11.369 --> 00:17:13.990 genetics, kind of out of his control. Then two 00:17:13.990 --> 00:17:16.890 years later, coming out emotional, social, a 00:17:16.890 --> 00:17:19.599 deliberate choice made on a major platform. driven 00:17:19.599 --> 00:17:22.039 by a desire to address suffering. It's a really 00:17:22.039 --> 00:17:25.160 powerful contrast. Discussing a near -death experience, 00:17:25.579 --> 00:17:28.500 sharing his identity, both show this incredible 00:17:28.500 --> 00:17:31.380 commitment to transparency. It shifted his public 00:17:31.380 --> 00:17:33.700 image, I think. He wasn't just a funny, chaotic 00:17:33.700 --> 00:17:36.299 guy anymore. He was using his platform to be 00:17:36.299 --> 00:17:38.779 radically human, connecting his own life to bigger 00:17:38.779 --> 00:17:41.660 social issues. And that vulnerability, weirdly, 00:17:41.880 --> 00:17:44.940 probably made his comedy stronger, deeper. It 00:17:44.940 --> 00:17:47.059 grounded the absurdity in something very real. 00:17:47.240 --> 00:17:49.700 Yeah, it adds this whole other... The chaos on 00:17:49.700 --> 00:17:51.839 stage feels different when you know the chaos 00:17:51.839 --> 00:17:54.220 and the truth he's navigated off stage. It shows 00:17:54.220 --> 00:17:57.500 how comedy that starts absurd can end up being 00:17:57.500 --> 00:18:00.180 profoundly truthful, even a form of public service. 00:18:00.539 --> 00:18:02.599 Okay, so wrapping things up in segment five, 00:18:02.819 --> 00:18:05.420 let's just quickly look at his output beyond 00:18:05.420 --> 00:18:08.160 the live stage and the podcast, confirming he's 00:18:08.160 --> 00:18:10.859 still writing, still recording, keeping that 00:18:10.859 --> 00:18:13.099 momentum going alongside all this transparency. 00:18:13.319 --> 00:18:16.460 Yeah, looking at his albums, he didn't stop just 00:18:16.460 --> 00:18:18.940 because the podcast took off. After that 2009 00:18:18.940 --> 00:18:22.059 Thin Pig album, he released Todd Glass Talks 00:18:22.059 --> 00:18:25.509 About Stuff in 2013. And then Todd Glass... Act 00:18:25.509 --> 00:18:28.470 Happy came out in 2018. So the podcast complements 00:18:28.470 --> 00:18:30.710 the stand -up, it doesn't replace it. Exactly. 00:18:30.769 --> 00:18:32.630 He keeps the stage work going, that pure stand 00:18:32.630 --> 00:18:35.109 -up form, while the podcast is this whole other 00:18:35.109 --> 00:18:37.390 beast for the collaborative chaos. But the big 00:18:37.390 --> 00:18:39.769 written piece is the book, right? Which seems 00:18:39.769 --> 00:18:42.049 to pull all these threads together, the absurdity, 00:18:42.069 --> 00:18:44.650 the career history, the personal honesty. Right, 00:18:44.690 --> 00:18:46.849 the book, the Ty Glass situation, a bunch of 00:18:46.849 --> 00:18:49.019 lies about my personal life. and a bunch of true 00:18:49.019 --> 00:18:50.859 stories about my 30 -year career in stand -up 00:18:50.859 --> 00:18:52.759 comedy. Even the title is classic glass, right? 00:18:52.880 --> 00:18:55.099 Yeah, totally meta. It acknowledges that whole 00:18:55.099 --> 00:18:57.539 blurry line in comedy between what's real and 00:18:57.539 --> 00:18:59.920 what's the act. The structure lies about personal 00:18:59.920 --> 00:19:03.079 life, true stories about career. It flips expectations, 00:19:03.519 --> 00:19:05.819 maybe suggesting that career was the place he 00:19:05.819 --> 00:19:08.609 felt safest, being honest in a weird way. That 00:19:08.609 --> 00:19:11.109 came out in 2014 from Simon & Schuster. For anyone 00:19:11.109 --> 00:19:16.630 wanting to grab it, the ISBN is 978 -14767 -14417. 00:19:16.970 --> 00:19:19.369 And that publication date, 2014, is interesting. 00:19:19.569 --> 00:19:21.369 Two years after he came out publicly, it seems 00:19:21.369 --> 00:19:23.170 like a time where he was really consolidating 00:19:23.170 --> 00:19:25.329 that candor across different forms. So pulling 00:19:25.329 --> 00:19:28.309 it all together, the final picture. You've got 00:19:28.309 --> 00:19:30.789 this absolute veteran, performing since 82, still 00:19:30.789 --> 00:19:32.769 touring constantly, still putting out albums 00:19:32.769 --> 00:19:35.069 decades into his career. But he didn't just, 00:19:35.089 --> 00:19:38.809 like... survive this shift to new media, he built 00:19:38.809 --> 00:19:41.210 this incredibly unique, successful podcast community 00:19:41.210 --> 00:19:43.809 around his specific style, the chaos, the absurdity. 00:19:43.849 --> 00:19:45.690 And it's all underpinned now by this foundation 00:19:45.690 --> 00:19:48.950 of hard work and more recently, this really remarkable 00:19:48.950 --> 00:19:51.230 personal honesty that took him from just being 00:19:51.230 --> 00:19:53.430 a great comic to being a really influential, 00:19:53.609 --> 00:19:56.789 important voice. Yeah, it's not many comics who 00:19:56.789 --> 00:19:58.809 can talk about needing an angioplasty because 00:19:58.809 --> 00:20:00.710 of genetics and then also talk about why they 00:20:00.710 --> 00:20:02.529 came out publicly for social reasons and then 00:20:02.529 --> 00:20:06.230 maybe pivot to discussing a ridiculous jingle 00:20:06.230 --> 00:20:09.170 on their podcast, all with the same energy. The 00:20:09.170 --> 00:20:11.289 sources really give us the timeline, the details 00:20:11.289 --> 00:20:13.829 to see that whole arc, the longevity, the adaptability 00:20:13.829 --> 00:20:16.789 and just the sheer guts involved. He used his 00:20:16.789 --> 00:20:19.130 platform not just for laughs, but for radical 00:20:19.130 --> 00:20:21.410 honesty. Which brings us to a final thought, 00:20:21.470 --> 00:20:23.210 something for you, the listener, to chew on. 00:20:23.759 --> 00:20:26.680 Glass pins his heart attack, that 100 % blockage, 00:20:26.680 --> 00:20:29.619 on bad genetics, something unavoidable, biological 00:20:29.619 --> 00:20:32.599 fate almost. But then he chose to share both 00:20:32.599 --> 00:20:35.039 that vulnerability and his identity as a gay 00:20:35.039 --> 00:20:37.619 man, the latter specifically for a social reason 00:20:37.619 --> 00:20:40.160 to help struggling kids. Right. Fate versus choice. 00:20:40.359 --> 00:20:42.630 Exactly. So it makes you wonder, right? For any 00:20:42.630 --> 00:20:45.210 artist, anyone in the public eye, when does their 00:20:45.210 --> 00:20:47.190 biggest contribution stop being just the art 00:20:47.190 --> 00:20:49.289 itself, the laughs from the absurd jokes in his 00:20:49.289 --> 00:20:51.829 case, and become the specific unvarnished truth 00:20:51.829 --> 00:20:54.230 they decide to share about themselves? And maybe 00:20:54.230 --> 00:20:56.009 even more interestingly, how does sharing that 00:20:56.009 --> 00:20:58.490 truth actually feed back into and strengthen 00:20:58.490 --> 00:21:01.829 the very absurd or surreal or chaotic art they 00:21:01.829 --> 00:21:03.769 were making all along? Does the honesty make 00:21:03.769 --> 00:21:04.869 the chaos ring truer?